London to Brighton

I am going to do a practice run in July, start about 3 am and my mate who I am racing and has just done Lands end to John a Groats is starting at 7am. Last one to arrive buys lunch/dinner etc Perhaps we could get some of the flab fighting TRC ers to team up for the next official one ? (I am using a 24 speed hard tail mountain bike with road tyres, I don't see the point in making it too easy on the legs and hard on the arse)

Source: http://www.therevcounter.co.uk/general-mayhem/89392-london-brighton.html

kim kardashian pregnant papa johns dominos dominos Perez Hilton Michelle Obama Oscars Wissam Al Mana

Davis Used a Catheter During Filibuster (Taegan Goddard's Political Wire)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/316061967?client_source=feed&format=rss

Monsters University First day of summer 2013 Calgary Supermoon 2013 gay kobe bryant first day of summer

Alexander Milliken Graduates from Hofstra University

HEMPSTEAD, NY ? Alexander Milliken of Pennellville graduated in May 2013 from Hofstra University with a BE in Engineering Science.

Alexander was among more than 2,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students who celebrated completing their studies at commencement ceremonies in the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex.

Hofstra University is a nationally ranked private university where students get the best of both worlds.

Our campus is a leafy oasis just a quick train ride away from New York City and all its cultural, recreational and professional opportunities.

We offer small classes and personal attention, with the resources, technology and facilities of a large university.

Students can chose from undergraduate and graduate offerings in liberal arts and sciences, business, engineering, applied science, communication, education, health sciences and human services, honors studies, the Maurice A. Deane School of Law and the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine. Hofstra University is a dynamic community of more than 11,000 students from around the world who are dedicated to civic engagement, academic excellence and becoming leaders in their communities and their careers.

This entry was posted in Community by Contributor. Bookmark the permalink.

Source: http://oswegocountytoday.com/?p=120917

Lauren Silberman Sim City Manchester United Alvin Lee mila kunis hugo chavez jamie lynn spears

WHITE HOUSE NOTEBOOK: Obama to US media: 'Behave'

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) ? One element of President Barack Obama's Africa policy is to encourage a free press, although he offered repeated reminders for U.S. reporters traveling with him on the continent to be on their best behavior.

"Americans, behave yourselves," he needled as a contingent of U.S. and South African media was pulled from a quick photo-op Saturday with President Jacob Zuma.

Obama spoke just before their news conference and may have been trying to suggest his press corps keep its questions tight.

Both U.S. and South African reporters asked multi-part questions. Obama didn't try to cut anyone off, but instead said the U.S. press corps must be happy the news conference was taking place in a wood-paneled chamber inside Pretoria's grand Union Buildings.

"This is much more elegant than the White House press room," Obama said, referring to the more cramped media quarters in the West Wing. "It's a big improvement."

He kept up the theme of a long-winded U.S. press at the start of his meeting with African Union Commission Chairwoman Dlamini-Zuma.

"I might take some questions, except earlier in the press conference you guys asked 4-in-1 questions," a grinning Obama teased.

At his earlier stop in Senegal, Obama apologized to host President Macky Sall on behalf the American media.

"Sometimes my press ? I notice yours just ask one question," Obama said. "We try to fit in three or four or five questions in there."

Minutes before that comment, Obama had praised democratic progress in Senegal, specifically mentioning "a strong press" as part of that movement. However, the first Senegalese reporter to be called on lobbed a softball, simply asking Sall to describe the visit and any new prospects it posed for Africa.

___

Zuma's dinner in honor of Obama's visit to Pretoria began with a moment of silence for ailing former President Nelson Mandela. Then came a longer, unintended and much more awkward silence.

Zuma came to the podium to deliver a toast but said his notes were not there. He asked the audience, "Just bear with me for a minute."

But the minute grew into 2 1/2, initially only broken by the sound of waiters popping champagne corks in preparation. Zuma cleared his throat and chuckled nervously in the quiet. "What is here are the remarks of President Barack Obama," Zuma said with an extended laugh from the audience

The seven-piece South African Navy Band decided to fill it by striking up "The Girl from Ipanema," and finally an aide delivered Zuma's remarks.

Obama took his turn at the podium and said his staff felt pretty good by the mix-up.

"This is not the first time that a president has come to the podium without notes that were supposed to be there," Obama said. "And they are gratefully relieved that does not only happen to them."

___

Questioned about foreign policy, Obama said more than the security issues that "take up a lot of my time," he gets great satisfaction from listening to regular people talk about building their businesses.

A priority is the war that's drawing to a close in Afghanistan, with U.S. combat troops scheduled to return home by the end of next year.

Another is keeping the U.S. public safe. "I can't deviate from that too much," Obama said before also mentioning the need to focus on turmoil across the Middle East.

But "as much as the security issues in my foreign policy take up a lot of my time, I get a lot more pleasure from listening to a small farmer say that she went from one hectare to 16 hectares and has doubled her income," Obama said. "That's a lot more satisfying and that's the future."

The president apparently was still feeling good after the stop in Senegal. On Friday, he toured an exhibit showcasing the Senegalese agricultural sector with a focus on nutrition and fortified foods and chatted up several of the farmers who were there. The programs get help from Feed the Future, a public-private partnership begun by Obama that he touted in Senegal, including to reporters aboard Air Force One.

___

Obama's trip has been quite a family affair.

He's traveling with his wife, Michelle, their daughters Malia and Sasha, his mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, and a niece, Leslie Robinson. Other relatives are with him in spirit.

He spoke Saturday about his late mother, anthropologist Stanley Ann Dunham, and what he said she always used to tell him.

"You can measure how well a country does by how well it treats its women," he said, quoting her.

On Thursday in Senegal, he quipped about how he had disappointed his maternal grandmother by becoming a politician, not a judge as she had hoped.

___

Obama was looking forward to visiting Robben Island for a special reason: the opportunity to take his daughters with him.

The tiny island off the coast of Cape Town is where many opponents of South Africa's former system of white-minority rule were sent to prison.

Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years behind bars on the island. He was elected president a few years after his release.

Obama has visited the island previously, but called it a "great privilege and a great honor" to be able to bring Malia, who turns 15 next Thursday, and Sasha, 12, to teach them the history of the island and South Africa and how those lessons apply to their own lives growing up in America. The family was scheduled to ride the ferry over on Sunday.

The Obama girls could have visited Robben Island in 2011 when they accompanied their mother on her visit to South Africa, but the trip was scrubbed at the last minute due to rough seas.

___

Michelle Obama says she definitely would take more risks if she could go back and relive her teenage years.

She avoided getting too specific, though, saying simply that she'd try more things and travel more.

"I wouldn't be as afraid as I was at that age to fail," she said in Johannesburg during a Google+ Hangout chat involving scores of young people in Africa and several cities across the U.S., including New York City, Los Angeles and Houston. Singer-songwriters John Legend and Victoria Justice also participated.

After some of the students seated on stage with the first lady were asked to name their dream jobs, the question was then put to her.

Mrs. Obama didn't identify her dream job, but said that back then she could never have envisioned participating in such a forum. She often has said she never saw herself becoming first lady, either, and used her example to try to inspire the audience. She told them to keep their dreams big and embrace failure.

"Don't take yourself out of the game before you even start, because there's no telling what life has in store for you," Mrs. Obama said.

___

Associated Press writers Nedra Pickler in Johannesburg and Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.

___

Follow Julie Pace on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jpaceDC

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/white-house-notebook-obama-us-media-behave-170718184.html

nfl 2012 schedule gmail down tim lincecum ryan oneal file taxes online tupac shakur sledge hammer

'First bionic eye' retinal chip for blind

June 29, 2013 ? University Hospitals (UH) Eye Institute will be one of the first medical centers in the United States to offer the Argus? II Retinal Prosthesis System ("Argus II").

The Argus II is the first and only "bionic eye" to be approved in countries throughout the world, including the U.S. It is used to treat patients with late stage retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Argus II was developed by Second Sight Medical Products, Inc., located near Los Angeles.

In preparation for the launch of Argus II later this year, implanting centers, including UH, will soon begin to accept consultations for patients with RP. UH is one of a select number of medical centers in 12 major markets in the nation, and the only one in Cleveland and the state of Ohio, chosen by Second Sight to offer the Argus II, which received FDA approval earlier this year.

Argus II works by converting video images captured by a miniature camera, housed in the patient's glasses, into a series of small electrical pulses that are transmitted wirelessly to an array of electrodes on the surface of the retina. These pulses are intended to stimulate the retina's remaining cells resulting in the corresponding perception of patterns of light in the brain. Patients then learn to interpret these visual patterns thereby regaining some visual function.

"This is a remarkable breakthrough," said Suber S. Huang, MD, MBA, Director, UH Eye Institute's Center for Retina and Macular Disease, who also served as the Independent Medical Safety Monitor for clinical trials of the system and gave the summary closing to the FDA Ophthalmic devices panel.

"The system offers a profound benefit for people who are blind from RP and who currently have no therapy available to them. Argus II allows patients to reclaim their independence and improve their lives."

RP is a rare inherited, degenerative eye disease that often results in profound vision loss to the level of bare light perception or no light perception. It affects nearly 100,000 Americans. Noted Cleveland businessman and professional sports owner Gordon Gund is blind from this disease.

"We are thrilled that several of the nation's top hospitals will be the first to offer Argus II to patients in the U.S.," said Brian Mech, Vice President of Business Development, Second Sight. "After an intensive and difficult selection process, these sites were chosen for their cutting-edge approach to medicine and unparalleled commitment to patient care. We are confident that RP patients seeking treatment at these centers will benefit greatly from the best-in-class services these sites provide."

Argus II had more than 20 years of work in the field, three clinical trials, more than $100 million in public investment by the National Eye Institute, the Department of Energy, and the National Science Foundation, and an additional $100 million in private investment.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/Rl1fuNyJzyA/130629164628.htm

notre dame football Bcs Bowl Chuck Hagel ncaa football CES russell wilson Pokemon

Immigration legislation faces obstacles in House

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The focus of hotly contested immigration legislation swung Friday from the Senate to the House, where conservative Republicans hold power, there is no bipartisan template to serve as a starting point and the two parties stress widely different priorities.

"It's a very long and winding road to immigration reform," said Rep. Tom Cole, an Oklahoma Republican who said it could be late this year or perhaps early in 2014 before the outcome is known. His own constituents are "very skeptical, mostly opposed," he said.

Supporters of the Senate's approach sought to rally support for its promise of citizenship for those who have lived in the United States unlawfully, a key provision alongside steps to reduce future illegal immigration.

"The Republican Party still doesn't understand the depth...of this movement and just how much the American people want comprehensive immigration reform," Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., said on Friday. "We need to make sure they come to this understanding."

But Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz., said in an interview that any bill that results in citizenship was a nonstarter. He called the approach "patently unfair" to those trying to "do it the legal way."

Within hours after the Democratic-controlled Senate approved its bill Thursday on a 68-32 vote, President Barack Obama telephoned with congratulations for several members of the bipartisan Gang of Eight who negotiated an early draft of the bill that passed.

Traveling in Africa, he also called House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California from Africa, urging them to pass an immigration bill.

Yet not even a firm timetable has been set.

The House Republican rank and file is scheduled to hold a closed-door meeting on the issue shortly after returning from a July 4 vacation, and Boehner has said previously he hopes legislation on the topic can be passed by the end of the month. Aides also say it is possible the issue wouldn't come to the floor until the leadership had successfully resurrected a farm bill that was defeated last week.

In contrast to the all-in-one approach favored by the Senate, the House Judiciary Committee has approved a series of single-issue bills in recent days, none including a path to citizenship that Obama and Democrats have set as a top priority.

One, harshly condemned by Democrats, provides for a crackdown on immigrants living in the United States illegally. Another sets up a temporary program for farm workers to come to the United States, but without the opportunity for citizenship the Senate-passed measure includes.

A third, which drew several Democratic votes, requires establishment of a mandatory program within two years for companies to verify the legal status of their workers. The Senate bill sets a four-year phase-in, although supporters of the legislation have also signaled they are agreeable to tighter requirements. A fourth increases the number of visas for highly-skilled workers.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., criticized the approach followed so far by House Republicans. "We have taken up a series of small-bore partisan bills that are in some cases bizarre," she said at a panel discussion hosted by Bloomberg Government and the National Restaurant Association. "We have not touched the whole issue of how you get 11 million people right with the law."

Also appearing on the panel, Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida said the House must find a solution for the estimated 11 million immigrants now living in the United States unlawfully. "Ignoring that reality does not make it go away," he said.

Lofgren and Diaz-Balart are part of a bipartisan group that has tried to struggled unsuccessfully so far to produce legislation roughly comparable to the one drafted by the Gang of Eight in the Senate.

In their discussions to date, the lawmakers have agreed to a pathway to citizenship over 15 years, two years longer than the Senate legislation provides. Their efforts at an overall compromise have stumbled over details of a guest worker program and other issues.

The situation was far different in the Senate, where the Gang of Eight drafted legislation, shepherded it through the Senate Judiciary Committee and then helped negotiate tough border security requirements that helped swell Republican support.

As the measure was passing the Senate on Thursday, members of the Gang of Eight were urging the House to be ready to compromise.

"You may have different views on different aspects of this issue, but all of us share the same goal, and that is to take 11 million people out of the shadows, secure our borders and make sure that this is the nation of opportunity and freedom," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

The bill passed by the Senate devotes $46 billion to border security improvements, including calling for a doubling of the border patrol stationed on the U.S.-Mexico border and the completion of 700 miles of fencing. No immigrant currently in the United States illegally could qualify for a permanent resident green card until those border enhancements and others were in place.

___

Associated Press reporters Luis Alonso Lugo, Donna Cassata and Jim Kuhnhenn contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/immigration-legislation-faces-obstacles-house-190820534.html

lifehouse al gore la dodgers lawrence o donnell magic johnson jetblue pilot solicitor general

NBA Summer League 2013: Undrafted free agent invitation roundup

The latest information on who will be playing where during summer-league ball in Vegas next month.

Even after 60 players landed new employers in Thursday's NBA Draft, dozens of rookies remain available for the taking. With the freedom to choose their first team, a benefit not enjoyed by the top players, we're seeing guys get snapped up quickly by franchises looking to fill summer-league rosters and maybe unearth some legitimate contributors.

With summer play beginning on July 12 from Las Vegas, teams aren't waiting to land the best of the leftovers. Here's a round-up of all the undrafted free agent action on Saturday, with all reports coming from Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld unless noted otherwise:

• Missouri guard Phil Pressey, Iona guard Lamont "Momo" Jones and Jayson Granger of the Spanish ACB League will play for the Boston Celtics' summer league team. Former Indiana guard Eli Holman may also join the squad.
  
• North Carolina State forward C.J. Leslie joins first-round pick Tim Hardaway Jr. on the New York Knicks' summer squad.
• Indiana forward Christian Watford makes a somewhat unprecedented move, agreeing to play for both the Indiana Pacers and Dallas Mavericks in Las Vegas. Watford will be joined on the Pacers by Julian Mavunga of Miami (Ohio).
• Temple's Khalif Wyatt and Marquette's Vander Blue will follow the same route as Watford. Wyatt has signed on to play for Dallas and Philadelphia, while Blue will take the court for Houston and Memphis.
• Leslie's teammate, Wolfpack forward Richard Howell, joins the Denver Nuggets along with Wake Forest's C.J. Harris and La Salle's Ramon Galloway.
  
• Central Florida forward Keith Clanton and Saint Mary's guard Matthew Dellavedova will play with the Orlando Magic.
• Syracuse forward Brandon Triche and VCU guard Troy Daniels join the Charlotte Bobcats.
• Minnesota forward Rodney Williams will play for the Philadelphia 76ers. He'll be joined by big man Michael Eric, who last played in the D-League, Keith Pompey of Philly.com reports.
  
• A trio of Iowa State players found temporary homes, as Will Clyburn joins the Sacramento Kings, Chris Babb joins the Phoenix Suns and Korie Lucious joins the Detroit Pistons.
  
• Former Missouri State guard Kyle Weems, who most recently played in Germany, will play for the Atlanta Hawks. He'll be joined by Memphis Tigers wing Adonis Thomas.
  
• The next Danny Green? Miami shooting guard Durand Scott joins the San Antonio Spurs.
• Tennessee State's Robert Covington, Murray State's Ed Daniel and Arkansas' B.J. Young join the Houston Rockets. Daniel reunites with his college teammate and Rockets second-round selection, point guard Isaiah Canaan.
• Miami's Kenny Kadji joins the Cleveland Cavaliers.
• Carlos Boozer's brother, Charles Boozer, will play for the Chicago Bulls.
• Notre Dame's Jack Cooley and Missouri's Laurence Bowers join the Memphis Grizzlies
• UNLV's Anthony Marshall, Texas guard Myck Kabongo and Memphis high-flyer D.J. Stephens will play for the Miami Heat. Stephens' 46-inch vertical leap at this spring's combine was the highest ever recorded at the pre-draft event, while Kabongo was generally considered a second-round talent.
  
• Creighton big man Gregory Echenique will join the Toronto Raptors.
• Matt Lojeski, a former Hawaii guard who last played in Belgium, will play for the New Orleans Pelicans.
• Illinois guard Brandon Paul will play for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
• BYU forward Brandon Davies will join the Los Angeles Clippers.
• Southern Miss guard Dwayne Davis will play for the Golden State Warriors, according to Patrick McGee of the Sun Herald.
• Duke guard Seth Curry received offers from a number of teams, but he doesn't expect to be healthy enough to play this summer after April shin surgery.
  

More from SB Nation:

? NBA Draft 2013 Grades and Results

? Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett get traded as the Celtics finally blow it up

? Victor Oladipo's unconventional journey to the Orlando Magic

? Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce in Brooklyn: Go big and go home

? Sixers divebomb the standings to come out on top

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Source: http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2013/6/29/4478058/nba-summer-league-2013-undrafted-free-agent-invitation-roundup

weather radar Merion Golf Club This Is the End US Open 2013 Lindsay Mills Black Forest fire PS4 vs Xbox One

Fifty Shades of Grey Movie Cast: Who's it Going to Be?!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/06/fifty-shades-of-grey-movie-cast-whos-it-going-to-be/

mary poppins john derbyshire kinkade thomas kinkade paintings navy jet crash virginia beach isiah thomas easter recipes

Cher on Tom Cruise as a Lover: In My Top 5!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/06/cher-on-tom-cruise-as-a-lover-in-my-top-5/

wrestlemania 28 game of thrones season 2 dierks bentley kenny chesney academy of country music awards brad paisley zac brown band

AP PHOTOS: Images of the western US heat wave

By Dana Feldman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Michael Jackson's nephew and co-guardian to his three children testified on Thursday in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the late pop star's family that the "Thriller" singer was a humble family man who supported his family in times of need. T.J. Jackson, 34, the son of Jackson 5 member Tito Jackson, offered a view into the private life of the King of Pop, who died at age 50 in Los Angeles in 2009 from an overdose of surgical anesthetic propofol ahead of a run of London concerts. T.J. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-photos-images-western-us-heat-wave-083000457.html

lsu football Jessie Andrews bloomberg bloomberg Daily Caller Staten Island Trick or Treat

blue-voids: Margarita Georgiadis - Landscapes, 2009 - oil on...

An array of art/politics/comics/health and fitness... you name it

Austin TX IT professional, geek, comic book lover (most things vertigo), internet addict, martial artist-- ok - a little out of practice,

marathoner - 2 full, 1 half , INTJ and i juggle ;)

http://www.facebook.com/allen.c.marshall

Twitter: @AllenCMarshall

politically and philosophically focused

http://moreleftthannot.tumblr.com/

health, fitness, movement...

http://primalkimbaredancer.tumblr.com/

G+ eddietg@gmail.com

http://eddietg.deviantart.com/

http://www.redbubble.com/people/eddiethegeek/portfolio

Source: http://eddietg.tumblr.com/post/54171499395

Teen Wolf linkedin linkedin Frank Lautenberg Pia Zadora chicago blackhawks Alexandra Lenas

5 ways students changed in the last 40 years ? Schools of Thought ...

By Jamie Gumbrecht, CNN

(CNN) ? Every couple of years, the National Assessment of Educational Progress releases a short-term snapshot of how students fare in science, civics or other subjects.

But it doesn't ?quite answer the big question: How are students really doing?

That's the job of a report released Thursday, "The Nation's Report Card: Trends in Academic Progress 2012." It's an assessment released every four years that tracks U.S. students' performance in reading and math since the 1970s. The 2012 assessment included more than 50,000 students from public and private schools. It tracks them at ages 9, 13 and 17, regardless of grade level, and compares their performance using tests - mostly multiple-choice questions - that take about an hour to complete.

Here are five things to know about academic progress since the 1970s, according to the 2012 report.

9-year-olds and 13-year-olds outscore 1970s counterparts
Indeed, those kids scored higher in reading and math. In reading, 9-year-olds and 13-year-olds improved at every level, so even the lowest-performing kids now are ahead of the lowest-performing kids then. In fact, kids in the low and middle range showed the greatest gains.

17-year-olds? Not so much
Seventeen-year-old students aren't scoring better in reading and math, but their scores aren't falling, either. In reading, the lowest-performing 17-year-olds made gains since the 1970s, as did lower- and middle-performing 17-year-olds in math. But scores overall are about the same as in the early 1970s ? and that might not be all bad. In a conference call with reporters, Peggy Carr, associate commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics' assessment division, pointed out that there are far fewer dropouts than in the 1970s; even with more kids in school, performance has remained steady.

Gender gaps are shrinking
Just as in the 1970s, girls perform better in reading, and boys perform better in math.

But female students are narrowing the math gap, or even eliminating it. "In 2012, there were no significant gender gaps in mathematics at age 9 and 13," the report says. "At age 17, male students scored higher in mathematics than female students. The gender gap in 2012 at age 17, however, was narrower than in 1973 due to the increase in the average score for female students."

Meanwhile, male students are squeezing the gap in reading by showing significant improvement at age 9.

Black and Hispanic students are making gains
Consider just how much students' demographics have changed: In 1978, 80% of U.S. students were white, 13% were black, 6% were Hispanic and 1% were Asian. In 2012, 56% of students were white, 15% were black, 21% were Hispanic and 6% were Asian.

White students still perform better than black and Hispanic students in reading, but the gaps between white and black and white and Hispanic are narrower for all ages. It's particularly noticeable among 9-year-olds: "The average score for black students was 36 points higher in 2012 than in 1971 ... and the score for white students was 15 points higher," the report says. "The average score for Hispanic students increased 25 points from 1975, and the score for white students increased 12 points."

In math, white students performed better overall, but black and Hispanic students made larger gains than white students since 1973.

Take another look at that summer reading list
At age 9, 53% of students say they read for fun at home almost every day. By age 13, it's 27%. At 17, it's down to 19%. The percentages for 9-year-olds have remained the same since 1984, when the question was first asked, but it has decreased over time for 13- and 17-year-olds. Why does it matter?

"At all three ages, students who reported reading for fun almost daily or once or twice a week scored higher than did students who reported reading for fun a few times a year or less," the report says.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNschools!

Source: http://schoolsofthought.blogs.cnn.com/2013/06/27/5-ways-students-changed-in-the-last-40-years/

isiah thomas easter recipes live free or die hard carlos pena amanda bynes arrested f 18 jet crash in virginia beach

How Chupa Chups Put Salvador Dal? in the Candy Store

The Chupa Chups packaging is uncanny?you could spot the swirly, colorful wrapper from a mile away, and you'd instantly know it was the most famous Spanish lollipop in the world. David Airey, an Ireland-based graphic designer, put together this illustration that shows the evolution of the Chupa Chups logo since it first arrived on the scene in 1958.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Ci4gessiK0k/how-chupa-chups-put-salvador-dali-in-the-candy-store-609087727

i am legend san antonio spurs greta van susteren the five year engagement chris kreider correspondents dinner 2012 white house correspondents dinner 2012

Car buyers appear unfazed by stock market gyrations

Autos

Joseph Szczesny The Detroit Bureau

6 hours ago

Keith Srakocic / AP

In this Wednesday, May 8, 2013 photo, a row of new 2013 Ford Fusions is seen at an automobile dealership in Zelienople, Pa.

It seems like the recent stock market tumble, and the perception that interest rates are rising, are, at most, background noise to American car buyers.

Sales of new cars and trucks continue to move along at a steady clip during June, according to new estimates from J.D. Power & Associates and LMC Automotive. A monthly sales forecast based on direct dealer data indicates new-vehicle retail sales are showing no signs of letting up at the start of the summer selling season.

New-vehicle retail sales in June are projected to come in at 1,118,800 vehicles, which represent a Seasonally Adjusted Annualized Rate of 13.2 million units, a healthy increase of 500,000 from the May SAAR. Retail transactions are the most accurate measure of true underlying consumer demand for new vehicles.

Total light-vehicle sales in June 2013 are expected to grow by 12 percent from June 2012 to 1,380,800 units. Fleet sales in June are just 19 percent of total sales. Fleet volume for the month is projected at 262,000 units.

Adding together retail and fleet business and the overall SAAR is expected to reach 15.7 million units this month. That?s a big jump from the 14.5 million vehicles sold in 2012 ? a five-year high ? and nudges by even the most optimistic forecasts for 2013, which general had set a high of around 15.5 million sales this year.

The strong selling pace continues to be matched by strong transaction prices. Thus far in June, the average transaction price of new vehicles ? what customers actually spend when both incentives and options are included ?is $28,900, the highest figure ever for June.

While sales overall are strong, not all segments are selling at the same pace. Sales of premium vehicles account for just 11.7 percent of new-vehicle retail sales thus far in June, down from 12.9 percent in June 2012.

?Although the premium segment growth has lagged non-premium, there is some good news for the industry in that the average price of premium vehicles in June is $47,000, up almost 4 percent from June 2012,? said John Humphrey, J.D. Power senior vice president of the global automotive practice. ?New premium vehicles entering the market late this year will also help bolster sales through the second quarter of 2014.?

Among other new models due for launch are the all-new Mercedes-Benz S-Class and a trio of luxury diesels from Audi.

The underperformance of premium light-vehicle sales is largely due to the age of the models in these segments. J.D. Power calculates that the average age ? the number of months the vehicle has been in the market since it was introduced or redesigned ? of premium models sold in the second quarter of 2013 was 43 months. In comparison, the average age of non-premium models, excluding pickup trucks is only 34.5 months.

Hyundai America chief executive officer John Krafcik noted last week that competition in the auto industry is very fierce and forces manufacturers to intensify efforts to win over customers. Even the threat of higher interest rates hasn?t undermined the market?s momentum, he said.

Competition in the mid-sized segment has been particularly fierce in recent months with Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Ford, General Motors, Hyundai, Volkswagen and Kia all introducing new or substantially updated models. The compact and subcompact segment also have seen a flood of new entries.

J.D. Power expects that by the second quarter of 2014, the average age of premium products will fall to just 33 months, as new and redesigned products enter the marketplace.

LMC Automotive continues to hold the outlook for total light-vehicle sales in 2013 at 15.4 million units, but has increased its forecast for retail light-vehicle sales to 12.6 million units from 12.5 million units, as retail sales growth expands.

More from The Detroit Bureau:

'Lola' tops 200 mph, sets EV world speed record

Terrorists may be targeting our high-tech cars

Would you buy a Chinese-made Ford

Copyright ? 2009-2013, The Detroit Bureau

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663286/s/2dee0fac/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Cbusiness0Ccar0Ebuyers0Eappear0Eunfazed0Estock0Emarket0Egyrations0E6C10A464454/story01.htm

rand paul Lauren Silberman Sim City Manchester United Alvin Lee mila kunis hugo chavez

How 'parrot dinosaur' switched from four feet to two as it grew

June 28, 2013 ? Tracking the growth of dinosaurs and how they changed as they grew is difficult. Using a combination of biomechanical analysis and bone histology, palaeontologists from Beijing, Bristol, and Bonn have shown how one of the best-known dinosaurs switched from four feet to two as it grew.

Psittacosaurus, the 'parrot dinosaur' is known from more than 1000 specimens from the Cretaceous, 100 million years ago, of China and other parts of east Asia. As part of his PhD thesis at the University of Bristol, Qi Zhao, now on the staff of the Institute for Vertebrate Paleontology in Beijing, carried out the intricate study on bones of babies, juveniles and adults.

Dr Zhao said: "Some of the bones from baby Psittacosaurus were only a few millimetres across, so I had to handle them extremely carefully to be able to make useful bone sections. I also had to be sure to cause as little damage to these valuable specimens as possible."

With special permission from the Beijing Institute, Zhao sectioned two arm and two leg bones from 16 individual dinosaurs, ranging in age from less than one year to 10 years old, or fully-grown. He did the intricate sectioning work in a special palaeohistology laboratory in Bonn, Germany,

The one-year-olds had long arms and short legs, and scuttled about on all fours soon after hatching. The bone sections showed that the arm bones were growing fastest when the animals were ages one to three years. Then, from four to six years, arm growth slowed down, and the leg bones showed a massive growth spurt, meaning they ended up twice as long as the arms, necessary for an animal that stood up on its hind legs as an adult.

Professor Xing Xu of the Beijing Institute, one of Dr Zhao's thesis supervisors, said: "This remarkable study, the first of its kind, shows how much information is locked in the bones of dinosaurs. We are delighted the study worked so well, and see many ways to use the new methods to understand even more about the astonishing lives of the dinosaurs."

Professor Mike Benton of the University of Bristol, Dr Zhao's other PhD supervisor, said: "These kinds of studies can also throw light on the evolution of a dinosaur like Psittacosaurus. Having four-legged babies and juveniles suggests that at some time in their ancestry, both juveniles and adults were also four-legged, and Psittacosaurus and dinosaurs in general became secondarily bipedal."

The paper is published in Nature Communications.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/INNYKIOaV7U/130628092147.htm

Fall Out Boy Alabama hostage mta Beyonce Superbowl nemo redbox Nemo Storm

As the Pearl Turns

Microscopy reveals that a growing pearl's surface has a sawtooth pattern that can cause it to ratchet around as it grows, resulting in the familiar sphere. Sophie Bushwick reports

More 60-Second Science

Subscribe via iTunes

Flawless pearls are among the most symmetrical spheres with biological origins. But how do they get so round? Turns out they turn.

Pearls form when mollusks such as oysters create so-called pearl sacs around intrusive pieces of grit. The sac coats the irritant with layers of smooth nacre, also known as mother-of-pearl. The growing pearl rotates itself, which allows the nacre to deposit evenly over its surface.

By examining pearls under a fluorescence and a scanning electron microscope, researchers discovered that the surface actually has a saw-tooth texture. As the mollusk moves, the pearl is jostled to the next tiny tooth. The work is published in the journal Langmuir. [Julyan H. E. Cartwright, Antonio G. Checa, and Marthe Rousseau, Pearls Are Self-Organized Natural Ratchets]

A pearl's motion influences its nacre coverage, and thus its final shape. Depending on its surface pattern, it might turn in a single direction to create a drop or ring, or rotate more freely to form a sphere. If a defect prevents this motion, the final product will be shapeless. The resulting asymmetrical pearl is doomed to be booed. Roundly.

?Sophie Bushwick

[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]????
?

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/~r/sciam/chemistry/~3/kfXd93Ljg34/episode.cfm

Opie modern family Jordan Pruitt real housewives of new jersey emmys emmys Kanye West sex tape

Feds: Internet influenced Boston bombing suspect

FILE - This file photo provided Friday, April 19, 2013 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. A federal grand jury in Boston returned a 30-count indictment against Tsarnaev on Thursday, June 27, 2013, on charges including using a weapon of mass destruction and bombing a place of public use, resulting in death. (AP Photo/Federal Bureau of Investigation, File)

FILE - This file photo provided Friday, April 19, 2013 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. A federal grand jury in Boston returned a 30-count indictment against Tsarnaev on Thursday, June 27, 2013, on charges including using a weapon of mass destruction and bombing a place of public use, resulting in death. (AP Photo/Federal Bureau of Investigation, File)

U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz speaks during a news conference, announcing a 30-count indictment against Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Thursday, June 27, 2013, in Boston. Charges against Tsarnaev include using a weapon of mass destruction and bombing a place of public use, resulting in death near the marathon finish line on April 15. (AP Photo/Bill Sikes)

FILE - In this April 15, 2013 file photo, medical workers aid injured people at the finish line of the 2013 Boston Marathon following an explosion in Boston. A federal grand jury in Boston returned a 30-count indictment against bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on Thursday, June 27, 2013, on charges including using a weapon of mass destruction and bombing a place of public use, resulting in death. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz pauses during a news conference, announcing a 30-count indictment against Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Thursday, June 27, 2013, in Boston. Charges against Tsarnaev include using a weapon of mass destruction and bombing a place of public use, resulting in death near the marathon finish line on April 15. Alongside are Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, left, and Bruce Foucart, Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security in Boston, right. (AP Photo/Bill Sikes)

FILE - In this April 15, 2013, file photo, blood from victims covers the sidewalk on Boylston Street, at the site of an explosion during the 2013 Boston Marathon in Boston. At right foreground is a folding chair with the design of an American flag on the cover. A federal grand jury in Boston returned a 30-count indictment against bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on Thursday, June 27, 2013, on charges including using a weapon of mass destruction and bombing a place of public use, resulting in death. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

BOSTON (AP) ? What Dzhokhar Tsarnaev needed to learn to make explosives with a pressure cooker was at his fingertips in jihadist files on the Internet, according to a federal indictment accusing him of carrying out the bombings at the Boston Marathon that killed three people and injured dozens more.

Investigators have been trying to determine whether Tsarnaev's older brother, Tamerlan, who was killed while the two were on the run after the bombings, was influenced or trained by Islamic militants during a trip overseas. But the indictment released Thursday against 19-year-old Dzhokhar makes no mention of any overseas influence.

Before the attack, according to the indictment, he downloaded the summer 2010 issue of Inspire, an online English-language magazine published by al-Qaida. The issue detailed how to make bombs from pressure cookers, explosive powder extracted from fireworks and lethal shrapnel.

He also downloaded extremist Muslim literature, including "Defense of the Muslim Lands, the First Obligation After Imam," which advocates "violence designed to terrorize the perceived enemies of Islam," the indictment said. The article was written by the late Abdullah Azzam, whose legacy has inspired terrorist attacks in the Middle East.

Another tract downloaded ? titled "The Slicing Sword, Against the One Who Forms Allegiances With the Disbelievers and Takes Them as Supporters Instead of Allah, His Messenger and the Believers" ? included a foreword by Anwar al-Awlaki, an American propagandist for al-Qaida who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2011.

The 30-count indictment provides one of the most detailed public explanations to date of the brothers' alleged motive ? Islamic extremism ? and the role the Internet may have played in influencing them.

"Tamerlan Tsarnaev's justice will be in the next world, but for his brother, accountability will begin right here in the district of Massachusetts," Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley, whose jurisdiction includes Boston, said at a news conference with federal prosecutors on Thursday.

The indictment contains the bombing charges, punishable by the death penalty, that were brought in April against Tsarnaev, including use of a weapon of mass destruction to kill. It also contains many new charges covering the slaying of an MIT police officer and the carjacking of a motorist during the getaway attempt that left Tamerlan Tsarnaev dead.

U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz of Massachusetts said Attorney General Eric Holder will decide whether to pursue the death penalty against Tsarnaev, who will be arraigned on July 10.

Three people were killed and more than 260 wounded by the two pressure-cooker bombs that went off near the finish line of the marathon on April 15.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured four days later, hiding in a boat parked in a backyard in Watertown, Mass.

According to the indictment, he scrawled messages on the inside of the vessel that said, among other things, "The U.S. Government is killing our innocent civilians," ''I can't stand to see such evil go unpunished," and "We Muslims are one body, you hurt one you hurt us all."

The Tsarnaev brothers had roots in the turbulent Russian regions of Dagestan and Chechnya, which have become recruiting grounds for Muslim extremists. They had been living in the U.S. about a decade.

There was no mention in the indictment of any larger conspiracy beyond the brothers, and no reference to any direct overseas contacts with extremists. Instead, the indictment suggests the Internet played an important role in the suspects' radicalization.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev spent six months in Dagestan last year, and investigators traveled to the Russian province to talk to the men's parents and try to determine whether he was influenced or trained by local Islamic militants.

Christina DiIorio-Sterling, a spokeswoman for Ortiz, declined to comment on why the indictment did not mention whether authorities believe the elder Tsarnaev received any training during his stay in Russia.

The indictment assembled and confirmed details of the case that have been widely reported over the past two months, and added new pieces of information.

For example, it corroborated reports that Tamerlan Tsarnaev bought 48 mortar shells from a Seabrook, N.H., fireworks store. It also disclosed that he used the Internet to order electronic components that could be used in making bombs.

The papers detail how the brothers then allegedly placed knapsacks containing shrapnel-packed bombs near the finish line of the 26.2-mile race.

The court papers also corroborated reports by authorities that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev contributed to his brother's death by accidentally running him over with a stolen vehicle during a shootout and police chase.

The charges cover the slaying of Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer Sean Collier, who authorities said was shot in the head at close range in his cruiser by the Tsarnaevs, who tried to take his gun.

In addition, prosecutors said that during the carjacking, the Tsarnaevs forced the motorist to turn over his ATM card and his password, and Dzhokhar withdrew $800 from the man's account.

At the same time the federal indictment was announced, Massachusetts authorities brought a 15-count state indictment against Dzhokhar over the MIT officer's slaying and the police shootout.

___

Hays reported from New York.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-06-28-Boston%20Marathon%20Bombing/id-ede37fdd91154092a2817b2b644e8257

Reid Flair tony romo Good Friday 2013 good friday Dufnering What Is Good Friday Monsanto Protection Act

Defense seeks to undermine key witness in Trayvon Martin case

By Tom Brown and Barbara Liston

SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - Defense attorneys in the murder trial of neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman on Thursday will try to pick apart the testimony of a key witness who was on the phone with unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin moments before he was gunned down.

Rachel Jeantel, 19, told the court on Wednesday that shortly before he was fatally shot last year, Martin complained about a "creepy" man who seemed to be hunting him down as he walked back to the house where he was staying with his father in the central Florida town of Sanford.

Martin family lawyer Ben Crump has said Jeantel's testimony would help undermine Zimmerman's assertion that he acted in self-defense.

Zimmerman, 29, was a neighborhood watch volunteer in the Retreat at Twin Lakes community in Sanford at the time of the killing. He has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and could face life imprisonment if convicted.

Martin was a student at a Miami-area high school and a guest of one of the homeowners. He was returning after buying snacks at a convenience store when he was shot in the chest during a confrontation with Zimmerman.

The racially charged case triggered civil rights protests and debates about the treatment of black Americans in the U.S. justice system, since police did not arrest Zimmerman, who is part Hispanic, for 44 days.

Prosecutors say Zimmerman profiled Martin, suspecting him of being up to no good, and killed him in an act of vigilante justice. The defense says Zimmerman was out doing his job as part of the neighborhood watch and simply trying to investigate something that he perceived as suspicious.

Zimmerman does not deny killing Martin. He says he did so only after he was attacked and Martin smashed his head repeatedly into a concrete sidewalk.

The prosecution faces a tall order to win a conviction for second-degree murder, and under Florida law must convince all six jurors that Zimmerman acted with "ill will" or "hatred" and "an indifference to human life."

Under Florida's Stand Your Ground law, which was approved in 2005 and has since been copied by about 30 other states, people fearing for their lives can use deadly force without having to retreat from a confrontation, even when it is possible.

Jurors are also likely to hear more testimony on Thursday from residents of Twin Lakes who heard or saw the struggle between Zimmerman and Martin on a dark and rainy night.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, two female neighbors described how they saw what they believed was Zimmerman sitting on top of Martin and heard the 17-year-old cry for help. But under cross-examination both women admitted they could not be absolutely certain what they saw and heard.

Jeantel, with whom Martin had been friends since elementary school in Miami, told the court in sometimes emotional testimony that Martin tried to run away and thought he had lost the stranger, until he reappeared.

She said she heard Martin ask the man, "Why are you following me?" Then she heard "a bump," and Martin saying, "Get off!, Get off!" before the line was cut.

Under cross-examination, which began on Wednesday, the defense questioned her credibility, noting that she lied about some peripheral aspects of her story. But the defense has so far been unable to poke holes in the key elements of what she says Martin told her.

(Writing by David Adams; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/defense-seeks-undermine-key-witness-trayvon-martin-case-100606050.html

Amendment 64 marijuana Colorado Marijuana elizabeth warren puerto rico diane sawyer Washington Election Results

Europe strikes deal to push cost of bank failure on investors

By John O'Donnell and Robin Emmott

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union agreed on Thursday to force investors and wealthy savers to share the costs of future bank failures, moving closer to drawing a line under years of taxpayer-funded bailouts that have prompted public outrage.

After seven hours of late-night talks, finance ministers from the bloc's 27 countries emerged with a blueprint to close or salvage banks in trouble. The plan stipulates that shareholders, bondholders and depositors with more than 100,000 euros ($132,000) should share the burden of saving a bank.

The deal is a boost for EU leaders, who meet later on Thursday in Brussels, and can show that they are finally getting to grips with the financial crisis that began in mid-2007 with the near collapse of Germany's IKB.

"For the first time, we agreed on a significant bail-in to shield taxpayers," said Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, referring to the process in which shareholders and bondholders must bear the costs of restructuring first.

The rules break a taboo in Europe that savers should never lose their deposits, although countries will have some flexibility to decide when and how to impose losses on a failing bank's creditors.

"They can affect German savers just as well as they can affect any other investor in the world," German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said after the meeting.

Taxpayers across much of Europe have had to pay for a series of deeply unpopular bank rescues since the financial crisis that spread across the bloc to threaten the future of the euro.

The European Union spent the equivalent of a third of its economic output on saving its banks between 2008 and 2011, using taxpayer cash but struggling to contain the crisis and - in the case of Ireland - almost bankrupting the country.

But a bailout of Cyprus in March that forced losses on depositors marked a harsher approach that can now, following Thursday's agreement, be replicated elsewhere.

French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici signaled that ministers also agreed to French demands that the euro zone's rescue fund, the European Stability Mechanism, can be used to help banks in the 17-nation currency area that run into trouble.

"It makes the whole thing coherent," said Moscovici. "It creates a solidity for the system and a system of solidarity," he told reporters.

Under the rules, which would come into effect by 2018, countries would be obliged to distribute losses up to the equivalent of 8 percent of a bank's liabilities, with some leeway thereafter.

Europe can now focus on building the next pillar of a project to unify the supervision and support of banks in the euro zone, known as "banking union."

"EXECUTIONER"

But thorny issues lie ahead, not least whether countries or a central European authority should have the final say in shutting or restructuring a bad bank.

The European Commission, the EU executive, is expected to unveil its proposal for a new agency to carry out this task of "executioner" as early as next week, officials said.

"The most important discussion has yet to start and that is how decisions on restructuring will be made," said Nicolas Veron, a financial expert at Brussels-based think tank Bruegel. "It's premature to say that Europe is getting its act together."

Many Europeans remain angry with bankers and the easy credit that helped create property bubbles in countries including Ireland and Spain, which then burst and plunged Europe into a recession from which it has yet to recover.

Earlier this week, Ireland's deputy prime minister attacked "arrogant" executives at a failed bank who had mocked government efforts to tackle the country's banking crisis.

In the tapes published by an Irish newspaper, the collapsed Anglo Irish Bank's then-head of capital markets was asked how he had come up with a figure of 7 billion euros for a bank rescue, responding that he had "picked it out of my arse.

Unlike the United States, which moved swiftly to deal with its problem banks, Europe has been reluctant to close those whose credit is crucial to the economy and with which governments have close political ties.

This should change as soon as the European Central Bank takes over the supervision of euro zone banks from late next year, completing one pillar of banking union.

The ECB will run checks on banks under its watch. This new EU law on sharing losses could be used as the blueprint for closing or salvaging those banks it finds to be weak.

The second leg of banking union would be the resolution authority to shutter banks or restructure them. But the pace of progress depends in large part on Germany, which is reluctant to agree to such a move ahead of elections in September.

"Before the German Bundestag elections, Chancellor Angela Merkel will not agree to a far-reaching banking union," Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann said in an interview.

(Additional reporting by Ilona Wissenbach; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/europe-strikes-deal-push-cost-bank-failure-investors-014658066.html

horsetail falls ice t today show doma dwight howard michael jackson

U.S. boss held captive by angry Chinese employees released

By Maxim Duncan

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese factory workers on Thursday released their U.S. boss, held captive for a week, after a compensation dispute was resolved, a company official and union representative said.

Chip Starnes, president of Specialty Medical Supplies, in the Beijing suburb of Huairou, was allowed to leave the factory and was resting in a hotel, the company official said.

The workers had demanded severance packages identical to those offered to 30 employees who were recently laid off, even though the firm planned no further layoffs, Starnes said earlier.

"The mass labor dispute incident for this unit has been resolved," said Chu Lixian, head of the rights and interests department of the Huairou District Labour Union.

"Both sides have come to an agreement through joint efforts made by Mr. Starnes and the workers' side. The results have turned out to be satisfactory."

The workers' demands followed rumors that the entire plant was being closed after the company's plastic injection molding division began a move to India to lower production costs.

"As of now my boss Chip feels exhausted after two harsh days and has gone back to a hotel, okay?" Specialty Medical General Manager Xing Shuang told Reuters Television. "This is all I have to say."

Starnes spent the week inside the plant, which produces alcohol pads and plastic blood lancets for diabetics, behind barred windows. He could not be immediately reached for comment.

The stand-off highlighted one of the lesser-known risks of doing business in China - that trust between workers and management, and faith in the legal system, is often low.

Starnes, whose company is based in Florida, flew to China on June 18 and his detention started on Friday.

(Writing by Terril Yue Jones; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-boss-held-captive-angry-chinese-employees-released-065633865.html

national archives brock lesnar kentucky jayhawks wwe wrestlemania oakland shooting mega millions winning numbers

Summer Travel Insurance Tips | GradGuard Blog

Summer break fortunately often comes with vacations. Whether you?re road tripping to the west coast, studying abroad in Spain, or enjoying the beaches of Southeast Asia, travel insurance can help make your trip a safe one.

Why should you consider purchasing travel insurance for your summer trip? Here are a few tips on what travel insurance can help you protect:

?Get your money back.

If something goes wrong, travel insurance can help protect you from reimbursement restrictions, unexpected medical costs, and more. Most airline and cruise companies have very strict policies on trip cancellation, and many only offer credit with specific time limits as reimbursement. Travel insurance helps with these costs and can reimburse you with cash.

?Added medical benefits.

Travel insurance also provides protection for medical events and from large medical expenses. If you are traveling in a foreign country, for instance, and you seriously injure yourself, the hospitals there may charge you a great deal more for treatment than you would get at home.?Travel insurance can provide evacuation in these circumstances to get you back home so you can receive treatment there.

Protect your baggage.

Another common dilemma that travelers often run into is problems with baggage. Baggage can be lost, damaged, or stolen, when the airport makes a mistake.

Protect your identity.

Another problem you might run into during a vacation or study abroad trip is identity theft. Identity theft is a growing problem that is unfortunately prevalent among travelers. Some travel insurance plans?, offer Travel Assistance services such as ID theft recovery to help you figure out the next step if your identity has been stolen.

While travel insurance will help you should you run into an undesirable situation?illness, disaster, theft, or lost luggage, it?s best to be aware of the dangers of going abroad and preparing for them. There are preventative measures that you can take to ensure that you will have a great, problem-free vacation.

Firstly, make sure your belongings are secure when you?re taking public transportation, and don?t let them out of your sight. When taking a plane, carry on if you can. If you need to check your baggage, make sure it is clearly labeled with your name, phone number, and address so it can be returned if it is lost. If you?re traveling in a foreign country, always be aware of your surroundings to avoid getting into a tough situation. Lastly, different countries sometimes have different, exotic food that you?re dying to try. However, it?s always best to do your research to find the best restaurants to make sure you don?t get sick.

Source: http://blog.gradguard.com/2013/06/summer-travel-insurance-tips/

Robert Bork mark sanchez Mayan End Of The World Olivia Black World Ending 2012 gossip girl Ink Master

Welcoming a Summer Break From the 'Rug-Rat Race' - NYTimes.com

[unable to retrieve full-text content]If my children stay home to play after school, guess what? Those children down the street won't be home. Actually, nobody will be home. Because everybody who can run this gauntlet, does.

Source: http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/26/welcoming-a-summer-break-from-the-rug-rat-race/

emmys Kanye West sex tape torrey smith torrey smith oakland raiders Jessica Lange NFL scores week 3

The Forever War

Brian Brown attends a panel debating gay marriage in New York in 2010.

Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

The archenemy of the gay marriage movement moved among them, and they didn?t seem to notice. Brian Brown, the affable president of the National Organization for Marriage, walked in front of the Supreme Court looking for his next interview. He glanced at one of the celebrants? signs, ?Time for the Sexually Hung-Up Supremes to Come Out of Their Closets,? and winced a little. He slipped through a crowd of gay men?s chorus members in red shirts taking their pictures with Barney Frank.

Brown kept plowing ahead, looking for the interview stand-up spot. He?d spent the past 4? years leading a cause??traditional marriage??that the media considers as spent and musty as candle power. The media expected Wednesday to finish off that cause and reported on the death of the Defense of Marriage Act and California?s Proposition 8 in historical where-were-you-when terms. But Brown wasn?t thinking about defeat.

?They?re claiming a little bit of a victory,? said Brown, referring to the pro-gay marriage litigants. ?I think they?re both horrible decisions, but they didn?t do what Ted Olson and David Boies wanted them to do, which was a Roe v. Wade for marriage. We?re far from that. Now we?re going back to the states.? Those states included California. ?If the Ninth Circuit court is vacated, you have a decision that only applied to two couples. There?s going to be a petition for rehearing.?

At that moment, California Attorney General Kamala Harris was promising that ?the wedding bells will ring? as soon as the circuit court lifts its stay on gay marriages. Rep. Mark Takano, the first nonwhite openly gay member of Congress, was on MSNBC gushing about gay weddings starting again ?today.?

But traditional marriage advocates aren?t wrong about the delays to come. Legalizing gay marriage in 37 states will require a combination of voter referenda, successful lawsuits, legislation, and repeal of fresh state constitutional amendments that redefined marriage. It?ll take a while.

That?s not all bad for liberals. A ?Roe for gay marriage? was the dream scenario, sure, but it would have given conservatives yet more proof that runaway courts were defiling the Will of the People. (You could practically hear them pining for that argument in a sad Wednesday ?press conference,? where Republican members of the House defended Prop 8 as the wise judgment of voters, then split without answering any follow-up questions.) Wednesday?s decisions set up years of gay marriage fights in states such as Oregon and Michigan and New Jersey, where the issue?s a stone-cold winner. ?Let?s put marriage equality on the ballot,? tweeted an Arizona Democratic legislator, who figured it would win even in his Republican state.

But is the momentum spreading to redder states? The pro-gay marriage flood that started after the November election finally reached the shore this month. Polls, like the past few from CBS News, suggest that pro-gay marriage enthusiasm peaked around 51 percent and has stayed there. And that?s nationally, averaging in the support from liberal megastates (New York) that have settled the issue.

Ohio Sen. Rob Portman?s announcement that he supported gay marriage was supposed to free other conservatives to reveal that they agreed with him. Only two major ones, Alaska?s Lisa Murkowski and Illinois? Mark Kirk, have done so. Former Rep. Bob Barr, the DOMA author who famously recanted, is now a congressional candidate again. He responded to the ruling by promising voters that ?I personally believe marriage should be defined as between one man and one woman and, if it were on the ballot in Georgia, I'd vote that way.? And just four weeks ago, Kirk?s Illinois, currently run by a Democratic governor and a veto-proof Democratic legislature, belly-flopped on a gay marriage bill when a coalition of black Democrats and ethnic Catholic groups stuck the shiv in.

Maybe Wednesday?s decisions put some gas back in Democrats? engines. But Washington looks like legislative stalemate. Conservatives can stop Democrats from passing the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal the husk of DOMA that the court let live. But the Federal Marriage Amendment they long for would need supermajority votes in both the House and Senate, and they couldn?t even get that during the Bush era.

?I?ve already requested the language,? said Kansas Republican Rep. Tim Huelskamp. ?We?ll hopefully gather co-sponsors, and hopefully this week we?ll see if [passing it] is possible. This is a winning issue. All you have to do is look at what happened to California in 2008. John McCain got creamed, and at the same time, the folks that wouldn?t vote for a Republican?particularly minority communities?came out to support traditional marriage. It?s probably the most attractive feature of the Republican Party, our support for traditional marriage and other issues.?

Conservatives can enforce that orthodoxy for now. In 2012, most credible candidates for the GOP nomination competed in Iowa and signed a series of marriage pledges. The pledges of both the National Organization for Marriage and the Iowa Family Leader committed candidates to the Federal Marriage Amendment. Mitt Romney skipped the Family Leader?s pledge, and its sponsor went on to endorse Rick Santorum, who won the state and?to the mystification of non-Iowan nonconservatives?returned as a national figure with a voice inside the party.

?This decision today elevates the marriage debate,? said Bob Vander Plaats, president and CEO of the Family Leader. Conservatives will get to see where the potential leaders of the party stand when they come to Iowa for an Aug. 10 Family Leadership Summit. ?Some will venture into this and say it?s a states? rights issue. Some will say we need a marriage amendment,? Vander Plaats said. He didn?t say which stance would become the litmus test, but he offered some powerful hints. ?We view marriage much like abortion, much like slavery. If it?s illegal in one state, it should be illegal everywhere, transcending boundaries.?

That?s the debate conservatives need to prep for. The marriage movement wasn?t ended by the court?s marriage rulings. ?Today gave us a mixed bag,? said Vander Plaats, ?but it?s a mixed bag we can use.?

Read more from Slate?s coverage of gay marriage.

Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2013/06/doma_and_the_supreme_court_brian_brown_and_other_traditional_conservatives.html

marco rubio Zero Hour Funny Valentines Chris Kyle Russian meteor Meteor Hits Russia Dorner Manifesto

Square Market: An Online Market For All Your Artisanal Needs

Having already convinced small businesses and folks to use their phone to buy and sell goods, today Square is announcing Square Market, an online marketplace to, well, buy and sell goods.

Now, local artisanal purveyors who might already use Square Register can go from selling locally to slinging goods anywhere without the overhead cost of paying someone to build out an ecommerce site. As Square CEO and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey told me, "it's as easy as flipping a switch."

From Square Market, you can also share items to Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest and immediately purchase anything that tickles your fancy. So in the event that you find a cute shop that uses Square in San Francisco or Portland or wherever folks like to put things on things, you can continue to buy from them even when you're no longer in that city.

Even more interesting is that Square built this new ecommerce platform in just three months, Dorsey tells me. Square Market goes live tonight. Now go buy some fancy coffee. Or not. [Square]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/square-market-an-online-market-for-all-your-artisanal-578454017

national enquirer kate gosselin helicopter crash matt jones whitney houston in casket photo resolute national enquirer whitney houston casket photo