Kristen Stewart Oscars Fashion: Grade It!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/02/kristen-stewart-oscars-fashion-grade-it/

islands 2013 nissan altima

03/30 Place as Character with Judy Reeves | San Diego Writers, Ink

Place can have a role in fiction and nonfiction as memorable as any of the characters who populate the story. Think of Faulkner?s Yoknapatawpha, Dillard?s Tinker Creek, Steinbeck?s California. Every human event happens somewhere, and the reader wants to know what that somewhere is like. Place grounds the story, sets the scene, and creates the background where story plays out. Place influences how characters speak, eat, and make love; it shapes their beliefs, values, and moral choices. History and memory are rooted in place and the map of our psyche is found in the geography or our past. This workshop will explore the role of place in writing. We?ll look at how it influences the voice and perspective of the writer (all skill levels welcome), and discuss ways for the writer to render real or fictional place through description, detail, and imagery.

Judy Reeves is a writer, teacher and writing practice provocateur whose books include?A Writer?s Book of Days; Writing Alone, Writing Together; A Creative Writer?s Kit?and?The Writer?s Retreat Kit. Her work has also appeared in the San Diego Reader,?The Frozen Moment, ?A Year in Ink, Vols I?and?5?and other antholgies. Two plays, written with a women?s writing ensemble, were produced in the Fritz Blitz. In addition to leading private writing workshops and retreats, Judy teaches at UCSD Extension and speaks at writing conferences internationally. A tenth?anniversary Revised Edition of?A Writer?s Book of Days?was named Best Nonfiction in the 2010 San Diego Book Awards. Her latest release is the?Daily Appointment Calendar for Writers.?Her website is?judyreeveswriter.com?She blogs at?livelymuse.com.

PLEASE NOTE: It is best to register early to help our instructors prepare and ensure the class does not get cancelled or shifted to another date and time.? We evaluate registration numbers between 7 and 3 days before a class start to decide about whether to keep or reschedule it.? By registering 7 days or more in advance, you help us help our participants and instructors in many ways.

Source: http://www.sandiegowriters.org/?p=6531

creighton new smyrna beach st. joseph

Show Upcoming Facebook Friends Birthdays

This query will grab a list of all the friends in the logged in users account:

SELECT uid, name, birthday_date FROM user WHERE uid IN (SELECT uid2 FROM friend WHERE uid1=me()) ORDER BY birthday_date ASC 

The pitfall of this is, you will need to check if the user has entered his/her birthday in their Facebook accounts.

A better query is (at least what I think is better):

SELECT uid, name, birthday_date FROM user WHERE uid IN (SELECT uid2 FROM friend WHERE uid1=me()) AND birthday_date >= '02/01' AND birthday_date <= '07/01' ORDER BY birthday_date ASC 

This one gets just the list of users who have filled in their birthday's in their Facebook accounts. And with the use of ORDER BY birthday_date, they will always be with the upcoming birthday at the top going all the way down to the last one in the result set.

The pitfall of this is, and feel free to test it, I have never once got the entire years worth of birthdays using the second query. SO in my application, I call in 6 months of data at a time. This has been always precise and pretty much, bang on.

I suspect, the second query will suit your purpose considering that you need to show the upcoming birthday at the top of the list. To ensure you always get the current date and month for a precise result at all times, use this example (and a simple Google search or SO search will give you more) to get the current date and month:

http://www.asbhtechsolutions.com/android-tutorials/android-get-current-date-and-time

Then, concatenate a String and pass that instance as the query.

NOTE: The month and the date used in the query need to be double digits at all times.

Source: http://facebook.stackoverflow.com/questions/14972171/show-upcoming-facebook-friends-birthdays

easter bunny navy jet crash virginia beach isiah thomas passover easter recipes live free or die hard carlos pena

iPad mini now showing ?in stock? online in several countries

Apple has had a hard time catching up with consumer demand for its iPad?mini. Since the tablet debuted four months ago, supply has been extremely constrained, with shipping times only recently dropping below a week.

But today, it appears that supply and demand is finally starting to even out for the popular slate, as the mini now shows an availability status of ?in stock? in Apple web stores in several countries around the world?

As noted by MacRumors, Apple?s?online stores for the?United States,?Canada,?Australia, Mexico and a number of other countries now show all iPad mini models as ?in stock,? meaning they are available for immediate shipping.

This marks the first time this has happened since the 7.9-inch tablet launched on November 2nd of last year. Initial pre-order stock sold out during opening weekend, and shipping times stayed around a month until January.

Although Apple has never confessed to what was causing the mini constraints, it was?speculated last fall?that the shortage was due to low yield rates of the tablet?s GF2 touchscreen tech. Obviously, whatever it was has been fixed.

Needless to say, the iPad mini has been a very successful product for Apple thus far, and rumors have already started flying about the next one. The latest reports allege that a Retina-equipped model is on track for an October launch.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/iphonedlb/~3/hQhoLsTwI20/

john scott barry sanders barry sanders jimmie johnson juan pablo montoya crash chardon high school shooting mark martin

Why We Need a Federal Criminal Law Response to Revenge Porn

posted by Mary Anne Franks

As promised in the comments section of my last post, I offer in this post the outline of my proposal to effectively combat revenge porn. A few preliminary notes: one, this is very much a work in progress as well as being my first foray into drafting legislative language of any kind. Two, a note about terminology: while ?revenge porn? is an attention-grabbing term, it is imprecise and potentially misleading. The best I have come up with as a replacement is ?non-consensual pornography,? so that is the term I will use throughout this post. I would be interested to hear suggestions for a better term as well as any other constructive thoughts and feedback.

I want to emphasize at the outset that the problem of non-consensual pornography is not limited to the scenarios that receive the most media attention, that is, when A gives B (often an intimate partner) an intimate photo that B distributes without A?s consent. Non-consensual pornography includes the recording and broadcasting of a sexual assault for prurient purposes and distributing sexually graphic images obtained through hacking or other illicit means. Whatever one?s views on pornography more broadly, it should be a non-controversial proposition that pornography must at a minimum be restricted to individuals who are (1. adults and (2. consenting. Federal and state laws take the first very seriously; it is time they took consent requirements seriously as well.

Before I offer my proposal for what a federal criminal prohibition of non-consensual pornography could look like, I want to explain why looking to federal criminal law is the most appropriate and effective response to the problem. In doing so, I do not mean to suggest that other avenues are illegitimate or ill-advised. I support the use of existing laws or other reform proposals to the extent that they are able to deter non-consensual pornography or provide assistance to victims. That being said, here is my case for why federal criminal law is the best way to address non-consensual pornography, in Q&A form.

Why criminal law? Can?t the problem be adequately addressed by tort and/or copyright law? There are two answers to this, one concerning what could be called legal integrity and the other concerning practical obstacles. On the first, we should regard non-consensual pornography as a crime because that is the most accurate and principled characterization of its harm. Non-consensual pornography may indeed also be a violation of privacy or an infringement of copyright, but it is at its base an act of sexual use without consent. When such sexual use is inflicted on an individual?s physical body, we call it rape or sexual assault. We also accept, both as a matter of intuition and as a matter of law, that forcing an individual to strip naked and perform sexual acts can plausibly be considered a crime, even if the perpetrator never touches the victim. The fact that perpetrators and victims are not in physical proximity in non-consensual pornography should not change this analysis.?Nor should the fact that such an assault is not physical remove it from the category of criminal sexual use without consent. Our society readily accepts that child pornography, for example, is a crime separate from the physical act of child abuse ? that is, we recognize that the production and distribution of the image is a harm in itself. Of course this does not mean, as some have tried to suggest, that this would lead to the ridiculous result that we should or could criminalize any sexual thought a person has of another person without their consent. The fact that viewing and distributing child pornography is a crime clearly does not lead to the result that merely thinking sexually about a child must also be a crime; there is no reason to think that criminalizing non-consensual pornography would require such a result either. The Supreme Court recognized in New York v. Ferber that the ?distribution of photographs and films depicting sexual activity by juveniles is intrinsically related to the sexual abuse of children in at least two ways. First, the materials produced are a permanent record of the children?s participation and the harm to the child is exacerbated by their circulation. Second, the distribution network for child pornography must be closed if the production of material which requires the sexual exploitation of children is to be effectively controlled ? The most expeditious, if not the only practical, method of law enforcement may be to dry up the market for this material by imposing severe criminal penalties on persons selling, advertising, or otherwise promoting the product.? Victims of non-consensual pornography of any age are harmed each time a person views or shares their intimate images, and to allow the traffic in such images to flourish increases the demand and the pervasiveness of such images.

With regard to practical obstacles, tort actions place a tremendous burden on the victim and in many cases will be an implausible or impossible approach. Civil litigation of any kind requires money, time, and access to legal resources. Perhaps most distressingly, it often requires further dissemination of the very material that harms the victim. The irony of privacy actions is that they generally require further breaches of privacy to be effective. Moreover, the priority of most victims is to have the material removed, not to recover damages. Additionally, in many cases the party responsible will not have enough financial resources to make a damages claim worthwhile (i.e., the defendant will be judgment-proof). This leads us to the other difficulty in bringing tort claims for non-consensual pornography: it?s very difficult to find a party to sue. Given the ease with which individual purveyors of non-consensual pornography can access or distribute images anonymously, it is difficult to identify and prove (especially for the purposes of a lawsuit) who they are. So why not go after the websites distributing the images? The answer, as Prof. Citron and others have detailed, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act will probably stand in the way. CDA ?230 has been interpreted to grant website owners and operators far-ranging immunity for tortious material submitted by third-party users (?No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.?). Though one can hope that more courts rule along the lines of the Ninth Circuit in Fair Housing Council v. Roommates.com, such rulings are very rare so far.

Copyright law is more promising for some victims of non-consensual pornography because CDA ?230 does not immunize websites from copyright claims. If a victim took the image or video herself, she is the copyright owner and can in theory take action against unauthorized use. This strategy has proven successful in some cases. However, this option will not be of use to the many victims who do not take the images or videos themselves. Some lawyers and scholars have suggested that an expansive conception of ?joint authorship? might cover these victims, but it is not clear how much traction this theory will have in actual cases. Moreover, similar problems of publicity, time, and resources that accompany tort claims hinder copyright claims.

Why aren?t existing criminal laws (many of which are federal) sufficient to address this issue?? Some forms of non-consensual pornography fit, or could be argued to fit, definitions of existing crimes. None of them, however, could be used in more than a minority of cases, and the protections they offer are incomplete. For example, if 18 U.S.C. 2257 sets out recordkeeping requirements for producers of pornography, but it is seriously limited in two ways.? First, the statute?s definition of ?producer? does not seem to include websites that solicit images from third-party users, which are the websites most likely to include non-consensual pornography. Second, the law focuses almost exclusively on age-verifying identification. It sets out no requirements to verify that the individuals portrayed have consented to the use of their images. Thus, adult victims are not protected. The Interstate Anti-Stalking Punishment and Prevention Act: 18 U.S.C. 2261A makes it a crime ?to use the mail, any interactive computer service, or any interstate or foreign commerce facility to engage in a course of conduct that causes substantial emotional distress to a person or causes the person or a relative to fear for his or her life or physical safety.? This statute could apply to some instances of non-consensual pornography, but has not often been interpreted to do so. In addition, many perpetrators of non-consensual pornography may not fulfill the intent requirement of the statute, namely, the intent to ?to kill, injure, harass, or intimidate a spouse, intimate partner, or dating partner.? Many admitted purveyors of non-consensual pornography maintain, with some plausibility, that their sole intention is to obtain notoriety, fulfill some sexual desire, or increase traffic for their websites. Additionally, many individuals involved in the production or distribution of non-consensual pornography have no intimate relationship to the victim as required by the statute. The Video Voyeurism Prevention Act of 2004, 18 U.S.C. 1801, makes it a crime to intentionally ?capture an image of a private area of an individual without their consent, and knowingly do[] so under circumstances in which the individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy.? Substantively, this Act could cover some instances of non-consensual pornography, but it is not clear that this statute would reach situations in which the initial image is consensually produced or given, but subsequent dissemination and access is not. The statute is written without acknowledgment of the contextual nature of consent. The statute?s reach is moreover limited to ?the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States.? Finally, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 18 U.S.C. 1030, addresses various forms of computer fraud and hacking. Because non-consensual pornography sometimes involves computer fraud and hacking, some perpetrators would theoretically run afoul of this statute. However, such activity is not the real target of this statute, and there are ways to participate in the creation or distribution of non-consensual pornography that do not involve hacking or fraud as defined by this statute.

Why federal, as opposed to state, criminal law? State laws, while important, have limited jurisdiction. The fact that one or even many states might criminalize non-consensual pornography will not help a person who is victimized in a state that does not. The Internet has greatly facilitated the capacity to commit interstate crimes, and the only way to reach such crimes is through federal law. However, it is important for states to pass their own non-consensual pornography laws, in part because the distribution of such content does not always take place on the Internet. A person standing on a street corner handing out photographs or DVDs containing non-consensual pornography is likely not engaging in interstate commerce. In such an instance, state, not federal, law is the way to prohibit or punish his conduct. A federal criminal law on non-consensual pornography would also have the salutary effect of providing a model for state laws. In the absence of such a federal law, New Jersey provides an example for other states and the federal government in its criminalization of certain invasions of privacy, in particular those involving intimate photographs or videos. New Jersey law prohibits a range of acts of non-consensual observation or disclosure of sexual activity.

Doesn?t criminalizing non-consensual pornography raise First Amendment concerns? The Supreme Court held in Miller v. California that obscenity does not receive First Amendment protection. The Court set out guidelines for determining whether material is obscene: ?(a) whether ?the average person, applying contemporary community standards? would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest, ?; (b) whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law; and (c) whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.? Further, the Supreme Court held in New York v. Ferber that child pornography is not protected by the First Amendment: ?The test for child pornography is separate from the obscenity standard enunciated in Miller, but may be compared to it for the purpose of clarity. The Miller formulation is adjusted in the following respects: a trier of fact need not find that the material appeals to the prurient interest of the average person; it is not required that sexual conduct portrayed be done so in a patently offensive manner; and the material at issue need not be considered as a whole.? Non-consensual pornography plausibly fits either into the category of ?obscenity? or as a variation of child pornography, thus depriving it of First Amendment protection. Of course, statutory language must be carefully drafted to avoid vagueness and overbreadth, and I have tried to be sensitive to such concerns in my draft statute.

What would a federal criminal statute on non-consensual pornography look like? In drafting a proposed statute, I have examined the language and provisions of existing state and federal criminal laws on other forms of sexual abuse. The following is the product of my efforts so far.

Proposed Federal Law: Non-Consensual Pornography

I. Whoever uses the mail, any interactive computer service, or any facility of interstate or foreign commerce to engage in a course of conduct or travels in interstate or foreign commerce or within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States to produce or disclose a sexually graphic visual depiction of an individual without that individual?s consent shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

A. Definitions:

(1) ?Disclosure? includes creation, distribution, publication, dissemination, transfer, sale, purchase, delivery, trade, offering, or advertising;

(2)? ?Sexually graphic? means revealing intimate areas of an individual or exposing an individual engaged in sexually explicit conduct;

a. ?Intimate areas? is defined as in 18 USC?? 1801: ?the naked or undergarment-clad genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or any portion of the female breast below the top of the areola?;

b. ?Sexually explicit conduct? is defined as in 18 USC ? 2256: ?(i) graphic sexual intercourse, including genital-genital, oral-genital, anal-genital, or oral-anal, whether between persons of the same or opposite sex, or lascivious simulated sexual intercourse where the genitals, breast, or pubic area of any person is exhibited; (ii) graphic or lascivious simulated; (I) bestiality; (II) masturbation; or (III) sadistic or masochistic abuse; or (iii) graphic or simulated lascivious exhibition of the genitals or pubic area of any person?;

(3) ?Visual depiction? is defined as in?18 USC ? 2256: ?includes undeveloped film and videotape, data stored on computer disk or by electronic means which is capable of conversion into a visual image, and data which is capable of conversion into a visual image that has been transmitted by any means, whether or not stored in a permanent format;

II. It is an affirmative defense to a crime under this statute that:

A. ? The actor can produce verifiable written consent by the individual(s) depicted. The falsification of such forms shall be punishable by law.

B. ?? The actor acted with a lawful purpose, including law enforcement in connection with a criminal prosecution; compliance with subpoenas or court orders for use in legal proceedings; routine security observation by retail establishments when such observation is clearly posted; employers acting within the scope of their employment.

?February 15, 2013 at 9:51 am ? Posted?in:?Criminal Law, Cyber Civil Rights, Cyberlaw, Legal Theory, Privacy ???Print This Post

Source: http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2013/02/why-we-need-a-federal-criminal-law-response-to-revenge-porn.html

jim irsay the new ipad apple announcement indianapolis colts joseph kony joseph kony ipad 3 release date

Canadian Corridor of Fame

Horses are viewed as pets of the aristocratic classes of society. The people belonging to these classes invest plenty of their resources on their pets, on their nourishing, on their breeds, their food etc. they took pains to serve their horses in the best manner. In this regard Canada is considered as an area for these people. Canadians are the lovers of horses that?s why Racehorse Canada is considered as Canadian corridor of fame. As an outcome a lot of its economy depends upon these horse races. The Jockey Club at Ontario is one of the most famous race clubs of The us.

Standardbred Canada is considered as the best race horses of the world. This is the famous variety of horses which took part in harness races; which are known as the famous races of the world. The horses of this breed are very expensive and rare; their qualities are adorable such as their muscular structure, long and strong legs and hindquarters. Hat is why these horses are famous among kings and queens. Some people referred these horses as Canadian horses.

Horse racing is considered as an adventurous sport of The us because in this game the rider and the horse both participate. People originated in all over the world to watch this race. This sport hails from Greek and now it is flourishing all over the world and The us is one of them.

Different horses belonging to different breeds participate in this race. Among the racehorses the best known selectively bred are standardbred and then thoroughbred. One is used for harness racing and the other one consider the horses that are only used in racing. The horses of this breed are slim and tall and are especially used in horse racing and equestrian sports. Thoroughbred horses are also known as hot blooded due to its spirituality and speed. Both types of racehorses are people-oriented and can be easily trained. So all these qualities easily recognized benefit of racehorses and horse racing in The us.

Thus, horses and horse racing is considered as corridor of frame in Canada and that is why it is followed as a ritual there and in the end the trainers, riders, jockeys, standardbred and thoroughbred all are awarded with prestigious recognizes and prizes. All this leads to the incredible importance of horses and sports for the people of Canada that how passionately they took interest in horse racing.

Source: http://www.briefingwire.com/pr/canadian-corridor-of-fame

awkward

The Yeshiva World Shas Infighting Accompanied by Calls For ...

With coalition talks in full swing and electioneering a thing of the past, for now at least, Shas is feeling the impact of running under the leadership of the dynamic trio, Eli Yishai, Aryeh Deri and Ariel Atias. The achdus arrangement may have provided interesting campaign posters, but it does not seem to work when a party is involved in intense coalition negotiations.

It barely succeeded in the elections and it appears the arrangement is deteriorating rapidly amid an increasingly audible call from within the party for the appointment of a single party leader. The three were appointed by Maran HaGaon HaRav Ovadia Yosef Shlita, as the Gadol Hador prefers not insulting Deri or Yishai, both having played pivotal roles in the party?s success over the years.

Shas sources quoted by Walla News explain it is not a working situation ?and even Prime Minister Netanyahu does not know with whom he should be speaking?, describing a dysfunctional situation in the party, a party struggling to find a seat at the cabinet table.

Things in Shas are not likely to calm any time soon as in a number of months election campaigns for local elections will get underway, not to mention the elections for new chief rabbis in June 2012.

As Shas seeks to negotiate a deal in the ongoing coalition talks many feel that Likud/Beitenu does not and cannot take the leadership trio seriously, realizing it is time to face the music and appoint one leader. The losers will simply have to accept the reality.

Another rumor floated in recent weeks is that Aryeh Deri is setting his sights on the Jerusalem mayoral election. Deri supporters point a finger of blame at Yishai, explaining he is simply doing what he can to embarrass Deri and compromise his integrity as party leader.

(YWN ? Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

Add your comment
Subscribe to RSS Feed For This Article

Source: http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/?p=157058

tony robbins bon iver abraham lincoln vampire hunter their eyes were watching god lara logan manu ginobili sports illustrated swimsuit 2012

Is It Okay to Steal if You're from the Government? - Daniel J. Mitchell ...

In early January, I shared a ?libertarian purity test? based on 64 questions.

I was a bit disappointed that I only scored a 94 out of a possible 160, but my excuse is that it was really a test of anarcho-capitalism. And as I explained when sharing this amusing video, I?m only in favor of getting rid of 90 percent of government.

But maybe the simplest test of libertarianism (and also the simplest test of whether you?re a decent human being) is to see whether you?re upset by the following story.

It combines the lunacy of the drug war with the evil of asset forfeiture.

Here are some of the truly disgusting details from the OC Weekly. First we learn about the victims of this government abuse.

?he and his wife purchased the Anaheim building, which has suites for up to 12 offices, in 2003 and that her dental practice was located there. ?Over the years, they?ve rented to a variety of tenants, from insurance companies to an immigration service.

This unfortunate couple rented space to a group that seemed to comply with federal and state legal requirements.

Source: http://townhall.com/columnists/danieljmitchell/2013/02/13/is-it-okay-to-steal-if-youre-from-the-government-n1511022

missouri primary minnesota caucus knowshon moreno

Video: Arrests made in murder of Chicago teen

>>> chicago police have arrested two men in connection with the murder of teen hadiya pendleton days after first lady michelle obama attended the girl's funeral. kevin tibbles has the latest. good morning.

>> reporter: good morning, natalie. two men will appear in court in chicago this morning for the murder of hadiya pendleton , whose death so tragically highlight highlights the problem of guns and gangs in this city. chicago police say they have charged two men, 18-year-old michael ward and kenneth williams , 20, with hadiya pendleton 's murder.

>> sadly hadiya 's life was cut far too short by the unksconscious actions of two criminals who have been charged this evening.

>> reporter: 15-year-old pendleton was shot to death not far from president obama 's chicago home two weeks ago. an innocent, police say, murdered by gang members seeking retaliation, adding that michael ward has confessed to pulling the trigger.

>> they thought the group they shot into included members of a rival gang. instead, it was a group of upstanding, determined kids.

>> reporter: pendleton 's family in washington to attend this evening's state of the union address , expressed relief and gratitude.

>> i'm happy that the murderer of hadiya is now off the street. i look forward and hope they are convicted and i'm going to be in court every day.

>> hadiya 's death moved the city of chicago to mourning. her funeral, attended by first lady michelle obama and hundreds of friends and classmates.

>> we have to stop the violence .

>> ward and williams have been charged with first-degree murder and two counts of battery with a firearm.

>> kudos to chicago pd . you all did a great job and kept us, you know, involved and, you know -- thank you.

>> reporter: and on friday, president obama plans to travel to chicago for a series of meetings on gun violence and a series of other issues. natalie?

>> kevin tibbles in chicago . thanks so much, kevin .

Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50780572/

ufc diaz vs condit

Pepsi Launches New Low-Calorie Juice With A Limited Edition ...

PepsiCo has partnered with British fashion designer Richard Nicoll to create a ?Stella? dress to promote the new low-calorie orange juice Trop50. Ad Age notes that this newly launched Tropicana-branded drink has 50% less sugar and 50% fewer calories than regular juice.

The 100% silk dress, which costs ?555 ($872), is exclusive to Atelier-To-Go and is a limited edition with just fifty produced. It features a citrus print, keyhole button fastening to the back of the neck, short sleeves with double buttoned cuffs, and a contrasting orange back.

All profits from the sales of the dress will go towards Fashion Targets Breast Cancer.Tropicana?s marketing manager, Duncan McKay, said:

Trop50 is this year?s most exciting juice innovation so we?re thrilled to be working with Richard Nicoll, the hottest designer at the forefront of British fashion. Trop50 is perfect for those who are conscious of their calorie intake but do not want to compromise on taste.

You can see more of the dress and the designer in the video below:

Atelier-To-Go

Source: http://www.psfk.com/2013/02/pepsi-orange-juice-dress.html

Avalanna

Weather Kid Goes Viral: Best Forecast Ever!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/02/weather-kid-goes-viral-best-forecast-ever/

giuliana and bill bill rancic

New Myanmar prisoner amnesty committee needs wider mandate ...

The Myanmar government?s decision to form a committee to review political prisoner cases is a step in the right direction but the review needs to have a much wider reach, Amnesty International said.

?We are heartened by this very important first step towards establishing a review mechanism. However, it is imperative to have assurances that the mandate of this new committee will extend to all prisoners who have been unfairly detained, not only political prisoners,? said Isabelle Arradon, Amnesty International?s Deputy-Director for the Asia-Pacific.?

The government yesterday announced it would proceed with setting up the committee, which will look into granting amnesties to political prisoners. Many prisoners of conscience are still imprisoned in Myanmar, having been falsely charged or convicted of a serious offense, arbitrarily detained, or imprisoned solely for their peaceful political activities. .

?The commission should have a strong mandate in order to bring an end to arbitrary detentions and ensure human rights for prisoners and detainees in Myanmar.? Arradon added.

Activists, former political prisoners and some politicians in Myanmar as well as some regional and international NGOs, including Amnesty International, have been publicly pushing the Myanmar authorities since late 2011 to set up a body that would take on the country?s vast record of unjust imprisonment.

Amnesty International is calling for the review mechanism to identify all detainees and prisoners who were charged or convicted as a result of unfair trials and other proceedings that did not meet international human rights standards. This would include convictions that relied on confessions extracted under torture.

According to an announcement made by the President?s Office yesterday, the review committee will be comprised of members of the government ministries, civil society organizations and political parties.

?We are waiting for clear commitments that the commission will be independent, impartial, properly resourced, and their decisions based on international human rights standards,? said Arradon.

Amnesty International is calling for the government to immediately and unconditionally release all prisoners of conscience, and to retry fairly any person found to have suffered an unfair trial.

Source: http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/new-myanmar-prisoner-amnesty-committee-needs-wider-mandate-2013-02-08

justin theroux Bumbo recall USA Basketball taio cruz taio cruz Winter Olympics 2014 powerball numbers

Brennan doesn't know if waterboarding got results (The Arizona Republic)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/283396830?client_source=feed&format=rss

powell the last lecture kim jong un josh powell madonna halftime show linsanity the alamo

FDA Alert: More Counterfeit Cancer Med Found in US - Colorectal ...

The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an alert that a counterfeit batch of bevacizumab??(labeled Altuzan?and having no active ingredient) has been found in the U.S. The counterfeit version with a Roche Altuzan?label was distributed by a U.S. company Medical Device King (also known as Pharmalogical).

Even if it was not counterfeit, Altuzan?is not FDA-approved for U.S. distribution. The only FDA-approved version of bevacizumab?for U.S. sale is Avastin, marketed by Genentech.

Medical practices that have obtained any medical products from Medical Device King, Pharmalogical, or Taranis Medical should stop using the products and contact FDA?s Office of Criminal Investigations to arrange collection. The FDA has repeatedly urged medical practices not to obtain drugs from non-verified (and often unlicensed) sources.

One year ago,? a similar counterfeit version of bevacizumab with a Roche label was given to cancer patients by at least 19 U.S. medical practices.

The problem of counterfeit drugs is not new: Last January 2012, the FDA warned healthcare providers?not to buy injectable cancer medications from ?direct-to-clinic? promotions or non-verified sources:

?Health care providers are reminded to obtain and use only FDA-approved injectable cancer medications purchased directly from the manufacturer or from wholesale distributors licensed in the United States.?

In fact, counterfeit drugs have long been a global problem.?A Feb 2012 editorial in The Lancet??noted that while fake drugs have long been a serious problem in Africa and Asia,

??Counterfeiting has become more and more prevalent in developed countries as drug supply chains increasingly cross continents.?

Last summer (August 2012) Fight Colorectal Cancer joined with five other cancer organizations urging Congress to adopt proposed legislation?to tighten security by creating a national pharmaceutical distribution standard including:

• Placing serial numbers on each package, or unit, of medicine;
• Implementing a system that tracks medicine at this unit level as they move from the manufacturers to the patient; and
• Phased-in regulations to ensure that pharmacies and clinics are using the new ?track and trace? system to protect patients.

Carlea?Bauman, president of Fight Colorectal Cancer, said today, ?We?continue working closely with both the FDA and Congress to get a more secure national distribution system because counterfeit drugs may endanger cancer patients? lives.?

More?information about current counterfeit drug

The FDA bulletin?contains batch numbers involved, tips for spotting counterfeit drug labels, and contact numbers for reporting or getting more information on this or any drug or device.

Sources: Feb. 5 2013 FDA Health Care Provider Alert ; Feb. 25 2012 Lancet;?Fight?Colorectal Cancer updates on?Feb 15 2012,?Feb. 24 2012, Aug. 15 2012.

Disclosure: Fight Colorectal Cancer has accepted funding for projects and educational programs from Genentech, maker of Avastin, in the form of unrestricted educational grants. Fight Colorectal Cancer has ultimate authority over website content.

Source: http://fightcolorectalcancer.org/c3_news/2013/02/fda_alert_more_counterfeit_cancer_med_found_in_us

mia amar e stoudemire m.i.a. adrianne curry

New Notre Dame bells make harmonious history

Some of the nine new bronze bells are displayed in Notre Dame cathedral during a ceremony of blessing by Paris Archbishop Andre Vingt-Trois in Paris, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2013. Nine enormous new bronze bells have made their way at Notre Dame Cathedral, helping the medieval edifice to rediscover its historical harmony. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Some of the nine new bronze bells are displayed in Notre Dame cathedral during a ceremony of blessing by Paris Archbishop Andre Vingt-Trois in Paris, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2013. Nine enormous new bronze bells have made their way at Notre Dame Cathedral, helping the medieval edifice to rediscover its historical harmony. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

The nine new bronze bells are displayed in Notre Dame cathedral during a ceremony of blessing by Paris Archbishop Andre Vingt-Trois in Paris, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013. Nine enormous new bronze bells have made their way at Notre Dame Cathedral, helping the medieval edifice to rediscover its historical harmony. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

The nine new bronze bells are displayed in Notre Dame cathedral during a ceremony of blessing by Paris Archbishop Andre Vingt-Trois in Paris, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013. Nine enormous new bronze bells have made their way at Notre Dame Cathedral, helping the medieval edifice to rediscover its historical harmony. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

A man takes a photo of one of the nine new bronze bells lined in Notre Dame cathedral during a ceremony of blessing by Paris Archbishop Andre Vingt-Trois in Paris, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013. Nine enormous new bronze bells have made their way at Notre Dame Cathedral, helping the medieval edifice to rediscover its historical harmony. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Paris Archbishop Andre Vingt-Trois celebrates mass during a ceremony of blessing for the nine new bronze bells in Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2013. Nine enormous new bronze bells have made their way at Notre Dame Cathedral, helping the medieval edifice to rediscover its historical harmony. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

PARIS (AP) ? The cathedral of Notre Dame ? French for "our lady" ? has finally got the prima donna worthy of its name.

Weighing in at six and a half tons or 6,000 kilograms of glistening bronze, this lady is no ordinary person: she's a bell named Mary.

Mary is in fact the largest ? and loudest ? of nine new, gargantuan Notre Dame bells being blessed Saturday in the cathedral's nave by Archbishop Andre Armand Vingt-Trois.

"They are beautiful (bells)... We will hear them ringing today during the celebration, and we will hear them during coming years as Notre Dame's chimes," Father Edouard, a priest from outside Paris who had come for the blessing, said.

The nine casts were ordered for the cathedral's 850th birthday ? to replace the discordant "ding dang" of the previous four 19th century chimes. After the originals bells ? including the original Mary ? were destroyed in the French Revolution, the replacements were widely said to be France's most out-of-tune church bells. There's some irony that in Victor Hugo's classic novel "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," the solitary bell-ringer Quasimodo was deaf.

For Catholics, as well as visitors with pitch-perfect ears, it's a historic moment for the cathedral.

"During the French Revolution, they (the original bells) were all brought down and broken except (one) and four other bells that were recast in the middle of the 19th century ... This will complete in a definitive manner the entire set of 10 bells as conceived ... in the Middle Ages," Notre Dame rector Patrick Jacquin said.

Jean-Marie, Maurice, Benoit-Joseph, Steven, Marcel, Dennis, Anne-Genevieve, Gabriel will ring together with Mary to add a harmony to the French gothic landmark, not heard since 1789.

Travelers have come far and wide to catch a glimpse of the bronze giants ? on public display until Feb. 25.

"I came from Spain, just for today to see them," 21-year-old Eugenia Santos said. "Notre Dame and the bells are famous thanks to the church and also Victor Hugo ... With more bells, maybe Quasimodo won't be so lonely anymore."

"It's a great event," Sister Dorothee Noel Raharitafitasoa, of Madagascar, said.

Testament to the international pull of Notre Dame ? with its 20 million annual visitors ? on each bell is written "Via viatores quaerit," latin for "I am the path looking for travelers."

Each dome has a unique and different patterning, some with shiny, matte and etched sections, and each chime to a beautiful different pitch.

The first time revelers will able to hear the new pealing will be on March 23, just in time for Palm Sunday and Easter week.

Mary will soon be hoisted up to the gothic south tower ready to sound out ? echoed by other eight in the north tower ? over the medieval gargoyles, historic rooftops, and the snaking Seine River.

___

Follow Thomas Adamson at http://Twitter.com/ThomasAdamsonAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-02-02-EU-France-Notre-Dame-Bells/id-f1a8c1fa9223413c8de808b7c2714f4b

CJ Spiller tracy morgan Chase.com

Transylvanian Wildlife Project: Insects

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.transylvanianwildlifeproject.com/2013/02/insects.html

spinal muscular atrophy brooklyn nets may day protests tony nominations 2012 facebook organ donor jessica simpson gives birth carrie underwood blown away

White House photo shows Obama firing shotgun (Washington Post)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/282305182?client_source=feed&format=rss

new apple tv sun flare love hewitt new ipad solar flare joseph kony 2012 arian foster

NBC News president Steve Capus stepping down

NEW YORK (AP) ? NBC News President Steve Capus, who presided over years of strong ratings at the news division and expanded digital offerings but was hurt by the downfall of the "Today" show, said Friday that he was resigning.

The Philadelphia-area native joined NBC News 20 years ago and produced various newscasts for Brian Williams before being appointed news division president by Jeff Zucker, at the time chief of NBC Universal, on the week that Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005.

NBC parent company Comcast Corp.'s decision last year to appoint Pat Fili-Krushel to a supervisory role over the company's news properties signaled to many that Capus' tenure was nearing an end. His contract gave Capus an opt-out provision and he chose to exercise it. Capus said in an email to staff members that "it is now time to head in a new direction," although he hasn't said what that might be.

"I have seldom described my role as presiding over NBC News," Capus said. "Instead, I have viewed it as leading a collaborative effort to pursue journalistic excellence."

A primary yardstick for network news' success is the ratings for the flagship evening news program, and NBC's broadcast with Williams has held on to the top spot. Capus has expanded NBC's reach with specialty websites aimed at black and Latino audiences, and reached a deal to take over all responsibility for the main NBC news site, buying out Microsoft's stake.

Capus also oversaw the MSNBC news division. MSNBC has become profitable through its decision to skew liberal in its commentary.

Tim Russert's sudden death forced Capus to revamp the Sunday morning political talk show "Meet the Press," where David Gregory has run hot and cold since taking over.

The profitable "Today" show has taken a hard fall in the past year and now runs a consistent second to ABC's "Good Morning America." NBC was widely criticized for mismanagement of Ann Curry's dismissal as "Today" anchor last summer. Jim Bell, the show's executive producer, stepped down last fall.

Fili-Krushel set out a new temporary management structure, increasing the authority of executives Alex Wallace and Antoine Sanfuentes, until she names a successor.

"NBC News is America's leading source of television news and Steve has been a big part of that success," Fili-Krushel said in a memo to staff members.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-02-01-TV-NBC-News-Capus/id-b056302037374bbb8b1301b0f424338d

keystone pipeline purim acc tournament big ten tournament big east tournament 2012 solar storm solar flares

If space shuttle is doomed, do you tell the crew?

FILE - In this Aug. 6, 2007, file photo, Space shuttle program manager Wayne Hale listens to a question from members of the media during a launch readiness news conference for the Space Shuttle Endeavour at Kennedy Space Center. Hale wrestled with what he thought was a hypothetical question: What do you tell the astronauts of a doomed space shuttle Columbia? When the NASA official raised the question in 2003 just days before the accident that claimed seven astronauts' lives, managers thought _ wrongly _ that Columbia's heat shield was fine. They told astronauts they weren't worried about launch damage. But after a managers meeting, mission operations chief Jon Harpold told flight director Hale that if something was wrong it was hopeless and maybe they shouldn't tell the crew. Hale wrote about the conversation ten years later, saying NASA would have tried to save the crew had it realized the problem's true severity. He said the lesson from Columbia is: Don't give up. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

FILE - In this Aug. 6, 2007, file photo, Space shuttle program manager Wayne Hale listens to a question from members of the media during a launch readiness news conference for the Space Shuttle Endeavour at Kennedy Space Center. Hale wrestled with what he thought was a hypothetical question: What do you tell the astronauts of a doomed space shuttle Columbia? When the NASA official raised the question in 2003 just days before the accident that claimed seven astronauts' lives, managers thought _ wrongly _ that Columbia's heat shield was fine. They told astronauts they weren't worried about launch damage. But after a managers meeting, mission operations chief Jon Harpold told flight director Hale that if something was wrong it was hopeless and maybe they shouldn't tell the crew. Hale wrote about the conversation ten years later, saying NASA would have tried to save the crew had it realized the problem's true severity. He said the lesson from Columbia is: Don't give up. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A NASA top official wrestled with what he thought was a hypothetical question: What should you tell the astronauts of a doomed space shuttle Columbia?

When the NASA official raised the question in 2003 just days before the accident that claimed seven astronauts' lives, managers thought ? wrongly ? that Columbia's heat shield was fine. It wasn't. Columbia, NASA's oldest shuttle, broke apart over Texas 10 years ago Friday upon returning to Earth after a 16-day mission.

But the story of that question ? retold a decade later ? illustrates a key lesson from the tragedy, says Wayne Hale, a flight director who later ran the shuttle program for NASA.

That lesson: Never give up. No matter how hopeless.

And to illustrate the lesson, Hale in his blog tells for the first time the story of his late boss who seemingly suggested doing just that. The boss, mission operations chief Jon Harpold, asked the now-retired Hale a what-if question after a meeting that determined ? wrongly ? that Columbia was safe to land despite some damage after takeoff.

"You know there is nothing we can do about damage to the (thermal protection system)," Hale quotes Harpold a decade later. "If it has been damaged, it's probably better not to know. I think the crew would rather not know. Don't you think it would be better for them to have a happy successful flight and die unexpectedly during entry than to stay on orbit, knowing that there was nothing to be done until the air ran out."

When Harpold raised the question with Hale in 2003, managers had already concluded that Columbia's heat shield was fine. They told astronauts they weren't worried about damage from foam insulation coming off the massive shuttle fuel tank during launch, hitting a wing that allowed superheated gases in when the shuttle re-entered the atmosphere. No one was aware of the seriousness of the damage at the time.

This was a what-if type question that conveyed a fatalistic attitude about the heat shield system being unfixable, which was "a wrong-headed cultural norm that we had all bought into," Hale said in a Thursday telephone interview.

"There was never any debate about what to tell the crew," he said.

In fact, NASA officials were overconfident in the heat shield on Columbia. A day after launch, NASA saw video of the foam from the shuttle's fuel tank hit the shuttle wing, something that had happened before. NASA officials studied the damage and determined it wasn't a problem.

NASA managers even sent the crew a 15-second video clip of the foam strike and "made it very clear to them no, no concerns," according to the independent board that later investigated the accident. Eight times, NASA had the opportunity to get a closer look at the damage? using military satellites ? and NASA mistakenly ignored those chances to see how bad the problem was, the accident board concluded.

And had NASA realized the severity of the problem, the space agency would not have just let the astronauts die without a fight or a word, despite Harpold's hypothetical question, Hale said.

"We would have pulled out all the stops. There would have been no stone left unturned. We would have had the entire nation working on it," Hale said. Ultimately, Hale said he thinks whatever NASA would have tried in 2003 with limited time and knowledge probably would have failed.

And the astronauts would have been told about the problem and their fate had engineers really known what was happening, Hale said.

When NASA started flying shuttles again, Hale told the new team of mission managers: "We are never ever going to say that there is nothing we can do."

NASA developed an in-flight heat shield repair kit.

The space shuttles were retired in 2011. Harpold died in 2004.

Hale said he is now writing about the issue because he wanted future space officials not to make the mistakes he and his colleagues did. The loss of the Columbia astronauts ? people he knew ? still weighs on Hale.

"You never get over it. It's always present with you," Hale said. "These are people I knew well. Several of them, I worked closely with. I was responsible for their safety. It's never going to go away."

___

Seth Borenstein can be followed at http://twitter.com/borenbears

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2013-02-01-US-SCI-Columbia-Anniversary-Don't-Give-Up/id-4945b0c36f6e4bdebd6a99156a8bd24a

dionne warwick patricia heaton arsenic and old lace leslie varez ward solar storms uganda

Mobile Banking And Payment Startup mFoundry Sold To FIS For $120M On $165M Valuation

Some consolidation in the world of mobile payments and mobile banking: mFoundry is getting acquired by FIS?for $120 million. FIS -- a banking and payment provider that works with some 14,000 banks worldwide -- already had a 22% stake in the company; today's deal will see it paying for the remaining 78% in cash. mFoundry provides mobile banking and mobile payment solutions to some 850 banks and retailers, including Bank of America and Starbucks, which uses some of mFoundry's technology to enable mobile payments, which complements the partnership that Starbucks has with Square.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/m2DaPem9H7M/

levi johnston 2013 srt viper scott walker recall fisker atlantic social darwinism jamie lynn spears wisconsin recall election