Sunday, March 31, 2013

U.S. F-22 stealth jets join South Korea drills amid saber-rattling

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States sent F-22 stealth fighter jets to South Korea on Sunday to join military drills aimed at underscoring the U.S. commitment to defend Seoul in the face of an intensifying campaign of threats from North Korea.

The advanced, radar-evading F-22 Raptors were deployed to Osan Air Base, the main U.S. Air Force base in South Korea, from Japan to support ongoing bilateral exercises, the U.S. military command in South Korea said in a statement that urged North Korea to restrain itself.

"(North Korea) will achieve nothing by threats or provocations, which will only further isolate North Korea and undermine international efforts to ensure peace and stability in Northeast Asia," the statement said.

Saber-rattling on the Korean peninsula drew a plea for peace from Pope Francis, who in his first Easter Sunday address called for a diplomatic solution to the crisis on the Korean peninsula.

"Peace in Asia, above all on the Korean peninsula: may disagreements be overcome and a renewed spirit of reconciliation grow," he said, speaking in Italian.

Tensions have been high since the North's young new leader, Kim Jong-un, ordered a nuclear weapons test in February, breaching U.N. sanctions and ignoring warnings from North Korea's closest ally, China, not to do so.

That test, North Korea's third since 2006, drew further U.N. and bilateral sanctions designed to pressure the impoverished North to stop its nuclear weapons program. Pyongyang responded to the new steps by ratcheting up warnings and threats of war.

North Korea said on Saturday it was entering a "state of war" with South Korea, but Seoul and its ally the United States played down the statement from the official KCNA news agency as the latest in a stream of tough talk from Pyongyang.

In a rare U.S. show of force aimed at North Korea, the United States on Thursday flew two radar-evading B-2 Spirit bombers on practice runs over South Korea.

On Friday, Kim signed an order putting the North's missile units on standby to attack U.S. military bases in South Korea and the Pacific, after the stealth bomber flights.

The F-22 jets will take part in the annual U.S.-South Korea Foal Eagle military drills, which are designed to sharpen the allies' readiness to defend the South from an attack by North Korea, the U.S. military said.

The U.S. military did not say how many of the planes were flown to South Korea from Kadena Air Base in Okinawa. The statement described Sunday's deployment as part of routine shifts of air power among bases in the Western Pacific that U.S. forces have been conducting since 2004.

Japan's Kyodo news agency quoted the top Japanese government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, as condemning Pyongyang for "aggressive provocation" after Kim's ruling party newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, identified U.S. military bases in Japan as targets for attack.

The two Koreas have been technically in a state of war since a truce that ended their 1950-53 conflict. Despite its threats, few people see any indication Pyongyang will risk a near-certain defeat by re-starting full-scale war.

(Reporting by Paul Eckert; Editing by Eric Beech)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-f-22-stealth-jets-join-south-korea-220123588.html

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John Walsh?s ?America?s Most Wanted?

John Walsh’s “America’s Most Wanted”

John Walsh photosThe Lifetime network has cancelled “America?s Most Wanted”, which has brought home over 50 missing children and landed over 1,000 fugitives to justice all over the world. The show, hosted by John Walsh, was picked up by Lifetime in December 2011. There is hope “America’s Most Wanted” will be picked up by another network. TV ...

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Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/03/john-walshs-americas-most-wanted/

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Source: Business, labor get deal on worker program

FILE - In this May 17, 2012 file photo, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Big business and major labor unions appeared ready Friday, March 29, 2013 to end a fight over a new low-skilled worker program that had threatened to upend negotiations on a sweeping immigration bill in the Senate providing a pathway to citizenship for 11 million immigrants already in the U.S. Schumer, who's been brokering talks between the AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement that negotiators are "very close, closer than we have ever been, and we are very optimistic." He said there were still a few issues remaining. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

FILE - In this May 17, 2012 file photo, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Big business and major labor unions appeared ready Friday, March 29, 2013 to end a fight over a new low-skilled worker program that had threatened to upend negotiations on a sweeping immigration bill in the Senate providing a pathway to citizenship for 11 million immigrants already in the U.S. Schumer, who's been brokering talks between the AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement that negotiators are "very close, closer than we have ever been, and we are very optimistic." He said there were still a few issues remaining. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Several southwest Michigan pastors along with immigrant families and members of the general public take part in a pray-in for immigration reform event outside of Representative Fred Upton's office in downtown Kalamazoo on Friday, March 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Kalamazoo Gazette-MLive Media Group, Matt Gade ) ALL LOCAL TV OUT; LOCAL TV INTERNET OUT

Several southwest Michigan pastors along with immigrant families and members of the general public take part in a pray-in for immigration reform event outside of Representative Fred Upton's office in downtown Kalamazoo on Friday, March 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Kalamazoo Gazette-MLive Media Group, Matt Gade ) ALL LOCAL TV OUT; LOCAL TV INTERNET OUT

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Big business and labor have struck a deal on a new low-skilled worker program, removing the biggest hurdle to completion of sweeping immigration legislation allowing 11 million illegal immigrants eventual U.S. citizenship, a person with knowledge of the talks said Saturday.

The agreement was reached in a phone call late Friday night with AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, U.S. Chamber of Commerce head Tom Donohue, and Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, who's been mediating the dispute.

The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of a formal announcement, said the deal resolves disagreements over wages for the new workers and which industries would be included. Those disputes had led talks to break down a week ago, throwing into doubt whether Schumer and seven other senators crafting a comprehensive bipartisan immigration bill would be able to complete their work as planned.

The deal must still be signed off on by the other senators working with Schumer, including Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Marco Rubio of Florida, but that's expected to happen. With the agreement in place, the senators are expected to unveil their legislation the week of April 8. Their measure would secure the border, crack down on employers, improve legal immigration and create a 13-year pathway to citizenship for the millions of illegal immigrants already here.

It's a major second-term priority of President Barack Obama's and would usher in the most dramatic changes to the nation's faltering immigration system in more than two decades.

The AFL-CIO and the Chamber, longtime antagonists over temporary worker programs, had been fighting over wages for tens of thousands of low-skilled workers who would be brought in under the new program to fill jobs in construction, hotels and resorts, nursing homes and restaurants, and other industries.

Under the agreement, a new "W'' visa program would go into effect beginning April 1, 2015, according to another official involved with the talks who also spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of a formal announcement.

In year one of the program, 20,000 workers would be allowed in; in year two, 35,000; in year three, 55,000; and in year four, 75,000. Ultimately the program would be capped at 200,000 workers a year, but the number of visas would fluctuate, depending on unemployment rates, job openings, employer demand and data collected by a new federal bureau pushed by the labor movement as an objective monitor of the market.

A "safety valve" would allow employers to exceed the cap if they can show need and pay premium wages, but any additional workers brought in would be subtracted from the following year's cap, the official said.

The workers could move from employer to employer and would be able to petition for permanent residency and ultimately seek U.S. citizenship. Neither is possible for temporary workers now.

The new program would fill needs employers say they have that are not currently met by U.S. immigration programs. Most industries don't have a good way to hire a steady supply of foreign workers because there's one temporary visa program for low-wage nonagricultural workers but it's capped at 66,000 visas per year and is only supposed to be used for seasonal or temporary jobs.

The AFL-CIO and the Chamber have long been at odds over temporary worker programs, which business has sought in a quest for a cheaper workforce but labor has opposed because of concerns over working conditions and the effect on jobs and wages for U.S. workers. The issue helped sink the last major attempt at immigration overhaul in 2007, which the AFL-CIO opposed partly because of temporary worker provisions, and the flare-up earlier this month sparked concerns that the same thing would happen this time around. Agreement between the two traditional foes is one of many indications that immigration reform has its best chance in decades in Congress this year.

After apparent miscommunications earlier this month between the AFL-CIO and the Chamber on the wage issue, the deal resolves it in a way both sides are comfortable with, officials said.

Workers would earn actual wages paid to American workers or the prevailing wages for the industry they're working in, whichever is higher. The Labor Department would determine prevailing wage based on customary rates in specific localities, so that it would vary from city to city.

There also had been disagreement on how to handle the construction industry, which unions argue is different from other industries in the new program because it can be more seasonal in nature and includes a number of higher-skilled trades. The official said the resolution will cap at 15,000 a year the number of visas that can be sought by the construction industry.

Separately, the new immigration bill also is expected to offer many more visas for high-tech workers, new visas for agriculture workers, and provisions allowing some agriculture workers already in the U.S. a speedier path to citizenship than that provided to other illegal immigrants, in an effort to create a stable agricultural workforce.

___

Follow Erica Werner on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ericawerner

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-03-30-Immigration/id-3f85125de3074ffda88a06de748c2bc0

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Scientists Scooped Out Virus Guts to Make a Sterile, Zombified Vaccine

Vaccines beef up your immune system by giving it a little taste of a weak—but still alive—version of diseases. Now researchers in the UK have developed an alternative approach: rip out a virus's insides and let your body crush its hollow husk. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/xPixb_YyLrU/scientists-scooped-out-virus-guts-to-make-a-sterile-zombified-vaccine

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Saturday, March 30, 2013

Mutually Abusive Relationship - Can Therapy Help?


General Relationship Discussion Although anyone can post anywhere on Talk About Marriage, this section is for people interested in general relationship and marriage advice.


Old Today, 10:49 AM ? #1 (permalink)

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Hello everyone!

I am new to the forum, and I am hoping I can get some good advice and input from people who have been through similar situations. Please forgive the length of this post but I want to give as many details as possible.

My SO and I have been together for a little over 6 years. I am 33 and he is 40. At times throughout the relationship, we have had issues. He has a very unstable background and has been cheated on in all his past relationships. I come from a very emotionally abusive background and witnessed both my parents fight constantly when I was young. My mother is also very controlling, abusive and manipulative.

That being said, we are now acting out our issues in a vicious cycle with each other that is not getting any better. It reached a point last week where I actually called my father to come help me move out. I am not afraid of physical abuse, but the emotional and mental abuse had gotten to be too much.

The typical cycle of the fight is this: I confront him with something, usually when I am frustrated. This is not usually something he is done, it is more like a situation that needs fixing (the cat tore one of the screens, something is wrong with the dryer, etc.). He either A. reacts non emotionally to me and we solve the problem together or B. reacts like he is being attacked and then shuts me down with some quick dismissal of the situation (why are you so uptight about it? how did I cause this problem and why are you yelling at me?, etc.). If the latter reaction happens, I then get mad that I am not being heard or that he is not listening to me and I do everything in my power to MAKE him hear me. This includes me yelling at him. If he walks out of the room I will follow him and talk to him until I am blue in the face. He will then at some point lose it with me, scream at me and call me every name in the book, and then leave the house. It should be noted that he has NEVER been physical with me. I, on the other hand, have shoved him, hit him on the shoulder, and thrown things at him. He is VERY verbally abusive with the name calling.

The last straw was where he told me he wanted me out of his house and out of his life, and then proceeded to tell me what I was doing to him was the equivalent of him spitting on me (he illustrated this by spitting on my feet) and then just saying I was sorry and expecting him to be fine. That was it for me. I said fine, you want me out then I am gone.

I left, went to stay at my mother in law's house for the night and then went back the next day with my Dad when he was not home to get all of my things. When he came home and saw everything gone, he lost it. Called me, begged me to come home. Asked if my Dad would be willing to talk to both of us and act as mediator. (It should be noted that my Dad and Mom are now divorced and that my Dad went through intense therapy to overcome his issues in the marriage. He is currently going through classes to become a certified counselor to help others who are in his former situation.)

My Dad listened to both of us for over three hours and came to the conclusion that I am abusing my SO by berating him verbally when I feel like I am not being heard. My SO is abusing me when he is calling me names. He suggested we go to counseling, and both SO and I agreed. We are starting next week.

Here are my issues:

1. Deep down, I feel like what I have done to my SO is not nearly as bad as what he has done to me.

2. I feel like my SO does not accept responsibility for his actions ie. "If she didn't just keep pushing me, I would never get to the point of calling her those names".

These are (I think) going to be the two main things we are really going to have to work on.

Does anyone have any advice for this?

I will say that we do genuinely love each other and we both do want things to be better. I would also say that not all aspects of the relationship are broken. Neither one of us seeks the other out to abuse them ie. he doesn't just come into the room and say "hey you suck" and I don't just pick a fight to pick a fight. And we do laugh. We laugh so much with each other. Overall I think it's mostly good, we just have one aspect that is unfortunately REALLY bad.

Again, we both want to work this out. "Just leave him" is not the response I am looking for from anyone. I feel like we do have a good shot with counseling, and I am looking for advice on what I can do to make the counseling as effective as possible.

Thanks in advance for any imput!

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Old Today, 11:00 AM ? #2 (permalink)

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My Dad listened to both of us for over three hours and came to the conclusion that I am abusing my SO by berating him verbally when I feel like I am not being heard. My SO is abusing me when he is calling me names
I think your Dad is right about both of you. A relationship without respect isn't much of a relationship.

For the record you equally are mistreating one another, it's not you doing something worse or he doing something worse, it's both of you on your worst behavior.

And let's go further. You say you feel he's not accepting responsibility for his actions... what you are saying is that he is responsible for controlling his temper. This is true. But so are YOU. What responsibility are you taking for that? There is such thing as cause and effect. Yelling at him will produce... what? That's right, an equally offensive response (since you both lack self control).

Following him around yelling at him is bullying. If you don't want to get called out of your name, you need to knock it off. Not saying his reaction is right, but you are setting yourself up to be hurt when you do that.

Glad you're going to therapy together. I hope you get some new tools for communicating better.

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Old Today, 12:05 PM ? #5 (permalink)

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A Bit Much - I agree. I am willing to acknowlege that what I am doing as wrong, but I also don't want him to use that as a get out of jail free card in therapy like "she does this, so I do that". I mean, at the end of the day, he chooses what to say to me. Nothing justifies either of our behaviors.

Jamison - We are starting counseling ASAP.

Josh - Yes ! I do realize that! That's why I said I think those are the two things we have to REALLY work on. We both think that what we are doing to the other one is no big deal, and that what the other is doing to us is huge. Neither one of us thinks that OUR OWN behavior is really that bad.

All - Are there any questions that I could ask a therapist or any topics to bring up that would be beneficial?

Also, the fallout with my girlfriends has been awful. They all know about the last fight, they know my Dad came up, and now they know we're trying counseling. With the exception of a couple of them, they all think I am Rhianna and he is Chris Brown. A few of them have outright told me I am crazy and just a battered woman who is running back to her abuser.

It's starting to make me think I AM crazy. Again, he has NEVER been physically abusive with me. Not one single time. I also have never felt threatened in that way.

I feel like, even if we go to counseling and get help and things change that those friendships will never be the same. Is this something I just have to accept?

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Old Today, 12:18 PM ? #6 (permalink)

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Also, the fallout with my girlfriends has been awful. They all know about the last fight, they know my Dad came up, and now they know we're trying counseling. With the exception of a couple of them, they all think I am Rhianna and he is Chris Brown. A few of them have outright told me I am crazy and just a battered woman who is running back to her abuser.

It's starting to make me think I AM crazy. Again, he has NEVER been physically abusive with me. Not one single time. I also have never felt threatened in that way.

I feel like, even if we go to counseling and get help and things change that those friendships will never be the same. Is this something I just have to accept?

This is what happens when you allow your friends to be all up in your business, and your Dad too. I wasn't going to comment before but now I see there are all these other people between you I should say it's not a good idea to do that.

One thing you should remember when you want to overshare is that you will let things go and forgive once you calm down... you move on and it's a brand new day and you're all in love again. Your friends, your family don't. They don't love him and don't share what you share together. They hear the bad stuff and it stays with them long after you've let it all go.

It's exactly what happened to Chris and Rihanna. See how they got back together? Well not one of us is IN their relationship, we judge what they put out there to us and it looked really bad. At the end of the day though, she forgives him and loves him anyway. Others may not like it, but honestly it's not our business, it's theirs.

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Old Today, 01:01 PM ? #11 (permalink)

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The typical cycle of the fight is this: I confront him with something, usually when I am frustrated. This is not usually something he is done, it is more like a situation that needs fixing (the cat tore one of the screens, something is wrong with the dryer, etc.). He either A. reacts non emotionally to me and we solve the problem together or B. reacts like he is being attacked and then shuts me down with some quick dismissal of the situation (why are you so uptight about it? how did I cause this problem and why are you yelling at me?, etc.). If the latter reaction happens, I then get mad that I am not being heard or that he is not listening to me and I do everything in my power to MAKE him hear me. This includes me yelling at him. If he walks out of the room I will follow him and talk to him until I am blue in the face. He will then at some point lose it with me, scream at me and call me every name in the book, and then leave the house. It should be noted that he has NEVER been physical with me. I, on the other hand, have shoved him, hit him on the shoulder, and thrown things at him. He is VERY verbally abusive with the name calling.

I think part of your cycle is that as you state here, you come to him with something that isnt a confrontational issue AS a confrontation.: " I confront him with something, usually when I am frustrated. This is not usually something he is done, it is more like a situation that needs fixing ". Why would you "confront" him about issues like these? It sounds like his defenses immediately go up because you come at him with both guns blazing, instead of like, "hey, can you help me with something?" And NO ONE wants someone following them around screaming their fool head off at them, either. You are lucky he hasnt popped you one for that actually, its probably just a matter of time if you continue. I think you would do well to change your approach to him, ease up. You seem full of a lot of anger and resentment, and what you are doing is counterproductive. I am seeing that YOU are the one being abusive in this situation, and he is responding to that. Responding badly, yes, and that is what HE needs to work on.
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Source: http://talkaboutmarriage.com/general-relationship-discussion/70396-mutually-abusive-relationship-can-therapy-help.html

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Mate choice in mice is heavily influenced by paternal cues

Friday, March 29, 2013

Mate choice is a key factor in the evolution of new animal species. The choice of a specific mate can decisively influence the evolutionary development of a species. In mice, the attractiveness of a potential mate is conveyed by scent cues and ultrasonic vocalizations. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Pl?n investigated whether house mice (Mus musculus) would mate with each other even if they were from two populations which had been separated from each other for a long time period. To do this, the researchers brought together mice from a German population and mice from a French population. Although to begin with all the mice mated with one another randomly, the hybrid offspring of French and German parents were distinctly more choosy: they showed a definite preference for mating with individuals from their father's original population. According to the researchers, this paternal imprinting accelerates the divergence of two house mouse populations and thus promotes speciation.

In allopatric speciation, individuals of a species become geographically isolated from each other by external factors such as mountains or estuaries. Over time, this geographic separation leads to the sub-populations undergoing various mutations, and thus diverging genetically. Animals from the two different sub-populations can no longer successfully reproduce, so two new species evolve.

To find out what role partner selection plays in such speciation processes, Diethard Tautz from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology and his colleagues conducted a comprehensive study on house mice ? the classic model organisms of biology. "To investigate whether there are differences in the mating behaviour of the mice in the early stages of speciation, we caught wild house mice in southern France and western Germany. The two populations have been geographically separate for around 3,000 years, which equates to some 18,000 generations," says Diethard Tautz. Due to this geographical separation, the French and German mice were genetically different.

The Pl?n-based researchers created a semi-natural environment for their investigations ? a sort of "Playboy Mansion" for mice. The research enclosure was several square meters in size and was divided up using wooden walls, "nests" made out of plastic cylinders, and plastic tubes. It also featured an escape tube with several entrances, which led into a cage system nearby. "We constructed the enclosure in such a way that all animals had unimpeded access to all areas, but thanks to the structural divisions were also able to create their own territories or retreat into nests," explains Tautz. "The escape tube was a control element. If the mice retreated to it only very seldom ? as was the case in our experiment ? then we could be sure there was no overpopulation in the central enclosure."

In this central enclosure, the French and German mice had both time and space to mate with each other and reproduce. "At first, all the mice mated with each other quite randomly. But with the first-generation offspring, a surprising pattern emerged," says Tautz. When the first-generation hybrid offspring of mixed French and German parentage mated, they showed a specific preference for pure-bred mates whose "nationality" was that of their father only. "There must be some kind of paternal influence that prompts the hybrid mice to choose a mate from a specific population, namely that of their father," concludes the biologist, based on the results of his study. "This imprinting must be learned, however, meaning that the animals must grow up in the presence of their fathers. This was not the case for the original mice, which were kept in cages for a time after being caught."

"We know that mice use ultrasonic vocalizations to communicate with each other and that particularly in the case of male mice these vocalizations can reveal signals of individuality and kinship. We believe that, like birdsong, the vocalizations of the males have a learned component and a genetic component," says Tautz. Therefore, French and German mice really could "speak" different languages, partly learned from their fathers, partly inherited from them. Individual mice thus have a mating preference for mice that speak the same language as they do.

The French and German mouse populations had evidently been geographically separated long enough for preliminary signs of species differentiation to be apparent as regards mating preferences. In addition, another aspect of mating behavior also sped up the speciation process.

Although mice have multiple mates, the researchers found evidence of partner fidelity and inbreeding. The tendency to mate with relatives fosters the creation of genetically uniform groups. When both occur together, this accelerates the speciation process.

In a next step, Diethard Tautz wants to find out whether the vocalizations of the mice play the decisive role in paternal imprinting, or if scent cues are also involved. Furthermore, the biologist wants to identify the genes that are involved in mate selection.

###

Inka Montero, Meike Tesche and Diethard Tautz: "Paternal imprinting of mating preferences between natural populations of house mice (Mus musculus domesticus)", Molecular Ecology (2013), doi: 10.111/mec.122271;

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft: http://www.mpg.de

Thanks to Max-Planck-Gesellschaft for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127520/Mate_choice_in_mice_is_heavily_influenced_by_paternal_cues

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Self Improvement Tips That You Should Check Out | MySpareTime.net

If you are trying to grow as a person, you need to learn as much as you can and then apply it to your life. Liking yourself comes first. If you use the following advice to better yourself, then the rest of your life will get better too.

You must understand that a divide exists between where you currently are, and the place you would like to go. You have to realize this difference before you can actually get to your destination. By living in denial of these facts, you will sabotage your efforts of reaching your true potential.

Define something specific you want to change about yourself, and change that. Sitting and thinking about the life you want will not get you that life. Identify your goals and take the necessary actions to make it happen.

Not only is getting organized an achievement in itself, but it will help you to meet other goals faster. If you break your goals down to their smallest components, you will find that it is easier to achieve smaller tasks quickly. Write down your progresses in a planner or journal about your goals.

TIP! Being dramatic or overreacting will only cause more stress. It?s best to train yourself to cope with your daily stress, and it begins with analyzing every situation where you tend to feel strained.

Avoid making a personal development goal that is unnecessarily complicated, or not well defined. Make sure that your goals are very specific. When you have specific goals set, you will find that you get results.

Researchers are exploring how we use a dimension of our personalities termed sexual capital. It does not refer to using sexuality in a manipulative way. Instead, it is simply a method of recognizing and making the most of your potential to be charming. Some people are unable to socialize well, but being able to can be extremely beneficial.

Give yourself a boost of confidence by reciting all the things you like about yourself. Make a list of all the good things about you, and put it on a postcard. Put this list up on a wall, or carry it with you. You might even consider recording the mantra in your own voice, so that you can play it back at any time. What?s the point?

Keep in mind the well-known saying that you can?t please everybody all of the time. Your main concern should be yourself. This doesn?t mean that you should only think of yourself, especially if it hurts others, but you often have to put yourself first or no one else will. If you engage in actions and activities that are in line with your morals and beliefs, you will feel good about the personal development path that you are on.

TIP! Compliment other people. Doing the opposite and taking the initiative to be kind to others helps you to be kind to yourself too.

To grow in your own development, you must first acknowledge areas in which you are weak. When you accept that you are but a tiny speck in the scope of our universe, you can begin to realize that there is much to learn if you hope to advance. A humble attitude puts you in the right mindset to learn new things and develop as a human being.

Stress can greatly interfere with your mood. When the human mind is preoccupied with a state of stress, damage can be caused to both physical and mental aspects of the body. Eliminating stress is essential for thinking clearly and achieving goals. Schedule a time every day where you can relax, be alone, and empty your thoughts. This time of rejuvenation can help you feel better about yourself, and give you more peace at heart.

Self improvement comes from the decisions that you make when you choose not to miss an opportunity. Make decisions based on your own knowledge and what you can learn from your research. Decisions that succeed create good instincts. You can even learn a lot from making mistakes because you then know what not to do. Think of your bad decisions as possibilities you have eliminated.

You need to know that you deserve the best when you are embarking on a journey of personal development. You should do your best because your best is what you deserve. Your ending will sure to be free of regret when you can look back and see that you gave it your all.

TIP! Be nice to your body to better your personal development. When you body is letting you know that you need food or a drink, you need to listen! Your body will be healthier and happier if you listen and follow these guidelines.

By taking all of the knowledge you?ve just learned from this article into account, you should now have a good understanding of what you should do next to achieve your personal development goals. Be sure to keep an eye out for any new information you can add to these tips so that you can continue to grow as a person.

Read the following article, you might find it very interesting!
5 Tips For Getting Your Exboyfriend Or Exgirlfriend Back

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Friday, March 29, 2013

PowerSkin announces battery case for the BlackBerry Z10

Just as the title says, the PowerSkin for BlackBerry Z10 is available now from PowerSkin. ?The one-piece shockproof, anti-dust silicone skin protects your Z10, and it contains a 1500mAh rechargeable battery that gives your smart phone up to 60% more talk or standby time. ?It weighs only 3 ounces and measures 5.39″ X?2.89″ X 0.79″. [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/03/28/powerskin-announces-battery-case-for-the-blackberry-z10/

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Alaska lawmaker apologizes for racial slur

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Rep. Don Young, the gruff Republican veteran who represents the entire state of Alaska, issued an apology after referring to Hispanic migrant workers as "wetbacks."

The 79-year-old Young, the second-most senior Republican in the House, issued a statement late Thursday saying he "meant no disrespect" in using the derogatory term to describe the workers on his father's farm in central California, where he grew up.

"Wetbacks" often refers to Mexican migrants who have entered country illegally, and Young's use of the word will not sit well with Republican Party efforts to temper its hard-line positions on illegal immigrants and current efforts in Washington to reforming the immigration system.

"Shame on Don Young," said Congressional Hispanic Caucus chairman Ruben Hinojosa, D-Texas. "It is deeply disheartening that in 2013, we are forced to have a discussion about a member of Congress using such hateful words and racial slurs."

Young, discussing the labor market during an interview with radio station KRBD in Ketchikan, Alaska, said that on his father's ranch, "we used to have 50-60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes." He said, "It takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now. It's all done by machine."

In his statement, Young said he had "used a term that was commonly used during my days growing up on a farm in central California. I know that this term is not used in the same way nowadays and I meant no disrespect."

He added that during the interview, he had "discussed the compassion and understanding I have for these workers and the hurdles they face in obtaining citizenship" and said the country must tackle the issue of immigration reform.

Among his jobs before entering politics were teaching school to indigenous Alaskans and working as a tugboat captain in the Yukon. Since entering Congress in 1973, Young has been known for his hot temper, his salty language and his independent streak.

As resources committee chairman in the late 1990s, he took on environmentalists and the Bill Clinton administration in pushing for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and logging in Alaska national forests. He headed the transportation committee during much of the George W. Bush administration, during which he defied his own party's anti-tax positions by supporting an increase in the federal gas tax to help pay for bridge and highway construction.

It was under Young's chairmanship that the "bridges to nowhere," two proposed Alaska construction projects, became a symbol for questionable special projects inserted into spending bills.

He also is currently under investigation by the House Ethics Committee, which is looking into whether he failed to report gifts on his annual disclosure forms, misused campaign funds and lied to federal officials. The investigation comes from an earlier Justice Department probe into whether Young accepted gifts in return for political patronage. Young has said that Justice cleared him of those charges.

"I've been under a cloud all my life," he told reporters in Juneau Thursday. "It's sort of like living in Juneau. It rains on you all the time. You don't even notice it."

Young said he plans to run for re-election next year, saying he doesn't know anyone who can do a better job than he does in representing the state.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/alaska-lawmaker-apologizes-racial-slur-120726971.html

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UEFA names candidates for FIFA, UEFA elections

Associated Press Sports

updated 10:10 a.m. ET March 28, 2013

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) -Four European members of FIFA's executive committee have no challengers for their seats at a scheduled election in May.

UEFA says Michel D'Hooghe of Belgium, Senes Erzik of Turkey, Marios Lefkaritis of Cyprus and Russian sports minister Valery Mutko are the only candidates to renew their four-year mandates.

The incumbents, who make up half of UEFA's eight-seat quota on FIFA's 25-member board, have represented Europe at FIFA for 25, 17, six and four years, respectively.

UEFA announced nine candidates for eight seats on its own executive committee. Those elections will also be on May 24 at its 53-nation congress in London.

Manchester United chief executive David Gill, Germany football federation president Wolfgang Niersbach and Portugal leader Fernando Gomes are three new candidates.

Six incumbents are standing for re-election.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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If World Cup draw was today ...

PST: We took the current standings from qualifying tournaments around the world, assumed the teams? points-per-game rates played out, and then ?qualified? the appropriate teams for Brazil.

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Dutch coffee company DEMB in buyout talks

AMSTERDAM (AP) ? D.E. Master Blenders 1753, the Dutch coffee company that was spun off by Sara Lee Corp. last June, says it is in talks to be acquired by a group led by private German investment company Joh. A. Benckiser GmbH for around ?7.6 billion ($9.7 billion).

Benckiser owns stakes in Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc. and Caribou Coffee, among others.

Master Blenders said in a statement Thursday the potential buyers are looking at a price of ?12.75 per share, a 33 percent premium to Wednesday's closing price. But they haven't made a formal offer.

The company's shares soared 26 percent to ?12.14 in Amsterdam trading Thursday.

Master Blenders had a poor start as an independent company, with profits and estimates falling, and accounting irregularities uncovered at its Brazilian arm.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dutch-coffee-company-demb-buyout-talks-105627556--finance.html

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Take a Peek Inside: New Premium Collection Wine & Spirits Store in ...

A new premium collection wine and spirits store in the Village at Pine is attracting plenty of attention after recently opening for business.?

The Fine Wine & Good Spirits Premium Collection Store at 125 Towne Center Drive is the first for the Pittsburgh region.

At more than 10,000 square feet, the new store is double the size of the wine and spirits store it replaces in the Wexford Plaza Shopping Center.

The focal point is a center table, where consumers can find staff to answer questions or provide guidance. The center table is equipped with a tasting bar and counters that highlight new products and featured selections.

It also provides a gathering place for consumers to learn about products and find recommendations.

?The focus of the rebranding initiative is to improve the shopping experience for consumers by making our stores warmer, more inviting and customer-focused,? Joseph E. Brion, PLCB chairman said in a news release.

The store has an expanded selection of Chairman?s Selection? and luxury products to serve consumers, he said. Educational materials are also available, providing information such as a vintage chart, food pairing and party planning guides.

An easy-to-use overview of the most popular wines and spirits helps consumers navigate the many choices available throughout the store.

To supplement the shopping experience, informational cards showcasing ?staff picks? are also on display.

The new store has a retail wine specialist on staff to conduct product tastings, provide information and recommendations and answer questions.

The retail wine specialist is a new position at most Premium Collection stores to provide additional service for consumers wanting more assistance.

The PLCB wanted to develop a store that was attractive and environmentally responsible. The majority of the lighting is state-of-the-art LED or energy-efficient compact-fluorescent lighting, using a fraction of the energy of traditional lighting. The store also sells reusable shopping bags made from 60 percent recycled materials.

Similar stores are planned in Monroeville and Philadelphia, and will replace the current state Wine & Spirits stores in the next month or two.

The premium collection store in Wexford is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

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Check out some of today's other top stories here.

Source: http://pine-richland.patch.com/articles/new-premium-collection-wine-spirits-store-attracts-a-crowd

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James Holmes offers guilty plea in exchange for life in prison

The man accused of killing 12 people and injuring dozens more in a Colorado movie theater last summer may plead guilty, according to documents filed by his attorneys Wednesday. If prosecutors agree to life in prison without parole instead of the death penalty, the case could be resolved as early as Monday.?

By Keith Coffman,?Reuters, Chris Frantz,?Reuters / March 27, 2013

James Holmes, Aurora theater shooting suspect, sits in the courtroom during his arraignment in Centennial, Colo. Holmes' attorneys are prepared to enter a guilty plea for him if the prosecution team agrees to a life in prison sentence instead of the death penalty.

RJ Sangosti/Denver Post/AP

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Defense attorneys for the former graduate student accused of killing 12 people at a Denver area movie theater last July have offered to have him plead guilty in exchange for a life prison term, according to court documents filed on Wednesday.

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Public defenders for?James Holmes, 25, said in the?Arapahoe?County District Court filing that prosecutors have so far not accepted the offer, which would spare their client the death penalty in one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history.

Holmes faces multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder stemming from the July 20 massacre at a showing of the Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises" in?Aurora,?Colorado?that also wounded 58 people.

Arapahoe County?District Attorney George Brauchler has said that he would formally inform the court during a hearing scheduled for Monday whether his office would seek the death penalty against Holmes.

Brauchler has not made his decision public, but in February announced that he had added a death penalty lawyer to the prosecution team.

All three of?Colorado's death row inmates were convicted and sentenced in?Arapahoe County. At a state legislative hearing earlier in March, Brauchler testified in favor of keeping the death penalty on the books in?Colorado.

A spokeswoman for the?Arapahoe County?District Attorney's Office could not be reached for comment on Wednesday afternoon.

"Prior to arraignment, Mr. Holmes?made an offer to the prosecution to resolve the case by pleading guilty and spending the rest of his life in prison without the opportunity for parole,"?lawyers for Holmes?say in the papers.

Holmes was arraigned on March 12. At that hearing,?Arapahoe?County District Judge William Sylvester entered a not guilty plea on his behalf after defense attorneys said they were not prepared to enter a plea.

Insanity defense?

In Wednesday's pleading, defense lawyers said that if prosecutors agree to take the death penalty off the table for Holmes?the case could be resolved at Monday's hearing.

Attorneys for the former?University of Colorado?neuroscience?graduate student, who surrendered to officers outside the theater minutes after the shooting rampage, had been expected to mount an insanity defense on his behalf at trial.

"As previously stated in court, counsel for Mr. Holmes?are still exploring a mental health defense, and counsel will vigorously present and argue any and all appropriate defenses at a trial or sentencing proceeding as necessary," defense lawyers said in the court papers.

"Nevertheless, Mr. Holmes?is currently willing to resolve the case to bring the proceedings to a speedy and definite conclusion for all involved," the defense said.

Lawyers for Holmes?have said in court filings that their client has been hospitalized twice since his arrest, once after hitting his head against a cell wall.

Holmes was also held in restraints for several days at a psychiatric hospital in November after jail officials determined he was a threat to himself, according to his defense team.

In a separate written ruling on Wednesday, Sylvester denied a request by Fox News journalist Jana Winter to postpone her testimony, scheduled for Monday, about confidential sources she cited in a story about the shooting rampage.

Sylvester ordered Winter to take the witness stand as he tries to determine who leaked information to the New York-based journalist despite a gag order he issued in the case.

Winter's attorneys sought a delay while she filed an appeal of Sylvester's ruling on the grounds that she was protected against revealing her sources by New York's shield law for journalists.

(Reporting by Keith Coffman and Chris Frantz; Writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst, Tim Dobbyn and Cynthia Osterman)

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/kO2V5mP1gDM/James-Holmes-offers-guilty-plea-in-exchange-for-life-in-prison

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Newtown gunman had access to huge weapons cache

FILE - In this Dec. 18, 2012 file photo, a police cruiser sits in the driveway and crime scene tape surrounds the home of Nancy Lanza in Newtown, Conn. Nancy Lanza was killed in the home by her son Adam Lanza before he forced his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn, killing 26 people. Search warrants released Thursday, March 28, 2013, revealed that an arsenal of weapons including guns, more than a thousand rounds of ammunition, a bayonet and several swords was seized in the Lanza home. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

FILE - In this Dec. 18, 2012 file photo, a police cruiser sits in the driveway and crime scene tape surrounds the home of Nancy Lanza in Newtown, Conn. Nancy Lanza was killed in the home by her son Adam Lanza before he forced his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn, killing 26 people. Search warrants released Thursday, March 28, 2013, revealed that an arsenal of weapons including guns, more than a thousand rounds of ammunition, a bayonet and several swords was seized in the Lanza home. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

FILE - This undated file photo circulated by law enforcement and provided by NBC News, shows Adam Lanza, who authorities said Lanza killed his mother at their home and then opened fire inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., on Friday, Dec. 14, 2012. Search warrants released Thursday, March 28, 2013, revealed that an arsenal of weapons including guns, more than a thousand rounds of ammunition, a bayonet and several swords was seized in the Lanza home. (AP Photo/NBC News, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 14, 2012 file photo provided by the Newtown Bee, a police officer leads two women and a child from Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., shortly after Adam Lanza opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children. State's Attorney Stephen Sedensky III asked a judge in Danbury Superior Court, Wednesday, March 27, 2013 to limit the information to be made public from warrants in Newtown school shooting, due to be released Thursday. (AP Photo/Newtown Bee, Shannon Hicks, File) MANDATORY CREDIT: NEWTOWN BEE, SHANNON HICKS

FILE - In this Friday, Dec. 14, 2012 file photo provided by the Newtown Bee, Connecticut State Police lead a line of children from the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. after Adam Lanza opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children. State's Attorney Stephen Sedensky III asked a judge in Danbury Superior Court, Wednesday, March 27, 2013 to limit the information to be made public from warrants in Newtown school shooting, due to be released Thursday. (AP Photo/Newtown Bee, Shannon Hicks, File) MANDATORY CREDIT: NEWTOWN BEE, SHANNON HICKS

Supporters of both sides of the gun debate gather outside the National Shooting Sports Foundation headquarters in Newtown, Conn., Thursday, March 28, 2013. Search warrants released Thursday, March 28, 2013, revealed that an arsenal of weapons including guns, more than a thousand rounds of ammunition, a bayonet and several swords was seized at Adam Lanza's home. Lanza killed his mother, Nancy Lanza in their home before he forced his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn, killing 26 people.(AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

(AP) ? When Adam Lanza walked out of his house for the last time, he left behind firearms and knives and more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition ? taking only four guns. They would suffice.

He loaded the weapons into his car, drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School, blasted his way into the building and within five minutes fired off 154 shots with a Bushmaster .223-caliber rifle. Having slaughtered 20 first-graders and six educators, he killed himself with a shot from a Glock handgun. He still had more than 100 rifle bullets at hand.

Warrants released Thursday provide the most insight to date into the world of the 20-year-old gunman, a recluse who played violent video games in a house packed with weaponry that was all too real. The inventory of items found in the spacious, colonial-style home included books on autism, a vast array of weapon paraphernalia and images of what appears to be a dead person covered with plastic and blood.

The weapons used in the shooting had all apparently been purchased by Lanza's mother, Nancy, with whom he lived, said prosecutor Stephen J. Sedensky III, in a statement accompanying the warrants.

She was found dead in her bed; Adam Lanza had shot her the morning of the massacre, Dec. 14. Authorities also found a gun safe in his bedroom and a holiday card from Nancy Lanza containing a check made out to her son for the purchase of yet another firearm.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy expressed incredulity over the access that the troubled young man had to a cache of weapons.

"There are parts of this story that are unfathomable," he said. "How anyone would have maintained that household that way is difficult to understand."

Mark Barden, whose 7-year-old son, Daniel, was killed at Sandy Hook, said he was not surprised by anything revealed Thursday.

"Most of this is pretty high level stuff that we were aware of already and it just reminds me of what happened, that a gunman stormed his way into an elementary school and shot to death 26 people, 20 of which were first-grade boys and girls," Barden said.

The shooting elevated gun safety to the top of President Barack Obama's agenda; at an event in Washington on Thursday, joined by the families of four children killed at Sandy Hook, he urged lawmakers not to get "squishy" in the face of opposition to gun control.

"Shame on us if we've forgotten," Obama said. "I haven't forgotten those kids."

The debate has extended to Newtown, a rural community of 27,000 people in western Connecticut that is also home to the National Shooting Sports Foundation. A protest and counter-protest were held outside the foundation's offices Thursday.

If it's possible to determine a motive for the massacre, there may be clues in Adam Lanza's journals, which state police seized from the house and turned over to the FBI for analysis. But authorities say that so far no conclusions have been reached. Sedensky estimated that the investigation will be finished this summer.

At the Lanza house, investigators found books about autism and Asperger's syndrome, as well as one with tabbed pages titled "Train Your Brain to Get Happy." Adam Lanza was said to have been diagnosed with Asperger's, an autism-like disorder that is not associated with violence.

But the warrants also reveal an intense interest in weaponry and violence.

A gun locker in the house was open when police arrived in the aftermath of the shootings, and there was no sign it had been broken into.

Investigators found a 7-foot pole with a blade on one side and a spear on another, a metal bayonet, three samurai swords, a .323-caliber bolt-action rifle, a .22-caliber Savage Mark II rifle and a .22-caliber Volcanic starter pistol. There was a military-style uniform in Lanza's bedroom; literature seized from the house included a news article on a 2008 shooting at Northern Illinois University and a National Rifle Association guide to pistol shooting.

News outlets including The Associated Press reported previously that Lanza showed interest in other mass killings. Some, including The Hartford Courant, reported that he had a particular interest in Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in twin attacks in 2011 in Norway's worst peacetime massacre.

In a duffel bag, investigators found ear and eye protection, binoculars, numerous paper targets and an NRA certificate that belonged to Adam Lanza. The NRA said Lanza was not a member.

An unnamed person told investigators that Lanza was an avid gamer who played "Call of Duty" and rarely left his home. The affidavit, which is partially blacked out, also has that person saying that Sandy Hook, the school Lanza attended as a child, was his "life."

On the day of the massacre, Lanza took two loaded handguns to the school along with the Bushmaster rifle. A fourth gun, a loaded 12-gauge Saiga shotgun, was found in the passenger compartment of his Honda Civic, along with 70 shotgun rounds.

Lanza went through six 30-round magazines for the Bushmaster, although half of them were not completely empty, and police said he had three other 30-round magazines in addition to one that was in the rifle.

A judge's order to seal the warrants expired on Wednesday, and a Danbury Superior Court judge granted a request by Sedensky to withhold some details. Sedensky asked to redact the name of a witness, saying the person's safety might be jeopardized if the name were disclosed. He also asked that the release not include other information such as telephone numbers, serial numbers on items found and a few paragraphs of an affidavit.

Malloy, a Democrat in his first term as governor, said the fact that Lanza left smaller magazines at the house should boost support for a state ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines.

"That somebody could get 154 shots off in less than five minutes, kill 20 children and six adults, is disturbing," Malloy said.

Connecticut House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero Jr., a Republican, said he expects the General Assembly will be ready to vote next week, possibly Wednesday, on a package addressing gun control and other issues raised by the shooting.

___

Associated Press writers John Christoffersen, Dave Collins and Susan Haigh in Hartford and John Christoffersen in New Haven contributed to this report. Melia reported from Hartford.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-28-US-Connecticut-School-Shooting/id-40a5fd9dbf2040818901d0c2882e8806

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Path to peace: StandWithUs | Opinion | Jewish Journal

March 28, 2013


On Monday evening, March 11, I had a public discussion with Jeremy Ben-Ami, founder and president of J Street, at Temple Isaiah in Los Angeles. The topics included how American Jews should approach pro-Israel advocacy, whether peace is currently attainable between Israel and Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, and what American Jews can do to help the two sides reach an agreement.

We agreed that the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement is dangerous and harmful to Israel. We agreed that the Palestinian teaching of hate, incitement and terrorism is an impediment to peace, and we both professed a desire for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

[Read a counterargument to this column here: Pathway to peace: J Street]

We strongly disagreed, however, on some critical issues. J Street argued that American Jews should lobby the U.S. government to pressure Israel into changing some of its policies. Referring to a?statement from J Street?s Web site, I read aloud that, ?J Street was formed to change the conversation on Israel and to give voice to American Jews who believe that they have a responsibility to vocally oppose Israeli government policies that threaten Israel?s future.? While Ben-Ami claimed he did not recognize this statement from his Web site, I was troubled that J Street felt it had a right to lobby the American government in order to pressure Israel ? and its democratically elected government ? into pursuing J Street?s agenda.?

We also disagreed about whether Abbas is a reliable partner for peace. While Ben-Ami assured the audience that ?this is the time, and Abbas is the man,? I noted that just two months ago, in January 2013,?Abbas honored past Palestinian terrorist leaders, including the Mufti of Jerusalem who collaborated with Adolf Hitler to bring the Holocaust to the Middle East. I questioned how Ben-Ami could trust Israel?s security in the hands of Abbas, who promotes one set of values to his Arabic constituency and quite another to Western audiences.??

Likewise, Ben-Ami and I differed on how he characterized certain facts. For instance:

Beitar soccer games: Ben-Ami suggested that Israeli incitement and Palestinian incitement are similar.?I expressed that I felt this was an unreasonable comparison. For evidence, he pointed out that Israeli crowds at Jerusalem soccer matches shout, ?Death to Arabs? so much that former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he could no longer root for his team. In response, I noted that this is a critical point: Olmert represented the State of Israel and he condemned such views. I said that you can judge a society by the way its leadership responds when its people say or do hateful things.?

Ben-Ami then implied that there was a lack of an official Israeli government response to the hateful soccer rhetoric because Olmert is now a private citizen. In fact, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu?strongly condemned?the racist comments of Beitar fans.?

Monument for Baruch Goldstein: When I cited Baruch Goldstein as an example of how Israel denounces acts of violence by Israelis against Palestinian civilians, he stated that Israel ?funded a monument [to Baruch Goldstein]. See the public memorial!? In fact, Israel?never funded a monument?to Baruch Goldstein. There was indeed a monument erected by some Goldstein supporters, but the Israeli army demolished it after the Knesset passed a law in 1999 forbidding memorials to terrorists. My point was that the Israeli government condemned Goldstein as a terrorist while the PA government glorifies terrorists.??

Demographic threat: Ben-Ami repeated his oft-made declaration that Israel must be pressured into making peace now because demographics are such that Jews will be a minority in Israel within a generation and ?will be ruling over a majority that doesn?t have rights.? I called this fear-mongering and asked Ben-Ami if he includes the Palestinian population of 1.5 million people living in Gaza in his accounting of Israeli demographic concerns. This is a critical point because Israel no longer has administrative or political control over the Gaza population. Ben-Ami admitted he includes the population of Gaza.?Interestingly, if we remove Gaza from these calculations, Ben-Ami?s demographic numbers are reduced by 50 percent and no longer make the case for the demographic threat being an emergency.?

Humanitarian blockade on Gaza:?Ben-Ami asserted that Israel caused a humanitarian crisis in Gaza in the 2008 war through its blockade and that the blockade was lifted in part because of J Street?s lobbying. I pointed out that Israel?has consistently allowed food and medical supplies?into Gaza, even during wars and blockades. At the time, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which provides aid to Palestinian refugees, said that the agency received 15 trucks of aid a day and had two months of stock in Gaza to aid recipients.??

Mediation techniques: While I agreed with Ben-Ami?s statements that we need an active American role in facilitating Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, I disagreed with his desire to impose specific details about what the peace agreement should be. As an honest broker, I would hope that the American role would be to mediate a plan arrived at by the parties themselves, rather than pressuring the parties into pre-existing expectations. President Barack Obama himself echoed this sentiment when he recently said that his role should be to?listen?to both sides and help them work out compromises.

Looking back at the evening?s discussion, I am saddened that Ben-Ami insists that he and J Street are helping Israel, when in reality the actions of his organization are only hurting Israel and the advancement of peace. Although we all wish for a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians,?J Street?s work only emboldens Palestinians to continue their history of rejectionism and incitement.?J Street encourages Palestinian refusal to return to negotiations because it does not require any accountability from them and does not seek to change hateful attitudes toward Israel ? both of which are prerequisites for a lasting peace.??

Roz Rothstein is the CEO of StandWithUs.

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Discovery may allow scientists to make fuel from CO2 in the atmosphere

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Excess carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere created by the widespread burning of fossil fuels is the major driving force of global climate change, and researchers the world over are looking for new ways to generate power that leaves a smaller carbon footprint.

Now, researchers at the University of Georgia have found a way to transform the carbon dioxide trapped in the atmosphere into useful industrial products. Their discovery may soon lead to the creation of biofuels made directly from the carbon dioxide in the air that is responsible for trapping the sun's rays and raising global temperatures.

"Basically, what we have done is create a microorganism that does with carbon dioxide exactly what plants do?absorb it and generate something useful," said Michael Adams, member of UGA's Bioenergy Systems Research Institute, Georgia Power professor of biotechnology and Distinguished Research Professor of biochemistry and molecular biology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

During the process of photosynthesis, plants use sunlight to transform water and carbon dioxide into sugars that the plants use for energy, much like humans burn calories from food.

These sugars can be fermented into fuels like ethanol, but it has proven extraordinarily difficult to efficiently extract the sugars, which are locked away inside the plant's complex cell walls.

"What this discovery means is that we can remove plants as the middleman," said Adams, who is co-author of the study detailing their results published March 25 in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences. "We can take carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere and turn it into useful products like fuels and chemicals without having to go through the inefficient process of growing plants and extracting sugars from biomass."

The process is made possible by a unique microorganism called Pyrococcus furiosus, or "rushing fireball," which thrives by feeding on carbohydrates in the super-heated ocean waters near geothermal vents. By manipulating the organism's genetic material, Adams and his colleagues created a kind of P. furiosus that is capable of feeding at much lower temperatures on carbon dioxide.

The research team then used hydrogen gas to create a chemical reaction in the microorganism that incorporates carbon dioxide into 3-hydroxypropionic acid, a common industrial chemical used to make acrylics and many other products.

With other genetic manipulations of this new strain of P. furiosus, Adams and his colleagues could create a version that generates a host of other useful industrial products, including fuel, from carbon dioxide.

When the fuel created through the P. furiosus process is burned, it releases the same amount of carbon dioxide used to create it, effectively making it carbon neutral, and a much cleaner alternative to gasoline, coal and oil.

"This is an important first step that has great promise as an efficient and cost-effective method of producing fuels," Adams said. "In the future we will refine the process and begin testing it on larger scales."

###

University of Georgia: http://www.uga.edu

Thanks to University of Georgia for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127479/Discovery_may_allow_scientists_to_make_fuel_from_CO__in_the_atmosphere

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Menlo Park gives OK for Facebook's 2nd campus

MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) -- Facebook has the go-ahead from the city of Menlo Park to build a swanky second campus near its current Silicon Valley headquarters.

The Palo Alto Daily News reports (http://bit.ly/13z33Uz ) the city council voted 4-0 Tuesday to let the social media company move forward with its plans. Facebook says it will allow the company to employ thousands more people.

Facebook Inc. plans to build a 433,555-square-foot building designed by architect Frank Gehry. The 22-acre West Campus site will feature a rooftop park and a surface-level parking lot, and will rise to 73 feet in some spots.

Gehry's partner, Craig Webb, says much of the white stucco building will be hidden by the landscaping and the rooftop park.

The council also approved a package of land use entitlements and an environmental impact report related to the project.

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Information from: Palo Alto Daily News, http://www.paloaltodailynews.com

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/facebook-gets-ok-build-2nd-010754440.html

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