Singer may face up to four years in jail for hit-and-run accident during probation, but pleads with the public on Twitter.
By Todd Gilchrist
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1710597/chris-brown-probation-revoked.jhtml
For the first time this year, Republican strategists believe they're within striking distance of taking back control of the Senate, thanks to untimely Democratic Senate retirements and red-state Democratic recruits deciding not to run for Congress. The latest blow to Democrats: former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer's surprising decision Saturday to pass up a campaign.
Republican recognize they need to win only three Senate seats in the most of conservative of states--Arkansas, Louisiana, and Alaska--and Mitch McConnell could be majority leader in 2015. (That is, if McConnell can hold onto his own Kentucky seat.) The latest developments underline how punishing the map is for Democrats for 2014, and how little margin for error they have.
Democrats can afford to lose up to five Senate seats and still maintain their majority, but they already risk conceding over half that number before campaigning even gets under way.
Schweitzer was the type of grade-A recruit who could nearly guarantee victory despite Montana's Republican leanings. His near-universal name recognition, blunt outspokenness, and statewide organization made him a heavy favorite, especially when Republicans had yet to field a first-tier challenger. Big Sky Country was beginning to look like a long shot for the GOP.
But somewhere along the way, Schweitzer got cold feet. Montana Democratic officials were expecting Schweitzer to announce his campaign earlier this week, and were caught by surprise when they didn't hear from the former governor. Democrats are claiming--after the fact--that they were concerned about vulnerabilities in his background, but Republicans say that the difficult political environment for Democrats in Montana also played a role.
"We did our homework, and there was a lot of rust under Schweitzer's hood--a LOT of rust," said Brad Dayspring, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. "Just as important, though, is that Schweitzer looked at the race and realized he couldn't win in light of how unpopular the Democrat agenda of higher taxes, bankrupting spending, and the Obamacare train wreck is in Montana these days."
Indeed, Schweitzer's backing out is illustrative to a mounting recruiting problem for Senate Democrats in conservative states, which make up a disproportionate share of the battleground matchups in 2014. The party has failed to persuade any of its top choices in West Virginia, where Rep. Nick Rahall and lawyer Nick Preservati passed on bids. In South Dakota, the party missed out on former Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin and the son of retiring Sen. Tim Johnson. In Georgia, Rep. John Barrow decided not to run, but the party rallied behind Michelle Nunn, daughter of former Sen. Sam Nunn. The party's biggest red-state recruit is Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, whose campaign against McConnell has gotten off to a rocky start.
Possible Democratic candidates for the Montana Senate seat include Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILY's List; Denise Juneau, state superintendent of public instruction; Monica Lindeen, the state's auditor; Brian Morris, a state Supreme Court justice; and state Sen. Kendall Van Dyke.
On the Republican side, all eyes are on freshman Rep. Steve Daines, who comfortably won the state's at-large House seat last year.
"We remain confident that Democrats can hold the Montana seat, and the overall math still favors Democrats next year," said Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Executive Director Guy Cecil. "Only three Democratic incumbents have lost reelection in the last decade. Our incumbents are positioned to win, we've already recruited a strong challenger to Mitch McConnell, and Republicans have failed to expand the Senate map into blue and purple states."
That's been the Democratic saving grace this election year--that Republicans have struggled to recruit top candidates in the traditional battlegrounds against Sen. Al Franken in Minnesota, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen in New Hampshire, Sen. Mark Udall in Colorado, and for open seats in Iowa and Michigan.
But if Democrats struggle to put Montana in play without Schweitzer, that means the path to a majority will run through Louisiana and Alaska, not the more Obama-friendly confines of the Midwest and Northeast. That's an unnerving proposition for Democrats, given how badly the party has struggled outside their comfort zone lately.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/why-republicans-think-theyve-got-math-senate-majority-142130194.html
The Chairman & Managing Director, HUDCO, Shri V.P. Baligar presenting the dividend cheque to the Union Minister for Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Girija Vyas, in New Delhi on July 15, 2013. The Secretary, HUPA, Shri A.K. Mishra is also seen.
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Public release date: 2-Jul-2013
Share ] Contact: Joan Robinson
joan.robinson@springer.com
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Springer
Winning sounds on slot machines make gambling more exciting, according to a new study by Mike Dixon and colleagues from the University of Waterloo in Canada. Moreover, their work shows that sounds also cause players to overestimate the number of times they won while playing on slot machines. The study is published online in Springer's Journal of Gambling Studies.
Sound has always been an integral part of the slot machine playing experience. Since the early 1900s, players have been rewarded with a ringing bell every time they have a winning combination. Today's slot machines average about 400 sound effects.
Modern slot machines allow players to wager on multiple lines. When they spin and lose, the machine goes quiet. When they spin and win more than their wager, they hear a celebratory song. Interestingly, when they spin and win back less than their wager (bet $1.00 and win back 20 cents) they still hear the celebratory songs despite the fact that overall they lost money on these spins. Dixon and colleagues sought to see if these celebratory sounds could hide the fact that players were losing money on these so-called 'losses disguised as wins.'
Dixon and team measured gamblers' physiological responses to various slot machine game outcomes wins, losses and losses disguised as wins with and without sound during play. During slot machine play, palms may sweat, which increases skin conductance - a measure of arousal.
A total of 96 gamblers played two sessions on a slot machine simulator. In one session, both wins and 'losses disguised as wins' were accompanied by rolling sounds and celebratory winning jingles, as well as visual feedback. In a second session, the sounds were turned off and players only received visual feedback. The researchers measured the participants' skin conductance and heart rate responses to the various outcomes. At the end of play, the gamblers were asked which session they preferred and why. They also estimated how many spins they had won back more than they wagered.
Sound influenced the overall levels of arousal of players. Skin conductance responses were significantly greater in the session with sound than in the session without sound. Players also rated the noisy session as more arousing than the quiet session. The majority of players preferred the playing session where wins were accompanied by sounds, which suggests that not only do sounds make playing more exciting, players enjoy this extra level of excitement.
Sounds also contributed to players overestimating their number of wins. While this overestimation occurred both in the quiet and noisy sessions, it was significantly higher in the session with sound 24 percent versus 15 percent in the session without sound. The authors suggest that sounds may be an integral part of 'the disguise' in losses disguised as wins, causing players to think that they have won more often during a playtime session than they actually have.
The authors conclude: "Although sounds may have contributed to players' enjoyment of the game, sound may also lead to an overestimation of winning. Both of these effects may contribute to gambling problems, such as misbeliefs about the true chances of winning, and persistence that some players experience when playing slot machines."
###
Reference:
Dixon MJ et al (2013). The Impact of Sound in Modern Multiline Video Slot Machine Play. Journal of Gambling Studies; 10.1007/s10899-013-9391-8
The full-text article is available to journalists on request.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 2-Jul-2013 Share ] Contact: Joan Robinson
joan.robinson@springer.com
49-622-148-78130
Springer
Winning sounds on slot machines make gambling more exciting, according to a new study by Mike Dixon and colleagues from the University of Waterloo in Canada. Moreover, their work shows that sounds also cause players to overestimate the number of times they won while playing on slot machines. The study is published online in Springer's Journal of Gambling Studies.
Sound has always been an integral part of the slot machine playing experience. Since the early 1900s, players have been rewarded with a ringing bell every time they have a winning combination. Today's slot machines average about 400 sound effects.
Modern slot machines allow players to wager on multiple lines. When they spin and lose, the machine goes quiet. When they spin and win more than their wager, they hear a celebratory song. Interestingly, when they spin and win back less than their wager (bet $1.00 and win back 20 cents) they still hear the celebratory songs despite the fact that overall they lost money on these spins. Dixon and colleagues sought to see if these celebratory sounds could hide the fact that players were losing money on these so-called 'losses disguised as wins.'
Dixon and team measured gamblers' physiological responses to various slot machine game outcomes wins, losses and losses disguised as wins with and without sound during play. During slot machine play, palms may sweat, which increases skin conductance - a measure of arousal.
A total of 96 gamblers played two sessions on a slot machine simulator. In one session, both wins and 'losses disguised as wins' were accompanied by rolling sounds and celebratory winning jingles, as well as visual feedback. In a second session, the sounds were turned off and players only received visual feedback. The researchers measured the participants' skin conductance and heart rate responses to the various outcomes. At the end of play, the gamblers were asked which session they preferred and why. They also estimated how many spins they had won back more than they wagered.
Sound influenced the overall levels of arousal of players. Skin conductance responses were significantly greater in the session with sound than in the session without sound. Players also rated the noisy session as more arousing than the quiet session. The majority of players preferred the playing session where wins were accompanied by sounds, which suggests that not only do sounds make playing more exciting, players enjoy this extra level of excitement.
Sounds also contributed to players overestimating their number of wins. While this overestimation occurred both in the quiet and noisy sessions, it was significantly higher in the session with sound 24 percent versus 15 percent in the session without sound. The authors suggest that sounds may be an integral part of 'the disguise' in losses disguised as wins, causing players to think that they have won more often during a playtime session than they actually have.
The authors conclude: "Although sounds may have contributed to players' enjoyment of the game, sound may also lead to an overestimation of winning. Both of these effects may contribute to gambling problems, such as misbeliefs about the true chances of winning, and persistence that some players experience when playing slot machines."
###
Reference:
Dixon MJ et al (2013). The Impact of Sound in Modern Multiline Video Slot Machine Play. Journal of Gambling Studies; 10.1007/s10899-013-9391-8
The full-text article is available to journalists on request.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-07/s-mta070213.php
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Prescott and other area department firefighters embrace during a memorial service, Monday, July 1, 2013 in Prescott, Ariz., The service was held for the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshot Crew firefighters who were killed Sunday, when an out-of-control blaze overtook the elite group. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
Prescott and other area department firefighters embrace during a memorial service, Monday, July 1, 2013 in Prescott, Ariz., The service was held for the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshot Crew firefighters who were killed Sunday, when an out-of-control blaze overtook the elite group. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
Mayer fire department chaplain Rev. Bob Ossler, reacts during a memorial service for 19 wildland firefighters, Monday, July 1, 2013 in Prescott, Ariz. Nineteen Hotshot firefighters were killed on Sunday when when an out-of-control blaze overtook the elite group near Yarnell, Ariz. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
Mourners bow their heads in prayer during a memorial service, Monday, July 1, 2013 in Prescott, Ariz. The service was held for the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshot Crew firefighters who were killed Sunday, when an out-of-control blaze overtook the elite group. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
A woman reacts as the national anthem is sung at the start of a memorial service, Monday, July 1, 2013 in Prescott, Ariz. The service was held for the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshot Crew firefighters who were killed Sunday, when an out-of-control blaze overtook the elite group. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
A woman hugs a firefighter before the start of a memorial service, Monday, July 1, 2013 in Prescott, Ariz. The service was held for the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshot Crew firefighters who were killed Sunday, when an out-of-control blaze overtook the elite group. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) ? In a heartbreaking sight, a long line of vans from a coroner's office carried the bodies of 19 elite firefighters out of the tiny mountain town of Yarnell on Monday, as the wind-driven wildfire that claimed the men's lives burned out of control.
About 200 more firefighters arrived to the scorching mountains, doubling the number of firefighters battling the blaze, ignited by lightning.
Many of them were wildfire specialists like the 19 fatally trapped Sunday ? a group of firefighters known as Hotshots called to face the nation's fiercest wildfires.
With no way out, the Prescott-based crew did what they were trained to do: They unfurled their foil-lined, heat-resistant tarps and rushed to cover themselves. But that last, desperate line of defense couldn't save them.
The deaths of the Granite Mountain Hotshots marked the nation's biggest loss of firefighters in a wildfire in 80 years. Only one member of the 20-person crew survived, and that was because he was moving the unit's truck at the time.
Arizona's governor called it "as dark a day as I can remember" and ordered flags flown at half-staff.
"I know that it is unbearable for many of you, but it also is unbearable for me. I know the pain that everyone is trying to overcome and deal with today," said Gov. Jan Brewer, her voice catching several times as she addressed reporters and residents at Prescott High School in the town of 40,000.
President Barack Obama called Brewer on Monday from Africa and reinforced his commitment to providing necessary federal support to battle the fire that spread to 13 square miles after destroying 50 homes. More than 200 homes were threatened in the town of 700 people.
Obama also offered his administration's help to state officials investigating the tragedy, and predicted it will force government leaders to answer broader questions about how they handle increasingly destructive and deadly wildfires.
Brewer said the blaze "exploded into a firestorm" that overran the crew.
The blaze grew from 200 acres to about 2,000 in a matter of hours.
Southwest incident team leader Clay Templin said the crew and its commanders were following safety protocols, and it appears the fire's erratic nature simply overwhelmed them.
The Hotshot team had spent recent weeks fighting fires in New Mexico and Prescott before being called to Yarnell, entering the smoky wilderness over the weekend with backpacks, chainsaws and other heavy gear to remove brush and trees as a heat wave across the Southwest sent temperatures into the triple digits.
Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo said he feared the worst when he received a call Sunday afternoon from someone assigned to the fire.
"All he said was, 'We might have bad news. The entire Hotshot crew deployed their shelters,'" Fraijo said. "When we talk about deploying the shelters, that's an automatic fear, absolutely. That's a last-ditch effort to save yourself when you deploy your shelter."
Arizona Forestry Division spokesman Mike Reichling said all 19 victims had deployed their emergency shelters as they were trained to do.
As a last resort, firefighters are supposed to step into the shelters, lie face down on the ground and pull the fire-resistant fabric completely over themselves. The shelter is designed to reflect heat and trap cool, breathable air inside for a few minutes while a wildfire burns over a person.
But its success depends on firefighters being in a cleared area away from fuels and not in the direct path of a raging inferno of heat and hot gases.
The glue holding the layers of the shelter together begins to come apart at about 500 degrees, well above the 300 degrees that would almost immediately kill a person.
"It'll protect you, but only for a short amount of time. If the fire quickly burns over you, you'll probably survive that," said Prescott Fire Capt. Jeff Knotek. But "if it burns intensely for any amount of time while you're in that thing, there's nothing that's going to save you from that."
Fire officials gave no further details about the shelters being deployed. The bodies were taken to Phoenix for autopsies to determine exactly how the firefighters died.
The U.S. has 110 Hotshot crews, according to the U.S. Forest Service website. They typically have about 20 members each and go through specialized training.
Many of those killed were graduates of Prescott High, including 28-year-old Clayton Whitted, who as a firefighter would work out on the same campus where he played football for the Prescott Badgers from 2000 to 2004.
The school's football coach, Lou Beneitone, said Whitted was the type of athlete who "worked his fanny off."
"He wasn't a big kid, and many times in the game, he was overpowered by big men, and he still got after it. He knew, 'This man in front of me is a lot bigger and stronger than me,' but he'd try it and he'd smile trying it," Beneitone said.
He and Whitted had talked a few months ago about how this year's fire season could be a "rough one."
"I shook his hand, gave him a hug, and said, 'Be safe out there,'" Beneitone recalled. "He said, 'I will, Coach.'"
Hundreds of people were evacuated from the Yarnell area. In addition to the flames, downed power lines and exploding propane tanks continued to threaten what was left of the town, said fire information officer Steve Skurja. A light rain fell over the area but did little to slow the fire.
"It's a very hazardous situation right now," Skurja said.
Arizona is in the midst of a historic drought that has left large parts of the state highly flammable.
"Until we get a significant showing of the monsoons, it's showtime, and it's dangerous, really dangerous," incident commander Roy Hall said.
The National Fire Protection Association website lists the last wildfire to kill more firefighters as the 1933 Griffith Park blaze in Los Angeles, which killed 29. The biggest loss of firefighters in U.S. history was 343, killed in the 9/11 attack on New York.
In 1994, the Storm King Fire near Glenwood Springs, Colo., killed 14 firefighters who were overtaken by an explosion of flames.
A makeshift memorial of flower bouquets and American flags formed at the Prescott fire station where the crew was based.
More than 1,000 people turned out Monday to a gym at the Prescott campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to honor those killed.
At the end of the ceremony, dozens of wildfire fighters sporting Hotshot shirts and uniforms from other jurisdictions marched down the bleachers to the front of the auditorium, their heavy work boots drumming a march on the wooden steps.
They bowed their heads for a moment of silence in memory of their fallen comrades as slides bearing each man's name and age were projected behind them.
___
Associated Press writers Bob Christie in Phoenix, Brian Skoloff in Yarnell, Tami Abdollah in Prescott, and Martin Di Caro in Washington contributed to this report.
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Decorating interiors with high ceilings implies a high dose of creativity. building personality for a room with tall walls is neither difficult, nor more challenging than dealing with common-sized rooms. After all, home space is a gift no matter how you look at it and you should not be reluctant to use it. In this post we will share some tips&tricks to help you out in your upcoming projects. Master these simple guidelines and let your imagination do the rest.
Just like in art and photography, visually splitting a wall in three equal parts when decorating will guarantee balance and ultimately, success. From the bottom up, try imagining your room as having three different ?design levels?. You can adorn the first with judges paneling, use the second for paintings and leave the third as it is. This is just a random example; as the photos below will show, the possibilities are endless. Furniture should also be placed within the bottom third. The idea is to create focal points and to diminish the intimidating feel of high ceilings.
You don?t have to spend a lot of money on lighting fixtures to give your interiors a special vibe and this is also true when it comes to rooms with high ceilings. But lighting can make a bold statement and you should definitely pay a lot of time and attention to this subject. We noticed lighting spots are very popular these days. We are a fan of chandeliers, as we believe they are a great way to add elegance to a tall living room, kitchen or bedroom. You can also use lighting to subtly divide areas. For example, three chandeliers in the living room can visually separate the lounge area, kitchen and dining space.
When dealing with high ceilings, paintings are not just optional, they are a must. Why? Because they add life , elegance and nobility. Not all appreciate the soberness of an art gallery effect, so the best idea is to arrange your graphic art the way you want. In order to reduce the overwhelming architectural impression of tall walls, place the paintings at eye level. Otherwise, enjoy the majestic effect of highlighting space through art!
Color is always a good way to accentuate height and help bring drama to the space. By painting a single wall in a bold color, the high ceiling and other unpainted walls will automatically be connected at a different level. The space will get a fresh look and a unique personality.
Curtains can add that homey feel a tall space needs so much. You can try models that cover the entire wall, or just two thirds of it (less recommended). White curtains will ensure a breezy feel, red will bring in extra energy and darker hues will add an intriguing sense of drama. Black materials will also contribute to the idea of shrinking the room and make it more cozy, if that is what you are after. For cohesion, be sure to repeat the color of the drapes somewhere else in the space. A patterned design, although a bit more difficult to integrate, will ensure diversity and visual appeal.
We are intrigued (read that pleasantly surprised) by the growing popularity of exposed wooden beams. On a design stage where minimalism and functionality are main actors, it is nice to see elements that bring personality back into the game. But what are the effects of wooden beams in a tall interior? Mainly, they can reduce the scale, making the room feel more comfortable and friendly. Some use fake ceilings to bring the room down, we prefer this solution instead. As you can see in the photo below, the rest of the interior does not have to be decorated in a rustic style. Wooden beams can be successfully integrated in a contemporary interior as well.
Just like with an accent wall, you can make the ceiling stand out by using a special texture. In the example below, the wood adds warmth and makes the room feels smaller than it actually is. It also does a great job at contrasting the walls and floor and creating a sense of disruption.
There are a few things you should try to avoid in order to maintain balance in your high-ceiling interior. Do not clutter the room using many small items, like tiny furniture objects, small works of art or various decorating pieces. Try instead to use less larger artifacts. Paintings should always be placed at eye-level. If you want to cover the space above eye-level, bring in some abstract sculptures or a wall clock. With these being said, we wish you a fun time decorating. Please leave your comments below with more tips from you own experiences.
Source: http://freshome.com/2013/03/29/how-to-decorate-interiors-with-high-ceilings/
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JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid leader who became South Africa's first black president, has been hit by a lung infection again and is in a hospital, the presidency said Thursday.
Mandela, 94, has become increasingly frail in recent years and has been hospitalized several times in recent months, including earlier this month when he underwent what authorities said was a scheduled medical test. The Nobel laureate is a revered figure in South Africa, which has honored his legacy of reconciliation by naming buildings and other places after him and printing his image on national banknotes.
"I'm so sorry. I'm sad," said Obed Mokwana, a Johannesburg resident. "I just try to pray all the time. He must come very strong again."
The Nobel laureate was admitted to a hospital just before midnight Wednesday "due to the recurrence of his lung infection," the office of President Jacob Zuma said in a statement.
Mandela contracted tuberculosis during his 27-year imprisonment for fighting white racist rule in South Africa. He has repeatedly had lung problems.
"Doctors are attending to him, ensuring that he has the best possible expert medical treatment and comfort," the statement from the presidency said. It appealed "for understanding and privacy in order to allow space to the doctors to do their work."
Presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj, referring to Mandela by his clan name "Madiba," said the trip to a hospital in the South African capital of Pretoria was not for previously scheduled treatment.
"No, this wasn't scheduled, as you will appreciate the doctors do work with a great sense of caution when they are treating Madiba and take into account his age," he said. "And so when they found that this lung infection had reoccurred they decided to have him immediately hospitalized so that he can receive the best treatment."
In December, Mandela spent three weeks in a hospital in Pretoria, where he was treated for a lung infection and had a procedure to remove gallstones.
Maharaj acknowledged there was cause for worry, but said the medical specialists treating Mandela were very competent.
"With Madiba and a person of his age there always has to be concern and therefore the doctors, I think we need to appreciate, will prefer to work on the side of caution rather than taking any risks," he said from the coastal city of Durban.
He said there had been a global outpouring of messages expressing concern for Mandela's health.
Zuma wished Mandela a speedy recovery.
"We appeal to the people of South Africa and the world to pray for our beloved Madiba and his family and to keep them in their thoughts. We have full confidence in the medical team and know that they will do everything possible to ensure recovery," the presidential statement quoted Zuma as saying.
Mandela spent a night in a hospital and was released on March 10 following a medical test. At that time, spokesman Maharaj said Mandela was "well."
In February 2012, Mandela spent a night in a hospital for minor diagnostic surgery to determine the cause of an abdominal complaint. In January 2011, he was admitted to a Johannesburg hospital for what officials initially described as tests but what turned out to be an acute respiratory infection. He was discharged days later.
He also had surgery for an enlarged prostate gland in 1985.
Under South Africa's white-minority apartheid regime, Mandela served 27 years in prison, where he contracted tuberculosis, before being released in 1990. He later became the nation's first democratically elected president in 1994 under the banner of the African National Congress, helping to negotiate a relatively peaceful end to apartheid despite fears of much greater bloodshed. He served one five-year term as president before retiring.
Perceived successes during Mandela's tenure include the introduction of a constitution with robust protections for individual rights and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a panel that heard testimony about apartheid-era violations of human rights as a kind of national therapy session. South Africa still struggles with crime, economic inequality and other social ills.
Mandela last made a public appearance on a major stage when South Africa hosted the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament.
He had spent more time in the rural village of Qunu in Eastern Cape province, where he grew up. He was visited there in August by Hillary Clinton, who was U.S. secretary of state at the time.
Doctors said in December that he should remain at his home in the Johannesburg neighborhood of Houghton for the time being to be close to medical facilities that can provide the care he needs.
___
APTN Senior Producer Ed Brown contributed to this report from Durban, South Africa.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/safrica-mandela-hospital-lung-infection-073555444.html
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Mar. 28, 2013 ? People living near asphalt pavement sealed with coal tar have an elevated risk of cancer, according to a study in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. Much of this calculated excess risk results from exposures in children, age six or younger, to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from the sealant.
"The increased cancer risk associated with coal-tar-sealed asphalt (CSA) likely affects a large number of people in the U.S. Our results indicate that the presence of coal-tar-based pavement sealants is associated with significant increases in estimated excess lifetime cancer risk for nearby residents," said E. Spencer Williams, Ph.D., principal author of the study and Baylor University assistant research scientist at the Center for Reservoir and Aquatic Systems Research in Baylor's College of Arts & Sciences.
Researchers from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and the in Austin, Texas, are the first to report on the potential human health effects of PAHs in settled house dust and soil in living spaces and soil adjacent to parking lots sealed with coal-tar-based products.
"Exposure to these compounds in settled house dust is a particularly important source of risk for children younger than six years of age, as they are expected to ingest this material at higher rates," Williams said. "This indicates that the use of coal-tar-based pavement sealants magnifies aggregate exposures to PAHs in children and adults in residences adjacent to where these products are used and is associated with human health risks in excess of widely accepted standards."
Data on PAHs in settled house dust used for this analysis were published previously by the same authors. In that study, settled house dust and parking lot dust were sampled for 23 ground-floor apartments in Austin, Texas. The parking lot surfaces adjacent to the apartments were coal-tar-sealed asphalt, asphalt-based sealant over asphalt pavement, or unsealed concrete. Concentrations of PAHs were 25 times higher in house dust in residences adjacent to coal-tar-sealed pavement compared to those with other pavement types. "This study was the first to find a strong association between a product or a behavior and PAHs in house dust," said Barbara Mahler, the USGS research hydrologist who oversaw the study.
For this study, doses and risk associated with residences adjacent to unsealed asphalt lots were considered relative to those adjacent to (CSA) parking lots. Benzo(a)pyrene concentrations in CSA-affected settled house dust were high relative to those reported in most parts of the U.S. where coal-tar-based sealcoat is not used (California and Arizona). Data for PAHs in coal-tar-sealed asphalt-affected soils and unsealed asphalt-affected soils are available from samples from New Hampshire and suburban Chicago.
The analysis did not consider exposure to the dust on the pavement itself, which has PAH concentrations 10s to 100s of times higher than those in house dust or soil, or inhalation of air over sealed pavement. "Over time, about half of the PAHs in the sealcoat are released into the air, and concentrations in air are extremely high, particularly in the hours to days after application," said Peter Van Metre, USGS research hydrologist and author of two papers on volatilization of PAHs from sealcoat.
Sealcoat is a black, shiny substance sprayed or painted on the asphalt pavement of parking lots, driveways, and playgrounds to improve appearance and protect the underlying asphalt. An estimated 85 million gallons of coal-tar-based sealant are applied to pavement each year, primarily east of the Continental Divide in the U.S. and parts of Canada. Coal-tar-based pavement sealants are 15 to 35 percent coal-tar pitch, which has been classified as a human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Over time, the dried sealant is worn away from pavement surfaces, and the resulting mobile dust particles can be transported into nearby homes.
"Although the analysis presented here is based on a limited dataset, the results indicate that biomonitoring might be warranted to characterize the exposure of children and adults to PAHs associated with coal-tar-based pavement sealant," Williams said. "Further investigation is also needed into the impacts of coal-tar-based pavement sealants on PAH concentrations in indoor and outdoor environments."
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FILE - In this Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013 file photo, Syrian opposition coalition leader Mouaz al-Khatib speaks during a press conference with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, not pictured, following an international conference on Syria at Villa Madama, Rome. The leader of the Western-based Syrian opposition coalition has resigned, citing frustrations with the body's ability to advance the fight against President Bashar Assad. Khatib said in a statement posted on his Facebook page Sunday that he would continue to serve the opposition's cause outside of the "the official institutions." (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca, File)
FILE - In this Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013 file photo, Syrian opposition coalition leader Mouaz al-Khatib speaks during a press conference with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, not pictured, following an international conference on Syria at Villa Madama, Rome. The leader of the Western-based Syrian opposition coalition has resigned, citing frustrations with the body's ability to advance the fight against President Bashar Assad. Khatib said in a statement posted on his Facebook page Sunday that he would continue to serve the opposition's cause outside of the "the official institutions." (AP Photo/Riccardo De Luca, File)
BEIRUT (AP) ? Syria's opposition plunged into disarray Sunday as its president quit and its military chief refused to recognize the newly elected prime minister of an interim government for rebel-held areas.
The moves reflected deep splits in the body the U.S. and its allies hope will emerge as the united face of the opposition and advance the fight to topple President Bashar Assad's regime.
The missteps of the opposition's mostly exile political leadership drew little notice inside Syria, where rebel fighters dismissed it as ineffective and pushed ahead with their offensive to gain ground near the country's southern border with Jordan. Nearby, the Israeli military in the Golan Heights responded to fire by shooting back at targets inside Syria.
The first blow to the opposition Syrian National Coalition was the surprise resignation of its president, who said he was quitting in frustration over what he called lack of international support and constraints imposed by the body itself.
Mouaz al-Khatib, who rose to prominence as a preacher in Damascus' most famous mosque, said in a statement posted on his Facebook page that he was making good on an earlier vow to quit if undefined "red lines" were crossed.
"I am keeping my promise today and announcing my resignation from the National Coalition so that I can work with freedom that is not available inside the official institutions," he said.
He also blamed world powers for not offering Syria's rebels the support they demand and complained that "international and regional parties" tried to push the Coalition toward negotiations with the Assad regime ? something most members refuse.
"All that has happened to the Syrian people ? from destruction of infrastructure, to the arrest of tens of thousands, to the displacement of hundreds of thousands, to other tragedies ? is not enough for an international decision to allow the Syrian people to defend themselves," the statement said.
Despite electing a new, U.S.-educated prime minister last week to head a planned interim government, the Coalition has failed to make much of a mark inside Syria, where hundreds of independent rebel brigades are fighting a civil war against Assad's forces.
Reflecting the growing dissension over that move, the head of the Coalition's military branch, Gen. Salim Idris, said his group refused to recognize the new prime minister, a little-known IT professional from Texas, because he lacked broad support among the opposition.
"For the purpose of giving power to a prime minister to unite the revolutionary forces and lead the Syrian revolution toward certain victory, we unequivocally declare that the Free Syrian Army ... conditions its support and cooperation on the achievement of a political agreement on the name of a prime minister," Idris said in an online video.
An aide to Idris, Louay Almokdad, said many prominent Syrian opposition figures opposed the election of Ghassan Hitto, who received 35 out of 48 votes cast by the Coalition's 63 active members.
While al-Khatib's resignation surprised many Coalition members, some said it reflected problems that have caused five other members to resign in the past week.
Coalition member Rima Fleihan told The Associated Press in Cairo that the body did not accurately represent Syrians.
"We have problems internally with the structure of the Coalition and decisions being taken undemocratically," she said.
Another recently resigned member, Walid al-Bunni, accused the Gulf state of Qatar, which heavily finances the opposition, of using pressure to install its candidate for prime minister. Others have accused the Muslim Brotherhood of exercising outsized influence.
Late Sunday, the Coalition distributed a statement saying it had rejected the resignation and asked al-Khatib to keep doing his job.
Secretary of State John Kerry said he regretted al-Khatib's resignation, but said it won't affect U.S. aid to the Coalition.
Speaking to reporters during an unannounced trip to Baghdad, Kerry also said he had confronted Iraq, Syria's eastern neighbor, about allowing Iran access to its airspace for flights the U.S. believes are ferrying in weapons and fighters to the Assad regime.
In a small victory for the opposition, senior Arab diplomats said they would transfer Syria's seat at the Arab League to the Coalition. The Syrian government's membership was suspended earlier in the crisis. The Coalition said it would send a delegation to a league summit that begins Tuesday in Qatar.
The Syrian government, which contends the civil war is an international conspiracy being carried out by terrorists to weaken Syria, did not comment on the Coalition developments. Instead, it hosted a "National Dialogue Forum" in Damascus that included none of the forces seeking Assad's ouster.
Few of the rebels inside Syria paid any attention to the exile opposition's problems, saying the Coalition had never done much for them anyway.
"All this stuff that happens outside never makes any difference to us," rebel fighter Firas Filefleh said via Skype from the northern province of Idlib. He said he and his colleagues respect al-Khatib as a religious figure but that he and the Coalition were ineffective.
"The Coalition has never made any difference for the fighting brigades," he said. "They brought some flour and some canned goods but have never done more than that."
Filefleh said he had no opinion of Hitto and said he had never heard of Gen. Idris, who purports to be the rebels' highest military leader.
Late Sunday, the Coalition circulated videos it said showed Hitto during his first visit to Syria since his election. The videos showed Hitto in a sport coat and jeans, shaking hands in an unnamed town in Aleppo province.
Meanwhile, rebels tried to advance their campaign to gain ground along the southern border with Jordan.
Since last summer, the opposition has seized large swathes of land near the Turkish and Iraqi borders to the north and east, and has used them to organize and build supply lines.
Victory in the south could allow them to do the same there. They have recently seized army checkpoints along a 15-mile (25-kilometer) strip of the border. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebels clashed Sunday with forces at a checkpoint and military base in the area.
Also Sunday, Israel's military said soldiers on patrol in the Golan Heights were fired upon and responded by firing back into Syria. It did not say if the Syrian fire was from rebels or the government.
Rebels have been making gains on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau that Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed.
The U.N. says more than 70,000 people have been killed since Syria's crisis began in March 2011.
____
Associated Press reporters Aya Batrawy in Cairo, Matthew Lee in Baghdad and Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, and Abdullah Rebhy in Doha, Qatar, contributed reporting.
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Source: http://www.aggieathletics.com//ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27300&ATCLID=206911460
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International travel for the retired is here and booming! As a consequence so is the require for International Travel medical insurance. But no matter whether you are 6 or 60 the require for international travel insurance is accurate for absolutely everyone, regardless of age or length of time abroad. Suppose you fall ill just a couple of hours right after arriving at your destination. Or you make a trip to an overseas nation and you are injured in an accident? Or one particular of your young children is part of a group generating a paying a visit to abroad, gets food poisoning and calls for hospitalization. In all instances, without having sufficient travel insurance with medical coverage, you will be responsible for the costs above and beyond the limitations of your existing health-related plan.
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So, if you are organizing to travel, regardless of whether it is for business or for pleasure, you must undoubtedly assume about obtaining a single trip insurance coverage policy. The comfort, peace of mind and assurance you will take pleasure in whilst traveling, far outweigh the premiums you will spend. In the situation that something goes wrong, you know that you will obtain the greatest compensation and rewards.
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Source: http://culturapopulara.ro/?p=40486
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JERUSALEM?(JTA) -- The Israel Defense Forces fired a missile at a Syrian military post in response to fire on Israeli troops in the Golan Heights.
The missile fired Sunday destroyed the military post and reportedly injured two Syrian soldiers.
The Israeli attack came after gunfire from Syria struck an IDF jeep on Saturday night, damaging the vehicle. Israeli soldiers also came under fire on Sunday morning. No Israeli soldiers were injured in the attacks.
"We take the firing of bullets at IDF forces in Israeli territory very seriously. In response the IDF returned fire in line with the government policy: Any violation of Israeli sovereignty and fire from the Syrian side will be answered with the silencing of the source of fire. The Syrian regime is responsible for every breach of sovereignty. We will not allow the Syrian army or any other groups to violate Israel's sovereignty in any way," Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said in a statement.
It is unclear whether the bullets fired into Israeli territory had gone astray as part of Syria's civil war, or if they were fired intentionally at Israeli troops.
It is not the first time that gunfire from Syria has struck Israeli targets in recent months. In some cases, Israel has retaliated.
Israel has also cared for injured Syrian rebels in at least two instances in recent weeks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday night in a Facebook post that some of his motivation in apologizing to Turkey on March 22 for the Mavi Marmara incident was because of the threat from Syria as its civil war continues to escalate.??
"It?s important that Turkey and Israel, which both share a border with Syria, are able to communicate with each other and this is also relevant to other regional challenges. In addition, the visit of US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Kerry created an opportunity to end the crisis," Netanyahu wrote. "Syria is crumbling, and its massive stockpiles of advanced weapons are starting to fall into the hands of various elements. What we fear most is that terrorist groups will get their hands on chemical weapons."
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Source: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2013/03/24/3122901/israel-fires-missile-at-syrian-military-post
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Windows Blue comes packed in a 2.63 GB ISO image that's called 9364.0.FBL_PARTNER_OUT13.130315-2105_X86FRE_CLIENT and is apparently aimed at 32-bit workstations exclusively.
According to a report published by Windows9Beta, the leaked ISO comes from France and is part of Milestone 1, the first of the two important development stages for Windows 8's refresh.
This Windows Blue version is labeled as build 9364 and was sent to Microsoft partners for testing purposes, so several bugs and issues are very likely to be experienced. The ISO is currently available for download via file sharing websites, but in keep in mind that Microsoft provides no support for any damage caused by this build.
If previous reports are true, the final build of Windows Blue should be here by August, while the first public beta of the operating system could see daylight in June.
Source: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Windows-Blue-Leaked-Free-ISO-Available-for-Download-339860.shtml
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Apple?s iForgot password reset page is now back online, and iMore has verified that the security hole, discovered earlier today in Apple?s password reset page, has been closed.
Previously, after providing a victim?s Apple ID and date of birth, an attacker could send a URL to Apple that would change the password for that account, without needing to answer any security questions. In response, Apple blocked access to the password reset page, and a short while later took the entire site down in light of another loophole that still allowed the attack to be performed.
This vulnerability came at an interesting time, just a day after Apple began to roll out its two-step verification system. Users who had already enrolled in the new system seem to have been immune from the password reset vulnerability.
Unfortunately some users were held in a three-day waiting period for enabling two-step verification, while others live in countries where two-step verification is not currently available. T
oday?s events serve as an important example of why two-step verification is a good idea. People interested in getting two-step verification set up can find out how with iMore?s tutorial
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/eCuuc3eH3j4/story01.htm
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The U.S. is increasing its oil production faster than ever, and American drivers are guzzling less gas. But you'd never know it from the price at the pump.
The national average price of gasoline is $3.69 per gallon and forecast to creep higher, possibly approaching $4 by May.
"I just don't get it," says Steve Laffoon, a part-time mental health worker, who recently paid $3.59 per gallon to fill up in St. Louis.
U.S. oil output rose 14 percent to 6.5 million barrels per day last year ? a record increase. By 2020, the nation is forecast to overtake Saudi Arabia as the world's largest crude oil producer. At the same time, U.S. gasoline demand has fallen to 8.7 million barrels a day, its lowest level since 2001, as people switch to more fuel-efficient cars.
So is the high price of gasoline a signal that markets aren't working properly?
Not at all, experts say. The laws of supply and demand are working, just not in the way U.S. drivers want them to.
U.S. drivers are competing with drivers worldwide for every gallon of gasoline. As the developing economies of Asia and Latin America expand, their energy consumption is rising, which puts pressure on fuel supplies and prices everywhere else.
The U.S. still consumes more oil than any other country, but demand is weak and imports are falling. That leaves China, which overtook the U.S. late last year as the world's largest oil importer, as the single biggest influence on global demand for fuels. China's consumption has risen 28 percent in five years, to 10.2 million barrels per day last year.
"There's an 800-pound gorilla in the picture now ? the Chinese economy," says Patrick DeHaan, chief petroleum analyst at the price-tracking service GasBuddy.com.
U.S. refiners are free to sell gasoline and diesel to the highest bidder around the world. In 2011, the U.S. became a net exporter of fuels for the first time in 60 years. Mexico and Canada are the two biggest destinations for U.S. fuels, followed by Brazil and the Netherlands.
Two other factors are making gasoline expensive:
? High oil prices. Brent crude, a benchmark used to set the price of oil for many U.S. refiners, is $108 per barrel. It hasn't been below $100 per barrel since July. On average, the price of crude is responsible for two-thirds of the price of gasoline, according to the Energy Department.
? Refinery shutdowns. Refineries temporarily close in the winter, when driving declines, to perform annual maintenance. That lowers gasoline inventories and sends prices higher nearly every year in the late winter and spring.
Rising gasoline prices act as a drag on the economy because they leave less money in drivers' wallets to spend on other things. But because average prices have remained in a consistent range ? between $3 and $4 per gallon since the end of 2010 ? economists say their effect on growth has been minimal.
Drivers in Connecticut, New York and Washington, D.C., are paying $3.92 or more per gallon on average, according to the Oil Price Information Service. Drivers in Rocky Mountain states, where refineries can tap low-priced crude from the U.S. and Canada, are paying far less. Gas costs $3.42 or less in Wyoming, Utah and Montana.
For the year, prices are forecast to average $3.55 per gallon, slightly lower than last year's record average of $3.63. The peak for 2013, likely to come this spring, is expected to fall slightly short of last year's peak of $3.94.
A major reason cited for high gasoline prices over the last two years ? fighting and political tensions in the Middle East and North Africa ? doesn't apply this year. Libyan production has returned after collapsing during the country's revolution two years ago. And higher production from the U.S. and Saudi Arabia has made up for Iran's declining output in the face of Western sanctions.
David Haeussermann, a police dispatcher in Tampa who recently paid $3.56 per gallon to fill his Kia Rondo, hasn't had a raise in six years. He says higher prices for gasoline and food in recent years have prompted him to cut back on dinners out and to settle for less fancy food at home. He doesn't understand why gasoline costs so much, but by now he's used to it.
"Three-dollar gas seems to be a dream right now," he says.
The good news is that the national average price is 15 cents lower than last year at this time, because of slightly lower oil prices and less concern over the situation in the Middle East. But disruptions at refineries or pipelines, or threats to oil supplies around the world, could send gasoline prices sharply higher at any moment, analysts say.
Lafoon, the St. Louis man, consolidates trips and drives as little as possible to blunt the effect of high prices. And he never fills all the way up. It is an exercise in what he calls "magical thinking" ? that prices aren't really what they are.
Hey, it's worth a try.
? 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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