Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
Source: http://www.facebook.com/aikenstandard/posts/501822379845975
rose bowl 2012 sat cheating scandal hangover cure lebron james engaged auld lang syne end of the world 2012 pink martini
By Shimon Prokupecz and Ida Siegal, NBCNewYork.com
Police are looking for a pair of armed robbers behind a brazen jewelry store heist in midtown Manhattan.
Two well-dressed armed men?walked into Madison Jewelers at 400 Madison Ave. Friday afternoon and asked to see some watches.
"A gentleman came in, looking at some Rolex watches," store owner Joseph Krady told NBC 4 New York. "When I asked him, 'Which one would you like to take?' he pulled out a gun and said, 'I'm gonna take them all'."
View NBCNewYork.com's full story on heist
The gunman had an accomplice, and the two took all the watches from the window display and some jewelry.?
After Krady did all he was instructed to do, the robbers pepper-sprayed him before fleeing.
"I couldn't see anything," he said. "It was the most painful thing."?
"I always feel very safe in the shop, it's a wide open area," said Krady. "It's busy, there's people around. You don't think anything like this could happen to you."??
More content from NBCNews.com:
Follow US News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook
quadrantid meteor shower osu football osu football oklahoma state santonio holmes raheem morris winter classic
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Oil payments from Baghdad to Iraq's Kurdish region will be transferred today, Kurdish Energy Minister Ashti Hawrami said on Sunday, offering hope that a long-running conflict between the central government and autonomous region is easing.
Baghdad and Kurdistan agreed earlier this month to draw a line under a dispute over oil payments after the latter pledged to continue exports and Baghdad said it would pay foreign companies working there.
Kurdistan has riled Baghdad by signing deals with foreign oil majors, such as Exxon and Chevron, contracts the central government rejects as illegal.
"Payments will be transferred to the Kurdish regional government today: that's what I've been told in Baghdad today," Hawrami told reporters in the Iraqi capital.
Small oil producers like London-based Genel Energy and DNO of Norway have been in the region for about a decade. Majors including Exxon, Chevron and Total are newer arrivals.
"This is great news. Payments are crucial for us to keep oil flowing," said an official with a company operating in Kurdistan.
The oil contracts row, however, is part of a broader battle between the Baghdad government and Kurdistan over oil rights, territory and regional autonomy that is straining Iraq's uneasy federal union.
Hawrami was in Baghdad for the meeting of a special committee formed earlier this month to try to resolve differences over the country's long-awaited oil and gas law.
Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul-Kareem Luaibi, who also attended, described the talks as "very positive".
More than nine years after the toppling of Saddam Hussein, the OPEC member still has no binding hydrocarbon law. A 2007 draft national oil law that aims to resolve the disputes over crude has been caught up in political infighting.
A draft national oil law that aims to resolve the disputes over crude has been caught up in political infighting for years.
Another member of the committee tasked with forging consensus over the oil and gas law said Sunday's discussions were a small step.
"We don't expect much from this meeting. It's the first meeting for the committee. Building confidence and removing tension is the topic of today's meeting," said Qasim Mohammed, a Kurdish member of the panel.
Luaibi said crude exports would exceed 2.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in September and estimated production at more than 3.3 million bpd this month.
With the help of foreign firms, Iraq has ambitious plans to boost production capacity beyond 12 million bpd by 2017, but this target has proved unrealistic due to infrastructure bottlenecks and logistical shortcomings.
It is expected to target 8-8.5 million bpd, but some oil analysts and executives see even 6 million bpd by 2017 as stretch for the war-torn country.
Under U.S. and European sanctions on the country over its controversial nuclear program, Iranian output has declined sharply this year, forcing it into third place on OPEC's list of largest oil producers, just behind Iraq.
(Writing by Isabel Coles; Editing by David Goodman and Patrick Graham)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/baghdad-payments-ease-kurd-oil-conflict-143502695.html
Dominique Dawes Gabby Olympic Gymnast Robyn Lawley Gore Vidal mlb trade rumors Misty May And Kerri Walsh Jake Dalton
PSP Comic Store, we hardly knew ye. No really, we hardly knew ye -- which is probably why Sony is warning PSP owners that its comic book portal is shutting down after October 30th. Come Hallowe'en, we'll lose the option to download the necessary app or buy additional titles. Any currently owned comics will be available to download again until mid-January, but readers will be on their own to preserve existing libraries after that. Outside of Japan, that creates significant problems for literary PlayStation fans: while PS Vita owners in Sony's home country will get a Manga store and reader in October, there's no equivalent crutch for other countries (or any PSP owners) at this stage. The console maker is non-committal and says there's nothing it can discuss "at the moment," which to us is a hint that we shouldn't plan our reading hours around a PSP or PS Vita in the near future.
[Thanks, Sooraj]
Filed under: Gaming
Sony shuts down PSP Comic Store after October 30th, leaves most of us in the lurch for now originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 Sep 2012 08:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink |
Sony (1), (2) | Email this | CommentsSource: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/30/sony-shuts-down-psp-comic-store-after-october-30th/
att wireless nfl nfl Mother Jones cars Bacon Number Kate Middleton photos
Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
Source: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20120929/SPORTS/120929007/-1/RSS
jerry lee lewis cesar chavez winning lotto numbers lottery tickets mega lottery sag aftra mega mill
When it comes to Linux distributions, Slackware could well be called the archetype. It's not just one of the longest-serving releases at nearly 20 years old -- it's designed to be "pure" and cut back on customized apps, many graphical interface assistants and the requirement to download anything during the installation process. Pat Volkerding and team have nonetheless given us a bit of a break with the launch of Slackware 14.0. While many open-source fans will be downloading a copy for the more recent Linux 3.2.29 kernel and other updated packages, ease of use is the guiding principle for the new build: there's now a graphical NetworkManager interface to manage wired and wireless connections, for a start. In tandem with the newer kernel, updated versions of the KDE and Xfce desktop environments also result in much broader hardware support than many veteran users will remember. Slackware is now much more savvy about removable storage, accelerated 3D video, SATA and other features that have sometimes demanded command line trickery. Anyone can download the revamped distribution for free, including for ARM-based devices like the Raspberry Pi, although we'd consider springing for the $33 subscription to CD-based copies of Slackware to fund Volkerding's long-term efforts.
Filed under: Software
Slackware 14.0 now available, freshens and simplifies a Linux vanguard originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 Sep 2012 19:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink
Slashdot | Slackware, Slackware Store, ARMedslack | Email this | Comments
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/muVeavhXHJQ/
g8 summit netanyahu aipac vanessa minnillo super tuesday epidemiology total eclipse of the heart
ScienceDaily (Sep. 28, 2012) ? New research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, examines the nuanced relationship between language and different types of perception.
Bilingual Infants Can Tell Unfamiliar Languages Apart
Speaking more than one language can improve our ability to control our behavior and focus our attention, recent research has shown. But are there any advantages for bilingual children before they can speak in full sentences? We know that bilingual children can tell if a person is speaking one of their native languages or the other, even when there is no sound, by watching the speaker's mouth for visual cues. But N?ria Sebasti?n-Gall?s of Universitat Pompeu Fabra and colleagues wanted to know whether bilingual infants could also do this with two unfamiliar languages. They studied 8-month-old infants, half of whom lived in either Spanish- or Catalan-speaking households and half of whom lived in Spanish-Catalan bilingual households.
The researchers looked at whether the infants could discriminate between English and French, two unfamiliar languages, using only visual cues. They found that the bilingual infants could tell the difference between the two languages, while the infants who lived in single-language households could not. These findings suggest that infants who are immersed in bilingual environments are more sensitive to the differences in visual cues associated with the sounds of various languages.
The lead author was N?ria Sebasti?n-Gall?s. The article was published in the September 2012 issue of Psychological Science.
Skilled Deaf Readers Have an Enhanced Perceptual Span in Reading
Though people born deaf are better able to use information from peripheral vision than those who can hear, they have a harder time learning to read. Researchers have proposed that the extra information coming in could distract from, rather than enhance, the process of reading. But no research has actually compared visual attention in reading between hearing and deaf readers. In a new study, Nathalie B?langer of the University of California, San Diego and colleagues investigated this issue by measuring the perceptual span, or the number of letter spaces used when reading, of skilled deaf readers, less-skilled deaf readers, and hearing readers.
The experimenters manipulated the number of letter spaces that the participants saw while reading text on a screen. They found that, compared to the other two groups, skilled deaf readers read fastest when they were given the largest number of letter spaces, showing that they had the largest perceptual span. Regardless, they were able to read just as fast as skilled hearing readers. Contrary to previous hypotheses, these findings suggest that enhanced visual attention and perceptual span are not the cause of reading difficulties common among deaf individuals.
The lead author was Nathalie N. B?langer. The article was published in the July 2012 issue of Psychological Science.
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Association for Psychological Science.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal References:
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/H4-efgoCm9c/120928125300.htm
lenny dykstra jenelle evans jenelle evans mlb 12 the show sabu google play franchise tag
By Randee Dawn, TODAY contributor
If you're the kid who got pulled up on stage by Carrie Underwood for your first-ever kiss, and you have the guts to request that it be "lip-to-lip," well, the next day of school is going to be interesting.
"It was crazy," Chase Kurnick, the12-year-old recipient of that now-famous first kiss, said of the frenzy that surrounded him as he tried to get to class. "It took me like five minutes to get to one class down the hallway. They were just fist-bumping me, high-fiving me -- everyone's like?'I'm so jealous.'"
Kurnick joined TODAY's Willie Geist and Savannah Guthrie Friday to talk about his once-in-a-lifetime encounter, which began when he attended Underwood's Saturday night show in Louisville, Ky. and held up a sign asking her to be his first kiss. (He also brought the sign to TODAY.) Underwood agreed, and ushered him onstage. Kurnick's parents, sitting in seats nearby at the show (and standing to the side during Chase's interview), were stunned.?
"My thought was, 'Well, of course (it's happening),'" said dad John. "Chase was determined, but we were shocked that it actually happened."
And he wasn't going to put up with a friendly little smooch: "I wasn't just going to go up there and get just a little kiss on the cheek. If I'm going to get it, I'm gonna get it right," he said.
For those wondering, yes, Chase (who wore a T-shirt with the hashtag #liptolip on it) has brushed his teeth -- but not washed his lips. And he has his sights set on another star, if she's willing to pucker up:
"Selena Gomez," he said.
Related content:
More in TODAY Entertainment:
revolution rosh hashanah rosh hashanah WWE dallas cowboys notre dame football boardwalk empire
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - An EU lawmaker called for tighter control of on-line social networks under a data protection regulation now being debated after some Facebook users said their personal messages appeared on their public profiles.
EU regulators are in the midst of writing new legislation that could give internet users greater control over how their personal data is used by big technology companies. One part of the regulation requires companies to get permission before "processing" people's personal data, although exactly how and when such consent would be needed is still subject to debate.
On Tuesday the French data protection regulator asked to meet Facebook after thousands of users complained private messages dating back to 2007 were visible on their Facebook timelines - the start page of a person's profile on the website.
Jan Philipp Albrecht, a German Green member of the European Parliament who is in charge of the legislature's work on the draft regulation said the incident shows that users need more control over their data.
"The informed and explicit agreement of all those affected by data processing must be a guiding principle," Albrecht said in a press statement. "There will be very few exceptions if any."
Facebook said it has not done anything wrong and that the messages are in fact called wall posts, one of the website's features for leaving comments which usually appears on a person's profile page.
Before the Facebook timeline was introduced in February, wall posts were visible on user's profile pages but could also be hidden from the public depending on each user's privacy settings.
"A small number of users raised concerns after what they mistakenly believed to be private messages appeared on their Timeline," the company said in a statement.
Nevertheless EU lawmakers are taking the incident seriously.
"This case shows that some companies simply don't take privacy issues as seriously as their share price," the Commissioner for Justice behind the regulation, Viviane Reding, said at a meeting with regulators in Dublin on Monday.
The Commission, the European Parliament and the 27 member states have to agree on the regulation before it can become law. The parliament will begin submitting amendments later this year.
Web companies like Google, Facebook and Yahoo!, which rely on their user's data to tailor their services to people's interests, have said they are wary of the regulation's principles on seeking users' consent. These companies' business models are also based on selling targeted ads matched to people's profiles.
Some say they worry that asking permission for the use of people's data more than they already do could hamper their services with consent-seeking pop-ups and encourage people to opt-out rather than in.
(Editing by Mike Nesbit)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eu-lawmaker-calls-tighter-data-rules-facebook-row-172916117--sector.html
yvette prieto hypertrophic cardiomyopathy kaye stevens michael jordan engaged kid cudi breedlove florida state football
STOCKHOLM (AP) ? A man convicted of smuggling in Sweden outwitted his jailers by sneaking in a friend to serve most of his yearlong sentence.
Prison officials say the identity of the false convict was discovered only when he'd been released on probation after serving about two-thirds of his convict friend's sentence. It was not clear if he would be punished for misleading prison authorities.
Elisabeth Lager of Sweden's Prison and Probation Service said Friday that an international arrest warrant was issued for the real convict earlier this year, sentenced in 2008 for a series of smuggling offences.
Swedish media reports said the convicted smuggler fled to Asia and had paid his friend for his "prison-sitting" service. Lager declined to name either man.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sweden-man-does-time-convict-friend-153414649.html
andy williams Lady Gaga New Girl Avalanna Gigi Chao Jimmy Hoffa Ed Hochuli
I have become a serious convert to self-publishing, and am a big booster of it. But I also recognize that the success of ?Why Are You Atheists So Angry?? is something of an outlier in the self-publishing world, and that this avenue isn?t for everyone. So I want to do a bit of a public service announcement for other writers, and lay out what I see as the major advantages and disadvantages of self-publishing versus conventional publishing.
Advantages to self-publishing:
1) You get to keep most of your money. This is not a trivial matter. Especially if you have serious ambitions of being a full-time or even part-time professional writer.
2) You get to be in control. You control publicity. You control design. You get to write your product description. An editor won?t make you change that beautiful turn of phrase just because it?s not Chicago Manual of Style. You decide cover art (and this is NOT trivial: I?ve seen authors weep tears of blood and threaten to quit writing altogether because a boring or butt-ugly cover got forced on them.) If you are a giant control queen like me, this is a big freaking deal.
And you?re not at the mercy of the whims and weathers of your publisher. In conventional publishing, if your favorite editor who loves your work and totally gets your market suddenly gets fired, or moves on to greener pastures? If there?s a buyout or a change in ownership, and the new ant overlords hate your book and decide to bury it? If some dolt in the marketing department decides that your biting analysis of the history of religious apologetics can be sold to the burgeoning tween market if they just slap a vampire on the cover? If your editor goes mad and sets fire to their office because you accidentally re-wrote the Necronomicon and reading your book opened a portal in their brain to the demon underworld? (I hate it when that happens!) You?re pretty much hosed. Depending on your contract, there?s either little you can do, or nothing you can do. When you?re publishing yourself, you can publish your demonic ravings on your own timetable, and nobody can stop you. NOBODY! BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA! The world is DOOMED!
3) It is fast, fast, fast. There is no way I could have gotten ?Why Are You Atheists So Angry?? out in time for the Reason Rally if it had been published conventionally. A small press will be more nimble than a big house?. but they?ll still be significantly slower getting your book out than you will yourself. If for no other reason, a conventional publisher actually has to physically print a big batch of physical books. (I know, right? Are we living in the Dark Ages or something?) And that takes time that ebook publishing and print-on-demand don?t. If you have an idea that?s timely, if there?s a wave you want to ride, self-publishing means you can get your book out like lightning. Once it?s written, you format it or pay someone to format it; you go to Kindle/ Nook/ Smashwords/ CreateSpace/ Lulu/ whatever; you hit the ?Publish? button. Done.
4) Did I mention that you get to keep most of your money?
5) The weird little truth that conventional publishers are beginning to freak out about: There really isn?t a whole lot that conventional publishers can do for you that you can?t do for yourself. There are some things ? I?ll get to those in a sec ? and depending on your situation, they may not be trivial.
But here?s the thing. A conventional publisher can give you a promotion budget? but they probably won?t. Or they won?t give you much of one. They probably won?t even consider publishing your book if you can?t do the lion?s share of publicity yourself. A conventional publisher can get your book into bookstores and mainstream book distribution channels? but bookstore sales are an ever-decreasing percentage of the book market. Online sales and ebook sales are kicking bookstores? asses. That sucks giant donkey dicks: I love bookstores, I want my book in bookstores, any bookstores who want to carry ?Why Are You Atheists So Angry?? should contact either Pitchstone (the publisher) or Last Gasp (the current distributor). But it?s a reality that writers need to accept.
Honestly? The publishing world kind of screwed itself. The big houses especially. They kept cutting back and cutting back and cutting back on what they give to authors, and expecting authors to do more and more and more of the heavy lifting themselves. And then self-publishing books started to become cost-effective, and blogging/ citizen journalism/ other electronic self-publishing forms started getting credibility, and authors started saying, ?So I?m working with you? why, again?? If you?re a writer, that?s a question you should seriously be asking.
And, of course, all this is assuming that you can, in fact, get a contract with a conventional book publisher? which has always been hard, and is getting harder all the time.
So if publishers can?t do that much for you that you can?t do for yourself? why not just do it yourself, and keep most of your money?
Advantages to conventional publishing:
1) With self-publishing, you have to pay for everything yourself: formatting, cover art, review copies, ISBNs, promo cards, etc. You may be able to get help with some of this, free or cheap: from friends, from fans, from work-trade agreements. But not all of it. If you don?t have the cash/ resources to absorb these costs upfront and take the risk that it may not pan out, it may well be worth it to you to have a conventional publisher absorb those costs instead.
2) With self-publishing, you have to do everything yourself. This is the flip side of ?you get to be in control.? You have to do publicity, promotion, dealing with formatters, acquiring ISBNs ? everything ? all by yourself, or with the help of friends and colleagues. That doesn?t just take money? it takes time. And it takes motivation. If you?re considering self-publishing, ask yourself: ?Do I really have the time and energy to deal with all that boring business bullshit?? If your answer is a horrified, nauseated shudder, conventional publishing might be right for you.
3) Having an editor is often a good thing. If you self-publish, your non-existent editor won?t make you change that beautiful turn of phrase just because it?s not Chicago Manual of Style? but they also won?t catch that horrendously stupid mistake you made. If you self-publish, it?s an excellent idea to hire a copy editor ? but then you have to add that to your upfront costs. (Or do what I did, and marry one.)
4) Being a self-publisher means being a publisher. And that means understanding the publishing business. I had a big leg up when I self-published ?Why Are You Atheists So Angry??: I?d been working in the publishing industry in one capacity or another (for book publishers, book distributors, retail mail-order companies working with book publishers and distributors, magazine publishers, newspaper publishers) for decades. I knew the business ? the small, quirky, indie end of the business, anyway ? very well indeed, and I had a working familiarity with the bigger side of the business as well. If you?re self-publishing and you don?t have that knowledge, you?re going to have to acquire it, or learn it on the fly.
On the other hand? some publishers don?t seem to understand the publishing world very well, either. The big ones especially. The degree to which big book publishers have utterly failed to adapt to the electronic world astonishes me. Look at simple things like, ?Your cover art has to look good on a computer screen in thumbnail size,? for fuck?s sake. How hard is that to get right?
5) There is still a certain cred that conventional publishing confers on a writer. And there is still a certain stigma on self-publishing, a whiff of the ?vanity press? notion. This is diminishing significantly, and it?s diminishing more and more all the time, but it?s still there. The fact that a professional in the industry decided your work was publishable and sellable does give you a certain cachet. And if you?ve been picked up by one publisher, it increases your chances of being picked up by another.
On the other hand? if you self-publish and your book does well, that increases your chances with publishers, too. It shows that you have a platform, that you?re motivated and engaged in promoting your work, and that your work will sell. And the cred gap between conventional publishing and self-publishing is closing all the time. Also, you may decide that you don?t really care about that cred stuff, if it means you get to control your business and keep more of your money.
Bottom line:
If you?re a highly self-motivated, reasonably well-organized control freak, with the time and resources to put into the project and a good platform for publicizing your book (a blog, a videoblog, a podcast, connections with other bloggers and videobloggers and podcasters, lots of followers on Facebook and Twitter and whatnot), self-publishing is probably a good choice. And if conventional publishers won?t publish your book, self-publishing is an excellent choice. Definitely the way to go.
But if a conventional publisher will publish your book ? and if it?s worth making less money and giving up control to have someone else absorb the upfront costs and hassles and boring business end of publishing, and if you?re not a giant control freak like me ? then conventional publishing is probably worth it.
Note: ?Why Are You Atheists So Angry? 99 Things That Piss Off the Godless? is currently available in ebook form at Kindle, Nook, and multiple formats on Smashwords, including iBooks, Sony Reader, Kobo, Kindle (.mobi), Stanza, Aldiko, Adobe Digital Editions, any other reader that takes the Epub format, Palm Doc (PDB), PDF, RTF, Online Reading via HTML, and Plain Text for either downloading or viewing. All ebook editions and formats cost just $7.99.
You can get the print edition through Last Gasp ? wholesale and retail mail-order ? through the Richard Dawkins Foundation bookstore, and at the American Atheists online bookstore. (The AA store website is slightly wonky, but if you go there and select ?New Products? in the left sidebar [NOT "Newest Items"], it?s right there at the top of the section.) It can also be ordered directly from the publisher, Pitchstone Publishing. (You can also pre-order the print edition through Amazon ? but Amazon and most other retailers won?t have the book until the fall.) The print edition is $14.95.
And the audiobook version is available at Audible, iTunes, and Amazon. And yes, I did the recording for it!
from your own site.
mega upload santorum wins iowa archer ibooks 2 ifl indoor football league newt gingrich wife
BOSTON (AP) ? In a rare departure from her usual political style, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez responded to questions from an audience at Harvard University Thursday night. But she didn't always answer them.
Fernandez spoke before more than 100 students, faculty and guests at the Kennedy School of Government. In Argentina, she has had five news conferences in five years and has only occasionally taken questions.
Fernandez said the criticism that she doesn't speak to the press is unfounded.
"I don't know where this comes from that I don't talk, that I can't speak, that I'm mute," she said in Spanish which was translated into English.
One student, who is from Argentina, asked Fernandez about Argentines' limited access to foreign capital when they want to travel abroad and increased taxes on credit and debit card purchases made outside the country or online.
"You are here and you are Argentine, so obviously you don't have dollar problems," Fernandez told the student. "You are lucky enough to study in Harvard. You think you can really talk about these currency problems?"
To another student, who asked if it was time for Fernandez to be more self-critical because of her country's escalating crime and what some say is its inflation problem, she said she expected different questions from her Ivy League audience.
Capital flight and wary investors have plagued Fernandez's second term, despite her attempts to use currency controls, taxes on the wealthy and programs for the poor to combat what some analysts have labeled the economy's impending downward economic spiral.
Moody's Investor Service Thursday downgraded 30 Argentine banks to "negative" ratings, down from "stable."
The International Monetary Fund has given Argentina until Dec. 17 to publish accurate inflation statistics, questioning the reported monthly inflation of below 1 percent.
Fernandez succeeded her husband, Nestor Kirchner, as president of Argentina in 2007. He died three years later.
She has been in the U.S. for several days visiting the United Nations. She spoke at Georgetown University on Wednesday.
Associated Presscharles barkley beyonce troy polamalu james harrison james harrison falcons giants game
Still eager to work with old friends, past collaborators, and public masturbators alike, Christopher Guest has reportedly arranged Fred Willard, Michael McKean, and Ed Begley Jr. for recurring roles for his upcoming HBO mockumentary series, Family Tree.
As previously reported, the Guest and Jim Piddock-created series will focus on a character named Tom Chadwick (played by Chris O'Dowd) as he travels the country "exploring his family heritage after inheriting a mysterious box from a great aunt he never met." McKean will be playing Tom's father, Keith, while Begley will play Uncle Andy and Willard will grin and shout from next door as the uncle's neighbor. Don Lake (the oft-chipper bald guy who is also in all of Christopher Guest's projects) has signed on for a guest spot as Tom's cousin. Basically, you can expect the show's remaining casting to dribble out just as soon as Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, Michael Hitchcock, Jane Lynch, Jennifer Coolidge, and John Michael Higgins have been suitably matched with generic names and blood relations. But would you want it any other way?
August 31, 2011
- Dwayne Johnson tweeted the above photo as evidence that actor/comedian DeRay Davis has a part in G.I. Joe 2. Also as evidence that the two of them arm wrestled outside a ladies' room. - Actor Ben Whishaw says Tom Tykwer's Wachowski-produced adaptation of Cloud Altas will see... / Continue ?March 25, 2009
If you've got an HBO subscription, keep an eye out for Dennis Quaid to be playing that president from all the McDonald's and semen monologue jokes. The gruff-speaking actor has signed on to play Bill Clinton in the Frost/Nixon playwright's directorial debut, The Special Relatio... / Continue ?September 18, 2012
Expanding on the criminology-by-way-of-diorama notion previously explored on television by George Costanza, HBO, Guillermo del Toro, and novelist Sara Gran are developing a series about the real-life '50s housewife who solved grisly murders through dollhouse crime scene reconst... / Continue ?Source: http://www.iwatchstuff.com/2012/09/christopher-guest-series-to-include-peop.php
luke bryan april fools global payments the killing eli young band wrestlemania country music awards 2012
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Republicans lashed out at President Barack Obama and senior administration officials over their evolving description of the deadly Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya, a late campaign-season broadside challenging the veracity and leadership of an incumbent on the upswing.
Desperate to reverse the apparent trajectory of the White House race, Republicans sense a political opportunity in Obama's reluctance to utter the words "terrorist attack" as well as the varying explanations emerging from the administration about the assault in Benghazi that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
Talk of Watergate-style scandal, stonewalling and cover-up echoed in the GOP ranks on Thursday, from the head of the party to members of Congress to Mitt Romney's campaign staff. This full-throated criticism comes five days before the first debate between Obama and Romney, with Republicans determined to cast the president as dishonest and ineffectual on both foreign and domestic policy.
"Amid Middle East turmoil and six weeks before the election, President Obama refuses to have an honest conversation with the American people," Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican Party, wrote in an article for the website Real Clear Politics. "The country deserves honesty, not obfuscation, from our president."
Republicans say the administration has been slow to call the assault a terrorist attack and has criticized its initial insistence that the attack was a spontaneous response to the crude anti-Islam video that touched off demonstrations across the Middle East.
Since then, it has become clear that the Benghazi assault was distinct from the mobs that burned American flags and protested what they considered the blasphemy in the movie, but didn't attack U.S. personnel. Republicans have also suggested that the administration had intelligence suggesting the deadly attack might happen and ignored it.
"I think it's pretty clear that they haven't wanted to level with the American people. We expect candor from the president and transparency," Romney told Fox News this week.
The White House and Democrats accused the GOP of politicizing national security, with officials specifically mentioning Romney's quick swipe at Obama as an extremist sympathizer as the crisis was still unfolding in North Africa around Sept. 11.
"The Republican approach is to shoot first and ask questions later," Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said in an interview. "The administration wants to do an investigation and be as accurate as possible. That's the difference between partisan politics and trying to govern."
Democrats also used the criticism to recall the former Massachusetts governor's missteps during his summertime overseas trip and his omission in his prime-time speech at the Republican National Convention of any mention of U.S. military forces fighting in Afghanistan.
"Every time Mitt Romney has attempted to dip his toe into foreign policy quarters, it's been an unmitigated disaster," Obama campaign press secretary Jen Psaki said aboard Air Force One.
National security has provided few political openings for Romney and the GOP as Obama has shed the Democrats' past reputation for weakness by ordering the successful raid that killed terrorist leader Osama bin Laden and undercut al-Qaida. An Associated Press-GfK poll earlier this month found Obama with an edge over Romney on who Americans think can do a better job of protecting the country, 51 percent to 40 percent.
The economy and jobs are the dominant issues in the election, with few voters likely to cast their ballots based on events in Libya or conflicts overseas. Underscoring the general weariness after more than 10 years of war, some of the fiercest GOP defense hawks in Congress have suggested the United States withdraw its forces from Afghanistan, an even bolder step than Obama.
But the administration has struggled to present a coherent description of the assault in Libya, prompting questions from Republicans and Democrats about whether the United States had prior intelligence, whether the attack was planned and whether security was sufficient.
In that same AP poll, Americans approved of Obama's handling of Libya by just 45-41 percent. The poll was conducted within days of the assault.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Thursday called it a terrorist attack.
"What terrorists were involved I think still remains to be determined by the investigation," he told reporters at the Pentagon. "But it clearly was a group of terrorists who conducted that attack."
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and White House press secretary Jay Carney called the violence a terrorist attack last week. But Obama has declined several chances to call the incident a terrorist attack. He said last week that extremists used an anti-Islam video as an excuse to assault U.S. interests.
And just five days after the attack, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said the attack was a spontaneous reaction to the video. Her assessment was at odds with Libya's interim President Mohammed el-Megarif, who said there was no doubt the perpetrators had predetermined the date of the assault. Panetta said Thursday it was a "planned attack."
The FBI is investigating, but the apparent contradictions have prompted demands for information from Congress and a flurry of scathing letters to the administration.
So far, U.S. intelligence has indicated that heavily armed extremists numbering 50 or more attacked the consulate, relying on gun trucks for added firepower. They established a perimeter, limiting access to the compound. A first wave of attacks forced the Americans to flee to a fallback building, where a second group of extremists attacked with mortar fire. Stevens died of apparent smoke inhalation when he was caught inside one of the consulate buildings, which had been set on fire.
Officials have not singled out one responsible group, but have focused their attention on Ansar al-Shariah, a Libyan militant group led by a former detainee at the U.S. military-run prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Thursday that there has been a "thread of intelligence reporting" about groups in eastern Libya trying to coalesce, but no specific threat to the consulate.
Since the fall of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi last year, militias, weapons and terrorists are common in Libya.
"It was just unbelievable that Ambassador Rice and Secretary Clinton and the White House spokesman and others would say that there was no evidence ? that this was a spontaneous attack, yet they say, 'come on, honey, bring your mortars, we're going to a spontaneous demonstration,'" Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said on CBS' "This Morning."
McCain, who called the administration's statements "disgraceful," joined three other Republican senators this week in a letter to Rice pressing her on her "troubling statements that are inconsistent with the facts."
Eight Republicans who head House committees sent a letter to Obama criticizing a "pre-9/11 mindset" of "treating an act of war solely as a criminal matter." They said they would return to Washington from their nearly two-month recess for briefings beyond the back-to-back sessions Clinton and others held last week.
Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., have asked for communications between the State Department and the U.S. mission in Libya leading up to the attacks.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., has written the State Department's Thomas Nides asking him to provide the panel with a detailed accounting of the attacks on U.S. missions in Libya, Egypt and Yemen on Sept. 11, information on security and whether there was any prior intelligence.
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., a member of the panel, said the purpose of this letter is a bipartisan effort to get information.
"I do think it is legitimate and appropriate to ask questions," Coons said in an interview. "Some have sadly overreached and clearly are politicizing this incident."
___
Associated Press writers Robert Burns in Washington and Steve Peoples in Springfield, Va., contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/republicans-assail-obama-9-11-attack-libya-203528583.html
ann arbor news ides of march elizabeth smart nick young south dakota state long beach state beasley
AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- AFP announces it's new subsidiary AFP China. Headquartered in Shanghai, China, AFP China will work in conjunction with AFP Austin to design, engineer, and source environmentally sustainable packaging solutions for Multi-National businesses with manufacturing in China and businesses serving the local China market. The AFP China team will also leverage its' supply chain management expertise to improve efficiency and inventory management within the China packaging supply chain.? AFP will extend the reach of its' manufacturing technology and processes by collaborating with leading Chinese packaging suppliers to improve efficiency and quality through innovation and automation.
"Our new business in China, not only extends our capability to supply our existing customer base of the world's leading high technology companies, it opens new opportunities to supply the world's largest packaging market with our innovative packaging designs and manufacturing technology while leveraging our supplier relationships to globalize environmentally sustainable, cost reducing, packaging solutions," stated Tim O'Hearn, CEO of AFP, Inc.
"Having engineering teams, on both sides of the world will enable collaborative round the clock engineering and design capabilities along with the ability to deliver packaging solutions where our customers need them and when they need them," said Jodie Zhang, General Manager of AFP China.
AFP, Inc., headquartered in Austin, Texas and Shanghai, China with five manufacturing locations serving the United States and Mexico, has provided leading high technology companies like Acer, Dell, Flextronics, HP and IBM with innovative and cost reducing engineered packaging solutions since 1978. For more information about AFP, Inc. contact Rick Lange on 512-251-6300 or visit www.a-f-p.com.
Media Contact: Rick Lange AFP Inc., +1(512)251-6300, RIckLange@a-f-p.com
News distributed by PR Newswire iReach: https://ireach.prnewswire.com
SOURCE AFP Inc.
Source: http://www.businessreviewaustralia.com/press_releases/afp-expands-operations-into-china
stephen colbert south carolina seal seal and heidi klum drew peterson untouchable herman cain south carolina palmetto rob lowe
New York Mets starting pitcher R.A. Dickey puts his hand to his heart as the thanks the fans as he celebrates his 20th victory of the season after the Mets 6-5 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a baseball game at Citi Field in New York, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
New York Mets starting pitcher R.A. Dickey puts his hand to his heart as the thanks the fans as he celebrates his 20th victory of the season after the Mets 6-5 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a baseball game at Citi Field in New York, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
New York Mets starting pitcher R.A. Dickey tips his cap to the crowd as he celebrates his 20th victory of the season after the Mets 6-5 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a baseball game at Citi Field in New York, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
New York Mets starting pitcher R.A. Dickey acknowledges fans as he celebrates his 20th victory of the season after the Mets 6-5 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a baseball game at Citi Field in New York, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Fans pay tribute to New York Mets pitcher R.A Dickey, who is going for his 20th victory, during a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citi Field in New York, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
New York Mets starting pitcher R.A. Dickey acknowledges fans as he celebrates his 20th victory of the season after the Mets 6-5 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a baseball game at Citi Field in New York, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
NEW YORK (AP) ? R.A. Dickey was so close yet so far from 20 wins, faltering from fatigue and fuming he had failed to seize the moment.
"About the fourth or fifth inning I felt exasperated. I was not myself today for the most part," he said.
"And then I'd come out for an at-bat and I would hear this kind of growing surge, and it really was neat. I mean I don't know if I've ever experienced something like that before. Maybe I never will again. Although I wasn't distracted from the moment, how could you not be motivated to go out there and give the fans and, well, your teammates and yourself all that you have?" he said.
Absorbing the energy from 31,506 fans at the final home game of another sorry Mets season, Dickey summoned his strength and concentration. David Wright boosted him into the lead with a tiebreaking three-run homer, and Dickey led New York over Pittsburgh Pirates 6-5 Thursday to become the first knuckleballer in more than three decades to win 20 games.
"It's like a big exhale," Dickey said.
Throwing his hard knuckler at up to 78 mph, Dickey (20-6) allowed three runs and eight hits in 7 2-3 innings, tying his career high with 13 strikeouts and walking two.
With New York winding up its fourth straight losing season, he capped a trinity of highlights that began with the first Mets no-hitter by Johan Santana in June and continued with Wright setting the team career hits record on Wednesday.
"This was about R.A. today," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "It was about him. It was about his connection with the fans, the connection with the city. And so I said use that."
Quite a turnaround from 2010, when Dickey began the season at Triple-A Buffalo and had to prove he belonged in the majors. And from last year, when he was 8-13.
The 37-year-old had never won more than 11 games in any previous season is just 61-56 in his big league career.
"I was the picture of mediocrity by my own admission," he said.
But in the late stages of his career, he has mastered the knuckler ? a pitch that has flummoxed most of those who have tried and must survive on fastballs.
"I think everybody here today would have taken one swing where they thought they were going to crush one and they swung right throw it," Pirates outfielder Travis Snider said.
Dickey had never set a numerical goal for his pitching.
"It's just much more for me if I can really harness the moment and suck the marrow out of every second, then I've done what I want to do and I can be satisfied," he said.
Dickey became the first 20-game winner for the pitching-proud Mets since Frank Viola in 1990 and the first knuckleballer to accomplish the feat since Houston's Joe Niekro in 1980, according to STATS LLC. Viola also reached 20 with a win over the Pirates.
New York had altered its rotation, giving Dickey a chance to win 20 at home. The fans gave Dickey his first ovation when he walked to the bullpen to warm up. He waved his cap as they applauded when he walked off after his 128th and final pitch ? his most in eight years ? and got a final round of applause when he returned to the field for a postgame interview that was broadcast over the stadium sound system.
"Growing up, you just want to compete. And once you have the weaponry to compete, you want to be really good," he said. "And then when you're really good, you want to be supernaturally good. And I think for me there's been this steady kind of metamorphosis from just surviving to being a craftsman. Ultimately the hope is to be an artist with what you do."
The milestone following two life-changing events. He authored a book last spring, "Wherever I Wind Up," revealing he was a sexual abuse victim when he was 8. And he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise awareness for the Bombay Teen Challenge.
"When you get to a comfort level about who you are and you don't have secrets and you feel the freedom to be who you feel like you're called to be, that's something," Dickey said. "Is this the result of the cathartic experience of writing the book, I don't know. I'm going to say this, it certainly hasn't hurt. And to be comfortable in your own skin, which I was not for so long in my life, there's something to that."
His memorable year began with a climb to the 19,341-foot Uhuru Peak of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
"He was taking his career and putting it in jeopardy, putting it in harm's way," Collins said. "You don't know what's going to happen. But it wasn't about him. It has never been about him."
Dickey joined Washington's Gio Gonzalez as the top winners in the majors ? until Gonzalez beat the Phillies to improve his record to 21-8. They figure to duel for the NL Cy Young Award.
Dickey fell behind 2-0 and 3-1 and overcame an outstanding, climbing catch by Snider more than 2 feet above the right-field wall that robbed Mike Baxter of a tying home run in the second inning.
Former Texas teammate Rod Barajas hit an opposite-field RBI double that hopped the right-field wall in the second, and Jordy Mercer following with a run-scoring infield single.
Ike Davis led off the bottom half with his 31st homer, but Barajas boosted the lead to 3-1 when he homered on an 0-2 pitch in the fourth, a drive over the old 16-foot wall in left. Kevin Correia (11-11) gave up Scott Hairston's RBI single in the fourth and Murphy's tying single in the fifth before Wright hit an opposite-field drive to right for his 21st home run this season and a 6-3 lead.
Dickey was watching on TV in the clubhouse at the time.
"There were times he picked us up and really carried us as a team on his back," said Wright, happy to provide the hit that made the difference.
Dickey said after the seventh inning he was "pooped," but Collins sent him out for the eighth.
"I said, look, this ballpark is filled with energy today. Use it to your advantage," the manager recalled. "These people deserve to see you walk off the mound."
Responded Dickey: "Don't leave me hanging."
Jon Rauch, pitching on his 34th birthday, came in after a two-out walk, finished the eighth and allowed Alex Presley's two-run homer in the nervy ninth. Bobby Parnell retired Josh Harrison on a groundout and Jose Tabata on a flyout for his fifth save.
Dickey came back on the field for handshakes and soaked in the fans' love.
"I feel it in my face. I don't know if that makes any sense," Dickey said. "I want to get emotional. It's hard because we've had the type of season that we've had."
His family stayed back in Nashville, Tenn. ? the kids are in school ? but planned to meet him in Atlanta on Thursday night for the start of the Mets' final trip. He had some close friends at the game.
Through all the tough times, Dickey pictured this type of success in his mind.
"I never abandoned hope. I always held that out," he said. "My hope always outweighed my doubt, and that's what kind of kept me going."
NOTES: Pittsburgh, which led the NL Central at the All-Star break, lost for the 20th time in 26 games and dropped to 76-80. ... Snider gave the Pirates a memory with one of the best defensive plays of the season. He dug his cleats into the chain-link fence, hooked his left arm on top of the wall in front of the Mo's Zone seats, hoisted himself up and grabbed Baxter's drive in the webbing of the glove on his right hand well about the 8-foot wall. ... Andrew McCutchen bruised his left knee on a failed attempt at a diving catch on a soft fly to center in the seventh inning. He went 0 for 4, dropping to .332 and giving up the NL batting lead to San Francisco's Buster Posey, who went 2 for 4 and is hitting .333. ... The Mets drew 2,242,803 to Citi Field this year, down from 3.15 million in 2009, 2.56 million in 2010 and 2.35 million last year. This is the team's lowest home attendance since 2.19 million at Shea Stadium in 2003. ... Mets broadcaster Keith Hernandez shaved off his mustache before the game in a charity fundraiser.
Associated Pressnba trade blagojevich new mexico state kevin rose sessions march madness scores doonesbury
The Mars Rover has detected the first on-the-ground evidence of an ancient streambed. If there was water, could Mars have supported life? NBC's Tom Costello reports
By Alan Boyle
A close look at pebble-filled layers of rock has convinced scientists that NASA's Curiosity rover is driving through a dried-up stream bed on Mars where water flowed vigorously billions of years ago. They say it's the kind of place that just might have supported life when the planet was young.
"This is a rock that was formed in the presence of water," Caltech's John Grotzinger, project scientist for the $2.5 billion Mars Science Laboratory mission, said today during a televised news conference at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
The evidence is in the shape, size and composition of the rocks that Curiosity came across at multiple sites during its landing on Aug. 5. Conglomerate rocks, consisting of pebbles cemented together within layers of sediment, were seen at three sites:
Hottah in particular showed clear evidence of rounded pebbles that were too big to be smoothed by the action of the wind. Some of the rocks are as big as golf balls. The best explanation for the gravelly pebbles was that they were eroded by the vigorous flow of water, said Curiosity science team member Rebecca Williams, a senior scientist at the Arizona-based Planetary Science Institute.
The Hottah slab, which measures 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 centimeters) thick, looks as if "somebody came along the surface of Mars with a jackhammer and lifted up a sidewalk that you might see in downtown LA, sort of like in a construction site," Grotzinger said.
NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS
A closeup view of the "Hottah" rock outcrop shows the characteristic pebbly rock that is associated with the action of a flowing stream. Broken surfaces of the outcrop have rounded, gravel clasts, such as the one circled in white, which is about 1.2 inches (3 centimeters) across. The rock formation was named after Hottah Lake in Canada's Northwest Territories.
The Planetary Science Institute's Rebecca Williams describes new images from Mars.
NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS / PSI
This set of images compares the Link outcrop of rocks on Mars (left) with similar rocks seen on Earth (right). The image of Link, obtained by NASA's Curiosity rover, shows rounded gravel fragments, or clasts, up to a couple of inches (few centimeters) wide, within the rock outcrop. In accordance with the Mars mission's tradition, Link takes its name from a rock formation in Canada's Northwest Territories.
The evidence from the ground meshes well with the evidence from orbit indicating that Curiosity is near an 11-mile-wide (18-kilometer-wide) fan of material that may have washed down a channel in ancient times, when Mars was warmer and wetter, according to William Dietrich, a planetary scientist at the University of California at Berkeley.
"These stones ... are very, very revealing to us about the process," Dietrich said. Some previous research has suggested that water flowed on Mars only for brief periods, separated by long, cold, dry spells. That scenario might not have provided enough time for life to get a foothold on the Red Planet in ancient times. But Dietrich said the patterning of the channels within the fan suggested that water streamed through the area for well beyond a thousand-year time scale.
"We can step away from the idea that there was a single burst of water ... that built it all in a day," he told reporters.
Based on the size of the gravel seen by Curiosity, Dietrich estimated that the water moved at a speed of about 3 feet (1 meter) per second, at a depth somewhere between ankle and hip deep.
"Plenty of papers have been written about channels on Mars with many different hypotheses about the flows in them," Dietrich said in a NASA news release. "This is the first time we're actually seeing water-transported gravel on Mars. This is a transition from speculation about the size of streambed material to direct observation of it."
NASA / JPL-Caltech / Univ. of Ariz.
This image shows the topography, with shading added, around the area where NASA's Curiosity rover landed. Higher elevations are colored in red, with cooler colors indicating transitions downslope to lower elevations. The map highlights an alluvial fan of material, apparently issuing from a channel named Peace Vallis. The black oval indicates the targeted landing area for the rover known as the "landing ellipse," and the cross shows where the rover actually landed.
NASA / JPL-Caltech / UC-Berkeley
This image shows a dry streambed on an alluvial fan in Chile's Atacama Desert, revealing the typical patchy, heterogeneous mixture of grain sizes deposited together. On Mars, Curiosity has seen two rock outcrops close to its Bradbury Landing site that also record a mixture of sand and pebbles transported by water. Scientists say the mixture was probably deposited along an ancient streambed.
So far, the scientists' conclusions are based exclusively on visual observations by Curiosity's high-resolution Mastcam imager. Further imagery, along with chemical readings from other instruments on the rover, will likely be used to fill out the story of the ancient stream bed, Grotzinger said.
The main goal of Curiosity's two-year primary mission is to assess how habitable Mars was in ancient times. That's why mission managers chose 96-mile-wide (154-kilometer-wide) Gale Crater as Curiosity's landing site. It has that alluvial fan, which appears to issue forth from a channel that has now officially been designated Peace Vallis. It also has a 3-mile-high (5-kilometer-high) mountain, known as Aeolis Mons or Mount Sharp, which could preserve billions of years' worth of Mars' geological record.
Grotzinger noted that the three requirements for habitability typically listed by astrobiologists are the presence of liquid water, the availability of an energy source (such as sunlight) and the presence of carbon-based compounds that can be used as the building blocks of life.?
"Now we've got a hall pass for the water examination," Grotzinger joked.
Theoretically, a long-flowing stream could be a habitable environment. "It is not our top choice as an environment for preservation of organics, though," Grotzinger said in NASA's news release. "We're still going to Mount Sharp, but this is insurance that we have already found our first potentially habitable environment."
Even if the rover's instruments detect the right kinds of carbon compounds, that would not serve as confirmation of ancient life on Mars. That would "have to wait for another mission," Grotzinger said. ?
More from Mars Curiosity:
Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's?Facebook page, following?@b0yle on Twitter?and adding the?Cosmic Log page?to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out?"The Case for Pluto,"?my book about the dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
bcs jay z glory alabama crimson tide barry larkin jay z new song torrie wilson alabama lsu
Mars rover Curiosity found rocks on the Martian surface that are too big to be carried by wind, so researchers suppose water must have existed on Mars at one time. Over the next two years, Curiosity will continue its search for signs of ancient?microbial life on Mars.
Scientists say the rocks found by the Mars Curiosity rover look like they've been moved by waterThe NASA rover Curiosity has beamed back pictures of bedrock that suggest a fast-moving stream, possibly waist-deep, once flowed on?Mars?? a find that the mission's chief scientist called exciting.
Skip to next paragraph' +
google_ads[0].line2 + '
' +
google_ads[0].line3 + '
Subscribe Today to the Monitor
There have been previous signs that water existed on the red planet long ago, but the images released Thursday showing pebbles rounded off, likely by water, offered the most convincing evidence so far of an ancient streambed.
There was "a vigorous flow on the surface of?Mars," said chief scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology. "We're really excited about this."
The discovery did not come as a complete surprise. NASA decided to plunk Curiosity down inside Gale Crater near the Martian equator because photos from space hinted that the spot possessed a watery past. The six-wheeled rover safely landed Aug. 5 after a nail-biting plunge through the Martian atmosphere. It's on a two-year, $2.5 billion mission to study whether the Martian environment could have been favorable for microbial life.
Present day?Mars?is a frozen desert with no hint of water on its radiation-scarred surface, but geological studies of rocks by previous missions suggest the planet was warmer and wetter once upon a time.
The latest evidence came from photos that Curiosity took revealing rounded pebbles and gravel ? a sign that the rocks were transported long distances by water and smoothed out.
The size of the rocks ? ranging from a sand grain to a golf ball ? indicates that they could not have been carried by wind, said mission scientist Rebecca Williams of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Ariz.
Though Curiosity did not use its high-tech instruments to drill into the rocks or analyze their chemical makeup, Grotzinger said scientists were sure that water played a role based on just studying the pictures.
It's unclear how long the water persisted on the surface, but it easily could have lasted "thousands to millions of years," said mission scientist Bill Dietrich of the University of California, Berkeley.
Curiosity chanced upon the dried-up streambed while driving to Glenelg, an intriguing spot where three types of terrain meet. Its ultimate destination is Mount Sharp, a mountain rising from the center of crater floor, but it was not expected to travel there until the end of the year.
Finding past water is a first step toward learning whether the environment could have supported microbes. Scientists generally agree that besides water and an energy source such as the sun, organic carbon is a necessary prerequisite for life.
While an ancient streambed holds promise as a potentially habitable environment, scientists don't think it's a good place to preserve the carbon building blocks of life. That's why the rover will continue its trek to the foothills of Mount Sharp where there's a better chance of finding organics.
Alicia Chang can be followed at?http://twitter.com/SciWriAlicia
allure jane goodall saturday night fever glamping forgetting sarah marshall taraji p. henson irs
Nashua will host ArtWalk 2012 on Sept. 29-30
By TERESA SANTOSKI Staff Writer
Courtesy photo. "Alice," a mixed media collage by Bonnie Guercio. Guercio, who has a studio in Nashua's Picker Building, is one of many artists participating in ArtWalk 2012.
Courtesy photo. "Free Space," a mixed media collage by Bonnie Guercio. Guercio, who has a studio in Nashua's Picker Building, is one of many artists participating in ArtWalk 2012.
Courtesy photo. "Twin Gold," a mixed media collage by Bonnie Guercio. Guercio, who has a studio in Nashua's Picker Building, is one of many artists participating in ArtWalk 2012.
Courtesy photo. Dual metal earrings by Gail Moriarty Designs. Moriarty, who has a studio in Nashua's Picker Building, is one of many artists participating in ArtWalk 2012.
Courtesy photo. Earrings by Gail Moriarty Designs. Moriarty, who has a studio in Nashua's Picker Building, is one of many artists participating in ArtWalk 2012.
Courtesy photo. A piece by Renaissance Glassworks. Located in Nashua's Picker Building, Renaissance Glassworks is one of many studios participating in ArtWalk 2012.
Courtesy photo. A piece by Renaissance Glassworks. Located in Nashua's Picker Building, Renaissance Glassworks is one of many studios participating in ArtWalk 2012.
Courtesy photo. A piece by Renaissance Glassworks. Located in Nashua's Picker Building, Renaissance Glassworks is one of many studios participating in ArtWalk 2012.
Courtesy photo. A piece by Renaissance Glassworks. Located in Nashua's Picker Building, Renaissance Glassworks is one of many studios participating in ArtWalk 2012.
Courtesy photo. "Alice," a mixed media collage by Bonnie Guercio. Guercio, who has a studio in Nashua's Picker Building, is one of many artists participating in ArtWalk 2012.
IF YOU GO
ArtWalk 2012
WHEN: Noon-5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, and noon-4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 30.
WHERE: Downtown Nashua and the Millyard.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.cityartsnashua.org. For more information about downtown Nashua?s Fall Restaurant Week, visit www.downtownnashua.org.
As Christmas draws ever closer, so does the dread of braving the crowded malls in search of the perfect gifts.
From what City Arts Nashua board member Bonnie Guercio has seen, those familiar with Nashua?s arts community have a little shopping secret: the annual ArtWalk.
ArtWalk 2012 will be held from noon-5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, and noon-4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 30, in downtown Nashua and the nearby Millyard.
As a mixed-media collage artist with a studio in the Picker Building, Guercio noticed that a number of people who visited the building during last year?s ArtWalk returned in the weeks leading up to Christmas. In addition to buying completed pieces, they also requested commissions.
?Most of the people in the Picker Building, just about everybody has somebody come back because they saw them in the ArtWalk,? Guercio said. ?They like what you created and now they?re ready to acquire that.?
To buy something that?s original and handmade in your community ?says something nice about your ideas of gift-giving,? Guercio said. It ?becomes a nicer, more thoughtful gift.?
?Our gift dollars are shrinking, and so I think people are putting a bit more thought into their gifts.?
ArtWalk, organized by City Arts Nashua, is an opportunity for the public to connect with the city?s arts scene through open studios, tours, activities, musical performances and conversations with the artists.
?It helps people know that there are wonderful artisans, craftsmen, that they can count on,? Guercio said. ?You don?t have to go to Boston or Cambridge or someplace like that to find some really very well done art.?
In addition to the Picker Building, which houses more than two dozen artists, major ArtWalk venues include 55 Lake St. Studios; the Hunt Memorial Building, where members of the Nashua Area Artists Association will display the work of its members; and Indian Head Plaza, which will host independent artists.
Something a little different will greet visitors to ArtWalk?s northernmost venue ? the Nashua Historical Society ? where about 20 pieces of very weighty Nashua history will be on display and available for purchase.
They?re the city?s iconic triangular manhole covers, which the society has previously auctioned in groups and is now selling to boost its fund for educational programs.
The Speare and Abbot House museums will be open for tours as well.
On Main Street, a number of businesses also will open their doors, Guercio said, ?so artists that have no studios can be inside to display their artwork. They don?t have to be outside in a tent.?
For example, Renaissance Downtowns at 88 Main St. will host Positive Street Art, which will display its ?Views From a Cell? cellphone photography exhibit.
The exhibit will be judged by Mark Levesque, of Mark Emile Photography.
All photos will be for sale, with the proceeds going to support future Positive Street Art projects.
?We have an amazing amount of support from the businesses downtown this year,? Guercio said. ?I think the businesses on Main Street are very receptive to including the arts community in the business world.?
Several art-focused tours also will be conducted during ArtWalk.
Historian Alan Manoian will lead a tour of some of Nashua?s architectural highlights, beginning at Bicentennial Park at 1 p.m. Saturday.
The Nashua Sculpture Symposium will guide interested attendees through the city?s downtown sculptures, also beginning at Bicentennial Park, at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Yvonne Dunetz will lead a labyrinth walk at the Rotary Common Park on South Main Street at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. She also will discuss the planned Gallery on the Wall, which will be on an exterior wall of the Adult Learning Center, near the park.
Rotary Common Park will host children?s activities, courtesy of the Rotary Club of Nashua. Children?s face painting will be offered at 55 Lake St. Studios throughout the weekend and the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Nashua will provide art activities for the young ones Saturday at Indian Head Plaza.
More grown-up artists will appreciate demonstrations at the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, 98 Main St.: Nuno Felt with Melinda LeBarge at 1 p.m. Saturday and glass art with Aaron Slater at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The Nashua Public Library will have some arts-related events, with a movie screening part of this year?s Nashua Reads program, at 2 p.m. Saturday and a slideshow by Nancy Baker exploring patterning in art at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Live music will be featured at the major ArtWalk venues.
It will include performances by the B Street Blues, Adrien Chan, Cold Stream, Eclectic Woodwind Quintet, Figure 8, Monument Square Brass Quintet, Siroteau, Stagecoach Women?s Chorus, Rahel and John Volpe.
As if all of this wasn?t enough of a draw, ArtWalk will coincide with the end of downtown Nashua?s Fall Restaurant Week. Participating restaurants will offer discounts or special menu items.
For more information about Fall Restaurant Week, visit www.downtown nashua.org.
?It?s almost like a festival of all kinds of arts,? Guercio said. ?You can spend a weekend just appreciating all the wonderful things that Nashua has to offer.?
For more information about ArtWalk, visit www.cityartsnashua.org.
Teresa Santoski can be reached at 594-6466 or tsantoski@nashua telegraph.com. Also, follow Santoski on Twitter (@Telegraph_TS).
Reader Comments
Source: http://www.encorebuzz.com/entertainment/976832-249/nashua-will-host-artwalk-2012-on-sept..html
bedlam cotto vs margarito 2 cotto vs margarito cotto vs margarito miguel cotto cotto ncaa bowl games
