Ambulatory Healthcare Services announces opening of dedicated ...

The new facility opens Sunday through Thursday from 7am to 3pm and provides pre-employment and occupational health screening and. These services will enable organizations to regularly monitor workers exposed to hazards within the workplace. It will also help detect occupational diseases and work-related illnesses.

Organizations will also benefit from the consultancy provided by the new facility on how to take precautionary measures against exposure to work-related diseases and hazards to ensure the wellbeing of employees. The workers using the facilities of the clinic will receive basic fitness advice to achieve a good work-life balance.

Earlier, the tests were carried out from the Disease Prevention & Screening Center located adjacent to Sheikh Khalifa Medical City in Abu Dhabi.

Mohamed Hawas, Acting Director of Disease Prevention and Screening Centre, AHS, said: "The new dedicated facility will prove convenient for government agencies and other organizations that are mandated to provide an occupational medical certification for their staff to ensure their medical fitness. The purpose built building is equipped to cater to large clientele and in pleasant surroundings."

Tests carried out by the center include audiometry for employees that are regularly exposed to loud noise, lung function tests for individuals subjected to environments with dust and fumes, and blindness testing for professions where good vision is required for the prevention of accidents. Color vision testing is also available at the center.

The new department is fitted out with specific waiting areas for male and female clients. The facility is staffed by two occupational health specialists, a pulmonary disease specialist and a general practitioner. The support function includes two nurses, an occupational health technician, phlebotomist and a radiographer.

Al Madina Occupational Health Department is licensed by the Health Authority - Abu Dhabi (HAAD) to provide these special services in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.

Source: http://www.ameinfo.com/ambulatory-healthcare-services-announces-dedicated-occupational-331598

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How to Stop Facebook from Making Its New Notification Sounds

Recently, Facebook started rolling out a new "feature" that plays a sound every time you receive a notification. Luckily, there's an easy way to turn it off.

Facebook Chat already makes a sound whenever you receive a message, but this feature makes a sound when you receive any notification. Here's how to turn that feature off:

1. Click on the gear in the upper left-hand corner and go to Account Settings > Notifications. Alternatively, you can click here to go there directly.
2. Under "How You Get Notifications," click the "View" link next to "On Facebook."
3. Uncheck the box that says "Play a Sound When Each New Notification Is Received." Then click "Save Changes."

This has been rolling out since November, and not everyone has the feature yet. However, this setting affects Facebook Chat's notifications too, so everyone should have it. If you haven't gotten the new "feature," you can still head into the settings now and turn it off before it rolls out to you.

How to Stop Facebook From "Beeping" | Simple Help

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/AmHu6Ysoeis/how-to-stop-facebook-from-making-its-new-notification-sounds

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Big powers offer Iran some sanctions relief, await reply

ALMATY (Reuters) - Major powers offered Iran limited sanctions relief in return for a halt to the most controversial part of its atomic work during the first day of nuclear talks on Tuesday, and Iran promised to respond with a proposal on the same scale.

The talks in Kazakhstan were the first in eight months between Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany - the "P5+1" - on a decade-old dispute that threatens to trigger another war in the Middle East.

Iran has used the time since the last meeting in June to further expand activity that the West suspects is aimed at enabling it to build a nuclear bomb, something that Israel has suggested it will prevent by force if diplomacy fails.

The two-day negotiations in the city of Almaty follow inconclusive meetings last year in Istanbul, Baghdad and Moscow.

Western diplomats described the first day of talks as "useful" but said Iranian negotiators did not immediately respond to the P5+1's demand that Tehran closes its underground nuclear facility Fordow, at the center of their concerns.

"Hopefully the Iranians will be able to reflect overnight and will come back and view our proposal positively," said a spokesman for European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton who oversees Iranian diplomacy for the six powers.

With the Islamic Republic's political elite preoccupied with worsening infighting before a presidential election in June, few believe the meeting will yield a quick breakthrough.

"It is clear that nobody expects to come from Almaty with a fully done deal," the EU spokesman, Michael Mann, said before the meeting started.

OFFER PRESENTED

A U.S. official said that the offer - an updated version of one rejected by Tehran last year - would take into account its recent nuclear advances, but also take "some steps in the sanctions arena".

For years, the powers had attempted a mix of economic pressure and diplomacy to persuade Iran to scale back its atomic work, but Tehran has insisted that sanctions are lifted before it complies with any demands.

In Almaty, a source close to the Iranian negotiators told reporters: "Depending on what proposal we receive from the other side we will present our own proposal of the same weight. The continuation of talks depends on how this exchange of proposals goes forward".

At best, diplomats and analysts say, Iran will take the joint offer from the United States, Russia, France, Germany, Britain and China seriously and agree to hold further talks soon on practical steps to ease the tension. Initial meetings could involve only technical experts, who cannot strike deals.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in Berlin that he hoped Iran "will make its choice to move down the path of a diplomatic solution".

But Iran, whose chief negotiator Saeed Jalili is close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and is a veteran of Iran's 1980s war against Iraq and the Western powers that backed it, has shown no sign of willingness to scale back its nuclear work.

It says it has a sovereign right to carry out nuclear enrichment for peaceful energy purposes, and in particular refuses to close the underground Fordow enrichment plant, a condition the powers have set for any sanctions relief.

FASTER ENRICHMENT

A U.N. nuclear watchdog report last week said Iran was for the first time installing advanced centrifuges that would allow it to significantly speed up its enrichment of uranium, which can have both civilian and military purposes.

Accelerating Western sanctions on Iran over the last 14 months are hurting Iran's economy and slashing oil revenue. Its currency has more than halved in value, which in turn has pushed up inflation.

The central bank governor was quoted on Monday as saying Iran's inflation was likely to top 30 percent in coming weeks as the sanctions contribute to shortages and stockpiling. [ID:nL6N0BP51A] Iranians say inflation is already much higher than that official figure.

But analysts say the sanctions are not close to having the crippling effect envisaged by Washington and - so far at least - they have not prompted a change in Iran's nuclear course.

Western officials said the powers' offer would include an easing of restrictions on trade in gold and other precious metals if Tehran closes Fordow.

The facility is used for enriching uranium to 20 percent fissile purity, a short technical step from weapons grade.

Western officials acknowledge an easing of U.S. and EU sanctions on trade in gold represents a relatively modest step. But the metal could be used as part of barter transactions that might allow Iran to circumvent financial sanctions.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman last week dismissed the reported incentive as insufficient and a senior Iranian lawmaker has ruled out closing Fordow, close to the holy city of Qom.

(Additional reporting by Fredrik Dahl in Almaty, Zahra Hosseinian in Zurich, Arshad Mohammed and Stephen Brown in Berlin; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/powers-offer-iran-sanctions-relief-nuclear-talks-055616179.html

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Racism's link to conservatism and/or group dominance - moving ...

After reading through many different articles on social dominance theory (SDT), a common theme that ubiquitously appeared is conservatism.? The relationship between social dominance orientation (SDO) and conservatism is explored in the article: "Racism, conservatism, Affirmative Action, and intellectual sophistication: A matter of principled conservatism or group dominance?" by Sidanius, Pratto, and Bobo (1996).?

This article is relevant to our study because vast majority of Americans align with the principles and ideas of the two major political parties: democratic and republican. Democrats have more liberal values while republicans have more conservative values. Many of the articles I have read implicitly implied that conservatism and racism are of the same thing. Of course many conservatives disagree because being racist today is socially unacceptable in most places in America. ? The question here is whether conservatism in itself is racist? A theory call 'principled conservatism model' says no because conservatism is driven by fighting for equality, fairness, and establishing a color-blind society (Sidanius et al., 1996). Furthermore, the model posits that conservatism's link to racism is due to a lack of education and that correlation between the educated and conservative is weak. Lastly, the model suggests that political conservatism is not related to racism (Sidanius et al., 1996).?

The study surveyed almost four thousand Euro-American students at the University of Texas asking about their educational level, political views, affirmative action attitudes, and racism. The findings are mostly non-conclusive. "Opposition to affirmative action among Whites cannot be exclusively understood in terms of either anti-Black affect, classical racism, or SDO" (Sidanius, et al., 1996). However, one strong conclusion is that racism declines with education is not only unfound, but rather, the opposite is true (Sidanius, et al., 1996).? Another key finding is that he social dominance theory gives the best explanation as to why racism and political conservatism are so often linked. The reason is that both racism and SDO has the mutual desire for non-egalitarian, or unfairness, and hierarchically structured social classes.?

After all, what is considered racism? Is it the attitude towards a certain group? A certain political views? Being against affirmative action? It appears that the idea of racism itself is a vague term and in linking it to political conservatism makes it even more vague. It is no doubt that conservatism has negative affect towards blacks and other ethnic groups, but it is unclear if it is directly linked to racism. The common ground here is that both racism and SDO have a similar direction and, thus, SDO give the best perspective amongst all that is extremely unclear. Studies on racism can be very difficult, especially today. Surveys can only give so much insight because it is unknown how truthful the participants are.?

Reference

Sidanius, J., Pratto, F., & Bobo, L. (1996). Racism, conservatism, Affirmative Action, and intellectual sophistication: A matter of principled conservatism or group dominance?. Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology, 70(3), 476-490. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.70.3.476

Source: http://www.personal.psu.edu/bfr3/blogs/moving_psychology/2013/02/racisms-link-to-conservatism-andor-group-dominance.html

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The Bachelorette Announcement, Premiere Dates Revealed!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/02/the-bachelorette-announcement-premiere-dates-revealed/

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Senate clears the way for confirmation of Hagel

FILE - In this Jan. 31, 2013, file photo, Secretary of Defense nominee Chuck Hagel testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. A deeply divided Senate is moving toward a vote on President Barack Obama?s contentious choice of Chuck Hagel to head the Defense Department, with the former Republican senator on track to win confirmation after a protracted political fight. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, file)

FILE - In this Jan. 31, 2013, file photo, Secretary of Defense nominee Chuck Hagel testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. A deeply divided Senate is moving toward a vote on President Barack Obama?s contentious choice of Chuck Hagel to head the Defense Department, with the former Republican senator on track to win confirmation after a protracted political fight. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, file)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Senate cleared the way Tuesday for confirmation of Chuck Hagel to be the nation's next defense secretary after Republicans dropped their unprecedented delay of President Barack Obama's choice to head the Pentagon.

On a vote of 71-27, the Senate ended a Republican filibuster, setting the stage for the widely expected confirmation of the former two-term Republican senator from Nebraska later in the day. Eighteen Republicans joined 51 Democrats and two independents to move forward with the contentious nomination.

If confirmed, Hagel would succeed Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and join Obama's retooled national security team of Secretary of State John Kerry and CIA Director-designate John Brennan.

Hagel's nomination bitterly split the Senate, with Republicans turning on their former GOP colleague and Democrats standing by Obama's nominee.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid asked what the filibuster had done for "my Republican colleagues."

"Twelve days later, nothing. Nothing has changed," the Nevada Democrat said on the Senate floor. "Sen. Hagel's exemplary record of service to his country remains untarnished."

Reid blamed partisanship over Obama's choice for the delay. Both Reid and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., warned that it was imperative to act just days before automatic, across-the-board budget cuts hit the Pentagon.

"The Pentagon needs a seasoned leader to implement those cuts," Reid said.

Republicans argued that while Hagel served with distinction in Vietnam ? Sen. Jim Inhofe called him a "hero" ? his record on Israel, Iran and nuclear weapons disqualified him for the top Pentagon job. Last week, 15 Republican senators sent a letter to Obama asking him to withdraw the Hagel nomination.

Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., cited Hagel's at-times halting testimony at his confirmation hearing and his misstatement that the U.S. has a policy of containment toward Iran rather than thwarting Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

"He has an embarrassing lack of knowledge about our policy toward Iran," Coats said.

In the course of the rancorous, seven-week nomination fight, Republicans, led by freshman Sen. Ted Cruz and Inhofe, have insinuated that Hagel has a cozy relationship with Iran and received payments for speeches from extreme or radical groups. Those comments have drawn a rebuke from Democrats and some Republicans.

Levin dismissed the "unfair innuendoes" against Hagel and called him an "outstanding American patriot" whose background as an enlisted soldier would send a positive message to the nation's servicemen and women.

The president got no points with the GOP for tapping the former two-term senator. Republican lawmakers excoriated Hagel, calling him too critical of Israel and too compromising with Iran. They cast the Nebraskan as a radical far out of the mainstream.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., clashed with his onetime friend over his opposition to President George W. Bush's decision to send an extra 30,000 troops to Iraq in 2007 at a point when the war seemed in danger of being lost. Hagel, who voted to authorize military force in Iraq, later opposed the conflict, comparing it to Vietnam and arguing that it shifted the focus from Afghanistan.

McCain called Hagel unqualified for the Pentagon job even though he once described him as fit for a Cabinet post.

Republicans also challenged Hagel about a May 2012 study that he co-authored for the advocacy group Global Zero, which called for an 80 percent reduction of U.S. nuclear weapons and the eventual elimination of all the world's nuclear arms.

The group argued that with the Cold War over, the United States could reduce its total nuclear arsenal to 900 without sacrificing security. Currently, the U.S. and Russia have about 5,000 warheads each, either deployed or in reserve. Both countries are on track to reduce their deployed strategic warheads to 1,550 by 2018, the number set in the New START treaty that the Senate ratified in December 2010.

In an echo of the 2012 presidential campaign, Hagel faced an onslaught of criticism by well-funded, Republican-leaning outside groups that labeled the former senator "anti-Israel" and pressured senators to oppose the nomination. The groups ran television and print ads criticizing Hagel.

Opponents were particularly incensed by Hagel's use of the term "Jewish lobby" to refer to pro-Israel groups. He apologized, saying he should have used another term and should not have said those groups have intimidated members of the Senate into favoring actions contrary to U.S. interests.

The nominee spent weeks reaching out to members of the Senate, meeting individually with lawmakers to address their concerns and seeking to reassure them about his policies.

Hagel's inconsistent performance during some eight hours of testimony at this confirmation hearing last month undercut his cause, but it wasn't a fatal blow.

On Feb. 12, a divided Senate Armed Services Committee approved the nomination on a party-line vote of 14-11.

Two days later, a Democratic move to vote on the nomination fell a few votes short as Republicans insisted they needed more time to consider the Hagel pick. The nomination also became entangled in Republican demands for more information about the deadly assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya last September.

Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed in that attack.

On the vote, two Democrats did not vote ? Mark Udall of Colorado and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-02-26-US-Hagel/id-fc6e41a0900740d9a93a9609705a1ddd

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MetroPCS widens Rich Communications Services to all North American carriers

There's been a degree of irony to MetroPCS' support for Rich Communication Services when it's been limited to the one carrier's network in the US -- where's that universal chat and sharing we were promised? The carrier plans to live up to those lofty expectations with word that its Jibe Mobile-developed Joyn service will talk to devices on any North American carrier that supports the spec. That currently doesn't equate to ubiquitous access when RCS isn't widespread, but it's a start. We'll just have to wait for the expanded service to deploy later this year, and for more hardware to hit the streets.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

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Source: MetroPCS

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/wL5ozRduAP0/

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Virgin and Boost add LTE handsets to their pre-paid rosters

Just because you don't have a contract tying you down doesn't mean you don't deserve LTE speeds, right? Boost and Virgin Mobile will be getting their very own 4G handsets, with help from Sprint's network. You can pick up Samsung's Galaxy Victory 4G LTE over on Virgin's site, starting today for $300 a pop (with more retailers getting in on the action in the middle of next month). Over on Boost, they've got HTC's One SV and the four-inch Boost Force, both dropping on March 7th. Those handsets will run you $300 and $200, respectively.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Sprint

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/25/virgin-boost-lte/

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Central figure in Spain graft scandal appears in court

MADRID (Reuters) - The former treasurer of Spain's ruling party, at the heart of a corruption scandal that has politically damaged Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, appeared in court for questioning on Monday about millions of euros he deposited in Swiss accounts.

Luis Barcenas is accused of using his position to take bribes, evade taxes by hiding the proceeds in Switzerland and launder money through shell companies, charges that carry prison sentences of up to six years and fines.

The long-running High Court investigation of Barcenas and a graft case involving the son-in-law of Spain's king have enraged Spaniards at a time when deep recession has pushed unemployment to 26 percent and the government has slashed public spending.

In a ruling released after the three-hour hearing, held behind closed doors, Ruz decided to put Barcenas on probation but took steps to restrict his movements because he considered there was "a serious risk" he could fly away from the country to avoid a condemnation.

Ruz banned Barcenas from leaving Spain, seized his passport and imposed on him an obligation to appear before the court twice a month.

Barcenas, 55, an avid mountaineer who once scaled Everest, went skiing in Canada two weeks ago, according to media reports. Some of these reports said the police suspected he also used the ski trip to move funds he holds there.

Barcenas's lawyer declined to comment on those reports.

The judge also confirmed he was seeking additional information on accounts and companies related to Barcenas in Switzerland, Argentina and the United States.

In Spain's legal system, lengthy pre-trial investigations are carried out by examining magistrates such as Ruz. A trial could still be months or years away for Barcenas.

TROUBLE AT THE TOP

Barcenas left the centre-right People's Party (PP) in 2009 after he was charged with taking money from companies that overcharged PP mayors to put on events, such as campaign rallies, then shared the extra profit with the politicians.

Public interest in the case had largely disappeared until January, when Ruz's probe revealed that Barcenas had Swiss bank accounts once worth as much as 22 million euros ($30 million).

The High Court judge also found that Barcenas applied last year for a tax amnesty, instigated by Rajoy to try to boost revenue, to bring millions of euros in off-shore investments back to Spain.

Then, El Pais newspaper published extracts from what it said were secret PP account books that Barcenas kept for almost 20 years, showing cash donations from construction magnates that were distributed to Rajoy and other party leaders.

Barcenas has denied any wrongdoing and says the purported ledgers are forgeries.

However, a police report that is part of Ruz's evidence and that was seen by Reuters, showed that in December Barcenas made a notarized statement saying he had records of years of donations made to the party as well as who got the proceeds.

Barcenas says the money in the Swiss accounts is from legitimate business activities, but Ruz's investigation has cast doubt on that defense, according to court documents which have been seen by Reuters.

Rajoy has denied any wrongdoing, either personal or by the party. He has pledged an external audit of PP accounts and put years of his own personal tax declarations on the official website of the office of the prime minister.

SOURED PUBLIC MOOD

The Barcenas scandal has soured a public mood already bitter over joblessness, cuts to education, health spending and public sector wages, and the 40 billion euros in public funds spent on rescuing failed banks and grim joblessness.

Tens of thousands of homeowners have defaulted on their mortgages and been evicted from their homes.

A small group of protesters joined dozens of reporters in front of the court building in central Madrid after Barcenas entered for the closed-door hearing.

"They are lying to us, and worse than that, scorning us... Enough is enough, we need some accountability," said Ana, 59, a civil servant from Madrid who declined to give her last name.

The fact that Barcenas continued to receive monthly installments on his severance package from the PP years after being charged with crimes related to party duties has embarrassed Rajoy and fuelled speculation that the former party treasurer holds incriminating information about party leaders.

"The party has nothing to fear," PP Secretary General Maria Dolores de Cospedal said at a news conference on Monday when asked whether Barcenas was blackmailing the party.

Opinion polls show declining support for Spain's two main parties, the PP and the Socialists, who have had their own corruption scandals, with more and more people turning to smaller parties, signaling greater political fragmentation to come.

Rajoy has resisted calls to step down himself as well as calls to dismiss Health Minister Ana Mato, whose ex-husband has been accused of taking hundreds of thousands of euros in bribes from the same group of companies that Barcenas was involved with.

The PP has an absolute majority in Congress and, as long as the party leadership sticks together, the prime minister is expected to survive politically.

(Writing by Fiona Ortiz; Editing by Louise Ireland)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/central-figure-spain-graft-scandal-appears-court-200156112--business.html

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Good reads: the meteors we miss, Tesla's frigid review, car-buying woes, bionic eyes

A meteor blazed over Siberia on Feb. 15. As the rock punched through Earth?s atmosphere, it lit up the morning sky and produced a powerful shock wave. The meteor ? the largest recorded space rock to hit Earth in more than a century ? injured nearly 1,500 people and created a 20-foot crater near the Russian town of Chebarkul.

?Could anyone have seen the meteoroid coming?? asks Konstantin Kakaes in Slate. Probably not, at least not yet. The meteor was most likely too small for current instruments to detect. But as Mr. Kakaes writes, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has made huge strides in locating objects before they reach our planetary backyard.

Countless chunks of rock and ice collide with Earth?s atmosphere each year. Most of them burn up on entry. NASA tracks roughly 5,000 ?potentially hazardous asteroids? that measure more than 330 feet across. But the Russian rock was likely only 50 feet wide before it entered the atmosphere. Finding objects on that scale is much more difficult. ?We now track nearly 100 times more PHAs than we did in 1993,? writes Kakaes, and much of those gains came from identifying small objects that were previously undetectable.

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Still, space agencies have a long way to go before these fireballs are no longer a surprise. Roughly 10 meteors crash into Earth each year. Many hit unpopulated areas, such as oceans. Thousands of Cana-dians saw one in 2008. (For more on asteroids, see page 13.)

COLD SHOULDER FOR TESLA

Tesla Motors chief Elon Musk came out swinging with details he says will prove that a recent New York Times article about the Model S was ?fake.? Times writer John Broder took the all-electric car for a test drive from Washington, D.C., to Connecticut. (See One Week, Feb. 25.) Tesla loaned Mr. Broder the car so he could try out the new fast-charging stations that now dot Interstate 95 and extend the range of the Model S beyond its reported 265 miles. But after a night of below-freezing temperatures, Broder says that the car battery prematurely ran out of juice, leaving him stranded beside the road and leaving many to wonder if Motor Trend?s 2013 Car of the Year can survive harsh winters.

As James Holloway writes in a play-by-play breakdown for Ars Technica, Tesla and the Times spent the next week hurling words and data at each other. After the BBC car show Top Gear showed a Tesla pooping out in the middle of a test drive in 2008, Tesla has logged the speed, battery charge, and performance of every car that it lends to journalists. The data shows that Broder routinely pulled out of Tesla fill-up stations without fully charging the battery, which Mr. Musk says is the real reason that the car petered out prematurely. Broder acknowledges that he did not top off the battery ? a full charge can take more than an hour ? but says he always ?replenished more than enough energy for the miles I intended to drive.?

CNN ran its own test drive from Washington to Boston without incident. ?However, without an overnight stop in below-freezing temperatures, this is far from a repeat of Broder?s test,? writes Mr. Holloway, ?though it is arguably more representative of the way Model S owners are likely to drive the I-95.?

PROTECTION FOR WILY CAR DEALERS

In survey after survey, car salesperson ranks among the least trusted professions. Shoppers complain about the haggling, the seemingly manipulative sales tactics, and how difficult it is to accurately comparison shop. With 14 million vehicles sold in the United States each year, why is buying a car so awful? NPR?s Planet Money dug into the history of car dealers. Reporter Alex Bloomberg says that not only was our current system designed this way, but many local legislators want it to remain just as it is.

Practically every state has laws that protect car dealers. This legislation ? mostly written back when US auto-makers had enormous power and no foreign competition ? can prevent manufacturers from severing ties with problematic dealers and can carve out jurisdictions for dealerships, thereby limiting competition. While automakers have lost much of their influence over the past few decades, these laws have ensured that dealers ?have become even more powerful,? Mr. Bloomberg says. ?In each state, dealers contribute as much as 20 percent of sales tax revenue.? That gives lawmakers little reason to tinker with the current system.

A NEW AID FOR SIGHT

The US Food and Drug Administration has just approved its first bionic eye. Trials show that the prosthesis, called Argus II, can restore partial sight among some blind patients.

?This enables people who are completely blind to see enough to improve their mobility,? Mark Humayun, a professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, tells Technology Review. ?It allows people to make out the sidewalk and stay on it without twisting an ankle, see unexpected obstacles like parked cars, make out a table, see someone coming through a doorway.?

The prosthetic eye consists of a video camera that mounts to a pair of glasses and a chip embedded near the retina. Second Sight, the California company behind the device, already sells the Argus II in Europe for roughly $100,000.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/good-reads-meteors-miss-teslas-frigid-review-car-200011483.html

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Self Help Tips For Self Improvement When Your Feeling Down ...

TIP! Keep tabs on your progress by becoming more organized. Try to achieve your goals in increments, thereby achieving them quickly.

Beginning your quest to develop yourself can sometimes be difficult. There are many aspects you have to consider when developing a self-improvement plan. It ranges from eating healthier to being friendlier to other people. There are a variety of approaches self improvement to help you improve your life. Success in personal development leads to a more rewarding life, and others are sure to notice the new you.

TIP! They say that speaking and listening are equally important. This is very true for personal development skills.

Make your goals specific; this way, they can lead to self improvement success. If you set goals that are clearly laid out, you will improve your chances of meeting or surpassing them. By meeting challenges, experiencing success will shortly follow.

TIP! If you experience anxiety in social situations, ask a friend to join you at the movie theater. When you do, you are entering a social, public environment, but the actual amount of socializing you will have to do is fairly small.

Seek out other like-minded individuals. When you have others around you who think and feel as you do, then you can avoid the negativity that can emerge from those who do not support your endeavors.

TIP! Demonstrating selfless behavior shows remarkable progress in any personal development program. Knowing what it means to care for and help others, by making the sacrifices within yourself, can greatly benefit your inner character.

By becoming more healthy inside and out, you will be setting yourself up for success. Facing the challenges of improving your life is easier if you go into it with an open mind and a healthy body. When you radiate health you are feeling strong and mentally alert. You will spend less time on health issues and more time enjoying your life. It should be a priority to become more healthy.

TIP! Dealing with situations rationally is a skill that you can learn from others or teach yourself. Learning ways to maintain your composure when stressed will help boost your self-esteem, and help you triumph under any circumstance.

Unless you are willing to work towards your personal goals, you will never be able to grow as a person. We need to choose the change if we expect to really grow.

Start giving other people compliments. If you treat other people with kindness, you will be more likely to treat yourself with kindness too.

TIP! Sexual capitol is a new trait researchers have just discovered, and they feel it is important to have. This is about gaining confidence about your looks, not about using your body as a tool.

Many people often have goals that are too broad, when they are trying to grow through personal development. Make your goal specific. Goals that are specifically defined will lead to targeted results.

TIP! When you are angry, count to ten before saying anything. Visualize a peaceful, safe situation while you breathe deeply.

Good leaders have firm rules, but are also honest. You should lecture, but do it softly, and keep in mind that you have to know servitude to be able to lead. Being virtuous and having integrity is part of being a leader, too, and few people will follow a leader that does not display these traits.

TIP! Do some reading on personal development. Take the time to read a few books to find new ideas and tips you had not thought of.

A better diet can help you get rid of depression; try eating more complex carbohydrates. A diet that is deficient in complex carbohydrates can lead to low serotonin levels. If you increase the amount of fresh fruits and veggies you eat and also add more nuts and whole grains to your diet, you will meet your goal.

TIP! If you?re never able to meet the goals you set, consider whether those goals aren?t right for you and your situation. Look for stories of other people who have successfully achieved goals similar to your own, then compare your approaches.

A wide range of resources are available to help you make a plan for self improvement now. You can always find new ways to improve yourself as a person, keep that in mind. There?s always room for improvement, no matter what age you are. Self improvement can be a happy lifetime pursuit.

Source: http://learntoplayguitar.michaeldcoe.com/uncategorized/self-help-tips-for-self-improvement-when-your-feeling-down/

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Snow, freezing rain to lash New England through Sunday

The Weather Channel's Kim Cunningham has the latest on a storm that's headed to New England and a second storm that's coming out of the Rockies.

By Craig Giammona, Writer, NBC News

Parts of New England braced for snow on Saturday, with Boston prepared for a mix of snow and freezing rain in the third storm to rake the area in three weekends. The mix will likely make a messy end for a powerful storm system that headed eastward after slamming much of the Midwest with snow earlier this week, meteorologists said.

As many as 1 to 3 inches of snow could fall in Boston, with the heaviest snowfall expected between Saturday night and Sunday morning.

?I?m not thrilled that we?ve got more snow coming this weekend. I?ve had enough of winter,? Boston area resident John Bonnanzio, 54, told Reuters.

But other residents were ready to make the most of the coming storm.

?I?m excited,? Jesse Beecher, 29, told Reuters. ?I went out skiing in the streets during the last one, and I?ll do the same thing again.?

A winter weather advisory was set to go into effect for much of the region starting at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

The storm system, which left much of the Midwest buried under snow, has the potential to cause flooding in the southeastern United States and was expected to bring precipitation to much of the east coast, including New York City and north into Massachusetts. The Weather Channel said parts of southern Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and northern and central Massachusetts could see up to 6 to 9 inches of snow over the weekend.

The massive storm system resulted in 570 flight cancellations on Friday, including 127 at Chicago?s O?Hare airport, Reuters said.

Meanwhile, a storm in the Pacific Northwest was expected to dump 2 to 3 feet of snow on the Cascade Mountains through the weekend, according to the National Weather Service. The weather service issued winter storm warnings for parts of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Utah on Friday.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Related:

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/23/17069305-snow-freezing-rain-to-lash-new-england-through-sunday?lite

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Casual Loves Elegance: Vintage themed showers for * BABY*

Happy Weekend Darlins....

When a baby is on the way we have so much planning to do...

Especially all the celabrating!

Recently I was invited to a baby shower for my friends daughter, it was over the top cute, the details were adorable...

Nothing sweeter than a bunch of mommies talking about their families, and sipping tea and playing games...

Did you know the tradition of baby showers began in Victorian times as a way to celebrate the pending or recent birth of a baby by presenting gifts to the parents??

According to Miss Manners... because the party centers on gift giving. the shower is typically arranged by a close friend rather than a family?member. In fact is is considered rude for the family to give showers for them...Interesting,?

Thank goodness my baby showers were by friends! Wouldn't want the stork upset with me!

Styling a baby shower in a vintage theme can be so much fun!?

Pull out some of your favorite vintage pieces including furniture and be creative!?

Here are a few ideas to help inspire you!

A vintage cup for the new MOTHER filled with hand written sweet tips on Motherhood!

pinterest

A?vintage scale to display some baby items like these baby shoes and bibs for the memory game... Everyone writes down what they saw on it!

?This pink vintage scale would be adorable at home later with a stack of fresh baked cookies on it!

pinterest

Of course a delicious decorated cake, maybe with some vintage fabric flags.?

Use your vintage dishes and serving pieces instead of paper products for serving your guests.

pinterest

These book markers are so pretty! Easy to make too, with vintage jewelry for each of the guests as a special Thank you gift.

A petite vintage pillow with a pale yellow hand?appliqu?d?deer on the top of pillowcase,

would be so cute for the mother to be to place behind her back or under the baby's head when feeding!

This picture of me with my youngest son....he was 6 weeks old here!?

We were leaving to go to his baby shower!

?AWE...I remember every detail of our day like it was yesterday...

When we were picking the dates for the showers (I had two) I wanted to wait until after the baby was born so I would know boy or girl!

?I wanted to get clearance from the doctor at 6 weeks before I took him out and about.

?Having him with me was so fun and special, I couldn't wait for everyone to meet him!

My Design tip: Using vintage elements will give the shower a style that will be unique and memorable.

Have a beautiful weekend,

xo,

me

Source: http://casualloveselegance.blogspot.com/2013/02/vintage-themed-showers-for-baby.html

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Rockets hit Aleppo, killing at least 29: monitor

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Rockets struck eastern districts of Aleppo, Syria's biggest city, on Friday, killing at least 29 people and trapping a family of 10 in the ruins of their home, activists in the city said.

"There are families buried under the rubble," said an activist called Baraa al-Youssef, speaking by Skype after visiting the scene in his Ard al-Hamra neighborhood.

"Nothing can describe it, it's a horrible sight."

Video footage posted by several activists showed a burning building and people carrying the wounded to cars to be ferried to hospital. It was hard to gauge the scale of the damage in the night-time footage but rubble was clearly visible on the ground.

Rami Abdulrahman of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said three explosions shook Aleppo and reported at least 29 people had been killed. Another 150 were wounded, he said, and the final death toll was likely to be higher.

Youssef said 30 houses were destroyed by a single rocket.

On Tuesday activists said at least 20 people were killed when a large missile of the same type as Russian-made Scuds hit the rebel-held district of Jabal Badro.

(Reporting by Mariam Karouny and Dominic Evans; Editing by Stephen Powell)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rockets-hit-aleppo-killing-least-29-monitor-221139503.html

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Prospects for Japan Joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership

Media Advisory

Prospects for Japan Joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership

February 22, 2013

Today President Obama and Japan's Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, meet to discuss security and a potential free trade pact, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Prime Minister Abe indicated that today's conversations will affect whether he supports Japan participating in the free trade negotiations. His concern is whether the TPP is in Japan's economic interest. Will President Obama persuade Prime Minister Abe that it is in Japan's interest to join the TPP?

Experts participating in a recent Peterson Institute conference explained why the TPP could play a crucial role in Japan's efforts to revamp its economy. The transcript from the panel [pdf] is available online, as well as video of the discussion.

Conference panelist Jeffrey Schott's new book, Understanding the Trans-Pacific Partnership, is a thorough appraisal of the main unresolved issues and the prospects for completing the negotiations.

A second book written by Peter Petri, The Trans-Pacific Partnership and Asia-Pacific Integration: A Quantitative Assessment, is the most extensive analysis to date of the likely economic benefits of the TPP itself and the numerous Asia-only agreements that are already in place or under simultaneous consideration.

Following today's summit meeting with President Obama, Prime Minister Abe will deliver a press conference at 5:05 p.m. EST. If you would like to speak with Jeffrey Schott or Peter Petri before or after the press conference, please contact Brian Reil at media@piie.com or 202-553-9018.

Brian Reil
Media Liaison
Peterson Institute for International Economics
1750 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
media@piie.com
www.piie.com
RSS - twitter - facebook

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/peterson-for-press/~3/iOfuKfnKOx8/ma20130222.cfm

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Researchers propose new way to probe Earth's deep interior

Friday, February 22, 2013

Researchers from Amherst College and The University of Texas at Austin have described a new technique that might one day reveal in higher detail than ever before the composition and characteristics of the deep Earth.

There's just one catch: The technique relies on a fifth force of nature (in addition to gravity, the weak and strong nuclear forces and electromagnetism) that has not yet been detected, but which some particle physicists think might exist. Physicists call this type of force a long-range spin-spin interaction. If it does exist, this exotic new force would connect matter at Earth's surface with matter hundreds or even thousands of kilometers below, deep in Earth's mantle. In other words, the building blocks of atoms?electrons, protons, and neutrons?separated over vast distances would "feel" each other's presence. The way these particles interact could provide new information about the composition and characteristics of the mantle, which is poorly understood because of its inaccessibility.

"The most rewarding and surprising thing about this project was realizing that particle physics could actually be used to study the deep Earth," says Jung-Fu "Afu" Lin, associate professor at The University of Texas at Austin's Jackson School of Geosciences and co-author of the study appearing this week in the journal Science.

This new force could help settle a scientific quandary. When earth scientists have tried to model how factors such as iron concentration and physical and chemical properties of matter vary with depth ? for example, using the way earthquake rumbles travel through the Earth or through laboratory experiments designed to mimic the intense temperatures and pressures of the deep Earth ? they get different answers. The fifth force, assuming it exists, might help reconcile these conflicting lines of evidence.

Earth's mantle is a thick geological layer sandwiched between the thin outer crust and central core, made up mostly of iron-bearing minerals. The atoms in these minerals and the subatomic particles making up the atoms have a property called spin. Spin can be thought of as an arrow that points in a particular direction. It is thought that Earth's magnetic field causes some of the electrons in these mantle minerals to become slightly spin-polarized, meaning the directions in which they spin are no longer completely random, but have some preferred orientation. These electrons have been dubbed geoelectrons.

The goal with this project was to see whether the scientists could use the proposed long-range spin-spin interaction to detect the presence of these distant geoelectrons.

The researchers, led by Larry Hunter, professor of physics at Amherst College, first created a computer model of Earth's interior to map the expected densities and spin directions of geoelectrons. The model was based in part on insights gained from Lin's laboratory experiments that measure electron spins in minerals at the high temperatures and pressures of Earth's interior. This map gave the researchers clues about the strength and orientations of interactions they might expect to detect in their specific laboratory location in Amherst, Mass.

Second, the researchers used a specially designed apparatus to search for interactions between geoelectrons deep in the mantle and subatomic particles at Earth's surface. The team's experiments essentially explored whether the spins of electrons, neutrons or protons in various laboratories might have a different energy, depending on the direction with respect to the Earth that they were pointing.

"We know, for example, that a magnet has a lower energy when it is oriented parallel to the geomagnetic field and it lines up with this particular direction ? that is how a compass works," explains Hunter. "Our experiments removed this magnetic interaction and looked to see if there might be some other interaction with our experimental spins. One interpretation of this 'other' interaction is that it could be a long-range interaction between the spins in our apparatus and the electron spins within the Earth, that have been aligned by the geomagnetic field. This is the long-range spin-spin interaction we were looking for."

Although the apparatus was not able to detect any such interactions, the researchers could at least infer that such interactions, if they exist, must be incredibly weak ? no more than a millionth of the strength of the gravitational attraction between the particles. That's useful information as scientists now look for ways to build ever more sensitive instruments to search for the elusive fifth force.

"No one had previously thought about the possible interactions that might occur between the Earth's spin-polarized electrons and precision laboratory spin-measurements," says Hunter.

"If the long-range spin-spin interactions are discovered in future experiments, geoscientists can eventually use such information to reliably understand the geochemistry and geophysics of the planet's interior," says Lin.

###

University of Texas at Austin: http://www.utexas.edu

Thanks to University of Texas at Austin for this article.

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

This press release has been viewed 64 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126978/Researchers_propose_new_way_to_probe_Earth_s_deep_interior

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TestFlight reaches Android in beta, gives app developers a safety net

You may not know about TestFlight if you're used to running apps rather than building them, but odds are that you know its effects when over 300,000 iOS apps have reached testers that hopefully caught bugs in advance. That makes the launch of a private Android beta something of an event, as it gives developers the same simple feedback and provisioning for pre-release apps. Coders who split their time between both Android and iOS also get a truly cross-platform management console as part of the expansion. There's no set date for when the beta expires, but TestFlight eventually plans to offer its utility directly through the Google Play Store -- and might just keep the Android app train rolling smoothly.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile

Comments

Via: TechCrunch

Source: TestFlight (1), (2)

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/IvJfYbBTmcE/

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NASA's Basement Nuclear Reactor

For the purpose of this post, I'll accept that they can convert protons to neutrons as described, although I'm very dubious about this.

Here [wikipedia.org] is a table of nickel isotopes.
Here [llnl.gov] is the first source I found for neutron cross sections of nickel isotopes (pdf). (See figure 12, look at the left hand side of each 'destruction channels for ??Ni' plot for what low energy (thermal) neutrons will do.)

Cross sections are in barns, and are approximate as I'm eyeballing them off a logarithmic scale.
58Ni [stable, 68% abundant] (0.006 barn) -> 59Ni [-> 59Co, 76000 yr half life]
59Ni [unstable but long lived] (0.02b) -> 59Co [stable] or (0.005b) ->56 Fe [stable] or (0.004b) -> 60Ni [stable]
60Ni [stable, 26%] (0.006b) -> 61Ni [stable]
61Ni [stable, 1%] (0.002b) -> 62Ni [stable]
62Ni [stable, 4%] (0.006b) -> 63Ni [->63Cu, 100yr]
63Ni [unstable] (0.001b)-> 64Ni [stable]
64Ni [stable, 1%] (0.004b) -> 65Ni [->65Cu, 2.5 hr]

None of the cross sections are hugely larger than the others, so all these reactions will occur with reasonable frequency. So irradiating nickel with thermal neutrons, you are going to produce radioactive 59Co (76000yr), 63Ni (100yr) and 65Ni (2.5hr). The 65Ni isn't a problem - turn off the reactor, wait a couple of days, and it will all be gone. The 59Co is only a bit of a problem - with such a long half life, it isn't very radioactive. The 63Ni however is nasty. Like 137Cs (30yr) from the Fukashima reactors, the half life is short enough to be quite radioactive but long enough that you can't just wait it out. Finally, the nickel won't be 100% pure, so you have to worry about what neutron irradiation will do to the impurities.

The 65Ni means when you turn off your reactor, it will continue to produce residual heat for hours.

The article gives the impression that weak nuclear reactions aren't dangerous, but this is not so. If it were, nuclear reactor waste wouldn't be dangerous.

This reactor will be producing ionizing radiation when running (mostly gamma rays, some beta rays mostly from 65Ni decay, and a tiny amount of alpha particles from 59Co(n,a)56Fe.) This will require some pretty heavy shielding to stop it. (A good sized water bath should work, every 7cm of water [xkcd.com] halves the radiation and you want hot water anyhow. But concrete is less prone to leak away.) You'd also need to worry about stray neutrons, although I expect that can be fixed with a thin layer of something that has very high thermal neutron cross section and no dangerous daughter products.

In short, I don't think I want this in my basement.

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/JanNzUqws9M/story01.htm

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Trump Twitter mystery! Who hacked The Donald?

Helen A.S. Popkin ? ? ? 9 hrs.

In what appears to be the latest in a minor wave of attacks on Twitter accounts belonging to out-sized corporate entities, an out-of-character tweet from Donald Trump's verified account set the Internet abuzz, and then disappeared, shortly before noon ET on Thursday.

"These hoes think they classy, well that's the class I'm skippen," read the suspect remark issued from @realDonaldTrump. It was a glaring non sequitur following tweets such as "Republicans must be careful with immigration?don?t give our country away," and "Wow, Macy's numbers just in-Trump is doing better than ever ? thanks for your great support!"

"Yes, obviously the account has been hacked and we are looking for the perpetrator," Rhona Graff, senior vice president, assistant to the president of the Trump Organization, told NBC News via email.

This confirmation was quickly echoed by Trump himself, in a tweet that read, "My Twitter has been seriously hacked ? and we are looking for the perpetrators."

Cut off after a single rogue tweet, the Trump Twitter anomaly was far shorter than the Burger King and Jeep takeovers earlier this week. On Monday, Burger King's Twitter account was hacked and renamed McDonalds, and over the course of a hour, sent out 53 tweets (and garnered 73,421 retweets) making light of the situation. The Tuesday attack on Jeep's Twitter account ? which included the erroneous announcement that the car maker had been taken over by Cadillac ? ceased after just 10 minutes and 13 tweets.

Soon after @Jeep regained control, the Twitter accounts of MTV and BET appeared to be compromised. The MTV account tweeted claims the network had been taken over by BET, and BET tweeted it was now owned by MTV. This turned out to be a publicity stunt by the networks, both owned by Viacom. As NBC News reported on Tuesday, the account of a PR representative warned of the hack ahead of time on Twitter and then both MTV and BET copped to the scheme after the "hack."

NBC News has asked the Trump Organization how Trump was able to regain control of his Twitter account so quickly, and will update this story if we receive a response.

Helen A.S. Popkin goes blah blah blah about the Internet. Tell her to get a real job on Twitterand/or Facebook.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/trump-twitter-mystery-who-hacked-donald-1C8462918

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I love the sequester for the military cuts - but here is the rest of the story

Posted 4 hours ago on Feb. 21, 2013, 7:18 p.m. EST by bensdad (6189)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

By Matt Vasilogambros - National Journal
President Obama has been warning that deep cuts triggered by sequestration could be devastating for the military and other government programs. But many Republicans, determined to see a reduction in federal spending, show no sign of wanting to cut a deal with the president to avoid the sequester.

Here are some of the programs that would be pared as part of the sequester, according to a report by the
White House Office of Management and Budget:

Air Travel: An estimated $619 million would be cut from the operations and facilities and equipment accounts of the Federal Aviation Administration. This could mean major flight delays and an economic hit on the millions of people who depend on air travel every day.

$483 million cut from the FAA operations budget, forcing all FAA employees to be furloughed for 11 days. On any given day, that could mean that 10 percent of the FAA?s 40,000 employees could be on furlough, resulting in longer delays, reduced air-traffic control, and losses in tourism. There will also be a hiring freeze.
$136 million cut from the FAA?s facilities and equipment account, which helps maintain and modernize the air-traffic control infrastructure.
Transportation Security Administration screeners would receive a seven-day furlough.

National Parks: In order to cut 5 percent of its budget, the National Park Service would have to slash $110 million. The NPS has already begun to plan for sequestration by cutting park hours and visitor services in some of the nation?s leading national parks?from Yosemite to the Great Smokey Mountains.

The Pentagon: Most of the 800,000 civilian employees of the Defense Department would get unpaid leave, called a furlough,for up to 22 days, saving the Pentagon between $4 billion and $5 billion through the rest of the fiscal year.
TRICARE, which provides health care for active and retired military personnel and their dependents, would get cut by $3 billion for the remainder of the fiscal year.

Health Services: Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius outlined the significant impact to the nation?s health services if sequestration goes into effect: $350 million cut from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
109,000 fewer people in need of critical treatment might not get admitted to inpatient facilities.
91,000 fewer people would receive substance-abuse treatment.
30,000 children would go without child-care services.
373,000 seriously ill adults and emotionally disturbed children would not receive treatment.
4 million fewer meals would get delivered to seniors' homes.
424,000 fewer HIV tests would be administered.
540,000 fewer doses of vaccines would be available for the flu, hepatitis, and measles, among other diseases.
$1.6 billion cut for medical research at the National Institutes of Health.
$120 million cut in federal support for health centers, which could lead to 900,000 fewer patients served.
$168 million cut in embassy security.

Humanitarian Aid: In his first major speech as secretary of State, John Kerry said the budget battles in Washington could hurt the U. S. effort to provide economic and political aid across the world. Saying the State Department would have to cut $2.6 billion for this fiscal year. $200 million in global humanitarian assistance, citing American efforts in Syria, the Horn of Africa, and the Sahel.
$400 million in global health funding that fights AIDS and child hunger.
$500 million in security-assistance accounts, which goes toward conflict prevention.
$70 million in operations expenses for USAID.

Education: If sequestration goes into effect, $406 million would get cut in Head Start programs, resulting in 70,000 children losing access to the service. That would lead to the layoffs of 14,000 teachers, teacher assistants, and staff who work in the program.

Disaster Relief: The Federal Emergency Management Agency would receive a $1 billion cut.

Additional Cuts: The National Science Foundation ($375 million), the Library of Congress, NASA ($950 million), the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Patent and Trademark office would also have their budgets cut.

Source: http://occupywallst.org/forum/i-love-the-sequester-for-the-military-cuts-but-her/

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5 big US banks have cut mortgage debt by $19 billion

WASHINGTON ? Five of the biggest U.S. banks have cut struggling homeowners' mortgage balances by $19 billion, part of a total $45.8 billion in relief provided under a landmark settlement over foreclosure abuses.

More than 550,000 borrowers received some form of mortgage relief between March 1 and Dec. 31, 2012, according to a report issued Thursday by Joseph Smith, the monitor of the settlement.

That translates to about $82,668 per homeowner, according to the report, which is based on the banks' own accounts of their progress. Smith said he must confirm the banks' data before they can get credit under the settlement.

The deal was struck a year ago by the federal government and 49 states with the five largest U.S. mortgage servicers: Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Co. and Ally Financial Inc. Under the settlement, the five agreed to reduce balances on mortgages where the borrower owes more than the home is worth and to refinance some loans. The banks also are required to make foreclosure their last resort, and they can't foreclose on a homeowner who is being considered for a loan modification.

The settlement closed a painful chapter of the financial crisis when home values sank and millions edged toward foreclosure. Many companies had processed foreclosures without verifying documents.

The agreement reduces mortgage debt for only a fraction of those whose mortgages are underwater. About 11 million U.S. households are underwater, and the settlement is expected to help about a million of them.

Smith's report says $19.5 billion of the $45.8 billion in relief was in the form of short sales, in which lenders agree to accept less than what the seller owes on the mortgage. Lenders are increasingly favoring short sales rather than waiting for troubled loans to go through the foreclosure process.

Of the roughly $19 billion in reduced mortgage principal, according to the report, Bank of America had provided $13.5 billion; JPMorgan Chase, $1.8 billion; Citigroup, $1.9 billion; Wells Fargo, $1.4 billion; and Ally, $238 million.

Ally, the former financial arm of General Motors Co., now has fulfilled its obligation for the relief it is required to provide under the settlement, Smith said.

The banks provided another $2.2 billion in relief by refinancing 56,400 home loans with an average principal balance of $211,834. As a result, borrowers will save an average of about $417 in interest payments each month, the report says.

The banks also had $3.5 billion worth of loans under trial modifications as of Dec. 31. That could lead to permanent reduction in loan balances of $138,802 if the trials are completed.

"I believe we have made progress, particularly as it relates to (mortgage) relief, but I know from my regular conversations with advocates across the nation that the banks and I have much more work to do on behalf of borrowers," Smith said in a statement.

In separate settlements announced last month, 13 banks agreed to pay a combined $9.3 billion to settle federal complaints that they wrongfully foreclosed on homeowners who should have been allowed to stay in their homes. The settlements ended a review of loan files required under a 2011 action by federal agencies.

They could compensate borrowers whose homes were seized because of abuses such as "robo-signing," when banks automatically signed off on foreclosures without properly reviewing documents. The settlements also will help eliminate huge potential liabilities for the banks: Aurora, Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, MetLife Bank, Morgan Stanley, PNC Financial Services, Sovereign, SunTrust, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo.

Source: http://www.gazette.com/articles/washington-151318-big-billion.html

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Midwest bracing for massive winter storm

ST. LOUIS (AP) ? Hundreds of snow plows and salt spreaders took to the highways of the nation's heartland Wednesday, preparing for a winter storm that could dump up to a foot of snow in some regions and bring dangerous freezing rain and sleet to others.

Winter storm warnings were issued from Colorado through Illinois. By midday Wednesday, heavy snow was already falling in Colorado and western Kansas.

National Weather Service meteorologist Jayson Gosselin said parts of Colorado, Kansas and northern Missouri could get 10 to 12 inches of snow. Further south, freezing rain and sleet could make driving treacherous.

Officials feared the winter storm would be the worst in the Midwest since the Groundhog Day blizzard in 2011. A two-day storm that began Feb. 1, 2011, was blamed in about two dozen deaths and left hundreds of thousands without power, some for several days. At its peak, the storm created white-out conditions so intense that Interstate 70 was shut down across the entire state of Missouri.

"We're not going to see that type of storm, but it's certainly the most impactful in the last two winters," said Gosselin, who works in suburban St. Louis.

Tim Chojnacki, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Transportation, said graders, snow blowers and salt-spreading trucks were at the ready. The salt trucks planned to be out before the wintry mix arrived in the Show-Me State in hopes that the precipitation would largely melt upon impact.

Gosselin said areas like St. Louis, southern Missouri and parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas may get little to no snow, but the sleet and freezing rain could present more of a challenge. Ice accumulations could reach a half-inch in some places.

"Sleet is no fun to drive on," Gosselin said. "Especially if you get a couple of inches, which could happen. It doesn't melt, and it's very heavy to move. It's difficult to shovel, you can't really plow it and the chemicals don't work as well."

Colorado Department of Transportation spokeswoman Mindy Crane said hundreds of plows were being deployed for what is expected to be one of the most significant snow storms of the season. Several schools called off classes Wednesday as snow began to accumulate.

Just the threat of snow was having a big impact in Nebraska. The state legislature postponed Thursday afternoon committee hearings so lawmakers could go home before the storm arrived. Plans called for the full legislature to convene at 9 a.m. Thursday and adjourn at 11 a.m.

Meanwhile, University of Nebraska officials moved a Big 10 men's basketball game against Iowa from Thursday to Saturday.

Also in Lincoln, Nebraska's capital city put out a call for more "snow angels" ? a program that puts volunteers in touch with those unable to remove snow from their sidewalks and driveways. Lincoln was expecting 8 inches of snow by Thursday and city ordinances require people to clear their sidewalks.

Gosselin said precipitation is generally expected to drop off as the storm makes its way east. Chicago and parts of Indiana, he said, could get about 2 inches of snow and some sleet.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/midwest-braces-potentially-dangerous-storm-171517759.html

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Gun owners get a discount at Va. pizza shop

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) ? A Virginia Beach pizza shop owner is showing his support for firearm rights by giving gun owners a 15 percent discount.

The discount is given to anyone who brings a gun or concealed handgun permit to All Around Pizzas and Deli.

Owner Jay Laze tells news media outlets that he'd planned on offering the discount for a limited time. But he says the response has been overwhelming and he might make it permanent.

Since the discount began last Friday, Laze says 80 percent of his customers have brought guns into the pizza shop. He says one customer came in with an AK-47.

Laze is a gun owner and says he's always been a supporter of the right to carry firearms.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gun-owners-discount-va-pizza-shop-111718083.html

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