Fla. governor asks Obama to block possible ports strike

MIAMI (Reuters) - Florida's Republican governor wants President Barack Obama to invoke federal law and order a cooling-off period if nearly 15,000 longshoremen walk off the job in a looming strike that would be a big blow to the state's economy, according to a letter he sent the president this week.

The International Longshoremen's Association union and the U.S. Maritime Alliance grouping of shippers and ports have been bargaining since March but reportedly remain far from a deal covering cargo handling at 15 ports on the U.S. Gulf and eastern coasts.

In October, when a previous contract expired, the sides agreed to a 90-day extension of terms that runs out on December 29.

Florida ports in Miami and Fort Lauderdale would be directly hit by a strike or lockout but a stoppage would also rattle overall transport and trade, which accounts for 550,000 jobs in the state and $66 billion in economic activity, Florida Governor Rick Scott said in a letter dated Thursday.

"The threat to national safety and security that would result from mass closure of ports cannot be overstated," Scott told Obama.

Scott said Obama had the power under 1947's Taft-Hartley Act to prevent or interrupt a work stoppage at the ports. Presidents Richard Nixon and George W. Bush both used Taft-Hartley, which calls for 80-day cooling-off periods and mediation, Scott said.

"The Taft-Hartley Act provides your administration with tools that can help avoid this threat," Scott said. "On behalf of the State of Florida, I respectfully request that you invoke the act when the contract ... expires at the end of the month."

(Reporting By Michael Connor in Miami; Editing by Cynthia Johnston)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Check for restrictions at: http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50280271/ns/politics/

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Illegal immigration from C. America on the rise

From October 2011 to July 31, agents apprehended more than 40,000 non-Mexican migrants, compared to about 39,000 individuals from Mexico.

By Juan A. Lozano,?Associated Press / December 21, 2012

The Border Patrol says non-Mexican?illegal?immigrants?are accounting for a slender majority of the agency's apprehensions in Texas.

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From October 2011 to July 31, agents apprehended more than 40,000 non-Mexican migrants, compared to about 39,000 individuals from Mexico. Most of the 40,000 were from Central America.

The number of non-Mexican migrants apprehended during the same 10-month period a year earlier was about 16,000.

Rosendo Hinojosa, Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol Sector chief, said Friday the non-Mexican migrants are coming mainly from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Hinojosa says the figures are not unheard of, as his sector traditionally has been an entry point for?illegal?immigrants?from Central America.

Experts say rising violence as well as economic conditions in various Central American countries is probably fueling the increase.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/FZeI8MzLub0/Illegal-immigration-from-C.-America-on-the-rise

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RolePlayGateway?

Hello,
My name is ally and I love to roleplay.

I am currently looking for a partner that is on almost everyday. I can understand life gets in the way and that's fine. I'm not a real picky person about it, I just enjoy RPing a lot. I would like a partner that's friendly and knows how to say hi and bye when we are on together. It's just polite.

Some rules: (not a lot at all)

--Post length doesn't really matter but I'd prefer at least a paragraph for a decent sized post. Sometimes something doesn't need a abundance amount of detail. Leaving something up to my imagination isn't so bad. However if you give me a long post I will respectively try and give the same amount or more back.

--no txt talking. Things like U instead of you. It throws off the mood.

-- I don't get annoyed by bad grammar and spelling. But I would like a moderate amount in posts. I'm not the best at these skills myself, but I do try to retread my posts before sending them.

--I am okay with sexual activities ,explicit Language, and gore I expect my partner to feel the same.

--Also expect to play other characters aside from your main. It could range from a coworker, or a best friend to a guy in the alley ready to beat or rape you. As long as they have some role in the story, I will do the same.

I believe that's all the rules. See not to much only a couple. =) I do not have main characters, I generally make one for whatever story I might be playing. I also like to work with my partner and come up with a story together. I'm okay with playing any gender. Though I favor female role I don't mind. So I'm going to list some very basic ideas that can be(should be)tweaked.

Default names for the scenarios. Girl: Yuri Boy: Kyo
Other random names. Setsuna, Riki,Hina, and Daisuke

Scenario one: Over the river
Kyo is a gang member, after being abused by his parents he moved to the streets. He is one of the better fighters on his gangs turf and is constantly being summoned for turf wars. During one of the battles by chance he loses his footing and it cost him almost his life. He was beaten to a bloody pulp. When he wakes he sees Yuri who seems to be his nurse. During the time that he's in the hospital the other gang as started to run the streets. Making the streets even more dangerous.

Scenario two: My hand in marriage!?
Though it is modern times some families still like to control there children's lives. Yuri being the daughter of a major medical company is set to marry riki, the son of a major electronics company. The merge of the two company's would create a variety of new items. Yuri has known riki for years since they grew up around each other. However yuri doesn't want to marry him, she wants to live her own life away from her parents control. So she runs away, not knowing the hardships of the real world she gets into trouble real fast. But things seem to look up when she meets Kyo
(This can be altered to maybe marriage between to demon clans and she meets an angel, or even vampires. )

Scenario 3: Let me be with you
This is a typical love triangle. One girl two guys and could be made any sort of way. Real or fantasy. However I don't have a story idea but would love to do one.

scenario 4: Trainer
A hunter decides to go out of the city to practice. Being the weakest in their group, they want to train to become stronger. During the training the hunter stumbles upon a young dragon unaware of how close to the city it is. During the battle the hunter accidentally seals the dragon to be its slave. The dragon hating humans is reluctant to help the hunter and enjoys when they get hurt. However after countless times of being saved from demons trying to kill the dragon , it warms up to the hunter. ( it could be changed to demon, vampire or even werewolf)

That's all I have and I'm open to new ideas. I like doing medieval type but I'm not good in staying in the language of that era. However I dislike space and super sci-fi settings.

If your interested repost or pm me. I can't wait to hear from you!
P.s. I am leaving the door for work after typing this. So I did not check over it)

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/RolePlayGateway

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Once Extinct in the Wild, Kihansi Spray Toad Returns to Tanzania (by Way of the Bronx and Toledo)

Two American zoos have helped to save an African amphibian from extinction. The Kihansi spray toad (Nectophrynoides asperginis) was declared extinct in the wild in 2009 after its only habitat, the waterfalls of Kihansi Gorge in Tanzania, dried up following the establishment of a nearby hydroelectric dam. But this month 2,000 toads returned to Kihansi, courtesy of scientists at the Wildlife Conservation Society?s (WCS) Bronx Zoo and at the Toledo Zoo. The achievement marks the first time that an extinct-in-the-wild amphibian has been returned to its native habitat.

The tiny yellow toads?which reach a length of 2.9 centimeters at their largest?were first described by scientists in 1999, the year before the Kihansi Dam went online. The hydroelectric facility now generates nearly a quarter of Tanzania?s electric supply, but it also reduced the flow of water going over the Kihansi Gorge waterfalls by 90 percent. Before that happened, the waterfalls produced a mist zone that created the toads? unique habitat, just 20,000 square meters of wet vegetative territory?the smallest known range for any known vertebrate species. After the dam was completed, the waterfall no longer produced the mists on which the toads depended.

As the mist zone disappeared, so did the toads, which were also starting to suffer from the dreaded chytrid fungus, the rapidly spreading blight that has already been responsible for dozens of amphibian extinctions around the globe. The last wild toads were observed in 2005, and the species was declared extinct in the wild in 2009.

Luckily scientists saw this disappearance coming. In 2000, at the invitation of the Tanzanian government, the Bronx Zoo collected 499 toads from the gorge to create a captive assurance population. Some of those toads were later transferred to the Toledo Zoo. After more than a decade of breeding efforts, each zoo contributed 1,000 toads toward this month?s reintroduction effort.

The revitalized Kihansi Gorge

Getting to this point was a long journey that required work in Tanzania and in the U.S. One challenge was repairing the toads? habitat at Kihansi Gorge. The World Bank funded the installation and refinement of a gravity-fed misting system that replicated the original habitat conditions. The Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (TANESCO), which operates the dam, monitors the system to make sure it receives the water it needs, and the Tanzanian government has committed to maintaining the misting system.

The other challenge was getting the frogs to breed and thrive in the U.S. ?No facilities were keeping spray toads in captivity?and this is a species with very specific needs?so Bronx Zoo staff had to figure it out,? says Don Boyer, the zoo?s herpetology curator. Both zoos built bio-secure facilities that replicated the unique microhabitat at Kihansi. ?The best husbandry practices including physical enclosure design, spray systems, water quality, health monitoring, disease-preventative measures, diet and stocking densities all had to be established.? Boyer says the team faced many challenges along the way, such as making sure the toads had the right food and, amazingly, the right diseases. ?The wild toads did have parasites and the goal of the captive colony was not to eliminate all disease and thereby make them vulnerable when they were repatriated but to maintain parasite levels comparable to the wild populations.? Each zoo now has several thousand toads in their collections.

The first 100 Kihansi spray toads from the U.S. captive assurance population returned to Tanzania in 2010, where the University of Dar es Salaam has now created its own assurance population. A few dozen of those toads made their way to Kihansi Gorge earlier this year in a closely monitored situation to see if they would be safe in the revived habitat. ?Experiments were done to see if the captive toads would be a source for chytrid infections, and could captive toads survive if exposed to water, plant and amphibians still living in the gorge,? Boyer says. ?Those results were very promising and indicated there was a very low risk. The next stage was actual soft-release experiments where captive-born spray toads were placed into screened enclosures in the upper-gorge wetlands.? The results of that experiment were encouraging enough to move forward with the full-scale reintroduction.

That reintroduction, which took place on December 11, was a full-scale event, attended by representatives from the WCS, Toledo Zoo, World Bank, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute, the University of Dar Es Salaam, Sokoine University of Agriculture, and local Tanzanian villagers.

In a press release, WCS president and CEO Cristi?n Samper called the reintroduction ?a momentous achievement in conservation. It clearly shows how zoos can play an important role in conservation. This has been a truly global effort to save a species.?

Now that the toads have returned, Tanzanian biologists will take up the task of monitoring the population. ?They will continue to visit the wetlands on a regular basis and conduct survey work,? Boyer says. Meanwhile, the populations at the Bronx and Toledo zoos continue to grow, as does the collection at the University of Dar es Salaam, which might also be used for future reintroductions.

Photos by Alyssa Borek courtesy of the Wildlife Conservation Society

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=c22e41245cd22989fec97a2d5073ac9a

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US consumer spending rose 0.4 percent in November

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Consumers spent and earned more in November, reflecting a rebound from the disruptions caused by Superstorm Sandy.

The Commerce Department says consumer spending rose 0.4 percent compared with October. Personal income jumped 0.6 percent, the biggest gain in 11 months.

Wages and salaries rose $41.1 billion in November. Sandy had reduced wages at an annual rate of $18.2 billion in October. Spending had fallen 0.1 percent in October compared with September.

With income rising faster than spending, the saving rate rose to 3.6 percent of income in November, up from 3.4 percent in October.

Economists remain concerned that income growth is too weak to support sustained increases in spending, especially at a time when Americans are worried about possible tax increases in the new year from the "fiscal cliff." That's the name for automatic tax increases and spending cuts due to take effect in January unless Congress and the Obama administration reach a budget deal before the new year.

Consumer spending is closely watched because it accounts for about 70 percent of economic activity.

On Thursday, the government said the economy grew at an annual rate of 3.1 percent in the July-September quarter, more than twice the 1.3 percent growth rate from April through June. Part of the improvement came from a 1.6 percent increase in consumer spending, slightly better than in the spring.

But analysts think economic growth has slowed in the October-December quarter to an annual rate below 2 percent. Uncertainty about whether or how the fiscal cliff will be resolved has led some businesses to delay or reduce hiring and investment in major equipment.

Many economists expect no improvement in the January-March quarter. The latest forecast from a panel of 48 economists with the National Association for Business Economics is that the economy will expand at an annual rate of 1.8 percent in the first quarter of 2013. Growth at that pace is considered too weak to significantly lower the unemployment rate, now at 7.7 percent.

But economists say growth could strengthen in 2013 if Congress and the administration resolve their budget debate in a way that doesn't too drastically raise taxes or cut government spending.

The Federal Reserve ended a policy meeting last week by deciding to extend its current level of $85 billion in monthly bond purchases indefinitely to try to keep long-term interest rates low.

The Fed also for the first time tied any increase in a key short-term interest rate to a substantially improved job market. It said it planned to keep banks' overnight lending rates at a record low near zero until unemployment has fallen below 6.5 percent ? as long as the outlook for inflation remains tame.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-12-21-Consumer%20Spending/id-e615e27436894c7499504f3e889c118d

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Movie review: Les Pee-Wee has small ambitions, big heart

Les Pee-Wee 3D: L?hiver qui a chang? ma vie

Two-and-a-half stars out of five

Starring: Antoine Olivier Pilon, R?mi Goulet, Alice Morel-Michaud, Normand Daneau, Guy Nadon, Claude Legault, Sophie Pr?gent

Directed by: ?ric Tessier

Running time: 120 minutes

Parental guidance: for all.

Opens Friday, Dec. 21 with English subtitles at: Forum cinema. Opens Friday, Dec. 21 in French at: Angrignon, Beaubien, Boucherville, Brossard, Cin?ma Carnaval, Colossus, Deux Montagnes, Dorion, Lacordaire, Longueuil, March? Central, Pont Viau, Quartier Latin, St-Bruno, St-Eustache, StarCit? and Taschereau cinemas.

The timing couldn?t be better for a movie about peewee hockey. With the National Hockey League idiotically mired in its seemingly endless lockout, folks ?round these parts who are starved for a little puck action will be able to get their fix from Les Pee-Wee 3D: L?hiver qui a chang? ma vie, director ?ric Tessier?s charming family film about a peewee team that heads to Quebec City for a major tournament.

Is it the great Qu?b?cois hockey movie? No ? that would be Fran?ois Bouvier?s inspired 1999 film Histoires d?hiver, which doesn?t get the props it deserves. But nor is Les Pee-Wee anywhere near the bust that was Pour toujours, les Canadiens, the ill-fated 2009 film designed to help celebrate the Habs? equally ill-fated 100th anniversary.

Les Pee-Wee is a modest little sports movie, a heart-warming piece that features some good performances from the teen actors, a lot of nifty on-ice drama and a nice, uplifting message about pulling together as a team. OK, so it?s not reinventing anything, but you?d have to be a real Grinch to not get caught up in this hockey party.

Janeau (Antoine Olivier Pilon) and his dad, Carl (Normand Daneau), have moved to a new home in a small town just outside Montreal following the death of Janeau?s mother, and it?s clear from the get-go that relations are mighty strained between them. One of the first kids Janeau meets in his new hometown is the irrepressible Julie (Alice Morel-Michaud), who plays goalie for the local peewee team.

She tells her new pal to come along to join the team ? which creates a little tension, given that she neglected to tell coach Mike Boulanger (Guy Nadon) about this recruit. But once the coach sees Janeau?s Lafleur-esque ballet moves on the ice, he stops his grumbling.

But the arrival of the new star doesn?t sit as well with team captain Joey (R?mi Goulet), who proceeds to do everything he can to try to ensure Janeau doesn?t succeed.

There isn?t much more to it than that. The hockey sequences are terrific ? although those of us who spend a lot of time watching real-life peewee hockey are left wondering how come these kids play better than any 11- or 12-year-old we?ve ever seen.

The one hiccup is the 3D. The film was shot in 2D and then transferred to three dimensions in the post-production process, and it doesn?t give much added value, unless your idea of a good time involves pucks appearing to fly in your face every few minutes. (That actually made me a little jumpy.)

Pilon ? who also starred in Frisson des collines ? makes Janeau totally believable, Goulet is pretty good as his archrival, and Morel-Michaud is almost impossibly likable as the strong-willed Julie.

bkelly@montrealgazette.com

Twitter: @brendanshowbiz

Source: http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Movie+review+small+ambitions+heart/7726665/story.html

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5 finalists vie for Miss Universe crown in Vegas

LAS VEGAS (AP) ? The contest that will decide the next Miss Universe was narrowed to five women Wednesday night, including Miss USA, Miss Brazil and Miss Philippines.

Favorites Miss Australia and Miss Venezuela were also among the beauty queens who made it to the interview round during the televised competition at the Planet Hollywood casino on the Las Vegas strip.

Contestants from 89 countries on six continents spent the past two weeks in Sin City, where they posed in hardhats at a hotel groundbreaking, took a painting lesson, and pranked hotel guests by hiding in their rooms.

The beauty queens took the stage in tight, pleated mini-dresses with glittering sequin bodices and sky high platform shoes, strutting to the hit "Live While We're Young," by English-Irish boy band One Direction.

Later in the two-hour show, they walked a stage decked with white Christmas trees and snow flurry effects, throwing off gauzy white wraps to show off tie-dye bikinis in purples, pinks and blues.

For the third elimination round, they strutted in evening gowns as band Train and Australian singer Timomatic performed. Miss Venezuela's straight-cut, emerald-colored gown was perhaps the most distinct, its long sleeves virtually invisible but for the navy blue, garland-like trim encircling them. Miss USA's red velvet number was full-skirted and wintery, except for the deep, plunging neckline. Miss Australia's gown evoked a wedding dress ? pure white with sparkles at the waist and a corset-style bodice.

Miss USA Olivia Culpo, from Rhode Island, was trying to end a long losing spell for the U.S. in the competition. An American has not won the right to be called Miss Universe since Brook Lee won the title in 1997.

The contestants voted to give the Miss Congeniality crown to Miss Guatemala.

Andy Cohen of the Bravo network and Giuliana Rancic of E! News returned to host the pageant, which was back in Las Vegas after being held in Sao Paulo last year.

The panel of 10 judges included singer Cee Lo Green, "Iron Chef" star Masaharu Morimoto and Pablo Sandoval of the San Francisco Giants.

Asked on the red carpet whether he found playing in the World Series or judging the beauty pageant to be more difficult, Sandoval said both were hard.

Miss Universe 2011, Leila Lopes of Angola, sported a low-cut sequined gown and said she expected this night to be the worst part of her year. She offered some advice to the women vying for her crown.

"Be calm and smile," she said. "Smiling helps a lot. Even though they are not relaxed, the judges will think that they are."

Sharply dressed women and men, including a large contingent from South America, held banners and cheered on their favorite contestants.

"I've seen them and they are absolutely gorgeous," said Donald Trump, a co-owner of the Miss Universe Organization. "They're very nervous and they should be. It's a billion people (watching)."

Organizers had considered holding the 61st annual Miss Universe in the popular Dominican Republic tourist city of Punta Cana, but Miss Universe Organization President Paula Shugart said that country's financial crisis proved to be too much of an obstacle.

Contestants in the pageant cannot have been married or have children. They must be younger than 27 and older than 18 by Feb. 1 of the competition year.

The winner of the crown will receive an undisclosed salary, a wardrobe fit for a queen, a limitless supply of beauty products, and a luxury apartment in New York City.

The pageant started as a local revue in Long Beach, Calif., organized by Catalina Swimwear. It is not affiliated with the Miss America pageant and unlike that contest, does not include a talent section.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/5-finalists-vie-miss-universe-crown-vegas-023323337.html

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Oil Shale: Failing Taxpayers for Decade (Learn More)

Download: Oil Shale: Failing Taxpayers for Decades - December 2012

Since the early 20th century, the federal government and private industry have attempted to commercialize oil shale but after years of investment the prospects for oil shale do not look any more promising than they did a century ago. Since the 1980?s, the federal government has made billions of taxpayer-backed subsidies available to oil shale in the form of tax credits, price guarantees, and loan guarantees. In addition, Congress directed the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to draft premature commercial leasing regulations, resulting in approximately two million acres being designated for commercial development? prior to proving oil shale?s commercial production viability. Lastly, several research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) leases have been awarded without requiring the payment of bonuses, rents, or royalties? contrary to what is typical of conventional oil and gas leases on public lands.

The appeal of oil shale lies in its abundance: the Unites States? oil shale deposits, the majority of which are located in the Green River formation of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, represent more than half the world?s oil shale resources.? Yet, after a century of research funded by continued taxpayer-backed handouts, oil shale production is still in its infancy. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) states that ?there is, at present, no economic method to extract oil from the Green River Formation oil shale.?? Further, the RAND Corporation found in 2005 that oil shale is unlikely to reach the production growth of 1 million barrels per day for twenty years.? With an U.S. average demand of nearly 20 million barrels of oil per day,? oil shale still has a long way to go.

History of Handouts

While the oil shale industry is still in its commercial infancy, it has a long history of federal support. More than a century ago, the Pickett Act of 1910 authorized the acquisition of petroleum rich lands to ensure an emergency supply of fuel to the Navy during times of war.? Seventy years later, in 1980, the Synthetic Fuels Corporation (SFC)?a quasi-governmental agency funded by the Department of Energy (DOE)? was created solely for the purpose of subsidizing unconventional fossil fuel development including oil shale. During its five-year reign, Congress authorized up to $88 billion for the SFC. In total, nearly $7 billion was risked on oil shale, including more than $3 billion in loan guarantees and nearly $4 billion in price guarantees.

Tax credits have also provided further incentives for oil shale production over the years. In the Windfall Profit Tax Act of 1980, Congress provided the alternative fuel production tax credit?a $3 per barrel credit for oil shale and other unconventional fossil fuel producers. Soon after, the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 created multiple tax credits for the oil and gas industry from which oil shale producers were also able to benefit.

History of Failure

Despite a long history of federal support, the oil shale industry has failed repeatedly to prove it can produce at commercial scale. The most well-known failure is the Exxon-TOSCO Colony Project which was awarded a $1.15 billion loan guarantee in August 1982.? The project aimed to produce 47,000 barrels of oil shale per day (bpd), yet less than a year later, on May 2nd 1982, the project was abruptly terminated due to cost overruns and unresolved technological difficulties. At cancellation, project costs had skyrocketed to more than $5.5 billion ?approximately $12 billion in 2010 dollars. Decades later, many in the region have come to know May 2nd as ?Black Sunday.?

Oil Shale Subsidies Continue

The 2005 Energy Bill (EPAct), as well as other legislation, created and extended a number of subsidies that benefit the oil shale industry.

• EPAct required the Secretary of the Interior to establish a program to provide new research and development (R&D) leases, requiring that lands in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming be made available for this purpose.
• EPAct required the Secretary to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for commercial oil shale leasing, and to prepare regulations establishing such a program.
• Created by EPAct and modified in the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act later the same year, the amortization of all geological and geophysical expenditures for two years provides a deduction for all costs incurred over two years for resource exploration including oil shale.
• The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 amended Section 179c of the 2005 Energy Policy Act by extending the election to expense certain refineries to oil shale production. This awards oil shale refineries the option to expense up to 50 percent of the cost of refinery investments, thereby continuing the burden on the taxpayer.
• A near century-old subsidy, the percentage depletion allowance also allows oil shale producers to deduct 15% of gross income for the cost of depletion of oil shale deposits.

Federal Leasing and Royalties

Since the early 20th century, the federal government has been in the business of handing out valuable, resource-rich public lands to private industry at little to no cost. In 2008, the Bureau of Land Management proposed a reduced royalty rate as low as 5% for commercial oil shale development on public lands?significantly lower than the 12.5% paid by conventional onshore oil and gas.

Since 2007, the Department of Interior (DOI) has awarded eight research, development, and demonstration leases to private industry in Colorado and Utah as part of the 2005 Energy Bill without requiring the payment of bonuses, rents, or royalties for producing at less than commercial production.? The leases were awarded for RD&D purposes?not commercial development?and include Chevron, Shell, American Shale Oil (AMSO), Enefit, ExxonMobile, and Natural Soda Holdings. In February 2012, Chevron abandoned its oil shale RD&D lease to focus on more viable energy sources?just one project in a long list of oil shale projects gone bust.

Time to End the Taxpayer Subsidies

To this day, the oil shale industry remain years, if not decades away, from demonstrating the economic viability, technical efficiency, and environmental standards needed for commercial development. In these tight budget times, we cannot afford to continue throwing good money after bad. It is vital that taxpayers develop our natural resources in a responsible manner and receive a fair return for any resources extracted from our public lands. With extremely high costs, massive technical hurdles, and yet to be determined environmental liabilities, taxpayers should not be asked to prop up this industry for any longer.

For more information, please see "Subsidizing Oil Shale: Tracing Federal Support for Oil Shale in the U.S."
Or contact Autumn Hanna at (202) 546-8500 x112 or autumn [at] taxpayer.net.

*Images Courtesy of United States Geological Survey

Filed under: Avoid Unnecessary Liabilities, Cut Subsidies, Ensure Fair Returns

Source: http://www.taxpayer.net/library/article/oil-shale-failing-taxpayers-for-decade

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Key gene for regenerating cells after heart attack

Dec. 20, 2012 ? UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have pinpointed a molecular mechanism needed to unleash the heart's ability to regenerate, a critical step toward developing eventual therapies for damage suffered following a heart attack.

Cardiologists and molecular biologists at UT Southwestern, teaming up to study in mice how heart tissue regenerates, found that microRNAs -- tiny strands that regulate gene expression -- contribute to the heart's ability to regenerate up to one week after birth. Soon thereafter the heart loses the ability to regenerate. By determining the fundamental mechanisms that control the heart's natural regenerative on-off switch, researchers have begun to better understand the No. 1 hurdle in cardiovascular research -- the inability of the heart to regenerate following injury.

"For the first time since we began studying how cells respond to a heart attack, we now believe it is possible to activate a program of endogenous regeneration," said Dr. Hesham Sadek, assistant professor of internal medicine in the division of cardiology, and the senior author of a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Each year, nearly 1 million people in the United States have a heart attack, while about 600,000 die of cardiovascular disease annually. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in both men and women, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As researchers worldwide strive to find ways that help the human heart cope with myriad illnesses and injuries, scientists at UT Southwestern have focused their attention on the heart's regenerative capabilities. In 2011, a team led by Dr. Eric Olson, chairman of molecular biology, and Dr. Sadek demonstrated that within three weeks of removing 15 percent of the newborn mouse heart, the organ was able to completely grow back the lost tissue, and as a result looked and functioned normally.

In the latest investigation, UTSW researchers found that hearts of young rodents mounted a robust regenerative response following myocardial infarction, but this restorative activity only occurs during the first week of life. They then discovered that a microRNA called miR-15 disables the regenerative capacity after one week, but when miR-15 is blocked, the regenerative process can be sustained much longer.

"It is a fresh perspective on an age-old problem," said Dr. Olson, director of the Nancy B. and Jake L. Hamon Center for Basic Research in Cancer, and the Nearburg Family Center for Basic and Clinical Research in Pediatric Oncology who is a co-corresponding author of the PNAS study. "We're encouraged by this initial finding because it provides us with a therapeutic opportunity to manipulate the heart's regenerative potential."

Further research will be needed to optimize the ways in which medical scientists, and eventually clinicians, may be able to control this regenerative process.

"This may well be the beginning of a new era in heart regeneration biology," Dr. Sadek said. "Our research provides hope that reawakening the regenerative capacity of adult mammalian hearts is within reach."

Other UT Southwestern investigators involved in the study are Dr. Beverly Rothermal, associate professor of internal medicine; Dr. Pradeep Mammen, assistant professor of internal medicine; Dr. Diana Canseco, postdoctoral researcher II of internal medicine; David Grinsfelder, research associate of internal medicine; and Brett Johnson, student research assistant of molecular biology. Former UTSW researchers involved are Dr. Ahmed Mahmoud, now at Harvard Medical Center; lead author Dr. Enzo Porrello, now at the University of Queensland in Australia; and Emma Simpson, research assistant in pathology.

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Journal Reference:

1. E. R. Porrello, A. I. Mahmoud, E. Simpson, B. A. Johnson, D. Grinsfelder, D. Canseco, P. P. Mammen, B. A. Rothermel, E. N. Olson, H. A. Sadek. Regulation of neonatal and adult mammalian heart regeneration by the miR-15 family. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1208863110

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/health_medicine/heart_disease/~3/nYTkZ0lybCE/121220101938.htm

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Tumblr Finally Launches Its iPad App

It's been a long time coming, but Tumblr has announced an update to its iOS app that finally makes it compatible with iPad and iPad mini. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/nRox1TlvYSM/tumblr-finally-launches-its-ipad-app

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London Fire Brigade Launching 999 Emergency Twitter Feed

London Fire Brigade Launching 999 Emergency Twitter Feed

The London Fire Brigades are planning on launching the world?s first 999 emergency Twitter feed to monitor fires in the city. This should help save lives and make them more efficient. The news comes after LFB?s recent publication of [ Continue reading...] The post London Fire Brigade Launching 999 Emergency Twitter Feed appeared first on Geeky Gadgets.

Source: http://www.facebook.com/GeekyGadgets/posts/10151197229615967

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Holiday treats from Saturn and beyond

NASA / JPL-Caltech / SSI

Saturn and its rings glow in a backlit, enhanced-color image from the Cassini orbiter. The picture combines images that were acquired using infrared, red and violet filters on Oct. 17. Two of Saturn's moons, Enceladus and Tethys, sparkle on the left side of the planet.

By Alan Boyle

The holiday season is bringing beautiful baubles from outer space, including an unconventional view of Saturn from the Cassini orbiter, a gaudy nebula from the Hubble Space Telescope and a loopy picture of a supernova's leftovers. You can even send your own celestial season's greetings.

---

The Saturn picture, released today, marks the first time Cassini captured a backlit view of the ringed planet since 2006. That earlier photo made a huge splash, in part because the planet Earth could just barely be seen as a pale blue dot off to the side. This time, Earth is hidden behind Saturn, but you can spot two moons just to the left and below the planet: The closer speck is Enceladus, and Tethys is farther down and to the left.

This isn't the view that human eyes would see: Cassini's wide-angle camera snagged this picture in infrared, red and violet wavelengths from a distance of 500,000 miles (800,000 kilometers) behind Saturn on Oct. 17. The various views were assigned different colors in the visible-light spectrum to produce this eerie, otherworldly picture. Here's what Carolyn Porco, leader of the Cassini imaging team at the Colorado-based Space Science Institute, says about the image in today's "Captain's Log":

"Of all the many glorious images we have received from Saturn, none are more strikingly unusual than those we have taken from Saturn's shadow. They unveil a rare splendor seldom seen anywhere else in our solar system.

"This one is our special gift to you, the people of the world, in this holiday season that brings to a close the year 2012. We fervently hope it serves as a reminder that we humans, though troubled and warlike, are also the dreamers, thinkers, and explorers inhabiting one achingly beautiful planet, yearning for the sublime, and capable of the magnificent. We hope it reminds you to protect our planet with all your might and cherish the life it so naturally sustains.

"From all of us on Cassini, the happiest of holidays to everyone."

The Hubble Space Telescope's science team is also rolling out the holiday goodies, with a twisty planetary nebula known as NGC 5189 serving as the centerpiece. "The intricate structure of this bright gaseous nebula resembles a glass-blown holiday ornament with a glowing ribbon entwined," the Hubble team says in today's photo advisory.

NASA / ESA / Hubble Heritage

A holiday image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows the planetary nebula NGC 5189. The image was captured by Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 on Oct. 8.

Planetary nebulae like NGC 5189 are formed when a medium-sized star like our sun enters the last stages of its life, and puffs away its outer shells of glowing gas. This nebula's swirly structure is thought to be due to the influence of an unseen companion star that's stirring the pot, gravitationally speaking.

The picture was taken by Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3, one of the instruments that was installed during the telescope's final servicing mission in 2009. The camera's filters were tuned to the specific wavelengths of fluorescing sulfur, hydrogen and oxygen atoms, plus broad filters in visible and near-infrared wavelengths to capture the star colors.

The National Optical Astronomy Observatory and WIYN Consortium are also putting out a glittery end-of-the-year picture of the Cygnus Loop, a giant supernova remnant that glows 1,500 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. The observations were made in 2003 by astronomer Richard Cool, using the NOAO Mosaic 1 camera on the WIYN 0.9-meter telescope on Kitt Peak, Ariz.

The Cygnus Loop shines in a picture released by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory and the WIYN Consortium.

Back then, the computing power wasn't sufficient to process the picture's 600 million pixels into a single, full-resolution color image. Now the telescope observations have been re-reduced and reprocessed by Travis Rector at the University of Alaska at Anchorage to produce the version released today. "Images like this are amazing, because they can remind you of the big picture and beauty that surrounds us," Cool said in NOAO's image advisory.

These pictures are cool enough for Christmas cards, but if you need a little inspiration for your last-minute mailing list, the teams behind NASA's Great Observatories can help: The Space Telescope Science Institute's Hubble Web site offers printable holiday cards. The team behind the Chandra X-Ray Observatory has e-cards suitable for a variety of occasions. You can turn to Zazzle or CafePress to order greeting cards featuring imagery from the Spitzer Space Telescope.

The European Space Agency, meanwhile is offering a selection of space-themed e-cards as well as a printable 2013 Hubble calendar.

More holiday treats:

---

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 controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Source: http://photoblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/18/15996785-holiday-treats-from-saturn-and-beyond?lite

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M 1.4, 2km SW of San Juan Bautista, California

U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
Page URL: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc71906711
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DOI and USGS link policies apply. Privacy Act Statement You are not required to provide your personal contact information in order to submit your survey. However, if you do not provide contact information, we may be unable to contact you for additional information to verify your responses. If you do provide contact information, this information will only be used to initiate follow-up communications with you. The records for this collection will be maintained in the appropriate Privacy Act System of Records identified as Earthquake Hazards Program Earthquake Information. (INTERIOR/USGS-2) published at 74 FR 34033 (July 14, 2009). Paperwork Reduction Act Statement The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et. seq.) requires us to inform you that this information is being collected to supplement instrumental data and to promote public safety through better understanding of earthquakes. Response to this request is voluntary. Public reporting for this form is estimated to average 6 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions and completing the form. A Federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB Control Number. Comments regarding this collection of information should be directed to: Bureau Clearance officer, U.S. Geological Survey, 807 National Center, Reston, VA 20192.

Source: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc71906711

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NFL: Jets bench Sanchez, will start McElroy vs Chargers

NFL ? Tebow leapfrogged by third-stringer in quarterback shuffle.

New York ? Mark Sanchez blew the second chance Rex Ryan gave him. Now, it?s Greg McElroy?s chance to be the New York Jets? starting quarterback.

And, Tim Tebow? Well, he was leapfrogged by the third-stringer, fueling speculation that the team has little confidence in him as a quarterback.

?

NFL Week 15 schedule

Saturday

? Atlanta at Detroit, 6:30 p.m.

Sunday

? Tennessee at Green Bay, 11 a.m.

? Indianapolis at Kansas City, 11 a.m.

? New Orleans at Dallas, 11 a.m.

? Minnesota at Houston, 11 a.m.

? Oakland at Carolina, 11 a.m.

? Buffalo at Miami, 11 a.m.

? Cincinnati at Pittsburgh, 11 a.m.

? New England at Jacksonville, 11 a.m.

? Washington at Philadelphia, 11 a.m.

? St. Louis at Tampa Bay, 11 a.m.

? San Diego at N.Y. Jets, 11 a.m.

? Cleveland at Denver, 2:05 p.m.

? Chicago at Arizona, 2:25 p.m.

? N.Y. Giants at Baltimore, 2:25 p.m.

? San Francisco at Seattle, 6:20 p.m.

Ryan decided to bench Sanchez on Tuesday after the fourth-year quarterback had another miserable performance. Sanchez threw four interceptions Monday night and wasn?t able to handle a low snap with the game on the line as the Jets (6-8) were eliminated from playoff contention with a 14-10 loss at Tennessee.

Things got worse after the game for Sanchez, who received a series of death threats on Twitter. League spokesman Greg Aiello said the NFL is aware of the threats and is working with the Jets to assist on the matter.

Ryan said after the loss that he wasn?t ready to decide who would start against the Chargers, but chose McElroy over Sanchez and Tebow after talking with his staff and others in the organization Tuesday.

McElroy, a seventh-round pick last year out of Alabama, helped lead the Jets to a 7-6 win over Arizona on Dec. 2 when Ryan pulled Sanchez from that game late in the third quarter. McElroy had modest numbers ? 5 of 7 for 29 yards ? but threw for the only touchdown of the game, and nearly led another scoring drive as the Jets ran out the clock.

Ryan decided to stick with Sanchez after that game, saying that the one-time face of the franchise gave the Jets their best chance at winning as they remained in the playoff hunt.

But Sanchez struggled in a 17-10 win over Jacksonville and again even more in the loss to Tennessee. McElroy, who gave the Jets a huge spark in his first NFL action, was inactive for both games. That hurt New York on Monday night when Ryan was unable to turn to McElroy since he was not in uniform for the game. Instead, Ryan went to Tebow for one series ? which had been part of the game plan ? but it was unproductive and Sanchez came back in for the next offensive possession.

Sanchez leads the league with 24 turnovers, including 17 interceptions, and has turned the ball over 50 times since the start of last season. His future with the team is uncertain because he signed a contract extension with New York in March that included $8.25 million in guaranteed money for next season.

story continues below

Around the league

Browns ? New owner Jimmy Haslam and his CEO, Joe Banner, have several personnel decisions to make once the season ends.

You can scratch president off their list, however. With potentially more changes ahead for the new-look Browns over the next two weeks, Haslam and Banner announced on Tuesday they had hired Alec Scheiner to be the team?s new president. Scheiner, 39, will join Cleveland after eight years with the Cowboys. He was senior vice president and general counsel with Dallas the last five years.

Bills ? Buffalo took the first step in securing its offensive line?s long-term future by signing starting right guard Kraig Urbik to a four-year contract extension. The deal locks up Urbik through 2016 and is worth $13.3 million, including a $3.5 million signing bonus for this season, a person familiar with the contract told The Associated Press. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the team did not reveal the length or monetary terms of the contract.

Cowboys ? A judge ordered nose tackle Josh Brent to wear an electronic monitor pending his trial on an intoxication manslaughter charge in the one-car crash that killed a teammate. State District Judge Fred Tinsley also lowered Brent?s bond from $500,000 to $100,000 on Tuesday. He ordered Brent not to drink alcohol or drive without a valid driver?s license. Prosecutors say Brent was driving with a suspended license on the night of the Dec. 8 crash that killed friend and Cowboys practice squad member Jerry Brown. Brent will be required to wear a monitor to detect if he has had anything to drink.

Copyright 2012 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/sports/55491177-77/sanchez-jets-game-mcelroy.html.csp

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Honorable Mentions Of 2012: 'The Raid: Redemption'

You've seen our Top Ten of 2012 list, but now let's take a look back at the movies that just missed the cut. These are our Honorable Mentions of 2012. Here's a fun game to play: tell your friends that you want to watch a movie. When they ask what you have in mind, tell [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2012/12/18/honorable-mentions-raid-redemption/

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Dell urged Microsoft to avoid using 'Windows' brand for Surface RT

It was recently revealed during the Dell World conference in Austin, Texas, that Dell executive Jeffrey Clarke urged Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to not use the Windows name as branding for Redmond?s Windows RT operating system. The two allegedly met earlier in the year before Microsoft officially went with the Windows RT name.

According to the Australian Financial Review, Clarke felt the new operating system needed a fresh and new name. Of course as we all know, that advice fell on deaf ears as Microsoft did in fact go with the Windows branding for their ARM-based OS.

Ballmer reportedly insisted that the Windows brand was simply too important to pass on. As such, Microsoft kept the branding for Window RT tablets which has led to significant confusion among consumers between the tablet OS and the full Windows 8 computer OS. The problem, it seems, is that Windows RT has a full desktop mode despite the fact that it can?t run legacy applications.

Either way, Dell is still planning to release their own Windows RT tablet in the near future. The Dell XPS 10 will have a starting price of $499 and will be powered by a dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. Other specifications include a 10-1.inch display operating at 1,366 x 768, a 5-megapixel rear camera, a 2-megapixel front-facing shooter and either 32GB or 64GB of internal storage. The slate is expected to ship by the end of this month or sometime in early January.

Source: http://www.techspot.com/news/51119-dell-urged-microsoft-to-avoid-using-windows-brand-for-surface-rt.html

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Tory 'hardworking family' used to promote 'Christian home schooling ...

Conservative chairman Grant Shapps ? a purveyor of online get-rich-quick schemes who bragged about the number of planes he owned?? is using populist internet marketing techniques to attack the unemployed. A new advert to be run in marginal constituencies contrasts ?people who don?t work? with ?hardworking families?.

But the Tories? ?hardworking family? is actually posed by models who are thought to be either Danish or Australian. Along with adverts for?building firms, insurance?and?dentists, the stock image?has also been used to promote?home schooling by fundamentalist Christians.

?

The book Full Time Parenting?contains chapters entitled ?How I taught my children to sit still and be quiet? and ?Hospitality: it?s not just about women anymore!?.

Scrapbook wonders what this incarnation of Shapps? idealised family unit would think about Cameron?s gay marriage plans?

Source: http://politicalscrapbook.net/2012/12/tory-hardworking-family-used-to-promote-christian-home-schooling/

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Michael Powell Visits Fox Business ? Cable Tech Talk

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

Source: http://www.cabletechtalk.com/online-safety/michael-powell-visits-fox-business/

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Do-it-yourself viruses: How viruses self assemble

Monday, December 17, 2012

A new model of the how the protein coat (capsid) of viruses assembles, published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Biophysics, shows that the construction of intermediate structures prior to final capsid production (hierarchical assembly) can be more efficient than constructing the capsid protein by protein (direct assembly). The capsid enveloping a virus is essential for protection and propagation of the viral genome. Many viruses have evolved a self-assembly method which is so successful that the viral capsid can self assemble even when removed from its host cell.

The construction of large protein structures has been observed experimentally but the mechanism behind this is not well understood. Even the 'simple' icosahedral protein coat of the T1 virus requires integration of 60 protein components. Computational models of the physical interactions of component proteins are used to investigate the dynamics and physical constraints that regulate whether the components assemble correctly.

Using computer simulations a team from the Institute for Theoretical Physics and the Center for Quantitative Biology (BioQuant), University of Heidelberg, has compared direct and hierarchical assembly methods for T1 and T3 viruses. The team led by Ulrich S Schwarz, realised that direct assembly often led to the formation of unfavorable intermediates, especially when the dissociation rate was low, which hindered further assembly, causing the process to stall. In contrast, for many conditions hierarchical assembly was more reliable, especially if the bonds involved had a low dissociation rate.

Discussing the practical applications of these results, Dr Schwarz commented, "Hierarchical assembly has not been systematically investigated before. Theoretical models and computer simulations, like ours, can be used to understand the mechanism behind assembly of complex viruses and give an indication of how other large protein complexes assemble."

He continued, " With our computer simulations, we are now in a position to investigate systems which are too large to be studied by molecular resolution. This rational approach might have many applications not only in biomedicine, but also in materials science, where many researchers strive to learn from nature how to assembly complex structures."

###

BioMed Central: http://www.biomedcentral.com

Thanks to BioMed Central for this article.

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

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/125965/_Do_it_yourself_viruses__How_viruses_self_assemble

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Toward a new model of the cell: Everything you always wanted to know about genes

Dec. 16, 2012 ? urning vast amounts of genomic data into meaningful information about the cell is the great challenge of bioinformatics, with major implications for human biology and medicine. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and colleagues have proposed a new method that creates a computational model of the cell from large networks of gene and protein interactions, discovering how genes and proteins connect to form higher-level cellular machinery.

The findings are published in the December 16 advance online publication of Nature Biotechnology.

"Our method creates ontology, or a specification of all the major players in the cell and the relationships between them," said first author Janusz Dutkowski, PhD, postdoctoral researcher in the UC San Diego Department of Medicine. It uses knowledge about how genes and proteins interact with each other and automatically organizes this information to form a comprehensive catalog of gene functions, cellular components, and processes.

"What's new about our ontology is that it is created automatically from large datasets. In this way, we see not only what is already known, but also potentially new biological components and processes -- the bases for new hypotheses," said Dutkowski.

Originally devised by philosophers attempting to explain the nature of existence, ontologies are now broadly used to encapsulate everything known about a subject in a hierarchy of terms and relationships. Intelligent information systems, such as iPhone's Siri, are built on ontologies to enable reasoning about the real world. Ontologies are also used by scientists to structure knowledge about subjects like taxonomy, anatomy and development, bioactive compounds, disease and clinical diagnosis.

A Gene Ontology (GO) exists as well, constructed over the last decade through a joint effort of hundreds of scientists. It is considered the gold standard for understanding cell structure and gene function, containing 34,765 terms and 64,635 hierarchical relations annotating genes from more than 80 species.

"GO is very influential in biology and bioinformatics, but it is also incomplete and hard to update based on new data," said senior author Trey Ideker, PhD, chief of the Division of Genetics in the School of Medicine and professor of bioengineering in UC San Diego's Jacobs School of Engineering.

"This is expert knowledge based upon the work of many people over many, many years," said Ideker, who is also principal investigator of the National Resource for Network Biology, based at UC San Diego. "A fundamental problem is consistency. People do things in different ways, and that impacts what findings are incorporated into GO and how they relate to other findings. The approach we have proposed is a more objective way to determine what's known and uncover what's new."

In their paper, Dutkowski, Ideker and colleagues capitalized upon the growing power and utility of new technologies like high-throughput assays and bioinformatics to create elaborately detailed datasets describing complex biological networks. To test the approach, the scientists pulled together multiple such datasets, applied their method, and then compared the resulting "network-extracted ontology" to the existing GO.

They found that their ontology captured the majority of known cellular components, plus many additional terms and relationships, which subsequently triggered updates of the existing GO.

Neither Ideker nor Dutkowski say the new approach is intended to replace the current GO. Rather, they envision it as complementary high-tech model that identifies both known and uncharacterized biological components derived directly from data, something the current GO does not do well. Moreover, they note a network-extracted ontology can be continuously updated and refined with every new dataset, moving scientists closer to the complete model of the cell.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/j6nvh78QoZ4/121216132515.htm

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Iraq: Bombs strike disputed northern area, kill 8

BAGHDAD (AP) ? Bombings rattled two cities in disputed areas in Iraq's north on Sunday, killing at least eight people and raising concerns that extremists are trying to exploit ethnic tensions in the country.

The deadliest series of blasts struck Shiite Muslim targets in the disputed northern city of Kirkuk. Police Major Imad Qadir, who is responsible for the Kirkuk city hospital's security, said those attacks killed six people and wounded 36.

Kirkuk Police Brig. Turhan Khalil said the evening blasts happened within minutes of each other. The targets included two Shiite mosques and a television station identified with the Muslim sect, he said.

Kirkuk is 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad and is home to a mix of Arabs, Kurds and Turkomen. All have competing claims to the oil-rich area. The Kurds want to incorporate it into their self-ruled region in Iraq's north, but Arabs and Turkomen are opposed.

The city is at the center of a broader dispute between Iraq's central government and the Kurdish minority over contested areas where both seek influence.

Tension between Kurds and the central government has flared in recent months.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Bombings targeting Shiite sites are typically the work of Sunni Arab extremists.

Earlier in the day, an explosion near the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan political party office in Jalula killed two and wounded five, police officials said. Jalula is also in the disputed territories and is some 125 kilometers (80 miles) northeast of Baghdad.

Both Arabs and Kurds claim Jalula, and a local policeman said the violence resulted from ongoing tensions between the two ethnic groups. He did not elaborate.

Medics in nearby hospital confirmed the Jalula casualties. All officials in the two spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release details to journalists.

The PUK is headed by the Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, who announced a plan last week aimed at easing the military standoff between the central government and Kurdish authorities.

___

Associated Press writer Sameer N. Yacoub contributed reporting.

___

Follow Adam Schreck on Twitter at http://twitter.com/adamschreck

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-12-16-Iraq/id-b898185ecc1f4420921e7746f0176877

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Run your thinking through a process ? Business Management Daily ...

It?s tempting to face the unfamiliar head-on, but you have to think it through.

Here?s how:

• Understand deeply. Be brutally honest with yourself about what you know and don?t know. Try to let go of preconceived notions. You need rock-solid understanding to succeed.
• Raise questions. Clarify and extend your understanding.
• Follow ideas. Look back to see where ideas came from, and look ahead to see where they may lead. Even small ideas can lead to big payoffs.
• Make mistakes. They will happen, so go ahead. Mistakes can be great ?teachers. Let them show you the way.
• Change. It?s the last and most im??portant. By changing how you think and learn, you can improve, grow and get the most out of your role as a leader.

? Adapted from The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking, Edward Burger and Michael Starbird, Princeton University Press.

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Video catches huge asteroid buzzing Earth

A new video captures the giant asteroid 4179 Toutatis tumbling through space on its flyby of Earth earlier this week.

The asteroid Toutatis video, which is about 40 seconds long, combines 64 radar images taken Wednesday and Thursday by NASA's Deep Space Network antenna in Goldstone, Calif. On those days, Toutatis was about 4.3 million miles (7 million kilometers) from Earth, or about 18 times farther away than the moon is.

The new radar images ? which have a resolution of 12 feet (3.75 meters) per pixel ? show the 3-mile-wide (5 kilometers) asteroid in striking detail. Toutatis is revealed to be an elongated, irregularly shaped object with multiple ridges, researchers said. Strange bright glints may indicate surface boulders, they added.

1. Space news from NBCNews.com

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      Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: Forty years ago, human beings took their last steps on the moon and had their last look at Earth framed by the lunar horizon.

   2. Catch these gems from the Geminid meteors
   3. Video catches huge asteroid buzzing Earth
   4. NASA made 1st planetary flyby 50 years ago

The video also sheds light on how Toutatis moves. The asteroid spins about its long axis every 5.4 days and wobbles through space like a badly thrown football, scientists said.

Toutatis never posed a threat to Earth on its recent flyby, and researchers say there is no chance it will hit our planet over the next four centuries or so. (Beyond that time, the asteroid's orbit cannot be accurately computed.)

Nevertheless, the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Mass., lists Toutatis as a potentially hazardous object, meaning that it could pose a risk to Earth at some point in the future.

Toutatis would cause catastrophic damage if it ever did slam into Earth, potentially extinguishing humanity and many other species. In general, scientists think a strike by anything at least 0.6 miles (1 km) wide could have global consequences, most likely by altering the world's climate for many years to come.

For comparison, the asteroid thought to have wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago was an estimated 6 miles (10 km) across.

Asteroid Toutatis makes one trip around the sun every four years. Its next close encounter with Earth will come in November 2069, when the space rock will fly safely by at about 1.8 million miles (3 million km), or 7.7 Earth-moon distances.

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We Need a Path to Citizenship for All Americans, Not Just Immigrants (Atlantic Politics Channel)

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