Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/287827062?client_source=feed&format=rss
mega millions winners anthony davis palm sunday toure patti smith lottery winners lottery winners
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Trupanion Becomes Sole Provider of Lifetime Pet Insurance Coverage to American Humane Association Hero Dog Awards Winners - Class of 2011 and 2012
Lifetime pet insurance coverage will help ensure that these hero dogs will receive the best veterinary treatment available if they become sick or injured.
Seattle, Wash. (PRWEB) February 27, 2013
Trupanion, a trusted pet brand and proven industry leader in pet insurance, today announced they have become the sole provider of pet insurance for the American Humane Association Hero Dog Awards category winners for 2011 and 2012. These winning dogs will receive coverage for 90 percent of the cost of treating injuries and illnesses they may develop throughout their lifetime.?We are thrilled that our hero dogs will be insured for the rest of their lives, allowing them the opportunity for long-term health and happiness, while easing the burden of financial care for their guardians,? said Dr. Robin Ganzert, President and CEO of American Humane Association. ?Trupanion offers a comprehensive and simple policy that we feel is a perfect choice for our hero dogs and their guardians.?
Pet insurance offers the financial support pet owners need when faced with high medical costs related to unexpected accidents and illnesses or long-term care, allowing pet owners the ability to approve ?Plan A? veterinary care for their beloved pet instead of declining treatment or opting for a less-effective treatment option based on cost. Pet insurance can give pet owners the peace of mind that if the unexpected occurs, they are covered.
?These hero dogs represent all pets that offer us companionship, loyalty, and unconditional love every day, and we are honored to have them as part of the Trupanion family,? said Darryl Rawlings, Trupanion?s Founder and Chief Executive Officer.
Trupanion was the proud sponsor of the Service Dog category at the 2012 Hero Dog Awards and has an ongoing partnership with the American Humane Association?s Second Chance? Fund, which helps animals that are the victims of abuse or neglect.
The winning dogs are as follows:
MILITARY DOG CATEGORY
2012 Winner: GABE (Columbia, SC) ? Retired MWD Sgt. Gabe has served our country since 2006, completing over 210 combat missions with 26 explosive and weapons finds in Iraq. Since retiring in 2009, MWD Sgt. Gabe has earned over 40 awards and coins of excellence for his heroic work and spends his free time educating children on the value of respect and staying in school. Gabe was named the top American Hero Dog for 2012.
2011 Winner: MWD BINO C152 (Las Cruces, NM) ? Dutch Shepherd Bino served the U.S. Army?s 35th Military Police Detachment at Ft. Gordon, Ga., as a Narcotics Detection/Patrol K-9 for almost 11 years. He deployed in Iraq for 14 months, as well as serving special missions with the Border Patrol. Upon retirement, Bino learned a new skill set as a post-traumatic stress disorder Demo Service Dog.
GUIDE DOG CATEGORY
2012 Winner: TABITHA II (South Bend, IN) ? Guide dog Tabitha is more than just a guide dog to her former guardian, Ann Drake, who lost her sight as an adult. Tabitha guided Ann back to a place where she found the confidence that she had lost and overcame the fears of her new life.
2011 Winner: ROSELLE (Novato, CA) ? On September 11, 2001, Roselle and her guardian were working in the World Trade Center on the 78th floor of Tower One when the airplane crashed into the building. Roselle guided her guardian to the stairwell and traveled down 1,463 stairs. After leaving the building, they were across the street from Tower Two when it collapsed. Despite the dust and chaos, Roselle remained calm and totally focused on her job, guiding her owner to safety. Roselle was named the top American Hero Dog for 2011.
LAW ENFORCEMENT/ARSON DOG CATEGORY
2012 Winner: JYNX (Shillington, PA) ? Law Enforcement-Arson K-9 Jynx desperately worked to try and pull his guardian Sgt. Kyle Pagerly and another officer out of harm's way as a crime suspect opened fire during a routine warrant delivery. Sgt. Pagerly was killed in the line of duty leaving behind his pregnant wife. If not for the swift and heroic efforts of K-9 Jynx, more officers would have lost their lives that night.
2011 Winner: SADIE (Westminster,CO) ? A nationally certified accelerant detection K-9, Sadie works in the Major Crimes Unit of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. She has worked approximately 400 fires, and has assisted in cases resulting in numerous arrests.
HEARING DOG CATEGORY
2012 Winner: TATIANA II (Plantation, FL) -- Tatiana II was matched with handler Cristina Saint-Blancard in 2011 as her hearing dog but quickly turned into her life-saving hero. Cristina suffers from asthma which is exacerbated by frequent ear infections and one night found herself completely without breath. Tatiana II was quick to notice something was wrong and ran into the next room to alert Cristina's family, saving Cristina?s life.
2011 Winner: HARLEY (Fountain Hills, AZ) ? Harley?s human companion was 52 and had been hearing-impaired all his life when Harley arrived. He had lost his self-confidence after missing so much of what had been said around him and through sound work, Harley taught him to regain that confidence.
SEARCH AND RESCUE DOG CATEGORY
2012 Winner: SOOT (Charleston, WV) ? West Virginia Search and Rescue K-9 Soot, didn't know he had a big job ahead of him when he was adopted by Lorraine Burdette. Soot's training in air scent, scent discrimination, and certified search and rescue wilderness training gave him the tools he needed to rescue a 78-year-old diabetic hunter lost in the wilderness on a cold December morning.
2011 Winner: SAGE (Hagerman, NM) ? Sage passed the FEMA Canine Readiness Evaluation at 18 months and served her community and her nation from that day until she passed away in 2012. Sage?s missions included recovery efforts following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, searching for missing or captured U.S. soldiers in Iraq (for the U.S. Army), and numerous local missing-person searches.
SERVICE DOG CATEGORY
2012 Winner: HOLLY (Magna, UT) ? Seizure alert Service Dog Holly never takes her attention away from her guardian, Shanna Wilkinson, who suffers from epileptic seizures. Together Holly and Shanna travel all over the country and teach elementary students the importance of Service Dogs.
2011 Winner: ZURICH (Des Plaines, IL) ? Zurich, a Canine Companions for Independence certified service dog, was the loyal companion of Patricia Kennedy from 2004 to 2012, when Patti sadly passed away. During their time together, Zurich learned to retrieve everything, even the neighbor?s TV remote control, to help Patti with her daily life.
THERAPY DOG CATEGORY
2012 Winner: STELLA (Mt. Kisco, NY) ? Therapy Dog Stella and her guardian Marissa Levy, dedicate their time to bringing love and joy to the residents at Richmond Community Services, a not-for-profit organization that cares for developmentally disabled children and adults. Stella is unfazed by disabilities and diseases, befriending and with time, unconditionally loving, all she meets.
2011 Winner: STACEY MAE (Guffey, CO) ? Stacey Mae, a four-year-old greater Swiss Mountain Dog delivered teddy bears and stuffed animals to children in hospitals and adults in nursing homes. She received and distributed over 2,000 teddy bears and stuffed animals and visited nursing homes 2-3 times a week before passing away unexpectedly in 2012.
EMERGING HERO CATEGORY
2012 Winner: DANIEL (Nutley, NJ) ? Daniel, a beagle from an Alabama shelter on "death row," did the unimaginable in 2011 when he survived the most inhumane form of euthanasia, the gas chamber. Since adopted by his loving guardian, Joe Dawyer, Daniel the "Miracle Beagle" has used his second chance at life as an advocate for shelter adoptions and humane euthanasia legislation across the United States.
2011 Winner: RICOCHET (Escondido, CA) ? Ricochet surfs with special needs children and people with disabilities for therapeutic purposes. As a surfing dog, she has inspired people all over the world, encouraging them to be who they truly are, focus on what they can do, and turn negatives into positives.
For those hero dogs that have passed away, a donation will be made by Trupanion in the dog?s name to the charity of their choice.
The Hero Dog Awards were created by the American Humane Association to celebrate the devoted relationship between dogs and people. The annual national competition searches out and recognizes America?s Hero Dogs ? often ordinary dogs who do extraordinary things, whether it?s saving lives on the battlefield, rescuing the lost or stranded, or simply offering much-needed companionship each and every day.
About Trupanion?
Trupanion is an industry leader in pet insurance, offering cat and dog insurance in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico with the mission of delivering financial peace of mind to pet owners. Trupanion offers a simple, customizable pet insurance policy with 90% coverage for diagnostic tests, surgeries, medications, hospital stays, and alternative therapies for the treatment of accidents or illnesses. Trupanion?s policy includes coverage of hereditary and congenital conditions with no payout limits per incident, per year, or over the lifetime of the pet.
Trupanion is underwritten by the American Pet Insurance Company, which has earned a Financial Stability Rating? of A, Exceptional, from Demotech, Inc. Trupanion is a founding member of the North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA), demonstrating a commitment to high standards and transparency in all actions and products. For more information call 800-569-7913 or visit Trupanion.com. You can also follow Trupanion on Twitter or Facebook.
About American Humane Association
American Humane Association is the country?s first national humane organization and the only one dedicated to protecting both children and animals. Since 1877, American Humane Association has been at the forefront of virtually every major advance in protecting our most vulnerable from cruelty, abuse and neglect. Today we?re also leading the way in understanding the human-animal bond and its role in therapy, medicine and society. American Humane Association reaches millions of people every day through groundbreaking research, education, training and services that span a wide network of organizations, agencies and businesses. You can help make a difference, too. Visit American Humane Association at http://www.americanhumane.org today.
Heather Kalinowski
Trupanion
800-569-7913 3124
Email Information
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/trupanion-becomes-sole-provider-lifetime-pet-insurance-coverage-110222411.html
december 21 2012 norad 12/21/12 winter solstice Jabari Parker 2012 australia
Restructuring my Business by Outsourcing
The current tough economic times have led me to look at reducing the overheads in my business. It has been a difficult but necessary decision. If I don?t make changes to the way the business presently functions then there is a real risk that we won?t make it through another financial year.
I?ve put together this blog with some of my experiences and the results of my research which might be of use to you if you and your business are in a similar situation.
What exactly is Outsourcing?
It wasn?t long before I discovered that outsourcing wasn?t necessarily what I thought it was. My limited knowledge of outsourcing was based upon negative experiences of companies that had moved their call centres offshore.
I have found that outsourcing is an umbrella term that covers several different types of business restructuring.
Business Process Outsourcing is the outsourcing of standard business processes, such as payroll, call centre and purchasing services. These standard processes are easier to outsource because they are common functions in any company.
Knowledge Process Outsourcing is the outsourcing of more detailed and specific business processes. The companies that provide knowledge process outsourcing are usually highly specialised in their field. Some examples include scientific research and laboratory services, intellectual property research, content writing and legal services.
Possibilities for Outsourcing in My Business
Business Process Outsourcing is the most relevant form of outsourcing for my company. There are two areas that I have identified where I think I can utilise outsourcing.
My office staff? are a small and dedicated team. They are quite often stretched to the point where I need to bring in temporary staff for short periods of time ? usually during the summer when the regular staff are taking their annual leave. The temporary staff varies in their quality and can be quite expensive to hire in. Outsourcing things like payroll and billing will free up my office staff so that they can focus on the duties that I wouldn?t dream of anyone else doing ? HR for instance.
The other area that I believe will bring significant cost reductions to my business is Purchasing and Procurement. This role is currently takes up time of just about every department. Managers from each department currently undertake the research of suppliers when we take invest in new equipment or services. It?s hugely time consuming for my staff and takes their time away from the duties they and I would prefer them to be doing. I have found that there are companies such N J Grime (http://www.njgrimepurchaseservices.co.uk/) that specialise is business procurement services. I will be researching procurement outsourcing further and implementing it to allow my staff to focus on their primary roles.
Implementing Outsourcing
There are some important considerations to take into account when considering outsourcing parts of your business. I found a good article that discusses these considerations further on the about.com website.
I have seen that outsourcing will be of use in my company. When it was first suggested to me, I looked into it rather reluctantly; however, I have seen that outsourcing will be of use to my company. It doesn?t mean providing an inferior service; rather, it will mean getting a better service from specialist companies, improving efficiency and importantly, reducing costs. If you?d like to explore outsourcing in your small business you can find some helpful information in this article from the New York Times.
Source: http://www.oisc.org.uk/restructuring-my-business-by-outsourcing/
barney frank barney frank kim richards robert hegyes mary louise parker mary louise parker cher
Stocks surge, Dow nears record high
NEW YORK (AP) ? The Dow came within 60 points of its all-time high Wednesday after rising sharply for a second straight day.
The market surged following more evidence that the Fed will keep interest rates low, housing will keep recovering and shoppers aren't pulling back on spending, though they're paying more in Social Security taxes this year.
The gains were broad: Twenty-nine of 30 stocks in the Dow Jones industrial average rose. All 10 industries in the Standard and Poor's 500 index climbed.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 175.24 points, or 1.2 percent, to 14,075.37. The index is now 89 points from its record close of 14,164.53 reached in October 2007. The index rose steadily from the opening bell, then peaked near the record at 3:26 p.m. Eastern Time, before easing slightly in the last half hour of trade.
The Dow has surged 290 points in the past two days, erasing its drop of 216 points Monday when inconclusive results from an election in Italy renewed worries that Europe's fiscal crisis could flare up again.
"The market psychology has clearly shifted. It's no longer sell the rally, it's buy the dips," said Dan Veru, chief investment officer of Palisade Capital Management. "The economic data continues to be strong."
The Standard and Poor's 500 index gained 19.05 points, or 1.3 percent, to 1,515.99. The Nasdaq composite rose 32.61 points, or 1.3 percent, to 3,162.26. The index is 6.5 percent higher for the year, and is about 3.1 percent short of its record close of 1,565.
Investors were also encouraged Wednesday that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke stood behind the central bank's low-interest-rate policies as he faced the House Financial Services Committee. His comments dissipated worries about the bank's resolve to keep up the program. Those worries sprang up last week when minutes from the bank's last policy meeting revealed disagreement among Fed officials.
Also, the number of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes rose in January from December to the highest level in almost three years. The report continued a string of positive housing news. Sales of new homes jumped 16 percent last month to the highest level since July 2008, the government reported Tuesday.
Home builder stocks rose for the second day in a row. PulteGroup climbed 25 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $19.30, after rising 5.7 percent the day before.
"Some encouraging news for the bulls has been the housing data that has come out over the past couple of days," said Todd Salamone, director of research at Schaeffer's Investment Research.
The analyst said he remained "extremely bullish," on stocks in the medium and long-term, but cautioned that a pullback may lie ahead in coming days after the year's strong gains.
Stocks have surged since the start of the year. The Dow is up 7.4 percent and the S&P 500 has climbed 6.3 percent.
But rising even more is the Dow Jones transportation average, which is up 13 percent for the year to 5,989.37. Airlines like Delta and Alaska Air are powering the gains.
"If the economy is doing well you've got to be moving stuff around," said Phil Orlando, chief equity strategists at Federated Investors. "You've got to be moving people on airplanes, you've got to be moving cargo with trains or trucks, or UPS."
Discount retailers rose Wednesday. Dollar Tree jumped $4.31, or 11 percent, to $45.39 after reporting a 22 percent profit increase. Dollar General rose $1.61, or 3.6 percent, to $46.56. Family Dollar Stores rose $1.39, or 2.5 percent, to $57.68.
Earnings for S&P 500 companies will climb 7.8 percent in the fourth quarter, the third straight quarter of growth, according to data from S&P Capital IQ.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose two basis points to 1.90 percent.
Among other stocks making big moves;
? Retailer J.C. Penney fell $3.07, or 15 percent, to $18.09 after the market closed following a much a quarterly loss that was much larger than expected.
? Priceline.com rose $17.42, or 2.6 percent, to $695.91 after reporting that its net income jumped in the fourth quarter as bookings grew.
? First Solar plunged $4.32, or 13.8 percent, to $27.04 after the company posted disappointing sales for the fourth quarter and gave a weak early outlook for the year.
? Target fell 93 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $63.12 after the No. 2 discount chain's quarterly income fell 2 percent as it dealt with intense competition during the holiday shopping season.
? DreamWorks Animation fell 30 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $16.31 after posting a loss of $82.7 million. The company booked a write-off on its November release "Rise of the Guardians" and on an upcoming movie that needs to be reworked.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stocks-surge-housing-dow-nears-record-220328561--finance.html
joseph kony 2012 arian foster dennis kucinich apple ipad kony kony 2012 jim irsay
We need reporters, researchers and a chemist | The Wirecutter
I am looking for writers and researchers who can obsessively research and find the best gear, equipment and stuff?electronic and not electronic. And a chemist.
Please read this entire note before applying. Any notes that do not follow instructions will not be considered.
For The Wirecutter, writers and reporters needed:
I?m looking for people who can easily spend a few dozen hours researching, reporting and testing to find the best choices in a particular category. The work is hard but rewarding. We pay decent hourly rates, and you?ll feel good about your efforts if you?re into helping people make difficult decisions quickly so that they can get on with their lives.
Researchers
If you have between zero to three years of editorial reporting and researching experience, you could be a researcher for us, with a chance to write after a while. This is a good job for someone in college or fresh out of college who can commit to working about 10-20 hours a week.
You must have coursework or experience in journalism or other research-intensive majors and jobs. You also have to be organized and efficient and effective at looking up and logging products online in spreadsheets.
To apply, send an email with ?researcher? in the subject line to jobs@thewirecutter.com explaining why you?d be right for the job and what you?ve done in the past. Also include a list of all the online publications you read and why you like them.?No attachments, please.
Reporters
If you have?at least three years of experience doing product writing and general interest reporting, I?d like to invite you to apply to write for the site. Don?t worry if you?ve been doing this for awhile. Some of our best and most senior writers have been doing this kind of work for 10-15 years and they enjoy it. 95% of the job is research and reporting. 5% is writing. The best people can pick up a few beats and update them over time for us.
We are collecting general resumes right now from experienced tech/shelter reporters, but we also have specific needs for writers who can pick up.
- Health/fitness gadgets
- Bag editor (with fashion and tech writing experience)
- But to be explicit, we need general tech writers, too.
To apply, send a letter and resume (no attachments) with the subject line ?Wirecutter reporter? to jobs@thewirecutter.com explaining what you?ve done and what you want to do, and why you?d be right for the job. Don?t forget to mention the beats you?ve written about before and send some links to clips.
For our new site?
For a new project that Joel Johnson and I are working on, we need people who can do research and writing for home goods. (This is not a call for writers who work at home.) When I am asking for a home writer, I am asking for reporters who can apply the process we have at Wirecutter to home products, everything from toothpaste to tools to towels to bathroom cleaners to sheets and garden hoses. If you have experience writing about home gear, that gives you a leg up. As a researcher, if you?ve worked in a hardware store or have done home improvement, that gives you a leg up.
We could use writers and researchers with specific backgrounds in
- Kitchen equipment
- Tools
- Gardening gear
- Home improvement
To apply, send a letter and resume (no attachments) to jobs@thewirecutter.com with ?home reporter? or ?home researcher? in the subject line, explaining what you?ve done and what you want to do, and why you?d be right for the job.
Chemist
We?re looking for a chemist who can moonlight for us part time. We need solid information, in reports based on academic papers, interviews and research, on what the chemicals in home products are and what they do. We want to know if they?re less or more desirable/safe/effective than other alternatives. This extends to cleaners, medicines, lotions, soaps, but also, occasionally, things humans and pets might eat.
Pay is hourly for all the work above, and dependent on experience.
To apply, send a letter and resume (no attachments) to jobs@thewirecutter.com with ?chemist? in the subject line, explaining what you?ve done and what you want to do, and why you?d be right for the job.
Bonus tip?thoughtful applications do better than fast twitch applications. It's not a race. And if you think about what makes this site different than other sites, you will understand how to approach this job application process.
Source: http://thewirecutter.com/2013/02/we-need-reporters-researchers-and-a-chemist/
gunner kiel groundhog soulja boy punxsutawney phil ground hog groundhog day 2012 serrano
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Foods to Avoid Before Working Out - Health News and Views ...
Getty Images
If you exercise on an empty stomach, the body won?t have enough energy to perform at its best. But it?s equally bad to eat too much?or the wrong kinds of food?before a workout because all of your energy will go toward digesting the meal. Here are some foods to avoid before a workout.
Beans, and other belly-bloating foods. Foods like beans, raw broccoli, fruit, and dairy tend to give people gas. Although these foods are healthy, they?ll fill you up in ways you?d rather not deal with when having to fold forward in a yoga class.
Fiber. An enormous bowl of fiber-rich cereal can certainly get things moving, which is exactly the opposite of what you want when you?re running at full speed ahead on the treadmill. Fuel up with a snack that contains fewer than four grams of fiber, and be sure to finish eating salads, stir-frys, and veggie soups at least one hour before your planned workout to give the body time to digest.
Refined sugar. It seems like a great idea to eat a red velvet cupcake before a workout, since you burn off those sweet calories during your workout. A huge dose of sugar might offer a quick source of energy, but it will burn up quick, causing you to feel sluggish. If you need a quick source of energy right before working out, choose a healthier option such as a banana, which also offers important nutrients for the body.
Spicy foods. Foods with a little kick may satisfy your taste buds, but you?ll end up feeling uncomfortable once you start to move. Spicy food can result in a bad case of indigestion or heartburn, putting an immediate halt on a workout.
Salty foods. Avoid super salty foods before exercising, or if you do eat them, just be sure they?re paired with a tall glass of H20. Dehydration can cause headaches and cramps?both of which you don?t want when working out.
Heavy foods. Creamy, fried, or decadent foods take longer to digest, resulting in some serious digestive upset if you eat foods like these before a sweat session. If you?re going to sit down to an enormous plate of fettuccine alfredo, be sure to finish it two hours before hitting the gym.
Now you know what you shouldn?t eat, so here?s a guide to help you figure out what to eat and when to eat before working out.
Source: http://news.health.com/2013/02/26/foods-to-avoid-before-a-workout/
words with friends phlebotomy dog show best in show bret michaels bret michaels pekingese
96% Monsters, Inc. 3D
All Critics (190) | Top Critics (40) | Fresh (195) | Rotten (8) | DVD (46)
It may be harder nowadays to dazzle audiences with fancy visual effects, but Monsters, Inc. 3D proves that smart, imaginative storytelling still does the trick every time.
Most of the charm of "Monsters Inc." comes from its vocal cast.
If history is any guide, you and your family - whether young or old - will probably want to see "Monsters University" over and over.
The movie itself stands up well, even from an adult, two-dimensional perspective.
Its reassuring message is more relevant than ever.
The good guys are those who realize that laughter is stronger than fear. That's a message worth taking to heart these jittery days.
Pixar's overlooked gem arrives in a worthwhile collector's edition bursting with features and exceptional A/V presentation.
While nippers will love the colourful creatures and their slapstick antics, grown-ups will find less humour and layers than in the likes of Toy Story, meaning less overall appeal as a result.
[I] really don't see the point of paying extra for children under eight. Their eyes are still developing, their noses are still small for slippery glasses, and... isn't a trip to the pictures enough for them in any case?
If anything, it improves with age.
Monsters displays wonderful imagination which makes it worth reliving in an extra dimension - particularly the energetic chase scene along a conveyor belt of doors.
Pixar's soaringly lovely fourth feature ...
[An] exciting, imaginative and very likable adventure.
Despite its eternal message about physical differences and the importance of love over fear of the unknown, Monsters, Inc primarily remains an ambitious concept film.
It's in the visuals that 'Monsters Inc' comes to life, from the jazzy, Norman McLaren influenced opening to the hilarious, shakycam amateur-dramatic recap over the closing credits.
Another chance to see Pixar's most dazzling premise, now spruced up with a third dimension.
Now in 3D, the filmmakers have created a wonderful reality - the reality of Monstropolis, which like the worlds of Oz and Pleasantville, whisk us far, far away on a magic carpet of fantasy
A shrewdly timed reminder of Pixar's early, heady days, when the animation powerhouse could do no wrong.
This didn't need 3D to work. It long ago passed the kids-wear-out-the-DVD-rewatching-it test.
There's really little reason to check out Monsters, Inc. 3D in... well, 3D, rather than going for a good old-fashioned 2D screening instead.
It does well, but not brilliantly: an amusing trifle from a studio whose best work still lay ahead of it.
Not quite a Pixar classic, but funny, witty and visually spectacular enough to be enjoyed again on the big screen.
Monsters, Inc. continues a positive 3D trend for the company, who appear to be selecting their upgraded titles wisely, choosing features that benefit from the additional depth.
Not even the opportunistic 3D-ification can squander the pure delight of the film's meticulously detailed world of ragtag creatures.
Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/monsters_inc_3d/
nhl playoffs masters 2012 masters the borgias shroud of turin warren sapp the masters
Mobile Nations at MWC 2013: Day two podcast
We're winding down here in Barcelona, as the major announcements draw to a close and we finish up our hands-on coverage of the new devices at Mobile World Congress. In our final MWC podcast, we discuss TouchWiz on a TV, the difference between a Fonepad and a Padfone, and whether a Photosphere is really a Photosphere if no-one's around to see it fall.
- Our podcast feed: Audio
- Download directly: Audio
- Subscribe in iTunes: Audio
- Subscribe in Zune
Windows Phone --
- Official Twitter client receives major update, introduces new interface and more
- Hands on with Glam Me lens from Nokia: Perfecting the self portrait
- Nokia releases PlayTo beta for Windows Phone 8
Android --
 |  |
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/k4esthleJIM/story01.htm
Insight: Syria rebels bolstered by new arms but divisions remain
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels have received advanced weapons aimed at narrowing the arms gap with President Bashar al-Assad's forces and reinforcing a new rebel military command which Western countries hope can dilute the strength of Islamist fighters.
Several rebel commanders and fighters told Reuters that a shipment which reached Syria via Turkey last month comprised shoulder-held and other mobile equipment including anti-aircraft and armor-piercing weapons, mortars and rocket launchers.
Rebels told Reuters the weapons, along with money for cash payments for fighters, were being distributed through a new command structure, part of a plan by foreign backers to centralize control over rebel units and check Islamists linked to al-Qaeda. However, in a sign of the difficulty in uniting disparate fighting groups, some rebels said they had turned down the arms and refused to submit to the new command.
While not nearly enough to tip the military balance against Assad, who is able to deploy air power, missiles and artillery to devastating effect against rebel areas, any significant arms shipment is a boost to rebels who have long complained about the lack of international support.
The rebels refused to specify who supplied the new weapons, saying they did not want to embarrass foreign supporters, but said they had arrived openly via Turkey "from donor countries".
"We have received this shipment legally and normally. It was not delivered through smuggling routes but formally through Bab al-Hawa crossing," said a rebel commander in Homs province, referring to a rebel-held crossing with Turkey.
"But it is not enough to help us win," he told Reuters by Skype. "Another shipment has arrived in Turkey but we haven't received it yet," he added, saying he believed foreign donors were waiting for the Syrian opposition to form a transitional government to work with the rebel command.
The political opposition will meet in Istanbul on Saturday to choose a prime minister in the transitional government, which is also supposed to choose a civilian defense minister - creating the basic structure for a future state and army.
The Syrian revolt erupted nearly two years ago, starting with peaceful protests for reform but developing into an armed insurgency and then civil war as Assad responded to the uprising with ever-growing force. The United Nations estimates that 70,000 people have been killed in the relentless violence.
Although many countries backed Assad's opponents, few have actively supported arming the rebels, fearing that weapons might end up in the hands of hardline Sunni Muslim militants and lead to a repeat of Western conflicts, such as the wars against the Taliban in Afghanistan and al Qaeda-affiliated groups in Iraq.
So far rebels have relied mainly on light weapons smuggled from neighboring countries, many of them financed or sent from sympathizers in Gulf states, and from supplies seized from captured army bases inside Syria.
But video footage and pictures from across the country appear to support assertions that advanced weapons - with origins as varied as the former Yugoslavia and China - have ended up in rebel hands.
A Reuters photographer in Damascus over the last month saw several Western-built rebel firearms- including U.S. pattern M4 and Austrian Steyr assault rifles - that almost certainly came from outside the country.
STRENGTHENING REBEL COMMAND
Assad's strongest regional supporter has been Shi'ite Muslim Iran, while the leading campaigners for arming the rebels are the Sunni Muslim Gulf Arab powers Qatar and Saudi Arabia, reflecting the strong sectarian currents of the Syrian uprising.
Although Saudi Arabia and Qatar do not discuss specific weapons shipments to the rebels, both countries have been open about their support for arming them in principle.
Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal bluntly told a news conference in Riyadh on February 12: "My country believes that the brutality of the Syrian regime against its own people requires empowering the people to defend itself."
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani said last week: "As there is no clear international opinion to end the crisis in Syria...we are supporting the opposition with whatever it needs, even if it takes up arms for self-defense."
Western countries have been more cautious, and have so far committed publicly to sending only "non-lethal" aid, like radios and body armor.
International powers are alarmed by the growing influence of Islamist hardliners in a country which lies at the crossroads of the Middle East between Iraq, Israel, Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. They have made efforts to unite Syrian rebels under a clear leadership. A body was formed in December to bring the rebel units, or brigades, together under a unified command.
"One of the reasons for the change in the donors' minds is that they want to empower the new military command. They want to help it organize the weapons and the fighters," said an aide to a rebel commander in a province which has seen some of the heaviest fighting.
"If the brigades join then they get their share of these weapons and also monthly payment for the fighters."
The new military command divides Syria into five fronts - southern, western, eastern, northern and central.
"Each front has received its share. All equally distributed," the rebel said, adding that 'payment' for the weapons would come in the form of post-conflict reconstruction contracts in Syria awarded to countries that helped.
"So basically it's like we have paid in advance. It is funded by the countries that will be involved in reconstruction of Syria," he said.
But in a sign of the continued divisions among Assad's foes, some rebels complain that the "military councils" who received the weapons - and are seen by the West as more likely allies than the hardline Islamists - were the wrong groups to arm.
"There is a dispute in Damascus. The people who received these weapons are not the real fighters. They gave it to the military council which is not fighting," said a rebel commander operating around the Syrian capital. "We are the ones that are on the frontline and we are the fighters."
He said his fighters had rejected an offer of weapons in return for their allegiance to the military councils.
"There was a meeting and they asked for our brigade to join so they will give us between 10 to 20 rockets and armor-piercing ammunition and other stuff," he said. "They wanted everything to be under their supervision, but we refused."
"They are giving these weapons to people to allow them to create a (fighting) presence on the ground. Why don't they give it to people who already have a presence?"
Another commander said he would have no qualms about seizing weapons destined for rebels nominally fighting on the same side as him, if he knew they were passing through his territory.
REBELS NEED "ARMS, NOT MEN"
Several fighters from across the country who spoke to Reuters in February said they feared the ultimate plan of outside powers was to push the rebel Free Syrian Army and other "moderate" Islamist fighters into confrontation with radicals.
Fighters from hardline groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamist Ahrar al-Sham have waged some of the deadliest attacks in Syria, including car bombings in Damascus, Aleppo and elsewhere. Their ranks have been swollen by jihadi fighters from around the Muslim world.
The chief of staff of the rebel military command, Brigadier Selim Idris, said the presence of foreign fighters was hindering international support for the battle against Assad.
"We call all brothers from all the countries. Please, my brothers: we do not need men. Stay in your own countries and do something good inside your own countries," he told Reuters.
"If you want to help us just send us weapons or funding - or even pray for us. But you do not have to come to Syria. We have enough Syrian men fighting."
Idris denied receiving weapons from donors and said that weapons are still entering Syria through the black market - apparently reluctant to put foreign powers in the spotlight.
"We are not receiving weapons from the Europeans, we do not want to embarrass them, we do not want to embarrass anyone with the weapons issue," he said.
Previous attempts to unify Syria's divided rebels have foundered on local rivalries and competition for money and influence. Some have grown rich and powerful by smuggling weapons, medical supplies, food and diesel, while the lack of civil administration in rebel controlled areas has also encouraged the proliferation of autonomous rebel groups.
Seeking to address those divisions, the military councils hope to pay fighters a symbolic monthly salary of $100, funded in part by donations from the Gulf. The Homs commander said one Gulf state had recently paid $15 million towards their wages.
"They want to organize the rebels and have them all under one command - who joins will be eligible to receive the money and the weapons," he said. "This is all for organization purposes."
"If a brigade joins then it will take its share, if it doesn't, then no weapons. We want to be organized," he said.
(Editing by Dominic Evans and Peter Graff)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/insight-syria-rebels-bolstered-arms-divisions-remain-175254030.html
Telemundo real housewives of beverly hills Pink Floyd 12 12 12 Concert miley cyrus miley cyrus amazing race
Warby Parker Grabs New Investment From American Express & J. Crew CEO, Closing $41.5M Round
New York-based eyewear startup Warby Parker is off to a good start in 2013, having recently been fingered as a possible partner for Google Glass. Now the company is reported to have gained an additional investment from American Express and J. Crew chief executive Millard S. Drexler. The new investors went in alongside General Catalyst, Spark Capital, Tiger Global Management, Thrive Capital, Lerer Ventures?and Menlo Ventures, in a round totaling $41.5 million in financing, which officially closed in January.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/NsF8rysIqzw/
nfl free agents 2012 encyclopedia brittanica nfl free agency jonbenet ramsey jason campbell doobie brothers jennie garth peter facinelli
Flying Plates Learn To Catch Flying Poles In Switzerland
Imagine a plate, like a dinner plate, hovering mid-air. The technical name for this gizmo is a quadrocopter. But what it's about to do is something you might see at the circus. So in comes the man with the top hat, (me) saying "Laaadies and Gentlemen ... Hold on to your seats, Prepare to be astonished ..." Then this happens:
Let's take a pole, basically a three foot stick, and fling it at the plate.
What are the chances that we could get the plate to zoom under the pole, catch it mid-air, (remember, it's got no arms, it's a plate!) and balance it upright? Oh, and the plate isn't being guided by a person. It's got to do this itself. It has to learn this, through trial and error.
That would be one very, very, very talented plate.
And now before your very eyes, I'm going to show you one, designed by a grad student working in Switzerland, Dario Brescianini. He studies artificial intelligence at ETH Zurich's Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control, where they design clever robots. In recent years, the students there have been building these simple, dinner-plate thingies that fly. Plates with propellers.
But First, Ball-Tossing
Last year some students in Zurich taught these plates to toss a rubber ball, which was a little surprising. Then they got the plates to "catch" the ball and ricochet it back and forth; they call this mid-air "juggling." I'd call it "pingpong," but whatever you call it, it was very impressive, as you can see here ...
And then along comes Dario.
As I said, he tossed poles (with shock absorbers ? a balloon filled with flour at one end) at his robots, hoping the plates could catch, balance, then juggle these flying sticks. Impossible? No. Dario, quoted on a AI site called Robohub, said he found the problem "interesting" ...
... because it combined various areas of current research and many complex questions had to be answered: How can the pole be launched off the quadrocopter? Where should it be caught and ? more importantly ? when? What happens at impact? The biggest challenge to get the system running was the catching part.
And Now, Pole Tossing
I'll say. But, as you're about to see, he did it. Dario gave the machine physics lessons, but it took trial and error for the robots to figure out the timing. I find this totally amazing.
One more thing ? Some of you are going to say this was Photoshopped, or it's all a trick. I don't think so. Dario worked with fellow grad student Markus Hehn and Professor Raffaello D'Andrea, artificial intelligence scholars with impressive resumes. The school is well-known. If this video is a slick prank, they would have chosen a slicker narrator. Dario (if that is Dario) reads his copy like an embarrassed announcer at a funeral. He will never get a job in broadcasting, but that's no problem, because he's aces with flying poles.
Watch his plates learn to:
1. throw
2. catch
3. juggle
I can't imagine what's next.
pirate bay Psalms 91 once upon a time once upon a time bachelor RG3 Monsters University
US stopping use of term 'Negro' for census surveys
In this photograph of a sample 2010 US Census form, obtained by The Associated Press shows question 9: "What is Person 1's race", on the first page of the 2010 Census form, with options for White: Black, African Am., or Negro. After more than a century, the Census Bureau is dropping use of the word "Negro" to describe black Americans in its surveys. Instead of the term popularized during the Jim Crow era of racial segregation, census forms will use the more modern-day labels, ?black? or ?African-American?. (AP Photo)
In this photograph of a sample 2010 US Census form, obtained by The Associated Press shows question 9: "What is Person 1's race", on the first page of the 2010 Census form, with options for White: Black, African Am., or Negro. After more than a century, the Census Bureau is dropping use of the word "Negro" to describe black Americans in its surveys. Instead of the term popularized during the Jim Crow era of racial segregation, census forms will use the more modern-day labels, ?black? or ?African-American?. (AP Photo)
FILE - In this April 14, 1964 black-and-white file photo, a man holds a Confederate flag at right, as demonstrators, including one carrying a sign saying: "More than 300,000 Negroes are Denied Vote in Ala", demonstrate in front of an Indianapolis hotel where then-Alabama Governor George Wallace was staying. After more than a century, the Census Bureau is dropping use of the word "Negro" to describe black Americans in its surveys. Instead of the term popularized during the Jim Crow era of racial segregation, census forms will use the more modern-day labels, ?black? or ?African-American?. (AP Photo/Bob Daugherty, File)
In this photograph of a sample 2010 US Census form, obtained by The Associated Press shows question 9: "What is Person 1's race", on the first page of the 2010 Census form, with options for White: Black, African Am., or Negro. After more than a century, the Census Bureau is dropping use of the word "Negro" to describe black Americans in its surveys. Instead of the term popularized during the Jim Crow era of racial segregation, census forms will use the more modern-day labels, ?black? or ?African-American?. (AP Photo)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? After more than a century, the Census Bureau is dropping its use of the word "Negro" to describe black Americans in surveys.
Instead of the term that came into use during the Jim Crow era of racial segregation, census forms will use the more modern labels "black" or "African-American".
The change will take effect next year when the Census Bureau distributes its annual American Community Survey to more than 3.5 million U.S. households, Nicholas Jones, chief of the bureau's racial statistics branch, said in an interview.
He pointed to months of public feedback and census research that concluded few black Americans still identify with being Negro and many view the term as "offensive and outdated."
"This is a reflection of changing times, changing vocabularies and changing understandings of what race means in this country," said Matthew Snipp, a sociology professor at Stanford University, who writes frequently on race and ethnicity. "For younger African-Americans, the term 'Negro' harkens back to the era when African-Americans were second-class citizens in this country."
First used in the census in 1900, "Negro" became the most common way of referring to black Americans through most of the early 20th century, during a time of racial inequality and segregation. "Negro" itself had taken the place of "colored." Starting with the 1960s civil rights movement, black activists began to reject the "Negro" label and came to identify themselves as black or African-American.
Still, the term has lingered, having been used by Martin Luther King Jr. in his speeches. It also remains in the names of some black empowerment groups that were established before the 1960s, such as the United Negro College Fund, now often referred to as UNCF.
For the 2010 census, the government briefly considered dropping the word "Negro" but ultimately decided against it, determining that a small segment, mostly older blacks living in the South, still identified with the term. But once census forms were mailed and some black groups protested, Robert Groves, the Census Bureau's director at the time, apologized and predicted the term would be dropped in future censuses.
When asked to mark their race, Americans are currently given a choice of five government-defined categories in census surveys, including one checkbox selection which is described as "black, African Am., or Negro." Beginning with the surveys next year, that selection will simply say "black" or "African American."
In the 2000 census, about 50,000 people specifically wrote in the word Negro when asked how they wished to be identified. By 2010, unpublished census data provided to the AP show that number had declined to roughly 36,000.
Associated PressChief Keef FRANK ZAMBONI Tiffany Six aaliyah jodie foster amber alert seahawks
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Jobless, cities could be first to feel budget pain
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Who'll be the first to feel the sting?
Jobless Americans who have been out of work for a long time and local governments that are paying off loans to fix roads and schools are in tough spots when it comes to the automatic federal budget cuts that are scheduled to kick in Friday.
About 2 million long-term unemployed people could see checks now averaging $300 a week reduced by about $30. There could also be reductions in federal payments that subsidize clean energy, school construction and state and local public works projects. Low-income Americans seeking heating assistance or housing or other aid might encounter longer waits.
Government employees could get furlough notices as early as next week, though cuts in their work hours won't occur until April.
The timing of the "sequester" spending cuts has real consequences for Americans, but it also has a political ramifications. How quickly and fiercely the public feels the cuts could determine whether President Barack Obama and lawmakers seek to replace them with a different deficit reduction plan.
Eager to put pressure on Republican lawmakers to accept his blend of targeted cuts and tax increases Obama has been highlighting the impact of the automatic cuts in grim terms. He did it again on Monday, declaring the threat of the cuts is already harming the national economy.
Republicans say he is exaggerating and point to rates of spending, even after the cuts, that would be higher than in 2008 when adjusted for inflation. All Obama has to do to avoid the damage, House Speaker John Boehner said at the Capitol, is agree to the GOP's recommended spending cuts ? with no tax increases.
By all accounts, most of the pain of the $85 billion in spending reductions to this year's federal budget would be slow in coming. The dire consequences that Obama officials say Americans will encounter ? from airport delays and weakened borders to reduced parks programs and shuttered meatpacking plants ? would unfold over time as furloughs kick in and agencies begin to adjust to their spending reductions.
"These impacts will not all be felt on day one," Obama acknowledged in a meeting with governors at the White House on Monday. "But rest assured the uncertainty is already having an effect."
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano warned that the federal government would be unable to "maintain the same level of security at all places around the country" once the automatic cuts began to take effect.
The public will feel the results "in the next few weeks," she said, and "it will keep growing."
The majority of the federal budget is in fact walled off from the cuts. Social Security and veterans' programs are exempt, and cuts to Medicare are generally limited to a 2 percent, $10 billion reduction in payments to hospitals and doctors. Most programs that help the poor, like Medicaid, food stamps, subsidized school lunches, Pell Grants and supplemental security income payments are also exempt.
Still, the Pentagon will feel the brunt of half the cuts. Pay for active military is off-limits for cuts, so the rest of the defense budget must absorb the hit. The Obama administration says defense contractors have already ramped down work, contributing to a dip in economic activity in the fourth quarter of last year. The Navy has decided not to deploy an aircraft carrier as planned to the Persian Gulf.
Elsewhere, the White House's budget office says long-term unemployed Americans would lose an average of more than $400 in benefits over the year. The cuts do not affect state unemployment benefits, which jobless workers typically get soon after their loss of work. The federal reductions could begin immediately, though some analysts say the government could delay them for a short period to avoid a harmful hit on the economy.
Bill Hoagland, a former top Republican Senate budget aide and now senior vice president at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank, said the administration must be "betwixt and between" when it comes to addressing reductions in programs like jobless aid.
"They want to make sure the American public knows this sequester is a bad thing, but they also don't want to disrupt the economy too much," he said. "It's not that the reductions won't take place. But they could delay the impact of that until later in the year."
Administration officials also say the Treasury Department is prepared to begin reducing subsidies that cover interest payments by state and local governments on public works, school and renewable energy projects. That means those governments will have to find money in their budgets to make up the difference in bond interest payments, and while that might not affect projects already under way, it could delay new construction efforts.
Many federal programs, like heating aid for the poor, already have many more people seeking assistance than the program budgets can cover. Funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, for instance, has fluctuated greatly in recent years, with the administration proposing to cut it by 13 percent this year. In such cases, it may be impossible for people denied aid to know whether it's because of the sequester since they might have been denied help anyway.
In some instances the cuts will be felt not by beneficiaries being thrown out of programs but by longer delays to get help. In the case of subsidized housing, for example, there are already long waits for assistance in most of the country.
In the case of the Women, Infants and Children program for low-income pregnant women and their children, the government has generally tried to make sure that every eligible woman can get food aid. States aren't permitted to cut the food benefit, which means fewer people will be served. The Agriculture Department says it will prioritize things so that pregnant women and nursing mothers keep their aid but post-partum women who do not breastfeed could lose their aid.
Who gets hit first also depends on how the government's budget flows. Education aid to school districts, for instance, is delivered in the fall, so impacts won't be felt until the new school year. But some teachers are already being informed that they could lose their jobs in August or September. Most Head Start programs won't feel cuts until the upcoming school year, too.
Some programs, like subsidized child care for the poor, are run by states, which will have flexibility in how to allocate the cuts. Just one in six eligible low-income families benefits from a federally funded child care slot. Cuts to the program leave states with difficult options: reduce the number of children cared for, require poor families to contribute more or cut payments to providers.
"I don't think people are going to feel it as dramatically as the administration has been suggesting," said Hoagland. "I'm not questioning the administration's numbers, I'm questioning their timing."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jobless-cities-could-first-feel-budget-pain-230615005--politics.html
seattle times seth macfarlane jennifer lawrence kristen stewart daniel day lewis adele
Pope will keep title "His Holiness" after resignation
Feb 25 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Brandt Snedeker $2,859,920 2. Matt Kuchar $1,987,000 3. Hunter Mahan $1,412,965 4. John Merrick $1,296,014 5. Phil Mickelson $1,232,760 6. Dustin Johnson $1,200,125 7. Tiger Woods $1,144,000 8. Russell Henley $1,129,080 9. Brian Gay $1,089,181 10. Charles Howell III $1,087,944 11. Jason Day $1,009,164 12. Chris Kirk $990,013 13. Steve Stricker $940,000 14. Josh Teater $870,934 15. Bill Haas $816,300 16. Jimmy Walker $812,620 17. Scott Piercy $789,592 18. Charlie Beljan $785,800 19. ...
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-keep-title-holiness-resignation-120221732.html
weather radio indiana autoimmune disease news channel 9 insanity workout mass effect 3 launch trailer yelp
WTH? Kanye West Disses Jay-Z & Justin Timberlake (VIDEO)
WTH? Kanye West Disses Jay-Z & Justin Timberlake (VIDEO)
WTH? Kanye West Disses Jay-Z & Justin Timberlake (VIDEO) Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News
Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/02/wth-kanye-west-disses-jay-z-justin-timberlake-video/
chad ochocinco roman numerals madonna madonna superbowl halftime ufc 143 results kickoff time super bowl 2012
Iran scoffs at Oscar-winning 'Argo'
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? Iran's state TV dismissed the Oscar-winning film "Argo" on Monday as an "advertisement for the CIA" and some Iranians called the award a political statement by America for its unflattering portrayal of the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
And while "Argo" has not appeared in any Iranian cinema, there has been no shortage of buzz from those who saw the movie through bootleg DVD networks.
The discussions over "Argo" in Iran have often pried open a generational divide: Iranians who took part in the 1979 Islamic Revolution picking apart the portrayals of Tehran during the time, and Iranians too young to recall the events getting a different view of the upheavals.
"I want to know what the other side is saying," said Shieda, a 21-year-old University of Tehran student, who gave only her first name to avoid possible backlash for speaking with foreign media.
Tehran City Council member Masoomeh Ebtekar ? who was one of the students who occupied the U.S. Embassy and acted as the Iranian students' spokeswoman ? says the film exaggerates the violence among crowds that stormed the compound in November 1979.
Fifty-two Americans were held hostage for 444 days, but a handful of embassy staff were sheltered by the Canadian ambassador. Their escape, using a fake movie as a cover story, is recounted in "Argo."
Ebtekbar insists the hostage-takers were mostly students, but other accounts suggest militants and members of the Revolutionary Guard were closely involved in the crisis.
Actor-director Ben Affleck "goes and shows scenes of a very violent and very angry mob throughout the film," Ebtekbar said. "It is never mentioned that these are a group of students."
The semiofficial Mehr news agency called the Oscar "politically motivated" because First Lady Michelle Obama, from the White House, joined Jack Nicholson via video link in Los Angeles to help present the best picture prize.
Iran's state TV called the movie "an advertisement for the CIA."
Iran's culture minister, Mohammad Hosseini, said Hollywood has "distorted history" as part of what Iranian officials call a "soft war" of cultural influence in Iran.
But retired teacher, Reza Abbasi, who saw the Revolution first-hand, said: "I know Hollywood usually changes reality to make it attractive for movie lovers, but more or less it was close to the realities then."
Others say "Argo" also shows the need for Iranian filmmakers to deal more with issues from the Revolution.
The moderate Hamshahri newspaper said the movie "targeted the culture and civilization of Iran," but is worthwhile for Iranians to see a different perspective of the events that led to the collapse of relations between the U.S. and Iran.
"Iranian audiences are seeing a new version of the events for the first time," said a commentary in the newspaper. "This has been a weak point for our TV and cinema industry, which has not produced anything about the (US Embassy storming) after more than three decades."
In downtown Tehran, bootleg DVDs of "Argo" sell for about 30,000 rials, or less than $1.
Iran's state-run film industry boycotted this year's Oscars in the wake of a U.S.-made Internet video clip that denigrated the Prophet Muhammad and set off protests across the Muslim world.
In February 2012, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi won the 2012 Oscar for best foreign film for "A Separation" ? the first such prize for Iran. A month earlier, Iranian authorities ordered the closure of the House of Cinema, an independent film group that had operated for 20 years and counted Iran's top filmmakers, including Farhadi, among its members.
"In my opinion, it's a nice movie from technical aspects and it was on the scale of Hollywood movies, but I don't think it was worth a nomination for Oscar and other awards," said Mohammad Amin Sharifi, a movie fan in Tehran.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iran-scoffs-oscar-winning-argo-094025276.html
yom kippur yom kippur avengers soa andy williams andy williams Lady Gaga
Monday, February 25, 2013
Alcatel One Touch Fire joins the Firefox OS cuddle party, we go hands-on (video)
ZTE may have had a head start in the Firefox OS race ahead of MWC, but Alcatel's also got something similar to ride on the waves of some "500 million Mozilla users." Suitably dubbed the One Touch Fire, this entry-level phone is basically a rehash of the budget One Touch T'Pop announced back at CES, packing a 3.5-inch HVGA TN display, a 1GHz processor, 256MB RAM, 512MB storage and a 3.2-megapixel camera. There are also the usual bunch of radios: WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, GPS, FM radio and UMTS 900/2100 and 850/1900/2100 (up to 7.2Mbps for download and 5.76Mbps for upload). Underneath the removable 1,400mAh battery you'll find a microSD slot that'll take anything up to 32GB (a 2GB card is included), as well as a slot for an old-school Mini-SIM card.
We got the chance to play with the Fire earlier today and while the glossy plastic body -- in either orange or pink -- felt solid enough, the performance wasn't quite there yet: the touch and software response were significantly sluggish, as you'll see in our hands-on video after the break. On the brighter side of things, the surprisingly large loudspeaker on the back produced some punchy bass, but don't expect too much from its audio quality. Alcatel has a few more months to grease up the phone before its June launch across Latin America and Europe, so we'll be able to give it a proper score then. Press release after the break.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/24/alcatel-one-touch-fire/
Dorner Manifesto Valentines Day Quotes cnn paczki lent la times nerlens noel
Iran says it has brought down a foreign spy drone
LONDON (Reuters) - Iran's Revolutionary Guards have brought down a foreign surveillance drone during a military exercise, the official Islamic Republic News Agency said on Saturday.
"We have managed to bring down a drone of the enemy. This has happened before in our country," the agency quoted war games spokesman General Hamid Sarkheli as saying in Kerman, southeast Iran, where the military exercise is taking place.
The agency gave no details on who the drone belonged to.
In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman said he had seen the reports. He noted that the Iranians did not specifically claim that the drone was American.
In the past, there have been incidents of Iran claiming to have seized U.S. drones.
In early January Iranian media said Iran had captured two miniature U.S.-made surveillance drones over the past 17 months.
Several drone incidents over the past year or so have highlighted tension in the Gulf as Iran and the United States flex their military capabilities in a standoff over Iran's disputed nuclear program.
Iran said in January that lightweight RQ11 Raven drones were brought down by Iranian air defense units in separate incidents in August 2011 and November 2012.
(Writing by Stephen Powell; Editing by Jon Hemming)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iran-says-brought-down-foreign-spy-drone-001234191.html
China glock earthquake msnbc meteor shower 121212 Concert Columbine shooting
Oscars have clear favorites, wild-card MacFarlane
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Some firsts and other rarities are possible at Sunday night's Academy Awards. But if the Oscars could be just a little less predictable, the show might really be one for the record books.
Ben Affleck's "Argo" looks like it will uniquely claim best picture without a directing nomination, while "Lincoln" filmmaker Steven Spielberg and star Daniel Day-Lewis are favored to join exclusive lists of three-time Oscar winners.
If some longshots came in, the night could produce two more three-time acting winners ? Sally Field from "Lincoln" and Robert De Niro for "Silver Linings Playbook."
We could also have the oldest or youngest acting winner ever ? 86-year-old "Amour" star Emmanuelle Riva and 9-year-old Quvenzhane (Kwa-VEHN-ja-nay) Wallis of "Beasts of the Southern Wild."
The ABC television broadcast itself could set some fresh highs or lows. Oscar overseers keep talking about pacing and trimming fat from a ceremony that's dragged on interminably, approaching four and a half hours one year. Can they keep it tight and lively enough that viewers don't think about gouging out their eyes around the three-hour mark?
And what about host Seth MacFarlane? He's a classy, low-key guy in person, with an old-fashioned Sinatra-style singing voice that he'll no doubt put to use in a show that's shaping up as a music-heavy, Broadway-style celebration of cinema.
Yet MacFarlane's career is built on pushing the envelope ? or crumpling it and tossing it in the trash ? as he's tested the boundaries of good taste with such brazen shows as his animated series "Family Guy" and last summer's obscenity-laden blockbuster "Ted," which earned him a songwriting Oscar nomination.
The result could be a fun night for younger, hipper TV audiences that Oscar organizers are courting but a crude awakening for traditionalists who like their Academy Awards to lean more toward the sacred than the profane. Or it could be that MacFarlane makes the most of the thankless task of shepherding the Oscars, striking a nice balance between respecting Hollywood and poking fun at it.
"I think a little bit of that injected into the mix will go a long way, but I do also have to be mindful, in this instance, of not losing the audience that's there every year," MacFarlane said. "It's a different audience from my own, but I do have to be respectful that they will be watching."
So maybe it's an Oscar show that's shaken, but not stirred up too much. That might suit one of the evening's special honorees, British super-spy James Bond, whose adventures will be the subject of a tribute to mark the 50th anniversary of his first big-screen outing in "Dr. No." Adele will perform her Oscar-nominated title tune to last year's Bond tale "Skyfall," while the show features Shirley Bassey, who sang the Bond theme songs for "Goldfinger," ''Diamonds Are Forever" and "Moonraker."
The show presents a salute to movie musicals of the last decade, with "Chicago" Oscar winner Catherine Zeta-Jones and "Dreamgirls" winner Jennifer Hudson joining "Les Miserables" cast members that include best-actor nominee Hugh Jackman, supporting-actress front-runner Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe, Helena Bonham Carter and Amanda Seyfried.
Oscar producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron have lined up a bubbly mix of young and old Hollywood as presenters, performers and special guests ? from Barbra Streisand, Michael Douglas and Jane Fonda to "Harry Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe, "Twilight" star Kristen Stewart, and Robert Downey Jr. and his superhero colleagues from "The Avengers."
Along with front-runners Day-Lewis as best actor for "Lincoln" and Hathaway as supporting actress for "Les Miserables," the other favorites are Jennifer Lawrence as best actress for "Silver Linings Playbook" and Tommy Lee Jones as supporting actor for "Lincoln."
Day-Lewis would be only the sixth performer to earn three or more Oscars and the first to win three times as best actor. "Lincoln" also could make Spielberg just the fourth filmmaker to win three or more directing trophies.
Affleck's thriller "Argo" is in line for best picture after winning practically every top prize at earlier honors. Hollywood was shocked that Affleck was snubbed for a directing nomination, possibly earning the film some sympathy votes, particularly from actors, who love it when one of their own succeeds behind the camera.
The story of how Hollywood, Canada and the CIA teamed up to rescue six Americans during the Iranian hostage crisis, "Argo" would become just the fourth film in 85 years to claim the top prize without a best-directing nomination and the first since 1989's "Driving Miss Daisy."
The best-picture prize typically ends the Oscar show, but this time, MacFarlane and Kristin Chenoweth will perform a closing number on the Dolby Theatre stage that producers Zadan and Meron called a "'can't miss' moment."
Keeping the wraps on whatever surprises they have in store has been a chore for them and MacFarlane.
"It's been difficult. The press, as you know, is very nosy and sneaky. They're always sniffing around trying to get any advance notice," MacFarlane said. "It's like (expletive) Christmas. Wait till Christmas morning. Don't spoil the surprise."
___
AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/oscars-clear-favorites-wild-card-macfarlane-155150118.html
rush limbaugh rush limbaugh karl rove Election 2012 Results polling place washington post comedy central
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)