SC man who apologized for racist past dies

Elwin Wilson, the former Ku Klux Klan supporter who publicly apologized for years of violent racism, including the beating of a black Freedom Rider who went on to become a Georgia congressman, has died. He was 76.

Wilson died Thursday at a hospital in South Carolina after a bout with the flu and years of heart and lung problems, said his wife, Judy Wilson.

She told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Sunday that he was relieved he lived long enough to try to make amends for years of racial hatred. He detailed his deeds at length when he called The Herald of Rock Hill to apologize shortly after President Barack Obama's inauguration in 2009.

"He said he had it on his heart for a long time," Judy Wilson said. "He said he wished he could find the ones he mistreated and apologize to them all."

Among his actions were cross burnings; hanging a black doll in a noose at the end of his driveway; flinging cantaloupes at black men walking down Main Street; hurling a jack handle at a black boy jiggling the soda machine in his father's service station; and the brutal beating of U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., at a Rock Hill bus station in 1961.

"His story is a powerful story; his story must not be forgotten," Lewis told The Herald (http://bit.ly/14w1uWp) in a telephone interview Saturday. "His story and the way he arrived at his position must be understood, must be told."

Wilson also apologized in several other public venues, including during a meeting with Lewis at the congressman's Capitol Hill office.

In an April 2009 interview with the AP, Wilson tried to explain his remorse.

"All I can say is that it has bothered me for years, all the bad stuff I've done," he said. "And I found out there is no way I could be saved and get to heaven and still not like blacks."

This month, Lewis received apologies from the current police chief of Montgomery, Ala., and the governor. But Wilson's apology remains special.

"He was the first private citizen," Lewis said. "He was the very, very first to come and apologize to me ... for a private citizen to come along and say, 'I'm the one that attacked you; I'm the one who beat you.' It was very meaningful."

In 2009, Lewis and Wilson accepted the Common Ground Award for Reconciliation at the Canadian embassy in Washington, D.C. Also that year, both were honored in California with awards on Worldwide Forgiveness Day. In Maryland, Wilson presented Lewis with an award. They also told their story to Oprah Winfrey and millions of viewers.

___

Waggoner reported from Raleigh, N.C. She can be reached at http://twitter.com/mjwaggonernc

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sc-man-apologized-racist-past-dies-162416475.html

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Outlook for immigration deal brightens

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Prospects for a law to create a pathway to citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants brightened on Saturday after major business and labor groups reached an agreement on a guest-worker program, a source familiar with the deal said.

The agreement was reached on Friday night in a conference call between the head of the Chamber of Commerce, Tom Donohue, and the president of the AFL-CIO labor organization, Richard Trumka, with New York Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer acting as the mediator, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

A guest-worker program has been a major stumbling block to efforts by a bipartisan group of senators known as the Gang of Eight to reach a compromise on a way to create a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States, most of whom are Hispanics.

Labor unions have argued against a guest-worker program, worrying that a flood of low-wage immigrant laborers would take away jobs from Americans. The agreement covers the pay levels for low-skilled workers and provides labor protections for American workers.

Under the deal, a new "W Visa" would be created for employers to petition for foreign workers in lesser skilled, non-seasonal non-agricultural occupations. This could include jobs in hospitality, janitorial, retail, construction and others.

The W Visa would not be considered a temporary visa as workers would have the ability to seek permanent status after a year, according to details of the agreement released by the AFL-CIO.

The program would begin on April 1, 2015, unless there is a need to extend the start date by six months.

At the beginning, 20,000 visas would be permitted and the figure would rise to 35,000 visas the following year, 55,000 in the third year and 75,000 in the fourth.

The cap can never be below 20,000 or above 200,000 in any year.

WOOING HISPANIC VOTERS

"We have created a new model, a modern visa system that includes both a bureau to collect and analyze labor market data, as well as significant worker protections," Trumka said in a statement. "We expect that this new program, which benefits not just business, but everyone, will promote long overdue reforms by raising the bar for existing programs."

Schumer briefed White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough on Saturday on the breakthrough, the source said.

The agreement still must be approved by the Gang of Eight senators, four Democrats and four Republicans. If, as expected, they do so, a broad new immigration bill would be advanced in the Senate in the coming weeks.

In recent days, the immigration effort had been stalled by failure to forge an agreement on the guest-worker program, although the White House insisted that progress was being made.

President Barack Obama wants to fulfill a campaign pledge by gaining passage of a law that would create a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants currently in the country. He has vowed to do what he can on immigration through executive actions in the absence of legislation.

Immigration long has been a controversial issue in the United States and previous efforts to craft a comprehensive overhaul of American immigration laws have failed, with Democrats and Republicans remaining far apart.

Many Republicans previously had taken a hard position against illegal immigrants. Obama's unsuccessful Republican challenger last year, Mitt Romney, had advocated "self-deportation" of illegal immigrants. Republicans in Arizona and other states passed tough laws cracking down on illegal immigrants.

But the mood for a deal is ripe because Republicans saw Hispanic-Americans vote overwhelmingly for Obama and other Democratic candidates in last November's elections and they need to woo this increasingly important voting bloc.

Many Republicans see gaining favor with Hispanic voters, who are 10 percent of the U.S. electorate and growing, as a matter of political survival.

Republicans want to ensure that security along the U.S.-Mexican border is improved before immigrants can get on a path to citizenship. Obama feels security is sufficient but this disagreement is not seen as a deal-breaker.

"We're seeing right now a good bipartisan spirit," Obama told Spanish-language network Univision on Wednesday. "I want to encourage that and hopefully we'll be able to get it done."

(Reporting by Steve Holland; Additional reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Will Dunham and Eric Beech)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/outlook-improves-dramatically-immigration-deal-015007098.html

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Exxon cleans up Arkansas oil spill; Keystone plan assailed

(Reuters) - Exxon Mobil on Sunday continued cleanup of a pipeline spill that spewed thousands of barrels of heavy Canadian crude in Arkansas as opponents of oil sands development latched on to the incident to attack plans to build the Keystone XL line.

Exxon spokesman Alan Jeffers said on Sunday that crews had yet to excavate the area around the pipeline breach, a needed step before the company can estimate how long repairs will take and when the line might restart.

"I can't speculate on when it will happen," Jeffers said. "Excavation is necessary as part of an investigation to determine the cause of the incident."

Exxon's Pegasus pipeline, which can carry more than 90,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude from Pakota, Illinois to Nederland, Texas, was shut after the leak was discovered late Friday afternoon in a subdivision near the town of Mayflower. The leak forced the evacuation of 22 homes.

Exxon also had no specific estimate of how much crude oil had spilled, but the company said 12,000 barrels of oil and water had been recovered - up from 4,500 barrels on Saturday. The company did not say how much of the total was oil and how much was water.

Exxon said it staged the response to handle 10,000 barrels of oil "to ensure adequate resources are in place."

Fifteen vacuum trucks remained on the scene for cleanup, and 33 storage tanks were deployed to temporarily store the oil.

The pipeline was carrying Canadian Wabasca Heavy crude at the time of the leak. An oil spill of more than 1,000 barrels into a Wisconsin field from an Enbridge (Toronto: ENB.TO - news) pipeline last summer kept that line shuttered for around 11 days.

The Arkansas spill drew fast reaction from opponents of the 800,000 bpd Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry heavy crude from Canada's tar sands to the U.S. Gulf Coast refining centre.

Environmentalists have expressed concerns about the impact of developing the oil sands and say the crude is more corrosive to pipelines than conventional oil. On Wednesday, a train carrying Canadian crude derailed in Minnesota, spilling 15,000 gallons of oil.

"Whether it's the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, or ... (the) mess in Arkansas, Americans are realizing that transporting large amounts of this corrosive and polluting fuel is a bad deal for American taxpayers and for our environment," said Representative Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat.

Supporters of Keystone XL and oil sands development say the vast Canadian reserves can help drive down fuel costs in the United States. A report from the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, put together by oil and gas consultancy Penspen, argued diluted bitumen is no more corrosive than other heavy crude.

CLEANUP

Exxon said that by 3 a.m. Saturday there was no additional oil spilling from the pipeline and that trucks had been brought in to assist with the cleanup. Images from local media showed crude oil snaking along a suburban street and spewed across lawns.

Twenty-two homes in the affected subdivision remained evacuated on Sunday, though Mayflower police were providing escorts for residents to temporarily return to retrieve personal items.

Jeffers said a couple of homes "appear to have small amounts of oil on their foundations," but he had no information on damage estimates or claims. Exxon had established a claims hotline for affected residents and said about 50 claims had been made so far.

Officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration were deployed to the scene.

Exxon said no oil had reached nearby Lake Conway, known as a fishing lake stocked with bass, catfish, bream and crappie. The company said it deployed 3,600 feet of boom near the lake "as a precaution."

(Reporting by Kristen Hays in Houston, Matthew Robinson in New York and Timothy Gardner in Washington; Editing by Steve Orlofsky, Bernard Orr)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exxon-shuts-oil-pipeline-major-005905765.html

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What Causes Convergence Insufficiency? Its Symptoms And ...

Convergence insufficiency is a problem of near vision. In this disorder, a person finds difficulty in seeing, reading nearby objects. In normal circumstances the eyes turn inwards when you focus your sight on nearby objects. This means they converge. But in convergence insufficiency, the affected person is not able to move his eyes inwards to focus on nearby objects.

The disorder is often detected in early childhood and adolescence age. Often convergence disability is misdiagnosed and parents and teachers consider it as a learning problem in children, instead a disorder related to eye.

Convergence insufficiency can be corrected appropriately with eye lenses and certain passive and active exercises. Eye surgery is rarely required.

Symptoms Of Convergence Insufficiency

A person suffering from convergence insufficiency may experience following symptoms especially while he is doing close work. For example while reading, writing, doing computer work or desk work etc.

• The eyes become tired and sore easily.
• Off and on headache, especially while reading or focusing on near objects for a long time.
• Complaint of blurred vision or double vision.
• Due to difficulty in focusing, the child is unable to concentrate.
• Patient finds difficulty in reading. He may complain of words floating or swimming on the book. He may also lose his track while reading.
• Patient feels sleepy while doing close work. It is due to strain on his eyes.
• He often closes one eye or squints. The person does so while reading to prevent double vision or blurred vision.
• He frequently tilts his head and has poor posture while doing work which requires near vision.

Lack of sleep, anxiety and working for long hours with objects placed nearby may exaggerate the symptoms.

Person suffering from convergence insufficiency finds difficulty in playing sports; he may find difficulty in judging nearby objects while driving etc.

Causes Of Convergence Insufficiency

The exact cause of conversion insufficiency is not known, however the reason behind it is misalignment of eyes. It is probably caused due to improper stimulation of eye muscles by the nerves. There is defect in electrical impulse and the eyes do not focus on a nearby object.

Injury to head is another probable cause for convergence insufficiency. Head injuries can cause immense damage to the brain and the nerves arising from brain.

A lesion in brain may be responsible for it. It can be a growth arising in the brain. This tumor can be cancerous or non cancerous. These benign or cancerous growths causes pressure on brain and interrupt proper functioning of neurological pathway.

Diagnosis Of Convergence Insufficiency

• Often the condition is missed or remains undetected by parents and teachers. In most people suffering from convergence insufficiency may have 20-20 vision. It is difficult to detect the condition while performing routine examination.
• Proper medical history is valuable in diagnosing this eye problem. Person may have complaint of blurred vision, headache, and worsening eyestrain even if the person reads for a short period of time.
• NPC is near point convergence test that may detect the disorder. In this simple test the examiner holds a small object such as a pencil in front of the patient. The physician moves it closer to the patient till the patient complains of double vision.
• In positive fusion vergence the patient is made to look at the eye chart through a prism lens. The doctor will know when the patient will have double vision.

Source: http://www.tandurust.com/eye-health/convergence-insufficiency-symptoms.html

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93% No

All Critics (87) | Top Critics (30) | Fresh (81) | Rotten (6)

"No" is a picture that perches precariously on the cusp of a paradox.

A cunning and richly enjoyable combination of high-stakes drama and media satire from Chilean director Pablo Larrain.

A mesmerizing, realistic and often hilarious look at the politics of power and the power of ideas ...

A political drama, a personal drama, a sharp-eyed study of how the media manipulate us from all sides, No reels and ricochets with emotional force.

It's a funny look at the way the media warp public opinion, and a curiously hopeful one.

On every level, "No" leaves one with bittersweet feelings about democracy, love and the cost of compromise.

It's clear that the language of advertising has become universal, and that political commodities can be sold like soap. But toppling a dictatorship? Now there's a story.

A reflection of a moment in time, made in the image of that moment.

Bernal deftly explores the layers of the character's complexity, including his political apathy.

"No" is filmmaking of the first order.

Old technology plus the packaging of a revolution add up to a Yes

Freshens up a decades-old story with vibrant humor and a good sense of storytelling.

No continually impresses for its slyness and savvy -- rarely has such an eyesore been so worth watching.

Larrain fashions an unlikely crowd-pleaser from a historical episode that has its share of tragedy as well as triumph.

Stirring as a celebration of voter empowerment, No may also inspire pangs of wistful nostalgia.

Fascinating work from director Pablo Larrain and screenwriter Pedro Peirano, who manage to slip into the skin of a beleaguered country and detail the urgency of a revolution, sold one jingle at a time.

Swims upstream against high-definition with a defiantly lo-fi approach that's also ingeniously evocative of the historical period.

Wildly colorful strokes, full of bitter humor.

No quotes approved yet for No. Logged in users can submit quotes.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/no_2012/

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Police: Eiffel Tower evacuated after bomb threat

Thomas Coex / AFP - Getty Images

French police stand guard near the Eiffel Tower in Paris on March 30, 2013. The Eiffel Tower was evacuated after an anonymous phone call announced an attack, said a police source. The perimeter of the monument was secured and about 1,400 people were evacuated shortly before 9 p.m.

By Nancy Ing and Becky Bratu, NBC News

French police say the Eiffel Tower has been completely evacuated after an anonymous individual called in a bomb threat Saturday.

The call received at 7 p.m. local time warned of a possible attack at 9:30 p.m. local time.

Investigators used sniffer dogs to search the Eiffel Tower for any suspicious devices.

About 1,400 tourists and staffers were evacuated from the tower. French police have received similar calls in the past and have always evacuated the famous tourist attraction as a precaution. The tower was evacuated at least once last year and twice in 2011, according to The Associated Press.

News website Le Parisien reported that police said the threat was called in from a telephone booth in a Paris suburb.

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AdvSecret.com Striving For Personal Development? Try These Tips ...

Thousands of Americans of all ages would like to become better at something or improve upon one of their personal qualities. Some people will want to work on their personal issues, where others feel the need to focus on improving their careers. This article contains some great tips for anyone who is interested in any type of personal development.

Start each morning believing that it will be better that day than it was the day before. Put the effort that is needed to accomplish this. You should never stop trying to find ways to do things better, and better yourself. Set a goal to do something you couldn?t do yesterday, or improve on something you were able to do.

Have you heard of Mind Movies Matrix? It is said that this software can help to program a person?s mind for success. Be sure to read some credible Mind Movies Matrix reviews before getting the software though.

Talking to a counselor or a religious leader can help you relieve stress. These people have experience dealing with many of the issues you may be facing, and many are licensed to do so. They can lend a sympathetic ear and help guide you on the right path. By speaking with a professional about your problems, you can lead a much healthier and enjoyable life.

Consider your personal character attributes when determining what you want to change. Your aesthetics can be changed quicker than your personality can! It doesn?t matter what you look like or the clothes you wear. Your personality is the most beautiful part of you that should be allowed to shine through. Try and change the person you are inside rather than focusing on the outside.

If you suffer from anxiety, try going to see a movie with a friend. This gets you out into a social setting, but does not require you to socialize to the point where you are uncomfortable. It will help you get used to the social scene.

Make the most of your work time to accomplish more. The simple trick is to take more breaks when you work. This might seem counterintuitive at first, but taking more breaks actually gives your mind a chance to recover, which improves concentration when you return to work.

It?s important for you to know that you can reach your personal development goals. You owe yourself nothing less than the very best. When your journey is complete, you will realize how important it was to give things your all.

Take a step to cure your anxiety by going with a friend to a movie. You will be out and about but you don?t have to talk a lot or even see who you?re with most of the time. This also allows you to be around a large group of people in a stress-free environment.

Try to be prepared to record your ideas no matter where you are. Carry a journal or diary with you, everywhere you go. Record as much as you can when your idea hits so that you can flesh it out later at a more convenient time.

Try to get the most out of your work time to get more accomplished. One simple solution is to go on more breaks while you work. It might seem odd, but regular breaks will let you relax and get more energy. Once you get started working again, you will be more productive.

Create a fund specifically for emergencies. It is not good to pile up credit card bills when an unexpected emergency pops up. This makes you even less capable of dealing with an emergency in the future. Putting back a few dollars weekly can build an emergency fund quickly. This money can help out in the short and long term because debt continues decreasing.

When you?re trying to grow as a person, failures can be taken quite hard and bruise your ego and self esteem. Failure is just a learning experience incognito. Failure is a way of learning your weaknesses and your strengths. Look at it this way, failing us helpful in showing you the person underneath everything.

A healthy lifestyle is only the beginning of your personal development plan. Good health simply makes your whole life go better. You can think more clearly, and even save time and money, by not having to go to the doctor on a regular basis. In other words, better health is one of the most gratifying goals you can achieve.

Think about yourself, and a particular part of you that requires improvement, and put your focus squarely on that one thing. Although you may have a long list of self-improvement goals, it can be more effective, and you will be more successful, if you tackle them one at a time. Such a process also facilitates lasting improvements to your attitude, because habits that are acquired gradually and deliberately are more likely to be permanent.

Leaders are strict and powerful, yet also humble. There is an element of service that makes up the character of a leader, as it enables them to lead with gentleness. A real leader models integrity and upholds the appropriate virtues. These qualities are required in order to lead successfully.

Failure at some task can seem like a devastating injury to your self confidence. Failure doesn?t have to leave you feeling down, think about it as a learning experience. You now have a better understanding of your weaknesses and know what you need to work on more. Look at failure as another opportunity for you to improve and overcome.

Remember to practice humility. Although we don?t think about it every day, we are tiny pieces of a vast universe. People with different experiences and different perspectives are filled with knowledge you may not have. Keep this in mind, and you will have limitless potential for growth. Keeping an open mind will allow you to learn from other people.

As you have probably realized, the process of personal development is far from easy. However, if you are mindful and have a support system, you should make it through this experience with plenty of lessons to show for it. The tips above should get you well on your way to becoming your best self.

---

Source: http://www.advsecret.com/striving-for-personal-development-try-these-tips/

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Ric Flair's Son Dies at Age 25

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/03/ric-flairs-son-dies-at-age-25/

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Bible comes to life as locusts swarm Israel

Israeli Jews celebrating Passover will easily relate to their ancestors this year ? the country has been swarmed by millions of locusts, one of the 10 plagues visited on the Egyptians.

By Christa Case Bryant,?Staff writer / March 27, 2013

Locusts make their way from Egypt just before they land in Kerem Shalom near the border with Egypt, in southern Israel's Negev Desert, March 11.

Ariel Schalit/AP

Enlarge

Locusts have descended on Israel this week, just in time for Passover. As millions of Jews commemorate the story of the children of Israel?s exodus from Egypt, including the 10 plagues that afflicted Pharaoh and his people, millions of the crunchy buggers are creeping all over Israel?s southern deserts.

Skip to next paragraph Christa Case Bryant

Jerusalem bureau chief

Christa Case Bryant is The Christian Science Monitor's Jerusalem bureau chief, providing coverage on Israel and the Palestinian territories as well as regional issues.

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This is nothing like the eighth plague of biblical times, in which locusts covered ?the whole face of the earth? in a kind of collective punishment for the Egyptians whose leader refused to let his Hebrew slaves go free.

But this year is the first time since 2005 that modern-day Israel has had to combat locusts, which can swarm so thickly that drivers can?t see beyond their windshield. Potato farmers bemoaned the detrimental effect of a previous wave of the grasshopper-like insects several weeks ago. The Israeli Ministry of Agriculture, which was on ?locust alert,? has responded quickly to the latest wave with pesticides.?

But it?s not just Israel. Today the Palestinian Authority?s Ministry of Agriculture sprayed pesticides in Hebron, in the southern West Bank. And Egyptian farmers have suffered millions of dollars in damage after a swarm of about 30 million locusts hit Cairo earlier this month.

The most serious situation, however, appears to be in Sudan, where the United Nations Food & Agricultural Organization (FAO) head has warned that immature ?hoppers? are lining up along a 1,000-kilometer (621-mile) stretch of the Nile and could pose a serious threat to Nile Valley crops in May.

OK, so locusts are not your average grasshopper. But still, how can they cause such massive damage?

Consider these arresting facts: They can eat their weight in crops every day; They can fly more than 80 miles a day ? in swarms as dense as 200 million per square mile; And females can lay as many as 1,000 egg pods in roughly 10 square feet, according to a FAO fact sheet.?

To put the threat in practical terms, 1 ton of locusts (just a fraction of your average swarm) can eat about as much food as 2,500 people can in a single day, says FAO.

The Israelis have sought to reverse the food chain this Passover, however, by grilling the kosher insects for a crunchy, high-protein delicacy. And they?re not alone. Locust recipes abound.?

A Mexican version from ?Man Eating Bugs: The Art and Science of Eating Insects,? by Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio calls for roasting locust torsos and sprinkling them on homemade guacamole in a taco shell. Scrap that. Sprinkle and?enjoy, the cookbook says.?

B?tayavon, as the Israelis would say.?Bon appetit.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/G0pZQ4Y1GOg/Bible-comes-to-life-as-locusts-swarm-Israel

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S&P 500, Dow close higher for new records

JeeYeon Park , CNBC ? ? ? 3 hrs.

Stocks closed out the first quarter on a high note with the S&P 500 piercing through levels last seen in 2007 to end at a record high near 1,570 and the Dow logging its strongest quarter in 15 years.

Read More: After April Showers, Market Could Spring Higher by Year End

The S&P finally surpassed its closing high level of 1,565.15 shortly after the market open after flirting with the milestone for weeks, recovering all its losses from the financial crisis. The next milestone for the index is its all-time intraday high of 1,576.09, set on October 11, 2007.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared an impressive 11.25 percent in the first three months of the year to log its best first-quarter performance since 1998. Interestingly, the blue-chip index has never finished a year in negative territory when the first quarter is up at least 8 percent.

Hewlett-Packard was the biggest gainer on the Dow for the quarter, skyrocketing more than 67 percent. Caterpillar and Alcoa were the only two blue-chip stocks to finish in the red.

The S&P 500 surged 10.03 percent, while the Nasdaq jumped 8.21 percent for the quarter, logging their fifth-straight monthly gains. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, ended below 13, plunging approximately 30 percent for the quarter.

All 10 S&P sectors finished higher for the quarter, led by health care and consumer staples, up more than 15 percent and 13 percent, respectively.

Read More: Defensive Sectors Can Be Leaders in a Rising Market

However, volume was relatively low ahead of Good Friday. Markets will be closed in the United States and most of Europe, but banks will be open. Economic data including personal income and consumer sentiment are expected to be reported Friday.

"This market's had a phenomenal run and we've been anticipating a cooling period ? we thought that the Cyprus event would have been a perfect opportunity to do so, but we just keep going higher," said Troy Logan, managing director and senior economist at Warren Financial Service. "What's driving that is the fundamental positives."

Logan pointed to the ongoing housing recovery as a positive for the market going forward. Additionally, he noted that the employment picture, while not improving at a robust rate, is seeing gradual progress.

"The U.S. is not showing signs of going into a recession and the Federal Reserve has clearly signaled that they will remain accommodative for the foreseeable future," said Logan. "And that's good for asset prices."

Read More: Rally Like a Broken Record as S&P Scores New High

In Europe, Cypriot banks re-opened after an almost two-week closure to relative calm. Strict capital control measures were imposed and could remain in place for weeks. Cypriots will not be allowed to withdraw more than 300 euros a day, cash checks, or take more than 3,000 euros when traveling abroad.

Meanwhile, rumors swirled that Fitch Ratings will follow fellow ratings agency Moody's lead to cut Italy's sovereign debt rating. Moody's rates Italy two notches above "junk" grade. However, Italian Economy Minister Vittorio Grilli said he was unaware of any upcoming downgrade.

Read More: European Default Has to Happen: Mark Mobius

In company news, Blackberry reported quarterly earnings that outpaced market expectations, boosted in part by the launch of its new BlackBerry 10 smartphone. Still, the company lost subscribers at a rapid pace, with the base of users contracting to 76 million from 79 million. (Read More: Is BlackBerry's Turnaround on Track?)

Pinnacle Foods jumped more than 10 percent in their NYSE debut as the packaged foods maker priced at $20, at the top of their expected range of $18 to $20.

Goldman Sachs ended lower even after Guggenheim started coverage of the banking giant with a "buy" rating and price target of $175. Meanwhile, the brokerage initiated coverage of Morgan Stanley with a "neutral" rating and a price target of $25.

United Technologies rose after Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of the Dow component with an "overweight" rating, saying the company has "significant, broad-based" tailwinds.

On the economic front, the U.S. economy grew at a 0.4 percent annual rate, according to the Commerce Department, just a touch below the 0.5 percent gain expected by economists in a Reuters survey. And weekly jobless claims jumped 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 357,000, according to the Labor Department.

Meanwhile, the pace of business activity in the Midwest slowed in March, with the Institute for Supply Management-Chicago barometer dipping to 52.4 from 56.8 in February. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the regional economy.

Treasurys added to losses after the government auctioned $29 billion in 7-year notes at a high yield of 1.248 percent. The bid-to-cover ratio, an indicator of demand, was 2.56.

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YouTube API will allow video games to more easily stream in-game content

What's YouTube doing at the annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco? Talking about integration with video games, obviously. More specifically, the company is hoping to expand an idea we first noticed in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, whereby users could easily stream in-game content to YouTube. Clearly, the company worked in concert with Activision to make that possible, but forthcoming APIs will enable game developers far and wide to add the same functionality to other titles. Unfortunately, details remain murky regarding availability, but we are told that these new tools won't be limited to just consoles -- it sounds as if PC and mobile games will too be able to take advantage.

Filed under: Internet, Google

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Source: The Slanted, CNET

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/28/youtube-video-game-streaming-api-gdc-2013/

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Video: Dusting for prints from a fossil fish to understand evolutionary change

Thursday, March 28, 2013

In 370 million-year-old red sandstone deposits in a highway roadcut, scientists have discovered a new species of armored fish in north central Pennsylvania.

Fossils of armored fishes like this one, a phyllolepid placoderm, are known for the distinctive ornamentation of ridges on their exterior plates. As with many such fossils, scientists often find the remains of these species as impressions in stone, not as three-dimensional versions of their skeletons. Therefore, in the process of studying and describing this fish's anatomy, scientists took advantage of a technique that may look a lot like it was stolen from crime scene investigators.

In the video, Dr. Ted Daeschler shows the fossil and a rubber cast made by pouring latex into its natural impression in the rock. Once the latex hardened, Daeschler peeled it out and dusted its surface with a fine powder to better show the edges of the bony plates and the shapes of fine ridges on the fish's bony armor ? a lot like dusting for fingerprints to show minute ridges left on a surface. With this clearer view, Daeschler and colleagues were better able to prepare a detailed scientific description of the new species.

This placoderm, named Phyllolepis thomsoni, is one of two new Devonian fish species described by Daeschler in the Bicentennial issue of the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, with different co-authors. The other new species is a lobe-finned fish discovered in northern Canada. This discovery is described at http://drexel.edu/now/news-media/releases/archive/2013/March/Fossil-Species-from-Fish-Eat-Fish-World/.

Both the Pennsylvania placoderm and the Canadian lobe-finned fish species are from the late Devonian period, at a time long before dinosaurs walked the Earth ? but, geologically speaking, not long before the very first species began to walk on land. Daeschler studies Devonian species in particular to help describe the evolutionary setting that gave rise to the first vertebrate species with limbs. He has dug for Devonian species in Pennsylvania since 1993, and in northern Canada since 1999.

Honoring A Rich History of Pennsylvania Paleontology

Daeschler, a vice president and associate curator at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, and an associate professor in Drexel's College of Arts and Sciences, and co-author Dr. John A. Long, a leading authority on placoderms from Flinders University in Australia, named the species in honor of Dr. Keith S. Thomson.

Thomson, the Executive Officer of the American Philosophical Society, has been a mentor and colleague to many Devonian fossil researchers, including Daeschler. Thomson has formerly held positions including President and CEO of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Director of the Oxford University Museum, and Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Yale University.

Asked for comment on the discovery named in his honor, Thomson noted his long professional connection with the Devonian fossil beds in Pennsylvania that Daeschler studies:

"The Devonian beds around Renovo PA were worked extensively by my old professor at Harvard, Alfred Sherwood Romer and his associates, in the 1950s. They got some very good material of fishes but gave up on the site as a potential source of the very earliest four-legged vertebrates. In 1965 Romer suggested that I have a go but there had been no major erosion on the sites and therefore nothing much new had become exposed. I moved on to other things, but [in 1993] when Ted asked about possible projects in PA I gave him all the old notebooks, including mine, and off he went. In the intervening period there had been some major roadwork, new exposures were made, and on the Sunday evening of his very first weekend trip Ted came to the house and showed me a part of the shoulder of a tetrapod. Once we had looked at every which way and decided there was no other explanation, he causally reached into his bag and said "in that case, I have another one." The rest is history -- a history of very hard, careful, work, a whole team of collectors, some local, and brilliant discoveries of superb material particularly of fishes of every kind. So I am delighted by the success of this work over the past twenty years and flattered to become associated with it by having a species named after me. (There is a certain symmetry to this as long ago I named one of the species that had been collected by Romer after my wife!)"

###

Drexel University: http://www.Drexel.edu/

Thanks to Drexel University 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/127504/Video__Dusting_for_prints_from_a_fossil_fish_to_understand_evolutionary_change

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Rapper Gucci Mane jailed for alleged assault with bottle

Mar 26 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $3,787,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $2,859,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,154,500 4. Steve Stricker $1,820,000 5. Phil Mickelson $1,650,260 6. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 7. John Merrick $1,343,514 8. Dustin Johnson $1,330,507 9. Russell Henley $1,313,280 10. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 11. Keegan Bradley $1,274,593 12. Charles Howell III $1,256,373 13. Michael Thompson $1,254,669 14. Brian Gay $1,171,721 15. Justin Rose $1,155,550 16. Jason Day $1,115,565 17. Chris Kirk $1,097,053 18. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rapper-gucci-mane-jailed-alleged-assault-bottle-142618639.html

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New Theory of How Giant Stars Grow Unveiled

Baby stars can grow to an incredibly large size ? 10 times more massive than the sun, at the least ? if they are cocooned in a group of older stars feeding gas to the youngsters, a new study suggests.

This theory could explain how young stars get so big, rather than pushing away gas as they grow and starving themselves once they get about eight times as massive as the sun.

Researchers spotted evidence of this type of "convergent constructive feedback" with the Herschel Space Observatory. It took pictures of a large dust and gas cloud called Westerhout 3, located about 6,500 light-years from Earth, in wavelengths ranging from infrared to part of the microwave spectrum.

"This observation may lift the veil on the formation of the most massive stars, which remains, so far, poorly understood," said Alana Rivera-Ingraham, lead author of the study. She was at the University of Toronto when the research was performed, and is now a postdoctoral researcher at the Research Institute of Astrophysics and Planetology in France. [Star Quiz: Test Your Stellar Smarts]

?

Star corral

?

Stars typically form in the midst of huge gas clouds. The force of gravity squeezes the gas until it is compressed enough to start the nuclear fusion process that fuels stars.

Newborn stars are constantly balancing two opposite forcesas they grow. Gravity sucks in gaseous material to feed the protostar, while radiation pressure emanating from the protostar resists the inward pull of gravity and pushes away some of the gas surrounding it.

The bigger a star gets, the greater the radiation pressure, until it reaches a point where the gas should ? by conventional theory ? be blown away.

The densest part of Westerhout 3's gas cloud, researchers noted, is enclosed by a crowd of older, large stars.

That thick environment is no coincidence, scientists said. Providing the older stars are in the right position ? surrounding a gas reservoir ? the gas they push away through radiation could compress and form new stars.

"The process is similar to the way a group of street cleaners armed with leaf blowers can stack leaves in a pile ? by pushing from all sides at the same time," officials at the University of Toronto said in a statement. "This corralling of dense gas can give birth to new, high-mass stars."

The group still needs to test this theory through simulation, and by comparing observations of Westerhout 3 to those of similar stellar gas clouds.

"Only then will [scientists] be able to discern the mechanism ? collective feeding or not ? that gives rise to high-mass stars in these giant clouds," according to the statement.

Another solution proposed

In 2009, another group of researchers proposed a different way that stars can grow massive.

The group ran a three-dimensional simulation of how a large interstellar gas cloud falls into itself and creates a huge star. The computer showed instabilities where the radiation sent part of the cloud out into space, while gas continued to spiral in toward the star through other channels.

"This shows that you don't need any exotic mechanisms; massive stars can form through accretion processes just like low-mass stars," study leader Mark Krumholz of the University of California, Santa Cruz said in a 2009 SPACE.com interview.

Previous to that research, scientists believed radiation pressure would push away the gas surrounding a protostar before it could reach a mass 20 times that of the sun.

The theory, though, was contradicted by multiple observations of supermassive stars, which do exist but are rarer than small stars.

Follow Elizabeth Howell @howellspace, or SPACE.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook and Google+.

Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/theory-giant-stars-grow-unveiled-210105279.html

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Obesity may be linked to microorganisms living in the gut

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

How much a person eats may be only one of many factors that determines weight gain. A recent Cedars-Sinai study suggests that a breath test profile of microorganisms inhabiting the gut may be able to tell doctors how susceptible a person is to developing obesity.

The study, published online Thursday by The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, shows that people whose breath has high concentrations of both hydrogen and methane gasses are more likely to have a higher body mass index and higher percentage of body fat.

"This is the first large-scale human study to show an association between gas production and body weight ? and this could prove to be another important factor in understanding one of the many causes of obesity", said lead author Ruchi Mathur, MD, director of the Diabetes Outpatient Treatment and Education Center in the Division of Endocrinology at Cedars-Sinai.

The study, which will also appear in JCEM's April 2013 issue, analyzed the breath content of 792 people. Based on the breath tests, four patterns emerged. The subjects either had normal breath content, higher concentrations of methane, higher levels of hydrogen, or higher levels of both gases. Those who tested positive for high concentrations of both gases had significantly higher body mass indexes and higher percentages of body fat.

The presence of methane is associated with a microorganism called Methanobrevibacter smithii. This organism is responsible for the majority of methane production in the human host.

"Usually, the microorganisms living in the digestive tract benefit us by helping convert food into energy. However, when this particular organism? M. smithii ? becomes overabundant, it may alter this balance in a way that causes someone to be more likely to gain weight," Mathur said.

These organisms scavenge hydrogen from other microbes and use it to produce methane ? which is eventually exhaled by the host. Researchers theorize this interaction helps neighboring hydrogen-producing bacteria thrive and extract nutrients from food more efficiently. Over time, this may contribute to weight gain.

"Essentially, it could allow a person to harvest more calories from their food," Mathur said.

In an ongoing study funded by the American Diabetes Association, Mathur is working to confirm the link between M. smithii, obesity and pre-diabetic conditions by determining how efficiently people digest food before and after eliminating the microorganism with a targeted dose of antibiotic. Participants who have evidence of methane on their breath are given a standard diet over three days, undergo an oral glucose challenge, and swallow a "smart pill" to track how fast the food moves through their bodies. In addition, their stool is collected and sent for calorie analysis allowing researchers to determine how many calories are being harvested during digestion. Participants then repeat the same tests after taking the antibiotic regimen to see if elimination of the organism results in measureable changes.

"This should let us know just how energy balance is affected by M. smthii," Mathur said, "We're only beginning to understand the incredibly complex communities that live inside of us. If we can understand how they affect our metabolism, we may be able to work with these microscopic communities to positively impact our health."

###

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center: http://www.csmc.edu

Thanks to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for this article.

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

This press release has been viewed 31 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127481/Obesity_may_be_linked_to_microorganisms_living_in_the_gut

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Easter Ideas: 8 Quick And Easy Holiday Crafts Using Paper (PHOTOS)

One of our favorite things about making homemade holiday decorations is how we can personalize them to our specific style. But if you're a craft-lover who's been intimidated by tackling elaborate DIYs, we've got something more suited for your comfort level. Today's Easter ideas go back to the crafting basics: paper! From weaving together a basket made of brown grocery bags to creating confetti-filled pi?atas, the variety of projects you can create are endless. In the slideshow below, we've pulled together some of our favorite projects that bloggers have conjured up. Go on and take a look.

• Paper Eggs

  These colorful <a href="http://craftandcreativity.com/blog/2013/03/12/papereggs/" target="_blank">paper eggs by Craft and Creativity</a> are perfect gifts and/or decorations for the Easter season.

• Easter Chicks Candy Treats

  These chicks make for the most adorable treat packages to give your kids. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6fOl6OF3gM" target="_blank">The Kitchen Table Stamper</a> has all of the details for this craft.

• Pi?ata Eggs

  In the mood for smashing something around? Well you might want to try making these super-easy pi?ata eggs. Head on over <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/25/easter-ideas-pinata-eggs_n_2945141.html" target="_blank">to our feature </a>of A Subtle Revelry's craft.

• Tiny Flower Baskets

  Nothing reminds us of Easter more than a basket of spring flowers. These miniature paper baskets by Paper N Stitch are adorable Easter gifts for family and friends. Learn more <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/20/easter-ideas-tiny-flower-baskets_n_2902413.html" target="_blank">on our feature of the same craft</a>.

• Paper Bag Easter Basket

  We all have some extra grocery bags lying around. So why not put them to use as baskets? Head on over <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/03/easter-craft-ideas-make-a_n_1398429.html" target="_blank">to our feature</a> of Ellinee's idea for more information.

• Paint Chip Egg Garland

  Have some of these color swatches lying around? Turn them into a beautiful garland. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/24/easter-ideas-diy-paper-egg-garland_n_2933455.html" target="_blank">Read our feature</a> of MPMK's idea for more information.

• Paper Flower Eggs

  These paper flowers add a unique and elegant touch to the traditional egg. Read more <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/04/easter-craft-paper-flower-eggs_n_1401127.html" target="_blank">at our feature</a> on Such Pretty Things' Easter egg idea.

• Finger Print Name Cards

  Our very own Editor Shana Ecker decided to share her adorable finger print name card craft for the Easter holiday. To learn how she made these, head on over <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shana-ecker/easter-craft-diy-finger-print-name-cards_b_1403330.html" target="_blank">to our article for the inside scoop</a>.

If you want even more Easter ideas, check out our our board on Pinterest.

Have something to say? Check out HuffPost Home on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram.

**

Do you have a home story idea or tip? Email us at homesubmissions@huffingtonpost.com. (PR pitches sent to this address will be ignored.)

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/27/easter-ideas-paper-crafts_n_2957631.html

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Hands-on with Galaxy on Fire: Alliances

Be sure to check out the fifteen-minute Extended Edition Director's Cut below!

Fishlabs was quietly showing off an alpha build of their upcoming free-to-play galactic empire game, Galaxy on Fire: Alliance at GDC 2013, and we got some time to play around with it.

If you've ever played Mob Wars or anything like that, you'll be familiar with the idea of building up a persistent force of troops and taking the fight to other players in the game. Galactic commanders have to form alliances, harvest planetary resources, build ships, and improve their character's skills to cut out their territory in the stars.

Usually, these base-building games that rely on long cooldown periods are very starkly text-based, and at best have well-created icons, but Galaxy on Fire: Alliance turns that notion on its head by implementing some exceptionally great graphics. The version of Galaxy on Fire: Alliances that we were shown was still in the very early stages, but the concept screenshots that we were shown of what's coming looked extremely promising. Even on the mechanics front, Galaxy on Fire: Alliances looks like it will be doing some unique things with coordinating attacks among other alliance members. It sounds like in-app purchases will be employed exclusively to speed up tasks, so nobody should have to worry about being steamrolled by a ridiculously massive star destroyer just because some dude was willing to pay five bucks for it.

Though I'm hesitant to apply the real-time strategy or the MMO label on this game as liberally as Fishlabs has here, Galaxy on Fire: Alliances will very clearly be raising the bar for these types of games, whatever you want to call them. Keep an eye out on this one in the third quarter of the year.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/sPwuAhStvKw/story01.htm

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Sony Xperia Tablet Z to launch in the UK on May 20, priced at ?499

Sony's Xperia Tablet Z has been out in Japan for sometime, and now we've got the first details of the new Sony tab's UK arrival. British online retailer Clove has the tablet up for pre-order now priced at £499.20 including VAT, with a release slated for Monday, May 20.

The 10-inch, 1080p-screened Xperia Tablet Z is powered by a quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro CPU, with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage, expandable via microSD. There's also an 8MP Sony Exmor R rear shooter and hexa-band 4G LTE connectivity, in addition to IP57-rated water and dust resistance. On the software side, it's running Sony's own UI atop Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean.

We went hands-on with the Xperia Tablet Z at Mobile World Congress last month, and were quite impressed with the tablet's thin profile and sturdy build quality. At £500, though, it's going to be a tough sell -- even with 4G LTE support and a high-quality camera.

For more on the Sony Xperia Tablet Z, check out our hands-on preview.

Source: Clove

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/Y_D_1Lkwn2w/story01.htm

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Google picks 8,000 winners for Glass

Staff , The Associated Press ? ? ? 10 hrs.

Google is starting to notify 8,000 people who will be invited to buy a test version of the company's much-anticipated Internet-connected glasses for $1,500.

The invitations are being sent to the winners of a contest conducted a month ago. Google asked U.S. residents to submit applications through Twitter or its Plus service to explain in 50 words or less how they would use a technology that is being hailed as the next breakthrough in mobile computing.

The product is called Google Glass. It's supposed to perform many of the same tasks as smartphones, except the spectacles respond to voice commands instead of fingers touching a display screen. The glasses are equipped with a hidden camera and tiny display screen attached to a rim above the right eye.

? 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Possible Japanese Shrine Fragment Washes Up in Oregon

A curved piece of wood, painted red, removed from a beach in Oregon may be a piece of a shrine set to sea by the 2011 Japanese tsunami.

The debris has not yet been confirmed as originating from the tsunami, but the chief public relations officer of the Association of Shinto Shrines told Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) that the wood appears to be part of a torii, a gate over the entrance of a Shinto shrine.

If so, the driftwood would hardly be the first object to make its way across the Pacific in the two years since the tsunami hit, killing more than 15,000 people. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has confirmed 21 pieces of debris from the tsunami on Pacific isles and the North American coastline. These confirmed pieces include docks, boats and other objects with serial numbers or identifying marks.

Meanwhile, the agency has received reports of more than 1,000 more pieces of debris that may be tsunami-related, and materials such as housing insulation have shown up in larger-than-usual quantities in Alaska and Hawaii. Debris from Japan is a constant visitor to North American shores, so most of the items will likely never be definitively linked to the tsunami, though scientists suspect they are related.

Tsunami damage

The Japanese government estimates that the March 2011 tsunami pulled some 5 million tons of rubble into the Pacific. Most of that debris sank off the coast of Japan, but approximately 1.5 million tons moved farther out to sea. No one knows how much is still drifting.

Oregon has seen its fair share of debris, including an enormous dock covered in sea life that washed up near Newport, Ore., in June 2012. This month alone, several small boats suspected to be tsunami debris washed up onshore, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The boats were taken to landfills. [See Images of the Beached Tsunami Dock]

According to OPB, Judson Randall of Oceanside, Ore., spotted the possible Shinto gate on Friday, March 22.

"My first thought was that it was something from the tsunami, because it had all that marine life on it and it looked man-made," Randall told the news agency. "It was a chilling thought."

Lost shrines

The religious symbolism of the possible shrine fragment could make it more sensitive than other tsunami debris. Shinto is the indigenous religion of Japan, and the Association of Shinto Shrines oversees about 80,000 shrines spread throughout the country.?More than 4,500 Shinto shrines were damaged or destroyed by the tsunami or rendered unusable by radiation from the Fukushima nuclear meltdown after the 2011 disaster, according to the Washington Post.

The possible torii has been removed from the beach. Officials are awaiting response from the Japanese government to decide what to do with the object.

Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter?and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook?& Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/possible-japanese-shrine-fragment-washes-oregon-224803070.html

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Lloyd&#39;s Register Publishes New Guide on How to Manage Asbestos ...

Lloyd?s Register has published a new guide, Asbestos on ships ? how to manage it safely, to help shipowners, operators and all stakeholders understand how to deal with asbestos on ships and to support compliance with maritime asbestos regulations which, since 2002, have widely prohibited the continued use of asbestos.

Asbestos remains a problem in shipping. Despite better management and reduced production of asbestos, there remains considerable room for improvement, primarily to reduce the number of deaths. It is still estimated that more than 107,000 people die each year from mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis ? the three major asbestos-related diseases ? as a result of occupational exposure.

The report?s author, Robin Townsend, Lloyd?s Register?s Regulatory Affairs Lead Specialist, says: ?Far from being a problem of the past, asbestos is still produced in many countries and is still widely used, and it is present in many existing buildings and structures, including ships. Most countries still do not have effective prohibitions and global production is still over 40% of peak values. It is imperative that we see further and substantial improvements in regulatory enforcement and a reduction in asbestos related mortality.?

The guide takes a wider look at asbestos, exploring its history, composition and health effects to underline the vital importance of correct management. It also details asbestos-related regulation and suggests tools that can be used to achieve best practice in asbestos management.

Ships often have an increased risk of asbestos exposure. The use of asbestos in shipbuilding has been unusually high over the years and some of the most dangerous asbestos application methods have been particularly prevalent in ship construction.

A UK study estimated a 61% increased incidence of asbestos related illness in shipyard workers. A similar study in Trieste, Italy, showed that of 153 men who had died of malignant mesothelioma 99 had worked in shipbuilding 19 had been in the navy/merchant marine and 7 had been dockworkers.

?What is vital is that we continue to guard against the risks that asbestos presents within the maritime industry, and we very much hope this publication will further in this aim,? added Robin.

LR, March 27, 2013

Source: http://worldmaritimenews.com/archives/80097/lloyds-register-publishes-new-guide-on-how-to-manage-asbestos-on-ships/

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