Apocalypse Now: Newt Considering Palin For V.P. Or Secretary of Energy

The Grifter Singularity has occurred (in theory, anyway), and it is the WORST APOCALYPSE EVER, courtesy of The Hill:

Newt Gingrich said that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin would be among the candidates that he would consider when considering a potential running mate, adding that the former GOP vice presidential nominee would be an ideal candidate for Secretary of Energy.

Perfection. Imagine the delightful times they?ll have, thumbing through the Tiffany catalog while helicopter hunting squads kill off the last wolves and bears and, eventually, squirrels ? all while oil companies drop actual sacks of gold on the White House, which will be covered in Big Gulp advertisements. [The Hill]

Source: http://feeds.wonkette.com/click.phdo?i=f8ddc25fe68ad8574496c74234adcaff

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CEO and President Jordi Bertomeu Top 16 Draw speech

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to all the members of the clubs, leagues and a special welcome to the president of the Turkish Basketball Federation, Mr. Turgay Demirel. Thank you very much for being here today for this Top 16 Draw. We have reached this point after two and a half months of competition. Two and a half months in which we have enjoyed great basketball. As in previous seasons, we have also had drama until the very last minute to know the teams that will be here today at this draw.

I would like to take advantage of this opportunity to remind all that we are doing this Top 16 draw for the last time. Next season we will have a different format in this phase. Our fans tell us that they want more Turkish Airlines Euroleague games and the figures confirm that because the in-arena attendance grows every year. Therefore, in October we decided respond to this request. Starting next season we will have more Turkish Airlines Euroleague games, more games among the best 16 teams in Europe, and not only this: We are going to play these games on days closer to the weekends, when our fans will have easier access, avoiding the coincidence with other sports, events and competitions. Moreover, the new qualifying format will allow our fans to see a greater number of different teams. This is our challenge for the future: To offer a higher quality competition, in renewed or new arenas, with a better calendar and continuing with our policy to promote European basketball all around the world thanks to our TV partners.

However, looking to the near future, today we are about to start with the Top 16 part of the season, which continues on to the Playoffs and culminates in our Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four on May 11 and 13 in Istanbul. On the screen we are about to see the image that will accompany us for the Turkish Airlines Final Four. Once again we are strongly committed to organizing unforgettable events. We will have all the elements in Istanbul: the best players, coaches and referees, an excellent arena, one of the most beautiful cities in the world and a partner with experience in the organization of great events.

I would like to express my gratitude to the President of the Turkish Basketball Federation, Mr. Turgay Demirel, for his collaboration and commitment to make the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four a magnificent event. Thank you, Turgay for being here today, and I?d like now to give you the floor and to join me here on the stage...

Source: http://www.sportando.net/eng/european-cups/euroleague/33804/ceo_and_president_jordi_bertomeu_top_16_draw_speech_.html

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Florida public broadcasters search for solutions to their funding dilemma

By Eric Deggans, Times TV/Media CriticTampa Bay Times
Posted: Dec 30, 2011 03:36 PM

At WUSF Public Media, they shut down a program to read periodicals for the blind, laid off two people and declined to replace two more.

At WEDU-Ch. 3, they've avoided fully replacing departing staffers and may drop programming from The Florida Channel.

And at bohemian-friendly Tampa community radio station WMNF-FM (88.5) ? which already announced a scrap metal drive to earn money ? there is another, even more unlikely fundraising project under development: a golf tournament, possibly at the tony Belleair Country Club.

This is the local legacy among area public broadcasters, after Gov. Rick Scott's decision in June to veto nearly $4.8-million in state funding for such outlets across Florida. Each public TV station lost more than $300,000; each radio station more than $60,000. Across the Tampa Bay area, WEDU, WMNF and WUSF radio and TV stations saw total losses of up to $1-million.

"There's no sugar daddy out there to replace the ($62,000) the governor took away from us. I wish the public would realize how dire the situation is," said Rob Lorei, WMNF's longtime news and public affairs director.

The cuts mirror a nationwide trend. Public broadcasters in 24 states, including Florida, have lost a combined $85-million in state aid since 2008, according to a study by the media watchdog group Free Press.

And while Tampa Bay area public broadcasting fans initially responded with a surge in donations, as the year wore on, local stations found themselves increasingly challenged to find new, permanent solutions to the funding dilemma.

The biggest irony may be that any success in finding new revenue may prove the governor's contention that they didn't need the money in the first place.

The cut amounted to 3 percent of WMNF's budget, strained enough by the economy already that it nearly implemented the first layoffs of its history last year. And while their first pledge drive after the cuts brought in more money, October's fundraising fell $30,000 short, indicating how short listeners' memories can be.

"The public, in times of emergency, comes through. Now they don't have that sense of urgency," said Lorei, noting WMNF has expanded the length of its fundraising drives, further disrupting regular programming.

Now the station is considering some usual fundraising moves, including the golf tournament in March and expanding something that has been a dirty word in the halls of WMNF for more than 30 years ? corporate sponsorship.

"Some people are very much against it, and others are saying 'let's have a look at this,' " said Mercedes Skelton, the station's interim station manager. "Our mission comes first. And if a corporation is aligned with that mission, that's just fine."

WEDU has seen its budget shrink from $11-million to $7-million since 2007, even as costs of purchasing programming from PBS have risen. And while fundraising totals in June were up 58 percent compared to 2010, the August/September drive brought only a 17 percent bump from the year before. The additional money still fell more than $200,000 short of replacing the $435,000 lost through the governor's veto.

Susan Howarth, WEDU general manager, said the state's public radio stations were surprised by Scott's veto of funds already made available by the GOP-controlled Legislature, even though his conservative stances on fiscal policy were known.

Asked for a strategy to replace the funding, beyond hoping the governor might change his mind, Howarth repeats the mantra of the statewide alliance of public broadcasters, the Florida Public Broadcasting Service: They need to tell their story better.

"We learned a lot of people don't understand the teacher training we provide, the educational materials, the emergency broadcast services," said Howarth, noting that the governor did not cut funding for The Florida Channel, which often simulcasts sessions of the Legislature like a state-centered C-SPAN, run by Tallahassee-based WFSU-TV.

To make way for programming that might draw funding, WEDU is considering dropping 12-hour broadcasts of The Florida Channel from its third digital TV channel, Howarth said. "In order to get that coverage of the Legislature out to citizens across the state, you pretty much need the local stations," she added. "I think there is a role for government funding of public broadcasting, just like there's a role for funding libraries."

Anger over $2.8-million in continued funding for The Florida Channel and a story-sharing network maintained by WFSU-TV and radio in Tallahassee called the Florida Public Radio Network led officials at WLRN Public Radio and Television in Miami to drop both services and start a new story-sharing system for the state's public broadcasters. Dubbed the Florida News Exchange, it uses newer media-sharing technology than FPRN.

But John LaBonia, WLRN's general manager, said he started the new service because of questions about the quality of reporting in material passed along the state-subsidized networks. "It's really about reporting ? the funding issue was just the last straw," he said. "When we had the governor on, we asked him three times why he defunded us."

At WUSF Public Media, which operates WUSF-Ch. 16, NPR/jazz outlet WUSF-FM (89.7) and classical music station WSMR-FM (89.1), the combined funding loss of more than $500,000 required cutbacks. Beyond the layoffs and shutting down its volunteer radio reading service, for example, they can produce local TV programming only when a separate grant pays for it.

A statewide health reporting project, started with a two-year grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, runs out of money in April. WUSF general manager JoAnn Urofsky said they have not figured out how or if they might continue the project.

Pledge drive results have been mixed, drawing slightly more money but slightly fewer members than targeted goals.

"When you look at the loss of $500,000, there's no way to replace it," Urofsky sasid. "All you can really do is eat into the plan you already have."

Eric Deggans can be reached at (727) 893-8521 or edeggans@tampabay.com. See The Feed blog at www.tampabay.com/blogs/media.

Source: http://www.tampabay.com/features/media/florida-public-broadcasters-search-for-solutions-to-their-funding-dilemma/1208476

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Running up the score (Unqualified Offerings)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/180227377?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Cuban Jewish leaders meet with jailed American (AP)

HAVANA ? A leader of Cuba's small Jewish community who visited jailed American contractor Alan Gross and even released pictures of them celebrating the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah together said Wednesday that he was in good spirits and fine health. But her account was quickly disputed by the man's wife, who said he was increasingly frail and despondent.

Adela Dworin said that she and another Jewish leader spent nearly two hours Monday with Gross at the military hospital where he is being held. They lit candles, ate potato pancakes and passed around chocolate coins to celebrate Hanukkah.

Photographs taken during the meeting show a thin Gross wearing a light-blue guayabera shirt standing between Dworin and another Cuban Jewish leader, David Prinstein. Gross has a gray beard. They are believed to be the first photos released of Gross inside the military hospital.

"His health is very good," Dworin told The Associated Press ahead of the photos' release. "He has gained some weight. He's not fat, but he's not so thin anymore."

But that account was questioned by Gross's wife, Judy, who revealed that she had traveled to Cuba to visit her husband a few weeks ago, and said she speaks to him regularly on the phone.

"He is deteriorating more and more every day," she wrote in a statement. "He told me he is feeling very hopeless ... I truly do not know how much longer he can take this ordeal."

Judy Gross said her 62-year-old husband had recently cried for the first time while they spoke on the phone together, and said if he appeared cheerful in front of Dworin it was only to "put on a brave face."

"We continue to beg the Cuban authorities to let Alan come home to us," she wrote, adding that one look at the photos released by Dworin show a man who is weak and frail compared to the way he looked before his arrest.

Gross, who was portly, reportedly had lost 100 pounds (45 kilos) since he was arrested in December 2009.

Dworin said he told her he now weighs 161 pounds and walks five miles a day within the military hospital he is being held. She said he looked considerably better than on a previous visit she made to see him, and even made a muscle to show her his returning strength.

Dworin said Gross even told her he would like to return to Cuba for a visit after his release, noting he has seen the entire island except for the western province of Pinar del Rio.

Gross was working on a USAID-funded democracy-building program when he was arrested. His supporters say he was only trying to help the island's small Jewish community improve its Internet connection. Cuba says the USAID programs are aimed at bringing about regime change on the island.

Gross was sentenced to 15 years in jail earlier this year. His family and other prominent Americans have pleaded with Castro to release him on humanitarian grounds, noting that both his mother and daughter have been diagnosed with cancer since his incarceration.

Castro has voiced concern about Gross' condition, but the American was not included on a list of 2,900 prisoners the Cuban leader pardoned last week, most of them in jail for common crimes.

Gross' wife, Judy, said Saturday that her family was deeply distressed to hear that Gross was not included in the pardon.

"To receive news in the middle of Hanukkah that the Cuban authorities have once again overlooked an opportunity to release Alan on humanitarian grounds is devastating," she said.

Dworin said Gross was extremely anxious to get back home to his wife and family, but said he was upbeat during the visit.

She said they did not discuss Castro's prisoner amnesty at length during the Hanukkah celebration, but that Gross knew about it and was clearly disappointed not to be part of it.

"He wants to have hope," Dworin said. "We Jews always live with hope, or we would have disappeared from the earth long ago. A miracle could occur. After all it is Hanukkah, which is all about a miracle."

Hanukkah, which concluded Tuesday, is the Festival of Lights for Jews. The holiday commemorates the rededication of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem in 164 B.C. According to tradition, a candelabra was lit with only enough oil for one day, but it miraculously burned for eight days.

___

Paul Haven can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/paulhaven/

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111229/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_cuba_imprisoned_american

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London Olympics going for green

LONDON: The Lea is London's second largest river, though people living nearby would not have known that until recently because it was buried under millions of tonnes of rubbish. Now, it has been dug out and revived; fish are back in its water and ducks paddle on its surface.

For this, Londoners can thank the 2012 Olympics - and the promise that they will be the greenest Games the world has ever seen.

London won the Games partly because it said it would reduce, re-use and recycle in ways that would minimise the Olympics' effect on the planet.

It started with the greening of the site that was to be the home of the Olympic Park. An abandoned industrial estate in the East End suburb of Stratford, it was a scar on the face of the city, full of rubble from the Blitz, abandoned cars, tins of paint and industrial solvents. The mounds of garbage were as high as 15 metres above sea level, burying the original landscape.

The head of design and regeneration for London's Olympic Delivery Authority, Jerome Frost, says: "for many years, the river Lea was lost. Many people who lived here couldn't tell you where it was because the land around it was so built up with waste." The river runs north-south and flows down into the Thames, which flows east-west.

The work began with the demolition of 200 buildings and the removal of 1.3 million tonnes of waste. In most large building projects, the result would have been a million tonnes of garbage dumped somewhere else. Not this time.

Ninety-five per cent of the demolished material was re-used in new buildings. Two "soil-hospitals" on site used high-pressure steam to clean and recycle 80 per cent of 1.4 million tonnes of contaminated earth. Buying and cleaning up the site cost ?1 billion ($1.5 billion).

The land around the new Olympic buildings - including a stadium, velodrome and aquatic centre - has been transformed into a park. So that it would be ecologically stable, it was repopulated with native animals: 4000 newts, 300 lizards and 100 toads were released.

Gardeners took clippings from native trees and grew them offsite. They reseeded the landscape with grass and wildflowers.

The architects and engineers designing the buildings had the same brief to focus on sustainability. "The idea was excellence without extravagance," says Chris Jopson, of the architectural design firm Populous.

The stadium uses only one-third the amount of steel that went into Beijing's bird's-nest. That came at a price: the stadium was cut down partly by removing facilities including toilets from the main building and siting them on a concourse outside - a strategy that risks another kind of pollution problem.

This Games will have many more temporary structures than there have been in earlier ones. Two-thirds of bridges in the park will be removed when the Games are over, for example, because they will no longer be required to carry up to 500,000 people in a day.

For the temporary buildings, "73 per cent of materials disappeared when we applied rational strategies", says Julian Sutherland, director for sustainable development at Atkins, the design firm overseeing the temporary structures.

Much of the woodwork will not be painted, saving time and chemicals and allowing the wood to be recycled afterwards. Venues were designed for natural cooling so only 14 per cent will be air-conditioned. Much of the seating will be rented. The stadium and the aquatic centre will be cut down by thousands of seats after the Games to make them a comfortable size for community use.

The London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games has estimated the carbon footprint at 400,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent, using a new tool that estimates the embodied carbon for materials looking at where they came from, how they would be transported and whether they could be re-used.

"We wanted to re-set the benchmark for [green] performance for the construction industry for any future massive urban redevelopment projects," Mr Sutherland says.

There has been a side benefit: the budget for the whole Olympics was ?8.2 billion ($12.6 billion) and it might now be done for as little as ?7 billion, depending on the final cost of security measures. The green Games are also the frugal Games.

Source: http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r5665617569

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China group to sue EU on airline carbon rule

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Exclusive: Afghanistan sets ground rules for Taliban talks (Reuters)

KABUL (Reuters) ? Afghanistan will accept a Taliban office in Qatar to help peace talks but no foreign power can get involved in the process without its consent, the government's peace council said, as efforts gather pace to find a solution to the 10-year war.

Afghanistan's High Peace Council, in a note to foreign missions, has set out ground rules for engaging the Taliban after Kabul grew concerned that the United States and Qatar, helped by Germany, had secretly agreed with the Taliban to open an office in the Qatari capital, Doha.

It said that negotiations with the Taliban could only begin after they stopped violence against civilians, cut ties to al Qaeda, and accepted the Afghan constitution which guarantees civil rights and liberties, including rights for women.

The council, according to a copy of the 11-point note made available to Reuters, also said any peace process with the Taliban would have to have the support of Pakistan since members of the insurgent group were based there.

"The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is in agreement regarding the opening of an office for the armed opposition, but only to move forward the peace process and conduct negotiations," the council said.

The government would prefer such an office in either Saudi Arabia or Turkey, both of which it is close to, but was not averse to Doha as long as the authority of the Afghan state was not eroded and the office was only established for talks, officials said.

"We are saying Saudi or Turkey are preferable, we are not saying it has to be there only. The only condition is it should be in an Islamic country," said a government official.

President Hamid Karzai's administration recalled its ambassador from Doha last week, apparently angry that it had been kept in the dark about the latest round of negotiations with the insurgent group.

Officials said Kabul was also deeply concerned about reports that the United States was considering the transfer of a small number of Afghan prisoners from Guantanamo Bay military prison to Doha as a prelude to the talks.

"We are a sovereign country, we have laws. How can you transfer our prisoners from one country to another. Already it's a violation to have them in Guantanamo Bay," the official said.

The Afghan government wanted the prisoners to be returned to its custody, the official said.

Reuters reported this month that the United States was considering the transfer of an unspecified number of Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo Bay into Afghan government custody as part of accelerating, high-stakes diplomacy.

"We have no problem with this. In fact we have been demanding this for a while. These are Afghan prisoners," said the official, who declined to be identified.

The tension between the Karzai administration and the United States over engaging the Taliban underscores the challenges of seeking a political settlement as the West prepares to withdraw most combat troops from the country by 2014.

Efforts to engage the insurgent group have faced a string of setbacks, the most recent being the assassination of the head of the peace council and former president, Burhanuddin Rabbani, in September at the hands of a suicide bomber who pretended to be a Taliban emissary.

HARDENING OF POSITIONS

It led to a hardening of positions with Karzai saying the government could not talk to suicide bombers and that there should be an address for the Taliban so that negotiators know they are talking to the right representatives.

"We are committed to the reconciliation process, the experience of the last 10 years shows no military solution is possible. Talking to the armed opposition is the key in this regard," said presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi.

The peace council, laying down the markers for engagement with the Taliban, said well known figures from both the Taliban and the government had to be involved in talks.

It said that "before any negotiations can take place, violence against Afghan people must stop and that the armed opposition must cut ties to al Qaeda and other terrorist groups."

It also said that the Taliban must accept the constitution and honor the gains made in the last 10 years since they were ousted from power, conditions that the Taliban have shown no sign of accepting.

The Taliban do not accept the constitution and have vowed to carry on fighting until all foreign troops have left the country.

The peace council said Pakistani support was necessary for talks to take place, another condition that makes the task harder because of fraught ties between the United States and Pakistan which fears it is being shut out of the process.

Opening a Taliban office in a third country itself is seen as a way to create distance from Pakistan which has longstanding ties to the insurgent group.

But the government official said he did not think the peace council had laid down such tough conditions that the talks would fail even before they started.

"We don't think it's a deal breaker. We are quite optimistic," he said.

(Editing by Robert Birsel)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111226/wl_nm/us_afghanistan_talks

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China and Argentina ratify crossed support for Taiwan and Falklands claims

Jiang Shusheng made the statement during a meeting with the head of Argentina?s Lower House Julian Dominguez who also underlined the recent Mercosur solidarity support to Argentina?s request in the Falklands/Malvinas dispute.

The Chinese top official originally arrived in Buenos Aires as a special envoy from President Hu Jintao to President Cristina Fernandez swearing in ceremony last December 10.

?China will continue to support the Argentine claim of sovereignty over the Islas Malvinas?, said Jiang Shusheng who added that ?solidarity with Argentina on the Malvinas issue is an invariable position of China?s foreign policy?.

Jiang Shusheng also praised Argentina for its role as the rotating president of the Group of 77 of non aligned countries saying ?Argentina worked for world integration and peace?.

The Chinese official called for the governments of Argentina and UK to resume ?Malvinas negotiations? thus complying with the principles and objectives of the UN Charter and the General Assembly resolutions, with the purpose of finding a peaceful solution to the sovereignty dispute?.

China has long supported Argentina?s claim over the Malvinas Islands, the same way that Buenos Aires acknowledges the principle of one China regarding the dispute with the island of Taiwan identified as the Republic of China.

Lawmaker (and former Agriculture minister) Dom?nguez said that the Argentine government ?has complied with all the dialogue requests regarding the Malvinas issue as mandated by the UN resolutions because that is the essence of the democratic system?.

?In response to the prudent and intelligent request from our President (Cristina Fernandez), during the last as well as in previous Mercosur meetings, for solidarity in support of our sovereignty rights over the Malvinas and other South Atlantic Islands, there has been an immediate and positive reply to that request from member countries?, said Dominguez.

?We will continue upholding firmly our dialogue vocation with Great Britain before international bodies, hoping this happens as soon as possible? pointed out the Argentine lawmaker who concluded stating Argentina wants the sovereignty dispute to be acknowledged.

?We categorically reject the standing political, diplomatic and an even military pressure UK has being doing with its representatives through the media, which are in the fringe of aggression, repudiated by all countries living in democracy?.

Jiang Shusheng at the Argentine Congress
?

Source: http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r5664717326

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Soletron targets $60 billion streetwear market (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Soletron, a start-up backed by former Adobe Systems Inc Chief Executive Bruce Chizen, is building an online marketplace for streetwear and sneakers, a market that is worth almost $60 billion by one estimate.

Soletron, run by Shane Robinson and Allen Steigman, raised $265,000 from John Friedman of venture capital firm Easton Capital and New York angel investors in early 2011 and launched its market in November.

"Urban wear is a huge niche that no one really pays attention to," said Chizen, who is on Soletron's advisory board with Superbowl MVP Santonio Holmes. "To become the Etsy of the streetwear market -- that's the whole idea."

Etsy, an online marketplace for handmade and vintage products launched in 2005, has over 12 million members and saw sales of almost $500 million this year, through November.

Soletron is raising more money in a series A round of venture capital financing early next year and Chizen plans to invest in the business then.

Other advisers include Tom Austin, co-founder of basketball apparel and shoe company AND1, and Bob Rice of investment firm Tangent Capital.

Soletron has about 50 streetwear and sneaker designers selling more than 1,200 products so far. Brands include Dunkelvolk, Nooka and Kanvas Kings.

The company collects transaction fees from linking designers and buyers and generates other revenue from advertising and member subscriptions.

Robinson and Steigman have big plans because their target market is potentially huge. There is little official data on this part of the apparel market, but accounting firm Grant Thorton pegged urban apparel sales at $58 billion in 2006.

U.S. teenagers aged 15 to 19 spend $22 billion a year on fashion products, according to estimates by Piper Jaffray. Action sports brands, Wall Street's term for streetwear brands like Volcom, Quiksilver and Hurley, have been the most popular among wealthier teens since late 2008, according surveys conducted by the investment bank.

Volcom was acquired by French luxury giant PPR this year, and Nike owns Hurley.

"This industry is the proverbial sleeping giant of the retail and e-commerce worlds," Robinson said.

Soletron is competing against Karmaloop, an online streetwear retailer that is on course to generate about $130 million in revenue this year. The company, run by Greg Selkoe, has an online marketplace called Kazba, which accounts for about 10 percent of sales.

"There's room for more people doing it," Selkoe said.

"18 to 24 year-olds have spending power of $90 billion in the U.S. and a good 20 percent of that money goes into buying into this type of clothing and sneakers," he added. "Extrapolate globally and that's a massive market."

(Reporting by Alistair Barr in San Francisco; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Richard Chang)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/software/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111223/wr_nm/us_soletron_streetwear

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Growing Up Geek: Steven Troughton-Smith

Welcome to Growing Up Geek, an ongoing feature where we take a look back at our youth and tell stories of growing up to be the nerds that we are. Today, we have a special guest: programmer, app designer, artist and geek, Steven Troughton-Smith.

I was born to be an artist. I was always the kind of kid that doodled when bored in class; I used to spend hours creating the most intricate symmetrical robots or plotting maps for world domination. Somewhere along the way I realized that the thing I really wanted to design was software, and I'd really have to learn to start programming to be able to make what I saw in my head exist.

As a child of four I was exposed for the first time to a computer -- a Macintosh IIsi. When I wasn't playing SimCity 2000 or Spelunx, I was dabbling in Photoshop 3.0. I was fascinated by the Mac and would spend hours learning all the intricacies of how it worked. I discovered an Amstrad 286 in our attic at some stage -- my mom's old work computer -- and set to work trying to figure out the arcane incantations to show something more interesting than a DOS prompt onscreen. (Eventually I found some Windows 2.03 floppy disks about the house and forcibly upgraded it -- it wasn't much better off for my efforts). Then, in 1998, I met RealBASIC.

Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Steven Troughton-Smith

Growing Up Geek: Steven Troughton-Smith originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/23/growing-up-geek-steven-troughton-smith/

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This Magical Time Lapse of Los Angeles Inside a Snow Globe Makes Me Miss Home [Video]

Hi folks. You might think Los Angeles is filled with Starbucks sippin' celeb wannabes who are fake, plastic and vapid. Whatever. I think of Los Angeles as home. And since I'm not going home for the holidays, this time-lapse video is the closest I'll get to a lovely Southern California "winter". More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/3kkp8_1JgEo/this-magical-time-lapse-of-los-angeles-inside-a-snow-globe-makes-me-miss-home

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What's Louis CK Doing With the Million Dollars You Just Gave Him? [Bravo]

Instead of going cable, as usual, Louis CK sold his new show for $5 a pop on the web, streamed live from the Beacon Theater, free of DRM or regional restrictions. Ballsy? It worked: the public paid him $1 million. More »

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Migrant ship sinks off Indonesia; over 200 missing

An asylum seekers who survived a wreck is taken into an ambulance in Trenggalek, East Java, Indonesia, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011. Rescuers battled high waves Sunday as they searched for asylum seekers still missing after their wooden ship sank off Indonesia's main island of Java. (AP Photo)

An asylum seekers who survived a wreck is taken into an ambulance in Trenggalek, East Java, Indonesia, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011. Rescuers battled high waves Sunday as they searched for asylum seekers still missing after their wooden ship sank off Indonesia's main island of Java. (AP Photo)

Asylum seekers who survived a wreck take a rest at a temporary shelter in Trenggalek, East Java, Indonesia, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011. Rescuers battled high waves Sunday as they searched for asylum seekers still missing after their wooden ship sank off Indonesia's main island of Java. (AP Photo)

Asylum seekers who survived a wreck walk outside their temporary shelter in Trenggalek, East Java, Indonesia, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011. Rescuers battled high waves Sunday as they searched for asylum seekers still missing after their wooden ship sank off Indonesia's main island of Java. (AP Photo)

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) ? Rescuers battled high waves Sunday as they searched for 200 asylum seekers missing and feared dead after their overcrowded ship sank off Indonesia's main island of Java. So far only 33 people have been plucked alive from the choppy waters.

Two were children, aged 8 and 10, found clinging to the broken debris of the boat five hours after the accident Saturday.

"It's really a miracle they made it," said Kelik Enggar Purwanto, a member of the search and rescue team, as horrifying accounts emerged of the disaster.

Nearly 250 people fleeing economic and political hardship in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Turkey were trying to reach Australia in search of a better life when they ran into a powerful storm 20 miles (32 kilometers) off Java's southern coast on Saturday.

After being slammed by a 15-foot- (3-meter-) high wave, the fiberglass ship ? carrying more than twice its capacity ? broke apart, survivors said, disappearing tail first into the dark waters.

Soon after, 25-year-old local fisherman, Jambe, spotted several dark dots from his own tiny wooden fishing vessel and decided to investigate.

He and his three-member crew were horrified at what they found: more than 100 hysterical and exhausted people clinging to anything that floated.

Survivors immediately started racing toward them.

"They were all fighting, scrambling to get into my boat," Jambe told The Associated Press, adding there was only room for 10.

In the end he managed to get 25 on board, many of them injured and all begging for water to drink.

Those left behind were screaming and crying.

"I'm so sad ... I feel so guilty, but there were just too many of them," said Jambe, who like many Indonesians uses only one name. "I was worried if we took any more we'd sink, too."

Indonesia, a sprawling nation of 240 million people, has more than 18,000 islands and thousands of miles (kilometers) of unpatrolled coastline, making it a key transit point for smuggling migrants.

Many risk a dangerous journey on rickety boats in hopes of getting to Australia, where they face years in crowded, prison-like detention facilities. Australia's harsh immigration policy has loosened up in recent months, however.

Those on the ship that sank Saturday had passed through Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, days earlier without any legal immigration documents, according to police.

An unidentified group loaded them onto four buses and took them to a port, promising to get them to Australia's tiny Christmas Island.

Local television showed a half-dozen survivors at a shelter in Trenggalek, the Javanese town closest to the scene of the sinking, some with dazed, empty expressions as they sat on the floor drinking and eating.

Several others were taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition.

Khadzim Huzen, a 30-year-old Afghani, told the AP that after the big wave hit, the ship started tipping into the water, and everyone rushed to the front.

A fight broke out for life jackets.

There were only 25, he said, and nine already had been taken by the crew.

"In the end, as everything was being swallowed up by the water, we just grabbed hold of anything we could," he said. "We formed small groups in the water and tried to help each other stay afloat."

At Prigi, the nearest port, several members of the national search and rescue team were getting ready to head out to sea, empty body bags stacked up on the deck, local television footage showed.

Lt. Alwi Mudzakir, a maritime police officer, said so far 33 people have been rescued, many suffering from severe dehydration and exhaustion.

He was worried ? as the hours passed ? that no one else would be found alive.

Weather was bad Sunday and four fishing boats, two helicopters and a navy ship already involved in the operation were battling 4-meter- (13-foot-) high waves.

"They have scoured a 50-mile (80-kilometer) radius but haven't found anything," Mudzakir said, adding that currents were very strong.

Last month, a ship carrying about 70 asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan capsized off the southern coast of Central Java province, and at least eight people died.

___

Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-18-Indonesia-Ship%20Sinks/id-665b9f9fccd045bdbaa767bfecadebc8

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Shock jock Howard Stern gets "America's Got Talent" gig (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? Controversial radio shock jock Howard Stern will be the new judge on TV show "America's Got Talent", NBC said on Thursday, and will also continue to host his daily radio program for SiriusXM.

Stern, 57, will replace departing talk show host Piers Morgan on the panel when the talent show returns for a 7th season in the summer of 2012.

Production of the show will move to New York to accommodate Stern's schedule.

"Howard Stern's larger-than-life personality will bring a thrilling new dynamic to 'America's Got Talent' starting this summer," said NBC alternative programming chief Paul Telegdy.

"He's a proven innovator and his track record in broadcasting is truly remarkable. Howard is very passionate about this show and is fully committed to its future," Telegdy said in a statement.

Stern is known for conducting sexually explicit interviews, his raunchy sense of humor and for his satirical comments on religion, race and other hot button topics.

"America's Got Talent" created by British entrepreneur Simon Cowell, is one of the most successful shows for NBC and the outspoken Stern had been Cowell's top choice to join the judging panel.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; editing by Patricia Reaney)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111215/tv_nm/us_howardstern_gottalent

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Video: ?You have to be willing to give a little back?

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First Lady Michelle Obama brings gifts to a Toys for Tots collection and talks about the importance of giving back.?(Nightly News)

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Where are Mr. and Mrs. Right? Matrimony suffers slump

Isaac Brekken / Getty Images

Patrice Washington and Army Quartermaster Victor Mitchell after their wedding ceremony at Chapel of the Flowers in Las Vegas, Nevada on Nov. 11.

By Kari Huus, msnbc.com senior reporter

Is it a hiccup or a long-term bear market for marriage?

A new report shows that the share of American adults who are married dropped to a record low in 2009-2010 ? to just a smidgen over half of population 18 and older. And the age at which Americans first tie the knot has never been higher, according to analysis of U.S. Census data by Pew Research Center published Wednesday.

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It?s no secret that the ?market share? of marriage has been in decline for decades ? from 72 percent in 1960 to 51 percent today, a trend that has been accompanied by a rising tolerance for single parents, cohabitation without marriage and other alternatives. At the current pace, the share of U.S. adults who are married will dip to less than half within a few years, the Pew study says.

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"There?s been a retreat from marriage going on for awhile now," says Bradford Wilcox, director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia. "The economic fallout from the Great Recession has made the retreat from marriage accelerate. That?s just because even today, Americans see marriage at least in part as an economic undertaking. So particularly when partners, especially men, don?t have decent stable work they are more likely to postpone or forego marriage."

More dramatic news from the report was a 5 percent decrease in the number of new marriages between 2009 and 2010, an unusually sharp one-year drop that ?may or may not be related to the sour economy,? according to the Pew study.

Over the long haul, the marriage rate for the 18-29 age group has fallen from 59 percent in 1960 to 20 percent today. Divorce rates soared in the 1960s and '70s, becoming a major factor in the growing contingent of singles in the United States but then leveled off in the last two decades.

Wilcox says that divorce rates remain high, and declines in marriage are particularly concentrated in lower income brackets. He calls the trend the "de-institutionalization of the working class."

"Strong marriages and strong families flourish in a healthy economic and community context. Those contexts have weakened particularly in working class and poor communities in the last 30-40 years," Wilcox said. "People are less likely to be engaged in stable fulltime work, their church community, the Jaycees."

The age of first marriages has climbed to a record high of 26.5 for brides and 28.7 for grooms, Pew reports.

?It is not yet known whether today?s young adults are abandoning marriage or merely delaying it,? the study said.

"I think that unlike Europeans, Americans have for the last 40 years still held onto their belief in marriage, but their expectations of what marriage can deliver have increased," says Wilcox of the University of Virginia. "They are desperate to get married but picky about who they will marry and under what conditions, and more tolerant of (behaviors) outside the marriage norms. Mr. Right or Mrs. Right never comes along, so they're willing to have a baby even if Mr. Right isn?t there."

Expectations take a hit after divorce, apparently. The Pew study says that a majority of adults who have never been married hope to get married (61 percent), compared with just 26 percent of adults who have been married but were single again.

{"contentId":"9425241","totalVotes":"45164"}

Do you think the popularity of marriage will continue to decline in the United States?

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Russian fishing ship lists badly near Antarctica (AP)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand ? A Russian fishing vessel with 32 crew members was taking on water near Antarctica on Friday. Heavy sea ice was hampering rescue efforts, and officials said it could be four or five days before anybody reaches the ship to try to rescue the crew.

The Sparta was listing at 13 degrees next to the Antarctic ice shelf in the Ross Sea, according to Maritime New Zealand. The agency said that the crew was safe and was throwing cargo overboard to lighten the ship, and that some of the crew had boarded lifeboats as a precaution.

The ship has a 1-foot (30 centimeter) hole in the hull about 5 feet (1.5 meters) below the water line, the agency said. The crew so far had managed to pump out much of the incoming water and had attached a tarpaulin over the outside of the hole to slow the water flooding in, the agency said.

The crew have asked for more pumps to be sent to them and will try and make repairs to the hull, the agency said, adding it was trying to figure out a way to deliver the pumps.

"It's a very remote, unforgiving environment," said Andrew Wright, executive secretary of the Australian-based Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, which has licensed the Sparta to catch toothfish in the Southern Ocean.

Wright said he didn't know what caused the hole, although he added that an iceberg "would be a good candidate."

The Sparta, which is 157 feet (48 meters) long, sent a distress call early Friday. Maritime New Zealand said heavy ice in the Southern Ocean would make it difficult for other ships to reach the vessel.

The Sparta's sister ship Chiyo Maru No. 3 was 290 nautical miles away and heading toward the stricken vessel but had no capacity to cut through sea ice, the agency said. A New Zealand vessel, the San Aspiring, had some ice-cutting ability and was also en route, but was four or five days away. A third vessel was just 19 nautical miles away, but it was hemmed in by heavy ice and unable to move toward the Sparta.

Ramon Davis, who is coordinating rescue efforts for Maritime New Zealand, said a C-130 Hercules plane that arrived from Antarctica flew over the scene to assess ice conditions in the area to speed up the rescue efforts. But Davis said the aircraft would not be able to pick up the crew.

Davis said there were no helicopters in the area and that another vessel remained the most viable option for trying to rescue the crew.

"It is possible the crew will have a fairly long wait for rescue," he said.

He said that if the crew manage to lighten the ship enough by getting rid of cargo and pumping out water, it's possible the hole in the hull would rise above the water line.

The crew has some emergency immersion suits that could keep them alive for a time in freezing water, Maritime New Zealand said.

The weather in the area was calm, with temperatures a relatively mild 37 degrees Fahrenheit (3 degrees Celsius).

Commission records list the captain of the Sparta, which was built in 1988, as Oleg Pavlovich Starolat, who is Russian.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oceania/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111216/ap_on_re_as/as_new_zealand_stricken_ship

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How To Attract An Entomologist

By Alex Wild?| December 6, 2011 |??1

Share ?Email

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[the following is a modified repost from PhotoSynthesis, 2009]

Step 1. Locate a suitable patch of forest, field, or desert.

Step 2. Wait for a warm, moonless summer night.

Step 3. Using a long extension cord, plug in a blacklight. Or even better, a mercury-vapor lamp.

Step 4. Sit back and watch your prey arrive.*

*disclaimer. This technique works generally for most entomologists, but if your needs are more specific, you will wish to employ more specialized methods. Forensic entomologists prefer roadkill, for example.

About the Author: Alex Wild is an Illinois-based entomologist who studies the evolutionary history of ants. In 2003 he founded a photography business as an aesthetic complement to his scientific work, and his natural history photographs appear in numerous museums, books, and media outlets. Follow on Twitter @myrmecos.

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The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

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