Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/zero_dark_thirty/
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CINCINNATI (AP) ? Geron Johnson and the rest of the 19th-ranked Tigers headed for their bus parked at the loading dock behind the Cintas Center, saying little as they got ready for a long ride home on a cold, rainy night.
A late out-of-conference loss had just put a dent in Memphis' season.
Short-handed Xavier dominated the first half, blew a 13-point lead, then recovered for a 64-62 victory Tuesday night that snapped Memphis' 18-game winning streak, which was tied for longest in the nation.
The Tigers (24-4) came away with their first loss on the road in more than a year. With one bad night, they also had a few new questions about themselves.
How could this happen?
"It's very weird," said Johnson, who scored a team-high 14 points and led a second-half comeback. "I don't know what to think right now. On our quiet bus ride home, it's going to hit me."
Memphis came into the game tied with Akron for the longest winning streak in the nation. Like the Zips, they'd done it by dominating their conference. Memphis had pulled away from the rest of Conference USA, winning every game since an 87-78 loss to Louisville on Dec. 15.
The Tigers were playing a late out-of-conference game for the first time in nearly 20 years, a chance to see how they measured up against an Xavier team that is trying to make it through a season full of tough breaks.
Even with their indispensable point guard missing because of injury, the Musketeers (16-11) made the Tigers look badly overmatched for a half, then rallied to pull it out at the end.
"I believe in energy, and our energy in the first half stunk, which is full credit to Xavier," Memphis coach Josh Pastner said. "They kicked our butts."
In every way.
So, now what for the Tigers?
Two of Memphis' four losses have come against Atlantic 10 teams ? Xavier and Virginia Commonwealth. They also lost to Minnesota. With a chance to extend that winning streak and show they can hold their own out of conference, the Tigers went into a shell.
"It was out of character," Johnson said. "We had no intensity. We came in here thinking they'll roll over and we'll get our 19th straight win. It's not like that."
The sluggish Tigers scored only 20 points in the first half ? their lowest-scoring half of the season ? and got dominated on the boards, ending a couple of notable streaks. Their 18-game winning streak was fifth-longest in school history.
The school record is 27 straight wins during the 2008-09 season, when Memphis went 33-4 and reached the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament. One of the four losses that season came against Xavier.
Memphis was the only Division I school that hadn't lost a road game this season. The Tigers had won 11 straight on the road overall, the nation's longest active streak.
"Eighteen in a row is not easy to do," said Pastner, who was hoping for his 100th win as the Tigers' coach. "You don't take it for granted. Long winning streaks, conference championships ? those aren't birthrights."
Xavier made good on its second straight chance to beat a ranked team at home. The Musketeers blew a 17-point lead before losing to then-No. 24 VCU on Saturday. Point guard Dee Davis left that game with a head injury with more than 13 minutes left, helping VCU rally. He was still feeling the effects and didn't play on Tuesday.
Didn't matter. The Musketeers dominated most of the game anyway.
Travis Taylor had 18 points and 10 rebounds for Xavier, whose 45-36 advantage in rebounds led to 18 second-chance points. By contrast, Memphis managed only four points off rebounds the entire game.
"We knew how big and physical they were," Taylor said. "Coach (Chris Mack) made it a big challenge to give them no second chances."
Johnson made three 3s that helped the Tigers overcome that 13-point deficit in the second half. D.J. Stephens made the first of his two free throws with seven-tenths of a second left, but failed to hit the rim while purposely missing the second shot, clinching it for Xavier.
The Musketeers haven't lost back-to-back home games since 2005-06. After the second-half meltdown against VCU, they weren't going to let it happen again.
"We came into the huddle and talked about how we were not going to let it happen like it did against VCU," forward Isaiah Philmore said. "We had a bad feeling after that game."
___
Follow Joe Kay on Twitter: http://twitter.com/apjoekay
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/no-19-memphis-64-62-loss-xavier-ends-084412307--spt.html
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HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) ? Indian casinos brushed off weak consumer spending in a sluggish U.S. economic recovery to post a modest increase in revenue in 2011, an industry study reported Wednesday.
Not only did revenue rise 3 percent, to $27.4 billion, but Indian casinos are holding on to their share of total casino gambling revenue, competing closely with commercial casinos, according to the report, "Casino City's Indian Gaming Industry Report."
The revenue increase is the second in as many years following a first-ever drop in Indian casino revenue in 2009 as the worst recession in decades took its toll on consumer spending. The back-to-back increases in revenue are encouraging, the report said.
"The question is how much further can Indian gaming grow?" author Alan Meister said.
Indian gambling was slowing before the start of the recession in late 2007 due to legislation, regulations and court decisions that restricted the types of games offered by Indian casinos, the number of states where gambling is permitted and other limits, he said.
The outlook for Indian gambling now appears healthy because the economy is expected to continue improving, restoring consumer spending, Meister said. In addition, many tribes are upgrading, expanding and replacing casinos.
Indian-run casinos such as those in Alabama and Nebraska, he said, enjoy the advantage of being closer to consumers than many commercial casinos. "They're a good alternative to Vegas that's closer to home," he said.
But the long-term outlook for Indian gambling is uncertain, Meister said. Potential threats include continuing legal challenges ? such as a land dispute court case in Michigan that Meister said increases the likelihood of other legal challenges to gambling projects ? and state regulations that restrict Indian casinos and limit expansion. Indian casinos face "a lot more" restrictions than their commercial counterparts, he said.
"That, in some ways, holds back Indian gaming from what it could potentially be," Meister said.
Other potential challenges include increasingly saturated markets, rising competition and Internet gambling.
Indian gambling generated about 43 percent of U.S. casino gambling revenue in 2011, the report said. Revenue at commercial casinos was 45 percent and revenue from racinos ? casinos that operate at race tracks ? accounted for the remaining 12 percent. That's unchanged from 2010, but represents a huge gain from the Indian casino share of less than 20 percent in 1993.
Both Indian and commercial casinos could lose business to racinos, he said. State approval of gambling is easier at race tracks where betting already occurs than establishing new casinos, Meister said.
Revenue growth varied from as much as 26 percent in Alabama to minus 3 percent in New York. After Alabama, the fastest-growing states were Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina and Oklahoma.
Following New York, the steepest decline in revenue was in Oregon, North Dakota, Connecticut and Idaho.
Revenue at Indian casinos continued to be concentrated in certain states. California generated more revenue at Indian casinos than did any other state, producing $6.9 billion in 2011. Casinos in California accounted for more than 25 percent of Indian casino gambling revenue nationwide.
The top five states ? Washington, Florida, Connecticut, California and Oklahoma ? accounted for about 61 percent of total gambling revenue. The top 10 states, which include Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and New York, account for 86 percent of total Indian casino revenue.
Ironically, the weak economy has helped spur casino growth among states seeking more revenue, Meister said.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/report-indian-casinos-revenue-slightly-2011-080755362--finance.html
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Collaborations and mergers among nonprofits certainly aren?t new, but much of what nonprofit leaders know about them comes from our for-profit counterparts.
Nonprofit collaborations are no better and no worse than those done by for-profits. They?re simply different. As I wrote in a previous post, for-profit collaborations and mergers are driven by financial motivations including cost savings, but charities are unlikely to reap any savings for years, if at all. For nonprofits, the primary driver to merge or collaborate should be to help them achieve their missions. Mergers and collaborations are strategic tools. They do not have to be a last resort.
The Great Recession and the protracted recovery have sparked renewed interest in nonprofit collaborations. But resources dedicated to helping them carry out their plans are scarce, so many groups don?t know where to begin.
For two years, the Nonprofit Finance Fund has worked with five major grant makers on the Catalyst Fund for Nonprofits, which provides guidance and technical assistance for Boston-area organizations that are exploring, planning, or implementing strategic collaborations and mergers. And in an effort to demystify the process for all nonprofits, the fund has produced two free publications?a case study and a report about the first two years of the Catalyst Fund?s work.
The case study tells the story of one nonprofit merger, and the report includes interviews with 40 people involved in various ways with mergers or collaborations: those who have provided financial support, executives and board members of groups that received support?and of some that were denied support?as well as consultants and others.
So what are we learning about successful collaboration? What does it take?
Effective leadership.? The level of organizational change dictated by a collaboration or merger requires leadership from many people close to the nonprofit. Leaders?both board and staff?with prior collaboration experience can be invaluable assets, lending perspective and raising important issues.? And a talented and organized chief financial officer can help facilitate the exchange of information and reporting that is a critical part of due diligence.
Part of what makes leaders effective in nonprofit collaborations is the ability to build trusting relationships. In the merger featured in our case study, between two agencies that provide services for the homeless, an executive reflected that early in the process ?someone should have held a cocktail party? to help build personal relationships between staff and board members. In her experience, when conversations got tense or an agreement felt elusive, personal relationships helped move conversations forward.
Clear and aligned objectives.? Partner organizations with a strong sense of their own priorities are often better positioned to achieve the common goals of their collaboration. We?ve found that when organizations have recently undertaken a strategic-planning process, their reasons and goals for collaboration were clearer and it was more likely to be a success. In my experience, it?s when the goals of the groups were unclear or conflicted that the collaborative venture can stall or stop altogether. The simple question, ?What are we trying to achieve together and why?? can lead to candid conversations among partners and help prevent roadblocks. The motivations and goals of the partners don?t have to be identical, but articulating them clearly fosters transparency and helps manage expectations throughout the process.
Resources and expertise.? The reality is that strategic collaborations are expensive and require professional guidance. Experts can provide technical assistance and help with governance, finance, program design, and legal issues, and they can facilitate challenging discussions and negotiations. In Catalyst Fund ventures, nonprofits rely on the fund?s technical assistance but are also urged to tap experts on their board or draw on staff members who have collaboration experience. Pro bono help is great when you can get it, but expert assistance isn?t always free.
Costs can add up, and the participating groups may need additional dollars for advisory services, new technology, severance pay, or a re-direction of staff time. Once the merger is complete, the groups may be able to save money, but there is a long time horizon for realizing those savings.
Sources of financial support for collaborations, like the Catalyst Fund, can go a long way, but there?s a limit to how much they can do. In Boston, we aren?t able to support every proposal, and as groups that we do support move closer to their objectives, their needs may grow beyond the level that the fund can finance.
As the landscape of the social sector changes, it?s incumbent upon all grant makers and donors who care about preserving, improving, and expanding programs and services to support these strategic organizational tools.
At the Catalyst Fund, we hope that insights from our work supporting collaboration can help change inaccurate perceptions about nonprofit collaborations and mergers?and we are not alone. Grant makers in Charlotte, N.C.; Cuyahoga County, Ohio; New York City, and across California have also been working together to advance strategic collaboration in their communities. Their work, too, is enriching the available body of knowledge and building a track record of inspiring examples.
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Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities to the university, industry and government researchers. Brookhaven for for DOE?s Office of Science to Brookhaven Science Associates, a limited liability company by Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit, applied science and technology organization founded.. One of ten national laboratories monitored and funded primarily by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy , Brookhaven National Laboratory performs research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences , as well as in energy technologies and national security.
The New York Times reported about a man?s struggle with the health care system: ?In the debate on health care reform, there are countless stories of families with hospital bills and unemployed, insurance insurance saddled But the story of Eric De La. Cruz, Las Vegas stands out as a striking example of both the best and the worst that the American health care system has to offer ? extraordinary medical skills, which is all too often out of reach for all but the luckiest and best insured ?.Of inflammation, marker of inflammation is also important on statin is Special How to Falling LDL .
In this study, lead investigator Dr. Paul Ridker and fellow follow-up 15,548 first healthy men and women out the JUPITER trial ? 87 percent the initial subjects in this study. You assessed the effects of rosuvastatin 20 mg versus placebo on rate out of non-fatal heart attack, nonfatal apoplexy, hospitalization for unstable angina, arterial revascularization , or cardiovascular death. Levels of LDL have been measured (?
The conference will, organized by the Department on health , brought the crowd from public health and local governmental field health inequities the heart of health White Paper contact advice. At the conference, stated John Reid:.
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By M. Alex Johnson, staff writer, NBC News
A Florida man was shot and wounded over the weekend?by his dog, who walked away without charges, police said.
Gregory Dale Lanier, 35, of Frostproof, Fla., told police Saturday that he and his dog were in their truck in nearby Sebring when the dog kicked a gun that was on the truck's floor, the Highlands Tribune newspaper reported.
The gun went off, shooting Lanier in the leg, Sebring police said.
Lanier wasn't seriously injured, said Sebring Police Cmdr. Steve Carr, who actually said police didn't arrest the dog because the investigation was pending, the Tribune reported.
He also said he had never heard of a similar case.
According to the police report, Lanier said he was driving along State Road 17 North when the dog kicked "the unloaded .380 pistol." It went on to say that Lanier was "surprised" to learn not only that the gun was loaded, but also that it was actually a 9mm weapon, not a .380.
The incident is only the latest in a string of bizarre shootings in Florida. Just last week, a woman in St. Petersburg was wounded when she was shot by a friend's oven.
Follow M. Alex Johnson on Twitter and Facebook.
Watch the most-viewed videos on NBCNews.com
Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/26/17107343-florida-man-shot-by-his-dog-police-say?lite
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In their brand-new video, Fun. lose their luggage ... something they've done more than a few times in real life.
By James Montgomery
Fun. in their video for "Why Am I the One"
Photo: MTV News
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1702723/fun-why-am-i-the-one-video.jhtml
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From Woodstock, to women?s rights, Baby boomers have made a name for themselves by being unpredictable, off-beat pioneers; rejecting society?s norms and labels.
But this time, the label they?re rejecting?that of the ?healthiest generation??may, in the long run, do them more harm than good.
In spite of having access to groundbreaking medical advancements and record amounts of wealth, the baby boom generation is sicker and more impaired than their parents were at the same age, according to a new article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Baby boomer life expectancy does exceed that of previous generations, but their overall health is not better, study authors noted.
And they know it too.
Only 13 percent of baby boomers feel that their overall wellness is, ?excellent,? compared to 32 percent of people in the prior generation who gave their health top marks.
Here are a few specific findings from the report:
The positives: Baby boomers are less likely to smoke or have already had a heart attack than their parents were.
The negatives: Baby boomers are much less likely to exercise on a regular basis?a whopping 52 percent said they get no regular physical activity. Consequently, they are also much more likely to be obese (39 percent of boomers versus 29 percent of the previous generation), have high cholesterol (74 percent versus 34 percent), and suffer from diabetes (16 percent versus 12 percent), than their parents.
When they were their age, about nine percent of baby boomer parents had problems carrying out daily tasks, such as getting around the house and doing chores. Thirteen percent of boomers report currently having similar problems.
Seven percent of boomers have to use a cane (or similar device) to get around, versus three percent of their parents at the same age.
Make an action plan for healthy aging
Aging baby boomers, even those who don?t feel in tip-top shape, shouldn?t view aging as a life-sentence of inevitable decline. There are steps you can take to help yourself age successfully.
?You may not be able to regain the health that you had at age 20 or 30, but you can always improve your physical and mental health,? says Larry Matson, Ed.D., co-author of the book, ?Live Young, Think Young, Be Young?at Any Age.?
He suggests taking small, manageable steps to regain control over the common issues of aging that affect your physical and mental health.
Set a goal to go for a 15 minute walk each day. Replace your daily diet soda with a glass of water, or all-natural juice. Eat a piece of fruit in place of dessert. Pay attention to and manage your stress levels by making an action plan to calm yourself down.
?The power of a different mindset about aging is the key,? Matson says. ?Raise your expectations and take it day by day. We?re all going to die, eventually, but even small changes can result in positive adaptations?no matter how old you are.?
Discover more tips on how to incorporate better health habits into your daily routine:
Baby Boomers Blaze New Trail as ?Unhealthiest? Generation originally appeared on AgingCare.com.
Source: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-surprising-truth-about-baby-boomer-health.html
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CHICAGO (AP) ? Technology is supposed to make us easier to reach, and often does. But the same modes of communication that have hooked us on the instant reply also can leave us feeling forgotten.
We send an email, a text or an instant chat message. We wait ? and nothing happens. Or we make a phone call. Leave a voicemail message. Wait. Again, nothing.
We tend to assume it's a snub, and sometimes it is.
Erica Swallow, a 26-year-old New Yorker, says she's heard a former boyfriend brag about how many text messages he never reads. "Who does that?" she asks, exasperatedly.
These days, though, no response can mean a lot of things. Maybe some people don't see messages because they prefer email and you like Twitter. Maybe we're just plain overwhelmed, and can't keep up with the constant barrage of communication.
Whatever the reason, it's causing a lot of frustration. A recent survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 39 percent of cell phone owners say people they know complain because they don't respond promptly to phone calls or text messages. A third of cell owners also have been told they don't check their phones frequently enough.
It happens in love. It happens in business.
"Tell me to go to hell, but just tell me something! I'm getting lonely over here." That's what Cherie Kerr, a public relations executive in Santa Ana, Calif., jokes she's considered putting after her email signature.
It happens in families.
Last year, Terri Barr, a woman on Long Island, N.Y., with grown children, sent her son a birthday present ? a $350 gift certificate for "a wonderful kayaking trip for six, lunch, wine, equipment," she says.
She sent him an email with the details, but he didn't respond. She says she then telephoned and texted him to tell him it was a present. He eventually sent a one-line email, she says, telling her he was too swamped to open her email gift right then.
Instant communication "can be wonderful ? but also terrible," says Barr, who shared the story more as a lament of modern communication than a reprimand of her son, whose busy work life, she acknowledged, often takes him overseas.
So this year, she sent him a birthday gift by snail-mail in a box. "He actually opened it," she says, and they've been talking more frequently since then.
Many other people, though, sit waiting for responses that never come.
"That's where the frustration lies ? it's in the ambiguity," says Susannah Stern, a professor of communication studies at San Diego State University.
Though we often assume the worst, experts say we shouldn't.
Frequently, they say, people simply ? and unknowingly ? choose the wrong way to contact someone.
"I admit to having often been lax with checking my work number voicemail, which has led to me not responding to people waiting for my reply," says Janet Sternberg, an assistant professor of communication and media studies at Fordham University.
She's also had technical glitches. For instance: thinking she'd sent a text message to someone overseas and then, when he didn't respond, realizing she had his international number programmed incorrectly in her phone.
"The sheer management of all these devices and channels is exhausting and sometimes daunting, leaving less and less time for actual communication," Sternberg says. "We connect more but communicate less, in many ways."
That's why many people say they have no choice but to prioritize ? and to respond only to the most urgent messages.
That describes Mahrinah von Schlegel, who's working to launch a Chicago-based "incubator" that will offer shared office space and other resources for fledgling tech entrepreneurs.
"People get angry when not answered and send multiple messages," says von Schlegel, the 30-year-old managing director of the firm, known as Cibola. She says missed communication has caused her to lose some business deals. Often, it's when people try to contact her by Facebook or direct message on Twitter and she doesn't see the messages for days. Email, she says, is her preferred mode of communication.
But even then, she says, there are only so many hours in the day: "I still need time to eat and sleep and shower."
As she sees it, getting no response ? even when she's the one unsuccessfully trying to contact someone ? is just part of life in a high-tech world. A lot of young people say that, so they've become accustomed to having to try again, or try a different mode of communication if something is truly urgent.
"I think there's this understanding because we've grown up being bombarded by communication," says Mike Gnitecki, a 28-year-old special education teacher in Longview, Texas.
So he's willing to try "multiple points of contact" when trying to reach his students' parents ? because, if he wants a response, "that's just how it is."
David Gillman, a 25-year-old Chicagoan, also opts for brevity and efficiency by sending mass texts to several friends at once to save time.
He only expects those who have time or inclination to respond, and doesn't take it personally if they don't.
It gets trickier, he says, with people from older generations, including his parents, because they like to leave him voicemails, which he doesn't like to take time to check.
"I need to get better about that," he concedes.
Those types of missed communications ? and a lack of response ? can cause "turbulence" in a relationship, says Dan Faltesek, an assistant professor of social media at Oregon State University. But, he adds, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
"It can be a little awkward, but you should talk to people about how you like to talk," Faltesek says. "Everyone will be happier when they say what the rules are."
And it'll go even more smoothly, he says, when people are willing to step outside their own favorite mode of communication to those preferred by the person they're contacting.
"Use the reverse golden rule," Faltesek advises. "Treat others the way THEY like to be treated."
An example: Gnitecki, the teacher in Texas, is considering sending a survey home to ask parents how they'd like to be contacted.
Tech and communication experts agree that choosing a primary means of communication, and letting it be known, is one way to improve communication.
Rebecca Otis, content and social media manager at Digital Third Coast, an Internet marketing firm in Chicago, also recommends getting rid of email and social media accounts you don't check regularly. And text messaging, she says, should be reserved for communication that requires a more urgent reply.
Finding ways to prioritize, and receive, the most important messages also helps.
San Francisco-based AwayFind Inc. is among companies that have developed applications that help filter email ? in this instance, alerting users to important emails on their mobile devices.
In the end, we can't possibly respond to everything, says Jared Goralnick, the company's founder and CEO, who's also part of a nonprofit group called the Information Overload Research Group, which looks for ways to deal with out-of-control communication.
As he sees it, it's good to be responsive, "but not to set an expectation that you'll be available for everything."
"That's just not sustainable," he says.
In other words, if we're going to keep our sanity, we'll sometimes have to accept the no response.
____
On the Internet:
Information Overload Research Group: http://iorgforum.org/
Pew: http://www.pewinternet.org
___
Martha Irvine is a national writer for The Associated Press. She can be reached at mirvine(at)ap.org or at http://twitter.com/irvineap
Earlier on HuffPost:
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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/26/email-overload_n_2763535.html
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The Quapaw Quarter Association has issued a press release on its unsuccessful efforts to stave off the demolition of the Bruner House at 1415 Cantrell Road and the house next door, at 1407 Cantrell, including two letters it wrote the Episcopal Collegiate School and Stephens Inc.
We reported here yesterday that mantels and other architectural components of the house are being salvaged by an Alabama company, Southern Accents.
The letters note that the houses are not in a historic district and could only be protected by the conservation efforts of their owners, and says their destruction should prompt debate about the loss of Little Rock's historic buildings. The 2009 demolition of buildings on the west side of the 400 block of Main Street, including the old Kempner building and the Center Theater ? also by Stephens ? prompted a preservation plan for the city, useless without the creation of historic districts.
The QQA release:
You may be aware that 1407 and 1415 Cantrell Road are slated for demolition soon. It is with deep regret that we watch these houses come down; they are structurally sound and would be appropriate for many uses.'); } else if (jQuery(this).attr("id") == "sortSelect"){ jQuery("#BlogComments .sortSpinner").show(); } var url = "/ArkansasBlog/archives/2013/02/26/qqa-statement-on-cantrell-tear-downs"; var myStart = jQuery(this).attr("id") == "sortSelect" ? "1" : jQuery(this).attr("rel"); var showAllComments = jQuery(this).attr("id") == "showAllComments" ? 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"true" : "false", 30); }); var shareFacebookBox = $("#BlogComments_postCommentToFacebook"); shareFacebookBox.prop("checked", getCookie("shareOnFacebook") === "true" ? true : false); shareFacebookBox.change(function (e) { var shareOnFacebook = $(this).prop("checked"); setCookie("shareOnFacebook", shareOnFacebook ? "true" : "false", 30); }); $("#BlogComments").on('click', 'a.likeLink', doLikeComment); $("#BlogComments").on('click', 'a.reportCommentLink', reportComment); });In April of 2011 when the QQA learned that these and one other house had changed hands, we reached out to the new owners in a number of ways and offered to help find new uses. We also provided several examples of historic houses that have been incorporated into learning institution campuses.
View the QQA's letter to the Episcopal Collegiate School
View the QQA's letter to Stephens, Inc.
Because the houses are not in a protected district, few options were available to us beyond persuading the new owners of the value and potential of the houses. Unfortunately, we received little response to our recommendations and offers of assistance.The Bruner-Hammond House at 1415 Cantrell Road is individually listed in the National Register of Historic Places. However, this is an honorary designation that does not protect the house from demolition. In Little Rock, the only historic buildings protected from demolition are within the MacArthur Park Historic District and the Capitol Zoning District. Many property owners in other parts of town take advantage of incentives and see historic preservation as a smart investment, but they are not required to do so.
We hope the unfortunate loss of these historic houses will spur new dialogue about how we, as a community, can encourage smarter development practices and prevent further loss of our historic fabric. We can do this by creating more local historic districts and implementing better preservation policy at the city level. We welcome your ideas and involvement.
Source: http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2013/02/26/qqa-statement-on-cantrell-tear-downs
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NEW YORK (AP) ? A Greek man has admitted to stealing a Salvador Dali painting from a New York City gallery, only to return it in the mail.
Phivos Istavrioglou pleaded guilty on Tuesday following his arrest in the theft of a work titled "Cartel de Don Juan Tenorio."
Prosecutors say the fashion industry publicist walked into the Manhattan gallery in June, put the painting valued at about $150,000 in a shopping bag and walked out. He anonymously mailed the piece back to the United States from Greece after seeing news coverage of the theft.
Under the plea deal, Istavrioglou avoids additional jail time if he remains incarcerated until his formal sentencing on March 12. He also must pay more than $9,000 in restitution.
His lawyer said it was a stupid thing to do.
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The next frontier in electronics are the flexible, stretchable kind. Yes, that means a rubber, bouncy smartphone (eventually), but it also means heart monitors threaded into cardiac tissue. For devices like that to work, they require flexible, stretchable batteries. And such batteries are here, according to researchers who just published their work.
Yonggang Huang, an engineer at Northwestern University, created the battery with materials wizard John Rogers at the University of Illinois, who received the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize in 2011 for his work on flexible electronics designed for integration with the human body.
How much give and take does the invention allow? ?We can stretch the device a great deal ? up to about 300 percent ? and still have a working battery,? Huang noted. (Please don't try that with your smartphone's battery.)
?Such stretchable batteries enable true integration with stretchable electronics in a small package,? Huang told NBC News in an email.
The background of the research team means that medical applications will be primarily targeted, but there are other applications for bendy batteries such as wearable solar cells and electric-eye cameras that make studio-quality photographs.
The flexible lithium-ion battery reported today in the journal Nature Communications completes the flexible electronics package with a cordless power source. When the battery runs out of juice after about eight hours, it is recharged wirelessly.
To make the battery, the researchers start with tiny, individual, rigid battery storage components arranged next to each other. The bendy and stretchy characteristics stem from tightly packed, wavy wires that connect these components.
?When we stretch the battery, the wavy interconnects unravels, much like yarn unspooling, while the storage components almost keep undeformed, because of their much larger rigidity than the interconnects? Huang explained.
The breakthrough was demonstrated with a light emitting diode that continues to work when stretched, folded and twisted on a human elbow. It continued to work well through 20 recharge cycles.
John Roach is a contributing writer for NBC News. To learn more about him, check out his website. For more of our Future of Technology series, watch the featured video below.
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I'll take "A Binder Full of Women" for $500, Alex.
That was the actual category on the Jeopardy! board on Monday evening as the game show resurrected one of the most memorable meme's of the 2012 election cycle: Republican Presidential nominee, Mitt Romney's comment made during the presidential debate against President Barack Obama at Hofstra University.
Romney's inadvertently funny description came in response to a question from the audience in the townhall style debate at Hofstra about pay equity for women.
The candidate was explaining that as the governor of Massachusetts searching for qualified women to fill cabinet posts, women's groups brought him "binders full of women" who were good candidates.
"And I said, 'Well, gosh, can't we - can't we find some - some women that are also qualified?" Romney said. "I went to a number of women's groups and said, 'Can you help us find folks,' and they brought us whole binders full of women."
The Internet went crazy for the term, which took on a life of it's own. Read more about that HERE.
This week Jeopardy displayed a graphic of a binder full of women as a topic choice.
Check Out Some Of The 'Binders Full of Women' Memes Here
When chosen, the category featured an image of a notable woman of whom the contestant would have to name. The Binder full of woman graphic included Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and 1976 Summer Olympics gold medalist, Nadia Comaneci among others.
"A Binder Full of Women" category was placed last on the board and prompted cheers from the audience when it was presented by the show's host, Alec Trebek.
Other categories on Monday's show included: "Hugo Awards For Science Fiction", "1990's Music", "World Place Names, "A Bunch of Stuff" and fittingly, "Funny Things People Say".
Also ReadSource: http://news.yahoo.com/jeopardy-hosts-binder-full-women-category-220406096--abc-news-politics.html
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Updated Monday, February 25 2013 at 00:00 GMT+3
By Erastus Mulwa
KENYA:? Coffee farmers in Kangundo and Matungulu districts, Machakos County have called on the Government to step in and save their factories from imminent auction by creditors and former employees.
The farmers drawn from at least three coffee societies, including Sengani and Kyaume -both in Matungulu District, as well as Mbilini in Kangundo District have expressed fears that they would incur huge loses should their creditors make good their threat to wind up their coffee societies owing to unsettled debts running to millions of shillings.
In a letter dated January 22 this year, addressed to the chairman of Sengani Farmers Co-operative Society Ltd, several creditors and former employees have through their lawyer Anthony Mulekyo, issued a notice of intention to wind up the society.
According to the notice, the petitioners are demanding a prompt payment of a cumulative amount of Sh2,400,239 together with an interest at court rates, failure to which winding up against the society shall commence.
Interest
The letter further alleges the debt had been accruing for a long period, and that the society had breached all consents entered into between all parties in court.
?By copy of this letter, we have taken liberty to inform the PS, Ministry of Co-operatives of our intentions to file a winding up and a petition cause under section 64 of the Co-operative Societies Act, unless the outstanding total of Sh2,400,239 is paid as demanded together with accrued interest,? reads the notice in part.
Credible sources have confined to The Standard that similar notices have been issued to Kyaume and Mbilini farmers? co-operative societies.
The debts, The Standard established, relate to unpaid salaries and benefits, legal and accounting fees as well as NHIF/NSSF deductions by the petitioners which the management committees have been accused of failing to deposit with the said statutory institutions.
On Sunday, area DCO Maisha Muthoka confirmed he disbanded the Sengani management committee after it emerged officials had been engaging in corrupt practices. ?I convened a special general meeting of the farmers on February 21 where members appointed an interim committee to investigate the activities of the former office bearers and table a report within 90 days,? said Muthoka.
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We don't care if Adele was kidding about making a documentary: This obviously needs to happen! In the press room after her Oscar win, the "Skyfall" singer was asked if she now planned to appear on TV and Broadway, in order to complete her EGOT (Emmy/Grammy/Oscar/Tony) status.
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Yesterday, Samsung announced the HomeSync Android TV box, and as expected that device is making an appearance here on the MWC 2013 show floor. Boxy media hubs can only be so attractive, but the HomeSync's grey-and-black aesthetic is sleek, and the brushed-metal finish will look familiar to anyone who's used a Sammy handset or laptop. There's a pair of USB 3.0 inputs, an HDMI port, optical audio and Ethernet connections on the rear, and buttons for power and settings on the front, but you can easily hide the console deep inside your home theater rig -- it can be controlled exclusively with a Android 4.2-equipped smartphone or tablet.
The Jelly Bean-powered HomeSync runs a 1.7GHz dual-core processor with 1TB of storage, and it supports up to eight accounts for uploading, downloading and sharing content between devices. Those with a Galaxy device will be able to wirelessly stream content to their TVs in full 1080p, and Play Store access is on board for downloading additional media. It worked well during our hands-on, but as with any WiFi-equipped streaming device, there was noticeable lag when mirroring the smartphone display on the connected HDTV. Still, assuming the price is right, we can see this being a solid component within any home theater setup. Take a closer look in our hands-on video after the break.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Samsung
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/25/samsung-homesync-hands-on/
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Barnes & Noble Inc. Chairman Leonard Riggio has told the board he plans to buy the retail assets of the company including Barnes & Noble Booksellers Inc and barnesandnoble.com, but excluding the Nook Media business, sending the company's shares up as much as 26 percent before the bell on Monday.
Barnes & Noble shares closed at $13.51 on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, valuing the company at about $809 million.
Barnes & Noble's retail business has struggled in recent years as book buyers switched to digital formats, underscored by a 10.9 percent fall in sales at its bookstores and websites in the critical year-end holiday period.
"Riggio loves the (retail) business too much to let it go," Morningstar analyst Peter Wahlstrom said, adding that the business was attractive because it was slow-growing and did not need capital to keep going.
The company said in January last year that it might spin off its digital and e-reader business and in October it created a separate unit for its Nook and college bookstore chains called Nook Media, which Riggio said he would not buy.
The combined college book and Nook business, which includes the e-reader, digital content and accessories, contributed about 50 percent of total sales of $1.88 billion in the second quarter ended October 27.
Barnes & Noble launched the Nook in 2009 to compete with Amazon.com Inc's market-leading Kindle, and early growth attracted a big investment from Microsoft Corp last year.
The company has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the unit, but a disappointing holiday season has raised questions about its value.
The purchase price for the retail assets is expected to comprise mainly cash and include the assumption of certain debt, Riggio, who owns nearly 30 percent of Barnes & Noble, said in a regulatory filing on Monday. (http://link.reuters.com/byc36t))
Riggio, who pioneered the book superstore format in the 1980s and 1990s, said he would provide the equity financing and arrange any debt financing for the deal.
Barnes & Noble said it has set up a committee of three independent directors to evaluate Reggio's proposal.
Evercore Partners will serve as financial adviser to the company and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP will be legal advisers, the company said.
The Wall Street Journal reported the proposed deal on Sunday.
Barnes & Noble is scheduled to report third-quarter results on Thursday.
Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.
Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/barnes-noble-chairman-wants-buy-stores-not-nook-1C8531714
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FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German payment systems provider Wirecard said on Monday it had been chosen by Vodafone to introduce the British mobile operator's mobile payment system.
The Vodafone payment service will be rolled out internationally from this year, Wirecard said in a statement.
(Reporting by Christoph Steitz)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wirecard-vodafone-form-mobile-payment-partnership-065244319--sector.html
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This bulldog was preserved by Anthony Eddy Wildlife Studio.
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But some pet owners simply cannot bear to say goodbye, opting instead to preserve dogs, cats ? even lizards and rabbits ? through a process that involves freeze-drying animals in lifelike poses. If you?re curious about how this works, there?s a reality show called ?American Stuffers? on the Discovery Channel that explores pet preservation in graphic detail. While this time-consuming and expensive option isn?t for everyone, some consider it the only way to honor their pets.?
?Some animals are just so special to you,? said a South Carolina pet owner named Haylee, who wanted to have her cat preserved. ?He?s been with me for 11 years. That?s a long time, so I said this is the least I can do for him.? (Haylee did not want to share her last name.)
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Standing inside a South Carolina animal shelter one Halloween, Haylee instantly fell for the fluffy white feline with orange patches, naming him LA in honor of a potentially life-changing move that never came to be. For the next decade, he served as a constant companion, helping Haylee cope with broken relationships, moves and the occasional job change. When an injury to his paw worsened to the point that LA?s leg required amputation, Haylee prepared for the worst. Instead, LA bounced back the minute he got home.
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?He ran around the house, still playing and wanting to jump up on things,? she said. ?He was healthy and I was so happy for him.?
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But that joy was short-lived. LA died of lung cancer a few months later, leaving Haylee wracked with guilt. She considered cremation and even selected an urn from a local company called Good Shepherd. While scanning the company?s website, Haylee saw information about pet preservation and realized it was a way to keep LA in her heart and her home.?(That's LA above, before he succumbed to lung cancer.)?
?I love him, I love him, I love him,? she said. ?I just want him back home.?
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In a nondescript building on Main Street in Slater, Mo., Lessie Calvert spends much of her day speaking to grieving pet owners who call from as far away as Israel or Japan. As manager of Anthony Eddy Wildlife Studio, she has seen the 30-year-old business grow to accommodate a steady stream of pet owners.?
Calvert begins by walking pet owners through the slow, painstaking preservation process. Freeze-drying removes moisture, much like a food dehydrator. Before pets enter the drying machines, Eddy?s team performs the grisly task of removing organs and as much fat as possible. Calvert said it takes about nine hours to prepare a 10-pound cat for the drying machine.
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?You can?t just pose [pets] and put them in the machine; the fat content will ruin it,? she said. ?It?s a lengthy procedure.?
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That applies to the drying process as well. The larger the pet, the longer it takes. Freeze-drying a Chihuahua takes about five months, while a 50-pound dog can take 10 months to a year. LA passed away last April, and Haylee expects a yearlong wait for her furry companion. At one point, curiosity got the best of her and she requested a photo update from Good Shepherd.
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?I?ll never forget that day,? she said. ?I was terrified to open that email to see the picture.?
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As soon as Haylee saw LA, she shut down her laptop.
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?It was just too much,? she said. ?But I just needed to see him. ? I wanted to make to make sure that it was [LA] because I?m spending all this money on him. I wanted to make sure that was my cat.?
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Haylee is paying more than $1,200 to have LA preserved at Good Shepherd, which charges $995 for pets that weigh 10 pounds or less and $70 for each additional pound. While LA will be posed in a sleeping position, owners pay more for poses such as a raised head, which costs $340. At Anthony Eddy?s Missouri wildlife studio, preserving pets 10 pounds or less costs $850, and the rate increases by $40 for each additional pound. For example, the preservation of a 177-pound Alaskan?Malamute cost its owner $7,530. Calvert said the company also has handled celebrity pets and a few show cats.
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?So many people are hurting so bad, and when I lost my dog, I was heartbroken,? she said. ?We?re providing a service to people. It took me five years to look at a dog without crying.?
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As days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, Haylee found it easier to look at that picture of her favorite cat without getting upset. Friends and family who don?t have pets simply cannot understand her decision to preserve LA, but Haylee considers it a small way to repay her friend.
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? Morieka V. Johnson
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Join the conversation with Morieka on Twitter @SoulPup or visit her website, Soulpup.com for more pet info.?
Related pet stories on MNN:
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Photo credits: Haylee's cat LA, before he succumbed to lung cancer; Anthony Eddy Wildlife Studio preserved the gray tabby in a sleeping position, while the white cat has its head raised.
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Getty ImagesAlex Rodriguez?is a three-time AL MVP, but has seen his career spiral into a litany of performance-enhancing drug allegations and off-the-field distractions.
THE BIG READ BY JOE POSNANSKI
updated 9:02 a.m. ET Feb. 22, 2013
Allard Baird would say he was literally shaking. Baird is not a demonstrative person ? he?s the sort of man who would call the best meal of his life ?good? or, perhaps, if he was feeling especially forthcoming, ?really good? ? and this is why the word ?literally? matters. He would remember ?literally? shaking as he sent in his report on a high school baseball player named Alex Rodriguez.
Baird was a young scout ? this was before he became general manager of the Kansas City Royals, long before he became vice president of player personnel for the Boston Red Sox. It was 20 years ago. He had been coaching baseball ? ?on the field,? as baseball people like to say. He grew used to locating players? weaknesses and working on them.
With Alex Rodriguez ? Baird could see no weaknesses. The kid was perfect.
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Nobody could miss the tools. Once Baird took a brand new scout, his friend Muzzy Jackson, to see Rodriguez play. They watched him for five minutes. ?This scouting business is easy,? Jackson said. ?This kid?s got everything.?
Well, OK, Rodriguez was a true five-tool player. They are rare, but they happen.
This wasn?t what unnerved Allard Baird. Rodriguez didn?t just have tools ? he had skill too. He knew what he was doing. And he loved to play. His teammates liked him. He wanted to learn. On the rare occasions when he failed ? like when he would bounce the ball back to the pitcher ? he would run his heart out to first base.
Alex Rodriguez's career statistics
?When he took infield practice, he would show you his arm strength,? Baird says. ?When he hit in intrasquad games, he would run at 100 percent. He never took a play off, never, and you have to remember he was levels above everyone else. He enjoyed being on the field. He loved baseball. When you talked to him, he was pretty humble ? he knew that he was talented but he didn?t take anything for granted.
?Your job as an evaluator is to be positive. But it?s also to understand that the player will ultimately show you his deficiencies. With Alex, I just kept going back, and let?s just say it was pretty hard to dissect him.?
Baird says something else, something that might be worth remembering later on: He says that Rodriguez would do ANYTHING for scouts. Anything. They wanted him to stay after games to hit with a wooden bat? He would do that. They wanted him to talk about himself? He would talk about himself. They wanted to get him away from the field. He would do that. ?He was out there every day doing whatever scouts wanted him to do,? Baird says. ?He did it all with the joy of playing the game.?
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David Bergman / ? David Bergman/Corbis High school senior Alex Rodriguez poses during practice at Westminster High School in 1993 in Miami. |
Yes, Baird would say he literally shook as he sent the report in.
That is how good Alex Rodriguez was when he was young.
* * *
So, how did he get here? How did the most extraordinary young player of his generation (at the time, Red Sox GM Dan Duquette predicted, not facetiously, that Rodriguez might have a year where he hit .400 with 60 homers), a handsome young man who three times (three times!) was named one of People Magazine?s Most Beautiful People, a phenom who was the best shortstop in the game more or less the day he showed up ? how did that guy become this A-Rod?
The hated A-Rod.
The disgraced A-Rod.
The PED-abuser A-Rod.
The choking A-Rod.
The A-Rod that no team in baseball really wants.
How? Duquette is now Baltimore?s executive vice president of baseball operations, and it has been almost 20 years, but he still has this powerful memory of the first time he saw Rodriguez. He was GM of the Montreal Expos, and he remembers wandering around the minor league spring training fields in Lantana, Florida when he suddenly just stopped cold.
?Who,? he asked the guys with him, ?Is that playing shortstop over there??
He said this just seeing the young Alex Rodriguez field a ground ball. One ground ball. From two fields away.
?He had such great size and such fluid actions at shortstop,? Duquette says. ?You just don?t see that combination ? he was just an extraordinary talent. He was so supremely gifted that it really catches the eye. You didn?t even need a second glance to see it.?
At 18, the year after he was the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, Rodriguez moved from Class A Appleton to Class AA Jacksonville to Class AAA Calgary to Seattle. He hit .312 with 21 homers and 20 stolen bases in the minors that first year. Seattle manager Lou Piniella talked the Mariners into calling up Rodriguez ? not because of his soon-to-be-famous bat but because at 18 he was already better defensively than anyone on the Major League team. ?He was awesome,? Rodriguez?s minor league teammate Raul Ibanez says plainly.
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Stephen Dunn / Getty Images Shortstop Alex Rodriguez of the Seattle Mariners fields a groundball during a 11-2 win over the California Angels on Sept. 25, 1996. |
He flashed all those tools and skills and traits that had amazed Allard Baird: Everyone talked about his joy for the game, his deference to teammates, his innocence. ?On July 27,? Gerry Callahan wrote that year in a Sports Illustrated story called ?The Fairest of Them All,? ?Alex Rodriguez will turn 21, making him old enough to have a beer with his Seattle Mariners teammates. He says he?s not interested. ?Can?t stand the taste,? he says. Rodriguez has always felt more at home among milk drinkers.?
The story follows hits all the touchstones. Rodriguez was innocent. Rodriguez was humble. He loved playing in Seattle (?I can?t imagine playing anywhere else?). He was deferential to stars like Ken Griffey (?To me, Junior is just so special and so unique?). More than anything, he had his priorities straight (?My Mom always said, ?I don?t care if you turn out to be a terrible ballplayer, I just want you to be a good person. ? Like Cal (Ripken) or Dale Murphy. I want people to look at me and say, ?He?s a good person.??).
Reading the story now, you can?t help but wonder: Were there signs of the A-Rod who would emerge? The A-Rod who craved approval? The A-Rod who needed to be viewed as perfect? That?s amateur psychology drivel, of course, but it is worth mentioning that the one somewhat sour note of the story came in a quote from an unnamed teammate:
?Well, he?s definitely a good kid,? the teammate acknowledged. ?But you know all that stuff like, ?Oh gee, I?m just happy to be in the big leagues?? Well, that?s an act. Don?t let him fool you. He knows how good he is. And he knows how good he?s going to be.?
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More newsGetty Images??The Big Read by Joe Posnanski: How did the most extraordinary young player of his generation, a handsome young man who three times (three times!) was named one of People Magazine?s Most Beautiful People, a phenom who was the best shortstop in the game more or less the day he showed up ? how did that guy become this A-Rod?
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/50877666/ns/sports-baseball/
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