Source: earthquake.usgs.gov --- Thursday, July 25, 2013
Thursday, July 25, 2013 22:36:37 UTC Thursday, July 25, 2013 03:36:37 PM at epicenter Depth : 1.30 km (0.81 mi) ...
Source: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/nc72033555.php
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Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers spins a ball on his finger during NFL football training camp Friday, July 26, 2013, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers spins a ball on his finger during NFL football training camp Friday, July 26, 2013, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
FILE - In this June 9, 2011 file photo, Green Bay Packers NFL football quarterback Aaron Rodgers, left, and Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun speak during batting practice before a baseball game between the Brewers and the New York Mets,, in Milwaukee. Rodgers says he was "shocked" when his friend Ryan Braun admitted he violated baseball's rules against using performance-enhancing substances. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps, File)
Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers runs a drill during NFL football training camp Friday, July 26, 2013, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers, left, talks to head coach Mike McCarthy during NFL football training camp Friday, July 26, 2013, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) ? Ryan Braun apparently has some work to do to repair his friendship with Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Describing himself as shocked and disappointed, Rodgers said Friday after the Packers' first training camp practice that Braun "looked at me in the eye on multiple occasions and repeatedly denied the allegations" that the Milwaukee Brewers slugger was using performance-enhancing drugs.
Braun this week accepted a season-ending 65-game suspension after admitting to violating baseball's rules against using PEDs.
Rodgers felt duped by his buddy and business associate, a sentiment being expressed by many others in Wisconsin. A Milwaukee restaurant is named for two of the state's most well-known athletes, and Rodgers last year defended his friend on Twitter, going so far as to betting his multimillion-dollar salary that Braun was clean.
"It's disappointing, not only for myself as a friend but for obviously Wisconsin sports fans, Brewer fans, Major League Baseball fans," Rodgers said before a throng of media surrounding his locker. "It doesn't feel great being lied to like that, and I'm disappointed about the way it all went down."
Rodgers and Braun have spoken since the slugger's suspension. Asked if he considered themselves friends, Rodgers didn't answer directly but said in part, "I trusted him, and that's the thing that probably hurts the most."
The future of their business relationship ? they're involved in a licensing agreement for the 8-twelve MVP Bar and Grill ? was yet to be determined, Rodgers said.
With the benefit of hindsight, Rodgers plans to take a more measured approach next time if faced a similar situation in the future.
"People make mistakes. I definitely believe in forgiveness and moving forward," Rodgers said. "Obviously, (Braun) has a tough task in front of him moving forward with his career, on and off the field."
All the attention at the first practice was atypical even for Rodgers, a former Super Bowl and NFL MVP who leads one of most dangerous passing attacks in the league. He was smiling and laughing on the field Friday, running through drills like the rest of his teammates on an overcast, breezy morning.
In the locker room, however, the off-the-field questions didn't stop at Braun.
Earlier this week, former Packers receiver Greg Jennings ? now with the archrival Minnesota Vikings ? criticized of his ex-quarterback. In an interview with the Star Tribune, Jennings questioned Rodgers' leadership and implied the quarterback had become bigger than the team.
"Don't get me wrong, '12' is a great person," Jennings was quoted as saying, referring to Rodgers. "But when you hear all positives, all positives, all positives all the time, it's hard for you to sit down when one of your teammates says, 'Man, come on, you've got to hold yourself accountable for this.' It's hard for someone to see that now because all they've heard is I'm doing it the right way, I'm perfect. In actuality, we all have flaws."
Rodgers said he wasn't spending time or energy on Jennings' comments.
"To me, I'm concerned with the opinions of the guys in this locker room and the guys we have here," Rodgers said. "It's exciting to be able to be one of the leaders of this football team, and I'm very confident in my style."
Not surprisingly, the current Packers had the quarterback's back.
"It is what it is," receiver Randall Cobb said about Jennings' remarks. "Aaron is a great leader. He puts us in some great situations on and off the field. He makes it easier for us to have someone to look up to for support and leadership."
Rodgers had one of the best offseasons of his nine-year career, according to coach Mike McCarthy.
"He's in good shape. He's ready to go. He really understands his role as far as the leader and one of the veteran leaders on our football team," McCarthy said. "I think Aaron's off to a great start coming off a very good offseason."
As for practice itself, McCarthy liked what he saw. It's just the first day, so he and the coaching staff plan to take a closer look at tape for a better evaluation.
The tempo has picked up a little from previous years, in part because music is being played on loudspeakers during what are being called "TV timeouts." It's designed to give players a breather and, in part, to mimic the routines during games. Rodgers' favorite tune in the rotation? Darius Rucker's version of "Wagon Wheel."
___
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Rumors say they are lending kits at no charge
Sony is said to be handing out PlayStation 4 developer kits like no tomorrow. The kits are rumored to cost about $2500 per kit, but Sony is apparently been loaning these kits for free to the company?s favorite developers to stimulate development.
?
Rumors suggest that Sony isn?t even selling the PS4 development kits at all, but instead devoting all available inventory to getting these kits in the hands of developers. A number of indie developers claim that they have received development kits for free from Sony.
This might explain why Microsoft is talking about the ability to use (or convert if you will) off-the-shelf consoles as development kits for the Xbox One. Again, Microsoft has not filled in all of the blanks on how this is going to work or what it might cost.
Read more here.
?
Source: http://www.fudzilla.com/home/item/32056-sony-putting-ps4-dev-kits-in-developer-hands
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But Ross's return to the Sox clubhouse Thursday was a welcome sight, and he was grateful to be back. On the recommendation of doctors, the 36-year-old Ross has spent his time recovering at home in Tallahassee, Fla. He doesn't question the wisdom of that decision.
"Yeah, I think it definitely helped me turn off the baseball side of it," he said. "I think I needed to calm down my brain and have not many distractions. I know early on it stunk to be away, but I knew home was the right place.
"About a week ago I felt like I was getting better and I think I was tired of not being here. I wanted to get back to some normalcy. Being around the guys, just basically being back where I feel normal.
"I feel at home here. I love being around these guys, I love talking with them about baseball. I just like being back. They've welcomed me back with open arms and I'm glad to be back. I think it's a great team to be a part of. Good place to come to work every day."
Ross has not yet resumed baseball activity, and isn't expected to any time soon, at least none of any intensity.
"The baseball activity will increase gradually," manager John Farrell said. "I would guess that he outlined to you that [he will] be with us during the early part of the day and up to three innings per night, just to start to get in and around all the commotion, the noise, all the other activity that goes along with that.
"There's going to be throwing and some conditioning that goes into his daily work. But the tolerance, we'll monitor daily and how we progress forward. His addition back in our clubhouse, this is one of the most respected guys in our clubhouse. He's full of life and energy. I think for some of the younger guys, there might be a little bit of a calming influence just based on what he's experienced."
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July 22, 2013
You will discover there exists lots of several ventures that you may enter. Whether or not you?re looking brandon rayford in the online in order to boost advertising choices or you?re looking at affiliate marketing options that may make money by means of written content supervision, you?ll find that the net has became available any adjustable cornucopia involving opportunity for people who are able to knuckle down as well as profit. Among the very best alternatives that you?re going to get currently are drop transport in addition to public sale structured websites. This can sound like problematic alternative nevertheless it is certainly simple to get started, however could possibly get difficult to manage when you get critical sales through your promotional attempts.
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Giveaways, Journal in addition to Wedding invitations
When you are aesthetic and get prospects thoughts with the natural impression of fashion, this can be one of several business ideas you need to tend to set up in the home. It is really an suitable small business for parents since this may be built inside your room or maybe in different comfortable invest your home. You can produce one of a kind special gifts to yourself, personalize determined by your current client?s personal preferences, or maybe obtain a great number of tips online.
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If you are qualified as a writer, it is possible to immediately start quality writing articles for companies who will be choosing internet marketing author staff through online. Whatever you just need with this company is often a computer system and trustworthy web connection in your own home. This particular thought is better for parents who may have the backdrop in writing.
Along with a very little funds together with your plus points and also expertise, you could start all of these businesses not having hesitations. Just be watchful within finding the idea that is suitable for your persona along with pursuits. These business ideas will truly allow you to end up being the mothers you want to possibly be, generating whilst attending to your kids at your home. Wear them more beneficial compared to working online for you to do your responsibilities without disquieting for the family?s endeavour.
Source: http://honeymoonguy.com/?p=652
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Public release date: 22-Jul-2013
Share ] Contact: Neil Tickner
ntickner@umd.edu
301-405-7476
University of Maryland
COLLEGE PARK, Md. The benefits of race-conscious college admissions are only fully realized under certain conditions, concludes new University of Maryland-led research. To stimulate meaningful cross-racial engagement, incoming freshman classes should reflect both racial and socio-economic diversity, the researchers report.
The peer-reviewed study appears in the June 2013 issue of the "American Educational Research Journal." The researchers say their study is the first to test empirically how socio-economic diversity affects racial interaction in colleges.
"Social class and race not only affect who goes to college, but what actually happens to students once they begin the journey of learning together," says lead author Julie J. Park, an assistant professor of education at the University of Maryland (UMD). "Socio-economic diversity matters, not only because we need to broaden access to universities, but because it better equips these institutions to support racial diversity. A broader mix of students helps encourage more fluid interactions."
Park's team analyzed questionnaires filled out by more than 15,000 students at 102 U.S. colleges and universities on their campus interactions in and out of the classroom, including contacts with students from different races and social-economic backgrounds. Students reported as freshman and then again four years later as seniors.
The researchers found that students who reported higher levels of interaction with those from different socio-economic backgrounds also had significantly higher levels of contacts with other races, and an overall higher level of mixing with students from diverse backgrounds.
These findings "indicate that both socioeconomic and racial diversity are essential to promoting a positive campus racial climate," the researchers write. "Racial and socioeconomic diversity, while interrelated, are not interchangeable."
Park explains that white students from lower class backgrounds tend to have more experiences with people from different backgrounds due to the racial composition of American high schools.
"For one thing, sharing similar socio-economic backgrounds provides a way for students of different races to find common ground," Park adds. "Socio-economic diversity in combination with racial diversity creates a safer, more level playing field where people can meet and learn from each other."
The study's findings have practical implications for college admissions policies.
"In order to better support both racial and socioeconomic diversity, selective and highly selective colleges need to increase efforts and dedicate additional resources toward recruiting, admitting, and supporting greater numbers of academically talented low-income students of all races and ethnicities," the authors write.
The study is the latest in Park's research, which focuses on diversity in higher education. She has a new book out that echoes the findings of this study, "When Diversity Drops: Race, Religion, and Affirmative Action in Higher Education." It examines the impact in California of Proposition 209, which banned affirmative action statewide.
###
The study's full text is available here:
http://aer.sagepub.com/content/50/3/466.full.pdf+html?ijkey=l.HYakUkuxz16&keytype=ref&siteid=spaer
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 22-Jul-2013 Share ] Contact: Neil Tickner
ntickner@umd.edu
301-405-7476
University of Maryland
COLLEGE PARK, Md. The benefits of race-conscious college admissions are only fully realized under certain conditions, concludes new University of Maryland-led research. To stimulate meaningful cross-racial engagement, incoming freshman classes should reflect both racial and socio-economic diversity, the researchers report.
The peer-reviewed study appears in the June 2013 issue of the "American Educational Research Journal." The researchers say their study is the first to test empirically how socio-economic diversity affects racial interaction in colleges.
"Social class and race not only affect who goes to college, but what actually happens to students once they begin the journey of learning together," says lead author Julie J. Park, an assistant professor of education at the University of Maryland (UMD). "Socio-economic diversity matters, not only because we need to broaden access to universities, but because it better equips these institutions to support racial diversity. A broader mix of students helps encourage more fluid interactions."
Park's team analyzed questionnaires filled out by more than 15,000 students at 102 U.S. colleges and universities on their campus interactions in and out of the classroom, including contacts with students from different races and social-economic backgrounds. Students reported as freshman and then again four years later as seniors.
The researchers found that students who reported higher levels of interaction with those from different socio-economic backgrounds also had significantly higher levels of contacts with other races, and an overall higher level of mixing with students from diverse backgrounds.
These findings "indicate that both socioeconomic and racial diversity are essential to promoting a positive campus racial climate," the researchers write. "Racial and socioeconomic diversity, while interrelated, are not interchangeable."
Park explains that white students from lower class backgrounds tend to have more experiences with people from different backgrounds due to the racial composition of American high schools.
"For one thing, sharing similar socio-economic backgrounds provides a way for students of different races to find common ground," Park adds. "Socio-economic diversity in combination with racial diversity creates a safer, more level playing field where people can meet and learn from each other."
The study's findings have practical implications for college admissions policies.
"In order to better support both racial and socioeconomic diversity, selective and highly selective colleges need to increase efforts and dedicate additional resources toward recruiting, admitting, and supporting greater numbers of academically talented low-income students of all races and ethnicities," the authors write.
The study is the latest in Park's research, which focuses on diversity in higher education. She has a new book out that echoes the findings of this study, "When Diversity Drops: Race, Religion, and Affirmative Action in Higher Education." It examines the impact in California of Proposition 209, which banned affirmative action statewide.
###
The study's full text is available here:
http://aer.sagepub.com/content/50/3/466.full.pdf+html?ijkey=l.HYakUkuxz16&keytype=ref&siteid=spaer
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-07/uom-wcd072213.php
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?Mark Pryor Joined a Minority of U.S. Senators to Block Bipartisan, Common-Sense Legislation Requiring Background Checks on All Gun Sales
Television Ad Follows Friday Remembrance Event for the 12 Killed and 70 More Injured www.DemandAction.org/oneyear?
LITTLE ROCK, Ark., July 20, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Mayors Against Illegal Guns today announced a new television ad featuring Stephen Barton, a survivor of the Aurora, CO shooting that took place one year ago. In the ad, Barton recalls his chilling experience in the theater that night and asks for action from Washington lawmakers like Senator Mark Pryor to keep guns away from criminals, domestic abusers, and those with serious mental illness.
Polling shows that as many 84 percent of Arkansans support expanding background checks to all gun sales, a figure roughly in line with the more than 90 percent of Americans overall who support background checks.
Despite this, Senator Pryor stood with a minority of US Senators and the Washington gun lobbyists blocking a bipartisan background checks bill proposed by NRA "A"-rated Republican Senator Pat Toomey and Democratic Senator Joe Manchin that would have closed the loopholes that make it easy for dangerous people to get guns.
The ad can be viewed at www.DemandAction.org/oneyear and will begin airing on television today in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, and Washington, D.C.?
"As amazed as I am that a year has passed since that tragic night in Aurora, I'm even more shocked that our elected leaders in Washington have accomplished nothing in that time to make such horrific tragedies less likely," said Barton. "Thousands of Americans have been murdered with firearms since last July, but our gun laws remain dangerously lax and loophole-ridden. How many more people have to be killed or injured by a gun before Washington acts?"
The ad's release comes in the middle of the "No More Names: National Drive to Reduce Gun Violence" ? a 25-state national bus tour over a period of 100 days aimed at urging America's leaders to support common-sense gun policies. At each stop, participants have held rallies with a broad coalition of supporters ? including police, survivors, gun owners, domestic violence prevention advocates, mayors, and other elected officials ? to commemorate those we've lost and to call on our leaders to stand with the American people in support of common-sense gun laws.
Evidence demonstrates that background checks help save lives. In states that already require background checks for all handgun sales:
About Mayors Against Illegal Guns
Since its creation in April 2006, Mayors Against Illegal Guns has grown from 15 members to more than 950 mayors from across the country. We have more than 1.5 million grassroots supporters, making us the largest gun violence prevention advocacy organization in the country.? The bipartisan coalition, co-chaired by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, has united the nation's mayors around these common goals: protecting communities by holding gun offenders accountable; demanding access to crime gun trace data that is critical to law enforcement efforts to combat gun trafficking; and working with legislators to fix weaknesses and loopholes in the law that make it far too easy for criminals and other dangerous people to get guns.? Learn more at www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org
[1] Daniel Webster, Jon Vernick, and Maria Bulzacchelli, "Effects of State-Level Firearm Seller Accountability Policies on Firearm Trafficking," Journal of Urban Health, July 2009.
[2] U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Supplementary Homicide Reports, 2010.
[3] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Web-Based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) [online]. (2005) [cited 2012 Dec. 20].
[4] Federal Bureau of Investigation. LEOKA Database, 2001-2011 (Accessed Mar. 2013).
CONTACTS?
Alex Katz: akatz@maig.org or 617-721-3779?
Jack Warner: jwarner@maig.org or 914-575-1090
?
SOURCE Mayors Against Illegal Guns
Source: http://www.sys-con.com/node/2743371
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ALBANY ? Aides to Gov. Andrew Cuomo approved a 9.5 percent increase in workers compensation rates last week, but estimated the actual increase to employers will be less than 3 percent as a result of reforms put in place this spring.
The New York Compensation Insurance Rating Board originally sought a 16.9 percent "loss cost" hike, the overall projected cost increase for covering workers comp claims in the coming year. But the amount was reduced to below 10 percent after a hearing conducted by Cuomo's Department of Financial Services. When reforms adopted as part of the 2013-14 state budget are phased in, the increase should be in the range of 2.8 percent, DFS said.
"A 9.5 percent increase would alleviate the impact of the cost increases identified in NYCIRB?s filing, and the supporting submissions and testimony, while, when combined with the anticipated 2014 New York State assessment reductions (resulting in a further 6.7 percent decrease in policyholder costs), limit the overall projected cost increase passed on to policyholders to approximately 2.8," DFS commissioner Ben Lawsky, a top Cuomo aide, said in a decision released last week.
New York is one of the most expensive states in the U.S. when it comes to the cost of the workers compensation for employers. A study released last fall by the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services put New York in 5th place as the most expensive workers comp system in the U.S., behind Alaska, Connecticut, California and Illinois. The cost to New York employers was put at $2.82 per $100 of payroll, compared to a national median cost of $1.88.
Friday, business groups credited Cuomo for the reforms put in the new budget back in March. They followed earlier reforms put in place by former Gov. Eliot Spitzer in 2007.
The new budget called for eliminating a whole series of workers comp business tax assessments and merging the costs into a single assessment.
"The Department of Financial Services has recognized the increases in costs in the system and that?s reflected in a realistic loss cost," Business Council workers comp specialist Lev Ginsberg said. "The Business Council remains committed to working with the administration and the Workers Comp Board to further reform the workers comp system and realize greater costs savings and hopefully lower workers comp insurance costs in the future."
Mike Durant of the National Federation of Independent Business also credited Cuomo for pushing through the reforms. He said the NFIB would continue to work with Cuomo to "make regulatory fixes to help drive down the costs so that the pressure is eliminated on the employers as well as the insurance industry."
Source: http://www.troyrecord.com/articles/2013/07/21/news/doc51eb855de7f20520656002.txt
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He played masterfully at the U.S. Open, just as he had done so many times before. In the end, it just wasn?t Phil Mickelson?s time. But Lefty wouldn?t be denied his first British Open title this weekend at Muirfield.
A tournament in which the 43-year-old hasn?t played particularly well in the past, Mickelson came roaring back on Sunday to notch a final-round 66 and effectively secure his first British Open title, via PGA Tour:
Here is a look at the final leaderboard:
In a tournament punctuated by dry, speedy greens and poor putting, Mickelson brought his best game with the flat stick in one-putting 31 holes for the tournament.????
Courtesy of ESPN Programming
But Mickelson was fantastic from tee to green on Sunday, especially in his final three holes. Lefty parred the par-three 16th before giving way to back-to-back birdies to finish his round, per Callaway Golf:
On 18, Mickelson hit an approach shot from the fairway that landed on the back-left portion of the green, just feet from a large bunker protecting the back of the putting surface. His ball hopped and spun back toward the pin, at which point Ian Poulter (plus-one) tweeted his admiration for Mickelson?s performance:
Poulter entered the clubhouse at one over, and it looked like the 37-year-old had done enough to stave off a late surge from the field. The way Muirfield was playing, low scores just weren?t all that common.
Poulter would be the first to admit that, first voicing his displeasure with pin placement and fast greens following his first round on Thursday:
But Poulter pulled it together in the ensuing rounds to enter the day at five-over?a respectable score given Muirfield?s difficulty and the absence of a true front-runner atop the leaderboard.
Poulter wasn?t going to settle for a mediocre finish, though, and went on a tear Sunday with a tremendous putting display, as documented by the Open:
As well as Poulter played, he very well could have escaped with a victory if not for some tremendous late-round performances like Mickelson?s.
Unfortunately for Lee Westwood, he wouldn?t turn in one of those performances.
The 40-year-old Englishman may be the best current tour player to have never won a major, and one of his best chances to change that slipped away on Sunday.
Westwood entered the final round with the lead and watched it quickly dissipate with three bogeys on the front nine. As Mickelson was surging, Westwood was flailing, trying to hold onto a round that was slipping away.
Courtesy of ESPN Programming
All doubt was erased on the 16th when Westwood let another shot escape him, per the Open 2013:
As noted by ESPN Stats & Info, had Westwood won, he would have made history on multiple fronts:
While Westwood wasn?t able to make that happen, Mickelson certainly did his part to continue a tremendous run of British Open golf by some of the older members of the PGA Tour.
?
Tiger?s Drought Continues
World No. 1 Tiger Woods entered the British Open facing a five-plus-year major tournament title drought. He put himself in good position to end it on Sunday, but he faded from the very start.
Courtesy of ESPN Programming
Things didn?t start out well for Tiger. The 37-year-old dropped a few quality putts, but his iron play was a far cry from how well he was striking the ball through the first three rounds.
Per the Open, Woods started with three bogeys through six holes:
Woods birdied No. 9 to get one back, but he went on to card three bogeys on the notoriously difficult back nine to drop to two-over by the end of his round to finish tied for sixth place.
Questions continue to swirl as to how Woods will ever find that dominating Sunday form in majors. As well as he has played this year (four tour wins), he hasn?t been able to come up big in majors, finishing fourth at the Masters and 32nd at the U.S. Open.
?
Mahan and Westwood from Start to Finish
Westwood and Hunter Mahan entered Sunday atop the leaderboard, last to tee off on the final day at Muirfield.
But like Westwood, Mahan sputtered from start to finish. The 31-year-old carded six bogeys in his final round, the only highlight an eagle at the par-five ninth hole.
This PGA Tour tweet perfectly sums up the similarities between Mahan and Westwood in the final round of the Open Championship:
Both players were tremendous throughout the tournament, but neither could find his rhythm on Sunday. As a result, the door swung open for Mickelson as Mahan and Westwood faded back into the field.
?
Love for Lefty
When Mickelson wins, people enjoy golf just a little bit more.
The 43-year-old is a terrific ambassador to the sport, and his victory at Muirfield was just another impressive accomplishment to add to his resume, as the Chicago Tribune's Ed Sherman noted:
Bob Harig of ESPN.com also pointed out that Mickelson joined some illustrious company with his win at the historic track:
Jason Sobel of the Golf Channel also chimed in, mentioning a conversation he had with Mickelson in reference to his play this year:
There's certainly something to that. Mickelson is on a tremendous run of golf in recent months, and despite coming up short in heart-breaking fashion at Merion last month, he made up for it with what could be one of the best major tournament rounds of his career.
?
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19 July 2013
Scientific camera specialist, Princeton Instruments, has promoted William Asher to president of the company.
Asher previously held the position of vice president of product development and engineering at the company?for eight years. Prior to working at PI, Asher was general manager at Balzers Optical and executive vice president of operations and engineering at Boston Advanced Technologies and On-Site Analysis.
?Princeton Instruments has a storied history of providing the highest quality products and support to the scientific research community and leading edge OEM laboratory equipment manufacturers,? said Asher.
Princeton Instruments designs and manufactures CCD, ICCD, emICCD, EMCCD, and InGaAs cameras; spectrographs; and optics-based solutions.
Princeton Instruments
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ImagingAndMachineVisionEurope-News/~3/SPqY-pkLpOk/news_story.php
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Courtesy Boston Magazine
A sniper trains his beam on Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Photo by Sean Murphy.
By Becky Bratu, Staff Writer, NBC News
The Massachusetts police officer who took photographs that were released Thursday of Boston bombing suspect Dzokhar Tsarnaev was reportedly relieved of his duties.
Boston Magazine was the first outlet to publish the new photographs of the surviving marathon bombing suspect?emerging from his hiding place?on April 19, when he was captured by police.
The photographs, taken by Sgt. Sean Murphy, a Massachusetts State Police tactical photographer, show a bloodied Tsarnaev getting out of a boat with a sniper?s laser trained on his forehead.
Murphy was outraged by the recent?Rolling Stone cover, according to Boston Magazine, and he said he wanted to send a different message.
Late Thursday, Boston Magazine reported?that Murphy had been relieved of his duties and his gun pending a hearing next week and ordered not to talk to the media. NBC News was not able to immediately verify this report, and calls for comment to the Massachusetts State Police were not returned.
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Preserving an iconic animal like Lonesome George is all about the details
View the Slide Show Image: American Museum of Natural History/D. Finnin
How does a Venus flytrap know when to snap shut? Can it actually feel an insect?s tiny, spindly legs? And how do cherry blossoms know when to bloom? Can they...
Read More??
Eleanor Sterling happened to be visiting the Gal?pagos Islands on June 24, 2012, the day Lonesome George died. George, the last of a species of giant tortoise unique to Pinta Island, had become an iconic symbol of the struggle to conserve disappearing species. Sterling had come to the islands on conservation business, but she dropped everything when she heard that George had expired.
The first thing Sterling did was put in a call to George Dante, a New Jersey taxidermist. Sterling, who directs the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) Center for Biodiversity and Conservation in New York City, knew Dante from his previous work for the museum. He impressed on her the need to act quickly to protect the iconic tortoise?s body from the ravages of decay. George?s eyes and the skin, being most prominent, were particularly vulnerable.
That turned out to be no easy matter on Pinta, one of the smaller and more remote islands in the archipelago. Sterling and members of Galap?gos National Park Service began to search local stores for freezer plastic or some other material to wrap George in. They had little success at first?store after store told them they would have to wait until the next plane of supplies arrived from Ecuador. As the day went on, Sterling and the others grew discouraged.
View the Slide Show
But their luck quickly changed. Storeowners, moved by Lonesome George?s death, got on the phones and began scrounging up supplies. ?All of a sudden, the materials that we needed started coming from a pig farm here and a fish factory there,? Sterling says. Before any damage occurred, George had been wrapped from head to tail and safely frozen, ready to be swaddled in insulation and shipped out.
Nine months later, on March 11, 2013, Lonesome George arrived at the AMNH. Scientists there inspected the frozen tortoise for any damage that may have been done during his trip, and then packed him up and sent him by truck to Dante?s studio, Wildlife Preservations, in Woodland Park, N.J.
Dante unwrapped George and waited for him to defrost. He and his team of four taxidermists then began to take dental alginate and silicone molds of George?s feet and head. The taxidermists then poured polyester resin into the negative molds to create three-dimensional models. The models will be used for reference throughout the six-month or so process of being stuffed and mounted.
Next, they removed George?s skin and placed it in an acid solution, which cleans and thickens the skin (the skin remains in the bath). They now plan to spend several weeks sculpting all of George?s muscles out of an oil-based clay. While sculpting George?s musculature, the taxidermists will repeatedly wrap the skin around Dante?s clay model and make refinements until it fits perfectly.
Dante, who has done projects for the Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology and the Smithsonian Institution, prides himself on the scientific accuracy of his work. He prefers museum projects, he says, because of their high standards. George is particularly challenging. For one thing, the sculpting process tends to be more difficult for reptiles than for mammals. With reptiles, he says, ?There?s no fur to hide anything. The anatomy underneath has to be as perfect as it can be because the skin is a very thin membrane.?
George also may be the world?s most famous tortoise, which makes it all the more important for Dante to be true to life. Whereas he has in the past ordered premade musculature that he then modifies, this time Dante is taking no shortcuts: he will sculpt Lonesome George from scratch.
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/~r/ScientificAmerican-News/~3/_dQx4-cMNmE/article.cfm
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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/JjmOBQSOz7I/130718111325.htm
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A MAN who murdered a church organist by battering him to death as he walked to a Christmas Eve service in Sheffield has an extensive history of violent offending dating back to when he was teenager, a judge was told today.
Devout Christian Alan Greaves suffered horrendous head injuries when he was attacked as he walked the short distance from his home in the High Green area of Sheffield to midnight mass at St Saviour?s Church on December 24. He died in hospital three days later.
Yesterday Ashley Foster, 22, was cleared of murdering father-of-four Mr Greaves but found guilty of his manslaughter amid emotional scenes at Sheffield Crown Court.
Another man, Jonathan Bowling, 22, pleaded guilty to murder at a previous hearing.
Today, Foster and Bowling appeared in court for sentencing.
Bowling remained handcuffed in the dock flanked by six prison officers, separated from Foster by three of the guards.
Mr Greaves?s widow Maureen watched her husband?s killers from the public gallery above the court.
Prosecutor Robert Smith QC told the judge about a series of convictions Bowling has for violence.
Mr Smith said these included an attack on a 36-year-old jogger when Bowling was 15.
He said Bowling left his victim with serious head injuries, including a suspected broken cheekbone.
The judge, Mr Justice Teare, heard how Bowling was also convicted in his teens for brandishing a hammer when a police officer stopped him, threatening a woman with a hammer, and headbutting a 48-year-old woman who complained because he was throwing snowballs at her windows.
Mr Smith was speaking at beginning of the hearing to sentence Foster, of Wesley Road, High Green, and Bowling, of Carwood Way, Pitsmoor.
Earlier today Mrs Greaves spoke of her forgiveness for the two men.
Mr Smith said Mr Greaves was a particularly vulnerable victim.
He said: ?At the age of 68 he was unlikely to be able to mount an effective defence.
?It was a crime without motive.
?He was killed for no reason other than that he had been identified as a suitable victim.?
Gordon Cole QC, defending Bowling, told the judge his client had written a letter to Mrs Greaves expressing his genuine remorse.
Mr Cole said the letter had been handed to prosecutors who will decide whether it is appropriate to pass it on.
He said Bowling had also written to the judge.
?He accepts his role in the commission of this murder,? Mr Cole said.
?He is genuinely remorseful for that which he has done.?
Mr Cole said his client had a personality disorder but experts found this was insufficient to substantially impair his responsibility for what he did.
During the three-week trial, prosecutors said Mr Greaves was severely beaten with a pick-axe handle and another weapon that has never been found, possibly a hammer.
But today, Adrian Waterman QC, defending Foster, argued that the jury?s verdict of manslaughter rather than murder meant that his client did not physically take part in the attack.
He said Foster had no convictions for violence, although he had been in trouble for dishonesty.
The court heard that Foster and Bowling had left a family gathering earlier on the evening of Christmas Eve last year. According to prosecutors, they were angrily stalking the streets of High Green looking for someone to attack. If they had not killed Mr Greaves, a retired social worker, it would have been someone else, the jury was told.
Senior police officers said the pair were simply out ?looking for trouble?.
Foster and Bowling had known each other since their early teens when Bowling?s father was in a relationship with Foster?s mother. They have been described as stepbrothers.
The judge said he would sentence both men this afternoon.
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Source: http://www.womensviewsonnews.org/2013/07/is-the-left-too-soft-on-religious-extremists/
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Nicholas Hoult Poses for Flaunt Magazine?[The Frisky] Media Drives Lana Del Rey to Hit the Bottle?[HollyWire] Gwyneth Paltrow a Fashion Miss in May?[Right Celebrity] Fan Arrested for Swimming to Taylor Swift Beach House?[The Celebrity Cafe] Nikki Leigh on a Photo Shoot at the Beach?[The Blemish] Miley Cyrus Poses without Pants?[The Huffington Post] Carrie Underwood Wears ...
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Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/05/hump-day-special-9/
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Getty ImagesSafety Bernard Pollard isn?t simply done talking about the Ravens.? He?s done talking to the Ravens.? Well, at least some of them.
Pollard tells 105.7 The Fan in Baltimore that he won?t be attending Baltimore?s post-Super Bowl visit to the White House.
?I?m not gonna be there,? Pollard said.? ?I gotta sit this one out, man.? I actually have a vacation with my family and then I?m coming back to get [my ring].? If I didn?t have a vacation, I wouldn?t come in anyway.?
So what?s the problem?
?It?s not my teammates,? Pollard said.? ?It?s not my teammates at all.? I would celebrate with them any time, any day of the week I would celebrate with them.? But at the end of the day, I know what happened, I know what took place. . . . I?m sorry, I just don?t want to be in the room with certain people.?
Pollard didn?t name the ?certain people? with whom he doesn?t want to share space.? But he heaped praise on G.M. Ozzie Newsome and owner Steve Bisciotti, so it?s apparently not them.
?Ozzie is great,? Pollard said.? ?Ozzie is amazing.? I love Ozzie, man, he gave me an opportunity.? Mr.? Bisciotti.? It?s just one of those things where they made some moves, they cleaned house, Ozzie put together a really, really good defense as we see on paper right now.?
Pollard still seems to be particularly troubled by the situation that has been characterized in the media as ?practically a mutiny,? along with its potential link to his release.
?I?m just a player where you ask me my opinion, I?m gonna tell you,? Pollard said.? ?And for you to get upset or whatever afterwards, you know, you asked me.? That?s that. . . .? We were just asked our opinion about something.? And we let the coach know our opinion. . . .? It was us as players. . . .? We were asked, the floor was open.? And we responded, and let the coaches know how we felt, and that?s how it has to be as a football team.? We can?t walk around on eggshells as a football team.?
Though Pollard didn?t specifically mention coach John Harbaugh, it?s likely that he?s one of the people against whom Pollard holds a grudge.
Then again, Harbaugh and the Ravens ultimately may be in the right.? Pollard will never admit ? indeed, he may not even realize ? that he was out of line or over the top in anything he said or did while with the Ravens.? Still, Pollard has a reputation for being outspoken, for complaining, and for drawing too much attention to himself.
?Three teams in how many years,? one source said in the wake of Pollard?s release. ?Soon four.? What does that tell you??
The Ravens surely didn?t expect Pollard?s habit of complaining to suddenly change once he was released.? Still, if he can manage not to complain his way off the roster in Tennessee until 2014, it?ll be well worth the price of admission to see the Ravens and Titans get together in Baltimore.
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May 15, 2013 ? Women's immune systems age more slowly than men's, suggests research in BioMed Central's open access journal Immunity & Ageing. The slower decline in a woman's immune system may contribute to women living longer than men.
Researchers looked at the blood of healthy volunteers in Japan, ranging in age between 20 and 90 years old; in both sexes the total number of white blood cells per person decreased with age. The number of neutrophils decreased for both sexes and lymphocytes decreased in men and increased in women. Younger men generally have higher levels of lymphocytes than similarly aged women, so as aging happens, the number of lymphocytes becomes comparable.
Looking in more detail it became apparent that the rate in decline in T cells and B cells was slower for women than men. Both CD4+ T cells and NK cells increased with age, and the rate of increase was higher in women than men. Similarly an age-related decline in IL-6 and IL-10 was worse in men. There was also a age-dependent decrease in red blood cells for men but not women.
This difference in the aging of immune systems between men and women is one of many processes which alter as we grow older. Prof Katsuiku Hirokawa from the Tokyo Medical & Dental University Open Laboratory explained, "The process of aging is different for men and women for many reasons. Women have more oestrogen than men which seems to protect them from cardiovascular disease until menopause. Sex hormones also affect the immune system, especially certain types of lymphocytes. Because people age at different rates a person's immunological parameters could be used to provide an indication of their true biological age."
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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/Fq7AXrngPX0/130514213056.htm
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Today, Google announced that its conversational search that is available for its Android and iOS apps would be coming to the desktop within the Chrome browser. Until now, you could search for things using your voice…but you couldn’t ask questions. Now, you’ll be able to keep your mic open without clicking a button, by waking Google up with the prompt “OK Google.” This is similar to the prompt that wakes up Google Glass. You can say things like “Show me things to do in Santa Cruz” and get results quickly, and with the context that you need to take an action. It’s very similar what you can do with Google Now right now. The familiar voice will respond to you, answering your question. That’s what Google Search is all about now, asking questions. Without having to worry about “how” to search for something and asking a simple question, you can get more done, faster. That’s Google’s goal. You’re not going to get answers to all of your questions, but the company does collect information about those failed searches. It gets smarter, like all of their products. Will you sit and speak to your computer? Asking it questions? It sounds odd, but no more odd than talking to a microphone on a pair of lensless glasses.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/mGuztE-PLXY/
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VALLEY SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) ? A day before a 12-year-old boy was arrested for the stabbing death of his 8-year-old sister, his mother described him as "protective" of his younger sibling.
Leila Fowler's killing last month shook the quiet community of Valley Springs, southeast of Sacramento, and set off an intense manhunt. Her brother was in the home at the time and told police he saw a man run from the scene.
Days later, the boy appeared with his father and stepmother at a vigil for his sister. On Friday, as speculation in the community built that perhaps the boy was involved, his biological mother told Sacramento television station KOVR her son "could never hurt his sister."
"I've never seen him be mean to her," said Priscilla Rodriquez.
Less than a day later, police delivered the stunning news: The 12-year-old boy had been arrested and will be charged with homicide.
For a community still reeling from the killing, the news was another blow.
"It's bad enough to lose a child. I can't imagine losing a child by one of my own children," Patti Campbell, a longtime area resident and owner of Campbell's Country Kitchen, told The Associated Press.
Campbell, a resident of the area for 33 years and the operator of the Valley Springs restaurant for 15 of them, said she had served Leila and her family in her restaurant.
"It's just shocking. I don't know what else to say," Campbell said.
Other residents in the community of about 7,400 people expressed similar feelings of disbelief.
"I did not want to believe it. You kind of thought so, but it's not something you want to believe," resident Tammy Ainsworth told Sacramento's KCRA-TV.
Aaron Plunk, a neighbor of Fowler's, said the arrest was staggering but he could rest easier now. He said he and his family had been extra vigilant about locking windows and doors, even though the street was being closely guarded by deputies.
"I think we were the safest house in the county," Plunk told the Modesto Bee.
Plunk's mother, Carla Plunk, said she had been scared enough to arm herself.
"It the first time I ever held a gun," she said.
Calaveras Unified School District Superintendent Mark Campbell said counselors will be available Monday at all schools.
The district "stands ready to provide whatever level of support and assistance is necessary to the Fowler family" and the community at large, he said Sunday.
Police released no information about what led them to arrest the unidentified 12-year-old for the April 27 attack. Following the crime, investigators did a door-to-door sweep of homes, storage sheds and horse stables scattered across the oak-studded hills foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Divers also searched two nearby reservoirs in search of clues.
Leila's brother told police he found his sister's body and encountered an intruder in the home while their parents were at a Little League game. He described the man as tall with long gray hair. A neighbor told detectives she saw a man flee the home, but she later recanted the story.
Police said there was no sign of a burglary or robbery. As part of the investigation, authorities seized several knives from the Fowler home, where Leila lived with her father, stepmother and siblings.
Calaveras County Sheriff Gary Kuntz said authorities spent more than 2,000 hours on the investigation before they arrested the boy at 5:10 p.m. Saturday.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mom-accused-boy-12-could-never-hurt-sister-202446524.html
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By Brandi Powell and R. Stickney, NBCSanDiego.com
A witness to a fatal shooting Saturday described a tragic scene in which a knife-wielding woman warned a man that it was Judgment Day before she was shot and killed by a San Diego police officer.
?We thought it was a couple having an argument but apparently it was more than that,? said Omar Orihuela. He was drawn into the dramatic confrontation when he heard a woman yelling outside his Bay Terraces home.
"She was using a lot of religious words, accusing him of things and telling him Judgment Day was here and she had 1,000 souls behind her,? said Orihuela.
?She was very eloquent. She was very, very loud. A lot of people came out,? he said.
Shortly after midnight, San Diego police were called to the 6800 block of Quebec Court where a woman had stabbed her 9-year-old son with a knife and hit her 16-year-old son in the head with a vase.
They were met by a 43-year-old man who said his girlfriend had stabbed him and the children, police said.
Lt Jorge Duran with the San Diego Police Department Homicide Unit said the woman was in the parking lot when officers arrived.
?She was armed with a knife. The officer ordered the female to drop the knife several times according to witnesses who heard the officer calling out to her,? Duran said.
The woman raised the knife above her head and charged at the officer, witnesses told officials.
That?s when Orihuela said he heard three shots.
"As soon as the police drew his gun I figured it wasn't safe for me to be watching anymore, so I closed my window, and my door, and then I saw the shots, and we saw the shots we just closed the door completely, and kneeled down, and I told my wife: 'Go into the room with the kids'," he said.
The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Her identification has not been released. The county medical examiner is planning an autopsy on Sunday.
"When the stretcher came her son or relative was yelling: 'Why did you do it mom, why did you do it'," Orihuela said.
The 9-year-old was hospitalized at Rady Children?s Hospital with multiple stab wounds and is expected to survive his injuries according to Duran.
The boyfriend was transported to Mercy Hospital and is expected to survive his injuries as well, officials said.
The officer who shot the woman has been placed on administrative duty while the investigation is conducted.
The news is a jolt but not a surprise. Al Qaeda certainly has been willing to attack modes of transportation. Its members planted a bomb on board commuter trains in Madrid in 2004. The group also recommended attacking trains at their most vulnerable points by sabotaging the tracks themselves. And documents seized from Osama Bin Laden?s hideout in Pakistan where he was killed indicate the group was considering terror plots for train derailments at bridges. Are we doing enough to protect our tracks?
Authorities revamping train security after 9/11 focused on passengers smuggling explosives. Rail companies instituted security measures including random searches, bomb-sniffing dog patrols, and increased video surveillance. Train stations removed trash cans and posted police and National Guard patrols.
Officials in and out of the federal government also had a robust argument about freight rails carrying hazardous materials. (One reason for congressional interest, reporters at the time speculated, was because a rail line carrying chlorine gas ran a few miles from the Capitol in Washington, D.C.) New standards hardened freight containers and, more controversially, rerouted hazmat trains through rural areas. Those in big cities applauded, but the move increased the amount of time hazardous cargo spends in transit.
Yet through all this preparation, the kind of intentional train derailments Al Qaeda was plotting were not high on the list of concerns. That?s bad news, because it?s pretty easy to derail a train.
There are two easy ways to do it. The first is to remove the spikes that keep the track in place. In 1995, someone removed 20 spikes from a train track in Arizona. The tracks shifted as the train crossed, derailing the car, killing an attendant, and injuring 100 passengers. The perpetrators were never caught?a note found on the scene claimed responsibility by an anti-government group, but the group has never been heard from again.
The second way to derail a train is to leave something on the tracks. In 2011, three juveniles, aged 12, 13, and 14, reportedly derailed a train in Virginia that was carrying agricultural products. The object that caused the derailment was not identified, but considering the age of the suspects, it?s probably not complex or difficult to duplicate. In 2005, a suspect parked a car in front of a train in Louisiana during a botched suicide attempt, then fled. He lived but the car derailed the train, though no one died in the derailment.
There is no silver bullet for protecting train tracks, but there are options. The first is track-tampering-detection systems. Fiberoptic cables can be wound into the tracks so that any removal of a bolt or fishplate can be detected. These sound great but there?s a catch?the tech doesn?t yet exist. In 2011, Amtrak CEO Joseph Boardman told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee that Amtrak doesn?t have the money to invest in such a system.
The cost of such systems across entire track lines is daunting, but some researchers see smarter ways. A trio of engineers from India in 2011 created a cognitive wireless sensor network that uses "cost effective and flexible piezoresistive pressure sensors which show large changes in resistances as soon as the nuts and bolts of the fishplates are loosened."
A smart security solution may be to focus on the likely spots that terrorists would target when they tamper with the tracks. "We?re most concerned with the possibility of an external attack on a train at a vulnerable point, whether that be a bridge or a tunnel," Boardman said in 2011. If sensors and security cameras could be set up at places that were deemed most likely for a derailment, such as a bridge, the cost of the protection would drop significantly, as opposed to trying to protect all the tracks. Local police can also make monitoring these crucial points a priority in their jurisdictions.
But the best kind of protection against railroad terrorism might just be public awareness. Local police and citizens can keep an eye out for strange activity on the tracks, because most attacks would require the perpetrators to scout the location. Large operators like BASF and Amtrak operate programs that streamline reporting of suspicious activity along tracks. These citizen groups, Partners for Amtrak Safety and Security and Citizens for Rail Security, operate like neighborhood watches.
Attentiveness is what helped the Mounties thwart the would-be attackers last week. "They watched trains and railways in the greater Toronto area," says Jennifer Strachan of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
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