Winter cold snap kills 32 in eastern Europe

A couple walks on a snow covered road near the Lake of Eymir, Ankara, Turkey, on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. Winter temperatures and recent snowfall has partially paralyzed life in Turkey. (AP Photo/Selcan Hacaoglu)

A couple walks on a snow covered road near the Lake of Eymir, Ankara, Turkey, on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. Winter temperatures and recent snowfall has partially paralyzed life in Turkey. (AP Photo/Selcan Hacaoglu)

Coots fight for a piece of bread on the frozen Lake of Eymir, near Ankara, Turkey, on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. Winter temperatures and recent snowfall has partially paralyzed life in Turkey. (AP Photo/Selcan Hacaoglu)

Coots run for a piece of bread on the frozen Lake of Eymir, near Ankara, Turkey, on Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. Winter temperatures and recent snowfall has partially paralyzed life in Turkey. (AP Photo/Selcan Hacaoglu)

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) ? Heavy snow and a severe cold snap killed at least 32 people across eastern Europe and many areas were under emergency measures Monday as schools closed down, roads became impassible and power supplies were cut off.

As temperatures dropped to around minus 20 Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit), authorities opened emergency shelters and urged people to be careful and remain indoors.

Ukraine's Emergency Situations Ministry said 18 people died of hypothermia in recent days and nearly 500 people sought medical help for frostbites and hypothermia in just three days last week. Twelve of the dead were homeless people, whose bodies were discovered on the streets.

Temperatures in some regions of Ukraine plunged to minus 16 C (3 F) during the day and minus 23 C (minus 10 F) during the night. Authorities opened 1,500 shelters to provide food and heat and shut down schools and nurseries.

At least 10 people froze to death in Poland since Friday as the cold reached minus 26 C (minus 15 F.)

Malgorzata Wozniak, a spokeswoman for Poland's Interior Ministry, told The Associated Press that elderly people and homeless persons were among the dead and police were checking unheated empty buildings to make sure that homeless people don't freeze to death.

Early Monday temperatures fell to minus 26 C (minus 15 F) in southern Poland.

Until Friday, Poland has been having a mild winter with little snow and temperatures just below the freezing mark.

In central Serbia, three people died and two more were missing and 14 municipalities throughout the country were under emergency plans. Efforts to clear roads of snow were hampered by strong winds and dozens of towns faced power outages.

Police said one woman froze to death in a snowstorm in a central village, while two elderly men were found dead, one in the snow outside his home. Further south, emergency crews are searching for two men in their 70s who are feared dead.

In neighboring Bulgaria, a 57-year-old man froze to death in a northwestern village and emergency "code orange" was declared in 25 of the country's 28 districts. In the capital of Sofia, authorities set up rescue spots where hot tea was distributed and placed homeless people in emergency shelters.

Strong winds also closed down Bulgaria's main Black Sea port of Varna.

In the Czech capital of Prague, city authorities announced plans to set up tents for the estimated 3,000 homeless people. Freezing temperatures also damaged train tracks, slowing railway traffic.

_____

Associated Press writers Veselin Toshkov in Sofia, Bulgaria, and Karel Janicek in Prague, Czech Republic, contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-30-EU-Europe-Weather/id-916aef8d95c44a48b22366b39f11436e

haley barbour olivier martinez peoples choice awards 2012 ford recalls mark sanchez narcolepsy narcolepsy

ClockworkMod touch recovery released as beta

Just weeks after we saw our first "unofficial" release of a touch version of the popular ClockworkMod custom recovery, developer Koush has put forth a beta version of his own, available for download now. 

For you new folks, a custom recovery is an indispensable way to back up your device as well as install new custom ROMs and updates, among other little hacky things. Until recently, it's been controlled by using the volume up/down buttons to scroll through the menus, and (usually) the power button to select. 

This touch recovery still has volume select, but now the touchscreen works, and works well. We've got some hands-on video after the break, and you can snag it from the download links below.

Download CWM Touch beta: Galaxy Nexus (GSM and CDMA), Nexus S (GSM)
More: +ClockworkMod

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/qOEUzIFa5mk/story01.htm

drake corset andy murray jerusalem nadal xmen first class warrior

Reliance Wellness Insurance coverage-Healthwise Policy

National health insurance companies are insurance companies authorized to do business in all states of the United States of America, excepting New York. The national health insurance company was founded in 1923 as the William Harvey Life Insurance Company.

It was in 1975 that the National Health Insurance Company pioneered the first 100% catastrophic insurance plans. Policyholders of National Health Insurance Companies can approach these affiliate providers for any health problems they face, which are covered in their health insurance policies. One of the benefits of getting an insurance policy from National Health Insurance Companies is that insurance claims can be made from one of the many providers found all over America.

National Health Insurance Companies

Specialist travel insurance ? Many medical conditions covered.
The domiciliary hospitalization expenses are also covered under this policy.

Source: http://www.umdelts.org/reliance-wellness-insurance-coverage-healthwise-policy

ryan leaf ryan leaf jahvid best libya map libya map world series game 2 world series game 2

Politicians, union hail RBS CEO's bonus refusal

This photo of Aug. 24 2010 shows Royal Bank of Scotland, RBS, CEO Stephen Hester in Glasgow, Scotland. Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Stephen Hester will not be accepting a 1 million pound ($1.5 million) bonus that drew criticism from British public and politicians, the bank said Sunday Jan. 29, 2012 The British government spent 45 billion pounds bailing out RBS three years ago. It still owns an 82 percent stake, and politicians had criticized the reward at a time when Britons face painful spending cuts and tax hikes. (AP Photo/Danny Lawson/PA Wire) UNITED KINGDOM OUT

This photo of Aug. 24 2010 shows Royal Bank of Scotland, RBS, CEO Stephen Hester in Glasgow, Scotland. Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Stephen Hester will not be accepting a 1 million pound ($1.5 million) bonus that drew criticism from British public and politicians, the bank said Sunday Jan. 29, 2012 The British government spent 45 billion pounds bailing out RBS three years ago. It still owns an 82 percent stake, and politicians had criticized the reward at a time when Britons face painful spending cuts and tax hikes. (AP Photo/Danny Lawson/PA Wire) UNITED KINGDOM OUT

People walk by the offices of RBS, Royal Bank of Scotland, in the City of London, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. RBS bank's board of directors have awarded the bank's CEO Stephen Hester 3.6 million shares for his work over the last year, worth about 963,000 pounds ($1.5 million) based on Thursday's closing share price, although 82 percent of the bank is owned by the British government after recent financial bailouts.(AP Photo/Sang Tan)

A sign of RBS, Royal Bank of Scotland, is seen at its office in the City of London, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. RBS bank's board of directors have awarded the bank's CEO Stephen Hester 3.6 million shares for his work over the last year, worth about 963,000 pounds ($1.5 million) based on Thursday's closing share price, although 82 percent of the bank is owned by the British government after recent financial bailouts.(AP Photo/Sang Tan)

LONDON (AP) ? British politicians and a union leader have welcomed the decision by the chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland to refuse his bonus for last year.

The gesture did nothing for the bank's share price, however. It was down 2.4 percent at 27 pence in early trading Monday.

The bank announced Sunday that CEO Stephen Hester would not accept a bonus of 3.6 million shares, currently worth nearly 1 million pounds (around $1.6 million).

Senior politicians had piled pressure on Hester to refuse the bonus, and RBS chairman Philip Hampton earlier announced he wasn't taking his bonus.

Unite union official David Fleming said RBS employees would be thinking: "better late than never."

Foreign Secretary William Hague said Hester's decision was "sensible and welcome."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-30-EU-Britain-RBS/id-a8721c8307a94d409cfd8cfaa9821b81

new jersey weather halloween movies halloween movies new york snow new york snow braxton miller braxton miller

Hundreds arrested at Occupy Oakland protest

Beck Diefenbach / AP

Occupy Oakland protesters inside Oakland City Hall during an Occupy Oakland protest, Saturday, in Oakland, Calif.

By NBC News, msnbc.com staff and news services

Story updated 6:00 a.m. ET:

A U.S. flag was burned by a group of protestors inside City Hall, according to City Council President Larry Reid. City officials also said three police officers and one protester were injured during Saturday's events.

Story updated 3:15 a.m. ET:

Sgt. Christopher Bolton of the Oakland Police Department told msnbc.com that the number arrested was likely between 200 and 300. "We are still processing the arrests," he said. He was speaking after the release of a statement on the Oakland City website that put the number of arrests at 200. "That figure is probably on the low side and we don't have a confirmed total yet," said. Sgt Bolton. In the statement, released in a PDF file format, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan said: "Once again, a violent splinter group of the Occupy Movement is engaging in violent actions against Oakland. The Bay Area Occupy Movement has got to stop using Oakland as their playground." The statement also said there were reports of damage to exhibits inside City Hall during the protest.

Story published 1:30 a.m.:

OAKLAND -- Police arrested about 300?people Saturday?as Occupy Oakland protesters were thwarted trying?to take over a vacant convention center and?a YMCA but?later broke into City Hall, where they burned a flag taken from?inside.

Police used tear gas and "flash" grenades in the afternoon against 2,000 protesters who tried to tear down fences around?the vacant Henry Kaiser Convention Center, where they hoped to establish?a new camp. Police said some demonstrators started throwing objects at officers. There were at least 19 arrests in the afternoon.

---

After 6 p.m. (9 p.m. ET), police?in riot gear declared a group of protesters gathered near the YMCA under mass arrest?for failing to disperse, according to local media reports and livestreams. Police said about 100 demonstrators were?arrested at the YMCA.

Several protesters at? the YMCA appeared to be put hard to the ground as police moved in and at least one protester had blood on his face.

Protesters chanted, "Let us disperse," but instead were taken one by one for police processing.

Some protesters claimed they were trying to flee police by running through the YMCA rather than take over the building.

Later in the evening, about 100 police officers surrounded City Hall while others?swept the inside of the building.

Police arrived after?protesters had broken into City Hall, stole an American flag from the council chamber and set it ablaze, the Oakland?Tribune reported. Officers stomped out the fire.

Earlier, protesters met at Frank Ogawa Plaza around noon and marched toward the convention center in hopes of making it their new meeting place and social center, NBCBayArea.com reported.

Read NBCBayArea.com coverage of the protest

Oakland officials said about 250 people were in the group when the protest started but the crowd grew to about 2,000.

Earlier during the rally one of the organizers, Shake Anderson, said, "We are here to protect each other and to be civil disobedient. ... We're doing it to change the world, not just today but every day."

Stephen Lam / Reuters

Police officers arrest an Occupy Oakland demonstrator during a clash Saturday in Oakland, Calif., where officers fired tear gas at hundreds of protesters who tried to take over a shuttered convention center.

The protesters were walking through Laney College around 2:30 p.m. Some people were wearing bandanas over their mouths and others were holding signs saying, "We are the 99%." A marching band dressed in pink and black tutus and neon pick tights also was in the crowd.

Officer Jeff Thomason said police started making arrests when some in the crowd started throwing objects at them during the afternoon rally. Three officers were injured, police said, but did not elaborate.

@OaklandPoliceCA tweeted around 3 p.m., "Area of Oakland Museum and Kaiser Center severely impacted. Persons cutting and tearing fences for entry. Bottles and objects thrown at OPD."

Once they reached the center, organizers planned to kick off a two-day "Oakland Rise-up Festival" to celebrate the establishment of the movement's new space.

Occupy Oakland spokesman Leo Ritz-Bar said the action would signal "a new direction for the Occupy movement: putting vacant buildings at the service of the community."

He also warned that protesters could retaliate against any repressive police action by blocking the Oakland International Airport, occupying City Hall or shutting down the Port of Oakland.

City officials said that while they are "committed to facilitating peaceful forms of expression and free speech, police would be prepared to arrest those who break the law.

"The city of Oakland will not be bullied by threats of violence or illegal activity," city administrator Deanna Santana said in a statement issued Friday.

This article includes reporting from NBCBayArea.com, The Associated Press and msnbc.com's Miranda Leitsinger and Alastair Jamieson.

Related stories:

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News

Stephen Lam / Reuters

Occupy Oakland demonstrators shield themselves from an explosion Saturday during a confrontation with the police near the Oakland Museum of California in Oakland, Calif.

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/28/10260959-150-arrested-at-occupy-oakland-protesters-break-into-city-hall

vince young john carter trans siberian orchestra trans siberian orchestra little big town little big town bennett

Droid Razr Maxx Gets an Insane 8+ Hours of LTE Battery Life [Android]

If the Droid Razr Maxx is anything to go by, idiotically terrible battery life on LTE phones might be a thing of the past. Laptop Mag ran battery tests on all of Verizon's LTE models and the Maxx crushed everything by a crazy margin. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/2udefXPi5uQ/droid-razr-maxx-gets-an-insane-8%252B-hours-of-lte-battery-life

rick perry gaffe rick perry gaffe graham spanier graham spanier penn state board of trustees brett ratner jerry sandusky

Detroit Symphony offering series of free webcasts (AP)

DETROIT ? The Detroit Symphony Orchestra has launched a webcast player that will allow music lovers to enjoy an upcoming performance of Mozart's Horn Concerto No. 4 and other concerts online for free in the comfort of their homes.

People in about 40 countries are expected to view Saturday's high-definition "Live from Orchestra Hall" webcast, and the orchestra expects its webcast series to surpass 30,000 views with this weekend's episode.

The orchestra said the webcast player will make online viewers feel as if they are sitting in Detroit's Orchestra Hall.

The Symphony said it is the only U.S. orchestra to offer a free series of webcasts, which are made possible through contributions from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Ford Motor Co. Fund.

The new viewing environment mimics the interior of Orchestra Hall, giving audiences across the world the same view as local music lovers.

The webcast player also features dimming controls so that viewers at home can control their own version of the house lights.

Audience members now will be able to view a full schedule of upcoming webcasts and add them their online calendars. Viewers also can tweet directly from the webcast player page and follow the feed in the same browser window, allowing audience members to interact with fellow concertgoers while watching the concert at the same time.

The piece being played at any moment will be highlighted on a live repertoire tracker, and live program notes will post below the viewing window with trivia about the piece and the artists.

The "Live From Orchestra Hall" series is one of three new digital initiatives the DSO is introducing this season. Also new to the orchestra's digital repertoire are DSO To Go, a free mobile app, and the Symphony's first downloadable, digital album produced in-house.

___

Online:

Detroit Symphony Orchestra: http://www.dso.org/

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/digitalmusic/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_en_mu/us_detroit_symphony_webcast_player

zanesville ohio light field camera world series game 1 exotic animals exotic animals scott hall lra

Be the police in wild pursuits with Smash Cops for iPhone and iPad

Smash Cops is an iPhone and iPad game where you get to be the police in wild car chases. You may be weaving through traffic going after runaway felons or even fleeing from a felon attack until backup arrives. The city you work is huge with just as huge graphics and includes over 20 missions and 5 vehicles.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/mEU2TPl9R8c/story01.htm

ronan ronan diane sawyer clay matthews kenny chesney matt kemp rumpelstiltskin

NASA discovers 26 new alien planets in 11 solar systems

The findings nearly double the number of bona fide planets found outside our solar system by the Kepler space observatory.

NASA's prolific planet-hunting spacecraft has hit the jackpot again, discovering 11 new planetary systems with 26 confirmed alien planets among them.?

Skip to next paragraph

The findings nearly double the number of bona fide?planets found outside our solar system by the Kepler?space observatory.

"Prior to the Kepler mission, we knew of perhaps 500 exoplanets across the whole sky," Doug Hudgins, Kepler program scientist at NASA headquarters in Washington, said in a statement. "Now, in just two years staring at a patch of sky not much bigger than your fist, Kepler has discovered more than 60 planets and more than 2,300 planet candidates. This tells us that our galaxy is?positively loaded with planets?of all sizes and orbits."

The newly detected worlds vary in size from 1.5 times the radius of Earth to larger than Jupiter; 15 of the 26 planets fall between Earth and Neptune in size. While all of the planets tightly orbit their parent stars, more research will be required to determine which worlds are rocky like Earth, and which have thick, gaseous atmospheres like Neptune, the scientists said.

Still, all of the 26 new planets orbit closer to their stars than Venus does to our sun. This means that their orbital periods ? or the time it takes for them to complete one orbital lap around the star ? range from ?six days to 143 days, according to the researchers. [Gallery: A World of Kepler Planets?]

By studying these?different planetary systems, scientists can glean valuable information about how planets form.

Hunting for planets

The Kepler spacecraft, which orbits the sun, stares at a patch of sky that contains 150,000 stars and locates potential alien planets by measuring the tiny change in brightness that occurs when a planet transits ? that is, passes in front of ? a star.

Once a planetary candidate is identified, further observations are conducted by ground-based observatories to weed out the?false positives.

"Confirming that the small decrease in the star's brightness is due to a planet requires additional observations and time-consuming analysis," Eric Ford, associate professor of astronomy at the University of Florida, explained in a statement.

Ford is the lead author of a study that confirms two of the new systems, Kepler-23 and Kepler-24.

"We verified these planets using new techniques that dramatically accelerated their discovery," Ford said.

Each of the?newly found planetary systems?holds two to five closely spaced transiting planets, the researchers said. Since these systems are tightly packed, the planets exert gravitational forces on one another, speeding up or slowing down their orbits. The orbital period of each planet is altered in the process.

By measuring the orbital changes, Kepler can identify potential planets in the system. This method, known as Transit Timing Variation, can be used to verify alien planets without extensive ground-based observations. The technique also increases Kepler's ability to confirm planetary systems around fainter and more distant stars, the researchers said. [Video: Kepler Reveals Lots of Planets: Some Habitable?]

"By precisely timing when each planet transits its star, Kepler detected the gravitational tug of the planets on each other, clinching the case for 10 of the newly announced planetary systems," Dan Fabrycky, of the University of California, Santa Cruz, said in a statement.

Fabrycky is the lead author of the paper that confirms the Kepler-29, -30, -31 and -32 systems.

Alien planets and their host stars

Five of the systems (Kepler-25, -27, -30, -31 and -33) contain a pair of planets, the inner one circling its star twice in the time it takes the outer planet to make one lap.

Four of the systems (Kepler-23, -24, -28 and -32) are home to a pair of planets where the outer one orbits the star twice for every three times the inner planet circles the parent star.

"These configurations help to amplify the gravitational interactions between the planets, similar to how my sons kick their legs on a swing at the right time to go higher," Jason Steffen, a postdoctoral fellow at Fermilab Center for Particle Astrophysics in Batavia, Ill., said in a statement. Steffen is the lead author of a paper confirming the Kepler-25, -26, -27 and -28 systems.
The system with the most planets is Kepler-33. The star, which is older and more massive than the sun, hosts five planets that range in size from 1.5 to five times that of Earth. All of these planets orbit closer to their star than any planet circles our sun.

Once the properties of a star are understood, such as the telltale light signature of a planet crossing in front, it becomes easier to eliminate false positives, the researchers said.
"The approach used to verify the Kepler-33 planets shows the overall reliability is quite high," said Jack Lissauer, planetary scientist at NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., and lead author of the paper on Kepler-33. "This is a validation by multiplicity."

The newly discovered planets increase the?Kepler mission's tally of confirmed planets?to 61, with 2,326 other planetary candidates.

The four separate papers appear in the Astrophysical Journal and the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter?@Spacedotcom?and on?Facebook.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/rPbVtLA0IBs/NASA-discovers-26-new-alien-planets-in-11-solar-systems

the incredibles jon bon jovi dead new jersey plane crash ohio state kobe bryant wife bonjovi dead amber portwood

Archbishop Dolan Feels Betrayed By Obama Regarding Birth Control

By David Gibson
Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS) In the wake of President Obama's controversial decision to mandate that religious groups pay for contraceptives for their employees, much of the coverage focused on how the president had disappointed progressive allies by giving religious groups an extra year to comply.

But the decision also had New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, feeling personally betrayed.

"I have to say, there's a sense of personal disappointment," Dolan said Tuesday (Jan. 24) after he gave a lecture on "Law and the Gospel of Life" at Fordham Law School.

Last November, amid deepening tensions between the bishops and the administration over the pending contraception mandate and other issues, Obama invited Dolan to the Oval Office, where the two men shared what Dolan called a productive and "extraordinarily friendly" meeting.

"The president seemed very earnest, he said he considered the protection of conscience sacred, that he didn't want anything his administration would do to impede the work of the church that he claimed he held in high regard," Dolan recalled on Tuesday. "So I did leave a little buoyant."

That optimism ended last Friday, however, when Obama phoned Dolan to tell him that he was not expanding the conscience exemption to include religious institutions -- such as Catholic hospitals, universities and social service agencies. In a bid to appease critics like Dolan, the White House gave church organizations an extra year to find a way to comply with the mandate that all health insurance plans provide free contraceptive coverage.

"I had to share with him that I was terribly let down, disappointed and disturbed, and it seemed the news he had given me was difficult to square with the confidence I had felt in November," Dolan said.

Dolan indicated that his preference is to keep the lines of communication with the administration open. But Dolan is already facing pressure from other bishops to take a more confrontational stance toward the White House.

Dolan was scheduled to leave Wednesday for a nine-day spiritual pilgrimage to Israel; after a brief return to New York, he will head to Rome where he will be formally elevated to the rank of cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI.

Also on HuffPost:

"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/25/dolan-obama-betrayed-birth-control_n_1232364.html

clay matthews kenny chesney matt kemp rumpelstiltskin rumpelstiltskin occupy oakland occupy oakland

Mourinho defiant despite rising pressure

Associated Press Sports

updated 2:32 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2012

MADRID (AP) -Appearing angry and irritable, Jose Mourinho claimed all was well at Real Madrid on Tuesday despite reported divisions within his squad following the loss last week to Barcelona causing speculation to mount about his future.

Mourinho has come under criticism from his usually staunch allies - Madrid fans and the local media - for his tactics against Barcelona in the 2-1 home loss in the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinals last Wednesday.

During a tense news conference on Tuesday, the Portuguese coach was quick to dismiss all questions regarding his future and the mood among the players inside the changing room, answering "I don't know" on each occasion.

Mourinho was similarly dismissive when asked if this is his most difficult period since joining Madrid in 2010 after having guided Inter Milan to the Champions League title.

"It's a very nice moment," countered Mourinho, whose team leads the league by five points from Barcelona.

Mourinho was hired by president Florentino Perez to not only win trophies but ensure Madrid beats Barcelona. Last season's victory in the Copa del Rey final, however, is his lone win in nine games against the club where he once worked as an assistant coach.

"When I first arrived, this club's (cup) tradition was elimination at the hands of smaller teams, and last year we won the Copa," Mourinho said in one of his few lengthy answers. "When we got to Real Madrid we weren't even a top seed (in the Champions League), and now we've managed a record number of victories in the first half of the season and we're leading the championship.

"We're not doing too bad."

Spanish newspaper El Pais reported details Tuesday of discussions between Mourinho and his players after the 2-0 loss to Barcelona in the Champions League semifinals in which he reportedly said the series was over ahead of the return leg.

That follows sports daily Marca revealing a critical exchange between Mourinho and defender Sergio Ramos after last week's loss to Barcelona.

"I've never lacked respect for a coach at any point of my career," Ramos wrote on his Twitter account on Tuesday. "With that, I deny these things said of me, that I never said. The coach and I are fighting for the same interests."

Although stating that Pepe was available for Wednesday's second leg if he escapes a ban for stomping on Lionel Messi, Mourinho was less forthcoming about whether he is ready to abandon his defensive game plan.

"I don't have to reveal how we are going to play the game at the Camp Nou," Mourinho said, adding: "Tomorrow's game will not have an impact on my time at Real Madrid."

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

advertisement

Stefano Rellandini / Reuters

That's a reason?

AC Milan's Kevin-Prince Boateng is hurt again, and his girlfriend says it's because they have sex "7-10 times a week." Oh.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45447222/ns/sports-soccer/

october 28 2011 october 28 2011 miami hurricanes vlad the impaler michael lohan fiddler on the roof rally squirrel

Japan task force kept no records of nuclear crisis response (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) ? Japan's energy minister admitted on Tuesday that no records were kept of top level discussions in the critical early days on how to respond to the world's worst nuclear disaster in 25 years.

The admission, and apology, by Trade Minister Yukio Edano comes in the face of widespread debate over the government's response to the Fukushima nuclear crisis triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami last March.

"It is inconceivable that there were no records kept. It may have been difficult to keep official logs during the extreme confusion after the crisis, but they could have taken simple memos," said Kenji Sumita, an emeritus professor at Osaka University who specializes in nuclear engineering.

"Perhaps there were some goings on that the participants did not feel comfortable being made public," he said.

A government task force was set up by then-Prime Minister Naoto Kan to deal with the nuclear disaster. Its failure to keep records emerged after public broadcaster NHK sought details of its discussions.

NHK said it found only one-page logs that listed the agenda items discussed at each meeting.

Several panels are investigating how the government handled the crisis.

Trade Minister Edano, who was the top government spokesman when the Fukushima disaster struck and now holds the energy portfolio, apologized for the lapse and said officials would try to cobble together a record of the meetings.

"It is truly regrettable that records of the task force's meetings were not consistently kept," he told reporters.

"Given the social impact of the disaster and public interest towards it, the records should have been compiled promptly."

More than 80,000 people have been evacuated since the Fukushima plant was struck and there are still concerns about leaking radiation.

A lack of preparation and poor communication at top levels after the disaster struck were among the failures that turned the Fukushima accident into the worst atomic crisis in 25 years, one investigation panel formed by government said in an interim report last month.

Japan, in middle of its largest reconstruction effort since the end of World War Two, has said that the catastrophe at Fukushima's Daiichi plant could take four decades to clean up.

(Reporting by Yoko Kubota and Shinichi Saoshiro; Editing by Jonathan Thatcher)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120124/wl_nm/us_japan_nuclear

nina dobrev jon hamm emmy nominations monsters vs aliens jeremy maclin nascar news emmys 2011

Around the Web?

Happy Monday! Start off the week with today’s must-reads: Day care is becoming night care to accommodate working parents ? The New York Times Junk food sold in schools does not influence obesity ? Parenting.com RECALL: IKEA high chair poses fall hazard ? TheStir.com When is it time to fire your child’s pediatrician? ? Today [...]

Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/K5WXHLfuC54/

steve jobs aapl stock aapl stock apple ii pixar growing pains growing pains

Sony VAIO series get minor processor refresh, Z series grabs LTE option on the way

Ahead of any possible Ultrabook announcements, Sony's looking to give its existing VAIO catalogue a (relatively underwhelming) shot in the arm with a bundle of hardware retweaks. The Z series looks to gain the most out of the Spring refresh, with a new off-white Carbon Fiber Silver color option set to be offered up alongside an optional LTE modem. The series also gets a processor step-up, with new Intel Core i5 and i7 options rounded off with the choice of SSD storage. Including the connectable drive, prices for the series refresh will start from $1,950. Meanwhile, both the S (13-inch, $800, 15-inch, $980)and E series will get a similar bump to Core i7 processors, with both the S and aforementioned Z series able to lock into an extended sheet battery accessory. If minor processor improvements, more battery options and LTE connectivity enough to fork over your cash, you can expect the revitalized units to arrive early next month.

Sony VAIO series get minor processor refresh, Z series grabs LTE option on the way originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jan 2012 02:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Sony  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/WeznJduN1k8/

il divo bliss miss universe 2011 miss universe 2011 augmentin d2l d2l

Sheriff: Suicidal Ariz couple wanted deputies dead

YUMA, Ariz.?? An Arizona couple who committed suicide last month planned to lure sheriff's deputies to their remote, desert home and kill as many as possible before ending their own lives, a top local law enforcement official said, as an eerie series of videos the couple made was released this week.

1. Only on msnbc.com

   1. After drone hit on al-Qaida planner, is Zawahiri next?
   2. Syria's capital delivers show of support for Assad
   3. 'Miracle' baby born from single frozen sperm
   4. China braces for Year of the Dragon travel rush
   5. Should couples share passwords?
   6. 1,137 dogs rescued from Chinese dinner table
   7. Poker players sue over online cheating scheme

Yuma County investigators found elaborate plans, both in writing and in video, in a blast-protected area after Jesse Lee and Diedre Firestone's Dome Valley home exploded Dec. 23 while surrounded by officers.

They had planned to blow up the house as a SWAT team entered, Capt. Eben Bratcher told the Yuma Sun (http://bit.ly/AqdfFB ). The couple's bodies were found in the home two days after the explosion. One deputy suffered minor injuries when the blast knocked him down.

"The motive behind their plan is not known, but it was clear they fully intended to murder as many deputies as possible prior to taking their own lives," Bratcher told the newspaper. "These people absolutely had a plan, and I think they wanted to die and make as big of a scene as they could possibly make."

In one of the videos released to the Yuma Sun, the couple are seen sitting on their balcony, calmly discussing what was about to happen while waiting for deputies to respond.

In another, Jesse Firestone, 65, shows a .357 magnum rifle he planned to use and the hole in the front door of the home he was going to fire through. He even mentions some sheriff deputies by name, saying "it's nothing personal. Anyway ? adios."

Footage also shows a shrine the Firestones called the "Church of Death," which features a bible, two binders with hand-made covers entitled the "Firestone Gospel," and a picture of Osama bin Laden.

What is not known and may never be is if the explosion actually happened prematurely or if the Firestones changed their minds and decided not to go through with their plans, Bratcher said.

"This could have ended up horribly, and we are grateful none of our guys were seriously injured," Bratcher said. "It was one of those things you wouldn't have ever expected to happen in Yuma. It is insane. You read about this type of thing in the paper happening somewhere else."

Authorities drove to the home on the afternoon of Dec. 23 after a man called the sheriff's office and said he had just shot his ill wife. The man opened fire on arriving officers, and that's when the house blew up.

Before sheriff's officials arrived, Jesse Firestone in a video is seen standing inside his home using a cell phone to call 911 to report that he had just mercifully shot his wife, which was how they planned to lure deputies to their residence. According to that video, Diedre Firestone, 45, had been suffering from "self-diagnosed" breast cancer for the past 10 months, but refusing to get treatment.

"I got to go kill my dogs now," Jesse Firestone is seen saying before he hangs up the phone.

It took two days for a bomb squad to enter the home. They found the main bedroom and living room heavily damaged from the explosion and subsequent fire, with the roof caved in. They also located 15 five-gallon propane bottles near the two bodies. Two propane bottles appear to have bullet holes in them, possibly indicating the explosion was intentional.

___

Information from: The Sun, http://www.yumasun.com

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46084605/ns/us_news/

how old is justin bieber north dakota jobs referendum scarlett johansson glee project winner kris humphries remember the titans

Giffords meets with other survivors in Tucson

FILE - This Jan. 8, 2012 file photo shows Rep. Gabrielle Giffords waving at the start of a memorial vigil remembering the victims and survivors one year after the Arizona congresswoman was wounded in a shooting that killed six in Tucson, Ariz. Giffords announced, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012 she will resign from Congress this week. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, file)

FILE - This Jan. 8, 2012 file photo shows Rep. Gabrielle Giffords waving at the start of a memorial vigil remembering the victims and survivors one year after the Arizona congresswoman was wounded in a shooting that killed six in Tucson, Ariz. Giffords announced, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012 she will resign from Congress this week. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, file)

This video image provided by the Office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords shows Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, walking. Giffords announced Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012 she intends to resign from Congress this week to concentrate on recovering from wounds suffered in an assassination attempt a little more than a year ago. (AP Photo/Office of Gabrielle Giffords)

FILE - In this Jan. 2, 2012, file photo Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, left, accompanied by her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, reacts after leading the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of a memorial vigil remembering the victims and survivors one year after the Arizona congresswoman was wounded in a shooting that killed six othersin Tucson, Ariz. Giffords said Sunday Jan, 22, 2012, that she will resign from Congress this week. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

This video image provided by the office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords shows Giffords announcing her plans to resign, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Office of Gabrielle Giffords)

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) ? In what could be one of her last acts in office, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has met with other survivors and supporters more than a year after gunfire interrupted a spontaneous meet-and-greet session.

The meeting occurred Monday in the Tucson office of Giffords, who announced Sunday that she intends to resign from Congress this week to concentrate on recovering from the assassination attempt that shook the country.

Among those who met Monday with Giffords was Pat Maisch, who was hailed as a hero for wrestling a gun magazine from the shooter.

Maisch, who was not injured herself, says it was touching that Giffords finished the meeting that was interrupted

She also says she would love to see Giffords continue in office but understands that she needs to take care of herself.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-23-Giffords/id-6ec21a7dddba44a897a0ef637380103d

is jon bon jovi dead jon bon jovi jon bon jovi kim jong il died warren hellman survivor south pacific survivor south pacific

And The Gloves Come Off (talking-points-memo)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/190146792?client_source=feed&format=rss

texas tech football bridge school miami dolphins charlie and the chocolate factory ou football ryan torain ryan torain

Maldives journalists say gov't intimidating them (AP)

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka ? The Maldives government is threatening and harassing the media over their reporting of a political crisis and the military's arrest of the nation's top criminal court judge, a journalists' group said Thursday.

The Maldives Journalists' Association said in a statement that television stations are being penalized for airing opposition politicians' comments that authorities perceive to be lies.

An independent regulator, the Maldives Broadcasting Commission, accused the communication minister of threatening to withdraw frequencies of television and radio stations after he accused the commission of failing to monitor media.

Communication Minister Adil Saleem denied the allegations of harassment but said that he told the commission that he may have to withdraw media frequencies until the commission works out a mode for proper monitoring.

Judge Abdulla Mohamed was arrested Monday after he released an opposition leader who had been detained without a warrant. He is still under military custody despite the supreme court and the prosecutor general calling for his release.

MJA President Ahmed Zahir said the government has been unhappy over the media reporting on alleged corruption, mismanagement and the arrest, and live telecasts of opposition protests.

"The responsibility of a remark or a comment made by an individual or a political party shall be undertaken by themselves, but not by the broadcaster or the publisher," the MJA said. "Media is only a vessel which carries comments and interviews of both the government and the opposition."

The broascasting commission also said that the minister had no legal power to suspend or revoke a broadcasting license.

"We are concerned that the recent attempts to intimidate the media both directly and indirectly will result in grave consequences to the maturing process of an infant industry," the commission said.

Saleem said of the alleged intimidation, "We are for media freedom, we are for democracy. All we are saying is not to deceive the public."

Saleem said he felt some television stations were using old video clips to exaggerate crowds during live coverage of opposition protests.

On Thursday about 500 protesters gathered in capital Male to demand the release of the judge and a halt to arbitrary arrests. "No to dictatorship. We want justice," they cried.

Maldives was under 30-year autocratic rule until the government of former pro-democracy political prisoner President Mohamed Nasheed was elected in the country's first free elections in 2008.

The current crisis arose after opposition politician Mohamed Jameel Ahmed in a television interview allegedly accused Nasheed's government of trying to undermine Islam with the support of Christians and Jews. Islam is the official state religion of Maldives, and practicing other faiths is banned.

Police have brought Ahmed before court three times on allegations of hate speech but the court has freed him on all occasions.

The Maldives government has warned of rising Islamic extremism in this Indian Ocean archipelago of 300,000 people.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_re_as/as_maldives_politics

andy rooney groupon ipo groupon ipo breeders cup 2011 gwar gwar san diego weather

Agency: Iran shuts down shops selling Barbie dolls

FILE - In this file photo taken Monday, April 28, 2008, Iranian shopkeeper Hamid Reza Delband displays a doll at his toy shop, in Tehran, Iran. Police have closed down dozens of toy shop for selling Barbie dolls, part of a decades-long crackdown on signs of Western culture in Iran, the semi official Mehr news agency reported Friday, Jan. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

FILE - In this file photo taken Monday, April 28, 2008, Iranian shopkeeper Hamid Reza Delband displays a doll at his toy shop, in Tehran, Iran. Police have closed down dozens of toy shop for selling Barbie dolls, part of a decades-long crackdown on signs of Western culture in Iran, the semi official Mehr news agency reported Friday, Jan. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

FILE - In this file photo taken Monday, April 28, 2008, Iranian shopkeeper Hamid Reza Delband displays a doll at his toy shop, in Tehran, Iran. Police have closed down dozens of toy shop for selling Barbie dolls, part of a decades-long crackdown on signs of Western culture in Iran, the semi official Mehr news agency reported Friday, Jan. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

Iranians look at a doll display in a toy shop in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012. Police have closed down dozens of toy shop for selling Barbie dolls, part of a decades-long crackdown on signs of Western culture in Iran, the semi official Mehr news agency reported Friday, Jan. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A female Iranian shopkeeper arranges a display of dolls at her shop in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012. Police have closed down dozens of toy shop for selling Barbie dolls, part of a decades-long crackdown on signs of Western culture in Iran, the semi official Mehr news agency reported Friday, Jan. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A female Iranian shopkeeper arranges a display of dolls at her shop in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012. Police have closed down dozens of toy shop for selling Barbie dolls, part of a decades-long crackdown on signs of Western culture in Iran, the semi official Mehr news agency reported Friday, Jan. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? Police have closed down dozens of toy shops for selling Barbie dolls in Iran, part of a decades-long crackdown against "manifestations of Western culture," the semiofficial Mehr news agency reported Friday.

Barbie dolls are sold wearing swimsuits and miniskirts in a society where women must wear headscarves in public, and men and women are not allowed to swim together.

A ban on the sale of the Barbies, designed to look like young Western women, was imposed in the mid-1990s. In its latest report, Mehr quoted an unidentified police official as saying authorities confiscated the dolls from Tehran stores in a "new phase" of the campaign.

In 1996, a government-backed children's agency called Barbie a "Trojan horse," sneaking in Western influences such as makeup and revealing clothes.

Authorities started confiscating the dolls from stores in 2002, denouncing what they called the toys' un-Islamic characteristics. The campaign was eventually dropped.

Iran that year also introduced its own dolls ? twins Dara and Sara, designed to promote traditional values with modest clothing and pro-family values ? but those proved unable to stem the Barbie tide.

Despite bans on many Western books, movies, satellite TV channels, music, haircuts and fashion, young people maintain their interest in that culture.

Iran's state TV channels broadcast several Western and Hollywood films every week. Islamists have repeatedly tried to fight what they see as a cultural "invasion" since 1979 Islamic Revolution that ousted a pro-Western monarchy.

Since then, importing Western toys has been discouraged by the regime.

In 2008, the Iranian judiciary warned against the "destructive" cultural and social consequences and "danger" of importing Barbie dolls and other Western toys. Even so, Iranian markets have been full of them. One-third of Iran's population of 75 million is under 15.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-20-ML-Iran-Barbie-Dolls/id-f77179249e444f0ba13e7aba3863eca2

music awards giants eagles bcs rankings week 13 bcs rankings week 13 philadelphia marathon rhodes scholar cranberry sauce recipe

Sony Ericsson swallows $317 million pre-tax loss as end draws near

Sony Ericsson's tearful breakup continues with more woe as as the venture had to eat a pre-tax loss of €247 million (roughly $317 million). Bosses cited "unfavorable macro-economic conditions" and the Thai flooding as the reasons for the loss. Ericsson probably won't mind having such an unfavorable penultimate quarter with the company, given that it's set to receive €1.05 billion (around $1.9 billion) when Sony buys out its share of the joint telecoms business within the next month.

Continue reading Sony Ericsson swallows $317 million pre-tax loss as end draws near

Sony Ericsson swallows $317 million pre-tax loss as end draws near originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jan 2012 03:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/19/sony-ericsson-317-million-loss/

how the grinch stole christmas macaroni and cheese festivus festivus zeno melanie amaro new air jordans

Consumer groups rip mandatory arbitration ruling

Consumer advocates are deeply disappointed in the high court.?

?It?s just another example of the Supreme Court ruling in favor of corporations and against consumers,? says Ira Rheingold, executive director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates.?

This latest case involves a credit repair firm CompuCredit Corp. of Atlanta. It offered people with poor credit the Aspire Visa card. The card, which was issued by Columbus Bank and Trust (now a division of Synovus Bank), had a $300 credit limit. It was marketed as a way to ?rebuild your credit? and ?improve your credit rating.??

Unhappy customers claim the promotional material said ?no deposit required.? But the Aspire Card came with $185 in fees that were assessed before the customer even received the card.?

A group of customers sued CompuCredit, accusing the company of deceptive marketing. A lower court said they had the right to sue. But in an 8-to-1 decision the justices said the cardholders could not -- even though federal law (the Credit Repair Organization Act) specifically gives credit repair clients the right to sue. ?The high court said the arbitration clause in their contracts trumped that.?

?The idea that they agreed to arbitration, they agreed to this provision in the fine print and buried it in a long, dense mouse-print kind of contract, is just ridiculous,? said Chi Chi Wu, staff attorney for the National Consumer Law Center. ?These people had no idea that they were agreeing to arbitration.??

I contacted both CompuCredit and Synovus for a response. Synovus would not comment. I never heard back from CompuCredit.?

Many business groups are pleased with the court?s rulings in support of mandatory arbitration. They see it as a cost-effective way to handle small disputes. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce believes lawyers often abuse the class action lawsuit. It calls arbitration ?a faster, cheaper, and fairer alternative to litigation.??

Nessa Feddis, a spokesperson for the American Bankers Association, says people who arbitrate usually do better than if they go to court.?

?It?s not that banks don?t want customers to have the right to sue,? she insisted. ?They just don?t like the class actions which primarily benefit the plaintiffs? attorneys. Consumers usually get pennies on the dollar.??

Why consumer groups don?t like mandatory arbitration
Companies often describe arbitration as an unbiased ruling from a neutral party. And they point out that the customer does not have to pay.?

But consumer advocates say forced arbitration is unfair. They claim it favors the companies paying the arbitration service.?

?It?s like a kangaroo court,? noted Kathleen Day with the Center for Responsible Lending. ?If you look at arbitration cases where there?s a consumer claiming a financial institution has done them wrong, you?ll see that very rarely does the system ever rule in the consumer?s favor. It?s really a stacked deck.?

While lawsuits are public, binding arbitration is a secret tribunal. Neither the accusations nor the outcome is released. And the arbitrator?s ruling cannot be appealed.?

?Arbitration is controlled by powerful special interests,? said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director at U.S. PIRG. ?You are stuck with whatever the outcome is and too bad for you that the outcome almost always favors the company.??

Ira Rheingold with the National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators believes companies favor arbitration because it allows them ?to engage in lots of unfair practices without anybody holding them accountable.?

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) has written a bill -- the Arbitration Fairness Act of 2011. If passed, it would make a pre-dispute arbitration agreement invalid and unenforceable for an employment, consumer or civil rights dispute.

My two cents
There is nothing wrong with voluntary arbitration?-- when both parties agree to it. In this case, either side can ignore the arbiter?s decision and go to court. But that isn?t the case with forced arbitration.

I have a real problem with this being forced down my throat as the only way to settle a dispute.?

These mandatory arbitration clauses are often hidden in lengthy contracts that few people read or can understand. And even if you do spot it, there?s nothing you can do if you want that product or service. It?s a case of take it or leave it.?

That?s just not fair.?

When Congress created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), it told the new consumer watchdog to study forced arbitration and decide whether to ban it or regulate it in some way. The Supreme Court?s recent decision makes it all the more urgent for the CFPB to complete the study and take action.?

I hate it when class action lawyers sue a company, make millions in fees and get almost nothing for the individual consumer. But something needs to be done to level the playing field between big businesses and you, the customer.?

If you are wronged, you should have a right to your day in court.?

More info:

National Association of Consumer Advocates: Forced Arbitration?

?

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/20/10183640-consumer-groups-rip-mandatory-arbitration-ruling

jules verne jules verne als puppies miss universe 2011 contestants hells angels hells angels

Obama: Syria violence unacceptable, government must leave (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? President Barack Obama on Tuesday condemned as "unacceptable" Syria's continuing crackdown on protesters and repeated his call for President Bashar al-Assad's government to leave power.

"We're continuing to see unacceptable levels of violence inside that country, and so we will continue to consult very closely with Jordan to create the kind of international pressure and environment that encourages the current Syrian regime to step aside," Obama said after White House talks with Jordan's King Abdullah.

(Reporting by David Alexander)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120117/wl_nm/us_syria_usa_obama

joan crawford kat dennings listeriosis bonobos recent earthquakes club paradise earthquakes today

Rare Mars Rocks Crashed to Earth in July (SPACE.com)

A hail of Martian meteorites crashed to Earth last July, and collectors and scientists around the world are snapping up the ultra-rare rocks for display and study.

The meteorites fell in the Moroccan desert in July and were recovered a few months later. Scientists confirmed today (Jan. 17) that the rocks are Martian, presumably blasted off the Red Planet by an asteroid strike.

The rocks are a rare treat for researchers, allowing them to investigate relatively pristine chunks of Martian material. Such freshly delivered pieces of the Red Planet have been found on only four other occasions, the last time in 1962.

As a result of their scarcity and scientific value, the rocks are selling for incredibly high prices ? 10 times the price of gold or more. News of the meteorites' Martian origin was first reported by the?Associated Press.

"In the world of meteoritics, a fall is as good as it gets," said Carl Agee, director of the Institute of Meteoritics and meteorite curator at the University of New Mexico. "We know that everything we're looking at is Martian, and that there's nothing in there that is confusing matters." [7 Biggest Mysteries of Mars]

Martian debris rains down

Martian material is exceedingly hard to come by on Earth. Just 220 pounds (100 kilograms) of Mars rocks are known to exist on our planet, according to Darryl Pitt, curator of the Macovich Collection of meteorites in New York City.

The newfound Martian meteorites ? which are called Tissint, after the shower that dropped them to Earth ? represent a significant percentage of this material.

"There's at least 11 kilos [24 pounds]," Pitt told SPACE.com.

Pitt said he had acquired more than 4.4 pounds (2 kg) of Tissint meteorites. He has been trading and selling pieces to collectors, museums and researchers around the globe, at prices ranging from $8,500 per ounce to $28,350 per ounce ($300 to $1,000 per gram), depending on the sample.

As of Tuesday, gold was selling for about $1,650 per ounce ($58 per gram).

"It's pristine material," Pitt said. "Five hundred dollars and $600 a gram for a freshly fallen chunk of the planet Mars? I'd say that's a deal."

Learning about Mars

The other four fresh Martian meteorite falls occurred in 1815, 1865, 1911 and 1962. Scientists get excited by the chance to study such rocks because they haven't been contaminated much by Earth organisms and weather.

The Tissint samples, and others like them, thus represent the next best thing to a Martian sample-return mission, something many scientists long for but remains perhaps a decade away in the best-case scenario.

Researchers can glean a surprising amount of information about Mars from a small piece of the planet, said Agee, who acquired several Tissint samples for his institution.

For example, pristine Mars meteorites can reveal a great deal about the Red Planet's atmosphere and climate, along with its potential to host life. Some scientists will doubtless pore over Tissint specimens for signs of organic compounds, the carbon-containing building blocks of life as we know it, Agee said.

"Because it's so fresh, if you find organics in this sample, you can be pretty sure those organics are Martian," he told SPACE.com.

There's also the chance that Martian organisms ? if they ever existed ? may have left a mark in the meteorite samples. Some researchers, for example, claimed to have found fossil evidence of ancient Martian life in a meteorite called ALH84001, which was discovered in Antarctica in 1984. (Most scientists regard the claim as unconvincing.)

Researchers don't yet know how old the Tissint samples are ? when they formed, and when they were blasted off the Red Planet. But that should be determined in the next few months, Agee said.

The large size of the newfound fall is also a blessing, ensuring that Martian rocks are studied and seen by many people around the world, he added.

"Everybody has access at this point," Agee said. "It will be widely distributed, so everybody will get a chance to study it, enjoy it and appreciate it."

You can follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter: @michaeldwall. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/space/20120117/sc_space/raremarsrockscrashedtoearthinjuly

intc cyclops cyclops zanesville google ice cream sandwich google ice cream sandwich soulja boy

A reliable purchase is a smart purchase

From washing machines to televisions, from kitchen knives to media players, reliability is an incredibly valuable feature

Far and away, reliability is the most important feature when buying a product you?re actually going to depend on regularly in your life. From washing machines to televisions, from kitchen knives to media players, reliability is an incredibly valuable feature. To be honest, I put reliability first with almost everything that I buy.

Skip to next paragraph Trent Hamm

The Simple Dollar is a blog for those of us who need both cents and sense: people fighting debt and bad spending habits while building a financially secure future and still affording a latte or two. Our busy lives are crazy enough without having to compare five hundred mutual funds ? we just want simple ways to manage our finances and save a little money.

Recent posts

The catch is that reliability is boring. It?s not a gee-whiz feature. It doesn?t walk your dog or make you an omelet for breakfast. It doesn?t manage your music library or allow you to watch content from seventeen different streaming services.

It just sits there and keeps working, day after day.

It means far fewer trips to the repairman. Every single time you have to have an item repaired, you start off by finding yourself in a situation where you?re doing without an item. This itself can cause a hassle, often causing you to spend time, energy, and money just to make do without the item.

It means far fewer repair costs. You also have to invest time and energy into the repairs themselves. It takes time to take an item in for repair or to contact someone to come to your house to repair the item. It takes money to pay for the repair service.

It means a longer product cycle. If the product is highly reliable, you?re not going to be replacing it for a long time. It will last longer than other products, which means that you have many more years before you need to replace it than with less reliable products.

Each of these things saves you money, time, and effort, and they?re all thanks to the most important element, reliability.

I?ll give you an example from my own kitchen. I?ve mentioned before that I?m slowly replacing all of my kitchenware with enameled cast iron pots from a reliable manufacturer (Le Creuset) and cast iron skillets from Lodge.

These items cost more than the pots and pans I used to buy, which were mostly Teflon-coated low-end pots and pans from the local department store.

Let?s say that I would spend $25 on a six quart pot from the local store versus $200 (!) for an enameled cast iron 5.5 quart pot from Le Creuset. The six quart pot comes with a three year warranty, while the enameled cast iron pot comes with a 101 year warranty.

I?ve owned two of the low-end pots over the years. With one of them, the handle snapped off at about the six year mark, and with the other, the coating began to come off at about the five year mark.

So, I had to buy two of those pots over an 11 year period. That cost me $50 in pots alone. The unreliability of the pots caused two meals to be ruined, easily $10 per meal. There?s also the time and energy lost to the two failed meals (cleaning up the mess and preparing something else ? an hour each, let?s say), plus the time invested in buying new pots, plus a small amount of money spent buying the new pots. Let?s say $65 and two and a half hours lost over eleven years.

With the enameled cast iron, if it manages to fail within 101 years, I just call the manufacturer, read off the number on the bottom, and it?s replaced quickly. Because it?s made so well, it?s likely not going to have a catastrophic failure. So, assuming I paid for a 100 year lifetme for the pot, that?s $2 per year. Over 11 years, I will have essentially incurred a cost of just $22 (and no hours lost) on that enameled pot.

By paying more for reliability, I?m actually saving a lot of money over time.

You can go through countless different items in your home and repeat this type of calculation. You?ll find that, time and time again, reliability saves you significant money, even if it means a bigger sticker price up front. Reliability is boring, but it?s a money saver over and over again.

This post is part of a yearlong series called ?365 Ways to Live Cheap (Revisited),? in which I?m revisiting the entries from my book ?365 Ways to Live Cheap,? which is available at Amazon and at bookstores everywhere.?

The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here. To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on www.thesimpledollar.com.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/QSDXmEYqk8s/A-reliable-purchase-is-a-smart-purchase

cagayan de oro bowl schedule 2011 barefoot bandit bowl schedule barry bonds hazing colton harris moore