Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/04/texas-execution-wow-exclaims-inmate-prior-to-passing/
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Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Man wounded after pulling gun in Utah police lobby
WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah (AP) ? A man who told authorities months ago that he wanted to be killed by police entered a suburban Salt Lake City police station Monday and pointed a gun at an officer and a records clerk, prompting another officer to open fire on him, wounding the man in the arm.
The shooting at about 8:30 a.m. in the heart of West Valley City caused panic at a bustling train and bus stop nearby, with people taking cover as they heard gunshots and saw officers storm outside with their weapons drawn. No one else was hurt as the suspect was quickly shot and apprehended.
James Ramsey Kammeyer, 39, was released from a hospital Monday afternoon and booked into jail on suspicion of attempted homicide, threat of terrorism, aggravated assault and possession of a weapon by a prohibited user, said police Sgt. Jason Hauer. Kammeyer is a registered sex offender.
Hauer said Kammeyer is not cooperating with investigators, invoking his Miranda rights and refusing to answer questions.
It's unknown if Kammeyer had an attorney as of Monday night. His family declined to comment.
Kammeyer went into the police department's lobby alone Monday morning and repeatedly asked an officer to come out from behind a partition, police Sgt. Jason Hauer said.
Kammeyer had his hands in his pockets and his behavior quickly raised suspicion, Hauer said.
The officer behind the glass asked Kammeyer to show his hands. Kammeyer instead turned his back to the officer, pulled a handgun and pointed it at the officer and a nearby records clerk.
One of several officers who came to help then fired multiple rounds at Kammeyer, hitting him twice in the arm.
"Obviously, the officer felt the threat was such that he had to take action, and shots were fired," Hauer said. He didn't know if Kammeyer fired his gun.
Police spent the day serving search warrants on Kammeyer's home and car, looking for anything that could provide insight into his actions.
Monday's encounter with Kammeyer wasn't the first for West Valley City police.
After responding to a call of a suicidal person, Kammeyer told officers in December he wanted to die by being shot by police because he was a registered sex offender and his wife was taking his kids, Hauer said. Officers talked him down that night.
Court records show Kammeyer pleaded guilty in 1999 to child sex abuse. He was given credit for 120 days spent in jail and sentenced to 36 months' probation, Utah courts spokeswoman Nancy Volmer said. He also was ordered to undergo treatment and write a letter of apology to the victim's parents.
But court records show Kammeyer violated the terms of his probation in 2002, and it was revoked and reinstated. He completed probation in 2004.
Kammeyer's 1999 felony conviction would have prohibited him from possessing any guns, said Dwayne Baird, spokesman for the Utah Department of Public Safety.
Hauer said Kammeyer recently was estranged from his wife, but he had no further details about his family.
Kammeyer's handgun was found in the small police lobby that was filled with broken glass and had at least two bullet holes in the window. The building is near offices, stores, restaurants and the city hall of this west-Salt Lake City suburb of about 132,000 people.
It also sits a mere 30 yards from a Trax light rail line stop and a public bus stop. City officials briefly ordered a stop to light-rail service at the station near the police department, along with area bus service, Utah Transit Authority spokesman Remi Barron said.
The area surrounding the police department was taped off as investigators looked for evidence. But when the shooting occurred, dozens of people were getting on and off the train and bus.
Bonnie Barkhimer was sitting on the light rail train stopped nearby when she said she saw six or seven police officers swarm out of building when the shooting occurred. She jumped into the doorway ? preparing to get off if needed. But police asked all riders to stay inside. They interviewed her and others about what they saw.
She said she never saw the suspect but there were a "ton of bullets."
"This is supposed to be a safe, civilian place," said Barkhimer, who was on her way to the Veteran's Administration hospital. "Not a place of gunfire."
Leilani Wolfgramm, who was on her way to school, also witnessed the shooting from the train. When the shots were fired, Wolfgramm said dozens of people standing at the light rail station dove for the ground or tried to board the train.
Hauer said officers came out to make sure everyone was safe on the train and at the bus stop but didn't fire any shots.
The beleaguered police department has drawn attention after federal and local prosecutors dropped nearly 100 cases that came out of the department's drug unit. The now-disbanded narcotics unit is the subject of internal investigations and probes by the county attorney, U.S. attorney's office and the FBI.
Monday's shooting, by a veteran officer whom police are not identifying, will be investigated by the Salt Lake County district attorney's office, Hauer said.
___
Associated Press writers Michelle Price and Paul Foy in Salt Lake City contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/man-wounded-pulling-gun-utah-police-lobby-200504904.html
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Mad Men, Season 6
I would characterize Mad Men?s oblique way of handling the MLK assassination?what you called ?small,? Seth?as pretty brave, mostly because it?s probably closer to the truth about how white people reacted. When they heard the news, most of the show?s characters felt unsettled and even devastated. But they were not so much upset about the assassination as about the general feeling of things falling apart. There was a sense of apocalypse in the air, but it was about the mood more than the event. (The kind of mood that opens the door to a scattering of weird, Twilight Zone-y prophet types?Pete, the insurance guy, the apes, and the many references to the biblical Noah.)
In fact, this show was as much about real estate as it was about race riots. The episode opens on an extended shot of Peggy?s back as she looks out a window?the window of her possible new apartment. And soon we are at the ad awards (which by the way happened pretty much exactly like that, down to the Paul Newman speech), everyone grumbles about how far back their table is. Peggy?s happy moment?her daydreams of hauling lumber to the Upper West Side, populating sketchy neighborhoods with little Peggy/Abelets, is just the first seed of gentrification. Yes, she is happy about her future domestic bliss?but she?s also relieved, because Abe has, with his radical, edgy vision, provided the game plan for the white people to regain control of their city. ?We?re forgetting what Tecumseh said,? weirdo insurance guy proclaimed. Tecumseh said that land couldn?t be sold, any more than air or water. So much for that. Heya howa howa howa.
Michael?s father says people need each other in a crisis, but people also become a distilled version of themselves, as if you can suddenly see the naked truth about what really matters to them (Anyone remember the near-plane crash scene in Almost Famous)? In this case, the good guys and the bad guys switched places. Pete talked about shame and tragedy, while Harry was worried about episodes of Bewitched being interrupted for news updates (Harry?s version of real estate is air time). Henry Francis too showed his ugly side, although not in quite so obvious a way. The riots have stoked his political ambitions, but for all the wrong reasons. His complaints about Mayor Lindsay ?negotiating with hoodlums,? smiling like he was at a pancake breakfast?that?s a future petty Republican talking. In fact what Mayor Lindsay did that night was unusually ballsy?he left his Broadway show and headed straight to Harlem, helped avert riots in New York just by showing up and talking to people on the streets. (Here is a great clip of Lindsay talking about that night, from archives of the Museum of the City of New York.)
Maybe if we follow Francis through his campaign for state Senate, we will finally come to understand what he sees in Betty. (?I can?t wait for people to really meet you,? he says. Really? Her?) All this time I?ve been thinking Henry willfully ignores the ugly sides of Betty because he loves her so, sweet guy, but maybe they are more similar than we realize?petty, suburban, interested in keeping the wallpaper lined up.
By this crisis calculation, Don is the last honest man standing. Unlike in the earlier episodes, he is not stumbling around blindly. Unlike everyone else around him, he sees himself clearly and he understands what?s important to him. He does not care about a race vigil. He doesn?t care about Betty?s rules. He doesn?t even so much care about his children, as he confesses in that heartbreaking speech. He cares about Sylvia getting trampled in D.C., and about Bobby, for a brief moment, until Bobby says the wrong thing.
Everyone remembers Noah as the hero of the Flood. But he isn?t. That section of Genesis ends with Noah drunk, alone in his tent, and betrayed by his son on whom he, also, takes petty revenge with a few cutting words?a revenge that is interpreted to lead to slavery and the opening of the war with the Canaanites. Yes, Seth, it?s bold of the show to turn a sexy icon into a figure of pity and ridicule. But it?s been done before.
Gentlemen, tonight will not be the night.
Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=60c2f6579cd248756fa1fc54653b84fd
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Monday, April 29, 2013
The Sounds of Thirsty Trees
A team of physicists at Grenoble University in France discovered that trees make different sounds when they are starved for water versus when they are simply thirsty. We hear from Dr. Alexandre Ponomarenko, the lead researcher, and hear a bit of the thirsty tree sounds.
Copyright ? 2013 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.
JACKI LYDEN, HOST:
And if you're just joining us, this is WEEKENDS on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Jacki Lyden.
Remember this scene from "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers?" Treebeard, Pippin and Merry come upon the wasted forests of Isengard. Treebeard, a giant tree himself, laments...
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, "THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS")
JOHN RHYS-DAVIES: (as Treebeard) Many of these trees were my friends, creatures I had known from nut and acorn.
BILLY BOYD: (as Pippin) I'm sorry, Treebeard.
RHYS-DAVIES: (as Treebeard) They have voices of their own.
LYDEN: Voices of their own. Tolkien might've been on to something. Scientists around the world have learned that trees do indeed make sounds. And now, a team of physicists in France have determined specifically what sounds trees make when they're thirsty for water. As it turns out, there are a lot of thirsty trees out there.
Two out of three trees are dangerously parched the world over, at least that's what a study published in Nature determined late last year. Biologists looked at hundreds of tree species in 80 locations around the world and found...
DR. ALEXANDRE PONOMARENKO: If you increase a little bit of stress, potentially, a lot of trees may die from this drought even.
LYDEN: That's Dr. Alexandre Ponomarenko. Now, you can't use the human eye to detect a tree in desperate need of water. Well, water trees look virtually the same as their thirsty brethren, so Ponomarenko led a team of physicists at the University of Grenoble in France to detect trees' stress through sound.
PONOMARENKO: But we didn't know exactly where the sound is coming from, so this is where we start to work.
LYDEN: They designed a sensitive microphone to attach to the tree to monitor the sounds, and this is what they heard. Are you ready?
(SOUNDBITE OF A TREE)
LYDEN: Here that? It was quick, I know. So let's take it again.
(SOUNDBITE OF A TREE)
PONOMARENKO: We saw in our studies that every time there's a sound, there were a bubble appearing inside the tree.
LYDEN: And when those little bubbles appear, the tree is thirsty.
PONOMARENKO: When the bubble appear, it can trigger all the bubble around, and it's very, very bad for the tree.
LYDEN: Don't try this at home, though. These sounds are slowed down a thousand times so that they can be heard by the human ear. Not all hope is lost. Dr. Ponomarenko says that as his team compiles data, they can pinpoint exactly when trees want water. The thirstier they are, the louder they become.
(SOUNDBITE OF A TREE)
LYDEN: He says one day, scientists or park rangers or anyone can carry these light, specialized microphones out into the field and know just when our forests are on the brink of disaster. Then we have to learn how to save them.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
Copyright ? 2013 NPR. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to NPR. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.
Source: http://www.npr.org/2013/04/28/179675435/the-sounds-of-thirsty-trees?ft=1&f=1007
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Obama Promises To Protect Science Research From Partisan Politics
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama promised on Monday to ensure that scientific research is insulated from partisan politics, as government-funded projects come under attack from Republicans in Congress.
He made his remarks at the National Academy of Sciences, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary.
"I will keep working to make sure that our scientific research does not fall victim to political maneuvers or agendas that in some ways would impact on the integrity of the scientific process. That's what?s going to maintain our standards of scientific excellence for years to come."
The president's remarks are particularly timely, coming as the chairman of the Committee on Science, Space and Technology, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), pushes a bill that would essentially politicize decisions made by the National Science Foundation.
Smith's proposed legislation would require the NSF director to certify that every grant the federal agency hands out is for work that is "the finest quality, is ground breaking, and answers questions or solves problems that are of utmost importance to society at large."
In his remarks, Obama seemed to express agreement with this part of Smith's argument, saying on Monday that the government must "ensure that we only fund proposals that promise the biggest bang for taxpayer dollars."
But Smith has also said he wants to ensure approved projects are "not duplicative" of other work the NSF is funding -- even though scientific research is, by its nature, meant to be replicated.
Last week, Smith sent a letter to the NSF demanding that it provide supporting materials to justify research after its panels of independent scientists have approved it.
Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), the committee's ranking member, wrote to Smith criticizing him for his proposal.
"Your letter marks the beginning of an investigative effort, the implications of which are profound," Johnson said. "This is the first step on a path that would destroy the merit-based review process at NSF and intrudes political pressure into what is widely regarded as the most effective and creative process for awarding research funds in the world."
Republicans have also been critical of supporting social science research. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has for years tried to bar the National Science Foundation from funding research in political science. "Theories on political behavior are best left to CNN, pollsters, pundits, historians, candidates, political parties, and the voters, rather than being funded out of taxpayers' wallets," he said in 2009.
Coburn reintroduced an amendment this year to limit research funding as part of a bill funding the government. Obama signed it into law last month, although it was amended to allow an exception for research certified by the NSF director as "promoting national security or the economic interests of the United States."
Also on HuffPost:
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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/29/obama-science_n_3179411.html
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'90210's' Ziering welcomes second daughter
Getty Images file
Ian Ziering and Erin Ludwig.
By Erin O'Sullivan, Access Hollywood
It?s another girl for Ian Ziering!?The former ?90210? star and his wife, Erin, welcomed their second daughter on Thursday, according to People.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: MTV Movie Awards 2013: Red carpet styles!
The baby girl, named Penna Mae Ziering, arrived at 9:21 AM and weighed in at 6 lbs., 9 oz., according to the mag.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: "One Life To Live" & "All My Children": The New York City premiere!
Penna now shares the same birthday (April 25) as her big sister, 2-year-old Mia -- which Ian said was a surprise.
?We didn?t plan it!? he told the mag. ?Mia was born a week late and Penna was a week early.?
VIEW THE PHOTOS: "American Idol" season 12 -- countdown to the finale
The 49-year-old actor said Mia was thrilled over Penna?s arrival.
?She couldn?t wait to meet her,? he said. ?When she saw Penna she said, ?Baby sister!??
VIEW THE PHOTOS: "Arrested Development": Character posters & scenes from season 4
Ian and Erin began dating in 2009 and announced their engagement in February 2010.
They tied the knot on May 28, 2010 in Newport Beach, Calif.
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Business Etiquette in China | The Secrets of Negotiation with ...
Whether you are looking to open an office in China or just looking to form a partnership with a Chinese company there are several nuances that are beneficial to understand about their business etiquette. Making sure that you do your homework and comply with their traditional way of doing business will increase your success and can improve your negotiation terms with your potential Chinese partners.
Attending and Conducting Meetings
If there are two tips that you should take away from the business etiquette of meetings in China, they are regarding punctuality and figuring out who is actually in charge. Although the meetings may be a little more ritualistic in nature they follow the same format as any meeting that you are used to going to. Making sure that you check the Chinese calendar will help to make sure that you are not trying to schedule meeting around any of their national holidays, such as Chinese New Year. Spend a little extra time preparing and getting to know their business, as they have spent a great deal understanding yours. It is definitely crucial to make sure that you have an interpreter and bringing your own is the best way to ensure that you get the most balanced conversation.
Addressing others
Seniority is highly valued in China and it is important to address everyone in a business setting by their respective titles (Chairman, Director, Vice President, etc.) It is imperative to find the most senior person in the room and address them first.
Handshakes
For a business meeting or encounter there are usually a set of handshakes at the beginning of the meeting and to conclude the interaction. The key is not to be too aggressive and don?t be offended if your Chinese partners offer a weak handshake. At the end of the meeting you may also find yourself in a prolonged handshake where it is customary to keep the contact for a while longer than you are probably used to.
Giving/Receiving business cards
Similar to the introductions you want to make sure that you hand your business card to the most senior official first. It is also customary to offer your cards with both hands as if you were presenting a gift. If you can, have your title translated into Chinese, as this will be how your hosts decide who should be invited to which event and where you will be seated.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.What are you think about it? Please ?leave a response in comment?.
Source: http://china-business-connect.com/business-etiquette-in-china.htm
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Boston bomb suspect in small cell with steel door
AYER, Mass. (AP) ? The Boston Marathon bombing suspect is being held in a small cell with a steel door at a federal medical detention center about 40 miles outside the city, a federal official said Saturday.
Federal Medical Center Devens spokesman John Collauti described the conditions under which 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was being held in the Ayer facility after being moved there from a hospital Friday.
Tsarnaev was injured during a police chase Thursday in which his brother, also a suspect in the bombing, was fatally wounded.
Collauti said in a telephone interview that Tsarnaev is in secure housing where authorities can monitor him. His cell has a solid steel door with an observation window and a slot for passing food and medication.
Collauti wouldn't discuss specific details related to Tsarnaev, but said that typically medical workers making rounds each shift monitor the inmates. He said guards also keep an eye on some cells with video cameras.
Also, inmates in the more restrictive section do not have access to TVs or radios, but can read books and other materials, he said.
"Really this type of facility is fully capable of handling him and it's not that much of an inconvenience because it's more or less business as usual," Collauti said.
Tsarnaev's mother said the bombing allegations against her son are lies.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/boston-bomb-suspect-small-cell-steel-door-023441943.html
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Sunday, April 28, 2013
Steady rain greets Jazz Fest as 1st weekend closes
NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? A steady, sometimes heavy rain pelted fans at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, but the music flowed on.
Umbrellas, rain boots and plastic ponchos were out in abundance Sunday as fans stood among the puddles and water-soaked grass awaiting clearer skies.
As Khris Royal & Dark Matter played the Gentilly Stage, pockets of fest-faithfuls grooved and danced to his funky saxophone opening instrumental. Keith Frank & the Soileau Zydeco Band enticed fans to the front of the nearby Fais Do-Do stage, where a few couples rocked a two-step to the band's steady beat.
The Nevilles, without brother Aaron, perform later Sunday just before the Dave Matthews Band, which closes the fest's first weekend and largest stage.
Other headliners include blues legend B.B. King and Earth, Wind & Fire.
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Path app is adding 1 million new registered users a week
It looks like everyone loves stickers, because following its last update, Path is growing -- fast. The social app is now pulling in a million users a week and has recently topped nine million. It's picked up most of its new chroniclers and message-senders from English and Spanish speaking regions, particularly in South and Central America. In fact, 500,000 Venezuelans decided to start trying the app over a single weekend. According to Path's co-founder, Dave Morin, search features added at the start of the year have increased user traffic by 50 percent, while the addition of extra stickers and filter purchases has meant its making its way up the top-grossing charts too. The chief exec adds that the growth appears to be organic, with users largely split equally across iOS and Android, although there's nothing just yet on Google Glass user numbers .
[Image credit: Sticker Robot]
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Software, Mobile
Source: WSJ Digits
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10 things you need to know about the 2013 reef isa world surfing ...
Panama?s President Martinelli awarding the World Team Trophy to the 2011 Gold Medal Team Champions, Australia, who will be back to defend their title. Photo: ISA/Billy Watts
From May 4-12, Panama will become the gathering place of the world?s best surfers, who will compete in the 2013 Reef ISA World Surfing Games (WSG) in the perfect reef break in Santa Catalina.
The 2013 Reef ISA WSG begins in less than two weeks. Over 25 countries from all corners of the planet and 150 men and women surfers will soon arrive to the beautiful and tropical country of Panama, it?s great waves, warm weather and welcoming people.
In just a few days, the world-class reef break in Santa Catalina, Panama will receive the world?s best surfers from over 25 National Teams to compete in the 2013 Reef ISA World Surfing Games. Photo: Philippe Demarsan
These are the ten things you need to know about the 2013 Reef ISA WSG:
1. The Event
The 2013 Reef ISA World Surfing Games will gather 25 National Delegations from every corner of the world, who will gather to compete for their National Team in an ?Olympic-Style? event. The surfers compete for medals and the honor of representing their respective countries.
2. The Competition
The 2013 Reef ISA World Surfing Games is a team competition with individual Men?s and Women?s divisions. Each National Team?includes 4 Open Men?s and 2 Open Women?s competitors.
Up until the last ISA World Surfing Games in Playa Venao, Panama in 2011, the WSG included a Longboard division, but starting this year, this division will have its own ISA World Championship, in Huanchaco, Peru in September.
Australia made it back to the top of the podium after a three year absence. The team celebrates while holding the Fernando Aguerre World Team Trophy as Panama?s President, Ricardo Martinelli (far left) looks on. Photo: ISA/Watts
3. The Champions
2011 Team Medalists
Gold: Australia
Silver: Brazil
Bronze: France
Copper: Argentina
Individual Places
Open Men?s Division
Gold: Santiago Muniz (ARG)
Silver: Mick Campbell (AUS)
Bronze: Thomas Woods (AUS)
Copper: Ian Gouveia (BRA)
Open Women?s division
Gold: Cannelle Bulard (FRA)
Silver: Sofia Mulanovich (PER)
Bronze: Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS)
Copper: Dimity Stoyle (AUS)
4. The Venue
Panama is the southernmost country of Central America, bordered to the north by the Caribbean Sea, to the south by the Pacific Ocean, to the east by Colombia and to the west by Costa Rica.?Its early status as a transit country with its famous Panama Canal, has allowed Panama to become a meeting point of cultures from around the globe.
Santa Catalina is a quiet surf town located in the Province of Veraguas and is home to several hundred people who lead simple lives, many as fishermen.
Besides surfing, Santa Catalina is also known for its sport fishing, diving and snorkeling. It?s also the departure point for Coiba Island, a National Park that covers over 430,000 acres, making it one of the largest marine parks in the world.
5. The Wave
The wave is world-class. It breaks along a shallow reef that creates a perfect right-hand powerful and hollow wave. Santa Catalina handles solid swells in the 8-12 feet range.
The event was scheduled to take place during the active Southern Hemisphere swell season that produces great waves for the region. Santa Catalina will provide a long right with an incredible barrel section. The main wave is located approximately 300 meters from shore, so you can get there paddling or by boat. It is a break that picks up sizeable waves in any type of swell coming mainly from the south or southwest.
6. The Prize
The world?s best surfers will gather to compete for the Individual and Team Gold Medals, the International Olympic Committee President?s Trophy and the Fernando Aguerre World Team Trophy, named for and donated by the ISA President, who was first elected in 1994 and has been elected 7 times since.
Additionally, in celebration of the 500th Anniversary of the discovery of the Pacific Ocean, the World Team Champion will be awarded the ?Copa V Centenario Del Descubrimiento Del Oceano Pacifico,? or 5th Century Cup of the Discovery of the Pacific Ocean. This commemorative trophy marks the discovery of the Pacific Ocean during the colonial era by the Conquistador Vasco N??ez de Balboa.
7. The History
The ISA World Surfing Games began in 1964 under the name ISF World Championships, and were run by the International Surfing Federation, the first surfing international organization in history. In 1976, the ISF became the ISA. From their beginning and until today, the contestants in the World Championship traveled to compete as a team and to represent their nation.
8. The Schedule
The 2013 Reef ISA WSG will officially open on May 4 with the traditional ISA Opening Ceremony, which will include the Parade of the Nations and Sands of the World Ceremony.
The Parade of the Nations is a colorful and energy-filled event, complete with teams chanting, waving flags and the cheering of the locals who come out to watch the spectacle.
The Sands of the World Ceremony symbolizes the true fraternal spirit that bonds together all members of the global surfing tribe. The union of the countries of the world in this Ceremony is symbolized through the mixing of the sands from the shores of all participating National Delegations, showcasing the ISA desire for a better and peaceful world.
Important Dates
May 4: Opening Ceremony, Parade of Nations, Sands of the World Ceremony and Official Press Conference.
May 5: Competition Begins
May 12: Final day of competition, Awards Presentation and Closing Ceremony
9.?The Mission
The ISA?s mission is to develop the sport of surfing in Panama and around the world. ?This is accomplished through annual World Championships, membership development, educational programs, scholarship distribution and working towards Olympic Surfing.
The ISA is fulfilling its mission as it has previously held three very successful World Championships in Panama including the ISA World Junior Surfing Championship in Playa Venao in 2012, the ISA World Surfing Games in Playa Venao in 2011, and the ISA World Masters Surfing Championship in Santa Catalina in 2010.
10. The Support
The 2013 Reef ISA WSG is the fourth event in a row hosted by Panama with the full support of the country?s President, Ricardo Martinelli and the Ministry of Tourism, led by Salomon Shamah. The Panamanian Ministry of Tourism is once again supporting an ISA event in the country for a 4th year in a row. Reef, a leading surfing brand, is also supporting this year?s event and the ISA?s cause for a better surfing future. The Province of Veraguas has opened its arms welcoming all the surfers.
Follow all of the action live on the official event website?www.ISAWSG.com
Source: http://www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za/?p=4115
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Saturday, April 27, 2013
Computer scientists suggest new spin on origins of evolvability: Competition to survive not necessary?
Apr. 26, 2013 ? Scientists have long observed that species seem to have become increasingly capable of evolving in response to changes in the environment. But computer science researchers now say that the popular explanation of competition to survive in nature may not actually be necessary for evolvability to increase.
In a paper published this week in PLOS ONE, the researchers report that evolvability can increase over generations regardless of whether species are competing for food, habitat or other factors.
Using a simulated model they designed to mimic how organisms evolve, the researchers saw increasing evolvability even without competitive pressure.
"The explanation is that evolvable organisms separate themselves naturally from less evolvable organisms over time simply by becoming increasingly diverse," said Kenneth O. Stanley, an associate professor at the College of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Central Florida. He co-wrote the paper about the study along with lead author Joel Lehman, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Texas at Austin.
The finding could have implications for the origins of evolvability in many species.
"When new species appear in the future, they are most likely descendants of those that were evolvable in the past," Lehman said. "The result is that evolvable species accumulate over time even without selective pressure."
During the simulations, the team's simulated organisms became more evolvable without any pressure from other organisms out-competing them. The simulations were based on a conceptual algorithm.
"The algorithms used for the simulations are abstractly based on how organisms are evolved, but not on any particular real-life organism," explained Lehman.
The team's hypothesis is unique and is in contrast to most popular theories for why evolvability increases.
"An important implication of this result is that traditional selective and adaptive explanations for phenomena such as increasing evolvability deserve more scrutiny and may turn out unnecessary in some cases," Stanley said.
Stanley is an associate professor at UCF. He has a bachelor's of science in engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a doctorate in computer science from the University of Texas at Austin. He serves on the editorial boards of several journals. He has over 70 publications in competitive venues and has secured grants worth more than $1 million. His works in artificial intelligence and evolutionary computation have been cited more than 4,000 times.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Central Florida.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Joel Lehman, Kenneth O. Stanley. Evolvability Is Inevitable: Increasing Evolvability without the Pressure to Adapt. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (4): e62186 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0062186
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/yFudqCEhgpw/130426115612.htm
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Friday, April 26, 2013
Zachary Quinto to make Broadway bow in 'Menagerie'
FILE - This April 14, 2013 file photo shows actor Zachary Quinto at the MTV Movie Awards in Sony Pictures Studio Lot in Culver City, Calif. Producers Jeffrey Richards said Thursday Quinto will star in the American Repertory Theater's production of ?The Glass Menagerie? for a 17-week engagement starting this September. Quinto, who plays Spock in the ?Star Trek? reboots and wowed audiences in a recent off-Broadway production of ?Angels In America,? will be making his Broadway debut as Tom. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
FILE - This April 14, 2013 file photo shows actor Zachary Quinto at the MTV Movie Awards in Sony Pictures Studio Lot in Culver City, Calif. Producers Jeffrey Richards said Thursday Quinto will star in the American Repertory Theater's production of ?The Glass Menagerie? for a 17-week engagement starting this September. Quinto, who plays Spock in the ?Star Trek? reboots and wowed audiences in a recent off-Broadway production of ?Angels In America,? will be making his Broadway debut as Tom. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Another Tennessee Williams masterpiece is coming to Broadway and it's bringing Zachary Quinto and Cherry Jones along for the ride.
Producers Jeffrey Richards said Thursday he'll transfer the American Repertory Theater's production of "The Glass Menagerie" to New York for a 17-week engagement starting this September.
Quinto, who plays Spock in the "Star Trek" reboots and wowed audiences in a recent off-Broadway production of "Angels In America," will be making his Broadway debut as Tom.
Jones, the two-time Tony Award winner for "Doubt" and "The Heiress" who played President Allison Taylor in the TV series "24," will play Amanda Wingfield.
They'll be joined by Celia Keenan-Bolger, fresh off her role as Wendy in Broadway's "Peter and the Starcatcher," and Brian J. Smith, recently in "The Columnist." John Tiffany, who helmed "Once," will direct.
Performances begin Sept, 5 with an opening night set for Sept. 26. The venue will be a Shubert Theatre that has yet to be announced. The show originated at the acclaimed American Repertory Theater outside Boston this winter.
The play centers on an aging Southern belle who hopes her son can fulfill her dreams of finding the perfect "gentleman caller" for her shy and damaged daughter.
The last time "The Glass Menagerie" hit Broadway was 2005 starring Jessica Lange and Christian Slater. The latest revival comes on the heels of "A Streetcar Named Desire" last year with Blair Underwood and Nicole Ari Parker, and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" this year with Scarlett Johansson.
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Online: http://www.TheGlassMenagerieBroadway.com
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U.S. suspects Syria used chemical weapons, wants proof
By Phil Stewart and David Alexander
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Thursday the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad had probably used chemical weapons on a small scale in the country's civil war, but insisted that President Barack Obama needed definitive proof before he would take action.
The disclosure created a quandary for Obama, who has set the use of chemical weapons as a "red line" that Assad must not cross. It triggered calls from some hawkish Washington lawmakers for a U.S. military response, which the president has resisted.
In a shift from a White House assessment just days earlier, U.S. officials said the intelligence community believed with "varying degrees of confidence" that the chemical nerve agent sarin was used by Assad's forces against rebel fighters. But it noted that "the chain of custody is not clear."
While Obama has declared that the deployment of chemical weapons would be a game-changer and has threatened unspecified consequences if it happened, his administration is moving carefully - saying it is mindful of the lessons of the start of the Iraq war more than a decade ago.
Then, the George W. Bush administration used inaccurate intelligence to justify the invasion of Iraq in pursuit of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons that turned out not to exist.
"Given the stakes involved and what we have learned from our own recent experiences, intelligence assessments alone are not sufficient - only credible and corroborated facts that provide us with some degree of certainty will guide our decision-making," Miguel Rodriguez, White House director of the office of legislative affairs, said in a letter to lawmakers.
One senior U.S. defense official told reporters, "We have seen very bad movies before," where intelligence was perceived to have driven policy decisions that later, in the cold light of day, were proven wrong.
The term "varying degrees of confidence" used to describe the assessment of possible chemical weapons use in Syria usually suggests debate within the U.S. intelligence community about the conclusion, the defense official noted.
The White House said the evaluation that Syria probably used chemical weapons was based in part on "physiological" samples. But a White House official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, repeatedly declined to say what that evidence was. Nor is it clear who supplied it.
Chemical weapons experts say sarin, a nerve agent, can be detected in human tissue, blood, urine and hair samples, or in nearby soil or even leaves. But the chemical can dissipate within days or weeks, depending on ambient heat, wind and other factors.
Iraq is said to have used sarin 25 years ago in an attack on the Kurdish city of Halabja during the Iran-Iraq war. More recently, the agent was used in the 1994 attack by a religious cult on riders of the Tokyo subway system.
In Syria, U.S. officials said the scale of the use of sarin appeared limited. Nobody is "seeing any mass casualties" from the possible use of chemical weapons in Syria, one U.S. intelligence official noted.
The United States has resisted being dragged militarily into Syria's conflict and is providing only non-lethal aid to rebels trying to overthrow Assad. Washington is worried that weapons supplied to the rebels could end up in the hands of al Qaeda-linked fighters.
But acknowledgement of the U.S. intelligence assessment appeared to move the United States closer - at least rhetorically - to some sort of action in Syria, military or otherwise.
A White House official told reporters that "all options are on the table in terms of our response" and said the United States, which has been criticized for not doing enough to halt the bloodshed, would consult with its allies.
The official said the U.S. military was preparing for a range of "different contingencies," but declined to give specifics. Options available to Obama could include everything from air strikes to commando raids to setting up a Libya-style "no-fly" zone, either unilaterally or in cooperation with allies.
SURPRISE ANNOUNCEMENT
But Obama appeared intent on deflecting pressure for swift action by stressing the need for a comprehensive U.N. investigation on the ground in Syria - something Assad has blocked from going forward.
Syria's deputy foreign minister, Faisal Mekdad, in an interview with Reuters, dismissed Western and Israeli claims that government forces had used chemical weapons and said it was a "big lie" that Syria was preventing the U.N. probe.
Assad has clung to power despite repeated U.S. calls for him to step down. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the revolt against his family's decades-long autocratic rule. A military stalemate has set in, but Assad has still been able to rely on support from Russia and Iran.
"The reality is that as a country we can't declare red lines and then do nothing when they are crossed. Eventually we have to do something," said Ariel Ratner, a former Middle East adviser in the State Department and now a fellow at the Truman National Security Project.
The Obama administration's sudden disclosure caught many off guard. It came just two days after Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and other U.S. officials appeared to play down an Israeli assessment that there had been repeated use of chemical weapons in Syria.
France and Britain have also concluded that evidence suggests chemical arms have been used in Syria's conflict.
"The intelligence community has been assessing information for some time on this issue and the decision to reach this conclusion was made within the past 24 hours," Hagel said.
The White House said it wanted to provide a "prompt response" to a query on Wednesday from lawmakers about whether Syria had used chemical weapons. The legislators' letter to Obama cited the assessments by Israel, France and Britain.
Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona, one of the leading advocates of deeper U.S. involvement in the Syrian conflict, said the intelligence assessment demanded a response.
"The president of the United States said that if Bashar Assad used chemical weapons, it would be a game-changer, that it would cross a red line," he said. "I think it's pretty obvious that red line has been crossed."
Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, voiced concern that the public acknowledgement of the U.S. intelligence assessment could embolden Assad and may prompt him to calculate "he has nothing more to lose."
"Syria has the ability to kill tens of thousands with its chemical weapons. The world must come together to prevent this by unified action," she said.
In Brussels, the NATO alliance was "concerned by reports of the possible use of chemical weapons," an official said.
"As NATO has said in the past, any use of these weapons would be completely unacceptable and a clear breach of international law, and if any side uses these weapons we would expect a reaction from the international community," the official said.
Patriot missile interceptors that NATO has sent to Turkey, a member of the alliance which borders Syria, would "help ensure the protection of Turkey against any missile attack, whether the missiles carry chemical weapons or not," the official added.
(Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick, Roberta Rampton, Patricia Zengerle and Tabassum Zakaria; Editing by Warren Strobel and Peter Cooney)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-suspects-syria-used-chemical-weapons-wants-proof-034431157.html
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Israel: OK to check emails of foreigners at border
JERUSALEM (AP) ? Israel's attorney general says security officials may continue the practice of searching emails of some foreigners who want to enter Israel.
Nadim Aboud of the attorney general's office wrote to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel Wednesday, saying officials may ask a person to open an email account for checks if they believe the person is suspect.
Abboud wrote potential entrants may refuse, but that would be a factor in deciding whether a person would be allowed entry.
The ruling follows an uproar last year when some visitors trying to enter Israel were ordered to open their emails after hours of interrogation at Israel's Ben-Gurion airport. Two Palestinian-American women were forbidden from entering after email checks were conducted.
ACRI says the attorney general's letter effectively legalizes the email checks.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/israel-ok-check-emails-foreigners-border-170015531.html
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Thursday, April 25, 2013
Q&A: Who ultimately bears responsibility for Bangladesh factory disasters?
Low wages and lower safety standards have made Bangladesh a major garment producer - and a source of workplace deaths like the more than 200 killed in a Dhaka factory collapse this week.
Bangladeshi rescue workers watch from a damaged section of a wall at the site of a building that collapsed Wednesday in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday.
Kevin Frayer/AP
EnlargeWhen an eight-story factory outside Bangladesh?s capital Dhaka collapsed Wednesday, the ensuing devastation was met with horror (more than 200 were killed), but not disbelief.
Skip to next paragraph Ryan Lenora BrownCorrespondent
Ryan Brown edits the Africa Monitor blog and contributes to the national and international news desks of the Monitor. She is a former Fulbright fellow to South Africa and holds a degree in history from Duke University.?
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Catastrophic industrial accidents are something of a regular occurrence in the south Asian nation, which is the second-largest garment exporter in the world. Lax labor and building standards, coupled with a rock bottom minimum wage for garment workers ($37 per month), have played a large part in that boom, though at a high cost.
In fact, only five months ago, a fire at another factory in the city killed 111, prompting a flurry of apologies and promises of reform from both the Bangladeshi government and the western companies whose goods were produced there, including Walmart.
But who ultimately bears the responsibility for these disasters ? and can they be stopped? The Monitor spoke to Aman Singh, editorial director of the CSRwire, a website for corporate social responsibility news, about consumer choices, the supply chain blame game, and who sets the standards for global garment production.
When a disaster like the one in Bangladesh occurs, everyone involved immediately starts pointing fingers ? at the factory owners, at the government, at the Western companies who source goods there. So whose fault is it?
The chain of command between retailer and source is purposefully pretty complex. And in the middle of the chain of command you have all these different players ? the subcontractors, the auditors, the analysts, the people negotiating these contracts every year. Because the responsibility is so thinly distributed, no one person or group of people is really being held accountable for compliance with building standards, say, which makes it really hard to pinpoint where the issue started.
And then you have companies like Walmart that come forward and say, we contract out to suppliers, so we don?t even know if our products were made in this factory or not. Is that a good excuse?
No, it?s really not. Walmart is so big and so powerful that they really could go to any supplier they want and say, stick to our wage and safety policies or get out. And they can do that far more effectively than government legislation ever could. These companies have more power than entire governments, entire nations.
It sounds like the corporate supply chain is often very opaque ? is there any attempt being made to change that on a global level?
That?s the million dollar questions we?re all trying to answer: We have to work in a global economy, we have to work with different understandings of what?s acceptable in terms of labor and workers. It?s acceptable culturally, for instance, for women as young as 14 to work in a lot of countries. But it?s not OK in the UK or US markets. ?
The UN is trying to standardize this supply chain management. The International Trade Center has a standards map out that?s visible online, and what they?re trying to do is bring all these apparel companies together to see what standards everyone is using and where they stand against their peers. They?re billing it as a competitive advantage for companies. It?s an interesting strategy because we all know when [labor practices] impact the dollar they?re all going to want to be interested in making them better. The maps are only available to the companies participating now, but the hope is to make it publicly eventually. And I think when that kind of information becomes public it?ll force companies to be more transparent in their supply chain policies.
What about consumers ? do disasters like this change their buying habits?
I don?t know if they?re really impacting consumers ? I don?t know if they?re really starting to come out and say, you know what, I?m not going to buy from this company because this kind of thing is just happening way too often. There?s a real gap there. We as consumers have a very short memory and we tend to forget these disasters after they happen.
Since I?ve started working in this field though, I have really changed my shopping habits. The biggest shift is I?ve become far more conscious of how much I buy. I try to not over-consume. I?ve realized that the core of our problem is over-consumption. But also buying very cheap goods is a part of it: If you?re paying $5 for a pair of pants, you can only assume the person making them is getting much less than that, although volume does play a huge factor in price margins and wages.
But if you pay more, does that guarantee the conditions the garment was made under were any better?
That?s true. There?s no way of making that correlation.
Is there any way for consumers to know from the information on their garment ? the brand, the country it?s made in ? if they?re getting something produced under decent conditions?
The problem is we don?t have any labeling with clothing that identifies ethical sourcing. It almost always requires going back to the Internet and looking at their supply chain policy. Many brands are starting to put their whole supply chain on their website, but from a consumer perspective who has time to do that? You want to be able to just pick up a piece of clothing and know if it has an ethical history. And right now you can?t.
In the late 1990s, Nike and other major sporting apparel companies faced a large protest movement led by American college students against the labor conditions in their factories. It forced them to reexamine a lot of these kinds of problems. Is any similar movement building now?
Activism had such a big role to play at that time. And it still does. But that activism has slowly changed into collaboration ? the NGOs that once fought these companies are now working with them. And obviously the companies prefer that because they have a partner rather than someone working against them. But I think for Nike the protests and their extremely public nature was the big motivator in changing their policy. And I think we need?more of?that.?Apple for example: What is stopping us from saying we're going to stop using its products until it proves it can provide better working conditions in its factories? Do we as consumers have the courage to boycott some of our favorite brands over ethics?
Overall, when you look at supply chain issues around the world, are you optimistic? Is the world trending towards progress?
It?s such a complex sector. We?re doing better in so many things but we?re starting to go the wrong way in so many others that it?s hard to stay optimistic for too long.?Incidents like these tell us the road ahead is long and will require continuous courage.
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Thinx upgrades the video monitor with embedded LTE and SMS alerts; ships in Q3 for around $500
As part of our tour through Verizon's Waltham, Mass.-based Innovation Center this week, we were able to see a brief demo of the Thinx 4G LTE video monitor -- a product that was briefly teased at CES, but we've heard precious little about since. Essentially, this is a rather sophisticated 1080p video monitor, designed for small businesses that would prefer that their monitors do more than just capture reels of archived footage. Thinx's solution throws in an admin panel and a smartphone app; users can install the camera and then define hot zones for the sensor to keep tabs on. If and when a specific event occurs (e.g. 50 individuals cross a virtual line), owners can be alerted via SMS -- and, of course, they can then view only the footage pertaining to said event with merely a click.
Those apps (available for iOS and Android) will allow owners to look in live at any time, with recorded video automatically stored on the included 4GB SD card, a personal NAS or a cloud storage facility like Dropbox. Better still, the control panel supports multiple cameras for those trying to cast eyes over an entire office complex, and there's room for a 12V battery that'll keep it humming along "for a few hours" should the power cut out. Tom Thomasson, vice president of marketing at Thinx, told us that the product is slated to go on sale in the US during the third quarter of this year, and it's one of "over 30" new products that Verizon will help launch during the 2013 / 2014 time frame.
Filed under: Cameras, Wireless, Mobile, Verizon
Source: Thinx
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Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Despite Years of Protest, Passage of the Internet Sales Tax Suddenly Seems Imminent
An overwhelming majority of Senators just voted to cut the debate short and get a final vote on a controversial bill that will impose sales tax on purchases made on the Internet. Though support to move the so-called Marketplace Fairness Act forward jumped from less than 60 senators to 74 who voted to limit debate on Monday, the pro-Internet crew has a tough row to hoe. But based on the industry Goliaths at their back, companies like Wal-Mart and Amazon, and the recent change of heart by so many lawmakers, the bill looks like it stands a pretty good chance of making it to the president's desk. It helps that the Obama administration announced not long before the vote on Monday that it supports the curent version of the bill.
RELATED: Congress Can't Even Fix a Hole in the Roof
But just because the bill suddenly has a lot of support from very powerful people, doesn't mean it's without opposition. Opponents of the bill include everyone from eBay, the Internet auction giant that's been mobilizing its millions of users against the bill, to Grover Norquists Americans for Tax Reform, a powerful anti-tax lobby with obvious libertarian?leanings. After Monday's change of heart in the Senate, those groups turned their gaze to the House, where there's still some hope if not to stop the bill than to amend it so that's not so sweeping.?
RELATED: Inside Today's Sandy Relief Bill That's Not All About Sandy Relief
The bill isn't really all?that sweeping in its current form, though. There are some failsafes to protect small business, like a rule that only requires an online retailer to collect tax if they bring in less than $1 million in revenue. (The Marketplace Fairness Act, meanwhile, would bring an estimated $22 billion to $24 billion in new tax revenue.)?These are the same business, the White House says, will benefit most from the bill since it "will level the playing field for local?small business?retailers who are undercut every day by out-of-state on-line companies." The National Governors Association, who favors the bill, similarly said that the current structure is favoring online retails and, as a result, "shuttering stores and undermining state budgets."
RELATED: Congress Is No Fun Anymore
Opponents beg to differ, but some are willing to meet half way. During the Senate's abbreviated debate on the bill, there are plans to introduce a three-word amendment that would limit the bill's reach to Internet sellers "in participating states." So if New Hampshire, the "Live Free or Die" state, doesn't want to impose a new tax, it doesn't have to. Regardless of what happens in the interim, the gist of this bill feels imminent. Jordan Weissman at The Atlantic calls it "common sense," and apparently, a growing group of lawmakers agree.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/despite-years-protest-passage-internet-sales-tax-suddenly-011602232.html
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Tuesday, April 23, 2013
All Sizzle and No Steak
Allan Savory?s livestock hypothesis hinges on what he calls ?holistic management and planned grazing.? Photo by Vyacheslav Oseledko/AFP/Getty Images
When Allan Savory finished his TED talk early last month, foodies worldwide collectively salivated. In roughly 22 minutes, Savory, a biologist and former member of the Rhodesian Parliament, challenged the conventional wisdom blaming livestock for the degradation of global grasslands into hardpan deserts. It has long been a basic tenet of environmentalism that 10,000 years of overgrazing has caused this desertification. Environmentalists insist that to restore degraded landscapes, we must reduce the presence of cattle, eat less meat, and allow ecosystems to repair themselves. Savory, who admits that he?s suggesting ?the unthinkable,? wants humans to do the exact opposite: Add cattle to the deserts, manage them with obsessive precision, and eat more meat. Most of the world?s land, he says (at about 18:40), ?can only feed people with animals.?
Savory?s hypothesis hinges on what he calls ?holistic management and planned grazing.? These methods are designed to re-enact the movements of the prehistoric herds that once nurtured global grasslands with their manure deposits and ?hoof action? (gentle trampling that increases the soil?s ability to hold water). By mimicking the natural symbiosis between plants and animals, holistic grazing would, Savory argues, encourage the regrowth of carbon-sequestering grasslands. These grasses would absorb enough carbon to counteract the methane production that?s associated with cattle husbandry (thanks to cow burps and farts) and halt global warming. (To put that claim in perspective, note that the Earth?s oceans and plants currently absorb only half of the 7 billion metric tons of carbon that human activities release into the atmosphere each year.) In order for Savory?s plan to work, the stocking density of livestock?the number of animals grazing a given area of land?would need to increase, in some cases, by as much as 400 percent. And for ranchers to make a living, they would sell their beef.
Savory?s speech quickly attracted praise. Chris Anderson, the TED host, said to Savory after his show, ?I?m sure everyone here ... wants to hug you.? Michael Pollan, a passionate advocate of pastured beef, called Savory?s talk the ?highlight of TED? in a tweet that provocatively asked, ?Eat MORE meat?? The Organic Consumers Association published an article that used Savory?s presentation to assert that ?what we need is MORE moving, grazing animals, not less,? and to argue that holistic grazing ?would be beneficial for the environment, the health of the animals, and subsequently the health of humans consuming those animals.? The takeaway was clear: If you?re interested in saving the planet, sharpen your steak knives.
Well, not so fast. For all the intuitive appeal of ?holistic management,? Savory?s hypothesis is beset with caveats. The most systematic research trial supporting Savory?s claims, the Charter Grazing Trials, was undertaken in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe today) between 1969 and 1975. Given the ecological vagaries of deserts worldwide, one could certainly question whether Savory?s research on a 6,200-acre spot of semiarid African land holds any relevance for the rest of the world?s 12 billion acres of desert. Extrapolation seems even more dubious when you consider that a comprehensive review of Savory?s trial and other similar trials, published in 2002, found that Savory?s signature high-stocking density and rapid-fire rotation plan did not lead to a perfectly choreographed symbiosis between grass and beast.
Instead, there were problems during the Charter Grazing Trials, ones not mentioned in Savory?s dramatic talk. Cattle that grazed according to Savory?s method needed expensive supplemental feed, became stressed and fatigued, and lost enough weight to compromise the profitability of their meat. And even though Savory?s Grazing Trials took place during a period of freakishly high rainfall, with rates exceeding the average by 24 percent overall, the authors contend that Savory?s method ?failed to produce the marked improvement in grass cover claimed from its application.? The authors of the overview concluded exactly what mainstream ecologists have been concluding for 40 years: ?No grazing system has yet shown the capacity to overcome the long-term effects of overstocking and/or drought on vegetation productivity.?
Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=c0aca3d8a09ce97b71483d49dcfdf3af
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Gone, but not forgotten: Scientists recall EP, perhaps the world?s second-most famous amnesiac
Apr. 22, 2013 ? An international team of neuroscientists has described for the first time in exhaustive detail the underlying neurobiology of an amnesiac who suffered from profound memory loss after damage to key portions of his brain.
Writing in this week's Online Early Edition of PNAS, principal investigator Larry R. Squire, PhD, professor in the departments of Neurosciences, Psychiatry and Psychology at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Veteran Affairs San Diego Healthcare System (VASDHS) -- with colleagues at UC Davis and the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Spain -- recount the case of EP, a man who suffered radical memory loss and dysfunction following a bout of viral encephalitis.
EP's story is strikingly similar to the more famous case of HM, who also suffered permanent, dramatic memory loss after small portions of his medial temporal lobes were removed by doctors in 1953 to relieve severe epileptic seizures. The surgery was successful, but left HM unable to form new memories or recall people, places or events post-operation.
HM (later identified as Henry Gustav Molaison) was the subject of intense scientific scrutiny and study for the remainder of his life. When he died in 2008 at the age of 82, he was popularized as "the world's most famous amnesiac." His brain was removed and digitally preserved at The Brain Observatory, a UC San Diego-based lab headed by Jacopo Annese, PhD, an assistant adjunct professor in the Department of Radiology and a co-author of the PNAS paper.
Like Molaison, EP was also something of a scientific celebrity, albeit purposefully anonymous. In 1992, at the age of 70, he was diagnosed with viral encephalitis. He recovered, but the illness resulted in devastating neurological loss, both physiologically and psychologically.
Not only did he also lose the ability to form new memories, EP suffered a modest impairment in his semantic knowledge -- the knowledge of things like words and the names of objects. Between 1994, when he moved to San Diego County, and his death 14 years later, EP was a subject of continued study, which included hundreds of different assessments of cognitive function.
"The work was long-term," said Squire, a Career Research Scientist at the VASDHS. "We probably visited his house 200 times. We knew his family." In a 2000 paper, Squire and colleagues described EP as a 6-foot-2, 192-pound affable fellow with a fascination for the computers used in his testing. He was always agreeable and pleasant. "He had a sense of humor," said Squire.
After his death, EP's brain was also processed at The Brain Observatory. The last five years have been spent parsing the data and painting a full picture of what happened to EP and why. Squire said EP's viral encephalitis infection wreaked havoc upon his brain: Large, bilateral, symmetrical lesions were found in the medial temporal lobe, portions of the brain responsible for formation of long-term memory; and whole, crucial structures were eliminated -- the amygdala and hippocampus among them. Additionally, other brain regions had atrophied and white matter -- the support fibers that transmit signals between brain structures -- had become gliotic or scarred.
Though HM is generally considered the "gold standard" of amnesia patients -- "he was the first case and studied so elegantly," said Squire -- EP provides new and surprising twists in understanding how memory functions and fails.
For example, HM's declarative memory was almost nil -- half an hour after lunch, he would have forgotten what he ate or if he had eaten at all -- but in tests, HM showed some small capacity to learn new things. "His ability to learn was nowhere close to zero," Squire said, "so the thinking was that maybe there were other ways that information was getting in, that there was something special about the capacity for learning facts."
EP undermines that notion. Due to the total destruction of specific memory-linked brain structures, EP was utterly unable to learn anything new. "It really was absolutely zero," said Squire. "That suggests there isn't any special mechanism. HM simply retained some ability because he retained some residual tissue."
Squire noted that the massive scope of EP's brain damage also appeared to trigger secondary consequences. "If a lesion gets large enough, it results in other negative changes due to the loss of connectivity," he said. In EP's case, one result was his impaired semantic knowledge, which wouldn't have been harmed by damage to medial temporal lobes, but was the consequence of subsequent atrophy in adjacent tissues.
Finally, EP presents a continuing, confounding mystery. In most patients with retrograde amnesia, memory loss is limited. They can't remember things within a few months or years of the brain impairment. In EP's case, he suffered amnesia extending back 40 to 50 years, affecting memories that theoretically should have been well-established and consolidated, though he could recall his childhood on a central California farm.
Squire said the effect is likely the result of lateral temporal damage caused as a secondary consequence of the initial disease-related brain damage. For researchers and clinicians, he said, EP is a cautionary and troubling tale.
Co-authors are Ricardo Insausti, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (MIND) Institute, UC Davis and Laboratory of Human Neuroanatomy, Department of Health Services and Regional Center for Biomedical Research, School of Medicine, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain and David G. Amaral, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (MIND) Institute.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - San Diego. The original article was written by Scott LaFee.
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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/eyQCwG3YuEM/130422154947.htm
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