Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/258099417?client_source=feed&format=rss
geraldo rivera supreme court health care joe oliver joba chamberlain new york mega millions jetblue jetblue
শুক্রবার, ২৬ অক্টোবর, ২০১২
বৃহস্পতিবার, ২৫ অক্টোবর, ২০১২
Haze over Eastern China
Thick haze hovered over eastern China on October 20, 2012. The haze stretched from Beijing southward, covering much of the coastal plain bordering Bo Hai and the Yellow Sea. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA?s Aqua satellite acquired this natural-color image the same day.
In many places, the haze was thick enough to completely hide the land or water surface below. A wide band of haze extended eastward over Bo Hai. In the west, isolated mountain peaks poked above the haze, which clogged valleys between the peaks.
Airborne particles are often measured in microns (also micrometers): one-millionth of a meter. Particles with diameters of 2.5 microns or smaller are believed to pose the greatest health risks because they can lodge deeply in the lungs, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing measures particles down to a size of 2.5 microns, known as PM2.5, and reports the measurements though the BeijingAir Twitter feed. On October 20, the same day that MODIS took this picture, reported air quality ratings ranged from ?Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups? to ?Hazardous.?
In addition to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, another site, China Air Daily, provides satellite images, ground-based photos, PM2.5 readings, and other air quality readings for multiple cities in China. The ground-based photo of Beijing showed thick smog on October 20, consistent with the heavy haze in the MODIS image shown above. Developed in in response to a growing desire for more information on air quality, China Air Daily is a project of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at Asia Society.
-
References
- AirNow. (2011, December 9) Air Quality Index. Accessed October 22, 2012.
- U.S. Embassy in Beijing. (2012, October 22) BeijingAir. Accessed October 22, 2012.
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2012, July 19). Fine Particle Designations: Frequently Asked Questions. Accessed October 22, 2012.
- Zhu, C. (2012, October 17) A visual guide to Chinese air pollution. The Atlantic. Accessed October 23, 2012.
-
Link
- China Air Daily
NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Michon Scott.
- Instrument:?
- Aqua - MODIS
Source: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=79468&src=iotdrss
sweet potato recipes the sound of music celebration church new york auto show 2012 tulsa easter eggs pineapple upside down cake
Richard Pybus quits as Bangladesh cricket coach
Englishman Richard Pybus has quit as coach of Bangladesh's cricket team over contract differences just five months into the job, officials said Wednesday.
Pybus, 48, told the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) of his decision on Tuesday night, just weeks before the team take on the West Indies in a home series starting in November.
"We have already appointed Shane Jurgensen, the national team's bowling coach, as the interim coach for the team," BCB spokesman Jalal Yunus told AFP.
Pybus, who had two spells with Pakistan, could not be contacted for comment. In an interview with ESPNcricinfo, he said the BCB wanted him to spend 320 days a year with the Bangladesh team, a commitment he was not ready to make because of family reasons. Yunus said differences over some terms in the agreement meant Pybus had coached the team since June without signing a formal contract.
Pybus turned to coaching in his mid-twenties after injury halted his playing ambitions. He coached in South Africa before taking over the Pakistan team between 1999 and 2001 and in 2003.
Australian Jurgensen now has a difficult task to prepare the side less than three weeks before the first Test against the West Indies on November 13.
independent spirit awards 2012 jan brewer independent spirit awards 2012 oscar predictions jim jones tony stewart kurt busch
5 Lessons From Nick Hornby's Talk Last Night on Writing and Pop ...
Nick Hornby rose to fame for expertly explaining the man-boy world to legions. His memoir Fever Pitch chronicles his devotion to the Arsenal football (soccer) club. His novels High Fidelity, About a Boy and, more recently, Juliet, Naked talk of grown men still struggling with relationships.
But Hornby is also well-known as a screenwriter and essayist. He received an Oscar nomination for screenplay adaptation for the 2009 Carey Mulligan-Peter Sarsgaard drama An Education and he writes a column on reading (called, appropriately, "Stuff I've Been Reading") for The Believer magazine. Hornby's fourth collection of these essays, More Baths Less Talking, was released earlier this year.
On Monday night, he joined journalist and author Tom Bissell at the Writers Guild Theater to discuss writing, reading and pop culture as part of the Writer's Bloc series. As a tribute to Hornby's High Fidelity and its main character's obsession with lists, we offer the top five takeaways from that conversation.
5. It's OK not to finish a book.
"[We have a] feeling of duty with books," says Hornby. "We don't feel duty-bound to get all the way through a TV program. If we're not enjoying it, we turn over. Movies, we tend to give more of the benefit of the doubt because they're only 90 minutes or two hours. But books, there is this thing of, 'It's a book, I've got to finish it.' Once you create this thing between duty and reading, it's over. Reading's over.
"So I'm on a one-man campaign to tell people if you don't like the book, stop reading it. It doesn't mean the book's bad -- it's not for you at this time in your life. The whole point of reading is that the writer is speaking to you, and if you're not listening, you're not going to have any fun reading."
4. Novels help us decipher pop culture and history.
"If you're reading a novel that was written in 1964, you'll find out more about 1964 than if you're reading a nonfiction book written in 1964 because you're hearing how language was actually used and hearing what people's actual concerns were at the beginning of the 1960s," Hornby says. "Fiction will be used, if it's used at all [in the future], as an accurate record of what we were like."
3. Let kids read fun stuff.
"Dickens was rubbish in his time," Hornby says. "He wrote serialized actions ... but those books were given the kind of energy to get through the next few hundred years and now kids have to read them."
He adds that adults can appreciate the history and language in, say, Dickens' stories, but it's hard for today's children to relate to them. Instead, he says, get them interested in today's popular young adult fiction: "J.K. Rowling got it. Twilight got it. The Hunger Games got it. ... What you're doing is building an addiction to the written word. And if it isn't a gateway into bigger stuff, the big thing that no one tells you is that nothing bad will come to you if you don't read Jane Austen."
2. The world of a famous writer isn't so glamorous.
"Most of my working day, working months, working years are spent not being famous," Hornby says. "That's how I stay level-headed. You're famous if you Google yourself. It's a miserable, lonely life. ... It is completely random if people have any awareness [of who you are] at all. I really think anyone who just wants to a writer, being famous doesn't come into it at all. I would like to get something done" instead of spending time being famous.
He told a story of his young son being surprised when a fan came up to them on the street. You mean people had read his dad's books? How? He also says his TV repairman confused him with another balding, pale-skinned British guy named Nick -- Wallace & Gromit creator Nick Park.
1. Music is art, but snobbery about music taste is wrongheaded.
"In Songbook I have a quote that 'All art constantly aspires towards the condition of music,'" Hornby says. "And I really feel that [in music] there's a purity and a sensibility. And there's a feeling and a meaning. If you're going to make a movie, you have to show images and people. Books have a way of showing things, but you're still stunted. But when musicians get it right, it just sort of mainlines into that impotence to make art."
Yet similarly to his arguments about classical literature, Hornby says, "If a Martian came down and you played him 'Gangnam Style' and you said, 'This is my guilty pleasure,' and then you played a James Brown record and said, 'This is the good stuff,' the Martian I think would be confused. The Martian would not see enough of a difference between 'Gangham Style' and James Brown to see why one is a work of art and one is a guilty pleasure. How many pop singles have got bass guitars, drums and a chorus? ... [T]he snobbery that's attached to things that sound exactly the same."
Follow us on Twitter at @LAWeeklyArts and like us on Facebook. Follow Whitney Friedlander at @loislane79.
Source: http://blogs.laweekly.com/arts/2012/10/nick_hornby_the_believer.php
bcs game lsu vs alabama college football college football ncaa football brian van gorder blazing saddles
BBC scandal raises questions for incoming NYT boss
FILE - In this April 12, 2007 file photo, British Broadcasting Corporation Director-General Mark Thompson pauses during a news conference calling for the release of kidnapped BBC journalist Alan Johnston, in the West Bank city of Ramallah. The child abuse scandal centered on the late BBC star Jimmy Savile has raised some uncomfortable for the corporation?s former boss, now only weeks away from taking his position as the chief executive of The New York Times. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen, File)
FILE - In this April 12, 2007 file photo, British Broadcasting Corporation Director-General Mark Thompson pauses during a news conference calling for the release of kidnapped BBC journalist Alan Johnston, in the West Bank city of Ramallah. The child abuse scandal centered on the late BBC star Jimmy Savile has raised some uncomfortable for the corporation?s former boss, now only weeks away from taking his position as the chief executive of The New York Times. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen, File)
LONDON (AP) ? The child abuse scandal that has enveloped one of Britain's most respected news organizations is now hitting one of America's, as the incoming president of The New York Times is on the defensive about his final days as head of the BBC.
Mark Thompson was in charge of the BBC in late 2011 when the broadcaster shelved what would have been a bombshell investigation alleging that the late Jimmy Savile, one of its biggest stars, was a serial sex offender.
The BBC scandal has horrified Britain with revelations that Savile, a popular children's television presenter, cajoled and coerced vulnerable teens into having sex with him in his car, in his camper van, and even in dingy dressing rooms on BBC premises. He is also alleged to have sexually assaulted disabled children at hospitals that he helped by raising charity funds.
Police say there could be more than 200 victims, leading one child protection charity to say that Savile could rank among Britain's most prolific child sex predators.
In a sign of how the scandal may spread, the BBC said Tuesday it was looking into claims of sexual abuse and harassment against nine other current and former employees and contributors.
As increasing numbers of BBC executives come under the microscope over what they knew about Savile ? and why the posthumous expose about his sexual crimes was blocked from being broadcast ? Thompson is being quizzed about his role as well.
Thompson, 55, was the BBC director-general from 2004 until last month.
In a letter to Conservative lawmaker Rob Wilson, Thompson laid out his defense, saying he never worked with Savile, never worked on any of the entertainer's programs and indeed never met the man. Referring to the increasing number of BBC employees who have come forward to say that Savile's interest in young girls was widely rumored, Thompson said he had never been aware of the whispers.
"If I had, I would have raised them with senior colleagues and contacted the police," said Thompson.
The controversy over Saville was compounded when it emerged that an investigation into his misdeeds by the BBC's own "Newsnight" program was shelved last year only weeks before the broadcaster aired a glowing holiday tribute show to Savile.
Now journalists and lawmakers are asking whether BBC bosses canned the "Newsnight" show to protect their star, a prodigious charity fundraiser who was widely eulogized following his death last year at age 84.
The corporation denies a cover-up, although "Newsnight" editor Peter Rippon recently stepped down as the BBC's internal investigation got under way. After weeks of standing by Rippon, the BBC has said his explanation about why the Savile show was not broadcast was incomplete and inaccurate.
With Thompson about to move from one of the most important jobs in the British media to one of most important jobs in American journalism, exactly what he knew ? and when he knew it ?could be critical to his future career.
In a statement last week, Thompson said he had "never heard any allegations or received any complaints" about Savile during his tenure.
But an Oct. 7 story by London's Sunday Times appeared to contradict him, reporting that a BBC journalist had tipped Thompson off about the Savile investigation.
The Sunday Times is published by News International, an arm of Rupert Murdoch's global News Corp. empire, and has no corporate ties to The New York Times.
Thompson acknowledged being warned about what was happening at "Newsnight" by a BBC journalist during a company cocktail party late last year, but he said the journalist never "set out what allegations 'Newsnight' were investigating or had been investigating."
Thompson said he followed the matter up with other executives who told him the "Newsnight" investigation was canceled for journalistic reasons ? suggesting that they believed there wasn't enough evidence for an expose on Savile.
"I had no reason to believe that anyone in the BBC was withholding controversial or incriminating material," Thompson wrote in his letter to Wilson, the lawmaker.
Wilson told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he has written to Thompson again seeking more answers.
"There are questions about how much the journalist told him about the 'Newsnight' investigation that need to be cleared up as quickly as possible," Wilson said, adding that Thompson said he is willing to answer questions before the U.K. parliamentary committee looking into the matter and the BBC's own inquiry.
Wilson said Thompson's fitness to serve as The New York Times chief depends on the outcome of the various inquiries.
But The New York Times has already waited months for a new permanent chief executive following the resignation of Janet Robinson last December. One analyst said the paper could ill afford to wait any longer.
"My feeling is if he (Thompson) has no 'problem' that could surface in the near future there would be no need for him to delay," said Edward Atorino, an analyst with The Benchmark Company. "If there is an issue he should withdraw."
The controversy drew the attention of The New York Times' public editor, Margaret Sullivan, who on Tuesday asked Times readers to evaluate the incoming chief's answers.
"How likely is it that he knew nothing?" she asked. "A director general of a giant media company is something like a newspaper's publisher. Would a publisher be very likely to know if an investigation of one of its own people on sexual abuse charges had been killed?"
In a carefully worded paragraph that followed, she raised the issue of Thompson's fitness to serve as The New York Times chief.
"His integrity and decision-making are bound to affect The Times and its journalism ? profoundly," she wrote. "It's worth considering now whether he is the right person for the job, given this turn of events."
Sullivan said while finding an answer was "not as easy as it sounds ... all these questions ought to be asked."
Sullivan's office said Wednesday she would not be elaborating on her post.
A call and an email to The New York Times seeking comment were not immediately returned Wednesday.
Associated Pressrose bowl johnny weir quadrantid meteor shower osu football osu football oklahoma state santonio holmes
বুধবার, ২৪ অক্টোবর, ২০১২
Obama holds out prospect of post-election "grand bargain"
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama says he's confident that if re-elected he will secure within six months a deficit-reduction deal with Republicans equivalent to the "grand bargain" he failed to achieve last year.
Obama made the bold prediction on Tuesday to the Des Moines Register in remarks that were originally off-the-record. After the newspaper complained in a blog, the White House relented and released a transcript of the interview on Wednesday.
Win or lose the November 6 election against Republican Mitt Romney, Obama faces a so-called "fiscal cliff" of automatic across-the-board spending cuts and tax increases set for the end of the year, before the swearing-in of a new Congress and the victor in the presidential race.
"It will probably be messy. It won't be pleasant," he said of the negotiations ahead. "But I am absolutely confident that we can get what is the equivalent of the grand bargain that essentially I've been offering to the Republicans for a very long time, which is $2.50 worth of cuts for every dollar in spending, and work to reduce the costs of our health care programs," Obama said.
He also said a broader long-term deal could "credibly meet" the target of $4 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years as proposed in December 2010 by a deficit reduction commission headed by Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson.
"We're going to be in a position where I believe in the first six months we are going to solve that big piece of business," Obama said. The newspaper, the largest in the election battleground state of Iowa, is preparing to endorse a candidate in the presidential race.
Obama sought to counter criticism that he had failed to offer a clear picture of his second-term agenda. Despite that, his comments did not offer specifics on how the "fiscal cliff" could be avoided, especially given the climate of legislative gridlock and partisan rancor in Washington.
But Obama's time-frame for achieving a grand bargain conforms with the prevalent view on Capitol Hill that Congress and the White House will attempt some temporary fix on taxes and spending in order to work on something larger in the months after a newly elected Congress convenes.
Obama also said that in a second term, "We can start looking at a serious corporate tax reform agenda," something he said was of common interest to both Democrats and Republicans.
REPUBLICAN CRITICISM
Obama's comments on his fiscal plans - made public as he campaigned in Iowa at the start of a two-day blitz of swing states less than two weeks before most Americans vote - were quickly challenged by Republicans.
"The president talks about a 'balanced' approach to deficit reduction that includes spending cuts and reforms, but he has offered only tax hikes," said Kevin Smith, a spokesman for House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Congress.
"The credibility of anything the president says about 2013 is being demolished by the reality of his actions right now in 2012," he said.
Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, said Obama was merely trying to recycle ideas he previously submitted to Congress and which Republicans rejected.
Obama and Boehner failed to reach a "grand bargain" on the deficit last year when talks over raising the debt ceiling for federal borrowing reached an impasse. Only an 11th-hour deal in August 2011 prevented an historic government debt default.
Recriminations over who is to blame for the "fiscal cliff" that resulted have been a regular feature of the tight White House race, and whichever candidate wins the election will be faced with the fallout.
The spending cuts and tax hikes could take an estimated $600 billion out of the U.S. economy and push it into recession next year, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.
(Additional reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Fred Barbash and Paul Simao)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-holds-prospect-post-election-grand-bargain-164743997--business.html
sugarland 16 and pregnant ludwig mies van der rohe jamie lynn sigler mega millions jackpot black panther party frank martin
মঙ্গলবার, ২৩ অক্টোবর, ২০১২
Is Your Drink Spiked? - Addiction Search
Learn from others and never let your beverage out of your sight. A close relative of mine has been a member of Alcoholics Anonymous for many years now and has had the opportunity numerous times to sponsor and help many people during their recovery. He seemed down when I talked to him not long ago and I asked him what was wrong.
He said one of the members he has been sponsoring for more than four years was only one month away from maintaining 5 years of sobriety. I immediately thought how sad, five years of abstinence is a long time and unfortunately this person must have relapsed.
I was shocked and deeply saddened when he continued with the conversation. While attending a family function one of the guests thought it would be funny to spike the person's soda that was left unattended. Without knowing their beverage had been tampered with, this person took a drink and was completely horrified when they realized what had just happened. Thinking they accidentally picked up the wrong drink, I can only imagine how upset they were with them self because AA members know how easily this can happen.
Unbelievably the person who had tampered with the soda immediately admitted to what he had done because he thought it would be funny, not realizing how serious and crushing this was going to be to the recovering alcoholic. Even though this person didn't intentionally drink alcohol, this compromised their abstinence and because they were so devastated, this led to another drink. This person didn't give up though, this amazing person returned to their AA meetings highly determined to move on.
I'm sure similar situations have happened to others recovering from alcohol or drug addiction. People who have never had a problem with drugs or alcohol don't understand addiction and definitely don't realize what abstinence means to a recovering alcoholic or drug addict. They also don't realize what it takes on a daily basis to remain clean and sober for most people either.
Staying clean and sober for any length of time isn't always easy and whether your path of recovery is Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, another program of recovery or you did it on your own, a year of sobriety is a tremendous achievement. A year of continuous sobriety in 12 Step recovery programs is a huge accomplishment. This is considered a sobriety anniversary or sobriety birthday and a token of some kind, is often given as a symbol of the individuals tremendous success.
WE ALL HAVE TO BE CAREFUL!!!!
In the world we live in today it doesn't matter if you're recovering from substance abuse and addiction or not, we all have to be careful and never leave our beverage out of our sight if we're out. Alcohol isn't the only substance used to spike a person's drink and the intent isn't just because someone is trying to get a reaction out of the victim because they think, 'its 'funny'. Many people have had their drinks spiked with prescription drugs and illegal street drugs with the intent of sexual assault or robbery.
Avoid Being A Victim
- This doesn't just happen to women, men have also been victims.
- This happens to people of all ages so don't just assume appearance or age has anything to do with being a victim.
- This can happen on a blind date or with someone you don't know very well, it doesn't just take place at bars, nightclubs or parties.
- No matter what kind of drink you have, never let it out of your sight. People have had their drinks spiked when using the restroom or while dancing.
- Watch how much alcohol you consume, a victim is less likely to be careful after they have had a few drinks.
- Just because a stranger is charming, well groomed and good looking doesn't mean they're not capable of spiking a person's drink with the intentions of drug assisted sexual assault.
- Never accept drinks from strangers.
- Never swap or share drinks with someone you don't know or completely trust.
- Buy your own drinks.
- Watch your drink being prepared by the bartender.
- Avoid going out to bars, clubs or even parties alone.
Most of the time the drug used to spike a person's drink is impossible to detect because there's no change in taste, smell or appearance. Depending on a person's weight, their body shape, age, the substance that was used to spike a drink, how much was used and the level of alcohol a person may have already consumed makes a difference in the symptoms that can be experienced.
Symptoms Associated With Spiked Drinks
- Feeling oddly dizzy, drowsy, light-headed, faint, nauseous, or vomiting
- Feeling tipsy or drunk when you've not had any alcohol or only had a small amount to drink
- Feeling hung over when you had little or no alcohol to drink
- Loss of inhibitions
- Speech becomes slurred
- Vision problems
- Feeling disorientated (confused)
- Passing out
- Memory loss
- Seizures
Stay Safe: This doesn't mean that we have to become paranoid and stop going out and enjoying ourselves, it means we have to be careful, cautious and aware. Remember this happens to people in all age groups and we have to make sure our adolescents and teens are just as informed, careful and aware.
Source: http://www.addictionsearch.com/treatment_articles/article/is-your-drink-spiked_206.html
jetblue jetblue michelle malkin october baby sugarland 16 and pregnant ludwig mies van der rohe
এতে সদস্যতা:
পোস্টগুলি (Atom)