South Africa: Boplaas Mandela Day School Shoes Donation

The Department of Transport, Safety and Liaison brought smiles and cheer to the learners of Boplaas Primary School, 85 km outside Upington, with our Mandela Day contribution of school shoes, socks, bag packs, money savers and treats.

The rural school is one of the two schools that were earmarked to receive the assistance by our department. This follows assessments that found that in some rural areas learners walked long distances to school while some of the learners had never owned a pair of school shoes.

The 35pairs of school shoes donation to the school is part of our non-motorised transport initiatives while also trying to make walking more comfortable for the learners. The rural school's principal, Mrs Edith Esau said the provision made for the learners by our department was much needed and is well appreciated.

"Our children need these school shoes. Some of them, their parents cannot afford the school shoes while some parents have to take them on credit and have their wages be deducted, leaving them with little, just to make the payment. Our children really appreciate the assistance as some of them don't have school shoes. Some of our learners' school shoes have become too small or have holes in them."

Mrs Esau said not only will the assistance boast the learners' morale but it comes at a much needed time when its winter and the learners need to keep warm the most. Some of the learners could not help but give their thanks for the contribution we made as a department.

"I'm very happy because I have new shoes and they are very pretty. I also have a new school bag which I can use to put my school books in," said Grade 5 learner of the school, Lee-Ann Olan.

Her peer, Catline Izaks said she was proud of what she had received. "I'm happy for all that I have received because they are mine and they are new. I'm going to use my new school bag and put my books, pencils and my other school things in it. I also have brand new beautiful school shoes," said the grand 6 learner with a smile.

Director for Transport Operations in the department, Ms Gladys Botha said to the learners, "our presence here is not only to give you school shoes and some of the things we have brought for you but to show you love and encourage you."

She explained to the learners the various means of transportation and their importance while she also encouraged them to consider careers in the transport industry which avails much. Our department's initiative is also encouraged by the fact that walking is regarded as a mode of transport as transportation is part of our department's mandate.

Our department will continue to spread the cheer today at Elandsvlei Primary school outside Calvinia with further school shoes, bag packs and other goodies' contribution.

Mandela Day is a call to action for people everywhere to take responsibility for changing the world into a better place. We are requested to devote 67minutes of our time in community service and good deeds for others. Mr Mandela, whom the call honours, spent more than 67years serving others and to heed the call our department will have more projects throughout the month of July in his honour.

Background

The focus for our department in school shoes donations is on rural or farm schools where there is no provision for learner transport or where other modes of transportation are limited or not available.

This year's school shoes distribution at the two schools will also form part of a distribution of full school uniform and school shoes to be distributed in Fraserburg where the main Provincial Government Mandela Day Programme will unfold.

For any enquiries contact:

Keitumetse Moticoe, Communication Officer

Cell: 074 251 6567 or 082 064 7003

Issued by: Northern Cape Transport, Safety and Liaison

16 Jul 2013

Issued by: Northern Cape Transport, Safety and Liaison

Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201307170952.html

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TOO MUCH FISH OIL boosts prostate cancer risk? I?d like to see more research on this?.

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Halle Berry ties knot at French chateau

PARIS (AP) ? American actress Halle Berry has married her fianc?, French actor Olivier Martinez, at a weekend ceremony in a church near a chateau in France's Burgundy region.

The owner of the Chateau de Vallery, where the couple stayed with their 60 guests, said on Sunday that the betrothal a day earlier ended with a dinner and fireworks display. A wedding cake followed. Patrice Vansteenberghe said Berry ? 46 and pregnant ? and her 47-year-old husband "were very beautiful and very happy."

He said the bride's long, white dress had a plunging back.

Vansteenberghe added that the event was "confidential" because "she wanted to be left alone."

Berry's publicist, Meredith O'Sullivan Wasson, confirmed the marriage.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-07-14-EU-France-People-Halle-Berry-Wedding/id-cf2e4e66b3d84248bd4f8a5d140018ec

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Health insurance: do you need it? Means testing the start | Crikey

Means testing is all very well, but do we need private health insurance at all? Ian McAuley makes the case for why a state-backed system works better at Inside Story.

The federal government?s battle to cut back subsidies for private health insurance hit its first obstacle in 2009, when the Senate rejected a means test on the health insurance rebate introduced by the Coalition 12 years earlier. Only in 2012, when it faced a less obstructive Senate (but a more difficult House of Representatives), did the government get its legislation

• All Crikey articles are unlocked for 21 days
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Source: http://www.crikey.com.au/2013/07/16/an-unhealthy-subsidy-do-we-even-need-health-insurance/

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In the Heart of my Home: The Ideal Early Childhood Education

[unable to retrieve full-text content]There is intentional "family grouping," which means classes of children aged two-and-a-half up to and including age six. Those of us who educate at home already have the underpinnings of the best early childhood school ...

Source: http://www.elizabethfoss.com/reallearning/2013/07/the-ideal-early-childhood-education.html

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JK Rowling: How She Was Exposed As Robert Galbraith - Business ...

By now almost everyone will have heard the news ? J.K. Rowling, the author of the "Harry Potter" series of books and one of the most successful writers ever, published a low-selling but highly praised detective novel under the name Robert Galbraith earlier this year.

The story was broken last night by Richard Brooks, the arts editor of the UK's Sunday Times. It's clearly a huge scoop ? but how exactly did Brooks manage to crack the literary world's best-kept secret?

Thanks to Sarah Lyall of the New York Times, we believe we know the point where the investigation began. In an interview, Brooks told Lyall that the story started when a female colleague tweeted about the book, and an anonymous twitter user told this colleague that the book was in fact by J.K. Rowling. This anonymous twitter user then disappeared, according to Brooks' account.

After doing some digging, we believe we may have found the tweet. On Wednesday, India Knight, one of the Sunday Times' star columnists, began tweeting about "The Cuckoo's Calling." Here's one key tweet:

At this point a random Twitter user chimed in to say something about the obscure book. While this user appears to have since deleted the tweets, you can see Knight's surprised responses:

It's unclear exactly who Jude Callegari is, or how he or she would know the real identity of Robert Galbraith. The account is still active, though it has no tweets since July 2.

Whomever it was sent by, the anonymous tweet was enough to get Brooks digging, and soon he had found that "The Cuckoo's Calling" had the same publisher, editor, and agent as Rowling's last book, ?The Casual Vacancy." The books also shared themes in their linguistics and content, Brooks noted.

By Friday night he had enough to go to Rowlings with his findings ? and by Saturday morning, she had confessed, though she told the Sunday Times she had "hoped to keep this secret a little longer."

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/jk-rowling-how-she-was-exposed-as-robert-galbraith-2013-7

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Is workplace flexibility failing to give parents time with their children?

Public release date: 15-Jul-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Ben Norman
sciencenewsroom@wiley.com
44-012-437-70375
Wiley

Parents are increasingly experiencing a 'time squeeze' as they struggle to navigate the pressures of full-time employment and the demands of caring for their children. Research in the Journal of Marriage and Family examines if flexible working schemes are helping or adding to this pressure.

The authors examined how the introduction of ROWE (Results Only Work Environment) has impacted parents' perceptions of their time. Under this scheme employees are paid for results, rather than their time.

The data showed that both parents saw changes in working hours such as ROWE as a major factor to their time, yet only mothers reported increased schedule control and improved time adequacy. However, this change was shown to be in perception only, as little change was reported in the actual time spent with children beyond evening meals.

"ROWE helped mothers feel that they were spending enough time with their children, even though it didn't change the actual amount of time for most parents," said Rachelle Hill from the University of Minnesota. "Mothers who participated in ROWE and ate fewer than three meals with their children per week were able to eat one additional family meal with their children compared to mothers in traditional departments."

###

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[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 15-Jul-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Ben Norman
sciencenewsroom@wiley.com
44-012-437-70375
Wiley

Parents are increasingly experiencing a 'time squeeze' as they struggle to navigate the pressures of full-time employment and the demands of caring for their children. Research in the Journal of Marriage and Family examines if flexible working schemes are helping or adding to this pressure.

The authors examined how the introduction of ROWE (Results Only Work Environment) has impacted parents' perceptions of their time. Under this scheme employees are paid for results, rather than their time.

The data showed that both parents saw changes in working hours such as ROWE as a major factor to their time, yet only mothers reported increased schedule control and improved time adequacy. However, this change was shown to be in perception only, as little change was reported in the actual time spent with children beyond evening meals.

"ROWE helped mothers feel that they were spending enough time with their children, even though it didn't change the actual amount of time for most parents," said Rachelle Hill from the University of Minnesota. "Mothers who participated in ROWE and ate fewer than three meals with their children per week were able to eat one additional family meal with their children compared to mothers in traditional departments."

###

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-07/w-iwf071513.php

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NBA free agency news roundup: Knicks frontrunner for Metta World ...

Metta World Peace will meet with Knicks executives in Las Vegas, making them the frontrunner for the small forward's services. Meanwhile, Brandon Jennings may want out of Milwaukee and the Wolves are still trying to ink Nikola Pekovic to a new deal.

Now that Metta World Peace has cleared through the amnesty waiver process, he's free to sign with whichever team his heart desires. And it's looking like the New York Knicks are his preferred destination, as he's scheduled to meet with team executives in Las Vegas in the next few days, according to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.

The Knicks are reportedly the "strong frontrunner" for World Peace, with a deal likely being for about $1.6 million. A possible deal could include a second year with a player option.

After World Peace was amnestied by the Lakers last week, he claimed that he had little intention of playing in the NBA next season, mentioning interest in China and arena football. But despite this and some reservations about even playing in New York, he and the Knicks seem like a good fit.

World Peace grew up in New York and went to college at St. John's, so he's very familiar with the area. The Knicks could also use the small forward's prowess on the defensive end against players like LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

World Peace has also been linked to the Los Angeles Clippers, and he told Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times on Sunday that he's interested. However, there's currently no meeting set up between the two parties.

Jennings unhappy in Milwaukee

At the outset of free agency, it appeared that Brandon Jennings wanted to return to the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Bucks supposedly wanted him back. But things have changed, and Jennings is "not a happy camper," according to Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times.

The Bucks recently made a strong play for Atlanta Hawks point guard Jeff Teague in restricted free agency, offering Teague a four-year offer sheet worth about $32 million. The Hawks matched the offer, retaining Teague and leaving Jennings free to possibly return to Milwaukee either on a multi-year deal or a one-year qualifying offer.

But Jennings might not want to go back considering how hard the Bucks courted Teague, and Woelfel believes a sign-and-trade of the young point guard is "inevitable." SB Nation's Bucks blog Brew Hoop still believes that Jennings will end up back in Milwaukee, but that the situation will be somewhat awkward for all involved.

'Status quo' on Pekovic front

The Minnesota Timberwolves have been working toward an agreement with restricted free-agent center Nikola Pekovic, but negotiations are currently in a "status quo," according to Jerry Zgoda of The Star Tribune.

The Wolves recently offered Pekovic a four-year deal worth about $50 million, but it appears that the center is holding out for a bit more money. However, there aren't really any other teams who can make Pekovic a better offer, so there's not much reason for Minnesota to budge unless the big man seriously threatens to take the one-year qualifying offer and become an unrestricted free agent next offseason.

More from SB Nation:

? Vegas Summer League: C.J. McCollum shines for Blazers

? John Henson a man among boys | Complete NBA summer league coverage

? Lakers sign former lottery pick Wesley Johnson

? Kirilenko: I couldn't pass on chance to win in Brooklyn

? Players to watch at the Vegas Summer League

Source: http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2013/7/14/4523594/2013-nba-free-agency-news-rumors

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Egypt; the military may weed out dictators but can?t plant democrats

For Egypt it is back to square one or to be precise back to Tahrir Square. This time the people were spurred on by the military which reared its head and literary threw down the gauntlet demanding the impossible.

The now deposed and detained Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy was asked to deal with the demands of the protesting crowds all over Egypt within 48 hours or the army would move in.

Impossible because the myriad of problems Egypt is now facing especially those related to democracy and human freedoms are many decades old related to the dictatorial military arrangements of the past 50 or so years. To solve them in two days would require the Lord Himself.

As predicted the army moved in and installed a stooge; a Supreme Constitutional Court Judge Adly Mansour.

Deposed Mohamed Morsy came to power after winning an election. His was always going to be an uphill task. Being from the Muslim Brotherhood the pressure from within Egypt awaited him. Then the Middle East that is battling militant Islam and all forms of religious extremism was not comfortable either.

But the most potentially effective and real opposition would come from Israel and the West. There is no way the two were going to allow a confessed Islamist party to sit pretty in the Middle East. Their laid back reaction to the coup speaks volumes.

Another disadvantage for Morsy is that he was a Commander in Chief of an Egyptian Army which has mastered the art of opportunism. Their ability to switch sides and back the right horse at the right time is becoming all too perfect and legendary.

When Hosni Mubarak who had ruled Egypt for 30years from 1981 to 2011 was opposed by the masses in Tahrir Square, the army made a correct calculation and looked on as Mubarak fell and ended up in jail.

They remained neutral playing wait and see as they witnessed the election that brought Morsy to power. When the people went back to Tahrir Square, they saw that theirs was the right to back.
Now Egypt is back to square one. Senior figures of the Freedom and Justice party the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood have naturally dug in. They will not accept the coup that ousted their leader. There are already reports of protests from the brothehood and skirmishes to which the army has responded with live ammunition in some places.

Effectively, the army is going to be in charge from here to the future; hand picking and dropping leaders like hot potatoes as the situation warrants.

The lesson here for Africa and Uganda is that the army as an institution has remained the same and changed at the same time.
It is the same in that its primitive instinct means that overlooking the Constitution and resorting to raw force is still very much an easy and workable option for them. The change is that they no longer go to the Presidential Palace and play the role of King. They simply kick out one dictator and then play King Maker. They place their man in the seat. That man does not necessarily have to be a democrat. He has to be their man.

The army may remove a dictator but it is not the right institution to lead a movement to install a democrat. That is not in their nature even if they love to masquerade and posture about the same.
It makes matters worse if the army is operating in an environment where an unpopular leader has been in power for long which is 20 to 30 years. The army will definitely be part of all that make that President -especially the bad side.

It will have played a role in the massive corruption, degrading of State institutions like the Court of Law, militarising the police and repression.

When they sense that the tide is against the dictator they heap all the sins on him like a sacrificial lamb and encourage him to be pushed away like it was done with Mubarak.
Though on the surface that may look good, the outstanding issues remain because the State still finds itself without institutions that ensure effective democratic governance. The situation remains fragile and always in apparent need for a quick fix, which the army is always willing and able to provide. That is how the army becomes part of the political fabric.

Lesson is that when the army tastes the liquorice of politics they will often malinger but rarely let go. That is not good for democracy. The masses in Egypt still have many days of protest ahead of them.

Mr Sengoba is a commentator on political and social issues. nicholassengoba@yahoo.com

Source: http://www.monitor.co.ug/OpEd/OpEdColumnists/NicholasSengooba/Egypt--the-military-may-weed-out-dictators-but/-/1293432/1908726/-/kr5uib/-/index.html

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SF officials: Possible 1 plane victim run over

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? San Francisco fire officials say there is a possibility that one of the two teenage girls killed in a plane crash at San Francisco International Airport was struck by an emergency vehicle.

Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White and Assistant Deputy Chief Dale Carnes both raised the possibility at a news conference with first responders on Monday.

San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault earlier said his office is conducting an autopsy to determine whether one of the victims was run over and killed by a responding vehicle.

He said his staff was notified of the possibility by senior San Francisco Fire Department officials at the crash site on Saturday. More than 180 people were sent to hospitals following the crash.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sf-officials-possible-1-plane-victim-run-over-180411565.html

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Keen On? The Cave: What Silicon Valley Can Learn From The 2012 Election

Who says that the Beltway always lags behind Silicon Valley? In The Center Holds: Obama and his Enemies, his best-selling book about Barack Obama's 2012 Presidential campaign, veteran political journalist Jonathan Alter writes about "penetrating" The Cave - Obama's top secret digital command center.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/oLEEZDtPBI0/

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Watch this beautiful aerial film showing New York City's always impressive architecture?shot by Jaso

Watch this beautiful aerial film showing New York City's always impressive architecture?shot by Jason Hawkes. Jason is a professional aerial photographer. His photos are always so perfect they look almost unreal.

Have a great day!

You're reading Kinja's front page, the showcase of the very best, must-see stories and discussions from Gawker Media blogs and the Kinja universe. Follow us on Twitter.

Source: http://front.kinja.com/http-vimeo-com-68384616-incredible-aerial-film-of-nyc-657111298

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T-shirt store starts new fashion trend in Libya's Benghazi

By Feras Bosalum

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Browsing through the racks of printed T-shirts and scarves, a handful of shoppers inspect the latest designs in what has become one of the most popular clothing stores in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi.

One of them, Ali, a student, holds up a T-shirt printed with a popular Libyan expression "Grab what is new before it becomes old", one of the many catchphrases that adorn the designs in Boza, a small shop in an upmarket neighbourhood.

"I always bought clothes with English writing on them but now for the first time, I am buying a T-shirt with Arabic print," he said. "I am so happy."

Ali is one of the hundreds of Libyans who have flocked to Boza since it opened a few months ago, eager to get their hands on designs that have become a talking point among the youth in Benghazi's popular coffee shops.

Its name meaning "stylish", the store - the first of its kind in Libya according to its owners - sells T-shirts, bags, head and neck scarves printed with "Made in Libya", "Walk like a Libyan" or a jumble of letters spelling out Benghazi.

Some T-shirts are printed with "I love Cyrenaica", referring to Libya's eastern province where calls for more regional autonomy have heightened since Muammar Gaddafi's ouster in 2011.

Benghazi was the cradle of the Libyan revolt and discontent has mounted over continued neglect from Tripoli. Easterners say their oil-rich region was starved of cash under Gaddafi.

Other colourful T-shirts carry portraits of King Idris, whom Gaddafi ousted in his 1969 coup.

"Our designs have political messages, it is difficult to separate daily life from politics," Ahmed Benmussa, a 32-year old oil engineer and Boza co-owner, said.

"We take inspiration from Libyan heritage because we have a rich culture. Reviving history is one of our aims."

Some of the T-shirts tackle the serious issues plaguing post-war Libya - the mass of weapons on its streets and the armed militias which have hobbled governance.

"Better the devil you know" reads the message on one T-shirt accompanied by the drawing of a knife.

"Some of the messages are critical, perhaps in a more humorous way," Benmussa said. "This is how we express ourselves, unlike those who actually use weapons."

PERSONALISED DESIGNS

The shop itself is a mix between old and new. An old record player lies idle in the middle of the store while a large television screen beams Boza's latest designs.

Importing blank T-shirts and scarves from Turkey, its designers use a small printing machine to decorate the clothes and accessories. Customers can also personalise goods or propose new designs on a "suggestion wall" in the store.

Boza's T-shirts, which sell for around 50 Libyan dinars, are popular among Benghazi's youth who say the designs allow them to express themselves - a still relatively new freedom after Gaddafi's 42-year iron-fisted rule.

"This is a great way in which you can express yourself in a modern and fashionable manner," Alaa al-Baba, a 24-year old engineer, said. "It would be great if everybody could do that."

Boza's owners use social media site Facebook to promote the store, both at home and abroad, posting pictures of the owners' friends wearing designs around town like professional models.

"We have sent T-shirts to customers in Saudi Arabia, Germany, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, United States, Qatar, Ireland, France, Egypt and Spain," Benmussa said.

Capitalising on Boza's success in Benghazi, plans are now under way to open a branch in the capital.

"There will be a Boza in Tripoli in coming days," he said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/t-shirt-store-starts-fashion-trend-libyas-benghazi-090344589.html

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Obama: US will give allies info on spying claims

President Barack Obama gestures white speaking during a news conference with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete at the State House in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, Monday, July 1, 2013. The president is traveling in Tanzania on the final leg of his three-country tour in Africa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Barack Obama gestures white speaking during a news conference with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete at the State House in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, Monday, July 1, 2013. The president is traveling in Tanzania on the final leg of his three-country tour in Africa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at a joint press conference with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete after meeting together at State House in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Monday, July 1, 2013. Teeming crowds and blaring horns welcomed President Barack Obama to Tanzania's largest city, where the U.S. president's likeness is everywhere as he arrived on the last leg of his three-country tour of the African continent. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (AP) ? Facing a European uproar over more U.S. eavesdropping claims, President Barack Obama argued Monday that it's no surprise that governments spy on each other but said the United States will provide allies with information about new reports that the National Security Agency bugged European Union offices in Washington, New York and Brussels.

The latest revelations were attributed in part to information supplied by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Obama on Monday also said the U.S. has held "high-level" discussions with Russians to get Snowden out of a Moscow airport and back to the United States to face criminal charges.

Obama, in a news conference with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, pushed back against objections from key allies over a report in the German news weekly Der Spiegel that the United States installed covert listening devices in EU offices. He suggested such activity by governments is not unusual.

"We should stipulate that every intelligence service ? not just ours, but every European intelligence service, every Asian intelligence service, wherever there's an intelligence service ? here's one thing that they're going to be doing: they're going to be trying to understand the world better and what's going on in world capitals around the world," he said. "If that weren't the case, then there'd be no use for an intelligence service.

"And I guarantee you that in European capitals, there are people who are interested in, if not what I had for breakfast, at least what my talking points might be should I end up meeting with their leaders. That's how intelligence services operate," Obama added.

European officials from Germany, Italy, France, Luxembourg and the EU government itself say the revelations could damage negotiations on a trans-Atlantic trade treaty between the EU and the United States. Agreeing to start those talks was one of the achievements reached at meetings last month in Northern Ireland between Obama and the European members of the Group of Eight industrialized economies.

Obama said the NSA will evaluate the claims in the German publication and will then inform allies about the allegations.

At the same time, he tried to reassure allies such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and British Prime Minister David Cameron that he relies on personal relationships, not spying, to determine what other leaders have on their minds.

"I'm the end user of this kind of intelligence," he said. "And if I want to know what Chancellor Merkel is thinking, I will call Chancellor Merkel. If I want to know President Hollande is thinking on a particular issue, I'll call President Hollande. And if I want to know what, you know, David Cameron's thinking, I call David Cameron. Ultimately, you know, we work so closely together that there's almost no information that's not shared between our various countries."

Obama's remarks came shortly after Hollande demanded on Monday that the United States immediately stop any eavesdropping on European Union diplomats.

Obama also said law enforcement officials in the U.S. and Russia were working to find a way to get Snowden back to the United States, where he is charged with violating U.S. espionage laws. The U.S. does not have an extradition treaty with Russia. Moreover, Russia has claimed Snowden is not technically on their soil because, while he is in the transit terminal of the Moscow airport, he has not passed through immigration. The U.S. has revoked his passport.

"We are hopeful that the Russian government makes decisions based on the normal procedures regarding international travel and the normal interactions that law enforcement has," Obama said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-07-01-Obama-NSA%20Surveillance/id-fc3bc063a6c646edb2b0449467a15954

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How fish swim: Researchers examine mechanical bases for the emergence of undulatory swimmers

June 24, 2013 ? How do fish swim? It is a simple question, but there is no simple answer.

Researchers at Northwestern University have revealed some of the mechanical properties that allow fish to perform their complex movements. Their findings, published on June 13 in the journal PLOS Computational Biology, could provide insights in evolutionary biology and lead to an understanding of the neural control of movement and development of bio-inspired underwater vehicles.

"If we could play God and create an undulatory swimmer, how stiff should its body be? At what wave frequency should its body undulate so it moves at its top speed? How does its brain control those movements?" said Neelesh Patankar, professor of mechanical engineering at Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science. "Millennia ago, undulatory swimmers like eels that had the right mechanical properties are the ones that would have survived."

The researchers used computational methods to test assumptions about the preferred evolutionary characteristics. For example, species with low muscle activation frequency and high body stiffness are the most successful; the researchers found the optimal values for each property.

"The stiffness that we predict for good swimming characteristics is, in fact, the same as the experimentally determined stiffness of undulatory swimmers with a backbone," said Amneet Bhalla, graduate student in mechanical engineering at McCormick and one of the paper's authors.

"Thus, our results suggest that precursors of a backbone would have given rise to animals with the appropriate body stiffness," added Patankar. "We hypothesize that this would have been mechanically beneficial to the evolutionary emergence of swimming vertebrates."

In addition, species must be resilient to small changes in physical characteristics from one generation to the next. The researchers confirmed that the ability to swim, while dependent upon mechanical parameters, is not sensitive to minor generational changes; as long as the body stiffness is above a certain value, the ability to swim quickly is insensitive to the value of the stiffness, the researchers found.

Finally, making a connection to the neural control of movement, the researchers analyzed the curvature of its undulations to determine if it was the result of a single bending torque, or if precise bending torques were necessary at every point along its body. They learned that a simple movement pattern gives rise to the complicated-looking deformation.

"This suggests that the animal does not need precise control of its movements," Patankar said.

To make these determinations, the researchers applied a common physics concept known as "spring mass damper" -- a model, applied to everything from car suspension to Slinkies, that determines movement in systems that are losing energy -- to the body of the fish.

This novel approach for the first time unified the concepts of active and passive swimming -- swimming in which forcing comes from within the fish (active) or from the surrounding water (passive) -- by calculating the conditions necessary for the fish to swim both actively and passively.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/D8e-ngzQywE/130624133129.htm

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Humanities on the chopping block (CNN)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

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2 dead, 8 missing after freighter sinks off Greece

ATHENS, Greece (AP) ? A cargo ship sank off southern Greece after colliding with another freighter Monday, leaving two Syrian seamen dead and eight others missing and spurring a large rescue operation, officials said.

The accident occurred before 7 am (0400GMT) some 78 miles (125 kilometers) southwest of the southern Peloponnese peninsula, a Merchant Marine Ministry statement said.

It was not immediately clear what caused the collision between the Antigua-flagged Consouth and the Cook Islands-flagged Piri Reis in the Mediterranean Sea.

Weather conditions were good at the time, which facilitated rescue efforts involving coast guard vessels, merchant ships, a rescue helicopter and an airforce C-130 transport plane.

The Piri Reis, which was carrying a cargo of fertilizer to a Ukrainian port, sank, and seven of its crew of 17 Syrian seamen were rescued. Two bodies were pulled out of the sea a few hours after the collision.

The Consouth, sailing without freight from Turkey to Malta, had 16 Russian, Filippino and Polish seamen on board, all who were unhurt, the ministry said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-04-29-EU-Greece-Ships-Collide/id-225417dc9a1644eab1b82097ad2222b8

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Apple iPhone 5 (T-Mobile)

The iPhone 5 has finally come to T-Mobile, and if you're in the market for a?smartphone?from Apple, pay attention. T-Mobile's iPhone is the same iPhone 5 that you've seen elsewhere, with better voice quality at a lower price. That's a terrific combination for anyone currently shopping for an iPhone.

Revisiting the iPhone 5
Apple's phones don't vary much from carrier to carrier, as Apple doesn't allow any bloatware or changes in design. So take a look at my reviews of the iPhone 5 for Verizon Wireless and AT&T. T-Mobile gets the same metal-and-glass design, the same 4-inch screen, the same 8-megapixel camera, and most importantly, the same iOS 6 operating system, with its easy-to-use grid of icons and unbeatable array of apps.

It's worth noting the iPhone's particular strengths and weaknesses versus newer, leading Android phones like the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S 4, though. On a broad level, iOS is very easy to use, but much less customizable than Android is today.

In terms of hardware, the smaller screen is an obvious difference; at 1,136 by 640 pixels it's lower-resolution than the 1080p screens on competing phones, although it's hard to perceive the difference between the iPhone's 326 pixels per inch and the Galaxy S 4's 440ppi. The 4-inch screen size makes it more comfortable for one-handed use than some of today's larger phones, but people who prefer big touch keyboards or lots of real estate for webpages will be frustrated.

The phone's 1.3GHz Apple A6 processor doesn't match the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 models on raw benchmarks like Geekbench, but the iPhone 5 matched the Galaxy S 4 on the Browsermark Web browser benchmark and got close to Snapdragon-powered phones on the GLBenchmark graphics benchmark. The smaller screen helps with performance, of course, as the iPhone is only pushing about a third as many pixels as the 1080p phones do.

The one area where the iPhone falls definitively short is on battery life. Its 7 hours, 36 minutes of talk time and about 3 hours of HSPA+ video streaming is far short of the 10 hours, 50 minutes of talk time and 4 hours, 48 minutes of streaming on the Galaxy S 4. Bigger phones allow for bigger batteries.

Call Quality and Internet
Here's where we get to the differences with the T-Mobile version, because this is a new iPhone, just invisibly. Unlike on previous GSM iPhones, the T-Mobile iPhone unlocks HSPA+ 42 support on the 1700Mhz AWS band. Combine that with support for 1700MHz LTE as well, and you get an iPhone able to hit T-Mobile and AT&T networks nationwide, as well as foreign HSPA+ networks if unlocked.?

If you're buying an iPhone for T-Mobile, it is very, very important that you get one with 1700MHz HSPA+ support. All iPhones sold through T-Mobile should have the right bands, but I've heard that some Apple stores are still selling older units that don't support T-Mobile's frequency. Double check, because if you don't have AWS, you're in the slow lane.

Speeds were stunning, even without LTE. T-Mobile only officially has LTE in seven cities, but HSPA+ is nationwide. I got download speeds between 8-13Mbps in midtown Manhattan using Ookla's Speedtest.net app, which fulfill anyone's definition of 4G. Uploads on HSPA+ are slower, though, between 0.3 and 1.5Mbps. The company has said it will cover 100 million Americans with LTE by midyear and 200 million by the end of 2013.

Signal strength was good. I compared the iPhone 5 to a Galaxy S 4 in a weak signal area, and both phones lost their ability to make calls at about the same time.

This iPhone also supports HD Voice, which isn't on any other iPhone. For now, to make an HD Voice call you'll need to be talking to another HD Voice phone on T-Mobile, which means an iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S III, Samsung Galaxy S 4, HTC One S, HTC One, or Nokia Astound.

Calls made from the iPhone 5 to a Galaxy S 4 with HD Voice had unusually rich voice tone, especially in the treble, although there was a touch of scratchiness high up in the audio range. Without HD Voice, calls showed a little bit of compression garble and background noise leakage in noisy areas. The speakerphone is nice and punchy, with just a touch of background hiss.

Overall, this is a fine voice phone, but not quite up to the Galaxy S 4's level in terms of clarity and noise cancellation. Compared to other iPhones across carriers, though, T-Mobile's model wins because of the clarity of HD Voice.

Service Plans
T-Mobile's real selling point is its service plans. Let's start with the price of the phone itself. T-Mobile sells the iPhone for $579 outright, with no contract, or $99 plus $20 per month for 24 months. On the three other major carriers, no-contract iPhones generally cost $649 and the two-year-contract versions cost $199 plus an invisible subsidy built into your service plan. Cricket is the only carrier with a much cheaper no-contract iPhone, at $499.99, but it's on a generally much slower network.

We crunched the numbers when T-Mobile announced the iPhone and found that T-Mobile's model is consistently cheaper than the three other major networks. Over two years on the sample plan we examined, you'd pay $2,160 for a T-Mobile iPhone, as opposed to $239.76 more on Sprint, $479.76 more on AT&T, and $480 more on Verizon.

T-Mobile's sticking point, of course, is coverage. While the carrier's network in major U.S. cities is generally very good, T-Mobile's network doesn't cover as many rural square miles as AT&T's and Verizon's, especially in regions like northern New England, northern Michigan, west Texas, and the Great Plains. As always, it's best to ask people who live near you how they're doing with T-Mobile service.?

Conclusions
Apple's iPhone line is more consistent across carriers than any other kind of phone. T-Mobile adds one major feature, HD Voice, and another compelling benefit, a low price. If you're shopping for an iPhone and T-Mobile's network runs well in your area, you'd be silly not to strongly consider this great new option.

The iPhone 5 falls short of Editors' Choice status on T-Mobile, though. While it's a great experience, simple and clean, the Samsung Galaxy S 4 (which we've reviewed for this carrier) and the HTC One (which we haven't tested on T-Mobile, but have evaluated the Sprint model) offer better screens, more customizability, and a bigger window on the world.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/y4aBHVPn8-k/0,2817,2418127,00.asp

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Lawmakers: Syria chemical weapons could menace U.S.

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons could be a greater threat after that nation's president leaves power and could end up targeting Americans at home, lawmakers warned Sunday as they considered a U.S. response that stops short of sending military forces there.

U.S. officials last week declared that the Syrian government probably had used chemical weapons twice in March, newly provocative acts in the 2-year civil war that has killed more than 70,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands more. The U.S. assessment followed similar conclusions from Britain, France, Israel and Qatar ? key allies eager for a more aggressive response to the Syrian conflict.

President Barack Obama has said Syria's likely action ? or the transfer of President Bashar Assad's stockpiles to terrorists ? would cross a "red line" that would compel the United States to act.

Lawmakers sought to remind viewers on Sunday news programs of Obama's declaration while discouraging a U.S. foothold on the ground there.

"The president has laid down the line, and it can't be a dotted line. It can't be anything other than a red line," said House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich. "And more than just Syria, Iran is paying attention to this. North Korea is paying attention to this."

Added Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.: "For America to sit on the sidelines and do nothing is a huge mistake."

Obama has insisted that any use of chemical weapons would change his thinking about the United States' role in Syria but said he didn't have enough information to order aggressive action.

"For the Syrian government to utilize chemical weapons on its people crosses a line that will change my calculus and how the United States approaches these issues," Obama said Friday.

But Rep. Jan Schakowsky, an Illinois Democrat, said Sunday the United States needs to consider those weapons. She said that when Assad leaves power, his opponents could have access to those weapons or they could fall into the hands of U.S. enemies.

"The day after Assad is the day that these chemical weapons could be at risk ... (and) we could be in bigger, even bigger trouble," she said.

Both sides of the civil war already accuse each other of using the chemical weapons.

The deadliest such alleged attack was in the Khan al-Assal village in the Aleppo province in March. The Syrian government called for the United Nations to investigate alleged chemical weapons use by rebels in the attack that killed 31 people.

Syria, however, has not allowed a team of experts into the country because it wants the investigation limited to the single Khan al-Assal incident, while U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged "immediate and unfettered access" for an expanded investigation.

One of Obama's chief antagonists on Syria, Sen. John McCain, R- Ariz., said the United States should go to Syria as part of an international force to safeguard the chemical weapons. But McCain added that he is not advocating sending ground troops to the nation.

"The worst thing the United States could do right now is put boots on the ground on Syria. That would turn the people against us," McCain said.

His friend, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also said the United States could safeguard the weapons without a ground force. But he cautioned the weapons must be protected for fear that Americans could be targeted. Raising the specter of the lethal bomb at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, Graham said the next attack on U.S. soil could employ weapons that were once part of Assad's arsenal.

"Chemical weapons ? enough to kill millions of people ? are going to be compromised and fall into the wrong hands, and the next bomb that goes off in America may not have nails and glass in it," he said.

Rogers and Schakowsky spoke to ABC's "This Week." Chambliss and Graham were interviewed on CBS's "Face the Nation." McCain appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press."

___

Follow Philip Elliott on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Philip_Elliott

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lawmakers-syria-chemical-weapons-could-menace-us-154735931.html

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Betaworks acquires Instapaper, promises continued development

If you're the sort who likes to catch up on web articles through a dedicated reader app, you're likely familiar with Instapaper and its lone creator, Marco Arment. His solo work makes for a cohesive experience and a great story, but it also involves a lot of strain -- enough so that Arment is selling majority control of the app to Betaworks, the owner of Bitly and Digg. Thankfully, this shouldn't represent a classic acquire-and-absorb deal that ultimately kills the original brand. Arment says he'll remain involved as an advisor, and the takeover is arranged with promises that Betaworks will add staff and continue building the read-it-later tool. While neither side has said just where they'll take Instapaper with more resources, there's a real chance that competitors like Pocket will feel some added pressure.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets

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Via: Marco Arment (Twiter)

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/25/betaworks-acquires-instapaper-promises-continued-development/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Politics on hold at the dedication of Bush library

DALLAS (AP) ? George W. Bush shed a sentimental tear. Barack Obama mused about the burdens of the office. Bill Clinton dished out wisecracks. Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush chimed in, too, on a rare day of harmony at the dedication of the younger Bush's presidential library that glossed over the hard edges and partisan divides of five presidencies spanning more than three tumultuous decades.

"To know the man is to like the man," Obama declared of his Republican predecessor, speaking Thursday before a crowd of 10,000 at an event that had the feel of a class reunion for the partisans who had powered the Bush administration from 2001 to 2009. Dick Cheney was there in a white cowboy hat. Condoleezza Rice gave shout-outs to visiting dignitaries. Colin Powell and Karl Rove were prominent faces in the crowd.

On this day, there was no mention of Iraq or Afghanistan, the wars that dominated Bush's presidency and so divided the nation. There were only gentle references to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. And praise aplenty for the resolve that Bush showed in responding to the 9/11 terror attacks.

Clinton joked that the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center was "the latest, grandest example of the eternal struggle of former presidents to rewrite history." But he also praised Bush for including interactive exhibits at the center that invite visitors to make their own choices on major decisions that he faced.

Bush, 66, made indirect reference to the polarizing decision points of his presidency, drawing a knowing laugh as he told the crowd: "One of the benefits of freedom is that people can disagree. It's fair to say I created plenty of opportunities to exercise that right."

He said he was guided throughout his presidency by a determination "to expand the reach of freedom."

"It wasn't always easy, and it certainly wasn't always popular."

It was a day for family and sentimentality, Bush choking up with emotion at the conclusion of his remarks.

The 43rd president singled out his 88-year-old father, another ex-president, to tell him: "41, it is awesome that you are here today."

The elder Bush, wearing jaunty pink socks, spoke for less than a minute from his wheelchair, then turned to his son and quipped, "Too long?" He has a form of Parkinson's disease and has been hospitalized recently for bronchitis.

Just as the public tends to view presidents more kindly once they've left office, ex-presidents, too, tend to soften their judgments ? or at least their public comments ? with time.

Obama once excoriated Bush for his "failed policies" and "disastrous" handling of the economy, for expanding budget deficits, and for drawing the nation into war in Iraq.

On Thursday, he took a detour around those matters and instead praised Bush for his strength after 9/11, compassion in fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa, bipartisanship in pursuing education reforms and restarting "an important conversation by speaking with the American people about our history as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants."

If the country is eventually able to enact immigration changes this year, Obama added, "it will be, in large part, thanks to the hard work of President George W. Bush."

Obama said the living presidents make up an exclusive club ? but it's more like a support group for the men who have held the position.

"No matter how much you may think you are ready to assume the office of the presidency, it's impossible to truly understand the nature of the job until it's yours," Obama said. "And that's why every president gains a greater appreciation for all of those who served before them."

The other presidents struck a similar tone.

Clinton praised Bush for his efforts to combat AIDS in Africa, his work on global health and even for the paintings he's doing in retirement. And he said he'd gotten so close to the Bush family that there were jokes that "I had become the black sheep son."

Carter praised Bush for his role in helping secure peace between North and South Sudan in 2005 and the "great contributions you've made to the most needy people on earth."

Bush has kept a decidedly low profile since leaving office four years ago with an approval rating of just 33 percent. That figure has been gradually climbing and now is at 47 percent ? about equal to Obama's own approval rating, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released ahead of the library opening.

If politics was absent from the podium on Thursday, it was still a prominent subtext.

Those in attendance included a number of potential candidates for president in 2016 ? another Clinton (Hillary) and Bush (Jeb) among them.

George W. Bush in recent days played up the idea of his younger brother, the former governor of Florida, seeking the White House, telling C-SPAN, "My first advice is: Run."

Their mother, former first lady Barbara Bush, did the opposite.

"We've had enough Bushes," she said Thursday on NBC's "Today" show.

The presidential center at Southern Methodist University includes a library, museum and policy institute. It contains more than 70 million pages of paper records, 200 million emails, 4 million digital photos and 43,000 artifacts. Bush's library will feature the largest digital holdings of any of the 13 presidential libraries under the auspices of the National Archives and Records Administration.

A full-scale replica of the Oval Office as it looked during Bush's tenure sits on the campus, as does a piece of steel from the World Trade Center and the bullhorn that Bush used to punctuate the chaos at ground zero three days after 9/11. In the museum, visitors can gaze at a container of chads ? the remnants of the famous Florida punch card ballots that played a pivotal role in the contested 2000 election that sent Bush to Washington.

Laura Bush led the library's design committee, officials said, with a keen eye toward ensuring that the family's Texas roots were conspicuously reflected. Architects used local materials, including Texas Cordova cream limestone and trees from the central part of the state, in its construction.

___

Follow Josh Lederman on Twitter: http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP .

___

Associated Press writer Nancy Benac contributed from Washington.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/politics-hold-dedication-bush-library-200154350.html

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Tickets For Apple's WWDC 2013 Sell Out In Under 2 Minutes, Compared To 2 Hours In 2012

Tickets for Apple's annual Worldwide Developer's Conference went on sale today at 10 AM Pacific, 1 PM Eastern, and as expected, sold out in record time, at just under 2 minutes. Tickets for the developer-focused event at San Francisco's Moscone West, which features presentations and one-on-one time with Apple's own in-house engineers, sold out in just two hours in 2012, in under 12 hours in 2011, and in eight days in 2010.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/KZOms9M4AI0/

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Global Center for Childhood Obesity Funds Projects to Improve ...

April 24, 2013

The Johns Hopkins Global Center on Childhood Obesity has awarded funding to two intervention projects aimed at preventing childhood obesity. The research is part of the third round of funding focused on ?rapid response projects.?

The Global Center on Childhood Obesity reviewed research proposals from around the world and selected the following:

Using Point of Sale (POS) Systems to Measure Changes in Purchases Before and After Environmental Interventions in Corner Stores

Principal Investigator: Allison Karpyn, PhD, The Food Trust, Philadelphia, Pa.
The Food Trust, through a partnership with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health?s ?Get Healthy Philly program, has been at the forefront of a growing national movement to increase healthy food access in corner stores in low-income urban areas as an environmental strategy to reduce obesity. In 2012, The Food Trust worked with owners at five corner stores to install point of sale (POS) systems to measure product sales. The overall goal for this pilot study is to evaluate the efficacy of environmental interventions on corner store purchases, using the POS system.

This spring, The Food Trust and the Department of Public Health will implement a new Healthy Corner Store Certification policy, along with physical renovations to the store environment that will employ marketing and pricing strategies to increase healthier food and beverage sales. The Food Trust will utilize POS data from corner stores to examine customers? purchases, before and after implementation of policy and environmental interventions. These analyses will add to an understanding of the impact of corner stores on shopping patterns, dietary intake, and on overweight and obesity, leading to more informed decisions for implementing policies for childhood obesity prevention in underserved areas.

Examining the Outcomes of Collaborative Networks to Improve School Nutrition Environments

Principal Investigator: Donna Johnson, PhD, Department of Health Services, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash.
Across the United States, school districts are working to improve failing wellness policies. In King County Washington, the county health department is funding a School Learning Network (SLN) that supports district nutrition directors in developing new school system food policies. This project will apply social network analysis to determine: the extent to which the SLN fosters the development of ties between directors and the characteristics of those ties; the extent to which the position of the directors in the network and the strength of their ties is related to the quality of district wellness policy revisions; and how best practices are diffused through the network. Data will be collected in the spring/summer of 2013 and one year later in 2014.

The Johns Hopkins Global Center for Childhood Obesity was established with a $16 million U54 cooperative agreement from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Based at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Global Center for Childhood Obesity emphasizes the integration of geospatial analysis with a systems science and transdisciplinary approach to childhood obesity, bringing together basic science, epidemiology, nutrition, medicine, engineering, and environmental and social policy research, among other fields, in an unprecedented, innovative way.

The Center will fund approximately 4 to 5 new research projects each year over the next several years.

For more information about the Johns Hopkins Global Center for Childhood Obesity, visit http://www.jhgcco.org

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health media contact: Tim Parsons at 410-955-7619 or tmparson@jhsph.edu.

Source: http://www.jhsph.edu/news/stories/2013/obesity-grants.html

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Bhutan votes in 2nd ever parliamentary poll

GAUHATI, India (AP) ? People in the tiny Himalayan nation of Bhutan were cementing their young democracy Tuesday by voting in the nation's second parliamentary election.

The remote nation of 700,000 had its first election in 2008 after the king voluntarily reduced the monarchy's role in running the country.

A total of 67 candidates were competing Tuesday for the 20 elected seats in the 25-member upper house. The five remaining seats are filled by royal appointment. The candidates were running without party affiliation.

However, five parties will contest polls for the more influential lower house, expected in June. Only two parties contested the 2008 election, when the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa won a landslide victory.

A royal decree issued before Tuesday's election asked "all voters to take their right and duty seriously."

Results were expected Wednesday.

About 5,000 officials were conducting the voting at 850 polling stations, many of them in hard-to-reach mountain villages, said Kunzang Wangdi, the chief election commissioner. Election officials had been using Indian Air Force helicopters to drop polling machines and officials at remote polling stations in the past few days, but severe rain and wind hampered their efforts, he said.

As the bad weather lifted somewhat Tuesday, the government was able to finish the job using commercial helicopters.

Bhutan had long been closed off to the rest of the world, but began reaching out in the 1960s. Foreigners and the international media were first admitted in 1974. Television finally arrived in 1999.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bhutan-votes-2nd-ever-parliamentary-poll-072326678.html

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