Michael Jordan Buys Massive North Carolina ... - AOL Real Estate

NBA legend Michael Jordan is best known for scoring on the basketball court, but these days he's netting a lot more than three-pointers. Jordan's a pro in real estate, too, it seems -- because he's just gotten a huge deal on his second home in the Charlotte, N.C., area. The b-ball star and Charlotte Bobcats owner bought a 12,310-square-foot home on North Carolina's Lake Norman for $2.8 million, the Charlotte Observer reported.

The waterfront mansion was a foreclosure that the bank repossessed last August, according to Zillow. It was listed for $3.49 million, so Jordan must have some negotiating skills. The six-bedroom, eight-bathroom home sits on the seventh hole of The Peninsula Club. We're not sure whether that's a good thing, since Jordan has a knack for getting kicked out of swanky country clubs for violating dress codes.

His Airness collects homes like NBA trophies: Jordan also has a luxury condo in Charlotte, he recently built a $12.4 million mansion in Jupiter, Fla., (where Celine Dion lives), and he has a place in Salt Lake City. He's still trying to offload his custom home in Chicago for $29 million. Jordan's new home happens to be where drag racing star Doug Herbert used to live. Herbert told the Observer that the house "is a great place to entertain friends and have people over."

The three-level home has a fitness center and a two-story great room that opens to a terraced patio. There's a large pool and spa in the backyard, as well as a boat slip and unparalleled panoramic lake views. "It's fantastic," Dave Gilroy, commissioner of the town of Cornelius, where Jordan's new home is, told the Observer. "He got a great buy on that house."

Find homes for sale in Charlotte, N.C., or search listings in your area.

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/02/28/michael-jordan-home-charlotte-north-carolina/

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Video: February 27, 2013

>>> with uncle willie.

>> how sweet it is. these are just some of the people i owe money to down here in florida . anyway, happy birthday , elizabeth hughes. what a beautiful lady. she is from kankakee, illinois. absolutely gorgeous at 100. she loves to do fleur de lis an art all in itself. and hello, ruby -- don't take your love to town -- ruby jones , 105 years old today from merriam, kansas. she never smoke and never drank. that's living the good life. we wish james fox a happy birthday , evansville, indiana. 100 years old today. he is something else. loves mariachi bands. i do, too. dance and everything. alice shepardson. always loved that name. in the great state of maine , 100 years old, plus two. 102. can you believe that? and she loves to laugh and eat ice cream but not at the same time. very messy. very messy. boyd york from tyner, kentucky, 100 years old today. and he is something else. absolutely no medication until he was 91. francis wirick from the great state of florida , not too far away from here. 102 years old today. she taught all her life and she loved teaching. frances klein is from deerfield, florida . deerfield beach . 100 years old today. loves to watch all those variety shows on tv. okay, gang. what do you do now?

>> back to you, new york.

>> i love ya , willard. thank you.

Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50971212/

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Hagel takes helm at Pentagon after bitter fight

FILE - In this Jan. 31, 2013, file photo, Secretary of Defense nominee Chuck Hagel testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Hagel is expected to be sworn in as Secretary of Defense Wednesday Feb. 27, 2013 and is likely to address the staff in his first day as defense secretary. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, file)

FILE - In this Jan. 31, 2013, file photo, Secretary of Defense nominee Chuck Hagel testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Hagel is expected to be sworn in as Secretary of Defense Wednesday Feb. 27, 2013 and is likely to address the staff in his first day as defense secretary. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, file)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Chuck Hagel took charge Wednesday of the Defense Department with deep budget cuts looming and Republican opponents still doubtful that he's up to the job.

He took the oath of office as Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon and was expected to address civilian and uniformed employees of the department later Wednesday morning.

The bitter, seven-week fight over his nomination ended Tuesday as a deeply divided Senate voted 58-41 to confirm him. Just four Republicans joined Democrats in backing the former two-term Republican senator from Nebraska and twice-wounded Vietnam combat veteran.

"I am honored that President Obama and the Senate have entrusted me to serve our nation once again," Hagel said in a statement Tuesday. "I can think of no greater privilege than leading the brave, dedicated men and women of the Department of Defense as they perform vital missions around the globe."

Hagel promised to work closely with Congress, but he faces lingering reservations about his ability to handle the responsibilities. Shortly after the vote, Sen. Lindsey Graham said he still has serious questions about Hagel and his qualifications.

"I hope, for the sake of our own national security, he exceeds expectations," said the South Carolina Republican.

The top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, said Hagel's record on Israel, Iran, defense spending and nuclear weapons "demonstrate, in my view, a profound and troubling lack of judgment on many of the critical issues he will now be confronted with as secretary of defense."

But Inhofe promised to work with Hagel to avoid the $46 billion in automatic, across-the-board budget cuts that hit the Pentagon on Friday.

Obama alluded to the need for cooperation in his statement welcoming the vote.

The president said he was grateful to Hagel "for reminding us that when it comes to our national defense, we are not Democrats or Republicans, we are Americans, and our greatest responsibility is the security of the American people."

Hagel joins Obama's retooled national security team, including Secretary of State John Kerry and CIA Director-designate John Brennan, at a time of uncertainty for a military emerging from two wars and fighting worldwide terrorism with smaller, deficit-driven budgets.

Among his daunting challenges are dealing with the budget cuts and deciding on troop levels in Afghanistan as the United States winds down its combat presence. He also will have to work with lawmakers who spent weeks vilifying him.

Republicans insisted that Hagel was battered and bloodied after their repeated attacks during the protracted political fight.

"He will take office with the weakest support of any defense secretary in modern history, which will make him less effective on his job," said Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the Senate GOP's No. 2 Republican.

Not so, said Democratic Sen. Jack Reed, who pointed out that Hagel now has the title and the fight is history.

"All have to work together for the interest of the country," said Reed, D-R.I.

The vote ended one of the bitterest fights over a Cabinet choice and former senator since 1989, when the Democratic-led Senate defeated newly elected President George H.W. Bush's nomination of Republican John Tower to be defense secretary. This time, Republicans waged an unprecedented filibuster of a president's Pentagon pick and Hagel only secured the job after Republicans dropped their delay.

A 71-27 vote to end the filibuster cleared the way for Hagel's confirmation.

In the course of the rancorous nomination fight, Republicans, led by Inhofe and freshman Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, insinuated that Hagel has a cozy relationship with Iran and received payments for speeches from extreme or radical groups. Those comments drew rebukes from Democrats and some Republicans.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, dismissed the "unfair innuendoes" against Hagel and called him an "outstanding American patriot" whose background as an enlisted soldier would send a positive message to the nation's servicemen and women.

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., questioned how the confirmation process devolved into a character assassination in which Hagel was accused of "having secret ties with our enemies."

"I sincerely hope that the practice of challenging nominations with innuendo and inference, rather than facts and figures, was an aberration and not a roadmap," she said in a statement after the vote.

___

Follow Donna Cassata on Twitter: http://twitter.com/DonnaCassataAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-27-Hagel/id-270ff34306004a1d8f3f91b76ff890fc

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Childhood Cancer Is a Neglected Disease

Pediatric cancer diagnosis and treatment have improved in recent decades, but in lower-income countries children still are likely to receive poor care, if any. Image: Flickr/Peretz Partensky

The treatment of childhood cancer is one of oncology's success stories, with five-year survival rates that have shot up from 30% in the 1960s to 80% now ? at least in high-income countries.

But in a series of articles published today in The Lancet Oncology, experts from around the world warn that in recent years progress has stalled ? both in the improvement of survival rates and the mitigation of long-term side effects ? and that more than 90% of children who die from cancer are in low- and middle-income countries.

What is at stake, the researchers say, is not just the need for new drugs to treat children whose cancers are now incurable: the treatments also need to be kinder.

More than 40% of childhood-cancer survivors experience lifelong side effects from treatment. Anthracyclines, used to treat many types of cancer including leukaemia, can damage the heart; platinum, widely used for treating certain tumors, can cause deafness. Even the less-toxic, targeted therapies that slow the spread of cancer by stopping the growth of blood vessels in tumors can harm children by stopping other blood vessels from developing properly at crucial times during childhood.

Still, the situation is far worse in poorer countries, where more children die from infectious or parasitic diseases than from cancer ? leaving cancer overlooked as a result. Poorly trained doctors, inadequate diagnostic tools and lack of access to therapies ? even palliative treatments ? all contribute to the problem.

Another serious issue highlighted in the papers is that of data collection. The incidence of childhood cancer is poorly known in much of the developing world. In Africa, reliable cancer registries cover only 1% of the population, according to one of the studies.

In developing countries a diagnosis of cancer is still a death sentence for the majority of children, says Ian Magrath, president of the International Network for Cancer Treatment and Research in Brussels, Belgium, and a co-author of two of the studies. But these figures are just estimates, because the disease is extensively under-diagnosed.

Many improvements could be made, the authors write, including better training of health workers in poorer countries; use of the Internet to connect local pathologists to international experts to improve diagnosis; and the creation of at least one cancer center in each country.

Having reliable data on cancer incidence may increase the pressure on local policy-makers. For example, in 2006, Mexico developed a series of health-care reforms and set up 49 pediatric-cancer programs, promoting access to therapies and reducing the rates at which patients abandoned treatment courses.

Closing the cancer divide is a matter of health and equality and ?can greatly contribute to reducing this prominent cause of childhood death,? says Felicia Marie Knaul, director of the Harvard Global Equity Initiative in Boston, Massachusetts.

This article is reproduced with permission from the magazine Nature. The article was first published on February 21, 2013.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=9b8c5a1554508b63a9885c290cb9dca2

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Trump Twitter mystery! Who hacked The Donald?

Helen A.S. Popkin ? ? ? 6 hrs.

In what appears to be the latest in a minor wave of attacks on Twitter accounts belonging to out-sized corporate entities, an out-of-character tweet from Donald Trump's verified account set the Internet abuzz, and then disappeared, shortly before noon ET on Thursday.

"These hoes think they classy, well that's the class I'm skippen," read the suspect remark issued from @realDonaldTrump. It was a glaring non sequitur following tweets such as "Republicans must be careful with immigration?don?t give our country away," and "Wow, Macy's numbers just in-Trump is doing better than ever ? thanks for your great support!"

"Yes, obviously the account has been hacked and we are looking for the perpetrator," Rhona Graff, senior vice president, assistant to the president of the Trump Organization, told NBC News via email.

This confirmation was quickly echoed by Trump himself, in a tweet that read, "My Twitter has been seriously hacked ? and we are looking for the perpetrators."

Cut off after a single rogue tweet, the Trump Twitter anomaly was far shorter than the Burger King and Jeep takeovers earlier this week. On Monday, Burger King's Twitter account was hacked and renamed McDonalds, and over the course of a hour, sent out 53 tweets (and garnered 73,421 retweets) making light of the situation. The Tuesday attack on Jeep's Twitter account ? which included the erroneous announcement that the car maker had been taken over by Cadillac ? ceased after just 10 minutes and 13 tweets.

Soon after @Jeep regained control, the Twitter accounts of MTV and BET appeared to be compromised. The MTV account tweeted claims the network had been taken over by BET, and BET tweeted it was now owned by MTV. This turned out to be a publicity stunt by the networks, both owned by Viacom. As NBC News reported on Tuesday, the account of a PR representative warned of the hack ahead of time on Twitter and then both MTV and BET copped to the scheme after the "hack."

NBC News has asked the Trump Organization how Trump was able to regain control of his Twitter account so quickly, and will update this story if we receive a response.

Helen A.S. Popkin goes blah blah blah about the Internet. Tell her to get a real job on Twitterand/or Facebook.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/trump-twitter-mystery-who-hacked-donald-1C8462918

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Scientists turn to real-life 3-D holodecks

Charles Rex Arbogast / AP

University of Illinois-Chicago computer scientist Jason Leigh stands in the CAVE2 virtual-reality system, where 72 stereoscopic liquid crystal display panels encircle the viewer.

By Carla K. Johnson, The Associated Press

CHICAGO ??Take a walk through a human brain? Fly over the surface of Mars? Computer scientists at the University of Illinois at Chicago are pushing science fiction closer to reality with a wraparound virtual world where a researcher wearing 3-D glasses can do all that and more.

In the system, known as CAVE2, an 8-foot-high (2.4-meter-high) screen encircles the viewer 320 degrees. A panorama of images springs from 72 stereoscopic liquid crystal display panels, conveying a dizzying sense of being able to touch what's not really there.

---

As far back as 1950, sci-fi author Ray Bradbury imagined a children's nursery that could make bedtime stories disturbingly real. "Star Trek" fans might remember the holodeck as the virtual playground where the fictional Enterprise crew relaxed in fantasy worlds.

The Illinois computer scientists have more serious matters in mind when they hand visitors 3-D glasses and a controller called a "wand." Scientists in many fields today share a common challenge: How to truly understand overwhelming amounts of data. Jason Leigh, co-inventor of the CAVE2 virtual reality system, believes this technology answers that challenge.

"In the next five years, we anticipate using the CAVE to look at really large-scale data to help scientists make sense of that information. CAVEs are essentially fantastic lenses for bringing data into focus," Leigh said.

The CAVE2 virtual world could change the way doctors are trained and improve patient care, Leigh said. Pharmaceutical researchers could use it to model the way new drugs bind to proteins in the human body. Car designers could virtually "drive" their vehicle designs.

Imagine turning massive amounts of data ? the forces behind a hurricane, for example ? into a simulation that a weather researcher could enlarge and explore from the inside. Architects could walk through their skyscrapers before they are built. Surgeons could rehearse a procedure using data from an individual patient.

Charles Rex Arbogast / AP

Brain surgeon Ali Alaraj talks about the first time he viewed the brain using the CAVE2. "You can walk between the blood vessels," said the University of Illinois College of Medicine neurosurgeon. "You can look at the arteries from below. You can look at the arteries from the side."

CAVEs aren't cheap
But the size and expense of room-based virtual reality systems may prove insurmountable barriers to widespread use, said Henry Fuchs, a computer science professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who is familiar with the CAVE technology but wasn't involved in its development.

While he calls the CAVE2 "a national treasure," Fuchs predicts a smaller technology such as Google's Internet-connected eyeglasses will do more to revolutionize medicine than the CAVE. Still, he says large displays are the best way today for people to interact and collaborate.

Believers include the people at Marshalltown, Iowa-based Mechdyne Corp., which has licensed the CAVE2 technology for three years and plans to market it to hospitals, the military and in the oil and gas industry, said Kurt Hoffmeister of Mechdyne.

In Chicago, researchers and graduate students are creating virtual scenarios for testing in the CAVE2. The Mars flyover is created from real NASA data. The brain tour is based on the layout of blood vessels in a real patient.

Brain surgeon Ali Alaraj remembered the first time he viewed the brain using the CAVE2.

"You can walk between the blood vessels," said the University of Illinois College of Medicine neurosurgeon. "You can look at the arteries from below. You can look at the arteries from the side.... That was science fiction for me."

How CAVEs compare
Would doctors process information faster with fewer errors using CAVE2? That's the question behind a proposed study that would compare CAVE2 to conventional methods of detecting brain aneurysms and determining proper treatment, said Andreas Linninger, UIC professor of bioengineering, chemical engineering and computer science.

But it's not all serious business at the lab.

In his spare time during the past two years, research assistant Arthur Nishimoto has been programming the CAVE2 computer with the specifications for the fictional Starship Enterprise. He now can walk around his life-size re-creation of the TV spacecraft.

The original technology, introduced in the early 1990s, was called CAVE, which stood for Cave Automatic Virtual Environment and also cleverly referred to Plato's cave, the philosopher's analogy about shadows and reality. It was named by former lab co-directors Tom DeFanti and Dan Sandin.

The second generation of the CAVE, invented by Leigh and his collaborator Andy Johnson, has higher resolution. The project was funded by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy.

"It's fantastic to come to work. Every day is like getting to live a science fiction dream," Leigh said. "To do science in this kind of environment is absolutely amazing."

More about virtual environments:

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.?

?

Source: http://science.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/20/17036221-how-researchers-use-real-life-3-d-holodecks-to-explore-virtual-frontiers?lite

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90% No

All Critics (58) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (52) | Rotten (6)

Nominated by the Academy as the year's best foreign-language film, No grabs you hard, no mercy, and keeps you riveted.

Larra?n's unarguable point is that, in politics, if we wait for good to issue only from the pure in heart, we will be waiting a very long time.

[Lorrain has] made a few daring choices here, not all of which work.

A troubling, exhilarating and ingeniously realized film that's part stirring political drama and part devilish media satire ...

For anyone fascinated by the political process and the powers of persuasive advertising, No is a resounding yes.

It hangs on three ideas...While each...is intriguing, the execution of all is less than satisfying.

Larra?n's script is punctuated by dark bursts of humour, and the filmmaker knowingly navigates his audience to a nail-biting - though never cloying, and fully warranted - climax.

It makes the superficial Mad Men seem like, well, a commercial. Buy, buy, buy.

A fascinating period re-creation if not an especially compelling drama.

Evocative and suspenseful, the film is a fascinating glimpse into recent history and the democratic process.

The film highlights the sad fact that logical arguments don't win political debates or elections. Sloganeering and advertising do.

Using a technique borrowed from cinema verit? documentaries, the director succeeds in making us feel as if we're living each moment right alongside his politically-charged characters.

It's a perfectly fine movie, but given its fairly radical storyline, the filmmaking tends to hew toward the safe and the familiar.

"No" gives a fresh look at the little known history of a country whose duly elected government under Salvador Allende was overthrown in a military coup led by Pinochet in 1973.

Savvy, often brilliant ...

Bernal plays the creative type perfectly. His big eyes always seem to be seeing things that others don't, and through his calm, methodical demeanor, you can sense the wheels turning in his head.

No quotes approved yet for No. Logged in users can submit quotes.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/no_2012/

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Family outraged after debt collector threatens dead woman

by Scott Noll / KHOU 11 News

khou.com

Posted on February 19, 2013 at 10:19 PM

Updated today at 10:20 PM

CYPRESS - Most people don't want anything to do with bill collectors. But a Cypress woman is calling the tactics of one company "despicable" after she says the business called her home and threatened her sister for money.

Allison Currie?s sister died years ago.

Currie shared the phone message with the KHOU 11 News I-Team. In it, the caller claims to be from a civil investigations unit, and threatens a restraining order and lawsuit.

But what really threw Currie for a curve was the demand that her sister, Samantha, appear in court.

Samantha was 18 years old when she died in 2005.

"I was just like what kind of nerve does this person have?" explained Currie.

The phone number left on the message was from a North Carolina area code. A recording claimed it was from "Global Litigation Group."

The 11 News I-Team checked, but couldn't find any record of a company by that name registered in North Carolina.

There was also no sign of the company as being on file as a bonded debt collector with the Texas Secretary of State's Office. That's required by law before a company can collect third party debts here.

Monica Russo of the Better Business Bureau listened to a recording of the message.

She never heard of Global Litigation Group, but said the threats of a lawsuit and restraining order did ring a bell.

"We see them all the time with phony debt collectors," Russo explained.

The 11 News I-Team exposed the problem of phony debt collectors last November.

In those cases, the callers left similar messages with similar tough-talk to the message left for Currie's sister.

Despite a warning that Samantha had 24 to 48 hours to contact the collector, no one picked up the phone when Currie called Global Litigation on Tuesday.

"I mean, it's just so sleazy," said Currie.

She doubts the company?s claim. She can't believe it would take anyone nearly eight years to try and collect a debt.

Now Currie has added her voice to a growing list of online complaints against the business.

She says, even if the entire thing is a mistake, it's still cruel.

"Anyone who would do this scheme, this is the worst kind of way to make money," said Currie. "This is awful."

There is no indication that the Global Litigation Group that called Samantha has any ties to other companies with similar-sounding names nationwide.

Source: http://www.khou.com/news/investigative/Family-Outraged-After-Debt-Collector-Threatens-Dead-Woman-191927451.html

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Microsoft sides with Oracle against Google in Java appeal

By Dan Levine

Feb 19 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp is backing Oracle Corp's bid to revive a billion-dollar copyright lawsuit over Google's use of the Java programming language, according to court filings on Tuesday.

Oracle's intellectual property battle against Google has attracted intense interest from software developers, many of whom believe the structure of a programming language should not be subject to copyright protection.

Last year a San Francisco federal judge found that Oracle could not claim copyright protection on much of the Java language that Google used on its Android mobile platform. Oracle has appealed.

Microsoft, the world's largest software firm, told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Tuesday it would support Oracle with a friend of the court brief. Microsoft hired Gregory Garre, a former U.S. solicitor general who is now a partner at Latham & Watkins, as its principal attorney, court filings show.

Representatives for Microsoft and Google declined to comment, and an Oracle spokeswoman could not be reached for comment. A copy of Microsoft's legal brief was not immediately available on the Federal Circuit's docket.

Microsoft has been litigating against Google and its Motorola Mobility unit in high-stakes patent cases around the world. The Windows software developer claims that Google's Android platform violates its intellectual property.

Android is the best-selling smartphone operating system around the world.

Microsoft also tried to persuade federal regulators to bring a broad antitrust case against Google. However, the Federal Trade Commission concluded last month that Google had not manipulated its Web search results to hurt rivals.

For its part, Google agreed to no longer request sales bans when suing companies which infringe on patents that are essential to the interoperability of tech products.

The Oracle versus Google case examines whether computer language that connects programs and operating systems - known as application programming interfaces, or APIs - can be copyrighted.

Google argued it did not violate Oracle's patents and that Oracle cannot copyright APIs for Java, an open-source or publicly available software language.

The case is Oracle America Inc v. Google Inc, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No. 13-1201.

For Microsoft: Gregory Garre, Latham & Watkins.

For Oracle: E. Joshua Rosenkranz, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and Susan Davies, Kirkland & Ellis.

For Google: Robert Van Nest, Keker & Van Nest.

Follow us on Twitter?@ReutersLegal?| Like us on?Facebook??

Source: http://newsandinsight.thomsonreuters.com/Legal/News/2013/02_-_February/Microsoft_sides_with_Oracle_against_Google_in_Java_appeal/

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Source: http://www.thecourier.com/articleredirector.asp?d=021913_story5&c=n

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Juggling priorities, Pentagon tries to protect war funding, troops

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force Space Command cautioned recently that if new budget cuts take effect, some of its round-the-clock missile-warning operations would begin working bankers' hours - raising concerns about detecting missiles targeting America.

But when questioned about these dire predictions by a concerned lawmaker last week, General Mark Welsh, the Air Force chief of staff, explained that flexibility in the system would let Space Command focus the cuts that take effect on March 1 on redundant, backup radar systems.

"What our Air Force space commander has decided to do is to try and concentrate the ? cut ? so that we are not at risk of not having warning of an incoming missile," Welsh told the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee.

Across the military services, officials are sounding similar warnings about the $46 billion in budget cuts beginning March 1 that will slash nearly every military program or activity by a flat percentage.

But even as they raise the alarm about everything from layoffs to reduced flying hours, defense officials are trying to assess how much flexibility they have to protect their most vital missions from the worst effects of the cuts.

Concern about the level of flexibility seems to depend upon where you sit. Military and civilian defense officials say they are facing a trio of converging constraints that give them little leeway to protect the most vital programs and projects.

But some outside analysts say the Pentagon is exaggerating the likely damage to pressure Congress to avert looming cuts.

"What ? the service chiefs have been plugging is a classic cherry-picking of some of the most horrendous things you could imagine ? won't deploy a carrier, pull equipment out of maintenance, shut down training exercises, reduce readiness rates," said Gordon Adams, a professor of national security policy at American University.

Adams, who worked on defense budgets at the White House in the Clinton Administration, said the warnings were a classic Washington Monument strategy, named after an Interior Department decision in the 1960s to respond to budget cuts by shuttering the iconic Washington Monument and other national parks.

TRIPLE THREAT

Pentagon officials say the threats from the budget cuts are real, caused by a what Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has called a "perfect storm of budget uncertainty."

President Barack Obama signed the Budget Control Act in 2011 requiring $487 billion in defense spending cuts over a decade. The law also put in place another $500 billion in mandatory, across-the-board Pentagon cuts under a mechanism known as sequestration.

Sequestration was never meant to go into effect, but was intended to coerce Congress and the White House into agreeing on more selective budget reductions. That deal never happened.

Compounding the Pentagon's financial quandary, Congress failed to appropriate defense funding for the 2013 fiscal year that began October 1.

Instead, it kept the government running through March 27 using a continuing resolution. Although spending levels for 2013 are comparable to 2012, budget priorities differ significantly, with much more funding allocated to military operations and maintenance in 2013 than in 2012.

The Defense Department "is starting off with the wrong amount of funding in many of these accounts," said Todd Harrison, a defense budget analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. "Programs that were planning to spend more in FY13 are short funding, and programs planning to spend less have excess funding."

Because sequestration was not due to kick in until January 2 and Congress was expected to resolve the issue by then, the Pentagon spent its funds in the first quarter of the 2013 fiscal year - October through December - as if the budget cuts were not going to happen.

With sequestration now due to begin on March 1, the Pentagon will be five months into the fiscal year when it has to cut spending, meaning the trims will have to come from seven months of spending rather than a full year, increasing the impact.

FLEXIBILITY

Pentagon officials have begun searching for ways to preserve funding for critical programs and activities.

Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has directed the military services to prioritize funding for the Afghanistan war, training for troops headed to the war zone, treatment of the wounded and preservation of family programs. He also asked them, where possible, to protect funding for the new U.S. military strategy, which calls for greater focus on the Asia-Pacific.

How much space the services have to protect those priorities is unclear. Under sequestration, the Pentagon is required to reduce spending by $46 billion in the final seven months of fiscal year 2013 by cutting an equal percentage from most programs and activities.

Obama exempted military personnel from the cuts, as permitted under the Budget Control Act. But that decision increases the percentage that must be cut from the other accounts. Officials estimate the cut will be about 9 percent.

The Pentagon has some flexibility on Afghanistan war funding as well. In practice, money for the war is treated as part of the department's operations and maintenance account. Officials have said they will offset cuts to war spending by delaying less-pressing maintenance and other activity funded from the account.

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) estimated earlier this month that funding for Afghanistan and general operations and maintenance would be about $263 billion. The cut from the two accounts required by sequester would be about $22.4 billion.

Since the Pentagon has already spent part of its funding for the year and has decided to protect war funding, it only has about $128 billion remaining from which to cut the $22.4 billion, CRS estimated. That amounts to a 17.5 percent cut.

Those figures are what have prompted the Pentagon to sound the alarm over sequestration, warning of an axe that will fall on training and maintenance, leading to a crisis in readiness.

"There are two problems here," Carter told lawmakers last week. "One is the continuing resolution. We very much need and would like to have an appropriations bill ? That will relieve a lot of pressure."

"With respect to sequester, we only have a few months left and we have to absorb $46 billion. What that means is you kind of have to go wherever you can get the money in that period of time. And so while additional flexibility is always helpful, at this point it doesn't help that much," he added.

(Editing by Warren Strobel and Philip Barbara)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/juggling-priorities-pentagon-tries-protect-war-funding-troops-060949552--business.html

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Singapore police tell webcam users: Keep your clothes on; it's a scam

By M. Alex Johnson, staff writer, NBC News

Police in Singapore have warned men to be more careful about whom they talk to over webcams, reporting an alarming increase in the number of men who've been lured into nude conversations with "foreign" women, only to be blackmailed with video-chat recordings.

In terms of sheer numbers, the increase isn't much ? from 11 in 2011 to more than 50 last year ? but it suggests a burgeoning scam that could ensnare many more men in the future, the national police force said in a bulletin that was first reported by Singapore's Straits Times newspaper.

---

Police singled out Facebook and Tagged as especially popular vehicles for the extortion scheme, in which "female foreign suspects ... would commence a webcam conversation with the victims and initiate cybersex by undressing themselves first before persuading the male victims to appear nude or perform sexual acts in front of the webcams."

"Unknown to the victims, the suspects had recorded the acts," police said. "These suspects would then threaten to circulate compromising photographs and videos of the victims to extort money from them."

The spike in cases was first noted halfway through last year, leading CrimeWatch, a joint program of the national police and the National Crime Prevention Council, to "re-create" the scam in a (safe for work but entertainingly cheesy) video in June:

In a video titled "Blinded by love, she acted in a moment of folly," Singapore police and the National Crime Prevention Council re-enacted a cybersex extortion case last year.

Graham Cluley, a consultant with the Internet security firm Sophos, ?reported the bulletin Monday on the company's appropriately named Naked Security blog and warned of another potential hazard:

"You can imagine how a man, believing he is being seduced online by a sexy woman, might be all too eager to click on a link she suggests or run a malicious program on his computer. Before he knows it, his computer could be under the control of a hacker."

Police offered these tips to keep your money in your wallet:

• Be wary of messages from unknown people who want to befriend you.
• Do not accede to any request that may put you in vulnerable positions, such as performing compromising acts in front of a webcam or giving personal details about yourself when interacting with other Internet users.
• If anyone attempts to extort money from you or should you become a victim of such an attempt, call the police immediately.
• Do not remit or transfer money.

Follow M. Alex Johnson on Twitter and Facebook.

Related:

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/18/17006365-singapore-police-tell-webcam-users-keep-your-clothes-on-its-a-scam?lite

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US drops to No. 32 in rankings after Honduras loss

Associated Press Sports

updated 9:54 a.m. ET Feb. 14, 2013

ZURICH (AP) - The United States dropped four spots to No. 32 in the latest FIFA rankings after losing a World Cup qualifier to 51st-ranked Honduras.

World Cup champion Spain leads the rankings and African champion Nigeria moved up 22 places to No. 30 after its victory over Burkina Faso in the African Cup of Nations final.

Spain leads an unchanged top three ahead of Germany and Argentina. Fourth-place England improved two places after beating 18th-ranked Brazil in an exhibition last week. Italy dropped to No.5.

The top ranked African country is No. 12 Ivory Coast, which lost to Nigeria in the quarterfinals.

Mexico leads CONCACAF nations at No. 15. Japan leads Asian nations at No. 28, down seven places.

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

advertisement

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/50808384/ns/sports-soccer/

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Cholesterol? Is it the bad guy? : Ideas For Women Health and ...

Cholesterol has been named the big bad guy in heart disease and stroke for several years making cholesterol fighting drugs, diets, and treatments the center of? media campaigns and at a huge cost to Americans. But is Cholesterol the bad guy or could it be just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to your health?

New studies are coming out to suggest that cholesterol is just a small part of the causes of heart disease and stroke and that there is an underlying inflammation within the body causing the development of plaque which leads to obstruction of the vessel. Authorities suggest that stress, smoking, and alcohol are serious culprits along with a high fat high cholesterol diet.

There are other contributing factors to those at high risk for heart disease and stroke. Genetic and family history, age, ethnicity, and gender may also be increase your risk for these common diseases and you are unable to alter any of those.

The important thing to remember is that while cholesterol has been named as one cause for heart disease and stroke there are some things you can do to prevent these diseases or at least lessen your risk. Increasing your exercise, watching what foods you eat, increasing fresh fruits and veggies and decreasing red meats in your diet, and managing your stress all help you to decrease your risks for heart disease and stroke. Think about it as you look at ways that your health matters.

Source: http://blogs.ideasforwomen.com/blogs/health/2013/02/13/cholesterol-is-it-the-bad-guy/

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Israel acknowledges 'Prisoner X' existence

After over two years of a complete media embargo, the comprehensive gag order placed on the case of "Prisoner X," now known as Ben Zygier/Alon has been partially lifted.

The Justice Ministry's official statement in the matter makes no mention of Zygier's name, but it does admit ? for the first time ? that a man held in a maximum security prison died while in Israel's custody and that the death was ruled a suicide.

The official statement cleared for publication only a few details: "For security reasons, the prisoner was held under a pseudonym, but his family was notified of the arrest immediately."
"The prisoner was held by proxy of an arrest warrant issued by the court. The proceedings were overseen by senior officials in the Justice Ministry and he was duly represented in all the proceedings against him by attorneys Roi Belcher, Moshe Mazor and Boaz Ben-Zur.
"The prisoner's legal rights were observes at all times, according to the law," the statement said.

The State further said that "The prisoner in question was found dead in his cell two years ago. Judge Daphna Blatman Kedrai, serving as president of the Rishon LeZion Magistrate's Court, ordered an inquiry into his death, in accordance with the Inquest of Death Law (1958).

"During this proceeding, a writ ordering it be held behind closed doors was issued. The order still stands."

The Justice Ministry's statement said that six weeks ago, the investigation had ruled the prisoner's death a suicide, however, the judge recommended that the State pursue a negligence investigation in the matter.

"National security prevents the release of any other details in this case," the statement said. "These aspect of national security have been reviewed by the Central District Court, which decided to impose a comprehensive gag order on the case.

"The order was given at the request of the defense establishment, and was approved by the Justice Ministry."

Record sealed

According to information obtained by Ynet, the State deemed the case so sensitive that astringent legal measures were applied to it, to the points were all possible measures were taken to seal its records off.

"Prisoner X" was officially indicted on March 4, 2010, in the Central District Court. Deemed a "highly classified security case," the hearing was held behind closed doors and any minutes taken were immediately deposited in the court's vault ? if they were taken at all.

The details of the indictment remain classified, as do any details regarding the hearings in the case, which was officially adjudicated on March 10.

No information is available on whether the court ruled on the matter or closed the case over a technicality.

Moreover, Zygier's defense attorneys ? as well as his family ? were required to sign confidentially and nondisclosure agreements vis-?-vis the State; which now prevents them from confirming or denying any of the details.

The inquest into Zygier's death was also deemed classified and was sealed.

'Details don't compromise security'

Top Israeli civil and human rights lawyer Avigdor Feldman told Ynet Wednesday that "I'm the last lawyer who saw him alive. They asked me to see him and a day after that he was gone.

"When I saw him, I saw no signs that he was going to kill himself. He sounded rational and he asked pertinent legal questions, that I can't expand on."

It was also disclosed that an appeal filed over the gag order by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel was later rescinded by the ACRI at the Supreme Court's recommendation.

ACRI Chief Legal Counsel Attorney Dan Yakir told Ynet that the group filed a motion to lift the gag order in 2011, following rumors of "Prisoner X" death.

"Our motion with the Central District Court was denied and we appealed to the Supreme Court. It heard us, as well as several security officials. Following classified information produced in court, we were advised to strike the appeal. Following this advice, and in order to avoid a detrimental legal ruling, we agreed."

Yakir added that "It was during the hearing that we learned that an inquest was in progress. It was a lengthy process that eventually ruled the death a suicide, but no other details were given to us.

"As for the question of negligence ? how can it be that a prisoner held in a prison's most secure commits suicide?"

Commenting on the Justice Ministry' statement in the case, which some critics have already said was semi-forces due to the international attention the case has garnered, Yakir said that, "This is exactly what we argued two years ago ? that these details are important and that they pose no risk to national security.

"Unfortunately, we were denied but today's statement proves that we were right, regardless of whatever the security concerns in the case were." ? ? ?

Source: http://privateinvesigations.blogspot.com/2013/02/israel-acknowledges-prisoner-x-existence.html

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Give your knowledge away and sell your expertise | Business ...

When I created a community of business owners online in 1998 my motive was to create a place for sharing of knowledge and a place where people could openly share their issues and needs for knowledge.

This was a subtle shift in the world of business, a nudge, as some might say, to encourage business people to be friends and to care about one another- online. I knew that if we could create such a great place, a community then we would see business people become thought-leaders. Learning to share knowledge is a mindset shift. We have always been taught to be closed with our knowledge, we believe that in a Knowledge Economy ?the key to income is selling our knowledge, however this mindset and habit is being disrupted.

The Social Internet has created a different business landscape, to get attention and to gain trust requires us to be more open, accept the random information flow and to be supportive in our intentions, a far cry from the Closed, Selective and Controlling world of the 80?s and 90?s. (you can find out if you are Open, Random and Supportive, or Closed Selective and Controlling here www.leadors.co )

I heard a brilliant saying ?give your knowledge away and sell your expertise?. I think this sums up the values and behaviour of BNI members. Any BNI meeting I have attended reflects this, in fact the term ?Givers Gain? is all about this.

In my business life I spend a huge amount of my time helping businesses to gain a ?Digital Mindset?, to learn how to share. I have a Coaching Business, a Mastermind Group, and a Youth Academy that gives young people Commercial Digital Skills and places them into Apprenticeship to do the companies Internet Marketing. My life for the last 15 years has been dedicated to the Digital Skills Agenda.

The anchor point for me, the vision, the drivers are to create a world where business people are comfortable with the idea of passing on knowledge and contacts. Creating the culture of an ecosystem, where we are all in their world together and the more we share and support, the more we are trusted, liked. Now that we have the amazing channels of Twitter, FaceBook, Blogging, YouTube etc, we can create our personal business brand and be trusted and followed on an unprecedented level.

One of my roles is to support the Government in their goals to create a country that seeks support in the form of Mentoring. Recently they came to one of the Mastermind Groups I run for The MasterMind Agency. I am thrilled that this video has been placed on the Home page of the Government Portal http://www.mentorsme.co.uk/useful-resources/mentee-articles/getting-started-mentee

http://youtu.be/U57AjPeMTA4 -

The deeply engrained values held by BNI are so perfect for the online world, I see many BNI Members supporting one another with RT-ing of tweets, conversations in LinkedIN Groups, chats on FaceBook and now the use of Google Plus. It is fabulous. BNI remains my recommended Network for Start-Ups and Growth companies, I love the values and the mindset you all share.

My final point this month is this ? If you are not reflecting your BNI teachings ?within your online marketing and being a friend, just like you are in your groups, perhaps give that a try, BNI teaches such great networking skills, applied in your Groups and online with one another this could be magical for your business growth.

Penny Power

Penny Power is the Founder of Ecademy and Digital Youth Academy, two communities that assist in the growth of Social Capital and deliver the promise of the Internet through their community values and peer to peer knowledge exchange. Penny is now focusing on the skills gap that exists within the business community toward leveraging the social digital world and you can follow her on Twitter @pennypower or sign up for her newsletter on www.pennypower.co.uk

Tagged as: bni members, business life, business owner, conversations, digital mindset, Internet marketing, mastermind group, mindset, online marketing, subtle shift, tweet, youth academy

Source: http://business-networking.co.uk/give-your-knowledge-away-and-sell-your-expertise/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=give-your-knowledge-away-and-sell-your-expertise

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Dem, GOP senators clash at latest hearing on guns

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The plague of gun violence makes it plain that current firearms restrictions are insufficient and new federal limits are needed, a top Democrat said Tuesday at a Senate hearing on gun control. Parrying that, a Republican said gun rights must be protected, even amid horrors like the mass shooting of school children in Connecticut.

"There are too many families who now face an empty seat at the dinner table" because of gun violence, said Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., chairman of a Senate Judiciary subcommittee. He said that while opponents of stricter gun limits claim that existing laws simply need to be better enforced, "that's not enough. There are so many gaps in those laws."

Durbin said restrictions such as requiring background checks for all gun purchases could be written that would still protect the Constitution's Second Amendment right to bear arms. Currently, such checks are required only for sales by licensed federal dealers.

At one point in the packed hearing, Durbin asked that people with relatives or friends who were victims of gun violence to stand, and several dozen rose from their seats.

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, top Republican on the panel, expressed sympathy for those directly affected by gun violence. But he added that constitutional rights must be protected "not just when they're popular, but especially when passions are seeking to restrict and limit those rights."

Cruz said he believed that "stripping the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens does nothing to stop criminals" from committing violent acts.

There has been a renewed focus on guns on Capitol Hill in the wake of the December slayings of 20 first-graders and six adult staffers at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Some family members of those shot there were in the hearing room Tuesday, according to Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

President Barack Obama wants Congress to enact new curbs, including bans on assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition magazines and a requirement that all gun buyers be subject to background checks, not just sales by federally licensed dealers. Obama is expected to push anew for his plans in his State of the Union address Tuesday night.

Democrats have been more receptive to Obama's proposals than Republicans, most of whom ? along with the National Rifle Association ? have opposed them.

The universal background check has the broadest support and is expected to be a centerpiece of legislation that Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy hopes to write in the next few weeks. The assault weapons ban is given little chance of enactment, and passage of a ban on large-capacity magazines also seems doubtful.

Timothy J. Heaphy, the Obama-appointed U.S. attorney for the western district of Virginia, said in his written statement that the federal background check system has kept more than 1.5 million guns from criminals and others prohibited from having them since 1998, when the system began. Even so, he told the subcommittee that the background check requirement needs to be expanded and he called for federal laws prohibiting illegal gun trafficking.

"Without more meaningful penalties for those who traffic in firearms, we will continue to find it difficult to dismantle the criminal networks that exploit these statutory gaps," he said.

In prepared testimony, Suzanna Gratia Hupp described being in Luby's restaurant in Killeen, Texas, when a gunman crashed his truck through the front window and fatally shot 23 people, including her parents, and wounded many others. Hupp says she left her gun in her car because Texas law barred her from bringing it into the restaurant.

"I can't begin to get across to you how incredibly frustrating it is to sit there, like a fish in a barrel, and wait for it to be your turn, with no hope of defending yourself," said Hupp, now a Republican Texas state official and gun rights advocate.

She added, "The only thing the gun laws did that day was prevent good people from protecting themselves."

Taking a different view was Sandra J. Wortham, whose brother, Thomas E. Wortham IV, was shot dead outside their parents' home by robbers, though he and his father, a retired police sergeant, fired back.

"The fact that my brother and father were armed that night did not prevent my brother from being killed," Wortham said in prepared testimony. "We need to do more to keep guns out of the wrong hands in the first place. I don't think that makes us anti-gun. I think it makes us pro-decent, law-abiding people."

Laurence H. Tribe, a liberal Harvard Law School professor, said in his prepared testimony that nothing Obama has proposed "even comes close to violating the Second Amendment" right to bear arms.

Tribe said more sweeping proposals to take guns away from citizens "have been decisively taken off the table" by Supreme Court rulings in 2008 and 2010 that overturned handgun bans by the District of Columbia and other state and local governments.

Differing from Tribe was attorney Charles J. Cooper, who has long defended gun rights.

Representing the NRA, Cooper said that those same Supreme Court rulings "establish that the Second Amendment guarantees a fundamental, individual right to keep and bear arms." He said Obama's proposed assault weapon and high-capacity magazine bans were unconstitutional because gun rights "cannot be circumscribed by appeal to countervailing government interests."

Also testifying was Daniel W. Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, which favors tighter gun control laws. Webster said in his prepared statement that 2004 data on prisoners who had committed gun-related crimes showed that nearly 8 in 10 had obtained their firearms from unlicensed private sellers, whose transactions do not require background checks.

"Laws such as background check requirements for all gun sales will help law enforcement combat illegal gun trafficking and keep guns from prohibited individuals," he said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dem-gop-senators-clash-latest-hearing-guns-154644866--politics.html

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A system that improves the precision of GPS in cities by 90 percent ...

A combination of sensors

The basic elements that make up this system are a GPS and a low cost Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). The latter device integrates three accelerometers and three gyroscopes to measure changes in velocity and maneuvers performed by the vehicle. Then, everything is connected to a computer that has an application that merges the data and corrects the errors in the geographic coordinates. Enrique Mart?, of UC3M's GIAA explains, "This software is based on an architecture that uses context information and a powerful algorithm (called Unscented Kalman Filter) that eliminates the instantaneous deviations caused by the degradation of the signals received by the GPS receiver or the total or partial loss of the satellites."

Currently the researchers have a prototype that they can install in any type of vehicle. In fact, it is already working on board the IVVI (Intelligent Vehicle based on Visual Information), a real car that has become a platform for research and experimentation for professors and students at the University. The objective of the researchers from LSI and UC3M who are working on this "intelligent car" is to be able to capture and interpret all of the information that is available on the road, and that we use when we are driving. To do this, they are using optical cameras, infrareds and laser to detect whether we are crossing the lines on the road, or whether there are pedestrians in the vehicle's path, as well as to adapt our speed to the traffic signals and even to analyze the driver's level of sleepiness in real time.

The next step these researchers intend to take is to analyze the possibility of developing a system that makes use of the sensors that are built into smartphones, since intelligent telephones are equipped with more than ten sensors, such as an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a magnetometer, GPS and cameras, in addition to WiFi, Bluetooth or GSM communications, for example. "We are now starting to work on the integration of this data fusion system into a mobile telephone," reveals Enrique Mart?, "so that it can integrate all of the measurements that come from its sensors in order to obtain the same result that we have now, but at an even much lower cost, since it is something that almost everyone can carry around in his pocket."

Researchers at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid have developed a new system which improves the ability of a GPS to determine a vehicle?s position as compared to that of conventional GPS devices by up to 90 percent, and which can be installed in any vehicle at a very low cost.

(Photo Credit: UC3M)

Researchers at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid have developed a new system which improves the ability of a GPS to determine a vehicle?s position as compared to that of conventional GPS devices by up to 90 percent, and which can be installed in any vehicle at a very low cost.

(Photo Credit: UC3M)

Source: http://www.sciencecodex.com/a_system_that_improves_the_precision_of_gps_in_cities_by_90_percent-106712

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EDUC 807 - SFU Blogs - Simon Fraser University

?Encounters with the arts enable us to unlock some of the great stored wisdom
of the ages. In other words, the arts are part of what make people well educated. Take them away, and people will be less well educated. There is no
replacement.? p. 42

?The Necessity for the Arts
The arts are necessary in our lives and in our schools because they? :: Teach us divergent, rather than convergent, thinking :: Develop craftsmanship, the ability to apply aesthetics :: Introduce us to perceptions and understandings we could not acquire in any other way :: Enlighten our understanding, making it deeper and more comprehensive
:: Facilitate human communication within and across cultures
:: Help us define who we are and articulate our own very special sense of being
:: Characterize their age, distinguishing our relationship to time by showing us as we were yesterday and as we are today
:: Replenish our spirit and, by nurturing it, consoling it, and inspiring it, affirm our humanity? p.? 55

Author: Charles Fowler

Date Published: 1996

Brief Summary of Article:

Part Two (Justification, p. 35-74) discusses the importance of artistic intelligence with respect to Howard Gardner?s Theory of Multiple Intelligences underlining the challenge of overcoming the social perception of intelligence as being linked to verbal and mathematical skills which is perpetuated by standardized testing (SAT). With reference to Maxine Greene, Fowler explains that art education ?crystallize[s] experiences? (Fowler, 40) and provides individualized learning. Further, Fowler validates the importance of arts integration into the curriculum as a vehicle for encouraging empathy and ?improving the way people think? (Fowler, 41). The second chapter (Strong Arts, Strong Schools) of Part Two culminates with a comprehensive list which concisely summarizes the necessity for the arts. Fowler concludes this part of his book with a call to action in order to promote a vital change in social perception in hopes to foster the infinite potential of the arts in education.

How is this article relevant to your work and your colleagues.

I am currently researching the implications of arts integration in the social studies curriculum and am looking for research to advocate for the importance and implications of art in schools. Although this research is founded primarily in American school systems, and that it is dated (published in 1996), there are pertinent arguments/ scientific findings in defense of arts education as well as suggested ideas as to why the arts have been systematically dismissed as nonacademic. Charles Fowler explains the historical context of the removal of arts education and funding from curricula across American schools and provides statistical research as to its implications on students (including students with special needs and juvenile delinquents). These articles are accessible, researched and provide clear summaries and possible solutions to the challenges we face as educators.
Where can this book be found? (ISBN ? optional)

ISBN: 9780198026129 ISBN: 9780195100891

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 12th, 2012 at 7:34 pm and is filed under Awaiting Category. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Source: http://blogs.sfu.ca/courses/educ807/?p=131

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Luxury Phone Brand Vertu Launches Its First Android-Powered Handset ? For Those With $10,000+ To Spend

Vertu, the formerly-owned-by-Nokia maker of eye-wateringly expensive, leather-clad, gem-encrusted, handmade-in-the-U.K. 'luxury' smartphones, has launched its first Android-powered device: the Vertu Ti. After leaving the Nokia fold, back in October, it was rumoured that Vertu planned to do what many a Nokia fan still wishes that company would do: ditch Symbian and adopt Android.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Y0Bg4CrjhJM/

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'Identity Thief' grabs $34.6M to debut at No. 1

This undated publicity image released by Universal Pictures shows Jason Bateman, right, and Melissa McCarthy in a scene from, "Identity Thief." (AP Photo/Universal Pictures)

This undated publicity image released by Universal Pictures shows Jason Bateman, right, and Melissa McCarthy in a scene from, "Identity Thief." (AP Photo/Universal Pictures)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy's "Identity Thief" has made off with the weekend box-office title with a $34.6 million debut.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:

1. "Identity Thief," Universal, $34,551,025, 3,141 locations, $11,000 average, $34,551,025, one week.

2. "Warm Bodies," Lionsgate, $11,356,090, 3,009 locations, $3,774 average, $36,481,172, two weeks.

3. "Side Effects," Open Road Films, $9,303,145, 2,605 locations, $3,571 average, $9,303,145, one week.

4. "Silver Linings Playbook," Weinstein Co., $6,425,271, 2,809 locations, $2,287 average, $89,519,510, 13 weeks.

5. "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters," Paramount, $5,753,165, 3,285 locations, $1,751 average, $43,836,018, three weeks.

6. "Mama," Universal, $4,229,665, 2,677 locations, $1,580 average, $63,951,810, four weeks.

7. "Zero Dark Thirty," Sony, $4,006,860, 2,562 locations, $1,564 average, $83,567,450, eight weeks.

8. "Argo," Warner Bros., $2,375,344, 1,405 locations, $1,691 average, $123,608,957, 18 weeks.

9. "Django Unchained," Weinstein Co., $2,303,495, 1,502 locations, $1,534 average, $154,516,627, seven weeks.

10. "Bullet to the Head," Warner Bros., $2,078,192, 2,404 locations, $864 average, $8,269,214, two weeks.

11. "Top Gun" in 3-D, Paramount, $1,965,737, 300 locations, $6,552 average, $1,965,737, one week.

12. "Lincoln," Disney, $1,873,537, 1,517 locations, $1,235 average, $173,621,006, 14 weeks.

13. "Parker," FilmDistrict, $1,867,411, 2,004 locations, $932 average, $15,848,064, three weeks.

14. "Life of Pi," Fox, $1,745,744, 924 locations, $1,889 average, $108,530,249, 12 weeks.

15. "Les Miserables," Universal, $1,555,550, 1,447 locations, $1,075 average, $143,983,705, seven weeks.

16. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," Warner Bros., $1,468,374, 1,001 locations, $1,467 average, $298,333,426, nine weeks.

17. "Parental Guidance," Fox, $1,071,766, 1,219 locations, $879 average, $74,344,256, seven weeks.

18. "Wreck-It Ralph," Disney, $1,065,817, 757 locations, $1,408 average, $184,414,532, 15 weeks.

19. "The Impossible," Summit, $957,594, 739 locations, $1,296 average, $16,668,338, eight weeks.

20. "Quartet," Weinstein Co., $940,930, 244 locations, $3,856 average, $5,000,417, five weeks.

___

Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-02-11-Box%20Office/id-b9b68fee041444b9bd50675cd90f5902

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