structuralism backcloth: December 2011

Saturday, December 31, 2011

In Mexico City, a Design Playhouse

When DFC first appeared six years ago, this decorative-accessories company stood out for over-the-top designs that were not traditionally tasteful and did not play to any trends. Now its goods -- made in Mexico with age-old techniques that often lead to unconventional results -- are on display at DFC's first store, in Mexico City.

The company, started by Tony Moxham and Mauricio Paniagua, both transplants from New York, opened the shop in early December. The space, which offers items like fluorescent hand-painted trophy heads ($464), above, has a mirrored ceiling framed by pink neon tubing inspired by Olivia Newton-John's "Physical" video. "We consider this space something between a gallery and a store and a playhouse for our vision," Mr. Moxham said.

Colima 124D, Colonia Roma, Mexico City; 011-52-55-5533-5339 or totaldfc.com.?

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

First published on December 31, 2011 at 12:00 am

Source: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11365/1200537-47.stm?cmpid=homegarden.xml

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FSU rallies past Notre Dame in Champs Sports Bowl

Florida State quarterback EJ Manuel (3) scrambles as he is pressured by Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o (5) during the first half of the Champs Sports Bowl NCAA college football game, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Notre Dame quarterback Tommy Rees, left, is stopped after a short gain by Florida State safety Lamarcus Joyner (20) during the first half of the Champs Sports Bowl NCAA college football game, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Notre Dame safety Zeke Motta (17) celebrates with teammates after recovering and running back a fumble for a 29-yard touchdown against Florida State during the first half of the Champs Sports Bowl NCAA college football game, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Notre Dame safety Zeke Motta, right, scoops up a fumble by Florida State running back Devonta Freeman (8) before running it back for a 29-yard touchdown during the first half of the Champs Sports Bowl NCAA college football game, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Notre Dame tight end Tyler Eifert (80) makes a move to get around Florida State linebacker Nigel Bradham (13) after a reception in the first half of the Champs Sports Bowl NCAA college football game, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) ? The day before his team took the field for its Champs Sports Bowl matchup with Notre Dame, Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher acknowledged that he had higher hopes for his team than how they ended up in 2011.

Loaded with talent and expectations in the preseason, the No. 25 Seminoles squandered early season opportunities against ranked foes and fizzled again late in the year to end any path back to the Bowl Championship Series.

Thursday night's 18-14 win over Notre Dame in front of a sellout crowd at Florida's Citrus Bowl might not have been the national stage FSU expected to be on this season, but how it won the game could be proof it is finally making progress.

The Seminoles rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit and used a pair of touchdown passes by E.J. Manuel and two field goals from Dustin Hopkins to earn their fourth straight bowl win and second under Fisher.

"I'm proud to coach this football team," Fisher said. "... We've had a lot of trials and tribulations...But that team has special character about it."

FSU receiver Rashad Greene, who caught one of Manuel's touchdown passes, was selected the game's MVP.

"We had a very good finish," Manuel said. "We play for each other, not individual stats and performance. We just beat Notre Dame. We're going to feel good for months."

The Seminoles finished the game with 290 yards, including going 3 for 14 on third down, and got an efficient night from Manuel. He played behind a young offensive line, but was 20 for 31 passing for 249 yards.

Injuries forced the Seminoles to start four freshman on their line and they gave up five sacks, but their defense picked off Notre Dame quarterbacks Tommy Rees and Andrew Hendrix three times and also had four sacks.

Notre Dame shuffled between Rees and Hendrix throughout the game, but both struggled. They were a combined 19 for 35 and 187 yards passing.

FSU scored on all four of its red zone chances.

The Irish also were without their biggest offensive weapon late, with receiver Michael Floyd being forced to the sideline following a third quarter touchdown catch with what coach Brian Kelly described afterward was an "upper body injury."

He returned to the game, but was a non-factor.

"It started in South Florida," said Kelly of the Irish's recurring theme of turnovers and missed opportunities. "And it continued to shoot itself throughout the entire year. We know what we need to do. We've already talked about it, and the players that are going to be back for the 2012 football season will be committed to getting that end done."

Junior linebacker Manti Te'o, who led Notre Dame with 13 tackles and got in on a sack Thursday, said fatigue was not a factor in the Irish not being able to maintain pressure on Manuel in the fourth quarter.

"They made their corrections and we just, as a defense, we just needed to get to the quarterback and we knew what E.J. could do back there when he had time...So that is something that we have to look at.

"We have a long time to prepare for next year, and when that time comes, that doesn't happen again."

After some stagnant offense on both sides in the first half, FSU trailed 14-0 early in the third quarter before finding some momentum through the air.

The Seminoles closed the gap to 14-9 with an 18-yard touchdown pass from Manuel to Bert Reed to open the fourth quarter, but failed on their 2-point conversion attempt.

They took the lead just 1:32 later after Nigel Bradham intercepted a Hendrix pass inside the Notre Dame 20 to set up an 18-yard touchdown catch by Greene to make it 15-14 with just over 13 minutes to play following another failed 2-point try.

The Seminoles added their second field goal of the game a series later.

Notre Dame punted on its next possession, but pinned FSU inside its own 5 and forced a quick three-and-out.

A poor punt by the Seminoles and a facemask penalty on the return gave the Irish the ball on the FSU 28 with 3:56 to play, but Rees was picked off in the end zone with 2:48 left and FSU was able run out most of the remaining time.

Notre Dame took a 14-0 lead on its opening drive of the second half by capping a nine-play, 62-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Rees to Floyd. Floyd fought Seminoles cornerback Greg Reid for the ball on to play, juggling it multiple times before finally getting his hands around it.

Reid stayed down on the turf after the play and left the game with concussion symptoms.

FSU bounced right back with a 77-yard kickoff return by Lamarcus Joyner, but Notre Dame's fifth sack of the night on Manuel helped force the Seminoles to settle for a 42-yard field goal by Hopkins.

Safety Terrance Brooks, who had a late interception to help seal the win, said belief in themselves is the biggest thing they will carry into next season.

"Just go out there and do it," he said. "You know you've got it in you. We went out there and read our keys and got the job done."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-12-29-T25-Champs%20Sports%20Bowl/id-1f0ab9aa189342138ec9a3fcd9c217c7

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Friday, December 30, 2011

Why Iowa? (Powerlineblog)

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Anastasia Vitkina: Hot and Heavy with Jim Carrey!

The mystery woman has been identified.

According to New York Post sources, the blonde on Jim Carrey's arm over the last few weeks is named Anastasia Vitkina. She's a Russian student in New York and insiders confirm she and the 49-year old actor are quite "hot and heavy" these days.

Vitkina is reportedly the ex-girlfriend of one of Carrey's pals and the two were spotted at a Guns N’ Roses gig in Los Angeles this month. She's the first woman Carrey has seriously dated since he and Jenny McCarthy ended their five-year relationship.

We're just glad he's over his creepy crush on Emma Stone.

[Photo: Pacific Coast News]

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/12/anastasia-vitkina-hot-and-heavy-with-jim-carrey/

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Thursday, December 29, 2011

In Iowa, Obama toils while GOP roars, then departs (AP)

DES MOINES, Iowa ? One presidential campaign claims an impressive effort in Iowa this year: eight offices opened, 350,000 phone calls to potential supporters and 1,280 events to recruit and train volunteers.

It's not Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich or Ron Paul. It's Obama for America, the president's re-election campaign, which badly wants to win this battleground state in November, as it did in 2008.

"The Republicans are here today, gone tomorrow," said Obama volunteer Pat Walters, of Johnston, a suburb of Des Moines. "We've been doing this since 2009."

Next Tuesday's Republican caucus has dominated political conversations. Largely overlooked is that Obama is running unopposed in the Democratic caucus the same night.

It's a dramatically different scene from four years ago, when Obama set his course for the White House by beating John Edwards and Hillary Rodham Clinton after months of intense campaigning in Iowa.

Obama can coast as far as this year's nomination is concerned. But Iowa remains a general election swing state, and no one assumes his 9-point win here over John McCain in 2008 will give him a cushion next November.

Obama's campaign never entirely left Iowa or several other competitive states, where he hopes relentless organizing can overcome a weak economy and his mixed record of fulfilling campaign pledges in the face of strong GOP opposition in Congress. If thousands of volunteers flocked to Obama's 2008 campaign, this time he's having to work a bit harder to recruit and energize them.

"People say, `The mood is different this time, it's not the same,'" said Peggy Whitworth, an Obama volunteer in Cedar Rapids. "Well of course it's not the same. But it's not about mood or feeling. It's about the future of the country."

Whitworth, 69, said she joins other Obama volunteers four hours every Tuesday night, and sometimes on other evenings as well, to telephone potential supporters. Many say they will vote for Obama again, she said, and some volunteer to help the campaign. But some are disappointed or angry that the president fell short on campaign promises such as ending the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy, and bringing a greater spirit of bipartisanship to Washington.

"Sometimes they simply want to have someone listen to them," Whitworth said. Most say they will stick with Obama after they've had a chance to vent their frustrations, she said.

Obama lacks some key advantages he enjoyed in 2008. They include a deeply unpopular GOP president who was largely blamed for a faltering economy, and a widespread excitement about Obama's precedent-breaking campaign built on "hope and change."

In exchange, of course, he has the power of the presidency and a well-oiled political organization that has been refining its practices for five years. Obama will raise many millions of dollars, although his eventual Republican opponent may do nearly as well.

Nowhere does Obama have a bigger base to build on than in Iowa, where he campaigned for months in 2007. Romney, Gingrich and other GOP contenders have not made comparable efforts, although they say the economy and other issues will make Obama's task much harder next year.

In activities that rarely compete with the hoopla of the GOP nominating contest, Obama's campaign has placed a handful of paid staffers in each of several key states. They try to leverage their clout by recruiting and training scores of volunteers. The volunteers, in turn, knock on doors, organize house parties and, above all, place phone calls to voters in hopes of identifying likely Obama supporters and tracking them through Election Day.

In a tortoise-versus-hare strategy, Obama supporters hope their steady chugging will build support precinct by precinct, town by town, while Republicans spend resources chasing the nomination for a few more weeks or months. The Republican candidates and their broadcast ads are flooding Iowa this week, but they will abruptly shift to New Hampshire on Jan. 4, the day after the caucuses.

Walters, a 60-year-old insurance executive, said he is a "neighborhood team leader" who helps organize house parties, phone banks and other activities. His chief recruiting tools, he said, involve reminding Iowans of Obama's accomplishments that include expanding medical benefits in the hard-won 2010 overhaul of the nation's health care system.

Walters said he hopes the week-by-week, month-by-month effort will build a strong ground operation to turn out Obama's voters next November. The Republican nominee will have to play catch up, he said.

Obama's ground game "is already in place," Walters said. "It's just a matter of growing it."

Iowa Democratic Chairwoman Chair Sue Dvorsky underscored the methodical nature of the efforts in a conference call with reporters Wednesday.

Since April, she said, "this has been a systematic grassroots effort. The same exact way we did it last time. It isn't very glamorous. It's not a very secret plan. It is voter to voter, one-to-one, then a street, then a precinct, then a county."

Dvorsky said Obama will beam "a live address to Iowa Democrats in every caucus site next Tuesday night.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111228/ap_on_el_pr/us_obama_campaign_iowa

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Emerging Markets, ETFs and Dividend Stocks ... - Yahoo! Finance

Follow Yahoo!'s The Daily Ticker on Facebook here!

2011 was the year of market uncertainty. Investors flocked to safe haven investments like gold, U.S. treasuries and the U.S. Dollar as volatility rocked global markets and the European sovereign debt crisis unnerved investors who dumped stocks and jumped ship. Quite frankly, 2011 left a sour taste in many investors' mouths, and most are more than happy to bid good riddance to another dissatisfying year of little or negative returns.

Josh Brown, a vice president at Fusion IQ and author of the Reformed Broker blog, shared what he thinks will be the big investing themes of 2012 with The Daily Ticker's Aaron Task.

#1: Return of Emerging Markets

Brown says that despite a lackluster 2011, investors will return to emerging markets in full force next year as Europe and the U.S. offer little growth and opportunity. The BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries got crushed in 2011, with their major indices falling 20 percent or more.

"People have been wiped out of these stocks," said Brown but "they can make a comeback in 2012." Investors can no longer blindly put their money in an emerging markets basket, such as the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (EEM), Brown said, but instead must choose these markets with a discerning eye.

"A BRICs concept will be put on ice?and probably won't work?so investors need to focus at the country level" like Taiwan or Korea, Brown said. Emerging markets are "susceptible" to the problems in Europe but the continuation of interest rate easing in Brazil, China and India will lead to more growth and increased foreign investment.

#2: Actively Managed ETFs

Brown said the proliferation of ETFs will continue again next year as more top-rated mutual fund managers move into the ETF space. "ETFs will be the new wrapper of choice in 2012," Brown said. ETFs attracted the majority of investor cash in 2011 pulling in at least $5 billion in net inflows, according to data compiled by Strategic Insight. Bond ETFs proved to be the most popular among retail investors. Brown said ETFs will become less expensive and easier to buy in 2012 and investors will also have the option of picking a particular manager or strategy.

#3: Income Worship

Investors desperate for yield returned to old favorites like Microsoft and IBM this year and the appeal of stable, safe dividend plays wont' stop in 2012, Brown said. The risk-off trade will continue to lose steam with investors as the outlook in Europe and the U.S. remains murky.

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/emerging-markets-etfs-dividend-stocks-rule-2012-150954976.html

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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Medellin, Colombia: Massive Escalator Inaugurated

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Officials in Colombia's second-largest city on Monday inaugurated a giant, outdoor escalator for residents of one of its poorest neighborhoods.

For generations, the 12,000 residents of Medellin's tough Comuna 13, which clings to the side of a steep hillside, have had to climb hundreds of large steps authorities say is the same as going up a 28-story building.

Now they can ride an escalator Medellin's mayor says is the first massive, outdoor public escalator for use by residents of a poor area.

"It turned out very well," said Mayor Alonso Salazar, adding that he has not heard of any such project elsewhere in this world.

Salazar said officials from Rio de Janeiro plan to visit Medellin to see if such an escalator would work in that city's favelas, which also cling precariously to hillsides.

Comuna 13 residents came out to celebrate and study the $6.7 million escalator which officials say will shorten the 35-minute hike on foot up the hillside to six minutes. Use of the escalator is free.

"This is a dream come true," homemaker Olga Holguin told RCN television.

Cesar Hernandez, head of projects for Medellin, said the electric stairway is divided into six sections and has a length of 384 meters (1,260 feet). An escalator goes up and a second goes down. Authorities plan to build a covering for inclement whether.

Salazar described Comuna 13 as the city's district that has "suffered the greatest urban violence... but lately this has been receding and we hope this social package will help it move forward."

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/26/medellin-colombia-massive_n_1170361.html

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Chinese dissident jailed for 10 years

A Chinese court jailed a veteran dissident who organised a
pro-democracy activist network for 10 years today for inciting
subversion, his wife said.

The stiff sentence come near the end of a year in which the Chinese government has used various means to silence dissent, from lengthy imprisonment to months of disappearances, in a crackdown aimed at preventing Arab Spring-style uprisings.

A court in the southern city of Guiyang found Chen Xi guilty of the charge of "incitement to subvert state power" for 36 essays he wrote and posted online, his wife said.

Chen maintained his innocence but will not appeal the verdict, Zhang Qunxuan said.

"This is utterly absurd," Zhang said. "Chen Xi told the court it did not take into consideration the things he has written as a whole, and has interpreted his words out of context. But they have power and they don't listen."

"The court said he was a repeat offender and also that this is a very serious crime," she said.

Chen was active in the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests and was sentenced to three years in prison, and several years after that, he was jailed for 10 years on charges of counterrevolutionary offences, Zhang said.

The Chinese government has long meted out heavy punishments to veteran activists who have refused to give up despite decades of harassment and imprisonment.

Source: http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/266/f/3507/s/1b448d75/l/0L0Sindependent0O0Cnews0Cworld0Casia0Cchinese0Edissident0Ejailed0Efor0E10A0Eyears0E62816290Bhtml/story01.htm

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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Spinlet Signs Award Winning Artists to the Largest Digital Platform in Africa: S...

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SeanBamberger: ROUND ONE: Tiger Woods Pro Golf 2000 http://t.co/Y4xMjEFn

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Monday, December 26, 2011

Mortars hit Iranian dissident camp in Iraq: Iraqi army (Reuters)

BAGHDAD (Reuters) ? Two mortars hit an Iranian dissident camp in Iraq just days after Baghdad extended a year-end deadline for the camp to be closed as the U.N. negotiated resettlement of 3,000 residents there, the Iraqi military said Sunday.

The mortars landed on Camp Ashraf, home to the People's Mujahideen Organization of Iran, or PMOI, an Iranian opposition group the United States and Iran officially consider a terrorist group. The camp is 65 km (40 miles) from Baghdad.

"Two mortars landed on Ashraf Camp and we cannot identify the number of casualties because we are not allowed to enter the camp," said an official with the Iraqi army, asking not to be identified.

A statement from Camp Ashraf representatives said the camp was hit by rockets, but did not refer to any casualties.

Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said last week he had agreed to extend the deadline for closing the camp on condition the U.N. transfer about 400-800 residents to other countries before the end of this year.

Camp Ashraf's future became unclear after Washington turned it over to the Iraq in 2009. Baghdad has repeatedly said it does not want the guerrilla group on Iraqi soil.

The United Nations, along with the European Union, has been trying to resolve the issue. The mortars came just a week after the last U.S. troops withdrew from Iraq, almost nine years after the 2003 invasion.

In the 1970s the group, which is also known as the Mujahadin-e Khalq (MEK), led a guerrilla campaign against the U.S.-backed Shah of Iran, including attacks on U.S. targets. It says it has since renounced violence.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton welcomed the agreement between Iraq and the U.N. on Camp Ashraf, saying it "represents significant progress on this issue."

(Reporting by Patrick Markey in Baghdad and Arshad Mohammed in Washington; Editing by Peter Graff)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111226/wl_nm/us_iraq_iran_camp

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Japan quake debris a jurisdictional mess for B.C.

The B.C. government says it will begin working with national and municipal officials this January to prepare for the massive wave of debris heading to Pacific Northwest shores because of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Meanwhile, residents in the B.C. coastal community of Tofino are bracing themselves for the sad arrival of detritus from the devastating disaster, even while they debate amongst themselves whether the ruins have already started reaching the shore.

Julianne McCaffrey, a spokeswoman for the Emergency Management B.C., part of the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, has confirmed the government is creating a Provincial Tsunami Debris Working Group.

She said the arrival of the debris, which some experts have argued covers an area the size of California, has raised some "complex jurisdictional issues," which the working group will clarify, so officials hope to identify key members by Jan. 6

"In most cases, the federal government has authority in the water and immediate shorelines, and in most cases the local authority becomes the lead if the debris washes ashore in areas above the high tide line," McCaffrey said in an email to The Canadian Press.

"Occasionally, in the case of hazardous or human remains, it becomes provincial jurisdiction ? which has not happened, so we cannot speak to hazards or issues that do not exist."

The provincial government's announcement comes as one U.S. expert confirms some flotsam, like 250-litre Japanese fishing buoys, has already landed on Pacific Northwest shores between Oregon and Alaska.

Computer models produced by the International Pacific Research Center at the University of Hawaii had predicted that by the end ofSeptember, the debris field was still about 483 kilometres northwest of the Midway Islands, but scientists confirmed in a December website posting that some objects, like the fishing floats, could have already arrived in Washington state.

Community divided

Meantime, locals in Tofino, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, wonder whether or not flotsam ? like plastic water bottles with Japanese writing, toothbrushes and even socks tied to the tsunami ? has already arrived.

Debris float in the harbour near Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture in northeastern Japan a day after the earthquake, which killed more than 20,000 people. (Kyodo/Reuters)

The massive flotsam field is tied to the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck Japan March 11, a double disaster that left as many as 21,000 people dead and washed millions of tonnes of debris into the Pacific ocean.

The tsunami also swamped the Fukushima nuclear-power plant, leading to fears that some of the debris could be contaminated by radioactive material.

Perry Schmunk, mayor of Tofino, B.C., said he has no doubt that some of the debris he found on a recent beach walk with his family is tied to the tsunami. He plans to introduce a resolution to council this January calling for support from more senior levels of government.

Schmunk said everything he has found has Japanese writing on it.

"The most alarming thing is in 10 minutes I saw more debris than I've seen in four years total," he said.

Schmunk said a town like Tofino is not equipped to deal with such a massive influx of flotsam, noting it doesn't have enough staff nor enough space in the local landfill.

"I am . . . of the opinion that we need to be prepared for the worst," he said.

Debris not always from earthquake

Yet others in town are not entirely convinced flotsam from the tsunami has arrived.

Jeff Mikus, a commercial fisherman for more than 20 years, said he's definitely not convinced the flotsam is from the tsunami, saying he hasn't seen any more debris on the shores or in the water than normal.

"I think people are just looking more now because, you know, it's coming," he said. "People are more aware of it so they start seeing stuff on the beach and they think, 'oh, God,' and they see a little bit of, you know, some kind of Asian writing of some sort," he said.

Mikus said he regularly finds plastic floats, corks, water bottles and shampoo bottles, and added that most of the fishing gear he buys in B.C. is made in Japan and has Japanese markings on it.

Mikus also said people forget how many ships pass Vancouver Island and some of the debris could be coming from them.

"You'd think you'd see a lot of stuff that would have a lot more growth on it, algae and barnacles and whatnot after floating around in the ocean that long," he added. "The few pictures I've seen of stuff doesn't look like it's been in the water that long."

Mikus said he believes the bulk of the flotsam is still a long way away.

"There might be a massive cleanup going on here in a year or two."

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/12/25/bc-japan-debris.html?cmp=rss

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Sunday, December 25, 2011

StCyrlyMe2: #CNN JustCan'tFixTheirMouths 2Say #GOP IsFullOfShit "NoticeI" It'sAlwaysJust #Congress NoBodies JustCongress #p2 #dems #politics #naacp

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Cancer patient, 6, from Duluth, gets precious gift from baby sister

Linberg family

The Linberg family ? dad Kurt, little sister Katy and mom Adrienne ? gather at 6-year-old Annika?s bedside as she receives her bone marrow transplant at University of Minnesota Platz Children?s Hospital on Nov. 11. The transplant came from the umbilical cord blood taken at Katy?s birth. (Photo courtesy Jim Bovin)

Annika Linberg

Annika Linberg, 6, of Duluth, is recovering from leukemia. (CaringBridge.com)

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At 18 months old, Katy Linberg doesn?t understand that she has given her big sister the best present imaginable.

Someday, Katy will know that it was the blood from her umbilical cord saved at her birth that gave 6-year-old Annika renewed hope in her battle with leukemia.

The Linberg family of Duluth will spend Christmas at the Ronald McDonald House in Minneapolis with even more reason to celebrate, dad Kurt said. Annika is expected to be released today from University of Minnesota Amplatz Children?s Hospital, 43 days after her bone marrow transplant.

?It?s kind of a roller coaster, so we?re never really sure how things are going to go, but we?re getting everything ready to get out of the hospital tomorrow,? Kurt Linberg said on Friday, his 52nd birthday. ?So it?s a fabulous Christmas present.?

Annika?s journey started in 2008 when she was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia, frequently referred to as APL, just after her third birthday. It?s a rare form of leukemia in children, the family learned. She underwent chemotherapy at Children?s Hospital in St. Paul. The cancer went into remission, and the family had reason to feel optimistic. A relapse of APL was unlikely, the Linbergs knew.

All of the evidence bore that out.

?She was just like a normal kid from when she recovered from the first round of chemo when she was 3,? Kurt Linberg said. ?They tested her bone marrow and had one of the most sophisticated tests on the planet at Mayo (Clinic), and they said no sign of cancer. So we thought we were out of the woods.?

But Annika?s doctors had suggested a precaution, just in case the unthinkable happened.

Adrienne Linberg was pregnant with Katy when Annika was diagnosed in 2008. The chief oncologist said they should have the cord blood at birth saved and tested. If it was a match, the Linbergs were told, the University of Minnesota would save it at no charge.

It was a match.

Parents have four options with their baby?s cord blood, according to information from the National Marrow Donor Program website. The blood can be discarded. It can be donated to a public cord blood bank and used for the stem cells for anyone who is a match. It can be saved for exclusive use by the family in a private cord blood bank for a fee plus yearly storage costs. But when there is a sibling with a potential medical need, it can be saved for the family at little or no cost. That was the category the Linbergs fell into.

Adrienne Linberg started suspecting the unthinkable in late July of this year. She noticed that Annika was bruising and wasn?t energetic, Kurt Linberg said.

That?s not the Annika people know, family friend Jessica Kramer said. ?She?s just so energetic, and she loves to sing and she loves art and she loves being with her friends.?

A bone marrow biopsy on Aug. 4 confirmed that the cancer returned. Annika went through one phase of chemotherapy treatments in Duluth, but another biopsy on Labor Day determined that the cancer had gained strength. They left in the middle of the night and started hard-core chemo the next morning at Children?s Hospital in St. Paul, Kramer said.

Since then, the Linberg family has called the Ronald McDonald House home. Kurt Linberg, the dean of the Business and Technology School at the College of St. Scholastica, said he has been able to keep up with his work from Scholastica?s satellite campus in the Twin Cities.

?We have friends now from around the world,? he said. ?There?s a family from Peru. Their daughter had open-heart surgery. There?s a family from Argentina. ? A whole clan from India. And they?re all coming to Minnesota for the expert care that they get.?

The University of Minnesota was the site of the world?s first bone marrow transplant more than 40 years ago and still was one of the few places that could possibly have handled Annika?s transplant, he said. That it was a 2?-hour drive from home made it possible for friends to come and help out ? and they did.

?My wife about two months ago could see that we needed some help,? Kurt Linberg said. ?So she put out a request for friends and family to give up a week of their vacation to come so that (Katy) would have more consistent care instead of being shuffled around every day.?

Among those who answered the call was Kramer, who said she met Adrienne Linberg in 2010 when both volunteered for the Junior League of Duluth?s Playfront project. ?It was a very moving experience to be living there for a week,? Kramer said.

It happened to be Kramer?s week on Nov. 11, when the bone marrow transplant took place. The family invited Jim Bovin, a Minneapolis photographer who donates his services to families at the Ronald McDonald House, to join them.

Bovin, 41, a photojournalist for 17 years, said he has been taking pictures for Ronald McDonald families for 6? years, first in Milwaukee, then in the Twin Cities. But he had never before been asked to stay for a transplant, Bovin said.

?I was kind of blown away by it, and it was an honor to do that for the family,? he said.

The transplant went smoothly and quickly.

?It was kind of amazingly anticlimactic in a way,? Kramer said. ?This little bag of blood ? (they) hooked it up, and we watched it drip in. It took about 15 minutes. ? We just watched and prayed, frankly.?

Annika continued to be a sick little girl for weeks after the transplant.

?She had to have a feeding tube,? Kurt Linberg said. ?About a week ago ? she threw up so violently that she threw up the tube. Now, most parents would have gotten very nervous and upset about that, but she did that when she was 3.?

Just on Wednesday, there was a milestone.

?Two nights ago I was here, and she was watching some comics on TV and she started giggling,? he said. ?And then she watched a movie afterwards, and she started singing. And those were the first giggles and the first time that she?s sung in probably two or three months.

?She?s felt pretty bad. But she?s starting to feel better, starting to be her true self. The big thing is we?ve had probably a million people praying for us.?

The Linbergs are looking forward to celebrating Christmas at the Ronald McDonald House with the volunteers and their new friends, he said. But they?re also looking forward to returning to Duluth in about a month, when Annika is cleared to go.

?When we moved to Duluth three years ago to take this job at Scholastica, many people told us that Duluth was kind of closed, and it was kind of hard to meet friends,? he said. ?We?ve been just so surprised at how great the people have been there. We?ve got some really strong friendships, and it?s a great place to live.?

Tags: volunteer groups,?local,?news,?health,?css,?duluth,?family,?fccnetwork

Source: http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/218130/publisher_ID/36/

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Saturday, December 24, 2011

Coffee linked to lower cancer risk in women

Kelly McMullen, manager of the Java Bay Cafe coffee shop in the Ocean Pines Yacht Club, whips up a creation. A new study found that women who consume four or more cups of caffeinated coffee per day appear to lower their risk for endometrial cancer by 25 percent / LAURA EMMONS FILE PHOTO

Source: http://cancerfriends.net/endometrial-cancer/189790-coffee-linked-lower-cancer-risk-women.html

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60 Inspiring Examples of Twitter in the Classroom | Online Universities

Social media offers some great opportunities for learning in the classroom, bringing together the ability to collaborate, access worldwide resources, and find new and interesting ways to communicate in one easily accessible place. Teachers around the world have found innovative ways to use Twitter as a teaching tool, and we?ve shared many of these great ideas here with you. Read on, and we?ll explore 60 inspiring ways that teachers and students can put Twitter to work in the classroom.

Communication

Twitter makes staying in touch and sharing announcements super simple and even fun. These ideas offer a great way to put the tool to good use.

Twitter as a bulletin board: Jim Newman at Northern Illinois University uses Twitter as a bulletin board for his class, letting students know about last minute news like canceled classes.
Ambient office hours: With Twitter, Howard Rheingold at Berkeley uses Twitter for group contact, which he calls "student-to-teacher-to-student ambient office hours."
Keep students in the loop: Using hashtags on Twitter, students who were not able to make it to class can follow along and stay on top of the conversation.
Assignment coordination: Instead of emailing each other or waiting to meet in class, students can collaborate on projects and keep track of changes by using a Twitter hashtag.
Silencing blurters: For students who have trouble with disruptive blurting, allow them to instantly tweet their blurts silently instead of out loud.
Student engagement in large lectures: In large lecture classes where student participation can be intimidating and logistically problematic, Twitter can make it easy for students to engage and discuss during class time.
Parent communication: Parents can sign up to receive tweets from teachers, learning about activities, tests, projects, and more.
Instant feedback: Twitter makes it easy to get instant approval and disapproval of discussions, issues, and more right in the classroom.
Attendance reminders: For students who have trouble making it to class on time, send reminders before school to get them in the door earlier.
Digital faculty lounge: At Kent State University, college of education teacher William Kist uses Twitter as a "digital faculty lounge" for networking with other professors.
Stay on top of the learning process: Ask students to tweet and reply about what they?re learning, difficulties they?ve faced, tips, resources, and more as an online logbook.
Classroom notepad: Using a Twitter hashtag, it?s easy to organize inspiration, reading, ideas, and more for the classroom to share.
Completed assignments: Students can let teachers know when they?ve finished their work by alerting them on Twitter.
Teaching bite-sized info: Share medical terminology, Shakespeare quotes, kindergarten activities, and more on Twitter.
Twitter pop quiz: Send out quick quizzes on Twitter, and have them count for bonus points in the classroom.

Organization

Twitter?s hashtags and other tools share a great way to organize information for your classroom.

Twitter recaps: At the end of the day, teachers can summarize what has been learned in the classroom, encouraging reflection and discussion between students.
Classroom connections: Classrooms around the world can collaborate using Twitter as a communication tool.
Collating classroom views: Students can share their opinions on issues or any open questions, and they can be organized using Twitter.
Corraling comments in class: Monica Rankin at the University of Texas at Dallas uses weekly hashtags to organize comments, questions and feedback that students have used in class, while also projecting live tweets in class for discussion.

Resources

Use these ideas to take advantage of the vast resources that Twitter has to offer.

Finding great resources: Teachers can ask for recommended books, teaching tools, and ideas for lessons, crowdsourcing resources for the classroom.
Following historical figures: There are many Twitter accounts set up that share the lives and personalities of historical figures, and students can follow them for fun and learning.
Building a brand: Long after school is over, a personal brand will live on for students. Using Twitter in the classroom to build a brand is a valuable exercise for students.
Partner with local organizations: Discuss cultural and educational events in the area on Twitter.
Talk to career experts: High school students exploring their career options can talk to professions in the paths they?re considering on Twitter.
Conversations are a public study tool: Long after the conversation in class is over, students can look back on the lecture discussion to find important points when it?s time to take exams or write essays.
Source evaluation: Students can share resources and discuss whether it?s a good or bad source of information, encouraging comments.
Foreign language news stream: Students in a foreign language class can build their reading skills and stay on top of the news with a foreign language news stream.
Gather real-world data: The classroom can ask Twitter for data from their network, like temperatures, opinions, locations, and interesting facts.
Following the government: Often, local and national political figures have Twitter feeds, and students in the classroom can track their progress.
Ask for help or advice: Using Twitter, teachers can find out if anyone has advice about teaching issues, like when certificates expire or how to handle classroom management.
Communicating with experts: Find authors, scientists, or historians on Twitter and get connected; a great resource for the classroom.

Writing Skills

These are just a few of the great opportunities that Twitter offers for building reading and writing skills.

Vocabulary building: Students can tweet sentences using a particular word to build vocabulary learning.
Twitter can improve writing and punctuation: As long as students are held accountable for their grammar, using Twitter offers a great opportunity for improving writing and punctuation.
Daily word games: Ask students to unscramble anagrams, contribute synonyms, or give vocabulary definitions on Twitter.
Grammar review: Students can tweet past tense, run on sentences, compound sentences, and more.
An exercise in learning to be concise: At the College of the Holy Cross, assistant professor Daniel Klinghard uses Twitter to teach students to be concise, summarizing major political texts without going over Twitter-imposed character limits.

Twitter Exercises

From scavenger hunts to Twitter stories, these exercises offer great ways to use Twitter as a teaching tool.

Inspirational quotes of the day: Allow students to become more familiar with Twitter, and exercise reading and writing skills by having a student post an inspirational quote tweet each day, preferably relating to course content.
Conversations can continue outside of class: When students participate in Twitter discussions in class, there?s a great opportunity for conversations to continue to develop even after the lecture is over.
School trip tracking: Whether it?s a field trip or a long journey, students can log and track their progress on a school trip using Twitter.
Bringing characters to life: At California State University-San Marcos, students in a literature course use Twitter to bring Twilight characters to life, choosing characters from the series to personify on Twitter.
Class newspaper: The entire class can come together to create a newspaper, contributing to sections using hashtags.
Conference following: Students can follow professionals and industry conferences to see what?s going on in that particular realm.
Bonus assignments: Give students optional bonus work to do at home, assigned via Twitter.
Meme tracking: Students can study communication and sociology through the tracking of ideas and ads that spread through Twitter.
Reading assignment summaries: Students can build 140-character summaries based on reading assignments, forcing a focus on quality.
Link sharing: With Twitter, students can share websites with class, making relevant link finding and sharing a classroom assignment.
Trend mapping: Using Twittermap, students can track what people are talking about where.
Researching locations: The class can send out a tweet, asking people to give them their location, and then research that particular location.
Twitter puzzles: Tweet a puzzle each week, giving a prize to the first student who shares the correct answer.
Language learning: Teachers can send foreign language students tweets in a different language, and have students continue the conversation in the same language.
Twitter poetry: Create a collaborative poem where each student contributes one line.
Twitter book club: Within the classroom, willing participants can engage in a Twitter book club for extra credit.
Word tracking: Using Twitter, students can track a word, staying on top of any posts that contain a particular word, like a movie title or store name.
A Twitter story: Students can take turns tweeting stories together, using a hashtag to keep it all together as each student takes a turn to tweet the next line.
Sharing microreviews: Using Twitter, students can write a short review of movies, books, and music that they?ve enjoyed (or not).
Twitter haiku: Using Twitter, students can share short poems to express how they feel about a subject.
Twitter art show: Students can curate their own art shows, using Twitter to share what they think belongs in a particular exhibit.
Collaborative event watching: Students can "watch" presidential debates, political speeches, and other important events together outside of class time, and then continue the discussion back at school.
Current events: By Twitter stalking, students can stay on top of current events through users, such as @BarackObama during the presidential elections.
Find foreign pen pals: Students can use Twitter to communicate with students in a different country, learning about their hobbies, home, school, and more.

Source: http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2011/12/60-inspiring-examples-of-twitter-in-the-classroom

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Friday, December 23, 2011

Best Buy Is Ruining Christmas [Bad Buy]

Click here to read Best Buy Is Ruining Christmas

Best Buy is completely dropping the ball this holiday season. We're hearing reports that customers who bought items on BestBuy.com on Black Friday (yes, nearly a month ago) will not be receiving their orders this year, with some of them even being cancelled right before Christmas. Congratulations Best Buy! You are the Grinch. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/NIoNCIBLYM0/best-buy-is-ruining-christmas

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iMessage issue causes headaches for stolen iPhone users

Multiple users who’ve had their iPhones stolen are reporting that iMessage is still linked to their stolen device even after they’ve conducted a remote wipe, deactivated their iPhone with the carrier, and even changed their Apple ID password. This means that whomever steals or buys a stolen iPhone may...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/Uvt27U92Fxo/story01.htm

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Thursday, December 22, 2011

Soyuz bound for space station blasts off

AAA??Dec. 21, 2011?9:18 AM ET
Soyuz bound for space station blasts off
JIM HEINTZJIM HEINTZ, Associated Press? THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STATEMENT OF NEWS VALUES AND PRINCIPLES

In this photo taken with a fisheye lens and with long time exposure, people lwatchthe launch of the Soyuz-FG rocket booster with the Soyuz TMA-03M space ship carrying a new crew to the International Space Station, ISS, at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011. The Russian rocket carries U.S. astronaut Donald Pettit, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and Netherlands' astronaut Andre Kuipers. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)

In this photo taken long time exposure the Soyuz-FG rocket booster with a Soyuz TMA-03M space ship carrying a new crew to the International Space Station, ISS, blasts off from the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011, with an antenna on the foreground. The Russian rocket carries U.S. astronaut Donald Pettit, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and Netherlands' astronaut Andre Kuipers. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)

The Soyuz-FG rocket booster with Soyuz TMA-03M space ship carrying a new crew to the International Space Station, ISS, blasts off from the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011. The Russian rocket carries U.S. astronaut Donald Pettit, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and Netherlands' astronaut Andre Kuipers. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)

The Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft rests on its launch pad before the blast off with the International Space Station (ISS) crew of U.S. astronaut Donald Pettit, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers at Baikonur cosmodrome, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011. (AP Photo/ Shamil Zhumatov, Pool)

MOSCOW (AP) ? A Soyuz spacecraft carrying a Russian, an American and a Dutchman to the International Space Station blasted off flawlessly from Russia's launch facility in Kazakhstan on Wednesday.

Mission commander Oleg Kononenko and his colleagues, American Don Pettit and European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers are to dock with the space station on Friday.

The blastoff from the snowy launchpad in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, took place without a hitch and the spacecraft reached Earth orbit about nine minutes later. Video from inside the craft showed the three crew members gripping each others' hands in celebration as the final stage of the booster rocket separated.

The three aboard the Russian spacecraft will join three others already on the ISS, NASA's Dan Burbank and Russians Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin. The six are to work together on the station until March.

The launch came amid a period of trouble for Russia's space program, which provides the only way for crew to reach the space station since the United States retired its space shuttle program in July.

The launch of an unmanned supply ship for the space station failed in August and the ship crashed in a Siberian forest. The Soyuz rocket carrying that craft was the same type used to send up Russian manned spacecraft, and the crash prompted officials to postpone the next manned launch while the rockets were examined for flaws. The delayed mission eventually took place on Nov. 14.

Just five days before that launch, Russia sent up its ambitious Phobos-Ground unmanned probe, which was to go to the Phobos moon of Mars, take soil samples and return them to Earth. But engineers lost contact with the ship and were unable to propel it out of Earth orbit and toward Mars. The craft is now expected to fall to Earth in mid-January.

Last December, Russia lost three navigation satellites when a rocket carrying them failed to reach orbit. A military satellite was lost in February, and the launch of the Express-AM4, described by officials as Russia's most powerful telecommunications satellite, went awry in August.

Associated PressNews Topics: Manned spacecraft, Space accidents, Unmanned spacecraft, Space launch industry, Mars, Space industry, Spacecraft, Space technology, Aerospace technology, Industrial technology, Technology, Transportation accidents, Accidents, Accidents and disasters, General news, Transportation, Aerospace and defense, Industrial products and services, Industries, Business, Planets, Astronomy, Science
People, Places and Companies: Russia

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2011-12-21-EU-Russia-Space/id-9b06150566d14e718a2271e6c146923b

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Monday, December 19, 2011

Humane Society targeted by pro-shelter campaign

FILE - This April 22, 2010, file image from video provided by the United States Humane Society shows a Chino, Calif., slaughterhouse worker prodding a downer cow with a forklift that spurred an overhaul of the state's animal welfare laws. The Humane Society of the United States is under a renewed attack from critics who?d love to starve it of funding. A new campaign is urging people to donate to their local animal shelters instead of the national animal welfare advocacy group, which has long been a thorn in the side of many in the agricultural industry. (AP Photo/Humane Society of the United States, File)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ? The Humane Society of the United States says it's under attack by a new group that's trying to starve it of funding by urging donors to send money to local animal shelters instead.

The society has long been a thorn in the side of some in agriculture with its undercover investigations and campaigns against animal cruelty. It claims the new group is the brainchild of conservative public relations executive Rick Berman, who spearheaded an earlier campaign against it, and that it's supported by big agricultural interests.

Berman won't say who's funding the Humane Society for Shelter Pets.

The new group announced itself two weeks ago with full-page ads in USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and New York Times. They show a sad-eyed dog and ask, "Please help shelter pets by donating locally, not to HSUS," and direct people to HumaneForPets.com, where they can find links to local shelters and more information.

Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the HSUS, said he's certain that agribusiness concerns are behind the campaign because he's heard that Berman made the rounds of major trade groups seeking support for it.

"We consider it the highest compliment because it demonstrates beyond a shadow of a doubt that we're the most effective organization in the field of animal protection, and one that industries that have something to hide are most worried about," Pacelle said.

The HSUS has long campaigned for more humane conditions for farm animals, opposing the use of cramped cages for pregnant sows and egg-laying hens and the slaughter of horses for food. It lobbies Congress and state legislatures and frequently launches ballot initiatives to achieve its goals.

Jeff Douglas, co-director of the Humane Society for Shelter Pets, said his organization was formed simply to educate people who want to donate money to shelters. He said about 650 shelters have expressed support for his group.

"People think that when they give to national organizations like the Humane Society of the United States that the money is being returned to localities, but the reality is only about a penny of every dollar raised by the Humane Society of the United States is returned (to local shelters)," Douglas said.

Pacelle said that's misleading because shelters aren't his group's main mission ? it's an animal welfare advocacy group. But he also said the society has given $43 million in grants to other animal welfare groups over the past four years alone, helps rescue thousands of animals every year and provides training and services to local shelters and rescue groups. HSUS donors understand its role, he said.

It's easy to confuse animal protection groups and shelters because their names often contain the terms "humane society" or "society for the prevention of cruelty." Usually, they're independent.

Although Douglas said his group only wants to help shelters, the dispute highlights the deep rift between HSUS and those who contend its long-term goal is to reduce meat consumption.

Pacelle denies his group is anti-meat, saying it includes everyone from livestock producers to vegetarians. He said HSUS has a history of working with industry, pointing to its efforts leading to last week's announcement by Smithfield Foods Inc., the world's largest pork producer, that it will stop confining pregnant sows in small metal crates by 2017.

Kay Johnson Smith, CEO of the Animal Agriculture Alliance, a nonprofit backed by livestock, poultry and other industry groups, said HSUS has "the same radical agenda" as groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which opposes eating animals. The difference, she said, is that HSUS wants to work incrementally to reach its goal of raising the prices of meat, milk and eggs so they're out of reach to most Americans.

Berman owns the Washington-based public relations firm Berman and Co., which runs the Center for Consumer Freedom. That group operates HumaneWatch, which has kept up a steady stream of attacks on HSUS since it launched early in 2010.

Berman insists the idea for the new effort came from others but said his firm has donated more than 1,000 hours of work to help it get off the ground and is providing free public relations and other services.

Pacelle, however, contends the Human Society for Shelter Pets has been Berman's idea from the start. He provided The Associated Press with a memo he said was leaked by "a source in an animal-use industry" he declined to name. In the memo to big donors, Berman lamented the difficulties he was having in recruiting a suitable leader for a project then called the Humane Society for America's Pets.

But Berman also told them HumaneWatch had been "far more successful than I anticipated in re-branding and re-positioning HSUS among a wide variety of Americans. ... HumaneWatch is having the intended effect of chilling some of the donation stream that HSUS would have expected prior to our campaign."

Berman confirmed he wrote the memo but said Humane Society for America's Pets was a different project that never got off the ground. He said that idea came from supporters of HumaneWatch's message, while HSSP was a later initiative by different people, though he used the same corporate shell.

He also said he refunded donations for the first project to contributors who wanted them back, but others agreed to let their money be used for similar purposes.

Neither Berman nor Douglas would disclose who's funding HSSP. Its IRS filing for 2010, prepared by a Berman accountant, lists donations of more than $1.2 million, including 11 of $50,000, one of $100,000 and one of $300,000. Berman said he wasn't one of them. Douglas said the money came from "foundations and organizations that are involved in the pet industry." He said he didn't know if any were involved in agriculture.

"We never tell anyone who contributes to any of the organizations that I'm connected with," Berman said. "Just as the Humane Society does not disclose its donors."

Pacelle said Berman's efforts are backfiring.

"I'm happy to say that our budget has grown substantially during the period of Berman's campaign," he said.

___

Online:

Humane Society for Shelter Pets: http://www.humaneforpets.com

Humane Society of the United States: http://www.humanesociety.org

HumaneWatch: http://humanewatch.org

Berman Exposed: http://www.bermanexposed.org

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-12-19-Food%20and%20Farm-Humane%20Society/id-4402b8a4717d4e6a93490451050305b0

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