Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/sffaUCE4tRc/
Monday, March 18, 2013
Behold: Google?s Stunning Street Views From the Top of the World
More arguments for spaying and neutering pets - Stabroek News ...
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Last week's column entitled 'Spaying and neutering makes sense' provoked an outpouring of support for the premise, and many callers and e-mail letter write.
Source: http://www.stabroeknews.com/2013/features/03/17/more-arguments-for-spaying-and-neutering-pets/
"We are Elsa Nightingale and Rosalie Brooks, students at the University of Susse...
Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
The Sports Den's Daily NBA PIcks - 3/17
Here are?The Sports Den's NBA pipcks for today. The lines are according to Sportsbook.
??????????????????? Sunday March 17, 2013?
??????????? Game???????????????????????????????? Pick
Magic @ Bucks????????????????????????????? Magic???+9
Heat?@ Raptors????????????????????????????? Heat?? -8?
Warriors?@ Rockets?????????????????????? Rockets?? -7
Thunder?@ Mavericks????????????????????Thunder?? -4
Hawks?@ Nets?????????????????????????????? Nets? -4???????
The Daily Roundup for 03.16.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/fpPEtBUWT6s/
Revelers worldwide start to mark St. Patrick's Day
NEW YORK (AP) ? Crowds cheered and bagpipes bellowed as New York City's annual St. Patrick's Day parade kicked off Saturday, and people with a fondness for anything Irish began a weekend of festivities from the Louisiana bayou to Dublin.
With the holiday itself falling on a Sunday, many celebrations were scheduled instead for Saturday because of religious observances.
In New York, the massive parade, which predates the United States, was led by 750 members of the New York Army National Guard. The 1st Battalion of the 69th Infantry has been marching in the parade since 1851.
Michael Bloomberg took in his last St. Patrick's Day parade as mayor, waving to a cheering crowd as snowflakes fell on Fifth Avenue. Marching just behind him was Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, who presented Bloomberg with a historic Irish teapot earlier.
"The Irish are found in every borough, every corner of New York," Kenny said at a holiday breakfast. "In previous generations they came heartbroken and hungry, in search of new life, new hope; today they come in search of opportunity to work in finance, fashion, film."
Hundreds of thousands lined the parade route in New York, cheering the marching bands, dance troupes and politicians.
"We're crazy, the Irish, we're funny and we talk to everyone," said 23-year-old Lauren Dawson, of Paramus, N.J., who came to her first St. Patrick's Day parade.
In downtown Chicago, thousands along the Chicago River cheered as workers on a boat dumped dye into the water, turning it a bright fluorescent green for at least a few hours in an eye-catching local custom.
In a sea of people in green shirts, coats, hats, sunglasses and even wigs and beards, 29-year-old Ben May managed to stand out. The Elkhart, Ind., man wore a full leprechaun costume, complete with a tall green hat he had to hold onto in the wind.
"I've got a little Irish in me, so I'm supporting the cause," he said.
May bought the outfit online to wear to Notre Dame football games. But he figured it was fitting for this occasion too.
"I probably will get to drink for free," he said, after posing for a photograph with a group of women.
"That's what I'm hoping," said his girlfriend, Angela Gibson.
Kenny, who visited Chicago for St. Patrick's Day last year, was again making the holiday a jumping-off point for an extended trip to the U.S., with stops in Washington and on the West Coast over the ensuing several days.
"I will use my visit to promote Ireland's many strengths and to further reinforce our deep and abiding political and economic relationship with the United States," Kenny said in a statement this week.
He and President Barack Obama were to meet at the White House on Tuesday and Kenny was to give Obama shamrocks, a tradition that dates to Harry S. Truman's administration. Obama also was slated to meet the Protestant and Catholic leaders of Northern Ireland's cross-community government, Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness.
Thousands of revelers gaudily garbed in green crammed the oak-shaded squares and sidewalks of downtown Savannah, Ga., on Saturday, for a celebration that's a 189-year-old tradition.
Led by bagpipers in green kilts, a parade kicked off Saturday morning, hours after customers began lining up at downtown bars. More than 1,000 worshippers also packed the pews of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist for the Mass that traditionally precedes the parade.
Bev Kehayes, of Greensboro, N.C., joined friends near the start of the parade route. She made hats with green feathers and flowers just for the occasion.
"It's good, clean fun. Heaven forbid there's a little alcohol involved," said Kehayes, who says she's missed only three of the celebrations in Savannah in 29 years.
In Ireland, Dublin's five-day St. Patrick's Day festival was unfolding with a new addition. For the first time, up to 8,000 visitors from around the world were due to march in a so-called people's parade on Sunday, when Ireland's capital city also intends hold its usual procession of bands and pageantry.
In Maine, St. Patrick's Day prompted Gov. Paul LePage to relent on a vow to veto any bill that reached his desk before lawmakers pass his proposal to pay a state debt to hospitals. He signed a measure Friday allowing bars to serve alcohol a few hours earlier than usual, starting at 6 a.m., on the Sunday holiday.
About 1,500 miles southwest, the city of Houma, La., was holding its unconventional celebration ? an Irish-Italian parade, with a celebration that features both Irish cabbage and Italian sausage ? on Sunday. The event resumed last year after a 10-year hiatus.
In Rolla, Mo., the Missouri University of Science and Technology continued a St. Patrick's tradition that began in 1908, when students declared that the patron saint of Ireland also was the patron saint of engineers. A slate of events included a student portraying St. Patrick being transported downtown on a manure spreader.
Annapolis, Md., held its first St. Patrick's Day parade March 10. A 40-year-old parade tradition took on a sense of renewal March 3 in Belmar, N.J., a shore town that took a heavy blow from Superstorm Sandy.
But along with the festivities, in some places, came warnings from police that they would be on the lookout for drunken drivers and other misbehavior. Police in Baltimore and Washington both planned to increase patrols.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/revelers-worldwide-start-mark-st-patricks-day-160841160.html
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Easter Egg Hunt at My Gym Bethesda | Bethesda Sports ...
My Gym Bethesda serves children between 3 months and 13 years of age and offers them structured, age-appropriate classes. Younger children may come with a parent or care-giver to weekly classes that incorporate music and movement to help the kids build strength, coordination and independence. The gym also features swings, slides, trampolines, child-size gymnastics equipment, bubbles, parachutes. Older children may participate in relays, games and obstacle courses, among other activities, and can be dropped off for after school gymnastics, sports and its traditional fun fitness classes. My Gym Bethesda also hosts birthday parties, open gyms, half day camps, parents' night outs and other special events.
Source: http://bethesda.patch.com/events/easter-egg-hunt-at-my-gym-bethesda
Jelly Bean update rolling out for European LG Optimus L9
The LG Optimus L9 was introduced to European markets in the second half of last year as the then newest member of the Optimus L-Series of devices. We first went hands with the LG back at IFA 2012 in Berlin, we found a surprisingly nice mid-range device. Since launch, the L9 has been running Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich, but now it seems that European owners are getting a Jelly Bean flavored treat on their devices.
According to reports, the update to Android 4.1 is rolling out in the Baltics region, Germany, Spain, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania and for the European Open devices. It can be downloaded via the LG Update Tool as well as OTA, but it's a pretty weighty one coming in at 575MB. What's more is the relative speed at which this update has appeared. LG traditionally isn't too good with software updates, but the L9 has received Jelly Bean now within six months of the device's launch. Still not amazingly fast, but given LG's record it's still pretty impressive.
 |  |
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/Qa3OydgbBqQ/story01.htm
St. Patrick's Day EVE Edition -- ISRAEL PULLING OUT ALL THE STOPS to maximize halo from Obama trip next week -- JEB BUSH at CPAC: 'Here's reality: . Much of the . nation is drowning'
OBAMA IN MIDEAST NEXT WEEK ? ?Israel sees Obama visit as chance to show its best side: an estimated 500 foreign journalists are arriving to cover the U.S. president's trip,? by L.A. Times? Edmund Sanders in Jerusalem: ?When the White House tweaked the president's upcoming Holy Land itinerary to include Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, Israelis feared he wouldn't have time for a field trip to see their beloved Iron Dome missile defense system. No problem, Israeli officials decided. If Obama can't come to the Iron Dome, the Iron Dome will come to him. One of the five U.S.-funded batteries, which Israel is marketing for sale internationally, will be temporarily repositioned to the airport for a photo op with the arriving president. Obama's three-day trip to Israel and the West Bank, which begins Wednesday, offers Israelis a rare opportunity to shine before a global audience. ?
?Politicians and pundits will schmooze with some of the estimated 500 visiting foreign journalists at a government-sponsored cocktail reception, while special excursions are being offered for visitors to highlight the softer side of Israel, from wine tasting to Christian pilgrimage. The trip even has an official government logo (U.S. and Israeli flags morphed into one), a slogan (?Unbreakable Alliance?) and a new smartphone app launched by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office to track every step.? With a great AFP pic: ?Workers in the town of Kfar Saba ready U.S. and Israeli flags in preparation for President Obama's visit to Israel and the West Bank.? http://lat.ms/ZxCYPg
THE PRESIDENT?S WEEK AHEAD: ?On Saturday and Sunday, the President has no public events scheduled. ? On Tuesday, the President will welcome Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Enda Kenny of Ireland to the White House.? ? In the morning, the President will meet with the Taoiseach in the Oval Office, and subsequently he will attend the traditional St. Patrick?s Day lunch at the U.S. Capitol.? During the day, the President will also greet First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness of Northern Ireland at the White House to discuss their progress toward meeting their shared commitment to a peaceful and prosperous future for the people of Northern Ireland.? In the evening, the President and the First Lady will host a reception to celebrate their fifth St. Patrick?s Day at the White House.? During the reception, the President and Kenny will participate in the annual Shamrock ceremony started under President Truman.? Later in the evening, the President will depart for Israel.
?On Wednesday, the President will have separate meetings with President Peres and Prime Minister Netanyahu.? He will also hold a joint press conference with Prime Minister Netanyahu. On Thursday, the President will meet with President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority and will tour a youth development center with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Fayyad.? Later in the day, the President will deliver a speech to the Israeli people at the Jerusalem International Convention Center.? He will also hold a joint press conference with President Abbas. On Friday, the President will meet with King Abdullah II of Jordan and later will hold a joint press conference with King Abdullah II. On Saturday, the President will return to Washington.?
THE V.P.?S WEEK AHEAD: ?On Saturday, the Vice President will be in Wilmington, Delaware. There are no public events scheduled. On Sunday, the Vice President will depart from Washington, DC, en route Rome, Italy, to lead the U.S. Delegation to attend the Inauguration Mass celebrating the Pontificate of His Holiness Pope Francis. The Vice President will arrive at Ciampino Airport in Rome at 9:40 PM LOCAL TIME/4:40 PM ET. The arrival is open press.?
2017 WATCH ? ?Campaign for Obama library in full swing,? by AP?s Josh Lederman in D.C., with Sara Burnett in Chicago: ?In Illinois and Hawaii, the two states Obama calls home, universities and community groups are drafting plans and deploying a mix of public and private efforts to persuade Obama to choose their site for what will be a monument to his historic presidency and an instrument to continue his legacy. ? In December, top officials from the University of Chicago, where Obama once taught law, traveled to Dallas and met with archivists at The George W. Bush Presidential Library at Southern Methodist University. At the meeting was Susan Sher, first lady Michelle Obama's former chief of staff and longtime friend and now a senior adviser to the University of Chicago's president.
?Alice McLean, who heads special programs in the university [of Chicago] president's office ? met Susan Donius, the director of presidential libraries for the National Archives and Records Administration, who provided a set of architectural and design standards required for presidential libraries. ? In Honolulu, where the president was born, University of Hawaii officials have visited nearly all the 13 official presidential libraries to talk to officials involved in setting them up. An American studies professor, Robert Perkinson, is leading a statewide effort coordinated by the university, with support from Gov. Neil Abercrombie and other state and federal officials. The state Legislature has passed two resolutions urging Obama to pick Hawaii.?
KEEPING IT CLASSY: N.Y. Post cover, "KOREAN TAKEOUT: US aims anti-nuke missiles"
2016 WATCH?? "Jeb Bush CPAC Speech Says GOP Must Stop Being 'Anti Everything' Party,? by HuffPost?s Jon Ward in National Harbor, Md.: ?Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush , ? speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference annual dinner, made the heart of his speech a call to the GOP to ?learn from past mistakes. ?. All too often we?re associated with being ?anti? everything ? Way too many people believe Republicans are anti-immigrant, anti-woman, anti-science, anti-gay, anti-worker ? Many voters are simply unwilling to choose our candidates even though they share our core beliefs, because those voters feel unloved, unwanted and unwelcome ? It is not a validation of our conservative principles if we can only point to the increasingly rare individual who overcomes adversity ? Here?s reality: if you?re fortunate enough to count yourself among the privileged, much of the rest of the nation is drowning. In our country today, if you?re born poor, if your parents didn?t go to college, if you don?t know your father, if English isn?t spoken at home, then the odds are stacked against you. You are more likely to stay poor today than at any other time since World War II.?? http://huff.to/XKda6F
** A message from the Coalition for Medicare Choices: 16 days until CMS's proposed new Medicare Advantage cuts become permanent. If nothing is done, 14 million seniors in Medicare Advantage get hit with an average of $50-$90 per month in higher costs and benefit cuts next year. View the new TV ad at: www.medicarechoices.org. **
TOP TALKER -- Financial Times p. 1 (Asia and U.S. editions), ?China sees 330m abortions in 40 years of enforced controls on family size,? by Simon Rabinovitch in Beijing (online hed: ?Data reveal scale of China abortions?): ?Chinese doctors have performed more than 330m abortions since the government implemented a controversial family planning policy 40 years ago, according to official data from the health ministry. ? Since 1971, doctors have performed 336m abortions and 196m sterilisations ? The Chinese government has previously estimated that without restrictions, the country?s 1.3bn population would be 30 per cent larger. In the US, where the population is 315m or about one-quarter the size of China?s, an estimated 50m abortions have been performed since ? Roe vs Wade ? legalised abortion in 1973.?
GREAT OUT-OF-OFFICE MESSAGES -- Kerry Kennedy, president, Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights: ?I will be on a delegation to Uganda and Zimbabwe.?
BEYOND THE BELTWAY ? L.A. Times second front, ?L.A.?S RACE FOR MAYOR: EMILY adds Greuel to list: The group?s endorsement could help her expand her fundraising network,? by Maeve Reston and Seema Mehta: ?Los Angeles mayoral hopeful Wendy Greuel got a potentially powerful boost Friday by winning the endorsement of EMILY?s List, which could help her tap into a deep network of female donors across the country. Under city campaign finance rules, City Controller Greuel and her rival City Councilman Eric Garcetti were required to spend all their money from the March 5 primary before entering the runoff. They now have 10 weeks to solicit the millions of dollars they will need to finance an expensive television campaign to reach city voters. That forced them to spend much of their time in the last week dialing donors, asking for contributions that are limited to $1,300 in the runoff cycle. Garcetti headlined a fundraiser Friday at the home of film producer James Lassiter and has an event planned next week at the Los Angeles manse of billionaire Tony Pritzker.?
BIRTHDAYS: WaPo's Ellen McCarthy (hat tip: Patrick Gavin) ... ABC?s ABCs Eric Avram ? comedian-director Jerry Lewis is 87 ? game-show host Chuck Woolery is 72 ? Erik Estrada is 64 (h/ts AP)
BIG DECKARD BIRTHWEEK: Joshua Spencer Deckard was yesterday ? Hudson Walker Deckard is 1 tomorrow!
THE SHOWS, from @MattMackowiak:
--NBC?s ?Meet the Press?: Cardinal Francis George; Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA); Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI); roundtable with MSNBC?s Chris Matthews, former Gov. Frank Keating (R-OK), author and former Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (D-MD) and Republican strategist Ana Navarro
--ABC?s ?This Week?: Speaker Boehner; roundtable with ABC News? George Will, Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA), NPR?s Audie Cornish, ABC News political analyst Matthew Dowd and former HP CEO Carly Fiorina; foreign policy roundtable with Will, former Clinton administration Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former Bush administration National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. James Cartwright (USMC, Ret.); ?Sunday spotlight? segment with ABC News? Bob Woodruff
--CBS?s ?Face the Nation?: Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI); Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN); RNC Chairman Reince Priebus; foreign policy roundtable with Council on Foreign Relations president Richard Haass, AEI?s Danielle Pletka, The Atlantic?s David Rohde and The New York Times? David Sanger
--?Fox News Sunday?: Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL); roundtable with The Weekly Standard?s Bill Kristol, FORTUNE Magazine?s Nina Easton, former Bush White House senior adviser Karl Rove and former Howard Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi
--CNN?s ?State of the Union? (SUN 9-10am ET / 12pm ET): Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) and Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD); Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) and Rep. Tom Cotton (R-AR); roundtable on the future of the Republican Party with ACU?s Al Cardenas, Democratic strategist Kiki McLean, Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Johns Hopkins University?s Dr. Ben Carson
--CNN?s ?Fareed Zakaria GPS?: (SUN 10am ET / 1pm ET): Former Bush administration Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz; discussion on Afghanistan with Wolfowitz, former Pakistani Ambassador to the U.S. Hussain Haqqani and the Council on Foreign Relations? Gayle Tzemach Lemmon; discussion on North Korea with former Bush administration National Security Council Asian Affairs director and Georgetown University?s Victor Cha and former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea and Korea Society chairman emeritus Donald Gregg; Yale University?s Emma Sky
--Univision?s ?Al Punto? (SUN 10am ET): Argentinian journalist and co-author Sergio Rubin (?The Jesuit,? a biography of Pope Francis); Mexican Cardinal Juan Sandoval I?igues and American Cardinal Sean O?Malley; Jesuit priest and friend of Pope Francis, Ernesto Giobando; Vatican archives expert Roberto Antonio Ve?lsquez; Basque Country newspapers Vatican correspondent I?igo Dominguez (from the Vatican)
--C-SPAN: ?The Communicators? (SAT 6:30pm ET): Last in a series of interviews from the CES International 2013, highlighting the newest developments in TV, communications and consumer technology ? ?Newsmakers? (SUN 10am ET / 6pm ET): Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), questioned by Bloomberg News? Heidi Przybla and The Hill?s Russell Berman ? ?Q&A? (SUN 8pm ET / 11pm ET): Weekly Standard executive editor Fred Barnes
--NBC?s ?The Chris Matthews Show?: Roundtable with NBC News? Chuck Todd; NBC News? Kelly O?Donnell, TIME Magazine?s Joe Klein and BBC?s Katty Kay
--Bloomberg?s ?Political Capital? with Al Hunt (SUN 8am ET / 1pm ET): House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)
--Bloomberg?s ?Capitol Gains? (SUN 12pm ET / 5pm ET): Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI); White House Big Data Senior Steering Group?s co-chair Dr. George Strawn; segment with Bloomberg Government technology analyst Mike Nelson
--ABC7?s ?Inside Washington?: (SAT 7pm ET on NewsChannel 8 / SUN 9am ET on ABC7 WJLA): Roundtable with syndicated columnist Mark Shields, POLITICO?s Lois Romano, Evan Thomas and syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer
--PBS?s ?To the Contrary?: Re-broadcast of ?Meet the new Congresswomen? with Rep. Krysten Sinema (D-AZ), Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-IN), Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH), Rep. Elizabeth Etsy (D-CT), Rep. Susan Beldene (D-WA), Rep. Carol Shea Porter (D-NH) and Rep. Ann Kuster (D-NH)
--TV One?s ?Washington Watch with Roland Martin? (SUN 9am ET): The Potter?s House Worship Center?s (Dallas, TX) Bishop T.D. Jakes; AFL-CIO chief economist Williams Spriggs; The Washington Post?s Michael Fletcher; panel with former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell (R-OH), The Buten Group?s Charles Butler, The Grio?s Sophia Nelson and SiriusXM radio host Joe Madison
--SiriusXM's ?Polioptics? with Josh King (Sat., Sun.; noon and 6): Jenni LeCompte, former Assistant Treasury Secretary for Public Affairs of the U.S. Department of the Treasury (with guest exit interviewer Timothy Geithner). And chapter two of breaking down Netflix's "House of Cards" with executive producer and show runner (and former Howard Dean advance man) Beau Willimon. On SiriusXM's POTUS Ch. 124; available for download on iTunes and at http://www.polioptics.com.
** A message from the Coalition for Medicare Choices: In just 16 days, CMS's proposed new Medicare Advantage cuts become permanent. Vulnerable seniors will pay more, get less and lose choices. If the cuts become permanent, the average senior will get hit with $50-$90 a month in higher costs and benefit cuts next year. Many seniors will lose their Medicare Advantage plan altogether. According to an independent analysis, "Virtually all of the 14.1 million Medicare beneficiaries are likely to be affected by these changes, either through increased premiums, reduced benefits, or plan exits from local markets." Time is running out. Take action now to stop the proposed new Medicare Advantage cuts. View the new TV ad at: www.medicarechoices.org. **
Source: http://feeds.politico.com/click.phdo?i=38af09fd785a5f7feba0574b5eb779d6
Live SmackDown Results: Mar. 15, 2013
All WWE programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE, Inc. and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. ? 2012 WWE, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This website is based in the United States. By submitting personal information to this website you consent to your information being maintained in the U.S., subject to applicable U.S. laws. U.S. law may be different than the law of your home country. WrestleMania XXIX (NY/NJ) logo TM & ? 2012 WWE. All Rights Reserved. The Empire State Building design is a registered trademark and used with permission by ESBC.
Source: http://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/2013-03-15/live-smackdown-results-mar-15-2013
exploring dreamstate: Dear self: fuck you
Friday, March 15, 2013 9:13 PM
0
Reblog from Recovering YogiDear self: fuck you
Published on November 22, 2010 by Kris Nelson ?
By Kris Nelson
Dear Self,
Maybe, instead of meditating with crystals and chanting mantras, you could just stop?being an asshole.
Please don?t misunderstand. I don?t have anything against meditating with crystals?(privately*) and chanting mantras, per se. That?s fine. And it?s the latter that?s?important.
If I could sum up my lifetime of spiritual work and the canon of human wisdom and?devotion, as I see it, it amounts to the following: don?t be an asshole.
I don?t mean to mock or make light of spiritual work and the canon of human wisdom.?Well, that?s not true, I do. Modern spirituality is also easy to mock. (Brilliant?mockery, by the way, is what makes RecoveringYogi great.) Though, the real greatness of?RecoveringYogi rests not in its mockingly flippant perspective that consistently spews?foul language, but instead resides in its capacity to see, express and retain the value?of the things it mocks. That?s post-post-modernism, bitches.
Sadly, in all the indulgence of self in the name of indulging the Self, something?valuable is often lost, and that?s the refinement of self. It?s troubling to me that?most people embedded in the culture and practice of self-awareness, self-improvement?and self-empowerment are rarely actually aware, improved or empowered, and are often?instead more self-righteous, contemptuous and critical ?than the ?common man.? ?(Like?me and this post, for instance.) The Walt Disney Company, for example, typically treats?their employees better than most yoga studios, and they?re big assholes.
You see, my dear friend, I had an experience about five years ago.
One minute I was talking with Adyashanti, and the next minute I was like, ?OMG,?everything really is one.? And then I woke up the next day and I was like, ?OMG,?everything is oner.? And then the next day, ?Double OMG, everything is onerer.? This?went on for about six months, and the experience still rests in my heart and saturates?my mind with ecstatic embrace.
From this aha moment forward, I taught yoga less; I taught spirituality more. I did the?satsang thing. I blogged. I would talk with people one-on-one and they would have?similar experiences? but the experiences would never sustain.
This was all neat. But, sadly, with this new awakening came a lot of awareness,?humility and honesty. Suddenly, I knew. I knew what I had been hiding from all my life,?and that was the fact that I was an asshole. And, sadly, in my supreme state of?resplendent revelatory enlightenment, I knew that I was still an asshole and probably?also a total douche bag. In my non-thinking state, a thought floated up through my?mind: Dear Self, Fuck You.
I worked all my life to be enlightened, and the only thing I got was the realization?that I was?and still am?an asshole.
Waking up doesn?t abolish the ego (which is, very simply, your conception of self?and?even more simply: who you think you are). It just puts it in perspective. With my?newfound perspective, I realized I could be a better self. Not from the place of self-awareness, self-improvement or self-empowerment, but simply because that?s what my?heart wanted.
Instead of writing a book about waking up or going on a speaking satsang tour, I?decided that I would focus simply on being less of an asshole? and also get a real job.?I would generally try to be less self-centered. I would help old ladies across the?street. (This is hard in West Hollywood because there?aren't?many old ladies except the?elderly Russian women that smell like cabbage and hang out by Whole Foods.)
Back to my original point: If your yoga doing, crystal rubbing, and handstand pressing?isn't?making you less of a self-centered dick disguised in chanting beads, consider?doing something else. Otherwise, you too might wake up one day to realize that you?re?just an asshole.
Source: http://zeeashtanga.blogspot.com/2013/03/dear-self-fuck-you.html
Church urges 6-week break from social media
Social media 
19 hours ago
Rosa Golijan / NBC News
With that annual period of self-denial leading up to Easter, many try to decide what to surrender. The Russian Orthodox Church ? which observes Easter about a month after Catholic and Protestant churches do this year ? has a suggestion: Give up Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and all the social networks which offer a barrage of information each and every second.
"I don't mean just people who use depraved, entertaining, stupid and empty information," church spokesman Vsevolod Chaplin explained to the Guardian. "Even useful information, that relates to our work and well-meaning interests, clogs the brain and soul too much."
Instead of using social media, Chaplin explains, you should give yourself "several hours or 15 minutes of time during Lent to not read curses on social networks, but serious texts, serious art, prayer, unhurried conversation with close ones."
"This is a unique chance to change your life," Chaplin adds.
This isn't the only opportunity we've been given for a spiritual reboot of our tech-obsessed lives of late. In early March, some celebrated the fourth annual National Day of Unplugging, a holiday dreamed up by the artists behind Sabbath Manifesto, a creative project revolving around the search for "a modern way to observe a weekly day of rest."
The holiday lasted from sundown on the first Friday in March until sundown on the following day. It came with a list of principles borrowing from the biblical Sabbath tradition to encourage folks to recharge their metaphorical batteries.
Considering that there are studies suggesting that Facebook can leave us feeling miserable and that various other uses of technology can increase stress ? constantly looking at your email might be making you antsy ? it's no surprise that there are so many movements are urging us to take a break from social media and tech in general.
The only problem is that some of us are far too attached to our gadgets.
"I can't remember the last time I turned my phone off in a situation not involving a software update or a flight," I mused in a Google+ post on Friday afternoon.
"These things have an 'off' switch?" someone replied.
Want more tech news or interesting links? You'll get plenty of both if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her onTwitter, subscribing to her Facebook posts, or circling her on Google+.
Source: http://www.today.com/tech/church-urges-6-week-break-social-media-could-you-handle-1C8897122
Kendrick Lamar Got To Be 'Great' With Jay-Z On 'Kill My Vibe'
'Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe' remix origin is 'under wraps,' K.Dot tells MTV News at SXSW.
By Maurice Bobb, with additional reporting by FLX
Kendrick Lamar
Photo: MTV News
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1703817/kendrick-lamar-jay-z-kill-my-vibe-remix.jhtml
Transcript: Mitt Romney's Speech at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference
The following is Mitt Romney's address as prepared for delivery Friday, March 15, at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Md.:
What an honor to be introduced by Governor Nikki Haley, a woman of uncommon courage and conviction; whose principles have guided her governance. We need more governors like her!
I've also had the honor of your support from the very beginning. You gave my campaign an early boost. You worked on the front lines?promoting my campaign, turning out voters. Thank you.
With help from so many of you, I had the honor of becoming my party's nominee for president. I was given the privilege of experiencing America in ways Ann and I had never imagined. Across this great country, our fellow citizens opened up their homes and hearts to us.
Of course, I left the race disappointed that we didn't win. But I also left honored and humbled to have represented values we believe in and to speak for so many good and decent people. We've lost races before, and in the past, those setbacks prepared us for larger victories. It is up to us to make sure that we learn from my mistakes, and from our mistakes, so that we can win the victories those people and this nation depend upon.
It's fashionable in some circles to be pessimistic about America, about conservative solutions, about the Republican Party. I utterly reject that pessimism. We may not have carried the day last November 7th, but we haven't lost the country we love, and we haven't lost our way. Our nation is still full of aspirations and hungry for new solutions. We're a nation of invention and of reinventing. My optimism about America wasn't diminished by my campaign; no, it grew?It grew as I came to know more of our fellow Americans.
I have seen American determination in people like Debbi Sommers. She runs a furniture rental business for conventions in Las Vegas. When 9/11 hit and again when the recession tanked the conventions business, she didn't give up, close down, or lay off her people. She taught them not just to rent furniture, but also to manufacture it.
I've seen perseverance. Harold Hamm drove a truck for ten years so that he could afford to go to college. He majored in Geology. Studying geological surveys, he concluded that there should be oil in North Dakota. He went there and drilled a well. It was dry. I'm told that it costs about $2 million to drill a dry hole. But he kept on drilling. 16 dry holes later, they called it Harold's folly. That changed with the 17th. The Bakken range he discovered is estimated by some to hold as much as 500 billion barrels of oil.
I've seen risk taking. The flagging lumber business and mounting losses convinced International Paper Corporation that they needed to shut down their lumber mill in Ossipee, New Hampshire. Into the breech stepped Jim Smith and Kim Moore, the plant manager and sales manager. They borrowed and invested everything they could, to buy the broken business. They saved their jobs and 30 other peoples' jobs, growing sales from $5 million a year to $50 million.
I've met people of great faith. I sat in the home of Billy Graham and in the residence of Cardinal Dolan and prayed with these men of God.
I met heroes in our armed forces: men and women who re-signed with the National Guard after multiple tours of duty in Afghanistan, knowing that in all probability, they would be going back again.
I met heroes in the homes of the nation: single moms who are working two jobs so that their kids will have clothes like those that the other kids wear, dads who almost forget what a weekend is, because of all the jobs they've taken on to keep the house.
We are a patriotic people. The heart of America is good. Our land is blessed by the hand of God; may we as a people always be worthy of His grace, and His protection.
Like you, I believe a Conservative vision can attract a majority of Americans and form a governing coalition of renewal and reform. As someone who just lost the last election, I'm probably not the best person to chart the course for the next election. That said, I do have advice. Perhaps because I am a former governor, I would urge you to learn the lessons that come from some of our greatest success stories: the 30 Republican governors.
Yes, they are winning elections, but more importantly, they are solving problems. Big problems. Important problems. Governor Nathan Deal of Georgia secured a constitutional amendment to expand charter schools. Governor Rick Snyder signed Right to Work legislation?in Michigan! Several secured tort reform. Many turned huge deficits into surpluses. Republican governors reached across the aisle, offered innovative solutions and have been willing to take the heat to make tough decisions.
We need the ideas and leadership of each of these governors. We particularly need to hear from the Governors of the blue and purple states, like Bob McDonnell, Scott Walker, John Kasich, Susanna Martinez, Chris Christie, and Brian Sandoval because their states are among those we must win to take the Senate and the White House.
We can also learn from the examples of principle, passion and leadership that we have seen during these last several weeks from fellow conservatives here in Washington. I may be a little biased, but I applaud the clear and convincing voice of my friend, Paul Ryan.
If I were to offer advice to any president of the United States, it would be this: do whatever you can do to keep America the most prosperous and free and powerful nation on earth.
It is no secret that the last century was an American century. And it is no secret that over the span of the 21st century, America's pre-eminent position is far from guaranteed. The consequence if America were to be surpassed would be devastating. Why? Because among the primary rivals for world leadership?China, Russia, and the Jihadists?not one believes in the freedoms we take for granted. Freedom depends on American leadership.
American leadership depends on a military so strong, so superior, that no one would think to engage it. Our military strength depends on an economy so strong that it can support such a military. And our economy depends on a people so strong, so educated, so resolute, so hard working, so inventive, and so devoted to their children's future, that other nations look at us with respect and admiration.
That is the America we grew up in, and it is the America our children deserve.
What other nation would have enjoyed hegemonic military power for a quarter of a century, and never have used it to seek revenge against its former foes or to seize precious natural resources from the weak?
What nation is the most philanthropic in the world, the first to bind up the wounds of the injured from hurricanes, tsunamis, and war?
What nation is the largest contributor to the fight against AIDS in Africa?
Who came to the rescue of Europe when it faced its darkest hour and came to the rescue of others under the threat of tyranny, in Korea, Vietnam, Panama, Bosnia, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq? Whatever you think of these interventions, the impulse behind them was liberation, not conquest. In all of human history, there has never been a great power that has so often used its power to liberate others from subjugation, to set the captives free. This we must teach our children, and never ourselves forget.
I'm inspired by a people who believe in and live for something greater than themselves?whether their faith, their country, their family, their school.
I marvel at the prescience, the brilliance and the sacrifices made by the nation's Founders.
I'm proud of our immigrant heritage, proud that so many of us and of our ancestors came here because they wanted to be here, to build a better future for their children here, to worship their God here.
At a campaign stop in Texas, I met a Cambodian-American named Sichan Siv. Sichan came here in 1976, escaping the killing fields of Cambodia. His first job was picking fruit, then he drove a cab in New York City. He later volunteered on the campaign of George H.W. Bush. Thirteen years after coming to America he went to work in the White House. And then, he was appointed as a United States Ambassador to the United Nations. He said that whenever he stood to speak in behalf of America, his emotions choked, and he asked himself in what other nation could an impoverished Cambodian refugee have become its Ambassador.
America began with an idea, a noble one. That idea was that every person is endowed by their Creator with unalienable rights. Freedom flows in American veins. It invigorates our many enterprises, it inspires us to live beyond ourselves, it calls us to care for the suffering and downtrodden. It has made us a great nation.
Today, history and duty summon us again. The country is imperiled by mounting debt, by failing institutions, by families stressed beyond their limits, by schools that fail to make the grade, and by public servants who are more intent on scoring political points than on national renewal.
Each of us in our own way will have to step up and meet our responsibility. I am sorry that I will not be your president ? but I will be your co-worker and I will stand shoulder to shoulder with you. In the end, we will win just as we have won before, and for the same reason: because our cause is right...and just.
Thank you again for your help and support along our journey. Ann and I will treasure these memories all the days of our lives. God bless you, and God Bless the United States of America.
Also ReadSaturday, March 16, 2013
Former Egyptian ministers found not guilty
CAIRO (AP) ? An Egyptian court has cleared two former ministers of charges that they sold state lands for cut-rate prices in the country's prized Red Sea resort areas.
Former Tourism Minister Zuheir Garana and ex-Housing Minister Ahmed Maghrabi were found not guilty in the case involving the sale of land in the Red Sea resort of Ain Sokhna and the popular tourist city of Hurgahda.
The land was purchased by a businessman from the United Arab Emirates when Hosni Mubarak was president.
State auditors reviewed the case prior to Saturday's verdict.
Garana was sentenced to up to eight years in prison and Maghrabi received a five-year sentence for guilty verdicts in previous corruption trials.
Their requests for appeals have been accepted and the two will be allowed out of prison pending retrials.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/former-egyptian-ministers-found-not-guilty-125714765.html
How Can Someone Be Both ?Stuffed and Starved??
You already know that far too many Americans are overweight or, worse, obese. More than one-third of us fit the last definition, and that number is expected to jump to 42 percent of Americans by 2030.
But here?s something you may not know: A whole lot of those people are hungry.
That?s right: They are literally not getting enough to eat. And they are definitely not getting enough healthy foods?full of essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients like fiber and protein. It?s a paradoxical phenomenon that writer and activist Raj Patel has aptly named ?stuffed and starved.? We look at very overweight people and immediately think they?re eating too much, instead of wondering what kind of food they have access to and what that food might be doing to their bodies and health.
RELATED:?America's Hidden Hunger Crisis ? Complete Coverage?
Patel, who wrote a best-selling book of the same name, says ?stuffed and starved? is a fairly recent phenomenon. Throughout most of human history, being overweight meant you were rich?that you could afford to eat well?but now it?often means you are anything but.
?The irony is that in rich, developed countries like the U.S., if you?re poor you?re more likely to be overweight,? explains Patel.
That?s because the food affordable to people living on low and subsidized incomes usually has few of the nutrients the body needs to be healthy. And cheap food is often so processed you?re likely to feel hungry soon?after eating it; so, naturally, you keep eating it. Inexpensive food also tends to be full of ?empty? calories, along with too much fat and sodium, making it easier to pack on pounds. Add to that a sedentary lifestyle, stress, and other factors and you?ve got a recipe for the obesity epidemic.
Simply put, if the only food you can afford to eat doesn?t have what you need to be healthy, and it doesn?t fill you up, you?re likely to keep eating to feel satisfied. This perpetuates the ?stuffed and starved? cycle.
Patel says there?s a clear reason why half the world is malnourished and the other half is obese: Both are symptoms of the corporate food monopoly.
?It?s a perverse paradox when we have more calories available per person than ever before in human history,? he notes. ?There?s no reason for people to be going hungry.?
But they are going hungry, to the tune of one in six Americans. That?s?50 million people, which is?a staggering amount by any measure.
And the health consequences of the ?stuffed and starved? trend will only get worse if nothing is done. Rates of diabetes?the big killer that?s perhaps most definitively linked to excess weight?show that nearly 19 million Americans have been diagnosed with the disease and another seven million are living with it but unaware they have it. Scariest of all are the 79 million people who are headed down the road toward being diabetic (what?s called ?pre-diabetic?).
Patel calls the one-in-six hungry Americans number ?mind-blowing,? but says there?s another statistic we should all be concerned about: One in three kids born today will develop type 2 diabetes, he says, and that figure rises to one in two for children of color.
?That?s a ridiculous number,? he notes, hastening to add that far from being a foregone conclusion, we don?t have to live with such devastating numbers. They are, says Patel, likely the result of ?an entirely avoidable shift in our diet??the increase in eating refined foods, sugar, and other empty calories, and the decrease in the amount of fiber and key nutrients.
But we can reverse that trend. Having studied the ?stuffed and starved? phenomenon around the world and in the U.S., what would it take to eradicate hunger from America?
Patel points to the success of some private organizations, including the Black Panthers? program in the 1970s to feed poor children. The radical activist group started the program when the U.S. government wouldn?t step in.?
?At one point the Black Panthers were feeding more people than the state of California,? says Patel. ?They were a service organization in many ways?offering free shoes, free prescriptions. Poor kids in the neighborhood were welcome to have a free breakfast.?
This sort of activism, says Patel, actually helped shame the federal government into stepping in to do something about hunger in the 1970s. But it wasn?t enough, and soon any gains made to end hunger in the U.S. backslid.
?
?
Today many hungry Americans rely on another group of private organizations: food banks. But with the economic downturn, these banks are typically well beyond capacity, unable to feed the swelling numbers who need their help.?
?Food banks can?t meet demand,? says Patel plainly. ?I do think it?s an embarrassment to the U.S. that we have so many people on SNAP [food assistance] and so many food banks.?
Patel also cites the success of the Toronto Food Policy Council, which doesn?t just hand out food, but aims to support the local community in myriad ways.
?Canada is committed not only to meeting the needs of the hungry in Toronto, but they also make sure people get entitlements and that there?s space to grow food and they make sure ultimately there are good jobs,? Patel explains. After all, he notes, when it comes to hunger, ?the main problem is poverty. So they?re an anti-poverty group as well.? Even Brazil, with its staggering rates of poverty, has started a program to eradicate hunger completely.
Patel?s newest project, the Generation Food Project, is designed to raise the profile of what he calls ?accidental rule-breakers in the food system.? The goal, he says, is to show ?how ordinary people are taking on the food system from Oakland to Wisconsin to India, and to show how easy it is to effect change?to sprinkle ideas in people?s heads,? Patel explains. Ultimately, he hopes, we won?t need to feed people through food banks at all.
By breaking the rules, perhaps we can also begin to break the chain of events that has led to too many people with too few food choices?the unlucky millions who end up ?stuffed and starved.?
Click the infographic below to learn more about the Stuffed and Starved pheneomenon"
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? function toggle() { var ele = document.getElementById("toggleText"); if(ele.style.display == "block") { ele.style.display = "none"; } else { ele.style.display = "block"; } } function youtubefix() { var again = 0; if (jQuery('.MagicZoomPlus').length != 0) { jQuery('.MagicZoomPlus').click(function () { jQuery('#youtube_block').hide(); }); again++; } if (jQuery('.MagicThumb-expanded').length != 0) { jQuery('.MagicThumb-expanded').click(function () { jQuery('#youtube_block').show(); }); again++; } if (again != 2) { window.setTimeout('youtubefix()', 500); } } window.setTimeout('youtubefix()', 500);More on America's Hidden Hunger Crisis:
? One in Four U.S. Kids Don?t Know Where Their Next Meal Is Coming From
? Who?s Paying the Price for Hunger in America? You.
? These Kids Don?t Want to Be Guy Fieri, They Want to Fix Their Food System
?
Lorie A. Parch is a Los Angeles-based writer specializing in health and lifestyle topics.?Takepart.com
(function ($) { $('a#displayText').click( function(e) { s.linkTrackVars='eVar45,eVar30,events'; s.linkTrackEvents='event46'; s.events='event46'; s.eVar45="A Place at the Table: Hungry and Heavy"; s.eVar30=s.pageName; s.tl(true, 'o', 'Hungry and Heavy - Click on Embed Infographic Link'); } ); $('a.MagicZoomPlus').click( function(e) { s.linkTrackVars='eVar45,eVar30,events'; s.linkTrackEvents='event45'; s.events='event45'; s.eVar45="A Place at the Table: Hungry and Heavy"; s.eVar30=s.pageName; s.tl(true, 'o', 'Hungry and Heavy - Click on Infographic'); } ); }(jQuery));Source: http://news.yahoo.com/someone-both-stuffed-starved-040000204.html
Video: 'Darksiders 2' and 'Borderlands 2' composer talks music
Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
Could Tapping Undersea Methane Lead To A New Gas Boom?
This photo from a Kyodo News helicopter shows a flame of natural gas from a Japanese deep-sea drilling ship on Tuesday. This successful extraction of methane from the seafloor was a world first.
Kyodo/LandovThis photo from a Kyodo News helicopter shows a flame of natural gas from a Japanese deep-sea drilling ship on Tuesday. This successful extraction of methane from the seafloor was a world first.
Kyodo/LandovThe new boom in natural gas from shale has changed the energy economy of the United States. But there's another giant reservoir of natural gas that lies under the ocean floor that, theoretically, could dwarf the shale boom.
No one had tapped this gas from the seabed until this week, when Japanese engineers pulled some up through a well from under the Pacific. The gas at issue here is called methane hydrate. Methane is natural gas; hydrate means there's water in it. In this case, the molecules of gas are trapped inside a sort of cage of water molecules.
Few people have actually seen methane hydrates, but Ann Cook, a geophysicist at Ohio State University, is one of the few.
Methane hydrates, like this sample extracted from the floor of the Sea of Japan, are potentially a huge new source of natural gas. The methane molecules are trapped inside a cage of water molecules.
Kyodo/LandovMethane hydrates, like this sample extracted from the floor of the Sea of Japan, are potentially a huge new source of natural gas. The methane molecules are trapped inside a cage of water molecules.
Kyodo/Landov"If you think about snow freezing in mud, that's what it would look like," says Cook, who spends weeks at a time looking for methane hydrates aboard drilling ships. "You would think, 'Oh, it's not so interesting,' " she says. "But then if you decided to light it on fire, it would burn right in front of you."
You can find methane hydrates underground in the Arctic, in frozen soil called permafrost. But most of the stuff lies under the seafloor, cold and under high pressure. It took millions of years for it to form, mostly from ocean microbes eating dead plankton. "And when those things die," says Cook, "they sort of rain down onto the ocean floor. And then later on, that organic matter is eaten by little microbes, and in the eating process, they spit out methane."
Scientists have brought up samples of the stuff, and actually tapped clean gas from reservoirs under land. But only this week have they tapped an undersea reservoir, a breakthrough by a Japanese crew drilling in the Pacific.
There could be a lot of this gas. The U.S. government estimates that along U.S. coastlines, there's enough to supply the country for decades. But there could be hazards in getting to it. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, and if a lot of it escapes into the atmosphere, that could hasten global warming.
Geologist Timothy Collett with the U.S. Geological Survey says it's still too early to either bet on a bonanza or worry about the climate. "Anyone who gives you a definitive answer ? including me ? about the potential of it being either a climate issue or hazard [versus] being a resource, has got a 50-50 shot of being accurate. We don't know enough," he says.
But that's not for lack of trying. The Department of Energy has been spending $10 million to $15 million a year studying methane hydrates. Ray Boswell, the technical manager on methane hydrates at the DOE's National Energy Technology Laboratory, says drilling for them in the seabed may not be risky since their natural state is to stay put.
"You will have to exert constant effort to push the hydrate into an unstable condition" so that it will rise up the well to the surface, Boswell says. "So our issue with gas-hydrate production is not [concern about a possible] runaway reaction. The challenge is figuring out how to keep it going."
But the story on methane hydrates isn't just about getting them up. There's lots of methane bound up in Arctic permafrost, and some climate scientists worry that it could bubble up into the atmosphere as the climate warms. Boswell points out that over the past 10,000 years, the sea level has been rising and is continuing to rise. When water inundates that permafrost, the methane could be released ? at least theoretically. Collett notes, though, that this process could take thousands of years.
Scientists agree that there is a lot to learn about these huge reservoirs of natural gas. In the meantime, several countries that are hungry for new energy sources ? including Japan, Korea, China and India ? are mounting drilling expeditions to get it out of the seabed and into pipelines.
obama state of the union address 2012 mitt romney tax return flip saunders
Fund pays $600M to settle insider trading charges
Hedge fund CR Intrinsic Investors will pay more than $600 million in what federal regulators are calling the largest insider trading settlement ever.
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged the firm with insider trading in 2012, alleging that one of its portfolio managers illegally obtained confidential details about an Alzheimer's drug trial from a doctor before the final results went public and made trades from that information.
The SEC said Friday that the fund agreed to settle the charges and the parties neither admit nor deny the charges.
"The historic monetary sanctions against CR Intrinsic and its affiliates are a sharp warning that the SEC will hold hedge fund advisory firms and their funds accountable when employees break the law to benefit the firm," George S. Canellos, acting director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement, said in a statement.
The SEC said in its complaint that Sidney Gillman, a doctor who moonlighted as a medical consultant, tipped CR Intrinsic portfolio manager Mathew Martoma with safety data and eventually negative results in the trial of the drug made by drug firms Elan Corp. and Wyeth two weeks before they were made public in 2008. Martoma and CR Intrinsic then caused several hedge funds to sell more than $960 million in Elan and Wyeth securities in a little more than a week.
The commission amended its complaint Friday to add S.A.C. Capital Advisors and four hedge funds managed by CR Intrinsic and S.A.C. Capital as defendants, saying they each received ill-gotten gains from the scheme.
The settlement is subject to the approval of a U.S. District Court judge. It does not settle charges against Martoma, whose case is still in litigation
It was one of multiple settlements reached Friday by the SEC. The SEC also settled charges against Sigma Capital Management for $14 million. Sigma allegedly profited illegally from early information about the earnings of two technology companies.
The cases stem from a long-running probe of insider trading by hedge funds, many of which are affiliated with S.A.C. Capital.
CR Intrinsic was an affiliate of S.A.C. A separate S.A.C. affiliate fund allegedly benefited from Sigma's actions.
S.A.C. said in a statement Friday that it is happy to put these matters with the SEC behind it.
"This settlement is a substantial step toward resolving all outstanding regulatory matters and allows the firm to move forward with confidence," the company. "We are committed to continuing to maintain a first-rate compliance effort woven into the fabric of the firm."
____
Daniel Wagner in Washington contributed to this report.
Associated PressAir traffic tower closures will strip safety net
In this March 11, 2013 photo, Mark Hanna, director of the Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in Springfield, Ill., talks about the possible closing of the air traffic control tower behind him and nearly 240 more around the country under federal budget cuts. Airport directors and pilots are concerned that eliminating a second pair of eyes on the ground will increase risk throughout the American air-transport system, the world?s safest. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)
In this March 11, 2013 photo, Mark Hanna, director of the Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in Springfield, Ill., talks about the possible closing of the air traffic control tower behind him and nearly 240 more around the country under federal budget cuts. Airport directors and pilots are concerned that eliminating a second pair of eyes on the ground will increase risk throughout the American air-transport system, the world?s safest. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)
In this March 12, 2013 photo, an American Eagle jet taxis to a gate past the control tower after landing at the Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in Springfield, Ill. The airport is one of nearly 240 small airports around the country that will likely shut down their air traffic control towers under federal budget cuts, stripping away a layer of safety during takeoffs and landings and leaving many pilots to manage the most critical stages of flight on their own. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)
In this March 12, 2013 photo, a baggage handler walks by an American Eagle jet after it pulled up to a gate on arrival at the Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in Springfield, Ill. The airport is one of nearly 240 small airports around the country that will likely shut down their air traffic control towers under federal budget cuts, stripping away a layer of safety during takeoffs and landings and leaving many pilots to manage the most critical stages of flight on their own. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)
In this March 12, 2013 photo, baggage handlers unload an American Eagle jet after it landed at the Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in Springfield, Ill. The airport is one of nearly 240 small airports around the country that will likely shut down their air traffic control towers under federal budget cuts, stripping away a layer of safety during takeoffs and landings and leaving many pilots to manage the most critical stages of flight on their own. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)
In this March 12, 2013 photo, baggage handlers unload an American Eagle jet after it landed at the Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in Springfield, Ill. The airport is one of nearly 240 small airports around the country that will likely shut down their air traffic control towers under federal budget cuts, stripping away a layer of safety during takeoffs and landings and leaving many pilots to manage the most critical stages of flight on their own. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)
CHICAGO (AP) ? The planned shutdown of nearly 240 air traffic control towers across the country under federal budget cuts will strip away an extra layer of safety during takeoffs and landings, leaving pilots to manage the most critical stages of flight on their own.
The towers slated to close are at smaller airports with lighter traffic, and all pilots are trained to land without help by communicating among themselves on a common radio frequency. But airport directors and pilots say there is little doubt the removal of that second pair of eyes on the ground increases risk and will slow the progress that has made the U.S. air system the safest in the world.
It's not just private pilots in small planes who stand to be affected. Many of the airports in question are serviced by major airlines, and the cuts could also leave towers unmanned during overnight hours at some big-city airports such as Chicago's Midway and General Mitchell Airport in Milwaukee. The plans have prompted airlines to review whether the changes might pose problems for commercial service that could mean canceling or rescheduling flights.
Without the help of controllers, risk "goes up exponentially," said Mark Hanna, director of the Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in Springfield, Ill., which could see its tower close.
As part of the spending cuts that went into effect this month, the Federal Aviation Administration is being forced to trim $637 million for the rest of the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30. The agency said it had no choice but to subject most of its 47,000 employees, including tower controllers, to periodic furloughs.
Representatives of the FAA declined to discuss the effect of the cuts with The Associated Press. In two recent speeches and testimony before Congress, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta stressed that safety remained the agency's top priority. But many in the aviation sector are frustrated that the political brinkmanship in Washington has affected such a sensitive area of aviation.
Jim Montman, manager of the Santa Fe Municipal Airport, which is on the list for tower closures, said the absence of controllers raises the risk of midair collisions "or some sort of incident where somebody lands on the wrong runway. ... That critical link is gone."
Hundreds of small airports around the country routinely operate without controllers, using procedures in place since the earliest days of aviation. Pilots are trained to watch for other aircraft and announce their position over the radio during approaches, landings and takeoffs.
But past crashes, however rare, have exposed weaknesses in that system.
On Nov. 19, 1996, a 19-seat United Express flight landing in Quincy, Ill., collided with another twin-engine turboprop that was taking off. They slammed into each other at the intersection of two runways, killing all 14 people aboard the two planes.
The National Transportation Safety Board concluded the probable cause was a failure of the pilots in the outbound flight to monitor the radio frequency for air traffic and to properly scan for other planes.
"If a tower was there, it's highly likely that that accident would have been prevented," said Hanna, who became director of the Quincy airport about two years after the crash and before moving to the job in Springfield.
The 238 air traffic control facilities that could be closed were chosen because they are at airports with fewer than 150,000 flight operations per year. They are located in nearly every state.
The first round of closures is expected to target 173 of those towers that are run by third-party contractors, rather than FAA staff. That process could start early next month.
Those airports had until Wednesday to put forward arguments for why their towers should stay open, but the bar is high and few are thought to be likely to escape the cuts. A final decision on the list is set for Monday.
The airports can choose to pick up the cost to keep their towers open, but few are expected to be able to afford that.
Beyond the airfields, some mayors are concerned about the impact on tourism if tower closures lead to the loss of passenger service. And there are worries of other effects, including whether medical helicopter pilots might stop using airports without tower controllers.
Rep. Aaron Schock, an Illinois Republican whose district includes the Springfield airport, said the FAA's operational budget has grown about 40 percent over the past decade and there's no reason it can't operate safely under the automatic spending cuts, known as sequestration.
"Any action by the Obama administration that does jeopardize safety is more evidence that the White House is implementing the sequester in ways to only score political points," Schock said.
Robert Poole, an aviation expert at the Reason Foundation think tank, said the effect could be minimal for some small airports that have been overdeveloped as a result of politicians bringing money home from Washington.
In addition to round-the-clock tower closures, overnight shifts could be eliminated at 72 control facilities, including at much larger airports such as Midway, which sees an average of 50 flights daily between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., nearly all of them passenger flights operated by carriers that include Southwest and Delta.
That raises the possibility that full-size jetliners could be landing there without any help from controllers.
Airlines have yet to say whether they will continue offering service to airports that lose tower staff.
"It's premature to discuss flight cancellations, as the earliest any furloughs would occur is April 7," said Katie Connell, spokeswoman for the industry group Airlines for America. "We are working with the FAA to minimize any impact to passengers and shippers."
Chicago pilot Robert McKenzie, who has a commercial license but primarily flies a small Cessna, has a lot of experience landing at smaller airports without control towers.
Doing so involves a lot more concentration, he said. Pilots have to watch for other aircraft, take note of weather conditions, look for debris on runways and make calls over the radio ? all while operating their own plane.
Pilots have a very good track record of doing that safely. "But it never hurts to have somebody else out there helping you watch," McKenzie said. "It's a nice safety net to have."
McKenzie, a lawyer specializing in aviation matters, says the loss of towers is of concern to the Illinois Pilots Association, where he sits on the board of directors.
Most troubling, he said, would be the loss of towers at airports such as Springfield and Santa Fe, which are used by a mix of small private planes and larger passenger aircraft that often converge on airfields at different speeds and using different procedures. Controllers keep those planes safely separated and sequenced for landings.
Tower controllers also play a big role in keeping aircraft from taxiing across active runways, something that has been a key FAA focus for years.
"When you're at an uncontrolled field, avoiding that problem is entirely dependent on other pilots not making mistakes," McKenzie said. "There's nobody there as a backup."
___
Associated Press Writer Jeri Clausing contributed to this report from Albuquerque, N.M.
Associated PressSilver and Gold Prices: The Gold Price Touched $1,598.54 Today I ...
Gold Price Close Today : 1,592.50
Gold Price Close 8-Mar-13 : 1,576.60
Change : 15.90 or 1.0%
Gold Price Close 8-Mar-13 : 1,576.60
Change : 15.90 or 1.0%
Silver Price Close Today : 28.817
Silver Price Close 8-Mar-13 : 28.909
Change : -9.20 or -0.3%
Gold Silver Ratio Today : 55.263
Gold Silver Ratio 8-Mar-13 : 54.537
Change : 0.73 or 1.3%
Silver Gold Ratio : 0.01810
Silver Gold Ratio 8-Mar-13 : 0.01834
Change : -0.00024 or -1.3%
Dow in Gold Dollars : $ 188.40
Dow in Gold Dollars 8-Mar-13 : $ 188.77
Change : -$0.37 or -0.2%
Dow in Gold Ounces : 9.114
Dow in Gold Ounces 8-Mar-13 : 9.132
Change : -0.02 or -0.2%
Dow in Silver Ounces : 503.66
Dow in Silver Ounces 8-Mar-13 : 498.01
Change : 5.65 or 1.1%
Dow Industrial : 14,514.11
Dow Industrial 8-Mar-13 : 14,397.07
Change : 117.04 or 0.8%
S&P 500 : 1,560.70
S&P 500 8-Mar-13 : 1,541.18
Change : 19.52 or 1.3%
US Dollar Index : 82.236
US Dollar Index 8-Mar-13 : 82.770
Change : -0.534 or -0.6%
Platinum Price Close Today : 1,591.40
Platinum Price Close 8-Mar-13 : 1,601.90
Change : -10.50 or -0.7%
Palladium Price Close Today : 773.70
Palladium Price Close 8-Mar-13 : 780.65
Change : -6.95 or -0.9%
The GOLD PRICE today hit $1,598.54, pounding on that $1,600 door with both fists, but closed up only $1.90 at $1,592.50.
The SILVER PRICE gained a measly 4.5 cents to close at 2881.7c.
Today left the GOLD PRICE still above and outside that pennant it broke out of (upward) earlier this week. Indicators all argue that gold made a bottom at 1554.30 in February, then a higher low six days ago at $1,560.40. Any price lower than $1,570 (the apex of that pennant) would gainsay that conclusion that gold has reversed heaven-ward.
Silver slightly pierced the bottom boundary of its pennant, then traded back up into it today, nearly closing above its 20 DMA at 2891c. Here, too, all the indicators and sentiment all point to a reversal.
I expect to see silver and gold break out above 2950c and $1,600 next week. Now, saying that I'm crawling out on a limb with a chainsaw in one hand, but I'm willing to take that chance. It's still unclear, but when stocks break (before end-March) that should help gold and silver.
I'll admit I've had a dark cloud hanging over me lately. Just seems that the Rot is progressing faster than I can acclimate to it. Somehow the yankee government refusing to say it won't use drones in the US seems to me the same as saying it WILL use them. Call me old-fashioned, but a government claiming it has power and authority to kill its own citizens seems to contradict all the purposes of government. I won't even mention the signs the yankee government is planning once again to wage war on its own people -- Homeland Security ordering a billion rounds of hollow point ammo (banned in international warfare) and more armored vehicles that the Germans had when they invaded France in 1940. They need those like a fish needs a bicycle -- unless they're up to no good.
Yep, I know some of y'all with call me paranoid, goofy, squirrelly, all of that, but you have never had a SWAT team on your back porch. A day is coming when y'all are going to have to overcome your fear of government and stand up for your neighbors. Otherwise, when they come for you, there'll be nobody to stand up for you.
Criminal to resist? That's what they want you to think, and that it's criminal to insist on your rights. I reckon morality depends on your viewpoint, and what they call good behavior might also be called cowardice and treason to your fathers and your children. Got to choose.
But shoot! What do I know, a natural born fool from Tennessee? We're so backward some of us here still believe in the God of the Bible.
I saw a census report that one in three counties is now dying off due to weakened local economies. Young people move away and only the old are left, and these are mostly rural counties. Here's something you -- even little you -- can do to fight The Rot and rebuild your local economy: buy local food. That's the starting point. For more, see my YouTube video, "Rebuilding Your Local Economy," 46 minutes at http://bit.ly/ZbXd5H
Okay, I'm gonna cheer up now and get mean, plumb mean, so mean I can chew nails and spit out iron filings.
Stocks ground relentlessly to new tops this week, setting up for a big drop. Probably this top coming soon won't be the ultimate top, but the drop will have all those presently smugly cocksure that they are investing geniuses puking in their wastebaskets. Ultimate top should come later this year.
Dow fell 25.03 (0.17%) today to 14,514.11 while the S&P500, still unable to reach that 2007 top by two tiny points, fell 2.53 (0.16%) to 1,560.70.
Dow in Gold and Dow in Silver are still moving sideways, although the Dow in Silver inched a little higher to 504.74 oz. Both charts look very, very toppy.
Currencies moved around, but without any great changes. US dollar index fell 33.9 basis points (-0.44%) to 82.236. Yen poked its head up 0.79% to 104.89 cents per 100 yen. Euro did gap up a little to touch its 20 day moving average, gaining 0.54% to $1.3074. 20 DMA stands at $1.3102. I don't believe this amounts to more than a bounce in a downtrend. Today argues that the US Dollar has broken its uptrend, but it has yet to confirm that with lower prices.
A National Treasure is a person who by his contribution to culture or science has earned the thanks of the entire nation. Integrative physician Dr. Jonathan Wright of Tahoma Clinic in Seattle is just such a national treasure, which of course means that the Washington State medical board (Medical Quality Assurance Commission) has tried has tried to put him out of practice over 25 times since 1970. Vendetta? Naww, just an accident of socialist bureaucracy.
For the whole story, go to the Alliance for Natural Health and read the article, "Washington State Medical Board Endangers Public Health and Safety," at http://bit.ly/ZnbSK4
That article will explain how the board is attacking Dr. Wright this time, for an alleged offense that is in fact the board's fault. The hearing takes place next week, 18 - 20 March. Dr. Wright's license is at stake. At the bottom of the article you'll find a green button, "Take Action!" Click on that button and a form offers you a letter of protest that will go to the governor, state senators, and state representatives. Unfortunately only Washington residents can send this email.
I seldom ask y'all for a favor, but I am leaning on you this time, for the sake of this wise and faithful man who has helped hundreds of thousands of people. It won't take you ten minutes. Is it worth 10 minutes to raise your voice against a railroading travesty of justice? And if you have friends who live in Washington state, send them this email and ask them to send an email through ANH-USA.org. Thanks.
Argentum et aurum comparenda sunt -- -- Gold and silver must be bought.
- Franklin Sanders, The Moneychanger
The-MoneyChanger.com
1-888-218-9226
10:00am-5:00pm CST, Monday-Friday
? 2013, The Moneychanger. May not be republished in any form, including electronically, without our express permission.
To avoid confusion, please remember that the comments above have a very short time horizon. Always invest with the primary trend. Gold's primary trend is up, targeting at least $3,130.00; silver's primary is up targeting 16:1 gold/silver ratio or $195.66; stocks' primary trend is down, targeting Dow under 2,900 and worth only one ounce of gold; US$ or US$-denominated assets, primary trend down; real estate bubble has burst, primary trend down.
WARNING AND DISCLAIMER. Be advised and warned:
Do NOT use these commentaries to trade futures contracts. I don't intend them for that or write them with that short term trading outlook. I write them for long-term investors in physical metals. Take them as entertainment, but not as a timing service for futures.
NOR do I recommend investing in gold or silver Exchange Trade Funds (ETFs). Those are NOT physical metal and I fear one day one or another may go up in smoke. Unless you can breathe smoke, stay away. Call me paranoid, but the surviving rabbit is wary of traps.
NOR do I recommend trading futures options or other leveraged paper gold and silver products. These are not for the inexperienced.
NOR do I recommend buying gold and silver on margin or with debt.
What DO I recommend? Physical gold and silver coins and bars in your own hands.
One final warning: NEVER insert a 747 Jumbo Jet up your nose. No, I don't.
Source: http://silver-and-gold-prices.goldprice.org/2013/03/the-gold-price-touched-159854-today-i.html
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)