SAP Commits to Driving Skills Development and Job Creation in Africa

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa/PRNewswire/ -- Coinciding with Co-CEO Jim Hagemann Snabe's visit to?Johannesburg,?SAP AG?(NYSE: SAP) today announced the launch of a formal skills development program in SAP Africa. The "Skills for?Africa" program is aimed at developing information and communications technology (ICT) skills in?Africa?as part of SAP's global mission to help the world run better and improve people's lives. SAP's social investment strategy is focused on promoting education and entrepreneurship.

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With growth and the scarcity of skills on the African continent top of mind, this program?? a first of its kind in the industry in?Africa?? will offer selected students across the continent the opportunity to develop world-class IT and business skills, effectively giving them an opportunity to play a role in contributing toward?Africa's future economic growth and infrastructure development.

This program represents the African chapter of SAP's "EMEA Workforce of the Future" campaign, focused on examining European, Middle Eastern and African (EMEA) trends, needs and opportunities vital to the successful recruitment, retention and training of the technology industry's workforce of the future. In support of this effort, several other activities are underway across?Europe, most notably theAcademy Cube project, which helps students in the EU prepare for "Industry 4.0," the fourth industrial revolution where products will soon be expected to be able to communicate and act autonomously with one another in intelligently networked production processes.

Along with partners and customers, SAP Africa will drive the Skills for?Africa?program around its strategic hubs, namely?South Africa,?Angola,?Nigeria,?Kenya?and?Senegal, to be followed by ancillary countries such as?Ivory Coast?and?Mauritius. Focusing initially on key industries including public and financial sectors, utilities and oil and gas, the Skills for?Africa's program aims to create a rich talent pool in?Africafor the entire SAP ecosystem. The program is targeted at students who have been identified in collaboration with the government in each of the focus countries.

To support the ambitious rollout of the program, a 56-strong partner base has also been established throughout?Africa?to maintain momentum. Due to the vast geographical area identified and in the interest of providing the best experience to students and a view to future employment, SAP will be closely aligned with the partner ecosystem in?Africa?for the rollout to help ensure a successful outcome.

Enabling Skills without Internet Access
Skills for?Africa?training will comprise a hybrid approach of classroom and e-learning. The unique self-study e-learning environment will allow students to study when and how it suits them without requiring Internet access; a key factor in many of the locations in question. To kick off this phase of the roll-out of the program, SAP Africa today also is launching training kits that include printed course material and a data-encrypted dongle, a USB which is valid for the period of the course duration. In the interest of negating piracy, the dongle will be de-activated automatically after the validity period of the course. The kits will be available in English, French and Portuguese across the relevant countries.

"Securing a highly skilled workforce in?Africa?is key to ongoing success. Not only is SAP committed to the countries in which it does business; programs of this nature make solid business sense," said Snabe. "SAP sees huge opportunities for?Africa?and the multi-million Euro investment into this program over the next five years is indicative of our commitment. Bearing in mind that the unemployment rate varies from 25.5 percent in?South Africa?to almost 48 percent in?Senegal, there is a distinct requirement for business to help develop an appropriate?skills base, especially when taking into account the enormous growth opportunity for?Africa?from an infrastructure perspective."

The Skills for?Africa?program has been crafted to meet the needs of the complex African skills landscape and to take infrastructure into consideration to ensure ease of use and learning in challenging environments. The pilot phase for the program has been successfully kicked off in?Kenya?in October of 2012, with over 100 students soon to be trained. Over the next five years, SAP plans to roll out the program to?Nigeria,?Senegal,?Angola?and?South Africa. The program will target on average 100 students per year, per country, which will result in 2,500 previously unskilled students to be educated in the much sought-after SAP skills sphere.?A second phase of the rollout is planned to extend to an additional set of countries, including?Mauritius?and the?Ivory Coast.

For more information, visit the?SAP Newsroom.

About SAP
As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device ? SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 238,000 customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. For more information, visitwww.sap.com.

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "should" and "will" and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

? 2013 SAP AG. All rights reserved.?
SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in?Germany?and other countries. Please seehttp://www.sap.com/corporate-en/legal/copyright/index.epx#trademark?for additional trademark information and notices.

Follow SAP on Twitter at?@sapnews,?@SAPAfrica?and?@sustainableSAP.

For customers interested in learning more about SAP products:?
Global Customer Center: +49 180 534-34-24
United States Only: 1 (800) 872-1SAP (1-800-872-1727)

For more information, press only:
Antonia Stafford Ashton, SAP Africa, +27 (21) 528 1700,?antonia.ashton@sap.com, CAT
Robin Meyerhoff, + 1650 440 2572,?robin.meyerhoff@sap.com, PDT
SAP Press Office, +49 (6227) 7-46315, CET; +1 (610) 661-3200, EDT;?press@sap.com

SOURCE SAP AG

Source: http://www.socialmediaportal.com/PressReleases/2013/05/SAP-Commits-to-Driving-Skills-Development-and-Job-Creation-in-Africa.aspx

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Top 10 new species of 2012

May 22, 2013 ? An amazing glow-in-the-dark cockroach, a harp-shaped carnivorous sponge and the smallest vertebrate on Earth are just three of the newly discovered top 10 species selected by the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University. A global committee of taxonomists -- scientists responsible for species exploration and classification -- announced its list of top 10 species from 2012 today, May 23.

The announcement, now in its sixth year, coincides with the anniversary of the birth of Carolus Linnaeus -- the 18th century Swedish botanist responsible for the modern system of scientific names and classifications.

Also slithering it way onto this year's top 10 is a snail-eating false coral snake, as well as flowering bushes from a disappearing forest in Madagascar, a green lacewing that was discovered through social media and hangingflies that perfectly mimicked ginkgo tree leaves 165 million years ago. Rounding out the list is a new monkey with a blue-colored behind and human-like eyes, a tiny violet and a black staining fungus that threatens rare Paleolithic cave paintings in France.

"We have identified only about two million of an estimated 10 to 12 million living species and that does not count most of the microbial world," said Quentin Wheeler, founding director of the International Institute for Species Exploration at ASU and author of "What on Earth? 100 of our Planet's Most Amazing New Species" (NY, Plume, 2013).

"For decades, we have averaged 18,000 species discoveries per year which seemed reasonable before the biodiversity crisis. Now, knowing that millions of species may not survive the 21st century, it is time to pick up the pace," Wheeler added.

"We are calling for a NASA-like mission to discover 10 million species in the next 50 years. This would lead to discovering countless options for a more sustainable future while securing evidence of the origins of the biosphere," Wheeler said.

Taxon experts pick top 10

Members of the international committee made their top 10 selection from more than 140 nominated species. To be considered, species must have been described in compliance with the appropriate code of nomenclature, whether botanical, zoological or microbiological, and have been officially named during 2012.

"Selecting the final list of new species from a wide representation of life forms such as bacteria, fungi, plants and animals, is difficult. It requires finding an equilibrium between certain criteria and the special insights revealed by selection committee members," said Antonio Valdecasas, a biologist and research zoologist with Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales in Madrid, Spain. Valdecasas is the international selection committee chairman for the top 10 new species.

"We look for organisms with unexpected features or size and those found in rare or difficult to reach habitats. We also look for organisms that are especially significant to humans -- those that play a certain role in human habitat or that are considered a close relative," Valdecasas added.

This year's top 10 come from Peru; NE Pacific Ocean, USA: California; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Panama; France; New Guinea; Madagascar; Ecuador; Malaysia; and China.

Top 10 New Species, 2013

"I don't know whether to be more astounded by the species discovered each year, or the depths of our ignorance about biodiversity of which we are a part," shared Wheeler.

"At the same time we search the heavens for other earthlike planets, we should make it a high priority to explore the biodiversity on the most earthlike planet of them all: Earth," he added. "With more than eight out of every 10 living species awaiting discovery, I am shocked by our ignorance of our very own planet and in awe at the diversity, beauty and complexity of the biosphere and its inhabitants."

Describing the discoveries

Lilliputian Violet: Viola lilliputana Country: Peru

Tiny violet: Not only is the Lilliputian violet among the smallest violets in the world, it is also one of the most diminutive terrestrial dicots. Known only from a single locality in an Intermontane Plateau of the high Andes of Peru, Viola lilliputana lives in the dry puna grassland eco-region. Specimens were first collected in the 1960s, but the species was not described as a new until 2012. The entire above ground portion of the plant is barely 1 centimeter tall. Named, obviously, for the race of little people on the island of Lilliput in Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels.

Lyre Sponge Chondrocladia lyra Country: NE Pacific Ocean; USA: California

Carnivorous sponge: A spectacular, large, harp- or lyre-shaped carnivorous sponge discovered in deep water (averaging 3,399 meters) from the northeast Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. The harp-shaped structures or vanes number from two to six and each has more than 20 parallel vertical branches, often capped by an expanded, balloon-like, terminal ball. This unusual form maximizes the surface area of the sponge for contact and capture of planktonic prey.

Lesula Monkey Cercopithecus lomamiensis Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Old World monkey: Discovered in the Lomami Basin of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the lesula is an Old World monkey well known to locals but newly known to science. This is only the second species of monkey discovered in Africa in the past 28 years. Scientists first saw the monkey as a captive juvenile in 2007. Researchers describe the shy lesula as having human-like eyes. More easily heard than seen, the monkeys perform a booming dawn chorus. Adult males have a large, bare patch of skin on the buttocks, testicles and perineum that is colored a brilliant blue. Although the forests where the monkeys live are remote, the species is hunted for bush meat and its status is vulnerable.

No to the Mine! Snake Sibon noalamina Country: Panama

Snail-eating snake: A beautiful new species of snail-eating snake has been discovered in the highland rainforests of western Panama. The snake is nocturnal and hunts soft-bodied prey including earthworms and amphibian eggs, in addition to snails and slugs. This harmless snake defends itself by mimicking the alternating dark and light rings of venomous coral snakes. The species is found in the Serran?a de Tabasar? mountain range where ore mining is degrading and diminishing its habitat. The species name is derived from the Spanish phrase "No a la mina" or "No to the mine."

A Smudge on Paleolithic Art Ochroconis anomala Country: France

Fungus: In 2001, black stains began to appear on the walls of Lascaux Cave in France. By 2007, the stains were so prevalent they became a major concern for the conservation of precious rock art at the site that dates back to the Upper Paleolithic. An outbreak of a white fungus, Fusarium solani, had been successfully treated when just a few months later, black staining fungi appeared. The genus primarily includes fungi that occur in the soil and are associated with the decomposition of plant matter. As far as scientists know, this fungus, one of two new species of the genus from Lascaux, is harmless. However, at least one species of the group, O. gallopava, causes disease in humans who have compromised immune systems.

World's Smallest Vertebrate Paedophryne amanuensis Country: New Guinea

Tiny frog: Living vertebrates -- animals that have a backbone or spinal column -- range in size from this tiny new species of frog, as small as 7 millimeters, to the blue whale, measuring 25.8 meters. The new frog was discovered near Amau village in Papua, New Guinea. It captures the title of 'smallest living vertebrate' from a tiny Southeast Asian cyprinid fish that claimed the record in 2006. The adult frog size, determined by averaging the lengths of both males and females, is only 7.7 millimeters. With few exceptions, this and other ultra-small frogs are associated with moist leaf litter in tropical wet forests -- suggesting a unique ecological guild that could not exist under drier circumstances.

Endangered Forest Eugenia petrikensis Country: Madagascar

Endangered shrub: Eugenia is a large, worldwide genus of woody evergreen trees and shrubs of the myrtle family that is particularly diverse in South America, New Caledonia and Madagascar. The new species E. petrikensis is a shrub growing to two meters with emerald green, slightly glossy foliage and beautiful, dense clusters of small magenta flowers. It is one of seven new species described from the littoral forest of eastern Madagascar and is considered to be an endangered species. It is the latest evidence of the unique and numerous species found in this specialized, humid forest that grows on sandy substrate within kilometers of the shoreline. Once forming a continuous band 1,600 kilometers long, the littoral forest has been reduced to isolated, vestigial fragments under pressure from human populations.

Lightning Roaches? Lucihormetica luckae Country: Ecuador

Glow-in-the-dark cockroach: Luminescence among terrestrial animals is rather rare and best known among several groups of beetles -- fireflies and certain click beetles in particular -- as well as cave-inhabiting fungus gnats. Since the first discovery of a luminescent cockroach in 1999, more than a dozen species have (pardon the pun) "come to light." All are rare, and interestingly, so far found only in remote areas far from light pollution. The latest addition to this growing list is L. luckae that may be endangered or possibly already extinct. This cockroach is known from a single specimen collected 70 years ago from an area heavily impacted by the eruption of the Tungurahua volcano. The species may be most remarkable because the size and placement of its lamps suggest that it is using light to mimic toxic luminescent click beetles.

No Social Butterfly Semachrysa jade Country: Malaysia

Social media lacewing: In a trend-setting collision of science and social media, Hock Ping Guek photographed a beautiful green lacewing with dark markings at the base of its wings in a park near Kuala Lumpur and shared his photo on Flickr. Shaun Winterton, an entomologist with the California Department of Food and Agriculture, serendipitously saw the image and recognized the insect as unusual. When Guek was able to collect a specimen, it was sent to Stephen Brooks at London's Natural History Museum who confirmed its new species status. The three joined forces and prepared a description using Google Docs. In this triumph for citizen science, talents from around the globe collaborated by using new media in making the discovery. The lacewing is not named for its color -- rather for Winterton's daughter, Jade.

Hanging Around in the Jurassic Juracimbrophlebia ginkgofolia Country: China

Hangingfly fossil: Living species of hangingflies can be found, as the name suggests, hanging beneath foliage where they capture other insects as food. They are a lineage of scorpionflies characterized by their skinny bodies, two pairs of narrow wings, and long threadlike legs. A new fossil species, Juracimbrophlebia ginkgofolia, has been found along with preserved leaves of a gingko-like tree, Yimaia capituliformis, in Middle Jurassic deposits in the Jiulongshan Formation in China's Inner Mongolia. The two look so similar that they are easily confused in the field and represent a rare example of an insect mimicking a gymnosperm 165 million years ago, before an explosive radiation of flowering plants.

Why create a top 10 new species list?

Arizona State University's International Institute for Species Exploration announces the top 10 new species list each year as part of its public awareness campaign to bring attention to biodiversity and the field of taxonomy.

"Sustainable biodiversity means assuring the survival of as many and as diverse species as possible so that ecosystems are resilient to whatever stresses they face in the future. Scientists will need access to as much evidence of evolutionary history as possible," said the institute's Wheeler, who is also a professor in ASU's School of Life Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and in the School of Sustainability, as well as a senior sustainability scientist with the Global Institute of Sustainability.

"All of our hopes and dreams for conservation hinge upon saving millions of species that we cannot recognize and know nothing about," Wheeler added. "No investment makes more sense than completing a simple inventory to the establish baseline data that tells us what kinds of plants and animals exist and where. Until we know what species already exist, it is folly to expect we will make the right decisions to assure the best possible outcome for the pending biodiversity crisis."

Additionally, the announcement is made on or near May 23 to honor Linnaeus. Since he initiated the modern system for naming plants and animals, nearly two million species have been named, described and classified. Excluding unknown millions of microbes, scientists estimate there are between 10 and 12 million living species.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/8ACln9n0UhY/130522163921.htm

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Bernanke signals Fed to maintain stimulus efforts

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Chairman Ben Bernanke is telling Congress Wednesday that the U.S. job market remains weak and that it is too soon for the Federal Reserve to end its extraordinary stimulus programs.

Reducing the Fed's efforts to keep borrowing rates low would "carry a substantial risk of slowing or ending the economic recovery," Bernanke said in testimony to the Joint Economic Committee.

Bernanke noted that the economy is growing moderately this year and unemployment has fallen to a four-year low of 7.5 percent. Still, unemployment remains well above levels consistent with healthy economies. And Bernanke said higher taxes and deep federal spending cuts are expected to slow economic growth this year.

His comments about the many risks facing the economy, along with the benefits gained so far from the Fed's stimulus, suggest the Fed is not ready to taper bond purchases that have helped lower long-term interest rates to encourage more borrowing and spending.

Stocks surged after Bernanke's comments. The Dow Jones industrial average was up just 40 points before his comments were released at 10 a.m. EDT. Minutes later, the Dow was up 125 points.

The Fed has said it plans to continue its $85 billion-a-month in Treasury and mortgage bond purchases until the job market improves substantially. And after its April 30-May 1 meeting, the Fed said it could increase or decrease the pace depending on how the job market and inflation fare.

Investors have been closely scrutinizing policymakers' comments since then for clues about the pace of the bond purchases.

Bernanke has had solid support for the bond purchases among the voting members of the Fed's interest-rate setting committee. At each of the Fed's three policy meetings this year, the committee has approved the purchases 11-1.

In recent months, the job market and the broader economy have shown renewed vigor. The economy has added an average of 208,000 jobs a month since November. That's up from only 138,000 a month in the previous six months.

The economy has benefited from a resurgent housing market, rising consumer confidence and the Fed's stimulus actions, which have helped ignite a stock market rally. The Standard & Poor's 500 stock index has jumped 17 percent this year to a record high. Higher stock prices tend to make many people feel wealthier and more inclined to spend.

Those gains, in part, are why critics of the bond purchases, including some Fed regional bank presidents, have questioned the need to continue them at their current pace. They argue that keeping interest rates too low for too long could send inflation surging or inflate dangerous bubbles in assets such as stocks or real estate. Such a bubble could burst with the same destabilizing effects that the housing bust caused.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-05-22-US-Bernanke/id-f92a53c5f59d4298a9c0300abfd51a23

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Ark. treasurer accused of taking cash from broker

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Arkansas' state treasurer was accused Monday of taking at least $36,000 in cash ? sometimes stashed in a pie box ? from a broker who later came to manage a large share of the state's $3.3 billion investment portfolio.

Democrat Martha Shoffner, who made her initial court appearance Monday, said she had no plans to resign despite members of her own party joining Republican calls for her to step down. She was released on her own recognizance but ordered to surrender her passport.

Federal prosecutors allege Shoffner accepted $12,000 a year from a broker who would sometimes deliver cash in a pie box, with the pie included. They said the broker is cooperating with investigators.

"The allegations against Ms. Shoffner are serious and they completely erode the public trust that we put in our elected officials, if they prove to be true," U.S. Attorney Chris Thyer said at a news conference.

Outside the courthouse, Shoffner, 68, said she does not intend to resign. She was re-elected in 2010, and has faced inquiries over the past year about the way her office has handled state investments.

She didn't enter a plea Monday, but her attorney, Chuck Banks, said she'd plead not guilty at the appropriate time. A federal grand jury will decide whether to indict Shoffner, who is charged with attempt and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right.

The charges carry maximum penalties of 20 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine. A next court date was not set.

Shoffner was arrested during a sting operation Saturday and spent the weekend in Pulaski County Jail.

"This has been a very, very tough proceeding for her and a tough weekend," Banks said.

An FBI affidavit filed in federal court alleges that a broker ? unidentified in court documents ? would roll up cash in $6,000 increments and have it delivered to Shoffner's office every six months. At least two of the payments were delivered in a pie box with a pie. The broker "recognized his/her bond business with the state grew because of the payments," the affidavit said.

The payments were made after Shoffner asked the broker for $1,000 a month to pay her rent in Little Rock, according to the affidavit. The document said the broker was granted immunity in exchange for his or her cooperation.

Legislative auditors last year questioned Shoffner's selling of bonds before they matured, a practice that they said cost the state more than $434,000 worth of earnings.

The state's top elected officials, including Gov. Mike Beebe, Attorney General Dustin McDaniel and U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, called for Shoffner to resign.

"I think she should resign immediately," said Beebe, adding that the details provided by prosecutors are so specific that Shoffner has been rendered unable to lead.

"It would be very hard, in my opinion, for that office to properly function under her continued leadership," the Democrat added.

The heads of the Democratic and Republican parties also said Shoffner should step down.

"The incompetence that has been uncovered, the criminal charges that are pending, and the distraction from her office that due process will involve make her unfit to continue in her service as State Treasurer," Arkansas Republican Party Chairman Doyle Webb said.

Banks, Shoffner's attorney, said he "probably" would advise Shoffner to resign, but that the call is ultimately up to her.

"If she cannot properly perform her duties and responsibilities and still protect herself in a crime accusation, then to me it would be something for strong consideration," he told reporters.

Lawmakers could hold impeachment proceedings to remove Shoffner from office if she doesn't resign, but legislative leaders stopped short of saying whether they'd consider it.

Shoffner was arrested at her home in Newport after the broker agreed to record the meeting and bring $6,000 in a pie box, according to the affidavit. FBI agents executed a search warrant and found the cash inside a cigarette package in Shoffner's kitchen.

"Shoffner admitted she knew it was wrong to accept the payments," the affidavit said.

Thyer said he did not know how much the state had invested with the broker, or how much commission the broker made from the bond transactions. Thyer said it wasn't an easy decision for prosecutors to grant immunity to the broker, who he wouldn't name.

"It was a decision made out of necessity more than anything else," the U.S. attorney said. "At the core of this particular conspiracy as alleged in the affidavit there were two people, and if both of those two people remained silent we would not be here today."

The State Securities Department, which regulates brokers, said it would look into who made the payments to Shoffner and whether they were acting alone or on behalf of a firm.

"We're probably going to have to hunt this person down and we're going to do that," Securities Commissioner Heath Abshure said.

The CEO of St. Bernard Financial Services, the firm that legislative auditors said handled the bulk of bond investments by Shoffner's office, said he had not been contacted by the FBI.

Auditors said the office purchased $1.69 billion in bonds from St. Bernard and a related firm between July 2008 and March 2012, almost double the amount purchased from any other broker.

"If my broker is the one involved, I am not aware of it," Robert Keenan wrote in an email to The Associated Press. "At this time I don't believe he was, but anything is possible."

___

Associated Press Writer Chuck Bartels contributed to this report from Little Rock.

___

Follow Andrew DeMillo on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ademillo

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ark-treasurer-accused-taking-cash-164725221.html

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Storm Chasers Seek Thrills, But Also Chance To Warn Others

When disaster strikes, our natural instinct is to take cover and seek shelter. But in severe weather, especially the type that breeds tornadoes like we saw in Oklahoma and parts of the Midwest this week, there are those who ride toward the storm.

Oklahoma native Chris McBee is one of those so-called storm chasers, and he was on the ground near Moore, the area hit hardest by Monday's massive tornado that experts now say was an EF-5, the most powerful.

McBee told All Things Considered host Melissa Block that he was about a half a mile south of the tornado as it crossed into Moore when he captured his dramatic video.

"There was debris raining out of the air on top of us," McBee says. "It just gave us a sick feeling because we knew it was hitting a lot of structures and really affecting a lot of lives."

McBee says that while chasing storms and documenting tornadoes is a thrill, he also does it to help the National Weather Service know what is happening on the ground so it can warn those in the path of the storm.

"That's really a priority among storm chasers," he says. "It certainly is a thrill to be out there ... [but] we're trying to warn people in the path as well."

A native of nearby Norman, Okla., McBee says severe weather is a regular part of life. Monday's damage, however, is the worst he's ever seen as a storm chaser.

"There's no way to get used to the destruction we saw yesterday."

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/05/21/185849061/storm-chasers-seek-thrills-but-also-chance-to-warn-others?ft=1&f=1007

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30th Anniversary Cerebus High Society Gold Signed And Numbered ...

Dave Sim has been keeping us up to date with the Cerebus reprint project and his upcoming work.

Firstly, the remastered first volume of Cerebus is going back to print with the new remastered files and can be ordered with the Diamond code STAR0070

That retailers will be able to adjust their orders for the Gold Logo 30th Anniversary edition of Cerebus: High Society, also remastered, so that now is a good time to ask your retailer for one of those as well, with the code AUG120748, and that at $30 will be the same price as the normal edition?

?and I just realised that I hadn?t ordered this through my shop and I should probably get on with it. I?ll tell Orbital Comics when I go in on Wednesday on the way to the airport. You should too. High Society is a real high point in Western comics, both in the time it was first published and the impact it had on the industry, but also it remains devastatingly satirical and topical to present day political machinations.

The original copies were created with far more rudimentary printing technologies than are available now, and those were the files being used until George Peter Gatiss and Dave Sim went back to the original art. Which means its time for me to upgrade my edition bought only twenty years ago.

He also talks about working on The Strange Death Of Alex Raymond? though it may take a while. Serialised in his Glamourpuss comic, it grew from an initial exploration of photorealistic comics, comic strips and the people who created them. Initially it seems that Sim was doing this as an excuse to recreate their styles, and push his creative muscles away from the cartoony, but it then became an investigation into the artist?s life and death, still a topic of controversy, decades later.

Sim explains why he?s taking his time;

Nothing is carved in stone which is why I haven?t started having any NUMBER of discussions with IDW yet. ?I want to show them what I have at the end of the month and let them know all the things that I?m wondering about and theorizing about ? colour being one of them. ?And I definitely want THEIR unvarnished perspective. ?I?m completely out of step with comics today and they?re both very much IN THE TRENCHES on a daily basis. ?The last thing I need is them tip-toeing around any imagined sensitivities on my part while thinking ?This isn?t going to work like this, but how do we tell DAVE SIM that??

By TELLING him. ?That?s why the book isn?t scheduled and won?t be for at least a year if not two. ?I want to get this right. ?And if that means starting over, that means starting over. ?I?m sure IDW welcomes anyone?s feedback who is interested in the project. ?But it?s WAY at the beginning. ?I?m bringing all of YOU in on it to a degree because you are DEFINITELY the core target audience ? the ones most apt to actually go into a store and ASK for this book when it gets there. ?So I want you to know that it IS being worked on on an on-going basis and where I am.

So anyway, there I am pootling through Dave?s latest Kickstarting missive, picking out bits and pieces and then I hit this.

?My theory is that if I say anything newsworthy (or, rather, ?newsworthy?) here, the news sites will pick it up. ?Rich Johnston (Hi, Rich!) runs a lot of stuff at BLEEDING COOL and as far as I can determine that?s where news sites see my stuff and decide if it?s news.

Hi Dave. This is basically the equivalent of watching the news only for (insert your favourite newscaster here) to start talking to you directly and asking after your family. Normally only the insane get to experience that. So that?s an experience I will treasure.

But there is a very narrow definition of ?Dave Sim? and ?news?. ?My IDW variant covers are ?news? to a degree. ?People see them and seem to like them, which is good. ?That?s a big reason I?m doing them, now. ?At first, I didn?t think anyone would even notice any more than they notice anything else I do. IDW has really been playing them up big in PREVIEWS which I take as a vote of confidence. ?The news sites (some of them) are running them from what I hear.

Just in case Dave sees this, I run them partly because they are generally pretty decent, and I?m a fan, but also because of the seeming juxtaposition between a man known for an incredibly staunch attitude to creator owned work, and drawing a Doctor Who variant cover. Which, you know, I also love. And so I just can?t resist?

But I?m still hoping for the My Little Pony cover I geeked about with Chris Ryall at the New York Comic Con last year.

Source: http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/05/20/30th-anniversary-cerebus-high-society-gold-signed-and-numbered-same-price-as-the-standard-version/

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Church of Scotland takes step to allow gay clergy

LONDON (AP) ? Senior members of the Church of Scotland voted Monday to let some congregations choose ministers who are in same-sex relationships ? an important compromise that must still pass further hurdles before it can become church law.

The church's General Assembly backed a motion affirming a traditional conservative view on homosexuality, but permitted liberal congregations to ordain openly gay men or women if they wish.

The assembly's vote would require the approval of next year's General Assembly as well as votes by the church's regional presbyteries to become law. The process is complicated, and is expected to take at least two years.

Monday's decision came after a lengthy debate on the issue, which has divided the church of about 400,000 members for years. Two congregations have split from the church over the issue.

"This was a major breakthrough for the church but we are conscious that some people remain pained, anxious, worried and hurt," said Lorna Hood, the assembly's moderator. "We continue to pray for the peace and unity of the church."

Albert Bogle, who proposed the motion, said it was a compromise to move the debate between the traditionalists and revisionists forward.

"My motion is to be permissive and to allow those who want to do this to do it. But I want to affirm the position of the Church of Scotland in the historic tradition of the church," he said. "It will give everyone what they want but it will keep us together."

The General Assembly, held each May, consists of about 700 members and decides church policy.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/church-scotland-takes-step-allow-gay-clergy-210306536.html

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Moore stays unbeaten as Rays top Orioles

By DAVID GINSBURG

AP Sports Writer

Associated Press Sports

updated 5:08 p.m. ET May 19, 2013

BALTIMORE (AP) - Matt Moore isn't only breaking records set by Cy Young winner David Price, he's performing at a level that's drawing comparisons to a pretty good southpaw named Babe Ruth.

Moore pitched seven innings of five-hit ball to stay unbeaten, Luke Scott and Matt Joyce homered and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles 3-1 Sunday for a three-game sweep.

Moore (8-0) gave up one run, struck out three and walked one to become the first eight-game winner in the majors. The left-hander has won nine straight decisions, breaking the franchise record of eight set last year by Price.

Not only that, but the 23-year-old is the youngest lefty to start the season 8-0 since Ruth did it in 1917 at age 22.

"Historically speaking, it's been wonderful," Rays manager Joe Maddon said of Moore's season.

Moore is delighted with the results, especially because Tampa Bay is 9-0 in his nine starts.

"It's good for our team. That's the biggest thing we can take away from my record," he said. "On my days to pitch, we're winning all the games. That's the most important part. "

The Rays' ninth victory in 11 games left them a season-high three games over .500 (23-20) and lifted Tampa Bay into a third-place tie with skidding Baltimore in the AL East. The Rays had been in fourth since April 20.

"It puts us back in with a tie, standings-wise, which I think is important," Maddon said. "You got to get over each team that is in front of you before you can get back to the top. To come in here (and get a sweep) indicates how much better we've been playing."

Adam Jones had two hits, stole two bases and drove in a run for the Orioles, who have dropped five straight - all at home. Baltimore managed only five hits, none after the sixth inning.

"He's dealing right now," Jones said of Moore.

Baltimore was outscored 22-16 in the first two games of the series. This time, poor pitching could not be blamed for the defeat.

"Pitching wasn't the issue today," manager Buck Showalter said. "It was trying to solve Moore. He was the difference-maker."

Chris Tillman (3-2) allowed three runs and five hits in six innings. He's 1-5 lifetime against the Rays.

Tampa Bay led 2-1 in the sixth inning when Joyce hit a drive that appeared to bounce off the wall near the right-field foul pole. First base umpire Dan Iassogna called it a fair ball but not a home run.

Showalter argued that it was a foul ball and Maddon contended it was a home run.

"It's kind of unusual for us both to be out there at the same time," Maddon said. "I had to argue the point that it could be a home run."

After a lengthy meeting, the umpires adjourned to watch a replay and returned with their decision: home run.

"I've got a guy who lets me know if I have a good argument, so I knew once they went inside it was going to be a home run," Showalter said.

Moore and the Tampa Bay bullpen made the 3-1 lead stand up. Joel Peralta worked a perfect eighth and Fernando Rodney got three straight outs for his eighth save.

Neither team had a base runner until Yunel Escobar drew a two-out walk in the third. Desmond Jennings followed with an RBI double on a 3-2 pitch.

In the bottom half, Danny Valencia hit a leadoff double in his first at-bat with Baltimore but was stranded.

One inning later, Manny Machado was credited with a triple after Jennings and Joyce nearly collided on a line drive to right that ticked off Joyce's glove and rolled to the wall. Jones followed with a run-scoring single, then stole two bases but was left at third.

Scott, who played for Baltimore from 2008-11, connected in the fifth for a 2-1 lead. He has at least one RBI in nine of 13 starts this season.

NOTES: Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria extended his hitting streak to a career-high 13 games. ... Tampa Bay has held the lead in 30 of its past 31 games. ... The Rays recalled LHP Jeff Beliveau from Triple-A Durham and optioned LHP Alex Torres to the same club. Beliveau was sent back to Durham to make room for RHP Jake Odorizzi, who will be recalled Monday to start an afternoon game in Toronto. It will be his debut with the Rays. ... The Orioles recalled Valencia from Triple-A Norfolk after sending 2B Ryan Flaherty to Norfolk after Saturday's game. ... Baltimore opens a three-game series Monday night against the AL East-leading New York Yankees. Freddy Garcia will start for the Orioles. ... Jones has been successful on all seven stolen base attempts this season.

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

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Chooch's hammy a worry for Phils

HBT: Carlos Ruiz was lifted from Sunday afternoon?s game against the Reds after straining his right hamstring while running the bases in the bottom of the second inning.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/51935041/ns/sports-baseball/

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For combat veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, 'fear circuitry' in the brain never rests

May 18, 2013 ? Chronic trauma can inflict lasting damage to brain regions associated with fear and anxiety. Previous imaging studies of people with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, have shown that these brain regions can over-or under-react in response to stressful tasks, such as recalling a traumatic event or reacting to a photo of a threatening face. Now, researchers at NYU School of Medicine have explored for the first time what happens in the brains of combat veterans with PTSD in the absence of external triggers.

Their results, published in Neuroscience Letters, and presented today at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatry Association in San Francisco, show that the effects of trauma persist in certain brain regions even when combat veterans are not engaged in cognitive or emotional tasks, and face no immediate external threats. The findings shed light on which areas of the brain provoke traumatic symptoms and represent a critical step toward better diagnostics and treatments for PTSD.

A chronic condition that develops after trauma, PTSD can plague victims with disturbing memories, flashbacks, nightmares and emotional instability. Among the 1.7 million men and women who have served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an estimated 20% have PTSD. Research shows that suicide risk is higher in veterans with PTSD. Tragically, more soldiers committed suicide in 2012 than the number of soldiers who were killed in combat in Afghanistan that year.

"It is critical to have an objective test to confirm PTSD diagnosis as self reports can be unreliable," says co-author Charles Marmar, MD, the Lucius N. Littauer Professor of Psychiatry and chair of NYU Langone's Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Marmar, a nationally recognized expert on trauma and stress among veterans, heads The Steven and Alexandra Cohen Veterans Center for the Study of Post-Traumatic Stress and Traumatic Brain Injury at NYU Langone Medical Center.

The study, led by Xiaodan Yan, a research fellow at NYU School of Medicine, examined "spontaneous" or "resting" brain activity in 104 veterans of combat from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars using functional MRI, which measures blood-oxygen levels in the brain. The researchers found that spontaneous brain activity in the amygdala, a key structure in the brain's "fear circuitry" that processes fearful and anxious emotions, was significantly higher in the 52 combat veterans with PTSD than in the 52 combat veterans without PTSD. The PTSD group also showed elevated brain activity in the anterior insula, a brain region that regulates sensitivity to pain and negative emotions.

Moreover, the PTSD group had lower activity in the precuneus, a structure tucked between the brain's two hemispheres that helps integrate information from the past and future, especially when the mind is wandering or disengaged from active thought. Decreased activity in the precuneus correlates with more severe "re-experiencing" symptoms -- that is, when victims re-experience trauma over and over again through flashbacks, nightmares and frightening thoughts.

Key scientific contributors include researchers at NYU School of Medicine, the University of California at San Francisco, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, and the Center for Imaging of Neurodegenerative Diseases at the VA Medical Center in San Francisco.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/fADMLxhJrxg/130518153257.htm

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Merkel and Pope talk about a 'strong' Europe

VATICAN CITY (AP) ? German Chancellor Angela Merkel, mindful of the weight of Christian voters in September elections, made a quick trip to Rome Saturday for a private meeting with Pope Francis, focusing on how Europe's struggling economy should be at the service of the people.

Merkel spoke privately for 45 minutes with the pope at the Apostolic Palace, after exchanging cordial greetings in Germany.

Her Christian Democrat party depends heavily on support from Protestant and Catholic voters, and the chat and photo opportunity could be a welcome campaign boost for a leader largely identified by Europe's economically suffering citizens as a champion of debt reduction even at the cost of painful austerity across much of the continent.

On Thursday, Francis blasted what he called a "cult of money" in a global financial system that ends up tyrannizing, not helping, the world's poor.

Asked whether they had also talked about the pope's recent criticism, Merkel said that they spoke about the regulation of the financial markets.

"The regulation of the financial markets is our central problem, our central task," said Merkel, who met with reporters on the Vatican grounds. "We are moving ahead, but we are not yet where we want to be, where we could say that a derailment of the guard rails of social market won't happen again."

Merkel added: "It ought to be like this: the economy is there to serve the people. In the last few years, this hasn't been the case at all everywhere."

Italy, Spain, Ireland, Portugal and especially Greece, have seen governments concentrate on debt reduction while slashing state spending. With growth stymied, unemployment, especially among young people, has soared. Businesses, many of them family-run in southern Europe, have failed as bank lending dried up.

The chancellor also said the pope had stressed that the world needs a strong and just Europe and described the overall conversation has encouraging.

Merkel is currently campaigning for re-election in September's general elections. Half of Germany's population is Catholic. In Bavaria especially, there is a strong conservative and Catholic tradition.

According to a Vatican statement, Francis and Merkel concentrated on topics of "common interest, including the socio-political, economic and religious situation in Europe and in the world."

"In particular, they spoke about safeguarding human rights, about the persecutions faced by Christians, about religious freedom and of international collaboration to promote peace," the Vatican said.

Francis, who is Argentine, has picked up on campaigns by the two previous popes, the Polish John Paul II and German Benedict XVI, to reinvigorate what the Catholic church sees as flagging religious enthusiasm on a continent with Christian roots, including dwindling number of churchgoers in much of Western Europe.

The Vatican also uses papal visits with major leaders to seek allies in its lobbying on behalf of Christians who face discrimination and in some cases physical violence in parts of the world.

Merkel told reporters she had reflected during her flight to Rome earlier in the day how both she and Francis has spent part of their lives in countries once under dictatorships -- her native East Germany under Soviet-influenced communist rule, and the pope's Argentine homeland, which had formerly been ruled by a bloody military dictatorship.

Francis and Merkel also exchanged views on Europe, which the Vatican described as a "community of values" with responsibilities in the world, "urging commitment by all secular and religious components toward favoring development based on the dignity of the human person and inspired by the principles of assistance and solidarity."

There was no immediate indication if Francis would visit Germany, which Merkel said she invited him to visit.

She left him with gifts including a boxed set of 107 CDs of classical music directed by German maestro Wilhelm Furtwaengler. "I don't know if you will have time to listen" to them all, Merkel told him in German. Francis also seemed pleased by the other gift, three volumes of poetry by Friedrich Hoelderlin, a poet he is known to enjoy.

___

AP Writer Kirsten Grieshaber contributed from Berlin.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/merkel-pope-talk-strong-europe-140331095.html

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HTC Pledges To Pump Up ?One' Production While Samsung's New Flagship Ships Like Crazy

Oh HTC. You've produced one of the finest Android smartphones ever (seriously, just look at all these reviews), but you've faced more than your share of challenges when it came to actually pumping your top-tier One smartphone. As it happens, that may all soon change. FocusTaiwan reported earlier today that HTC is preparing to pump out more of its wonderful Ones in short order -- Jack Tong, the company's North Asia president, noted that this month's production capacity for the flagship device is twice that of April, and that surge will only continue into June.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/mUW-i29QH8g/

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Share Your Rare Music Collection with the Internet

Sometimes, you love a song and it?s not on the web. That?s just not right, because the three or so generations alive today are largely responsible for making sure that all the important and interesting stuff (and not just cat videos) make it onto the Internet.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/FjZxX2UScJ4/share-your-rare-music-collection-with-the-internet-507589378

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Conn., NTSB officials to tour train crash site

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) ? Officials in Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's office say the governor will meet with representatives from the National Transportation Safety Board and Connecticut's two U.S. senators at the site of a Metro-North Railroad crash that injured 70 people.

Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy and other Connecticut officials will also participate in the tour, scheduled for 9:30 a.m. EDT Saturday near Bridgeport. The delegation will update journalists with the latest details of the crash after surveying the area.

Three people remain in critical condition following the rush-hour crash Friday between two commuter trains that serve the northern suburbs of New York City.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/conn-ntsb-officials-tour-train-crash-120138790.html

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Oncothyreon slumps on new cancer drug data

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Oncothyreon Inc. fell Thursday after the drug developer announced new clinical trial data about an experimental lung cancer treatment that failed to improve overall survival rate.

THE SPARK: Oncothyreon said that it identified some patients who appeared to live longer after treatment with Stimuvax. In a group of 806 patients who received a combination of chemotherapy and radiation at the same time, patients who took L-BLP25 lived for 30.8 months on average. That compares with 20.6 months for patients who were given a placebo.

About two-thirds of the patients in the trial were treated that way. The rest received chemotherapy and then radiation. The patients had inoperable, locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

THE BIG PICTURE: The Seattle company again said that L-BLP25 did not meet its main goal in the study. in December Oncothyreon said patients who were treated with chemotherapy, radiation, and the drug had median survival of 25.6 months and placebo patients had survival of 22.3 months.

L-BLP25 is designed to work by stimulating the body's immune system so that it can identify and destroy cancer cells. It is the most advanced drug in Oncothyreon's pipeline of products under development, according to the company's website. It has no products on the market. Oncothyreon licensed the experimental drug to a division of the German company Merck KGaA, which conducted the study.

Side effects of L-BLP25 included injection site reactions, breathlessness, fatigue, back pain, nausea, chest pain, headache, decreased appetite and joint pain.

THE ANALYSIS: Cowen & Co. analyst Simos Simeonidis said the latest trial results represent an "unexpected comeback" for L-BLP25 because the results are impressive and they come from a large group of patients. He said Merck KGaA has not announced a decision on the drug but he said he would be surprised it if ended its partnership with Oncothyreon.

Simeonidis rates Oncothyreon shares a "Buy."

SHARE ACTION: Shares of Oncothyreon dropped 53 cents, or 20.3 percent, to $2.08 in midday trading. The stock fell 51 percent on Dec. 19 after Oncothyreon reported the earlier study data. The stock had gained 19 percent since then.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/oncothyreon-slumps-cancer-drug-data-155446513.html

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20 to 25 injured as Conn. commuter trains collide

Emergency workers arrive the scene of a train collision, Friday, may 17, 2013 in Fairfield, Conn. A New York-area commuter railroad says two trains have collided in Connecticut. The railroad says the accident involved a New York-bound train leaving New Haven. It derailed and hit a westbound train near Fairfield, Conn. Some cars on the second train also derailed. (AP Photo/The Connecticut Post, Christian Abraham) MANDATORY CREDIT

Emergency workers arrive the scene of a train collision, Friday, may 17, 2013 in Fairfield, Conn. A New York-area commuter railroad says two trains have collided in Connecticut. The railroad says the accident involved a New York-bound train leaving New Haven. It derailed and hit a westbound train near Fairfield, Conn. Some cars on the second train also derailed. (AP Photo/The Connecticut Post, Christian Abraham) MANDATORY CREDIT

FAIRFIELD, Conn. (AP) ? Two commuter trains collided outside New York City during the evening rush hour Friday, injuring 20 or more people, authorities said. There were no reports of fatalities.

The Metro-North Railroad, a commuter line serving the northern suburbs, referred in a news release to a "major derailment" near Fairfield, in southern Connecticut. It said emergency workers were at the scene of the accident, which came shortly after 6 p.m.

Twenty to 25 people were injured, Fairfield Police Officer Matt Panilaitis told The Associated Press. He said there were no fatalities.

Photos taken at the scene showed a train car askew on the rails, with its end smashed up and brushing against another train

The railroad said the accident involved a New York-bound train leaving New Haven. It derailed and hit a westbound train near Fairfield. Some cars on the second train also derailed.

"At this stage, we don't know if this is a mechanical failure, an accident or something deliberate," Fairfield police spokesman Lt. James Perez told the Connecticut Post.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-05-17-US-Trains-Collide-Conn/id-93f96be77cac489ca3620421194b028a

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See Thorsten Heins, Alicia Keys and BBM during the BlackBerry Live keynote, now on YouTube

While Google presented its nearly four hours of recorded keynote glory in one giant clip, BlackBerry had the decency to split things up into four more-manageable segments. In the first installment of BlackBerry Live Keynote 2013, you can catch CEO Thorsten Heins chatting up some stats before hopping into the passenger seat of a QNX-equipped Bentley. Later during the show, we hear from Alicia Keys, the company's Global Creative Director, before taking a look at BBM Channels (which we imagine the performer already plans to use as a replacement for Twitter). You'll find all four parts of the company's keynote embedded right after the break.

Filed under: Cellphones, Blackberry

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/16/blackberry-live-keynote-youtube/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Washington state releases draft rules for legal pot

SEATTLE (AP) ? Officials in Washington state took their first stab at setting rules for the state's new marijuana industry Thursday, nearly eight months after voters here legalized pot for adults.

Among the preliminary regulations: They want to track marijuana from "seed to store." They'd put a cap on the number of retail outlets in each county, but not on the number of licensed pot growers or processors.

No sales of what the board described as marijuana extracts, such as hash, would be allowed ? unless the extract is infused into another product ? and all pot-related businesses would have to have security systems, 24-hour video surveillance and insurance.

Any marijuana product sold at state-licensed stores would carry a label noting that it "may be habit forming" and that "this product is unlawful outside of Washington state" ? accompanied by an official pot logo, featuring Washington state with a marijuana-leaf silhouette smack in the middle.

Staff at the state Liquor Control Board spent long hours visiting marijuana grow houses, studying the science of getting high and earning nicknames like "the queen of weed" before issuing the rules.

"They are based upon hundreds of hours of internal research and deliberation, consultation with multiple industry experts and input from the over 3,000 individuals who attended our forums statewide," said Sharon Foster, chairwoman of the state Liquor Control Board.

Foster -- who began a speech at a recent conference by saying, "My friends now call me the queen of weed" ? said the board is trying to create a tightly regulated system that ensures both large and small operations a place in the emerging market.

Last fall voters made Washington and Colorado the first states to legalize the sale of taxed marijuana to adults over 21 at state-licensed stores.

In Colorado, devising rules for the pot industry fell to the Legislature, which has passed a series of bills laying out how marijuana should be grown, packaged and taxed. Gov. John Hickenlooper is expected to sign the bills May 28.

In Washington, people are allowed to have up to an ounce of dried marijuana; 16 ounces of a pot-infused solid, such as brownies; or 72 ounces of a pot-infused liquid, such as tea. The rules issued Thursday are essentially a draft of a draft: After gathering feedback, the Liquor Control Board will issue draft rules next month, then accept more public comment.

Marijuana sales in Washington should begin in early 2014 ? unless the Justice Department has something to say about it. Pot remains illegal federally, and the DOJ could sue to try to block the licensing schemes in Washington and Colorado from taking effect.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said Thursday the board "is on the right track."

"I'm impressed with the depth and thoughtfulness of their approach and look forward to moving forward," he said.

When asked if he thought this would satisfy concerns held by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Inslee said "I certainly hope so."

"I don't think you can design a system with much more integrity, as far as tracking the product from the producer to the consumer," he said. "This plan has a robust system of controls and checks in a variety of ways."

Some crucial questions remain ? most notably, how much legal weed will Washington produce? Rand Corp., a subcontractor working for Washington's official pot consultant, is researching pot consumption in the state, and production levels will be based on that data.

Under the 46 pages of rules circulated Thursday, there would be advertising restrictions, including a ban on ads intended to appeal to those under 21.

Washington would use a criminal history point system in determining whether someone is eligible for obtaining a license to grow, sell or process pot. A felony in the past decade or two misdemeanors in the past three years would disqualify an applicant ? but applicants could get a free pass on up to two pot-possession misdemeanors, and any single state or federal conviction for selling, growing or possessing marijuana could be waived on a case-by-case basis.

The board also said it will conduct criminal and financial background checks on "financiers" of pot businesses ? anyone who invests more than $10,000.

The "seed-to-store" system for tracking marijuana, similar to Colorado's system for tracking medical marijuana, is designed to help prevent any pot from being diverted to the black market. It would require growers, processors and retailers to notify the board of any marijuana shipments, and to keep records such as when plants are harvested and destroyed.

Alison Holcomb, the drug policy director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, led the campaign to legalize marijuana under state law. She said she was pleased to see the board balancing public safety and public health with the creation of a workable legal market for marijuana.

But Holcomb also said she was concerned about the board's interpretation of "marijuana-infused product" ? an interpretation that would preclude hash or hash oil ? highly potent forms of pot ? from being sold at stores. The board determined that Washington's voter-approved initiative only allows the sale of marijuana or marijuana-infused products, and that hash is more properly considered an "extract."

If that's true, people in Washington could still be arrested for possessing hash ? which, Holcomb suggested, was not the intent of the measure.

"If you've got hash oil that is 98 percent THC and 2 percent some emulsifying liquid that keeps it in liquid form, I would argue that's marijuana-infused product," Holcomb said.

___

Johnson can be reached at https://twitter.com/GeneAPseattle . AP writers Rachel La Corte in Olympia and Kristen Wyatt in Denver contributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wash-state-releases-draft-rules-legal-pot-205517071.html

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The Official Patient's Sourcebook on Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis ...

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.ebooksafari.com/the-official-patients-sourcebook-on-juvenile-rheumatoid-arthritis-health-fitness/

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Scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change

May 15, 2013 ? A comprehensive analysis of peer-reviewed articles on the topic of global warming and climate change has revealed an overwhelming consensus among scientists that recent warming is human-caused.

The study is the most comprehensive yet and identified 4000 summaries, otherwise known as abstracts, from papers published in the past 21 years that stated a position on the cause of recent global warming -- 97 per cent of these endorsed the consensus that we are seeing human-made, or anthropogenic, global warming (AGW)

Led by John Cook at the University of Queensland, the study has been published 16 May, in IOP Publishing's journal Environmental Research Letters.

The study went one step further, asking the authors of these papers to rate their entire paper using the same criteria. Over 2000 papers were rated and among those that discussed the cause of recent global warming, 97 per cent endorsed the consensus that it is caused by humans.

The findings are in stark contrast to the public's position on global warming; a 2012 poll* revealed that more than half of Americans either disagree, or are unaware, that scientists overwhelmingly agree that Earth is warming because of human activity.

John Cook said: "Our findings prove that there is a strong scientific agreement about the cause of climate change, despite public perceptions to the contrary.

"There is a gaping chasm between the actual consensus and the public perception. It's staggering given the evidence for consensus that less than half of the general public think scientists agree that humans are causing global warming.

"This is significant because when people understand that scientists agree on global warming, they're more likely to support policies that take action on it."

In March 2012, the researchers used the ISI Web of Science database to search for peer-reviewed academic articles published between 1991 and 2011 using two topic searches: "global warming" and "global climate change."

After limiting the selection to peer-reviewed climate science, the study considered 11 994 papers written by 29 083 authors in 1980 different scientific journals.

The abstracts from these papers were randomly distributed between a team of 24 volunteers recruited through the "myth-busting" website? skepticalscience.com, who used set criteria to determine the level to which the abstracts endorsed that humans are the primary cause of global warming. Each abstract was analyzed by two independent, anonymous raters.

From the 11,994 papers, 32.6 per cent endorsed AGW, 66.4 per cent stated no position on AGW, 0.7 per cent rejected AGW and in 0.3 per cent of papers, the authors said the cause of global warming was uncertain.

Co-author of the study Mark Richardson, from the University of Reading, said: "We want our scientists to answer questions for us, and there are lots of exciting questions in climate science. One of them is: are we causing global warming? We found over 4000 studies written by 10 000 scientists that stated a position on this, and 97 per cent said that recent warming is mostly man made."

*http://www.pewresearch.org/2013/04/02/climate-change-key-data-points-from-pew-research/

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/LZYOoMnialg/130515203048.htm

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Under Armour Armour39 Review: Beast Mode Unlocked

I know what you're thinking and no, this is not another sportswear company entering the wearable tech arena to cash in on all of you suckers. This is different, and that's a good thing.

First revealed back in 2011 at the NFL Combine, the then called E39 was embedded in a shirt that tracked an athlete's heart rate and g force during acceleration, among other things. Fast forward to earlier this year and the consumer debut of the Armour39. It's not an activity tracker, like a FuelBand or Fitbit, but an electronic performance aide that tells you how hard you're working when you're working it out.

Design

Heart rate monitors like the Armour39 (A39) aren't new per se. Polar and Garmin have been making chest-worn monitors for quite a while. Even Motorola makes one for its MotoActiv line. And the A39 is really no different except for the usual (and somewhat obnoxious) in-your-face Under Armour graphics and branding.

That aside, the A39 chest strap is relatively comfortable to wear and rarely slips down the torso once you've figured out the right size. The front of the strap can be a bit stiff at first but it softens after a couple wears.

The module that collects your biometric data is a half-dollar sized, replaceable battery-powered, Bluetooth disc that you insert into the strap before a workout. It even does an Iron Man impression and flashes when you've successfully connected the iOS app before your workout starts, like so.

Under Armour says the module's battery will last dozens upon dozens of hours. And because it's powered by a CR2032 battery, swapping it out is a piece of cake. Just be sure to pop it out of the strap when you're done, so it doesn't drain the battery more than is necessary. And hang dry the strap.

Using It

To start, you'll need to pair the A39 with your iOS device and the app to undergo a 10-minute, five-part assessment, which collects your resting heart rate, max heart rate and other things in between. This baseline data helps UA analyze each workout and whether or not you're hitting your WILLpower goal, which, by the way, is an option you can flick on or off. Like any other chest strap, it needs to be wetted down before it's strapped on.

Your WILLpower score or goal is set by you and measures your level of exertion based on how hard your heart is working. You might sweat a lot when you work out but that doesn't accurately measure whether or not you're working hard enough. If your ticker isn't in the zone?based on your age/gender/etc.?then what's the point of exercising? During your workout, you'll see the below stats in real time. You'll know when you're in the zone when everything that's green?your heart rate?turns to red indicating that you're in an optimal heart rate zone.

When you're done, you'll see this.

Because of the nature of heart rate monitors like this, the A39 wasn't exactly the easiest thing to compare against similar devices. You can't really wear two chest straps at once. I tried. It did not go well. In any event, I used Polar's FT60 as a parallel and found that the data captured was more or less the same. There weren't any noticeable spikes or dips during my usual two mile run and the data captured by both were more or less the same. But it's a lot easier to look at your phone than your wrist and that tiny little display with all the bells whistles that the FT60 comes with.

Like

As a performance monitor, the A39 is about as motivating as a personal trainer screaming in your face to get your knees up and not to break form. There's nothing better than seeing your level of intensity and heart rate in real time. There's simply no room for bullshit. You either worked out or dicked off.

You don't always have to have your iOS device on you while working out either. The module will collect up to 16 hours of data before it needs to be offloaded, says Under Armour.

Dislike

As much as I thought WILLpower was going to be a thing. It was a secondary feature to seeing actual biometric feedback. I didn't work out any harder because I wanted to reach my WILLpower score. I wanted to work out harder because I could see that my heart rate wasn't in the zone.

Audible cues would have been a nice 1.0 addition, like in Nike's Running app. Constantly looking at your phone isn't always conducive for certain types of exercise.

No Android app? No Android app.

Should You Buy It?

This is not, I repeat, this is not an activity tracker like the FuelBand, UP or Fitbits of the world. This isn't meant to be worn all day. If you're looking to better measure and tweak your workout sessions, then this is the monitor to get.The A39 as is will set you back $150. But if you don't have an iOS device, then you'll have to shell out an extra $200 for the accompanying watch, which doesn't appear to be live on the company's site just yet. Compare that to Garmin or Polar (depending on the model) and $350 for both isn't all that crazy sounding.

With summer just around the bend, it's time to get that winter body in order and with the A39, you'll get there in no time. [Under Armour]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/under-armour-armour39-review-beast-mode-unlocked-506284006

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