EarthTalk?: Should Pet Owners Keep Their Cats Indoors? | njtoday ...

E - The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: I understand that pet cats prey on lots of birds and other ?neighborhood? wildlife, but isn?t it cruel to force felines to live indoors only? And isn?t human encroachment the real issue for bird populations, not a few opportunistic cats? ? Jason Braunstein, Laos, NM

While it is true that habitat loss as a result of human encroachment is a primary threat to birds and wildlife of all kinds, outdoor cats are no doubt exacerbating the loss of biodiversity as their numbers swell and they carry on their instinctual business of hunting.

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute?s Peter Marra estimates that outdoor cats in the United States, counting both pets and feral animals, kill up to 3.7 billion birds each year?along with up to 20 billion other small mammals. Researchers estimate that roughly 114 million cats live in the contiguous U.S., 84 million of them pets and the rest feral?and that as many as 70 percent of pet cats spend some time roaming outside and hunting.

?Cats are a nonnative species,? reminds Marra, adding that they often target native species and can transform places that would normally harbor many young birds into ?sinks that drain birds from neighboring populations.? As a result of this ongoing predation, many environmentalists and animal lovers think cats should stay inside. ?The big message is responsible pet ownership,? Marra says. He acknowledges that feral cats may be the bigger problem, but pet cats still catch as many as two billion wild animals a year.

The non-profit American Humane Association reports that there are several ways to keep indoor cats happy even though they are restricted from chasing and hunting wildlife. Getting Fluffy a companion (another cat or even a dog) is a good way to provide an outlet for play. Likewise, interactive toys, scratching posts, cat perches and other amenities?check with any well-stocked local pet store?can make the indoor environment a stimulating yet safe one for housebound cats and should serve to prevent stir-crazy behavior.

Meanwhile, another non-profit, the American Bird Conservancy (ABC), adds another reason why cat owners might want to think about restricting their pet?s territory to inside: Research shows that indoor cats live significantly longer lives than their free-roaming counterparts. ?Life for outdoor cats is risky,? reports the group. ?They can get hit by cars; attacked by dogs, other cats, coyotes or wildlife; contract fatal diseases, such as rabies, feline distemper, or feline immunodeficiency virus; get lost, stolen, or poisoned; or suffer during severe weather conditions.?

But the fact that feral cat populations have gotten so large in recent years makes the problem that much more vexing. Researchers concede that efforts to catch and either neuter or euthanize feral cats have proven ineffective given their booming populations, leaving cat owners wondering whether jeopardizing Fluffy?s mental health for the sake of saving a few birds is really even worthwhile.

CONTACTS: Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, nationalzoo.si.edu/scbi/; American Humane Association, www.americanhumane.org; American Bird Conservancy, www.abcbirds.org.

EarthTalk? is written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss and is a registered trademark of E ? The Environmental Magazine (www.emagazine.com). Send questions to: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Subscribe: www.emagazine.com/subscribe. Free Trial Issue: www.emagazine.com/trial.

Source: http://njtoday.net/2013/06/29/earthtalk-should-pet-owners-keep-their-cats-indoors/

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It's Almost Worth Breaking Your Arm for this Crazy 3D-Printed Cast

Plaster casts are bulky, obnoxious, heavy, inevitably sweaty, occasionally pink. In short, they are no fun. But this 3D-printed "Cortex" cast could change all that. Sure, it looks a little like a fishnet stocking, but have you seen a old-fashioned cast lately?

A conceptual project designed by a Victoria University of Wellington graduate with the suspiciously awesome name Jake Evill, the Cortex cast is lightweight, ventilated, washable and thin thanks to its polyamide skeleton. But the bonuses aren't all for the wearer; the material of Cortex casts could be reused, unlike plaster.

It's just a concept and prototype for now, but ideally, computer software would be fed x-rays of the break and 3D scans of the limb, and design an appropriate cast shape for fixing it up, with the cast's densest parts concentrated around the actual break. The cast could then be printed out in pieces and assembled around the break with permanent fasteners. When all is said and done, it'd still have to be sawed off as usual.

Then there's the matter of time. Evill explains it this way:

At the moment, 3D printing of the cast takes around three hours whereas a plaster cast is three to nine minutes, but requires 24-72 hours to be fully set. With the improvement of 3D printing, we could see a big reduction in the time it takes to print in the future.

It sounds pretty good, but I'm seeing just one problem. How are you supposed write hideous signatures in Sharpie on surfaces that skinny? [Jake Evill via Dezeen]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/its-almost-worth-breaking-your-arm-for-this-crazy-3d-618059549

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Film academy invites 276 people to join its ranks

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Jennifer Lopez, Lena Dunham, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Lucy Liu have received one of the most exclusive invitations in Hollywood.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Friday that it has invited them, and 272 others, to join its ranks.

Other invitees include Jason Bateman, Rosario Dawson, "Machete" star Danny Trejo, "Bridesmaids" director Paul Feig and "Before Midnight" writer-star Julie Delpy.

All 16 branches of the film academy extended invitations to new members, from hairstylists and sound engineers to producers and publicists.

Those who accept the invitations will be able to vote on the recipients of the next Academy Awards, set for March 2, 2014.

___

Online:

www.oscars.org

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/film-academy-invites-276-people-join-ranks-190828008.html

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How Chupa Chups Put Salvador Dal? in the Candy Store

The Chupa Chups packaging is uncanny?you could spot the swirly, colorful wrapper from a mile away, and you'd instantly know it was the most famous Spanish lollipop in the world. David Airey, an Ireland-based graphic designer, put together this illustration that shows the evolution of the Chupa Chups logo since it first arrived on the scene in 1958.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Ci4gessiK0k/how-chupa-chups-put-salvador-dali-in-the-candy-store-609087727

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Apple credited with 2 of the best 12 designs of the last 100 years. Can you guess which ones?

What are the 12 best designs from the last 100 years? The question is impossible to answer. That doesn't mean people and publications won't try, however. As part of World Industrial Design Day, Monique Rivalland of CNN asked some of the world's greatest designers and asked them to name what they felt were the most iconic industrial designs of the last century. Apple landed on the list, and not once but twice. First for the original Mac:

"When Apple Mac said hello to the world in 1984 it turned the computing industry on its head," says Dick Powell, co-founder of design agency SeymourPowell. "It seamlessly combined outstanding software and hardware into an experience. Other than the Jobs-less years it spent in the innovation wilderness, it's still doing it."

Second for the original iPod:

The iPod, the product so iconic it defined a generation. Nick Rhodes, head of the Industrial Design MA at the University of London, nominated the mp3 player because "it so clearly demonstrates the benefits of collaborative efforts." "This is no longer the province of a single 'hero' designer," he says "but rather the unified work of many practitioners."

Check out the other 10 designs and let me know, did Apple deserve two of the top spots, and was anything else missing from the list that ought to have been there?

Source: CNN, thanks: Anthony

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/u3sYfZNW6T4/story01.htm

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Sceptre releases an Android TV sound bar

Sceptre's new SB301524W sound bar brings Android and a pre-packaged sound system to your existing HDTV

There's plenty of ways to bring Android to your big screen television, but until now they have all been stand alone appliances designed to work with your existing equipment. But maybe you want an inexpensive way to marry Android to that spare TV in your house, and don't want to fool with A/V receivers or other "premium" methods to provide something that sounds a little better than the tinny speakers built into the TV itself. That's where something like Spectre's new Android-powered smart TV sound bar comes in.

At $299 it offers a plug and play solution to get Android and Google Play on your TV, with zero set-up or hassle. Complete with touch-sensitive controls and a LED screen to display all your settings, you'll be able to access content like games, music and movies from Google Play without any wires or assembly.

The Spectre sound bar features Android 4.0 running on a 1GHz ARM processor, with 1GB of RAM, with two USB ports and an SD card slot for expansion and accessories. The unit itself features SRS WOW HD audio technology, delivered through two front-facing speakers and a 35 watt subwoofer. Designed for 42-inch or larger televisions, it looks like an easy way to turn that old TV into something smarter and more fun. Look for it at retailers like Newegg, Amazon, Walmart, Tiger Direct, Sears and K-Mart. Hit the break for the press release.

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/mdR0gEDWzRM/story01.htm

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Yahoo Mail adds simple Flickr photo sharing

Many criticized a pre-Marissa Mayer Yahoo for doing little to integrate acquisitions with its core services, even when they were popular services like Del.icio.us. We can't accuse the company of negligence today, as it just added simple Flickr photo sharing to Yahoo Mail. Those drafting messages just have to tap an arrow to attach files from their photo streams, and they can sign up for Flickr on the spot. While there's only so many of us who could use Flickr sharing right now, Yahoo teases that there are more Mail upgrades in the pipeline -- it's not done fighting Gmail and Outlook just yet.

Filed under: Internet

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Source: Yahoo (Tumblr)

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/RxbCcb1kUoU/

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Witness to Zimmerman-Martin 'tussle' says he saw punches before shooting

On Friday a neighbor who contradicted what other witnesses have said about the struggle between George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin, was questioned as to how well he could really see in the dark. Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, claiming it was self-defense. NBC's Ron Mott reports.

By Elizabeth Chuck, Tom Winter and Rob Rivas, NBC News

A resident of the gated community where Trayvon Martin was killed told a Florida court Friday he saw the unarmed teen punching George Zimmerman before the two had a fatal confrontation in February of 2012.

Jonathan Good was watching TV with his wife at the Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford, Fla., on Feb. 26, 2012, when a faint noise caught his attention, he told a Seminole County court Friday. When he heard more noise, he opened his sliding glass door, took a step outside, and spotted what "seemed like a tussle.?

??I could really only see one person, and I think I described it as possibly being some type of dog attack, because there are a lot of dogs that walk in that back area,? Good said.

But as the figures rolled a little closer to Good on the rainy evening, he realized it was two people.

?And then at one point I yelled out, ?What?s going on?? and ?Stop it,? I believe,? Good told the jury, who is seated for Zimmerman?s second-degree murder trial. Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty, claiming self-defense.

Good only saw the two fighting for what he described as ?10 seconds, max? before running inside to call 911, but his eyewitness account of Martin?s final moments could prove crucial for jurors and investigators in the case.

Good didn?t recognize either men, and said one was straddling the other.

?I could tell the person on the bottom had a lighter skinned color,? Good said. Zimmerman is of white and Hispanic descent, and Martin is black. ?

When one straddled the other, the person on the bottom was ?face up,? he said.

?I think at that time is when I thought it was serious,? he said.

?OK. What made you think that?? prosecutor Bernie De La Rionda asked.

??'Cause it looked like there were strikes being thrown, or punches being thrown, but as I clarified, due to the lighting, it could have also been, you know, holding down. But there were arm movement[s] going downward,? Good said.

?And the arm movements that you describe, would that have been from the person on top?? De La Rionda asked. ?

?Correct,? responded Good.

Later, in cross-examination, defense attorney Mark O?Mara pressed Good for specifics of the confrontation.

?The person who you now know to be Trayvon Martin was on top, correct?? O?Mara asked.

?Correct,? Good said.

?And he was the one who was raining blows down on the person on the bottom, George Zimmerman, right??

?That?s what it looked like,? Good said.

Good added it was too dark to see many details, and said he was too far away. He also said he didn?t see either person slam the other?s head against concrete, something Zimmerman alleges Martin did and part of the reason he says he acted out of self-defense in shooting Martin.

But Good did say he later heard screams coming from one person, who he believed to be Zimmerman.

?If it was coming from on top it would have echoed off a wall instead of coming directly at me,? he said.

He added he couldn?t say for sure which person it was.

911 call played in court
Good?s 911 call ? which he placed when he heard the gun go off ? was also played for the first time in court on Friday.

?Um, I?m pretty sure the guy?s dead out here. Holy sh*t,? he says to the 911 operator.

Joe Burbank / Orlando Sentinel pool via EPA

Eyewitness Jonathan Good watches prosecutor Bernie De La Rionda demonstrate possible fight positions of George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin during the 15th day of the Zimmerman trial in Seminole circuit court, in Sanford, Fla., on June 28.

Martin?s parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, sat quietly during Good?s testimony. Fulton held ?Our Daily Bread,? a Christian monthly devotional, in her hand.

Parts of the cross-examination were decidedly antagonistic.

?Don?t really want to be here, do you?? O?Mara opened his cross-examination by asking. ?You were very reluctant to be involved in the case at all, correct??

Good agreed that he was one of the only witnesses who had requested anonymity and had not wanted to partake in the trial.

O?Mara questioned Good about a martial arts phrase he had used with police officers in his initial statement to describe Martin and Zimmerman?s fight.

?What you saw was the person on top in an MMA-style straddle position, correct? That was further described, was it not, as being ?ground and pound.? What is ?ground and pound? as you define it?? O?Mara asked.

?The person on top being able to punch the person on the bottom, but the person on the bottom also has a chance to get out or punch the person on top. It?s back and forth,? Good said.

O?Mara also demanded to know exactly what Good, who did not know either Zimmerman or Martin, saw that night, questioning him numerous times about his definition of being positioned in ?vertical? and ?horizontal? standings. Good, visibly annoyed at times, invited O?Mara to get down on his knees to demonstrate the positions he saw for the jurors, which the lawyer did.

Good is the next-door neighbor of Jenna Lauer, another resident at the Retreat at Twin Lakes gated community, who testified on Thursday. Lauer placed the 911 call that captured screams in the moments before Martin?s death. On Thursday, she told the court that she heard ?scuffling? that sounded like ?sneakers on pavement and grass? before she called 911.

Editor's note: George Zimmerman has sued NBC Universal for defamation. The company strongly denies the allegation.

Previous reports on the George Zimmerman trial:

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663306/s/2df20dcb/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A60C280C191927510Ewitness0Eto0Ezimmerman0Emartin0Etussle0Esays0Ehe0Esaw0Epunches0Ebefore0Eshooting0Dlite/story01.htm

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Past brain activation revealed in scans: Brain activity patterns preserve traces of previous cognitive activity

June 25, 2013 ? What if experts could dig into the brain, like archaeologists, and uncover the history of past experiences? This ability might reveal what makes each of us a unique individual, and it could enable the objective diagnosis of a wide range of neuropsychological diseases. New research at the Weizmann Institute hints that such a scenario is within the realm of possibility: It shows that spontaneous waves of neuronal activity in the brain bear the imprints of earlier events for at least 24 hours after the experience has taken place.

The new research stems from earlier findings in the lab of Prof. Rafi Malach of the Institute's Neurobiology Department and others that the brain never rests, even when its owner is resting. When a person is resting with closed eyes -- that is, no visual stimulus is entering the brain -- the normal bursts of nerve cell activity associated with incoming information are replaced by ultra-slow patterns of neuronal activity. Such spontaneous or "resting" waves travel in a highly organized and reproducible manner through the brain's outer layer -- the cortex -- and the patterns they create are complex, yet periodic and symmetrical.

Like hieroglyphics, it seemed that these patterns might have some meaning, and research student Tal Harmelech, under the guidance of Malach and Dr. Son Preminger, set out to uncover their significance. Their idea was that the patterns of resting brain waves may constitute "archives" for earlier experiences. As we add new experiences, the activation of our brain's networks lead to long-term changes in the links between brain cells, a facility referred to as plasticity. As our experiences become embedded in these connections, they create "expectations" that come into play before we perform any type of mental task, enabling us to anticipate the result. The researchers hypothesized that information about earlier experiences would thus be incorporated into the links between networks of nerve cells in the cortex, and these would show up in the brain's spontaneously emerging wave patterns.

In the experiment, the researchers had volunteers undertake a training exercise that would strongly activate a well-defined network of nerve cells in the frontal lobes. While undergoing scans of their brain activity in the Institute's functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner, the subjects were asked to imagine a situation in which they had to make rapid decisions. The subjects received auditory feedback in real time, based on the information obtained directly from their frontal lobe, which indicated the level of neuronal activity in the trained network. This "neurofeedback" strategy proved highly successful in activating the frontal network -- a part of the brain that is notoriously difficult to activate under controlled conditions.

To test whether the connections created in the brain during this exercise would leave their traces in the patterns formed by the resting brain waves, the researchers performed fMRI scans on the resting subjects before the exercise, immediately afterward, and 24 hours later. Their findings, which appeared in the Journal of Neuroscience, showed that the activation of the specific areas in the cortex did indeed remodel the resting brain wave patterns. Surprisingly, the new patterns not only remained the next day, they were significantly strengthened. These observations fit in with the classic learning principles proposed by Donald Hebb in the mid-20^th century, in which the co-activation of two linked nerve cells leads to long term strengthening of their link, while activity that is not coordinated weakens this link. The fMRI images of the resting brain waves showed that brain areas that were activated together during the training sessions exhibited an increase in their functional link a day after the training, while those areas that were deactivated by the training showed a weakened functional connectivity.

This research suggests a number of future possibilities for exploring the brain. For example, spontaneously emerging brain patterns could be used as a "mapping tool" for unearthing cognitive events from an individual's recent past. Or, on a wider scale, each person's unique spontaneously emerging activity patterns might eventually reveal a sort of personal profile -- highlighting each individual's abilities, shortcomings, biases, learning skills, etc. "Today, we are discovering more and more of the common principles of brain activity, but we have not been able to account for the differences between individuals," says Malach. "In the future, spontaneous brain patterns could be the key to obtaining unbiased individual profiles." Such profiles could be especially useful in diagnosing or learning the brain pathologies associated with a wide array of cognitive disabilities.

Prof. Rafi Malach's research is supported by the Nella and Leon Benoziyo Center for Neurosciences; the Nella and Leon Benoziyo Center for Neurological Diseases; the Carl and Micaela Einhorn-Dominic Brain Research Institute; the Norman and Helen Asher Center for Human Brain Imaging; the Murray H. and Meyer Grodetsky Center for Research of Higher Brain Functions; the Kahn Family Research Center for Systems Biology of the Human Cell; the Friends of Dr. Lou Siminovitch; the Adelis Foundation; and the Mike and Valeria Rosenbloom through the Mike Rosenbloom Foundation. Prof. Malach is the recipient of the Helen and Martin Kimmel Award for Innovative Investigation; and he is the incumbent of the Barbara and Morris L. Levinson Professorial Chair in Brain Research.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/ACKTq5RWxG8/130625121153.htm

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Doctor in Maine stopped taking insurance, cut prices 50%

Chris emailed me an interesting story about a doctor in Maine, Dr. Michael Ciampi, who has stopped taking any insurance, only takes cash, but has lowered his prices, in some cases, in half.

And he?s willing to give people who need a further break even bigger price cuts.

He?s even posted his price list online. ?Here are a few of the charges:

Chris pointed out to me that while the doctor visits range from $50 to $100, he still pays only 23 euros (about $30) for his doctor in Paris, whose office is in a rented apartment in Chris? building. ?The prices are so lower because the French government regulates them. Oh, and that?s the price you?d pay as a foreign without insurance. ?The French get most of that fee reimbursed from their national insurance plan.

The arbitrariness, and exorbitance, of American medical fees has always bothered me. ?It was only in the past few years that I finally understood the ?non-allowed? portion of my insurance receipt. ?Basically, what happens is that my doctor submits the bill to the insurance company, and the insurance company says ?oh, no, we?re not going to pay $14,000 for the facility charge for your cataract surgery ? we?re only going to pay $5,000.? ?And the doctors says, okay.

Well, the doctor says okay if you have insurance and he accepts your insurance plan. ?If you don?t have any insurance at all, the hospital socks you for the full $14,000, which you can attempt to negotiate on your own (good luck with that).

Why should cataract surgery cost me nearly 1/3 the price of what they charge someone who has no insurance at all? ?You?d think that if someone didn?t have insurance, especially if they couldn?t afford it, you might want them to pay less, not more, than someone who can afford insurance.

The only thing that worries me is that while the doctor in Maine is cutting his prices in half, my insurance company often seems to cut them to one-third. ?Though, if you have insurance, you could still submit the bill to your insurance company and hopefully get half or more back.

Such is America?s goofy medical system. ?Best in the world! ?If you can afford it.

Source: http://americablog.com/2013/06/doctor-in-maine-stopped-taking-insurance-lowered-prices.html

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Syria death toll tops 100,000, rebels lose border town

By Dominic Evans and Oliver Holmes

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces have retaken a town on the Lebanese border as they press an offensive against rebels in a conflict that has now cost more than 100,000 lives, activists said on Wednesday.

The army took full control of Tel Kalakh, driving out insurgents and ending an unofficial truce under which it had allowed a small rebel presence to remain for several months.

The fall of Tel Kalakh, two miles from the border with Lebanon, marks another gain for Assad after the capture of the rebel stronghold of Qusair this month, and consolidates his control around the central city of Homs, which links Damascus to his Alawite heartland overlooking the Mediterranean coast.

Like Qusair, Tel Kalakh was used by rebels in the early stages of the conflict as a transit point for weapons and fighters smuggled into Syria to join the fight against Assad.

Pro-Assad websites showed video footage of soldiers patrolling the town in armored cars and on foot.

"Terrorist groups infiltrated and terrorized the local people," an army officer said in the video. "In response to the request of the local people, the army entered Tel Kalakh to cleanse the area and restore security."

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a pro-opposition monitoring group, said rebels left the town on Tuesday, retreating towards the nearby Crusader fort of Crac des Chevaliers. Three rebels were killed as the army moved in.

Six months ago, Assad's opponents were challenging the president's grip on parts of Damascus, but are now under fierce military pressure there, while their supply lines from neighboring Jordan and Lebanon have steadily been choked off.

DEATH TOLL TOPS 100,000

In response to Assad's gains, achieved with the support of Lebanon's pro-Iranian Hezbollah fighters who spearheaded the assault on Qusair, Western and Arab nations pledged at the weekend to send urgent military aid to the rebels.

Hezbollah's involvement has highlighted the increasingly sectarian dynamic in the Syrian conflict. Hezbollah and Tehran back Assad, whose Alawite minority is an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, while Sunni Muslim states such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have stepped up support for the mainly Sunni rebels.

Radical Sunni militants from abroad, some of them linked to al Qaeda, are also coming in to fight alongside the rebels.

Jordan's King Abdullah said the war could ignite conflict across the Middle East unless global powers helped to convene peace talks soon.

"It has become clear to all that the Syrian crisis may extend from being a civil war to a regional and sectarian conflict...the extent of which is unknown," the monarch told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper in an interview.

"It is time for a more serious Arab and international coordination to stop the deterioration of the Syrian crisis. The situation cannot wait any longer," he added.

But prospects for proposed "Geneva 2" peace talks look bleak. Talks on Tuesday between the United States and Russia, which support opposing sides in Syria, produced no agreement on who should attend the conference or when it should be held.

Saudi Arabia, which views Shi'ite Iran as its arch-rival, has stepped up aid to Syrian rebels in recent months, supplying anti-aircraft missiles among other weapons.

"Syria is facing a double-edged attack. It is facing genocide by the government and an invasion from outside the government," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said on Tuesday. "(It) is facing a massive flow of weapons to aid and abet that invasion and that genocide. This must end."

The Observatory, which monitors violence through a network of security and medical sources in Syria, said the death toll from two years of conflict had risen above 100,000 - making it by far the deadliest of the uprisings to have swept the region.

It said the figure included 18,000 rebel fighters and about 40,000 soldiers and pro-Assad militiamen. But the true number of combatants killed was likely to be double that due to both sides' secrecy in reporting casualties, it said.

In addition to the casualties, it said, 10,000 people had been detained by pro-Assad forces and 2,500 soldiers and loyalist militiamen had been captured by the rebels.

The United Nations has put the death toll from the 27-month-old conflict at 93,000 by the end of April.

The violence has fuelled instability and sectarian tensions in Syria's neighbors, particularly Iraq and Lebanon.

At least 40 people were killed this week in the Lebanese city of Sidon in clashes between the army and gunmen loyal to a firebrand Sunni cleric who backs the Syrian rebels and has urged Sunnis to challenge Hezbollah's military might in Lebanon.

On Wednesday, unidentified attackers stabbed at least five passengers on a bus carrying Syrians in Beirut, security sources said. None of the victims was seriously wounded, they said.

(For an interactive look at the Syrian uprising - http://link.reuters.com/rut37s)

(Editing by Alistair Lyon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russia-u-fail-set-syria-peace-talks-074752996.html

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Language intervention levels playing field for English language learners

June 25, 2013 ? A new approach to teaching pre-kindergarten could take a bite out of the achievement gap and level the playing field for America's growing population of English language learners, according to a recently published study by researchers at Vanderbilt's Peabody College of education and human development.

"We are excited that we have helped teachers develop ways of teaching that result in such remarkable gains among children," David K. Dickinson, professor of education and one of the project's leaders, said. "Our teachers are committed to continuing using the approaches that are working, which means that many more children will benefit from being in their classrooms."

The Enhanced Language and Literacy Success Project, a four-year intervention and research effort performed in collaboration with Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, proved that a language-rich pre-K curriculum paired with coaching, feedback and professional development for teachers, can improve student outcomes significantly.

An article about the research was recently published by the journal Early Childhood Research Quarterly.

"Research shows that children from low income families are behind when they start kindergarten and it's really difficult for them to catch up," said Sandra Jo Wilson, associate director of the Peabody Research Institute.

Wilson, one of the project leaders, managed the analysis of data for the study.

"Our study demonstrates that it is possible for children from diverse languages and backgrounds to enter kindergarten with literacy skills at or near national norms," she said.

The researchers evaluated the outcomes of 700 students and 13 teachers in seven Nashville pre-K programs. About half of the students were English language learners and nearly all came from low-income households.

"The element of providing feedback to teachers turned out to be a key to the curriculum's success," Dickinson said. Dickinson co-authored the curriculum, helped guide the delivery of the intervention and did some of the teacher professional development. "Teachers were asking for their reports and wanted to see how they were doing -- they were very responsive to what the coaches had to say."

Deborah Wells Rowe, associate professor of education at Peabody and an expert on early childhood writing, worked with the teachers to incorporate writing into their lessons.

The Enhanced Language and Literacy Success Project is supported by U.S. Department of Education grant No. S359B080078.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/AzBKUGZ52l4/130625172212.htm

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Report: Yanks GM angry at A-Rod for Twitter update

NEW YORK (AP) ? Alex Rodriguez and the New York Yankees are not seeing eye to eye on his hip injury.

The star third baseman tweeted Tuesday night that his hip surgeon has cleared him to play in rehabilitation games, a move that angered Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, according to ESPN.com.

"You know what, when the Yankees want to announce something, (we will)," Cashman told the website.

"Alex should just shut ... up," the GM said, punctuating his comment with a profanity.

Cashman added that he planned to get in touch with Rodriguez right away.

The general manager did not respond to calls from The Associated Press.

Rodriguez had left hip surgery on Jan. 16 and has been working out since May at the Yankees' complex in Tampa, Fla. The three-time AL MVP took swings in a simulated-game situation for the first time on Monday.

On Tuesday night, he posted a message on Twitter: "Visit from Dr. Kelly over the weekend, who gave me the best news - the green light to play games again!" Rodriguez also posted a photo of himself and Dr. Brian Kelly, who performed the operation in New York.

Cashman recently said Yankees doctors have not yet cleared A-Rod for minor league rehab games.

"I don't tweet, and I really don't follow Twitter. So I probably don't really know much of what is going on. As far as I know he has not been cleared," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Tuesday night after his team's 4-3 victory over Texas.

"There's always a chain of command with injuries. There has to be and that's the process. It goes through our training staff, our doctors and our GM and then it goes to me. I'm down on the totem pole."

Before the game ? and Rodriguez's tweet ? Girardi said Rodriguez "is making progress, which is good."

"He's in sim games until they decide he's ready to go out on a rehab. It's not yet," the manager said.

New to Twitter, Rodriguez sent his first tweet on May 31. He is expected to return to the Yankees around the All-Star break, shortly before he turns 38.

Benched by the team as he slumped through last year's playoffs, A-Rod has been in the news a lot lately even though he has spent almost no time with the Yankees this season. He is among the 20 or so players who may be disciplined by Major League Baseball for their links to the now-closed Miami anti-aging clinic, Biogenesis of America. MLB could possibly seek a 100-game suspension.

Rodriguez admitted in 2009 that he used performance-enhancing drugs while with the Rangers from 2001-03. As baseball's highest-paid player with a $28 million salary this year, he would lose $7.65 million during a 50-game ban.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/report-yanks-gm-angry-rod-twitter-064201905.html

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NSA director gives pep talk to employees

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - National Security Agency Director Keith Alexander on Tuesday sought to reassure his employees that the outcry over surveillance programs leaked by Edward Snowden was not directed at them and that agency leaders would "take the heat."

In a statement to agency employees, which are rarely made public, Alexander said the surveillance programs helped disrupt terrorist plots in the United States and over 20 countries.

"The ongoing national dialogue is not about your performance," he said.

The information leaked by Snowden, a former NSA contractor, to media outlets created an uproar among American privacy and civil rights advocates and other countries over whether the United States was spying on their communications.

Alexander said the NSA workforce "has executed its national security responsibilities with equal and full respect for civil liberties and privacy."

He added: "Please do not let this distract you from your work, or cause you to worry that your work is not valuable, valued, and honorable. It is all three."

Alexander said the senior leadership team would continue to "take the heat" on the issue. "We need you to focus on our primary mission of defending our nation and our allies."

(Reporting by Tabassum Zakaria; Editing by Stacey Joyce)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nsa-director-gives-pep-talk-employees-230011032.html

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Crimson Trace Expands Sales Staff

Crimson Trace

Wilsonville, OR - -(Ammoland.com)- Crimson Trace, the inventor of Instinctive Activation laser sighting systems and the world?s leading brand of laser sights and tactical lighting products for firearms, has expanded its sales staff with a new employee and two promotions.

The new responsibilities include: Scott Schaeffer as the new National Sales Manager; Justin Porlier is promoted to Key Accounts Manager; and Tiffany Hopp is promoted to Commercial Business Manager.

Crimson Trace Expands Sales Staff ; Top to Bottom, Scott Schaeffer, Tiffany Hopp, Justin Porlier

As Crimson Trace?s new National Sales Manager, Schaeffer brings experience in channel sales and representative management to the position. He previously worked in the sporting goods industry with Wilson and Maxfli and called on customers such as Bass Pro Shops. He will be based in Wilsonville, Oregon.

The transition of Justin Porlier to the new Key Accounts Manager position follows three years of work by him as a Crimson Trace Regional Sales Manager. Porlier previously covered the East Central sales region and will continue to be based in Kentucky.

Completing this sales department expansion is the promotion of Tiffany Hopp to the position of Commercial Business Manager. In this role, she will create store merchandise POS displays and other efforts to support the commercial customers. Hopp previously was the Crimson Trace Mar-Com Manager and has worked for company for more than five years.

?Crimson Trace continues to expand and put emphasis on strategic roles within the company,? stated Jeff Goddard, Crimson Trace Director of Sales. ?We are committed to increasing our reach and frequency with our customers.?

The company has dealers and regional sales managers from coast to coast.

The National Sales Manager is responsible for developing and executing aggressive strategies to achieve sales goals and objectives for the U.S. commercial sales operation. This position is directly responsible for the management and leadership of the Commercial Business Manager, field sales staff, and sales rep agencies. The Key Accounts Manager is responsible for managing business relationships with large strategic customers in CTC?s U.S. commercial sales operation. The Commercial Business Manager is responsible for pro-actively driving the collaborated effort between the commercial sales team and the marketing department in order to identify sales market opportunities.

ABOUT CRIMSON TRACE:
Crimson Trace, the acknowledged industry leader for laser sighting systems, is based in Wilsonville, Oregon. Its award-winning innovations include Lasergrips? and Laserguard? with red and green lasers, as well as Lightguard? ? all with Instinctive Activation ?. Additionally, the company?s product line includes the Best-in-Class Defender Series? and Rail Master? platforms ? all of which are proudly designed, engineered and manufactured in the USA. More details are available at: www.crimsontrace.com or by calling 800-442-2406.

Source: http://www.ammoland.com/2013/06/crimson-trace-expands-sales-staff/

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NSA Surveillance Scandal: Snowden Now In Moscow, Havana Tomorrow

Russian media has confirmed that Edward Snowden is now in Moscow after leaving his secret Hong Kong hideout. The same sources reported he has a ticket for an Aeroflot flight to Havana, Cuba, leaving tomorrow at 2PM. The former NSA contractor has been on the run since he first revealed details of Verizon's participation in a telecommunications industry program to store information on all telephone calls, and then broke news of the NSA/Silicon Valley PRISM system that watches over the whole Interent. Developing...

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/QlLXd6L-sQg/nsa-surveillance-scandal-snowden-now-in-moscow-havana-511588927

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