Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Is 'The Voice' dishing out enough criticism?

TV

17 hours ago

Image: "Voice" coaches

NBC

Coaches Adam Levine, Shakira, Usher and Blake Shelton on "The Voice."

Has ?The Voice? lost its bite? Not at all, say the show?s artists.

Fans have commented that this season?s coaching panel -- Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, Shakira and Usher -- has been giving out more compliments than constructive criticism.

Even host Carson Daly noticed a shift in tone on the NBC competition. ?I think that?s a fair assessment. Not that (criticism) didn't come from this season, but I understand when people say that," he told TODAY.com. "I think through the different cycles of the show, you're going to have panels that are a little more vocal that way, and some that are a little less.?

But for the most part, the season's hopefuls are pleased with what they?ve been hearing.

?I think all the coaches are definitely doing their fair share of constructive criticism,? Team Usher?s Michelle Chamuel told TODAY.com, calling the R&B star ?a tough coach, but a great coach.?

?Adam and Usher have been giving me some great advice in the past weeks," Holly Tucker said. "I appreciate all their feedback and they're really great for that.?

?When it?s time for (Blake) to get mean, he does,? said Zach Swon of The Swon Brothers. ?He will definitely tell us if something needs to be changed.?

But one artist does want more feedback from the superstar coaches.

?They're careful with what they say. I get some constructive criticism from them, but most of the comments that I've been getting are sort of a general statement about, 'Oh, it was great,? ? Team Adam?s Judith Hill told us. She said that she?d like to have the panel ?really kind of dig into my performance more instead of just being like, 'Oh, that was great.? ?

But some of the hopefuls are already seeing changes thanks to the pointers they?ve received.

?Just having (the coaches') feedback that I really need to step up and have the confidence to take it all the way, that's been the most valuable thing for me so far,? Holly added. ?I feel like I have more confidence, more strength and that's really what I need. That's what I needed all along.?

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/voice-dishing-out-enough-criticism-6C10012963

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Archie Comics' gay kiss a poke at real controversy

It's just a quick kiss, but it's a long step forward for Archie Comics' only openly gay character Kevin Keller.

The Riverdale teen finds his life turned upside down after locking lips with his boyfriend, Devon, in Pop Tate's diner, drawing the ire of at least one disapproving Riverdale mom.

The woman "gets very offended and kind of pitches a bit of a fit," said Dan Parent, who writes and draws the issue, "Kevin Keller" No. 10 that is released Aug. 7.

"Kevin is kind of used to that, but Veronica records the whole thing and of course uploads it to the Riverdale equivalent of YouTube and that starts a bit of a debate," said Parent.

For Archie Comics it's a bit of art imitating life. Parent said he wrote the story after efforts to remove a comic magazine showing Keller getting married drew at complaints. One Million Moms, a project of The American Family Association, asked Toys R Us not to display "Life With Archie" No. 16 near its checkout aisles. Toys R Us did not, and the issue went on to sell out its print run.

Parent called the new story a "playful poke" at the protest.

Keller debuted in "Veronica" No. 202 in September 2010. It resulted in Archie Comics' first-ever second printing. It was quickly followed by a four-issue miniseries and the current monthly title.

Publisher and co-CEO Jon Goldwater said the fact that any kiss is being shown in the pages of an Archie Comics book is a step in and of itself.

"There aren't that many on-panel kisses in the pages of Archie, but you often see the lipstick on Archie's face afterward," he said.

Goldwater said Keller's character has let the company weave in contemporary issues to its imaginary world.

"We certainly pride ourselves on being contemporary, but that's not the reason why we're showing 'The Kiss.' Just like when Kevin first told Jughead he was gay, it was in the natural course of conversation," said Goldwater. "We are creating this in the same way. It's just part of the story."

___

Follow Matt Moore at www.twitter.com/mattmooreap.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/archie-comics-gay-kiss-poke-real-controversy-172344240.html

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Overall Rome and Floyd County high schools graduation rates show increase

Armuchee High, Rome High see graduation rates soar; all area high schools top state rate in a graduation report released Tuesday

by Jeremy Stewart, staff writer Rn T.Com

Rome and Floyd County schools all recorded graduation rates for 2012 above the state average, and most saw an increase from 2011, according to figures provided Tuesday by the Georgia Department of Education.

The statewide graduation rate rose to 69.72 percent in 2012 from 67.44 percent in 2011.

Armuchee High School saw its rate jump to 86.36 percent in 2012 from 73.42 percent in 2011. Rome High?s graduation rate increased by nearly 9 percentage points to 85.25 percent from 76.52 percent.

?Obviously we are extremely pleased. Our No. 1 priority is to get kids to graduate and we work hard in making that happen,? said James Burris, principal at Armuchee High School. ?Our teachers are good about coming in early and staying late to work with kids. I?ve been at a lot of schools but I?ve never seen a faculty put in as much time with kids as this faculty does.?

Rome High School principal Tygar Evans said Rome?s graduation rate is the school?s highest in years.

?That says to us that the teachers are doing a great job at the school, along with the parents,? Evans said. ?We?ve been aiming for that for a long time. This confirms that the hard work is paying off for our teachers and especially our students, and we?re very excited for that.?

The lowest graduation rate in Floyd County is Pepperell at 72.34 percent ? a decrease from 2011?s rate of 75.83.

State School Superintendent John Barge, who lives in Floyd County, said Georgia schools are moving in the right direction overall, although there is still work to be done. ?In order to encourage more students to stay in school, we must make high school more relevant,? he said.

This marks the second year Georgia has calculated the graduation rate using a new formula ? known as the adjusted cohort rate ? as required by the U.S. Department of Education.

The rate is calculated using the number of students who graduate within four years and includes adjustments for student transfers.

Georgia?s former graduation rate calculation included all students who graduated from a specific school, which may have included students who took more than four years to graduate.

Model High?s rate went to 77.42 percent from 69.64 percent and Coosa High?s graduation rate increased to 72.43 percent from 67.39 percent.

Both Burris and Evans also credited their school system?s alternative learning centers ? Performance Learning Center at the Floyd County Education Center and the Phoenix Learning Center for Rome City Schools ? for helping all high schools make sure students graduate on time.

Pepperell High School principal Phil Ray said that while he is disappointed with the rate, he is glad to see it is still above the state average.

Pepperell had the highest graduation rate of all county high schools in 2011.

Source: http://romenews-tribune.com/bookmark/22654293

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Monday, May 20, 2013

Actavis to buy Warner Chilcott in $8.5 billion stock deal

(Reuters) - Generic drugmaker Actavis Inc, which has been the subject of intense takeover speculation, said on Monday that it had struck a deal to buy specialty pharmaceuticals company Warner Chilcott Plc for $8.5 billion in stock.

The move comes as Actavis has spurned approaches from Canadian pharmaceutical company Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc and Mylan Inc. Analysts have said that if Actavis were to buy Warner Chilcott, it would kill the chances of its being taken over.

Warner Chilcott shareholders will receive 0.16 share of the combined company. The companies said that would equate to $20.08 per share, based on Actavis' closing share price of $125.50 on Friday.

The purchase price is a 34 percent premium to Warner Chilcott's closing share price of $15.01 on May 9, the day before the companies disclosed that they were in talks. Warner Chilcott shares have since risen and closed on Friday at $19.19, narrowing the premium to less than 5 percent.

Shares of Warner Chilcott were up 2.6 percent at $19.70 in trading before the market opened, while Actavis rose 2 percent to $128.

Warner Chilcott brings a portfolio of branded women's health pharmaceuticals such as the contraceptive patch to Actavis, which makes and sells generic version of drugs that are no longer protected by patents. Because Warner Chilcott is based in Ireland, the deal creates a money-saving lower tax rate for Actavis, analysts have said. The combined company would have $11 billion in sales.

(Reporting by Caroline Humer in New York and Esha Dey in Bangalore; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Lisa Von Ahn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/actavis-buy-warner-chilcott-8-5-billion-deal-112018951.html

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ASUS Transformer Book review: meet ASUS' first detachable Ultrabook

ASUS Transformer Book review: meet ASUS' first detachable Ultrabook

For a while, it looked like ASUS' Transformer Book would turn out to be vaporware: after debuting to much fanfare a year ago, it encountered numerous delays, and even missed the crucial holiday shopping season. Now it's finally here, priced at $1,499 with a Core i7 processor, a 13.3-inch (1080p) screen and a detachable keyboard dock housing both a spare battery and a 500GB hard drive. The problem is the timing: Intel is about to launch its new Haswell chips, and here's the Transformer Book, arriving on the scene with a lofty price and a year-old CPU.

It'd be easy enough to tell you just wait for a refresh, which is how we've been ending all of our PC reviews in the weeks leading up to this year's Computex. But it's still worth investigating whether the Transformer Book (aka the TX300) is a compelling idea. Though we've seen many tablet hybrids (the Surface Pro, etc.), they've mostly had smaller 11-inch screens. So what happens when you take that form factor and stretch it to accommodate a bigger screen -- and a more spacious keyboard? And how does it compare to all those convertible options out there, like the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 or the Dell XPS 12? Let's have a look.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/pRCbIdzmG1U/

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Massages: Home Remedies with Natural Oils for Skin Care, Hair ...


Getting a massage is like a hands on treatment where your muscles are manipulated along with other soft tissues that offer relaxation, stress relief, beauty and health. In our busy lives, heading to a spa every week or fortnight is not possible, so the best option lies in home remedies and home massages. There are an array of natural oils that are beneficial for the body in terms of hair care, skin care and body care. Charoo Chawla Anand, Director, Blliis by Ravissant in New Delhi gives us names of different natural oils and their health benefits.


*Image courtesy: ? Thinkstock photos/ Getty Images

?

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Fate of LA pot shops left to voters

In this photo taken Tuesday, May 14, 2013, Medical marijuana prescriptions vials are filled at the Venice Beach Care Center medical marijuana dispensary in Venice, Calif. Los Angeles politicians have tried and failed for so long to regulate medical marijuana that it was only a matter of time before voters got a chance to control shops that have proliferated. Complicating matters, there are three measures on Tuesday's ballot that would allow sick people to get the drug, but either limit the number of shops, raise taxes or do both. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

In this photo taken Tuesday, May 14, 2013, Medical marijuana prescriptions vials are filled at the Venice Beach Care Center medical marijuana dispensary in Venice, Calif. Los Angeles politicians have tried and failed for so long to regulate medical marijuana that it was only a matter of time before voters got a chance to control shops that have proliferated. Complicating matters, there are three measures on Tuesday's ballot that would allow sick people to get the drug, but either limit the number of shops, raise taxes or do both. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

In this photo taken Tuesday, May 14, 2013, Nicole Denis, left, and Brennan Thicke, help fill medical marijuana prescriptions at the Venice Beach Care Center medical marijuana dispensary in Venice, Calif. Los Angeles politicians have tried and failed for so long to regulate medical marijuana that it was only a matter of time before voters got a chance to control shops that have proliferated. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

In this photo taken Tuesday, May 14, 2013, Medical marijuana vials are displayed at the Venice Beach Care Center medical marijuana dispensary in Venice, Calif. Los Angeles politicians have tried and failed for so long to regulate medical marijuana that it was only a matter of time before voters got a chance to control shops that have proliferated. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

In this photo taken Tuesday, May 14, 2013, Brennan Thicke, who helps run the Venice Beach Care Center medical marijuana dispensary, poses next to posters explaining different medical marijuana measures, at the business in Venice, Calif. Los Angeles politicians have tried and failed for so long to regulate medical marijuana that it was only a matter of time before voters got a chance to control shops that have proliferated. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

In this photo taken Tuesday, May 14, 2013, medical marijuana plants are seen at the Venice Beach Care Center medical marijuana dispensary in Venice, Calif. Los Angeles politicians have tried and failed for so long to regulate medical marijuana that it was only a matter of time before voters got a chance to control shops that have proliferated. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

(AP) ? Los Angeles politicians have struggled for more than five years to regulate medical marijuana, trying to balance the needs of the sick against neighborhood concerns that pot shops attract crime.

Voters will head to the polls Tuesday to decide how Los Angeles should handle its high with three competing measures that seek to either limit the number of dispensaries or allow new ones to open and join an estimated several hundred others that currently operate.

Election Day in the nation's second-largest city comes just two weeks after a pivotal state Supreme Court decision gave cities and counties the authority to ban pot shops. More than 200 local municipalities have bans, and some cities that were awaiting guidance from the state's highest court have taken immediate action this month and begun shuttering clinics.

While some cities have been able to manage pot collectives, Los Angeles fumbled with the issue and dispensaries cropped up across the city as a result. Councilman Ed Reyes said Los Angeles has run into trouble where other cities such as Oakland haven't because of the sheer size of LA and a movement that is more organized and litigious.

"The pie is so big here, so thick and rich, that we have many people making a run at it," Reyes said. "Regardless of which measure you support, the city is going to have to focus on enforcement. I think as long as we don't have enforcement, it's just letters on paper."

City councilors passed an ordinance in 2010 to cut the number of shops from roughly 1,000 to 70. But numerous lawsuits were filed against the city by dispensaries and the ordinance was allowed to expire last year, leading to another surge of pot shops.

Last summer, the city approved a ban, but two months later repealed it after enough signatures were gathered to get the measures on the ballot.

Proposition D would cap the number of collectives that opened prior to 2007 ? about 135 ? and raise taxes slightly; Proposition E also would do the same but raise no new taxes; Proposition F wouldn't limit the number of pot shops but put stringent controls such as audits and background checks on employees. It also raises taxes.

The proposition with the most votes wins, but only if it collects a majority. If none of the measures receives more than 50 percent, the issue could bounce back to the City Council.

Proposition E is essentially dead on arrival because its supporters are now backing Proposition D, which has been endorsed by several council members. Proposition D backers said the initiative meets the criteria of neighbors and the medical marijuana industry by limiting the number of clinics.

"There's been absolutely no control, and that's what has hurt the city," said Brennan Thicke, who runs a pot clinic called the Venice Beach Care Center. "At this point, voters need to finally decide this issue. There's been an overwhelming belief in this city that medical marijuana should not go away."

Those who support Proposition F say the medical marijuana industry should be an open market, and the measure does more to regulate the industry than its counterpart. They also note that if some of the 135 clinics under Proposition D later close, they won't be replaced.

"There are bad apples in both groups," said attorney David Welch, who has represented dispensaries in various lawsuits. "The idea that the (older) collectives are angels and everyone else are the devils is just plain wrong. They don't want competition, and they want to control the supply and demand."

Regardless of the election's outcome, dispensary owners still are under the specter of the federal government, which maintains marijuana is illegal and has raided clinics, prosecuted owners and filed lawsuits against landlords.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-05-19-Medical%20Marijuana-Los%20Angeles/id-6b24227c97844fecb1fc77abf6c225ad

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Sunday, May 19, 2013

Streetlight Manifesto: Ungrateful

Streetlight Manifesto's new record, The Hands That Thieve, is an instant classic in the ever-shrinking world of really stellar ska music simply by virtue of being a Streetlight Manifesto album. But what "Ungrateful" brings to the table is something a little subtler; it's a great Catch 22 song.

Read more...

    


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/d-R38388VmA/streetlight-manifesto-ungrateful-508392749

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Climate change may have little impact on tropical lizards

Friday, May 17, 2013

A new Dartmouth College study finds human-caused climate change may have little impact on many species of tropical lizards, contradicting a host of recent studies that predict their widespread extinction in a rapidly warming planet.

The findings, which appear in the journal Global Change Biology, offer new hope for survival of a creature thought to be doomed

Most predictions that tropical cold-blooded animals, especially forest lizards, will be hard hit by climate change are based on global-scale measurements of environmental temperatures, which miss much of the fine-scale variation in temperature that individual animals experience on the ground, said the article's lead author, Michael Logan, a Ph.D. student in ecology and evolutionary biology.

To address this disconnect, the Dartmouth researchers measured environmental temperatures at extremely high resolution and used those measurements to project the effects of climate change on the running abilities of four populations of lizard from the Bay Islands of Honduras. Field tests on the captured lizards, which were released unharmed, were conducted between 2008 and 2012.

Previous studies have suggested that open-habitat tropical lizard species are likely to invade forest habitat and drive forest species to extinction, but the Dartmouth research suggests that the open-habitat populations will not invade forest habitat and may actually benefit from predicted warming for many decades. Conversely, one of the forest species studied should experience reduced activity time as a result of warming, while two others are unlikely to experience a significant decline in performance.

The overall results suggest that global-scale predictions generated using low-resolution temperature data may overestimate the vulnerability of many tropical lizards to climate change.

"Whereas studies conducted to date have made uniformly bleak predictions for the survival of tropical forest lizards around the globe, our data show that four similar species, occurring in the same geographic region, differ markedly in their vulnerabilities to climate warming," the authors wrote. "Moreover, none appear to be on the brink of extinction. Considering that these populations occur over extremely small geographic ranges, it is possible that many tropical forest lizards, which range over much wider areas, may have even greater opportunity to escape warming."

###

Article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.12253/abstract

Dartmouth College: http://www.dartmouth.edu

Thanks to Dartmouth College for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/128301/Climate_change_may_have_little_impact_on_tropical_lizards

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Tampa Bay Boat Show set for May 17-19Outdoors & Recreation ...

TAMPA - Chart your course to Florida State Fairgrounds ? Main Expo Hall on May 17, 18 and 19 for the Tampa Bay Boat Show.

Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday and Saturday; and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday. Admission is free.

The Tampa Bay Boat Sale is a grand event showcasing area boat dealers and manufacturers, the latest in boating and fishing supplies and great accessories too. This three-day sales event offers a great way to see and compare all available makes and models in one location. Florida State Fairgrounds will be filled with new boats, trailers, docking and safety equipment and lots of related exhibits.

Area lenders will be on hand offering low show financing rates.

Florida State Fairgrounds is at 4800 U.S. Hwy 301 North, Tampa with access from I-4 and U.S. 301.

For more information, call Dave LaBell at 727-893-8523.

Source: http://www.tbnweekly.com/editorial/outdoors/content_articles/051613_out-06.txt

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Formlabs ships first Form 1 3D printer, Kickstarter backers should see theirs next week

Formlabs ships first Form 1 3D printer, Kickstarter backers should see theirs next week

Some might say it's been a long, long while since October -- with "some" referring to the swath of Kickstarter backers who've been waiting oh-so-patiently for a Form 1 to call their own. Formlabs has just confirmed via a company blog post that the very first Form 1 3D printer shipped out today, as the Collector's Edition Form 1 and half of the Initial Formation tier of pledges hopped on a variety of delivery trucks. The rest of you backers can expect to begin printing "by the end of next week." For those keeping count, the Form 1 is actually a few months behind schedule, but in all honesty, that's pretty good considering the up-and-down nature of crowdfunded projects that manage to find the limelight.

The outfit is reminding folks that Form 1 units are shipped as they're produced, fulfilling Kickstarter rewards and preorders by priority. Specifics on group deliveries won't come for a few more weeks, but those in the Bay Area can swing by Maker Faire (or ICFF if you're in the Big Apple) to catch an early glimpse. Oh, and if you're just now hearing of this thing? You can place a $3,299 order right now, but you probably won't get it until July. Them's the breaks, kids!

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/17/formlabs-form-1-3d-printer-now-shipping-available-kickstarter/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Saturday, May 18, 2013

It?s Scandal Season!

U.S. President Barack Obama, May 16, 2013 U.S. President Barack Obama, May 16, 2013

Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Washington?s need for periodic scandal is almost biological. For legislators, it?s an opportunity to strut on the national stage. For the party out of power, it is politics by other means. For the press, it?s an escape from the boredom and frustration of a second term. Scandal means a break in the routine, a thrilling emergency. At some level, the whole political class loves it.

Which is not to say that scandal is never real. Watergate was real. The Whitewater affair was not real but managed to be quite damaging to the Clinton administration anyway. Iran-Contra was real, but not damaging enough to turn Republicans out of office in 1988. Plamegate, which began with the question of who leaked the name of a clandestine CIA agent to a reporter, wasn?t real or damaging, though it did result in Dick Cheney and George W. Bush not speaking anymore.

What a scandal needs to count as real is an underlying crime. What it needs to be damaging is a strong story line. The Benghazi business falls short on both counts. This investigation posits that the top administration officials conspired to hide the truth about the September attack on an American consulate that resulted in the death of four diplomats, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya. Republican accusations about Benghazi derailed the nomination of U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice to succeed Hillary Clinton as secretary of state.

The charge against Rice was essentially that she delivered distorted political spin by calling the attacks spontaneous riots rather than a planned act of terrorism?the theory being that before the 2012 election, the Obama administration didn?t want to tarnish its success against al-Qaida. It emerged yesterday that Rice?s much-parsed Sunday television talking points were prepared not by the State Department but by the more politically independent CIA. But in an inquisitorial frenzy, dead ends are synonymous with new avenues. Republican investigators can now return to Gregory Hicks, the diplomat serving in Tripoli, Libya, who claims he was punished for speaking frankly to Republican investigators.

This claim, too, is extremely weak. In less tendentious perspective, Benghazi was a tragedy, a chain of errors that left a diplomatic outpost vulnerable. Even clearer is the political motivation behind that investigation, which is to embarrass Hillary Clinton, the front-runner for the 2016 Democratic nomination. When Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina fulminates that Benghazi is ?every bit as damaging as Watergate,? the most accurate translation is, ?I am facing a Republican primary challenge.? Last week, Graham survived that challenge and may now begin to calm down.

The fresher IRS scandal, in which agents are alleged to have targeted the Tea Party and other conservative organizations for examinations looks similarly unreal but has much more potential to be damaging. This is because it has a readily comprehensible narrative: that the Obama administration used the tax enforcement agency to harm its political enemies. This surely did not happen, but it is something, unlike Benghazi, that people can understand. Richard Nixon used tax audits as a tool of political persecution during Watergate. It?s the kind of abuse that Obama?s paranoiac enemies believe him to be capable of.

What actually seems to have happened is this: In 2010, a spate of conservative groups was applying for tax-exempt status. This designation is available to organizations whose main activity is not political, so most of the groups were running a kind of scam by asking for it. Low-level employees in a Cincinnati field office thought they could create a shortcut by watching out for red-flag political terms like ?patriots? and ?9/12? on the applications. The IRS inspector general has persuasively concluded that this was an instance of bureaucratic overzealousness meeting a vague standard, not politically motivated, and not criminal.

But this kind of scandal can succeed even where it fails the reality test, thanks to bipartisan cowardice. No politician wants to defend the IRS. So President Obama has done his best to appear furious about what happened, the Justice Department has announced a criminal investigation, and the Treasury has forced the IRS acting commissioner, who may or may not have done anything wrong, to resign. Feeding the wolves in this way is a bad idea; they know where their next meal is to be had. As the fever takes hold, any additional controversy?such as the Justice Department?s subpoena of Associated Press phone records in pursuit of a leak?is accorded scandal status. The administration is officially ?beset? and ?besieged.?

The final requirement of a successful scandal is that it be less boring than what people would be talking about otherwise. Here, Benghazi and the IRS are up against implementation of the Affordable Care Act, Round 17 of the budget battles, and a stalemate over immigration reform. Washington is desperate for diversion. But it?s going to have to try harder?these scandals aren?t any fun.

A slightly different version of this piece appears in the Financial Times.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=c3f141c954048172d45008b1fee2634f

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Two Grocery Outlets on the Way, in the Richmond and Visitacion ...

Grocery Outlet, the source for cheap, overstock dry goods, deeply discounted wine, and frozen pizzas nearing their expiration dates, is finally coming to San Francisco. The bargain grocery chain's closest current location is in South San Francisco, with others in Oakland and Berkeley, where the company's headquartered. But now they've staked a claim on two spaces here ? one a former Cala Foods and Delano's at 6333 Geary Boulevard (at 27th), and the other in Visitacion Valley at 2630 Bayshore Boulevard. The company announced the two locations last fall, to the delight of both neighborhoods, which are currently under-served, grocery-wise.

Jim Read founded Grocery Outlet in 1946 and originally bought military surplus goods which he sold at extreme discounts. Now the company has 185 locations, primarily in western states, where they sell produce, meat, deli meats, frozen foods, dry goods, wine, spirits, and anything else they can find at deep discounts from distributors, wineries, and other grocers. You can often find great deals on the wine and booze front especially, with brand names going for far less than you'd find at Trader Joe's or anywhere. But, like at any outlet, the selection is hit and miss, and the good stuff goes fast.

Look for both locations to open later this year.

Earlier: Grocery Outlet Signs Leases for Neighborhood Grocery Stores in Visitacion Valley, Richmond Districts [Market Watch]

Source: http://sanfrancisco.grubstreet.com/2013/05/grocery-outlet-opening-san-francisco-richmond-geary.html

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New malaria test kit gives a boost to elimination efforts worldwide

May 17, 2013 ? A new, highly sensitive blood test that quickly detects even the lowest levels of malaria parasites in the body could make a dramatic difference in efforts to tackle the disease in the UK and across the world, according to new research published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

In two studies led by researchers in the UK and Switzerland, the new LAMP (loop-mediated isothermal amplification) test was compared to existing methods in London laboratories that deal with imported cases of malaria to the UK, and to diagnostic methods used in the field in Uganda, where malaria is a leading cause of illness and death.

The simple test, which can be performed by a non-specialist health worker and does not need refrigerating like other tests, requires a sample of blood to be processed and placed in a test tube with a reactive powder then heated. If the malaria-causing Plasmodium parasites are present, the tube glows green. The whole process takes less than an hour.

The first study, led in London by the Hospital for Tropical Diseases (HTD), the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, compared LAMP to existing laboratory diagnostic methods on 705 blood samples of suspected imported malaria cases in the UK.

Dr Colin Sutherland, Clinical Scientist at HTD and Reader in Parasitology at the Malaria Reference Laboratory at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: "According to data collected for Public Health England by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the UK treats at least 1,500 cases of imported malaria every year. Despite the very best efforts of the NHS, a handful of malaria related deaths still occur annually in UK hospitals. The new LAMP test for malaria performed very well when tested in the parasite reference laboratory at HTD, and correctly identified every malaria patient out of 705 malaria tests performed.

"An important advantage of LAMP is that non-specialist staff in any hospital in the UK will be able to accurately and rapidly detect the presence of malaria parasites, and immediately begin treatment without waiting for confirmation from local experts or specialist laboratories. This speed of diagnosis can make the difference between an uncomplicated episode of malaria that rapidly responds to treatment, and progression to severe disease, organ failure and heightened risk of death. It could also save the NHS a significant amount of money from having to treat the complications of malaria."

LAMP was faster than PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests, which require specialised laboratory equipment, costly reagents and advanced training. It was also more accurate than microscopic examination of blood slides, which require a trained specialist to identify the malaria parasites.

In the second study, researchers from HTD, the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, Switzerland, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the Uganda Ministry of Health, Kampala, looked at the accuracy of the test at a rural clinic in Uganda.

Blood samples from 272 patients with suspected malaria were tested using LA MP using a simple generator to provide electrical current. These results were compared with expert microscopy and PCR performed at central reference laboratories. LAMP detected cases of low-level malaria parasite infection that were missed by expert microscopy, and achieved accuracy similar to that of PCR down to very low levels. The researchers say these findings have important implications for eliminating malaria, which causes an estimated 660,000 deaths worldwide every year.

Dr Sutherland, who worked on both of the studies, said: "Patterns of malaria disease in Africa and elsewhere across the tropics are becoming much less predictable, and control of malaria needs an appropriate test to identify infected individuals in the populations at risk. These people may not display any malaria symptoms. We have begun using LAMP as a new tool for identifying "hot spots" of malaria infections which can be mopped up quickly through a combination of drug treatment, house spraying and distribution of bed-nets.

"LAMP will potentially contribute to saving many families and communities from the blight of a disease that keeps children from succeeding at school, prevents adults from growing food or working, holds back regional economies and exacts an annual death toll in the hundreds of thousands."

The LAMP malaria test will now be used in the Malaria Reference Laboratory at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine to help identify imported cases of malaria in the UK as well as being used by health workers in the field in malaria endemic countries.

The LAMP malaria test is commercially available and was developed by the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, London and Eiken Chemical Company Ltd, Japan. The studies were funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of The Netherlands, and the UK Department for International Development.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/M9d7yJdth0c/130517102718.htm

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Miley Cyrus Makeup Mishap: Oops!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/05/miley-cyrus-makeup-mishap-oops/

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Friday, May 17, 2013

Foc.us headset claims to shock the brain for better gaming, we go ...

Focus headset stimulates your brain, hones in on gaming foreheadon

We've seen a number of headsets tap into the mind, to geotag your mood, grant you remote control over gadgets or simply let you wiggle a pair of cat ears. None of those are quite like the foc.us, however, which serves up transcranial direct-current simulation (tDCS) -- a controversial form of neurosimulation that transmits current to a particular area of the brain. Originally used to help patients with brain injuries, tDCS has supposedly been found to increase cognitive performance in healthy adults. These claims haven't been proven yet though, and shocking your own cranium isn't exactly FDA approved.

Still, the foc.us is one of a few tDCS headsets designed for the consumer market and can, the inventor Michael Oxley claims, improve your working or short-term memory when the electrodes are placed on your prefrontal cortex. A low-intensity current is passed through the different nodes, exciting that part of the brain. Interestingly, Oxley is positioning it as a way to boost your video gaming prowess for the "ultimate gaming experience," a concept we found a little odd. That said, you don't actually have to wear the headset while shooting up bad guys or other brain-draining tasks. The idea behind the foc.us headset is to put it on your noggin, fire it up, and wait for around five to ten minutes, then take it off and go about your day. We did just that and all the gory details are after the break.

foc.us

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The model that we tried was only a prototype and, as you can see from the pictures, the device has four copper electrodes that are designed to sit on your forehead via four saline-soaked sponges, which are there to prevent your skin from burning. (You are getting about a milliamp of current zapped across your cranium after all.) A touch sensor on the back turns the headset on when held down and activates the tDCS when double tapped.

We strapped the headset on for ourselves at a recent event, and we found it to be a weird experience. There was a strange, almost burning, sensation on the right part of our forehead, while the rest merely tingled. Oxley told us that it was normal for some people to feel it more on one side than the other, and that tDCS does take some getting used to. After about eight minutes, the tingling sensation remained even after we removed the headset. We didn't really feel our powers of concentration improve that much afterward, but it's hard to say after such a limited time.

The final product will be made out of polypropylene and polycarbonate, while the sponges will be of a much higher-grade. The final foc.us kit will include a headset (available in black or red), a case, eight reusable sponges and a micro-USB cable. For those who want to take tDCS a step further, you can get additional electrodes that can be attached elsewhere on the head. The default setting is 1.0mA for five minutes, but if you pair it with the iOS app it's configurable from 0.8 to 2.0mA and sessions can last up to 40 minutes (for when you really need to cook those brain cells). If you're a tDCS believer, then be prepared to pay hypochondriac prices for your latest toy, as it'll set you back $249 in the US and ?179 in the UK. The first batch should ship by July, while subsequent orders are set to arrive starting in October.

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/17/focus-headset-tdcs/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Chris Pine and Jake Gyllenhaal Look to Join Into the Woods

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/05/chris-pine-and-jake-gyllenhaal-look-to-join-into-the-woods/

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Hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy S 4 running stock Android 4.2

Hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy S 4 running stock Android 4.2

Despite being officially unveiled at Google I/O, the stock Android version of the Samsung Galaxy S 4 has remained the unicorn of the show, seldom seen by anyone not closely associated with the company's top brass. We ran into Android VP Hugo Barra at the show, who was happy to give us a few brief moments with the upcoming device. There is still a lot of mystery around the $649 phone ahead of its June 26th launch, but we've been able to glean a few additional details nonetheless.

While the model in Hugo's hand was a pre-release model and therefore subject to change between now and the official release, the hardware and overall design are identical to what we'd find on AT&T or T-Mobile's model: it sports a Snapdragon 600 chipset, 13MP camera, 16GB of internal storage, a 1080p display and LTE support (a perk for stock fans who were disappointed that the Nexus 4 came without it). Google isn't officially declaring this a Nexus device (not yet, at least), but the GS4 at least exhibits many of the same qualities, including an unlocked bootloader and the promise of prompt system updates.

The firmware is pristine as well: it's Android 4.2.2 in exactly the same form it would take on a run-of-the-mill Nexus. Samsung's onslaught of smart features -- the S-branding, Air Gestures, special camera modes and the like -- are all absent here, leaving the user with an experience completely untouched by the manufacturer. The phone appears to respond a tad faster without the TouchWiz experience, but we'll need to spend more time with it before coming to any solid conclusions. Sound like the perfect phone for you? Make sure you're in the Google Play Store on June 26th so you can grab one for yourself. In the meantime, enjoy our gallery of images below!

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/JxavGVrA4Cg/

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Rays put Cy Young winner David Price on DL

May 15 (Reuters) - Post positions for the 138th running of the Preakness Stakes, to be run at Pimlico on Saturday (Post Position, Horse, Jockey, Trainer, Odds) 1. Orb, Joel Rosario, Shug McGaughey, even 2. Goldencents, Kevin Krigger, Doug O'Neill, 8-1 3. Titletown Five, Julien Leparoux, D. Wayne Lukas, 30-1 4. Departing, Brian Hernandez, Al Stall, 6-1 5. Mylute, Rosie Napravnik, Tom Amoss, 5-1 6. Oxbow, Gary Stevens, D. Wayne Lukas, 15-1 7. Will Take Charge, Mike Smith, D. Wayne Lukas, 12-1 8. Govenor Charlie, Martin Garcia, Bob Baffert, 12-1 9. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rays-put-cy-young-winner-david-price-dl-193453546.html

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Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Salt Levels In Processed Foods Still Too High

Despite recent calls for food manufacturers to cut back on salt in their products, sodium levels in processed and restaurant foods have changed little in recent years, a new study suggests.

The study, conducted by the advocacy organization Center for Science in the Public Interest, reviewed the sodium content of 402 processed foods sold at supermarkets, and 78 fast foods sold at chain restaurants.

Between 2005 and 2011, the sodium content of processed foods declined, on average, by 3.5 percent, and the sodium content of fast foods increased by 2.6 percent. Both of these changes were so small that they could have been due to chance, said study researcher Dr. Stephen Havas, a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Currently, 9 in 10 Americans eat too much salt, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The government recommends people limit their salt intake to 2,300 milligrams per day. (For those who are 51 years or older, African-American, have high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney diseases, the recommendation is 1,500 mg per day.)

"That?s nearly impossible for people to do right now, given how much salt is in restaurant and processed foods," Havas said. The average American takes in about 3,300 milligrams of sodium per day. Too much sodium in the diet raises blood pressure, which is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke, the CDC says.

Overall, the amount of salt we consume from processed and fast foods needs to decline by at least 50 percent to have benefits for people's health, Havas said. (Most of the salt we consume is through processed and fast foods, and not from a salt shaker, the researchers say.)

The new findings suggest that change happens too slowly when the food industry is asked to voluntarily reduce the sodium content of its foods, Havas said. Instead, the Food and Drug Administration should take steps to limit the amount of sodium allowed in different categories of food, he said.

High sodium foods

Some of the saltiest foods in the study were smoked bacon (1,803 mg of sodium per 100-gram serving), Caesar salad dressing (1,079 mg) and hot dogs (927 mg).

And a fast food meal of chicken strips and fries contained, on average, 1,239 mg of salt in 2011.

The study did not include products labeled as low sodium or sodium-free because the intent of the study was to focus on regular foods that had ample opportunity to reduce sodium levels between 2005 and 2011.

The researchers found wide variation in sodium levels in fast food. For instance, a medium serving of Burger King french fries had nearly twice the sodium as a medium serving of MacDonald's french fries (670 mg versus 270 mg per 100 g serving).

"Examples like those demonstrate that many companies could easily lower sodium levels and still have highly marketable food," the researchers wrote in the May issue of the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

Some companies have made commitments to lower sodium in the coming years. For instance, MacDonald's says it will cut the sodium content of its whole menu 15 percent by 2015. But, Havas said, even if companies follow through with these commitments, they are still not enough.

Salt controversy

Not all studies have been able to find benefits of a reduced salt diet. A review published in 2011 found that moderate reductions in salt in the diet lowered blood pressure, but did not reduce participants' risk of having heart disease or dying.

In a 2012 interview, Dr. Robert J. Myerburg, a professor of cardiology and physiology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, said that for people with heart failure and high blood pressure, lowering salt intake has clear benefits, but for people in the general population, it's less clear what the right level of salt is.

But people should be reasonable about how much salt they consume, Myerburg said, and the current guidelines are a reasonable recommendation, he said.

In an editorial accompanying the new study, Dr. Mitchell Katz of the Journal of the American Medical Association noted that government regulation of salt content may be difficult. "Regulating calorie size, or the maximum of a necessary nutrient, such as salt, will always raise questions of whether the government is going too far in regulating our lives."

Follow Rachael Rettner @RachaelRettner. Follow MyHealthNewsDaily @MyHealth_MHND, Facebook & Google+. Originally published on LiveScience.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/salt-levels-processed-foods-still-too-high-220349871.html

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Aereo's Cloud DVR Pricing Is Now Simpler (But Not Necessarily Better)

Aereo's embattled cloud-based DVR service for network television is getting an updated pricing structure on May 15th. The options will be trimmed from the previous 5-tier structure down to just two plans. Sure, that should be easier for people to understand, but the rejiggered structure makes the cheaper monthly plan far less attractive.

Now there are just two monthly plans that cost $8 and $12 like before. The differences are these: The $8, 20-hour plan only lets you record on channel at a time now, instead of two. As for the $12 plan, it gets a bump to a 60-hour DVR from 40 hours before.

In other words, if you're interested in Aereo, you've got more incentive to upgrade to the more expensive plan now. They've gotta pay for that legal defense somehow!

Source: http://gizmodo.com/aereos-cloud-dvr-pricing-is-now-simpler-but-not-neces-504470084

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Monday, May 13, 2013

President Obama Urges Congress to Boost Homeowners in 'Healing' Housing Market

President Obama today declared that the housing market has reached a point where it is "healing" and reaffirmed the administration's commitment to promoting initiatives that benefit responsible homeowners, including measures encourage refinancing at low rates.

"Today, seven years after the real estate bubble burst, triggering the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and costing millions of responsible Americans their jobs and their homes, our housing market is healing," Obama said in his weekly address. "Sales are up. Foreclosures are down. Construction is expanding. And thanks to rising home prices over the past year, 1.7 million more families have been able to come up for air because they're no longer underwater on their mortgages.

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"But we've got more work to do," he added. "We've got more responsible homeowners to help - folks who have never missed a mortgage payment but aren't allowed to refinance; working families who have done everything right, but still owe more on their homes than they're worth."

As he highlighted the administration's initiatives to boost the housing market, the president called on Congress to confirm Mel Watt, who he recently nominated to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

"He's the right person for the job, and that's why Congress should do its job and confirm him without delay," the president said.

Obama also urged Congress to pass additional measures that would allow homeowners to refinance their homes at low rates.

"Our economy and our housing market are poised for progress - but we could do so much more if we work together," he said. "More good jobs. Greater security for middle-class families. A sense that your hard work is rewarded. That's what I'm fighting for - and that's what I'm going to keep fighting for as long as I hold this office."

While gun control and a battle over government spending has dominated much of the president's agenda this year, the White House has made an direct push this week to turn attention to the economy. On Thursday, the president held a series of events promoting innovation and job creation in the technology industry as part of his "Middle Class Jobs & Opportunity Tours," which he will continue next week with events in Baltimore.

With Mother's Day ahead this weekend, Republicans used their weekly address to promote the "Working Families Flexibility Act," introduced by Rep. Martha Roby, R-Ala., who delivered the GOP's weekly address.

"While we may not be able to legislate another hour into the day, we can help working Americans better balance life's demands by offering more flexibility for time away from work," Roby said. "This bill provides options for working moms and dads who need more time to take care of family responsibilities. It also demonstrates how applying conservative principles can help working Americans in their everyday lives."

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/president-obama-urges-congress-boost-homeowners-healing-housing-150014249--abc-news-politics.html

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Symptoms Don't Lie - Peter Schiff - Townhall Finance Conservative ...

A good doctor will not simply make a diagnosis based on measurements. The symptoms and complaints expressed by the patient are at least as important in making a determination as the data provided by diagnostic tools. When the data says one thing and the symptoms continuously say another, it makes sense to question the reliability of the instruments. This would be particularly true if the instruments are furnished by a party with a stake in a favorable diagnosis, say an insurance company on the hook for treatment costs. The same holds true for the U.S. economy. Although our government-supplied data suggests we are experiencing low inflation and modest economic growth, the economy shows symptoms of low growth, rising prices, and diminishing purchasing power.

In my latest commentary I discussed how the Big Mac Index (The Economist Magazine's 30 year data set on Big Mac prices) provided strong anecdotal evidence that inflation in the United States is higher than official figures. More information has come in since then that tells me the same thing: that Americans are downsizing their lives as their incomes fail to keep pace with rising prices. These symptoms are at odds with the widespread belief in an accelerating recovery that has resulted in braggadocio in Washington and euphoria on Wall Street.

Earlier this week Tyson Foods, one of the nation's largest providers of packaged meat products, announced that although their top line sales revenue increased by almost 2% (roughly in line with U.S. GDP growth), operating margins collapsed by almost 50%, leading to a 43% decline in profit. Consumer shifts away from relatively higher priced/higher margin beef and pork products to lower cost/lower margin chicken products were to blame.?Tyson also noted that cost conscious consumers shifted away from higher margin packaged chicken products to fresh meat cuts, thereby sacrificing convenience for cost.

According to government statisticians, the Tyson announcement would reveal modest growth and low inflation. After all, revenue at the company grew and spending on their products had increased modestly. But rising prices were obscured by consumers purchasing lower quality products. Not only are consumers avoiding the beef and pork that they otherwise may have preferred, but they are opting out of the convenience of prepared foods. This behavior is symptomatic of diminished consumer purchasing power. This is known as getting poorer.

Source: http://townhall.com/columnists/peterschiff/2013/05/12/symptoms-dont-lie-n1593199

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Sunday, May 12, 2013

Coming up: Yahoo! News chat on the women kidnapped in Cleveland

By Susan Guyett INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) - The daughter of Ariel Castro, the chief suspect in the Cleveland abduction of three women freed on Monday, is serving time in an Indiana prison for attempted murder after she slashed her baby's throat four times with a knife, court documents show. Emily Castro, 25, was sentenced to 25 years and is at the Rockville, Indiana, Correctional Facility. She was found guilty in Allen County Superior Court of attempting to murder her 11-month-old daughter, according to a decision by the Court of Appeals of Indiana on November 5, 2008. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/what-s-next-for-the-women-who-were-kidnapped-in-cleveland--a-yahoo--news-chat-132957105.html

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