In hurricane, Twitter proves a lifeline despite pranksters

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - As Hurricane Sandy pounded the U.S. Atlantic coast on Monday night, knocking out electricity and Internet connections, millions of residents turned to Twitter as a part-newswire, part-911 hotline that hummed through the night even as some websites failed and swathes of Manhattan fell dark.

But the social network also became a fertile ground for pranksters who seized the moment to disseminate rumors and Photoshopped images, including a false tweet Monday night that the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange was submerged under several feet of water.

The exchange issued a denial, but not before the tweet was circulated by countless users and reported on-air by CNN, illustrating how Twitter had become the essential - but deeply fallible - spine of information coursing through real-time, major media events.

But a year after Twitter gained attention for its role in the rescue efforts in tsunami-stricken Japan, the network seemed to solidify its mainstream foothold as government agencies, news outlets and residents in need turned to it at the most critical hour.

Beginning late Sunday, government agencies and officials, from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo(@NYGovCuomo) to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (@FEMA) to @NotifyNYC, an account handled by New York City's emergency management officials, issued evacuation orders and updates.

As the storm battered New York Monday night, residents encountering clogged 9-1-1 dispatch lines flooded the Fire Department's @fdny Twitter account with appeals for information and help for trapped relatives and friends.

One elderly resident needed rescue in a building in Manhattan Beach. Another user sent @fdny an Instagram photo of four insulin shots that she needed refrigerated immediately. Yet another sought a portable generator for a friend on a ventilator living downtown.

Emily Rahimi, who manages the @fdny account by herself, according to a department spokesman, coolly fielded dozens of requests, while answering questions about whether to call 311, New York's non-emergency help line, or Consolidated Edison.

At the Red Cross of America's Washington D.C. headquarters, in a small room called the Digital Operations Center, six wall-mounted monitors display a stream of updates from Twitter and Facebook and a visual "heat map" of where posts seeking help are coming from.

The heat map informed how the Red Cross's aid workers deployed their resources, said Wendy Harman, the Red Cross director of social strategy.

The Red Cross was also using Radian6, a social media monitoring tool sold by Salesforce.com, to spot people seeking help and answer their questions.

"We found out we can carry out the mission of the Red Cross from the social Web," said Harman, who hosted a brief visit from President Barack Obama on Tuesday.

SPREADING INFORMATION

Twitter, which in the past year has heavily ramped up its advertising offerings and features to suit large brand marketers like Pepsico Inc and Procter & Gamble, suddenly found itself offering its tools to new kind of client on Monday: public agencies that wanted help spreading information.

For the first time, the company created a "#Sandy" event page - a format once reserved for large ad-friendly media events like the Olympics or Nascar races - that served as a hub where visitors could see aggregated information. The page displayed manually- and algorithmically-selected tweets plucked from official accounts like those of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, who was particularly active on the network.

Agencies like the Maryland Emergency Management Agency and the New York Mayor's Office also used Twitter's promoted tweets - an ad product used by advertisers to reach a broader consumer base - to get out the word.

The company said offering such services for free to government agencies was one of several initiatives, including a service that broadcasts location-specific alerts and public announcements based on a Twitter user's postal code.

"We learned from the storm and tsunami in Japan that Twitter can often be a lifeline," said Rachael Horwitz, a Twitter spokeswoman.

Jeannette Sutton, a sociologist at the University of Colorado who has received funding from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Homeland Security to study social media uses in disaster management, said government agencies have been skeptical until recently about using social media during natural disasters.

"There's a big problem with whether it's valid, accurate information out there," Sutton said. "But if you're not part of the conversation, you're going to be missing out."

As the hurricane hit one of the most wired regions in the country, news outlets also took advantage of the smartphone users who chronicled rising tides on every flooded block. On Instagram, the photo-sharing website, witnesses shared color-filtered snapshots of floating cars, submerged gas stations and a building shorn of its facade at a rate of more than 10 pictures per second, Instagram founder Kevin Systrom told Poynter.org on Tuesday.

Many of the images were republished in the live coverage by news websites and aired on television broadcasts.

LIES SLAPPED DOWN

But by late Monday, fake images began to circulate widely, including a picture of a storm cloud gathering dramatically over the Statue of Liberty and a photoshopped job of a shark lurking in a submerged residential neighborhood. The latter image even surfaced on social networks in China.

Then there was the slew of fabricated message from @comfortablysmug, the Twitter account that claimed the NYSE was underwater. The account is owned by Shashank Tripathi, the hedge fund investor and campaign manager for Christopher Wight, the Republican candidate to represent New York's 12th District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Tripathi, who did not return emails by Reuters seeking comment, apologized Tuesday night for making a "series of irresponsible and inaccurate tweets" and resigned from Wight's campaign.

His identity was first reported by Jack Stuef of BuzzFeed.

Around 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Tripathi began deleting many of his Hurricane Sandy tweets. Tripathi's friend, @theAshok, defended Tripathi, telling Reuters on Twitter: "People shouldn't be taking "news" from an anonymous twitter account seriously."

Tripathi's @comfortablysmug's Twitter stream, which is followed by business journalists, bloggers and various New York personalities, had been a well-known voice in digital circles, but mostly for his 140-character-or-less criticisms of the Obama administration, often accompanied by the hashtag, #ObamaIsn'tWorking.

On Tuesday, New York City Councilman Peter F. Vallone Jr. appeared to threaten Tripathi with prosecution when he tweeted that he hoped Tripathi was "less smug and comfortable cuz I'm talking to Cy," presumably referring to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.

For its part, Twitter said that it would not have considered suspending the account unless it received a request from a law enforcement agency.

"We don't moderate content, and we certainly don't want to be in a position of deciding what speech is OK and what speech is not," said Horwitz, Twitter's spokeswoman.

But Ben Smith, the editor at Buzzfeed, which outed Tripathi, said Twitter's credibility would not be affected by rumormongers because netizens often self-correct and identify falsehoods.

"They used to say a lie will travel halfway around the world before the truth puts its shoes on, but in the Twitter world, that's not true anymore," Smith said. "The lies get slapped down really fast."

For Smith, the ability to disseminate information via Twitter and Facebook on Monday night became perhaps even more important than his Web publication, which enjoyed one of its better nights in readership but went dark when the blackout crippled the site's servers in downtown Manhattan.

Buzzfeed's staff quickly began publishing on Tumblr instead, and Smith personally took over Buzzfeed's Twitter account to stay in the thick of the conversation.

"Our view of the world is that social distribution is the key thing," Smith said. "We're in the business of creating content that people want to share, more than the business of maintaining a website."

(Reporting By Gerry Shih in San Francisco and Jennifer Ablan and Felix Salmon in New York; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hurricane-twitter-proves-lifeline-despite-pranksters-050008581--sector.html

animal house invincible jesse jackson whitney houston funeral video tyler perry whitney houston r kelly r. kelly

Star Wars Episode 7: Coming in 2015!!!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/10/star-wars-episode-7-coming-in-2015/

burmese python national signing day ferris bueller god bless america earned income credit super bowl commercials florida primary 2012

Elegant New Hacienda Opens Restaurant in Kinchil - The Yucatan ...

By Catherine Rael

At Hacienda San Jose Pachul

The evening began on the large roof terrace at the beautiful Hacienda San Jos? Pachul, located 35 minutes outside Merida off the new highway to Celestun (km 41, Carretera Tetiz/Kinchil). Under a brilliant net of stars surrounded by the chirping of the surrounding forest, and with a drink in hand, (mine a Negroni) we enjoyed a quiet conversation at this elegant new Hacienda and speculated about the meal awaiting us.?? Ah, the peace and tranquility!

Bartender and Chef, Jos? Fernandez, finally turned to our group with a grin on his handsome face, 120 pounds of highly strung chef unveiled his new menu to the six of us who were gathered to plan a benefit event for the Puuc Jaguar Conservation with the support of Hacienda San Jose Pachul, The Yucatan Times, The Sistema Estatal de Orquestas Juveniles de Yucatan, Soho Gallery, and Yucatan Today, scheduled at Hacienda San Jos? Pachul for December 8, 2012.? Jos? gave us time to scan the menu, and when we looked up at him, he said proudly, ?This is going to be very special.?

But as we have learned recently, a meal at Hacienda San Jos? Pachul is always special: innovative, beautifully prepared and presented, fun and unhurried.? Ours began with a rich p?t? paired with delicious chutneys ? my favorite, the ancho chile and sour orange marmalade, made a perfect complement to the rich chicken liver p?t?.? A lovely spinach and avocado bisque followed by a fresh layered salad of local beans, sweet red peppers and panela cheese that primed our palates for the incredible main course; an ossobucco that will linger as one of our most pleasant food memories in many months.? Savory, spicy and silky, the meat melted off the bone and into our hungry mouths.? ?Ossobucco is usually a veal shank,? Jos? explained.? But with veal so hard to find in Yucatan, Jose chose a beef shank that he cooked slowly for four hours.? Served on a bed of chunky plantain and potato mashed and paired with a full-bodied Argentinean Cabernet Sauvignon recommended by Jos? and partner Richard Fuller, the ossobucco was beyond ?very special.?? It was nothing less than spectacular.

We finished the meal with a delicious lime cr?me brulee and espresso, accompanied by sighs of contentment and regret that the meal was over.? For dedicated foodies nostalgic for restaurants in Vancouver or San Francisco or New York, here?s a delicious solution 35 minutes west of Merida: Hacienda San Jos? Pachul.

For information and reservations at Hacienda San Jose Pachul please visit their website: www.haciendasanjosepachul.com

For information about the Dec. 8 fundraiser for Puuc Jaguar Conservation please email: puucjaguar@gmail.com

?

Enterprise Social Network Startup NationalField Raises $1.5M To Take On Yammer And Others

Formed out of the 2008 Presidential campaign in the U.S., NationalField was built to simplify communications between in-the-field campaign volunteers and regional campaign offices. It's now focused on enterprise customers and has raised $1.5 million to go after that market.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/NjrihfKktLM/

angelman syndrome total recall troy tulowitzki katie couric good morning america the rock vs john cena acm awards 2012 january jones

WaterField announces the Outback Sleeve (and seven others) for the iPad mini and the iPad 4

WaterField Designs has announced the Outback Sleeve for the iPad mini or the iPad (generations 2-4). ?The Outback is made of waxed canvas with your choice of Chocolate or Grizzly leather trim. ?It’s available in either a horizontal or vertical orientation. ?You can keep it simple as a sleeve, or you can add D-rings for [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2012/10/29/waterfield-announces-the-outback-sleeve-and-seven-others-for-the-ipad-mini-and-the-ipad-4/

fourth of july Jason Terry IFE Fireworks 2012 4th Of July emma stone independence day BET Awards 2012

Mother's little helpers let her relax

Monday, October 29, 2012

Published in Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, the research shows that mother chestnut-crowned babblers bring food to their chicks much less often when they have family members doing the same.

'We were expecting that mothers would work hardest at feeding their chicks because, on average, they have the greatest genetic stake in their young. But this was not the case,' says Dr Lucy Browning, now of the University of New South Wales, who led the research.

Yet by slacking off on the communal task of feeding, it may be that the mother avoids spending energy and risking predator attack while looking for suitable food. Instead, she can save her energy for her next attempt to breed.

This isn't just relevant to birds; ultimately it could help shed light on how we reproduce and raise children ourselves.

'The breeding female produces all the group's offspring, and the more the others can support her, the higher quality offspring she will produce, which is better for everyone,' says Dr Andy Russell of the University of Exeter, another of the paper's authors. 'So in a small group the breeding female does as much as anyone else, but we found that as the group gets larger she reduces her feeding activity by about two thirds.'

The researchers monitored numerous groups of babblers at the University of New South Wales Arid Zone Research Station throughout the process of rearing young. They tracked the size of prey that each adult brought the chicks, what kind of food it was and how often they did it.

Chestnut-crowned babblers are what ecologists call 'obligate cooperative breeders' - they breed in family groups, in which only the dominant pair ever get to produce the offspring, and breeding without help is rare and generally unsuccessful. The other birds have to content themselves with helping their relations raise their chicks, and hoping to improve the chances of their genes getting passed on to the next generation that way. Bringing prey for the youngsters to eat is a big part of this.

This means breeding female babblers don't just have their mate to help take care of their chicks, but also numerous grown-up offspring and other relations. So they can put less effort in without significantly adding to the risk their offspring will starve. Flying about looking for food is tiring, and exposes mothers to the risk of attack by hawks and falcons. And the whole process of breeding is hard work for females; they have to lay eggs and stay sitting on them until they hatch.

So in theory it makes sense that mothers should put less effort into feeding chicks when there are others to do that. But this is one of the first times scientists have shown such a clear pattern for the breeding female alone.

Males may scale back their feeding contributions a little, but there's less reason for them to slack off as they invest much less in each attempt at breeding. They don't have to lay eggs or spend weeks incubating them, so there's less incentive to try to conserve as much energy as possible for the next breeding attempt. Meanwhile the females generally brought large items of prey, but much less often. This increased prey size didn't come close to counterbalancing the drop in how often they brought food.

Russell says that similar group cooperation could have played an important role in the development of human reproduction as we know it. People have an unusually short birth interval compared to with primates of a similar size - women can have another child only another year or so after their last one, compared to about five years in chimpanzees. 'In humans, grannies, siblings and older children provide mothers with a huge amount of support,' he says. 'It's likely that our short birth interval evolved as a consequence of this kind of helping behaviour, which allowed mothers to reduce their investment of energy in their current child in order to prepare for the next one.'

The behaviour is subtly different from that of other obligate cooperative breeders like meerkats; there, both parents significantly reduce their investment in feeding young, not just the mother. Another recent paper by the same team showed that the chestnut-crowned babblers don't just share the burden of child-rearing; they are honest about always feeding the food they bring to the young, even when they're hidden inside the domed nest and could easily just eat it themselves.

###

Browning, L.E., Young C.M., Savage J.L., Griffith S.C. & Russell A.F. (2012) Carer provisioning rules in an obligate cooperative breeder: prey type, size and delivery rate. Behavioral Ecology & Sociobiology.

Natural Environment Research Council: http://www.nerc.ac.uk/

Thanks to Natural Environment Research Council 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.

This press release has been viewed 37 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/124888/Mother_s_little_helpers_let_her_relax

bobby petrino fired buffett rule lollapalooza lineup joss whedon ronnie montrose melissa gilbert dancing with the stars dandelion wine

The Backlash About Online Dating: Can It Be Just The Site You Are ...

When friends find out that I am on an online dating site, they invariably groan and wonder why. I have had some success in the past but I have also had my share of dates that turned out to be nothing more than comedy gold. Dates that I have reconstructed for giggling/horrified friends like a comedian mining the very best material ever. If you have ever considered signing up for a dating site, you have to suspend some of your preconceptions and in part, leave your ego at the door.

There are literally thousands of these sites, including the general population ones right down to the very narrow spectrum types. The more narrowly defined, the easier to find the right match, at least in theory. There are paid sites and there are free sites. And they all claim that they alone are the very best at finding your true love. There are even sites for married people who are looking to start an affair. There is no end to the type of dating site that you might find once you start looking.

If you are new to this style of dating, it is best to go with a free site and create a profile. Be as honest as possible and post your kindest picture even if you personally loathe it. Trust me, there is nothing that has not floated past the screens of these dating site moderators. In fact, and I mean no disrespect at all, but I did spot a lovely woman who had on what looked like a faded housecoat and a clearly visible oxygen tube under the headline "only as old as you feel". Further down in her profile, she mentioned a real zest for life and the desire to "get out and do things". Obviously, that was the picture that this lady was most comfortable with, so you should follow suit and use what makes you happiest. Let the real you shine through.

Be realistic with your expectations and your desires but be careful of how you word them. If you say you want to be married, many men will add the words "right now" automatically. If you say that you are just looking for dating for now, some will see that as an invitation to try to wine and dine you and then rush you to something physical. Some things need to be more spelled out.

Will you find your knight in shining armor or your perfect princess? Not necessarily but you might find someone who is either the one or someone who could be at least, in the top five.

Source: http://www.streetarticles.com/relationships/the-backlash-about-online-dating-can-it-be-just-the-site-you-are-using

pebble beach clive davis cause of whitney houston death keanu reeves whitney houston national anthem beverly hills hotel beverly hills hotel

Have A Look At These Great Home Improvement Ideas! | Travel

For a lot of us, our home signifies our very best financial tool. Although a lot of folks believe that home restoration is a thing that only http://www.framelessglassdoorsuk.co.uk skilled specialists are designed for performing, that is certainly often not even close to the way it is. Numerous residence maintenance work may be easily carried out by the average person, with a little bit assistance.

If you have made a decision to begin working on increasing your home, but you wish to do this one thing, you have to be positive to start with a fairly easy venture. Many people hop straight into something like including on one more space, and then they quickly find them selves overwhelmed and confused about the things they are accomplishing.

Entrance

If aspect of your residence improvement requires repainting a doorway, the two main techniques you could use to get this done. Sometimes, the easiest way to color a front door is to remove it from its hinges and painting it on sawhorses which have been put on a decline fabric. Also you can select never to take away the doorway and simply fresh paint it in position more than a fall towel. Make use of a higher-good quality paint remember to brush and clean consistent with the wood?s grain.

For the higher-impact revise that can be accomplished in less than a day, think about freshening your doorway with a couple of coats of brightly colored, ultra-shiny fresh paint. Houses with gentle-coloured brick or house siding appear best having a red or azure door darkly coloured residences do very best having a strong, cool color like eggplant or slate blue.

If you enjoy art, don?t make it secret in your house. Weatherproof canvas and aluminium is manufactured to resist bad weather, sunlight, warmth, and cold conditions, and a lot of online retailers like art.com have whole parts of backyard graphics. This lets you expand your artistic ambiance past the door of your home and creates a great assertion.

Doorways

Don?t get rid of leftover wallpapers! Rather apply it to include colour and style to your house. You are able to cover a complete headboard in the bold printing to make a big assertion. Or, use small pieces for the recessed aspects of doors or cabinets. Mixture scraps within a patchwork pattern on walls or entrance cut for a wonderful edge impact. Let the creativity flow and thrifty by utilizing wallpapers leftovers within your jobs.

Glass

When you are taking care of a brand new redecorating project, ensure that you are complimenting your setting as an alternative to fighting against it. Should you be inside an place which has great winds, you then more than likely is definitely not paying a lot of time outside the house. Therefore, it almost certainly could be in your best interest to operate on inside preparations. By the very same token, it is possible to nevertheless take pleasure in the in the open air, by merely introducing a cup framework. This will help to block out environmental surroundings although still supplying you with an outside the house surroundings.

When improving your home, it is wise to keep close to the home?s authentic character. When your street is lined with Victorian-era tudors and you opt to turn your house right into a window-fronted honor to modern design, it can stand out uncomfortably and annoy your friends. Also, the more you differ from the home?s authentic structure, the higher the price of the reconstruction and also the less the chance of obtaining a return.

A fantastic home improvement to produce is to put French doorways or moving window entry doors. Furthermore these doorways let much more light on the inside, nevertheless they can actually open up a place to make it seem greater. The scene in the outside the house improves the apparent volume of the area and contemporary energy-efficient doors reduce air conditioning fees.

As we discussed, redesigning offers the possibility to do a lot of excellent in the aesthetics of your residence and also it?s market price. Creating some wise assets might definitely pay off in the end and make your property much more power efficient and useful.

Source: http://nicoleevaemery.com/accounting/have-a-look-at-these-great-home-improvement-ideas/

Mia Love Plaquemines Parish alabama football michigan football michigan football askew blue moon

Big storm scrambles presidential race schedules

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney gestures during a campaign speech Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012, in Land O' Lakes, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney gestures during a campaign speech Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012, in Land O' Lakes, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

President Barack Obama greets local patrons during an unscheduled visit to the Common Man Merrimack restaurant, Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012 in Merrimack, NH. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney reaches out to supporters as he campaigns on the football field at Land O?Lakes High School in Land O'Lakes, Fla., Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012 after the motorcade was stopped. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

President Barack Obama poses for a photograph with waitress as he greets local patrons during an unscheduled visit to the Common Man Merrimack restaurant, Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012 in Merrimack, N.H. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, right, shakes hands with supporters after a campaign speech Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012, in Land O' Lakes, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

LAND O'LAKES, Fla. (AP) ? The big storm taking aim at the East Coast a little more than a week before the election has scrambled campaign plans, with both candidates canceling events and President Barack Obama moving up his departure for Florida to beat the storm.

In an extraordinarily tight race, Hurricane Sandy has forced Obama and Republican Mitt Romney to toss out carefully mapped-out itineraries as the candidates work to maximize voter turnout while avoiding any suggestion they were putting politics ahead of public safety. Romney canceled plans to campaign in Virginia on Sunday, opting instead to join running mate Paul Ryan in Ohio.

"The storm will throw havoc into the race," Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said on "Fox News Sunday," noting that a Monday rally with Obama and former President Bill Clinton has already been canceled.

David Axelrod, a top adviser to Obama's campaign, said it was impossible to predict how the storm would affect the election but acknowledged it could drive down turnout to Obama's detriment.

"Obviously, we want unfettered access to the polls, because we think the more people that come out, the better we're going to do," Axelrod said on CNN's "State of the Union." ''And so, to the extent that it makes it harder, that's a source of concern."

On Saturday, Romney was in Florida speaking of bipartisanship, while Obama tried to nail down New Hampshire's four electoral votes.

The former Massachusetts governor presented himself as a staunch conservative during the Republican primaries but has struck a more moderate tone as he appeals for support from women and independent voters. He promised to "build bridges" with Democrats.

Romney coupled his message with digs at Obama for "shrinking from the magnitude of the times" and advancing an agenda that lacks vision.

Obama, heading to Florida on Sunday night rather than Monday as first planned, spoke with volunteers at a Teamsters hall in Manchester, N.H., on Saturday. "We don't know how this thing is going to play out. These four electoral voters right here could make all the difference."

Winning the White House takes 270 electoral votes. Obama is ahead in states and the District of Columbia representing 237 electoral votes; Romney has a comfortable lead in states with 191 electoral votes. The rest lie in nine contested states that remain too close to call.

The president adjusted his campaign speech at a Nashua rally to appeal to voters in low-tax New Hampshire, hammering Romney for raising taxes and fees when he led Massachusetts.

Obama accused Romney of running in Massachusetts on a pledge to lower taxes, then making life more expensive for the middle class after taking office.

"All he's offering is a big rerun of the same policies," Obama said.

The candidates worked to lock down every possible early vote without intruding on emergency preparations as the storm's expected track looked to affect at least four of the most competitive states: New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia.

Obama canceled appearances in Prince William County, Va., on Monday, and Colorado Springs, Colo., on Tuesday so he could monitor Hurricane Sandy.

He moved the departure for Florida to beat the storm and planned a Monday stop in Youngstown, Ohio, before returning to Washington.

Instead of campaigning in Virginia as scheduled, Romney was set to join Ryan for three stops of his Ohio bus tour. Romney's trip to Florida was timed to coincide with the first day of in-person early voting in a state where 29 electoral votes are up for grabs.

Vice President Joe Biden canceled a Saturday rally in coastal Virginia Beach, Va., to allow officials there to focus on disaster preparedness and local security concerns. But he went ahead with an appearance in Lynchburg, which is inland.

Biden said Romney and Ryan are fleeing from their record to appear more moderate than they are. The Republican nominees, Biden said, "are counting on the American people to have an overwhelming case of amnesia."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-10-28-Presidential%20Campaign/id-2fe1739bce7545818befd811e43d0f28

K Michelle roger clemens multiple sclerosis falling skies rodney king Webb Simpson Fathers Day Quotes

Indonesia: Suspects planned attack on US Embassy

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) ? Indonesia's anti-terror squad arrested 11 people suspected of planning a range of attacks on domestic and foreign targets including the U.S. Embassy and a site near the Australian Embassy, police said Saturday.

The suspects were arrested in raids Friday and Saturday in four provinces, national police spokesman Maj. Gen. Suhardi Alius said.

He said the suspects belonged to a new group called the Harakah Sunni for Indonesian Society, or HASMI.

"From evidence found at the scene, we believe that this group was well prepared for serious terror attacks," Alius said.

Police seized a number of bombs, explosive materials, a bomb-making manual and ammunition, Alius said. They also found a 3-kilogram (6.6-pound) gas cylinder filled with highly explosive material, which had been assembled at a house in the East Java town of Madiun. Videos and images of attacks on Muslims in various parts of the world were also recovered, he said.

Alius said the group planned to target the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta and a plaza near the Australian Embassy and the local office of U.S. mining giant Freeport-McMoRan. It also planned to attack the U.S. Consulate in Surabaya and the headquarters of a special police force in Central Java, he said.

It was unclear how far the plans had advanced.

Alius said police are still investigating whether the group has ties with established terrorist organizations such as Jemaah Islamiyah. An investigator who spoke in condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to provide information to the media said HASMI's apparent leader, Abu Hanifah, was a Jemaah Islamiyah sympathizer.

Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, has been battling terrorists since the 2002 bombings in Bali by militants linked to Jemaah Islamiyah which killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.

Subsequent attacks have claimed more than 50 people, mostly Indonesians. The government has arrested more than 700 suspected terrorists and killed dozens more in an attempt to root out militants.

Earlier this month, police warned of a terrorist threat in Bali targeting a ceremony commemorating the 10th anniversary of the bombings. The country's security alert was raised to its highest level.

Last month, police arrested 10 Islamist militants and seized a dozen homemade bombs from a group suspected of planning suicide attacks against security forces and plotting to blow up the Parliament building. The alleged bomb maker turned himself in to police while wearing an empty suicide vest.

Recent terror attacks in the country have been carried out by individuals or small groups and have targeted security forces and local "infidels" instead of Westerners, with less deadly results. The arrests announced Saturday appear to be the first in recent years to involve a group that allegedly planned to target foreign facilities.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/indonesia-suspects-planned-attack-us-embassy-132416496.html

us soccer trayvon martin case affordable care act the line bobby brown arrested the happening jennifer lawrence

Alcohol Help: From prison wine to bathtub gin, illicit home-brews can ...

It?s a little inaccurate to call pruno ?homemade.? Except perhaps as a science experiment, no sane person would make the stuff at home. Pruno producers aren?t at home, they?re in jail, where ingredients are scarce, wine making equipment even scarcer, and ? since drinking alcohol is strictly forbidden ? the entire operation must be carried out in secret. The resulting beverage is foul tasting at best, and life threatening when things don?t go as well. In 2011, eight inmates at a Utah prison contracted botulism (a rare and potentially deadly disease caused by Clostridium botulinum bacteria) from imbibing the notorious prison wine. And this wasn?t the first time pruno-gulping (it?s allegedly far too nasty a drink to sip) prisoners have succumbed to botulism. Nor was it the last. Just this past August, four Arizona inmates were diagnosed with the disease. Given that fewer than one hundred cases of botulism crop up in the U.S. yearly, these are sizeable outbreaks. Why is prison wine so prone to making people sick?

Terrible tubers

Earlier this month, the CDC released a report on the 2011 Utah prison botulism outbreak fingering as the culprit for the unfortunate episode a baked potato. Since the connection between potatoes, wine, and food borne illness may not be obvious, let?s step back a minute to review a few details about wine-making and the C. botulinum bacterium.

Wine (like beer) is made possible by the process of ethanol fermentation, in which the living organism yeast (member of the fungi kingdom, specifically the species Saccharomyces cerevisiae) consumes sugar and craps out the metabolic byproducts carbon dioxide and ethanol (i.e., drinking alcohol), thus turning syrupy fruit mush into a tasty adult beverage. If you were whipping up a batch of no-frills DIY wine in the comfort of your non-incarcerating home, this might involve mixing fruit pulp with sugar and water in a meticulously clean vessel, tearing open a factory-sealed packet of yeast to add to the recipe, and letting the ingredients mingle for a spell in your thoroughly hygienic kitchen pantry. Unfortunately such quality control is difficult to achieve in the pen. There you work with whatever is available, like canned fruit cocktail and ketchup and plastic bags. You might rely on the naturally occurring yeast in whatever fruit you?d procured to do the fermenting, or you could try to help the reaction along by adding some other starchy yeast source such as bread or perhaps a baked potato that you smuggled out of the cafeteria and stored in a jar at ?ambient temperature? (i.e., sans refrigeration) for several weeks.

And now the bacteria. I could go on an on about the species C. botulinum, but in case you?re not as entranced with microorganisms as I am, we?ll stick to the essentials. There are two things you need to know: 1) when actively growing and replicating, these bacteria produce botulinum toxin, which causes the disease botulism.* and 2) the bacteria do best in a warm, wet, low acid, and low oxygen environment, but when conditions are unfavorable they can lie dormant in spore form. The spores are nearly indestructible (According to my copy of Prescott?s Microbiology, you?ll need 5 minutes of moist heat at 121C (250F), or 2 hours of dry heat at 160C (320F) to kill the bastards).

Potatoes, and other soil growing veggies, can harbor C. botulinum spores, but these aren?t necessarily a threat to healthy adults.** They?ll remain in benign spore form indefinitely unless their fussy growth conditions are met. So eating a freshly-baked potato is safe, but placing it into an unrefrigerated sealed bag full of sweetened fruit goo has the potential to rouse those sleepy spores into active toxin-producing bacteria.

Botulism is serious business. While all eight of the Utah inmates were treated and eventually recovered, the illness can be fatal and survivors sometimes have lingering fatigue. But jail is said to be a miserable place, so despite boasting poisoning risks and a taste described as ?vomit-flavored wine cooler? pruno is probably here to stay. You can almost hear the sigh of resignation in the CDC report, which concludes, ?Although illness might be reduced through education of inmates about the association between pruno and botulism, pruno production in prisons likely will not stop.? Btw, if you?re reading this from prison, please at least avoid adding root vegetables to your pruno.

Evil Spirits

Moonshine goes a step further than pruno.*** Instead of making illicit wine, moonshiners produce illicit distilled spirits. The operation begins much like wine making ? something gets fermented, often fruit or grain (corn seems to be a popular choice). At this point you already have ethanol, but if you want strong booze (over 20% alcohol) you?ll need to concentrate it by distillation. A hooch-maker?s still takes advantage of the fact that ethanol boils at a lower temperature than water. By heating carefully, glorious ethanol can be evaporated and then condensed back into liquid in a separate part of the still, leaving poor stupid water behind patiently waiting for the temperature to reach 100C. The product isn?t pure ethanol. Some water manages to tag along, but that?s okay because water is generally considered harmless.

Yet you?ve probably heard tales of people going blind from drinking moonshine. And, well, they?re true. The biggest threat posed by illegally made spirits isn?t bacterial, it?s chemical. Specifically, it?s methanol. Like ethanol, methanol is also a type of alcohol. But there are some differences. Ethanol contains two carbon atoms and is somewhat toxic (it?ll kill you if you drink enough of it, so pace yourself) whereas methanol contains one carbon atom and is highly toxic (can cause permanent damage to the optic nerve and death even in fairly low doses, pacing won?t help, best to avoid altogether). So remember ? two carbons good, one carbon bad.

But legal booze is also made by distillation, so why would there be methanol in your moonshine? Well, there are at least three ways this could happen.

1) Fermentation. While ethanol fermentation mostly generates ethanol, it can also result in a smaller amount of methanol, particularly when items high in pectin are fermented (e.g. grapes). However, much of this can be removed in the distilling process. Methanol boils at an even lower temperature than ethanol, so it exits the still early on. Proponents of homemade hooch recommend discarding the first few ounces to condense out of the still in order to reduce chances of methanol poisoning. (And, for the record, even government approved legal alcoholic beverages can harbor small amounts of methanol.)

2) Foolhardy attempts to extract ethanol from ?denatured? aka methylated spirits. To keep people from drinking it, manufacturers sometimes add methanol ? along with some unpleasant tasting chemical and a warning label ? to ethanol intended for industrial uses (it can power machines and such). I know I just told you in the previous paragraph that methanol and ethanol have different boiling points, and you?re probably thinking that a still could totally separate them. In theory, yes, it could. In practice, not well enough. And methanol isn?t necessarily the only denaturant added. It?s just a bad idea. Don?t try this at home.

3) The person selling you moonshine is an unscrupulous dick, and he or she deliberately added methanol to the concoction to make it more potent (methanol is intoxicating, and easier to procure than ethanol in some places). Sadly this is the most common cause of methanol poisoning from illicit booze. Home distillation thrives in areas where alcoholic beverages are prohibited or heavily taxed. Thanks to the repeal of prohibition, the prevalence of moonshine in the U.S. is down, but it remains popular parts of Asia and Africa. A moonshiner?s recklessness can result in mass casualties. In 2011, well over a hundred people died after drinking methanol-laced bootleg booze in eastern India. And more recently, toxic spirits injured and killed dozens in the Czech Republic (A popular travel destination, in case you were thinking of filing this problem under ?Doesn?t affect me.?)

Homemade liquor isn?t inherently unsafe. The often illicit nature of the product is more a danger than the process of production.**** Safety regulations don?t really apply to things that aren?t legal to begin with. Just as drug dealers might cut their product with cheaper chemicals to increase profits, moonshiners may augment their booze with the wrong kind of alcohol. In the latest Paul Thomas Anderson film The Master, Joaquin Phoenix?s character is shown crafting spirits from all manner of god knows what. You get the sense he?s pretty creative with his hooch, which is about the last thing you want in a moonshiner.

Those intrigued by the idea of handcrafted firewater, but wary of putting their trust in bootleggers will be glad to know that ?micro-distilleries? are on the rise. Finally licensed and regulated distillers can attend to all your artisanal moonshine needs.

I should also mention that while methanol contamination can have disastrous effects, it?s not the only thing potentially fouling up illicit spirits. A 2004 analysis of U.S. moonshines published in the Journal of Toxicology found lead levels in 60% of its samples equal or above (sometimes over ten times above) what the EPA permits in drinking water. Here the problem is more equipment than charlatanism. In stills with lead parts or solder, the metal can leach into the beverage during distillation.

Afternoon tea

As I write this, a large glass jar of kombucha sits fermenting in my kitchen. For those unfamiliar with this item, kombucha is a fermented tea with only trace alcohol content. All the risk of wine or beer brewing with none of the buzz. I know, why would I bother? Oddly, I like how the stuff tastes (and it?s too expensive to buy regularly in stores). There are those who find kombucha disgusting in taste, smell, and appearance. I can?t argue with the last part. The fermenting is carried out by a blob that looks like a mushroom but is actually a slimy matrix of yeast and bacteria. What?s not to love? In order to foster growth of these friendly microbes and prevent contamination with less desirable ones, I?m very careful with hygiene and ingredients. The kombucha lives a pampered life. It gets higher quality water and sugar than I would give myself. It?s protected from harsh light and metal utensils and the stress of having to earn a living.

The thing to keep in mind when doing any kind of home-brewing is that you?re essentially trying to feed one type (or a few types) of microorganism while keeping others at bay. You don?t want to take shortcuts with the ingredients. If the recipe says ?distilled water? don?t use tap water. If it says ?sugar?, don?t use honey. If it says ?yeast?, don?t just throw in some croutons. Don?t add random crap from the medicine cabinet even if you saw it done in the movies. And lastly, if you?re ever over at my house you might want to BYOB. Anything I serve is consumed at your peril.

* Bonus trivia: Botulinum toxin also has some therapeutic and cosmetic applications. Does the name Botox sound familiar? I?m not making this up. You can actually pay a doctor to inject botulinum toxin into your face.

** Infant botulism is another matter. Babies are delicate and can get the disease from ingesting C. botulinum spores rather than toxin. That?s why you shouldn?t feed them potentially spore harboring foods like honey, or baked potatoes smuggled out of the slammer.

*** Moonshine goes by a number of aliases ? white lightning, bathtub gin (and those are just some of the American names) ? but I?m mostly going to stick with the term moonshine in this article because I think it sounds cool. Moonshine?

**** In the U.S., you can homebrew wine and beer for ?personal use? (as opposed to selling it on street corners) but home distilling looks a bit more red tapey.

Earthsky Communications Inc
Austin, Texas
United States

Source: http://www.alcohol-help.co.uk/from-prison-wine-to-bathtub-gin-illicit-home-brews-can-be-a-risky-business/

whcd 2012 nfl draft kevin durant jazz fest zurich classic selena lamichael james

Health Documentary Film Review: A Doctor of Chiropractic's ...

By Dr. Donald A. Ozello DC

Las Vegas Informer

Discover the power of fruits, vegetables and juicing when you watch, ?Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.? ?The full length 2011documentary follows Australian business man Joe Cross and American truck driver Phil Staples as they consume freshly made fruit and vegetable juices to improve their health.

The film?s writer and narrator Joe Cross intends to see if cleaning up his diet will decrease the symptoms of his autoimmune disorder and eliminate his need of prescription anti-inflammatory drugs. Cross states, ?My mission is to cure myself,? and take, ?No more pills.? He plans to detoxify and ?Supercharge? his body by juicing for sixty days.

Mr. Cross is an overweight, undernourished, forty year old business man who suffers from a chronic rash known as Urticaria.? He describes Urticaria as ?chronic hives? caused by an overreaction of his immune system. He?s dealt with the disorder for nine years and taken prescription medication the entire time.

On day one of his quest Joe Cross weighs 309 pounds. His waist measures fifty-three inches and he takes fifteen milligrams of prednisone daily.? He aims to stay in New York City for thirty days then drive across the United States for thirty days. He carries his juicer in his car and stops at local farmers markets on his journey.

In an Arizona truck stop, Joe Cross meets Phil Staples an undernourished, unfit, obese truck driver diagnosed with Urticaria. Eventually Phil follows Joe?s lead and begins a juice fast.

Joe Cross and Phil Staples make incredible strides in becoming healthier. Their juice fast provides nutrient-dense meals and creates positive change in their lives. By the end of the film Joe and Phil are physically and mentally better men.

I highly recommend this entertaining and educational documentary. Learn how to propel your health forward as nutrition and medical experts explain the advantage of fasting, fruits, vegetables and intelligent nutritional strategies.

View ?Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead? to observe firsthand the power of good nutrition. Get inspired by the positive results Joe and Phil experience as they accomplish their goals with good nutrition and exercise.

Dr. Donald A. Ozello DC

Dr. Donald A. Ozello DC is the owner and treating doctor at Championship Chiropractic. 2595 S. Cimarron Rd, Suite #100, Las Vegas, NV 89117. ?His web address is?www.ChampionshipChiropractic.com. He can be contacted at (702) 286-9040 and?DrO@ChampionshipChiropractic.com.

Dr. Donald A. Ozello?s mission is to educate and inspire others to live healthier, fitter, more functional lives.

Dr. Donald A. Ozello DC writes a weekly health, fitness, exercise and nutrition column for The Las Vegas Informer. He is published in?OnFitness?magazine,Livestrong.com,?SpineUniverse.com?and?eHow.com.

Dr. Donald A. Ozello DC is an award-winning public speaker. He has spoken to numerous groups on health, fitness, exercise, ergonomics and nutrition.

Dr. Donald A. Ozello DC loves to exercise. Bike riding and kettlebell training are his current favorite types of exercises. He credits Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno and Sly Stallone as major influences during his teens and early twenties.

Before pursuing his career in Chiropractic, Dr. Donald A. Ozello DC served in the United States Navy aboard the USS Bremerton, SSN 698.

Source: http://sanantonio.informermg.com/2012/10/27/health-documentary-film-review-a-doctor-of-chiropractics-viewpoint-of-fat-sick-nearly-dead/

john derbyshire kinkade thomas kinkade paintings easter bunny navy jet crash virginia beach isiah thomas passover

'X Factor' Coach L.A. Reid Gets Marcus Canty 'Amped' For EP Release

This...Is Marcus Canty has that 'ring-a-ling,' Canty tells MTV News.
By Christina Garibaldi

Marcus Canty
Photo: MTV News

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1696284/x-factor-marcus-canty-debut-ep.jhtml

hunger games box office xavier joan crawford joan crawford john goodman kendall marshall whitney houston news

UK: 300 potential Savile abuse victims emerge

FILE - This is a March 25, 2008 file photo of Sir Jimmy Savile, who for decades was a fixture on British television. A year after he died, aged 84 and honored as Sir Jimmy, several women have come forward to claim he was also a sexual predator and serial abuser of underage girls. The child abuse scandal that has enveloped the BBC, one of Britain's most respected news organizations, is now hitting one of America's, as the incoming president of The New York Times is on the defensive about his final days as head of the BBC. Mark Thompson was in charge of the BBC in late 2011 when the broadcaster shelved what would have been a bombshell investigation alleging that the late Savile was a serial sex offender. (AP Photo/ Lewis Whyld/PA, File)

FILE - This is a March 25, 2008 file photo of Sir Jimmy Savile, who for decades was a fixture on British television. A year after he died, aged 84 and honored as Sir Jimmy, several women have come forward to claim he was also a sexual predator and serial abuser of underage girls. The child abuse scandal that has enveloped the BBC, one of Britain's most respected news organizations, is now hitting one of America's, as the incoming president of The New York Times is on the defensive about his final days as head of the BBC. Mark Thompson was in charge of the BBC in late 2011 when the broadcaster shelved what would have been a bombshell investigation alleging that the late Savile was a serial sex offender. (AP Photo/ Lewis Whyld/PA, File)

LONDON (AP) ? Disgraced BBC entertainer Jimmy Savile was investigated in the 1980s over an allegation of indecent assault, police said Thursday as they announced that 300 potential victims had come forward so far with abuse accusations against the late TV host.

The twin announcements showed how a sex abuse scandal that is engulfing one of Britain's most venerable news organizations was showing no signs of abating.

Officers have interviewed 130 of the 300 potential victims so far and even more are expected to contact authorities, Commander Peter Spindler, leader of the Scotland Yard inquiry, said Thursday.

The well-known children's television and radio presenter is accused of using his fame to coerce vulnerable teens into having sex with him in his car, in his camper van, and even in dressing rooms on BBC premises.

The police commander acknowledged he had been stunned by the volume of abuse allegations reported to his team of 30 officers in the three weeks since details about Savile's activities first came to public attention.

"It is quite staggering, the number of women ... and this is primarily women, we have only got two men in the system so far," Spindler said.

Spindler said Savile, who died last October at age 84, was "undoubtedly" one of the worst sex offenders in recent British history.

Since the allegations aired on British television this month, London police have received three times the usual number of calls about allegations of past sexual abuse. The NSPCC, a leading British children's charity, said it had received 60 percent more calls about abuse cases.

"I have no doubt that we are in a watershed moment for child abuse investigations," Spindler said.

Previously feted for his charity work at hospitals and homes for children, Savile is alleged to have deliberately supported such causes to target troubled youths whose credibility would be questioned if they reported the alleged sexual abuse.

Spindler said although the majority of cases related to Savile alone, some involved the former television presenter and other unidentified suspects acting together. In addition, some potential victims who had reported abuse by Savile also told police about separate allegations against the unidentified men that did not involve the BBC entertainer.

He confirmed that police could seek to prosecute any suspects who are still living but said no one has been arrested or questioned so far.

Spindler also disclosed for the first time that a retired London police officer had contacted Scotland Yard to confirm that he investigated Savile in the 1980s after a young woman alleged he indecently assaulted her inside his trailer while it was parked on BBC premises. The ex-officer explained there hadn't been sufficient evidence to prosecute Savile at the time, Spindler said.

Police have also discovered that a woman contacted Scotland Yard in 2003 to allege Savile had touched her inappropriately in the 1970s but did not seek to press charges. Surrey Police also have acknowledged they questioned Savile in 2007 over an allegation tied to the Duncroft school but prosecutors declined to bring charges.

The Savile scandal has rocked the BBC and prompted disbelief that the presenter's crimes could have gone unnoticed or unreported by colleagues or managers.

Executives are facing sharp questions about what they knew and an internal inquiry is reviewing why a posthumous BBC investigation about Savile's sex crimes was shelved. The report was scrapped weeks before the broadcaster aired a series of tribute shows.

Mark Thompson, BBC director-general from 2004 until last month who is now the incoming CEO of the New York Times, is among those facing questions from U.K. lawmakers. Thompson has insisted that he never met Savile, was unaware of rumors about his behavior and had little knowledge of the cancelled expose.

In a letter to The New York Times staff Thursday, chairman and publisher Arthur Sulzberger said Thompson had thoroughly explained his handling of the issue.

"Mark has provided a detailed account of that matter, and I am satisfied that he played no role in the cancellation of the segment," Sulzberger wrote.

"Our opinion was then and remains now that he possesses high ethical standards and is the ideal person to lead our company," the letter said.

Savile was the original presenter of the music countdown program "Top of the Pops," which ran on BBC television from 1964 to 2006, featuring performances by everyone from The Rolling Stones to the Sex Pistols. For almost 20 years from 1975, Savile also made children's dreams come true on "Jim'll Fix It," a TV show.

Savile championed a host of good causes, frequently running marathons to raise money. He helped to collect millions for the creation of a national spinal injuries center at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in southern England and bequeathed money for a heart unit at Leeds infirmary named the Savile Institute.

He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to charity and entertainment and received a papal knighthood from the Vatican.

Prince Charles was among those who paid tribute when Savile died last year.

___

David Caruso in New York contributed to this story.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-10-25-Britain-Jimmy%20Savile/id-f0ac8bf2a9314d68912aa45632311658

kelly clarkson super bowl 2012 ok go peyton manning super bowl nsx chad ochocinco roman numerals new england patriots

Decision Time: Why Do Some Leaders Leave A Mark?

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Abraham Lincoln, circa 1850. Lincoln was a political non-entity before he was elected. Why is he more widely known to history than the presidents who came immediately before and after him?

As part of NPR's coverage of this year's presidential election, All Things Considered asked three science reporters to weigh in on the race. The result is a three-part series on the science of leadership. In Part 1, Alix Spiegel looked at the personalities of American presidents. In Part 2, Jon Hamilton examined leadership in the animal kingdom.

Consider the 44 men who have been president. How many would you say have left an indelible mark?

Historians may know what James Buchanan and Andrew Johnson did, but most Americans only remember the guy who came between them: Abraham Lincoln.

So how did Lincoln become Lincoln and Andrew Johnson become, well, Andrew Johnson? At the Harvard Business School, organizational psychology professor Gautam Mukunda says it comes down to a handful of key decisions.

"The very best decisions, the decisions that go down in history, [the ones where] we look back at that person and think, 'wow, they're a genius,' is when they say, you know, 'we're going to do this,' and all the experts say, 'no, that's an awful idea, you know, don't do that' and they do it anyways and it works and it works out," Mukunda says.

Mukunda has just completed a detailed analysis of 40 U.S. presidents. He's found that the greatest presidents didn't just make the right calls. The reason we think of them as indispensable is because the calls they made? Everyone around them thought those decisions were terrible mistakes.

Think of it this way: If the right decision is obvious, it doesn't really matter who the leader is. The next person in line would make the exact same decision.

On Dec. 8, 1941, for example, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The next day, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared the United States was at war with Japan.

Mukunda, who is the author of a new book called Indispensable, says no U.S. president could have done otherwise.

History shows FDR made the right call. And Roosevelt can lay claim to being one of the great presidents for other decisions. But deciding to go to war with Japan, Mukunda says, doesn't make him special.

Contrast that with another decision that led to war. This time, it's 1860. The Southern states have announced they're seceding. President Abraham Lincoln and his team are divided over a little Union outpost named Fort Sumter.

"You've got this beleaguered group of Union soldiers surrounded by South Carolina militia," Mukunda says. "And so the question becomes, what is the federal government gonna do about Sumter?"

Some advisers tell Lincoln to declare war. But the strongest voice says, just ignore them. This is William Henry Seward, Lincoln's secretary of state.

He tells Lincoln, "the South is not serious,'" Mukunda says. "'They've talked about seceding before. They've bluffed about it before. But they don't really mean it.'"

To understand the significance of what Lincoln did next, you have to know Seward was the guy who was supposed to be president. He had been a two-term governor, a two-term senator. At the 1860 Republican convention, Seward was supposed to be the nominee.

Lincoln, by contrast, was a political non-entity. In fact, to win the 1860 nomination, his campaign used techniques that can only be described as un-Lincoln-esque.

"They do things like print fake convention tickets and recruit people from all across Illinois who are Lincoln supporters," Mukunda says. "And the way they recruit them is they find the people with the loudest voices."

Remember, there are no microphones and speakers at the convention.

"Every time Lincoln's name gets mentioned, they start yelling and whooping and hollering so loudly that the windows of the hall shake," Mukunda says.

After Lincoln invites his former opponent to join his cabinet, Seward actually tells Lincoln to leave the important decisions to him.

"Seward thinks Lincoln is just some hick from a small town," Mukunda says. "No one has any idea who they're dealing with. They have no way to know that because he has no record in national politics."

So, what does Lincoln do about Fort Sumter? He doesn't listen to the hawks who want him to declare war. And he doesn't listen to Seward who's telling him to ignore the seceding states.

Instead, he decides to send supplies to Fort Sumter. It's designed to send a message: We still control this place.

The Confederates rise to the bait. They attack Fort Sumter. In an instant, the entire dynamic of the national conversation changes.

"They fire the first shot," Mukunda says. "By firing the first shot, the North, which had been incredibly divided over whether to fight this war, is instantly unified."

Lincoln uses this unity to launch and prosecute the Civil War. In retrospect, Fort Sumter was a crucial turning point. History could have turned out very differently if Lincoln had not been president.

"The North had a very clear choice," Mukunda says. "It could have chosen not to fight for Fort Sumter. And if Seward had been president, there might not have even been a war."

On average, Mukunda finds leaders who make such indispensable calls tend to come to power the way Lincoln did. They tend not to be battle-tested and experienced. They do unexpected stuff because no one really knows what they're going to do.

By contrast, people who come into high office after lengthy careers in public life have been filtered by the system. This is how you rise through the ranks of the military. You go step by step. Every person who becomes general goes through the same process.

When it comes to choosing presidents, the United States, more than other countries, seems to like leaders who are unfiltered. Fresh faces.

"Of the 40 presidents that I look at, 19 of them code as unfiltered," Mukunda says. "If you look at Great Britain, since 1832, it's at most 3."

Warren Bennis, a professor at the University of Southern California, has been writing about leadership for decades. He agreed with Mukunda's analysis.

"Abraham Lincoln and George Washington both had a long-range vision," he added. "Washington was not a great general, but one overriding, passionate goal was to keep this country unified."

The greatest presidents, Bennis told me, share this quality. Everyone else is focused on the next battle. The greats focus on posterity.

One thing intriguing about Mukunda's theory is that the process that produces indispensable leaders also seems to produce the worst leaders. When you think about it, this makes sense: When untested people get in office, and they buck the experts and march to their own drummer, it can either work out very well ? or very badly.

"They're just many, many more ways to fail than there are to succeed," Mukunda says. "So if you do something that no one else in your shoes would do, sometimes you're Steve Jobs. But much more often, you're a disaster."

Leaders who come through the system are more predictable. The Lincoln-type leader is a gamble. Mukunda said such gambles make sense mostly when things are going badly: "If you are a company on the point of bankruptcy, or a country on the point of catastrophic defeat, as Britain was in 1940, well, things aren't going to get worse. You can't go more bankrupt. There's no outcome to war that's worse than losing a war to the Nazis."

Among recent presidents, Mukunda counts George Herbert Walker Bush and Bill Clinton as candidates who came through the system. Both had long experience in public life before becoming president. George W. Bush and Barack Obama, by contrast, were largely untested. By historical measures, Mitt Romney's one-term experience as governor makes him a fresh face, too.

So, by this standard, come Election Day, Americans seem to have decided ? again ? to roll the dice.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2012/10/25/163626172/decision-time-why-do-some-leaders-leave-a-mark?ft=1&f=1007

alex smith alex smith robert deniro mexico news the talented mr ripley weather new orleans orcl

Tricked out treats: Give 'em something fun to eat | Food & Drink | The ...

By SHARON K. GHAG ? The Modesto Bee

Don't let Halloween creep up before cooking up some ghostly fun with your little ghouls and goblins.

Go all out at every meal for a monster mash of wicked fun.

Start with ghost-shaped pancakes with raisin eyes and a big chocolate chip smile. Or pour the pancake batter into long, thin lines and form the strips into a spider web.

A little imagination can transform ordinary foodstuff into wacky faces or scary bugs.

Slice a bell pepper lengthwise to form the outline of a face. Sliced black olives double as eyes and a tomato wedge becomes a mouth. Give the face a good shock of lettuce hair and a drizzle of dressing, and this salad is sure to elicit shrieks of delight.

Or turn those black olives into terrifying spiders. A jumbo olive sliced lengthwise and placed cut side down becomes the body, with eight thin slices serving as legs.

Place sliced green olives with pimentos atop deviled eggs. They'll look like eyes, giving the hard-cooked eggs added personality.

Turn mounds of mashed potatoes into ghosts. All they need are black pepper eyes.

Baby carrots become severed fingers with the addition of slivered almonds.

Pigs in a blanket can easily be mummy-fied by rolling biscuits or crescents rolls into a long thin strip before wrapping the hot dogs or sausages. Two dots of mustard serve as eyes and a sliver of ketchup the mouth.

It doesn't take much to turn Halloween into a sweet treat. Kids can dress up cookies and cupcakes with colored icing and use jelly beans, candy corn, black licorice, M&M's and peanuts and raisins to create their own creatures.

And ice cream cones are perfect as hats for popcorn balls or rice cereal treats. After that, they'll just need chocolate chips eyes and licorice mouths.

GHOSTS IN THE GRAVEYARD CUPCAKES

Makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 package (181/4 ounces) white cake mix

1 teaspoon McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract

McCormick Black Food Color

2 containers (16 ounces each) vanilla frosting

24 oval-shaped cookies

Instructions:

Prepare cake mix as directed on package, adding vanilla. Tint cake batter grey with 1/4 teaspoon black food color.

Bake as directed on package for cupcakes. Cool cupcakes on wire rack.

Tint 1 container frosting black with 1 teaspoon black food color. Frost cupcakes, reserving 1/4 cup of frosting. Spoon reserved frosting into small resealable plastic bag. Snip a small corner from bag. Pipe "RIP" onto top half of each cookie. Push tombstone cookies gently into cupcakes.

For the ghost, spoon remaining container of white frosting into large resealable plastic bag. Snip a corner from bag.

For the body of the ghost, pipe 1/2-inch dollop next to tombstone. Pipe a smaller dollop on top, lifting while squeezing bag so that top of dollop is pointed. This is the head of the ghost.

Use chocolate sprinkles and chocolate chips to decorate the ghost's face.

PUMPKIN PARTY MIX

Serves 24

Ingredients:

2 cups Kix cereal

2 cups small square pretzels

2 cups teddy bear-shaped chocolate graham snacks

1 cup freeze-dried cinnamon apples

1 cup candy-coated peanut butter pieces

1 box (7.5 ounces) crunchy caramel-coated popcorn with peanuts Instructions:

In large bowl, mix all ingredients. Store in airtight container.

This recipe is from www.bettycrocker.com.

WITCHES' BROOM SNACKS

Serves 6

Ingredients:

12 thin pretzel sticks (21/4 inch)

1/4 cup sharp process cheddar cheese spread (from 5-ounce jar)

12 whole-grain wheat crackers (such as Triscuits)

Instructions:

On end of each pretzel stick, shape 1 teaspoon cheese spread into 1-inch ball.

With sharp knife, cut each cracker into long pieces. Press cracker pieces into cheese to resemble broom.

Serve immediately, or refrigerate up to 3 hours before serving.

This recipe is from www.bettycrocker.com.

TACO MONSTER MOUTHS

Serves 6

Ingredients:

2 plum tomatoes, cut length-wise into 3 pieces

12 large pimiento-stuffed green olives

3 slices (1/2 ounce each) American cheese

6 Old El Paso Stand 'N Stuff Taco Shells

1/2 pound lean (at least 80 percent) ground beef

2 tablespoons Old El Paso 40 percent less sodium taco seasoning mix

1/3 cup water

Shredded lettuce, if desired

Instructions:

Cut slit into 1 side of each olive to make a flat side. Cut each of the slices of cheese in half vertically in a zigzag line to look like teeth.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange taco shells on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 5 to 7 minutes or until hot. Meanwhile, in 10-inch skillet, cook ground beef over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently, until thoroughly cooked; drain. Stir in taco seasoning mix and water. Reduce heat to medium; cook about 5 minutes, stirring frequently until water has evaporated.

To assemble, fill tacos with desired fillings so that meat is on the top. Placing each taco on its side on serving plate, insert 1 tomato slice into meat filling to look like tongue. Place 1 cheese slice with zigzag edge toward meat along top side of taco between the shell and the filling. Place 2 olives, flat sides down, to look like eyes on top of shell.

This recipe is from www.bettycrocker.com.

SEVERED FINGER SUGAR COOKIES

Makes about 24 cookies

Ingredients:

1 pouch (17.5-ounce) Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix

1 egg

1/4 cup raw slivered almonds

1/4 cup seedless strawberry jam

7 drops red food color

Instructions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with cooking parchment paper.

In medium bowl, mix cookie mix and egg, using fork or spatula, until well mixed and texture of sand or bread crumbs. Squeeze handful of dough crumbs together tightly to form small log or "finger." Score top of log with butter knife to shape the knuckle, then press 1 slivered almond at one end to make the fingernail. Repeat to use up dough. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Bake 15 minutes. Cool completely. In small bowl, mix jam and food color. Trim base of "finger" with fork to give it a severed look. Dip base of finger into jam.

This recipe is from www.bettycrocker.com.

CREEPY CRAWLY CAKE TRUFFLES

Makes 4 dozen or 24 (2 cake pop) servings)

Ingredients:

1 package white cake mix

1 teaspoon McCormick Pure Orange Extract

1/2 teaspoon McCormick Yellow Food Color

1/4 teaspoon McCormick Red Food Color

1 cup marshmallow creme

White confectionery coating wafers, such as Wilton White Candy Melts

Black confectionery coating wafers

Semi-sweet baking chocolate

Assorted candies for decorating

Instructions:

Prepare cake mix as directed on package, adding orange extract and food colors. Bake as directed on package for 13-by-9-inch baking pan. Cool completely on wire rack. Crumble cake into large bowl. Add marshmallow creme; mix until well blended. Shape into 1-inch balls. Refrigerate 2 hours.

Melt coating wafers or chocolate as directed on package. Using a fork, dip 1 cake ball at a time into the confectionery coating or melted chocolate. Tap back of fork 2 or 3 times against edge of dish to allow excess to drip off. Place cake balls on wax paper-lined tray. Decorate as desired. See Page D-2 for decorating suggestions.

This recipe is from McCormick.

Source: http://www.sunherald.com/2012/10/25/4264513/tricked-out-treats-give-em-something.html

roger goodell psychosis dianna agron million hoodie march tebow trade mike the situation jacksonville jaguars

How T. Rex Ate a Triceratops in Four Easy Steps

If you've always wondered how Tyrannosaurs Rex ate the horned monstrosity that was a Triceratops, you need puzzle no longer. Scientists have finally pieced together how they did it—and it was surprisingly straightforward. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/hWMiPupkCCc/how-t-rex-ate-a-triceratops-in-four-easy-steps

undercover boss barbara walters tupelo honey limp bizkit stations of the cross nike foamposite galaxy bill maher