US finalizes deal to sell F-15s to Saudi Arabia (AP)

HONOLULU ? The sale of $30 billion worth of F-15SA fighter jets to Saudi Arabia has been finalized, the Obama administration said Thursday, boosting the military strength of a key U.S. ally in the Middle East to help counter Iran.

Under the agreement, the U.S. will send Saudi Arabia 84 new fighter jets and upgrades for 70 more. Production of the aircraft, which will be manufactured by Boeing Co., will support 50,000 jobs and have a $3.5 billion annual economic impact in the U.S., the White House said.

The sale is part of a larger U.S. effort to realign its defense policies in the Persian Gulf to keep Iran in check. The announcement came as U.S. officials weighed a fresh threat from Tehran, which warned this week it could disrupt traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital Persian Gulf oil transport route, if Washington levies new sanctions targeting Iran's crude exports.

Administration officials said the timing of Thursday's announcement was not tied to the new threat from Tehran. But they did make clear that the fighter jet sale would help Saudi Arabia counter potential troubles with Iran.

"This sale will send a strong message to countries in the region that the United States is committed to stability in the Gulf and broader Middle East," said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Andrew Shapiro. "It will enhance Saudi Arabia's ability to deter and defend against external threats to its sovereignty."

The fighter jet sale is part of a larger 10-year, $60 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia that also includes helicopters, a broad array of missiles, bombs and delivery systems, as well as radar warning systems and night-vision goggles. Congress gave the deal the go-ahead about a year ago.

The plan initially raised concerns from pro-Israeli lawmakers, but U.S. officials reassured Congress that Israel's military edge would not be undercut by the sale. Additionally, there is now broad agreement among Israel, the Gulf Arab states and the West that Iran poses a significant and unpredictable threat.

Saudi Arabia and Iran are bitter regional rivals. Tensions between them were further stoked earlier this year after the U.S. accused Iran of plotting to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. in Washington.

Saudi Arabia is already the most militarily advanced of the Arab Gulf states, one of the richest countries in the world, and central to American policy in the Middle East. It is also vital to U.S. energy security, with Saudi Arabia ranking as the third-largest source of U.S. oil imports.

But relations between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia grew frosty earlier this year, as the allies found themselves at odds during the protests that swept through the Arab world. The Obama administration angered the Saudis by pulling support from former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, a longtime ally of both countries. And the U.S. bristled when Saudi Arabia sent troops into Bahrain to quell protests there.

The White House announced the agreement with Saudi Arabia from Hawaii, where President Barack Obama is vacationing.

___

Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111230/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_us_saudi_arabia

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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Says U.S. Is The Reason Why He Has Cancer

Just one day after Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez hinted that the U.S. may be the reason behind the cancer affecting many of the South American leaders. Read more after the jump!

Wendy L.

(Bloomberg)?Chavez said the Central Intelligence Agency was behind chemical experiments in Guatemala in the 1940s and that it?s possible that in years to come a plot will be uncovered that shows the U.S. spread cancer as a political weapon against its critics.

?It?s very difficult to explain, even with the law of probabilities, what has been happening to some of us in Latin America,? Chavez said in a nationally televised speech to the military. ?Would it be so strange that they?ve invented technology to spread cancer and we won?t know about it for 50 years??

Chavez, who was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer in June and had a baseball-sized tumor removed in Cuba, has called for a regional summit of leaders who have battled cancer including Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, her predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva and Paraguay?s Fernando Lugo.

?I?m just sharing my thoughts, but it?s very, very, very strange,? Chavez said. ?Evo take care of yourself, Correa, be careful, we just don?t know,? he said, referring to Evo Morales and Rafael Correa, the leaders of Bolivia and Ecuador.
Thomas Mittnacht, press director at the U.S. embassy in Caracas, declined to comment when reached by telephone.

Re-election Bid

Chavez, a former tank commander who has led South America?s largest oil producer since 1999 and will seek a third consecutive six-year term in October elections, says that the U.S. was involved in a coup against him in 2002 that briefly ousted the socialist leader before he was reinstated by the military and supporters.

The 57-year-old leader also accuses the U.S. of plotting an invasion of Venezuela to capture its oil reserves.
Chavez, who continues to send the U.S. more than 800,000 barrels of oil a day, said that former Cuban leader Fidel Castro has warned him about assassination attempts after surviving what he has claimed are hundreds of plots by the U.S. since he took power in 1959.

?Fidel always tells me, ?Chavez be careful, they?ve developed technology, be careful with what you eat, they could stick you with a small needle,?? the Venezuelan leader said today. ?In any case, I?m not accusing anyone, I?m just using my freedoms to reflect and issue comments on very strange events that are hard to explain.?

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Source: http://www.inflexwetrust.com/2011/12/29/venezuelan-president-hugo-chavez-says-u-s-is-the-reason-why-he-has-cancer/

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Unscratchable gold is harder than steel

Sex, booze and strange animal tricks: You had to know the 2011 Weird Science Awards would hit on those themes. After all, past award winners have included scientists' successful quest to reattach rabbit penises, a 2,700-year-old marijuana stash and glow-in-the-dark kitties. This year, msnbc.com users were asked to select the weirdest stories from a list of 30 nominees. Click ahead to count down the top 10 selections, plus some bonus picks.

? Alan Boyle, msnbc.com science editor

10. Oops! Maya doomsday date corrected

Are we having doomsday yet? Some folks say the ancient Maya calendar's "Long Count" runs out on Dec. 21, 2012, and that a world-changing crisis will occur at that time. Other folks, including the modern-day Maya, say that's just a load of llama crap ... and that 12/22/2012 will merely mark the start of a new calendar cycle.

And then there's Gerardo Aldana, a professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara, who says they're all probably wrong.

Aldana contends that the calculations we've used to match up the Maya calendar to our modern reckoning could be off by as much as 50 to 100 years, and that the Long Count may have already ended. If Aldana is right, the timetable for the apocalypse may already be up. Which might explain why "Apocalypto" director Mel Gibson's been acting so weird lately.

9. Why it's OK for birds to be gay

Scientists have found more than 130 bird species that engage in some sort of same-sex hanky-panky ? and the males in some of those species, such as penguins and greylag geese, occasionally form long-term sexual relationships with each other.

That's presented a puzzle for some evolutionary biologists, because same-sex relationships would seem to reduce the birds' chances of reproductive success. Believe it or not, gay birds are quite a research topic ... not that there's anything wrong with that.

Geoff MacFarlane, a biologist at the University of Newcastle in Australia, and colleagues reviewed studies of 93 bird species and suggested that there was a relationship between the rearing of young and same-sex mating. Male homosexual behavior would be likelier if the females of the species took care of the chicks. "Homosexual behavior is more likely to be maintained and not be selected against than if you are a sex that cares a lot for offspring and only has one or few reproductive partners," MacFarlane said.

Are you still curious? Find out why some scientists think mercury pollution may spark bird homosexuality, and learn more about the bizarre study of a homosexual necrophiliac duck.

8. The race to create A.I. as smart as a cat

Puss-Bob is not amused: He's heard the reports claiming that Pentagon-funded scientists are trying to create an artificial brain as intelligent as a cat, of course, but he realizes this is a grossly oversimplified description of the SyNAPSE project.

He knows the real point of the research is to build electronic networks that mimic biological brains, using new types of devices known as memristors. Such networks could "learn" by taking in additional information from the environment and adapting accordingly.

The technology could produce smarter robotic scout vehicles for the U.S. military, IEEE Spectrum reports. But Puss-Bob highly doubts that memristor-based neural networks will ever match the intelligence of cats. Dogs, maybe ... but not cats.

7: 'Da Vinci code' in Mona Lisa's eyes?

The Mona Lisa is one of the great masterpieces of the art world, but it's also a great generator of weird science. In past years, researchers have said that they've tracked down the inspiration for Leonardo da Vinci's portrait, found a nude version of the painting and figured out what Mona Lisa's voice sounded like.

In 2010, Italy's national committee for cultural heritage claimed that Leonardo painted tiny, almost invisible letters in Mona Lisa's eyes. The committee's president, Silvano Vinceti, said the lines in one eye appear to form the initials "LV," perhaps standing for the artist's name. The other eye seems to contain the letters "CE" or perhaps "B." And still more letters and numbers were spotted in other areas of the painting.

But are they really there? Several experts have said the committee is probably reading too much into the painting's patterns of tiny cracks. Among art historians, at least, this "Da Vinci Code" is no best-seller.

6. Which came first, chicken or egg?

Which came first? The chicken or the egg? The question is really more of a philosophical conundrum, like the old "immovable object vs. irresistible force" conflict. But in 2010, British research into the process of eggshell formation was heralded as providing a scientific answer to the riddle.

Biologists from Sheffield and Warwick universities reported that ovocleidin-17, a protein found in a chicken's ovaries, played an essential role in building eggshells from calcium carbonate crystals. That led some chicken-or-egg philosophers to claim that the first chicken egg could exist only if it was created inside a chicken.

Actually, it all depends on your definitions: We know that dinosaurs laid eggs, for example, so eggs clearly predate chickens. And if a prehistoric not-quite-chicken laid an egg that contained the first honest-to-goodness chicken, based on its genetic coding, do you count that as a chicken, or a chicken egg? Try using that one if you're ever captured by "Star Trek" androids.

5. Giant storks may have fed on hobbits

"The storks! The storks! They're eating Frodo!" J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" saga might have had a horror-movie ending if it reflected the fossil evidence found on the Indonesian island of Flores.

Flores is known as the site where scientists discovered the remains of a species of hominids known as Homo floresiensis. The creatures, which apparently went extinct about 12,000 years ago, have been nicknamed "hobbits" because of their short stature.

Now paleontologists say they've unearthed wing and leg bones from carnivorous storks in the same cave where the Homo floresiensis bones were discovered. The storks, which apparently stood nearly 6 feet tall, could have fed on other birds as well as fishes and lizards ? "and possibly in principle even small, juvenile hobbits, although we have no evidence for that," the Smithsonian Institution's Hanneke Meijer told LiveScience.

What sound do giant storks make when they're swallowing? Gollum! Gollum!

4. Cricket's testicles set world record

Now here's a bug with balls: The tuberous bushcricket's testicles account for 14 percent of its body weight, according to researchers at the University of Derby in England. That means the cricket's cojones are the largest in the animal world, based on proportion to total body mass.

To put the cricket's statistics in perspective, the testicles of a man weighing 200 pounds (91 kilograms) with that ball-to-body ratio would weigh 28 pounds (12.7 kilograms). Or basically the weight of two bowling balls.

Why would a cricket need testes that big? The researchers suggest that the large size lets male crickets capitalize quickly on breeding opportunities with multiple mates. But size is always relative, and often deceiving. Turns out that the runner-up in the ball-to-body competition is the humble fruit fly, with testes that make up more than 10 percent of body weight.

3. Better transit design through ... slime mold?

It's hard to imagine a scientific specialty that's weirder than slime mold, but researchers from Hokkaido University in Japan has been able to make the weird life form do some wonderful things.

First, the scientists used slime mold's food-finding prowess to solve labyrinth puzzles. This year, they published research showing how the mold's growth patterns could reflect the optimal routes for mass transit links ... on a map where bits of food stood in for train stations. Those dubious achievements earned them not just one, but two Ig Nobel Prizes for silly science.

The Hokkaido team isn't the only one working with the humble organism: British scientists say they've constructed a rudimentary slime-mold computer nicknamed the Plasmobot. So where does America stand in the race to harness slime mold? And what are we going to do about the slime gap?

2. How beer sparked civilization

Some people might say the invention of fire sparked the rise of civilization. But Brian Hayden, an archaeologist at Simon Fraser University, suggests that another innovation may have played a crucial role: beer.

The age of agriculture dawned about 11,500 years ago when Neolithic peoples began domesticating wild grains such as barley and rice. Hayden is among a number of archaeologists who say the motivation for domesticating those cereals might have been to brew alcoholic drinks for ceremonial use. "It's not that drinking and brewing by itself helped start cultivation, it's this context of feasts that links beer and the emergence of complex societies," Hayden says.

The earliest chemical evidence for beer comes from residues inside a jar excavated in Iran that is dated to between 3400 and 3100 B.C. Other evidence suggests that beer gave ancient Africans a healthy dose of antibiotics, and that women took on the primary role for brewing beer in ancient Peru. For still more, check out our interactive gallery of ancient drinks.

1. Stone Age carving may be ancient sex toy

The top vote-getter in the 2010 Weird Science Award competition may not be totally suitable for work ... but hey, this is archaeology, right? Researchers suspect that a carved piece of antler bone, found at a Stone Age site in Sweden that goes back as far as 6000 B.C., might have been an ancient sex toy.

The object is about 4 inches long and an inch wide, with a knobby end as well as a pointy end. The pointy end suggests that despite its phallic appearance, the bone could have been used for chipping flakes of flint. Sigmund Freud is said to have observed that "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar," and sometimes a Stone Age tool is just a Stone Age tool.

Even if the antler bone is judged to be a sex toy, it's not the oldest of its type: A polished stone phallus found in Germany is thought to be about 28,000 years old, while a 35,000-year-old female figure with exaggerated breasts could be considered the world's oldest-known porn.

Weirdly honorable mentions

Even though we offered up a long list of nominees for the Weird Science Awards, there are always some additional discoveries that deserve recognition. Here are four honorable mentions for 2010:

• Mice with two dads: Researchers reprogrammed mouse cells and then used unconventional breeding tricks to produce some cute babies with genetic contributions from two male mice (but carried to term by mommy mice, of course). The experiment suggested a method by which same-sex human couples could eventually have genetic progeny.
• Chimps with stick dolls: Female chimpanzees have been observed in the wild cuddling and playing with sticks and small logs, much like human children do. In contrast, such behavior has not yet been seen among male chimps, leading researchers to wonder whether gender differences in styles of play extend beyond humans to other species.
• Mice that sing like birds: In the course of developing new breeds of genetically engineered mice, Japanese researchers happened upon a mouse that made tweeting noises like a bird. The tweeting trait could be passed along to the generations that followed, and the lab says it now has more than 100 "singing mice." Listen to the chirping mice on YouTube.
• 8-year-olds publish scientific paper: One of the more unusual papers published in Biology Letters was illustrated with diagrams that looked as if they were scrawled by elementary-school students. That's because they were. The peer-reviewed report, written by 8- to 10-year-olds from Blackawton Primary School in Devon, England, represented a "genuine advance" in the study of bumblebee vision, the Royal Society said.

For still more scientific strangeness, review the 2010 Weird Science Awards.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45797050/ns/technology_and_science-science/

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Iraq agrees to move Iran exiles; rockets hit camp (AP)

BAGHDAD ? The United Nations and the Iraqi government agreed to relocate several thousand Iranian exiles living in a camp in northeastern Iraq, potentially averting a showdown with its residents. The dissidents, who have not said whether they would agree to move, reported a rocket attack on the camp.

The People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran, one-time allies of Saddam Hussein in a common fight against Iran, said Katyusha rockets struck near housing units inside the camp on Sunday night, but did not report any casualties.

A representative of the camp's residents said Monday they were still waiting to see the agreement before commenting on whether they would decide to relocate or not.

"We hope that it would officially include the minimum assurances so that it would be acceptable to Ashraf residents," said Shahin Gobadi. "Ashraf residents have repeatedly emphasized that they would in no way accept forcible relocation."

Since Saddam's overthrow, Iraq's new leaders have improved relations with Iran and have sought to shut down the camp, home to 3,400 residents and located in barren terrain northeast of Baghdad about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the Iranian border. The U.N. reported that at least 34 people were killed in a raid by Iraqi government forces in April.

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq announced an agreement Sunday night that establishes a process to move the residents of Camp Ashraf to a temporary location. It did not give a timeline for the move or specify the new location.

A statement from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the residents would be moved to Camp Liberty, a former U.S. military base near the Baghdad International Airport.

At Camp Liberty, the U.N.'s refugee agency will interview the residents to determine their eligibility to get refugee status, before they can eventually be resettled in third countries, Clinton said.

"We are encouraged by the Iraqi government's willingness to commit to this plan, and expect it to fulfill all its responsibilities," she said in the statement. "To be successful, this resettlement must also have the full support of the camp's residents, and we urge them to work with the U.N. to implement this relocation."

The People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran first moved to Camp Ashraf during the regime of Saddam, who saw the group as a convenient ally against Tehran. The group is committed to the overthrow of the Iranian regime.

The group carried out a series of bombings and assassinations against Iran's clerical regime in the 1980s and fought alongside Saddam's forces in the Iran-Iraq war. But the group says it renounced violence in 2001. U.S. soldiers disarmed them during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has been determined to close down the camp by the end of December. His government considers the camp as an affront to Iraq's sovereignty.

Last week, an Iraqi government spokesman said the government was working out a solution to the situation at Camp Ashraf with the U.N. and would allow the camp to stay open into January as residents are being relocated. At the time, representatives of the residents suggested they would be willing to move, as long as their security was provided for.

Under the agreement outlined by the U.N., the international organization will monitor the relocation process and then a team from the U.N.'s refugee agency will be deployed at the new location to process the refugee claims.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "believes that the agreement "lays the foundation for a peaceful and durable solution to the situation, respecting both the sovereignty of Iraq and its international humanitarian and human rights obligations," according to a statement released by his spokesperson.

"The Secretary-General reminds all concerned that any violence or attempt at a forcible solution would be unacceptable," the statement said.

Officials from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad will also visit regularly, the State Department said.

The Iraqi government will be responsible for the exiles' safety during that time, and will have a liaison officer from the Ministry of Human Rights involved in the relocation, the U.N. said.

"I would like to highlight that the government is exclusively responsible for the safety and security of the residents both during their transfer and in the new location until they leave the country," said Martin Kobler, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General for Iraq.

The Iraqi government's vow to close Camp Ashraf had raised concerns that forcibly removing its residents would result in violence.

The People's Mujahedeen has been branded a foreign terrorist organization by the United States, a designation now under review by the State Department. It has been removed from similar blacklists in Europe.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111227/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq_camp_ashraf

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Britain's Prince Philip leaves hospital (AP)

LONDON ? Britain's Prince Philip returned to the royal family's country estate Tuesday, after a spell in the hospital undergoing treatment for a blocked coronary artery.

Philip, Queen Elizabeth II's 90-year-old husband, spent four nights in the hospital recovering from a successful coronary stent procedure. He was taken to Papworth, a specialist heart hospital in Cambridge, on Friday after complaining of chest pains.

It was the most serious health scare suffered by Philip, who is known to be active and robust. He has continued to appear at many engagements, most recently taking a 10-day tour of Australia with the queen.

For the first time in years he was forced to miss the royal family's traditional Christmas festivities, which include attending a morning church service, viewing the queen's annual Christmas broadcast together, and a shooting party on Boxing Day.

Philip did not speak to reporters as he was driven away from the hospital in a Range Rover Tuesday morning, though he smiled and waved to those gathered to film his departure.

"He is very much looking forward to rejoining his family," a Buckingham Palace statement said, adding that he also thanked the hospital staff for their care.

Philip will now return to Sandringham, the queen's huge private estate in rural Norfolk where the royal family retreats for the holiday season every year.

It is not yet clear if Philip's heart problem will cause a reduction in his plans to travel with the queen next year to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee. He is scheduled to make a series of trips to England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to help her mark her 60th year on the throne.

Now that Philip has been found to have coronary artery blockages, he is likely to be treated with several medications that are routinely prescribed for heart patients. The goal is to prevent future coronary artery blockages and a possible heart attack.

In most cases these medicines would include a daily dosage of aspirin to thin the blood, a statin to lower cholesterol, and possibly a beta-blocker and a separate medicine to control his blood pressure. Philip would also be expected to have his heart function tested every six months or so to check for any changes.

Philip had already announced when he turned 90 that he intended to slow down his extremely active schedule. The Diamond Jubilee plans reflected this desire, with the queen deciding to send her children and grandchildren on grueling overseas trips to Commonwealth countries while she and her husband make less demanding trips throughout the United Kingdom.

____

Associated Press writer Gregory Katz contributed to this report.

Britain's Prince Philip left the hospital Tuesday, after undergoing treatment for a blocked coronary artery.

Philip, Queen Elizabeth II's 90-year-old husband, spent four nights in the hospital recovering from a successful coronary stent procedure. He was taken to Papworth, a specialist heart hospital in Cambridge, on Friday after complaining of chest pains.

It was the most serious health scare suffered by Philip, who is known to be active and robust. He has continued to appear at many engagements, most recently taking a 10-day tour of Australia with the queen.

For the first time in years he was forced to miss the royal family's traditional Christmas festivities, which include attending a morning church service, viewing the queen's annual Christmas broadcast together, and a shooting party on Boxing Day.

Philip did not speak to reporters as he was driven away from the hospital in a Range Rover Tuesday morning, though he smiled and waved to those gathered to film his departure.

He also thanked the hospital staff for their care.

He will return to Sandringham, the queen's private estate in rural Norfolk, to join the queen and other royal family members, Buckingham Palace officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with policy.

It is not yet clear if Philip's heart problem will cause a reduction in his plans to travel with the queen next year to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee. He is scheduled to make a series of trips to England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to help her mark her 60th year on the throne.

Now that Philip has been found to have coronary artery blockages, he is likely to be treated with several medications that are routinely prescribed for heart patients. The goal is to prevent future coronary artery blockages and a possible heart attack.

In most cases these medicines would include a daily dosage of aspirin to thin the blood, a statin to lower cholesterol, and possibly a beta-blocker and a separate medicine to control his blood pressure. Philip would also be expected to have his heart function tested every six months or so to check for any changes.

Philip had already announced when he turned 90 that he intended to slow down his extremely active schedule. The Diamond Jubilee plans reflected this desire, with the queen deciding to send her children and grandchildren on grueling overseas trips to Commonwealth countries while she and her husband made less-demanding trips throughout the United Kingdom.

____

Associated Press writer Gregory Katz contributed to this report

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111227/ap_en_ot/eu_britain_prince_philip

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Dear President Obama, Free Oscar L?pez Rivera

He is entering his 30th year as a political prisoner in the United States, and even after he served another 10 years as a condition of a commuted sentence by President Bill Clinton, Puerto Rico's Oscar L?pez Rivera is still in jail.

It is time to free him. Please share, post, and let your friends know that L?pez Rivera should be free. For more information, visit this page. You can download a letter to ask for his release here.

?

Source: http://latinorebels.com/2011/12/26/dear-president-obama-free-oscar-lopez-rivera/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dear-president-obama-free-oscar-lopez-rivera

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Motorola ACTV rooted -- this is why we can't have nice things, and we love it

  

The Motorola ACTV (read our review of the Android powered watch thingy here) has been rooted.  While this registers a solid 11 on the awesome-meter, we really shouldn't be that surprised -- it's running Android, and by now all the evil scientists Android hackers know their way around things and nothing running Google's OS is safe.  But I still have to sit and smile because not only is there a fitness meter/music player/watch that runs Android, but now it can be hacked, too.  Damn nice work, CMW.

What's really cool about this one is the way it was rooted.  CMW was able to exploit the OTA update code and files, extract a copy of the boot image, and enable adb in it.  Flash it through fastboot (the ACTV's bootloader isn't locked), connect via adb and run a standard exploit against the system.  He gives full instructions at his site, and even has a link to a set of Google apps that will run on the 1.6-inch ACTV.  If Santa dropped a Motorola ACTV in your stocking this morning, of if you're just the curious type, have a look at the link below.

Source: cmwdotme

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/YjHUcmPJQ-Q/story01.htm

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Christmas Eve Fire Guts North Tulsa Church

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Oklahoma?s Own NewsOn6.com is proud to provide Oklahomans with timely and relevant news and information, sharing the stories, pictures and loves of Oklahomans across our great state including Tulsa?s Own and Green Country?s Own.

Source: http://www.newson6.com/category/121535/video-page?clipId=6579721&clipFormat=&topVideoCatNo=118582

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What are emotion expressions for?

Friday, December 23, 2011

That cartoon scary face ? wide eyes, ready to run ? may have helped our primate ancestors survive in a dangerous wild, according to the authors of an article published in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The authors present a way that fear and other facial expressions might have evolved and then come to signal a person's feelings to the people around him.

The basic idea, according to Azim F. Shariff of the University of Oregon, is that the specific facial expressions associated with each particular emotion evolved for some reason. Shariff cowrote the paper with Jessica L. Tracy of the University of British Columbia. So fear helps respond to threat, and the squinched-up nose and mouth of disgust make it harder for you to inhale anything poisonous drifting on the breeze. The outthrust chest of pride increases both testosterone production and lung capacity so you're ready to take on anyone. Then, as social living became more important to the evolutionary success of certain species?most notably humans?the expressions evolved to serve a social role as well; so a happy face, for example, communicates a lack of threat and an ashamed face communicates your desire to appease.

The research is based in part on work from the last several decades showing that some emotional expressions are universal?even in remote areas with no exposure to Western media, people know what a scared face and a sad face look like, Shariff says. This type of evidence makes it unlikely that expressions were social constructs, invented in Western Europe, which then spread to the rest of the world.

And it's not just across cultures, but across species. "We seem to share a number of similar expressions, including pride, with chimpanzees and other apes," Shariff says. This suggests that the expressions appeared first in a common ancestor.

The theory that emotional facial expressions evolved as a physiological part of the response to a particular situation has been somewhat controversial in psychology; another article in the same issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science argues that the evidence on how emotions evolved is not conclusive.

Shariff and Tracy agree that more research is needed to support some of their claims, but that, "A lot of what we're proposing here would not be all that controversial to other biologists," Shariff says. "The specific concepts of 'exaptation' and 'ritualization' that we discuss are quite common when discussing the evolution of non-human animals." For example, some male birds bring a tiny morsel of food to a female bird as part of an elaborate courtship display. In that case, something that might once have been biologically relevant?sharing food with another bird?has evolved over time into a signal of his excellence as a potential mate. In the same way, Shariff says, facial expressions that started as part of the body's response to a situation may have evolved into a social signal.

###

Association for Psychological Science: http://www.psychologicalscience.org

Thanks to Association for Psychological Science 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/116310/What_are_emotion_expressions_for_

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Guest Post ? Personal finance, goals, and the relationship factor ...

Posted on December 23, 2011 in guest post ?

NOTE: Today?s guest post is from?Robb Engen who writes about Canadian personal finance at?Boomer & Echo, as well as at Moneyville.ca.

We all know that teenagers are out of touch with reality, expecting to earn $90,000 per year by age 30. In my experience, many single 20-somethings are just as clueless when it comes to creating a realistic financial plan.

I read an article recently about a 22-year-old man named Sean who just graduated from college and started working for an investment bank. His goal was to be financial free by age 33, and here?s how he planned to do it:

Sean had a great starting salary of $75,000 per year, with the potential to earn an additional $50,000 in bonuses. To maximize his income, Sean?s brilliant plan included working 85-hour weeks for the next 11 years. He shared an apartment near his office downtown so he could walk to work.? Sean planned to save money on food by bringing his lunch and dinner to work so he could eat at his desk.

The end result of Sean?s financial plan was to save over 60 per cent of his income and have an investment portfolio worth $1.5 million by the time he reached age 33. I?m all for setting lofty goals, but this plan doesn?t stand a chance. It?s just a dream.

I can remember when I was in my early 20?s and single, dreaming of financial freedom. I worked long hours, socked away money inside my RRSP, and lived on Pizza Pops and Kraft Dinner. I was going to retire young and wealthy, and then live it up over-seas. But then something happened that usually foils the financial dreams of all single men; I met a girl.

The one thing that is rarely accounted for in the financial dreams of young singles is the relationship factor. Suddenly you have to consider someone else?s needs other than your own. I don?t know about you, but my significant other wouldn?t really appreciate me working 85-hour weeks while sharing a cramped two-bedroom apartment with my old college roommate.

My financial priorities have changed dramatically in the last 10 years. When I was single I put any extra dollar into my RRSP without even thinking about my short term financial needs. Now that I?m married and have a family, I find myself more concerned with paying off our mortgage, building an emergency fund, and saving for a nice family vacation. I?ll stop myself before I end up buying a used mini-van.

I?m not suggesting that young single folks can?t make their financial dreams come true. Just remember to have a back-up plan that includes a significant other in your life.

?-
**NOTE: I absolutely agree with Robb. Everything you thought you knew and wanted in life can be turned upside down once you meet someone special. I think even the biggest relationship skeptic can change if the right person comes along. But maybe that?s just me wanting to believe that it?s true. :)

Robb Engen lives in Lethbridge, AB and writes about Canadian personal finance at?Boomer & Echo. Together with his mom, (she?s the Boomer, he?s the Echo) they offer their own unique perspectives on saving, investing and personal finance. You can follow him on Twitter?@BoomerandEcho.

Author comments are in a darker gray color for you to easily identify the posts in the comments

Source: http://www.givemebackmyfivebucks.com/2011/12/23/guest-post-personal-finance-goals-and-the-relationship-factor/

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Lawrence forensics 'do not fit'

21 December 2011 Last updated at 13:05 ET

Forensic findings presented by the prosecution in the Stephen Lawrence trial do not fit with the rest of the evidence, a jury has been told.

Tim Roberts QC, defending Gary Dobson, said traces of blood and fibres found on his client's clothing were the result of police contamination.

No eyewitness had placed Mr Dobson at the scene of the attack, he said.

Mr Dobson, 36, and David Norris, 35, deny murdering 18-year-old Mr Lawrence in Eltham, south London, in 1993.

The black teenager was stabbed at a bus stop after he was set upon by a group of white youths.

Wider picture

Mr Roberts told jurors the prosecution case against his client had an "Achilles heel", which he described as a "microscopic viewpoint" and "tunnel vision" about forensic evidence.

He said the prosecution had struggled to make the accusations "fit with the wider picture given by the rest of the evidence".

"The new scientific evidence does not prove who stabbed and killed Stephen Lawrence," he said. "The new scientific evidence is capable of identifying only items of clothing not people."

His closing line was that "out of very few fibres the prosecution has spun a very long yarn".

The court has heard that cold case forensic evidence was found on Mr Dobson's jacket and cardigan, but the defence claims he never wore the jacket after it had been "ridiculed" and that the cardigan belonged to his father.

The allegation that fibres from Mr Lawrence's red shirt had landed on Mr Dobson's jacket during the attack was "unsubstantiated conjecture", said Mr Roberts.

It was much more likely that the police seized the clothing and put the items into their "leaky exhibit system", he said.

Mr Roberts said the fibres on the jacket could be traced back to when an accident and emergency nurse cut off Mr Lawrence's clothes, releasing a "shower" of material.

Prosecutors allege that a blood stain found on Mr Dobson's jacket was caused by Mr Lawrence's fresh blood, but Mr Roberts said it was "a creation of laboratory procedures".

The defence has argued an old dried blood flake got on the jacket via contamination and caused a spot when it was dissolved during tests for saliva.

'Shared hatred'

Earlier in the trial, the jurors were shown a police surveillance video showing racist rants by the two defendants and their friends.

Mr Roberts compared the video with the recent controversy over TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson calling for public sector workers who went on strike to be shot in front of their families.

He said that neither Mr Clarkson nor his client had displayed murderous intent or meant their comments to be taken seriously.

Prosecutor Mark Ellison QC, who concluded the case against the two defendants on Wednesday morning, had said the video demonstrated a "shared hatred" of black people, a familiarity with knives and that they were "the sort of people expected to act how they acted when they came across two black people on that night".

He told jurors Mr Norris and Mr Dobson were "part of a likeminded group of white youths" on the night of the murder.

He said a series of forensic scientists had shown the only plausible explanation for fibres, blood and hair from Mr Lawrence being found on the defendants' clothes was their presence during the attack.

The jury was told that to convict Mr Dobson and Mr Norris they must be sure the forensic evidence against them had not been contaminated by mishandling over the years.

If they were sure there was no contamination, they must be certain the two men participated in the attack and that both of them knew there was intent to harm the teenager, said Mr Ellison.

The trial was adjourned to Thursday, when the jury will hear the defence case for Mr Norris.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/uk-16285562

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Sensenbrenner sorry for 'big butt' quip (Politico)

Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner sent a note of apology Thursday to Michelle Obama for referring to her ?large posterior? and ?big butt,? his spokesperson told POLITICO.

Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) was overheard talking about the first lady?s healthy food initiative ? and her ?large posterior? ? on Wednesday in the Delta Crown lounge at Reagan National Airport, FishbowlDC reported. The representative was recounting a recent conversation he?d had at a Wisconsin Episcopal church and said loudly on the phone that Obama ?lectures us on eating right while she has a large posterior herself,? according to Fishbowl.

Continue Reading

On Thursday, Sensenbrenner said in a statement, ?I regret my inappropriate comment and I have sent a personal note to the first lady apologizing.?

Sensenbrenner had made his initial comment about the first lady at St. Aidan?s Episcopal Church in Hartford, Wis. on Dec. 10. Ann Marsh-Meigs, a 72-year-old member of the church, said the congressman sat with her and several other parishioners for some small talk during the church?s Christmas bazaar.

Then, he noticed cards on the table advertising the church?s upcoming food-packing project for Haiti and began speaking about a recent charity event in Washington his wife and Michelle Obama attended. Sensenbrenner commented that the first lady only stayed as long as the photographers were there.

?And then he got on the topic of first ladies and their special interests, and he said most first ladies have serious projects,? Marsh-Meigs said in an interview. ?He implied that Michelle Obama being interested in childhood obesity was not serious, he sort of made fun of it and then he made fun of her. He said something like, look at her big butt.?

Marsh-Meigs, who also shared her account of the discussion with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, said she was appalled by the congressman?s comment and told him she thought Obama was a ?beautiful and elegant woman.?

?How dumb can you be? I think it?s stupid to talk like that, it?s really rude ? it?s the president?s wife,? Marsh-Meigs told POLITICO. ?He just assumed everyone sitting at the table would agree with him and think it was funny. I didn?t think it was the least bit funny, and there was sort of a stunned silence. I said, ?I think Michelle is a beautiful and elegant woman, and she dresses beautifully.??

Sensenbrenner, Marsh-Meigs said, ?sort of backpedaled, and got up rather quickly and left.? A friend of Marsh-Meigs confronted Sensenbrenner as he made his exit and ?told him off.?

Marsh-Meigs said she wasn?t surprised by the press Sensenbrenner has received for his remark. ?If he hadn?t said such a rude thing, nothing would have happened,? she said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories1211_70788_html/43984192/SIG=11m9rtdrv/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/70788.html

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Putting Insomnia on Ice

| Mind & Brain See Inside

Cooling down our brains may help us sleep better

By Joe Kloc ?| December 21, 2011?|

Image: istockphoto (brain); Matthias Kulka/Corbis (ice)

The pain and frustration of chronic insomnia affects one in 10 American adults, most of whom find no relief from current therapies. Now a new study finds that simply cooling the brain area just behind the forehead can help.

In a study presented this summer at the American Academy of Sleep Medicine?s SLEEP 2011 conference, researchers fit 12 insomniacs with caps that use circulating water to cool the prefrontal cortex. The cap helps the insomniacs fall asleep about as fast?and stay asleep about as long?as adults without insomnia.

?When you get into the neurobiology, insomnia is a disorder of hyperarousal,? says Eric A. Nof?zinger, a psychiatrist at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine who worked on the study. In adults with normal sleeping patterns, the metab?olism of the prefrontal cortex decreases as they fall asleep. In insomniacs, however, it increases?corresponding with the incessant worrying or brain chatter that many insomniacs report experiencing. Using the cap to perform a cooling process on the brain called cerebral hypothermia, the researchers were able to reduce the brain?s activity and lull the subject to sleep.

The finding is significant because current treatments such as hypnosis and sleeping pills help only about one in four insomniacs. The cooling cap, which had a 75 percent success rate, may soon offer patients a safe, comfortable, nonpharmaceutical way to enjoy a good night?s sleep. Participants reported that wearing the cap was a ?soothing, massagelike experience,? Nofzinger says. ?Imagine your grandmother putting a cold washcloth on your forehead.? He hopes that the cap may also prove useful to patients with anxiety and mood disorders, which also involve the prefrontal cortex.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=24c73b5a1bf54038618a876dbdd87bc0

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Chrome 15 overtakes IE 8 for top browser spot

Google

By Athima Chansanchai

If you're reading this on Chrome, you're part of a wave that has ditched Internet Explorer or Firefox and helped vault Google's browser to the top Web browser spot worldwide.

We've been watching for a while now as reports have shown a consistent rise in Chrome's popularity. We saw how in one report, it's already gone past Firefox, knowing it was just a matter of time before it usurped one of the longest reigning dynasties in the browser world, IE.

But wait, there is a caveat to this: Chrome 15 beat IE 8, specifically, this one week at the end of November, with 23.6 percent of the worldwide market, compared to IE 8's at 23.5 percent.?With all the versions of IE floating around, IE is still No. 1 in the world, but Chrome is right behind it.

StatCounter

Ireland-based?StatCounter???which posts Web analytics based on aggregate data it collects from a?sample exceeding 15 billion pageviews per month (including 4 billion in the U.S.),?collected from the StatCounter network of more than 3 million websites???released a statement?about Chrome 15's ascension, humbling the initial enthusiasm of any Google devotee when it also made it clear that in the?U.S., reports of IE's demise are still premature. According to StatCounter, It was still able to capture?27 percent of browser action last week, compared to 18.1 percent for Chrome 15.

Live Poll

Which Web browser are you using?

• 171054

  IE. Why mess with a classic?

  21%

• 171055

  Firefox. Mozilla all the way!

  34%

• 171056

  Chrome. So far it's working for me.

  40%

• 171057

  Safari. Ok, I'm old school, alright?!

  5%

VoteTotal Votes: 5236

(Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)

Different companies will issue different stats on just how much of a lead IE still has on Chrome, with companies such as?NetMarketShare?showing?IE's year-long steady free fall, but still at about 52 percent a month ago.?

Chrome has made a steady rise as IE declines, but Firefox still stands in its way. But not by much. And by StatCounter's measure, in the world outside the U.S., Chrome already brushed past Firefox in November, when it wrested the No. 2 spot with 25.69 percent of the worldwide market (up from 4.66 percent in November 2009) compared to Firefox's 25.23 percent.?

Will 2012 be the year that sees the fall of IE everywhere, including the U.S.? Take our poll and let us know which browser you're using.

More stories:

Check out Technolog on?Facebook, and on Twitter, follow?Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the?Google+?stream.

Source: http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/16/9493722-chrome-15-overtakes-ie-8-for-top-browser-spot

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I'm really excited :) I think this will work out really well :)

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Agreement near on $1 trillion spending bill

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio pauses during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio gestuers during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Bipartisan agreement is near on a massive $1 trillion-plus year-end spending package and should be reached in time avert a possible government shutdown this weekend, lawmakers said Thursday.

House Republicans were displaying renewed flexibility on a provision restricting travel to Cuba, but Democrats conceded defeat on a GOP demand to ban the District of Columbia's government from funding abortions.

The optimism came hours after Republicans said they planned to push the 1,200-plus-page legislation through the House with only GOP votes, which seemed like a bluff considering tea party opposition to the measure. Overnight, Republicans unveiled details of the bill, which curbs agency budgets but drops most policy provisions sought by GOP conservatives.

Democrats had been holding up the huge bill, seeking leverage in talks on extending payroll tax cuts and unemployment insurance, two pillars of President Barack Obama's jobs agenda.

But Thursday morning, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he had talked to top Senate Democrats who helped write the spending bill and that remaining issues "should be resolvable." He and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., expressed optimism that disputes over that bill and a separate measure extending a payroll tax cut were near an end. Release of a bipartisan version seemed hours away.

The spending bill contains language to roll back Obama's loosening of restrictions on the rights of Cubans to send money to relatives on the island or travel to the island to visit them. Earlier this year, the White House promised a veto over the restrictions on travel and gifts, which are supported by Republican Cuban-American lawmakers, a powerful political force in the swing state of Florida.

Rep. Jose Serrano, D-N.Y., said that Republicans were negotiating over the Cuba provision but were unwilling to drop it entirely. He said Democratic leaders had given up opposing a provision banning the District of Columbia government from funding abortions for poor women.

Release of the legislation came just a couple of hours after the White House issued a statement saying that Obama "continues to have significant concerns about a number of provisions" in the legislation.

White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer called for another stopgap funding bill to buy time for talks on both the spending and the payroll tax measures. Funding runs out Friday at midnight.

The underlying bill has bipartisan backing but could encounter turbulence with conservative tea party lawmakers seeking far more significant cuts to government agencies. The measure pays for day-to-day operating budgets of 10 Cabinet departments and programs ranging from border security to flood control to combating AIDS and famine in Africa.

Days after saying that the measure was wrapped up, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers, R-Ky., acknowledged that talks had been reopened. It was unclear whether there would be additional changes beyond the Cuba provision.

The legislation was posted on the Internet Wednesday night to meet House transparency rules, though accompanying documents providing details may not be available until tonight, just a few hours before Friday's scheduled vote.

On spending, the measure implements this summer's hard-fought budget pact between Obama and Republican leaders. That deal essentially freezes agency budgets, on average, at levels that were approved back in April for the recently completed budget year.

The bill chips away at the Pentagon budget, foreign aid and environmental spending but boosts funding for veterans programs. The Securities and Exchange Commission, responsible for enforcing new regulations under last year's financial overhaul, won a 10 percent budget increase, even as the tax-collecting IRS absorbs more than a 3 percent cut to its budget.

Popular education initiatives for special-needs children and disadvantaged schools were basically frozen and Obama's cherished "Race to the Top" initiative, which provides grants to better-performing schools, would absorb more than a 20 percent cut.

Environmentalists scored clear wins in stopping virtually every significant GOP initiative to roll back Environmental Protection Agency rules. Most importantly, industry forces seeking to block new greenhouse gas and clean air rules, as well as a new clean water regulation opposed by mountaintop removal mining interests, were denied. But Republicans succeeded in blocking new energy efficiency standards for light bulbs and won delays to a new Labor Department rule requiring a reduction of coal dust responsible for black lung disease.

Drafted behind closed doors, the proposed bill would provide $115 billion for overseas security operations in Afghanistan and Iraq but give the Pentagon just a 1 percent boost in annual spending not directly related to the wars, though creative accounting such as mixing war funds with the core Defense Department budget is allowing billions of dollars more into Pentagon coffers.

The Environmental Protection Agency's budget would be cut by 3.5 percent. Foreign aid spending would drop and House lawmakers would absorb a 6 percent cut to their office budgets.

And with tensions plain in the U.S.-Pakistan relationship, counterinsurgency aid for Pakistan would be cut to $850 million from Obama's $1.1 billion request. All told, $11.2 billion in emergency foreign aid funding would be provided for counterterrorism, humanitarian aid and training of Iraqi security forces, among other anti-terror activities.

The measure generally consists of relatively small adjustments to thousands of individual programs. Agencies like the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement will get a boost within the Homeland Security Department, while GOP defense hawks won additional funding to modernize the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal. The troubled, over-budget, next-generation F-35 fighter plane program would be largely protected.

Social conservatives won a ban on government-funded abortions in Washington, D.C., and restored a longstanding ban on funding for needle exchange programs used to prevent the spread of HIV. But efforts to take away federal funding for Planned Parenthood failed, as expected.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-12-15-Congress-Spending/id-c7eec0b40f2b4e4da1dd6cc5946e451f

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Motions Unmask Moods

Head Lines | Mind & Brain See Inside

Problems with motor control may be a key factor in bipolar disorder

By Carrie Arnold ?| December 16, 2011

Image: Elijas van Roon/Corbis

None of us can stand perfectly still. No matter how hard we try, our bodies constantly make small adjustments, causing us to sway slightly as we stand. A new study finds that people with bipolar disorder tend to sway more than those who are unaffected, which may lead to new ways to treat and diagnose the illness.

When psychologists diagnose bipolar disorder, they typically look for mood swings between agitated mania and bleak depression. Previous studies have linked bipolar disorder to abnormalities in the cerebellum and basal ganglia, regions of the brain that are also important for motor control. This connection led Indiana University psychologist Amanda Bolbecker and her colleagues to hypothesize that people with bipolar disorder might also have problems with motor skills.

To test their idea, Bolbecker?s team had 16 people with bipolar disorder and 16 age-matched healthy control subjects stand on a device called a force platform. The platform is similar in ap?pearance to a bathroom scale, but instead of measuring weight it calculates the pressure from different parts of the feet, which indicates how the body is swaying.

In every trial?with their eyes open or closed and with their feet different widths apart?the people with bipolar disorder wobbled more than the healthy subjects, indicating problems with motor control. The patients had the most trouble with their eyes closed, which suggests that the bipolar brain has difficulty integrating sensorimotor information, those inputs from the body and senses that assist the brain in maintaining balance and body position.

Bolbecker points out that the cerebellum, located at the base of the brain, helps to regulate movement and is also involved in emotional reactions, such as fear and pleasure. In addition, the cerebellum connects to other parts of the brain linked to cognition, mood regulation and impulse control, three areas in which patients with bipolar disorder often have difficulties. If the cerebellum is damaged at the cellular level, it may create problems with both mood and motor control.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=566c615039b2a851cc4b84138d294087

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