Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Raiders enter final month in prime position

Hue Jackson,  Rock Cartwright

By JOSH DUBOW

updated 6:49 p.m. ET Nov. 28, 2011

ALAMEDA, Calif. - The Oakland Raiders head into the final month of the season in a most unusual place after an eight-year stretch of disappointment and losses.

They stand alone in first place in the AFC West.

Oakland (7-4) has a one-game lead on Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos after beating the Chicago Bears 25-20 Sunday. So instead of preparing to play out the string on another failed season, the Raiders head into December with legitimate hopes of winning the division and making it to the playoffs for the first time since winning the 2002 AFC championship.

While most of the players in Oakland have little understanding of what it takes to win meaningful late-season games or of going to the playoffs, there are a few veterans ready to dole out advice.

"Seize the opportunity," said defensive tackle Richard Seymour, who won three Super Bowl titles in New England. "You'd rather play in games like this where every play is meaningful rather than a game where the stands aren't filled. It's so much more fun for everybody. It's a game that we're playing. It's not life or death. ... The bigger the game the more exciting and more fun it is."

Next up for the Raiders is a trip to Miami on Sunday to play the improving Dolphins (3-8). That will be followed by a high-profile game in Green Bay that has already been moved into the national doubleheader window to give it more exposure.

That's a far cry from recent years when the Raiders went through an NFL-worst stretch of seven straight seasons of at least 11 losses.

"It's something new around here and we're going to try and keep it that way," defensive end Lamarr Houston said.

The Raiders solved a few nagging issues in the win against the Bears with the defense limiting Matt Forte to 59 yards rushing and 84 yards from scrimmage ? 55 yards below his league-leading average coming into the game.

Oakland also committed only six penalties for 44 yards and no personal fouls after averaging more than 10 penalties a game coming into the week.

Seymour credits the change to players paying more attention to detail with so much at stake at this point in the season.

"Everyone realizes the opportunity that we have," Seymour said. "You don't want to be the guy that squandered it away. Just trying to play smarter and still play aggressively."

The Raiders also were able to win on a day that the running game was held to 73 yards on 27 carries and big-play threats Darren McFadden, Jacoby Ford and Denarius Moore were all sidelined by injuries.

But Carson Palmer threw for 304 yards ? his third time in four starts with at least 299 ? as the Raiders won for just the second time in their past 22 games when they rushed for fewer than 75 yards.

"At the end of the day I think we're growing all across this football team," coach Hue Jackson said. "What we need to do is still put a complete game together where we're playing from the first snap to the last snap and when we do that we've got a chance to be a scary group of players."

The Raiders were in contention a year ago, but knew they needed help to end their playoff drought. They ended up losing a crucial road game in Jacksonville and Kansas City kept winning and Oakland finished 8-8, two games behind the Chiefs.

Now they only need to worry about their own games, knowing if they keep winning the Broncos won't be able to catch them.

"It's a good feeling for us to be able to be in first place and not have to look, 'Oh, hopefully somebody loses,' Or, 'Get this win and hopefully this team loses,'" receiver Louis Murphy said. "It's good to be in control of our own destiny."

Notes: The only injury from the game was LB Rolando McClain, who tweaked his sprained left ankle but returned to action. ... RB Darren McFadden did a light workout on the practice field without a protective boot on his sprained right foot. He has not played since injuring the foot in the first quarter against Kansas City on Oct. 23. "I think that was huge," Jackson said. "I think that's a step in the right direction." ... WR Jacoby Ford said he is making progress to return from his sprained left foot that he hurt in San Diego on Nov. 10 but does not know when he will be able to practice.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


advertisement

More newsGetty Images
Saints blow past hapless Giants

Drew Brees and the surging New Orleans Saints made everything look easy against the slumping Giants.? Brees passed for 363 yards and four touchdowns and ran for another score as New Orleans rolled to a 49-24 victory Monday night, extending New York's losing skid to three games.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45469107/ns/sports-nfl/

fred davis fracking fracking drosselmeyer drosselmeyer pacific standard time local time

Obama campaign launches first ads

WASHINGTON (AP) ? With an eye on recruiting volunteers, President Barack Obama is launching the first TV ads of his re-election campaign.

Campaign officials said Tuesday the ad buy is "tiny" on national satellite TV stations but aimed at learning whether television is a good way to find volunteers. In the two 30-second ads, Obama urges viewers to call a number on the screen or visit the website www.JoinObama.com , which invites people to enter their email address and zip code to become involved with the campaign.

"The 2012 campaign is under way and the outcome will depend not on what I do, but what you do," Obama says in one of the ads.

Obama's campaign has placed a premium on building a large network of volunteers and the ads are aimed squarely at that effort. By placing them on satellite TV in small increments, the campaign can test how well they help to recruit people to join neighborhood campaign teams, knock on doors and register new voters.

"They can go in a targeted way, see where it hits, see how effective it is and work out the kinks," said Democratic strategist Tad Devine, who is not affiliated with the campaign.

For Obama, who became politically active as a community organizer in Chicago during the mid-1980s, the first ads remind viewers of his "change" message in 2008 and underscore his campaign's strategy of building a large organization next year to compensate for his weakened standing and voters' unhappiness with the direction of the country.

"It all starts with you making a decision to get involved because we've got so much more to do," Obama says.

Republicans said the ads showed Obama was struggling to generate the enthusiasm he had during the 2008 campaign. "By acknowledging that the 2012 campaign is in full swing, it's clear everything Obama does for the next year is about saving his job," said Kirsten Kukowski, speaking for the Republican National Committee.

Obama's campaign has held thousands of events around the nation to jumpstart participation, including neighborhood gatherings, one-on-one meetings in coffeehouses, phone banks and voter registration drives. His team is also trying to organize many of the voters who formed the foundation of Obama's coalition in 2008 ? black and Latino voters, women, college students and young voters entering the work force.

___

Follow Ken Thomas on Twitter at http://twitter.com/AP_Ken_Thomas

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2011-11-29-US-Obama-Ad/id-32a3fee14f2249719bd35ebebf575649

port of oakland grand theft auto 5 grand theft auto 5 kris jenner kris jenner livestand power ball

Video: Bill Gross One-on-One

Why investors should be focused on risk assets in emerging economies like Brazil and Asia, with William Gross, PIMCO founder & Co-CIO.

Related Links:

Business & financial news headlines from msnbc.com

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/45482911/

the big year the big year breast cancer walk breast cancer walk detroit tigers major league major league

Annual Climate Change Talks Face Same Big Challenge (LiveScience.com)

As this year's round of global climate talks begin in Durban, South Africa, negotiators once again try to tackle an elusive goal: Trimming nations' greenhouse gas emissions enough to meet the target of limiting global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) before the end of the century.

This target is expected to reduce the potentially devastating effects of climate change, but, so far, it appears a long way off.

Last year, negotiators in Canc?n, Mexico, agreed to the goal of limiting warming of the Earth's average surface temperature to 3.6 degrees F above pre-Industrial Revolution levels. Their agreement notes, however, that a ceiling of 2.7 degrees F (1.5 degrees C) might be warranted.

A world 2 degrees warmer is not an ideal scenario. Even if nations are successful, the planet can still expect increasing heat spells, drought, flood damage and certain other severe weather events, along with elevated rates of extinctions and shifts in species' ranges, including those of disease-spreading insects, and many other potentially problematic changes, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ?2007 Synthesis Report. Their severity grows along with increasing projected temperature rise, according to the report. [How 2 Degrees Will Change Earth]

Steps in the right direction

Some nations, mostly wealthy ones, have made voluntary commitments to reduce their emissions. The United States, for example, has agreed to take its emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.

Unfortunately, added together, all of the nations' proposed cuts ? if successful ? would lead to about 5.8 degrees F (3.2 degrees C) warming by the year 2100, a significant distance from the target of 3.6 degree F, according to calculations by the independent science-based project Climate Action Tracker.

These voluntary commitments to reduce emissions are a "very, very positive sign," said Niklas H?hne, director of energy and climate policy for the independent research and consulting company Ecofys, one of the organizations behind Climate Action Tracker. "That is the real problem, so the ambition level is not sufficient on these voluntary actions."

Replacing Kyoto?

Industrialized nations, not including the U.S., have made legally binding commitments to reduce their emissions as part of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. The commitment period for when nations can sign up for the Kyoto Protocol expires next year. Negotiators have the option of extending it, coming up with a replacement, or allowing this legal framework to fade away. Some developped nations have opposed extending the treaty, over the objections of developing nations. Most recently Canada, which is not meeting its original pledge, appears poised to pull out.

Some sort of continuation is needed, said Joe Romm, editor of the blog Climate Progress and a senior fellow at the progressive think tank Center for American Progress.

"I think voluntary reductions are valuable, but ultimately, they will not replace serious, mandatory commitments," Romm said.?

A new treaty or any substantial action is unlikely to come from Durban, said Romm, who is not optimistic about the future.

"We are going to get 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F) warming," he said. "I think the big question is whether we are going to get ultimately 5 or 6 degrees C (9 to 10.8 degrees F), which would be an unmitigated catastrophe."

Negotiators need to act on the future of the Kyoto Protocol, H?hne said. "This is really the last chance to keep the Kyoto Protocol alive; if there is no decision on it, then it doesn't have real meaning anymore."

Baby steps

At Durban, negotiators are also tackling more modest ?issues, such as figuring out how to structure, and finance, a Global Climate Fund, which would funnel $100 billion a year to developing nations to help them cope with climate change. They will also work on reducing forest destruction and encouraging the development and sharing of clean technology.

H?hne sees reasons for hope, such as rapid progress regarding alternative energy sources, such as wind, the sun and biomass. [Top 10 Alternative Energy Bets]

"I am not that optimistic, but I have not given up the hope," he said.

You can follow LiveScience senior writer Wynne Parry on Twitter @Wynne_Parry.?Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience?and on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/environment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20111129/sc_livescience/annualclimatechangetalksfacesamebigchallenge

gabby gabby marcel the shell with shoes on ecu john wooden pujols mirror mirror

Angelina Jolie: I'll Never "Be as Good" as My Own Mother (omg!)

Angelina Jolie: I'll Never "Be as Good" as My Own Mother

Angelina Jolie is a devoted mother of six, but the 36-year-old actress says she pales in comparison to her own mother Marcheline Bertrand, who passed away in 2007.

PHOTOS: Angelina's teenage modeling portfolio

"My mother was a full-time mother. She didn't have much of her own career, her own life, her own experiences," Jolie said on 60 Minutes Sunday. "Everything was for her children."

The 36-year-old actress-turned-director has three biological children with partner Brad Pitt: Shiloh, 5, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 3. They also have three adoptive children: Maddox, 10, Pax, 8, and Zahara, 6.

PHOTOS: Shiloh's adorable fashion choices

"I will never be as good a mother as she was. I will try my best, but I don't think I ever will be," Jolie said.

"She was the most generous, loving woman," she added, choking back tears. "She's better than me."

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Angelina Jolie meets with refugees in Malta

Jolie admitted that talking about her mother is her "soft spot," but she's grateful for the lessons Bertrand taught her about motherhood. She also hopes her mother would be proud of her directorial debut, In the Land of Blood and Honey, which hits theaters December 23.

Get more Us! Follow us on Twitter, Friend us on Facebook, Subscribe to Us Weekly

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_angelina_jolie_ill_never_good_own_mother021023470/43730293/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/angelina-jolie-ill-never-good-own-mother-021023470.html

waldorf school world series game 4 world series game 4 indianapolis colts colts colts turkey

At 84, Barbara Cook hardly slowing down (AP)

NEW YORK ? When word came that Barbara Cook was to be saluted at the Kennedy Center Honors, one of the first people to send best wishes was Stephen Sondheim.

"He said, `Nobody deserves this more than you. Except me,'" Cook says, laughing.

Cook, whose buttery soprano helped define show after show on Broadway, from "Candide" and "The Music Man" to various revivals of "Carousel," will be recognized for her contribution to American culture next month at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

"To me it's a validation not only of all my work, but because I put so much of my life into what I do, I feel like it's a validation of my life," she says in her handsome Upper West Side apartment that she shares with two parakeets, Gilbert and Sullivan.

Cook will join a handful of other theater professionals for the honor, including Bill T. Jones, Andrew Lloyd Webber, James Earl Jones, Edward Albee, Harold Prince, Arthur Miller and Sondheim, who has written many of the songs she is famous for singing. CBS will broadcast the show Dec. 27.

Despite a slipped disc in her spine and an arthritic knee that force her to use a cane, Cook is hardly slowing down. She's doing a deegdmonthlong stand with Michael Feinstein at Feinstein's at Loews Regency and she is also working on a memoir. This summer, she released her latest CD, the swing-influenced "You Make Me Feel So Young."

"Of course, I think I've gotten better at it," she says about her performances. "I still think this is a work in progress. I do. Seriously. As the years go by, I have more and more courage to go deeper and deeper and deeper."

Though her Grammy Award-winning voice may have changed over the years, Cook is philosophical. "I'm 84," she says. "I'm lucky there's still enough there that I can make the songs happen. I'm very fortunate."

Feinstein says Cook's spirit remains eternally youthful and that she has an undiminished enthusiasm for music and art. Her pipes may have deepened, but so has her ability to tunnel into a lyric.

"She can't sing `Glitter and Be Gay' any more, but she has supreme abilities as an interpreter and still is a damn good singer," he says. "I mean, what she may have lost off the high end most people didn't have to begin with."

With Feinstein, Cook plans to sing Irving Berlin ? a songbook of his work sits on her piano's music rack ? Duke Ellington, and Rodgers & Hart, as well as Broadway hits and holiday classics.

Cook is unfussy and warm, with a slight Southern accent and an appetite for popular culture. She calls Lady Gaga "terrific" and enjoyed listening to Amy Winehouse on Tony Bennett's new CD ("There's something about her work that's very appealing to me, even though I cannot understand a word hardly.") She enjoyed Hugh Jackman's new show on Broadway and wants to see "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" ("You know, just leave my brain at the door and enjoy it").

The idea of joining the Kennedy Center's august group of artistic giants makes her a little flustered. "Barbara Cook and Gregory Peck? Barbara Cook and James Cagney? Barbara Cook and Fred Astaire? Gee whiz. Wow," she says, noting past recipients.

Raised in Atlanta, Cook has always hated vocal exercises, never had a vocal coach and has an effortless skill of creating beauty by just opening her mouth. "I don't remember when I didn't sing. I just always sang," she says. "I think I breathed and I sang."

Cook made her Broadway debut in 1951 in the unsuccessful "Flahooley" but later was cast in Leonard Bernstein's musical version of Voltaire's "Candide," Arthur Schwartz's "The Gay Life" and Meredith Wilson's 1957 hit musical "The Music Man," for which she won a Tony Award. She has spent the last several years on her own concerts and solo albums, including "Mostly Sondheim," "Barbara Cook at Carnegie Hall" and "Barbara Cook's Broadway."

Early in her career, Cook battled nerves and self-doubt until she realized that pouring herself into a role was enough. She recalls one moment in particular when it became clear.

"I was auditioning for something, standing in the wings, waiting to go on, and thinking that everybody was prettier, everybody sang better, everybody had a better body ? all that stuff," she says. "Suddenly, I thought, `You know? We are all so individual. And if I can find my individual take on this ? whatever that turns out to be ? then there's no competition.'"

Cook, who later in life battled alcoholism ? "I was a drunk" she says plainly at one point ? and is still haunted by the contentious relationship she had with her mother, sometimes teaches master classes and enjoys passing along her hard-fought wisdom.

When asked what her advice usually is to aspiring singers, she says it boils down to three words that she learned early on herself and have been her guide: You are enough.

"You are enough. You are always enough. You don't ever have to pretend to be anything other than what you are. All you have to do is deeply embrace who you are and you'll be fine," she says.

"In life, aren't you drawn to the more authentic people? Of course. You're not drawn to phonies."

___

Online:

Feinstein's at Loews Regency: http://feinsteinsattheregency.com/

Kennedy Center: http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/specialevents/honors

Cook: http://www.barbaracook.com

___

Follow Mark Kennedy on Twitter at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111129/ap_en_mu/us_theater_barbara_cook

apostasy chiefs canon powershot elph 300 hs christmas lights canon eos rebel t3 christmas photo cards ar 15

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Gingrich endorsed by former SC lieutenant gov (The Arizona Republic)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/167361937?client_source=feed&format=rss

jerry brown dream act roger williams roger williams tyler bray tyler bray rashard mendenhall

When inflexibility is counterproductive: Mechanism of UV-induced DNA Dewar lesion revealed

When inflexibility is counterproductive: Mechanism of UV-induced DNA Dewar lesion revealed

Monday, November 28, 2011

Excessive exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation of sunlight can result in skin damage and may even induce skin cancers. Irradiation with UV light causes mutations in the DNA, which can interfere with or even inhibit the read-out of genetic information and hence affect the cell function. The Dewar lesion is one of the major UV-induced reaction products, which can itself generate mutations. Understanding the mechanism that leads to the formation of the Dewar lesion is therefore of great interest.Researchers from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich have now shown that the DNA backbone (the double-stranded scaffold which bears the subunits that encode the genetic information) plays a decisive role in the process. The Dewar lesion can be generated only if the backbone of the DNA is intact. If the DNA strand itself is broken, and therefore more flexible, the Dewar reaction will not take place. The process reveals a surprisingly paradoxical facet of the DNA structure. On the one hand, an unbroken backbone is a prerequisite for DNA function and for cell survival; on the other, the intact backbone favors the formation of Dewar lesions upon exposure to UV, and so facilitates UV-induced mutagenesis. (Angewandte Chemie, 23 November 2011)

UV radiation induces molecular changes in DNA structure, which can lead to genetic mutations and finally to cell death. Energetic UV light primarily produces two types of photochemical damage in the subunits of the DNA - cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) and (6-4) photoproducts. Both types of lesion are due to cross-linking of adjacent pyrimidine bases on the same DNA strand. Continued exposure to UV light transforms the (6-4) photoproduct into a Dewar lesion by inducing further structural changes. Dewar lesions are stable end-products of continuous exposure to sunlight. Moreover, they are highly mutagenic, i.e. they can themselves induce a range of further mutations. "While the chemical changes that give rise to CPDs and (6-4) photoproducts are already well understood, this is not true for the Dewar lesion," says LMU chemist Professor Thomas Carell, who is also a member of the Center for Integrated Protein Science Munich (CiPSM), one of the Clusters of Excellence at LMU.

In a joint project within the SFB749 initiative Carells group together with research teams led by LMU physicist Professor Wolfgang Zinth (CiPSM) and Regina de Vivie-Riedle of the Department of Chemistry, could show that the backbone of the DNA plays a crucial role in the formation of the Dewar lesion. The backbone consists of repeating units made up of sugars and phosphates, which link the succession of bases that represent the protein-coding information in the DNA. "To our surprise, we found that the Dewar lesion can be generated only if the backbone in the affected region is intact," Carell explains. "If the continuity of the backbone is interrupted, or if the cross-linked base-pairs alone are exposed to sunlight, the Dewar structure fails to form." Thus, an interdisciplinary cooperation, which included chemists, physicists and theorists has, for the first time, been able to dissect the photochemical formation of the Dewar lesion at the atomic level. "Our results also show that the process is remarkably effective; indeed, this is one of the most efficient light-induced reactions known to occur within the DNA," says physicist Wolfgang Zinth.

Theoretical considerations yielded further insights into the details of the Dewar isomerization. "To follow the photochemical reaction dynamics on a high level of theory we came up with a hybrid method that separates the molecular system into subsystems treated on different quantum mechanical levels. This hierarchic strategy allows us to evaluate the dynamics of the complete system," says de Vivie-Riedle. Based on these calculations, the researchers were able precisely to define the role of the DNA backbone in the formation of the Dewar lesion. Cleavage of the backbone makes the molecule more flexible. Under these conditions, the (6-4) lesion will be protected and the system returns via a photophysical pathway back to its initial state. In contrast, an intact backbone keeps the molecule rigid, and strains the pyrimidine ring structure. The result is that only those atoms that must rearrange to form the Dewar isomer remain mobile, which favors the reaction that leads to the stable Dewar lesion.

###

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit?t M?nchen: http://www.uni-muenchen.de

Thanks to Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit?t M?nchen 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 43 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/115498/When_inflexibility_is_counterproductive__Mechanism_of_UV_induced_DNA_Dewar_lesion_revealed

curmudgeon daylight savings time 2011 selena daylight savings bobolink bobolink breeders cup

Rep. Barney Frank to retire, closing long career (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Democratic Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts does not intend to seek re-election in 2012, his office said Monday, closing out a career of more than three decades in Congress capped by last year's passage of legislation imposing new regulations on Wall Street.

Frank, 71 and a lifelong liberal, won a House seat in 1980 was one of the first lawmakers to announce that he is gay.

He scheduled an early afternoon news conference in Newton, Mass., to make a formal announcement of his retirement plans.

Sixteen other Democrats have announced plans not to seek new House terms in 2012, compared with six Republicans.

As chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Frank was instrumental in passage of the Dodd-Frank bill, which contained the stiffest restrictions on banks and Wall Street since the Great Depression. The measure clamped down on lending practices and expanded consumer protections to prevent a repeat of the 2008 meltdown that knocked the economy to its knees.

Over the years, Frank consistently came down on the liberal side of public issues, opposing the war in Iraq and bills to cover its expenses.

More than two decades ago, Frank was reprimanded by the House for using his congressional status on behalf of a male prostitute whom he had employed as a personal aide, including seeking dismissal of 33 parking tickets.

"I should have known better. I do now, but it's a little too late," Frank said at the time.

Democrats rebuffed Republican calls for Frank's expulsion, and instead, the Massachusetts Democrat resumed a career that far outlasted many of those who had sought his ouster.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111128/ap_on_el_ho/us_frank_retiring

major league major league mlk memorial mlk memorial alicia sacramone occupy chicago occupy chicago

Is Space-Based Solar Power's Time Drawing Nigh? (ContributorNetwork)

Like fusion energy, space-based solar power has been the energy technology of the future, which it has remained for several decades. The Space Reviews Jeff Foust reports that a study suggests the future is at last approaching.

What is space-based solar power?

Space-based solar power was a concept first proposed by Peter Glaser in 1968, a concept for which he got a patent in 1973. The idea was that solar collectors could be deployed in space to generate power from the sun, unshielded by the Earth's atmosphere, then beamed via microwaves to collection stations on Earth called rectennas that would convert the microwave energy to electricity to be added to the power grid.

The concept of solar power satellites was taken up in the 1970s by Gerard K. O'Neill, who turned it into part of a concept for free floating space colonies. O'Neill's idea was that these colonies, located at one of the Lagrange points where the Earth's and moon's gravities cancel out, would build space based solar power plants, using materials from the moon or captured asteroids. The O'Neill concept is related in a book, "High Frontier." The idea inspired the formation of "The L 5 Society" which advocated the building of such colonies.

What has stood in the way of space-based solar power?

The one word that applies is cost. While space based solar power may provide unlimited and renewable energy, the cost of the infrastructure needed to build such stations is staggering. Besides cheap, reusable space craft, for the O'Neill concept to work, a lunar mining colony as well as the free-flying space colony would have to be built at great cost. Even if space based solar power were to become profitable and begin to replace fossil fuels, the payback would not be for some years after the project began.

What does the report referenced in The Space Review article say?

The report, issued by the International Academy of Astronautics, suggests space-based solar power stations are not only technically feasible now but could become economically viable within one to three decades. The report suggests that a pilot plant could be deployed in the near future using existing launch vehicles, such as the Delta IV, the Atlas V, and the Falcon 9. Larger plants would require advances in reusable launch vehicles, though.

But the IAA study does introduce the idea of erecting space based solar power stations in a modular fashion. The idea is that instead of scaling up from a small pilot plant, the new architecture could just be added to in order to increase its power generation capacity. The costs per kilowatt hour are still astonishingly high and, naturally, further study will be needed to make space based solar power viable.

ark R. Whittington is the author of Children of Apollo and The Last Moonwalker. He has written on space subjects for a variety of periodicals, including The Houston Chronicle, The Washington Post, USA Today, the L.A. Times and The Weekly Standard.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/environment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20111128/us_ac/10544683_is_spacebased_solar_powers_time_drawing_nigh

fire island diaspora social network aaron rodgers diaspora breaking dawn premiere rock center nbpa

Line a Cast Iron Pan with Coffee Filters to Keep it from Rusting [Clever Uses]

Line a Cast Iron Pan with Coffee Filters to Keep it from RustingCast iron pans can be a great tool in the kitchen, but they require extra care to keep from rusting out. Lifestyle TV host Mar Jennings' solution is lining them with coffee filters to suck of the liquid and grease in storage.

Lining the pans with coffee filters soaks up excess water and grease which keeps it from rusting out quickly. You only need to toss in a couple and since filters are lint free, you don't have to worry about little bits getting left behind like you do with a paper towel. Find more tips like using coffee filters to clean windows, line pots, and more on the Huffington Post.

Uses For Coffee Filters Your Never Imagined | Huffington Post

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/lqAitbTYqDw/line-a-cast-iron-pan-with-coffee-filters-to-keep-it-from-rusting

when does daylight savings time end world series mvp rocky horror picture show rutgers risky business weather nj weather nj

Monday, November 28, 2011

Video: Is it going to be Romney or Gingrich? (cbsnews)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/166663945?client_source=feed&format=rss

dallas cowboys cheerleaders leftover turkey recipes leftover turkey recipes hugo hugo the muppets percy harvin

Mali: German killed; Dutch, SAfrican, Swede seized (AP)

BAMAKO, Mali ? Gunmen killed a German man in Mali's most famous city of Timbuktu and seized three men from the Netherlands, South Africa and Sweden, officials and witnesses said, as officials on Saturday ordered a plane to evacuate foreigners from the tourist destination.

The Dutch and Swedish governments confirmed Saturday that their citizens had been taken. A fellow traveler said the other man seized was South African and said she met the German man.

Tour guide Ali Maiga was with the tourists during Friday's attack at a Timbuktu restaurant and gave the same list of nationalities. A witness and an official said gunmen burst into the restaurant, grabbed four tourists dining there and executed one when he refused to climb into their truck.

Officials on Saturday evacuated foreigners from Timbuktu to the capital, said a man who owns a hotel in Bamako where the tourists previously stayed. He asked for anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ward Bezemer confirmed that one Dutch man was among those kidnapped.

"In the interests of the people involved, we never comment on these cases," Bezemer told The Associated Press.

The kidnapping comes ahead of an official visit by Mali's president to the Netherlands next week.

Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt on Saturday confirmed on Twitter that one of those kidnapped was Swedish. He did not mention the nationalities of the others.

Germany's Foreign Ministry said in a Saturday statement that the killed foreigner is "with a high probability a German national" and updated its Mali travel advisory to mention the killing.

South African foreign affairs department spokesman Clayson Monyela said Saturday his government was trying to confirm whether one of those kidnapped was South African.

Canadian tourist Julie-Ann Leblond said she met a group consisting of a South African, a Swede and a Dutch couple in Mali. She said they invited her to join them as they headed to Timbuktu, but she took ill on Wednesday and had to stay behind.

"I was supposed to go there with them," Leblond, a 25-year-old resident of Quebec City, told the Associated Press by phone from Bamako. "I was never so happy to get a cold."

She did not provide the names of the travelers and said the German was traveling separately. She said the group of four met on the road as they were traveling from Europe to Africa.

"They're incredible people, so peaceful, so nice," she said. "That kind of thing cannot just happen to those kind of people. It's crazy."

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, also condemned the attack in a statement and said "these incidents show the need to continue and intensify the efforts against insecurity in the Sahel," the desert region stretching from Mauritania to Chad.

"Through its Strategy for Security and Development in the Sahel, the EU is committed to help the Sahel countries in this endeavor," the statement said.

Also Saturday, France's Foreign Ministry expanded the zone that it "strongly advises" French travelers to avoid traveling in Mali, moving the line southward from the Sahel region.

Until a few years ago, Timbuktu was one of the most visited destinations in Africa, but it is now one of the many former tourist hotspots in Mali that have been deemed too dangerous to visit by foreign embassies because of kidnappings by the local chapter of al-Qaida.

Friday's incident comes after two French citizens were grabbed in the middle of the night from their hotel in the Malian town of Hombori on Thursday. French judicial officials have opened a preliminary investigation into their kidnappings.

Neither kidnapping has yet been claimed by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, whose members have kidnapped and ransomed more than 50 Europeans and Canadians since 2003.

If Friday's kidnapping is by AQIM, it will mark the first time they have taken a hostage inside of Timbuktu's city limits. Thursday's kidnapping would be another first ? the first hostage taking south of the Niger River.

The group's footprint has grown dramatically since 2006, when the Algerian-led cell first joined al-Qaida. Security experts estimate the group has been able to raise around $130 million from ransom payments alone.

___

Associated Press writer Mike Corder contributed to this report from The Hague, writer Juergen Baetz contributed from Berlin, writer David Stringer contributed from London and writers Anita Powell and Donna Bryson contributed from Johannesburg.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111126/ap_on_re_af/af_mali_kidnapping

pete seeger gazelle gazelle pumpkin carving patterns pumpkin carving patterns lizzie borden lizzie borden

Sunday, November 27, 2011

UN conference to deal with carbon reductions

(AP) ? The U.N.'s top climate official said Sunday she expects governments to make a long-delayed decision on whether industrial countries should make further commitments to reduce emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gases.

Amid fresh warnings of climate-related disasters in the future, delegates from about 190 countries were gathering in Durban for a two-week conference beginning Monday. They hope to break deadlocks on how to curb emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants.

Christiana Figueres, head of the U.N. climate secretariat, said the stakes for the negotiations are high, underscored by new scientific studies.

Under discussion was "nothing short of the most compelling energy, industrial, behavioral revolution that humanity has ever seen," she said.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a hero of the movement that ended apartheid in South Africa, led a rally at a rugby stadium later Sunday urging negotiators to be more ambitious during what were expected to be difficult talks. Unseasonably cold, windy weather kept the crowd to a few hundred spectators.

Tutu, dressed in ecumenical purple robes, he said the struggle to end the racist regime in his homeland is now followed by a fight against "another huge enemy, and no country can fight this particular enemy on its own."

He chided countries that have been reluctant to renew pledges to cut carbon emissions. Whether rich or poor, "we have only one home. This is the only home we have," he said. "For your own sakes, you who are rich, we are inviting you: Come on the side of right."

In Rome, Pope Benedict XVI ? sometimes called the "green pope" for his outspokenness on environmental issues ? also called for the delegates in Durban to heed the needs of the world's poor.

"I hope that all members of the international community agree on a responsible and credible response to this worrisome and complex phenomenon, taking into account the needs of the poorest and future generations," he said during his traditional Sunday blessing from his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square.

Hopes were scrapped for an overall treaty governing global carbon emissions after the collapse of talks at a climate summit in Copenhagen two years ago. The "big bang" approach has been replaced by incremental efforts to build new institutions to help shift the global economy from carbon-intensive energy generation, industries and transportation to more climate-friendly technologies.

But an underlying division between rich and poor countries on the future of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol has stymied the negotiators.

Figueres said she hoped for a decision on extending emission reduction commitments under the Kyoto accord, which has been postponed for two years. Previous commitments expire next year.

"It's a tall order for governments to face this," but they show no interest in yet another delay, she said.

High on the conference agenda is the management of a fund scaling up over the next eight years to $100 billion annually to help poor countries cope with changing climate conditions.

Questions remain how the money will be governed and distributed, but more immediately, how those funds can be generated from new sources beyond established development channels from the West.

Ideas on the table include a carbon surcharge on international shipping and on air tickets, and a levy on international financial transactions ? sometimes called a Robin Hood tax.

A committee of 40 countries worked for the past year on drawing up a plan to administer the Green Climate Fund, but agreement on the final paper was blocked by the United States and Saudi Arabia, and the final contentious issues will have to be thrashed out in Durban.

Todd Stern, the chief U.S. delegate, said the negotiations had been too rushed.

"I am pretty confident that we're going to be able to work these things out," he told reporters last week, without naming the problematic issues.

But Figueres said the future of the Kyoto accord, which calls on 37 wealthy nations to reduce carbon emissions 5 percent below 1990 levels by the end of next year, is the most difficult political issue that nations face.

"If it were easy we would have done it years ago," she said.

Poor countries want the industrial nations to commit to more cuts for a second period, saying the protocol is the only legal instrument ever adopted to control carbon and other gases that trap the Earth's heat.

But the wealthy countries, with growing consensus, say they cannot carry the burden alone, and want rapidly developing countries like China, India, Brazil and South Africa to join their own legally binding regime to slow their emissions growth and move toward low-carbon economies.

"We need to protect the Kyoto Protocol as the bedrock of the global climate regime," Tim Gore, the climate strategist for the aid agency Oxfam International, told The Associated Press.

In the weeks preceding the conference delegates have been bombarded by new research and scientific reports predicting grim consequences for failing to act.

The U.N. weather agency reported last week that greenhouse gases have reached record-level concentrations in the atmosphere since the start of the industrial era in 1750. New figures for 2010 from the World Meteorological Organization show that carbon dioxide levels are now at 389 parts per million, up from about 280 ppm 250 years ago.

This week the weather agency is due to report on global temperatures for 2011, which are expected to show a continuing long-term trend of global warming. The Geneva-based agency said last year that 2010 was the hottest year in the books.

The Nobel prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said "unprecedented extreme weather" caused by global warming will become increasingly frequent and make some places unlivable.

___

Nicole Winfield contributed to this report from Rome.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-11-27-AF-Climate-Conference/id-3f6ae13f9f6742d6abc0e0424c4c9860

aapl stock aapl stock apple ii pixar growing pains growing pains cupertino

Huntsman's comment spurs debate in China

Following Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman's comment about what will 'take China down,' Chinese commentators debate what he meant.

One advantage Jon Huntsman has going for him in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination is the fact that he understands China better than any of his rivals.

Skip to next paragraph

He was ambassador here for a couple of years, so he ought to.

Mr. Huntsman also knows that anything anyone in his position says in America about China will be instantly published here, so he won?t have been too surprised to hear that his comments the other day at the Republican candidates? foreign policy debate have sparked a bit of a debate in China too.

Asked about his China policy, Huntsman said something interesting, that ?we should be reaching out to our allies and constituencies within China. They?re called the young people. They?re called the internet generation?.and they are bringing about change the likes of which is going to take China down.?

Whether he is right or wrong about this generation, some commentators here have taken his talk of ?taking China down? badly.

In China, Washington is widely believed to have stirred up the democratic ?color revolutions? in former Soviet satellites such as Ukraine and Georgia, and Huntsman?s comment is being seen in this context.

?Making use of the internet to promote US values and then trigger political unrest can make the authorities lose control,? argued Chen Bing, a news commentator on the popular Shenzhen satellite TV channel. ?Huntsman?s is not a new idea.?

There is also a widespread feeling that the United States? goal is to keep China down, and Huntsman?s remark has fed that fear.

?No matter whether we are a dictatorship or a democracy, the US just wants to take down China?s manufacturing industry,? claimed one blogger joining an online discussion of Huntsman's comment.

Others took the former ambassador?s point, and supported him. ?Isn?t it a good thing to take down China?s autocracy?? asked one.

But Chinese observers are familiar enough with the American political process not to take anything they hear during a presidential campaign too seriously. ?When Huntsman was ambassador he was comparatively friendly to China,? pointed out Mr. Chen. Now he is a candidate ?he has to criticize China and talk about containing China if he wants to win.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/WO3_1Syv9_M/Huntsman-s-comment-spurs-debate-in-China

bieber baby justin beiber dia de los muertos dia de los muertos david arquette lionfish lionfish

Biden's 2012 targets: Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida (AP)

WASHINGTON ? A year from Election Day, Democrats are crafting a campaign strategy for Vice President Joe Biden that targets the big three political battlegrounds: Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida, states where Biden might be more of an asset to President Barack Obama's re-election campaign than the president himself.

The Biden plan underscores an uncomfortable reality for the Obama team. A shaky economy and sagging enthusiasm among Democrats could shrink the electoral map for Obama in 2012, forcing his campaign to depend on carrying the 67 electoral votes up for grabs in the three swing states.

Obama won all three states in 2008. But this time he faces challenges in each, particularly in Ohio and Florida, where voters elected Republican governors in the 2010 midterm elections.

The president sometimes struggles to connect with Ohio and Pennsylvania's white working-class voters, and Jewish voters who make up a core constituency for Florida Democrats and view him with skepticism.

Biden has built deep ties to both groups during his four decades in national politics, connections that could make a difference.

As a long-serving member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Biden cemented his reputation as an unyielding supporter of Israel, winning the respect of many in the Jewish community. And Biden's upbringing in a working class, Catholic family from Scranton, Pa., gives him a valuable political intangible: He empathizes with the struggles of blue-collar Americans because his family lived those struggles.

"Talking to blue-collar voters is perhaps his greatest attribute," said Dan Schnur, a Republican political analyst. "Obama provides the speeches, and Biden provides the blue-collar subtitles."

While Biden's campaign travel won't kick into high gear until next year, he's already been making stops in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida this fall, speaking at events focused on education, public safety and small businesses and raising campaign cash. Behind the scenes, he's working the phones with prominent Jewish groups and Catholic organizations in those states, a Democratic official said.

Biden is also targeting organized labor, speaking frequently with union leaders in Ohio ahead of last week's vote on a state law that would have curbed collective bargaining rights for public workers. Voters struck down the measure, and Biden traveled to Cleveland Tuesday to celebrate the victory with union members.

The Democratic official said the vice president will also be a frequent visitor to Iowa and New Hampshire in the coming weeks, seeking to steal some of the spotlight from the Republican presidential candidates blanketing those states ahead of the January caucus and primary.

And while Obama may have declared that he won't be commenting on the Republican presidential field until there's a nominee, Biden is following no such rules. He's calling out GOP candidates by name, and in true Biden style, he appears to be relishing in doing so.

During a speech last month to the Florida Democratic Convention, Biden singled out "Romney and Rick", criticizing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for saying the government should let the foreclosure crisis hit rock bottom, and hammering Texas Gov. Rick Perry's assertion that he would send U.S. troops into Mexico.

And he took on the full GOP field during an October fundraiser in New Hampshire, saying "There is no fundamental difference among all the Republican candidates."

Democratic officials said Biden will follow in the long-standing tradition of vice presidents playing the role of attack dog, allowing Obama to stay out of the fray and appear more focused on governing than campaigning.

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal strategy. The Obama campaign has been reluctant to publically define Biden's role in the re-election bid this early in the run, though campaign manager Jim Messina did say the vice president would deliver an economic message to appeal for support.

"You'll see him in communities across the country next year laying out the choice we face: restoring economic security for the middle class or returning to the same policies that led to our economic challenges," Messina said.

Democrats say Biden will campaign for House candidates in swing states as the party tries to recapture some of the seats in Congress lost during the 2010 midterms.

And here again, the vice president's efforts in politically crucial Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida could be most important. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is targeting 12 districts in those states that Obama and Biden carried in the 2008 presidential race but are represented by Republican representatives.

New York Rep. Steve Israel, who chairs the committee, said he believes Biden could be a "game-changer" in those districts.

"All he has to do is ask voters, has the Republican strategy of no worked for you?" Israel said.

Israel met with Obama and Biden at the White House earlier this month to discuss, among other things, their role in congressional campaigns. While Israel said he hopes Obama will actively campaign for Democratic House candidates, he said "the vice president has already volunteered."

___

Julie Pace can be reached at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111125/ap_on_el_pr/us_biden2012

atomic clock earthquake map giants geoffrey mutai wes welker brandon jacobs brandon jacobs

Saturday, November 26, 2011

IPCom to enforce injunction against HTC, ban sales of its 3G devices in Germany

HTC's had a rough go of it in the legal arena this year, and the company just got hit with another judicial setback in Germany. Patent holding firm (read: patent troll) IPCom was granted an injunction in 2009 against HTC based upon HTC's devices alleged infringement of an IPCom patent on UMTS 3G technology. HTC appealed that injunction in 2009 to suspend its enforcement, and today the German court upheld the previous decision. With the injunction back in full effect, IPCom plans to seek sanctions against the Taiwanese firm and ban the sale of its devices in Deutschland. So, that means HTC will have to pony up the cash to license the IP in question or leave lots of Beats fanatics disappointed come Christmas morning.

IPCom to enforce injunction against HTC, ban sales of its 3G devices in Germany originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 16:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink FOSS Patents  |  sourceIPCom (PDF)  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/25/ipcom-to-enforce-injunction-against-htc-ban-sales-of-its-3g-dev/

christopher columbus trina the green mile the green mile james whitey bulger rachel uchitel amerigo vespucci

Hagai El-Ad: Suppression Begets Suppression (Huffington post)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/166466564?client_source=feed&format=rss

sweet potato casserole super committee walmart black friday ad 2011 nl mvp nl mvp verlander verlander

Friday, November 25, 2011

Salman?s ?Mumbai Heroes? to strike back

The Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) will get bigger and better with its second season. The next edition of CCL will be held from January 25, 2012 to February 20, 2012, with six teams, 18 matches and six different venues seeing film fraternities from across India- Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali cinema, and Bollywood taking part in [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/newslatest/~3/aQ2WWFVhev4/7432.html

pepper spray mashed potato recipe mashed potato recipe cranberry sauce green bay packers packers la auto show

THG Presents: The 10 Biggest Turkeys of 2011!


Happy Thanksgiving to all from The Hollywood Gossip!

What would this holiday be without family, food, football and reflection upon the things we appreciate most ... in the case of THG, that means some of the turkeys we have had the privilege, the honor and the burden of covering in the past year.

We are talking some fowl individuals here ... real bird brains.

Without further ado, THG's Top 10 Turkeys of 2011 ...

Spencer Pratt Turkey

Who will win the 5th Annual Spencer Pratt Thanksgiving Turkey Award!?

10. President Obama and GOP presidential candidates (tie). On a day when we share the blessings this nation has provided us, we'll also share the blame for a polarized electorate and a federal government destined for perennial gridlock.

9. Taylor Armstrong. Refining shamelessness, one episode at a time.

8. Gloria Allred. Loudmouth lawyer for accusers in seemingly every random celebrity scandal always wants to talk turkey ... and gobble up publicity.

7. Dr. Conrad Murray: He killed Michael Jackson, people. Michael Jackson.

6. Snooki. Effing Snooki. If you know who she is, we don't need to explain.

5. NBA Players. The only segment of the 1% that elects not to work. Idiots.

4. Kris Jenner. Call her an entertainment mogul. Call her a mom-ager. Call her a she-pimp for her own evil spawn. By any name, she's an embarrassment.

3. Charlie Sheen. Always one to ruffle feathers, the Two and a Half Men star went off the rails, lost his job, then lost his freaking mind! Through it all, he raked in the cash money, riding the gravy train and lughing all the way to the bank. God Bless America.

2. Lindsay Lohan. Year after year, this girl gets into legal jams like it's her job. What is her job, come to think of it? We forgot. All we know is that anyone else with a rap sheet that lengthy would be getting a good stuffing today ... IN JAIL!!

1. Ashton Kutcher. Sheen's replacement proved to be half a man at best, cheating on Demi Moore with assorted skanks, blaming gossip blogs, Tweeting a defense of Joe Paterno and personifying the term douche, which is like a 2011 version of turkey.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at THG!!!!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/11/thg-presents-the-10-biggest-turkeys-of-2011/

lizzie borden lizzie borden 20/20 maps directions josephine baker pumpkin patch troy polamalu

Thursday, November 24, 2011

New giants among Macy's NYC parade balloons (AP)

NEW YORK ? A jetpack-wearing monkey and a freakish creation from filmmaker Tim Burton are two of the big new balloons that will make their inaugural appearances in front of millions of people at this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Paul Frank's Julius and Burton's B. join over a dozen other giant balloons, including fan favorites like Snoopy and Spider-Man, for Thursday's parade.

Macy's parade also is expected to feature more than 40 other balloon creations, 27 floats, 800 clowns and 1,600 cheerleaders. Organizers say Mary J. Blige, Cee Lo Green, Avril Lavigne and the Muppets of Sesame Street will participate, some taking the stage at the end of the route in Herald Square and others performing on floats.

Macy's says 3.5 million people will likely crowd the Manhattan parade route, while an additional 50 million watch from home.

National Weather Service meteorologist Tim Morrin said a storm was expected to speed away by morning, leaving mostly sunny skies and 10 mph winds, well below city guidelines for grounding balloons.

Parade spokeswoman Holly Thomas said officials were monitoring the weather.

"The flight of our giant character balloons is based on real conditions about an hour before the parade begins and not advance forecasts," she said in an email. "There is no indication in any current weather models that the flight of these balloons will be affected."

The parade begins at 77th Street and heads south on Central Park West to Seventh Avenue, before moving to Sixth Avenue and ending at Macy's Herald Square.

The parade got its start in 1924 and included live animals such as camels, goats and elephants. It was not until 1927 that the live animals were replaced by giant helium balloons. The parade was suspended from 1942 to 1944 because rubber and helium were needed for World War II.

Since the beginning, the balloons have been based on popular cultural characters and holiday themes. Returning favorites this year include Buzz Lightyear, Clumsy Smurf, SpongeBob SquarePants and Kermit the Frog.

Also making their first appearances at this year's parade are a pair of bike-powered balloons, one featuring a bulldog character and an elf balloon designed by Queens resident Keith Lapinig, who won a nationwide contest.

All the balloons are created at Macy's Parade Studio, and each undergoes testing for flight patterns, aerodynamics, buoyancy and lift.

The helium giants were inflated Wednesday across the street from the western side of Central Park. Thousands of people, many families with children in tow, were drawn to the spectacle of the balloons lying as if asleep on the streets, held down by weighted nets.

Standing in front of the famed Snoopy balloon, lying on its side, 8-year-old Emilio Rios said he was glad that there was something to keep the helium giant from getting away.

"Otherwise, it would float up to space, and aliens would see it," he said. "They would be the ones with the parade."

Nine-year-old Lindsay Ravetz said she loved seeing all the characters.

"It's just, like, cool," she said.

It was cool even for many of the adults. Leslie McCarthy, who said she's over 60, has been attending the parade since she was a little girl. And the excitement of seeing the big balloons hasn't worn off.

"I used to think this parade was put on for me," the Brooklyn resident said.

___

Follow Cristian Salazar at http://www.twitter.com/crsalazarAP

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111124/ap_on_re_us/us_thanksgiving_day_parade

rock center nbpa itunes match itunes match walmart black friday 2011 walmart black friday 2011 packers vikings

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Dancing with the Stars Episode Recap: Monday, Nov. 21, 2011 (omg!)

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

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_dancing_stars_episode_recap_monday_nov21_2011_022900357/43677609/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/dancing-stars-episode-recap-monday-nov-21-2011-022900357.html

grady sizemore samhain great pumpkin charlie brown the strangers all hallows eve all saints day all saints day

Curtis Stone & Lindsay Price Welcome A Baby Boy

It is a boy for actress Lindsay Price and her celebrity chef beau Curtis Stone. The couple welcomed their new bundle of joy on November 6th. Oh a bouncing baby boy, love it. The arrival of Lindsay and Curtis son may be news to you and me but the happy couple has known they would be doing the nursery in blue for quite some time now. Not only that but they have managed to keep his birth a secret for over two weeks that is pretty darn good for a celebrity couple I must say. According to the Australia’s Herald Sun the little guy is named Hudson but there has been no official announcement on his name, weight etc from the proud new parents. It really isn?t a big surprise that the duo is being tight lipped about the new addition to their family. They pretty much keep their private lives, well private. So far there have been a couple of Tweets from the new dad but no specifics about his son. Lindsay and I are so excited to welcome our sweet little baby boy into the world. It feels so great to be a dad!!!! We couldn’t be more [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RightCelebrity/~3/UirZnK3Xqi4/

walking dead season 2 saving private ryan world series tickets world series tickets nelson cruz nelson cruz michael young

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Painted bodies transformed into art in Venezuela

--> AAA??Nov. 20, 2011?10:45 AM ET
Painted bodies transformed into art in Venezuela
AP

A woman covered in body paint poses at the Teresa Carreno's theater during the VI World Meeting of Body Art in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday , Nov. 19, 2011. Activities such as body painting, tattooing, performances, workshops and conferences are part of the event. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

A woman covered in body paint poses at the Teresa Carreno's theater during the VI World Meeting of Body Art in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday , Nov. 19, 2011. Activities such as body painting, tattooing, performances, workshops and conferences are part of the event. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

A woman covered in body paint poses for pictures at the Teresa Carreno's theater during the sixth World Meeting of Body Art in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011. Activities such as body painting, tattooing, performances, workshops and conferences are part of the event. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Artist Ana Echachy, from, Venezuela, right, blows glitter over a man face as the final touch of a body paint work during the VI World Meeting of Body Art at the Teresa Carreno's theater in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011. Activities such as body painting, tattooing, performances, workshops and conferences are part of the event. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Women look at a man performing as a statue during the VI World Meeting of Body Art at the Teresa Carreno's theater in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday , Nov. 19, 2011. Activities such as body painting, tattooing, performances, workshops and conferences are part of the event. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

A woman covered in body paint poses at the Teresa Carreno's theater during the VI World Meeting of Body Art in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011. Activities such as body painting, tattooing, performances, workshops and conferences are part of the event. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

(AP) ? Artists are using paint, ornaments and glitter to transform the human body into artwork at a festival in Venezuela.

The annual World Meeting of Body Art involves body painting, tattoo art, performances and workshops. Participants from 18 countries are sharing their creations at the festival in Caracas.

Participants had their bodies painted in bright hues from orange to lime green. Vines appeared to wind down the shoulders of one woman, and a man posed as a statue with his skin painted to look like marble.

Venezuelan artist Ivan Hernandez Rojas says the "body is a canvas with infinite possibilities."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2011-11-20-LT-Venezuela-Body-Art-Photo-Pkg/id-13361c3a6e444476bab281f0b71c9476

rumpelstiltskin rumpelstiltskin occupy oakland occupy oakland yahoo.com/mail david nelson david nelson