Lebanese troops disperse Sunni protesters

BEIRUT (AP) ? Lebanese troops fired in the air Friday to disperse dozens of Sunni Muslims demonstrating in support of a hardline cleric who has been on the run since the military crushed his fighters earlier this week.

Lebanon is grappling with rising tensions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims linked to the more than 2-year-old conflict in neighboring Syria, which has sparked deadly street fighting on several occasions in Lebanese cities between the rival sects.

The Lebanese military moved Friday to break up the demonstration in the southern port city of Sidon after protesters tried to reach the mosque complex where the Sunni cleric Ahmad al-Assir used to give his sermons. There were similar protests by Sunnis in the capital Beirut and the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon's third largest.

The compound has been under army control since Monday following two days of fighting between troops and al-Assir's followers that left dozens of people dead.

Al-Assir's rapid rise in popularity among Sunnis underscored the deep frustration of many Lebanese who resent the influence Shiites have gained in government via the powerful Shiite militant group Hezbollah.

Al-Assir has been one of Hezbollah's harshest critics in Lebanon and had called on fellow Sunnis to go fight in Syria against President Bashar Assad's forces. His calls intensified earlier this year after Hezbollah fighters joined Assad's forces against the Syrian opposition, which is dominated by Sunnis.

Syria's conflict has increasingly taken on sectarian overtones. The rebels fighting to remove Assad are primarily Sunnis, and have been joined by Sunni fighters from other Muslim countries. Assad's regime, in contrast, is led by the president's Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, and his forces have been bolstered by fighters from Hezbollah, a factor that has helped fan the sectarian nature of the conflict.

Lebanon and Syria share a complex web of political and sectarian ties and rivalries that are easily enflamed. Lebanon, a country plagued by decades of strife, has been on edge since the uprising in Syria against Assad erupted in March 2011.

Sidon, located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Beirut, had largely been spared from violence plaguing Lebanon's border areas where Syria's civil war has been spilling over with increasing frequency.

On Friday, troops fired into the air with heavy machineguns mounted on armored personnel carriers to disperse the protesters. People ran in fear in the streets as cars sped away from the area.

Fighting in the Mediterranean city began Sunday after troops arrested an al-Assir follower. The army says the cleric's supporters opened fire without provocation on an army checkpoint.

Official reports said at least 18 soldiers were killed and 50 wounded in the fighting, while more than 20 of al-Assir's supporters died in the battle.

Some Sunni activists said the army was joined by Hezbollah fighters in the battle against al-Assir, a claim that the army denied.

Sidon's demonstration started after thousands attended Friday prayers in a mosque in the city center. The prayer was attended by prominent ultraconservative Sunni Salafi cleric from northern Lebanon, Daia Al-Islam Al-Shahal and the Sunni mufti of Sidon, Sheik Salim Soussan.

Soussan urged the army to open a "fair, objective and legal investigation" into the fighting in Sidon.

"We totally reject that some illegitimate armed groups take part in the raids, provocations and interrogation of people," Soussan said in an apparent reference to Hezbollah. "We put the state responsible for that."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lebanese-troops-disperse-sunni-protesters-121534805.html

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Bagpipes play up a storm in Pakistan's boomtown

One Pakistani city has turned into a boom town by manufacturing and exporting a diverse array of products from bagpipes to replica Civil War uniforms. NBC's Amna Nawaz reports from Sialkot, Pakistan.?

By Amna Nawaz, Correspondent, NBC News

SIALKOT, Pakistan ? It's not a sound you expect to hear in Pakistan. And yet, here we stand, in the heart of the country's Punjab province, listening to the theme song from ?The Titanic? played on traditional bagpipes.

The Pakistani teenager serenading us with the soaring wails of this iconic Scottish instrument?was taught to play by his father, who was taught by his father before him.

And his bagpipe was made right here in Sialkot, a city of 3 million that's emerged as the world's leading manufacturer of the instrument. More than 100,000 locally made bagpipes are exported every year.

M.H. Geoffrey's factory is one of over a dozen in the city. His grandfather began the business when a British army officer, part of the colonial forces in the region in the 19th century, approached him to get his own bagpipe fixed.

"My grandfather not only fixed that one, he made?two more!" Geoffrey said.

Today, Geoffrey's company makes and exports nearly 3,000 bagpipes a year.

In a narrow, high-ceilinged room covered in sawdust and lit by an over-sized skylight, five workers squat before their lathes, expertly churning out intricately carved bagpipe parts. When the power goes out, as it often does in Pakistan, a single generator spurts to life, filling the room with a deafening hum.

Farooq Naeem / AFP - Getty Images file

Ibrahim, the son of Farooq Ahmad, owner of the Imperial Bagpipe Manufacturing Company, tests a bagpipe at a bagpipe factory in Sialkot, Pakistan.

Every piece is handcrafted. Every bagpipe is hand-assembled. The cheapest bagpipes cost around $100; the most expensive, over $1,000. But Geoffrey, like many local businessmen, has also found other niche markets.

A combination of cheap textiles and skilled seamstresses prevalent in Sialkot led to the costume wing of his company. They now make, sell and export hundreds of replica U.S. Civil War uniforms every year.

The vintage, leather goods wing followed soon after ? manufacturing everything from footballs to cleats.

?Anything you need made? We can make it here. Anything at all,? Geoffrey said.

Sialkot is an anomaly in Pakistan?s economy. In a country where taxes aren?t regularly collected, power companies can?t produce sufficient electricity, and the currency continues to lose value, Sialkot?s business community decided to go its own way.

Ten years ago, business leaders pooled their resources to construct the nation?s first privately funded airport. It now boasts the country?s longest runway and more than 30 domestic and international flights a week. Last year alone, more than 6,000 tons of locally produced exports were flown out.

Those products run the gamut from bagpipes and costumes to medical instruments and sporting goods.

Companies around the world have long tapped into Sialkot?s manufacturing prowess for access to cost-effective, high-quality goods. Nike, Adidas and Puma all have contracts here. A walk down one main market street reveals over a dozen medical instrument and surgical supply storefronts, all selling local goods.

Sheikh Abdul Majid, the chairman of the local chamber of commerce, said Sialkot?s exports brought in more than $1.4 billion last year, and the local economy had grown by 10-15 percent every year for the last five years.

The IMF estimates the national economy, by comparison, may grow by just 3.5 percent this fiscal year. Across the country, fewer than a million Pakistanis pay income taxes.

Majid said?all local exports were taxed, with the money re-invested into the city.

Farooq Naeem / AFP - Getty Images file

A Pakistani laborer prepares components to make bagpipes at a bagpipe factory in Sialkot, on April 14, 2011.

?We?ve fixed roads, built schools, even put in sewage systems with the money we?ve been able to bring in,? he said. ?And we plan to continue doing that, every year.?

For a new national government, elected largely on its promise to right an upended economy, the secrets to Sialkot?s success could prove useful.

Much voter frustration centered on 20-hour power cuts in parts of the country, a failure of the previous government to tackle corruption, and a lack of any clearly articulated plan to address either.

After just one month on the job, the new leaders? plans for emergency cash infusions to the power sector and increasing tax revenues are beginning to take shape. However, economists say an economic revival on a national level could take years.

Back in Sialkot, Geoffrey said business had never been better. Bagpipe sales now make up half of their revenue, and with the addition of online sales, his costume orders have grown exponentially.

?My sons are now learning the business, helping me to run it,? Geoffrey said. ?One day, this whole business will be given to the next generation ? the fourth generation to run it.?

Related stories:

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Guest lineups for the Sunday news shows

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Guest lineups for the Sunday TV news shows:

ABC's "This Week" ? Julian Assange, founder of the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks; Jesselyn Radack, national security and human rights director at the Government Accountability Project; Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign; Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage; Rep. Donna Edwards, D-Md.; state Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Texas.

___

NBC's "Meet the Press" ? Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

___

CBS' "Face the Nation" ? Davis; Ted Olson, a former solicitor general; Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council; Michael Hayden, a former director of the National Security Agency and the CIA; NAACP President Ben Jealous.

___

CNN's "State of the Union" ? Reps. Robert Goodlatte, R-Va., and Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill.

___

"Fox News Sunday" ? Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; Reps. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., and Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/guest-lineups-sunday-news-shows-183815643.html

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Early brain stimulation may help stroke survivors recover language function

June 27, 2013 ? Non-invasive brain stimulation may help stroke survivors recover speech and language function, according to new research in the American Heart Association journal Stroke.

Between 20 percent to 30 percent of stroke survivors have aphasia, a disorder that affects the ability to grasp language, read, write or speak. It's most often caused by strokes that occur in areas of the brain that control speech and language.

"For decades, skilled speech and language therapy has been the only therapeutic option for stroke survivors with aphasia," said Alexander Thiel, M.D., study lead author and associate professor of neurology and neurosurgery at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. "We are entering exciting times where we might be able in the near future to combine speech and language therapy with non-invasive brain stimulation earlier in the recovery. This could result in earlier and more efficient aphasia recovery and also have an economic impact."

In the small study, researchers treated 24 stroke survivors with several types of aphasia at the rehabilitation hospital Rehanova and the Max-Planck-Institute for neurological research in Cologne, Germany. Thirteen received transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and 11 got sham stimulation.

The TMS device is a handheld magnetic coil that delivers low intensity stimulation and elicits muscle contractions when applied over the motor cortex.

During sham stimulation the coil is placed over the top of the head in the midline where there is a large venous blood vessel and not a language-related brain region. The intensity for stimulation was lower intensity so that participants still had the same sensation on the skin but no effective electrical currents were induced in the brain tissue.

Patients received 20 minutes of TMS or sham stimulation followed by 45 minutes of speech and language therapy for 10 days.

The TMS groups' improvements were on average three times greater than the non-TMS group, researchers said. They used German language aphasia tests, which are similar to those in the United States, to measure language performance of the patients.

"TMS had the biggest impact on improvement in anomia, the inability to name objects, which is one of the most debilitating aphasia symptoms," Thiel said.

Researchers, in essence, shut down the working part of the brain so that the stroke-affected side could relearn language. "This is similar to physical rehabilitation where the unaffected limb is immobilized with a splint so that the patients must use the affected limb during the therapy session," Thiel said.

"We believe brain stimulation should be most effective early, within about five weeks after stroke, because genes controlling the recovery process are active during this time window," he said.

Thiel said the result of this study opens the door to larger, multi-center trials. The NORTHSTAR study has been funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and will be launched at four Canadian sites and one German site later in 2013.

The Walter and Marga Boll and Wolf-Dieter-Heiss Foundations funded the current study.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/QC3RAuNF0D0/130627161434.htm

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Nikolas Kozloff: Snowden Affair Highlights Epic David and Goliath Struggle Between Quito and Washington

If there was any doubt that Ecuador's pugnacious President Rafael Correa would back down in the rapidly escalating diplomatic spat over NSA leaker Edward Snowden, recent events will certainly put such notions to rest. Thumbing his nose once again at the Obama administration, Correa has just announced that his government will unilaterally give up special U.S. trade preferences under the so-called Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act or ATPA. Originally, the measure was designed to counteract drug-trafficking by providing export opportunities to poor Andean nations. Under the act, Ecuador exports billions in tax free goods every year to the U.S. including tropical fruits, flowers and petroleum.

After Correa audaciously offered to provide diplomatic asylum to Snowden, the mainstream media, legislators from both sides of the aisle as well as conservative think tanks called for Ecuador to be punished for its impudence and cut off from the ATPA. Correa, however, says Ecuador will not submit to such "blackmail" and threats. Hardly intimidated by the Beltway establishment, defiant Correa has announced for good measure that he will send the U.S. millions of dollars for use in human rights training. Taunting Washington, Ecuador's Minister of Communications declared that the money could be used to avoid "espionage, torture, extrajudicial killings and other acts that denigrate humanity."

For Ecuador, the Snowden affair has all the elements of an epic David and Goliath story pitting the Colossus of the North against a small and impoverished South American nation. While it's unclear how the Snowden imbroglio will play out in Ecuador itself, many will surely rally to Correa's defense. For decades, Ecuador has smarted under Washington's influence and ongoing CIA intervention [for a further accounting of such history, see my earlier article here]. As a result, fiery populism plays well here.

Nationalist Backlash Against the U.S.?

Furthermore, Ecuadorans have little regard for "neo-liberal" style economic austerity which exacted a heavy social toll on the country and contributed to chronic political instability. Indeed, it was precisely such political instability which propelled leftist Correa to power in 2006. Since that time, the maverick politician has challenged Washington in the military, diplomatic and economic spheres, and now seems poised to inherit the South American populist mantle from recently deceased Hugo Ch?vez.

To be sure, Correa hardly ingratiated himself with Washington when he harbored WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, a man who has spent more than a year holed up at the Ecuadoran Embassy in London. However, unlike Snowden, Assange is not a U.S. national and has never been formally charged by the Department of Justice. By offering to shelter Snowden, Correa has signaled that he is willing to take an economic hit over ATPA and the President also risks further opposition from his country's powerful export elite. Just how did we get to this point?

U.S. Business Lobby vs. Correa

Correa's recent moves cap an action-packed year of diplomatic friction. Indeed, as early as last August I wrote that U.S. business groups had lobbied the Obama administration to cut off trade benefits to Ecuador. The indignant companies had been spurred to action after Correa tried to hold Chevron responsible for its oil damage in the Ecuadoran Amazon. However, Quito's harboring of Assange probably added ammunition to ongoing lobbying efforts. Eric Farnsworth, Vice President of the Council of Americas, a group representing U.S. companies doing business throughout the hemisphere, told Reuters that Correa's harboring of Assange was not "a move destined to win many new friends in Washington." Moreover, the President of the National Foreign Trade Council brazenly remarked that the Assange imbroglio "would provide the excuse (to suspend benefits) if the administration is looking for one to do it."

In Washington, the Ecuadoran Ambassador grew puzzled by the business lobbying. "Ecuador is the only country in the Andean region with zero coca cultivation," he said. While the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, the National Foreign Trade Council and the Business Roundtable alleged that Ecuador had violated investor rights, there was no specific explanation for cutting off trade preferences. Ecuador, the Ambassador argued, had observed proper protocol in regard to all its pending investor disputes.

Back in Quito meanwhile, the Ecuadoran business sector was also growing jittery. A full 350,000 jobs depended on ATPA, including the flower industry, broccoli, tuna and other sectors. Fearful lest Ecuador lose its special trading privileges, businessmen alerted Correa to the risks of harboring Assange. Correa, however, was hardly impressed and remarked that if he were reelected in the upcoming presidential election he would never knuckle under to economic blackmail. "Let them have their ATPA," the feisty President declared, "and we'll give them a few million dollars for a course on ethics and human rights."

Emboldened Correa

In February of this year, Correa got his wish and cruised to electoral victory. Feeling emboldened by his new mandate, the President said that ATPA had turned into a "vulgar foreign policy instrument: if you behave well, we continue the agreement; if you behave badly, we take away the privileges. We can't continue to live like this." Preparing his countrymen for a possible cutoff, Correa remarked that regardless of ATPA Ecuador would continue to export its goods to the U.S.

The economic impact of an ATPA cutoff, Correa has argued, would be minimal and amount to less than $24 million in losses. What is more, Correa adds, the government is prepared to provide economic support to vulnerable industries such as fresh roses, canned tuna and broccoli. Not everyone, however, is reassured by the President's words. Indeed, the President of Ecuador's Agricultural Chamber told the Associated Press that loss of preferential trading provisions would exert a heavy toll. The flower industry, he said, "constitutes an escape valve from social pressure, unemployment and under-employment."

Beltway Backlash

Fast forward to the Snowden scandal, and it was not long before the Beltway establishment began to threaten Ecuador with retaliation. Take for example hawkish Florida Republican Senator Ileana Ros-Lehtinen who declared that Correa's conduct would not stand. Democrats, however, have proven equally bullish. Sandy Levin, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, said that if Correa offered asylum to Snowden there "would be no basis" for renewing trade preferences. Another Democrat, Senator Bob Men?ndez of New Jersey, chimed in for good measure, declaring that Washington was ready to punish Ecuador if Correa chose to snub the colossus of the north. Joining in the fray, conservative Heritage foundation has also been leading the charge against Quito.

The Snowden affair has also generated a heated debate in the media, and predictably enough Fox News has weighed in against Correa. The Washington Post, too, has gone on the war path, remarking "when it comes to anti-American chutzpah, there's no beating Rafael Correa, the autocratic leader of tiny, impoverished Ecuador." Mincing no words, the Post adds, "as it happens, the preferences will expire next month unless renewed by Congress. If Mr. Correa welcomes Mr. Snowden, there will be an easy way to demonstrate that Yanqui-baiting has its price." It turns out the Post has long been on Correa's case: a year ago, the paper issued an almost identical threat when Correa was considering its asylum request for Julian Assange. Commenting on the Post's relentless Ecuador bashing, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting muses, "it's good that someone at the Post's editorial page knows how to copy and paste."

Hardly amused by the Post's ongoing campaign, Correa has taken to Twitter no less in an effort to counteract the mainstream media. Tweeting to his million followers, Correa said the media had put up a smokescreen and was doing its utmost to distract the public from Snowden's main disclosures. In Quito, members of Correa's own Aliaza Pa?s party have backed up the President while echoing his nationalist rhetoric. The political opposition, meanwhile, argues that Correa is hypocritical for offering asylum to Snowden while simultaneously cracking down on free expression at home.

Correa's Gamble

Having opened a veritable Pandora's box of trouble, can Correa thrive and ride a nationalist wave of indignation, or will he be brought down by domestic and international forces? Perhaps, Correa reasons that Ecuador had little chance of having its ATPA status renewed, and so Ecuador risked little by beating Washington to the punch. Nevertheless, Correa has galvanized the American establishment against him yet further, not to mention Ecuador's export elite.

The Guardian of London suggests that Correa is also putting great strains on his own political coalition, with some leftists embracing Snowden and other centrists fearing economic and diplomatic fallout. "Some in the government," the paper writes, "are believed to be annoyed that Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder who has sheltered at Ecuador's London embassy to avoid extradition, has seized the limelight in the Snowden saga." According to the paper, Assange caught Quito by surprise when he recently announced that Ecuador had provided Snowden with a safe-conduct pass to travel from Hong Kong to Moscow.

By offering shelter to first Assange and now Snowden, Correa has embarked on a high stakes game. The pugnacious president is constantly upping the ante, casting Ecuador's plight as a David and Goliath struggle against the odds. So far, playing the nationalist card has suited Correa well, though Ecuador's President may find that playing with fire carries significant risk.

Nikolas Kozloff is the author of Revolution! South America and the Rise of the New Left. Follow him on Twitter here.

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Follow Nikolas Kozloff on Twitter: www.twitter.com/NikolasKozloff

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nikolas-kozloff/snowden-affair-highlights_b_3513954.html

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Trayvon Martin's friend describes final phone call

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) ? A friend who was on the phone with 17-year-old Trayvon Martin moments before he was fatally shot by George Zimmerman testified that she heard the Miami teen shout, "Get off! Get off!" before his telephone went dead.

Rachel Jeantel, 19, recounted to jurors in Zimmerman's second-degree murder trial how Martin told her he was being followed by a man as he walked through the Retreat at Twin Lakes townhome complex on his way back from a convenience store to the home of his father's fiancee.

Jeantel is considered one of the prosecution's most important witnesses because she was the last person to talk to Martin before his encounter with Zimmerman on Feb. 26, 2012.

She testified that Martin described the man following him as "a creepy-ass cracker" and he thought he had evaded him. But she said a short time later Martin let out a profanity.

Martin said Zimmerman was behind him and she heard Martin ask: "What are you following me for?"

She then heard what sounded like Martin's phone earpiece drop into the grass and she heard him say, "Get off! Get off!" The phone then went dead, she said.

Zimmerman, 29, could get life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder for killing Martin. Zimmerman followed him in his truck and called a police dispatch number before he and the teen got into a fight.

Zimmerman has claimed self-defense, saying he opened fire after the teenager jumped him and began slamming his head against the concrete sidewalk. Zimmerman identifies himself as Hispanic and has denied that his confrontation with the black teenager had anything to do with race, as Martin's family and its supporters have claimed.

Jeantel's testimony came after two former neighbors of Zimmerman testified Wednesday about hearing howls and shouts for help in the moments before the shooting.

Jayne Surdyka told the court that immediately before the shooting, she heard an aggressive voice and a softer voice exchanging words for several minutes in an area behind her townhome at the Retreat at Twin Lakes.

"It was someone being very aggressive and angry at someone," she said.

During the struggle, she said, she saw a person in dark clothes on top of the other person. Martin was wearing a dark sweatshirt and Zimmerman wore red clothing. Surdyka said she saw the person who was on top get off the body after the shot was fired.

Surdyka said she heard cries for help and then multiple gunshots: "pop, pop, pop." Only one shot was fired in the fatal encounter.

"I truly believe the second yell for help was a yelp," said Surdyka, who later dabbed away tears as prosecutors played her 911 call. "It was excruciating. I really felt it was a boy's voice."

During cross-examination, defense attorney Don West tried to show there was a lapse in what Surdyka saw. Defense attorneys contend Martin was on top of Zimmerman during the struggle, but after the neighborhood watch volunteer fired a shot, Zimmerman got on top of Martin.

West also challenged Surdyka about her belief that the cry for help was a boy's voice, saying she was making an assumption.

The other neighbor, Jeannee Manalo, testified that she believed Zimmerman was on top of Martin, saying he was the bigger of the two based on pictures she saw of Martin on television after the fight. Manalo also described hearing howling, but she couldn't tell who it was coming from, and then a "help sound" a short time later.

Under cross-examination, defense attorney Mark O'Mara asked why Manalo had never mentioned her belief that Zimmerman was on top in previous police interviews. He also got her to concede that her perception of Martin's size was based on five-year-old photos on television that showed a younger and smaller Martin.

Martin's parents have said they believe the cries for help heard by neighbors came from their son, while Zimmerman's father believes the cries belong to his son. Both prosecutors and defense attorneys believe they could show whether Zimmerman or Martin was the aggressor in the encounter. Defense attorneys successfully argued against allowing prosecution experts who claimed the cries belonged to Martin.

Jeantel on Wednesday testified that she believed the cries were Martin's because "Trayvon has kind of a baby voice." The defense attorney challenged that, claiming she was less certain in a previous deposition.

Jeantel, 19, also explained that she had initially lied about her age ? she claimed to be 16 ? to protect her privacy when she was initially contacted by an attorney for Martin's family to give a recorded statement over the telephone about what she knew about the few moments before Martin's encounter with Zimmerman. She was expected to finish her testimony on Thursday.

While being cross-examined, Jeantel had several testy exchange with West, including one moment when she prompted the defense attorney to ask his next question: "You can go. You can go."

Before the February 2012 shooting, Zimmerman had made about a half dozen calls to a nonemergency police number to report suspicious characters in his neighborhood. Judge Debra Nelson on Wednesday ruled that they could be played for jurors.

Prosecutors had argued that the police dispatch calls were central to their case that Zimmerman committed second-degree murder since they showed his state of mind. He was increasingly frustrated with repeated burglaries and had reached a breaking point the night he shot the unarmed teenager, prosecutors say.

Defense attorneys argued that the calls were irrelevant and that nothing matters but the seven or eight minutes before Zimmerman fired the deadly shot into Martin's chest.

Seven of the nine jurors and alternates scribbled attentively on their notepads as the calls were played.

___

Follow Kyle Hightower on Twitter at http://twitter.com/KHightower

Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MikeSchneiderAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/trayvon-martins-friend-describes-final-phone-call-184329832.html

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Olloclip announces 2x telephoto lens for iPhone 5, we go hands-on

Remember the Olloclip lens for the iPhone 4? That model's done mighty well in Apple retail stores, so it's only fitting that there's a follow-up. Today at the CE Week line show in New York, we got a look at the company's upcoming telephoto lens, which complements the original clip-on by adding 2X magnification. Priced at $100 versus $70 for its predecessor, the accessory offers a circular polarizing lens on the other side, keeping in line with the company's existing two-in-one design. You can get the standalone clip-on lens for the aforementioned price when the gadget debuts in July -- it's compatible with Olloclip's previously announced $49 iPhone 5 case as well.

Gallery: Olloclip 2x Telephoto Lens hands-on

Zach Honig contributed to this report.

Filed under: Cameras, Apple

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Tourists rescued after nearly 2 days stranded in Canadian arctic

Courtesy Royal Canadian Air Force

The camp in the Canadian arctic where a group of tourists were stranded on an ice floe for more than 24 hours.

By Henry Austin, NBC News contributor

A group of campers stranded in the Canadian arctic for almost two days after an ice floe broke off was rescued by helicopter on Wednesday.

High winds and fog had forced the Royal Canadian Air Force to abandon at least two attempts to pick up the 10 tourists and 10 guides from the three-mile long piece of ice shelf in the remote Nunavut territory.?The group awoke Tuesday to discover the ice floe had broken free.

Major Steve Neta said that two CH-146 Griffon helicopters were able to extract them shortly after 6 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

Courtesy Royal Canadian Air Force

The ice breaking off from the mainland, where a group of campers were stranded in the Canadian arctic for almost two days.

?Thankfully everyone was in good condition,? he added. ?It was a great cooperative effort and we?re very pleased the rescue went well.?

Graham Dickson, a spokesman for tour company Arctic Kingdom, said a change in the wind and favorable tides had pushed the ice back towards the coast near Lancaster Sound at the entrance of the Northwest Passage.

?The break was quite extreme, but they had all the right equipment to cope with problem,? Dickson said.?

That allowed the campers ? along with 10 local hunters that were also caught out by the drift - to find their way back onto safer ground.

Earlier, Captain Yvonne Niego of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said the ice floe had floated almost five miles from the shore.

?I?m a local and I haven?t seen anything like this for a long time,? she added.

Related:

This story was originally published on Thu Jun 27, 2013 8:48 AM EDT

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$839M inmate medical complex dedicated in Calif.

Jeffrey Beard, secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, looks over a dialysis machine while touring the new California Correctional Health Care Facility in Stockton, Calif., Tuesday, June 25, 2013. The $839 million facility will treat up to 1, 720 inmate-patients in need of long-term care, freeing up staff and treatment space at the state's 33 adult prisons. The facility will begin receiving inmates in July. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Jeffrey Beard, secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, looks over a dialysis machine while touring the new California Correctional Health Care Facility in Stockton, Calif., Tuesday, June 25, 2013. The $839 million facility will treat up to 1, 720 inmate-patients in need of long-term care, freeing up staff and treatment space at the state's 33 adult prisons. The facility will begin receiving inmates in July. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Jeffrey Beard, secretary of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation looks over an emergency care room while touring the new California Correctional Health Care Facility in Stockton, Calif., Tuesday, June 25, 2013. The $839 million facility will treat up to 1, 720 inmate-patients in need of long-term care, freeing up staff and treatment space at the state's 33 adult prisons. The facility will begin receiving inmates in July. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

David Culberson, chief executive officer of San Joaquin General Hospital, looks over one of the patient care rooms while touring the new California Correctional Health Care Facility in Stockton, Calif., Tuesday, June 25, 2013. Dignitaries and the media toured the $839 million facility after dedication ceremonies. The facility, which is expected to begin receiving inmates in July, will treat up to 1, 720 patients in need of long-term care, freeing up staff and treatment space at the state's 33 adult prisons. The San Joaquin General Hospital will provide more intensive care not available at CHCF. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

This Tuesday, June 25, 2013 photo shows a secure patient treatment room in a housing unit at the new California Correctional Health Care Facility in Stockton, Calif. Dignitaries and the media toured the $839 million facility after dedication ceremonies. The facility, which is expected to begin receiving inmate-patients in July, will treat up to 1, 720 patients in need of long-term care, freeing up staff and treatment space at the state's 33 adult prisons. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

A Correctional Officer stands outside of one of the secure housing units at the new California Correctional Health Care Facility in Stockton, Calif., Tuesday, June 25, 2013. Dignitaries and the media toured the $839 million facility after dedication ceremonies. The facility, which is expected to begin receiving inmates in July, will treat up to 1, 720 inmate-patients in need of long-term care, freeing up staff and treatment space at the state's 33 adult prisons. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

STOCKTON, Calif. (AP) ? California prison officials dedicated an $839 million inmate medical complex Tuesday even as they face a new round of court-imposed mandates that are complicating efforts to run one of the nation's largest penal systems.

On Monday, a health threat posed by a potentially lethal airborne fungus prompted a federal judge to order as many as 3,250 inmates transferred immediately from two Central Valley prisons. That ruling followed another last week that ordered the state to release an additional 10,000 inmates statewide by the end of the year.

The developments revolve around a long-running court battle over the level of health care delivered to California inmates, which federal judges maintain still does not meet constitutional standards, despite billions of taxpayer dollars spent to improve conditions.

Corrections Secretary Jeffrey Beard scoffed at that assessment as he dedicated the California Correctional Health Care Facility in Stockton, saying it probably is the nation's most state-of-the-art prison medical facility: "Is that deliberate indifference?" he asked the crowd, referring to the language of the federal judges.

Beard told the assembled employees and dignitaries that the judges are not taking into account all the improvements the state has made since a special judicial panel first ordered it to trim prison crowding in 2009 as the best way to improve conditions for sick and mentally ill inmates. The state plans to make the same argument to the U.S. Supreme Court later this year as it appeals the three-judge panel's ruling, with the new Stockton facility a prime example of strides it has made.

"It makes our case that we think we are providing a constitutional level of care today," Beard said in an interview before the dedication. "I realize there is a difference of opinion on that."

Indeed, the three judges accuse Gov. Jerry Brown's administration of trying to circumvent their repeated orders that the state reduce prison crowding. They are threatening to cite the Democratic governor for contempt if he does not immediately begin complying, but the administration plans to seek a stay that would postpone their early release order.

The prison system's years of delays in protecting inmates from the fungal infection known as valley fever is further evidence that the state cannot be trusted to properly care for inmates without federal supervision, U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson wrote in his order Monday.

Henderson, of San Francisco, is one of the three judges. He separately ordered the state to begin transferring inmates out of Avenal and Pleasant Valley state prisons within seven days if they are particularly vulnerable to valley fever, and gave the state 90 days to complete the transfers. He left it to corrections officials to determine where the inmates should go.

The two prisons are about 10 miles apart and 175 miles southeast of San Francisco, in the San Joaquin Valley.

The fungal infection originates in the valley's soil. About half of the infections produce no symptoms, while most of the rest can produce mild to severe flu-like symptoms. In a few cases, the infection can spread from the lungs to the brain, bones, skin or eyes, causing blindness, skin abscesses, lung failure and occasionally death.

Evacuees will include most of the two prisons' black, Filipino and medically at-risk inmates because they are considered the most vulnerable to health problems from the fungus.

Beard told The Associated Press that the order could exacerbate violence between race-based prison gangs elsewhere in California. He said the state had been awaiting the results of a U.S. Centers for Disease Control study on the outbreak before deciding how to respond. He said no decision has been made on whether to appeal Henderson's order.

The early release and valley fever orders come while the state is still struggling to adjust to a 2011 law that is sentencing thousands of lower-level offenders to county jails instead of state prisons, among other changes.

"So you know it really is making things very complex and difficult, and of course my concern is it could eventually cause some adverse effect in some other institution, some unintended effect, and we certainly don't want to see that happen," Beard said.

He then accompanied dignitaries and the media on a tour of the Stockton complex that forms the core of a multibillion-dollar plan to bring inmate medical and mental health treatment to constitutional standards.

The institution is an odd hybrid between a traditional prison and modern hospital.

A lethal electric fence topped with concertina wire and gun towers surrounds a central medical and mental health facility that includes a library and education center.

Inmate patients can watch television while they receive hours of kidney dialysis treatment or while sitting in plastic chairs that are bolted to the floor. Skylights provide natural light at nurses' stations and a neighboring desk reserved for prison guards.

Cells are built with room for hospital beds, and have oxygen and vacuum hookups along with nurses' call buttons. But the toilets and sinks are standard stainless-steel prison units, and the fixtures are designed to deter suicides.

The facility stands in sharp contrast to conditions that corrections experts described nearly a decade ago at other prisons. They found examining rooms with no sinks, employees who had to walk through sewage puddles or shower rooms to examine inmates, and doctors seeing patients in open areas with no privacy.

But it is far less than what then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed five years ago in cooperation with J. Clark Kelso, the federal court-appointed official who controls prison medical care. The Republican governor had asked state lawmakers to approve $6 billion to build six or seven prison medical and mental health centers to care for 10,000 inmates.

Kelso and prison officials have since agreed to transfer the sickest inmates to the centrally located Stockton facility, with moderately ill inmates going to medical facilities in 11 of the state's 33 adult prisons. The remaining 22 prisons have basic medical facilities for short-term care.

By year's end, the 54 buildings clustered at the site of an old juvenile prison will treat 1,720 patients who need long-term care. By next spring, the state plans to complete the neighboring $173 million DeWitt Correctional Annex, which will provide treatment for 1,133 seriously mentally ill inmates.

___

Associated Press writer Paul Elias in San Francisco contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2013-06-25-California%20Prisons/id-01856f6bfa6643db9ba55d86fd95c5a2

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Judge seals records in Lloyd murder investigation

Reuters

A stunning, surreal day has taken yet another stunning, surreal turn.

Aaron Hernandez has been charged with the murder of Odin Lloyd.

It?s one of several charges filed today against Hernandez, arising directly from the June 17 discovery of Odin Lloyd?s body less than a mile from Hernandez?s home.

Lloyd, according to the prosecutor, was shot multiple times.

The prosecutor also explained that there was no evidence of a robbery, and that Lloyd?s phone showed communications with Hernandez in the hours preceding his death.? Lloyd?s sister told authorities that Lloyd left his home that morning at 2:30 a.m. in a car believed to belong to Hernandez.

The prosecutor told the court that roughly six to eight hours of footage were missing from Hernandez?s surveillance system after the murder.? The prosecutor likewise outlined a series of text messages indicating a desire by Hernandez to meet with Lloyd, along with instructions that one or more others urging them to return to the area, presumably for the meeting with Lloyd.

Text messages and public surveillance cameras, per the prosecutor, indicate that Hernandez picked up Lloyd at 2:30 a.m. ET and drove back to North Attleboro.? The prosecutor claims that Hernandez then told Lloyd he was upset that Lloyd had said certain things to others, making it hard for Hernandez to trust him.

Likewise, the prosecutor explained that Lloyd sent text messages while in the car with Hernandez, making others aware that he was with Hernandez.

The prosecutor said that workers at the industrial park heard gunshots, and that surveillance cameras allow prosecutors to piece together that the car Hernandez was driving was at the industrial park, and within minutes thereafter at Hernandez?s home.

The prosecutor said that Hernandez?s surveillance system shows a person getting out of the car with a gun after the shooting, and walking through the house with the gun.? Shortly after that, the surveillance system shuts down.

Perhaps most importantly, the prosecutor said a shell casing was found in the car rented by Hernandez.? It matches the shell casings found at the scene of the shooting, according to the prosecutor.

The prosecutor called it an ?execution,? and he characterized Hernandez as the person who orchestrated the crime, had the motive and means to kill Lloyd, and engaged in efforts to cover up the crime, including telling his fianc?e to stop talking to police.

The prosecutor concluded his remarks by asking that Hernandez be jailed without bail.

Hernandez?s lawyer, Michael Fee, then called the case ?weak? and ?circumstantial.?? He argued that Hernandez is not a flight risk, and that it would be impractical for him to flee.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/06/25/judge-seals-records-in-odin-lloyd-murder-investigation/related/

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Marathon speech helps Democrats block Texas abortion bill (reuters)

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Sanyo Innuendo (Boost Mobile)

By Alex Colon

You don't see many phones like the $59.99 Sanyo Innuendo. First of all it's a feature phone, which is already a dying breed. But it looks more like a smartphone from the outside, with a gray, mysterious OLED touch panel you can use to dial numbers. But what's this? It also opens, like a book, to reveal a fantastic little QWERTY keyboard on one side and a tiny-but-capable display on the other. It's held back by some issues like a nonstandard headphone jack and short battery life, but it's still a decent, affordable option for style-minded users looking to save some money with Boost.

Boost Features
The Sanyo Innuendo has been around for quite a while, but this is the first time we're taking a look at it on Boost. Not much has changed in the feature phone world over the last few years, so this phone still holds its own when compared with newer options like the LG Rumor Reflex?and the Samsung Array.

We reviewed the Sanyo Innuendo back on Sprint a couple of years ago, and this model is virtually identical. The only real difference is that here it comes loaded with Boost wallpaper and includes options for refilling and managing your account. See our slideshow and review of the phone on Sprint?for a lot more detail on its unique design, features, and performance. Here we're going to highlight pricing and comparisons on Boost.

Pricing and Conclusions
Unlimited talk, text, and data plans start at just $50 per month on Boost, and you don't even need to sign a contract. Better yet, for every six months you pay your bill on time, your monthly fee reduces by $5, until you reach $35 per month. That's about as cheap as unlimited talk and texting gets. You won't have much opportunity to put that unlimited data to use with the Innuendo's slow, dated Web browser, but that's still a great price if you're only talking and texting.

Boost also offers daily unlimited plans for $2 a day, or you can pay as you go at $0.20 per minute or per text message. So no matter how you plan to use this phone, it's a very good value.

The Sanyo Innuendo may be old, but it has aged pretty well for a feature phone. If your primary concerns are talking and texting, it remains a solid choice. The Samsung Array has a more traditional slider design, but is otherwise quite similar to the Innuendo in terms of features. And if it's media you're after, your best bet is the LG Rumor Reflex, which has a standard headphone jack and good audio file support, as well as limited video playback. The?Motorola Theory is another good choice, as long as you like the BlackBerry-style slab design. Just keep in mind that, even an older smartphone like the inexpensive, keyboarded Samsung Transform Ultra?will expand your feature set dramatically, and monthly plans cost just $5 more per month.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/uw1tyWeNxTY/0,2817,2420697,00.asp

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Hunger affects decision-making and perception of risk

June 25, 2013 ? Hungry people are often difficult to deal with. A good meal can affect more than our mood, it can also influence our willingness to take risks. This phenomenon is also apparent across a very diverse range of species in the animal kingdom. Experiments conducted on the fruit fly, Drosophila, by scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried have shown that hunger not only modifies behaviour, but also changes pathways in the brain.

Animal behaviour is radically affected by the availability and amount of food. Studies prove that the willingness of many animals to take risks increases or declines depending on whether the animal is hungry or full. For example, a predator only hunts more dangerous prey when it is close to starvation. This behaviour has also been documented in humans in recent years: one study showed that hungry subjects took significantly more financial risks than their sated colleagues.

Also the fruit fly, Drosophila, changes its behaviour depending on its nutritional state. The animals usually perceive even low quantities of carbon dioxide to be a sign of danger and opt to take flight. However, rotting fruit and plants -- the flies' main sources of food -- also release carbon dioxide. Neurobiologists in Martinsried have now discovered how the brain deals with this constant conflict in deciding between a hazardous substance and a potential food source taking advantage of the fly as a great genetic model organism for circuit neuroscience.

In various experiments, the scientists presented the flies with environments containing carbon dioxide or a mix of carbon dioxide and the smell of food. It emerged that hungry flies overcame their aversion to carbon dioxide significantly faster than fed flies -- if there was a smell of food in the environment at the same time. Facing the prospect of food, hungry animals are therefore significantly more willing to take risks than sated flies. But how does the brain manage to decide between these options?

Avoiding carbon dioxide is an innate behaviour and should therefore be generated outside the mushroom body in the fly's brain: previously, the nerve cells in the mushroom body were linked only with learning and behaviour patterns that are based on learned associations. However, when the scientists temporarily disabled these nerve cells, hungry flies no longer showed any reaction whatsoever to carbon dioxide. The behaviour of fed flies, on the other hand, remained the same: they avoided the carbon dioxide.

In further studies, the researchers identified a projection neuron which transports the carbon dioxide information to the mushroom body. This nerve cell is crucial in triggering a flight response in hungry, but not in fed animals. "In fed flies, nerve cells outside the mushroom body are enough for flies to flee from the carbon dioxide. In hungry animals, however, the nerve cells are in the mushroom body and the projection neuron, which carries the carbon dioxide information there, is essential for the flight response. If mushroom body or projection neuron activity is blocked, only hungry flies are no longer concerned about the carbon dioxide," explains Ilona Grunwald-Kadow, who headed the study.

The results show that the innate flight response to carbon dioxide in fruit flies is controlled by two parallel neural circuits, depending on how satiated the animals are. "If the fly is hungry, it will no longer rely on the 'direct line' but will use brain centres to gauge internal and external signals and reach a balanced decision," explains Grunwald-Kadow. "It is fascinating to see the extent to which metabolic processes and hunger affect the processing systems in the brain," she adds.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/V5hlnSiuhhE/130625073802.htm

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Indiana explosion: What caused the fatal explosion?

Indiana explosion: A man was killed in an explosion at an Indiana grain elevator today. OSHA says explosions in grain-handling facilities across the nation have killed 180 people and injured more than 675 over the last 35 years.?

By Associated Press / June 24, 2013

Emergency personnel respond to a grain elevator explosion that killed an employee on Monday, June 24, at the Union Mills Co-Op in Union Mills, Ind.

Robert Franklin / South Bend / AP

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Indiana explosion: An explosion Monday inside a grain elevator killed a worker at a sprawling northwestern Indiana farm co-op, authorities said.

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The cause of the blast at the Union Mills Co-op remained unknown Monday evening several hours after the blast. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firms and Explosives and the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration were among the agencies sending investigators to the scene.

It wasn't clear where the victim, James Swank, 67, of Union Mills, was at time of the blast, but he might have been loading grain into train cars with two other workers, Maj. John Boyd of the LaPorte County Sheriff's Department said.

"At this point we're just not sure," Boyd said.

All other employees were accounted for and no other injuries were reported.

Swank died from multiple blunt force trauma, Coroner John Sullivan said. It may have been a grain dust explosion, he said.

"Neighbors reported a large, concussion-like explosion that shook their homes, followed by a large amount of white smoke," Sullivan said.

Purdue University farm safety expert Steve Wettschurack said grain dust is highly volatile, and a small spark, even from someone using a hammer, can set off a blast, Wettschurack said.

"It'll shake the countryside. There's a lot of power to it. But there's not really a lot of fire to it," he said.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration website says more than 500 explosions in grain-handling facilities across the nation over the last 35 years have killed 180 people and injured more than 675. Grain dust is the main source of fuel for explosions in grain handling, the website said.

Shawn Lambert, safety manager for Avon, Indiana-based co-op owner Co-Alliance, says the explosion occurred inside a grain elevator with several connected silos.

Boyd said the co-op property covers several acres and includes storage for hazardous material, including fertilizers and anhydrous ammonia, elsewhere on the site. The property is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Chicago.

The Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration has no record of any inspections at the co-op, spokesman Bob Dittmer said.

Co-Alliance is a farmer-owned supply and marketing cooperative serving rural communities in Indiana, Ohio and southern Michigan.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/UtYuzO_rUUE/Indiana-explosion-What-caused-the-fatal-explosion

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Second Atlantic season tropical depression forms

Public release date: 17-Jun-2013
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Contact: Patrick Lynch
patrick.lynch@nasa.gov
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Tropical Depression 2 formed in the western Caribbean Sea during the early afternoon hours (Eastern Daylight Time) on June 17. NOAA's GOES-13 satellite captured an image of the storm as it consolidated enough to become a tropical depression while approaching the coast of Belize. NOAA's GOES-13 satellite sits in a fixed orbit and monitors the weather in the eastern half of the continental United States and the Atlantic Ocean. NASA's GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland uses the data from GOES-13 and creates imagery. NASA's GOES Project created an image of Tropical Depression 2 from June 17 at 1:10 p.m. EDT. Looking closely at the imagery, strong thunderstorms are firing up around the center of circulation, just off-shore from Belize. The clouds associated with the depression stretch much farther, from far western Cuba, to the eastern Yucatan Peninsula, and over Belize and Honduras.

The National Hurricane Center designated the low pressure area as Tropical Depression 2 at 11 a.m. EDT. At that time it had maximum sustained winds near 35 mph (55 kph) and was moving to the west-northwest at 13 mph (20 kph). Tropical Depression 2 is located near 16.2 north and 87.6 west, about 60 miles (95 km) east of Monkey River Town, Belize.

The center of the depression will move inland over southern Belize this afternoon where no change in strength is expected as it moves over land. The depression could emerge into the Bay of Campeche on Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). NHC noted that an increase in strength is possible on Tuesday if the center emerges into the Bay of Campeche. If that happens, Tropical Depression 2 could become Tropical Storm Barry.

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 17-Jun-2013
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Contact: Patrick Lynch
patrick.lynch@nasa.gov
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Tropical Depression 2 formed in the western Caribbean Sea during the early afternoon hours (Eastern Daylight Time) on June 17. NOAA's GOES-13 satellite captured an image of the storm as it consolidated enough to become a tropical depression while approaching the coast of Belize. NOAA's GOES-13 satellite sits in a fixed orbit and monitors the weather in the eastern half of the continental United States and the Atlantic Ocean. NASA's GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland uses the data from GOES-13 and creates imagery. NASA's GOES Project created an image of Tropical Depression 2 from June 17 at 1:10 p.m. EDT. Looking closely at the imagery, strong thunderstorms are firing up around the center of circulation, just off-shore from Belize. The clouds associated with the depression stretch much farther, from far western Cuba, to the eastern Yucatan Peninsula, and over Belize and Honduras.

The National Hurricane Center designated the low pressure area as Tropical Depression 2 at 11 a.m. EDT. At that time it had maximum sustained winds near 35 mph (55 kph) and was moving to the west-northwest at 13 mph (20 kph). Tropical Depression 2 is located near 16.2 north and 87.6 west, about 60 miles (95 km) east of Monkey River Town, Belize.

The center of the depression will move inland over southern Belize this afternoon where no change in strength is expected as it moves over land. The depression could emerge into the Bay of Campeche on Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). NHC noted that an increase in strength is possible on Tuesday if the center emerges into the Bay of Campeche. If that happens, Tropical Depression 2 could become Tropical Storm Barry.

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/nsfc-sas061713.php

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Mandy Walker: 9 Reasons to Appreciate Your Ex This Father's Day

Father's Day is for dads. That must mean if you're divorced from your kids' father you can sit back, relax and not have to worry about organizing gifts and celebrations for the day, right? Wrong.

The very least you can do is to talk to your children about how they intend to show their appreciation for their father and if they need help, you can give them a few sincere and thoughtful ideas. There are plenty of reasons why you'd want to do this.

1. He is the father of your children. Without him your children would not exist. Lots of women tell me they shouldn't have gotten married, but that's always closely followed by, "... but then I wouldn't have my kids." I've yet to hear someone say they wish they didn't have their children.

2. He will always be the father of your children. Children should never have to choose one parent over the other. By talking to your children about Father's Day, you're showing your children that they don't have to choose and nor do they have to hide their love for their father from you.

3. He shares the responsibility for parenting. As much as you and your ex may not see eye-to-eye on parenting and may have different rules, his different perspective may help improve and strengthen your parenting. And when the going gets tough, any extra reinforcement of consequences and discipline helps.

4. He does activities with your kids that you don't. There are a lot of activities I'm willing to try especially if my kids ask me, but there are definitely some I won't ... fishing, paintballing, auto-maintenance to name a few. I'm not wild about camping either. My ex, on the other hand is happy to do these and he appreciates that these are "his activities." That's a win-win all round.

5. His parenting time means free time for you. This is a no-brainer. When your children are with their father it means alone time for you, doing whatever you choose or need to do. It makes life a little easier.

6. He's a better parent than a husband. This might be a difficult reality for you but it's a win for your kids. Read numbers 1 and 2 again.

7. He's become a better parent since your divorce. If your ex has stepped up his parenting game since your divorce, chances are you've thought, "If only he'd been like this while we were married." Well, he wasn't and as frustrating as that may be, it could be the change in your relationship dynamics that has enabled this. His active involvement now is good for your kids and for that you can be thankful..

8. Not everything about your marriage was bad. With divorce, it's easy to remember the bad times, the fights, the disagreements, the ugliness but in reality there were probably some good times too. There were times when you made each other laugh and times when you had fun outings as a family.

My ex is an avid skier, dare I say, obsessed? We were a ski family. I became a much better skier because of him and our kids have skied since they were toddlers. We had some fun vacations, visited lots of different ski resorts and some of our ski friends are still my friends today. This past winter, my daughter joined her college ski racing team and experienced the unique camaraderie of a collegiate sports team. A love of skiing is one of my ex's gifts to us.

9. You were right for each other once. Even though you're no longer a couple, you chose to be together for a reason. Your relationship is part of your journey through life and is part of your growth even if it meant growing apart. He is a part of who you are today.

In helping your children honor their father on his day you're also teaching your children an important and valuable life skill about showing appreciation for others. It's a skill that will serve them well as they make their way through school, college and the workplace. If that's not justification enough for you to appreciate your ex this Father's Day, then consider this: Mother's Day is only 330 days away!

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Follow Mandy Walker on Twitter: www.twitter.com/sincemydivorce

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mandy-walker/single-mom-fathers-day_b_3415739.html

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Jet stream changes cause climatically exceptional Greenland Ice Sheet melt

June 17, 2013 ? Research from the University of Sheffield has shown that unusual changes in atmospheric jet stream circulation caused the exceptional surface melt of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) in summer 2012.

An international team led by Professor Edward Hanna from the University of Sheffield's Department of Geography used a computer model simulation (called SnowModel) and satellite data to confirm a record surface melting of the GrIS for at least the last 50 years -- when on 11 July 2012, more than 90 percent of the ice-sheet surface melted. This far exceeded the previous surface melt extent record of 52 percent in 2010.

The team also analysed weather station data from on top of and around the GrIS, largely collected by the Danish Meteorological Institute but also by US programmes, which showed that several new high Greenland temperature records were set in summer 2012.

The research, published today in the International Journal of Climatology, clearly demonstrates that the record surface melting of the GrIS was mainly caused by highly unusual atmospheric circulation and jet stream changes, which were also responsible for last summer's unusually wet weather in England.

The analysis shows that ocean temperatures and Arctic sea-ice cover were relatively unimportant factors in causing the extra Greenland melt.

Professor Hanna said: "The GrIS is a highly sensitive indicator of regional and global climate change, and has been undergoing rapid warming and mass loss during the last 5-20 years. Much attention has been given to the NASA announcement of record surface melting of the GrIS in mid-July 2012. This event was unprecedented in the satellite record of observations dating back to the 1970s and probably unlikely to have occurred previously for well over a century.

"Our research found that a 'heat dome' of warm southerly winds over the ice sheet led to widespread surface melting. These jet stream changes over Greenland do not seem to be well captured in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) computer model predictions of climate change, and this may indicate a deficiency in these models. According to our current understanding, the unusual atmospheric circulation and consequent warm conditions of summer 2012 do not appear to be climatically representative of future 'average' summers predicted later this century.

"Taken together, our present results strongly suggest that the main forcing of the extreme GrIS surface melt in July 2012 was atmospheric, linked with changes in the summer North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), Greenland Blocking Index (GBI, a high pressure system centred over Greenland) and polar jet stream which favoured southerly warm air advection along the western coast.

"The next five-10 years will reveal whether or not 2012 was a rare event resulting from the natural variability of the NAO or part of an emerging pattern of new extreme high melt years. Because such atmospheric, and resulting GrIS surface climate, changes are not well projected by the current generation of global climate models, it is currently very hard to predict future changes in Greenland climate. Yet it is crucial to understand such changes much better if we are to have any hope of reliably predicting future changes in GrIS mass balance, which is likely to be a dominant contributor to global sea-level change over the next 100-1000 years."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/dsnJrBjm4iQ/130617111255.htm

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