Iran: Ahmadinejad Granted License to Start University
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has obtained clearance to establish a university in Tehran after he leaves office next week. According to reports, Ahmadinejad?s "Iranians University" will focus on information technology, nanotechnology, aerospace and nuclear science.
Despite the best efforts of Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, LG and others, most of the televisions in people's homes these days are not of the smart variety. However, there are hundreds of millions of regular televisions packing HDMI ports, and Google's new Chromecast device offers a way to put some brains into those dumb TVs by giving them access to web-based content. Having a Chromecast dongle connected to your TV means you can stream videos straight from a Google Play, Netflix or YouTube app, or mirror the content in any open tab in Google's Chrome browser using a tab casting feature.
Sure, we've seen devices with almost identical functionality, like Plair, but Chromecast is backed by Google, whose relationships with content providers and developers mean that the Google Cast technology powering it will soon be popping up in even more apps. Not to mention, there's the price. At $35, it's almost a third of the cost of Plair and also Roku 3 and Apple TV, the current most popular devices that bring internet video to your TV. Even for such a paltry outlay, is it a worthy addition to your living room? And is it really "the easiest way to enjoy online video and music on your TV" as Google's marketing would have us believe? Read on to find out.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday said it was proposing a $2.75 million fine for Boeing's commercial airplane division for failing to take prompt action to fix a problem with fasteners discovered in 2008 on its model 777 airplanes.
"Safety is our top priority and a robust quality control system is a vital part of maintaining the world's safest air transportation system," U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement announcing the action.
"Airplane manufacturers must take prompt and thorough steps to correct safety and compliance problems once they become aware of them," Foxx said.
Boeing said it took corrective action and closed the matter in November 2010 and is working with the FAA to "understand and address any remaining concerns."
Boeing said its actions included greater management oversight, a database for tracking issues and regular meetings with the FAA to ensure any open cases were closed on time.
The action came as Boeing's 787 Dreamliner aircraft has suffered a spate of mishaps in recent weeks, including a spontaneous fire on an Ethiopian Airlines-owned 787 that was parked at a remote stand at London's Heathrow Airport.
In January, regulators grounded the global fleet of 50 Dreamliners after batteries burned on two jets within two weeks. The planes were allowed back in the air in April after Boeing redesigned the battery system.
The FAA said Boeing discovered in September 2008 it had been installing non-conforming fasteners on its 777 airplanes, but then took more than two years to implement a plan to correct the problem.
Although Boeing had stopped using the non-conforming fasteners after the problem was discovered, some of the underlying manufacturing issues continued to exist until after the corrective action plan was in place, the agency said.
"Manufacturers must make it a priority to identify and correct quality problems in a timely manner," FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said in the statement.
The FAA said the company has 30 days to respond to the agency's letter detailing the proposed fine.
Earlier this week it was reported that star Broncos Linebacker Von Miller would be suspended for 4 games for violating the leagues drug policy. There were many conflicting reports at first. Some had Miller failing a test for PED?s, while others were suggesting the failed test was for marijuana and other recreational drugs. Either way that would lead to a suspension, but fans and players might not necessarily look at Miller as bad if the failed test was for recreational drugs rather than PED?s because at least then you couldn?t say he was cheating on the filed. But now new rumors are coming to light that Miller in fact, never failed any test at all. Hit the jump for more.
@IamJoeSports
According to USA Today
Miller has filed an appeal with the NFL to get the suspension lifted, and though such wins are rare, those close to Miller believe he will eventually be cleared. A person with knowledge of Miller?s situation told USA TODAY Sports that the suspension was not the result of a failed drug test. ?He didn?t test positive for anything,? the person said.
I really hope it is true that he never failed a test to begin with. Miller is one of the best young players in the league, and it would be ashame if he was getting to stardom by using PED?s. Earlier this week he said ?absolutely not?, when asked if marijuana was a part of his life. So Miller just might be one of the rare few athletes who are able to win his appeal, but like with baseball player Ryan Braun earlier this week, sometimes you just have to wait and see.
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OTTAWA ? Canada?s steadily increasing role in the U.S.-led war on drugs is bumping up against calls for change in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Conservative governmenug tt has made tackling drrafficking in the Americas a key priority in recent years, deploying the military and doling out millions of dollars to help countries in the region take the fight to transnational crime groups.
But key partners, including Mexico, Guatemala and Colombia, all of which are on the front lines of the fight, have asked for a hemispheric and international debate on new approaches as drug violence continues to sweep their countries.
The division between Canada?s position and that of other countries was highlighted earlier this week when Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and his Mexican counterpart, Jose Antonio Meade Kuribrena, were asked about drugs during a joint press conference in Ottawa.
Meade Kuribrena, whose government has struggled with how to end the violence that has left tens of thousands of criminals, security forces and civilians dead without abandoning the country to drug lords, said the current strategy is not working.
?Even though we personally oppose legalization, we think that there should be an effort to construct a consensus around a new alternative and a new vision and a new way of confronting and dealing with drug problems in our region,? said Meade Kuribrena.
It?s a message that has been echoed by other governments within the Americas, and is why Mexico, Colombia and Guatemala ? key partners for Canada in the region ? have asked the United Nations to debate the issue.
In addition, the Organization of American States released a study in May that also advocated a re-think of the war on drugs while examining four alternative strategies, including the idea of abandoning the 40-year fight entirely.
Opinions within the region are anything but unanimous on the best way forward, and governments throughout the region aren?t about to cede the battlefield to the drug lords.
?The key thing is (Latin American and Caribbean countries) want to be able to experiment, they want out of basically the very constraining framework that?s been imposed on that file mostly by the United States,? said Jean Daudelin, a Latin America expert at Carleton University.
Philip Oxhorn, a Latin America expert at McGill University, said Canada could play a key role helping Latin America convince the U.S. of the benefits of a new approach.
?I know there?s a lot of concern in Latin America that this policy is creating huge costs that can no longer be tolerated,? he said.
?But Canada?s had a very consistent policy and I personally haven?t seen any indications that the current government at least is planning on changing that and working with Latin America.?
Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a surprise admission in April 2012 ?that the current approach is not working,? yet the Conservative government has continued to ramp up Canada?s involvement in the war on drugs.
During his press conference with Meade Kurbrena, Baird highlighted steps the Conservative government has taken to strengthen drug laws in Canada while applauding the continued efforts of Mexico and other countries to stamp out drug-trafficking.
?We do have great respect for the significant efforts of successive Mexican governments to tackle organized crime,? Baird said. He added that Canada is doing its part to help in the region.
?Not just in Mexico,? he said, ?but working co-operatively to tackle crime in Central America. I think a great deal of progress has been made, and we want to continue build upon the partnerships that we?ve made.?
Briefing notes prepared for then-minister of state for the Americas Diane Ablonczy and obtained by Postmedia News showed the government?s tepid view of the OAS study.
?One of the objectives in our engagement in the Americas is to combat transnational crime and our programming investments demonstrate our commitment to this issue,? read talking notes prepared for Ablonczy in advance of a meeting with Latin American ambassadors in November.
?Canada looks forward to robust engagement in this process and sharing our domestic experience in addressing illicit drugs.?
The talking points are under a heading: ?Defensive Line ? OAS Drug Study.?
Separate briefing notes prepared for then-defence minister Peter MacKay following last year?s Mexican presidential election, in which Enrique Pena Nieto came to power, show Canadian officials have been closely monitoring attitudes in the region.
?Pena Nieto has clearly stated that he is committed to continue the fight against transnational criminal organizations,? the heavily censored note reads. ?Pena Nieto has indicated, however, that he wishes to implement a new strategy to fight criminal organizations.?
A section entitled ?Implications for Canada? is completely blacked out.
The fact the note was prepared by Defence Department officials is telling as the Canadian military has become quietly but increasingly involved in the U.S.-led war on drugs since the Conservative government came to power in 2006.
This has included deploying Canadian military surveillance aircraft, naval vessels and even submarines throughout the Caribbean and East Pacific to help U.S. drug interdiction missions.
National Defence reports that the total cost of operations in the region has increased from $25.3 million in 2008-09 to an estimated $282.2 million this year, while the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development has also contributed millions of dollars for police training and other anti-drug efforts.
However, Foreign Affairs has also contributed millions of dollars to help train police officers and strengthen the criminal justice system in countries such as Honduras, while the RCMP has also become more involved.
Separate Defence Department briefing notes estimate transnational criminal organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean are worth more than $40 billion (U.S.), with cocaine being their main source of income.
The organized crime groups are a ?corrosive? threat to governments and populations throughout the Americas, particularly in Central American countries such as Honduras, Guatemala and Panama, the documents add.
Oxhorn said there is no denying the threat posed by transnational crime groups in the hemisphere, but clearly the current approach isn?t working.
?Otherwise we wouldn?t have been at this war for so long,? he said. ?So an alternative is needed.?
DHARAMSHALA, July 26: Chinese troops made yet another attempt to violate the international border at Chumar area in Ladakh region of north India on July 20, taking the number of incursions well above a dozen since April.
According to India media reports, Chinese troops had climbed a small mountain when they were confronted by Indian security forces.
The Chinese side claimed it was their territory and said they were headed towards Tible area, five kilometres deep into the Indian territory, following orders from People?s Liberation Army headquarters to conduct some photography in the area.
However, after a usual face-off drill, the Chinese troops returned. According to reports, they also sought assistance from the Indian side in getting some food as they had run out of their stock.
Chumar, located 300 kms from Leh, has the distinction of having a defined International Border with China.
Indian army sources have said that the 'assertive posturing' by the Chinese troops has been flashed to all units along the China-India border in the area to keep a strict vigil on their movement.
In April this year, a Chinese platoon had entered and set up camp about 19 km into Indian territory in the Depsang Valley and had refused to budge for about three weeks despite repeated requests from India.
After a 21-day face-off during which there were intense negotiations amid increasing tension, China agreed to withdraw its platoon. In return, India agreed to dismantle seven bunkers that it was building in the Chumar sector.
On Tuesday, India and China held their third meeting on border affairs in New Delhi, amidst reports of continued incursions by the Chinese side including one on June 17 in Chumar where Chinese troops took away an Indian Army surveillance camera meant for keeping an eye on the PLA troops patrolling there.
According to reports, India raised the issue of recent incursions and the lack of coordination, especially during the Depsang valley incident, when the Chinese Foreign Ministry was not speaking in the same voice as the Chinese troops on ground-level, during the two-day Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs talks.
India recently gave the go ahead for raising a Mountain Strike Corps, which will see the deployment of 40,000 additional soldiers along the Indo-Tibetan border to counter China's military strength.
The Strike Corps will be headquartered at Panagarh in West Bengal and will have an independent armoured brigade, an artillery brigade with the Indian Air Force deploying its newly-acquired medium lift C-130 J Hercules Transport Aircraft designed for aiding special operations.
Earlier this week, the state-run Xinhua news agency released pictures of China's Air Force conducting high-altitude night flying exercises in Lhasa, the ancient capital of the Tibet, located about 500 km from the Indian border.
Last year, PLA held its "first ground to air military exercise" in the Tibetan plateau, involving scores of fighter jets, hundreds of battle tanks and a large number of ground troops.
China has about five fully-operational airbases, a well laid down rail network and over 58,000- km of roads along the Indian border, which enable it to move over 30 divisions (each with over 15,000 soldiers) to the LAC, outnumbering the Indian forces.
After the fall of Tibet in 1959, India and China have shared a 3488 km long disputed border which was the cause of a short but bloody war in 1962. Since then, the two Asian giants have shared uneasy military ties with a series of border talks failing to yield much result.
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? The cast and crew of "Glee" is saying goodbye to star Cory Monteith (mahn-TEETH'), who died earlier this month.
Twentieth Century Fox Television says "Glee" co-star and Monteith's real-life girlfriend Lea Michele (LEE'-uh mih-SHEHL') and show creator Ryan Murphy gathered the show's cast and crew for a memorial on Thursday. They shared memories and music in "an emotional celebration" of Monteith's life.
The 31-year-old actor was found dead in a hotel room in Vancouver, British Columbia, on July 13. An autopsy revealed he died of an overdose of heroin and alcohol.
Murphy said recently that the show plans a tribute episode honoring Monteith that will address the death of his character, Finn.
"Glee" is set to begin its fifth season on Sept. 26, a week later than originally planned.
OMAHA?She voted against it, she campaigned against it.
But Mayor Jean Stothert can?t shake the restaurant tax.
Projected to pull in nearly $28 million in 2014?up $5 million in three years?it?s part of her first budget and Stothert admits without it either services would have been slashed or property taxes increased.
So is the tax here to stay and is the mayor in jeopardy of breaking a key campaign promise?
Stothert heard those questions (see video below) from Nebraska Watchdog?s Joe Jordan.
Contact Joe Jordan at?joe@nebraskawatchdog.org
To subscribe to news updates from?Nebraska Watchdog?at no charge,?click here
Scientists ID compounds that target amyloid fibrils in Alzheimer's, other brain diseasesPublic release date: 25-Jul-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Stuart Wolpert swolpert@support.ucla.edu 310-206-0511 University of California - Los Angeles
Study first to use 'structural' approach in hunt for amyloid-inhibiting agents
UCLA chemists and molecular biologists have for the first time used a "structure-based" approach to drug design to identify compounds with the potential to delay or treat Alzheimer's disease, and possibly Parkinson's, Lou Gehrig's disease and other degenerative disorders.
All of these diseases are marked by harmful, elongated, rope-like structures known as amyloid fibrils, linked protein molecules that form in the brains of patients.
Structure-based drug design, in which the physical structure of a targeted protein is used to help identify compounds that will interact with it, has already been used to generate therapeutic agents for a number of infectious and metabolic diseases.
The UCLA researchers, led by David Eisenberg, director of the UCLADepartment of Energy Institute of Genomics and Proteomics and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, report the first application of this technique in the search for molecular compounds that bind to and inhibit the activity of the amyloid-beta protein responsible for forming dangerous plaques in the brain of patients with Alzheimer's and other degenerative diseases.
In addition to Eisenberg, who is also a professor of chemistry, biochemistry and biological chemistry and a member of UCLA's California NanoSystems Institute, the team included lead author Lin Jiang, a UCLA postdoctoral scholar in Eisenberg's laboratory and Howard Hughes Medical Institute researcher, and other UCLA faculty.
The research was published July 16 in eLife, a new open-access science journal backed by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Max Planck Society and the Wellcome Trust.
A number of non-structural screening attempts have been made to identify natural and synthetic compounds that might prevent the aggregation and toxicity of amyloid fibrils. Such studies have revealed that polyphenols, naturally occurring compounds found in green tea and in the spice turmeric, can inhibit the formation of amyloid fibrils. In addition, several dyes have been found to reduce amyloid's toxic effects, although significant side effects prevent them from being used as drugs.
Armed with a precise knowledge of the atomic structure of the amyloid-beta protein, Jiang, Eisenberg and colleagues conducted a computational screening of 18,000 compounds in search of those most likely to bind tightly and effectively to the protein.
Those compounds that showed the strongest potential for binding were then tested for their efficacy in blocking the aggregation of amyloid-beta and for their ability to protect mammalian cells grown in culture from the protein's toxic effects, which in the past has proved very difficult. Ultimately, the researchers identified eight compounds and three compound derivatives that had a significant effect.
While these compounds did not reduce the amount of protein aggregates, they were found to reduce the protein's toxicity and to increase the stability of amyloid fibrils a finding that lends further evidence to the theory that smaller assemblies of amyloid-beta known as oligomers, and not the fibrils themselves, are the toxic agents responsible for Alzheimer's symptoms.
The researchers hypothesize that by binding snugly to the protein, the compounds they identified may be preventing these smaller oligomers from breaking free of the amyloid-beta fibrils, thus keeping toxicity in check.
An estimated 5 million patients in the U.S. suffer from Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia. Alzheimer's health care costs in have been estimated at $178 billion per year, including the value of unpaid care for patients provided by nearly 10 million family members and friends.
In addition to uncovering compounds with therapeutic potential for Alzheimer's disease, this research presents a new approach for identifying proteins that bind to amyloid fibrils an approach that could have broad applications for treating many diseases.
Co-authors on the research included Cong Liu, David Leibly, Meytal Landau, Minglei Zhao and Michael Hughes.
###
The research was funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the National Institute of Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health (grant AG-029430).
UCLA is California's largest university, with an enrollment of more than 40,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The UCLA College of Letters and Science and the university's 11 professional schools feature renowned faculty and offer 337 degree programs and majors. UCLA is a national and international leader in the breadth and quality of its academic, research, health care, cultural, continuing education and athletic programs. Six alumni and six faculty have been awarded the Nobel Prize.
For more news, visit the UCLA Newsroom and follow us on Twitter.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
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.
Scientists ID compounds that target amyloid fibrils in Alzheimer's, other brain diseasesPublic release date: 25-Jul-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Stuart Wolpert swolpert@support.ucla.edu 310-206-0511 University of California - Los Angeles
Study first to use 'structural' approach in hunt for amyloid-inhibiting agents
UCLA chemists and molecular biologists have for the first time used a "structure-based" approach to drug design to identify compounds with the potential to delay or treat Alzheimer's disease, and possibly Parkinson's, Lou Gehrig's disease and other degenerative disorders.
All of these diseases are marked by harmful, elongated, rope-like structures known as amyloid fibrils, linked protein molecules that form in the brains of patients.
Structure-based drug design, in which the physical structure of a targeted protein is used to help identify compounds that will interact with it, has already been used to generate therapeutic agents for a number of infectious and metabolic diseases.
The UCLA researchers, led by David Eisenberg, director of the UCLADepartment of Energy Institute of Genomics and Proteomics and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, report the first application of this technique in the search for molecular compounds that bind to and inhibit the activity of the amyloid-beta protein responsible for forming dangerous plaques in the brain of patients with Alzheimer's and other degenerative diseases.
In addition to Eisenberg, who is also a professor of chemistry, biochemistry and biological chemistry and a member of UCLA's California NanoSystems Institute, the team included lead author Lin Jiang, a UCLA postdoctoral scholar in Eisenberg's laboratory and Howard Hughes Medical Institute researcher, and other UCLA faculty.
The research was published July 16 in eLife, a new open-access science journal backed by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Max Planck Society and the Wellcome Trust.
A number of non-structural screening attempts have been made to identify natural and synthetic compounds that might prevent the aggregation and toxicity of amyloid fibrils. Such studies have revealed that polyphenols, naturally occurring compounds found in green tea and in the spice turmeric, can inhibit the formation of amyloid fibrils. In addition, several dyes have been found to reduce amyloid's toxic effects, although significant side effects prevent them from being used as drugs.
Armed with a precise knowledge of the atomic structure of the amyloid-beta protein, Jiang, Eisenberg and colleagues conducted a computational screening of 18,000 compounds in search of those most likely to bind tightly and effectively to the protein.
Those compounds that showed the strongest potential for binding were then tested for their efficacy in blocking the aggregation of amyloid-beta and for their ability to protect mammalian cells grown in culture from the protein's toxic effects, which in the past has proved very difficult. Ultimately, the researchers identified eight compounds and three compound derivatives that had a significant effect.
While these compounds did not reduce the amount of protein aggregates, they were found to reduce the protein's toxicity and to increase the stability of amyloid fibrils a finding that lends further evidence to the theory that smaller assemblies of amyloid-beta known as oligomers, and not the fibrils themselves, are the toxic agents responsible for Alzheimer's symptoms.
The researchers hypothesize that by binding snugly to the protein, the compounds they identified may be preventing these smaller oligomers from breaking free of the amyloid-beta fibrils, thus keeping toxicity in check.
An estimated 5 million patients in the U.S. suffer from Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia. Alzheimer's health care costs in have been estimated at $178 billion per year, including the value of unpaid care for patients provided by nearly 10 million family members and friends.
In addition to uncovering compounds with therapeutic potential for Alzheimer's disease, this research presents a new approach for identifying proteins that bind to amyloid fibrils an approach that could have broad applications for treating many diseases.
Co-authors on the research included Cong Liu, David Leibly, Meytal Landau, Minglei Zhao and Michael Hughes.
###
The research was funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the National Institute of Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health (grant AG-029430).
UCLA is California's largest university, with an enrollment of more than 40,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The UCLA College of Letters and Science and the university's 11 professional schools feature renowned faculty and offer 337 degree programs and majors. UCLA is a national and international leader in the breadth and quality of its academic, research, health care, cultural, continuing education and athletic programs. Six alumni and six faculty have been awarded the Nobel Prize.
For more news, visit the UCLA Newsroom and follow us on Twitter.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
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.
It?s going to be an amazing time here on SonyAlphaRumors. I am working daily to get closer to the final NEX-FF and A-mount mirrorless specs. I think it will be inetretsing for every photographer (also non Sony people) to read and learn mroe about the brand new cameras. if you want to be sure to not miss any of the upcoming rumors subscribe the RSS feed (Click here), Twitter (Click here) stream, Facebook fan page (Click here) and Google Plus page (Click here).
I know Nikon and Canon communities are many times larger than ours but for the first time we can get a tiny bit closer to them by breaking the 10,000 Facebook likes. So help me out by pushing the Sony news on your social networks! It?s time to let people know that great Sony stuff is coming soon!
Get Dear Prudence delivered to your inbox each week; click here to sign up. Please send your questions for publication to prudence@slate.com. (Questions may be edited.)
Got a burning question for Prudie? She'll be online at Washingtonpost.com to chat with readers each Monday at noon. Submit your questions and comments here before or during the live discussion.
Dear Prudence, I am a hormonal young woman and was craving an easy hookup, so I tempted fate (and horny dudes) on the Internet. Fate (and the dudes) took the bait, and of the hundreds of responses I received, one stood out because he accidentally attached a professional summary. I found out it was a man who works in my field, and is a fair number of years my senior. We met up; we hooked up; we became friends. He and I are both unmarried and unattached, but neither of us wants to move have a romantic relationship with each other. I have now begun to date closer to my age group, so I don't want to share playtime with him anymore, but haven't told him yet. Being entry-level in the field, I could really use a mentor and have excellent access to this guy. I really don't want to exploit him or make him feel rejected or awkward, and I want to be as professional as possible to keep suspicions of "secret lovers" at bay. Two questions: 1) Is it OK to pursue his help with my career, maybe in a formal informational interview or by asking for introductions? And 2) How do I go about this tactfully? Connect with him on LinkedIn and send a formal email to his work address?
Dear Babe, I can just hear the kind of glowing recommendation your hookup can give you: ?Juliette has a wide-ranging skill set. She?s always ready for action and throws herself passionately into any task. She has the flexibility to be considered for a variety of positions.? You have a rather naive idea of what a mentor is and how you get one. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, in her book Lean In, says she hates when young women, some she barely knows, ask if she will be their mentor, the way little girls ask each other to be best friends. She writes of women your age: "We need to stop telling them, 'Get a mentor and you will excel,' Instead we need to tell them, 'Excel and you will get a mentor.' " You have exceled with this older man, all right, but not in a way that he can convey to his colleagues. Sure, you selected him to relieve your urges not just because of his personal skills but also his professional ones. Given that, it would have been fine for you to have engaged in a little pillow talk about your mutual vocation. But now that your assignations are done, you can?t expect he?ll welcome your showing up on his work networks or at his office. He knows you as someone who?s on the make, but in the wrong context. However, since you say you two have become friends, you should meet him for drinks and explain that while you?ve really enjoyed your adventures, you?re looking for something more permanent with someone your own age. Then say you?d like to stay in touch. If he agrees, when you get together for lunch, at some point ask his advice on how to move up in your field. For the future, keep in mind it?s better not to look for a mentor when you?re both out moonlighting.
Dear Prudence: Not-So-Secret Life
Dear Prudence, I am a single female physician in my mid-30s. I had a deep intellectual and (brief) romantic connection with my much older mentor. Now, I can?t figure out how to let go. "John" is over 20 years older than I am, divorced with grown children. He?s taught me everything I know about being a doctor. We delighted in each other?s friendship and a mentor/prot?g?e relationship for most of the past decade. I was moving away after my fellowship and we both became emotional that we couldn?t see each other regularly. We got romantically involved at that point and it felt so natural. We acknowledged our love but John said no to a committed relationship. I want marriage and children and he said he wanted neither again. He said he wanted me to be with someone who could give me all that. He?s also a self-declared womanizer. Since then we continue to have confusing contact. He provides me with guidance in practicing medicine. We have intimate chats, and occasionally physical intimacy when he comes to my city. I know it?s best for me to cut him out completely, but it?s so hard to let go. I can't imagine how I will practice medicine without being able to call him, and I would miss him as a friend. How do I keep the connection but ready myself to pursue a real romantic relationship?
Dear Heal, This is revealing examination, doctor, of the dark side of mentorship. No, it?s not just the matter of you two becoming lovers. It?s that your dependence on John is keeping you stuck psychologically. You can?t imagine making your way in your career without the constant advice and reassurance of someone you have elevated to godlike status. John may indeed be the William Harvey of his day, but surely he must hope that as he ages and medicine advances, you will eventually surpass him as a clinician. You already know consulting with colleagues makes you better at what you do, so at this point you should have a circle of people you turn to, not just one oracle. ?For the sake of argument (sorry to inject this thought) let?s say John suddenly drops dead. You?d feel bereft, but you wouldn?t close up your practice because you can no longer turn to him for advice. If for your own emotional health you need to cut him out of your life, recognize you will go on just fine. Being clear about that may give you the strength to maintain a just-friends relationship with John. Stop having sexually charged conversations, and sex, with him. Tell him he?ll always have a special place in your heart, but you two have to go back to being colleagues. Since he?s admittedly always juggling a bunch of women, it perhaps will come as a relief to him. I?m no doctor, but the medical facts are that since you are in your mid-30s and want children, you don?t have a lot of time to waste in finding a partner. Don?t ?ready? yourself for a life post-John, start living it now.
Beth Ditto has revealed she tied the knot with girlfriend Kristin Ogata in April.
The Gossip singer has kept us in suspense for a while but has finally posted her first wedding picture on Facebook.
She captioned the happy snap: "At long last, now that we have returned home and recovered from all the amazingness and had some time to bask in the afterglow, we are exited to share with you a pic or two from Beth and Kristin's wedding!"
They added: "So much love and appreciation to all of our family and friends who celebrated with us! And a huge thank you to Jean Paul Gaultier for the dream-come-true dress!"
Shortly after Beth made the announcement, the designer took to Twitter to share his well-wishes.
He posted: "Congratulations to the newlyweds! All the best for Beth and Kristin! Love, JPG."
ABOVE: The Gossip singer and her beau Kristin Ogata tied the know back in April
Sounds like it was the wedding she had always hoped for.
ABOVE: Beth Ditto seemed over the moon as she got to wear her 'dream' wedding dress
SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain (AP) ? A Spanish train that hurtled off the rails and smashed into a security wall as it rounded a bend was going so fast that carriages tumbled off the tracks like dominos, according to eyewitness accounts and video footage obtained Thursday.
The official death toll from Wednesday night's crash near this Christian festival city in northwest Spain rose to 78 in Spain's deadliest wreck in four decades.
Hospital officials said 141 people were injured, and 36 remained in critical condition Thursday, among them four children.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who was born in Santiago de Compostela, toured the crash scene alongside rescue workers and went to a nearby hospital to visit some of the wounded and their families.
"For a native of Santiago, like me, this is the saddest day," Rajoy said. He said judicial authorities and the Public Works Ministry had launched parallel investigations into what caused the crash.
Eyewitness accounts backed by security-camera footage of the moment of disaster suggested that the eight-carriage train carrying 218 passengers was going too fast as it tried to turn left underneath a road bridge. The speed limit on that section of track is 80 kilometers (50 miles) per hour, Spanish officials said.
The footage, which the Spanish railway authority Adif said probably came from one of its cameras, shows the train carriages start to buckle soon into the turn, with the first and second passenger carriages leaving the tracks first. The engine itself quickly follows, violently tipping on to its right side as it crashes into a concrete security wall and bulldozes its way along the ground.
In the background, all the rear carriages can be seen starting to decouple and come off the tracks. The picture goes blank as the engine appears to crash directly into the camera.
"I saw the train coming out of the bend at great speed and then there was a big noise," one eyewitness, Consuelo Domingues, told The Associated Press. "... Then everybody tried to get out of the train."
Santiago officials, who had been preparing for the city's annual Catholic festival Thursday, canceled it and took control of the main sports stadium to use as a makeshift morgue. There, relatives of many of the dead could be seen sobbing and embracing each other.
Maria Pardo Rios, spokeswoman for the Galicia region's main court, said 73 people died at the scene, four others after they were taken to hospitals. The Interior Ministry later confirmed a 78th death.
A regional Galicia health official, Rocio Mosquera, told reporters Thursday afternoon that 95 people remained hospitalized, among them 36 in critical condition, including four children.
The Interior Ministry, responsible for law and order, ruled out terrorism as a cause.
It was Spain's deadliest train accident since 1972, when a train collided with a bus in southwest Spain, killing 86 people and injuring 112.
"July 24 will no longer be the eve of a day of celebration but rather one commemorating one of the saddest days in the history of Galicia," said Alberto Nunez Feijoo, regional president of Galicia. Santiago de Compostela is its capital.
The accident created a scene that was "Dante-esque," Feijoo said. He declared seven days of mourning for the victims.
Rescue workers spent the night searching through smashed carriages alongside the tracks.
As dawn broke, cranes brought to the scene were used to lift the carriages off the tracks. Rescue workers collected passengers' scattered luggage and loaded it into a truck next to the tracks.
Rescuers described a scene of horror immediately after the crash. Smoke billowed from at least one carriage that had caught fire, while another had been torn into two parts.
Residents of the residential neighborhood closest to the rail line struggled to help victims out of the toppled cars. Some passengers were pulled out of broken windows. Television images showed one man atop a carriage lying on its side, using a pickaxe to try to smash through a window. Other rescuers used rocks to try to free survivors from the fiery wreckage.
Nearby, rescue workers lined up bodies covered in blankets alongside the tracks.
State-owned train operator Renfe said it couldn't confirm how many staff were on board the train. It said the crash happened at 8.41 p.m. (1841 GMT) about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) south of Santiago de Compostela.
Spanish media said the train had two drivers aboard and both survived.
Renfe said it and Adif, another state-owned company that manages tracks, signals and other railway infrastructure, were cooperating with a judge appointed to investigate the accident.
It was the world's third major rail accident this month.
On July 12, six people were killed and nearly 200 were injured when four cars of a passenger train derailed south of Paris.
On July 6, 72 cars carrying crude oil derailed in Lac-Megantic, Ontario, setting off explosions and fires that killed 47 people.
Catholic pilgrims converge on Santiago de Compostela annually to celebrate a festival honoring St. James, a disciple of Jesus whose remains are said to rest in a shrine. The city is the main gathering point for those who reach the end of the El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route that has drawn Christians since the Middle Ages.
Several injured passengers said they felt a strong vibration just before the cars jumped the tracks, according to Xabier Martinez, a photographer who talked with them after arriving at the scene as rescue workers were still removing bodies.
One passenger, Ricardo Montero, told the Cadena Ser radio station that "when the train reached that bend it began to flip over, many times, with some carriages ending up on top of others, leaving many people trapped below. We had to get under the carriages to get out."
Another passenger, Sergio Prego, told Cadena Ser the train "traveled very fast" just before it derailed and the cars flipped upside down, on their sides and into the air.
"I've been very lucky because I'm one of the few able to walk out," Prego said.
The Alvia 730 series train started from Madrid and was scheduled to end its journey at El Ferrol, about 95 kilometers (60 miles) north of Santiago de Compostela. Alvias operate high-speed services but do not go as fast as Spain's fastest bullet trains, called AVEs.
The maximum Alvia speed is 250 kph (155 mph) on tracks made especially for the AVEs, and they travel at a maximum speed of 220 kph (137 mph) on normal gauge rails.
Other major train crashes in Spain include a 1944 accident involving three trains that crashed in a tunnel. That disaster produced wildly disputed death tolls ranging from the government's official count of 78 to more than 500, according to later research.
In 2006, 43 people died when a subway train crashed because of excessive speed in the southern city of Valencia. In 2004, 191 died when al-Qaida-inspired terrorists detonated 10 bombs on four Madrid commuter trains.
___
Clendenning reported from Madrid. Associated Press writers Ciaran Giles in Madrid and Shawn Pogatchnik in Dublin contributed to this report.
My internet has been acting a bit funny, While trying to create a roleplay to test some things out with site mechanics I was receiving a number of errors. I thought I had not created this test roleplay however I have discovered that I have... quite a few of them too.
How do I delete them? I rather not have around five of these around, I only need one.
McDonald?s Corp. fell in early trading after posting second-quarter profit and revenue that trailed analysts? estimates and saying economic weakness would hurt results for the remainder of the year.
McDonald?s slid 2.98% to US$97.28 at 10:28 a.m. in New York. The Oak Brook, Illinois-based company?s shares had gained 14% this year through July 19, while the Standard & Poor?s 500 Restaurants Index rose 17%.
Chief Executive Officer Donald Thompson has been trying to attract consumers with less expensive fare, such as Dollar Menu foods in the U.S. and combo meals in Europe. Sales at global stores open at least 13 months rose 1% in the quarter, matching the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Consensus Metrix. July same-store sales are projected to be unchanged from last year, Thompson said today in a statement.
?Based on recent sales trends, our results for the remainder of the year are expected to remain challenged,? he said.
Net income rose 3.7% to $1.4 billion, or $1.38 a share, from $1.35 billion, or $1.32, a year earlier, the company said. Foreign currency exchange-rate fluctuations reduced profit by 2 cents a share in the quarter. Analysts estimated $1.40 a share, the average of 27 projections compiled by Bloomberg.
Revenue rose 2.4% to $7.08 billion in the quarter, trailing analysts? average estimate of $7.09 billion.
Same-store sales rose 1% in the U.S., lagging behind estimates for a 1.5% gain, according to Consensus Metrix, a researcher owned by Wayne, New Jersey-based Kaul Advisory Group.
McDonald?s has faced a U.S. consumer environment where unemployment has been stuck above 7.5% for 54 straight months. Competitors also are introducing new items ? Burger King Worldwide Inc. has smoothies and soft-serve ice cream, while Yum! Brands Inc.?s Taco Bell is testing a $1 menu.
During the past month, McDonald?s has increased advertising for its value items to drive more customers into restaurants, Peter Saleh, a New York-based analyst at Telsey Advisory Group, said today in an interview. The consumer environment is volatile in the U.S., he said.
?There?s no good footing,? Saleh said.
Comparable-store sales declined 0.1% in Europe and 0.3% in the company?s Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa region, during the quarter. Analysts estimated drops of 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively. Same-store sales are an indicator of a company?s growth because they include only older restaurants.
In Europe, McDonald?s is facing a cash-strapped consumer. The Big Mac seller this year has been promoting less expensive items, such as combo meals and 1 euro burgers, in Germany and France, the company?s two biggest European markets. The fast- food chain gets about one-third of its revenue from countries in its Europe segment.
McDonald?s has about 34,500 stores globally, of which 19% are owned by the company.
WASHINGTON ? The U.S. bishops have warned that the religious freedom of Catholics and Church institutions is under threat, so recent headlines asserting similar problems in the military are often accepted without question.
But do Catholics in the armed forces actually face challenges to the free exercise of their faith? And if they do, where does the danger come from, and who should provide an authoritative judgment?
The need for clarity on such matters has gained urgency as Louisiana Republican Rep. John Fleming?s ?proposed amendment that would strengthen religious freedom in the military fuels intense controversy on Capitol Hill.
Last month, the House Armed Services Committee approved Fleming?s amendment, which was included in the House-passed National Defense Authorization Act, and the Senate Armed Services Committee passed a similar amendment on a bipartisan vote.
Fleming has stated that Christians in the military face mounting efforts to suppress religious speech, and the Archdiocese for the?Military Services has backed his amendment, reflecting the U.S. bishops' consistent defense of the free exercise of religion as changes in the nation's marriage laws pose challenges to chaplains and service members.
But President Barack Obama has vowed to veto legislation that he said would undermine military order.
And Fleming?s opponents, including Mikey Weinstein of the private Military Religious Freedom Foundation,?argue that the real threat to the free exercise of religion in the military comes from aggressive evangelical groups that have targeted Catholic service members.
Since 2006, Weinstein has fought to bar what he calls ?unconstitutional? proselytizing by evangelical groups on military bases, and he has ?presented himself as the defender of both Catholic and, more recently, openly homosexual soldiers beseiged by "right-wing" Christian fundamentalists.
On July 17, the Archdiocese for the Military Services (AMS) stepped into the fray, issuing a?statement?by AMS general counsel John Schlageter that identified the AMS as the "official voice of Catholics in the military."
?The Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA is recognized by the federal government as the sole endorser of Catholic military chaplains as well as Catholic chaplains serving in the nation?s Veterans Administration medical centers,? read Schlageter?s statement.
The AMS statement emphasized that the archdiocese was proactive about addressing concerns from Catholics chaplains and service members.?
?Mr. Schlageter?s office serves as the principal recipient of phone calls and letters from Catholic service members who believe their religious freedoms have been violated. The AMS is also the primary advocate for military Catholics on Capitol Hill."
Further, the AMS statement noted that ?Archbishop [Timothy] Broglio himself is on record as a devoted champion of First Amendment rights for Catholic chaplains, as demonstrated in January 2012, among other occasions, when he held firm against efforts by the Army?s Office of the Chief of Chaplains to suppress a pastoral letter in opposition to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) mandate for abortion insurance coverage.?
Archbishop Broglio ? who has endorsed Fleming?s bill, as well as the newly formed Restore Military Religious Freedom coalition,? led by the Family Research Council, ?was traveling and unavailable for further clarification.
But the unusual statement released by the AMS reflected a concerted effort to tamp down public confusion about who speaks for Catholics in uniform.
?Any other individual or group that claims to be charged with protecting the religious-freedom rights of Catholics in the military, no matter how well-intentioned, is acting independently and is not the official voice of Catholics in the military,? the AMS statement concluded.
Still, it won?t be easy for the AMS to get that message across.
Google the?phrase ?religious freedom in the military,? and the first link at the top of the page will take you to a webpage requesting donations.
?Help build the wall. Your donation will allow us to continue our fight in the courts and in the media to protect the constitutionally guaranteed right of religious freedom for our U.S. service members,? states the message on the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.
The donation form follows, and then, at the bottom of the page, the sharp-eyed reader will get a ?Thank you for helping us build the wall separating church and state in the U.S. military.?
The Military Religious Freedom Foundation was established in 2006 by Weinstein, the author of With God on Our Side: One Man?s War Against an Evangelical Coup in America's Military. Weinstein is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and a former legal counsel in the Reagan administration and an aide to Ross Perot.
Weinstein?s mission, states the foundation?s website, is to ?directly battle the far-right militant radical evangelical religious fundamentalists.? Since the foundation was established, Weinstein has battled for the removal of religious symbols on military bases and waged a highly inflammatory campaign against evangelical groups that he says are harassing service members.
This April, Weinstein met with Pentagon officials and several generals to discuss the alleged problem of evangelical proselytizing, and Washington Post columnist Sally Quinn reported on his broader message to the military brass.
?Weinstein told me after the Pentagon meeting that military leaders need to understand that ?there is systematic misogyny, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in the military,?? Quinn wrote. ?He said it is all part of the same culture.
??And what the Pentagon needs to understand is that it is sedition and treason. It should be punished.??
Shortly afterwards, whether as a result of Weinstein's Pentagon meeting or by coincidence, a flurry of statements regarding religious proselytizing in the military were issued by the Department of Defense and the Air Force. Finally, a clarifying May 2 statement from the DOD noted that the "department makes reasonable accommodations for all religions and celbrates the religious diversity of our service members.
"Service members can share their faith (evangelize), but must not force unwanted, intrusive attempts to convert others of any faith or no faith to one's beliefs (proselytization)," read the DOD statement.
"We work to ensure that all service members are free to exercise their constitutional right to practice their religion in a manner that is respectful of other individuals' rights ... in ways that are conducive to good order and discipline."
Still, Weinstein and his staff have pressed their case, prompting Fleming to call on Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel to ignore the foundation's crusade. ?
Fleming has been clear that his amendment did nothing more than bolster existing constitutional protections.
?Even when there is conflict in ideas, more speech is always preferable to limitation of speech,? stated Fleming after the Senate committee passed a similar amendment last month.
Russell Moore, the head of the Southern Baptist Convention?s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, explained the danger for military chaplains during a July 18 interview with TheWashington Post.
?It?s easy for [the chaplaincy] to become just a religious extension of the government. If that?s where chaplaincy is headed, you won?t have Catholic and Muslim and Orthodox Jewish chaplains. You?ll just have bland, generic civil American religion,? said Moore.
But Weinstein and his team aren't giving ground, and they now present themselves as the defenders of homosexual as well as Catholic service members.
Chris Rodda, a senior research director at Weinstein?s foundation, posted a recent?column in The Huffington Post that attacked Fleming?s bill as an effort ?to officially grant permission to anti-gay service members to freely discriminate against and harass LGBT service members, despite the fact that DADT [Don?t ask, don?t tell] has been repealed and DOMA [Defense of Marriage Act] has been overturned.?
Responding to Bill Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, who dismissed the foundation's claims as "bunk," Rodda insisted the foundation had been contacted by?more than?8,000 Catholics, though specifics, such as dates and issues of concern, were not provided.
While the religious-freedom amendment awaits a vote in the Senate, the charges and countercharges will likely continue.
However, the recent efforts to present the foundation as the defender of homosexual service members suggests that the issue of who speaks for Catholics in the military reflects a struggle to define emerging threats to the free exercise of religion during a period of rapid social and political change.
In a parallel First Amendment debate sparked by the U.S. bishops' opposition to the federal contraception mandate, the mandate's supporters have sought to reframe the issue to make Catholic nonprofits the enemy of constitutional civil liberties: Employers who don't provide contraception in their health plans have been accused of violating the religious freedom of individual workers.?
Joan Frawley Desmond is the Register?s senior editor.
JOHN FITZHUGH/SUN HERALDPaul Roberts of Biloxi pours water for his dog, Sahara, at the off-leash dog park on Popp's Ferry Road in Biloxi on Thursday, July 18, 2013.
JOHN FITZHUGH ? SUN HERALD Buy Photo
Cars can be a dog's worst enemy, and water their best friend during the summertime heat.
"We get a lot of calls of animals left in the cars," said Capt. Harold Windom who oversees Biloxi Police Department's animal control officers. "That's probably the most dangerous.
"Folks don't realize that it gets so hot" in cars, he said, speaking of pet owners who drive around with their pets and leave them in the car to run errands.
"It takes a very few minutes" for the car to get dangerously hot.
"The second thing is not enough water," Windom said.
Veterinarian Dr. Allen Roberts of Moss Point agreed.
"If they're outside, they need shade and they need water," Roberts said.
"If you're going to leave them outside, put much more water than you think they would ever drink," Windom said.
"A five-gallon bucket is not too much water,"
he said. "It's much better to have way too much than not enough."
At the off-leash dog park on Popp's Ferry Road in Biloxi, most dog owners wait until late afternoon to come out and let their pets run.
"That's why we only come out at night," said Robert Scruggs of his two Siberian huskies.
"They do not do well in the heat," he said. "They're indoors all the time."
All the dog owners at the park bring water for their pets, though the dogs always seem to prefer any bowl but their own to drink from.
Paul Roberts brings a gallon jug of water for Sahara, a border collie-Labrador mix.
Sahara had her long hair trimmed "to keep her a little bit cooler," Roberts said.
Trimming "seems to be beneficial" for some breeds of dogs, Allen Roberts said, but light-skinned breeds are more likely to be sunburned.
"You've got to worry about sunburn, and they will burn just as easily as us," Windom said.
A dog suffering from too much heat can be identified by excessive panting and drooling, difficulty breathing, increased heart rate and vomiting, said Allen Roberts, who has practiced for 37 years.
He recommends using a wet rag to cool the dog, and even putting them into a bath of room-temperature water, then slowly cooling the water.
"Give it some time and get that temperature down," he said.
Breeds with flat noses like boxers and pugs are more likely to suffer from the heat, as well as overweight, older and unhealthy dogs, he said.
"If you see a dog that's in distress, call, we'll come check it out," Windom said.
"We'd much rather check out a dog and find out they're okay than come pick one up and have to dispose them because they've already passed away."
Like clockwork, Motorola and Verizon have refreshed their joint Droid lineup, and we're here to check out all three devices. The two more premium handsets, the Droid Ultra and Droid Maxx, are the most promising of the bunch for advanced users, replacing last year's Droid RAZR HD and RAZR Maxx HD and offering the requisite 4G LTE connectivity. Both of those smartphones were at the top of their game in 2012, and that trend appears to continue here -- the Ultra and Maxx are very similar, with the latter boosting the battery capacity, enabling power users to make it through a full day.
Like its predecessors, the Ultra and Droid Maxx (pictured above) sport Kevlar bodies, which both look sleek and feel sturdy. The Ultra we saw has a glossy red finish, which Motorola helpfully suggested is "a lot like a sports car." The Maxx, on the other hand, has a soft-touch black finish. We prefer the Maxx's look; as we've said about Samsung's Galaxy lineup, a glossy, plasticky finish tends to look cheaper. Both phones feature a 10-megapixel camera with a f/2.4 lens; we'll have to wait for our review units to test the shooter's mettle.
What the Ultra's design does have going for it, though, is an extra-thin profile. At 7.18mm, it's already being touted as the "thinnest 4G LTE smartphone available." At 4.94 ounces, it feels very light, and though it sports the Droid family's usual boxy form factor, the edges are gently curved to make for a nice fit in the hand. It packs a 5-inch, 720p Super AMOLED display, which, while not quite as pixel-dense as the Mini's 4.3-inch TFT panel, offers crisp images, vibrant colors and wider-than-average viewing angles. The Ultra is priced at $199, 100 bucks higher than the Mini and 100 lower than the Maxx.
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Public release date: 25-Jul-2013
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