Sunday, September 30, 2012

Kosovo PM: EU-led talks with Serbia must happen

FILE - Kosovo's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci is seen during an interview with The Associated Press in Washington, in this April 6, 2012 file photo. Thaci said in an interview with the Associated Press Friday Sept. 28, 2012 that Kosovo and Serbia must normalize relations soon to begin integrating with Europe, but he insists that partition of his country?s Serb-dominated northern enclave ?will never happen.? (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - Kosovo's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci is seen during an interview with The Associated Press in Washington, in this April 6, 2012 file photo. Thaci said in an interview with the Associated Press Friday Sept. 28, 2012 that Kosovo and Serbia must normalize relations soon to begin integrating with Europe, but he insists that partition of his country?s Serb-dominated northern enclave ?will never happen.? (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - Kosovo's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci is seen during an interview with The Associated Press in Washington, in this April 6, 2012 file photo. Thaci said in an interview with the Associated Press Friday Sept. 28, 2012 that Kosovo and Serbia must normalize relations soon to begin integrating with Europe, but he insists that partition of his country?s Serb-dominated northern enclave ?will never happen.? (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

(AP) ? Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said Kosovo and Serbia must normalize relations soon to begin integrating with Europe, but he insisted that partition of his country's Serb-dominated northern enclave "will never happen."

Kosovo's flag does not fly at the United Nations, where Thaci met with EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso and U.S. officials on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly ministerial meeting.

The European Union is trying to broker talks next month between Kosovo and Serbia, which also wants to join the bloc. The EU is expected to push for a resolution on Kosovo's tense north, where the young country has little control over ethnic Serbs who suffered reprisal attacks after the province broke away from Serbia and reject the authority of the ethnic Albanian-dominated government in Pristina.

"Kosovo is determined for dialogue with Serbia, for normalization of relations," Thaci said in an interview Friday with The Associated Press. "Kosovo will benefit, Serbia will benefit. It will mean an end to the era of conflicts in the region and a faster process of integration of all countries."

The nation of about 2 million people, predominantly ethnic Albanians of Muslim faith, belongs to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, but cannot have its own telephone prefix because it does not belong to the United Nations. The International Olympic Committee rejected its bid to participate in this summer's London Olympics, but FIFA has ruled that its members can play soccer matches against Kosovo.

Over 90 countries have recognized Kosovo's independence, including much of Europe, and the number will soon top 100, Thaci said.

Serbia insists it will never recognize Kosovo, which it views as a national heartland, but the EU wants Belgrade to normalize ties with Pristina as a precondition for EU membership.

Thaci and Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic did not meet at the United Nations, though they both attended a reception for European leaders, where the newly-elected Serbian nationalist left without speaking to his counterpart.

Despite the snub, Thaci said he was eager for negotiations with Serbia.

"We need to start," he said. "The more delays we face, the more difficult this process will become. Therefore both Kosovo and Serbia should fight to catch up, in order to have a faster integration process."

Kosovo will soon find out if it is on the right track toward integration. The EU is slated to release a report Oct. 10 on Kosovo's progress on preparing for a Stabilization and Association Agreement, the first step in the long path to membership.

Earlier this month, in a sign of confidence that Kosovo has matured since its unilateral declaration of independence in 2008, a 25-nation group made up of the U.S., Turkey and EU countries formally ended supervision of the fragile state, which it had guided since the end of its bloody war with Serbia.

A massive international presence remains, however. About, 5,600 NATO-led peacekeepers are still in charge of security and a 3,000-strong EU mission has the final say in legal matters. Corruption, organized crime, smuggling and high unemployment remain huge problems.

"We have worked very hard, but I am aware that we need to do more," Thaci said. "We are now seen by the world as a normal functioning country."

The world, however, has not allowed Kosovo into the United Nations. The Kosovars were on the outside looking in as Vuk Jeremic, the former Serbian foreign minister and new president of the General Assembly, presided over the U.N.'s annual gathering of world leaders.

Kosovo's membership at the U.N. has been blocked by an ally of Serbia: Russia, a veto power-wielding member of the Security Council, which must approve any new members.

"After normalization of relations with Serbia the path to the U.N. will be opened," Thaci said.

There has been some progress. Kosovo citizens can now travel to Serbia with their own ID card, but not with Kosovo car plates. Serbia has agreed to accept Kosovo university diplomas, and will participate at regional meetings alongside Kosovo as long as there is an asterisk on Kosovo's name that refers to its international status.

The fate of Kosovo's Orthodox Christian Serbs and the firm grip that Serbia has on northern Kosovo are the main sticking points. Some Serbian officials have said that partition is the best solution, but Thaci said that redrawing any borders would set a dangerous precedent for the Balkans.

He said Serbs in northern Kosovo must integrate into Kosovar society, but that task has been made more difficult because they "have been deceived now for 12 years by Belgrade that there will be partition. That will never happen. Partition implies changing the borders for a minimum six countries."

Another source of division is a 2010 Council of Europe report by Swiss politician Dick Marty that alleges the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army, including Thaci, killed Serbian civilian captives during the 1990s and sold their organs. Albania and Kosovo have repeatedly denied the claims.

Earlier this month, a Serbian prosecutor said that a witness came forward and testified "in detail" about the allegations, which the European Union is now investigating.

Thaci dismissed the claims as "science fiction," though he acknowledged "they have harmed my image, and the image of Kosovo."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-09-30-UN-UN-General-Assembly-Kosovo/id-6e1c0f4ae4204230be0d7eba0c093651

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Teens and technology | Dayton Children's Blog

The popularization of the automobile in the 1920s was not universally welcomed. Many raised questions about the safety of this new invention and their concerns were valid. There are about 1.2 million fatalities world-wide associated with car accidents, and another 50 million people injured and billions of dollars in damages. Even so, few are willing to give up the convenience of the auto in spite of these significant costs.

As with many things in life, we try to minimize the risks to enjoy the benefits.

We?re in that same situation today in dealing with the dilemmas presented by kids and technology. Our teens are technologically connected with 68 percent of them sending text messages daily, averaging somewhere between 60 and 100 texts every day. Over half of our teens visit a social networking site daily. Over 80 percent of teens have their own cell phone, and two-thirds have a device that allows them to connect to the Internet.

That means that 67 percent of our kids can visit virtually any website without our guidance or supervision. We are fearful.? We don?t want our children in internet relationships with strangers, addicted to pornography, victims of cyber bullying or sexting, and spending excessive times with screens rather than interacting with real people.

There is a digital abyss between parents and kids when it comes to technology. Kids experience this world very differently than their parents, playing down the risks while applauding the many advantages. While most adults go to the internet for information, kids seek relationships in their digital worlds.

Our kids love technology, and report that the benefits outweigh any risks. For the 75 percent of teens who are involved with social media, they report that use of networks such as Facebook helps them be more confident, outgoing, sympathetic to others, and feel better about themselves. They overwhelmingly report that it has helped their relationship with friends and family members other than adults. About an equal number report it has hurt and helped their relationships with their parents.

Teens are aware of the risks of technology, with 20 percent to 41 percent of them reporting that they feel ?addicted? to their cell phone, iPad, or social networking site, and 28 percent of them feel their parents are ?addicted? to those same devices.

We?ll give up neither our cars nor our computers and so we?ll have to help our children deal with both, in spite of the risks. This means doing two things.

  • Educate. Engage your children in ongoing conversations about technology. Learn about Facebook and texting, and talk with your kids about articles like this.
  • Supervise. You?ve got to match the degree of supervision with the needs of your child. As with driving a car, apply the simple principle that supervision decreases as responsible behavior increases.

Source: http://blog.childrensdayton.org/are-teens-too-technologically-connected/

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2,000 US troops dead in Afghanistan

The international coalition in Afghanistan said earlier that one of its service members was killed in a suspected insider attack by Afghan forces.

A US official said that the dead service member was American.

The number of American dead reflects an Associated Press count of those members of the armed services killed inside Afghanistan since the US-led invasion on October 7 2001.

At least two Afghan soldiers were also killed in the attack at an Afghan army checkpoint in Wardak province, said Shahidullah Shahid, a provincial government spokesman.

An Afghan soldier turned his gun on the Americans and started shooting, Mr Shahid said. He said the checkpoint was in Sayd Abad district, just outside a joint US-Afghan base.

"Initial reports indicate that a misunderstanding happened between Afghan army soldiers and American soldiers," Mr Shahid said. He said investigators had been sent to the site.

An Afghan military spokesman declined to comment.

Afghan soldiers and policemen - or militants in their uniforms - have gunned down more than 50 foreign troops so far this year, eroding the trust between coalition forces and their Afghan partners.

An equal number of Afghan policemen and soldiers also died in these attacks, giving them reason as well to be suspicious of possible infiltrators within their ranks.

Source: http://www.standard.co.uk/panewsfeeds/2000-us-troops-dead-in-afghanistan-8191131.html

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Saturday, September 29, 2012

8 Tips To Handle A Screaming Child - Ayushveda

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Tips To Handle A Screaming ChildYou have a planned day ? first the Parents Teacher Meeting, followed by shopping, then back home. But unfortunately, while you are in the midst of shopping, your ?small wonder? starts behaving monstrously and you are in no mood to tolerate anything now and spoil your whole day (what to mention about the mood).

However, with a screaming and yelling child, you cannot continue either. Your other one, a 9 year old, is too small to care of the menace and you need immediate respite from the glaring eyes. Both of you may be staring at each other bewildered.

First understand that you are probably not alone calculating seconds before your little one calms down. It is a common problem among children of young age group (especially pre-schoolers). Sadly, what may work once may essentially not work always (your child can be too smart at negating your efforts).

However, this does not mean you should give up and do nothing but undergo the embarrassment. There are some quick fixes which can be tried. However, strategy holds the key when handling a screaming child over sustained basis. Read on to explore some really useful ways to handle a screaming child. One can work better than the other, depending on the temperament of your child. Effectiveness depends considerably on how you implement them.

Ways to?Handle A Screaming Child

Distract or Divert From the Trigger

Having found your child?s stickiness, try to divert his/her attention at the earliest before the situation becomes troubling for either of you. And remember, when you want to divert or distract attention, you have got to be quick at switching attention to something (more) interesting but soothing. This technique can work well with toddlers or very small children; but do not count on this trick always as your child can be too smart to outdo your trick much before you thought.

Find Solitude and Seclusion

It can happen that even though you have tried many things, your child would not co-operate and calm down. In such a situation, you can take your child to a secluded or private place and try relaxing him/her. Sometimes, all he/she may crib for is a little of your warm touch minus public stance.

If you are at a public place, choose a separate area (where less people are present). When at home, you can go to another room where you are alone with the child. Spend some time together, and while you console your child, try asking the reason for restlessness.

Refrain from Giving in and Bribing

You may consider that if you bribe your child or give in to his/her demand, it can calm the situation. But this can bring only a temporary respite, and more that often, aggravate the situation. You may find it more difficult to handle the situation later when it strikes with (may be) a magnified spectrum.

Acknowledge your child?s feelings and help him/her work through it. But do not bribe your child of an unjust thing for buying peace and calmness. This can raise expectations for more bribes to follow. And then, you may find yourself helpless.

Make use of Structure and Strategy

Screaming or other tantrums may not be an extraordinary thing to discover in a child. It may come of age and, often, retreats spontaneously. However, once you observe this behavior it is important that you train your child by implementing a strategy.

deal with screaming child

If you lack structure, you cannot expect to find a solution every time your child puts you in a challenging situation by screaming or shouting. It can also happen that your child may imbibe your instructions as commands and create fertile ground for power struggles to erupt quite often.

When your child is calm and receptive, implement a way of de-personalizing events and instructions. For instance, dinner time is only meant for eating and enjoying food, not watching television (provided you also refrain from doing the same). Gradually, your child shall adopt and attune to the structure and reflect less of unfavorable reactions.

No Reaction to the Action

True that it is, every action has a reaction. However, sometimes the best reaction is no reaction or ignorance. This is especially applicable to older (and seemingly mature) child who throws tantrums to gain attention. The message conveyed should be clear that his/her unjust demands would not be adhered to for any reason.

If you are uncomfortable of the screaming (or noise), leave the place but do not give in to the temptation to retaliate. Screaming right back can make you a winner in the competition but ultimately none of you shall gain anything out of the drama.

Be a Mirror to your Child

Children can be trained in a good way by citing practical instances. And when the practicality focuses on you (mother or father), he/she can understand even better. So the next time you want to cite an example, include yourself instead of someone else. Children are very keen to follow their parents and mentors.

If your child lives in an environment where you (as parent) yell a lot, then you cannot expect him/her to underperform. The screaming sessions would reduce to a minimum when you keep a check on yourself (or the environment in which the child lives).

?Recapitulate and Repeat

It can be too demanding to sooth a screaming child and simultaneously make him/her understand that what he/she just did was undesirable and unacceptable. Give your child some time to relax and behave normally. When the time is opportune, sit with him/her and discuss about the behavior and its ill effect. Teach anger management techniques and ways to handle an awful or difficult situation.

Pick a pleasant day for conversation. Do not deliver a speech, but exchange notions and views. Avoid getting? deep into discussion and let it be a smooth talk. Continue with the chores but remember to repeat when you feel the need later again. The earlier your child adopts coping skills, the better it is. But give sufficient time before making calculations about reward and punishment.

Incorporate Preventive Measures

Being close to your child, you can surely identify the reason behind his/her screaming and undesirable behaviors. Identify when, why and how tantrums occur. After finding the trigger, try eliminating it whenever possible.

Often, you can find a pattern of events which sets the stage for drama. Break the league and inhibit the pattern. This stage shall pass soon with consistent efforts from your end.

8 Tips To Handle A Screaming Child, 5.0 out of 5 based on 1 rating

Source: https://www.ayushveda.com/magazine/8-tips-to-handle-a-screaming-child/

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Philippine ivory probe team blocked from church

AFP - Philippine authorities looking for religious statues made from "blood" ivory were prevented from entering a church where the banned items were allegedly kept, a government investigator said on Saturday.

A joint team from the Justice Department's investigation bureau and the Environment Department were denied entry to the Shrine of the Black Nazarene in the central island of Cebu when they visited on Friday, a member said.

Security guards at the shrine, set up by a priest allegedly linked to the illegal smuggling of ivory, told investigators they would have to speak to the priest's lawyers first, said Eddie Llamedo, an Environment Department spokesman.

He conceded the team did not have a search warrant at the time an d would have to obtain the proper legal papers, possibly giving suspects time to conceal any ivory items.

Asked about the incident, Cebu archdiocese spokesman Monsignor Achilles Dakay said "the lawyers are taking care of that. We will be cooperating (with authorities) but we have church lawyers".

The shrine is maintained by Monsignor Cristobal Garcia, a priest named in a National Geographic article as giving advice on how to smuggle ivory and naming carvers who would turn it into statues.

The article has touched off a nationwide investigation into the smuggling of ivory, and particularly its use in making religious statues in this largely Roman Catholic country.

Philippine authorities on Friday said they had launched a nationwide investigation into Catholic devotees collecting religious figures made of ivory smuggled from Africa.

The probe, initially focused primarily on Garcia, has become an investigation into other owners of ivory figures, amid concerns the trade is extensive, said National Bureau of Investigation's environment division Sixto Comia.

After the National Geographic article was published, the Catholic Church revealed he had been suspended in June after the Vatican began an investigation into allegations he sexually abused children three decades ago.

Garcia, who himself is known to have a large collection of ivory statues, has been sick and confined to a hospital, keeping him out of the public eye.

Catholic statues have for centuries been made with ivory, but the church now officially condemns the practice in a bid to prevent the slaughter of elephants for their tusks.

Importing ivory has been banned in the Philippines since 1981. The maximum penalty for possessing illegal ivory is four years in jail.

Source: http://www.france24.com/en/20120929-philippine-ivory-probe-team-blocked-church

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Halfbrick?s award-winning ?Jetpack Joyride? finally hits Android

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An Occupy Wall Street protester has lost his latest bid to prevent the Manhattan district attorney's office from using his tweets against him, clearing the way for the judge overseeing the case to unseal the tweets and give them to prosecutors. In a case that has drawn the attention of electronic privacy advocates, a New York judge denied a request from the protester, Malcolm Harris, to put the tweets on ice while his appeal is pending. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/halfbrick-award-winning-jetpack-joyride-finally-hits-android-210021330.html

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Video: 2,588 pull-ups later, injury suspends record bid



>> to the scene of david goggins' guinness world record attempt.

>> the goal was the most pullups in a 24-hour period. the old mark 4,020. david was well on his way on thursday, as you see here, after just six and a half hours, will have reach the halfway point. tired just watching that.

>> david , good morning to you.

>> good morning.

>> tell us what happened.

>> well, about five and a half hours i felt something in my wrist snap. basically these pullup bars move and i'm used to working on stationary ones and these sway side to side. my forearm over a period of time so i was losing a lot of energy.

>> these are portable bars. you brought them, but this is not the one you normally used or practiced on.

>> as you see here. we had the hopes rear, and about hour eight, just going everywhere and like every hour it got worse and worse.

>> how long were you in pain?

>> pretty much -- i had 2011 mullups done in six hours and only got 2,500 so it was like six, seven hours.

>> and you wanted to keep going.

>> right.

>> kind of had to drag you out of here. what did it take to get you over to the x-ray?

>> got to the point where i couldn't grab the bar anymore and hung on to it. a torn muscle in my forearm.

>> all is not lost. doing this for a great cause. raised a bunch of money, raised $10,000.

>> right.

>> tell us about the cause.

>> special warrior foundation operation. and that was my mission, my mission is accomplished. it wasn't about breaking the record. it's about having america know more about this great cause, sending kids to college and raising awareness so, you know, i'm still here. i'll get back up and do it again. injuries happen, but i feel good.

>> we have a special gift basket for you.

>> yeah.

>> i see aleve, advil.

>> a little bengay.

>> a couple of five guys burgers would be pretty good.

>> thanks for having me.

>> a lot of women doing window shopping yesterday as you do your shirtless pullups.

>> exactly.

>> congratulations on a good cause.

>> thank you again. don't forget specialops.org.

>> you got it.

Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/49209043/

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Snowbirds: Keep Track of Your Border Crossings | Travel Insurance ...

bordercrossingTensions throughout the world are forcing tighter border crossing regulations and procedures. Crossing over into the U.S., and back is no exception. Be prepared for more rigid enforcement this fall and winter. Have your documents on hand, and keep track of your entries and exits. Following are some tips.

The U.S. allows you to stay in the country as a visitor (no work, no business) for up to six months per calendar year or over the previous 12 month period. Don?t be confused by that seeming dichotomy: when you look at it, it means pretty well the same thing. In effect, if you spend from June through December in the U.S., don?t expect the border agent to automatically give you a free pass to go back for another six months on January 1, the following year.

Carry some documentation such as a recent utility bill, bank statement, property tax bill with your address on it just in case you are asked to prove permanent Canadian residency.? What the border agent is interested in is that you intend to return to Canada and you have a permanent place to return to.? Carrying a recent copy of an 8840 closer connection IRS form to show you are a Canadian complying with U.S. tax laws is also a good piece of paper to have.? If you don?t know what an 8840 is, look at the next paragraph.

Have proof you have a closer connection to Canada than to the U.S. by filing an 8840 form each year with the IRS. This form establishes that though you are an alien eligible to pay U.S. taxes based on the amount of time you have spent in the U.S. over that past three years, you are exempt from the privilege of paying Uncle Sam because you pay taxes in Canada, and you have a closer connection to Canada.? This is no mere formality.? If you are a serious snowbird, file the 8840.

Stay updated on the latest duty allowance increases implemented by Canada.? The increases are not that substantial for long-term snowbirds, but every little bit helps. Try not to overdo the allowance by smuggling bottles of Canadian club over the border in your golf bag.? That?s the first place Canadian border agents look.

?

And make sure you stay within your provincial limits for medicare eligibility.? All provinces and territories except Ontario and Newfoundland require you to be physically present within your province for at least 183 days (six months)? per year to remain medicare-qualified.? Ontario requires only five months and Newfoundland four.? But there are slight differences from province to province you need to know about. To stay abreast of these rules, you can have access to the provincial breakdown in our Rule Book for Snowbirds, by joining our new Snowbird Plus program. Go to our homepage to find out how you can join.? It?s easy.

And most important, get your travel health insurance. Without it, the remainder of your retirement is at risk.

All travel insurers advertising on this site meet TravelinsuranceFile?s acceptability criteria for out-of-country health benefits for Canadian residents. All offer a range of benefits and plans designed specifically for snowbirds. They can answer a lot of your questions about snowbird insurance, and once you get the right answers, you can buy right online.

?

Source: http://travelinsurancefile.com/headlines/snowbirds-keep-track-of-your-border-crossings/

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Friday, September 28, 2012

Website Creation Platform Joomla Debuts Version 3.0, Mobile And Tablet Optimized Thanks To Twitter Bootstrap

joomla logoJoomla, the open-source-based content management system that competes against WordPress, Drupal and others in the world of blog, website and intranet creation, has today taken a step up in the world of converged media. The company, which says its platform powers 3% of all the websites in the world, has released version 3.0 of its CMS, which automatically optimizes content created on the platform for the mobile web. The company says that its mobile implementation is the first to be built on Twitter Bootstrap, the mobile-friendly toolkit developed by Twitter and released on Github in August 2011 that is a collection of?base CSS styles for typography, forms, buttons, tables, grids, navigation, alerts and more that are already widely used in the development of websites and apps.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/U9D3odPn-fE/

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Compelling Ideas at the UN: Energy, Health, Education and ...

| By WorldBankBlogs

UNITED NATIONS | It has been a week of inspiring ideas and action plans at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. I met with a number of world leaders, including Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. We talked about the importance of creating jobs for ex-combatants, the pressing need for more energy sources, and more. You can hear my thoughts on our meeting in the video below. Video Platform Video Management Video Solutions Video Player read more

Excerpt from?-?

Compelling Ideas at the UN: Energy, Health, Education and #whatwillittake

Related posts:

  1. Nuclear Energy After Fukushima
  2. Jordan Converts Waste to Energy
  3. WECalc, Your Home Water-Energy-Climate Calculator
  4. SharedSolar: Mobiles and Micro-Grids For More Efficient Energy
  5. Energy and Monkeypox
Posted by WorldBankBlogs on Sep 28 2012. Filed under Aid & Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Source: http://www.globalhealthhub.org/2012/09/28/compelling-ideas-at-the-un-energy-health-education-and-whatwillittake/

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Elvis Costello Keeps the Fans on Their Toes The Santa Barbara ...

James O'Mara

Elvis Costello


One of Pop Music?s Most Memorable Voices Returns to?S.B.


Thursday, September 27, 2012

It?s been 35 years since Elvis Costello released his debut album, My Aim Is True, for Stiff Records, and contemporary tastemakers are still singing its praises. Not that long ago, mega-huge music blog Pitchfork referred to Aim as ?the most impressive debut in pop-music history.? In 2003, VH1 proudly dubbed it the 80th greatest album ever made, further proving that good music, quite simply, never goes out of?style.

This Sunday, Costello returns to town for a solo set at the Granada Theatre as part of his 2054: The Centenary Show tour. ?It?s a lighthearted way of saying that the show can contain anything,? Costello explained recently via phone. ?In that respect, it?s really not that different from the Spinning Songbook show, except there?s no big piece of carnival apparatus to make the selections. Instead, I?m making?them.?

Costello is, of course, referring to his preferred means of touring with his band The Imposters, whereby he spins a Wheel of Fortune?style wheel of song titles in order to determine the night?s on-the-fly set list. But ask those who caught Costello during his 2010 solo jaunt, and they?ll tell you that, even without the band, Elvis is well worth the price of admission. Why? Because left to his own devices, he will gladly go?anywhere.

?I like that feeling of spontaneity, and I wanted to retain it even when I?m playing the solo shows,? he said of the set he?ll bring to Santa Barbara. ?I don?t even have to ask anyone?s opinion! I thought, just let some songs select themselves, and they will find their kin amongst my repertoire, if you know what I mean. Over the years, you might return to themes or have two different views of the same subject that were written 20 years apart. I?m letting that be my?guide.?

With a career that runs the gamut from pop to jazz to country and stretches over 27 albums, fans can expect pretty much anything from Costello. Of late, the bespectacled and besuited icon has been on a bit of a country kick, recording in Nashville alongside songwriter, producer, and friend T Bone Burnett for 2009?s Secret, Profane & Sugarcane and 2010?s National Ransom. Most recently, though, he?s been touring hard, as well as contributing to wife Diana Krall?s upcoming album, also produced by?Burnett.

?T Bone has a feeling for music that?s just so strong,? Costello said. ?He never has the arrogance of placing himself between the music and the artist ? and that?s at the root of every great record you?hear.?

And Costello knows a thing or two about great records. Last time he swung through town, fans were treated to an intimate and lengthy set that ran the gamut of his musical accomplishments?????from ?Watching the Detectives,? ?Veronica,? and ?So Like Candy? to a selection of My Aim Is True highlights. Instrumentally, Costello?s prowess is no less impressive. Armed with an arsenal of guitars, he can not only fill a room but also create a backdrop worthy of his lyrical?compositions.

?We?re doing a good deal of pretty well-known songs,? Costello emphasized, ?but after a number of years, you don?t want to presume that?s all people want to hear from you. Emboldened by those totally random shows, I feel like there is a lot of music to be played, and I don?t think anyone will walk away feeling?cheated.?

Add to that the pristine acoustics and stunning beauty of the Granada Theatre, and you?ve got a night that?s, well, right on?target.

4?1?1

UCSB?s Arts & Lectures presents Elvis Costello at the Granada Theatre (1214 State St.) on Sunday, September 30, at 7 p.m. Call 893-3535 or visit artsandlectures.sa.ucsb.edu for tickets and?info.

Related Links

Source: http://www.independent.com/news/2012/sep/27/elvis-costello-goes-solo-granada/

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Home Automation | The Daily Omnivore

Home automation?(also called domotics) is the residential extension of ?building automation? (electronic which monitor and control the mechanical, electronics, and lighting systems in a building). ?Building Automation Systems? (BAS) keep the building climate within a specified range, provides lighting based on an occupancy schedule, and monitors system performance and device failures and provides email and/or text notifications to building staff.?Home automation may include centralized control of lighting, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), appliances, and other systems, to provide improved convenience, comfort, energy efficiency, and security. Home automation for the elderly and disabled can provide increased quality of life for persons who might otherwise require caregivers or institutional care.

A home automation system integrates devices in a house with each other systems devoted to entertainment, houseplant and yard watering, pet feeding, changing the ambiance ?scenes? for different events (such as dinners or parties), and the use of domestic robots. Devices may be connected through a network to allow control by a personal computer, and remote access from the internet. Automated homes of the future have been staple exhibits for World?s Fairs and popular backgrounds in science fiction. However, problems with complexity, competition between vendors, multiple incompatible standards, and the resulting expense have limited the penetration of home automation to homes of the wealthy, or ambitious hobbyists. Possibly the first ?home computer? was an experimental home automation system in 1966.

In modern construction in industrialized nations, most homes have been wired for electrical power, telephones, TV outlets (cable or antenna), and a doorbell. Many household tasks were automated by the development of specialized appliances. For instance, automatic washing machines were developed to reduce the manual labor of cleaning clothes, and water heaters reduced the labor necessary for bathing. Other traditional household tasks, like food preservation and preparation have been automated in large extent by moving them into factory settings, with the development of pre-made, pre-packaged foods, and in some countries, such as the United States, increased reliance on commercial food preparation services, such as fast food restaurants. Volume production and the factory setting allows forms of automation that would be impractical or too costly in a home setting. Standardized foods enable possible further automation of handling the food within the home.

The use of gaseous or liquid fuels, and later the use of electricity enabled increased automation in heating, reducing the labor necessary to manually refuel heaters and stoves. Development of thermostats allowed more automated control of heating, and later cooling. As the number of controllable devices in the home rises, interconnection and communication becomes a useful and desirable feature. For example, a furnace can send an alert message when it needs cleaning, or a refrigerator when it needs service. Rooms will become ?intelligent? and will send signals to the controller when someone enters. If no one is supposed to be home and the alarm system is set, the system could call the owner, or the neighbors, or an emergency number.

In simple installations, domotics may be as straightforward as turning on the lights when a person enters the room. In advanced installations, rooms can sense not only the presence of a person inside but know who that person is and perhaps set appropriate lighting, temperature, music levels or television channels, taking into account the day of the week, the time of day, and other factors. Other automated tasks may include setting the HVAC to an energy saving setting when the house is unoccupied, and restoring the normal setting when an occupant is about to return. More sophisticated systems can maintain an inventory of products, recording their usage through bar codes, or an RFID tag, and prepare a shopping list or even automatically order replacements.

Home automation can also provide a remote interface to home appliances or the automation system itself, via telephone line, wireless transmission, or the internet, to provide control and monitoring via a smartphone or web browser. An example of remote monitoring in home automation could be triggered when a smoke detector detects a fire or smoke condition, causing all lights in the house to blink to alert any occupants of the house to the possible emergency. If the house is equipped with a home theater, a home automation system can shut down all audio and video components to avoid distractions, or make an audible announcement. The system could also call the home owner on their mobile phone to alert them, or call the fire department or alarm monitoring company.

In terms of lighting control, it is possible to save energy when installing various products. Simple functions such as motion sensors and detectors integrated into a relatively simple home automation system can save hours of wasted energy in both residential and commercial applications. For example imagine an auto on/off at night time in all major city office buildings, say after 10pm. When no motion is detected, lights shut down, and the owner could save kilowatts of wasted overnight energy. Similar controls on HVAC in buildings could save even more energy.

Home automation has been a feature of science fiction writing for many years, but has only become practical since the early 20th Century following the widespread introduction of electricity into the home, and the rapid advancement of information technology. Early remote control devices began to emerge in the late 1800s. For example, Nikola Tesla patented an idea for the remote control of vessels and vehicles in 1898. The emergence of electrical home appliances began between 1915 and 1920; the decline in domestic servants meant that households needed cheap, mechanical replacements. Domestic electricity supply, however, was still in its infancy ? meaning this luxury was afforded only the more affluent households.

Ideas similar to modern home automation systems originated during the World?s Fairs of the 1930s. Fairs in Chicago (1934), New York (1939) and (1964?65), depicted electrified and automated homes. In 1966 Jim Sutherland, an engineer working for Westinghouse Electric, developed a home automation system called ?ECHO IV?; this was a private project and never commercialized. The first ?wired homes? were built by American hobbyists during the 1960s, but were limited by the technology of the times. The term ?smart house? was first coined by the American Association of Housebuilders in 1984.?With the invention of the microcontroller, the cost of electronic control fell rapidly. Remote and intelligent control technologies were adopted by the building services industry and appliance manufacturers worldwide.

During the 90s home automation rose to prominence. By the end of the decade, ?domotics? was commonly used to describe any system in which informatics (the study of computer-based information systems) and telematics (telecommunications and informatics) were combined to support activities in the home. The phrase appears to be a portmanteau word formed from ?domus? (Latin: ?house?) and ?informatics,? and therefore refers specifically to the application of computer and robot technologies to domestic appliances. However, despite interest, by the end of the 1990s there was not a widespread uptake ? with such systems still considered the domain of hobbyists or the rich. The lack of a single, simplified, protocol and high cost of entry put off consumers.

There have been many attempts to standardize the forms of hardware, electronic and communication interfaces needed to construct a home automation system. Some standards use additional communication and control wiring, some embed signals in the existing power circuit of the house, some use radio frequency (RF) signals, and some use a combination of several methods. Control wiring is hardest to retrofit into an existing house. Some appliances include a USB port that is used for control and connection to a domotics network. Protocol bridges translate information from one standard to another, e.g., from X10 to European Installation Bus.

Besides the upcoming standardization of home automation hardware, there is also the issue of the control software. In older systems (and some contemporary ones), the control of each home automation system needed to be done separately, and there was thus no central control system. This sometimes led to a great amount of remote controls, one being needed to control each individual part of the system. However, with the new generation of home automation systems, central control can be foreseen. Software such as ?Fast Track Team Home Personality Software Greeter 1.0? (aka ?Cleopatra?) or ?e-Home Automation? route all?controllers?to a single computer, smartphone, or TV.

Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) solutions can include temperature and humidity control, and more commonly in Europe, fresh air, heating and natural cooling. Home automation solutions are varied and could include an internet-controlled thermostat, by allowing the homeowner to control the building?s heating and air conditioning systems remotely, or it could be linked to windows to allow automated opening and closing to allow hot air out and cool air in to allow for cooling of the thermal mass of the house structure. Many systems are designed to not only provide convenience but to also allow for better energy efficiency.

Lighting control systems can do things like:?extinguish all the lights of the house at a predetermined time and date range;?use motion detectors to automatically extinguish the lights in a room after occupants have left and turn on the lights if occupants enter a room;?turn the light on or off with the use of a remote wireless device; control the brightness of the lights according to the level of ambient light available, or other criteria; and change the ambient?color?of a room via the lights used or by using RGB LEDs (mood control). Natural lighting control involves controlling window shades, LCD shades, draperies, and awnings.

With Home Automation, the consumer can select and watch cameras live from an Internet source to their home or business. Security cameras can be controlled, allowing the user to observe activity around a house or business right from a Monitor or touch panel. Security systems can include motion sensors that will detect any kind of unauthorized movement and notify the user through the security system or via cell phone. Systems devoted to home security include: intrusion detection; motion sensors; magnetic contact sensors for doors / windows; glass break detectors; pressure sensors; presence simulation; detection of fire, gas leaks and water leaks; and medical alert (teleassistance).?An intercom system allows communication via a microphone and loud speaker between multiple rooms. Integration of the intercom to the telephone, or of the video door entry system to the television set, allowing the residents to view the door camera automatically.

Other systems that can be tied into home automation include security gates, garage door,?coffee machine, pool/hot tub, sump pump, and well pump.

Home automation technologies are viewed as integral additions to the ?Smart grid.? The ability to control lighting, appliances, HVAC as well as Smart Grid applications (load shedding, demand response, real-time power usage, and price reporting) will become vital as Smart Grid initiatives are rolled out. Green Automation is the term coined to describe energy management strategies in home automation when data from smart grids is combined with home automation systems to use resources at either their lowest prices or highest availability, taking advantage, for instance, of high solar panel output in the middle of the day to automatically run washing machines.

Source: http://pbmo.wordpress.com/2012/09/27/home-automation/

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Family pet died a hero | Northern Rivers Pets | Animal and Dog ...

ANOUK, the two-year-old husky, didn't stand a chance against the venomous brown, which is believed to have been taking shelter under a family's cubby house.

Westlawn family Jodie and Chris Pugh and children Makayla, 5, Savannah, 3, and Noah, 7, mourn the loss of their husky dog Anouk, who was bitten by a brown snake in their backyard on Wednesday.

Debrah Novak

IT TOOK more than 10 minutes for Chris Pugh to get the better of the 1.8m-long eastern brown snake that had killed his dog and threatened his family, but the Westlawn father-of-three had no regrets yesterday about removing the head of the reptile on Wednesday.

Anouk, the two-year-old husky, didn't stand a chance against the venomous brown, which is believed to have been taking shelter under the family's cubby house.

The drama began about 11.30am when Noah Pugh, 7, virtually stumbled into the snake on his way to the outside garbage bin before he alerted his mother Jodie.

Jodie gathered her other children Makayla, 5, and Savannah, 3, and called out to the family's dogs Squirt the Maltese terrier and Anouk.

"When Anouk didn't come, I started to panic," Jodie said.

Noah spotted Anouk through the house's side window, passed out on the driveway.

Jodie called her mother to look after the kids while she took Anouk to the vet and Chris downed tools at work to rush home and remove the threat.

"I couldn't go to Anouk straight away, I didn't want to take my eyes off the snake because I needed to know where it went in case it moved," he said. "It was that cranky we were almost hostage in our house ... it just kept on raising its head at us, every time we moved."

When Chris arrived, he got hold of a shovel and tried to kill the snake while Jodie drove Anouk to the vet.

But every time Chris tried to move to the back of the snake it followed him and lunged at him.

It wasn't until he found a large rock and threw it on the snake, which pinned it down, that Chris was able to finish the kill.

Meanwhile, faced with poor prospects of survival for Anouk and a potential bill upwards of $3000, Jodie had to make the heart-wrenching decision to give Anouk a lethal injection.

Chris and Jodie told the kids that Anouk had died a hero trying to protect them and the family wrote cards and laid flowers at Anouk's funeral.

Source: http://www.dailyexaminer.com.au/story/2012/09/29/family-pet-died-a-hero/

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NJ woman accused of cancer scam for wedding, cash

MOUNT HOLLY, N.J. (AP) ? When Lori Stilley told her friends and family that she had bladder cancer, they delivered meals, held raffles and a T-shirt sale, hastily planned and paid for her wedding and raised more than $10,000 for her treatment.

But prosecutors say it was all a scam.

Stilley, a 40-year-old who lives in Delran, N.J., was charged Wednesday with theft by deception, charges her lawyer denies.

Authorities say she told family and friends in February 2011 that she had stage 3 bladder cancer and would need chemotherapy and radiation. Two months later, she told them ? and posted on her Facebook page and personal website ? that it was now stage 4, which means the cancer was spreading to other parts of her body.

Her friends and supporters pitched in the way people often do for sick loved ones: making a schedule of meal deliveries and ? when she said she didn't have medical insurance ? raising money.

The Burlington County Prosecutor's Office said family and friends also hastily planned and paid for her wedding to her boyfriend last year.

Stilley even wrote an e-book about her experience. They say "I'mpossible: How A Facebook Group Loved Me Through Bladder Cancer," selling for $14.99 a copy, raised more than $3,000.

Her own sister says she was the one who turned in Stilley. Lori DiGiovanni told WCAU-TV that she became suspicious when Stilley's story changed quickly. Soon after telling friends and family that she was making hospice plans and was being given a month to live, she posted on Facebook that she felt a miracle coming and was feeling better.

DiGiovanni said she believes her sister needs mental-health help.

Stilley's lawyer, however, said she did not do anything wrong.

"The Prosecutor's Office has not presented me with any competent evidence that would lead me to believe they are able to prove my client did anything wrong," Adam Malamut told the Burlington County Times in a story published Thursday. "The only evidence I'm aware of are statements made that I believe to be slanderous in nature from a family member with whom she's had a fractured relationship."

Stilley was arrested Wednesday and released on bail of $25,000.

"For this defendant to represent that she was dying from this terrible disease for the sake of personal gain and sympathy goes way beyond simply being a criminal offense," Burlington County Prosecutor Robert Bernardi said in a statement, "it was extremely cruel to those who were concerned and worked hard to lend assistance."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nj-woman-accused-cancer-scam-wedding-cash-115325936.html

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Matrix One drops to $60, moves from impulse purchase to disposable tablet

Matrix One drops to $60

Well, the Matrix One isn't becoming any more attractive spec-wise as the days pass, but Direct Merchandise Marketing believes they can keep up with the low-priced big boys by under-cutting them even further. If a $90 retail sticker wasn't enough to convince you that the A8-powered ICS slab deserved your attention, maybe a drop to $60 will change your tune. The 7-inch WVGA tablet is now an impressively thrifty $59.99, though, after tax and shipping the total tops $70. Still, its impossible to deny its bargain value.

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Matrix One drops to $60, moves from impulse purchase to disposable tablet originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Sep 2012 06:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/27/matrix-one-drops-to-60/

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Girl who called self 'Mrs. Bieber' dies of cancer

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In Which I Reconsider My Entire Political Outlook (Atlantic Politics Channel)

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Thursday, September 27, 2012

Stocks open mixed amid instability in Europe

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Hurricane Irene polluted Catskills watershed

Hurricane Irene polluted Catskills watershed [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 26-Sep-2012
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Contact: David DeFusco
david.defusco@yale.edu
203-436-4842
Yale University

New Haven, Conn. The water quality of lakes and coastal systems will be altered if hurricanes intensify in a warming world, according to a Yale study in Geophysical Research Letters.

Bryan Yoon, the study's co-author and a doctoral student at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, found that last summer during Hurricane Irene the worst storm in the New York area in 200 years record amounts of dissolved organic matter darkened Catskill waters and affected the Ashokan Reservoir that supplies New York City with drinking water.

"This is the biggest rain event ever sampled for the region," said Yoon, who conducted the study with Pete Raymond, professor of ecosystem ecology at Yale.

As a primary source of drinking water for New York City, the Catskill Mountains is designated as forest preserve, and roughly 62 percent of the watershed studied is protected by New York State. Over a two-day period in late August 2011, Irene dropped over 11 inches of rain 17 percent of the average annual rainfall on Esopus Creek that feeds the Ashokan.

Yoon found that the volume of water discharged by the creek increased 330-fold, and the creek exported an unprecedented amount of dissolved organic matter to the Ashokan, equivalent to 43 percent of its average annual export. Yoon likened the increase in dissolved organic matter to a person being fed 40 percent of his annual food in a few days.

Although not discussed as often as other water quality topics such as turbidity, dissolved organic matter plays a critical role in the aquatic environment and for the provision of clean drinking water. In moderate quantities, dissolved organic matter also provides food and nutrients for microbial communities.

In excessive amounts, however, dissolved organic matter could lead to numerous environmental problems, Yoon's study found. Dissolved organic matter binds with metal pollutants and transports them; interferes with ultraviolet processes that reduce pathogens in water; affects aquatic metabolism; and leads to the formation of carcinogenic disinfection byproducts, such as trihalomethanes during chlorination.

"All of those problems become more serious as larger quantities of dissolved organic matter are transported to lakes and coastal systems," he said. "Hurricane Irene was a prime example that there is no limit to the amount of dissolved organic matter that can be exported by extreme rain events. Surprisingly, concentrations of dissolved organic matter didn't get diluted."

Raymond said that frequent hurricanes will flush more organic matter out of the ground and into lakes, reservoirs and coastal waters, potentially altering their biogeochemical cycles.

###

The study, "Dissolved Organic Matter Export from a Forested Watershed during Hurricane Irene," was funded by the Hixon Center for Urban Ecology at F&ES and can be viewed at www.agu.org/journals/gl/gl1218/2012GL052785/.


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Hurricane Irene polluted Catskills watershed [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 26-Sep-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: David DeFusco
david.defusco@yale.edu
203-436-4842
Yale University

New Haven, Conn. The water quality of lakes and coastal systems will be altered if hurricanes intensify in a warming world, according to a Yale study in Geophysical Research Letters.

Bryan Yoon, the study's co-author and a doctoral student at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, found that last summer during Hurricane Irene the worst storm in the New York area in 200 years record amounts of dissolved organic matter darkened Catskill waters and affected the Ashokan Reservoir that supplies New York City with drinking water.

"This is the biggest rain event ever sampled for the region," said Yoon, who conducted the study with Pete Raymond, professor of ecosystem ecology at Yale.

As a primary source of drinking water for New York City, the Catskill Mountains is designated as forest preserve, and roughly 62 percent of the watershed studied is protected by New York State. Over a two-day period in late August 2011, Irene dropped over 11 inches of rain 17 percent of the average annual rainfall on Esopus Creek that feeds the Ashokan.

Yoon found that the volume of water discharged by the creek increased 330-fold, and the creek exported an unprecedented amount of dissolved organic matter to the Ashokan, equivalent to 43 percent of its average annual export. Yoon likened the increase in dissolved organic matter to a person being fed 40 percent of his annual food in a few days.

Although not discussed as often as other water quality topics such as turbidity, dissolved organic matter plays a critical role in the aquatic environment and for the provision of clean drinking water. In moderate quantities, dissolved organic matter also provides food and nutrients for microbial communities.

In excessive amounts, however, dissolved organic matter could lead to numerous environmental problems, Yoon's study found. Dissolved organic matter binds with metal pollutants and transports them; interferes with ultraviolet processes that reduce pathogens in water; affects aquatic metabolism; and leads to the formation of carcinogenic disinfection byproducts, such as trihalomethanes during chlorination.

"All of those problems become more serious as larger quantities of dissolved organic matter are transported to lakes and coastal systems," he said. "Hurricane Irene was a prime example that there is no limit to the amount of dissolved organic matter that can be exported by extreme rain events. Surprisingly, concentrations of dissolved organic matter didn't get diluted."

Raymond said that frequent hurricanes will flush more organic matter out of the ground and into lakes, reservoirs and coastal waters, potentially altering their biogeochemical cycles.

###

The study, "Dissolved Organic Matter Export from a Forested Watershed during Hurricane Irene," was funded by the Hixon Center for Urban Ecology at F&ES and can be viewed at www.agu.org/journals/gl/gl1218/2012GL052785/.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share 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.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-09/yu-hip092612.php

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