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Sanctions hit Iranian manufacturing hard

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? A conservative Iranian news website says the number of manufacturing companies in the country facing financial crisis has increased four-fold over the past four years to nearly 1,600.

The Monday report by tasnimnews.com reflects the impact of Western sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear program. The website says the report has been drawn up by a government department but didn't elaborate.

Iran is under four sets of U.N. sanctions and Western punitive measures on its oil, banking and trade industries over the Islamic Republic's refusal to halt uranium enrichment ? a program that can be a pathway to nuclear arms.

The U.S. and its allies accuse Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sanctions-hit-iranian-manufacturing-hard-131237140.html

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Karaoke for Xbox Live starts belting out hits on December 11th

Attention all songbirds: your time to shine is almost here. Microsoft and Stingray Media's Karaoke will be hitting Xbox Live on December 11th. The game is free to download, but would-be vocalists will have to purchase playing sessions of two, six and 24 hours respectively priced at: 240, 400 and 800 Microsoft points. While this costly pay to play approach mirrors a traditional karaoke lounge's setup, you'll definitely save a few bucks on overpriced booze refreshments -- that's gotta count for something, right?

Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft

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Source: Microsoft

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/AP0V-kz0biU/

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With election over, less attention to jobs report

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Reaction to the monthly jobs numbers isn't what it used to be.

The first unemployment report since President Barack Obama's re-election barely got a mention from the White House and Republicans after Friday's release. Gone was the frenzy of political posturing that followed every release throughout the presidential campaign.

Obama would try to cast each economic snapshot as a sign of slow but steady recovery, while Republican rival Mitt Romney bemoaned the unemployment rate as a sign that the country needed fresh economic leadership.

But there's a new postelection, political reality in Washington: Obama is sticking around for four more years no matter what the unemployment rate is.

Economic drivers are also behind Washington's muted response Friday. While economists project a continued drop in unemployment and an uptick in economic growth through next year, that could all be at risk if Obama and congressional Republicans can't reach a deal to avert the "fiscal cliff"- a series of automatic tax increases and spending cuts due to take effect at the end of the year.

Perhaps with that in mind, the White House made no plans for the president to comment publicly on the news that the unemployment rate fell to a nearly four-year low of 7.7 percent in November. Instead, Obama spent the day in private meetings with his advisers - including some on the fiscal cliff. He left his administration's response to top White House economist Alan Krueger.

"Today's employment report provides further evidence that the U.S. economy is continuing to heal from the wounds inflicted by the worst downturn since the Great Depression," Krueger said in a statement.

Vice President Joe Biden also chimed in briefly during an event Friday afternoon, saying: "I think we have turned the corner."

Even before his re-election campaign kicked into high-gear, Obama made a point of addressing the jobless rate most months, regardless of whether it had climbed or dropped.

He'd speak from the White House, at small businesses in the Washington area or, often this year, at the start of campaign rallies in political swing states. He used his remarks to reassure the public and financial markets, or press Republicans to pass his proposals for jumpstarting the economy.

Congressional Republicans, and eventually Romney, would respond with vigor and cast the unemployment rate - which peaked at 10 percent during Obama's first year in office - as a sign that the president was leading the economy down a dangerous road and needed to be replaced.

With that opportunity gone following the Nov. 6 presidential election, and the unemployment picture improving, Republicans barely mentioned the jobless rate Friday. Instead, they used the monthly report to criticize Obama's willingness to go over the fiscal cliff unless Republicans drop their opposition to higher tax rates for the top 2 percent of income earners.

"The Democrats' plan to slow-walk our economy to the edge of the fiscal cliff instead of engaging in serious talks is a threat to our economy," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Friday.

Fiscal cliff negotiations between the White House and Republicans are at an impasse. Despite Obama's warning that he's willing to go over the cliff unless Republicans come around on taxes, the GOP is holding firm in its opposition to higher tax rates on the wealthy.

---

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC

Source: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_JOBS_REPORT?SITE=TXCOL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

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U.S. uncertainty stifling business investment: TMX CEO

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Political, fiscal, and regulatory uncertainty in the United States is hampering capital investment in the country and beyond, Tom Kloet, chief executive of TMX Group , Canada's biggest exchange operator, said on Thursday.

Kloet, a Chicago native who guided TMX through its recent C$3.8 billion ($3.84 billion) takeover by Maple Group, a consortium that includes some of Canada's biggest banks, pension funds, and insurers, said the lack of compromise in Washington on the "fiscal cliff" is frustrating and stifles business.

"As a business owner that represents 4,000 listed issuers on the stock exchange of the biggest trading partner the United States has, I've got to say that the uncertainty is really hurting the appetite for capital expenditures and capital investment right now," he said.

With less than a month left to confront the steep budget cuts and tax increases that will begin taking effect in January and could send the economy back into recession, Democrats and Republicans have yet to find common ground on some key issues, preventing a deal.

Kloet said that aside from reaching an agreement on the fiscal cliff, politicians could help restore confidence in the market by being proactive about initiating comprehensive tax reform in a bipartisan way with government and industry input.

"This idea of solving things with a gun to your head all of the time just doesn't seem like the right path," he said.

EXPANSION

The Toronto Stock Exchange parent's main focus is on paying down its large debt load related to the Maple deal and integrating former rival Alpha, as well as clearinghouse Canadian Depository for Securities Ltd (CDS).

But it is also eying global expansion and is looking to the United States with interest, said Kloet, who once ran the Singapore Exchange. But while valuations of potential acquisition targets are relatively cheap due to a slump in trading volumes, deals are less likely while the economic environment remains so uncertain, he said.

The Toronto-based exchange operator, which celebrated its 160th anniversary in October, was in talks earlier this year to buy U.S. stock market operator Direct Edge Holdings LLC, the No. 4 U.S. stock exchange by volume.

Kloet would not comment on Direct Edge specifically. He did say that TMX would have liked to have bought the London Metal Exchange, which Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd acquired for $2.2 billion in June, but the premium was too high.

TMX had 344 international listings on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the small-cap focused Toronto Venture Exchange, as of October 31. Of those, 178 were U.S.-based.

Kloet said that TMX would be interested in starting a U.S. listings business, focusing on taking small-cap companies public, if the regulatory environment was right.

He said a set of rules around the Jumpstart our Business Startups, or JOBS, Act, which aims to reduce the regulatory burden for small business start-ups by relaxing various securities regulations, would make that more likely.

"If the JOBS Act came into fruition as real rules you could use, then we'd be interested. In absence of that, we would not." ($1 = 0.9894 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting By John McCrank; Editing by Bernard Orr)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-uncertainty-stifling-business-investment-tmx-ceo-232640183--sector.html

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Islamists battle opponents as Egypt crisis grows

CAIRO (AP) ? Egypt descended into political turmoil on Wednesday over the constitution drafted by Islamist allies of President Mohammed Morsi, and at least 211 people were wounded as supporters and opponents battled each other with firebombs, rocks and sticks outside the presidential palace.

Four more presidential aides resigned in protest over Morsi's handling of the crisis, and a key opponent of the Islamist president likened Morsi's rule to that of ousted authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak.

Both sides were digging in for a long struggle, with the opposition vowing more protests and rejecting any dialogue unless the charter is rescinded, and Morsi pressing relentlessly forward with plans for a Dec. 15 constitutional referendum.

"The solution is to go to the ballot box," declared Mahmoud Ghozlan, a spokesman for Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, asserting the charter was "the best constitution Egypt ever had."

The clashes outside the presidential palace in Cairo's Heliopolis district marked an escalation in the deepening crisis. It was the first time supporters of rival camps fought each other since last year's anti-Mubarak uprising, when the authoritarian leader's loyalists sent sword-wielding supporters on horses and camels into Cairo's Tahrir square in what became one of the uprising's bloodiest days.

The large scale and intensity of the fighting marked a milestone in Egypt's rapidly entrenched schism, pitting Morsi's Brotherhood and ultra-conservative Islamists in one camp, against liberals, leftists and Christians in the other.

The violence spread to other parts of the country later Wednesday. Anti-Morsi protesters stormed and set ablaze the Brotherhood offices in Suez and Ismailia, east of Cairo, and there were clashes in the industrial city of Mahallah and the province of Menoufiyah in the Nile Delta north of the capital.

Compounding Morsi's woes, four of his advisers resigned, joining two other members of his 17-member advisory panel who have abandoned him since the crisis began.

Mohamed ElBaradei, a leading opposition reform advocate, said Morsi's rule was "no different" than Mubarak's.

"In fact, it is perhaps even worse," the Nobel Peace Prize laureate told a news conference after he accused the president's supporters of a "vicious and deliberate" attack on peaceful demonstrators outside the palace.

"Cancel the constitutional declarations, postpone the referendum, stop the bloodshed, and enter a direct dialogue with the national forces," he wrote on his Twitter account, addressing Morsi.

"History will give no mercy and the people will not forget."

The opposition is demanding that Morsi rescind the decrees giving him nearly unrestricted powers and shelve the controversial draft constitution the president's Islamist allies rushed through last week in a marathon, all-night session shown live on state TV.

Speaking at NATO in Brussels, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the unrest shows the urgent need for dialogue between Morsi's government and opposing voices on a constitutional path going forward.

"We call on all stakeholders in Egypt to settle their differences through democratic dialogue and we call on Egypt's leaders to ensure that the outcome protects the democratic promise of the revolution for all of Egypt's citizens," she said.

The huge scale of the opposition protests has dealt a blow to the legitimacy of the new charter, which Morsi's opponents contend allows religious authorities too much influence over legislation, threatens to restrict freedom of expression and opens the door to Islamist control over day-to-day life.

In addition, the country's powerful judges say they will not take on their customary role of overseeing the referendum. Zaghloul el-Balshi, secretary general of the state committee organizing the referendum, said on the private Al-Hayat television that he would not go ahead with preparations for the vote until the fighting stopped and Morsi rescinded his decrees.

The country's new attorney general, a Morsi appointee, hit back, ordering an investigation of Ahmed El-Zind, chairman of the judges' union that is spearheading the call for a boycott.

Wednesday's clashes began when thousands of Morsi's Islamist supporters descended on an area near the presidential palace where some 300 of his opponents were staging a sit-in. The Islamists, members of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, chased the protesters away from their base outside the palace's main gate and tore down their tents.

The protesters scattered into side streets, where they chanted anti-Morsi slogans as the Islamists shouted, "The people demand the implementation of God's law!"

After a brief lull, hundreds of Morsi opponents arrived and began throwing firebombs at the president's backers, who responded with rocks. The clashes continued well after nightfall and spread from the immediate vicinity of the palace to residential streets nearby.

The deployment of hundreds of riot police did not stop the fighting. The police later fired tear gas to disperse Morsi's opponents. Volunteers ferried the wounded on motorcycles to waiting ambulances, which rushed them to hospitals.

"I voted for Morsi to get rid of Hosni Mubarak. I now regret it," Nadia el-Shafie yelled at Brotherhood supporters on a side street.

"God is greater than you! Don't think this power or authority will add anything to you. God made this revolution, not you!" the tearful woman said as she was led away from the crowd of Islamists.

"May God protect Egypt and its president," read a banner hoisted atop a truck brought by the Islamists, as a man using a loudspeaker recited verses from the Quran.

"We came to support the president. We feel there is a legitimacy that someone is trying to rob," said Rabi Mohammed, a Brotherhood supporter. "People are rejecting democratic principles using thuggery."

The Islamists portrayed their attack on opposition protesters as defense of the revolution.

The clashes, said top Brotherhood leader Essam el-Erian, pitted "those who are protecting the legitimacy and the revolution against the counterrevolution and coup plotters."

Vice President Mahmoud Mekki called for a dialogue with the opposition to reach a consensus on disputed articles of the constitution, which he put at 15 out of a total of 234. The referendum must go ahead, he said, adding that he was acting in a personal capacity, not on behalf of Morsi.

Speaking to reporters, ElBaradei said there would be no dialogue unless Morsi rescinded his decrees and shelved the draft constitution.

Asked to comment on Mekki's offer, he said: "With all due respect, we don't deal with personal initiatives. If there is a genuine desire for dialogue, the offer must come from President Morsi."

Morsi's Nov. 22 decrees were followed last week by the constitutional panel pushing through the draft constitution without the participation of liberal and Christian members. Only four women, all Islamists, attended the session.

If the referendum goes ahead as scheduled and the draft constitution is adopted, elections for parliament's lawmaking lower chamber will be held in February.

____

AP reporters Maggie Michael and Sarah El Deeb contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/islamists-battle-opponents-egypt-crisis-grows-000826425.html

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Burnout - Addiction in Family

At some point, while trying to help an addict or alcoholic, we may begin to experience feelings of emotional exhaustion, or increased anxiety. These feelings may be associated with burnout ? a state of physical, emotional and mental exhaustion that?s often accompanied by a change in attitude. If you feel that you may be experiencing symptoms of burnout, t is important to take immediate action to improve your health and quality of life.

Here is a list of symptoms that may indicate a burnout:

• Feeling unusually tense, irritable or agitated with others
• Feeling irritable
• Being angry at the addicted individual
• Feeling sad, tearful
• Feeling dissatisfied with life in general
• Feeling exhausted? & overwhelmed
• Withdrawal from friends and enjoyable activities
• Loss of desire and/or energy
• Lowered immunity: getting sick more often
• Feeling out of control in attempts to manage daily life
• Trouble sleeping and/or disturbing dreams
• Change in appetite

Feeling stressed over long periods of time WILL affect a person?s health, motivation, attitude and mood as well as ability to cope with daily responsibilities.

A Burnout is a result of:

• Not asking for help
• Neglecting own needs
• High expectations of self and others
• A strong and unrealistic dedication to making things better for the other person
• Attempting to control things that are not in our control
• Difficulty saying ?no?/ setting limits or boundaries
• Consistently sacrificing self and own needs for the benefit of someone else
• Difficulty following through with enforcing limits/consequences
• Self-Blame
• Feeling responsible for the other person
• Consistently doing things for the other person that they should be doing for themselves
• Rescuing, Protecting, Fixing

The unrecognized burnout symptoms eventually lead to feelings of exhaustion, hopeless and powerless. Overtime, the affected family member may feel depressed, unable to function, and unable to shift the focus back to him/herself.? Digging self out of this point may prove to be extremely difficult. It is recommended that the family seek outside help. Seeing a doctor, mental health professional, an addiction counselor, and/or joining a family support group may be necessary, even for those who have resisted this thus far.

Self-Help Strategies to Cope with Symptoms of Burnout include:

• Letting go
• Accepting? own limitations
• saying ?no?
• ACCEPTING HELP.
• Scheduling breaks and private time for YOU
• Eating well, getting regular sleep and exercise, and participating in activities you find stress relieving.
• Defining your limits of what you are prepared and able to do
• Talking to ?a friend, family member, or others
• Finding spiritual strength
• Appreciating efforts
• Acknowledging that it is not your responsibility to ?fix it all?.

?

Some believe that a daily practice of self-compassion such as: ?self-kindness, acknowledging our own humanity, and?practicing mindfulness may also help families recover. Self-kindness refers to the tendency to be caring and?understanding?with oneself rather than being harshly critical or judgmental. Self-compassion can be extended towards the self when suffering occurs through no fault of one?s own ? when the external circumstances of life are simply too painful or difficult to bear, or else when our suffering stems from one?s own mistakes, failures or personal inadequacies.

Self-kindness comes from Buddhist cultures and is less intentionally cultivated in the West.?

In comparison to self-esteem, self-kindness does not require that we feel superior to others. Self-kindness is not an evaluation of ourselves at all, but is an attitude we adopt toward our own failure and suffering. Researchers have identified three components to self-compassion:

• Self-kindness is a positive, proactive attitude toward oneself. It is not simply the absence of negative attitudes. For instance, the absence of self-judgment does not necessarily mean that one is compassionate toward oneself.?
• The idea of ?Common humanity? involves recognizing that all humans are imperfect, fail and make mistakes. It is a perspective that views our own failings and feelings of inadequacy as part of the human condition shared by nearly everyone. By contrast, people who isolate tend to feel alone in their failure.
• Mindfulness involves being aware of one?s painful feelings in a clear and balanced manner so that one neither ignores nor obsesses about disliked aspects of oneself or one?s life.

If you?re a family member affected by addiction, try giving yourself compassion the next time you make a mistake or feel challenged beyond your ability to cope.? Not only will it help to get through difficult situations, it will lead to greater happiness?and peace of mind.

Source: http://addictioninfamily.com/family-issues/burnout/

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The Little Frothy Brew - Food & Drink Articles - Savista Over 50's ...

The basic ingredients consists of eggs beaten with sugar, milk, cream and some kind of spirit, (producing the little frothy brew) with nutmeg sometimes sprinkled on the top for a different taste and visual effect.

As with most historical facts there is always controversy involved, and the origin of this seasonal drink is no exception to the rule!

Many believe that the drinking of eggnog tradition was brought to Europe from America. Others believe it had European roots but, either way, I?ve seen many an old American film which has promoted this eggnog drinking trend, especially films showing family and friends gathering during the Christmas Season.

It is certainly a social drink, (originally for the rich), said to be related to various milk and wine punches, later becoming more alcoholic as the thought of drinking eggs was never appealing to some, although eggs is still very much a prominent ingredient.

There are varying opinions as to how the name was derived, especially as it has an awful guttural sound but, it is said that the word nog is from an Old English name meaning strong beer, and noggin was a small wooden carved mug which people drank from while at tavern tables in England, so that is how an egg drink in a nog became eggnog.? It has been related to various milk and wine punches, although the English also used Spanish Sherry.? It has always been used at social gatherings throughout the centuries to toast one?s health, both in England and in America.

Those who believe that eggnog originated in America associate it with the American Colonial colonies where colonists referred to thick drinks as grog, then as egg and grog together, so again, there was a reference to the know name of today, eggnog, instead of egg grog.?

The Colonial Americans added a certain twist to the original eggnog drink by adding rum to it, rather than wine, giving it a totally different kick. Rum was introduced from the Caribbean and became a much cheaper addition, (rather than imported wine from England), making the drink popular and affordable to all classes in America, no longer only for the rich!

The first president of the United States, George Washington, was quite a fan of eggnog and devised his own recipe that included rye whiskey, rum and sherry. It became known as a stiff drink that only the most courageous were willing to try.

When the brew reached Latin America yet more ingredients continued to be added including coconut juice. A more portent liqueur was added to Mexican eggnog, to be sipped with Mexican Cinnamon and rum, and in Peru they include home-brewed Brandy and call it pisco, yet, amongst all these great spirits being introduced and included, non-alcoholic eggnog is also very popular.

Have you ever tried eggnog?? Why not give it a try this Christmas?

Source: http://www.savistamagazine.com/article/the-little-frothy-brew

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International arbitration for tax disputes, "baseball" style

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States remains undefeated in the nearly two years since it began settling corporate tax disputes with Canada through a winner-takes-all process popularly known as "baseball arbitration."

Tax lawyers and accountants in both countries said the U.S. Internal Revenue Service had won three of the binding decisions and Canada none. They said the IRS had collected a significant sum of money, possibly in excess of $100 million.

Launched in December 2010, the arbitrations follow the rules for settling salary disputes between Major League Baseball teams and their players. As in baseball, the two parties - revenue agents from the two countries - put forward a figure.

As in baseball, third-party mediators settle disputes by picking the number they judge to be closest to the right answer. In the tax game, that's the amount a company pays. The winning country gets the tax revenue. The losing country goes home empty-handed.

"It's baseball arbitration: One position wins and the other one loses," said Brian Trauman, a principal at Big Four accounting firm KPMG LLP. The cases that have been resolved have "really big dollars at stake," he said.

Now the United States is adding an arbitration clause into tax treaties with other countries, hoping to broaden its winning streak to a global stage.

Companies also prefer such showdowns as government-to-government arbitration can give them quicker tax bill certainty, in some cases allowing them to free up cash reserved for potential tax liabilities.

The arbitration process arises in tax questions involving a multinational company's transfer pricing taxes, where two countries disagree over which of them should collect corporate taxes. Companies can request that countries go to arbitration if revenue agents cannot settle their tax disputes in two years.

In the end, the identities of the companies paying the taxes remain confidential as do the amounts of taxes paid. None of the tax experts consulted would disclose the names of the companies nor the amounts paid in each of the three cases.

The United States has had similar agreements with France since 2004 and Belgium and Germany from 2006, but no cases involving them have gone to "baseball arbitration," the tax experts said.

"Baseball arbitration" clauses are in pending tax treaties with Hungary, Luxembourg and Switzerland. Future treaties with the United Kingdom and Japan may have the same provisions, tax experts said.

AIMING TOO HIGH?

The tax arbitration panels are made up of three experts, one chosen by each country and the third by the other two experts. Revenue agents from each country submit a tax bill number to the panel.

Tax experts on both sides said Canada had lost all three disputes because it was effectively trying to hit home runs - seeking too much in taxes during arbitration to realistically win the case.

"Canada has lost three in a row," said Dale Hill, a former manager of Canada's cross-border tax negotiations with the United States and a partner with Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP in Ottawa. "Maybe Canada has been more aggressive," Hill said, but "Canada truly believed they would win."

David Rosenbloom, a Washington, D.C.-based U.S. tax lawyer at Caplin & Drysdale, said the Canada Revenue Agency "has developed over the years a habit of taking really extreme and unwarranted positions. It's almost as though they're unaware arbitration is in the treaty."

Richard McAlonan, who directs the IRS negotiating program, told Reuters this month that the agency had resolved a "handful" of the cases. He declined further comment.

The CRA said in a statement that it prefers to resolve its tax disputes with the United States "at the negotiating table." Going to arbitration "would be the last resort," the CRA said. It declined to comment on the cases, citing confidentiality rules in the treaty.

Canada's losses may mean its revenue agents will be more cautious in future tax negotiations with the United States. The countries negotiate 75 to 100 cases a year, Hill said. "It's going to get tougher for Canada to negotiate," he said.

TREATIES PENDING

The tax treaties with Hungary, Luxembourg and Switzerland passed the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2011. However, Republican Senator Rand Paul has taken advantage of Senate procedures to block the three treaties from going before the full Senate.

A spokeswoman for Paul could not be reached for comment. Paul has previously objected to the treaties' provisions that require more sharing of U.S. taxpayer information.

New treaty arbitration provisions with Switzerland and the UK would especially benefit the pharmaceutical industry, while auto companies would appreciate the provision in a Japanese treaty, said Lorraine Eden, a professor at Texas A&M University.

Companies in both sectors have a lot of transfer pricing tax uncertainty and can face double taxation if unable to force countries into binding arbitration, she said.

UK-based GlaxoSmithKline Plc reached a $3.4 billion transfer pricing settlement with the IRS in 2006. But the UK did not accept the U.S. settlement, and Glaxo faced UK taxes on the same profits, Eden said.

"Would they like the opportunity to go to binding arbitration and settle this? Absolutely," Eden said.

(Editing by Howard Goller, Steve Orlofsky and Theodore d'Afflisio)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/international-arbitration-tax-disputes-baseball-style-150939182--finance.html

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Open-access Geoscience Data Journal launched by Wiley

Public release date: 16-Jul-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Ben Norman
Sciencenewsroom@wiley.com
44-124-377-0375
Wiley

Hoboken, N.J., July 16, 2012. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., has partnered with the Royal Meteorological Society to launch the Geoscience Data Journal as part of the Wiley Open Access publishing program. The new online-only journal will publish short, earth science data papers cross-linked to datasets that have been deposited in approved data centres and awarded DOIs.

"It is becoming increasingly important that the data which underpins key findings should be made more available to allow for the further analysis and interpretation of those results," said Mike Davis, Vice President and Managing Director, Life Sciences Wiley. "The ability of researchers to create and collect often huge new data sets has been growing rapidly in parallel with options for their storage and retrieval in a wide range of data repositories. We are launching the Geoscience Data Journal in response to these important developments."

The editorial team, which includes representatives from the Natural Environment Research Council and the British Atmospheric Data Centre, is led by Dr Rob Allan from the UK Met Office, and will work alongside a global network of data centres. The journal will play a crucial role in the curation and archiving of digitally stored datasets, ensuring geosciences data is easily accessible, readable and understandable for years to come.

Geoscience Data Journal is online-only and will publish short data papers (articles describing a dataset, giving details including collection, processing, software and file formats) covering topics ranging from weather and climate, to oceanography, atmospheric chemistry and geology. All published data papers will be linked to datasets, which provide details of the collection, processing and file formatting of data.

"Issues around provenance, curation, recognition and discovery of data have always been important, but never as much as over recent years," said Professor Paul Hardaker, Chief Executive of the Royal Meteorological Society. "Being able to publish data in a peer-reviewed journal not only helps to address many of these challenges, but for the first time will help to recognise the contribution that data and those scientists that work with data make to the wider community."

"The establishment of journals which allow for the formal peer-review, publication and citation of data sets provides a real opportunity to promote open data, improve the openness and transparency of the research process and promote the re-use of data held by NERC and other research organisations," said Mark Thorley, Head of Science Information at the Natural Environment Research Council. "NERC has been an active supporter of the data science activities that have led to the establishment of this journal, and we will be encouraging and supporting our research community to use it to publish data sets that they hold."

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?

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

Public release date: 16-Jul-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Ben Norman
Sciencenewsroom@wiley.com
44-124-377-0375
Wiley

Hoboken, N.J., July 16, 2012. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., has partnered with the Royal Meteorological Society to launch the Geoscience Data Journal as part of the Wiley Open Access publishing program. The new online-only journal will publish short, earth science data papers cross-linked to datasets that have been deposited in approved data centres and awarded DOIs.

"It is becoming increasingly important that the data which underpins key findings should be made more available to allow for the further analysis and interpretation of those results," said Mike Davis, Vice President and Managing Director, Life Sciences Wiley. "The ability of researchers to create and collect often huge new data sets has been growing rapidly in parallel with options for their storage and retrieval in a wide range of data repositories. We are launching the Geoscience Data Journal in response to these important developments."

The editorial team, which includes representatives from the Natural Environment Research Council and the British Atmospheric Data Centre, is led by Dr Rob Allan from the UK Met Office, and will work alongside a global network of data centres. The journal will play a crucial role in the curation and archiving of digitally stored datasets, ensuring geosciences data is easily accessible, readable and understandable for years to come.

Geoscience Data Journal is online-only and will publish short data papers (articles describing a dataset, giving details including collection, processing, software and file formats) covering topics ranging from weather and climate, to oceanography, atmospheric chemistry and geology. All published data papers will be linked to datasets, which provide details of the collection, processing and file formatting of data.

"Issues around provenance, curation, recognition and discovery of data have always been important, but never as much as over recent years," said Professor Paul Hardaker, Chief Executive of the Royal Meteorological Society. "Being able to publish data in a peer-reviewed journal not only helps to address many of these challenges, but for the first time will help to recognise the contribution that data and those scientists that work with data make to the wider community."

"The establishment of journals which allow for the formal peer-review, publication and citation of data sets provides a real opportunity to promote open data, improve the openness and transparency of the research process and promote the re-use of data held by NERC and other research organisations," said Mark Thorley, Head of Science Information at the Natural Environment Research Council. "NERC has been an active supporter of the data science activities that have led to the establishment of this journal, and we will be encouraging and supporting our research community to use it to publish data sets that they hold."

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?

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

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-07/w-oag071612.php

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Celeste Holm: 1917-2012

Celeste Holm, a musical comedy star who also showed a flair for dramatic work and won an Academy Award for her sympathetic role in "Gentleman's Agreement," Elia Kazan's influential 1947 film exploring anti-Semitism, died Sunday at her home in New York City. She was 95.

Her great-niece, Amy Phillips, confirmed her death to the Associated Press. Ms. Holm had been hospitalized for dehydration about two weeks ago after a fire in actor Robert De Niro's apartment in the same Manhattan building.

Ms. Holm came to wide attention in 1943 as the lusty Ado Annie Carnes in the original Broadway staging of "Oklahoma!" She sang the show-stopping number "I Cain't Say No," which led critic Burton Rascoe to write at the time that she "simply tucks the show under her arm and lets the others touch it."

Ms. Holm was summoned to Hollywood in 1946 as a musical comedy performer and landed roles in "Carnival in Costa Rica" and "Three Little Girls in Blue," films that did not sustain her interest.

She had a hard time persuading Darryl Zanuck, head of Twentieth Century Fox studios, to let her play in "Gentleman's Agreement" until screenwriter Moss Hart came to her defense.

Within a four-year period, she received three supporting Oscar nominations, including her win, for "Gentleman's Agreement," "Come to the Stable" (1949) and "All About Eve" (1950).

In "Gentleman's Agreement," she was the glamorous but long-suffering fashion editor with a yen for an investigative reporter, played by Gregory Peck. The film was one of the first major pictures to expose anti-Semitism in everyday society and won Oscars for best picture and best director.

"All About Eve," a highly literate drama about ambition, featured Ms. Holm as the sincere best friend of an aging actress played by Bette Davis. The film won best picture and director Oscars.

Ms. Holm often described a tense relationship with Zanuck, who was displeased with her choosiness in film roles. Her rows with Zanuck earned her unflattering comparisons in Hollywood to the independent-minded Davis. MGM, fearing similar troubles with Ms. Holm, almost didn't cast her in such mid-1950s musicals as "The Tender Trap" and "High Society" until co-star Frank Sinatra intervened.

Sinatra knew that Ms. Holm's reputation for quality work elevated those around her, said film historian Jeanine Basinger.

"She's the classic example of a Broadway actress who, when she did do film, her impact was huge," Basinger said.

Ms. Holm was born in New York on April 29, 1917, to an insurance executive father and a portrait painter mother.

After ballet and voice training, she worked in summer stock and received a significant part on Broadway in "The Time of Your Life" (1939), William Saroyan's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama.

Despite her critical success in Hollywood, she asked for release from her studio contract in 1950 to return to Broadway. In a space of a few years, she played a contemporary Washingtonian in Louis Verneuil's comedy "Affairs of State"; Anna, an English governess, in Rodgers and Hammerstein's "The King and I"; and the title tramp in Eugene O'Neill's "Anna Christie."

She often appeared opposite her fourth husband, actor Wesley Addy.

Her marriages to Ralph Nelson, Francis Davies and A. Schuyler Dunning ended in divorce. Addy died in 1996.

In 2004, she married her fifth husband, opera singer Frank Basile. He survives, along with a son from her first marriage and a son from her third marriage.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1925550/news/1925550/

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Josh Gordon Failed Three Drug Tests in College

Written by playerpress.com, Saturday July 14 2012

Receiver Josh Gordon, who was taken in the second round of the supplemental draft on Thursday by the Cleveland Browns, failed three drug tests while in college.

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Gordon reportedly had two failed tests while at Baylor and another one after he transferred to Utah. The second failed test at Baylor got him kicked off the team even though charges from a 2010 marijuana arrest had been dropped.

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He never actually played a down at Utah before entering the NFL supplemental draft.

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Gordon did pass a voluntary drug test before Thursday's draft selection, but some people are worried about his past problems and if he has the maturity to handle life in the NFL.

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Tags:??Baylor, Cleveland Browns, failed three drug tests, Josh Gordon, marijuana arrest, NFL , supplemental draft, Utah

Recent Browns Articles

Source: http://www.playerpress.com/articles/16549-josh-gordon-failed-three-drug-tests-in-college

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Update: Stallone Photos Posted to Facebook 17 Hours Before Body Found

Though multiple reports suggest that filmmaker Sage Stallone had been dead for days before his body was found, People Magazine reports that such information may be incorrect.

According to People, Stallone?s attorney and longtime friend George Braunstein claims the 36-year old posted photos to his Facebook account 17 hours before the body was found.

Braunstein?disputes that the son of actor Sylvester Stallone was found in a room full of empty alcohol bottles as reports have claimed.

?Sage didn?t even drink,? he told People. ?There was a report that his room was filled with liquor bottles. Actually, they were empty bottles of Dr. Brown?s Cream Soda.?

Braunstein?s claims counteract reports, such as one from the Huffington Post, that suggest that Sage Stallone had been dead for days when found, citing the Facebook post. He also claimed Sage Stallone didn?t seem depressed.

?Sage was a really young, very sensitive, and very talented kid,? Braunstein told People. ?There has been no indication that there was anything wrong in his life.?

Sage Stallone had been set to wed his girlfriend in the coming weeks, and was part of a successful film company, ?Grindhouse Releasing.?

Sage Stallone made his acting debut in 1990?s ?Rocky V? as Robert Balboa, Rocky?s son. He also appeared in the 1996 film ?Daylight,? also alongside his father.

?Sylvester Stallone is devastated and grief-stricken over the sudden loss of his son,? publicist Michelle Bega said in a statement. ?His compassion and thoughts are with Sage?s mother, Sasha.?

Sage Moonblood Stallone was the oldest son of Sylvester Stallone and his first wife Sasha Czack.

Source: http://www.inquisitr.com/276966/update-stallone-photos-posted-to-facebook-17-hours-before-body-found/

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jbrownridge: RT @MrMMarsh: Today I popped into a Traditional Chinese Medicine shop. Here's a quick report on some of the bonkers claims I found: http ...

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Trying to figure out what college is right for you? Visit La Roche College and v...

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Rental Property Management Wellington ... - Scottsdale real estate

by RealEstate on July 13, 2012

Rental Property Management

Pre-set term or continual tenancies: which is the best for your rental property?

To ensure you get the very best money flow for your property, you need to make the right decision between a set period or periodic tenancy to suit your exact circumstances. Picking the right kind of tenancy will help you achieve your aims. If this is to secure maximum cash flow and security or to permit flexibleness should things change and you want to move back in, or sell. Here?s some advice from an established residential house administration company.

You need to be clear about your primary objective, and work towards that goal :
If you?re looking to keep the property as a long term investment then you don?t need flexibility. Fixed term tenancies that run year to year, summer to summer, in the peak letting season are your top alternative. This gives you the greatest money flow as both owner and renter are locked in for the specific period.

If you want the flexibility to possibly move back into the property, or to sell it, then pick a regular tenancy where you can give notice to the tenant to leave. However there?s a trade-off : a continual tenancy tends to draw less committed renters who also could be unsure of their plans. This suggests that cash flow is less assured and there are likely to be more vacancies. The tenants can give 21 days? notice at any point for any reason.

If you are planning to sell the property it?s critical to have a strategic approach. The best result?s accomplished by selecting and finding tenants who know it might go on the market and are unfazed about that process. The property may rent for a lesser price but these tenants won?t impe a sale process by rejecting open houses, or making right of entry hard.

If you pick the incorrect sort of tenancy, or don?t get the right tenants for the flexibility that you might need, this is extraordinarily expensive. Having renters who don?t co-operate with the sales process can reduce the sale price, and even stop the sale altogether.

A property manager who understand how to work strategically can stop these losses and make certain of the absolute best possible result. Accomplishment comes from good systems, from familiarity and from commitment to applying these systems to give home owners the best returns on their property investments. If you would like to live your life the way you would like to, then chat to an expert about handling your property for you.

This tip is brought directly to you by Quinovic Johnsonville, a successful rental house administration service in Wellington?s Northern Suburbs

Related posts:

1. Johnsonville Rental Property Management ? Tips on Hiring Your Investment Rental Properties
2. How To Pick A Professional In Residential Home Management Wellington
3. Property Rental

Tags: tenancy agreement, rental property tenancy, lease agreement

Source: http://scottsdalerealestatenetwork.com/scottsdale/real-estate/rental-property-management-wellington-information-on-tenancy-contracts/

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Glorious GALA ? and ?Praises,? this time - Retirement in the Mix

Over the past several days, I?ve spent many hours listening to and hanging out among LGBTQ choruses. The quadrennial GALA Festival (GALA: Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses) was in Denver this year. It basically ? no, it?totally?? took over the Denver Performing Arts Center for several days. The 6,000+ LGBTQ singers and their supporters, fans, and groupies were there from all around the US, from Canada and Europe, even from New Zealand and Australia. It was a marvelous experience of immersion in queer culture.

I don?t sing in a chorus myself (mercifully, for all involved), but having this huge event right in my backyard was too good to pass up. Still, since I?m not deeply into choral music, I planned to see a few of my very favorite choruses and a couple I?d heard a lot about, and then call it good. But I ended up moving with my partner from one concert to another for days. Many of these events were multiple-chorus happenings, inspiring for the range of music the different groups performed, the variation in their membership, size, style, the themes of their programs ? and on and on. Others featured individual choruses, giving each one an extended block of time to share their music.

Out of the many, here are some I saw, a few personal highlights to give you a hint of what this experience was like.???????? As most unexpected, I?d have to count the choruses from Juneau (whom I heard) and from New Zealand/Australia (whom I did not). These folks must have seriously wanted to be at GALA to have mustered the energy and the capital to get themselves here. I also loved one of the songs by the Juneau Pride Chorus, which went something like this: ?I will believe the truth about myself ? no matter how beautiful it may be.? ???????? As most mouth-dropping amazing, I?d count two performances. One was a commissioned work performed by Sound Circle (what a surprise!). It was a sort of high-energy, high-speed body percussion piece called, improbably but appropriately, ?Clangor, Clammer, Clapperclaw.? The crisp precision of the performers? movements and their voices was just stunning. I was holding my breath, incredulous that none of them ever missed a beat, even by a hair, ever. The other amazing piece was a spoken-word performance called ?Bully to the Brink? performed by Dreams of Hope, a Pittsburgh youth group. The frankness and strength of their declaration that they also?we, also?have participated in bullying was really powerful.

???????? As most richly, enwrappingly beautiful, I?d name Resonance?s multi-piece concert and Sound Circle?s paean to desert canyons, ?Path of Beauty: Singing the Grand Canyon.? I realize I seem seriously biased here, singling out two Boulder women?s choruses, but it?s hard not to be in awe of the wonderful music being created right here in our own town. And to prove I wasn?t alone in my appreciation, Resonance got a spontaneous, enthusiastic ovation in the lobby of the performance hall as they came out from backstage.?MUSE, a long-standing (29 years!) women?s chorus from Cincinnati, was also really impressive. This chorus includes a range of ages and identities, and their music covers the gamut from serious social justice pieces to a playful ode to the wonders of caffeine. A joy to watch and to hear.

And then, on the level of profoundly, personally moving, I sank into a familiar (though always unique), deep, warm, round peace listening to Sound Circle perform ?Praises for the World.? I?ve written about this piece before?and probably will again. Its foundation is a chant, with other vocal and instrumental music and some spoken word layered over it at intervals through the piece. For me, it?s a meditation. It speaks to a part of me that I rarely encounter. In fact, listening to ?Praises? this time persuaded me to resume my long-neglected meditation practice. I don?t expect to reach the place that ?Praises? leads me very often, but moving in that direction can only be healing.(At the end of this GALA blog, I?ll say something more about this particular experience. But first, I?ll bid GALA farewell.)There were lots of other, equally wonderful performances that I missed because overlapping events?and downright fatigue?kept me from going to them all. Still, I got to enjoy a lot of music and a few workshops, and came away with a new appreciation for choral music as an embodiment of queer culture at its most lively. My partner is really interested in queer culture as one of the ways we build resilience in the face of a sometimes insensitive (or worse) world?and also celebrate queer identity in all its magnificent forms. Submerged in GALA, I really ?got? what she means. For one brief moment of insanity, I even considered singing with a chorus so I could be more in the middle of it all instead of on the fringes. I quickly got over that particular idea, but I sure loved soaking up the community that was carried on the buzz that filled DPAC.......................................................................

Epilogue

Thoughts on ?Praises for the World,? this time

As often happens when we experience something really moving and complex several times, this time, I heard parts of ?Praises? at a level I hadn?t before. Two of the poems read over the underlying chant felt especially meaningful to me this time. Of course, these are very different when read in print than when heard spoken aloud by someone whose voice is a musical instrument. Given that caveat, here they are, with a few reflections.?

and fasten themselves to the high branches on which are painted islandsyou will swim away along the soft trailsfor hours, your imagination		that is heavier than lead ---somewhere deep within youa beast shouting that the earthis exactly what it wanted ---each pond with its blazing liliesis a prayer heard and answeredyou have ever dared to be happy,you have ever dared to pray.
I'd seen their hoofprints in the deep needles and knew they ended the long nightunder the pines, walking like two mute and beautiful women toward the deeper woods, so Igot up in the dark and went there. They came slowly down the hill and looked at me sitting underthe blue trees, shyly they stepped closer and stared from under their thick lashes and evennibbled some damp tassels of weeds. This is not a poem about a dream, though it could be.	This is a poem about the world that is ours, or could be.Finally one of them ? I swear it! ?would have come to my arms. But the other stamped sharp hoof in the pine needles likethe tap of sanity, and they went off together through the trees. When I woke I was alone,I was thinking: so this is how you swim inward, so this is how you flow outward, so this is how you pray.

...................................................................

And here is what I (especially) heard, or rather, what I felt, listening to these poems, this time:? ? each pond with its blazing liliesis a prayer heard and answeredyou have ever dared to pray.?? ? shyly
they stepped
closer and stared
from under their thick lashes ?one of them ? I swear it! ?would have come to my arms.
But the other
stamped sharp hoof in the
pine needles likeI was thinking ?
so this is how you pray.

It?s at this level, this sunk root-deep in nature level, where I can understand prayer. Not as supplication or worship. But as a simple, visceral, cellular, joyful, wonder-laced experience of the cosmic marvel of existence.?

Another spoken-word part of ?Praises? is a short quotation from the writings of the Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh:??The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green Earth in the present moment, to appreciate the peace and beauty that are available now.??I once attended a retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh, and I remember hearing him say something like this: ?I was looking out my window this morning as I ate my cereal, thinking, ?those men in the field are harvesting grain like that I?m eating. Soon, that grain will become a lesson.???This is how I can understand prayer ? a deer?s curiosity, the ?golden sticks of the sun,? wheat becoming a lesson. That?s what I brought away from ?Praises for the World.? This time.

Source: http://retirementinthemix.blogspot.com/2012/07/glorious-gala-and-praises-this-time.html

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Grant Show and Katherine LaNasa: Engaged!

Former Melrose Place hunk Grant Show is off the market. The actor is engaged to actress Katherine LaNasa, her spokesperson confirmed to People.

"Katherine is very excited and already working on plans for the wedding that will happen later this year," her rep says of the blonde beauty, 45.

Here's a nice photo of the engaged twosome:

This will be the second marriage for Grant Show, who has recurred on Private Practice. Pollyanna McIntosh filed for divorce in 2011 after they wed in 2004.

This will be the third marriage for Katherine LaNasa, who was formerly married to actor French Stewart and to the late acting legend Dennis Hopper.

LaNasa will star in the upcoming NBC series Infamous, which is set to premiere as a mid-season replacement during the 2012–2013 TV season.

Congratulations to the happy couple!

[Photo: WENN.com]

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/07/grant-show-and-katherine-lanasa-engaged/

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Cameras roll on 'Manhattanhenge'

Time-lapse captures a unique sunset above the streets of New York City.

By Jonathan Sanger, msnbc.com

Twice a year, the setting sun aligns perfectly with the Manhattan street grid, creating a spectacular sunset nicknamed ?Manhattanhenge.? John Makely and I were in Manhattan Wednesday night to create a time-lapse documenting the occasion.

Jonathan Sanger / msnbc.com

A chair helps make a long wait bearable.

Since Manhattanhenge draws crowds of photographers, we knew we had to mark our spot on the Tudor City Bridge early in the day. Many people love this location, but there is only enough room for a few photographers to stand near the coveted position. ?We had the perfect spot early in the afternoon, though the sun seemed to stand still in the middle of the sky, and the sunset seemed a long way off. As afternoon passed, many photographers appeared, still hours before the actual event, jockeying for good positions. We waited until buildings blocked the harsh afternoon sun to unpack our gear, worried that the intense heat might damage it. The crowd and the excitement kept building through the evening until, suddenly, the low, red sun popped out from behind buildings directly above our view of 42^nd street. The scene was breathtaking, and sound of rapidly firing camera shutters almost overcame the usual sounds of traffic. In just a few short minutes, sun dipped beneath the horizon, and the whole event was over.

John Makely / msnbc.com

The sun sets over 42nd street, perfectly aligned with Manhattan's street grid during Manhattanhenge, on Wednesday, July 11, in New York, NY.

John Makely / msnbc.com

Photographers gather on top of the Tudor City Bridge awaiting sunset.

John Makely / msnbc.com

The sun sets over 42nd street, perfectly aligned with Manhattan's street grid during Manhattanhenge, on Wednesday, July 11, in New York, NY.

If you want to catch a glimpse of Manhattanhenge in person, you still have a chance tonight. According to the American Museum of Natural History, the best time to see it tonight is 8:25 pm. While many east-west streets that align with the grid make for good viewing points, the museum suggests standing on the eastern of parts 14th, 23rd, 34th, 42nd, and 57th streets, looking west. If you want a good spot, be sure to arrive early, as many photographers are jockeying for the same spot.

Check out great shots from other photographers on PhotoBlog.

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Source: http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/12/12705242-cameras-roll-on-manhattanhenge?lite

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Early Americans took two tool tracks

Oregon finds indicate ancient Clovis hunters weren?t alone

Web edition : 2:27 pm

Ancient residents of four caves in south-central Oregon may deserve bragging rights as the earliest known Americans. New finds in the caves unveil a population that reached the New World around the same time or shortly before the famed Clovis hunters who roamed the Great Plains and Southeast at the end of the Ice Age.

Regardless of who first set foot in North America after crossing a land bridge from Asia, populations practicing at least two spear-making styles colonized the New World, say archaeologist Dennis Jenkins of the University of Oregon in Eugene and his colleagues.

Excavations at Oregon?s Paisley Caves find that four distinctively shaped stone spearheads ? representing a toolmaking style called the Western Stemmed Tradition ? date to between 14,000 and 13,000 years ago, Jenkins and his colleagues report in the July 13 Science.

Weaponry from Clovis hunters, long-thought to be the first Americans, spread westward from the Southeast between about 13,500 and 13,000 years ago, whereas the Western Stemmed Tradition arose in the far western United States and moved eastward over several thousand years, the researchers suggest.

?We seem to have two different toolmaking traditions that coexisted in North America and did not blend for hundreds of years,? Jenkins says.

Some investigators have held that Clovis-style implements were precursors of Western Stemmed points. In support of that scenario, a Wyoming site previously yielded Clovis points in deposits below Western Stemmed points, a clear sign of Clovis seniority.

But Western Stemmed points at the Paisley Caves are at least as old as 13,000- to 12,800-year-old Clovis points that have been found elsewhere in Oregon, Jenkins says. Makers of Western Stemmed artifacts developed their own style in the Far West before traveling east to Wyoming and other areas already inhabited by Clovis hunters, he suggests.

Western Stemmed points previously recovered at two Nevada sites and one Idaho location probably also date to Clovis times, although better radiocarbon evidence is needed, Jenkins says.

At the Paisley Caves, Jenkins? team obtained 121 new radiocarbon dates, in addition to 69 previous radiocarbon dates, for sagebrush twigs, dried feces and animal bones unearthed above and below stone artifacts. An independent lab identified human DNA in dried feces from the Oregon caves that dated to at least 13,000 years ago.

The team found that human DNA from the Paisley Caves contained signatures known to be common among Siberians and many Native Americans, indicating an Asian homeland for early New World colonists.

Evolutionary geneticist Hendrik Poinar of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, suspected that DNA from later Native Americans might have seeped through soil and into ancient feces at the Paisley Caves. Several soil samples in the new study contained human DNA, raising the possibility that genetic material from later Paisley Caves visitors contaminated older, buried feces at the sites, Poinar says.

Still, radiocarbon measures obtained by Jenkins? team provide ?reliable ages that put Western Stemmed points contemporaneous with Clovis points,? comments anthropologist David Meltzer of Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Early New World settlers practiced several different toolmaking traditions, including one at a roughly 14,000-year-old Chilean site, remarks archaeologist James Adovasio of Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pa.

?The emerging picture is of multiple movements from Asia into the Americas by populations with multiple tool traditions,? Adovasio says.

It?s too early to say whether Western Stemmed points were the product of one population of New World settlers and Clovis spear points the handiwork of another population, or if different groups of colonists contributed to each toolmaking style, Meltzer cautions.

Found in: Humans

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/342253/title/Early_Americans_took_two_tool_tracks

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Jackson's 'mood disorder' raising more questions?

FILE - In this May 16, 2011 file photo, U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. attends ceremonies for Chicago Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel in Chicago. On Wednesday, July 11, 2012, Jackson's staff said they soon could have more information to release about the Chicago Democrat's medical condition. Jackson's been on medical leave for a month, but his location and exact ailment haven't been disclosed. Initially, staff said he was being treated for exhaustion. But last week they said his condition was worse than previously thought and required inpatient treatment. They also disclosed Jackson has been battling emotional problems. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

FILE - In this May 16, 2011 file photo, U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. attends ceremonies for Chicago Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel in Chicago. On Wednesday, July 11, 2012, Jackson's staff said they soon could have more information to release about the Chicago Democrat's medical condition. Jackson's been on medical leave for a month, but his location and exact ailment haven't been disclosed. Initially, staff said he was being treated for exhaustion. But last week they said his condition was worse than previously thought and required inpatient treatment. They also disclosed Jackson has been battling emotional problems. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

CHICAGO (AP) ? U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s disclosure that he is suffering from a "mood disorder" still leaves many questions about his secretive medical leave and whether the Illinois congressman has satisfied mounting calls to be more open about his month-long absence.

Just hours after Democratic leaders in Congress ratcheted up pressure on Jackson to reveal more information, his office released a brief statement from his doctor on Wednesday saying the Chicago Democrat was receiving "intensive medical treatment at a residential treatment facility for a mood disorder."

But it offered no details about Jackson's whereabouts or even the name of the doctor, citing federal privacy laws.

Several experts said that based on the doctor's use of the term "mood disorder," they believed Jackson might be suffering from depression. But the statement did not elaborate on his condition and rejected claims that the 47-year-old congressman was being treated for "alcohol or substance abuse."

"He is responding positively to treatment and is expected to make a full recovery," the statement said. His spokesman declined to elaborate.

When Jackson's medical leave was first announced ? two weeks after it began on June 10 ? his office said he was being treated for exhaustion. Last week his staff said his condition was worse than previously thought and required inpatient treatment, saying Jackson had been privately battling emotional problems. The office has remained mum on details.

The timing of the leave has invited scrutiny, coming as Jackson faces an ethics investigation in the U.S. House connected to imprisoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Days before Jackson's office announced his leave, a fundraiser and family friend also involved in the probe was arrested and charged with unrelated medical fraud charges.

The Associated Press on Wednesday interviewed several physicians who didn't have first-hand knowledge of Jackson's condition but said the term "mood disorder" typically refers to depression or bipolar disorder, which used to be known as manic depression.

Dr. Daniel Yohanna, vice chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Chicago, said depression is more common and affects about 5 percent of men at some point in their lives. Symptoms can range from sleep disturbance and appetite problems to hopelessness and thoughts of suicide, though cure rates are very high, he said.

"It could come out of nowhere, it runs in families, you could have a genetic predisposition, or it can come after a difficulty in your life," Yohanna said. "Once it gets rolling it's hard to stop it on your own."

Ian Gotlib, a professor of psychology at Stanford University, said depression is generally treated on an outpatient basis. But he said that if doctors were concerned about the safety of the patient or if the disorder were severe enough, they could recommend inpatient treatment.

"The good news is that it's clearly treatable," Gotlib said, adding that counseling and prescription drugs would be likely for inpatient treatment and that it could take weeks.

It's unclear whether Wednesday's statement would temper the mounting demands for full disclosure of the congressman's ailment.

Before Jackson's statement was released, Democratic leaders in the U.S. House joined Jackson's colleagues and constituents in urging the congressman to provide a public update about his condition. House Leader Nancy Pelosi, when asked about Jackson, said she hoped he would have "the appropriate evaluation so he can share that information."

Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 Democrat in the U.S. House, said Wednesday that Jackson wasn't in "an unusual circumstance."

"People get sick, and when people get sick, they miss work. Everybody in America understands that," Hoyer said. "But I think the family would be well advised to give his constituents as much information as is appropriate."

Fellow Illinois Democrats Sen. Dick Durbin and Rep. Luis Gutierrez have called it Jackson's responsibility as a public official to disclose details. Jackson's little-known opponents in the November election have spoken out on the same issue, and some voters in his district have asked questions.

Durbin was unavailable for comment Wednesday evening after the Jackson office's latest statement.

Jackson spokesman Rick Bryant has said relatives requested Jackson's location be kept private, and his family has been unusually reticent on the issue. His wife, Chicago Alderman Sandi Jackson, has said little. And his father, civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., has called it a private issue and repeatedly declined to give details.

The pending House Ethics Committee investigation is focusing on allegations that Jackson discussed raising money for Blagojevich's campaign so the then-Illinois governor would appoint him to President Barack Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat. Blagojevich is serving a prison sentence for corruption. Jackson has denied the claims.

Jackson also allegedly directed a fundraiser, Raghuveer Nayak, to buy plane tickets for a woman described as Jackson's "social acquaintance." Jackson and his wife have called that a personal matter.

Nayak was the fundraiser arrested and charged with the unrelated medical fraud charges. He has pleaded not guilty.

At Blagojevich's 2010 corruption trial, prosecutors said another Blagojevich fundraiser was ready to testify that Jackson instructed Nayak to raise money for Blagojevich's campaign to help him secure the Senate seat. The same witness later testified he attended a meeting with Jackson and Nayak.

Jackson was not charged and has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

Jackson faces a Republican and independent candidate in November, though he's widely expected to win re-election. He first won office in a 1995 special election and has easily won each race since. Jackson's district includes parts of Chicago and some suburbs but was expanded during the last redistricting process to include less familiar territory further south of the city.

___

Associated Press writers Donna Cassata in Washington and Jason Keyser in Chicago contributed to this report.

___

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Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-07-12-Jackson-Leave%20of%20Absence/id-4bd2ed234c0c43ccbb82a39583527bb9

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