New Mexico resident fights Army Corps over arroyo cleanup

SANTA FE, N.M. ? Peter Smith steered his silver Chevy TrailBlazer down a rough dirt road, rolling to a stop at the edge of a dry, sandy wash called the Gallina Arroyo. "Here's the scene of the crime," he said.

Two years ago, Smith cleaned out and graded a few hundred yards of the arroyo that winds through the 20-acre tract he and his wife, Francoise, own in the hills south of Santa Fe, not suspecting that he might be committing a federal offense.

But in June 2011, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sent a letter informing him that by failing to obtain a permit before blading the bed of the arroyo with his tractor, he had violated the Clean Water Act. The corps issued a warning but did not impose fines or penalties.

Although the arroyo only runs a few times a year, it is considered, in the formal language of the Clean Water Act, a "water of the United States" because it ultimately drains into the Rio Grande, about 25 miles away, the corps ruled.

Now, with the help of a libertarian-leaning legal nonprofit group from California that opposes what it views as government encroachment on individual liberties, the Smiths have sued, seeking to limit the agency's regulatory powers.

"We hope to get them off of the Smiths' property," says Jennifer Fry, an attorney with the Sacramento-based Pacific Legal Foundation. "We think it's a good vehicle for cutting back on the corps' jurisdiction."

If the case is decided in Smith's favor by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, it would set a precedent, building on another clean-water regulatory case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court last March, Fry said. In that case, the court ruled that an Idaho couple could sue the Environmental Protection Agency over the agency's finding that they improperly filled in a wetland on their property.

Kristen Skopeck, public affairs chief for the corps' Albuquerque District, said she could not comment on the Smith case because of the pending litigation.

The Clean Water Act, passed in 1972, bars the discharge of pollutants into "navigable waters." Since then, courts have ruled that the act also may cover tributaries draining into larger bodies of water ? even so-called ephemeral streams like desert arroyos.

In its letter to Smith, the corps said that sediment from his stretch of the arroyo could have a negative effect on the river, home to the endangered Rio Grande silvery minnow. Removal of vegetation might also increase concentrations of toxic nitrates from fertilizers, the agency found.

Smith, 65, a surveyor, grew up in Vancouver, Canada, before moving to the Southwest. He and his French-born wife built their retirement home on a secluded site nestled amid stands of juniper and pi?on trees.

A bark beetle infestation killed hundreds of the pi?ons, so Smith decided to cut and chip them to reduce fire danger. He also cleared trash that had been dumped in the arroyo ? including old sofas and car seats.

Smith also removed the brush that was growing there and smoothed out 2- to 3-foot-deep eroded channels so he could maneuver his equipment.

The corps decided to investigate when a neighbor complained, he said.

"I'm worried about cleaning up the property," Smith said. "I want to make it look good. I never thought the federal government would come into my retirement like this."

After receiving the letter, Smith researched the issue online and even enrolled in a legal course at a local college before learning of the Pacific Legal Foundation, which agreed to handle his case free.

"I'm just waiting for the thing to be decided," he said. "If I'm not too old and frail, I'll get back to work."

national@latimes.com

Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-na-water-dispute-20121230,0,5118764.story?track=rss

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Top Health and Happiness Lessons of 2012

Entrepreneurs are more stressed, but happier than other workers. People who like their home cities report better health. Republicans are bummed about President Barack Obama's reelection. Middle-age puts you at the biggest risk of being fat.

Those findings are among the Gallup polling agency's top insights about health and happiness in America in 2012.

As part of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, tens of thousands of Americans are surveyed every year about all aspects of their lives, from their financial security and health habits to their emotional state and overall satisfaction with life. Here are 10 findings from these polls that Gallup's editors say intrigued them the most this year:

1. Stressed entrepreneurs are happier and healthier than other workers

Entrepreneurs experience more worry and stress than other workers, but they also report more positive experiences on the job, Gallup found in 2012. In particular, entrepreneurs are more optimistic and more likely to report that they learned something new or felt enjoyment in the past workday.

And being your own boss comes with a health edge, too. Entrepreneurs are less likely to have chronic diagnoses, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes. They also are much less likely to be obese than other workers (19 percent vs. 25 percent), Gallup found. [7 Things That Will Make You Happy]

2. Fewer young adults go without health insurance

After a provision in the Affordable Care Act allowed children to stay on their parents' health plans until age 26, a growing number of young Americans have reported having health coverage. Since that rule went into effect in 2010, the number of uninsured 18- to 25-year-olds without insurance dropped by 3.8 percentage points to 24.2 percent in 2011. In 2012 that figure shrank to 23.4 percent, according to the polling group.

At the same time, the percentage of uninsured 26- to 64-year-olds is still trending higher ? standing at 19.4 percent in the third quarter of 2012, up from 15 percent in January 2008, when Gallup first started tracking Americans' health insurance coverage.

3. Liking where you live could be good for your health

This year, Gallup found that people who say they are satisfied with their community are less likely to report physical pain, obesity, headaches or a diagnosis of asthma or high cholesterol than those who aren't satisfied. People who like their home cities scored an average of 78 on Gallup's physical health index, compared with an average score of 69.1 for those who don't like where they live.

It might be that location can determine access to healthy food and opportunities for exercise. For example, people who said their community offered a safe place to exercise scored a full 16 points healthier on the physical health index than people who said they didn't have a safe place to work out, Gallup found. And people who felt safe walking alone at night scored 9 points higher on the same health scale compared to those who didn't.

4. Republicans life ratings drop in good year for Democrats

Democrats' outlook on life generally improved in 2012, while Republicans' life ratings declined ? and at no point in the year did their attitudes diverge as much as they did in November. In the month that President Obama clinched his reelection, Republicans' score on the collective life evaluation index (which measures optimism regarding current life and anticipated future life situations) dropped to 40.3 from 47.0 in October, Gallup found. Democrats, meanwhile, became slightly more upbeat, with their score on the same scale climbing to 56.9 from 53.7 in October.

5. Middle-age could make you fat

For Americans, being middle-aged is the highest risk factor for being overweight, and this holds true even when controlling for ethnicity, race, marital status, gender, employment, income, education and region, according to Gallup. Being black is the second biggest risk factor for a high Body Mass Index (BMI), a measurement used to gauge how much fat a person is carrying around. [8 Reasons Our Waistlines Are Expanding]

6. Doctors seem to be practice what they preach

U.S. doctors have better health habits than other working adults, according to Gallup. Doctors are less likely to smoke, less likely to be obese, and more likely to say they exercised three or more days a week, compared with nurses and other employed adults as a whole, the polling group found this year.

Their better health is in part explained by their education ? more highly educated Americans in general have better health habits. Nevertheless, the finding still suggests that physicians are setting a good example for their patients.

7. Putting strengths to work boosts well-being

Workers are more likely to be engaged in their work and to report lower levels of stress when they use their strengths at work, according to Gallup. But many American employees feel like their talents are being wasted ? 21 percent say they use their strengths for just three hours or fewer per day and they're more likely to report experiencing worry, stress, anger and sadness.

But these emotional burdens start vanishing when talents get put to use, Gallup found. Americans who say they use their strengths for 10 hours or more per day (about one in four do) report more happiness and energy and say they feel better-rested.

8. Stay-at-home moms are at risk of depression

Compared with employed moms, stay-at-home moms were more likely to tell Gallup pollsters that they experienced a lot of sadness and anger during the previous day. Women who don't have jobs for pay but stay at home with young children also are more likely to report having been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lives, while employed moms are about emotionally well-off as working women who don't have kids at home, Gallup officials said. These trends held true across age and income groups.

9. Warmest year coincides with more exercise

For the United States, 2012 is expected to rank as the warmest year ever on record. At the same time, Americans this year reported exercising more than ever. In each month this year (except for April), more Americans said they worked out on three or more days per week than did so in the same month for each of the past four years, Gallup found.

There's no evidence that the high temperatures and exercise uptick are directly linked. However, Americans' seasonal workout habits suggest it's not a coincidence. Americans tend to work out more in the spring and summer than the spring and fall, hinting that weather plays a big role in the likelihood of exercise.

10. Disengaged employees are more likely to come down with a case of the Mondays

Heading back to work after the weekend is easy for employees who like their jobs, but it's a much more jarring transition for those who don't. Gallup found that employees who are disengaged at work experience a significant slump in mood when going from weekends to weekdays. In another finding, actively engaged workers who are enthusiastic about their work are unfazed by long commute times, which otherwise can be a drag on happiness.

Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook?& Google+.

Copyright 2012 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/top-health-happiness-lessons-2012-193712753.html

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Russian FM says Assad won't go

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, and U.N. envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi meet in Moscow, Russia, on Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, and U.N. envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi meet in Moscow, Russia, on Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, and U.N. envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi shake hands during their meeting in Moscow, Russia, on Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, welcomes U.N. envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi during their meeting in Moscow, Russia, on Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, and U.N. envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi talk during their meeting in Moscow, Russia, on Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, and U.N. envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi meet in Moscow, Russia, on Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

MOSCOW (AP) ? Russia's foreign minister said Saturday that Syrian President Bashar Assad has no intention of stepping down and it would be impossible to try to persuade him otherwise.

After a meeting with Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N.'s envoy for the Syrian crisis, Sergey Lavrov also said that the Syrian opposition risks sacrificing many more lives if it continues to insist on Assad leaving office as a precondition for holding talks on Syria's future.

Assad "has repeatedly said publicly and privately, including in his meeting with Lakhdar Brahimi in Damascus not long ago, that he does not intend to leave for anywhere, that he will stay to the end in his post, that he will, as he expressed it, defend the Syrian people, Syrian sovereignty and so forth," Lavrov said. "There's no possibility to change this position."

Brahimi warned that the country's civil war could plunge the entire region into chaos by sending hundreds of thousands of refugees into neighboring nations, but his talks in Moscow produced no sign of progress toward settling the crisis.

Brahimi and Lavrov both said after their meeting that the 21-month-old Syrian conflict can only be settled through talks, while admitting that the parties in the conflict have shown no desire for compromise. Neither official hinted at a possible solution that would persuade the Syrian government and the opposition to agree to a ceasefire and sit down for talks about a political transition.

Brahimi, who arrived in Moscow on a one-day trip following his talks in Damascus with Assad this week, voiced concern about the escalation of the conflict, which he said is becoming "more and more sectarian."

The envoy warned that "if you have a panic in Damascus and if you have 1 million people leaving Damascus in a panic, they can go to only two places ? Lebanon and Jordan," and those countries may not be able to endure half a million refugees each.

Brahimi said that "if the only alternative is really hell or a political process, then we have got all of us to work ceaselessly for a political process."

Russia has been the main supporter of Assad's regime since the uprising began in March 2011, using its veto at the U.N. Security Council along with China to shield its last Mideast ally from international sanctions.

Lavrov said Russia would continue to oppose any U.N. resolution that would call for international sanctions against Assad and open the way for a foreign intervention in Syria. And while he again emphasized that Russia "isn't holding onto Bashar Assad," he added that Moscow continues to believe the opposition demand for his resignation as a precondition for peace talks is "counterproductive."

"The price for that precondition will be the loss of more Syrian lives," Lavrov said.

Both Brahimi and Lavrov insisted that efforts to end the civil war must be based on a peace plan that was approved at an international conference in Geneva in June.

The Geneva plan calls for an open-ended cease-fire, a transitional government to run the country until elections, and the drafting of a new constitution. But it was a non-starter with the opposition because of Russia's insistence that the plan leave the door open for Assad being part of the transition process and the fact that it didn't mention possible U.N. sanctions.

Brahimi said that while some "little adjustments" could be made to the original plan, "it's a valued basis for reasonable political process."

With the opposition offensive gaining momentum in Syria, there is little hope that the initiative would have any more chance of success than it had when it was approved.

Lavrov has said that Moscow is ready to talk to the main Syrian opposition group, even though it had earlier criticized the United States and other Western nations for recognizing the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

On Friday, coalition leader Mouaz al-Khatib rejected the Russian invitation for talks and urged Moscow to support the opposition's call for Assad's ouster. Lavrov said Saturday that al-Khatib's statement was surprising after his earlier contacts with Russian diplomats in Egypt during which the opposition tentatively agreed on a meeting in a third country.

Lavrov said the coalition leader should "realize it would be in his own interests to hear our analysis directly from us."

Lavrov rejected the opposition claim that Russia's continuing weapons supplies to Assad's regime make it responsible for mass killings in Syria, saying that Moscow bears no responsibility for the Soviet-era weapons in Syrian arsenals. He said that defensive weapons such as anti-aircraft missiles that Russia has continued to supply to Damascus couldn't be used in the civil war.

"We aren't providing the Syrian regime with any offensive weapons or weapons that could be used in a civil war," Lavrov said. "And we have no leverage over what the regime has got since the Soviet times."

Georgy Mirsky, a leading Mideast expert with the Institute for World Economy and International Relations, a top foreign policy think tank, said President Vladimir Putin's stand on Syria is rooted in fear that joining international calls for Assad's resignation would make him look weak at home.

"It would look like an inadmissible concession to America, a virtual surrender. The Kremlin would lose its face, look like a loser," said Mirsky.

He wrote in his blog that Putin is resigned to Assad's eventual collapse and the loss of any Russian influence in a future Syria, but firmly opposes international sanctions. That stand allows Putin to tell his domestic audience that Russia has defended its ally until the end against overwhelming odds, said Mirsky.

__

Jim Heintz contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-12-29-Russia-Syria/id-42db2bf66dc24ad4925266ff10ba143e

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BetterWorldBooks Makes Donating Old Books to Charity So Easy You Don?t Have to Leave the House

BetterWorldBooks isn't a new service by any means, but if you're doing a little decluttering for the new year, the service can help you donate old books and textbooks easily. They even send you a free shipping label to send them away to be resold on their site, where the proceeds go to schools, libraries, and literacy programs.

Donating books isn't difficult, but if you have a ton of them, even libraries may turn you away and ask for only a few at a time. If you'd rather let the donation box come to you, BetterWorldBooks makes it easy to donate your books?just tell them what you have to offer, and the service will pay for you to ship the books to them. If you'd rather get some money back for your books, the service will buy your textbooks from you, too.

The books the site collects go up for sale on their site, and the money goes to fund school libraries, community libraries, and literacy programs around the world. Any books that aren't or can't be sold are donated or recycled. If decluttering is on your agenda and you have a lot of books, donating them doesn't get easier than this. If you'd rather make some money off of your books, we have a guide for that, too.

BetterWorldBooks | via Simply Stated

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/dqU6J9xwb2Q/betterworldbooks-makes-donating-old-books-to-charity-so-easy-you-dont-have-to-leave-the-house

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MMA - is anyone interested in this sport?

myMMA? Threads: 1
Joined: Aug 14, 12 ??? ?Aug?14,?12,?16:35 ? ? #
Hello!

I don't see any topic about Mixed Martial Arts here, so that why I am writing about this. Is there anybody who like or watch that sport? In USA, and in the world, the most popular organisation is UFC, Strikeforce and Bellator. In Poland we have KSW and MMA Attack. Are in USA Polish fans of this sport?

jon357? Threads: 6
Posts: 2,785
Joined: Mar 15, 12 ????? ?Aug?14,?12,?17:37 ? ? #
Is that something like Chess Boxing?
phtoa? Threads: 15
Posts: 220
Joined: Jan 11, 12 ??? ?Aug?15,?12,?08:22 ? ? #
Im not a huge fan, but I started on the beginners team out at the comcom zone in Krakow mostly just to stay in shape.
It's an extremely demanding sport and I have great respect for the fighters!

I think the gym in the comcom zone belongs to the famous Polish UFC fighter Tomasz Drwal.

Foreigner4? Threads: 22
Posts: 2,188
Joined: Nov 18, 07 ??? ?Nov?16,?12,?20:39 ? ? #
WOOT WOOT WOOT!!!--Marcin Held fights tonight in Bellator--WOOT WOOT WOOT!!!!

Davaj Davaj M?ody (excuse the crap spelling)
Bastion! Bastion! Bastion!

He's fighting Rich Clementi in the tournament final....I would be really really surprised with anything but a victory for Marcin but I pray he doesn't dangle that chin out there....the kid is an amazing talent and an EXCELLENT ambassador for his sport, his club and his country. All class.

smurf? Threads: 53
Posts: 921
Joined: Sep 8, 09 ??? ?Nov?16,?12,?21:12 ? ? #
I used to watch half naked men hold each other down and shout rude words at each other, but that was when I worked in a gay bar. From what I've seen of this 'sport' it's not much different :P
haters gonna hate (^_^)
Nacjonalista? Threads: 3
Posts: 128
Joined: Oct 30, 12 ??? ?Nov?24,?12,?21:43 ? ? #

smurf:

I used to watch half naked men hold each other down and shout rude words at each other,

LOL isn't that American wrestling?

WielkiPolak? Threads: 49
Posts: 517
Joined: Jun 3, 11 ??? ?Nov?25,?12,?18:35 ? ? #
Yeah it does pretty much some up wrestling. I still sometimes watch that [ashamed to say] for fun but if anyone ever confronted me about it and told me it is stupid, I would have no defense, it really is.
szkotja2007? Threads: 38
Posts: 2,592
Joined: Dec 29, 06 ??? ?Nov?25,?12,?18:38 ? ? #
Can anyone tell me what the polish terms would be for uppercut, hook, jab etc ?? Thanks
?Yesterday, 03:00 ? ? #
When they arent talking about GSP locally. We are at a bar or house party watching the mixed martial arts -yes and there is some decent polish fighters coming out like Chris Horecki- polish fighting out canada , Sarnasky a really good guy always on bellator.. he is young and blonde
Foreigner4? Threads: 22
Posts: 2,188
Joined: Nov 18, 07 ??? ?Yesterday, 13:29 ? ? #

Jacqueline:

Chris Horecki- polish fighting out canada
Pah-leeeeze... A) that's not his name B) he's not going anywhere in the sport C) he's not really Polish.
This place and Russia are the places to keep an eye on when it comes to talent in about 5-10 years time imo.
Trevek? Threads: 34
Posts: 2,220
Joined: May 21, 08 ??? ?Yesterday, 18:15 ? ? #
Here in Olsztyn, we have a couple of MMA clubs, and one of the top MMA-ers in Poland, Mamed Khalidov.
If I was younger, and didn't have a dodgy neck, I'd like to try MMA.
Olsztyn has a pretty strong Martial Arts scene in other disciplines too.


Random: Found some pdf grammar books

Only registered and logged-in users may post here. Please log in on the main page or register.

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7 Tech Resolutions for 2013

The new year is only yards away, which means you've got a shining chance to reinvent yourself as less of a jerk. Adopt these tech principles and you'll be a better person in 2013. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/D1P_Buyd5Y0/7-tech-resolutions-for-2013

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Video: Showing some love for a holiday classic

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

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/50297630/

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Big-game Redskins role reversal for RG3, Shanahan

ASHBURN, Va. (AP) ? Compare what was said Wednesday by Robert Griffin III and Mike Shanahan. One sounds like a stereotypical coach. The other could be mistaken for an overeager player.

A case of role reversal hit the Washington Redskins on Wednesday. The rookie quarterback, on the day of his Pro Bowl selection, downplayed Sunday's winner-take-all game against the Dallas Cowboys with one-game-at-a-time-type answers, while the veteran hard-nosed coach was the one whose words could be featured on a banner to promote a game that will decide the NFC East.

"It's the biggest stage, but none of us are looking at it that way," Griffin said. "It's another game we have to go out and win, and that's the way we look at it. Every moment in your life is the biggest one at that time, so we look forward to having many more of these, but we've got to make sure we take care of this one."

Griffin, elected a team captain at midseason, said he'll give his teammates that same even-keel message.

"Basketball, the big game, track, the finals, whatever it is, whenever you play the moment up too much it can become too big to seize the moment," said Griffin, whose big moments include winning a bowl game and the Heisman Trophy while at Baylor. "So you just want to make sure you don't make something so big that you can't grab ahold of it."

After Griffin left the room, along came Shanahan, who is looking to end a personal playoff drought. The coach won two Super Bowls with John Elway and the Denver Broncos in the 1990s but lost make-or-break games in the final weeks of the 2006 and 2008 seasons. He hasn't been to the postseason since 2005.

"These are the games you'll remember for the rest of your life. Win or go home," Shanahan said. "I don't care what playoff game, when I look back as an assistant or as a head coach, you go back and you think about the great experiences you had or the bad memories you have.

"You want to take advantage of these opportunities when they exist. They don't come around every day. And when they do come around, you want to make sure that you play your best and you prepare yourself the best possible way.

"And you tell that guys that this is not just a normal game. You've got to make sure the attention to detail's there. You can't make mistakes. The concentration level's got to be there."

Stay medium? Or get pumped? Think of it like any other game? Or treat it as special?

Or somehow do both?

With all due respect to Griffin ? who has deservedly won praise all season for having poise beyond his years ? the coach probably comes closer to reflecting the attitude in the locker room.

After all, the Redskins haven't been to the playoffs since 2007, and they haven't won a division title since 1999.

"This has only happened to me once before, where if you win that final game, you've got a playoff spot," left guard Kory Lichtensteiger said.

"It's a special feeling, and when you go a lot of seasons in a row without really playing for anything meaningful in December, it's quite a change. ... We're going to be hyped up. I don't think there's any way around that."

The Cowboys-Redskins game has been moved to Sunday night and will mark the end of the regular season. It's possible that Washington (9-6) could lose and still get a wild card berth, but only if the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings both lose earlier in the day.

There was one point on which Shanahan and Griffin agreed: These are the types of games that can make a career.

"At the end of the day, everybody is compared to winning championships, if you like it or not," Shanahan said. "Is it fair all the time? Probably not. But how you're going to be judged or ranked is how you play in those games. They define you, sometimes."

Griffin has already shown he can handle high-profile games, winning his NFL debut, his Monday night debut and his Thanksgiving debut. He ranks either first or second in the league in passer rating, yards-per-attempt and interception percentage.

He said he'll be able to do more physically against the Cowboys after his sprained right knee prompted coaches to limit the game plan in a 27-20 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

"Nothing's definite in the league with how you're going to be judged," Griffin said. "But if you play big in the big stages, people tend to write good things about you, so we all want to play well on the big stage."

While Shanahan's words could be used to market the game, Griffin didn't miss a chance to market himself. He was asked about a $10,000 fine, which he is appealing, levied recently by the NFL for wearing attire from his personal sponsor Adidas instead of league sponsor Nike at a postgame news conference.

"I understand the principle of that. And I respect that," Griffin said. "That why I haven't really worn that much Adidas at all."

"Three stripes," he added with a smile, a reference to the Adidas logo. "That's all I can say about that. Name-dropping all up in here."

Griffin got a mention by the NFL later in the day when he, left tackle Trent Williams and linebacker Lorenzo Alexander were the Redskins players selected to the Pro Bowl. All three are first-time selections with distinct stories: the rookie phenom, the athletic lineman who rededicated himself after last year's drug suspension, and the special teams standout finally getting his due.

"You can't play down those kind of things," Griffin said. "I've always said my whole football career that you don't play for awards. They just come. You don't say you're going to win the Heisman. You don't say you're going to win MVP. You go out and you prove it on the field, and if everyone feels that way then they'll give you that award."

Notes: WR Dezmon Briscoe did not practice Wednesday after missing his flight back from the Christmas break. "That'll cost a little cash," Shanahan said. ... RT Tyler Polumbus (concussion) and LB London Fletcher (sprained left ankle) did not practice, while CB DeJon Gomes (sprained left knee) was limited. ... The Redskins' new bubble paid off Wednesday when a winter storm forced the team inside for practice. A year ago, the players would have piled into cars to drive to a gym or an airport hangar.

___

Follow Joseph White on Twitter: http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP

___

Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/big-game-redskins-role-reversal-rg3-shanahan-210242212--nfl.html

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Cleveland State 77, Notre Dame College 66: Vikings pass stern test for Waters' 300th

By David S. Glasier
DGlasier@News-Herald.com
@nhglasier

Even when they were down by seven points early in the second half, sophomore point guard Charlie Lee said he and his Cleveland State teammates never thought they were in trouble Wednesday against Division II Notre Dame College.

"It never crossed our mind we would lose," Lee said after the Vikings pulled away to a 77-66 victory over the Falcons at the Wolstein Center.

The win was the 300th of CSU coach Gary Waters' career.

While there is much to be said about confidence and the bravado of youth, the fact is, it took a concerted effort by the Vikings to steer clear of a titanic upset.

"Our guys really battled," NDC coach Kevin Bille said.

Coming off a 34-point loss Saturday at St. Bonaventure, it's possible the Vikings thought they could cruise their way through Wednesday's game in advance of another stern test Sunday at Akron.

That notion probably was reinforced when the Vikings cruised to a 20-8 lead after six minutes.

But what happened over the final 14 minutes of the first half and long stretches of the second half was a reality check of the first order.

With pint-sized freshman point guard and former Cleveland Heights High School standout Tyree Gaiter leading the charge, the Falcons narrowed the gap to 35-34 at halftime.

NDC stayed hot to open the second half, pulling away to a 47-40 lead. Continued...

It wasn't until CSU sophomore guard Sebastian Douglas drained a jump shot at the 9:53 mark that CSU moved ahead to stay at 52-51.

Down the stretch, the Vikings asserted themselves and made the plays they had to make.

CSU improved to 7-4 overall with the too-close-for-comfort win. The Vikings got double-figure scoring performances from five players.

Sophomore center Marlin Mason led the way with a career-high 19 point.

Fellow sophomore Charlie Lee, CSU's 5-foot-9 point guard, finished with 11 points and found himself engaged in quite the spirited showdown with the 5-7 Gaiter.

Gaiter finished with 16 points.

"I let him (Gaiter) get into the paint too much in the first half and he got his team going," Lee said.

Senior forward netted 18 points and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds for the Falcons, who slipped to 2-7.

Source: http://www.news-herald.com/articles/2012/12/20/sports/nh6355138.txt

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One by one, shattered Newtown buries its dead

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) ? One by one by one by one, each with fresh heartbreak, hearses crisscrossed two New England towns on Wednesday, bearing three tiny victims of the Sandy Hook school massacre and a heroic teacher in a seemingly never-ending series of funeral processions.

"The first few days, all you heard were helicopters," said Dr. Joseph Young, an optometrist who attended one funeral and would go to several more. "Now at my office all I hear is the rumble of motorcycle escorts and funeral processions going back and forth throughout the day."

As more victims from the slaughter of 20 children and six adults were laid to rest, long funeral processions clogged the streets of Newtown, where Christmas trees were turned into memorials and a season that should be a time of joy was marked by heart-wrenching loss.

At least nine funerals and wakes were held Wednesday for those who died when gunman Adam Lanza, armed with a military-style assault rifle, broke into the school Friday and opened fire on their classrooms. Lanza killed his mother at her home before the attack and committed suicide at the school as police closed in.

At St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, mourners arrived for Caroline Previdi, an auburn-haired 6-year-old with an impish smile, before the service had even ended for Daniel Barden, a 7-year-old who dreamed of being a firefighter.

"It's sad to see the little coffins," said the Rev. John Inserra, a Catholic priest who worked at St. Rose for years before transferring to a church in Greenwich.

He returned to his old parish to comfort families wondering how a loving God could permit such carnage and has attended several of the funerals.

"It's always hard to bury a child," Inserra said of the seemingly unrelenting cycle of sorrow and loss. "God didn't do this. God didn't allow this. We allowed it. He said, 'Send the little children to me.' But he didn't mean it this way."

Hundreds of firefighters formed a long blue line outside the church for little Daniel's funeral. Two of his relatives work at the Fire Department of New York, and the gap-toothed redhead had wanted to join their ranks one day.

"If me being here helps this family or this community just a little bit, it's worth it," said Kevin Morrow, a New York firefighter and father of two young girls. "He wanted to be a firefighter, as any young boy wants to be."

Family friend Laura Stamberg, of New Paltz, N.Y., whose husband plays in a band with Daniel's father, said that on the morning of the shooting, Mark Barden taught his son to play a Christmas song on the piano.

"They played foosball and then he taught him the song and then he walked him to the bus and that was their last morning together," Stamberg said.

At Caroline's funeral, mourners wore pink ties and scarves ? her favorite color ? and remembered her as a New York Yankees fan who liked to kid around. "Silly Caroline" was how she was known to neighbor Karen Dryer.

"She's just a girl that was always smiling, always wanting others to smile," Dryer said.

Across town, at Christ the King Lutheran Church, hundreds gathered for the funeral of Charlotte Helen Bacon, many wearing buttons picturing the 6-year-old redhead. Speakers, including her grandfather, told of her love of wild animals, the family's golden retriever and the color pink.

She was "a beautiful little girl who could be a bit stubborn at times, just like all children," said Danbury resident Linda Clark as she left the service.

And in nearby Stratford, family and friends gathered to say goodbye to Victoria Soto, a first-grade teacher hailed as a hero for trying to shield her students, some of whom escaped. Musician Paul Simon, a family friend, performed "The Sound of Silence" at the service.

"She had the perfect job. She loved her job," said Vicky Ruiz, a friend since first grade.

Every year, Soto described her students the same way, Ruiz said.

"They were always good kids. They were always angels," she said, even if, like typical first-graders, they might not always listen.

In Woodbury, a line of colleagues, students and friends of slain Sandy Hook Principal Dawn Hochsprung, 47, wrapped around the block to pay their respects to the administrator, who rushed the gunman in an effort to stop him and paid with her life. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan attended the service.

"She loved kids. She'd do anything to help them and protect them," said Joann Opulski, of Roxbury.

In emotion-charged Newtown, tempers flared as residents of the town of 27,000 navigated the hordes of reporters and camera crews that descended on the town. Some shouted at reporters outside the funerals Wednesday, urging them to leave their town in peace.

Cynthia Gubitose said the shooting and its aftermath have jolted what she described as a quintessential "Norman Rockwell, New England community."

"Nobody knew about Sandy Hook," Gubitose said as she placed flowers at a memorial with bouquets stacked chest-high. "Many of the people that live here like it that way."

The symbol of Christmas took on a new meaning in the town, where one memorial featured 26 Christmas trees ? one for each victim at the school.

Edward Kish said he bought a Christmas tree two days before the shooting but hasn't had the heart to put it up or decorate it.

"I'll still put it up, probably," he said. "It doesn't seem right, and it doesn't seem like Christmas."

Mourners from across the country came to offer condolences. A jazz band from Alabama played at the main memorial site as local children played with a team of trained therapy dogs brought in to provide comfort.

At the Newtown Library, dozens of people gathered for a meeting of Newtown United, a grassroots community group formed in the wake of the shootings. The topic was gun legislation and how the community could push for a ban on assault weapons and other measures to make certain types of guns and ammunition more difficult to obtain.

There was a rumor that guests from Washington, D.C., would show up. About 10 minutes into the meeting Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Sen.-elect Chris Murphy walked into the room, to applause and surprised looks. They spoke and took questions for about a half-hour.

The school massacre continued to reverberate around America as citizens and lawmakers debated whether Newtown might be a turning point in the often-polarizing national discussion over gun control.

President Barack Obama promised he'd send Congress broad proposals for tightening gun laws and curbing violence and pressed Congress to reinstate an assault weapons ban that expired in 2004. He called for stricter background checks for people who seek to buy weapons and limited high-capacity clips.

"This time, the words need to lead to action," said Obama, who set a January deadline for the recommendations.

Authorities say the horrific events of Friday began when Lanza shot his mother, Nancy Lanza, at their home and then took her car and some of her guns to the nearby school.

Investigators have found no letters or diaries that could explain the attack.

However, Connecticut's chief medical examiner, Dr. H. Wayne Carver, told The Hartford Courant he is looking for genetic clues that might explain the behavior and is working with the University of Connecticut department of genetics.

___

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Allen G. Breed, Helen O'Neill, John Christoffersen, Katie Zezima and Pat Eaton-Robb in Newtown; Michael Melia in Hartford; and Larry Margasak in Washington and AP Business Writer Joshua Freed in Minneapolis.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/one-one-shattered-newtown-buries-dead-002517432.html

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Watch This Awesome Dog Driving a Car Through San Francisco?Then Adopt One This Holiday

Watch this video of a dog "driving" a car. Then watch the animated GIF at the end of this post. Then watch the video again. Now look at the GIF. Now think about this: More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/PAVUVeNCULA/watch-this-awesome-dog-driving-a-car-through-san-franciscothen-adopt-one-this-holiday

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Free astrology reading ? no strings | Mind Body Spirit Journal

Great, extensive, in-depth personal astrological readings ? better than many for-pay offerings: www.free-spiritual-guidance.com. You?ll be impressed. And even cooler, no one?s going to try to sell you anything.

?

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 18th, 2012 at 8:37 pm and is filed under > Meaning, > Metaphysics, > On-Purpose Living, > School of the Spirit, > Self-Healing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Source: http://www.mindbodyspiritjournal.com/free-astrology-reading-no-strings/

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World Bank raises E. Asia outlook, sees China growing 8.4% in 2013

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Google's Field Trip now available in the UK

Following on from some other recent Field Trip updates, the app is now available in the UK. Field Trip is a Google-created app designed to highlight local points of interest, popping up notifications while you're out and about, and allowing you to browse through nearby places on a map, or based on location.

Previously limited to the U.S., Field Trip's UK debut is the latest in a series of UK launches for previously U.S.-only Google products, such as Play Music and Play Magazines.

Right now, the usefulness of Field Trip to Android phone owners in the UK will depend on where in the country they live. London is pretty well-documented, with cards for restaurants, venues, historical sites and other attractions densely populating the center of the capital. However other UK cities are looking much more sparse at the moment, so hopefully Google will continue fleshing things out in the weeks ahead.

Brits can grab the latest version of Field Trip for Android at the Google Play link above. You'll need Android 2.3 Gingerbread or higher to get in on the location-aware action.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/QSY_BjXoBVs/story01.htm

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Over-indulging can take hours off your life

Dec. 17, 2012 ? It may be the season to eat, drink and be merry, but each day of over-indulging can take several hours off your life, according to a Christmas article published on the British Medical Journal website.

Activities like smoking, having a couple of drinks, eating red meat and watching television anytime of year can each knock at least 30 minutes off your life expectancy for every day you indulge. In contrast, each day of sticking to just one alcoholic drink, eating plenty of fruit and vegetables, and exercising can be expected to add up to two hours to your life.

Professor David Spiegelhalter, a statistician at the University of Cambridge, wanted to find a simple way of communicating the impact of our behaviours on expected length of life.

He suggests using the concept of ageing faster or slower, by expressing the daily effect of lifestyle habits as "microlives" (half hours of life expectancy). A half hour of adult life expectancy can be termed a microlife as it is loosely equivalent to one millionth of life after age 35, he explains.

Using data from population studies he calculates that, averaged over a lifetime habit, a microlife can be "lost" from smoking two cigarettes, being 5 kg overweight, having a second or third alcoholic drink of the day, watching two hours of television, or eating a burger.

On the other hand, microlives can be "gained" by sticking to just one alcoholic drink a day, eating fresh fruit and vegetables, exercising, and taking statins.

Demographic factors can also be expressed in microlives. For example, being female rather than male (a gain of 4 microlives a day), being Swedish rather than Russian (a gain of 21 a day for men), and living in 2010 rather than 1910 (a gain of 15 a day).

This form of communication allows a general, non-academic audience to make rough, but fair comparisons between the sizes of chronic risks, and is based on a metaphor of "speed of ageing," which has been effective in encouraging cessation of smoking, says Professor Spiegelhalter. "So each day of smoking 20 cigarettes (10 microlives) is as if you are rushing towards your death at 29 hours rather than 24."

He points to several limitations and stresses that these assessments are very approximate and based on numerous assumptions. However, he says they "bring long term effects into the present and help counter temporal discounting, in which future events are considered of diminishing importance."

In spite of the limitations, he concludes that "a reasonable idea of the comparative absolute risks associated with chronic exposures can be vividly communicated in terms of the speed at which one is living one's life."

He adds: "Of course, evaluation studies would be needed to quantify any effect on behaviour, but one does not need a study to conclude that people do not generally like the idea of getting older faster."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by BMJ-British Medical Journal.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. D. Spiegelhalter. Using speed of ageing and "microlives" to communicate the effects of lifetime habits and environment. BMJ, 2012; 345 (dec14 14): e8223 DOI: 10.1136/bmj.e8223

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/6qAgfnXKGjg/121217190639.htm

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Junior dos Santos surprised by Cain Velasquez's confidence

Junior dos Santos surprised by Cain Velasquez's confidence

UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos is nothing if not confident, but has always seemed to maintain a humble aura about himself, so it was no surprise when he took exception to recent comments from upcoming opponent Cain Velasquez who stated that he was better than everyone in the UFC's heavyweight division; including, dos Santos, who is the only fighter to hold a win against him.

"I think that statement was unfortunate," said Junior dos Santos via Sportv. "I was surprised because he's (Cain Velasquez) said he's not talking about these things, but said that nobody is better than him. If he thinks so, then the first step towards the defeat was already given."

Velasquez has maintained that he's much better now than he was when he lost to dos Santos back November of last year. He and his teammates recently revealed that the former champion went into that fight with a severe knee injury and even released a video showing Velasquez getting hurt during wrestling practice days before the bout.

Regardless of Velasquez's recent admission, Dos Santos is still the betting favorite at -175 according to sportsbetting.ag. And if he's able to get passed Velasquez at UFC 155, he'll be eyeing the possibility of having to square off against his friend and former training partner Antonio "Big Foot" Silva.

Silva will be facing Alistair Overeem at UFC 156 with the winner in line for the next heavyweight title shot. But would dos Santos accept a fight against his friend?

"This case is rather complicated," dos Santos said. "I like Bigfoot. Our friendship is good, but apart from that we are professional. I think it would be too selfish not to accept the fight because we are friends."

Source: http://www.fiveknuckles.com/mma-news/Junior-dos-Santos-surprised-by-Cain-Velasquezs-confidence.html

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What's in store for enterprise communications in 2013? :: VoIP Biz ...

If some interpreters of the Mayan calendar are correct, then predictions about 2013 are superfluous.

However, assuming the world will not end on Dec. 21, let's take a look at what some experts consulted by FierceEnterpriseCommunications have to say about likely developments in the enterprise communications market next year.

The cloud gets personal

Cloud deployments in the enterprise are likely to move toward the personal cloud, which enables users to access content on any device without restrictions using cloud storage. Gartner estimates?users will spend over $2 trillion per year on content, devices and services, all of which need to be synced up.

"Users' expectations for personal clouds will impact IT organizations... IT managers will find that, increasingly, both customers and employees demand access to all applications on these devices--a development that leads to a model in which applications must be able to run on any device," Gartner explained.

"Management tools will need to encompass the cloud storage and sync services that users need. This transition will also require wholesale re-engineering of application user interfaces, which will create opportunities for technology providers in devices, software, services and consulting," the research firm added.

Ross Sedgewick, vice president of global solutions marketing at Siemens Enterprise Communications (NYSE: SI), predicts cloud vendors will increasingly blend enterprise-grade security with personal cloud-based storage and shared workspace products.

Employees will have one entry point to their personal and business data complemented by apps with the ability to begin where the employee left off from whatever location, network or device is at hand, Sedgewick told FierceEnterpriseCommunications. ?

"Many of the personal cloud services are beginning to be used more widely in the enterprise space. This intersects with the collaboration part of unified communications? so we see the personal cloud being a major trend in 2013," he said.

James Lawton, vice president of strategic portfolio integration at Siemens Enterprise Communications, added: "Organizations are going to be including personal cloud storage sharing capability as part of their infrastructure? So it will be a combination of personal cloud choice as well as enterprises creating their own cloud storage structure."

The social enterprise

In 2013, video will enable the social enterprise, predicted Eric Burns, co-founder and chief technology officer of video platform provider Panopto.

With more employees carrying smartphones and tablets, everyone in the enterprise is becoming a videographer with a high-definition camera. In addition, PCs and laptops have significant unused capacity.

"Between the two of those, there is a lot of latent capability you can use to capture whatever people are doing? We are finally at the stage where the cost of storing and delivering this stuff over corporate networks is approaching free," Burns told FierceEnterpriseCommunications.

As a result, YouTube-style enterprise video portals, in which employees can easily share knowledge and insights, will become a reality. This can be used to create "tribal knowledge" for the enterprise, Burns said.

"This is what we think is going on with video and the social enterprise. You've got an opportunity for training capture, you've got an opportunity for people who are subject matter experts to relay that information to other experts, you've got a way to preserve tribal knowledge, and then you've got a place where people can upload and distribute video easily," Burns said.

Regarding enterprise use of social media, Brendan Reid, vice president of product marketing at wide area network optimization firm Exinda, related that half of enterprises are monitoring the performance of their social media applications, but only 20 percent have social media use policies in place. "Enterprises are not adequately prepared either from a security perspective or from a policy perspective for what lies ahead in 2013," he cautioned.

"The question for enterprises is: How do I enable social media to be used strategically without losing control of it? The answer lies in the context of its use," Reid told FierceEnterpriseCommunications.

Enterprise on the move

Sedgewick noted that the majority of companies in North America support bring your own device (BYOD) programs at some level. "We are seeing a continuing impact of consumerization as it diversifies into other categories, such as mobile OS [operating system], apps, storage, and so forth. About half of IT usage decisions will be driven by users and line-of-business management outside the traditional corporate IT department," he added.

The logical outcome of this trend is for IT to no longer provision desktop IT setups, but to focus instead on centralized policies, security standards and usage controls over BYOD proliferation, Sedgewick noted.

Burns predicted there will be an ongoing shift in enterprise video to mobile devices and applications. "It is astonishing how quickly mobile and BYOD have overtaken the enterprise," he said.

The most important business feature for video is the ability to access it from any device. With the explosion of video-capable phones and tablets, IT departments will have to reconcile different video formats in order to bring high quality video playback, recording and management to employees' mobile devices, Burns said.

"The other big piece of mobile is that there are finally streaming technologies that can get video to mobile devices in a more credible way. That space has suffered from fragmentation in terms of what formats are supported? and from low bandwidth. Now that we have 3G and LTE devices that are standard, you can have video that is not substantially degraded," Burns said.

Near-field communications (NFC) will add a new wrinkle to mobility in the enterprise next year. NFC will begin to impact not only contactless mobile commerce, but also content sharing and unified communications interactions, Sedgewick said. NFC enables mobile devices to communicate not only with payment devices but also with other mobile devices.

"We feel near-field communications will really start to take off next year," Sedgewick said. "Enterprises are going to leverage NFC technology to automate certain tasks to enable unified communications," he added.

Examples of NFC use in the enterprise include contact info exchange, automated presence setting, social updates and data transfer and new security applications via NFC microchip tags.

Big data and the network

Every phone and conference call, text chat exchange or video and web collaboration session is a potential source of data to be captured and harvested for business value, observed Sedgewick.

"All of that content has the potential to be captured and therefore available. Through these steps, we will be able to capture, record, transcribe, index and tag the content and make it available in smart search to be retrieved," Sedgewick said.

Once organized, filtered and made searchable, contextual communications will start to become easier. Enterprise users will rely on systems to track what is relevant and current, and draw out previously hidden content and people associations to improve team performance and efficiency, Sedgewick related.

"Videoconferencing holds a lot of potential but still has not reached its peak of adoption in the enterprise because of expense, complexity and proprietary silos. A lot of those barriers are going away," he added.

Those barriers are being brought down by a combination of software-based video conferencing servers, cloud-based video conferencing services and the standardized cameras in mobile devices. "The latest remaining challenge will be user adoption, being willing to sit in front of a camera and participate in that video collaboration," Sedgewick said.

Reid chimed in that the "pace of growth in terms of the kinds of network traffic is such that video and collaboration content is the lion's share of the average internet traffic, greater than 50 percent of traffic."

The volume of data and Internet traffic is making a centralized backhaul strategy next to impossible for some companies, Reid said.

"The more enterprises move strategic applications into the cloud, like UC and CRM, the more difficult it becomes to route Internet traffic away from branch through essential security points and then back to the WAN," he explained.

"Our customers tell us that when they start introducing video, voice and data traffic on the same network, they quickly experience problems with their most important applications. When you use unified communications, you put user experience that shares the same bandwidth at risk. You should not implement unified communications without doing a network impact assessment and without creating policies for bandwidth allocation," Reid advised.

"How do I guarantee a high-quality user experience for this type of traffic? By using policy and context, you can solve that problem in large part by being able to guarantee bandwidth to the applications that are strategic. That way you protect user experience when it matters, and you contain it when it is not," Reid said.

The explosion of the cloud, mobility, social media and big data in the enterprise will continue to burden the network and challenge IT staffs for years to come. And the boldest prediction of all is that there will be more enterprise communications challenges in 2013. Stay tuned.

Source: http://voip.biz-news.com/news/en_US/2012/12/17/0007/what-s-in-store-for-enterprise-communications-in-2013

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Video: The Harmonization of Europe

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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/50200919/

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Olympians live longer than general population ... But cyclists no survival advantage over golfers

Dec. 13, 2012 ? Olympic medallists live longer than the general population, regardless of country of origin, medal won, or type of sport played, finds a study in the Christmas issue published on bmj.com today.

A second study comparing athletes who trained at different physical intensities, found that those from high or moderate intensity sports have no added survival benefit over athletes from low intensity sports. But those who engage in disciplines with high levels of physical contact, such as boxing, rugby and ice hockey, are at an increased risk of death in later life, the data show.

An accompanying editorial adds that everyone could enjoy the "survival advantage" of elite athletes by just meeting physical activity guidelines.

In the first study, researchers compared life expectancy among 15,174 Olympic athletes who won medals between 1896 and 2010 with general population groups matched by country, sex, and age.

All medallists lived an average of 2.8 years longer -- a significant survival advantage over the general population in eight out of the nine country groups studied.

Gold, silver and bronze medallists enjoyed roughly the same survival advantage, as did medallists in both endurance and mixed sports. Medallists in power sports had a smaller, but still significant, advantage over the general population.

The authors say that, although their study was not designed to determine why Olympic athletes live longer, "possible explanations include genetic factors, physical activity, healthy lifestyle, and the wealth and status that come from international sporting glory."

In the second study, researchers measured the effect of high intensity exercise on mortality later in life among former Olympic athletes.

They tracked 9,889 athletes with a known age at death, who took part in at least one Olympic Games between 1896 and 1936. Together they represented 43 disciplines requiring different levels of exercise intensity and physical contact.

After adjusting for sex, year of birth and nationality, they found that athletes from sports with high cardiovascular intensity (such as cycling and rowing) or moderate cardiovascular intensity (such as gymnastics and tennis) had similar mortality rates compared with athletes from low cardiovascular intensity sports, such as golf or cricket.

However, the researchers did find an 11% increased risk of mortality among athletes from disciplines with a high risk of body collision and with high levels of physical contact, such as boxing, rugby and ice hockey, compared with other athletes. They suggest this reflects the impact of repeated collisions and injuries over time.

In an accompanying editorial, two public health experts point out that people who do at least 150 minutes a week of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity also have a survival advantage compared with the inactive general population. Estimates range from just under a year to several years.

But they argue that, compared with the successes that have been achieved in tobacco control, "our inability to improve physical activity is a public health failure, and it is not yet taken seriously enough by many in government and in the medical establishment."

"Although the evidence points to a small survival effect of being an Olympian, careful reflection suggests that similar health benefits and longevity could be achieved by all of us through regular physical activity. We could and should all award ourselves that personal gold medal," they conclude.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by BMJ-British Medical Journal.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal References:

1. P. M. Clarke, S. J. Walter, A. Hayen, W. J. Mallon, J. Heijmans, D. M. Studdert. Survival of the fittest: retrospective cohort study of the longevity of Olympic medallists in the modern era. BMJ, 2012; 345 (dec13 8): e8308 DOI: 10.1136/bmj.e8308
2. R. Zwiers, F. W. A. Zantvoord, F. M. Engelaer, D. van Bodegom, F. J. G. van der Ouderaa, R. G. J. Westendorp. Mortality in former Olympic athletes: retrospective cohort analysis. BMJ, 2012; 345 (dec13 8): e7456 DOI: 10.1136/bmj.e7456
3. A. E. Bauman, S. N. Blair. Everyone could enjoy the 'survival advantage' of elite athletes. BMJ, 2012; 345 (dec13 8): e8338 DOI: 10.1136/bmj.e8338

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/GtpSOJY5Phg/121213193141.htm

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The Optimus G by LG with QSlide

This video was brought to by the good folks at LG. Be sure to watch the video above to learn more about the Optimus G and its awesome QSlide functionality.  To learn more, click here. 

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/LIwpwPRT-6Q/story01.htm

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AMR creditors prefer all-stock merger with US Airways: sources

NEW YORK (Reuters) - American Airlines creditors want a potential merger with US Airways Group Inc to be an all-stock deal rather than one that pays some claims in cash, three people familiar with the matter said, in a move that underscores confidence in a merged airline.

The creditors of American Airlines parent AMR Corp want to capture the full upside from a combination if the airline chooses to emerge from bankruptcy in a merger with its smaller rival, the people said this week.

Creditors in bankruptcy often want at least part of their claims paid in cash, rather than in the stock of a reorganized company with an uncertain trading value.

AMR creditors' preference for an all-stock deal could be seen as a vote of confidence in the proposed merger and the potential revenue and cost benefits from a deal that would create one of the world's largest airlines.

US Airways, in hot pursuit of its bigger rival all year, sounded out AMR creditors about how they wanted to be paid off before proposing a formal all-stock merger proposal at a meeting with the creditors committee in November, the people said.

The merger discussions among US Airways, AMR and its creditors are at an advanced stage, with a decision on whether to pursue a combination or emerge as an independent company expected as soon as January, they said.

The people asked not to be named because the matter is not public. Representatives for the creditors committee did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

AMR management prefers to exit bankruptcy as an independent airline, but events since US Airways made a formal merger offer last month indicate a deal looks more likely than before.

On Monday, the union representing AMR pilots voted to join the merger talks at the invitation of AMR creditors and said the first discussions involving the union are set to begin this week. US Airways' pilots union is also joining the discussions, a spokesman confirmed on Wednesday.

The Allied Pilots' Association, the union representing AMR pilots, is important to the discussions because they recently ratified a new labor contract granting them a 13.5 percent equity stake in a newly reorganized airline.

The APA, which also sits on the airline's nine-member unsecured creditors committee, has said it has lost faith in AMR management led by Chief Executive Tom Horton and strongly supports a merger with US Airways.

"As the new owners of a significant percentage of the restructured airline, it's APA's responsibility to maximize the value of our investment by conducting thorough due diligence," pilots union president Keith Wilson said in a message posted on the union's website on Wednesday.

AMR, in a separate statement sent to managers on Tuesday, said: "American ... determined that union involvement in the discussions is an important step to appropriately evaluate the impact of a merger on labor costs, integration and seniority."

US Airways declined to comment.

STICKY ISSUE

The talks are now narrowly focused on how to integrate labor unions, indicating the negotiations are far along, the people familiar with the matter said. Detailed valuation discussions - how much of the combined carrier each side should own - are expected to come after the parties iron out labor integration issues, they said.

Under the US Airways proposal sent in November, AMR creditors would own 70 percent and US Airways shareholders 30 percent of the merged airline, which could be valued at around $8.5 billion, sources told Reuters on Friday.

Based on US Airways' fully diluted market value of $2.5 billion and the proposed equity split of 70 to 30, its merger proposal implies a valuation of little less than $6 billion for its larger rival.

AMR creditors think they should own more than 70 percent of the combined company, the people familiar with the matter said. AMR management has told the creditors they believe the equity split should be as high as 80 percent in favor of AMR creditors, the people said.

An 80-20 equity split between AMR creditors and US Airways could suggest a $10 billion valuation for AMR, based on the $2.5 billion fully diluted market value of US Airways. It could also mean that AMR values its smaller rival at a significant discount to its trading value, which would be a tough deal to swallow for US Airways' shareholders and board.

The world's two largest airlines - Delta Air Lines Inc and United Continental Holdings Inc - have market values of $9 billion and $7.2 billion, respectively.

The case is In re AMR Corp et al, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No. 11-15463.

(Reporting by Soyoung Kim in New York, additional reporting by Nick Brown in New York and Karen Jacobs in Atlanta. Editing by Andre Grenon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/amr-creditors-prefer-stock-merger-us-airways-sources-005914153--finance.html

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