Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Allure of mystery helps recluse's gold net $3.5M

Appraiser Howard Herz talks about gold coins being auctioned off more in Carson City, Nev., on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. Sixty-nine-year-old Walter Samaszko, Jr. died in June 2012, leaving thousands of gold coins in his garage. A portion of his collection brought $3.5 million today at the auction. (AP Photo/Las Vegas Review-Journal, Cathleen Allison)

Appraiser Howard Herz talks about gold coins being auctioned off more in Carson City, Nev., on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. Sixty-nine-year-old Walter Samaszko, Jr. died in June 2012, leaving thousands of gold coins in his garage. A portion of his collection brought $3.5 million today at the auction. (AP Photo/Las Vegas Review-Journal, Cathleen Allison)

Mexican 50 peso pieces were among the $3.5 million in gold coins auctioned off in Carson City, Nev., on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. Recluse Walter Samaszko died in June 2012, leaving thousands of coins hidden in his garage. (AP Photo/Las Vegas Review-Journal, Cathleen Allison)

This Monday, Dec. 17, 2012 photo shows the Carson City, Nev. home of Walter Samaszko Jr. A crew sent to clean out Samaszko's house found more than $7.4 million worth of gold coins, bars and bullion left behind in the garage after his death in June. About 135 pounds (61 kilograms) of Walter Samaszko Jr.'s gold coins will be auctioned off in 11 lots Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, in a courtroom to pay government taxes and fees. Carson City Clerk Recorder Alan Glover says the auction will only include about half of the trove left behind when the reclusive man died in his modest Carson City home last year. An exhaustive search identified California substitute teacher Arlene Magdanz as Samaszko's first cousin and sole heir to the fortune that was decades in the making. (AP Photo/Scott Sonner)

(AP) ? The tale of a mysterious Nevada recluse's gold has reached a new chapter when a portion of the trove raked in more than $3.5 million at auction.

The allure of mystery pulled some bidders to the courtroom where the auction took place Tuesday. For others, it was the sheer value of a collection unknown to the public before Walter Samaszko Jr. was found dead in his modest ranch-style home last year.

Regardless of motivation, those who converged on the auction could sense the immense value of the treasure upon arriving.

Numerous guards were stationed at the entrance, more in the hallway outside the courtroom, and finally several with bulletproof vests and others with helmets inside the room holding the gold.

Five bidders diligently inspected the 11 lots of gold displayed in plastic sleeves, tubes and felt jewelry display boxes heavily guarded room before the bidding wars began.

By the time all sales were final, however, one bidder had secured nine of the 11 lots for sale.

Carson City's Alan Rowe of Northern Nevada Coin spent $617,000 from his own company, and another $2 million on behalf of the Illinois-based Rare Coin Company of America Inc. It was the uniqueness of the gold that drove his bidding, he said.

"Every one of us has a little hoarder nature in our culture and we all like to have things, but to this degree is quite a story," Rowe told reporters after the auction, adding that the metal value "is not as exciting as the story itself, there's actually value to the story."

He added that some of the coins will be available in the store or online for locals hoping to snag a piece of history. Others, he said, will be marketed nationally and likely on television.

This auction was only for the bullion coins ? items that are not necessarily rare, just expensive because they are made of gold. There will likely be a second auction for the larger portion of the collection which is comprised of the rare coins, said Alan Glover, the public administrator for Samaszko's estate.

"They're buying and bidding on an ounce of gold, pure gold by the weight," Glover said.

In total, about 150 pounds of gold was sold at Tuesday's auction. About $800,000 will pay various fees and estate taxes, and the rest of the profits go to a substitute teacher in San Rafael, Calif., who is the first cousin and sole heir to the trove of Walter Samaszko Jr.

Because of the other coins' rarity, that sale is expected to net higher profits.

James Mitchell of Reno's Silver State Coin and a California-based group named Spectrum Group International Inc. grabbed the two lots not purchased by Rowe or his partners.

Mitchell landed the lot of 4,600 Mexican dos pesos, the largest number of coins in a single lot. He said the story posed no additional value to him.

"It had the most potential for profit," Mitchell said of his purchase. "There was one lot I wanted more, but this one will have to do."

That lot, a collection of 620 Canadian Maple Leafs, was the largest in terms of weight and the coins were the purest gold available. It fetched $1.16 million from Rowe and the Rare Coin Company of America.

No one knows exactly when the collection began, or why Samaszko never sold it. Frankly, no one knew anything about him even though he lived in the same neighborhood for decades. Weeks passed before authorities even discovered he had died in his modest Carson City home. A coroner said he died of heart problems.

When cleanup crews arrived, they made the startling discovery of the 69-year-old man's vast collection of thousands of gold coins worth millions of dollars stashed in old ammunition boxes in his garage.

Officials discovered the trove neatly wrapped and stored mostly in ammunition boxes stacked on top of each other. There were more than 2,900 Austrian coins, many from 1915; more than 5,000 from Mexico; at least 500 from Britain; 300 U.S. gold pieces, some dating to 1880; and more than 100 U.S. gold pieces as old as the 1890s.

Among the coins were meticulous records of the purchases dating back to at least 1964, when gold averaged about $35 per ounce. The precious metal currently sells for more than $1,600 an ounce.

Authorities believe that his mother, who lived with Samaszko until her death in 1992, purchased most of the coins.

Despite the millions of dollars in his garage, Samaszko didn't appear to lead a luxurious life. Records show he only withdrew about $500 a month to pay modest bills. He died with $1,200 in a checking account and just a bit more than $165,000 in a money market and mutual fund account.

Since learning of her inheritance, Magdanz has shunned publicity and not made any comments about the fortune.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-27-Recluse's%20Gold%20Fortune/id-3bd390053e9a4731bc8de3a10ed70a5b

elizabeth banks battle royale key largo arnold palmer invitational ryan madson louisiana primary syracuse basketball

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Social media and the culture of connectivity | OUPblog

By Jos? van Dijck


In 2006, there appeared to be a remarkable consensus among Internet gurus, activists, bloggers, and academics about the promise of Web 2.0 that users would attain more power than they ever had in the era of mass media. Rapidly growing platforms like Facebook (2004), YouTube (2005), and Twitter (2006) facilitated users? desire to make connections and exchange self-generated content. The belief in social media as technologies of a new ?participatory? culture was echoed by habitual tools-turned-into-verbs: buttons for liking, trending, following, sharing, trending, et cetera. They articulated a feeling of connectedness and collectivity, strongly resonating the belief that social media enhanced the democratic input of individuals and communities. According to some, Web 2.0 and its ensuing range of platforms formed a unique chance to return the ?public sphere? ? a sphere that had come to be polluted by commercial media conglomerates ? back in the hands of ordinary citizens.

Eight years after the apex of techno-utopian celebration, a number of large platforms have come to dominate a social media ecosystem vastly different from when the platforms just started to evolve. It?s time for a reality check. What did social media do for the public ? users like you ? and for the ideal of a more democratic public space? Do they indeed promote connectedness and participation in community-driven activities or are they rather engines of connectivity, driven by automated algorithms and invisible business models? ?Online socializing, as it now seems, is inimically mediated by a techno-economic logic anchored in the principles of popularity and winner-takes-all principles that enhance the pervasive logic of mass media instead of offering alternatives.

Most contemporary social media giants once started out as informal platforms for networking or ?friending? (Facebook), for exchanging user-generated content (YouTube), or for participating in opinionated discussions (Twitter). It was generally assumed that in the new social media space, all users were equal. However, platforms? algorithms measured relevance and importance in terms of popularity rankings, which subsequently formed the quantifiable basis of data-driven interactivity wrapped in ?social? rhetoric such as following, trending, or sharing. In this platform-mediated ecosystem, sponsored and professionally generated content soon received a lot more attention than user-generated content. Platforms like YouTube and Facebook gradually changed their interfaces to yield business models that were staked in two basic variables: attention and user data. By 2012, once informal social traffic between users had become fully formalized, automated, and commoditized by platforms owned and exploited by fast growing corporate giants. Although each of these platforms nurses its own proprietary mechanisms, they are staked in the same values or principles: popularity, hierarchical ranking, quick growth, large traffic volumes, fast turnovers, and personalized recommendations. A like is not a retweet, but most algorithms are underpinned by the norms of popularity and fast-trending topics.

The cultivation of online sociality is increasingly dominated by four major chains of platforms: Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon. These chains share some operational principles even if they differ on some ideological premises (open versus closed systems). Some consider social media platforms as alternatives to the old mass media, praising their potential to empower individual users who can contribute their own opinions or content to a media universe that was before pretty much closed to amateurs. Although we should not underestimate this newly acquired power of the web as a publishing medium for all, it is hard to keep up the tenet that social media are alternatives to mass media. Over the past few years, it has become increasingly obvious that the logics of mass media and social media are intimately intertwined. Not just on the level of platforms mechanics and content (tweets have become the equivalent of soundbites) but also on the level of user dynamics and business models; YouTube-Google now collaborates with many former foes from Hollywood to turn their platform into the gateway to the entertainment universe. Newspapers and television stations are inevitably integrated in the ecosystem of connective media where the mechanisms of data-driven user traffic determines who and what gets most attention, hence drawing customers and eyeballs.

This new connective media system has reshaped the power relationships between platform owners and users, not only in terms of who may steer information but also who controls the vast amount of user data that rushes through the combined platforms every day. What are the larger political and social concerns behind deceptively simple interfaces and celebrated user-convenient tools? Where in 2006 the notion of user power still seemed unproblematic, the relationship between users and owners of social media platforms is now contentious and embattled. In the wake of the growing monopolization of niches (Facebook for social networking, Google for search, Twitter for microblogging) it is important to redefine and reappraise the meaning of ?social,? ?public,? ?community,? and ?nonprofit.? The ecosystem of connective media has no separate spaces for the ?public?; it is a nirvana of interoperability which major players argue for deregulation and which imposes American neoliberal conditions on a global space where boundaries are considered disruptions of user convenience. Common public values, such as independence, trust, or equal opportunities, are ready for reassessment if they need to survive in an environment that is defined by social media logic.

Jos? van Dijck is a professor of Comparative Media Studies at the University of Amsterdam; her latest book, The Culture of Connectivity: A Critical History of Social Media has just been published by Oxford University Press (2013).

Subscribe to the OUPblog via?email?or?RSS.
Subscribe to only media articles on the OUPblog via?email?or?RSS.
Image credit: 3D little human character X9 in a Network, holding Tablet Computer. People series. Image by jojje9999, iStockphoto.

SHARE:

Source: http://blog.oup.com/2013/02/social-media-culture-connectivity/

super tuesday states shepard fairey is snooki pregnant snooki pregnant gbc hedy lamarr kowloon walled city

Monday, February 25, 2013

Why Was Kristen Stewart On Crutches At Oscars?

'On the Road' actress hits red carpet and makes a pass at why she hurt her foot.
By Emilee Lindner, with reporting by Josh Horowitz


Kristen Stewart at the 2013 Oscars
Photo: Christopher Polk/ Getty Images

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1702522/kristen-stewart-crutches-oscar-2013.jhtml

oregon ducks oregon ducks rob gronkowski Coughing eddie murphy Stephanie Bongiovi stanford football

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Keeping Up With the Future: Risk Management for Rapid Technology Adoption

Everyone knows that protecting an organization's technology footprint has always been a delicate balancing act. Nowadays, literally everything about a given organization's technology portfolio is in a near-constant state of change; technologies change, usage changes, and the threat landscape changes.

Source: http://ectnews.com.feedsportal.com/c/34520/f/632000/s/28d8d6c8/l/0L0Stechnewsworld0N0Crsstory0C773690Bhtml/story01.htm

brian dawkins emma roberts north korea news north korea news giuliana and bill giuliana and bill bill rancic

Saturday, February 23, 2013

$5 for 2 Keychain iPhone Chargers ($20 Value)

Highlights:

  • Attaches easily to keychain
  • Lightweight and compact
  • Pair of chargers come in pink, white, or black
  • Compatible with iPhone 3/4/4S, iPad, and iPod

The Fine Print

  • Limit per person: 10 (+10 as a gift)
  • Promotion Expires on May 29, 2013
  • Shipping is not included; an additional $6.95 per item must be paid for shipping when you redeem your voucher
  • Vouchers may not be combined
  • ? ?View all terms
    • Ships only within the continental United States; not valid for Alaska, Hawaii, or Canada
    • Estimated shipping time is 1-2 weeks after redemption
    • Two chargers come in the same color; cannot mix and match

Deal Information

There's nothing worse than the helpless feeling you're left with when your iPhone's battery dies on the go. Charging your phone can be as easy as carrying your keys with today's deal! This small, lightweight, and compact charger conveniently plugs into your device's connection port and any standard USB port. Use it for your iPhone 3/4/4S, iPad, or iPod to ensure that all your gadgets stay charged throughout your busy day; it can also be used to easily transfer data. With today's deal, you get a pair of chargers in pink, black, or white, so you can outfit two sets of keys or keep the techie in your life plugged in. Get today's deal and protect yourself from dead devices!

Share and save!

Friends don't let friends miss out on this great deal! Invite your friend to enjoy this deal today.


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tippr-austin/~3/5ClP8PPFS04/

rosh hashanah rosh hashanah boardwalk empire iOS 6 Release Date Canelo Alvarez Chavez vs Martinez Yunel Escobar

The Bachelor Spoilers: Sean Lowe Engaged To ...

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/02/the-bachelor-spoilers-sean-lowe-engaged-to/

bruno mars the Grammys 2013 State of the Union 2013 katy perry Rihanna Katy Perry Grammys 2013

Friday, February 22, 2013

Storm pounds Midwest, eyes Northeast

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - A major winter storm moved into the U.S. Midwest on Thursday, blanketing states from Minnesota to Ohio with a mix of blinding snow, sleet and freezing rain.

The same storm dumped more than a foot of snow in Kansas, stranded motorists on highways and forced airports to cancel hundreds of flights.

The storm is expected to eventually reach the East Coast this weekend, delivering heavy snow to parts of New England for a third straight weekend, from northern Connecticut to southern Maine.

Kansas bore the brunt of the storm, with up to 15 inches of snow in some parts of the state, according to the National Weather Service. A 200-mile (323-km) stretch of Interstate 70 in central Kansas was closed and strewn with cars stuck in snow.

National Guard troops riding in Humvees were dispatched to look for stranded motorists along the interstate and other highways, said Sharon Watson, a spokeswoman for Kansas emergency management services.

The fierce storm triggered severe thunderstorms from eastern Texas to Georgia.

Thunder accompanied snow in Kansas City, hit by 2 to 3 inches of snow per hour on Thursday morning.

"When there is thunder and lightning, it's a pretty screaming clue that you are going to have massive snowfall," said Andy Bailey, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill, Missouri.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon and Kansas Governor Sam Brownback declared states of emergency because of hazardous travel and possible power outages. Brownback ordered state offices closed because of the storm.

STORM BRINGS SOME DROUGHT RELIEF

Kansas City International Airport was closed on Thursday while crews cleared runways. It was unclear when the airport would reopen, spokesman Joe McBride said.

At the Denver International Airport, some 55 commuter flights were canceled overnight, spokeswoman Laura Coale said. More than 320 flights in and out of Lambert-St. Louis International Airport were scrapped and nearly 50 flights in and out of Omaha's Eppley Airfield were listed as canceled by midday.

In Nebraska, a 19-year-old woman was killed in a two-car accident on Wednesday on Interstate 80 near Giltner. The Nebraska State Patrol said weather was a factor.

An 18-year-old man died in Oklahoma when his vehicle slid into a semi-truck on a slushy state highway, the state's highway patrol said.

Drought-stricken farmers in the Great Plains, one of the world's largest wheat-growing areas, welcomed the moisture brought by the storm, although experts said more rain or snow would be needed to ensure healthy crops.

"It's a travel nightmare, but all I hear are good things from farmers about how much this moisture is needed," said meteorologist Jeff Johnson of the National Weather Service in Dodge City, Kansas.

(Additional reporting by Ian Simpson, Ben Berkowitz, Keith Coffman in Denver, Suzi Parker in Little Rock, Kay Henderson in Des Moines, Steve Olafson in Oklahoma City and Tim Bross in St. Louis; Editing by Paul Thomasch, Kevin Gray and Lisa Shumaker)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/major-snowstorm-moves-u-midwest-threatens-england-032147753.html

shea weber greystone sidney crosby at the drive in alternative minimum tax modeselektor gran torino

Rape and killing of 3 young sisters shocks India

Indian people listen to a speaker, unseen, while they participate in a protest against a new sexual violence law as the parliament convenes in New Delhi, India, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. Activists say the law is inadequate and it only partially followed the recommendations of a government panel set up after the fatal gang rape of a woman in New Delhi led to nation-wide protests. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Indian people listen to a speaker, unseen, while they participate in a protest against a new sexual violence law as the parliament convenes in New Delhi, India, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. Activists say the law is inadequate and it only partially followed the recommendations of a government panel set up after the fatal gang rape of a woman in New Delhi led to nation-wide protests. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Protesters hold placards near Indian parliament to protest a new sexual violence law as the parliament convenes in New Delhi, India, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. Activists say the law is inadequate and it only partially followed the recommendations of a government panel set up after the fatal gang rape of a woman in New Delhi which led to nation-wide protests. The placards demand the removal of Indian Parliament's upper house's Deputy Chairman, P.J.Kurien who is facing rape allegations. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

(AP) ? Police were searching villages in western India on Friday for suspects in the rape and killing of three young sisters, as Indians still angry over the fatal gang rape of a woman on a New Delhi bus in December face another heinous sexual attack.

The bodies of the sisters ? aged 7, 9 and 11 ? were found Feb. 16 in a village well in Bhandara district in Maharashtra after they had gone missing from school two days earlier, said police officer Abhinav Deshmukh. The area is more than 1,000 kilometers (630 miles) south of New Delhi, the capital.

The victims' mother said police did not take the case seriously and did nothing for several days until villagers held protests.

Deshmukh said Friday that 10 teams of 30 investigators were working on the case and that he was confident they would find the killers soon.

Police first dismissed the deaths as accidental, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. The girls' mother accused police of a shoddy investigation and said they did nothing for two days. Enraged villagers forced shops to close, burned tires and blocked a national highway passing in the area for hours earlier this week, demanding justice.

Police eventually registered a case of rape and murder after a post-mortem of the girls found that they had been sexually abused and brutally killed, PTI said.

One police officer has been suspended for not acting promptly, Indian Heavy Industries Minister Praful Patel, who represents Bhandara district in Parliament, said Thursday.

Cabinet Minister Manish Tewari called the killings a "very, very heinous assault" and said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was sending 1 million rupees ($18,300) to the girls' family.

The case has horrified Indians two months after they were outraged by the gang rape and killing of a young woman on a moving New Delhi bus.

The gang rape sparked nationwide protests about India's treatment of women and spurred the government to hurry through a new package of laws to protect them.

The gang rape victim and her male friend, who also was badly beaten up in the attack, were dumped naked on the roadside, and the woman died from her injuries two weeks later in a Singapore hospital. Five men are being tried on rape and murder charges in that case, while a sixth, who is underage, is in juvenile court.

A new law enacted by the government has increased the prison sentences for rape from the existing seven to 10 years to a maximum of 20 years. It also provides for the death penalty in extreme cases of rape that result in death or leave the victim in a coma.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-02-22-AS-India-Rape/id-21e41ae4653349efba9a3cbfe487d219

Kenny Clutch Edward Gorey El Chapo Guzman thomas robinson nba trades ign nba trade

Clean energy research targets idle engines

Clean energy research targets idle engines [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 22-Feb-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Marianne Meadahl
Marianne_Meadahl@sfu.ca
778-782-9017
Simon Fraser University

Simon Fraser University researcher Majid Bahrami will use his expertise in cooling and heating systems and $4.5 million in funding to develop green air conditioning and refrigeration systems (AC-R) that will reduce fuel consumption and emissions caused by service vehicle and long-haul truck idling engines.

With the new funding, which includes $2.9 million from Automotive Partnership Canada, the associate professor in Mechatronic Systems Engineering (MSE) will lead a team in building sustainable AC-R technology that will enable the vehicles to deliver air conditioning and refrigeration even when their engines are turned off.

The result will be a significant reduction in fuel consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in long-haul and refrigerated trucks, heavy and light duty vans, tourist buses and emergency vehicles, which will no longer need to keep engines idling to stay cool.

To develop the new energy conversion technology, Bahrami and his team will capture waste heat from engine exhaust to power the AC-R and adsorption cooling system.

"This project places SFU at the forefront of innovative sustainable energy conversion and will bring a cutting-edge research facility to our Surrey campus," said Bahrami. "For consumers, it will help bring milk and frozen food to the local supermarkets in a more environmentally friendly manner."

Bahrami has research partnerships with the University of Waterloo's Amir Khajepour, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Mechatronics Vehicle Systems, and three companies: Cool-It Hiway Services and Saputo Dairy Products in B.C., and CrossChasm Technologies in Ontario.

Bahrami and Khajepour will turn waste heat from engines and brakes into air conditioning and refrigeration for service vehicles. The sustainable AC-R system will use the process of adsorption, which has a myriad of environmental advantages, such as using benign refrigerants and porous materials like water, ethanol and silica gels.

An adsorption system also has low energy requirements and no GHG or CO2 emissions, does not generate noise, and requires minimal maintenance.

The Automotive Partnership Canada program, which invests in large automotive research collaborations, has committed $2.9 million to the four-year project. Industry partners are contributing $1.1 million in cash and in-kind services, and BC Knowledge Development Fund and the Ontario Research Fund are contributing $500,000.

The project will involve at least 71 researchers across Canada and provides a unique opportunity for SFU and Waterloo students. SFU is expected to train at least 14 graduate students and 25 undergraduate co-op students.

"From student training to showcasing innovative clean technology and integration with industry and academic partners, this project is an example of how the Faculty of Applied Sciences is a leader in developing regional clusters of clean energy expertise," says Nimal Rajapakse, dean of SFU's Faculty of Applied Sciences.

"This is an R&D project that is driven by the needs of industry, and aims to deliver transformative solutions in the form of novel energy efficient tools and systems that reduce environmental impact," says Mario Pinto, VP, Research at SFU. "It will bring benefits to Canada's automotive and food sectors, and will support the training of future Canadian engineers and researchers.

"The project will also benefit SFU by adding to the real-world, industry-relevant research and education opportunities available to students in our standout Mechatronic Systems Engineering program."

Automotive Partnership Canada (APC) is a five-year, $145 million initiative that supports collaborative research and development (R&D) activities benefiting the Canadian automotive industry through partnerships between industry and academia and/or National Research Council Canada.

APC's funding partners are: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) ($85 million); National Research Council Canada (NRC) ($30 million); Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) ($15 million); Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) ($5 million); and Canada Excellence Research Chairs (CERC) Program ($10 million).

###

Simon Fraser University is Canada's top-ranked comprehensive university and one of the top 50 universities in the world under 50 years old. With campuses in Vancouver, Burnaby and Surrey, B.C., SFU engages actively with the community in its research and teaching, delivers almost 150 programs to more than 30,000 students, and has more than 120,000 alumni in 130 countries.

Simon Fraser University: Engaging Students. Engaging Research. Engaging Communities

Contact:
Majid Bahrami, 778.782.8538; mbahrami@sfu.ca
Karen Lee, applied sciences, 778.782.8923; kla87@sfu.ca
Marianne Meadahl, PAMR, 778.782.9017; Marianne_Meadahl@sfu.ca

Photo: http://at.sfu.ca/OqqUAK


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

?


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


Clean energy research targets idle engines [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 22-Feb-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Marianne Meadahl
Marianne_Meadahl@sfu.ca
778-782-9017
Simon Fraser University

Simon Fraser University researcher Majid Bahrami will use his expertise in cooling and heating systems and $4.5 million in funding to develop green air conditioning and refrigeration systems (AC-R) that will reduce fuel consumption and emissions caused by service vehicle and long-haul truck idling engines.

With the new funding, which includes $2.9 million from Automotive Partnership Canada, the associate professor in Mechatronic Systems Engineering (MSE) will lead a team in building sustainable AC-R technology that will enable the vehicles to deliver air conditioning and refrigeration even when their engines are turned off.

The result will be a significant reduction in fuel consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in long-haul and refrigerated trucks, heavy and light duty vans, tourist buses and emergency vehicles, which will no longer need to keep engines idling to stay cool.

To develop the new energy conversion technology, Bahrami and his team will capture waste heat from engine exhaust to power the AC-R and adsorption cooling system.

"This project places SFU at the forefront of innovative sustainable energy conversion and will bring a cutting-edge research facility to our Surrey campus," said Bahrami. "For consumers, it will help bring milk and frozen food to the local supermarkets in a more environmentally friendly manner."

Bahrami has research partnerships with the University of Waterloo's Amir Khajepour, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Mechatronics Vehicle Systems, and three companies: Cool-It Hiway Services and Saputo Dairy Products in B.C., and CrossChasm Technologies in Ontario.

Bahrami and Khajepour will turn waste heat from engines and brakes into air conditioning and refrigeration for service vehicles. The sustainable AC-R system will use the process of adsorption, which has a myriad of environmental advantages, such as using benign refrigerants and porous materials like water, ethanol and silica gels.

An adsorption system also has low energy requirements and no GHG or CO2 emissions, does not generate noise, and requires minimal maintenance.

The Automotive Partnership Canada program, which invests in large automotive research collaborations, has committed $2.9 million to the four-year project. Industry partners are contributing $1.1 million in cash and in-kind services, and BC Knowledge Development Fund and the Ontario Research Fund are contributing $500,000.

The project will involve at least 71 researchers across Canada and provides a unique opportunity for SFU and Waterloo students. SFU is expected to train at least 14 graduate students and 25 undergraduate co-op students.

"From student training to showcasing innovative clean technology and integration with industry and academic partners, this project is an example of how the Faculty of Applied Sciences is a leader in developing regional clusters of clean energy expertise," says Nimal Rajapakse, dean of SFU's Faculty of Applied Sciences.

"This is an R&D project that is driven by the needs of industry, and aims to deliver transformative solutions in the form of novel energy efficient tools and systems that reduce environmental impact," says Mario Pinto, VP, Research at SFU. "It will bring benefits to Canada's automotive and food sectors, and will support the training of future Canadian engineers and researchers.

"The project will also benefit SFU by adding to the real-world, industry-relevant research and education opportunities available to students in our standout Mechatronic Systems Engineering program."

Automotive Partnership Canada (APC) is a five-year, $145 million initiative that supports collaborative research and development (R&D) activities benefiting the Canadian automotive industry through partnerships between industry and academia and/or National Research Council Canada.

APC's funding partners are: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) ($85 million); National Research Council Canada (NRC) ($30 million); Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) ($15 million); Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) ($5 million); and Canada Excellence Research Chairs (CERC) Program ($10 million).

###

Simon Fraser University is Canada's top-ranked comprehensive university and one of the top 50 universities in the world under 50 years old. With campuses in Vancouver, Burnaby and Surrey, B.C., SFU engages actively with the community in its research and teaching, delivers almost 150 programs to more than 30,000 students, and has more than 120,000 alumni in 130 countries.

Simon Fraser University: Engaging Students. Engaging Research. Engaging Communities

Contact:
Majid Bahrami, 778.782.8538; mbahrami@sfu.ca
Karen Lee, applied sciences, 778.782.8923; kla87@sfu.ca
Marianne Meadahl, PAMR, 778.782.9017; Marianne_Meadahl@sfu.ca

Photo: http://at.sfu.ca/OqqUAK


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

?


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


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-02/sfu-cer022213.php

mc hammer pecan pie recipe Hector Camacho Jill Kelly McKayla Maroney gronkowski jeremy renner

LivingSocial CEO Provides More Details On $110M Funding Round, Company Now Valued At About $1.5B

livingsocialMore details have emerged about LivingSocial's new $110 million funding round announced yesterday. In response to a blog post characterizing the raise as an emergency round of debt financing, LivingSocial CEO Tom O'Shaugnessy issued a new memo to employees clearing up some misconceptions about the raise. The key takeaway? Yes, it was a down round, it was not an "emergency debt infusion."

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/YXj0CbyWvvM/

Nexus 4 Girl Meets World Jason Babin Nolan Daniels angus t. jones monday night football monday night football

On the sequester, is the GOP is winning the argument and losing the PR battle?

The Pew Research Center?s most recent poll highlights an interesting contradiction in the political battle over the budget sequester: A solid majority agrees that the best way to avert the situation is essentially the Republican position: more spending cuts, not tax increases. A plurality (49 percent) opposes the sequester ? which is spending cuts after after all ?though and by a 49-31 percent margin, they?re more likely to blame the ?GOP if it does happen.

The poll found that only 19 percent favored just or mostly raising taxes while 73 percent favored mostly or only cutting spending. Broken down by party affiliation, only or mostly cutting spending is favored by 88 percent of Republicans, 75 percent of independents and even 62 percent of Democrats.

So, then how is it that the are they are losing the blame argument given that fact that the White House and Congressional Democrats? position is for tax hikes in any deal? One answer is the one made by my colleague Byron York: The GOP?s messaging on this debate has been horrible.

Another is that the poll?s phrase ?mostly spending cuts? is too vague to be of any real use. Note that that is the stance of 56 percent of Democrats. A staunch supporter of tax hikes and big government may nevertheless claim that that is their position too so long as they support hypothetical cuts somewhere else in the budget. The ?mostly spending cuts? crowd probably encompasses a substantial number of people who would back tax increases, even substantial ones, and for whom the GOP?s opposition to any further tax increase is just stubborn and?intransigent.

A third answer is that people just aren?t paying close attention to this in the first place and so all of these numbers should be taken with a grain of salt. The Pew poll found that only 27 percent said they knew ?a lot? about the sequester, while 43 percent said they knew ?a little? and 29 percent said they knew ?nothing at all.? The most ignorant are Democrats: 33 percent said they knew nothing at all, compared with 29 percent of independents and only 22 percent of Republicans.

That helps to explain President Obama?s shameless demagoguery on the issue. For a lot of those voters his speeches may be the first time they are hearing about this. ?I wonder how many of those listening know the sequester was the White House?s idea in the first place, that Obama signed it into law and initially vowed to veto any effort to undo it?

?

Source: http://washingtonexaminer.com/on-the-sequester-is-the-gop-is-winning-the-argument-and-losing-the-pr-battle/article/2522311?custom_click=rss

lisa lampanelli bronx zoo memphis grizzlies celebrity apprentice grizzlies bronx zoo crash april 30

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Qualcomm formally details lower-end Snapdragon 400 and 200 processors

Qualcomm formally details lowerend Snapdragon 200 and 400 processors

We knew way back at CES that Qualcomm had a few lower-end chips up its sleeve, but now it's official: the Snapdragon 400 and 200 have been formally detailed in a company blog post thrown up today. Following in the footsteps of the high-end Snapdragon 800 and 600, these units are being aimed at "the mid-tier and entry level smartphone segments." The 400 options include dual Krait CPUs running at up to 1.7GHz per core, quad ARM Cortex-A7 CPUs humming along at up to 1.4GHz per core, and an Adreno 305 GPU. You'll also find support for TDSCDMA, DC-HSPA+ (42Mbps), 1x Advanced, W+G CDMA, and multi-SIM capabilities of Dual SIM, Dual Standby (DSDS) and Dual SIM, Dual Active (DSDA), as well as support for up 13.5 megapixel camera sensors, 1080p video capture / playback and Miracast wireless display tech. For the number nerds, Snapdragon 400 processors now include the following part numbers: 8226, 8626, 8230, 8630, 8930, 8030AB, 8230AB, 8630AB and 8930AB.

As for the 200, you'll get quad ARM Cortex-A5 CPUs at up to 1.4GHz per core, an Adreno 203 GPU, HD video playback, GPS, LPDDR2 RAM, multi-SIM support and the ability to handle up to 8 megapixel camera sensors. Snapdragon 200 processors now include the following part numbers: 8225Q, 8625Q. Unfortunately, pricing is being kept under wraps, and it seems that Qually is going to leave it to its wondrous partners to actually announce new hardware that'll be powered by its latest duo. With Mobile World Congress kicking off in a matter of days, something tells us you won't have to wait much longer for the nitty-gritty.

Filed under: ,

Comments

Source: Qualcomm

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/20/qualcomm-snapdragon-400-200-processors-official/

university of kansas buckeye west side story final four 2012 bridesmaids winning lottery numbers megamillions winner

Ohio State, West Virginia agree on costly shale energy deal

Ohio State and West Virginia University recently signed a partnership contract to conduct tens of millions of dollars worth of shale energy research in the Appalachian region.

Shale energy comes from grained rock that has oil components, which can be harvested for an alternative to conventional crude oil.

OSU President E. Gordon Gee signed the agreement on Feb. 8, followed by WVU President Jim Clements on Feb. 11, but the idea for the partnership was discussed last April at the ?2012 Public and Land-Grant University Conference on Energy Challenges,? according to a press release.

Tim Carr, a professor of geology at WVU and director of the Shale Gas Research Center, said that while no specific start date for the research has been determined, the universities did define research areas during their most recent meeting, with plans to focus on subsurface area, utilization, environment and public policies.

The collective research results could ultimately benefit students, the companies that are drilling wells and the environment, Carr said, and there is also the possibility to help the economy.

?If we can keep it going and there?s a lot of tax dollars flowing in, then it benefits our state and local governments,? Carr said.

Before any projects can be started, however, expenses have to be addressed.

Carr said the research will likely cost tens of millions of dollars and will force universities to look into ways to fund the projects, such as research grants.

Jeff Daniels, an OSU earth sciences professor, expects research organizations like the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, National Technology Lab and the Department of Energy to play a role in the research as well.

Ultimately, Daniels said there is hope the research OSU conducts will lead to even more funding.

?We feel very strongly that this is actually going to generate funding for the university because we?re going to have a better ability to attract funding for research and education and outreach efforts,? Daniels said. ?So there?s not going to be a big up-front or annual cost to the university other than a little bit of travel money, I suppose, that faculty will generally provide out of their own funds.?

Daniels said those researchers will come from across the university, in the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, the School of Environment and Natural Resources, the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Engineering and the College of Public Health.

The varying skills of OSU and WVU in those fields could mean the development of a strong, collaborative effort in research, Daniels said.

?I think we have two universities that happen to have strengths in certain areas that are very complementary,? he said. ?And combining our efforts, we?re clearly going to make the sum greater than the parts, the total greater than our individual efforts, and we will be able to be more effective in our research and educational outreach efforts in the Appalachian region.?

Carr said the cooperation between the schools should be positive.

?There are strengths on both sides,? Carr said. ?It?s just trying to build something up. It lets us see if we can do things together. It doesn?t stop at the Ohio River, it goes right merrily across.?

Despite the optimism of the universities regarding potential findings, one student shared his opposing thoughts on the partnership.

Daniel DiMarino, a second-year in environmental science and theater, said while he understands the purpose behind the research, he believes the time and money could be better spent focusing on other issues.

?I don?t know if it?s the best way that we can be allocating our resources and our time,? DiMarino said. ?I?d rather see us doing something involving wind energy or solar power and implementing some sort of program related to another form of energy that?s actually clean energy.?

Source: http://www.thelantern.com/campus/ohio-state-west-virginia-agree-on-costly-shale-energy-deal-1.2995408

playstation all stars battle royale kim zolciak kim zolciak travis pastrana quinton coples a.j. jenkins riley reiff

White House Press Corps? Ed Henry Stands By Obama Press Access Complaint: ?It?s Not About Golf?

Some of the reaction to the White House press corps? complaint about access to President Obama was rather dismissive ? partially because he was on vacation, so a little down time seemed okay. But White House Correspondents Association president Ed Henry reiterated the earlier argument, noting it?s not just about this instance.

?This is a fight for more access, period,? Henry told POLITICO. ?I?ve heard all kinds of critics saying the White House press corps is whining about a golf game and violating the president?s privacy. Nothing could be further from the truth.?

He added:

?We?re not interested in violating the president?s privacy. He?s entitled to vacations like everyone else. All we?re asking for is a brief exception, quick access, a quick photo-op on the 18th green,? Henry continued. ?It?s not about golf ? it?s about transparency and access in a broader sense.?

The previous statement cited ?extreme frustration? with ?having absolutely no access to the President of the United States this entire weekend.? It?s a fight for transparency, they noted.

(h/t POLITICO)

Source: http://www.mediaite.com/online/white-house-press-corps-ed-henry-stands-by-obama-press-access-complaint-its-not-about-golf/

Chris Brown Tattoo Innocence of Muslims Clara Schumann Jael Strauss Alison Pill Sam Bacile sprint

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Turkey frees Kurdish ex-mayors, peace process edges forward

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Ten Kurdish defendants, including six former mayors, were released from jail on Tuesday in a trial of 175 people accused of links to militants, a further small step in Turkey's efforts to end a Kurdish insurgency.

After more than three years in prison the defendants hugged family members as they emerged from the prison gates at dawn in Diyarbakir, the largest city in the mainly Kurdish southeast, and were greeted by the city's mayor.

Their release coincided with fledgling peace talks between Turkey and the jailed leader of the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, aimed at ending a 28-year-old conflict which has killed more than 40,000 people.

"We will move hand-in-hand and shoulder-to-shoulder to advance this developing process and, with this responsibility, get on with our lives," Firat Anli, former mayor of the Diyarbakir district of Yenisehir, told reporters after his release.

Those released, after a marathon 18-hour court session, are among 175 people accused of involvement in the PKK-linked political umbrella group KCK at the trial in Diyarbakir. Thousands have been detained over links to the KCK.

The court did not give an immediate reason for the release of the defendants, although their lawyers had rejected the charges against them. It can often take weeks for courts to announce reasons behind decisions.

"We are experiencing joy today, but thousands of our friends continue to be held," said Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir.

"God willing, soon our friends will be freed and reunited with their families, unlawfulness will give way to rule of law and conflict will give way to an honorable and lasting peace."

Among those released were the former mayors of the towns of Sirnak, Hakkari and Batman in Turkey's southeast.

REFORM PROGRESS

Turkey has used anti-terrorism legislation widely to prosecute politicians, activists and journalists, mostly Kurds. But it has taken steps in recent months towards ending the conflict with the PKK, designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and European Union.

Last month, parliament passed a law allowing defendants to use Kurdish in court.

The government has also drafted a penal code reform, expected to be sent to parliament soon, narrowing the definition of terrorist propaganda, potentially leading to the release of hundreds of KCK defendants.

The peace process envisages a PKK ceasefire, the withdrawal of fighters from Turkish territory to bases in northern Iraq, and eventual disarmament in return for reforms boosting the rights of a Kurdish minority numbering around 15 million - about 20 percent of Turkey's population of 76 million.

Progress has been delayed by the failure of the government and the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) to agree which Kurdish politicians will visit Ocalan in his island jail of Imrali, where he has been held since his capture in 1999.

Ocalan's brother Mehmet visited him on Monday and said the PKK leader wanted leaders of the BDP and another Kurdish political group to visit him to push the process forward.

The moves toward peace risk triggering a backlash from nationalists. In a sign of the challenges ahead, a visit by Kurdish politicians to the Black Sea region to boost support for the process was marred by violent protests this week.

During his decade in power, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has pushed through reforms increasing Kurdish cultural rights but Kurdish politicians have demanded decentralization, Kurdish language education and a new constitution boosting equality.

(Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Nick Tattersall and Pravin Char)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/turkey-frees-kurdish-ex-mayors-peace-process-edges-114646495.html

fenway park philadelphia flyers 4/20 student loan forgiveness ufc 145 weigh ins record store day 2012 detroit red wings

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Israeli, Palestinian schoolbooks flawed: study

JERUSALEM (AP) ? A new study weighed in on one of the hot-button subplots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Monday, saying schoolbooks of both sides largely present one-sided narratives but rarely resort to demonization.

Palestinians embraced the findings as a rejection of Israeli claims that their schoolbooks incite hatred of Israel, while Israel's Education Ministry denounced the three-year U.S. State Department-funded review of 20,000 textbook pages as politically motivated "libel."

Israeli, Palestinian and American academics who conducted the study said it set a new standard for objective textbook analysis. However, some Israeli textbook scholars said the interpretation of the data was skewed, letting Palestinian books off lightly.

Underlying the textbook debate are mutual fears and suspicions.

Israeli leaders have argued that the conflict with the Palestinians is not over land, but over Israel's acceptance in the region, and that peace is not possible until the alleged Palestinian incitement stops.

Palestinians charge Israel hides behind such claims to divert attention from continued settlement building on occupied lands and refusal to allow creation of their state.

The study, presented at a news conference Monday, said the books of both sides are flawed but on par with what is typical of societies in conflict.

"There's no hate speech. There is no incitement. There's selective narratives," said Palestinian scholar Sami Adwan of Bethlehem University, one of the lead researchers, along with Israeli Daniel Bar-Tal from Tel Aviv University and Bruce Wexler from Yale University.

The researchers noted that books in secular Israeli schools included far more information about the other side and more self-critical texts than those in Palestinian or ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools.

The study said Israeli and Palestinian books tended to describe negative actions of the other against their own community, while portraying their own community in positive terms. Books often lacked information about the religion, culture, economy and daily life of the other side. This lack, the study said, "serves to deny the legitimate presence of the other."

Historical events, while not fabricated, were presented selectively to present the own community's national narrative, the study said.

The study analyzed 74 Israeli and 94 Palestinian books, covering grades 1-12 and teaching social sciences, geography, literature, religion, Arabic and Hebrew. The Israeli books were from state-run secular and religious schools, as well as independent ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools. The vast majority of the Palestinian books were used in government schools, and only six in private Islamic schools.

Israeli and Palestinian research assistants were fluent in Hebrew and Arabic so they could analyze the books of both communities, Wexler said. Often, texts were reviewed by more than one person, and the data was fed to a Yale database in such a way that researchers could not be influenced by how the study was progressing, he said.

The study said the failure to acknowledge the other side is particularly apparent in maps of the land between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River, where the Palestinians hope to establish their state alongside Israel.

The Palestinians want their state to comprise the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, territories Israel captured in 1967. Currently, they run parts of the West Bank, but Israel retains overall control of the area. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. Hamas militants now rule there, though Israel still controls much of the access in and out of Gaza. Israel has annexed east Jerusalem in a move that is not recognized internationally.

Israel was shown in only three of 83 post-1967 maps in Palestinian books, the study said. Of 258 maps in Israeli books that included the area between the river and the sea, 196, or 76 percent, did not indicate any borders between Israel and the occupied lands. Of the 62 maps that included a demarcation, 33 showed which areas are under Palestinian self-rule, while 29 maps showed borders with color lines, but did not refer to a Palestinian presence.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad welcomed the study as proof that "there is no incitement in our text books."

The deputy Palestinian education minister, Mohammed Abu-Zeid, said the Palestinians will take the study's findings to heart and make the needed changes, including a review of the maps.

"At the same time, we are in the stage of building our state and in such a stage, education focus on building the identity," he said, suggesting there would be limits to broadening the narrative.

Jihad Zarkarneh, in charge of textbooks in the ministry, said that as long as Palestinians live under military rule, their books cannot be expected to portray Israel in a positive light.

In contrast, the director of Israel's Education Ministry, Dalit Stauber, blasted the research as biased, unprofessional and "complete libel" intended to stain Israel's reputation.

She said it is absurd to argue that a reference to historical facts ? such as Palestinians taking Israeli athletes hostage during the 1972 Munich Olympics, where the Israelis were killed ? means presenting the other side in a negative light.

Stauber said Israeli history books approved by the ministry demarcate the Palestinian-claimed territories, and that maps in books teaching other subjects are not relevant in this case. She said the ministry is reviewing texts used in ultra-Orthodox schools.

Yossi Kuperwasser, a senior Israeli official who monitors Palestinian statements and actions for the government's "incitement index," argued that the Israeli curriculum educates to peace, but the Palestinian one does not. "Incitement to violence, to hatred, is the main obstacle to peace, and this has to change if we really are to have peace," he said.

Wexler, a Yale psychiatry professor, urged both sides to do better.

"One of the major recommendations ? don't change your own narratives that are so meaningful to you ... but please put (in) some more information that will humanize" the other, he said.

The study was overseen by a scientific advisory panel, but five of the 19 panel members did not endorse the findings.

Two of the dissidents, Israeli textbook scholars Ruth Firer and Arnon Groiss, said they disagreed with the interpretation of the data.

Firer said the study did not sufficiently emphasize the achievements of books in Israeli secular schools in acknowledging the Palestinians.

In one of the Israeli books, for example, "there is a very nice chapter about Islam, very respectful," she said. "In Palestinian books, there is nothing about the Jewish religion or the Holocaust."

Groiss, a researcher, said he believes the new study was too soft on the Palestinian books.

The State Department said the study is one of several to receive grants from Washington, but that they are not endorsed by the U.S. government.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-palestinian-schoolbooks-flawed-study-182555100.html

msft etan patz obama dog doug hutchison larry brown thomas kinkade pat summit

Monday, February 4, 2013

Proposed agreement squashes US, Mexico tomato war

(AP) ? The Commerce Department has announced a proposed agreement on fresh tomatoes imported from Mexico that would strengthen anti-dumping enforcement and reset minimum wholesale prices.

The agreement with Mexico's tomato industry would suspend an investigation initiated after Florida tomato growers complained that Mexican producers were selling fresh tomatoes for less than the production cost.

The proposal would replace a pact that's been in place for 16 years. The Commerce Department has just released a draft of the agreement for public comment.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says it allow the U.S. tomato industry "to compete on a level playing field."

U.S.-produced fresh and processed tomatoes account for more than $2 billion in cash receipts. Mexico's tomato trade with the U.S. was worth more than $1.8 billion in 2011.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-03-US-Mexico-Tomatoes/id-34818a1970ed4ea79c5030f227775f33

jcpenney toys r us toys r us kohls target target walmart

APNewsBreak: Feds: Warming imperils wolverines

CORRECTS TO WOLVERINE, NOT BADGER - This undated image provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows a wolverine. Add the tenacious wolverine, a snow-loving predator sometimes called the "mountain devil," to the list of species the government says is threatened by climate change. Federal wildlife officials on Friday, Feb. 1, 2013, will propose Endangered Species Act protections for the rare animal in the lower 48 states, a step twice denied under the Bush administration. (AP Photo/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

CORRECTS TO WOLVERINE, NOT BADGER - This undated image provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows a wolverine. Add the tenacious wolverine, a snow-loving predator sometimes called the "mountain devil," to the list of species the government says is threatened by climate change. Federal wildlife officials on Friday, Feb. 1, 2013, will propose Endangered Species Act protections for the rare animal in the lower 48 states, a step twice denied under the Bush administration. (AP Photo/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

This 2007 image provided by the Wildlife Conservation Society shows Bob Inman with the Wildlife Conservation Society holding part of an elk leg found outside a wolverine den built into a snowfield in the Spanish Peaks mountain range in Montana, as fellow wildlife researcher Tony McCue looks on. Wolverines need deep mountain snows to survive, but the government said Friday, Feb. 1, 2013 that anticipated warming temperatures in coming decades will shrink their habitat, putting the species in danger of extinction. (AP Photo/Wildlife Conservation Society)

This July 2007 image provided by the Wildlife Conservation Society shows a female wolverine and her cubs taken in the Gravelly Range of southwest Montana. Wolverines need deep mountain snows to survive, but the government said Friday, Feb. 1, 2013, that anticipated warming temperatures in coming decades will shrink their habitat, putting the species in danger of extinction. (AP Photo/Wildlife conservation society, Mark Packila)

(AP) ? The tenacious wolverine, a snow-loving carnivore sometimes called the "mountain devil," could soon join the list of species threatened by climate change ? a dubious distinction putting it in the ranks of the polar bear and several other animals the government says will lose crucial habitat as temperatures rise.

Federal wildlife officials Friday proposed Endangered Species Act protections for the wolverine in the Lower 48 states. That's a step twice denied under the Bush administration, then delayed in 2010 when the Obama administration said other imperiled species had priority.

It likely means an end to trapping the animals for their fur outside Alaska.

But federal officials said they won't use the animal's status as a means to regulate greenhouse gases blamed in climate change. And other human activities ? from snowmobiling and ski resorts to timber harvest and ? would not be curtailed because they do not appear to be significant threats to wolverines, officials said.

There are an estimated 250 to 300 wolverines in the contiguous U.S., clustered in small, isolated groups primarily in the Northern Rockies of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Washington. Larger populations persist in Alaska and Canada.

Maxing out at 40 pounds and tough enough to stand up to grizzly bears, the animals will be no match for anticipated declines in deep mountain snows female wolverines need to establish dens and raise their young, scientists said.

In some areas, such as central Idaho, suitable habitat could disappear entirely, officials said.

Yet because those losses could take decades to unfold, federal wildlife officials said there's still time to bolster the population, including by reintroducing them to the high mountains of Colorado.

"This is a species there is still time to do something about," said Mike Thabault, ecological services director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's mountain-prairie region.

Wildlife advocates, who sued to force the government to act on the issue, said the animal's plight should be used by the Obama administration to leverage tighter restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions.

As with the polar bear, the government is sidestepping that thorny proposition with the wolverine, and said in Friday's proposal that listing the animal as threatened "will not regulate greenhouse gas emissions."

Thabault said the agency would be on tenuous scientific grounds if it tried to draw a link between specific emission sources and impacts on wolverines.

Advocates expressed disappointment, with Noah Greenwald from the Center for Biological Diversity saying the administration "should not be exempting greenhouse gas emissions from the Endangered Species Act."

A Washington, D.C., attorney, John Martin, who represented the energy industry during litigation over polar bears, said he expects no change in the administration's policy against using endangered wildlife to regulate emissions.

Friday's proposal also allows Colorado's wildlife agency to reintroduce an experimental population of wolverines that eventually could spill into neighboring portions of New Mexico and Wyoming.

It would shut down wolverine trapping in Montana, the only one of the Lower 48 states where the practice is still allowed an annual quota of five animals.

This year's trapping season was blocked by a state court order, but Montana officials hoped to restore trapping next year.

Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks spokesman Ron Aasheim said the state will review the federal proposal and had not settled on a response.

Once found throughout the Rocky Mountains and in California's Sierra Nevada mountain range, wolverines were wiped out across most of the U.S. by the 1930s due to unregulated trapping and poisoning campaigns, said Bob Inman, a wolverine researcher with the Wildlife Conservation Society.

In the decades since, they have largely recovered in the Northern Rockies but not in other parts of their historical range.

While reintroducing the animals further south might seem counterintuitive, Inman said Colorado's abundance of 14,000-foot mountains would make it well suited as a refuge for the animals as warmer temperatures set in at lower elevations.

Only one wolverine currently inhabits the state, a male that wandered down several years ago from northern Wyoming's Teton Range, about 500 miles away. Inman said Colorado has enough high-mountain territory to support up to 100 more of the animals.

"That's like a 30 percent increase in their population size," he said.

Any reintroduction into Colorado would require approval from state wildlife commissioners and the Legislature, Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman Randy Hampton said.

Representatives of the state's ski and agriculture industries in the past have raised concerns that bringing wolverines back could hurt their industries. Hampton said no decision has been made and it could take years to work out all the details.

Other areas where wolverines once roamed also could serve as future refuges.

Those include portions of Utah, Oregon's Cascade Range, Wyoming's Big Horn Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, said Shawn Sartorius, a biologist with the Fish and Wildlife Service based in Montana.

___

Online:

http://1.usa.gov/UJUwb0

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2013-02-01-Wolverine-Climate%20Change/id-d76136f2fb7742b2995f6f1cc4a4e866

city creek center andrew luck pro day josh johnson kim kardashian flour matt forte jeremy shockey new orleans saints

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Turkey pledges support for Syrian opposition

This citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center, AMC, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows people searching through the debris of destroyed buildings after airstrikes hit the neighborhood of Eastern Ansari, in Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. The Britain-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which opposes the regime, said government troops bombarded a building in Aleppo's rebel-held neighborhood of Eastern Ansari that killed over 10 people, including at least five children. (AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center, AMC)

This citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center, AMC, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows people searching through the debris of destroyed buildings after airstrikes hit the neighborhood of Eastern Ansari, in Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. The Britain-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which opposes the regime, said government troops bombarded a building in Aleppo's rebel-held neighborhood of Eastern Ansari that killed over 10 people, including at least five children. (AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center, AMC)

This citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center, AMC, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows a Syrian man carrying a child's body after a government airstrike hit the neighborhood of Eastern Ansari, in Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013. The Britain-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which opposes the regime, said government troops bombarded a building in Aleppo's rebel-held neighborhood of Eastern Ansari that killed over 10 people, including at least five children. (AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center AMC)

US Vice President Joe Biden, right, and Sheikh Moaz al-Khatib, Syria's top opposition leader, shake hands at the Security Conference in Munich, southern Germany, on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

BEIRUT (AP) ? Turkey on Sunday pledged its continued support for the Syrian opposition, saying its leaders should not be pressured into talks with the regime as civil war rages.

Speaking at a security conference in Germany, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said his country supports efforts to end the bloodshed in Syria, but he understands the opposition's refusal to talk to President Bashar Assad after so many Syrian deaths in the fight to topple him.

"It is easy to say now, (the) opposition should accept to sit with the regime, after 60,000 people have been killed," Davutoglu said at the gathering of top diplomats and security officials in Munich.

"Assuming that tomorrow there is a new election in (Assad's) presence, who will guarantee the safety of the opposition leaders?" Davutoglu said.

Opposition leaders reject any talks with Damascus until Assad steps down. In a sharp departure from their resolve, the coalition's president, Moaz al-Khatib, said Wednesday he is willing to talk to the regime if that would help end bloodshed.

Like the United States and its Western allies, Turkey has repeatedly called on Assad to step down. Assad brushed the calls aside, outlining a peace proposal last month that would put him in charge of national reconciliation talks.

Russia, Assad's most important international ally, said the insistence on his ouster before political talks can begin was counterproductive. Another staunch supporter of Damascus, Iran, said Tehran would welcome the opposition leaders to talks.

"Iran has talked to the opposition," Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said in Munich. "We are ready to be part of the solution," he insisted. "The sooner that we resolve the issue, the better it is."

Salehi talked in Germany on Saturday with al-Khatib, the opposition leader in a rare meeting between a senior Iranian official and an Assad opponent.

Al-Khatib's recent statements in which he said he is ready to talk to regime officials have angered his colleagues in his Syrian National Coalition, which he has been heading since November.

"Mouaz al-Khatib has committed a grave mistake. His duty is to represent the Coalition which categorically refuses to have any talks with any member of the regime before Bashar Assad steps down," said Kamal Labwani, a senior member of the coalition.

"He should respect the will of the people," Labwani told The Associated Press by telephone. "We expect him to apologize publically or to step down."

In the battlefield city of Aleppo in northern Syria, at least 16 people were killed when government troops bombed a building in a rebel-held neighborhood, activists said.

In other violence in the city, the official SANA news agency said a former parliament member, his wife and two daughters were killed near the Aleppo airport. The report said "terrorists," the term the Syrian government uses for rebels, fired at Ibrahim Azzouz's car in Sheik Said neighborhood, killing the family.

Rebels captured the strategic Sheik Said neighborhood southeast of Aleppo on Saturday. It was a significant blow to regime forces because the area includes the road the army has used to supply troops.

Troops loyal to Assad and rebels have been locked in a deadly stalemate in Aleppo, Syria's largest urban center and main commercial hub, since an opposition assault last summer. Seven months later, the rebels hold large parts of the city and its outskirts, including several army bases. But they have been unable to overcome the regime's far superior firepower.

The Britain-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which opposes the regime, said government troops bombarded a building in in Aleppo's rebel-held neighborhood of Ansari Sunday and killed at least 16 people, including 10 children and youth.

The Aleppo Media Center, a network of anti-regime activists in the city, said 20 people were killed in the shelling of Ansari. An amateur video released by the group showed a building reduced to a pile of debris with dozens of people digging through the rubble in search for survivors.

"The family of the man over there is still under the rubble," a man could be heard saying, referring to a man standing in the area.

The video appeared genuine and corresponded to other AP reporting on the events depicted.

In Beirut, airport officials said Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faysal Mekdad flew to Dubai. It was not clear whether if Mekdad will continue to another destination.

Mekdad and other Syrian officials have been using Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport in the past months after fighting intensified near the Damascus International Airport, and many regional and international airlines stopped flying to the Syrian capital.

_____

Associated Press Writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Geir Moulson in Munich contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-02-03-Syria/id-73e4c11cfa51482b917645db313c8e4f

Colorado Marijuana elizabeth warren puerto rico diane sawyer Washington Election Results drudge report Presidential Election 2012