Word photo games on facebook ? 15 ebooks ? free download

Word photo games on facebook ? 15 ebooks ? free download

Word photo games on facebook download on GetBookee.org free books and manuals search ? Creating a Facebook Page v2.
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Boy George 'Fuming' Over Facebook Phonies

?There's loads of George O'Dowds, there's loads of Boy Georges I've got my own kind of official Boy George fan page, but I actually don't own my Facebook page which I mean, really? I'm fuming.? Photo Credits: PR Photos. Latest Boy George headlines: ?
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I lost my facebook fan page likes!

I accidentally unsynced my facebook fan page and lost my likes on my reverbnation page. i just synced back up. Will i get my likes back?
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How can I get more facebook fan on my fan page ? ? Yahoo! Answers

How can I get more facebook fan on my fan page ?
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Facebook adds free calling to iPhone, iPad apps

SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook on Friday allowed users to make free calls to friends using the social network's application tailored for iPhones or iPads. An updated Facebook app for the popular Apple mobile devices shows when friends are online and then ?
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How Facebook increases brain power for the elderly

Researcher Janelle Wohltmann, arranged Facebook training for 14 elderly people who had never used the site or had used it less than once a month. They were instructed to become Facebook friends only with those in their training group and were asked to ?
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Facebook updates iOS app with free calls in the US, Canada

From a Facebook message, users can tap the ?i? icon in the top right corner and select ?free call.? This will only work if both users are in the U.S. or Canada and have the latest version of Facebook or Facebook Messenger installed on their iOS device.
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Bugs affect Facebook insights for pages

Facebook has discovered that its ?pages? feature, which allows businesses and websites to share their information with millions of Facebook users, has a slight issue. There were some bugs that were discovered after Facebook launched a ?comprehensive ?
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Microsoft joins Apple, Facebook, and Twitter; comes out as hack victim | Ars ?

Facebook, Twitter, Apple, and now Microsoft. Redmond has announced that it too has found compromised computers on its network. A brief statement on its Security Response Center blog states that a small number of computers?with machines in the Mac ?
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Will Sheryl Sandberg Leave Facebook This Year?

I think if Sandberg were to leave Facebook now, there would be a sense of unfinished business. The company's stock is still about 30% below the level at which the IPO priced last spring, and my guess is that Sandberg would like to stay at the company ?
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Study: Nearly Half Of Parents Monitor Their Children's Lives On Facebook

A new study finds that 92 percent of parents on Facebook are friends with their children ? and 1-in-2 of them joined to monitor their kids in the first place. (Photo illustration by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) ?
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Facebook 'confessions' pages causing problems for Wisconsin schools

Coulee Region students are posting Facebook ?confessions? that would make even a seasoned priest blush. But there's little districts can do to stop them. Pages popped up across the region this week that allow users to make anonymous posts about life as ?
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Yellowstone County Republican chairwoman criticized for racist Facebook post

A screen-captured image from the Facebook page was posted to a local right-leaning blog Feb. 15 and quickly went viral. It has been re-posted on the Daily Kos, a liberal website with 2.5 million unique monthly visitors. Commentors on several blogs are ?
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If Twitter and Facebook users picked Oscar winners ? (infographic)

According to digital ad firm RadiumOne, Twitter and Facebook users would select Hugh Jackman as best actor for Les Mis ? shockingly, not Wolverine ? and Jennifer Lawrence as Best Actress for Silver Linings Playbook. Twitter users would pick teen vamp ?
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82% children on Facebook get vulgar messages

?The most disturbing finding is that many children are accepting Facebook friend requests from strangers. This is dangerous as children are vulnerable to being bullied or abused,? said Debasis Nayak, director of Asian School of Cyber Laws, which ?
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Microsoft hacked by same cyberattack as Apple and Facebook

The software giant said it experienced a ?security intrusion? similar to those suffered by social media site Facebook and technology company Apple earlier this month. In a blog posted on its website, Microsoft insisted that there was no evidence of ?
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Tennis star quits, and Twitter and Facebook get some of the blame

And that depression was only fueled by hateful comments on her Twitter and Facebook accounts, including ?burn in hell? and diatribes that her losses had cost bettors money. She took her story public, she says, to drive home the point that ?depression ?
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'Brooklyn Heights Parents' Facebook Page Launches

A new Facebook destination, ?Brooklyn Heights Parents,? launched this month to serve as an interactive forum for Brooklyn Heights' families. facebook.com/BrooklynHeightsParents will ?provide updates about the neighborhood, our children's life and ?
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Company tasked with running customer service emails for Pinterest, Twitter and ?

It said in a blog post on February 15: 'Facebook was not alone in this attack. It is clear that others were attacked and infiltrated recently as well. As one of the first companies to discover this malware, we immediately took steps to start sharing ?
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Facebook updates iOS app with improved buttons and free calling ?

Facebook has released a new version of their iPhone app today that features an all-new button design, as well as free calling to anyone in the U.S. or Canada integrated right into the main app.The Social Media Hat
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Source: http://occupythemedia.org/word-photo-games-on-facebook-15-ebooks-free-download/

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Pope Benedict XVI shutting down @Pontifex Twitter account

The current Pope, 85-year-old Pope Benedict XVI, dropped a bombshell when he announced on February 10 that he was stepping down from his papal position ? the last time a Pope stepped down was back in 1415 and in most cases a Pope assumes his position until death. Despite his conservative religious stance, the Pope was the first to embrace the digital age by opening up a Twitter account. What?s to come of @Pontifex now that he?s no longer the Pope? Vatican Radio announced that his Twitter account would be shut down.

The 1.5 million users that are following the Pope will be following one less person by 8 PM Vatican Time (CET) time on February 28, which coincides with the official exit from his position. Vatican Radio says that he?ll send out a final tweet before then.

The Pope is following eight other accounts ? the Pope?s Twitter account in different languages including Italian, French, Arabic, and six others (including English of course). These accounts, which have a combined total of 1.3 million followers, will be also shut down.

?It seems unimaginable that one could continue to use a communication tool so popular and powerful during the ?sede vacante? period,? Vatican Radio said.

The Pope opened his Twitter account, which means ?Pope? and ?bridge builder,? in December. The lifespan of the account is coming to an end after just two months and at the time of this writing has just 36 tweets. Since the account was maintained by his papal aids over at the Vatican, and signed off by him, there may be no one to maintain the account anyway unless Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger (Benedict XVI?s birth name) decides to take up the @Pontifex Twitter account on his own.

The reason for the Pope?s resignation is left up for debate, and there are plenty of speculating in the media, the next Pope who is to succeed Benedict XVI, hasn?t been appointed yet. The Vatican Cardinals will be voting for the next Pope starting between 15 and 20 days once he resigns from his post on the 28th. We have to wonder if the next Pope would be interested in opening up a Twitter account for himself. And since the current account isn?t personalized, but rather ?refers to the person of the pope,? there?s no reason why it couldn?t be assumed by whoever assumes the position.

According to Italian news agency ANSA, The Vatican says that every moment from of Benedict XVI?s last day will be recorded. Currently, there?s no indication that moments from his last day will be tweeted.

?

Source: http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/pope-benedict-xvi-shutting-down-pontifex-twitter-account/

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Caves point to thawing of Siberia

Friday, February 22, 2013

Evidence from Siberian caves suggests that a global temperature rise of 1.5 degrees Celsius could see permanently frozen ground thaw over a large area of Siberia, threatening release of carbon from soils, and damage to natural and human environments.

A thaw in Siberia's permafrost (ground frozen throughout the year) could release over 1000 giga-tonnes of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere, potentially enhancing global warming.

The data comes from an international team led by Oxford University scientists studying stalactites and stalagmites from caves located along the 'permafrost frontier', where ground begins to be permanently frozen in a layer tens to hundreds of metres thick. Because stalactites and stalagmites only grow when liquid rainwater and snow melt drips into the caves, these formations record 500,000 years of changing permafrost conditions, including warmer periods similar to the climate of today.

Records from a particularly warm period (Marine Isotopic Stage 11) that occurred around 400,000 years ago suggest that global warming of 1.5?C compared to the present is enough to cause substantial thawing of permafrost far north from its present-day southern limit.

A report of the research is published in this week's Science Express. The team included scientists from Britain, Russia, Mongolia and Switzerland.

'The stalactites and stalagmites from these caves are a way of looking back in time to see how warm periods similar to our modern climate affect how far permafrost extends across Siberia,' said Dr Anton Vaks of Oxford University's Department of Earth Sciences, who led the work. 'As permafrost covers 24% of the land surface of the Northern hemisphere significant thawing could affect vast areas and release giga-tonnes of carbon.

'This has huge implications for ecosystems in the region, and for aspects of the human environment. For instance, natural gas facilities in the region, as well as power lines, roads, railways and buildings are all built on permafrost and are vulnerable to thawing. Such a thaw could damage this infrastructure with obvious economic implications.'

The team used radiometric dating techniques to date the growth of cave formations (stalactites and stalagmites). Data from the Ledyanaya Lenskaya Cave ? near the town of Lensk latitude 60?N ? in the coldest region showed that the only period when stalactite growth took place occurred about 400,000 years ago, during a period with a global temperature 1.5?C higher than today. Periods when the world was 0.5-1?C warmer than today did not see any stalactite growth in this northernmost cave, suggesting that around 1.5?C is the 'tipping point' at which the coldest permafrost regions begin to thaw.

Dr Vaks said: 'Although it wasn't the main focus of our research our work also suggests that in a world 1.5?C warmer than today, warm enough to melt the coldest permafrost, adjoining regions would see significant changes with Mongolia's Gobi Desert becoming much wetter than it is today and, potentially, this extremely arid area coming to resemble the present-day Asian steppes.'

###

University of Oxford: http://www.ox.ac.uk/

Thanks to University of Oxford for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126980/Caves_point_to_thawing_of_Siberia

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SACS President Belle Wheelan Addresses Livingstone Founder?s Day

By Laurie D. Willis
Livingstone College News Service

An educator whose illustrious career has spanned more than three decades and whose name will go down in history told Livingstone College students on February 7 there are no dumb questions, they should be as respectful of janitors as they are board chairmen and they should take care of themselves spiritually, mentally and physically.

Dr. Belle Wheelan, president of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, gave a spirited speech during Livingstone College?s 134th Founder?s Day ceremony. Instead of trying to impress people with her vast knowledge, Wheelan imparted practical, yet sage advice to the college?s students, faculty, staff and special guests.

She spoke before a packed audience inside Varick Auditorium, which included Salisbury Mayor Paul Woodson, Salisbury City Councilman Pete Kennedy, Catawba College President Dr. Brien Lewis, Rowan Cabarrus Community College President Dr. Carol S. Spalding, retired AME Zion Bishop George W.C. Walker, Sr. and other dignitaries.

Wheelan was introduced by Livingstone College President Dr. Jimmy R. Jenkins Sr., who read a list of African-American firsts before bringing her to the podium. He began by citing Carol Mosley Braun, the first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Senate, and ended by mentioning President Barack Obama. Then he rolled off a list of accomplishments by Wheelan, the first woman and first African-American to serve as president of SACSCOC, the organization that serves as the regional body for the accreditation of degree-granting higher education institutions in the Southern states.

Wheelan set the tone for her speech within seconds by asking the students to sit on the edge of their seats before asking them to stand, raise their arms in the air and shout hallelujah. After the students sat back down Wheelan quipped, ?You probably won?t remember a word I said today, but at least you can say I had you on the edge of your seats and shouting hallelujah.?

Wheelan told the students she wanted to share 10 important lessons with them and did so in a way that was simultaneously serious and vivacious.

She began by encouraging them to have goals and work hard to achieve them. Then she spoke to the importance of giving back ? whether by purchasing a box of Girl Scouts cookies or by one day funding a scholarship at Livingstone. Wheelan followed those points by assuring the students there are no dumb questions. Education should be continuous throughout life, she said. ?If you are lacking in knowledge you have no one to blame but yourself.?

Wheelan told the students they should always stand for something before stressing the importance of taking care of their bodies, souls and minds. For the sixth lesson she borrowed from ?Life?s Little Instruction Book? and told the students to be kind to everyone, despite their positions. To bring home the point, she said college presidents are no more important than students ? or other employees ? at colleges or universities.

Wheelan spoke of having good manners for her seventh point, saying it doesn?t hurt to say hello to people, to speak to others in passing or to say excuse me when you have to step in front of someone.

She concluded her lessons by telling students to be proud of their heritage, including Livingstone College, to learn to laugh and not take life so seriously and to remember the word American ends in the letters i-c-a-n.

She spoke of the civil rights struggles of the 1960s, the emergence of women?s rights in the ?70s, the country?s focus on individuals with special needs in the ?80s, the way people of diverse sexual orientation began making their voices heard in the ?90s, and the concentration of issues relating to immigration in the 2000s.

?We are all Americans,? Wheelan said.

After her speech, Wheelan was given a standing ovation by the audience and a presidential award by Jenkins.

As Thursday?s program got underway, the audience rose to its fee to sing ?The Star Spangled Banner? and the Negro National Anthem, ?Lift Ev?ry Voice and Sing.?

Bishop W. Darin Moore, a member of the Livingstone College Board of Trustees, gave the invocation. He said there are voices in the atmosphere, including voices of violence, racism, sexism and classism. The good news, however, Moore said, is there is still the voice of God, which rings louder than all other voices combined.

Bishop Dennis V. Proctor, also on the Board of Trustees and president of the Board of Bishops, read from Proverbs, including 3:5-6 which says, ?Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.?

Greetings were given by Bishop George E. Battle, Jr., senior bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and Chairman of the Livingstone College Board of Trustees, Dr. Carolyn W. Duncan, president of the college?s Faculty Senate for 2012-2013, Dorian R. Edwards, president of the Student Government Association, and Rev. William E. Simmons, president of the Livingstone College National Alumni Association.

Battle, a member of the Livingstone College class of 1969, spoke with loving pride of his alma mater. He also discussed growing up on a tobacco farm but achieving success despite the odds. Also during the ceremony, Roslyn Burrough, a Broadway singer who has performed for Obama and former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, gave a powerful rendition of ?To God Be the Glory.?

Founder?s Day commemorates the life and accomplishments of Livingstone Founder Dr. Joseph Charles Price, the college?s first president. Born on Feb. 10, 1854, in Elizabeth City, N.C., Price graduated valedictorian in the class of 1879 from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, completing a three-year theological course in two years.

Price was known as a brilliant scholar, great gospel preacher, world famous orator and advocate for the common man. He served as Livingstone?s first president for 10 years until his death in 1893.

Price?s grandson, Dr. Richard W. Sherrill of Virginia Beach, Va., his wife, Phyllis Lett Sherrill, and their son, Philip C. Sherrill, director of corporate/foundation relations at Norfolk State University, attended the Founder?s Day celebration. Another grandson, Charles P. Sherrill of Salisbury, passed away last month. A resolution honoring him was read during the event.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/HBCUDigest/~3/QrC9WhRkW_E/

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Governors: Looming cuts threaten economic gains

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Washington's protracted budget stalemate could seriously undermine the economy and stall gains made since the recession, exasperated governors said Saturday as they try to gauge the fallout from impending federal spending cuts.

At the annual National Governors Association meeting, both Democrat and Republican chief executives expressed pessimism that both sides could find a way to avoid the massive, automatic spending cuts set to begin March 1, pointing to the impasse as another crisis between the White House and Congress that spooks local businesses from hiring and hampers their ability to construct state spending plans.

Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie, a former congressman, noted that the cuts ? known in Washington-speak as "the sequester" ? could lead to 19,000 workers laid off at Pearl Harbor, site of the surprise attack in 1941 that launched the United States into World War II.

"That will undermine our capacity for readiness at Pearl Harbor. If that doesn't symbolize for the nation ... what happens when we fail to meet our responsibilities congressionally, I don't know what does," he said.

The budget fight came as many states say they are on the cusp of an economic comeback from the financial upheaval in 2008 and 2009. States expect their general fund revenues this year to surpass the amounts collected before the Great Recession kicked in. An estimated $693 billion in revenues is expected for the 2013 budget year, nearly a 4 percent over the previous year.

At their weekend meetings, governors were focusing on ways to boost job development and grow their state economies, measures to restrict gun violence and implement the new health care law approved during Obama's first term.

Some Republican governors have blocked the use of Medicaid to expand health insurance coverage for millions of uninsured while others have joined Democrats in a wholesale expansion as the law allows. The Medicaid expansion aims to cover about half of the 30 million uninsured people expected to eventually gain coverage under the health care overhaul.

Yet for many governors, the budget-cut fight remains front-and-center and fuels a pervasive sense of frustration with Washington.

"My feeling is I can't help what's going on in Washington," Gov. Terry Branstad, R-Iowa, said in an interview Saturday. "I can't help the fact that there's no leadership here, and it's all politics as usual and gridlock. But I can do something about the way we do things in the state of Iowa."

Indeed, right now no issue carries the same level of urgency as the budget impasse.

Congressional leaders have indicated a willingness to let the cuts take effect and stay in place for weeks, if not much longer.

The cuts would trim $85 billion in domestic and defense spending, leading to furloughs for hundreds of thousands of workers at the Transportation Department, Defense Department and elsewhere.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said the cuts would harm the readiness of U.S. fighting forces.

The looming cuts were never supposed to happen. They were intended to be a draconian fallback intended to ensure a special deficit reduction committee would come up with $1 trillion or more in savings from benefit programs. It didn't.

"We should go back and remember that sequestration was originally designed by both the administration and Congress as something so odious, so repellent, that it would force both sides to a compromise. There can't be any question, this is something that nobody wants," said Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat.

Obama has stepped up efforts to tell the public about the cuts' negative impact and pressure Republicans who oppose his approach of reducing deficits through a combination of targeted savings and tax increases. House Republicans have said reduced spending needs to be the focus and have rejected the president's fresh demand to include higher taxes as part of a compromise.

Governors said they are asking the Obama administration for more flexibility to deal with some of the potential cuts.

"We know that the cuts are coming, but we also don't want to suffer disproportionately," said Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, a Democrat and chairman of the National Governors Association.

"We're just saying that as you identify federal cuts and savings, allow the states to be able to realize those savings, too," said Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, a Republican and the association's vice chairwoman. "Give us the flexibility to be able to make the cuts where we think it will be the less harm to our citizens."

___

Follow Steve Peoples at: http://twitter.com/sppeoples and Ken Thomas at: http://twitter.com/AP_Ken_Thomas

___

Online:

National Governors Association: http://www.nga.org

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/governors-looming-cuts-threaten-economic-gains-133434444--politics.html

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Vietnam vet, teen bring Scouting to Afghanistan

Keith Blackey, a veteran of the Vietnam War, has a lifelong involvement with scouting. He has brought his passion for scouting to Afghanistan as a way to say thank you and make a difference. NBC's Mandy Clark reports.

By Mandy Clark, Correspondent, NBC News

KABUL, Afghanistan - A 68-year-old Vietnam veteran and an idealistic 13-year-old boy might seem unlikely partners. But these two Boy Scouts -- 55 years and 7,000 miles apart -- joined forces to help some of the poorest people in Afghanistan.

Maryland teenager John Ferry needed a project to become an Eagle Scout, the highest rank attainable in the Scouts. He learned that Army Maj. Kenton Barber who was serving in Afghanistan needed donations of shoes to give to Kabul street kids.

Ferry emailed Barber to see how he could help. The boy did not want to stop at shoes, and so contacted schools, local businesses, churches and senior centers for help collecting more than a ton of winter clothes. He says he could not believe there were kids his age that still froze to death every winter in Afghanistan.

Keith Blackey?s path to Afghanistan began 60 years ago as a fighter pilot in Vietnam. In Sept. 1968, he was shot down during an intelligence gathering mission over North Vietnam.

?My wingman was with me and he could have escaped because we were under terribly heavy fire from surface to air missiles but instead he risked his life, followed me in and saw where our parachutes landed,? he said.

A3 Warrior pilot Blackey was taken captive by the North Vietnamese. A Marine unit launched a rescue operation within three days, and Blackey?s wingman, Lt. Cmdr. Chip Beck, rescued him. Over the years the two stayed in infrequent touch.

Courtesy Barbara Ferry

John Ferry, a 13-year-old Boy Scout from Kensington, Md., helped get about a ton of winter clothes to some of the poorest people in Afghanistan.

Forty years later, Beck asked a favor.

?What do you say to someone who has saved your life and he asks you to do something? There is no answer except yes,? Blackey said.

Beck asked Blackey to help build up the Iraqi scouting program. Six years later, Blackey had built a network of 150,000 Scouts.

Today Blackey is in Afghanistan hoping for the same success. ?After three months in Kabul, 2,000 Scouts have been signed-up -- so far, all orphans.

Blackey calls the program ?a game with a purpose.?

It is about having fun but also about learning guiding moral principles, manners, teamwork and leadership ? skills orphans badly need, he says.

Back in Kensington, Md., John Ferry had a ton of clothes but could not find a way to get it to Afghanistan.

?I was never discouraged, there was times it was slow going but I was not discouraged,? Ferry said.

He finally got in touch with a U.S. military program that agreed to ship them for free.

Enter Blackey. Once all the clothes arrived in Kabul, Blackey and his Scouts took over. ?They loaded the shipment onto a truck bound for the Northern province of Bamiyan.

?The Scouts that helped both in Kabul and in Bamiyan, they are all orphans, many of them are living in poverty, and their scout uniform is the nicest thing they have,? Blackey said.

Despite their own poverty, the Scouts in Bamiyan wanted to help those in the most need, so Blackey handed out the clothes to some of the poorest people ? those who live in caves in cliffs where the famed Bamiyan Buddhas once stood.

?It is a really depressing lifestyle. It is cold, they have no heat,? he said. ??They share a room with their animals.?

Courtesy Barbara Ferry

John Ferry stands alongside the truck loaded with clothes bound for Afghanistan in Andrews Air Force Base in Prince George's County, Md.

The Scouts spent hours stuffing garbage bags with jackets, sweaters, shoes, hats and mitts for each family member living in the caves. The help reached over 100 families, or around 600 people.

What touched Blackey was, ?how gracious they were and their gratitude for these gifts.?

In Maryland, Ferry waited eagerly for news. The best part for him was seeing the photographs.

?I recognized some of the clothes,? he said.

Asked why he took on such a big project, Ferry said, ?If you do a good deed for a stranger, maybe they will do another deed for another stranger. ?But this was the right thing to do. It is just natural to help out those in need.?

Blackey?s motivation runs deeper.

?For two wars I have proven to myself that bombing adults does not solve the problem. For my last two wars instead of wearing a military uniform, I?m wearing the Scout uniform,? he said.

?I really believe we are going to do more for the future than I was ever able to do for my first two wars.?

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/22/17055879-game-with-a-purpose-vietnam-vet-teen-bring-scouting-and-help-to-afghanistan?lite

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Paula Broadwell Military Promotion Revoked (Taegan Goddard's Political Wire)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/286357441?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Has evolution given humans unique brain structures?

Feb. 22, 2013 ? Humans have at least two functional networks in their cerebral cortex not found in rhesus monkeys. This means that new brain networks were likely added in the course of evolution from primate ancestor to human.

These findings, based on an analysis of functional brain scans, were published in a study by neurophysiologist Wim Vanduffel (KU Leuven and Harvard Medical School) in collaboration with a team of Italian and American researchers.

Our ancestors evolutionarily split from those of rhesus monkeys about 25 million years ago. Since then, brain areas have been added, have disappeared or have changed in function. This raises the question, 'Has evolution given humans unique brain structures?'. Scientists have entertained the idea before but conclusive evidence was lacking. By combining different research methods, we now have a first piece of evidence that could prove that humans have unique cortical brain networks.

Professor Vanduffel explains: "We did functional brain scans in humans and rhesus monkeys at rest and while watching a movie to compare both the place and the function of cortical brain networks. Even at rest, the brain is very active. Different brain areas that are active simultaneously during rest form so-called 'resting state' networks. For the most part, these resting state networks in humans and monkeys are surprisingly similar, but we found two networks unique to humans and one unique network in the monkey."

"When watching a movie, the cortex processes an enormous amount of visual and auditory information. The human-specific resting state networks react to this stimulation in a totally different way than any part of the monkey brain. This means that they also have a different function than any of the resting state networks found in the monkey. In other words, brain structures that are unique in humans are anatomically absent in the monkey and there no other brain structures in the monkey that have an analogous function. Our unique brain areas are primarily located high at the back and at the front of the cortex and are probably related to specific human cognitive abilities, such as human-specific intelligence."

The study used fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scans to visualise brain activity. fMRI scans map functional activity in the brain by detecting changes in blood flow. The oxygen content and the amount of blood in a given brain area vary according to a particular task, thus allowing activity to be tracked.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by KU Leuven, via AlphaGalileo.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Dante Mantini, Maurizio Corbetta, Gian Luca Romani, Guy A. Orban, Wim Vanduffel. Evolutionary-Novel Functional Networks in the Human Brain? The Journal of Neuroscience, 2013; DOI: 10.1523/%u200BJNEUROSCI.4392-12.2013

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/xHGCPbZI-WU/130222120753.htm

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Lowest paying, highest anxiety jobs

by Maria C Collins

Created on: February 13, 2013 ??Last Updated: February 14, 2013

Anyone on low pay is anxious in the current economic climate. In many countries, such as the U.K, austerity measures are making poor people even poorer. Though unemployment figures are falling, the statistics hide the fact that more people are accepting part time and temporary jobs and short-term contracts, because full-time or permanent positions are very scarce indeed. Job seekers are taking any work that they can find. However, there are

many low paid jobs, where anxiety and stress are always part of the day.

Dairy Farmers may love their cows and their work outside, and city dwellers fondly imagine that a dairy farmer?s life must be idyllic. However, small dairy farmers, caught between the huge agri-businesses and the supermarkets, are having a hard time to get more money for their milk than it costs to produce. Cows cannot tell the time and their needs do not fit in to a cozy nine-to-five. Dairy farmers get up at silly o?clock, to tend their cows, and work long into the evening, seven days a week. Cows still need feeding, mucking out, milking and general care, whatever the weather.

Weather, in many countries, has not been kind to farmers for the past eighteen months. In the United Kingdom, record rainfall levels have meant flooded fields and low grass yield and this means cows being indoors much more than usual, which means the farmer must buy food for them. During the same period, animal feed prices have been rising rapidly. Many dairy farmers are so poor that they qualify for means-tested state benefits. If all that does not cause enough anxiety and stress, agriculture is a dangerous industry. The United Kingdom?s Health and Safety Executive reports that, although only 1.5% of Britain?s workforce works in agriculture, agricultural workers suffer 15-20% of the fatal accidents to British workers annually. Livestock are sometimes unpredictable as are farm vehicles, machinery, hay bales. Farmers can also catch diseases from their animals.

At the difficult moments in people?s lives, they expect the caring professions to be there for them. Nursing assistants assist qualified nurses with patient care; they fetch and carry, assisting patients with bathing, personal care, walking and eating and observe and care for patients as well as a myriad other jobs and tasks. They may work in hospitals, care homes, or other medical facilities under medical and nursing staff direction. For all that trained nursing or health care assistants do,

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Henderson: What Mango Little League taught me about baseball

By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune
Published: February 15, 2013 Updated: February 15, 2013 - 7:00 AM

I used to think I knew something about baseball. I played the game for many years as a younger lad, and then covered the big-leaguers here for this great metropolitan newspaper.

I have sat and absorbed knowledge from the likes of Lou Piniella, Sparky Anderson, Jim Leyland and Joe Maddon. I have covered the World Series 20 times. I vote for the baseball Hall of Fame selections. That ought to count for something.

But many years ago at East Point Little League in beautiful downtown Mango, I found all that knowledge didn't amount to squat when I agreed to lead the Minor B Indians. They were a group of 7- and 8-year-old boys and one girl.

As my oldest son, Ben, likes to remind me often, that spring under my, cough, leadership shattered his dreams of being a baseball player (although I think it likely that his inherited genes had more to do with that).

Long story short (and man, was my team short): 0 wins, 19 losses.

Two of the games were close.

Funny thing, when I answered the phone on that fateful Sunday afternoon the possibilities seemed endless. Some guy from East Point was calling to tell me the draft was the next night.

"What draft?" I asked him.

"You know, for the Indians. You're coaching the Indians."

Until that moment, I wasn't aware of that.

Here were the ground rules, he told me. I could "reserve" no more than three players ? my son, an assistant coach's son, and a team mom's son. The draft would consist of a blind draw out of a hat. Well, I had no assistant and my ever-patient wife was going to be team mom.

So, I show up at the draft with one player, only to find the other five teams had no fewer than four players reserved. One of them, as I recall, had seven.

You will find this an incredible coincidence, but it seemed every 8-year-old in greater Mango standing at least 6-feet tall lived near the other coaches and needed rides to practice and games. Crazy, right?

Well, I started pulling names out of the hat and I noticed some of the other coaches kind of giggling ? except for the time I pulled out one kid's name only to hear another coach go, "Oh, I have to take him. He needs rides."

That kid was big enough to drive himself, I remember. I think he was shaving. But pretty soon I had my team and, excited as could be, I gathered them for our first practice. As they approached, I remember thinking, "I didn't know there was a tee-ball team practicing here too."

There wasn't. These were the Indians. The brave little Indians (emphasis on little). In fact, we became known around East Point as "the little team."

They were great kids. We had as much fun as an 0-19 team possibly could. As long as the snacks were there, we were fine.

I retired from baseball coaching after that season and I don't think anyone minded. I learned a couple of big lessons, though.

First, it's all about the kids; if they're OK, I'm OK.

And second, it's location, location, location. To win a lot of games, just live close to all those kids who need rides. Especially the 8-year-olds who shave.

Source: http://www2.tbo.com/news/opinion/2013/feb/15/henderson-what-mango-little-league-taught-me-about-ar-633680/

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Ethiopia Day at school | Rowan Family Tree

Today was Ethiopia Day at school. We were going to celebrate Ethiopian Christmas, but Spice was sick on the day we had set aside. So instead, we had plain ole Ethiopian day in the girls? grade 1 class.

We did lots of activities, and actually spent the whole day on Ethiopian activities. We started by doing writing? The kids were fascinated to try their hand at writing Amharic.





We read Ethiopia ABCs, which the kids just loved?

The kids danced to Ethiopian traditional music, and ate shiro and injera during lunch break.



Fortunately, we had enough dresses for all the girls in the class, and they all had a lovely time dancing around in the traditional dresses.

At the end of the day, the girls did show and tell and shared all sorts of cool traditional items with the other kids, like a horsetail flyswatter, fabric and rope toys, a traditional gourd lunchbox, and all sorts of goodies.


It was so nice to see the girls so enthusiastic? They were just delighted that Mommy and Daddy were spending the day in class, and that we got to share all about Ethiopia. It was kind of neat, too, because the girls had done something similar in kindergarten, many of the kids were familiar and especially open. Surprisingly, more than half the kids ate the shiro and injera? I had to make 2 batches of shiro!

It feels good that the girls are so proud of their heritage, and that the kids are so interested too. Thanks to the teacher who let us take over for the day! And to the kids who were all well behaved and really engaged!

Posted in: Ethiopia, Parenting, SchoolPermalinkLeave a comment

Source: http://rowanfamilytree.com/2013/02/13/ethiopia-day-at-school/

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UK: Horse drug may have entered human food chain

Political artist Kaya Mar poses for photographs with his horsemeat scandal painting which depicts French President, Francois Hollande, and British Prime Minister, David Cameron, in London, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013. British authorities on Tuesday raided a slaughterhouse and a meat processing company suspected of selling horsemeat labeled as beef for kebabs and burgers, shutting them down temporarily and seizing all the meat found. Millions of burgers and frozen meals have been recalled around Europe and many accusations have been made, but so far it's not clear how horsemeat got introduced into so many beef products. French authorities have already pointed to an elaborate supply chain that involved Romanian butchers and Dutch and Cypriot traders that resulted in horsemeat disguised as beef being sold in meals like lasagne and moussaka to consumers around the continent. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Political artist Kaya Mar poses for photographs with his horsemeat scandal painting which depicts French President, Francois Hollande, and British Prime Minister, David Cameron, in London, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013. British authorities on Tuesday raided a slaughterhouse and a meat processing company suspected of selling horsemeat labeled as beef for kebabs and burgers, shutting them down temporarily and seizing all the meat found. Millions of burgers and frozen meals have been recalled around Europe and many accusations have been made, but so far it's not clear how horsemeat got introduced into so many beef products. French authorities have already pointed to an elaborate supply chain that involved Romanian butchers and Dutch and Cypriot traders that resulted in horsemeat disguised as beef being sold in meals like lasagne and moussaka to consumers around the continent. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

LONDON (AP) ? Six horse carcasses that tested positive for an equine painkiller may have entered the human food chain in France, Britain's food regulator announced Thursday ? and the agency's chief said horsemeat tainted with the medicine may have been sold to consumers "for some time."

The Food Standards Agency said eight out of 206 horses it checked had tested positive for phenylbutazone, commonly known as bute. It said of those eight, six ? all slaughtered by a firm in southwest England ? were sent to France and "may have entered the food chain."

The agency said it was working with French authorities to trace the meat.

Environment Minister David Heath earlier told the House of Commons three horses might have entered the food chain, but the ministry later said six was the correct figure.

Britain's chief medical officer, Sally Davies, insisted that horsemeat containing bute "presents a very low risk to human health."

Davies said the drug is occasionally prescribed to patients suffering from severe arthritis, and while it sometimes produces serious side effects, "it is extremely unlikely that anyone who has eaten horsemeat containing bute will experience one of these side effects."

"If you ate 100-percent horse burgers of 250 grams (8.8 ounces), you would have to eat, in one day, more than 500 or 600 to get to a human dose," she said. "It would really be difficult to get up to a human dose."

Authorities across Europe are testing thousands of meat products for the drug, and for horse DNA, after horsemeat was found in food products labeled as beef in several countries.

Food Standards Agency head Catherine Brown said that before the current crisis, the agency had tested about 5 percent of the horses slaughtered in Britain ? and about 6 percent of those had shown traces of bute.

"That would say there has been a significant amount of carcasses with bute in going into the food chain for some time," she said.

Pan-European police agency Europol is coordinating a continent-wide fraud investigation amid allegations of an international criminal conspiracy to substitute horse for more expensive beef.

The scandal has uncovered the labyrinthine workings of the global food industry, where meat from a Romanian slaughterhouse can end up in British lasagna by way of companies in Luxembourg and France.

It has also raised the uncomfortable idea that Europeans may unwittingly have been consuming racehorses, which are often treated with bute.

Britain's Food Standards Agency said it had begun testing all horses slaughtered in Britain for bute, and that none would be exported for consumption unless they tested negative. The agency previously tested only a small percentage of slaughtered animals, which has fueled criticism of its failure to catch the horsemeat contamination sooner.

Almost no horsemeat is consumed in Britain, where hippophagy ? eating horses ? is widely considered taboo. But thousands of horses killed in the country each year are exported for meat to countries including France and Belgium, which have a culture of eating horsemeat.

A "horse passport" system, which records whether animals have been treated with bute, is meant to stop the drug entering the human food chain.

On Thursday, Britain's Aintree race track said a slaughterhouse in northern England shut down this week by government investigators had a contract to dispose of fatally injured racehorses.

The racecourse said it was "as confident as we possibly can be" that none of the meat had entered the human food chain.

The trail of illicit horsemeat stretching across Europe spread still further Thursday when Rangeland Foods, a processing factory in Ireland, said it had withdrawn some batches of burger products which contained beef supplied from Poland after it tested positive for up to 30 percent horse meat.

Food Safety Authority of Ireland said the products had been sold to the catering and wholesale sectors and distributed to Ireland, Britain, Spain, France, Germany and the Netherlands.

____

Jill Lawless can be reached at http://Twitter.com/JillLawless

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-02-14-Europe%20Horsemeat/id-35d8b54517fb4aa8b820eb78cc9b6ffb

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Small business, big history

Hattie Barnes, director of Urban Impact.

One of the ironies of the success of the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham and elsewhere is that once the Jim Crow laws fell and African-Americans could live as fully enfranchised citizens, some of the institutions they had created under segregation began to crumble.

?Before Birmingham was integrated, we had our own neighborhoods, own entertainment districts and own business districts,? explained Hattie Barnes, the director of the city-funded Urban Impact. The non-profit agency was founded nearly 35 years ago to help revitalize black institutions, especially the Fourth Avenue Historic District where it has offices at 1701 4th Avenue North.

Once a thriving area that included restaurants, barber shops, churches, movie theaters and other businesses catering to African-Americans, the area (which includes 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th Avenues and 15^th through 18^th Streets north) was once a hub for urban life.

?You could say it was the heart of black Birmingham in the ?40s, ?50s and into the ?60s,? Barnes said as she strolled down Fourth Avenue, waving and calling out to business owners up and down the street. ?But once African-Americans got their rights and could go and live just about anywhere they wanted, the area began a slow decline.?

In fact, by the time Richard Arrington, the city?s first black mayor, called Urban Impact in to help revitalize the area in 1980, there were fewer than 20 businesses still open.

?Now we?ve got well over 50 businesses up and running and more on the way,? Barnes said.

Urban Impact acts as a referral agency to federal, state and local governments and private organizations that have expertise in small business concerns.

Early on, the non-profit also helped establish a federal Land Bank Program designed to provide low interest loans to local people who wanted to establish businesses in the area and borrow money to improve existing enterprises.

?One of the problems we had was that much of the land and many of the buildings in the district were owned by absentee landlords who did not really see the profit in keeping businesses opened or their properties in good shape,? Barnes said. ?Now, every one of our businesses is locally owned and operated and a real sense of community is being reestablished,? she said as she popped into the Touch of Elegance Barber Shop on Fourth Avenue, where Sylvester Dawson waited for a customer to show up.

Sylvester Dawson, barber and proprietor of Touch of Elegance.

?I bought this shop four years ago and I?m still here,? he said with a grin as he lounged in one of his reclining chairs. ?This recession has hurt, but people always need a haircut and I am here to provide that service.?

As in the movies, Dawson?s establishment often serves as an informal town hall for the neighborhood, he said.

?Oh, people get to talking in here, all right,? he said. ?They take up every subject under the sun that men like to talk about and it sometimes gets loud in here until everybody has their say-so.?

The boundaries of the Fourth Avenue District include many black Birmingham cultural landmarks, including the old Carver Theater, now home to the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame; Kelly Ingram Park, where so many civil rights marches of the ?60s originated; the adjoining Birmingham Civil Rights Institute; and the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, where four little girls were killed a 1963 bombing that stirred the nation?s conscience.

The old Famous Theater Building on Fourth Avenue is one of the district?s best success stories, Barnes said. Several years ago, Nolanda Bearden, a local entrepreneur, renovated its ground floor into office space and turned the upper floors into a loft where she lives.

The A.G. Gaston Motel, founded by perhaps Birmingham?s wealthiest black businessman, was once a site of many civil rights planning sessions. Now owned by the city, the landmark still stands in the district, as do the Nelson Brothers? Caf? and the old black Masonic Temple.

But perhaps the most unique feature of the district lies at the corner of Fourth Avenue and 18^th Street ? the Eddie Kendrick Memorial Park, named after one of the founding members of R&B superstars the Temptations.

The tiny park, which is almost hidden from the street by thick bushes and trees, features a full-sized iron statue of Birmingham native Kendrick, as well as bas-relief likenesses of four of the other Temptations.

Created about 15 years ago by Donald McDowell, a traveling artist who also has works on display in Kelly Ingram Park, the Kendrick park provides seclusion from the bustle of the city, as well as rest on a couple of wrought iron benches.

And if while sitting and contemplating Kendrick captured in full voice at the microphone, you begin to actually hear songs by the ?Tempting Temptations,? well, it?s not just your imagination.

?I guess you could say part of my job description is disc jockey, too,? Barnes laughed. ?We?ve got several CDs with nothing but Temptations music on them, and one of the first things I do when I get in the office in the morning is put one of them in the player and turn on the music down at the park.?

Mounted inconspicuously in the trees are speakers over which Temptations hits are played throughout the day. The wires from the speakers lead back to the Urban Impact offices a block away, where Barnes sees to it that the music rarely stops.

?I keep them going all day,? she said, ?and the last thing I do when I leave in the afternoon is put on another CD so the music continues for another hour or so. I think the park and the music is one of the things that helps define this street and the district.?

For more information on Urban Impact, visit urbanimpactbirmingham.org.

16 gunmen killed in Thai military base attack: army

16 gunmen killed in Thai military base attack: army

In the unusually brazen attack, one of the most deadly in some eight years of violence in Thailand's deep south, 100 militants attacked the unit in Narathiwat province, unit commander Captain Somkiat Pholprayoon said.

"Sixteen militants were confirmed dead after the attack," he told reporters at the scene, adding that the attackers had been dressed in army fatigues and used AK47 and M16 assault rifles.

A combined force of around 100 military and police officers is in "hot pursuit" of some 60 to 70 militants who fled from the base after the attack, Captain Pholprayoon.

A shadowy insurgency has been fighting for greater autonomy for the southernmost provinces of the country since 2004, with shootings and bombings occurring on a near-daily basis.

More than 5,500 people have been killed, both Buddhist and Muslim, in the bloody conflict.

No military casualties were reported in the early hours assault at the base in the Bacho district of Narathiwat province, one of three Muslim-dominated provinces near the border with Malaysia. An army spokesman had earlier put the militants' death toll at 17.

"We learned of the attack in advance from defected militants," Colonel Pramote Promin, southern army spokesman told Thai television.

"We were able to secure the camp. All of our force are safe," he said.

He added that a key local leader of the fighters, who wore bulletproof vests during the attack, had been killed in the clashes.

Members of Thailand's security forces are frequently targeted in ambushes and roadside bombs, but organised attacks on military bases are relatively rare.

Southern army commander Lieutenant General Udomchai Thammasarorat has called for a 24-hour curfew for local villagers, for their "safety and to prevent any confusion during the pursuit of militants", he told broadcaster Thai PBS.

Deputy prime minister Chalerm Yubumrung, who heads the government's special body in charge of the southern unrest, recently proposed imposing a curfew in certain areas of the most affected provinces.

Religious leaders oppose the move, saying it will do nothing to solve the underlying problems. The Thai cabinet is set to discuss the proposal Friday.

Critics accuse the government of failing to address the grievances of Thailand's Malay Muslim minority, including alleged abuses by the military and a perceived lack of respect for their ethnic identity, language and religion.

A report by the International Crisis Group on the violence in December said insurgents had grown "bolder and stronger" amid political inaction from successive Bangkok governments.

"The violence has evolved at a pace that is starting to challenge the ability of the government to respond on its own terms," said Jim Della-Giacoma, Crisis Group's Southeast Asia project director.

ICG recommended a greater push towards decentralisation and closer engagement with local civil society groups and peace negotiations with insurgents.

It added that the deployment of 60,000 security forces and an emergency decree "have not achieved any appreciable decline in casualties".

Source: http://news.malaysia.msn.com/top-stories/16-gunmen-killed-in-thai-military-base-attack-army-6

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Want a home-cooked meal? It's in the can

In this Friday, Aug. 24, 2012 photo, Campbell's new Skillet sauces are displayed at the Campbell Soup Company headquarters in Camden, N.J. As more people try their hand at mimicking sophisticated recipes from cooking shows and blogs, food companies are rolling out meal kits and starters that make amateur chefs feel like Emeril Lagasse or Rachael Ray in the kitchen. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

In this Friday, Aug. 24, 2012 photo, Campbell's new Skillet sauces are displayed at the Campbell Soup Company headquarters in Camden, N.J. As more people try their hand at mimicking sophisticated recipes from cooking shows and blogs, food companies are rolling out meal kits and starters that make amateur chefs feel like Emeril Lagasse or Rachael Ray in the kitchen. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

This undated product image provided by General Mills Inc. shows the company's line of "Progresso Recipe Starters". As more people try their hand at mimicking sophisticated recipes from cooking shows and blogs, food companies are rolling out meal kits and starters that make amateur chefs feel like Emeril Lagasse or Rachael Ray in the kitchen. (AP photo/General Mills)

This undated product image provided by General Mills Inc. shows the company's line of "Progresso Recipe Starters". As more people try their hand at mimicking sophisticated recipes from cooking shows and blogs, food companies are rolling out meal kits and starters that make amateur chefs feel like Emeril Lagasse or Rachael Ray in the kitchen. (AP photo/General Mills)

NEW YORK (AP) ? There's nothing more satisfying than a home-cooked meal, especially if it comes out of a can or a pouch.

As more people try their hand at mimicking sophisticated recipes from cooking shows and blogs, food companies are rolling out meal kits and starters that make amateur chefs feel like Emeril Lagasse or Rachael Ray in the kitchen.

Call it the next generation of dinner-in-box sets like Rice-A-Roni and Hamburger Helper that were rolled out as moms flooded the workforce in the '50s, '60s and '70s. But the new kits and starters go beyond just browning meat and throwing evaporated cheese and seasonings into boiling water ? the idea is to make people feel like they're making their meals from scratch.

General Mills Inc. has a line of "Progresso Recipe Starters," which are pre-made sauces in flavors such as "Fire-Roasted Tomato" and "Creamy Portabella Mushroom" that can be a base for a variety of dishes. Kraft Food Group Inc.'s "Sizzling Salads" dinner kits pair a meat marinade with salad dressing: you provide all the other ingredients. And Campbell Soup Co. has "Skillet Sauces" that can be mixed with fresh meat and veggies. Total prep time: 15 minutes.

Scott Jones, a public relations specialist in Fort Worth, Texas, uses Kraft's Velveeta Skillets, a deluxe version of mac-n-cheese in a box with flavors such as Chicken Alfredo and Lasagna.

Jones likes that the box suggests ways to customize the recipe by doing things like using different types of meats. He says the creamy cheese packets are a step up from powder mixes. And he likes adding personal touches (Think: diced tomatoes and peppers.)

It's not the same as the pot roasts feasts that he cooks on Sundays but on weekdays it allows him to give his family a "satisfying meal, quickly and conveniently."

Cooking shortcuts long have been an American way of life, of course. But demand has grown for time-saving recipes as busy Americans eat more meals at home to save money. The NPD Group estimates the average number of meals eaten at home at 902 last year, up from 870 four years earlier.

At the same time, there's a growing "foodie culture" that values authenticity and fresh ingredients. It may be why sales of Rice-A-Roni ? essentially a box of rice and powdered seasoning mix ? have dropped 16 percent to $196 million from five years ago, according to the market researcher Euromonitor International.

The companies that make the new starters say it's too early to make sales projections but the hope is to appeal to the people who want it both ways: a home-cooked meal that doesn't require much sweat and labor. In particular, companies are aiming for those in their 20s and 30s whose cooking skills may be outmatched by their increasingly sophisticated tastes.

"Their definition of cooking is different," says Darren Serrao, who heads innovation for Campbell Soup, based in Camden, N.J. "Assembly is cooking."

Indeed, Kraft Sizzling Salads dinner kits aren't exactly your mother's "made from scratch" recipes.

They direct people to heat up some chicken with the marinade and toss a salad with the dressing. But in case aspiring home cooks need some extra guidance in their culinary adventures, Kraft provides cooking tutorials online.

In a video for the Chicken Caesar meal kit, a woman demonstrates how to squeeze the marinade over four chicken breasts in a frying pan. She then guides viewers through the steps of adding croutons and shredded cheese into a bowl of chopped lettuce. The finishing touch? Squirting in some Kraft dressing.

Progresso's sauces involve a little more work. For example, let's say you want beef stroganoff. All you need is two pounds of boneless beef sirloin, an onion, garlic, Worcestershire sauce and a can of Progresso's Recipe Starters in Creamy Portabella Mushroom flavor. The dish takes 35 minutes from start to finish, according to the recipe on the can.

Making beef stroganoff from scratch, by contrast, would be a deeply involved ordeal, in large part because of the sauce, says Brendan Walsh, dean of culinary education at the Culinary Institute of America.

"You're dealing with stocks and reductions. It's a good 12-hour process," he says.

Although Walsh wouldn't put Progresso's version of beef stroganoff "in the realm of chef-dom," he notes that companies have gotten better at making products with improved taste and nutritional content. And given busy schedules, Walsh says such "survival cooking" is often an easy way to put a hot meal on the table.

Some starters are even more basic.

Land O' Lakes has "Saute Starters," cubes of butter that contain olive oil and are packed with the right mix of spices to make a dish, coming in flavors such as Italian Herb and Lemon Pepper.

Cooking instructions? Toss a square in a pan, add some meat, shrimp or fish, then serve with rice or pasta.

Peggy Ellingson, Land O' Lakes' vice president of innovation and new business development, promises that the aroma from the butter will have everyone asking what mom is cooking for dinner.

In other words, it's all part of the show.

___

Follow Candice Choi at www.twitter.com/candicechoi

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-13-Pretend%20Cooking/id-2dea4fbd4015458a8673dfeb5588d329

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LA homicide detectives sift 700 clues in manhunt for ex-cop

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Detectives were pursuing some 700 clues in their manhunt for an ex-cop suspected of a revenge-driven killing spree, Los Angeles police said on Monday, a day after a $1 million reward was posted for information leading to the fugitive's capture.

Christopher Dorner, 33, is accused of targeting law enforcement officers and their families in three killings committed in retaliation for his 2008 firing from the Los Angeles Police Department.

His last confirmed encounter with authorities came early on Thursday, when he is accused of ambushing two policemen at a red light in Riverside, 60 miles east of Los Angeles. One of those officers was killed, the other wounded.

That confrontation came shortly after Dorner, a former Navy officer, is suspected of exchanging gunfire with police in nearby Corona, wounding one officer there.

Riverside County prosecutors formally charged Dorner on Monday with one count of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder in connection with Thursday's shootings and said they had issued a "no-bail" arrest warrant for him.

Riverside County District Attorney Paul Zellerbach told a news conference that the evidence already amassed against Dorner was strong enough to press charges.

"This individual, by both his words and his conduct, has made it very clear to all of us that every law enforcement officer in Southern California is in danger of being shot or killed," Zellerbach said.

Aside from numerous false sightings, the search for Dorner has centered on the San Bernardino Mountains northeast of Los Angeles, where his truck was found abandoned and burning on a fire road near the ski resort community of Big Bear Lake.

The manhunt there has not been abandoned, Los Angeles police spokesman Lieutenant Andrew Neiman said, but detectives were also busy following up an estimated 700 clues and tips from the public in hopes that one of them would lead them to the fugitive.

POSSIBLE MEXICAN CONNECTION?

Dismissing speculation that Dorner's four-day silence may suggest he had taken his own life, Neiman said: "We are operating on the premise that he is still out and about and we are going to find him."

Although public statements by police have suggested Dorner was believed to be acting alone, the U.S. Marshals Service said in court documents filed last week that the agency "has also been tracking the movements of ... a known associate of Dorner."

The purported associate, identified in the affidavit only by the initials "J.Y.," has a family member who owns residential property where Dorner's truck was found burning, but it was not clear whether the individual remained under federal surveillance or had been questioned by authorities.

Representatives of the Marshals Service could not immediately be reached for comment.

The affidavit, filed as part of a criminal complaint charging Dorner with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, said U.S. marshals had "probable cause" to believe he had gone to Mexico.

That conclusion it said, was based in part on "recent observations of a suspect matching Dorner's description attempting to flee to Mexico" and an alleged statement by Dorner himself during a failed attempt to steal a boat in San Diego last Thursday.

U.S. marshals asked police in the Mexican border town Tijuana on Thursday to be on the lookout for Dorner, and Tijuana authorities distributed flyers with information about him to their patrol units that day, according to Francisco Javier Viruete Munguia, director-general of police and transit there. But he said the effort had so far failed to produce any leads.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents joined the manhunt over the weekend by conducting special vehicle screenings of Mexican-bound vehicles at the California border.

Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck has said that the $1 million reward, raised from private donations, police unions, businesses and local governments, was the largest sum ever offered in Southern California in a criminal investigation.

Beck has also described the manhunt for Dorner as the most extensive ever mounted in the Los Angeles area.

A manifesto posted on Dorner's Facebook page last week claimed he was wrongly terminated from the Los Angeles Police Department in 2008 and vowed to seek revenge by unleashing "unconventional and asymmetrical warfare" on police officers and their families.

Last Wednesday, he was named as a suspect in the slayings of a campus security officer and his fianc?e, the daughter of a retired Los Angeles police captain that Dorner's manifesto blames for his dismissal.

The couple, Keith Lawrence, 27, and Monica Quan, 28, were found shot dead three days earlier, on February 3, in their car on the top level of a parking structure in the city of Irvine, south of Los Angeles.

Dorner had ended his military service two days earlier, and the Navy has not disclosed the circumstances of his discharge.

Beck announced on Saturday a reopening of the inquiry into Dorner's firing to "reassure the public that their police department is transparent and fair."

The Los Angeles Police Department also has opened an investigation into an incident in which two women were wounded when apparently skittish officers opened fire on a pickup truck resembling Dorner's. The two women were delivering newspapers when they were shot.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb, Brandon Lowrey, and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles and Alexandra Alper in Mexico City; Writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by David Gregorio and Lisa Shumaker)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/la-homicide-detectives-sift-700-clues-manhunt-ex-054427721.html

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Sacha Baron Cohen Puts Los Angeles Home Up ... - AOL Real Estate

No word on whether Sacha Baron Cohen is eyeing a place in Borat's native Kazakhstan, but whatever the case, the actor has just thrown his Los Angeles home on the market for $2.595 million, the Los Angeles Times reported. According to the newspaper, the home previously was listed for rent for $10,995 a month. And we're rather surprised: Though the home has luxury features aplenty, it's still pretty modest compared to most Hollywood homes we see.

The single-story 2,806-square-foot home features a river-rock fireplace, a media room, beamed ceilings as high as 22 feet, spa baths and a gourmet kitchen. Outside the four-bedroom home is a soothing oasis of a backyard, with a lagoon-style pool, fire pit, spa, outdoor gym and multi-level deck. As our friends at Estately put it: That for make purchase glorious home in Kazakhstan, no?

See the listing for more details.

Find homes for sale in Los Angeles, or search listings in your area.

See also:
John Legend's Thai-Inspired Hollywood Mansion
Christina Aguilera, Jordan Bratman's Beverly Hills Home Close to Being Sold?
Elvis Presley's Home a Teardown?

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Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/02/11/sacha-baron-cohen-home-for-sale-los-angeles/

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