It means Love: ????; Lu Gang Xiao Zhen

On Monday, after collecting my UOL "diploma" cert from RELC,?

I met up with Love for lunch!

I didn't feel like having any Japanese food so I suggested a place that I had been before at ION orchard,?

????

by The Asian Kitchen?

(can't really find their official website though)?

If I didn't remember wrongly, the open at 11.30am.

We came across their Lunch Set Menu priced at S$15.90++?

and decided to try it out.?

Here are the Peaktures;?

Nicely decorated place with dim?lighting;?

The set menu came with an appetizer, a main course, a drink and you could top up just?

S$2 for an additional dessert (which I think is quite worth).?

My Main Course

Mr Lim's Main Course

A generous portion for appetizer

Appetizer number 2

We had iced barley and iced lemon tea for drinks.?

We both agreed that the mango sago was yummier. :)?

For about S$21 per person, you get a 3 course Lunch plus drink which is quite filling for small to medium eaters. If you're looking for a more filling main course, avoid ordering the meesua and the eggy bowl as they're of smaller portions.?

Hope this helped to reduce your uncertainty and bounded rationality!?

(hahas, pardon me as exams are nearing, I was just trying to put what is in my brains to daily use)?

Source: http://carysdeology.blogspot.com/2013/03/lu-gang-xiao-zhen.html

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Eyewitness Confirms: Justin Bieber Spat at Neighbor!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/03/eyewitness-confirms-justin-bieber-spat-at-neighbor/

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The First 6 People Who'll Get Google Glass

Google's finally starting to reveal the winners of its #ifihadglass promotion, and surprise! You're not one of them. Not yet, anyway, unless you happen to be one of the following six golden ticket recipients. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/qSmakt6Eqx8/here-are-6-people-wholl-get-google-glass-before-you

US weekly

You need to comment on Jim?s post! (Unqualified Offerings)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/294522916?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Cyprus still locked in negotiations in last-ditch effort to avoid bankruptcy

Officials from the island nation are locked in late-night conversations with banking officials to head off default.

By Menelaos Hadjicostis,?The Associated Press / March 23, 2013

Cyprus officials and international representatives were caught up in tortuous negotiations late into the night Saturday as they sought to forge a plan to raise the money the island nation needs to qualify for a bailout package. Failure would mean Cyprus could declare bankruptcy in just three days and possibly have to exit the eurozone.

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It was not clear how far the two sides were getting: the information seeping out was conflicting.

Late in the evening, a finance ministry official said an accord was "very close," and would likely include a hefty tax of a fifth to a quarter of deposits over 100,000 euros at the country's troubled largest lender, Bank of Cyprus. But a banking official with knowledge of the talks said no deal was in the offing and wouldn't likely arrive before Sunday.

Both spoke on condition of anonymity because negotiations were ongoing and they were not authorized to release details.

Meanwhile, the state-run Cyprus News Agency quoted an anonymous top official as saying an agreement was not within sight because of the "rigid stance" by the representative of the International Monetary Fund.

Cyprus has been told it must raise 5.8 billion euros ($7.5 billion) in order to secure 10 billion euros in rescue loans from other European countries that use the single currency, as well as from the IMF.

The IMF, European Central Bank and European Commission ? known as the troika ? will determine whether the plan that the Cypriots devise will meet the requirements for any international bailout package. Then, the plan is to be presented to the eurozone finance ministers for final approval.

The country's lawmakers soundly rejected an unpopular initial plan that would have seized up to 10 percent of people's bank accounts, and Cyprus is now seeking another way to raise the desperately needed money. But the idea of some sort of deposit grab returned to the fore after Cyprus' attempt to gain Russian financial aid failed.

According to a second finance ministry official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because he's not authorized to speak about the negotiations, new laws may not be needed if negotiators opt for a "voluntary contribution" from Bank of Cyprus savings accounts above 100,000 euros, which is the insurance limit.

Another option being considered is smaller tax on all bank deposits above 100,000 euros.

The ECB has said it will stop providing emergency funding to Cyprus' banks after Monday if no new plan is in place. Without the ECB's support, Cypriot banks would collapse on Tuesday, pushing the country toward bankruptcy and a potential exit from the 17-nation bloc that uses the euro currency.

"We recognize the progress now being made by the Cypriot government toward a solution which can pave the way for an agreement on a financial assistance program for Cyprus," European monetary affairs commissioner Olli Rehn said in Brussels. "Intensive work and contacts will continue in the coming hours."

President Nicos Anastasiades was among those locked in the late-night talks at his presidential palace with the troika and others. A eurozone finance ministers meeting is due to be held in Brussels on Sunday evening. Anastasiades was also expected to fly there.

Cypriot banks have been shut this past week while the plan was being worked out, and are not due to reopen until Tuesday. Cash has been available through ATMs, but many run out quickly, and those machines for the troubled Laiki Bank are only dispensing 260 euros a day.

Cyprus took significant steps toward cementing a new plan Friday night, when its lawmakers approved nine bills, including three crucial ones that will restructure ailing banks, restrict financial transactions in emergencies and set up a "solidarity fund" that will act as the vehicle for raising funds from investments and contributions.

The bank restructuring will include the country's troubled second largest lender, Laiki, which suffered heavy losses after being exposed to toxic Greek debt.

Thousands of angry bank employees afraid of losing their jobs marched through the center of Nicosia to the Finance Ministry and Parliament, some with placards around their necks reading: "No to the bankruptcy of Cyprus."

"We are protesting for our jobs, and jobs of all in Cyprus," bank employee Zoei Koiachi said.

Worried about her job after 36 years at Laiki, Eleni Koutsourdou said lawmakers should have approved the initial plan for the 10 percent deposit grab for the sake of protecting the financial sector. "It's unfair. They pocketed everything and we end up paying for it," she said.

The restructuring of Laiki and the sale of the toxic-asset laden Greek branches of Cypriot banks is expected to cut the amount the country needs to raise to about 3 billion euros instead of 5.8 billion euros, officials have said. Bank of Cyprus, which was also exposed to Greek debt, might also be involved in the restructuring.

"We have to be clear to protect the financial system and for banks to open Tuesday with a clear picture," Finance Minister Michalis Sarris said.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/X9Bgkx9UnrE/Cyprus-still-locked-in-negotiations-in-last-ditch-effort-to-avoid-bankruptcy

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The Edge: Can Anything Move Congress on Gun Control?

The Edge is National Journal's daily look at today in Washington -- and what's coming next. The email features analysis from NJ's top correspondents, the biggest stories of the day -- and always a few surprises. To subscribe, click here.

Can Anything Move Congress on Gun Control?

The rest of the country found out this week what Washington insiders have known for months: ?not even 20 dead children is enough to shift the debate over guns in America.?

When Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that he wasn't including a ban on assault?weapons and high-capacity clips in the Senate?s gun bill, he was only saying out loud what aides had long whispered. The proposal, he said, "has less than 40 votes. That?s not 60.?

In other words, both Democrats and Republicans are unwilling to ban the kinds of guns that killed 28 people in Newtown and were discovered on Monday, along with plans to carry out a massacre, in a Florida college student's dorm room.

Innocents killed in schools, in a movie theater?even seeing one of their own shot in the head?has not been enough to change lawmakers? opinions on guns.?If gun control advocates want results, they?ll have to defeat their Congressional opponents at the ballot box.

It's the only language lawmakers seem to understand. ?

Chris Frates
cfrates@nationaljournal.com

TOP NEWS

MUCH FANFARE, LITTLE SUBSTANCE IN OBAMA?S ISRAEL VISIT. President Obama arrived in Israel today for a state visit meant to shore up strained relations and assure all that the U.S. and Israeli governments remain close, The New York Times reports. Obama has assured President Shimon Peres that Israel has ?no greater friend than the United States,? according to the Associated Press. Although he has mentioned the goal of lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians, Obama is not expected to offer any proposal for renewing negotiations. The Syrian civil war and Iran?s nuclear program will top the agenda. Read more?

REID, GOP REACH DEAL ON FUNDING VOTE. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced a deal today on amendments to a stopgap bill to fund the government past the end of March, The Hill reported. The Senate is expected to approve the continuing resolution as quickly as this afternoon, sending it to the House. It?s hoped the deal will avert weekend voting on the Democratic budget in the Senate. Read more

NO EVIDENCE YET OF CHEMICAL ATTACK IN SYRIA. U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday that there is no evidence yet that chemical weapons were deployed in Syria, the Associated Press reports. Government and opposition sources have accused one another of deploying chemical weapons in Aleppo. Meanwhile, nine liberal members of Syria?s opposition have left the rebels? governing coalition in protest of the election of Ghassan Hitto, a former technology executive in Texas, as prime minister, according to Reuters. Hitto?s election was backed by the Muslim Brotherhood. Read more

• In a troubling turn for Syria, Sharia law has taken hold in areas of rebel control, The Washington Postreports.

SANFORD?S RUNOFF OPPONENT? TBD. Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford finished first on Tuesday in the GOP primary for the state's 1st Congressional District, but his political comeback isn't complete just yet. In the special election to replace Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., Sanford will face the second-place finisher in an April 2 runoff for the GOP nomination. It will still be a few days, however, before Sanford knows who his opponent is. Former Charleston County Councilman Curtis Bostic is slightly ahead of state Sen. Larry Grooms, 13 percent to 12 percent, with 99 percent of precincts reporting, according to the Associated Press. A recount is expected. Read more

GOP RESISTANCE TO IMMIGRATION REFORM CRUMBLES. Many are talking about the New York Times story today that begins as follows: ?Republican opposition to legalizing the status of millions of illegal immigrants is crumbling in the nation?s capital as leading lawmakers in the party scramble to halt eroding support among Hispanic voters?a shift that is providing strong momentum for an overhaul of immigration laws.? The story goes on to note recent comments from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., urging a new way forward, but points out that lawmakers like Paul are being careful to avoid the perception that they support amnesty. Read more

IKE MEMORIAL HITS A SNAG. Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, has introduced a bill that would toss out world-renowned architect Frank Gehry?s design for a memorial to President Eisenhower and solicit new proposals, The Washington Post reports. Bishop, chair of a public-lands subcommittee, appears partial to Eisenhower family concerns about the suitability of the design. House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., is reportedly also investigating the memorial. Read more

AILES STANDS BY OBAMA ?LAZY? COMMENT. Roger Ailes, the Fox News chairman, is standing by comments he made in a new book in which he described President Obama as ?lazy? and Vice President Joe Biden ?dumb as an ashtray.? Ailes said that he was saying it with a ?humorous overtone? but is not backing down from the assertions, which caused a stir. ?Are every one of those statements true? Yes,? Ailes says. ?Should I have said them? Well, that?s a debate.? Read more

NEW FLA. POLL SHOWS CRIST WITH BIG LEAD ON SCOTT. A Quinnipiac University poll released today has some good news for former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist should he decide to run against his successor in Florida. Crist, who switched his party registration late last year, leads GOP Gov. Rick Scott, 50 percent to 34 percent, in a potential general election matchup. Read more

WANT TO WIN YOUR NCAA POOL? IGNORE OBAMA?S BRACKET. Obama may be a big basketball fan, but that doesn?t mean you should look to his March Madness brackets for guidance. The bracketologist in chief has correctly picked only six of the last 20 Final Four entrants. Read more

** A message from API:?A tax on energy is a tax on everything. New energy industry taxes will cost jobs, undermine energy security and raise energy costs for everyone in this tough economy. Learn more at EnergyTomorrow.org?

TOMORROW

OBAMA TO MEET WITH PALESTINIAN LEADERS. The president continues his trip to the Holy Land on Thursday. He?ll deliver a keynote speech to Israeli university students in Jerusalem, then travel by helicopter to Ramallah, in the West Bank, to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salaam Fayyyad. Read more

JEWELL VOTE TO COME THURSDAY. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will vote on Sally Jewell?s nomination to head the Interior Department on Thursday, The Hill reported. Though Jewell, the CEO of outdoors company REI, comes from a business background, Republican opposition could hold up her nomination. Ranking member Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has threatened to hold the nomination over Interior?s ruling on a construction project. Read more

HOUSE TO PROBE MILITARY SUICIDES. Suicide-prevention efforts in the military will be in the spotlight Thursday as a host of military leaders testify before the House Armed Services Committee. Read more

QUOTABLE

"Oh, no question, I would clean his clock.... Just one knock on the head. It's done." -- Former RNC Chairman Michael Steele, on whether he would win a fight with current RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. He also referred to Priebus as ?numb nuts.? (Washington Examiner)

BEDTIME READING

IN 1991, NEW YORK WANTED HIS HEAD; IN 2013, HE?S FINALLY EXONERATED. In 1991, 40 detectives, ?led by the swaggering, cigar-chewing Detective Louis Scarcella,? charged David Ranta with the murder of a rabbi. The story was New York City tabloid fodder, and the whole city wanted justice for a rabbi shot in the head during a botched jewelry robbery. Ranta, an unemployed drug addict, was sentenced to 37.5 years in jail, where he remains to this day. ?[H]e is almost certainly not guilty,? write Michael Powell and Sharon Otterman in The New York Times. Over 22 years, each piece of evidence against Ranta has fallen away. His ?confession,? the ?witnesses,? all of it has been chalked up to bribery, police pressure, and pure mendacity. Thursday, Ranta might walk free. ?I?d lie there in the cell at night and I think: I?m the only one in the world who knows I?m innocent,? he said. ?I came in here as a 30-something with kids, a mother who was alive. This case killed my whole life.? Read more

* A message from API:?New energy industry taxes will cost jobs and raise energy costs for us all. More at EnergyTomorrow.org.

PLAY OF THE DAY

BIDEN TAKES OVER THE VATICAN. Jay Leno was up in arms Tuesday about all things economic, touching on the bailout in Cyprus, Serbian woman Bojana Danilovic?s rare brain condition and various government programs he has deemed wasteful. Late Night?s Jimmy Fallon mentioned Rand Paul?s political turn on immigration reform, but saved his best jokes for the strange-but-true photo of Joe Biden attending Pope Francis? first official mass. On CBS, David Letterman brought Biden into the Obama/Satan controversy from Monday and joked about the Republican leadership?s recent introspection. Watch it here

KEY INDICATOR

POLL: OBAMA SHOULD PUT MORE PRESSURE ON PALISTINIANS. Forty-eight percent of Americans think the president should put more pressure on Palestinians to compromise, as opposed to 25 percent who think Israelis should be pressured, according to a Gallup poll. The number who want Obama to pressure Palestinians has increased 10 percentage points in the last five years. A plurality of Americans still back an independent Palestinian state, but those numbers are down significantly from just a few years ago. Read more?

GET SMART

TRACKING OBAMA?S TRIP TO ISRAEL. Here are five sources to follow on Twitter to keep up with the president?s trip to the Holy Land.

• @JeffreyGoldberg: National Correspondent, The Atlantic. ?Whoa. Obama is quoting letters of Bibi's slain brother. This really is Operation Desert Schmooze.?
• @Ben Birnbaum: ?Contributor to The New Republic who focuses on Israel http://bit.ly/JIZWZq
• @972mag: A blog-based web magazine. ?Israel uproots tree planted by Obama.? http://bit.ly/ZL1In3
• @BarakRavid Diplomatic correspondent, Haaretz Newspaper: ?Obama calls Netanyahu Bibi again?
• @rudoren: Jodi Rudoren, Jerusalem bureau chief of The New York Times. ?Netanyahu: ?People should get to know Pres Obama the way I've gotten to know him;"

Subscribe to The EdgeSee The Edge Archive

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/edge-anything-move-congress-gun-control-163423376--politics.html

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Latest Chrome Experiment Turns Your Favorite Website Into a Playable Marble Madness Maze

If your favorite websites just aren't as captivating as they used to be, the latest Chrome experiment should breathe some life back into them. Just feed it a website and the World Wide Maze will automatically deconstruct and turn it into a 3D marble maze that can be controlled using your smartphone's accelerometer. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/vVbif98sVok/latest-chrome-experiment-turns-your-favorite-website-into-a-playable-marble-madness-maze

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Former voice of TV's Elmo faces abuse suit in Pa.

NEW YORK (AP) ? A man who initially recanted sex abuse allegations against the former puppeteer of the "Sesame Street" character Elmo has sued him, alleging the entertainer lured him into drug-fueled sex when he was 16.

"I was taken advantage of by someone a lot older, and manipulated," Sheldon Stephens, who's now 24, told a Manhattan news conference on Tuesday.

He said he had met puppeteer Kevin Clash at a networking event for models and actors, and was later brought by limousine from his home in Pennsylvania to a New York apartment. There, Stephens said, Clash smoked crystal meth while giving the teenager another recreational drug.

In a federal lawsuit filed Monday in Pennsylvania, Stephens accused the 52-year-old Clash of sexual battery for childhood sexual abuse; travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct; and coercion and enticement to sexual activity. Stephens is asking for unspecified damages and coverage of his legal expenses.

Clash's attorney, Michael Berger, said in a statement Tuesday that his client denies any wrongdoing. He said Stephens already admitted he had had an adult consensual relationship with Clash.

Three other men also are suing Clash, alleging underage sex. Clash resigned from "Sesame Street" in November.

Stephens first made the allegations last year. His lawyer, Jeff Herman, said Stephens recanted over the possibility of a settlement, but none was ever reached. Herman said his client would not discuss details of any possible agreement.

Stephens said at the news conference that he was 22 when the relationship ended. He said he only took action after watching "Sesame Street" with his young nieces.

"When I started to realize my nieces were idolizing this character, it just disgusted me inside because I knew what had happened to me," Stephens said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/former-voice-tvs-elmo-faces-abuse-suit-pa-185037231.html

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10 Things to Know for Friday

People watch Pope Francis on a giant monitor in St.Peter's Square at the Vatican, as he celebrates his inaugural Mass with cardinals inside the Sistine Chapel, Thursday, March 14, 2013. As the 266th pope, Francis inherits a Catholic church in turmoil, beset by the clerical sex abuse scandal, internal divisions and dwindling numbers in parts of the world where Christianity had been strong for centuries. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

People watch Pope Francis on a giant monitor in St.Peter's Square at the Vatican, as he celebrates his inaugural Mass with cardinals inside the Sistine Chapel, Thursday, March 14, 2013. As the 266th pope, Francis inherits a Catholic church in turmoil, beset by the clerical sex abuse scandal, internal divisions and dwindling numbers in parts of the world where Christianity had been strong for centuries. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

JK Shin, President and Head of IT and Mobile Communications for Samsung Electronics, presents the new Samsung Galaxy S 4 during the Samsung Unpacked event at Radio City Music Hall, Thursday, March 14, 2013 in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

FILE - This undated image made available by CERN shows a typical candidate event including two high-energy photons whose energy (depicted by red towers) is measured in the CMS electromagnetic calorimeter. The yellow lines are the measured tracks of other particles produced in the collision. The pale blue volume shows the CMS crystal calorimeter barrel. The European Organization for Nuclear Research, called CERN, says Thursday March 14, 2013 a look at all the data from 2012 shows that what they found last year was a version of what is popularly referred to as the "God particle." (AP Photo/CERN) EDITORIAL USE ONLY - MANDATORY CREDIT -

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Friday:

1. THERE'S GOOD NEWS...

Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was often a star speaker about economic inequities. He also warned church leaders about drifting from core Catholic beliefs.

2. ...AND BAD NEWS

Human rights activists differ on how much responsibility Pope Francis personally deserves for the Argentine church's dark history of supporting a murderous dictatorship.

3. CAN WE CHARGE THEM A PENALTY?

The IRS says 660,000 refunds will be delayed by up to six weeks because of a software problem.

4. A SPOONFUL OF SUGAR...

Obama is signaling a willingness to adopt some modest steps on Medicare and Social Security. Democrats wince.

5. HOW BIG IS THE GALAXY (SCREEN)

The new version crams a 5-inch screen into body slightly smaller than the S III's.

6. WHICH SIDE OF THE POND PUTS DOWN THEIR CELLPHONES

A significantly higher percentage of U.S. drivers report phone use behind the wheel than drivers in Europe, the CDC finds.

7. OH MY GOD! PARTICLE

In what could go down as one of the great Eureka! moments in physics, scientists say they are confident they have found a Higgs boson.

8. WHEN TO EXPECT A FINANCAL FIX IN DETROIT

The newly appointed emergency manger says "we can get this done significantly shorter than 18 months."

9. WHY N.J.'S CHRISTIE IS ASKED TO APOLOGIZE

He referred to the state Assembly leader, Democratic Speaker Sheila Oliver, by her race and gender instead of her name.

10. LESS 'ANONYMOUS' NOW

A Reuters journalist is charged with conspiring with the hacking group to alter headlines of Los Angeles Times articles.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-14-10%20Things%20to%20Know-Friday/id-bb2268a2be1e413a9db6007b040192f3

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Oh, snap! Best budget digital cameras

The Olympus VR-340 features 10x zoom.

By Kara Reinhardt, Cheapism.com

For years now consumers have been turning to smartphones instead of cameras to shoot and share good-enough-for-Facebook photos. For those who lack a fancy phone with a decent camera or still prefer a dedicated device, respected names such as Canon and Olympus make well-reviewed digital cameras for less than $100. The best budget models promise reliable image quality and include features such as 10x optical zoom. That?s something you won?t see in a smartphone camera.

Here are the top picks from Cheapism.com.

• The Canon PowerShot A3400 IS (starting at $89) is yet another excellent entrant from a brand that seems to consistently excel in the budget arena. This camera has a touchscreen LCD -- an unusual feature for this price range -- and reviewers say the controls are simple to navigate. (Where to buy)
• The Olympus VR-340 (starting at $89) boasts a 10x zoom lens in a category where 5x is the norm. The 3-inch LCD also has a higher resolution: 460K dots, compared with the standard 230K. Expert reviewers note the camera?s solid metal body and laud its overall quality. (Where to buy)
• The Canon PowerShot A2400 IS (starting at $88) earns plenty of praise for its performance. Experts point to the sharpness of the photos and outstanding color accuracy. On the features front, this model looks much like the A3400, but for a 2.7-inch LCD in place of a 3-inch touchscreen. (Where to buy)
• The Fujifilm FinePix T400 (starting at $89) stands out for its ease of use, according to expert reviews. Automatic settings on this and other point-and-shoot cameras take the guesswork out of shooting a portrait, sunset, sporting event, or any number of other scenes. This camera?s slim body houses a 10x zoom. (Where to buy)

In general budget cameras tend to struggle in low light, producing images marred by ?noise? or graininess and other distortions. In more favorable conditions, however, the best models continually turn out frame-worthy photos. The four cameras listed above can also record 720p HD video.

It would be remiss not to mention that these are all 16-megapixel cameras. High resolution does not necessarily make for high-quality images, however. In some cases the megapixel count may even be too high, as NBC News explains. Regardless, digital photos taken at 16MP will be plenty large enough to blow up to poster size and beyond. More megapixels may not translate to better pictures, but it certainly translates to larger image files. Luckily consumers can find high-capacity SD cards for less than $10.

One thing to check for as you compare the specs on digital cameras is an optical image stabilizer, which helps keep pictures taken in low light from turning out blurry. Low-cost models used to rely largely on digital machinations to produce sharp photos without a tripod, but now any camera you buy should have optical image stabilization built in.

More from Cheapism:

Source: http://lifeinc.today.com/_news/2013/03/13/17238716-cheapism-best-budget-digital-cameras?lite

Macho Camacho Rise of the Guardians

Dating & Relationship Advice To My 13 Year Old Clutch Magazine

Sometimes I wish someone actually sat me down as a kid and talked to me about dating and relationships. ?I don?t ever recall talking to either parent about these subjects, but I did hear ?You better not come home knocked up?. So yeah, I knew not to get pregnant, but I didn?t actually know how one ?got pregnant?, if that makes any sense. Health classes were a joke in school. My girlfriends didn?t know anything either. And the little boys in middle school were perverts and spent their free time trying to touch on girl?s butts. The last boy who attempted to cop a feel in the 8th grade ended up with a black eye.

Instead, I learned everything I knew at the time from Judy Blume, Jackie Collins and Danielle Steele. Yeah, not quite the holy?grail?of learning, but it was all I had. Blume taught me about menstruation and innocent crushes. Collins and Steele taught me about lust, love and the dangers that could arise from both. ?Life taught me the rest. ?Now that I?m the parent of a teenager, I give him the advice I wish I would have received when I was his age.

Last week my 13-year-old son came into my room, laid next to me on my bed and ?placed his head on my shoulder. This is usually what he does when he wants something, so I was preparing myself for either of these questions:

• Can I have another dog?
• Can I get another gecko?
• There?s this new video game coming out?can you buy it?

I was preparing myself to say no to whatever request he was about to ask. To my surprise he asked for something else.

Dating advice.

Record scratches.

What?

Just last year girls were gross, rude and mean. Now he wants advice about dating them? ?To say I wasn?t prepared for that question was an understatement. ?I needed a few minutes to contemplate my answer, but with him, ?an answer needs to be supplied immediately. ?So I thought about it for all of 5 seconds. I thought about what I wanted to hear when I was his age, then I thought about what I learned and what I?m still learning along the way.

His question was about a friend he has a crush on. He didn?t know whether he should ask her ?out? or just remain friends. ?I?m not really sure what he meant by ?out?, because there?s not so much a 13 year can do besides the movies and the mall, but I didn?t bring up that issue. ?I asked him if there were any ?signs? that she may be interested in more than a friendship type of way, because sometimes people can misinterpret signals. I didn?t want him to answer the question, but to just think about it to himself and pay attention to their interactions at school. ?If he felt that there was something ?more? there, then maybe he should simply ask her to the movies and see what she says. ?But if she turns him down, don?t be disappointed because you can still be friends, without the whole dating aspect.

I think if kids are taught early that men and women can be platonic friends, there won?t be 50,000 blog posts 10 years from now with people asking ?Can Men & Women Really Just Be Friends??. Because we all know that horse has been beaten to death.

Last Friday I dropped my son off at his school?s 8th grade lock in, and he introduced me to his friend and her dad. ?I spoke to her father briefly and we shared a few laughs about raising teenagers. As the two kids ran into the school, they talked basketball and what movie they were seeing this weekend, I exchanged glances with her father and he summed it up appropriately, ?Those two are like peas in a pod. I hope they stay friends for a long time?.

Source: http://www.clutchmagonline.com/2013/03/dating-relationship-advice-to-my-13-year-old/

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Man sought in 2 deaths captured in Ore. motel

LINCOLN CITY, Ore. (AP) ? Police stormed a motel room in a seaside town Tuesday evening and captured a Washington state man suspected of killing his grandparents, ending a multistate search and a tense daylong standoff at the motel.

Officers found Michael Boysen lying on the floor on his back with apparently serious self-inflicted cuts, Lincoln City police Chief Keith Kilian said.

The 26-year-old man was flown to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland.

Hospital spokeswoman Judy Pahl described his condition as critical shortly after he arrived late Tuesday night.

No officers were hurt in the standoff, which Kilian termed "very successful." Law enforcement officials in Washington state had described Boysen as extremely dangerous.

The bodies of Boysen's grandparents were found Saturday in their suburban Seattle home, a day after Boysen was released from prison and was greeted with a welcome home party. After those deaths were discovered, officials say they learned that Boysen had made threats against his relatives and law enforcement officials while behind bars.

Police spent much of Tuesday trying to persuade Boysen to surrender. After breaching the motel room door, they stormed in and captured him.

"We're certainly glad it's over and nobody else got hurt. We're glad they were able to take him into custody alive," King County Sheriff John Urquhart said in Seattle shortly after the capture.

During Tuesday's siege in the Oregon tourist town of Lincoln City, police pointed rifles at the motel, fired blasts from a water cannon to break the windows of Boysen's second-floor room and used a bullhorn to try to get him to give up. The Oregonian reports they also used tear gas.

Police used a robot equipped with a video camera and a microphone to communicate with him. The robot was sent onto a balcony outside the motel room. Police breached the door and were able to communicate with Boysen through the robot.

When Boysen didn't come out on his own, police went in after him.

"We tried to negotiate," Kilian said. "We saw an opening that didn't compromise the safety of our officers."

Boysen checked into the WestShore OceanFront Suites on Monday night under his own name but wasn't recognized until Tuesday morning, when a motel employee saw a television story about the case and called police, Kilian said.

Boysen made threats against members of his family and law enforcement while locked up, Washington state Corrections Department spokesman Chad Lewis said Tuesday. But police didn't learn of the threats until after the bodies of the grandparents were found and authorities had started looking for Boysen.

"Sources went to our staff at the Monroe Correctional Center and told us he had been threatening to do all this," Lewis said.

The information was passed on to King County deputies, and that's why Sheriff Urquhart called Boysen extremely dangerous at a Monday news conference. Investigators also determined that Boysen had been searching the Internet for gun shows.

Boysen just finished serving nine months in prison on a burglary conviction, Lewis said. He had no violent infractions in prison ? "nothing extraordinary," Lewis said.

He served a previous sentence between 2006 and February 2011 for four robbery convictions. Those convictions were related to an addiction to narcotic painkillers, Lewis said.

Boysen's grandparents picked him up from prison Friday and drove him to meet his probation officer and to get an identification card from the Department of Licensing. They held a welcome home party for him Friday night.

Boysen's mother discovered the bodies Saturday evening. She had been called by a family member who became concerned that the couple hadn't answered their door.

Authorities haven't said how they died.

The motive for the killings remains unknown, King County sheriff's Sgt. Cindi West said.

"Between the family and detectives we have no idea," she said. "It's just bizarre. The family loved and supported him the whole time he was in prison."

On Tuesday, the King County medical examiner's office identified the couple as Robert R. Taylor, 82, and Norma J. Taylor, 80. They died Saturday. The cause and manner of their deaths remains under investigation, the medical examiner said.

Urquhart said it was not known why Boysen fled to Oregon.

"We didn't know he had gone to Oregon, had no particular reason to look there."

King County sent two detectives to Oregon to talk with Boysen, Urquhart said. He'll have to go through extradition, then King County hopes to "get him back here for trial," the sheriff said Tuesday evening.

___

Associated Press writers Jeff Barnard in Grants Pass, Ore., and Doug Esser in Seattle contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/man-sought-2-deaths-captured-ore-motel-033619610.html

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Martian rock points to life-friendly conditions

According to NASA, powder from a rock found on Mars indicates the Red Planet may have been able to support microbes billions of years ago. NBC's Katie Wall reports.

By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

Powder drilled out of a rock on Mars contains the best evidence yet that the Red Planet could have supported living microbes billions of years ago, the team behind NASA's Curiosity rover said Tuesday.

"I think this is probably the only definitively habitable environment that we have described and recorded," said David Blake, a scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center who is the principal investigator for Curiosity's CheMin lab.

The findings are in line with what the scientists hoped to find when they sent the 1-ton, six-wheeled laboratory to Mars' Gale Crater. "It wasn't serendipity that got us here. It was the result of planning," Caltech's John Grotzinger, the $2.5 billion mission's project scientist, told reporters at NASA Headquarters in Washington on Tuesday.

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Serendipity did, however, play a part in being able to find the evidence so soon, he said. Curiosity's handlers had planned to have the rover head for a 3-mile-high (5-kilometer-high) mountain in the middle of the crater. But when the rover landed, the science team decided to send Curiosity on a detour to a geologically interesting area in the opposite direction, nicknamed Yellowknife Bay. Preliminary readings showed that the area had been a riverbed or lake bed in ancient times.

Last month, the rover finally got a chance to drill into a Martian rock that was named John Klein, after a member of the mission team who died in 2011. Curiosity fed tablespoons of the ground-up gray powder into its two onboard chemical labs: CheMin (Chemistry and Mineralogy) and SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars). The results were announced at Tuesday's news briefing.

Scientists said the powder contained the elemental ingredients of life ? including sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen,?oxygen, phosphorus and carbon. More significantly, they found that clay minerals made up at least 20 percent of the sample. On Earth, these clays are produced when relatively fresh water reacts with igneous minerals such as olivine. The scientists also found calcium sulfate, which suggested that the water had a neutral or mildly alkaline balance.

Earlier NASA missions had found evidence that?salty, acidic water was once present on Mars, but that extreme environment would have been challenging for today's Earth-type organisms. Curiosity's chemical analysis produced a different result: The water that was available during the formation of the rock at Yellowknife Bay, billions of years ago, could have supported the kind of life commonly found on Earth.

"We have found a habitable environment which is so benign and supportive of life that probably if this water was around, and you had been on the planet, you would have been able to drink it," Grotzinger said.

NASA / JPL-Caltech / Ames

A side-by-side comparison shows the X-ray diffraction patterns of two samples collected by Curiosity. The left side shows data from a sample collected from a drift of windblown dust, and the right side shows data from the powder drilled out of the John Klein rock. The John Klein readings show an abundance of phyllosilicate, a class of clay minerals called smectites that form by the action of relatively pure and neutral pH water on minerals.

NASA / JPL-Caltech / Cornell / MSSS

The left image shows Wopmay rock in Endurance Crater, as studied by NASA's Opportunity rover. The right image shows Sheepbed in Yellowknife Bay, as studied by Curiosity. Scientists say both rocks were formed in the presence of water, but the water at Wopnay was highly acidic and salty, while the water at Sheepbed had a more neutral pH and lower salinity.

The scientists said they were surprised to find a mixture of oxidized and non-oxidized chemicals, allowing for the type of chemistry that earthly microbes use to generate the energy they need for survival. This partial oxidation was first hinted at when the drill cuttings were revealed to be gray rather than red.

"The range of chemical ingredients we have identified in the sample is impressive, and it suggests pairings such as sulfates and sulfides that indicate a possible chemical energy source for microorganisms," SAM principal investigator Paul Mahaffy said in a NASA news release.

NASA said another drilled sample would be used to help confirm the chemical findings for several of the trace gases that were analyzed by the SAM instrument.

The current plan calls for Curiosity to conduct experiments in the Yellowknife Bay for weeks or months longer, and then begin a roughly 6-mile (10-kilometer) drive to the big mountain, known as Mount Sharp or Aeolis Mons. Scientists will look for further evidence of ancient organic chemistry hidden in the mountain's many layers of rock.

The primary aim of Curiosity's two-year primary mission is to find evidence of past habitability ? in particular,?organic carbon compounds that could have played a role in the chemistry of life billions of years ago. Grotzinger said Curiosity's scientists will focus on the systematic search for organic carbon now that they had "the issue of habitability in the bag."

NASA intends to follow up on Curiosity's findings with future Mars missions, including the $500 million MAVEN orbiter (due for launch this year), the $425 million InSight drill-equipped lander (set for 2016 launch) and another Curiosity-like rover that's scheduled to be sent out in 2020.?

Trace the Curiosity rover's journey to Mars and see the pictures that the six-wheeled robot has sent back from the Red Planet.

More about Mars:

---

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's?Facebook page, following?@b0yle on Twitter?and adding the?Cosmic Log page?to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out?"The Case for Pluto,"?my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

This story was originally published on Tue Mar 12, 2013 1:48 PM EDT

Source: http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/12/17285137-nasa-says-mars-curiosity-rover-sees-traces-of-life-friendly-conditions-in-rock?lite

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Remarkable Creatures: Solving the Puzzles of Mimicry in Nature

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Analyzing the DNA of dangerous butterflies who copy other unpalatable species, scientists have found that some shared color-controlling genes, signaling past interbreeding.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/12/science/solving-the-puzzles-of-mimicry-in-nature.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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Sandpiper Golf Homes for Sale - Lakeland FL 33809 | Lakeland ...

Sandpiper Golf Homes for Sale ? ?5962 Chickadee Drive Lakeland FL 33809

The Sandpiper Golf & Country Club is an active 55+ active adult community located just off North Socrum Loop in Lakeland FL. ?This 3 bedroom 2 bath home features 1828 sq.ft of living space with a great layout of split floor plan. Neutral colors throughout the home with ample room to strategically place your furniture.?Upon entering this well-maintained home that boasts a large family room and separate dining room which is great for entertaining or family gatherings.

Home for Sale ? Lakeland FL 33809

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$140,000 Single Family Home Main Features 3 Bedrooms 2 Bathrooms Interior: 1,828 sqft Lot: 5,400 sqft Location 5962 Chickadee Drive Lakeland, FL 33809 USA To get updates on open home dates and other property events, please click the ?Like? button below:

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I hope you found this post useful! If you need help finding or selling your Lakeland, Florida home, please contact me at 863-619-6918. If you?re new to Lakeland, I?d especially like to extend a warm welcome. I value my clients and provide them with honest, reliable service. Allow me to introduce you to the Lakeland real estate landscape and all it has to offer.

By Petra Norris

Petra Norris has written 447 post in this blog.

I am foremost a mother, wife, grand-mother, arts lover, and my occupation involves helping sellers sell and help buyers help buyers buy their Lakeland FL homes. Over 15 years experience in residential real estate enjoying every minute of it even if it is difficult, such as short sales - love challenges the profession brings.

Source: http://www.lakelandfloridaliving.com/2013/03/09/sandpiper-golf-homes-for-sale-lakeland-fl-33809/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sandpiper-golf-homes-for-sale-lakeland-fl-33809

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Obama signs Violence Against Women Act

President Barack Obama on Thursday is set to sign legislation expanding the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) to afford domestic violence protections to gay, lesbian and transgender victims as well as Native Americans and undocumented immigrants.

The existing VAWA law, first enacted in 1994 to aid victims of domestic violence, offers programs and services to survivors, the criminal justice system and the community. The law has established the federal prosecution of interstate crimes, identifies dating violence and stalking as crimes of domestic violence, offers federal funding for rape crisis centers and other provisions.

The bill, passed in Congress on Feb. 28, authorizes funding for more rape kits and a national registry of forensic evidence, strengthens trafficking statutes and makes other new provisions in addition to expanding coverage for more survivors. Men are covered under the law, but it's called the Violence Against Women Act because women are disproportionally victims in domestic violence.

"That is a big win for not just women but for families and for the American people. It?s a law that?s going to save lives and help more Americans live free from fear," Obama said following the bill's passage.

A House version of the bill, favored by some Republicans, did not contain expansions for additional survivors and other measures contained in the version crafted by the Democratic-controlled Senate, which both chambers ultimately approved.

Obama is set to sign the legislation into law at a ceremony in the Interior Department building at 1:55 p.m. ET.

The president will be joined by Vice President Joe Biden, who as a Delaware senator authored the original VAWA legislation in 1994. They will be joined by members of Congress, women?s organizations and advocates, law enforcement officials, tribal leaders and domestic violence survivors, according to the White House.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-sign-expanded-violence-against-women-act-151807346--politics.html

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Modeling Jupiter and Saturn's possible origins

Mar. 5, 2013 ? New theoretical modeling by Carnegie's Alan Boss provides clues to how the gas giant planets in our solar system -- Jupiter and Saturn -- might have formed and evolved.

His work was published recently by the Astrophysical Journal.

New stars are surrounded by rotating gas disks during the early stages of their lives. Gas giant planets are thought to form in the presence of these disks.

Observations of young stars that still have these gas disks demonstrate that sun-like stars undergo periodic outbursts, lasting about 100 years, which transfer mass from the disk onto the young star, increasing its luminosity. It is thought that these short bursts of mass accretion are driven by marginal gravitational instability in the gas disk.

There are competing theories for how gas giant planets form around proto-suns. One proposes that the planets formed from slowly growing ice and rock cores, followed by rapid accretion of gas from the surrounding disk. The other theory proposes that clumps of dense gas form in spiral arms, increasing in mass and density, forming a gas giant planet in a single step.

Boss developed highly detailed, three dimensional models demonstrating that regardless of how gas giant planets form, they should have been able to survive periodic outbursts of mass transfer from the gas disk onto the young star. One model similar to our own Solar System was stable for more than 1,000 years, while another model containing planets similar to our Jupiter and Saturn was stable for more than 3,800 years. The models showed that these planets were able to avoid being forced to migrate inward to be swallowed by the growing proto-sun, or being tossed completely out of the planetary system by close encounters with each other.

"Gas giant planets, once formed, can be hard to destroy," said Boss, "even during the energetic outbursts that young stars experience."

Given that searches for extrasolar gas giant planets have found them to be present around about 20% of sun-like stars, this is a reassuring outcome. It suggests that our improved theoretical understanding of the formation and orbital evolution of gas giants is on the right track.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Carnegie Institution.

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

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/space_time/astronomy/~3/8fiSSrDAHFk/130305174637.htm

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Linklater, Green films join Tribeca lineup

This film image released by the Tribeca film Festival shows Elaine Stritch in a scene from "Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me," a film that will be shown at the Tribeca Film Festival running April 17 through April 28, 2013 in New York. (AP Photo/Tribeca Film Festival)

This film image released by the Tribeca film Festival shows Elaine Stritch in a scene from "Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me," a film that will be shown at the Tribeca Film Festival running April 17 through April 28, 2013 in New York. (AP Photo/Tribeca Film Festival)

This film image released by the Tribeca film Festival shows Alice Eve, left, and Stanley Tucci in a scene from "Some Velvet Morning," a film that will be shown at the Tribeca Film Festival running April 17 through April 28, 2013 in New York. (AP Photo/Tribeca Film Festival)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Filmmakers from Richard Linklater to David Gordon Green to Whoopi Goldberg are bringing films to this year's Tribeca Film Festival.

The New York festival announced the second half of its 89-film slate Wednesday, all in various out-of-competition sections. Some of the films, like Linklater's "Before Midnight" and Green's "Prince Avalanche," will be continuing on the festival circuit after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. Others, like Goldberg's documentary "I Got Somethin' to Tell You" on the comedian Moms Mabley, will be showing for the first time.

Other entries at Tribeca include films from Neil LaBute (the domestic drama "Some Velvet Morning," starring Stanley Tucci), Mira Nair (the best-seller adaptation "The Reluctant Fundamentalist," with Kate Hudson) and Neil Jordan (the vampire tale "Byzantium," with Saoirse Ronan).

Documentary subjects range from hydraulic fracturing, or fracking ("Gasland Part II," a sequel to Josh Fox's Oscar-nominated film), Richard Pryor ("Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic"), Bernie Madoff's longtime secretary ("In God We Trust"), Somali pirate hunters ("The Project") and Elaine Stritch ("Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me").

Tribeca will also attract a number of stars, with films featuring Zac Efron (the father-son drama "At Any Price"); Paul Rudd and Paul Giamatti (the holiday comedy "Almost Christmas"); John Cusack and Emma Roberts (the sex shop comedy "Adult World"); Melissa Leo (the addiction drama "Bottled Up"); and Julianne Moore (the schoolroom comedy "The English Teacher").

The 12th-annual Tribeca Film Festival runs April 17 through April 28. The festival earlier announced its opening night film as the documentary "Mistaken for Strangers" about the National. The Brooklyn rock band will perform at the premiere, as well.

___

Online:

http://www.tribecafilm.com/festival/

___

Follow AP Entertainment Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jake_coyle

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-03-06-US-Tribeca-Film-Festival/id-61be2b1b5ed94a42b0f81b56103aad9a

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Why space glitches aren't hurting SpaceX

Chris Hadfield / CSA / NASA via Twitter

SpaceX's Dragon cargo capsule is held by the International Space Station's Canadian-built robotic arm in advance of its berthing on Sunday. "A Dragon, snared and tamed," Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield wrote on Twitter.

By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

The commercial SpaceX rocket venture has launched Dragon cargo capsules to the International Space Station three times in the past year, and every time there's been a problem. Should NASA be upset?

Not really.

The fact that glitches have cropped up ? and have been solved, with no impact on the multimillion-dollar cargo resupply missions ? isn't a black mark against the California-based company. Rather, it's a sign that the designs for SpaceX's Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 are resilient in the face of the inevitable glitches associated with spaceflight. It's also a sign of things to come.

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"We may see more mission aborts, where the cost of a mission may be a fraction of the cost of a 'perfect' spacecraft," says James Oberg, NBC News' space analyst. "For the same cost, you could launch three or four, or even eight or 10 'not-perfect' vehicles, with a success rate of 90 to 95 percent. and as a result, for the same starting cost launch many times more missions."

Rand Simberg, a former rocket engineer who now writes about spaceflight for a variety of publications, made a similar point in a PJMedia piece touting SpaceX's latest "successful failure": a problem with the Dragon's thruster system that was resolved when SpaceX's engineers issued commands to cycle the system's valves and clear out the lines with a blast of pressurized gas.

"It was a valuable failure in that it identified a potential problem with either the design or operations but didn't cost them the mission," Simberg wrote. After the system reset, the Dragon's thrusters performed without a hitch. The capsule was brought in for its berthing at the space station on Sunday, just a day later than originally scheduled.

"They did everything exactly right about the vehicle," Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for human exploration and operations, told reporters after the thruster system was fixed.?

The snags that cropped up during the previous two Dragon launches were similarly resolved without major consequences for SpaceX or NASA:

• Last May, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lit up its engines for launch, but immediately shut them down when the flight computer detected an excessive pressure reading in one of the engines. Engineers found and fixed a problem with the engine's turbopump valve, and a few days later, the Falcon 9 launched the Dragon on a historic demonstration mission to the space station. In August, a NASA panel said it was satisfied with SpaceX's handling of the glitch and its aftermath.
• Last October, one of the nine engines on the Falcon 9's first stage shut down during the ascent, due to a flaw in the sheathing that surrounded the engine. The other engines automatically adjusted their thrust to make up for the shutdown, and the Dragon successfully reached orbit. However, the Falcon wasn't able to put an Orbcomm telecommunications satellite that was carried as a secondary payload in its proper orbit. As a result, the satellite was lost. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said the company tracked down the problem and beefed up its procedure for non-destructive evaluation of the Merlin rocket engines. Since the satellite loss, Orbcomm and SpaceX have renegotiated their launch contract.

SpaceX's communication director, Christina Ra, told NBC News that there the investigation of last week's thruster problem has already begun. "But I am hesitant to give you any commitment on whether or not we can give more detail, and what the timing would be," she wrote in an email, "because it does take time, the information is shared with and approved by multiple parties, and at the end of the day, regulated by ITAR."

That last acronym refers to the International Trade in Arms Regulations, which strictly limit the transfer of aerospace technology to foreign countries. SpaceX fears that the unauthorized disclosure of information about a rocket anomaly would get the company in ITAR trouble with the federal government, and maybe even get someone put in jail. "I don't look good in horizontal stripes," Shotwell joked.

Dealing with anomalies may well be a more frequent option for future spaceflight, even when humans are involved. Oberg noted that the subject came up when millionaire Dennis Tito was discussing his plan to send private-sector astronauts on a 501-day trip past Mars in 2018. "He described how his two-human crew to Mars would be occupied servicing, repairing and coaxing their life support systems, which would be designed to be fixable, not to be 'perfect,'" Oberg said in an email.

This is why SpaceX and NASA's other commercial partners are devoting so much attention to the development of launch abort systems for crew-capable spaceships. Those systems might actually have to be used someday.

"With a commercialized crew taxi that doesn't 'overspend' on unattainable perfect reliability, but accepts the occasional mission failure, you'll fly many more successful missions. You don't have to pay for it in crew safety, just in mission completion rates. And the high flight rates can shake out hardware to enhance reliability far more than flying a vehicle once or twice?a year, as with space shuttles." Oberg said.

"If there isn't a commercial crew mission abort at some point in the first 10 missions, I'd suspect they spent too much on reliability. I'm not talking about somebody getting hurt ? we need to build robust and reliable escape systems ? but just having to come home without accomplishing the purpose of the launch."

Does that sound scary? It shouldn't. The key to success in space may well be to make sure failure is an option that can be dealt with?? as SpaceX demonstrated last week.

March 1: The SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule's arrival at the International Space Station was delayed due to a problem with its thrusters. NBC's Tom Costello reports.

More about commercial space ventures:

---

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's?Facebook page, following?@b0yle on Twitter?and adding the?Cosmic Log page?to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out?"The Case for Pluto,"?my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Source: http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/06/17201079-why-its-good-for-spacexs-private-spaceships-to-rise-above-the-glitches?lite

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St. Louis mayor favored to win primary; fourth term in sight

ST. LOUIS, Missouri (Reuters) - St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay is favored to win a three-way Democratic primary on Tuesday that could clear the way for him to become the longest serving mayor in the city's history and the first to be elected to four terms.

Slay, 57, faces Lewis Reed, 50, president of the city's Board of Aldermen, and former alderman Jimmie Matthews, 67, in the Democratic primary. The winner will face a Green Party candidate in an April 2 general election. There is no Republican in the race.

Reed has run an aggressive campaign, often citing the city's high crime rate, but he has raised only about one-sixth of the $3 million that Slay has.

If Slay wins, he would become the city's longest-serving mayor in the middle of April, surpassing the 12-year, nine-day tenure of Henry Kiel, who served from 1913 to 1925. Slay would be the first to win four four-year terms.

St. Louis, which is located on the Mississippi River and has a population of about 318,000, was hard hit by the 2007-2009 financial crisis.

Slay argues that the tide has turned, citing new technology jobs and the groundbreaking last month of the long-delayed Ballpark Village entertainment district adjacent to Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team.

St. Louis ranks high in violent crime. Its murder rate was 35 per 100,000 residents in 2011, trailing only Detroit and New Orleans among large cities, according to the most recent FBI statistics available.

But Ken Warren, a professor of political science at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said crime would not resonate as an issue with voters because the numbers, though high nationally, have been dropping for more than a decade.

Warren said Slay was "virtually guaranteed to win for numerous reasons," including a belief that his administration has not been plagued by scandals like past city governments.

Slay's political longevity can be explained by his ability to avoid making enemies, said David Robertson, a political scientist at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

"Mayor Slay has governed in a way that has not sparked the kind of passionate, widespread opposition to threaten his incumbency, which is striking because of the serious recession that hurt a lot of other political careers," Robertson said.

Slay, who is white, was endorsed by the city's most powerful black politician, U.S. Representative Lacy Clay. Slay endorsed Clay last year in a primary against another incumbent Democratic congressman, Russ Carnahan.

Slay's two Democratic challengers are black.

Blacks make up 49 percent of the city's population while whites account for 44 percent.

(Reporting By Tim Bross; Editing by Mary Wisniewski, Cynthia Johnston and Paul Simao)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/st-louis-mayor-favored-win-primary-fourth-term-110306417.html

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Horse meat may be back on US menu after 6 years

Stephanie Strom , The New York Times ? ? ? 2 hrs.

The United States Department of Agriculture is likely to approve a horse slaughtering plant in New Mexico in the next two months, which would allow equine meat suitable for human consumption to be produced in the United States for the first time since 2007.

The plant, in Roswell, N.M., is owned by Valley Meat Company, which sued the U.S.D.A. and its Food Safety and Inspection Service last fall over the lack of inspection services for horses going to slaughter. Horse meat cannot be processed for human consumption in the United States without inspection by the U.S.D.A., so horses destined for that purpose have been shipped to places like Mexico and Canada for slaughter.

Justin DeJong, a spokesman for the agriculture department, said that ?several? companies had asked the agency to re-establish inspection of horses for slaughter. ?These companies must still complete necessary technical requirements and the F.S.I.S. must complete its inspector training,? he wrote in an e-mail referring to the food inspection service.

He said the Obama administration was urging Congress to reinstate an effective ban on the production of horse meat for human consumption that lapsed in 2011.

The impending approval comes amid growing concern among American consumers that horse meat will somehow make its way into ground beef products in the United States as it has done in Europe. Major companies, including Tesco, Nestl? and Ikea, have had to pull food from shelves in 14 countries after tests showed that products labeled 100 percent beef actually contained small amounts of horse meat. Horse meat is not necessarily unsafe, and in some countries, it is popular. But some opponents of horse slaughtering say consumption of horse meat is ill-advised because of the use of various kinds of drugs in horses.

?We now have the very real prospect of a horse slaughtering plant operating in the U.S. for the first time in six years,? said Wayne Pacelle, chief executive of the Humane Society of the United States. The last plant that slaughtered horse meat for human consumption in the United States closed in 2007, after Congressional approval of an appropriations bill that included a rider forbidding the U.S.D.A. from financing the inspection of such meat. That rider was renewed in subsequent appropriations bills until 2011, when Congress quietly removed it from an omnibus spending act.

That opened the door for a renewal of the horse slaughter business, but only if the U.S.D.A. re-established inspections. The agency never moved to restart its equine inspection service.

Valley Meat sued Tom Vilsack, the agriculture secretary, and Al Almanza, the head of the food safety inspection service, charging that the department?s failure to offer inspection of horse meat violated the Federal Meat Inspection Act.

That law directs the agriculture department to appoint inspectors to examine ?all amenable species? before they enter a slaughtering facility.

?Amenable species? were animals subject to the act the day before it was enacted, including cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, horses and mules.

A. Blair Dunn, the lawyer for Valley Meat, said that the Justice Department recently asked the company for an additional 60 days to file a response to its lawsuit. Mr. Dunn said the Justice Department indicated it was asking for the extra time because ?the U.S.D.A. plans to issue a grant of inspection within that time, which would allow my clients to begin operations.? Mr. Dunn said that Valley Meat had hired experts in the humane treatment of horses for slaughter and was training employees. The company is not planning to sell meat in the United States, at least at the outset of its operations. ?Last spring, they were in discussions with several companies in European countries about exporting their products,? he said of his clients. ?I?m sure if markets do develop in this country for horse meat for human consumption, they will look at them.?

He cautioned that Valley Meat might still face challenges to opening, noting that several parties had filed briefs on both sides of the case. The Humane Society has petitioned the Agriculture Department and the Food and Drug Administration to delay approval of any facility for horse slaughter, raising questions about the presence of drugs like phenylbutazone, which is used to treat inflammation in horses.

Conversely, R-CALF USA, an organization representing about 5,000 family cattle ranching operations, has filed a brief supporting Valley Meat?s legal case. Bill Bullard, its chief executive, said his members needed horse slaughtering facilities to humanely dispose of the horses they used in their businesses once they became old or incapacitated.

?Beginning in 2006, when inspections were temporarily prohibited, these U.S. horses continue to be slaughtered in foreign countries like Mexico and Canada,? Mr. Bullard said. ?We believe the Mexicans do not adhere to the same humane standards as in the United States, and so some of our members won?t sell their horses.?

Mr. Pacelle said he had been surprised to see anyone from the beef industry supporting horse slaughter. ?For the cattle industry, it is a self-destructive move, since the more horse meat that?s circulating, the greater the chance it will infiltrate the food supply and decrease consumer confidence in beef,? he said.

This story first appeared in the New York Times on Feb. 28, 2013, under the headline "U.S.D.A. May Approve Horse Slaughter Plant."

Copyright ? 2013 The New York Times

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/horse-meat-may-be-back-us-menu-after-6-year-1C8638596

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