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Thursday, January 31, 2013
BlackBerry Z10 Camera: The Worst Low-Light Performance We've Seen in a Long Time
Senate Majority Leader: Casino Bill Has a Chance - Salem, NH Patch
Jeb Bradley, Majority Leader of the New Hampshire Senate, fielded numerous questions during a Live Chat with NH Patch on Wednesday, including whether he thinks a casino bill has a chance in the Senate.?
Here's Bradley's reply:
"Yes. While I have personally never been a proponent of gaming, I think Sen. Morse's plan to dedicate a significant portion of the proceeds from gaming to rebuilding roads and bridges in New Hampshire as well as improving access to higher education for New Hampshire students, improves the likelihood of gaming's eventual passage."
Expanded gambling has support from Gov. Maggie Hassan, who has said she would carefully consider a highly regulated casino near the border with Massachusetts.
The Salem Board of Selectmen moved on Monday to create a Casino Advisory Committee to prepare for the possibility of expanded gambling coming to fruition. That panel was suggested by the advocacy group N.H. Casino Now.?
As the debate takes shape, the Granite State Coalition Against Expanded Gambling seeks to boost opposition.
The Q&A with Senate Majority Leader Bradley is here.
Source: http://salem-nh.patch.com/articles/senate-majority-leader-casino-bill-has-a-chance
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Jobs Deficit: Austerity Politics Threaten Obama's Economy
WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers were stunned Wednesday to learn that the U.S. economy officially dove toward a double-dip recession at the end of 2012, contracting for the first time in three and a half years amid steep declines in government spending and sluggish exports.
Policymakers were similarly stunned in Europe when reductions in government spending led to continued economic malaise, leading top economists there to question the logic behind austerity recommendations. European austerity programs are a major driver of the slowdown in U.S. exports, and several economists have argued that reductions in government spending, here and abroad, are almost solely responsible for the suddenly tanking economy.
"Austerity has been terrible for Britain and the rest of Europe," said Chad Stone, an economist with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal think tank. "We've not been as bad as them, but we haven't given our economy the support it needs."
Congress is still driving headlong into the forced austerity known as sequestration, scheduled to take effect in March, which requires across-the-board spending cuts at the Pentagon and among domestic policy programs.
"Today's GDP numbers show the toll that political conflict over fiscal policy is taking on U.S. economic growth," said Adam Hersh, an economist at the Center for American Progress, a think tank closely allied with the Obama administration. "The 0.1 percent economic contraction puts the United States on the precipice of recession. Our economy would certainly have grown at a faster rate last quarter, were it not for political brinkmanship over the debt ceiling and the risk of sharp fiscal contraction in the form of automatic 'sequestration' budget cuts. That contraction is now unfolding."
Warnings about the dangers of austerity have been growing louder in recent months, even from sources that conventionally applaud austerity regimes. In October, the International Monetary Fund issued a report concluding that global policymakers had dramatically underestimated the significance of government spending during a recession. As a result, lawmakers expecting modest drags from austerity instead saw their economies plunge back into a devastating recession. The United Kingdom, where unemployment now stands at 7.7 percent, has experienced a triple-dip recession. In Spain and Greece, unemployment is over 25 percent, with savage humanitarian consequences: HIV infections in Greece are up by over 1,500 percent since the austerity campaign began in 2010.
"This is a warning about the sequester," Stone said.
"As Europe has shown and the IMF has warned, inflicting austerity on a weak economy is ruinous and is likely to drive us back into a recession," said Robert Borosage of the liberal Campaign for America's Future. "Those dismissing the downturn as due to an odd drop in government spending should consider that more of these are on the docket."
And yet austerity has been the dominant policy focus of Congress since the expiration of President Barack Obama's economic stimulus package in mid-2010.
The congressional emphasis on austerity is most heavily concentrated in the Republican Party, which has been advocating deep spending cuts at every opportunity. On Sunday, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) continued the push to cut government spending, including the massive upcoming defense and social safety net cuts included in the sequester.
"I think the sequester is going to happen, because that $1.2 trillion in spending cuts -- we can?t lose those spending cuts. That was to pay for the last debt ceiling increase, let alone any future increase,"Ryan said on "Meet the Press."
But deficit-conscious Democrats, including President Obama, have taken many steps to fuel the austerity fire. Obama spent much of his first term rhetorically conceding to austerity in his talking points, saying that the government "can't create jobs," a point that he continued to make throughout his reelection campaign. In 2010, Obama froze federal worker pay, a move intended to signal his seriousness about implementing cuts.
In early January, Democrats and Republicans agreed to allow the payroll tax cut to expire -- functionally a 2 percent tax hike on American workers. That decision will suck $125 billion out of the economy and deal a 0.6 percent hit to GDP over the next year, according to JPMorgan economist Michael Feroli.
"It's certainly the case that the disappearance of the payroll tax holiday is a drag on the economy," Stone agreed.
That tax cut threatens to undermine one of the relatively bright spots in Wednesday's GDP report. As Alan Kreuger, chairman of Obama's Council of Economic Advisors, emphasized in a blog post, "Several private sector components of GDP continued to make positive contributions to growth in the fourth quarter. Personal consumption expenditures, the single largest component of GDP, increased by 2.2 percent." But the smaller paychecks resulting from the payroll tax increase will mean lower consumer spending numbers in 2013.
With serious fiscal support from Congress and Obama off the table, Washington has focused on peripheral -- and perhaps ultimately destructive -- efforts to create jobs.
In the fall of 2011, Obama pushed through free trade agreements with Panama, Colombia and South Korea, promising an increase in American exports. Exports to those three countries have declined since the deals were approved.
In April 2012, Obama and congressional Republicans celebrated the passage of "The JOBS Act," a corporate deregulation bill that both White House advisers and GOP leaders said would unlock economic growth.
Neither of these efforts has had any significant effect on the economy.
"The trade stuff was always a joke and everyone knew it. Giving them their best case, you were talking about incredibly trivial impacts on trade. In a best-case world, maybe the total increase in trade from these deals would be $50 billion a year in each direction (netting out near zero), and this would be over the course of a decade. You can't find that in the GDP numbers," said economist Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
"The [JOBS Act and free trade deals], I would go with 'worthless jokes' as jobs legislation," said Josh Bivens, an economist with the liberal Economic Policy Institute.
"Growth has been sh***y," said Kevin Hassett, an economist with the conservative American Enterprise Institute.
Also on HuffPost:
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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/30/jobs-deficit-austerity-po_n_2582371.html
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Check out pictures from UFC on Fox 6
Check out UFC on Fox 6 pictures from the always-amazing Tracy Lee. She caught images of Demetrious Johnson outlasting John Dodson, Quinton Jackson's final UFC fight, and more from Saturday night's fights. To see more of Lee's work, follow her on Twitter.
Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/check-pictures-ufc-fox-6-204314877--mma.html
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Rave ?Reviews? For North Korean Gulags On Google Maps
It's no secret that the Internet has a hard time taking things seriously. "Best. Gulag. Ever.', raved Google user, C. Quinn, about Yodok North Korean prison. Google Chairman Eric Schmidt probably expected his recent high-profile visit to the isolated dictatorship to have a more sobering impact on online discourse. But, after Google asked users to help identify important roads and landmarks for the newly mapped country, it should have expected that the Internet would act like, well, the Internet. We're collected the most, er, thoughtful, reviews below.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Zxqyy9J9yro/
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Motorola Mobility Japan Introduces the Motorola HZ750, a Bluetooth? Headset Combining a Discreet Design with High-quality Sound
Jan. 29, 2013 ?
Sleek headset comes with a stylish carrying case that doubles as a battery charger
TOKYO ? January 29, 2013 ? Motorola Mobility Japan Inc. today announced the Motorola HZ750, a high-end Bluetooth? wireless headset that delivers outstanding sound quality in a lightweight, compact design will be available from February 8, 2013. Designed with HD Audio Plus to increase clarity and CrystalTalk? dual-microphone noise cancellation technology, the Motorola HZ750 makes all of your conversations clearer. And to match your on-the-go lifestyle, Motorola HZ750 comes with an elegant carrying case that also serves as a battery charger, letting you charge your headset on-the-go and giving you up to 15 hours talk time without having to search for a power outlet.
Motorola HZ750 Key features and specifications:
? HD Audio Plus with wideband audio and CrystalTalk? dual-microphone enable increased clarity and richer sound for your conversations.? Up to 15 hours of talk time1 and up to 35 days of standby time1 when used with the included charging case
? Weighs less than half an ounce and is almost hidden when worn
? Extended roaming range up to 100 meters2
? A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) audio streaming
? Advanced multipoint technology lets you connect two devices at once so you can seamlessly switch between your business and personal phones3
? Bluetooth version: 3.0 + EDR
? Dimensions: Headset 38.0 x 47.4 x 14.5 mm, Charging case 55 x 66 x 28 mm
Pricing4 and Availability
The Motorola HZ750 will be available for ?12,800(tax included) from February 8 at major electronics retailers, as well as Amazon Japan and other large Internet retailers. For more information, please call the Motorola Customer Center 0120-227-217About Motorola Mobility
Motorola Mobility, owned by Google, fuses innovative technology with human insights to create experiences that simplify, connect and enrich people's lives. Our portfolio includes converged mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets; wireless accessories; end-to-end video and data delivery; and management solutions, including set-tops and data-access devices. For more information, visit motorola.com/mobility.Motorola Mobility Japan is a subsidiary of Motorola Mobility.
Media Contacts: Kaori Makihira / Yohei Kawakami
Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, Japan
Office: (81) 3 5793 2365 / 2389
Email: tokyo.opr-motorola@ogilvy.com
Subscribe to Motorola Mobility news for your region or the world.
Certain features, services and applications are network dependent and may not be available in all areas; additional terms, conditions and/or charges may apply. All features, functionality and other product specifications are subject to change without notice or obligation.
Motorola HZ750 supports Bluetooth? 3.0+EDR. In order for Bluetooth devices to communicate with one another, they must utilize the same Bluetooth profile. Not all Bluetooth features may be supported by all compatible Bluetooth enableddevices. Visit www.motorola.com/bluetoothconnect for more details.
1. All talk time and standby times are quoted in Digital Mode, and approximate.
2. Other handset must also be Class 1 compatible; otherwise maximum distance is 10 meters
3. All Bluetooth-equipped devices are certified to conform to the Bluetooth standards set down by Bluetooth SIG. However, operating procedures may differ depending on the attributes and specifications of the connected device, and in some cases, it may not be possible to communicate on a connected device.
4. Actual retail price will be determined by individual retailers.
MOTOROLA and the Stylized M Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Motorola Trademark Holdings, LLC. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners. ? 2013 Motorola, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Today on New Scientist: 30 January 2013
Timbuktu's precious scientific texts must be saved
Islamist militants in Mali have burned documents that attest to science in Africa before European colonisation - what remains must be protected
Think that massage feels good? Try adding drugs
Nerve bundles that respond to stroking have been identified and chemically activated in mice
How Obama will deliver his climate promise
The US is set to meet - and maybe exceed - Obama's pledge to cut US emissions by 17 per cent, which could give a boost to international climate talks
Minimum booze price will rein in alcohol abuse
Evidence suggests the UK government's proposal to set a minimum price for alcohol could save thousands of lives, and billions of pounds of public money
First real time-travel movies are loopers
Hollywood has played with time travel for decades, but now physicists have the first movies of what travelling to the past actually looks like
Surfer rides highest wave ever caught
Garret McNamara of Hawaii claims to have ridden the highest wave ever caught by a surfer, a 30-metre monster off the coast of Nazar?, Portugal
Infrared laptop trackpad ignores accidental touches
Longpad is a touchpad that extends the full width of your laptop and uses infrared sensors to ignore any unwanted touches
Close call coming: Averting the asteroid threat
With an errant space rock heading this way, just how good are our asteroid defences - and how do we avert the cataclysm?
The right to fight: women at war
The US military has accepted women into combat. What can science tell us about how women deal with being in the line of fire? And are they any different to men?
Earth and others lose status as Goldilocks worlds
Several planets are taking a hit thanks to a redefinition of the habitable zone - the area around a star in which liquid water can theoretically exist
The 10,000-year bender: Why humans love a tipple
Our taste for alcohol results from an evolutionary tussle between humans and yeast - one in which the microbes have often had the upper hand
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Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Royal couple surprises London Tube passengers
Commuters in London may have thought they had boarded the wrong train today when they saw who was sitting with them.
Traveling on the tube, London's subway, were none other than Prince Charles, the man next in line to the British throne, and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
Charles and Camilla are usually driven around London privately, though Charles's son, Prince William, and his wife, Kate Middleton, have vowed to be more accessible, even doing their own grocery shopping.
The Prince of Wales and his wife only rode the train for a one-stop photo op to celebrate the London Underground's 150th anniversary.
READ MORE: Prince Charles Takes Over BBC Weather Forecast
Charles, 64, and Camilla, 65, spent a grand total of three minutes on the train, traveling on the Metropolitan line from Farringdon station to King's Cross, according to the UK's Telegraph. The trip was, according to British media, the first time the royals had traveled on the tube together and the first time Charles had been on the train since the 1970s, when he made another ceremonial appearance.
"Just one stop!" Charles said as they arrived at King's Cross, the UK's Guardian reported.
Despite their lack of experience, the pair managed to figure out how to swipe their "Oyster" fare cards in the turnstile to gain entrance, although they did have help in the form of a pre-loaded commemorative card.
Also helping Prince Charles and Camilla was a police escort keeping everyday passengers at bay, ensuring the royals each got a seat on the train for their short commute.
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On President Obama's Speech on Immigration in Las Vegas
?Today's immigration speech by President Obama, coming on the heels of yesterday's announcement of bipartisan agreement on reform principles by the Senate ?Gang of Eight,? shows that there is broad support to modernize our immigration system in a way that helps grow our economy and attract the world?s most talented and hardest-working. It's time to move from politics to policy by passing a bipartisan bill that brings an immigration system formed in the 1960s into a 21st century global economy. We commend the President and the bipartisan group of Senators for the leadership they are showing to get us there.?
About the Partnership for a New American Economy
The Partnership for a New American Economy brings together more than 500 Republican, Democratic and Independent mayors and business leaders who support immigration reforms that will help create jobs for Americans today. The Partnership?s members include mayors of more than 35 million people nationwide and business leaders of companies that generate more than $1.5 trillion and employ more than 4 million people across all sectors of the economy, from Agriculture to Aerospace, Hospitality to High Tech and Media to Manufacturing. Partnership members understand that immigration is essential to maintaining the productive, diverse and flexible workforce that America needs to ensure prosperity over the coming generations. Learn more at?renewoureconomy.org.
Source: http://www.mikebloomberg.com/index.cfm?objectid=882CFCD6-C29C-7CA2-F85B9A4ABA4A7F39
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Dominica Calypso Association President adds his voice to Hunter controversy
Kelvin ?Ras Kelly? Williams
Having the the lyrics of a song written on the palms of a calypsonian?s hand during a perforamance is not an offense President of the Dominica Calypso Association, Kelvin ?Rass Kelly? Williams, has said.
He was responding to allegations that Hunter had written some of the lyrics of his song on the palm of his hands and had read them during a performance at the Calypso semi finals recently.
It is a charge that Hunter has stoutely denied.
According to Williams, a calypsonian himself, the video of the performance has to be reviewed in order to ascertain whether the allegations are true or not. ?We have to look at the complete tape because me having a song on the palm of hand, that is not an offense,? he said. ?You have to probably read it and if I have it on the palm of my hand, well probably with the intention ?but during the song I probably never got the chance or the need to, I just cannot say, hey those allegations are true ?we will have to look at it.?
He said if Hunter was found to be reading from his palm, it would be left to him to deal with it. ?If we notice that the Hunter is reading from his hand, of course it would be left to him, we would let him sit and he and his conscience to deal with it,? Williams noted.
Williams blamed the politics in calypso and the lack of objectivity for the entire brouhaha. ?Because we have access to the radio we blow everything out even before we know what went on,? he remarked. ?Its unfortunate if at all it happened ?I would be hurt a bit if at all that?s what went on??
He pointed out that in all competitions performers try to bend the rules but insisted the complete tape must be reviewed and examined.
He also told DNO that the DCA would be view the original footage sometime today to ascertain the facts and determine whether Hunter had in fact cheated.
Copyright 2012 Dominica News Online, DURAVISION INC. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.
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Whim leads TV writer to Nebraska to sell gongs
Andrew Borakove of Gongs Unlimited strikes a gong in his warehouse in Lincoln, Neb., Jan. 17, 2013. Borakove, a former comedy writer from California, switched occupations and moved to Lincoln, Neb., where he may be the world's pre-eminent gong dealer, selling hundreds of gongs, stands and gong-banging mallets a year. His clientele runs the gamut from car dealerships to Dubai casinos to rocker Roger Daltrey. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
Andrew Borakove of Gongs Unlimited strikes a gong in his warehouse in Lincoln, Neb., Jan. 17, 2013. Borakove, a former comedy writer from California, switched occupations and moved to Lincoln, Neb., where he may be the world's pre-eminent gong dealer, selling hundreds of gongs, stands and gong-banging mallets a year. His clientele runs the gamut from car dealerships to Dubai casinos to rocker Roger Daltrey. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) ? Listen closely, and the deep rumblings of gongs can be heard emanating from a small warehouse in an industrial section of Lincoln in southeast Nebraska.
New York City native Andrew Borakove keeps his inventory for Gongs Unlimited in the building tucked away on the southwest edge of the city. And each day, he "tests" the merchandise for customers who call wanting a certain sound by holding the phone up to the gongs as they're struck.
A decade ago, Borakove, 51, was a television comedy writer living in Los Angeles. But the work was hit-or-miss, and his family was growing.
He said he headed to the beach one day to meditate and seek divine guidance for his life. It was during that time that he was hit with the notion to sell gongs.
"You get the vision, then you test it with software," Borakove said. "You beta-test it."
His research showed there was high demand for the flat, metal musical discs, but few sellers on the Internet. So, in 2005, he started Gongs Unlimited with a $3,000 line of credit. Two years later, he and his business moved from LA to Lincoln's southwest edge ? sight unseen ? after he had another whim, this time to relocate to a midsize Midwest community.
"I just put my finger on a map, and it landed on Nebraska," Borakove said. "My wife is from Elkhorn. She's the one who went and picked out the house. But the day I moved was the first time I ever set foot in Nebraska."
Now, Borakove may be the world's pre-eminent gong dealer, selling hundreds of gongs, stands and gong-banging mallets a year ? $800,000 worth last year. His clientele runs the gamut from car dealerships to Dubai casinos to rocker Roger Daltrey of The Who.
"We're growing. We're bursting at the seams with our gongs," he said. "We're putting on a big gong show, really."
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Why do I get back pain when I get my periods? - John Hart Fitness
Menses pain is not fun, yes, it is a male writing this but I know how much my wife suffers each month so I hope the following helps a little ladies. This pain is certainly not uncommon. Your lower back pain during your period is caused by the same condition that causes you, your cramps. The pain you are experiencing in the front and lower back is known as primary dysmenorrhea which is a flashy word for cramps.
Dysmenorrhea is caused by too much prostaglandin during your cycle. These chemicals that are produced in the uterine lining cause your uterine muscles to contract so that you can shed the lining each month. It is this that leads to the cramping. These are also causing your back pain as they can radiate from the abdomen to the back and even your thighs.
If you have always had similar menstrual symptoms then it?s probably nothing to worry about. But see a doctor if the condition last more than a few days. In the meanwhile try the following to see if it eases the pain. Take an over the counter anti-inflammatory , use a heating pad on your lower back, take a hot bath, try exercising ( as in a long slow walk), and try taking some magnesium complex from the health food store?.. As men we know??? if all this doesn?t help???? EAT CHOCOLATE!!!!! J
Source: http://www.johnhartfitness.com/pain-periods
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ABC: Barbara Walters is out of the hospital
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? ABC says Barbara Walters is out of the hospital and recovering from chicken pox at home.
ABC said Tuesday that the 83-year-old host on "The View" is resting comfortably and "getting stronger." There was no indication of when she might return to work.
Walters was hospitalized after falling and cutting her head at a pre-inaugural party in Washington on Jan. 19. The news veteran later was diagnosed with chicken pox, which typically hits people when they are children.
The disease can be serious in older people because of the possibility of complications like pneumonia.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/abc-barbara-walters-hospital-000417563.html
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The Sieve Hypothesis: Clever Study Suggests an Alternate Explanation for the Function of the Human Stomach
You have a stomach. I have a stomach. It is one of our few universals. Humans, mate, sing, talk, and raise their children in many different ways, but we?ve all got stomachs. The question is why.
Stomachs help to digest food; they get the process rolling, boiling and grinding by coating our food in slime, enzymes and acid. This is the textbook explanation and no one is saying it is wrong, but in one of my treasured meanders through the library, I recently stumbled upon a paper suggesting this explanation is incomplete, perhaps woefully so. Just as important to our survival may be the stomach?s role in separating, sieving one might say, bacteria that are good for our guts from those that are bad; separating the microbial wheat from the chaff. The study I found was led by Dr. Orla-Jensen, a retired professor from the Royal Danish Technical College. Orla-Jensen tested this new idea about the stomach by comparing the gut bacteria of young people, healthy older people and older people suffering from dementia. What Orla-Jensen found is potentially a major piece in the puzzle of the ecology of our bodies.
Image 1. A diagram of the human stomach. The stomach may act as a sieve, allowing only some kinds of microbes through to the small intestines.
Orla-Jensen and colleagues began by positing, or perhaps assuming is the better word, that a key function of the stomach is to kill bad bacteria with acid. The acid, they argue, serves as a sieve. It stops bad bacteria, particularly the most opportunistic of pathogens, but it does not stop all bacteria. It lets those beneficial bacteria that have adaptations for dealing with stomach acid?adaptations honed over many thousands of generations?on down the gastrointestinal road. In their model, if the stomach fails to kill bad bacteria, pathogens dominate the intestines. They do so in place of the beneficial microbes that help our bodies to digest food and produce nutrients. And when they do death or at least the failure to thrive are nearly inevitable.
Orla-Jensen and colleagues knew from earlier work that the pH of the human stomach increases with age; the stomach becomes less acidic. This effect is most acute in individuals over seventy years of age. In these older individuals Orla-Jensen predicted that the stomach?s effectiveness as a killer of bad microbes might be compromised. In age, the intestines, recipients of everything that leaves the stomach, living or dead, might become dominated by pathogenic species such as the weedy and deadly Clostridium dificile or by oral species, that while beneficial in the mouth can become a pathogen in the gut. It was a simple enough prediction, but perhaps too simple. The biota of the gut is incredibly complex. It can contain thousands of species and is influenced by many, many factors. Could the stomach?s pH really matter enough to make a measurable difference? As I read Orla-Jensen?s paper, I was skeptical, but I was curious enough to read through to the results. I sat down on the floor in the library and prepared to stay a while.
Image 2. Micrograph of Clostridium dificile. Image courtesy of CDC/ Lois S. Wiggs (PHIL #6260), 2004.
To test their hypothesis, Orla-Jensen and colleagues cultured bacteria they had collected from fecal samples of ninety human participants, one third of whom were between 30 and 40 years old and two thirds of whom were over seventy. They then compared the microbes found in the samples from these different age groups. Again, they would expect that in the older individuals that the bad bacteria and oral bacteria should be more common and, in their abundance, displace the good necessary bacteria, such as Bifidobacterium.
Remarkably, the authors? predictions from the sieve hypotheses held up. I have reproduced and slightly modified their main table below. Nine percent of the individuals over seventy had more than a million cells of the bad news?Clostridum bacteria per gram of feces; none of the thirty to forty-year-olds did. What was more, a third of the individuals over seventy had more than a billion cells per gram of feces of the oral bacteria, Streptococcus salivarius. Again, none of the thirty to forty-year-olds did. But were these pathogenic and oral bacteria doing well enough to actually compromise the success of good bacteria in the gut? Yes. While all of the thirty to forty year olds had at least a million cells of the good gut bacteria Bifidobacterium per gram of sample, less than half of the individuals over seventy did.
Interestingly, the guts of those individuals over seventy years of age who had dementia were in the worst shape. Nearly each and every one of their guts was dominated by Clostridium and oral bacteria. Other studies seem to lend support to these general findings, albeit from different angles. A study comparing healthy individuals and individuals with low stomach acidity found that those with low stomach acidity were less likely to have Bifidobacterium even though their total density of intestinal bacteria, particularly the pathogens, increased. Another study found that individuals with low stomach acidity tend to be more likely to suffer from diarrhea, as would be expected if their guts were being taken over by pathogens.
The ?differences seen here as a function of age are much more pronounced than those seen in another study, recently published in the journal Nature. The Nature article compares the gut microbes of more than ?five hundred individuals of different ages and ethnicities. In the Nature study the authors found little effect of age on gut microbes after the first few years of life (during which there was a large effect as newborns slowly acquired adult microbes). However, the Nature study only considered four individuals over seventy years of age (they also did not specifically look for shifts in beneficial versus problematic species, perhaps they will in the future). Orla-Jensen?s work suggests that it is precisely the very old individuals in whom the differences begin to be pronounced. ?Sometimes it takes the perspective of many studies and time to see the full picture.?This is probably where I should point out that the Orla-Jensen study I?m discussing was published in 1948. Interesting ideas can get lost in unread scientific articles; many, perhaps most, are. Orla-Jensen?s paper has only rarely been cited and never in the context of the discussion of the function of the stomach or even in the context of aging and the microbial wilderness of our bodies.
Table 1. Reproduced (with updates) from Orla-Jensen et al., 1948. Sample size for each group = 30 individuals. The author of this paper, Prof. Orla-Jensen was 77 at the time of the publication of this paper in 1948 and so had a personal interest in these results. One wonders if he sampled himself.
| Percent of individuals with > than 1 billion cells of each bacteria per gram of feces, or, in parentheses, percent of individuals with > 1 million cells per gram. | |||
| Volunteers | Mutualist Bifidobacterium | Pathogen Clostridium | Oral bacteria, Streptococcus salivarius |
| Aged 30-40 (Healthy) | 57? (100) | 0 | 0 |
| > 70 years (Healthy) | 25 (44) | 9 | 31 |
| > 70 years (w/ Dementia) | 7 (9) | 48 | 35 |
More than sixty-five years later it is now up to us to figure out what other predictions the sieve hypothesis might make <sup>2/<sup>. Perhaps the most obvious prediction is that as one travels the body, from the skin to the mouth, to the stomach and on into the intestines, that one should encounter, at each step, diminishing subsets of microbial lineages. Is this true? It seems hard to believe. After all, a huge number of studies have proudly announced the great diversity of microbes in the gut, a terrible diversity. Let?s look.
The best study I know of included samples from skin, mouth and gut, and considered which taxa of microbes were found in the different habitats. The diversity of major lineages drops by half as you go from the mouth to the stomach AND the lineages present in the gut, particularly the colon, are a subset of those in the stomach which are a subset of those in the mouth (see Figure 2). This matches what the sieve hypothesis would predict, but it is not enough.
If the sieve hypothesis holds, there must be additional predictions. I have not thought this through terribly well, but I think I would probably expect differences in the stomachs of animals eating different foods. Animals that eat foods that are more likely to include pathogens ought to have filters that are more finely tuned to weeding out bad microbes; they ought, I think, to err on the side of killing too many. This does appear to be the case for some vultures. The stomach of the white-backed vulture has a pH of 1! Conversely it seems plausible to predict that animals that eat diets less likely to lead them to pathogens, fruit eaters for example, should be expected to relax the sieve, open it up a little to make sure that many good microbes make it through. ?I don?t know that it has been tested. There must be more predictions for the differences one expects among species.
Image 3. White backed vultures feeding on a wildebeest. These vultures need to very actively fight the pathogens in the dead meat on which they indulge. One way they do so is by having very, very, acidic stomachs. Photo by?Magnus Kjaergaard.
Modern living also presents us with another testable prediction about the stomach and its effects on microbes. Bariatric surgery is an ever more common medical intervention in which the size of a patient?s stomach is reduced so as to reduce the amount of food he or she can eat in one sitting. The surgery also has the consequence, however, of increasing the pH in the stomachs of those who have the surgery, making their stomachs less acidic. If the sieve hypothesis is right, these individuals ought to have gut bacteria that look more like those of seventy years old than those of thirty year olds. They do. Recently a study has found that good Bifidobacterium species become more rare after bariatric surgery while oral bacteria (in this case Prevotella) and? E. coli, which can be a pathogen, become more common. These results seem to be what the sieve hypothesis would predict.
I am sure there are more predictions. I?ll leave you to them. The good news is that if there are more predictions now is a great time to look, to test them. The microbes of our body are hip, as sexy as a field of study that often involves the word fecal can be (see Image 4 or check out your own sexy fecal bugs at American Gut). New data are published every day. If we can develop good predictions they can be tested. We might finally figure out what the stomach does, or rather the complex mix of its roles, its churning melange of duties. No one denies that the stomach helps to break down proteins, it just might not be its most important job.
Image 4. Microbiologist Jonathan Eisen wearing his microbiome. Image courtesy of Jonathan Eisen.
Meanwhile, there is an interesting coda to this story. In addition to considering the difference between old and young individuals, Orla-Jensen, as you might remember, considered the difference between healthy individuals over seventy and individuals over seventy with dementia. The individuals with dementia had even more pathogens and oral microbes in their guts than did the healthy seventy-year-olds. This is interesting, but what is the cause and what is the effect here? Could a poorly functioning stomach lead to a pathogen heavy microbe community in the gut and could that gut community in turn lead to dementia??Could our minds really fail because our stomachs do? A few recent studies have begun to explore the possibility that dementia might result from infection, but it is WAY too soon to say anything conclusive. One is left to imagine the mechanism behind such a decline. I have some ideas, but I?ll need to think them over some more. Meanwhile, you can offer your hypotheses too, and I?ll go back to the library and see what other gems I can find, old studies that are as revolutionary as the new ones you read about in the press, studies that whether right or wrong confirm just how little we know and how slow and circular progress can be.
Footnotes (more to be added)
1- They did not sequence the genes of these microbes?now a common technique?and so their results represent just part of what was going on in the sampled guts, a few kinds of common trees in a diverse forest, and yet it was probably a reasonable measure of those trees.
2- Which, I will confess, I?ve named here. Orla-Jensen and colleagues thought the idea so obvious as to not even deserve a name.
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Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=1f6f2e50c76a507a8564225303514e60
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BlackBerry Z10 gets clip-on speakerphone, charger bundle and cases galore
No launch of a new flagship is complete without a few new accessories to go along with it. While RIM is still banking big on the NFC-powered Music Gateway, it wasn't about to let the Z10 sit around with no new friends to keep it company. Obviously, a BlackBerry isn't a BlackBerry with out few leather holsters to keep it strapped to your hip. The fancy leather cases (both the "Holster" and the "Pocket") even have a magnet inside them that automatically turns off the display on your Z10 when it's slipped inside. The rotating holster will set customers back $40, while the Pocket, with its fewer moving parts, will cost only $30. There are other cases on the horizon too, the Transform Shell and Flip Shell, which feature build in kickstands and basic protection in standard black or bright red. Both shells will retail for $35 when they hit shelves.
A bit more intriguing is the BlackBerry Mini Stereo Speaker, a tiny speaker phone that pairs using Bluetooth and has a unique "U" shape that allows you to clip it on to a seatbelt or (shudder) a lapel. The little white speaker will launch alongside the Z10 for $99. The charging bundle is pretty simple at first glance -- it contains a spare battery and a separate charging cradle for $50. But, upon closer inspection, you'll realize the charger has a microUSB out, for pushing power to any device with a compatible adapter. We're sure more fun accessories are in the pipeline too, once third parties start updating there product lines.
Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Mobile, RIM
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/mXDEgh03eg4/
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Sand After Sandy: Scientists Map Seafloor For Sediment
Highly detailed sonar systems aboard the research vessel Pritchard gave researchers a clear view of the sediment on the seafloor off Long Island.
Courtesy of John Goff/University Of TexasCongress has now agreed to give some $60 billion to states damaged by Hurricane Sandy. A lot will go to Long Island, one of the hardest hit areas. Besides damages to homes and businesses, its system of protective barrier islands and beaches were partially washed away.
Scientists are trying to find out where that sand and sediment went, and whether it can be used to rebuild Long Island's defenses.
In January. On a boat in Long Island Bay.
The field conditions are not pleasant. But to ocean scientists, this is a crime scene; if you want fingerprints, you have to move fast.
That's why a team of them has driven an SUV all the way from the University of Texas' Jackson School of Geosciences to a snow-covered dock on Long Island's south shore. As boats bob in the waves, the team unpacks gear. A 25-knot wind blows across the water.
Beth Christensen from Long Island's Adelphi University is huddled inside her car with a map, where it's warm.
"We're looking for the sand that got removed both by the wash-over as the surge moved through," she explains, pointing out sections of the barrier islands that got washed away or eroded, and likely places where the sand and sediment went.
John Goff supervises the sonar mapping of the seafloor along the south shore of Long Island. The scientists are trying to track down where Sandy deposited sediment and sand from the barrier islands from the beaches.
Christopher Joyce/NPRLong Island juts out into the Atlantic like New York City's thumb. On the south shore, sand dunes and barrier islands protect it. Sandy robbed those islands of sand and sediment. That makes Long Island more vulnerable. If that sand lies just offshore, it could wash back up and restore beaches on its own. If not, someone will have to either dredge it up or replace it. That would be a very expensive proposition.
The team is also searching for sediment that picked up toxic chemicals during the storm. You can see on the map where they came from. "This is a power plant," Christensen points out. "Here's sewage treatment, here's another sewage treatment plant [and] another sewage treatment plant. Here's runoff coming in from the streets through all of those creeks, so all of that combined ends up in these sediments."
Out on the dock, a 27-foot work boat idles in a slip. Its sonar instruments capture images of the seafloor. The images are so clear you can tell the difference between sand and mud and rock ? even the type of sand grain. That's important if that sand gets put back on the beaches. Says Christensen: "If you can't find the right grain size, you're going to change the whole character of your beach. So if you walk the beach and you find piles of stinking, rotting organic rich mud on the beach, that's not really going to enhance tourism."
Once we're out in the bay, chief scientist John Goff turns on one of its sonar scanners, called a CHIRP. It starts, well, chirping. Relentlessly. Goff laughs. "That's the CHIRP ... what we get to listen to," he says.
We drive back and forth in the bay. Goff calls it "mowing the lawn." Goff admits this part of seafloor mapping is boring. What's interesting is the interaction between the shore and the seafloor. "They feed off each other," he says. "You know the seafloor sand could be a source for replenishing the beach, you know, naturally as well as artificially. Or the beach can be sending sediment out to the ocean. So it goes back and forth."
Goff learned to locate refugee sand in the Gulf of Mexico after Hurricane Ike in 2008. He's trying to perfect the method. He thinks shore communities are going to need it. "We're going to expect more storms in the future if global warming continues," he says, "so understanding the impact of these storms is really important."
Not long into the day, things start to go awry. The gearshift breaks. The team fixes that but then the sonar computers mysteriously quit. We call it a day and swing into the dock. A stiff breeze pushes the boat around like a cork, until we run into another docked boat, with a sickening crunch, followed by a few choice words from the skipper.
No damage done though; just another part of doing seat-of-the-pants research in a freezing windstorm on an unfamiliar boat. "Frustrating," says Goff. "We got a little bit of data, it's not a great morning, but in the scheme of things it wasn't too bad."
A lot of that data ends up at Christensen's lab at Adelphi University. The room is cramped with several boxes of sand and sediment in clear plastic bags ? sand and sediment hauled up to verify that what the sonar images detect is really there.
Although the team is here to help figure out how to rebuild these barrier islands and what that will cost, they are somewhat dubious that anything will be able to protect people living right along the shore. Christensen says it's clear that the coastline here is dangerous and that the threat of flooding continues to change in some unpredictable way. Defenses like dunes and groins and rip-rap or even concrete barriers are only stopgaps. Some people, she says, should move. But how do you convince people whose roots are here to leave?
"That's a different story," she says with a sigh. "Whether or not politicians are as interested in understanding the science behind the problem as they are in getting re-elected and pleasing a constituency that probably doesn't really want a lot to change."
And that bothers Midwesterner Cassandra Browne, another team member. Browne grew up with tornadoes in Missouri. She says a tornado can hit anywhere. You can't pick a place that's safe. But everyone knows that hurricanes hit coastlines the hardest.
"I have very little sympathy for people who chose to go out there and rebuild and get smashed," she says, "and then use taxpayer's money from all over the nation to rebuild and put more sand on the beaches when we're sitting here telling them, 'Look, that's a stupid idea.' "
Someone who knows what it's like to get smashed is Rob Weltner, a retired builder, electrician and lifelong Long Islander. He shows me around the echoing hulk of a maritime museum he runs in the coastal town of Freeport. The museum was damaged by Hurricane Irene in 2011. Then Sandy hit it again a year later. "Here's the high water mark from Sandy," he says with a sad laugh, showing me a red line along the wall. "Chest high." On Weltner, chest high is almost 5 feet.
Most everything ? exhibits, furniture, walls ? is ruined.
He says peoples' attitudes here are different now ? like, whether the climate is really changing. "Man, like overnight they went from 'Hell no' to 'Hell yes.' That is the surprise that I saw, that all these people who used to give me a lot of grief about sea level rise and climate change, are now asking me what they can do."
Weltner laughs at that. He said he's almost been in bar fights over that topic.
He says he understands Browne's skepticism about the nation's taxpayers footing the bill over and over. He freely acknowledges that he used federal money himself to raise his house 10 feet in 2002 ? before Irene and Sandy hit. But he says one federal grant is all he's comfortable asking for.
For people living in Sandy's wreckage, it's a real dilemma. People really don't know what to do. Rebuilding will cost a lot. Some want to; others want to leave. Property values are rock bottom now along the shore. People are in a daze. "They're completely freaked out," Weltner says. "Nobody seems to have a real good grip on what to do and how to fix this because people think it's going to happen again. Should they rebuild? But they don't have any other place to go."
This is where science should have answers, like, what's the best way to prepare for the next one? At least, that's the view of Jamie Austin, the senior member of the Texas team.
"We need to show society they can use science to help them prepare for what inevitably will be the next cataclysm," Austin says while thawing out in a motel room after a cold day on the water.
Austin says teams like this one ? he calls it a "Rapid Response" approach to science ? need to parachute in after big storms to figure out what happened. They have to move fast to gather the evidence, to do the "storm forensics" before the evidence washes somewhere else. But no matter what they find, Austin says, people along the shore should be prepared for bad news. "The notion that the coast is a constant is a lie," he says emphatically. "It's a myth. This coastline is the front line. It's the battleground."
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Cadavers honored in med student dissection lab
In this photo taken Friday, Jan. 25, 2013, in Gary, Ind., medical student Jimmy Beasley, left, speaks with Joan Terry, about her sister, donor Judy A. Clemens, after a memorial service for bodies donated to science at Indiana University School of Medicine - Northwest. During the hour long service, relatives of donors gather around the steel tables where their loved ones were dissected along with the medical students who worked on the bodies during the previous semester. The students read letters of appreciation, clergy offer prayers, and tears are shed. The program is geared towards teaching the medical students that this is not merely a cadaver, but a person, and their first patient. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green
In this photo taken Friday, Jan. 25, 2013, in Gary, Ind., medical student Jimmy Beasley, left, speaks with Joan Terry, about her sister, donor Judy A. Clemens, after a memorial service for bodies donated to science at Indiana University School of Medicine - Northwest. During the hour long service, relatives of donors gather around the steel tables where their loved ones were dissected along with the medical students who worked on the bodies during the previous semester. The students read letters of appreciation, clergy offer prayers, and tears are shed. The program is geared towards teaching the medical students that this is not merely a cadaver, but a person, and their first patient. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green
In this photo taken Friday, Jan. 25, 2013, in Gary, Ind., family members watch as a medical student lights a candle atop the remains of their grandfather, donor William N. Kelly, during a memorial service for bodies donated to science at Indiana University School of Medicine - Northwest. During the hour long service, relatives of donors gather around the steel tables where their loved ones were dissected along with the medical students who worked on the bodies during the previous semester. The students read letters of appreciation, clergy offer prayers, and tears are shed. The program is geared towards teaching the medical students that this is not merely a cadaver, but a person, and their first patient. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
In this photo taken Friday, Jan. 25, 2013, in Gary, Ind., A military honor guard folds the flag of a Viet Nam veteran and anonymous donor, during a memorial service for bodies donated to science at Indiana University School of Medicine - Northwest. During the hour long service, relatives of donors gather around the steel tables where their loved ones were dissected along with the medical students who worked on the bodies during the previous semester. The students read letters of appreciation, clergy offer prayers, and tears are shed. The program is geared towards teaching the medical students that this is not merely a cadaver, but a person, and their first patient. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
In this photo taken Friday, Jan. 25, 2013, in Gary, Ind., Linsdey Ellingsen, granddaughter of donor William N. Kelly, wipes a tear from her eye as a song is sung during a memorial service for bodies donated to science at Indiana University School of Medicine - Northwest. During the hour long service, relatives of donors gather around the steel tables where their loved ones were dissected along with the medical students who worked on the bodies during the previous semester. The students read letters of appreciation, clergy offer prayers, and tears are shed. The program is geared towards teaching the medical students that this is not merely a cadaver, but a person, and their first patient. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
In this photo taken Friday, Jan. 25, 2013, in Gary, Ind., medical student Sarah F. Shaaban reads from the Quran during a memorial service for bodies donated to science at Indiana University School of Medicine - Northwest. During the hour long service, relatives of donors gather around the steel tables where their loved ones were dissected along with the medical students who worked on the bodies during the previous semester. The students read letters of appreciation, clergy offer prayers, and tears are shed. The program is geared towards teaching the medical students that this is not merely a cadaver, but a person, and their first patient. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
GARY, Ind. (AP) ? When medical students have finished their study and practice on cadavers, they often hold a respectful memorial service to honor these bodies donated to science.
But the ceremonies at one medical school have a surreal twist: Relatives gather around the cold steel tables where their loved ones were dissected and which now hold their remains beneath metal covers. The tables are topped with white or burgundy-colored shrouds, flags for military veterans, flowers and candles.
The mixture of grace and goth at the Indiana University School of Medicine-Northwest campus might sound like a scene straight out filmmaker Tim Burton's quirky imagination. Yet, despite the surrounding shelves of medical specimens and cabinets of human bones, these dissection lab memorials are more moving than macabre.
The medical students join the families in the lab and read letters of appreciation about the donors, a clergy member offers prayers, and tears are shed.
Family members are often squeamish about entering that room. This year's ceremony was last Friday, and relatives of one of the six adult donors being honored chose not to participate. And some who did attend had mixed feelings.
Joan Terry of Griffith, Ind., came to honor her sister, Judy Clemens, who died in 2011 at age 51 after a long battle with health problems including multiple sclerosis and osteoporosis. Terry said she felt a little hesitant about being in the dissection lab and was relieved that nothing too graphic was visible.
"I was kind of looking forward to coming," Terry said. "This is ... like a closure. I know Judy's not with us anymore. I know that she's dancing on the streets of gold in heaven. She's probably smiling knowing that her body's helping other people, helping these young doctors learn something about her, because that's what she wanted. That's the type of person that she was. She was always giving."
More than three dozen students, donors' relatives and campus staff members crowded the anatomy lab during Friday's memorial, surrounding the tables and standing solemnly along the room's perimeter. Some dabbed their eyes as prayers and remembrances were said, but faces were mostly stoic and there was no sobbing. The lab's usual odor of formaldehyde was strangely absent, masked perhaps by the sweet aroma of bouquets decorating the cadaver tables.
Some donors' relatives wore formal funeral attire. Terry, noting her plain pink T-shirt, said her sister wasn't a fancy person, either. Terry closed her eyes and struggled not to cry during the service, saying beforehand that Clemens "would be upset if I did."
Abdullah Malik, a medical student who worked on Judy Clemens, thanked her in a letter he read aloud during the ceremony.
"To have the courage and fortitude to endure as much as she did is a testament to her strength and an inspiration to us all," he read, standing next to Clemens' sister beside the dissection table holding Clemens' remains.
Ernest Talarico Jr., an assistant professor and director of anatomy coursework, created the unusual program and began holding the laboratory ceremonies in 2007. The cadavers are considered the medical students' first patients, and students are encouraged to have contact with the donors' families during the semester, too.
At other medical schools, donated bodies remain anonymous and students never meet the families. Talarico said his program humanizes the learning experience.
Talarico views the services as life-affirming and a chance to give thanks. The education these donated bodies have provided is invaluable, he says, teaching doctors-to-be how the body works, and what causes things to go wrong.
"We look at it as a celebration of the lives of those individuals and the gift that they have given to us," Talarico said.
He considers the location fitting.
"I think it is appropriate in that we honor them in the setting in which they desired to give what they viewed as their last gift to humanity," he said.
Malik, the medical student, said knowing the donors' identities and meeting their families enriches the students' medical education.
"Once you put a name and a face to the body that you're working with, once you kind of put an identity to it, you kind of connect to it in a really meaningful and powerful way," he said.
Medical student Kyle Parker said he admired the donors' relatives for showing up, and wondered if he were in their shoes, "would I be willing to meet the people who have actually dissected my family member?"
Parker said he hopes the answer would be yes.
___
Online:
Indiana University School of Medicine-Northwest: http://iusm-nw.medicine.iu.edu
___
AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at: http://www.Twitter.com/LindseyTanner
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Senate panel approves Kerry nomination
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday swiftly and unanimously approved President Barack Obama's choice of Sen. John Kerry to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state.
By voice vote, the panel approved the nomination of the five-term Massachusetts Democrat, who has been a member of the committee for 28 years and led it for the past four. The full Senate planned to vote Tuesday afternoon.
Kerry did not attend the session in the ornate diplomatic room in the Capitol. In his absence, Democrats and Republicans praised him and remarked on his extensive grasp of the issues during his confirmation hearing last Thursday.
"Long-winded," joked Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a Kerry friend who had introduced the senator at that hearing.
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., who succeeds Kerry as committee chairman, said the senator would be a "formidable secretary of state."
Obama chose Kerry, 69, the son of a diplomat, decorated Vietnam veteran and 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, to succeed Clinton, who is stepping down after four years. The senator had pined for the top diplomatic job that went to Clinton after Obama's 2008 election.
Kerry has served as Obama's unofficial envoy, soothing relations with leaders in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The ease with which the Senate is acting on Kerry's nomination is certain to disappear with Obama's two other national security nominees ? former Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Republican nominated for defense secretary, and John Brennan, Obama's pick for CIA director.
Hagel faces strong opposition from some of his former GOP colleagues who question his support for reductions in the nuclear arsenal and cuts in defense spending. Lawmakers also have questioned whether he is sufficiently supportive of Israel and strongly opposed to any outreach to Iran.
Democrats have rallied for Hagel, and he has the announced support of at least a dozen members in advance of his confirmation hearing on Thursday. Six Republicans have said they would vote against him, with some opposing Obama's choice even before the president's announcement.
Brennan faces questions from the GOP about White House leaks of classified information and from Democrats about the administration's use of drones.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., threatened to block the nomination of both men until he gets more answers from the Obama administration about the deadly assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
Graham, who earlier this month signaled he would delay Brennan's pick, said in an interview Monday night with Fox News' "On the Record" the he would "absolutely" block Hagel unless Defense Secretary Leon Panetta testifies about the attack in Benghazi, Libya.
Clinton testified for more than five hours last Wednesday before the House and Senate, but that wasn't sufficient for Graham.
"Hillary Clinton got away with murder, in my view," he said. "She said they had a clear-eyed view of the threats. How could you have a clear-eyed of the threats in Benghazi when you didn't know about the ambassador's cable coming back from Libya?"
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., told reporters Tuesday that a hearing with Panetta on Libya is planned though the date was uncertain. Graham welcomed that news and said he would not thwart a committee vote on the nomination.
"Happy as a clam, news to me," he said.
As a White House emissary, Kerry has tamped down diplomatic fires for Obama. He also has stepped ahead of the administration on a handful of crises. He joined McCain as an early proponent of a more aggressive policy toward Libya, pushing for using military forces to impose a "no-fly zone" over Libya as Moammar Gadhafi's forces killed rebels and citizens.
He was one of the early voices calling for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step down as the revolution roiled the nation two years ago.
During his tenure, Kerry has pushed for reducing the number of nuclear weapons, shepherding a U.S.-Russia treaty through the Senate in December 2010, and has cast climate change as a national security threat, joining forces with Republicans on legislation that faced too many obstacles to win congressional passage.
He has led delegations to Syria and met a few times with President Bashar Assad, now a pariah in U.S. eyes after months of civil war and bloodshed as the government looks to put down a people's rebellion. Figuring out an end-game for the Middle East country would demand all of Kerry's skills.
The selection of Kerry closes a political circle with Obama. In 2004, it was White House hopeful Kerry who asked a largely unknown Illinois state senator to deliver the keynote address at the Democratic convention in Boston, handing the national stage to Obama. Kerry lost that election to President George W. Bush. Four years later, Obama was the White House hopeful who succeeded where Kerry had failed.
Kerry would be the first man to fill the secretary of state job since Colin Powell eight years ago. Condoleezza Rice served as secretary of state in President George W. Bush's second term, and Clinton has held the post in Obama's first term.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senate-panel-approves-kerry-nomination-152059015--politics.html
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Must See HDTV (January 28th - February 3rd)
There's a football game this week, in case you hadn't heard -- but that's not all. Netflix is debuting the series that it claims will change internet TV, and there's also a few other new options to keep an eye out for. Look below for the highlights this week, followed after the break by our weekly listing of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and videogames.
The Americans
Add another basic cable series to your watchlist this week, as FX debuts The Americans. Based in 1981, it focuses on a family of Soviet spies living in the US during the Cold War. The show already has a two year commitment to air in the UK, so it's unlikely to face a quick hook -- feel free to settle in.
(FX, January 20th, 10PM)
Super Bowl XLVII
It's the Super Bowl. All other Sunday night programing has been pushed aside, so you'll either be huddled around the flatscreen watching 49ers/Ravens or... we're not sure what.
(CBS, February 3rd, 6:30PM)
House of Cards
Netflix's next venture into the world of original programming begins Friday morning, when it will make the entire first season of its series House of Cards available for streaming. Starring Kevin Spacey, it has all the trademarks of a well produced cable series, it's just not on cable -- it's on the internet.
(Netflix, February 1st)
Blu-ray & Games
- Downton Abbey (S3)
- Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (Part 2)
- Hotel Transylvania (3D)
- Seven Psychopaths
- Paranormal Activity 4
- Amazing Ocean (3D)
- Fascination Coral Reef (3D)
Monday
- Dallas (season premiere), TNT, 9 & 10PM
- The Bachelor, ABC, 8PM
- Bones, Fox, 8PM
- Continuum, Syfy, 8PM
- The Carrie Diaries, CW, 8PM
- Switched at Birth, ABC Family, 8PM
- WWE Raw, USA, 8PM
- The Following, Fox, 9PM
- 90210, NBC, 9PM
- Being Human, Syfy, 9PM
- Bunheads, ABC Family, 9PM
- Lost Girl, Syfy, 10PM
- Deception, NBC, 10PM
- Castle, ABC, 10PM
- Catfish, MTV, 11PM
Tuesday
- The Taste, ABC, 8PM
- NCIS, CBS, 8PM
- Raising Hope, Fox, 8PM
- Betty White's Off Their Rockers, NBC, 8 & 8:30PM
- Hart of Dixie, CW, 8PM
- Pretty Little Liars, ABC Family, 8PM
- Go On, NBC, 9PM
- The Lying Game, CW, 9PM
- NCIS: LA, CBS, 9PM
- New Girl, Fox, 9PM
- Happy Endings, ABC, 9PM
- Emily Owens M.D., CW, 9PM
- Dual Survival, Discovery, 9PM
- The Ultimate Fighter, FX, 9PM
- Top Gear (US) (winter premiere), History, 9PM
- Happy Endings, ABC, 9 & 9:30PM
- The Mindy Project, Fox, 9:30PM
- The New Normal , NBC, 9:30PM
- White Collar, USA, 10PM
- Africa, Discovery, 10PM
- Vegas, CBS, 10PM
- Cougar Town, TBS, 10PM
- Justified, FX, 10PM
- The Burn with Jeff Ross, Comedy Central, 10:30PM
Wednesday
- The Americans (series premiere), FX, 10PM
- American Idol, Fox, 8PM
- Arrow, CW, 8PM
- Whitney, NBC, 8PM
- WWE Main Event, Ion, 8PM
- The Neighbors, ABC, 8:30PM
- Guys With Kids, NBC, 8:30PM
- Supernatural CW, 9PM
- Modern Family, ABC, 9PM
- Inside the NFL, Showtime, 9PM
- Suburgatory, ABC, 9:30PM
- Workaholics, Comedy Central, 10PM
- Necessary Roughness, USA, 10PM
- NFL Turning Point, NBC Sports Network, 10PM
- Nashville, ABC, 10PM
- Unsung: Midnight Star, TV One, 10PM
- The Kroll Show, Comedy Central, 10:30PM
Thursday
- 30 Rock (series finale), NBC, 8PM
- Do No Harm (series premiere), NBC, 10PM
- Impact Wrestling, Spike TV, 8PM
- The Big Bang Theory, CBS, 8PM
- The Vampire Diaries, CW, 8PM
- Grizzlies/Thunder, TNT, 8PM
- American Idol, Fox, 8PM
- Two and a Half Men, CBS, 8:30PM
- Person of Interest, CBS, 9PM
- Beauty & the Beast, CW, 9PM
- Glee, Fox, 9PM
- Grey's Anatomy, ABC, 9PM
- The Office, NBC, 9PM
- The Office, NBC, 9:30PM
- Anger Management, FX, 9:30PM
- King of the Nerds, TBS, 10PM
- Archer, FX, 10PM
- Elementary, CBS, 10PM
- Scandal, ABC, 10PM
- Bellator MMA Live, Spike TV, 10PM
- Suits, USA, 10PM
- Legit, FX, 10:30PM
- Mavericks/Warriors, TNT, 10:30PM
- Totally Biased with W Kamau Bell, FX, 11PM
Friday
- House of Cards, Netflix
- Heat/Pacers, ESPN, 8PM
- Nikita, CW, 8PM
- WWE SmackDown, Syfy, 8PM
- Malibu Country, ABC, 8:30PM
- CSI: NY, CBS, 9PM
- Spartacus: War of the Damned, Starz, 9PM
- Friday Night Fights, ESPN2, 9PM
- Lakers/Timberwolves, ESPN, 9:30PM
- Real Time with Bill Maher, HBO, 10PM
- Banshee, Cinemax, 10PM
- Merlin, Syfy, 10PM
- Portlandia, IFC, 10PM
Saturday
- Victorious (series finale), Nickelodeon, 8PM
- Cops, Fox, 8 & 8:30PM
- NFL Honors, CBS, 9PM
- Girls, HBO, 10:05PM
- Enlightened, HBO, 10:35PM
Sunday
- Super Bowl XLVII, CBS, 6:30PM
- Downton Abbey, PBS, 9PM
- Elementary, CBS, 10PM
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/28/must-see-hdtv-january-28th-february-3rd/
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PSA: Virgin Media begins charging for tube WiFi today
Today's the day that your cost-free tweeting about red signals comes to end, as Virgin Media begins charging for its WiFi service on the London Underground. If you're a Virgin, Vodafone or EE customer, then you just need to sign up to continue getting access as part of your mobile plan. For everyone else, avoiding getting your fingers sticky on that day's issue of Metro will cost you £2 a day, £5 per seven-day week or £15 a month. If you take up the latter option at any point in February, you'll be given an additional sweetener: three months for the price of one. The company has also announced that Hampstead, Tooting Broadway and Great Portland Street are among 11 more stations that are due to come online this week.
Virgin Media WiFi on London Underground - update more stations coming online
As you're probably aware, free WiFi on London Underground is coming to an end this month. But, from 29th January, millions of Virgin Media, Vodafone, EE, T-Mobile and Orange customers can stay connected at no extra cost thanks to wholesale agreements announced in November.
All Tube passengers will continue to have free access to Virgin Media's comprehensive WiFi portal, with up-to-the-minute Transport for London (TfL) travel updates and great London entertainment and news, alongside a choice of Virgin Media WiFi Passes to keep everyone connected:
Virgin Media WiFi Pass Cost
Daily
£2
Weekly
£5
Monthly
£15
And, throughout February, passengers taking up the monthly WiFi pass will enjoy three months access for the price of one!
Another 11 stations are coming online this week, including Hampstead, Tooting Broadway and Great Portland Street, joining the 92 London Underground stations already WiFi enabled. We continue to work with TfL to install more stations throughout London, with around 120 stations due to be connected by the end of March 2013.
Virgin Media's WiFi service on London Underground was launched ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games and made available to all Tube passengers for free throughout 2012. Virgin Media confirmed plans to wholesale the service in June 2012 and announced EE and Vodafone as wholesale partners in November 2012.
Filed under: Wireless, Internet, Mobile
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/jY7HLn9QjKI/
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