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Sunday, August 19, 2012
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Battle for sharks off Martha's Vineyard
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Battle for sharks off Martha's VineyardThe Monster Shark Tournament in Oak Bluffs, Mass., pulls in competitive anglers, animal rights activists, and scientists who want a closer look at the massive ocean predators.?
Source: L.A. Times
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Friday, Aug 17, 2012, 7:40am
Views: 5
Source: http://www.labspaces.net/122684/Battle_for_sharks_off_Martha_s_Vineyard
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LudovicSpeaks: maher=racist ?@JC_Christian: This isd your GOP rt @TheFlaCracker You know.. Obama plays golf like he's 'white,' fights like he's 'black'?
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U.S. sues Florida over ending kosher meals in prisons
MIAMI (Reuters) - Hundreds of Florida prisoners have been forced to choose between starving or violating their religious beliefs since the state stopped offering kosher meals in its prisons, the U.S. Justice Department said in a lawsuit.
The federal government filed suit against the Florida Department of Corrections in U.S. District Court in Miami on Tuesday, accusing the state of violating prisoners' religious rights by ending its kosher meal service in 2007.
"Because there is pending litigation, we are not able to make any comments," a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Corrections said on Friday.
Florida holds more than 100,000 prisoners at 146 prisons, work camps and work-release centers and has an annual corrections budget of $2.4 billion.
Until 2007, prisoners who wanted kosher meals were assigned to one of 13 facilities, where about 250 at a time opted for meals prepared under Jewish dietary guidelines.
Those rules, which exclude pork and avoid mixing meat and dairy, also satisfy or exceed the food preparation requirements for other faiths, and the participants included Muslims and Seventh-day Adventists, according to a study group commissioned in 2007 to advise the Florida Department of Corrections.
That Religious Dietary Study Group, which included a rabbi, an imam and legal experts, said the additional expense of providing kosher meals to 250 prisoners was about $146,000 a year. It warned that ending the kosher meal program could violate the law by denying inmates the right to exercise their religious obligations.
"He may either eat the non-kosher food and fail to obey his religious laws or not eat the non-kosher food and starve," the study group said.
Florida ignored the advice and ended the system-wide kosher meal program in 2007. Since 2010, it has provided kosher meals only to about a dozen prisoners at one facility near Miami, but that program is only open to prisoners who are at least 59 and eligible for assignment to a work squad.
The Justice Department lawsuit said consuming a kosher diet is a fundamental tenet of Judaism and other religions practiced by Florida prisoners.
"By refusing to offer kosher meals, the Florida Department of Corrections forces hundreds of its prisoners to violate their core religious beliefs on a daily basis," it said.
The Justice Department said the federal prisons and those in most other states do offer kosher meals to all prisoners with a religious basis for keeping kosher.
Florida prisoners can choose between meat and meatless entrees and can request vegan meals. Florida prisons also offer diets tailored to special medical needs, such as a prenatal diet, a liquid diet or a diet for those with kidney impairment, but none of the options is kosher.
The case is 12-cv-22958-PAS
(Reporting by Jane Sutton; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-sues-florida-over-ending-kosher-meals-prisons-204840874.html
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Mars Curiosity rover team faces the masses
NASA / JPL via Twitpic
Members of the Curiosity rover's mission control team look into the camera for a group portrait at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in advance of a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" chat session.
By Alan Boyle
After facing the "seven minutes of terror" and landing a car-sized rover on Mars, some of the stars of the NASA's Curiosity mission team faced thousands of questioners on Reddit today?? and they definitely delivered the geeky goods. Redditors learned which songs were played to "wake up" the Curiosity rover, what operating system it's running, how mission controllers keep up with Mars time, whether they use Macs or PCs, and even which beers they like to swig.
The Q&A session was part of Reddit's popular "Ask Me Anything" series, and today's AMA was exceedingly popular, attracting almost 6,000 questions and comments. Based on the comments, it sounds as if the team is in good humor, more than a week after the white-knuckle landing sequence on the night of Aug. 5. But their diet? Not so great.
"This week a few of us have survived on leftover peanuts and Mars bars from landing night ??they don't look so good anymore," the team wrote in one of their group postings.
A dozen scientists and engineers from mission control at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory sat in on the session, including Bobak Ferdowsi ("Mohawk Guy"), Steve Collins ("Hippie NASA Guy"), Jonny Grinblat ("Pre-Celebration Guy") and Steve Sell (a frequent participant in the Curiosity news briefings), plus Veronica McGregor from the Mars Curiosity Twitter "hivemind."
Here are some of the summarized questions and answers from the Reddit session:
What happens if life is detected on on Mars? "Every science hypothesis is vetted among the team, and we would want to make sure we were absolutely certain it was life/fossils/etc. before releasing it to the public," Keri Bean wrote. "But we absolutely would release this information, once we had sufficient evidence and it was agreed upon among the science teams! We follow this procedure for all of our interesting finds."
Did you have nightmares about Curiosity falling? "There was plenty of anxiety leading up to landing and a lot of sleepless nights," Sell wrote. "Despite many team members moving to Mars time schedules, we're all sleeping a lot easier now."
Have you adjusted to the 40-minute difference between a Martian day and an Earth day? "Yes, for those of us working the surface mission. It is sometimes difficult but some of us have different ways of coping. One of the team members actually got his whole family (wife and kids) to switch to Mars time until school starts." Here's a Tumblr website?featuring the Mars-time family. When surface operations began for the Spirit and Opportunity rovers in 2004, JPL personnel used custom-made watches to keep track of Mars time, but for Curiosity, most have turned to computer apps such as?Mars24, or smartphone apps such as MarsClock?and Martian Time?(for Android), or Mars Clock and Mars Surface Times (for Apple iOS).?
Does Curiosity get a daily wakeup song? "Yup! She tends to be less cranky with a good wakeup song.?Sol 2: 'Good Morning, Good Morning,' Beatles, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club. Sol 3: 'Good Morning, Good Morning,' from 'Singing in the Rain.' Sol 5: 'The Ride of the Valkyries,' Wagner. R10 Victory Song: Theme from 'Mission Impossible.' Sol 6: ?'Got the Time' by Anthrax, and 'Echelon' by 30 Seconds to Mars. Sol 7: The Doors - 'Break on Through,' and George Harrison - 'Got My Mind Set on You.' Sol 8: Theme from Star Wars by John Williams. Sol 9: 'Wake Up, Little Susie' by Simon and Garfunkel. Sol 10: Frank Sinatra, 'Come Fly With Me.'"
Can Curiosity drive at night? Does it have lights? "There are no lights on the rover. It utilizes the night time to recharge the batteries [from its nuclear-powered generator] to drive and explore during the day to take advantage of the daytime." Keri Bean said that Curiosity will take pictures of the night sky once it's fully into its science mission.
The processor you guys used feels ancient to me. How did you program on it? "You are right that the processor does feel ancient," Grinblat wrote. "Our current smartphones are more powerful. The reasoning for this is threefold. First of all, the computer was selected about eight years ago, so we have the latest and greatest space-certified parts that existed then. Second of all, it was the most robust and proven space-grade processor at that time. Thirdly, in order to make a processor radiation-hardened it requires lots of tricks on the silicon that are not conducive to making it fast. Given that, it does not run any GUIs and can just focus on raw programming, and actually gets a lot done. All of the programming is done in C, and our toolchain is very similar to programming on any platform."
Has there been any work to increase the bandwidth between Earth and Mars? "NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (2006) is capable of returning 6 megabits/second to Earth from Mars. This is comparable to Wi-Fi, but at about 100 million miles away! Just don't count on it for playing games with people on other planets, since the round-trip light time delay can be about 30 minutes. (Depends on distance between Earth to Mars, which varies as the two planets circle the sun).?Currently, at best, Curiosity can transmit data to MRO at 2 megabits/second.?Back on Earth, we are researching new communications technologies like laser communications which we hope to eventually use on deep space missions for even better performance."
Does Curiosity have the capability to leave 96-mile-wide Gale Crater? "There are no plans to leave the crater, but if we wanted to and had all the time in the world, it's possible we'd find a route out. The Spirit rover proved it could climb a 'mountain' within Gusev Crater, and we've done a lot of testing going up inclines with the Curiosity double."
Do you play video games? "Yes, a lot of us do. Scott [McCloskey] claims to have played a good amount [of] WoW ['World of Warcraft'] and Diablo. Rob has played a lot of Mass Effect and entirely too much Super Mario Bros."
How many Macs, how many PCs. "In this room: 12 Mac, 3 PCs," Magdy Bareh wrote. A later comment: "But really, we use everything: Macs, PCs, Linux, etc."
Which operating system does the rover use? VxWorks, which has been used on Mars surface missions since Pathfinder in 1997.
Why doesn't NASA have a rover model available for schools and the public? "Mattel is coming out with a toy in the next month or so, but it will be decidedly low-tech and low-cost," Veronica McGregor wrote. "We figure more companies may jump in to make them now that we've had a successful landing. There's been a plea by several folks for a Lego toy, and people can up-vote that one. ..."
Stephen Pakbaz via Flickr
Stephen Pakbaz, an engineer who worked on the real Curiosity rover at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, created this Lego model of the rover being lowered down by its sky-crane descent stage.
What's your favorite beverage? "I think we all pretty much agree it's beer," one team member wrote. For Rob Zimmerman, it's Stone IPA. For Scott McCloskey, it's Saison Dupont.
Were there any educational or science-oriented TV shows that influenced you while you were growing up? "Hands-down favorite show as kids for most in the room was 'Bill Nye the Science Guy.' A few watched 'Star Trek TNG.' As for current state of science/education programming, people are looking forward to the reboot of 'Cosmos' with Neil deGrasse Tyson. On the other hand, many documentaries on cable TV channels are filled with hype and factual inaccuracies. Caveat emptor."
Favorite sci-fi movies, or movies in general? "Quick poll around the room: Star Wars, Star Trek, Fifth Element, Brazil, Deep Impact, 2001, Love Actually, The Big Lebowski, The Notebook, Tropic Thunder, Holy Grail, Labyrinth, Spaceballs, Office Space, also, Star Wars (eps 4-6 ONLY)."
Favorite planet? "I have to say Mars. :) Although I go storm-chasing a lot, so Earth isn't all that bad," Keri Bean wrote.
Can you guys please do a "Call Me Maybe" parody? "I just landed / And this is crazy / But here's my comm window / So call me maybe."
What's ahead for the entry, descent and landing team? "We're staying together at least part-time for the reconstruction/data analysis effort. After that, it's uncertain right now. The NASA Mars program budget recently took a hit, and the possibility of a 2018 lander looks remote, but those within the Mars community are trying to find a way to keep Mars exploration alive. We also have some technology development efforts going on, such as Low Density Supersonic Decelerator.?Let's hope those in charge of the budget realize the importance of space exploration!"
Imgur via Reddit
Systems engineer Rob Zimmerman is not impressed in this group portrait of Curiosity mission team members.
Are you impressed??During the session, one Redditor came up with a "McKayla Is Not Impressed" meme for the Mars team's Twitpic portrait. In this picture, Rob Zimmerman is the one who's not impressed. "OK, I just showed this to the room and we laughed for about 5 minutes. AWESOME!" Ferdowsi wrote.
Twitter provides the best way to keep tabs on what the Mars team is doing. They're generally a chatty bunch. This Twitter list, compiled by Tara Tiger Brown, focuses on the women of the Curiosity mission. (You'll also want to check out Brown's story for Forbes about the "women in the blue shirts who dare mighty things.") Keri Bean maintains her own Twitter list of Mars tweeps, male and female.
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 NBC News' 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 dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
Source: http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/16/13318756-mars-rover-team-faces-the-masses?lite
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Shot putter wants a podium finish in London to fulfil mum?s wish
SHOT putter Nursuhana Ramlan has found the added drive to push her shots forward in order to give an impressive performance at the upcoming Paralympic Games in London from Aug 29 to Sept 9.
The 20-year-old knows that a fruitful outing (podium finish) in the women?s F20 (intellectual disabilities) shot putt event in London will put her in a better position to fulfil her mother?s wish in performing the Haj at Mecca in Saudi Arabia next year.
Despite her disadvantage as a slow learner going up against the competitors with intellectual impairment, Nursuhana knows her responsibility in carrying her duty as a filial daughter.
Nursuhana, who has been training full-time for her debut appearance at the Paralympics since last year, said it would be perfect to present her mother with a meaningful gift.
?It is a dream come true to be competing at the Paralympics in London. I am very excited about stepping up to the challenge. I am ready for it. My aim is to give my best to be among the medal contenders. I want to reward my mother with a trip to Mecca for the Haj but I will need to deliver a medal at the Games first,? she added.
The plucky lass from Yong Peng, Johor is heading to the Paralympics with full of confidence after she surpassed the 11m mark for the first time at the Malaysia Games in Kuantan recently.
She chalked up her personal best of 11.09m to improve on her last season?s best of 10.88m.
?Although I did not secure a medal at the recent Malaysian Games, it was a sweet accomplishment to register a breakthrough reaching another level. I have only thrown between the 10.50m and 10.80m in training consistently. So, it (the achievement performing beyond expectation) came as a pleasant surprise. The frustration of seeing the top throwers chucking it over 11m motivated me to match them. I want to prove that the recent feat was not a flash in the pan. I want to ride on the momentum and continue my progress to get closer to the 12m mark,? she said.
At the Kuala Lumpur Asean Para Games in 2009, the plucky Nursuhana captured three gold medals from all the three throw disciplines including shot putt, javelin and discus.
For the upcoming campaign at the Paralympics, she will be focusing on shot putt as the event is the only contest in the her category.
Nursuhana said she has been visualising to get her act right in pulling off good throws with sound techniques.
?I only go through paces in throwing sessions three times a week. I have been working out to beef up my strength and speed on other days. It is important to maintain correct throwing methods in executing the throws,? he added.
Meanwhile, the two other fairer sex competitors in the Malaysia athletics team under the care of coach R. Jaganathan are Hemala Devi Eni Kutty and Nor Syazwani Abdullah.
Syazwani featuring in the women?s T38 100m and 200m is the sole Malaysian entry joining the action in the track races.
Hemala will also be part of the women?s F12 discus and shot putt.
Among the five other men?s qualifiers in the field events for the Games are Mohd Ziyad Zolkefli (men?s F20 shot put), Mohamad Saifuddin Ishak (men?s F13 long jump), Eryanto Bahtiar (men?s F46 long jump and triple jump), Aderin Majurin (men?s F33 discus and javelin) and Faridul Masri (men?s F56 javelin).
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Thursday, August 9, 2012
Official: Wife of Chinese politician poisoned Brit
Police officers stand guard at the Hefei City Intermediate People's Court where the murder trial of Gu Kailai, wife of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai, takes place Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012 in Hefei, Anhui Province, China. Gu stood trial Thursday for the murder of a British former associate in a tightly orchestrated proceeding that marks a key step to resolving the messiest scandal the leadership has faced in two decades. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Police officers stand guard at the Hefei City Intermediate People's Court where the murder trial of Gu Kailai, wife of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai, takes place Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012 in Hefei, Anhui Province, China. Gu stood trial Thursday for the murder of a British former associate in a tightly orchestrated proceeding that marks a key step to resolving the messiest scandal the leadership has faced in two decades. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
People walk out from the Hefei City Intermediate People's Court where the murder trial of Gu Kailai, wife of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai, takes place Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012 in Hefei, Anhui Province, China. Gu stood trial Thursday for the murder of a British former associate in a tightly orchestrated proceeding that marks a key step toward resolving the messiest scandal the leadership has faced in two decades.(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Police officers stand guard at the Hefei City Intermediate People's Court where the murder trial of Gu Kailai, wife of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai, takes place Thursday Aug. 9, 2012 in Hefei, Anhui Province, China. (Gu stood trial Thursday for the murder of a British former associate in a tightly orchestrated proceeding that marks a key step to resolving the messiest scandal the leadership has faced in two decades. AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Police officers stand guard at the Hefei City Intermediate People's Court where the murder trial of Gu Kailai, wife of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai, takes place Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012 in Hefei, Anhui Province, China. Gu stood trial Thursday for the murder of a British former associate in a tightly orchestrated proceeding that marks a key step to resolving the messiest scandal the leadership has faced in two decades. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
HEFEI, China (AP) ? The wife of disgraced politician Bo Xilai invited a British businessman to a hotel room, where she got him drunk on wine and fed him poison, according to the evidence presented Thursday in one of China's highest-profile murder trials in years.
The trial of Gu Kailai and a household aide, who are accused of murdering Bo family associate Neil Heywood, lasted all of four hours. International media were barred from the courtroom, so details of the case against Gu were provided by Tang Yigan, deputy director of the Hefei Intermediate People's Court in eastern China.
He did not say when a verdict was expected, but said Gu and the aide, Zhang Xiaojun, did not contest the murder charges.
The secretive and tightly orchestrated court proceeding marks a step toward resolving the messiest scandal the leadership has faced in two decades. Observers say the Communist Party leadership's main objective in the case is to keep the focus tightly on the murder case and not on larger allegations of corruption that could further taint the Chinese regime.
Tang said prosecutors told the court that Gu sent Zhang to meet and accompany Heywood from Beijing to the southwestern mega-city of Chongqing. On the night of Nov. 13, Gu went to Heywood's hotel and drank wine and tea with him.
"When Heywood was drunk and vomited and wanted to drink water, she then took pre-prepared poison that she had asked Zhang Xiaojun to carry and poured it into Heywood's mouth, killing him," Tang said.
Tang repeated what the official Xinhua News Agency reported several weeks ago when announcing the indictment: that Gu and Heywood had a dispute over economic interests, and that Gu thought that Heywood was a threat to her son's safety and decided to have him killed. Tang did not specify what sort of threat Heywood was.
Tang said the prosecutors believed the facts of the crime were clear and the evidence sufficient, and that "Gu Kailai is the main culprit and Zhang is the accomplice."
Neither defendant nor their lawyers have ever publicly given their side of the story and neither has been seen for months.
Two British diplomats were allowed into the court under an agreement with China because of Heywood's nationality. The British Embassy in Beijing said no statement would be released as the trial was still ongoing.
While the short length of just several hours for a murder trial may surprise legal experts in other countries, it is quite common in China, where verdicts are even delivered the same day in serious cases involving the death penalty.
"Frankly, in my experience, it's very unusual for criminal trials (in China) to extend beyond a day," said Joshua Rosenzweig, a human rights researcher based in Hong Kong. "It's a pretty streamlined affair."
Rosenzweig said trials are short in part because witness testimony is usually written, instead of delivered in person.
"It's very rare to see what you see in other countries, where a trial starts on one day and extents through many, many days," he said. "The process is very structured. A Chinese criminal trial is not a free-flowing process."
In Gu's trial, Tang said material evidence, written evidence, witness statements and other materials were presented.
Tang said Gu's lawyer told the court that Heywood bore some responsibility for the cause of the crime, although he did not say why. The lawyer also said Gu had less than normal control of her actions when the crime was committed and that she had informed on the crimes of others. Tang did not say what crimes.
Tang said Zhang's lawyer asked for leniency because he was only an accomplice. He said that during the hearing, Gu seemed to be in good health with a stable mood.
Tang said the court would seriously study the evidence and arguments of both sides and make a judgment at a date to be announced in the future.
Security was tight around the courthouse, with police lines in front of entrances and dozens of plainclothes security officers in the streets.
Gu and Zhang are likely to be found guilty of intentional homicide, which carries punishment ranging from more than 10 years in jail to a life sentence or the death penalty. In announcing the indictment about two weeks ago, Xinhua made clear the government considers the verdict a foregone conclusion. "The facts of the two defendants' crime are clear, and the evidence is irrefutable and substantial," it said.
The scandal has drawn attention to political infighting that China prefers to keep secret and comes at a time when the government is preparing for a once-a-decade political transition ? at the 18th party congress later this year ? that will install a new generation of leaders. Bo was once a contender for a top job.
Before his ouster in the spring, Bo, also the son of a revolutionary veteran, was one of China's most powerful and charismatic politicians. But his overt maneuvering for a top political job, as well as high-profile campaigns to bust organized crime and promote communist culture ? while trampling over civil liberties and reviving memories of the chaotic Cultural Revolution in the process ? angered some leaders.
The infighting came to light in February with the sudden flight to the U.S. Consulate in Chengdu of longtime Bo aide and former Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun. Apparently fearing for his safety if he remained in Chongqing, Bo's stronghold, Wang told American diplomats about his suspicions that Heywood had been murdered and that Bo's family was involved.
In April, Bo was stripped of his most powerful posts and Gu was named a suspect in Heywood's murder. That was followed by a report late last month about her indictment, which indicated that the leadership had closed ranks and reached a general agreement about the case and was ready to move forward with the trial.
Bo is the first Politburo member to be removed from office in five years and the scandal kicked up talk of a political struggle involving Bo supporters intent on derailing succession plans calling for Vice President Xi Jinping to lead the party for the next decade.
Bo is in the hands of the party's internal discipline and inspection commission, which is expected to issue a statement about his infractions. That would open the way for a court trial with charges possibly including obstructing police work and abuse of power. Thus far, Bo has been accused only of grievous but unspecified rules violations.
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