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Sunday, November 27, 2011
[OOC] Ben-to
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Akionakamura - Member for 0 years
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Saturday, November 26, 2011
Friday, November 25, 2011
Truce quiets Cairo streets, army says no delay to vote (Reuters)
CAIRO (Reuters) ? Egyptian riot police and protesters observed a truce Thursday after violence that has killed 39 people in five days and the army said parliamentary elections would start on time next week.
Demonstrations by thousands of Egyptians furious at the slow transfer of power by military leadership to civilian rule have led to violent clashes with police, in scenes similar to the popular uprising that toppled leader Hosni Mubarak in February.
Protesters have vowed not to leave Cairo's central Tahrir Square, which once again has become the cradle of public protest in the most populous Arab country, until army rule ends.
The demonstrations appear to have polarized Egyptians, many of whom worry that unrest will prolong economic stagnation.
In new blows to confidence, the Egyptian pound weakened to more than 6 to the dollar for the first time since January 2005, and Standard & Poor's lowered its rating on Egypt.
The agency cut Egypt's long-term, foreign- and local-currency sovereign credit ratings to B+ from BB-, saying a "weak political and economic profile" had worsened further.
Egypt's ruling army council said it was doing all it could to prevent more violence. In a statement, it apologized, offered condolences and compensation to families of the dead, and promised a swift investigation into who was behind the unrest.
NO ELECTION DELAY
A ruling council member, General Mamdouh Shaheen, told a news conference the parliamentary vote, whose first stage is due to begin Monday, would go ahead on time. "We will not delay elections. This is the final word," he said.
Another council member, Major-General Mokhtar al-Mullah, took a swipe at the demonstrators. "If we look at those in Tahrir, regardless of their number, they do not represent the Egyptian people, but we must respect their opinion," he said.
Mullah said the army hoped to form a new government before Monday to replace Prime Minister Essam Sharaf's cabinet, which resigned during this week's violence without giving a reason.
Demonstrators in Tahrir said the truce had taken hold from midnight. Cranes hauled concrete barriers, later reinforced with barbed wire, across streets leading to the nearby Interior Ministry, flashpoint for much of the recent violence.
"Since about midnight or 1 a.m. there were no more clashes. We are standing here to ensure no one goes inside the cordon," said Mohamed Mustafa, 50, among a group barring a street nearby.
They were guarding a barricade made of a broken metal fence, a telephone booth laid on its side and part of a lamp post.
At the other end of the street, littered with shattered glass, lumps of concrete and heaps of rubbish, at least two army armored personnel carriers blocked the route. Mustafa's group said police were on the front line, and behind them the army.
Lines of Tahrir protesters manned similar barriers to block access to Mohamed Mahmoud Street, scene of repeated fighting.
"We have created a space separating us from the police. We are standing here to make sure no one violates it," said Mahmoud Adly, 42, part of a human cordon four ranks deep.
The protests in Cairo and elsewhere pose the gravest challenge to Egypt's army rulers since they took over from Mubarak, overthrown on February 11 after an 18-day uprising.
The thousands who thronged Tahrir Square were undeterred in their determination to rid Egypt of army rule. "He goes, we won't," declared a banner referring to the army commander, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi.
The United States and European nations, alarmed at the violence of the past few days, have urged Egypt to proceed with what has been billed as its first free vote in decades.
LACK OF TRUST
The army and the Muslim Brotherhood, which expects to do well in the polls, say it must go ahead, but many protesters do not trust the military to oversee a clean vote. Some scorn the Brotherhood for its focus on gaining seats in parliament.
The military council originally promised to return to barracks within six months, but then set a timetable for elections and drawing up a new constitution that would have left it in power until late next year or early 2013.
Tantawi pledged this week to hold a presidential vote in June that could pave the way for a transfer to civilian rule, but the demonstrators, angered by army attempts to shield itself legally from future civilian control, are unconvinced.
"The military council must leave and hand power to civilians. They don't want to leave so that their corruption isn't exposed," said 23-year-old student Ahmed Essam.
Before the truce, protesters had fought running battles with security forces around the Interior Ministry. The bloody chaos there contrasted with normal life in streets nearby.
(Additional reporting by Edmund Blair, Tom Perry and Tamim Elyan; Writing by Alistair Lyon)
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Memo casualty
The critical step came after Mr Haqqani held a prolonged meeting with President Zardari, Prime Minister Gilani, Army Chief Gen Kayani and ISI chief Gen Pasha, at which he was asked questions about the memo he had allegedly sent to Admiral Mike Mullen through businessman Mansoor Ijaz, an American citizen of Pakistani origin.
After Haqqani?s briefing, the top civil and military leadership agreed to an inquiry into so-called memogate scandal. A spokesman for the prime minister?s office said Haqqani was asked to resign and there would be an investigation into the memo. The state television reported acceptance of envoy?s resignation by the PM.
Sources said the envoy pleaded not guilty in his briefing to the leadership and handed over his blackberry telephone and relevant documents. He said he had nothing to do with the memo and was ready to face any inquiry.
Haqqani also said, on his Twitter account, that he had sent his resignation to the prime minister. ?I have much to contribute to building a new Pakistan free of bigotry & intolerance,? Haqqani wrote on Twitter. ?Will focus energies on that.?
After Haqqani?s resignation, Iffat Gardezi has been made acting ambassador to the US and speculations have already started about the likely successor of Mr Haqqani. According to official sources PM Gilani ordered a ?detailed investigation at an appropriate level?. Well-placed sources told The Nation that prime minister issued the directives after consolations with ISI DG Lt-Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha. Sources further said that the briefing and resignation of Husain Haqqani was followed by a high level meeting at Aiwan-e-Sadr among the President Zardari, PM Gilani, Army Chief Gen Kiyani and DG ISI Pasha.
Although there was no official word about this meeting, the sources claimed that issues relating to investigation as well as next appointment of new ambassador to the US came were discussed. The sources said that the meeting discussed certain names including those of Ambassador to UN Abdullah Hussain Haroon, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir and Former ISI chief Gen (r) Ehsanul Haq. But the names of President?s General Secretary Salman Farooqi, Former army chief and ex-ambassador to the US Gen (r) Jehangir Karamat and former US ambassador Dr Maleeha Lodhi are said to be under consideration.
?The matter would be decided soon after more consolations?, the sources said, adding that the government would appoint the most appropriate person as envoy to US to help normalise the strained Pak-US relations.
The sources also said that the meeting discussed whether government should appoint a judicial commission, order a parliamentary probe or go for an official investigation by senior officials drawn from intelligence agencies and police. The meeting agreed to continue more consultations over the scope and terms of reference of the investigation, they said.
PM House spokesman said that all concerned would be afforded sufficient and fair opportunity to present their views and the investigation shall be carried out fairly, objectively and without bias. He further said: ?As result of controversy generated by the alleged memo which had been drafted, formulated and further admitted to have been received by a US authority, it has become necessary in the national interest to formally arrive at the actual and true facts.?
Observers say the development has opened the doors for some more high level changes. The expected changes, it is said, may alter the political landscape of the country. Now, a detailed inquiry will be conducted to ascertain who had played what role in conveying the said memo to Adm Mullen, which many say was an attempt to drag in the Americans to control the Pakistan army. The modalities of the inquiry are yet to be decided. However, informed sources say that some questions may be referred even to the president and the prime minister.
Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar had said a couple of days ago that in case Ambassador Haqqani was found involved in what has now come to be known as memogate, the prime minister will not be able to escape responsibility.
Ambassador Haqqani was called back from the US a few days ago on the insistence of the military leadership. Before taking the decision, DG ISI flew to London to meet with Mansoor Ijaz and get evidence about the memo.
On returning home, Gen Pasha presented his report to Gen Kayani. It was after Kayani-Pasha meeting that it was decided that Ambassador Haqqani should face the inquiry.
Mr Haqqani was a journalist before he jumped into politics. He was adviser to Mian Nawaz Sharif, who was the Punjab chief minister from 1988 to 1990. He played an important role in stoking confrontation between Benazir Bhutto, the then prime minister, and Mr Sharif. The then governor Gen Tikka Khan was given a very tough time. Whenever he tried to play the role of a watchdog, he was told to remain within limits.
In 1990, when the government of Ms Benazir Bhutto was dismissed on various charges, Mr Haqqani managed to become Special Assistant to caretaker prime minister Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi. After the 1990 elections, Mian Nawaz Sharif as prime minister, appointed Mr Haqqani as his special assistant.
He was then appointed Pakistan?s ambassador to the Sri Lanka, a position he held from 1992 to 93.
At the time of the 1993 elections, he got closer to Ms Benazir Bhutto, against whom he had earlier been involved in a smear campaign during the Nawaz Sharif period.
And when the PPP was voted to power in 1993, Haqqani was appointed as Federal Information Secretary, an important position in the government. He worked in this position till 1995.
Thereafter, he was appointed Chairman of the House Building Finance Corporation.
During the Musharraf rule, he stayed out of the country. However, when the PPP returned to power as a result of the 2008 elections, he tried to become National Security Adviser. But, the prime minister appointed him ambassador to the United States, a position he abdicated on Tuesday.
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Thursday, November 24, 2011
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Sound of Music comes to Salzburg
SALZBURG, Austria?? Move over Mozart. Toes in Salzburg are tapping to a new beat as residents finally embrace the Hollywood musical that put them on the map nearly half a century ago.
Playing for the first time in this haughty town of opera lovers, "The Sound of Music," has been met with surprisingly positive reactions in what is commonly considered a last bulwark of resistance to the iconic show.
"A wonderful performance," enthused Johann Fink as he waited at the coat check at the end of a recent performance at the ornate Salzburg State Theater.
Such a reception in Salzburg is hardly a given despite the global popularity of the musical that was based on a true story and immortalized by the 1965 multiple Academy Award winning movie.
Fans around the world may know every word of every song performed by Julie Andrews as the governess of seven children who charms ? then weds ? their widowed father Baron von Trapp, before the singing family flees the Nazis.
But this city resonates to another sound of music ? the music of Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms.
And it has a different concept of culture.
While residents earn millions each year from the tourists who come for sing-along tours of sites featured in the film, they traditionally view the visitors with benign disdain ? and occasionally as pests.
Residents of the upscale Salzburg neighborhood where the von Trapp home is located tried ? and failed ? to block attempts to turn the edifice into a hotel, fearing tourists would tie up traffic and make a nuisance of themselves. A museum dedicated to the film is still looking for a home after more than 600 residents in another neighborhood signed a petition three years ago against it, telling the city council they feared that local streets would be jammed with tour buses.
Resistance persists even though the city would literally be poorer without the musical's magnet effect.
Peter Proetzner, who guides daily buses full of tourists on pilgrimages of the sites immortalized by the film, cites a poll showing the Sound of Music as the city's second biggest draw ? right after the dozens of classical music events that resonate through its cobblestoned alleys.
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"The Sound of Music is better known than Mozart worldwide," he asserts.
South Koreans learn the songs as part of their English lessons. Some foreigners think "Edelweiss" ? composed for the musical by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein ? is Austria's national anthem. And Austrian tourism surveys show that three out of four American visitors to Salzburg come because of the musical.
Australian Dianne Cole says she knows "absolutely nothing" about Austria ? and will probably go home still ignorant of the country's cultural, scenic and culinary delights.
"This is why I came to Austria," she said recently, as her Sound of Music tour bus set out for its first stop ? Leopoldskron Lake (where Maria and the children capsized their boat). "The sole reason is to do this tour."
In contrast, most Salzburgers don't even know the musical. In a city that traditionally raps American culture as trashy, residents prefer to be associated with Mozart, Salzburg's favorite son, instead of a film many write off as Hollywood kitsch.
And then there is the troubling Nazi component of The Sound of Music ? a reminder, reinforced by the Swastika flag and storm troopers on stage, that not only Mozart, but Hitler, too, was Austrian.
Austria has long shed its self-fabricated myth that it was a victim of Nazi atrocities instead of one of its most fervent supporters. Restitution panels have returned homes and precious artworks. Millions of euros (dollars) have been doled out to Holocaust victims and their descendants, and schoolbooks now deal in depth with this nation's complicity in the crimes of the Nazi dictator, born just 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Salzburg.
"I think that this is truly the right moment in time, when Austrians are actually ready to deal with their past," says Andreas Gergen, who directed the German-language production.
Still, anti-Semitic sentiment remains. A survey of 1,070 Austrians conducted earlier this year showed that 12 percent want their country "free of Jews." Backed by the country's neo-Nazi fringe, the country's rightist FPO party is the second-strongest in the country ? although it now exploits Islamophobia instead of anti-Jewish sentiment.
And the sight of Nazis on stage may remind some older audience members of uncomfortable historical facts. Over 99 percent of Austrians voted in favor of their country becoming part of the Third Reich in 1938; proportionally more Austrians than Germans were Nazi party members, and many of Hitler's closest henchmen were Austrians.
Like the Salzburg version, the first full Austrian showing in Vienna in 2005 featured actors dressed as Nazi storm troopers standing guard at exits and a theater box filled with mock Nazi dignitaries ? clearly too painful for some. Back then, some elderly audience members who last witnessed brown-shirted men wearing swastika arm bands as children were so troubled they hastily left the theater without watching the performance.
Six years later, reactions to the Nazi theme are mixed.
"Of course it's not so pleasant for us Salzburgers to be confronted with it," said Judith Herbst. But the smartly dressed woman in her mid 60s said that as far as she was concerned the role of Austria in Hitler's crimes was no longer debatable.
For others, though, the sight of men in forbidden Nazi garb entering the theater remains traumatic.
"It was horrible for a moment ? almost unbelievable," said theatergoer Fink. "Thank God this era is in the past!"
But there were no gasps of dismay regarding the rest of the show.
Some hummed its ear-candy melodies at the coat check after the performance.
"Kitsch? I was afraid that would be the case," said Helmi Popeter. "But once you see it, you realize that's not so."
___
George Jahn can be reached at http://twitter.com/georgejahn
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45400066/ns/travel-destination_travel/
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Fresh iPhone Apps for Nov. 22: A Charlie Brown Xmas, The World in 2010, Space Tripper, Age of Zombies Anniversary (Appolicious)
There?s a definite end-of-year, holiday feel to today?s Fresh iPhone Apps. Thanksgiving is just around the corner, but after that, the run-up to the Holiday Season and the New Year begins. Celebrate in style with a classic Charlie Brown storybook narrated by Peter Robbins, or see what 2012 has in store from the brains at The Economist. When it comes to gaming, try some top-down arcade shooting action with Space Tripper, or take on the role of Barry Steakfries again in a special holiday-themed version of Age of Zombies.
Apple chose A Charlie Brown Christmas for its iPad App of the Week this week, and with Thanksgiving upon us, it?s not much of a leap to start getting into the Christmas spirit. The app is an interactive storybook that includes original dialogue from the 1965 movie original. It?s also narrated by Peter Robbins, the original voice of Charlie Brown.
But since it?s an interactive storybook, A Charlie Brown Christmas also includes features like the ability to decorate a Charlie Brown Christmas tree, play Schroeder?s piano, and hear words read aloud to help kids learn to read along with the book.
With 2011 winding down, The Economist magazine has put together a big feature forecasting the world of the next 12 months. The best of that content is now available in The World in 2012?s ?Editor?s Highlights? app, which features articles, videos, photos and more of things and people to watch in 2012.
The World in 2012 is The Economist?s predictions for the next year, and you can get a jump-start on figuring out what (and who) will be a big deal in the next year with Editor?s Highlights. With lots of information and content, it?s a nice iPad version of the larger publication The Economist puts together, and a solid way to decide if you want the print edition.
Also known as Astro Tripper, its PC counterpart, Space Tripper is a top-down arcade shooter that marries solid tilt controls with touchscreen controls, all while keeping things relatively simple. You man a craft and are tasked with destroying all the enemies that appear in a given arena before the timer runs out. Tilting makes your ship move while tapping one side of the screen reverses the direction you?re facing ? either left or right ? and the other switches between two weapons.
You?ll need quick reflexes and some on-the-fly strategy in order to notch top scores in the exceedingly difficult Space Tripper, but with Game Center support, your reward will be seeing how well you stack up against players all over the world. Space Tripper packs 14 levels to fight through, plus more game modes you can unlock as you go.
Halfbrick?s favorite wise-cracking protagonist, Barry Steakfries, took on legions of zombies while traveling through time in Age of Zombies, and now a year later the developer has released a brand new version of the game called Age of Zombies Anniversary. The new version is on sale for a limited time and keeps everything that made the original great ? namely, fast-paced twin-stick shooter action and a wry sense of humor ? while adding new features.
Age of Zombies Anniversary now includes Retina display support and is optimized for newer-generation iPhones and iPads. It also offers Game Center support for achievements and leaderboards, as well as an additional story chapter set in the Wild West.
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Tuesday, November 22, 2011
[OOC] Pairings
Forum rules
This forum is for OOC discussion about existing roleplays.
This forum is for OOC discussion about existing roleplays.
Please post all "Players Wanted" threads in the Roleplayers Wanted forum!
This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?Love and it's consequences?. Anything posted here will also show up there.Topic Tags:
Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.So for the pairings, each guy is going to pick the top two girls he'd like his chachter with. One of them will be his mate, the other will be his true love. So even if some is picked twice, they dont have to fight over her. (fun as that may be.) One person will have them as their mate, the other will have her as their true love. I pick the mate/true love part.
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Horseygirl - Member for 2 years
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Higgins and Lukas: What Iowa Voters Want in a Republican Nominee (WSJ)
Monday, November 21, 2011
Italy's Monti wins definitive confidence vote (Reuters)
ROME (Reuters) ? Prime Minister Mario Monti won an overwhelming vote of confidence on Friday after warning politicians they would have to face the Italian public if they sabotaged a sweeping package of reforms aimed at ending an acute debt crisis.
Monti won the vote by 556 to 61 after a similar comfortable vote in the upper house on Thursday. His unelected government of technocrats is now fully empowered.
Monti, who also holds the economy portfolio, has outlined to parliament a broad raft of painful reforms to shore up public finances and increase competitiveness after a decade of stagnant growth.
Monti, appointed on Wednesday to succeed Silvio Berlusconi after the discredited center-right leader lost his majority, said he intended to serve until the next scheduled election in 2013.
Politicians have been suspected of wanting to topple the technocrat government, which many of them opposed, within months.
But Berlusconi said on Friday he was ready to see it serve out the full term. He denied telling supporters he could "pull the plug" whenever he wished.
Monti told the lower house before the vote his success in passing deep and painful reforms would depend on the support of parliament.
"I'm not asking for a blind vote of confidence. We're asking for a vigilant vote of confidence," he said.
"But we think that if we do a good job, then you too, when you give us a vote of confidence or withdraw it, should remember what the consequences will be for citizens' confidence in you," he said.
The remark was a clear warning to squabbling politicians who have attracted public outrage for failing to take action as Italy slipped closer to an economic abyss after its borrowing costs soared out of control under Berlusconi.
The politicians were forced to acquiesce to an unelected government of technocrats by the power of international markets.
POLICY PRIORITIES
Monti had laid out his policy priorities in a maiden speech to the upper house on Thursday in which he outlined a mix of pension and labor reforms and hinted he would reintroduce a housing tax scrapped by Berlusconi.
The former European Commissioner has won the backing of all the main parties except the pro-devolution Northern League, Berlusconi's key partner in the outgoing coalition.
However Berlusconi's center-right People of Freedom (PDL) party made clear its support is conditional. The biggest force in parliament has opposed key options in Monti's reform agenda, notably the possible levying of a wealth tax on privately held assets.
Monti told reporters after the successful vote that he would meet the euro zone's most powerful leaders, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, next week. He would also meet EU Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman van Rompuy.
Financial markets, upset by the escalating euro zone debt crisis, appeared to welcome Monti's speech on Thursday, with yields on 10 year bonds dipping below the 7 percent level widely seen as a symbolically critical red line.
But they remain at untenably high levels of over 6.7 percent and the spread over German Bunds, the risk premium paid by investors to hold bonds considered less safe than benchmark German paper, is more than 480 basis points.
Italy, the third largest economy in the euro zone with a decade of anemic growth and one of the world's highest public debts, has been at the center of the Europe-wide financial crisis because of fears it would be forced to seek a bailout that would overwhelm the EU's financial defenses.
But with the European Central Bank in the market buying Italian bonds, attention has shifted to other countries including France and Spain, which are also considered vulnerable.
Monti dismissed complaints that his non-elected administration had been imposed undemocratically by the so-called "grandi poteri" or great powers, the big business and church establishment which had become openly hostile to Berlusconi's scandal-plagued government.
However protests against the "bankers' government" by thousands of students across Italy on Thursday highlighted the problems his administration will face in pushing through painful austerity measures that will hit millions of Italians.
(Additional reporting by Gavin Jones; Writing by James Mackenzie and Barry Moody; Editing by Jon Hemming)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111118/ts_nm/us_italy
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Sunday, November 20, 2011
What bacteria don't know can hurt them
Friday, November 18, 2011
Many infections, even those caused by antibiotic-sensitive bacteria, resist treatment. This paradox has vexed physicians for decades, and makes some infections impossible to cure.
A key cause of this resistance is that bacteria become starved for nutrients during infection. Starved bacteria resist killing by nearly every type of antibiotic, even ones they have never been exposed to before.
What produces starvation-induced antibiotic resistance, and how can it be overcome? In a paper appearing this week in Science, researchers report some surprising answers.
"Bacteria become starved when they exhaust nutrient supplies in the body, or if they live clustered together in groups know as biofilms," said the lead author of the paper, Dr. Dao Nguyen, an assistant professor of medicine at McGill University.
Biofilms are clusters of bacteria encased in a slimy coating, and can be found both in the natural environment as well as in human tissues where they cause disease. For example, biofilm bacteria grow in the scabs of chronic wounds, and the lungs of patients with cystic fibrosis. Bacteria in biofilms tolerate high levels of antibiotics without being killed.
"A chief cause of the resistance of biofilms is that bacteria on the outside of the clusters have the first shot at the nutrients that diffuse in," said Dr. Pradeep Singh, associate professor of medicine and microbiology at the University of Washington in Seattle, the senior author of the study. "This produces starvation of the bacteria inside clusters, and severe resistance to killing."
Starvation was previously thought to produce resistance because most antibiotics target cellular functions needed for growth. When starved cells stop growing, these targets are no longer active. This effect could reduce the effectiveness of many drugs.
"While this idea is appealing, it presents a major dilemma," Nguyen noted. "Sensitizing starved bacteria to antibiotics could require stimulating their growth, and this could be dangerous during human infections."
Nguyen and Singh explored an alternative mechanism.
Microbiologists have long known that when bacteria sense that their nutrient supply is running low, they issue a chemical alarm signal. The alarm tells the bacteria to adjust their metabolism to prepare for starvation. Could this alarm also turn on functions that produce antibiotic resistance?
To test this idea, the team engineered bacteria in which the starvation alarm was inactivated, and then measured antibiotic resistance in experimental conditions in which bacteria were starved. To their amazement, bacteria unable to sense starvation were thousands of times more sensitive to killing than those that could, even though starvation arrested growth and the activity of antibiotic targets.
"That experiment was a turning point," Singh said. "It told us that the resistance of starved bacteria was an active response that could be blocked. It also indicated that starvation-induced protection only occurred if bacteria were aware that nutrients were running low."
With the exciting result in hand, the researchers turned to two key questions. First does the starvation alarm produce resistance during actual infections? To test this the team examined naturally starved bacteria, biofilms, isolates taken from patients, and bacterial infections in mice. Sure enough, in all cases the bacteria unable to sense starvation were far easier to kill.
The second question was about the mechanism of the effect. How does starvation sensing produce such profound antibiotic resistance?
Again, the results were surprising.
Instead of well-described resistance mechanisms, like pumps that expel antibiotics from bacterial cells, the researchers found that the bacteria's protective mechanism defended them against toxic forms of oxygen, called radicals. This mechanism jives with new findings showing that antibiotics kill by generating these toxic radicals.
The findings suggest new approaches to improve treatment for a wide range of infections.
"Discovering new antibiotics has been challenging," Nguyen said. "One way to improve infection treatment is to make the drugs we already have work better. Our experiments suggest that antibiotic efficacy could be increased by disrupting key bacterial functions that have no obvious connection to antibiotic activity."
The work also highlights the critical advantage of being able to sense environmental conditions, even for single-celled organisms like bacteria. Cells unaware of their starvation were not protected, even though they ran out of nutrients and stopped growth. This proves again that, even for bacteria, "what you don't know can hurt you."
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University of Washington: http://www.uwnews.org
Thanks to University of Washington for this article.
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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/115338/What_bacteria_don_t_know_can_hurt_them
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Poll: 'Occupy' opposition on rise (Politico)
Dozens of protesters from Occupy Wall Street were arrested Thursday near the New York Stock Exchange as the movement marks its two-month anniversary with rallies in cities across the country that are expected to cause major disruptions.
But what is being billed as the biggest day of protests to date comes as a new poll shows that the American public?s patience with the Occupiers is starting to wear thin.
Continue ReadingThe poll found that support for the Occupy movement is weakening while opposition to the protesters is gaining momentum. Thirty-three percent of respondent said in a Public Policy Polling poll that they support the protesters? goals, while 45 percent said they are against them. Last month, 35 percent of voters said they support the Occupiers, while 26 percent said they opposed their movement.
The poll was conducted Nov. 10-13 among 800 voters, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
As a part of the Thursday ?National Day of Action,? demonstrations are expected to break out in dozens of cities, including New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle.
In Manhattan, where protesters were recently evicted from Zuccotti Park and banned from returning to their home base with tents and other sleeping gear, Occupiers have already begun their first goal of the day. After gathering in Liberty Square at 7 a.m., protesters have started a rally to shut down Wall Street and prevent the stock exchange from opening. Their goal is to ?confront Wall Street with the stories of people on the frontlines of economic injustice.?
Protesters clashed with police as they filled the streets in their attempt to shut down the New York Stock Exchange Thursday morning, The New York Times reported. Demonstrators had attempted to stop traders from opening the stock exchange on Wall Street, but the bell rang on time at 9:30 a.m. Dozens of people were arrested, with the New York Daily News estimating that about 50 protesters have been taken into custody.
Later in the day, the Occupiers will attempt to ?occupy the subway? by gathering at 16 different train stops across the city. At 5 p.m., they plan on marching across the Brooklyn Bridge carrying handheld lights, as a ?festival of lights to celebrate two months of a new movement.?
A major bridge in Washington, D.C., will also be overtaken by protesters on Thursday. At 4:30 p.m., protesters plan to gather at the M St. entrance of Key Bridge in Georgetown and form a human chain all the way across to the Virginia side of the bridge. The protest on the bridge, already notorious among the Beltway community for its rush-hour traffic, is expected to cause residents major delays.
The LaSalle Street Bridge in Chicago, the 4th Street Bridge in downtown Los Angeles and the Market Street Bridge in Philadelphia will see similar protests on Thursday.
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Saturday, November 19, 2011
Bieber?s Alleged Baby-Mama Mariah Yeater Busted By Text Messages
Bieber’s Alleged Baby-Mama Mariah Yeater Busted By Text Messages
Mariah Yeater, the woman claiming that teen star Justin Bieber is the father to her baby, reportedly begged a friend to delete texts claiming the [...]
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Friday, November 18, 2011
Hell on Wheels (with Zombies)
Post Cival War RPG (1887). Thats about all I have right now, working out a few details.
This would be an RPG with a set cast of characters, same as the tv show, with the mobile town thing 'Hell on Wheels' but with different characters and a different setting, and of course a little 'Walking Dead' thrown in :)
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/0m-_TQfF_Mo/viewtopic.php
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Thursday, November 17, 2011
Croatian PM vows economic reforms after election (Reuters)
ZAGREB (Reuters) ? Croatia will persist with fiscal consolidation and reforms to improve the business climate and boost growth after next month's general election, Jadranka Kosor, prime minister and head of the ruling conservative HDZ party, said Wednesday.
The former Yugoslav republic completed its European Union entry talks in June and is set to join the block in mid-2013.
But Kosor's HDZ, which is seeking a third straight four-year term in the December 4 vote, is far behind a center-left opposition coalition in opinion polls, with economic growth weak and a budget deficit this year of almost 5 percent of GDP.
"Our plan is to build on the results we've achieved. Now, we have mild growth and our economic priorities are to halve the budget gap by 2014 and carry on with removing obstacles for a favorable business climate," Kosor told Reuters in an interview.
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, as well as many businessmen and analysts, praised an economic recovery program that Kosor's government adopted in April 2010, but cautioned that its implementation was much too slow.
Croatia's bonds are currently rated at the lowest investment grade by the main rating agencies.
Two of the agencies recently changed their outlook from stable to negative and one from positive to stable on concern that the next government may not press on with reducing the fiscal deficit, cutting red tape, easing the high tax burden and reducing the role of the state in the economy.
"We want to reduce the fiscal gap by cutting spending while protecting socially vulnerable groups, and at the same time by boosting revenues through higher growth. The goal is to cut the gap to 1.8 percent of gross domestic product in 2014 from this year's 4.9 percent," Kosor said.
Croatia's public debt is rising and nearing 60 percent of GDP. Although this is relatively low by current euro zone standards, analysts say the negative trend, coupled with low growth prospects, is worrying.
Kosor's government has forecast that the economy will grow 1.0-1.5 percent this year and 2.0-2.5 percent next year, but independent analysts see growth at 1.0 percent this year and 1.5 percent next year at best, unless the new government improves the investment climate.
FIGHTING CORRUPTION
Kosor said she believed Croatia would not suffer a downgrade -- which would considerably raise financing costs and deter investors -- because the HDZ was ready to enact necessary reforms without turning to the International Monetary Fund.
She said that, unlike the opposition, the HDZ had put forward an unambiguous economic agenda.
"For example, we say we can run our fiscal and economic policy responsibly on our own, without assistance from the IMF, while various opposition leaders are sending ambivalent signals. I'm afraid they may have two programs, one public and one still undisclosed," she said.
"That's not good. I think the voters should know clearly what each (political) option offers."
The center-left coalition, led by the Social Democrats (SDP), has similar economic goals but says it has more credibility and willingness to achieve them.
Some opposition leaders have said IMF support might become necessary if they find the state of public finances to be worse than expected once in office.
An opinion poll in late October put the center-left Alliance for Change on 38.8 percent, with the HDZ far behind on 20.3 percent.
Kosor took over the government in July 2009 when her predecessor Ivo Sanader stepped down, and launched a strong anti-corruption campaign as part of a drive to conclude the EU accession talks.
Sanader is now on trial on corruption charges, and the HDZ is itself under investigation for running alleged slush funds, after the police arrested its former chief treasurer and head accountant.
Kosor says the HDZ should get credit for not sparing itself in the fight against graft. In the interview, she said that whoever forms the next government must press on with the campaign, which the EU has vowed to monitor closely before Croatia joins.
"Fighting corruption is also a key for a better investment climate," she said.
(Reporting by Igor Ilic; Editing by Zoran Radosavljevic and Kevin Liffey)
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Wednesday, November 16, 2011
China Makes Second Successful Space Docking (SPACE.com)
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China has completed its second space docking ever, an apparently successful maneuver that linked up two unmanned spacecraft in orbit.
China's Shenzhou 8 and Tiangong 1 vehicles, which performed the country's first docking Nov. 2, have been orbiting together ever since. Earlier today (Nov. 14), the spacecraft disengaged and then re-docked smoothly about half an hour later.
The docking activities are being hailed as a huge success in China, which hopes to develop its space program with the goal of building a large manned space station by 2020. The ability to link up two spacecraft in orbit is a necessary step toward that goal.
"Mastery of know-how is not always solid until proven by repeated experiments," wrote state news agency Xinhua. "With a string of sophisticated maneuvers, docking, de-linking and re-docking, as part of its current Shenzhou-8 space mission, China has laid a solid stepping stone for deep space exploration."
The Chinese docking came just hours after Russia successfully launched three spaceflyers ? two cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut ? to the International Space Station.
Tiangong 1, a prototype space module for China's planned space station, launched first on Sept. 29. Shenzhou 8, a spacecraft similar to the vehicles that carried China's first astronauts to space, followed with an unmanned liftoff Nov. 3.
Shenzhou 8 is now due to return to Earth Nov. 17, according to Xinhua.
Two more Chinese docking missions are planned for 2012, with one to take place with Chinese astronauts, called Taikonauts, onboard, Chinese space agency officials have said.
Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter?@Spacedotcom?and on?Facebook.
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Niger: Gadhafi son stays until UN lifts travel ban
NIAMEY?? Niger said Tuesday that Moammar Gadhafi's son Saadi would remain in the West African nation until a United Nations travel ban on him was lifted, despite Tripoli's request for his return.
Saadi fled south across the Sahara to Niger as his father's 42-year rule crumbled in August. He has been living in Niger since then, and Niamey says he has been granted asylum on humanitarian grounds.
Saif al-Islam, another fugitive son of the former Libyan leader, is believed by many to have sought refuge in Niger or neighboring Mali's desert north but both states say he is not there.
Like many other senior members of the Gadhafi regime, Saadi, a businessman and former professional footballer, was banned from traveling and had his assets frozen by a U.N. Security Council resolution when violence erupted earlier this year.
"We are obliged to respect this resolution. He is here, he cannot travel ... Until that resolution is revised, he will stay in Niger," Foreign Minister Bazoum Mohamed told state television Tuesday evening.
Interpol has issued a "red notice" requesting member states to arrest Saadi with a view to extradition if they find him on their territory.
Ties between Niger and Libya's interim rulers are strained, with the authorities in Tripoli keen to see the Gadhafi sons, and any assets they took with them, sent home to face trial.
Moammar Gadhafi had deep but often complicated ties with nations to the south of Libya, which were given lavish supplies of petro-dollars but also suffered as a result of his meddling in the politics of their northern desert regions.
Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45315194/ns/world_news-africa/
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Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Pakistan widens trade with India as ties improve (Reuters)
NEW DELHI (Reuters) ? Pakistan took further steps toward normal trade and travel ties with India on Tuesday, agreeing to open most commerce with its larger neighbor by February and ease visa rules in the latest sign of a thaw in relations between the nuclear-armed rivals.
"We have turned the corner," Pakistan's Trade Secretary Zafar Mehmood said at a joint news conference with his Indian counterpart in Delhi.
"We are talking of a complete normalization roadmap."
The two countries' trade secretaries agreed Pakistan will replace a limited list of items India can sell across the border with a short list of items that cannot be traded, minutes of the meeting showed.
Lasting India-Pakistan peace is seen as vital to South Asian stability and to smoothing a dangerous transition in Afghanistan as NATO-led combat forces plan to withdraw from that country in 2014.
Distrust, border clashes and militant attacks have undermined stability in the region ever since two nations were carved out of colonial India in 1947 with the disputed region of Kashmir at the heart of the problems.
They have fought three all out wars since independence from the British. The border still bristles with soldiers who often exchange fire and both sides man the world's highest battlefield, the 6,000 meter altitude Siachen glacier.
Even so, the atmosphere between the two countries is at its warmest in years following a flurry of high level meetings and Pakistan's promise last month of a most-favored-nation trade status for India.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani promised to open a new chapter in their fraught history after a nearly an hour-long discussion at a resort island in the Maldives last week.
On Tuesday, India and Pakistan agreed to push for easing of visa rules that severely restrict travel across the heavily armed border. They will look at the feasibility of electricity trading and will open a second road trading post by February.
Under the existing practice, both countries require businessmen to register with police on their arrival and regularly report to them. Visas are issued only for one city.
"This time it is different. It's not just politicians giving statements; there's a whole roadmap chalked out with a time frame," Amin Hashwani, president of the Pakistan-India CEOs' Business Forum told Reuters.
The 'negative list" of items that India will initially be restricted from trading includes the pharmaceutical and engineering industries, S.M. Muneer, president of the India-Pakistan chamber of commerce told Reuters.
Pakistani pharmaceutical and engineering companies are worried they will be swamped by Indian imports.
Mehmood said the list would be drawn up within a couple of months then gradually phased out. He said an expert panel would decide in January on allowing the trade of oil products.
NO MIRACLES
In contrast to the excitement in the business community, India's defense minister sounded a note of caution.
"There are positive signs for a breakthrough but one should not expect a miracle," Defense Minister A.K. Antony told reporters at a meeting on regional security.
"We need to change our mindset if we really wish to reap the benefits of mutual cooperation," he said.
In February, India and Pakistan resumed peace talks that collapsed in 2008 when Pakistan-based militants attacked the Indian city of Mumbai. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said last week another cross-border attack would put an end to the peace process.
Buy-in from the military on both sides will be crucial to building lasting peace, with Pakistan's security forces seen as both more powerful and more cautious about a detente than the country's often unstable civilian governments.
Business leader Hashwani said the army was on board this time. "Contrary to popular belief, the Pakistan army has been tacitly supportive of a good relationship with India," he said.
He called on the two countries' leaders to make the most of the current goodwill between the nations.
"It is very important, as the Chinese say, to cross the river by feeling the pebbles under both your feet," he said.
The rapprochement is "a game-changer" if it works, a senior US official in Islamabad recently said. "It's going the right way. And they've made more progress than many expected."
(Additional reporting by Chris Allbritton and Augustine Anthony in Islamabad Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Malini Menon and Ed Lane)
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Ex-porn star reading to LA students causes stir (AP)
COMPTON, Calif. ? Some parents have filed complaints with the Parent-Teacher Association after a former adult film star said she read to children in a classroom at a Los Angeles County elementary school.
Sasha Grey, a 23-year-old ex-porn actress who has appeared in mainstream shows like HBO's "Entourage," was a guest earlier this month at Compton's Emerson Elementary School for Read Across America Day.
The Grey tweeted Nov. 2 that she spent the day reading to students in the first and third grades.
KTLA-TV ( http://bit.ly/uZ5zY8) quoted parents questioning whether it was appropriate to have Gray at the school. Parent Dudley Wheaton wondered why the school couldn't find a fireman or a police officer to read to students.
Grey has not appeared in porn films in over two years. She has been a regular on "Entourage" and appeared in the 2009 film "The Girlfriend Experience."
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