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Pierre, SD -- The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) today praised the South Dakota Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee's rejection of S.B. 170, a bill that would have pumped up to $1 million of state funds into the construction of a horse slaughter facility. AWI submitted testimony opposing the legislation, urging legislators to consider the environmental, fiscal and social impacts the establishment of a horse slaughtering facility would have on the state.
The organization also encouraged members of the public to state their opinion about this harmful legislation. A resulting flood of calls and emails into the State Capitol of Pierre from concerned citizens across the country likely influenced the bill's demise. South Dakotans voiced their opposition, too; some residents traveled in sub-zero temperatures to testify before the committee in opposition to the bill.
"In light of the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (AHSPA), a hugely popular bill to ban horse slaughter that is currently before the US Congress, it would be fiscally foolhardy for South Dakota to enter into such a venture," said Chris Heyde, AWI's deputy director of government and legal affairs. "It would also be completely out of step with American values, which have resulted in the closure of all domestic horse slaughter plants."
While some members of the committee may have objected to what they perceived as "outside interference" from concerned citizens calling from other states, residents of other states also have a right to care whether South Dakota establishes such a facility, Heyde explained. The overwhelming majority of horses slaughtered at such a plant would have come from other states, so the impact of S.B. 170 would have gone well beyond South Dakota's state lines.
AWI continues to work with federal legislators to obtain passage of the AHSPA, introduced as S. 311 and H.R. 503 in the US Senate and the US House of Representatives, respectively. The non-partisan bill, which currently has 38 cosponsors in the Senate and 193 cosponsors in the House, will prohibit the domestic slaughter of horses for human consumption, as well as their export for the same purpose.
Media Contact:
Liz Ross, (202) 337-2332
For over 56 years, AWI and its legislative arm, the Society for Animal Protective Legislation, have been the leading voice for animals across the country and on Capitol Hill. Please join us in our ongoing campaigns to reduce the sum total of pain and fear inflicted on animals by humans. Sign up for AWI eAlerts to receive the latest news on what you can do to help us protect all animals.

subset: commoncrawl


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RSL SEALS 6th-STRAIGHT SUBARU ROCKY MOUNTAIN CUP WITH 2-0 WIN V. COLORADO
RSL Turns In Dominant Defensive Performance, Clinches Cup with 1 RMC Game Remaining
SANDY, Utah (Saturday, July 21, 2012) – Real Salt Lake (12-7-3, 39 points, West #2) clinched its sixth-straight Subaru Rocky Mountain Cup title on Saturday night, beating the Colorado Rapids (7-13-1, 22 points, West #7) 2-0 in front of a sellout crowd of 19,492 to seal the annual competition with one RMC match still remaining. FW Álvaro Saborío and MF Will Johnson scored for the Claret-and-Cobalt, which extended its unbeaten run against the archrival Rapids to eight games – a streak that dates back to May 2009.
RSL controlled the early stages of the match, holding the majority of possession and smothering Colorado's attack. The Claret-and-Cobalt's first chance came in the 17th minute, when DF Nat Borchers – who had joined the attack seconds earlier for a RSL set piece – nearly flicked home a low cross from MF Javier Morales home with his left foot.
Real Salt Lake went ahead in the 32nd minute, getting a wacky goal from Saborío to take a 1-0 lead. FW Fabian Espíndola set up the play, chasing down a weak back pass from Colorado DF Drew Moor and winning a 50-50 ball with Rapids GK Matt Pickens six yards from goal to set Saborío up for the easiest of tap-ins.
RSL continued attacking after taking the lead and nearly got a second goal in the 35th minute. Saborío had the chance, running on to a fabulous flick from Espíndola and tearing towards goal before firing a shot just wide from the top of the 18.
Neither side mustered much else before halftime, during which Colorado brought on dangerous FW Omar Cummings for MF Jaime Castrillon. The change moved Colorado out of its uninspired 4-5-1 formation and into a 4-4-2.
Neither the formation change nor the addition of Cummings did much for the Rapids, which – despite holding more of the ball than they did in the first half – failed to create much of anything against RSL's strong defense throughout the second half.
RSL had the first chance of the second half in the 65th minute, when GK Nick Rimando played a goal kick to an open Espíndola just outside the box before the Argentine striker lashed a left-footed shot wide. The Claret-and-Cobalt had an even better look in the 67th minute, when Morales collected a loose ball 25 yards out and forced Pickens into a fine save with a shot that looked ticketed for the top-left corner.
RSL took advantage of another Colorado defensive mistake to seal the game in the 90th minute. Saborío stole the ball from Colorado DF Tyrone Marshall in the middle of the Rapids' final third and quickly played a through ball to Johnson, who buried a hard shot inside the far post from the right side of the box.
Real Salt Lake returns to action next Friday, July 27, when they'll host the Vancouver Whitecaps at Rio Tinto Stadium. Tickets for the Western Conference matchup can be purchased at www.RealSaltLake.com or by calling (801) 727-2701. RSL will begin its run through the 2012-2013 CONCACAF Champions League just four days after the Vancouver match, playing at Costa Rican champions C.S. Herediano in the Group 2 opener on July 31.
Click here to access video highlights and the MLSsoccer.com MATCHCENTER for RSL v COL
Real Salt Lake Match Notes – RSL 2-COL 0
- Saturday's 2-0 victory clinched RSL's sixth-straight Subaru Rocky Mountain Cup. The Claret-and-Cobalt's 6-0 point advantage is too big of a margin for Colorado to overcome in the third and final Cup match on Aug. 4 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.
- With the win, RSL GK Nick Rimando moves past former Chicago, New York and Chivas USA GK Zach Thornton and into sole possession of No. 2 on the All-Time MLS career wins list with 132 league victories.
- RSL was without captain Kyle Beckerman for the second time in five games due to suspension on Saturday night. The All-Star MF was banned from the Colorado match after picking up a red card in last week's lopsided 5-0 loss at San Jose. MF Yordany Alvarez replaced Beckerman, going the full 90 minutes in his third MLS start of 2012.
- RSL's 12-7-3 record is the second-best mark through 22 games in franchise history, placing just one point behind the 2010 squad's total through the same amount of matches.
- The Claret-and-Cobalt has now posted three home shutouts in a row, not giving up a goal at Rio Tinto since conceding in the 84th minute against San Jose on June 23 – that's 276 minutes since an opposing team last scored at Rio Tinto.
- Though RSL holds a comfortable 6-2 Rocky Mountain Cup title advantage over Colorado, it took until Saturday night for the Utah side to get above .500 all-time against the Rapids, with the Utah side now holding a 9-8-7 series advantage over Colorado.
- RSL substitute MF Jonny Steele picked up a yellow card in the 82nd minute of Saturday's match and will be suspended for Friday's game against Vancouver due to yellow card accumulation.
- RSL has yet to win a MLS game this year without DF's Jamison Olave and Tony Beltran in the lineup. Both Olave and Beltran have played in all 12 of RSL's 2012 wins – the only Claret-and-Cobalt players to do so.
Goals by Period 1 2 F
Real Salt Lake 1 1 2
Colorado Rapids 0 0 0
Scoring Summary: RSL – Álvaro Saborío (Fabian Espíndola) – 32'
RSL – Will Johnson (Álvaro Saborío) – 90'
Misconduct Summary: COL – Joseph Nane (Foul) – 45'
RSL – Jonny Steele (Foul) – 82'
Real Salt Lake (4-1-2-1-2) – Nick Rimando; Tony Beltran, Jamison Olave (Kwame Watson-Siriboe, 63'), Nat Borchers, Chris Wingert; Yordany Álvarez; Ned Grabavoy, Will Johnson; Javier Morales (C); Fabian Espíndola (Jonny Steele, 77'), Álvaro Saborío
Substitutes Not Used: Kyle Reynish (GK), Kenny Mansally, Justin Braun, Luis Gil, Emiliano Bonfigli
Colorado Rapids (4-5-1) – Matt Pickens; Drew Moor (C), Marvell Wynne, Tyrone Marshall, Tyson Wahl; Tony Cascio, Jaime Castrillon (Omar Cummings, 46'), Joseph Nane, Martin Rivero (Kamani Hill, 74'), Wells Thompson; Edu (Brian Mullan, 56')
Substitutes Not Used: Steward Ceus (GK), Hunter Freeman, Shane O'Neill, Jamie Smith
Referee: Silviu Petrescu
Referee's Assistants: Kevin Kuliba, Baboucarr Jallow
4th Official: Allen Chapman
Attendance: 19,492
Time of Game: 1:55
Weather: Cloudy and 88 degrees
www.RealSaltLake.com / www.RioTintoStadium.com / www.ESPN700Sports.com


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Editor's note: Each week in "Apparently This Matters," CNN's Jarrett Bellini applies his warped sensibilities to trending topics in social media and random items of interest on the Web.
(CNN) -- "What does this thing do?"
That's what I asked the garbage man one afternoon many years ago when we had Truck Day outside Cherokee Elementary.
At least I think it was Truck Day. There were lots of trucks. And our teachers encouraged us to look at them and ask questions.
So, I'm pretty sure it wasn't sex-ed.
(God, I hope not.)
Anyway, the garbage man smiled and answered my question. "Well, this makes the mechanical arm go down. Here, try it."
Me at the helm of a steel hydraulic grabbing device in the vicinity of small children. What could possibly go wrong?
I pulled the lever. Things moved. Noises were made. Nothing went wrong.
And to this day, it's pretty much the highlight of my life. I should've been a garbage man. Instead I became a journalist.
(I repeat: I should've been a garbage man.)
Because big trucks are awesome. Especially when you're a kid.
Richard Janney knows all about this.
The 42-year-old legal recruiter from the suburbs of Chicago has two boys, 9 and 3. And the youngest is completely obsessed with trucks.
Janney explains that his little one is over the moon when it comes to big equipment. "Like, stop and pull over and watch an active construction site for 10 or 20 minutes kind of excitement."
So, he does. That's just being a good dad.
But one day, back in early July while taking a roadside pause with his son, Janney looked out upon the broken land and saw an excavator in a whole new light. In this great, massive machine he suddenly saw beauty.
Like Orson Welles slathered in baby oil.
(Bad comparison. I don't know what just happened there.)
As Janney looked out over the construction site with this heightened appreciation for machinery, it was then that he decided he would go home and paint the excavator for his son. He could already picture it.
"I've always been obsessed with van Gogh," Janney says. "I had been trying to do paintings that emulated his style for about a year."
So, in paying homage to "Starry Night," he painted "Quarry Night."
And it was magnificent.
Janney posted an image of his painting online and, immediately, people were enthusiastic. Hundreds asked him if they could buy prints.
Not bad for a former lawyer with largely untapped artistic ability. You see, for years, Janney was a litigator for a big firm. And he hated it.
"I was willing to crawl through a sewer pipe like Tim Robbins did in Shawshank Redemption just to get out," he said.
I can't even imagine. Or maybe I just don't want to. But he made it out.
"I have a lot more time for my family, which is why I'm able to pull over and watch construction equipment when my boys see one in action. We also watch trains a lot."
(Note: These are real things you can see when you stop clicking through cat videos on your iPad. However, be warned that doing so requires leaving the house and wearing pants. Just FYI.)
Of course, getting out of a busy law career also allowed Janney more time to further explore this passion for art, despite the fact that he has no formal training.
When he was younger he drew a lot, eventually delving into the world of cartoons. In college, Janney even penned a strip called "Pierre the French Guy." That one almost got syndicated.
Painting came much later, about 10 years ago. Which ultimately led to "Quarry Night."
Soon after that, Janney brushed another truck-inspired masterpiece: "Vincent Van Dozer." Once again he had an online hit.
And it was another fine example of hidden artistic talent being discovered on the Internet.
In all, it's a small body of work -- there are only two truck paintings so far -- but Janny's already getting commissions from construction companies, engineers, and manufacturers.
He says, "One guy told me that he was so happy to see that someone else saw those machines as works of art."
Like Orson Welles slathered in baby oil.
(Nope. Still a bad comparison.)
Follow @JarrettBellini on Twitter.
See more content with questionable news value at CNN Comedy.


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While NFL players and owners have left the league's lockout in the hands of lawyers and judges, one faction in this cruel and malevolent tornado of greed and arrogance stands out for bravery, earnestness, sincerity, dignity, and all-around smoking hottery. I'm talking, of course, about the NFL cheerleaders. While players are restricted from using facilities or meeting with team officials, the cheerleaders have put the fan's best interest into perspective, as a few of the league's teams have launched their cheerleader auditions for next season in recent weeks.
The cheerleaders know that they may not have jobs next season, yet they brought in hundreds of wide-eyed and perky hopefuls to audition to become the next wiggling and writhing faces of their respective franchises, because they believe that America's true pastime (get cheerleaders, baseball) won't miss a single second next season. Most recently, the San Diego Chargers cheerleaders welcomed their newest additions, as did the Atlanta Falcons and the New England Patriots. And a few other teams did as well, but their web masters are apparently locked out, too (*cough* Baltimore Ravens *cough*).
Let's pay these heroic spirit masters the respect they deserve by admiring their recent efforts in picture and video form. Also, I strongly suggest blasting Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" while scrolling through this.
(Chargers photos )
And here's a look at the Atlanta Falcons Cheerleaders tryouts. So much bravery.
(Falcons cheerleaders photos )
P.S. – Patricia Fox, call me. Seriously, call me, I lost my phone and need help finding it.
(Pats cheerleaders photos )


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Tue, 11 Mar 2014 (Embassy of Ukraine in the USA) Crimea, an integral part of Ukraine, is being occupied by foreign troops. Extremist movement fed up from outside is intensifying in eastern parts of Ukraine.
On March 10, 2014, the developments were characterized by the following:
- Continuation of blockade of Ukraine's Armed Forces in Crimea, extension of Russia's military presence on the peninsula
- Pro-Russian "puppet" government of Crimea has announced the formation of armed forces, autonomous from Ukraine
- In Simferopol, the forces of so-called "self-defense" under disguise of members of election commission destroy Ukrainian passports of local citizens
- In Sevastopol, electricity was cut off at the Headquarters of Ukraine's Naval Forces
- In Bakhchysarai, a military unit of Ukraine's Armed Forces was seized by Russian troops In Chornomorsk, a missile service unit of Ukraine's Armed Forces was seized by Russian troops
In Novofedorivka, a base of Ukraine's Air Forces was repeatedly assaulted and partly seized
- On cape Tarkhankut, a radar squadron of Ukraine's Air Force was assaulted by Russian troops
- In Simferopol, a military hospital was seized by so-called "self-defense" forces
- Participation of Russian nationalist radicals in extremist actions and provocations on the territory of Ukraine, intimidation and physical harassment of anti-war activists and journalists
- In the village of Chongari (Kherson region), armed members of former police unit "Berkut" assaulted participants of anti-war car rally, leaving at least one person heavily wounded
- In Lugansk, pro-Russian radicals attacked two groups of journalists destroying their equipment and seized local TV broadcasting company "IRTA"
- In Lugansk, a man was badly beaten after installing Ukrainian flag on the building of regional administration
- In Kharkiv, pro-Russian activists attacked Ukrainian politician Vitaliy Klychko throwing eggs and firecrackers.


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Teachers, students return from presidential inauguration
A University of Nebraska-Omaha professor and dozens of Omaha teachers and students attended President Barack Obama's inauguration.
Dr. Omowale Akintunde and 50 metro teachers and students returned Wednesday morning from Washington D.C. Teachers Ryan and Dana Barker said they've learned lessons they will bring back to Lewis Central and Minne Lusa Elementary.
"We have a responsibility to keep this moving and to move this country forward. This has been amazing," Dana said.
Leon Gordon, 13, said it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
"It was wonderful. I mean just to be there, and in D.C., the nation's capital, and then to go to the inauguration of the first African-American president. We can see history in the making," Gordon said.
Akintunde organized the trip for the second time.
"Here, we saw people dismiss race as a determinative factor in our lives and overcoming those kinds of odds," Akintunde said.
Akintunde documented the entire trip. He plans to show the documentary, which focuses on young people and students in the community, in mid-April.
Akintunde's previous documentary, "An Inaugural Ride to Freedom," won an Emmy Award in 2010.


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The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) is an advisory group of student-athlete representatives from each team that meets up to twice a month. The purpose of the Committee is to help ensure that policies and practices of the Department of Athletics are consistent with the NCAA principles of student-athlete welfare, and that the services provided help promote the physical and educational well-being of student-athletes. In addition, SAAC provides social opportunities for all student-athletes, engages in community service and supports Billiken teams during athletic competitions. Appropriate Athletic Department members and University staff/faculty are welcome to attend to promote communication between Saint Louis University and its student-athletes. SAAC receives full support of the Director of Athletics, Senior Woman Administrator, and Faculty Athletics Representative. If any student-athlete has a concern to be addressed, he or she should contact the team representative, who will bring the issue to the next SAAC meeting.
For more information about the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, contact your team representative or Heather Freehill (314-977-7063) of Billiken Student-Athlete Academic Support Services.


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"This morning [Saturday] the former president underwent a procedure via endoscopy to have the gallstones removed," spokesperson Mac Maharaj said in a statement.
"The procedure was successful and Madiba is recovering. The medical team decided to attend to a lung infection before determining when to attend to the gallstones."
Maharaj said tests done after Mandela was hospitalised on December 8 revealed a recurrence of the lung infection and that he had developed gallstones.
He said doctors gave no indication when he would be discharged.
Mandela (94) was flown to Pretoria from his home in Qunu, in the Eastern Cape.
Mandela's hospital stay is his longest continuous period in hospital since 2001, when he underwent seven weeks of radiotherapy after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. He was 83 at the time.
In January 2011, Mandela was admitted to a Johannesburg hospital for an acute respiratory infection. He had contracted tuberculosis while in prison.
Eyewitness News reported on Thursday that Mandela was not receiving treatment at One Military Hospital at the Thaba Tshwane Military Base in Pretoria as had been widely reported after Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula's interview on Monday.
Mapisa-Nqakula spoke to reporters outside the hospital after seemingly visiting Mandela there.
Since Friday morning, the number of journalists kept increasing at Mediclinic Heart Hospital in Pretoria as details of the reported new hospital filtered through.
The presidency said it had not been the government's intention to mislead the public or the media.
Maharaj said he had only stated Mandela had been admitted to a Pretoria hospital.
"It is not part of any strategy or tactic by government to mislead the public. We have never had that intention. We know to keep to the facts and we've been rigorous," he said in an interview on Talk Radio 702. – Sapa.


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I'm trying to migrate from multiple subdomain blogs to WP multisite. The one stumbling block is that I'm pretty sure the static files and directories on my subdomains will not be found; each of my blogs has its own set of static files (downloads, mp3 archives, scripts, etc.). What would be a way to maintain these?
Will the following work? I assume it will redirect anything with a
. in it, no?
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^sub\.domain\.org$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} \.
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ sub/$1 [R=301,L]


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Mindful Monday Healthy Living – Faith Based Weight LOSS
Welcome to Mindful Monday – Healthy Living! Each week I try to examine new or sometimes old things about myself on my journey to becoming healthier. I have found that being mindful encompasses the act of being watchful, aware, wary, heedful, alert, careful, or attentive, in whatever area in my life I feel it applies to, as I attempt to live in the present. Come and join me on my journey. You never know what you will learn about yourself.
…to all of you who have left comments and cheered me on and are interested in accompanying me on this journey to healthy living! Together, we can offer support and ideas to make this road to "healthy," a fun journey!
My hope is that you will all visit the posts of everyone who participated last week. You can find their blog links and comments on last week's post HERE. Stop by and say hello! You just might make someone's day!
Each week I want to share one of your links or comments that motivated me:
My Sweet Nothings, with Vasantha Vivek. I was immediately swept away with the impact of Vasantha's words and how her belief in Lord Shiva impacts her life. It really got me thinking about how our own religious and cultural beliefs all impact our journey to healthy living.
It does not matter what your spiritual beliefs are or which spiritual path you choose to follow. It is the fact that you have a belief system in something greater than yourself that seems to be a constant motivator in how we view the world and ourselves.
Faith is an important concept in the battle of weight loss. NBC News shares an article: Faith Inspires Women to Lose Weight. The central theme of these women's journey? They took responsibility for their actions. It all seems to come down to that one simple concept. Responsibility. We are responsible for what goes into our mouths and only us! The fact that these women's belief in a higher God worked for them to become more responsible in their eating habits should be inspirational, to say the least.
You know what? Sometimes I just sit and let my mind wander. It seems to open me up for new thoughts and inspirations. I love being retired and one of the perks seems to be "time." I now have the time to listen to my own needs. I know this is a hard feat to accomplish with a family and children. Somehow, I hope you can try to find time for yourself. Time to think about your own needs and your own journey.
Many times I go into my living room and light candles and incense. I practice my meditation at that time. Most days I meditate in my creative room. That room is mine alone and I enjoy my time in there with myself, the dogs and my writing.
I do have a spiritual space setup for Buddha. I have silk flowers from each of my five children and grandchildren on each side of Buddha. The cabinet below holds photos of deceased relatives (mainly our parents) who I like to show respect by placing them near my sacred space.
However, I do not want you to think that you must have a designated place for contemplation. That is not so, and you do not need to be Buddhist to meditate. Many days I do some of my best thinking while I am walking in the morning.
The whole idea is to find a place and time to dedicate to just yourself. A warm bath works just as well as a sacred space all your own. The point is that the place does not matter. Find what works for you and just sit there. Try to have no thoughts and clear your mind.
Mindful Magazine shares an excellent info-graphic on a way to meditate.
The reason I created a sacred space in my home was to have a reminder of my intent to learn how to become still and mindful. I am influenced by my surroundings. My living room is in the middle of the house, so it works to remind me that I need to take the time to breathe, clear my mind, and listen to "the nothingness." Make your sacred space a place of quiet and solitude.
Do you have a sacred space that renews you?
Image credit: HealthPositiveInfo.com
I have continued to practice mindful eating and the results are extraordinary. In fact, since I have started to come to grips with my "inner pig," I seem to be in a better place about exercise and weight loss. I walked a lot this week, mostly because the weather was warm(ish). Exercise not only helps you on your way to healthy it seems to calm this writer's mind.
Part of being healthy and happy is enjoying things that you can share with your husband, wife, significant other, etc. Ron and I have lived in parts of the country the last few years that were mostly rural. We did not have many restaurants or stores around to choose from. When we moved to Colorado we decided that we would indulge and go out to eat at least once or twice a month since we had such a huge selection of places to dine at.
This week we had a great lunch at a Mexican Restaurant called the Three Margaritas. We had a perfect luncheon. I had the best Mojito I have ever had! It was fun to take some time and just be together doing the things we like to do. I tried to just live in the moment and spend time with Ron.
It was also great to take a few days away from the blog and my novel writing. By the way, yes, I did change my theme (again). This time, it was not my fault. The previous theme would not work for me. I could not reply to comments and some of the other features refused to work. Sorry if that caused any confusion… 😀
Anyway, here is the other thing I noticed. The more I get in touch with my feelings the more I understand that I don't have to work so hard. I can take some time and relish this journey through life. Retirement should be fun and exciting. It is just another chapter in your life journey.
My weight loss find of the week was a vegetable called Broccolini. Here is what Washington State University has to say about this hybrid veggie: Vegetable Research and Extension. It is a cross between broccoli and kale. I used it today in my salad. It has a mild flavor right in the middle of kale and broccoli. I really like it.
The Food Network shares a recipe called, "Sauteed Broccolini and Garlic."
Have a wonderful week! If you would like to join me in your own healthy living journey, please do. Use whatever program works for you. You do not even have to follow a program if you don't want to. The whole idea is to start thinking about ways that you can become healthier and fit. This includes going gluten-free, fat-free, lactose-free, starting an exercise program, or even a new way of eating such as becoming a vegetarian. If it has to do with becoming healthy, write about it!
How about you? What are your healthy living goals for the week?
Remember, this is not a challenge. Each of us has different goals that we wish to attain. This is an offering of support and a place where my online community can come to participate in attaining a healthy lifestyle. If you would like to join in with your own Mindful Monday – Healthy Living goals you can do so in the comments, or on a separate post of your own making. If you want to link back to my post, please feel free to do so, however, it is not necessary. Each week I will include a link to the previous week's post where readers can find your links and comments from the previous week. My main aim here is to give and get support to become more mindful of my journey to healthy living.
Thanks for being part of my fabulous journey to a healthy lifestyle. Don't forget to share your journey. ❤ No matter what your goals are in becoming more healthy, together we can do it!


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Comments (0)
|Artist: Dawn
|Date Added: February 3, 2011
|Steps: 9
|Favorited: 2 (view)
|Views: 0 in last hour, 5 in last day, 13 in last week, 27759 total
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|Tags: how to draw archer characters
Description: Has anyone ever heard of a animated series called "Archer" that airs on Fox around ten pm? Well, I haven't watched any episodes of the series either, but I received a few requests for me to make a tutorial on "how to draw Sterling Archer", step by step. He is the main figure of the series and he sort of reminds me of the cop from the movie "Jackie Brown". Sterling is a character with a chiseled face, baby blue eyes, and he is also very charming and suave. His code name is Duchess, and for a secret agent who is known to be the best there is, he certainly looks like he can play the part. I guess the series was made for the main character to be a bit like 007's leading man, James Bond. For all I know he is just like him but I guess I'll never know unless I watch an episode. His boss is Malory and she is also his mother. Sterling also has an attractive partner named Lana, and some may even say they have a thing going. I guess it has a lot to do with the fact that they used to be a couple. Anyways there is a few messed up areas that I goofed on when I drew out Archer. For example the gun is a bit off, and the open eye seems to be a bit small. I would go as far to say that this is one of my better works of art because it isn't. Nonetheless, I think you will enjoy learning "how to draw Archer", step by step. I hope you have fun, and enjoy the rest of your day.


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[conville] has been pushing standard HD44780 character displays to the limit. Embedded above is an example spectrum analyzer and text scrolling demo. Below you'll find a scope demo. Both of these are created using a PIC 16F688 that dynamically rewrites a custom character set to create the animation. You can find the source code on mikrocontroller.net.
2 thoughts on "LCD PIC Graphics Demo"
Could you please post a URL to where this guy "conville"
first posted this?? I don't see any
"conville" on that German site.
Both of these videos have been removed by author.


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#RSL Tweets of the Day (@RealSaltLake)
#RSL DF @Wingert17 earlier on @ESPN700 previewing Chivas Sat at #RioT: http://espn.kall700sports.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Chris-Wingert-4-18-13.mp3 …
Three Questions with The Goat Parade: What's up with Chivas USA? #RSL http://sbn.to/176zWG6
#RSL MF Cole Grossman running on the side at practice today. First time doing so since suffering concussion
New chant, @RealSaltLake fans! Instead of YSA, we will be saying "Our House" on opposing team goal kicks. #RSLTID #RSL
#RSL's Sebastian Velasquez on Olmes Garcia: "You score a goal like that, there's something special about you." http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/sports/56179487-77/garcia-goal-rsl-lake.html.csp …
RealSaltLake.com: RSL Insider: Lalo Fernandez and Carlos Salcedo Chivas connection
ESPN 700: Chris Wingert on "The Bill & Hans Show"
MLSsoccer.com: ExtraTime Radio – April 18
Real Salt Lake News & Notes
RealSaltLake.com: Garcia happy with goal, but knows there's work to be done
The Salt Lake Tribune: RSL's Garcia still has work to do
Pro Soccer Talk: Looking at Major League Soccer's longest defensive streaks
For the Fans, By the Fans
RSL Soapbox: Three questions with the Goat Parade: What's up with Chivas USA
MLS, Other News & Notes
MLSsoccer.com: Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis juggles desire to return to team with family commitment
MLSsoccer.com: Inside the meticulous, manic mind of the MLS goalscorer | The Word
MLSsoccer.com: Sporting KC waste no time preparing LA Galaxy during transcontinental road trip
MLSsoccer.com: Galaxy's Donovan on US U-17s' failure to qualify for World Cup: "We all have to do a better job"
MLSsoccer.com: Eddie Johnson, Brad Evans return to Seattle Sounders training
MLSsoccer.com: American Exports: Alejandro Bedoya continues offensive surge in new No. 10 role
MLSsoccer.com: Houston Dynamo MF Boniek Garcia on the mend, back in training
Pro Soccer Talk: How good is Sporting KC's defense in historic terms?
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Soccer By Ives: Six years after first impressing, Bieler shining for SKC
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The Influence of Sensory Stimuli on Gait Imagery in Patients With Freezing of Gait
|The safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Listing a study does not mean it has been evaluated by the U.S. Federal Government. Read our disclaimer for details.
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01071590
Recruitment Status : Completed
First Posted : February 19, 2010
Last Update Posted : December 9, 2019
- Study Details
- Tabular View
- No Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
- Freezing of gait (FOG) is a common and very disabling symptom in people with Parkinson s disease, significantly affecting their quality of life. It has been defined as a sudden break or block in the walking motion, or as an inability to start walking. Although certain neural connections or neurological processes might contribute to FOG, more research is needed to produce consistent findings. Researchers are interested in investigating brain function involved in FOG.
- To obtain more information on brain function in individuals with freezing of gait.
- Individuals between the ages of 45 and 80 who have been diagnosed with Parkinson s disease.
- Participants must be willing to go off their current Parkinson s disease medications for up to 12 hours at a time.
- Participants will be divided into two groups: those who do have freezing of gait (more than about once a day) and those who have not experienced this symptom.
- The study will involve a screening visit (1 hour) and a study visit (2 hours).
- During the screening visit, participants will be asked about medical history, and will have physical, neurological, memory, and walking tests.
- Participants should not take their Parkinson's disease medications for 12 hours before the study visit. Participants who cannot come to the clinic safely without their medications will be allowed to stay in the hospital overnight before the visit, and should bring their medications to the study in order to take them as soon as needed after the study.
- Participants will be asked to perform several tasks before the imaging study: (1) walking 10 yards back and forth down a hallway, (2) walking 10 yards back and forth while following horizontal lines on the floor, (3) walking 10 yards back and forth while listening to a metronome, and (4) being pushed back and forth in a wheelchair.
- After participants perform the actual tasks, participants will be asked to imagine performing the tasks and fill out questionnaires about how well they can imagine the tasks.
- Participants will be monitored with a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan while imagining the four tasks they have just performed.
|Condition or disease
|Parkinson Disease
Freezing of gait (FOG) is a common and very disabling symptom in Parkinson s disease (PD). It has been defined as a sudden transient break (motor block) in the walking motion or as an inability to generate effective stepping. It significantly affects PD patients, resulting in a decline in Quality of Life (QOL). Although certain neural substrates or neuronal connectivity might contribute to FOG, no consistent findings have been established. Our major goal is to investigate the pathophysiology of the brain as it relates to FOG.
Study population
We intend to study 46 PD patients (23 with freezing and 23 without).
Assuming that certain neural networks or brain regions are associated with FOG, we are planning to investigate its mechanism by measuring the Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) effect with functional MRI (fMRI) during motor imagery (MI) of gait in PD patients with and without FOG, and compare the results with each other.
Using a block design in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we will examine brain activity and brain connectivity of PD patients with and without freezing while they execute four tasks: normal gait imagery; gait imagery with lines on the floor (visual cue); gait imagery with sounds of the metronome (auditory cue); and imagery of being moved by the experimenter while sitting in a wheelchair. The last condition is done to control for the visual flow which should be experienced during MI of gait.
It is known that the motor ability of PD patients, both those with and without FOG, improves with exposure to certain visual stimuli. Using a treadmill combined with a virtual reality environment, we will test the effect of different visual stimuli on the gait performance of PD subjects with and without FOG. In particular, we will examine gait performance as it relates to FOG.
Outcome Measures
For the fMRI experiment, the primary outcome measure is the change of BOLD-MRI signals and the functional connectivity of the activated regions during different conditions and between groups. In addition, the Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire (VMIQ) score (Isaac A, 1986) will also be collected as a secondary outcome measure.
Another secondary outcome measure involves the treadmill experiment. In this test, the outcome measure is the motion analysis data, such as stride length and speed, which are derived from the VICON system. Using this test, we hope to determine when the FOG phenomenon occurred.
|Study Type :
|Actual Enrollment :
|45 participants
|Time Perspective:
|Official Title:
|The Influence of Sensory Stimuli on Gait Imagery in Patients With Freezing of Gait
|Study Start Date :
|February 1, 2010
|Study Completion Date :
|January 3, 2014
- The change of BOLD-MRI signals and the functional connectivity of the activated regions during different conditions and between groups
- Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire (VMIQ) score (Isaac A, 1986) will also be collected as a secondary outcome measure.
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided below. For general information, Learn About Clinical Studies.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|40 Years to 80 Years (Adult, Older Adult)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
PD patients with freezing:
- 40 to 80 years of age with idiopathic PD
- Hoehn and Yahr stage 1-4
- Answer to the FOGQ item 3 range from 3-4 (freezing more than about once a day).
- Existence of FOG documented by a neurologist
- Currently taking medications for PD such as L-DOPA (Sinemet) or dopamine agonists such as Mirapex or ReQuip.
- Willing and able to be off your PD medications for at least 12 hours for visit 1 and visit 2.
PD patients without freezing:
- 40 to 80 years of age with idiopathic PD
- Hoehn and Yahr stage 1-4
- Answer to the FOG item 3 is 0 (Never freezes).
- The lack of existence of FOG documented by a neurologist.
- Currently taking medications for PD such as L-DOPA (Sinemet) or dopamine agonists such as Mirapex or ReQuip.
- Willing and able to be off your PD medications for at least 12 hours on one occasion.
Patients in the FOG group and the non-FOG group will be matched by clinical disease stage.
- Any active psychiatric disease or evidence of dementia
- Feel uncomfortable being in small, enclosed spaces (claustrophobia) or unable to lie still for an hour, e.g. due to back pain
- Pallidotomy or implanted electrodes and generator for deep brain stimulation
- Pregnancy
- Surgically or traumatically implanted foreign bodies such as a pacemaker, implanted medical pump, implanted hearing aids, metal plate in the skull, or metal implant in the skull or eyes (other than dental appliances or fillings) that may pose a physical hazard during MRI.
- Inability to provide informed consent
- Unable to walk a 10 meter distance even with help of an assisting device
- Unable or unwilling to withhold PD medications for 12 hours prior to visit 1 and visit 2
- Have a neurologic condition other than PD, such as a brain tumor, stroke, head trauma or a vascular malformation
- Have a dysfunction of vision, such as severe loss of visual acuity, that impairs his/her ability to perform the visual imagery task or to appreciate the virtual reality environment during the treadmill test
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT01071590
|United States, Maryland
|National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, 9000 Rockville Pike
|Bethesda, Maryland, United States, 20892
|Principal Investigator:
|Mark Hallett, M.D.
|National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|Other Study ID Numbers:
|First Posted:
|February 19, 2010 Key Record Dates
|Last Update Posted:
|December 9, 2019
|Last Verified:
|January 3, 2014
Parkinson's Disease
Sensory Input
Parkinson Disease
Parkinson Disease
Parkinsonian Disorders
Basal Ganglia Diseases
Brain Diseases
Central Nervous System Diseases
Nervous System Diseases
Movement Disorders
Neurodegenerative Diseases


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Wolf to dog: It took 12,000 years to create Lassie
Q. How did dogs get to be "man's best friend"? –F. Walton
A. Our relationship with wolves goes back to about 20,000 B.C., when herds of large prey roamed the last Ice Age landscape, hunted by both wolves and men, says Deidre Barrett in Supernormal Stimuli. Wolf packs chased and trapped game faster than humans but had no chance against the largest mammoths, which is where humans came in with their spears and arrows.
"Evidence is that humans and wolf packs hunted together from 20,000 BC to 15,000 BC," Barrett writes, "with humans who liked wolves being more likely to live to reproduce, just as were wolves who liked humans."
By 10,000 BC, humans were beginning to turn wolves into domestic dogs and to use them to control other animals rather than kill them. The assignment of different tasks led to breeds taking on different traits– retrievers, shepherds, guards, and personal pets. Diverse dog breeds accented cuteness, with larger eyes, floppy ears, and behaviors such as whining, barking, and submissiveness– neotonous characteristics that wolves generally show as pups but then outgrow. Dogs were given their own species designation of canis familiarus, though they can still interbreed easily with wolves.
"That's from wolf to dog over a span of 12,000 years," Barrett concludes.
Q. As a laptop is loaded with more and more files, does it get heavier? –B. Gates
A. Nope, there's no weight difference between a loaded drive and an empty drive, answers Vance Checketts of the digital storage company Mozy, in ScienceIllustrated.Com magazine. Transferring data means changing electromagnetic characteristics of the drive, or as is often said, changing 1s to 0s and vice versa. Think of switching on a lightbulb.
"Drives are never really empty either," Checketts says. "They store information about structure, error correction, and much more, even before files are loaded on by a user."
Q. If you were traveling in a plane flying at the speed of a bullet and fired a bullet out the back, would the speeds cancel and the bullet fall straight to the ground? Conversely, if the bullet were fired forward from the front of the plane, would it exit the gun and appear to "float" in front of the barrel? –J. James
A. Ignoring air resistance, the rotation of the Earth, relativistic effects and so on, with respect to an observer on the ground, a bullet fired out of the back of the plane would indeed fall straight down. But far from floating, a bullet fired out of the front of the plane would travel at twice the speed of the plane, with the two velocities simply added together.
Q. Baseballers, what are we to make of that classic pitching illusion of the game–the "rising fastball"? –D. McNair
A. In 2010, the Philadelphia Phillies Roy Halladay pitched the 20th perfect game in major league history, retiring all 27 Florida Marlins he faced, says Steve Mirsky in Scientific American magazine. As one scribe wrote, Halladay "made the ball dive, and he made it rise."
But as visual perception expert Kenneth Fuld corrected, no pitcher throwing overhand can really make the ball rise— gravity will make it drop slightly, though the batter perceives it as level. But an unusually fast pitch, which drops less than expected, will seem to rise. "It's an illusion, like thinking your stationary train is moving because a train on the next track moves," Fuld writes.
Sadly, the danger posed to batters by the hard and heavy ball is all too real: Cleveland Indians shortstop Ray Chapman was the only man killed playing major league baseball; after being struck in the temple by a pitch in 1920, he never regained consciousness. This was 51 years before baseball mandated protective headgear.
Send Strange questions to brothers Bill and Rich at firstname.lastname@example.com


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Milk Mustache, NY: Milkshakes at Brats in Chelsea
The milkshakes at Daniel Angerer's Austrian diner, Brats, are quick-melting—more frothy than thick—but unusual and delicious.
They're not enormous for $5.95, but the each shake showcases really good dairy. (And other substances, like tobacco, but we skipped that one. Sorry, kids.)
The PB&J is frothy, smooth, and impressively peanutty, like the interior of a peanut butter M&M, but you don't get any jelly flavor until you bite the crisp candied popcorn floating on top. We're ok with that; we didn't want globs of jelly in our shake anyway.
The Milkaholic is like chocolate milk you might make at home, except several times richer—and it's made with a blend of sheep's milk, goat's milk, cow's milk, and honey, with a chocolate swirl that mostly settles to the bottom. There's the slight tang, but this isn't a health-food yogurt drink. It's easily overpowered by Angerer's kraut-topped dogs, so you might want to order this on its own as an afternoon snack.
362 West 23rd Street, New York 10011 (near 9th Avenue, map) 646-350-2557; bratsnyc.com
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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Featured Listings
Thinking of Buying?
Let me help you every step of the way. When purchasing a home, you are faced with a multitude of decisions!
I will make the process of purchasing a home easier, more enjoyable, less time-consuming, and potentially less expensive than if you undertook this challenge on your own. I will help you prepare so that sellers perceive you as a preferred buyer, help you locate and assess properties for sale that match your specifications, and help you through the myriad of details attending the actual purchase. I am always familiar with the current homes on the market, and I know neighbourhood values well, so I can help you to determine which properties are fairly-priced and in good condition before you start your search.
Your first step to buying a home is to first ask yourself why you want to buy a home - To stop paying rent? To start building equity? To have a place of your own? To raise a family? To entertain business associates? To move up to a bigger house? Next, list what kind of home you'd like and where you would like to be. Be specific. Separate the "must haves" from the "want to haves."
Think of yourself as zeroing in on a target, going from the general to the specific. Consider area (city, suburban neighbourhood, country); community (north, south, east, or west side); neighbourhood (older and settled or sparkling new; a particular school zone; recreational facilities; and other community services such as transportation, day care, library, stores, entertainment). If applicable ask yourself how many minutes you are willing to commute to work.
Think about home styles. How much space do you need? Does your situation require a one-level home, or are stairs acceptable? Consider size and kind of property. Do you want a newer home, or maybe an older one to fix up? Someday you or your heirs will want to sell. Consider how long you expect to live in this particular home.
Your Next Step: Loan Pre-Qualification
Once you have addressed the above needs, your next step in the purchasing process is to get pre-qualified with a mortgage company if you require a mortgage. This can be done over the phone or even online in a matter of minutes.
Call me and I will refer you to a mortgage professional that has an excellent reputation and track record for successfully acquiring loan approval for his/her clients.
Thinking of Selling?
I will work for you every step of the way! My combination of skills, experience, and technology ensures that I can sell your home for the highest possible price and in the shortest period of time. I have the tools & proven marketing plan to meet the demands of a highly competitive, modern market.
Internet Marketing: 24 Hours a Day!
My online marketing system allows me to make information accessible 24-hours a day to a global audience, and to respond immediately and directly to each and every prospective buyer. From my website, prospective buyers can get information immediately about your home. They can access my site 24 hours a day and view your property listing! Through my Personal Home Search, your listing will be sent by e-mail to every prospective buyer in my database, where your home meets their criteria. Plus it will be e-mailed automatically to future prospective buyers as well. I also participate in Social Media which is a global resource for home buyers.
Traditional Marketing
As soon as you list your home with me, I will enter your home in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) database. Other agents can immediately access your property information by computer. Plus, your property will be included in any printed MLS books and I also regularly publish in newspapers in the area.
Pricing Your Home
I will help you price your home competitively to attract qualified buyers. The way I do this is by generating a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) report, which will show you a range of prices being paid for homes in your area. You can complete my online form to get a feel for your home's market value.
Every Step of The Way
I will be working for you every step of the way to make sure that you get the highest possible price for your home in the shortest period of time.
Mortgage Calculator
Tim Stanfield has been an award-winning and full-time licensed Realtor® with RE/MAX Kelowna since 2005. Tim received the prestigious RE/MAX 'Lifetime Achievement Award' in 2018. From 2005 – 2018 Tim has assisted with the sale of over $289,000,000 in total volume Real Estate sales. Tim has been involved with the Sales & Marketing of Residential Properties, Commercial Properties, Projects & Multi-Family Apartment Buildings. Tim also has over 30 years of International Marketing and Public Relations experience.
Tim's specialty is building long-term relationships with his clients and he believes that excellent service and communication are the keys to his being a successful Realtor. The "proof is in the pudding" as most of Tim's business has come from referrals from past clients and friends and Tim's results speak for themselves.
Born in Winnipeg, Tim has called Kelowna home since 2002, prior to that he was in the UK for 5 years but most of his life was spent in the Calgary area. While in Calgary one of Tim's highlights was being a volunteer Director for the Special Olympics. Tim was recently a multi-year Director for the Casa Loma Community Association in order to support the community he lives in. Tim is currently on the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board's Professional Ethics Committee as he feels passionate about maintaining a high level of ethics & values in his chosen profession & industry.
Tim feels extremely fortunate to live in the Okanagan Valley and to help others move to – or within – the area. Tim's other passions include reading, music, animal welfare, motorcycling and motor-racing.
Please let Tim assist you with the selling of your home – and/or assist you with the finding of your next Dream Home!
Jayne Stanfield is Tim's wife and unlicensed Assistant. Jayne has extensive business administration and management experience and ran her own business for the last 5 years. In the UK Jayne worked within her local community, supporting children and adults with special needs. Jayne is a problem-solver and is very much a "people person" who enjoys working with people.
Jayne & Tim have called Kelowna home since 2002 but Jayne spent all her life prior to this in the central UK.
Jayne loves living in the Okanagan Valley and her passion for the area is infectious!


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Tag Archives: appstore
Niko flies into AppStore
Now it is also possible to take part in Niko's adventures with mobile game. Niko 2 game is downloadable from App Store. In the official mobile game of Niko 2 – Little Brother, Big Trouble the...READ MORE
Posted in NEWS Tagged anima, anima vitae, app, appstore, christmas, finland, Finnish app, How to use Niko 2 iPad Book App, ios, ipad, iphone, julius, Lapland, mobile game, niko, niko 2, niko 2 app, niko 2 game, niko 2 ipad book, niko app, niko reindeer, reindeer, rovaniemi Comments Off on Niko flies into AppStore


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Schrieffer, John Robert
Schrieffer, John Robert, 1931–, American physicist, b., Oak Park, Ill., Ph.D. Univ. of Illinois, 1957. Schrieffer was a professor at the Univ. of Chicago (1957–60), the Univ. of Illinois (1960–62), the Univ. of Pennsylvania (1962–79), the Univ. of California, Santa Barbara (1980–92), and Florida State Univ. (1992–2006). He received the 1972 Nobel Prize in Physics with Leon Cooper and John Bardeen for their jointly developed theory of superconductivity , now known as the BCS Theory. Although superconductivity was first described by Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes in 1911, it was not fully understood until a complete theoretical explanation of the phenomenon was provided by the trio in 1957.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Physics: Biographies


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Rovers, landers and satellites have been turning up evidence of a wet Martian history for years. Now, NASA's recently landed Curiosity rover has happened upon even more signs of the planet's watery past: veins of hydrated calcium sulfate (visible in the outrcrop pictured above) stretching across the planet's surface — a geological feature which, here on Earth, requires the presence of water to form.
The find has been "a great surprise," according to Mars Science Laboratory project scientist John Grotzinger, and has just been chosen as Curiosity's very first drilling target. That's exciting for a couple of reasons. One: hello, water. Two: the drilling of Mars is regarded by many NASA engineers to be the rover's most elaborate engineering task since it touched down on the planet back in August.
Cosmic Log's Alan Boyle gives some background on Curiosity's drill:
The drill at the end of Curiosity's 7-foot-long (2.1-meter-long) robotic arm has not yet been used, but mission managers will command it to drill a series of holes going as deep as 2 inches (5 centimeters) into the rock. The first test holes will serve to clean off any leftover earthly contamination, [said Richard Cook, the mission's project manager]. Grotzinger said the drill will eventually produce scientific samples to be fed into the rover's onboard chemical labs, known as CheMin and SAM.
"What we're hoping to do is sample both the vein-filling material as well as what we call the country rock around it," he said.
The rover's first drilling is slated to take place sometime in the next two weeks. We'll keep you posted on the team's findings.
[NASA | Cosmic Log]


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I nearly pee my pants every time I get to watch the 4-6 year old set do jumping jacks at soccer.
So I thought I'd share.
Mine is the one with the AMAZING lack of coordination!
Can you find him?
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Jumping Jacks - Who Knew?
Posted by Gidge Uriza at 11:34 PM
Labels: Lil' Satchmo
1 comments:
- Maggie May said...
i pee in my pants when I DO jumping jacks!!!
this is so funny :)
- Fri Oct 31, 06:20:00 PM


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Dear President Obama, do you care?
The president of the United States of America is either a liar, incompetent or both.
He has been stating for a year that if you like your current health insurance and your current doctors you may keep them.
So it came as a surprise to my wife and I that we just received a letter from our insurer telling us that our current policy cannot be renewed when the contract is over Jan. 1.
I currently pay $21,456 per year for that policy and we have co-pays and deductibles that add up to an additional $15,000 per year. That means we pay $701 per week for health insurance. My wife and I both became ill five years ago and we have since that time spent up to and more than that amount in the last five years. (Before you think I am in the famed 1 percent of earners, think again; lots of retirement money being spent). Although I would not say I am happy with my policy, we are happy with our doctors and did not want to change.
And now the adventure begins. We went online for five days (you know the site doesn't work) to find out what we could get that would match our current policies. So far we will be spending more and I will have to change the doctor who finally cured my illness because I won't make my wife change her oncologist, in whom she has tremendous faith and this is the best we can do.
I will admit here and probably lose a lot of respect from friends of mine, but I voted for President Obama. I thought the idea of not having a career politician might be good for America. Sorry, America, I was wrong. Mr. President, could you maybe give up a round of golf or two and read the law that you call your landmark legislation. (This law will at best create anarchy, at worst bankrupt us). You still have a chance to make your presidency historic for more than the color of your skin. We do need health insurance for all Americans. It is insane that it is just happening now. But you must see the problems, admit the problems and fix the problems.
Without going into too much detail I can say to you both I am not the type of person who goes to the government for help. Never did in the past, when in my youth our family qualified for every program the government had for families and we took none of it.
But now, Mr. President and U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, (a customer of ours) I need your help because of what you and your law has done to my wife and me.
Could you please call ConnectiCare for my wife and me and tell them they have made a mistake. Because if they have not made a mistake you are both liars, incompetent and uncaring.
Mr. Himes, if you can't get ConnectiCare to change their mind, will you hire either my wife or me so that we can get the health care you and your staff have.
I currently work from 4:30 in the morning until approximately 7:30 in the evening Monday through Friday (how do you think I can pay $700 a week for just one of my expenses). Saturdays I work just six hours. I only require about four hours of sleep so see what you can do to get a job for me with your staff during those other hours. I don't even want you to pay me. Just give me access to the health care all you guys have. As a matter of fact, I will work for you for free and pay my own health care. We are small business owners so there is no job to small or too large that we can't do.
I will keep this newspaper updated on the status of my insurance.
Don't write a response, Mr. Himes, you know where I am. Visit your constituent; lunch is on me. Bring a camera crew, make a political statement, but please do something -- we need your help.
Joseph R. Claps Sr.
Jenna Maries Catering & Deli


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Meetings & Events
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50th anniversary
8 November 2007
Around 200 people gathered for a Round Table to mark the 50 th anniversary of the European Agreement Concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR) on Thursday 8 November 2007 at the Palais des Nations.
Organized in conjunction with the Working Party on Dangerous Goods' (WP.15) 83 rd session, the Round Table included a varied panel of WP.15 veterans as well as current stakeholders. The historical and future significance of the ADR were explored through panel presentations and discussion.
Ambassador Alex Van Meeuwen, Permanent Representative of Belgium to the United Nations Office at Geneva and Chairman of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, opened the Round Table by welcoming participants and introducing the session's theme: The effectiveness of UNECE Legal Instruments, increased safety and facilitation of international transport.
The first part of the session was dedicated to the ADR's development from the 50s through the 90s. The audience learned of the early days from present chief of the Dangerous Goods and Special Cargos Section (UNECE Transport Division), Olivier Kervella, before former chairmen of WP.15, Lance Grainger (Chairman from 1982-1987) and Emile Berson (Chairman from 1988-1995), shared their experiences.
The first regulation of dangerous goods transport was created for rail in the late 1800s through the Central Office for International Railway Transport (OCTS), now called the Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail (OTIF). After World War II, as road networks were further developed, it became increasingly important to also regulate the transport of dangerous goods by road. The first study on the matter began in 1950 with the final Agreement ready for signature on 30 September 1957.
The ADR provides a legal framework for two technical annexes: one for the dangerous goods themselves, their packaging and labelling, and the other for the vehicle transporting dangerous goods. It entered into force on 29 January 1968.
The technical annexes are intended to ensure a high level of safety during transport. In addition, ADR plays an important facilitation role in international transport, since the transport of dangerous goods from, through and to any Contracting Party to the Agreement is allowed provided the conditions of the annexes are met. Additional conditions may be imposed only for reasons other than safety during transport, or by virtue of national/international regulations applicable in general to road traffic, international road transport and international trade.
In order to remain relevant and effective after 50 years of existence, agreements and conventions must inevitably evolve and adapt to present conditions. The ADR is no exception with constant work in progress and a major restructuring in the 1990s. In time and with experience, harmonization emerged as an essential component of the ADR system: Harmonization between modes and within the industry. The same rules should henceforth apply to everyone; whether road or rail mode, large enterprises or small.
In practice, harmonization between all modes of transport is achieved through alignment on the United Nations Model Regulations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, a United Nations global activity to which the UNECE secretariat also provides support.
Representing the rail sector, Gustav Kafka, Deputy to the Secretary-General of OTIF, seconded the significance of harmonization as well as cooperation between modes. He highlighted the current joint meetings of ADR/RID/ADN as a good example of fruitful cooperation between secretariats.
The second part of the session dealt with geo-political issues as well as the challenges for industries involved in ADR implementation.
Andrei Trubitsyn, advisor at the Russian Ministry of Transport, shared some of the challenges Russia faced when it joined the Agreement in 1994. Adapting bureaucratic practices, training of personnel and enforcing regulations took place whilst the country was in a period of transition and upheaval. All with a view to facilitating transit and transport with the European Union (EU).
UNECE works closely with the European Commission (EC), but some speakers pointed out the sometimes strained relationship between the two parties in the past. Andrea Pearson, Policy Advisor of the EC's Directorate-General for Energy and Transport, insisted on today's positive affiliation as she spoke of the EC's efforts at synchronizing their directives with the ADR. She recalled that the provisions of the two ADR annexes had been made applicable to domestic traffic in EU countries though a directive issued in 1994. A new, single directive, covering all modes of inland transport, is under preparation and will replace most existing directives currently applying to the transport of dangerous goods. For road transport, it will continue to refer to the ADR annexes. The goal is to eliminate duplications and contradictions, she said, and thereby simplify guidelines and help monitor the ADR's primacy.
The chemical industry, represented by Paul Keymolen, Director of Products Regulations, European Council of Paint, Ink and Artists Colours Industry (CEPE), relies on the United Nations Model Regulations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods and the Globally Harmonised System for Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) to establish safe working practices. Mr. Keymolen highlighted the industry's support of global harmonization ( classification, labelling, marking, packaging) – both between modes and regions, especially with increasing manufacturing activity in Asia and Eastern Europe.
Anniversaries are excellent opportunities to assess the status quo and the road ahead, remarked Umberto de Pretto, Deputy Secretary General of the International Road Transport Union (IRU), as he shared some ideas for the ADR's next steps.
The growing significance of globalisation, and all it entails, means the ADR should also adopt a global stance. By changing the name from the "European Agreement" to the "International Agreement", he insisted the ADR would reach a wider audience and take on greater relevance. Further suggestions included harmonization of ADR driver certificates, continued revisions to keep pace with global developments and more training to actively prevent accidents.
Through the various themes explored, all the panellists pointed out the importance of harmonizing the ADR, with other modes and across industries, as well as that of cooperation. Eva Molnar, Director of the UNECE Transport Division, in her closing remarks reminded participants why it is imperative to continually improve the ADR, by referring to the Los Alfaques accident. On 11 July 1978 a truck crashed and shattered a propane gas tank near a campsite with numerous ignition sources, which resulted in the death of over 200 people.
Fifty years of experience has created a successful tool to ensure safer dangerous goods passage. The focus ahead, said Ms. Molnar, should include awareness raising, improved enforcement, monitoring and implementation, and for more countries to join the Agreement.
Please click here for the full programme
(Informal Document No. 9/Rev.1)
|Alex Van Meeuwen
|Olivier Kervella
|Lance Grainger
|Andrei Trubitsyn (Russian)
|Andrea Pearson
|Paul Keymolen
|Umberto De Pretto
|Round Table Brochure
|Photos from the Session


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Abstract and Keywords
The term "Christian social services" refers to the involvement of persons and agencies that identify themselves as having a Christian faith orientation that motivates their response to the material and interpersonal needs of persons not met by family or the larger community. This entry describes formalized services provided through organizations, including congregations, as well as agencies and organizations affiliated with congregations.
Keywords: Christian, ministry, volunteers, congregations, faith-based, religion, religiously affiliated, social service
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- Korean Grand Prix
Kobayashi in need of a sponsor to stay in F1
- Race:
- Korean Grand Prix
- Drivers:
- Kamui Kobayashi
- Teams:
- Alfa Romeo
Kamui Kobayashi says he is in need of a sponsor if he is to remain in the sport in 2013 with his seat at Sauber looking under threat.
Kobayashi scored the first podium of his career at the Japanese Grand Prix last weekend but is one of the few drivers at a midfield or backmarker team without any financial backing. Sauber has made no comment on its driver line-up for 2013, although Sergio Perez will leave the team for McLaren and test driver Esteban Gutierrez is among the contenders to replace him as he is backed by the team's major partner Telmex. Kobayashi said he would need a sponsor if he is to hold on to his position at the team or drive elsewhere.
"Of course a sponsor could help for next year, but at the moment I have no sponsors to be here," he said in Korea. "It's very strange to need to find a sponsor to drive for another team or [to drive] here. At this moment of course the money is very important but basically I really want to be one of the top drivers with a good team. I want to be in Formula One and that's what I was dreaming of when I was young.
"Drivers should be thinking about the car and what to do with the car as that's their job, but now it's complicated by a lot of sponsoring and what they can bring. That is the way a driver has to be. I will try to stay in Formula One next year and show for the rest of the season what I can do in Formula One."
He said sponsorship dried up in Japan when the major car manufacturers Honda and Toyota pulled out at the end of the last decade.
"If a Japanese manufacturer came back in to the sport that would be a great thing, but if a Japanese car manufacturer is not in Formula One it's difficult. Car manufacturers are some of the biggest companies, so when Toyota was in F1 Panasonic was supporting them but then they left with Toyota."
Asked about the rumours that Honda might return to the sport with the change in engine regulations in 2014, Kobayashi said: "I'm very happy if they come back [in 2014 or soon after] but I will see if I'm still here or not."
Asked how he would feel if he loses his F1 seat next year, Kobayashi said: "This is destiny, no? If it happens like that we have to say 'this is Formula One'."
Looking ahead to this weekend's Korean Grand Prix, Kobayashi said the Yeongam circuit would not suit his car as well as Suzuka but is optimistic Sauber can extract more performance from its latest upgrade package.
"It's not our favourite circuit with our car but if we manage it well then of course we have a chance for a podium," he added. "Since Suzuka our update is not working with everything properly fine so still we have to look at the data and the package to check what our performance is and what we have to change for this update. I think if we have everything working fine we have another shot at the podium so I'm looking forward to this week. If we can score as many points as we can it will be a good step forward for the constructors' championship."


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All The Day Long
QRS Cat #802010D
He Hideth My Soul
Wonderful Words Of Life
We're Marching To Zion
Be Still My Soul
How Great Thou Art
O To Be Like Thee
Blessed Assurance
When We All Get To Heaven
When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder
The Old Rugged Cross
Just As I Am
O Thou Fount Of Every Blessing
Revive Us Again
I Want To Be A Worker For The Lord
We'll Work Till Jesus Comes
Rock Of Ages
In The Garden
Sweet Hour Of Prayer
When I Survey The Wondrous Cross
Were You There
Standing On The Promises
Leaning On The Everlasting Arms
Who At The Door Is Standing
Amazing Grace
Where He Leads Me I Will Follow
God Is Calling The Prodigal Home
All Things Are Ready
What A Friend We Have In Jesus
Softly And Tenderly
I Know Whom I Have Believed
Pianomation just got better. With Version .80 and higher you can play the mp3 files on your piano either directly from your PC or by downloading the files to a flash card or MP3 player. The first 30 seconds of each song will play. If you like an album call us to purchase a release key or purchase online.
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All The Day Long
QRS Cat #802010D


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These are always fun: the Ig Nobel Prizes. The winners for 2013 were announced yesterday. The big winner is a study on our perception of our own attractiveness after drinking. People have long observed that drunk people think others are more attractive but the Ig Nobel winner was the first study to find that drinking makes people think they are more attractive themselves.
The full list of 2013 Ig Nobel winners, per BBC:
Medicine Prize: Masateru Uchiyama, Gi Zhang, Toshihito Hirai, Atsushi Amano, Hisashi Hashuda (Japan), Xiangyuan Jin (China/Japan) and Masanori Niimi (Japan/UK) for assessing the effect of listening to opera on mice heart transplant patients.
Psychology Prize: Laurent Bègue, Oulmann Zerhouni, Baptiste Subra, and Medhi Ourabah, (France), Brad Bushman (USA/UK/, the Netherlands/Poland) for confirming that people who think they are drunk also think they are more attractive.
Joint Prize in Biology and Astronomy: Marie Dacke (Sweden/Australia), Emily Baird, Eric Warrant (Sweden/Australia/Germany], Marcus Byrne (South Africa/UK) and Clarke Scholtz (South Africa), for discovering that when dung beetles get lost, they can navigate their way home by looking at the milky way.
Safety Engineering Prize: The late Gustano Pizzo (US), for inventing an electro-mechanical system to trap airplane hijackers. The system drops a hijacker through trap doors, seals him into a package, then drops the hijacker through the airplane's specially-installed bomb bay doors through which he is parachuted to the ground where police, having been alerted by radio, await his arrival.
Physics Prize: Alberto Minetti (Italy/UK/Denmark/Switzerland), Yuri Ivanenko (Italy/Russia/France), Germana Cappellini, Francesco lacquaniti (Italy) and Nadia Dominici (Italy/Switzerland), for discovering that some people would be physically capable of running across the surface of a pond – if those people and that pond were on the Moon.
Chemistry Prize: Shinsuke Imai, Nobuaki Tsuge, Muneaki Tomotake, Yoshiaki Nagatome, Hidehiko Kumgai (Japan) and Toshiyuki Nagata (Japan/Germany), for discovering that the biochemical process by which onions make people cry is even more complicated than scientists previously realised.
Archaeology Prize: Brian Crandall (US) and Peter Stahl (Canada/US), for observing how the bones of a swallowed dead shrew dissolves inside the human digestive system
Peace Prize: Alexander Lukashenko, president of Belarus, for making it illegal to applaud in public, and to the Belarus State Police, for arresting a one-armed man for applauding.
Probability Prize: Bert Tolkamp (UK/the Netherlands), Marie Haskell, Fritha Langford. David Roberts, and Colin Morgan (UK), for making two related discoveries: First, that the longer a cow has been lying down, the more likely that cow will soon stand up; and second, that once a cow stands up, you cannot easily predict how soon that cow will lie down again.
Public Health Prize: Kasian Bhanganada, Tu Chayavatana, Chumporn Pongnumkul, Anunt Tonmukayakul, Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn, Krit Komaratal, and Henry Wilde (Thailand), for the medical techniques of penile re-attachment after amputations (often by jealous wives). Techniques which they recommend, except in cases where the amputated penis had been partially eaten by a duck.
Thank you, science!


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Topic: Couple of female metal sets.
Well, DragonCon was last weekend in Atlanta GA. I've been working hard at the forge and stump putting together two sets of metal female mando for my girlfriend and a very good friend of mine. They debut their armor as we escorted Jeremy Bulloch and Daniel Logan around the convention over the weekend. Friday, 30 members from our east coast clans came together and had dinner with Jeremy and wife who are just delightful people.
Both these sets are hand hammered and planished (dents smoothed out). The red set (a take off the Rav Bralor figure) is done up in light aluminum since the wearer wasn't used to the Atlanta heat. Her gaunts are double layered 26ga steel, pretty much indestructible. Helmet is a modified Rubies jango helmet that I did a bit of work on to get the right shape. The Twi'lek is wearing all steel except her gaunts which are double layered 26ga aluminum. Both sets were made out of custom patterns that were made off casts and measurements. I only get to see my girlfriend once a month due to her college, so both of these sets were made without the girls being present for fittings...I was just lucky they fit perfectly.
[url=http://mercs.firespray.net]Mandalorian Mercs Costume Club[/url]


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Vaccinations in California schools
Times staff writer Ron Lin and data analyst Sandy Poindexter reported Sunday on the growing number of California parents who are sending their children to school without inoculations for childhood diseases.
The Times found that vaccine exemptions for kindergartners -- which allow them to enroll without having state-mandated immunizations -- had more than doubled in the last decade, leaving hundreds of schools in the state vulnerable to outbreaks.
The rise in unvaccinated children appears to be driven by affluent parents choosing not to immunize. Many do so because they fear the shots could trigger autism, a concern widely discredited in medical research.
The report sparked intense reactions both from those who believe vaccines are harmful and from others upset that a rising number of parents are opting out of immunizations. Check out your local schools using The Times schools database and use our interactive map to see which Southern California school might be at risk.
Keep reading to see answers to:
"What are autism rates among immunized versus non-immunized children?"
"I don't understand why an 'outbreak' is being 'triggered' if the vast majority of students (and others) HAVE been vaccinated."
"Can you please explain what risk the kids without the shots are to the kids that have had all their shots?"
"If people choose to immunize their own children, what is it that they are worried about?"
"What do medical professionals say about advising pregnant women not to eat food high in mercury and then giving babies vaccines that contain mercury?"
What are the autism rates among immunized versus non-immunized children?
The risk of autism was the same for children immunized and not immunized for measles, mumps and rubella, according to a study of more than 500,000 Danish children published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2002. Researchers analyzed data on all children born in Denmark between 1991 and 1998 using the Danish Psychiatric Central Register, a database that has information on every diagnosis given in a Danish psychiatric hospital and outpatient clinic. Overall, there was no increase in the risk of autistic disorder or other autistic-spectrum disorders among vaccinated children as compared with unvaccinated children, researchers concluded.
I don't understand why an "outbreak" is being "triggered" if the vast majority of students (and others) HAVE been vaccinated. Are the vaccines not working, such that vaccinated persons exposed to measles, for example, are still developing disease?
Outbreaks can occur when there are enough non-immunized people in a group, allowing a disease can spread from one person to another. In a measles outbreak last year that infected a dozen children and infants in San Diego, none had been vaccinated. Three of them were infants too young to receive the inoculation.
If a high percentage of a group is vaccinated, even those who are not immunized are effectively protected by what is known as "herd immunity." In practice, this means a child either too young to be fully vaccinated or unable to get vaccinations for medical reasons, such as allergies or a compromised immune system, would still be safe.
But the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that infections can spread quickly within a group when as few as 5% to 10% lack vaccination.
Can you please explain what risk the kids without the shots are to the kids that have had all their shots?
Children are largely protected against the diseases from which they are vaccinated. Still, vaccines can fail to work in a small percentage of cases, when the immune system does not respond to the inoculation. In those cases, they may fall ill. When "herd immunity" is intact, a child whose vaccination failed to work would still be protected, as would others who could not be vaccinated for medical reasons.
If people choose to immunize their own children, what is it that they are worried about? If their kids have the shot, then isn't their child immune to that disease? Wouldn't outbreaks not be of concern to them since they are so-called protected? Talk about control freaks!
Although rare, vaccinations can fail to work. And non-immunized children may come in contact with infants too young to be immunized, and those who cannot be be vaccinated for medical reasons, because they either have a weakened immune system or are allergic to a vaccine's ingredients
In the San Diego case, three infants who came in contact with the infected boy at the doctor's office were sickened. In all, 70 children were quarantined there, including children at a daycare center attended by one of the infected babies.
On a larger scale, public health officials say high rates of immunization help eradicate diseases; smallpox was eradicated in 1979 based on an intense immunization campaign. Until a measles vaccine was available in the mid-1960s, the disease killed 450 a year in the U.S. and caused 4,000 cases of encephalitis, according to the CDC. Measles, which had been eradicated in England and Wales, has seen a resurgence there because of dropping vaccination rates. British public health officials have declared the disease once again endemic.
What does the medical community have to say about the fact that during pregnancy women are advised not to eat certain fish, due to mercury content, yet when the babies are born they are injected with some vaccines that contain mercury?
There is a difference between the mercury found in fish and the mercury once found in routine childhood vaccines. The version found in fish is known as methylmercury, which can accumulate in fish and humans. The kind that was used in vaccines is known as ethylmercury, which does not accumulate in the body and is actively excreted via the gut, according to the World Health Organization.
The distinction is not trivial, wrote Dr. Paul Offit, chief of infectious diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, who wrote about the issue in his book, "Autism's False Prophets," published in 2008.
"An analogy can can be made between ethylalcohol, contained in wine and beer, and methylalcohol, contained in wood alcohol," Offit wrote. "Wine and beer can cause headaches and hangovers; wood alcohol causes blindness."
The mercury-based preservative thimerosal has been taken out of routine childhood vaccinations since 2001. The preservative does remain in some flu shots; thimerosol-free flu shots are also available.
The preservative was removed from vaccines as a precautionary measure, even though there was no proof that thimerosal was harmful. Researchers later looked to see if thimerosal was causing autism; subsequent studies have concluded that the mercury-based preservative was not at fault. One such study found that autism rates continued to rise in California even after the preservative was phased out of routine childhood vaccinations.


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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — With a picture-perfect launch behind it, NASA's new Mars rover has begun the long trek to the Red Planet.
The car-size Curiosity rover blasted off Saturday at 10:02 a.m. ET from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station here and separated from its Atlas 5 rocket right on schedule, about 45 minutes later.
The huge robot — the centerpiece of NASA's $2.5 billion Mars Science Laboratory mission, or MSL — is now zipping through space, chewing up the 354 million miles (570 million kilometers) between Earth and Mars. The journey will take eight and a half months.
Space news from NBCNews.com
Teen's space mission fueled by social media
Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: "Astronaut Abby" is at the controls of a social-media machine that is launching the 15-year-old from Minnesota to Kazakhstan this month for the liftoff of the International Space Station's next crew.
- Buzz Aldrin's vision for journey to Mars
- Giant black hole may be cooking up meals
- Watch a 'ring of fire' solar eclipse online
- Teen's space mission fueled by social media
"We are in cruise mode," said MSL project manager Pete Theisinger of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "Our spacecraft is in excellent health, and it's on its way to Mars." [Video: Curiosity Blasts Off]
A time to celebrate
MSL aims to determine if the Red Planet is, or ever was, capable of supporting microbial life. The mission began taking shape in 2003 and was originally supposed to launch in 2009, but it couldn't meet that deadline. The two-year slip helped boost MSL's overall cost by 56 percent.
The mission's prior troubles may have made today's successful launch especially sweet for the MSL team.
"Today's a great day," Theisinger said. "Very happy guy."
However, Theisinger was quick to point out that liftoff is just phase one of a complicated mission that is slated to last a minimum of about two Earth years.
"We all recognize that this is the prologue to the mission — necessary, but not sufficient," he said. "We all have our work cut out for us in the next eight and a half months."
Preparing for Mars arrival
Curiosity is slated to touch down on Mars in August 2012. But mission team members won't exactly be putting their feet up during the 1-ton rover's long cruise.
For example, Curiosity's spacecraft will make a series of trajectory corrections, with the first coming in about two weeks. The team will also perform an engineering test in the next few weeks, with a check of the rover's 10 science instruments coming shortly thereafter, Theisinger said.
Mission scientists will spend the cruise phase preparing for Curiosity's work on the Martian surface. They'll stage 10 separate operational readiness tests over the next eight and a half months, gauging their ability to recognize and respond to potential issues that may crop up, researchers said.
"You're basically just kicking the tires and trying to shake it all out," Caltech's John Grotzinger, MSL's project scientist, told Space.com.
Curiosity will land at the 100-mile-wide (160-kilometer-wide) Gale Crater. A mound of sediment rises 3 miles (5 km) into the Martian air from Gale's center. The rover will investigate this mountain's many layers, scrutinizing the red dirt and rocks for any signs that Martian environments may once have been habitable.
Learn more about Curiosity's mission (800kb PDF)
The rover's landing will likely inspire more nervous hand-wringing than its launch did. A rocket-powered sky crane will lower Curiosity down to the Martian surface on cables, a daring maneuver that has never been tried before.
The MSL team spent a lot of time designing and validating this unprecedented landing system, and they'll keep working over the next eight and a half months to give it the best chance of succeeding.
But Saturday offered the scientists and engineers who brought Curiosity from the drawing room to the launchpad a chance to reflect and exult — at least for a little while.
"Science fiction is now science fact," said Doug McCuistion, head of NASA's Mars exploration program. "We're flying to Mars."
- 7 Biggest Mysteries of Mars
- Photos: NASA's Curiosity Rover Launches to Mars
- Complete Coverage: NASA's Huge New Rover Launching to Mars
You can follow Space.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter:@michaeldwall. Follow Space.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter@Spacedotcomand on Facebook.
© 2013 Space.com. All rights reserved. More from Space.com.


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NRO's Whelan Endorses Conservative Obstructionism Behind "Judicial Emergencies"
In the wake of the presidential election, National Review Online's Ed Whelan made it clear that the country can expect more of the unprecedented right-wing opposition of the past four years to President Obama's judicial nominees. However, news outlets often neglect this obstructionism and ignore the role of the GOP and conservative media in creating "judicial emergencies" where courtrooms across the country suffer from vacancies on the bench, an omission highlighted by a prominent judicial nominations expert.
Fresh off of ascribing a lack of virtues to the majority of the nation who re-elected the president, conservative legal analyst Ed Whelan urged the Republican party on November 8 to redouble its efforts in blocking judicial picks by expanding the obstruction to any and all Supreme Court nominees. In the NRO blog, Whelan wrote:
I'm surprised to see, in [a November 8] Wall Street Journal article, that one conservative legal commentator has opined (according to the article's paraphrase and internal quote) that "[b]ecause Republicans lost the presidential election and a couple of Senate seats, ... Mr. Obama was entitled to 'a lot of deference' should he wish to replace Justice Ginsburg or another liberal with a like-minded nominee."
I think that this view is badly misguided.
[C]onservatives shouldn't set a lower bar for a nominee who is replacing a liberal justice than for one who is replacing a conservative. Instead, we should make the case that conservative judicial principles are the right judicial principles and that anyone who doesn't embrace those principles is unfit for the Court.
This sentiment serves as a reminder of just how intransigent the right-wing has become in objecting to judicial nominees who aren't conservative ideologues. Although the named WSJ article at least referenced the prospect that Republicans would filibuster anyone left of centrist U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Judge Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court, it ignored the rampant obstructionism that has ground the lower court confirmations process to a halt. The unprecedented nature of this bottleneck could become even more apparent this week, when multiple stalled nominations will be sent to the lame-duck Senate floor in hopes of receiving the due consideration of an up-or-down vote that was accorded President George W. Bush's nominees exactly ten years ago. As recounted by the Constitutional Accountability Center's Doug Kendall:
There is certainly precedent for a big crop of lame-duck confirmations--in a five-day period in November 2002, a Senate controlled by Democrats confirmed 20 Bush judicial nominees on a voice vote, including contentious picks for appellate court slots, such as Michael McConnell (confirmed to a seat on the 10th Circuit) and Dennis Shedd (confirmed to a seat on the 4th Circuit).
This precedent may be overlooked, as it has become unfortunately common for the news media to downplay the GOP's role in blocking the President's nominees. But as judicial nominations expert and University of Richmond Professor of Law Carl Tobias has repeatedly noted, ignoring obvious obstructionism and instead claiming the administration fails to prioritize nominations - "overstat[ing] Democratic responsibility, and understat[ing] Republican" - does not adequately explain the unacceptably high number of vacancies in the federal judiciary. From Tobias' November 11 editorial in the Baltimore Sun:
Some critics blamed Mr. Obama for recommending an insufficient number of nominees in 2009, but he subsequently quickened the pace. Before making nominations official, the White House has robustly pursued the advice and support of Republican and Democratic senators who represent jurisdictions where vacancies have arisen. Mr. Obama has in most cases tapped noncontroversial individuals who are intelligent, ethical, industrious and independent, possess balanced temperament, and enhance diversity vis-á-vis ethnicity, gender and ideology.
The Senate Judiciary Committee has quickly scheduled hearings and votes, sending nominees to the floor. There, many of them have languished. For instance, on Sept. 22, the Senate approved two nominees even though it could easily have voted on 19 others, most of whom the Judiciary Committee had approved with minimal opposition. The Senate recessed without acting on any of those excellent nominees because the GOP refused to vote on them.
Republicans should cooperate better. The GOP has automatically held over committee ballots for seven days without persuasive reasons. However, the major problem has been the chamber floor. Republicans have infrequently entered time accords for votes. The unanimous consent procedure, which the GOP employed in September, allows one senator to halt floor ballots. Most troubling has been the Republican refusal to vote on uncontroversial, talented nominees -- inaction that contravenes Senate traditions. When senators have eventually voted, they overwhelmingly approved many nominees.
Whelan's post is not only an excellent reminder that the Republican obstructionism highlighted by Tobias may continue unabated, but also that Republican Senators have refused to be cooperative on centrist choices. Indeed, the prospect of Republicans only filibustering those "to the left of Merrick Garland," as suggested by the WSJ article, is highly suspect in light of the treatment of similarly centrist nominees this past Congressional session.
Future coverage of federal court nominees should thus look to the influential Whelan as to why these vacancies are not being confirmed. Whatever responsibility the administration may have in not offering nominees in a timely manner, the real reasons lie in Whelan's admitted goal of a Supreme Court with a "supermajority" of conservative Scalia clones.