Verizon NYC Droid event liveblog

It may not be the much-hyped Moto X unveiling, but today's Verizon press event will likely bring some big announcements of its own. It's been nearly a year since Motorola unveiled its trio of Razr handsets for the carrier, and it's all but certain that the company has at least a phone or two in store for us today. Will we finally get acquainted with the Droid Ultra, not to mention a Droid Maxx variant? Heck, rumors say there's also a Droid Mini on the way. Stay tuned as we bring you the latest from Verizon's event in Lincoln Center!

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/23/verizon-nyc-droid-event-liveblog/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Germany Should Honor Its Debt and Offer NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden Asylum

Refugees: Angela Merkel should offer Edward Snowden a safe harbour, just as the US sheltered Einstein from the Nazis.

Authoritarian states have a genius for damaging themselves by the obsessive persecution of individual dissidents whom they thereby transform into celebrity martyrs. The Soviet Union used to do this with Andrei Sakharov, Alexander Solzhenitsyn and a host of lesser critics of its system. Today, it is the post 9/11 United States that discredits itself by its relentless pursuit of Edward Snowden under the pretense that he is an arch-traitor aiding the enemies of America.

Western Europeans often view the moral and political failings of the US with a certain secret satisfaction. Slavish imitation of American culture and political and economic norms traditionally combines with an undercurrent of resentment. But there is less to envy in America today. Whatever Osama bin Laden thought he was doing by staging 9/11 he tipped the US towards developing a menacing and ever-more powerful security apparatus. The US lost its immense advantage in world politics of being the country where people believed that they were not going to be unjustly jailed or otherwise mistreated by the state.

Snowden is very clear why he made his initial revelations about National Security Agency surveillance. He was enjoying ?a very comfortable life? with a salary of $200,000, a home in Hawaii and a close and loving family. He said: ?I?m willing to sacrifice all of that because I can?t in good conscience allow the US government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine ....? He added: ?My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them.?

It is satisfying, if gruesome, to watch great powers shoot themselves in the foot. This was true of the mistreatment of Bradley Manning after the WikiLeaks revelations and it is true again of Snowden. Washington imagined it was a smart move to chase him into the limbo of the transit area in Moscow?s main airport, but thereby guaranteed that he was at the centre of international attention, rather than allowing him to proceed to the great media-hub of Bogota (The Shah made a similar mistake in 1978 when he got Saddam Hussein to force Ayatollah Khomeini to quit Iraq for Paris).

One of the most striking features of the Snowden saga is the craven cooperation of most European states. That Spain, France, Italy and Portugal all denied passage to the plane of Bolivian President Evo Morales, in case Snowden might be on board, removes any doubts about US superpower status. There was little lasting anger in Europe, whatever the rage in Latin America, and there was a foretaste of the essential indifference of European intelligentsia, certainly in Britain, to freedom of expression and state secrecy last year, with the shallow media sneers at Julian Assange.

The only person in Europe to see Snowden?s fate both in terms of political morality and in the context of the history of the US and Europe, is Rolf Hochhuth, the German author and playwright. He presented an eloquent petition to Chancellor Angela Merkel asking that Snowden be given asylum.

Hochhuth points out in the petition that where government is both accuser and perpetrator ?the accused has no hope of justice?. He added that if Snowden returns to the US he faces years in prison, but if he stays in Russia he will be permanently muzzled.

So, why should Germany of all countries offer asylum to an American? Hochhuth writes that ?more than any other, the German people are obligated to honor the right of asylum because, beginning in 1933, our elite, without exception from the Mann brothers to Einstein, survived the 12-year Nazi dictatorship purely because other countries, with the US as the greatest example, offered asylum to these refugees.?

Hochhuth emphasizes that he is far from being moved by any automatic anti-Americanism, but is motivated by memory of what the US did for Germany in the past. He remembers newsreel of when the Americans liberated Buchenwald in 1945 and saw Eisenhower in tears as he witnessed his GIs bulldozing mounds of corpses. ?They could not understand how we Germans could have been capable of such acts. Yet what was America?s answer? Through their airlift they rescued Berlin from Stalin?s grasp.?

Hochhuth argues that the US has changed, saying ?no nation remains lastingly great?. It might be difficult to sustain a charge of treason against Snowden in the US, but he could still receive multiple 10-year sentences, under the Espionage Act, for revealing classified information. Hochhuth cites with approval George Bernard Shaw?s somewhat self-regarding bon mot: ?I am held to be a master of irony. But even I would not have had the idea of erecting the Statue of Liberty in New York.?

In its pursuit of Snowden the US government has given substance to his accusations about an over-mighty and uncontrolled security apparatus. The sovereign rights of independent states have been trodden down as readily as the rights of individuals. Hochhuth asks Merkel whether ?you know of a similar act over a European state which considers itself sovereign, an act by which for 12 hours orders from the US prevent the plane of a South American president continuing its flight??

Aside from Hochhuth, there is something neutered and pro forma about the response of Europe?s leaders to Snowden?s revelations despite initial expressions of shock and anger. The British may have been subjected to less intense surveillance, but even if that were not so it is doubtful that they would care. Almost every significant act in Britain?s foreign policy over the past 30 years has been geared to strengthening its status as America?s greatest ally.

Concern for human rights and liberty is at its height when the abuses happen in Benghazi, Aleppo or Homs, but it ebbs to nothing when the abuse is closer to home or involves US citizens.

?It is the highest moral duty of Germany to give asylum to Edward Snowden,? concludes Hochhuth?s petition, ?[because] we as no other Europeans are duty bound in the light of our shameful past!?

? 2013 Independent/UK

Middle East correspondent for the British newspaper The Independent, Patrick Cockburn was awarded the 2005 Martha Gellhorn prize for war reporting. His book on his years covering the war in Iraq, The Occupation: War and Resistance in Iraq (Verso) was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for non-fiction.

Source: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/07/21-3

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Florida Citrus Commission Adds 2 Top Executives

Published: Thursday, July 18, 2013 at 3:22 a.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, July 18, 2013 at 3:22 a.m.

BARTOW | Two top Florida Department of Citrus executives will start in August after the Florida Citrus Commission approved their salaries on Wednesday.

"We'll have some new eager guys ready to work; I'm excited," said Lake Wales-based grower Marty McKenna, chairman of the commission, the department's governing body, during its 30-minute meeting by telephone.

Shannon Shepp, 44, one of three deputy commissioners at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, will start Aug. 2 as the deputy executive director of operations at the Citrus Department. She will earn a starting annual salary of $129,000.

Shepp worked in the state Agriculture Department's Winter Haven office for 12 years, rising to director of the Fruit and Vegetables Division there before becoming a deputy commissioner. She previously worked as an aide to then-state Rep. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, for three years and as a public relations representative for three years at Lakeland-based Florida Citrus Mutual.

"Her combined experience makes her a natural to help us face the challenges in the Florida citrus industry," Executive Director Doug Ackerman said.

Shepp succeeds Bob Norberg, who resigned in March.

New INTERNATIONAL marketing director

The commission approved a $100,000 annual salary for Michael Schadler of Seattle, who will start Aug. 12 as director of international marketing.

Schadler has worked since 2006 as an international marketing account manager for Bryant Christie Inc., a Seattle-based international marketing consultant.

Previously he lived and worked in Chile for five years.

The Citrus Department has contracted with Bryant Christie for many years, Ackerman noted, and Schadler has helped develop its export marketing strategy required to get U.S. Department of Agriculture funding. The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service program annually gives about $4 million, about half the department's international marketing budget, for advertising programs in Canada, Europe and Asia.

Schadler succeeds Mike Yetter, who retired earlier this month after 14 years with the department.

Florida law requires the Citrus Commission publicly approve salaries of $100,000 or more.

Polk leads the state's citrus-producing counties with 82,572 grove acres and 9.9 million trees in 2012, according to USDA data. It historically leads the state in citrus production, as it did in the 2011-12 season with 31.2 million boxes. It ranked No. 1 in orange, tangerine and tangelo production and third in grapefruit.

[ Kevin Bouffard can be reached at kevin.bouffard@theledger.com or at 863-401-6980. Read more on Florida citrus on his Facebook page, Florida Citrus Witness, http://bit.ly/baxWuU. ]

Source: http://www.theledger.com/article/20130718/news/130719273

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Syria, Snowden top topics for Kerry-Lavrov meeting

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, deflects a question from a reporter about whether he and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, will discuss asylum for National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, before Kerry and Lavrov's meeting during the ASEAN summit in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei on Tuesday, July 2, 2013. Kerry is expected to start the return to Washington Tuesday afternoon. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, deflects a question from a reporter about whether he and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, will discuss asylum for National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, before Kerry and Lavrov's meeting during the ASEAN summit in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei on Tuesday, July 2, 2013. Kerry is expected to start the return to Washington Tuesday afternoon. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, shakes hands with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov before their meeting during ASEAN in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei on Tuesday, July 2, 2013. Kerry is expected to start the return to Washington Tuesday afternoon. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei (AP) ? The Syrian crisis and National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden were hot-button topics Tuesday at U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of an Asian summit in Brunei.

Lavrov declined to sum up his more-than-90-minute meeting with Kerry, telling reporters only that their discussion was "excellent." After saying goodbye to Lavrov, Kerry ducked back into the room where he had meetings scheduled with Asian leaders.

Kerry wanted to talk to Lavrov about Russia's support of Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime, which is fighting against opposition forces armed by Western and Arab nations, and the case involving Snowden, which has strained U.S.-Russia relations.

Snowden, who is wanted in the U.S. on three charges of espionage, has been on the run since releasing sensitive NSA documents. He is believed to have been in the Moscow airport's transit zone since his arrival from Hong Kong on June 23. The U.S. has annulled his passport, and Ecuador, where he had hoped to get asylum, has been giving mixed signals about offering him shelter.

Snowden has expanded his requests for asylum to more than 20 countries, including China, according to WikiLeaks, an anti-secrecy group that has adopted Snowden and his cause.

After Snowden applied for political asylum to remain in Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters in Moscow that Snowden would have to stop leaking U.S. secrets if he wanted asylum there ? and he added that Snowden seemed unwilling to stop publishing leaks of classified material.

Before the meeting, when a reporter asked whether he and Kerry would talk about asylum for Snowden, Lavrov scolded the reporter, saying, "Don't shout at me, please."

Three U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to publicly discuss the Snowden case, have said Washington is trying to persuade Russia to deport Snowden either directly to the United States or to a third country, possibly in eastern Europe, that would then hand him over to U.S. authorities.

Neither the U.S. State Department nor the Russian foreign ministry issued statements detailing the meeting between Kerry and Lavrov.

Irritated by reporters who chased him down the hall after the meeting, Lavrov said, "I am on my way because I missed my lunch" and "You are absolutely crazy. I don't know how you can work like this."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-07-02-AS-Kerry/id-8729a27db6f64fe6983aaa16439e29b0

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Susan Rice: Snowden leaks haven't weakened Obama

In this June 25, 2013 photo provided by the United Nations, outgoing U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice speaks to reporters at her final news conference at the U.N. headquarters. Rice, who will start her new job as U.S. national security adviser on July 1, said the U.N. Security Council's failure to take action to stop the conflict in Syria is "a moral and strategic disgrace that history will judge harshly." (AP Photo/United Nations Photo, Devra Berkowitz)

In this June 25, 2013 photo provided by the United Nations, outgoing U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice speaks to reporters at her final news conference at the U.N. headquarters. Rice, who will start her new job as U.S. national security adviser on July 1, said the U.N. Security Council's failure to take action to stop the conflict in Syria is "a moral and strategic disgrace that history will judge harshly." (AP Photo/United Nations Photo, Devra Berkowitz)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) ? U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice dismissed claims that Edward Snowden's highly classified leaks have weakened the Obama presidency and damaged U.S. foreign policy, insisting that the United States will remain "the most influential, powerful and important country in the world."

Rice's remarks were her only public ones on Snowden and came in an interview with The Associated Press as she prepared to leave the U.N. post and start her new job Monday as President Barack Obama's national security adviser.

She said it's too soon to judge whether there will be any long-term serious repercussions from the intelligence leaks by the former National Security Agency contractor who fled to Hong Kong and then Russia after seizing documents disclosing secret U.S. surveillance programs in the U.S. and overseas, which he has shared with The Guardian and Washington Post newspapers.

"I don't think the diplomatic consequences, at least as they are foreseeable now, are that significant," she said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have called Snowden's leaks a serious breach that damaged national security. Hagel said Thursday an assessment of the damage is being done now.

"There will always be difficult issues of the day," Rice said, "and frankly this period is not particularly unique."

"I think the Snowden thing is obviously something that we will get through, as we've gotten through all the issues like this in the past," she said in the interview Thursday before heading to a lunch in her honor hosted by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The United States has charged Snowden with espionage and demanded his extradition, but China and Hong Kong let him fly to Moscow and the Russians have so far refused. The Snowden case has not only raised tensions with Moscow and Beijing but with many Americans concerned about the NSA collecting their Internet and phone data.

Rice dismissed commentators who say Snowden's disclosures have made Obama a lame duck, damaged his political base, and hurt U.S. foreign policy, saying: "I think that's bunk."

"I think the United States of America is and will remain the most influential, powerful and important country in the world, the largest economy, and the largest military, (with) a network of alliances, values that are universally respected," she said.

Rice said Obama has "significant ambitions and a real agenda" for his second term, pointing to major speeches last week on disarmament and nonproliferation and this week on the impact of climate change.

As for Snowden, she said, "It's often, if not always something, and U.S. leadership will continue to be unrivaled, demanded, expected ? and reviled and appreciated around the world."

Rice, 48, is expected to bring her outspoken and aggressive negotiating style to her new, higher-profile job.

At the United Nations, she has been a bold and blunt ambassador, successfully pushing for tougher sanctions against Iran and North Korea and international intervention in Libya. But Libya ultimately caused her greatest professional disappointment when she became the face of the administration's bungled account of the terrorist attack in Benghazi that killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador.

The furor scuttled Rice's long-held hopes of becoming secretary of state when it became clear she would not gain Senate confirmation to that post, which went to John Kerry.

Rice has called her 4 1/2 years at the U.N. "the best job I ever had," and told The AP she would be "hard-pressed" to think of any better place to prepare for her new post.

"You get to deal with ... literally every country under the sun, and I think you get a unique feel for the orientations, interests, styles, of a wide, wide range of countries," she said.

To succeed at the U.N., Rice said, it's crucial to form alliances and coalitions, which change depending on the issue, so a friend one day can be an opponent the next day.

Rice has sparred repeatedly with Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who can be equally blunt. But despite being on opposite sides of the Syrian conflict, which has paralyzed council action to end the fighting, Rice said they agree perhaps 85 percent of the time.

"I like and respect him," she said. "I think he likes and respects me, and it's been a good relationship. That's why I asked him to speak at my farewell. I asked people who were important to me. He's a very smart and a very funny guy and he can be a pain in the butt, too ? and I tell him that to his face!"

At the farewell, Churkin delivered an off-the-record roast of Rice, without notes, that had some 300 diplomats, U.N. officials and journalists doubled-over in laughter.

The Syrian conflict will be near the top of Rice's agenda in Washington as will the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea.

Rice said the result of Iran's presidential election earlier this month, a victory for Hasan Rouhani, a moderate who supports direct talks with Washington, "was a dramatic demonstration of the Iranian peoples' dissatisfaction with the status quo."

"To the extent that the leadership feels obliged to heed popular opinion ? obviously we would hope they would ? it may perhaps signal a readiness to move in a different direction, and if so, we would welcome it," she said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-06-29-UN-Susan%20Rice-Interview/id-0497f11393104cf38ec8857fe920321d

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Maggie Gyllenhaal: Ramona Taught Me How to Be a Mom

"I had nothing to change her into, nothing to clean her with. I don't know why no one told me I would need a diaper bag."

Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/7M_YDJQG1jI/

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S?o Miguel scops owl was wiped out after arrival of humans in the Azores

June 27, 2013 ? On S?o Miguel Island in the Azores, there used to exist a small, nocturnal bird of prey, related to the European scops owl, named Otus frutuosoi, which was very probably driven to extinction with the arrival of the first settlers in the 15th century. An international study, in which Spanish researchers participated, has for the first time identified fossils of this species endemic to the island.

On 28 August 2011 researchers Juan Carlos Rando, from the University of La Laguna (Tenerife), and Josep Antoni Alcover from the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies in Mallorca unearthed some small fossil bones buried not far below the ground of the ?gua de Pau cave (S?o Miguel Island, Azores, Portugal).

Two years later, an article published by the journal Zootaxa has revealed that the remains found belong to an extinct species of scops owl which has been given the name Otus frutuosoi in honour of the 16th-century Azorean historian Gaspar Frutuoso.

Carbon dating the fossils indicates that they are from 1,970 years ago. The hypothesis entertained by the researchers is that the arrival of human beings to the archipelago in the 15th century changed its ecosystem and caused the extinction of the species.

"Humans have a history of changing island ecosystems. When humans arrived on the island mice started to appear and laurisilva -- a type of humid forest -- was destroyed. This surely played a large part in the extinction of the S?o Miguel scops owl," Alcover explains.

Scops owls are nocturnal birds of prey, and this new species in particular is phylogenetically related to the Otus scops, or European scops owl, which with a length of 20 cm is the smallest nocturnal bird of prey on the Iberian Peninsular.

It is calculated that the wing surface of the Otus frutuosoi measured a maximum of 114 cm2, at least 33% less than the European scops owl, and although its legs were 11.6% longer, "the appearance of its body was more squat," according to the experts.

"The body of the extinct scops owl of the Azores was shorter and wider than that of its modern-day European relatives. Its beak was short and small, similar to that of the nightjar. Having long legs and very short wings, it must have been a very poor flyer and thus more of a land-dwelling bird," the scientist points out.

The second extinct scops owl on North Atlantic islands

A year ago, the same team of scientists documented another extinct bird of the same genus, although bigger, in Madeira: the Otus mauli.

Due to its anatomical features, the scientists believe that the Otus frutuosoi was an insectivore and must have lived on the ground of the laurisilva, where it would have found food and protection.

Otus frutuosoi remains have only been found on S?o Miguel Island in the Azores, therefore it is considered endemic to the island, although the authors do not discount the possibility of finding more fossils of the same species or other similar ones in various parts of the archipelago.

"The discovery of endemic scops owls in Azores and Madeira indicates that on occasions atmospheric conditions have occurred that have dragged these birds with them. Some reached safe land, where they survived and developed in isolated conditions, and new species formed," concludes Alcover.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/phbEXUJ2L_8/130627083044.htm

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Dem Rep. Markey wins US Senate election in Mass.

BOSTON (AP) ? Longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. Edward Markey defeated Republican political newcomer Gabriel Gomez in a special election on Tuesday for the state's U.S. Senate seat long held by John Kerry, a race that failed to draw the attention that the state's 2010 special Senate election did.

Markey, 66, won the early backing of Kerry and much of the state's Democratic political establishment, which was set on avoiding a repeat of the stunning loss it suffered three years ago, when Republican state Sen. Scott Brown upset Democratic state Attorney General Martha Coakley in the election to replace the late Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy.

Gomez, a 47-year-old businessman and former Navy SEAL, positioned himself as a moderate and Washington outsider who would challenge partisan gridlock, contrasting himself with Markey, who was first elected to the U.S. House in 1976.

Markey had an advantage of about 8 percentage points over Gomez with most precincts reporting late Tuesday, according to unofficial returns. He took to Twitter to thank voters after his victory.

"Thank you Massachusetts!" he tweeted. "I am deeply honored for the opportunity to serve you in the United States Senate."

Gomez said he called Markey to congratulate him and wished him "nothing but the best."

In a concession speech to supporters, Gomez said he was a better person as a result of the campaign and believed Markey would be a better senator having gone through the election.

Gomez said he'd waged the campaign with honor and integrity but was "massively outspent" by Democrats in the five-month election and was facing the might of the national Democratic Party.

Markey outspent Gomez throughout the race, and Republicans were unable to match a well-oiled Democratic field organization in an election that saw relatively light turnout in much of the heavily Democratic state.

Kerry left the Senate this year after being confirmed as U.S. secretary of state. Markey will fill out the remainder of Kerry's term, which expires in January 2015, meaning that another Senate election will be held a year from November.

Though Markey has a lengthy career in Congress, he will become the state's junior senator to Elizabeth Warren, who has been in office less than six months after defeating Brown last November.

Markey led in pre-election polls but said Tuesday when he voted with his wife in his hometown, Malden, that there was no overconfidence in his organization. He had said the campaign called or rang the doorbells of 3 million prospective voters in the past several days.

"I have delivered a message on gun safety, on a woman's right to choose, on creating more jobs, and I think that message has been delivered," Markey said.

President Barack Obama, former President Bill Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden visited Massachusetts over the final two weeks of the campaign to shore up support for Markey.

Gomez said while voting Tuesday in Cohasset, where he lives with his wife and children, that the election was about choosing the future over the past and what he called Markey's failure to take on the important issues despite 37 years in office.

"Where I come from, that is mission incomplete," he said.

In Cambridge, Lori Berenson, 51, said she voted for Markey mainly because she was skeptical of one of Gomez's main campaign pitches: his request for just 17 months in office.

"He thinks in 17 months he's going to accomplish what Markey hasn't done in 37 years?" she said.

But David Wanders, 43, of Stoughton, said he voted for Gomez because he felt Markey had been in Washington too long.

"He's a lifer," said Wanders, an independent who voted for Obama in the last election. "I don't think he lives here. He lives in Washington."

Markey spent more than $8.6 million on the race through the end of the last reporting period June 5, compared with $2.3 million by Gomez, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Outside groups also poured about $6 million into the Markey-Gomez contest, in the absence of an agreement between the candidates akin to one that had kept most outside money out of last year's Warren-Brown race.

Among the big independent spenders were a Republican-backed super political action committee funded by John Jordan, a California-based donor, and NextGen, a super PAC financed by another wealthy Californian, Thomas Steyer, who supported Markey largely because of his opposition to the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline, which would carry oil from western Canada to Texas.

Also on the ballot was Richard Heos, affiliated with the Twelve Visions Party.

___

Associated Press writer Steve Peoples contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dem-rep-markey-wins-us-senate-election-mass-011355003.html

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Gold probes may offer valuable insight into cancer

June 25, 2013 ? Nanoprobes made from gold could be used to predict people's cancer risk -- and the effectiveness of treatments, following research by University of Strathclyde academics.

The nanoprobes could allow scientists to study cancer cells in minute detail -- using a highly-sensitive imaging technique known as FRET microscopy -- with the aim of identifying tumour-causing properties. The nanoprobes could also be used to measure how effective medicines are, at a sub-cellular level of detail, while another application could be the identification of contaminants in food and water supplies.

Dr Yu Chen, of the University's Department of Physics, said: "The technology could allow the simultaneous detection of multiple types of RNA related to cancer, which would then raise the possibility of scientists eventually being able to screen patients, in order to predict their risk of developing disease. By allowing us to see what is happening inside cells, we also hope this research will also lead to the development of techniques to study the efficacy of drugs."

Co-worker Professor David Birch, also of the Physics Department, said: "We are very excited about the potential applications of this multi-disciplinary approach, which harnesses expertise from physics, chemistry, biology, engineering and medicine. We hope it will lead to the development of a new generation of biological imaging and sensing techniques that underpin improvements in healthcare for a range of diseases."

The team also believes FRET microscopy with gold nanoparticles could be used to improve food and water safety. Co-worker Dr Jun Yu, of the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, said: "This new approach to imaging RNA at a single-cell level may also allow scientists to develop new methods to identify various microbes which may have contaminated food and water. Food safety is a global challenge and using novel nanoprobes to detect food contamination by various microbes will open up a new way of addressing this crucial issue."

Gold nanoparticles - less than 1000th of the width of a human hair - have a number of advantages over organic dye molecules that are used at present for studying cells with fluorescence microscopy. They are more photostable - meaning they are unchanged by exposure to light - are more sensitive because they can probe over a longer distance, and are less toxic to cells.

Dr Chen said: "The nanoprobes are based on a type of 'molecular handshake', called F?rster resonance energy transfer -- or FRET, in which gold nanoparticles are linked with a fluorescent protein, via a hairpin-structured single stranded DNA. Upon interacting with the target mRNA in the cell, the hairpin structure dissolves and a fluorescent signal occurs -- enabling the tracking and quantification of the disease-related mRNA at a cellular level, even down to the level of single molecules."

Scientists believe they can be used to deliver other molecules, such as cancer drugs, directly to disease tissues -- bypassing normal, healthy cells. Also, they are economical to produce because they only use a tiny trace of the precious metal.

The 18-month project, backed with ?119,000 investment from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. It aims to develop a new approach for imaging message ribonucleic acids (mRNA) - a kind of nucleic acid present in all living cells that carries genetic codes from DNA to make protein. By examining key mRNAs at a cellular level, scientists could be able to detect diseases -- such as cancer -- at an early stage, and to study how effective a particular treatment is.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/genes/~3/3lYWswDBtp0/130625073740.htm

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Switched On: Touchy subjects

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

In 2002, the first LCD-based iMac succeeded the translucent PowerPC G3-based models that the original Bondi Blue iMac begat. The new generation was much more striking than the one that had placed Apple on the comeback trail. The iMac G4 mounted the display on a balanced arm similar to a Luxo lamp while the motherboard resided in a hemispherical base. This allowed the display to be adjusted to a wide range of heights and angles and each of the two main sections to be "true to itself."

Alas, the design had its limits. It's difficult to imagine today's ample 27-inch iMac displays balancing off such a mount. Furthermore, after the switch to Intel, processor thermals improved to help enable the slim iMac of today. The idea of efforts being true to themselves (at least until nearly compromise-free convergence is possible), however, has stayed a hallmark of Apple. For example, the company would resist adding video to the iPod for years after competitors had the feature.

Filed under: Handhelds, Tablets, Software, Apple, Microsoft

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/23/touchy-subjects/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Lebanon clashes rage near mosque; 16 soldiers dead

BEIRUT (AP) ? Lebanese army units battled followers of a hard-line Sunni cleric holed up in a mosque complex in a southern port city on Monday, the second day of fighting that has left at least 16 soldiers dead, the military said.

The clashes in Sidon, Lebanon's third-largest city some 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Beirut, are the latest bout of violence in Lebanon linked to the conflict in neighboring Syria.

They are the bloodiest yet involving the army ? at least two of those killed are officers. The Lebanese media has depicted the clashes as a test for the state in containing armed groups that have taken up the cause of the warring sides in Syria, whose sectarian makeup mirrors that of its smaller neighbor.

The two days of fighting between troops and armed supporters of Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir have transformed the city, which had been largely spared the violence plaguing border areas near Syria, into a combat zone.

The National News Agency said the clashes also left fifty wounded. Hospital officials said at least three of al-Assir's supporters died in the fighting.

The military in a statement said the gunmen were using the religious compound to fire on its troops and had taken civilians as shields.

Machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled grenade explosions caused panic among residents of Sidon. Residents reported power and water outage.

The city streets appeared largely deserted Monday. Local media reported many residents were asking for evacuation from the heavily populated neighborhood around the Bilal bin Rabbah Mosque where al-Assir preaches, and where the fighting has been concentrated. The local municipality said that the city is "a war zone," appealing for a cease-fire to evacuate the civilians and wounded in the area.

Many people living on upper floors came down or fled to safer areas, while others were seen running away from fighting areas carrying children. Others remained locked up in their homes or shops, fearing getting caught in the crossfire. Gray smoke billowed over parts of the city.

The military appealed to the gunmen to hand themselves in. In its statement, it said that it "reassures all Lebanese that it will continue to uproot the strife and will not stop its operations until security is totally restored to the city and its boroughs, and falls under the rule of law and order."

The clashes erupted Sunday in the predominantly Sunni city after troops arrested a follower of al-Assir. The army says supporters of the cleric opened fire without provocation on an army checkpoint.

Al-Assir is a virulent critic of the powerful Shiite militant Hezbollah group, which along with its allies dominates Lebanon's government. He supports rebels fighting to oust Syria's President Bashar Assad.

A few Hezbollah supporters in the city were briefly drawn into the fight Sunday, firing on al-Assir's supporters. At least one was killed, according to his relatives in the city who spoke anonymously out of concerns for their security.

But the group appeared to be staying largely out of the ongoing clashes. Last week, al-Assir supporters fought with pro-Hezbollah gunmen, leaving two killed.

Early Monday, al-Assir appealed to his supporters through his Twitter account in other parts of Lebanon to rise to his help, threatening to widen the scale of clashes.

The tweets did not give a clear statement on how the battle began. It came after a series of incidents pitting the cleric's followers against other groups in the town, including Hezbollah supporters and the army.

The cleric is believed to have hundreds of armed supporters in Sidon involved in the fighting. Dozens of al-Assir's gunmen also partially shut down the main highway linking south Lebanon with Beirut. On Monday, they opened fire in other parts of the city, with local media reporting gunshots in the city's market.

Fighting also broke out in parts of Ein el-Hilweh, a teeming Palestinian refugee camp near Sidon, where al-Assir has supporters. Islamist factions inside the camp lobbed mortars at military checkpoints around the camp. Tension also spread to the north in Tripoli, Lebanon's second largest city. Masked gunmen roamed the city center, firing in the air and forcing shops and businesses to shut down in solidarity with al-Assir. Dozens of gunmen also set fire to tires, blocking roads. The city's main streets were emptying out. There was no unusual military or security deployment.

Sectarian clashes in Lebanon tied to the Syrian conflict have intensified in recent weeks, especially after Hezbollah sent fighters to support Assad's forces. Most of the rebels fighting to topple Assad are from Syria's Sunni majority, while the President Bashar Assad belongs to the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

Walid al-Moallem, Syria's foreign minister, blamed the violence in Lebanon on the international decision to arm rebels, saying that it will only serve to prolong the fighting in Syria and will impact neighboring Lebanon.

"What is going in Sidon is very dangerous, very dangerous," he told reporters in Damascus. "We warned since the start that the impact of what happens in Syria on neighboring countries will be grave."

In Syria, activists reported fighting Monday between Syrian troops and rebels in the northern province of Aleppo as well as districts on the edge of the Syrian capital and its suburbs.

Clashes in Lebanon have also mostly pitted Sunni against Shiite. The most frequent outbreaks have involved rival neighborhoods in the northern port city of Tripoli, close to the Syrian border.

President Michel Suleiman called for an emergency security meeting later Monday.

Headlines of Lebanon's newspapers were all dominated by the violence in Sidon, with many seeing it as a test for the state to impose order. "An attempt to assassinate Sidon and the military," read the headline of the daily al-Safir. "Al-Assir crosses the red line," read another headline in al-Jomhouria daily. A third headline in al-Nahar read: "Yesterday war in Sidon. Today, decisiveness or settlement?"

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lebanon-clashes-rage-near-mosque-16-soldiers-dead-124458104.html

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Editor's Letter: Microsoft backtracks. Is the Xbox One better for it?

In each issue of Distro, editor-in-chief Tim Stevens publishes a wrap-up of the week in news.

It's not too often that we call a tech news story stunning, but that seems like an apt description for our reaction when Microsoft decided to pull an abrupt about-face and nix its controversial rights management for the Xbox One. We learned at the Seattle launch event that the system would have to call home once every 24 hours or every game installed from a disc would be disabled -- even if you had the disc in the drive -- and quickly the rumblings from the gamers started. They grew louder at E3 when Microsoft detailed the system's DRM, a stream of complaints that quickly reached deafening levels on online forums and the like.

Yet, through all that, Microsoft stayed true to the party line, that the advantages of this system (being able to digitally share games, being able to change games without having to swap discs, etc.) outweighed the overwhelmingly negative reaction brewing among online gamers. That corporate message seemed to get bitter at times, weary at others, but never showed a sign of changing. Until, suddenly, a complete about-face this week.

Filed under: Misc, Internet, Samsung, Microsoft

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/jf7Q_0z8Ob4/

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Are pro-immigration reform Republicans hurting their 2016 chances? (cbsnews)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/314272127?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Britain's Kate to give birth in same hospital as Princess Diana

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, will give birth to the future heir to the British throne in the same hospital where the late Princess Diana gave birth to Princes William and Harry, royal sources said on Wednesday.

The new royal baby, who will become third in line to the throne behind grandfather Prince Charles and father Prince William, will be born in the private Lindo wing of St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, West London.

The sources said the royal couple have still not been told the sex of the baby which is due next month as they want it to be a surprise.

However speculation about the baby's sex has swirled since March when the duchess accepted a teddy saying: "Thank you, I'll take this for my d.."

Bookmaker William Hill said this dropped "d" led to such wide speculation that the baby was a girl that it suspended all bets on gender just weeks later while rival bookmaker Paddy Power paid out on bets that it was girl.

The birth will be announced in the traditional way, the sources added, with an envelope containing notice of the baby's details taken from the hospital to Queen Elizabeth's London residence, Buckingham Palace, where the news will be posted on the main palace gates.

The baby will be delivered by Marcus Setchell, the Queen's former gynecologist.

Princess Diana, who died in a Paris car crash in 1997, gave birth to William in 1982 and to his younger brother Harry - who will drop a place in the line of succession after next month's arrival - in 1984 at St Mary's.

William, 30, and Kate, 31, married in April 2011, taking the official titles the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and announced they were expecting a baby in December last year.

Bookmakers said bets on names were rolling in from over 100 countries with Alexandra the clear favorite followed by Diana and then Elizabeth.

Alexandra has a history in the royal family with Princess Alexandra, 76, a cousin of Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria's son Edward VII married to Alexandra of Denmark in 1863.

The favorite boy's name is George and the favored date for the birth is July 17.

(Reporting by Stephen Addison, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/britains-kate-birth-same-hospital-princess-diana-155708473.html

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The money mattress: A Spanish invention stores cash in beds

For Spanish businessman Paco Santos, the safest place to keep money is still under a mattress?or rather, inside it.

Santos, according to NPR, who was laid off from Spain?s largest mattress manufacturer three years ago, is the inventor of the Caja de ahorros Micolchon, or ?My Mattress Safe." It's a plush, padded mattress with a keypad-equipped, armored safe built into the side.

After being contacted by NPR, Santos said the mattress was no joke. "We?re completely serious,? he said. ?And we?ve sold many, many of these mattresses.?

According to NPR, My Mattress Safe sells for more than $1,100. Santos said the investment was worth it: ?We?ve got big economic problems in Spain, and people have really lost their confidence in banks."

In a 59-second video that Santos made with the help of a son who works in PR, the inventor explains that his company wants to ?reinvent the traditional method of saving money.?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/money-mattress-spanish-invention-stores-cash-beds-211255582.html

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Laser-Cut Logos: The Future of Packaging Is No Packaging At All

The EU is notoriously sensitive about how its crops are grown?but this weekend, it will begin allowing companies to apply labels and barcodes directly onto produce using lasers. The new legislation?which has taken three years to pass?was spearheaded by a Spanish company called Laser Food (natch), which has developed proprietary tech to print the marks en masse.

Similar to a laser cutter, Laser Food?s unwieldy contraptions are able to print marks onto the skin of produce, ranging from bananas to tomatoes, without damaging anything beneath it. The printing tech is specific enough to be read by a barcode scanner, too. Interestingly, the EU?s original objection to the technology wasn?t actually the use of lasers?it was the use of two chemicals, iron oxides and hydroxides, which make the laser marks clearer to the eye. Right now, Laser Food's fastest machine can print up to 54,000 pieces of fruit in an hour, which isn't bad; the biggest hurdle will likely be convincing companies to invest in a fairly expensive new technology.

Fruit ?tattoos,? of course, sound like a novelty, but they could eventually be pretty useful. Not only will they do away with the distasteful act of picking off tiny fragments of sticker with your dirty fingernails, they?ll eliminate packaging, and ultimately, make it easier for customers to know they?re not being deceived about the origin of their produce. Laser Food?s tech could also change the landscape of the grocery store: Now, fruits that accidentally evade laser-branding will be thrown in an ?anonymous,? off-brand fruit bin. [Telegraph]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/laser-cut-logos-the-future-of-packaging-is-no-packagin-514297623

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Google Close To Buying Waze $1.3 Billion - Business Insider

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Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/google-close-to-buying-waze-2013-6

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Obama's Now Picking Foreign Targets for a Future Cyberwar

What a week ol' Barry's been having in Washington! First, there was that scoop about the NSA spying on all the Verizon customers. Then, there was this PRISM scandal about how intelligence agencies are basically spying on everyone all the time. Now, there's news that he's making a hitlist of foreign countries to hit with cyberattacks when the time is right. There's probably some spying involved in that, too.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/F40gb78-Q7U/obamas-now-picking-foreign-targets-for-a-future-cyberw-511982973

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NASA spacecraft sees tornado's destructive swath

June 6, 2013 ? A new image from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft shows the extent of destruction from the deadly Newcastle-Moore tornado that ripped through central Oklahoma on May 20, 2013.

The Newcastle-Moore tornado was rated at EF-5 on the Enhanced Fujita scale. An EF-5 is the most powerful category of tornado.

ASTER acquired this false-color image of the scar left on the landscape by the tornado's track on June 2, 2013. In the image, vegetation appears red, water is dark blue, roads and buildings are gray, and white and bare fields are tan. The tornado's track crosses the image from left to right, as indicated by the arrows. The image covers an area of 6 by 8.6 miles (9.6 by 13.8 kilometers), and is located at 35.3 degrees north latitude, 97.5 degrees west longitude.

The Newcastle-Moore tornado had peak winds estimated at 210 mph (340 kilometers per hour). It remained on the ground for 39 minutes over a 17-mile-long path (27 kilometers). As of June 5, the storm is known to be responsible for 24 deaths and more than $2 billion in damage.

With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region and its high spatial resolution of about 50 to 300 feet (15 to 90 meters), ASTER images Earth to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet. ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched Dec. 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra spacecraft. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and data products. The U.S. science team is located at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The California Institute of Technology in Pasadena manages JPL for NASA.

The image is online at: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA16488 . More information about ASTER is available at http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/ .

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/QTOCMQnm0jY/130606132319.htm

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Valkee, The Profitable Startup That Shines Lights Through Your Ears, Raises $9.7M

Valkee, the Finnish company that built a contraption that shines lights through your ear canals to treat seasonal affective disorder, closed $9.7 million in funding from current and new investors. Beyond the ones that were already revealed last year like Finland’s Lifeline Ventures, Esther Dyson, Jaiku and Ditto co-founder Jyri Engestrom and former EA EVP Kristian Segerstrale, the company isn’t sharing the identities of its new investors. While Valkee’s product does sound a bit wacky, it’s backed by research from the company’s co-founder Juuso Nissila. While studying the circadian rhythms of birds up in the way, way north of Finland in Oulo, he found that there were light-sensitive proteins on the surface of these animals’ brains that could help regulate their sleep schedules. He wondered if the same photo-sensitivity could be found in human brains. He partnered with a longtime Nokia researcher Antti Auino and built the Valkee, which looks like an MP3 player with a set of fancy headphones attached to it. The earbuds actually have a pair of lights attached to them that run for 12-minute sessions at a time. The idea is that by shining light into sensitive areas of the brain, it will stimulate a special OPN3 protein in parts of the brain that help regulate serotonin, melatonin and dopamine production. They started selling the product back in 2010 under Europe’s CE Class II medical device certification and have their biggest customer bases in German-speaking Europe, Scandinavia and Japan. They’re using the funding to expand to other markets while expanding existing clinical trials for applications in treating jetlag, cognitive performance and depression. Given that it’s such a controversial product, Valkee has tried to be relatively open to both praise and criticism with its presence on Facebook. The company has so far published two clinical trials for seasonal affective disorder using 13 patients in an open trial and 89 patients in a controlled trial.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/KhOF6huaea8/

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Joan Rivers Turns 80! See How Her Face Has Changed

It's hard to believe that Joan Rivers is turning 80 -- partially because her face is only a few years old! From facelifts to Botox injections, the Fashion Police host is known for her many nips and tucks. She even joked on her show Melissa and Joan: Joan Knows Best that she had undergone a whopping 739 procedures. 

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/joan-rivers-through-years-plastic-surgery-face/1-a-537948?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Ajoan-rivers-through-years-plastic-surgery-face-537948

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4 Steps to Building a Smart Marriage | The Everygirl

Stressed about choosing between buttercream and ganache? Ivory versus platinum white? These decisions can be overwhelming, but not nearly as important as those involved in planning a marriage. What about kids or no kids? Financially conservative or indulgent? The good news is that prepping for married life doesn?t have to be stressful if you start planning now! Just like selecting frosting and dress hues, your marriage can be a thoughtful and colorful original design, starting with a sturdy foundation.

As a therapist specializing in couples and relationship health, I find myself energized by couples headed down the aisle. I?m refreshed by their eagerness to co-create a lasting marriage, and am invigorated by the infancy of their relationship. There is so much that I want to share, to practice, to incite, and yet so little to predict with certainty. To all you Everygirls knee-deep in wedding cake and signature cocktail options: first, save me some. Second, take some time to remember that you?re planning a marriage, along with a wedding. Revel in your shared future, and set aside time with your partner to explore it. To all my single ladies, it?s never too early to begin exploring and identifying your own relationship values. You don?t have to be in a relationship to know how to be great in one.

Wondering what the formula is for a good marriage? Consider these important fundamentals with your future spouse, and you?ll be off to a great start.

What we know from research done by John Gottman (essentially the Jonathan Adler of marriage counseling) is that there are several barriers to effective communication. He calls them the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse. I just call them naughty. The four main barriers are criticism, defensiveness, stonewalling, and contempt.?If you or your partner display even just one of them, you?ll struggle to communicate effectively. Name-calling, withdrawing, and digging up past arguments to use as justification are not only unpleasant, they?re useless. When I hear one partner bring up that one time, seven years ago, he broke your favorite coffee mug in the heat of an argument, I politely insist that they move on and remain present-focused. Using a past transgression as ammunition for a current fight is unreasonable. Only mention these past hurts if they truly require resolution for you, and do so in a mature way, outside of an argument.

Go back to basics: take turns talking; mirror what your partner says, then respond with positive, reaffirming, intentional statements. Your goals in effective arguing are to be heard and to reach resolution, not to shame or prove wrong. Appeal to the best in your partner, and you?ll likely get the same in return.

Once you?ve solidified your status as a communication-savvy couple, jump on into the weightier (read: scarier) conversations. I?m talking ?kids, finances, in-laws, house chores, religion, vacations, sex. Yes?discuss sex now before it becomes an issue (sad to say there?s a good chance this will happen, people). Approach these topics with compassion and clarity, certain about your vision for the marriage, but equally ready to listen and really hear your partner?s side. The trick here is to do it NOW, if you haven?t already! Don?t wait until after you?re married to get into the nitty gritty details. I regularly see couples several years into their marriage just learning about their spouse?s debt, dislike of children, incompetent bed-making skills, etc., and are in agony over these newly discovered discrepancies.

While it?s never too late to discuss and resolve these details, had they done it earlier, they would have been better able to practice the art of adaptation and negotiation. Be a smart fianc? and strategize your way to a thoughtful and well-developed marriage. Sit down with your partner in a neutral, comfortable atmosphere, and make a list of topics you?d like to discuss. Don?t exclude anything, even if you?re worried it will cause discomfort. Because you?re already expert arguers/listeners, discussing these important topics will be a breeze!

Ever hear that marriage is hard work? Here?s why: when the initial stages of newlywed delight dissipate (and they inevitably will), your goal turns toward creating a secure, safe, domestic life with your partner. All of those things are important and great, but there can be a tendency to get stuck in routine (translation: rut). I have a magic trick I often use with couples in a rut. I have the uncanny ability to guess their daily routine, down to the hour. While they?re in awe over my special powers, I?m planning their next move: have some fun, because when I hear ?rut,? I think of boring, expected, nothing out of the ordinary, no risks. I can almost see the fun being sucked out of their marriage.

I can also guarantee that NONE of those characteristics were involved in your relationship when it first began. I bet you took trips together, you surprised each other, you were playful, and you flirted. While it?s important to recognize that monotonous down times are a normal and very much expected part of marriage, also know that it doesn?t need to last forever, or even a long time, for that matter.

One exercise I give to couples in a rut is to have them take turns planning a date?the whole thing, from event or activities, to dinner reservations, to picking out your partner?s outfit, shoes, underwear, hair style, etc. Keep your plans a secret until the big day. The idea is to increase anticipation, and to help identify what exhilarates you. Let fun be the element of change. Get back into the habit of actively loving one another. The only thing better than the thrill of a new relationship is reinvigorating it years later.

That leads me to my last point. You know how you got all excited to be husband and wife and ride off into the sunset of domestic bliss? That?s fabulous, and I personally congratulate you, but don?t forget that at one point you were boyfriend and girlfriend, and treated each other as such. You shaved your legs. You put on makeup. You worked out. You tried. He surprised you. He bought you flowers. He complimented you. He tried. Sexiness shouldn?t stop when the ring goes on.

One of the most common concerns our couples bring to therapy is the ?roommate stalemate,? and it sounds like this: ?We?re great friends, we get along well, we actually like each other, but?we?re not having sex.? The reason for this is couples that forget (or don?t know that they have to) to cultivate passion and eroticism, both of which thrive on novelty and the nuanced language of flirtation and seduction, find that sex is no longer exciting, and stop trying. Sexiness and passion come naturally with newer relationships, because the elements of desire and arousal (novelty, mystery, intrigue) are innately there.

I suggest that couples in this stalemate get reacquainted with their own elements of desire, first and foremost. One easy way to do this is to make a list of the top ten things that rev up your sexual interest (lighting candles, wining-and-dining, Bradley Cooper), and share them with your partner. After you feel comfortable sharing these, go on and take some risks. Share your fantasies in detail with one another, and pick one or two to try out. Role-play with one another. Experiment with toys, props, or lubricants. Allow your sexual relationship with your partner to evolve, and get creative in the process! Don?t be afraid to try new things in and out of the bedroom, and be your sexy self that attracted your partner in the first place. A helpful hint: women tend to have more variables when it comes to being ready and excited for sex. Dirty dishes in the sink or having a bad work day affects women more than it does men, so give yourself permission to take the time to mentally prepare for sex?if you?re not in a good place mentally and emotionally, you probably won?t experience sex at its full potential.

If you?re an engaged Everygirl living in the Chicago area and are interested in learning what it takes to build a solid foundation for you and your future spouse, then join us for an upcoming Premarital Workshop! The pros at Enliven Couples Therapy will guide you in reaffirming your strengths as a couple, and will coach you in learning how to keep your sexual relationship fresh. Details can be found on our blog: http://enlivenblog.tumblr.com/

Source: http://theeverygirl.com/feature/tips-to-building-a-smart-marriage/

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Sprint slams Dish's latest offer for Clearwire

By Liana B. Baker and Sinead Carew

(Reuters) - Sprint Nextel Corp urged Clearwire Corp to reject Dish Network's rival bid for the wireless service provider, saying that a deal under Dish's terms would be illegal and violate Clearwire's agreement with its shareholders.

Sprint, which made its case in a letter to Clearwire's board on Monday, already owns a majority stake in Clearwire and is tussling with Dish to buy out minority shareholders.

Satellite TV provider Dish offered $4.40 per share for Clearwire on May 29, challenging Sprint's revised bid of $3.40 per share. The fight over Clearwire, which owns wireless airwaves that both suitors want, is part of a larger drama involving the fate of Sprint.

Dish has also made an offer to buy Sprint, the No. 3 U.S. wireless service provider, for $25.5 billion. Japan's SoftBank Corp already has an agreement to buy Sprint.

Sprint said many of Dish's conditions in its Clearwire offer are impossible to fulfill because approval is required from all shareholders including Sprint, which said it would not give up any of its rights with regards to Clearwire's governance.

Sprint said Dish's demand for the right to nominate three Clearwire board members runs roughshod over Clearwire's equity holder agreement, which includes a director selection process.

It also said that granting several of Dish's demands would violate Delaware law as well as Clearwire's existing agreements.

"Many Clearwire stockholders appear to be under the mistaken belief that Dish's proposal is a viable alternative to the Sprint merger agreement, and this is simply not the case." Sprint said in its letter.

Clearwire has kept its recommendation to shareholders for the Sprint offer while its special committee reviews Dish's bid. Clearwire declined to comment on Sprint's Monday letter.

Clearwire shareholders are due to vote on the Sprint offer at a special meeting on June 13 in which Sprint would need more than 50 percent of minority votes for its deal to succeed.

On top of its battle with Dish, Sprint also faces trouble from powerful activist shareholders. Four shareholders claiming 18.2 percent of the minority shares extended a pledge to work together until after the vote to try to get a better deal.

The group led by investment firm Mount Kellett believes the Dish offer "is both actionable and obviously superior," according to a regulatory filing by Mount Kellett.

Another big investor, Crest Financial, which holds about 8 percent of Clearwire's public shares, blasted Sprint on Monday, demanding that Clearwire give full consideration to Dish's bid. Crest has been running a proxy battle against Sprint's offer.

Sprint had originally agreed to buy Clearwire in December for $2.97 per share but it increased its offer to $3.40 per share on May 21 under pressure from shareholders.

Pacific Crest analyst Michael Bowen questioned why Sprint raised its bid, given its position as majority shareholder. He worried that "this may end up in court and delay Sprint's ability to put this transaction behind them."

Sprint shareholders are due to vote June 12 on SoftBank's offer to buy 70 percent of the company for $20.1 billion.

Dish did not provide a comment on Sprint's letter.

On Nasdaq, Clearwire closed off 1.3 percent at $4.42, and Dish was down 10 cents at $38.64. Sprint dipped 8 cents to $7.22 on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Additional reporting by Jennifer Saba in New York and Sayantani Ghosh in Bangalore; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty, Lisa Von Ahn, John Wallace and Richard Chang)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sprint-slams-dishs-latest-offer-clearwire-012035696.html

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