Tuesday, November 20, 2012

'Fifty Shades of Grey' Saved My Marriage! (VIDEO)

?50 Shades of Grey,? a best-selling book dubbed "mommy porn" by some, has been credited for spicing up relationships in the bedroom. But it hasn't been good for every relationship. At least not for a 41-year-old British banker who reportedly filed for divorce from her husband after he refused to play out sex scenes from the novel.

So is the book responsible for Fifty Shades of Divorce?

Not according to Kim Bayne, blogger at ?Life By Kimmy.? On a segment for HuffPost Live, she told host Abby Huntsman that the story prompted her to revitalize her own marriage after post-partum depression.

?The whole book itself made me look at things a lot differently. Because their relationship is so intense and so intimate, it made me want to revitalize that,? Bayne said. ?It made me want to get that back into our marriage.?

Joining Huntsman and Bayne in the conversation were Irina Gonzalez, blogger at "Mamas Latinas" and Dr. Karen Ruskin, a relationship expert.

Watch the full segment on HuffPost Live.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/19/fifty-shades-of-grey-save_n_2161017.html

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Novelties: Single-Incision Surgery, Via New Robotic Systems

SURGEONS once made incisions large enough to get to a gallbladder or other organs by using conventional tools they held in their own hands. Today, many sit at a computer console instead, guiding robotic arms that enter the patient?s body through small openings not much larger than keyholes.

But even this minimally invasive surgery usually requires multiple incisions: one for the camera system showing the way to the surgeon at the console, and others for each of the robotic arms that do the cutting and stitching.

Now there are robotic systems ? one on the market, others in development ? that are even less intrusive. They require only a single, small incision through which the robotic arms and camera enter.

This could lead to faster recovery, said Dr. Michael Hsieh, a Stanford professor and a urologist at Lucile Packard Children?s Hospital and Stanford Hospital. ?There?s only one wound to heal with this procedure, rather than three,? he said.

Dr. Hsieh, who performs abdominal surgery on small children, uses minimally invasive techniques that typically now require three incisions. His patients generally go home a day or two after surgery, he said, ?but I think they would recover more quickly if I could reduce my multiple incisions to just one,? he said. ?And there will be less scarring, or even no scarring, if you enter through the navel.?

He will soon have a chance to try out the new method on his patients. Stanford Hospital is buying a system from Intuitive Surgical called Single-Site that requires only a single incision of about one inch. The system, approved by the Food and Drug Administration only for gallbladder removal, is used as an add-on to a basic robotic system from Intuitive, known as the da Vinci Si.

The Si costs $1.3 million to $2.2 million, said Angela Wonson, a spokeswoman for Intuitive, based in Sunnyvale, Calif. The Single-Site can add $60,000 or more to the bill, or far less, depending in part on the equipment that hospitals might already have.

The East Jefferson General Hospital in Metairie, La., has bought a Single-Site system. Seated at a computer there, Dr. Joseph Uddo Jr. can control the instruments, which can enter the body by way of one incision in the navel. Surgical instruments like scissors are at the ends of the robotic arms. ?To change a tool, you take out one instrument and load in another,? he said.

ANOTHER surgical robotic system, now in development, enters the body through a remarkably small incision ? six-tenths of an inch, or 15 millimeters. The robot was designed by Drs. Dennis Fowler and Peter Allen of Columbia University and Dr. Nabil Simaan of Vanderbilt University. Once inside the body, it unfolds to reveal a camera system and two snakelike arms that perform the surgery. The system has been licensed to Titan Medical in Toronto.

Minimally invasive surgery through a single incision can also be performed with long, thin laparoscopic tools that surgeons wield as they watch a video monitor. But single-incision laparoscopic surgery with hand-held instruments can have problems, said Dr. Adrian Park, chairman of the department of surgery at the Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, Md., who specializes in minimally invasive gastrointestinal surgery. One difficulty is its ergonomic challenge to doctors, while another is the pressure that the tools place on tissue during single-incision operations.

Robotic systems, by contrast, are likely to ease single-incision surgery, said Jeffrey J. Tomaszewski, a fellow in urologic oncology at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia.

?Robots are an extension and multiplier of our own surgical hands,? Dr. Tomaszewski said. He has done traditional laparoscopic surgery with hand-held instruments, including operations through a single incision. ?But you can be working at constrained angles,? he said. ?A robot can improve the angle of workability.?

Robotic systems, though, have yet to show that they are always worth the extra money they cost. Such proof will take time, said Allison Okamura, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Stanford who directs the Collaborative Haptics and Robotics in Medicine Lab. ?The jury is still out because of the longevity of the studies that are required,? she said.

Dr. Tomaszewski agreed. ?We surgeons love using the robot,? he said. ?But the question is, and what we all have to fight hard to do, is to determine for what procedure the robotic approach provides the best benefit.?

Dr. Hsieh says he hopes that single-site robotic systems will someday bring a benefit he?s long dreamed about.

?We may get to the point where we do outpatient, scarless robotic surgery,? he said. ?That?s what I?m shooting for.?

E-mail: novelties@nytimes.com.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/18/business/single-incision-surgery-via-new-robotic-systems.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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Monday, November 19, 2012

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Source: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151245282518396&set=a.10150920145958396.442984.42334213395&type=1

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Source: http://forums.ferra.ru/index.php?showtopic=52996

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Girl's Day's Minah confesses she seriously considered plastic surgery

Girl?s Day?s Minah revealed that she had considered getting double-eyelid surgery.

Minah was a guest on MBC?s ?Quiz to Change the World? on the 17th. On the show, she confessed, ?My eyes look dull and I don?t have double eyelids. I?m jealous of people that have bright, big eyes.?

However, MC Lee Hwi Jae said, ?But all the men love Minah?s eye-smile. Your eyes slant downward and you have puppy eyes, so Minah is very popular.? However, Minah still confessed, ?I seriously considered double eyelid surgery because I wanted brighter, bigger eyes.?

What do you think about how she looks now?


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Source: http://www.allkpop.com/2012/11/girls-days-minah-confesses-she-seriously-considered-plastic-surgery

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Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Utah Utes football notebook: NFL player Robert Johnson returns to speak with the Utes

SALT LAKE CITY ? A blast from Utah?s past spoke to the Utes after practice Tuesday. Tennessee Titans safety Robert Johnson returned to his alma mater to offer encouragement and show his support.

?The season?s a little bit rough but it?s not over,? Johnson said in his remarks to the team. ?We need them to play as good as we were playing. They have the talent. They have the players. They have the same coaching staff.?

Johnson, who concluded his Utah career in 2009, added that the Utes just need to perform and become bowl eligible over the next two weeks.

?They need to have fun,? he said. ?The best way to have fun is going bowling. That?s the best way.?

Senior wide receiver Reggie Dunn noted that Johnson told them to play with swagger and confidence.

?It was really inspiring to hear from a former player that?s in the NFL,? Dunn said. ?For him to be able to come back and talk to us was great.?

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham also appreciated Johnson?s return to Utah during his NFL bye week.

?It was great. It?s always good to have the former players come around, and we?ve had a lot of them this year,? Whittingham said. ?I think that speaks well of the program. We enjoy having him around, the players enjoy having him around. So it?s a positive thing for that.?

DEVONTE ON DEFENSE: Senior wide receiver DeVonte Christopher, who has seen limited action in recent weeks, was taking reps at safety in practice as the Utes prepare to face Arizona.

?He?s got a lot of athletic ability and we?re a little thin in the back end. We have been all year and maybe we should have taken a look at that sooner,? Whittingham said. ?But for a game like this one, where it's all spread and four wides, you?re going to need a lot of secondary guys, and we?ll see if he can help us back there.?

Christopher, meanwhile, is also making strides to get back in the receiving rotation. Whittingham said the team?s top receiver the past two seasons has done a nice job in practice Monday and Tuesday.

Whittingham, however, wouldn?t say if Christopher could see playing time on both sides of the ball against the Wildcats.

?We?ll see,? he said. ?It?s too early in the week to make that determination.?

EXTRA POINTS: The Utes practiced at Rice-Eccles Stadium instead of the indoor facility. ? John White has moved into a tie with Del ?Popcorn? Rodgers and Eddie Johnson for the most 100-yard rushing games in Utah history with 12. ? Utah is the national co-leader in fumbles returned for touchdowns (3) and second in total forced fumbles (18).

Email: dirk@desnews.com

Twitter: @DirkFacer

Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865566709/Utah-Utes-football-notebook-NFL-player-Robert-Johnson-returns-to-speak-with-the-Utes.html

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London is top city in Europe for international retailers, finds Jones Lang LaSalle report

Source: http://www.bi-me.com/main.php?c=3&cg=4&t=1&id=60069

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Monday, November 12, 2012

Remembering | A SILVER VOICE FROM IRELAND

Today,?Remembrance?Sunday, the?Irish?Taoiseach (Prime Minister) and T?naiste (Deputy Prime Minister) attended Remembrance?services in Northern Ireland for?the?first?time. Today too, ?the President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins will attend?the?annual commemoration of?the?War Dead at St Patrick?s Cathedral in Dublin.

Many ?ordinary??people?of Ireland are passionate about NOT commemorating this day, in some cases probably because of a lack of understanding of the social conditions at the time,that compelled Irish men and boys in their tens of thousands to go to war. ?It is true that after the conflict, many?families? were?ashamed?of relatives returning from the?War, but as this article in yesterday?s Irish Times demonstrates, things are changing. Those who had been ?airbrushed? out of Irish family history are now being honoured and remembered with pride.

The wearing of a Poppy in Ireland?remains?controversial in 2012 as?demonstrated?by this article from The Irish Independent on the reaction to a Poppy wearer in?the?streets of Dublin?. ?The reaction of the Chelsea Football supporter in this item is interesting ?- sadly he probably verbalized what many think in private. ? Why can we not treat the wearing of a Poppy as a memory of men ?who died in awful circumstances, and not as a symbol of British Imperialism?

I recently discovered the website of the Limerick Branch of the Royal British Legion on which they have displayed a new Irish Poppy badge ? a poppy overlaid on a shamrock. It?s a truly beautiful emblem and having worn it for the past few days myself, it has?elicited?a very positive response. I have no doubt that it will become a popular emblem for those who wish to commemorate the sacrifices of people from this island who put themselves in harm?s way in the most horrific circumstances. They deserve to be remembered.

Last year I attended a Conference in Ennis that resulted in the following ?blog post ? which I reprint here in tribute and in memory of all those who died .

On Saturday October 1st 2011 at the?Clare Roots Genealogy and Family History Conference, historian Liam Curran delivered what was to me a fascinating presentation on ?The Irish Soldier in the British Army in the First World War?. Liam presented an account of the horrors of war that featured real people, including members of his own family, who lived and loved not far from where I now live; real?people?who died in the most horrific of?circumstances? ? sons, brothers, uncles, fathers.

During that presentation we saw a very famous painting entitled ?The Last Absolution of the Munsters? by the war artist, Matania.

?

?On Saturday evening the 8th May 1915, prior to the battle in the Aubers Ridge area, the 2nd Battalion Royal Munster Fusiliers marched through Rue du Bois, about one mile out from the town of Neuve Chapelle in Belgium. The Battalion halted near a wayside shrine. Moving off the road they formed up in their respective Companies, ?A?, ?B?, ?C? and ?D?. In front of each Company was a green flag with the Irish Harp and word ?Munster? embroidered on it?

Most if not all the men depicted here are from Munster.?The priest on horseback who gave a general absolution to these men was Francis Gleeson, one of 13 children from Templemore, Co Tipperary. On the extreme right is Regimental Sergeant Major John Ring born in Bandon. Also here are many men from Clare. The second mounted figure is 40-year old Colonel Victor Rickard, husband of Louise Moore from Mitchelstown, Co. Cork, whose father founded the ?Cork Historical and Archaeological Society?and was a Protestant Home Ruler. She herself wrote articles for the Cork Examiner Newspaper.

At dawn on 9th May, just hours ?after the general absolution, these Irish men came out of their trenches. Within hours, 151 of them lay dead, including the Commanding Officer Rickard, and 16 men from Clare.

Just one of a number of Irish Regiments, the Munster Fusiliers consisted in the main of Munster men ? mainly from Clare, Kerry, Cork and Tipperary. They fought and died in their hundreds in various areas of conflict during their long history including Afghanistan 1839, ?Burma 1852, ?The Crimea, the Boer War. It is reckoned that about a quarter of a million Irish men were involved in the First World War. They endured the horror of the killing fields of the Western Front, often cold and often hungry, surrounded by the stench of death, hearing the screams of the dying, with rats eating their feet. They were slaughtered, drowned and maimed in Gallipoli and in many places whose names they could not pronounce.

Text from Fr Gleeson?s Diary entry 10 May 1915 as inscribed at the Messines Irish Peace Park.

Growing up and educated in Ireland in the 1960s, I was never aware of the tens of thousands of our?countrymen?who fought and died in horrific conditions in many theatres of war down the centuries. These people had effectively been wiped from the history that we were taught in schools, wiped from our national memory, wiped from our very DNA.

The truth is that most were volunteers. ?The truth is that, fired up by calls by Irish Nationalists like?John Redmond, who claimed that ?Ireland?s highest interests? lay ?in the speedy and overwhelming victory of England and the Allies? they volunteered in their droves; the truth is that many went because they needed the money for their families; the truth is that many went because they belonged to large families with low-income and it?would?be one less mouth to feed. Undoubtedly?some?also went in search of adventure and perhaps also to escape issues at home.

The First World War was the war in which most Irish lives were lost and in which the Irish performed amazing acts of courage and bravery.?However, when the survivors returned they were shunned and met with hostility and even physical violence. The?honour?with which they had departed was in stark contrast to the changed circumstances when they returned. Ireland had staged an uprising against British rule at Easter 1916 and the Ireland to which they returned was one with a new sense of nationalism and a different set of values.

We in Ireland have come a long way in redressing the airbrushing of our past. President Mary Robinson was the first Irish President to wear a poppy on November 11th each year and President McAleese has kept up her predecessor?s practice of attending the remembrance Sunday services in St Patrick?s Cathedral in Dublin. ?President Mary McAleese also stood shoulder to shoulder with the Queen of England at the?opening?of the?Island of Ireland Peace Park?in Mesen (Messines) Belgium on 11 November 1998. We still, however, have a way to go.

Poppy Field on the Somme. Picture from the BBC.

In Flanders Fields ? the iconic poem by John McCrae, MD, (1872 ? 1918) ?Canadian Army.

?If ye break faith ?with us who die,

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders fields?

I will not break faith and will proudly wear a red poppy on 11 November 2011 to honour all Claremen, all Munster men, all Irishmen who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Epilogue

Fr. Gleeson volunteered for a second time and returned to parish work in Dublin where he died in 1959. He is buried in Castlelough, Co Tipperary.

Sgt Major John Ring?served for 5 years in France and repeatedly refused promotion to stay with his battalion. He retired to Limerick ?and died in 1960. He is buried in Mount St Lawrence Cemetery.

References

Royal Munster Fusiliers Association

Royal Munster Fusiliers

http://www.limerickcity.ie/media/Media,3979,en.pdf

Liam Curran?s lecture ? which also included an account of the Munsters in Gallipoli, notably those who landed from the steamer ?River Clyde? ? is available on DVD from Clare Roots?here

Source: http://thesilvervoice.wordpress.com/2012/11/11/remembering/

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West African bloc to commit 3,300 troops in Mali battle plan

ABUJA (Reuters) - West Africa's regional bloc ECOWAS agreed on Sunday to commit 3,300 troops to help recapture northern Mali, part of battle plans that will be sent for United Nations approval by the end of November, the group's chairman said.

The troops would mostly come from Nigeria, Niger and Burkina Faso, but other West African countries and two or three non-African states may also contribute forces, Ivory Coast President Alassane Outtara told reporters in Nigeria's capital.

He said the soldiers could be deployed as soon as the U.N. approved the military plan, which was drawn up by experts from Africa, the U.N. and Europe in Mali's capital Bamako last week.

The plan covers a six-month period, with a preparatory phase for training and the establishment of bases in Mali's south, followed by combat operations in the north, Malian army sources told Reuters.

ECOWAS signed off on the latest draft on Sunday but said it still hoped to avoid conflict through negotiations.

"Authority reiterates that dialogue remains the preferred option," said a communique released after the meeting of West African leaders in Nigeria's capital Abuja on Sunday.

"However ... recourse to force may be indispensable in order to dismantle terrorist and transnational criminal networks that pose a threat to international peace and security."

The U.N. Security Council gave African leaders 45 days from October 12 to draw up a plan for military intervention to retake the north, but diplomats say any such operation is months away.

Once viewed as an example of progress towards democracy in Africa, Mali fell into chaos after a coup in March that toppled the president and left a power vacuum that was quickly exploited by rebels to take over the north.

Foreign powers are divided on the pace of an intervention. Regional powerhouse Algeria says it prefers a negotiated solution, while former colonial master France - which has several citizens held hostage by al Qaeda-linked groups in the Sahara - wants a swift war.

Delegates from Islamist group Ansar Dine are holding talks with regional mediator Blaise Compaore, the president of Burkina Faso, and members of the Tuareg rebel movement MNLA have sought to join efforts to solve the crisis.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/west-african-bloc-commit-3-300-troops-mali-055733105.html

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Thursday, November 8, 2012

Extreme weather preceded collapse of ancient Maya civilization

ScienceDaily (Nov. 8, 2012) ? Decades of extreme weather crippled, and ultimately decimated, first the political culture and later the human population of the ancient Maya, according to a new study by an interdisciplinary team of researchers that includes two University of California, Davis, scientists.

The collapse of the Maya is one of the world's most enduring mysteries. Now, for the first time, researchers have combined a precise climatic record of the Maya environment with a precise record of Maya political history to provide a better understanding of the role weather had in the civilization's downfall.

Their findings are published in the Nov. 9, 2012 issue of the journal Science.

"Here you had an amazing state-level society that had created calendars, magnificent architecture, works of art, and was engaged in trade throughout Central America," said UC Davis anthropology professor and co-author Bruce Winterhalder. "They were incredible craftspersons, proficient in agriculture, statesmanship and warfare -- and within about 80 years, it fell completely apart."

To determine what was happening in the sociopolitical realm during each of those years, the study tapped the extensive Maya Hieroglyphic Database Project, run by UC Davis Native American Language Center director and linguist Martha Macri, a specialist in Mayan hieroglyphs who has been tracking the culture's stone monuments for nearly 30 years.

"Every one of these Maya monuments is political history," said Macri.

Inscribed on each monument is the date it was erected and dates of significant events, such as a ruler's birthday or accession to power, as well as dates of some deaths, burials and major battles. The researchers noted that the number of monuments carved decreased in the years leading to the collapse.

But the monuments made no mention of ecological events, such as storms, drought or references to crop successes or failures.

For that information, the research team collected a stalagmite from a cave in Belize, less than 1 mile from the Maya site of Uxbenka and about 18 miles from three other important centers. Using oxygen isotope dating in 0.1 millimeter increments along the length of the stalagmite, the scientists uncovered a physical record of rainfall over the past 2,000 years.

Combined, the stalagmite and hieroglyphs allowed the researchers to link precipitation to politics. Periods of high and increasing rainfall coincided with a rise in population and political centers between 300 and 660 AD. A climate reversal and drying trend between 660 and 1000 AD triggered political competition, increased warfare, overall sociopolitical instability, and finally, political collapse. This was followed by an extended drought between 1020 and 1100 AD that likely corresponded with crop failures, death, famine, migration and, ultimately, the collapse of the Maya population.

"It has long been suspected that weather events can cause a lot of political unrest and subject societies to disease and invasion," Macri said. "But now it's clear. There is physical evidence that correlates right along with it. We are dependent on climatological events that are beyond our control."

Said Winterhalder: "It's a cautionary tale about how fragile our political structure might be. Are we in danger the same way the Classic Maya were in danger? I don't know. But I suspect that just before their rapid descent and disappearance, Maya political elites were quite confident about their achievements."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - Davis.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. D. J. Kennett, S. F. M. Breitenbach, V. V. Aquino, Y. Asmerom, J. Awe, J. U. L. Baldini, P. Bartlein, B. J. Culleton, C. Ebert, C. Jazwa, M. J. Macri, N. Marwan, V. Polyak, K. M. Prufer, H. E. Ridley, H. Sodemann, B. Winterhalder, G. H. Haug. Development and Disintegration of Maya Political Systems in Response to Climate Change. Science, 2012; 338 (6108): 788 DOI: 10.1126/science.1226299

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/dczeycLueyQ/121108142750.htm

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Nicki Minaj To Appear On Ciara's 'One Woman Army': Morning Mix ...

Did You Hear?

:: Nicki Minaj?s Roman Reloaded ? The Re-Up features a Ciara guest spot on new track ?I?m Legit,? and now Ciara is returning the favor. Minaj will appear on Ciara?s forthcoming album One Woman Army. We?re sure they?ll make a great two-woman army. [MTV]

:: Michael Jackson?s brother Jermaine has filed legal papers to change his last name to Jacksun for ?artistic reasons.? This would be strange?if he hadn?t already named one of his children Jermajesty. [WENN]

:: Think you?re done exercising your civic duty? Not so fast! Brandy has posted a Facebook poll for fans to choose her next?Two Eleven single. Hurry up and vote before the polls close! [Facebook]

:: Sadly, the death toll from Hurricane Sandy has reached 110 in the US, and one of the casualties was?Cyndi Lauper?s 90-year-old uncle George Stathis from Queens, NY. Lauper performed at the Lenox Hill Hospital?s Autumn Ball, which raised over $2 million for Sandy victims, and dedicated her classic ?Time After Time? to her late uncle. [Spinner]

After the jump, find out which music acts you can find on the tube today.

Music on TV:

:: Late Show with David Letterman (CBS) ? Lianne La Havas
:: Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC) ? Lord Huron
:: Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC) ? Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown
:: Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS) ? LL Cool J
:: Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (NBC) ? Carrie Underwood
:: Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC) ? Grimes, RZA
:: Conan (TBS) ? Brandi Carlile
:: Ellen DeGeneres Show (syndicated) ? Miley Cyrus

Source: http://idolator.com/7258422/nicki-minaj-ciara-one-woman-army-morning-mix

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Business Conflict Blog ? When Interests Change at the Negotiating ...

Neither negotiation pundits nor political commentators seem very quick to pick up on an obvious fact of life: That, as negotiations continue, the underlying objective of the parties may change, and their interest may morph.

Because changing-goals-4.jpg we have served the goal. If on the other hand,

Say (just say) that the underlying interest of Negotiator A is to ensure that Negotiator B fails in the negotiation process.? Say (just as a hypothetical) that A has not gone to great pains to conceal this interest and has even said: ?The goal of my organization over the next two years is to ensure that B is gone as a negotiator in two years.?

I don?t think there is anything intrinsically wrong with this strategy.? If A has determined that he cannot achieve his goals while B is the negotiator on the other side, then it is pure logic that A?s primary goal must be to remove B as a negotiator.

What happens when that interest is stymied?? What happens when B is re-instated, and there will be no further opportunity, ever, for A to remove B from his office as negotiator?? Does A continue his goal of removing B?? Of course not.

Changing circumstances yield not only changing tactics, but a change in fundamental interests as well.? As the game continues, the players themselves change not only their tactics but their ultimate objectives.

changing circumstances

Then who is to say that Congress and the President are back to Square One, at loggerheads and in deadlock?? Perhaps the President can find out what Congress? revised goals are.? Maybe some of them ? like creating jobs and being seen having done so ? are even shared?.

and shared interests.

Source: http://businessconflictmanagement.com/blog/2012/11/when-interests-change-at-the-negotiating-table/

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Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Montana man killed by grizzlies

A 24-year-old trainer was mauled to death Sunday while cleaning the Animals of Montana grizzly bear enclosure in Bozeman, Mont., officials say.

Animals of Montana, a wildlife casting agency, said it regards the death of Benjamin Cloutier, a former Pennsylvania resident, as a possible accident rather than an attack.

"We do not believe it was an attack. The victim has been with us since 2008. He was a highly experienced trainer, and it is unlikely that the bears caused his death," Animals of Montana's lead head trainer, Demetri Price, told ABC News. "He had the right safety equipment and the right training to avoid that kind of attack. The investigators are looking into other causes of death. He might have accidentally slipped in the cage or hit his head prior to the mauling."

Animals of Montana provides captive-bred wild animals for photography shoots and motion pictures. Adam, Griz, and Yosemite were the "Trio of Grizzly Bears" that the organization said it proudly offered to clients. Griz was put down so that Cloutier's body could be retrieved.

"Griz and Yosemite look like they have been involved in the mauling. At the time we found our trainer, Griz had a grip on him. This was a life and death situation where I was putting my safety at risk while trying to save our trainer, whom we suspected might still be alive. Our initial abating techniques failed and destroying Griz was our last resort to retrieve our trainer in the safest way possible," said Price. who told ABC News that the Animals of Montana owner Troy Hyde was on a trip to Los Angeles when the incident happened.

Hyde's attorney, Chuck Watson, said that the cause of the Cloutier's death is yet to be determined pending an autopsy. "The circumstantial evidence we have so far does not suggest a bear attack since there weren't any defense wounds. Of course, we'll have to wait for the autopsy results to find out what really happened," said Watson.

The death is being investigated by the Gallatin County Coroner and Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks wardens.

"We are the ones who issue licenses for facilities like Animals of Montana to keep a wild animal like a grizzly bear captive," Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks warden's Public Information Officer Andrea Jones told ABC News. "From the way it looks, the trainer and the facility did not violate any of our licensing rules and regulations at the time of the incident. The man was operating within the normal business hours and met all the regulations involved in his activity. It is up to the coroner and the Sheriff's office to rule the cause of death."

"We suffered a double loss," said Price. "We lost a very valuable trainer, tragically, and we lost one of our most precious bears. We invested in Griz hours and hours of training and love and care."

"It's very tragic that they suffered these losses," said attorney Watson. "Destroying the bear must have been a difficult decision since, believe me, the last thing these people want to do is kill an animal. But it was a life and death situation and it must have been devastating."

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/montana-man-killed-grizzlies-202059734--abc-news-topstories.html

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Tuesday, November 6, 2012

2013 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid: First Drive

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2013 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Oct 2012

The 2013 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid gives VW something it hasn?t had before: a way to appeal to hybrid buyers who won?t consider its TDI diesels?no matter how fuel-efficient they may be.

The result is a relatively sporty, conventional looking compact sedan that?s fun to drive, comfortable to ride in, and appears to return 40 mpg or more in mixed usage.

40 mpg or more

On two different legs of our road test around Santa Fe, New Mexico, our Jetta Hybrid test cars returned 45.2 mpg and 41.7 mpg over hilly routes of 71 and 150 miles.

One note on those gas mileage numbers: We?re reserving some judgment until we have a chance to test the car on our usual test cycle.

Volkswagen projects that the 2013 Jetta Hybrid will be EPA-rated at about 45 mpg in combined city-highway use.

The Santa Fe test routes had several sharp climbs to higher altitudes, followed by a large number of gradual downhill roads. On those roads, the Jetta Hybrid could glide solely on electric power with the engine switched off?as high as 60 mph?which used no fuel over those stretches.

Small engine, single motor

To launch its first mass-market hybrid model, Volkswagen put a new powertrain into its three-year-old Jetta sedan.

The hybrid Jetta uses a 150-horsepower turbocharged 1.4-liter four-cylinder, one that hasn't been offered in any VW sold here until now.

It?s paired to a single 20-kilowatt (27-hp) electric motor, with a clutch on either end, and Volkswagen?s 7-speed direct-shift gearbox automated manual transmission. Output of the combined gasoline-electric powertrain is 170 hp.

2013 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Oct 2012

2013 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Oct 2012

Enlarge Photo

While the 20-kW electric motor is smaller than the 33-kW traction motor in the Toyota Prius hybrid, it nonetheless puts out 114 lb-ft of torque by itself.

That?s enough to accelerate the car away from a stop with a light foot on the accelerator, up to speeds as high as 37 mph.

Easy all-electric range

But Volkswagen has done its homework in figuring out what many hybrid buyers actually want: all-electric range.

The car?s stated electric range is up to 1.2 miles under ideal circumstances, but VW lets drivers opt for all-electric power by pushing the ?E-Mode? button on the console.

That locks the gasoline engine out altogether, though it compromises acceleration, and raises the all-electric top speed of the hybrid Jetta.

As long as the car stays below 44 mph, driving in E-Mode keeps the car running only electrically until the 1.1-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack is depleted.

VW engineers stressed that E-Mode is not the most energy-efficient way to cover miles, overall. At times, using the engine to move the car and recharge the battery conserves more energy.

But most hybrid drivers like all-electric travel, and VW has given them the ability to call it up as often as they want below 44 mph, within the limits of the battery.

Sporty roadholding

On-the-road performance is sporty, with acceleration that's both quicker and more linear than a Toyota Prius. Volkswagen quotes a 0-to-60-mph time of 8.6 seconds.

But it's the roadholding and handling that set the Jetta Hybrid apart from the rest of the hybrid pack.

VW has managed to imbue the electric power steering with enough feedback and feel that most drivers won't be aware the wheel isn't responding directly to the road surface.

And the hybrid Jetta doesn't feel notably heavier than the gasoline model, with a weight difference of just 229 lbs from the 2.5-liter automatic version of the gasoline car.

And with the standard 15-inch wheels and tires, the car both holds the road and rides comfortably.

The optional 17-inch alloy wheels and lower-profile tires, sadly, exact a significant penalty on ride comfort. They transit surface imperfections into the cabin, not to mention considerably more road noise.

We'd ignore the larger wheels, as great as they look, if we were ordering a Jetta Hybrid ourselves.

No hybrid feel

Best of all, the Jetta Hybrid doesn't "drive like a hybrid," which is to say with sluggish performance and an engine that howls under protest when pushed.

The use of a conventional 7-speed DSG transmission gives it a more conventional engine note, with shifts occurring even in E-Mode--an unusual thing for a car being driven on electricity.

But VW has done a stellar job at blending the two power sources together seamlessly. We experienced almost none of the lurching and nonlinearity of some other hybrids, despite a high rate of switching the electric motor in and out.?

In particular, the Jetta Hybrid is significantly smoother and less obviously a meshing of two power sources than the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid, also a single-motor, twin-clutch design.

While power delivery is smooth and seamless, we weren't as thrilled with the brakes, which weren't very progressive and tended to slow the car aggressively with just a little pedal application. VW could do with another round of refinement to the pedal feel.

From tach to power meter

You'll have to look closely to distinguish the 2013 Jetta Hybrid from any other Jetta sedan model.

Exterior modifications are limited to a blanked-off grille, slightly different front and rear bumper shields, a tiny lip spoiler on the trunk lid, and some lower-body aero panels.

Inside, the cabin is pretty much standard VW Jetta. The front seats are comfortable, with bolstering in the right places.

On the models we drove, the seats were upholstered in a tasteful grey-and-black two-tone that lightened the cabin and extended to the door panels as well.

The instrument panel, befitting a car for which the phrase "German engineering" gets used half a dozen times, is sensible, straightforward, and no-nonsense.

The tachometer has been replaced by a power meter, with simple graphics that show when the car is operating up to the limits of its electric power, when it's recharging, and when it's coasting.


Source: http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1080250_2013-volkswagen-jetta-hybrid-first-drive

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Saturday, November 3, 2012

Storm-crippled NYC subway creaks back into service

A commuter waits as the first A train approaches the platform at Penn Station as MTA resumed limited service Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012, in New York. The decision to reopen undamaged parts of the nation?s largest transit system came as the region struggles to restore other basic services to recover from a storm that ravaged the East Coast, killing more than 70 people and leaving millions powerless. (AP Photo/CX Matiash)

A commuter waits as the first A train approaches the platform at Penn Station as MTA resumed limited service Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012, in New York. The decision to reopen undamaged parts of the nation?s largest transit system came as the region struggles to restore other basic services to recover from a storm that ravaged the East Coast, killing more than 70 people and leaving millions powerless. (AP Photo/CX Matiash)

A man fills a gas tank at a gas station in Point Pleasant N.J. on Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012. was one of the few in the shore region that was selling gasoline on Nov. 1, 2012. Motorists in the New York City area and across New Jersey are facing a second day of enormous gas lines at those stations that still have both electricity and supplies. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

Dry ice is unloaded from a flatbed truck in Union Square for distribution to residents of the still powerless Chelsea section of Manhattan, Thursday, Nov.1, 2012, in New York. Three days after superstorm Sandy walloped the city, residents and commuters still faced obstacles as they tried to return to pre-storm routines. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano)

A boat washed inland by superstorm Sandy sits on the road in Ship Bottom on Long Beach Island, N.J. on Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012. New Jersey got the brunt of supersrtorm Sandy, the storm that made landfall Monday, caused multiple fatalities, halted mass transit and cut power to more than 6 million homes and businesses. (AP Photo/Robert Ray)

A long line of people wait for free distribution of dry ice in Union Square in the still powerless Chelsea section of Manhattan,Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012, in New York. Three days after superstorm Sandy walloped the city, residents and commuters still faced obstacles as they tried to return to pre-storm routines. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano)

(AP) ? Subways started running again in much of New York City on Thursday for the first time since Superstorm Sandy, but traffic at bridges backed up for miles, long lines formed at gas stations, and tempers flared as commuters waited for buses.

The trains couldn't take some New Yorkers where they needed to go. There was no service in downtown Manhattan and other hard-hit parts of the city, and people had to switch to buses. But some of those who did use the subway were grateful.

"It's the lifeline of the city. It can't get much better than this," said Ronnie Abraham, who was waiting at Penn Station for a subway train to Harlem, a trip that takes 20 minutes underground but 2? hours on the city's badly overcrowded buses.

Three days after Sandy slammed the mid-Atlantic and the Northeast, New York and New Jersey struggled to get back on their feet, the U.S. death toll climbed to more than 80, and more than 4.6 million homes and businesses were still without power.

Nearly 20,000 people remained stranded in their homes by floodwaters in Hoboken, N.J., across the river from the New York, and swaths of the New Jersey coastline lay in ruins, with countless homes, piers and boardwalks wrecked.

In a piece of good news for many New Yorkers, Con Edison said it is on track to restore power by Saturday in Manhattan, where a quarter-million customers were without electricity. And Mayor Michael Bloomberg said meals and bottled water will be distributed in hard-hit neighborhoods around the city.

Downtown Manhattan, which includes the financial district, the Sept. 11 memorial, Chinatown and Little Italy, was still mostly an urban landscape of shuttered bodegas and boarded-up restaurants. People roamed in search of food, power and a hot shower. Some dispirited and fearful New Yorkers decided to flee the city.

"It's dirty, and it's getting a little crazy down there," said Michael Tomeo, who boarded a bus to Philadelphia with his 4-year-old son. "It just feels like you wouldn't want to be out at night. Everything's pitch dark. I'm tired of it, big-time."

Rima Finzi-Strauss was taking a bus to Washington. When the power went out Monday night in her apartment building on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, it also disabled the electric locks on the front door, she said.

"We had three guys sitting out in the lobby last night with candlelight, and very threatening folks were passing by in the pitch black," she said. "And everyone's leaving. That makes it worse."

She said people were on the street buying "old, tiny little vegetables" and climbing 20 floors into apartments where they couldn't flush the toilet and had no heat. New York dipped to about 40 degrees Wednesday night.

The death toll in New York City alone was close to 40. Police on Thursday said two brothers, ages 2 and 4, who were swept away Monday night when waves of water crashed into an SUV driven by their mother in Staten Island were found dead.

Flights took off and landed Thursday at LaGuardia Airport, the last of the three major New York-area airports to reopen since the storm.

In the morning, more than 1,000 people waited outside an arena in Brooklyn for buses to Manhattan. When one bus pulled up, passengers rushed the door. A transit worker banged on a bus window and yelled at people on the bus and in line.

With the electricity out and gasoline supplies scarce, many stations across the metropolitan area closed, and the stations that were open drew long lines of cars that spilled out onto roads.

"Either they're out of gas or the lines are ridiculous," Katie Leggio said from her car, in line on Long Island. "I need gas. I think it's ridiculous that they're doing this to us when we're down, but what are you going to do? We're desperate, and we're helpless."

Police enforced carpooling at bridges into the city, peering through windows to make sure each car carried at least three people. TV helicopter footage showed lines for miles.

Across the region, people stricken by the storm pulled together, providing comfort to those left homeless and offering hot showers and electrical outlets for charging cellphones to those without power. That cooperative spirit extended to politicians, who at least made the appearance of putting their differences aside to deal with the destruction wrought by Sandy.

"We are here for you," President Barack Obama said Wednesday in Brigantine, N.J., touring a ravaged shore alongside Republican Gov. Chris Christie, one of Mitt Romney's most vocal supporters. "We are not going to tolerate red tape. We are not going to tolerate bureaucracy."

In New Jersey, signs of the good life that had defined wealthy shorefront enclaves like Bayhead and Mantoloking lay scattered and broken: $3,000 barbecue grills buried beneath the sand and hot tubs cracked and filled with seawater. Nearly all the homes were seriously damaged, and many had disappeared.

"This," said Harry Typaldos, who owns the Grenville Inn in Mantoloking, "I just can't comprehend."

Most of the state's mass transit systems remained shut down, leaving hundreds of thousands of commuters to deal with clogged highways and quarter-mile lines at gas stations.

Darryl Jameson of Toms River waited more than hour to get fuel.

"The messed-up part is these people who are blocking the roadway as they try to cut in line," he said. "No one likes waiting, man, but it's something you have to do."

On New York's Long Island, bulldozers scooped sand off streets and tow trucks hauled away destroyed cars while people tried to find a way to their homes to restart their lives.

Richard and Joanne Kalb used a rowboat to reach their home in Mastic Beach, filled with 3 feet of water. Richard Kalb posted a sign on a telephone pole, asking passing drivers to show some mercy: "Slow please no wake."

___

Contributing to this report were Verena Dobnik, Eileen AJ Connelly, Karen Matthews, David B. Caruso, Leanne Italie and Lou Ferrara in New York; Samantha Henry in Hoboken, N.J.; Wayne Parry in Mantoloking, N.J., Katie Zezima in Seaside Heights, N.J.; Frank Eltman in Mastic Beach, N.Y., Larry Neumeister in Long Beach, N.Y., and Vicki Smith in Elkins, W.Va.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-11-01-US-Superstorm-Sandy/id-9df39c6ce29045f699b8c81deb7d2189

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Exxon's 3Q profit falls 7 percent to $9.57 billion

IRVING, Texas (AP) ? Exxon Mobil Corp.'s third-quarter profit fell 7 percent as it produced less oil and gas and fetched lower prices.

The nation's biggest oil company said that net income totaled $9.57 billion, down from $10.33 billion a year earlier.

That works out to $2.09 per share. Analysts expected $1.95 per share, according to FactSet.

Revenue fell 8 percent, to $115.71 billion, still better than the $112.40 billion that analysts had forecast.

The weak global economy has lowered demand for everything from gasoline to jet fuel. Fear about future growth has undercut prices for oil and natural gas.

Exxon's business of refining oil and selling gasoline and other products earned more, but that was offset by a big drop in the exploration-and-production end of the company. Oil and gas production fell 7.5 percent and lower prices also cut into profit.

The company spent 7 percent more on capital expenses and exploration, up to $9.18 billion.

Exxon spent $5.1 billion in the quarter to buy back 58 million shares, which boosted the value of remaining stock.

Exxon shares closed Wednesday at $91.17, up 55 cents. They have gained 6 percent this year including a gain of 7 percent in the third quarter.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exxons-3q-profit-falls-7-percent-9-57-122739912--finance.html

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Web Analytics Explained ? Understanding Your Website's ...

With each website that Element Engage provides hosting for, we provide an email report detailing your current website?s traffic statistics using the StatCounter service. This is generally sent each week, but can be sent daily or monthly as well. These reports are critical for website owners and managers to know what their website?s traffic is, and the visitors it consists of. Although we cannot know who specifically is visiting our site from these stats, we can still learn a lot about them. Here?s a breakdown of what everything means. The examples are from an older version of the Minnesota Fishing Hall of Fame?s website.

Visits

The almighty number every web manager is looking for is the Unique Visits number. This simply tells you how many people came to your site in the last week. ?There are also numbers for First Time and Returning Visits.

The stats system uses a time window to track visitor activity. For most sites this is set at 12 hours. A unique and first time visitor is anyone who shows up in the 12 hour period. If they leave the site and then come back later, but still in this 12 hour period, they are counted as a returning visitor. If they come back to the site the next day, they are back to being a Unique and First Time Visitor again.

This can be hard to grasp, so here is an example: If 100 people come to the site, and 20 of them leave the site, but later come back before the 12 hour period is up, the numbers would be?

Unique Visitors: 100
First Time Visitors: 80
Returning Visitors: 20

The other important traffic number is Page Loads. This simply means that when a visitor comes to the site and looks around visiting, say, 7 pages before leaving, he or she will have racked up 7 Page Loads. For e-commerce or product based sites, the higher the Page Load count the better. We want our visitors to be looking around. For informational sites, it?s okay to have a lower Page Load number, as long as people are finding what they came looking for quickly. If your information is about your business?s services, hopefully within two or three Page Loads they either landed on the contact page or picked up the phone and called you.

Popular Pages

Popular Pages is a list of the most visited pages on your site. The home page will be right up at the top, along with any pages that are ranked well in the search engines or your most popular product. It?s important to watch these statistics carefully to ensure your traffic is using the site as you intended.

Came From

This is also an important list to watch. There are only a few ways for your visitors to get to your site; typing in your domain name, finding you in a search result, or clicking on a link somewhere. One of the best ways to increase your search ranking is to have links to your site from other sites. The more popular these sites are, the more it helps your ranking. Also, say you pay for a banner ad on another website to get people to come to your site and buy your stuff. It better be showing up in the Came From list or the ad is a waste of money.

Keyword Analysis

This statistic tells you what the search terms were that people used in the search engine to find you. Usually your web address, in some form or another, will be most popular. Search engine pages are often the first page people see when they open their web browser, so instead of typing in your domain name in the address bar, they simply type it in the search box. This is a good thing, because if they don?t get it quite right they will still find you.

It is critical to watch the Keyword List to ensure that people are finding you using the terms you think they should be using. If these terms aren?t showing up, it?s time to take another look at your website?s wording and structure. This is referred to as On-Page Search Engine Optimization.

City

This statistic tries to show you the location of your visitors. It?s accurate only to a point. What it really is telling you is the location of the visitors ISP, not their house or office. It?s a great stat for National or Regional businesses, but if you?re a local shop, it can?t be relied upon too much.

?

ISP

The importance of this list is questionable. I am not sure why anyone would want to know what Internet Service Provider companies are most popular with your visitors. Anyway, this stat simply tells you that.

?

?

Entry Pages and Exit Pages

These are lists of the pages in which a visitor arrived at your website on or left your website. The most popular Entry Pages should be the home page or landing pages you are advertising or otherwise marketing. Exit Pages should be whatever you consider the ultimate goal of your site, whether that be the contact page or a page selling your product. If a product page is listed high in the Exit Pages, but the sales aren?t there, then you know people aren?t being sold. The page is not effective. Time to rethink.

Country

Similar to City, but you can count on its accuracy much more.

?

Search Engines

This tells you which of the search engines are doing the best for you. It should roughly correspond with the overall popularity of the search engines in general, a stat you can view here. However, if one or another isn?t living up to its billing, then the reason for this needs to be investigated.

Browsers

This is a stat that us web designer people look at often. It?s our job to make sure the site looks good in all of the popular web browsers (they all have their little idiosyncrasies). With the rate of advancement in mobile devices, it?s imperative for us to know what people are looking at the site with.

Hopefully these explanations will help you understand and leverage your website analytics. The biggest drawback to traditional types of advertising efforts is that you never really have hard numbers relating to its performance. Not true with the web. Your marketing efforts can be measure with great accuracy. Web Analytics capabilities go well beyond what?s contained in the email reports. It?s information overload for many, but please let us know if you crave more. Knowing the language and understanding your visitors is the key to a well trafficked and popular website.

Source: http://blog.elementengage.com/2012/11/web-analytics-explained-understanding-your-websites-effectiveness/

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Thursday, November 1, 2012

Fate of the criminal corpse investigated

ScienceDaily (Oct. 30, 2012) ? A new major research programme bringing University of Leicester academics in the School of Archaeology and Ancient History, and the School of Historical Studies together with expertise from the University of Hertfordshire, will examine the fate of the corpses of executed criminals.

Between 1752 and 1832 the bodies of executed murderers were legally denied burial in consecrated ground. Instead they were donated for anatomical dissection or 'hung in chains' (displayed in a gibbet). This new research programme brings together scholars from archaeology, medical and criminal history, folklore, literature and philosophy to explore the ways that the dead body of the criminal could still be powerful.

The 5-year project, supported by the Wellcome Trust with a grant for nearly a million pounds, uses the criminal corpse as a focal point from which the team can spin out to explore the many ways that human bodies were understood in the period between the seventeenth and the nineteenth centuries, and how attitudes that took shape at that time continue to affect our ambivalent feelings about how the dead should be treated.

"This is a great opportunity to study the history of the body at a fascinating time," said Professor Sarah Tarlow, an archaeologist at the University of Leicester and the leader of the team. "This is a key period in the development of modern medical knowledge, where the inside of the body was carefully explored and described by anatomists. At the same time it was generally believed that the touch of a hanged man's hand could cure cancers of the neck, and that suicides should be buried with a stake through their bodies.

"The emotional power of the dead body of the criminal was exploited by the State to enforce conformity with the law, they were exploited as sources of scientific or medical knowledge; they gave meaning to places in the landscape, for example, 'Gibbet Hills' and so on. At a popular level, their ghosts were believed to stalk the living and their bodies to be places of lurking malevolence which might threaten our comfortable lives -- as Frankenstein's monster did."

Professor Peter King, of the University of Leicester's Centre for English Local History, added: "We aim to look at the whole journey of the criminal body from sentencing to eventual disposal. Sentences passed were not always carried out; we want to find out what determined the eventual fate of the body. We need to locate the places where bodies were dissected and displayed -- both when they were hung in chains and when bodies or body parts were preserved as curios or as part of scientific collections."

Professor Owen Davies of the School of Humanities, University of Hertfordshire, explained how the project will also explore the use of criminal corpses in the medical and magical cultures of Europe. "One of the fascinating areas we are researching is how corpses that, in one sense, emanated evil, were also thought to have powerful beneficial healing properties for the living: in short the criminal body was life giving," he explains.

Philosopher Dr Floris Tomasini will work closely with the other team members to trace the history of some of our modern attitudes towards the dead body. "Why is there a public outcry when organs are retained by doctors after a death? Why do we attach so much importance to bringing the bodies of our war dead 'home'?" asks Dr Tomasini. "These are important questions in moral philosophy, but they have deep historical roots. I am excited to be working a new way with colleagues from other disciplines."

The team will be producing a number of academic publications but will also be setting up a website to host an online exhibition and keeping a blog of their findings and ideas as the project gets underway.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Leicester, via AlphaGalileo.

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Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/eP6cp0DvVng/121030093735.htm

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Storm's cost may hit $50B; rebuilding to ease blow - seattlepi.com

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Superstorm Sandy will end up causing about $20 billion in property damages and $10 billion to $30 billion more in lost business, according to IHS Global Insight, a forecasting firm.

In the long run, the devastation the storm inflicted on New York City and other parts of the Northeast will barely nick the U.S. economy. That's the view of economists who say a slightly slower economy in coming weeks will likely be matched by reconstruction and repairs that will contribute to growth over time.

The short-term blow to the economy, though, could subtract about 0.6 percentage point from U.S. economic growth in the October-December quarter, IHS says. Retailers, airlines and home construction firms will likely lose some business.

The storm cut power to more than 8 million homes, shut down 70 percent of East Coast oil refineries and inflicted worse-than-expected damage in the New York metro area. That area produces about 10 percent of U.S. economic output.

New York City was all but closed off by car, train and air. The superstorm overflowed the city's waterfront, flooded the financial district and subway tunnels and cut power to hundreds of thousands. Power is expected to be fully restored in Manhattan and Brooklyn within four days.

The New York Stock Exchange will reopen for regular trading Wednesday after being shut down for two days. There's no evidence that the shutdown had any effect on the financial system or the economy. But Jim Paulsen, chief strategist at Wells Capital Management, said further delays might have rattled consumers and dampened their spending.

"It's about confidence," Paulsen said. "We're watching these horrific images of the storm, and people are thinking whether they should ahead with that big purchase ....It doesn't do any good to have another day with headlines saying the U.S can't figure out how to open its stock exchange."

Most homeowners who suffered losses from flooding won't be able to benefit from their insurance policies. Standard homeowner policies don't cover flood damage, and few homeowners have flood insurance.

But Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said they will offer help to borrowers whose homes were damaged or destroyed, who live in designated disaster areas and whose loans the mortgage giants own or guarantee. Among other steps, mortgage servicers will be allowed to reduce the monthly payments of affected homeowners or require no payments from them temporarily.

Across U.S. industries, disruptions will slow the economy temporarily. Some restaurants and stores will draw fewer customers. Factories may shut down or shorten shifts because of a drop in customer demand.

Some of those losses won't be easily made up. Restaurants that lose two or three days of business, for example, won't necessarily experience a rebound later. And money spent to repair a home may lead to less spending elsewhere.

With some roads in the Northeast impassable after the storm, drivers won't be filling up as much. That will slow demand for gasoline. Pump prices, which had been declining before the storm, will likely keep slipping. The national average for a gallon of regular fell by about a penny Tuesday, to $3.53 ? more than 11 cents lower than a week ago.

Shipping and business travel has been suspended in areas of the Northeast. More than 15,000 flights across the Northeast and the world have been grounded, and it will take days for some passengers to get where they're going.

On Tuesday, more than 6,000 flights were canceled, according to the flight-tracking service FlightAware. More than 500 flights scheduled for Wednesday were also canceled.

The three big New York airports were closed Tuesday. New York has the nation's busiest airspace, so cancellations there drastically affect travel in other cities.

Economists noted that the short-term hit to the economy was worsened by the size of the population centers the storm hit.

"Sandy hit a high-population-density area with a lot of expensive homes," said Beata Caranci, deputy chief economist at TD Bank.

Hurricane damage to homes, businesses and roads reduces U.S. wealth. But it doesn't subtract from the government's calculation of economic activity.

By contrast, rebuilding and restocking by businesses and consumers add to the nation's gross domestic product ? the broadest gauge of economic production. GDP measures all goods and services produced in the United States.

Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics, expects the storm to shave 0.1 to 0.2 percentage point from annual economic growth in the October-December quarter. He thinks the economy will grow at an annual rate of 1.5 percent to 2 percent in the fourth quarter. It grew at a 2 percent annual rate last quarter.

But Ashworth said any losses this quarter should be made up later as rebuilding boosts sales at building supply stores and other companies.

"People will load up on whatever they need to make repairs ? roofing, dry wall, carpeting ? to deal with the damage," he said.

In the short run, Caranci said the economic damage could be worst for small businesses that lack the money and other resources to withstand lost sales.

"It will remain to be seen how long disruptions to electricity and infrastructure persist," she said.

But she noted that the storm should help the construction industry, which shed millions of workers after the housing bust. Many who lost construction jobs were skilled employees with disproportionately high pay, and the loss of those jobs hit the economy hard.

Major retailers began trying Tuesday to ramp up their operations before the critical holiday shopping period.

Sears Holdings Corp., which operates Kmart and Sears, said 80 of its stores were still closed at midday Tuesday, down from 187 Monday. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's biggest retailer, said it was working to reopen the 168 stores it closed. And Darden Restaurants Inc., parent of Olive Garden and Red Lobster, by Tuesday afternoon had reopened roughly 160 of the 260 restaurants it closed Monday.

Retailers collect up to 40 percent of their annual revenue in November and December. Retailers, excluding restaurants, could lose at least $25 billion in sales this week, estimates Burt Flickinger III of retail consultancy Strategic Resource Group. Because of the storm, he's reduced his forecast for holiday sales to a 2.1 percent increase over last year from the 3.2 percent increase he had predicted earlier.

Reopening is often difficult after a storm. Because New York's subways and buses remained closed Tuesday, it was hard for many employees to get to work. Macy's and Saks Fifth Avenue flagship stores stayed closed Tuesday ? bad news for those retailers, because major department stores can derive 10 percent of annual sales from their Manhattan locations.

Still, those stores that could open for business did. A Westside Market in Manhattan remained open 24 hours a day throughout the storm, even though only about 20 percent of workers managed to show up Monday and Tuesday.

"They found a way to get here ? I don't know how," store manager Jay Bilone said.

Insured losses from the superstorm will likely total $5 billion to $10 billion, the forecasting firm Eqecat estimates. Insurance losses are typically a fraction of the overall cost.

Chubb, Allstate and Travelers are the insurers most likely to suffer losses, said Greg Locraft, an analyst at Morgan Stanley. Those companies claim a major share of the affected areas.

But "as an insurance event, Sandy is going to be a blip on the balance sheet," said Duncan Ellis, U.S. property practice leader at Marsh, the insurance broker. "2012 has been a relatively catastrophe-free year."

Economists expect actual property damages from Hurricane Sandy to exceed those caused last year by Hurricane Irene, which cost $15.8 billion. Irene had little effect on the nation's growth.

Sandy will likely be among the 10 costliest hurricanes in U.S. history. It would still be far below the worst ? Hurricane Katrina, which cost $108 billion in 2005.

But "there is every reason to believe that the hurricane won't kick the legs out of an already-fragile U.S. economy," Caranci said.

___

AP Business Writers Sandy Shore in Denver, Candice Choi, Anne D'Innocenzio, Matthew Craft, Bernard Condon and Bree Fowler in New York and Mark Jewell in Boston contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Storm-s-cost-may-hit-50B-rebuilding-to-ease-blow-3993563.php

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