Study links chemicals widely found in plastics and processed food to elevated blood pressure in children and teens

Study links chemicals widely found in plastics and processed food to elevated blood pressure in children and teens

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Plastic additives known as phthalates (pronounced THAL-ates) are odorless, colorless and just about everywhere: They turn up in flooring, plastic cups, beach balls, plastic wrap, intravenous tubing and?according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention?the bodies of most Americans. Once perceived as harmless, phthalates have come under increasing scrutiny. A growing collection of evidence suggests dietary exposure to phthalates (which can leech from packaging and mix with food) may cause significant metabolic and hormonal abnormalities, especially during early development.

Now, new research published this Wednesday in the Journal of Pediatrics suggests that certain types of phthalates could pose another risk to children: compromised heart health. Drawing on data from a nationally representative survey of nearly 3,000 children and teens, researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Washington and Penn State University School of Medicine, have documented for the first time a connection between dietary exposure to DEHP (di-2-ethyhexylphthalate), a common class of phthalate widely used in industrial food production, and elevated systolic blood pressure, a measure of pressure in the arteries when the heart contracts.

"Phthalates can inhibit the function of cardiac cells and cause oxidative stress that compromises the health of arteries. But no one has explored the relationship between phthalate exposure and heart health in children" says lead author Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP, associate professor of pediatrics, environmental medicine and population health at NYU Langone Medical Center. "We wanted to examine the link between phthalates and childhood blood pressure in particular given the increase in elevated blood pressure in children and the increasing evidence implicating exposure to environmental exposures in early development of disease."

Hypertension is clinically defined as a systolic blood-pressure reading above 140 mm Hg. It's most common in people over 50 years old, although the condition is becoming increasingly prevalent among children owing to the global obesity epidemic. Recent national surveys indicate that 14 percent of American adolescents now have pre-hypertension or hypertension. "Obesity is driving the trend but our findings suggest that environmental factors may also be a part of the problem," says Dr. Trasande. "This is important because phthalate exposure can be controlled through regulatory and behavioral interventions."

Researchers from NYU School of Medicine, the University of Washington and Penn State University School of Medicine examined six years of data from a nationally representative survey of the U.S. population administered by the National Centers for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Phthalates were measured in urine samples using standard analysis techniques. Controlling for a number of potential confounders, including race, socioeconomic status, body mass index, caloric intake and activity levels, the researchers found that every three-fold increase in the level of breakdown products of DEHP in urine correlated with a roughly one-millimeter mercury increase in a child's blood pressure. "That increment may seem very modest at an individual level, but on a population level such shifts in blood pressure can increase the number of children with elevated blood pressure substantially," says Dr. Trasande. "Our study underscores the need for policy initiatives that limit exposure to disruptive environmental chemicals, in combination with dietary and behavioral interventions geared toward protecting cardiovascular health."

###

NYU Langone Medical Center / New York University School of Medicine: http://www.med.nyu.edu

Thanks to NYU Langone Medical Center / New York University School of Medicine for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/128354/Study_links_chemicals_widely_found_in_plastics_and_processed_food_to_elevated_blood_pressure_in_children_and_teens

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PFT: Spanos says?Bolts want to stay in San Diego

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Last month, the NFLPA gave Jay-Z a pass regarding his involvement in CAA?s recruitment of Giants receiver Victor Cruz, attributing any influence Jay-Z may have exercised to his longstanding friendship with Cruz (which likely didn?t date back to his days as an unknown wideout at UMass).

This month, Jay-Z has put the PA in a slightly more complex pickle.

The entertainment mogul?s 100th problem arises from a change made by the union in 2012 to the rules regarding ?runners.?? Essentially, the NFLPA has banned them, allowing only certified NFLPA agents to be recruit potential clients.? Since Jay-Z isn?t a certified NFLPA agent, he can?t be involved in recruiting a player to sign with an agent for the purposes of handling the player?s NFL contract.

Despite the existence of a business relationship between Jay-Z?s Roc Nation and CAA, CAA wasn?t one of the agencies in the running to represent Jets quarterback Geno Smith.? Instead, Roc Nation hired Kim Miale, a largely (if not completely) unknown NFLPA-certified agent, whom Smith has now hired to represent him.

She represents no active NFL players.? Except for Geno Smith.

So which person did Smith really choose?? Miale, or Jay-Z?? Smith said that Jay-Z played ?not that big of a role? in the decision, but Smith based the decision on ?being in New York from a standpoint of what they can do in the city, the connections that they have, I think it?s a good move.?

So who?s the ?they??? Miale, or the guy with whom Smith was hanging out last week?

In past posts, we?ve chalked up much of the complaining about Jay-Z from other agents to run-of-the-mill professional jealously.? But that was before Jay-Z embarked on a strategy that seems to brazenly violate the applicable rules.? Under this precedent, any actor, musician, or other celebrity can, in lieu of demonstrating the credentials to become an NFLPA-certified agent, launch a firm, hire an unknown agent, and represent players without technically ?representing? them.

As one agent said in response to today?s developments, ?Maybe I need to hire P. Diddy in order to get clients.?

The wiser move for Jay-Z would have been to steer Smith to another firm (like Priority Sports) for his contract, and to sign Smith for off-field endorsements.? While some agents may have scoffed at the idea of letting Jay-Z essentially run the show, eventually some agent who actually has had, you know, active NFL clients would have accepted the assignment.

It?s unknown whether the NFLPA will challenge the situation.? While it will be easier for Jay-Z to tiptoe around the potential recruitment issue if the players are hiring Roc Nation for off-field opportunities and CAA for their contracts, it becomes much harder to pass the smell test when the actual agent is a warm body with a license to negotiate clients, and the clients believe that they?re actually hiring Jay-Z.

When everyone else believes it, too, it becomes even more of a dilemma for the union.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/05/22/spanos-says-chargers-want-to-stay-in-san-diego/related/

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The Real Housewives of Orange County Recap: Hot In Here

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/05/the-real-housewives-of-orange-county-recap-hot-in-here/

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White House: Reporters shouldn't be prosecuted

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama believes journalists shouldn't be prosecuted for doing their jobs, the White House said Tuesday, showing solidarity with First Amendment advocates alarmed by a pair of high-profile federal probes into national security leaks.

Although Obama believes leaking classified information violates the law, he also believes that a free press is critical ? and that questions being raised about the proper balance between those two concerns are entirely appropriate, said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

"I can't comment on the specifics of any ongoing criminal matter," Carney said. "But if you're asking me whether the president believes that journalists should be prosecuted for doing their jobs, the answer is no."

That was a departure from the day before, when Carney declined to answer a question about whether it's appropriate for a reporter who published classified information to be treated as a potential criminal. "I understand the question and I appreciate it, but I cannot comment," Carney said.

Concerns about the Justice Department's efforts to unearth reporters' confidential sources in leak investigations have put the White House in a difficult position, unable to defend itself against claims that the administration is encroaching on press freedoms without commenting on pending investigations ? a move the White House says would be wholly inappropriate. Making it tougher for Obama to weigh in is the fact that the Justice Department probes essentially amount to criminal investigations of officials within his own administration.

Shortly after The Associated Press reported last week that prosecutors had secretly subpoenaed phone records for its reporters, the White House endorsed the idea of reviving media shield legislation in the Senate, a gesture designed to show it takes protections for journalists seriously even if it can't say whether its own Justice Department acted appropriately. But tensions over the issue were ratcheted up Monday after developments in another case revealed that an investigator had declared that a journalist who discloses leaked information is committing a crime.

In that case, prosecutors got a search warrant for the private emails of Fox News reporter James Rosen and used State Department building security records to track his movements as they sought to identify his source in a story about North Korea. That case led to the indictment of an official for revealing classified information, but prosecutors declined to arrest or seek an indictment of Rosen.

Fox News would not comment Tuesday on Carney's remarks, pointing instead to comments a day earlier from its executive vice president of news, Michael Clemente. He called the Rosen case "downright chilling" and vowed to "unequivocally defend his right to operate as a member of what up until now has always been a free press."

The White House Correspondents' Association said Tuesday that taken together, the two cases raise serious questions about whether the government has gotten too aggressive in tracking and monitoring reporters.

"We stand in strong solidarity with our colleagues who have been scrutinized. And in terms of the administration, ultimately what will matter more in all of these cases is action not words," the association said in a statement released by its board members and its president, Fox News Channel correspondent Ed Henry.

___

Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/white-house-reporters-shouldnt-prosecuted-181411101.html

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Former IRS chief: Can't say how targeting happened

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The man who led the Internal Revenue Service when it was giving extra scrutiny to tea party and other conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status told Congress on Tuesday that he knew little about what was happening while he was still commissioner.

Douglas Shulman, who vacated his position last November when his five-year term expired, told the Senate Finance Committee he didn't learn all the facts until he read last week's report by a Treasury inspector general confirming the targeting strategy.

In his first public remarks since the story broke, Shulman said: "I agree this is an issue that when someone spotted it, they should have brought it up the chain. And they didn't. I don't know why."

Shulman testified at Congress' second hearing on an episode that has largely consumed Washington since an IRS official acknowledged the targeting and apologized for it in remarks to a legal group on May 10. Shulman and the two officials who testified at Tuesday's three-and-a-half hour session ? the outgoing acting commissioner, Steven Miller, and J. Russell George, the Treasury Department inspector general who issued the report ? were all sworn in as witnesses, an unusual step for the Finance panel.

Shulman said he first learned about the targeting and about the inspector general's investigation in the spring of 2012, during the presidential election. He said that in a meeting with Miller, he was told that IRS workers were using a list to help decide which groups seeking tax-exempt status should get special attention, that the term "tea party" was on that list and that the problem was being addressed. But he said he didn't know what other words were on that list or the scope and severity of the activity.

Pressed by committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., on how the improper screening system could have occurred in the first place, Shulman said, "Mr. Chairman, I can't say. I can't say that I know that answer."

Shulman said he took what he thought were the proper steps ? making sure the inspector general was looking into the situation. He said he did not tell Treasury officials about the improper activity.

"I don't recall talking to anyone about it," Shulman told the committee. "This is not the kind of information" that, with an inspector general's probe underway, "should leave the IRS."

Asked by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, whether he owed conservative groups an apology, Shulman said, "I'm certainly not personally responsible for creating a list that had inappropriate criteria on it."

That was a reference to a list of words IRS workers looked for in deciding which groups to screen, a list that included the terms including "tea party" and "patriot."

"I very much regret that it happened and that it happened on my watch," Shulman said.

The testimony by Shulman and Miller drew skepticism from lawmakers of both parties, including critical remarks from people who have been unhesitant to say anything negative about the IRS since its activities were revealed nearly two weeks ago. Republicans openly rejected George's assertion that he has no evidence that the decision to target conservative groups was politically motivated.

A lack of political motivation "is almost beyond belief," said Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho.

George's report blamed ineffective management for allowing agents to inappropriately target conservative groups for more than 18 months during the 2010 and 2012 elections. Shulman was appointed by President George W. Bush and served from March 2008 until last November.

At a separate hearing, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said the IRS's actions against conservative groups were "unacceptable and inexcusable."

Lew told the Senate Banking Committee that he has directed the agency's incoming acting director, Daniel Werfel, to hold people accountable and to fix any flaws in IRS management to make sure there is no recurrence of the problems.

Lew said he first learned about the inspector general's investigation in March but that he was unaware of the findings until they became public this month. Lew became Treasury secretary in February, and was White House chief of staff before that.

For more than a year, from 2011 through the 2012 election, members of Congress repeatedly asked Shulman about complaints from tea party groups that they were being harassed by the IRS. Shulman's responses, usually relayed by a deputy, did not acknowledge that agents had ever targeted tea party groups for special scrutiny.

At one House hearing on March 22, 2012, Shulman was adamant in his denials, saying, "There's absolutely no targeting."

On Tuesday, Republicans expressed anger that Shulman and Miller didn't reveal the screening of conservative groups to Congress, despite lawmakers' repeated inquiries. Miller learned of the situation in early May 2012.

"Mr. Miller, that's a lie by omission," said Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, top Republican on the Finance committee. "There's no question about that in my mind. It's a lie by omission and you kept it from people who have the obligation to oversee this matter."

President Barack Obama has forced Miller to resign, and he is leaving office this week.

Shulman said he didn't later tell lawmakers about the targeting because he didn't have full information about the situation.

"I had a partial set of facts," Shulman said. "Sitting there then, sitting here today, I think I made the right decision" to let George, the inspector general, conduct his audit of the targeting.

Shulman said that when he did finally read about the details of the targeting in the inspector general's report, "I was dismayed and I was saddened."

Hatch and Baucus both criticized the agency and said they would investigate how and why the improper screening occurred.

"I intend to get to the bottom of what happened," Baucus said.

The IRS is an independent agency within the Treasury Department. Because of that independent status, the official said Treasury deferred to the IRS in its decision about how to make the targeting public.

George, the Treasury inspector general, says he told Shulman on May 30, 2012, that his office was auditing the way applications for tax-exempt status were being handled, in part because of complaints from conservative groups. However, George said he did not reveal the results of his investigation.

The IRS agents were conducting the screening to determine whether the groups were engaged in political activity. Certain tax-exempt groups are allowed to engage in politics, but politics cannot be their primary mission. It is up to the IRS to make the determination, so agents are supposed to look for clues when reviewing applications for tax-exempt status.

In March 2010, agents starting singling out groups with "Tea Party" or "Patriots" on their applications. By August 2010, it was part of the written criteria for identifying groups that required more scrutiny, according to George's report.

Agents did not flag similar progressive or liberal labels, though some liberal groups received additional scrutiny because their applications were singled out for other reasons, the report said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/former-irs-chief-cant-targeting-happened-145012244.html

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Pinterest adds more data to your boards with rich pins

Pinterest is already an absurdly popular way to save stuff from around the web, be it shoes you love, accessories for your bridesmaids or decorations for your man cave. One thing the social-bookmarking service has been missing, however, is context. Now it's offering a way for companies to deliver more info, through metadata attached to particular types of pages. Rich pins, as they're being called, can automatically attach price and availability to a product, or ingredient lists to recipes. There are also movie pins, which let sites attach ratings and credits to films. Pinterest has lined up an impressive list of partners to help it launch the new feature, including Netflix, Etsy, ASOS, REI, The North Face, Modcloth, Bon Appetit, Epicurious and Real Simple. All your old pins that now have contextual data will automatically be updated (which you'll be able to identify thanks to icons below them), and you can check out some example boards at the source link.

Filed under: Internet

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Via: Pocket-lint

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Obama Aide Chides GOP for 'Fishing' (WSJ)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/306873894?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Receptive Skills: Resources for Independent Learning | Oxford ...

Helen Stepanova is an English language teacher, teacher trainer and author, currently working as a Business English teacher in Latvia. In this guest post, she looks at some of the resources available for improving students? receptive language skills.

Nowadays the Internet provides numerous possibilities for students to improve, polish and master their English language skills. In my lessons I introduce these options, explaining how my students can use them and inspiring them with my own personal experience.

I have divided these resources into two main groups:

1. for receptive skills, with 2 subgroups: reading and listening
2. for productive skills, with 2 subgroups: writing and speaking

In each group there are several useful resources. Choose the most appropriate ones for your class.

Receptive Skills		Productive Skills
Reading	Listening	Writing	Speaking
1.Fiction literature	1.Radio	1. Social networks	1. Social networks
2.Professional literature	2.Audio books	2. Language learning communities	2. Language learning communities
3.Bilingual parallel texts	3. Films		3. British Council
4.Newspapers, magazines, online news	4.Podcasts		4. Speaking Clubs
5. Blogs	5. Conversations		5. Couchsurfing
6. Scripts	6.Music		6. International learning and volunteer programs

In this post, I?ll be looking at Receptive Skills. I?ll cover Productive Skills in my next post.

Reading

1. Fiction literature

This is the best option for those who love reading. The choice of books is enormous, from historical adventures to mainstream and children books. It?s possible to relax and learn new vocabulary and grammar constructions simultaneously. Project Gutenberg is a free online library.

2. Professional literature

If your students are learning English for a specific purpose (e.g. Engineering), reading professional literature is a great way of improving students? knowledge in that professional area, and in English at the same time. You could also try reading the lectures of world-renowned academics, which are now uploaded to the websites of many leading universities. MIT?s Open Courseware and Coursera are two examples.

3. Bilingual parallel texts

On one side you?re given English text, on the other there is a translation in your native language. This option is convenient for those who like to read original texts of any complexity, without having to stop to look up unknown words. This resource is very helpful, as the structure and ability to look at the translation immediately allow students become more confident in reading and lessen their fear of long texts.

4. Newspapers, magazines, online news

Nowadays there are plenty of news websites and online resources for reading, e.g. BBC News, Daily Telegraph, Reuters, and CNN. By reading online news, students kill two birds with one stone ? they read articles that are interesting and relevant to them, and learn a lot of new words that are common in press reporting. Reading these daily and writing down any unknown words will help students develop their vocabulary.

5. Blogs

There are thousands of blogs on the Internet dedicated to different themes ? travelling, fashion, gardening, children, phychology, etc. Use a service like Technorati to find relevant blogs. Several times per week bloggers update their pages with new stories. Like with online news sites, students will be interested in keeping up with new posts and will learn at the same time.

6. Scripts

This is one of the most amazing resources for improving reading skills. We all have our favourite films, and reading the script can be a great way of entertaining students and showing the use of English in more natural, informal settings. The same will apply to plays. Sites like AwesomeFilm, The Daily Script and SimplyScripts have loads of movie scripts available as PDFs.

Listening

1. Radio

There is possibly no better source for listening practice than radio. There are hundreds of different radio stations where you can listen online, so try listening to a station from a different country to your own. It also helps to listen to different dialects and accents, e.g. British English ? BBC Radio, American English ? Voice of America, Canadian English ? CBC Radio, Australian English ? ABC Radio Australia.

2. Audio books

There are advantages and disadvantages to listening to audio books. The lexis can be learned quite easily, however not everybody likes listening to books. It is a matter of preference. Audio books can be downloaded for free from, for example, the University of South Florida?s Lit2Go program, New Fiction, and LibriVox. Or they can be purchased from sites such as Audible and AudioGo.

3. Films

This is an ideal way to master listening skills, as all three VAK styles are used: visual, auditory and kinaesthetic. If something is unclear, it is easy to rewind back and re-watch that section of the film until it becomes clear. Reading the script before watching, or watching the film in students? native language first, will also help. Repeat words and phrases, imitating the actors? intonation, will help to get students? kinaesthetic memory working.

4. Podcasts

Short audio lessons or stories recorded by native speakers are what will really help students. Choosing podcasts at the right language level for your students, and with themes that are interesting and relevant to them, is crucial to maintaining students? interest and motivation. You can even subscribe to podcasts to be sent the most recent episodes automatically. Try a service like ESL Podcast.

5. Conversations

Encourage students to find a friend ? either a native speaker or someone with a good level of English ? and to talk with them in English. Thanks to social networks such as Facebook, Skype, Google+ and Lang-8, it?s very easy now for students to connect with native speakers and improve their English effectively.

6. Music

Listening to music is a great way to develop English skills. When you are listening and singing your kinaesthetic memory is working. Even if it is difficult to understand the lyrics, music is poetry and is often very idiomatic. Students will pick up key phrases and words to add to their vocabulary.

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Categories: Grammar & Vocabulary, Skills | Tags: Audio books, Blogs, English Language, Film scripts, Helen Stepanova, Listening, listening skills, Podcasts, Reading, Reading skills, Receptive skills, Skills | Permalink.

Author: Oxford University Press ELT

The official global blog for Oxford University Press English Language Teaching. Bringing teachers and other ELT professionals top quality resources, tools, hints and tips, news, ideas, insights and discussions to help further their ELT career. Follow OUPELTGlobal on Twitter.

Source: http://oupeltglobalblog.com/2013/05/21/receptive-skills-resources-for-independent-learning/

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Syria says it destroys Israeli vehicle in Golan

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) ? The Syrian military says it has destroyed an Israeli vehicle that crossed the ceasefire line in the Golan Heights.

A statement issued by the Syrian Armed Forces says its troops destroyed the vehicle "with those in it." It did not elaborate, but said any attempt to infiltrate Syria's sovereignty will face "immediate and firm retaliation. "

The Israeli military said earlier Tuesday that gunfire from Syria hit an Israeli patrol on the Golan Heights overnight, damaging a vehicle and prompting the troops to fire back.

The military said on Tuesday that the Israeli troops reported a "direct hit" from the return fire but provided no further details.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syria-says-destroys-israeli-vehicle-golan-093150109.html

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Split-second choice ended with NY student dead

In this photo copied from the 2010 Sleepy Hollow High School yearbook, high school student Andrea Rubello is shown. Police said Rubello, a junior at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., was shot and killed Friday, May 17, 2013, during a break-in near the college campus. (AP Photo/Sleepy Hollow High School)

In this photo copied from the 2010 Sleepy Hollow High School yearbook, high school student Andrea Rubello is shown. Police said Rubello, a junior at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., was shot and killed Friday, May 17, 2013, during a break-in near the college campus. (AP Photo/Sleepy Hollow High School)

This undated photo provided by the Nassau County Police Department shows Dalton Smith of Hempstead, N.Y. On Saturday, May 18, 2013, police identified Smith the alleged home invader involved in the fatal slaying of a New York college student early Friday morning. Police say that Smith, who was currently on parole for robbery in the first degree, was the person attempting to rob the off-campus home where Andrea Rebello was shot and killed. (AP Photo/Nassau County Police Department)

The Tarrytown, N.Y., home of the family of Hofstra University student Andrea Rubello is seen on Friday, May 17, 2013. Police say Rubello was shot and killed Friday, May 17, 2013, during a break-in near the college campus in Uniondale, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jim Fitzgerald)

Hofstra University students gather near the house where another student and an armed intruder were killed during an overnight house break-in next to the campus, Friday, May 17, 2013, in Uniondale, N.Y. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano)

Officers continue working the scene at the house, left, where a Hofstra University student and an armed intruder were killed during an overnight break-in next to the campus, Friday, May 17, 2013, in Uniondale, N.Y. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano)

NEW YORK (AP) ? The college student was being held in a headlock by a masked intruder with a loaded gun to her head, police said. Then the gunman took aim at an officer.

A moment later both Hofstra University junior Andrea Rebello and the intruder were dead ? killed after a split-second decision that is perhaps the most harrowing in law enforcement: when to pull the trigger.

"The big question is, how do you know, when someone's pointing a gun at you, whether you should keep talking to them, or shoot?" said Michele Galietta, a professor of psychology at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice who helps train police officers. "That's what makes the job of an officer amazingly difficult."

She spoke Sunday as Hofstra University students honored Rebello, a popular 21-year-old public relations major, by wearing white ribbons at their graduation ceremony.

Rebello's funeral is scheduled for Wednesday in Sleepy Hollow, north of New York City.

The news that she died from a police bullet came as "a second shock" for the already devastated family, said Henry Santos, Rebello's godfather.

Her life ended in the seconds that forced the veteran police officer to make a fatal decision, but the questions surrounding the student's death are just beginning, along with an internal investigation by the Nassau County Police Department.

Rebello and the intruder, Dalton Smith, died early Friday when the officer fired eight shots, hitting him seven times and her once in the head, according to county homicide squad Lt. John Azzata.

With a gun pointed at her, Smith "kept saying, 'I'm going to kill her,' and then he pointed the gun at the police officer," according to Azzata.

The officer acted quickly, saying later that he believed his and Rebello's lives were in danger, according to authorities.

No doubt, he was acting to try to save lives ? his own and that of the young woman, Galietta said.

"What we're asking the cop to anticipate is, 'What is going on in the suspect's mind at the moment?'" she said. "We're always trying to de-escalate, to contain a situation, but the issue of safety comes in first, and that's the evaluation the officer has to make."

Eugene O'Donnell, a former New York City police officer and professor of law and police studies at John Jay College, said the crucial issue may be whether or not police had deemed it a hostage situation. If so, he said, there are protocols police follow to buy time, slow down, isolate and assess.

But O'Donnell said the officers may have had few options because of "an eyeball to eyeball confrontation between the officer and the offender."

"It may have been too fluid to deteriorate for the officers to do anything else," O'Donnell said. "It underscores that there's no two of these that are exactly alike."

Police tactical manuals are meant to assist officers in making the best decision possible, but in the end, "they're not 100 percent foolproof," Galietta said. "In a situation like that, you can follow procedure, and it doesn't mean it comes out perfectly."

Hofstra student John Kourtessis told the New York Post that he'd gone to a bar with Rebello and a few other friends to celebrate the end of school. When they got back to Rebello's house, she asked him to move his car and he went upstairs to get his keys.

When he came back down, he said, Smith was there. He said Smith kept talking about "the Russian guy," insisting the house's residents owed a Russian man money and that he was outside waiting.

"He was saying ... that he just needed us to cooperate. I said, 'Listen, we have all this money here.'"

Kourtessis said the students offered Smith computers, jewelry and other items from the house but that Smith kept demanding more money.

The officer who fired the shots is an eight-year NYPD veteran and has been with Nassau County police for 12 years.

He is now out on sick leave, Azzata said.

Procedurally, the Nassau County district attorney would determine whether an officer's use of deadly force was justified, O'Donnell said. A spokesman for the prosecutor's office said Monday it is monitoring the ongoing police investigation.

___

Associated Press writers Frank Eltman in Mineola, N.Y., and Jake Pearson in New York City contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-05-20-US-Hofstra-Student-Shot/id-fd9a346af90a4c93918f777a28c82b05

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In Israel, a modern wall is halted by ancient terraces

Israel?s high court has issued an injunction against extending the separation barrier through the Palestinian village of Batir, famed for its 2,500-year-old terraces and aqueducts.

By Joshua Mitnick,?Correspondent / May 19, 2013

People run past the separation wall during the West Bank?s first marathon in Bethlehem, April 21, 2013.

Mahmoud Illean/AP

Enlarge

After scarring the ancient landscapes of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the name of security, Israel?s separation barrier had been slated to carve through this Palestinian village?s 2,500-year old farm terraces and aqueducts.

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But for the first time in years, Israel?s high court has given Batir and its 6,000 residents ? famed for its annual yield of aubergines ??reason to hope that a way of life preserved through centuries won?t be destroyed.

Earlier this month Israel?s top justices issued a rare injunction against construction of the barrier, putting the onus on security authorities to demonstrate that it won?t risk Batir?s cultural and environmental heritage.

"Now I feel better because they avoid the idea [that would force] closure for our lands and destroy this heritage site," says Batir council head Akram Bader, standing alongside a gurgling spring which reputedly supplied water to Jerusalem during the era of the Roman empire. ?"Also, we have more supporters from both sides, from the Israeli, Palestinian, and all over the world."?

Indeed, the case of Batir is even more remarkable because, for the first time, an Israeli government agency came to the defense of the Palestinians affected by the barrier. A 13-page position paper by the Nature and Parks Authority declared that Batir actually represents a living vestige of a shared history dating back to the period of the second Jewish temple in Jerusalem.

The authority ? which flip-flopped its original position from 2005 when the barrier route through Batir was first proposed ? suggested the entire project should be stopped and rethought because it represented a response to a previous war rather than the future. The agricultural terraces of the Palestinian villages are among the most ancient in the world and are part of Jewish heritage because it is "a sign of the people of Israel in the Land of Israel."?

"It?s the first time that the government has spoken in two different voices,"? Gidon Bromberg, the Israeli director of the environmental group Friends of the Earth Middle East, told a group of reporters on a recent tour of the village. "We don?t want to see the demise of our neighbors' heritage because the bottom line is that it's something we all share."

Built into the terraced hillside, Batir?s vine-wrapped stone alleyways give way to the ancient Roman-era pools and tiny canals that run along pathways down to flood small earthen plots where eggplants grow. The villagers use stones to control the year-round flow of water, which is rotated daily among Batir?s eight main clans. The ancient method is far less lucrative that modern day drip agriculture, but villagers have stuck with tradition. ?

"We have learned to appreciate this cultural landscape. We have an interest in preserving these locations," says Yuval Peled, director of the park?s authority planning and development department. "In every place in the world these places are subsidized so it continues to function as in the past."

A decade ago, at the height of the Palestinian uprising, Israel?s government started construction on a controversial matrix of fences, walls, and security roads to block suicide bombers in the West Bank from reaching Israeli cities.

After an initial spurt of building that separated many Palestinians from their farming lands, the project has been creeping forward because of a tide of legal challenges to the barrier, a lack of funds, and the decline of the Palestinian uprising several years later.??

As of October 2012, only two-thirds of the planned 483-mile barrier had been completed, according to the Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem, a Palestinian environmental non-profit. Only in a handful of locations has the court intervened and forced the IDF to re-route.

The tens of thousands of acres of ancient terraces straddling the Green Line border in the Jerusalem hills stand as one of many reminders that the West Bank as a separate entity is a recent creation of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Indeed, when Israeli and Jordanian military officers first drew the Green Line in 1949, Israel?s Moshe Dayan sought to preserve Batir?s unique tradition by leaving the frontier open and allowing Palestinian villagers access to lands within the newly formed Israeli state.

That 64-year-old recognition and the fact that villagers have refrained from attacks on Israelis despite Batir?s perch above a rail line connecting Jerusalem and Tel Aviv likely helped the village. Still, the case still isn?t settled.

Batir and the Parks Authority want an open frontier patrolled by cameras and sensors. The army, which still wants a physical barrier, has another six weeks come up with a proposal to submit for court review.

By then, it will be July and another eggplant season will be in full swing. An August aubergine festival is likely to be more celebratory than years past.

"Yes, we will have a festival," says council head Mr. Bader. "Look, they are preparing for the season."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/k4DP0E25HZc/In-Israel-a-modern-wall-is-halted-by-ancient-terraces

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Small Fla. city anxious to learn jackpot winner

The highest Powerball jackpot worth an estimated $590.5 million was sold recently at this Publix supermarket located in Zephyrhills, Fla. (AP Photo/Scott Iskowitz)

The highest Powerball jackpot worth an estimated $590.5 million was sold recently at this Publix supermarket located in Zephyrhills, Fla. (AP Photo/Scott Iskowitz)

Satellite trucks line the parking lot where the highest Powerball jackpot worth an estimated $590.5 million was sold recently at this Publix supermarket located in Zephyrhills, Fla. on Sunday May 19, 2013. (AP Photo/Scott Iskowitz)

Satellite trucks line the parking lot where the highest Powerball jackpot worth an estimated $590.5 million was sold, at a Publix supermarket in Zephyrhills, Fla. on Sunday, May 19, 2013. (AP Photo/Scott Iskowitz)

ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. (AP) ? It could be an anxious wait of up to two months for people in a small Florida city to find out who won the highest Powerball jackpot in history: an estimated $590.5 million.

The lucky ticket was bought sometime Saturday or earlier at a Publix supermarket in Zephyrhills, a city of about 13,000 people best known around the state for its brand of spring water with the same name.

The winner has 60 days to claim the lump-sum cash option, estimated around $376.9 million, at the Florida Lottery's office in Tallahassee. Under Florida law, lottery winners in the state cannot remain anonymous; their names and city of residence must be made publicly available to anyone who asks, according to the state's lottery website. No one had come forward as of Monday morning.

"It never happens this quickly," lottery spokesman David Bishop said. "If they know they won, they're going to contact their attorney or an accountant first so they can get their affairs in order."

The winner wasn't Matthew Bogel. On Sunday, he loaded groceries into his car after shopping at the Publix. He shook his head when asked about the jackpot.

"It's crazy, isn't it?" he said. "That's so much money."

It's an amount too high for many to imagine. Compare it to the budget for the city of Zephyrhills: This year's figure is just more than $49 million. The winning Powerball jackpot is 12 times that.

Publix spokeswoman Maria Brous said there are a lot of rumors about who won, but the store doesn't know. "We're excited for the winner or winners," she said.

Plenty of people in Zephyrhills are wondering whether it's someone they know.

Joan Albertson drove to the Publix early Sunday morning with her camera in hand, in case the winner emerged. She said she bought a ticket at a store across the street, and the idea of winning that much money was still something of a shock.

"Oh, there's so much good that you could do with that amount of money." Albertson said. "I don't even know where to begin."

Zephyrhills is a small city in Pasco County, about 30 miles northeast of downtown Tampa. Once a rural farming town, it's now known as a hotbed for skydiving activity, and the home to large retiree mobile home parks and the water bottled from the natural springs that surround the area.

And now, one lucky lottery ticket.

"I'm getting text messages and messages from Facebook going, 'uh, did you win the lottery?'" Sandra Lewis said. "No, I didn't win, guys. Sorry."

Sara Jeltis said her parents in Michigan texted her with the news Sunday morning.

"Well, it didn't click until I came here," she said, gesturing to the half-dozen TV live trucks humming in the Publix parking lot. "And I'm like, 'Wow I can't believe it, it's shocking!' Out of the whole country, this Publix, in little Zephyrhills would be the winner."

With four out of every five possible combinations of Powerball numbers in play, lottery executives said Saturday that someone was almost certain to win the game's highest jackpot, a windfall of hundreds of millions of dollars ? and that's after taxes.

The winning numbers were 10, 13, 14, 22 and 52, with a Powerball of 11.

Estimates had earlier put the jackpot at around $600 million. But Powerball's online site said Sunday that the jackpot had reached an estimated $590.5 million.

The world's largest jackpot was a $656 million Mega Millions jackpot in March 2012.

Terry Rich, CEO of the Iowa Lottery, initially confirmed that one Florida winning ticket had been sold. He told The Associated Press that following the Florida winner, the Powerball grand prize was being reset at an estimated jackpot of $40 million, or about $25.1 million cash value.

The chances of winning the prize were astronomically low: 1 in 175.2 million. That's how many different ways you can combine the numbers when you play. But lottery officials estimated that about 80 percent of those possible combinations had been purchased recently.

The longshot odds didn't deter people across Powerball-playing states ? 43 plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands ? from lining up at gas stations and convenience stores Saturday.

Clyde Barrow, a public policy professor at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, specializes in the gaming industry. He said one of the key factors behind the ticket-buying frenzy is the size of the jackpot ? people are interested in the easy investment.

"Even though the odds are very low, the investment is very small," he said. "Two dollars gets you a chance."

Lewis, who went to the Publix on Sunday to buy water, said she didn't play ? and she isn't upset about it.

"Life goes on," she said, shrugging. "I'm good."

___

Rodriguez reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press Writer Kelli Kennedy in Miami contributed to this report.

___

Follow Tamara Lush at http://twitter.com/tamaralush .

Follow Barbara Rodriguez at http://twitter.com/bcrodriguez .

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-05-20-Powerball%20Jackpot/id-2880a38ce7a74de394b0a88a1b4f27a6

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Saskatoon Pet Dental Care Important for Pet Wellness - Health and ...

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, May 19, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) ? Westward Animal Hospital in Saskatoon is educating pet owners about the importance of pet dental care for pet wellness. According to Dr. Cairo Parker, dental care helps to reduce the risk ?

Best Prices on all YOUR Health and Fitness Requirements! CLICK HERE

Source: http://www.16g.org/saskatoon-pet-dental-care-important-for-pet-wellness-globenewswire/

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Syrian army pushes assault on rebel-held town

This citizen journalism image provided by Edlib News Network, ENN, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows black smoke rising from what rebels say is a helicopter that was shot down at Abu Dhour military airbase which is besieged by the rebels, in the northern province city of Idlib, Syria, Friday May 17, 2013. Rights activists have found torture devices and other evidence of abuse in government prisons in the first Syrian city to fall to the rebels, Human Rights Watch said in a report Friday. (AP Photo/Edlib News Network ENN)

This citizen journalism image provided by Edlib News Network, ENN, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows black smoke rising from what rebels say is a helicopter that was shot down at Abu Dhour military airbase which is besieged by the rebels, in the northern province city of Idlib, Syria, Friday May 17, 2013. Rights activists have found torture devices and other evidence of abuse in government prisons in the first Syrian city to fall to the rebels, Human Rights Watch said in a report Friday. (AP Photo/Edlib News Network ENN)

A Syrian supporting the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, holds a placard with his picture and the national flag as he participates in a protest outside the US Embassy in central London, Saturday, May 18, 2013. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) ? Syrian troops backed by tanks and warplanes launched an assault Sunday on a strategic rebel-held town near the Lebanese border, pounding the area with airstrikes and artillery salvos that killed at least 30 people and forced residents to scramble for cover in basements and makeshift bunkers, activists said.

The town of Qusair has been besieged for weeks by regime troops and pro-government gunmen backed by the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group. The siege is part of a regime offensive that aims to regain control of the towns and villages along the frontier with Lebanon.

The border region's strategic value is twofold: it links Damascus with the Mediterranean coastal enclave that is the heartland of President Bashar Assad's Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam; and rebels smuggle weapons and supplies from Lebanon across the porous frontier to opposition fighters inside Syria.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 30 people, including 16 rebel fighters and one woman, were killed in Qusair in fighting Sunday morning, but that the death toll was expected to rise as government troops continue to try to push into the town.

A government official in the nearby provincial capital of Homs said that regime troops have encircled the town and that "the offensive to liberate Qusair has begun."

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media, said the army has built up its forces on three fronts around Qusair while leaving one clear for "safe passage for fleeing civilians and the armed terrorists who want to surrender."

The official said government forces have advanced into the town, taking over the municipality building and other vital government institutions.

But Hadi Abdullah, an activist in Qusair reached on Skype, denied the regime made any advances on the ground. He said the municipality was destroyed in fighting six months ago, and that there's no government building left to take over.

He said heavy shelling began late Saturday and continued through Sunday, and that civilians have sought shelter in basements

"It's the heaviest since the beginning of the revolution," he said, adding that at least 17 houses have been destroyed.

The discrepancy in the accounts could not be immediately verified.

Separately, an official at the Homs governor's office said two suicide bombings in the town of Deir Balbaa just outside of Homs killed at least three people and wounded 15 others. The official declined to be identified because he is not allowed to make public comments.

Another pair of bombings struck near a factory on a different Homs highway, killing four people and wounding 13, the state news agency reported.

The regime' offensive on Qusair comes as the United States and Russia push a joint effort to get Assad and his opponents to negotiate an end to the country's civil war. Previous attempts to solve the conflict peacefully have failed.

The U.S.-Russian plan, similar to one set out last year in Geneva, calls for talks on a transition government and an open-ended cease-fire.

More than 70,000 people have been killed and several million displaced since the uprising against Assad erupted in March 2011 and escalated into a civil war. The fighting has also spilled over into neighboring states, including Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon and Israel, all of which are anxious about the ripple effect of Syria's conflict on their own nations.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned at a weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday that the Jewish state was prepared to act if there were more shipments to Hezbollah from Syria.

"We are following the developments and changes there closely and we are prepared for every scenario," he said.

Israeli warplanes carried out two rounds of airstrikes on Damascus early this month on what officials have said were sophisticated missiles bound for Hezbollah.

On Saturday, Assad said in a newspaper interview that he won't step down before elections and that the United States has no right to interfere in his country's politics.

Assad's comments to the Argentine newspaper Clarin were the first about his political future since Washington and Moscow agreed earlier this month to try to bring the regime and the opposition to an international conference for talks about a peaceful resolution to the conflict. The U.S. and Russia have backed opposite sides in the conflict, but appear to have found common ground in the diplomatic push.

The White House and the Kremlin envision holding the meeting next month, but no date has been set. Neither Assad nor the Syrian National Coalition, the main Western-backed opposition coalition group, has made a firm commitment to attend.

In the interview, Assad seemed to play down the importance of such a conference, saying a decision on Syria's future is up to the Syrian people, not the U.S. He also said a decision on his political future must be made in elections, and not during such a conference.

As the regime and opposition decides whether to even take part in the conference, the planning for the potential talks looked set to move forward.

Jordan is to host Western and Arab foreign ministers, including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, for a meeting Wednesday that brings together the Syrian opposition's foreign supporters to plan for the peace talks.

In Egypt, the Arab League said its ministerial committee on Syria will meet Thursday to discuss ways to convene the international conference on Syria. The Syrian opposition said they will meet in Turkey that same day to discuss whether to take part in an international conference on the conflict.

___

Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, Aron Heller in Jerusalem, Maamoun Youssef in Cairo, Egypt, and Yasmine Saker in Beirut contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-05-19-ML-Syria/id-ca1419401906426f8919b05c07f1d5f4

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Obama to discuss al Qaeda, drones, Guantanamo Bay in Thursday speech

By Steve Holland

ATLANTA (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, under fire for security lapses at a U.S. mission in Libya, will in a speech on Thursday lay out his wide-ranging counter-terrorism policy, from the controversial use of drones to efforts to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Obama's use of military drone aircraft to attack extremists has drawn fire and increased tensions in countries like Pakistan and been criticized by human rights activists in the United States.

His inability to follow through on a 2008 campaign pledge to close the Guantanamo Bay prison has been dramatized by a hunger strike among many of the terrorism suspects being held there.

And the resurgence in recent weeks of questions surrounding the deaths of U.S. ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other Americans in an attack on a U.S. facility in Benghazi, Libya, last year has put Obama on the defensive.

In his State of the Union speech early this year Obama pledged to work with Congress to make certain that the U.S. targeting, detention and prosecution of terrorism suspects was consistent with U.S. law.

A White House official said Obama would address these issues in a speech on Thursday at the National Defense University in Washington. He will say that al Qaeda has been significantly degraded but remains a threat, along with its affiliates, the official said on condition of anonymity.

"He will review the state of the threats we face, particularly as al Qaeda's core has weakened but new dangers have emerged," said the official.

Obama also will discuss the policy and legal framework under which the United States acts against terrorism threats, including the use of drones.

"He will review our detention policy and efforts to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, and he will frame the future of our efforts against al Qaeda, its affiliates and adherents," the official said.

(Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Paul Simao)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-discuss-al-qaeda-drones-guantanamo-bay-thursday-154657724.html

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Kotaku Here Is a Real PS4 Teaser Video | io9 How the Runaways Movie That Never Happened Helped to Fu

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Source: http://lauren.kinja.com/kotaku-here-is-a-real-ps4-teaser-video-io9-how-the-ru-508872088

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Pacers knock out Knicks with 106-99 win in Game 6

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? Indiana spent the entire season perfecting its defense.

On Saturday, it produced the biggest payoff for the Pacers in nearly a decade.

Roy Hibbert's block of Carmelo Anthony's dunk attempt midway through the fourth quarter spurred an 11-2 run that rallied the Pacers to a 106-99 victory in Game 6 of their second-round series, sending them into their first Eastern Conference final since 2004.

New York native Lance Stephenson scored nine points in the run, finishing with a playoff career-high 25.

"That's why they pay me the big bucks this summer, so I have to protect the paint," said Hibbert, who signed a $58 million contract last summer. "If all else fails, meaning the offense, I have to protect the paint."

With players from both teams standing on the court as the final seconds ticked off and Pacers fans roaring in appreciation, the sellout crowd wasted little time breaking into chants of "Beat The Heat!"

For Indiana, it sets up a postseason rematch with the defending NBA champs, the team that eliminated them last May after the Pacers had taken a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven semifinals. The Heat wound up winning Game 4 at Indiana and followed that with two more wins as Danny Granger struggled with a knee injury.

Indiana used the lessons from that series as motivation to improve this season and wound up beating the Heat twice at home before losing the third game of the season series at Miami. The Pacers will return to South Florida for Game 1 on Wednesday night.

With Granger missing all but five games this season because of the lingering knee injury, the Pacers put an even greater emphasis on playing defense and it showed.

Indiana led the league in rebounding, defensive field goal percentage and defensive 3-point percentage while finishing second in points allowed per game during the regular season. It was no different in the playoffs, as the Knicks found out.

New York had another subpar shooting night Saturday, making just 40 percent of its shots, and again wound up on the wrong side of a 43-36 rebounding discrepancy. In the paint, New York was outscored 52-20, and Anthony, who finished with 39 points, scored just four points in the final 12 minutes when he went 2 of 7 from the field.

Iman Shumpert added 19 points, hitting five 3-pointers, and J.R. Smith scored 15. Nobody else was in double figures.

The combination, as it had been in the previous three losses to Indiana, produced the same frustrating result.

"They have a hell of a defense. They hold down the paint. They do a great job, do a hell of a job of controlling the paint, closing it down, making it tough for guys," Anthony said. "You've got to give them guys credit, especially when they got a chance to set. Roy Hibbert gets to sit in the paint, causes havoc."

It's not just that.

The biggest question coming into Saturday's game was whether starting point guard George Hill would play. He took part in the team's morning shootaround, was cleared by the team doctors and wound up returning two days after missing Game 5 with a concussion. His return gave the Pacers a big boost.

Hill finished with just 12 points on 2-of-10 shooting but had five rebounds and four assists, and kept the Pacers composed enough to commit only nine turnovers ? 10 fewer than Thursday night's loss in New York.

The results showed up everywhere on the floor.

Paul George had 23 points, five rebounds and four assists. David West added 17 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Hibbert finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks, none bigger than the stuff on Anthony that changed the game. Stephenson had 10 rebounds and three assists in his best postseason game ever.

The reason: He wanted to avoid a trip home.

"I just didn't want to go back to New York and play Game 7," Stephenson said. "Just get it done with now and I'd do whatever it takes to do that today. It showed tonight."

The New York native made sure of it.

After George grabbed the rebound off of Hibbert's block, Stephenson took a pass from West and scored on a layup to tie the score at 92 with 4:51 left in the game. Stephenson followed that with a steal and drove in for a layup, drawing a foul and completing a three-point play. After grabbing another rebound and making two more free throws, West tipped in a miss and Stephenson closed the decisive spurt with another layup. Suddenly, the Pacers led 101-94 with 1:53 to go.

New York never got another chance to tie the score or take the lead again despite making a far more typical 13 of 30 from 3-point range.

"It's tough to go out this way," coach Mike Woodson said. "I didn't make it happen for us and that's what's disappointing."

The Pacers have a far different goal now as they get ready to face LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Miami.

"We're not satisfied with where we're at," coach Frank Vogel said. "We feel like there's no ceiling on this team this year."

Notes: New York failed to become the ninth team to rally from a 3-1 deficit. ... Indianapolis 500 pole winner Ed Carpenter made the short trip from the track to Bankers Life Fieldhouse, where he is a regular attendee. ... Colts coach Chuck Pagano also attended the game. ... The Knicks were 18 of 18 from the free throw line.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pacers-knock-knicks-106-99-win-game-6-030748278.html

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Mars rover Opportunity examines clay clues in rock

May 18, 2013 ? NASA's senior Mars rover, Opportunity, is driving to a new study area after a dramatic finish to 20 months on "Cape York" with examination of a rock intensely altered by water.

The fractured rock, called "Esperance," provides evidence about a wet ancient environment possibly favorable for life. The mission's principal investigator, Steve Squyres of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., said, "Esperance was so important, we committed several weeks to getting this one measurement of it, even though we knew the clock was ticking."

The mission's engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., had set this week as a deadline for starting a drive toward "Solander Point," where the team plans to keep Opportunity working during its next Martian winter.

"What's so special about Esperance is that there was enough water not only for reactions that produced clay minerals, but also enough to flush out ions set loose by those reactions, so that Opportunity can clearly see the alteration," said Scott McLennan of the State University of New York, Stony Brook, a long-term planner for Opportunity's science team.

This rock's composition is unlike any other Opportunity has investigated during nine years on Mars -- higher in aluminum and silica, lower in calcium and iron.

The next destination, Solander Point, and the area Opportunity is leaving, Cape York, both are segments of the rim of Endeavour Crater, which spans 14 miles (22 kilometers) across. The planned driving route to Solander Point is about 1.4 miles (2.2 kilometers). Cape York has been Opportunity's home since the rover arrived at the western edge of Endeavour in mid-2011 after a two-year trek from a smaller crater.

"Based on our current solar-array dust models, we intend to reach an area of 15 degrees northerly tilt before Opportunity's sixth Martian winter," said JPL's Scott Lever, mission manager. "Solander Point gives us that tilt and may allow us to move around quite a bit for winter science observations."

Northerly tilt increases output from the rover's solar panels during southern-hemisphere winter. Daily sunshine for Opportunity will reach winter minimum in February 2014. The rover needs to be on a favorable slope well before then.

The first drive away from Esperance covered 81.7 feet (24.9 meters) on May 14. Three days earlier, Opportunity finished exposing a patch of the rock's interior with the rock abrasion tool. The team used a camera and spectrometer on the robotic arm to examine Esperance.

The team identified Esperance while exploring a portion of Cape York where the Compact Reconnaissance Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter had detected a clay mineral. Clays typically form in wet environments that are not harshly acidic. For years, Opportunity had been finding evidence for ancient wet environments that were very acidic. The CRISM findings prompted the rover team to investigate the area where clay had been detected from orbit. There, they found an outcrop called "Whitewater Lake," containing a small amount of clay from alteration by exposure to water.

"There appears to have been extensive, but weak, alteration of Whitewater Lake, but intense alteration of Esperance along fractures that provided conduits for fluid flow," Squyres said. "Water that moved through fractures during this rock's history would have provided more favorable conditions for biology than any other wet environment recorded in rocks Opportunity has seen."

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Project launched Opportunity to Mars on July 7, 2003, about a month after its twin rover, Spirit. Both were sent for three-month prime missions to study the history of wet environments on ancient Mars and continued working in extended missions. Spirit ceased operations in 2010.

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. For more about Opportunity, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/rovers and http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov . You can follow the project on Twitter and on Facebook at: http://twitter.com/MarsRovers and http://www.facebook.com/mars.rovers .

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/LelUYtxz7xM/130518100641.htm

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The Art of Giving for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society - Montreal Art ...

The series of exhibitions titled?First Thursday?s ? The Art of Giving,?is a monthly event to raise funds and support local charities.

For the occasion of Thursday June 6, 2013 6:30 pm ? 9:30 pm we will be holding an event in benefit of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, for information about the organisation and support please visit their website.

The exhibition is one night only, open to the public. We will be accepting donations at the door. Refreshments will be served.

The mission of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin?s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

LLS is the world?s largest voluntary health agency dedicated to blood cancer. LLS funds lifesaving blood cancer research around the world and provides free information and support services.

Our Key Priorities will ensure that:?The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society helps blood cancer patients live better, longer lives.?

?

Artists can find out more about submitting their artwork?here

For charities who are interested in becoming involved with our events, please contact us directly at marnie@montrealartcenter.com

Source: http://montrealartcenter.com/the-art-of-giving-for-leukemia-lymphoma-society/

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