As climate warms, bark beetles march on high-elevation forests

Public release date: 31-Dec-2012
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Contact: Phil Townsend
ptownsend@wisc.edu
608-262-1669
University of Wisconsin-Madison

MADISON Trees and the insects that eat them wage constant war. Insects burrow and munch; trees deploy lethal and disruptive defenses in the form of chemicals.

But in a warming world, where temperatures and seasonal change are in flux, the tide of battle may be shifting in some insects' favor, according to a new study.

In a report published today (Dec. 31, 2012) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison reports a rising threat to the whitebark pine forests of the northern Rocky Mountains as native mountain pine beetles climb ever higher, attacking trees that have not evolved strong defenses to stop them.

The whitebark pine forests of the western United States and Canada are the forest ecosystems that occur at the highest elevation that sustains trees. It is critical habitat for iconic species such as the grizzly bear and plays an important role in governing the hydrology of the mountain west by shading snow and regulating the flow of meltwater.

"Warming temperatures have allowed tree-killing beetles to thrive in areas that were historically too cold for them most years," explains Ken Raffa, a UW-Madison professor of entomology and a senior author of the new report. "The tree species at these high elevations never evolved strong defenses."

A warming world has not only made it easier for the mountain pine beetle to invade new and defenseless ecosystems, but also to better withstand winter weather that is milder and erupt in large outbreaks capable of killing entire stands of trees, no matter their composition.

"A subject of much concern in the scientific community is the potential for cascading effects of whitebark pine loss on mountain ecosystems," says Phil Townsend, a UW-Madison professor of forest ecology and also a senior author of the study.

The mountain pine beetle's historic host is the lodgepole pine, a tree common at lower elevations. Typically, the insects, which are about the size of a grain of rice, play a key role in regulating the health of a forest by attacking old or weakened trees and fostering the development of a younger forest.

However, recent years have been characterized by unusually hot and dry summers and mild winters, which have allowed insect populations to boom. This has led to an infestation of mountain pine beetle described as possibly the most significant insect blight ever seen in North America.

Because lodgepole pine co-evolved with the bark beetle, it has devised stronger chemical countermeasures, volatile compounds toxic to the beetle and other agents that disrupt the pine bark beetle's chemical communication system.

Despite its robust defense system, the lodgepole pine is still the preferred menu item for the mountain pine beetle, suggesting that the beetle has not yet adjusted its host preference to whitebark pine. "Nevertheless, at elevations consisting of pure whitebark pine, the mountain pine beetle readily attacks it," says Townsend.

The good news, he adds, is that in mixed stands, the beetle's strongest attraction is to the lodgepole pine, suggesting that, at least in the short term, whitebark pine may persist in those environments.

The study, conducted in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, one of the last nearly intact ecosystems in the Earth's northern temperate regions, also revealed that the insects that prey on or compete with the mountain pine beetle are staying in their preferred lodgepole pine habitat. That, says Townsend, is a concern because the tree-killing bark beetles "will encounter fewer of these enemies in fragile, high-elevation stands."

Whitebark pine trees are an important food source for wildlife, including black and grizzly bears, and birds such as the Clark's nutcracker, named after the famed explorer and which is essential to whitebark pine forest ecology as the bird's seed caches help regenerate the forests.

With their broad crowns, the high-elevation whitebark pines also act as snow fences, helping to slowly release water into mountain streams and extending stream flow into mountain valleys well into the summer.

"Loss of the canopy will lead to greater desiccation during the winter and faster melting in the summer due to loss of tree canopies for shade," according to Townsend. "This is possibly a short-term effect of the loss of whitebark pine," he explains "If and it is a big if other tree species replace it, eventually this service may be replaced."

###

The new study was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the UW-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

-- Terry Devitt (608) 262-8282, trdevitt@wisc.edu

---

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?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 31-Dec-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Phil Townsend
ptownsend@wisc.edu
608-262-1669
University of Wisconsin-Madison

MADISON Trees and the insects that eat them wage constant war. Insects burrow and munch; trees deploy lethal and disruptive defenses in the form of chemicals.

But in a warming world, where temperatures and seasonal change are in flux, the tide of battle may be shifting in some insects' favor, according to a new study.

In a report published today (Dec. 31, 2012) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison reports a rising threat to the whitebark pine forests of the northern Rocky Mountains as native mountain pine beetles climb ever higher, attacking trees that have not evolved strong defenses to stop them.

The whitebark pine forests of the western United States and Canada are the forest ecosystems that occur at the highest elevation that sustains trees. It is critical habitat for iconic species such as the grizzly bear and plays an important role in governing the hydrology of the mountain west by shading snow and regulating the flow of meltwater.

"Warming temperatures have allowed tree-killing beetles to thrive in areas that were historically too cold for them most years," explains Ken Raffa, a UW-Madison professor of entomology and a senior author of the new report. "The tree species at these high elevations never evolved strong defenses."

A warming world has not only made it easier for the mountain pine beetle to invade new and defenseless ecosystems, but also to better withstand winter weather that is milder and erupt in large outbreaks capable of killing entire stands of trees, no matter their composition.

"A subject of much concern in the scientific community is the potential for cascading effects of whitebark pine loss on mountain ecosystems," says Phil Townsend, a UW-Madison professor of forest ecology and also a senior author of the study.

The mountain pine beetle's historic host is the lodgepole pine, a tree common at lower elevations. Typically, the insects, which are about the size of a grain of rice, play a key role in regulating the health of a forest by attacking old or weakened trees and fostering the development of a younger forest.

However, recent years have been characterized by unusually hot and dry summers and mild winters, which have allowed insect populations to boom. This has led to an infestation of mountain pine beetle described as possibly the most significant insect blight ever seen in North America.

Because lodgepole pine co-evolved with the bark beetle, it has devised stronger chemical countermeasures, volatile compounds toxic to the beetle and other agents that disrupt the pine bark beetle's chemical communication system.

Despite its robust defense system, the lodgepole pine is still the preferred menu item for the mountain pine beetle, suggesting that the beetle has not yet adjusted its host preference to whitebark pine. "Nevertheless, at elevations consisting of pure whitebark pine, the mountain pine beetle readily attacks it," says Townsend.

The good news, he adds, is that in mixed stands, the beetle's strongest attraction is to the lodgepole pine, suggesting that, at least in the short term, whitebark pine may persist in those environments.

The study, conducted in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, one of the last nearly intact ecosystems in the Earth's northern temperate regions, also revealed that the insects that prey on or compete with the mountain pine beetle are staying in their preferred lodgepole pine habitat. That, says Townsend, is a concern because the tree-killing bark beetles "will encounter fewer of these enemies in fragile, high-elevation stands."

Whitebark pine trees are an important food source for wildlife, including black and grizzly bears, and birds such as the Clark's nutcracker, named after the famed explorer and which is essential to whitebark pine forest ecology as the bird's seed caches help regenerate the forests.

With their broad crowns, the high-elevation whitebark pines also act as snow fences, helping to slowly release water into mountain streams and extending stream flow into mountain valleys well into the summer.

"Loss of the canopy will lead to greater desiccation during the winter and faster melting in the summer due to loss of tree canopies for shade," according to Townsend. "This is possibly a short-term effect of the loss of whitebark pine," he explains "If and it is a big if other tree species replace it, eventually this service may be replaced."

###

The new study was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the UW-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

-- Terry Devitt (608) 262-8282, trdevitt@wisc.edu

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-12/uow-acw122812.php

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Anti-rape protests to continue across India today

New Delhi: The nationwide anti-rape protests will continue on Sunday even as the body of the 23-year-old Delhi braveheart, victim of a brutal gangrape and physical assault, will be laid to rest. The death of the paramedical student has stirred emotions across the country with people holding candlelight vigils, protests and silent marches to mourn her death and demand justice for her.

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/videos/313032/antirape-protests-to-continue-today-10-metro-stations-to-remain-shut.html

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How To Recover Deleted Photos: Software Is The Key Ingredient For ...

Home | Arts & entertainment | Photography

Taking photographs is actually a pastime or perhaps an activity that has taken the attention of untold numbers of people around the globe. While many individuals learn photography and invest in training courses and instruments, intending to use them commercially for a lucrative career of taking photos, others additionally realized to be specific in their personal choice of cameras and would enroll in a number of instructional classes and seminars for them to take even better pictures of special events and certain subjects-even when they only wish to have fun with their photographs for their own use and share them with friends on the internet or in photo albums.

With the huge number of folks bringing along with them cameras in birthday celebrations, concerts, family vacation trips, or maybe even during a regular walk in the park or perhaps a quiet dinner with their husband or wife at a brand-new restaurant, it is typically expected that dozens or many hundreds of pictures are kept in the camera's memory card and also in phones, computers, and other devices. Instead of promptly looking through the images, choosing which ones to keep and which to get rid of, and printing the selected photos immediately after the event, it is more likely that a person would leave the image files un-tampered with in the camera or electronic device for a long time, with new photographs being added with every single new photo opportunity that comes up. There's a serious chance that a photo could become deleted, and without any actual physical printout, the photo of an unforgettable event may be gone forever. It's important to be aware of a way to recover deleted photos and prevent the loss of irreplaceable memories from happening.

Photography lovers will be delighted to find out that they may make use of available innovative software program to retrieve deleted photos easily. Deleted photos in data formats such as TIFF, JPEG, CRW, BMP, RAW, and NEF, deleted movie and music in MPEG, AVI, MOV, and WAV filetypes, and deleted images from reformatted memory cards, cameras, USB memory sticks, SD cards, PC disk drives can all be very easily recovered by means of exceptional software designed especially for this objective.

As a way for this software to function more effectively and to increase the likelihood of retrieving an unintentionally deleted image file, the most important thing to do is to actually refrain from storing any more new photo files onto the memory card or device. Deleted files still retain a small amount of data which may be utilized to recover the file, but this data will disappear if new data gets written over it. Taking more new photos using the same device or closing and opening applications and web surfing on a computer will cause disk activity which increases the risk of losing the data permanently.

About the Author

Any photography enthusiast will be able to recover deleted photographs from a camera, phone, or computer and preserve memories of special occasions and regular days alike for more and more years into the future.

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/Kate-Barton/290100

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Source: http://www.articlerich.com/Article/How-To-Recover-Deleted-Photos--Software-Is-The-Key-Ingredient-For-you-to-Retrieve-Deleted-Photos-From-A-Camera/2505309

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'Do something!' Americans fed up with D.C. over 'cliff'

Americans from across the country express their frustration with lawmakers in Washington who have yet to reach an agreement on averting looming tax increases.

By Tracy Connor, NBC News

Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker said Friday that ?the American people should be disgusted? the nation?s leaders haven?t been able to avert the fiscal cliff.

Well, mission accomplished.

John Makely / NBC News

Abigail Holt, 17, (right), of Hartford, Conn., says Washington's inability to avert the fiscal cliff is "annoying."

Across the country, people are shaking their heads about negotiations that go nowhere and fingers that point everywhere while the nation hurtles toward the precipice of a new economic crisis.

?They should make a plan, make up their minds and do something!? Abigail Holt of Hartford, Conn., told NBC News.

She?s 17 years old and admits she?s just learning about the federal government and the fiscal cliff. But she knows this much: ?It?s annoying.?

And that's being polite.

Writing in the Daily Beast, Howard Kurtz called the nation's capital "the country?s biggest day-care center." The famous sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer hit below the belt, noting on Twitter that "Members of Congress who can't compromise probably aren't good lovers."

Californian Pat Marshall said the politicians "appear to be very self-centered on making sure that they?re taken care of and the American public comes second."

After an hourlong meeting Friday with congressional leaders that he described as "constructive," President Obama acknowledged that people outside Washington were bewildered by D.C. "dysfunction" and that time -- and patience -- were running out.

Lawmakers have 'lost touch'
Indeed, with higher taxes and deep spending cuts looming without a deal, Americans? faith in Washington is dissipating by the day.

A Dec. 9 Gallup poll found that 59 percent thought it was likely the White House and Congress could hammer out a deal to avoid a slide down the cliff; by this week, that had sunk to 50 percent.

Skeptics were gaining ground, meanwhile: 48 percent think an agreement before the year-end deadline is unlikely, up 10 points from two weeks earlier.

John Makely / NBC News

Rich Dodds, 49, of Houston, Texas, says the elected officials in Washington have "lost touch" with Americans who will be affected by the fiscal cliff.

?It doesn?t feel like they?re doing much,? said Rich Dodds, 49, an energy product manager from Houston, Texas. ?I think they?ve lost touch with who the American people are. It?s a pretty elite group in Washington.?

The fact that both houses of Congress went into recess -- the Senate took a nearly week-long break, and the House is still on vacation until Sunday -- bothered some.

?This is one of the most important issues and they are not even working,? said Bill Prosser, 49, a telecommunications salesman from Clifton, Va. ?I?m very disappointed in them.?

Nicole Hayward, 28, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was so angered by the congressional recess that she posted a petition on Change.org demanding lawmakers get back to business.

?I turn on the news every day while I?m getting ready for work and I saw coverage about how Congress was going to break for the holidays and we might not have a resolution,? the marketing director said. ?I thought, who cares about their holiday vacation? It really got me going.?

Hayward got only 101 signatures on her petition. She attributed the lack of interest to cynicism.

?The reason why the average American doesn?t pay attention to this issue and the details is they think Congress will come together and pass something that just kicks the can down the road and things won?t change in [their] life,? she said.

John Makely / NBC News

Bill Prosser, 49, of Clifton, Va., says members of Congress should be locked in a room until they can make a deal.

Bipartisan blame
Inside the Beltway, Democrats are condemning Republicans and vice versa for the stalemate. But the nation?s voters are more bipartisan in their blame, with neither Republicans nor Democrats obtaining majority support.

?Essentially, right now, 25 percent of the public approves of the job the GOP congressional leaders are doing and 40 percent approves of the job the Democratic leaders are doing,? said Jocelyn Kiley, a senior researcher for the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

Prosser thinks there?s a time-tested way to bring the two sides together before Jan. 1 -- something akin to the old papal conclaves in which cardinals were locked in a room until they chose a new pontiff.

?Just say you?re not going to leave until you have a deal,? Prosser said.? ?Get in a room -- and get it done!?

{"contentId":"16216300","totalVotes":"110501"}

Who do you blame for the nation teetering on the edge of the fiscal cliff?

?

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/29/16216300-do-something-americans-fed-up-with-washington-as-fiscal-cliff-deadline-looms?lite

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Those Spicy Snapchat Vids Don't Self-Destruct

So you thought those photos and videos you sent using Snapchat or Poke -- you know, the embarrassing ones -- were supposed to self-destruct after being viewed by the intended recipient? Not so fast. It turns out that there's a way to save them that doesn't require a lot of skill or expense.

Source: http://ectnews.com.feedsportal.com/c/34520/f/632000/s/2705eacf/l/0L0Stechnewsworld0N0Crsstory0C769770Bhtml/story01.htm

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Reaction to death of Norman Schwarzkopf

Reaction to the death Thursday of retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf:

___

"Barbara and I mourn the loss of a true American patriot and one of the great military leaders of his generation. A distinguished member of that 'Long Gray Line' hailing from West Point, Gen. Norm Schwarzkopf, to me, epitomized the 'duty, service, country' creed that has defended our freedom and seen this great nation through our most trying international crises. More than that, he was a good and decent man ? and a dear friend. Barbara and I send our condolences to his wife, Brenda, and his wonderful family." ? former President George H.W. Bush.

___

"With the passing of Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, we've lost an American original. From his decorated service in Vietnam to the historic liberation of Kuwait and his leadership of United States Central Command, Gen. Schwarzkopf stood tall for the country and Army he loved. Our prayers are with the Schwarzkopf family, who tonight can know that his legacy will endure in a nation that is more secure because of his patriotic service." ? White House press secretary Jay Carney.

___

"With the passing of General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, America lost a great patriot and a great soldier. Norm served his country with courage and distinction for over 35 years. The highlight of his career was the 1991 Persian Gulf War, Operation Desert Storm. 'Stormin' Norman' led the coalition forces to victory, ejecting the Iraqi Army from Kuwait and restoring the rightful government. His leadership not only inspired his troops, but also inspired the nation. He was a good friend of mine, a close buddy. I will miss him. My wife, Alma, joins me in extending our deepest condolences to his wife, Brenda, and to her family." ? former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

___

"The men and women of the Department of Defense join me in mourning the loss of Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, whose 35 years of service in uniform left an indelible imprint on the United States military and on the country. The son of a decorated Army officer, Gen. Schwarzkopf followed his father's legacy of service by enrolling in West Point in the 1950s. His bravery during two tours in Vietnam earned him three Silver Stars, and set him on the path lead our troops into battle in Grenada, and then to take charge of the overall allied effort in the first Gulf War as commander of United States Central Command. Gen. Schwarzkopf's skilled leadership of that campaign liberated the Kuwaiti people and produced a decisive victory for the allied coalition. In the aftermath of that war, Gen. Schwarzkopf was justly recognized as a brilliant strategist and inspiring leader. Today, we recall that enduring legacy and remember him as one of the great military giants of the 20th century. My thoughts and prayers are with the Schwarzkopf family in this time of sadness and grief." ? Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

___

"I was saddened to learn today of the passing of Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, a fellow West Point graduate, former CENTCOM commander and one of the 20th century's finest soldiers and leaders. I join the civilian and military leaders of our country, and servicemen and women, past and present, in mourning his death. Gen. Schwarzkopf embodied the warrior spirit, serving with distinction in three conflicts over his 35 years of dedicated service. The hallmark of his remarkable career was the swift and decisive victory over Saddam Hussein's forces after they invaded Kuwait. The thoughts and prayers of the Joint Chiefs and the Joint Force are with Gen. Schwarzkopf's family and friends." ? Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/reaction-death-norman-schwarzkopf-014655500.html

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Budget struggle raising anxiety for health care

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Confused about the federal budget struggle? So are doctors, hospital administrators and other medical professionals who serve the 100 million Americans covered by Medicare and Medicaid.

Rarely has the government sent so many conflicting signals in so short a time about the bottom line for the health care industry.

Cuts are coming, says Washington, and some could be really big. Yet more government spending is also being promised as President Barack Obama's health care overhaul advances and millions of uninsured people move closer to getting government-subsidized coverage.

"Imagine a person being told they are going to get a raise, but their taxes are also going to go up and they are going to be paying more for gas," said Thornton Kirby, president of the South Carolina Hospital Association. "They don't know if they are going to be taking home more or less. That's the uncertainty when there are so many variables in play."

Real money is at stake for big hospitals and small medical practices alike. Government at all levels pays nearly half the nation's health care tab, with federal funds accounting for most of that.

It's widely assumed that a budget deal will mean cuts for Medicare service providers. But which ones? How much? And will Medicaid and subsidies to help people get coverage under the health care law also be cut?

As House Speaker John Boehner famously said: "God only knows." The Ohio Republican was referring to the overall chances of getting a budget deal, but the same can be said of how health care ? one-sixth of the economy ? will fare.

"There is no political consensus to do anything significant," said Dan Mendelson, president of Avalere Health, a market analysis firm. "There is a collective walking away from things that matter. All the stuff on the lists of options becomes impossible, because there is no give-and-take."

As if things weren't complicated enough, doctors keep facing their own recurring fiscal cliff, separate from the bigger budget battle but embroiled in it nonetheless.

Come Jan. 1, doctors and certain other medical professionals face a 26.5 percent cut in their Medicare payments, the consequence of a 1990s deficit-reduction law gone awry. Lawmakers failed to repeal or replace that law even after it became obvious that it wasn't working. Instead, Congress usually passes a "doc fix" each year to waive the cuts.

This year, the fix got hung up in larger budget politics. Although a reprieve is expected sooner or later, doctors don't like being told to sit in the congressional waiting room.

"It seems like there is a presumption that physicians and patients can basically tolerate this kind of uncertainty while the Congress goes through whatever political machinations they are going through," said Dr. Jeremy Lazarus, president of the American Medical Association. "Our concern is that physician uncertainty and anxiety about being able to pay the bills will have an impact on taking care of patients."

A recent government survey indicates that Medicare beneficiaries are having more problems when trying to find a new primary care doctor, and Lazarus said that will only get worse.

Adding to their unease, doctors also face an additional reduction if automatic spending cuts go through. Those would be triggered if Obama and congressional leaders are unable to bridge partisan differences and strike a deal. They are part of the combination of tax increases and spending cuts dubbed the "fiscal cliff."

Medicare service providers would get hit with a 2 percent across-the-board cut, but Medicaid and subsidies for the uninsured under Obama's health care overhaul would be spared. The Medicare cut adds up to about $120 billion over ten years, with 40 percent falling on hospitals, according to Avalare's analysis. Nursing homes, Medicare Advantage plans and home health agencies also get hit.

The American Hospital Association says that would lead to the loss of hundreds of thousands of hospital jobs in a labor intensive industry that also generates employment for other businesses in local communities.

"It's very difficult to believe hospitals can absorb the kinds of numbers they are talking about without reducing service or workforce," said Kirby, the hospital association head. "You may decide that a service a hospital provides is not affordable ? for example, obstetrics in a rural community ? if you're making a little bit of money or losing a little bit of money by continuing to deliver babies in a rural community."

Independent analysts like Mendelson doubt that a 2 percent Medicare cut to hospitals would be catastrophic, but say it will cost jobs somewhere.

Even if there is a budget deal, the squeeze will be on.

The administration has proposed $400 billion in health care cuts so far in the budget talks, coming mainly from Medicare spending. That's only a starting point as far as Republicans are concerned. They also want to pare back Medicaid and Obama's health care law, and have also sought an increase in the eligibility age for Medicare.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/budget-struggle-raising-anxiety-health-care-102635702--politics.html

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International Media Question Pakatan's Foreign Backers

It's not just the Malaysian press that is raising questions over the foreign funding of pro-Pakatan Rakyat groups; the international media is also turning the spotlight on the Opposition in the lead up to GE 13. The latest is RT, an international English news channel broadcast from Moscow, which has questioned "the opposition's links to foreign-funders in Washington."

"As the South-East Asian nation of Malaysia prepares for general elections, distrust of the political opposition and accusations of foreign interference have been major talking points in the political frequencies emanating from Kuala Lumpur," it said.

In a detailed op-ed on Wednesday, RT asked: "US attempting regime change in Malaysia: Fact or fiction?"

"In Malaysia, high-profile NGOs and media outlets have admittedly received funding from OSI (Open Society Institute) and satellite organizations of NED (US-based National Endowment for Democracy). Premesh Chandran, the CEO of the nation's most prominent alternative media outlet, Malaysiakini, is a grantee of George Soros's Open Society Foundations and launched the news organization with a $100,000 grant from the Bangkok-based Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA), another organization with dubious affiliations to the US State Department.

"Malaysiakini has come under pressure from local journalists for the lack of transparency in its financial management and hesitance in revealing the value of its shares. Additionally, Suaram, an NGO promoting human rights, has borne heavy criticism over its funding and organizational structure.

"Senator Ezam Mohd Nor, himself a recipient of Suaram's Human Rights Award, has accused the organization of employing poor research methods and attempting to disparage the government".

The channel's detailed analysis will make uncomfortable reading for pro-Opposition groups, including Bersih.

"After coming under heavy scrutiny for obfuscating funding sources, Bersih coalition leader Ambiga Sreenevasan admitted that her organization receives funding from the National Democratic Institute and the Open Society Institute.

"While Sreenevasan's organization claimed to be non-partisan and apolitical, members of Malaysia's political opposition openly endorsed the movement, and some were even present at the demonstrations," RT said.

"As elections loom, Bersih coalition leader Ambiga Sreenavasan is already dubbing them "the dirtiest elections ever seen" ? unsurprising rhetoric from a woman being handed her talking points by the US embassy."

Ouch. That must hurt, Ambiga.

RT also examined the possibility of US-based groups pushing for "regime change" in Malaysia.

"Despite Najib having good rapport with formal Western leaders, it is clear with whom the think-tank policy architects, Zionist lobbies, and foundation fellows have placed their loyalties.

"What is ticklishly ironic about reading op-eds penned by the likes of Wolfowitz and Al Gore, and how they laud Malaysia as a progressive and moderate model Islamic state, is that they concurrently demonize its leadership and dismiss them (as) authoritarian thugs," RT pointed out.

Despite the scaremongering and rhetoric emerging from Pakatan, RT makes it clear that the Opposition does not offer a credible alternative at all.

"Pakatan Rakyat, the main opposition coalition pitted against the ruling party, has yet to offer a fully coherent organizational program, and if the coalition ever came to power, the disunity of its component parties and their inability to agree on fundamental policies would be enough to conjure angrier, disenchanted youth back on to the streets, in larger numbers perhaps.

"To put it bluntly, the opposition lacks confidence from the business community and foreign investors; even the likes of JP Morgan have issued statements of concern over an opposition win," the op-ed said.

In fact, the most pressing threat to our multicultural society is the Islamist agenda promoted by PAS, which is trying to ride rough-shod over its 'allies' DAP and PKR.

"It should be noted that if Islamists ever wielded greater influence in Malaysia under an opposition coalition, one could imagine a sizable exodus of non-Muslim minorities and a subsequent flight of foreign capital, putting the nation's economy in a fragile and fractured state.

"And yet, the United States has poured millions into 'democracy promotion' efforts to strengthen the influence of NGOs that distort realities and cast doubt over the government's ability to be a coherent actor," RT said.

This shows that Pakatan and its friendly NGOs and media can no longer hide from the political agenda of their foreign backers.

"Malaysia does not have the kind of instability that warrants overt external intervention; backing regime-change efforts may only go so far as supporting dissidents and groups affiliated with Anwar Ibrahim," the international news channel said.

This is explosive stuff.

RT's detailed report is timely as the country gears up for the general election. Voters will now be better informed of Pakatan's efforts to realise the political agenda of their foreign backers, and the disastrous effect this could have on our country. The battle lines in GE 13 are now clearly drawn.

Source: http://www.thechoice.my/top-stories/63521-international-media-question-pakatans-foreign-backers

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Our history, and theirs: A word from John Lundstrom (Powerlineblog)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/273377287?client_source=feed&format=rss

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White House urges parties in dock dispute to come to terms

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Friday urged dock workers, port owners and shippers to resolve a labor dispute that threatens to deteriorate into a strike that could affect 15 ports on the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts.

"Federal mediators are assisting with the negotiations, and we continue to monitor the situation closely and urge the parties to continue their work at the negotiating table to get a deal done as quickly as possible," White House spokesman Matt Lehrich said.

Dock workers, port operators and shippers face a deadline on Saturday for resolving the dispute.

The International Longshoremen's Association, the union representing the dock workers, and the U.S. Maritime Alliance, a group of shippers and port operators, are deadlocked over an employment contract that expired at the end of September but has been extended. The union has said that if the contract expires without a resolution, it could call a strike a day later.

The White House had no comment on whether the president would consider invoking federal law to impose a cooling off period. Florida Governor Rick Scott, a Republican, asked President Obama to invoke the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act, which allows the president to prevent or interrupt a work stoppage.

The law calls for an 80-day cooling off period and mediation.

(Reporting By Mark Felsenthal and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Vicki Allen)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/white-house-urges-parties-dock-dispute-come-terms-151859923.html

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TV Sex, Love, & Romance ? 2012?s Best & Worst Relationships ...

December 26, 2012 06:00 AM PST

Looking for something to keep you cozy up as 2012 comes to a chilly close? TVLine hereby kicks off its two-part review of the year in TV with this heartwarming (and perhaps other body parts-warming) rundown of the year?s most notable sex- and love-related moments on TV.

This gallery captures what and who we loved, hated and couldn?t shut up about for the past 12 months. Best Love Story? Most Kick-Ass Parent? Sex Scene That Made Us Most Uncomfortable? Yeah, it?s all in here.

Click through the gallery below, then hit the comments with your thoughts. Which of our picks do you like? Which would you swap? Coming Thursday: Part 2 of our review, including Most Disappointing Show, Most Underrated Actor, Best Show No One Was Watching, Wackiest Plot Twist and other categories.

Source: http://tvline.com/2012/12/26/tv-sex-scenes-love-romance-best-worst-television-relationships/

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Genetic sequencing breakthrough to aid treatment for congenital hyperinsulinism

Dec. 27, 2012 ? Congenital hyperinsulinism is a genetic condition where a baby's pancreas secretes too much insulin. It affects approximately one in 50,000 live births and in severe cases requires the surgical removal of all or part of the pancreas.

Researchers at the University of Exeter Medical School are the first in the world to utilise new genetic sequencing technology to sequence the entirety of a gene in order to identify mutations that cause hyperinsulinism. Previously, existing technology limited such sequencing to only part of the coding regions of the gene which meant that some mutations were missed.

Using new Illumina genetic sequencing technology, the research team led by Professor Sian Ellard has discovered novel mutations that cause hyperinsulinism. Their findings are published December 27 2012, on-line by The American Journal of Human Genetics.

The outcome will be that some infants born with hyperinsulinism will require fewer investigations, because the new technology means that for many only one genetic test will be required to determine the extent of the condition in each child. It also means that clinicians will have more information at their fingertips to inform them about how much of the pancreas needs to be removed.

Approximately 50 per cent of patients with congenital hyperinsulinism require surgery, and of those half require the entire pancreas to be removed. Removal of the entire pancreas increases the risk of diabetes later in life, but if left undiagnosed and untreated hyperinsulinism can result in irreparable brain damage. Symptoms range from shakiness and tiredness to seizure and coma.

Dr. Sarah Flanagan, Research Fellow in Molecular Genetics at the University of Exeter Medical School said: "The potential provided by this new technology is important and exciting, because it allows us to investigate genetic coding in its entirety. This means that investigators can identify mutations that sit at the heart of any number of conditions where before they might have been missed. This in turn results in better information for clinicians upon which they can base effective treatments and interventions for their patients."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Exeter, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Sarah?E. Flanagan, Weijia Xie, Richard Caswell, Annet Damhuis, Christine Vianey-Saban, Teoman Akcay, Feyza Darendeliler, Firdevs Bas, Ayla Guven, Zeynep Siklar, Gonul Ocal, Merih Berberoglu, Nuala Murphy, Maureen O?Sullivan, Andrew Green, Peter?E. Clayton, Indraneel Banerjee, Peter?T. Clayton, Khalid Hussain, Michael?N. Weedon, Sian Ellard. Next-Generation Sequencing Reveals Deep Intronic Cryptic ABCC8 and HADH Splicing Founder Mutations Causing Hyperinsulinism by Pseudoexon Activation. The American Journal of Human Genetics, 2012; DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2012.11.017

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/Hvyf7POeyVQ/121227130325.htm

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Kate Winslet Secretly Marries Ned Rocknroll!

Kate Winslet Secretly Marries Ned Rocknroll!

“Titanic” star Kate Winslet has married her boyfriend Ned Rocknroll in a secret ceremony in New York. The 37-year-old actress was given away by her “Titanic” co-star Leonardo DiCaprio at an intimate ceremony in New York. Winslet’s rep confirmed the wedding, stating, “I can confirm that Kate Winslet married Ned RocknRoll in NY earlier this ...

Kate Winslet Secretly Marries Ned Rocknroll! Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2012/12/kate-winslet-secretly-marries-ned-rocknroll/

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Hiring Professional English Speaking Writers From The US - ulyaig's ...

? Rowan Casey

I?m trying to find some professional native English speaking US writers, or at least one writer who will work for a reasonable price writing articles as back links.

I could take a look on the Warrior Forum, or in the Linked In group for freelance writers, but I already did that, and some of those guys were asking for a bit too much for my budget requirements.

I need someone who can write original, high quality, 400 word articles on any subject, for example, my first SEO campaign which is still going, the site is selling skin whitening cream.

It?s a matter of saying the same things over and over again, in a different way, so that the content is completely unique, and then I arrange the articles on different sites in a link pyramid.

I?m looking for a US writer who can make accounts on, or has already joined eHow, The Guardian, The Examiner, and other US only article writing sites, as I can?t join those sites myself, as I?m in Australia.

That would in particular be of high value to me, somebody who had access to sites that I could not publish on, as it?s good for SEO to have back links from all over the place, particularly from high authority sites like eHow.

In terms of payment, I can pay about ten dollars an article for something like that, an original, high quality informative article published on eHow, (or an equivalent site), with a title that had some exact match search volume, and a do follow link to the site I wanted the link to from relevant link text.

I might even go as high as fifteen dollars an article, if the job was done really well, with a good understanding of SEO and an article that encouraged click throughs to the site to buy the product.

In order to rank a site these days, you need high quality, original, well written content, and there?s no point in just having it look well written to Google, it has to read well to the readers, and encourage sales.

I will want these articles to be ranking on Google for phrases with a decent amount of search volume, and basically, if it doesn?t do the job of ranking, making the target site rank, and making daily sales, then I can?t continue to offer money for the writing.

I have to make a return on investment, which is getting harder to do these days with all the algorithm updates on Google. I need someone who understands what Panda and Penguin actually mean, and if you are a professional writer, you should know what I?m talking about.

If you write articles that lead to sites ranking that then brings money back in, then that money can be put back into paying you more money to write more articles, if that makes sense. I?m personally making thirty dollars a day online so far, so it won?t be a huge workload to start with, unless I get another client who wants $300 worth of SEO in a month.

I expect that will happen, as I?m talking to three or four people about their sites every day, so I?m writing this article to find the people I will need to do the things I?m going to do in the future, which will require professional English speaking writers from the US, who work for a reasonable price. Does that make sense?

Send me an email if you?re interested in getting paid to write, but only if you are a US citizen, native English speaking writer who is prepared to work for about ten to fifteen US dollars an hour, if you can write fast.

My email is in the sidebar, send me some samples of your work, and if I like them, I?ll ask you to write something for me. I pay direct to your Pay Pal account.

?

Source: http://professionalsocialpromotion.com/hiring-professional-english-speaking-writers-from-the-us/

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Source: http://ulyaig.posterous.com/hiring-professional-english-speaking-writers

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How to set up your new HDTV

23 hrs.

Geoff Morrison , HD Guru

It?s not possible for a TV to be set at the factory with the best settings possible for your home. Take 20 minutes or so on your end, and you can drastically improve the picture quality. If you just bought a TV, or just haven't found the time to mess around with your set,?here are tips for doing it right.?

If you really?want to nail it,?we suggest a?setup Blu-ray. They?re cheap, and the?Disney WOW?disc is especially helpful and easy to follow. (A step-up from that would be the $30?ISF HDTV?Calibration Wizard.)

Straight?out of the box
All HDTVs generally?have a start-up?screen that lets the user to choose between a home mode and a store demo mode.?This is extremely important. The store mode is designed to produce the brightest image ? at the expense of black level, contrast ratio and energy efficiency. To obtain the best picture select the home mode. You will still be able to make fine-tuning?adjustments to maximize image quality.

The screen will also ask you to choose your?language, and will ask about using over-the-air antenna or cable/satellite. If you don?t use an antenna, make sure you select cable/satellite.?You don?t want the TV to go into the tuner mode,?because?you won't see an image.

Special instructions for smart TVs
If your new HDTV has Internet connectivity for streaming movies and other content, the next step should be connecting to the Internet. All smart TVs have an Ethernet connection if you want to wire the TV directly. Many also have Wi-Fi for wireless set-up. Follow the on-screen instructions or the?owner?s manual for the proper steps.

Once completed, you should make sure you have the latest version of the TV's software, by performing a firmware update as per your TV's instructions. The update may add new features, Internet services and even apps, and will assure you have the latest and best version of your new HDTV. Don't skip this:?Nearly every TV we test has newer firmware waiting for it when we connect it to the Internet.

Picture modes
Nearly all TVs have picture modes that adjust multiple settings to create a certain look to the image. The best idea is to start with the most accurate setting, then adjust as you see fit. With nearly all TVs, this mode is called ?Movie,? ?Cinema,? or something similar. If these aren?t options, ?Standard? is likely closest.

If you?ve already?been watching your TV for more than a few minutes, switching to one of these modes is going to be a shock. It will seem red (warm) and soft. It isn?t, which I?ll explain as we go.

Contrast
This control adjusts the bright parts of the image: Clouds, white shirts, snow, etc. The idea is to set this control high enough that the image ?pops,? but not so high as to mask detail, like cloud?textures or shirt?wrinkles. All TVs have a maximum contrast setting, above which you?re not making the image any brighter,?you?re just making near-white objects totally white.

If you?re using a setup disc, the contrast pattern will have a ramp of progressively whiter bars. The idea is to be able see most of these (but not those labeled ?above white?).

If you?re not using a setup disc, find a TV show (ideally a live sporting event) that takes place outside. Skiing works great for this, though baseball does as well (fly balls, any shot of the sky). The idea is to be able to set the control so that you can still see detail in bright white objects. There should almost never be bright white blobs on the screen. If there are, turn the contrast control down until those blobs get their detail back.

There is no average number to use as a guideline for setting?contrast, but it?s almost never 100 percent,?or anything close. Start somewhere around 80 percent and go from there.

Brightness
This is the opposite of the contrast control. Despite its name, brightness control adjusts the dark parts of the image: Shadows, black hair, black leather jackets. The idea here is to set it low enough that the picture has lots of contrast (as in, the difference in the light and dark parts of the image), but not so far that there?s just huge swaths of blackness on screen during any night scene.

If you?re using a setup disc, the brightness pattern will have a ramp of progressively darker black bars. The idea is to be able see most of these (but not those labeled ?below black? or similar).

If you?re setting this by eye, any night or darkly lit scene will do. Set the control fairly low, down?past the point where you lose detail. Now gradually increase it until you see detail in the darkness. If the picture looks gray or washed out, you?ve brought your brightness too far up.

Color?and?tint
Generally speaking, you shouldn?t have to adjust these at all. These are holdovers from the old tube (CRT) TV days. With component and HDMI connections, the TV shouldn?t need adjustment to color or tint.

But so you know, color is color saturation. Set too high, people will look sunburned, and everything will seem cartoony. Tint adjusts the green/red in the image (Martian/lobster). Without specific color filters (that usually come with setup discs), you can?t adjust either of these settings these correctly. Skip.

Sharpness
This is a highly misleading control. Generally speaking, sharpness control adds enhancement to the image to make it appear sharp. Ironically, by doing so, it?s actually masking true fine detail in the image. This setting should be set as low as possible. Some TVs actually?soften?the image if you set it too low (bizarre, to be sure), so watch out for that. Look for dark lines on a bright background, like the?edges of buildings for instance. Lower this setting so there isn?t any ghost line next to the dark edge. This ghost line is called ?edge enhancement,? and goes a long way in making the image look artificial.

Once you get used to the naturalness of the image without edge enhancement, you?ll never go back.

Color temperature
This one is going to be tough. Not because it requires any labor on your part, it?s just going to do something to the image that at first is going to seem bad.

Color temperature is how bluish or reddish the image looks. Picture a typical scene of people walking down a street. Set the color temp too cool, and it will look like they?re walking down the street in winter, with that season?s normal bluish tones. Set the color temp too warm, and it will be a reddish warm day instead.

With most TVs, the ideal setting is ?warm? or ?low.? In some cases, this is too warm, and ?normal? is closer. If you?re changing the settings for the first time, and the TV was set in the ?cool? color temp mode, everything will look wrong, and even??normal? will appear to your eye as too warm. Give your eyes time to adjust. Watch on ?normal? for a few hours, and then ?cool? will seem incredibly blue.

Backlight
This is an LCD-specific control ??plasma TVs don?t have backlights.?Think of the backlight setting as a volume control for the image. Turn it up, and the entire picture (bright whites and dark blacks alike) get brighter. Turn it down, and everything gets darker.?

If you leave this turned all the way up, not only are you wasting energy, but at night your TV can be hard to watch. Modern LCDs are extremely bright, and watching such a small bright object in a dark room can create severe eye fatigue.

For critical viewing, or watching at night, the idea is to get the best black levels, while still creating a watchable image. Once you set contrast and brightness correctly, turn the backlight control all the way down. This will likely be too dark for most viewing. Turn it up to the point where it looks the best. Often, at night, this could be as low as 20 percent, depending on the TV.?During the day, you can?set this as high as you want.

Interestingly, no setup disc offers instructions on how to set this control.?Read more on this in our?buyer-beware article on TV backlights.

For more on what your HDTV?s controls do, read our?Guide to HDTV Settings.

You can catch up with?Geoff Morrison on Twitter at?@TechWriterGeoff. His novel, "Undersea," is now in paperback.

More?from HD Guru:

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/gadgetbox/how-set-your-new-hdtv-1C7657756

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For Korean SMEs, more fun investing in Philippines - InterAksyon.com

By: Ben Arnold O. De Vera, InterAksyon.com
December 26, 2012 8:28 PM

Data from Export-Import Bank of Korea (shown here) indicate rising interest in Philippines. Photo from hominitus.wordpress.com

InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5

MANILA - A number of South Korean small and medium enterprises are moving their factories to the Philippines from China, the Department of Trade and Industry said on Wednesday, citing a recent report in a Korean-language publication.

The report ?For Korean SMEs, the Philippines is the Emerging Overseas Investment Destination of Choice? published on December 10 in the Korea Economic Daily cited data from the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank) showing that a? growing number of South Korean companies are setting up shop in the Philippines.

From 69 in 2009 and 74 in 2010, the number of new South Korean-led firms in the Philippines jumped to 82 in 2011, Korea Eximbank data showed.

?Last year, among the Asean countries, Philippines ranked third after Vietnam (197 companies) and Indonesia (156),? the Korea Economic Daily report said.

During the first quarter of this year, 22 South Korean companies were established in the Philippines, up from 19 in the same period last year. Among the new firms were Iam (electronics), Koren (electronics) and Nurian International (garments).

South Korean SMEs said their Philippine expansion was due to workers? English-language proficiency as well as the lower labor cost here compared with China.

Filipino workers? average monthly salary of about $300 is half of those in China, the Korea Economic Daily article said.

In the Philippines, ?[t]here are six working days a week and it is possible to work on weekends even without overtime. English is the most commonly used, and communication is not a problem,? it said.

The report cited the experience of South Korean firm Nanos, a manufacturer of infrared rays block filters for smartphones, which expanded in the Philippines last year because of ?skyrocketing? labor expenses in China.

?It is hard to expect any merits in China, therefore, they built a new factory and they are planning for mass production starting December 2012 in the Philippines. They will just maintain their existing operations in China, but additional investments will, from hereon, be diverted into the Philippines,? Korea Economic Daily quoted Nanos president Hae Jin Lee as saying.

The article said over 20 South Korean SMEs that operate in China as well as a local conglomerate visited the Philippines last month for an exploratory business mission.

The report quoted a member of the said business delegation as saying that ?the cost of labor in the Philippines is better than China?s, and the country?s infrastructure such as power and roads are much better then Vietnam?s.?

The Korea Economic Daily article also quoted Korean Chamber of Commerce Philippines president Edward Eun-Gap Chang as saying that investment inquiries from South Korean SMEs, most of which are operating in China, have risen during the past few months.

?He [Chang] believes that because of language, infrastructure, religion and cost competitiveness, China is fast losing its attractiveness to foreign investments,? the report said.

It said China is losing South Korean SME investments and expansion projects to Asean countries like the Philippines, as ?China is now considered as a market and no longer as production base.?

Korea Eximbank data showed that the average minimum wage in China went up by over a fifth last year and is poised to continue rising by over 13 percent in 2015. Hence, the number of South Korean SMEs operating in China dropped to 533 during the third quarter of this year from 634 last year.

The Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC) in Seoul said the Korea Economic Daily is among South Korea?s ?most widely read and respected economic dailies.?

?Owned by a syndication of conglomerates that include Samsung, Hyundai, SK, and LG, it has a readership of at least one million,? said PTIC Seoul commercial counselor Nicanor Bautista.

?

Source: http://www.interaksyon.com/article/51309/for-korean-smes-more-fun-investing-in-philippines

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Christmas Day storms blamed for 3 deaths

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) -- Twisters hopscotched across the Deep South, and, along with brutal, straight-line winds, knocked down countless trees, blew the roofs off homes and left many Christmas celebrations in the dark. Holiday travelers in the nation's much colder midsection battled treacherous driving conditions from freezing rain and blizzard conditions from the same fast-moving storms.

As predicted, conditions were volatile throughout the day and into the night with tornado warnings still out for some parts of Alabama, Florida and Georgia. The storms were blamed for three deaths, several injuries, and left homes from Louisiana to Alabama damaged.

In Mobile, Ala., a tornado or high winds damaged homes, a high school and church, and knocked down power lines and large tree limbs in an area just west of downtown around nightfall. WALA-TV's tower camera captured the image of a large funnel cloud headed toward downtown.

Rick Cauley, his wife, Ashley, and two children were hosting members of both of their families. When the sirens went off, the family headed down the block to take shelter at the athletic field house at Mobile's Murphy High School.

"As luck would have it, that's where the tornado hit," Cauley said. "The pressure dropped and the ears started popping and it got crazy for a second." They were all fine, though the school was damaged. Hours after the storm hit, officials reported no serious injuries in the southwestern Alabama city.

Meanwhile, blizzard conditions hit the nation's midsection.

Earlier in the day, winds toppled a tree onto a pickup truck in the Houston area, killing the driver, and a 53-year-old north Louisiana man was killed when a tree fell on his house. Icy roads already were blamed for a 21-vehicle pileup in Oklahoma, and the Highway Patrol there says a 28-year-old woman was killed in a crash on a snowy U.S. Highway near Fairview.

The snowstorm that caused numerous accidents pushed out of Oklahoma late Tuesday, carrying with it blizzard warnings for parts of northeast Arkansas, where 10 inches of snow was forecast. Freezing rain clung to trees and utility lines in Arkansas and winds gusts up to 30 mph whipped them around, causing about 71,000 customers to lose electricity for a time.

Blizzard conditions were possible for parts of Illinois, Indiana and western Kentucky with predictions of 4 to 7 inches of snow.

An apparent tornado also caused damage in Grove Hill, about 80 miles north of Mobile.

Mary Cartright said she was working at the Fast Track convenience store in the town on Christmas evening when the wind started howling and the lights flickered, knocking out the store's computerized cash registers.

"Our cash registers are down so our doors are closed," said Cartright in a phone interview.

Trees fell on a few houses in central Louisiana's Rapides Parish, but there were no injuries reported, said sheriff's Lt. Tommy Carnline. Near McNeill, Miss., a likely tornado damaged a dozen homes and sent eight people to the hospital, none with life-threatening injuries, said Pearl River County emergency management agency director Danny Manley.

Gov. Phil Bryant declared a state of emergency in the state, saying eight counties have reported damages and some injuries.

Fog blanketed highways, including arteries in the Atlanta area, which was expected to be dealing with the same storm system on Wednesday. In New Mexico, drivers across the eastern plains had to fight through snow, ice and low visibility.

At least three tornadoes were reported in Texas, though only one building was damaged, according to the National Weather Service.

More than 500 flights nationwide were canceled by the evening, according to the flight tracker FlightAware.com. More than half were canceled into and out of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport that got a few inches of snow.

Christmas lights also were knocked out with more than 100,000 customers without power for at least a time in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama.

In Louisiana, quarter-sized hail was reported early Tuesday in the western part of the state and a WDSU viewer sent a photo to the TV station of what appeared to be a waterspout around the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in New Orleans. There were no reports of crashes or damage.

Some mountainous areas of Arkansas' Ozark Mountains could get up to 10 inches of snow, which would make travel "very hazardous or impossible" in the northern tier of the state from near whiteout conditions, the weather service said.

The holiday may conjure visions of snow and ice, but twisters this time of year are not unheard of. Ten storm systems in the last 50 years have spawned at least one Christmastime tornado with winds of 113 mph or more in the South, said Chris Vaccaro, a National Weather Service spokesman in Washington, via email.

The most lethal were the storms of Dec. 24-26, 1982, when 29 tornadoes in Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi killed three people and injured 32.

In Mobile, a large section of the roof on the Trinity Episcopal Church is missing and the front wall of the parish wall is gone, said Scott Rye, a senior warden at the church in the Midtown section of the city.

On Christmas Eve, the church with about 500 members was crowded for services.

"Thank God this didn't happen last night," Rye said.

The church finished a $1 million-plus renovation campaign in June 2011, which required the closure of the historic sanctuary for more than a year.

___

Associated Press writers Jay Reeves in Birmingham, Ala., Jeff Amy in Atlanta, Ramit Plushnick-Masti in Houston, Chuck Bartels in Little Rock, Ark., and AP Business Writer Daniel Wagner in Washington, contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/christmas-day-storms-blamed-3-032145273.html

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Sea whodunit: How scientists solve whale deaths

Sometimes the bodies show up floating in the ocean, other times they wash ashore. Then it's up to investigators to figure out what happened.

Whales, like humans, can meet unnatural ends. The bodies they leave behind can tell a story about what killed them, sometimes revealing evidence of a prolonged, painful death.

Michael Moore, director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's Marine Mammal Center, is among those who lead examinations, known as necropsies, on dead whales.

Whales, because of their enormous size and weight, present a unique challenge when they wash up on a beach or appear floating at sea. [In Photos: The World's Biggest Animals]

A plan & tools
"I don't get involved unless I have a plan, because as soon as I am involved, I am committed to disposing of it," Moore said of a dead whale's body. "So essentially you work backwards from the end stage, whether it be digging a hole in the beach, or trucking it off or towing it back out to sea or whatever."

Moore's tools include a camera, knives (kept in a box marked with a note for airport security), chest waders, rubber gloves, hooks, chains and heavy machinery with trained operators. The heavy machinery ideally includes an excavator, for pulling the animal apart and digging a hole, and a front-end loader, for moving the animal and parts of it around, as well as filling the hole.?

"If you don't have the machinery it can take days and days, you may never finish," the necropsy and bury the whale, he said.

Overall, his crew typically includes eight or nine people.

The suspects
The deaths that most concern Moore are those caused by humans, specifically, by collisions with boats or fishing gear that entangles the whale.

Sometimes the cause is obvious. A ship's propeller can leave slices on a whale's body. In one case, a whale found floating near Jacksonville, Fla., had obvious propeller cuts down one side of its body, including into its chest.

"When the animal was pulled up the beach, you could hear gas coming out of the chest," Moore said.

The blunt trauma of a collision with a boat can be less obvious, while entanglement in fishing gear can be more obvious, or not.

Information about why whales die matters because many whale populations are small and vulnerable.

Right whales, a species of particular interest to Moore, were estimated in 2007 to number at least 396 in the western North Atlantic; they are one of the most endangered large whales in the world. Ship strikes and entanglements with fishing gear are believed to be holding back the right whale population's growth and recovery, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's 2011 stock assessment.?

The necropsy
After inspecting the whale externally and taking measurements, Moore and his crew measure the thickness of its insulating fat, or blubber, which they strip off by hooking the blubber to a chain attached to the bucket of an excavator, to "unpeel it like a banana," he said.

Once the blubber is off, the team peels away the now-exposed muscle, getting down to the chest and abdomen, where they remove ribs and examine the animal's organs ? if they haven't already decomposed.

Moore can't explain what a decaying whale smells like; he lost his sense of smell in veterinary school, because of exposure to formalin, a preservative made with formaldehyde. But rather than an advantage, this is a problem, he said: "I think a good sense of smell is a valuable diagnostic tool, so I regret not having my sense of smell." [The 10 Weirdest Animal Discoveries of 2012]

During this process, the investigators are looking for abnormalities, such as bruising, often accompanied by fractured bones. These are common signs of a boat collision.

Evidence of a fishing gear entanglement may be obvious ? for instance rope, net or other gear still attached to the animal ? but sometimes these are gone.

The whale may have lost the gear over time or fishermen may have removed it in the hopes of salvaging the gear, Moore said.

One humpback whale he examined had obviously been in a trawl net, yet only a small knot of twine in its mouth remained.

1. Science news from NBCNews.com

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A slow death
Particularly agonizing stories can show up in the entanglement deaths.

Right whales that pick up gear meant for lobsters or humpbacks that catch herring trawl nets can survive for months. The gear ? depending on where it has become attached ? can kill in a variety of ways, Moore and colleagues describe in a review article published in the Journal of Marine Biology earlier this year. It can drown a whale; if caught in the whale's mouth, the gear can starve the animal; it can exhaust them by creating drag; it can cause injuries that can lead to infection and loss of blood.

In the review, Moore and graduate student Julie van der Hoop label these long-lasting whale entanglements "cruel" in their article.

"I think any animal on this planet, especially the more cognitive, higher sentient beings have a right to be as pain-free as possible, and when human activities cause wild animals to be in pain I object to that," Moore said.

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50293901/ns/technology_and_science-science/

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