As the saying goes, all Happy Families are alike.
But what do they have in common?
Take the Quiz to find out ---- and discover how you can have one, too.
There comes a moment in the life of nearly every parent when you look at the chaos around you and think:
There must be a better way!
For me, that happened a few years ago. Having survived the slog of sippy cups and diaper caddies with our then 5-year-old twin daughters, my wife and I were ready to develop a family culture. But what are the ingredients that make families effective, resilient, and happy? It's actually a great time to ask that question: Recently we've seen a stunning breakthrough in knowledge about how to make families run more smoothly. I spent the past few years meeting with scholars, peace negotiators, online-game designers, the Green Berets, evern Warren Buffetts bankers to try to glean the secrets to happy families.
The questions here are meant to help you do the same.
1. When a team of psychologists measured children's resilience, they found that the kids who ................ were best able to handle stress.
a) Ate the same breakfast every day
b) Knew the most about their family's history
c) Played team sports
d) Attended regular religious services
2. Children are expected to learn how many new words per year during grades 3 through 12?
a) 500
b) 1,500
c) 3,000
3. True or False : When giving children an allowance, parents should force them to divide their money into equal piles for spending , saving, and giving away.
4. What do surveys show that children want most from their parents?
a) To spend more time with them
b) For the parents to be less tired and stressed
c) A bigger allowance
5. Eating dinner together as a family has been shown to benefit children, but at least a third of Americans rarely do so. Which of these alternatives can offer the same benefits?
a) Eating breakfast together
b) Having a bedtime snack as a family
c) Scheduling a once-a-week Sunday supper
d) All of the above
6. To encourage conservation and draw your family closer, arrange your living room seating in a :
a) U shape
b) Circle
c) L shape
7. The most common time of day for family fights is :
a) Morning
b) Dinnertime
c) Weekends
8. When it comes to discipline, who should pick the punishments?
a) Parents
b) Kids
9. The worst word you can say in a fight with a spouse is :
a) Me
b) We
c) You
d) Your mother
10. If you're having an argument with your partner or teenager, you can help reduce feelings of resentment if you:
a) Lie down and stretch out
b) Sit up with good posture
c) Lean forward and nod
d) Any of the above, as long as you're both doing the same thing
11. When men and women were asked the top three reasons they argue with their spouse, they agreed on only one. What was it?
a) Housework
b) Children
c) Money
d) Sex
12. When siblings between the ages of 3 and 7 are together, how many times per hour do they fight?
a) one to two
b) two to three
c) three to four
13. Difficult conversations among groups of family members will go better if you have two what?
a) coffee breaks
b) moderators
c) women
d) bottles of wine
14. At family meetings, you should vote about a matter:
a) before you discuss it
b) after you discuss it
15. Research shows that girls delay the onset of sexual activity if they have a close relationship with their:
a) Mothers
b) Fathers
c) Grandparents
16. Which of these out-of-school activities is more popular for American children ages 7 to 10?
a) music lessons
b) religious activities
c) team sports
17. Which behavior is more vital to a happy relationship?
a) supporting your partner during a difficult period
b) celebrating your partner after an accompishment
18. How many Americans attend a family reunion every year?
a) 25 million
b) 50 million
c) 100 million
19. Most people say their family is:
a) Happy
b) Unhappy
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Answers : 1. b ; 2. c ; 3. False ; 4. b ; 5. d ; 6. b ; 7. b ; 8. b ; 9. c ; 10. d ; 11. c ; 12. c ; 13. c ; 14. a ; 15. b ; 16. c ; 17. b ; 18. c ; 19. a
So, then, what do happy families do right? Happy families adapt. They talk --- a lot. They go out and play. And they make the decision to keep working on their family. In the end, this may be the most enduring lessonof all.
What's the biggest secret to a happy family? Trying.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
The Fading of George Washington
Our first president, George Washington, was born 282 years ago on Feb. 22nd. Fewer and fewer Americans know this because his national holiday, approved in 1879, is now the generic "Presidents Day."
To have George Washington, and other great presidents, lumped with not so greats JamesBuchanan (handed Lincolnthe war) and Woodrow Wilson (federal income tax, World War I) is absurd.
And yet America is content with this phony holiday, a day on which we contemplate --- what?
Groover Cleveland's love child? Jimmy Carter's duel with an angry rabbit? (Both true --- including the April 1979 rabbit rout.)
On "Presidents Day" we certainly do not consider the Gettysburg Address. We don't give thought to Eisenhower's 1961 warning about loss of liberty through the "military industrial complex," which, as you read this, is producing drones that one day will fly over a neighborhood near you. (Unarmed, hopefully.)
On the official national holiday known as "Presidents Day," we do what good Americans do on a day off. We sleep in. Then shop for deals. Maybe take lunch at Taco Bell.
Anyway, George Washington is reduced to a sales pitchman. Fine. That suits our irreverence. But it was not always this way.
Within living memory nearly every American school room had a portrait of Washington. Earlier generations of Americans did not want later ones to forget what he did.
The late Ann Hawkes Hutton, the author and grande dame of North Radcliffe Street in Bristol Townships, dedicated her life to promoting the first president's birthday.
In the 1930s, she rescued the spot where Waashington crossed the Delaware River in 1776 from disarray and obscurity. In the 1950s, she oversaw the construction of the visitors center, now undergoing major renovations.
She had the 1851 Emanuel Leutze painting removed from a nearby church and displayed in softly lit grandeur at the visitors center.
Americans would forget Washington's miraculous military maneuvers and also his statesmanship.
What made Washington great? The list is long. But the stunner came Dec. 23, 1783, when he cermoniously surrendered his sword to Congress. He chose not to. The world had never seen anything like it.
Even today, we see public men reluctant to relinquish power, through cult of personality or the well financed "permanent campaign," designed to influence opinion and elections.
Washington was no saint, though. Judged by our superior views of race and justice, his stature is diminished by his ownership of slaves, whom he later freed.
But if we had not had Washington controlling the Continental forces, and instead had his less talented rival, Gen. Horatio Gates, we would likely speak with British accents, and sing "God Save the Queen!" instead of "My Country Tis of Thee."
That is worth a national holiday named for the man responsible.
To have George Washington, and other great presidents, lumped with not so greats JamesBuchanan (handed Lincolnthe war) and Woodrow Wilson (federal income tax, World War I) is absurd.
And yet America is content with this phony holiday, a day on which we contemplate --- what?
Groover Cleveland's love child? Jimmy Carter's duel with an angry rabbit? (Both true --- including the April 1979 rabbit rout.)
On "Presidents Day" we certainly do not consider the Gettysburg Address. We don't give thought to Eisenhower's 1961 warning about loss of liberty through the "military industrial complex," which, as you read this, is producing drones that one day will fly over a neighborhood near you. (Unarmed, hopefully.)
On the official national holiday known as "Presidents Day," we do what good Americans do on a day off. We sleep in. Then shop for deals. Maybe take lunch at Taco Bell.
Anyway, George Washington is reduced to a sales pitchman. Fine. That suits our irreverence. But it was not always this way.
Within living memory nearly every American school room had a portrait of Washington. Earlier generations of Americans did not want later ones to forget what he did.
The late Ann Hawkes Hutton, the author and grande dame of North Radcliffe Street in Bristol Townships, dedicated her life to promoting the first president's birthday.
In the 1930s, she rescued the spot where Waashington crossed the Delaware River in 1776 from disarray and obscurity. In the 1950s, she oversaw the construction of the visitors center, now undergoing major renovations.
She had the 1851 Emanuel Leutze painting removed from a nearby church and displayed in softly lit grandeur at the visitors center.
Americans would forget Washington's miraculous military maneuvers and also his statesmanship.
What made Washington great? The list is long. But the stunner came Dec. 23, 1783, when he cermoniously surrendered his sword to Congress. He chose not to. The world had never seen anything like it.
Even today, we see public men reluctant to relinquish power, through cult of personality or the well financed "permanent campaign," designed to influence opinion and elections.
Washington was no saint, though. Judged by our superior views of race and justice, his stature is diminished by his ownership of slaves, whom he later freed.
But if we had not had Washington controlling the Continental forces, and instead had his less talented rival, Gen. Horatio Gates, we would likely speak with British accents, and sing "God Save the Queen!" instead of "My Country Tis of Thee."
That is worth a national holiday named for the man responsible.
Twenty Questions about Presidents' Day
Let's see what you know about some of the 44 presidents we honor with a holiday.
1. He was the first president --- and the only one among the first five ---- not born in Virginia.
a) James Monroe
b) John Quincy Adams
c) Andrew Jackson
d) John Adams
2. He was the last president born in Virginia.
a) Zachary Taylor
b) Woodrow Wilson
c) James Madison
d) John F. Kennedy
3. He was president when the British invaded Washington, torching the Capitol and the president's house.
a) George Washington
b) Andrew Jackson
c) James Madison
d) Martin van Buren
4. He was the only one to serve in the House of Representatives after leaving the White House --- and he actually died in the Capitol.
a) John Quincy Adams
b) Millard Fillmore
c) Franklin Pierce
d) John Adams
5. He was held prisoner by the British during the Revolutionary War.
a) George Washington
b) James Monroe
c) Andrew Jackson
d) William Henry Harrison
6. He was the first vice president to become president upon the death of his predecessor, and was later elected to the Confederate Congress.
a) Millard Fillmore
b) John Tyler
c) Zachary Taylor
d) James Polk
7. He was elected with 39.8 percent of the popular vote, over three candidates from the Democratic, and the Constitutional Union parties.
a) Franklin Pierce
b) James Buchanan
c) Andrew Johnson
d) Abraham Lincoln
8. The last president to sport a beard ---- his grandfather had also been president.
a) Benjamin Harrison
b) James Garfield
c) Rutherford B. Hayes
d) Ulysses Grant
9. The only Democrat to be elected and serve as president between 1861 and 1913.
a) Chester Arthur
b) Grover Cleveland
c) William McKinley
d) Woodrow Wilson
10. The last president who was a Civil War veteran.
a) William H. Taft
b) Theodore Roosevelt
c) William McKinley
d) Benjamin Harrison
11. Was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by President Bill Clinton in 2001.
a) George Washington
b) Abraham Lincoln
c) Theodore Roosevelt
d) Dwight Eisenhower
12. Served four years as president and almost nine as chief Justice of the United States.
a) William H. Taft
b) Warren G. Harding
c) Herbert Hoover
d) Grover Cleveland
13. The first president elected after women won the right to vote.
a) Woodrow Wilson
b) William H. Taft
c) Calvin Coolidge
d) Warren G. Harding
14. Took the oath of office from his father.
a) Herbert Hoover
b) Calvin Coolidge
c) Franklin Roosevelt
d) Harry S. Truman
15. The first Quaker elected president.
a) Calvin Coolidge
b) Franklin Roosevelt
c) Herbert Hoover
d) Dwight Eisenhower
16. He was the Democratic nominee for the vice president in 1920.
a) Franklin Roosevelt
b) Harry S. Truman
c) Lyndon Johnson
d) Dwight Eisenhower
17. Before becoming president of the United States, he was president of Columbia University.
a) Franklin Roosevelt
b) Richard Nixon
c) Harry Truman
d) Dwight Eisenhower
18. His father served as FDR's ambassador to the Court of St. James's.
a) Richard Nixon
b) Lyndon Johnson
c) John F. Kennedy
d) George H. W. Bush
19. The second Quaker elected president.
a) Jimmy Carter
b) Richard Nixon
c) Lyndon Johnson
d) Ronald Reagan
20. He was the second president to nominate his vice president under the terms of the 25th Amendment.
a) Richard Nixon
b) Gerald Ford
c) Jimmy Carter
d) Ronald Reagan
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers : 1. d ; 2. b ; 3. c ; 4. a ; 5. c ; 6. b ; 7. d ; 8. a ; 9. b ; 10. c ; 11. c ; 12. a ; 13. d ; 14. b ; 15. c ; 16. a ; 17. d ; 18. c ; 19. b ; 20. b
1. He was the first president --- and the only one among the first five ---- not born in Virginia.
a) James Monroe
b) John Quincy Adams
c) Andrew Jackson
d) John Adams
2. He was the last president born in Virginia.
a) Zachary Taylor
b) Woodrow Wilson
c) James Madison
d) John F. Kennedy
3. He was president when the British invaded Washington, torching the Capitol and the president's house.
a) George Washington
b) Andrew Jackson
c) James Madison
d) Martin van Buren
4. He was the only one to serve in the House of Representatives after leaving the White House --- and he actually died in the Capitol.
a) John Quincy Adams
b) Millard Fillmore
c) Franklin Pierce
d) John Adams
5. He was held prisoner by the British during the Revolutionary War.
a) George Washington
b) James Monroe
c) Andrew Jackson
d) William Henry Harrison
6. He was the first vice president to become president upon the death of his predecessor, and was later elected to the Confederate Congress.
a) Millard Fillmore
b) John Tyler
c) Zachary Taylor
d) James Polk
7. He was elected with 39.8 percent of the popular vote, over three candidates from the Democratic, and the Constitutional Union parties.
a) Franklin Pierce
b) James Buchanan
c) Andrew Johnson
d) Abraham Lincoln
8. The last president to sport a beard ---- his grandfather had also been president.
a) Benjamin Harrison
b) James Garfield
c) Rutherford B. Hayes
d) Ulysses Grant
9. The only Democrat to be elected and serve as president between 1861 and 1913.
a) Chester Arthur
b) Grover Cleveland
c) William McKinley
d) Woodrow Wilson
10. The last president who was a Civil War veteran.
a) William H. Taft
b) Theodore Roosevelt
c) William McKinley
d) Benjamin Harrison
11. Was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by President Bill Clinton in 2001.
a) George Washington
b) Abraham Lincoln
c) Theodore Roosevelt
d) Dwight Eisenhower
12. Served four years as president and almost nine as chief Justice of the United States.
a) William H. Taft
b) Warren G. Harding
c) Herbert Hoover
d) Grover Cleveland
13. The first president elected after women won the right to vote.
a) Woodrow Wilson
b) William H. Taft
c) Calvin Coolidge
d) Warren G. Harding
14. Took the oath of office from his father.
a) Herbert Hoover
b) Calvin Coolidge
c) Franklin Roosevelt
d) Harry S. Truman
15. The first Quaker elected president.
a) Calvin Coolidge
b) Franklin Roosevelt
c) Herbert Hoover
d) Dwight Eisenhower
16. He was the Democratic nominee for the vice president in 1920.
a) Franklin Roosevelt
b) Harry S. Truman
c) Lyndon Johnson
d) Dwight Eisenhower
17. Before becoming president of the United States, he was president of Columbia University.
a) Franklin Roosevelt
b) Richard Nixon
c) Harry Truman
d) Dwight Eisenhower
18. His father served as FDR's ambassador to the Court of St. James's.
a) Richard Nixon
b) Lyndon Johnson
c) John F. Kennedy
d) George H. W. Bush
19. The second Quaker elected president.
a) Jimmy Carter
b) Richard Nixon
c) Lyndon Johnson
d) Ronald Reagan
20. He was the second president to nominate his vice president under the terms of the 25th Amendment.
a) Richard Nixon
b) Gerald Ford
c) Jimmy Carter
d) Ronald Reagan
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers : 1. d ; 2. b ; 3. c ; 4. a ; 5. c ; 6. b ; 7. d ; 8. a ; 9. b ; 10. c ; 11. c ; 12. a ; 13. d ; 14. b ; 15. c ; 16. a ; 17. d ; 18. c ; 19. b ; 20. b
Steel on the menu at sword swallowers' Hollywood sideshow
George the Giant, towering over onlookers gathered to see performers swallow steel, hammers a 6-1/2 inch nail up his nostril, rips a phone book in half with his bare hands and dangles a full bottle of Coke from his eyelids with fish hooks.
The world's tallest sword swallower, at 7 feet 3 inches, he was under strict doctor's orders not to participate in the main event at the 6th Annual "World Sword Swallower's Day" due to an unrelated injury, but remained intent on pleasing the crowd.
He was among performers on Hollywood Boulevard outside of Ripley's Believe it or Not! on Saturday for a death-defying show that would ultimately see 234 inches of metal swallowed simultaneously by some of America's best sword swallowers.
"Every time you swallow a sword you're cheating death," George said of the art he's practiced for the past two decades. The longest sword he's swallowed was 33 inches long and one and a half inches wide. "It's a rush to watch people as they watch you do these things that others can't do."
As these professionals threw their heads back and "dropped sword," the adrenaline pumped from the performers out into the Hollywood crowd as they excitedly cheered.
With preparations for Sunday's Academy Awards show under way across the street, about 100 passers-by gathered with anticipation as the performers swallowed steel.
Amy Amnesia, a 32-year-old performer, told Reuters this was her first public appearance. Explaining that the minimum requirements were for swords 14 inches long and a half-inch wide, she said her particular sword of choice is 19 inches.
"You have to get your body used to this new paradigm of having a large solid object down your throat," she said, explaining that she had only recently learned the art.
Ripley's, which sponsored the event along with the Sword Swallowers Association International, has supported the sword- swallowing community for 80 years, and such events have made contributions to medicine and science by raising money for esophageal cancer research.
According to Ripley's General Manager and new sword swallowing trainee Andrea Silverman, the best way to learn is to first start training with a wire coat hanger.
"The average person takes six months to get comfortable and a year before their first performance," she said.
Brett Loudermilk, 24, first learned to swallow swords when he was 15 years old, saying he "started out with a cake spatula and then moved to a wire coat hanger."
Why does Loudermilk perform? "It's great providing people with a sense of wonder."
The world's tallest sword swallower, at 7 feet 3 inches, he was under strict doctor's orders not to participate in the main event at the 6th Annual "World Sword Swallower's Day" due to an unrelated injury, but remained intent on pleasing the crowd.
He was among performers on Hollywood Boulevard outside of Ripley's Believe it or Not! on Saturday for a death-defying show that would ultimately see 234 inches of metal swallowed simultaneously by some of America's best sword swallowers.
"Every time you swallow a sword you're cheating death," George said of the art he's practiced for the past two decades. The longest sword he's swallowed was 33 inches long and one and a half inches wide. "It's a rush to watch people as they watch you do these things that others can't do."
As these professionals threw their heads back and "dropped sword," the adrenaline pumped from the performers out into the Hollywood crowd as they excitedly cheered.
With preparations for Sunday's Academy Awards show under way across the street, about 100 passers-by gathered with anticipation as the performers swallowed steel.
Amy Amnesia, a 32-year-old performer, told Reuters this was her first public appearance. Explaining that the minimum requirements were for swords 14 inches long and a half-inch wide, she said her particular sword of choice is 19 inches.
"You have to get your body used to this new paradigm of having a large solid object down your throat," she said, explaining that she had only recently learned the art.
Ripley's, which sponsored the event along with the Sword Swallowers Association International, has supported the sword- swallowing community for 80 years, and such events have made contributions to medicine and science by raising money for esophageal cancer research.
According to Ripley's General Manager and new sword swallowing trainee Andrea Silverman, the best way to learn is to first start training with a wire coat hanger.
"The average person takes six months to get comfortable and a year before their first performance," she said.
Brett Loudermilk, 24, first learned to swallow swords when he was 15 years old, saying he "started out with a cake spatula and then moved to a wire coat hanger."
Why does Loudermilk perform? "It's great providing people with a sense of wonder."
F. Y. I.
Sweet Surprise
Pork fat was once a key ingredient in Oreo cookies creme filling.
No Kidding!
President George W. Bush was once a cheerleader.
Of Note
The country of Greenland is the biggest island in the world.
Still on the Books
In Atlanta, it is illegal to tie a giraffe to a telephone pole or a street lamp.
Quotable
by Scott Adams, "Dilbert" creator
"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."
Back Then
In the 17th century, wearing a bunch of lavender around one's wrist was believed to serve as protection from the plague.
Pork fat was once a key ingredient in Oreo cookies creme filling.
No Kidding!
President George W. Bush was once a cheerleader.
Of Note
The country of Greenland is the biggest island in the world.
Still on the Books
In Atlanta, it is illegal to tie a giraffe to a telephone pole or a street lamp.
Quotable
by Scott Adams, "Dilbert" creator
"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."
Back Then
In the 17th century, wearing a bunch of lavender around one's wrist was believed to serve as protection from the plague.
To prevent snakes on a plane, Guam to airdrop poisoned mice
Declaring war against invasive brown tree snakes infesting the Pacific U.S. territory of Guam, wildlife officials plan this spring to bomb the island with dead baby mice stuffed with a common pain-killing medicine that is poisonous to the reptiles.
Brown tree snakes, believed to have been inadvertently carried to Guam around the end of World War Two aboard U.S. military vessels, have become major pests blamed for wiping out native bird populations on the island.
Wildlife officials have worried for years that the snakes, which have no natural predators on Guam, could one day reach other Pacific islands, especially Hawaii, nearly 4,000 miles to the east, raising further environmental havoc.
"Guam is a very unique situation," said William Pitt, a wildlife biologist at the U.S. Agriculture Department's National Wildlife Research Center in Hawaii. "There is no other place in the world that has a snake issue like Guam."
The project is set to begin in March or April with dead newborn mice being dropped by helicopter over jungle areas where the snakes are most heavily concentrated.
One initial target will be the vicinity of Andersen Air Force Base, which is surrounded by dense vegetation and is seen as a potential starting point for snakes that might end up as stowaways aboard departing aircraft.
Stuffed into the mouth of each infant mouse will be acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol and other over-the-counter pain-relief medications, which is toxic to snakes "and not a lot of other animals," Pitt said.
In an attempt to keep the baited mice off the ground, each tiny rodent will be attached to a strand of ribbon between pieces of cardboard designed to drop in a loop and catch in the canopy of trees, he said.
The goal of the aerial assault, which will eventually involving the dropping of some 2,000 mice in all, is not to eradicate but to curtail and control the brown tree snake population on the island, Pitt said.
Brown tree snakes, believed to have been inadvertently carried to Guam around the end of World War Two aboard U.S. military vessels, have become major pests blamed for wiping out native bird populations on the island.
Wildlife officials have worried for years that the snakes, which have no natural predators on Guam, could one day reach other Pacific islands, especially Hawaii, nearly 4,000 miles to the east, raising further environmental havoc.
"Guam is a very unique situation," said William Pitt, a wildlife biologist at the U.S. Agriculture Department's National Wildlife Research Center in Hawaii. "There is no other place in the world that has a snake issue like Guam."
The project is set to begin in March or April with dead newborn mice being dropped by helicopter over jungle areas where the snakes are most heavily concentrated.
One initial target will be the vicinity of Andersen Air Force Base, which is surrounded by dense vegetation and is seen as a potential starting point for snakes that might end up as stowaways aboard departing aircraft.
Stuffed into the mouth of each infant mouse will be acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol and other over-the-counter pain-relief medications, which is toxic to snakes "and not a lot of other animals," Pitt said.
In an attempt to keep the baited mice off the ground, each tiny rodent will be attached to a strand of ribbon between pieces of cardboard designed to drop in a loop and catch in the canopy of trees, he said.
The goal of the aerial assault, which will eventually involving the dropping of some 2,000 mice in all, is not to eradicate but to curtail and control the brown tree snake population on the island, Pitt said.
Goldfish influx threatens to cloud pristine Lake Tahoe waters
Giant goldfish have mysteriously found their way into the famously crystalline waters of Lake Tahoe, the nation's second-deepest lake, alarming researchers and raising questions about the invasive species' long-term effects.
Goldfish weighing as much as 4 pounds and measuring up to a 1-1/2 feet in length have recently been caught in Tahoe, which straddles the California-Nevada border, and scientists say the influx threatens native species while posing a potential waste pollution problem.
"These fish are competing with the native fish, and that's a big part of the problem," said Heather Segale, spokeswoman for the Tahoe Environmental Research Center at the University of California at Davis.
A group of researchers from Davis, the University of Nevada at Reno, and the fish and wildlife departments of both California and Nevada were the first to study the presence of goldfish in Lake Tahoe, beginning an annual survey in 2006.
In 2011, the group began a project to reduce the number of goldfish and other non-native fish from the lake through "electrofishing," dangling metal wires from the bottom of a boat to stun fish with electrical current, then capturing the fish as they float to the surface.
Researchers then sort the fish, releasing native species and sport fish such as trout, and removing the rest.
The project has rid the lake of 50 to 60 goldfish a year since 2011, but their foraging abilities and potential to multiply means removal efforts must continue to keep populations under control, said Christine Ngai of the University of Nevada.
The influx at Tahoe, at the base of a world-class ski area in the eastern Sierra Nevada mountain range, is believed to have originated from specimens dumped from a fish bowl by pet owners who no longer wanted them.
Some used as bait may also have escaped into the lake over time, Ngai said. Goldfish, members of the carp family, are known to grow in size when they inhabit larger environments.
While their precise numbers are difficult to track, the proliferation of large goldfish in the wild is not unique to Tahoe. James Schardt, an invasive species expert for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said he has received reports of giant goldfish in lakes from around the country, mostly from the Great Lakes.
"Goldfish are very good at getting what they need," Ngai said. "They can potentially compete with native fish for food, vegetation and bugs."
"Because they eat a lot, they also excrete a lot. They can transfer that into the water and encourage algae growth," she added, saying that could create murky water.
With a maximum depth of 1,645 feet and an average depth of 1,000 feet, the 22-mile-wide lake is the nation's deepest after Crater Lake in Oregon and the 10th deepest on Earth.
It is also one of the clearest in the world, with visibility recently measured to a depth of 70 feet, reduced from 100 feet when clarity readings were first taken in the 1960s, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Goldfish weighing as much as 4 pounds and measuring up to a 1-1/2 feet in length have recently been caught in Tahoe, which straddles the California-Nevada border, and scientists say the influx threatens native species while posing a potential waste pollution problem.
"These fish are competing with the native fish, and that's a big part of the problem," said Heather Segale, spokeswoman for the Tahoe Environmental Research Center at the University of California at Davis.
A group of researchers from Davis, the University of Nevada at Reno, and the fish and wildlife departments of both California and Nevada were the first to study the presence of goldfish in Lake Tahoe, beginning an annual survey in 2006.
In 2011, the group began a project to reduce the number of goldfish and other non-native fish from the lake through "electrofishing," dangling metal wires from the bottom of a boat to stun fish with electrical current, then capturing the fish as they float to the surface.
Researchers then sort the fish, releasing native species and sport fish such as trout, and removing the rest.
The project has rid the lake of 50 to 60 goldfish a year since 2011, but their foraging abilities and potential to multiply means removal efforts must continue to keep populations under control, said Christine Ngai of the University of Nevada.
The influx at Tahoe, at the base of a world-class ski area in the eastern Sierra Nevada mountain range, is believed to have originated from specimens dumped from a fish bowl by pet owners who no longer wanted them.
Some used as bait may also have escaped into the lake over time, Ngai said. Goldfish, members of the carp family, are known to grow in size when they inhabit larger environments.
While their precise numbers are difficult to track, the proliferation of large goldfish in the wild is not unique to Tahoe. James Schardt, an invasive species expert for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said he has received reports of giant goldfish in lakes from around the country, mostly from the Great Lakes.
"Goldfish are very good at getting what they need," Ngai said. "They can potentially compete with native fish for food, vegetation and bugs."
"Because they eat a lot, they also excrete a lot. They can transfer that into the water and encourage algae growth," she added, saying that could create murky water.
With a maximum depth of 1,645 feet and an average depth of 1,000 feet, the 22-mile-wide lake is the nation's deepest after Crater Lake in Oregon and the 10th deepest on Earth.
It is also one of the clearest in the world, with visibility recently measured to a depth of 70 feet, reduced from 100 feet when clarity readings were first taken in the 1960s, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Sexting and bugging revealed at the FBI: CNN
One FBI employee was fired for sleeping with a drug dealer and lying about it under oath, while another got the boot for bugging the boss's office.
The FBI suspended for 10 days still another employee for emailing a nude photograph of herself to her ex-boyfriend's wife - the bureau showed compassion for the woman after she sought help for depression.
Those cases over the past year were among 29 revealed by CNN on Friday after the cable news network obtained an October 2012 quarterly report the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation sent to all its employees that was meant to educate FBI staff but not to be disseminated publicly.
The so-called quarterlies summarized cases investigated by the bureau's Office of Professional Responsibility.
"We have seen a rash of sexting cases and nude photograph cases, you know, people misusing their BlackBerrys for this reason, and we hope getting the message out in the quarterlies is going to teach people you can't do this stuff," FBI assistant director Candice Will told CNN.
An employee who used a government-issued BlackBerry to send sexually explicit messages to another employee received a five-day suspension. Another who used a personal cell phone to send nude photographs to several other employees received a 10-day suspension, in part because the conduct created office gossip.
"When you're given an FBI BlackBerry, it's for official use. It's not to text the woman in another office who you found attractive a picture of yourself in a state of undress," Will said.
Many of the cases involved sex, such as that of the employee who visited a massage parlor and paid for a sexual favor from the masseuse. That resulted in a 14-day suspension instead of a more severe penalty because the employee had an exemplary work record and expressed remorse, the FBI documents said.
Others were more serious, such as the case of the employee who admitted purchasing and viewing video of naked boys. That person was summarily dismissed.
Two employees who were busted for driving under the influence of alcohol were fired because in each case it was a second offense.
Another who was cited for public intoxication while walking the street drunk and armed with a bureau-issued weapon received a seven-day suspension.
Improper handling of evidence resulted in suspensions of three and eight days. Shoplifting got a summary dismissal.
CNN posted the documents on http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2013/images/02/21/office.of.professional.review.-.cnn01302013_0000.pdf.
The FBI suspended for 10 days still another employee for emailing a nude photograph of herself to her ex-boyfriend's wife - the bureau showed compassion for the woman after she sought help for depression.
Those cases over the past year were among 29 revealed by CNN on Friday after the cable news network obtained an October 2012 quarterly report the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation sent to all its employees that was meant to educate FBI staff but not to be disseminated publicly.
The so-called quarterlies summarized cases investigated by the bureau's Office of Professional Responsibility.
"We have seen a rash of sexting cases and nude photograph cases, you know, people misusing their BlackBerrys for this reason, and we hope getting the message out in the quarterlies is going to teach people you can't do this stuff," FBI assistant director Candice Will told CNN.
An employee who used a government-issued BlackBerry to send sexually explicit messages to another employee received a five-day suspension. Another who used a personal cell phone to send nude photographs to several other employees received a 10-day suspension, in part because the conduct created office gossip.
"When you're given an FBI BlackBerry, it's for official use. It's not to text the woman in another office who you found attractive a picture of yourself in a state of undress," Will said.
Many of the cases involved sex, such as that of the employee who visited a massage parlor and paid for a sexual favor from the masseuse. That resulted in a 14-day suspension instead of a more severe penalty because the employee had an exemplary work record and expressed remorse, the FBI documents said.
Others were more serious, such as the case of the employee who admitted purchasing and viewing video of naked boys. That person was summarily dismissed.
Two employees who were busted for driving under the influence of alcohol were fired because in each case it was a second offense.
Another who was cited for public intoxication while walking the street drunk and armed with a bureau-issued weapon received a seven-day suspension.
Improper handling of evidence resulted in suspensions of three and eight days. Shoplifting got a summary dismissal.
CNN posted the documents on http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2013/images/02/21/office.of.professional.review.-.cnn01302013_0000.pdf.
N.Y. man who died on way to late wife's memorial buried beside her
An upstate New York man who died on the way to his late wife's wake was buried in a plot beside her on Wednesday, after a dual funeral service that capped a 66-year marriage, their daughter said on Thursday.
Norman Hendrickson, 94, a retired assistant postmaster in an Albany suburb, stopped breathing in the limousine on the way to a wake on Saturday for his late wife Gwen, who died earlier this month after suffering for years from Parkinson's Disease, daughter Norma said.
Funeral home staffers laid Hendrickson in a casket and placed him beside an urn containing his wife's remains in a viewing room, while daughter Merrilyne posted a light-hearted sign for arriving mourners:
"Surprise - it's a Double-Header - Norman and Gwen Hendrickson - February 16, 2013."
Norma Hendrickson said her parents were buried side by side in the same plot on Wednesday, along with some of the ashes of their late son, who died in 2008, and a watercolor painting her sister Merrilyne had made for them.
Funeral director Elizabeth Nichols-Ross, a family friend, said the couple laughed a lot and would have enjoyed the irony of the situation - especially Norman, who loved jokes.
"I don't blush easily, but he told ones that made you blush," she said.
She joked with the family that their father, who was known to be thrifty, would have loved to save the costs of a second funeral, so she didn't charge the family for two services.
Mourners took the surprise in stride, Nichols-Ross said.
"Oh, that doesn't surprise me," she quoted one mourner as saying. "He wanted to be with Gwen.'"
Norman Hendrickson, 94, a retired assistant postmaster in an Albany suburb, stopped breathing in the limousine on the way to a wake on Saturday for his late wife Gwen, who died earlier this month after suffering for years from Parkinson's Disease, daughter Norma said.
Funeral home staffers laid Hendrickson in a casket and placed him beside an urn containing his wife's remains in a viewing room, while daughter Merrilyne posted a light-hearted sign for arriving mourners:
"Surprise - it's a Double-Header - Norman and Gwen Hendrickson - February 16, 2013."
Norma Hendrickson said her parents were buried side by side in the same plot on Wednesday, along with some of the ashes of their late son, who died in 2008, and a watercolor painting her sister Merrilyne had made for them.
Funeral director Elizabeth Nichols-Ross, a family friend, said the couple laughed a lot and would have enjoyed the irony of the situation - especially Norman, who loved jokes.
"I don't blush easily, but he told ones that made you blush," she said.
She joked with the family that their father, who was known to be thrifty, would have loved to save the costs of a second funeral, so she didn't charge the family for two services.
Mourners took the surprise in stride, Nichols-Ross said.
"Oh, that doesn't surprise me," she quoted one mourner as saying. "He wanted to be with Gwen.'"
Tea cozies and pencil sharpening vie for oddest book title award
A guide to sharpening pencils and a craft manual about how tea cozies changed the world are among a shortlist of books released on Friday that are competing for the Oddest Book Title of the Year award.
The shortlist in the 35th annual Diagram Prize also includes a study of Adolf Hitler's health by Henrik Eberle and Hans-Joachim Neumann titled "Was Hitler Ill?" and "Lofts of North America: Pigeon Lofts" by Jerry Gagne.
These are up against "How to Sharpen Pencils" by David Rees, "God's Doodle: The Life and Times of the Penis" by Tom Hickman, "Goblinproofing One's Chicken Coop" by Reginald Bakeley and "How Tea Cosies Changed the World" by Loani Prior.
Philip Stone, coordinator of the prize run by industry publication the Bookseller, said the award might seem flippant but publishers and booksellers are well aware of the fact that a title can make all the difference to the sales of a book.
"Publishers realize that if a book has an unusual title, particularly a novel, it can help make them more attractive to the public," Stone told Reuters.
"People think it looks interesting and will pick it up and read the synopsis and that makes them more likely to buy it."
As examples he cited "A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian" that has sold almost a million copies and "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" that has sold more than two million copies and was adapted for the theatre.
"There is a cliché that you can't judge a book by its cover but I think people do, the cover and the title," said Stone.
The winner, chosen by an online public vote, will be announced on March 22.
The Diagram Prize was founded at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 1978 and first awarded to "Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice".
Last year's winner was "Cooking with Poo", a Thai cookbook by Bangkok resident Saiyuud Diwong whose nickname is Poo.
(This story has been refiled to fix a typo in the headline)
The shortlist in the 35th annual Diagram Prize also includes a study of Adolf Hitler's health by Henrik Eberle and Hans-Joachim Neumann titled "Was Hitler Ill?" and "Lofts of North America: Pigeon Lofts" by Jerry Gagne.
These are up against "How to Sharpen Pencils" by David Rees, "God's Doodle: The Life and Times of the Penis" by Tom Hickman, "Goblinproofing One's Chicken Coop" by Reginald Bakeley and "How Tea Cosies Changed the World" by Loani Prior.
Philip Stone, coordinator of the prize run by industry publication the Bookseller, said the award might seem flippant but publishers and booksellers are well aware of the fact that a title can make all the difference to the sales of a book.
"Publishers realize that if a book has an unusual title, particularly a novel, it can help make them more attractive to the public," Stone told Reuters.
"People think it looks interesting and will pick it up and read the synopsis and that makes them more likely to buy it."
As examples he cited "A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian" that has sold almost a million copies and "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" that has sold more than two million copies and was adapted for the theatre.
"There is a cliché that you can't judge a book by its cover but I think people do, the cover and the title," said Stone.
The winner, chosen by an online public vote, will be announced on March 22.
The Diagram Prize was founded at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 1978 and first awarded to "Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice".
Last year's winner was "Cooking with Poo", a Thai cookbook by Bangkok resident Saiyuud Diwong whose nickname is Poo.
(This story has been refiled to fix a typo in the headline)
Take a walk! Koreans reject Cuban ball switch
A baseball game between Cuba's national team and a South Korean professional club had to be called off when they could not agree on which ball to use, leaving the two sets of players practicing awkwardly next to each other in the stadium, an official from Korea's NC Dinos has told Reuters.
Cuba were set to play NC Dinos at the Dou Liou Baseball Stadium in Taiwan on Thursday as part of their preparations for the World Baseball Classic, which takes place from March 2-19.
"We have never experienced anything quite like this before," an NC Dinos official with the team in Taiwan told Reuters by telephone on Friday.
"It is customary for baseball teams from two different countries to have two different balls and to use balls of their choice (when fielding).
"But 40 minutes before the game, Cuba insisted both teams use the ball they chose," the official added. "We rejected that because our players could get injured by using balls they are not familiar with.
"We could not risk getting injured in a warm-up match like this one. Then they brought another ball, to which we again said no. They didn't give up and brought another one again and we turned them down once again.
"Finally, about 15-20 minutes before the game, they just abruptly notified us that they cancelled the game."
The official said Dinos had been taken aback by Cuba's decision to cancel the game.
"What they insisted was preposterous and goes against normal practice."
With no game to play, both sets of players started practicing on the field.
"After the game was cancelled at the last minute, our team remained and practiced in the stadium and the Cuban team didn't leave," the official added.
"So we practiced there too for a while, the two teams in the same space, until we asked them to leave ... it was so awkward."
Dinos coach Kim Kyung-moon lamented the lost opportunity for his team to play one of the best international sides and said it would have been a valuable experience for his players.
Cuba are placed in Pool A of the WBC alongside champions Japan, Brazil and China.
Cuba were set to play NC Dinos at the Dou Liou Baseball Stadium in Taiwan on Thursday as part of their preparations for the World Baseball Classic, which takes place from March 2-19.
"We have never experienced anything quite like this before," an NC Dinos official with the team in Taiwan told Reuters by telephone on Friday.
"It is customary for baseball teams from two different countries to have two different balls and to use balls of their choice (when fielding).
"But 40 minutes before the game, Cuba insisted both teams use the ball they chose," the official added. "We rejected that because our players could get injured by using balls they are not familiar with.
"We could not risk getting injured in a warm-up match like this one. Then they brought another ball, to which we again said no. They didn't give up and brought another one again and we turned them down once again.
"Finally, about 15-20 minutes before the game, they just abruptly notified us that they cancelled the game."
The official said Dinos had been taken aback by Cuba's decision to cancel the game.
"What they insisted was preposterous and goes against normal practice."
With no game to play, both sets of players started practicing on the field.
"After the game was cancelled at the last minute, our team remained and practiced in the stadium and the Cuban team didn't leave," the official added.
"So we practiced there too for a while, the two teams in the same space, until we asked them to leave ... it was so awkward."
Dinos coach Kim Kyung-moon lamented the lost opportunity for his team to play one of the best international sides and said it would have been a valuable experience for his players.
Cuba are placed in Pool A of the WBC alongside champions Japan, Brazil and China.
Detroit named most miserable U.S. city in Forbes ranking
With its violent crimes, high unemployment, dwindling population and financial crisis, Detroit was named on Thursday as the most miserable city in the United States.
It toppled Miami, which held the title last year, and surpassed Flint, Michigan, Rockford and Chicago in Illinois and Modesto, California, which rounded out the five most unhappy urban areas.
"Detroit's problems are hardly news. It has been in a four-decade decline paralleling the slide in the U.S. auto industry," according to Forbes.com, which compiles the yearly ranking.
Earlier this week, a panel of experts said the automotive city was facing a fiscal emergency and potential bankruptcy, as well as a possible financial takeover by the state.
Flint, which is being run by an emergency manager appointed by the state governor more than a year ago, faces similar problems and has some of the worst crime rates in the country and a jobless rate of 11.3 percent, according to Forbes.com.
To compile the list, Forbes looked at 200 of the country's largest urban areas and ranked them on factors including crime rates, foreclosures, taxes, home prices, commute times, weather and decreasing populations.
Violent crime, high foreclosure rates and declining home prices pushed Chicago into the fourth spot, along with the high expense of living there.
New York, which came in at No. 10, was also cited for its high cost of living. The Big Apple has one of the country's highest income tax rates and longest average commuting time at 36 minutes.
The full list of the top 20 most miserable cities can be found at www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2013/02/21/detroit-tops-2013-list-of-americas-most-miserable-cities/
It toppled Miami, which held the title last year, and surpassed Flint, Michigan, Rockford and Chicago in Illinois and Modesto, California, which rounded out the five most unhappy urban areas.
"Detroit's problems are hardly news. It has been in a four-decade decline paralleling the slide in the U.S. auto industry," according to Forbes.com, which compiles the yearly ranking.
Earlier this week, a panel of experts said the automotive city was facing a fiscal emergency and potential bankruptcy, as well as a possible financial takeover by the state.
Flint, which is being run by an emergency manager appointed by the state governor more than a year ago, faces similar problems and has some of the worst crime rates in the country and a jobless rate of 11.3 percent, according to Forbes.com.
To compile the list, Forbes looked at 200 of the country's largest urban areas and ranked them on factors including crime rates, foreclosures, taxes, home prices, commute times, weather and decreasing populations.
Violent crime, high foreclosure rates and declining home prices pushed Chicago into the fourth spot, along with the high expense of living there.
New York, which came in at No. 10, was also cited for its high cost of living. The Big Apple has one of the country's highest income tax rates and longest average commuting time at 36 minutes.
The full list of the top 20 most miserable cities can be found at www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2013/02/21/detroit-tops-2013-list-of-americas-most-miserable-cities/
Crisis forces Greeks to skimp on weddings, funerals
Fewer Greeks are walking down the aisle as their country's deep economic crisis takes a toll on their famously lavish weddings, an age-old ritual that has become an unbearable cost for those struggling to make ends meet.
Religious wedding ceremonies in bell tower chapels overflowing with flowers, meter-high candles and candy wrapped in tulle, are a deeply ingrained tradition in Greece, where the powerful Orthodox Church plays an influential role in society.
But as recession slides into its sixth year, unemployment rises and poverty spreads, a church wedding is a luxury many couples can no longer afford.
For 28-year-old bride Nafsika Koutrokoi, who works at a butcher shop, fulfilling her dream of marrying her fiancé, a cable technician, in church was a difficult decision that required huge sacrifices.
"Things are quite tough right now," she said after the wedding. "We cut down on many things, from invitations to the reception, on everything."
The number of Greek couples who tied the knot in church tumbled to 28,000 in 2011, two years into Europe's debt crisis, compared to the pre-crisis level of 40,000 in 2008, according to the country's statistic service ELSTAT.
In contrast, the number of low-key civil unions skyrocketed to 26,000 in 2011 from about 8,000 a decade earlier.
As Greece's crisis deepens and successive governments are forced to impose wage cuts and tax rises in exchange for the foreign aid keeping the economy afloat, the wedding industry's countless shops and planners are also feeling the pinch.
"They want whatever is cheapest, which often is not possible because the cost of everything is rising," said wedding shop owner Anastasia Theophanopoulou, whose family business has sold wedding supplies for decades. "There is a drastic drop."
The downturn has also had an unexpected effect on another ceremony revered by many Greeks - funerals.
With more and more Greeks having trouble paying for funerals, municipal authorities in Athens have reduced the cost of burial in the capital's cemeteries.
"There was always money for the deceased, but now people are in a very bad state," said Athens City Councillor Nikos Kokkinos, who is responsible for cemeteries.
Some Greeks do not collect their dead loved ones from the hospital to avoid having to pay for the funeral. Others can no longer afford a traditional marble tombstone and so leave plots as simple dirt mounds overgrown by weeds, a cemetery official said.
Funeral home director Vassilis Tranou has been forced to lower prices at his family-run business and sometimes will do a funeral - which costs at least 1,500 euros - for free.
"People don't have the money anymore or they don't spend like they used to, and Greeks are usually people who take great care with the people they have lost," Tranou said.
"It makes your hair stand on end," he said, recounting the story of a man who was only able to bury his mother by selling a family heirloom of four gold coins.
Religious wedding ceremonies in bell tower chapels overflowing with flowers, meter-high candles and candy wrapped in tulle, are a deeply ingrained tradition in Greece, where the powerful Orthodox Church plays an influential role in society.
But as recession slides into its sixth year, unemployment rises and poverty spreads, a church wedding is a luxury many couples can no longer afford.
For 28-year-old bride Nafsika Koutrokoi, who works at a butcher shop, fulfilling her dream of marrying her fiancé, a cable technician, in church was a difficult decision that required huge sacrifices.
"Things are quite tough right now," she said after the wedding. "We cut down on many things, from invitations to the reception, on everything."
The number of Greek couples who tied the knot in church tumbled to 28,000 in 2011, two years into Europe's debt crisis, compared to the pre-crisis level of 40,000 in 2008, according to the country's statistic service ELSTAT.
In contrast, the number of low-key civil unions skyrocketed to 26,000 in 2011 from about 8,000 a decade earlier.
As Greece's crisis deepens and successive governments are forced to impose wage cuts and tax rises in exchange for the foreign aid keeping the economy afloat, the wedding industry's countless shops and planners are also feeling the pinch.
"They want whatever is cheapest, which often is not possible because the cost of everything is rising," said wedding shop owner Anastasia Theophanopoulou, whose family business has sold wedding supplies for decades. "There is a drastic drop."
The downturn has also had an unexpected effect on another ceremony revered by many Greeks - funerals.
With more and more Greeks having trouble paying for funerals, municipal authorities in Athens have reduced the cost of burial in the capital's cemeteries.
"There was always money for the deceased, but now people are in a very bad state," said Athens City Councillor Nikos Kokkinos, who is responsible for cemeteries.
Some Greeks do not collect their dead loved ones from the hospital to avoid having to pay for the funeral. Others can no longer afford a traditional marble tombstone and so leave plots as simple dirt mounds overgrown by weeds, a cemetery official said.
Funeral home director Vassilis Tranou has been forced to lower prices at his family-run business and sometimes will do a funeral - which costs at least 1,500 euros - for free.
"People don't have the money anymore or they don't spend like they used to, and Greeks are usually people who take great care with the people they have lost," Tranou said.
"It makes your hair stand on end," he said, recounting the story of a man who was only able to bury his mother by selling a family heirloom of four gold coins.
"Keep your so-called workers," U.S. boss tells France
The CEO of a U.S. tire company has delivered a crushing summary of how some outsiders view France's work ethic in a letter saying he would have to be stupid to take over a factory whose staff only put in three hours work a day.
Titan International's Maurice "Morry" Taylor, who goes by "The Grizz" for his bear-like no-nonsense style, told France's left-wing industry minister in a letter published by Paris media that he had no interest in buying a doomed plant.
"The French workforce gets paid high wages but works only three hours. They get one hour for breaks and lunch, talk for three and work for three," Taylor wrote on February 8 in the letter in English addressed to the minister, Arnaud Montebourg.
"I told this to the French union workers to their faces. They told me that's the French way!" Taylor added in the letter, which was posted by business daily Les Echos on its website on Wednesday and which the ministry confirmed was genuine.
"How stupid do you think we are?" he asked at one point.
"Titan is going to buy a Chinese tire company or an Indian one, pay less than one Euro per hour wage and ship all the tires France needs," he said. "You can keep the so-called workers."
As the leaked letter drew outrage in France, Montebourg penned a scathing response, spelling out the reasons why France routinely ranks as a leading destination for companies to invest, beating China and India in mid-2012.
"Can I remind you that Titan, the business you run, is 20 times smaller than Michelin, the French (tire) technology leader with international influence, and 35 times less profitable," Montebourg wrote, in a two-page letter in French.
"This just shows the extent to which Titan could have learned and gained, enormously, from a presence in France."
Montebourg's letter, a copy of which was sent to Reuters, said Taylor's comments, "as extremist as they are insulting", illustrated his ignorance of France.
Union leaders also reacted furiously. CGT official Mickael Wamen said Taylor belonged more "in an asylum" than in the boardroom of a multinational and noted his views were based on a visit to a troubled plant whose operations had been cut back.
The vicious exchange made for another public knock to France's business image after verbal attacks last year by Montebourg on firms seeking to shut ailing industrial sites prompted international derision.
Combined with concern over plans for a 75-percent "millionaires' tax", Montebourg's antics drove London Mayor Boris Johnson to tell an international business audience that it seemed France was being run by left-wing revolutionaries.
Socialist President Francois Hollande may take some comfort in the view Taylor expressed of Washington: "The U.S. government is not much better than the French," he wrote, saying Western leaders were failing to halt state-subsidized Chinese exports.
TWO TOUGH-TALKERS
The row has pitted an outspoken former anti-globalization campaigner, the loose cannon of Hollande's government, against a right-winger who revels in provocation and tough-talking.
Proud of being "The Grizz" -- his group's logo features a cartoon bear and its website opens to the roar of a grizzly -- Taylor has clashed with unions before and once suggested that a U.S. judge was "smoking dope" after a ruling against his firm.
He built up Illinois-based Titan over 23 years into a global brand in tires for tractors and other off-road machinery and ran for the White House in the 1996 Republican primary, campaigning on a pro-business ticket.
At that time, he admitted to being "abrasive" in order to "get the job done": "The politicians, they all want you to like them," he told an interviewer. "I don't care if people like me."
To Montebourg, the author of "Kill All the Lawyers and Other Ways to Fix the Government" wrote: "You're a politician so you don't want to rock the boat ... France will lose its industrial business because its government is more government."
Taylor's letter was a response to Paris having approached Titan as a possible buyer of U.S. group Goodyear's Amiens Nord factory in northern France. Montebourg told reporters earlier on Wednesday that he would put his answer in a letter.
In it, he noted the United States is the No. 1 investor in France with 4,200 U.S. subsidiaries employing nearly half a million people in the country. He said those firms appreciated French productivity and "savoir-faire" and warned that Paris would fight others which exploit cheap labor.
Montebourg has often lashed out at cheap imports of manufactured goods from low-wage countries such as China and last year told the boss of Indian steelmaker ArcelorMittal he was unwelcome in a spat over a shuttered plant in France.
Despite having per-head productivity levels that rank among the best in Europe, economists blame France's rigid hiring and firing laws for a long industrial decline that has dented exports. Many also fault the country's 35-hour work week for diminishing competitiveness with Germany.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co's Amiens Nord plant employs 1,250 people, who have been battling demands they work more shifts or accept layoffs. The site now faces closure.
Talks last year with Titan over a possible rescue fell down after a failure to reach a deal with unions on voluntary redundancies.
Taylor accused France of being at fault. "Titan is the one with the money and the talent to produce tires. What does the crazy union have? It has the French government."
Titan International's Maurice "Morry" Taylor, who goes by "The Grizz" for his bear-like no-nonsense style, told France's left-wing industry minister in a letter published by Paris media that he had no interest in buying a doomed plant.
"The French workforce gets paid high wages but works only three hours. They get one hour for breaks and lunch, talk for three and work for three," Taylor wrote on February 8 in the letter in English addressed to the minister, Arnaud Montebourg.
"I told this to the French union workers to their faces. They told me that's the French way!" Taylor added in the letter, which was posted by business daily Les Echos on its website on Wednesday and which the ministry confirmed was genuine.
"How stupid do you think we are?" he asked at one point.
"Titan is going to buy a Chinese tire company or an Indian one, pay less than one Euro per hour wage and ship all the tires France needs," he said. "You can keep the so-called workers."
As the leaked letter drew outrage in France, Montebourg penned a scathing response, spelling out the reasons why France routinely ranks as a leading destination for companies to invest, beating China and India in mid-2012.
"Can I remind you that Titan, the business you run, is 20 times smaller than Michelin, the French (tire) technology leader with international influence, and 35 times less profitable," Montebourg wrote, in a two-page letter in French.
"This just shows the extent to which Titan could have learned and gained, enormously, from a presence in France."
Montebourg's letter, a copy of which was sent to Reuters, said Taylor's comments, "as extremist as they are insulting", illustrated his ignorance of France.
Union leaders also reacted furiously. CGT official Mickael Wamen said Taylor belonged more "in an asylum" than in the boardroom of a multinational and noted his views were based on a visit to a troubled plant whose operations had been cut back.
The vicious exchange made for another public knock to France's business image after verbal attacks last year by Montebourg on firms seeking to shut ailing industrial sites prompted international derision.
Combined with concern over plans for a 75-percent "millionaires' tax", Montebourg's antics drove London Mayor Boris Johnson to tell an international business audience that it seemed France was being run by left-wing revolutionaries.
Socialist President Francois Hollande may take some comfort in the view Taylor expressed of Washington: "The U.S. government is not much better than the French," he wrote, saying Western leaders were failing to halt state-subsidized Chinese exports.
TWO TOUGH-TALKERS
The row has pitted an outspoken former anti-globalization campaigner, the loose cannon of Hollande's government, against a right-winger who revels in provocation and tough-talking.
Proud of being "The Grizz" -- his group's logo features a cartoon bear and its website opens to the roar of a grizzly -- Taylor has clashed with unions before and once suggested that a U.S. judge was "smoking dope" after a ruling against his firm.
He built up Illinois-based Titan over 23 years into a global brand in tires for tractors and other off-road machinery and ran for the White House in the 1996 Republican primary, campaigning on a pro-business ticket.
At that time, he admitted to being "abrasive" in order to "get the job done": "The politicians, they all want you to like them," he told an interviewer. "I don't care if people like me."
To Montebourg, the author of "Kill All the Lawyers and Other Ways to Fix the Government" wrote: "You're a politician so you don't want to rock the boat ... France will lose its industrial business because its government is more government."
Taylor's letter was a response to Paris having approached Titan as a possible buyer of U.S. group Goodyear's Amiens Nord factory in northern France. Montebourg told reporters earlier on Wednesday that he would put his answer in a letter.
In it, he noted the United States is the No. 1 investor in France with 4,200 U.S. subsidiaries employing nearly half a million people in the country. He said those firms appreciated French productivity and "savoir-faire" and warned that Paris would fight others which exploit cheap labor.
Montebourg has often lashed out at cheap imports of manufactured goods from low-wage countries such as China and last year told the boss of Indian steelmaker ArcelorMittal he was unwelcome in a spat over a shuttered plant in France.
Despite having per-head productivity levels that rank among the best in Europe, economists blame France's rigid hiring and firing laws for a long industrial decline that has dented exports. Many also fault the country's 35-hour work week for diminishing competitiveness with Germany.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co's Amiens Nord plant employs 1,250 people, who have been battling demands they work more shifts or accept layoffs. The site now faces closure.
Talks last year with Titan over a possible rescue fell down after a failure to reach a deal with unions on voluntary redundancies.
Taylor accused France of being at fault. "Titan is the one with the money and the talent to produce tires. What does the crazy union have? It has the French government."
Britain to India: Diamond in royal crown is ours
British Prime Minister David Cameron says a giant diamond his country forced India to hand over in the colonial era that was set in a royal crown will not be returned.
Speaking on the third and final day of a visit to India aimed at drumming up trade and investment, Cameron ruled out handing back the 105-carat Koh-i-Noor diamond, now on display in the Tower of London. The diamond had been set in the crown of the current Queen Elizabeth's late mother.
One of the world's largest diamonds, some Indians - including independence leader Mahatma Gandhi's grandson - have demanded its return to atone for Britain's colonial past.
"I don't think that's the right approach," Cameron told reporters on Wednesday after becoming the first serving British prime minister to voice regret about one of the bloodiest episodes in colonial India, a massacre of unarmed civilians in the city of Amritsar in 1919.
"It is the same question with the Elgin Marbles," he said, referring to the classical Greek marble sculptures that Athens has long demanded be given back.
"The right answer is for the British Museum and other cultural institutions to do exactly what they do, which is to link up with other institutions around the world to make sure that the things which we have and look after so well are properly shared with people around the world.
"I certainly don't believe in 'returnism', as it were. I don't think that's sensible."
Britain's then colonial governor-general of India arranged for the huge diamond to be presented to Queen Victoria in 1850.
If Kate Middleton, the wife of Prince William, who is second in line to the throne, eventually becomes queen consort she will don the crown holding the diamond on official occasions.
When Elizabeth II made a state visit to India to mark the 50th anniversary of India's independence from Britain in 1997, many Indians demanded the return of the diamond.
Cameron is keen to tap into India's economic rise, but says he is anxious to focus on the present and future rather than "reach back" into the past.
(This story was corrected to remove reference to Queen Elizabeth I in the lead paragraph)
Speaking on the third and final day of a visit to India aimed at drumming up trade and investment, Cameron ruled out handing back the 105-carat Koh-i-Noor diamond, now on display in the Tower of London. The diamond had been set in the crown of the current Queen Elizabeth's late mother.
One of the world's largest diamonds, some Indians - including independence leader Mahatma Gandhi's grandson - have demanded its return to atone for Britain's colonial past.
"I don't think that's the right approach," Cameron told reporters on Wednesday after becoming the first serving British prime minister to voice regret about one of the bloodiest episodes in colonial India, a massacre of unarmed civilians in the city of Amritsar in 1919.
"It is the same question with the Elgin Marbles," he said, referring to the classical Greek marble sculptures that Athens has long demanded be given back.
"The right answer is for the British Museum and other cultural institutions to do exactly what they do, which is to link up with other institutions around the world to make sure that the things which we have and look after so well are properly shared with people around the world.
"I certainly don't believe in 'returnism', as it were. I don't think that's sensible."
Britain's then colonial governor-general of India arranged for the huge diamond to be presented to Queen Victoria in 1850.
If Kate Middleton, the wife of Prince William, who is second in line to the throne, eventually becomes queen consort she will don the crown holding the diamond on official occasions.
When Elizabeth II made a state visit to India to mark the 50th anniversary of India's independence from Britain in 1997, many Indians demanded the return of the diamond.
Cameron is keen to tap into India's economic rise, but says he is anxious to focus on the present and future rather than "reach back" into the past.
(This story was corrected to remove reference to Queen Elizabeth I in the lead paragraph)
Florida man charged with harassing manatee after posting photos
A Florida man posted photos on Facebook showing himself hugging a baby manatee and was arrested on charges of harassing the endangered sea cow, wildlife officials said on Wednesday.
A tipster saw the photos and alerted the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which arrested Ryan William Waterman on a misdemeanor charge punishable by up to six months in jail and a $500 fine.
Waterman, 21, was released from the St. Lucie County Jail on Monday on $2,500 bond, jail records showed. He told television station WPEC that he meant no harm and did not know it was illegal to touch a manatee.
The Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act prohibits molesting, harassing or disturbing manatees, which are classified as endangered in Florida and are also protected by federal laws.
The photos were taken at Taylor Creek, near Fort Pierce in southeast Florida in January. One showed Waterman lifting the baby manatee part way out of the water and hugging it. Others showed his two young daughters petting the manatee, and one of them sitting on the animal.
Wildlife agents said that could have caused severe stress to the manatee calf, which was likely still dependent on its mother. The large, slow-moving animals gather in warm coastal waters and rivers during the winter.
"The calf also appeared to be experiencing manatee cold-stress syndrome, a condition that can lead to death in extreme cases," said Dr. Thomas Reinert, a manatee biologist with the wildlife commission. "Taking the calf out of the water may have worsened its situation."
A Florida woman was arrested on a similar charge in the St. Petersburg area in November, after she was photographed riding an endangered manatee.
A tipster saw the photos and alerted the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which arrested Ryan William Waterman on a misdemeanor charge punishable by up to six months in jail and a $500 fine.
Waterman, 21, was released from the St. Lucie County Jail on Monday on $2,500 bond, jail records showed. He told television station WPEC that he meant no harm and did not know it was illegal to touch a manatee.
The Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act prohibits molesting, harassing or disturbing manatees, which are classified as endangered in Florida and are also protected by federal laws.
The photos were taken at Taylor Creek, near Fort Pierce in southeast Florida in January. One showed Waterman lifting the baby manatee part way out of the water and hugging it. Others showed his two young daughters petting the manatee, and one of them sitting on the animal.
Wildlife agents said that could have caused severe stress to the manatee calf, which was likely still dependent on its mother. The large, slow-moving animals gather in warm coastal waters and rivers during the winter.
"The calf also appeared to be experiencing manatee cold-stress syndrome, a condition that can lead to death in extreme cases," said Dr. Thomas Reinert, a manatee biologist with the wildlife commission. "Taking the calf out of the water may have worsened its situation."
A Florida woman was arrested on a similar charge in the St. Petersburg area in November, after she was photographed riding an endangered manatee.
Mike the fearless brown bear shot by Swiss gamekeepers
A brown bear dubbed Mike by its fans has been shot and killed by gamekeepers in a mountainous border region in southeastern Switzerland after several run-ins with locals, Swiss officials said on Wednesday.
How to deal with the bear, known as M13 by authorities, had sparked controversy between gamekeepers and environmentalists far outside the Graubuenden canton, which borders on Italy and Austria and where the animal was most often spotted.
Swiss gamekeepers said Mike, given the name by creators of a Twitter account set up to track him and spread his fame, had increasingly pushed into populated areas and shown no fear of people, presenting a major safety risk.
"The bear's behavior couldn't be changed," wildlife wardens in the canton -- home to famous winter holiday resorts like St Moritz, Klosters and Davos -- said in a statement.
Mike's adventures, such as breaking into beehives belonging to a school in the town of Poschiavo, were closely monitored after he was fitted with a tracking device last June.
Sightings - including when he was hit by a train on the local Rhaetian Railway, a major tourist draw - became a staple in Swiss tabloids, and Mike's popularity grew when the Twitter account was set up.
Last year, the bear unwittingly led Austrian police to a murder victim when he started a fire by knocking a tree onto a power line.
But Swiss federal and local authorities decided he had to be put down after he broke into a Graubuenden home last November. In recent days, he had approached humans again after waking up from hibernation, game officials said.
The Swiss-based World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) condemned the shooting, saying wardens should have instead intensified efforts to frighten the animal away from populated areas.
Several brown bears, including two called M12 and M14 who had been identified as Mike's brothers, have also been known to roam between Switzerland, Austria and Italy. M14 died last year when he was hit by a car.
How to deal with the bear, known as M13 by authorities, had sparked controversy between gamekeepers and environmentalists far outside the Graubuenden canton, which borders on Italy and Austria and where the animal was most often spotted.
Swiss gamekeepers said Mike, given the name by creators of a Twitter account set up to track him and spread his fame, had increasingly pushed into populated areas and shown no fear of people, presenting a major safety risk.
"The bear's behavior couldn't be changed," wildlife wardens in the canton -- home to famous winter holiday resorts like St Moritz, Klosters and Davos -- said in a statement.
Mike's adventures, such as breaking into beehives belonging to a school in the town of Poschiavo, were closely monitored after he was fitted with a tracking device last June.
Sightings - including when he was hit by a train on the local Rhaetian Railway, a major tourist draw - became a staple in Swiss tabloids, and Mike's popularity grew when the Twitter account was set up.
Last year, the bear unwittingly led Austrian police to a murder victim when he started a fire by knocking a tree onto a power line.
But Swiss federal and local authorities decided he had to be put down after he broke into a Graubuenden home last November. In recent days, he had approached humans again after waking up from hibernation, game officials said.
The Swiss-based World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) condemned the shooting, saying wardens should have instead intensified efforts to frighten the animal away from populated areas.
Several brown bears, including two called M12 and M14 who had been identified as Mike's brothers, have also been known to roam between Switzerland, Austria and Italy. M14 died last year when he was hit by a car.
Washington state baristas arrested for stripping at drive-thru
Three baristas accused of giving customers peep shows along with their coffee have been arrested in Washington state, accused of operating an adult cabaret without a license from the drive-thru windows of two Grab-N-Go coffee shops, police said on Wednesday.
The three women, who were not immediately identified, were taken into custody in the city of Everett following a two-month undercover operation that was launched after complaints from the public, Everett police officials said.
"Citizens complained that these locations served more than just coffee," Everett police Lieutenant James Duffy said. Everett is about 30 miles north of Seattle.
"Indeed, our investigation uncovered exhibition and exposure, which is outside the confines of the law," Duffy said. "During the investigation, video surveillance showed that at times coffee or drinks were not served, but shows were paid for and given."
Everett police spokesman Aaron Snell said the three women, who worked at two different Grab-N-Go stands near the city's main thoroughfare, were accused of exposing their entire bodies at the drive-thru window.
"These stands are on a major road. They are in parking lots of businesses. Not like they are fully hidden from sight. We received many complaints," he said.
Snell said the owners of the Grab-N-Go stands had not been arrested or charged in connection with the case, which was still under investigation. The three women were being interviewed by detectives, he said.
He said it was not clear how customers became aware that the baristas were willing to strip for money.
"Word gets out," he said.
(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles and Laura L. Myers in Seattle; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Eric Beech)
The three women, who were not immediately identified, were taken into custody in the city of Everett following a two-month undercover operation that was launched after complaints from the public, Everett police officials said.
"Citizens complained that these locations served more than just coffee," Everett police Lieutenant James Duffy said. Everett is about 30 miles north of Seattle.
"Indeed, our investigation uncovered exhibition and exposure, which is outside the confines of the law," Duffy said. "During the investigation, video surveillance showed that at times coffee or drinks were not served, but shows were paid for and given."
Everett police spokesman Aaron Snell said the three women, who worked at two different Grab-N-Go stands near the city's main thoroughfare, were accused of exposing their entire bodies at the drive-thru window.
"These stands are on a major road. They are in parking lots of businesses. Not like they are fully hidden from sight. We received many complaints," he said.
Snell said the owners of the Grab-N-Go stands had not been arrested or charged in connection with the case, which was still under investigation. The three women were being interviewed by detectives, he said.
He said it was not clear how customers became aware that the baristas were willing to strip for money.
"Word gets out," he said.
(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles and Laura L. Myers in Seattle; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Eric Beech)
Bird invasion brings real-life horror to Kentucky city
Millions of birds have descended on a small Kentucky city this winter, fouling the landscape, scaring pets and raising the risk for disease in a real-life version of Alfred Hitchcock's horror film, "The Birds."
The blackbirds and European starlings blacken the sky of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, before roosting at dusk, turn the landscape white with bird poop, and the disease they carry can kill a dog and sicken humans.
"I have seen them come in, and there are enough that if the sun is just right, they'll cloud your vision of the sun," said Hopkinsville-Christian County historian William Turner. "I estimate there are millions of them."
David Chiles, president of the Little River Audubon Society, said the fact that migratory flocks are roosting in the city rather than flying further south is tied to climate warming.
"The weather, the climate plays a big role," said Chiles, the bird enthusiast who also teaches biology at Hopkinsville High School.
"They somehow establish a roost south of where the ground is frozen solid," he explained. "They are ground feeders, feeding on leftover crops and insects. If the fields are frozen solid, they can't feed."
Although the birds have not turned on humans as in the classic 1963 Hitchcock movie featuring vicious attacks on people in a small northern California town, the city has taken defensive measures.
The south-central Kentucky city of 35,000 people, about an hour north of Nashville, has hired a pest control company to get rid of the interlopers.
Henry Jako, general manager of McGee Pest Control, said crews use air cannons and "bird-bangers" - similar to bottle rocket fireworks aimed into the trees where the birds roost.
The artillery attacks are disturbing some locals as well as the birds.
"It scares my little dog to death," said Christian County Judge-Executive Steve Tribble. "I don't know what it does other than move the birds from one tree to the next."
Jako said that in the worst-affected neighborhoods, multiple cannons and consecutive blasts are being used to keep the birds moving.
When they fly away, the birds leave behind a huge volume of excrement.
"I've got an apple tree that has almost turned white," Tribble said. "Any vehicle parked outside is covered up. I guess it's good for folks that have car washes."
Historian Turner said that the blackbird invasion this year is the worst he's witnessed since the late 1970s, when Hopkinsville suffered a similar bird blitz.
"We aren't seeing the temperatures go as low as zero like we used to. Now we very often don't even see temperatures in the teens around here," Jako said. "If the birds are comfortable, they are going to stay around," he added.
The birds also pose a serious health hazard because their droppings can carry a fungal disease called histoplasmosis, which can cause lung infections and symptoms similar to pneumonia, according to the Centers for Disease Control website.
"It does become a matter of public health," said Dr. Wade Northington, director of the Murray State University Breathitt Veterinary Center, an animal disease diagnostic facility whose territory covers a 200-mile (322-km) radius from Hopkinsville, including parts of Tennessee, Illinois and Indiana.
"The blackbirds are able to harbor this organism ... so it can be shed in their droppings and it becomes a problem, especially where they tend to roost in extremely high numbers," he said.
It can cause illness in humans, and is particularly dangerous for people with compromised immune systems or respiratory ailments, he said. It can be fatal for canines.
Turner, who suffered histoplasmosis decades ago after excavating family property that once held a chicken coop, describes the disease as debilitating. "I didn't have any energy, and I didn't have much appetite and lost weight," he said.
The droppings contaminate the soil, making it unhealthy for years. It is a worry for dog owners, said Northington.
"It can be very expensive and take months to get it arrested and get an animal cured from it," Northington said. "The disease is very prevalent in our area."
The blackbirds and European starlings blacken the sky of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, before roosting at dusk, turn the landscape white with bird poop, and the disease they carry can kill a dog and sicken humans.
"I have seen them come in, and there are enough that if the sun is just right, they'll cloud your vision of the sun," said Hopkinsville-Christian County historian William Turner. "I estimate there are millions of them."
David Chiles, president of the Little River Audubon Society, said the fact that migratory flocks are roosting in the city rather than flying further south is tied to climate warming.
"The weather, the climate plays a big role," said Chiles, the bird enthusiast who also teaches biology at Hopkinsville High School.
"They somehow establish a roost south of where the ground is frozen solid," he explained. "They are ground feeders, feeding on leftover crops and insects. If the fields are frozen solid, they can't feed."
Although the birds have not turned on humans as in the classic 1963 Hitchcock movie featuring vicious attacks on people in a small northern California town, the city has taken defensive measures.
The south-central Kentucky city of 35,000 people, about an hour north of Nashville, has hired a pest control company to get rid of the interlopers.
Henry Jako, general manager of McGee Pest Control, said crews use air cannons and "bird-bangers" - similar to bottle rocket fireworks aimed into the trees where the birds roost.
The artillery attacks are disturbing some locals as well as the birds.
"It scares my little dog to death," said Christian County Judge-Executive Steve Tribble. "I don't know what it does other than move the birds from one tree to the next."
Jako said that in the worst-affected neighborhoods, multiple cannons and consecutive blasts are being used to keep the birds moving.
When they fly away, the birds leave behind a huge volume of excrement.
"I've got an apple tree that has almost turned white," Tribble said. "Any vehicle parked outside is covered up. I guess it's good for folks that have car washes."
Historian Turner said that the blackbird invasion this year is the worst he's witnessed since the late 1970s, when Hopkinsville suffered a similar bird blitz.
"We aren't seeing the temperatures go as low as zero like we used to. Now we very often don't even see temperatures in the teens around here," Jako said. "If the birds are comfortable, they are going to stay around," he added.
The birds also pose a serious health hazard because their droppings can carry a fungal disease called histoplasmosis, which can cause lung infections and symptoms similar to pneumonia, according to the Centers for Disease Control website.
"It does become a matter of public health," said Dr. Wade Northington, director of the Murray State University Breathitt Veterinary Center, an animal disease diagnostic facility whose territory covers a 200-mile (322-km) radius from Hopkinsville, including parts of Tennessee, Illinois and Indiana.
"The blackbirds are able to harbor this organism ... so it can be shed in their droppings and it becomes a problem, especially where they tend to roost in extremely high numbers," he said.
It can cause illness in humans, and is particularly dangerous for people with compromised immune systems or respiratory ailments, he said. It can be fatal for canines.
Turner, who suffered histoplasmosis decades ago after excavating family property that once held a chicken coop, describes the disease as debilitating. "I didn't have any energy, and I didn't have much appetite and lost weight," he said.
The droppings contaminate the soil, making it unhealthy for years. It is a worry for dog owners, said Northington.
"It can be very expensive and take months to get it arrested and get an animal cured from it," Northington said. "The disease is very prevalent in our area."
Texas woman has two sets of identical twins in one day
A Texas mother had a one-in-70-million kind of Valentine's Day this year when she gave birth to two sets of identical twin boys, a Houston hospital announced on Monday.
The four brothers were delivered at 31 weeks to Tressa Montalvo, 36, via Cesarean section at The Woman's Hospital of Texas in Houston, according to a news release from the hospital.
Tressa and Manuel Montalvo Jr. were not using any fertility drugs and had just hoped for a little brother or sister for their 2-year-old son, Memphis, according to the release.
"We planned the pregnancy - I guess we just succeeded a little too much!" said Tressa Montalvo, quoted in the release.
When Montalvo was 10 weeks pregnant, her physician told her she was having twins, and on a subsequent visit, the doctor detected a third heartbeat. The Montalvos were later informed they were having four babies - not quadruplets but two sets of twins.
The odds of delivering two sets of naturally occurring identical twins is somewhere in the range of 1 in 70 million, according to the hospital. Two boys shared one placenta and the two other boys shared another placenta.
Ace and Blaine were born at 8:51 a.m. on February 14 and weighed 3 pounds, 10 ounces (1.64 kg), and 3 pounds, 15 ounces (1.79 kg), respectively. Cash and Dylan followed a minute later, weighing 2 pounds, 15 ounces (1.33 kg), and 3 pounds, 6 ounces (1.53 kg), respectively.
"We tried to stick to the A-B-C-D theme when naming them," Tressa Montalvo said. "We didn't expect it, we were trying for just one and we were blessed with four."
Manuel Montalvo said in the release that they're not done yet - he still wants a girl.
The four brothers were delivered at 31 weeks to Tressa Montalvo, 36, via Cesarean section at The Woman's Hospital of Texas in Houston, according to a news release from the hospital.
Tressa and Manuel Montalvo Jr. were not using any fertility drugs and had just hoped for a little brother or sister for their 2-year-old son, Memphis, according to the release.
"We planned the pregnancy - I guess we just succeeded a little too much!" said Tressa Montalvo, quoted in the release.
When Montalvo was 10 weeks pregnant, her physician told her she was having twins, and on a subsequent visit, the doctor detected a third heartbeat. The Montalvos were later informed they were having four babies - not quadruplets but two sets of twins.
The odds of delivering two sets of naturally occurring identical twins is somewhere in the range of 1 in 70 million, according to the hospital. Two boys shared one placenta and the two other boys shared another placenta.
Ace and Blaine were born at 8:51 a.m. on February 14 and weighed 3 pounds, 10 ounces (1.64 kg), and 3 pounds, 15 ounces (1.79 kg), respectively. Cash and Dylan followed a minute later, weighing 2 pounds, 15 ounces (1.33 kg), and 3 pounds, 6 ounces (1.53 kg), respectively.
"We tried to stick to the A-B-C-D theme when naming them," Tressa Montalvo said. "We didn't expect it, we were trying for just one and we were blessed with four."
Manuel Montalvo said in the release that they're not done yet - he still wants a girl.
Belgian boar hunters come up short in mass cull effort
Efforts to cull a sprawling population of wild boar in Belgium's northern forests met with limited results this week after a party of 200 hunters managed to kill only one animal.
The hunt was organized on Monday by local wildlife officials in a northern forest near the town of Postel, where several road accidents have been linked to wild boar.
Hunters spotted groups of about 60 animals but apart from the one animal killed, all the others slipped away with some possibly fleeing across the Dutch border, a spokesman said.
"One group also contained too many young animals and we decided not to shoot on that group," said Dirk Bogaert, spokesman for the Flemish Agency of Nature and Forestry.
The animal shot would be divided among the hunters, the agency said in a statement.
The hunt was organized on Monday by local wildlife officials in a northern forest near the town of Postel, where several road accidents have been linked to wild boar.
Hunters spotted groups of about 60 animals but apart from the one animal killed, all the others slipped away with some possibly fleeing across the Dutch border, a spokesman said.
"One group also contained too many young animals and we decided not to shoot on that group," said Dirk Bogaert, spokesman for the Flemish Agency of Nature and Forestry.
The animal shot would be divided among the hunters, the agency said in a statement.
Fake horse racing blog dodges Italy's election polls blackout
Which horse are you backing in the Italian election?
A blog appears to have found a way around a publishing ban on polls in the two weeks before the vote by writing up the results of pretend "underground horse races", which appear to reflect each party's standing.
During the blackout period, pollsters continue to conduct surveys for their clients but are banned from publishing their findings in case they influence the vote on February 24-25.
But as in the last French presidential election, when people outside France used transparent parody names on Twitter to reveal the results of exit polls that could not be published at home, the Internet is proving more difficult to control.
On the final day polls could be published before the blackout fell, bloggers Andrea Mancia and Simone Bressan posted "The illegal races return!" on their site Notapolitica.it setting out the main "stables" and "jockeys" competing.
In line with the last published official polls, the winning horses of Tuesday's "San Nicola Racetrack" came from the "Bien Comun" stables, a thinly disguised name for the centre-left "Italia Bene Comune" coalition.
The centre right of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was shown coming in just 3.5 "seconds" behind.
The veracity of the race results indicating the pollsters' surveys cannot be established.
Michele di Lollo, an editor of notapolitica.it, denied the races reflected the results of real political polls.
"It's just a game," di Lollo told Reuters. "But everyone can interpret it as they want, if you know what I mean."
Using a mix of puns and French, Notapolitica.it renders centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani as jockey "Pier le Smacchiateur" and Mario Monti as "Mario de la Montaigne". Berlusconi is dubbed "Burlesque".
Horses representing Beppe Grillo's 5-Star Movement are referred to as "stellar", while the names of races allude to different pollsters. "San Walter Giuliano Racecourse", for example, appears to refer to research group SWG.
CARDINAL NUMBERS
Another blog, YouTrend.it, took advantage of the resignation of Pope Benedict to publish polls purportedly reflecting currents in the papal conclave to elect the next pontiff, but with non-existent cardinals who closely resemble key politicians.
Pitting conservative and liberal factions of imaginary cardinals against each other, YouTrend.it on Monday revealed that the "progressive front" in the conclave was several points ahead of the Vatican's right-leaning faction.
On the blog, "The Cardinal of Monza and Brianza" refers to the region where Berlusconi has his stately home, Arcore, site of the notorious "bunga bunga" parties alleged by TV starlets.
Bersani ally Nichi Vendola, famous for a diamond hoop earring in his left ear, is dubbed "the bejewelled archbishop", while Sicilian anti-mafia prosecutor Antonio Ingroia is "the grand inquisitor of the Sacred Office of Palermo".
It put the "five-starred chamberlain of Genoa", a clear reference to Grillo, as the third largest group, several points ahead of an "austere Milanese cardinal" who would suggest Monti.
It is a sign of how the Internet is shaking up a political landscape once dominated by television and publishing mogul Berlusconi, whose four terms as prime minister were often linked by observers to his formidable media power.
The 5-Star Movement has become the country's third biggest party while shunning mainstream media interviews and relying on blogging power and local meet ups, while instant factchecking on Twitter became a minor craze during pre-electoral debates.
But the ban on the media publishing polls remains and anyone found to have broken it during the blackout faces a maximum fine of 250,000 euro ($333,800), according to media regulator Agcom.
"Those treating it ironically like us aren't breaking the law, but if someone published the polls as polls they would get investigated and maybe fined," YouTrend.it editor Lorenzo Pregliasco told Reuters. He also denied the polls were real but added "those who understand, understand".
Only with the publication of the first official exit poll in a week's time will Italians know for sure which jockey, as it were, is to finish first in the race. ($1 = 0.7490 euros)
A blog appears to have found a way around a publishing ban on polls in the two weeks before the vote by writing up the results of pretend "underground horse races", which appear to reflect each party's standing.
During the blackout period, pollsters continue to conduct surveys for their clients but are banned from publishing their findings in case they influence the vote on February 24-25.
But as in the last French presidential election, when people outside France used transparent parody names on Twitter to reveal the results of exit polls that could not be published at home, the Internet is proving more difficult to control.
On the final day polls could be published before the blackout fell, bloggers Andrea Mancia and Simone Bressan posted "The illegal races return!" on their site Notapolitica.it setting out the main "stables" and "jockeys" competing.
In line with the last published official polls, the winning horses of Tuesday's "San Nicola Racetrack" came from the "Bien Comun" stables, a thinly disguised name for the centre-left "Italia Bene Comune" coalition.
The centre right of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was shown coming in just 3.5 "seconds" behind.
The veracity of the race results indicating the pollsters' surveys cannot be established.
Michele di Lollo, an editor of notapolitica.it, denied the races reflected the results of real political polls.
"It's just a game," di Lollo told Reuters. "But everyone can interpret it as they want, if you know what I mean."
Using a mix of puns and French, Notapolitica.it renders centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani as jockey "Pier le Smacchiateur" and Mario Monti as "Mario de la Montaigne". Berlusconi is dubbed "Burlesque".
Horses representing Beppe Grillo's 5-Star Movement are referred to as "stellar", while the names of races allude to different pollsters. "San Walter Giuliano Racecourse", for example, appears to refer to research group SWG.
CARDINAL NUMBERS
Another blog, YouTrend.it, took advantage of the resignation of Pope Benedict to publish polls purportedly reflecting currents in the papal conclave to elect the next pontiff, but with non-existent cardinals who closely resemble key politicians.
Pitting conservative and liberal factions of imaginary cardinals against each other, YouTrend.it on Monday revealed that the "progressive front" in the conclave was several points ahead of the Vatican's right-leaning faction.
On the blog, "The Cardinal of Monza and Brianza" refers to the region where Berlusconi has his stately home, Arcore, site of the notorious "bunga bunga" parties alleged by TV starlets.
Bersani ally Nichi Vendola, famous for a diamond hoop earring in his left ear, is dubbed "the bejewelled archbishop", while Sicilian anti-mafia prosecutor Antonio Ingroia is "the grand inquisitor of the Sacred Office of Palermo".
It put the "five-starred chamberlain of Genoa", a clear reference to Grillo, as the third largest group, several points ahead of an "austere Milanese cardinal" who would suggest Monti.
It is a sign of how the Internet is shaking up a political landscape once dominated by television and publishing mogul Berlusconi, whose four terms as prime minister were often linked by observers to his formidable media power.
The 5-Star Movement has become the country's third biggest party while shunning mainstream media interviews and relying on blogging power and local meet ups, while instant factchecking on Twitter became a minor craze during pre-electoral debates.
But the ban on the media publishing polls remains and anyone found to have broken it during the blackout faces a maximum fine of 250,000 euro ($333,800), according to media regulator Agcom.
"Those treating it ironically like us aren't breaking the law, but if someone published the polls as polls they would get investigated and maybe fined," YouTrend.it editor Lorenzo Pregliasco told Reuters. He also denied the polls were real but added "those who understand, understand".
Only with the publication of the first official exit poll in a week's time will Italians know for sure which jockey, as it were, is to finish first in the race. ($1 = 0.7490 euros)
Mexican duo fined for obscene gestures in celebrations
Two players have been fined in Mexico for making obscene gestures while celebrating goals they scored in first division matches at the weekend.
Panamanian Luis Tejeda of Toluca and Efrain Velarde of UNAM Pumas grabbed their genitals and shouted at the crowd as they stood facing the stands.
"Luis Carlos Tejada and Efrain Velarde are sanctioned with a fine of 2,000 days' minimum salary for making signs, gestures and showing obscene attitudes towards the public at the Azteca and (Olimpico) Universitario stadiums respectively," the Mexican league's disciplinary committee said in a statement.
The two players must therefore pay 129,000 Mexican pesos ($10,200) each given that the national minimum daily salary in the country is 64.50 pesos.
Toluca drew 2-2 away to America at the Azteca on Saturday while Pumas beat Morelia 1-0 at the Olimpico on Sunday.
UANL Tigres are top of the Clausura championship with 17 points from seven matches.
America and Atlas, who beat Monterrey 2-1, are joint second a point behind while title holders Tijuana have lost ground after two successive defeats and are fourth with 13 points.
Pumas are in mid-table with nine points and Toluca are fourth from bottom with six.
Bottom club San Luis and Morelia have appointed new coaches after sacking Eduardo Fontanes and Argentine Ruben Romano respectively on Monday.
Uruguayan Carlos Morales has taken charge of San Luis and Argentine Carlos Bustos is the new coach at Morelia, who have eight points, having played for them between 1997-99.
($1 = 12.6925 Mexican pesos)
Panamanian Luis Tejeda of Toluca and Efrain Velarde of UNAM Pumas grabbed their genitals and shouted at the crowd as they stood facing the stands.
"Luis Carlos Tejada and Efrain Velarde are sanctioned with a fine of 2,000 days' minimum salary for making signs, gestures and showing obscene attitudes towards the public at the Azteca and (Olimpico) Universitario stadiums respectively," the Mexican league's disciplinary committee said in a statement.
The two players must therefore pay 129,000 Mexican pesos ($10,200) each given that the national minimum daily salary in the country is 64.50 pesos.
Toluca drew 2-2 away to America at the Azteca on Saturday while Pumas beat Morelia 1-0 at the Olimpico on Sunday.
UANL Tigres are top of the Clausura championship with 17 points from seven matches.
America and Atlas, who beat Monterrey 2-1, are joint second a point behind while title holders Tijuana have lost ground after two successive defeats and are fourth with 13 points.
Pumas are in mid-table with nine points and Toluca are fourth from bottom with six.
Bottom club San Luis and Morelia have appointed new coaches after sacking Eduardo Fontanes and Argentine Ruben Romano respectively on Monday.
Uruguayan Carlos Morales has taken charge of San Luis and Argentine Carlos Bustos is the new coach at Morelia, who have eight points, having played for them between 1997-99.
($1 = 12.6925 Mexican pesos)
Burger King takes down Twitter account after hack attack
Hackers breached the Twitter account of fast-food chain Burger King, posting the online equivalent of graffiti and sometimes making little sense.
Burger King Worldwide Inc suspended its Twitter account about an hour after it learned of the attack at 12:24 p.m. EST on Monday, company spokesman Bryson Thornton said in an email.
"It has come to our attention that the Twitter account of the BURGER KING® brand has been hacked," the company said in a statement. "We have worked directly with administrators to suspend the account until we are able to re-establish our legitimate site and authentic postings."
Several tweets carried the logo of Burger King's larger rival McDonald's, but spelled the latter company's name incorrectly. Others sought to tarnish Burger King, the third-largest U.S. hamburger chain, and its employees.
"Just got sold to McDonalds," one tweet said, adding "FREDOM IS FAILURE".
(Reporting by Ilaina Jonas; Editing by Dale Hudson)
Burger King Worldwide Inc suspended its Twitter account about an hour after it learned of the attack at 12:24 p.m. EST on Monday, company spokesman Bryson Thornton said in an email.
"It has come to our attention that the Twitter account of the BURGER KING® brand has been hacked," the company said in a statement. "We have worked directly with administrators to suspend the account until we are able to re-establish our legitimate site and authentic postings."
Several tweets carried the logo of Burger King's larger rival McDonald's, but spelled the latter company's name incorrectly. Others sought to tarnish Burger King, the third-largest U.S. hamburger chain, and its employees.
"Just got sold to McDonalds," one tweet said, adding "FREDOM IS FAILURE".
(Reporting by Ilaina Jonas; Editing by Dale Hudson)
Naked men turn out to see..."Naked Men"
The exhibit in Vienna's Leopold Museum is entitled "Naked Men", so a group of nudists and naturalists took the curators at their word and showed up to see it on Monday in the buff.
"It is good to be free, I am seeing this exhibition for the second time now and it is perfect to see 'Naked Men' as a naked man," said one of the visitors who called himself Max and who on his previous visit wore his clothes.
The exhibition, which has been extended until March 4, is designed to show the diverse and changing depictions of male nudity in art history.
Among its exhibits is a grotesque self-portrait by Egon Schiele and a photograph by French artists Pierre & Gilles called "Vive La France" of three men of different races wearing nothing but blue, white and red socks and soccer boots.
Outrage from parents and religious groups in October forced the Leopold to cover up the private parts of the three nude male soccer players used on large publicity posters around Vienna.
But "Naked Men" helped boost visitor numbers at the museum by 17 percent to more than 364,000 last year.
The museum - named for Austrian collector Rudolf Leopold - was inspired to invite the public to get naked to see the exhibition after an inquiry from a group of German nudists.
Around 250 viewers of various ages and nationalities attended the special showing.
"It is a great story to tell my friends," said Luc, a student from France who, like most people interviewed, declined to give his surname or to be photographed.
"This is my first time doing this naked, I thought it is time to make some nonsense."
However, not everyone thought it was all that special.
"I don't understand what the big fuss is about," said Moritz, from Germany. "Everyone has seen real naked men before."
"It is good to be free, I am seeing this exhibition for the second time now and it is perfect to see 'Naked Men' as a naked man," said one of the visitors who called himself Max and who on his previous visit wore his clothes.
The exhibition, which has been extended until March 4, is designed to show the diverse and changing depictions of male nudity in art history.
Among its exhibits is a grotesque self-portrait by Egon Schiele and a photograph by French artists Pierre & Gilles called "Vive La France" of three men of different races wearing nothing but blue, white and red socks and soccer boots.
Outrage from parents and religious groups in October forced the Leopold to cover up the private parts of the three nude male soccer players used on large publicity posters around Vienna.
But "Naked Men" helped boost visitor numbers at the museum by 17 percent to more than 364,000 last year.
The museum - named for Austrian collector Rudolf Leopold - was inspired to invite the public to get naked to see the exhibition after an inquiry from a group of German nudists.
Around 250 viewers of various ages and nationalities attended the special showing.
"It is a great story to tell my friends," said Luc, a student from France who, like most people interviewed, declined to give his surname or to be photographed.
"This is my first time doing this naked, I thought it is time to make some nonsense."
However, not everyone thought it was all that special.
"I don't understand what the big fuss is about," said Moritz, from Germany. "Everyone has seen real naked men before."
Russia asks: How do you stop space objects hitting Earth?
What can man do to prevent Earth being hit by meteorites and asteroids?
Russia has found, to its cost, that it has no answers. But U.S. and European experts may be able to help with a few ideas that at first glance seem straight out of science fiction, including smashing spacecraft into asteroids, using the sun's rays to vaporize them, or blasting them with nuclear bombs.
That should come as some relief to the many worried Russians who want something done immediately, even though scientists say the explosion of a meteor over central Russia on Friday was a once-in-a-lifetime event.
"We must create a system to detect objects that threaten Earth and neutralize them," Dmitry Rogozin, a first deputy prime minister in charge of the defense industry, wrote on Twitter.
For all their nuclear missiles, he said that neither the United States nor Russia could shoot down such meteors. Even President Vladimir Putin held up his hands, saying no country was able to protect against such events.
But there is hope for Russia as it looks for a solution. Last week's near miss from an asteroid half the size of a football field, the same day as the meteor explosion, has heightened awareness of the dangers Earth faces.
At a conference in Vienna on Monday, scientists said it was time for man to do more to spot objects hurtling towards the planet and to counter their threat.
LASER BEAMS AND GRAVITY TRACTORS
The European Union-funded NEO Shield consortium, whose aim is to investigate the best ways to deal with an object hurtling towards Earth, outlined some of its ideas in Vienna.
These included creating a "kinetic impactor" to fire a huge spacecraft into an asteroid to alter its path; another was making a "gravity tractor" by parking a big spacecraft near an object and using thrusters to lead it away by using the weak gravitational force as a cosmic tow-rope.
Exploding a nuclear device on or near an asteroid would be a method of last resort, it said.
A U.N. "action team" for dealing with near-Earth objects (NEOs) proposed setting up an International Asteroid Warning Network, plus advisory groups on mounting space missions to handle threats and planning for an impact disaster.
Timothy Spahr, director of the Minor Planet Center (MPC) at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory which collects asteroid data, called for "rapid all-sky search capacity" using a space-based infrared survey to detect objects much faster than now.
The U.S. and European space agencies, NASA and ESA, warned that man should also prepare for impacts that are unavoidable - such as having procedures in place for wide-scale evacuations.
Detlef Koschny, responsible for near-earth object activity at the ESA's Space Situational Awareness program, said separately that it was now possible to determine possible impact zones with just a few hours' notice.
He cited the example of an object that hit the Sudan desert in 2008. It was spotted only 20 hours before it hit and the initial estimated impact zone of 2,000 km was narrowed down to an area of the desert within a few hours.
"In a similar case in the future, civil authorities would be able to tell the population in the narrowed-down area to stay away from windows, glass or other structures and stay indoors," he said in emailed comments to Reuters.
ESA experts in Darmstadt, Germany, plan to set up a survey to monitor the night sky using automated telescopes capable of spotting objects before they enter the atmosphere, he added.
"NOT OUT OF STAR TREK"
In California, scientists are working on a system to harness the power of the sun and convert it into laser beams that can destroy, evaporate or change the course of asteroids.
"This system is not some far-out idea from Star Trek," said Gary B. Hughes, a researcher and professor from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
"All the components of this system pretty much exist today. Maybe not quite at the scale that we'd need - scaling up would be the challenge - but the basic elements are all there and ready to go."
A University of Hawaii team of astronomers is also developing a system with small telescopes called ATLAS that would identify dangerous asteroids before their final plunge to Earth.
The team predicts the system will offer a one-week warning for a 50-yard (45-metre) diameter asteroid known as a "city killer" and three weeks for a 150 yard (137 meter)-diameter "county killer."
"That's enough time to evacuate the area of people, take measures to protect buildings and other infrastructure, and be alert to a tsunami danger generated by ocean impacts," said astronomer John Tonry.
Russian experts said, however, that constructing an early warning system would hardly be worth the money as such events are so rare - the last known meteorite strike on such a scale in Russia was reported in 1908.
One Russian expert estimated the cost of such a system would be $2 billion. Others put it higher.
"Also, spotting is one thing, but preventing impact is yet another thing," Igor Marinin, editor of a space journal published by Russian space agency Roscosmos, told Reuters.
Referring to the injury toll of almost 1,200 after Friday's meteor explosion, most of them cut by glass, he said: "Compared to the number of victims of car accidents or cancer every year, this affected relatively few people."
Back in Russia, some people are simply trusting in fate.
Konstantin Tsybko, a legislator from the city of Chelyabinsk in the Ural mountain region, said on Monday: "Chelyabinsk residents may feel safe because nothing like this will happen in the next few hundred years."
"This is the first town in the history of our civilization to come under a space attack, survive this attack, and survive it successfully," he said.
Russia has found, to its cost, that it has no answers. But U.S. and European experts may be able to help with a few ideas that at first glance seem straight out of science fiction, including smashing spacecraft into asteroids, using the sun's rays to vaporize them, or blasting them with nuclear bombs.
That should come as some relief to the many worried Russians who want something done immediately, even though scientists say the explosion of a meteor over central Russia on Friday was a once-in-a-lifetime event.
"We must create a system to detect objects that threaten Earth and neutralize them," Dmitry Rogozin, a first deputy prime minister in charge of the defense industry, wrote on Twitter.
For all their nuclear missiles, he said that neither the United States nor Russia could shoot down such meteors. Even President Vladimir Putin held up his hands, saying no country was able to protect against such events.
But there is hope for Russia as it looks for a solution. Last week's near miss from an asteroid half the size of a football field, the same day as the meteor explosion, has heightened awareness of the dangers Earth faces.
At a conference in Vienna on Monday, scientists said it was time for man to do more to spot objects hurtling towards the planet and to counter their threat.
LASER BEAMS AND GRAVITY TRACTORS
The European Union-funded NEO Shield consortium, whose aim is to investigate the best ways to deal with an object hurtling towards Earth, outlined some of its ideas in Vienna.
These included creating a "kinetic impactor" to fire a huge spacecraft into an asteroid to alter its path; another was making a "gravity tractor" by parking a big spacecraft near an object and using thrusters to lead it away by using the weak gravitational force as a cosmic tow-rope.
Exploding a nuclear device on or near an asteroid would be a method of last resort, it said.
A U.N. "action team" for dealing with near-Earth objects (NEOs) proposed setting up an International Asteroid Warning Network, plus advisory groups on mounting space missions to handle threats and planning for an impact disaster.
Timothy Spahr, director of the Minor Planet Center (MPC) at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory which collects asteroid data, called for "rapid all-sky search capacity" using a space-based infrared survey to detect objects much faster than now.
The U.S. and European space agencies, NASA and ESA, warned that man should also prepare for impacts that are unavoidable - such as having procedures in place for wide-scale evacuations.
Detlef Koschny, responsible for near-earth object activity at the ESA's Space Situational Awareness program, said separately that it was now possible to determine possible impact zones with just a few hours' notice.
He cited the example of an object that hit the Sudan desert in 2008. It was spotted only 20 hours before it hit and the initial estimated impact zone of 2,000 km was narrowed down to an area of the desert within a few hours.
"In a similar case in the future, civil authorities would be able to tell the population in the narrowed-down area to stay away from windows, glass or other structures and stay indoors," he said in emailed comments to Reuters.
ESA experts in Darmstadt, Germany, plan to set up a survey to monitor the night sky using automated telescopes capable of spotting objects before they enter the atmosphere, he added.
"NOT OUT OF STAR TREK"
In California, scientists are working on a system to harness the power of the sun and convert it into laser beams that can destroy, evaporate or change the course of asteroids.
"This system is not some far-out idea from Star Trek," said Gary B. Hughes, a researcher and professor from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
"All the components of this system pretty much exist today. Maybe not quite at the scale that we'd need - scaling up would be the challenge - but the basic elements are all there and ready to go."
A University of Hawaii team of astronomers is also developing a system with small telescopes called ATLAS that would identify dangerous asteroids before their final plunge to Earth.
The team predicts the system will offer a one-week warning for a 50-yard (45-metre) diameter asteroid known as a "city killer" and three weeks for a 150 yard (137 meter)-diameter "county killer."
"That's enough time to evacuate the area of people, take measures to protect buildings and other infrastructure, and be alert to a tsunami danger generated by ocean impacts," said astronomer John Tonry.
Russian experts said, however, that constructing an early warning system would hardly be worth the money as such events are so rare - the last known meteorite strike on such a scale in Russia was reported in 1908.
One Russian expert estimated the cost of such a system would be $2 billion. Others put it higher.
"Also, spotting is one thing, but preventing impact is yet another thing," Igor Marinin, editor of a space journal published by Russian space agency Roscosmos, told Reuters.
Referring to the injury toll of almost 1,200 after Friday's meteor explosion, most of them cut by glass, he said: "Compared to the number of victims of car accidents or cancer every year, this affected relatively few people."
Back in Russia, some people are simply trusting in fate.
Konstantin Tsybko, a legislator from the city of Chelyabinsk in the Ural mountain region, said on Monday: "Chelyabinsk residents may feel safe because nothing like this will happen in the next few hundred years."
"This is the first town in the history of our civilization to come under a space attack, survive this attack, and survive it successfully," he said.
Berlin's beloved polar bear Knut returns on show
Knut, the hand-reared polar bear who captured Germans' hearts before his early death in 2011, returned to his adoring Berlin public on Friday as a life-sized model bearing the animal's real fur.
Knut will stand for a month in the entrance foyer of the city's natural history museum, which has modified its entrance for the anticipated rush of visitors, a museum spokeswoman said.
The museum is keen to stress that Knut has not been stuffed. Rather, a replica of the bear was made, based on Knut's skeleton, in one of his favorite poses, and this was covered with the creature's pelt, in a procedure known as dermoplasty.
The model has expressive eyes and a damp nose, museum director Johannes Vogel said.
"I think people will accept Knut, because this is a very dignified model.. People who knew Knut very well while he was alive recognize their Knut here again."
Knut was the star attraction of Berlin zoo during his four-year life. His mother rejected him as a new-born leaving the fluffy white cub to be reared by a zookeeper. Thousands of visitors queued for hours to watch him frolic in his enclosure, and he inspired a dizzying array of merchandise.
Other German zoos have tried in vain to create celebrity animals. None have ever come close to matching Knut's fame.
The bear died suddenly of an epileptic fit in March 2011.
Knut will stand for a month in the entrance foyer of the city's natural history museum, which has modified its entrance for the anticipated rush of visitors, a museum spokeswoman said.
The museum is keen to stress that Knut has not been stuffed. Rather, a replica of the bear was made, based on Knut's skeleton, in one of his favorite poses, and this was covered with the creature's pelt, in a procedure known as dermoplasty.
The model has expressive eyes and a damp nose, museum director Johannes Vogel said.
"I think people will accept Knut, because this is a very dignified model.. People who knew Knut very well while he was alive recognize their Knut here again."
Knut was the star attraction of Berlin zoo during his four-year life. His mother rejected him as a new-born leaving the fluffy white cub to be reared by a zookeeper. Thousands of visitors queued for hours to watch him frolic in his enclosure, and he inspired a dizzying array of merchandise.
Other German zoos have tried in vain to create celebrity animals. None have ever come close to matching Knut's fame.
The bear died suddenly of an epileptic fit in March 2011.
Aquarium fights to get disabled turtle swimming again
Life looked grim for Yu, a loggerhead turtle, when she washed up in a Japanese fishing net five years ago, her front flippers shredded after a brutal encounter with a shark.
Now keepers at an aquarium in the western Japanese city of Kobe are looking for a high-tech solution that will allow the 25-year-old turtle to swim normally again after years of labor and 27 models of prosthetic fins behind them without achieving their goal.
Yu, weighing 103 kg (227 pounds) and 82 cm (32 inches) long, first came to the attention of keepers at the Suma Aqualife Park in Kobe after she was rushed there from a port on the southern island of Shikoku in 2008.
"She was in a really bad way. More than half her fins were gone and she was bleeding, her body covered with shark bites," said Naoki Kamezaki, the park's director general.
After nursing the loggerhead - an endangered species - back to health, keepers enlisted the help of researchers and a local prosthetics-maker to get her swimming again.
Early versions of prosthetic flippers caused her pain or fell off quickly, and with money short, Kamezaki said he sometimes felt like packing it in.
"There have been times I wanted to give up and just fix her up the best we can and throw her back in," he told Reuters. "Then if luck's on her side she'll be fine, if not, she'll get eaten and that's just life. The way of nature, I suppose."
The latest version - made of rubber and fixed together with a material used in diving wetsuits - was unveiled on February 11 and proclaimed a success, with Yu swimming smoothly around her tank.
But on Friday, one flipper slipped out as soon as she hit the water, forcing keepers back to the laboratory again.
Though Kamezaki admits that it's unlikely Yu will ever live a normal turtle life, he still has hopes.
"My dream for her is that one day she can use her prosthetic fins to swim to the surface, walk about, and dig a proper hole to lay her eggs in," Kamezaki said.
"When her children hatch, well, I just feel that would make all the trauma in her life worthwhile."
Now keepers at an aquarium in the western Japanese city of Kobe are looking for a high-tech solution that will allow the 25-year-old turtle to swim normally again after years of labor and 27 models of prosthetic fins behind them without achieving their goal.
Yu, weighing 103 kg (227 pounds) and 82 cm (32 inches) long, first came to the attention of keepers at the Suma Aqualife Park in Kobe after she was rushed there from a port on the southern island of Shikoku in 2008.
"She was in a really bad way. More than half her fins were gone and she was bleeding, her body covered with shark bites," said Naoki Kamezaki, the park's director general.
After nursing the loggerhead - an endangered species - back to health, keepers enlisted the help of researchers and a local prosthetics-maker to get her swimming again.
Early versions of prosthetic flippers caused her pain or fell off quickly, and with money short, Kamezaki said he sometimes felt like packing it in.
"There have been times I wanted to give up and just fix her up the best we can and throw her back in," he told Reuters. "Then if luck's on her side she'll be fine, if not, she'll get eaten and that's just life. The way of nature, I suppose."
The latest version - made of rubber and fixed together with a material used in diving wetsuits - was unveiled on February 11 and proclaimed a success, with Yu swimming smoothly around her tank.
But on Friday, one flipper slipped out as soon as she hit the water, forcing keepers back to the laboratory again.
Though Kamezaki admits that it's unlikely Yu will ever live a normal turtle life, he still has hopes.
"My dream for her is that one day she can use her prosthetic fins to swim to the surface, walk about, and dig a proper hole to lay her eggs in," Kamezaki said.
"When her children hatch, well, I just feel that would make all the trauma in her life worthwhile."
Norway plans 12-hour prime-time TV show of a fireplace
Norwegian public television plans to broadcast a burning fireplace for 12 straight hours from Friday evening, with firewood specialists providing color commentary, expert advice and a bit of cultural tutoring.
"We'll talk about the very nerdy subjects like burning, slicing and stacking the wood, but we'll also have cultural segments with music and poems," Rune Moeklebust, a producer for state broadcaster NRK.
"It will be very slow but noble television."
Moeklebust got the idea for the show from the wild success of a firewood book by Lars Mytting, Norway's biggest firewood celebrity. His book "Hel Ved", which means Strong Character in English, is a play on words because ved also means "firewood".
Mytting, a guest on tonight's broadcast, has sold close to 130,000 copies of the book since last year, a huge number in a country of 5 million people, with his publisher claiming that only "Fifty Shades of Grey" sold more copies during the recent holiday season.
NRK is not new to quirky programming.
In 2011, it broadcast 134 hours non-stop of a cruise ship going up the Norwegian coast to the Arctic, bagging the world record for the longest continuous TV program along the way.
At one point 600,000 people tuned in to watch that program with 3.2 million people, or over 60 percent of the population, glued to the screen at one point.
And an earlier broadcast of an eight hour train journey from Oslo to Bergen was so popular, NRK had to repeat it.
"People in Norway have a spiritual relationship with fire," Moeklebust said. "Fire is the reason we're here, if there was no firewood, we couldn't live in Norway, we'd freeze."
How will the fireplace do in the ratings?
"More people will tune in than on a normal Friday night," Moeklebust said.
"We'll talk about the very nerdy subjects like burning, slicing and stacking the wood, but we'll also have cultural segments with music and poems," Rune Moeklebust, a producer for state broadcaster NRK.
"It will be very slow but noble television."
Moeklebust got the idea for the show from the wild success of a firewood book by Lars Mytting, Norway's biggest firewood celebrity. His book "Hel Ved", which means Strong Character in English, is a play on words because ved also means "firewood".
Mytting, a guest on tonight's broadcast, has sold close to 130,000 copies of the book since last year, a huge number in a country of 5 million people, with his publisher claiming that only "Fifty Shades of Grey" sold more copies during the recent holiday season.
NRK is not new to quirky programming.
In 2011, it broadcast 134 hours non-stop of a cruise ship going up the Norwegian coast to the Arctic, bagging the world record for the longest continuous TV program along the way.
At one point 600,000 people tuned in to watch that program with 3.2 million people, or over 60 percent of the population, glued to the screen at one point.
And an earlier broadcast of an eight hour train journey from Oslo to Bergen was so popular, NRK had to repeat it.
"People in Norway have a spiritual relationship with fire," Moeklebust said. "Fire is the reason we're here, if there was no firewood, we couldn't live in Norway, we'd freeze."
How will the fireplace do in the ratings?
"More people will tune in than on a normal Friday night," Moeklebust said.
Encana apologizes for executive's cursing on conference call
(Please note this story contains language that may offend some readers)
Encana Corp, Canada's largest natural gas producer, apologized on Thursday because one of its executives cursed after an analyst asked about whether new Canadian investment rules would prohibit its takeover by foreign state-owned entities.
When asked the question by Canaccord Genuity analyst Phil Skolnick, interim CEO Clayton Woitas said: "The answer would be no." Then, in a whispered comment that was clearly audible on a replay of the call, someone can be heard saying, "fucking asshole."
"Something like that should never have been said and we're sorry about it," Jay Averill, a spokesman for the company, said.
Averill said about 20 Encana executives had been gathered in a room with microphones to discuss the company's fourth-quarter profit report with analysts and the media. The spokesman said he was unable to say which one of them uttered the expletive or whether it was directed at Skolnick.
Skolnick, a Canaccord Genuity managing director and head of Canadian energy equity research for the investment bank, could not be immediately reached for comment.
Woitas took over as interim chief executive just over a month ago after then-CEO Randy Eresman suddenly retired.
Eresman, who led the Calgary, Alberta-based company for seven years, faced criticism from investors because of poor share price performance and a U.S. Department of Justice probe into whether the company illegally colluded with Chesapeake Energy Corp to lower the price of Michigan exploration lands.
Encana's shares dropped 6.6 percent on Thursday as investors were disappointed by the company's oil production forecast. They closed on the Toronto Stock Exchange at C$18.20, a 10-month low. Skolnick has a "hold" rating on the stock with a target price of $21.50 a share.
The new foreign investment rules specifically cover Canadian oil sands producers rather than all energy producers.
It is not the first time that open microphones have proved problematic for corporate executives. In 2007, the CEO of U.S. student lender SLM Corp, Albert Lord, was caught saying at the end of a testy conference call: "There's no questions - let's get the fuck out of here."
Lord subsequently apologized, saying he recognized his "comments were offensive."
And in taped comments in 2001, then-Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling mockingly thanked an analyst for a question on a conference call, ending with the clearly audible word: "Asshole."
The abusive comment was subsequently seen by short sellers as a sign of how much pressure Skilling was under at the time as Enron's accounts, which were later discovered to be fraudulent, began to unravel.
"If I could go back and redo things, I would not have used the term that I used," Skilling, who is currently serving a prison sentence for his role in the Enron scandal, later told a Congressional hearing.
Encana Corp, Canada's largest natural gas producer, apologized on Thursday because one of its executives cursed after an analyst asked about whether new Canadian investment rules would prohibit its takeover by foreign state-owned entities.
When asked the question by Canaccord Genuity analyst Phil Skolnick, interim CEO Clayton Woitas said: "The answer would be no." Then, in a whispered comment that was clearly audible on a replay of the call, someone can be heard saying, "fucking asshole."
"Something like that should never have been said and we're sorry about it," Jay Averill, a spokesman for the company, said.
Averill said about 20 Encana executives had been gathered in a room with microphones to discuss the company's fourth-quarter profit report with analysts and the media. The spokesman said he was unable to say which one of them uttered the expletive or whether it was directed at Skolnick.
Skolnick, a Canaccord Genuity managing director and head of Canadian energy equity research for the investment bank, could not be immediately reached for comment.
Woitas took over as interim chief executive just over a month ago after then-CEO Randy Eresman suddenly retired.
Eresman, who led the Calgary, Alberta-based company for seven years, faced criticism from investors because of poor share price performance and a U.S. Department of Justice probe into whether the company illegally colluded with Chesapeake Energy Corp to lower the price of Michigan exploration lands.
Encana's shares dropped 6.6 percent on Thursday as investors were disappointed by the company's oil production forecast. They closed on the Toronto Stock Exchange at C$18.20, a 10-month low. Skolnick has a "hold" rating on the stock with a target price of $21.50 a share.
The new foreign investment rules specifically cover Canadian oil sands producers rather than all energy producers.
It is not the first time that open microphones have proved problematic for corporate executives. In 2007, the CEO of U.S. student lender SLM Corp, Albert Lord, was caught saying at the end of a testy conference call: "There's no questions - let's get the fuck out of here."
Lord subsequently apologized, saying he recognized his "comments were offensive."
And in taped comments in 2001, then-Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling mockingly thanked an analyst for a question on a conference call, ending with the clearly audible word: "Asshole."
The abusive comment was subsequently seen by short sellers as a sign of how much pressure Skilling was under at the time as Enron's accounts, which were later discovered to be fraudulent, began to unravel.
"If I could go back and redo things, I would not have used the term that I used," Skilling, who is currently serving a prison sentence for his role in the Enron scandal, later told a Congressional hearing.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Earthweek: A Diary of the Planet (Feb. 8, 2013)
A Greener America
Carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. fell to their lowest levels since 1994 last year, with greenhouse gas emissions from the country's power plants seeing a 4.6 percent drop for 2012 alone. Overall CO2 emissions fell by 13 percent over the past five years as a new energy-saving technologies were adopted, including a switch from coal to wind, solar and cleaner-burning natural gas. The figures were released by the Business Council for Sustainable Energy. Geothermal and hydroelectric sources also helped reduce air pollution. But America got 31 percent of its energy from natural gas, which came about due to an explosion in the use of fracking. Environmental groups say the shattering of the bedrock to help in the extraction of natural gas has come with its own cost to the environment. America's improvement in emissions is offset by the burst in air pollution being generated in developing countries such as China.
City Radiators
Scientists have found that living within even 1,000 miles of a large city can affect everyday temperatures. U.S. researchers collected data from areas around cities with high populations, like New York and Tokyo. They found temperatures there were all slightly different than computer models predicted they would be. It has been known for some time that cities, with their greater level of energy use, generate something called "waste heat," causing higher air temperatures. Scientists discovered that the warmer air from cities rises and is carried hundreds of miles away by the prevailing winds aloft. Temperatures downwind can be altered by as much as a whole degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit). The heat also widens the jet stream and alters weather patterns.
Deforestation Pledge
Pressure from environmental groups and customers has forced a major paper supplier to stop its deforestation operations in Indonesia. The company, Asia Pulp and Papeer (APP), announced its new conservation policy after clearing nearly 5 million acres of Indonesian tropical forest since 1994. Areas felled included key habitats for the country's dwindling tiger and orangutan populations. Only trees from farms will be harvested in the future. The move came as a result of a long campaign headed by Greenpeace and other groups. They convinced many of APP's customers, such as KFC, Pizza Hut, Xerox and Lego, to stop buying its products while the deforestation continued.
Winter's Worst
The Russian capital has received more snowfall so far this winter than it has in the past century. The 7 feet of snow has snarled traffic and created backups on the roadways around the capital that could have stretched from Moscow to Madrid. Some commuters who were stranded in early February took as long as 10 hours to get home.
Elephant SOS
Poachers have killed more than 11,000 forest elephants over the past decade in Gabon's Minkebe National Park. The increased demand for ivory in Asia has enticed the poachers into the densely forested central African country to kill the jumbos for their tusks. Gabon is home to about half of the world's roughly 100,000 remaining forest elephants. But a study conducted by the government in cooperation with the World Wildlife Fund and the Wildlife Conservation Society found that two-thirds of them inside the park have been slaughtered since 2004. Gabon's president says the poachers typically use rifles to kill the animals, then hack off their tusks with chainsaws.
Earthquakes
At least nine people died in the Solomon Islands after an 8.0 magnitude temblor generated a tsunami up to 5 feet in height.
* Earth movements were also felt in the northern Philippines, New Zealand's South Island, Taiwan, Japan's Hokkaido Island and along the Georgia-Tennessee border.
Bird Jive
A new study reveals that male sparrows flap their wings violently to avoid battling with other males over territory or mates. "For birds, wing waves are like flipping the bird or saying, 'Put up your dukes. I'm ready to fight,'" said Duke biologist Rindy Anderson. While scientists had long suspected this kind of behavior, it had been difficult to prove by seeing the birds in action. Toget closer, Anderson and an engineering student built a computer and robotic parts to install inside the body of a deceasedmale sparrow. They then created a "robosparrow" that could flap its wings and sing like a real bird. Anderson brought the robot to a sparrow nest in Pennsylvania and placed it around the live males. Testing the birds reactions to the robot showed that its wing movement created the most aggressive response from the male sparrows. The robosparrow worked so well that many of the male sparrows swooped in so aggressively they tore off the head of Anderson's robotic bird, putting future experiments on hold.
Carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. fell to their lowest levels since 1994 last year, with greenhouse gas emissions from the country's power plants seeing a 4.6 percent drop for 2012 alone. Overall CO2 emissions fell by 13 percent over the past five years as a new energy-saving technologies were adopted, including a switch from coal to wind, solar and cleaner-burning natural gas. The figures were released by the Business Council for Sustainable Energy. Geothermal and hydroelectric sources also helped reduce air pollution. But America got 31 percent of its energy from natural gas, which came about due to an explosion in the use of fracking. Environmental groups say the shattering of the bedrock to help in the extraction of natural gas has come with its own cost to the environment. America's improvement in emissions is offset by the burst in air pollution being generated in developing countries such as China.
City Radiators
Scientists have found that living within even 1,000 miles of a large city can affect everyday temperatures. U.S. researchers collected data from areas around cities with high populations, like New York and Tokyo. They found temperatures there were all slightly different than computer models predicted they would be. It has been known for some time that cities, with their greater level of energy use, generate something called "waste heat," causing higher air temperatures. Scientists discovered that the warmer air from cities rises and is carried hundreds of miles away by the prevailing winds aloft. Temperatures downwind can be altered by as much as a whole degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit). The heat also widens the jet stream and alters weather patterns.
Deforestation Pledge
Pressure from environmental groups and customers has forced a major paper supplier to stop its deforestation operations in Indonesia. The company, Asia Pulp and Papeer (APP), announced its new conservation policy after clearing nearly 5 million acres of Indonesian tropical forest since 1994. Areas felled included key habitats for the country's dwindling tiger and orangutan populations. Only trees from farms will be harvested in the future. The move came as a result of a long campaign headed by Greenpeace and other groups. They convinced many of APP's customers, such as KFC, Pizza Hut, Xerox and Lego, to stop buying its products while the deforestation continued.
Winter's Worst
The Russian capital has received more snowfall so far this winter than it has in the past century. The 7 feet of snow has snarled traffic and created backups on the roadways around the capital that could have stretched from Moscow to Madrid. Some commuters who were stranded in early February took as long as 10 hours to get home.
Elephant SOS
Poachers have killed more than 11,000 forest elephants over the past decade in Gabon's Minkebe National Park. The increased demand for ivory in Asia has enticed the poachers into the densely forested central African country to kill the jumbos for their tusks. Gabon is home to about half of the world's roughly 100,000 remaining forest elephants. But a study conducted by the government in cooperation with the World Wildlife Fund and the Wildlife Conservation Society found that two-thirds of them inside the park have been slaughtered since 2004. Gabon's president says the poachers typically use rifles to kill the animals, then hack off their tusks with chainsaws.
Earthquakes
At least nine people died in the Solomon Islands after an 8.0 magnitude temblor generated a tsunami up to 5 feet in height.
* Earth movements were also felt in the northern Philippines, New Zealand's South Island, Taiwan, Japan's Hokkaido Island and along the Georgia-Tennessee border.
Bird Jive
A new study reveals that male sparrows flap their wings violently to avoid battling with other males over territory or mates. "For birds, wing waves are like flipping the bird or saying, 'Put up your dukes. I'm ready to fight,'" said Duke biologist Rindy Anderson. While scientists had long suspected this kind of behavior, it had been difficult to prove by seeing the birds in action. Toget closer, Anderson and an engineering student built a computer and robotic parts to install inside the body of a deceasedmale sparrow. They then created a "robosparrow" that could flap its wings and sing like a real bird. Anderson brought the robot to a sparrow nest in Pennsylvania and placed it around the live males. Testing the birds reactions to the robot showed that its wing movement created the most aggressive response from the male sparrows. The robosparrow worked so well that many of the male sparrows swooped in so aggressively they tore off the head of Anderson's robotic bird, putting future experiments on hold.
Earthweek: A Diary of the Planet (Feb. 1, 2013)
South Sea Slaughter
Around 900 dolphins were slaughtered by a group of disgruntled villagers in the Solomon Islands over a financial dispute between them and an environmental charity. The Earth Island Institute had convinced villagers in 2011 to stop the regular slaughter in exchange for funding for sustainable fishing, alternative energy and water sanitation projects. But apparent mismangement of the funds angered some, who resumed the hunt and killed nearly a thousand of the marine mammals for their meat and teeth. Some villagers accused the charity of simply not giving them the money. Earth Island Institute claims a "renegade group" based in the capital of Honiara "grabbed funds that were supposed to go to the community." The dolphins were herded into bays or onto beaches by fishermen using stones to make noises in their boats that frightened the animals.
Headaches in a Flash
Researchers say they have found that lightning can cause headaches and migraines, even if those suffering them don't know the electrical storms are around. Scientists at the University of Cincinnati say the link between the painful conditions and nearby thunderstorms is profound. "Many studies show conflicting findings on how weather, including elements like barometric pressure and humidity, affect the onset of headaches," said Geoffrey Martin, who conducted the research with his father, Vincent. "But this study very clearly shows a correlation between lightning, associated meteorological factors and headaches." The scientists aren't exaxtly sure how lightning and headaches are related, but the electromagnetic waves or increased ozone from the lightning could be the culprits.
Clouds are Alive
Bacteria and other tiny life forms arethriving high in Earth's atmosphere as they are carried around the world by prevailing winds, according to new research. "We did not expect to find so many microorganisms in the troposphere, which is considered a difficult environment for life," said microbiologist Kostas Konstantinidis of the Georgia Institute of Technology. "There seems to be quite a diversity of species." Some of the bacteria and other organic materisl, living up to six miles high, are believed to have an effect on the weather. Researchers think that common sea spray catapults them from the top of the ocean up into the atmosphere. But it's unknown how long these organisms can survive or reproduce in the high-altitude and low-oxygen environments. "I wouldn't be surprised if there is active life and growth in clouds, but this is something we cannot say for sure now," said Konstantinidis.
Earthquakes
The northern half of Chile was jolted by a strong quake that knocked out windows and sent residents rushing into the streets.
* Earth movements were also felt in northern Italy, southeastern Kazakhstan, New Zealand's South Island, southeast Alaska and eastern Texas.
Tropical Cyclones
The Seychelles were swamped by more than a month's worth of rainfall within a single dday as outer bands of developing Cyclone Felleng swept over the western Indian Ocean island republic. The storm later reached Category 4 force as it passed between Madagascar and the French overseas territory of Reunion.
* Cyclone Garry brought locally heavy rains to the Cook Islands, but the South Pacific storm spared the archipelago any significant damage.
Russian Lava
Far East Russia's Plosky Tolbachik volcano spewed jets of hot lava up to 650 fet above the Kamchatka Peninsula's frozen wintertime landscape. The volcano roared back to life in November after lying dormant for almost 40 years. Vulcanologists say the eruption may be creating the first lava lake ever recorded on the Kamchatka Peninsula. This means the flow from deep beneath the surface is fast enough to keep all the lava fluid long enough to form a lake.
Pastoral Adoption
A red deer has been "adopted" by a flock of sheep on the U.K.'s Suffolk coast. The young buck apparently joined the woolly grazers after his herd passed by in early December. The deer has been living among the sheep ever since. "I've been involved with sheep all my life, but I'venever seen deer interact with them," said shepherd Andrew Capell. "They seem to have accepted him as one of their own." The National Trust, a U.K. charity that specializes in protecting everything from historical sites to endangered species, is watching over the buck and hopes he will rejoin his herd if it ever roams by again. For now, the deer seems to be living well among his new family, eating, playing and sleeping with the flock. "He seems to be happy living with the sheep and has made a few friends, but he comes and goes and hops over the fence to visit them when he likes," said Capell.
Around 900 dolphins were slaughtered by a group of disgruntled villagers in the Solomon Islands over a financial dispute between them and an environmental charity. The Earth Island Institute had convinced villagers in 2011 to stop the regular slaughter in exchange for funding for sustainable fishing, alternative energy and water sanitation projects. But apparent mismangement of the funds angered some, who resumed the hunt and killed nearly a thousand of the marine mammals for their meat and teeth. Some villagers accused the charity of simply not giving them the money. Earth Island Institute claims a "renegade group" based in the capital of Honiara "grabbed funds that were supposed to go to the community." The dolphins were herded into bays or onto beaches by fishermen using stones to make noises in their boats that frightened the animals.
Headaches in a Flash
Researchers say they have found that lightning can cause headaches and migraines, even if those suffering them don't know the electrical storms are around. Scientists at the University of Cincinnati say the link between the painful conditions and nearby thunderstorms is profound. "Many studies show conflicting findings on how weather, including elements like barometric pressure and humidity, affect the onset of headaches," said Geoffrey Martin, who conducted the research with his father, Vincent. "But this study very clearly shows a correlation between lightning, associated meteorological factors and headaches." The scientists aren't exaxtly sure how lightning and headaches are related, but the electromagnetic waves or increased ozone from the lightning could be the culprits.
Clouds are Alive
Bacteria and other tiny life forms arethriving high in Earth's atmosphere as they are carried around the world by prevailing winds, according to new research. "We did not expect to find so many microorganisms in the troposphere, which is considered a difficult environment for life," said microbiologist Kostas Konstantinidis of the Georgia Institute of Technology. "There seems to be quite a diversity of species." Some of the bacteria and other organic materisl, living up to six miles high, are believed to have an effect on the weather. Researchers think that common sea spray catapults them from the top of the ocean up into the atmosphere. But it's unknown how long these organisms can survive or reproduce in the high-altitude and low-oxygen environments. "I wouldn't be surprised if there is active life and growth in clouds, but this is something we cannot say for sure now," said Konstantinidis.
Earthquakes
The northern half of Chile was jolted by a strong quake that knocked out windows and sent residents rushing into the streets.
* Earth movements were also felt in northern Italy, southeastern Kazakhstan, New Zealand's South Island, southeast Alaska and eastern Texas.
Tropical Cyclones
The Seychelles were swamped by more than a month's worth of rainfall within a single dday as outer bands of developing Cyclone Felleng swept over the western Indian Ocean island republic. The storm later reached Category 4 force as it passed between Madagascar and the French overseas territory of Reunion.
* Cyclone Garry brought locally heavy rains to the Cook Islands, but the South Pacific storm spared the archipelago any significant damage.
Russian Lava
Far East Russia's Plosky Tolbachik volcano spewed jets of hot lava up to 650 fet above the Kamchatka Peninsula's frozen wintertime landscape. The volcano roared back to life in November after lying dormant for almost 40 years. Vulcanologists say the eruption may be creating the first lava lake ever recorded on the Kamchatka Peninsula. This means the flow from deep beneath the surface is fast enough to keep all the lava fluid long enough to form a lake.
Pastoral Adoption
A red deer has been "adopted" by a flock of sheep on the U.K.'s Suffolk coast. The young buck apparently joined the woolly grazers after his herd passed by in early December. The deer has been living among the sheep ever since. "I've been involved with sheep all my life, but I'venever seen deer interact with them," said shepherd Andrew Capell. "They seem to have accepted him as one of their own." The National Trust, a U.K. charity that specializes in protecting everything from historical sites to endangered species, is watching over the buck and hopes he will rejoin his herd if it ever roams by again. For now, the deer seems to be living well among his new family, eating, playing and sleeping with the flock. "He seems to be happy living with the sheep and has made a few friends, but he comes and goes and hops over the fence to visit them when he likes," said Capell.
Ten Top AAA Tips for Safe Winter Driving
1. Remove ice or snow.
Take time to remove the ice/snow from the entire car so it doesn't blow onto your windshield or the windshields of other drivers.
Clear windows, mirrors and lights.
2. See and be seen. Make sure windshield wipers and defrosters are in good working order.
Turn on your hesadlights to be seen by other drivers.
3. Slow down and increase following distance. A greater cushion in between vehicles can prevent panic stops and allow greater room for error.
4. Pay attention. Now is not the time to be distracted by electronic devices or anything else. Watch other drivers will alert you to problems and give you extra seconds to react.
5. Take your time. Rushing creates risk.
6. Use extra caution on bridges and overpasses.
Bridges, areas under them and overpasses freeze faster than otheer road surfaces.
7. No cruising. Don't use cruise control in precipitation and freezeing temperatures.
8. Control the skid. If you skid on a slick surface, do not panic. Take your foot off of the brake or accelerator and steer into the direction of the skid ---- don't fight the car. Accelerate slowly.
9. Know your car. Guard against SUV overconfidence. SUV's have the same difficulty keeping control and stopping as other vehicles.
10. Drive in cleared lanes ---- Changing lanes unnecessarily puts you at greater risk of hitting a patch of ice or large areas of snow between lanes that may cause you to lose control of the vehicle. Also, avoid passing snowplows or salt trucks unless it is absolutely necessary.
Source : AAA
Take time to remove the ice/snow from the entire car so it doesn't blow onto your windshield or the windshields of other drivers.
Clear windows, mirrors and lights.
2. See and be seen. Make sure windshield wipers and defrosters are in good working order.
Turn on your hesadlights to be seen by other drivers.
3. Slow down and increase following distance. A greater cushion in between vehicles can prevent panic stops and allow greater room for error.
4. Pay attention. Now is not the time to be distracted by electronic devices or anything else. Watch other drivers will alert you to problems and give you extra seconds to react.
5. Take your time. Rushing creates risk.
6. Use extra caution on bridges and overpasses.
Bridges, areas under them and overpasses freeze faster than otheer road surfaces.
7. No cruising. Don't use cruise control in precipitation and freezeing temperatures.
8. Control the skid. If you skid on a slick surface, do not panic. Take your foot off of the brake or accelerator and steer into the direction of the skid ---- don't fight the car. Accelerate slowly.
9. Know your car. Guard against SUV overconfidence. SUV's have the same difficulty keeping control and stopping as other vehicles.
10. Drive in cleared lanes ---- Changing lanes unnecessarily puts you at greater risk of hitting a patch of ice or large areas of snow between lanes that may cause you to lose control of the vehicle. Also, avoid passing snowplows or salt trucks unless it is absolutely necessary.
Source : AAA
7 Questions Parents Should Ask
When Choosing A Camp
As summer vacation gets closer, many parents --- in fact, parents of more than 10 million children ---- make the decision to send their children to summer camp.
While some families have already decided on a camp, others are still exploring their options. For these families, it can be difficult to choose ---- especially when the diversity of camps today reflects the diversity of America. There is truly a camp for every child, every interest, and every budget. The American Camp Association (ACA) recommends that parents ask the following questions to get a better feel for which camp experience best suits their child :
1. What is the camp director's background?
ACA recommends directors possess a bachelor's degree, have completed in-service training within the past three years, and have at least sixteen weeks of camp administrative experience before assuming the responsibilities of director.
2. What is the camp's philosophy and program emphasis?
Each camp has its own method of constructing programs based on its philosophy. Does it complement your family's philosophy? Does the camp focus on learning through completition, or through cooperative learning? How does the camp handle homesickness and other adjustment issues?
3. What training do counselors receive?
At a minimum, camp staff should be trained in safety regulations, emergency procedures and communication, behavior management techniques, child abuse prevention, appropriate staff and camper behavior, and specific procedures for supervision.
4. How are behavioral and disciplinary problems handled?
This is where the director's philosophy comes throughloud and clear. Do they use positive reinforcement? What are the rules and consequences?
5. How does the camp handle special needs?
For a child with special requirements, parents should ask the camp director about needed provisions and facilities. Is there a nurse on staff? A designated place to store insulin or allergy medicine? Are special foods available for campers with restricted diets? Every question is important.
6. What about references?
Parents shouldn't be afraid to ask for references. This is generally one of the best ways to check a camp's reputation and service record.
7. Is the camp accredited by the American Camp Association? Why? Why not?
ACA-Accredited camps meet up to 300 health and safety standards. This does not guarantee a risk-free environment, but it's some of the best evidence parents have of a camp's commitment to a safe and nurturing environment for their children.
For more information about a summer camp experience, or to find a camp, parents can visit www.CampParents.org. This online resource for families includes expert advice, information on health and safety, and ACA's searchable database of oveer 2,400 ACA-accredited camps.
The American Camp Association (ACA) works to preserve, promote, and enhance the camp experience for children and adults.
ACA-Accredited camp programs ensure that children are provided with a diversity of educational and developmentally challenging learning opportunities.
As summer vacation gets closer, many parents --- in fact, parents of more than 10 million children ---- make the decision to send their children to summer camp.
While some families have already decided on a camp, others are still exploring their options. For these families, it can be difficult to choose ---- especially when the diversity of camps today reflects the diversity of America. There is truly a camp for every child, every interest, and every budget. The American Camp Association (ACA) recommends that parents ask the following questions to get a better feel for which camp experience best suits their child :
1. What is the camp director's background?
ACA recommends directors possess a bachelor's degree, have completed in-service training within the past three years, and have at least sixteen weeks of camp administrative experience before assuming the responsibilities of director.
2. What is the camp's philosophy and program emphasis?
Each camp has its own method of constructing programs based on its philosophy. Does it complement your family's philosophy? Does the camp focus on learning through completition, or through cooperative learning? How does the camp handle homesickness and other adjustment issues?
3. What training do counselors receive?
At a minimum, camp staff should be trained in safety regulations, emergency procedures and communication, behavior management techniques, child abuse prevention, appropriate staff and camper behavior, and specific procedures for supervision.
4. How are behavioral and disciplinary problems handled?
This is where the director's philosophy comes throughloud and clear. Do they use positive reinforcement? What are the rules and consequences?
5. How does the camp handle special needs?
For a child with special requirements, parents should ask the camp director about needed provisions and facilities. Is there a nurse on staff? A designated place to store insulin or allergy medicine? Are special foods available for campers with restricted diets? Every question is important.
6. What about references?
Parents shouldn't be afraid to ask for references. This is generally one of the best ways to check a camp's reputation and service record.
7. Is the camp accredited by the American Camp Association? Why? Why not?
ACA-Accredited camps meet up to 300 health and safety standards. This does not guarantee a risk-free environment, but it's some of the best evidence parents have of a camp's commitment to a safe and nurturing environment for their children.
For more information about a summer camp experience, or to find a camp, parents can visit www.CampParents.org. This online resource for families includes expert advice, information on health and safety, and ACA's searchable database of oveer 2,400 ACA-accredited camps.
The American Camp Association (ACA) works to preserve, promote, and enhance the camp experience for children and adults.
ACA-Accredited camp programs ensure that children are provided with a diversity of educational and developmentally challenging learning opportunities.
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