Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
Source: http://www.jabezphotography.com/blog/02/21/beach-weddings-in-california/
What Is Labor Day jersey shore Pasquale Rotella Michael Clark Duncan michael jackson courtney stodden Ncaa Football Scores
Feb. 21, 2013 ? Simon Fraser University virologist Masahiro Niikura and his doctoral student Nicole Bance are among an international group of scientists that has discovered a new class of molecular compounds capable of killing the influenza virus.
Working on the premise that too much of a good thing can be a killer, the scientists have advanced previous researchers' methods of manipulating an enzyme that is key to how influenza replicates and spreads.
Their new compounds will lead to a new generation of anti-influenza drugs that the virus' strains can't adapt to, and resist, as easily as they do Tamiful. It's an anti-influenza drug that is becoming less effective against the constantly mutating flu virus.
These increasingly less adequate anti-influenza drugs are currently doctors' best weapons against influenza. They helped the world beat H1N1, swine flu, into submission four years ago.
The journal Science Express has just published online the scientists' study, revealing how to use their newly discovered compounds to interrupt the enzyme neuraminidase's facilitation of influenza's spread.
Tamiful and another anti-influenza drug, Relenza, focus on interrupting neuraminidase's ability to help influenza detach from an infected cell's surface by digesting sialic acid, a sugar on the surface of the cell. The flu virus uses the same sugar to stick to the cell while invading it. Once attached, influenza can invade the cell and replicate.
This is where the newly discovered compounds come to the still-healthy cells' rescue. They clog up neuraminidase, stopping the enzyme from dissolving the sialic acid, which prevents the virus from escaping the infected cell and spreading.
The new compounds are also more effective because they're water-soluble. "They reach the patient's throat where the flu virus is replicating after being taken orally," says Niikura, a Faculty of Health Sciences associate professor.
"Influenza develops resistance to Replenza less frequently, but it's not the drug of choice like Tamiful because it's not water-soluble and has to be taken as a nasal spray.
"Our new compounds are structurally more similar to sialic acid than Tamiful. We expect this closer match will make it much more difficult for influenza to adapt to new drugs."
Ultimately, the new compounds will buy scientists more time to develop new vaccines for emerging strains of influenza that are resistant to existing vaccines.
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Simon Fraser University.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/bQcwTXMIazs/130221194241.htm
northern lights sign of the times keystone pipeline purim acc tournament big ten tournament big east tournament 2012
LAS VEGAS (AP) ? Police say a deadly car-to-car shooting and fiery crash at a major Las Vegas Strip intersection started with an argument in the valet area of the Aria resort.
Sheriff Doug Gillespie made the disclosure Thursday about the early morning incident that left three people dead and at least six injured. Police withheld the names citing the ongoing investigation.
Police are seeking a black Range Rover Sport that fled the scene at Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road.
The intersection is home to famous casinos including Bellagio, Caesars Palace and Bally's.
Authorities say at least one person in the Range Rover shot at a Maserati that then ran a red light and crashed into a taxi.
The taxi burst into flames, and the driver and passenger died. The driver of the Maserati also died, and his passenger was shot.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/police-hotel-altercation-sparked-vegas-shooting-182403826.html
meryl streep oscar wins sasha baron cohen oscars oscar winners the artist sacha baron cohen oscars the old curiosity shop jane russell
PRETORIA (Reuters) - A witness heard "non-stop shouting" in the home of South African athletics star Oscar Pistorius shortly before his girlfriend was shot dead, the detective leading the murder investigation said on Wednesday.
Warrant officer Hilton Botha, a detective with 24 years on the force, also told the Pretoria magistrates court in a bail hearing that police had found two containers of testosterone and needles in Pistorius' bedroom.
The athlete's defense team said the containers held a herbal remedy taken legally by many athletes, landed some blows to Botha's portrayal of a cold-blooded killing and described inconsistencies and errors in the initial investigation.
Pistorius, a double amputee dubbed "Blade Runner" because of his carbon fiber racing blades, sobbed uncontrollably as Botha presented his testimony about the death of Reeva Steenkamp, 29.
The law graduate and model was in the toilet of the athlete's home when she was shot dead in the early hours of February 14 - Valentine's Day. She was hit in the head, arm and hip.
The shooting and allegations that have emerged at the hearing have stunned South Africa and millions of people around the world who regarded Pistorius, who has no lower legs, as the epitome of physical triumph over adversity.
"One of our witnesses heard a fight, two people talking loudly at each other ... from two in the morning to three," Botha told the court. Pistorius' first call after the incident was to the manager of his high-security complex at 3.19 am, Botha said.
In an affidavit delivered on Tuesday, Pistorius said he woke in the middle of the night and thought an intruder had climbed through his bathroom window and entered the adjoining toilet.
The 26-year-old said he grabbed a 9-mm pistol from under his bed and went into the bathroom.
Pistorius - the highest-profile athlete in the history of the Paralympics - then described how he fired into the locked toilet door in a blind panic in the mistaken belief that the intruder was lurking inside.
After four hours of testimony, the hearing was adjourned until Thursday. It is expected to conclude this week, once the defense and prosecution have outlined their central arguments.
It may then be several months before a trial. If convicted of premeditated murder, Pistorius faces life in jail.
His uncle Arnold said Pistorius was in "extreme shock" and had only started eating again on Tuesday evening. He had spent some of his five days in police custody reading the Bible, he added.
TRAJECTORY
Botha, who arrived on the scene an hour after the shooting, challenged Pistorius' affidavit.
"I believe he knew she was in the bathroom and he shot four shots through the door," the detective said, adding that the angle at which the rounds were fired suggested they were aimed at somebody on the toilet.
Pistorius had said he moved into the bathroom on his stumps - the reason he felt so vulnerable - but Botha said the shots went in a "top to bottom" trajectory, suggesting Pistorius was wearing his artificial legs when he pulled the trigger.
"It seems to me it was fired down," he said.
One of the spent rounds was recovered from the toilet bowl, Botha said.
He also cited a witness in the upscale gated community near Pretoria where Pistorius lived as saying he heard a shot, followed 17 minutes later by more shots. Another witness spoke of a shot, followed by screams, then more shots, he said.
After a vigorous cross-examination from Pistorius' defense, a rattled Botha halved his original estimate of the distance between the witnesses and Pistorius' home to 300 meters.
Lead defense counsel Barry Roux challenged Botha, describing oversights and slip-ups in the initial police investigation.
He disputed the policeman's reference to "testosterone", saying the substance found in Pistorius' bedroom was a legitimate herbal remedy called "testo-composutim co-enzyme".
Details on the makeup of testo-composutim co-enzyme were not immediately available.
Administering testosterone as an anabolic agent is banned at all times under World Anti-Doping Agency rules for sports people.
"HE WILL BOUNCE BACK"
The arrest of Pistorius stunned millions who had watched in awe last year as the Olympic and Paralympic sprinter reached the semi-final of the 400 meters in the London Olympics.
But the impact has been greatest in sports-mad South Africa, where Pistorius was seen as a rare hero who commanded respect from both blacks and whites, transcending the racial divides that persist 19 years after the end of apartheid.
The case has drawn further attention to endemic violence against women in the country after the gang rape, mutilation and murder of a 17-year-old near Cape Town this month.
Arnold Pistorius accused the state of launching a 'public trial' by leaking evidence to the media, and reiterated his belief that his nephew would be exonerated and return to the track and public life.
"Truth will prevail," he said in an interview with South Africa's ENCA television channel. "I know the truth. I know exactly what happened. The puzzle is not going to fit where the state wants to fit it."
"He will bounce back and be greater than ever."
The sprinter's sponsors do not share that confidence.
Sportswear giant Nike and French designer Thierry Mugler have both dropped him from future advertising campaigns and cosmetics firm Clarins is recalling a male perfume range bearing Pistorius' signature.
His other sponsors include British telecoms firm BT and sunglasses maker Oakley.
(Additional reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Tom Pfeiffer)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pistorius-bail-hearing-restarts-pretoria-081412153--finance.html
masters 2012 tom watson kawasaki disease resurrection masters tickets one direction tulsa news
Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day was one of the first inexplicable hits of the Nintendo DS. It provided a regimen of brain teasers and puzzles to supposedly prevent decreasing brain function. I'm not a doctor, and I can't attest to whether it "worked" or not, but it was fun and a good game for commuting and killing minutes between activities. Several sequels and years later, Brain Age: Concentration Training jumps to the Nintendo 3DS with a new take on training your brain. Again, I don't know if it actually helps, but I do know its brain teasers and puzzles are addictive. Brain Age is a lot like Sudoku?only engaging and fun.
Devilishly Difficult
Brain Age: Concentration Training focuses on improving your "working memory" rather than keeping up brain function. It does this through several "Devilish Training" modes that make you track moves, keep numbers or words in your head, and otherwise hold several things in your head at once. As its name implies, it's a lot harder than the regular Brain Age activities. Modes like Devilish Calculations have you making a simple arithmetic calculation, then another, then remembering what the first one was. As you do better, you have to remember more and more, until you find yourself trying to keep four answers in your head and jotting them down in order while doing new calculations.
Each Devilish Training mode puts you through a five-minute marathon of testing, bumping up the difficulty if you get over 85 percent of the problems correct and bumping you down is you miss less than 65 percent. After five minutes, you're scored and your level is saved for when you use that mode next. There are eight different types of Devilish Training modes, but only one is available at first. The others unlock as you play a little more every day.
Other Attractions
Besides Devilish Training, there are Brain Training and Supplemental Training activities, each with nine different modes. Supplemental Training is a selection of classic Brain Age puzzles to keep your mind working. Brain Training is a collection of minigames including a few different solitaire games and puzzles. There's also a Relaxation Mode that includes a color-matching puzzle game, a Dr. Mario-like puzzle game (complete with pills and germs), and a relaxing music player.
StreetPass lets you compare your records with people you pass on the street. You can also keep track of family and friends' training on the same system. You can even compete with training partners and set goals for yourself against other players. There's no head-to-head mode, which is a shame considering there's a Dr. Mario game included, but Brain Age isn't a competitive activity, anyway.
Brain Age: Concentration Training offers a new way to train your mind and improve your working memory, or so Nintendo claims. I don't know if that's the case, but I do know that Brain Age: Concentration Training has enough activities to keep your brain engaged whenever you find yourself with a few minutes to kill, and is a great game for 3DS owners who don't necessarily want to play regular games. Even if it does absolutely nothing for the brain, it's worth a solid four stars on the strength of its fun puzzles and tremendous replayability.
More Video Game Reviews:
??? Brain Age: Concentration Training (Nintendo 3DS)
??? Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (PS3)
??? Fire Emblem: Awakening (Nintendo 3DS)
??? Fist of the Northstar: Ken's Rage 2 (Xbox 360)
??? Anarchy Reigns (Xbox 360)
?? more
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/Dk4OKF4YPX0/0,2817,2415655,00.asp
nikki minaj grammy performance shel silverstein niki minaj grammy performance grammys 2012 deadmau5 phoebe snow jennifer hudson tribute to whitney houston
A study of eye movements in schizophrenia patients provides new evidence of impaired reading fluency in individuals with the mental illness.
The findings, by researchers at McGill University in Montreal, could open avenues to earlier detection and intervention for people with the illness.
While schizophrenia patients are known to have abnormalities in language and in eye movements, until recently reading ability was believed to be unaffected. That is because most previous studies examined reading in schizophrenia using single-word reading tests, the McGill researchers conclude. Such tests aren't sensitive to problems in reading fluency, which is affected by the context in which words appear and by eye movements that shift attention from one word to the next.
The McGill study, led by Ph.D. candidate Veronica Whitford and psychology professors Debra Titone and Gillian A. O'Driscoll, monitored how people move their eyes as they read simple sentences. The results, which were first published online last year, appear in the February issue of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.
Eye movement measures provide clear and objective indicators of how hard people are working as they read. For example, when struggling with a difficult sentence, people generally make smaller eye movements, spend more time looking at each word, and spend more time re-reading words. They also have more difficulty attending to upcoming words, so they plan their eye movements less efficiently.
The McGill study, which involved 20 schizophrenia outpatients and 16 non-psychiatric participants, showed that reading patterns in people with schizophrenia differed in several important ways from healthy participants matched for gender, age, and family social status. People with schizophrenia read more slowly, generated smaller eye movements, spent more time processing individual words, and spent more time re-reading. In addition, people with schizophrenia were less efficient at processing upcoming words to facilitate reading.
The researchers evaluated factors that could contribute to the problems in reading fluency among the schizophrenia outpatients ? specifically, their ability to parse words into sound components and their ability to skillfully control eye movements in non-reading contexts. Both factors were found to contribute to the reading deficits.
"Our findings suggest that measures of reading difficulty, combined with other information such as family history, may help detect people in the early stages of schizophrenia ? and thereby enable earlier intervention," Whitford says.
Moreover, fluent reading is a crucial life skill, and in people with schizophrenia, there is a strong relationship between reading skill and the extent to which they can function independently, the researchers note. "Improving reading through intervention in people with schizophrenia may be important to improving their ability to function in society," Titone adds.
###
McGill University: http://www.mcgill.ca
Thanks to McGill University for this article.
This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.
This press release has been viewed 34 time(s).
Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126895/Eye_movements_reveal_reading_impairments_in_schizophrenia
unemployment 2012 nfl draft grades young justice nfl draft d rose iman shumpert mayweather vs cotto
A new approach to bladder regeneration is capitalizing on the potential of two distinct cell populations harvested from a patient's healthy bone marrow, a new study reports.
The Northwestern Medicine? research, which will be published February 18 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by lead author Arun K. Sharma, research assistant professor in urology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and colleagues, is an alternative to contemporary tissue-engineering strategies. The bone marrow cells are being used to recreate the organ's smooth muscle, vasculature, and nerve tissue.
"We are manipulating a person's own disease-free cells for bladder tissue reformation," said Sharma, a member of the Institute for BioNanotechnology in Medicine and the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago Research Center. "We have used the spina bifida patient population as a proof of concept model because those patients typically have bladder dysfunction. However, this regeneration approach could be used for people suffering from a variety of bladder issues where the bone marrow microenvironment is deemed normal."
In end-stage neurogenic bladder disease ? an illness often associated with spinal cord diseases like spina bifida ? the nerves which carry messages between the bladder and the brain do not work properly, causing an inability to pass urine. The most common surgical option, augmentation cystoplasty, involves placing a "patch" derived from an individual's bowel over a part of the diseased organ in order to increase its size. The current "gold standard," the procedure remains problematic because the bowel tissue introduces long-term complications like the development of electrolyte imbalance and bladder cancer.
Because Sharma's procedure does not use bowel tissue, it offers the benefits of augmentation without the association of long-term risks. His technique combines stem and progenitor cells from a patient's bone marrow with a synthetic scaffold created in the lab of Guillermo Ameer, ScD, professor of biomedical engineering at McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science and of surgery at Feinberg. The scaffold takes the place of the traditional patch.
"We decided to use material that has the ability to be tailored to simulate mechanical properties of the bladder," said Sharma, director of pediatric urological regenerative medicine at Lurie Children's. "Using the elastomer created by Dr. Ameer and the bone marrow stem and progenitor cells, I believe that we have developed a technique that can potentially be used in lieu of current bladder augmentation procedures. However, further study is needed."
###
Northwestern University: http://www.northwestern.edu
Thanks to Northwestern University for this article.
This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.
This press release has been viewed 30 time(s).
Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126870/Bone_marrow_cells_used_in_bladder_regeneration
davy jones dead monkees last train to clarksville tim tebow taylor swift post grad arpaio carol burnett
As more and more parishioners opt to leave their cash and checkbooks at home, a handful of Middle Tennessee churches are turning from the tithing plate to machines that allow folks to use a card.
Emily and Justin Moses use debit and credit to pay for bills, groceries and, now, their church offering.
"It's an easy way to give," Justin Moses said.
Brentwood Baptist Church purchased one so-called "giving kiosk" about two years ago, and church leaders said it's primarily used by members in their 20s and 30s.
"When you talk to them about giving, they get their card and they go, 'OK.' And you pass them a plate or something, and there's nowhere to swipe," said the Rev. Mike Glenn, senior pastor at Brentwood Baptist Church.
Some church members didn't like the idea of escaping tradition, and others even called the kiosk tacky. But that all changed when church officials started punching the numbers.
They found giving had actually increased.
"About 20 percent of our budget comes from online and the kiosks," said the Rev. Brian Dodridge, associate executive pastor at Brentwood Baptist Church.
Fifteen other Midstate churches have bought into the "giving kiosks" through a company called Securegive, which serves about 1,000 congregations across the country.
At Brentwood Baptist, it's caught on so well the church has approved ordering a couple more.
"I don't ever bring an envelope to church anymore. I just push a couple buttons, and it's gone," Justin Moses said.
Copyright 2013 WSMV (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.
Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/50850448/ns/local_news-nashville_tn/
lucid 2012 ncaa tournament bracket matterhorn chris harrison girl scouts printable bracket game change
Freshman T.J. Warren had season-highs of 31 points and 13 rebounds to help North Carolina State beat Florida State 84-66 on Tuesday night.
?? ?
C.J. Leslie added 19 points for the Wolfpack (19-7, 8-5 Atlantic Coast Conference), who led the entire night to snap a three-game losing streak against the Seminoles. The win also snapped a four-game losing skid against Florida State (14-12, 6-7) on N.C. State's homecourt in Raleigh.
?? ?
The Wolfpack dominated the boards and got plenty of second-chance baskets to stay in control of this one, earning a third straight win overall heading into this weekend's trip to rival North Carolina.
?? ?
Michael Snaer scored 20 to lead the Seminoles, who have lost three of four since beating Georgia Tech on his last-second basket two weeks ago.
?? ?
Warren, a 6-foot-8 forward, earned just his fifth start. He finished 12-for-15 from the field and hit two 3-pointers in 31 minutes.
?? ?
While Warren turned in the best game of his young career, Leslie added 10 rebounds to help the Wolfpack take a 45-21 rebounding advantage. That included a dominating 21-6 performance on the offensive glass, which helped N.C. State manage 29 second-chance points compared to just six for Florida State.
?? ?
Scott Wood added 13 points for N.C. State, which stayed in the chase for one of the league's four first-day byes in next month's ACC tournament in Greensboro.
?? ?
The Wolfpack led 40-30 at halftime, then gradually increased the margin through the first eight minutes to 58-41 on a pair of free throws from Leslie with 11:59 left. The Seminoles hung around but never got the lead to single digits, getting as close as 10 with about 7 minutes left before Warren and Wood knocked down 3s to push the lead back up to 16 with 5? minutes left.
?? ?
Warren's three-point play with about 90 seconds left helped N.C. State blow the game open late and had Wolfpack fans chanting his name as he finished with 20 second-half points.
?? ?
It was N.C. State's first win against Florida State since beating the Seminoles in the quarterfinals of the 2010 ACC tournament.
?? ?
Florida State has now been outrebounded in 12 of 14 games.
Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/50864035/ns/local_news-raleigh_nc/
When Is Veterans Day 2012 brooke burke Alexa Vega Bram Stoker books Paula Broadwell Photos Veterans Day 2012 Nate Silver
If you hadn't had your study of evolution replaced by fundamental Christian teachings
Uh, no. Saying that humans have come up with internal combustion, digital computers, drone strikes, Minecraft, or anything else does not logically lead to "I believe in an Invisible Sky Daddy". On the other hand, dismissing human accomplishments as having come from "nature" does. You know, like how hand-egg players will thank their particular flavor of Invisible Sky Daddy for the skills to do what they did.
If you want to believe in an Invisible Sky Daddy, that's fine. But when you claim that the attribution of human accomplishments and advancements to humanity equates to a belief in an Invisible Sky Daddy, while the attribution of human accomplishments and advancements to "nature" does not? I don't know what to say to that, other than it feels like you are trying to be deliberately deceptive.
Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/jCd7nGVk5_0/story01.htm
jim yong kim michael bush the host trailer whitney houston cause of death marquette university marquette city creek center
February 18, 2013
The
Dordt sent 22 students who competed in College Bowl, Swine Specialist, Beef Specialist, Dairy Specialist, Crops Specialist, Equine, Precision Ag, Sales, and Employment Interviews contests.
In team competitions, Dordt?s College Bowl teams No. 1 and No. 2 took fourth and third place respectively. The team competing in the Swine Specialist, Beef Specialist, and Crops Specialist contests all took first place, and the three teams competing in the Dairy Specialist contest took first, second, and third place.
Seven students took individual first place honors: senior Drew De Vries (Maurice, Iowa) for Livestock Employment Interview, senior Brian Dieleman (Kent Bridge, Ontario) for Swine Specialist, senior Holly Enerson (Estherville, Iowa) for Feed/Animal Health Employment Interview, senior Jon Luetchens (Murdock, Nebraska) for Crop Employment Interview, senior Lewis Nighswonger (Alva, Oklahoma) for Beef Specialist, junior Vern Oostra (Hull, Iowa) for Sales, and senior Joshua Vander Well (Ontario, California) for Dairy Specialist.
Eighteen students qualified for the National Competition to be held in Louisville, Kentucky, March 18 to 21. Eight of Dordt?s 10 teams qualified for Nationals. These students are senior Mitchell Byl (Hull, Iowa), senior Erin Davelaar (Brandon, South Dakota), De Vries, Dieleman, Enerson, senior Karina Fast (Bingham Lake, Minnesota), senior Michael Gallagher (Hornick, Iowa), senior Matthew Kamp (Manhattan, Montana), Luetchens, junior Parker Merritt (Mason City, Iowa), Nighswonger, Oostra, sophomore Brady Rhoda (Oakdale, California), junior Casey Rhoda (Oakdale, California), sophomore Quinlan Schrock (Wellman, Iowa), Vander Well, senior Curtis Van Grouw (Rock Valley, Iowa), and senior Caleb Wubben (Clara City, Minnesota).
Oostra was also elected President of Iowa PAS, a process that required an application, a recommendation from a professor, and a series of interviews with the nomination committee.
?I am looking forward to being part of such a great organization like PAS and being able to network with so many people throughout the agriculture community,? said Oostra. ?I am looking forward to growing as a leader and as a member of a team.??
PAS is one of 10 career and technical student organizations approved by the U.S. Department of Education as an integral part of career and technical education. Their motto is ?uniting education and industry in agriculture.? This year, more than 300 students from Iowa competed. This is the second time the Dordt Ag Club participated in the conference.
Dordt College is one of only a handful of Christian colleges in North America to offer a four-year agriculture program. Over the past several years, all Dordt agriculture students have found positions within six months of graduating, most much sooner. Graduates enter careers not only in farming and technical service support but also in government, finance, and international development. Learn more at www.dordt.edu/agriculture.
Complete listing of Dordt College?s Ag Club 2013 PAS Conference results
Team competitions
Beef Specialist
Dordt Team #1 ? 1st place
Holly Enerson (2nd individual), Lewis Nighswonger (1st individual), Quinlan Schrock (5th individual)
Dordt Team #2 ? 9th place
Mitchell Palmer (freshman from Elm Creek, Nebraska), Jed Terhaar (sophomore from Winterset, Iowa), Cody Williams (sophomore from Bronson, Iowa)
College Bowl
Dordt Team #2 ? 3rd place
Drew De Vries, Vern Oostra, Josh Vander Well, Curtis Van Grouw, Caleb Wubben
Dordt Team #1 ? 4th place
Erin Davelaar, Holly Enerson, Michael Gallagher, Jon Luetchens, Parker Merritt
Crops Specialist
Dordt Team #1 ? 1st place
Michael Gallagher (5th individual), Jon Luetchens (2nd individual), Parker Merritt (3rd individual)
Dairy Specialist
Dordt Team #1 ? 1st place
Erin Davelaar (2nd individual), Josh Vander Well (1st individual), Curtis Van Grouw (3rd individual)
Dordt Team #2 ? 2nd place
Vern Oostra (4th individual), Brady Rhoda (6th individual), Casey Rhoda (5th individual)
Dordt Team #3 ? 3rd place
Karina Fast (8th individual), Matthew Kamp (9th individual), Caleb Wubben (7th individual)
Swine Specialist
Dordt Team #1 ? 1st place
Mitchell Byl (4th individual high honor), Drew De Vries (3rd individual), Brian Dieleman (1st individual)
Individual events
Ag Business/Sales Employment Interviews
Michael Gallagher ? 2nd place
Crop Production Employment Interviews
Matthew Kamp ? 8th place
Jon Luetchens ? 1st place
Mitchell Palmer ? 5th place
Dairy Production Employment Interviews
Erin Davelaar ? 4th place
Brady Rhoda ? 8th place
Casey Rhoda ? 6th place
Josh Vander Well ? 3rd place
Curtis Van Grouw ? 2nd place
Caleb Wubben ? 9th place
Equine
Mitchell Byl ? 16th place
Jed Terhaar? 10th place
Feed/Animal Health Employment Interviews
Holly Enerson ? 1st place
Livestock Production Employment Interviews
Drew De Vries ? 1st place
Lewis Nighswonger ? 3rd place
Kyle Scholten (junior from Inwood, Iowa) ? 7th place
Quinlan Schrock ? 4th place
Cody Williams ? 9th place
Precision Ag
Brian Dieleman ? 9th place
Parker Merritt ? 8th place
Sales
Karina Fast ? 7th place
Vern Oostra ? 1st place
Media Access: Download Word Version | High Resolution Image: 1
Source: http://www.dordt.edu/cgi-bin/news/get_news.pl?id=6173
davy jones death born this way foundation lytro camera lytro camera andrew brietbart branson mo monkees songs
Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
Source: http://theadvertiser.com/article/20130218/SPORTS0204/130218019/-1/rss01
cynthia nixon cspan state of the union drinking game oscar noms capital gains tim thomas oral roberts
Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
Source: http://www.komonews.com/news/entertainment/Photos-London-Fashion-W-191548601.html
mothers day ovechkin one world trade center bks new dark knight rises trailer khloe and lamar oklahoma city thunder
El Fayoum Pyramids
Hawara Pyramid
Hawara Pyramid
Lahun pyramid
Maydoum Pyramid
funerary complex of king Senefru
Tour Itinerary:
Your leader will pick you up from your hotel in Cairo to visit El Fayoum Pyramids. First, you will visit Hawara Pyramid which backs to kind Amenemhat III (Dynasty XII), its located in a site near El Fayoum city, and its Planning show the genius of the Architect in its corridors to mislead the thieves from reaching the burial chamber, its high about 58 meter and its entrance leads to several corridors which lead to a symbolic burial chamber used to mislead the thieves and by a different hard passages there is the real burial chamber without a door that cannot be reached without moving a stone block of 45 ton.
Then visit Lahun pyramid (back to king Senwsert II, its high about 48 meter, it has a new different plan which disappeared through its corridors and passages which lead to burial chamber by digging 2 wells behind the main pyramid connected under the ground and come out from them some passages lead to the real burial chamber).
Then visit Maydoum Pyramid that located among a funerary complex of king Senefru its considered as the final stage of the model of the step pyramids and its importance was that was located among the oldest complete funerary complex, to the east there were valley & funerary temples now disappeared under the level of the underground water but the small pyramid remains still there. All of complex walls show scenes and writings from old kingdom era to the new kingdom, the main pyramid is a 92 meter in high and consisted of step floors and there was an external passivation made it in the shape of great pyramids style but when it fall the real appearance of the step pyramid appear.
Whats included:
Pick up service from your hotel in Cairo and back.
All transfers by a private air-conditioned vehicle.
Entrance fees to the mentioned historical place.
guide speaking English.
Bottled water on board the vehicle during the tour.
Late lunch meal at local restaurant in EL Fayoum.
All taxes & service charges.
Whats excluded:
Any extras not mentioned in the program.
International airfare.
Egypt entry visa, for non-restricted nationalities you can buy it upon arrival before passport control, visa Costs $ 15 = 11 Euro per adult or child.
Any optional tours mentioned in the itinerary.
Drinks and any personal expenses.
Entrance fees to special archaeological sites like Mummies room at the Egyptian Museum, inside one of the Pyramids & Tutankhamen Tomb at Valley of the Kings.
Tipping Kitty.
More details:
For more details please visit the rest of our site and see the trips that we have to offer:
Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Day-Tour-To-The-Pyramids-Of-El-Fayoum/4440183
camille grammer us supreme court breaking dawn part 2 trailer mississippi state chris carpenter chris carpenter dick cheney
The UK's national synchrotron facility - the Diamond Light Source near Oxford - is to become a world centre for studying the structure of viruses and bacteria that cause serious disease.
Diamond uses intense X-rays to reveal the molecular and atomic make-up of objects and materials.
It will now use this capability to image Containment Level 3 pathogens.
These are responsible for illnesses such as Aids, hepatitis and some types of flu.
Level 3 is one step down from the most dangerous types of infectious agent, such as Ebola, which can only be handled in the most secure government facilities.
"Viruses, as you know, are sort of tiny nanomachines and you can't see them in a normal microscope.
"But with the crystallography and X-ray techniques we use, we are able to get about 10,000 times the resolution of the normal light microscope," explained Dave Stuart, the life sciences director at Diamond and a professor of structural biology at Oxford University.
"This takes us from the regime of not being able to see them to being able to see individual atoms.
"And if we can look at 'live' viruses and get an atomic-level description of them, it opens up the possibility of using modern drug-design techniques to produce new pharmaceuticals."
Prof Stuart was speaking in Boston at the annual meeting for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Diamond has been working for some time to get its "Crystal Lab" ready for Level 3 work, and the Oxford researcher used the US conference to announce that the preparation was now complete.
Synchrotrons work by accelerating electrons in a giant magnetic ring to near light-speeds.
As the particles turn around the circle, they lose energy in the form of exceptionally intense X-rays.
This light is channelled down "beamlines" where it hits targets put in its path.
The way the X-rays scatter off the atoms in these targets reveals their arrangement. This allows scientists to glimpse the shape of virus and bacteria components and get some insight into how they function.
Diamond has already been studying pathogens at lower levels of containment.
A good recent example, says Prof Stuart, is the Human Enterovirus 71 (EV71) that causes hand-foot-and-mouth disease.
The infection is relatively common in infants and children, especially across the Asia-Pacific region, and is characterised by fever, painful sores in the mouth, and unpleasant blisters on the hands, feet and buttocks. There is currently no vaccine or anti-viral treatment available.
A joint UK and Chinese team working at Diamond solved the structure of EV71 last year.
This allowed the researchers to see a kind of breathing motion in the virus that it uses to initiate the infection process. Evident also was the small molecule it picks up from the body's cells to shift itself from one state to another.
"That molecule must be lost to cause an infection, but now that we can see in atomic detail what that molecule looks like, we can try to design a synthetic version that will attach more strongly," Prof Stuart told BBC News.
"That would stop the breathing and stop the infection process."
The British synchrotron's new status makes it now one of only two such facilities in the world where Level 3 study is undertaken; the other being in the US.
This means it will be a major draw for scientists across the world.
Prof Stuart stressed the operations at Diamond would pose no risk to others working on the Harwell site or in the immediate Oxfordshire area.
The pathogens will be brought to the synchrotron in crystal form in double-sealed containers that are not opened during their time at the facility.
They are manipulated robotically inside the Light Source and, what is more, they are destroyed in the very act of shining X-rays on them.
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21481223#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
duke university whale shark whale shark platypus platypus overboard east of eden
Cable companies love to offer combo deals on telephone, Internet and a slew of TV channels you'll never watch. Product bundling also is standard in industries as varied as fast food, cars and software.
It's the same with banks, most of which won't sell you a simple checking account except in a fixed-price package with add-ons such as debit cards, mobile apps, online bill payment or savings accounts.
Now, in an effort to distinguish itself from the pack, Union Bank is offering customers an a la carte menu ? the banking equivalent of breaking up the value meal and promoting burgers, fries and drinks separately.
The new program aims to address criticism that banks bury the true costs of their services in fine print, said Arthur G. Smith, Union Bank's chief marketing officer. The San Francisco bank has always catered to business owners, who pick various services to suit themselves over time. It now wants to allow consumers the same ability to choose, he said.
"We think this approach sets the high-water mark for transparency," Smith said. "The consumer sees a discrete choice for every option, so this puts them in a position to make a value judgment about each one."
Union Bank, the product of a series of bank mergers in the 1980s and 1990s, is the second-largest bank based in California after Wells Fargo & Co., with 396 offices in California, 45 in Washington, three in Oregon and one each in New York, Texas and Illinois.
The Banking by Design program, rolled out gradually since last fall, starts with an unusually low $3 a month basic checking charge, which can be waived with a monthly direct deposit of $250.
Customers are offered a menu of 16 additional services. Six come at no additional cost, including a debit card and mobile banking. Others include paper statements for $1 a month and a savings account for $1.50 a month.
Another $1.50 a month will put customers at the head of the telephone queue when calling the bank ? a service popular with time-crunched doctors and lawyers, bank officials said. Online bill pay is free, but only through the end of the year. Once a customer is hooked, that's another $1.50 a month.
Union still offers its own package deals, but its basic checking package costs a lot more ? $8 a month with online statements and $10 with paper statements. That's roughly in line with costs at other large banks.
Union's plan is to add additional options later, Smith said, such as brokerage and investment management services.
Consumer advocates said they knew of only one other bank unbundling services in this way, Frost Bank of San Antonio, which is a quarter the size of Union and charges a base $5 a month for checking.
Union's new offerings are promising but need improvement, said Susan K. Weinstock of the Pew Charitable Trusts, who has accused banks of hiding fees and penalties. Union's disclosures about its services appear inadequate to enable consumers to compare costs, benefits and drawbacks with those of other banks, she said.
Union's new menu doesn't include information on its charges and procedures for protecting customers from balance-busting overdrafts, Weinstock noted.
"This a la carte approach is an interesting concept. Maybe it's a better way," she said. "But without additional information, you have no way of knowing."
Pew's Safe Checking in the Electronic Age project, which Weinstock heads, recommends that banks provide consumers with a comprehensive list of plain-language disclosures about key services, including overdraft protection, in a few pages.
Overdraft protection is not an option in Union's Banking by Design program, Smith said. Union charges $33 per overdraft, he said, which is explained to consumers in separate documents and on the bank's website. "We are very transparent," he said.
Union's parent company, UnionBanCal Corp., has $97 billion in assets and is a subsidiary of Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., which operates Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Japan's largest bank.
Nobuyuki Hirano, president of Mitsubishi UFJ's core banking unit, told Reuters news service in November that the Japanese bank is considering a major acquisition in the United States that would vault it into the top 10 of U.S. banks. Hirano could not be reached for comment by The Times this week.
Union Bank has been on a smaller-scale acquisition spree of its own recently to expand its footprint in California and adjoining states. One major deal, the $1.5-billion acquisition of Pacific Capital Bancorp, closed in December, giving the bank a major presence in Santa Barbara and the Central Coast.
The bank also has launched a "Doing Right" ad campaign featuring actor Edward James Olmos and writer Maya Angelou, emphasizing that it never made subprime mortgages. (It's a major originator of jumbo mortgages, the outsize loans for wealthy borrowers.)
Steve Beck, a management consultant who helped Union Bank develop the new checking program, said the menu strategy was designed to build loyalty among existing customers as well as to attract business from rivals. Research into customer attitudes at many banks turned up unsurprising findings.
"What we uncovered were many key frustrations around nickel-and-diming," Beck said. "Seventy-five percent of the respondents in a study agreed with the statement that 'The bank I use today only has their own interests in mind.'"
scott.reckard@latimes.com
Source: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-unbundled-banking-20130216,0,2503083.story?track=rss
carole king crystal renn matilda cab calloway melissa gilbert deadliest catch dwts
Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
Buried deep in Wright Thompson's fantastic ESPN profile of Michael Jordan at age 50 is this tidbit ? Michael Jordan is really, really good at Bejeweled.The Bulls legend plays the classic arcade game on his iPad. According to Thompson, Jordan has passed level 100 in the game, making him officially a "Bejeweled Demigod."
That's excellent.?
According to one person on a Bejeweled message board who may or may not be exaggerating, it took four years to get that far:
"i just spent like 4 years playing this game to reach Level 100. And what is the awesome prize you get for that accomplishment??? - 750 Coins?! ridiculous, shoulda been at least 1,000,000 or more (and even that doesnt last long). Very Disappointing."
Even if the commenter is being hyperbolic, the point is that it takes a long time to become a Bejeweled Demigod.
A BI co-worker who is obsessed with Bejeweled confirmed that beating level 100 makes a very good player.
If you're fuzzy on what Bejeweled is, it looks something like this:
Bejeweled |
Thompson frames MJ's Bejeweled prowess as one of the many ways he tries to remain competitive in his post-basketball life. He also plays golf.
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/michael-jordan-bejewled-2013-2
cujo karen handel hangout todd haley kareem abdul jabbar miramonte elementary school mark jenkins
EyeOnCollege Football
By Tom Fornelli | Blogger
Michigan State is in need of a new offensive coordinator. The school announced on Saturday that Dan Roushar has left Mark Dantonio's staff to become the running backs coach of the New Orleans Saints.
?The New Orleans Saints and Michigan State are built on similar models, with a focus on character and people," said Roushar in a release. "New Orleans has won a Super Bowl, and over the last five years, the Saints have been one of the winningest organizations in the NFL. I've had an opportunity to work for Mark Dantonio -- in my opinion, the best college football coach in America -- for the last eight years, including the last six seasons at Michigan State. Now, I have an opportunity to work for arguably the best coach in the NFL, in Sean Payton. Professionally, this is an opportunity I simply couldn't pass up. Now as a running backs coach, I have the chance to learn the interworking of the NFL."
Dantonio said he was "thrilled for Dan and his family, and we wish him nothing but the best in the NFL."
Roushar has been with Michigan State since 2007, starting as an offensive line coach before becoming offensive coordinator in 2011 after Don Treadwell left to become the head coach at
While this might be good news for Roushar, it does leave Michigan State in a bit of a bind. Spring practice starts in just over a month and the Spartans are without an offensive coordinator. Combine that with the fact that both Le'Veon Bell and Dion Sims have left East Lansing, taking with them the majority of an offense that averaged only 20 points per game last season, and Michigan State is in a bit of a bind.
For more college football news, rumors and analysis, follow @EyeOnCFB on Twitter, subscribe to our RSS Feed, college football newsletter, and get the Eye On College Football Podcast from iTunes. You can follow Tom Fornelli on Twitter here: @TomFornelli.
Get CBSSports.com College Football updates on Facebook
" } callFBApi = function() { var accessToken; var uid; CBSi.injectJS('//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1', 'facebook-jssdk'); FB.init({ appId : '297742330311988', oauth : true }); FB.login(function(response) { if (response.authResponse) { uid = response.authResponse.userID; accessToken = response.authResponse.accessToken; //CBSi.log("== FB APP DATA ==", response); FB.api('/me', function(social) { //CBSi.log("== FB USER DATA ==", social); log_in_socially(social.name, social.username, 'fb'); }); } }); }; log_in_socially = function(dn, userid, site) { $.ajax({ url: "/data/common/livefyre/lf_social_login", dataType: 'json', data: { lfdn: dn, lfuser: userid, ssite: site } }).done(function(profile) { //CBSi.log("== Social Login ==",profile,site); if (profile.error) { //CBSi.log("Social login failed with error: ", profile); return null; } else { document.cookie = "lf_social_login="+ profile.socialsess +"; expires=0; path=/"; profile.socialsess = '1'; userObj = profile; doLivefyreAuth(profile); } }); }; callTwitterApi = function() { window.open('/common/livefyre/V3/via_twitter','twitterOauth','width=600,height=500,menu=0,status=0'); }; function doLivefyreAuth(cval) { //console.log("== Attempting LF Login ==",cval); var isLoggedIn = 1; if (cval) { try { fyre.conv.login(cval.token); } catch (e) { isLoggedIn = 0; } } } changeDOM = function() { // DOM hacks. Change the UI for the dropdown box //console.log("== Running Dom Hacks =="); if (isLoggedIn == 1){ //console.log("== Checking Match =="); if (hasProfile == 0) { CBSi.log("== adding get comment link =="); // They need a screen name //$('.lf_auth_section a.lf_user_loggedout').html('Get a Screen Name to Comment').addClass('loginLink'); $('.fyre .fyre-user-loggedout').hide(); $('#getScreenName').show(); var screenNameContent = 'Get a Screen Name to Comment'; $('#getScreenName').html(screenNameContent); } else { if (typeof userObj.profile.profile_url != 'undefined'){ if (userObj.profile.profile_url) { //CBSi.log("== adding login profile links =="); $('.fyre .fyre-box-wrapper a.fyre-user-profile-link').attr('href',userObj.profile.profile_url); $('li.fyre-edit-profile-link').html('Edit Profile'); } } } } changedDom = 1; //console.log("== finished dom hacks =="); }; function updateCommentCounts(element,count){ //CBSi.log("== updating comment counts =="); if (count == 1){ $(element).html('' + count + ' ??| ?Comment'); $(element).show(); $('.commentsCountLabel').html('comment'); } else{ $(element).html('' + count + ' ??| ?Comments'); $(element).show(); $('.commentsCountLabel').html('comments'); } $('.commentsCount').html(count); } function removeLfError(){ $('#cbsLfError').remove(); } var authDelegate = new fyre.conv.RemoteAuthDelegate(); authDelegate.login = function (handlers){ if (isLoggedIn Please log in above to post a comment.'); handlers.failure(); } else{ removeLfError(); handlers.success(); } }; function updateAuthorLinks(){ $('.fyre-comment-username').each(function() { $(this).click(function() { window.location.href = $(this).attr('href'); }); }); $('.fyre-comment-author').each(function() { $(this).click(function() { window.location.href = $(this).attr('href'); }); }); } $(document).ready( function () { // Log in the user if we got a token for them // Change the DOM after login since things get re-rendered //console.log("== LF Calling Load =="); var conv = fyre.conv.load({"network": "cbssports.fyre.co", 'strings': customStrings, authDelegate: authDelegate}, lf_config, function(widget) { //console.log("== LF in Load =="); widget.on('initialRenderComplete', function () { //console.log("== LF Render Complete =="); $('#lf_comments_label').show(); loggedin = readCookie('pid'); CBSi.log(loggedin); if ((typeof loggedin == "string") && (loggedin.match(/^L:/))) { isLoggedIn = 1; if (typeof userObj.token != 'undefined'){ if (userObj.token) { hasProfile = 1; doLivefyreAuth(userObj); } } changeDOM(); } updateCommentCounts('.commentsBubble',$('.fyre-stream-stats .fyre-comment-count span').html()); updateAuthorLinks(); }); widget.on('userLoggedIn', function () { //CBSi.log("== LF Logging In User =="); changeDOM(); removeLfError(); }); widget.on('userLoggedOut', function () { //CBSi.log("== LF Logging Out User =="); document.cookie = "lf_social_login=; expires=0; path=/" }); widget.on('commentCountUpdated', function (countData) { //CBSi.log("== LF Comment Added =="); updateCommentCounts('.commentsBubble',countData); }); widget.on('commentPosted', function (countData) { updateAuthorLinks(); }); }); });Source: http://feeds.cbssports.com/click.phdo?i=a95211ac621db247ffe7f7b3979ec87b
moonshine news channel 4 radar weather morosini death jacoby ellsbury jacoby ellsbury lionel richie
Indianapolis ? In this room without windows in the NCAA offices we have taken a first crack at the top three seed lines.
No. 1 seeds: Indiana, Miami, Duke and Florida. No. 2 seeds: Michigan State, Michigan, Arizona (shockingly) and Gonzaga. No. 3 seeds: Syracuse, Butler, Kansas and Louisville.
Now the mock committee breaks for dinner for 35 minutes. (You mean those Reese's bars weren't supposed to be dinner? Uh-oh.)
Interestingly, conference affiliation is not allowed to be mentioned when discussing teams. For example, you can say Gonzaga defeated Oklahoma by 15, Kansas State by 16, Baylor by 7 and Oklahoma State by 1, but pointing out that the Zags are 4-0 against the Big 12 is forbidden.
A tweaking of the seeds could be necessary based on various rules, such as the one that prohibits conference foes from facing each other too early in the tournament.
rupaul drag race walking dead comic kratom broncos broncos lehigh walking dead season finale
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gilbert Goh is an unlikely radical.
But as anger swells over living costs and immigration in Singapore, one of Asia's richest and most expensive countries, the bespectacled 51-year-old unemployment counsellor is moving beyond the fringe of political activism to the center of a rancorous debate over the nation's future.
In a country where nearly all media are state-linked and open dissent can easily fall foul of the long-ruling government, Goh's call for a public protest on Saturday is striking a nerve.
It is also raising the once-absurd prospect of political risk in one of the world's biggest financial and trading centers that has been built on a reputation of stability.
Goh set up a Facebook page in early February calling for the protest after the government said the island's population of 5.3 million could grow by as much as 30 percent by 2030, mostly through foreign workers to offset a chronically low birth rate.
Since then, more than 5,300 people have said they will or may go to what Goh has billed as a peaceful, non-political demonstration at Speakers' Corner, a park exempt from otherwise strict controls on assemblies in the regimented city-state.
Such numbers would make it one of the largest demonstrations since Singapore's independence from Britain in 1963.
"We want to have human rights to be able to speak freely without the fear of reprisal," said Goh, a former social worker who runs a support group for the unemployed and ran for election in 2011 for the opposition National Solidarity Party.
"I think I have a little bit more guts than your average Singaporean and I love my country a lot."
The protest reflects growing disquiet over the vision of the country set forth by the People's Action Party (PAP) that has ruled for five decades.
Founded by Lee Kuan Yew, the father of the current prime minister, the PAP is credited with transforming Singapore from a colonial outpost in the 1960s into a global business centre with world-class infrastructure, clean streets, an efficient civil service and the world's highest concentration of millionaires.
Part of that success is built on cheap foreign labor and a consumer class full of expatriates. Immigrants make up nearly 40 percent of the population, up from about 25 percent in 2000.
But many Singaporeans now struggle to get by on an average monthly wage of about S$4,100 ($3,300). High taxes have inflated the price of the cheapest new car to about S$110,000 and housing prices have doubled in a decade.
"NO LONGER AFRAID"
Fluent in social media, a new generation is openly questioning the ruling party's wisdom. Many are emboldened by a surprising by-election in Punggol East, a relatively young ward where the Workers' Party took a seat in parliament from the PAP last month by a convincing margin of nearly 11 percent.
"Many Singaporeans are no longer afraid of the PAP," said Bridget Welsh, an associate professor of political science at Singapore Management University.
"The erosion of political support reflects a lack of trust in the leadership. The PAP is following old formulas based on materialism and depending on technocrats for solutions. They've lost the political skills of engaging and persuading."
In many ways, the PAP is a victim of its own success.
Between the 1970s and 1990s, Singapore was Asia's economic star, growing 8 percent a year on average. Wages, affluence and expectations rose just as fast. Emerging from its top-notch schools, Singaporeans are very accustomed to stability and efficiency in a region beset by graft and polluted megacities.
Now online forums bristle with criticism of the government's white paper on population released in January. One number in that document - 6.9 million - set off a debate over how many people can fit onto an island half the size of London and how much the national identity will be diluted.
The government insists though that the 6.9 million figure is not a target, but a scenario helping it plan for the future.
"The conversation on population does not end today and we do not yet have answers to all the problems," Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on his Facebook page last week as the white paper cleared parliament after a heated five-day debate.
"I hope Singaporeans will continue to give us your feedback to allow us to improve our policies and Singaporeans' lives."
A senior government official declined to comment on the issues surrounding the white paper.
"NOT A DIALOGUE"
The PAP holds 80 of 87 elected seats in parliament and there is little chance it will lose power in the next general election in 2016. The Workers' Party, despite recent gains, has expressed its desire to work constructively with the government.
But gone are the days when political risk was simply not an issue. Stung in 2011 by its worst election showing in history, when 40 percent of voters went against the PAP, the government has become more open in seeking input from citizens and factoring their views into policymaking.
To address the discontent, it has restricted the influx of lower-skilled foreign workers and tried to cool property prices. Steps to encourage parenthood include more spending on housing grants, subsidized childcare and cash gifts for newborns.
But some question if the government is really listening.
"The 6.9 million population plan was an announcement, not a conversation, not debate, not a dialogue," Seth Heng wrote in a Facebook post ahead of Saturday's demonstration.
That sentiment is echoed in online forums and the letters pages of newspapers.
"Do we really need to increase our population by that much?" Chang Wei Meng wrote in a letter to The Straits Times. "What happened to achieving the Swiss standard of living?"
Top factors influencing voters who switched from the PAP in the Punggol East by-election were the cost of living, the government not listening and the affordability of housing, according to a survey by local consultants Blackbox Research.
"If this phenomenon is repeated elsewhere, it could represent a real challenge for the government in the run-up to the next general election," it said.
Goh, the organizer of Saturday's protest whose Facebook page features quotes from U.S. civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and U.S. President John F. Kennedy, expects the PAP to lose 10 to 12 seats in the 2016 election.
The Workers' Party and others are not ready to form a government, he said, but could keep the PAP on its toes.
"They have been in power too long to know what to do to change," Goh said. "We still have faith in the government but we want more opposition voices."
($1=1.2398 Singapore dollars)
(Additional reporting by Kevin Lim and Jion Chun Teo in SINGAPORE; Editing by Jason Szep and Neil Fullick)
bethenny frankel sacramento kings alex jones the bachelor Google Docs Huell Howser Justin Bieber Smoking Weed
The Press Publications' 28th Annual Wedding Expo?will be held?tomorrow (Sunday Feb. 17th, 2013)?at the Best Western White Bear Country Inn from 11-3pm.? Once again we will?be participating and we hope to meet lots of local?couples who are in the midst of their wedding planning.??With over 40 vendors, catering samples and?door prizes, we hope you'll help us to spread the word about this great event.?
I thought it only fitting to continue the "Best of" series with a few fun?engagement sessions that?we photographed this?past year.??One of the great perks of my job is that it is never the same!? The photos you see below have such different scenery and weather, but the same fun, and loving tone.? It is our pleasure to capture?the?unique relationships that exist between the couples we work with?and we thrive on doing so in a very natural way.?
To see more of the individual engamement sessions, please browse through our blog and look for the titles listed below.?
Minneapolis Guthrie Theater | Engagement SessionSt. Paul | Rice Park Engagement
Interstate Park | Engagement Session
Source: http://wilsonwhitakerphoto.blogspot.com/2013/02/best-of-2012-engagements.html
Psy fergie minnesota vikings looper New Years Eve new years washington redskins
