comely personalize: May 2013

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Easier travel ahead for Conn. commuters

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) ? Commuters facing long delays after a train collision disrupted their route along Connecticut's shoreline can look forward to easier traveling.

Rail service from Connecticut to New York City, along with Amtrak service between Boston and New York, was expected to resume by Wednesday morning's rush hour on one of the nation's oldest and most heavily traveled roadways.

Connecticut lawmakers plan hearings on the crash on the rail network they say is in need of extensive improvements.

Members of the General Assembly's Transportation Committee said they have been briefed by state transportation officials over the years about the hefty investment Connecticut needs to make to fully upgrade the commuter rail line, including a couple of 100-year-old bridges that need to be replaced.

"It's like anything else, you know," said Rep. Tony Guerrera, co-chairman of the committee. "You can have a brand-new car and it runs great, but if the roads are awful, with potholes going up and down, what good is it?"

The Metro-North crash at rush hour Friday evening injured 72 people, including one who remained in critical condition Monday. It snarled commutes for roughly 30,000 people who normally use the train, forcing travelers to navigate a patchwork of cars, trains and buses.

For Gary Maddin, the drive from his home in Milford, Conn., to the Bridgeport train station normally takes 20 minutes. On Monday, it took an hour. Then he had a shuttle bus and a train ride before he got to his destination, Grand Central Terminal in New York.

"It's a lot," he said. "It's a nightmare just to get into the city today."

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said resumption of rail service is "tremendously good news."

Some commuters used a jury-rigged alternative that is to continue Tuesday: A shuttle train ran between New Haven and Bridgeport, where a bus connection to Stamford circumvented the accident scene, and finally customers boarded a train for New York.

Others drove themselves, and state officials nervously watched heavy traffic on two major arteries in southwest Connecticut, Interstate 95 and the Merritt Parkway.

But transportation officials were pleased that area highways were not as choked as they feared, Malloy said. He said commuters heeded his warning over the weekend about the prospect of highways becoming parking lots if all 30,000 of the usual train riders drove instead.

"Today went exceedingly well," the governor said. "People listened to us. Many people stayed home or worked from home."

Backups on the Merritt Parkway, a secondary route through Connecticut, were less than on an average Monday, and I-95 was only slightly more jammed than usual because of fog, he said.

Crews have worked around the clock since Saturday, and track rebuilding has progressed quickly, officials with the Metro-North railroad said.

Federal investigators arrived Saturday and were expected to be on site for seven to 10 days. They are looking at a broken section of rail to see if it is connected to the derailment and collision. Officials said it wasn't clear whether the rail was broken in the crash or earlier.

The last major collision involving Metro-North occurred in 1988 when a train engineer was killed in Mount Vernon, N.Y., when one train empty of passengers rear-ended another, railroad officials said.

____

Associated Press writers Susan Haigh and Stephen Singer in Hartford contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/easier-travel-ahead-conn-commuters-062509060.html

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Solar industry pushes for more use in Ga.

ATLANTA (AP) -- The solar industry in Georgia is pushing a power monopoly to expand its use of solar energy as it plans to meet the state's electricity needs over the next two decades.

State utility regulators heard testimony Tuesday on the energy plans from Southern Co. subsidiary Georgia Power, which must submit new plans every three years. Advocates for the state's solar power industry and tea party leaders fault Georgia Power for not including new forms of solar energy in its planning.

"We think solar is the way to go," Debbie Dooley, a coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots, told the elected members of the Public Service Commission. "The sun is free, it's there. Understand Georgia Power is not being as aggressive on solar power and solar energy as they should be because they're trying to protect their monopoly."

The utility is currently building two nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle, southeast of Augusta. It also is retiring 15 fossil fuel plants viewed as economically obsolete, in some cases because it would be too expensive to equip them to comply with more stringent environmental rules. After rolling out a new program, Georgia Power officials expect they will have agreements to buy 270 megawatts of solar energy in the state.

But the electric utility remains cautious on a more widespread use of renewable energy, an attitude that extends to the company's top leaders. Southern Co. CEO Tom Fanning has repeatedly said he views renewable energy as a niche energy source, not a main source.

A consultant for the Georgia Solar Energy Industries Association, Karl Rabago, said traditional utilities historically underestimate the value of solar power systems. In Georgia, electric monopolies are guaranteed a profit under law when they spend money to build, maintain and run the infrastructure that creates electricity. A significant expansion of solar power could threaten that business model.

"These projects, if successful, tend to maximize profits at the expense of the lowest cost for customers," Rabago said in written testimony, referring to traditional power plants.

While the utility does use solar energy, its programs are limited.

"Despite the economic benefit, the company's plan apparently proposes to cap renewables at current levels ? which are very small," Rabago said.

Robert Green, the president and CEO of Georgia Solar Utilities, which tried unsuccessfully to start a solar utility, asked regulators to force Georgia Power to add 500 megawatts of solar capacity to its system.

Georgia Power's plan, "which proposes no new solar capacity for the next 20 years, harms ratepayers and the people of Georgia by ignoring the new realities of solar energy in our state," Green said in written testimony.

___

Follow Ray Henry on Twitter: http://twitter.com/rhenryAP.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/solar-industry-pushes-more-ga-172619203.html

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Apple 'tax gimmicks': rotten to the core or sensible business?

Two senators on Tuesday plan to grill Apple CEO Tim Cook about the company's tax practices, which they say cheat the US out of billions of dollars. Apple says it's playing within the rules.

By David Grant,?Staff writer / May 20, 2013

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during an event to announce new products in San Jose, Calif., in this Oct. 23, 2012, file photo. On Tuesday, he faces a Senate panel more interested in Apple's success at tax avoidance.

Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP/File

Enlarge

?While technology giants like Apple are esteemed by the public for their role as innovative engines of America?s economy, two influential senators will grill the tech giant Tuesday for what they see as a less sterling part of its resume: tax avoidance.

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Sens. Carl Levin (D) of Michigan and John McCain (R) of Arizona will put Apple CEO Tim Cook to a congressional roasting before their Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, alleging that the company shielded as much as $10 billion in profits per year through creative accounting measures which, while legal, violate the spirit of American tax law.

Apple?s tax moves are ?right at the top of the list of creative tax gimmicks,? Senator Levin told reporters Monday. ?I had never seen anything like this, and we don?t know anybody who has seen anything like this.?

Apple isn?t alone in drawing the committee?s ire: Last year, fellow tech titans Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard were the focus of another hearing on tax avoidance strategies. Apple holds some $100 billion in cash overseas.

The inquiry cuts right to the heart of several brewing debates in Washington. First are questions of equity in the tax system, where lawmakers find it hard to explain why a US-based company like Apple can negotiate a special 2 percent tax rate with Ireland for a chunk of its foreign profits, for example.

That question of tax fairness is of particular importance in today?s tight fiscal times, with lawmakers straining for ways to find new revenues in politically palatable ways or reduce spending without cutting into core government functions from military spending to the social safety net.

In the long run, the issue of how the nation should structure corporate taxation is a key piece of America?s global competitiveness, an issue often raised by tax reformers like Sen. Max Baucus (D) of Montana and Rep. Dave Camp (R) of Michigan, the chairs of the tax-writing committees in the Senate and House. They want to close tax deductions and lower tax rates for both individuals and corporations ? and shift most corporate profits earned abroad into a lower tax threshold than the 35 percent rate that hits many private sector bottom lines today.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/nii7UozMF_M/Apple-tax-gimmicks-rotten-to-the-core-or-sensible-business

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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

The Next Xbox: Everything We Think We Know

We're finding out about the new Xbox in just a few hours. But that doesn't mean we have no idea what's coming. Here's a rundown of everything we know, or think we know, about the next Xbox.

The mammoth's lament: How cosmic impact sparked devastating climate change

May 20, 2013 ? Herds of wooly mammoths once shook Earth beneath their feet, sending humans scurrying across the landscape of prehistoric Ohio. But then something much larger shook Earth itself, and at that point these mega mammals' days were numbered.

Something -- global-scale combustion caused by a comet scraping our planet's atmosphere or a meteorite slamming into its surface -- scorched the air, melted bedrock and altered the course of Earth's history. Exactly what it was is unclear, but this event jump-started what Kenneth Tankersley, an assistant professor of anthropology and geology at the University of Cincinnati, calls the last gasp of the last ice age.

"Imagine living in a time when you look outside and there are elephants walking around in Cincinnati," Tankersley says. "But by the time you're at the end of your years, there are no more elephants. It happens within your lifetime."

Tankersley explains what he and a team of international researchers found may have caused this catastrophic event in Earth's history in their research, "Evidence for Deposition of 10 Million Tonnes of Impact Spherules Across Four Continents 12,800 Years Ago," which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

This research might indicate that it wasn't the cosmic collision that extinguished the mammoths and other species, Tankersley says, but the drastic change to their environment.

"The climate changed rapidly and profoundly. And coinciding with this very rapid global climate change was mass extinctions."

Putting a Finger On the End of the Ice Age

Tankersley is an archaeological geologist. He uses geological techniques, in the field and laboratory, to solve archaeological questions. He's found a treasure trove of answers to some of those questions in Sheriden Cave in Wyandot County, Ohio. It's in that spot, 100 feet below the surface, where Tankersley has been studying geological layers that date to the Younger Dryas time period, about 13,000 years ago.

About 12,000 years before the Younger Dryas, Earth was at the Last Glacial Maximum -- the peak of the Ice Age. Millennia passed, and the climate began to warm. Then something happened that caused temperatures to suddenly reverse course, bringing about a century's worth of near-glacial climate that marked the start of the geologically brief Younger Dryas.

There are only about 20 archaeological sites in the world that date to this time period and only 12 in the United States -- including Sheriden Cave.

"There aren't many places on the planet where you can actually put your finger on the end of the last ice age, and Sheriden Cave is one of those rare places where you can do that," Tankersley says.

Rock-Solid Evidence of Cosmic Calamity

In studying this layer, Tankersley found ample evidence to support the theory that something came close enough to Earth to melt rock and produce other interesting geological phenomena. Foremost among the findings were carbon spherules. These tiny bits of carbon are formed when substances are burned at very high temperatures. The spherules exhibit characteristics that indicate their origin, whether that's from burning coal, lightning strikes, forest fires or something more extreme. Tankersley says the ones in his study could only have been formed from the combustion of rock.

The spherules also were found at 17 other sites across four continents -- an estimated 10 million metric tons' worth -- further supporting the idea that whatever changed Earth did so on a massive scale. It's unlikely that a wildfire or thunderstorm would leave a geological calling card that immense -- covering about 50 million square kilometers.

"We know something came close enough to Earth and it was hot enough that it melted rock -- that's what these carbon spherules are. In order to create this type of evidence that we see around the world, it was big," Tankersley says, contrasting the effects of an event so massive with the 1883 volcanic explosion on Krakatoa in Indonesia. "When Krakatoa blew its stack, Cincinnati had no summer. Imagine winter all year-round. That's just one little volcano blowing its top."

Other important findings include:

Micrometeorites: smaller pieces of meteorites or particles of cosmic dust that have made contact with Earth's surface.
Nanodiamonds: microscopic diamonds formed when a carbon source is subjected to an extreme impact, often found in meteorite craters.
Lonsdaleite: a rare type of diamond, also called a hexagonal diamond, only found in non-terrestrial areas such as meteorite craters.

Three Choices at the Crossroads of Oblivion

Tankersley says while the cosmic strike had an immediate and deadly effect, the long-term side effects were far more devastating -- similar to Krakatoa's aftermath but many times worse -- making it unique in modern human history.

In the cataclysm's wake, toxic gas poisoned the air and clouded the sky, causing temperatures to plummet. The roiling climate challenged the existence of plant and animal populations, and it produced what Tankersley has classified as "winners" and "losers" of the Younger Dryas. He says inhabitants of this time period had three choices: relocate to another environment where they could make a similar living; downsize or adjust their way of living to fit the current surroundings; or swiftly go extinct. "Winners" chose one of the first two options while "losers," such as the wooly mammoth, took the last.

"Whatever this was, it did not cause the extinctions," Tankersley says. "Rather, this likely caused climate change. And climate change forced this scenario: You can move, downsize or you can go extinct."

Humans at the time were just as resourceful and intelligent as we are today. If you transported a teenager from 13,000 years ago into the 21st century and gave her jeans, a T-shirt and a Facebook account, she'd blend right in on any college campus. Back in the Younger Dryas, with mammoth off the dinner table, humans were forced to adapt -- which they did to great success.

Weather Report: Cloudy With a Chance of Extinction

That lesson in survivability is one that Tankersley applies to humankind today.

"Whether we want to admit it or not, we're living right now in a period of very rapid and profound global climate change. We're also living in a time of mass extinction," Tankersley says. "So I would argue that a lot of the lessons for surviving climate change are actually in the past."

He says it's important to consider a sustainable livelihood. Humans of the Younger Dryas were hunter-gatherers. When catastrophe struck, these humans found news ways and new places to hunt game and gather wild plants. Evidence found in Sheriden Cave shows that most of the plants and animals living there also endured. Of the 70 species known to have lived there before the Younger Dryas, 68 were found there afterward. The two that didn't make it were the giant beaver and the flat-headed peccary, a sharp-toothed pig the size of a black bear.

Tankersley also cautions that the possibility of another massive cosmic event should not be ignored. Like earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes, these types of natural disasters do happen, and as history has shown, it can be to devastating effect.

"One additional catastrophic change that we often fail to think about -- and it's beyond our control -- is something from outer space," Tankersley says. "It's a reminder of how fragile we are. Imagine an explosion that happened today that went across four continents. The human species would go on. But it would be different. It would be a game changer."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/CrKBzcGWijc/130520185524.htm

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Obama Signs Oklahoma Disaster Declaration

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama has declared a major disaster in Oklahoma as the state recovers from a massive tornado that ripped through the Oklahoma City suburbs Monday, killing dozens and flattening entire neighborhoods.

Obama has ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts. Individuals and business owners affected by the disaster may apply for federal grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs.

The president promised federal assistance in a phone conversation earlier Monday with Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (FAL'-ihn). The Federal Emergency Management Agency has sent a special team to Oklahoma's emergency operations center to help out and dispatch resources.

Below, the full declaration from The White House:

The President today declared a major disaster exists in the State of Oklahoma and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area affected by severe storms and tornadoes beginning on May 18, 2013, and continuing.
The President's action makes federal funding available to affected individuals in the counties of Cleveland, Lincoln, McClain, Oklahoma, and Pottawatomie.

Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.

Federal funding also is available to state and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work in the counties of Cleveland, Lincoln, McClain, Oklahoma, and Pottawatomie.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.

W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Sandy Coachman as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area.

FEMA said that damage surveys are continuing in other areas, and more counties and additional forms of assistance may be designated after the assessments are fully completed.

FEMA said that residents and business owners who sustained losses in the designated counties may apply for assistance by registering online at http://www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 1-800-621-FEMA(3362) or 1-800-462-7585 (TTY) for the hearing and speech impaired. The toll-free telephone numbers will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (local time) seven days a week until further notice.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/21/obama-oklahoma-disaster-declaration_n_3310234.html

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Internet Promotion For A Successful Business Venture ? Nuhitz ...

Because it is so important for business owners to be advertising on the internet, internet marketing is a wise thing to learn. In this article, you will learn the basics of Internet marketing that will allow you to invent some marketing methods of your own.

The links that are visible on each page of your website are referred to as site wide links. They are often placed on the bottom of a page. Site wide links are good to have in your main page for everyone to see, like a pre-sell or order page. To get to these key links, visitors merely have to glance at the bottom of the page and click the appropriate link. A menu is the best way to direct customers to your website. A description of every page listed in the menu should be included and structured in a logical way.

Make sure you add meta tags to your HTML code; they are vital. Even though people who view your site will not be able to see the meta tags, search engines use them so that the subject of your site is clear. Make good use of the first meta tags you include, as they are the most important. Your tags should accurately describe the content that can be found on your site. While meta tags are important, it is vital to remember two things. First, do not use too many of them. Second, utilize different tags for each individual page of your website. Do some research to find keywords that are most relevant to your demographic regarding your products and services.

If you need to mark text as important, try using HTML tags. The most important text is the most likely to be emphasized with bold font. Titles should carry the bold tag, as should particularly important paragraphs or sentences in the main content area. You should tag the main title and use sub-lines for the different sections of text. Following these tips will maximize your SEO results, as well as make the webpage more user friendly. Your titles should include important keywords so search engines and potential buyers can determine the primary content of the page.

Be sure to look for other ways in which you can use the Internet to market your goods. Sticking to what works best is good, but there are always new and better ideas out there. Trends can spread like wildfire, and if you jump on board, your sales can soar while the trend spreads. There is no easy method on how to know what will be an internet hit, but if you use creative and unique content, something will surely work. Watch the most popular videos on sites like YouTube and Reddit. These sites can give you an idea of which concepts are most effective.

This article has addressed only a few of the many internet marketing strategies that exist. After you have implemented the techniques in this article, continue searching for more to improve your new internet marketing campaign.

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Source: http://www.nuhitz.com/blog/40399/internet-promotion-for-a-successful-business-venture/

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Monday, May 20, 2013

If they could turn back time? (for our Canadian readers) (Unqualified Offerings)

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Chinese premier visits India to boost ties

NEW DELHI (AP) -- Just weeks after a tense border standoff, China's new premier visited India on Sunday on his first foreign trip as the neighboring giants look to speed up efforts to settle a decades-old boundary dispute and boost economic ties.

Premier Li Keqiang met with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the two leaders emphasized that efforts should be made to resolve the border dispute between the two countries which led to a bloody war in 1962, India's External Affairs Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said.

The two leaders also underscored the need for maintaining peace and tranquility along the de facto border pending resolution of the boundary issue, Akbaruddin said.

In a written statement on his arrival in the Indian capital, Li said China regarded India as an important partner and friend and expressed the hope that his visit would inject new vigor into their cooperative partnership, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.

Li said both China and India were speeding up their development and making steady efforts to boost their economy and improve people's lives.

The statement said the major markets of India and China could complement each other and fulfill the need for common development with win-win results, PTI reported.

China says Li's choice of India for his first trip abroad since taking office in March shows the importance Beijing attaches to improving relations with New Delhi.

"We think very highly of this gesture because it is our view that high-level political exchanges between our two countries are an important aspect and vehicle for our expanded cooperation," said Akbaruddin.

Jasjit Singh, a defense analyst and director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in New Delhi, said last month's border standoff was unlikely to overshadow Li's three-day visit, the first stop of a foreign tour that also includes Pakistan, Switzerland and Germany.

Singh said Indian and Chinese leaders are likely to review border talks that have failed to produce a breakthrough despite 15 rounds of discussions over the past 10 years. The two sides also will probably discuss working together in Afghanistan after next year's U.S. pullout and cooperation with Southeast Asian countries, he said.

But tensions run high between the two nations. China already sees itself as Asia's great power, while India hopes its increasing economic and military might ? though still far below its neighbor's ? will eventually put it in the same league.

While China has worked to shore up relationships with Nepal and Sri Lanka in India's traditional South Asian sphere of influence, India has been venturing into partnerships with Southeast Asian nations.

Other irritants remain in the bilateral relationship. China is a longtime ally and weapons supplier to Pakistan, India's bitter rival. Also, the presence in India of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and the self-declared Tibetan government-in-exile are a source of tension. China accuses the Dalai Lama of wanting to split Tibet off from the rest of China, but he says he seeks more autonomy for Tibetans, not independence.

Unresolved border issues between the two nations have flared as well.

In last month's incident, India said Chinese troops crossed the countries' de facto border on April 15 and pitched camp in the Depsang valley in the Ladakh region of eastern Kashmir. New Delhi responded with diplomatic protests and then moved its soldiers just 300 meters (yards) from the Chinese position.

The two sides negotiated a peaceful end to the standoff by withdrawing troops to their original positions in the Ladakh area.

Gautam Bambawale, a senior external affairs ministry official, said Saturday that India and China are negotiating a Border Defense Cooperation Agreement, but declined to give details. Indian media reports said the agreement proposes a freezing of troop levels in the disputed border region as the two countries make efforts to settle the issue.

Bambawale also said Indian and Chinese officials recently held talks in Beijing on the future of Afghanistan. China, India and Russia have discussed the matter trilaterally with the idea of giving full support to Afghanistan's government as it makes the transition following the withdrawal of U.S. forces in 2014.

Later Sunday, Li was to attend a dinner hosted by Singh.

Delegation-level talks between the two sides are scheduled for Monday. Li is to attend a business summit in Mumbai, India's financial capital, among other activities.

The border spat last month prompted the Indian opposition and media to pressure the government to take on China and call off Li's visit. The government, however, chose to go ahead with the trip, highlighting its policy of trying to widen areas of cooperation with China while attempting to resolve key differences.

China has become India's biggest trading partner, with two-way trade jumping from $5 billion in 2002 to nearly $75 billion in 2011, although that figure declined to $61.5 billion last year because of the global economic downturn. Trade remains heavily skewed in China's favor, another source of concern for India.

India and China have had chilly relations since they fought a brief but bloody border war in 1962.

India says China is occupying 38,000 square kilometers (15,000 square miles) of its territory in the Aksai Chin plateau in the western Himalayas, while China claims around 90,000 square kilometers (35,000 square miles) in India's northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.

Dorjee Tseten, director of Students for a Free Tibet, said Sunday that New Delhi police had declined permission for Tibetans to hold a demonstration against Li's visit.

"Tibetan activists are currently on the run evading imminent police arrest," he said in a statement, complaining of a heavy police presence in a New Delhi area where a large number of Tibetans-in-exile live.

Police overpowered and detained a Tibetan man as he tried to burn the Chinese flag near China's embassy in the Indian capital.

Police, however, allowed about two dozen members of Shiv Sena, a Hindu right-wing political party, to demonstrate near India's Parliament, where they burned an effigy of the Chinese premier.

"Go back, go back," chanted the protesters, who also carried placards urging the Indian government to respond toughly to China's alleged border incursion. The powerful regional party held power in Mumbai from 1995 to 2000.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chinese-premier-visits-india-boost-101951619.html

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Obama Aide Chides GOP for 'Fishing' (WSJ)

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Metro-North: Conn. train outage expected for days

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) ? Tens of thousands of commuters are bracing for a difficult trip around southwest Connecticut and to New York City beginning Monday as workers repair the Metro-North commuter rail line crippled by a derailment and crash.

Crews will spend days rebuilding 2,000 feet of track, overhead wires and signals following the collision between two trains Friday evening that injured 72 people, Metro-North President Howard Permut said Sunday. Nine remained hospitalized.

"This amounts to the wholesale reconstruction of a two-track electrified railroad," he said.

Several days of around-the-clock work will be required, including inspections and testing of the newly rebuilt system, Permut said. The damaged rail cars were removed from the tracks on Sunday, the first step toward making the repairs.

Service disruptions on the New Haven line between South Norwalk and New Haven are expected to continue "well into the coming week," Permut said.

Each day, approximately 30,000 Metro-North customers use the stations where service has been shut down, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates Metro-North.

Amtrak service between New York and New Haven also was suspended, and there was no estimate on service restoration. Limited service was available between New Haven and Boston.

Jim Cameron, chairman of the Connecticut Rail Commuter Council, said he's asked officials in numerous towns to suspend parking rules to accommodate what could be tens of thousands of motorists driving to unaffected train stations. Twelve stations are affected by the shutdown.

Starting with the Monday morning rush-hour, a shuttle train will operate about every 20 minutes between New Haven and Bridgeport and two shuttle buses will run between Bridgeport and Stamford stations, state transportation officials said.

For morning and evening peak commutes, limited train service will operate between Grand Central Terminal and Westport.

State officials say travel times will be significantly longer than normal and trains will be crowded. Commuters are advised to use the Harlem line in New York.

Cameron said he doubts many commuters will use three modes of transportation to get to work: driving their cars to catch a bus to get to a train station for the final leg.

Commuters will more likely rely on their cars, leading to massive traffic problems on highways that are already clogged on normal days, Cameron said. He suggested that local and regional officials post highway signs directing motorists to available parking so motorists "don't get off the highway and drive in circles looking for where to dump their cars."

About 700 people were on board the trains Friday evening when one heading east from New York City's Grand Central Terminal to New Haven derailed just outside Bridgeport. It was hit by a train heading west from New Haven.

Dan Solomon, a trauma surgeon who lives in Westport and was headed to work at Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, was on the train that derailed. He said he treated several injured passengers, including a woman with severely broken ankles.

He said he was in a front car that was not as badly affected as cars in the rear of the train.

"I hardly lost my iced tea," Solomon said in an interview.

He said walls were torn off both trains and he quickly checked injured passengers to separate the most badly injured from others.

"When the EMS arrived, I was covered in everyone's blood," he said.

Investigators are looking at a broken section of rail to see if it is connected to the derailment and collision.

NTSB investigators arrived Saturday and are expected to be on site for seven to 10 days. They will look at the brakes and performance of the trains, the condition of the tracks, crew performance and train signal information, among other things.

The MTA operates the Metro-North Railroad, the second-largest commuter railroad in the nation. The Metro-North main lines ? the Hudson, Harlem, and New Haven ? run northward from New York City's Grand Central Terminal into suburban New York and Connecticut.

The last significant train collision involving Metro-North occurred in 1988 when a train engineer was killed in Mount Vernon, N.Y., when one train empty of passengers rear-ended another, railroad officials said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/metro-north-conn-train-outage-expected-days-164538940.html

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It's (Mostly) Official: Yahoo Buying Tumblr Youth Serum for $1.1B

Cash! The WSJ says "the Yahoo board has approved a deal" to make this happen, and it's hard to imagine Tumblr turning this down. One of the most unpopular companies in the world will soon own one of the most popular in history, and we'll all find out if you really can buy cool.

A billion dollars for a company with a massive, young, ad-averse, GIF-swapping user base and an open disdain for revenue?Yahoo's shareholders are probably a little puzzled, if they aren't prima facie dazzled by how often Tumblr is characterized as "cool" and "young"?that demographic elixer Yahoo will now try to vampire-suck out of Tumblr. Cool, cool, cool, young, young, so young.

Tumblr's investors won't be so dazzled, as they were hoping for a hell of a lot more than a billion dollars. Then again, these same investors poured millions into a company that, as mentioned, never made making money a priority?Tumblr should consider itself lucky to have this deus ex Marissa Mayer, the ultimate bail-out.

So, it's not ideal for either party, but that's Yahoo in 2013. It's a little sad and a little confusing, but the two deserve each other?and as AllThingsD's Kara Swisher reports, "There were no other competing bids." This is the internet acquisition equivalent of two tired, slightly desperate lovers exchanging leers from opposite sides of the bar, shrugging, and going home together. This is a Sure, why not, deal.

Still, no clues for the following questions:

A) What is Yahoo going to do with Tumblr in a way that justifies that giant price tag?

B) Will Tumblr have to start making money now?

C) What will Yahoo do with all of the porn and cutting?

D) Is this the end of the road for unpopular boy king David Karp, who for the first time in his career will have to be accountable to grownups? If not now, then perhaps soon?we've heard nothing good of him from inside Tumblr. He's been alienating his peers for years, gaining distrust instead of revenue, and earning a reputation as a startup headache. Of course, at the very same time, Karp was constructing one of the most beloved services on the internet?but these managerial quirks don't go down well with the WWW old guard.

We'll be at Yahoo's Manhattan announcement on Monday, but don't expect any big answers to the above?we don't suspect Yahoo even has them. The last we heard, Tumblr's employees will be called to hastily scheduled meetings Monday morning?rooms filled with dread and relief.

Source: http://valleywag.gawker.com/its-mostly-official-yahoo-buying-tumblr-for-1-1-bill-508716117

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Sunday, May 19, 2013

'Hatchet hitchhiker' gets handcuffs with his Starbucks

ELIZABETH, N.J. (AP) ? Two cups of coffee ended life on the run for an Internet sensation known as Kai the hatchet-wielding hitchhiker.

An employee at a Starbucks in Philadelphia is credited with recognizing 24-year-old Caleb "Kai" McGillvary, whose fledgling celebrity took a turn toward notoriety when authorities announced this week that he was wanted in the beating death of a New Jersey lawyer three times his age.

The unlikely pair met amid the neon lights of New York City's Times Square over the weekend and headed back to the squat brick home of 73-year-old Joseph Galfy Jr. on a quiet cul-de-sac in suburban Clark, N.J., authorities say. On Monday, Galfy was found beaten to death in his bedroom, wearing only his socks and underwear. McGillvary was arrested Thursday shortly after leaving the Starbucks and charged with killing Galfy.

McGillvary gained a measure of fame in February after intervening in an attack on a California utility worker. In an interview viewed millions of times online, he described using a hatchet he was carrying to repeatedly hit a man who had struck a worker with his car, fending off a further attack, and thus became known as "Kai the hatchet-wielding hitchhiker."

Galfy's funeral was held Friday in a small stone chapel in Warren, N.J. He was buried in East Hanover.

Galfy was an "excellent land use attorney," said friend Robert Ellenport. He said Galfy loved to travel and was a fan of the New York Giants and the Seton Hall University basketball team. Galfy would fly to warmer climes to watch Seton Hall play its first games of the season and was urging Ellenport and his partner to travel to Bali, one of Galfy's favorite vacation spots.

Galfy was a respected lawyer who in recent years handled land use and domestic violence cases, according to Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow, whose office is prosecuting McGillvary. The two knew each other through legal circles.

"He was just a nice man, a gentle man, well-regarded in the community," Romankow said.

In addition to his law practice, Galfy was the attorney for the planning board in Green Brook, N.J., and played drums in a wedding band.

Authorities said McGillvary was arrested Thursday evening after he walked into a Starbucks near a bus station in downtown Philadelphia and ordered two coffees. The woman who served McGillvary recognized him and alerted her manager, who called the police.

McGillvary took off before police arrived, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said, and without his coffee. But an officer went to a nearby bus terminal and found McGillvary, who was arrested there.

"He wasn't lying low," Romankow said. "He was out there."

McGillvary was being held on $3 million bail and awaited extradition Friday on charges in Galfy's killing. It's not clear whether McGillvary has a lawyer. The public defender's office in Philadelphia had no record of him.

Romankow said that McGillvary, who said in his TV appearance he prefers to be called "home-free" instead of homeless, traded on his newfound prominence to meet fans across the country.

Those fans include Terry Ratliff, 32, of Kingsland, Ga., who said he spoke to McGillvary a few times recently about working on music with him. Ratliff said he made about $70 from a YouTube video featuring McGillvary and sent him $34 on May 8. Ratliff said McGillvary was in New York at the time.

The two haven't met, but Ratliff started a fund for McGillvary's legal defense. So far it has only raised $66.

"If he is telling the truth, then maybe better legal representation will help get that truth out," Ratliff said.

McGillvary has made statements before, though, that don't add up.

He has said he is from Sophia, W.Va., but Mayor Danny Barr said Friday that he and the fire chief know everyone in the town of 1,334, have never heard of him and found nothing about him in town records.

McGillvary also wrote statements on Facebook following Galfy's death that were "sexual in nature," Romankow said, and noted that they could have been self-serving.

McGillvary's last post, dated Tuesday, asks "what would you do?" if you awoke in a stranger's house and found you'd been drugged and sexually assaulted. One commenter suggests hitting him with a hatchet, and McGillvary's final comment on the post says, "I like your idea."

It was a hatchet that helped give McGillvary a brief taste of fame in February when he gave a rambling, profanity-laced interview to a Fresno, Calif., television station about thwarting an unprovoked attack on a Pacific Gas & Electric employee. The interview went viral, with one version viewed more than 3.9 million times on YouTube. McGillvary later traveled to Los Angeles to appear on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"

Noting that his photo had been all over, Ramsey said it apparently wasn't difficult to recognize McGillvary.

"Being on YouTube too much," the police commissioner said, "is not always a good thing."

___

Associated Press writers Kathy Matheson in Philadelphia; Vicki Smith in Morgantown, W.Va.; and Rema Rahman in Trenton, N.J., contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pa-coffee-run-leads-hatchet-hitchhiker-arrest-171038273.html

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Ice wave comes ashore in Minnesota

Ice wave comes ashore: High winds on a Minnesota lake have pushed a wave of ice right into people's front yards.?

By Associated Press / May 13, 2013

Amateur video captures a wave of ice blanketing backyards and threatening houses in the Mille Lacs Lake area of Minnesota. (May 12)

?Strong winds have pushed huge?ice?sheets ashore at a northern?Minnesota?lake and right up to people's doorsteps.

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WCCO-TV reports that the?ice?from Lake Mille Lacs reached the doors and windows at the Izatys Resort on Saturday morning.

National Weather Service Meteorologist Shawn Devinny says 30 to 40 mile an hour winds pushed the water into the?ice, driving it ashore. He says the winds were lighter Sunday and the shoreline got a reprieve.

The Department of Natural Resources says about 10 miles of shoreline are covered, with some reaching up to 30 feet high.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/IQ4OImlixmE/Ice-wave-comes-ashore-in-Minnesota

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Weekend Reading: The DH Summer Edition - ProfHacker - The ...

Big_Summer_Sky The semester is over! Grades have been turned in, the weather is beautiful, possibilities are endless. It?s the perfect time to think about beginning summer projects, and to read up on the digital humanities,?one of our favorite fields at ProfHacker.?My links in this week?s Weekend Reading focus on some interesting developments in race, ethnicity and literary studies within the digital humanities, social media, and some literary inspiration for beginning your new summer project.

In ?Famous Authors? Handwritten Outlines for Great Works of Literature,??Emily Temple gives her readers some inspiration in showing you how famous authors planned out their novels (which may inspire you to check out Amy Cavendar?s review of Scapple,?a terrific new mindmapping app): ?Writing a novel (or a story, for that matter) is confusing work. There are just so many characters running all over the place, dropping hints and having revelations. So it?s no surprise that many authors plan out their works beforehand, in chart or list or scribble form, in order to keep everything straight. After the jump, you?ll find a mini collection of those planning papers, so you can take a peek into the process of some of your favorite authors, from James Salter to J.K. Rowling.?

Last weekend,?Roopika Risam and I hosted an Open Thread on Postcolonial Digital Humanities (#DHPoco) asking a question inspired by Martha Nell Smith, the founding Director of MITH: ?Has the Digital Humanities been a Historical Refuge from Race/Class/Gender/Disability??: ?In 2007, Martha Nell Smith observed: ?When I first started attending humanities computing conferences in the?mid-1990s, I was struck by how many of the presentations remarked, either explicitly?or implicitly, that concerns that had taken over so much academic?work in literature?of gender, race, class, sexuality?were irrelevant to humanities?computing. [?]? Scientific matters of mathematics?and computation, objective and hard, do not seem to be subject to the concerns?of gender, race, or sexuality. 2 + 2, so the reasoning goes, always equals?4, whether you are black, a woman, a queer, a straight, or whatever. HTML,?SGML, XML?the codes that make words and images, texts, processable?and TEI conformancy are supposedly gender-, race-, class-neutral.?The codes?always work, and the principles always apply, whatever one?s personal identity?or social group (or so many seemed to believe).? In your view, how much of this has changed since Smith?s article was published, if anything?? The thread has now generated over 150 comments, which some people have indicated is overwhelming.?New readers may thus find our latest lighthearted summary of the thread useful. You are welcome to edit and contribute to the summary by editing the embedded Google document.

Introducing peer-reviewed research on Facebook! TechCrunch?s Josh Costine?tells us, ?If subjects like ?XORing Elephants: Novel Erasure Codes for Big Data? get you all worked up, you?ll dig the??Research Publications At Facebook? site, which collects scientific papers written by Facebook employees and researchers. Ranging from hardcore engineering to the sociology of social networks, the library puts Facebook?s open-sourced knowledge all in one place.?

Launching next week: What Jane Saw, a very interesting digital recreation of Jane Austen?s view of an 1813 art exhibit at the British Institution in Pall Mall, London: ?On 24 May 2013, two centuries to the day that Austen viewed the 141 paintings in that exhibit, this site will open its doors as a public e-gallery, offering the modern visitor a precise historical reconstruction of that long-lost Regency blockbuster.?

It?s been twenty years since Paul Gilroy published his seminal The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness, a book which has expanded American studies to Atlantic Ocean studies, particularly with reference to the African Diaspora. Africa in Words is running a series of posts on the book. Check out Nara Improta?s first post, which offers a useful summary and contextualization of the book and its impact: ?For Gilroy, the common experience of the Black Atlantic is based on memory. The Black Atlantic is an articulation of the past, rooted in the suffering and in the way people dealt with pain. And for him, the best form of expression of this suffering was music. However, music was more than just a way of transforming pain into pleasure; it was more than a reaction to oppression. It also included an intellectual message. In this sense, Gilroy argues that music should be studied without placing it in a Hegelian hierarchy in which it is seen as a pure form of expression of the soul. On the contrary, he explains that we should not overlook the intellectuality that is part of this form of art. From the syncopated rhythm to the content of the lyrics, for him, Atlantic black music was an intellectual production and should be studied as such, taking into consideration its complexity and seeking to understand its role in social history.?

Finally instead of a video, here?s a DogHouse Diaries comic from Mashable on how technology has made everything (including world domination) something you now do from your computer:

Mashable-Past-and-Present

Big Summer Sky Image Credit:?Meena Kadri?on Wikimedia Commons

Past and Present Comic Credit: DogHouse Diaries on Mashable

Source: http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/weekend-reading-the-dh-summer-edition/49443

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Assad: Syria transition talks are internal matter

FILE - This Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009 file photo shows Syrian President Bashar Assad, seen, during a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, unseen, at the presidency in Tehran, Iran. Syrian President Bashar Assad says he won't step down before elections are held in his war-ravaged country. The Syrian leader's comments, published Saturday in the Argentine newspaper Clarin, highlight the difficulties the U.S. and Russia face in getting the Assad regime and Syria's political opposition to the table at an international conference envisioned for next month. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

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

BEIRUT (AP) ? Syrian President Bashar Assad said in a newspaper interview Saturday he won't step down before elections and that the United States has no right to interfere in his country's politics, raising new doubts about a U.S-Russian effort to get Assad and his opponents to negotiate an end to the country's civil war.

In the capital Damascus, a car bomb killed at least three people and wounded five, according to Syrian state TV. It said bomb experts dismantled other explosives in the area.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group, said eight people were killed, including four members of the security forces. Discrepancies in death tolls are common in the chaotic aftermath of bombings in Syria.

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

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

In the interview, Assad seemed to play down the importance of such a conference, saying a decision on Syria's future is up to the Syrian people and that the U.S. has no right to interfere. He also said a decision on his political future must be made in elections, and not during such a conference.

"We said from the beginning that any decisions having to do with reform in Syria or any political doing is a local Syrian decision," he said. "Neither the U.S nor any other state is allowed to intervene in it. This issue is dealt with in Syria."

"That's why this possibility is determined by the Syrian people themselves; you go to the elections, you nominate yourself, there's a possibility you win and a possibility you don't," Assad added, hinting he might seek another term.

"This is the possibility. The possibility is not to enter the conference predetermined on something that the people did not determine themselves," he said.

Clarin posted a video of the interview, dubbed into Spanish, on the newspaper's website. The president's Facebook page later posted Arabic subtitles.

The Syrian president's remarks highlight the difficulties the U.S. and Russia face in getting the two sides to agree on the terms of negotiations themselves, let alone brokering a resolution to the civil war itself. The Western-backed Syrian National Coalition has said any transition talks should lead to Assad's ouster.

More than 70,000 people have been killed and several million displaced since the uprising against Assad erupted in March 2011 and escalated into a civil war.

Assad has dismissed those trying to topple him as foreign-backed terrorists. Many in the political opposition say the Syrian president and his inner circle cannot be expected to negotiate in good faith after they brutally suppressed peaceful protests.

In the interview, Assad compared himself to the skipper of a ship riding Syria's turbulent seas, saying "the country is in a crisis and when a ship faces a storm, the captain does not flee."

"The first thing he does is face the storm and guide the ship back to safety," Assad said. "I am not someone who flees from my responsibilities."

Meanwhile, divisions among rebel groups were on display in the country's largest city, Aleppo, where two Islamic militant groups engaged in tit-for--tat kidnappings of each other's fighters.

From the start, Syria's political opposition has been dogged by infighting, while the armed rebel groups have been unable to unite under a unified command.

The tensions in Aleppo involve a coalition of rebel groups known as the Judicial Council and another faction, Ghurabaa al-Sham. The confrontation began earlier this week when the Judicial Council accused the second group of looting factories in an industrial neighborhood of Aleppo.

The city of 3 million is split between rebel and government control.

Members of the two groups clashed in the area earlier this week, leaving four members of the Judicial Council dead, said Rami Abdul-Rahman, the head of the Observatory.

The Judicial Council then seized dozens of members of the rival group and is still holding them, he said. Ghurabaa al-Sham also took hostages from the Judicial Council, but has since released them, according to Aleppo-based activist Mohammed Saeed.

"The situation is very tense in Aleppo," said Abdul-Rahman, who relies on a network of activists around the country. He said Ghurabaa al-Sham has warned it will bring in some of its fighters from outside the city to take on the Judicial Council if its members are not freed.

Islamic militants fighting in the rebel ranks have become increasingly dominant, often taking up frontline positions. They share the objective of setting up an Islamic state, though some are more nationalistic, while others more religious. One of the most powerful of the Islamic groups, Jabhat al-Nusra, is linked to al-Qaida.

Bilal Saab, a political analyst, said infighting among rival Islamic militant factions is inevitable.

"The scene is so polarized and chaotic, it's ripe for competition and positioning now and after the regime falls," said Saab, director of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, North America.

"The Islamist groups have always been the dominant and most capable, but they have never really been operating under one single umbrella," he added.

In another sign of the chaos bred by the civil war, gunmen abducted the elderly father of Syria's deputy foreign minister, Faisal Mekdad, his office said. Mekdad's father, who is in his 80s, was seized Saturday in the village of Ghossom in the southern Daraa province, Mekdad's office said.

The Observatory said regime forces arrested relatives of an alleged suspect in the kidnapping.

Mekdad has become one of the main faces of the regime to the outside world.

___

Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-05-18-Syria/id-f078bd7672e34091a34fb129be1a1a29

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Rockies Pacheco slams Giants in narrow win

By PAT GRAHAM

AP Sports Writer

Associated Press Sports

updated 12:50 a.m. ET May 18, 2013

DENVER (AP) - Jordan Pacheco had his first career grand slam baseball waiting for him on his chair after the game, sealed tightly in a plastic bag.

If only his tiebreaking homer would've sealed the win as tight.

No such luck. Not here at Coors Field, where big leads can shrink oh so rapidly.

Pacheco gave the team a seemingly safe cushion in the fifth, Carlos Gonzalez later added an insurance homer and the Colorado Rockies weathered a late rally by the San Francisco Giants for a 10-9 win on Friday night.

With that, the Rockies snapped a 10-game skid against the Giants.

Sure, it was just one win, but it was a big one for the Rockies' psyche.

"It's obvious we've had some rough history against the Giants," manager Walt Weiss said. "It's just nice to be able to fight back and, in the end, put a game away."

It would be far from easy.

The Giants, who rallied from an early six-run deficit the night before, were on the comeback trail again Friday.

Down five, they made things interesting by scoring three times in the seventh. It could've been more, but Dexter Fowler made a diving catch in center to end the inning.

"Game changer," Weiss said.

After Buster Posey made it a 10-9 game in the eighth with a two-out homer off Matt Belisle, Hunter Pence followed with a double. But Belisle got Brett Pill to ground out and strand Pence.

In the ninth, Rafael Betancourt struck out the side for his 10th save in as many chances.

"That's a tough-guy save right there, because the game was pretty crazy," Weiss said.

Pacheco laced his first homer of the season to left on a hanging slider from Madison Bumgarner (4-2), who failed to protect an early four-run lead.

"Felt good," Pacheco said with a modest shrug.

Fowler had a feeling it might be a big night for Pacheco, who was filling in for Todd Helton at first base. They took early batting practice together and the ball was flying off Pacheco's bat.

"I saw the thump he had," Fowler said. "So that (homer) didn't surprise me."

Jorge De La Rosa (5-3) entered the game without giving up a run at Coors Field in 12 innings. He was hit hard, surrendering five runs in five innings, only to settle down enough to earn the win.

Gonzalez, Troy Tulowitzki and Wilin Rosario - the heart of the Rockies' batting order - finished with a combined six hits, four RBIs and five runs scored. Gonzalez added an insurance run with his homer in the sixth.

"Huge win," Gonzalez said. "This team is tough to beat."

Pablo Sandoval had three hits and drove in two runs for San Francisco, while Marco Scutaro extended his hitting streak to 16 games.

Bumgarner turned in his first clunker against the Rockies in quite a while. He had won six of his last seven starts before struggling on Friday. The lefty allowed a season-high nine runs - seven earned - in just 4 2-3 innings. His ERA climbed nearly a full run to 3.09.

Trying to preserve a one-run lead in the fifth, Bumgarner gave up a game-tying single to Rosario. A walk to D.J. LeMahieu loaded the bases for Pacheco, who sent the first pitch from Bumgarner over the fence.

"That grand slam wasn't too fun," Bumgarner said. "I just wasn't making pitches when I needed to (in order) to get guys."

Pacheco also had an RBI on a grounder in the second.

"Just glad I was able to come through for our team," he said.

The Giants had a frightful night in the field, committing a season-high four errors. Two of those miscues came in the third, when Sandoval had a throwing error to begin the inning and center fielder Angel Pagan later sent a high throw to third base that ended up in the Giants' dugout, allowing Dexter Fowler to trot home. Tulowitzki tied the game at 4 with an RBI single.

"Too many errors, particularly in this ballpark," manager Bruce Bochy said. "They fought back, I'll say that. But we're making way too many errors.

"We've got to tighten things up."

The Giants have made themselves quite comfortable at Coors Field, winning 14 of their last 20 in this hitter's park. Weiss quickly dismissed the notion the Giants have a psychological edge on his team.

Although, this does help.

"We know we've got to beat these guys," Weiss said. "We know they've had our number over the last couple of years. They're the world champions, so you have to go through them eventually. We know all that stuff. It's not stuff we have to talk about, it's already there. Got to go out and play well, find ways to win games."

NOTES: Giants RHP Tim Lincecum (3-2) will start Saturday night. ... The hot-hitting Scutaro is batting .485 during his streak. ... San Francisco is 31-10 against Colorado since 2011. ... The Rockies altered their starting rotation, with RHP Tyler Chatwood getting the start on Saturday and RHP Juan Nicasio being bumped back to Sunday. Chatwood joined the team from Triple-A Colorado Springs on Friday and will be added to the roster before his start.

More news

Torre: 'The game isn't perfect'

DPS: MLB executive Joe Torre talks to Dan Patrick about instant replay in baseball. Torre says that the game isn't perfect, but there are limits as to what instant replay should be used for. He draws the line at using it for balls and strikes.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/51924645/ns/sports-baseball/

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Frogs, salamanders and climate change

May 18, 2013 ? By day, insects provide the white noise of the South, but the night belongs to the amphibians. In a typical year, the Southern air hangs heavy from the humidity and the sounds of wildlife. The Southeast, home to more than 140 species of frogs, toads and salamanders, is the center of amphibian biodiversity in our nation. If the ponds and swamps are the auditorium for their symphonic choruses, the scientists of the U.S. Geological Survey's Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative, or ARMI, have front-row seats.

Amphibians, which rely on water for part or all of their life cycle, must adjust to often atypical weather. Some years bring heavy deluges, such as the region's notorious hurricanes, and others bring the transformations that come with drought. Amphibians around the world seem to be experiencing the worst declines documented among vertebrates. While habitat loss is the number one reason for population declines, research suggests that disease, invasive species, contaminants and perhaps other factors contribute to declines in protected areas.

And then there's climate change, another stressor for amphibians to contend with. Climate change projections indicate that rainfall will increasingly come in pulses, with greater deluges and longer periods of drought. Scientists have long suspected that climate change is an important factor in amphibian declines, and resource managers are asking whether conservation measures might help species persist or adapt in a changing climate. Three recent U.S. Geological Survey studies offer some insight into the issue.

Why amphibians?

Amphibians, which are declining throughout the world, play an important role in ecological systems. They eat small creatures, including mosquitos, and they are food themselves for larger creatures, such as birds and snakes. Because amphibians are the middle of the food chain -- and sensitive to environmental disruption because of their aquatic or semi-aquatic lives -- their existence is often used as an indication of ecosystem health.

Scientists in ARMI, a program started by Congress in 2000 in response to concerns about amphibian declines, have been working to unravel the ups and downs of amphibian populations to support effective conservation and resource management decisions. To do this, ARMI scientists and field crews monitor the status of amphibians, research the causes of declines, and scientifically evaluate projects undertaken to sustain these species and their habitats across the country.

Pond life -- it's not easy being green!

ARMI scientists looked at a range of amphibian species found in the Southeast and posed the question, "What will happen to their populations under a scenario of changes in rainfall patterns -- more deluges alternating with droughts -- which is being predicted by current climate models?"

It turns out that understanding how climate affects amphibians requires "thinking like the ponds" in which they live. Amphibians have unique life cycles -- most alternate between living in water as juveniles, to maturing and dispersing on land, then returning to water again as adults to mate and lay eggs.

When USGS scientists reviewed what was known about amphibian responses to rainfall, it turned out that both extremes in rainfall -- drought and heavy rainfall events -- can decrease the number of amphibians. The amphibians' response depends on a balance between these two key factors. If ponds dry up while aquatic juveniles are developing, survival of the next generation is lowered. However, if a deluge occurs at that time, nearby pools that often contain fish will be physically connected with the pools containing juvenile amphibians, and the fish will eat the juveniles.

In essence, the study showed that extreme rainfall events are key to predicting amphibian responses to climate, because such events affect the amount and timing of water in ponds that they depend on. The full review of species' responses was published in March 2013 edition of the journal Biology.

Drought and declining salamanders

Knowing that each species responds to droughts and deluges based on the particulars of their biology, scientists set out to test just how these dynamics played out in the southeastern U.S. by looking at larval mole salamanders in small isolated ponds in St. Mark's National Wildlife Refuge, Florida.

Larval mole salamanders have a similar life cycle to the flatwoods salamander, a federally threatened species found on the refuge. Because it is difficult to study the flatwoods salamander directly, and mole salamanders are ecologically similar, scientists study the mole salamander instead, knowing that whatever affects them will likely impact the flatwoods salamander as well.

In the four years of the study, drought consistently decreased salamander occupancy in ponds. To support young salamanders, rain has to fill a pond during the breeding season and then the pond has to stay filled long enough for larvae to transform into the next life stage. Therefore, scientists confirmed that drought did indeed cause short-term declines in mole salamanders -- suggesting that the listed flatwoods salamander may face a similar fate under climate change.

The results of the mole salamander study are published in the April 2013 edition of the journal Wetlands.

Can habitat conservation make a difference for frogs and toads?

To answer this question, USGS scientists examined whether the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service Wetlands Reserve Program was helping address the problem. The Wetlands Reserve Program is a voluntary USDA program offering landowners the opportunity to protect, restore, and enhance wetlands on their property. To assess the potential benefit of WRP restoration to amphibians, in this case, frogs and toads, USGS scientists surveyed 30 randomly selected WRP sites and 20 nearby agricultural sites in the Mississippi Delta in northwest Mississippi.

The scientists found that WRP sites had more kinds of species and was home to more numbers of amphibians than the agricultural sites studied. The restoration of wetland hydrology appeared to provide the most immediate benefit to the animals.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/RA1SWvRza9A/130518153747.htm

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