Pets Help Women Cope With HIV/AIDS - Drugs.com MedNews

MONDAY Jan. 30, 2012 -- Having a pet helps women with HIV/AIDS cope with their condition and may also help those with other chronic diseases, a new study says.

Researchers conducted 12 focus groups with 48 women with HIV/AIDS to find out how they stay healthy. The women, whose average age was 42, said that five social roles helped them manage their illness.

These roles included being: a pet owner; a mother/grandmother; faith believer; an advocate and an employee.

The study also found that being stigmatized had a negative impact because it prevented women from revealing their illness and seeking out appropriate supports, the Case Western Reserve University researchers said.

The finding about the benefits of being a pet owner was a surprise, said study author and nursing instructor Allison Webel.

"Pets -- primarily dogs -- gave these women a sense of support and pleasure," Webel said in a university news release.

Speaking about their pets, one cat owner said, "She's going to be right there when I'm hurting," while a dog owner said, "Dogs know when you're in a bad mood ... she knows that I'm sick, and everywhere I go, she goes. She wants to protect me."

Webel noted that the human and animal bond in healing and therapy is receiving increasing recognition and more animals are visiting nursing homes to connect to people with dementia, or visiting children going through long hospital stays.

The study appears online in the January-February issue of Women's Health Issues.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about living with HIV/AIDS.

Posted: January 2012

Source: http://www.drugs.com/news/pets-help-women-cope-hiv-aids-36142.html

margarito margarito horton hears a who horton hears a who cotto margarito chicago bears big daddy

Rice professor's nanotube theory confirmed

Public release date: 30-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: David Ruth
david@rice.edu
713-348-6327
Rice University

Air Force Research Laboratory experiment shows chirality of tube controls speed of growth

The Air Force Research Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio, has experimentally confirmed a theory by Rice University Professor Boris Yakobson that foretold a pair of interesting properties about nanotube growth: That the chirality of a nanotube controls the speed of its growth, and that armchair nanotubes should grow the fastest.

The work is a sure step toward defining all the mysteries inherent in what Yakobson calls the "DNA code of nanotubes," the parameters that determine their chirality -- or angle of growth -- and thus their electrical, optical and mechanical properties. Developing the ability to grow batches of nanotubes with specific characteristics is a critical goal of nanoscale research.

The new paper by Air Force senior researcher Benji Maruyama; former Air Force colleague Rahul Rao, now at the Honda Research Institute in Ohio; Yakobson and their co-authors appeared this week in the online version of the journal Nature Materials.

It's an interesting denouement in a saga that began with a 2009 paper by Yakobson and his collaborators. That paper, which presented the theoretical physicist's dislocation theory of chirality-controlled growth, described how nanotubes emerge as if single threads of atoms weave themselves into the now-familiar chicken-wire-like tubes. It also garnered a bit of controversy over what precisely the results meant.

"Boris caught some heat over it," Maruyama said. "The experimental work out there indicated his theory might be true, but they couldn't confirm it. The good part about our work is that it's fairly unambiguous."

Yakobson, Rice's Karl F. Hasselmann Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and professor of chemistry, took it all in stride. "The criticism didn't affect anything; it was actually the best advertisement and motivation for further work," he said. "In fact, (nanotube pioneer Sumio) Iijima noted early that 'helicity may aid the growth.' We have transformed it into a verifiable equation."

Experimental confirmation of a theory is never final but always satisfying, he admitted, and the Air Force lab was uniquely equipped to prove the linkage between the speed of a nanotube's growth and its chiral angle.

The chirality of a single-walled nanotube is determined by the way its carbon atoms are "rolled." Yakobson has described it as similar to rolling up a newspaper; sometimes the type lines up, and sometimes it doesn't. That alignment determines the nanotubes' electrical properties. Metallic armchair nanotubes, so named for the shape of their uncapped edges, are particularly desirable because electrons pass through from tip to tip with no resistance, while semiconducting nanotubes are useful for electronics, among other applications.

Rao developed a technique in Maruyama's lab to measure the growth rates of individual nanotubes. "It's an impressive setup," Yakobson said. "They can grow individual tubes in very low density and identify their signatures their chirality and at the same time measure how rapidly they grow."

The technique involved mounting catalyst nanoparticles on microscopic silicon pillars and firing tightly controlled lasers at them. Heat from the laser triggered the nanotubes to grow through a standard technique called chemical vapor deposition, and at the same time, the researchers analyzed nanotube growths via Raman spectroscopy.

From the spectra, they could tell how fast a nanotube grew and at what point growth terminated. Subsequent electron microscope images confirmed the spectra were from individual single-walled nanotubes, while chiral angles were determined by comparing post-growth Raman spectra and nanotube diameters to the Kataura plot, which maps chirality based on band gap and diameter.

They noted in the paper that the results provide a basis for further research into growing specific types of nanotubes. "Now that we know what the growth rate is for a particular chirality nanotube, one could think about trying to achieve growth of that specific chirality by influencing growth conditions accordingly," Rao said. "So, basically, we now have another 'knob' to turn."

"This work is at a very early development stage, and it's all about post-nucleation," Yakobson said. "Nucleation sets what I think of as the genetic code very primitive compared to biology that determines the chirality and the speed of growth of a nanotube." He said it may be possible someday to dictate the form of a nanotube as it begins to bubble up from a catalyst, "but it will take a lot of ingenuity."

Yakobson revealed a formula last year that defined the nucleation probability through the edge energies for graphene, which is basically a cut-and-flattened nanotube. But the earlier and related dislocation theory applies to the following growth, and if confirmed further may turn out to be his masterwork.

"The dislocation theory of growth is elegant and simple," Rao said. "It's still too early to say that it is the only growth mechanism, but Boris should be given plenty of credit for proposing this bold idea in the first place."

###

Co-authors are former Rice graduate student Tonya Leeuw Cherukuri and David Liptak, both researchers at the Air Force lab.

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the National Research Council funded the work.

Read the abstract at http://www.nature.com/nmat/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nmat3231.html

Images for download:

http://media.rice.edu/images/media/NewsRels/0125_Cover2.jpg

By learning to grow and measure single nanotubes, scientists at the Air Force Research Laboratory were able to confirm a theory by Rice Professor Boris Yakobson that predicted the chirality of a nanotube its "DNA code" controls the speed of its growth. (Credit: Rahul Rao/Air Force Research Laboratory)

media.rice.edu/images/media/NewsRels/0125_Fig1a.jpg

Air Force researchers mounted nanoparticle catalysts on microscopic silicon pillars and heated them with lasers to trigger nanotube growth. They were then able to determine the rate of growth and the tubes' chiralities. (Credit: Rahul Rao/Air Force Research Laboratory)

media.rice.edu/images/media/NewsRels/0125_Fig2b.jpg

A single nanotube stretches out across a microscopic silicon pillar in the Air Force Research Laboratory experiment. (Credit: Rahul Rao/Air Force Research Laboratory)

Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is known for its "unconventional wisdom." With 3,708 undergraduates and 2,374 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is less than 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice has been ranked No. 1 for best quality of life multiple times by the Princeton Review and No. 4 for "best value" among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. To read "What they're saying about Rice," go to http://www.rice.edu/nationalmedia/Rice.pdf.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

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

Public release date: 30-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: David Ruth
david@rice.edu
713-348-6327
Rice University

Air Force Research Laboratory experiment shows chirality of tube controls speed of growth

The Air Force Research Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio, has experimentally confirmed a theory by Rice University Professor Boris Yakobson that foretold a pair of interesting properties about nanotube growth: That the chirality of a nanotube controls the speed of its growth, and that armchair nanotubes should grow the fastest.

The work is a sure step toward defining all the mysteries inherent in what Yakobson calls the "DNA code of nanotubes," the parameters that determine their chirality -- or angle of growth -- and thus their electrical, optical and mechanical properties. Developing the ability to grow batches of nanotubes with specific characteristics is a critical goal of nanoscale research.

The new paper by Air Force senior researcher Benji Maruyama; former Air Force colleague Rahul Rao, now at the Honda Research Institute in Ohio; Yakobson and their co-authors appeared this week in the online version of the journal Nature Materials.

It's an interesting denouement in a saga that began with a 2009 paper by Yakobson and his collaborators. That paper, which presented the theoretical physicist's dislocation theory of chirality-controlled growth, described how nanotubes emerge as if single threads of atoms weave themselves into the now-familiar chicken-wire-like tubes. It also garnered a bit of controversy over what precisely the results meant.

"Boris caught some heat over it," Maruyama said. "The experimental work out there indicated his theory might be true, but they couldn't confirm it. The good part about our work is that it's fairly unambiguous."

Yakobson, Rice's Karl F. Hasselmann Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and professor of chemistry, took it all in stride. "The criticism didn't affect anything; it was actually the best advertisement and motivation for further work," he said. "In fact, (nanotube pioneer Sumio) Iijima noted early that 'helicity may aid the growth.' We have transformed it into a verifiable equation."

Experimental confirmation of a theory is never final but always satisfying, he admitted, and the Air Force lab was uniquely equipped to prove the linkage between the speed of a nanotube's growth and its chiral angle.

The chirality of a single-walled nanotube is determined by the way its carbon atoms are "rolled." Yakobson has described it as similar to rolling up a newspaper; sometimes the type lines up, and sometimes it doesn't. That alignment determines the nanotubes' electrical properties. Metallic armchair nanotubes, so named for the shape of their uncapped edges, are particularly desirable because electrons pass through from tip to tip with no resistance, while semiconducting nanotubes are useful for electronics, among other applications.

Rao developed a technique in Maruyama's lab to measure the growth rates of individual nanotubes. "It's an impressive setup," Yakobson said. "They can grow individual tubes in very low density and identify their signatures their chirality and at the same time measure how rapidly they grow."

The technique involved mounting catalyst nanoparticles on microscopic silicon pillars and firing tightly controlled lasers at them. Heat from the laser triggered the nanotubes to grow through a standard technique called chemical vapor deposition, and at the same time, the researchers analyzed nanotube growths via Raman spectroscopy.

From the spectra, they could tell how fast a nanotube grew and at what point growth terminated. Subsequent electron microscope images confirmed the spectra were from individual single-walled nanotubes, while chiral angles were determined by comparing post-growth Raman spectra and nanotube diameters to the Kataura plot, which maps chirality based on band gap and diameter.

They noted in the paper that the results provide a basis for further research into growing specific types of nanotubes. "Now that we know what the growth rate is for a particular chirality nanotube, one could think about trying to achieve growth of that specific chirality by influencing growth conditions accordingly," Rao said. "So, basically, we now have another 'knob' to turn."

"This work is at a very early development stage, and it's all about post-nucleation," Yakobson said. "Nucleation sets what I think of as the genetic code very primitive compared to biology that determines the chirality and the speed of growth of a nanotube." He said it may be possible someday to dictate the form of a nanotube as it begins to bubble up from a catalyst, "but it will take a lot of ingenuity."

Yakobson revealed a formula last year that defined the nucleation probability through the edge energies for graphene, which is basically a cut-and-flattened nanotube. But the earlier and related dislocation theory applies to the following growth, and if confirmed further may turn out to be his masterwork.

"The dislocation theory of growth is elegant and simple," Rao said. "It's still too early to say that it is the only growth mechanism, but Boris should be given plenty of credit for proposing this bold idea in the first place."

###

Co-authors are former Rice graduate student Tonya Leeuw Cherukuri and David Liptak, both researchers at the Air Force lab.

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the National Research Council funded the work.

Read the abstract at http://www.nature.com/nmat/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nmat3231.html

Images for download:

http://media.rice.edu/images/media/NewsRels/0125_Cover2.jpg

By learning to grow and measure single nanotubes, scientists at the Air Force Research Laboratory were able to confirm a theory by Rice Professor Boris Yakobson that predicted the chirality of a nanotube its "DNA code" controls the speed of its growth. (Credit: Rahul Rao/Air Force Research Laboratory)

media.rice.edu/images/media/NewsRels/0125_Fig1a.jpg

Air Force researchers mounted nanoparticle catalysts on microscopic silicon pillars and heated them with lasers to trigger nanotube growth. They were then able to determine the rate of growth and the tubes' chiralities. (Credit: Rahul Rao/Air Force Research Laboratory)

media.rice.edu/images/media/NewsRels/0125_Fig2b.jpg

A single nanotube stretches out across a microscopic silicon pillar in the Air Force Research Laboratory experiment. (Credit: Rahul Rao/Air Force Research Laboratory)

Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is known for its "unconventional wisdom." With 3,708 undergraduates and 2,374 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is less than 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice has been ranked No. 1 for best quality of life multiple times by the Princeton Review and No. 4 for "best value" among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. To read "What they're saying about Rice," go to http://www.rice.edu/nationalmedia/Rice.pdf.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

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

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/ru-rpn013012.php

hypertrophic cardiomyopathy kaye stevens michael jordan engaged kid cudi kasey kahne notre dame football breedlove

GOP tries new strategy to get Canada pipeline

WASHINGTON?? Republican lawmakers will try to force the Obama administration to approve the Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL pipeline by attaching it to a bill that Congress will consider next month, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Sunday.

1. Other political news of note

   1. NBC/Marist poll: Romney leads Gingrich by 15 in Fla.

      Mitt Romney may be on his way to a decisive victory in the Florida GOP primary Tuesday, according to a new NBC News-Marist poll.

   2. Santorum resumes campaign as daughter improves
   3. Ahead in new polls, Romney aims for Newt knockout
   4. Gingrich labels Romney a 'liberal'
   5. GOP tries new strategy to get Canada pipeline

President Barack Obama earlier this month denied TransCanada's application for the oil sands pipeline, citing lack of time to review an alternative route within a 60-day window for action set by Congress.

The denial does not block TransCanada from reapplying and the company intends to do just that.

But Republicans have since been looking for a vehicle to claim the $7 billion project as their own, and Boehner said that would be a House Republican energy and highway bill.

"If (Keystone) is not enacted before we take up the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, it will be part of it," Boehner said on ABC's "This Week" news program.

Environmentalists and some Democrats oppose Keystone, citing higher greenhouse gas emissions, while most Republicans say it would create needed jobs.

Story: With oil pipeline to US on hold, Canada eyes China

Republicans in the Senate also plan to introduce a Keystone bill. Some Senate Democrats back the pipeline, but its passage is not guaranteed in the body.

Parts of the House Republican plan, such as opening up the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration, stand little chance of passing the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate.

Attaching Keystone to a pending deal to extend payroll tax cuts for workers, which has greater bipartisan backing than the highway bills, is another vehicle Republicans are considering.

Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46181992/ns/politics-capitol_hill/

colorado weather alcohol poisoning alcohol poisoning mark ingram mark ingram between two ferns joe the plumber

Sudan frees South Sudan's oil tankers; dispute continues (Reuters)

JUBA/DUBAI (Reuters) ? Sudan released tankers loaded with South Sudanese oil that had been held at Port Sudan in a row over export transit fees, days after Khartoum seized crude from its new neighbor and offered it at a steeply discounted price.

Sudan's Oil Minister Awad al-Jaz said the release came as part of efforts to reach an agreement with South Sudan on the transit fees, but so far "we don't have any positive response from the other side."

South Sudan has shut down oil output in protest at the seizing of the cargoes, and talks between the two to reach a settlement broke down over the weekend.

The former civil war foes have failed to agree the value of the fee landlocked South Sudan should pay to pump oil north by pipeline for export from Port Sudan.

"The four ships that were being detained were released yesterday at 5:00 p.m.," South Sudan's Minister of Petroleum and Mining Stephen Dhieu Dau said by telephone.

"They were carrying oil for Vitol and Sinopec."

He added that 3.5 million barrels have been released but Sudan should now allow 5.4 million barrels to be lifted, indicating that the dispute was far from resolved.

"The ships are waiting," said Dae. "If they want to negotiate in good faith with us they should allow us to come and lift it."

The ships that have been released were already loaded and Sudan had held them from sailing. Separately, Sudan has sold off at least one tanker of crude seized from the South and has offered two other cargoes.

In addition to the three, at least seven tankers are still waiting at the port to lift December and January cargoes, raking up demurrage costs of $20,000-$22,000 per day, traders and shipbrokers said.

Two of the tankers that were freed were chartered by oil trading giant Vitol, an industry source told Reuters.

"The two tankers were freed on Sunday and they are carrying a total of 1.6 million barrels," said the industry source, declining to be identified because he is not authorized to talk to the media.

Oil is the lifeline of both countries' economies. The South controlled about 350,000 bpd of oil output when it became independent in July under a 2005 peace agreement that ended decades of civil war.

Oil provides about 98 percent of South Sudan's income and is vital for developing an already poor country devastated by years of civil war.

China is the biggest buyer of oil from the two countries and the biggest investor in South Sudan's oilfields.

(Reporting by Amena Bakr in DUBAI and Hereward Holland in JUBA; Editing by Manash Goswami)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120130/wl_nm/us_sudan_oil

yankees red sox yankees red sox buffalo bills mixology sarah shourd sensa sister wives season 2

Topless protesters detained at Davos forum (AP)

DAVOS, Switzerland ? Three topless Ukrainian protesters were detained Saturday while trying to break into an invitation-only gathering of international CEOs and political leaders to call attention to the needs of the world's poor.

After a complicated journey to reach the heavily guarded Swiss resort town of Davos, the women arrived at the entrance to the congress center where the World Economic Forum takes place every year.

With temperatures around freezing in the snow-filled town, they took off their tops and climbed a fence before being detained. "Crisis! Made in Davos," read one message painted across a protester's torso, while others held banners that said "Poor, because of you" and "Gangsters party in Davos."

Davos police spokesman Thomas Hobi said the three women were taken to the police station and their papers were checked. They were told that they weren't allowed to demonstrate, and will be released later, he said.

The activists are from the group Femen, which has become popular in Ukraine for staging small, half-naked protests to highlight a range of issues including oppression of political opposition. They have also conducted protests in some other countries.

"We came here to Switzerland to Davos to explain position of all poor people of the world, to explain that we are poor because of these rich people who now sit in the building," said protester Inna Schewcenko.

Protesters from the Occupy movement that started with protests against practices on Wall Street held a separate demonstration in Davos on Saturday. A small group of protesters are camped in igloos in Davos to call for more help for the needy.

About 40 protesters from the Occupy movement gathered in front of the town hall. Some held placards with slogans such as "If voting would change anything, it would be illegal" and "Don't let them decide for you, Occupy WEF." The event has been peaceful.

A member of the Occupy camp was invited to speak at a special event outside the Forum on Friday night discussing the future of capitalism attended by British opposition leader Ed Miliband.

Soon after the panel discussion began, some activists in the audience jumped up and started chanting slogans, and the protester panelist walked off the stage.

Other members of the audience told the activists to "shut up" and arguments disrupted the panel for about 20 minutes. The discussion then resumed, without the Occupy panelist.

___

Anja Niedringhaus and Paolo Santalucia contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_on_re_eu/eu_davos_forum_protests

one tree hill weather st louis faceoff kings island blake griffin stacy keibler stacy keibler

Novak Djokovic vs. Rafael Nadal: LIVE UPDATES Of Australian Open Men's Final 2012

Fourth set: *Djokovic 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 2-2 Nadal
The Eurosport commentators point out that this was the stage at which Nadal was broken in the last two sets. No such trouble this time. Apart from slapping an overhead from the back of the court an inch or two long, he looks comfortable, and holds to 15. He barks up to Uncle Toni. Uncle Toni nods appreciatively. The rest of the Rod Laver Arena do too. They want a deciding set.

Fourth set: Djokovic 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 2-1 Nadal*
Well, that happened rather quickly. Djokovic holds to love. More musings on Twitter: "Amazing how the stuff that works so well against Federer doesn't translate at all against Djokovic," says Sports Illustrated's Jon Wertheim. "RN doing all the running."

Fourth set: *Djokovic 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 1-1 Nadal
A must-win game for Nadal surely? And he comes through ? but only just ? after Djokovic takes the game to deuce. Nadal seals it with a 124mph ace, his seventh of the match. But it's the second serve that's proving decisive. "Without a doubt the big stat of the match Djoker 66% on 2nd serve points for the match Rafa 43% on his 2nd serve points for the match," says Brad Gilbert on Twitter.

Fourth set: Djokovic 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 1-0 Nadal*
Oohs and aaahs from the crowd on the second point, as Djokovic has Nadal spinning forwards and backwards and this way and that way. The Serbs turns to the crowd, arms outstreched, to milk the applause. What can Nadal do? He's tried to be aggressive, he's tried to shorten the rallies, but it's just not working. And it's getting to him. After six straight defeats to Djokovic in finals, can you blame him? That said, he does take the game to deuce, before surrendering when a forehand return sails long. "Nice how the Guardian website has Nadal, alone, as its front page photo announcing the coverage....despite Djokovic being the defending champion, and No1, and despite Djokovic currently winning," says Thomas Ehr. "Just can't give the guy any credit, can you?" Not my decision Thomas, but us Brits love nothing more than an underdog.

Djokovic wins the third set 6-2
Nothing is coming off for poor Rafa right now. 0-15. 0-30. 0-40. Three set points. An extra tug of the shorts, but Djokovic sits back, waits, before hammering a forehand down the line. And as the Times' Neil Harman says on Twitter: "I am willing to wager that Mr Djokovic does not start the fourth set quite as timidly as Mr Murray did on Friday #gettingthejobdone." Djokovic is a set away from his third Australian Open title ? and a third straight grand slam final win over Nadal. Apparently Nadal would be the first man to lose three major finals in a row. So at least it's not just Mr Murray that has embarrassing grand slam final records then.

Third set: Djokovic 5-7, 6-4, 5-2 Nadal*
And it's another hold to love for Djokovic. Nadal is winning just 20% of the points from the back of the court at the moment. And if he's not winning them from there, where's he going to? An even more pertinent question comes from Rosemary Cooper: "Why do the ball boys and girls wear the silly flaps on the back of their hats? Has anyone told them that it's nearly 11pm?"

Third set: *Djokovic 5-7, 6-4, 4-2 Nadal
Nice touch from Djokovic at 15-all, as he applauds Nadal's forehand winner. But that's about as generous as the world No1 gets. More fearsome hitting and a clever change-up with delicate drop-shot (he must have heard you, Emmanuel) and it's 30-40, break point. But there's life in Rafa yet. He rattles off the next three points.

Third set: Djokovic 5-7, 6-4, 4-1 Nadal*
15-0. 30-0. 40-0. Game. Djokovic turns the screw. Back to you Rafa. Can he respond? Of course he has the mental strength, but the way Djokovic has played over the last 12 months or so, you give him an inch, he takes a mile.

Emmanuel Jamin, meanwhile, is dreaming of a bygone era: "That's it, I give up. I recognise that finding angles from the back of the court requires incredible skill, that the confrontation is intense, that both are great athletes but I can't help dreaming of runs to the net, delicate volleys and drop shots. Modern tennis is monodimensional and, dare I say it, boring, even when played with such talent. If tennis were rugby it would only consists of scrums and kicks. If it were cycling it would only be about pedaling as hard as...sorry, that's really what cycling is like. Tennis has become as dull as cycling."

Third set: *Djokovic 5-7, 6-4, 3-1 Nadal
Nadal is having to work so hard to hold serve at the moment, and this game is no different, as Djokovic laps up Nadal's vicious slice before carving out a curling forehand winner. 30-40, break point. A rally of real brute force ensues, Nadal tries the forehand down the line, cross-court, tries to wrong-foot Djokovic, but he still comes out the loser as he forces the issue just a big too much and goes wide.

Third set: Djokovic 5-7, 6-4, 2-1 Nadal*
While Djokovic is looking stronger and stronger, I'm already starting to tire. Barry Glendenning obliges by going to fetch a No2 from the coffee machine for me, which can probably best be described as pond water. But I doubt it leaves such a sour taste in the mouth as Nadal gets when Djokovic flicks a forehand deep into the corner to hold. "I like the cut of Oliver Lewis' jib," says Guy Hornsby. "I never considered Mr Naylor as anything but a yeoman, a multi-faceted all-sports public extension to the Guardian's sports team, and while I initially thought he was actually a staffer there, he's simply a sport (and theatre) obsessive who puts the rest of us in the shade. Though the idea of "Gary Naylor" as a sort of Kesyer Soze of sport hacks is appealing. No one's met him, but everyone's heard of him. He just sends Rob Smyth out to run his errands and intimidate people."

Third set: *Djokovic 5-7, 6-4, 1-1 Nadal
Devastating play from Djokovic produces probably the biggest squeak of the match so far as Nadal scampers deep to his backhand wing, but he can't get the ball back in play. A deuce or two or three or four later and Nadal eventually holds. But it wasn't comfortable. "Gary Naylor is real," confirms Mike Chamber. "He is. Met him at the Oval Test last year. He's right in describing himself as corporeal, he's not easy to miss. Loves sport, loves to discuss sport, has a beard and a son (at least one, he mentioned one)." And this from Andrew Latimer: "BBC's analysis of the second set: Djokovic has to continue hitting winners in order to win. Good to see punditry isn't dead..." Yep, it's insightful.

Third set: Djokovic 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 Nadal*
The way this is shaping up it could be the longest match. Of. All. Time. And there was me thinking my colleague Jacob Steinberg had it bad with Murray and Djokovic's five-set set-to on Friday. Djokovic at least does the decent thing and holds to love. "Gary Naylor is wrong," announces Oliver Lewis. "He isn't smack in the middle of the demographic, he is the demographic. All us other contributors merely aspire to that level of ubiquity, though for a while I was convinced he was just the assumed name for any Guardian staff members who didn't want to be named for some reason."

Djokovic wins the second set 6-4
Djokovic is like a flickering light bulb at the moment, on one minute, off the next. Off, 15-0. On, 15-all. On, 15-30. Off, 30-all. Off, 40-30. Djokovic's return is then called out, the umpire overrules the call, and Nadal challenges. It's in. They'll replay the point. Nadal grimaces. Djokovic shouts a little, he would have won the point. But he does the next. And the next with a brutal backhand. Set point No4. And now it's Nadal's turn to double! They're back on level terms. And that's my cue for a quick toilet break.

Second set: Djokovic 5-7, 5-4 Nadal*
15-0. 30-0. 30-15. 40-15. Two set points. Djokovic goes for broke on his backhand and it flies long and wide. Nadal let rips on his forehand and Djokovic is stranded. Deuce. For all the world it looks like Djokovic will take the next point but somehow he doesn't. Advantage Nadal, break point. And would you have it, it's a double fault! Djokovic is broken. Wow. There's life in this set yet. And an answer from Gary Naylor. "I am corporeal - all too corporeal - and I should probably get out more. Pretty much smack in the middle of the MBM demographic I suspect. That Mac Millings though - he isn't real."

Second set: *Djokovic 5-7, 5-3 Nadal
Djokovic is hitting so much deeper now, with more freedom and purpose. Nadal manages to counter that at 15-all, as he charges into the net to swat away a forehand volley. He needs to do it more. There's a controversial Hawk-Eye moment at deuce, but to be honest I missed it as was checking this out: "Here's something to read while Novak's bouncing the ball!," says AliWalker24 on Twitter. "Andy Murray Broke My Heart (Again)." Djokovic carves out a set point, but again Nadal descends on the net and draws the error. Nadal eventually holds, but the set may still be beyond him.

Second set: Djokovic 5-7, 5-2 Nadal*
I'm still not sure about the squeaks but the grunting has definitely gone up a decibel or two. Two hours we've been going now. Djokovic holds to 15, the highlight an outrageous backhand winner on the opening point which somehow clips a fraction of the line. His cheeky drop-shot at 40-0 wasn't half bad either. Nadal must hold serve to stay in the set. Here's Andrew Latimer. "To Toby: Neither player actually has squeaky shoes, they add the sound in later for effect ... something to do with realism and atmosphere I think.

Second set: *Djokovic 5-7, 4-2 Nadal
Nadal's most comfortable service game in a while, as he holds to 15. Mats Wilander on Eurosport wants Nadal to try and mix it up, perhaps serve and volley a bit, to keep Djokovic on his toes. And speaking of toes: "Hallo there," chirps Toby Earle. "I have a question for the 'banter' ? can you confirm which player has the least squeaky shoes, as that will determine my allegiance. I also hope they're white non-marking soles." Hmm. I'll get back to you on that Toby ? and I'll also open it to the floor ...

Second set: Djokovic 5-7, 4-1 Nadal*
Djokovic has picked up his serving now, and he's starting to dominate more of the rallies too, as he sends Nadal left and right and left and right and left and right. He holds to 30. Meanwhile, Robin Mahood opens up a whole can of worms: "As a Canadian, I've always wondered if Gary Naylor is famous for being anything other than Gary Naylor, unpaid contributor to The Guardian. Put differently, just who is Gary Naylor? Does he even exist? And P.S. You've made me laugh out loud on at least four occasions tonight, and we're only in the second set." Thanks Robin. Over to you Gary ...

Second set: *Djokovic 5-7, 3-1 Nadal
Shot of the match at 15-all, as Nadal, on the run, bludgeons a backhand down the line. But then there's another unforced error, making it 23 for the match so far. Make that 24. 30-40, break point. Nadal is flirting with the lines too much at times, he needs to leave himself a little more margin for error. Not often we say that about the Spaniard. A wonderful volley from Djokovic as he digs the ball out from around his heels and the world No1 breaks.

Second set: Djokovic 5-7, 2-1 Nadal*
Djokovic holds to 30. There are signs these two are clicking into gear now, after an intriguing if a little error-strewn first set. And here's Neil Stainthorpe: "Actually, comparing players from different generations isn't so difficult. If you asked yourself "Who would win, Nadal or Rod Laver?" you'd have to go for Nadal. After all, Laver is 63 and Nadal is only 25." I like your logic Neil. And I'm sure Mr Laver will like you even more for not divulging his real age.

Second set: *Djokovic 5-7, 1-1 Nadal
A first double fault from Nadal ? indeed the first of the match ? and it's 0-15. Djokovic rips into Nadal's forehand and it's 0-30. A Nadal forehand down the line goes awry. 15-40. Two break points. Djokovic hands Nadal the intitiative on the first and the Spaniard pounces. Djokovic holds firm on the next but it's not enough, and a gruelling 21 shots later it's deuce. Nadal takes the game after another deuce with his fourth ace of the day.

Second set: Djokovic 5-7, 1-0 Nadal*
Djokovic, for sure, does look a touch sluggish. But then he did at times against Murray and look what happened there. Still very early days. While other players tire as the sets go on, these two seem to defy biology by getting stronger and stronger. Djokovic holds to 30, by the way.

Nadal wins the first set 7-5
A few cheap points on the first serve get Nadal to 30-15. He's been serving well today, especially with the body serve, even though his service games have been tight. Nadal charges into the net and dispatches a volley with ease, cue an appreciative nod from Rod Laver, who's again watching on. Two set points. But Djokovic ups the ante with some powerful hitting and it's deuce. Nadal emerges victorious from a cross-court duel to bring up a third set point. Djokovic goes long and the first set is Nadal's after 82 minutes. 82 minutes. Just what the doctor ordered for Djokovic after his semi-final marathon. And the same amount of time the whole women's final took I believe.

And look, an email from my brother. "Massive set coming up for Novak here, you don't want to be 2-0 down in sets against anyone but especially not Rafa when you played for nearly five hours a couple of days ago."

First set: Djokovic 5-6 Nadal*
Cometh the crucial moments, cometh the Djokovic bouncing of the ball before serving. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. 15-0. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. 15-all. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. 30-15. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. 30-all. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. 30-40, as Nadal produces one of his best forehands of the day. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Break Nadal, as Djokovic goes long. Nadal will serve for the first set after 66 minutes.

First set: *Djokovic 5-5 Nadal
With Nadal 15-0 up, a flock of seagulls rudely decide to interrupt proceedings. No bother for Rafa though, he takes an extra tug at his shorts, waits patiently, and dishes up two strong serves to get to 40-0. Djokovic recovers to 40-30, but a sweet shot on the inside-out forehand gives Nadal the game. A fist pump and "VAMOS" follows.

First set: Djokovic 5-4 Nadal*
Rafa is scowling. Woof! He whacks a forehand winner to get to 0-30. But then he somehow contrives to lose a point he really should have won. 15-30. Flump! Forehand into the net. 30-all. Scurry! He scampers but can't get a racket on Djokovic's winner. Flail! Nadal backhand goes long. He will have to hold serve to stay in the first set. Seems strange to say it, but Nadal, usually the model of consistency, is just not being consistent enough.

First set: *Djokovic 4-4 Nadal
A sniff of danger for Nadal at 30-all. He gives Djokovic a look-in on the second serve, but Djokovic tamely nets. But anything Djokovic can do ... Nadal dumps a forehand into the net too. Deuce. Nadal chips and chops but it's not enough, and produces another uncharacteristic unforced error. Advantage Djokovic. Deuce. Advantage Nadal. Another unforced error. Deuce. Advantage Djokovic. Deuce. Advantage Djokovic. And Djokovic breaks, on what I believe is his sixth break point of the match. A very scrappy and strange game from Nadal. We're back level.

First set: Djokovic 3-4 Nadal*
Someone else has joined me in the office! How exciting. I must admit that's distracted me a bit, but I can tell you a nonchalant forehand swat down the line, followed by a cross-court smack sees Djokovic hold. To 15 I think. Cue Gary Naylor again. "Was it you reading the news on Talksport a few weeks ago? I think alone at Guardian Towers must be better than in company at Talksport." Yes, I can confirm it was. Though I wouldn't want to comment on the second bit.

First set: *Djokovic 2-4 Nadal
Djokovic, now in black and prowling like a panther, pulls off a wonderful point at 30-15, drawing Nadal into the net before flicking a delicate backhand cross-court winner. 30-all. Nadal error, 30-40. Break point. But Nadal lassos a forehand down the line and reels Djokovic in. Deuce. Gary Naylor's back to declare: "One sees what one looks for but there's already signs that Djokovic's concentration is not all it could be." And wouldn't you know it, Gary's right. Djokovic has his chances but can't capitalise. Advantage Nadal. Deuce. Advantage Djokovic. Deuce. Advantage Nadal. Deuce. Advantage Nadal. Deuce. Advantage Djokovic. Deuce. Advantage Nadal. Game Nadal. 40 minutes and we've only had six games.

Anthony O'Connell's not impressed though. "Just off to play some golf, this match can't live up to the semis. The problem for Rafa today, is that, unlike federers beautiful top spin strokes, Novak hits a very flat ball and this does not suit Nadal's game."

First set: Djokovic 2-3 Nadal*
A few loose shots from Djokovic - combined with a viciously spun forehand from Nadal ? and it's deuce. Nadal then produces the point of the match so far: seemingly dead and buried, with Djokovic prowling at the net, he somehow threads throw a backhand winner. First break point of the day. Cue a little leap. But Nadal, definitely standing a bit closer in to return on the second serve, mis-times his return and it's deuce. Advantage Djokovic. Deuce. Advantage Nadal. And it's first blood to Nadal as Djokovic hits a backhand long. Nadal scurries back to his chair, Djokovic ? disgusted with himself ? throws his shirt off.

"Here on the Australian coverage, Lleyton Hewitt has just made the comment that Djokovic and Nadal are the best movers on the court he has ever seen," says Philip Davis. "How did he grow up without seeing Sampras, Agassi or McEnroe play?" Comparing players from different eras, it's always so tough isn't it? I would say these are two of the best athletes we've ever seen, when you consider how the game has moved on in terms of speed and power.

First set: *Djokovic 2-2 Nadal
A challenge from Djokovic on the first point, more in hope it would seem than anything, but would you know it he's right, and it's 0-15. The longest rally of the match so far ? 23 shots ? at 15-all, which Nadal takes with a forehand smash. Djokovic bends down, sucking for air, but we've been here before haven't we? He did it in the quarter-final against David Ferrer and in the semis against Andy Murray and look what happened there. Nadal holds to 15.

First set: Djokovic 2-1 Nadal*
The forehand down the line will be a tactic that should serve Nadal well today, as it will keep the ball away from Djokovic's dangerous backhand wing. He does exactly that, firing a winner past a stranded Djokovic to get to 0-30. Djokovic doesn't even attempt to get to it. Surely he's not trying to conserve energy already? The Serb rattles off the next three points though, make that four, as the inside-out forehand draws the error from his opponent. And this from Sasu Laaksonen: "Rafa's backhand was worse than bland powder puff jam in those six defeats v Djokovic. If keeping the ball in play is still his only strategy from the backhand side, Serbia is in for a fest, once again."

First set: *Djokovic 1-1 Nadal
For all of Nadal's talk about trying to be more aggressive against Djokovic (see the preamble), he still seems quite some way behind the baseline. Early days though. And it makes no difference. 15-0, 30-0, 40-0, game. Strong serving from Nadal, including an ace down the T. Djokovic changes his racket.

First set: Djokovic 1-0 Nadal* (*denotes next server)
Djokovic did indeed win the coin toss and the world No1 will get us under way. A loose forehand from Nadal goes long on the first point, then Djokovic throws in two errors of his own to give Nadal a slight opening at 15-30. No bother though. Djokovic unleashes a huge forehand, Nadal slaps a tight forehand, and is then bamboozled by a great kicker serve. Djokovic is on the board first.

Tik, tok, tik, tok, tik, tok, tikity tok, they're warming up. Djokovic is once again wearing a white shirt with Serbian coloured swirls, trim and matching shoes. Rafa, meanwhile, looks resplendent in pea green, with a blue headband, wristbands and shoes. He once again has knee heavily bandaged after somehow managing to pinch a tendon while sitting in his hotel room before the tournament started. He also has something scrawled on his hand, not that I can see what it says. The commentators don't seem to know either.

The coin toss. Sue Barker is talking too loudly but I think Djokovic will serve first. Rafa, usually one to put his game face on at this point, even cracks a joke with his opponent. But then he reverts to type, jumping up and down at the net, before sprinting to the back of the court like a raging bull.

The first email. And guess who it's from. "Rafa has to stay in the points and make the match long preying on Djokovic's physical and mental fatigue after epic semi-final," says Gary Naylor. "He should take as much time as possible at changeovers and use his timeouts. Djokovic can't keep coming back from the brink and when the big points come Rafa needs to be mentally sharper."

Conor Breslin, meanwhile, has a slightly less tactical suggestion: "Hi Katy, I'd like to see Rafa poison Djok with some sort of heavily laced gluten cake in advance of todays final. Vamos Rafa!"

8.32am: The players emerge from the bowels of Rod Laver (the court named after the great man I should stress, not the great man himself). The tournament seems to have got rid of the usual pre-final interviews in which the players give absolutely nothing away, presumably because the players give absolutely nothing away.

Apparently there has been some drizzle in Melbourne today. If the rain returns, the final will be played under a closed roof.

The scene in Melbourne: 15,000 fans, 33 degrees, humid and unsunny.

The scene at Guardian Towers: One game-by-game reporter, one degree and even more unsunny.

Stat attack. This is the third consecutive grand slam final between Djokovic and Nadal, which is an Open era record. As for their head-to-head (need Nadal be reminded), although it's one-way traffic over the past 12 months, Nadal still leads 16-13 overall. These two have shared the last seven slams between them and while Djokovic is going for his fifth major title, Nadal is looking for his 11th.

8.16am: A little pre-match entertainment. It's been the most-viewed piece on our site for the last few days, but just in case you haven't seen it already, here's 14-year-old ballboy Dylan Colaci doing his best impression of Ricky Ponting in the slips. Quite a catch.

Link to this video

8.07am: Short of putting stones in Djokovic's shoes or concrete in his racket, if you've got any advice for Rafa/predictions/general musings on this Sunday morning do ping them over. I can't promise to pass on the former to said Spaniard, but I can however offer my two pennies worth on how this could play out. Fitness will no doubt be an issue, but for me, the decisive factor will be belief. Come the big moments, the split seconds in which matches are the very top level are decided, will Nadal really think he can beat Djokovic? His pre-match words would suggest possibly not.

"I am trying to play a bit more aggressive and hit more winners," the world No2 said. "The improvement I want is not complete so I need time to play with this plan. I probably need a few more months and a few more tournaments. I don't know if it's going to be enough against him. I need to play a little better, in my opinion, to have a chance. I don't know if I am ready to win the match but I am going to fight for it."

Fight, no doubt, he will.

So how do you solve a problem like Novak Djokovic? Wouldn't Rafael Nadal love to know. Six times they met in finals last year, and Djokovic came out on top not once, twice, thrice, or whatever would come next if the words existed, so instead let's just say he won. Every single time.

15-0! At the Indian Wells Masters in March, Djokovic won 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
30-0! At the Miami Masters in April, Djokovic won 4-6, 6-3, 7-6.
40-0! At the Madrid Masters in May, Djokovic won 7-5, 6-4.
GAME! At the Rome Masters, also in May, Djokovic won 6-4, 6-4.
SET! At Wimbledon in July, Djokovic won 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3.
MATCH! And finally at the US Open in September, Djokovic won 6-2, 6-4, 6-7, 6-1.

Nadal admitted after the Wimbledon final that Djokovic had taken up residence in his head ? in much the same way that Nadal has caused a seemingly incurable migraine in Federer's in recent years. The irony was that Rafa had been out-Rafa'd.

A new year, though, brings with it fresh optimism, and that will have been boosted a little more by Djokovic's draining duel with Andy Murray in the semi-finals. As our man in Melbourne, Kevin Mitchell, has pointed out, if Djokovic beats Nadal today, it will be despite rather than because of his near five-hour, five-set win. It will also serve as further proof of the world No1's excellence, not that we needed it.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/29/novak-djokovic-vs-rafael-nadal-live-updates-australian-final_n_1239797.html

unemployment rate unemployment rate stephen hawking drew barrymore keri russell jesse ventura casey anthony

Sprint Galaxy Nexus official Google sign-up page now live

The official Google sign-up page for the Sprint Galaxy Nexus is now live, waiting for all Sprint subscribers to register for "more information".  We've known it was coming since Sprint verified the rumors on January 9, and I know plenty of folks who are pretty darn excited at the prospect of an LTE powered Samsung Galaxy Nexus on the Now Network.  And who could blame them?  Ice Cream Sandwich on that gorgeous 720p display is a thing of real beauty, and pairing it with the last chance at unlimited data in the USA is a great idea.  

It should be the networks first LTE device, and we know it's coming with 32 GB of storage.  There's also a lot of rumors still going strong about features that may be different in the Sprint version.  Some think there may be a higher CPU speed (don't count on that one) because of an early advertisement that showed it with a 1.5 GHz CPU which may have been a misprint.  Also, because the folks at CES didn't want anyone to capture the back of the device on camera, many think it will have a larger stock battery than either the Verizon version or the GSM world version.  We'll have to wait and see, because at this point nobody has a clue just when we're going to see this one on the shelves.  Sprint's been cryptic, like smart companies always are, saying things like "soon" and "mid-2012".  Anyone who claims to have a date is just guessing for the most part, so we're not going to add to the confusion.

In any case, just about everyone reading this who uses Sprint is ready to get their paws on an LTE Galaxy Nexus, so proceed to try to crush the servers hosting the sign-up page with hope and love.  Then jump into the Sprint Galaxy Nexus forums and share your excitement with everyone in hopes that it makes the waiting seem shorter.

Source: Google; via  Android Central forums.  Thanks, DaEXfactoR!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/k61a4BPJaak/story01.htm

michelle obama booed at nascar polio cutler christina aguilera tony stewart amas music awards 2011

Animal Shelter Employees Abandon Pets, Leave Them Starving And ...

When the owners of the?Purple Hearted Puppies Animal Rescue Center in Summerdale, Alabama took a long vacation they hired outside help to care for nearly 200 animals. Unfortunately that hired help never arrived and an outside agency was forced to take over the operation.

Speaking to WKRG animal control expert?Deneen Balistere who has worked with rescue animals for 20 years said of the shelters conditions??They warned me what it was going to?be like.? It?s the worst I?ve ever seen.? ?Among the animals left to die were more than 200 dogs, various cats and two horses.

According to authorities at least 20 animals were found dead when the shelter was raided and Deneen says they are now in need of ?food, blankets, help, donations anything to save these dogs.?

The animals were left without food or water for nearly two weeks and authorities say some of the dogs resorted to cannibalism to stay alive.

At this time Roberta and Sharon Dueitt have been charged with 20 counts each of animal cruelty with dozens of more charges pending.

After hearing about the incident more that 50 volunteers arrived at the?Purple Hearted Puppies Animal Rescue Center to help care for the sick animals.

In the meantime animal adoptions are urgently needed at the center with officials ready to adopt out pets starting at 8 o?clock on Friday morning.

In the meantime police are still searching for other employees who work at the center with an ongoing investigation still underway.

Source: http://www.inquisitr.com/187276/animal-shelter-employees-abandon-pets-leave-them-starving-and-dead/

no child left behind no child left behind byu skylab skylab all my children moneyball

Nintendo sees profit next year, but shares tumble (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) ? Nintendo President Satoru Iwata dismissed the idea that the age of the dedicated handheld games device was over and said he aimed to return the company to substantial profit in 2012/13, after it warned of its first ever operating loss this year.

Shares in Kyoto-based Nintendo Co Ltd tumbled nearly 8 percent to an 8-year low after it slashed its full-year guidance for the third time in 6 months, and analysts said the potential market for its products was shrinking rapidly.

The creator of the Super Mario franchise reported a sharp drop in quarterly earnings, as its sales of its games devices that have dominated the industry for years were hit by competing gadgets such as Apple Inc's iPhone.

Iwata said he blamed the dismal results on a mixture of strategic errors and the difficult business environment created by the strong yen and European consumer gloom.

"Nintendo is facing its worst results since it entered the games business. What matters now is how Nintendo can make a profit from next year onwards, even under these harsh conditions," he told an analysts' meeting.

The maker of the Wii home console and DS handheld games is struggling to compete as sales of more versatile smartphones and tablets boom, and poor sales forced it to slash the price of its much anticipated 3DS handheld game device in August.

"The profitability of 3DS hardware was the biggest issue for earnings this financial year, but it looks like we'll be able to resolve the problem we've been having with losses on the 3DS during the first half of the next financial year," Iwata said.

"We should be able to generate a large profit by getting rid of losses on the 3DS hardware, if we can substantially lift sales of software."

A Nintendo spokesman said the company expected to stop losing money on each 3DS sold, thanks to economies of scale and changes to the internal design of the device.

But Nintendo shares closed down 4.1 percent at 10,310 yen, after falling to 9,910 yen shortly after the market opened, their lowest since February 2004. It has lost nearly 60 percent of its value since the start of last year.

"The company's core handheld business is under assault from smartphones, iPods and tablets, and we see competition for consumer wallet share continuing," said analyst Michael Pachter of U.S.-based Wedbush Securities in a research note.

"The fact is that a significant share of Nintendo's market is gone forever, and we don't expect the company to come up with a practical strategy to stem the declines in sales we have forecast," he added. "We do not expect the company's fortunes to turn in FY 13."

NEW HOME CONSOLE BY CHRISTMAS

Nintendo said on Thursday its third-quarter operating profit fell 61 percent to 40.9 billion yen ($529 million) and it forecast an operating loss of 45 billion yen for the financial year to March 31, far worse than analysts' average forecast of a 4.2 billion yen loss.

Sales of its 3DS slumped shortly after launch in February, forcing the company to slash prices just six months later and take a loss on each device, something it had prided itself on avoiding in the past.

Even so, Nintendo cut its full-year 3DS sales forecast to 14 million from 16 million, while sales of its ageing Wii and the previous generation DS have fallen faster than expected.

It also faces stiff competition in the home console market from Sony Corp's Move and Microsoft Corp's Kinect, and some analysts say the console market may dry up over the next several years as cloud gaming takes off.

Nintendo will launch its Wii U console, a successor to the phenomenally successful Wii, in Japan, the United States, Australia and Europe at the year-end, after showing a final version at the E3 games show in June.

But Masayuki Otani, chief market analyst at Securities Japan, said the market was unlikely to have high hopes for the Wii U, although the slide in the share price may be reaching an end.

"The pace of the share price decline is easing and it may be near a floor, but it would be hard to predict a rapid recovery," he said.

Iwata said a leap in 3DS sales after the launch of a raft of software late last year showed that dedicated handheld games gadgets still had a future.

"I believe we have disproved the extreme theory that there is no longer a demand for handheld devices," he said.

($1 = 77.34)

(Additional reporting by Dominic Lau, James Topham, Reiji Murai, Daiki Iga; Editing by Edwina Gibbs, Michael Watson and Alex Richardson)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/videogames/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120127/bs_nm/us_nintendo

king jong il dead south korea baron davis duggar family dingo fidel castro gilbert arenas

Molten lava cake for National Chocolate Cake Day

A flourless, molten chocolate cake will warm up National Chocolate Cake Day.

January 27 is National Chocolate Cake Day in the United States. To be honest, I thought every day was chocolate cake day. This warm (and flourless) chocolate lava cake is delicious enough to declare a national celebration. But to help keep us all focused, there are several national food day lists floating around like this one to make sure all kinds of decadent delights get their day.

Skip to next paragraph Kendra Nordin

Kendra Nordin thinks cooking and sharing a meal is an act of creativity that everyone should do every single day. Light some candles, set fresh flowers on the table, and sit down to enjoy a meal with friends ? this stuff feeds the soul. She is also a staff editor for The Christian Science Monitor and produces Stir It Up!

Recent posts

I?m a little curious, though, how National Pie Day, National Peanut Butter Day, and National Chocolate Cake Day all fall in the same week. I have a sneaking suspicion that the final week of January is right about the time that most folks have felt pretty good about the three weeks of intense dieting and exercise they have done after the holidays. Admit it. Your thinking has probably come close to this at some point: ?I?ve been to the gym twice this week. Of course I deserve pie/peanut butter/chocolate cake!?

Molten lava cakes are the perfect little cakes to celebrate National Chocolate Cake Day. They require relatively little effort and bake in less than 15 minutes. Even if the cakes collapse into a quivering pool of warm chocolate, I promise you that your guests?will not complain. Cover them with enough ice cream and in one, two, three, swoops of their spoons the cake will be gone.

But if you do want to impress a loved one, you might want a practice run or two to figure out the best results with your oven. If you underbake it, you will end up with a puddle of chocolate (there are worse things). If you overbake, by even a minute, no molten center ? and you?ll end up with more of a brownie cake (again, not a travesty).

Now get celebrating. And keep this recipe handy for Valentine's Day.

Molten Lava Cake
Adapted from Bon App?tit
Serves 4

6-1/2 ounces bittersweet or unsweetened chocolate, chopped (Note: good-quality chocolate chips are an easy shortcut)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Pinch of salt

4 large egg yolks
4 tablespoons sugar, separated
2 large egg whites

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Butter four 3/4 cup custard cups. Dust with flour, shaking out excess, and set aside.

In a double boiler over simmering water, combine chocolate, butter, and salt and heat. Stir until chocolate and butter have melted and mixture is smooth. Remove upper pot from water and let cool 10 minutes.

Beat egg yolks and 3 tablespoons sugar in large bowl until thick and light, about 2 minutes. Fold in chocolate mixture. In a separate bowl beat egg whites and 1 tablespoon sugar using electric mixer with clean, dry beaters, until whites are stiff but not dry. Gently fold whites into chocolate mixture in 3 additions. Divide batter among prepared cups.

Place custard cups on a baking sheet. Bake until cakes are puffed but still soft in center, about 11 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to rack; cool cakes 1 minute.

Using a small knife, cut around sides of cakes to loosen. Place plates on top of cups. Using an oven mitt or tea towel (the cups will be hot) invert cakes onto plates; remove cups. Serve immediately with a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Related posts:?Chocolate Fondue,?Fair Trade Brownies,?Taza Chocolate Tour

The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of food bloggers. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by The Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own and they are responsible for the content of their blogs and their recipes. All readers are free to make ingredient substitutions to satisfy their dietary preferences, including not using wine (or substituting cooking wine) when a recipe calls for it. To contact us about a blogger, click here.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/tJgdPrAx6U4/Molten-lava-cake-for-National-Chocolate-Cake-Day

manny pacquiao pacquiao blanche blanche gloria allred black friday ads 2011 black friday ads 2011

Insight: India's "Dalit queen" faces polls (Reuters)

LUCKNOW, India (Reuters) ? By her own standards, Kumari Mayawati's birthday celebrations were low-key this year.

After driving through a red-carpeted tunnel of plaster elephant tusks in an Ambassador, India's retro-looking national car, the chief minister of India's largest state swept past a coterie of her party's workers, who bowed and touched her feet.

Diamonds adorned the diminutive figure of "the Dalit Queen," encrusting her necklace, a bracelet, her earrings, a nose-ring and her watch, as she accepted a few bouquets of flowers and marched about briskly in the marigold-draped party headquarters.

But the huge crowds of gaping admirers were missing this year; there was no garland of banknotes, no upper-caste Brahmin on hand to symbolically pop a morsel of birthday cake into the mouth of an "untouchable" who has risen from the bottom of India's social pile to become one of the most powerful women in the world.

That's because election campaign rules are now in effect for staggered polls to be held in February and March in Uttar Pradesh.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Graphic: Uttar Pradesh growth http://link.reuters.com/jef36s

SPECIAL REPORT: Gandhi dynasty http://r.reuters.com/rur93s

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Mayawati is far from a sure bet to win another term as chief minister of the northern state whose population of 200 million would rank as the fifth-most populous in the world if it were a country.

If she doesn't, it would be a blow to her undisguised ambition to one day become prime minister of India, a goal that looked reasonable back in 2007 when she won a huge mandate from the state's voters by appealing to a rainbow of castes, which still define the socio-economic status for many of India's 1.2 billion people.

Launching the seventh, gilt-edged volume of an autobiography that runs to thousands of pages and is printed in Hindi and English, Mayawati bemoaned Election Commission rules that obliged her to row back on her usual birthday beneficence.

"Normally, my birthday is an occasion to give away thousands of crores in welfare schemes for Dalits and other backward castes, but because of the election code of conduct we could not do that this year," she said. A crore is 10 million rupees, or $188,000.

Mayawati's nemesis in the election is Rahul Gandhi, scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that has ruled the country for most of its six decades of independence. A relative greenhorn in the hurly-burly of Indian politics, Gandhi has staked his future on the performance of the venerable but troubled Congress party in Uttar Pradesh.

A TRADITION OF EXTRAVAGANCE

Although she presides over one of the most poverty-plagued states of India -- its per-capita income is just above 50 percent of the national average -- Mayawati's extraordinary personal extravagance preserves a tradition set over the centuries by a succession of rulers in the plains of the river Ganges.

In the five years since she took office, she has blanketed hundreds of acres of prime real estate in the state capital Lucknow and elsewhere in pink marble and sandstone monuments.

Statues of marble elephants and icons of the lower castes, including a dozen of herself, occupy memorial parks created on a scale not seen in India since the British built New Delhi in the fading days of their empire.

A federal government report found that Uttar Pradesh lavished more than $400 million on such projects between 2007 and 2009 alone -- and the building continues.

"She's taken it straight out of the pages of the Mughals and the first British Viceroys who built huge statues. These are abiding icons that the Dalits always hankered after but never had themselves," said Ajoy Bose, author of a biography of Mayawati.

Like the Nawabs, descendents of Persian courtiers who governed the region in the 18th century, Mayawati likes to flaunt her wealth. On paper, she is India's richest chief minister, with declared assets of $16 million that include a shopping mall in New Delhi and $169,000 in jewelry. But unlike many of her peers in other states, she is open about her income and pays taxes on it.

A U.S. diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks last year recounted how she once sent a private jet to fetch a pair of sandals from Mumbai, 1,000 km (620 miles) away. According to the

cable, one minister was forced to do sit-ups in front of Mayawati as a punishment for a minor offence; those wanting to become election candidates for her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) had to pay tens of thousands of dollars for the privilege.

But, unlike her aristocratic Mughal, Nawab and British predecessors, she hails from India's "Dalit" castes, who were marginalized for centuries on the bottom rungs of Hinduism's social ladder. Still today, the idea that a Dalit could become prime minister is as outlandish for many Indians as the thought of a black president once was in the United States.

"FIRST-RATE EGOMANIAC"

One of nine children of a poor government clerk, Mayawati grew up in a Delhi slum and became a school teacher before launching into politics. Aides say she's a news junkie, who obsessively watches the many all-news channels now available in India.

She is often ridiculed by urban middle classes for her monumental personality cult -- the U.S. cable described her as a "first-rate egomaniac" -- and yet Mayawati still has many supporters in Uttar Pradesh, where economic growth has picked up and law and order have improved on her watch.

Mayawati's aides point out that she has spent far more on building roads and joining villages to the electrical grid than she has on the icons to herself and the Dalit people.

"Once you get the infrastructure on the ground, Uttar Pradesh will grow on its own," said a senior official in her inner circle, who asked not to be identified.

Sympathetic analysts even liken her park-building spree to that of the Nawab of Lucknow, Asaf-Ud-Dowlah, who employed 20,000 people to build a shrine during a harsh 1784 famine, a project some historians call an example of pre-Keynesian economics.

That might be a stretch, but electrification and rural welfare projects have undoubtedly contributed to economic growth, which at seven percent annually in her first four years of office, was the state's fastest-ever rate.

A report by the central government's economic Planning Commission last year said Mayawati's pro-Dalit policies had begun to improve the dire nutrition situation in the state, where 42 percent of children under five are underweight.

Even critics admit crime has fallen noticeably since she took over as chief minister in 2007 from Mulayam Singh Yadav, a former wrestler many remember for presiding over a surge in gang violence, with gun-wielding goons threatening shopkeepers.

POLICE ON THEIR SIDE

In the mainly Dalit village of Bhaddi Kheda, an hour's drive from Lucknow, families have been given grants to build modest new houses to replace mud-walled hovels. New toilets improve sanitation, and muddy lanes have been paved.

Most importantly, said villager Saptruhan Das, Dalits who for generations were terrorized by higher castes now feel protected because the police are on their side.

"Yadav people would come and misbehave with the women," Das said, referring to former Chief Minister Yadav's caste. "In some places, they'd give us work but beat us. Now with Mayawati in power, nobody dares."

According to an opinion poll conducted in Uttar Pradesh for India Today magazine last November, 69 percent said that Mayawati had fulfilled the expectations of Dalits.

But nearly 9 out of 10 voters said competence mattered more than the chief minister's caste, two-thirds wanted a change of guard, and the poll showed that Yadav was more favored than Mayawati as the best person to lead the state.

Indeed, Yadav's Samajwadi Party could well emerge from the election with more seats in the 403-member state assembly than Mayawati, though probably not enough for a majority, forcing him to ally with Gandhi's Congress for a return to power.

ELEPHANTINE AMBITIONS

It is too soon to write off the wily Mayawati. She has outwitted every opponent who has crossed her path since the 1990s, first forming several short-lived coalition governments and then storming home with a single-party majority in 2007.

She still pulls in crowds of easily 100,000 at election rallies, far more than her opponents, including Gandhi. And she has a knack for turning adversity into advantage.

Take the flap over the life-sized elephant statues Mayawati had erected in a sprawling Lucknow park, which she opened in 2008 and named after the untouchable leader who wrote India's constitution, Dr. B.R Ambedkar.

The Election Commission this month ordered all statues of Mayawati and of elephants -- her party's electoral symbol -- to be covered during the campaign. So now, dozens of hulking elephant statues are clad in yellow plastic sheeting, and plyboard boxes have been built around bronze Mayawati statues.

"I thank the Election Commission for this order," she said. "It is going to benefit the party and has given us free publicity."

Despite her bravado, Mayawati is likely to lose the votes of millions who believe that corruption has gone from bad to worse and the fruits of economic growth have been unevenly spread both across the sprawling state and its castes.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, one businessman in the state described a well-organized system of bribe-paying to bureaucrats and constant harassment of companies for pay-offs.

"You have to be really desperate to do business in Uttar Pradesh. You have to pay for virtually everything," he said. "Since you have to pay out even if you follow the law -- why follow the law?"

NO INDUSTRY, NO JOBS

Apart from a couple of companies seen as close to her administration including Jaypee Group, which built the track used for India's first Formula One race last year, Uttar Pradesh has missed out on India's industrial growth of the past decade.

Construction, particularly state-funded building of roads, has been the main driver of the state's economy, along with agriculture. Manufacturing has stagnated, hobbled by regular power cuts, high taxes and corruption.

Dalit villager Chote Lal, 28, says life has improved for his caste under Mayawati, but he still does not have enough food to feed his seven children properly. "There are no jobs, no factories -- she should have brought in industry," he said.

This may be Mayawati's undoing: not the statues and the personal extravagance, but the sense she has not done enough to lift living standards evenly across so vast a population.

"Overall, her performance is a mixed bag," said Bose, her biographer. "She has clearly been disappointing. She had a great chance to do more."

This is especially felt among higher castes and Muslims, whose votes helped propel Mayawati to power with a majority in 2007 but who now feel her pro-Dalit policies have not taken them into account.

"We want a government that works for development, not one that works for one particular caste or religion," said Mohammed Ahmed Khan, a Muslim farmer in the village of Dharai Mafi.

(Additional reporting by Alka Pande and Sharat Pradhan; John Chalmers reported from New Delhi; Editing by Bill Tarrant)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120126/wl_nm/us_india_election

san diego chargers san diego chargers j.r. martinez snl lance ball lance ball kansas city chiefs

Charlie Sheen: Ashton "Deserves Better" Than 'Two & A Half Men'

The uneasy truce between Charlie Sheen and Two and a Half Men appears to be over. For the past few months, Sheen has been gracious and supportive of the show's new direction with replacement star Ashton Kutcher. But now that he's got a new sitcom in production, Sheen is once again saying that the top-rated CBS comedy is no good without him.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/charlie-sheen-ashton-kutcher-deserves-better-two-half-men/1-a-422478?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Acharlie-sheen-ashton-kutcher-deserves-better-two-half-men-422478

oral roberts les paul detroit tigers romney tax return red hook fred thompson fred thompson

Obama pitches tax, jobs ideas on campaign-style tour (Reuters)

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (Reuters) ? President Barack Obama began a campaign-style swing through political battleground states on Wednesday, pitching his State of the Union initiatives on taxes and jobs as he made his case for a second term.

Fresh from his election-year speech to Congress, Obama amplified his proposals for rewarding companies that keep jobs at home and eliminating tax breaks for those that outsource overseas. He also pressed his argument for higher taxes on the rich.

Obama used his last State of the Union speech before the November election to cast himself as a champion of the middle class, but with polls showing most Americans unhappy with his economic leadership he faces a tough re-election challenge.

Embarking on a three-day, five-state tour starting in Iowa, Obama defended his record and sought to turn up the heat on Republicans in Congress he has accused of obstructing his economic recovery efforts.

"There are people in Washington who seem to have collective amnesia. They seem to have forgotten how we got into this mess," Obama told workers at a conveyor belt factory in Iowa. "They want to go back to the very same policies ... that have stacked the deck against middle-class Americans for years."

Republicans have accused Obama of promoting the "politics of envy" and pursuing policies that kill jobs and hinder growth.

While the biggest proposals in Obama's speech are considered unlikely to gain traction in a deeply divided Congress, the White House believes he can tap into voters' resentment over Wall Street excesses and Washington's dysfunction.

He used his Iowa visit primarily to build on his State of the Union assault on tax breaks he says reward U.S. firms for shipping jobs overseas. He has also called for a minimum international tax on the overseas profits of American firms.

As he spoke, the White House rolled out more details, including new tax breaks for U.S. manufacturers and closing loopholes for companies' income overseas.

"We've got to stop rewarding businesses that ship jobs overseas," Obama said.

He planned to keep the focus on jobs at a stop in Arizona on Wednesday. A Nevada visit is likely to highlight proposed remedies for the housing crisis. He will also go to Colorado and Michigan. All are states crucial to his re-election chances.

ON THE BIG STAGE

In his Tuesday night address that afforded him one of his biggest political stages of the year, Obama set as a central campaign theme a populist call for greater economic fairness.

He mentioned taxes 34 times and jobs 32 times during his hourlong speech, emphasizing the two issues at the heart of this year's presidential campaign.

But Obama seemed to put no blame on himself for a fragile economic recovery and high unemployment that could trip up his re-election bid.

A highlight of Obama's speech was his call to set a 30 percent minimum tax on millionaires, known as the "Buffet rule" because it is favored by billionaire Warren Buffett.

Obama's message could resonate in the 2012 campaign following the release of tax records by Mitt Romney, a potential Republican rival and one of the wealthiest men ever to run for the White House. He pays a lower effective tax rate than many top wage-earners.

Democrats have hammered Republicans in Congress for supporting tax breaks that favor the wealthy. Republicans staunchly oppose tax hikes, even on the richest Americans, arguing they would hurt the economic recovery.

"No feature of the Obama presidency has been sadder than its constant efforts to divide us, to curry favor with some Americans by castigating others," Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels said in the Republican response to Obama.

In a critique of Obama's speech, Romney, campaigning in Florida for Tuesday's party primary, accused the Democratic president of being "detached from reality" in his appeals to voters who have suffered economic hardship under his tenure.

Obama's challenge is clear. The U.S. unemployment rate was 8.5 percent in December. No president in the modern era has won re-election with the rate that high.

As a result, Obama cast a wide net in his State of the Union speech.

Taking aim at China - an election-year target of Republicans and Democrats alike over its currency and trade practices - Obama proposed creation of a new trade enforcement unit.

Obama said he would ask his attorney general to establish a special financial crimes unit to prosecute those parties charged with breaking the law, and whose fraud contributed to the 2007-2009 financial crisis.

He also said he would send to Congress a proposal to allow more Americans to take out new and cheaper mortgages as long as they are current on their payments, savings that would amount to $3,000 per household each year. The depressed housing market continues to drag on the economy.

(Additional reporting by Alister Bull and Steve Holland, writing by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Doina Chiacu)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personalfinance/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120125/pl_nm/us_usa_obama_speech

pasadena pasadena famu famu martina mcbride terry jones andy reid