Experience Kissimmee Day 1 ? Decade Of Memories Contest ...

Let the memories begin.

Earlier this month I was chosen to be one of a dozen bloggers invited to Experience Kissimmee. Five days and four nights we took in local sites?some world famous and some less known.

Welcomed at Westgate, we each enjoyed the comforts of our own private villa, the hospitality of the resort, its Decade of Memories contest kickoff, its super Superbowl XLVII party, and more. But don?t think we just stayed on property. The Kissimmee locale is more than just theme parks. With Pegasus as transport, Day One itinerary includes Wild Florida and Forever Florida, breathtaking vistas as well as Old Town, a memory lane entertainment/shopping experience.

We begin our day at Wild Florida. Its Florida?s Lake Cypress location is a protected swamp. Look at me. I don?t believe I am actually holding a three year old alligator. Can?t find a better place to safely watch birds, eagles, and gators in their true environment. Plus its on property nature preserve allows visitors to see deer, zebra, watusi, water buffalo, emu, and boar roam. Anyone who knows me knows I love who-dun-its and two of my all time favorites are Miami Vice and CSI Miami. Their airboat chase scenes are awesome. So when I learn that I will be touring Central Florida?s Everglades in one, what an adventure, what an eco trip, what a rush!

All aboard. Next stop is St. Cloud?s Forever Florida. Its Allen Broussard Conservatory offers, ziplining, nature tours, and horseback tours. Most of the group is ziplining. Can you imagine yourself moving at speeds of 30 mph over the treetops, 68 feet above the ground? I opt out because of a work injury. Instead I send my camera to record the aerial tour?s breathtaking vantages. I content myself with an open-air coach safari ride five feet above this Florida ecosystem?s flora and fauna. I enjoy the unspoiled beauty of the day, the horses, and the land.

Dusk is falling. On to Old Town, dinner, classic stock (25 year old+) car cruising, and Chocolate Kingdom?s factory tour. I found its exhibits interesting. Do you know that the use of cacao dates back to 1100-1400 BC? I customize a dark chocolate bar rather than a white or milk one then opt for an assortment of nuts instead of fruit and/or spice additives. I plan to give it to hubby BUT, alas, its fresh smell tempts me to nibble, and nibble, and nibble. What a bedtime snack!

Experience Kissimmee is sponsoring the contest of a lifetime that will allow one lucky reader and his/her family their chance to come to this area not one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine but ten times. That?s right, for one Grand Prize winner, the chance to discover a Decade of Memories with ten vacations to Central Florida?s premier vacation destination now awaits. Visit www.decadeofmemories.com to learn more and enter. Hurry, the contest ends on February 28!

Experience Kissimmee is also on Facebook and Twitter.

I attended this event as a guest of Experience Kissimmee, with all expenses paid. As always, any personal opinions reflected in this post are my own and have not been influenced by the sponsor in any way.

Source: http://hereandthere.us/index.php/2013/experience-kissimmee-day-1-decade-of-memories-contest-kiss10/

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Bishop visits Hampshire village to rededicate church

Bishop visits Hampshire village to rededicate church

2:45pm Saturday 23rd February 2013 in News

THE Bishop of Winchester recently visited one of Hampshire?s smallest villages to lead a special service.

The Rt RevTim Dakin conducted a celebration and re-dedication of East Stratton?s All Saints? Church following completion of a ?200,000 restoration project of the Grade 2 listed building.

On Sunday, February 17, after the morning service, the bishop joined local dignitaries and parishioners in the village hall for drinks and lunch.

The service was the culmination of three years work by residents of East and West Stratton, who raised the necessary funds.

Church warden, Chris Hilling, said: ?Given that East & West Stratton number only about 70 households, this has been a truly remarkable achievement and shows what can happen when a local community throws its weight behind a project.?

The Hampshire Chronicle reported in 2009 how Lord Northbrook had set up an appeals committee to save the church, which required urgent repairs to the roof, tower and churchyard wall.

The committee raised over ?40,000 from events within the parish, supplemented by various grants from charities, as well as English Heritage.

Lord Northbrook said: ?We are indebted both to English Heritage for their generous grants, without which we could not have restored our church, and to Patrick Craze, a resident of East Stratton, for his unstinting work in securing all our grants and in managing the restoration works.?

Source: http://www.thisishampshire.net/news/10248365.Bishop_visits_Hampshire_village_to_rededicate_church/?ref=rss

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NCAA acknowledges 'missteps' in Miami case

The NCAA will proceed in the Miami case 'with information properly obtained by the enforcement staff.'

AP

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) -- Calling the NCAA's investigation "unprofessional and unethical," Miami President Donna Shalala lashed out at the governing body for college athletics on Monday, insisting that their long probe of the Hurricanes not only come to a swift end but result in no other penalties against her school.

"We have been wronged," Shalala said.

Her statement came shortly after the embattled NCAA said it was pressing on with the case against Miami, even after the acknowledgment Monday of "missteps" that led to the replacement of its enforcement department and the throwing out of all ill-gotten information gleaned from two depositions that could have been very damaging for the Hurricanes.

The NCAA said it paid Maria Elena Perez, the attorney for former booster Nevin Shapiro, more than $19,000 for work she performed, primarily using subpoena power to ask questions on the association's behalf and doing so under the guise of a bankruptcy case. The NCAA does not have subpoena power and was not involved in Shapiro's bankruptcy proceedings.

And this all comes with Miami expecting to finally receive its notice of allegations - the list of wrongs that the NCAA will claim it found - as early as Tuesday, a long-awaited step that will usher in the start of the sanction phase of the process.

"Sadly the NCAA has not lived up to their own core principles," Shalala wrote. "The lengthy and already flawed investigation has demonstrated a disappointing pattern of unprofessional and unethical behavior. By the NCAA leadership's own admission, the University of Miami has suffered from inappropriate practices by NCAA staff."

Perez did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Florida Bar said last week that it has opened a file to see if Perez broke any rules through her involvement in the Miami-NCAA matter.

Earlier Monday, speaking on a teleconference to announce the findings of a review into his association's ties with the attorney of the former Miami booster at the center of this scandal, NCAA President Mark Emmert insisted the case will not be settled.

"This is going to go forward to the committee on infractions," Emmert said.

It's believed that committee has a meeting sometime in the next few days, though it would be an incredibly rare step for Miami to get in front of that group so quickly. The next scheduled session comes in April - and it usually takes two to three months for penalties to be announced after schools appear before that committee.

"There must be a strong sense of urgency to bring this to closure," Shalala wrote. "Our dedicated staff and coaches, our outstanding student-athletes, and our supporters deserve nothing less."

Already, Miami's football program has voluntarily forfeited the right to appear in two bowl games, along with one trip to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game, up to 30 practices and an undisclosed number of scholarships in response to the investigation. Earlier this month, coach Al Golden told The Associated Press that he believes the Hurricanes have already paid "a huge penalty."

Others, on the NCAA level, are also paying a price.

Julie Roe Lach, who was the NCAA's vice president for enforcement - basically, its top cop - since 2010, was ousted and has been replaced on a temporary basis by Jonathan Duncan, a lawyer with extensive experience working with the association.

"Obviously, this is an outcome that nobody wants to see on their watch or anyone else's," Emmert said. "This is something that's an embarrassment to the association and our staff."

Lach was part of the chain that approved payments to Perez, the attorney for Shapiro, a convicted Ponzi scheme architect now serving a 20-year term in federal prison. According to a 52-page report commissioned by the NCAA and released Monday, Perez offered her help to the NCAA in the form of "using bankruptcy subpoenas to compel depositions from witnesses who had refused to cooperate."

The NCAA, in turn, provided her with specific questions to ask, those coming in an email from former investigator Ameen Najjar, dated Dec. 18, 2011. "Maria, Listed below are a number of areas we would like you to explore," began the email from Najjar.

From there, he listed 34 questions, none of which seem to be in any way related to a bankruptcy case.

Upon learning that Perez was willing to participate with investigators, members of the NCAA's legal team urged the enforcement department not to proceed, though were apparently ignored. And now the depositions given by former Miami equipment-room staffer Sean Allen and former Shapiro business partner Michael Huyghue - along with any other lead that came out of their interviews - have been tossed from the NCAA's case against the Hurricanes.

"Based upon our review, it is our opinion that the current assertions in the U. Miami Investigative Record are not based on evidence that is derived, directly or indirectly, from the depositions of Mr. Allen or Mr. Huyghue," said the report, which was prepared by Kenneth L. Wainstein, an attorney hired to lead the probe that Emmert ordered last month.

Wainstein estimated on a teleconference that about 20 percent of the case against Miami had to be tossed because of the depositions.

According to the report and other documents released by the NCAA on Monday, Perez billed the NCAA for $57,115 worth of work performed from October 2011 through July 2012 - though Lach and other officials were expecting the amount of her work to cost roughly $15,000. The depositions of Allen and Huyghue were performed in December 2011.

One email released by the NCAA from an investigator who worked on the case said they wanted her to depose Allen because the NCAA "did not think he would interview with us again" otherwise.

Allen was not contacted during the NCAA's external probe, which started late last month after Emmert said major breakdowns in the association's own procedures were discovered.

Another point in the report was that now-retired Associate Director of Enforcement Rich Johanningmeier bought a prepaid cellphone and paid for Shapiro's prison phone calls. The NCAA spent about $8,200 "to fund communications with Mr. Shapiro, including transfers of approximately $4,500 to his prison commissary account."

Given what the NCAA revealed Monday, Shalala made it very clear: Miami will not accept more sanctions without a fight.

"We believe that this process must come to a swift resolution, which includes no additional punitive measures beyond those already self-imposed," Shalala said.

Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Source: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20130218/ncaa-miami-investigation.ap/index.html

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Hackers Target Jeep Twitter Account

Chrysler's Jeep brand is the latest company to fall prey to Twitter hackers.

The @Jeep Twitter feed was defaced on Tuesday, its profile image replaced with that of the Cadillac logo, while its background photo was switched to a car bearing the McDonald's logo.

The hackers subsequently posted messages to the @Jeep feed, telling the brand's 106,000 followers that it was purchased by Cadillac because employees were caught taking pain pills in the bathroom, among other things.

The feed said the hack was perpetrated by Twitter users @LILINTERNET, @DFNTSC, and @GUHTI_. But @LILINTERNET today denied hacking @Jeep, blaming @GUHTI_ for the hack. "I DID HOWEVER LOL AND LOL AND LOL AND LOL AND LOL. THANK U," @LILINTERNET wrote.

Tweets on the @DFNTSC account are currently protected; the @GUHTI_ feed has been suspended.

By this afternoon, the Jeep profile feed and background image returned to normal and the offending tweets had been deleted. But about an hour ago, two reply tweets (one directed at @GUHTI_) that appeared to come from the hackers appeared on the feed.

A spokeswoman for Chrysler, which owns the Jeep brand, said "we are aware of it and working to quickly resolve the issue."

The hack comes shortly after the @BurgerKing feed was also attacked this weekend. The fast food chain's profile picture was replaced with that of rival McDonald's, which the hackers claimed had purchased Burger King. The company later apologized, and McDonald's even chimed in to say it played no role in the hack.

For more from Chloe, follow her on Twitter @ChloeAlbanesius.

Source: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2415586,00.asp?kc=PCRSS05079TX1K0000992

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The Fifth International conference on Networks & Communications ...

The Fifth International conference on Networks & Communications (NeCoM ? 2013)

July 13 ~ 15 , Chennai, India

http://aicty.org/necom/index.html

?

Call for paper

The Fifth International conference on Networks & Communications will provide an excellent international forum for sharing knowledge and results in theory, methodology and applications of Computer Networks & Data Communications. The conference looks for significant contributions to the Computer Networks & Communications for wired and wireless networks in theoretical and practical aspects. Original papers are invited on computer Networks, network protocols and wireless networks, Data communication Technologies, and network security. The aim of the conference is to provide a platform to the researchers and practitioners from both academia as well as industry to meet and share cutting-edge development in the field.

Topic of Interest

Authors are solicited to contribute to the conference by submitting articles that illustrate research results, projects, surveying works and industrial? experiences that describe significant advances in the following areas, but? are not limited to

• Heterogeneous wireless networks
• Adhoc and sensor networks
• High speed networks
• Internet and Web applications
• Measurement & Performance Analysis
• Mobile & Broadband Wireless Internet
• Mobile networks & Wireless LAN
• Multimedia networking
• Network Architectures
• Network Based applications
• Network Operations & management
• Network Protocols & Wireless Networks
• Network Security
• Networked systems applications and services
• Next Generation Internet
• Next Generation Web Architectures
• Optical Networks and Systems
• Peer to peer and overlay networks
• QoS and Resource Management
• Recent trends & Developments in Computer Networks
• Routing, switching and addressing techniques
• Self-Organizing Networks and Networked Systems
• Signal Processing for Communications
• Ubiquitous networks
• Wireless communications
• Wireless Multimedia systems

Paper Submission

Authors are invited to submit papers through the?conference Submission system?by 25 January, 2013. Submissions must be original and should not have been published previously or be under consideration for publication while being evaluated for this conference. The proceedings of the conference will be published by Springer (Confirmed).

Selected papers from NeCoM 2013, after further revisions, will be published in the special issue of the following journal.

Important Dates:

Submission Deadline?? : March 01, 2013

Authors Notification?? : April 20, 2013

Registration & Camera-Ready Paper Due?? : May 01, 2013

?

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Source: http://cfptech.wordpress.com/2013/02/18/the-fifth-international-conference-on-networks-communications-necom-2013-4/

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Miami Statement On NCAA Investigation: 'We Have Been Wronged'

CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- Calling the NCAA's investigation "unprofessional and unethical," Miami President Donna Shalala lashed out at the governing body for college athletics on Monday, insisting that their long probe of the Hurricanes not only come to a swift end but result in no other penalties against her school.

"We have been wronged," Shalala said.

Her statement came shortly after the embattled NCAA said it was pressing on with the case against Miami, even after the acknowledgment Monday of "missteps" that led to the replacement of its enforcement department and the throwing out of all ill-gotten information gleaned from two depositions that could have been very damaging for the Hurricanes.

The NCAA said it paid Maria Elena Perez, the attorney for former booster Nevin Shapiro, more than $19,000 for work she performed, primarily using subpoena power to ask questions on the association's behalf and doing so under the guise of a bankruptcy case. The NCAA does not have subpoena power and was not involved in Shapiro's bankruptcy proceedings.

And this all comes with Miami expecting to finally receive its notice of allegations ? the list of wrongs that the NCAA will claim it found ? as early as Tuesday, a long-awaited step that will usher in the start of the sanction phase of the process.

"Sadly the NCAA has not lived up to their own core principles," Shalala wrote. "The lengthy and already flawed investigation has demonstrated a disappointing pattern of unprofessional and unethical behavior. By the NCAA leadership's own admission, the University of Miami has suffered from inappropriate practices by NCAA staff."

Perez did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Florida Bar said last week that it has opened a file to see if Perez broke any rules through her involvement in the Miami-NCAA matter.

Earlier Monday, speaking on a teleconference to announce the findings of a review into his association's ties with the attorney of the former Miami booster at the center of this scandal, NCAA President Mark Emmert insisted the case will not be settled.

"This is going to go forward to the committee on infractions," Emmert said.

It's believed that committee has a meeting sometime in the next few days, though it would be an incredibly rare step for Miami to get in front of that group so quickly. The next scheduled session comes in April ? and it usually takes two to three months for penalties to be announced after schools appear before that committee.

"There must be a strong sense of urgency to bring this to closure," Shalala wrote. "Our dedicated staff and coaches, our outstanding student-athletes, and our supporters deserve nothing less."

Already, Miami's football program has voluntarily forfeited the right to appear in two bowl games, along with one trip to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game, up to 30 practices and an undisclosed number of scholarships in response to the investigation. Earlier this month, coach Al Golden told The Associated Press that he believes the Hurricanes have already paid "a huge penalty."

Others, on the NCAA level, are also paying a price.

Julie Roe Lach, who was the NCAA's vice president for enforcement ? basically, its top cop ? since 2010, was ousted and has been replaced on a temporary basis by Jonathan Duncan, a lawyer with extensive experience working with the association.

"Obviously, this is an outcome that nobody wants to see on their watch or anyone else's," Emmert said. "This is something that's an embarrassment to the association and our staff."

Lach was part of the chain that approved payments to Perez, the attorney for Shapiro, a convicted Ponzi scheme architect now serving a 20-year term in federal prison. According to a 52-page report commissioned by the NCAA and released Monday, Perez offered her help to the NCAA in the form of "using bankruptcy subpoenas to compel depositions from witnesses who had refused to cooperate."

The NCAA, in turn, provided her with specific questions to ask, those coming in an email from former investigator Ameen Najjar, dated Dec. 18, 2011. "Maria, Listed below are a number of areas we would like you to explore," began the email from Najjar.

From there, he listed 34 questions, none of which seem to be in any way related to a bankruptcy case.

Upon learning that Perez was willing to participate with investigators, members of the NCAA's legal team urged the enforcement department not to proceed, though were apparently ignored. And now the depositions given by former Miami equipment-room staffer Sean Allen and former Shapiro business partner Michael Huyghue ? along with any other lead that came out of their interviews ? have been tossed from the NCAA's case against the Hurricanes.

"Based upon our review, it is our opinion that the current assertions in the U. Miami Investigative Record are not based on evidence that is derived, directly or indirectly, from the depositions of Mr. Allen or Mr. Huyghue," said the report, which was prepared by Kenneth L. Wainstein, an attorney hired to lead the probe that Emmert ordered last month.

Wainstein estimated on a teleconference that about 20 percent of the case against Miami had to be tossed because of the depositions.

According to the report and other documents released by the NCAA on Monday, Perez billed the NCAA for $57,115 worth of work performed from October 2011 through July 2012 ? though Lach and other officials were expecting the amount of her work to cost roughly $15,000. The depositions of Allen and Huyghue were performed in December 2011.

One email released by the NCAA from an investigator who worked on the case said they wanted her to depose Allen because the NCAA "did not think he would interview with us again" otherwise.

Allen was not contacted during the NCAA's external probe, which started late last month after Emmert said major breakdowns in the association's own procedures were discovered.

Another point in the report was that now-retired Associate Director of Enforcement Rich Johanningmeier bought a prepaid cellphone and paid for Shapiro's prison phone calls. The NCAA spent about $8,200 "to fund communications with Mr. Shapiro, including transfers of approximately $4,500 to his prison commissary account."

Given what the NCAA revealed Monday, Shalala made it very clear: Miami will not accept more sanctions without a fight.

"We believe that this process must come to a swift resolution, which includes no additional punitive measures beyond those already self-imposed," Shalala said.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/18/miami-statement-ncaa-investigation-wronged_n_2713344.html

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Transition From Windows Messenger to Skype Begins April 8

Microsoft today announced that its upgrade from Windows Live Messenger to Skype on Windows desktops will begin April 8 and take several weeks to complete.

The update will start with English speakers and finish with Brazilian Portuguese users on April 30 or later, the company said. It does not affect those in mainland China, where Messenger will continue to be available.

Microsoft first announced plans to ditch Messenger in favor of Skype in November. By last month, it reportedly notified customers that the 12-year-old service was officially going away on March 15. But ZDNet said that will only cover a test group for about 1 percent of users. The rest must wait until April.

"We want everyone who uses Messenger to have a positive experience," Microsoft's Skype marketing integration director, Parri Munsell, wrote in a blog post. "Upgrading to Skype can help you communicate in flexible ways, and be connected on more devices and platforms," including Windows, Mac, iOS, Windows Phone, Android, and soon BlackBerry.

In the meantime, Munsell published the link to a tutorial of a Messenger user getting acquainted with Skype and its instant messaging options, which includes features like emoticons, group messaging, and screen sharing. Microsoft also touted Skype's other advantages, like conversation history, the ability to edit or remove messages as well as and share files and contact information, instant messaging with Facebook friends, and group video calling.

Skype already updated its iOS app in November in order to let users sign on with their Microsoft accounts. Signing into Skype with an MS account will automatically transport a user's contacts, and allow chats with Messenger, Hotmail, and Outlook friends.

Meanwhile, VentureBeat reported that Skype will start rolling out video messaging to iOS, Android, and Mac apps today in the U.S, U.K., a several other countries.

Redmond officially completed its purchase of Skype in October 2011.

For more from Stephanie, follow her on Twitter @smlotPCMag.

Source: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2415488,00.asp?kc=PCRSS05039TX1K0000749

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The Washington Nationals' Racing Presidents spent Presidents Day at Mount Rushmo...

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NCAA report details missteps in Miami investigation

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Source: http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfoot/news/newstest.aspx?id=4567716

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JustMigrate Launches To Move Posterous Blogs To Tumblr Just As Posterous Announces Imminent End

Just in time for Posterous’ closure on April 30th, a service has launched to bring Posterous blogs over to rival service, Tumblr. JustMigrate was announced the same day that Posterous unceremoniously called it quits via its blog. The service requires you to punch in your posterous URL, authorize it with Tumblr, and you’re all set. For those with multiple Tumblr blogs, granting JustMigrate access via your primary Tumblr will bring you to a page where you can select which blog you want to port over to. Moving 100 posts is free, and it’s $10 for 250 and $25 for 500 posts. Tumblr’s API allows 250 posts, or 75 photo posts to be uploaded daily, so JustMigrate will queue posts over days if you have a large Posterous blog. The service was created by 3Crumbs, a five-man team out of India that has produced a mobile shopping app. Its co-founder, Siddarth Menon, said the idea to create Posterous porting tool was conceived in December, during a hackathon. The startup is bootstrapped, and he hopes the service will bring in some revenue to help support 3Crumbs’ shopping app. Since the service was announced less than a day ago, about 150 blogs are now waiting in line to get ported. Menon said former New York Times design director and Mixel co-creator, Khoi Vinh, has had his Posterous that has been ported. JustMigrate’s team should brace itself for a lot more migrations to happen. Back in 2011, Posterous said it had?12.3 million blogs on the site, most of them by individual users. JustMigrate’s entrance couldn’t be timelier. Last march, when Posterous announced its team was getting acquired by Twitter, founder?Sachin Agarwal said his team would provide “ample notice” if the service was going to get closed, and also promised tools to export content to other services such as Tumblr and WordPress “in the coming weeks”. Sadly, the Posterous team remained silent on those tools, and nine months later in December offered a way for users to download their entire archives as a huge zip file, instead. The lack of tools was especially disappointing, given that the service had initially acquired its users by providing a robust tool to port your existing blog over from services such as Tumblr, WordPress, Blogger and even custom self-hosted blogs. Posterous’ last blog post pointed to WordPress and Squarespace’s existing porting tools, before it bid its adieu.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/m0otVbXvAQw/

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Iran vows revenge on Israel over Syria killing

Saeed Kariminejad / AP

Iranian mourners carry the flag draped coffin of Hassan Shateri in Tehran, Thursday.

By Yeganeh Torbati, Reuters

DUBAI - Iran will soon exact revenge on Israel for the recent killing of a Revolutionary Guards commander in Syria, an aide to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was quoted on Saturday as saying.

Iran said on Thursday that an Iranian military commander named Hessam Khoshnevis, also called Hassan Shateri in some news accounts, had been killed in Syria by rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Tehran.

Syrian rebels accuse Iran's Revolutionary Guard of sending forces to help Assad crush their 22-month-old uprising, a charge denied by the Islamic Republic.

Details of Khoshnevis's killing are sketchy and various accounts have emerged. But Iran's envoy to Beirut Ghazanfar Roknabadi on Thursday drew a link between his killing and Israel.

Ali Shirazi, the representative of Khamenei to the Guards' elite Quds force, said on Friday evening Iran's "resolve against Israel" had only grown stronger with Khoshnevis's killing.

"Our enemies should also know that we will quickly get revenge for (the death of) Haj Hassan (Shateri) from the Israelis, and the enemies cannot shut off the Iranian people with such stupid acts," Shirazi was by the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) on Saturday as saying.

/

A look back at the conflict that has overtaken the country.

Israel has not commented on the killing.

Israel has hinted at military action against Iran if Tehran continues with a nuclear program which Israel says is aimed at developing a weapon. Iran says its program is peaceful.

Israel is believed to be the Middle East's only nuclear-armed state.

The Revolutionary Guards media office said this week that Khoshnevis had been "martyred on his way from Damascus to Beirut by mercenaries".

The state news agency IRNA said Khoshnevis was a military engineer during the 1980-88 conflict between Iran and Iraq, and had later worked in Afghanistan.

Officials stressed Khoshnevis had been engaged in civilian reconstruction in Lebanon for the last seven years. Iran backs the Lebanese Shi'ite movement Hezbollah, which fought a brief war with Israel seven years ago and allied with Assad.?

Related:

Syrian rebels seize key dam

Syrian opposition willing to hold peace talks with Assad

?

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/17/16991633-iran-vows-to-exact-revenge-on-israel-over-killing-of-commander-in-syria?lite

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Growth of Energy Efficient Buildings | The Energy Collective

The area of building efficiency affords tremendous opportunities for both economic growth and reduced environmental impacts. Buildings are the single largest emitters of greenhouse gases. According to a UNEP study titled ?Towards a Green Economy,? homes and businesses are responsible for 40 percent of the climate change causing carbon pollution. There is significant room for improvement in new construction and retrofits in homes, businesses, schools and other organization.

In addition to environmental benefits, there are powerful economic incentives driving efficiency. There are a wide range of new innovations from analytics to smarter sensor technologies that offer cost effective opportunities for improvement.President Obama has indicated that he will make building efficiency a priority in his second-term. Federal buildings efficiency initiatives are already underway and in 2013, the GSA and IBM are collaborating to radically improve the efficiency of the 50 most energy-intensive federal buildings in the U.S., including the White House.

Educational establishments are also helping to drive efficiency by forging curricula to teach students new skills. Top universities such as Carnegie-Mellon, Tulane, University of Arizona, Boston University and Columbia are leading the way as they create new cross-disciplinary majors in building efficiency.

The potential savings from efficiency are huge, particularly when partnered with increased energy productivity. The Alliance Commission on National Energy Efficiency Policy released a report that suggested a strategy to double U.S. energy productivity by 2030. The commission is comprised of a diverse coalition of energy leaders including representatives from energy utilities, academia, industry and environmental groups.

The commission found that getting twice as much output could reduce U.S. carbon dioxide pollution by one-third below 2005 levels. Achieving the commission?s goal of doubling energy productivity by 2030 would also:

• Add 1.3 million jobs
• Cut average household energy costs by more than $1,000 a year
• Save American businesses $169 billion a year
• Increase gross domestic product (GDP) by up to 2 percent
• Decrease energy imports by more than $100 billion a year
• Reduce CO2 emissions by one-third

The Commission report suggests that there are more than $1 trillion in energy-saving opportunities with the right private sector, federal, state and local support. The ambitious yet attainable solutions proposed by the commission will drive innovation and technological advancements, which will modernize manufacturing and make the U.S. economy more globally competitive.

Although the U.S. is lagging behind other nations in terms of efficiency, there have been significant advances in recent years. As reported in Energy Manager Today, research from Bloomberg New Energy Finance and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy sees significant progress in recent years.? According to this study, technological innovations are making it possible to consume energy much more efficiently and with lower emissions.

Since the 1980s, energy intensity has decreased by over 40 percent. This is due to reduced consumption attributable to higher levels of efficiency in new buildings and improvements to hardware and operations relating to heating, ventilation and air conditioning within older buildings.

Although commercial buildings in 2012 have far more electricity-consuming appliances than its equivalent in 1980, improvements to HVAC and lighting have not significantly increased net electricity consumption per square foot.

There are significant efficiency incentives being offered by the U.S. Government. The US Departments of Energy and the Treasury are providing $150 million in tax credits for clean energy and energy efficiency manufacturing projects?? The Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit program was established by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The initial round provided $2.3 billion in credits to 183 projects. The $150 million in tax credits are what is left over.

Eligible manufacturing facilities include:

• Solar, wind, geothermal or other renewable energy equipment.
• Electric grids and storage for renewables.
• Fuel cells and microturbines.
• Energy storage systems for electric or hybrid vehicles.
• Carbon dioxide capture and sequestration equipment.
• Equipment for refining or blending renewable fuels.
• Equipment for energy conservation, including lighting and smart grid technologies.

According to another Energy Manager Today article, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) suggests that policymakers should consider increasing the federal tax incentive for energy efficiency in commercial buildings. The current deduction ? $1.80 per square foot for buildings that reduce energy use by 50 percent relative to the requirements in the 2004 version of ASHRAE Standard 90.1.5

Legislation has been introduced to address these issues. The Commercial Building Modernization Act would increase the deduction for new buildings to $3 per square foot and adds a new deduction for existing buildings for achieving savings of 20 percent or more relative to the current consumption of the building, with the amount of the deduction increasing as the savings increase.

Yet another Energy Manager Today article quotes U.S. Energy Department statistics, which indicate that a typical residential or commercial building loses about 42 percent of energy through the building envelope (doors, roofs, attics, walls, floors and foundations). This is particularly true in the winter when heat loss through windows can account for as much as one quarter a home?s utility bill.

The Energy Department is investing $9 million including high-efficiency windows and HVAC systems. While there have been significant improvements in recent years the US Energy Information Administration expects that energy use per capita will continue to fall by an additional 15 percent through 2040.

In addition to federal government initiatives, individual states are also working to improve efficiency. According to a USGBC article entitled ?States Open Doors for Green Building Growth,? since 2011 there are a number of new state laws that advance energy efficiency and green building.

According to the 2013 Dodge Construction Green Outlook report from McGraw-Hill, in the last three years, we have seen huge growth for the green market, which has gone from a $10 billion market in 2005 to $78 billion in 2011. By the end of 2012, the report anticipated a green market value of $85 billion. In the next four years the green market is expected to more then triple to reach a? market value of $204 to $248 billion.

Other findings in the report include:

• Residential green construction is expected to make up 20 percent of the residential construction market by the end of 2012.
• The Green Outlook report expects that share to increase to 22-25 percent of the market in 2013, which is a value of $34-$38 billion.
• By 2016, that share will increase further to a 29-38 percent share, or, $89-$116 billion market value.
• Along with that rising market share, 35 percent of construction jobs are for the green building market, and come 2016, one-third of all homebuilders in the U.S. are expected to be fully dedicated to the green building market.

To minimize costs and decrease environmental impacts, energy efficiency is destined to be an ever increasing concern. Assisted by new financing mechanisms, the building efficiency trend will continue to provide both economic and environmental benefits.
???????
Richard Matthews is a consultant, eco-entrepreneur, green investor and author of numerous articles on sustainable positioning, eco-economics and enviro-politics.

Source: http://theenergycollective.com/globalwarmingisreal/186631/growth-efficient-buildings

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Curtin University to promote international education and culture as Silver Sponsor at GHEDEX 2013

Held under the patronage of the Ministry of Higher Education and organised by OITE Trade Fairs, GHEDEX 2013 will take place from 23-25 April 2013 at the Oman International Exhibition Centre.

"We have a strong commitment to international engagement, with Australia's third-largest international student population of 17,000. This offers students a unique cross-cultural experience and multicultural outlook," says Mr. Chris Hogg, Associate Director International Student Recruitment, Curtin University.

"As Silver Sponsors at GHEDEX 2013, we hope to promote our courses and programs that will equip graduates with skills and experience relevant and crucial to related industries and businesses."
With the vision to be an international leader in research and education that changes minds, lives, and the world, Curtin is Western Australia's largest and most multicultural university. It attracts more than 50,000 students over seven main Curtin locations, including Perth, Sydney, Singapore, and Sarawak (Malaysia). Curtin has a long-standing commitment to Indigenous education and culture, and is also fundamentally committed to providing regional education within Western Australia through campuses and education centres spread across the state including Esperance, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie, Karratha, Margaret River, Port Hedland, and Albany. The University is committed to innovation and excellence in teaching and research, for the benefit of its students and the wider community.

"Curtin University offers practical courses that highlights an outcome-focused approach, creativity, innovative technological applications, research-based practices, and appreciation of cultural diversity. Students and parents can know more about these courses by getting in touch with the University representatives at GHEDEX 2013," concludes Mr. Hogg.

Oman's preferred higher education exhibition will take place alongside the Training and Omanisation Exhibition TRAINEX and JOBEX 2013, and will highlight the latest trends, developments and opportunities pertaining to the global higher education sector.

Source: http://www.ameinfo.com/curtin-university-promote-international-education-culture-329904

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Park University's Watson Literacy Center to Host "Powerful Texts" Event

Park University's Watson Literacy Center to Host "Powerful Texts" Event

By Brad Biles - February 13, 2013 - 7:55 am
Email?this?article | ?Printer?friendly?page | Media Inquiries | Share on Facebook | Share on Twitter

NEWS RELEASE

Park University's Dorothy Harper Watson Literacy Center, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, will host Kansas City children's fiction/nonfiction author Christine Taylor-Butler as part of the Literacy Center's Powerful Texts Series on Wednesday, Feb. 27, from 5 to 6:30 p.m., in room 221A of the Mabee Learning Center/Academic Underground on the University's Parkville Campus. The event is free and open to the public.

Taylor-Butler will discuss her writing, including her work on Sacred Mountain: Everest, which describes the lives of the Sherpa people who live on Mount Everest, and their relationships with the people who come from around the world to climb that mountain. She also will discuss how nonfiction texts can be powerful as a way of helping children connect with nonfiction topics, including science and social studies. The event will include a question and answer session.

"Christine's focus recently has been on quality nonfiction for children, and that focus is especially timely in light of the recent adoption of the Common Core State Standards Initiative, which calls for an increased focus on children's reading of nonfiction informational texts," said Kathy Lofflin, Ph.D., associate professor of

education and director of the DHWLC. "The insights Christine will share will be valuable to anyone interested in children and in learning."

The Literacy Center's Powerful Texts Series invites local authors with ties to Park to share how texts have been powerful for them and for others. Authors speak about their inspiration, skills and goals for making a difference with their work. The DHWLC is named for Dorothy Watson, Ph.D., a 1952 graduate of Park University and an internationally known literacy researcher, advocate and educator. Because she believed Park provided learning opportunities that she might not have had otherwise, she thanked the University by endowing?the Literacy Center at Park, which was dedicated in June 2003.

For more information about the Dorothy Harper Watson Literacy Center or the Powerful Texts Series, visit www.park.edu/watson, or contact Lofflin at kathy.lofflin@park.edu or (816) 584-6419. For more information about Taylor-Butler, visit www.christinetaylorbutler.com.

Source: http://news.park.edu/pub/news_002290.shtml

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MileHighReport: 2013 NFL Draft Prospects: Running Back Christine Michael Scouting Profile ...

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Source: http://www.broncosforums.com/forums/showthread.php/499306-MileHighReport-2013-NFL-Draft-Prospects-Running-Back-Christine-Michael-Scouting-Profile?goto=newpost

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Final count in Florida's python hunt: 68

MIAMI -- A public hunt for Burmese pythons in the Everglades yielded 68 of the invasive snakes, the longest measuring more than 14 feet long, Florida wildlife officials said Saturday.

That might not seem like a success, considering roughly 1,600 people signed up for the state-sponsored Python Challenge that ended Sunday, but Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials said the hunt may have prevented thousands more pythons from being born in the Everglades.

Female pythons can lay as many as 100 eggs at a time.

"In our view that number - the number that were harvested, taken out of the ecosystem - was an unprecedented number of samples that will help us answer questions about pythons and make us more effective at tackling this problem, removing them from the system. We're going to learn so much," said Nick Wiley, executive director of the wildlife commission.

The highly publicized hunt probably generated more attention-grabbing headlines than snakeskins. Wildlife officials say that was their goal: to raise awareness about the threat pythons and other invasive species pose to native wildlife.

Researchers say pythons are eating their way through the Everglades, decimating populations of native mammals. The snakes can grow more than 20 feet in length, and they have no predators, other than the humans desperately trying to control their population.

Most of the registrants were amateurs lacking the permits usually required to harvest pythons. Two Tennessee men who had been sleeping in their car while hunting had to be rescued by helicopter when they became stranded and disoriented, but most hunters emerged from the Everglades unscathed, if empty-handed.

Ruben Ramirez of Miami and his Florida Python Hunters team won $1,500 for bagging 18 pythons, the most caught by any of the permit holders. He also won prizes for bringing in the two longest snakes to be caught by any of the permit holders. Both those snakes stretched longer than 10 feet.

Brian Barrows of Fort Myers led the competition for amateur hunters, winning $1,500 for harvesting six snakes. His friend, Paul Shannon of Lehigh Acres, won $1,000 for catching a python measuring 14 feet 3 inches long.

The big snake caught Shannon's eye as it slithered through the mud. It didn't like being pulled out and lunged at a friend, Shannon said. Two gunshots to its head finally stopped it.

"When it jumped at him and he dropped it and dove in the bushes, I came around and it was coiled up. The coil was 4 feet wide," he said. "The head was as big as my hand. I have nightmares about that vision of it coiled up, ready to strike again."

The other snakes caught by Barrow and Shannon's team ranged from 7 feet to 9 feet long. On six separate days during the monthlong hunt, they pointed Shannon's airboat toward remote tree islands, looking for snakes sunning themselves on dry land.

"To see one that massive, it was shocking," Barrows said. "You always think these things don't exist out there, and they do. They're out there and they're big."

University of Florida researchers are examining all the harvested snakes, hoping to learn more about the splotchy, tan animal that's hard to see in the Everglades. State wildlife officials will be surveying all the registrants about their methods and the amount of time they spent looking for pythons.

Increasing the number of human python hunters may not be Florida's only option in the ongoing effort to control the snake population. Researchers at Auburn University have been exploring the use of dogs to sniff out pythons.

In a controlled experiment that sent humans and dogs in search of pythons outfitted with radio transmitters, Labrador retrievers previously trained to sniff for bombs did a better job of finding all the snakes, even the smallest ones that were just a foot long, said Christina Romagosa of Auburn's School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences.

---

Online:

Python Challenge: http://www.pythonchallenge.org/

Follow Jennifer Kay on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jnkay.

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/02/16/3238075/final-count-in-floridas-python.html

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Meteorite hits central Russia, more than 500 people hurt

CHELYABINSK, Russia (Reuters) - More than 500 people were injured when a meteorite shot across the sky and exploded over central Russia on Friday, sending fireballs crashing to Earth, shattering windows and damaging buildings.

People heading to work in Chelyabinsk heard what sounded like an explosion, saw a bright light and then felt a shockwave according to a Reuters correspondent in the industrial city 1,500 km (950 miles) east of Moscow.

A fireball blazed across the horizon, leaving a long white trail in its wake which could be seen as far as 200 km (125 miles) away in Yekaterinburg. Car alarms went off, windows shattered and mobile phone networks were interrupted.

"I was driving to work, it was quite dark, but it suddenly became as bright as if it was day," said Viktor Prokofiev, 36, a resident of Yekaterinburg in the Urals Mountains.

"I felt like I was blinded by headlights," he said.

No fatalities were reported but President Vladimir Putin, who was due to host Finance Ministry officials from the Group of 20 nations in Moscow, and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev were informed.

A local ministry official said such incidents were extremely rare and Friday's events might have been linked to an asteroid the size of an Olympic swimming pool due to pass Earth at a distance of 27,520 km (17,100 miles) but this was not confirmed.

Russia's space agency Roscosmos said the meteorite was travelling at a speed of 30 km (19 miles) per second and that such events were hard to predict. The Interior Ministry said the meteorite explosion had caused a sonic boom.

Russia's Emergencies Ministry said 514 people had sought medical help, mainly for light injuries caused by flying glass, and that 112 of those were kept in hospital. Search groups were set up to look for the remains of the meteorite.

"There have never been any cases of meteorites breaking up at such a low level over Russia before," said Yuri Burenko, head of the Chelyabinsk branch of the Emergencies Ministry.

WINDOWS BREAK, FRAMES BUCKLE

Windows were shattered on Chelyabinsk's central Lenin Street and some of the frames of shop fronts buckled.

A loud noise, resembling an explosion, rang out at around 9.20 a.m. (12:20 a.m. ET). The shockwave could be felt in apartment buildings in the industrial city's center.

"I was standing at a bus stop, seeing off my girlfriend," said Andrei, a local resident who did not give his second name. "Then there was a flash and I saw a trail of smoke across the sky and felt a shockwave that smashed windows."

A wall was damaged at the Chelyabinsk Zinc Plant but a spokeswoman said there was no environmental threat.

Although such events are rare, a meteorite is thought to have devastated an area of more than 2,000 sq km (1,250 miles) in Siberia in 1908, smashing windows as far as 200 km (125 miles) from the point of impact.

The Emergencies Ministry described Friday's events as a "meteor shower in the form of fireballs" and said background radiation levels were normal. It urged residents not to panic.

Chelyabinsk city authorities urged people to stay indoors unless they needed to pick up their children from schools and kindergartens. They said what sounded like a blast had been heard at an altitude of 10,000 meters (32,800 feet).

The U.S. space agency NASA has said an asteroid known as 2012 DA14, about 46 meters in diameter, would have an encounter with Earth closer than any asteroid since scientists began routinely monitoring them about 15 years ago.

Television, weather and communications satellites fly about 500 miles higher. The moon is 14 times farther away.

(Additional reporting by Natalia Shurmina in Yekaterinburg and Gabriela Baczynska in Moscow, Writing by Alexei Anishchuk and Timothy Heritage, Editing by Michael Holden)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/possible-meteor-shower-reported-eastern-russia-052833588.html

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Wall Street ends slightly down, S&P positive for seventh week

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 dipped in a late decline on Friday as Wal-Mart dropped following a report of a weak start to February sales, though the index just barely extended its streak of weekly gains to seven.

Equities were little changed for much of the session, with investors finding few reasons to make big bets following an extended rally on Wall Street, but stocks turned lower in afternoon action.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc dropped 2.1 percent to $69.30 after Bloomberg News reported a weak start to February sales, citing internal company e-mails. The stock was the biggest decliner on the Dow, while the S&P retail index <.spxrt> fell 0.5 percent.

"When a retailer of this size comes out with this kind of lousy news, the whole market can fall off, especially on a Friday afternoon," said Mike Shea, trader at Direct Access Partners in New York. "However, I'm not worried that this is indicative of any larger macro issue with retail."

Equities have struggled for direction recently, with major indexes moving only slightly in the past several sessions. The S&P didn't end a session with a move greater than 0.2 percent at all this week.

The benchmark index, up 6.6 percent so far this year, is facing strong technical resistance near the 1,525 level. But investors, expecting the index to advance further in the quarter, have held back from locking in profits.

"There's no news that suggests the strong underpinning for stocks isn't appropriate. We may have gotten ahead of ourselves, but there's also an absence of bad news," said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia.

Many investors are starting to look ahead to a debate in Washington over sequestration, automatic across-the-board spending cuts put in place as part of a larger congressional budget fight. The cuts are due to kick in March 1 unless lawmakers agree to an alternative.

"This had been far enough out to not yet become an impediment for stocks, but it will start to move into the forefront and cause people to take a bit of a jaundiced eye towards the market," said Luschini, who helps oversee about $54 billion in assets.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> was up 11.27 points, or 0.08 percent, at 13,984.66. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was up 0.32 points, or 0.02 percent, at 1,521.70. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was up 1.51 points, or 0.05 percent, at 3,200.17.

For the week, both the Dow and Nasdaq fell 0.1 percent while the S&P rose 0.1 percent in its seventh straight week of gains, a period during which the index rose 8.4 percent. The last such seven-week run was between December 2010 and January 2011.

The New York Federal Reserve said manufacturing in New York state expanded for the first time in seven months, while Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary reading of consumer sentiment rose from the prior month and beat expectations.

But U.S. manufacturing fell in January after a rise in the prior month.

Wall Street's gain thus far in 2013 has largely been driven by strong corporate earnings, while data indicated some weakening in economic conditions.

A surge in merger and acquisition activity, with more than $158 billion in deals announced so far in 2013, has given further support to the equity market as it points to healthy valuations and bets on the economic outlook.

Herbalife shares cut earlier gains to rise 1.2 percent to $38.74. Late Thursday, billionaire investor Carl Icahn said in a regulatory filing that he now owns 13 percent of Herbalife and was ready to put it in play.

MeadWestvaco Corp climbed 12.5 percent to $35.65 as the biggest percentage gainer on the S&P index after activist investor Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management LP said it had bought about 1.6 million shares of the packaging company.

Burger King Worldwide shares gained 4.7 percent to $17.36 after it beat estimates with a 94 percent rise in fourth-quarter profit, thanks to new menu additions.

Oil service stocks declined, weighed by a 5.1 percent drop in shares of Transocean to $56.26, after the rig contractor reported its fleet update and Deutsche Bank cut its rating on the stock to "sell." The PHLX oil service sector <.osx> lost 1.5 percent.

Slightly more stocks fell than rose on the New York Stock Exchange while about 50 percent of Nasdaq shares ended lower. About 6.69 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and NYSE MKT, above the daily average so far this year of about 6.48 billion shares.

(Editing by Nick Zieminski)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stock-futures-tick-down-ahead-production-consumer-data-124023979--sector.html

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High Court Disqualifies Judge For Facebook Friendship With Prosecutor

TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami) ? Judges, take note: you cannot be Facebook friends with the prosecutors in your cases.

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday upheld an appellate court ruling saying that a judge?s Facebook friends can be used to disqualify the jurist from presiding over a trial, the News Service of Florida reported Friday.

A motion to disqualify the trial judge in his case was made by defendant Pierre Domville after the man discovered the judge was ?friends? on Facebook with the prosecutor.

The trial judge ruled against Domville but the Fourth District Court of Appeals disagreed, saying the judge?s cyber connection could lead a reasonable person to conclude that a conflict could exist.

The appellate court then asked the Florida Supreme Court to weigh in.

In a 5-2 decision, the high court said it wouldn?t step in. ?Judges do not have the unfettered social freedom of teenagers,? wrote appellate Judge Robert M. Gross in his request for high court review.

(TM and ? Copyright 2013 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.)

Source: http://miami.cbslocal.com/2013/02/16/fla-high-court-disqualifies-judge-who-is-facebook-friends-with-prosecutor/

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NFL: San Francisco 49ers' Aldon Smith getting his kicks

SAN JOSE -- Aldon Smith's once-worrisome left shoulder looked great as he made his foray into mixed martial arts training Friday, less than two weeks after the 49ers' Super Bowl defeat.

"We lost the game, and that's why I'm here," Smith said at San Jose's American Kickboxing Academy. "You lose and you have two choices: You either complain about it or you train for next season."

Smith, selected by his teammates as their MVP last season, sparred for nearly an hour with Daniel Cormier, a two-time Olympic wrestler and current UFC fighter.

Although Smith produced a franchise-record 19?1/2 sacks in his second season with the 49ers, he had none in the final six games (including postseason), a drought he blamed mostly on opponents' tactics. As for the shoulder injury that limited him in practice the final two months, he traced it to a "bad stinger" -- or nerve injury -- suffering during his 5?1/2-sack game Nov. 19 against the Chicago Bears.

"It's doing good," Smith said. "I was on the mat, playing around and doing fine."

Aside from lifting weights at the 49ers facility, Smith plans to continue training this offseason at AKA with Cormier, who began Friday's tutorial by shadow boxing with Smith. Their sparring session ended with Smith executing tap-out, choke holds on Cormier, a move Smith assured he "won't be breaking out in a game."

Smith followed up the 49ers' 34-31 Super Bowl loss to the Baltimore

Ravens by taking a six-day vacation to San Diego. No other extended trips are on his offseason itinerary. Nor does he see envision further off-field incidents such as that shadowed him last year.

"If anything, I learn from my mistakes," Smith, 23, said. "I'm definitely a lot more focused this offseason. I know things to do and what not to do."

Last year's travails included getting arrested for allegedly drunken driving in Miami in January, getting stabbed at his own house party in June, and sustaining a cut above his eye in a September car accident while riding as a passenger.

Smith said he didn't need a reminder from his coaches to stay safe this offseason, adding: "It's something I knew. I heard enough about it. I'm good now."

Improving his hand-to-hand combat skills and staying in shape brought him to Cormier, whom he met last summer and watched fight at HP Pavilion.

"You can get all of your emotions out in this sport," Smith said of mixed martial arts.

Cormier came away impressed by the 6-foot-4 Smith's athleticism. "It shows he's ready to improve himself in different ways," said Cormier, who will face Frank Mir on April 20 at HP Pavilion in "UFC on Fox 7."

"I'll get him in crazy shape," Cormier added of Smith. "You see how he was huffing and puffing? I'll get him in shape so he can go 10 plays in a row without needing a break."

Smith actually showed plenty of endurance last season. He became an every-down linebacker instead of just a situational pass-rusher, which was his role during a 14-sack rookie season.

His 19?1/2 sacks last season were one shy of league leader J.J. Watt of the Houston Texans. Smith said opponents frequently double-teamed him or slid their protection to his side.

"If that's going to keep happening where I get that many guys blocking me, I need to take myself to the next level so nothing can stop me," Smith added.

It was the Ravens who stopped the 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII, and Smith still can picture Joe Flacco escaping the 49ers' pass rush a couple times to complete deep passes.

"There's no reason we can't contend for the Super Bowl next season," Smith said.

Rather than pinpoint one area the 49ers need improvement, Smith said "everything" must get better.

One of the 49ers' most pressing storylines is to determine the fate of backup quarterback Alex Smith, who stands to make $8.5 million next season if he's on the roster April 1. "I personally like Alex, but I also want what's best for him," Aldon Smith said. "So if there's an opportunity for him to start somewhere else, then I think he should go with it."

Source: http://www.willitsnews.com/ci_22600632/san-francisco-49ers-aldon-smith-getting-his-kicks?source=rss_viewed

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Cogliano scores 2 in 3rd, Ducks beat Red Wings 5-2

DETROIT (AP) ? It was a game of turnovers. The Detroit Red Wings made them and the Anaheim Ducks took advantage.

Andrew Cogliano and Bobby Ryan scored less than a minute apart early in the third period, and Cogliano added an empty-net goal in Anaheim's 5-2 victory Friday night.

Viktor Fasth made 26 saves to become the first goalie in seven years to win his first seven career starts. The 30-year-old Fasth is considered a first-year player and not a rookie by the NHL because he is older than 25.

"He's been our most valuable player," Ryan said. "He has come in and given us a chance to win every game. He's a true professional."

Cogliano snapped a 2-all tie just 1:02 into the third and Ryan connected 48 seconds later. Both goals were the result of neutral-zone turnovers by Red Wings defensemen.

Niklas Kronwall turned it over on Cogliano's goal, and Ian White committed the gaffe on Ryan's tally ? his second turnover of the game that led to a goal.

"When they do make mistakes, you have to make sure you capitalize," said Cogliano, who capped the outburst with his fourth of the season at 18:11.

Matt Beleskey and Corey Perry each had a goal and an assist for Anaheim, which won its third straight and seventh in eight games. Ryan Getzlaf added two assists.

Joakim Andersson got his first career goal and added an assist, and Tomas Tatar also scored for Detroit, which was without top-six forwards Pavel Datsyuk (bruised shoulder day- to-day) and Johan Franzen, who missed his second game because of a sore hip flexor. Jimmy Howard stopped 33 shots.

"It was two turnovers that ended up in our net. It was tough. I think we, until that time, played a good game," Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said. "We battled good the first period and took over the game in the second. We felt good going out for the third but unfortunately those two quick ones kind of killed the game."

Cogliano and Ryan scored 48 seconds apart early in the third period.

Cogliano tipped in a pass from Saku Koivu off a give-and-go play, and Ryan fired in his own rebound for his fifth goal at 1:50.

Perry capitalized on a turnover in the Detroit zone by putting in his own rebound 7:32 into the second period to tie the score at 2. White fanned on a pass from behind his own net and the puck went to Beleskey, who made a cross-slot pass to Perry.

Tatar's power-play goal gave Detroit a 2-1 lead 6:32 into the middle period. He put in a rebound for his second goal, both in the last two games.

Andersson opened the scoring 3:01 into the second by beating Fasth from the bottom of the right circle. Beleskey tied it 26 seconds later with his second goal. He beat Howard with a snap shot from the slot.

The first period was scoreless as Anaheim outshot the Red Wings 14-6.

NOTES: Former Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, who retired after last season, was back in Detroit for an autograph signing on Saturday. He and friend Tomas Holmstrom, who also retired after last season, visited their former teammates at the morning skate and attended the game. ... The Red Wings placed forward Todd Bertuzzi on injured reserve. He missed the previous three games with a sore back. ... Detroit recalled center Gustav Nyquist from its AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids. ... Anaheim goalie Jonas Hiller, who has missed three games with a lower-body injury, could return Saturday in Nashville. ... It was Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau's 400th game as an NHL head coach.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-02-15-Ducks-Red%20Wings/id-fa0eb6cabc674a3bb5ba4b9d7ae70c9e

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Fire Forces Family From Home | WNEP.com ? Scranton / Wilkes ...

Posted on: 5:41 am, February 15, 2013, by Mike Vojtko, updated on: 09:00am, February 15, 2013

JACKSON TOWNSHIP?? The Red Cross is providing shelter for a family after a fire late?Thursday night?in Monroe County.

Firefighters rushed to the home on Mountain Road in the Tannersville area?just before midnight.

The chief said the flames started in the chimney and spread to the second floor.? The heat melted some of the siding.

Six people, including four children live in the home.

No one was hurt.

Source: http://wnep.com/2013/02/15/fire-forces-family-from-home-2/

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Lawmaker: Russian fireball highlights asteroid threat

The dramatic meteor explosion over Russia Friday (Feb. 15) highlights the need for more attention to be paid to the threat of near-Earth asteroids, an influential American congressman says.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), vice chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, responded to the Russian fireball by saying the event should serve as a wakeup call.

?We have been looking forward to the close pass of asteroid 2012 DA14, which will pass between the Earth?s surface and our communications satellites this afternoon," Rohrabacher said on Friday, referring to the 150-foot-wide (45 meters) space rock that came within just 17,200 miles (27,000 kilometers) of our planet that day.

"We have calculated that there is no chance this asteroid will impact the Earth, and that we will get an opportunity for a close-up view as it flies past," he added. "Unfortunately, we didn't see the one that exploded over Russia until it happened."

Rohrabacher said that the United States has been spending millions to find and track asteroids and comets, but the object that exploded over Russia was apparently so small "that we aren?t even looking for objects of this size."

Astronomers estimate that the Russian meteor was caused by a 50-foot-wide (15 m) object that weighed about 7,000 tons.

?What concerns me even more, however, is the fact that we have no plan that can protect the Earth from any comet or asteroid," Rohrabacher said. "So, even if we find one that will hit us, we might not be able to deflect it."

Change may be in the offing, however. The House science committee announced today that it will hold a hearing in the coming weeks on how to deal with the threat posed by potentially hazardous asteroids. ?

??This is the only preventable natural disaster, and we have mounting evidence that this a real and tangible danger,? Rohrabacher said. "Our heartfelt prayers go out to all those affected by this [Russian] event, and this shows that we must protect ourselves, and the planet, from this clear danger.

Leonard David has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. He is former director of research for the National Commission on Space and a past editor-in-chief of the National Space Society's Ad Astra and Space World magazines. He has written for SPACE.com since 1999. Follow SPACE.com on Twitter?@Spacedotcom. We're also on?Facebook?&?Google+.?

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russian-fireball-highlights-asteroid-threat-lawmaker-says-132111833.html

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