Ladywriter

CNN WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Barack Obama has invited the leaders of 16 major economies to Washington for a forum on energy and climate next month, the White House announced Saturday. Obama, who recently turned his attention to the need for more clean-energy funding, has also asked U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to attend. The preparatory session is scheduled for April 27-28, the White House said in a statement. It seeks to "generate the political leadership necessary" for a successful outcome at the U.N. climate change negotiation to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December. "The preparatory sessions will culminate in a Major Economies Forum Leaders' meeting," to be held in July in La Maddalena, Italy, the statement said. Aside from the United States, the 16 other major economies are Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Last week, Obama told a group of renewable-energy company owners and investors that the country has "known the right choice for a generation (and that) the time has come to make that choice." He argued that an expanded investment is needed to lay the foundation for long-term economic growth, cut dependence on foreign oil and slow the process of global warming. "We can allow climate change to wreak unnatural havoc or we can create jobs preventing its worse effects," he said. "We can hand over the jobs of the 21st century to our competitors, or we can create those jobs right here in America." The need for new energy sources was a heated point of contention in the 2008 presidential campaign. Obama emphasized the need for renewable-energy development, while Republican nominee John McCain stressed a preference for more oil drilling within the United

Police believe program could have helped prevent 2005 attack in London LONDON - British police said Saturday that a program that tries to identify children at risk of Islamic radicalization has dealt with 180 cases over an 18-month period.The Association of Chief Police Officers said that around 180 children were referred to the program, designed to combat homegrown terrorism, between April 2007 and September 2008. The program, known as the Channel Project, asks parents, teachers and youth workers to look out for children who may be taking an unusual interest in extremist literature or those who may be tempted to join radical groups. Community leaders and local government workers then develop a program to help the children. West Yorkshire Police Chief Constable Norman Bettison said the program could have helped spot the suicide bombers who killed 52 commuters on London's transit system in July 2005. "One of the four bombers of 7 July was, on the face of it, a model student," he was quoted as telling The Independent newspaper in an interview published Saturday. "But when we went back to his teachers they remarked on the things he used to write. In his exercise books he had written comments praising al-Qaida. That was not seen at the time as being substantive, Now we would hope that the teachers might intervene, speak to the child's family, or perhaps the local imam who could then speak to the young man." The Channel Project was set up by the Association of Chief Police Officers in 2007 in parts of northern England and London and is being rolled out across the country.

After huge public works push of 1990s, some call tactic unwise By Blaine Harden updated 4:55 a.m. ET, Mon., March. 30, 2009 TOKYO - Within a block of one another, three public works projects gummed up traffic one day last week. Workmen upgraded a gas line, installed a new water main and replaced sand in a public playground. It was part of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's crash program to triple the number of public works projects in the city, create thousands of jobs and fight back against a global recession that is punishing export-dependent Japan more severely than any other major industrialized country. Japan's economy, the second-largest in the world, is shrinking at the fastest pace in more than 30 years, roughly twice as fast as the U.S. economy. Exports and imports declined in February at a record rate, with monthly sales to the United States down nearly 60 percent compared with last year. Tokyo, by far the largest and richest city in Japan, is giving itself public-works medicine for these global trade ills. It is deploying legions of men and women with flags and hard hats to repave streets, repaint crosswalks and fix broken clocks in city parks. Potholes, cracked sidewalks and peeling paint -- never that common in this immaculately maintained city -- have all but disappeared from public spaces. Now, a heated political argument is erupting across Japan over whether the entire country should follow Tokyo's lead and pour taxpayer money into major public works. The Obama administration, it has been noted here, has embraced this idea as a way to kick-start the U.S. economy, spending hundreds of billions on roads, broadband and other infrastructure projects. The dilemma for Japan is that it has already been there and done that -- in spades and not so long ago. In the 1990s, during the "Lost Decade" that followed the bursting of a real estate bubble, Japan's government spent more than $2 trillion on public works. In so doing, it dug itself the deepest public-debt hole in the history of the developed world, totaling more than 175 percent of the country's gross domestic product. All the spending has made Japan's infrastructure the envy of the world. It has a public transportation system that is unrivaled for convenience and ubiquity. Its fiber-optic broadband infrastructure enables the world's fastest Internet connections, delivering more data at a lower cost than anywhere else. Going too far? But many critics say the government has gone too far, outfitting itself with more dams, bridges, highways, museums and airports than it will ever use. Japan has the oldest population in the world and the lowest proportion of children. "Our infrastructure is impeccable," said Takayoshi Igarashi, a professor of politics at Hosei University and an expert on public works spending. "More public works would be surplus to real need. It would not stimulate anything but the construction industry." Still, Prime Minister Taro Aso and his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) seem to favor another big round of spending on public works. Aso has said that these projects, including building roads, burying telephone wires and thinning forests, have been neglected and will produce much-needed jobs. One of Aso's economic advisers, Richard C. Koo, who is also chief economist at the Nomura Research Institute, says that as Japan sinks into what seems certain to be its worst recession since World War II, nothing can produce more economic benefits more quickly than massive government spending on public works. "You can bash public works all you want, but in this type of recession, where companies and individuals have stopped spending, government expenditures become absolutely essential," he said. "We need speed more than anything in responding to this crisis." Koo said that while public works spending in the 1990s saddled the government with an onerous debt, it also prevented the economy from slipping into a depression, despite an 80 percent collapse in asset prices after the bubble burst. "Our unemployment rate never went above 5.5 percent," Koo said. "Public works was an extremely effective fiscal stimulus, even though a few projects were really stupid." CONTINUED More than economics1 | 2 | Next >

Not just your kids: Dogs can think ‘no fair’ too Wolves (and dogs) are in-your-face poopers World's first dog lived 31,700 years ago, ate big How dogs developed smart pet tricks Cosmic Log: Cat vs. dog evolution

Man's best friend serves as model for understanding human social behavior By Jennifer Viegas updated 11:58 a.m. ET, Thurs., March. 26, 2009 Chimpanzees share many of our genes, but dogs have lived with us for so long and undergone so much domestication that they are now serving as a model for understanding human social behavior, according to a new paper. Cooperation, attachment to people, understanding human verbal and non-verbal communications, and the ability to imitate are just a handful of the social behaviors we share with dogs. They might even think like us at times too, according to the paper, which has been accepted for publication in the journal Advances in the Study of Behavior. While there is no evidence to support that dogs and humans co-evolved their laundry list of shared behaviors over the past 10,000 to 20,000 years, the researchers believe adapting to the same living conditions during this period may have resulted in the similarities. Lead author Jozsef Topal explained to Discovery News "that shared environment has led to the emergence of functionally shared behavioral features in dogs and humans and, in some cases, functionally analogous underlying cognitive skills." Topal, who is based at the Institute for Psychology at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, is one of the world's leading canine researchers. He and his team argue that dogs should serve as the "new chimpanzees" in comparative studies designed to shed light on human uniqueness. "In my view, pet dogs can be regarded in many respects as 'preverbal infants in canine's clothing,'" he said, adding that many dog-owner relationships mirror human parental bonds with children. In one of many recent studies conducted by the team, Topal and his colleagues taught both a 16-month-old human child and mature dogs to repeat multiple demonstrated actions on verbal command — "Do it!," shouted in Hungarian. The actions included turning around in circles, vocalizing, jumping up, jumping over a horizontal rod, putting an object into a container, carrying an object to the owner or parent, and pushing a rod to the floor. The dogs "performed surprisingly well and at a comparable level to the 16-month-old child," Topal said. Multiple studies mentioned by the authors also support that dogs exhibit all three primary types of social behavior that humans evolved when they split from chimpanzees 6 million years ago. The first is "sociality," or organization into groups where members are loyal to each other and display reduced aggression. The second is synchronization, where following shared social rules and even taking on each others emotions helps to strengthen group unity. The researchers, for example, say that, "when approached by an unfamiliar person showing definite signs of friendliness and threat in succession, dogs show rapid changes of emotional and behavioral response in accordance with the human's attitude." The third is "constructive activity," where individuals within a group cooperate and communicate with each other to achieve goals. Dogs can also distinguish rational from irrational human communications, Topal said. The scientists additionally believe dogs are good models for human social behavior because studies can compare and contrast domesticated dogs with wolves, and then with humans. Marc Hauser, a professor and director of the Cognitive Evolution Lab at Harvard University, fully agrees that dogs offer a good model for understanding human behavior. "The dog has come into its own as a great new model for understanding the mind in general, and the evolution of the human mind in particular," Hauser told Discovery News. "Not only have we lived with dogs for thousands of years, but because of this relationship, we have acted as an agent of selection to modify aspects of their behavior and minds." "Now, perhaps for the first time, students of animal behavior, psychology, neuroscience, anthropology, philosophy and veterinary medicine will unite to provide deeper insights into the evolution of dogs and the evolution of humans," he added. "I for one am very excited about this opportunity, which is why we have followed the lead of other labs, and started our own dog lab!" © 2009 Discovery Channel

Structure predates any found on the Mediterranean island by a millennium NICOSIA, Cyprus - An Italian archaeologist claimed Friday to have discovered Cyprus' oldest religious site, which she said echoes descriptions in the Bible of temples in ancient Palestine.Maria Rosaria Belgiorno said the 4,000-year-old triangular temple predates any other found on the east Mediterranean island by a millennium. "For sure it's the most ancient religious site on the island," she told The Associated Press from her home in Rome. "This confirms that religious worship in Cyprus began much earlier than previously believed." But authorities on the island say they cannot confirm her claim before further study. "That the site is dated to around 2,000 B.C. is certain, but the interpretation that it's a temple or a sacred site has yet to be confirmed," Cyprus Antiquities Department official Maria Hadjicosti told state radio. The 200-sq.-meter (2,150-sq.-foot) building was discovered last year outside Pyrgos, a village near the south coast, where previous digs unearthed a settlement dating to 2,000 B.C. that included a perfumery, winery and a metal workshop. Belgiorno, who heads an Italian archaeological mission in Cyprus, initially disclosed the find to English-language The Cyprus Weekly. She said evidence points to a monotheistic temple with a sacrificial altar that resembles Canaanite places of worship described in the Bible. "The temple has a very peculiar shape for a building, which is very rare." Belgiorno said a key piece of evidence linking the site to Biblical accounts of temples in ancient Palestine is a pair of 6-meter (20-foot) stone "channels" extending from either side of the altar that allowed sacrificial animals' blood to flow out of the structure. Other evidence includes a stone water basin, which she said might have been used in the ritual cleansing of the channels. Belgiorno said the temple was situated across from the industrial area in the heart of the settlement, which she estimates covered 35 hectares (86 acres). Most of the settlement now lies under village homes and holiday villas. The industrial area was built around a large mill producing olive oil that was used as fuel to fire up the metal workshop and as a perfume base. Although it is difficult to say with certainty, she said the settlement was home to around 500 people. Their origins are unclear, but they had trade links with ancient Egypt and Palestine, she said. A major earthquake destroyed the settlement in 1,850 B.C. The earliest settlements excavated so far on the island date back to around 9000 B.C. Cyprus then saw successive waves of colonization, including Phoenicians, Mycenaean Greeks, Romans and — in the Middle Ages — Franks and Venetians. It was conquered by Ottoman Turks in 1571, and became part of the British Empire in 1878 before winning independence in 1960. Violence between Cyprus' majority Greek community and the Turkish community broke out shortly after, and the island has been divided along ethnic lines since a Turkish invasion in 1974 — prompted by a failed coup aimed at union with Greece.

article A company that has built mini-biospheres for orbiting space stations says it's ready for the next giant leap: growing flowers on the moon. "It's all very aggressive," Taber MacCallum, chief executive officer of Arizona-based Paragon Space Development Corp., said of his company's plan to send a miniature greenhouse to the lunar surface. "But it isn't fun if it isn't aggressive." Paragon's "Lunar Oasis" would piggyback on a lunar lander currently being developed by Odyssey Moon to vie for a share of the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize. Details of the partnership are to be publicized Friday during a news conference at Paragon's headquarters in Tucson, Ariz. To win the prize, Odyssey Moon would have to get its lander/rover craft on the moon's surface by the end of 2014. Paragon is working with Odyssey Moon on the lander design and its thermal control system as well as the mini-greenhouse. "We are thrilled to have Paragon join the team with their expertise in thermal and biological systems," Odyssey Moon's founder and chief executive officer, Bob Richards, said in a news advisory. "I am incredibly inspired by our hope to grow the first plant on another world." Capturing the imagination The greenhouse idea has emotional as well as scientific appeal. "People of all ages will get excited about the idea of growing a plant on the moon," Jane Poynter, president and founder of Paragon (as well as MacCallum's wife), said in the advisory. "Imagine a bright flower on a plant in a crystal clear growth chamber on the surface of the moon, with the full Earth rising above the moonscape behind it; these are the ideas that got me interested in space." MacCallum has been impressed in particular by how kids react to the idea. "To them, right now it's more cool than astronauts," he told me. But the experiment isn't just kid stuff. "The first plant to grow from seed and complete its life cycle on another world will be a significant step in the expansion of life beyond the earth," Chris McKay, a planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center, said in the advisory. "The sooner we do it, the better." Plants already have been found to flourish in zero gravity - in fact, Paragon played a big role in plant-growth experiments on the space shuttle and Russia's Mir space station as well as on the international space station. But plants haven't yet been grown in lunar-type reduced gravity, said Volker Kern, Paragon's director of NASA human spaceflight programs. "Scientifically, it will be very interesting to understand the effects of the moon and one-sixth gravity on plant growth," he said. Mother Nature on another world MacCallum knows that getting plants to grow in the Lunar Oasis will be a challenge. First of all, the greenhouse would have to survive the trip to the moon in working order - which is definitely one giant leap for the Odyssey Moon team. Then Mother Nature would have to do its thing on another world, with a lot of help from the onboard life support system. The current prototype for the greenhouse is a 15-inch-high (37.5-centimeter-high) reinforced glass cylinder that's about 7 inches (18 centimeters) wide on the bottom. Seeds for a rapid-cycle type of Brassica plant - basically, mustard seeds - would be planted in Earth soil within the container. "It's one of those 'lab-rat' plants that scientists use a lot and know very well," MacCallum explained. The petite plants have been bred on Earth to develop yellow flowers 14 days after planting - which happens to be how long a lunar day lasts. "We're hoping to at least go to flower and set seed in the course of one lunar day," MacCallum said. Without the mediating influence of an atmosphere, lunar surface temperatures can swing widely between day and night, from 225 degrees Fahrenheit (107 degrees Celsius) during the day to colder than 240 degrees below zero F (-153 degrees C) at night. "My guess is the plant is going to get so cold that it dies during the night," MacCallum said. But wouldn't it be cool if the plant developed mustard seeds that started a whole new cycle of growth on the moon? If that happened, "we wouldn't know what to do with ourselves," MacCallum said. Lessons in life support Paragon's would-be lunar gardeners will have to work their way through lots of technical challenges: How do you design the greenhouse glass to block the sun's harmful rays while letting in the sunlight needed for Earth-style photosynthesis? How do you meter in the carbon dioxide and water that the plant will require, while removing the oxygen given off by the plant? "It gets complicated very quickly," MacCallum said. But as MacCallum said, that's part of the fun. These are the kinds of challenges he's been dealing with since the early 1990s, when he and Poynter served as resident scientists in the eco-laboratory known as Biosphere 2. The couple started up Paragon even before they left Biosphere 2, and the company collaborates with NASA as well as outside researchers on space-biology experiments. Today, Paragon specializes in the testing and development of life support systems for outer space as well as for underwater diving. The company is part of the Lockheed Martin team building NASA's next spaceship, as well as the Oceaneering team designing NASA's next spacesuit. Paragon has also been awarded a U.S. Navy contract to start production of an advanced diving system designed specifically for use in contaminated water. All those projects will be mentioned during Friday's news conference, with U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., in attendance. But the Lunar Oasis is likely to be the star of the show: Paragon plans to present a model of the greenhouse to Giffords, who is chairwoman of the House subcommittee on space and aeronautics. The model was still under construction as of this week, and MacCallum said he couldn't guarantee that it'll be a realistic representation of the greenhouse eventually going to the moon. "Since we really don't know what 'realistic' is, we'll have to see," he joked.

The per-pack tax climbs from 39 cents to $1.01 starting Wednesday WASHINGTON - However they satisfy their nicotine cravings, tobacco users are facing a big hit as the single largest federal tobacco tax increase ever takes effect Wednesday.Tobacco companies and public health advocates, longtime foes in the nicotine battles, are trying to turn the situation to their advantage. The major cigarette makers raised prices a couple of weeks ago, partly to offset any drop in profits once the per-pack tax climbs from 39 cents to $1.01. Medical groups see a tax increase right in the middle of a recession as a great incentive to help persuade smokers to quit. Sure it will. A huge chunk of the smoking public is living around or below the poverty level. Problems with this type of legislation: Obviously depending on people to continue to do harm to their body to have cash for health care for others is just godamn stupid. Ye olde you gotta die so someone else can live thinking is archaic and barbaric. Its a throw back to the dark ages. The impoverished and financially struggling constantly and continually go without creature comforts and luxuries making the gap between the haves and have nots ever wider, more glaring, and more contentious. I'm all for fair taxation on luxury items, cigs booze, your new Lexus and multi million dollar mansion, and eventually pot. Fair is the key word though here. If every can of beer, bottle of wine or other booze suddenly jumped in tax there would be godamn rioting akin to prohibition. 5 to 1 baby 1 in 5 in this country smoke ciggies but the number of people who consume alcohol is greater then that. Cig smokers have been singled out as a minority to be beat up on the few years. Soon you'll only be able to smoke your $30 dollar cigarette in your own home all alone under the bed or in your closet. And if you cant budget that cancer stick into your finances you'll either be forced to quit or go without groceries. Big suprise... not all smokers WANT to quit. I myself would like to chop back to just a few a day and less then a pack a week but cutting back and going without are two different things. When you push people into a corner they either curl up into the fetal position and give up or come out swinging. This legislation will financially force a lot of people to go without what most people consider a nussiance luxury, what most puffers consider a lifeline to their sanity. Good luck with this crap America, brace yourself for some backlash. Its one thing to be told you can't smoke in a resturaunt, bar, playground; its another to put someone in the position of choosing between grocries and cigarettes.

once he's gone the main baddie will be Madara and Sasuke will help kill him and then the series is over

fuck it take the banks and end the fed U.S. Constitution Article 1 - The Legislative Branch Section 8 - Powers of Congress The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; To borrow money on the credit of the United States; To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes; To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States; To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures; To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;

yer lucky you got it in one shot this has been a 5 year journey for some of us >.>

thats one scary trany

finally something good is going on these fights are better then bleach stupid pillar bullshit

that was frigin weak

that was awesome chapter so sad

oh noez~ SSJLadywriter has been released

that was great X'D Raising hellians and seeing them through school pretty much negates most of that. Teachers, guidance counselors other school staff. Their friends and the parents of their friends. Probation officers, doctors, therapists. My family is close cuz of the kids and there's a lotta buggin calling and dropping by. With kids there is always some godamn family thing going on. Most of the ppl I prefer to hang out with dun live around here, they're from someplace else or moved away. I hang with funk for music and social time, we have John over for wine and comedy. AC fests are the big fun of the year, not all online friendships are shallow. We all have a great time, the long weekend flys by too fast. Lucky me already has that malfunctioning nerochemistry that makes me wanna club the cart lady in Target or beat the snot out of the unruly screaming crying crawling kid in the store. Even with meds keeping me "under control" it inst wise/safe to the public to have me out there in a bad mood where I'm likely to tell some asshole about themselves (real criticism lol) or go Mike Tyson and snack on an ear For someone with my condition controlled exposure to humans works better as I have precious little patience and tolerance for stupidity I have my gardens and yard; they're time consuming projects and it can take years to see the results I'm after. I sew, make my own curtains, pillow cases and sometimes even clothes. I have 4 animals to take care of, princess pig is high maintenance and I'm still cleaning a winters worth of dog crap out of the yard. I have to clean up after and feed the humans in this house too. I am never without something to do. Funny and true article, it just doesn't apply to every situation.

wNOCTGk63mg 6L0G97UxxLI 5zlz_JMHqRg or some crazy thing. control and release that energy doncha just love quantum theory

(Washington, D.C. - March 24, 2009) The United States Environmental Protection Agency has sent two letters to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers expressing serious concerns about the need to reduce the potential harmful impacts on water quality caused by certain types of coal mining practices, such as mountaintop mining. The letters specifically addressed two new surface coal mining operations in West Virginia and Kentucky. EPA also intends to review other requests for mining permits. "The two letters reflect EPA's considerable concern regarding the environmental impact these projects would have on fragile habitats and streams," said Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "I have directed the agency to review other mining permit requests. EPA will use the best science and follow the letter of the law in ensuring we are protecting our environment." EPA's letters, sent to the Corps office in Huntington, W.Va., stated that the coal mines would likely cause water quality problems in streams below the mines, would cause significant degradation to streams buried by mining activities, and that proposed steps to offset these impacts are inadequate. EPA has recommended specific actions be taken to further avoid and reduce these harmful impacts and to improve mitigation. The letters were sent to the Corps by EPA senior officials in the agency's Atlanta and Philadelphia offices. Permit applications for such projects are required by the Clean Water Act. EPA also requested the opportunity to meet with the Corps and the mining companies seeking the new permits to discuss alternatives that would better protect streams, wetlands and rivers. The Corps is responsible for issuing Clean Water Act permits for proposed surface coal mining operations that impact streams, wetlands, and other waters. EPA is required by the act to review proposed permits and provides comments to the Corps where necessary to ensure that proposed permits fully protect water quality. Because of active litigation in the 4th Circuit challenging the issuance of Corps permits for coal mining, the Corps has been issuing far fewer permits in West Virginia since the litigation began in 2007. As a result, there is a significant backlog of permits under review by the Corps. EPA expects to be actively involved in the review of these permits following issuance of the 4th Circuit decision last month. EPA is coordinating its action with the White House Council on Environmental Quality and with other agencies including the Corps. More information on wetlands and the letters: http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/

how odd sounds like the program is going screwy