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Thursday, February 28, 2013
A Digital Autopsy: How Computer Scientists Analyzed Friendster's Cause of Death
Senate confirms Lew as Treasury secretary
FILE - In this Feb. 13, 2013, file photo, Jack Lew testifies at his confirmation hearing to be the new Treasury Secretary in Washington. The Senate confirmed Lew on Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013, to be Treasury secretary, affirming President Barack Obama's choice of a budget expert at a time when Congress and the White House are at odds over sharp government spending cuts. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
FILE - In this Feb. 13, 2013, file photo, Jack Lew testifies at his confirmation hearing to be the new Treasury Secretary in Washington. The Senate confirmed Lew on Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013, to be Treasury secretary, affirming President Barack Obama's choice of a budget expert at a time when Congress and the White House are at odds over sharp government spending cuts. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Jacob Lew to be Treasury secretary, affirming President Barack Obama's choice of a budget expert at a time when Congress and the White House are at odds over sharp government spending cuts.
The vote was 71 to 26 to support the nomination. A total of 25 Republicans and independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont voted against Lew's confirmation.
Lew, 57, had most recently served as Obama's chief of staff. He succeeds Timothy Geithner, who completed a tumultuous four-year term in which he helped lead the administration's response to the financial crisis and recession.
Lew is scheduled to be sworn in on Thursday. He will take over just one day before automatic spending cuts are set to take effect. He's likely to take part in any negotiations to reverse the cuts, and also in key budget talks next month to continue funding the government.
Lew began his government service in the 1980s as an aide to House Speaker Tip O'Neill. He brings nearly three decades of government service to the job, including two stints as White House budget director.
"Mr. Lew is well-qualified to be the nation's next Treasury secretary," said Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus of Montana. "He has demonstrated time and again that he has the knowledge and expertise" to deal with the country's budget problems.
But Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, who opposed the nomination, said Lew as budget director was the architect of the Obama's administration's failed efforts to get soaring deficits under control.
In a statement issued after the vote, Obama said, "At this critical time for our economy and our country, there is no one more qualified for this position than Jack. ... His reputation as a master of fiscal issues who can work with leaders on both sides of the aisle has already helped him succeed in some of the toughest jobs in Washington."
During his confirmation hearing, Lew signaled no major economic policy changes. He advocated a balanced approach to reducing the long-term budget deficit through spending cuts and additional tax revenue.
He said he would be open to reforms to Medicare, but he didn't spell out any details. Lew also said he would work with the committee on a rewrite of the tax code.
Beyond the budget, Lew is expected to hew closely to the positions Geithner struck on Europe's debt crisis, the U.S. relationship with China and the administration's defense of the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law that the banking industry has fought to weaken.
Some Republicans voted against Lew because they were not satisfied with his answers about his previous employment with Citigroup, including a brief time when he was chief operating officer for an investment unit in 2008. The unit has been criticized for making risky investments that imploded during the financial crisis. And Lew received a bonus of nearly $1 million in early 2009, a time when Citi was being bailed out by taxpayers.
Lew told the panel that he didn't make decisions about the investments being offered to clients. He said his bonus reflected compensation for his work.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, opposed Lew's nomination. He cited questions about his time at Citi, as well as Lew's compensation while working as chief operating officer at New York University.
"Mr. Lew's eagerness and skill in obtaining bonuses, severance payments, housing allowances and other perks raises concerns about whether he appreciates who pays the bills," Grassley said.
One potential weakness for Lew: His relative inexperience with financial markets and international economic crises ? areas that had played to Geithner's background. Analysts think Lew will keep pressuring Europe to deal aggressively with its budget and debt issues. But they think this will consume less of his time given that Europe's debt crisis now poses less of a threat to the global economy.
On trade, Lew is expected to keep prodding China. The U.S. trade gap with the world's second-largest economy hit another record high last year. No breakthrough is expected, though.
Lew will also need to calm investors who have grown concerned about possible currency wars after Japan's new government sought to lower the value of the yen as a way to boost exports and its weak economy. A weaker yen makes Japanese goods cheaper overseas and foreign goods costlier in Japan.
And Lew will need to defend the Dodd-Frank Act, which overhauled financial regulation after the 2008 crisis. Since the law was passed in 2010, Wall Street has fought to weaken many of its stricter regulations.
He may also need to work on his signature, which starts off with a soft "J'' but is followed by seven loopy scribbles that render it illegible. The Treasury secretary's signature is emblazoned in the lower right corner of U.S. dollar bills of all denominations.
When he announced Lew's nomination, Obama said Lew had promised to work to make one letter legible "in order not to debase our currency."
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Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Obama meets with congressional leaders on spending cuts Friday
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will meet with top congressional leaders on Friday to discuss the deep, automatic U.S. government spending cuts slated to go into effect that day, congressional aides said.
Obama is set to meet with Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, Democratic Senate Majority leader Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader.
"The meeting Friday is an opportunity for us to visit with the president about how we can all keep our commitment to reduce Washington spending," McConnell said in a statement.
"We can either secure those reductions more intelligently, or we can do it the president's way with across-the board cuts. But one thing Americans simply will not accept is another tax increase to replace spending reductions we already agreed to," he said.
(Reporting by Steve Holland and Jeff Mason; Editing by Will Dunham)
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Paleo Diet - Build Muscles without Any Artificial Supplement | Gnet ...
We have never been so obsessed with our weight and our health- a quick browse of the internet can offer us a diet plan based on any kind of restrictions: no gluten, no dairy, no sugar, no carbs, no meat, no fruit- Phew! Are you overwhelmed? What if it was all more simple??really simple? Caveman simple?? That?s what Dr Loren Cordain had in mind when he came up with the Paleolithic diet, known as the Paleo diet for short.
?
The theory behind the diet is simple- agriculture on a large scale has only existed for the last 10000 years or so, and its development brought with it a whole way of eating that is so ingrained in our modern life now that we completely take it for granted; this is a diet based on grains and cereals. You may not be able to imagine life without bread, but for our ancestors it didn?t exist!
Instead, theirs was a hunter/gatherer diet, based on meat, vegetables and fruit, nuts, funghi, and roots. And this is exactly the sort of food that the Paleo diet is based on. Quite simply, it?s the food we have evolved to exist on, argues Dr Cordain. What?s missing? Any cereal or grain-based food (bye bye pasta and rice), dairy products, sugar, and any processed food.
The diet, in essence, could be quite healthy; dieters are encouraged to eat organically, sourcing vegetables seasonally; and by cutting out processed carbohydrates and sugars (and yes, that does include alcohol unfortunately), a dieter can reduce their risk of diabetes and regulate insulin levels, not to mention drop a few inches from around the waist.
The Drawbacks?
Of course, in addition to the pros, be warned that this diet also comes with a few cons. Firstly, an increased intake of meat could mean an increased intake of saturated fats, which means higher cholesterol levels. High meat consumption is also linked with poor digestion, and an increased risk of diseases like bowel cancer.
This could be countered by approaching the diet responsibly; not eating meat with every meal, and choosing to eat much more fish rather than red meat. However, reports seem to show that dieters are happier to go for a juicy steak than a fish.
The second problem we are faced with is the huge deficiency of calcium in the diet, since dairy products are a Paleo no-no. This can be extremely detrimental to the health of our bones and teeth, as well as to a variety of other functions for which we need calcium. Of course, you can get calcium from dark leafy greens like kale, but you would have to eat a substantial amount of them to get an adequate level of calcium into your diet.
On a practical level, this diet is not cheap! Organic meat and vegetables can cost a fair amount more than your average supermarket product, and since it is considered as a diet for life- in essence a complete eating overhaul- the cost of following it strictly will eventually add up.
A Paleo Food Plan
If you think eating like your cavemen forefathers sounds like just the diet for you, here is an example of a three-day food plan, to give you an idea of how you could be eating:
| Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner | Snacks | |
| 2 boiled eggs with a grilled tomato and bacon | Salad with roast chicken, cherry tomatoes, and an olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing | Shepherds Pie, with mashed parsnip and carrots instead of potato. | Chopped apple and pear, plus a handful of unsalted nuts. | |
| Mixed nuts and berries with coconut milk | Tuna Nicoise Salad without the potatoes- olives, cherry tomatoes, boiled egg and vinaigrette dressing. | Roast chicken with grilled Mediterranean vegetables- peppers, courgettes and tomatoes | Chopped raw veg with guacamole | |
| Fruit salad | Hearty chicken and vegetable soup | Grilled trout and steamed spinach and broccoli, with a dairy-free pesto | Olives |
Be Responsible With Your Diet Plan:
If you decide to follow the Paleo diet, do so responsibly- make sure you eat a variety of food so that you get as many nutrients as your body needs. Also, if you suspect that the diet may be adversely affecting your health- for instance, if you suffer from prolonged constipation or if your cholesterol levels rise- then do stop and consider an alternative plan. Your health is the most precious thing you have, and any diet you follow must take that into account!
What the Papers Say:
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2044343,00.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/20/paleo-diet-healthy_n_1898529.html
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/paleo-diet-meet-caveman-dieters/story?id=13030483
What People On The Web Say:
I?m Converted!
It has been one month since I first started living the paleo lifestyle and I am converted. I realised I was converted when, like all good paleo zealots, I started calling it a lifestyle not a diet. But it?s true. It feels like a natural progression for me with my focus on developing and improving myself on both mental and physical levels taking me to explore new things. I started the diet simply as a test and the experience has been so positive that it now feels unnatural to be doing anything else.
? Zac Sky ?
(http://zacsky.com) ?
My Energy and Vitality is Back!
I first started to lose weight when I switched to a low-carb diet, but continued to eat lots of dairy and soy, as I was a vegetarian. I have always been a size 12-14, and was quite pleased when I dropped to a size 10 by eliminating bread, pasta and sugar from my diet. I still experienced occasional fatigue and lots of digestive upset, though, and it wasn?t until I took an allergy test and found I was allergic to grains and dairy ? and subsequently cut both completely out of my diet ? that I started to feel the energy and vitality for which I have been searching for years.
? A Customer ?
(www.amazon.com) ?
We No Longer Struggle With Our Weight!
We have been struggling with weight issues all our lives. Now, just by following the guidelines that suggest ways to eat as close as possible to our Paleolithic ancestors, the weight has come off and stayed off: 50lb for my husband and 34lb for me. We are both only 2-3lb from our ideal body weight and keep losing slowly.
? JMacEye ?
(www.amazon.com) ?
Related posts:
Source: http://www.gnet.org/get-ready-to-meet-your-inner-caveman-with-the-paleo-diet/
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Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Teaching robots lateral thinking: New algorithms could help ...
Many commercial robotic arms perform what roboticists call "pick and place" tasks: The arm picks up an object in one location and places it in another. Usually, the objects?say, automobile components along an assembly line?are positioned so that the arm can easily grasp them; the appendage that does the grasping may even be tailored to the objects' shape.
General-purpose household robots, however, would have to be able to manipulate objects of any shape, left in any location. And today, commercially available robots don't have anything like the dexterity of the human hand.
At this year's IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, students in the Learning and Intelligent Systems Group at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory will present a pair of papers showing how household robots could use a little lateral thinking to compensate for their physical shortcomings.
One of the papers concentrates on picking, the other on placing. Jennifer Barry, a PhD student in the group, describes an algorithm that enables a robot to push an object across a table so that part of it hangs off the edge, where it can be grasped. Annie Holladay, an MIT senior majoring in electrical engineering and computer science, shows how a two-armed robot can use one of its graspers to steady an object set in place by the other.
Colliding approaches
Most experimental general-purpose robots use a motion-planning algorithm called the rapidly exploring random tree, which maps out a limited number of collision-free trajectories through the robot's environment?rather like a subway map overlaid on the map of a city. A sophisticated-enough robot might have arms with seven different joints; if the robot is also mounted on a mobile base?as was the Willow Garage PR2 that the MIT researchers used?then checking for collisions could mean searching a 10-dimensional space.
Add in a three-dimensional object with three different axes of orientation, which the robot has to push across a table, and the size of the search space swells to 16 dimensions, which is too large to search efficiently. Barry's first step was to find a concise way to represent the physical properties of the object to be pushed?how it would respond to different forces applied from different directions. Armed with that description, she could characterize a much smaller space of motions that would propel the object in useful directions. "This allows us to focus the search on interesting parts of the space rather than simply flailing around in 16 dimensions," she says. Finally, after her modification of the motion-planning algorithm, she had to "make sure that the theoretical guarantees of the planner still hold," she says.
This video is not supported by your browser at this time.
By contrast, Holladay's algorithm in some sense inverts the ordinary motion-planning task. Rather than identifying paths that avoid collisions and adhering to them, it identifies paths that introduce collisions and seals them off. If the robot is using one hand to set down an object that's prone to tipping over, for instance, "I might look for a place for the other hand that will block bad paths and kind of funnel the object into the path that I want," Holladay says.Like Barry, Holladay had to find a simple method of representing the physical properties of the object the robot is manipulating. In addition to the placement of tall, tippy objects, her algorithm can also handle cases in which the robot is setting an object on a table, but the object sticks to the rubber sheath of the robot's gripper. With Holladay's algorithm, the robot can use its free gripper to prevent the object from sliding as it withdraws the other gripper.
Independent learning
Both Barry and Holladay allow modification of their algorithms, through application programming interfaces that would allow other researchers to plug in parameters describing the physical behavior of new types of objects. But the ultimate goal is for the robot itself to infer the relevant properties of objects by lifting, shoving, or otherwise manipulating them.
Nor are the researchers concerned that hardware improvements will render their algorithmic research obsolete. "The thought is that we're unlikely to get hands that are as flexible and dexterous as human hands, and even if we did, it would be hard to figure out the AI and planning for those," Barry says. "So we'll always have to think about interesting ways to grasp things."
"You see a lot of demos where a robot might do something like slide plates, but it's usually hard-coded for the demo: The robot knows that at this point, it needs to do this action for this particular thing," says Kaijen Hsiao, a research scientist and manager at Willow Garage, the company that manufactures the PR2. Barry and Holladay's research, by contrast, is "a framework for incorporating behaviors like that as a more general motion-planning problem," she says. "Which is a very difficult thing, because it's very high-dimensional. I think it's really important research, and it's very novel."
Provided by Massachusetts Institute of Technology
This story is republished courtesy of MIT News (web.mit.edu/newsoffice/), a popular site that covers news about MIT research, innovation and teaching.
Source: http://phys.org/news/2013-02-robots-lateral-algorithms-household-physical.html
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HP to make $169 Android tablet, eschewing Windows
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) ? Hewlett-Packard Co. is making a tablet computer that uses Google's Android operating system, steering clear of Microsoft's latest tablet-oriented version of Windows, the company said Sunday.
The HP Slate 7 will have a 7-inch screen, making it similar in size to the Amazon Kindle Fire. It will cost $169 when it goes on sale in April in the U.S.
Most tablet makers, including Samsung and Amazon, have chosen Android as the best and cheapest operating system for products that can compete against Apple's iPad. HP previously made a tablet based on Palm's WebOS software, but the effort fizzled. The company also makes a more powerful tablet with PC-type components for the corporate market, which runs a PC-style version of Windows 8. It hasn't produced a tablet using Windows RT, Microsoft's product for iPad-type tablets.
"When we looked at creating a real killer product for consumers, a very portable, very entertainment-focused device, we thought that Android was the better choice," said Alberto Torres, who signed on as head of HP's mobile devices division five months ago. Previously, he worked for cellphone maker Nokia Corp. "Of course, we continue to work closely with Microsoft on other products as well."
Torres didn't rule out using Windows RT in the future, saying the company plans a broad portfolio of tablets tailored toward different types of buyers. But HP's choice of Android for a consumer device and Windows 8 for a corporate tablet leaves little room for Windows RT, which Microsoft hopes will expand the reach of Windows beyond corporate tablets.
Torres said the Slate 7 will use a relatively "vanilla" version of Android. The company is avoiding the interface modifications Asian manufacturers apply and the deeper changes imposed by Amazon and Barnes & Noble for their tablets. The Slate 7 will ship with the ability to talk to printers, HP's forte. At $169 the device is aggressively priced, costing half of what Apple charges for an iPad mini.
HP made the announcement on the eve of Mobile World Congress, the wireless industry's annual trade show, which starts Monday in Barcelona, Spain.
Competitor Samsung Electronics announced a new tablet earlier Sunday, to launch in the April to June time frame. The Galaxy Note 8.0 will be slightly larger than the Slate 7. It will run Android and accept pen input.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hp-169-android-tablet-eschewing-windows-170033998--finance.html
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The Entire King James Bible Is Now on RapGenius
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Monday, February 25, 2013
Lyoto Machida pulls out split-decision win over Dan Henderson at UFC 157
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Lyoto Machida took a split decision over Dan Henderson in the co-main event at UFC 157 on Saturday. The judges saw it 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 for Machida.
Machida was elusive as usual in the first round, but Henderson was able to sneak in and land a few kicks and punches. At the end of the round, Machida took Henderson down with a leg trip and landed strikes.
The second round showed Machida still being elusive and keeping his distance from Henderson. Machida tried for a front kick several times, but couldn't land it. Meanwhile, Henderson couldn't land much.
[Also: Ronda Rousey survives UFC debut, wins via first-round arm bar]
Henderson is known for his big, overhand punches. Most of the time, when he throws it, it can mean the end of a fight. However, he had trouble getting close enough to Machida for the overhand to work.
In the third round, Machida moved in for a takedown but ended up with Henderson on top. Henderson used elbows from the top, but Machida was able to get out with less than two minutes left in the fight.
Before the fight, UFC president Dana White said that the winner of this bout will get the next title shot. UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will put the title up against Chael Sonnen in April, but the next fight will likely go to Machida.
[Also: Josh Koscheck suffers upset loss]
Machida was once the UFC light heavyweight champion, but lost the title to Rua in 2010. Since then, he has wins over Randy Couture and Ryan Bader, but losses to current champion Jon Jones and Quinton Jackson. It will be his third chance at the light heavyweight title. He won it with a knockout of Rashad Evans in 2009, but lost to Jones in 2011.
Henderson had a long layoff between fights. His last bout was one of the best in MMA history. In November of 2011, Henderson defeated Mauricio Rua in a five-round decision. Since then, Henderson had a fight lined up with Jones in September, but had to pull out at the last minute because of a knee injury. His record falls to 29-9. He's 42 years old, and against Machida, looked slow and old for the first time in his career.
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Sunday, February 24, 2013
93 rescued from Dallas Zoo monorail
By staff, NBCDFW.com
Dallas firefighters were called to the Dallas Zoo after a malfunction stranded 93 people on a monorail.
Dallas Fire-Rescue was called to the scene at about 3:30 p.m.
Fortunately, the monorail stopped at a location that was easily reached by firefighters.? Using as many as five extension ladders, firefighters were able to remove all of the trapped passengers from the monorail in about a half hour.
Shortly after 4 pm., NBC 5 reporter Chris Van Horne tweeted on @NBCDFW that, "I count at least 10 @dfrincidents trucks and ambulances here @DallasZoo still no sight of monorail though."
There were no injuries in connection with the malfunction or rescue.
There's been no comment about the incident from the zoo, and the cause of the malfunction has not been determined.
Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/24/17072862-93-rescued-from-dallas-zoo-monorail?lite
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Saturday, February 23, 2013
Union-Endicott girls rally to end Binghamton's reign
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Source: http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20130222/SPORTS05/302220099/1112/
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Bleaker outlook pushes Spain's Rajoy to review economic policy
MADRID (Reuters) - A bleaker-than-expected economic outlook from the European Commission on Friday will add pressure on Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to review economic policy over the rest of his term, economists and European sources say.
Rajoy, who said on Wednesday there would be no relaxation in his efforts to turn around the Spanish economy, had designed a four-year plan to improve the country's finances, cut massive unemployment and win re-election.
Under this scenario, 2012 would be used to implement painful structural reforms, 2013 would see the economy stabilizing, 2014 would see the government implementing tax cuts and business-oriented measures and 2015 would deliver a clear improvement in time for the general elections.
But that plan now looks derailed.
The Commission forecasts Spain will have a deficit of 6.7 percent of GDP in 2013 rather than the 4.5 percent set for it by EU finance ministers and, unless policies change, the gap will reach 7.2 percent in 2014 against the target of 2.8 percent.
The EU's executive is set to offer Spain more time to cut its deficits under the legal ceiling of 3 percent of economic output but senior European sources say that will come only in return for more structural reforms and additional budget cuts.
Madrid has already been given an extra year, until 2014, to meet Europe-agreed goals of a deficit of under 3 percent of gross domestic product. It is likely to win a new one year extension if reforms are implemented, the sources say.
"The forecasts are clearly not rosy. In May, once we get more solid figures for 2013 and if the government implements what we've recommended, we will offer more leeway," said a senior euro zone source. "The roadmap is clear. The recommendations have been public for some months."
RECOMMENDATIONS
In May last year, the Commission made eight recommendations that the government should implement by the end of 2013 ranging from a reform of public pensions, a change of the tax system, additional measures to boost job creation and a tighter control of the regions' finances.
Some of these measures such as an increase of the consumer tax, have already been implemented. Others, such as a stricter oversight of the finances of Spain's 17 autonomous regions, have been adopted but the Commission believe the central government should make more intensive use of the new provisions.
A third group, such as a reform of the pension system to crack down on early retirement and accelerate the increase in the retirement age, still have to be passed.
Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said the government would push to reach a deal with other political parties and adopt new measures soon.
When asked if the government was mulling new budget cuts to try to meet its EU-agreed deficit targets, she confirmed Rajoy's new drive for more stimulus measures and less austerity steps.
"Growth policies are needed if we want this country to create jobs. This does not mean that we won't be implementing other reforms such as the independent fiscal authority or the pensions," Saenz de Santamaria said.
"But no, the government is not considering this kind of (budget cut) measures."
Some economists believe, however, that despite growing social anger it is only a matter of time before Rajoy is forced to adopt additional austerity steps, including making permanent the temporary tax hikes he announced in 2011 a few days after taking office.
"The permanent tax hikes will be just a start. The government may discuss whether it should be done or not but from an economic point of view, there is no doubt," said Jose Carlos Diez, chief economist at Spanish brokerage Intermoney.
"And they'll have to go much further: corporate tax could be increased, the energy tariff deficit needs to be resolved, I wouldn't rule out a new hike of value-added tax and I don't see how they can avoid making deep cuts in the social security system, namely pensions and unemployment benefits."
Diez says the new stimulus measures to help small companies and young unemployed go in the right direction but their scope is too limited to reactivate the economy and create the hundreds of thousands of jobs Spain needs.
"Rajoy should come to a grip with reality. How can you say no more painful efforts and at the same time prepare new cuts?" he said.
(Editing by Fiona Ortiz/Mike Peacock)
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San Jose City Council to consider banning Styrofoam food containers (San Jose Mercury News)
Cookbook helps breast cancer patients
kvue.com
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 6:51 PM
Updated today at 7:07 PM
AUSTIN -- Somewhere between the pictures and the people, Bill Bastas found his purpose.
"We want to make a bigger impact on the breast cancer community," Bastas said.
For years he?s turned his passion for photography into a money-making mission, raising more than $21,000 for local breast cancer charities with his 'Smile Never Fades' organization.
It's why no one should be surprised Bastas cooked up his latest venture - a cookbook featuring breast cancer survivors and their families.
"I think this is going to be a good seller," said Bastas.
Kristene Edwards counted on her quiche to get her through breast cancer.?
"I was diagnosed in May of 2011. This is my go-to comfort food,? Edwards said.
She was diagnosed ten years after her younger sister battled the same disease.
After a lumpectomy, months of chemotherapy and radiation, Edwards is cancer-free and sees this as her opportunity to give back.
"I'm not a big cook, but I am honored to be part of helping raise money for something that's dear to my heart," she said.
It's a sentiment shared by everyone who has been asked to submit a recipe, Terri Gruca?s mom included.
"It's just a blessing to be alive and to do something like this,? said Hedy Gruca.
Hedy just celebrated four years of being cancer-free.
"I always loved to cook and am always looking for a new cookbook and I can't wait to see all the other recipes," said Hedy.
Bastas hopes to have 200 survivors, recipes and inspiring stories on every page.
"It's our mothers, our sisters, our daughters, our wives, the best of our society. It's not acceptable," said Bastas.
Bastas knows this better than most. He lost his own wife to breast cancer eight years ago.
"It solidifies my mission," he said.
His recipe: to make a difference in the lives of breast cancer patients.
Proceeds from the "Comfort Cooking - Recipes To Make You Smile" cookbook will pay to provide concierge care for patients undergoing breast cancer treatment. It will start next year by providing things like housecleaning services.
Bastas is still looking for survivors to feature in the cookbook which he hopes to have out in time for Christmas.
Click here to contact Bill Bastas.
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NFL Update ? Who are the Baltimore Ravens going to Get to replace Ray Lewis?
Posted in: Headline Sports News 
Full story: Free Sports Picks Daily
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Thursday, February 21 2013 We all know that, the Baltimore Ravens are saying bye to ILB Ray Lewis for upcoming season, as he?s elected to retire. So who is going to replace Ray Lewis? Also the Ravens, may be losing ILB Dannell Ellerbe is an impending free agent, and it?s no certainty that he?ll be signing a new deal [...] The post NFL Update ? Who are the Baltimore Ravens going to Get to replace Ray Lewis? appeared first on Free Sports Picks Daily.
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Vibrant Headdress Editorials - ELLE Bulgaria 'Rhytms of Africa' Stars Models Gloria P. and Dzhu Pi (TrendHunter.com)
The ELLE Bulgaria 'Rhytms of Africa' editorial finds no better inspiration for women's spring and summer wardrobes. Since the heat is undeniable on that particular continent, it is only natural that outfits there would be suitable for summers in other parts of the world. Not to mention that African women's use of vibrant fabrics and exotic patterns would liven up any ensemble, be it for a day at the office or a Saturday stroll shopping.
Shot by photographer Zlatimir Arakliev, the ELLE Bulgaria 'Rhytms of Africa' editorial is set to appear in the March 2013 issue of the magazine. It stars models Gloria P. and Dzhu Pi. They were both styled by Antonia Yordanova with finishing touches by hairstylist Kristina Topalova and makeup artist Slav.
Source: http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/elle-bulgaria-rhytms-of-africa
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Unemployed complain they need a job to find a job
Janet Falk, public relations professional, rides the Roosevelt Island tramway with a Manhattan view behind her on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013 in New York. Falk applied for a public-relations job at a New York City law firm two years ago, but the recruiter told her she wouldn?t be considered because she had been unemployed for more than three months, Falk said. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
Janet Falk, public relations professional, rides the Roosevelt Island tramway with a Manhattan view behind her on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013 in New York. Falk applied for a public-relations job at a New York City law firm two years ago, but the recruiter told her she wouldn?t be considered because she had been unemployed for more than three months, Falk said. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
Janet Falk, public relations professional, rides the Roosevelt Island tramway with a Manhattan view behind her on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013 in New York. Falk applied for a public-relations job at a New York City law firm two years ago, but the recruiter told her she wouldn?t be considered because she had been unemployed for more than three months, Falk said. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Help wanted. Qualifications: Must already have a job.
It's a frustrating catch for those out of work in an era of high unemployment: looking for a job, only to find that some employers don't want anyone who doesn't already have one.
But after four years of above-average joblessness in the U.S., efforts to bar such practices by employers have met with mixed results.
While New Jersey, Oregon and Washington, D.C., have passed laws making it illegal to discriminate against the unemployed, New York City's billionaire-businessman mayor vetoed on Friday what would have been the most aggressive such measure in the country. Similar proposals have stalled in more than a dozen other states and Congress.
Advocates for the unemployed say such hiring practices are unfair, particularly to those who have been laid off because of the economic crunch and not through any fault of their own. Businesses, though, say that the extent of such practices is exaggerated, hiring decisions are too complicated to legislate, and employers could end up defending themselves against dubious complaints.
Nationally, more than 1 in 3 unemployed workers has been looking for at least six months, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Janet Falk said that when she applied for a public-relations job at a New York law firm two years ago, the recruiter told her she wouldn't be considered because she had been out of work for more than three months. The recruiter was being paid to find candidates who were in jobs or just out of them.
"My personal view is that hiring is like musical chairs, and if only the people who are already on the dance floor are playing, then the long-term unemployed can't get in the game," said Falk, who was laid off four years ago. She now runs her own consulting business.
An October 2011 search of New York City-based job listings found more than a dozen that explicitly required candidates to be employed, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer's office said. A broader review that year by the National Employment Law Project found 150 ads that were restricted to or aimed at people currently working.
As for why, experts say employers may think that unemployed applicants' skills have atrophied, that they lost their jobs because of their own shortcomings, or that they will jump at any job offer and then leave as soon as something better comes along.
But "'don't apply, don't even try' is the opposite of American values," New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said when the measure passed last month. She said Friday that she expects the City Council will override Mayor Michael Bloomberg's veto within a month.
Bloomberg called the measure a well-intended but misguided effort that would create more lawsuits than jobs.
"Hiring decisions frequently involve the exercise of independent, subjective judgment about a prospective employee's likely future performance," he said in a statement.
And unlike other characteristics that employers are generally banned from considering, such as an applicant's race, religion or gender, "the circumstances surrounding a person's unemployment status may, in certain situations, be relevant to employers when selecting qualified employees," he said.
Business groups say that no-unemployed-applicants-need-apply ads represent a tiny fraction of the millions of job openings nationwide each year.
One 2011 listing that got city lawmakers' attention ? it required that applicants for an opening as a New York legal secretary "must be currently employed" ? was mistakenly written that way, said William Alcott, a lawyer for the firm that posted it, McGuireWoods LLP.
"It was not our policy then and isn't our policy now," he said this week.
Like other measures that have passed, the New York City one would ban help-wanted ads that say unemployed applicants won't qualify. It would also more generally prohibit employers from refusing to hire candidates because they are out of work.
But New York's measure would go further than the others by letting rejected applicants sue employers for damages.
Companies see it as government meddling and "creating another basis for unmerited lawsuits against employers," said Kathryn Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, an influential business group.
President Barack Obama proposed in 2011 to make it illegal to refuse to consider unemployed applicants.
New Jersey in 2011 became the first state to outlaw the practice. The state Labor Department has gotten one complaint so far and cited a company for an ad that excluded jobless applicants; the case is not yet resolved, the agency said this week.
Oregon and the District of Columbia followed suit last year, while 15 other states considered similar proposals, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed such a measure in California last fall, indicating he wasn't happy with changes made to it.
___
Associated Press writer Rema Rahman contributed to this report from Trenton, N.J.
___
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Analysis: Japan's mission impossible: to spend $100 billion in 15 months
TOKYO (Reuters) - What do you buy the nation that already seems to have everything?
That is the question facing Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as he aims to spend more than $100 billion on infrastructure in the next 15 months to help revive his country's economy. But with its gleaming bullet trains, jungles of elevated highways and strings of man-made islands, ultra-modern Japan doesn't appear to want for much.
"We cannot simply continue to build roads and infrastructure the way we used to at a time when the population is ageing and shrinking," says Takayoshi Igarashi, a public policy professor at Japan's Hosei University who has advised the previous Democrat administration on rebuilding from the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima nuclear accident.
Infrastructure spending tops Abe's economic agenda alongside nudging the central bank into more aggressive steps to end deflation. Since he took power in December, Abe has earmarked 10 trillion yen ($107 billion) for new infrastructure and upgrades over the next 15 months - half of it funded by government debt.
That is equivalent to a quarter of the amount that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates the entire world needs to spend on transport infrastructure each year.
Government spending is a classic remedy for weak growth. But it is one Japan has tried over and over - pouring roughly $2 trillion into concrete and steel since 1990 in a vain effort to resuscitate the economy, now in its fourth recession since 2000.
Economists warn that, without reforms to lift Japan's long-term growth potential, more such spending will produce only a temporary jolt that swells a government debt already worth more than double national output.
"The impact should be substantial but also a short-term one," said Tomo Kinoshita, chief economist at Nomura Securities in Tokyo. Kinoshita estimates that every 10 trillion yen of spending would add only about 11 trillion to GDP.
But even getting that sort of bang for the buck will be difficult, because so much has already been built. Though Abe swept to power promising to wield a new broom, his Liberal Democratic Party's decades-long addiction to concrete has left Japan bristling with reminders of the pork-barrel policies that have helped establish its political dominance since 1955.
The world's 61st largest country, Japan has 1.2 million km (745,000 miles) of roads, the world's fifth-largest network. It has 680,000 bridges, almost 10,000 tunnels, 250 bullet trains and 98 airports. Government critics have long derided many as white elephants - unnecessary, costly and environmentally harmful.
The airport in Ibaraki, 85 km (53 miles) north of Tokyo, for example, opened in 2010 at a cost of about $225 million as a hub for low-cost carriers. Today, it handles just six flights a day. Construction of the nearly $5 billion Yanba Dam in northwest Japan began in 1967 to help power the needs of a growing population. With Japan's population now shrinking, it remains unfinished 45 years later.
When the Democratic Party ousted the LDP in 2009, it tried to shelve such projects as part of a campaign to cut waste and shift the government's focus "from concrete to people".
Abe's government says it may be resurrecting public works, but not past mistakes. "We need to keep in mind that there are benefits when infrastructure is being built, but maintenance costs and debt remain after the projects are completed," Economics Minister Akira Amari told a recent TV talk show. "We won't do public work projects only for the sake of building."
THE BRIDGE AND TUNNEL CROWD
But if building more "white elephants" is out of the question, the government risks missing its spending goals and it could fail to achieve the desired stimulus. In short, it is unclear just what Japan needs to spend $100 billion on.
That sum is roughly four times the 2.466 trillion yen ($26 billion) spent to build the Kansai international airport on an artificial island off Osaka. A 10-year project to build a 254-km (158-mile) stretch of highway by Mt. Fuji will cost just $47 billion, says its operator Central Nippon Expressway.
That means Abe's 10 trillion yen is enough to build another 500 km (311 miles) of expressways, four major international airports or 20 dams.
And the plan doesn't include 6 trillion yen the government has added to its 19 trillion yen post-quake reconstruction budget, just over half of which has been spent.
Yet the money represents only what Abe hopes to spend by April 2014. He has suggested spending similar sums every year for a decade - if he holds onto power that long. With the private sector and local communities expected to match government investment, this would add up to 200 trillion yen ($2.16 trillion) over 10 years - or roughly 40 percent of GDP.
Abe says the goal is to spur growth and improve Japan's ability to withstand disasters such as the quake and tsunami that hit Japan in March 2011, killing nearly 20,000 people.
Many of Japan's roads, bridges, tunnels and dams were built during the post-war boom and need fixing, as tragically illustrated in December when a 1970s era tunnel 80 km (50 miles) west of Tokyo collapsed, killing nine people.
But a study published in 2010 by Japan's Land Ministry estimated that costs of upgrading Japan's infrastructure, which generally include making structures more disaster-resistant, would keep rising and add up to 190 trillion yen by 2060. But annual outlays, including repairs and maintenance, would be reaching just over 5 trillion yen - half what Abe plans to spend - by the end of this decade.
Investing in unnecessary infrastructure, beyond what is necessary to keep Japan safe, makes little economic sense, said Atsushi Miyawaki, public policy professor at Hokkaido University. "There is a question of how much contribution to the economy would come from massive domestic investment," he said.
Economists also question whether the government could borrow as much as Abe will need. "We should not take the 200 trillion yen figure at face value, said Hideo Kumano, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute.
"I don't think that's realistic."
BUILD IT, BUT THEY WON'T COME
It is not even clear who would use all of the new infrastructure, or even who would build it.
Thanks to Japan's low birthrate, the population is declining by more than quarter of a million a year, government statistics show, with its working-age population shrinking at double that pace. According to Health Ministry projections the number of Japanese is expected to fall by nearly a third, to below 90 million, by 2060.
That means fewer cars on Japan's roads. Japanese automotive research company Fourin Inc. estimates car sales in Japan will fall from nearly 5.4 million last year to 4.5 million in 2020, and to about 3 million a year by 2040.
Japan's construction workforce is also shrinking: today it is a third smaller than in 1997 and building firms are already having trouble finding workers to rebuild areas from the 2011 disaster. ($1 = 93.5200 Japanese yen)
(Editing by Wayne Arnold and Mark Bendeich)
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Friday, February 22, 2013
Lt. Governor Sheila Simon's editorial on preparing students for college, jobs an...
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Source: http://www.facebook.com/AdvanceIllinois/posts/550921431598775
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Why no glimpse of PS4 console? It's about the brains, not the plastic
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After months of rumor and speculation, Sony has revealed its new game machine ? the PlayStation 4 ? as well as a new controller with a touch... Read more
Why didn't Sony show the PlayStation 4 console at the PlayStation 4 unveiling? The truth is, it did. You might say to yourself that we didn't see what the shell of the PlayStation 4 looks like, so how can we be excited by a device which has yet to take physical form? Because this isn't an iPad, folks. The PlayStation 4 is not a device you store in your pocket and touch lovingly everyday (unless you know something I don't). This is about what the PlayStation 4 can do, and Sony spent two hours telling us exactly that.
The real PlayStation 4 is about the guts, and can be seen in the complex beauty of games such as "Killzone: Shadow Fall." It can be seen in the dedication to unprecedented sharing tools for gamers and stunning graphics engines being produced by people like Quantic Dream's David Cage.
I didn't expect we would see the plastic case of the PlayStation 4 at the event, and that's certainly not the only surprise that Sony is holding back. Showing the PlayStation 4 hardware would mean tipping their hand. So while we contemplate the PlayStation 4's inner beauty, let's also feel the thrill that there's more to come, and not just a molded plastic case.
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