রবিবার, ৩১ মার্চ, ২০১৩

Congratulations, America: Congress Has Finally Outsourced Itself (Atlantic Politics Channel)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/295510558?client_source=feed&format=rss

total recall troy tulowitzki katie couric good morning america the rock vs john cena acm awards 2012 january jones ncaa final game

88% A Place at the Table

All Critics (50) | Top Critics (20) | Fresh (44) | Rotten (6)

You don't have to be a fan of info-graphics in social-justice docs to be troubled by one showing that the price of processed food has decreased in almost exact proportion to the rise in cost of fresh fruits and vegetables.

"A Place at the Table" presents a shameful truth that should leave viewers dismayed and angry: This nation has more than enough food for all its people, yet millions of them are hungry.

One thing is clear from "A Place at the Table": You cannot answer the question "Why are people hungry?," without also asking "Why are people poor?"

It specifically addresses our country's hunger crisis. But it also speaks to larger hungers. Hungers for independence, a dignified life, a better chance for ones children-in short, the American dream. See it and weep.

As rich as we are as a nation - still - many of our citizens are, at best, malnourished. One in six says they regularly don't have enough to eat.

It deserves to be seen, along with "Food, Inc.," "King Corn" and other muckraking food docs of recent years.

It doesn't offer much in terms of optimism, but provides an eye-opening glimpse into a frequently overlooked social issue.

Jacboson and Silverbush know how to make this potentially unpleasant news palatable and inspiring.

A documentary about the shocking extent of hunger in America, affecting 1 in 4 children.

Provides plenty of moving case studies...[but] it's most useful for its prismatic look at the problem of American hunger, examining the problem's recent history, its root causes...and its inextricability from other national crises...

Hunger in America, seen through the eyes of its victims, with an emphasis on children. Sobering documentary addresses a shameful problem.

As moving as the real lives are, for a film clearly intending to be a call for action, hunger cries out for more journalism and not just depressing stories and statistics.

A Place at the Table makes a strong case that hunger for one is a problem for all.

Directors Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush explore the surprisingly difficult obstacles to ending a situation where about 1 child out of 4 faces insecurity over where to get a meal.

A Place at the Table may bring to light a hunger epidemic the entire United States faces, but it also casts an even darker shadow on an already tainted world.

Powerful docu explores the problem of hunger in America.

An explosive investigative documentary about the injustices emanating from agricultural capitalism, how it's more about who gets to define what food is, and exactly who hugely profits from it.

...joined by an eclectic array of advocates and advisors to hit home the fact that, daily, millions of Americans go hungry.

Fine but conventional documentary on the problem of hunger in contemporary America.

No quotes approved yet for A Place at the Table. Logged in users can submit quotes.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/a_place_at_the_table_2013/

mike wallace Paul Bearer Cnn.com abc news brandi glanville Valerie Harper White Smoke

Access Hollywood section

??Keith Urban performs on 'American Idol'
Keith Urban talks with AccessHollywood.com's Laura Saltman about why the judges didn't save Devin Velez from elimination on "American Idol." Plus, he tells The Dish how nervous he was to perform in front of the other judges.

Source: http://www.today.com/id/7358550/ns/today-entertainment/

the perfect storm mickelson how to tie a tie sweet potato recipes the sound of music celebration church new york auto show 2012

$99 Ouya game console set for June 4th release

By Simon Evans MIAMI (Reuters) - World number one Serena Williams fought back from a set down to beat Maria Sharapova 4-6 6-3 6-0 and win the Sony Open for a record sixth time on Saturday as she continued her dominance over her closest rival. With the win, Williams, who struggled with her serve in the first two sets, becomes only the fourth woman in the Open era to win the same WTA tournament six times, joining Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert and Steffi Graf. "I finally have some record," Williams said. "Like it's really cool. I can't seem to catch up with Margaret Court or Steffi or ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/99-ouya-game-console-set-june-4th-release-205942141.html

jill biden martin luther king jr baltimore ravens ravens Ravens vs Patriots 49ers Vs Falcons Mama Movie

শনিবার, ৩০ মার্চ, ২০১৩

Confederate flag coming down in North Carolina. Why?

Confederate flag coming down in Raleigh, N.C. where it hangs in the state capitol. The Confederate battle flag is coming down this weekend, according to one state official.

By Michael Biesecker,?Associated Press / March 30, 2013

A Confederate flag is seen on display at the old Capitol, which houses the governor?s office and still hosts numerous government events in Raleigh, N.C. State Historic Sites Director Keith Hardison says the flag raised last week inside the House chamber is part of a historical display replicating how the antebellum building appeared in 1863.

(AP Photo/Michael Biesecker)

Enlarge

?A Confederate battle flag hung inside the old North Carolina State Capitol last week to mark the sesquicentennial of the Civil War is being taken down after civil rights leaders raised concerns.

Skip to next paragraph

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // --> Ringgold, Tenn., denies petition to make April 'Confederacy Month.'

The decision was announced Friday evening, hours after the Associated Press published a story about the flag, which officials said was part of an historical display intended to replicate how the antebellum building appeared in 1863. The flag had been planned to hang in the House chamber until April 2015, the 150th anniversary of the arrival of federal troops in Raleigh.

"This is a temporary exhibit in an historic site, but I've learned the governor's administration is going to use the old House chamber as working space," Cultural Resources Secretary Susan Kluttz said Friday night. "Given that information, this display will end this weekend rather than April of 2015."

Kim Genardo, the spokeswoman for Gov. Pat McCrory, said the exhibit that includes the Confederate battle flag will be relocated, possibly across the street to the N.C. Museum of History.

The decision was a quick about-face for the McCrory administration, which initially defended the display. Many people see the flag as a potent reminder of racial discrimination and bigotry.

State Historic Sites Director Keith Hardison had said Thursday the flag should be viewed in what he called the proper historical context.

"Our goal is not to create issues," said Hardison, a Civil War re-enactor and history buff. "Our goal is to help people understand issues of the past. ... If you refuse to put something that someone might object to or have a concern with in the exhibit, then you are basically censoring history."

North Carolina NAACP president Rev. William Barber was shocked Friday when he was shown a photo of the flag by the AP.

"He is right that it has a historical context," Barber said. "But what is that history? The history of racism. The history of lynchings. The history of death. The history of slavery. If you say that shouldn't be offensive, then either you don't know the history, or you are denying the history."

Sessions of the General Assembly moved to a newer building a half-century ago, but the old Capitol building is still routinely used as a venue for official state government events. McCrory's office is on the first floor, as are the offices of his chief of staff and communications staff.

The Republican governor was in the House chamber where the Confederate flag hangs as recently as Thursday, when he presided over the swearing-in ceremony of his new Highway Patrol commander.

The presentation of the Confederate battle flag at state government buildings has long been an issue of debate throughout the South. For more than a decade, the NAACP has urged its members to boycott South Carolina because of that state's display of the flag on the State House grounds.

Prior to taking his current job in North Carolina in 2006, Hardison worked as director at the Mississippi home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, which is operated as a museum and library owned by the Sons of Confederate Veterans. The group has led the fight in the South for the proud display of the Confederate flag, which it contends is a symbol of heritage, not hate.

Hardison said the battle flag was displayed with other flags described in the diary of a North Carolina woman who visited the Capitol in 1863. A large U.S. flag displayed in the Senate chamber is reminiscent of a trophy of war captured from Union troops at the Battle of Plymouth.

"I thought, wouldn't it be wonderful to recreate this?" Hardison said. "I think we were all thinking along the same vein. ... The Capitol is both a working seat of government, in that the governor and his staff has his office there. But it is also a museum."

Hardison pointed out that the national flag used by the Confederate government, with its circle of white stars and red and white stripes, is still flown over the State Capitol dome each year on Confederate Memorial Day. The more familiar blood-red battle flag, featuring a blue "X'' studded with white stars, was used by the rebel military.

David Goldfield, a history professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and author of the book "Still Fighting the Civil War," said the battle flag can hold starkly different meanings depending on a person's social perspective.

"The history of the Confederate battle flag, how it was designed and formulated, how it has been used through the years, clearly states that it is a flag of white supremacy," Goldfield said. "I know current Sons of Confederate Veterans would dispute that, saying 'Hey, I'm not a racist.' But the fact remains that the battle flag was used by a country that had as its foundation the protection and extension of human bondage."

The NAACP's Barber said the McCrory administration eventually made the right call, but questioned how the decision to hang the flag was made in the first place.

"A flag should represent a banner of unity, not division," Barber said. "A substantive symbol and sign of our best history, not our worse. We cannot deny history but neither can we attempt to revision it in a way that glorifies the shameful and attempts to make noble that which is ignoble."

___

Follow Michael Biesecker at twitter.com/mbieseck

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/lCia-n954Es/Confederate-flag-coming-down-in-North-Carolina.-Why

Stephanie Rice Meet the Pyro Karen Klein Colorado fires supreme court summer solstice Summer Solstice 2012

Scientists Scooped Out Virus Guts to Make a Sterile, Zombified Vaccine

Vaccines beef up your immune system by giving it a little taste of a weak—but still alive—version of diseases. Now researchers in the UK have developed an alternative approach: rip out a virus's insides and let your body crush its hollow husk. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/xPixb_YyLrU/scientists-scooped-out-virus-guts-to-make-a-sterile-zombified-vaccine

Ryan Lochte Montenegro Olympic Games Dana Vollmer phillies phillies Ryan Dempster

Business Accounting Software 3.0.1.5 - Downloadplex.com

Business Accounting Software saves time and effort in managing data

Business Accounting Software is most profound on site and assists facilities for both small and large organizations to setting up best company-customer relationship through maintaining sales purchase records. Affordable information maintaining utility is easy to adopt for peoples they can adequately maintain database related to financial management in an excellent way.


What's New in This Release:

Added support to maintain business financial details

System Requirements:

256 MB RAM, 18 MB free hard disk space
Program Release Status: New Release
Program Install Support: Install and Uninstall

Source: http://www.downloadplex.com/Windows/Business/Office-Suites-Tools/business-accounting-software_37924.html

Alex Morgan Misty May Treanor Lolo Jones Marvin Hamlisch Megan Rossee grenada grenada

Buster Posey gets $167M, 9-year deal from Giants

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? At age 26, Buster Posey can envision one day retiring with the San Francisco Giants.

For now, he is their new franchise man.

The Giants rewarded the NL MVP and batting champion catcher with a $167 million, nine-year contract Friday, a deal that includes a club option for 2022 that could raise the value to $186 million over a decade.

"It's hard to put into words what I feel right now, just an incredible feeling know that for the next nine years I'll be a part of this very storied franchise," Posey said. "I'm incredibly humbled to know I'll be a part of that."

He came to the plate Friday night to rousing cheers from the sellout crowd of 42,808 and led off the second inning against Oakland's A. J. Griffin with a single to left. Posey finished 2 for 4 in the 3-1 win.

"That's just great, he's the face of the franchise," pitcher Barry Zito said. "He's the captain of this team as young as he is. That's a huge nod from ownership, from the Giants, to say, 'Pose, you're our guy and we're going to go on with you.'"

Posey had been due to make $8 million this year. He instead gets a $7 million signing bonus, with $5 million payable Oct. 15 and the remainder Jan. 15, and his 2013 salary is reduced to $3 million.

He will make $10.5 million in 2014, $16.5 million in 2015, $20 million in 2016 and $21.4 million in each of the following five seasons. The Giants' option is for $22 million with a $3 million buyout.

"Obviously this is a big day for the Giants and a big day in Giants history," CEO Larry Baer said. "By any measure the largest and boldest commitment we've ever made to a player, and obviously that's a big deal. We don't make these kinds of commitments lightly. ... In order to make a commitment like this we have to look at other measures, too, and look at the person. A nine-year commitment sounds like a lot but it wasn't scary to us when you look at Buster the person."

Posey's agreement includes a full no-trade clause and is the longest for a catcher and the largest in Giants history, surpassing Matt Cain's $127.5 million, six-year contract signed before the start of last season.

In addition, the deal is a record guarantee for a player with fewer than three years of major league service time ? more than doubling the $80 million, seven-year contract Rockies slugger Carlos Gonzalez received before the 2011 season. It also is a record guarantee for a player with fewer than four years of service time, topping the $151.45 million over 11 years Colorado's Todd Helton was assured in March 2001.

"I don't know if we had a mountain to climb but we had a hill to climb to try to get on the same page," general manager Brian Sabean said. "If he's not the face of the franchise, he's certainly a player that comes around either once every baseball life or not that often."

The Giants captured their second championship in three years behind the play of the All-Star, who won the NL batting title and MVP award after missing most of 2011 following season-ending left leg and ankle injuries.

Posey knows that there will be times things don't go as well as they have so far for him with a World Series and Rookie of the Year award in 2010 followed by another title and season of honors last year.

"You get kind of spoiled when you win the World Series in your first year," he said. "I can't see how you can play here and not want to spend your career here."

Posey received his deal a day after the Giants gave Sabean and manager Bruce Bochy contract extensions through 2016.

Posey batted .336 with 24 homers and 103 RBIs while playing 148 games for the NL West champions, including 111 starts at catcher and 29 at first base. During the Giants' 2010 and '12 championship runs, Posey has hit a combined .244 with four home runs and 14 RBIs.

Two of those homers and five RBIs came in last year's NL division series against the Reds, when San Francisco became the first team in big league history to rally from a 2-0 deficit to win a five-game series with three straight road victories.

"We've got a group of guys who are not going to rest on what we've accomplished so far," Posey said. "Nine years is a long time. It's exciting. I enjoy the challenge of trying to get better. I enjoy the ups and downs that baseball brings."

On May 25, 2011, Posey tore three ligaments in his left ankle and broke a bone in his lower leg in a devastating collision at the plate with Scott Cousins, then with the Marlins.

Posey received his nice payday two days after turning 26. He will donate $50,000 per year to Giants charities.

He could wind up playing his entire career in the Bay Area ? and the Giants certainly hope that will be the case. The club posted a photo on its Twitter account Friday of Posey, Baer, Sabean, vice president and assistant general manager Bobby Evans and Bochy ? with the hashtag "SFG4Life."

"It's truly one of the great days for Giants fans," Baer said. "Our fans will be very privileged to watch Buster for the foreseeable future, and ideally Buster will be wearing a Giants uniform for the entirety of his career, which is our goal."

Posey is represented by the same agency that negotiated Cain's deal last year, and both sides were eager to do something again this year to provide long-term security for the catcher.

"We're extremely pleased to reach an agreement that keeps Buster in a Giants uniform for a long time," agent Jeff Berry of CAA Baseball said. "Buster and the Giants have brought each other mutual success, and this contract reflects Buster's extraordinary accomplishments in just three years in the major leagues."

The contract includes the following bonuses: $100,000 for NL MVP, $100,000 for World Series MVP, $75,000 for NL championship series MVP, $50,000 for a Gold Glove, $50,000 for All-Star game election, $25,000 for All-Star selection and $50,000 for a Silver Slugger.

In 2010, Posey wasn't even called up from Triple-A Fresno until late May but still batted .305 with 18 home runs and 67 RBIs in 108 games to help the Giants capture their first NL West crown since 2003.

Even with the injury, Posey plans to catch for as long as his body allows it.

"My passion is to be behind the plate for as long as I can," he said. "For anyone who's caught, it's a special position you can't describe until you get back there."

Yet he did once play all nine positions in one game during college.

San Francisco gave him $6.2 million when he signed in August 2008 as the fifth overall pick out of Florida State, the richest deal for an amateur joining the Giants.

For Evans in his negotiations, there weren't many players to use as a gauge for having so many accomplishments in such a short career. The Giants entered talks with the idea they would find a way to sign Posey for the long haul.

"The organization will be better off for it each day he's in our uniform," Sabean said.

___

AP Sports Writer Ronald Blum contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/buster-posey-gets-167m-9-deal-giants-193222348--mlb.html

taco bell Breezy Point Seaside Heights nj transit PSEG hocus pocus hocus pocus

Bluenote Is a Secure Note Taking, Tasks, and Password Manager for Mac

Bluenote Is a Secure Note Taking, Tasks, and Password Manager for MacBluenote Is a Secure Note Taking, Tasks, and Password Manager for Mac Mac: If you don't want to just leave your notes, to-dos, and passwords sitting around, Bluenote is a Mac app that encrypts everything you put into it and locks it all behind a password so nobody can see what you're up to.

Bluenote is a number of different things. At its core, it's a to-do and note-taking app that encrypts everything. It organizes those notes and tasks in simple lists and you can select from a huge set of icons so you can quickly spot what you're looking for. The nice thing is that Bluenote automatically encrypts and saves everything you do, so you won't need to worry about saving or selecting security settings. Additionally, Bluenote has a password manager built in to store your passwords and offer suggestions to make better ones. It's not nearly as robust as something like Lastpass, but it's better than just leaving your passwords hanging out in your Keychain.

Bluenote's also incredibly easy to use. Once you fire up the app, you're given a tutorial of the features, but it's hardly necessary. Adding tasks and notes is as simple as you'd expect, and you can organize them by just clicking and dragging. The interface is easy on the eyes and you're never distracted finding out how to do something. Syncing support is currently missing, but it's on its way in a future update. If you're looking for a way to hide your notes and tasks behind a encrypted password wall, Bluenote is worth a look.

Bluenote ($5.99 until April 5th, $9.99 after)

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/_ojnJLjVH2U/bluenote-for-mac-is-a-secure-note-taking-tasks-and-password-manager-for-mac

nicki minaj beez in the trap video food network f/a 18 f 18 crash virginia tenebrae the lake house petrino arkansas

Historic Bed and Breakfast and Luxury Boutique Hotel near CBD ...

This magnificant property is situated at the foot of the beautiful hills overlooking Nelson City to the Tasman Sea beyond and is often referred to by the locals as "The Castle".

Thirty four individual rooms, including twelve bedrooms, five lounges, eight bathrooms and two extra toilets. The original wing, currently the owners residence, could be developed into four or five additional suites. Resource consent is in place to build a self-contained apartment over the garage, which would be ideal for a manager. Alternatively, a more substantial house could be built on a vacant site on the eastern side of the property, which extends down to Seymour Avenue.

This solidly constructed, 810 square metre building was very strongly built throughout with great beams of kauri and 28 millimetre thick matai floors. All weatherboards, ceilings and most doors are heart kauri. Weatherboards on several sides were covered with a heavy stucco render in the 1950s, which gives it the distinctive castle appearance. The exterior is now painted rich Colonial cream, with burgundy timber joinery and the original 7000 tiled, high pitched Welsh slate roof.

In recognition of the huge amount of restoration work done on Warwick House, the current owners were presented with the 2009 Environmental Award, in the Heritage Site category. Over the past few years, this superb home has hosted many distinguished guests, held many charity fundraisers, hosted tours, high teas and many great musical events.

Exceptional features include the opulent ballroom with a 5.5 metre stud, the four level, 33 metre high octagonal turret, balconies, exterior staircases and ornate kauri fretwork around the large verandah and viewing decks. There are two large oriel windows, five large bay windows and a minstrel gallery, high above the main entrance hall.

Two single garages, an elegant Victorian-style street lamp and a history board flank the substantial, original cast iron gates and posts, which were brought out from England in the 1840s. There is a large sealed parking area, a large carport and a central flagstone Maltese cross.

The original wing is the current owners home which has two spacious living areas, a charming dining / conservatory , kitchen , five bedrooms and two bathrooms.

This is one of New Zealand's most attractive tourism & hospitality businesses for sale and allows the next owner to take this awesome property to the next level of development.

Price by Negotiation for Land, Building and Business including specified chattels. We invite all interested parties to contact Adrian Chisholm 021 727 888 - TourismProperties.com www.tourismproperties.com specialist real estate company helping buyers and sellers of touris, hospitality and leisure businesses and properties nationwide in New Zealand and the South pacifiic Islands.
?

Source: http://www.infonews.co.nz/news.cfm?id=103419

19 kids and counting danny o brien alicia silverstone park slope food coop anchorman sequel safety not guaranteed lifehouse

Toilets in Video Games Are All Pretty Gross

Though most video games never involve a player having too drop a deuce, video game worlds always seem to have dirty toilets in even dirtier restrooms. Who uses these toilets and why are they universally dirty! Video Game Toilets rounds up the toilets found in video games—it spans from like the early 80's until now—in a hilarious Tumblr. Here are a few we love (the one above is from F.E.A.R. 3). More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/9K_WFNlypTU/toilets-in-video-games-are-all-pretty-gross

Psy fergie minnesota vikings looper New Years Eve new years washington redskins

শুক্রবার, ২৯ মার্চ, ২০১৩

Trailblazing TV journalist Barbara Walters to retire in 2014

(Reuters) - Pioneering journalist Barbara Walters, the first woman to co-anchor a U.S. evening news program, plans to retire in May 2014 after more than five decades as a prominent figure on U.S. television, a source familiar with her plans said on Thursday.

Walters, 83, is expected to announce her retirement to viewers herself in the coming weeks, the source said.

"It was very much her decision. I think she will best explain it herself," the source told Reuters.

ABC will broadcast a series of specials and tributes to Walters in the weeks before her exit, the source added.

ABC News executives declined to comment.

Walters, the creator and host of ABC's all-women talk show "The View," had open heart surgery in 2010.

She fainted, hit her head and suffered a concussion in January, and was then diagnosed with chicken pox, causing her to miss more than a month of work.

Walters is best known as one of the top interviewers on U.S. television, counting an array of world leaders as subjects, including Cuba's Fidel Castro, Britain's Margaret Thatcher, Saddam Hussein of Iraq and every U.S. president since Richard Nixon.

She got her start in television journalism in 1961 as a writer on NBC's "Today," a show she would later become the first woman to co-host.

In 1976, she became the first woman to co-anchor a television evening news broadcast on any U.S. network for "ABC Evening News." Walters has also worked as a producer and host of the ABC news magazine "20/20" and as a correspondent for ABC News.

ABC is a unit of Walt Disney Co.

(This story has been repeated to fix a typo in the lead)

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Todd Eastham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/trailblazing-tv-journalist-barbara-walters-retire-2014-193457351.html

mick jagger Newton Shooting Newtown Shooting Gangnam Style Ryan Lanza Sandy Hook kanye west

Anna Chlumsky Debuts Belly ? and Reveals Sex of Baby

When asked if she knew what she was having, Chlumsky replied, "I do, I do. We'll be dressing her up, let's put it that way."

Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/irFKFExrqC0/

mlb trade rumors Misty May And Kerri Walsh Jake Dalton London 2012 field hockey Missy Franklin Hunter Pence NBCOlympics

Mountain pine beetle genome decoded

Mar. 26, 2013 ? The genome of the mountain pine beetle -- the insect that has devastated British Columbia's lodgepole pine forests -- has been decoded by researchers at the University of British Columbia and Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre.

This is a first for the mountain pine beetle and only the second beetle genome ever sequenced. The first was the red flour beetle, a pest of stored grains. The genome is described in a study published Tuesday in the journal Genome Biology.

"We know a lot about what the beetles do," says Christopher Keeling, a research associate in Prof. Joerg Bohlmann's lab at the Michael Smith Laboratories. "But without the genome, we don't know exactly how they do it."

"Sequencing the mountain pine beetle genome provides new information that can be used to help manage the epidemic in the future."

The genome revealed large variation among individuals of the species -- about four times greater than the variation among humans.

"As the beetles' range expands and as they head into jack pine forests where the defensive compounds may be different, this variation could allow them to be more successful in new environments," says Keeling.

Researchers isolated genes that help detoxify defence compounds found under the bark of the tree -- where the beetles live. They also found genes that degrade plant cell walls, which allow the beetles to get nutrients from the tree.

Keeling, Bohlmann and their colleagues also uncovered a bacterial gene that has jumped into the mountain pine beetle genome. This gene codes for an enzyme that digests sugars.

"It might be used to digest woody tissue and/or the microorganisms that grow in the beetle's tunnels underneath the bark of the tree," said Keeling. "Gene transfers sometimes make organisms more successful in their environments."

This study involved researchers from the University of Northern British Columbia and the University of Alberta.

Characteristics of the mountain pine beetle genome

  • 12 pairs of chromosomes
  • Approximately 13,000 genes
  • The mountain pine beetle separated from the red flour beetle -- the only other beetle genome sequenced to date -- about 230 million years ago. According to Keeling, "the two insects have about the same relatedness as a pine tree and a head of lettuce."
  • The mountain pine beetle is closely related to other significant pests in North American forests such as the southern pine beetle, Douglas-fir beetle, eastern larch beetle, and spruce beetle. Insights gained from sequencing the mountain pine beetle genome can be transferred to these beetles, and other forest insect pests around the world.

Mountain pine beetle epidemic

The mountain pine beetle has infested over 18 million hectares of lodgepole pine in British Columbia -- an area more than five times larger than Vancouver Island -- causing enormous damage to the environment and forest industry. In recent years, the insect has moved further north and east, over the Canadian Rockies, and is now approaching the Alberta-Saskatchewan border. It is also beginning to infest other pine trees -- jack pine, a jack-lodgepole hybrid, limber pine, and the endangered whitebark pine. Jack pine boreal forests extend from Alberta to the Atlantic provinces. The mountain pine beetle also lives in Colorado, Wyoming, Arizona and South Dakota.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:


Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of British Columbia.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. Christopher I Keeling, Macaire MS Yuen, Nancy Y Liao, T Roderick Docking, Simon K Chan, Greg A Taylor, Diana L Palmquist, Shaun D Jackman, Anh Nguyen, Maria Li, Hannah Henderson, Jasmine K Janes, Yongjun Zhao, Pawan Pandoh, Richard Moore, Felix AH Sperling, Dezene PW Huber, Inanc Birol, Stephen JM Jones, Joerg Bohlmann. Draft genome of the mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, a major forest pest. Genome Biology, 2013; 14 (3): R27 DOI: 10.1186/gb-2013-14-3-r27

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/6phY8FTccr8/130327093612.htm

lindsay lohan saturday night live snl lindsay lohan valley fever project x the lorax lorax fisker karma

Google adds info cards to Play Movies, helps you become a trivia wizard

Google Play Movies adds infobar feature, offers TKTK

Are you a bit rusty on your trivia? Now you can brush up on your movie knowledge more easily before you make a fool out of yourself at parties, thanks to new info cards that are now being integrated into Google Play Movies. When you pause the cinematic masterpiece you're currently watching, you'll notice some Google Now-like cards pop up on the side of the screen that are filled with information about the actors, actresses, the movie itself or even the soundtrack. To access these fancy chunks of cognitive enhancement, you'll need to live in the US, use a tablet running Android 4.0 or higher and be updated to the most recent version of the Google Play Movies & TV app. Since Google is just rolling the feature out, the cards may not be available for all of your favorite titles at first; fortunately, the company's adding them to more movies every day, so hopefully you won't need to wait too long. As for other countries and devices, Google's working on expanding its reach sometime soon.

Filed under: , , ,

Comments

Source: Official Android blog

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/27/google-play-info-cards/

kasey kahne angelina jolie right leg saving face academy award winners best picture 2012 oscar winners channel 3 news

Google pledges not to sue open-source devs and users

Google pledges not to sue opensource devs and users

Google has always been pretty firm in its stance that "open systems win." Now its going so far as to publicly pledge that it will "not sue any user, distributor or developer of open-source software on specified patents, unless first attacked." The Open Patent Non-Assertion (OPN) Pledge, as the company is calling it, is the latest effort to back open-source software which Mountain View contends is one of the driving sources of innovation in cloud-computing and the internet. The first set of patents that are part of the initiative are related to MapReduce, which is used to process large data sets, though the company will eventually expand it to cover other technologies. The pledge is similar to Twitter's Innovators Patent Agreement which it announced in April of last year. There wont be any immediate benefit to end users, but anything that encourages innovation and minimizes litigation seems like a net positive in our book. For more details hit up the source link.

Filed under: ,

Comments

Via: The Next Web

Source: Google 1, 2

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/28/google-pledges-not-to-sue-open-source-devs-and-users/

barbra streisand barbra streisand hugh jackman Aly Raisman Oscar Results Jennifer Lawrence Fall Ang Lee

বৃহস্পতিবার, ২৮ মার্চ, ২০১৩

'Sponge' Drug Shows Promise For Treating Hepatitis C

Particles of the hepatitis C virus are imaged with an electron microscope.

James Cavallini/Science Source

Particles of the hepatitis C virus are imaged with an electron microscope.

James Cavallini/Science Source

With an estimated 2 million baby boomers infected with hepatitis C, the disease has reached epidemic levels among Americans age 48 to 68.

Doctors can now cure about 70 percent of hepatitis C cases, but the drugs' side effects can be severe. And many Americans are still left with a disease that can cause liver failure and cancer.

So doctors have been desperate for better treatment options.

One of the drugs in the pipeline, called miravirsen, may be able to stop the virus with little side effects, doctors from University Health Network in Toronto, Canada, reported Wednesday.

Their findings, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, are preliminary ? the doctors gave the drug to just 27 patients for about a month. (Another 9 patients in the study were given a placebo.) But the study is still drawing attention because it offers proof-of-concept for a whole new class of drugs, called RNA interference drugs.

RNAi drugs work differently than traditional antivirals and antibiotics. And some scientists think they may have the potential to treat many illnesses, including the big killers, cancer and heart disease.

Traditional drugs are small chemicals that bind directly to the pathogen's machinery. In contrast, RNAi drugs are little fragments of RNA (or DNA) that act like "sponges" inside the cell. They mop up other RNA molecules that a virus or cancer cell needs to survive.

The pharmaceutical industry has been working for decades to get RNAi drugs to work, says Dr. Judy Lieberman of Harvard Medical School, who wasn't involved in the current study.

"At first there was wild enthusiasm ? and billions of dollars," she tells Shots. "Hundreds of companies became involved because these drugs could be a whole new class of therapeutics for all kinds of diseases."

But enthusiasm and money waned over time, as companies realized it wasn't going to be easy to get these drugs to work.

Pharmaceutical giants, like Roche and Novartis, pulled the plug on million-dollar programs back in 2010, the journal Nature reported. But a few companies stayed the course. And, recently, there have been hints of success.

In January, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first RNAi drug, Kynamro (brand name mipomersen sodium), to help people with an extreme type of high cholesterol.

Now the current study on miravirsen offers hope for hepatitis C. "It's the first example of really strong clinical evidence" that the RNAi therapies are going to work in people, Lieberman says.

It's too soon to say how effective miravirsen is compared to current hepatitis C treatments, says Dr. Harry Janssen, who led the study. The goal of the current trial was to figure out how much miravirsen is needed to stop the virus temporarily ? not it's overall effectiveness. That will require a bigger study.

Four of the nine patients who got the highest dose of miravirsen temporarily cleared the virus after five injections. "That compares very well to current treatments," Janssen says.

But unlike many medications available now, the RNAi drug works on all types of hepatitis C, even those that are tough to treat. And the short-term side effects are minimal ? a rash and pain at the injection site.

Still, Janssen and his team don't know what the long-term effects could be and exactly how to combine miravirsen with other medications. And, he says, there are other hepatitis C drugs in the pipeline that are closer to getting approval.

"So I think our study is a big step forward for hepatitis C, but a bigger step forward for medicine in general," he says. "It opens big avenues for using this concept [RNAi drugs] in humans."

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/03/27/175462370/sponge-drug-shows-promise-for-treating-hepatitis-c?ft=1&f=1007

arizona immigration law aubrey huff the killers julianne hough brandy michael pineda charles taylor

3 Strategies for Managing the Skyrocketing Cost of College

Today's college students are paying twice as much for higher education as students paid a quarter-century ago -- and 50 percent more than students paid just four years ago, according to the State Higher Education Finance report recently released by the State Higher Education Executive Officers.

At the same time, despite a high demand for college (97 percent of Americans say having a degree or certificate beyond high school is important), three-quarters of Americans don't believe that higher education is affordable for everyone who needs it, according to a study by the Lumina Foundation.

[Explore more about paying for college.]

Although this is certainly bad news for anyone contemplating college, the good news is that according to a report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, getting a degree will almost certainly pay off in a higher salary and more job security. The report, The College Advantage, has loads of great information about the benefits of earning your degree.

If you're worried about the plunge you're about to take, here are three strategies you might consider to keep your debt to a manageable level.

1. Consider community college: Tuition is typically lower than at public colleges and universities, and you can often transfer your credits to a four-year school if your goal is a bachelor's degree or higher. Many scholarships are available to students who are studying at community colleges; there are also scholarships for students transferring into four-year colleges.

2. Add cost to your selection criteria: Today's students may not have the luxury of judging a college only by academic or social fit. Adding cost to the equation will most certainly help you sleep better at night after making your decision -- and while you are paying off your loans later.

[Learn how to use college net price calculators.]

When considering cost, understand the sticker price -- but also understand what the college will offer in terms of discounts, how it will view your outside scholarships and how to make sure the institution treats those scholarships fairly. And of course, always complete the FAFSA; getting a good price may well depend on it.

3. Never stop looking and applying for scholarships: Make renewable scholarships -- those that provide a set amount each year of your studies -- your top priority, along with high-dollar awards. But don't ignore those $250 and $500 scholarships either. Many small scholarship awards can lead to a significant dent in your annual bill.

[Find places to start your scholarship search.]

While a lot of scholarships are only for first-year students, there are a growing number of awards available for students in various stages of their studies--from current undergrads to grad students.

Last but not least, cast your scholarship net wide. There are scholarships for everything from your major to your hobby to your physical attributes. Are you a woman more than 5 feet 10 inches tall? There's a scholarship for that.

Getting an education beyond high school is your key to security and stability; if you play it smart, you can keep it affordable too.

Janine Fugate, the recipient of numerous scholarships at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, holds a bachelor's degree from the College of Saint Benedict, Saint Joseph, Minn., and a Master of Public Affairs from the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota--Twin Cities. Fugate joined Scholarship America in 2002.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/3-strategies-managing-skyrocketing-cost-college-154825736.html

Walmart.com detroit lions Thanksgiving Day cooking a turkey toysrus how to carve a turkey ipad 2

BRICS plan development bank to fund infrastructure

DURBAN, South Africa (AP) ? Leaders of five of the world's emerging economic powers agreed Wednesday to create a development bank to help fund their $4.5 trillion infrastructure plans ? a direct challenge to the World Bank that they accuse of Western bias.

But the rulers of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa ?known as the BRICS group ?were unable to agree on some basic issues. Foreign Minister Pravin Gordhan of South Africa told reporters that there were "different views" about how much capital such a bank would need.

He said $50 billion had been mentioned, an amount conference officials said would be seed capital shared equally between the five countries.

Finance ministers had discussed basing contributions on a country's wealth, but then felt it would leave economic giant China, with the world's No. 2 economy, in an untenably dominant position, according to conference officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to reporters.

Analysts said there was little doubt that China, with the world's largest reserves of foreign exchange, inevitably would be dominant, perhaps in much the same way that the United States and Europe dominate the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

The development bank would be the first institution of the informal BRICS forum which was started in 2009 amid the economic meltdown to chart a new and more equitable world economic order. South Africa joined two years ago.

"Russia supports the creation of this financial institution," President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday, but he cautioned "we believe that, if it is created, then it must work on market principles only and support the businesses of all our countries."

But his deputy foreign minister, Sergey A. Ryabkov, implied the announcement was premature: "We are not contesting the idea, we support it, we favor it, but we are urging everyone to be serious enough to make further efforts in order to create the right foundation." They were at a stage where "the devil is in the details," he added.

Inability to agree on fine points about the bank, first mooted a year ago when finance ministers were tasked with exploring its feasibility, highlighted the differences between the bloc that is made up of democracies and autocracies, diverse foreign policies and structurally different economies.

But at the fifth BRICS summit, its first in South Africa at the coastal resort of Durban, leaders pointed to their shared histories and aims: South Africa, very much the junior partner with a much smaller economy, has a decades-old relationship with China and Russia since they funded and armed anti-apartheid liberation movements; it shares a history of colonization with Brazil, a country that was the destination for more African slaves than any other; and with India as Mahatma Gandhi lived in South Africa for more than 20 years and developed his political activism here as he faced discrimination from a white minority government.

South African President Jacob Zuma, whose country is lobbying to be home to the BRICS development bank, said the formal negotiations to establish the institution were "based on our own considerable infrastructure needs, which amount to about $4.5 trillion U.S. dollars over the next five years." The bank will also cooperate with other emerging market countries and developing economies.

Zuma said the bank also will establish a "BRICS contingent reserve arrangement," a pool of money to cushion member states against any future economic shocks and further lessen their dependence on Western institutions.

Both those aims challenge the traditional roles of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, institutions that in their 50-year life have been dominated by the United States and Europe.

"As cooperation between the BRICS becomes more increasingly institutionalized, it will begin to challenge the economic architecture set out by the Bretton Woods institutions, regarded by many policy-makers within the BRICS as obsolete and biased toward the developed world, " analyst Martyn Davies of Frontier Advisory wrote this week. "The underlying motivation within the BRICSs is to assert their own collective interests, hard though they are to define, and do so against established Western ones."

While BRICS nations emphasize their equal partnership there is no doubt about the dominant role in trade and investment played by China, the world's most populous nation and its second largest economy which recently overtook the United States as the biggest importer of oil. China also has the world's largest foreign exchange reserves.

This BRICS summit has been dedicated to supporting development in Africa ? Zuma invited 15 other African leaders to the meeting ? and analysts note that some BRICS nations are rivals in the scramble for Africa's resources.

China long as overtaken traditional former European colonizers as Africa's biggest trading partner. Recently there have been rumbles about the nature of China's investment in Africa.

Botswana's President Ian Khama last month lambasted China for shoddy work in his country, saying "We have had some bad experiences with Chinese companies." In an interview with South Africa's BusinessDay newspaper, Khama blamed Chinese companies for a spate of power cuts he blamed on Chinese construction of a power plant that is months behind schedule.

Khama also expressed concern about the rate of Chinese migration to Africa, saying "We accept China's goods. But they don't have to export their population to sell us those goods."

And in a recent opinion piece the governor of Nigeria's central bank, Lamido Sanusi, accused China of being "a significant contributor to Africa's de-industrialization and underdevelopment," with its cheap manufactured goods competing with African goods on the continent and its huge appetite for raw materials preventing Africans from adding value to their natural resources. Sanusi suggested there was a "whiff of colonialism" about China's Africa policy.

China's new leader Xi Jinping, in a keynote speech before attending his first international summit at the BRICS, said China would "intensify, not weaken" its relationship with Africa. On Wednesday he told the summit China will "support Africa's efforts for stronger growth."

He said China would continue to make its own and international development priorities as it works to achieve a "grand goal" of doubling China's gross domestic product and the per capita income of its population of 3 billion by 2020.

Other leaders at the summit gushed about the possibilities opened by their fledgling BRICS forum, which represents nearly half of the world's population and more than a quarter of world trade.

India's trade minister Anand Sharma said BRICS will "have a defining influence on the global order of this century."

He warned against trade protectionism, which has played out within BRICS with South Africa accusing Brazil of dumping poultry products.

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff said BRICS has confounded its critics. "Even the most skeptical voices do recognize the contribution the BRICS bloc of countries has provided in the field of international economics," she said. Even the World Bank has said that global growth over the past few years and for the foreseeable future is being driven by the bloc.

Rousseff said it is time multilateral institutions like the IMF and World Bank become more democratic to clearly reflect the growing influence of developing countries.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/brics-plan-development-bank-fund-infrastructure-095122874.html

capital gains tim thomas oral roberts les paul fred thompson fred thompson red hook

Large robotic jellyfish could one day patrol oceans

Mar. 28, 2013 ? Virginia Tech College of Engineering researchers have unveiled a life-like, autonomous robotic jellyfish the size and weight of a grown man, 5 foot 7 inches in length and weighing 170 pounds.

The prototype robot, nicknamed Cyro, is a larger model of a robotic jellyfish the same team -- headed by Shashank Priya of Blacksburg, Va., and professor of mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech -- unveiled in 2012. The earlier robot, dubbed RoboJelly, is roughly the size of a man's hand, and typical of jellyfish found along beaches.

"A larger vehicle will allow for more payload, longer duration and longer range of operation," said Alex Villanueva of St-Jacques, New-Brunswick, Canada, and a doctoral student in mechanical engineering working under Priya. "Biological and engineering results show that larger vehicles have a lower cost of transport, which is a metric used to determine how much energy is spent for traveling."

Both robots are part of a multi-university, nationwide $5 million project funded by U.S. Naval Undersea Warfare Center and the Office of Naval Research. The goal is to place self-powering, autonomous machines in waters for the purposes of surveillance and monitoring the environment, in addition to other uses such as studying aquatic life, mapping ocean floors, and monitoring ocean currents.

Jellyfish are attractive candidates to mimic because of their ability to consume little energy owing to a lower metabolic rate than other marine species. Additionally, they appear in wide variety of sizes, shapes and colors, allowing for several designs. They also inhabit every major oceanic area of the world and are capable of withstanding a wide range of temperatures in both fresh and salt waters. Most species are found in shallow coastal waters, but some have been found in depths 7,000 meters below sea level.

Partner universities in the project are Providence College in Rhode Island, the University of California Los Angeles, the University of Texas at Dallas, and Stanford University. Priya's team is building the jellyfish body models, integrating fluid mechanics and developing control systems.

Cyro is modeled and named after the jellyfish cyanea capillata, Latin for Llion's Manemain jellyfishJellyfish, with "Cyro" derived from "cyanea" and "robot." As with its predecessor, this robot is in the prototype stage, years away from use in waters. A new prototype model already is under construction at Virginia Tech's Durham Hall, where Priya's Center for Energy Harvesting Materials and Systems is based.

"We hope to improve on this robot and reduce power consumption and improve swimming performance as well as better mimic the morphology of the natural jellyfish," Villanueva said, adding that the project also allows researchers such as himself to better understand aquatic creatures live. "Our hopes for Cyro's future is that it will help understand how the propulsion mechanism of such animal scales with size."

A stark difference exists between the larger and smaller robots. Cyro is powered by a rechargeable nickel metal hydride battery, whereas the smaller models were tethered, Priya said. Experiments have also been conducted on powering jellyfish with hydrogen but there is still much research to be done in that area.

In both cases, the jellyfish must operate on their own for months or longer at a time as engineers likely won't be able to capture and repair the robots, or replace power sources. "Cyro showed its ability to swim autonomously while maintaining a similar physical appearance and kinematics as the natural species," Priya said, adding that the robot is simultaneously able to collect, store, analyze, and communicate sensory data. This autonomous operation in shallow water conditions is already a big step towards demonstrating the use of these creatures."

How does the robot swim? Its body consists of a rigid support structure with direct current electric motors which control the mechanical arms that are used in conjunction with an artificial mesoglea, or jelly-based pulp of the fish's body, creating hydrodynamic movement.

With no central nervous system, jellyfish instead use a diffused nerve net to control movement and can complete complex functions. A parallel study on a bio-inspired control system is in progress which will eventually replace the current simplified controller. As with the smaller models, Cyro's skin is composed of a thick layer of silicone, squishy in one's hand. It mimics the sleek jellyfish skin and is placed over a bowl-shaped device containing the electronic guts of the robot. When moving, the skin floats and moves with the robot, looking weirdly alive.

"It has been a great experience to finally realize the biomimetic and bio-inspired robotic vehicles," Priya said. "Nature has too many secrets and we were able to find some of them but many still remain. We hope to find a mechanism to continue on this journey and resolve the remaining puzzles."

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:


Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Virginia Tech (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University), via Newswise.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/kLqBg1DBw1g/130328124807.htm

mega millions jackpot black panther party frank martin pink slime eagle cam trayvon martin case affordable care act

Samsung Galaxy S4 up for pre-order in the UK

Galaxy S4

Official pre-orders start today ahead of April 26 launch

A little under a month away from launch day, Samsung's Galaxy S4 is now available to pre-order from leading UK retailers and carriers. You'll find a breakdown of what the major players are offering with Samsung's latest handset after the break.

We'll update this post with any more pre-order deals that come to light during the day. Check below for the full breakdown.

read more



Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/cHtm32WsyZ4/story01.htm

nfl mock draft project m colts colts big ten tournament 2012 dennis quaid bruce weber fired

Liz Neumark: East-Over Up North

The celebration of Easter and Passover this week is an opportunity for a cultural mash-up quite aside from the religious connections between the two important holidays. And though spirituality and religious traditions are most meaningful to the observant, it is around the table that many of us discover community, share in social lessons and feed our passions, all puns intended.

I headed to Lewiston, Maine to spend the Passover Seder with my eldest daughter, Nell, a senior at Bates College. And as much as I deeply treasure a visit with my daughter, a visit to Portland is a fabulous secondary benefit.

2013-03-26-P1100363.JPG

My rule of thumb in Portland is "Eat every 2 hours." (The other rule is book a massage with the finest professional on the East Coast, Ramon at the Portland Regency Hotel Spa. This serves to undo all the New York City stress I carry with me, which in turn enhances my Portland state of mind).

Easter is the dominant American holiday, and I had limited expectations of finding traditional Passover food, especially in Portland. When I visited Aurora Provisions (a first), I was quite surprised to discover a mouthwatering Passover menu posted on the front door. Inside, an impressive range of Kosher for Passover wines, along with tempting homemade Gefilte Fish and Matzo Balls in Soup were featured. There was Haroset -- the traditional Seder food symbolizing the mortar the enslaved Jews in Egypt used in building the pyramids. And while this Haroset was more chunk than mortar, it contained all the essential ingredients, same as I have hand-chopped and chopped until smooth in my wooden bowl at home.

2013-03-26-P1100195.JPG2013-03-26-P1100200.JPG

Faye, the delightful young woman at the counter, invited me to an annual gathering held on Easter Sunday at Broadturn Farm in Scarborough, ME, where close to 100 people gather for East-Over -- a potluck combination of foodies of both faiths. The day is non-stop eating, with "tons of dogs and babies." Faye's dad, Glen, is the only one under 60. Add this to the 2014 calendar.

2013-03-26-P1100225.JPG2013-03-26-P1100226.JPG

A nod to the holiday was also on the menu at the Standard Baking Co.: almond macaroons and a beautiful flourless chocolate cake. And they were delicious. No handmade matzo on the menu, though I can only imagine how fabulous that would have been. Down the street I met Perry, the local hot dog man of 19 years, who was preparing to close up early so he could attend Seder "at the Shulman's" he told me. I declined his offer of a hot dog and he insisted on preparing a grilled veggie sandwich for my last pre-Passover bread meal, complete with an authentic NYC Gus' half sour pickle. Perry stated that 10 percent of Portland was Jewish, so perhaps not a matzo-less city after all.

2013-03-26-P1100338.JPG2013-03-26-P1100361.JPG

Next stop, Lewiston for Seder at Bates College Hillel. Every seat was taken as over 100 students gathered for an abbreviated service with an extensive buffet -- wise proportions! I was introduced to something new: 30minuteseder.com. (I bet our forefathers would have appreciated a 30minutewandering-in-the-desert.com.) It was a joyful event as the students willing observed the mandate to drink four glasses of wine while reading from a rather abridged Haggadah. Rabbi Yael Rooks-Rapport led the service, and infused contemporary concepts that resonated for the students. After reading the traditional 10 plagues, she talked about 10 Modern ones -- Hunger, Despotism, Lack of Clean Water, Bullying, Racism, Sexism, Intolerance, Greed, Death from curable disease -- each student adding their own for #10. (Gun violence?)

2013-03-26-P1100353.JPG2013-03-26-P1100355.JPG

On the Seder plate, orange wedges were included along with the parsley, horseradish, Haroset, egg and salt water. Why an orange? From the Jewish Women's Archive, an explanation which in its telling suggests how traditions evolve.

Rebecca Alpert tells of a 1979 session on women and the Jewish Law presented to the Jewish Women's Group at University of California at Berkeley by the rebbetzin of the campus Chabad House. One student asked her opinion about the place of lesbians in Judaism. The rebbetzin suggested that it was a small transgression, like eating bread during Passover. Something one shouldn't do, but for which there were few consequences. Some time later, when the Berkeley students were planning their Seder, they chose to place a crust of bread on their Seder plate in solidarity with lesbians who were trying to find a place in Jewish life.

Others picked up this story, but struggled with the transgressive symbolism of bread on a Seder plate. Professor Susannah Heschel was responsible for substituting a tangerine as a symbol for gay and lesbian solidarity. She then went on to share the story, and as it spread, it changed. The symbol became an orange, and the focus shifted to the place of women leaders and rabbis in Judaism. Today, the orange is a symbol of inclusivity to all genders and sexualities.
2013-03-26-P1100385.JPG2013-03-26-P1100397.JPG

That is just part of the beauty of Passover. It is rooted in communities and families coming together to celebrate ancient traditions and timeless memories, and creating new ones. And there is so much happens around the table -- as life happens around food. The memories enchant us and enhance our experience as days are spent shopping and preparing meals. At Bates, students from dozens of cities lined up at the sumptuous buffet, which probably mirrored tables across the country.

2013-03-26-P1100401.JPG2013-03-26-P1100383.JPG

In a few days, the Easter feast will be presented in a similar fashion. The egg is prominently featured at Passover and is equally legendary for Easter. For these springtime holidays it symbolizes life and rebirth. Whatever your tradition, even if it is a Spring dance with the pussy willow or budding crocus, I hope we share a season of peace.

2013-03-26-P1100279.JPG

?

Follow Liz Neumark on Twitter: www.twitter.com/GPfood

"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/liz-neumark/eastover-up-north_b_2958668.html

tryptophan BestBuy.com Kohls Black Friday www.walmart.com Macho Camacho Rise of the Guardians Pumpkin Pie