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Source: http://lauren.kinja.com/gawker-real-lesbians-react-to-fake-lesbian-porn-made-fo-509737927
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By Khaled Yacoub Oweis
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Syria's opposition resumed talks on Saturday aimed at closing their fractious ranks, crucial to launching an international peace conference, and government forces pressed an onslaught on a rebel-held town to try to gain the upper hand in civil war.
Failure of the opposition to unite could weaken the hand of conference co-sponsors Russia and the United States in ending Syria's conflict, which has killed 80,000 people, threatens to spill across borders and whip up wider sectarian conflict.
The U.S. and Russian foreign ministers are to meet in Paris on Monday to discuss how to shepherd Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the opposition into peace talks in Geneva the two world powers have jointly proposed.
As opposition leaders met in Istanbul, Assad's forces reinforced by Lebanese Hezbollah fighters unleashed heavy artillery and tank fire to try to seize more rebel terrain in the border town of Qusair on Saturday, sources on both sides said.
More than 22 people in opposition-held areas were killed by Saturday afternoon, most of them rebels, and dozens were wounded, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Assad's forces are believed to have seized about two-thirds of Qusair and largely surrounded the rebels. But the price was high and rebels insisted they were preventing further advances.
An official close to Hezbollah told Reuters: "We are in the second phase of our plan of attack but the advance has been quite slow and difficult. The rebels have mined everything, the streets, the houses. Even the refrigerators are mined."
The insurgents see Qusair as a critical battle to preserve cross-border supply lines and deny Assad a victory they fear may give him the edge in the prospective peace talks next month.
Sources at the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), which began its third day of meetings, said major players would now focus on international demands for a broadening of the Islamist-dominated group, leaving leadership issues for later.
Attempts to strike a grand bargain involving veteran liberal campaigner Michel Kilo and businessman Mustafa al-Sabbagh, Qatar's point man in the coalition, went nowhere in talks that stretched overnight, senior coalition sources said.
"We are back to square one," one of them told Reuters.
On the sidelines of an African Union summit in Addis Ababa, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry appealed to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon "to try to get something moving with respect to Syria", according to a pool reporter. Ban told Kerry he and his special Syria envoy Lakhdar Brahimi "are working very hard to convene, to make this Geneva conference a success."
Concerned by the rising influence of hardline Islamists, the United States has pressed the opposition coalition to resolve its divisions and bring more liberals into the fold.
Saudi Arabia, the most powerful Arab adversary of Assad, has agreed to play a more active role in furthering the coalition cause, diplomats and coalition members said.
CLASHING SAUDI, RUSSIAN PRIORITIES
Saudi Arabia, the sources said, will want to see the Geneva conference, which could convene in the next few weeks, put the exit of Assad at the top of the agenda.
But they said Russia, a longtime ally of Assad, wanted it to focus on a ceasefire although there is scant rapport between opposition politicians abroad and rebels inside Syria.
The inability of the coalition to alter its Islamist-dominated membership as demanded by international backers and replace a leadership undermined by power struggles is playing into the hands of Assad who, according to Russia, intends to send representatives to the peace conference.
"The coalition risks undermining itself to the point that its backers may have to look quickly for an alternative with enough credibility on the ground to go to Geneva," a senior opposition source at the talks said.
Senior opposition figures said the coalition was likely to attend the conference, but doubted the meeting would secure their central demand - an immediate deal for Assad to quit.
While the opposition remained riven by differences, the assault by Assad's forces and their Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah allies on Qusair, a Sunni town near Lebanon over the past week, is evolving into a pivotal battle.
Qusair controls access to Syria's Mediterranean coast, the heartland of Assad's minority Alawite community, and the battle may prove a weighty test of his ability to withstand the revolt.
Assad is backed by Shi'ite Iran and Hezbollah against the mainly Sunni rebels supported by Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Hezbollah's intervention is hardening fears that the civil war will cross borders at the volatile heart of the Middle East.
"It is ironic that Lebanon's civil strife is playing itself out in Syria. The opposition remains without coherence and the regime is intent on taking back anything it promises with violence," said one diplomat.
The diplomat was referring to a deepening sectarian divide between Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims in Lebanon, where Syrian troops were present for 29 years, including for most of the Lebanese civil war that ended in 1990.
The death toll in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli reached 25 on Saturday in the seventh straight day of clashes between Alawite and Sunni factions backing opposing sides in Syria's war, security sources said.
(Additional reporting by Erika Solomon in Beirut and Arshad Mohammed in Addis Ababa; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-opposition-resumes-unity-talks-key-peace-conference-115841731.html
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By John McGarrity
LONDON (Reuters) - A rising tide of seaweed halted a nuclear power station near Edinburgh late on Thursday, threatening to clog up its cooling system.
EDF Energy took both reactors offline at its 1,280MW Torness nuclear plant, the company said in a statement on Friday.
"Around 1130 (BST) last night, Thursday 23 May, Unit 2 at Torness power station came offline due to increased seaweed levels as a result of the severe weather and sea conditions in the area," EDF said.
It added: "This was followed by a decision to take Unit 1 offline just after 3am today, Friday 24 May, as a precautionary measure when it was clear that the seaweed levels weren't reducing."
According a regulatory update on EDF's website, the 640-MW reactor 1 will be offline for the next 14 days while reactor 2, which also has a capacity of 640-MW, will not generate electricity for at least a week.
The EDF statement said power plant staff are trained to deal with high seaweed levels resulting from weather conditions in the Forth Estuary, and that the plant can be taken offline if there are signs that the cooling system could be affected.
The Torness plant was forced to shut down in 2011 after large numbers of jellyfish were found in the sea water entering the plant.
(Editing by William Hardy)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/seaweed-stops-scottish-edf-nuclear-plant-102940742.html
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 via mccainpr.com |
According to press release of McCain & Co. Public Relations, Christian Musician Summit, Inc. is now the exclusive distributor to the greater church community for D'Addario, the world's largest music accessory manufacturer. Christian Musician Summit, Inc. has launched WorshipGuitarPlayer.com, a one-stop shopping website specifically aimed at serving Christian musicians, worship teams, indie artists, churches and schools. At WorshipGuitarPlayer.com, shoppers benefit from discounted pricing due to the bulk shopping ability of the website for all D'Addario brands, including D'Addario strings, Evans drumheads, ProMark drumsticks, Puresound snareware, Rico reeds, and Planet Waves cables and accessories.
"Not only will folks be able to buy great strings, heads, sticks and accessories at super low prices, but they will also be supporting our overall mission, which is 'to provide practical resources to Christian musicians to improve skill and inspire talent for God's glory," says Matt Kees, co-founder of Christian Musician Summit, Inc., the parent company of WorshipGuitarPlayer.com. "It's a win-win. Worship leaders and teams will save money and receive great products and service, and we will be able to further our calling to serve God's kingdom through the revenue the site produces."
"The vision of this new website is to help musicians and entire worship teams find the accessories and tools that they are looking for while also offering some of the best boutique gear out there," says Bruce Adolph, co-founder of Christian Musician Summit, Inc. "Often times the gear with the buzz to it is hard to find and we want to be that one-stop place to find that cool new pedal, custom electric guitar or vibe-y tube amp."
Currently, WorshipGuitarPlayer.com offers products manufactured by D'Addario, the Farmingdale, N.Y.-based provider of accessories for stringed, percussion and woodwind instruments; JHS Guitar Pedals, a boutique guitar pedal manufacturer from Kansas City, Mo., and Riggio Custom Guitars based out of Tacoma, Wash. Many other companies are being added to their catalog.
"D'Addario and Company is delighted to be working with WorshipGuitarPlayer.com. We recognize the rapidly growing presence of contemporary music as part of the Christian church community, and are delighted to see the guitar as the cornerstone to much of the music worship activity," says David Via, vice president of sales, D'Addario & Companies. "We believe that companies, such as WorshipGuitarPlayer.com, providing unique market segments with value-added differentiation will carve out a successful presence in market segments such as the Christian music market. Again, we're delighted to be part of WorshipGuitarPlayer.com's business plans."
For more information, visit WorshipGuitarPlayer.com.
About Christian Musician Summit, Inc.:
Christian Musician Summit, Inc. is the parent company encompassing various divisions, including WorshipGuitarPlayer.com, the Christian Musician Summit (CMS) conferences, Christian Musician Magazine and Worship Musician Magazine.
The Christian Musician Summit (CMS) conferences, co-founded by Bruce Adolph and Matt Kees, are designed to inspire and assist worship leaders, musicians, technicians, pastors, songwriters, and independent artists to sharpen their skills for God's glory. In addition to the workshops and concerts, the CMS conferences also feature exhibits with audio/video and music companies who offer products and services for the Christian church market. These events provide a time for musicians and technicians of all levels to come and learn, network and fellowship.
CMS at The Chapel 2013 is scheduled for May 3-4 in Buffalo, N.Y.; dates for CMS Nashville 2013 and CMS Northwest 2013 have not yet been announced. CMS at The Chapel and CMS Nashville are presented in partnership with Kingdom Bound Ministries. For more information about Christian Musician Summits, visit christianmusiciansummit.com.
Christian Musician Magazine is a bi-monthly print publication with a mission to improve musicianship and inspire talent through practical training articles. Regular columns on acoustic and electric guitar, bass, drums and vocals are found in each issue, as well as feature interviews with accomplished Christian artists, record reviews and musical gear product reviews. For more information about Christian Musician Magazine, visit christianmusicianmag.com.
Worship Musician Magazine is a bi-monthly resource devoted to practical help for the entire worship team. Each issue is aimed at helping those who play a part in the worship of their local church - including worship leaders, musicians, songwriters, tech teams - and the pastors overseeing this aspect of congregational life. You'll find timely equipment reviews, worship record reviews, profiles of well- known worship artists/songwriters as well as informative discussion of topics which relate to the worshipping community?both local and global. For more information about Worship Musician Magazine, visit worshipmusicianmag.com.
About D'Addario & Company, Inc:
D'Addario & Company, Inc. is the world's largest manufacturer of musical instrument accessories marketed under seven proprietary brands: D'Addario strings; Evans drumheads; ProMark drumsticks; PureSound; Rico reeds; and Planet Waves cables and accessories. A family-owned and operated business with more than 1,100 employees worldwide, the company manufactures 93% of its products in the U.S. employing Toyota's Lean manufacturing principles. D'Addario has a distribution network in 120 countries and serves more than 3,000 U.S. retailers, all major e-commerce sites, and more than 5,000 endorsing artists. For more information on D'Addario, visit daddario.com.
TAGS: Christian Musician Summit D'Addario one-stop shopping website Christian musicians Bruce Adolph Tacoma? Worship Musician Magazine
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Source: http://www.christiantelegraph.com/issue19766.html
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May 24, 2013 ? In a study that evaluated some of the latest in automatic facial recognition technology, researchers at Michigan State University were able to quickly identify one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects from law enforcement video, an experiment that demonstrated the value of such technology.
In the Pattern Recognition and Image Processing laboratory, Anil Jain, MSU Distinguished Professor of computer science and engineering, and Josh Klontz, a research scientist, tested three different facial-recognition systems.
By using actual law-enforcement video from the bombing, they found that one of the three systems could provide a "rank one" identification -- a match -- of suspect Dzokhar Tsarnaev.
"The other suspect, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the one ultimately killed in the shootout with police, could not be matched at a sufficiently high rank, partly because he was wearing sunglasses," Jain said. "The younger brother could be identified.
"This study was revealing in that facial recognition technology can successfully handle some cases in which facial images extracted from a video were captured under favorable conditions," he said.
Under controlled conditions, when the face is angled toward the camera and if the lighting is good, this technology can be up to 99 percent accurate.
Automatic face recognition can quickly attach a name to a face by searching a large database of face images and finding the closest match. This is what law enforcement agencies typically do for mug shot databases.
It is unknown, Jain said, what automatic facial recognition technologies were used by investigators in Boston. Some algorithms are better suited than others for face recognition in uncontrolled video.
While the technology has made great strides in recent years, it doesn't mean that improvements aren't needed. Also, more police agencies have to put the technology to use.
"If you use an automatic system, it speeds up the process," Jain said. "Sometimes police get bad tips so innocent people are questioned. Such situations can be avoided with a robust and accurate face-recognition system."
Jain and his team are internationally recognized in the field of identification technology. His team has developed methods to match forensic facial sketches with mug shots, as well as technology that allows police to identify criminal suspects by tattoo matching.
Klontz and Jain's technical paper on evaluating automatic facial recognition technology can be viewed here.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/apzIEPfMq6I/130524142549.htm
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It is not the louse we hate. Nor is it the mosquito, shirt tag, wool sweater, chicken pock, or sudden rash that torments us?the itching itself is what drives us mad. But finally, scientists have been able to identify the molecule that signals our brain to start scratching us raw?and removing it kills itchiness forever. But don't we itch for a reason?
The molecular geneticists in question, Santosh Mishra and Mark Hoon of the National Institutes of Health, began by examining the neurotransmitter chemicals in our spinal column that pass along sensory information such as heat, pain, and yes, itchiness. What they noticed was that, when mice were exposed to a variety of itch-inducing triggers, one particular chemical began releasing in excess: natriuretic polypeptide b (Nppb).
The true test came when the pair created genetically engineered mice that couldn't produce the Nppb transmitter. First they tested to see if the super-mice were still able to feel other sensations such as heat and pain, to which they all responded normally. So the removal didn't affect their response to other stimuli. Then, out came the itch-triggers (such as histamine) again. While the normal mice immediately started scratching themselves raw, the engineered mice remained calm and undoubtedly itch free. According to Mishra:
It was amazing to watch. Nothing happened. The mice wouldn?t scratch.
Until the scientists re-injected them with Nppb, that is, at which point all bets were off and their claws went to town.
Next, they were able to identify a specific type of neuron in the mice's spines with receptors called natriuretic peptide receptor A (Npra), which seemed like a likely candidate to accept Nppb. And sure enough, once the Npra was removed from normal mice, they appeared totally impervious to any itching whatsoever. What's more, they were still able to feel other sensations, so lacking this neuron wouldn't affect their sense of pain or touch.
And even though these tests were performed on mice instead of humans, we share incredibly similar nervous systems with our more rodent-oriented friends. So at the very least, this gives us a far greater understanding of our own itch reflex. But it could also very likely lead to solutions for people who produce an excess of Nppb and help make stronger, more effective itch treatments?or perhaps even total cures.
It's not going to be totally smooth sailing, though. Nppb is significant not just for the sensory nuisance it causes but also for its ability to help regulate blood circulation and pressure. Which means shutting it off entirely might present a bit of a problem. In general, there's still a lot that we don't understand about itching and its evolutionary benefits, but our potential newfound ability to turn it on and off is certainly an incredible first step. [Science via Smithsonian Mag]
Image: Shutterstock/Anton Gvozdikov
Source: http://gizmodo.com/scientists-found-the-itch-molecule-and-they-know-how-to-509584178
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By Guy Faulconbridge and Michael Holden
LONDON (Reuters) - Police investigating the murder of a soldier hacked to death on a busy London street were looking on Friday into whether the two suspected killers, British men of Nigerian descent, were part of a wider conspiracy.
The two suspects, aged 22 and 28, are under guard in hospitals after being shot and arrested by police following the murder of 25-year-old Afghan war veteran Lee Rigby on Wednesday in broad daylight. They have not yet been charged.
Detectives were also questioning another man and a woman, arrested on Thursday on suspicion of conspiracy to murder, as they tried to determine whether those responsible had links to militants in Britain or overseas.
"This is a large, complex and fast-moving investigation which continues to develop," police said in a statement.
"Many lines of inquiry are being followed by detectives, and the investigation is progressing well."
One of the assailants, filmed justifying the killing as he stood near the body holding a knife and meat cleaver in bloodied hands, was named by acquaintances as 28-year-old Londoner Michael Adebolajo, a British-born convert to Islam.
Little is known so far about the other man.
The murder, just a month after the Boston Marathon bombing and the first Islamist killing in Britain since local suicide bombers killed 52 people in London in 2005, revived fears of "lone wolves" who may have had no direct contact with al Qaeda.
Police chiefs said they would have 1,200 extra officers on the streets in London overnight and at key locations such as religious venues and transport hubs.
"It will be assessed on a rolling basis depending on the picture. I'm sure there will be heightened numbers for a little while to come," a spokesman said.
A source close to the investigation told Reuters the attackers were known to Britain's MI5 internal security service, raising questions about whether it could have been prevented. Adebolajo had handed out radical Islamist pamphlets, but neither was considered a serious threat, a government source said.
Another source close to the inquiry said the local backgrounds of the suspects in a multicultural metropolis - nearly 40 percent of Londoners were born abroad - and the simplicity of the attack made prevention difficult.
"Apart from being horribly barbaric, this was relatively straightforward to carry out," the source said. "This was quite low-tech, and that is frankly pretty challenging."
Anjem Choudary, one of Britain's most recognized Islamist leaders, told Reuters Adebolajo was known to fellow Muslims as Mujahid - a name meaning 'fighter': "He used to attend a few demonstrations and activities that we used to have in the past."
He added that he had not seen him for about two years: "He was peaceful, unassuming, and I don't think there's any reason to think he would do anything violent."
POLICE LOOKING FOR LINKS
The two men used a car to run down Drummer Rigby outside Woolwich Barracks in southeast London and then attacked him with a meat cleaver and knives, witnesses said.
Police officers speak with the driver of a car displaying a banner reading, "We R British! Stand Together Stand Strong", outside an army barracks near the scene of a killing in Woolwich, southeast ... more? Police officers speak with the driver of a car displaying a banner reading, "We R British! Stand Together Stand Strong", outside an army barracks near the scene of a killing in Woolwich, southeast London May 23, 2013. British authorities believe that two men accused of hacking a soldier to death on a London street in revenge for wars in Muslim countries are British of Nigerian descent, a source close to the investigation said Thursday. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor (BRITAIN - Tags: CRIME LAW MILITARY POLITICS) less? The pair told shocked bystanders they acted in revenge for British wars in Muslim countries."We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you. The only reason we have done this is because Muslims are dying every day," Adebolajo was filmed saying by an onlooker. "This British soldier is an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."
Rigby, who had a two-year-old son, was not in uniform. The bandsman was working locally as an army recruiter.
"All he wanted to do from when he was a little boy was to be in the army," his family said in a statement. "He wanted to live life and enjoy himself."
In Nigeria, with a mixed Christian-Muslim population and where the authorities are battling an Islamist insurgency, a government source said there was no evidence the Woolwich suspects were linked to groups in west Africa.
British investigators are looking at information that at least one of the suspects may have had an interest in joining Somalia-based Islamist rebel group al Shabaab, which is allied to al Qaeda, a source with knowledge of the matter said.
Al Shabaab linked the attack to the Boston bombing and last year's gun attacks in the southern French city of Toulouse.
"Toulouse, Boston, Woolwich ... Where next? You just have to grin and bear it, it's inevitable. A case of the chickens coming home to roost!" the rebels said on Twitter.
Peter Clarke, who led the investigation into the 2005 bombings, popularly known as 7/7, said that if the Woolwich attackers did turn out to be acting alone, it showed the difficulty the security services faced in trying to stop them.
"An attack like this doesn't need sophisticated fund raising and sophisticated communications or planning," he told Reuters. "It can be organized and then actually delivered in a moment."
(Editing by Will Waterman)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/british-soldier-hacked-death-suspected-islamist-attack-060253278.html
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