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In this Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013 photo, Zulifqar al-Qureshi, a physical laborer from Pakistan, celebrates after his team won the first place in Champ of the Camp, season seven of a singing contest for laborers, dubbed “Dubai Idol" at the Sonapur Labor camp in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. A rare break from the laborers' routine comes in the form of Champ of the Camp, which combines quiz show speed, "American Idol'' showmanship and movie trivia knowledge into a traveling roadshow that visits different camps each week around Dubai. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

Asian laborers enjoy dancing during the final night of the Champ of the Camp, season seven of a singing contest for laborers, dubbed “Dubai Idol" at the Sonapur Labor camp in Dubai, United Arab Emirates Thursday. A rare break from the laborers' routine comes in the form of Champ of the Camp, which combines quiz show speed, "American Idol'' showmanship and movie trivia knowledge into a traveling roadshow that visits different camps each week around Dubai. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

In this Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013 photo, Asian laborers enjoy the final night of the Champ of the Camp, season seven of a singing contest for laborers, dubbed “Dubai Idol" at the Sonapur Labor camp in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. A rare break from the laborers' routine comes in the form of Champ of the Camp, which combines quiz show speed, "American Idol'' showmanship and movie trivia knowledge into a traveling roadshow that visits different camps each week around Dubai. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

In this Thursday, Oct. 10, photo, an Indian laborer with a presenter during the final night of the Champ of the Camp, season seven of a singing contest for laborers, dubbed “Dubai Idol" at the Sonapur Labor camp in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. A rare break from the laborers' routine comes in the form of Champ of the Camp, which combines quiz show speed, "American Idol'' showmanship and movie trivia knowledge into a traveling roadshow that visits different camps each week around Dubai. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

In this Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013 photo, Asian laborers enjoy watching the final night of the Champ of the Camp, season seven of a singing contest for laborers, dubbed “Dubai Idol" at the Sonapur Labor camp in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. A rare break from the laborers' routine comes in the form of Champ of the Camp, which combines quiz show speed, "American Idol'' showmanship and movie trivia knowledge into a traveling roadshow that visits different camps each week around Dubai. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A classic Bollywood hit blasted across the DM Labor Camp from loudspeakers cranked to gut-rattling levels. One of the contestants, who had changed out of his work overalls a few hours earlier, shimmied on the stage set up in the courtyard.

Everyone in the crowd of South Asian workers roared — the ones pressing up against the stage, others on the rooftops, and the guys piled on bunk beds watching the show through the windows of their tiny rooms. The spires of the Dubai skyline, where many of them work, shimmered on the horizon.

It's one of the biggest nights of the year for Dubai's workers: the finals of the annual labor camp song contest.

It won't show up in Dubai's tourist brochures or be chatted about in the boutique cafes of its high-end malls. This the parallel universe of the mostly South Asian migrant laborers who built the city-state but are consigned to a separated existence, ferried between their work sites and the camps where they live — teeming housing projects, tucked into industrial parks or on the desert outskirts.

"Welcome to Champ of the Camp!" cried local entertainer Shabana Chandramohan at Thursday night's extravaganza, in which 30 hopefuls warbled, crooned and belted out big Bollywood numbers for a share of 7,500 dirhams, or about $2,050, in prize money — a staggering sum for workers whose monthly salaries average about $300 a month.

Overall conditions for millions of laborers in the United Arab Emirates and across the other Gulf states have improved in recent years after pressure from international rights groups. Additional scrutiny is now coming from activists monitoring the construction of venues for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar's capital Doha.

But the unskilled workers drawn to the Gulf for steady pay also give up something in exchange.

Their lives are often highly regulated by the companies that brought them to the Gulf. The workers generally occupy a narrow world bounded by work sites and the camps, which are mostly three- or four-story housing blocks resembling collections of rundown motels where workers can be packed up to 12 in a room.

A rare break from the routine comes in the form of Champ of the Camp. The contest combines quiz show speed, "American Idol" showmanship and movie trivia knowledge into a traveling roadshow that tours the dozens of camps around Dubai week by week for the workers to compete.

The contestants, in teams representing different camps, must first answer a question from the emcee to identify a Bollywood film and tune. Then they perform it to a karaoke soundtrack for the judges. The workers from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and other countries may not share the same language but are united in their love of Bollywood.

It's always a packed house.

On Thursday, thousands of spectators watched the finalists from more than 3,000 contestants who took part in auditions in July and August.

The acoustics are rough. The heat can be stifling. The atmosphere can be somewhat chaotic as the audience divides its attention between the performers and the free goodies offered by sponsors that include an herbal drink company and Western Union, which competes with other exchange houses for the business of Gulf workers sending money home.

"The idea was to bring some entertainment to the lives of these residents and into the lives of these labor residents," said Rupa Vinod, one of the contest organizers who also doubles as a judge. "This is a needed escape."

The winner, 26-year-old security guard Dhruy Bakshi from Punjab, India, said he tried practicing his vocals in his room after work. But his dead-tired companions objected. So he'd sing while walking through his camp in evenings, even when exhausted.

"After working for 12 hours, six days a week, you can't have time for activities like singing because at the end of the week we just get time to sleep," he said. "And we can say this is kind of like our hobby, our habit of singing. We usually practice daily while on the job or while everywhere."

The competitions began in 2007, launched by the corporate sponsors along with various construction companies and other. Only 30 contestants took part in the first competition. Now, it's a centerpiece event among Dubai's migrant workers.

"This is a fun time," said finalist Ishan Sharma, a 21-year-old machine operator from Punjab, India. "This is different from your job."

Sharma made it through the quarterfinals in early September, but failed to claim the trophy and bask in a shower of gold confetti.

"It doesn't really matter," he said last month. "I was up there. That was me. That is what counts."

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-10-11-ML-Dubai-Champ-of-the-Camp/id-581410f4ce4e4b199b33e4df7cc54a93
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finnatkins

"There's always a way, there's always a door. You just have to find it." -- Leanne Huebner, co-founder of Minds Matter

The University of Pennsylvania has always been, in my opinion, the best fit for me. From the time I began doing college research, I knew I wanted to attend a school that not only had amazing academics, but also a focus on service. The Penn campus is located in West Philadelphia, where a minority community surrounds the beautiful 302-acre campus. If I were to go there, I would have a lot of opportunities to take part in community-enrichment programs. To my disappointment, Penn wait-listed me.

Now, some of you might see getting wait-listed as a sign of failure, a symbol of being "not good enough" for an institution I worked so hard to get into. But I am someone who goes for the things I want despite the odds that may be against me -- so I see my wait-list status as just another opportunity to express my deepest interest in the school I really want to go to. It's another chance to convince them that I will be a great addition to the student body, and that they would be taking more of a risk by not accepting me, because of the diversity I will bring to campus and the things I will achieve in the future. I know very few students are admitted off the wait-list each year, but I believe that if you are genuinely drawn to a particular school, you should do everything you can to get in. I mean, if I truly was not meant to go to Penn, they would have just sent me a rejection letter, right?

I decided to write a formal letter of appeal -- something that many wait-listed applicants do -- to the Penn admissions office to give myself one more shot at a goal I've been aiming at for years. I don't know why my initial application wasn't appealing enough to get me placed in the automatic "yes" pile. Did my desire to go to Penn not come across as strongly as I thought it did? Was I not specific enough? Well, this letter is my second -- and last -- chance to sincerely demonstrate the passion that I possibly didn't express well enough the first time. I also used it to tell the admissions committee about things that had happened since I'd submitted my application, like the fact that I got an internship with the National Institutes of Health in Baltimore, where I'll be conducting research on kidney disease. Penn's overall admission rate may be significantly low, but my hopes and dreams are astonishingly high. Now all I can do is hope that they reconsider me for a coveted seat in the class of 2017

All of this being said and done, I strongly believe that everything happens for a reason. If after sending my appeal, I still don't get the results I want, then I'll know for sure that Penn is not meant to be. Luckily, I am completely happy with my "backup" school: Berkeley. Besides being the top-ranked public university in the country, Berkeley, like Penn, offers many opportunities for service and for, well, anything you can think of! There are more than 2,000 clubs and organizations, and so much cultural diversity, not just within the student body, but also in the city itself. I like the idea of always being able to get involved.

I used to think my ability to be successful would be dictated by the university I attended, even with so many people telling me, over and over, "You'll be successful wherever you go." I'm finally starting to see that what they've been saying is true. Ultimately, it is up to me as a student to make the most of my education no matter where I go. I know I can maximize my potential and experience by taking advantage of all the opportunities and resources that are available to me. And though not every door I open will have something of value behind it or lead me where I want to go, it's still important that I check them all out!

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/toshe-ayoariyo/getting-wait-listed-college_b_3122508.html

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MAKHACHKALA, Russia (AP) ? The parents of Tamerlan Tsarnaev insisted Sunday that he came to Dagestan and Chechnya last year to visit relatives and had nothing to do with the militants operating in the volatile part of Russia, with his father saying he slept a lot of the time. But the Boston bombing suspect couldn't have been immune to the attacks that savaged the region during his six-month stay.

Investigators are now focusing on the trip that Tsarnaev made to Russia in January 2012 that has raised many questions. His father said his son stayed with him in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, where the family lived briefly before moving to the U.S. a decade ago. The father had only recently returned.

"He was here, with me in Makhachkala," Anzor Tsarnaev told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "He slept until 3 p.m., and you know, I would ask him: 'Have you come here to sleep?' He used to go visiting, here and there. He would go to eat somewhere. Then he would come back and go to bed."

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, and his 19-year-old brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev ? both ethnic Chechens ? are accused of setting off the two bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15 that killed three people and wounded more than 180 others. Three days later, Tamerlan died in a shootout with police, while his brother was later captured alive but wounded.

No evidence has emerged since to link Tamerlan Tsarnaev to militant groups in Russia's Caucasus. On Sunday, the Caucasus Emirate, which Russia and the U.S. consider a terrorist organization, denied involvement in the Boston attack.

A woman who works in a small shop opposite Tsarnaev's apartment building said she only saw his son during the course of one month last summer. She described him as a dandy.

"He dressed in a very refined way," Madina Abdullaeva said. "His boots were the same color as his clothes. They were summer boots, light, with little holes punched in the leather."

Anzor Tsarnaev said they also traveled to neighboring Chechnya.

"He went with me twice, to see my uncles and aunts. I have lots of them," the father said.

He said they also visited one of his daughters, who lives in the Chechen town of Urus-Martan with her husband. His son-in-law's brothers all work in the police force under Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, he said.

Moscow has given Kadyrov a free hand to stabilize Chechnya following two wars between federal troops and Chechen separatists beginning in 1994, and his feared police and security forces have been accused of rampant rights abuses.

What began in Chechnya as a fight for independence has morphed into an Islamic insurgency that has spread throughout Russia's Caucasus, with the worst of the violence now in Dagestan.

In February, 2012, shortly after Tamerlan Tsarnaev's arrival in Dagestan, a four-day operation to wipe out several militant bands in Chechnya and Dagestan left 17 police and at least 20 militants dead. In May, two car bombs shook Makhachkala, killing at least 13 people and wounding about 130 more. Other bombings and shootings targeting police and other officials took place nearly daily.

The Caucasus Emirate said Sunday that its mujahedin are not fighting with the U.S.

"We are at war with Russia, which is not only responsible for the occupation of the Caucasus, but also for heinous crimes against Muslims," it said in a statement on the Kavkaz Center website.

The group suggested that Russia's secret services would have had a greater interest in carrying out the attack in Boston.

Despite the violence in Dagestan, Anzor Tsarnaev said Sunday that his son did not want to leave and had thoughts on how he could go into business. But the father said he encouraged him to go back to the U.S. and try to get citizenship. Tamerlan Tsarnaev returned to the U.S. in July.

His mother said that he was questioned upon arrival at New York's airport.

"And he told me on the phone, 'imagine, mama, they were asking me such interesting questions as if I were some strange and scary man: Where did you go? What did you do there?'" Zubeidat Tsarnaeva recalled her son telling her at the time.

When the two ethnic Chechen suspects were identified, the FBI said it reviewed its records and found that in early 2011, a foreign government ? which law enforcement officials confirmed was Russia ? had asked for information about Tamerlan Tsarnaev. The FBI said it was told that Tsarnaev was a "follower of radical Islam" and was preparing to travel to this foreign country to join unspecified underground groups.

The FBI said that it responded by interviewing Tsarnaev and family members, but found no terrorism activity.

Both parents insist that the FBI continued to monitor Tamerlan Tsarnaev and that both of their sons were set up.

Their mother went so far on Sunday to claim that the FBI had contacted her elder son after the deadly bombs exploded at the marathon. If true, it would be the first indication that the FBI considered him a suspect before Boston descended into violence on Thursday.

The FBI declined to comment publicly Sunday.

The mother's claim could not be independently confirmed, and she has made statements in the past that appeared to show a lack of full understanding of what occurred in Boston.

Investigators released photos and video of the two Tsarnaev brothers on Thursday afternoon, but at that point their identities were not known. By late that night, Tamerlan Tsarnaev was dead.

Tsarnaeva said her elder son told her by telephone that the FBI had called to inform him that they considered him a suspect and he should come in for questioning.

She said her son refused. "I told them, what do you suspect me of?" Tsarnaeva quoted her son as saying. "This is your problem and if you need me you should come to where I am."

He then told her he was going to drive his younger brother to the university, she said, speaking by telephone from Chechnya. Tsarnaeva claimed that her son later called his wife to tell her they were being chased and fired upon.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/parents-boston-suspect-describe-russia-trip-205525143.html

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CLARKSVILLE, Mo. (AP) ? An all-too-familiar springtime ritual is playing out around the nation's heartland this weekend as volunteers, National Guardsmen and even prison inmates join together in an effort to ward off fast-rising floodwaters.

Dire flooding situations dotted at least six Midwestern states following torrential rains this past week that dumped up to 7 inches in some locations. Record flooding was possible in some places as dozens of rivers overflowed their banks.

The floods and flash floods have forced hundreds of evacuations, closed countless roads, swamped farmland, shut down barge traffic on much of the upper Mississippi River and closed two Mississippi River bridges.

Several Mississippi River towns north of St. Louis were expected to see crests on Sunday, including hard-hit Clarksville, Mo.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/crests-approaching-several-towns-midwest-070600592.html

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finnatkins · Apr. 21, 2013

Apr. 21, 2013 ? Snot. It's not something most of us spend a lot of time thinking about, but, for a team of researchers in Washington, D.C., it's front and center.

Robert I. Henkin, founder of the Taste and Smell Clinic in is charmingly self-deprecating. He says with a chuckle that he's often called a "spit and snot doctor," but he knows all too well that for his patients -- those who no longer can appreciate the fragrance of fresh-cut grass or the intricacies of an herb-infused sauce -- such loss is no laughing matter.

"You might think: 'Oh well, you can still hear. You can still see.' But it's amazingly important to be able to taste and smell," Henkin says. "When you say 'hello' in (some parts of China), you don't say 'hello' -- you say 'Have you eaten yet?' In other words, the social aspects of being able to eat and enjoy that are critical, and to lose that -- you lose a significant part of life."

Henkin, who at the National Institutes of Health established the first clinical program to study taste and smell dysfunction, has spent the better part of his professional life trying to get the lay of the land when it comes to the fluids that contribute to those two senses. He and his team over the years have conducted countless experiments to figure out what makes up nasal mucus and saliva and how those components affect taste and smell.

"The thing to recognize is there are 21 million people in the United States who have some abnormality of smell function. That's an amazing number," says Henkin.

On Sunday, April 21, Henkin will present new research results at the Experimental Biology 2013 conference with the hope that attendees there also will take the mission seriously, build upon his findings and come up with new therapies for patients like his.

Henkin's newest work describes the concentrations of cytokines, molecules involved in cell signaling, in nasal mucus. He'll present his findings at the annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, which is being held in conjunction with the Experimental Biology 2013 conference.

"In a rather na?ve way, we went ahead and looked at these cytokines in nasal mucus because nobody's ever done it before," Henkin explains. This kind of strategy is par for the course for Henkin, who also was the first to report which proteins are present in saliva in 1978 and which proteins are present in nasal mucus in 2000. He emphasizes that "you can't understand the (disease) mechanisms unless you understand what's there."

"This whole role of nasal mucus -- what's there, how it works -- is something that (researchers) haven't really considered," he says. "It takes a dumb guy like me to go ahead and say 'OK, let's figure out what's there, and then we can see what we're going to do about it. It's a different approach."

What's so different about it? Henkin says most of his patients come to him as a last resort, because their primary physicians and even specialists can't offer any lasting solutions.

"The people who are interested in (smell loss) are primarily otolaryngologists, and they're trained as surgeons ? They're not trained to think about this" on the molecular level, Henkin says. "So they look at the nose, and if there's a polyp they'll take it out and say, 'Aha, there's the answer. We'll make the nasal cavity cleaner.' Well, these (molecular) structures in the nose that cause these problems are manifestations of some underlying disease process, which they've been trying to figure out for a while but haven't really succeeded."

Henkin's group has succeeded in restoring smell loss in many patients -- and sometimes by seemingly unconventional means. A few years back, they tested out a drug long used in asthmatics, theophylline, and they found that oral use could induce higher levels of a protein called cAMP in nasal mucus, which improved some patients' ability to smell. The team later found that administering a smaller dose intranasally produced a more profound effect.

Henkin says examples like that underscore the importance of understanding the molecular makeup of nasal mucus and the interactions within, rather than immediately turning to surgery or, another common practice, giving patients steroids.

"Because they've used these (steroids) to inhibit polyp formation in the nose, what happens is that in some people the smell comes back for a limited period of time. It may come back for a day or a week. And then when the drug wears off, they can't smell again," Henkin says. "We now understand a little bit about how that works -- how it affects those cytokines and other substances."

Cytokines are molecules that deliver information and induce some kind of response -- usually during immunological and inflammatory processes. Henkin's team found that in nasal mucus of patients with smell loss the concentration of anti-inflammatory cytokines was much higher than the concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines . This balance is important, he says, because the cytokine interleukin-6, which is pro-inflammatory, was particularly abundant.

"We'd looked at the literature and recognized that IL-6 is obviously elevated in a number of inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis. As a matter of fact, with rheumatoid arthritis you commonly have smell loss," Henkin says. "We're trying to make these connections, you see, and understand the relationships in these underlying interactions -- to give people some idea (about) homeostasis in the nasal cavity, how it's occurring, what's in nasal mucus and how each of these substances plays a specific role in smell function."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), 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: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/5N55NUeUWDw/130421151622.htm

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finnatkins · Apr. 19, 2013

Apr. 19, 2013 ? ?Young athletes who specialize in one sport and train intensively have a significantly higher risk of stress fractures and other severe overuse injuries, even when compared with other injured athletes, according to the largest clinical study of its kind.

For example, young athletes who spent more hours per week than their age playing one sport ? such as a 12-year-old who plays tennis 13 or more hours a week ? were 70 percent more likely to experience serious overuse injuries than other injuries.

Loyola University Medical Center sports medicine physician Dr. Neeru Jayanthi presented findings during an oral podium research session April 19 at the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM) meeting in San Diego. The study is titled ?Risks of Specialized Training and Growth in Young Athletes: A Prospective Clinical Cohort Study.?

"We should be cautious about intense specialization in one sport before and during adolescence,? Jayanthi said. ?Among the recommendations we can make, based on our findings, is that young athletes should not spend more hours per week in organized sports than their ages.?

Between 2010 and 20103, Jayanthi and colleagues at Loyola and Lurie Children?s Hospital of Chicago enrolled 1,206 athletes ages 8 to 18 between who had come in for sports physicals or treatment for injuries. Researchers are following each athlete for up to three years.

There were 859 total injuries, including 564 overuse injuries, in cases in which the clinical diagnosis was recorded. The overuse injuries included 139 serious injuries such as stress fractures in the back or limbs, elbow ligament injuries and osteochondral injuries (injuries to cartilage and underlying bone). Such serious injuries can force young athletes to the sidelines for one to six months or longer.

The study confirmed preliminary findings, reported earlier, that specializing in a single sport increases the risk of overall injury, even when controlling for an athlete?s age and hours per week of sports activity.

Among the study?s other findings:

? Young athletes were more likely to be injured if they spent more than twice as much time playing organized sports as they spent in unorganized free play -- for example, playing 11 hours of organized soccer each week, and only 5 hours of free play such as pick-up games.

? Athletes who suffered serious injuries spent an average of 21 hours per week in total physical activity (organized sports, gym and unorganized free play), including 13 hours in organized sports. By comparison, athletes who were not injured, participated in less activity ? 17.6 hours per week in total physical activity, including only 9.4 hours in organized sports.

? Injured athletes scored 3.3 on researchers? six-point sports-specialization scale. Uninjured athletes scored 2.7 on the specialization scale. (On the sports specialization scale, an athlete is given one point for each of the following: Trains more than 75 percent of the time in one sport; trains to improve skill or misses time with friends; has quit other sports to focus on one sport; considers one sport more important than other sports; regularly travels out of state; trains more than eight months a year or competes more than six months per year.

Jayanthi offers the following tips to reduce the risk of injuries in young adults:

? Do not spend more hours per week than your age playing sports. (Younger children are developmentally immature and may be less able to tolerate physical stress.)

? Do not spend more than twice as much time playing organized sports as you spend in gym and unorganized play.

? Do not specialize in one sport before late adolescence.

? Do not play sports competitively year round. Take a break from competition for one-to-three months each year (not necessarily consecutively).

? Take at least one day off per week from training in sports.

Jayanthi and colleagues at Loyola and Lurie Children?s Hospital are planning a follow-up study to determine whether counseling recommendations on proper sports training can reduce the risk of overuse injuries in young athletes. The study is called TRACK ? Training, Risk Assessment and Counseling in Kids.

?We will be testing our hypothesis that many of these serious injuries are potentially preventable,? Jayanthi said.

The current study was funded by two research grants from the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine. Jayanthi is a member of an AMSSM committee that is writing guidelines on preventing and treating overuse injuries in young athletes.

Jayanthi is Medical Director of Primary Care Sports Medicine at Loyola. He is an associate professor in the Departments of Family Medicine and Orthopaedic Surgery & Rehabilitation at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

Co-authors of the study Lara Dugas, PhD, of Loyola?s Department of Public Health Sciences and Cynthia LaBella, MD, and Brittany Patrick of Lurie Children?s hospital. Loyola medical students and research assistants who assisted in the study are Dan Fisher, Courtney Pinkham, Erin Feller and Peter Linn.

The study was originally supported by Stritch School of Medicine's Student Training in Approaches to Research (STAR) program.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Loyola University Health System, 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: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/ymU5JZksrZM/130419132508.htm

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Reality TV star talks about Billboard Bytch and her future in rap.
By Rob Markman

Lore'l
Photo: MTV News

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1706004/love-and-hip-hop-lorel-billboard-bytch.jhtml

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By Richard Valdmanis

DAKAR (Reuters) - A U.S. drugs sting targeting Guinea-Bissau's top military brass may freeze cocaine smuggling through the tiny West African state in the short term but could jeopardize efforts to restore order after a 2012 coup.

The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday accused Armed Forces Chief General Antonio Indjai of plotting to traffic cocaine to the United States and sell weapons to Colombia's FARC rebels, after a months-long undercover operation that has also ensnared a former navy chief.

But Indjai - widely seen as the country's most powerful man - remains in Bissau after evading the sting and the big question is how he will react to becoming a target for American law enforcement agents.

Guinea-Bissau's caretaker government is due next month to publish a road map to elections that African and Western diplomats hope will close the book on decades of political turmoil since independence from Portugal in 1974.

"The arrests could make some of the military and political leaders very nervous and less willing to carry on with a transition that might result in their demise," said Vincent Foucher, a researcher at International Crisis Group.

"Or it could do the exact reverse and increase the leverage of those in the international community that act as the good cops," Foucher said, referring to some diplomats who have shown an interest in engaging with the existing leadership.

Repeated coups, political assassinations and a civil war in the nation nestled below Senegal on Africa's Atlantic coast, have weakened its law enforcement and paved the way for Colombian cartels to use it as a transhipment hub for tons of narcotics destined for Europe and the United States.

The country entered its latest crisis last April, when the military arrested then Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior and acting President Raimundo Pereira in the midst of an election that Gomes Junior was poised to win.

Indjai, who accused Gomes Junior of plotting to replace Bissau's army leadership, seized control in the wake of the putsch. He ceded power a month later to a transitional government led by a civilian president, Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo, in a deal brokered by West African regional bloc ECOWAS.

Both Gomes Junior and Pereira were forced to leave the country as part of the deal.

DRUGS TRADE

The European Union and the CPLP grouping of Portuguese-speaking nations have since refused to recognize Nhamadjo's administration, saying it remains under the control of military officials involved in the drugs trade.

Nhamadjo's government has denied any drugs links and has said the lack of support for his administration from traditional partners has hindered progress at setting elections.

Nhamadjo is in Germany seeking medical treatment for complications from diabetes. A spokesman said he could return to Guinea-Bissau within days.

Diplomatic sources said the U.S. anti-drugs operation in Bissau has already had a chilling effect on smugglers, who have for years taken advantage of weak law enforcement and a maze of offshore islands to move cocaine.

"Many people in Bissau and around the region are not sleeping very well right now. They know the Americans are watching," Jose Ramos-Horta, the United Nations' special envoy to Bissau, told Reuters.

But he said the country's leaders needed to make progress toward setting elections, preferably by the end of this year, in order to begin the process of recovery.

"The test for Bissau is now. Either it moves forward and puts its past behind it or it slips back into negativity at the expense of the people," he said.

African and Western powers are pressuring Nhamadjo to set an election date this year and to reform the existing caretaker government to be more inclusive - preconditions to any financial or technical support for the polls.

EU SUPPORT

An EU spokesman in Bissau, Piero Valabrega, confirmed the European Union would be prepared to support the elections - with an estimated price tag of $10 million - if those conditions were met, even if Nhamadjo remained president of the transition.

He said the U.S. anti-drugs operation could turn out to be positive if it weakened criminal vested interests.

"Politicians and the military will have less access to revenues from drugs smuggling and may be more likely to move the political process forward," he said.

The U.S. charges against Indjai said he planned to store FARC-owned cocaine in Guinea-Bissau and sell weapons, including surface-to-air missiles, to the organization to protect itself against U.S. military forces. Washington labels FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) a terrorist organization.

U.S. undercover agents snared Guinea-Bissau's former navy chief, Rear Admiral Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto, in the high-seas drugs sting on April 2 - the most high-profile score in the U.S. war on drugs in Africa.

Sources familiar with the operation say Indjai was also targeted but he dodged the planned arrest by refusing to meet the undercover agents in international waters.

Indjai cancelled a news conference scheduled in the capital on Friday and his spokesman has declined comment. He has previously denied links with drugs smuggling. Na Tchuto is in detention awaiting trial in New York, and he too has previously denied any connection to trafficking.

(Editing by Alison Williams)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-drugs-sting-muddies-guinea-bissau-transition-173118595.html

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Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/04/migrant-workers-shot-in-greece-28-wounded-after-demanding-pay/

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Friday Bliss

Rihanna's beautiful eyes Melanie Griffith Caught in Bed with a Lion?[The Frisky] Kevin Jonas Slams Selena Gomez?[HollyWire] Miley Cyrus Wedding Off??[Right Celebrity] Rihanna Canceling Concerts Due to Pregnancy??[The Celebrity Cafe] Don Cheadle Pulls a Jon Hamm?[The Blemish] Heather Locklear Beauty Secret: Semen?[The Huffington Post] Amanda Seyfried Dishes on Her D-Boobs?[Girls Talkin Smack] Kate Upton Working on a Comedic ...

Friday Bliss Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/04/friday-bliss-12/

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Firefighter conduct search and rescue of an apartment destroyed by an explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, Thursday, April 18, 2013. A massive explosion at the West Fertilizer Co. killed as many as 15 people and injured more than 160, officials said overnight. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

A firefighter stands on a rail line and surveys the remains of a fertilizer plant destroyed by an explosion in West, Texas, Thursday, April 18, 2013. A massive explosion at the West Fertilizer Co. killed as many as 15 people and injured more than 160, officials said overnight. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

The remains of a home burn early Thursday morning, April 18, 2013, after a fertilizer plant exploded Wednesday night in West, Texas. The massive explosion killed as many as 15 people and injured more than 160, shaking the ground with the strength of a small earthquake and leveling homes and businesses for blocks in every direction. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Firefighters use flashlights to search a destroyed apartment complex near a fertilizer plant that exploded earlier in West, Texas, in this photo made early Thursday morning, April 18, 2013. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

The front of an apartment complex is destroyed by an explosion at a nearby fertilizer plant in West, Texas, Thursday, April 18, 2013. A massive explosion at the West Fertilizer Co. killed as many as 15 people and injured more than 160, officials said overnight. The explosion that struck around 8 p.m. Wednesday, sent flames shooting into the night sky and rained burning embers and debris down on shocked and frightened residents. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

WEST, Texas (AP) ? Rescuers searched the smoking remnants of a Texas farm town Thursday for survivors of a thunderous fertilizer plant explosion, gingerly checking smashed houses and apartments for anyone still trapped in debris or bodies of the dead. The accident killed as many as 15 people and injured more than 160 others.

Daylight revealed a breathtaking band of destruction extending for a four- or five-block radius around the West Fertilizer Co. in the small community of West, about 20 miles north of Waco. The blast shook the ground with the strength of a small earthquake and leveled homes, apartments, a school and a nursing home. Its dull boom could be heard dozens of miles away.

Waco police Sgt. William Patrick Swanton described ongoing search-and-rescue efforts as "tedious and time-consuming," noting crews had to shore up much of the wreckage before going in.

Searchers "have not gotten to the point of no return where they don't think that there's anybody still alive," Swanton said. He did not know how many people had been rescued.

There was no indication the blast, which sent up a mushroom-shaped plume of smoke and left behind a crater, was anything other than an industrial accident, he said.

The Wednesday night explosion rained burning embers and debris down on terrified residents. Morning exposed a landscape wrapped in acrid smoke and strewn with the shattered remains of buildings, furniture and personal belongings.

Dogs with collars but no owners trotted nervously through deserted streets in cordoned-off neighborhoods around the decimated plant. The entire second floor of a nearby apartment complex was destroyed, leaving bricks and mattresses among the rubble. One rescue crew going from apartment to apartment gave special attention to a room where only a child's red and blue bunk bed remained.

While the community tended to its deep wounds, investigators awaited clearance to enter the blast zone for clues to what set off the plant's huge stockpile of volatile chemicals.

"It's still too hot to get in there," said Franceska Perot, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

The precise death toll was uncertain. Three to five volunteer firefighters were believed to be among the dead, which authorities said could number as many as 15. But that was merely an estimate.

Swanton said he would "never second-guess" firefighters' decision to enter the plant because "we risk our lives every day." The many injuries included broken bones, cuts and bruises, respiratory problems and minor burns. Five people were reported in intensive care.

In the hours after the blast, residents wandered the dark, windy streets searching for shelter. Among them was Julie Zahirniako, who said she and her son, Anthony, had been at a school playground near the plant when the explosion hit.

The explosion threw her son four feet in the air, breaking his ribs. She said she saw people running from the nursing home, and the roof of the school rose into the sky.

"The fire was so high," she said. "It was just as loud as it could be. The ground and everything was shaking."

First-responders evacuated 133 patients from the nursing home, some in wheelchairs. Many were dazed and panicked and did not know what happened.

William Burch and his wife, a retired Air Force nurse, entered the damaged nursing home before first-responders arrived. They searched separate wings and found residents in wheelchairs trapped in their rooms. The halls were dark, and the ceilings had collapsed. Water filled the hallways. Electrical wires hung eerily from the ceilings.

"They had Sheetrock that was on top of them. You had to remove that," Burch said. It was "completely chaotic."

Gov. Rick Perry called the explosion "a truly nightmare scenario for the community" and said he had been in touch with President Barack Obama, who promised his administration's assistance with operations on the ground.

Authorities said the plant made materials similar to those used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

The fertilizer used in that attack, ammonium nitrate, makes big explosions, be they accidental or intentional said Neil Donahue, professor of chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University. It also was used in the first bombing attempt at the World Trade Center in 1993.

Ammonium nitrate is stable, but if its components are heated up sufficiently, they break apart in a runaway explosive chemical reaction, said Neil Donahue, professor of chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University.

"The hotter it is, the faster the reaction will happen," Donahue said. "That really happens almost instantaneously, and that's what gives the tremendous force of the explosion."

About a half-hour before the blast, the town's volunteer firefighters had responded to a call at the plant, Swanton said. They immediately realized the potential for disaster because of the plant's chemical stockpile and began evacuating the surrounding area.

The blast happened 20 minutes later.

Erick Perez was playing basketball at a nearby school when the fire started. He and his friends thought nothing of it at first, but about a half-hour later, the smoke changed color. The blast threw him, his nephew and others to the ground and showered the area with hot embers, shrapnel and debris.

"The explosion was like nothing I've ever seen before," Perez said. "This town is hurt really bad."

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board was deploying a large investigation team to West. An ATF national response team that investigates all large fires and explosions was also expected, bringing fire investigators, certified explosives specialists, chemists, canines and forensic specialists. American Red Cross crews also headed to the scene to help evacuated residents.

There were no immediate details on the number of people who work at the plant, which state environmental regulators last inspected in 2006, said Zak Covar, executive director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. A complaint about a strong ammonia smell triggered that investigation, which the company resolved by obtaining a new permit.

Covar said no other complaints are on file since then, so there haven't been additional inspections.

"Given the size of the facility and the authorized emissions from the plant, generally those are inspected based on complaints," Covar said.

The Chemical Safety Board has not investigated a fertilizer plant explosion before, but Managing Director Daniel Horowitz said "fertilizers have been involved in some of the most severe accidents of the past century."

He noted the 2001 explosion at a chemical and fertilizer plant that killed 31 people and injured more than 2,000 in Toulouse, France. The blast in a hangar containing 300 tons of ammonium nitrate came 10 days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, raising fears at the time that the two could be linked. A 2006 report blamed the blast on negligence.

Horowitz also mentioned a disaster in Texas City in 1947, when a fire in a cargo ship holding more than 2,000 tons of ammonium nitrate caught fire and exploded, killing more than 500 people.

___

Associated Press writers Michael Brick, Will Weissert and Angela K. Brown and video journalist Raquel Maria Dillon in West; writers Jamie Stengle in Dallas, Ramit Plushnick-Masti in Houston and Seth Borenstein in Washington contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-04-18-Plant%20Explosion-Texas/id-46eda51bac9248cfb923fd210a11196b

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finnatkins

So it seems I am a monthly blogger. Oh well. March was a great month! We celebrated with wedding showers, baby showers, milestones, vacations and some fun days at home.?

I got together with some sweet college friends to host a shower for our dear friend, Courtney in Birmingham. She got married this past weekend, so I'll have to blog on it soon. I loved being able to see these precious friends and celebrate one of my closest friends!

The following day, some of my best friends hosting a sip n see for Clarke. It was so thoughtful of them to do this for me because I couldn't have a shower before he was born due to bed rest. A few friends brought their babies and I loved every second of the afternoon! A big thank you ?to all of my precious friends who planned and came to the shower!

A few posed 12 week pictures :)

We made a trip to Aliceville and spent some quality time with Sugar and my parents.

I spent my first night away from Clarke to celebrate Courtney at her bachelorette weekend. Chris kept Clarke at home and they did great. I had a fun time with my girlfriends and Chris sent me lots of pictures like the one below so I would know what was going on at the home-front!

Chris's work held a conference in Destin in the middle of March, so we decided it would be a fun little family vacation. Chris had to work a lot so I asked my mom to go with us. We had a fun time although we didn't even make it out onto the beach with Clarke. This was the extent of his sun exposure :)?

My mom babysat one night and we enjoyed a delicious dinner out at Baytowne! Thank you Nina for going with us and for babysitting!

When we got back, Clarke experienced his first sickness with an eye infection and an awfully snotty nose, but sweet thing accomplished a big milestone. He rolled from back to belly and I caught it on camera! (I did move him away from the bumper after he completed his roll...) A baby being sick is the worst thing, so I am so thankful he is feeling much better now!!

He's absolutely loving his little play toy seen below and is smiling now all the time. He really likes to hold stuff in his hands or either has his hands in his mouth. We've found a paci he likes and he usually falls asleep with it. Clarke is big enough now to be in his swing without his elephant head pillow. He eats 5x a day (nurses when I'm with him) and eats about 5-5 1/2 ounces when he takes a bottle. He is a growing boy and fits into his 3 month clothes well.

We got to see Momo and Popo (Chris's parents) during Easter weekend which was so nice! They kept him one day while I was at work. It was fun to get Clarke an Easter basket although he of course didn't know what it was and went to Aliceville to see my family on Easter Sunday.

I am so thankful for a Risen Savior! I've been singing the hymn "Because He Lives" to Clarke a lot lately and he seems to like it :)?

Source: http://newlynewlin.blogspot.com/2013/04/march.html

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Amazon has big plans for its incredibly successful (we guess?) Appstore on Android, which include expansion to "nearly 200 countries," -- after rolling out in Europe and Japan -- but it's asking for developers to get on board first. So that its store shelves aren't empty when they open up in places like Brazil, Canada and Papua New Guinea, it's securing app submissions and making sure devs opt-in to international distribution. Peter Sleeman, Director of P2 Games, is quoted in the press release claiming his company saw 4-5x sales of a recent app on Kindle Fire compared to Google Play. That feat is echoed by several others quoted, citing Amazon's in-app purchasing system and features like GameCircle. There's no word whether this global rollout will be followed by wider distribution of its other media services and branded hardware, but given the predictable path it's followed so far that seems like a safe bet.

Filed under: Mobile, Amazon

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Source: Amazon

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/17/amazons-appstore-prepares-to-expand-international-availability/

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BOSTON (AP) ? Two bombs exploded in the crowded streets near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday, killing at least three people and injuring more than 140 in a bloody scene of shattered glass and severed limbs that raised alarms that terrorists might have struck again in the U.S.

A White House official speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation was still unfolding said the attack was being treated as an act of terrorism.

President Barack Obama vowed that those responsible will "feel the full weight of justice."

As many as two unexploded bombs were also found near the end of the 26.2-mile course as part of what appeared to be a well-coordinated attack, but they were safely disarmed, according to a senior U.S. intelligence official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because of the continuing investigation.

The fiery twin blasts took place about 10 seconds and about 100 yards apart, knocking spectators and at least one runner off their feet, shattering windows and sending dense plumes of smoke rising over the street and through the fluttering national flags lining the route. Blood stained the pavement, and huge shards were missing from window panes as high as three stories.

"They just started bringing people in with no limbs," said runner Tim Davey of Richmond, Va. He said he and his wife, Lisa, tried to shield their children's eyes from the gruesome scene inside a medical tent that had been set up to care for fatigued runners, but "they saw a lot."

"They just kept filling up with more and more casualties," Lisa Davey said. "Most everybody was conscious. They were very dazed."

As the FBI took charge of the investigation, authorities shed no light on a motive or who may have carried out the bombings, and police said they had no suspects in custody. Officials in Washington said there was no immediate claim of responsibility.

WBZ-TV reported late Monday that law enforcement officers were searching an apartment in the Boston suburb of Revere. Massachusetts State Police confirmed that a search warrant related to the investigation into the explosions was served Monday night in Revere but provided no further details.

Police said three people were killed. An 8-year-old boy was among the dead, according to a person who talked to a friend of the family and spoke on condition of anonymity. The person said the boy's mother and sister were also injured as they waited for his father to finish the race.

Hospitals reported at least 144 people injured, at least 17 of them critically. The victims' injuries included broken bones, shrapnel wounds and ruptured eardrums.

At Massachusetts General Hospital, Alisdair Conn, chief of emergency services, said: "This is something I've never seen in my 25 years here ... this amount of carnage in the civilian population. This is what we expect from war."

Some 23,000 runners took part in the race, one of the world's oldest and most prestigious marathons.

One of Boston's biggest annual events, the race winds up near Copley Square, not far from the landmark Prudential Center and the Boston Public Library. It is held on Patriots Day, which commemorates the first battles of the American Revolution, at Concord and Lexington in 1775.

Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis asked people to stay indoors or go back to their hotel rooms and avoid crowds as bomb squads methodically checked parcels and bags left along the race route. He said investigators didn't know whether the bombs were hidden in mailboxes or trash cans.

He said authorities had received "no specific intelligence that anything was going to happen" at the race.

The Federal Aviation Administration barred low-flying aircraft within 3.5 miles of the site.

"We still don't know who did this or why," Obama said at the White House, adding, "Make no mistake: We will get to the bottom of this."

With scant official information to guide them, members of Congress said there was little or no doubt it was an act of terrorism.

"We just don't know whether it's foreign or domestic," said Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security.

A few miles away from the finish line and around the same time, a fire broke out at the John F. Kennedy Library. The police commissioner said that it may have been caused by an incendiary device but that it was not clear whether it was related to the bombings.

The first explosion occurred on the north side of Boylston Street, just before the finish line, and some people initially thought it was a celebratory cannon blast.

When the second bomb went off, spectators' cheers turned to screams. As sirens blared, emergency workers and National Guardsmen who had been assigned to the race for crowd control began climbing over and tearing down temporary fences to get to the blast site.

The bombings occurred about four hours into the race and two hours after the men's winner crossed the finish line. By that point, more than 17,000 of the athletes had finished the marathon, but thousands more were still running.

The attack may have been timed for maximum carnage: The four-hour mark is typically a crowded time near the finish line because of the slow-but-steady recreational runners completing the race and because of all the friends and relatives clustered around to cheer them on.

Runners in the medical tent for treatment of dehydration or other race-related ills were pushed out to make room for victims of the bombing.

A woman who was a few feet from the second bomb, Brighid Wall, 35, of Duxbury, said that when it exploded, runners and spectators froze, unsure of what to do. Her husband threw their children to the ground, lay on top of them and another man lay on top of them and said, "Don't get up, don't get up."

After a minute or so without another explosion, Wall said, she and her family headed to a Starbucks and out the back door through an alley. Around them, the windows of the bars and restaurants were blown out.

She said she saw six to eight people bleeding profusely, including one man who was kneeling, dazed, with blood trickling down his head. Another person was on the ground covered in blood and not moving.

"My ears are zinging. Their ears are zinging," Wall said. "It was so forceful. It knocked us to the ground."

Competitors and race volunteers were crying as they fled the chaos. Authorities went onto the course to carry away the injured, while race stragglers were rerouted away from the smoking site.

Roupen Bastajian, a state trooper from Smithfield, R.I., had just finished the race when he heard the blasts.

"I started running toward the blast. And there were people all over the floor," he said. "We started grabbing tourniquets and started tying legs. A lot of people amputated. ... At least 25 to 30 people have at least one leg missing, or an ankle missing, or two legs missing."

The race honored the victims of the Newtown, Conn., shooting with a special mile marker in Monday's race.

Boston Athletic Association president Joanne Flaminio previously said there was "special significance" to the fact that the race is 26.2 miles long and 26 people died at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

___

Associated Press writers Jay Lindsay, Steve LeBlanc, Bridget Murphy and Meghan Barr in Boston; Julie Pace, Lara Jakes and Eileen Sullivan in Washington; and Marilynn Marchione in Milwaukee contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/boston-marathon-bombing-kills-3-injures-over-140-022754753--spt.html

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Westar Energy filed late Monday for state permission to increase electric rates for residential customers by about $7.50 a month while cutting rates for medium and large businesses.

Westar is seeking an overall $31.7 million in rate increases to pay for environmental upgrades, primarily at the company?s coal-fired power plants in northern Kansas.

However, the rate hike for residential customers would be about $62 million ? almost twice the overall increase ? to accommodate Westar?s desire to simultaneously cut electric rates for medium- to large businesses, according to an analysis by the Citizens Utility Ratepayer Board.

Westar also is seeking to raise rates for small businesses by $21 million to help offset the cuts for bigger businesses, said CURB, the state agency that represents home and small-business utility consumers.

The CURB analysis said Westar?s plan contains the $46.8 million in rate cuts for businesses. Of that:

??Medium business would see a $18.5 million reduction.

??Large business, a $17.4 million reduction.

??A single unidentified business customer on a special contract, a $9.76 million reduction.

??Schools, a $1.2 million reduction.

The proposal is a follow-up to a rate case last year in which Westar was granted $50 million in increases, $42 million of which is now being paid by residential and small-business customers.

According to Westar estimates, the proposed rate increase and rebalancing together would add about $7.50 a month ? or about a 25 cents a day ? to the power bills of a typical residential customer using 900 kilowatt-hours a month.

The company said in a statement that it proposed the rebalancing of residential and business rates because ?in recent years, rates for larger businesses have risen higher than those in some neighboring states and no longer reflect the cost of providing electricity to these firms. Westar?s proposal takes steps toward correcting this to help Kansas remain competitive.?

Springe, however, said he thinks the motivation for rebalancing rates is ?so that Westar can give business a huge discount. Large business will pay half what residential customers pay for service, out of the exact same generating plants.?

Westar also is seeking additional rate flexibility to work with economic development agencies on projects to attract and expand businesses, and proposing a fund to help low-income customers pay their power bills.

No information was available late Monday on when or how the Kansas Corporation Commission would consider the request.

Reach Dion Lefler at 316-268-6527 or dlefler@wichitaeagle.com.

Source: http://www.kansas.com/2013/04/15/2763322/westar-seeks-rate-increase-for.html

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Law enforcement officials say a second suspicious letter that has been received in Washington was actually directed to the White House, not the Senate.

Two officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the letter was being treated in the same manner as a separate one sent to Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker and was undergoing field tests.

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

The U.S. Secret Service said it intercepted a letter addressed to President Barack Obama that contained a "suspicious substance."

The letter to Wicker, a Republican, was intercepted at a Senate mail facility just outside Washington and has tested positive for ricin. Sen. Claire McCaskill has said authorities have a suspect in mind in that case, though no one has been charged.

Adam Scott, Steve Williams, Angel Cabrera

Adam Scott and his caddie Steve Williams reacts to his putt dropping on the second hole of a playoff to win the Masters golf tournament, Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta. Runner-up Angel Cabrera watches in the background. Scott became the first Australian to win the Masters. (AP Photo/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Curtis Compton) MARIETTA DAILY OUT; GWINNETT DAILY POST OUT; LOCAL TV OUT; WXIA-TV OUT; WGCL-TV OUT

Tiger Woods swings his putter after his bogey on the fifth hole during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Tiger Woods reacts after missing a par putt on the seventh green during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Angel Cabrera, of Argentina, discusses his next shot with his caddie son Angel Cabrera, Jr. on the second hole during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Tiger Woods hits out of the rough from the second fairway during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Tiger Woods reacts after missing a putt on the fourth green during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Bernhard Langer, of Germany, reacts to his hit out of a bunker on the seventh hole during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Tiger Woods stretches before putting on the fourth green during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Tim Clark, of South Africa, reacts after missing a putt on the third hole during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Adam Scott, of Australia, reacts after a birdie on the third green during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Bernhard Langer, of Germany, pumps his fist after a birdie putt on the third hole during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Brandt Snedeker removes his glove after teeing off on the fourth hole during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Adam Scott, of Australia, reacts after a birdie on the third green during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Tiger Woods tees off on the fourth hole during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Marc Leishman, of Australia, hits out of a bunker on the second hole during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Angel Cabrera, of Argentina, grimaces after sinking a birdie putt on the second green during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Brandt Snedeker, right, chats with Angel Cabrera, of Argentina, as they walk down the second fairway during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Angel Cabrera, of Argentina, discusses his next shot with his caddie son Angel Cabrera, Jr. on the second hole during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Jason Day, of Australia, celebrates after chipping in for an eagle on the second hole during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Jim Furyk hits off the second fairway during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Jason Day, of Australia, celebrates after chipping in for an eagle on the second hole during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Tiger Woods, far right, tees off at the third hole during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Tiger Woods' mother Kultida Woods, left, skier Lindsey Vonn and her physical therapist Lindsay Winninger, right, watch Woods during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Tiger Woods' mother Kultida Woods and skier Lindsey Vonn watch Woods during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Tiger Woods looks out from behind a tree before hitting out of the rough off the second fairway during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Tiger Woods walks out of the bushes after hitting out of the rough off the second fairway during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Rickie Fowler hits off the second fairway during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Lee Westwood, of England tees off at the third hole during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Jason Day, of Australia, holds up his ball after chipping in for an eagle on the second hole during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Jason Day, of Australia, celebrates after chipping in for an eagle on the second hole during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Jason Day, of Australia, acknowledges applause after a birdie putt on the first green during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Angel Cabrera, of Argentina, runs out to watch his shot off of the first fairway during the fourth round of the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/14/thomas-vonn-joke-tiger-woods-masters_n_3077965.html

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finnatkins

Friday, October 11, 2013

In Dubai workers' parallel world, a chance to sing

Monday, April 22, 2013

Toshe Ayo-Ariyo: Finding My Way

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Parents of Boston suspect describe his Russia trip

Crests approaching in several towns in Midwest

Sniffing out solutions for millions of Americans with smell loss

Intense, specialized training in young athletes linked to serious overuse injuries

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Lore'l Goes From 'Love & Hip Hop' To Billboard With Mixtape

U.S. drugs sting muddies Guinea-Bissau transition

Migrant Workers Shot in Greece; 28 Wounded After Demanding Pay

Friday Bliss

Friday, April 19, 2013

Rescuers search ruins of Texas fertilizer plant

Newly Newlin: March

Amazon's Appstore prepares for international availability in 'nearly 200 countries'

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Marathon bombing kills 3, injures over 140

Westar seeks rate increase for residential, small-business customers ...

Officials: 2nd letter to Senate tested for ricin

multiple partners & online dating - Polyamory.com Forum

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Google Glass Explorer Editions rolling off the production line, will be delivered in waves

Monday, April 15, 2013

Thomas Vonn Joke: Lindsey's Ex Husband Tweets He Called Masters Over Tiger Woods' Penalty

Adam Scott, Steve Williams, Angel Cabrera