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Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Paula Abdul, Nicole Scherzinger & Steve Jones Out At X-Factor
Whoa, some major shakeups going on over at FOX’s X-Factor. We first heard this evening that judge Nicole Scherzinger and host Steve Jones would not be returning for a second season of X-Factor, and yet another one bites the dust – none other than Paula Abdul. According to “The Hollywood Reporter”, she reportedly was told tonight that her services were no longer needed in Season 2 either. Looks like Simon Cowell and L.A. Reid are the only two remaining. Err, hopefully L.A. doesn’t get the boot too! Let’s be honest here. I’m not surprised by this shake up, are you? Simon Cowell, who created the show, apparently felt the need to do an overhaul, and I couldn’t agree more with his decision to relieve Jones of his duties as the host. He did nothing for the show, and I was thoroughly unimpressed. I wanted to give him a chance, but as the weeks went on, meh, he seemed to get worse. He looked awkward on stage and Ryan Seacrest he is NOT. There are some conflicting reports regarding what happened with Nicole. Some suggest that she wanted out of the judging gig so that she could concentrate on her music, [...]
Water trucked to Texas town where wells ran dry (AP)
AUSTIN, Texas ? A Central Texas village that's become the state's first community to run out of water due to a punishing drought will have water trucked in by the Lower Colorado River Authority, officials said Monday.
Agency spokeswoman Clara Tuma said the region's wells are no longer producing enough water to meet Spicewood Beach's needs. The community located on Lake Travis and about 35 miles west of Austin, has about 500 water connections that serve roughly 1,100 people and an elementary school.
The first tanker was expected to arrive Monday afternoon.
"The reading over the weekend showed the levels were stabilizing, but the amount of gallons per minute we were able to draw from the well was going down," Tuma said. "And so it became clear to us that we needed to begin the trucking operation today."
Spicewood Beach has watched the water level drop since October 2010, when the worst single-year drought in Texas began. Tuma said the authority does not know how long it may have to truck in water, but that a recent storm and conservation efforts had helped slow the decline in the well levels.
"Customers really stepped up to the plate and cut back on water use," Tuma said. "We believe the conservation efforts had a huge impact on extending the life of the well."
The authority placed the community on stage four water restrictions last week that banned all outdoor watering and urged customers to use as little water as possible.
Tuma said the river authority which operates the wells will truck water to Spicewood Beach for as long as necessary, though she did not have an estimate for how much it would cost.
Joe Don Dockery, the Burnet County commissioner responsible for the Spicewood Beach area, said trucks that capable of carrying between 2,000 gallons and 6,000 gallons of already treated water will be used. When the water arrives in Spicewood Beach, it will be treated again and then put into the community's 129,000 gallon holding tank, which has not run completely dry.
The tank holds about four days of water, as long as the community remains under stage four water restrictions.
While other Lake Travis communities have come precariously close to running out of water, this area is unique because their water access is from wells, which take longer to fill even when it rains.
"The hauling of water is just a Band-Aid approach. It's just a short-term approach," Dockery said.
In the long-term, the LCRA will likely drill new wells or get the community set up on an intake system directly from Lake Travis.
While the final cost of the effort remains unclear, Dockery said the LCRA already told community members "they could see some financial impact from this, even from the hauling of the water."
___
Associated Press writer Ramit Plushnick-Masti contributed to this report from Houston.
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Monday, January 30, 2012
Texana Hollis, 101-Year-Old Evicted Detroit Woman, Gets Generous Donations (How You Can Help)
Though a 101-year-old evicted Detroit woman has been taken in by a good Samaritan, she still needs more help to get by.
After the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development deemed Texana Hollis' foreclosed home too unsafe for her to live there, a church member, Pollian Cheeks, invited the Detroit native to stay with her. While Hollis now has a roof over her head, she still needs to replace her belongings that were trashed when she was evicted and to make the home where she's staying wheelchair accessible.
"I don't know what happened," Hollis told UPI.com. "Lord knows, I don?t know what happened."
But some donations have already started pouring in.
A local contracting company offered to install a wheelchair ramp and Cheeks has set up a fund for people to donate to Hollis' cause, the news outlet reported.
"Lord, yes, I had no idea in the world so many people was thinking about little old me," Hollis told The Detroit Free Press. "It's just a blessing, I'm telling you."
Want to help Texana Hollis? Send your donations to P.O. Box 4270, Detroit, Mich., 48204.
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Chip Ganassi Racing leads Rolex 24 at Daytona
The Gainsco Corvette DP (99) leads the Ganassi Racing BMW Riley (02) through a turn during the Grand-Am Rolex 24 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/David Graham)
The Gainsco Corvette DP (99) leads the Ganassi Racing BMW Riley (02) through a turn during the Grand-Am Rolex 24 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/David Graham)
Driver Justin Wilson looks up at a monitor in his pit stall during the Grand-Am Rolex 24 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)
The streak of headlights and taillights are seen through a time exposure during the Grand-Am Rolex 24-hour auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/David Graham)
Michael Vailante drives the Starworks Motorsport Ford Riley to the east horseshoe turn during the Grand-Am Rolex 24 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) ? Chip Ganassi Racing was back out front of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, with the defending race winners clinging to the lead Sunday morning in the twice-around-the-clock endurance race.
Joey Hand put the No. 01 BMW Riley out front when Michael Shank Racing had an extended pit stop with about six hours remaining. IndyCar driver Justin Wilson had opened up a nearly full lap lead over the Ganassi team during a triple driving stint, but MSR appeared to change its brakes when Wilson came in for the driver change.
Hand then moved out front before he was replaced by defending Grand-Am champion Scott Pruett. The team is made up of Grand-Am champions Pruett and Memo Rojas, Hand and IndyCar driver Graham Rahal.
The team won last year's race, but appears to be at a horsepower disadvantage this season to the Fords and Chevrolets. MSR's No. 60 is a Ford Riley.
"We're definitely pushing for sure. We don't have quite the straightline speed that those other guys have," Hand said. "But we still have a shot at this thing."
The second Ganassi entry was four laps off the pace with NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya behind the wheel. The car was strong during the night but went six laps down when the shifter broke while IndyCar's Scott Dixon was driving.
That entry is somewhat of the "star car" with NASCAR drivers Montoya and Jamie McMurray, and IndyCar champions Dixon and Dario Franchitti. That group finished second to its Ganassi teammates last season.
Only two Daytona Prototypes were on the lead lap, and the championship-contending SunTrust Racing was knocked out of the race during the first hour on Saturday.
Max Angelelli took the No. 10 Chevrolet to the garage with an engine issue 25 minutes into the race. The team sent the car back out after a few minutes, but moments later Angelelli was back in the garage for good in the 50th running of the prestigious sports car event.
"We've never had an engine problem in all the time we've run the Chevrolet engine program, so this is the first time," team owner Wayne Taylor said. "There was truly nothing we were worried about. In fact, this is probably the one 24 Hour I think we all felt ? the only thing we were worried about was traffic, and we didn't have any issues. Really caught us by surprise."
The engines are made by NASCAR's Earnhardt Childress Racing organization. Taylor said the problem was in the valve train, and was "catastrophic."
Angelelli and Wayne Taylor won the Grand-Am championship in 2005, and have finished second in the standings the last two seasons to Pruett and Rojas. The SunTrust team also won the 24-hour race in 2005.
X-Games star Travis Pastrana made his debut in this race with the AF Waltrip team. He's driving with Michael Waltrip Racing owners Waltrip and Rob Kauffman, and Rui Aguas in a Ferrari in the Grand Touring class.
He called driving the Ferrari something that should be on everyone's "bucket list" and said he was thrilled to have been added to the team last month.
"Most of the experience that I have is actually in the four-wheel-drive cars," said Pastrana, who will race a limited schedule for Waltrip this season in the second-tier Nationwide Series.
"So getting the opportunity to come out here in rear-wheel-drive car I think is very helpful, especially for when NASCAR hits the road courses."
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Sunday, January 29, 2012
APNewsBreak: Police seek help on drugged driving
FILE - Sens. Charles Schumer of New York, left and Mark Pryor of Arkansas said Sunday Jan. 29, 2012 that federal funding in a pending transportation funding bill be used for research and to train police in identifying drugged drivers, who don't show the same outward signs of intoxication as drunken drivers do, such as slurred speech.
FILE - Sens. Charles Schumer of New York, left and Mark Pryor of Arkansas said Sunday Jan. 29, 2012 that federal funding in a pending transportation funding bill be used for research and to train police in identifying drugged drivers, who don't show the same outward signs of intoxication as drunken drivers do, such as slurred speech.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) ? The federal government should help police departments nationwide obtain the tools and training needed to attack a rising scourge of driving under the influence, two U.S. senators said Sunday.
Sens. Charles Schumer of New York and Mark Pryor of Arkansas proposed that federal funding in a pending transportation funding bill be used for research and to train police. They said police have no equipment and few have training in identifying drugged drivers, who don't show the same outward signs of intoxication as drunken drivers do, such as slurred speech.
"Cops need a Breathalyzer-like technology that works to identify drug-impaired drivers on-the-spot ? before they cause irreparable harm," Schumer said. "With the explosive growth of prescription drug abuse it's vital that local law enforcement have the tools and training they need to identify those driving under the influence of narcotics to get them off the road."
Schumer says drugged driving arrests rose 35 percent in New York since 2001, but he says that's a fraction of the cases.
The Democrats cited a 2009 federal report in which 10.5 million Americans acknowledged that they had driven under the influence of drugs. Schumer said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that in a 2007 roadside survey, more than 16 percent of weekend and night-time drivers tested positive for illegal prescription drugs or over-the-counter drugs. Eleven percent of them were found to have taken illegal drugs.
The administration also found that a third of 12,055 drivers tested who died in car crashes in 2009 had used drugs.
Yet police have no approved equipment to help identify drugged drivers, though saliva tests are being researched.
Pryor wants to create federal grants so police can participate in programs that require up to 200 hours of instruction to detect drugged driving.
Schumer said the effort is prompted in part by two fatal December crashes in the New York City area in which two boys ? one 5 years old and the other, 4 ? died. Prescription drug abuse is being investigated in both cases.
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Browns hire Brad Childress as OC (AP)
CLEVELAND ? Pat Shurmur brought in a close friend to help him fix Cleveland's broken offense.
Shurmur hired former Minnesota coach Brad Childress as his first offensive coordinator on Friday, reuniting two coaches who spent seven seasons together on Andy Reid's staff with the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Browns confirmed Childress' hiring with a release that did not include any quotes.
Childress, who spent nearly five seasons with the Vikings before he was fired in 2010, will try to improve the Browns' dismal offense, which scored just 218 points last season, finished 29th in total yardage, 28th in rushing and 24th in passing. He'll also have input in the team's vital decision at starting quarterback. ? a choice that could impact the club for years.
The 55-year-old Childress was a logical choice to join the Browns, who went 4-12 in their first season under Shurmur. In addition to being tight with Shurmur, Childress is familiar with the West Coast offense the Browns installed last year and he's represented by agent Bob Lamonte, who also has Shurmur and Browns president Mike Holmgren as clients.
Shurmur juggled both head coach and coordinator duties during a troublesome first season in Cleveland. It's believed Shurmur will initially call Cleveland's plays next season but he intends to turn things over to Childress, who recently interviewed for Tampa Bay's head coaching job. Childress has only one season (2006) of experience calling plays.
Childress is the third former NFL head coach on Shurmur's staff, joining defensive coordinator Dick Jauron and senior defensive assistant Ray Rhodes.
Childress was Philadelphia's offensive coordinator from 2003-05 when Shurmur coached the Eagles quarterbacks. While he was with the Eagles, Childress went to three straight NFC title games and the Super Bowl in 2004.
Shurmur was asked about Childress during his season-ending news conference on Jan. 3.
"I know Brad very well," Shurmur said. "He and I worked together for a long time. He's a terrific coach."
Childress went 39-35 in four-plus seasons with the Vikings, twice leading them to the playoffs and going 1-2. Minnesota won division titles in 2008 and 2009, when the Vikings made it to the NFC title game with quarterback Brett Favre, whom Childress had famously picked up at the airport. But after a 3-7 start in 2010, Childress was fired by owner Zygi Wilf one day after the Vikings were blown out at home by rival Green Bay.
The Browns considered hiring an offensive coordinator before last season but didn't find a suitable candidate. Holmgren suggested Shurmur maintain play-calling duties to control the offense and build a stronger bond with second-year quarterback Colt McCoy. Shurmur, though, seemed overwhelmed at times as the Browns had some communication breakdowns and time-management issues.
The addition of Childress should free up Shurmur during the week as he prepares for games.
"I think what it will do is allow me to just step back and look down on some things in some areas that I may be able to contribute more," Shurmur said after the season. "That's a key piece."
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Saturday, January 28, 2012
Summary Box: $14,460 for a shipwreck (AP)
PAYBACK: Costa Crociere SpA offered uninjured passengers $14,460 apiece Friday to compensate them for lost baggage and the psychological trauma they suffered after their cruise ship ran aground and capsized off Tuscany.
NO DEAL: Some passengers are already refusing to accept the deal, saying they can't yet put a figure on the costs of the trauma they endured.
SEE YOU IN COURT: consumer groups have signed on as injured parties in the criminal case against the Concordia's captain, who is accused of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship before all those aboard were evacuated. one of Italy's best-known consumer groups has engaged two U.S. law firms to launch a class-action lawsuit against Costa and Carnival in Miami.
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North America boosts Ford in 4Q
FILE - In this Sept. 28, 2010 file photo, Ford vehicles are reflected in the bumper of a Ford F-350 truck, at Fremont Ford in Newark, Calif. Ford said Friday Jan. 27, 2012 it made $13.4 billion in the fourth quarter, largely due to an accounting change. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)
FILE - In this Sept. 28, 2010 file photo, Ford vehicles are reflected in the bumper of a Ford F-350 truck, at Fremont Ford in Newark, Calif. Ford said Friday Jan. 27, 2012 it made $13.4 billion in the fourth quarter, largely due to an accounting change. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) ? Ford has shown it can make money even with U.S. car sales at depressed levels. Now it needs to show it can manage a myriad of challenges outside its home region.
North America was the only region where Ford Motor Co. saw profits rise in the fourth quarter and in all of 2011. Everywhere else the automaker lost money or saw profits fall, hurt by nervous consumers in Europe, flooding in Asia and aging products in South America. Costs rose faster than expected, too.
Ford reported $13.62 billion in net income, but investors brushed off the result because most of that came from an accounting change. Excluding that change, earnings totaled $1.1 billion, or 20 cents a share, down 15 percent from the fourth quarter of 2010. Ford missed Wall Street's expectations by 5 cents.
The stock price took an early hit but recovered once the company promised better ? if still bumpy ? results in 2012. Shares fell 4 percent to close at $12.21.
Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth said the Thai flooding and the rising cost of steel and other commodities hurt Ford more than analysts expected.
The November floods, which affected Thai parts suppliers, cost 34,000 units of production in Thailand and in South Africa, which relies on Thai-made parts. Ford also spent $2.3 billion more on commodities in 2011 than the prior year, or $100 million more than it forecast.
Bill Selesky, an auto analyst with Argus Research, said investors relaxed after Ford explained its accounting change and reassured them that it expects operating margin to increase this year.
Ford's operating margin ? a measure of how much the company earned after all the costs of doing business ? fell to 2.2 percent from 3 percent in 2010, largely because of commodity costs.
"The company said, 'Listen, we can manage through this, and North America is very, very strong,'" Selesky said.
North American operating profits rose 33 percent to $889 million in the fourth quarter. For the full year, North American profits rose 15 percent to $6.2 billion.
Ford's U.S. market share was up for the year, and the company got higher prices for new vehicles like the Ford Explorer and Ford Focus. U.S. buyers paid an average of $29,524 for Ford cars and trucks last year, up 6 percent from 2009, according to automotive pricing site TrueCar.com.
But in Europe, Ford's second-most important region by sales, fourth-quarter operating losses more than doubled to $190 million and sales fell 1 percent.
Booth said the company isn't sure how much impact the debt crisis will have on European sales this year. But CEO Alan Mulally said he's optimistic, since Ford has 10 new or revamped vehicles going on sale in the region. In the meantime, Ford is cutting European production by 36,000 vehicles in the first quarter.
Rival General Motors Co. is also expected to be hurt by weak results in Europe. It reports quarterly results Feb. 16. Chrysler Group, which has little international exposure, will be buoyed by its U.S. sales when it releases earnings Feb. 1.
In Asia, Ford's sales fell 7 percent in the fourth quarter, largely because sales in China have slowed. Ford's Asia Pacific region lost $83 million in the quarter after posting a profit in 2010.
Booth said things will be bumpy in Asia for the next several years as Ford embarks on a major expansion that includes the construction of seven plants. The company aims to triple the cars in its Chinese lineup to 15 over the next three years.
The South American market was another disappointment. Both sales and market share fell. Booth said South America is getting more competitive, and Ford's products there are older than other brands. Ford aims to turn that around when it introduces new products there next year.
For the full year, the Dearborn-based company reported net income of $20.2 billion, or $4.94 per share.
Ford's accounting change resulted in big gains on paper. The move dates to 2006, when Ford moved $15.7 billion worth of tax credits and other assets off its books because it wasn't making money so it couldn't take advantage of them. Now that it's profitable, the company moved most of those assets back onto its books.
The change will affect Ford's tax rates going forward. Ford's tax rate was 9 percent in 2010 because of the assets that were being held under the valuation allowance. Ford's new rate will be closer to 30 percent.
Booth called the change a "significant milestone" and said it's a strong indication that the company expects to stay profitable. Another is Ford's decision last month to reinstate a 5-cent quarterly dividend starting in March.
Without the big accounting gain, Ford earned $8.76 billion, or $1.51 per share, its highest operating profit since 1999. Revenue rose 13 percent to $136.3 billion. Analysts had forecast full-year earnings of $1.86 per share on revenue of $127.31 billion.
Based on its full-year North American results, Ford will make profit-sharing payments of around $6,200 each to its 41,600 U.S. hourly employees. Employees will get their checks in March.
Ford also said Friday that it plans to contribute $3.5 billion to its global pension funds this year. Underfunded pensions have been another area of concern for investors and for ratings agencies, which recently raised Ford's credit rating to one notch below investment grade. Ford has been below investment grade since 2005.
Standard and Poor's analyst Efraim Levy, who maintains a "buy" rating on Ford shares, said he wasn't concerned that Ford missed analysts' expectations.
"I don't think they have to fully meet their goals to be successful," he said. "Directionally, they are moving where they have to be."
But Levy said Ford will have to watch its back in the U.S., where Toyota and Honda are finally recovering from earthquake-related shortages and smaller players like Volkswagen and Kia are making inroads.
"I tend to give Ford the benefit of the doubt, but I do think the easy gains are over for them," he said.
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Friday, January 27, 2012
Superbugs spied off the Antarctic coast
Editorial: "Antarctic superbugs should alert people everywhere"
BACTERIA that can resist nearly all antibiotics have been found in Antarctic seawater.
Bj?rn Olsen of Uppsala University in Sweden and colleagues took seawater samples between 10 and 300 metres away from Chile's Antarctic research stations, Bernardo O'Higgins, Arturo Prat and Fildes Bay. A quarter of the samples of Escherichia coli bacteria carried genes that made an enzyme called ESBL, which can destroy penicillin, cephalosporins and related antibiotics (Applied and Environmental Microbiology, DOI: 10.1128/AEM.07320-11).
Bacteria with these genes can be even more dangerous than the better known superbug MRSA. That's because the genes sit on a mobile chunk of DNA that can be acquired by many species of bacteria, increasing the incidence of drug-resistant infections such as the E. coli outbreak last year in Germany.
The type of ESBL they found, called CTX-M, is common in bacteria in people, and the Uppsala study found that concentrations of resistant bacteria were higher close to the sewage outfalls from the stations. Some Antarctic stations started shipping out human faeces for incineration after gut bacteria were found nearby. Chile's research stations have virtually no sewage treatment in place, says Olsen.
Recent work shows the bacteria may hang on to the genes for CTX-M even when no longer exposed to antibiotics, suggesting that superbugs can survive in the wild, with animals acting as a reservoir. Penguins near the Chilean stations have been checked and are free of ESBL, though Olsen is now looking at the area's gulls as he has found ESBL-producing bugs in gulls in France.
"If these genes are in Antarctica, it's an indication of how far this [problem] has gone," he says.
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Thursday, January 26, 2012
USDA sets guidelines for healthier school meals (Reuters)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? School meals for millions of children will be healthier under obesity-fighting U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) standards unveiled on Wednesday that double the amount of fruits and vegetables in cafeteria lunches - but won't pull French fries from the menu.
In the first major changes to school meals in more than 15 years, the new USDA guidelines will affect nearly 32 million children who eat at school. They will cost about $3.2 billion to implement over the next five years.
"Improving the quality of the school meals is a critical step to building a healthy future for our kids," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement.
The new meal requirements are part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act championed by first lady Michelle Obama. President Barack Obama approved the measure in late 2010.
The guidelines double the amounts of fruits and vegetables in school lunches and boost offerings of whole grain-rich foods. The new standards set maximums for calories and cut sodium and trans fat, a contributor to high cholesterol levels.
Schools may offer only fat-free or low-fat milk varieties and must assure that children are getting proper portion sizes, the USDA said.
The new standards will be largely phased in over a three-year period, starting in the 2012-13 school year.
About 17 percent of U.S. children and teenagers are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About one-third of U.S. adults are obese.
FRIES WITH THAT?
Lawmakers altered the guidelines in November. They barred the USDA from limiting French fries and ensured that pizza counted as a vegetable because of its tomato paste.
Trade associations representing frozen pizza sellers like ConAgra Foods Inc and Schwan Food Co as well as French fry sellers McCain Foods Ltd and J.R. Simplot Co were instrumental in blocking changes to rules affecting those items.
Margo Wootan, nutrition policy director for the non-profit Center For Science in the Public Interest, said that the new standards were a big improvement despite food industry lobbying and the congressional revamp.
"The new school meal standards are one of the most important advances in nutrition in decades," she said in a statement.
The Environmental Working Group said the changes could pack a financial punch since they may help reduce medical bills related to diabetes and other obesity-related chronic diseases.
"A healthier population will save billions of dollars in future health care costs," said Dawn Undurraga, EWG's staff nutritionist.
As an example of a new meal, the USDA said an elementary school lunch could be whole wheat spaghetti with meat sauce and a whole wheat roll, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, kiwi, low-fat milk, low-fat ranch dip and soft margarine.
That lunch would replace a meal of a hot dog on a bun with ketchup, canned pears, raw celery and carrots with ranch dressing, and low-fat chocolate milk.
As part of the new standards, schools will receive another 6 cents a meal. The USDA also will increase the number of inspections of school menus.
Food and beverages sold in vending machines and other school sites "will also contribute to a healthy diet," the USDA statement said.
The USDA gives school districts funds for meals through its National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs.
(Additional reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles)
(Reporting By Ian Simpson. Editing by Paul Thomasch)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120125/us_nm/us_school_food
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Bachmann says she'll seek 4th term in House (AP)
MINNEAPOLIS ? Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann announced Wednesday she will seek a fourth term in the U.S. House following her failed presidential bid.
Bachmann declared her plans in an interview with The Associated Press. The Republican congresswoman had been mum on her plans since folding her presidential campaign after a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses earlier this month.
"I'm looking forward to coming back and bringing a strong, powerful voice to Washington, D.C.," Bachmann said.
Bachmann will be a formidable candidate in Minnesota's 6th District, where other Republican hopefuls had stood aside until she made a decision on running for re-election. Some experts had speculated that Bachmann might instead turn to a career in talk media.
Bachmann is a potent fundraiser who raised $13.5 million in her last House race, but would likely start from scratch after the presidential campaign. A campaign finance report that would show how much money she can bring to the race isn't due until the end of the month.
Bachmann also faces uncertainty over how her district will be reshaped. One redistricting plan put forth by Democrats would throw her into a race with Rep. Betty McCollum, a six-term Democrat who represents the St. Paul area. A special redistricting panel is due to issue maps late next month.
Ken Martin, chairman of Minnesota's Democratic-Farmer Labor Party, said the announcement wasn't a surprise. No Democrats have announced plans to run yet because they're waiting on redistricting, but Martin said they would attack Bachmann for being absent from the district and for missing votes in Washington while running for president.
"She's really opened the door for us this year to make a good run at her," Martin said.
Bachmann was an early media favorite in the chase for the GOP presidential nomination after winning the Iowa straw poll in midsummer, but she eventually faded.
Her announcement came in an interview to react to President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech. Just as she did on the campaign trail, Bachmann criticized Obama for "doubling down on failures that didn't work."
"We have to radically scale back on government spending, we have to radically cut back on debt accumulation," Bachmann said.
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Solar storm brings fireworks, but few problems
STOCKHOLM, Sweden?? A storm from the broiling sun turned the chilly northernmost skies of Earth into an ever-changing and awe-provoking art show of northern lights on Tuesday night.
Even experienced stargazers were stunned by the intensity of the aurora borealis that swept across the night sky in northern Scandinavia after the biggest solar flare in six years.
"It has been absolutely incredible," British astronomer John Mason cried from the deck of the MS Midnatsol, a cruise ship plying the fjord-fringed coast of northern Norway.
"I saw my first aurora 40 years ago, and this is one of the best," Mason told The Associated Press, his voice nearly drowning in the cheers of awe-struck fellow passengers.
U.S. space weather experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Tuesday evening that so far they had heard of no problems from the storm that triggered the auroras, which made it as far south as Wales, where the weather often doesn't cooperate with good viewing.
It was part of the strongest solar storm in years, but the sun is likely to get even more active in the next few months and years, said physicist Doug Biesecker at the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colo.
"To me this was a wake up call. The sun is reminding us that solar max is approaching," Biesecker said. "A lot worse is in store for us. We hope that you guys are paying attention. I would say we passed with flying colors."
Those who got to see Tuesday night's colorful display marveled at the brilliance.
"It was the biggest northern lights I've seen in the five, six years that I've worked here," said Andreas Hermansson, a tour guide at the Ice Hotel in the Swedish town of Jukkasjarvi, above the Arctic Circle.
He was leading a group of tourists on a bus tour in the area when a green glow that had lingered in the sky for much of the evening virtually exploded into a spectacle of colors around 10:15 p.m. local time
"We stopped the bus. And suddenly it was just this gigantic display of dancing lights and Technicolor," said Michele Cahill, an Irish psychologist who was on the tour. "It was an absolutely awesome display. It went on for over an hour. Literally one would have to lie on the ground to capture it all."
But in temperatures of 30 below zero Fahrenheit (-35 degrees Celsius), that didn't seem like a good idea.
How auroras arise
An aurora appears when a magnetic solar wind slams into the Earth's magnetic field, exciting electrons of oxygen and nitrogen.
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More space news from msnbc.com
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Space station sees the southern lights
We've been talking a lot about the northern lights lately, but here's a must-see view of the southern lights, as captured by the crew of the International Space Station on Jan. 3.
- Solar storm brings fireworks, but few problems
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Space station sees the southern lights
The northern lights are sometimes seen from northern Scotland, but they were also visible Monday night from northeast England and Ireland, where such sightings are a rarity.
"The lights appear as green and red mist. It's been mostly green the past few nights. I don't know if that's just special for Ireland," said Gerard O'Kane, a 41-year-old taxi driver and vice chairman of the Buncrana Camera Club in County Donegal in Ireland's northwest corner.
He and at least two dozen amateur photographers were meeting after dark at a local beach for an all-night stakeout. They've been shooting the horizon from dozens of locations since Friday night.
Scientists have been expecting solar eruptions to become more intense as the sun enters a more active phase of its 11-year cycle, with an expected peak in 2013.
But in recent years the sun appeared quieter than normal, leading scientists to speculate that it was going into an unusually quiet cycle that seems to happen once a century or so.
Effects on Earth
The electromagnetic burst associated with the start of this week's storm occurred at about 11 p.m. ET Sunday, reaching medlum levels. Then, on Monday and Tuesday, the proton radiation from the eruption hit strong levels, the most powerful since October 2003. That mostly affects astronauts and satellites, but NASA said the crew on the International Space Station was not harmed, and Biesecker said only a few minor problems with satellites were reported.
Some airplane flights over the North Pole were rerouted because of expected communication problems from the radiation.
Geomagnetic storms cause awesome sights, but they can also bring trouble. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, problems can include current surges in power lines, and interference in the broadcast of radio, TV and telephone signals. No such problems were reported Tuesday.
A few more days of fireworks
Peter Richardson, a 49-year-old bar manager and part-time poet at the 17th-century Tan Hill Inn in northern England, said the pub ? normally dead on a Monday night in January ? was thronged until the wee hours of the morning with people who came to look at the lights.
"I just thought: 'Oh my God, this is just absolutely amazing,'" he said. "You do get a lot of spectacular skylines out here, but that was just something out of the ordinary. Very different."
Ken Kennedy, director of the Aurora section of the British Astronomical Association, said the northern lights may be visible for a few more days.
The Canadian Space Agency posted a geomagnetic storm warning Tuesday after residents were also treated to a spectacular show in the night sky. John Manuel, a scientist with the Canadian Space Agency, said there was an increased chance of seeing northern lights over northern Canada.
"It's not likely people in the major Canadian cities further south will see a significant aurora tonight," he said Tuesday. "There's always a possibility but the current forecast is for a good show for people who live further north. It should be a particularly good night tonight."
More about solar storms:
AP Science Writer Borenstein reported from Washington. AP writers Louise Nordstrom in Stockholm, Shawn Pogatchnik in Dublin, Raphael Satter in London and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46124525/ns/technology_and_science-science/
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Video: Cramer's Issues for the Street
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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/46114915/
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[OOC] Campus Social Groups and extra-curriculars.
Forum rules
This forum is for OOC discussion about existing roleplays.
For the Dissidia Academy roleplay.
Check the places tab for The Gym, Library and Zen Temple areas open for character growth and development. Gym increases strength and speed by (+1), Library increases skill and intellect(+1) and Zen Temple increases Spirit and Stamina( 1+). Only one area can be accessed per day. Also, top leadership positions for the Necrophyles and Templars are available for those who request, first come first serve. 2 days before the school year offical starts
This forum is for OOC discussion about existing roleplays.
Please post all "Players Wanted" threads in the Roleplayers Wanted forum!
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Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.For the Dissidia Academy roleplay.
Check the places tab for The Gym, Library and Zen Temple areas open for character growth and development. Gym increases strength and speed by (+1), Library increases skill and intellect(+1) and Zen Temple increases Spirit and Stamina( 1+). Only one area can be accessed per day. Also, top leadership positions for the Necrophyles and Templars are available for those who request, first come first serve. 2 days before the school year offical starts
Student Body Council- The most powerful group in the school, is believed to be compromised of the top 10 ranking students in the school. This group is secretive so not much is known about the Student Body Council, they appear to be an esoteric club for hand picked elites. The only known way to be initiated into this club is to be invited by the council itself, the applicant is then subject to a notorious hazing process and if accepted is assigned a numerical ranking to solidfy their placement. Members of the student body wear a ring to signify their membership.
Student Body Council Crest: 
Student Body Council Ring:
The Elementals-A group formed by the original warriors of the light to establish bonds long after they departed , you have to be a descendant one of the warriors of the light to join this group. This groups symbol token is a that of a crystal pendant.
Elementals crest: 
The Templars- They wear all-white and appear to be influenced by the original templars. Their rivals are the Necrophyles. This is a public club open to new characters if they choose. Members of this group express their allegiance by wearing the leonhart necklace.
Templars crest:
Necrophyles-This is a real bad group, stay away from them. They're a fairly new group that's gained a bit of a reputation for violence. They're considered a gang. They're at war with the Templars. This is a public club open to new characters if they choose. Members of this group must prove their devotion by getting a tattoo of the necrophyles oroboras crest.
Necrophyles crest:
I'm a dreamcatcher but only nightmares I caught.
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ZeroTolerance - Member for 1 years
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Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Syria rejects new Arab League plan to end crisis
An anti-Syrian regime protester colors his fingers with the revolutionary flag colors during a protest outside the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Egypt Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. Arab League foreign ministers, meeting in Cairo, extended the much-criticized observers mission for another month, officials from the 22-member organization said. The League decided to add more observers and provide them with additional resources, the officials said. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
An anti-Syrian regime protester colors his fingers with the revolutionary flag colors during a protest outside the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Egypt Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. Arab League foreign ministers, meeting in Cairo, extended the much-criticized observers mission for another month, officials from the 22-member organization said. The League decided to add more observers and provide them with additional resources, the officials said. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
Syrian army defectors gather at the mountain resort town of Zabadani, Syria, near the Lebanese border, on Friday Jan. 20, 2012. President Bashar Assad's forces attacked Zabadani, some 17 miles (27 kilometers) west of the capital, for six days, sparking fierce fighting that involved heavy bombardments and clashes with army defectors. On Wednesday, government tanks and armored vehicles pulled back, leaving the opposition in control of the town. Buoyed by the opposition's control of a town near the Syrian capital, thousands of people held anti-government protests Friday, chanting for the downfall of the regime. At least eight people were killed by security forces across the country, activists said. (AP Photo)
Syrian army defectors gather at the mountain resort town of Zabadani, Syria, near the Lebanese border, on Friday Jan. 20, 2012. President Bashar Assad's forces attacked Zabadani, some 17 miles (27 kilometers) west of the capital, for six days, sparking fierce fighting that involved heavy bombardments and clashes with army defectors. On Wednesday, government tanks and armored vehicles pulled back, leaving the opposition in control of the town. Buoyed by the opposition's control of a town near the Syrian capital, thousands of people held anti-government protests Friday, chanting for the downfall of the regime. At least eight people were killed by security forces across the country, activists said. (AP Photo)
An anti-Syrian regime protester flashes victory sign as he marches during a demonstration at the mountain resort town of Zabadani, Syria, near the Lebanese border, on Friday Jan. 20, 2012. President Bashar Assad's forces attacked Zabadani, some 17 miles (27 kilometers) west of the capital, for six days, sparking fierce fighting that involved heavy bombardments and clashes with army defectors. On Wednesday, government tanks and armored vehicles pulled back, leaving the opposition in control of the town. Buoyed by the opposition's control of a town near the Syrian capital, thousands of people held anti-government protests Friday, chanting for the downfall of the regime. At least eight people were killed by security forces across the country, activists said. (AP Photo)
Anti-Syrian regime protesters carry revolutionary flags while performing a traditional dance during a protest outside the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Egypt Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. Arab League foreign ministers, meeting in Cairo, extended the much-criticized observers mission for another month, officials from the 22-member organization said. The League decided to add more observers and provide them with additional resources, the officials said. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
BEIRUT (AP) ? Syria on Monday rejected the Arab League's wide-ranging new plan to end the country's 10-month crisis, saying the League's call for a national unity government in two months is a clear violation of Syrian sovereignty.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people poured into the streets in a suburb outside the capital, Damascus, to mourn 11 residents who were either shot dead by security forces or killed in clashes between army defectors and troops a day earlier, activists said.
The crowd in Douma ? which one activist said was 60,000-strong ? was under the protection of dozens of army defectors who are in control of the area after regime forces pulled out late Sunday, said Samer al-Omar, a Douma resident.
The reports could not be independently confirmed.
President Bashar Assad blames the uprising that erupted in March on terrorists and armed gangs acting out a foreign conspiracy to destabilize the country. His regime has retaliated with a brutal crackdown that the U.N. says has killed more than 5,400 people.
There is growing urgency, however, to find a resolution to a crisis that is growing increasingly violent as regime opponents and army defectors who have switched sides have started to fight back against government forces.
The Arab League has tried to stem the bloodshed by condemning the crackdown, imposing sanctions and sending a team of observers to the country. On Sunday, the League called for a unity government within two months, which would then prepare for parliamentary and presidential elections to be held under Arab and international supervision.
The proposal also provides for Assad to give his vice president full powers to cooperate with the proposed government to enable it to carry out its duties during a transitional period.
The state-run news agency, SANA, said Damascus considers the plan "flagrant interference in its internal affairs" and the latest turn in an international plot against Syria.
It was not immediately clear what steps, if any, Syria could take to counter the Arab League's stance.
The European Union backed the Arab plan Monday, and it extended existing sanctions against Assad's government by adding 22 more officials and eight companies to the blacklist.
Omar Idlibi, a spokesman for the Syrian National Council opposition group, said the Arab efforts do not go far enough. He and many other opposition figures demand Assad leave power and say anything less will just give the regime time to bury the revolt.
But there are significant splits in the opposition about the way forward.
Hassan Abdul-Azim, who heads the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria, or NCB, said the Arab plan is an "advanced step as the Arab League has started dealing with matters more seriously."
Abdul-Azim told The Associated Press that the plan would put more pressure on Assad's regime and "tells it that it's impossible to keep matters as they are."
Syria appeared to get a serious boost Monday from its powerful allies in Russia. Russia's business daily Kommersant reported that Moscow has signed a contract to sell 36 Yak-130 combat jets to Syria ? a deal that, if confirmed, would openly defy international efforts to pressure Assad's regime.
The Arab League's observer mission has come under heavy criticism for failing to stop the violence in Syria.
On Monday, the head of the mission defended the observers' work, saying their presence had cut down on the bloodshed. Speaking at League headquarters in Cairo, Sudanese Gen. Mohammed Ahmed al-Dabi told reporters the observers have witnessed violence from both the Syrian security forces and armed opposition groups.
"When the delegation arrived, there was clear and obvious violence," he said. "But after the delegation arrived, the violence started to go lessen gradually."
On Sunday, Arab League foreign ministers extended the mission for another month. The mission's one-month mandate technically expired on Thursday.
Violence continued inside Syria on Monday.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said troops and army defectors clashed Monday near the western town of Qusair, close to the Lebanese border. It said five soldiers were killed and 13 were wounded.
The Observatory added that 11 civilians were killed by security forces in different parts of Syria, five of them in the northwestern province of Idlib, that borders Turkey.
The LCC put Monday's death toll at 10.
It was impossible to reconcile the discrepancy.
Syria has prevented most independent media coverage and until recently has refused to issue visas for most foreign journalists. In recent weeks, the regime has begun to permit entry for journalists on trips escorted by government minders.
___
Hubbard reported from Cairo.
___
Bassem Mroue can be reached on http://twitter.com/bmroue
Associated PressMonday, January 23, 2012
MTV Movie Brawl 2012: Voting Ends Today!
It all comes down to this: the final push in the final round of the MTV Movie Brawl 2012! After weeks of match-ups and almost 40 fallen competitors along the way, we're down to just two films vying for the top spot in the brawl for it all: "The Hunger Games," the number-one ranked action [...]
Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2012/01/23/mtv-movie-brawl-2012-voting-ends-today/
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Etta James Dead At 73
Legendary singer, who influenced everyone from Janis Joplin to Beyoncé, died Friday after battle with leukemia.
By James Montgomery
Etta James in 1961
Photo: Michael Ochs Archives / Redferns
Etta James, the legendary singer whose career spanned six decades (and just as many musical genres) and whose voice has influenced everyone from Janis Joplin and Bonnie Raitt to Christina Aguilera and Adele, died Friday (January 20) after a lengthy battle with leukemia. She was 73 years old.
Best known for hits like "At Last," "All I Could Do Was Cry," "Tell Mama," "Something's Got a Hold on Me" and "Good Rockin' Daddy," James learned to sing in church, and first recorded professionally as a member of the all-girl doo-wop group the Peaches, with whom she'd score a #1 hit ("The Wallflower," an answer to Hank Ballard's "Work With Me, Annie"). Soon after that song's success, James left the group and toured with the likes of Little Richard and Johnny "Guitar" Watson. She'd subsequently sign with Chicago's Chess Records in 1960, where her powerful contralto was featured on a string of crossover classics that spanned R&B, soul, gospel, blues and even rock. It was during that time that she also began a battle with heroin addiction, one that would lead to stints in rehabilitation facilities and stall her career's momentum.
James would continue to record for Chess until 1978, then, after a stint opening for the Rolling Stones, she'd spend the next decade largely adrift, before returning with her comeback album, 1989's Seven Year Itch, which reunited her with producer Jerry Wexler and began a period that saw her finally receive the acclaim she'd long deserved. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 and, the following year, won her first-ever Grammy award. In subsequent years, she'd also be enshrined in both the Blues and Rockabilly Halls, earn a lifetime achievement award from the Grammys and continue to record a string of well-received blues and jazz albums.
Photos: The life and career of Etta James.
Her Chess Records period was brought to the big screen (with varying degrees of accuracy) in the 2008 musical biopic "Cadillac Records," with Beyoncé portraying James. Beyoncé's cover of "At Last" was released as the lead single off the film's soundtrack, and would go on to win a Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Performance. Beyoncé would also perform the song at president Barack Obama's inaugural ball in January 2009, a move which led James to famously tell an audience in Seattle that B "has no business up there singing ... my song that I've been singing forever." She'd later explain to the New York Daily News that she was joking, but added that she could've performed the song better.
In recent years, with her status secured (and her addiction problems largely behind her), James continued to tour, and she's been championed by some of today's biggest contemporary stars, like Adele, Aguilera, Florence Welch, Paramore's Hayley Williams, Joss Stone and Jazon Mraz. She was also a particular favorite of the late Amy Winehouse, whose own battles with addiction sadly turned out differently than James'. And just this year, a sample of her "Something's Got a Hold on Me" was used to maximum effect by DJ Avicii on his international hit "Levels," while her voice can be heard via sample in Flo Rida's current top ten hit, "Good Feeling."
James' health had been in decline for several years. In 2010, her son Donto told reporters that James had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and in January 2011, court documents filed by her husband — who was seeking to take control of her finances, as she was extremely ill — revealed that she was also undergoing treatment for leukemia. In December, James' live-in physician told a California newspaper that the singer was "terminally ill" and asked "for the prayers of her fans and friends." James' final album, The Dreamer, was released in November.
Share your condolences with Etta James' family on our Facebook page.
Related Videos Related Photos Related ArtistsSource: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677610/etta-james-dead.jhtml
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Sunday, January 22, 2012
New Telescope to Take First-Ever Black Hole Photo (SPACE.com)
A group of astronomers are meeting this week to plan out an ambitious and unprecedented project ? capturing the first-ever image of a black hole.
The researchers want to create an Earth-size virtual instrument called the Event Horizon Telescope, a worldwide network of radio telescopes powerful enough to snap a picture of the supermassive black hole at the heart of our Milky Way galaxy.
"Nobody has ever taken a picture of a black hole," Dimitrios Psaltis, of the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory, said in a statement. Psaltis is a co-organizer of the conference, which began today (Jan. 18) in Tucson, Ariz. "We are going to do just that."
An elusive target
Black holes are exotic structures whose gravitational fields are so powerful that they trap everything, even light. They were first postulated by Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity.
Astronomers have detected plenty of black holes in our galaxy and beyond via indirect means. It's thought that most, if not all, galaxies harbor a supermassive black hole at their cores. [Gallery: Black Holes of the Universe]
However, scientists have yet to image a black hole. Researchers working on the Event Horizon Telescope ? named after a black hole's "point of no return," beyond which nothing can escape ? hope to change that.
"Even five years ago, such a proposal would not have seemed credible," said Sheperd Doeleman of MIT, the project's principal investigator. "Now we have the technological means to take a stab at it."
Doeleman and his team want to create a network of up to 50 radio telescopes around the world, which will work in concert to get the job done.
"In essence, we are making a virtual telescope with a mirror that is as big as the Earth," Doeleman said. "Each radio telescope we use can be thought of as a small silvered portion of a large mirror. With enough such silvered spots, one can start to make an image."
Imaging a black hole's 'shadow'
The team plans to point the Event Horizon Telescope at the supermassive black hole at the Milky Way's center, which is about 26,000 light-years away and is thought to hold as much mass as 4 million suns.
That's pretty big, but picking the object out at such a great distance is equivalent to spotting a grapefruit on the surface of the moon, researchers said.
"To see something that small and that far away, you need a very big telescope, and the biggest telescope you can make on Earth is to turn the whole planet into a telescope," said Dan Marrone of the Steward Observatory.
Researchers hope to get a picture of the black hole's outline, or "shadow."
"As dust and gas swirls around the black hole before it is drawn inside, a kind of cosmic traffic jam ensues," Doeleman said. "Swirling around the black hole like water circling the drain in a bathtub, the matter compresses and the resulting friction turns it into plasma heated to a billion degrees or more, causing it to 'glow' ? and radiate energy that we can detect here on Earth."
General relativity predicts that the black hole?s shadow should be a perfect circle. So the Event Horizon Telescope's observations could provide a test of Einstein's venerable theory, researchers said.
"If we find the black hole?s shadow to be oblate instead of circular, it means Einstein?s theory of general relativity must be flawed," Psaltis said. "But even if we find no deviation from general relativity, all these processes will help us understand the fundamental aspects of the theory much better."
The team hopes to keep adding more instruments to the telescope over time, providing a sharper image of our galaxy's central black hole as the months and years go by.
Each telescope in the network will record its observations onto hard drives, which will be physically shipped to a central processing center at MIT?s Haystack Observatory, researchers said.
Radio rather than optical telescopes are the right tool for the job, they added, since radio waves can penetrate the murk of stars, dust and gas between Earth and the galactic center.
Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
Indians pitcher Carmona arrested in identity case
CLEVELAND (AP) ? Cleveland Indians pitcher Fausto Carmona has been arrested for allegedly using a false identity in the Dominican Republic, where officials are contesting his real name and birthdate.
A police spokesman said Carmona was arrested Thursday outside the U.S. consulate in Santo Domingo. Carmona had gone there to renew his visa so he could return to the United States. Indians pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to training camp in Goodyear, Ariz. next month.
Maximo Baez Aybar said Carmona's real name is apparently Roberto Hernandez Heredia and he's 31, three years older than the pitcher claimed. The Indians list Carmona's birthday as Dec. 7, 1983, in their 2011 media guide.
"We were recently made aware of the situation that occurred today in the Dominican Republic and are currently in the process of gathering information," Indians general manager Chris Antonetti said. "We are not prepared to make any additional comment at this time."
Carmona's agent said he was caught off-guard by the arrest and that there are Dominican lawyers working on the player's behalf. He did not disclose the names of the lawyers.
"This took us by complete surprise," agent Jay Alou said. "What we have to do now is wait to find out the process that has to be done with the consulate with this new identity in order to see if he can get a new work visa."
Carmona's arrest is the second involving a major leaguer in four months in a false identity case. Miami Marlins reliever Leo Nunez was arrested in September. Last month, an apologetic Nunez said he falsified his identify when he was young so he could play professional baseball. Nunez's real name is Juan Carlos Oviedo and he's 29, a year older than listed in the Marlins' media guide.
Carmona was the Indians' opening-day starter last season. The right-hander finished 7-15 with a 5.25 ERA in 32 starts, and the club picked up his $7 million option for 2012 in October.
Carmona's career in Cleveland has included extreme highs and lows.
After going 1-10 in 2006, he came out of nowhere to win 19 games for Cleveland in 2007, shocking the Indians who had briefly experimented with him as a closer. Carmona, though, followed up with a disappointing 2008 season, and in 2009 the club sent him to the lower minors to work on his mechanics.
Carmona rebounded to win 13 games in 2010 in manager Manny Acta's first season. Although he didn't have a winning record last season, Carmona stayed healthy, didn't miss a start and was expected to be part of the starting rotation this season. He has been pitching winter ball in the Dominican.
The Indians signed Carmona to a four-year contract in 2008. The club has options on him for 2013 at $9 million and 2014 at $12 million.
___(equals)
Associated Press writer Dionisio Soldevila in the Dominican Republic contributed to this report.
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