Sunday, July 22, 2012

Indian upheaval bares Colombia's nagging conflict

In this photo taken July 17, 2012, Nasa Indians charge on soldiers guarding communication towers on a hill in Toribio, southern Colombia. Indians forcibly dislodged six soldiers the outpost. Indians have demanded that security forces and leftist rebels stay off their ancestral land. The government rejected the demand alleging the area is a corridor for cocaine smuggling and rebels have infiltrated the Indians' ranks. (AP Photo/William Fernando Martinez)

In this photo taken July 17, 2012, Nasa Indians charge on soldiers guarding communication towers on a hill in Toribio, southern Colombia. Indians forcibly dislodged six soldiers the outpost. Indians have demanded that security forces and leftist rebels stay off their ancestral land. The government rejected the demand alleging the area is a corridor for cocaine smuggling and rebels have infiltrated the Indians' ranks. (AP Photo/William Fernando Martinez)

In this photo taken July 17, 2012, Nasa Indians charge on soldiers guarding communication towers on a hill in Toribio, southern Colombia. Indians forcibly dislodged six soldiers from the outpost. Indians have demanded that security forces and leftist rebels stay off their ancestral land. The government rejected the demand alleging the area is a corridor for cocaine smuggling and rebels have infiltrated the Indians' ranks. (AP Photo/William Fernando Martinez)

In this photo taken July 17, 2012, Nasa Indians surround a soldier guarding communication towers on a hill in Toribio, southern Colombia, before they forcibly dislodged six soldiers from the outpost. Indians have demanded that security forces and leftist rebels stay off their ancestral land. The government rejected the demand alleging the area is a corridor for cocaine smuggling and rebels have infiltrated the Indians' ranks. (AP Photo/William Fernando Martinez)

In this photo taken July 17, 2012, Nasa Indians stand around communication towers on a hill in Toribio, southern Colombia, before they forcibly dislodged six soldiers guarding the outpost. Indians have demanded that security forces and leftist rebels stay off their ancestral land. The government rejected the demand alleging the area is a corridor for cocaine smuggling and rebels have infiltrated the Indians' ranks. (AP Photo/William Fernando Martinez)

(AP) ? One of the stiffest blows in years to the prestige of Colombia's military wasn't inflicted by its leftist rebel foes and didn't claim a single soldier's life.

It was dealt by a relatively diminutive people called the Nasa who marched furiously up to the top of a 7,500-foot (2,300-meter) peak last week and forcibly dislodged a clutch of soldiers from a strategic outpost.

These verdant, craggy mountains are the Nasa's ancestral lands, and the Nasa say they are fed up with violent usurpers. They're demanding that the country's military and its rebel foes leave their enclave in the southwestern state of Cauca.

Yet neither side in Colombia's half-century old conflict is heeding the Nasas' wishes to leave them in peace. Their homeland lies on a key corridor that rebels and their chief funding source, cocaine, regularly transit on their way to the Pacific coast.

The government alleges that some of the 115,000 Nasa are allied with rebels of the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which authorities say purchases the high-quality marijuana that many indigenous grow.

The Nasa's widely broadcast standoff with government troops has made this past week perhaps the most difficult of Juan Manuel Santos' two-year-old presidency, bringing Colombia's conflict into people's living rooms as it rarely has been in recent years and highlighting his government's inability to control large parts of the countryside. Santos even suffered the indignity of being jeered by the Nasa when he visited Toribio the previous week to announce investments in social programs.

Colombia's conflict plays out far from its sparkling cities. Its victims are its most marginalized.

"We sometimes get the impression that there's hardly any conflict at all, that it is very distant," said Jordi Raich, the International Committee of the Red Cross' country director. "But Colombia's armed conflict continues, and while it may be happening in remote areas, the humanitarian consequences are not lessened."

"Peace is distant," he added.

The conflict claims hundreds if not thousands of lives a year, mostly civilians killed in a dirty war involving right-wing death squads, rebels and the military. Yet in terms of violence, this month's upheaval in Cauca has been comparatively tame. Its damage is, instead, political.

It was clear to everyone during Santos' visit that the government had no control of the area. A FARC commander held court with reporters at a roadblock less than three miles (five kilometers) away.

"This is a political defeat for the Santos government," said Jorge Restrepo, an analyst at Colombia's CERAC think tank. "It puts in question his ability to win re-election."

Santos, a 60-year-old scion of a Bogota newspaper clan, won the presidency on the coattails of Alvaro Uribe, for whom he was defense minister from 2006 to 2009, a time of impressive military gains against the FARC.

Santos has not said whether he will seek re-election in 2014, but his popularity has plummeted as rebel violence mounts.

The insurgents have in recent months reverted to traditional hit-and-run tactics, and stepped up attacks on infrastructure including oil facilities. On Friday, they blew up a bridge in Caqueta state in southern Colombia that was vital to oil companies.

The trigger for the Toribio upheaval came before dawn on July 6 when rebels rained crude mortars and grenades on its town center, aiming for the sandbag-shrouded police station. Such munitions rarely hit their mark, and instead tore big chunks out of the brightly colored brick homes surrounding it. Three days later, when the bombardment ended, six people were wounded and about 100 left homeless, said Toribio's mayor, Ezequiel Vitonas.

Four people were wounded in a separate grenade attack on July 8 on a Toribio medical clinic. The next day, angry indigenous tried to dismantle the sandbag wall protecting the police station.

"We can't take it anymore," said the governor of the local Nasa reserve, Marcos Yule, counting about 1,000 such attacks in the past few years. The worst had come on July 9, 2011, he said, when the FARC exploded a bus bomb a block from Toribio's central plaza, killing three people.

Santos came to town two days after that anniversary, and later accused some "elements" of the Nasa of being in cahoots with the rebels, a charge that Nasa leaders deny.

On Saturday, Nasa elders convicted four alleged FARC rebels "arrested" three days earlier of disturbing public order and had them flogged. Three got 30 lashes and the fourth, a teenager, received five before they were released to their families, said Yule.

Colombia's counter-narcotics police director, Gen. Luis Perez, says the FARC would be pleased to have the military out of the area to lessen the chances of having their harvested marijuana seized.

Perez estimates at least 250 acres (100 hectares) of marijuana plants grow in the Cauca. What is grown on the Nasa indigenous reserve is legally protected from destruction. At night, the hills around Toribio are pitted with lights used by cultivators to accelerate the plants' growth and potency.

As those lights went off at dawn Wednesday, hundreds of Nasa headed for the strategic hilltop, where a small group of soldiers was encamped, charged with protecting communications antennas and keeping an eye on mountain trails regularly used by the FARC.

Among the Indians were "guardians," men and women who carry staffs hewed from palm trees and decorated with brightly colored ribbons. The staffs, says Yule, are instruments of authority only and cannot be used as weapons.

In the ensuing pandemonium, several dozen indigenous encircled six soldiers and forced them off the hilltop. One soldier fired a burst of shots into the air, sending reporters scurrying. But only egos were hurt.

The images, meanwhile, were published around the world.

The mayhem was strangely isolated. While those involved in the struggle kicked up dust, hundreds more Nasa peacefully rested on the grass as other solders gathered their belongings and sheepishly retreated downhill.

The next day, however, the soldiers, accompanied by riot police, were back. Firing tear gas and buckshot, they retook the hilltop. Eight Nasa were injured, none critically, said Luis Angel Penna, Toribio's assistant hospital director.

And the violence wasn't over.

Two local men were killed by gunfire over the next two days in the neighboring towns, one during a demonstration by farmers trying to eject soldiers from their village, another shot for allegedly failing to heed an order to halt at a military roadblock.

The tensions and mistrust are not new.

In May, 39-year-old coffee picker Julio Dagua was killed near Toribio by rebels who had falsely accused him of being an army informant, said his brother Edgar.

"He had been threatened for a long time," he added.

Edgar Dagua said residents won't be intimidated by either side in the conflict. "They're going to have to kill all of us."

Some of Toribio's residents earlier this month joined the more than 2 million Colombians who have been internally displaced by the country's conflict. They are living temporarily in a shelter in the nearby town of Santander de Quilichao.

One is Maria Alejandra Munoz, a garrulous, 38-year-old mother of three who earns her living washing other people's laundry by hand. "You get tired of this conflict."

Her brother, Ruben, said that "what people want most is peace for our town."

But how?

"That's difficult," said Maria Alejandra, leaning against a support in the cramped shelter. "If someone had a formula for it, they'd give it to the presidents."

___

Associated Press Writer Frank Bajak contributed to this report from Caracas, Venezuela.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-07-21-Colombia-Military-Indians/id-f0fa667f863b4bc1915d26cd1cefbd09

the situation cate blanchett drew brees drew brees tim tebow jets katy perry part of me video photoshop cs6 beta

Friday, July 20, 2012

Panasonic Hopes Its New 3.48 Pound Windows 7 Tablet Will Beat The iPad In Healthcare

Panasonic Hopes Its New 3.48 Pound Windows 7 Tablet Will Beat The iPad In Healthcare

Panasonic hopes to drive the iPad out of healthcare with its new 3.48 pound Windows 7 tablet.

Seeking to challenge the iPad?s ongoing success in the healthcare field, Panasonic has announced an updated version of Toughbook tablet for doctors offices and hospitals. The update is the latest for Toughbook product line that Panasonic introduced in 2008.

The 10-inch screen size is about the only thing in the new Toughbook CF-H2 Health tablet offers that is similar to the iPad. The Toughbook is a Windows 7 tablet powered by an Intel Core i5 processor that relies on a 320GB hard drive rather than flash memory for storage (though a 128 GB SSD is?available as a custom build option). It weighs in at a whopping 1.58 kg (3.48 pounds) ? more than double the weight of the new iPad.

The Toughbook, which will ship next month, will have an entry-level price of ?1,898 (approximately $2,330). That?s more than four times the cost of an entry-level new iPad and just shy of six times the cost of the entry-level iPad 2.

Panasonic has been a vocal critic of the iPad in healthcare, claiming that Apple didn?t design its tablet for the rigors of medical or hospital use. One particular point that Panasonic cites in the materials for its ruggedized tablets is that they are easy to clean and disinfect ? the implication being that the iPad isn?t. That point, however, can be remedied with strict cleaning/disinfecting procedures or varying ruggedized iPad cases including Griffin?s AirStrap Med case, which was designed specifically for the healthcare field.

Overall, the iPad has been largely embraced by doctors and many hospitals. This handful of examples illustrate the breadth of iPad success as a hospital tool.

The University of Chicago?s Internal Medicine residency program has seen such?public success with the iPad that it now offers advice for other hospitals and healthcare practices considering Apple?s tablet.
Bradford hospitals trust in the U.K. recently announced a 1,000-iPad roll out.
Ottawa Hospital in Canada was an iPad-in-healthcare pioneer and saw such success with early roll outs that it had deployed 3,000 iPads as of last December.

Panasonic, however still seems to think heavier and chunkier tablets like its Toughbooks are the best options in healthcare and other industries (the company also announced a similar Toughbook tablet for utility and field service engineers).

As recently as the TabTimes Tablet Strategy conference in April, Panasonic?s Business Enterprise Development Manager Jim Dempse, was repeating the overused iPad-competitor claim that the iPad is simply unsuited for use in the workplace (in healthcare or any other industry).

We?ve been in tablets for 15 years. I love Apple, they made the tablet cool again, we get a boost from what they do and we like to think of them as friends. I have two iPads in my house, but they?re built for the consumer world and that?s not where we?re focused.

Source: http://www.cultofmac.com/179632/panasonic-hopes-its-new-3-48-pound-windows-7-tablet-will-beat-the-ipad-in-healthcare/

vin scully petrino fired george zimmerman charged tony romo big sean sherri shepherd sherri shepherd

Astrophile: Shapely galaxy is ahead of the curve

Astrophile is our weekly column on curious cosmic objects, from the solar system to the far reaches of the multiverse

Object: BX442, a sophisticated spiral at the dawn of time
Characteristics: three arms, inner turmoil and a hidden companion

Behold, the cosmic Stone Age. In this brutish era 11 billion years ago, galaxies are forming ? primitive objects that appear as incoherent jumbles or featureless blobs. All except one. Among the rough-hewn masses sits a single sophisticated spiral with three shapely arms. It seems as finely sculpted as the most glamorous galaxies of today.

"When we saw it we were astounded," says David Law at the University of Toronto. "Common wisdom was that these things don't exist."

Law and his colleagues spotted the cosmic anachronism, dubbed BX442, in infrared images from the Hubble Space Telescope. In their observations, the team counted 306 galaxies whose light has been so stretched and reddened by the expansion of the universe ? a phenomenon known as redshift ? that it must have been emitted a mere three billion years after the big bang. Of the lot, only BX442 looks like a spiral. Other surveys of such ancient times have turned up no spiral galaxies at all.

Galaxies of this era tend to be turbulent places, where gas and stars churn violently. Such dynamism should prevent any delicate spiral structures from forming. For example, some modern spirals are thought to be carved as gravity gathers their stars and gas into relatively crowded density waves, which ripple through the galactic disk. But the rapid random motions within primordial galaxies such as BX442 should overwhelm that gentle process.

Could the stunning spiral somehow be a closer, more mature galaxy just pretending to be young and far away? Law and his colleagues checked the galaxy's redshift to make sure. "We have 16 independent measurements of redshift," says Law, and they all agree.

Law then wondered whether the spiral shape might be a mere fluke, a chance arrangement of colliding lumps that mimics a more mature galaxy. Using the Keck telescope in Hawaii, the team sampled the spectrum of light at different spots across BX442, which revealed that the whole thing is rotating as a unified disk of gas and stars. It is a true spiral galaxy.

Better still, the galactic beauty is a "grand design" spiral. That means the object has clearly defined arms stretching all the way from core to outskirts, unlike most spiral galaxies, including the Milky Way, which are broken-up "flocculent" spirals.

A smudge in the Hubble images may be a vital clue to the galaxy's comely shape. The group's observations show a small galaxy in the process of merging with BX442. Today's grand-design spirals often have merging companions too, says Law, and astronomers have suggested that the right kinds of mergers could stir up spiral patterns.

When two great arrays of stars collide, you might expect the result to be a big mess. But the group simulated this process for BX442 and found that if the merging companion isn't too heavy and it approaches along the right track, its gravity could create spiral ripples in the larger object's disk.

If so, the galaxy's rare glamour won't last. The merger will eventually be complete, and the turbulent motions within BX442 should wipe out its spiral pattern within 100 million years, a twinkle in cosmic time. The galaxy will then resume the same plain appearance as its contemporaries. Until, perhaps, billions of years later, when a more mature BX442 could stretch out new spiral arms.

Journal reference: Nature, DOI: 10.1038/nature11256

If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.

Have your say

Only subscribers may leave comments on this article. Please log in.

Only personal subscribers may leave comments on this article

Subscribe now to comment.

All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the "Report" link in that comment to report it to us.

If you are having a technical problem posting a comment, please contact technical support.

Source: http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/21794046/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Carticle0Cdn220A760Eastrophile0Eshapely0Egalaxy0Eis0Eahead0Eof0Ethe0Ecurve0Bhtml0DDCMP0FOTC0Erss0Gnsref0Fonline0Enews/story01.htm

john edwards trial brandon weeden felicia day nfl 2012 draft miami dolphins buffalo bills minnesota vikings

Thursday, July 19, 2012

YouTube add face blur tech to its videos, creates anonymous copies of your clips

Youtube add face blur tech to its videos, creates anonymous copies of your clips

YouTube has added another feature to its enhancements tool, allowing you to automate the process of blurring out people's faces in your photos. Its makers are quick to add that it's still an emerging technology, and that it may still miss out on faces depending on lighting obstructions and video quality. YouTube cites footage from human rights issues for bringing the idea forward, where identification of those involved could prove dangerous. You'll be able to preview how it looks, and if you choose to include the blurred option, a new copy is made to avoid losing the unedited original. The feature is rolling out to the site today -- now you just need a decent video camera.

Continue reading YouTube add face blur tech to its videos, creates anonymous copies of your clips

YouTube add face blur tech to its videos, creates anonymous copies of your clips originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jul 2012 11:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceYouTube blog  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/18/youtube-adds-face-blur-tech/

a thousand words my sisters keeper kirby sarah palin muhammad ali cbi the shins

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

News and Society Blog-Energy: Military Solar Power

The term "going green" is something that many people are familiar with in today's society. A lot of people are doing whatever they can to be more environmentally friendly while also lowering the cost of living. Solar panels are a great way to provide power to your home, business, or other places by using sunlight to provide electricity. There are many amazing benefits to using solar panels; benefits that even the United States Military took notice of. In numerous military bases around the United States, as well as several other countries, solar power panels are being installed in an effort to be more environmentally friendly, also known as going green, as well as lowering energy costs in the process.

For many years, the United States Military has been implementing solar energy to military bases in several different ways. Ideas such as solar powered tents and solar powered backpacks have been put into effect. When soldiers are in places such as Afghanistan, they are constantly being exposed to strong sunlight. These solar powered items help soldiers have access to renewable energy without having to carry many batteries for their electronic devices to work. Soldiers constantly rely on communication devices, and the risk of running out of batteries to make these devices fully functional is always a main concern. With solar energy, the risk is greatly reduced.

There are other ways that solar power is being put to use. Solar power is also being used to provide power to military families who are living on base. Many solar panels are being installed on the rooftops of many homes on military bases across the United States of America. The United States Military hopes that people will see their efforts to "go green" and want to follow in their footsteps. The initial cost for solar energy may be somewhat high, but overall, the money saved over the years is amazing. There are many benefits to using solar energy. Lowering the cost of energy is definitely one of the biggest reasons why people wish to use solar energy, but it is also much better for the earth as well. Even if the sun is not shining every single day, solar panels can still help reduce the energy that you use on a daily basis. The United States Military sees all of the amazing benefits of solar energy and even trusts solar energy to aid in the daily tasks of soldiers. The military is constantly looking for new ways to use solar energy!

Borrego Solar provides installations throughout the United States.

Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert

Source: http://newsandsocietyblog-energy.blogspot.com/2012/07/military-solar-power.html

trace adkins the darkest hour the darkest hour neverland wormwood bcs bowl games phoebe prince

Obama taking in Olympic basketball tune-ups

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Hoops fan President Barack Obama is getting an Olympic preview of USA Basketball.

Obama will be in the stands Monday for the U.S. men's and women's Olympic basketball exhibition games against Brazil. The games are tune-ups before the start of the London Olympics later this month.

Obama is an avid basketball fan and the games allow him to wrap himself in the Olympic spirit during his re-election campaign. His Republican rival, Mitt Romney, is expected to use the Olympics to highlight his leadership role during the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

Romney, who helped turn around the Salt Lake City Games after they became caught up in a bribery scandal, plans to be in London for the opening ceremonies next week. First lady Michelle Obama will lead the U.S. delegation to the opening ceremonies.

ESPN play-by-play commentator Mark Jones was interviewing Obama during halftime of the men's game, which was being broadcast on ESPN2. Vice President Joe Biden was joining Obama at Monday's exhibition games.

Some members of the men's team are Obama supporters. A handful of Olympic team members, including Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant and Chris Paul, had agreed to participate in a basketball game fundraiser for Obama's campaign last December but the event was cancelled because of the resolution of the NBA lockout. The fundraising game has not been rescheduled.

Obama's campaign held a fundraiser last February at the Orlando-area home of Vince Carter of the Dallas Mavericks. Attendees included Paul, who plays point guard for the Los Angeles Clippers, NBA commissioner David Stern and former NBA stars Magic Johnson and Alonzo Mourning.

Basketball has been a longtime passion of Obama's. He played high school basketball in Hawaii and likes to play pickup basketball with friends. He helps coach his daughter Sasha's youth team and keeps close tabs on his hometown Chicago Bulls.

During Veterans Day last year, he was courtside for a game between Michigan State and North Carolina on the flight deck of the USS Carl Vinson off the coast of San Diego. In March, Obama invited British Prime Minister David Cameron to an opening round game of the NCAA tournament in Ohio.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-07-16-US-Obama-Olympic-Basketball/id-e013a6be02494d10af5902de1b2a4b0b

braylon edwards jimmer fredette mall of america mennonite smokey robinson smokey robinson pulmonary embolism

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Analysis: Banks play cat-and-mouse with Beijing to comply with rules

HONG KONG/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's banks are playing a game of cat-and-mouse with the Beijing authorities, window-dressing deposit numbers at the end of each quarter to meet regulatory requirements on how much funds they must hold.

This practice, which started last year, exaggerates the size and stability of banks' liquidity and masks any stresses on the country's financial system at a time when the world's second-biggest economy is expanding at the weakest pace since 2009.

"If there was a list of things that could destabilize China's financial system, bank liquidity would be it," said Diana Choyleva, a Hong Kong-based director at Lombard Street Research.

The government limits the amount of money that banks can dole out as loans at 75 percent of deposits. With deposit growth slowing, banks must seek new funds to meet the requirement or reduce lending, which would go against current government policies on loosening credit to stimulate the economy.

To meet the loans-to-deposit rule, banks are selling short-term wealth management products (WMPs) that mature in the final days of each quarter, when the investment is then automatically converted to cash and deposited into investors' regular accounts.

Banks are also resorting to "deposit brokers" - individuals or businesses with large cash deposits that are able to transfer their money between banks at whim and often to the highest bidder.

The scrambling for deposits plays out in China's money markets, where rates on short-term interbank loans often surge in the final week of the month. The spikes are even more pronounced at the end of each quarter.

On June 27, the benchmark weighted-average seven-day bond repurchase rate jumped to 4.40 percent, the highest since February 24, from 2.55 percent on June 12. The pattern repeats itself every month, soaring then collapsing.

Reflecting this volatility, retail deposits surge at the end of every quarter. A day or two later, the numbers plummet as this money is quickly withdrawn by customers and channeled back into higher-yielding WMPs.

Officials at the country's so-called "Big Four" lenders declined to comment on such practices, but said they abided by all rules set by the China Banking Regulatory Commission.

SLOWING DEPOSIT GROWTH

China's banks have traditionally enjoyed a seemingly endless flow of cheap deposits, allowing them to extend loans freely and insulating them from poor lending decisions. That is changing.

With deposit rates capped by the government at 1.1 times benchmark rates, deposit growth is slowing as savers move their money into mutual funds, real estate and the WMPs being sold by banks.

Banks have suffered month-on-month declines in yuan deposits five times since last year. Between 2002 and 2010, there was only one such monthly outflow.

This is worrying for China's banks, which rely heavily on local savers. Deposits account for 82 percent of liabilities at Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC), the world's biggest bank. At JP Morgan, it's only 53 percent.

Banks began selling WMPs - short-term, higher-risk investment vehicles that offer returns of as high as 10 percent compared with about 3.5 percent for deposits - to retain and attract new customers.

WMPs have ballooned from a few hundred in 2009 to nearly 20,000 today, now equivalent to more than $3 trillion in deposits. About 22 trillion yuan ($3.4 trillion) of such products are set to be issued this year, according to Barclays.

Now, banks are using WMPs as a means of boosting deposit numbers to satisfy regulatory requirements. The problem is WMPs tend to be less "sticky" than regular deposits. That means savers are more likely to move their money between banks in search of higher yields.

"What has happened is that there is money shifting on and off balance sheets," said Alex Lee, an analyst at DBS Vickers in Hong Kong. "When an investor buys a WMP, it comes off the bank deposit records, which then affects the bank's ability to lend."

Money market dealers say the "big four", the largest net lenders in the interbank market, have turned cautious about lending at the end of each month.

With their huge nationwide branch networks, ICBC, Bank of China Ltd, Agricultural Bank of China Ltd and China Construction Bank Corp boast the strongest deposit bases.

But knowing their smaller rivals will use overnight fees and other tactics to draw in short-term deposits near the end of the month, the big banks cut down on interbank lending to protect themselves from a liquidity crunch.

"Demand (for interbank loans) is pretty fixed, but if the big banks are pulling back their supplies, then you will see a spike in the seven-day repo rate," said Ethan Mou, rates strategist at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong.

"At month-end or quarter-end, the small banks are trying like crazy to attract deposits. Even the big banks are afraid they may lose deposits to their competitors. So that's why at the end of the month, they are cautious about lending too much."

DUBIOUS NUMBERS

The balance sheet massages are undermining the loan-to-deposit limit put in place to ensure that banks finance their lending through deposits, rather than short-term funding, which can quickly evaporate in times of market stress.

The concern about the lack of stickiness in WMPs - set to equal 10 percent of China's official deposits - is compounded by worries that the funds raised through the products are used to finance long-term loans and other illiquid assets, all of which would be difficult to sell at short notice, analysts say.

This raises the risk of a sudden liquidity crunch at a bank, which could be triggered by a run on WMPs if losses start to appear.

"Any single default would freeze liquidity and eventually jeopardize (the trust) business," Nomura analyst Lucy Feng wrote in a research report on the Chinese trust industry. "The industry cannot afford to have any non-performing loans that could create a systemic crisis."

The first signs of credit problems at some of these products have begun to surface. Last week, China's No.3 trust company, which sold a bank-trust product, admitted that a loan from one of its funds was at risk.

China's regulators have issued repeated warnings and tighter regulations over the last year to improve the visibility of bank lending practices, particularly at small and medium-sized lenders.

Regulators have called for WMP sales to be accounted for on bank balance sheets, and told banks to assess an investor's financial strength.

China last month also granted banks some flexibility to raise deposit interest rates above the official benchmark, a move aimed at helping them to lure some customers back to traditional deposits.

In a sign of existing strain on the system, the central bank cut interest rates for a second time in a matter of weeks on July 5 to bolster the economy. The People's Bank of China (PBoC) also gave banks more leeway to set lending rates in a move that analysts say was aimed at stimulating borrowing by creating a more competitive landscape.

"The central government and regulators have learnt from the mistakes of the 2008 crisis," said Victoria Mio, a fund manager at Robeco, which has about 177 billion euros in assets under management. "They are taking real action before things happen, using very measured moves."

(Additional reporting by Samuel Shen in Shanghai; Editing by Ryan Woo, Michael Flaherty, Richard Pullin and Chris Lewis)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-banks-play-cat-mouse-beijing-comply-rules-210406499--sector.html

dick clark elie wiesel giuliana rancic giuliana rancic temptations work hard play hard tim ferriss

Not so happy: King penguins stressed by human presence

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

King penguins tolerate some, but not all, human interference. Research published in BioMed Central's open access journal, BMC Ecology, investigates the adjustment of a king penguin colony on the protected Possession island in the subantarctic Crozet Archipelago to over 50 years of constant human disturbance.

A team of researchers from the University of Strasbourg, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and the University of Lausanne, compared 15 king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) breeding in areas disturbed daily by humans and 18 penguins breeding in undisturbed areas. All penguins selected were brooding a chick aged from 2 days to 1 month.

Using heart rate to indicate the stress level of each penguin, they compared the stress response of penguins from the different areas to three stressors. Two low intensity stressors, a human approach to 10 meters and a loud noise, mimicked the actions of tourists, researchers, and noises from machines when operating on the outskirts of the colony. One high intensity stressor, a capture, simulated researchers taking measurements.

Compared with penguins from undisturbed areas, penguins from areas of high human disturbance were less stressed by noise and approaching humans, but following capture, their maximum relative heart rate increased 42% although they then recovered faster.

"Our findings report a case of physiological adjustment to human presence in a long-studied king penguin colony, and emphasize the importance of considering potential effects of human presence in ecological studies", said lead author Vincent Viblanc.

Penguins 'getting used to' people may be beneficial to scientific research and tourist management. However, this study also raises the question of the potential influence of human activities on the selection of specific phenotypes. For example the progressive desertion of disturbed areas by more stress-sensitive individuals. For scientists studying animals in their native habitat, it also underlines the importance of physiological studies in interpreting results before conservation measures are implemented.

Evaluating the impact of humans on protected wildlife such as the king penguins is particularly important given the rise in popularity of Antarctic tour groups. Dr Viblanc said, "A central question for ecologists is the extent to which anthropogenic disturbances (e.g. tourism) might impact wildlife and affect the systems under study". He continued "One of the major pitfalls of such research is in forgetting that, from the perspective of the wildlife studied, tourism and scientific research are not two worlds apart."

###

BioMed Central: http://www.biomedcentral.com

Thanks to BioMed Central for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 51 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/121620/Not_so_happy__King_penguins_stressed_by_human_presence

game changer selection sunday corned beef recipe time change daylight savings rpi dst

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

vegetarian duck: an amsterdam food blog.: bieren + birre.

Above, Birre in Siena, 2001. Below, Birre in Amsterdam, 2012.

+++

Monday Night F*ckball indeed. We were sitting outside at De Kat, the five of us (Brothers Ruiten, mt, DB, KK had just departed), cluttering and recluttering our tabletop with full/empty glasses, when Birre randomly cycled by. Mara squeaked "that was Birre!" and yelled her name and she stopped and came back.

I hadn't seen her in 11 years or so.?Birre is our Dutch classmate from our Italian class in Siena, Italy, back in 2000. Her existence (and attendant dorky coolness) was the impetus for us visiting Amsterdam for the first time for New Year's 2000/2001, thus setting in motion whatever further machinations led to us eventually moving here. She turns 30 on Sunday. 30. Time is flowing like a river.


Birre stayed for a beer and invited us to her birthday party. Then she went home for a nap (she has a new baby) and we stayed outside at De Kat til it closed at 1:30am.

+++

Source: http://vegetarianduck.blogspot.com/2012/07/bieren-birre.html

dia frampton dia frampton zook eric decker eric decker dallas cowboys cheerleaders leftover turkey recipes

Monday, July 2, 2012

Juss Free Vector Art ? Blog Archive ? Self Improvement Jordan ...

Self improvement is ways to develop like a people and grow a better person. By using self improvement education it is possible to become a person Air Jordan which you generally dreamed you could be. The important thing to individual create is schooling and comprehending what must be done to achieve your individual improvement desired goals. The following article includes numerous fantastic ideas to help you with the personal development.

When you are looking for enthusiasm, use good positive affirmations. Optimistic affirmations ? like ?I could try this!? ? help lots of people to obtain the fast motivation which they need. These help you to truly feel comfortable capable of achieve much more and expand being a particular person. Use beneficial positive affirmations to hold you concentrated all the way.

A great hint which can help you with your personal development desired goals is to reveal your story with another person. By revealing your story with other people, you?ll acquire more support because people will be familiar with your goals. You may also have the opportunity Air Jordan Pas Cher to stimulate other people.

Seek advice! Regardless if you are at school or currently inside the job power, asking them questions must be a consistent and anticipated element of our daily lives. Properly prepared and supplied questions eliminate the suspense of what is expected individuals. They may help our overall performance and improve our self confidence.

Become familiar with a new expression every day to further improve your language. There are numerous websites accessible that supply a fresh vocabulary expression every day. By opting to utilize their provide, you increase not just your terminology, but also your self esteem. Furthermore, understanding a fresh expression assists to help keep your mind active.

When concentrating on Jordan Femme personal development, it?s helpful to find out what is the best shortage in your life ? one thing that?s ranking between both you and your desired goals. Center on this one issue, and try to get a reserve or software to resolve that specific problem. Then center on subsequent it.

Don?t be afraid to request for help. This may be one of the most important things to know in your self-help quest. Requesting the help of these close to you who are certified is in fact a sign of strength. You get the advantages of someone who is objective and a little bit more skilled than you happen to be.

As opposed to centering on the adverse aspects of your life, be thankful for which you actually have. There are many men and women Jordan Femme on earth that are homeless, terminally sick, or without the need of household. Be at liberty which you have health and well being, possess a roofing more than your head where you can loving loved ones.

As was stated at the beginning of this post, dealing with your personal development is a means to improve your identiity as being an individual and to boost the need for your life. Personal development is difficult so it is essential to know and comprehend the principles Air Jordan Pas Cher right behind the ideal personal development techniques. Keep to the guidance in this article and you?ll be well on your way to turning into the individual you might have always wanted getting.

Reputable Air Jordan 2012 Outlet provides all sorts of inexpensive Chaussure Air Jordan Pas Cher Shoes straight away with Quick Shipping, Safe Checkout & Excellent Customer Support.

Source: http://jussfreevectorart.com/self-improvement-jordan-femme-information-you-ought-to-make-the-most-of/

texas news kim mulkey sarah palin today show dallas tornado video 1940 census instagram for android dallas news

APNewsBreak: On verge of new particle discovery

GENEVA (AP) ? Scientists say the world's biggest atom smasher plans to announce Wednesday enough evidence has been gathered to show that the long-sought "God particle" answering fundamental questions about the universe does indeed exist.

But after decades of work and billions of dollars spent, researchers at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, say they aren't quite ready to set off celebratory fireworks with an official discovery announcement.

Instead, experts familiar with the research at CERN's vast complex on the Swiss-French border say Monday its massive data will essentially show the footprint and shadow of the key particle known as the Higgs boson, rather than provide proof it has been glimpsed or discovered.

CERN theorist John Ellis says "we've discovered something which is consistent with being a Higgs."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2012-07-02-EU-Switzerland-God-Particle/id-8dc73ba74fc0428b821fd7320fb3878f

zerg rush david wilson playstation all stars battle royale kim zolciak kim zolciak quinton coples a.j. jenkins

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Mandy Koeppen: 5 for Friday

Five for Friday: Where I've been the book HA...

1. THE MOVE: we bought our dream house! While I was working a Scrapbook Expo for EC Mr.K and family moved us from Hastings to a small town by Lansing. Holy Hell we have alot of stuff it's unreal! We love this house it has everything on our list and added bonuses we never thought we'd have. So with moving came the unpacking which still isn't done since I am going thru all our crap and slowly purging. Our whole family is very happy here. Some of you might be asking how it was for Mav well he did great! He love being home and did just fine. He plays outside lots and is very active compared to before. The girls are having lots of adventures here too since they have a few acres to roam. When we moved we only had a few weeks left at school so they finished the school year out in Hastings and will start a new school in the fall which they are looking forward to(the girls not Mav he doesn't want to go back to school). So for 3 weeks I would drive the 50minutes 4 times a day it sucked but I see what Mr.K did for over 5 years so 3 weeks was nothing. Now that school is done we're all happy just relaxing at home. BONUS: I have a beautiful new scrap room thanks to Mr.K.

2. SICKNESS: the week after I got back home from the Expo was HELL I got so sick and tried to tough it out but it took over my body. I was crying in my sleep, hallucinating, sleeping the days away, and in so much pain.Mr.K ended up saying enough is enough no more toughing it out and took me to the ER I had a severe case of strep throat, double ear infection, and some kind of bug. Thanks to Mr.K and Gma&Gpa for taking care of the kids cause I couldn't. Then Teagan got sick and battle bronchitis, laryngitis and some other itis that turned into pneumonia. The poor kid was on enough meds to knock a horse out. She had to go back 3 different times because it just didn't get better but after a month she is doing ok still has to use the inhaler and the cough is better now. With all this the other 3 in our family got sick here and there too ugh it was bad.

3. CREATING: Yes with everything else I have been creating in my new scrap room. It's so nice to have windows and daylight in a room while you scrap it inspires and makes creating easier. I will share photos of my space after they are up on the AC blog next month. There are a few on instagram if you want to check them out username: MandyKoeppen . I'll be sharing some of my new creations in a post later here on my blog :)

4. UNPACKING & DECORATING: Yes I was in a sea of boxes and still have the garage to go thru but I'm loving the this space and decorating it. Our old house I had a few things out but it wasn't home but now now we're home! I have a mantle that is one of my favorite thing in this house it has lots of vintage goodness displayed. I found a great little shop the next town over that I found and love it has lots of neat vintage stuff and boy have I scored some good finds there. Mr.K painted the house in-between moving trips while I was gone he did an awesome job and even picked a great color for one of the bedrooms. We have lots of color in the house dark red, dark mustard yellow, sage green, robins egg w/ a touch of green, chocolate brown, and my favorite Grey. I could go on and on.

5. ENJOYING FAMILY & ME TIME: we have had some fun adventures as a family and I've had a few of my own too. We went to Gizzard Fest yes you read that right its a big deal here in our little town. It's like a holiday crazy masses of peeps, carnival rides, garage sales, vendors, all sorts of things. Mav isn't much for festivals so he had a Gma&Gpa weekend while the girls got to take in Gizzard fest with me & Mr.K. We have been doing lots of things here at home: swimming, adventures, just plain ol hanging out. This week my mom took all 3 kiddos for a few days which gave Mr.K and I some time for Us time during the evenings and Me some Mandy Time during the days oh the adventures I've had. I love living in this little town with the big city and all sorts of adventures just around the corner(less then 15minutes away).

Thanks for readin all my rambling if you have :) Don't forget the giveaway below is still open. Have a great Friday! ~MK

Source: http://mandykoeppen.blogspot.com/2012/06/5-for-friday.html

the third man 2012 nfl draft order mohamed sanu chris polk chicago bulls dallas cowboys st louis blues