Victoria On ?America's Next Top Model? And The Scourge Of Faux ...

Victoria Confronted On "ANTM"

Every reality show competition has its oddball and Victoria on ?America?s Next Top Model? fits it to a ?T.? She was homeschooled, attends online schooling at uber-religious Liberty University, and when she ?gets in character? she over-acts during all her photoshoots ? like in the most recent episode when she spat at the photographer. Victoria also just so happens to be the girl I want to win; she takes some of the best pictures, and easily has the best work ethic (which is half the battle).

Over the past several episodes of ?ANTM,? the other girls have been closing in on Victoria. It started with snotty comments about Victoria being weird ? which, sure, she is. Then it exacerbated in the episode before last when, at judging, the girls told Tyra Banks that they think Victoria isn?t eating enough ? which, if we can go off the way producers have edited the show, is probably also true. Victoria defended herself and said she doesn?t have an eating disorder, she?s just extremely anxious about the competition and being away from her mom for the first time ? which, again, is probably true. Tyra then pronounced she deeply cares about the health and well-being of the girls on her show, threatened that if Victoria restricts her eating she?s out of the competition, and vowed to keep an eye on her.

Then, on Friday night?s episode, all of this hoopla went even further: the remaining girls in the house confronted Victoria, telling her they don?t think she?s ?stable enough to continue with the competition.

Before I go on, I want to be clear that I don?t think you can seriously, accurately diagnose anyone you watch on reality TV. We know these shows are heavily edited to serve a formulaic narrative set forth by the producers predicated on dramatizing conflict within a group of people who have already been cast for their conflicting personalities to begin with. (You can find out more about reality show casting ? aka ?the Snooki formula? ? straight from the horse?s mouth here.) You can?t discount the fact that reality TV is heavily, heavily, heavily edited. Therefore it?s easy to paint Victoria as ?crazy,? which is clearly what producers want us to think because they?ve repeatedly included the other girls in the house saying as much.

The other girls in the house repeatedly call Victoria the stigmatizing word ?crazy? behind her back. But to her face and to Tyra? It? s a different story. ?At panel (watch below), they behave as if they are coming from a place of real concern. That ain?t real concern. That is faux concern. And it?s the faux concern that we call ?concern trolling? because it comes from a place of judgment rather than solving a real problem.?This is not the way to behave if someone has a legit problem. Concern isn?t concern if it includes social snubbing, cattiness, and?a lack of sincerity.

Maybe some of the girls actually have genuine concerns about Victoria, but they?re going about it in the wrong way (rolling their eyes behind Victoria at panel, etc.). ?That?s understandable to a degree because it?s a competition; they are probably hoping Victoria will self-immolate from buckling under the stress and they?ll have one less girl to fight against. However,?other girls in the house seem all too gleeful to encourage that self-immolation. ?In fact, the way Kristen is treating Victoria is straight-up?bullying. I don?t think Kristen has a single ounce of genuine concern over Victoria?s health, despite repeatedly saying she thinks Victoria is unstable. Kristen is instead trying to push Victoria over the edge on purpose so she?ll leave the competition ? which, if she genuinely thinks Victoria is so fractured, is kinda evil.

Panel judge Kelly Cutrone addressed the bullying during panel, issuing a stern warning to the other girls. Tyra, as far as we can tell from the editing, stayed silent. And that?s part of the problem.??Faux-concern on reality shows, especially on ?ANTM,? is a top-down problem. Tyra Banks is not only a judge but an executive producer, and reportedly an extremely hands-on one, getting her hands dirty setting the narrative and editing direction,??Jennifer L. Pozner, author of Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth About Guilty Pleasure TV, wrote to me in an email. ?Tyra always frames herself as the concerned big sister who wants to look out for the models? physical and mental health, yet behind the scenes she manipulates scenarios to cause the maximum emotional angst possible, pits girls against one another, and creates narratives that are deeply misleading and dangerous about health and eating.? I can?t be the only one waiting for Tyra to actually step in as she warned she would and address Victoria?s mental health and/or eating issues, whatever they may be.

Watching this go down on ?ANTM? leaves a sour taste in my mouth because I know of what I speak: when I was 24 or 25, a friend of mine took me aside and said that he was really concerned about my anxiety and depression. He said other people were concerned, too, and that he thought I needed to ask for help. He was right, of course, and I got serious about taking care of my depression in a real way. Almost four years later, I?m much happier and healthier. To an extent, I credit that frank conversation with my friend as a wakeup call.

That said,?do?I think Victoria has some actual issues that she might want to seek treatment for after the show is done taping? Definitely. I already wrote about her uncomfortably close relationship with her mom. And you can tell from the way she outwardly freaks out every time she calls her mom that she?s riddled with more anxiety about the competition than the other girls. She?s said so herself that she doesn?t eat a lot because she?s anxious ? which, to be honest, is something that I used to do in college when I was feeling overwhelmed as well. Do I think she is ?crazy,? whatever that means? No. How old is Victoria, 18? 19? For better or for worse, these are fairly typical negative responses for a young person handling immense amounts of stress. Victoria reminds me somewhat of a younger version of myself; she reminds me very,?very?much of a younger version of my best friend, who, incidentally, also has a close relationship with her mother and a somewhat sheltered upbringing.

I don?t know what is going to happen to Victoria in future episodes or after the show is complete. I do hope she gets the help she needs and is able to piece herself together. Watching what Victoria is going through at the hands of the other girls in the house makes me only want her to succeed even more.

Contact the author of this post at Jessica@TheFrisky.com. Follow me on Twitter.

Source: http://www.thefrisky.com/2012-10-22/victoria-on-americas-next-top-model-and-the-scourge-of-faux-concern/

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?No Indicator of Traditional Religious Belief or Practice Is Going Up ...

Mark Chaves, American Religion: Contemporary Trends (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2011).

American Religion by Mark Chaves contains little good news for America?s religious leaders. Subtitled Contemporary Trends, the book examines continuity and discontinuity in American religious belief and practice over the last 40 years. While there are significant points of continuity in this time period?of belief in God and weekly attendance at religious services, for example?overall, the trend is toward discontinuity. ?The religious trends I have documented point to a straightforward general conclusion,? Chaves writes: ?no indicator of traditional religious belief or practice is going up? (emphasis in the original).

Chaves? primary data sets are the General Social Survey (GSS) and the National Congregations Study (NCS), which he directed. Both surveys were conducted by the National Opinion Research Center of the University of Chicago. GSS has been conducted annually since 1972 and NCS in 1998 and 2006?7. Chaves is professor of sociology, religion, and divinity at Duke University, and his book is published by Princeton University Press. The book is brief (160 pages), but its data, author, and publisher make it an authoritative text whose conclusions religious leaders must wrestle with.

Here are some of those conclusions:

• America is increasingly a religious diverse nation, with a rising number of religiously unaffiliated persons?the so-called ?nones? (chapter 2).
• Americans? religious beliefs show remarkable continuity, except in the area of biblical inerrancy, which is declining (chapter 3).
• American religious involvement, measured by weekly attendance at a religious service is stable but softening (chapter 4).
• American congregations are shaped by ?the same cultural, social, and economic pressures affecting American life and institutions more generally? and can be seen in six trends: ?looser connections between congregations and denominations, more computer technology, more informal worship, older congregants, more high-income and college-educated congregants, and?more people concentrated in very large churches? (chapter 5).
• American religious leadership is a career choice for fewer and fewer people, and its ranks are older and less esteemed as pressionals than they used to be (chapter 6).
• Liberal Protestant denominations are declining but liberal religious ideas are increasing in influence. The decline in liberal Protestant denominations is not explained by transfer growth to conservative Protestant denominations. Rather, liberal Protestants are becoming ?nones,? largely because of the increasing identification of religion and conservative politics (chapter 7).
• American religiosity is increasingly identified with social and political conservatism. On abortion, the most religiously active become increasingly conservative. But on gay marriage, the most religiously active liberalize at a pace slower than the religious population. Either way, the most religious active Americans are more conservative than the less religiously active (chapter 8).

Chapter 9 summarizes the book?s findings this way: ?If there is a trend, it is toward less religion.? Chaves? is ambivalent about whether this trend is good or bad for America as a whole. On the one hand, he writes, ?Increased tolerance of, even appreciation for, religions other than one?s own, described in chapter 2, is good news for our increasingly pluralistic society.? On the other hand, ?Countering this positive trend?is the increasing attitudinal difference between the more religious and the less religious.? He goes on to write, ?It would be ironic and unfortunate if Americans? increasing appreciation for religions other than their own becomes overwhelmed by increasing hostility between the more and the less religious.?

There is another danger in the trend of religious non-affiliation. Chaves writes: ?If half of all the social capital in America?meaning half of all the face-to-face associational activity, personal philanthropy, and volunteering?happens through religious institutions, the vitality of those institutions influences more than American religious life. Weaker religious institutions would mean a different kind of American civic life.?

As I noted at the outset, there is little good news for America?s religious leaders in Mark Chaves? book. The trend is toward less religion. One could accentuate the positives and say that less religion means less nominal religion and more authentic religion, and perhaps there?s something to that. But in accentuating the positive, we shouldn?t overlook the very considerable negatives, mainly, less religion and more political antagonism to religion.

Of course, the New Testament church faced even greater odds and nonetheless grew in size and influence. But they were converting pagans to the faith of Jesus Christ. Can we experience a similar revival in a post-Christian society? In my opinion, that?s the fundamental question the American church needs to answer. And if yes, how? That?s the fundamental challenge facing American religious leaders today.

P.S. If you found this review helpful, please vote ?Yes? on my Amazon.com review page.

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Source: http://georgepwood.com/2012/10/22/no-indicator-of-traditional-religious-belief-or-practice-is-going-up-a-review-of-american-religion-by-mark-chaves/

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Slide sparks Giants past Cardinals to even NLCS

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Marco Scutaro stayed steady behind second base, absorbing Matt Holliday's hard takeout slide and tossing the ball to first for a possible double play.

As Scutaro squirmed in the infield, twisting in pain, fans at AT&T Park showered Holliday with boos. Giants players watched and worried, fearing the worst for a fallen teammate. Manager Bruce Bochy and trainer Dave Groeschner ran out of the dugout to attend to Scutaro, who finally dusted off the dirt and stood up strongly.

And just like that, so did San Francisco's offense.

Scutaro singled in two runs during a four-run fourth inning before leaving with a hip injury, sparking San Francisco's first home win this postseason, 7-1 over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night to tie the NL championship series at one game apiece.

"We felt for him," center fielder Angel Pagan said. "We felt a little bit of anger."

All those feelings came crashing down on the Cardinals in a hurry.

Scutaro left after the fifth because of a left hip he injured on a play Giants manager Bruce Bochy felt was illegal. X-rays were negative, and Scutaro likely will get an MRI exam on Tuesday. There was no word on his status, but closer Sergio Romo said when Scutaro left, the second baseman "had a little smile on his face that he'd be back. Definitely not really worried right now."

"In my opinion," right fielder Hunter Pence said, "it pumped us up a little bit."

The series now shifts to St. Louis for three games, starting Wednesday when San Francisco ace Matt Cain takes on Kyle Lohse of the Cardinals, and the Giants are already rallying behind the slide against Scutaro.

Things got testy when Holliday barreled into Scutaro at second base to break up the potential double play in the first inning. The play riled up fans that had seen three straight losses by the Giants so far this postseason and still hold fresh ? and sensitive ? memories of the home-plate collision that sidelined All-Star catcher Buster Posey most of last season.

"In hindsight, I wish I would have started the slide a little earlier, but it happened so fast," Holliday said. "I hope he's OK, he's a good guy. I was more interested in breaking up the double play."

There was plenty to cheer all night for Giants supporters.

Ryan Vogelsong pitched seven strong innings, Pagan hit a leadoff homer to give San Francisco its first home lead this postseason and Scutaro stayed in until breaking the game open with his single off Chris Carpenter.

"That shows you how tough he is," Bochy said. "I really think they got away with an illegal slide there. That rule was changed a while back. And he really didn't hit dirt until he was past the bag. Marco was behind the bag and got smoked. It's a shame somebody got hurt because of this. That's more of a roadblock."

Making Scutaro's hit even sweeter for the Giants was the fact that Holliday misplayed the ball in left field, allowing a third run to score on the error and Scutaro to advance to second.

"There's baseball gods. There's definitely baseball gods," said former Giants first baseman and current special assistant Will Clark, whose takeout slide in July 2008 of St. Louis second baseman Jose Oquendo, now the Cardinals third base coach, set off a brawl. "There's a reason why he hits a (single) and Holliday boots the ball he hit. Baseball gods shine in weird ways."

The Giants also benefited from a missed call by an umpire in the eighth inning after St. Louis center fielder Jon Jay made a spectacular, diving catch to rob Brandon Crawford of a hit.

Jay threw toward first and the Cardinals should have gotten a double play, but first base umpire Bill Miller did not see Allen Craig tag Gregor Blanco's jersey as he raced back to first on the play.

St. Louis manager Mike Matheny argued the call and the umpires huddled to discuss it, but they kept the safe call even though replays showed Craig made the tag. The Giants capitalized when Ryan Theriot hit a two-run single to make it 7-1.

"I'm not going to take a hard stance one way or another on the replay," Matheny said.

"That really wasn't the game today," he said. "But every once in a while there's a big play that does change the course of the game and I'm not against having something else to help get it right."

Back at Busch Stadium, Holliday will be cheered after being the target of boos all night following his aggressive play on the basepaths.

With runners on first and second and one out in the first, Craig hit a bouncer to Crawford, and the shortstop quickly flipped to Scutaro for the forceout. Holliday, a former high school football star in Oklahoma, came tumbling in and slid late into Scutaro, buckling his left leg to prevent the double play.

"A lot of guys take pride in breaking up double plays. Holliday is one of them," Cardinals second baseman Daniel Descalso said. "On slowly hit balls you're going to get hit. You don't want anyone to get hurt, but I'm all for playing the game hard."

Vogelsong got out of the jam by retiring Yadier Molina on a groundout to short.

"I just really was trying to make the next pitch to get the guy out so we could get him in the dugout," Vogelsong said.

Scutaro stayed in the game with a limp until being replaced in the sixth by Theriot. By then, he had done his damage with the bat in the big fourth inning.

The rally started innocently enough with a bloop, opposite field double by Brandon Belt and a chopper over third baseman David Freese by Blanco. Crawford then hit a bouncer between the mound and first base that Carpenter fielded and threw short and left of first base, allowing Belt to score. It appeared Crawford may have impeded Carpenter by running slightly inside the baseline, but the Cardinals did not argue the play.

After Vogelsong's sacrifice bunt advanced the runners to second and third, Pagan walked to load the bases with two outs and Scutaro lined his single to left-center that Holliday misplayed to the delight of Giants fans, putting Carpenter and the Cardinals into a 5-1 hole.

"He's a clutch hitter, he always has been, I know that since he's been over here," Carpenter said. "He's not going to miss those opportunities."

Vogelsong made the lead hold up by becoming the first Giants starter to make it through six innings this postseason. He allowed four hits and one run for his first career postseason win.

These teams have a history of contentious meetings in the NLCS, from Jeffrey Leonard's one-flap down home run trot in 1987 that riled up the Cardinals to a benches-clearing dustup 10 years ago when St. Louis reliever Mike Crudale buzzed Kenny Lofton after he showboated on a home run.

San Francisco answered with the bats this time as Pagan led off the bottom of the first with a homer ? matching his feat from Game 4 of the division series against Cincinnati. The Giants had been outscored 20-6 and never led in two home losses to the Reds and the Game 1 defeat to the Cardinals.

Pagan's shot came soon after Scutaro was wiped out.

"I haven't seen the replay, so I can't judge if it was dirty or not," Pagan said. "Any time you see a teammate fall down like that, you really feel for him."

The Cardinals tied it in the second inning when Pete Kozma drew a two-out walk and scored on Carpenter's RBI double, his third hit already this postseason.

But Carpenter, making his fifth appearance in 2012 after complicated surgery to remove a rib and two neck muscles, wasn't nearly as sharp on the mound or in the field. He allowed five runs ? two earned ? and six hits in four innings, failing to add to his 10 career postseason wins.

NOTES: Philadelphia's Jimmy Rollins is the only other player with two leadoff homers in a single postseason, doing it in 2008. ... Cardinals OF Carlos Beltran reached base three times, doubling twice and walking once. ... Giants 3B coach Tim Flannery performed the national anthem with the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir and Phil Lesh.

___

Antonio Gonzalez can be reached at: www.twitter.com/agonzalezAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/slide-sparks-giants-past-cardinals-even-nlcs-074124198--mlb.html

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UNDER PERSECUTION ? THE BLACK KETTLE

UNDER?PERSECUTION

Prisoner Profile

Held 215 days

Alireza Seyyedian

Arrested March 2012 in Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Fact Sheet

Alireza Seyyedian is a 37-year-old former Muslim who has been a Christian since 2006. Last year, security forces confiscated his computer during a raid on his apartment. Authorities then discovered video of Alireza?s baptism in Turkey on the computer. In December 2011 he was sentenced to six years in prison, for crimes against national security and propaganda against the regime.

The judge stated that since Alireza was baptized in Turkey, he was trying to express the lack of freedom in Iran and was therefore was propagating against the regime. He was also accused of holding regular meetings with former Muslims and distributing Bibles among youth. They also said he had communication with Zionist satellite TV channels such as Mohabat TV and Radio Mojde and shared worship hymns he had written with them. The verdict also falsely accused him of being a member of the Jesus Only cult.

On March 14, 2012, Alireza was caught seeking to flee Iran for Turkey. He was arrested and transported back to Tehran where he was imprisoned in Evin prison. He was put in Section 350 of the prison, which is where political prisoners are held. That part of the prison is run by VEVAK, the intelligence service that reports to Ayatollah Khameini and is beyond the control of Iran?s prison authorities. According to one report, the conditions of this section of the prison are unsanitary, and each cell is overcrowded with around 30 political prisoners.

Alireza has never been married.

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October 15, 2012 - Posted by Tim | Uncategorized

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Source: http://blackkettle.wordpress.com/2012/10/15/under-persecution-62/

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Nodding Donkeys In the Bakken, Eagle Ford, and the Utica

Link here to Bloomberg.

Data points later, maybe, except this one:

New wells in the Bakken formation of North Dakota and Montana generate enough pressure to flow on their own for as long as two years before pump jacks or other so-called artificial-lift equipment is needed, Jeffrey B. Hume, executive vice chairman of Continental Resources Inc., the dominant Bakken operator, said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.?

A little bit of hyperbole, perhaps. It depends.

Source: http://www.milliondollarwayblog.com/2012/10/nodding-donkeys-in-bakken-eagle-ford.html

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Romney won't revoke young illegal immigrant visas

Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks during a presidential campaign rally at Wings of the Rockies Air and Space Museum on Monday, Oct. 1, 2012, in Denver. (AP Photo/The Denver Post, AAron Ontiveroz) MAGS OUT; TV OUT; NO INTERNET

Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks during a presidential campaign rally at Wings of the Rockies Air and Space Museum on Monday, Oct. 1, 2012, in Denver. (AP Photo/The Denver Post, AAron Ontiveroz) MAGS OUT; TV OUT; NO INTERNET

DENVER (AP) ? Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney says he would honor temporary work permits for young illegal immigrants who were allowed to stay in the U.S. because of a decision by President Barack Obama.

Romney told The Denver Post, in an interview appearing in Tuesday's edition, that people who are able to earn the two-year visas to stay and work wouldn't see them revoked under a Romney administration.

"The people who have received the special visa that the president has put in place, which is a two-year visa, should expect that the visa would continue to be valid. I'm not going to take something that they've purchased," Romney told the Post, promising to put a comprehensive immigration reform plan into place before those visas expire.

In June, Obama issued a new policy that allows some young illegal immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children to avoid deportation. Romney criticized Obama for circumventing Congress to make the change a few months before the presidential election.

During the Republican presidential primary, Romney said he would veto legislation to provide a path to citizenship for some of the young people who benefited from Obama's new policy.

Throughout the Republican primary, Romney took an aggressive tack on immigration, saying in debates that he approved of "self-deportation," where undocumented workers would choose to leave on their own because they were unable to find work in the U.S. He assailed rival Rick Perry, the Texas governor, for allowing illegal immigrants to attend Texas state colleges and universities at in-state tuition rates.

Romney also said he would veto the so-called DREAM Act, legislation that would have allowed a path to citizenship the children of illegal immigrants if they meet certain education or service requirements. Romney has always said he supports a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who serve in the military.

After rival Rick Santorum dropped out of the primary, leaving Romney the presumptive Republican nominee, the former Massachusetts governor indicated he would review potential legislation from Florida Sen. Marco Rubio that would have allowed some young illegal immigrants a way to stay in the country.

At a Univision forum last month, Romney said: "I'm not going to be rounding people up and deporting them from the country. ... I will put in an immigration reform plan that solves this issue."

The Denver Post interview comes as Romney and Obama are fighting a heated battle for Colorado, whose significant Hispanic population could determine which candidate receives the state's nine electoral votes.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-10-02-Romney-Young%20Immigrants/id-37dc04770c6b4195821b41d99488d268

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New fanged dwarf dinosaur from Africa ate plants

ScienceDaily (Oct. 3, 2012) ? With tiny 1-inch long jaws, a new species of plant-eater has come to light in rocks in South Africa dating to the early dinosaur era, some 200 million years ago. This ?punk-sized? herbivore is one of a menagerie of bizarre, tiny, fanged plant-eaters called heterodontosaurs, or ?different toothed reptiles,? that were among the first dinosaurs to spread across the planet.

The single specimen of the new species was originally chipped out of red rock in southern Africa in the 1960s and discovered in a collection of fossils at Harvard University by Paul Sereno, paleontologist and professor at the University of Chicago and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence. Details of the dinosaur?s anatomy and lifestyle are part of a monograph by Sereno dedicated to these puny herbivores and published in the online journal ZooKeys.

Named Pegomastax africanus, or ?thick jaw from Africa,? the new species had a short parrot-shaped beak up front, a pair of stabbing canines, and tall teeth tucked behind for slicing plants. The tall teeth in upper and lower jaws operated like self-sharpening scissors, with shearing wear facets that slid past one another when the jaws closed. The parrot-shaped skull, less than three inches long, may have been adapted to plucking fruit.

?Very rare,? admits Sereno, ?that a plant-eater like Pegomastax would sport sharp-edged, enlarged canines? like that of a vampire. Some scientists have argued that consuming meat or at the least insects was a good part of the diet of heterodontosaurs, which evolved near the root of the great bird-hipped radiation of dinosaurs that includes the famous plant-eaters Triceratops and Stegosaurus.

Self-defense and competitive sparring for mates is more likely their role, argues Sereno in the study, based on microscopic examination of the teeth of Pegomastax and kin. Wear facets and chipped enamel suggest that the fangs of Pegomastax and other heterodontosaurs were used like those of living fanged deer for nipping or even digging rather than slicing flesh.

A bizarre covering of bristles, something like that of a porcupine, likely covered most of the body of Pegomastax, which measured less than two-feet in length and weighed less than a housecat. These bristles first came to light in a similar-sized heterodontosaur, Tianyulong, discovered recently in China and described in the study. Buried in lake sediment and covered by volcanic ash, Tianyulong preserves hundreds of bristles spread across its body from its neck to the tip of its tail. In life, dwarf-sized heterodontosaurs like Pegomastax would have scampered around in search of suitable plants, says Sereno, looking something like a ?nimble two-legged porcupine.?

When Pegomastax lived some 200 million years ago, the supercontinent Pangaea had just begun to split into northern and southern landmasses. Heterodontosaurs appear to have divided similarly, the study argues, the northern species with simple triangular teeth like Tianyulong and the southern species with taller crowns like Pegomastax.

Sereno marvels at these punk-sized early herbivores that spread across the globe. Although virtually unknown to the public, ?Pegomastax and kin were the most advanced plant-eaters of their day.?

Citation: Paul C. Sereno, ?Taxonomy, Morphology, Masticatory Function and Phylogeny of Heterodontosaurid Dinosaurs,? ZooKeys online, Oct. 3, 2012.

Funding sources: The National Geographic Society, Whitten-Newman Foundation, Island Fund of the New York Community Trust, Pritzker Foundation.

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

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Paul Sereno. Taxonomy, morphology, masticatory function and phylogeny of heterodontosaurid dinosaurs. ZooKeys, 2012; 226 (0): 1 DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.226.2840

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/uJFtGCgQvNo/121003094127.htm

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British GENES (British Genealogy News and Events): More Ancestry ...

Just a few more additions from Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) in its latest update:

• Rental Book of The Cistercian Abbey of Cupar - Angus, Volume 2
• Schedule of the Title Deeds of the Sneaton Estate in North Riding 1748-1822
• Scholars of St. Peter's College Westminster 1561-1812
• Sedbergh School Register 1546-1895
• Severn Tunnel School 1883-1913 Log Book

Now I know they are from Archive CD Books! I purchased the first copy here a few years back from them, which managed to get me back the furthest yet with any client in Scotland - to the 15th century. As with the other titles announced yesterday, they are not keyword searchable, and must be browsed.

Also - for anyone with Canadian connections, the site has also added Canada Voters Rolls from 1935-1980 in its Worldwide offerings.

Chris

Scottish Research Online - 5 weeks online Pharos course, ?45.99, taught by Chris Paton from 26 SEP 2012 - see www.pharostutors.com
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx?(from June 12th 2012)

Source: http://britishgenes.blogspot.com/2012/10/more-ancestry-british-additions.html

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iPad Pinball Controller Makes No Promise of Wizardry [Ipad]

One of the few action-oriented games that shines on a touchscreen device is pinball, thanks to its dead simple control scheme. That being said, playing pinball's always best with a set of physical buttons to tap and a spring-loaded ball launcher, which this iPad accessory delivers. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/DGWKwC9rM-I/ipad-pinball-controller-makes-no-promise-of-wizardry

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Prince Harry Drops Naked Photo Complaint

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/10/prince-harry-drops-naked-photo-complaint/

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Judge halts Pa.'s tough new voter ID requirement

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) ? A judge on Tuesday blocked Pennsylvania's divisive voter identification requirement from going into effect on Election Day, delivering a hard-fought victory to Democrats who said it was a ploy to defeat President Barack Obama and other opponents who said it would prevent the elderly and minorities from voting.

The decision by Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson on the law requiring each voter to show a valid photo ID could be appealed to the state Supreme Court.

However, Simpson based his decision on guidelines given to him days ago by the high court justices, and it could easily be the final word on the law just five weeks before the Nov. 6 election.

Simpson ordered the state not to enforce the photo ID requirement in this year's presidential election but will allow it to go into full effect next year.

One lawyer for the plaintiffs said it appeared to be a "win." Election workers will still be allowed to ask voters for a valid photo ID, but people without it can vote on a regular voting machine in the polling place and would not have to cast a provisional ballot or prove their identity to election officials after the election.

His ruling came after listening to two days of testimony about the state's eleventh-hour efforts to make it easier to get a valid photo ID. He also heard about long lines and ill-informed clerks at driver's license centers and identification requirements that made it hard for some registered voters to get a state-issued photo ID.

The 6-month-old law ? now among the nation's toughest ? has sparked a divisive debate over voting rights and become a high-profile political issue in the contest between President Barack Obama, a Democrat, and Republican nominee Mitt Romney, for Pennsylvania's prized 20 electoral votes.

Pennsylvania, traditionally considered one of the most valuable a presidential swing states, is showing a persistent lead for Obama in independent polls. As a result, the state has been virtually empty of presidential TV ads and off the candidates' beaten paths to more contested states in recent weeks.

Pollsters had said Pennsylvania's identification requirement could mean that fewer people ended up voting and, in the past, lower turnouts have benefited Republicans in Pennsylvania.

But Democrats have used their opposition to the law as a rallying cry, turning it into a valuable tool to motivate volunteers and campaign contributions while other opponents of the law, including labor unions, good government groups, the NAACP, AARP and the League of Women Voters, hold voter education drives and protest rallies.

The voter ID law was a signature accomplishment of Pennsylvania's Republican-controlled Legislature and its Republican governor, Tom Corbett. Republicans, long suspicious of ballot-box stuffing in the Democratic bastion of Philadelphia, justified it as a bulwark against any potential election fraud.

Democrats objected furiously, accusing Republicans of using old-fashioned Jim Crow tactics to steal the White House from Obama by making it harder for young adults, the poor, minorities and the disabled to vote.

Protests, warnings of Election Day chaos and voter education drives ensued, as the law's opponents began collecting stories of people who had no valid photo ID and had encountered stiff barriers in their efforts to get one from state driver's license centers.

It was already a political lightning rod when a top state Republican lawmaker boasted to a GOP dinner in June that the ID requirement "is going to allow Gov. Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania."

A wave of new voter identification requirements have been approved in the past couple years, primarily by Republican-controlled Legislatures.

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Indiana's voter ID law in 2008, and Georgia's top court upheld that state's voter ID law. But a federal court panel struck down Texas' voter ID law, and the state court in Wisconsin has blocked its voter ID laws for now. The Justice Department cleared New Hampshire's voter ID law earlier this year, and a federal court is reviewing South Carolina's law.

The plaintiffs ? a group of registered voters, plus the Homeless Advocacy Project, the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ? had sought to block the law from taking effect in this year's election as part of a wider challenge to its constitutionality.

The constitutionality of the law was not a question before Simpson.

Rather, the state Supreme Court had ordered him to stop the law if he thought anyone eligible would be unable to cast a ballot because of it or if he found the state had not complied with law's promise of providing liberal access to a photo ID that voters were required to carry on Election Day.

Last week, the Corbett administration overhauled the process for getting a voting-only ID card ? an admission that the state had not met the Supreme Court's test for the whether the law should stand.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/judge-halts-pa-tough-voter-id-requirement-135928620.html

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Chavez sweats to find old election magic

GUARENAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Dancing, singing odes to the moon and even jogging gingerly onto stage, Venezuela's cancer-weakened President Hugo Chavez is squeezing out every last ounce of energy to recapture some of his old campaign magic before Sunday's election.

Though a far cry from the inexhaustible showman who swept to power in 1998 and has since won two more presidential elections, Chavez is trying to put the cancer behind him and win another term.

"I've had to confront death to fulfill my commitment to the people who I love more than my own life," the 58-year-old socialist leader told adoring supporters in the working-class town of Guarenas. "I won't let you down."

After undergoing surgery for two cancerous tumors, Chavez has defied predictions by some foes that he might not even make it to election day. In July, he declared himself cured - for the second time - of an undisclosed cancer in the pelvic area and is exuberantly talking up his plans for a new six-year term.

He leads most polls but it looks like a close race and the president has been unable to campaign with the vigor of his younger opponent, Henrique Capriles.

Chavez's events and speeches are much shorter and he has not been crisscrossing the nation as he did in past campaigns and as the 40-year-old Capriles does now.

Instead, Chavez has made quick-fire visits and maximizes his exposure with brief, near-daily TV slots where he showers state spending on factories and new homes.

In Guarenas, he inched through the multitudes on the back of a truck, waving and blowing kisses at the crowd. On stage, he sang traditional songs, including one praising the full moon overhead, lifted children into the air in a show of strength, and gave a pulsating stump speech.

By the end of the hourlong appearance on stage, he was sweating profusely under the spotlights.

Despite such efforts, gone are the whirlwind pace and grueling walking tours that took him through rural backwaters and Caracas slums where he earned the love of millions. He is more bloated than usual - from steroids, according to some opposition media - and often disappears out of sight for a day or two.

Some supporters fear this election campaign might be too much of a strain on Chavez's health. Even if he wins on Sunday, the possibility of a recurrence of cancer will hover over him and keep Venezuelans on edge, stoking a long-running guessing game over possible successors inside his ruling Socialist Party.

"The people believe in their leader, but I'm not sure he'll last another term. We have to be prepared," said Ramon Garcia, a 50-year-old shop owner as he sat helping friends who were manning a Chavez campaign booth in downtown Caracas.

"He's a sick man, I can tell, I can see him slowing down. He's making a brave effort," added Garcia, who said he himself suffers from a pancreatic illness and had not yet decided which way to vote on Sunday.

Chavez's precise condition remains a state secret, although most doctors agree that at least two years must pass before a cancer patient can confidently say he is cured.

"His political agenda comes before his personal agenda," said Sunil Daryanani, a Caracas-based oncologist who has not treated Chavez but like many Venezuelans follows any hints about his health closely. "I doubt he's following medical advice very well. But we don't know what cancer he has. He's very cagey."

SOCIALIST CRUSADE

Capriles, a market-friendly lawyer, is whipping up fervor in this campaign, even mimicking Chavez' old style as he wades through the crowds and knocks on voters' doors. He has drawn the support of a broad coalition of opposition parties and confidently predicts victory.

But Chavez has frustrated Venezuela's opposition time and again - defying huge protests and strikes, and even returning to power after briefly being toppled in a 2002 coup.

His charismatic style, nationalizations in the oil, power and telecommunications industries, and heavy spending on social programs have won him an almost Messianic status in Venezuela's slums, and loyalists are backing him to win again.

"Of course, we are worried about his health," said Juan Gabriel Orozco, who works at a "Socialist Arepa Shop" in Caracas, one of a chain of government subsidized restaurants

"But we know the comandante by heart, and if he says he's healthy enough to run and win, then that's all I need to know."

Chavez barely mentions his cancer any more.

He has been able to make about two dozen visits around Venezuela since the formal campaign began on July 1, far short of the frenetic Capriles' tour of some 300 villages, towns and cities.

Chavez, though, milks every appearance to the maximum.

In the carefully stage-managed show at Guarenas, the ultimate master of ceremonies led the crowd in the national anthem and then roused them with insults hurled at Capriles.

"You loser, you bourgeois," Chavez said, to wild cheers from the crowd. "You will never rule Venezuela!"

(Additional reporting by Girish Gupta and Mario Naranjo in Caracas, Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Kieran Murray)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chavez-sweats-old-election-magic-151837270.html

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No comments - John Vespasian

Despite his many innovations in the field of psychology, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) rarely spelled out the social consequences of his theories. His baseline approach was to listen to patients and analyse their mental shadows. Interpreting dreams constitutes an interesting intellectual exercise, but in terms of effectiveness, it cannot compare to vigorous rational discourse.

Civilization and its Discontents ?

By the time Freud dared to present his social views in writing, he was already 74 years old. His essay Civilization and its Discontents (1930) was radically different from his previous publications. In this ground-breaking book, Freud outlines his views on human psychology from the point of view, not only of individual history, but also of interpersonal behaviour.

Although the overall tone of the essay is cautious and conservative, readers noticed Freud's underlying criticism. Reviewers of the book had no problem with Freud's listening to patients and interpreting their dreams, but his latest opinions were out of the question. The essay generated such opposition that Freud never addressed similar subjects again.

Many decades have passed, but tradition has not lost any of its force. Its tentacles feed on the weak in order to starve the independent; it silences doubts and paralyses initiative; it renders questions inaudible and self-reliance unthinkable.?
Being like everybody else?

On the other hand, preaching change for the sake of swimming upstream makes little sense. Being like everybody else has substantial private and professional advantages. It would be foolishly for anyone to discard a secure position simply because it offers few challenges. Before making a bold move, you should have something better in view.

Boredom is one of the most destructive effects of passivity. Lack of variety is annoying; extreme repetitiveness drives people to despair. Passivity generates drudgery because it sucks ambition out of the environment. Little by little, routine turns to hopelessness. Life enjoyment wanes as individuals are emptied of their last drops of entrepreneurship.

Few people are completely innovative or passive. The majority of us oscillate between the two poles, gaining ground one day and retreating on the next. Although we are clever enough to see the long-term disadvantages of passivity, we move away from it only slowly, in careful steps.

Human beings require time to change essential thinking patterns. Even if a man exerts massive efforts, he will not transform his personality in a week. Emotional changes are the outcome of philosophical transformation.

A quick fix will not overhaul your personality, but for all practical purposes, you don't need it either. To improve your effectiveness, you just have to correct your thinking when passivity makes its appearance.?
The transition from routine to entrepreneurship?

We can start the transition from routine to entrepreneurship with a mental exercise that takes only ten minutes, but if you perform it daily for several months, your attitude will change permanently. Here is how the process works:

Devote the initial two minutes to verbalizing the habit that you wish to be discard. Ask yourself why you have been acting and thinking in that particular way. What were you trying to achieve with such behaviour? Was it something that you learned in infancy or that you have picked up along the way?

If you perform the exercise while you are driving alone, take the opportunity to speak out your thoughts. In these days of ubiquitous mobile phones, nobody will be surprised to see a driver speaking aloud in his car. Who knows if he is dictating notes into a recorder or giving instructions by phone to his stock broker?

Take a deep breath a spend the next three minutes exploring your feelings. How strong is your motivation to change? What penalties would you incur if you drop tasks you dislike? Can you afford to quit what you detest? Are you afraid of changing? How justified are your concerns?

During the remaining five minutes of the process, paint a mental picture of the desired transformation. Name the benefits of the alternatives that you want to pursue. Think of the doors that your new behaviour will open. Speak out the advantages and let them turn around your emotions.

If your disputation is sufficiently strong, a feeling of elation should ensue. Make your defence of change passionate. Your speech should win over your heart, not justify the past. Let optimism burn down the remnants of boredom; let ambition bury passivity under the debris of broken routines.?
Ten minutes of thoughtfulness?

Ten minutes of thoughtfulness can turn around your mood. A vigorous disputation can shift your views from passivity to entrepreneurship. Make this exercise a fun performance. Win yourself over with sound arguments and enthusiastic words.

If you do this once a day during several months, your thought patterns will change. Your alertness to opportunities will increase. Your willingness to seek alternatives will grow until you won't need those ten minutes any more. At that point, your ship will have successfully sailed away from the shore.

For more information about rational living and personal growth, I refer you to my book about how to be rational? "The 10 Principles of Rational Living"

[Text: http://johnvespasian.blogspot.com]

[Image by IaRRoVaWo under Creative Commons Attribution License. See the license terms under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us]

Source: http://johnvespasian.blogspot.com/2012/10/why-sigmun-freud-never-understood.html

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Survey shows weaker confidence in Japan's economy

FILE - In this Aug. 13, 2012 file photo, container ship, right, arrives at a container terminal in Tokyo. Major Japanese manufacturers are increasingly gloomy over an outlook darkened by weakening growth both at home and overseas, a quarterly survey by Japan's central bank showed Monday, Oct. 1. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File)

FILE - In this Aug. 13, 2012 file photo, container ship, right, arrives at a container terminal in Tokyo. Major Japanese manufacturers are increasingly gloomy over an outlook darkened by weakening growth both at home and overseas, a quarterly survey by Japan's central bank showed Monday, Oct. 1. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 15, 2012, Chinese residents take photos of a smashed Japanese brand car during an anti-Japan protest in Xi'an in northwest China's Shaanxi province as protests against Japan for its control of disputed islands spread across more than a dozen cities in China and turned violent. Major Japanese manufacturers are increasingly gloomy over an outlook darkened by weakening growth both at home and overseas, a quarterly survey by Japan's central bank showed Monday, Oct. 1. Sinking exports due to feeble demand in crisis-stricken Europe and anti-Japanese protests in China have reinforced the gloom among leading companies. (AP Photo, File) CHINA OUT

TOKYO (AP) ? Major Japanese manufacturers are increasingly gloomy due to weakening growth at home and overseas, a quarterly survey by Japan's central bank showed Monday.

The Bank of Japan's "tankan" index for the three months that ended in September was minus 3, a worsening from the previous quarter's minus 1.

Sinking exports due to feeble demand in crisis-stricken Europe and anti-Japanese protests in China have reinforced the gloom among leading companies. The index did not retreat as far as the March reading, however, which was at minus 4.

The central bank recently extended its monetary easing, moving to spur lending and forecasting that growth would remain flat in coming weeks.

The survey showed pessimism over the prospects for both domestic and global demand given weak growth in China, the U.S. and Europe.

Manufacturers anticipate that sentiment will remain negative in coming months, with the index forecast to stay at minus 3, the survey showed. Non-manufacturers likewise predicted a worsening in sentiment, to plus 5 from the current plus 8.

The Bank of Japan surveyed 10,722 companies and about 99 percent responded.

The index is a percentage of the companies with a positive outlook versus those who see unfavorable conditions ahead, so a minus number means there are more pessimistic companies than optimistic ones.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-10-01-Japan-Economy/id-5327cd4d51294519a071217d477c96c2

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