All-white blackbird photographed

23 January 2012 Last updated at 00:13

This unusual blackbird is attracting bird watchers to a Nottinghamshire country park.

The bird is leucistic, which is a genetic mutation that prevents pigments from being deposited normally in its feathers.

It has been residing for the last four years in the woodland of Rufford Abbey Country Park.

Each year, observers say, it has steadily shed its black feathers for white feathers.

Continue reading the main story

Ghostly plumage

• Leucism is often confused with the rarer condition albinism, a genetic condition that prevents the production of melanin in the body; in leucism, these colouring chemicals are present in the body, but are not deposited in feathers
• Some colours in birds' plumage come from other pigments such as carotenoids, so birds can be albinistic and still have some colour
• Leucistic birds may be completely white and still have melanin in their bodies; as for this blackbird, such animals will have dark eyes and white feathers
• Albino birds and animals also have pink eyes, as the only colour in the eyes comes from the blood vessels behind the eyes

Park rangers took this picture of the blackbird - which is now completely white with no visible pigmented feathers - in the summer of 2011.

Leucistic birds are often very vulnerable to predators, because of their bright white plumage. So the park's managers are urging birdwatchers to keep an eye out for this unusual blackbird.

Site manager John Clegg said: "This bird has been steadily turning whiter over the years and last summer it was completely white.

"It has become quite a character at the park in recent years.

"It tends to appear in the warmer months and we have not seen it for a few months but hope it will return here soon."

Most leucistic birds have some spots or patches of colouration in their feathers from other pigments, so this is a particularly unusual specimen.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/16646922

being human being human chicago news chicago news golden girls robert e lee dez bryant

Extraordinary Gingrich comeback also vindication

Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich prepares to walk off stage with his grand daughter Maggie Cushman, after Gingrich spoke during a?South Carolina Republican presidential primary night rally, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, in Columbia, S.C. Newt Gingrich won the South Carolina primary. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich prepares to walk off stage with his grand daughter Maggie Cushman, after Gingrich spoke during a?South Carolina Republican presidential primary night rally, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, in Columbia, S.C. Newt Gingrich won the South Carolina primary. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich laughs while speaking during a?South Carolina Republican presidential primary night rally, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, in Columbia, S.C. Newt Gingrich won the South Carolina primary.(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich waves to the crowd with his wife Callista during a?South Carolina Republican presidential primary night rally, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, in Columbia, S.C. Newt Gingrich won the South Carolina primary. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks during a?South Carolina Republican presidential primary night rally, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, stands with his wife Ann as he speaks at his South Carolina primary election night reception at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds in Columbia, S.C., Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich won the Republican primary Saturday night. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) ? To say Newt Gingrich capped an extraordinary comeback with a South Carolina victory doesn't quite capture what happened.

It was more like vindication.

The former House speaker came from behind to overtake Mitt Romney on Saturday in a state that for decades has chosen the eventual Republican nominee. On the way there, Gingrich triumphed over months of campaign turmoil and at least two political near-death experiences as well as millions of dollars of attack advertisements and potentially damning personal allegations.

He did it by finding his voice and rallying conservatives with a populist defiance.

"The American people feel that they have elites who have been trying to force us to stop being Americans," Gingrich told cheering supporters in Columbia after he was declared the victor. "It's not that I am a good debater. It's that I articulate the deepest-felt values of the American people."

It was on the debate stage that the pugnacious Gingrich arguably revived his presidential campaign, not once but twice in the past year, by giving a tea party-infused GOP exactly what it's hungering for ? a no-holds-barred attack dog willing to go after President Barack Obama with abandon. If Gingrich wins the nomination, his confrontational attitude against all things Obama likely will be a big reason Republicans choose him over chief rival Romney.

Gingrich, a political strategist in his own right who has a knack for understanding precisely what the GOP electorate wants, has aggressively taken it to Obama since the moment he entered the race last spring determined to turn his nationwide grass-roots network of support that he's cultivated for a decade into a front-running White House campaign.

But he stumbled early, including by disparaging the House Republicans' Medicare proposal as "right-wing social engineering" and was all but forced to apologize after the conservative outcry. His campaign nearly imploded over strategy squabbles, with virtually his entire senior staff abandoning him before the summer even began. And he was broke after spending lavishly.

Gingrich spent the next six months running his own campaign on a shoestring. The former college professor used a series of debates in the fall ? and the free media they afforded him ? to show Republican voters his political and oratory skills. Their adoration ended up catapulting him back into contention in Iowa. He vowed to stay positive and focus on Obama ? even as his rivals, sensing a very real threat, went on the attack with a barrage of negative TV advertising.

His rivals and allied groups ? primarily the pro-Romney Restore Our Future political action committee and Texas Rep. Ron Paul ? castigated him for a tumultuous speakership and career in Washington after Congress, knocking him way off course and nearly bludgeoning him to political death.

It turned out Gingrich didn't have the money to respond on TV. And his standing slid as the new year began, and he ended up coming in a distant fourth place in the leadoff caucuses on Jan. 3.

He was but an afterthought in the next state to vote, New Hampshire, where he spent a full week on the attack against Romney while complaining about the beating he took in Iowa on the air. But the cash-strapped Gingrich didn't have money to take his criticism of Romney to the TV airwaves. He seemed completely off his game, losing big in the first-in-the-nation primary state.

Then Sheldon Adelson came to the rescue.

The billionaire casino magnate and longtime Gingrich backer ponied up at least $5 million for an outside group ? made up of former Gingrich aides ? to help put his buddy back in the game. It wasn't long before the group ? Winning Our Future ? was exacting payback on Romney for his allies pummeling Gingrich in Iowa. And the group started raising questions about Romney's time at the helm of a private equity firm, Bain Capital, putting Romney on the defensive for the first time during the campaign.

When the race turned to South Carolina, it didn't take long for Gingrich? a former Georgia congressman ? to hit his stride. The state had always been a campaign firewall for him. He had visited often, built his biggest staff of any of the first three early-voting states and spent $2.5 million on advertising.

Over the past 10 days, he raised questions about Romney's private business experience while Winning Our Future reinforced the message by financing millions of dollars in South Carolina advertising characterizing Romney as a corporate predator who dismantled companies while running Bain Capital. Gingrich also started working to undercut Romney's strength ? the notion that the former Massachusetts governor was the Republicans' best chance to beat Obama in the fall.

"What you are seeing him doing is convincing people first that he can win," senior Gingrich adviser David Winston explained at one point. "He's in the process of crossing that threshold."

It was his performance in two debates last week that may have helped him seal the deal with undecided Republicans who were questioning his viability as a candidate.

He turned his vulnerabilities ? a comment some interpreted as racist and an allegation by an ex-wife that he had wanted an "open marriage" ? into moments of strength by answering questions about those issues with nothing short of a character assassination on the national media. In both instances, he clearly tickled his conservative audience ? many of whom are skeptical of a media industry they view as left-leaning.

In Myrtle Beach last Monday, Gingrich lashed out when FOX News Juan Williams had asked him if comments he made urging poor minority children to work as janitors were racially insensitive.

"The fact is that more people have been put on food stamps by Barack Obama than any president in American history," Gingrich retorted ? and then turned up the intensity.

His voice rose and he jabbed a finger into the podium as he said: "I believe every American of every background has been endowed by their creator with the right to pursue happiness. And if that makes liberals unhappy, I'm going to continue to find ways to help poor people learn how to get a job, learn how to get a better job, and learn some day to own the job."

The clip became the heart of Gingrich's final television ad in South Carolina, and won high praise from supporters at the barbecue joints and sportsmen's clubs he visited in the campaign's closing days.

But three days later, Gingrich had what seemed like a problem on his hands.

An ex-wife, Marianne Gingrich, did an interview with ABC News in which she said Gingrich had asked her to allow him to have a mistress while they were married. It was unclear how the allegation would play in a Baptist state where many in the GOP electorate call themselves evangelical.

Gingrich ended up using the allegation to his advantage on a debate stage in Charleston, when CNN moderator John King opened the candidate face-off by asking Gingrich about his ex-wife's claim.

"Every person in here knows personal pain. Every person in here has had someone close to them go through painful things," an indignant Gingrich said. "To take an ex-wife and make it, two days before the primary, a significant question for a presidential campaign is as close to despicable as anything I can imagine."

The audience roared and rose to its feet.

Several things also fell Gingrich's way.

Romney's personal wealth was thrust into the spotlight as he stumbled over whether ? and then eventually when ? he would release his tax returns. Gingrich pounced, suggesting Romney may have something to hide that could pose a liability against Obama. Romney also took a hit when the Iowa GOP declared that Rick Santorum, not Romney had won the leadoff caucuses.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry also quit the race two days before the primary and endorsed Gingrich. And evangelical conservatives in the state largely ignored the pleas of national Christian leaders who had voted to endorse Santorum and started coalescing behind Gingrich, the only other candidate in the race fighting over the support of the right flank.

In the end, South Carolina Republican strategist Chip Felkel said: "His supporters were fired up, and it's contagious, especially given Romney's failure to generate that kind of enthusiasm."

The coming weeks will determine whether Gingrich can stay on top this time.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-22-How%20Gingrich%20Won/id-6ecdcedee10e4ea9990fa133c45ca1f1

john kennedy jr john kennedy jr machine gun preacher machine gun preacher austin city limits breaking dawn trailer breaking dawn trailer

Death toll in Nigeria attack rises, stuns leader (AP)

KANO, Nigeria ? People in this north Nigeria city once wore surgical masks to block the dust swirling through its sprawling neighborhoods, but swarming children hawked the masks for pennies apiece Sunday to block the stench of death at a hospital overflowing with the dead following a coordinated attack by a radical Islamist sect.

The Nigerian Red Cross now estimates more than 150 people died in Friday's attack in Kano, which saw at least two suicide bombers from the sect known as Boko Haram detonate explosive-laden cars. The scope of the attack, apparently planned to free sect members held by authorities here, left even President Goodluck Jonathan speechless as he toured what remained of a regional police headquarters Sunday.

"The federal government will not rest until we arrest the perpetrators of this act," Jonathan said earlier. "They are not spirits, they are not ghosts."

However, unrest continued across Nigeria as unknown assailants in the northern state of Bauchi killed at least 11 people overnight Saturday in attacks that saw at least two churches bombed, a sign how far insecurity has penetrated Africa's most populous nation.

Friday's attacks by Boko Haram hit police stations, immigration offices and the local headquarters of Nigeria's secret police in Kano, a city of more than 9 million people that remains an important political and religious center in the country's Muslim north. The assault left corpses lying in the streets across the city, many wearing police or other security agency uniforms.

On Sunday, soldiers wearing bulky bulletproof vests stood guard at intersections and roundabouts, with bayoneted Kalashnikov rifles at the ready. Some made those disobeying traffic directions do sit-ups or in one case, repeatedly raise a bicycle over their head.

Signs of the carnage still remained. Police officers wearing surgical masks escorted a corpse wrapped in a white burial shroud out of Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital, the city's biggest. Hospital officials there declined to comment Sunday, but the smell of the overflowing mortuary hung in the air.

An internal Red Cross report seen Sunday by an Associated Press reporter said that hospital alone has accepted more than 150 dead bodies from the attacks. That death toll could rise further as officials continue to collect bodies.

At least four foreigners were wounded in the attack, the report showed. Among the dead was Indian citizen Kevalkumar Rajput, 23, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.

Jonathan arrived to the city late Sunday afternoon, traveling quickly by a motorcade to meet with the state governor and the Emir of Kano, an important Islamic figure in the country. His motorcade later rushed to what used to be the regional command headquarters for the Nigeria police, with an armed personnel carrier trailing behind, a soldier manning the heavy machine gun atop it.

The Christian president, wearing a Muslim prayer cap and a black kaftan, looked stunned as he stood near where the suicide car bomber detonated his explosives. Officers there said guards on duty shot the tires of the speeding car, forcing it to stop before it reached the lobby of the headquarters.

However, it didn't matter in the end as the powerful explosives in the car shredded the cement building, tore away its roof and blew out its windows. Blood stained the yellow paint near a second-story window, just underneath a 10-foot-tall tree uprooted and tossed atop the building by the blast.

"Whether you are a policeman or not a policeman, when you see this kind of thing, definitely you'll be worried," said Aminu Ringim, a senior police officer. "You'll be touched."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also condemned the multiple attacks Sunday.

"The secretary-general is appalled at the frequency and intensity of recent attacks in Nigeria, which demonstrate a wanton and unacceptable disregard for human life," a statement from his office read. He also expressed "his hope for swift and transparent investigations into these incidents that lead to bringing the perpetrators to justice."

A Boko Haram spokesman using the nom de guerre Abul-Qaqa claimed responsibility for the attacks in a message to journalists Friday. He said the attack came because the state government refused to release Boko Haram members held by the police.

The coordinated attack in Kano represents Boko Haram's deadliest assault since beginning a campaign of terror last year that saw a suicide bomber strike the United Nations headquarters in Abuja and at least 510 people killed by the sect, according to an AP count. So far this year, the group has been blamed for 226 killings, according to an AP count.

Nigeria's weak central government repeatedly has been unable to stop attacks by Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the Hausa language of Nigeria's north. The group has carried out increasingly sophisticated and bloody attacks in its campaign to implement strict Shariah law and avenge the deaths of Muslims in communal violence across Nigeria, a multiethnic nation of more than 160 million people split largely into a Christian south and Muslim north.

While the sect has begun targeting Christian living in the north, the majority of those killed Friday appeared to be Muslim, officials have said.

Violence continued Sunday in Nigeria's north. In Bauchi state, local police commissioner Ikechukwu Aduba said at least 11 people were killed in assaults there that also saw two churches attacked.

It was unclear what started the violence, though communal violence remains occurs between the area's different ethnic groups. Bauchi, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) from Kano, is also a region where Boko Haram has staged attacks before.

___

Shehu Saulawa in Bauchi, Nigeria; Salisu Rabiu in Kano, Nigeria and Carley Petesch in Johannesburg contributed to this report.

___

Jon Gambrell can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_on_re_af/af_nigeria_violence

trick or treat times trick or treat times madoff bernie madoff anna chapman kim kardashian ghost hunters

In video, Gabrielle Giffords offers constituents a farewell with promise to return (Star Tribune)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/190115003?client_source=feed&format=rss

colbert super pac pipa and sopa censor walker recall sopa pipa wikipedia blackout justified season 3

Storm blankets Northeast with a few inches of snow

Matt Redmond, age 3, and his father, Mike, ride a sled down a hill after an overnight snowfall in Baltimore, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Matt Redmond, age 3, and his father, Mike, ride a sled down a hill after an overnight snowfall in Baltimore, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

A worker clears snow from the sidewalk of Public School 140 on the Lower East Side neighborhood of New York on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. New Yorkers awoke Saturday morning to find an inch or two of snow on the ground, with more on the way as a storm that had been in the Midwest on Friday moved east. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

A postal worker walks through falling snow to deliver mail in the Chinatown neighborhood of New York on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. New Yorkers awoke Saturday morning to find an inch or two of snow on the ground, with more on the way as a storm that had been in the Midwest on Friday moved east. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Pedestrians make their way across a slushy intersection during a snow storm in the Chinatown neighborhood of New York on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. New Yorkers awoke Saturday morning to find an inch or two of snow on the ground, with more on the way as a storm that had been in the Midwest on Friday moved east. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Snow plows drive on I-93 over the Zakim Bridge into Boston, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. A weekend snowstorm is blanketing the Northeast, creating treacherous travel conditions and some delays at airports. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) ? A weekend storm blanketed the Northeast with a few inches of snow Saturday, just the second significant snowfall of the season for many in the region, including Philadelphia and New York City.

The National Weather Service predicted 4 to 6 inches would fall in New York City as part of the quick-moving storm, expected to move out to sea overnight. Early Saturday morning, flurries and freezing rain showers fell in the Washington area. Most of eastern Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia, and central New Jersey saw about 4 inches of snow, with a few places reporting up to 6 inches.

Up to 10 inches was predicted for southeastern Massachusetts, noteworthy in a season marked by a lack of snow throughout the Northeast, aside from a rare October snowstorm that knocked out power to nearly 3 million homes and businesses in the region.

"We've been very lucky, so we can't complain," said Gloria Fernandez of New York City, as she shoveled the sidewalk outside her workplace. "It's nice, it's fluffy and it's on the weekend," she said of the snow.

Road conditions were fair Saturday, officials said. Crews in Pennsylvania and New Jersey began salting roads around midnight and plowing soon after. By midmorning, the snow had turned to sleet in Philadelphia north through central New Jersey and had stopped falling altogether by early afternoon.

"It's a fairly moderate snowstorm, at best," said weather service forecaster Bruce Sullivan.

Few accidents were reported on the roads, helped by the weekend's lack of rush hour traffic, but New Jersey transportation spokesman Joe Dee cautioned drivers to build in more time for trips. Though temperatures will warm up this afternoon he said, forecasters expect the wet ground to freeze again overnight.

Flights arriving at Philadelphia Airport were delayed up to two hours because of snow and ice accumulation, but most departing flights were leaving on time, a spokeswoman said.

New York City had 1,500 snow plows at the ready, each equipped with global positioning systems that will allow supervisors to see their approximate location on command maps updated every 30 seconds, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a morning news conference.

The equipment was installed last year following a disaster of a storm that struck the day after Christmas of 2010, when even the city's plows were stuck and stranded in drifts, and streets remained impassable for days. Bloomberg said the GPS system has already led to "vastly improved communication" between supervisors and plow operators.

In Connecticut, where the October storm had its biggest impact and some were without power for more than a week, about 6 inches of snow was forecast. State police had responded to dozens of accidents by midmorning but said none appeared to be serious.

As always, some welcomed the snow.

Enough accumulated through the week for snowmobiling and ice fishing in New Hampshire, where cross-country ski trails and snowshoeing were open at Bretton Woods and other trails.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-21-Winter%20Weather/id-f9ef600ccd7c4329925bb6d0e253ec93

karina smirnoff pumpkin cheesecake deviled eggs pie crust pie crust stuffing recipe happy thanksgiving

Beyonce Mourns Etta James

'She was fearless, and had guts. She will be missed,' Beyonce writes on her blog.
By Jocelyn Vena

Etta James and Beyoncé
Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

<P><a href="/news/articles/1677610/etta-james-dead.jhtml">Etta James died</a> on Friday (January 20) at the age of 73 after a lengthy battle with leukemia. The singer is being remembered by <a href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/knowles_beyonce/artist.jhtml">Beyonc&#233;</a>, who has quite the history with her. </p><div class="player-placeholder right" id="vid:727109.id:1677649" width="240" height="211"></div><p> "This is a huge loss. Etta James was one of the greatest vocalists of our time. I am so fortunate to have met such a queen," Beyonc&#233; wrote on her <a href="http://www.beyonceonline.com/us/news/beyoncé-pays-tribute-eternally-great-etta-james" target="_blank">blog</a>. "Her musical contributions will last a lifetime. Playing Etta James taught me so much about myself, and singing her music inspired me to be a stronger artist. When she effortlessly opened her mouth, you could hear her pain and triumph. Her deeply emotional way of delivering a song told her story with no filter. She was fearless, and had guts. She will be missed." <a href="http://www.mtv.com/photos/thumbnails.jhtml?fid=1677612&view=thumb"><b>Photos: The life and career of Etta James.</a></b> B famously portrayed the blond jazz singer in the 2008 biopic "Cadillac Records." Her version of "At Last" from the film's soundtrack would later win a Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Performance. Beyonc&#233;'s version of James' iconic ballad once-again made headlines when she performed the track at President Obama's inaugural ball in 2009. The performance was initially met with some criticism from the always-outspoken James, but she later came around. Beyonc&#233; is the latest in a long line of <a href="/news/articles/1677631/etta-james-dead-reactions.jhtml">celebrities paying tribute to James</a>. "Showing respect, appreciation and love for all the wonderful music and joy #ettajames brought to the world...#ettajamesforever," Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am wrote on Twitter. Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams recalled how James' music influenced her. "#EttaJames, I will be forever grateful for your voice and your soul. Rest in peace." Rapper <a href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/flo_rida/artist.jhtml">Flo Rida</a> &#8212; whose latest hit, "Good Feeling," samples James' "Something's Got a Hold on Me" &#8212; wrote, "I'm deeply saddened by the passing of the Great Etta James and I will be forever grateful for the gift she Blessed me with." <i>Share your condolences with Etta James' friends and family on our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/mtvnews" target="_blank">Facebook</a> page.</i></p>

Related Videos

• Remembering Etta James

Related Photos

• Etta James: A Life In Photos

Related Artists

• Beyoncé
• Etta James

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677641/etta-james-beyonce.jhtml

juan manuel marquez juan manuel marquez penn state stanford oregon velasquez vs dos santos velasquez vs dos santos manny pacquiao vs. juan manuel marquez

Study: 'Tiger Parenting' Tough on Kids (LiveScience.com)

"Tiger mom" and Yale professor Amy Chua caused an uproar last year with a Wall Street Journal article about the superiority of her strict, Chinese-style version of parenting. Now, research suggests that critics of the piece may have had a point: High-achieving Chinese-American children do, in fact, struggle more with depression, stress and low self-esteem than their equally high-achieving European-American counterparts, and the reason involves parenting style.

Chua's piece, excerpted from her book "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" (Penguin Press, 2011), extolled the virtues of strictness, blunt criticism and an unyielding insistence on academic perfection. In the essay, she tells the story of making her 7-year-old daughter sit at the piano without food or bathroom breaks until she mastered a difficult piece.

Strict parenting and stellar academic achievement are common in Chinese immigrant families, according to Desiree Baolian Qin, a professor in the department of human development and family studies at Michigan State University. But unfortunately, so are depression, stress and other so-called "internalizing" disorders.

"If you're doing well, you should be feeling good," Qin told LiveScience. "But what I've found persistently in my research is that that's not the case."

Family and mental health

In a new study to be published in the Journal of Adolescence, Qin compared 295 Chinese-American ninth graders with 192 European-American ninth-graders at the same highly competitive U.S. school. This high school, in a northeastern U.S. state, accepts only the top 5 percent of applicants by test scores. Thus, all the children in the study were academic all-stars.

Earlier research had turned up disturbing patterns of mental health struggles in Chinese-American high-achievers, Qin said. She wanted to understand why. So she and her colleagues had the two groups of ninth graders fill out questionnaires to measure their grades, levels of anxiety and depression and the amount of conflict in their families. The researchers also asked about how much warmth and support they felt from their parents, a measure called family cohesion.

"It wasn't completely surprising, but I was still a little shocked that in all these measures of family conflicts and cohesion and mental health, we see the Chinese kids were more disadvantaged," Qin said. "They reported higher levels of conflict, particularly around education, and they report much lower levels of cohesion." [7 Things That Will Make You Happy]

Not only that, but they were more stressed and depressed than the Euro-American counterparts, and they had lower self-esteem.

The culprit, Qin found, had everything to do with family. The more conflict and less cohesion in a teen's family, the more likely they were to have poor mental health. When the researchers removed conflict and cohesion from the statistical analysis, essentially erasing those differences between the white and Asian kids, the mental health difference also disappeared.

"Parent-child relations are the main factors that contribute to their lower levels of reported mental health," Qin said.

Academic strife

In a second study, Qin conducted in-depth interviews with18 of the Chinese students at the school. She found that academics are an enormous point of contention in Chinese-American families. The students complained that their parents talked constantly about academics and reacted emotionally to failure.

"They just take everything so literally, and exaggerate," one female student told Qin, "like if I get one bad grade, they think, 'Oh no, you're going to fail school, you're going to become one of those bad girls who do drugs.'"

Students also struggled with being compared to other children or family members, such as an older sibling who went to an Ivy League college. They even mentioned struggling with a cultural gulf between themselves and their parents. For example, one student said that she had a tough time in her relationship with her mother because American culture values standing up for oneself, while her Chinese-born mother feels that children should respect their parents and do as they're told.

While East Asian culture has a deeply ingrained focus on education, many of the issues that arise in these families are migration-related, Qin said. All the Chinese children in the larger sample had immigrant parents, she said, while almost none of the European-American kids did.

"My co-authors and I are not pathologizing Chinese kids and saying, 'Oh my God, Chinese kids are oppressed,'" Qin said. "The findings really point to immigration and the challenges created by migration in families."

"When children are caught in between their parents' old way of parenting and being and culture and the new in the U.S., then that can be very, very tough for children in a variety of ways."

Finding a middle ground

Not all Chinese parents take the "tiger" approach, of course. In fact, Qin's in-depth interviews, to be published in an upcoming issue of the journal New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, found that even strict "tiger parenting" is not black and white. The parents of the kids in the study worried about their children's health and happiness, and expressed sympathy when the children were overworked.

"They have a lot of internal conflict," Qin said of these parents. "They want them to be successful in the new land, and they want them to be healthy."

Fortunately, both are possible, Qin said. In a 2008 paper, Qin compared high-achieving Chinese-American students who were distressed with Chinese-American high-achievers who were mentally healthy. She found that the teens in families where parents take a strict "tiger mom" approach were the distressed ones. The high-achieving Chinese-American kids with more flexible parents did just as well in school, but were happy, too.

That's the important message for all parents, "tiger" or not, Qin said. It's not a problem to have high expectations for your child, she said. You just have to communicate those expectations with love and warmth.

"You can have a happy child with high achievement," Qin said. "A lot of families do have that."

You can follow LiveScience?senior writer Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience?and on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/parenting/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20120120/sc_livescience/studytigerparentingtoughonkids

pentatonix nicki minaj barbie doll nicki minaj barbie doll black dahlia drew drew lady gaga marry the night video

Tiny baby leaves Los Angeles hospital amid fanfare

Haydee Ibarra looks at her 14-week-old daughter, Melinda Star Guido, at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011. At birth, Melinda Star Guido tipped the scales at only 9 1/2 ounces, less than a can of soda. After spending her early months in the neonatal intensive care unit, a team of doctors and nurses will gather Friday Jan. 20, 2012 to see her off as she heads home. She is the world's third smallest baby and the second smallest in the U.S. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Haydee Ibarra looks at her 14-week-old daughter, Melinda Star Guido, at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011. At birth, Melinda Star Guido tipped the scales at only 9 1/2 ounces, less than a can of soda. After spending her early months in the neonatal intensive care unit, a team of doctors and nurses will gather Friday Jan. 20, 2012 to see her off as she heads home. She is the world's third smallest baby and the second smallest in the U.S. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Melinda Star Guido, who weighed only 9 ? ounces at birth? less than a can of soda, is shown Friday Jan. 20, 2012 as she is released from Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in Los Angeles. Guido spent her early months in the neonatal intensive care unit. Guido now weighs 4 pounds, 17 ounces. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Baby Melinda Star Guido is hugged by her mother Haydee Ibarra, 22, as her father Yovani Guido, 25, looks on after being discharged from Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center five months after her birth, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012 in Los Angeles. Guido was born 16 weeks early, weighing 9.5 ounces, and was the third smallest baby born in the world. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Baby Melinda Star Guido is passed by nurses to her mother Haydee Ibarra, right, after being discharged from Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center five months after her birth, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012 in Los Angeles. Guido was born 16 weeks early, weighing 9.5 ounces, and was the third smallest baby born in the world. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? One of the world's smallest surviving babies was discharged Friday from the hospital where she spent nearly five months in an incubator ? but not before getting the Hollywood treatment.

Wearing a pink knit hat and wrapped in a pink princess blanket, Melinda Star Guido was greeted by a mob of television cameras and news photographers outside the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.

"I'm just happy that she's doing well," said her 22-year-old mother Haydee Ibarra. "I'm happy that I'm finally going to take her home ... I'm just grateful."

Melinda was born on August 30 weighing just 9 1/2 ounces, less than a can of soda. She was so tiny that she fit into her doctor's hand. Melinda is believed to be the world's third-smallest surviving baby and second smallest in the U.S.

Now weighing 4? pounds and breathing through an oxygen tube as a precaution, doctors said Melinda has made enough progress to go home. Her brain scan was normal and her eyes were developing well. She also passed a hearing test and a car seat test that's required of premature babies before discharge.

It's too early to know how she will do developmentally and physically, but doctors planned to monitor her for the next six years.

"I am cautiously optimistic that the baby will do well, but again there is no guarantee," said Dr. Rangasamy Ramanathan, who oversees preemies at the hospital.

Most babies as small don't survive even with advanced medical care. About 7,500 babies are born each year in the U.S. weighing less than 1 pound, and about 10 percent survive.

Melinda has come a long way since being delivered by cesarean section at 24 weeks after her mother developed high blood pressure during pregnancy, which can be dangerous for mother and fetus.

She was whisked to the neonatal intensive care unit where she breathed with the help of a machine and received nutrition through a feeding tube. Infants born before 37 weeks are considered premature.

Even after discharge, such extremely premature babies require constant care at home. Their lungs are not fully developed and they may need oxygen at home. Parents also need to watch out for risk of infections that could send infants back to the hospital. Even basic activities like feeding can be challenging.

"They may need extra help and patience while they learn to eat," Dr. Edward Bell, a pediatrician of the University of Iowa who runs an online database of the world's smallest surviving babies born weighing less than a pound.

The list features 130 babies dating back to 1936 and does not represent all survivors since submission is voluntary. Melinda was not eligible to be included until she was discharged.

Two years ago, Bell published a study in the journal Pediatrics that found many survivors have ongoing health and learning concerns. Most also remain short and underweight for their age.

There are some rare success stories. The smallest surviving baby born weighing 9.2 ounces is now a healthy 7-year-old and another who weighed 9.9 ounces at birth is an honors college student studying psychology, according to doctors at Loyola University Medical Center in Illinois where the girls were born.

Soon after birth, Melinda was treated for an eye disorder that's common in premature babies and underwent surgery to close an artery. Ibarra held Melinda for the first time after the operation in November. Her parents said the toughest part was battling traffic after work every day to see their daughter.

___

Online:

Registry: http://www.healthcare.uiowa.edu/tiniestbabies

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-20-US-MED-Tiny-Baby/id-3f85bce4b24642e58cd0b455e541d862

celebrity wife swap gla republican candidates virginia tech mike martz hokies quadrantid

3DS eShop to get free game demos, Nintendo throws users DLC bone

Never let it be said that good things don't come to those who wait and wait and... well, you get the point. Having finally delivered a much-delayed firmware update to the 3DS last December, the Big N appears ready to make good on its DLC promises. Starting tomorrow, gamers visiting the eShop will be able to take a tour of Racoon City and fire off a few shots at its zombie denizens with a downloadable demo of Resident Evil Revelations. The company's only announced one other title, Mario & Sonic At The London Olympic Games, for later this month, but plans are on deck to refresh the service with new trial content from Rayman Origins and Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D, amongst others in the coming year. Sure, it's no Kid Icarus, but this is Nintendo we're talking about -- you have to take what you can get.

Continue reading 3DS eShop to get free game demos, Nintendo throws users DLC bone

3DS eShop to get free game demos, Nintendo throws users DLC bone originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink SlashGear  |  Edge  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/18/3ds-eshop-to-get-free-game-demos-nintendo-throws-users-dlc-bone/

december 21 2012 nfl draft 2012 mayan calendar jenny mccarthy nfl playoff picture nfl playoff picture rose bowl 2012

Group won't push California tax overhaul measure (Reuters)

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) ? Billionaire Nicolas Berggruen's Think Long Committee for California will not press a ballot measure this year to alter the state's tax system, a move seen helping Governor Jerry Brown's plan to put a tax measure to voters.

Berggruen's bipartisan group of business and civic leaders said in a statement on Tuesday that it would put its proposal for an independent Citizens Council for Government Accountability on hold.

"It is clear from public reaction, stakeholder meetings and our own public opinion research that Californians are hungry for real reform and are more willing than ever to support a sweeping plan that is fair and will put an end to California's perpetual financial volatility and suffocating wall of debt," the group said.

"At the same time, we recognize the practical constraints of the 2012 election calendar - and have come to the conclusion that it will take more time to perfect these proposals, eliminate unintended consequences and provide every stakeholder and everyday Californians a meaningful voice in that process," the group added.

The group said it would work on language for a tax ballot measure with the goal of putting one to voters in November 2014.

The group, which includes former Governor Gray Davis, Google Inc Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, Los Angeles philanthropist and KB Home founder Eli Broad and former U.S. Secretaries of State George Shultz and Condoleezza Rice, has urged overhauling California's tax code to bring stability to state finances.

The Think Long Committee last year proposed cutting income tax rates while adding a sales tax on services - with an exemption for education and medical services - to broaden California's tax base.

California's government depends heavily on income taxes, especially on the volatile income taxes of its wealthy residents, to fill its coffers. When the state's wealthy are flush with capital gains, the state's revenue swells, but when financial markets slump, revenues shrink.

Despite that volatility, Brown aims to put a measure to voters in November asking them to approve temporary income tax increases for wealthy taxpayers along with an increase in the state sales tax to raise roughly $7 billion a year to bolster the state's finances.

His state budget plan anticipates voters will approve the measure, which would help fill a state budget gap for California's fiscal year beginning in July estimated at $9.2 billion. If voters reject the measure, Brown has said schools and community colleges would face nearly $5 billion in spending cuts.

Brown faces better odds of winning voter approval for his tax measure if it does not have to compete for attention with other tax plans, according to analysts.

(Reporting By Jim Christie)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120118/us_nm/us_economy_california_tax_measure

williston north dakota kody brown transylvania carrie ann inaba california earthquake california earthquake jenna lyons

He Wrote the Book on Raylan Givens

Leonard?s economy of prose does help to give Raylan the same propulsive pace fans enjoy on Justified. That said, when one subplot puts Raylan in the compromising position of facing down a perp while wearing only cowboy boots, some readers might wish Leonard would, you know, slow down just a little and paint more of a picture. Sure, one of the conspirators does take a moment to admire the figure Raylan cuts when he?s unconscious and naked and lying vulnerable and exposed in a bathtub, but since the book jacket has already put Olyphant?s likeness in some readers? heads, if Leonard devoted more detail to the scene, some readers probably wouldn?t complain. This scene didn?t appear in Season 2?trust me, you?d remember?but Leonard?s told an interviewer it might be used in the show, so ? those readers who?d enjoy seeing Olyphant play it out can hope that Yost will make it happen.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=0d119cb3638a9514838ac27552349249

thanksgiving thanksgiving brining a turkey brining a turkey who won dancing with the stars 2011 five iron frenzy wild horses lyrics

Wahlberg apologizes for 9/11 comments

FILE - In this July, 23, 2001 file photo, actor Mark Wahlberg arrives for a special screening of "Planet of the Apes," in New York. In an apology issued on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012, Wahlberg said he was sorry for asserting that he would have stopped terrorists from flying an airliner into New York's World Trade Center on Sept. 11 if he had been on the plane. (AP Photo/Staurt Ramson, File)

FILE - In this July, 23, 2001 file photo, actor Mark Wahlberg arrives for a special screening of "Planet of the Apes," in New York. In an apology issued on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012, Wahlberg said he was sorry for asserting that he would have stopped terrorists from flying an airliner into New York's World Trade Center on Sept. 11 if he had been on the plane. (AP Photo/Staurt Ramson, File)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Mark Wahlberg has apologized for asserting that he would have stopped terrorists from flying an airliner into New York's World Trade Center on Sept. 11 if he had been on the plane.

The star of the film "Contraband" issued his apology Wednesday after comments he made to Men's Journal drew criticism.

He told an interviewer in the February issue that had he been on American Airlines Flight 11 with his children "it wouldn't have went down like it did." Terrorists flew the plane with 92 people aboard into the north tower on Sept. 11, 2001.

In his apology, Wahlberg said to speculate was "ridiculous to begin with." He said that to suggest he "would have done anything differently than the passengers on that plane was irresponsible."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-01-18-People-Mark%20Wahlberg/id-d1bee178ebc74bbe83d735642ce6ab19

ricin in god we trust damian mcginty tj houshmandzadeh tj houshmandzadeh san onofre the little couple

Babies lip-read before talking

Babblers focus on adults? mouths when learning how to speak

Web edition : 4:40 pm

When adults mouth off, babies learn by watching. As infants start babbling at around age 6 months in preparation for talking, they shift from focusing on adults? eyes to paying special attention to speakers? mouths, a new study finds.

As tots become able to blurt out words and simple statements at age 1, they go back to concentrating on adults? eyes, say psychologist David Lewkowicz and psychology graduate student Amy Hansen-Tift, both of Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. Whereas babbling babies match up what adults say with how they say it, budding talkers can afford to look for communication signals in a speakers? eyes, the scientists propose in a paper published online January 17 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

?Babies start to lip-read when they learn to babble,? Lewkowicz says. ?At that time, infants respond to what they see and hear as a unified stimulus.?

Researchers already knew that adults use senses other than sound to understand speech (Science News Online: 11/25/09). But investigators have typically assumed that babies learn to speak solely by listening to adults talk, Lewkowicz says. The new findings put lip-reading on a par with listening as a key element in learning to talk, and suggest that lip-reading past a child?s first birthday represents an early warning sign of communication disorders such as autism.

Lewkowicz and Hansen-Tift tested 179 infants from English-speaking families at age 4, 6, 8 or 12 months. Special devices tracked where babies looked when shown videos of women speaking English or a foreign language ? in this case, Spanish.

From age 8 months to 1 year, babbling babies read the lips of both English and Spanish speakers, the researchers say. Nascent talkers shifted to looking mainly at the eyes of an English-speaker, but continued to home in on the mouth of a woman speaking the unfamiliar language of Spanish. Increasing familiarity with a native language narrows a youngster?s ability to perceive novel speech sounds, necessitating continued lip-reading of foreign-language speakers, the researchers say.

Lewkowicz and Hansen-Tift also report that on average, infants? pupils increasingly dilated between ages 8 months and 1 year in response to Spanish speakers, a sign of surprise at encountering unfamiliar speech.

Infants who continue to read the lips of native-language speakers into the second year of life may stand an elevated chance of developing autism or other early communication disorders, Lewkowicz suggests. By 2 years of age, children with autism avoid eye contact and focus on speakers? mouths (SN: 4/25/09, p. 8), but the new findings raise the possibility of identifying kids headed for this developmental disorder even earlier, he says.

?These results are novel and I would not have predicted them,? remarks psycholinguist D. Kimbrough Oller of the University of Memphis in Tennessee, a pioneer in studying how babies? babbling leads to talking.

The new study indicates that ?it is normal for infants to increasingly look away from adults? eyes and at their mouths from six to 12 months of age,? comments psychologist and autism researcher Rhea Paul of the Yale Child Study Center. It hasn?t yet been demonstrated that children who continue to look at the mouths of native-language speakers after age 1 develop autism or other communication problems more frequently than those who shift to looking at speakers? eyes, Paul cautions.

Found in: Humans and Psychology

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/337718/title/Babies_lip-read_before_talking

jimmy fallon michael pineda coachella 2012 stephen colbert constitution day constitution day dolly parton

Rising carbon dioxide levels could turn fish into drunken daredevils [Animal Behavior]

Climate change might turn lizards into geniuses, but fish won't be quite so lucky. All the billions of tons of carbon dioxide that enters the oceans each year is like alcohol for fish, turning them into risk-taking idiots.

That's the finding of Philip Munday and his research team at Australia's James Cook University. The researchers place a bunch of reef fish into water with extremely high carbon dioxide levels - specifically, the level the oceans will likely reach by 2100. The fish acted erratically and started taking dangerous risks, including swimming towards odors that belong to their natural predators. If this wasn't just an experiment, a lot of drunken reef fish would have swam straight to their doom.

According to Munday and his research partner, G?ran Nilsson of the University of Oslo, all this carbon dioxide interferes with the natural function of a neurotransmitter called GABA-A. As New Scientist reports, the pair were able to demonstrate quite dramatically what malfunctioning GABA-A does to fish:

The pair reared clownfish (Amphiprion percula) larvae in seawater with normal (450 microatmospheres) and elevated (900 microatmospheres) CO2 levels. When they reached adulthood, the fish were given a choice between a water stream containing the odour of common predators such as the rock cod (Cephalopholis cyanostigma) or a stream lacking predatory odours. Those reared in high levels of CO2 swam towards rock cod's scent around 90 per cent of the time, whereas those that had enjoyed normal levels of CO2 avoided the predator's scent more than 90 per cent of the time.

The researchers were able to confirm that GABA-A was at the root of the problem by placing the fish in an environment full of gabazine, a chemical that naturally blocks the neurotransmitter. With GABA-A simply switched off, the fish regained their senses, only swimming towards the dangerous odors 12 percent of the time.

Unless fish species can very quickly evolve coping mechanisms to deal with all this extra carbon dioxide, their brains could have enormous difficulty dealing with the more acidic waters of the 22nd century. While this effect has only been demonstrated in a few fish species so far, this will likely be a problem for many water-breathing organisms, including crustaceans - they all have much lower natural levels of carbon dioxide than organisms that breathe air, which makes them much more susceptible to damage from increased levels of the gas.

Nature Climate Change via New Scientist. Top image from Finding Nemo, obviously.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/io9/excerpts/~3/GAdm37Os2Qo/rising-carbon-dioxide-levels-could-turn-fish-into-drunken-daredevils

oregon stanford darrell hammond darrell hammond boxer rebellion boxer rebellion stanford football lsu football schedule

2 giant pandas arrive in their new French home (AP)

PARIS ? Two giant pandas have arrived from China aboard a special plane and are heading to their new home amid the chateaux of central France.

Male Yuan Zi and female Huan Huan are France's first pandas since the death of one more than a decade ago.

The endangered animals get only the best: Their "Panda Express" plane, specially configured for their enclosures, was greeted with applause at the Paris airport.

On loan from China, Yuan Zi ("chubby" in Chinese) and Huan Huan ("happy") will live at the Zoo Parc de Beauval, in the Loire valley, for 10 years.

China has long used "panda diplomacy" to make friends and influence people in other countries. Last month, two pandas from China debuted at Scotland's Edinburgh Zoo.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120115/ap_on_re_as/as_china_france_pandas

artificial christmas trees bean bag chairs android tablet arthur christmas asus transformer nebraska football nebraska football

Milan designers tweak the traditional overcoat (AP)

MILAN ? Milan fashion designers are sticking to the traditional and familiar in their menswear collection for next winter.

The mood reflects the austerity all around, but it's not all gloom. There are flashes of color and glamour to lighten spirits.

"When you talk about austerity, I don't think it needs to be down in the dumps or dismal," Burberry chief creative officers Christopher Bailey said backstage after his Prorsum menswear collection preview on Saturday.

Coats, from trenches to double-breasted overcoats to fur- or velvet-lapeled evening coats, were the centerpiece of many of the collections previewed the first day of the four-day menswear Milan Fashion Week.

While elegant black and some white are the winter favorites, designers also reached for colors, usually deep purples, teals and midnight blues. Golden details ? from brocade underwear to fanciful animal head umbrella handles ? celebrate luxury and fun.

___

DOLCE&GABBANA

Dolce & Gabbana cast a spell of luxury over their latest menswear collection, adorning every outfit ? even humble underwear ? with opulent gold embroidery.

Set in a make-believe opera house complete with chandeliers, sumptuous red velvet upholstery, and famous Verdi arias sung by the late Luciano Pavarotti, the extravagant menswear collection was a perfect antidote to the current crisis gloom.

Somewhere between Dorian Gray and the Gattopardo's Sicilian prince, the winter 2013 collection by the designing wizards Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, is an ode to noble dressing from the fur-trimmed evening coats and capes, to the gold brocade jackets, to the gold embroidered breeches.

Never forgetting their penchant for sportswear, the designing duo decorated distressed fabric with gilded fringes and lavish embroidery to create a dandy/grunge effect. The gilded grandpa wooly underwear also fit into the latter category.

"In order to sell well today, a collection has to have the whiff of an old-fashioned trunk," Stefano Gabbana said chatting with reporters before the show.

For their curtain call, the duo sent out 70 models dressed in every imaginable cut of yesteryear's elegant overcoat ? all in "de rigeur" black.

___

BURBERRY

Ah, the life of a Burberry gentleman, toing and froing from town and country and back again, with just the right look for whatever the moment.

The tailored suit and heritage trench are at the heart of the Burberry Prorsum collection for next fall and winter. So is the umbrella, which features duck and hound animal head handles.

"I wanted the attitude to be polite. I wanted it to feel charming," Burberry's chief creative officer Christopher Bailey said backstage after the show.

In the city, a tailored gray suit with black polka-dotted tie is topped with herringbone patterned tweed cap and a classic Burberry trench thrown over the shoulders. Besides the ubiquitous umbrella, the city persona carries a leather patchwork document case.

In the country, the suit ? fabrics ranging from corduroy to velvet ? may be worn with a quilted and cropped bomber jacket or an oversized down-filled car coat.

Perhaps inspired buy the English hunt, Bailey incorporates into some garments images of foxes, big, here's-looking-at-you shrewd fox.

"I think it is important to smile. I think that is what fashion is also about, making you think and making you smile. You don't always have to be serious," Bailey said.

___

ZEGNA

Ermenegildo Zegna is layering up for next fall and winter with menswear looks to cozy up against the winter chill.

The collection featured slim plaid, checked or houndstooth suits under ample shearling jackets or capes styled for men. Suits are worn with shirts layered underneath with a turtle neck ? or, when not, with chunky textured ties.

The colors were warm ? camel, sandy browns and midnight blue, playfully evoking the desert in a cold weather collection that also featured winter white ? while the tactile, layered look was calibrated for warmth against the elements, suggested at the opening of the show by the crackle of a fire against a whipping winter wind soundtrack.

Zegna states that his man is looking for a break from the global financial turmoil ? but keeps his Blackberry handy in case opportunity beckons. Luggage is ready for a quick getaway, including carry-ons clad in plaid; large, flat messenger bags in fine leather, and ample duffels.

The prime destination is clearly the mountains, where polished combat boots will protect against the chill while fringed moccasins await for the fireside.

After a day in the elements, apres-ski evening wear is relaxed. Tuxedos are silky and quilted ? quite the opposite of the stiff and formal image they normally evoke. A dark robe coat of a brushed alpalca called Spazzolino billows luxuriously over a white tuxedo shirt.

It's a collection that allows each man to find his own comfort level, even considering whether or not to shave: Zegna made beards a fashion option, from full on to a few days' growth to stubble. Clean shaven, of course, is always in style.

___

JIL SANDER

A grass green pullover, a similar style in tobacco brown and a series of collars embroidered with naif animal designs, were the only bright lights in the otherwise total black Jil Sander menswear collection for the winter of 2013.

Pale-faced models walked one-by-one through a stage door onto a dimly lit runway in black coats, black jackets, black trousers, black gloves and classic black laced shoes during the presentation of Belgian designer Raf Simons, latest collection for the label known for its minimalist style.

This round, more than minimalist, the collection is monochromatic and at times monotonous.

The predominant look is tailored, with leather the favorite material. Jackets tend to fit close to the body, while trousers are super wide and cuffed.

As in other shows seen on opening day of the four-day preview showings for next year's chilly season, double-breasted styles make a come back in a season that promises to dwell on the safe past rather than the rocky present.

Focal point of the revisited look is an extra long, black leather trench coat belted at the waist. Paired with the omnipresent black leather trousers, gloves and classic lace-ups, it lends a vaguely cloak-and-dagger feel to the entire collection.

"Great, if you're into serial-killer fashion," one fashionista was overheard commenting after the show.

___

COSTUME NATIONAL

Costume National has devised a novel system for hanging onto winter coats after stepping out of the cold and into a warm public place.

Sewn inside coats in next winter's collection are straps, call them suspenders, that can be used to hang a coat on your back, like a backpack, when not needed for warmth. Hands are free to shop, sip coffee, gaze at artwork, whatever has brought you indoors.

Designer Ennio Capasa's seemingly simple solution to an age-old wintertime dilemma was featured in Costume National's menswear preview for next fall and winter.

Capasa's experiments with coats only started with the backside-suspension coat. He also combined bombers with trench coats, and knitwear with tuxedo jackets, so seamlessly that the view from the back suggested a garment completely different than the one seen from the front.

The color scheme was mostly dark or winter white, with accents of teal and green. Knitwear was mostly fine, and not chunky, and Costume National also favored layered turtlenecks and shirts, a look popping up in this round of previews. The collection was set off by heavy-soled boots and shoes, with bold silver accents.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120114/ap_on_re_eu/eu_italy_fashion_wrap_day1

fred thompson fred thompson los angeles angels los angeles angels lindsay lohan’s playboy cover leaked online lindsay lohan’s playboy cover leaked online kevin martin

US seeks stronger democracies, partners in Africa (AP)

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast ? After an intense year of diplomacy sparked by revolution and repression across the Arab world, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is taking stock this week of an entirely separate democratic advance a half-continent away in West Africa.

The region's improvements in multiparty governance and the rule of law may have been overshadowed by the tumult of the Arab Spring. It made its own democratic gains in the past two years, even if the progress came in fits and starts, and often on the back of political violence. In Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf won a second term in an election that likely would have been declared free and fair, only to be marred when the opposition leader called for a boycott, forcing Sirleaf to run unopposed.

Here in Ivory Coast, the country successfully held its first transparent election in a decade, but the winner of the polling had to enlist the help of a rebel army in order to force the former president from power, after he refused to accept defeat.

Guinea also returned to democracy after five decades of strongman rule, and encouraging progress was made in Niger, where a military junta handed over power to a democratically elected government.

West Africa's democratic wave was hardly foreseen, with political scientists only a couple of years ago still referring to the region's "democratic recession." The turnaround is strengthening hopes in the United States of a new spirit prevailing and fuller partners emerging on a resource-rich continent where China is investing billions of dollars in trade and infrastructure ? and his little concern for democracy.

"We are committed to standing with the people of Liberia as they continue their important journey, reconciling political and ethnic differences, strengthening democracy and bringing prosperity and opportunity to people," Clinton said Monday after watching Sirleaf get sworn in for a new six-year term.

Clinton meets Tuesday with Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, who won a 2010 election but relied on his forces and international help to oust predecessor Laurent Gbagbo. Gbagbo later was extradited to The Hague to face charges of murder, rape and other crimes allegedly committed by his supporters as he clung to power.

Clinton also will hold meetings Tuesday with the reform-minded President Faure Gnassingbe of Togo, which last year held the closest thing in its history to multiparty elections, and Cape Verde Prime Minister Jose Maria Neves before returning to Washington. It is the first trip ever by a U.S. secretary of state to Togo, a nation long ignored by Washington when Togo was under the three-decade dominion of Gnassingbe's strongman father.

Sirleaf, the 73-year-old Nobel Peace laureate, represents Washington's ideal in an African leader. A Harvard University-educated technocrat, she held senior positions at the World Bank and Citibank before being elected in 2005 to spearhead Liberia's recovery from a disastrous 14-year civil war.

Yet even as Sirleaf was lionized abroad, she faced a tough re-election battle at home amid persistent unemployment. She has had difficulties stamping out graft, which she once declared "Public Enemy No. 1." And many in the impoverished country are pressing to see the fruits of economic progress trickle down to the lower classes.

Clinton lent her support in a private meeting ahead of the inauguration ceremony, where the women discussed strategies to fight corruption.

"It's one of the roadblocks to greater prosperity here," Clinton told staff at America's sparkling new, marbled embassy on a Monrovia hilltop, meant to underline the U.S. commitment to Liberia's stability.

Across town and above the stunted concrete edifices of Liberia's capital stood the nearly as new Chinese Embassy, a reminder of the Asian power's growing commercial and diplomatic clout in Africa. With diamonds and timber, and possibly even offshore oil, Liberia is typical of many African countries waiting for a surge in prosperity and a partner to share in the spoils of its increased development.

"We're missing an important strategic opportunity for the United States," warned Sen. Christopher Coons, D-Del., who joined Clinton in the delegation to Sirleaf's ceremony. "China is taking advantage of our absence as a major funder of infrastructure and is advancing their economic and, I think, policy agenda across the continent."

The U.S. is providing significant aid. It supports groups like the National Democratic Institute and the Carter Center helping to build democratic institutions, while funding various projects to improve health, education, electricity and small companies. The U.S. Agency for International Development spent $207 million in Liberia last year, providing power to the capital and fighting disease.

But Coons, chairman of a Senate subcommittee on Africa, said Washington needs to aggressively pursue its own policy objectives, from anti-corruption and free media to religious tolerance. At a time when many in Congress are slashing aid budgets, he said the U.S. should be trying to "celebrate and lift up the countries in Africa that have chosen to make the difficult transition to democracy."

Ivory Coast is one such country. In Abidjan, life is returning to normal after a year consumed largely by war and reconciliation efforts. U.S. officials have cheered Ouattara's ascent to the presidency, even if the means were messy, and Ouattara's forces now stand accused of crimes against humanity.

At least 3,000 people on both sides died before fighting ended in April. Rights groups accuse Gbagbo's and Ouattara's supporters of carrying out wanton human rights violations. Even though Gbagbo has been extradited to The Hague, little has been done to hold Ouattara's camp accountable, and many are accusing him of "victor's justice."

U.S. officials are holding out hope that Ouattara, a former International Monetary Fund economist, will deliver on his promise of accountability even for the crimes of his allies. They credit him with successfully helping reopen ports, rebuild roads, increase exports and restore much of the Ivorian economy, but acknowledge that his government will need to prove its fairness.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120116/ap_on_re_af/af_clinton_africa

los angeles weather big ten acc challenge scott disick kourtney kardashian kourtney kardashian lipitor lipitor

Pakistan, UK deny call expressing coup fears

Pakistani tribal people gather to condemn drone strikes on hideouts of alleged militants along the Afghanistan border in Pakistani region, Thursday, Jan 12, 2012 in Mir Ali, a border town of North Waziristan in Pakistan. American missile strike killed four foreign militants in North Waziristan, a lawless region close to the Afghan border that is home to extremists from around the world, Pakistani officials said. (AP Photo/Ijaz Muhammad)

Pakistani tribal people gather to condemn drone strikes on hideouts of alleged militants along the Afghanistan border in Pakistani region, Thursday, Jan 12, 2012 in Mir Ali, a border town of North Waziristan in Pakistan. American missile strike killed four foreign militants in North Waziristan, a lawless region close to the Afghan border that is home to extremists from around the world, Pakistani officials said. (AP Photo/Ijaz Muhammad)

FILE - In this Friday, July 1, 2011 file photo, Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari, followed by his son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party, exits after his meeting with Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron at his official residence at 10 Downing street Street in central London. Pakistan's military warned Wednesday of "grievous consequences" for the country after the prime minister accused the army chief of violating the constitution, adding to a sense of crisis that some believe could end in the ouster of government. Tensions between the army and the government of President Asif Ali Zardari have soared since a scandal involving a memo sent to Washington asking for its help in reining in the army broke late last year. The memo outraged the army, and the Supreme Court ordered a probe to establish whether it had been sanctioned by Zardari, something that could lead to impeachment hearings. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File)

ISLAMABAD (AP) ? Pakistan's prime minister telephoned the top British diplomat in the country this week expressing fears that the Pakistani army might be about to stage a coup, a British official and an official in Islamabad said Friday.

The Pakistani and British governments denied the report, which comes as tensions between Pakistan's army and government have soared in recent days, leading to speculation that the army might try to oust the civilian leadership.

Pakistani leaders have often looked to foreign powers, especially the United States and Gulf countries, to intervene in domestic affairs, mediate disputes between feuding power centers or "guarantee" agreements between them.

The army, which has staged four coups in Pakistan's history and is believed to consider itself the only true custodian of the country's interests, has never liked the civilian government headed by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari.

But a scandal centered on an unsigned memo sent to Washington last year asking for its help in heading off a supposed coup has put the military and the government on a seeming collision course. The note enraged the army, which was still smarting from the humiliation of last year's unilateral American raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

While most analysts say army chief Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani has little appetite for a coup, many believe the generals may be happy to allow the Supreme Court to dismiss the government by "constitutional means."

The reported phone call, which one official said was "panicky," would suggest a genuine fear at the highest level of the Pakistani government that army might carry out a coup or support possible moves by the Supreme Court to topple the civilian leadership.

Gilani asked High Commissioner Adam Thomson for Britain to support his embattled government, according to the officials, who didn't give their names because of the sensitivity of the issue. It's unclear if the British government took any action.

The British Foreign Office, however, said in a statement Friday there was "no phone call on this matter."

The prime minister's office also said Gilani had "not spoken to the British High Commissioner in this regard."

A Supreme Court commission is probing the memo affair. Any ruling from the court that strengthens suspicions that Zardari may have had a hand in the memo could be politically damaging to him.

The court has also ordered the government to open corruption investigations into Zardari dating back years. The government has refused. Earlier this week, the court said it could dismiss Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Reza Gilani over the case. Judges are convening Monday for what could be a decisive session.

Zardari traveled last month to Dubai for medical reasons, triggering widely reported rumors he was on the verge of resigning. On Thursday he traveled to the same city, citing "personal reasons," returning early Friday, said spokesman Farhatullah Babar.

Asked whether Zardari was concerned about his political future, Babar said, "Absolutely not. Why should he be? He is comfortable and perfectly all right."

In parliament on Friday, lawmakers loyal to the government introduced a resolution to express support for the government, a move that would give it a symbolic boost. The resolution, which will be put to a vote on Monday, pledges "full confidence and trust" in the political leadership and says all state institutions must act within limits imposed by the constitution ? an apparent rebuke to the military for crossing into politics.

"Either there will be a democracy or dictatorship" in the country, Gilani said as the measure was introduced.

Pakistan is facing a host of problems, among them near economic collapse and a virulent al-Qaida- and Taliban-led insurgency. The fight against the militant has been complicated by allegations that the nuclear-armed country's main Inter-Services Intelligence is supporting some of the insurgents.

On Friday, a government-appointed commission investigating the unsolved murder of a journalist last year said that the ISI needed to be more "law-abiding." The report did not find enough evidence to name any perpetrators in the death of Saleem Shahzad, who was killed after he told friends he had been threatened by the ISI.

The commission called for the ISI to be made more accountable to the government through internal reviews and oversight by parliament. It said its interactions with reporters should be closely monitored.

Also Friday, militants assaulted a police station in the northwestern city of Peshawar, shooting dead three officers and wounding nine others, said police officer Saeed Khan.

The Pakistani Taliban have carried out hundreds of attacks on the country's army and other security forces since 2007. The attack came a day after militants armed with guns and grenades killed four Pakistani soldiers in an ambush in the South Waziristan tribal area.

_____

Dodds reported from London. Heidi Vogt contributed to this report from Islamabad.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-13-AS-Pakistan/id-0d70e683205d442a803b4143f0ea1346

the hobbit sopa the hobbit an unexpected journey dark knight rises trailer dark knight rises trailer latkes how to make it in america