Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Speaking Your Mind on Facebook - Teplivina.com

Facebook is definitely and clearly a place to speak your mind since you are allowed to say whatever you want to say. Yet, can you REALLY say what you want to say?

Personally, I use Facebook mainly for keeping in contact with friends and advertising about my educational services. ?However, recently I have decided to also use Facebook to speak my mind out to the public especially about social issues that happen in Cambodia and and that help Cambodian society to grow in a positive way. This decision of mine is pretty much influenced by George Carlin (1937-2008), a great stand-up comedian, actor, and philosopher. He was known for his stand-up comedy shows in which he criticized the US government and talked about social issues beneficial to people.

To say that talking about social issues in Cambodia on Facebook is an easy decision could be a mistake because many people particularly my family members have warned me of danger into which I will put myself because some of the stuffs about which I truthfully talk are related to high-ranking officials and big business people in Cambodia. Some even said that I would put my life at stake.

Am I scared? Personally I am not, even a bit, because there is nothing wrong about speaking the truth. If we are terrified about speaking the truth, we had better be prepared to start living in illusion full of lies, distortions and frauds. Plus, I only speak about what I believe is wrong to the Cambodian society with concrete evidence. Besides, I do not involve in any political parties whether they are for or against the government.

Today marks the end of the second week of speaking-my-mind-on-Facebook mission. ?For 14 days, I have written no fewer than 6 edu-taining statuses about Cambodia?s social issues including beer and wine advertising, regular electricity cut-outs and etc.

What have I got from speaking my mind on Facebook??

Besides the hundreds of ?Likes?, dozens of ?Comments? and dozens of ?Shares? that I got for each of my speaking-my-mind statuses on Facebook, I have got many insights from doing this.

First of all, I have learnt that there are actually many caring people in the society. Cambodian youths and citizens actually care about Cambodian society. They want and are willing to help Cambodia grow by means that they are able to do. For instance, whenever I posted good statuses about beer and wine advertising, they shared my statuses to their friends and groups in which they are. Even though some of them are not courageous enough to speak their mind, they are actually brave enough to stand behind someone or some people who do.

Secondly, I also learnt to control my mind. There are actually many things to say about Cambodian society, people, governments and etc. Yet, not all the things can be said. There are limitations by which I should abide or else I will be in trouble provided that I do not have enough evidence to back up with opinions most of which are put in my statuses. As a responsible citizen, I respect people for their action just like the way I want to be treated, thus making me realize the mark that I cannot cross. Though I am not afraid to write about what I want to write, I have to respect other people by not writing something that is groundless and untrue about them.

Thirdly, since I produced my comments about Cambodia mostly in Khmer language, I have somehow improved my Khmer language writing skills. Honestly speaking, my Khmer language writing skills suck since I have not practiced it much if compared to my English language writing. After the two-week writing, I have seen growth in my Khmer language writing in spelling and grammar. (I strongly encourage Cambodian people to start writing in Khmer language as to promote accuracy in Khmer language usage).

Source: http://www.teplivina.com/education/speaking-my-mind-on-facebook/

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This Is How NASA Is Testing the Supersonic Airplanes of the Future

This might look like some kind of space ship?but it's actually a model of a supersonic Boeing airliner, being tested in NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio.

The NASA team is working out how to reduce the incredible amount of noise that a supersonic airliner generates. NASA explains:

"We are testing overall vehicle design and performance options to reduce emissions and noise, and identifying whether the volume of sonic booms can be reduced to a level that leads to a reversal of the current ruling that prohibits commercial supersonic flight over land."

That's why the engines are on top of the plane?to shield the ground from noise?and also explains the presence of the funky V-tail channels. They help direct the sonic boom the aircraft creates backwards, to give it longer to dissipate and in turn protect our little ears down on the surface of the Earth. Good job, NASA. [NASA via New Scientist]

Image by NASA

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5995499/this-is-how-nasa-is-testing-the-supersonic-planes-of-the-future

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Conversion from 'bad' fat to good fat

Apr. 28, 2013 ? Scientists from ETH Zurich have shown for the first time that brown and white fat cells in a living organism can be converted from one cell type to the other. Their work, using mice as a model organism, provides important new insights into the origin of brown fat cells, which is a prerequisite for the development of successful anti-obesity therapies.

Two types of fat cells can be found in mammals and hence in humans: White fat cells function mainly as highly flexible energy stores which are filled in times of calorie abundance. The fat is stored in the form of lipid droplets, which are mobilized when energy is needed. Diametrically opposed in function are the so-called brown adipocytes: These cells specialize in burning energy in the form of fat and sugar to produce heat. New-born babies possess substantial amounts of brown fat and utilize it to maintain body temperature. Since it was recently shown that brown adipocytes also exist in adult humans, research has focused on understanding how brown adipocytes are formed. The ultimate goal of these efforts is to increase brown adipocyte number and activity in obese humans, allowing them to burn excess calories and thus reduce weight.

Against the current belief

It is known that both humans and mice can adapt to cold temperatures by forming brown fat cells within their white fat depots. These cells are called "brite" fat cells (brown-in-white) and are less common at warmer versus colder temperatures. However, the origin of these special brown adipocytes has remained a matter of debate. The prevalent hypothesis was that brite cells are formed from special precursor cells and are removed when no longer needed. The alternate idea of a direct interconversion between white and brown fat cells gained less attention. By demonstrating that this interconversion does occur and is one of the main contributors to brite fat cell formation, the current belief has been challenged.

Genetically labelled fat cells

To demonstrate how brite fat cells are formed the researchers in the laboratory of Christian Wolfrum, a professor at the Institute of Food, Nutrition and Health, generated mice that allowed them to genetically label specific fat cells. These animals were kept in a changing environment: starting at 8?C for a week and for several weeks afterwards at normal room temperature. During the cold exposure, the mice formed brown adipocytes in their white fat depots -- a process called "britening." After warm adaptation the fat tissue turned white again. Using the genetic markers the scientists concluded from these experiments that white fat cells can convert into brown fat cells and vice versa. As humans have the same type of cells as mice it is likely that the same process occurs in humans upon cold stimulation.

Treatments against obesity

"To develop new treatment strategies we need to find ways to convert white into brown adipocytes," says Wolfrum. Most of the research has focused on identifying the precursor cells for brown fat cells, an approach that may be insufficient. Future work will address the question of how to manipulate this interconversion process either by pharmacological or by nutritional means.

This approach would represent a novel strategy. "Current anti-obesity therapies target the energy intake side of the equation by controlling appetite and the uptake of nutrients," says Wolfrum. The pharmacological treatments that are available are not very efficient and usually are associated with side effects. In contrast, this novel approach to treat obesity would target the energy expenditure side of the equation by promoting brown fat formation.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by ETH Zurich, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Matthias Rosenwald, Aliki Perdikari, Thomas R?licke, Christian Wolfrum. Bi-directional interconversion of brite and white?adipocytes. Nature Cell Biology, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/ncb2740

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/3LfJOKXIqoE/130428144925.htm

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Monday, April 29, 2013

Swype (for Android)


Most Android users are familiar with Swype's signature input method of dragging a finger over keys instead of tapping them, a feature that has been baked into several phones. The Swype app, now available on Google Play for 99 cents (limited time price), brings this familiar feature to any Android device, but also adds a slew of other clever input methods like dictation and handwriting. It also provides smart suggestions as you write, letting you quickly finish words and sentences.

With cloud-syncing dictionaries, support for more than 60 languages, and the ability to learn from your writing and social media, Swype is a powerful app that totally changes how you type.

Writing With Swype
The main way to interact with Swype is by "Swyping"?where you drag you finger from letter to letter to spell out words. Once you complete a word, it appears in place in the text. When you next begin swiping, the app automatically adds a space between the words (this can be toggled on and off in the settings).

The word the app believes you swiped is displayed on a ribbon above the keyboard on the far left. Other words which the app believes you may have been attempting to swipe or type appear to the right. The list is extensive, and can be explored by dragging the ribbon left and right.

Typing works as you expect. With each tap of a letter, the suggestions across the top change. Let's say I'm typing the word "best." By the time I'm through "be," the word "be" is on the left as the top suggestion. "Best" is the third suggestion, so I could just tap the word and keep typing.

Like SwiftKey, Swype also displays three suggested words above the keyboard before you begin Swyping or typing. For instance, after writing "I am enjoying the hams of my ancestors" several times, Swype suggested "enjoying," "the," and "hams" after I typed "I am." This makes spitting out frequently used phrases even faster. In other words, it's content-aware, so you could simply tap the suggestions to dash through sentences.

Suggested words are a smart feature, but sometimes Swype spits out strange utterances. During my testing, I tapped the middle of the three suggestions repeatedly and the app wrote "Is it possible to have a good time for the holidays [sic]," a question I am sure many of us have asked before. In general, SwiftKey does a better job of identifying the phrases I use a lot and was more consistent with its suggestions.

Moving between all three modes of text input makes for fast, accurate typing and is the best way to use the app. However, it's hard to get used to looking at suggestions instead of the keyboard while writing. Obviously there's a learning curve before you can take full advantage of everything the app has to offer.

Dead-On Dictation
Nuance Communication, the developer behind Swype, is also responsible for Dragon Dictate for Mac and Dragon NaturallySpeaking 12 Premium (Windows), desktop speech-to-text software that picked up our Editors' Choice award. It's not surprising that the company chose to include a dictation capability in Swype, which it calls Dragon. To activate this feature, simply tap the small flame-like logo on the bottom left of the Swype keyboard. Speak your sentence and then tap "done" when you're finished, although you can allow the app to end dictations automatically from the settings menu.

I was immediately impressed with Dragon on Swype, which requires no tedious set up or training. Out of the box it did a pretty good job transcribing my utterances, even when another speaker was close by.? It's definitely better suited for composing shorter messages, and I also noticed it took longer than expected to process the speech to text, which requires a data connection. The Google Now search bar on my Nexus 7 transcribed my speech much faster, but a little less accurately.

With dictation more than other aspects of Swype, you'll probably end up having to correct the app a fair amount which is thankfully simple. Just tap a word and Swype's suggestions will appear on the ribbon again.

Handwriting Recognition
I thought handwriting recognition fell out of favor around the time of the Newton, but Swype has a toggle-able option to let you write with your fingertip. As you shape letters?either in upper or lower case?the lines vanish quickly as Swype collects them. You can enter text letter by letter or in entire words.

Because English is my first language, my impulse was to move left to right as I wrote. This works fine, but you'll quickly run out of space for longer words. I found the app worked just as well when I wrote the letters over each other slowly.

Annoyingly, to handwrite numbers, you have to switch between letter and number entry modes. Between that and the time it takes to write letters out, it's obvious why this isn't a central feature of the app. In fact, it's not even enabled by default.

Surprisingly, handwriting input shines for entering long strings of numbers?like a phone number.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/yHDB0fDKGH0/0,2817,2418217,00.asp

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Apple iPhoto (for iPhone)


It will come as no surprise that one of the slickest iPhone photo apps comes from the tech design leader: Apple. The company's iPhoto app for Mac OS X broke new ground in cool photo app interface features like skimmable gallery thumbnails and organizing your pictures in "Events." You get iPhoto for iPhone and for iPad with a single $4.99 purchase at the iTunes App Store. Of course, you can do a lot more with a tablet's bigger screen size, not to mention the much larger size and input capabilities of a desktop computer, but Apple nevertheless manages to make a lot of what makes iPhoto great available on its smallest screen.

The iOS version of iPhoto even adds a cool sharing feature you don't get on the desktop iPhoto app, the Photo Journals online Web photo galleries. It also takes advantage of iCloud Photo Streams, an extremely convenient way to get your photos to appear on all your Apple devices?and even on your Windows PC with iCloud installed.

Since it's what Apple calls a "universal" app, iPhoto for iOS works on the iPhone 4 and later, the iPod touch 4th generation and later, and the iPad 2 and later.

Interface
Nobody does interfaces as beautifully as Apple. Occasionally, the beauty and slickness of the interface design can actually make it less clear, until you get the hang of it.

iPhoto's remarkable user interface features multitouch gestures for photo correction, brushes for applying effects onto specific areas of a photo. Some nifty organization tools include the ability to identify similar photos with a double-tap, as well as to flag, favorite, or remove images. As with any good photo editor, iPhoto offers a simple button that takes you right back to your original image view.?

Interface
The home screen in iPhoto for iPhone looks different from that of the iPad version. Instead of the tablet's tabs, it shows five buttons across the bottom: Albums, Photos, Events, Journals, and Settings. The first shows your standard iPhone photo albums, including Camera Roll and Photo Stream. Tapping Photos displays a thumbnail grid all the photos on your device, and tapping on any of these opens a full view of the photo, with a filmstrip of the rest in the album sliding along the bottom of the screen?or along the left if you hold the phone in landscape view.

An "i" button shows info for the photo at hand, including any comments on Facebook or Flickr if you've previously shared it there. A Settings option lets you turn on Help overlay tooltips that explain exactly what each button does. One button at top right lets you quickly view the original image after any amount of edits.

You then tap the Edit button to start working on an individual image. This doesn't change the interface drastically, but just adds different buttons along the bottom, for Auto-Enhance, Rotate, Flag, Favorite, and Tag. But in front of all those is a suitcase button?representing your "toolkit" of photo-editing tools. These include Crop & Straighten, Exposure, Color, Brushes, and Effects. I would have preferred to see more than one Auto option, however, with different options separated out for brightness, color, and so on.

Basic Photo Adjustments
Adjusting your photo's exposure is handled in a way that's innovative for the touch interface: A bar along the bottom represents the image from its darkest to lightest tones, and you can either use controls on this bar or swipe up or down anywhere on the image to increase or decrease brightness, and right or left to do the same for contrast. It's sort of a histogram without the graph. The Apple-award-winning Snapseed for iPad uses a similar swiping approach, but both have the drawback of not letting you zoom while in this adjustment mode.

The artist's palette icon offers the four adjusters shown along the bottom?saturation, blue skies, greenery, warmth. ?Just swipe up or down to increase or decrease saturation and left and right to change hue. The tool is intelligent enough to adjust greenery if you start swiping on the grass, or warmth if you swipe on a person's skin. If you place your finger on sky blue, the option changes to darken or brighten the intensity of the sky?a nice trick.

A settings gear icons offer a healthy selection of white balance options?sun, clouds, shade, flash, face balance?or you can choose a neutral point in the image for a custom white balance. The face balance option can find a face in your photo and balance the rest of the photo based on that.

Cropping and straightening is also cleverly implemented. You can pinch and zoom within a set crop frame, or resize the frame with or without preserving aspect ratio. But neatest of all is the ability to level by holding the iPhone at an angle after tapping on the compass-like control below the photo. This takes advantage of the device's accelerometer. You can also just twist two fingers on the photo (the way most people will probably do it).

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/GwNzFMQTseA/0,2817,2418225,00.asp

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Michael Jackson's life and death back in spotlight in new trial

By Jill Serjeant

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Almost four years after his shocking death, the bizarre life and sorry demise of Michael Jackson will play out again in a $40 billion civil trial that pits the singer's family against the organizers of a musical comeback that never happened.

Opening statements are set for Monday in what is expected to be an emotional, three-month long jury trial that seeks to hold AEG Live, the promoters of the never-realized series of 2009 London concerts, liable for the wrongful death of the "Thriller" singer.

The lawsuit, brought by Jackson's elderly mother Katherine on behalf of the singer's three children, alleges that privately-held AEG Live was negligent in hiring the physician convicted in 2011 of his involuntary manslaughter to care for the singer while he rehearsed for the series of 50 shows.

Jackson, 50, drowning in debt and seeking to rebuild a reputation damaged by his 2005 trial and acquittal on child molestation charges, died in Los Angeles of an overdose of the powerful surgical anesthetic propofol and a cocktail of other sedatives in June 2009.

His personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, is serving a four-year prison sentence after being found criminally negligent by administering propofol to Jackson as a sleep aid.

Murray's six-week trial in 2011 portrayed the former child star known for his stunning dance moves and spectacular public performances as a slurring, drugged-up man off-stage who slept with a toy doll on his bed and whose planned comeback tour was plagued with problems.

The civil trial in Los Angeles is expected to be just as sensational, although a request by TV networks for live coverage was turned down.

AEG Live contends that it did not hire or supervise Murray and claims that Jackson had prescription drug problems for years before entering into any agreement for the "This is It" London concerts.

The concert promoters also argue that they could not have foreseen that Murray posed a danger to Jackson.

SEX ABUSE TRIAL MAY BE REVISITED

Los Angeles Superior Court judge Yvette Palazuelos ruled last month that AEG Live can raise Jackson's 2005 child abuse case as it may be relevant to the singer's history of prescription drug abuse and despondency.

Jackson's two oldest children, Prince, 16 and Paris, 15, are on the witness list this time, although neither testified in Murray's trial. Singers Prince and Diana Ross are also potential witnesses along with the singer's ex-wives, Lisa-Marie Presley and Debbie Rowe.

"Any time you start injecting family members and rather sensitive issues (into the mix), there are going to be strong feelings," former federal prosecutor Marcellus McRae told Reuters.

Murray is not being sued but is also on the witness list, although he has made clear from jail that he will refuse to answer questions for fear of jeopardizing his appeal process.

McRae, now a trial lawyer with Los Angeles firm Gibson Dunn, said that while the criminal trial focused heavily on medical and scientific evidence - including a defense theory that Jackson gave himself the fatal dose of propofol - the jury in the civil case has a very different task.

"The jurors are going to be asked to decide to what extent a third party can be held liable for the actions of someone else.

"To what extent did they (AEG Live) have visibility into what Dr. Murray was doing, did they encourage what he was doing? To what extent was whatever Dr. Murray did a reasonable and foreseeable consequence," McRae said.

Katherine Jackson, 82, and her son's three children are seeking some $40 billion in damages from AEG Live for loss of the singer's earnings and other damages.

AEG Live has argued in court papers that the figure is absurd because Jackson's career was in a downward spiral at the time of his death.

The final amount will be determined by the jury should it hold AEG Live liable for negligence.

(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Paul Simao)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/michael-jacksons-life-death-back-spotlight-trial-113256210.html

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Pennsylvania residents concerned about health effects of hydrofracking

Apr. 28, 2013 ? s living in areas near natural gas operations, also known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, are concerned their illnesses may be a result of nearby drilling operations. Twenty-two percent of the participants in a small pilot study surmise that hydrofracking may be the cause of such health concerns as sinus problems, sleeping difficulties, and gastrointestinal problems.

The findings will be presented at the American Occupational Health Conference on April 28 in Orlando, Florida.

Scientists collected responses from 72 adults visiting a primary care physician's office in the hydrofracking-heavy area of Bradford County, Pa., who volunteered to complete an investigator-faciliated survey.

"Almost a quarter of participants consider natural gas operations to be a contributor to their health issues, indicating that there is clearly a concern among residents that should be addressed," says Poun? Saberi, MD, MPH, the study's principal investigator with the department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. She is also an investigator with the Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology (CEET) at Penn.

Within these 22 percent of responders, 13 percent viewed drilling to be the cause of their current health complaints and 9 percent were concerned that future health problems can be caused by natural gas operations. The previous health complaints by participants were thought to be anecdotal in nature as they were individual cases reported publicly only by popular media.

"What is significant about this study is that the prevalence of impressions about medical symptoms attributed to natural gas operations had not been previously solicited in Pennsylvania. This survey indicates that there is a larger group of people with health concerns than originally assumed," explains Saberi.

The survey included questions about 29 health symptoms, including those previously anecdotally reported by other residents and workers in other areas where drilling occurs. Some patient medical records were also reviewed to compare reported symptoms with those that had been previously documented. "Sinus problems, sleeping difficulties, and gastrointestinal problems were the most common symptoms reported on the Bradford survey," notes Saberi. "Of the few studied charts, there were no one-to-one correlations between the participants' reported symptoms on the survey and the presenting symptom to the medical provider in the records. This raises the possibility of communication gaps between residents with concerns and the medical community and needs further exploration. An opportunity exists to educate shale region communities and workers to report, as well as health care providers to document, the attributed symptoms as precisely as possible."

The CEET team also mapped the addresses of patients who agreed to provide them in relation to drilling to determine if proximity to drilling operations may relate to health problems.

"We hope this pilot study will guide the development of future epidemiological studies to determine whether health effects in communities in which natural gas operations are occurring is associated with air, water, and food-shed exposures and will provide a basis for health care provider education," says CEET director Trevor Penning, PhD. "The goal of science should be to protect the public and the environment before harm occurs; not simply to treat it after the damage has been done."

The Bradford County health concerns pilot study is one of three hydrofracking studies currently underway at CEET, one of 20 Environmental Health Sciences Core Centers (EHSCC) in the US, funded by the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).

CEET is also partnering with Columbia University's EHSCC to measure water quality and billable health outcomes in areas with and without hydrofracking on the Pennsylvania-New York border. Using a new mapping tool developed by Harvard University, CEET and Harvard researchers are creating maps of drilling sites, air quality, water quality, and health effects to locate possible associations. Initial studies will focus on Pennsylvania. Results of both studies are expected in early 2014. These collaborative studies are funded by pilot project funds from the respective EHSCCs, which in turn obtain their financial support from NIEHS.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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


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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/IVvBTUbZKJQ/130428230423.htm

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Thunder take 3-0 series lead with 104-101 win

HOUSTON (AP) ? Kevin Durant was in uncharted territory on Saturday night, playing in his first game without friend and teammate Russell Westbrook.

Durant knew it would be different, but vowed to do whatever he could to carry his team through this difficult period.

He delivered on that promise by scoring 41 points and helping Oklahoma City fight off Houston's late rally to beat the Rockets 104-101 for a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven playoff series.

"I didn't feel the same," Durant said. "And I knew I just had to give my all from here on out ... every game is for him."

Durant checked his phone moments after leaving the court and smiled recalling the text messages he received from Westbrook.

"He texted me at halftime and right after the game," Durant said. "Just said congrats and that he loved me."

Durant scored 27 points in the first half, and the Thunder led by 26 points before a big third-quarter rally by the Rockets put them within striking distance.

Houston regained the lead with about 4 minutes left, and was up with less than a minute remaining. But Durant hit a 3-pointer, which bounced off the rim before falling in, to put Oklahoma City on top 100-99.

"We didn't want to give up any 3s," Houston's James Harden said. "He just made a lucky shot. It was good defense. It just went in and took some of the energy out of us."

A turnover by Harden gave the Thunder the ball back and Derek Fisher made two free throws to push the lead to three. Harden made a layup, but Reggie Jackson hit two more free throws after that.

Houston had a last chance, but Carlos Delfino's 3-pointer fell short.

Thunder coach Scott Brooks was impressed that his team was able to win despite losing its All-Star point guard.

"It's been an emotional time the last 48 hours," Brooks said. "We all love what Russell (Westbrook) is about. He's got probably the biggest heart I've ever been around."

Fisher said it was difficult getting through these last couple of days, but the 16-year veteran said he was there to help the younger guys deal with the loss of Westbrook.

"We're still grieving, so to speak, as a team," Fisher said. "But that's why I'm here, and that's why this is a team. Injuries and bad things happen in sports, but we still have to figure out a way to get things done."

Harden scored 30 points for the Rockets in the first playoff game in Houston since 2009. The Rockets will be at home again for Game 4 on Monday night.

Westbrook was injured in Game 2 and had season-ending right knee surgery Saturday. It was the first time Durant had played a pro game without Westbrook, who hadn't missed a game in his career before Saturday.

Durant's 41 points equaled a playoff career high, and he also had 14 rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block. He sat down for just 44 seconds on Saturday.

"Kevin has done a great job of being a playmaker all season long," Brooks said. "He's an amazing scorer, and he sets up a lot of guys to get easy buckets."

Jackson made his first career start in place of Westbrook and had 14 points, and Serge Ibaka added 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Chandler Parsons had a tying 3-pointer for Houston with 5:46 left, and Delfino put the Rockets in front for the first time since early in the first quarter when he connected from long range to make it 94-93 about 2 minutes later.

Ibaka made four straight points after that, ending with a reverse layup, to make it 97-94 with about a minute and a half left.

Harden hit a pair of free throws. Then Francisco Garcia's 3-pointer put them up 99-97 with 45 seconds left, before the clutch shot by Durant.

The Rockets rallied from a 15-point deficit to take a lead in the fourth quarter in Game 2. But they weren't able to hold on and Oklahoma City got the 105-102 win.

It was much the same this time, as Houston went up late only to fall again.

"We've got to find a way to win those games," Houston coach Kevin McHale said.

Harden complained that he and his teammates were sluggish and lacked energy early. He knows that won't cut it if they expect to win on Monday.

"We have to have that energy from the beginning of the game to the end of the game," he said. "We can't have droughts. You have to play a solid game for 48 minutes."

Westbrook's absence didn't seem to bother Oklahoma City early, as Durant had the big first half and the Thunder looked to be in complete control.

Things changed in the third quarter when Durant was limited offensively and Houston outscored the Thunder 27-14 in the period.

Houston point guard Jeremy Lin, who bruised a chest muscle in Game 2, started but scored only two points in about 18 minutes.

Parsons scored 21 points, and Garcia had 18.

After a big run got Houston within eight in the third quarter, Garcia and Harden made 3-pointers around a dunk by Durant to whittle the lead to 80-76 entering the last quarter.

Durant was scoreless in the third until his dunk with 27 seconds remaining in the quarter.

The Thunder led by 19 points when the Rockets used a 16-5 surge to get to 78-70 with 2? minutes left in the third. The Rockets harassed Oklahoma City into three turnovers in that stretch, and Durant went cold as he missed four shots.

NOTES: Garcia and McHale received technical fouls in the first quarter. ... Pitching great Roger Clemens and Houston Texans star receiver Andre Johnson attended the game.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/thunder-3-0-series-lead-104-101-win-042836906.html

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Russia Detains 140 Suspected Islamic Extremists (Voice Of America)

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Sunday, April 28, 2013

Weekend cooking ? fried squash blossoms (Americablog)

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Investigators push ahead in Boston bombing probe

FILE - This April 25, 2013 file photo shows the mother of the two Boston bombing suspects, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, left, speaking at a news conference in Makhachkala, the southern Russian province of Dagestan. Two government officials tell The Associated Press that U.S. intelligence agencies added the Boston bombing suspects' mother to a federal terrorism database about 18 months before the attack. At right is her sister-in-law Maryam. (AP Photo/Musa Sadulayev, File)

FILE - This April 25, 2013 file photo shows the mother of the two Boston bombing suspects, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, left, speaking at a news conference in Makhachkala, the southern Russian province of Dagestan. Two government officials tell The Associated Press that U.S. intelligence agencies added the Boston bombing suspects' mother to a federal terrorism database about 18 months before the attack. At right is her sister-in-law Maryam. (AP Photo/Musa Sadulayev, File)

FILE - This combination of undated file photos shows Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, left, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19. The FBI says the two brothers are the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing, and are also responsible for killing an MIT police officer, critically injuring a transit officer in a firefight and throwing explosive devices at police during a getaway attempt in a long night of violence that left Tamerlan dead and Dzhokhar captured, late Friday, April 19, 2013. The ethnic Chechen brothers lived in Dagestan, which borders the Chechnya region in southern Russia. They lived near Boston and had been in the U.S. for about a decade, one of their uncles reported said. Since Monday, Boston has experienced five days of fear, beginning with the marathon bombing attack, an intense manhunt and much uncertainty ending in the death of one suspect and the capture of the other. (AP Photo/The Lowell Sun & Robin Young, File)

New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, left, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg hold a news conference, Thursday, April, 25, 2013 in New York. The two say the Boston Marathon bombing suspects intended to blow up their remaining explosives in Times Square. They said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told Boston investigators from his hospital bed that he and his brother had discussed going to New York to detonate their remaining explosives. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

This image taken from surveillance video provided by the Boston Regional Intelligence Center shows Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev at a Bank of America ATM in Watertown, Mass. at 11:18 p.m. on April 18, 2013. The next day, police intercepted Dzhokhar and his 26-year-old brother Tamerlan in a blazing gunbattle that the elder brother dead. Dzhokhar, 19, is charged with carrying out the Boston Marathon bombing April 15 that killed three people and wounded more than 260, and he could get the death penalty. (AP Photo/Boston Regional Intelligence Center)

This Friday, April 26, 2013 photo shows the entrance of the Devens Federal Medical Center (FMC) in Devens, Mass. The U.S. Marshals Service said Friday that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, charged in the April 15, 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, had been moved from a Boston hospital to the federal medical center at Devens, about 40 miles west of the city. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

BOSTON (AP) ? With the Boston marathon bombing suspect in a prison hospital, investigators are pushing forward both in the U.S. and abroad to piece together the myriad details of a plot that killed three people and injured more than 260.

FBI agents picked through a landfill near the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, where 19-year-old suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was a sophomore. FBI spokesman Jim Martin would not say what investigators were looking for.

A federal law enforcement official not authorized to speak on the record about the investigation told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity on Friday that the FBI was gathering evidence regarding "everything imaginable."

Meanwhile, U.S. officials said the bombing suspects' mother had been added to a federal terrorism database about 18 months before the April 15 attack ? a disclosure that deepens the mystery around the Tsarnaev family and marks the first time American authorities have acknowledged that Zubeidat Tsarnaeva was under investigation before the tragedy.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is charged with joining with his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, now dead, in setting off the shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs. The brothers are ethnic Chechens from Russia who came to the United States about a decade ago with their parents.

Investigators have said it appears the brothers were angry about the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Two government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation, said the CIA had Zubeidat Tsarnaeva's name added to the terror database along with that of her son Tamerlan after Russia contacted the agency in 2011 with concerns that the two were religious militants.

About six months earlier, the FBI investigated mother and son, also at Russia's request, one of the officials said. The FBI found no ties to terrorism. Previously U.S. officials had said only that the FBI investigated Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

In an interview from Russia, Tsarnaeva said Friday that she has never been linked to terrorism.

"It's all lies and hypocrisy," she said from Dagestan. "I'm sick and tired of all this nonsense that they make up about me and my children. People know me as a regular person, and I've never been mixed up in any criminal intentions, especially any linked to terrorism."

Tsarnaeva faces shoplifting charges in the U.S. over the theft of more than $1,624 worth of women's clothing from a Lord & Taylor department store in Natick in 2012.

Earlier this week, she said she has been assured by lawyers that she would not be arrested if she traveled to the U.S., but she said she was still deciding whether to go. The suspects' father, Anzor Tsarnaev, said that he would leave Russia soon for the United States to visit one son and lay the other to rest.

A team of investigators from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow questioned both parents in Russia this week.

Late this week, Dzhohkar Tsarnaev was taken from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he was recovering from a throat wound and other injuries suffered during an attempt to elude police, and was transferred to the Federal Medical Center Devens, about 40 miles from Boston, the U.S. Marshals Service said. The facility, at a former Army base, treats federal prisoners.

"It's where he should be; he doesn't need to be here anymore," said Beth Israel patient Linda Zamansky, who thought his absence could reduce stress on bombing victims who have been recovering at the hospital under tight security.

Two college buddies of his ? Azamat Tazhayakov and Dias Kadyrbayev ? have been interviewed at length, twice, by FBI agents and have cooperated fully, said Kadyrbayev's lawyer, Robert Stahl, a former federal prosecutor.

They were detained April 20 after being questioned in connection with the attacks, but are not suspects, Stahl said. They are being detained at a county jail in Boston for violating their student visas by not regularly attending classes, he said.

The two, both students from Kazakhstan, had nothing to do with the attack and had seen no hints that their friend harbored any violent or terrorist sympathies, Stahl said.

Meanwhile, New York's police commissioner said the FBI was too slow to inform the city that the Boston Marathon suspects had been planning to bomb Times Square days after the attack at the race.

Federal investigators learned about the short-lived scheme from a hospitalized Dzhokhar Tsarnaev during a bedside interrogation that began Sunday night and extended into Monday morning, officials said. The information didn't reach the New York Police Department until Wednesday night.

"We did express our concerns over the lag," said police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

The FBI had no comment Friday.

___

Sullivan reported from Washington. Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Rodrique Ngowi in Boston, Colleen Long in New York and Ted Bridis, Pete Yost and Julie Pace in Washington.

Associated Press

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Leftist priests: Francis can fix church 'in ruins'

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) ? A new pope from Latin America who wants to build "a church for the poor" is stirring hopes among advocates of liberation theology, a movement of social activism that alarmed former popes by delving into leftist politics.

Pope Francis has what it takes to fix a church "in ruins" that has "lost its respect for what is sacred," prominent liberation theologian Leonardo Boff said Saturday.

"With this pope, a Jesuit and a pope from the Third World, we can breathe happiness," Boff said at a Buenos Aires book fair. "Pope Francis has both the vigor and tenderness that we need to create a new spiritual world."

The 74-year-old Brazilian theologian was pressured to remain silent by previous popes who tried to draw a hard line between socially active priests and leftist politics. As Argentina's leading cardinal before he became pope, Francis reinforced this line, suggesting in 2010 that reading the Gospel with a Marxist interpretation only gets priests in trouble.

But Boff says the label of a closed-minded conservative simply doesn't fit with Francis.

"Pope Francis comes with the perspective that many of us in Latin America share. In our churches we do not just discuss theological theories, like in European churches. Our churches work together to support universal causes, causes like human rights, from the perspective of the poor, the destiny of humanity that is suffering, services for people living on the margins."

The liberation theology movement, which seeks to free lives as well as souls, emerged in the 1960s and quickly spread, especially in Latin America. Priests and church laypeople became deeply involved in human rights and social struggles. Some were caught up in clashes between repressive governments and rebels, sometimes at the cost of their lives.

The movement's martyrs include El Salvador's Archbishop Oscar Romero, whose increasing criticism of his country's military-run government provoked his assassination as he was saying Mass in 1980. He was killed by thugs connected to the military hierarchy a day after he preached that "no soldier is obliged to obey an order that is contrary to the will of God." His killing presaged a civil war that killed nearly 90,000 over the next 12 years.

Romero's beatification cause languished under popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI due to their opposition to liberation theology, but he was put back on track to becoming a saint days after Francis became pope.

Scores of other liberation theologians were killed in the 1970s and 1980s. Six Jesuit teachers were slaughtered at their university in El Salvador in 1989. Other priests and lay workers were tortured and vanished in the prisons of Chile and Argentina. Some were shot to death while demanding land rights for the poor in Brazil. A handful went further and picked up arms, or died accompanying rebel columns as chaplains, such as American Jesuit James Carney, who died in Honduras in 1983.

While even John Paul embraced the "preferential option for the poor" at the heart of the movement, some church leaders were unhappy to see church intellectuals mixing doses of Marxism and class struggle into their analysis of the Gospel. It was a powerfully attractive mixture for idealistic Latin Americans who were raised in Catholic doctrine, educated by the region's army of Marxist-influenced teachers, and outraged by the hunger, inequality and bloody repression all around them.

John Paul and his chief theologian, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, drove some of the most ardent and experimental liberation theologians out of the priesthood, castigated some of those who remained, and ensured that the bishops and cardinals they promoted took a wary view of leftist social activism.

Yet much of the movement remained, practiced by thousands of grassroots "base communities" working out of local parishes across the hemisphere, nurtured by nuns, priests and a few bishops who put freedom from hunger, poverty and social injustice at the heart of the Church's spiritual mission.

Hundreds of advocates at a conference in Brazil last year declared themselves ready for a comeback.

"At times embers are hidden beneath the ashes," said the meeting's final declaration, which expressed hopes of stirring ablaze "a fire that lights other fires in the church and in society."

Boff and other advocates are thrilled that this new pope spent so much time ministering in the slums, and are inspired by his writings, which see no heresy in social action.

"The option for the poor comes from the first centuries of Christianity. It is the Gospel itself," said then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio during a 2010 deposition in a human rights trial. He said that if he were to repeat "any of the sermons from the first fathers of the church, from the 2nd or 3rd century, about how the poor must be treated, they would say that mine would be Maoist or Trotskyite."

Msgr. Gregorio Rosa Chavez, the auxiliary bishop of San Salvador, said Romero and Francis have the same vision of the church. "When he says 'a church that is poor and for the poor,' that is what Monsignor Romero said so many times," he said.

Rosa Chavez said neither cardinal was among the most radical of churchmen.

"There are many theologies of liberation," he said. "The pope represents one of these currents, the most pastoral current, the current that combines action with teaching." He described Francis' version as "theologians on foot, who walk with the people and combine reflection with action," and contrasted them with "theologians of the desk, who are from university classrooms."

John Paul II himself embraced the term "liberation theology," but was also credited with inspiring resistance to the communist regime in his native Poland, and was allergic to socialist pieties.

For 30 years, the Vatican has been seeding Latin America, Africa and Asia with cardinals "who have tended to be, adverse, to put it kindly, to liberation theology," said Stacey Floyd-Thomas, a professor of ethics and society at Vanderbilt University Divinity School.

In Brazil, Sao Paulo Archbishop Odilo Scherer, widely considered a possible pope, told the Estado de S. Paulo newspaper last year that liberation theology "lost its reason of being because of its Marxist ideological underpinnings . which are incompatible with Christian theology."

"It had its merits by helping bring back into focus matters like social justice, international justice and the liberation of oppressed peoples. But these were always constant themes in the teachings of the Church," Scherer said.

In 1984, Ratzinger put Boff in Galileo's chair for a Vatican inquisition over his writings, eventually stripping him of his church functions and ordering him to spend a year in "obedient silence." Nearly a decade later, in 1993, the Vatican pressured him again, and he quit the Franciscan order.

Now Boff says Francis has brought a "new spring" to the global church.

"Josef Ratzinger. He was against the cause of the poor, liberation theology," Boff said. "But this is from last century. Now we are under a new Pope."

___

Associated Press Writers Michael Warren in Buenos Aires, Jenny Barchfield in Rio de Janeiro, Marcos Aleman in San Salvador and John Rice in Mexico City contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/leftist-priests-francis-fix-church-ruins-213627659.html

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Ways to Easily Increase Your Online Promotion Results | Articles ...

How to Use the Most Effective Internet Marketing Tactics

We know perfectly how hard it can be to locate dependable information about Internet marketing strategy, and this can help you get started in the right direction. We are all acquainted with the feelings of trying to find out about something and not even being certain of what is necessary. Hardly anyone knows anybody online, so when you need important information or help it becomes critical deciding on the source of it. We do understand those feelings very well in our own research on the net. Do keep reading because what we have to convey about this specific subject may surprise you.

If you want to take your online business up to the next level, you could benefit from learning some effective Internet marketing tactics. Your marketing efforts will be directly related to your business growth. This all begins from an understanding of the exact market you want to target. These elements combined can bring you an increase in the number of visitors coming to your site that should result in increased profits. Creating long term success with any online business can mean implementing several Internet marketing elements together to give you the results you want. This article will discuss some Internet marketing tips that could help your online promotional efforts.

Anytime you are discovering a marketing or advertising method for the first time, it is almost always helpful to withhold judgment about it. Only those who are totally serious about really reaching the pinnacle of success with their online business will do this. Here is the bottom line, if effective Internet marketing strategies can be used in your business, then why would you ever not be willing to include it in your campaigns? You will always need to carefully assess anything new, though, and that means you have to base your decisions on research, first.

If you do lose money on some lame method that does not work, then you have learned a valuable lesson and just move on. We know how it feels to be alone and working on this stuff, and so it can feel bewildering at times trying to figure out if something is for real. That experience is very common with web marketers who are relatively new and with little experience. What can also muddle the whole picture are those who had bad results using solid methods, and then those people can malign the method as being bad. One thing that will happen on its own is that if you stay in this long enough, then you will have to do these things just to survive. One thing you have to keep in mind is that your customers may not see your product or promotions the same way you do. From the moment you start creating a product, you have to focus on how it will help your customer. Your customers have to be the main focus. Have it clear in your mind who you are targeting with your products.

Don?t try to be everything to everyone. No one product or service is for everyone. You will do better if you can gain a good reputation in your own niche. Your prospects will be happy to come to you for a specialized solution rather than going for someone else. Your reputation as a trusted authority will grow.

Another good marketing tip is to network online with other entrepreneurs and Internet marketers in your niche. It?s always a good thing to have lots of contacts. Don?t be afraid to reach out to people who are marketing something in your niche. Make an effort to be friendly to people. A good way to meet marketers is on networks like Ryze or Linkin. You should also participate in discussions and network with people on internet marketing forums such as the Warrior Forum, as these have a large number of helpful and successful marketers who regularly log in.

One rule that applies to every type of online strategy is that you should always test your results. If you don?t know what ads are working for you, and how your landing page is converting, it almost gets impossible to get good results. As soon as you begin applying a marketing technique, you should also be testing it. If you do any pay per click advertising, you should always create two or more ads and split test them so you can compare the results. Testing should even be applied to your websites and blogs, so you can determine what kind of look and content gives you the best results. Testing and tracking will help you in every area of your internet marketing.

Once you get comfortable with basic internet marketing practices, the whole process gets easier.

It only appears confusing when you aren?t familiar with how it works. The only way to make Internet marketing easy is to consistently move forward. Don?t be afraid of making any mistakes, as you will only learn from them. Before trying anything else, focus on building one way links to your site and getting as much information about your target audience as possible. It helps if you have a clear focus about your business and products so you can communicate this to your audience.

We are willing to bet that were not aware of the points covered about Internet marketing strategy in this article ? that is a common response we get from people who contact us. So if it suits your fancy, or need, then you are at your leisure to delve into it and know all about it.

Bring an open mind to the table as you do this, though, and many important tips will jump out at you.

What we all naturally do is zero-in on something that is very relevant to our situation and focus on that. The hierarchies that are inherent in this will prove to be most enlightening.

In the end, though, this is clearly your option to pursue or not.

How truly serious are you about effective Internet marketing strategies? Ok, cool? so you?re serious ? then read about online business systems. Do not neglect effective Internet marketing strategy, either.
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Obama pokes fun at critics, media at annual press dinner

By Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama poked fun at the media, his critics and himself on Saturday at the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner, a star-filled event where journalists and celebrities mixed with the Washington elite.

Joined at the dinner by his wife, first lady Michelle Obama, the president gently knocked Republicans for not working with him on policy priorities and made a rare reference to his race when urging the opposition party to be cooperative.

"I know Republicans are still sorting out what happened in 2012, but one thing they all agree on is they need to do a better job reaching out to minorities," Obama said.

"And look, call me self-centered, but I can think of one minority they could start with. Hello? Think of me as a trial run, you know?" he said.

Obama, a Democrat and the first black U.S. president, won re-election in November with overwhelming support from minority voters including blacks and Hispanics.

He took a swipe at people who have doubted his religion and accused him of being a radical leftist, while he made light of his graying hair.

"These days, I look in the mirror and I have to admit, I'm not the strapping young Muslim socialist that I used to be," Obama said. "Time passes. You get a little gray."

The president is a Christian who was born in Hawaii, but he included some material for so-called "birthers" who falsely assert he was born abroad.

"I'm also hard at work on plans for the Obama Library, and some have suggested that we put it in my birthplace, but I'd rather keep it in the United States," he said.

Obama made light of his own rapid rise to power by comparing himself to Republican Senator Marco Rubio, a Hispanic from Florida who is touted as a potential presidential candidate in 2016.

"One senator who has reached across the aisle recently is Marco Rubio, but I don't know about 2016. I mean, the guy has not even finished a single term in the Senate and he thinks he's ready to be president," Obama joked. "Kids these days."

Obama began running for president during his first term as a U.S. senator from Illinois.

In a room filled with journalists, the president saved some of his most biting jokes for the press.

"I know CNN has taken some knocks lately, but the fact is I admire their commitment to cover all sides of a story, just in case one of them happens to be accurate," he said, drawing applause.

"Some of my former advisors have switched over to the dark side. For example, David Axelrod now works for MSNBC, which is a nice change of pace since MSNBC used to work for David Axelrod."

Axelrod was the chief strategist for Obama's re-election campaign and a former White House adviser. MSNBC is considered to be a liberal-leaning television network.

Obama also made light of his wife's new bangs, drawing laughter from her when he showed mock pictures of himself with the same hairdo.

(Additional reporting by Elwina Nawaguna and Peter Cooney; Editing by Paul Simao)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-pokes-fun-critics-media-annual-press-dinner-042458410.html

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Court issues mixed ruling on Mo. funeral protests

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) ? A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a Missouri law banning protests within 300 feet of funerals but struck down a broader law that could have kept protesters even further away.

The decision by a panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stems from a challenge to a pair of 2006 Missouri laws enacted after protests of military members' funerals by a Kansas-based church that denounces homosexuality.

The appeals court said one law barring protests "in front of or about any location at which a funeral is held" violates First Amendment free speech rights because it creates a buffer zone of an undetermined size. It upheld a separate law setting the 300-foot protest buffer around funeral ceremonies and graveside memorial services, but the court said it cannot apply to funeral processions that wind their way through town.

The common factor in the mixed decision was the precision with which Missouri's laws were ? or were not ? written.

The 300-foot buffer is "narrowly tailored to serve Missouri's interest in protecting the peace and privacy of funeral attendees and leaves open ample alternative channels for communication" by protesters, U.S. Circuit Judge Kermit Bye wrote in the opinion by a three-judge panel.

Although it ruled the 300-foot buffer did not violate free-speech protections, the appeals panel sent the case back to a trial judge to consider several other complaints brought against the law by Shirley Phelps-Roper, a member of the Topeka, Kan.-based Westboro Baptist Church.

"It's certainly a victory in that one statute is found unconstitutional and the other is severely narrowed," said Anthony Rothert, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney who represented Phelps-Roper. "The other part is a little bit of a defeat, but we're still in court, so it's not the end of the case."

A spokeswoman for Attorney General Chris Koster said Friday that the office was reviewing the ruling and declined to comment further.

Courts around the country have wrestled in recent years with local laws aimed at keeping Westboro members away from funerals. Church members contend God is punishing the U.S. for its general acceptance of sinful actions and often specifically cite homosexuality, regardless of whether the funeral is for someone who was gay.

After Westboro members protested the 2005 funeral of a Missouri soldier killed in Iraq, Missouri lawmakers responded in 2006 by passing a general prohibition against protests and pickets near funerals, from one hour before the funerals start until an hour after they end.

Concerned about potential legal challenges, Missouri lawmakers a few months later passed a second law containing the specific 300-foot buffer zone but included wording making it effective only if the more general prohibition was invalidated in court.

Both laws contain the same penalty for protesters ? up to six months in jail and a $500 fine for a first offense, and up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine for repeat offenders.

U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan struck down both Missouri laws in August 2010, which led to an appeal and Friday's mixed ruling.

The appellate ruling was consistent with a decision in October 2012 by an 8th Circuit panel that upheld an ordinance by the St. Louis suburb of Manchester restricting protests within 300 feet of funerals or burial services.

___

Associated Press writer John Milburn in Topeka, Kan., contributed to this report.

___

Follow David A. Lieb at: http://www.twitter.com/DavidALieb

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/court-issues-mixed-ruling-mo-funeral-protests-164343394.html

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Bieber Jumps on the Onesie Wagon! What Is This Trend?

Justin Bieber hasn’t only gotten in on the hair-shaving trend -- he's also now a fan of onesies! While on tour in Sweden, the 19-year-old pop star was spotted wearing a red one-piece outfit, and his friend Lil Za was next to him wearing a matching white onesie.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/what-celebrities-wearing-onesies/1-a-534466?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Awhat-celebrities-wearing-onesies-534466

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The New Slim iMac Is Your Deal of the Day

Back in January, Best Buy ran an unprecedented weekend sale where it took $200 off four different models of the most recent MacBook Air. That was a hell of a bargain; even now it's the lowest price we've ever seen for a new MBA. This weekend, Best Buy is doing it again, only with the new, skinny iMac, and instead of a $200 discount, it's only $125. The 22-inch iMacs start at $1175 and the 27-inch iMacs start at $1675. That's still the lowest price for a new iMac we've seen—refurbs, when they're in stock, are cheaper—and that means if you've wanted one, today's probably a good day to pick one up. [Best Buy] More »
    


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Saturday, April 27, 2013

Woody Guthrie Center opens Saturday in Tulsa

This April 25, 2013, photo shows workers put the finishing touches on the Woody Guthrie Center, which features a mural of the Oklahoma-born folk singer/songwriter, in downtown Tulsa. The center is set to open to the public on Saturday, April 27. (AP Photo/Justin Juozapavicius)

This April 25, 2013, photo shows workers put the finishing touches on the Woody Guthrie Center, which features a mural of the Oklahoma-born folk singer/songwriter, in downtown Tulsa. The center is set to open to the public on Saturday, April 27. (AP Photo/Justin Juozapavicius)

This April 25, 2013, photo shows some of the more than 400 metal plates featuring copies of song lyrics and illustrations by Woody Guthrie at the Oklahoma-born folk singer?s center opening Saturday in Tulsa. The 12,000 square-foot Woody Guthrie Center features exhibits that chronicle Guthrie?s life and career. (AP Photo/Justin Juozapavicius)

In this April 25, 2013, photo Deana McCloud, of the Woody Guthrie Center, tries out the Woody?s America interactive map at the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa. The 12,000 square-foot center, which opens to the public on Saturday, features many interactive exhibits chronicling the life and work of Woody Guthrie and is home to the folk singer?s archives. (AP Photo/Justin Juozapavicius)

This April 25, 2013, photo shows the entrance to the Woody Guthrie Center, which opens to the public on Saturday in downtown Tulsa. The center features interactive exhibits chronicling the Oklahoma folk singer?s life and career, as well as an original, handwritten copy of ?This Land is Your Land.? (AP Photo/Justin Juozapavicius)

This circa 1943 photo courtesy of the Woody Guthrie Archives shows Oklahoma-born folk singer Woody Guthrie. The Woody Guthrie Center opens to the public on Saturday, April 27, 2013, with many interactive exhibits chronicling the life and work of Guthrie and is home to the folk singer?s archives. (AP Photo/Al Aumuller, Courtesy Woody Guthrie Archives)

(AP) ? Supporters of folk singer Woody Guthrie say the opening of a center chronicling his storied life and career is long overdue in his native state of Oklahoma.

The 12,000-square-foot Woody Guthrie Center opens Saturday afternoon in Tulsa.

It features Oklahoma's only permanent exhibit on the Dust Bowl and also includes Guthrie's original handwritten copy of "This Land Is Your Land," perhaps his best-known song.

Guthrie's daughter Nora says Oklahomans should take pride in knowing that the core of who her father was as a man and a musician was determined in Oklahoma.

The center is also home to the Woody Guthrie Archives, a collection featuring nearly 3,000 song lyrics, hundreds of pieces of artwork, journal entries, postcards, manuscripts and more than 500 photographs, among other rare items.

Associated Press

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