Large shark kills man in New Zealand

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) ? A shark possibly 14 feet long killed a swimmer near a popular New Zealand beach on Wednesday, then disappeared after police attempting to save the man fired gunshots at the enormous predator.

Muriwai Beach near Auckland was closed after the fatal attack, one of only about a dozen in New Zealand in the past 180 years.

Pio Mose, who was fishing at the beach, told The New Zealand Herald he saw the swimmer struggle against the "huge" shark. He told the man to swim to the rocks, but it was too late.

"All of a sudden there was blood everywhere," Mose said. "... I was shaking, scared, panicked."

Police Inspector Shawn Rutene said in a statement that the swimmer, was about 200 meters (650 feet) offshore when the shark attacked. He said police went out in inflatable surf-lifesaving boats and shot at the shark, which they estimate was 12 to 14 feet long.

"It rolled over and disappeared," Rutene said, without saying whether police are certain that they killed the creature.

Police recovered the body of the swimmer. The Herald reported that he was Adam Strange, a 46-year-old television and short film director, and that his family issued a statement expressing their shock and requesting privacy.

About 200 people had been enjoying the beach during the Southern Hemisphere summer at the time of the attack. Police said Muriwai and other beaches nearby have been closed until further notice.

Police did not say what species of shark was involved in the attack. Clinton Duffy, a shark expert with the Department of Conservation, said New Zealand is a hotspot for great white sharks, and other potentially lethal species also inhabit the waters.

Attacks are rare. Duffy estimated that only 12 to 14 people have been killed by sharks in New Zealand since record-keeping began in the 1830s.

"There are much lower levels of shark attacks here than in Australia," he said. "It's possibly a function of how many people are in the water" in New Zealand's cooler climate.

He said that during the Southern Hemisphere summer, sharks often come in closer to shore to feed and to give birth, although that doesn't necessarily equate to a greater risk of attack.

"Ninety-nine percent of the time they ignore people," he said. "Sometimes, people get bitten."

Around the world, sharks attacked humans 80 times last year, and seven people were killed, according to the University of Florida's International Shark Attack File. The death toll was lower than it was in 2011 but higher than the average of 4.4 from 2001 to 2010.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/large-shark-kills-man-zealand-beach-closed-030458494.html

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BP exec back on the stand in oil spill trial

Lamar McKay, former president of BP America and current chief executive of BP's Upstream unit, leaves Federal Court after testifying in New Orleans, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. McKay testified Tuesday that BP and its contractors share responsibility for preventing blowouts like the Macondo well blowout and rig explosion off Louisiana that killed 11 workers on April 20, 2010, spawning the massive spill. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)

Lamar McKay, former president of BP America and current chief executive of BP's Upstream unit, leaves Federal Court after testifying in New Orleans, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. McKay testified Tuesday that BP and its contractors share responsibility for preventing blowouts like the Macondo well blowout and rig explosion off Louisiana that killed 11 workers on April 20, 2010, spawning the massive spill. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)

Lamar McKay, former president of BP America and current chief executive of BP's Upstream unit, leaves Federal Court after testifying in New Orleans, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. McKay, who was president of BP America at the time of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, became the first BP executive to testify at the federal trial intended to identify the causes of BP's Macondo well blowout and assign percentages of blame to the companies involved. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Lamar McKay, former president of BP America and current chief executive of BP's Upstream unit, left, leaves Federal Court after testifying in New Orleans, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. McKay, who was president of BP America at the time of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, became the first BP executive to testify at the federal trial intended to identify the causes of BP's Macondo well blowout and assign percentages of blame to the companies involved. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Lamar McKay, former president of BP America and current chief executive of BP's Upstream unit, leaves Federal Court after testifying in New Orleans, Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. McKay, who was president of BP America at the time of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, became the first BP executive to testify at the federal trial intended to identify the causes of BP's Macondo well blowout and assign percentages of blame to the companies involved. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? Another BP executive was expected on the witness stand Thursday to face more questions from attorneys for the U.S. government, which is trying to prove the oil company is mostly to blame for a deadly explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig that led to a massive oil spill.

Mark Bly led the company's internal probe of its 2010 blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, but said the investigation wasn't intended to look at the disaster through the "lens of responsibility."

"I think people should share information that could help learn about accidents," Bly said.

Attorneys for the U.S. government and lawyers for Gulf Coast residents and businesses have accused BP of putting profits ahead of safety on a project that was over budget and behind schedule. BP has said drilling in the Gulf is a team effort and its partners should share in the responsibility for the disaster. The trial is designed to assess the fault of each company involved, and billions of dollars are at stake.

On Wednesday, a well design expert and geophysicist who worked for Conoco and Exxon, said BP withheld critical information from oil and gas regulators and continued drilling despite clear signs of trouble before the blowout of the Macondo well.

Alan Huffman, the federal government's expert, said BP continued drilling in dangerous deep water conditions without keeping the Minerals Management Service fully informed about changes in its plans.

Huffman said his review of internal BP documents and MMS records showed the London-based oil giant engaged in a "consistent pattern of misreporting" to the federal agency and gave it a "very false impression" of what was happening on the drilling project.

"And this happened on multiple occasions ... not just on one or two," said Huffman, the second expert witness at a trial that started Monday and, barring a settlement, could last several months.

During his cross-examination, Huffman acknowledged he had never been asked to make a similar comparison of regulatory records before the Justice Department hired him.

"Are you in the business of determining whether or not regulations have been violated?" BP attorney Matt Regan asked.

"That is not my normal practice of work, no," Huffman said.

Regan also questioned why Huffman didn't thoroughly examine the actions of Transocean rig workers or compare BP's conduct to that of other offshore operators.

Huffman said BP did seek permission from MMS to change its drilling plans on some occasions. Other times, he testified, the company's engineers forged ahead with drilling the well when it was in a potentially unsafe condition without informing the agency.

"And that is not what a prudent operator does," he said.

Huffman said it was "unwise" for BP to continue drilling after rig workers detected a "kick," or unexpected increase of pressure in the well, the month before the April 20, 2010, blowout.

"This drilling ahead in this environment was not only unsafe, it violates every standard I can think of in how wells are drilled in the deep water and elsewhere in our industry," he said. "It is truly egregious to drill that extra hundred feet knowing that you could potentially lose the well in the process."

Former BP chief executive Tony Hayward also made a cameo appearance Wednesday, but he didn't attend in person. Instead, he showed up just briefly on a videotape in what may be his only appearance in the courtroom.

Hayward, who infamously said "I'd like my life back" at the height of the spill, isn't expected to take the witness stand in the high-stakes trial because he didn't have direct knowledge of the drilling operations on the Deepwater Horizon.

Still, attorneys for the U.S. government and Gulf Coast residents and businesses showed a 20-minute snippet of his deposition, projecting the video on a large white screen in the courtroom.

"I believe that the role of leaders is very important in shaping the culture of an organization," Hayward said in the videotape.

Rig owner Transocean Ltd. and cement contractor Halliburton also are defendants and their lawyers have tried to minimize their roles in the disaster.

___

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Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-02-28-Gulf%20Oil%20Spill-Trial/id-3d79c4fee78c4d1ba213eede16209f42

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Can your breath identify stress?

Feb. 27, 2013 ? The perennial stress-buster -- a deep breath -- could become stress-detector, claims a team of researchers from the UK. According to a new pilot study, published February 28, in IOP Publishing's Journal of Breath Research, there are six markers in the breath that could be candidates for use as indicators of stress.

The researchers hope that findings such as these could lead to a quick, simple and non-invasive test for measuring stress; however, the study, which involved just 22 subjects, would need to be scaled-up to include more people, over a wider range of ages and in more "normal" settings, before any concrete conclusions can be made, they state.

Lead-author of the study, Professor Paul Thomas, said: "If we can measure stress objectively in a non-invasive way, then it may benefit patients and vulnerable people in long-term care who find it difficult to disclose stress responses to their carers, such as those suffering from Alzheimer's."

The study, undertaken by researchers at Loughborough University and Imperial College London, involved 22 young adults (10 male and 12 female) who each took part in two sessions: in the first, they were asked to sit comfortably and listen to non-stressful music; in the second, they were asked to perform a common mental arithmetic test that has been designed to induce stress.

A breath test was taken before and after each session, whilst heart-rates and blood pressures were recorded throughout. The breath samples were examined using a technique known as gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and then statistically analysed and compared to a library of compounds.

Two compounds in the breath -- 2-methyl, pentadecane and indole -- increased following the stress exercise which, if confirmed, the researchers believe could form the basis of a rapid test.

A further four compounds were shown to decrease with stress, which could be due to changes in breathing patterns.

"What is clear from this study is that we were not able to discount stress. It seems sensible and prudent to test this work with more people over a range of ages in more normal settings.

"We will need to think carefully about experimental design in order to explore this potential relationship further as there are ethical issues to consider when deliberately placing volunteers under stress. Any follow up study would need to be led by experts in stress," Professor Thomas continued.

Breath profiling has become an attractive diagnostic method for clinicians, and recently researchers have found biomarkers associated with tuberculosis, multiple cancers, pulmonary disease and asthma. It is still unclear how to best manage external factors, such as diet, environment and exercise, which can affect a person's breath sample.

"It is possible that stress markers in the breath could mask or confound other key compounds that are used to diagnose a certain disease or condition, so it is important that these are accounted for," said Professor Thomas.

The researcher's initial assumptions are that stressed people breathe faster and have increased pulse rates and an elevated blood-pressure, which is likely to change their breath profile. They emphasise, however, that it is too soon to postulate the biological origins and the roles of the compounds as part of a stress-sensitive response.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Institute of Physics.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. M A Turner, S Bandelow, L Edwards, P Patel, H J Martin, I D Wilson, C L P Thomas. The effect of a paced auditory serial addition test (PASAT) intervention on the profile of volatile organic compounds in human breath: a pilot study. Journal of Breath Research, 2013; 7 (1): 017102 DOI: 10.1088/1752-7155/7/1/017102

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/mind_brain/mental_health/~3/VO5eyWUaM6s/130227225636.htm

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The Best Family Safety Websites and Blogs from Safe Sound Family ...

Posted by SSF in Family Safety

Keeping our families safe and sound is more than a priority, it?s who we are and it drives everything we do. It?s a sense of responsibility that we work hard to fulfill, seeking out the most current information and advice on how to protect ourselves and our family members during every stage of life?infancy and teenage years to the elderly?and in every situation?natural disaster, home security, internet safety. Fortunately, information abounds on the internet through blogs written by safety experts, parents and caregivers?all who care enough to share their knowledge to help keep others safe.

We?ve compiled a collection of 50 safety blogs that we think are the best out there. They?re divided into sections to organize larger safety categories like Home Safety, Self-Defense and Child Safety, to make navigating easier. Each blog offers a general description of what you can expect and three popular blog posts we think you?ll want to check out. As we?d like to keep this resource fresh and constantly evolving, don?t hesitate to let us know if you find a safety blog you consider worthy of our list.

Blog Categories

Use the links below to ?jump to? a specific blog category:

Best Blog Badges

Did you make out list? Add a custom badge to your website and let others know you?re one of the best safety blogs on the Web.

Jump to: Website Badges

Online Safety Blogs and Websites

Parent Further

Research based advice from parents and professionals to share information and tools that give parents a positive, strength based approach to parenting to make all of the little steps of everyday living add up to a successful future. All content is overseen by members of the Advisory Board for Family Strengths National Research Project and Parent Engagement. Topics include high risk behaviors, technology and media, and discipline and values.

3 of our favorite posts from Parent Further:

Do Something.Org

The website for the organization, DoSomething.org is meant to educate teens about real world issues they care about and face every day, but it is such a useful resource, the entire family will benefit. A new campaign is launched each week to harness their youthful energy and use it toward learning about issues and contributing to positive social change. Some of the many causes include bullying and violence, animal cruelty, and discrimination.

3 of our favorite posts from DoSomething.org:

Get Game Smart

Designed by Microsoft to guide families toward safer, healthier video gaming and online media, Get Game Smart helps parents and kids choose the right games, content, and online access settings. Includes tips from experts as well as a blog on current video game and Internet safety topics to ensure smart media choices.

3 of our favorite posts from Get Game Smart:

Cyberbullying Research Center

This web site for the Cyberbullying Research Center provides information on adolescent use and misuse of technology. Parents, educators and anyone who works with children and teens will find resources from facts, statistics and personal stories of those who have been impacted, on how to? prevent and respond to online aggression.

3 of our favorite posts from Cyberbullying Research Center

Common Sense Media

Created to improve kids? and families? lives by providing trustworthy information in the midst of the ever-growing world of media and technology. With media so often ?the other parent,? the role it plays is very influential. The Common Sense Media site rates and reviews movies, games, books, music and more, providing parents with a background and summary to help them make the best choices for the family.

3 of our favorite posts from Common Sense Media:

Baby Safety Blogs and Websites

SAF Baby

Founded by Sandra Blum and Samantha Fox, this site strives to share detailed information about safe and non-toxic alternatives for babies and children. In addition to helping small manufacturers of green products get the word out, the site offers the real scoop on the safe alternatives to dangerous and potentially dangerous family products.

3 of our favorite posts from SAF Baby:

Baby Safety Concerns

Great resource for parents looking to keep up with the latest infant and baby safety information from daily product recalls to health and home safety, where most accidents happen. Specific attention is categorized by baby proofing, product safety, health and safety and baby skin safety.

3 of our favorite posts from Baby Safety Concerns:

Baby Safe Homes

Family owned and operated, Baby Safe Homes began after a frustrating and time consuming experience baby-proofing their home after the birth of their first child. Realizing the lack of good information out there, this website is the result of more than a decade of research and experience to help families make their homes baby and child safe. They blog on topics from product recalls, safety products and child safety issues.

3 or our favorite posts from Baby Safe Homes:

Consumer Reports Baby

A familiar and trusted name in product ratings and reviews, the Consumer Reports Babies & Kids web pages are packed with the most recent products for the youngest family members. You?ll find recalls, ratings and reviews on most every product out there, as well as informative posts on child safety.

3 of our favorite posts from Consumer Reports Baby:

On Safety

The official blog site of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission provides families with the latest safety information on topics such as childproofing, product recalls, and fire and poison prevention. On Safety is a thorough go-to guide for most any family safety issue.

3 of our favorite posts from On Safety:

Baby Product Experts

Representing hundreds of locally owned and operated baby products in the U.S. and Canada that carry the Baby Product Experts certification seal, this site is a directory of stores as well as a personal shopper to help parents find the best value, selection and safety in the products they choose for their children. The site also has an updated product recall list, helpful parenting articles, newsletter and blog.

3 of our favorite posts from Baby Product Experts:

Child Safety Blogs and Websites

Child Safety Blog

This child safety site blogs on topics most relevant to kids today. From toys for the youngest tots to car safety, water safety, Internet, health and nutrition, it?s covered here in a user friendly, conversational tone. Posts are easy to navigate and are archived by month, providing a plentiful supply of information.

3 of our favorite posts from Child Safety Blog:

The Bump Blog

Named a top women?s website by Forbes, The Bump and its partner site, The Knot, are hugely popular, and for good reason. The Bump has resources, news and blog posts for women who are pregnant, have a baby, toddler, or preschooler. Baby names, gear, and tools are just a few topics covered. Categorized by pregnancy and baby?s age, each is given specific attention to safety.

3 of our favorite posts from The Bump:

Kid Power

Fueled by Kidpower Teenpower Fullpower International, the global non-profit organization dedicated to the teaching of positive and practical safety skills for people of all ages. Kidpower?s site provides expert advice on types of violence affecting our families, specifically our kids, like bullying, molestation, child abuse and kidnapping.

3 of our favorite posts from Kidpower:

Safe Kids

Preventing unintentional childhood injury?the leading cause of death and disability in kids ages 1 to 14?is the mission of Safe Kids USA.? Education, providing safety devices for needy families, and advocating for better laws to keep kids safe are just some of the things done by their hundreds of organizations. The website provides current news on child safety, product recalls, safety basics and guides.

3 of our favorite posts from Safe Kids:

The Parent Report

An extension of the internationally syndicated radio program, The Parent Report, the website continues the conversations on the radio show based on interviews with experts on the topic of raising children. Information covers issues such as safety from before baby through toddler and teen to provide parents with helpful resources and advice.

3 of our favorite posts from The Parent Report:

Healthy Children

HealthyChildren.org is powered by the American Academy of Pediatrics, and is backed by more than 60,000 pediatricians. A valuable source of information on the many programs, activities, guidelines, and recommended resources of AAP, this site has an entire section called Safety & Prevention, committed to helping families keep kids safe at home, at play, and on the go.

3 of our favorite posts from Healthy Children:

Safety Mom

Founded by Alison Rhodes, now known as The Safety Mom, after her child died from SIDS, Rhodes is committed to saving the lives of children. Her site covers family safety topics from environmental toxins to nutrition and sports injuries?there?s nothing you won?t find on the sites Safety Mom Menu. In addition to valuable articles, tips and advice, she has a newsletter and blog to connect readers.

3 of our favorite posts from Safety Mom:

Free Range Kids

Named for her book, Free-Range Kids: How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children (Without Going Nuts with Worry), Lenore Skenazy is on a mission to fight the belief that today?s kids are in constant danger from kidnappers, germs, bugs, bullies, and everything in between that today?s parents protect them from. On the site you?ll find links to her syndicated columns, her blog and what she calls ?Reassuring crime statistics? to put parents? minds at ease.

3 of our favorite posts from Free Range Kids:

?Keeping Mom Safe? Blogs and Websites

Safety Girl

The blog for the SafetyGirl.com site, which sells safety products specifically for women, provides women with information on how to stay safe no matter what the situation. Posts range from women?s health concerns to safety gear, tools and clothing, to advice and tips.

3 of our favorite posts from Safety Girl:

Women?s Self Defense Institute

Women?s Self Defense Institute is written by Steve Kardian, career law enforcement officer, detective and criminal investigator who has become a national media consultant for several high profile media avenues such as CBS, NBC, Fox News, and the New York Times. His blog is filled with self defense information, tips and warnings that every woman should know.

3 of our favorite posts from Women?s Self Defense:

Self-Defense Blog for Women

Founded of the Women?s Self-Defense Institute, Angie M. Tarighi has more than 20 years experience teaching self-defense. Through the website and blog, she works to encourage the awareness and education of women to protect themselves. Tarighi offers stats, information and tips to? empower women with the skills they need to build confidence.

3 of our favorite posts from Women?s Self-Defense

Senior Safety Blogs and Websites

Aging Wisely

The well-being of older family members is something we are all concerned about. Aging Wisely is a website for caregivers and loved ones of aging relatives who are trying to navigate this new territory in all of their lives. Whether it?s advice on how to recognize symptoms of Alzheimer?s Disease, how to prevent falls or when to consider assisted living, Aging Wisely is a thorough site to visit.

3 of our favorite posts from Aging Wisely:

Assisted Living Today

Assisted Living Today is the Web?s premier source of senior living and eldercare news and information. The site staffs a team of senior care experts who publish some fantastic articles, comprehensive guides and interviews with industry thought leaders that address a range of elder care issues as they relate to senior citizens, their loved ones and senior living caregivers.

3 of our favorite posts from Assisted Living Today:

Help! Aging Parents

Created and written by Susan, whose 97-year-old mother-in-law still lives independently in her own home. The blog is about all of those things you never knew until you had an elderly relative either in your care or your concern. Susan?s posts try to help others age well. It?s not something that comes second nature to adult children and the advice here will serve everyone well.

3 of our favorite posts from Help! Aging Parents:

Inside Elder Care

Founded by Ryan Malone, whose mother went through a long health journey which required the need for elder care. By her side the entire way, Malone was introduced to a very new set of experiences which he writes about in the site?s blog to help anyone who provides care or cares about someone who requires elder care. Very helpful information on how to? keep them safe.

3 of our favorite posts from Inside Elder Care:

IPAT ND Assistive Technology Blog

The goal of the Interagency Program for Assistive Technology is to help North Dakotans of any age or disability to enjoy life fully. Filled with information families in any geographic location can benefit from, this blog covers the technology in home safety in products such as fire detectors, the location of light switches and emergency preparedness.

3 of our favorite posts from IPAT ND Assistive Technology Blog:

Senior Home Safety Blog

Richard Ueberfluss, orthopedic physical therapist and healthcare leader, has worked to build strong relationships with physicians and senior care advisors. He also speaks on senior care safety on topics such as fall prevention and dementia care. This blog focuses on the safety issues of the elderly living at home.

3 of our favorite blog posts from Senior Home Safety Blog:

Home and Family Safety Blogs and Websites

Pet Safe

Blog of PetSafe, a company that designs pet products, you will be instantly drawn in by its love of pets. And the blog posts are a tribute to that, with a broad range of categories covering pet health, breeds, and behavior, to name a few. When it comes to specifics, any pet question or issue you have is addressed in at least one blog post.

3 of our favorite posts from PetSafe:

Ms. Clean Jeans? Clean, Organized, Family Home Blog

Blog of lifestyle expert, author, and mom of 3, Tara Aronson covers everything home and family on her reader-friendly, easy to navigate site. Blog topics on Pets, Repair, Laundry, Car? there?s no limit on her expertise. The Safe at Home section is especially helpful in everything from fire hazards, bad weather, and vacation home safety.

3 of our favorite posts from Ms. Clean Jeans:

West Bend Cares

The blog of the West Bend Mutual Insurance Company is focused on family and home safety. Blogger Scott Stueber has been with the company for over 15 years and is the father of two girls?a teen and a tween. His monthly topics cover child, pet, home, auto, and outdoor safety.

3 of our favorite posts from West Bend Cares:

Family Watchdog

?Awareness is your best defense? is the mission of Family Watchdog, a free service to help locate registered sex offenders in your area. It also offers notifications to keep updated are available with a simple sign-up. In addition, the site and articles cover safety information from vehicle recalls to food allergies.

3 of our favorite posts from Family Watchdog:

Safety Source

Part of the National Fire Protection Agency, the Safety Source blog features news and information to reduce fire related deaths, injuries and loss of property.? The site includes resources for kids and teachers, safety tips, products, videos and an immense collection up archived blogs.

3 of our favorite blog posts from Safety Source:

The Allstate Blog

Powered by the well known insurance company, The Allstate Blog covers home and family safety with hundreds of posts on almost as many topics. Homeowners will find tips and advice for the entire house and everybody in it, from children to the elderly. It also provides safety? and preventive care information on car, boat and other homeowner toys.

3 of our favorite posts from The Allstate Blog:

Culture of Safety

Specializing in the safety of community organizations, Culture of Safety shares information and advice on activities where community members recreate such as swimming lessons, fitness classes and summer camps. Fueled by West Bend Insurance, which serves community based organizations, this site is a community safety powerhouse.

3 of our favorite posts by Culture of Safety:

Totem Appliance Service Blog

Who knows more about kitchen appliance safety than an appliance? service company? The people behind this blog at Totem have no doubt seen it all when it comes to kitchen appliances and their mishaps. Realizing a niche in providing safety information about ovens, refrigerators and ranges?things we use to prepare meals everyday?this blog was born. There?s information on prevention, but also on use, cleaning and even troubleshooting problems.

3 of our favorite posts from Totem Appliance Service:

C.C. Duff Blogs

Chris Duff is a realtor and broker with a lot of on the job experience. Focused on putting client needs first, he helped develop a radio show called Real Time which, like his blog, shares important and useful information everybody can use in terms of safety in and around the home.

3 of our favorite posts from C.C. Duff Blogs:

We Make It Safer

We Make It Safer is all about bringing together consumers, manufacturers and retailers to join forces in the communication about product safety and recalls. The goal is to reduce product related injuries, illnesses, and deaths that happen every year around the world. Consumers can add their products to its account and be alerted if they are recalled. The blog keeps readers up to date on recalls and product safety issues.

3 of our favorite posts from We Make It Safer

MomsRising

MomsRising is an organization that has grown from a few to more than a million women who wanted to make an impact on issues facing women, mothers and families. Through this blog, they introduce, discuss, and spread the word about these issues, which cover things like toxics and health care issues.

3 of our favorite posts from MomsRising:

Before the Wheel

Empowering safe teen drivers with a positive approach is the goal of the Before the Wheel Teen Driving Program. Information about the community program all over the country, helpful videos and articles that give teens and their parents the strategies every family and community needs to ensure safe teen drivers who become safe adult drivers.

3 of our favorite posts from Before the Wheel:

Mothers Against Drunk Driving

Founded by a mother whose daughter was killed by a drunk driver, MADD is a nonprofit organization helping to protect families from drunk driving. Working toward its mission is to ?stop drunk driving and support the victims of this violent crime and prevent underage drinking,? the organization has saved 300,000 lives. The site provides information on drunk driving, victim services and underage drinking.

3 of our favorite posts from MADD:

Food Safety Blogs and Websites

Parents Connect

With the tagline, ?We?re not perfect, we?re parents,? the tone is set for this welcoming website which is one of several in the Parents Connect family along with Nickelodeon and GoCityKids to name just a couple. The site is plump with resources for every step of parenting from pregnancy to teens and parenting itself. The food safety blog offers questions every parent wants to ask and it?s answered by an expert so you know it?s trusted advice.

3 of our favorite posts from Parents Connect:

Kids With Food Allergies

The site of the Kids with Food Allergies Foundation (KFA), this site is full of practical strategies to manage food allergies. Its goal is to educate families and communities and to provide help that will save lives and improve the quality of life for children with allergies and their families. The online community is not only award-winning, but offers recipes, resources, chats and blogs.

3 of our favorite posts from Kids With Food Allergies:

Grateful Foodie

Created by a mom with two food allergic and asthmatic children, the site is dedicated to sharing a love for food, even with food allergic kids. This is a blog of resources, recipes, and tales of a real life journey of one family bridging the gap between food and allergies.

3 of our favorite posts from Grateful Foodie:

One Pot

Vancouver, Canada-based cook, Diane Brown blogs about food from the way it?s grown and harvested, shipped and processed, to the way it?s served at the table. Her Safety & More entries provide useful information and advice on food safety, kitchen safety, and kitchen tips in a welcoming manner. Quizzes on storage and food preparation and videos on how to safely sharpen knives and maintain a cutting board are just a sampling of the areas to explore.

3 of our favorite posts from One Pot:

Food Blog

This food blog of the Agriculture and Natural Resources department at the University of California, provides information on the creation and consumption of food. There?s no talking food without covering food safety. Whether you?re looking for basic safe food preparation tips or you want to know more about a foodbourne outbreak, you?ll find it here.

3 of our favorite posts from Food Blog:

Fire and Emergency Safety Blogs and Websites

Fire Safety For All

Created by Albemarie, a global supplier of fire retardants, the goal of the blog is to prevent fires and save lives. The number of home injuries and casualties due to fire is unnecessarily high. Blogs like this one are just the type of resource we need for safety tips to help prevent fires and fire related injuries in the home and outside.

3 of our favorite posts by Fire Safety For All:

Disaster Safety Review

The site of the Disaster Safety Review is powered by the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety. By knowing the risks of your geographic region, you can be better prepared for the natural hazards that could damage or even destroy your home. When you enter your zip code, a list of risks and numerous tips and instruction appear.

3 of our favorite posts from Disaster Safety Review:

FEMA

Official blog of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA is the go-to agency when American experience disaster. It is also an expert source of information, advice and resources when it comes to home emergency preparedness. Blog articles cover all types of natural disasters from fires and floods to earthquakes and Tsunamis.

3 of our favorite posts from FEMA:

MySafe: LA

You don?t have to live in Los Angeles to benefit from this terrific safety resource. The MySafe: LA organization teaches fire and life safety to grade school children, adults, seniors, and those at-risk. The site and blog offer advice, tips and resources for everything from earthquake preparedness and flooding to burn education.

3 of our favorite posts from MySafe: LA:

Earthquake Buddy Blog

Earthquake Buddy is an app that helps save lives in the case of earthquake emergency. Basically, it sends your geographic location to four buddies via instant email. The blog addresses earthquake preparedness and safety in every step and every situation, including specific locations.

3 of our favorite posts from Earthquake Buddy:

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Cancer is even worse in the movies | Wichita Eagle

There are too few Hollywood endings when it comes to the depiction of cancer in movies, doctors say.

Last fall, Italian researchers analyzed 82 cancer-themed movies, including ?Cat on a Hot Tin Roof? and ?Gran Torino.? They found that rarer cancers are most often featured and that characters were more likely to die than real-life patients.

?Very often the ill person doesn?t get over the disease, and his death is somehow useful to the plot?s outcome,? Luciano De Fiore said in a statement. ?This pattern is so strongly standardized that it persists in spite of real progress of treatments.?

Cancer is the second most common cause of the death in the U.S., second only to heart disease. Yet as diagnosis has improved and treatments have advanced, there are an estimated 13.7 million survivors, according to the National Cancer Institute.

In the movies analyzed, 40 characters with cancer were women, and 35 were men, although more men develop cancer. Death occurred in 63 percent of the movies. By contrast, the American Cancer Society reports that the five-year survival rate for all cancers is 68 percent.

The researchers noted that common cancers, including breast cancer, are hardly represented, while relatively rare leukemia, lymphomas and brain tumors predominate.

Robert A. Clark, a Florida radiologist who conducted a similar film review published in 2001, said lung, breast and colon cancers are largely avoided in part because fictional patients are usually young and attractive. The majority of cancers, however, occur in those 55 and older.

?Cancer can involve a lot of messy things ? surgeries with colostomies and urinary bags and some kind of nasty things,? Clark said. ?That?s not something that filmmakers typically want to portray. It?s probably also a little more emotionally compelling when you have a 30-year-old victim instead of a 75- or 80-year-old victim.?

Clark examined 20 films made between 1939 and 1999, including ?Terms of Endearment,? ?Stepmom? and ?A Civil Action.? He said he believes lung cancer is ignored because filmmakers are enamored with smoking, despite the fact that in 1991 the tobacco industry instituted a voluntary ban on paid product placement in movies.

As for breast cancer, he said it might be less interesting because so many people are familiar with the disease and because of how Hollywood works.

?If you?re in the film business, part of which is selling sex, it?s hard to walk that line between breasts for titillation and breasts for disease,? Clark said.

He said when he worked at a university cancer center, they would sometimes hold screenings for patients of cancer-themed movies, such as ?The Doctor.?

?They often wanted to see cancer movies if they were good,? Clark said. ?They also liked ?Die Hard.???

Leonard Sender, a University of California-Irvine oncologist who specializes in young-adult cancer, said when he watches movies, he particularly focuses on the portrayals of doctors, sometimes cringing at their arrogance.

He attended an event where Will Reiser, the screenwriter of ?50/50,? spoke about the 2011 film, which was based on his diagnosis of spinal cancer at 25. In the movie, the character played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt undergoes chemotherapy, sees a therapist and ultimately survives.

?I thought it was really realistic,? Sender said. ?Not everyone has to die in the movies. A lot more people are surviving from cancer than dying of cancer.?

Source: http://www.kansas.com/2013/02/25/2691685/cancer-is-even-worse-in-the-movies.html

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Texas public school students don burqas, learn that Muslim terrorists are freedom fighters

Texas public schools have come under fire again. This time, a teacher allegedly encouraged high school girls to dress up in full-length Islamic burqas and then instructed the entire class that Muslim terrorists are actually freedom fighters.

The incident occurred in a world geography class at Lumberton High School in the small town of Lumberton, Texas. The general topic of the class that day was Islam.

An unnamed student informed WND that the teacher said, ?We are going to work to change your perception of Islam.?

?I do not necessarily agree with this,? the teacher also allegedly said, ?but I am supposed to teach you that we are not to call these people terrorists anymore, but freedom fighters.?

The controversial lesson came from a lesson plan provided by CSCOPE, an all-embracing, online K-12 educational curriculum used in 80 percent of the school districts in Texas. A rapidly growing chorus of critics charges that CSCOPE is a radical, backdoor way for progressives to circumvent both the Texas legislative process and the desires of local school boards and communities. (Ten shocking things CSCOPE is teaching kids in Texas)

A student in the class told WND that the burqa-related lesson focused mainly on the lives of women in Muslim countries. The enveloping outer face and body covering was treated more or less as a fashion accessory.

Apparently, no mention was made of the fact that women in Saudi Arabia and Iran must wear the garment under threat of arrest and criminal punishment.

At the end of class, the teacher assigned a paper about Egypt. A student explained to WND that the topic of the paper was ?how Egypt was a good country until democracy took over, and that things were finally corrected when the Muslim Brotherhood came into power.?

State Sen. Dan Patrick, chairman of the Texas state senate?s education committee, told Fox News that he found the photograph of the burqa-clad female students disturbing. Patrick was also concerned that the CSCOPE lesson apparently blames democracy for turmoil in Egypt and paints the Muslim Brotherhood as some political savior.

?Parents are very sensitive to any issue that seems to be anti-American ? that blames democracy for some sort of trouble in the world,? Patrick told Fox News.

The CSCOPE curriculum seems to be inherently agenda-driven ? particularly in history and social studies courses. The curriculum provider has foisted some hilariously biased coursework on public school students in The Lone Star State.

For example, CSCOPE has given students material suggesting that Christianity is a cult that parallels the death and resurrection in the story of Osiris, the Egyptian god of the dead. The same material takes pains to point out that early Christians were accused of incest, cannibalism and other atrocities.

There?s an infamous chart that innocuously describes communism as ?the idea of living together in a ?commune? where all people work together for everyone.?

Another notorious CSCOPE lesson (now ostensibly removed from circulation) depicts the Boston Tea Party, the famous protest against taxation without representation, as an act of terrorism.

As WND notes, CSCOPE also defines Republicans as lovers of ?big business over labor unions.? Warm and cuddly Democrats, meanwhile, ?will spend more tax dollars on education to benefits [sic] each individual.? (The grammar error is CSCOPE?s, not WND?s.)

CSCOPE labels fascism and Nazism as ?conservative,? despite the fact that both ideologies prescribe that the state should control everything and own all resources.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/texas-public-school-students-don-burqas-learn-muslim-063126528.html

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BlackBerry takes another hit as Pentagon opens network to iPhone, Android phones

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the original "Star Wars" trilogy, was briefly hospitalized due to her bipolar disorder, the actress' spokeswoman said on Tuesday after video emerged of Fisher giving an unusual stage performance. The video came from a show Fisher gave aboard a cruise ship in the Caribbean last week, according to celebrity website TMZ, which posted the clip. The clip shows Fisher, 56, singing "Skylark" and "Bridge Over Troubled Waters," at times appearing to struggle to remember the lyrics. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blackberry-takes-another-hit-pentagon-opens-network-iphone-200031163.html

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Practical Internet Home Based Business Ideas, For The Young And ...

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Source: http://makemoneyblog123.blogspot.com/2013/02/practical-internet-home-based-business.html

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Christina Applegate weds musician Martyn LeNoble

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Emmy-winning actress Christina Applegate quietly married rock musician Martyn LeNoble at a wedding in Los Angeles, a representative of the "Anchorman" star said on Monday.

Applegate, 41, and LeNoble, 43, exchanged vows on Sunday while the entertainment world was trained on the Academy Awards, the film industry's biggest night.

The couple was "surrounded by family in a private ceremony at their home in Los Angeles," Applegate's spokeswoman said in a statement.

The couple, who have been together since 2008, engaged in 2010 and have a 2-year-old daughter, Sadie.

It is the second marriage for both.

Applegate was most recently on the television comedy "Up All Night." She announced she was leaving the NBC series in February over the show's creative direction.

Dutch LeNoble, a bassist, was a founding member of 1990s alternative rock group Porno for Pyros.

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Eric Walsh)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/christina-applegate-weds-musician-martyn-lenoble-000409876.html

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Union pension adviser says will oppose two HP directors

(Reuters) - A union pension adviser said it will oppose two Hewlett-Packard Co directors and the company's auditor over governance issues, after HP leaders assuaged few of their concerns at a meeting on Monday.

The declaration by pension adviser CtW Investment Group sets up a potentially distracting battle in the weeks before the California computer maker's annual shareholder meeting on March 20.

Despite a good run lately HP stock has been held back by a string of troubled acquisitions. Michael Pryce-Jones, CtW senior governance policy analyst, said after Monday's meeting that the adviser will not campaign against board chairman Raymond Lane's nomination for re-election.

Pryce-Jones cited the risk of possible disruption to the giant California computer maker were Lane to lose re-election. But he said two other HP directors, G. Kennedy Thompson and John Hammergren, should be held responsible for HP missteps, like its purchase of UK software company Autonomy, tainted in the fall by accusations of accounting improprieties.

The two directors "have overseen so many missteps, so much destruction of value, that it's hard to believe this effort to turn around the company can proceed with them on the board," Pryce-Jones said in a telephone interview.

Thompson was formerly chairman and CEO of Wachovia Corp, the North Carolina bank bought by Wells Fargo & Co in 2008. Hammergren is chairman and CEO of U.S. drug wholesaler McKesson Corp.

Thompson chairs the HP board's audit committee, while Hammergren chairs the board's finance and investment committee, according to HP's proxy.

Pryce-Jones also said the adviser will urge investors to vote against the renewal of HP's auditing firm Ernst & Young.

Since last month, CtW has been raising questions about HP's governance and the role of auditor Ernst & Young, which has performed non-auditing work for HP as well.

Shares in HP have performed well so far in 2013, helped by better-than-expected quarterly results last week under cost-cutting by CEO Meg Whitman. The stock fell 0.7 percent to $19.07 in trading on Monday.

But the shares have failed to recover to their value above $54 in 2010 as it cycled through CEOs. In addition to the Autonomy deal, CtW has criticized HP for write-downs following acquisitions of Electronic Data Systems Corp and Palm.

Monday's meeting, held at the Washington, D.C., office of the Council of Institutional Investors, was attended by HP's Lane and by about 20 other investors, both in person and via conference call, said Pryce-Jones.

Asked about the meeting before it ended, HP sent a statement that read: "HP regularly meets with our investors, particularly in advance of our annual shareholder meeting. These meetings often include members of our Board of Directors. We look forward to discussing any concerns this particular group of investors may have."

An Ernst & Young spokeswoman declined to comment.

Pryce-Jones declined to give many specifics about what Lane and others from HP said at the meeting. He said Lane "came across as credible. He turned up and he's laid his reputation" on the company's turnaround, Pryce-Jones said.

CtW, affiliated with the labor group Change to Win, advises union pension funds with roughly $200 billion in assets.

Change to Win is a federation of U.S. unions with 5.5 million members pushing to organize and represent workers in sectors like health care, hotels and ports.

HP's annual meeting is scheduled for March 20 in Mountain View, California.

(Reporting by Ross Kerber; additional reporting by Poornima Gupta; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe, Nick Zieminski and M.D. Golan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/union-pension-group-meet-hp-officials-seeks-auditor-160101204--sector.html

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Dell intros Latitude 10 enhanced security for all your governmental tableting needs

Government agencies need some tablet love, too. Dell knows this, and the company's looking to make some headway in that space, along with other areas like healthcare companies and financial institutions that require a high level of protection on their CE devices. The enhanced security version of the Latitude 10 Windows 8 slate features all manner of safe-keeping technologies, including dual-authentication with a smart card and fingerprint reader. There's also a Trusted Platform Module, BitLocker Drive Encryption, Computrace Support and a Noble Lock Slot. All of those security measures help the device comply with regulations like Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and Federal Information Processing Standard. You can pick up all that security, along with a dual-core Atom processor today for $779.

Filed under: Tablets, Dell

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/26/dell-latitude-10-security/

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We're live at the Nokia MWC press event!

Are you curious as to what mystery gadgets are hanging out in Stephen Elop's pocket right now? So are we, and thankfully we won't have to wait much longer to find out. The Nokia CEO is set to take the stage at MWC in just a few minutes to show off the latest and greatest mobile wares coming out of Finland, so sit down and join us as we bring you the announcements as they come.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Microsoft, Nokia

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/gAGgUL_clFM/

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Jennifer Lawrence Wins Best Actress At Oscars?Laughs Off Fall (VIDEO)

Jennifer Lawrence Wins Best Actress At Oscars…Laughs Off Fall (VIDEO)

Jennifer Lawrence, who won an Oscar for Best Actress for “Silver Linings Playbook” last night at the Oscars, had her big moment almost ruined when she tripped and fell on the stairs as she went onto the stage. The 22-year-old actress hung her head in embarrassment for a moment after tripping on her Dior Haute ...

Jennifer Lawrence Wins Best Actress At Oscars…Laughs Off Fall (VIDEO) Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/02/jennifer-lawrence-wins-best-actress-at-oscas-laughs-off-fall-video/

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Nedbank sees slower earnings growth in 2013: CEO

Playing off his?pre-Oscars prediction?that everyone would hate him at the Oscars, Seth MacFarlane spent the first 19 minutes of the Academy Awards on Sunday making sure everyone would, in fact, hate him.?After some real stinkers, the main conceit was William Shatner descending on a screen as Captain Kirk, from the future, to tell MacFarlane to do a better job of hosting, in a kind of alternate-reality bit that turned pretty sordid?and pretty fast. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nedbank-sees-slower-earnings-growth-2013-ceo-153516597--finance.html

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George Heymont: Sweating Out A Surrealist Nightmare

Do your nightmares make you feel like you've entered The Twilight Zone? Do you feel trapped in a surrealistic cesspool? You are not alone.

Written and directed by Christopher Graybill, The Great Gastromancer is a short film that started off with one goal, didn't quite get there, and (even though it's billed as "without a doubt, the strangest short film at the SFIndie Film Festival") became hopelessly confusing. On his Kickstarter page, Graybill explains that:

"The Great Gastromancer will be a short narrative about Charlie Grumbles, an amateur ventriloquist with an innocent heart. His genuine pursuit to make people laugh ultimately leads him to dark places, where this same innocence seems to bring out the malicious talent of peering through time. In these experiences Charlie finds that not only do beauty and generosity hold divine qualities, but on the contrary, so does the overwhelming power of hate and destruction. There are many themes visited in the current script. Old America and new America, hate, love, atheism and animism, demons or autonomous complexes. I've been practicing ventriloquism for the Charlie role. Alan Semok, the famed Dummy Doctor, who has worked on such films as Dummy and Cradle Will Rock is possibly supplying a vintage figure. Also Matthew David has agreed to lend his musical talents."

Christopher Graybill as Charlie Grumbles in The Great Gastromancer

If you click here, you can watch a brief video that features some of Graybill's storyboards and hear him explain that the storyboards are about a ventriloquist named Charlie.

"He's kind of modeled after Myshkin from The Idiot. He just wants to make people laugh and just has a real kind of simple demeanor. He's a good guy, this Charlie, and so he kind of ends up being this innocent victim. When this is established, Charlie kind of starts to become ill. Then it's discovered that he has another talent, which happens to be listening to the undead through the noises in his stomach."

The finished product is a confusing film which never really takes off. One reason is that, whereas in live performance, an audience can watch a ventriloquist trying to project his voice onto his dummy, dubbing a film with someone's voice (Graybill is a talented voiceover artist) completely shatters the dramatic illusion. The cruelest irony is that the trailer for The Great Gastromancer stands head and shoulders above Graybill's completed film.

That's not to say that dubbing a ventriloquist's voice can't work. In the following clip from the talented folks at Rubber Chicken Cards, ventriloquist Jack and and his French dummy, Jacques, have another one of their bizarre conversations.

* * * * * * * * * *

It's a mere hop, skip, and jump from Jack and Jacque's absurd little world to one of the most famous artistic landmarks of the Theatre of the Absurd. Years ago, in a series he entitled "Unlikely Casting," the great theatrical caricaturist, Al Hershfield, fantasized about a production of Waiting for Godot that starred Jack Lemmon and Zero Mostel.

Al Hirschfield's fantasy casting for Waiting for Godot

I've been waiting for years to see Samuel Beckett's 1953 masterpiece and now, thanks to the Marin Theatre Company, my long wait is finally over. While some explore Samuel Beckett's play in search of trenchant symbolism, I find that its greatest reward is its elasticity and the numerous opportunities it offers to create comic moments that are not in the text. Beckett's play requires actors whose comedic instincts and teamwork allow them to approach his work as if it were a piece of chamber music written for clowns trapped in a nonsensical no-man's land.

Vladimir (Mark Bedard) and Estragon (Mark Anderson Phillips)
in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot (Photo by: Kevin Berne)

While academics may search for deep meaning in Beckett's play, I prefer to think of Waiting for Godot as the inspiration for such popular films as 1993's Groundhog Day and 2004's 50 First Dates. Set on a nearly barren stage (with only a rock, a tree, and the rising moon), Vladimir/Didi (Mark Bedard) and Estragon/Gogo (Mark Anderson Phillips) are two confused clowns trapped in an absurdist time warp. Although each day starts anew with similar expectations, Vladimir has better luck at remembering what happened the previous day. Estragon's memory seems to have been wiped clear each morning.

While there are slight variations in their day (Lucky and Pozzo cross the stage in opposite directions, two boys who work for Mr. Godot take turns informing Vladimir and Estragon that Godot won't be showing up, but might make an appearance the following day), it's best to approach Waiting for Godot as if it has been set in the kind of snow globe one shakes and inverts in order to witness its peculiar magic.

Pozzo (James Carpenter) and Lucky (Ben Johnson) in
Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot (Photo by: Kevin Berne)

MTC's Jasson Minadakis directed this production with a superb cast. As Pozzo, James Carpenter's booming basso offered the perfect counterbalance to the ever optimistic twinkle in Mark Bedard's eyes. Likewise, the hulking resignation of Ben Johnson's Lucky was relieved by the physical goofiness and wide-eyed, confused bulldog stare of Mark Anderson Phillips as Estragon. Lucas Meyers and Sam Novick were innocent, unknowing boys who arrive bearing messages from the mysterious Mr. Godot.

* * * * * * * * * *

How's this for an opening moment? The lights come up on a man and woman in a messy apartment. Neither one can remember their names or how they got there. As they struggle to come to their senses, they notice some drug paraphernalia on the table and a syringe lodged in the man's forearm.

"And.....scene!"

Powerfully directed by Loretta Greco, the Magic Theatre recently presented the world premiere of Se Llama Cristina, a challenging new drama by Octavio Solis which takes the audience on a wild roller coaster ride as Miguel (Sean San Jos?) and Vera (Sarah Nina Hayon) struggle to figure out the who, what, why, when, and where of the moment (as well as how in the name of hell they got there).

Vera (Sarah Nina Hayon) and Miguel (Sean San Jos? ) in a
scene from Se Llama Cristina (Photo by: Jennifer Reiley)

Is this a nightmare? Are they trapped in a bad meth trip? If so, why is some angry man named Abel (Rod Gnapp) pounding on the door and threatening them? As director Loretta Greco notes:

"I find three qualities particularly and consistently thrilling in Octavio's work. First, it features emotionally viable, poetic, and muscular language. Second, he displays a keen fascination with people who are divided -- or rather, he shares a meditation on divides of every ilk, be they cultural, economic, or spiritual. Characters in Octavio's plays are straddling borders (both literal and figurative) and trying desperately to fill the chasms. Lastly, an Octavio Solis play always uncovers plenty of skeletons in the closet -- deep, dark secrets whose gradual revelations change the courses of the lives they enshroud. This play deals with two people who truly resuscitate each other, who help each other traverse the most treacherous of pasts in order to transcend and bring new light and hope to the future."

The abusive Abel (Rod Gnapp) confronts Vera (Sarah Nina Hayon)
in a scene from Se Llama Cristina (Photo by: Jennifer Reiley)

With Andrew Boyce's stark unit set and Sara Huddleston's sound design, the actors don't have many props at their disposal. Se Llama Cristina is a drug-addled, 80-minute rocket ride through psychosis, temporary amnesia, and a woman's panic over possibly being pregnant in which a sweet-talking abusive boyfriend can be foolishly forgiven and a deep fried chicken drumstick can be mistaken for an infant. As the playwright explains:

"Se Llama Cristina is a lot more challenging than my other plays because I set up a very complex labyrinth for myself, for the audience, and for the characters to traverse that has its own kind of poetry. Language is the way to enter the darker moments because the things that are happening are often not depicted in the rawness of their reality (they are spoken about). You seldom see an actual murder onstage or something sexually violent in front of you. If you do, it's elevated to a poetic level. It happens in language.

I've always been attracted to language because English is a second language to me and I like to figure out its nuances. I'm more interested in how language remains active (and not just how it exists for its own sake), but how language can BE an action. I'm not a 'realistic" writer.' I freely mix lyrical language with our profane and/or mundane vernacular because language always has to be in service of the action, which is why there is a kind of immaculate ecstatic melody coexisting with down-to-earth gritty dialogue."

Vera (Sarah Nina Hayon) and Miguel (Sean San Jos? ) in a
scene from Se Llama Cristina (Photo by: Jennifer Reiley)

If Waiting for Godot is a shining example of the Theatre of the Absurd, Se Llama Cristina comes from the blazing forge of the Theatre of Broken Dreams and Tough Love. It burns with the fevered fright of a meth-induced frenzy. Sarah Nina Hayon and Sean San Jos? deliver bravura performances as the two anguished and confused leads. Rod Gnapp adds another sterling portrayal to his extensive rogues gallery of angry, confused straight men.

To read more of George Heymont go to My Cultural Landscape

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NBA's countdown to April should be a blast in Los Angeles

So far, this has been the most documented, celebrated and agonized-over NBA season ever in Los Angeles. For the first time, we multiply everything by two.

And then, as if we needed more focus, more reason to follow the bouncing ball more closely and give more of our attention to the game that has become so wildly popular in Tinseltown, Jerry Buss died. We had 24/7 NBA devotion. Now, we are looking for more hours in the day.

Purple and gold used to be all that mattered come late February. Now, red, white and blue is also in play, and not just as an American flag on display during the national anthem.

Can the Clippers actually go all the way?

Can the Lakers actually get in?

That's what made the first post-All-Star-break games of the Los Angeles teams interesting, maybe even revealing. It isn't yet playoff time, but you can see it from here.

The Lakers, playing for the second time since the break, won a gut-wrencher Friday night against another team battling for a playoff spot, the Portland Trail Blazers. None other than Kobe Bryant, recently the distributor, went back to being the scorer. It was a rugged, desperate-to-win game, and Bryant's 40 points and clinching free throws did it. Kobe knows what time of year it is.

The NBA is a strange animal. It plays so many games that it numbs the mind, and it gets offended when somebody jokes that the way to watch is to merely tune in for the fourth quarter.

But if there is any truth to that, it can be translated to the season as a whole. The Clippers and the Lakers each have played nearly 60 games of the 82-game season, but you better tune in now, because it really starts to matter.

The Lakers, bewitched, bothered and bewildered so far and keeping their fans' playoff hopes alive mainly through stressing the past and minimizing the present, came out of break and slapped down none other than the Celtics on Wednesday night.

In that one, Dwight Howard was the force in the middle that all of Los Angeles expected him to be. Sadly, the force had not been with us enough before that game.

Most significant was the way the ball moved, not to mention Lakers' players without it. It was almost as if Mike D'Antoni, whose perpetual-motion offense in Phoenix a few years ago left Suns fans joyous and opponents with headaches and shortness of breath, had finally gotten through.

Or, as some speculated, perhaps the aging Lakers were merely benefiting from the rest provided by the All-Star break and, in a week or so, the tendons would start creaking again. They creaked a bit Friday night, but Lakers toughness and desire seemed to overcome aches and pains.

So, it is game on.

Bryant was quoted recently in Sports Illustrated as assuring the basketball world the Lakers would make the playoffs. TV analyst Kenny Smith, having seen the beat-down of the Celtics ? or perhaps something else ? also got on the bandwagon, saying he had changed his mind and now thought the Lakers would make it.

His broadcast running mate, the irrepressible Charles Barkley, was not sold.

"They are old and slow," he said. "And if they do make it, they'll get beat like a drum in the first round."

Smith and Barkley, while colorful and paid well to pop off in public, are mostly guessing, as are all we sportswriters who write about the triangle and the pick and roll and have only a vague idea of the specifics of each.

Interestingly, the playoff-certain Clippers embraced the post All-Star return by throwing in a stinker Thursday night. The San Antonio Spurs are good, maybe great. But they are not the 1927 Yankees, nor are the Clippers the expansion Mets. Not only did Tony Parker scorch them, but Gregg Popovich did the same to his friend and former player, Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro.

That presented a capsulized lesson in what perhaps is still to come. Del Negro is a good coach. He is both tough and poised. Popovich is a battled-tested legend. When the going gets tough, when you need the perfect play drawn for the last shot in the seventh game, you want Popovich's hand on the chalkboard.

Popovich is in his 17th season with the Spurs, has been in the playoffs 15 of the previous 16 years and has won four titles. There are others, including D'Antoni, with longevity, battle scars and the know-how to pull the right string at the right time.

From now on, every timeout huddle matters more. So does every missed screen and every blown assignment on defense. If Al Davis had been in the NBA, he'd have us all yelling it by now: Playoffs, baby.

Del Negro is in a tough spot: young coach with premier team. The way this works is not fair, but he knows that. All that goes well brings glory to the players. All that goes awry brings scorn to the coach.

The Lakers returned Wednesday night with a game of slick passing, then followed that Friday night with a game of refuse-to-lose toughness. The Clippers returned Thursday night with a sad-sack effort.

Maybe these games mattered little. Maybe all three were aberrations.

But there is less time to slough off bad stuff and rationalize about a future still distant. Mid-April approaches. The last 25 or so games for each team will come and go like a blur.

The NBA season in Los Angeles is no longer a marathon, it's a sprint.

bill.dwyre@latimes.com

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'Fairy tale': Team slays giants, wins over Dalai Lama

Clive Brunskill / Getty Images, file

Gary Jones, left, and James "Big Jim" Hanson of Bradford City FC celebrate following their team's victory over English Premier League club Arsenal on Dec. 11, 2012. Only three years ago, Hanson was stacking shelves at a local supermarket. On Sunday, he'll play in front of 90,000 people at London's iconic Wembley Stadium.

By Ian Johnston, Staff Writer, NBC News

BRADFORD, England --?It is the sort of "fairy tale" story that sounds made for Hollywood.?

Led by the unlikeliest of heroes, a passionate team of underdogs emerges from the shadow of near-bankruptcy to go an improbable winning streak, eliminating a series of big-name (and huge-budgeted) rivals and bringing hope to their poverty-stricken hometown.

But the real-life story of Bradford City Football Club might be too unbelievable for even the most cliche-loving studio exec who's watched "Hoosiers" and ?"The Bad News Bears" one too many times.

Assembled for just $10,000, the team's extraordinary exploits?have spirits soaring in the Yorkshire city and far beyond.

Currently?lying in 79th place out of the 92 top clubs in England, Bradford City?will on Sunday contest a national cup final after a succession of thrilling, giant-killing triumphs over teams including Arsenal, the London-based club?valued at $1.5 billion last year.

One of Bradford's biggest stars was stacking shelves in a local supermarket not long ago. Now James "Big Jim" Hanson will find himself playing in front of 90,000 fans at London's iconic Wembley Stadium and a television audience of millions.

A representative of the Dalai Lama even wrote a letter to say the exiled Tibetan religious leader wished Bradford City's fans "every success in the big match."?

Courtesy Friends of Bradford City / Yorkshire International Business Center

The Dalai Lama was presented with a Bradford City FC jersey during a recent visit to Yorkshire.

Lying in wait for "The Bantams" will be?Swansea City, currently eighth in the top English league, and its star striker, Miguel Michu.

Michu is third in the Premier League in goals this season and Swansea's manager has warned rivals it would take $47 million in compensation for the club to let him leave. By contrast, Bradford are currently 11th in the fourth level of English professional soccer.

Mark Lawn, Bradford City's co-chairman, can hardly believe the transformation in fortunes that has seen Bradford reach the?Capital One Cup?final -- a competition traditionally known as the League Cup.

The self-made businessman put money into the 110-year-old club to help it survive after debts of about $55 million saw it threatened with bankruptcy at least twice. It has been "a labor of love" that at times prompted him to question his own sanity.

'We've created history'
Lawn, 52, recalled vomiting on the team bus on the way back from a defeat at Morecambe amid fears the club was on the verge of financial collapse. After another loss, his car was attacked by angry Bradford City fans.

"It's not really sunk in," Lawn said. "We are the only fourth-tier team to get to Wembley ever. We've created history. The town is buzzing. It's amazing ? it's just lifting the town."

"It's nearly got me believing in God again. I lost faith in God or religion in general when I lost my mother and father," he added. "I thought if we win then there's got to be summat ('something' in the Yorkshire dialect). I've said if we did do it, I will look at finding religion again."

Sitting in the club's 1911 room --?named for the year the club last won a major trophy?-- Lawn played down his team's chances.

"I just hope Swansea are easy with us ? They are a great side," he said. "I think they'll beat us, being realistic. But it's not about that for Bradford fans and Bradford City."

Once a thriving industrial city, Bradford is now?one of the most deprived places in the U.K.?Nearly a?quarter of all households are jobless, long-term?youth unemployment rates are soaring, local government spending?is being cut dramatically.

Lawn grew up in Bradford's rundown Thorpe Edge area, where many houses are owned by the local government and rented out cheaply, and recalled as a child sneaking in to watch the team play without paying.

Thorpe Edge is a place with few reasons to celebrate. Annice Brearley, an outreach worker at?Thorpe Edge Community Project, runs a program for children in which they wash cars and pack bags in local stores to raise money for trips to parts of England they would otherwise be unable to visit.

The neighborhood, she said, was "not a wealthy place ? there's a lot of people who don't have much."

But Brearley, 46, said that the team's soccer success has "nobody thinking about stuff like that."?She spent 11-and-a-half hours in line to buy a ticket for the final.?

"It's something like 102 years since anything good like this [the 1911 cup win] happened in Bradford," she said. "Nobody thinks Bradford City is going to lose. We're all really positive. It will be a brilliant day."

Not far from Thorpe Edge is the small Co-operative supermarket where hometown hero Hanson stacked shelves for two years before joining the club in 2009.?

"He used to work at the Co-op" has become a chant among supporters.

Ian Johnston / NBC News

Staff at the Co-op supermarket in Idle Village, Bradford -- Elisa Taylor, 24, her mother Ruth Taylor, and Jeanette McDonald -- will be cheering for former colleague James Hanson in Sunday's Capital One Cup final.

Former colleague Ruth Taylor said Hanson was "really lovely, a really gentle, nice lad."

"He always talked about his football," she recalled. "He loved it. We knew he were going to make it."

She insisted the 25-year-old striker would not choke after stepping into the national spotlight. "He takes it all in his stride, he's quite a laidback chap is James."

"I think he'll be really excited. It's like a big dream come true for him. He deserves it so much." she added. "They haven't had a lot to celebrate recently have Bradford. This would be a great morale booster, especially for this area. It would just go crazy."

Hannah Postles, 27, a journalist with Bradford's?Telegraph & Argus newspaper, has been covering the growing excitement in the city in articles and?a live blog.

'Big, burly men crying'
She recounted going to a bar to report on people watching the second of two semi-final games against top-tier Aston Villa on television.

"In the last four minutes, I swear I didn't breathe. It was so close, and you could see Villa firing on all cylinders," Postles said. After the final whistle, the emotion came. "Big, burly Bradford men crying is not something you see very often."

"It's hard not to find yourself getting swept up in it," she said. "It's been a massive inspiration to everyone in Bradford."

Her blog for the paper has been filled with reports of fans traveling from all over the world to attend Sunday's game.?

One, Mike Hitch, a ship's captain originally from Bradford, said he was planning to spend more than 21 hours in the air to fly halfway around the world from Tahiti to watch the game.?

"This will never happen again in my lifetime," the 46-year-old said Thursday by phone from the Pacific island. "If anything goes wrong, then I'll be looking for a sports bar in an airport."

Jon Super / AP, file

Bradford City supporters take to the stands before their fourth-tier team's win against English giants Arsenal on Dec. 11.

Bradford City beat six teams to get to the final, reaching the quarter-finals by triumphing over Premier League team Wigan on penalties after a 0-0 draw. They then drew 1-1 against Arsenal but were victorious in the penalty shootout.

The semi-final against Aston Villa consisted of two games, ending in a 4-3 aggregate victory for Bradford.

Bradford City FC manager Phil Parkinson said that although his players earned "peanuts" compared to counterparts on the Premier League teams they had knocked out of the competition, they possessed "incredible desire."

"Bradford has had some tough times over the last few years -- and not just the football club but the city," he added. "People are now walking around with a spring in their step."

The unlikely success has left many Bradford fans confident of another victory on Sunday.

"We haven?t come this far not to win it,"??said Mark Neale, a member of fundraising group?Friends of Bradford City?who has supported the team for 50 years.?

But he said that "the mere fact they've got to Wembley means this team of players will always be legends in Bradford."

"There's not a lot of pride in Bradford, but the pride in Bradford City (soccer club) is immense and it's rubbing off on people who are not normally interested in football," said Neale, 59.

Alan Carling, of?Bradford City Supporters' Trust, said they had beaten three Premier League clubs "so we?are not phased by a fourth. Bring it on."

"Everyone has been going round Bradford with a big grin on their face.?City's achievements have caught the imagination of the world, and lifted the image of Bradford, which is often subject to condescension?from southern England," he added.

But people with little connection to the area have also been attracted by success of a true underdog.?

Carling said he was interviewed by a Japanese television crew on Wednesday, while Neale received the letter from the Dalai Lama ahead of the game.?

Neale's supporters' group had previously presented the Buddhist spiritual leader with a Bradford jersey while he was in the area, after noticing the similarity between the team's colors and his robes.

In a telephone interview, Tenzin Taklha, one of the Dalai Lama?s secretaries in Dharamsala, India, said while His Holiness was "not really" a soccer fan, Bradford's success was "a fairy tale."?

"Everyone likes these stories and likes to follow that,? he said. "May the best team win ? we?ll keep our fingers crossed."

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Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/23/17054312-fairy-tale-soccer-team-assembled-for-10000-slays-english-giants-wins-over-dalai-lama?lite

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