alister scrag: January 2013

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Vultures foraging far and wide face a poisonous future

Jan. 30, 2013 ? A first ever study of the range and habits of white-backed vultures across southern Africa shows that they often shun national parks, preferring to forage further afield on private farmland.

This behaviour and their tendency to scavenge in groups, means that vultures risk encountering dead cattle that have been administered veterinary drugs that are poisonous to them, or even poisoned carcasses intended to control other carnivores such as jackals.

The research, using Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite transmitters to track the movements of adolescent vultures, is published in the journal PLOS ONE.

The white-backed vulture is a widespread but declining species in Africa and it is now listed as endangered. In India, several vulture species are on the verge of extinction due to accidental poisoning from cattle carcasses that contain anti-inflammatory drugs administered by farmers. These drugs are non-lethal to cattle yet fatal to vultures. There is a concern that these drugs could become more widely used in Africa.

Vultures prefer to feed in savannah grassland habitats and away from other competing carnivores, such as lions, and the new study shows that the birds will go to considerable lengths to find food, crossing multiple state boundaries, with each bird on average ranging across an area twice the size of England.

Co-lead author, Dr Stephen Willis, School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Durham University, said: "We found that young vultures travel much further than we ever imagined to find food, sometimes moving more than 220 kilometres a day. Individuals moved through up to five countries over a period of 200 days, emphasising the need for conservation collaboration among countries to protect this species."

"In South Africa, the vultures avoided the national parks that have been established to conserve wildlife. As a result, these parks are unlikely to protect such a wide-ranging species against threats in the wider landscape.

"The vultures may actively avoid parks with numerous large mammal predators due to competition for food, and find easier pickings on cattle carcasses in farmland outside these protected areas.

"We found evidence that individual birds were attracted to 'vulture restaurants' where carrion is regularly put out as an extra source of food for vultures and where tourists can see the birds up close. As a result, these individuals reduced their ranging behaviour. Such 'restaurants' could be used in future to attract vultures to areas away from sites where they are at high risk of poisoning."

The team tracked six immature African white-backed vultures (Gyps africanus): five for 200 days, and one for 101 days) across southern Africa using GPS tracking units which were carefully strapped to the birds' backs.

Co-lead author, Louis Phipps, who recently graduated from the University of Pretoria, said: "Modern farming practices mean that vultures face an increasing risk of fatal poisoning. The provision of an uncontaminated supply of food, research into veterinary practices, and education for farmers could all be part of a future solution, if vulture numbers continue to plummet."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Durham University, 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: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/EPAzNgl82z4/130130184314.htm

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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Erdogan says can seek referendum on Turkey constitution if no deal

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday he will take proposed constitutional reforms, expected to include the creation of an executive presidency, directly to parliament and if necessary to the people if no deal can be reached by April.

A cross-party parliamentary commission drafting a new constitution had been expected to finish its work by the start of this year but has failed to reach a consensus.

Erdogan, who has dominated Turkish politics since his AK Party first came to power in 2002, is widely viewed as wanting to change the charter to establish an executive presidency for himself in time for elections due next year.

Erdogan said the AK Party would take its proposals for an amended constitution directly to parliament if no agreement had been reached by the end of March.

"We are hoping that this matter will be finalized by the end of March ... If it is not completed, the AK Party will bring its work on this to parliament's agenda," he told a meeting of his ruling party deputies in parliament.

Approval of constitutional amendments require two-thirds support in the 550-seat assembly, or 367 votes, which the AK Party, which controls 326 seats, may struggle to achieve.

It would need only 60 percent, or 330 votes, for the bill to be put to a referendum, however.

"When we have the power to hold a referendum, we will go to the nation," Erdogan said.

Politicians from all Turkey's main parties agree Turkey's current constitution, drawn up after a 1980 coup, needs to be revised. But the opposition fears the reforms the AK Party wants will hand Erdogan too much power.

The clock is ticking. Local elections are due in March 2014, followed by a presidential vote a few months later and a parliamentary election in 2015.

In a long-awaited cabinet reshuffle ahead of that election cycle, Erdogan replaced his interior, tourism, health, and education ministers with close allies last week.

(Reporting by Gulsen Solaker; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Nick Tattersall and Sonya Hepinstall)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/erdogan-says-seek-referendum-turkey-constitution-no-deal-172217886.html

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Rights group: 65 found shot in head in Syria

Thomas Rassloff/EPA

Locals gather at the banks of a small canal containg the bodies of dozens of people on Jan. 29 in Aleppo, Syria.

By Alexander Dziadosz and Oliver Holmes, Reuters

BEIRUT ? At least 65 people, apparently shot in the head, were found dead with their hands bound in a district of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Tuesday, a pro-opposition monitoring group said.

The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the death toll could rise as high as 80 in what it called a "new massacre."

It was not clear who carried out the killings.

Photos posted online by activists showed the muddied bodies of about a dozen men lying by a small river in what they said was the Bustan al-Qasr neighborhood of Aleppo.

Close-up shots of some of the corpses showed they had what appeared to be gunshot wounds to the head.

Government forces and rebels in Syria have both been accused by human rights groups of carrying out summary executions in the 22-month-old conflict, which has claimed more than 60,000 lives.

Rebels pushed into Aleppo, Syria's most populous city, over the summer, but have been stuck in a stalemate with government forces. The city is divided roughly in half between the two sides.

Related:

PhotoBlog: Syrian rebels take fight into Damascus

Syrian refugees: 'We escaped death'

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/29/16752712-rights-group-at-least-65-people-found-bound-shot-in-head-in-syria-massacre?lite

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UKIP leader sees EU exit in "few years"

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's withdrawal from the European Union "within a few years" is a certainty as no government will be able to resist demands for an exit from a population incensed by the arrival of low-wage migrants, the leader of the UK Independence Party said.

Nigel Farage, who is siphoning off voters from Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives by attacking EU bureaucracy and immigration from eastern Europe, said it was the dramatic rise of his own party that had pressured the premier into promising last week what would be a historic EU referendum.

"Cameron's speech was the moment when the debate on Europe changed," a combative Farage told Reuters, calling it UKIP's "greatest victory to date". Dismissing the idea Cameron had outflanked the anti-EU lobby, he said the reverse was true: Cameron had "let the genie out of the bottle", making "Brexit" - the EU exit of the world's sixth largest economy - certain.

Speaking days after Cameron promised to renegotiate the terms of Britain's 40-year-old membership of the bloc and to hold an "in-out" referendum if re-elected in 2015, Farage said Cameron would probably lose office and, even if he won, would be unable to persuade other EU leaders to amend treaty agreements.

"There is no substantial renegotiation to be had," said Farage. "He'll get nowhere." In any event, the prime minister, who says he wants to stay in a revamped European Union, could not be trusted to keep his referendum promise, he added, noting abandoned talk of a vote on the Lisbon Treaty of 2007.

But with polls showing a slim majority want to cut Britain loose from an expanding European political system, a referendum was not far off, Farage forecast. Even the Labour party, which opposes Cameron's in-out referendum, would, if it took power, be forced by the public to let Britons vote to leave, he argued.

It is a prospect that clearly enthuses Farage, a 48-year-old former metals trader in the City of London who has seen UKIP multiply its support in the six years since Cameron dismissed it as "a bunch of ... fruitcakes and loonies and closet racists".

"I see opportunity. We would have the potential to do so much more for this country," he said at the central London headquarters of a party which has lately polled as much as 16 percent, up from 3 percent at the last election in 2010.

"We'd have the opportunity - through winning back the right to have global trade agreements - to make us much more of a global player than a European player," he said.

FREE BRITAIN

Farage's sharp tongue - pro-EU evangelists were "idiots", he said - and a populist touch that includes a fondness for a smoke and a drink, have made him a familiar figure to voters. He is credited with bringing a new professionalism to a 20-year-old party long dismissed as part of a chaotic, far-right fringe.

Attacked from the left as a "dangerous man" and "political poison", he imagines a Britain thriving outside the EU, a picture that has struck a chord with voters alarmed by the way the debt crisis in the euro zone has hobbled their own economy and at poor immigrants arriving freely from eastern Europe.

EU red tape, Farage said, could be junked along with the bloc's social market model, heavy on regulation and welfare provision. That, he said, would make Britain a more attractive destination for manufacturers. It would also be free to strike bilateral trade deals and to deregulate its own economy.

"I don't want to turn my back on Europe but it's not the future," said Farage. "The future is the emerging world."

While many businessmen support a renegotiation of Britain's EU membership, they have also warned that years of doubt over Britain's EU membership would damage the $2.5 trillion economy and hinder investment. Farage disagrees.

"Europe has a demographic time bomb," he said.

"It's stuck with the idea of a social market model ... which means it's falling behind in competitiveness terms ... and it has a euro zone crisis which it is determined not to admit defeat on which means a decade of agony."

ELECTION TACTICS

Cameron accepts much of that analysis but argues that London can distance itself from the problems while staying in the EU.

His demand for change in Brussels and pledge of a referendum seem to have gone down well with voters. One poll has suggested a swing of up to four percent from UKIP to the Conservatives.

For those keen to vote No to Europe, a vote for Cameron in 2015 may seem a better bet, since voting UKIP is more likely to bring a Labour government not committed to an EU referendum.

But Farage dismisses suggestions Cameron has stolen his thunder and deprived UKIP of its distinctive appeal: "He's let us down on this very same promise once before," he said of a Conservative plan for an EU vote. "He's used up so much trust."

UKIP was still the only party that favoured complete and immediate withdrawal from the EU, he said: "The Conservative party is wedded to political union of the European Union.

"They believe in it, they have done for over 50 years. He's actually calling for deeper integration."

That is a complaint that has found favour in Conservative heartlands across the wealthy suburbs and rural areas of southern England. Though a winner-takes-all constituency voting system means UKIP has no seats in the London parliament, it has 12 in the European legislature in Brussels.

MAN OF CONTRASTS

Once shunned by Britain's mainstream media, Farage rubbishes long-standing accusations his party are "the BNP in blazers" - a middle-class, golfing version of skinhead racists in the British National Party - and is now a regular on political talk shows.

In sharp pinstripe suit, black fedora and colourful silk tie, he dresses like the City trader he once was.

Fast-talking, he peppers his speech with jokes and the odd expletive and professes that though politics is a deadly serious business "it doesn't mean you can't have a bit of fun too".

It is a routine he says he has perfected as "a street scrapper" in many a debate in pubs up and down the country.

Married and a father of four, Farage has survived being run down by a car - when he admits he was drunk - a plane crash during an election stunt, and testicular cancer, but said his lust for "living life" was undimmed.

He smokes, enjoys British beer and French wine, bets on horses, likes sea fishing and some years ago shrugged off tabloid headlines about a night with a young Latvian woman.

Farage is a paradoxical figure. Though frequently derided as "a little Englander" - a jibe at his isolationist views - he is married to a German. And though he says he hates everything about the EU, he is a lawmaker in the European Parliament.

Even the location of his London office - Europe House, a building that also houses the British headquarters of the European Commission - is paradoxical, as is the fact that he uses EU funds to campaign against the bloc.

FREE MARKETS

Some prominent business leaders have warned that the prospect of a referendum on the country's EU membership will create years of uncertainty over trading rules that will scare off foreign investors or, as Labour leader Ed Miliband said, hang a "closed for business" sign over the island nation.

Leaving the EU itself, Britain's biggest trading partner would be folly, they have said, and force Britain to renegotiate a free trade agreement from a position of weakness.

But Farage, who argues that trade with the EU has been routinely "overstated", dismissed such fears, saying a British EU exit "wouldn't make much difference" to trade.

"Do you honestly think that Angela Merkel is going to pick up the phone to the chief executive of Mercedes and say we're very sorry but as a result of putting tariffs on British goods they've just slapped tariffs on you selling your cars in Britain?" he asked with a laugh. "They'd go berserk."

The idea that London would lose its status as Europe's financial centre and forfeit the right to trade the single currency if Britain left was also fantasy, he argued.

"Governments can't control markets," he said. "If they really wanted to prohibit euro trading outside the EU they could do that ... if they want it to become about as rich as Congo in a decade. But they're not going to do that."

IMMIGRATION

Farage told Reuters the biggest reason UKIP was attracting more supporters was because it advocated ending "open door" immigration and curbing the right of other EU nationals to work, settle and claim social security payments in Britain.

"Immigration is a very, very key reason for people voting for us," he said, arguing that local communities had been rendered "unrecognisable" by migrant workers in the last decade.

"The levels of division and enmity that have been created within those communities by government policy a propos open borders with the EU is something that people are really, really angry about," he said.

His immediate campaign goal is to lobby against Romanians and Bulgarians getting full rights to work in Britain next year, something they will obtain because of EU freedom of movement rules, seven years after their countries joined the bloc.

Farage strongly rejects any suggestion he is a racist and said he favoured an Australian-style selective immigration policy that chose people because of their skills.

But allegations his party is racist have dogged him.

A local authority in the north of England took three foster children away from a couple in November, arguing that their support for UKIP was racist, prompting Cameron's office to issue comments suggesting it agreed, at least in part.

Earlier this month, Cameron hinted he did not think Farage should be allowed to take part in TV debates ahead of the next election in 2015, telling a magazine that only parties "that are going to form the government" should be included.

Liberal newspapers in Britain are also sceptical. The Independent published an article in December calling Farage "a dangerous man", his views "political poison", and his party's free-market economic policies "a hard-right wet dream".

UKIP's journey to the political mainstream is far from complete at the ballot box; Britain's first-past-the-post electoral system - which only values a party's support in each constituency rather than nationwide - means it would not win a single parliamentary seat if an election was held today.

And one recent poll, the methodology of which Farage contests, put UKIP support at just seven percent. Most others have, however, estimated its vote at up to 16 percent.

Naming his heroes, Farage listed Robert Peel, a 19th-century Conservative prime minister who defied party aristocrats to end corn tariffs and promote free trade, William Wilberforce, who helped end the slave trade, and Enoch Powell, a leading Conservative ostracised in 1968 after criticising immigration policy in what became known as the "rivers of blood" speech.

What Farage said he admired about them all was that they challenged the status quo, regardless of the consequences.

He didn't spell it out, but it's clear he thinks he is doing the same with Britain and the EU: "The same idiots that are now telling us that unless we stay part of the EU single market we're doomed are the same idiots who told us if we didn't join the euro we'd lose all that business," he said.

"What do they know?"

(This story was refiled to fix typo in 'sixth' in third paragraph)

(Editing by Alastair Macdonald)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/british-anti-eu-leader-sees-exit-few-years-120108057.html

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Risky Mars Moon Flyby Tops Europe's 2013 Space Goals

A risky flyby of the Mars moon Phobos, a dip into the atmosphere of Venus and the creation of a comprehensive water map of the Red Planet are three goals the European Space Agency has laid out for 2013, officials announced last week.

In June, ESA will publish a map of the entire surface of Mars detailing the location of water-containing hydrate compounds, based on observations by the agency's Mars Express spacecraft. ?

"We will be revealing a mineralogical map of Mars ? the whole planet ? based on Mars Express data," ESA director-general Jean-Jacques Dordain said in his annual breakfast briefing in Paris on Jan. 24. "What we?re most interested in is the hydrates, as that will give us valuable information about the history of water on the surface of Mars."

This year, Mars Express will also make an extremely close flyby of Phobos, one of the Red Planet's two tiny moons, Dordain added. [Europe's Mars Express Mission in Photos]

"We?ll run that mission with Mars Express; there is a risk," he said. "It is not just a flyby; it is almost within touching distance."

The spacecraft's orbit around Mars will be altered so it flies past Phobos at a distance of just 36 miles (58 kilometers) ? far closer than Mars Express' 2011 Phobos encounter, which brought it to within 62 miles (100 km) of the moon.

"This [36-mile flyby] will give us unique data on Phobos. As you probably know, it is an object that is attracting huge attention, particularly from Russia," Dordain said, referring to Russia?s Phobos-Grunt mission, which launched in November 2011 in an attempt to return a sample from the moon. Phobos-Grunt failed to leave Earth orbit and fell into the Pacific Ocean in January 2012.

Russian scientists? interest in Phobos goes back to 1959, when the Ukrainian-born Soviet astrophysicist Iosif Samuilovich Shklovsky wrote a paper suggesting the orbit of the moon implies it is hollow and could therefore be an artificial spaceship.

ESA is interested in Phobos exploration to learn more about eventual sample-return missions, and the hydrates map should help pave the way for such an effort on Mars, Dordain said.

"This will mean we can start looking for landing sites for the Exomars mission," Dordain said of the Mar Express hydrates map. Exomars is not a sample-return mission, but it will look for evidence of Red Planet life.

An Exomars orbiter and lander will be launched in 2016, and in 2018 a rover will be sent to the Red Planet. While ExoMars was originally an ESA-only mission, NASA became a major partner but then reduced its role last year to just onboard electronics due to budget problems. Now Russia?s Federal Space Agency, known as Roscosmos, is ESA's major partner.

Dordain also revealed that ESA plans to learn more about a maneuver called aerobraking by sending its Venus Express orbiter into a lower orbit around Earth's hellishly hot "sister planet."

Aerobraking uses a planet's atmosphere, rather than rocket engines, to slow a probe down as it settles into orbit. The move can save fuel, potentially making spacecraft lighter and thus cheaper to launch.

In orbit since April 2006, Venus Express? mission is to study the atmosphere and surface of the planet. Its observations have hinted that Venus may still have active volcanoes.

Dordain?s briefing follows the agency?s November 2012 meeting of its member states? space ministers. That meeting approved an increased budget for ESA, granting 4.2 billion euros ($5.7 billion at current exchange rates) for 2013.

That meeting also approved the provision of a service module for NASA?s Orion spacecraft. Dordain revealed that the module that will fly in 2017 will cost 450 million euros ($606 million).

He has high hopes for the coming year.

"We?re expecting tremendous results in 2013," Dordain said.

Follow SPACE.com on Twitter?@Spacedotcom. We're also on?Facebook?&?Google+.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/risky-mars-moon-flyby-tops-europes-2013-space-133018481.html

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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Aresco says Big East looking to add 12th school

CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) ? The Big East conference is looking to add another school, and may sign a TV package that includes multiple networks, commissioner Mike Aresco said Monday.

Aresco spoke at a local chamber of commerce breakfast, and talked to reporters afterward.

He said the Big East wants to keep its name as it rebrands, and no longer has any plans to expand further west than Texas.

"We probably at some point will add a 12th team," Aresco said. "We are going to have 11 when Navy comes in '15. We'll have 10 this year. There's no urgency, but we think we'll probably think about adding a 12th team."

Aresco believes the conference realignment picture may be settling down, following the departure of the so-called Catholic seven basketball schools from the Big East and the decisions of Boise State and San Diego State to return to the Mountain West.

He said the remaining Big East schools all are large research schools, with similar goals, and have good working relationships.

"I do think as conferences consolidate, as they get bigger, I think they rethink what they are doing, and I think there will be a period of calm," he said. "It doesn't mean it's over."

Aresco said the conference is getting close on a TV package that he said will add stability to the picture, but could not say when it might be finalized.

"We think we could end up doing a deal with multiple networks, we just don't know yet," he said.

Aresco lamented the role of money in ending some traditional rivalries in college sports, and cautioned executives that a balance must be maintained between doing what is best financially and doing what is best for college athletics and the college athlete.

He said TV games will lose much of their luster if they are played in half-empty arenas or stadiums.

He also said he doesn't believe the departure of the Catholic schools from the Big East necessarily means an end to some of the old Big East rivalries. He said because the separation has been amicable, he believes many of those schools will continue playing each other.

"We want our schools to play really good nonconference games," he said, "whether its football or basketball, because that's how you rebuild your brand ? prove it on the field."

Aresco dismissed talk that the Big East might reconsider its postseason ban for Connecticut's men's basketball team, allowing the Huskies play in this year's Big East tournament.

UConn was barred from the postseason by the NCAA due to previous low Academic Progress Rate scores, and the Big East followed suit. School officials have been lobbying against the ban, noting the team has improved those scores and no current players were involved in the previous problems.

"They've got a terrific APR now, they're doing much better," Aresco said. "This is just one of those things. It happened, and it's something they're going to have to get through."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-01-28-BKC-Big-East-Aresco/id-70e90a6edd04492b8ac13370f9c6353a

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Valuable Insight To Promote Your Home's Look ~ Home ...

Some people who own homes are afraid of home improvement. It is true that the process can be time-consuming and expensive. Learning a little about the process beforehand can help minimize these fears. A few good tips can make any difficult home improvement job look easy. This article has all the tips you might require.

Talk to home improvement stores and supply companies about how you can obtain discounted supplies. You can save a lot of money by shopping around, and this can give you the opportunity to complete more projects around your home. You should also keep sales in mind when taking on your project so as to lower expenses.

Always turn off the main water supply before working near pipes in your home. Before you start working, locate the shutoff when you working around your house's water supply or pipes. Doing this can help prevent water damage.

Insulate your home for your next project. Use weather stripping around windows and doors. When you minimize the air flow in and out of your home, you can run your environmental and temperature controls with far better efficiency. This means that you will save money on your energy bills.

Update your windows. Revamp those windows! Install double glazed windows. Double glazed windows are not exactly cheap, but they have the benefit of reducing heat loss. Improving your windows can also increase your overall security. If you are unable to purchase new windows, spruce up the ones you have with paint on the frames and a new window treatment.

Selling your house? Home improvement is a very efficient way to make your home more valuable. You can appeal to first-time home buyers by replacing dated kitchen appliances.

Look around for home improvement ideas and inspiration well in advance of beginning a project. If you continuously hunt for home improvement ideas, you will have a wealth of interesting projects in mind once you are ready to start working. This notebook should be compiled a long time before you actually begin your renovations to help reduce your stress.

If you're running out of space when it comes to your kitchen, try using an over-the-range microwave. Over-the-range microwave ovens offer many features, including convection cooking. A lot of units use a filter and not a vent; these are meant for those who do not need a lot of ventilation.

If you are considering major remodeling, engage a professional to design the work or draw up the plans. Unless you or a family member has professional design training, any plans you create are likely to be all form and no function. A professional designer will have the ability to create a plan that also meets all required building codes.

A well-informed homeowner does not need to fear home improvement. Educated ideas like these ones will ensure that the projects are completed on time, within the budget and problem-free. Even a sliver of home improvement knowledge can take the edge off your home improvement fears and enable you to undertake useful projects.

Source: http://melaniewebsterfakejournalism.blogspot.com/2013/01/valuable-insight-to-promote-your-homes_29.html

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Monday, January 28, 2013

Why are there redheads? Birds might hold the clues

Jan. 28, 2013 ? Red coloration -- historically seen as costly in vertebrates -- might represent some physiological benefit after all, according to research published in the journal Physiological and Biochemical Zoology.

Pheomelanin, which is responsible for red hair and freckles in humans and orange and chestnut coloration in other animals, is known to increase the damage to skin cells and melanoma risk when present in large amounts. Furthermore, its creation involves the consumption of glutathione, a beneficial antioxidant.

In an attempt to unearth the factors favoring the evolution of pheomelanin in spite of its costs, Ismael Galv?n and Anders P. M?ller of the University of Paris-Sud examined the survival from one breeding season to the next of a wild European population of barn swallows, as well as the annual survival rates of 58 species of American birds.

A recent hypothesis claims that the consumption of cysteine (a component of glutathione) that occurs when pheomelanin is produced can be beneficial under conditions of low stress. Cysteine, which is mainly acquired through diet, can be toxic at high levels, so the production of pheomelanin may help to sequester excess quantities of this amino acid.

Galv?n and M?ller measured birds' blood levels of uric acid and analyzed the coloration of their chestnut throat feathers (an indication of pheomelanin content). When they compared birds that had similar uric acid levels (and therefore similar capacities to excrete excess amino acids), they found that both the European barn swallows and the American birds with larger amounts of pheomelanin in their feathers survived better.

This study is the first to propose that the costs/benefits of pheomelanin may depend on prevailing environmental conditions, and its results suggest that the production of this pigment may even be beneficial in some circumstances. Given that all higher vertebrates, including humans, present pheomelanin in skin, pelage, and plumage, Galv?n and M?ller's findings increase the scant current knowledge on the physiological consequences of pheomelanin and open new avenues for research that will help us understand the evolution of pigmentation.

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

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

Journal Reference:

Ismael Galv?n, Anders P. M?ller. Pheomelanin-Based Plumage Coloration Predicts Survival Rates in Birds. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, 2013; : 000 DOI: 10.1086/668871

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/O3RD1GRHQyY/130128151930.htm

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Grace Poore: Women and Girls: Asia Pacific Lesbians, Bisexual and Trans Women Left Out in the Cold

The international conference of National Human Rights Institutes in Amman, Jordan, focusing on protecting and promoting the rights of women and girls, was an extraordinary opportunity for human rights commissions around the world to publicly declare and commit to advancing the rights of, not some, but all women and girls. Sadly it was a missed opportunity.

Representatives from nearly 70 National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) from Africa, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas gathered in Amman, Jordan, November 5 to 7, for a conference to discuss the role of these institutions to protect and promote the rights of women and girls. Civil society activists from about 100 non-governmental organizations around the world also gathered for a "parallel" forum, organized by the Amman Center for Human Rights, to discuss best practices for women's rights NGOs to engage with National Human Rights Institutions. I participated in both.

Champions of NRHIs call them "gatekeepers for the advancement of human rights in their countries" and "cornerstones of human rights protections systems." But many activists, including those representing lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LBT) people have been dissatisfied and are critical of their NHRIs.

When asked about best practices for engaging the institutions on the rights of lesbian, bisexual and transgender women, Siniora Randa Siniora, member of the International Coordinating Committee (ICC), which is the accrediting body of NHRIs said, "This is too sensitive an issue for many countries" and she did not think the NHRIs could tackle such sensitive issues. Siniora's refusal to acknowledge that the rights of LBT women are worthy of attention perpetuates an ongoing negative message.

Some others concurred. The chair of the Malaysian NHRI, for example, on the issue of including sexual orientation and gender identity said: "Some issues we can't take up, not at this time. We have to move slowly. Not all countries are ready to take up certain sensitive issues. Some governments just won't agree to it." In fact, the Asia Pacific Forum (APF), a consortium of 18 NHRIs in the region, dithered about including sexual orientation and gender identity in its regional Program of Action for NHRIs. To minimize contention, the APF dropped sexual orientation and couched gender identity as the conventionally defined "gender equality."

Lesbians, bisexual women and transgender women often experience double and triple the jeopardy that heterosexual women face. They experience violence and discrimination as women and as people with nonconforming sexual orientation and gender identity -- from their families, religious groups, employers, police, and general public.

Lesbians are also at risk for "corrective rape" -- violence " justified" by perpetrators who claim to be correcting their sexual orientation via rape. They often face forced marriage, domestic violence, sexual harassment, and discrimination in all sectors, including as migrant workers, poor women, rural women, displaced women, homeless women, and elderly women. Youth defying the stereotypes of femininity and masculinity experience bullying and violent discipline in school and at home, leading to depression and even suicide in many instances. Some are forced out of school and lose an education. Older lesbians who have taken care of aging parents face isolation in old age when parents die and they become homeless without the right to inherit property as unmarried daughters, without legal protections for same-sex partnerships, and often become more marginalized and vulnerable as they age.

LBT women's concerns may not always be visible to National Human Rights Institutions; they may not always be visible to women's rights organizations -- or those who work for equality in health care or education. But this invisibility does not indicate absence of human rights violations. What it does indicate is that the National Human Rights Institutions need to understand how LBT women are silenced, and that the State is complicit in this silencing. Ignoring or diminishing concerns for LBT women is not a solution but an added burden to an already insufferable situation.

On March 4 to 15, 2013, the Commission on the Status of Women will convene for its 57th Session at United Nations Headquarters in NYC. They, like any gathering which seeks to champion the status, condition and rights of women and girls, must give focus to lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, and give full welcome to the diversity of women. Will they do better than the NHRI convening? Hopefully they will.

For a fuller discussion of the conference and its outcomes, see The Rights of Women and Girls Must Include Lesbian Bisexual and Trans, also by Grace Poore at www.IGLHRC.org

Download the Amman Declaration and the NGO Forum Statement adopted at the National Human Rights Institutes Conference from the IGLHRC website.

Grace Poore, can be reached by email at gpoore@iglhrc.org

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/grace-poore/lbt-women-and-girls_b_2528797.html

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SPECIAL REPORT: History of hospices in Zambia | Times of Zambia

By HECTOR BANDA -

JULIUS Caesar in Shakespeare?s Julius Caesar says: ?Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, it seems to me most strange that men should fear death, seeing that death will come when it will come.?

This is a conducive setting for the discourse this week: Hospices. Hospices are small residential institutions for terminally ill patients, focusing on the patient?s well-being rather than cure.

The relief of pain and spiritual counseling are the main thrust. This care for the dying may include home visits by professional personnel such as nurses and clergy to provide for the person?s physical and emotional needs.

In olden times hospices provided refuge for pilgrims, travellers, and the homeless were offered lodging, usually by a religious order.

Indeed the Lord Jesus Christ gives the Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10: 29-35 where the man who fell among robbers was reposed at an inn.

The term ?hospice? stems from the same linguistic root as ?hospitality?. It can be traced back to medieval times when it referred to a place of shelter and rest for weary or ill travelers on a long journey.

The name was first applied to specialised care for dying patients by physician Dame Cicely Saunders.

Starting in 1948 Dame Saunders began her work with the terminally ill and eventually created the first modern hospice, St Christopher?s Hospice, in a residential suburb of London.

Saunders introduced the idea of specialised care for the dying to the United States during a 1963 visit with Yale University.

She gave a lecture to medical students, nurses, social workers and chaplains about the concept of holistic hospice care, included photos of terminally ill cancer patients and their families.

The dramatic differences before and after the symptom control care were also depicted.

This lecture resulted in the development of hospice care as we know it today.

These developments resulted in? Florence Wald, then Dean of the Yale School of Nursing, inviting Saunders to become a visiting faculty member of the school for the spring term.

In 1967 Wald took a sabbatical from Yale to work at St Christopher?s and learn all she could about hospices.

However, it was the book based on more than 500 interviews with dying patients published in 1968 titled On Death and Dying written by Dr Elisabeth Kubler-Ross that most highlighted the concept of hospices.

Within it, Kubler-Ross makes a plea for home care as opposed to treatment in an institutional setting and argues that patients should have a choice and the ability to participate in the decisions that affect their destiny.

In 1972 Kubler-Ross testified at the first national hearings on the subject of death with dignity, which are conducted by the US Senate Special Committee on Aging.

In her testimony, Kubler-Ross states, ?We live in a very particular death-denying society. We isolate both the dying and the old, and it serves a purpose. They are reminders of our own mortality.?

Kluber-Ross pleaded for families to be given more help with home care and visiting nurses, giving the families and the patients the spiritual, emotional and financial help in order to facilitate the final care at home.

By 1974 Wald, along with two pediatricians and a chaplain, founded Connecticut Hospice in Branford, Connecticut.

In 1974 the first hospice legislation was introduced by Senators Frank Church and Frank E Moss to provide federal funds for hospice programmes. It failed to be passed into law.

In 1977 in England, a dying boy was refused hospice care due to his age. Following that situation, an epoch for hospices began.

In Zambia, the five main providers of palliative care within an inpatient setting include:

Mother of Mercy Hospice, Jon Hospice, Ranchhod Hospice, Our Lady?s Hospice, Martin Hospice and Cicetekelo.

Most have an additional home care service because the dying are too sick to stay at home.

Yet traditionally and biblically, it is more dignified and peaceful to die at home surrounded by one?s kith and kin.

There are several reasons for dying away from home as hospice in-patient units in Zambia: The inconvenience of informing the hospital and police of a death at home and costly procedures for BIDs (brought in dead), 20 per cent of urban employees have no social safety network normally provided by the extended family system (families reject the dying and orphans).

Mother of Mercy Hospice: The programme was established in 1992 in Chilanga, 16 kilometres south of Lusaka. Most patients are HIV positive. More than 520 inpatients occupy the 22 beds.

An out-patient clinic and a school for children affected by HIV/AIDS operate alongside it.

The small day centre is now a large community school, Guardian Angel School, with about 130 pupils.

The outpatient clinic attends to up to 60 patients daily. About 300 patients from the home-based care programme receive food from the World Food Programme.

Less than 10 per cent of in-patients are on ARV therapy. A local doctor specialised in ARV treatment allocates two to four hours weekly.

The donor picks up the bill for treatment during the patient?s life.

Patients are counselled for 15 minutes or more daily to discuss the importance of regular taking of medication.

Up to 100 patients are visited in their homes each month by the home care team. All in-patients are screened for HIV, have a full blood count, and urine and stool analysis.

Donations in cash or kind are made by the local community, international donors, individual benefactors and local companies to purchase school uniforms and materials.

The hospice is primarily funded by the Archdiocese of Lusaka, nothing comes from the Government.

Jon Hospice: Run by Kara Counselling, the hospice was founded in 1999 and covers greater Lusaka. Initial funds for its establishment came from Pola van der Donck, a Dutch benefactor.

It is now being sustained by a combination of donors. The hospice itself also receives operating funds from the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund.

Local donations include 25 kilogrammes of beef to contribute towards food costs.

The day care centre for children is funded by Firelight Foundation and AIDS Alliance.

In addition to a 26-bed hospice unit, it operates a mobile hospice service, primarily for children, in the community.

A day care centre for children also operates there. Of the approximately its 500 admissions in 2003, nearly 40 per cent died.

In April 2004, there were 56 admissions. The multidisciplinary mobile hospice team works closely with other home-based care programmes, thus avoiding duplicating services.

Other Kara Counselling programmes include Hope House (life skills training and

VCT), Umoyo Training Centre (skills training and literacy classes for orphaned girls),

Martin Hospice and Ranchhod House (palliative centres).

Ranchhod House: This is named after the Asian businessman who donated the house; it incorporates a 15-bed adult hospice unit that opened in 2003.

It acts as a drop-in centre for HIV counselling and testing.

A street children?s programme is also being established as a preventative measure for vulnerable children.

These services are financially managed by Kara Counselling in Lusaka although local and international donations are sourced by Kabwe directly.

Funding has come from Irish Aid (water system), Abbot Pharmaceuticals (HIV test kits), local farmers and businesses (foodstuffs) and the Zambian NGO ? Community Response to HIV and AIDS (extension of the women?s ward). It is twined with Hospice of Illinois (USA).

Our Lady?s Hospice: This training and outreach programme started in 2001 and the custom-designed 22-bed in-patient unit opened in 2003.

It comprises 4 houses, each with 3 rooms that are furnished with 2 beds.

Acute day patients are stabilised and then transferred to an 8-bedded special care/observation unit/wards.

Trained volunteers visit patients in their homes. Relatives support work of the hospice.

Our Lady?s Hospice: The main funding for this service comes from the Catholic Church. Franciscans in the USA made the start up payment of US$10 000 for the feasibility study for hospice model. The UTH provides free ARVs.

Funds from the Catholic Church in USA supported the building of a laboratory for HIV testing.

Martin Hospice: Located in Choma, about 5 hours drive from Lusaka, this programme offers a 12-bed in-patient unit, a day care centre for 25 children and an outreach programme using already existing Catholic Church diocese home based care programmes.

Cicetekelo Hospice (Ndola Hospice/Ecumenical Hospice Association: It serves both urban and rural Ndola.

It also runs businesses to generate income. There is a 25-bedded inpatient unit for cancer patients and HIV patients. There is also home based care for 200 registered patients and 1200 orphans.

The World Food Programme provides food. Funding comes from both local and international: the Nuffield Foundation; the Diana Fund; Irish GPs (who raised 27,000 Euros following the recording of a Band-Aid type Song in my Heart CD) and the Irish Government?s Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs. It is run by Sr Eileen Keane of the Holy Rosary Sisters.

The University Teaching Hospital (UTH): Officially there are 1500 beds but unofficially close to 2,000 patients, many of them on the floor. It has called a ?departure lounge?.

NATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL ORGANISATIONS

Some of national and professional organisations that are involved in various ways to support the work hospices in Zambia include: Catholic Archdiocese of Lusaka (52 home based care services); Zambian Palliative Care Association (an informal national association mainly linking Mother of Mercy Hospice and Jon Hospice); Power of Love Foundation (USA-based NGO aiming to minimise the impact of HIV/AIDS and is undertakes projects in Zambia and works in associate on with the Anglican Children?s Project); and The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund (works in 9 sub-Saharan Africa countries and committed an initial ?5 million over 5years).is sparse. Enthusiasm from government has been lacking, until last week when it undertook to fund hospices.

CHALLENGES FACED BY HOSPICES IN ZAMBIA

The main challenges faced by hospices in Zambia can be summarised as: paucity of funds to meet running costs, inadequate and poorly trained staff, lack of transport, insufficient supply of palliatives (drugs), absence of policy and the ambivalence of political dispensation, and the breakdown of the extended family system that has lead to many patients being abandoned.

BENEFITS OF PARTNERSHIPS

Benefit from partnering with other hospice fraternities in Africa and beyond include: the knowledge that they are being supported in their hospice and palliative care efforts to care for their patients, families and communities; partnerships provide financial and in-kind support hospice partners; funds can help support and expand their programs as well as in-kind donations providing medical and home care supplies, professional journals, books and training materials; partnerships can lead creation of long-lasting relationships and a deeper understanding of and access to lessons from other hospice partner?s challenges, goals and successes.

FUTURE PROSPECTS

Based on Zambia?s political economy and consideration of ethical issues, it is incumbent that a realignment of the budget be more skewed more towards health services.

A sick nation cannot be expected to be optimally productive.

Zambia?s Gross Domestic Product per capita is US$906 which falls within the range of US$8,272 (Libya) and US$346 (Democratic Republic of the Congo) in the countries of Africa.

Moreover, copper output has continued to increase and is expected to continue doing so in the coming years, due to the anticipated higher copper prices.

Also, the maize harvests doubled in 2010/2012 marketing season which helped to boost GDP by nearly 5.0 per cent.

Poverty reduction programs continue to receive support international bodies, including the IMF.

A tighter monetary policy has helped to cut inflation to single digit currently; but Zambia still needs to watch its fiscal discipline, for good health support, especially for the hospice movement in Zambia.

(The author is Executive Chairman of Sylva Group of Companies, former Principal Lusaka Campuses of Zambia Institute of Management, Zambia?s Poet Laureate 1998, immediate past president of Zambian PEN Centre, an association of writers affiliated to International PEN). Contact lanku2001@yahoo.com; 0979487788

Source: http://www.times.co.zm/sunday/?p=12936

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Sunday, January 27, 2013

Video: Mom speaks out after putting 7-year-old on diet

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Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50597628/

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VIDEO: Performing Arts Education Centers Opens to the District ...

The LVUSD Performing Arts Education Centers (PAEC) in Agoura Hills and Calabasas kicked off their grand opening festivities Friday night in both cities.

The $18 million each identical facilities, located on the Agoura Hills and Calabasas high school campuses, were entirely funded through Measure G, which passed in 2006.

"I like to describe these as 'welcome to our new classrooms,'" Dan Stenosky, LVUSD superintendent, said at the Agoura Hills site reception. "This is a cultural community assett."

The gala weekend long festival entitled "LVUSD Festival of the Arts and Education: A Grand Opening Celebration" in Agoura began the evening with a donor reception and facility tour followed by performances from the Agoura High School music program.

Agoura High Principal Larry Misel, who is retiring at the end of this year, expressed his enthusiasm over the finished product.

"This is really designed as an educational facility, so kids are not only performing, they're learning everything they'll be able to use to go right out into the world to get a job," he said.

The debut of the program is a dream long held by former superintendent Don Zimring, who attended the celebration. "This was part of the vision we had backin 1996," he said. "It took us this long to get here but we never wavered ... I was hopefully one of its strongest, loudest advocates."

The center, designed by architect John Sergio Fisher, houses a 650-seat main theater and the smaller 'black box' for educational classes and smaller productions. The state-of-the-art facility will offer the school district theater arts education, cross-curricular instruction, virtual programs, lectures, live presentations and more.

In addition, the buildings are open for rental to outside groups.

"This will be a cultural hub where the arts and education will not only enrich the students but also the greater community," said Lesli Stein, school board president.

Theater student and senior Sydney Heller, a back-stage tour guide for the evening, said she feels fortunate to be a part of this program.

"With a lot of public schools across the country cutting back on arts programs, this is really a big deal for us, because it shows that our community really respects what we do," she said.

Another unique aspect of two district theaters is the opportunity for Agoura and Calabasas to join creative forces, according to theater manager Gilles Chiasson.

"I will continue to stress the notion that students from both communities will have an opportunity to perform at both venues, regardless of where they live," he said. "I don't see the rivalry."

Box offices at both sites will offer tickets to either theater. For program information and to purchase tickets, go to the PAEC website.

Source: http://agourahills.patch.com/articles/performing-arts-and-education-center-opens-with-flourish

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Facebook?s Categorial Imperative

Facebook's newest feature adds some much-needed relevance to the huge proportion of its data hoard that no user has seen or, if we're honest, thought about, in days, weeks, or years. But Graph Search is ultimately nothing more than a handy sorting algorithm, and it's indicative of the fact that really, Facebook doesn't understand the first thing about us.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/9rfqsnbSniw/

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Saturday, January 26, 2013

Menopause And You | Jackie's Women's Interest Bazaar

Related eBooks

Menopause is more than just some annoying phase that women go through. Just like puberty, it requires times and information to understand all the changes as you?re entering a new phase of your life.

Source:Menopause And You

Nipro's Whitening Dental Care : DigInfo ? Dentistry, Health and Fitness

DigInfo ? movie.diginfo.tv ? Nipro showed their new Poly-de-Clean-Gel whitening toothpaste, tablets and gum which use a natural condensed phosphate to white teeth. Other whitening toothpastes sometimes use harsh polishing agents which can wear away enamel and weaken teeth or foul tasting detergents which can cause ulcers in the mouth but this toothpaste uses only natural ingredients. The phosphates act immediately since they stick to the stain?s particles and remove them. They have been researching this product for about ten years and it will be released later this year.

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Analysis - Lengthy 787 probe, fixing problem, may cost Boeing dear

SEATTLE (Reuters) - The slow progress of investigations into battery problems on Boeing Co's 787 Dreamliner jets suggest the new plane could be grounded for months, raising fears that the financial hit to Boeing will be greater than had been initially predicted.

Wall Street had been working on the assumption that safety inspectors would find the root cause of two battery incidents in the United States and Japan within weeks and Boeing would implement a speedy fix costing no more than a few hundred million dollars.

But on Thursday, the head of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said it was only "early" in its investigation of a fire on a Japan Airlines Co Ltd jet in Boston on January 7, while Japanese aviation authorities appear no closer to resolving a battery problem that caused an emergency landing of a domestic All Nippon Airways Co Ltd flight last week.

"Saying we are in the early stages of the investigation sent a resounding message to those who thought this was a quick fix," said Carter Leake, aerospace analyst at BB&T Capital Markets.

"If it comes out that ultimately it's a six-month issue or a nine-month issue, everything changes. All of this optimism and all of this costing assumption, starts to become bigger numbers. Once you get past six months, you have to consider cancellations."

Investors do not appear to be in a panic yet. Boeing shares are down only about 2.5 percent since the 787 was grounded worldwide following the emergency landing in Japan on January 16.

"Wall Street reaction shows confidence in Boeing's ability to solve the 787 problem," said Michel Merluzeau, managing partner at G2 Solutions, an aerospace and defense consulting firm in Kirkland, Washington.

Boeing does make four other kinds of jets, including the best-selling 737, and the company earns 40 percent of its revenue from its defense arm.

Still, the world's biggest planemaker is producing 787s, but not delivering any, a situation that could stretch the company financially and test investors' faith.

"One of our big concerns is that this investigation continues to drag on, and it looks like it may be more than just the battery overheating itself," said Russell Solomon, an analyst at Moody's Investors Service. "You start getting into three, six months out and it has a bigger impact and my guess is that they (Boeing) would have to potentially cut the production rate."

BREAKING DOWN THE COST

Besides the actual cost of fixing the 50 787s in service, plus another 50 or so in production or waiting for delivery, Boeing will have to compensate carriers unable to use 787s as planned and pay penalties for late deliveries, most likely in the form of discounts on future purchases.

It also is not clear whether any fix - particularly if the probes lead to the identification of a major design fault - would also be costly.

At the same time, it will be starved of the cash it was expecting for delivering 787s it is still producing at the current rate of five per month, which could add up to $300 million per month, analysts estimate.

And the longer the planes are grounded, the more Boeing is exposed, as airlines may start to reconsider orders and - in extreme cases - cancel some, especially if the battery fix adds weight to the plane and reduces its vaunted fuel efficiency.

Boeing, which is expected to report a drop in fourth-quarter earnings next Wednesday, is not talking specifically about costs of the 787 issue yet.

"It's too early to know the financial effects," said Boeing spokesman Charles Bickers. "We're focused on working through the process, getting to a resolution and returning the airplanes to service."

Douglas Harned, an analyst at Bernstein Research, puts the cost of a fix at no more than $350 million, or about 30 cents per Boeing share, in a worst-case scenario. Howard Rubel at Jefferies estimates the cost at somewhere between $250 million to $625 million, but notes that some of the cost may be borne by suppliers.

"There's still the hope of a relatively easy fix followed by a return to service within a week or two, but there's also the strong and growing risk that they'll need to redesign the battery system, which could mean another six to nine months," said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst at aerospace research firm Teal Group.

PRODUCTION DELAY LOOMS

More important is the effect on Boeing's production rate, which is scheduled to jump to 10 a month by the end of this year, from five now.

That jump is crucial to Boeing's plans to eventually make a profit on the 787. Most of the investment in a new plane occurs early in the program, which means earlier planes cost more to build than later ones.

The quicker Boeing can refine the process and ramp up numbers of planes produced, the quicker it will reach the target of 1,100 planes, where it calculates it will break even on the program. At planned production rates that would take about a decade.

If Boeing makes fewer planes than it has budgeted for and is not getting cash in the door for deliveries, that could add up to more than $1 billion per month in "incremental working capital spend," according to Solomon at Moody's.

With $6 billion of cash on its balance sheet at the end of the third quarter, Boeing looks strong enough to deal with that, but the longer it goes on, the more the worries mount, said Solomon.

"If a billion to a billion and a half of incremental working capital consumption is the right number in terms of cash burn every month, you start getting into three, six months out and it has a bigger impact," he said. "My guess is that they would have to potentially cut the production rate if that were the case."

Cutting production of 787s, or halting it altogether, would be a huge blow for a plane program that is already three years behind schedule.

"The market really only cares about one thing right now and that is, will production change?" said Leake at BB&T. "I believe it will not, Boeing can't afford to do that. It's too expensive to ramp down and ramp up again."

Production delays would ripple down the supply chain, could cost jobs and could even mean the loss of future orders if airlines lose patience with Boeing.

Rubel at Jefferies said this is unlikely, but in the worst case scenario could result in a $5 billion write-off for Boeing, if it loses orders it was counting on to offset expenses it has already laid out in building the 787.

That would take its toll on earnings and likely mean taking a provision against those losses.

"It will impact equity investors," said Solomon at Moody's. "The company will grow much more slowly if they can't ramp to 10 a month and the program is not successful."

(Additional reporting by Tim Hepher in Paris, Alwyn Scott in New York, Jim Wolf in Washington; Editing by Martin Howell and Andre Grenon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lengthy-787-probe-fixing-problem-may-cost-boeing-000923262--finance.html

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Bill Ackman Fires Back At Carl Icahn - Business Insider

bill ackman This keeps just getting so good.

Herbalife is turning into a Royal Rumble with all the big names all attacking each other.

Today Carl Icahn went on Bloomberg TV and slammed Bill Ackman for his "holier than thou" short of Herbalife, while reiterating that he didn't respect Ackman.

Now Ackman is out with a press release slamming Carl Icahn.

The gist: After a lengthy court battle, in which Icahn was forced to make a payout to Ackman's investors, Icahn called Ackman and said he wanted to be friends.

Ackman declined the friendship offers.

He then says Icahn is dishonest!

Great stuff, read:

-----------------------------------

NEW YORK,? Jan. 24, 2013? /PRNewswire/ -- In response to comments made today by? Carl Icahn? on Bloomberg Television,? William A. Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P. ("Pershing Square") today issued the following statement. ?

"On? March 1, 2003, on behalf of my former fund, Gotham Partners, I entered into a contract with? Carl Icahn, signed by him, to sell him a 15% stake in Hallwood Realty Partners.? He paid my investors? $80? per share and agreed to what he called "schmuck insurance."?? The agreement provided that he would pay my investors an earnout equal to 50% of his profit on Hallwood after he received a 10% annual return if he "sold or otherwise transferred" his shares for value within three years.? Fewer than 13 months later on?? April 14, 2004, HRPT Property Trust acquired Hallwood.? As a result, Carl and the other Hallwood shareholders received? $136.16? per share in cash for their shares.? ?

Under the terms of our agreement, Carl owed my investors about? $4.5 million. He refused to pay.? I was forced to sue him on behalf of my investors.? On September 6, 2005, the court awarded us summary judgment and found the agreement to be "clear and unambiguous."? He again refused to pay and appealed.? We won onappeal and Carl was forced to post a bond for what he owed us and appealedagain.?? In general, Carl waited to the last few days to appeal in order todelay the inevitable.? After eight years and Carl's appeals of the judgment were denied, in 2011 the Court forced Carl to pay my investors the? $4.5 million
they were owed plus 9% interest per year from the date of the sale.

After Carl paid my investors, he called me up, congratulated me on winning, and said that he wanted to be my friend.? I told him that I had no interest in beinghis friend.? ?

Carl Icahn? is a great investor, but, in my experience, he does not keep his word."

For a copy of the contract agreement between Gotham Partners and Mr. Icahn, please visit:? http://goo.gl/BzUa9. ?

About Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P.

Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P. ("Pershing Square"), based in? New York
City, is a SEC-registered investment advisor to private investment funds.
Pershing Square manages funds that are in the business of trading - buying and
selling - securities and other financial instruments.? Funds managed by Pershing
Square are short the stock of Herbalife Ltd.? Pershing Square may increase,
decrease, dispose of, or change the form of its investment in Herbalife for any
or no reason, at any time.? Pershing Square may change its views about or its
investment positions in Herbalife at any time, for any reason or no reason.
Pershing Square may buy, sell, cover or otherwise change the form or substance
of its Herbalife investment.? Pershing Square disclaims any obligation to notify
the market of any such changes.? Please see the full Disclaimer appearing on
website? www.factsaboutherbalife.com.?

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-ackman-fires-back-at-carl-icahn-2013-1

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