sculley looker: June 2013

Sunday, June 30, 2013

'Swan mom:' A Washington woman is surrogate for baby trumpeters

A Washington woman has become a surrogate 'swan mom' for a bevy of baby trumpeter swans. Each summer for 14 years she's raised hatchlings for 80 days and released them into the wild.

By Staff,?Associated Press / June 28, 2013

Five 13-day-old cygnet trumpeter swans gather around "mom", a decoy swan, in their human foster parent Martha Jordan's back yard earlier this week.

Enlarge

All Martha Jordan has to do to get her five baby swans to run across the back yard is pull their "mom" along on a rope ? a life-size, plastic swan decoy.

Skip to next paragraph

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; // google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

The fuzzy cygnets, two weeks old, scurry to keep up in a scene that can only be described as impossibly cute.

For all intents and purposes, though, Ms. Jordan is really the baby birds' mom.

A wildlife biologist and authority on swans, Jordan agreed to raise the cygnets until they can be released into the wild.

The babies were hatched by a mating pair of swans at Northwest Trek, a wildlife park near Eatonville. In past years, some of the cygnets hatched there were lost to some of the other inhabitants of the park.

"They were becoming lunch for the bald eagles who live at the lake," Jordan said.

Jordan will raise the cygnets for about 80 days, after which they'll be released in Eastern Oregon. They become fully grown and ready to fly in just over 100 days, she said.

Though the cygnets' fledgling feathers are softer than silk, Jordan says petting them can condition the birds to human contact and make it harder for them to make it in the wild.

"I try not to handle them," she said.

Jordan has served as a foster?parent?for cygnets for 14 of the past 18 years, she said. Usually, she keeps them only for a few weeks and hands them off to another person who has room to house the cygnets as they get bigger.

An adult swan weighs from 25 to nearly 40 pounds and has a wingspan of 7? to 9 feet, according to Jordan.

The person who usually takes the swans from Jordan can't do it this year, so she is having a larger pen built in the back yard of her south Everett home.

Jordan is coordinator of the Washington Swan Stewards, a subsidiary of the Trumpeter Swan Society, a national non-profit organization. The local group provides education about swans and works on habitat conservation.

Trumpeter swans live only in North America and primarily in the Northwest. The other swan species native to the continent is the tundra swan, some of which also winter in the Northwest.

Trumpeter swans are migratory. Those that winter in Western Washington are among the 26,000 that breed in Alaska in the summer, Jordan said. They leave here in March and return in October.

Trumpeter swans are not endangered but their future is only as stable as that of the farmlands on which they depend for food in the winter, Jordan said.

Swans have historically wintered in local wetlands but as those have disappeared, the birds have adapted by landing at farms and eating the corn and other food put out for the livestock, she said. Farmers generally don't mind, Jordan said.

The Skagit Valley is the largest local wintering area, while the Stillaguamish and Snohomish valleys also attract many of the birds, she said.

Hunting Trumpeter swans in Washington state is illegal. Some of the lakes and fields where the swans land, however, are laden with lead buckshot leftover from decades ago or that's been fired at ducks or other waterfowl that may be legally hunted.

Swans ingest small pebbles as grit to help their digestion, and sometimes mistake the buckshot for pebbles, eat them and die from lead poisoning, she said.

Jordan gets paid for some of her work for the swan groups when grants are available. She goes on rescue missions in addition to banding and documenting the birds' whereabouts. But mostly she makes her living as a massage therapist, she said.

Still, she's recognized around the state as a leading authority on swans. She was asked to write the plan for minimizing the effect on swans from the demolition of the Elwha Dam, she said. Jordan confesses that she's sometimes referred to as the "swan lady."

She didn't set out to be a swan expert. Early in her career as a wildlife biologist working with other birds such as migratory geese, she frequently encountered swans and wound up studying them as part of her work.

In 1985, the state paid her to do a comprehensive swan survey.

"By that time, I was hooked on swans," she said.

It hasn't always been as much fun as watching the cygnets run across the lawn. Since 1999, more than 2,300 swans in the state have died from lead poisoning, according to the swan stewards website.

At the height of the die-off around 2003, "I was handling 4,000 pounds of dead swans," Jordan said.

Other times, she's been beaten up by swans when she got too close to a nest. Swans have claws on their webbed feet and hard edges to the front of their wings that they can swing like clubs.

They also have flexible, serrated bills. "They grab you and pinch and then twist and pull," she said.

Still, when she encounters a banded adult swan that she raised as a baby, or when people tell her stories of how swans have inspired them, it makes it all worthwhile, she said.

"You learn about humans and their connection to the land, and all that has come to me through the swan," she said.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/theculture/~3/b43h9gMY9VE/Swan-mom-A-Washington-woman-is-surrogate-for-baby-trumpeters

patti smith lottery winners lottery winners april fools day pranks ohio state vs kansas daniel von bargen 8 bit google maps

Logan Marshall-Green, Wyatt Russell to play Boston Bruins in 'Turk'

By Jeff Sneider

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - "Prometheus" star Logan Marshall-Green and hockey-loving actor Wyatt Russell are finalizing deals to play former Boston Bruins Derek Sanderson and Bobby Orr in Doug Atchison's indie movie "Turk," which counts Ed Burns among its producing team.

Atchison ("Akeelah and the Bee") is writing and directing the film, which Shep Harmon is producing via his Tenth Green Productions banner along with Burns and Aaron Lubin of Marlboro Road Gang. Chris Pappas wrote an earlier draft of the script.

Nicknamed "Turk," Sanderson was a talented but troubled member of the Stanley Cup-winning Bruins in the early 1970s. His career was derailed by drugs and alcohol, and the film will chronicle his downward spiral and how superstar teammate Orr helped him get his life back together.

Burns will co-star as Sanderson's father, who taught his son how to play hockey.

Russell (below right) steps into Orr's skates having played pro hockey in Canada and Europe following a collegiate career at the University of Alabama-Huntsville.

Marshall-Green (above) is currently training on the ice in preparation for the role, as production is scheduled to start this fall in Boston.

"Turk" has been a passion project for Harmon, who hails from Newton, Mass., and was a close friend of both Sanderson and Orr.

Marshall-Green, who broke out in 2005 following memorable turns on "The O.C." and "24," played Noomi Rapace's love interest in "Prometheus" and will soon be seen in James Franco's "As I Lay Dying." He's also attached to play Tennessee Williams in the indie drama "Lonely Hunter." Marshall-Green is repped by CAA, 3 Arts Entertainment and attorney Rick Genow.

Russell, son of Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, previously played a hockey player who flirts with Leslie Mann in Judd Apatow's "This Is 40." He also starred in Jim Mickle's cannibalism thriller "We Are What We Are" and will soon be seen alongside Liam Hemsworth in the indie movie "Love and Honor." He's repped by UTA.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/logan-marshall-green-wyatt-russell-play-boston-bruins-001502343.html

world bank kim kardashian flour bomb hunger games box office xavier joan crawford joan crawford john goodman

Whither Snowden? NSA whistleblower skips Moscow-Havana flight

Edward Snowden's decision to miss his flight to Cuba ? and apparently stay in Russia, at least for the moment ? may lead the US to push harder on the Kremlin to turn him over.

By Fred Weir,?Correspondent / June 24, 2013

A passenger checks his phone in front of an Aeroflot passenger plane due to depart to Cuba, parked at a terminal of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport today. Edward Snowden was booked for the flight, but did not board the plane ? leading to new speculation about his location and plans.

Maxim Shemetov/Reuters

Enlarge

Fleeing National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden pulled a vanishing act in Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport Monday by failing to show up for an Aeroflot flight to Havana that he was booked on ? sending a planeload of frustrated Moscow-based journalists off for an unplanned vacation in Cuba.

Skip to next paragraph Fred Weir

Correspondent

Fred Weir has been the Monitor's Moscow correspondent, covering Russia and the former Soviet Union, since 1998.?

Ft. Eustis to lose 333 positions as Army downsizes

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) -- Fort Eustis says it will lose nearly eight percent of its military workforce as a result of a massive restructuring taking place throughout Army.

The Army post in Newport News will lose 333 positions over the next several years as the 7th Sustainment Brigade transforms into the 7th Transportation Brigade, an expeditionary force. The cuts are part of a longtime plan to reduce the size of the service by 80,000 soldiers, or about 14 percent of the active duty force, by 2017.

The 7th Sustainment's Brigade is sometimes referred to as the "Army's Navy" because it has dozens of ships that supports all branches of the service by moving troops and equipment. Fort Eustis is located on the James River in southeastern Virginia, which also is home to several Navy bases.

The 7th Transportation Brigade will focus on supporting areas without existing infrastructure for shorter periods of time. Other units will provide additional sustainment capabilities, if needed.

"The brigade will morph over time to better meet the future Army need," Lt. Col. Douglas Pietrowski, deputy commanding officer of 7th Sustainment Brigade, said in a statement. "It's about getting the right structure to perform our primary mission."

Army leaders have also said they will slash the number of active duty combat brigades from 45 to 33. Those cuts are occurring at ten other bases and do not affect National Guard or Reserve units. Fort Eustis does not have any combat brigades stationed there.

Under the plan announced Tuesday, the Army will increase the size of its infantry and armor brigades by adding another battalion, which is between 600 and 800 soldiers. Adding the battalion was a recommendation from commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan who said it would beef up the fighting capabilities of the brigades when they go to war.

The overall cut in size has been known for more than a year, and Army leaders have been working on how to manage the reduction, conducting local community meetings across the country and releasing an extensive study on the issue earlier this year.

A community listening session was held April 30 at Fort Eustis to gather comments from political leaders and the public for the Army to consider.

In a statement, Maj. Gen. Bradley W. May, senior commander of Army Element Eustis, says the number of job losses at Fort Eustis is about what he expected the base to lose.

Brock Vergakis can be reached at www.twitter.com/BrockVergakis

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ft-eustis-lose-333-positions-142509055.html

Jim Kelly Secret Life of the American Teenager zynga PNC Bank floyd mayweather Romina Puga Red Wedding

Saturday, June 29, 2013

With Mandela, end-of-life care dilemmas magnified

FILE - In this Wednesday, July 18, 2012 file photo, former South African President Nelson Mandela celebrates his birthday with family in Qunu, South Africa. The emotional pain and practical demands facing Nelson Mandela's family are universal: confronting the final days of an elderly loved one. There are no rules for how or when the end may arrive. Mandela's status as a respected global figure only complicates the situation, doctors and end-of-life experts say. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 7, 2005 file photo, former South African President Nelson Mandela, 87, is in a jovial mood at the Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg. The emotional pain and practical demands facing Nelson Mandela's family are universal: confronting the final days of an elderly loved one. There are no rules for how or when the end may arrive. Mandela's status as a respected global figure only complicates the situation, doctors and end-of-life experts say.(AP Photo/Denis Farrell, File)

CHICAGO (AP) ? The emotional pain and practical demands facing Nelson Mandela's family are universal: confronting the final days of an elderly loved one. There are no rules for how or when the end may arrive. Some choose to let go with little medical interference; others seek aggressive treatment. Mandela's status as a respected global figure only complicates the situation, doctors and end-of-life experts say.

Mandela "is not only revered he is loved and profoundly admired by people all over the world and the sense of letting go must be difficult for everyone involved," said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University.

In much of Africa, people are considered fortunate to live past age 60. For those who reach old age, death is still seen as sad, but friends and family typically celebrate with big parties to honor a life well-lived. Taking extraordinary measures to keep that person alive would be considered dishonorable, said Dr. Sola Olopade, the Nigerian-born clinical director for the University of Chicago's Center for Global Health.

If such measures are being used for Mandela, many could consider it "quite painful," Olopade said, "because those are not the last memories you want to have for someone with such an exemplary life."

U.S. doctors said Mandela's lung infection is most likely pneumonia, a very common cause of illness and death in the elderly.

The infection is usually caused by bacteria and causes lungs to fill with fluid or pus, making breathing difficult and often causing fever and weakness. Treatment includes antibiotics and extra oxygen, often from a mechanical ventilator.

In the United States, an elderly person critically ill with pneumonia would typically be hospitalized in an intensive care unit and put on a mechanical ventilator, or breathing machine, said Dr. J.P. Kress. He is director of the University of Chicago's medical intensive care unit's section on lung and critical care. Ventilators often require a breathing tube down the throat, and patients need to be sedated because of the discomfort.

These patients typically are hooked up to feeding tubes, intravenous fluids and all kinds of monitoring machines to check heart rate, blood pressure and other functions. For long stays, lying prone in a hospital bed, they have to be periodically moved into different positions to prevent bed sores; their arms and legs have to be exercised to fight muscle wasting.

Mandela has been hospitalized several times since December for a recurring lung infection, and he has had tuberculosis.

In a hospitalization in March and April, doctors drained fluid from around his lungs, making it easier for him to breathe. He got care at home until he returned to the hospital on June 8.

For elderly patients hospitalized repeatedly with lung problems, the chances for recovery are often grim, Kress said.

"It's possible he's sitting in a chair asking, 'When am I going to get out of the hospital?' but that's very unlikely," he said.

Patients so critically ill may have ups and downs, and small changes like needing a little less help from a ventilator may be seen as a sign of improvement even when the outlook remains poor, Kress said.

Schaffner, the Vanderbilt doctor, said, "There are always little glimmers of hope. It's not a straight line down ... when you're so gravely ill."

Ada Levine faced end-of-life decisions with her mother, Maria Robles of Chicago. And it was difficult even though her mother had made her wishes known. Robles died two weeks ago at age 75 after 12 years of heart failure and other problems that had her in and out of the hospital.

"It was not going to get better," Levine said. "You're hopeful. You believe in miracles and 'maybe.' At some point you realize there is no miracle and you have to be strong and do the right thing."

Her mother did not want life support, but following that directive is easier said than done, Levine said.

"It's brutal, very difficult, hard, to watch this person decline and think now you're responsible for making their decisions."

Schaffner went through the same experience with his mother. She died 10 years ago at age 84 after several strokes and then pneumonia.

When she was still lucid, the family discussed end-of-life care. She did not want to be kept alive on a ventilator. So when she developed pneumonia and was hospitalized, she got comfort care ? fluids, antibiotics and sedatives to calm her anxiety over struggling to breathe ? but no intensive treatments with fancy machines.

After several days, when it became clear "there was zero chance she was going to turn around," the family brought her home, with hospice care, and she died less than two weeks after falling ill, Schaffner said.

Loretta Downs, former president of the Chicago End-of-Life Care Coalition, said decisions about life support should turn around the patient's wishes.

"Very often it's not the person who's dying's choice," but the family's, she said. "Now that we can prolong dying there's this whole question of are we prolonging dying versus prolonging living? It's not comfortable to be on life support."

___

AP Chief Medical Writer Marilynn Marchione contributed from Milwaukee and Andrew Meldrum contributed from Johannesburg.

___

Online:

End-of-life care: http://1.usa.gov/bPeFiT

AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2013-06-28-US-MED-Mandela-End-of-Life/id-2ba4ad1dc61d4bdc8d92fd82b9a8bb73

hunger games movie review bats hunger games review jeff saturday jason smith jon corzine austin rivers

Companies in England, Wales face fines up to 400 percent on illegal gains

(Reuters) - Companies found guilty of financial crimes against individuals or tax authorities in England and Wales could attract fines of as high as 400 percent on ill-gotten gains, according to draft guidelines published by the Sentencing Council.

"The draft sentencing guidelines, which are likely to lead to tougher sentences for those who leave victims badly affected, aim to provide clear guidance on sentencing for these offences," the Sentencing Council for England and Wales said on its website.

The draft guidelines provides for fines for various degrees of financial crimes ranging from 20 percent to 400 percent, the document showed.

The council, which was set up to promote greater transparency and consistency in sentencing, has framed the guidelines in accordance with the system of fines prevalent in the United States. The guidelines also cover bribery and money laundering.

Besides being a deterrence, the council said the guidelines will "help promote a consistent approach in courts in England and Wales."

The consultation on the draft guideline on fraud, bribery and money laundering offences is open from June 27 to October 4, the council said.

The council can issue only guidelines and does not have any legislative power. The relevant legislation is a matter for Parliament.

(Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore; Editing by Matt Driskill)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/companies-england-wales-face-fines-400-percent-illegal-024641191.html

Sandy Hook Univision josh hamilton Susan Rice the Who jon bon jovi jon bon jovi

Friday, June 28, 2013

BlackBerry shipped just 2.7 million BB 10 handsets last quarter (updated)

Blackberry shipped just 27 million BB 10 handsets last quarter updated

BlackBerry got off to a roaring start with with the Z10, which shipped a million devices in its first three weeks on the market and led many to predict there'd be at least 3 million shipped this quarter (the first full quarter of Z10 availability). That turned out not to be the case, as the company said during an earnings call for Q1 2014 that it managed to get just 2.7 million BlackBerry 10 OS handsets out the door, despite the Q10 having joined the Z10 on shelves for a good part of that period. Those figures make up just 40 percent of its handset numbers, meaning most of the 6.8 million phones it shipped consisted of cheaper last-gen products. They refused to break those numbers down between the Q10 and Z10, so that's all we have to go on at this point -- but taken with its announcement of an $84 million loss, it's far from encouraging.

Update: Apologies, folks. Our original headline said 2.7 million were sold, whereas in fact the figure indicates shipping numbers. The post itself is unchanged and accurate. For reference, BlackBerry's actual sales to end users lagged behind shipments by around 30 percent when they revealed the previous set of figures back in March.

Filed under: Cellphones

Comments

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

alec baldwin alec baldwin dwight howard paul pierce immigration reform wimbledon nba draft

Borderlands 2 updated for PC, breaks Mac multiplayer compatibility

Borderlands 2 updated for PC, breaks Mac/PC multiplay

Gearbox has updated Borderlands 2 for Windows. Unfortunately, the update breaks multiplayer compatibility with the Mac version, which is published and maintained by Aspyr Media.

We pinged Aspyr Media to find out what's going on, and here's their statement:

"The Borderlands 2 update released on June 26, 2013 for the PC will cause an out of sync [error] with the Mac version of the game. We are working tirelessly to ensure the Mac version is caught up with the PC with this new update, but please be aware that the Mac and PC versions will be out of sync for a very short time, disabling cross platform play. We hope to be back in sync as soon as possible. Any questions please contact us at http://support.aspyr.com and log a ticket for one of our agents!"

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/gRlWU-ngL4I/story01.htm

Chris Andersen Xbox Kawhi Leonard Shailene Woodley Kim Kardashian baby name Erik Spoelstra college board

Stocks gain on encouraging news on the US economy

FILE - In this Tuesday, May 28, 2013, file photo, trader William McInerney works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Global stock markets were mostly higher Thursday June 27, 2013 after the U.S. said quarterly growth may be weaker than expected, raising investors' hopes that the Federal Reserve would delay plans to wind down its stimulus program. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Stocks are closing higher on Wall Street after investors got a double dose of good news about the U.S. economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 114 points, or 0.8 percent, to close at 15,024 Thursday. It was the third straight triple-digit gain for the Dow. The Dow is still down slightly for the month.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up nine points, or 0.6 percent, at 1,613.

The Nasdaq rose 25 points, or 0.8 percent, to 3,401.

Consumer spending rose last month as incomes increased. Claims for unemployment benefits fell last week.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.48 percent.

Five stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was lighter than average, 3.3 billion shares.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stocks-gain-encouraging-news-us-economy-201717103.html

donovan mcnabb donovan mcnabb lottery ticket megga millions what is autism the giver march 30

Repsol rejects $5BN compensation from Argentina

MADRID (AP) ? The board of Spanish energy giant Repsol on Wednesday rejected a $5 billion offer of compensation from Argentina for the company's YPF unit that the country seized last year.

Repsol SA said in a statement that the offer isn't good enough for what it lost. Argentina expropriated YPF after accusing the Spanish company of bleeding YPF dry and forcing Argentina to import record amounts of energy when it failed to invest in its operations in the South American country.

Repsol's board said, however, that it was encouraged that Argentina is interested in a negotiated solution to the dispute.

The deal would have given Repsol a 47 percent stake in a joint venture involving the vast nonconventional oil and gas reserves in the Vaca Muerta area of Patagonia. YPF would have held 51 percent and Mexico's Pemex would have gotten 2 percent.

In a statement released later on Wednesday, YPF denied that an official offer by Argentina's government had been made and said that talks have been held between the companies.

"YPF informs that it is not true that there was an offer by the Argentine government over the nationalization of the company," the statement said.

"It is true that there were conversations between YPF representatives and Repsol shareholders with the intention on bringing the two parts together towards an agreement."

YPF also praised, "Repsol's attitude of being open to dialogue to reach a negotiated solution that is satisfactory to the interests of both companies."

Repsol has sued in Spain, Argentina and at the World Bank's International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, seeking more than $10 billion in compensation for the controlling stake in YPF that President Cristina Fernandez seized in May 2012.

Vaca Muerta" or "Dead Cow" reserve that has given Argentina the world's third-largest shale potential behind the U.S. and China.

YPF needs billions of dollars to go after the unconventional oil and natural gas, but major oil companies have held back from investing. Repsol's threat to sue any company that steps forward is one major disincentive; another has been Argentina's elaborate system of keeping consumer energy prices far below international market rates.

Associated Press writer Debora Rey in Buenos Aires, Argentina contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/repsol-rejects-5bn-compensation-argentina-203941826.html

zack greinke zack greinke jackie robinson Coachella 2013 Scary Movie 5 MTV Movie Awards 2013 masters

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Rosneft offers to buy out small TNK-BP shareholders in cut-price deal

By Katya Golubkova

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian state oil major Rosneft on Thursday offered to buy out small shareholders in TNK-BP Holding but said it would pay less for the stock than the price at the time of the takeover in March.

Chief executive Igor Sechin said that Rosneft was not a "charity fund" when it bought TNK-BP and did not intend to buy out minority shareholders, raising complaints from them and questions from international investors about corporate governance in Russia.

Following the TNK-BP deal, Rosneft became the world's No. 1 oil producer by output, pumping 4.5 million barrels per day - nearly half of Russia's total - but its capitalization of $74 billion is a fraction of U.S. ExxonMobil's .

"They have had increasing pressure from minorities and there is clearly a lot of feedback that it is damaging the wider Russia franchise," said one trader at a Western bank in Moscow.

Rosneft Vice President Igor Maidannik said that while the company has no legal obligations towards TNK-BP shareholders, the state-owned giant's shares are sensitive to the situation.

"We don't have any obligations. It would be a voluntary offer or, if a decision on a reorganization is taken, a conversion. We will see," he told reporters at TNK-BP's annual shareholders meeting.

Maidannik said he preferred the idea of a share swap, because buyouts "usually don't lead to the desired result".

GLIMMER OF HOPE

Maidannik's comments offered a glimmer of hope for smaller shareholders of TNK-BP, the listed unit of the Anglo-Russian venture bought by Rosneft for $55 billion, will not end up empty-handed. British oil major BP sold its 50 percent stake in TNK-BP for cash and Rosneft stock.

Based on TNK-BP's market capitalization of $21.6 billion, down 57 percent since October when the deal was announced, a buyout of about 5 percent owned by minorities would cost Rosneft approximately $1 billion. TNK-BP shares rose up 1.8 percent.

Minority shareholders welcomed the idea with caution, as Sechin has previously rebuffed such calls.

"I support the idea. Maidannik made a good move. He allowed everyone to express their views and gave hope. But I wanted to hear it from Sechin, given that the decision should be taken not by Maidannik alone," said Gennady Osorgin, a shareholder since 2005.

Maidannik, Rosneft's legal counsel, played down expectations that shareholders - including several leading global emerging markets equity funds - could expect a big payout.

"It has been obvious since the deal was announced that TNK-BP's capitalization would fall," said Maidannik. "Someone might have dreamed that a buyout could happen at the deal's price, but in my opinion that was a gamble."

Earlier this month, Rosneft recommended waiving 2012 dividends for TNK-BP, saying its own policy of paying out 25 percent of earnings as dividends could only be extended to TNK-BP after the deal closed on March 21.

Investors have shown concern that subsequent deals by Rosneft could treat minorities the same way.

Shares of Bashneft have fallen by 4 percent since Tuesday, when Russian business daily Vedomosti reported that Rosneft was interested in buying the company, which produces 300,000 barrels of oil a day, from Sistema .

The report, denied by Sistema's majority owner Vladimir Yevtushenkov, has also sent Bashneft's non-voting preferred shares down by 15 percent.

Gathered at a central Moscow hotel on Thursday, TNK-BP minority shareholders grabbed sandwiches as they anticipated a tightening of purse strings from Rosneft.

"Today we are being fed but at the next meeting we may not be offered even a cup of tea," said Viktor Alexeevich, 65, while putting ham sandwiches and pies into a bag.

"I'm very disappointed that they (BP) left us - they set an example to the locals on how to do business. The dividends they paid proved that."

(Writing by Katya Golubkova and Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Douglas Busvine and Megan Davies)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rosneft-may-offer-buy-convert-tnk-bp-shares-104546222.html

mitt romney mark zuckerberg mark zuckerberg maurice jones drew Yash Chopra George McGovern braxton miller

Keen On? Ninja Innovation: What A Guy From Detroit Can Teach Silicon Valley About Innovation

Does Silicon Valley still lead the world in innovation? Yes, says Gary Shapiro, the long-time CEO and President of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and author of the best-selling selling new book, Ninja Innovation: The 10 Killer Strategies of the World's Most Successful Businesses. But, Shapiro - who lives in Detroit and works in Washington DC - reminds us, that dominance is fragile.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/tX7sXjwQknU/

louisville basketball Ready for Love ncaa annette funicello joel osteen Accidental Racist Fallon Fox

DNA found outside genes plays largely unknown, potentially vital roles: Thousands of previously unknown RNA molecules identified

June 26, 2013 ? A new UC San Francisco study highlights the potential importance of the vast majority of human DNA that lies outside of genes within the cell.

The researchers found that about 85 percent of these stretches of DNA make RNA, a molecule that increasingly is being found to play important roles within cells. They also determined that this RNA-making DNA is more likely than other non-gene DNA regions to be associated with inherited disease risks.

The study, published in the free online journal PLOS Genetics on June 20, 2013, is one of the most extensive examinations of the human genome ever undertaken to see which stretches of DNA outside of genes make RNA and which do not.

The researchers -- senior author and RNA expert Michael McManus, PhD, UCSF associate professor of microbiology and immunology and a member of the UCSF Diabetes Center, graduate student Ian Vaughn, and postdoctoral fellow Matthew Hangauer, PhD -- identified thousands of previously unknown, unique RNA sequences.

"Now that we realize that all these RNA molecules exist and have identified them, the struggle is to understand which are going to have a function that is important," McManus said. "It may take decades to determine this."

The RNA most familiar from textbooks is the messenger RNA that is transcribed from DNA in genes and that encodes the amino acid building blocks of proteins. The transcription of messenger RNA from DNA is a key step in protein production. The rest of the DNA on the cell's chromosomes was once thought not to be transcribed into RNA, and was referred to as junk DNA.

Today, scientists estimate that only 1.5 percent of the genome consists of genes, McManus said. But over the last two decades other kinds of RNA have been identified that are transcribed from DNA outside of gene regions. Some of these RNA molecules play important biological roles, but scientists debate whether few or most of these RNA molecules are likely to be biologically significant.

Among the RNA transcribed by the DNA outside of genes, the UCSF researchers identified thousands of previously unknown RNA sequences of a type called lincRNA. So far, only a handful of lincRNA molecules are known to play significant roles in human biology, McManus said.

Previous research has shown that lincRNAs can have diverse functions. Some control the activity of genes that encode proteins. Others guide protein production in alternative ways.

"RNA is the Swiss army knife of molecules -- it can have so many different functions," McManus said.

The development of RNA-sequencing techniques in recent years has made possible the collection of massive amounts of RNA data for the first time.

To identify unique RNA molecules that are transcribed from human DNA, the UCSF researchers re-examined data on RNA transcription that they gathered from more than 125 data sets, obtained in recent years by scientists who studied 24 types of human body tissues. The new study represents one of the largest collections of lincRNAs gathered to date.

McManus said that the findings are in general agreement with those reported in September 2012 by researchers associated with a project called ENCODE, which included among its goals the detection of RNA transcripts within the genome. Many of the cells examined in ENCODE were long-lived laboratory cell lines and cancer cell lines, whereas the data analyzed in the UCSF study was from normal healthy human tissue, McManus said.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/A43ZMzjXaYE/130626143122.htm

seattle mariners geraldo rivera supreme court health care joe oliver joba chamberlain new york mega millions jetblue

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Hack a Day modder builds a custom controller for disabled gamers

Sure, when tinkerer Caleb Kraft found out that pressure switches marketed at the disabled were massively overpriced, he got mad like anybody else. But then he decided to get even the best way he knew how: by building his own, and posting the plans for all to follow on Hack a Day for free. The project came about via a kid with muscular dystrophy named Thomas, who enjoyed Minecraft but may eventually lose the ability to hold a controller or use a mouse and keyboard. Caleb's idea was to build low-pressure switches using a 3D printer and simply map them to the Minecraft keyboard and mouse commands using a $20 Teensy board. He posted his plans online, but since he feels they could be improved on, also created a site called the Controller Project (see the More Coverage link). From there, those in need of a custom device can make a request, other modders can post their own plans and builders can use them to make controllers for donation. Since more is always merrier for such things, if you have those skills or know someone who needs them, hit the source for more info.

Filed under: Gaming

Comments

Source: Hack a day

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/21/hack-a-day-modder-builds-a-custom-controller-for-disabled-gamers/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

cubs cj wilson ellsbury brad pitt and angelina jolie brad and angelina herniated disc luke scott

Medicine Today: A new and safer way to treat heart disease

The most common type of heart disease occurs when blood vessels that supply the heart become too narrow to deliver adequate blood. When such disease cannot be controlled with medications, doctors may suggest a procedure to open the blocked blood vessel. This
procedure is called a percutaneous coronary intervention ? or
PCI.

Similar to the repair of a clogged pipe, the PCI opens the blocked blood vessel to allow better blood flow to the heart. Developed by cardiologists in Georgia, PCIs are now common, with more than 600,000 done in the U.S. yearly.

PCIs have traditionally been performed through a small incision in the groin, and the most frequent complications are bleeding and damage to surrounding blood vessels.

Recently, cardiologists have been able to perform the procedure using a new approach: a small incision near the wrist rather than the groin.

A new study published in the heart journal Circulation shows that the wrist approach is growing in use and has a lower rate of complications.

Dr. Dmitriy Feldman, assistant professor of medicine at Cornell University, and colleagues analyzed nearly 3 million PCIs performed between 2007 and 2012 in a large national database maintained by the American College of Cardiology.

They compared procedures that were performed with a wrist incision vs. those performed with a groin incision. They found that in 2007 fewer than 2 percent of the PCIs used the wrist approach. By 2012, one in every six used the procedure.

During this time, PCIs performed using the wrist had better outcomes for patients, cutting the rates of bleeding and blood-vessel complications in half while maintaining the same rate of success. These findings held true even after adjusting for differences in age and degree of illness among patients.

Unfortunately, all patients may not be candidates for the wrist approach because of the size of blood vessels in their wrist and the type of PCI being performed.

Also, because the wrist approach is a newer technique, not all cardiologists are trained to perform it.

Going forward, more PCIs will likely be performed through the wrist and patients can look forward to a reduced likelihood of complications.

Source: http://chronicle.augusta.com/life/people/2013-06-20/medicine-today-new-and-safer-way-treat-heart-disease

Leyla Ghobadi Dodgers brawl Sebastien De La Cruz farrah abraham national weather service superman man of steel superman man of steel

Obama nominates campaign donors to be ambassadors (Washington Bureau)

Share With Friends:

| Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/314399974?client_source=feed&format=rss

katie couric good morning america the rock vs john cena acm awards 2012 january jones ncaa final game reba mcentire acm awards

Friday, June 21, 2013

4 ways to be transported by the Paris Air Show

LE BOURGET, France (AP) ? Here's a look at some innovations from this week's Paris Air Show:

JET-LAG CURE?

You know how you feel ? and look ? when you get off a trans-Atlantic flight? Exhausted, blood-shot eyes, swollen ankles. Partially that's jet-lag. But partially that's because you've effectively been up a mountain for several hours, with all that entails, including increased heart rate and shortness of breath.

Some manufacturers are working to reduce those effects ? thanks to new composite materials that are more fatigue-resistant themselves. Currently, commercial jets fly at between 35,000 and 45,000 feet and pressurize their cabins to bring what your body feels down to around 8,000 feet.

But Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner, which is primarily made of composites, brings you down to 6,000 feet. Normal, aluminum-built planes could be pressurized to that level, too, but they would take more of a beating to do so and would have a shorter lifespan. If you're really rolling in it, private jets, like the new Gulfstream, will do you one better: life in the cabin is below 5,000 feet.

IT'S A TRAIN, IT'S A PLANE

Several European research institutions are working on planes with detachable fuselages ? though they currently only exist in computer models, crude mock-ups and their inventors' imaginations.

The concept revolves around a wing that can fly on its own or with the fuselage ? where the cabin is ? attached. The Clip-Air project imagines a wing that could carry three fuselages. You might board your plane at the nearest train station. The fuselage would roll down the tracks to the airport and then attach to the wing ? all while you sipped tomato juice and watched "Toy Story 3."

The Bee-Plane is only slightly less pie in the sky. Its engineers are actually taking the steps toward seeing it take off one day ? though that is years, if not decades, away. The Bee-Plane has just one fuselage, but it could serve as a hospital, say, dropped off in a crisis zone and picked up weeks later.

SOLAR-POWERED DRONE

Weighing about the same as a newborn, the tiny plane disassembles and can pack into a box. It can carry either a surveillance camera or a small payload such as medicine or blood samples. The unmanned aircraft is the first by Design Intelligence Inc. intended for civilian use.

The Norman, Okla., company's president, James Grimsley, said he thinks it could be most useful in countries with plenty of sunlight but little infrastructure. Unlike the Bee-Plane, Grimsley said this model could be put to use within a year.

TOP GUN REDUX

Russia showed off its SU-35 fighter jet internationally for the first time and the pilot for the maiden flight wasted no time with ordinary aerobatics. The plane twirled up, seemed to come to a pause in the sky, then hurtled downward with a deafening roar. At one point, it appeared to cut its engines and float gracefully backwards for a few harrowing seconds.

But Russia's two Ka-52 attack helicopters nearly upstaged the fighter with a mid-air ballet sequence as delicate as any earthbound pas de deux.

Finally, Dassault Aviation, the French fighter jet manufacturer, mounted a camera in the cockpit of its Rafale for anyone with a strong stomach and the desire for a pilots' eye view.

____

Rafale cockpit view: http://youtu.be/ngrqEWJ5dws

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/4-ways-transported-paris-air-show-150655584.html

star trek abercrombie and fitch Rolando McClain angelina jolie abercrombie abercrombie Eminem Stabbed

Monday, June 17, 2013

Jay-Z announces new album with Samsung deal

NEW YORK (AP) ? Jay-Z is teaming up with Samsung to release his new album, unveiling a three-minute commercial during the NBA finals on Sunday and announcing a deal that will give the music to 1 million users of Galaxy mobile phones.

The new album, called "Magna Carta Holy Grail," will be free for the first 1 million android phone owners who download an app for the album. Those who do so will get the album on July 4, three days before its official release, according to a Sunday statement.

Samsung is a leader in the mobile phone market and has been steadily chipping away at Apple's share of the market with its Galaxy phones. The deal with Jay-Z is yet another example of how mobile companies are using music to lure new consumers.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jay-z-announces-album-samsung-deal-030621411.html

kanye west theraflu joey votto the masters live mega millions winner holy thursday chris stewart evo 4g lte

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Father's Day Gift Guide: From 'Man Of Steel' To Yeezus, We Got You Covered!

Why give your dad the same old, same old, when you can give him a pop-culture gift he'll really want on Sunday like — beer bling?
By Gil Kaufman, with reporting by MTV News staff

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1709095/fathers-day-gift-guide.jhtml

Revolution TV Show bankofamerica rosh hashanah rosh hashanah boardwalk empire iOS 6 Release Date Chavez vs Martinez

David stymies former club, as Royals top Rays

By MARK DIDTLER

Associated Press

Associated Press Sports

updated 5:40 p.m. ET June 16, 2013

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Wade Davis kept the Kansas City Royals' long stretch of strong pitching intact in a win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Davis stopped his five-game winless streak, Jeff Francoeur homered, and the Royals beat the Rays 5-3 on Sunday.

The Royals have given up three runs or fewer in 14 of 15 games. Kansas City has won 10 of 12.

"Kansas City is playing really well now," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "They deserved to win. They're playing with a lot of confidence. If you look at their team ERA, it's number one in baseball. Kansas City outplayed us, period."

After the game, the Rays announced that they were going to purchase the contract of slugging prospect Wil Myers from Triple-A Durham in time for Tuesday's doubleheader at Boston. The outfielder, who hit 14 homers with Durham, was acquired in a seven-player offseason deal with the Royals that sent Davis and starting pitcher James Shields to Kansas City

Davis (4-5) gave up two runs - both coming in the first - and five hits in six innings for his first win since he beat the Los Angeles Angels on May 15.

"I knew once he got through the first, he was going to settle in and be fine," Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. "Wade did a great job of limiting the damage. I just had a real good feeling he'd get back in the dugout, he'd regroup and hold them right there. That's exactly what he did."

It was Davis' first game against the Rays.

"I was up in the zone a little bit," Davis said. "The walks and a couple of hits that got in there were just balls I left up a little bit. Once I got the breather in the third or fourth inning when we scored some runs, I got a little breathing room."

After Francoeur hit a solo homer in the fifth inning, Alcides Escobar and Alex Gordon had RBI singles to put the Royals ahead 4-2 in the sixth. Gordon added a sacrifice fly in the eighth.

Francoeur had only 13 hits in 83 at-bats before delivering his third homer this season.

Greg Holland, the fourth Kansas City reliever, earned his 14th save despite allowing a homer to Jose Lobaton in the ninth.

Roberto Hernandez (4-7) allowed four runs and nine hits in 5 2-3 innings for Tampa Bay, which went 4-6 on a 10-game homestand. The Rays were coming off a three-game series with Boston that included a 10-8 loss in 14 innings, and a 2-1 defeat.

"The Red Sox series was kind of a weird one," Rays third baseman Kelly Johnson said. "It was tough to lose a couple of those games. We had opportunities to win both. Then this series was one of those hangover series from that. It kind of felt that way anyway. Not a ton of energy, not a ton of life, unfortunately.

"There's always going to be some stuff like that. We've got to get it turned around quickly."

Billy Butler had an RBI single in the first for Kansas City, which won three of four against Tampa Bay.

The Rays took a 2-1 lead in the first when Luke Scott drove in a run with a double and scored on Desmond Jennings' single.

Davis prevented further damage by getting an inning-ending fly from Jose Molina with the bases loaded.

The Rays announced during the game that right-hander Alex Cobb, who was hit on the right ear by a liner off the bat of Kansas City's Eric Hosmer in the fifth inning on Saturday night, had been discharged from Bayfront Medical Center.

"I know we feel wonderful about it," Maddon said. "I think the rest of baseball feels good about it."

Tests showed Cobb has a mild concussion. He was put on the 7-day concussion list, and Tampa Bay recalled right-hander Josh Lueke from Triple-A Durham.

In a message posted on his Twitter account, Cobb thanked Rays head athletic trainer Ron Porterfield and the doctors at Bayfront, and said that he, "Woke up with only a minor headache today."

There was a loud cheer from the announced crowd of 27,442 at Tropicana Field when the news about Cobb was posted on the scoreboard after the top of the sixth.

NOTES: To make room on the roster for Myers, INF Ryan Roberts was optioned to Durham. ... Tampa Bay LHP David Price (strained left triceps) isn't ready to start a minor league rehab assignment. He will have another bullpen session on Tuesday. ... The Royals flew in 21 fathers and two sons of team personnel to be together for Father's Day. "I've never heard of anybody doing this before so I think it's a special treat for everybody," Yost said. ... Rays 3B Evan Longoria (right foot) was the DH for the fourth consecutive game. Maddon hopes Longoria will be able to play in the field on Tuesday. ... Kansas City LHP Danny Duffy (elbow ligament replacement surgery) made his second rehab start Saturday night for Triple-A Omaha. He gave up two runs, four hits and three walks in three innings.

More news

Lee-ding questions

CSN: Should the Phillies opt to trade Cliff Lee, and the scores of millions of dollars left on his contract, here's what they can expect to get.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/52223975/ns/sports-baseball/

stephen curry Angie Miller nina dobrev nina dobrev HLN Charles Ramsey Mike Jeffries

Saturday, June 15, 2013

The Great Canadian Writer's Craft Interview: Jason Christie | Open ...

This spring, students from Malvern Collegiate Institute's Writer's Craft class conducted interviews with Canadian poets as part of a class project. The interviews will be posted on The Great Canadian Writer's Craft page on Open Book throughout June. In this interview, Malvern Collegiate students Penelope Plessas and Laura Maier speak with poet and editor Jason Christie (Unknown Actor, Insomniac Press, 2013).

Penelope Plessas & Laura Maier:

Hello Jason! Our names are Penelope Plessas and Laura Maier, and we are so excited to have the?amazing opportunity of interviewing you. We really appreciate you taking time out of your busy?schedule to participate in our project. After reading your books, Canada Post and i-ROBOT, we both?really enjoyed them and couldn?t wait to interview you.

Jason Christie:

Hi Penelope and Laura! I?m so happy you enjoyed the books. i-ROBOT is my favourite by a small margin,?but don?t tell anyone. Thank you very much for your questions. They are all fantastic and gave me lots to?think about. I hope my answers provide some insight into poetry and being a poet.

PP & LM:

Speaking of Canada Post, we noticed how you seemed to lack a digital footprint, besides a Twitter,?which kind of fits in with the title of Canada Post, leading us to believe you?re more conventional and?perhaps prefer paper over digital. As a pre-interview question, might this be true?

JC:

That?s a great question. As a bibliophile, I do prefer paper to digital when it comes to reading poetry?but I prefer digital to paper when it comes to writing poetry. Paper will always hold its attraction for me?because it provides a singular, focused and intentional interaction with writing. As we move more and?more into the ephemeral world of the digital, the cloud, the Internet we lose the tactile connection that?comes along with holding something in your hands, feeling the breeze from the pages turning. There is?an intimacy with language that doesn?t translate well to the fragmented scissions of online life.

I think I most enjoy experiencing the duration of time passing as measured by turning pages when?reading a book published on paper. The digital experience can be wonderful in its own timelessness or?incorporeality and many poets that I know are engaging with it in exciting, exhilarating ways but I?m?interested in how a book can circumscribe a limited interaction with language, almost as if the physical?object itself were a critique of the idea of limitlessness or post-scarcity.

I?ll suggest that perhaps it is becoming more conventional to have a digital footprint, to engage with?the digital as a concept and to embrace limitlessness as a guide for praxis than it is to try to be small,?singular and local. I tend to shy away from fads and trends and to attempt to write poetry that operates?around attempting to understand my subject position relative to language. My new book scratches?around the idea of an online presence necessitating a kind of theatrical involvement that exists like a?phantom doppelganger. It?s fascinating that we?ve involved ourselves in this strange social experiment?between the physical body and the virtual manifestation of a mind. In some ways this exercise in which?you and I are engaged mirrors the experience of online/digital interactions. For all you know, I could?have had my interviewbot answer your questions! I didn?t though (or did I?). Bleep. Blort. Bloop?

PP:

I noticed that you were a manager of Creative and Interactive Development for four?years as well as a technical writer for two years. Do you believe that these unique experiences pushed?you away from the more technical aspect of writing and towards paper? Or was publishing poetry?novels always a dream of yours?

JC:

Writing poetry has always been an integral part of my life and my dreams. I?ll structure my response?with the following caveats.

1. I have always tried to have a pragmatic view of the world. Writing poetry was never going to be a way?to survive.

There were a few years while I was in high school and university that I thought I could survive on the?money that I made from being a writer. I spent a long time believing that I just had to find the right?combination of ideas that would rocket me to fame and fortune.

Upon further reflection, and a reality check, it became clear to me that there was no realistic way to?make a living from poetry. The world is not waiting for the next great Canadian poet. In a lot of ways it?was an immense relief. Turning away from thinking of poetry as a market or business liberates poets?from a debt to sales, to transactional thinking, networking and marketing. Essentially the fact that there?is no mass audience waiting means we can write whatever we want without worrying about our next?meal.

Having said all of that, I?m about to wander up to the line of contradicting myself!

2. I believe a writer should work in some capacity that is not directly related to their creative writing.?I have always had to work in some capacity outside of creative writing and I think it has made me a more?responsible poet, it has brought me into contact with people who have zero interest in reading poetry?and that has been extremely helpful for grounding my writing in reality. Some of the best feedback I?ve?received has come from coworkers who have actively avoided poetry.

LM:

Your style is very distinct, and your books contain a mix of short and long poems. They all?contrast well and present something I?d consider different, as most poems and poetry books either?contain mainly medium, long, or short length poems, but not a mix of them. Do you have any kind of?inspiration from poetic canon? What aspect of traditional literary canon would you align your poetry?with?

JC:

That?s a great question and an interesting observation. I am always curious about the forms a poem?can take. Perhaps it is as a result of my ADD, but I need to push against set forms, play with them, to?question why I?m using them, or simply to find a fresh perspective on a particular problem I?m writing?through.

I would align my poetry with the avant-garde tradition as expressed through early 20th Century French?poetry. I am very interested in prose poetry and have found inspiration in Max Jacob?s writing as well?as the poems of Francis Ponge. I would also align the theoretical interests that inform my writing with?that of the L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E writers from the United States and Canada in the 1970s such as Charles?Bernstein, Lyn Hejinian and Steve McCaffery. I?m also influenced by French literary and cultural theory?from the late 20th Century.

LM:

In i-ROBOT, the poem ?Digging up the Dead,? to me, appears to be a kind of satirical take?on the abortion debate, and when a human stops being a possible human and becomes a full person.??When is a robot really a robot? Is it at the point of manufacture or the point of activation?? the?poem goes, highlighting the main issue we face with debating this ourselves. It ends with ?Now they?are fervently opposed to keeping robots dormant in a precognitive state and maintain that it is cruel?to not activate robots that are clearly ready for activation.? Do you agree with that, or is it just the?robots agreeing with that? Do you put your opinions in the things you write, or write non-biased?

JC:

Well, I?m going to have to play the poet card here and answer in a non-direct, semi-helpful way. Is it?possible to write anything that is non-biased or is that a self-congratulatory belief based upon our desire?for authority? Satire is one of our most useful tools for deflating structures of thinking that bear the?mark of approval of a cultural authority or state. I mean almost everything that I write in one way or?another but I?ll never hold a poem hostage to an idea or shackle creativity to a kind of bare necessity in?an attempt to appear wise or to prove a point. The world is too full of that kind of thing.

PP:

I read that you wrote poems for both Canada Post and i-ROBOT at the same time. What?aspects of these poems made you decide to put them in one book or the other?

JC:

They were originally all in Canada Post but as I prepared that book for publication I realized that the?poems with robots in them weren?t really fitting with the other poems and I pulled them out at the?last minute. I didn?t know what to do with the robot poems and I couldn?t stop writing them. All of?the robots in my life were clamouring for my attention! The Blu Ray player kept flashing this plaintive?message: please ? wait ? please ? wait ? and so I did.

One night at a reading for the launch of the Post-prairie Anthology in Calgary, I read some of the robot?poems and there just happened to be a publisher in the audience named Brian Hades who asked me?afterward if I was working on a book of them. It hadn?t really occurred to me until that point that I had?enough material to put out a book focused entirely on robots. It was a dream come true.

LM:

I noticed a lot of poems in i-ROBOT are rather humorous or have a humorous tone to?them. For example, I laughed when I reached the end of the poem ?Insane Aslyum.? After finishing?explaining all the complicated issues with the robot and the procedure they should take, the doctor?turned to the assistant and said: ?I?ll buy you lunch if you can figure out what in the heck he means.??Another humorous poem was the earlier ?Robota!? which kind of satirized human holidays like?Thanksgiving. Is humor a necessity in writing? Do you seek a balance of humour and seriousness in?your writing, or do you not consciously balance them? Do you think we need humour in writing to?help us discover things?

JC:

I?m really glad you found the poems houmourous and laughed while reading them! Humour is one of the?most important things in my life. Without laughter, whimsy and silliness we risk becoming awful. I think?laughter connects people across ideas, it supersedes authority and brings us all together in the same?state of enjoyment. I?m always impressed by people who are effortlessly funny. I view humour as an?outgrowth of kindness.

In order for humour to work, I think there has to be some seriousness to balance it out. I attempt to?show respect to my readers by treating their time and attention seriously while also undermining my?own seriousness. If we can?t laugh at ourselves then we?re really deluded about what it means to be a?poet at this point in time.

PP:

You very recently published your latest poetry book, Unknown Actor. Your last release?was seven years ago. Was the gap due to a lack of inspiration? What motivated you to begin writing again?

JC:

The gap was purely a result of interrogating my role as a writer, what my motivations were for?publishing and trying to find a way to more closely align my sense of duty and responsibility to what?it means to be a poet. During that time I continued to write a lot and many of the poems ended up?in Unknown Actor. I?m always writing or thinking about poetry. It?s a 24-hour-a-day, 365-days-a-year?vocation!

Jason Christie grew up in Milton, Ontario. Jason?s poetry has appeared in journals and magazines, including: filling Station, dANDelion, Poetry is Dead, Action, Yes!, The Capilano Review, West Coast Line and Interim. Jason is the author of i-ROBOT Poetry, Canada Post?and Unknown Actor which was published by Insomniac Press in the Spring of 2013. He is also an editor alongside angela rawlings and derek beaulieu of the anthology Shift & Switch: New Canadian Poetry.

Laura Maier hails from a long line of elitist cartoon watchers. She spends her time in what her family refers to as her cave, under her blankets, staring at a glowing monitor, typing stories that will never see the light of day. She enjoys to discuss, in lengthy detail, theories and ideas surrounding her favourite shows, and prides herself on being a good observer. She hopes to one day work as a translator, but right now would prefer to spend all her time leading fake lives in video games.

Penelope Plessas is an avid reader and writer with a short story and poem published in ?Setting the Scene? and ?The Arrival? by Polar Expressions Publishing. She loves horses and tarsiers, paintballing and PlayStation, and wishes she was fluent in Greek. She is surprisingly lacking when it comes to humor, preferring the stinging bite of sarcasm. Look for her in the next New York Best Sellers List!!!

Source: http://www.openbooktoronto.com/greatcanadianwriterscraft/blog/great_canadian_writers_craft_interview_jason_christie

trayvon martin obama care miss universe canada don draper gallagher madmen james cameron