In 2012, 19 billion chat messages were sent each day across the world?compared to just 17.6 billion SMS messages.
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Monday, April 29, 2013
Some say immigration bill is bad deal for the GOP
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Some feisty Republicans are challenging a claim widely held among GOP leaders that the party must support more liberal immigration laws if it's to be more competitive in presidential elections.
These doubters say the Republican establishment has the political calculation backward. Immigration "reform," they say, will mean millions of new Democratic-leaning voters by granting citizenship to large numbers of Hispanic immigrants now living illegally in the United States.
The argument is dividing the party as it tries to reposition itself after losing the popular vote in five of the past six presidential elections. It also could endanger President Barack Obama's bid for a legacy-building rewrite of the nation's problematic immigration laws.
Many conservatives "are scared to death" that the Republican Party "is committing suicide, that we're going to end up legalizing 9 million automatic Democrat voters," radio host Rush Limbaugh recently told Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a leader of the bipartisan team pushing an immigration overhaul.
Strategists in both parties say several factors, including income levels, would make many, and probably most, newly enfranchised immigrants pro-Democratic, at least for a time.
Rubio says the risk is worth taking.
"Every political movement, conservatism included, depends on the ability to convince people that do not agree with you now to agree with you in the future," he told Limbaugh.
Politically, Republicans face two bad options.
They can try to improve relations with existing Latino voters by backing a plan that seems likely to add many Democratic-leaning voters in the years ahead. Or they can stick with a status quo in which their presidential nominees are losing badly among the electorate's fastest-growing segment.
In 2012, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who suggested that vanishing job opportunities would prompt immigrants to "self deport," carried only 27 percent of the Hispanic vote. A Republican Party study of that election concluded, among other things, that the GOP must appeal to more Hispanics, and to do so it must "embrace and champion comprehensive immigration reform."
Party leaders say the harsh language that some Republicans use when discussing illegal immigration has angered many Americans with Hispanic heritages.
Rubio's bipartisan group has proposed legislation to strengthen border security, allow tens of thousands of new high- and low-skilled workers into the country, require all employers to check their workers' legal status, and provide an eventual path to citizenship for some 11 million immigrants now in the country illegally.
Even if the bill survives the Democratic-controlled Senate, stiff resistance is expected in the GOP-dominated House. Many House Republicans dislike the idea of "amnesty" for those who crossed the border illegally, and some say it's foolish to enfranchise likely Democratic voters.
Obama embraces the Rubio plan, and it won crucial praise from House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., last year's vice presidential nominee.
Rubio and his allies challenge the notion that creating a way to citizenship for millions of people here illegally will dramatically increase Democratic turnout in future elections.
"Not all 11 million illegal immigrants here today will qualify to become citizens, and not all of the 11 million illegal immigrants are Hispanic," according to Rubio's "Myth vs. Fact" website. The site says many immigrants will not choose to become citizens, and many new citizens, like many current ones, will not bother to vote.
Some Republican campaign strategists, however, say the political damage would be worse than party leaders acknowledge.
Republican consultant and pollster Mike McKenna said one of his surveys shows that most Americans favor "immigration reform" and they believe it will benefit Democrats more than Republicans.
In an interview, McKenna said Republican leaders are embracing Rubio's plan without sufficient data on where it might lead. "I think about two months from now, the folks in the establishment are going to wish they hadn't started this conversation," McKenna said.
Party leaders erred, he said, by couching the immigration debate in political rather than moral terms. "The argument that it's going to be politically advantageous is not going to be sustainable over time," McKenna said.
Political activists have swapped estimates of how many people now living here illegally might choose to become citizens, register to vote and turn out for Democratic candidates if a path to citizenship is opened. Even the most conservative guesses assume that Democrats would benefit more than Republicans, initially, at least.
Rubio's allies play it down.
"The status quo is not acceptable to Republican voters," said GOP consultant Kevin Madden, who has worked for Romney and others. Republican leaders, he said, must push for the best rewrite of immigration laws they can achieve.
Texas-based GOP consultant Matt Mackowiak noted that evangelical leaders, major business groups and others that opposed immigration changes in 2007 are now on board. He said the Republican Party should focus on attracting Hispanic voters with its standard message of small government and free enterprise, and not worry too much if a new law produces more Democratic-leaning voters for a while.
"If we don't win 40 to 45 percent of Hispanics," Mackowiak said, "we're not going to win elections regardless of whether this happens."
Limbaugh is among those who don't buy it.
"I see polling data again that suggests that 70 percent of the Hispanic population in the country believes that government is the primary source of prosperity," he told Rubio in their recent exchange. "I don't, therefore, understand this contention that Hispanics are conservatives-in-waiting."
___
Follow Charles Babington on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cbabington
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/immigration-bill-bad-deal-gop-132850249.html
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Gunmen surround foreign ministry in Libya capital | Morocco World ...
TRIPOLI, April 28, 2013 (AFP)
Gunmen surrounded Libya?s foreign ministry on Sunday demanding it be ?cleansed of agents? and ambassadors of ousted
dictator Moamer Kadhafi, an official said.
The group prevented staff from entering the building in Tripoli, said the ministry official who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity.
Around 30 vehicles, some mounted with anti-aircraft guns, and dozens of armed men surrounded the office, an AFP photographer at the scene reported.
The official criticised the group?s ?extremely offensive? behaviour, even if their demands were ?legitimate?, saying this did not justify ?paralysing the whole work of a ministry?.
The General National Congress, Libya?s highest political authority, is studying proposals for a law to exclude former Kadhafi regime officials from top government and political posts.
The proposed law could affect several senior figures in the government, and has caused waves in the country?s political class.
In March, demonstrators encircled the assembly, trapping members in the building for several hours as they called for the adoption of the law.
After the siege was lifted, gunmen targeted Congress chief Mohammed Megaryef?s motorcade without causing any casualties.
Libya?s government is struggling to assert its influence across the country, where Megaryef?s militias who fought Kadhafi in the 2011 uprising still countrol much territory.
Source: http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2013/04/88813/gunmen-surround-foreign-ministry-in-libya-capital/
Friday, April 26, 2013
Amazon to release its own set-top box: Report
Amazon plans to put out a set-top box to compete with the likes of Roku, Apple TV, and other streaming devices, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. No price or timeline was mentioned, except that it would appear sometime in 2013.
The Seattle-based company has been diversifying its product catalog for years, and although it is best known for its all-encompassing online store, it now also offers web hosting, multimedia streaming, and an expanding line of Kindle-branded electronics.
A set-top box would be a natural fit with Amazon's existing products: More people than ever are signing up for streaming video and audio, and the success of the Kindle Fire has shown that Amazon-themed products can find success with electronics buyers at large.
The device is said to be under development in an Amazon research lab in Cupertino, where perennial competitor Apple is also based. It would likely be priced very competitively and offer extremely easy access to Amazon's media library, with the inevitable perks for Amazon Prime customers.
What will it be called? It's anyone's guess: Although "Kindle" is a contender, devices of that name have all been handheld ? tablets and e-readers. We'll find out when the product is announced later this year.
Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. His personal website is coldewey.cc.
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Thursday, April 25, 2013
Missing link in Parkinson's disease found: Discovery also has implications for heart failure
Apr. 25, 2013 ? Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have described a missing link in understanding how damage to the body's cellular power plants leads to Parkinson's disease and, perhaps surprisingly, to some forms of heart failure.
These cellular power plants are called mitochondria. They manufacture the energy the cell requires to perform its many duties. And while heart and brain tissue may seem entirely different in form and function, one vital characteristic they share is a massive need for fuel.
Working in mouse and fruit fly hearts, the researchers found that a protein known as mitofusin 2 (Mfn2) is the long-sought missing link in the chain of events that control mitochondrial quality.
The findings are reported April 26 in the journal Science.
The new discovery in heart cells provides some explanation for the long known epidemiologic link between Parkinson's disease and heart failure.
"If you have Parkinson's disease, you have a more than two-fold increased risk of developing heart failure and a 50 percent higher risk of dying from heart failure," says senior author Gerald W. Dorn II, MD, the Philip and Sima K. Needleman Professor of Medicine. "This suggested they are somehow related, and now we have identified a fundamental mechanism that links the two."
Heart muscle cells and neurons in the brain have huge numbers of mitochondria that must be tightly monitored. If bad mitochondria are allowed to build up, not only do they stop making fuel, they begin consuming it and produce molecules that damage the cell. This damage eventually can lead to Parkinson's or heart failure, depending on the organ affected. Most of the time, quality-control systems in a healthy cell make sure damaged or dysfunctional mitochondria are identified and removed.
Over the past 15 years, scientists have described much of this quality-control system. Both the beginning and end of the chain of events are well understood. And since 2006, scientists have been working to identify the mysterious middle section of the chain -- the part that allows the internal environment of sick mitochondria to communicate to the rest of the cell that it needs to be destroyed.
"This was a big question," Dorn says. "Scientists would draw the middle part of the chain as a black box. How do these self-destruct signals inside the mitochondria communicate with proteins far away in the surrounding cell that orchestrate the actual destruction?"
"To my knowledge, no one has connected an Mfn2 mutation to Parkinson's disease," Dorn says. "And until recently, I don't think anybody would have looked. This isn't what Mfn2 is supposed to do."
Mitofusin 2 is known for its role in fusing mitochondria together, so they might exchange mitochondrial DNA in a primitive form of sexual reproduction.
"Mitofusins look like little Velcro loops," Dorn says. "They help fuse together the outer membranes of mitochondria. Mitofusins 1 and 2 do pretty much the same thing in terms of mitochondrial fusion. What we have done is describe an entirely new function for Mfn2."
The mitochondrial quality-control system begins with what Dorn calls a "dead man's switch."
"If the mitochondria are alive, they have to do work to keep the switch depressed to prevent their own self-destruction," Dorn says.
Specifically, mitochondria work to import a molecule called PINK. Then they work to destroy it. When mitochondria get sick, they can't destroy PINK and its levels begin to rise. Then comes the missing link that Dorn and his colleague Yun Chen, PhD, senior scientist, identified. Once PINK levels get high enough, they make a chemical change to Mfn2, which sits on the surface of mitochondria. This chemical change is called phosphorylation. Phosphorylated Mfn2 on the surface of the mitochondria can then bind with a molecule called Parkin that floats around in the surrounding cell.
Once Parkin binds to Mfn2 on sick mitochondria, Parkin labels the mitochondria for destruction. The labels then attract special compartments in the cell that "eat" and destroy the sick mitochondria. As long as all links in the quality-control system work properly, the cells' damaged power plants are removed, clearing the way for healthy ones.
"But if you have a mutation in PINK, you get Parkinson's disease," Dorn says. "And if you have a mutation in Parkin, you get Parkinson's disease. About 10 percent of Parkinson's disease is attributed to these or other mutations that have been identified."
According to Dorn, the discovery of Mfn2's relationship to PINK and Parkin opens the doors to a new genetic form of Parkinson's disease. And it may help improve diagnosis for both Parkinson's disease and heart failure.
"I think researchers will look closely at inherited Parkinson's cases that are not explained by known mutations," Dorn says. "They will look for loss of function mutations in Mfn2, and I think they are likely to find some."
Similarly, as a cardiologist, Dorn and his colleagues already have detected mutations in Mfn2 that appear to explain certain familial forms of heart failure, the gradual deterioration of heart muscle that impairs blood flow to the body. He speculates that looking for mutations in PINK and Parkin might be worthwhile in heart failure as well.
"In this case, the heart has informed us about Parkinson's disease, but we may have also described a Parkinson's disease analogy in the heart," he says. "This entire process of mitochondrial quality control is a relatively small field for heart specialists, but interest is growing."
This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants R01 HL059888 and R21 HL107276.
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Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Washington University School of Medicine. The original article was written by Julia Evangelou Strait.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Y. Chen, G. W. Dorn. PINK1-Phosphorylated Mitofusin 2 Is a Parkin Receptor for Culling Damaged Mitochondria. Science, 2013; 340 (6131): 471 DOI: 10.1126/science.1231031
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/genes/~3/QSYvGCfVQ78/130425142357.htm
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Deal of the Day ? Samsung 40? 120Hz LED Smart TV with a free $100 Gift Card
LogicBUY’s Deal for Wednesday is the 40″?Samsung Series 5 UN40EH5300 1080p 120Hz LED-backlit Smart HDTV bundled with a $100 Dell eGift card?for?$529.99. ?Features: Full HD 1080p Two 10W speakers Dolby Digital Plus/Dolby Pulse,?SRS TheaterSound HD Two HDMI, one USB (1), one component in, one optical digital audio output ConnectShare Movie Wide Color Enhancer Plus $679.99 [...]
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Baucus exit could be free-for-all for Mont. Senate
HELENA, Mont. (AP) ? U.S. Sen. Max Baucus' surprise announcement that he won't run for a seventh term could mean a free-for-all for a Senate seat that has not been open since 1978, with a popular Democratic ex-governor and a freshman Republican congressman already showing interest.
Republicans said the open Montana seat helps their chances to gain six seats in 2014 to win a Senate majority. But many Democrats relish a potential early return to politics for former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who left office in January because of term limits.
Baucus told The Associated Press he made the decision not to run Monday night, even after he raised $5 million for a re-election fight that now won't occur.
He and his wife talked daily about the decision over several months, he said. They're building a new home in Bozeman and Baucus said he is looking forward to spending more time outside of politics.
"You have to do what you think is right for yourself and your family," Baucus said. "Life goes on. There is a time and place for everything."
Supporters lauded Baucus for a political career that spanned five decades, for playing a key role in some of the nation's biggest political debates and being the standard-bearer for the Montana Democratic Party through some very lean times.
But others ? including some liberal detractors ? sensed opportunity, which will likely lead to a boisterous battle to fill the power vacuum.
It didn't take long for Schweitzer's name to surface as a favorite for Democrats, while many Republicans advanced U.S. Rep. Steve Daines as their favorite.
Other possible GOP candidates include Denny Rehberg, the former congressman coming off a bruising and unsuccessful bid to unseat U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, and former Montana Gov. Marc Racicot, who served from 1993 to 2001 and later chaired the Republican National Committee.
Schweitzer, who previously said he's "not senile enough to be in the Senate," on Tuesday sounded as though he were open to the idea of replacing Baucus.
"Some people see a pickup on the side of the road with a flat tire and say that's a problem. I'm the guy that stops and says, 'I'll fix it.' I like challenges. I like positive outcomes," Schweitzer told the AP.
If Schweitzer runs, he would likely be a shoo-in for the Democratic nomination and could even scare away Republican candidates, said Dave Parker, a political analyst at Montana State University.
"Schweitzer's in the catbird seat. It all begins and ends with him. He's the most popular politician in the state right now and if he runs he clears the field on both the Democratic side and the Republican side," said Parker.
Others said regardless of Schweitzer's decision, Republicans are bound to mount a determined campaign ? and spend heavily ? for the open seat.
"It's going to be another real race again. It's an open seat, so no matter what the race starts today," said Craig Wilson, a political analyst at the Montana State University, Billings.
University of Montana political analyst James Lopach predicted a Daines matchup against Schweitzer. He said Daines will find it hard to resist a Senate run ? no matter the opponent.
"He's got to run statewide anyway. Why not run for a six-year position instead of a two-year position? The Senate is more prestigious and more powerful," Lopach said.
Daines' spokeswoman Alee Lockman said the new congressman is giving a run "serious and thoughtful consideration." His office released a statement saying the congressman appreciates Baucus' lifetime of service and that "it is critically important that this seat be filled by someone prepared to change the direction and culture of our nation."
Former U.S. Rep. Rick Hill, who lost to Steve Bullock in November's gubernatorial election, said he will be trying to convince Daines to run.
"He is a new leader with new ideas," Hill said.
Rehberg, who is now a co-chairman of the Washington-based public-strategy firm Mercury/Clark & Weinstock, did not return a call for comment Tuesday.
Two lesser-known Republicans already have announced their intentions to run ? state Sen. Champ Edmunds of Missoula and former state Sen. and gubernatorial candidate Corey Stapleton.
On the Democratic side, EMILY's List President Stephanie Schriock and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau are possible contenders if Schweitzer decides not to run.
Baucus will be joined in retirement by fellow Democratic senators Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, Tim Johnson of South Dakota, Tom Harkin of Iowa and Carl Levin of Michigan in announcing his retirement plans.
Republicans Saxby Chambliss of Georgia and Mike Johanns of Nebraska also have decided not to seek re-election next year.
Baucus in recent years has bemoaned the increased polarization in Washington but he said that was not a factor in his decision. Nor was his "no" vote on a gun-control compromise measure that would have expanded background checks, a vote that angered liberals, he said.
"It is just time to move on," Baucus said.
Baucus said he will focus his remaining time in office on tax reform, the farm bill, the North Fork Watershed Protection Act and his plan to expand land protections along the Rocky Mountain Front. Baucus said the health care overhaul that was a signature bill for him ? one that cost him politically back home ? remains important.
"I want to make sure health care is implemented, and implemented very well," he said.
That health care debate dinged his approval ratings, but Baucus believes the measure will eventually be popular. Baucus recalled a conversation he once had with former U.S. Sen. Mike Mansfield ? a legendary Montana political figure. Baucus said when he was new to politics he was trying to tell Mansfield that the voters would reward them for "doing the right thing."
"He looked at me and just said, 'Yep, but sometime it takes a long time,'" Baucus said. "The bottom line is, it is important for me that Montanans know how grateful I am, and how humbled I am to have served Montana."
___
Brown reported from Billings.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/baucus-exit-could-free-mont-senate-073337555--election.html
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Indonesian Newsstand App Scoop Closes $2.4M Series B
Apps Foundry just announced that it has raised $2.42 million (S$3 million) in a Series B round of funding. The Indonesian company is registered and headquartered in Singapore, and this round of funding has come from Indonesia’s largest media group, Kompas Gramedia. The company’s main product is a?digital newsstand app called Scoop. This round of funding will go towards Apps Foundry’s expansion plans to the rest of the neighboring Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, said CEO, Willson Cuaca. Kompas Gramedia owns a number of different publishing platforms covering print media, radio, TV and online sites in Indonesia. To be precise, its PR states that it has 26 newspapers, 80 magazines, seven book publishers, 23 radio stations, 103 bookstores, and nine TV stations. And 50 hotels. Phew. One of its newspapers, Kompas Daily, has one of the largest circulations in the country, and prior to this funding round, Scoop had an exclusive arrangement with the newspaper. Kompas’ digital group director, Edi Taslim, said the app was attractive to the publisher because it’s already managed to get 90 percent of the country’s magazine publishers and 50 daily papers onboard. He added that 10,000 e-books from Kompas Gramedia’s seven publishers can be found on Scoop, and that the investment in the app maker was a strategic decision for the media giant in order for it to “stay on top of current trends” while minimizing the risk of undertaking the building of a similar app itself. Newsstand apps are attractive to publishers because they allow them to get content to readers without having to strike individual content deals with device makers themselves. Last year, a France-based digital newsstand app called Lekiosk?raised?$7.1 million?in a Series B round. The app is touted as “Spotify for magazines”, and last month the company announced a deal with Asus to have the Lekiosk preloaded on its Android gadgets. Cuaca told TechCrunch that this funding round for Apps Foundry will bring the company’s total funding to $3.4 million (S$4.3 million) since its launch in 2010. Its angel and seed round at the beginning came up to $257,939 (S$320,000), and was led by Indonesian accelerator, East Ventures. Its Series A was closed in December 2011, where it attracted $810,000 (S$1 million) primarily for Scoop from Shanghai-based VC?Gobi Partners, and Japanese investment firm?Mitsui Global Investment.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/NALvwDwuSV4/
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Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Is Chael Sonnen the next Derek Zoolander?
Usually, it's retired UFC fighter Kenny Florian who draws comparisons to Derek Zoolander. But when I was looking for a picture of UFC light heavyweight contender Chael Sonnen next week, I noticed that he cannot take a normal picture. Almost all UFC fighters have some sort of picture on file that doesn't involve posing or hamming it up for the cameras. Not so much for Sonnen. Check it out:
Is he mean-mugging 50 Cent?
And of course:
It's good to know that Sonnen can fall back into the world of modeling if this fighting thing doesn't work out for him.
Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/chael-sonnen-next-derek-zoolander-184557089--mma.html
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Nebraska bill would compensate surface water users
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- Farmers in the Republican River Basin could get paid by the state if Nebraska cuts off their access to surface water, under a bill that won first-round approval Tuesday from lawmakers.
The bill was advanced in the midst of drought fears and repeated legal battles involving the Republican River. Lawmakers voted 27-0 to move the bill through the first of three readings.
The bill by Sen. Mark Christensen of Imperial would make up to $10 million available over the next two years to compensate surface-water irrigators. The measure would cap the payments at $300 per acre. Christensen said the state has traditionally given a right to users with a permit to tap the resource.
"We're constantly complaining here on the floor about the feds taking something from us," Christensen said. "Now, it's a little different. We've got the state taking something. Are we going to allow that to happen?"
The state Department of Natural Resources issued an order in January requiring additional conservation measures in the river basin to help Nebraska comply with a long-standing agreement with Kansas and Colorado. The 1943 compact dictates that Nebraska gets 49 percent of the Republican River's water, Kansas gets 40 percent and Colorado gets 11 percent.
The bill was advanced in the midst of drought fears, and concerns over a 1943 water-sharing agreement with Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado. Kansas has claimed that Nebraska violated the compact by over-using water.
The Nebraska Department of Natural Resources recently mandated the release of water from four reservoirs in the Republican River Basin, to keep the state from violating the Republican River Compact. The order came after the department warned that drought conditions would require extra conservation by irrigation districts that use surface water and natural resources districts that oversee groundwater.
Sen. Steve Lathrop of Omaha said the state's natural resource districts need to find a sustainable way to manage water. Without a long-term management plan, he said, water users will continue asking for state money.
"Until we address this problem, we will always have somebody coming back to the Legislature, saying 'I didn't get to use water,'" said Lathrop, a member of the Agriculture Committee. "The question is, are we managing it properly, or ignoring the problem?"
Lawmakers have already given tentative approval this year to a longer-term water study that would identify conservation projects, despite questions about its cost and whether lawmakers will follow its recommendations in the future. The water task force would organize a set of water-project needs and report back to the Legislature by January 2014.
Sen. Ken Schilz of Ogallala, a western Nebraska cattle farmer who heads the Agriculture Committee, said he had concerns about how water users should be compensated. Some surface water users are considered "senior" and have first access to the water, and Schilz said it wasn't clear whether payments from the state would get divided in a similar fashion.
___
The bill is LB522
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nebraska-bill-compensate-surface-water-203616505.html
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Rescue me: New study finds animals do recover from neglect
Apr. 23, 2013 ? Animal sanctuaries can play an important role in rehabilitating goats and other animals that have suffered from neglect, according to scientists at Queen Mary, University of London.
In this first scientific study of rescued animals, the researchers examined moods in 18 goats, nine of which had endured poor welfare, such as inappropriate diet, and lack of space or shelter before arriving at a sanctuary. They created a spatial awareness test, which involved giving the animals an opportunity to look for food, to understand the link between poor welfare and the goats' mental health, by comparing the behaviour of the mistreated goats with that of the goats that had been generally well treated.
The scientists observed whether some goats were faster to explore specific areas that resulted in the reward of food and others that did not. They assessed how the goats judged previously unknown locations, described as ambiguous because they were situated between spaces known to contain food and areas without food.
"Mood can have a huge influence on how the brain processes information. In humans, for example, it's well known that people in positive moods have an optimistic outlook on life, which means they are more resilient to stress. In the same way, measures of optimism and pessimism can provide indicators for an understanding of animal welfare," explains co-author Dr Elodie Briefer from Queen Mary's School of Biological and Chemical Sciences.
It was thought that the goats from the poor welfare group would be more 'pessimistic' and slower than the well-treated goats to explore ambiguous locations for food, where the promise of reward was not guaranteed. However, a surprising result of the study was that female goats that had been mistreated in the past were more optimistic than the other well-treated female goats.
Dr Briefer adds: "In this case, we found that female goats that had been previously neglected were the most optimistic of all the tested animals. They were more optimistic than well-treated females, but also the poorly treated males. This suggests that females may be better at recovering from neglect when released from stress, and might have implications for animal sanctuaries in how they tailor the care they provide for the different sexes."
Dr Alan McElligott, also from Queen Mary's School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, said: "The study shows that animal rescue centres, such as Buttercups Sanctuary for Goats, where we collected our data, can provide a vital role in reversing long-term neglect once the animals receive excellent care."
The study was published in the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science April 23, 2013.
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Palestinians hold first Bethlehem marathon
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) ? Hundreds of people on Sunday took part in the West Bank's first marathon, looping around the biblical city of Bethlehem four times on a course that was limited by the confines of Israel's sprawling separation barrier.
The race was meant as a political statement as much as a sporting event.
One participant wore a T-shirt honoring the victims killed in last week's bombing at the Boston Marathon, while other runners waved slogans in support of Palestinians. The area was decorated with green, white and red balloons symbolizing the Palestinian flag.
Runners jogged near the stone-clad Church of the Nativity, built over the grotto where tradition says Jesus was born, past a charred Israeli military watchtower where Palestinian youths often hurl flaming bottles during protests and alongside the concrete barrier. The 8-meter (26-foot) high barrier, partly scrawled with graffiti demanding freedom, hems in Bethlehem.
"This is illegally occupied land," one slogan read. "The wall must fall," read another.
Israel built the barrier a decade ago in response to a wave of suicide bombings carried out by West Bank Palestinians. Israel says the barrier keeps out militants, who killed hundreds of Israelis. Palestinians see its route as a land grab because it frequently dips into the West Bank, swallowing their lands.
About 1,000 people participated in the race, which included shorter 10-kilometer (six-mile) and 20-kilometer (12-mile) options. Around a quarter of participants undertook the full 42-kilometer (26.2 miles) run, said Itidal Abdul-Ghani of the Palestinian Olympic Committee.
"C'mon guys, you gotta go a lot faster than that!" yelled a voice from the crowd in English as the pack began jogging.
The fastest runner, Abdul-Nasser Jawani of the West Bank town of Jericho came in at 3 hours, 9 minutes, 47 seconds. The fastest woman was a Palestinian from Bethlehem who came in at 3 hours, 36 minutes, 37 seconds. Abdul-Ghani did not have her full name.
The Palestinians seek an independent state in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war, and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
Palestinians and their international supporters have turned toward sports in recent years to draw attention to their struggle for statehood, although that has sometimes backfired.
In March, the United Nations had to cancel a Gaza marathon because the territory's conservative Islamic rulers wouldn't let women participate, claiming it was immodest.
The mood was far more relaxed in relatively liberal Bethlehem during Sunday's "Right to Movement Palestinian Marathon," held in cool, rainy weather.
Most of the women jogged in loose shirts and tights, although some wore Muslim headscarves. Most men wore shorts and sweatshirts. Loud Arabic music blasted in the background.
The participants jogged four times around Bethlehem because there wasn't enough space to do a straight marathon due to the barrier, Abdul-Ghani said. Israel also has full control over nearby areas, making it complicated for Palestinians to run there.
Underscoring hostilities, Abdul-Ghani said Israelis weren't welcome to join the marathon while their military occupies Palestinian lands. Israeli officials would not allow some two dozen Gaza hopefuls to cross through the Jewish state to reach the West Bank to attend the marathon.
The marathon came six days after the Boston Marathon bombings. The Sunday run also coincided with the London Marathon.
Participant Demitri Awwad, a Palestinian-American from Fenton, Mich., wore a T-shirt honoring the Boston Marathon victims under his official marathon shirt as he ran in the 10-kilometer race. It had a picture of 8-year-old Martin Richard, with the words "No more hurting people" emblazoned below.
"'No more hurting people' ? it's a very simple thing from a kid and it's what we all should live by," said the 33-year-old.
Other runners touted other causes: One group ran with a banner demanding the freedom of a Palestinian prisoner Samer Issawi, who has been refusing food since August. Two Palestinian men smoking cigarettes looked on as they ran by.
Israelis said they also planned to hold five-kilometer (30nuke) evening runs in the cities of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Beersheva in solidarity with the Boston Marathon victims.
Organizer Ilia Rabinovich said the gesture was to show Americans that it was important to "continue running."
The 26-year-old marathon enthusiast estimated some 300 people had signed up for the runs.
"We feel a lot of compassion to these innocent people who are victims of terrorist attacks," he said.
___
Associated Press writer Diaa Hadid in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/palestinians-hold-first-bethlehem-marathon-190618516.html
Indian girl's rape highlights police apathy
NEW DELHI (AP) ? A child disappears. Police are called. Nothing happens.
Child rights activists say the rape last week of a 5-year-old girl is just the latest case in which Indian police failed to take urgent action on a report of a missing child. Three days after the attack, the girl was found alone in locked room in the same New Delhi building where her family lives.
More than 90,000 children go missing in India each year; more than 34,000 are never found. Some parents say they lost crucial time because police wrongly dismissed their missing children as runaways, refused to file reports or treated the cases as nuisances.
The parents of the 5-year-old said that after their daughter disappeared, they repeatedly begged police to register a complaint and begin a search, but they were rejected.
Three days later, neighbors heard the sound of a child crying from a locked room in the tenement. They broke down the door and rushed the brutalized girl to the police station.
The parents said the police response was to offer the couple 2,000 rupees ($37) to keep quiet about what had happened.
"They just wanted us to go away. They didn't want to register a case even after they saw how badly our daughter was injured," said the girl's father, who cannot be identified because Indian law requires a rape victim's identity be kept secret.
Delhi's Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar admitted Monday that local police had erred in handling the case.
"There have been shortfalls, so the station house officer and his deputy have been suspended," Kumar told reporters.
Other poor parents of missing children say they also have found police reluctant to help them.
In 2010, police took 15 days to register a missing-persons case for 14-year-old Pankaj Singh. His mother is still waiting for him to come home.
"Every day my husband and my father would go wait at the police station, but they would shoo them away," Pravesh Kumari Singh said as she sat on her son's bed, surrounded by his pictures and books.
One morning in March 2010, she fed her son a breakfast of fried pancakes and spicy potatoes, then left for a community health training program.
"He told me he would have a bath and settle down to study for his exams," said Singh, clutching the boy's photograph to her heart.
When she returned, he was gone. "The neighbors said some boys had called him out. We searched everywhere, went to the police, but they refused to believe that something had happened to our son."
The police insisted he had run off with friends and would return, she said.
"They said we must have scolded him or beaten him, which is why he had run away from home," she said.
Formal police complaints were registered in only one-sixth of missing child cases in 2011, said Bhuwan Ribhu, a lawyer with Bachpan Bachao Andolan, or the Save the Childhood Movement. He said police resist registering cases because they want to keep crime figures low, and that parents are often too poor to bribe them to reconsider.
Ribhu said the first few hours after a child goes missing are the most crucial. "The police can cordon off nearby areas, issue alerts at railway and bus stations, and step up vigilance to catch the kidnappers," he said.
Activists say delays let traffickers move children to neighboring states, where the police don't have jurisdiction. There is no national database of missing children that state police can reference.
Police have insisted that most of missing children are runways fleeing grinding poverty.
"It's easy enough to blame the police for not finding the children. Some of the parents do not even possess a photograph of the child. Or they will come up with a years-old picture. It becomes difficult when there's not even a photograph to work with," Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said last month when asked about complaints on police inaction in investigating case of missing children.
Many cases involved poor migrant construction workers who move from site to site around the city, Bhagat said.
"The children are unfamiliar with the place and once they lose their way, they wouldn't know how to return," he said.
India's Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath told Parliament last month that the problem of missing children had assumed "alarming" proportions. The National Crime Records Bureau reported that 34,406 missing children were never found in 2011, up from 18,166 in 2009.
Activists say some children are trafficked and forced to beg on the streets. Some work on farms or factories as forced labor and others have their organs harvested and sold. The activists say young girls are pushed into the sex trade or sold for marriage.
"The government is just not ready to confront the issue of trafficking or missing children. And this gets reflected in the apathy of the police in dealing with cases of missing children," said Ribhu, the lawyer.
In 2006, the Central Bureau of Investigation said at least 815 criminal gangs were kidnapping children for begging, prostitution or ransom.
The Save the Childhood Movement said police have not cracked a single one of those syndicates.
"Despite our providing the police with all the details of where a child was picked up from, where he was taken, the police are simply not willing to act," said Ribhu.
Two streets away from Singh, in a tiny windowless room crammed with clothes, bedding and a stove, Pinky Devi keeps a prized possession locked away in a drawer: a faded color photograph of her son Ravi Shankar.
One afternoon in November 2011, she says, the 11-year-old went off with other children to a neighborhood fair. He never returned.
Devi said the police visited her home a couple of times and spoke to her neighbors, but their interest soon wore out.
"I'm sure if we had money to spend on them, the police would have been more active in tracing my son," said Devi, her two younger sons and infant daughter clinging to her sari in their one-room tenement in southeast Delhi.
Shantha Sinha, who heads the government's National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, acknowledged that much remained to be done to make police take cases of missing children seriously.
"There has to be a strong message that in every incident of a missing child, a criminal case has to be registered and the case is properly investigated," Sinha said.
Kunwar Pal, a construction worker, fears police indifference crushed his efforts to find his son Ravi Kumar.
Since the 12-year-old disappeared three years ago, the distraught father has cycled across India's sprawling capital, visiting police and railway stations, children's homes and hospitals, handing out posters and photographs of his missing son. Every time he hears of a child found anywhere in the city, he cycles to the police station, hoping it's Ravi.
Pal, a lean 45-year-old with haunted eyes, refuses to think the worst. He believes Ravi was taken by a childless couple who wanted a child of their own.
"If they were to let me know somehow that my son is alive, I would be happy," said Pal, his spare frame wracked by dry heaves. "They can keep him. Just let me see his shadow. Just let me know he's safe."
He also believes police would have worked harder if he had not been poor.
"If I were rich, my son would have been found by now. If I had money, the police would have taken the case more seriously," he said.
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Monday, April 22, 2013
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Officials: At least 185 killed in Nigeria attack
BAGA, Nigeria (AP) ? Fighting between Nigeria's military and Islamic extremists killed at least 185 people in a fishing community in the nation's far northeast, officials said Sunday, an attack that saw insurgents fire rocket-propelled grenades and soldiers spray machine-gun fire into neighborhoods filled with civilians.
The fighting in Baga began Friday and lasted for hours, sending people fleeing into the arid scrublands surrounding the community on Lake Chad. By Sunday, when government officials finally felt safe enough to see the destruction, homes, businesses and vehicles were burned throughout the area.
The assault marks a significant escalation in the long-running insurgency Nigeria faces in its predominantly Muslim north, with Boko Haram extremists mounting a coordinated assault on soldiers using military-grade weaponry. The killings also mark one of the deadliest incidents ever involving Boko Haram.
Authorities had found and buried at least 185 bodies as of Sunday afternoon, said Lawan Kole, a local government official in Baga. He spoke haltingly to Borno state Gov. Kashim Shettima in the Kanuri language of Nigeria's northeast, surrounded by still-frightened villagers.
Officials could not offer a breakdown of civilian casualties versus those of soldiers and extremist fighters. Many of the bodies had been burned beyond recognition in fires that razed whole sections of the town, residents said. Those killed were buried as soon as possible, following local Muslim tradition.
Brig. Gen. Austin Edokpaye, also on the visit, did not dispute the casualty figures. Edokpaye said Boko Haram extremists used heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades in the assault, which began after soldiers surrounded a mosque they believed housed members of the radical Islamic extremist network Boko Haram. Extremists earlier had killed a military officer, the general said.
Edokpaye said extremists used civilians as human shields during the fighting ? implying that soldiers opened fire in neighborhoods where they knew civilians lived.
"When we reinforced and returned to the scene the terrorists came out with heavy firepower, including (rocket-propelled grenades), which usually has a conflagration effect," the general said.
However, local residents who spoke to an Associated Press journalist who accompanied the state officials said soldiers purposefully set the fires during the attack. Violence by security forces in the northeast targeting civilians has been widely documented by journalists and human rights activists. A similar raid in Maiduguri, Borno state's capital, in October after extremists killed a military officer saw soldiers kill at least 30 civilians and set fires across a neighborhood.
Sunday afternoon, the burned bodies of cattle and goats still filled the streets in Baga. Bullet holes marred burned buildings. Fearful residents of the town had begun packing to leave with their remaining family members before nightfall, despite Shettima trying to convince some to stay.
"Everyone has been in the bush since Friday night; we started returning back to town because the governor came to town today," grocer Bashir Isa said. "To get food to eat in the town now is a problem because even the markets are burnt. We are still picking corpses of women and children in the bush and creeks."
The Islamic insurgency in Nigeria grew out of a 2009 riot led by Boko Haram members in Maiduguri that ended in a military and police crackdown that killed some 700 people. The group's leader died in police custody in an apparent execution. From 2010 on, Islamic extremists have engaged in hit-and-run shootings and suicide bombings, attacks that have killed at least 1,548 people before Friday's attack, according to an AP count.
In January 2012, Boko Haram launched a coordinated attack in Kano, northern Nigeria's largest city, that killed at least 185 people as well. However, casualty numbers remain murky in Nigeria, where security and government officials often downplay figures.
Boko Haram, which means "Western education is sacrilege" in the Hausa language of Nigeria's north, has said it wants its imprisoned members freed and Nigeria to adopt strict Shariah law across the multiethnic nation of more than 160 million people. While the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan has started a committee to look at the idea of offering an amnesty deal to extremist fighters, Boko Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau has dismissed the idea out of hand in messages.
The Boko Haram network, which analysts and diplomats say has loose links to two other al-Qaida-aligned groups in Africa, has splintered into other groups as well. Its command-and-control structure also remains unclear. Recent Internet videos featuring Shekau have shown him with fighters carrying military weapons he said were stolen during attacks on Nigeria's military. Those weapons have included rocket-propelled grenades and other heavy weapons.
Fighters suspected to belong to Boko Haram also have been seen in northern Mali, where heavily armed Islamic extremists took power in the weeks following a military coup in that West African nation. Analysts also have worried that Boko Haram may get its hands on weapons smuggled out of Libya following its recent civil war.
Despite the deployment of more soldiers and police to northern Nigeria, the nation's weak central government has been unable to stop the killings. Meanwhile, violent atrocities committed by security forces against the local civilian population only fuels rage in the region.
___
Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Lagos, Nigeria, contributed to this report.
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Sunday, April 21, 2013
LulzSec hackergets year in prison for Sony Pictures breach
Correction: The Sony property that was hacked ? Sony Pictures ? was misidentified in an earlier version of this story as PlayStation Network, which was also compromised in 2011. The U.S. district court ruling only applies to the Sony Pictures hack.
Cody Kretsinger, a hacker affiliated with LulzSec's breach of Sony Pictures in 2011, has been sentenced to a year-long prison term.
According to a report from Reuters, the U.S. district judge in Los Angeles additionally sentenced Kretsinger to home detention following his prison term, during which time he will be required to perform 1,000 hours of community service.
Kretsinger, who went by the online handle "Recursion" during his time in LulzSec, first pled guilty in April 2012 to one count each of conspiracy and unauthorized impairment of a protected computer. While he initially pleaded not guilty, Kretsinger ultimately reversed his decision as part of a plea bargain with prosecutors.
During last year's plea hearing, Kretsinger told a federal judge that he gained access to the Sony Pictures website and gave the information he found there to other members of LulzSec, who posted it on the group's website and Twitter.
Prosecutors said Kretsinger and other LulzSec hackers ultimately caused the unit of Sony more than $600,000 in damages.
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Saturday, April 20, 2013
Muscle repair after injury helped by fat-forming cells
Apr. 19, 2013 ? UC San Francisco scientists have discovered that muscle repair requires the action of two types of cells better known for causing inflammation and forming fat.
The finding in mice, published in the April 11 issue of Cell, showed that a well-known immune cell called the eosinophil [ee-oh-SIN-oh-fil] carries out the beneficial role in two ways -- by clearing out cellular debris from damaged tissue and teaming up with a type of cell that can make fat to instead trigger muscle regrowth.
The study, led by Ajay Chawla, MD, PhD, an associate professor of medicine at the UCSF Cardiovascular Research Institute, showed that after eosinophils move to the site of injury, they collaborate with a kind of progenitor cell -- immature cells similar to stem cells -- to drive the formation of new muscle fibers. The progenitors, called the fibro/adipogenic cells (FAP), do not spin off muscle cells directly.
"Without eosinophils you cannot regenerate muscle," Chawla said.
FAP cells have been known for their role in making fat, which occurs as the body ages or experiences prolonged immobility. They also have been known to make cells that form connective tissue. But the UCSF study showed that FAP cells also team up with eosinophils to make injured muscles get stronger rather than fatter, at least in mice.
In a kind of cellular chain reaction, Chawla's team found that when eosinophils at the site of muscle injury secrete a molecule called IL-4, FAP cells respond by expanding their numbers. And instead of becoming fat cells, they act on the true muscle stem cells to trigger the regrowth of muscle fibers.
"They wake up the cells in muscle that divide and form muscle fibers," he said.
Eosinophils help fight bacteria and parasites, as do other immune cells, but eosinophils are more often thought of for their maladaptive roles in allergies and other inflammatory reactions. Eosinophils comprise only a few percent of immune cells.
Chawla's team found that, even before active muscle repair, the chain reaction initiated by eosinophils performs another necessary task -- taking out the garbage.
"Eosinophils, acting via FAPs, are needed for the rapid clearance of necrotic debris, a process that is necessary for timely and complete regeneration of tissues," Chawla said.
Bigger and more abundant immune cells called macrophages -- with large appetites and a propensity to gobble up debris in other destructive scenarios -- had often, but erroneously, been credited with cleaning up messes within distressed muscle tissue.
"Bites from venomous animals, many toxicants, and parasitic worms all trigger somewhat similar immune responses that cause injury," Chawla said. "We want to know if eosinophils and FAPs are universally employed in these situations as a way to get rid of debris without triggering severe reactions such as anaphylactic shock."
Additional UCSF co-authors include postdoctoral fellow Jose E. Heredia, PhD; specialist Lata Mukundan, PhD; technician Francis Chen; Rahul Deo, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of medicine in residence; and Richard M. Locksley, MD, an immunologist and professor of medicine. Stanford researchers Thomas Rando, MD, PhD, and graduate student Alisa Mueller also were members of the study team.
The National Institutes for Health and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine funded the research.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - San Francisco. The original article was written by Jeffrey Norris.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Jose?E. Heredia, Lata Mukundan, Francis?M. Chen, Alisa?A. Mueller, Rahul?C. Deo, Richard?M. Locksley, Thomas?A. Rando, Ajay Chawla. Type 2 Innate Signals Stimulate Fibro/Adipogenic Progenitors to Facilitate Muscle Regeneration. Cell, 2013; 153 (2): 376 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2013.02.053
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/dLKOFclSb0E/130419171649.htm
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Friday, April 19, 2013
michele made me: You Guest It: Artist in LA LA Land
On the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month here on Michele Made Me, I step aside and let some other crafty soul take care of things. Today I'm so happy to have the gifted Melissa of Artist in LA LA Land?guest-post. Have you ever met her? Well now's your chance, eh? Please make her feel at home!
First of all, I wanted to thank Michele for this opportunity to do a DIY tutorial on her wonderful craft blog. ?I've been following it for over a year and have shared all the DIY fun, joy and tears with her and all you blog readers. ?It's a real honor to be here with you.
Today, I'm going to take you through the process to make a Springtime Bird Fold Out Wing Card. I've created different versions of this clever card (which is also an articulated paper doll) for my online shop and blog, Artist in LA LA Land. But I designed these ones special for you and they are made completely out of recycled paper and junk mail.
Trace around the cardboard parts onto your chosen paper. Cut out the pieces from the recycled paper. Then glue the paper to the cardboard. Take your time and make something really special and pretty. Remember both sides of the wings will need to be decorated. The rest of the pieces of cardboard will only need one side decorated. After decorating the bird, glue on the pocket as the directions say (add glue just around the bottom edge of the pocket and stick it to the bottom of the bird above the tail).
When all the decorating and gluing is finished, you'll want to assemble the bird with the paper fasteners as the directions say (the wings to the wing tabs and the head to the body). I make a tiny "x" with my exacto blade to make holes for the paper fasteners, but you may have a tiny whole punch or an awl to do this. Then repeat the same process for the rest of the birds, little bird, heart and egg. The little bird, heart and egg carry your special message to your recipient. When making the little bird, keep in mind you'll want to write a message on his belly and/or wings, so don't decorate with paper that won't allow you to write a message upon it. For the hearts and eggs, your message will be written on the blank side of the cardboard.?
Not only do these birds carry your special message, but they can also be played with. The wings fold in and out, but they also flap up and down. I think that makes them twice as fun. Use them for mother's day and father's day which are coming up. And why not for a birthday, to say I LOVE YOU or to your special pen pals! There's lots you can do with them.
I think these three birds tell a story too. First, there was love as you can see with the fold out heart card. Next, there was a union made as you can see with the egg card. And finally, they made a family as you can see with the little, baby bird card. Have fun celebrating the best moments of your life with these special Bird Fold Out Wing Cards.
***
First of all, I wanted to thank Michele for this opportunity to do a DIY tutorial on her wonderful craft blog. ?I've been following it for over a year and have shared all the DIY fun, joy and tears with her and all you blog readers. ?It's a real honor to be here with you.
Today, I'm going to take you through the process to make a Springtime Bird Fold Out Wing Card. I've created different versions of this clever card (which is also an articulated paper doll) for my online shop and blog, Artist in LA LA Land. But I designed these ones special for you and they are made completely out of recycled paper and junk mail.
DIY Bird Fold Out Wing Cards by Artist in LA LA Land
Here are the supplies you'll need to get going on the Fold Out Wing Bird Cards:- thin cardboard (the kind used for cereal boxes, tissus boxes and packs of soda or beer.)?
- glue?
- pencil?
- paper fasteners?
- self-healing mat or a thick surface you can cut on (like thick cardboard or an big old book.?
- scissors and craft knife (exacto-blade)?
- printable PDF I created for you at this link: Spring Birdie Fold Out Wing Card. It has the bird patterns and directions on it.?
- junk mail, old catalogs, old calendar, etc. (recycled paper for decorating)?
Trace around the cardboard parts onto your chosen paper. Cut out the pieces from the recycled paper. Then glue the paper to the cardboard. Take your time and make something really special and pretty. Remember both sides of the wings will need to be decorated. The rest of the pieces of cardboard will only need one side decorated. After decorating the bird, glue on the pocket as the directions say (add glue just around the bottom edge of the pocket and stick it to the bottom of the bird above the tail).
When all the decorating and gluing is finished, you'll want to assemble the bird with the paper fasteners as the directions say (the wings to the wing tabs and the head to the body). I make a tiny "x" with my exacto blade to make holes for the paper fasteners, but you may have a tiny whole punch or an awl to do this. Then repeat the same process for the rest of the birds, little bird, heart and egg. The little bird, heart and egg carry your special message to your recipient. When making the little bird, keep in mind you'll want to write a message on his belly and/or wings, so don't decorate with paper that won't allow you to write a message upon it. For the hearts and eggs, your message will be written on the blank side of the cardboard.?
When you've finished your Fold Out Wing Bird Cards, tuck either the little bird, heart or egg in the pocket of the big bird. Then fold closed the wings and insert him in an envelope. It will fit in an 8.75" x 5.75" envelope. Your recipient will be thrilled to receive this very special and very clever bird card.?
?Not only do these birds carry your special message, but they can also be played with. The wings fold in and out, but they also flap up and down. I think that makes them twice as fun. Use them for mother's day and father's day which are coming up. And why not for a birthday, to say I LOVE YOU or to your special pen pals! There's lots you can do with them.
I think these three birds tell a story too. First, there was love as you can see with the fold out heart card. Next, there was a union made as you can see with the egg card. And finally, they made a family as you can see with the little, baby bird card. Have fun celebrating the best moments of your life with these special Bird Fold Out Wing Cards.
Thank you again for having me here on one of my favorite craft blogs!
***
As you can see, Melissa is a uniquely talented paper artist. She is also a busy papier-mach? sculptor, blogger and shop owner. If you visit her?Artist in LA LA Land blog, you'll quickly come to realize just how prolific this young woman is, and how?very open she is about her art-making process. I particularly enjoy seeing some of the custom orders she works on. For example, take a look at this one-of-a-kind?custom squirrel wedding invitation?she recently designed! Pretty amazing, eh? But that's just the tip of the iceberg... Here are a few more tasty links to get you started:Thank you Melissa for your beautiful Bird Fold Out Wing Card guest-post. I'm so happy you could come and share your talent with us today. What a super way to start the day!
?M
P.S. Have an idea for an eco-craft? Seeking a new audience? Consider submitting a guest-post idea to Michele Made Me's "You Guest It"! Check out the details?HERE.
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