Macaw Health and Fitness App Wins CTIA E-Tech Award | KineticShift

Written by KineticShift on 31 May 2012

The U.S. Preventive Medicine?s Macaw has won in the Mobile Applications: Health, Wellness and Fitness category of CTIA?s Emerging Technology (E-Tech) Awards. Winners were announced earlier this month at the CTIA Wireless 2012 trade who, and the awards are in its seventh year, honoring the industry?s most innovative wireless products and services in the areas of mobile apps, consumer electronics, enterprise and vertical markets and infrastructure.

The Macaw Health and Fitness App, which is enabled by Qualcomm Life, is based on the clinical science of preventive medicine and is universally designed for people who exercise regularly as well as those who are novices when it comes to physical activity. By leveraging Qualcomm Life?s expertise in wireless technology, Macaw will transform a smartphone into the ultimate personal health monitor, connecting an individual?s health apps and wireless devices for tracking weight, fitness, overall activity and biometrics ? including pedometers, glucose meters, activity armbands, scales, labs, sleep managers, mobile weight loss apps and blood pressure cuffs ? into a single app for complete tracking.

Macaw currently allows integration with the Fitlinxx Actiped+ all-day activity monitor, WorkSmart Labs? weight loss and fitness app Noom Weight Loss and Withings WiFi Body Scale. Macaw users are able to track their physical activity, nutrition, progress and health knowledge while engaging in games that unlock prizes.

The app is available for iOS as well as Android.

CTIA E-Tech Awards Official Website
U.S. Preventive Medicine Official Website

Related posts:

1. Macaw App Can Be the Hub for a Better You
2. OptumHealth Debuts Fitness App for Windows Phone 7
3. U.S. Government Health Agencies Call Upon App Developers to Create Health-Centric Apps
4. Fitness and Health Apps: Big Business in Years to Come
5. BodyMedia to Add App

Tags: Android, App, CTIA, CTIA?s Emerging Technology (E-Tech) Awards, iOS, Macaw, Mobile Phone, U.S. Preventive Medicine
Posted in Mobile Phone, Personal Electronics, Software | No Comments ?

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West expels envoys over massacre of Syrian children

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Western powers expelled Syria's envoys on Tuesday in outrage at a massacre of 108 people, almost half of them children, and peace envoy Kofi Annan urged President Bashar al-Assad to halt the bloodshed as "a tipping point" had been reached.

The killings in the town of Houla drew a chorus of condemnation from around the world, with the United Nations saying entire families were killed in their homes on Friday, some by army tanks and others probably by pro-Assad militia.

"Bashar al-Assad is the murderer of his people," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told Le Monde. "He must relinquish power. The sooner the better."

U.S. State Department spokeswoman described an "absolutely indefensible, vile, despicable massacre against innocent children, women, shot at point blank range by regime thugs."

U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous, whose monitors are in Syria, contradicted the Assad's government assertion that the killings were carried out by terrorist gangs.

"Part of the victims had been killed by artillery shells, now that points ever so clearly to the responsibility of the government. Only the government has heavy weapons, has tanks, has howitzers," Ladsous told reporters, adding:

"But there are also victims from individual weapons, victims from knife wounds and that of course is less clear but probably points the way to the (pro-Assad) shabbihas, the local militia."

The United States, France, Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia and Bulgaria gave Syria's envoys hours or days to leave their capitals in a coordinated move meant to isolate Assad further diplomatically.

Some had already expelled ambassadors or downgraded ties and so, like Washington, ordered out less senior charges d'affaires.

Western countries that have called for Assad to step down hope the Houla killings will tip global opinion, notably that of Syria's main protector Russia, towards more effective action.

The killings have contributed to doubt about whether a peace plan backed by Annan, a former U.N. secretary general, has any chance of success. Some of Assad's opponents say Annan's plan is only making the situation worse by buying Assad time.

"WE ARE AT A TIPPING POINT"

Annan said that in his talks with the Syrian leader in Damascus he "conveyed in frank terms the grave concern of the international community about the violence in Syria, including the recent shocking events in Houla."

"We are at a tipping point. The Syrian people do not want the future to be one of bloodshed and division. Yet the killings continue and the abuses are still with us today."

More than 10,000 people have died in the uprising against Assad and a crackdown by his loyalists, which began in March last year as part of a wave of revolts across the Arab world.

Western leaders have loudly called for Assad to go for months, but have so far shown little appetite for the sort of armed intervention that toppled Libya's Muammar Gaddafi last year. Any suggestion that force might be threatened has been blocked at the U.N. Security Council by Moscow and Beijing.

French President Francois Hollande said armed intervention could not be ruled out, but only with Security Council support.

"Military intervention is not excluded, provided it is carried out under the auspices of international law, namely a Security Council resolution," he told France 2 TV. "It is down to myself and others to convince Russia and China, and also to find a solution which is not necessarily a military one."

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the United States had not taken any options - including military intervention - off the table, but believed armed action was not the right course at present because it would lead to greater carnage and chaos.

Moscow backed a non-binding U.N. Security Council text on Sunday criticizing the use of artillery and tanks in Houla, but has twice vetoed tougher resolutions. It has shown little sign of changing its stance this week.

Vladimir Chizhov, Moscow's envoy to the EU, criticized the Western expulsions of Syrian envoys: "I believe it rarely is conducive to maintaining dialogue with the other side."

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow was "alarmed that some countries ... are starting to use this event as an excuse to put forth demands of the need for military action in an attempt to put pressure on the U.N. Security Council."

"We are troubled by the ceaseless attempts to frustrate Kofi Annan's peace plan."

Annan urged the armed opposition to cease violence but appealed first to the government, as the stronger party, to take "bold steps now - not tomorrow, now" by stopping all military operations and showing "maximum restraint".

The plan calls for the government to withdraw all heavy weapons from towns and cities, followed by a cessation of fighting and dialogue with the opposition, but has stalled at the first hurdle.

Assad's government denied having anything to do with the deaths in Houla, or even having heavy weapons in the area, despite the contrary evidence found by United Nations monitors.

Assad himself repeated to Annan Syria's line that "terrorist groups" - Syria's term for the rebels - were stepping up killings and kidnappings across the country.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad told reporters: "Syria has not committed a single violation of Annan's plan or the initial understanding between Syria and the United Nations.

"At the same time, the other party has not committed to a single point. This means that there is a decision by the armed groups and the opposition not to implement Annan's plan and to make it fail."

The estimated number of internally displaced Syrians has more than doubled to 500,000 since an April 12 ceasefire and the flow of refugees abroad has gathered pace again, U.N. officials said on Tuesday.

SPENT SHELLS AND TANK TRACKS

U.N. monitors found spent shells and fresh tank tracks in Houla, evidence of weaponry that Syria's lightly-armed rebels do not have in their arsenal.

But the U.N. human rights office in Geneva said the bulk of the 108 mostly civilian dead in Houla had been executed at close range. Survivors told U.N. investigators that the killers were pro-Assad "shabbiha" militiamen, who in the past have assaulted and intimidated hotbeds of opposition to Assad.

"What is very clear is that this was an absolutely abominable event that took place in Houla, and at least a substantial part of it were summary executions of civilians - women and children," said Rupert Colville, spokesman for the U.N. human rights office in Geneva.

He said 49 children and 32 women were among the dead. "At this point, it looks like entire families were shot in their houses."

The report was at odds with a note sent by Syria to the Security Council that said: "Not a single tank entered the region and the Syrian army was in a state of self-defense ...

"The terrorist armed groups ... entered with the purpose of killing and the best proof of that is the killing by knives, which is the signature of terrorist groups who massacre according to the Islamist way."

Gruesome video footage distributed by opposition activists has helped to shake world opinion out of growing indifference to a conflict in which more than 10,000 have been killed.

Opposition sources said rebels had killed 20 soldiers in heavy fighting close to the border with Turkey.

They said six civilians and six rebels, including two commanders, had also been killed over the past 24 hours in fighting that began when the army launched an offensive with tanks and helicopters to retake the region around Atareb.

(Writing by Kevin Liffey and Peter Graff; Editing by Jon Hemming)

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Cambridge Consultants + Iridium... TacNets Of The OTH/BLOS Ilk ...

[SatNews] Cambridge Consultants has successfully completed initial trials with Iridium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: IRDM) of new key components...

...of the world?s largest push-to-talk (PTT) radio system?the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Distributed Tactical Communications System (DTCS). DTCS enables soldiers in isolated areas to communicate without the need for ground infrastructure, and in locations where they often can?t pick up a geostationary satellite?s signal unless they move to higher ground.

The ?netted? group call communication system?involving listeners in designated user ?nets??provides over-the-horizon, beyond line-of-sight tactical networks. Soldiers in remote combat zones or disaster areas are able to use lightweight handheld PTT radios to exchange mission-critical data with command centres across the globe, at the touch of a button. Cambridge Consultants is delivering key new technology elements for DTCS. Ongoing development is extending existing capabilities to allow voice and data to be transmitted and received from any location worldwide, for unrivalled tactical and operational use. Using its unique knowledge of the Iridium system, as well as commercial PTT services, Cambridge Consultants has developed radio transceiver electronics for DTCS handheld radios, as well as gateway infrastructure to support the DTCS service. Both of these elements are critical to the success of the system, with the gateway element ultimately targeting a ?five nines? (99.999%) reliability rating, to ensure that soldiers have service when they need it most.

The new technology developed by Cambridge Consultants includes advanced software radio functionality that will provide multiple receiver capability and rapid synchronisation to Iridium satellites to enhance PTT connection speed and call quality. In addition, new encrypted bearer channels support encrypted communication within groups.

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Turn Your Apple TV Into an NES Console (Kinda) [Apple TV]

There's no reason to be ashamed of having the sleek Apple TV box perched on your entertainment center. But a soft spot for classic 80s gaming, and the desire to stand out from the crowd, has us wanting to wrap our hardware in this lovely NES skin. More »

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Hubble sees a spiral within a spiral

ScienceDaily (May 28, 2012) ? NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured a new image of the spiral galaxy known as ESO 498-G5. One interesting feature of this galaxy is that its spiral arms wind all the way into the center, so that ESO 498-G5's core looks like a bit like a miniature spiral galaxy. This sort of structure is in contrast to the elliptical star-filled centers (or bulges) of many other spiral galaxies, which instead appear as glowing masses.

Astronomers refer to the distinctive spiral-like bulge of galaxies such as ESO 498-G5 as disc-type bulges, or pseudobulges, while bright elliptical centers are called classical bulges. Observations from the Hubble Space Telescope, which does not have to contend with the distorting effects of Earth's atmosphere, have helped to reveal that these two different types of galactic centers exist. These observations have also shown that star formation is still going on in disc-type bulges and has ceased in classical bulges. This means that galaxies can be a bit like Russian matryoshka dolls: classical bulges look much like a miniature version of an elliptical galaxy, embedded in the center of a spiral, while disc-type bulges look like a second, smaller spiral galaxy located at the heart of the first -- a spiral within a spiral.

The similarities between types of galaxy bulge and types of galaxy go beyond their appearance. Just like giant elliptical galaxies, the classical bulges consist of great swarms of stars moving about in random orbits. Conversely, the structure and movement of stars within disc-type bulges mirror the spiral arms arrayed in a galaxy's disc. These differences suggest different origins for the two types of bulges: while classical bulges are thought to develop through major events, such as mergers with other galaxies, disc-type bulges evolve gradually, developing their spiral pattern as stars and gas migrate to the galaxy's center.

ESO 498-G5 is located around 100 million light-years away in the constellation of Pyxis (The Compass). This image is made up of exposures in visible and infrared light taken by Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. The field of view is approximately 3.3 by 1.6 arcminutes.

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NYT: Facebook Is Working on Its Own Smartphone (Again) [Rumors]

The concept of a Facebook phone has floated around since 2010, though it's never come to fruition. Even last year's efforts between the Big Blue and HTC amounted to nothing more than a basic Android handset. But now the New York Times reports that Facebook is buying up phone-designing talent—which could mean Facebook phone is still a possibility. More »

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Bob Jones University Student Receives Demerits for Watching "Glee" - Retaliation for Speaking "Against My Authority"

Readers - I don't ordinarily make two posts in one day, but wanted to get this video up on my blog this morning. [Don't overlook my post below on WFAA and Brett Shipp and Ed Young].

Below is a 10-minute video of Christopher Peterman, senior at Bob Jones University, telling how just days before he was to graduate he was expelled from school.

This video, and the events leading up to it at Bob Jones University, demonstrate just how powerful a force social media, including blogs and Facebook and YouTube, have become in exposing fundamentalist abuse and just plain old nonsensical actions of religious leaders of our day.

Chris Peterman is a hero. He has been kicked out of school days before graduation for daring to speak against his "leadership" and calling on them to do the right thing.

Chris is the student who started the Facebook page "DoRightBJU" late in 2011 in response to pastor Chuck Phelps being nominated for the board of trustees at Bob Jones University. Who is Chuck Phelps? He was the pastor at Trinity Baptist Church in Concorde, New Hamphsire when Tina Anderson was raped by a member of the church. Read about it on the Watchdog here, here, here, and here.

The interviewer asks Chris how the BJU responded to Chris when he came back to school for the current semester after all the media exposure over the holidays regarding Chuck Phelps and Chris' public statements against Phelps as a trustee:

Chris:? "When I cam back, I began having weekly meetings with the Dean of Men, I was required to attend these meetings."

Interviewer:? "What was their reason?"

Chris: "That I needed spiritual help because I was not a good Christian. I had talked against my authority and I had brought shame to Bob Jones."

Interviewer:? "What were they wanting to accomplish with these meetings?"

Chris: "They were hoping to accomplish a change in me. They wanted me to become exactly like them and to not speak out and to not have a voice. They wanted me to have their beliefs."

Chris goes on to explain how BJU put a resident assistant in his dorm to monitor his every action. He received demerits for watching the TV show Glee because of its "morally reprehensible" content.

Chris was called into a final meeting with the "Dean of Men", and while they deliberated the fate of Chris' appeal, Chris decided to contact several news agencies and the Department of Education and the national accrediting agency for BJU.

While BJU thinks they are doing the will of God, the very work of Jesus in taking these actions against Chris, they don't even realize the mockery of their own faith that they are producing.

Below is a quote from Bob Felton's "Civil Commotion" website on this matter of Chris being expelled in part for watching Glee. - Bob is a skeptic of the Christian faith who regularly comments on nonsense he sees in churches that confirms his distaste for organized religion:

"I?m not kidding y?all: You really can?t make up how stupid and vicious fundamentalists actually are. They look just like everybody else, and are usually well-groomed and -mannered ? but they are not part of the decent, educated world."

This is why powerful Christian leaders today can't stand blogs and other social media - it exposes to the people they are trying to market - er, I mean reach for Jesus - of how nutty they can be. Sure, they love to use social media to promote themselves and their churches and their personal brands, but when it is used to express dissent and to criticize their ministries, they try to use their power to punish those who speak out.

Thank you, Chris, for standing strong. You stood for right in the Chuck Phelps matter, and when they tried to bully you and silence you, you didn't back down. I'm sure you have a bright future, and consider it a blessing that BJU decided not to grant you a degree.

H/T:? Bob Felton and Jeri Massey

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Indy 500 wide open as Penske tries to go 5-0

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? Marco Andretti knows how much heartache his family has suffered at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He needs no reminders that IndyCar could use an American superstar, and with his famous last name, he is quite aware of the hope that maybe he can be the one to elevate this attention-starved series.

None of that matters to Andretti as he heads into the Indianapolis 500.

He believes he can win Sunday's race ? "it's going to be our race to lose," he said ? and he wants it, badly. But Andretti wants it for himself, for his own career, and not because of what it would mean to his family or for IndyCar. Mario Andretti won in 1969, and no Andretti has done it again in 65 starts and many of those races were devastating near-misses.

"That's not my approach to the event. My approach is I want to win our Super Bowl," Andretti said. "I put that pressure on myself. I don't want to do it because he did it and my dad didn't, that's all bonus. Do I think we can? You're darn right."

The 96th running of the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" is the most wide-open race in a very long time. Engine competition for the first time in six years and the introduction of a new car has widened the pool of potential winners, and there's no clear favorite.

"I think we're going to see the best race we've had in at least a decade," said Roger Penske, winner of 15 Indy 500s and the team owner of pole-sitter Ryan Briscoe.

Penske is undefeated this season, as Helio Castroneves and points leader Will Power have combined to win the first four races. And with Chevrolet power, Penske drivers have swept all five poles so far this season.

So it seemed to be business as usual on pole day, when Chevrolet clearly had the edge. The team put nine drivers inside the top 10, and all six of the full-time entries were from Penske and Andretti Autosport.

Then came Carb Day, and the Hondas came to life.

Chip Ganassi teammates Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon led the leaderboard, with Andretti landing third on the final speed chart as the fastest Chevy driver.

"Maybe some sandbagging?" Franchitti wondered as Andretti slid into the seat next to him following their final on-track session before the race. "Do you really think we're all going to show what we can do?"

The return of Chevrolet and addition to Lotus has renewed rivalries this season in IndyCar, and the fight between Chevy and Honda has been on display since the track opened May 9. Chevy lost two appeals in its fight to prevent Honda from getting a new compressor cover for its turbocharger, and the final decision came the day before practice officially opened.

Honda then dominated on the track, particularly Josef Newgarden and Bryan Clauson, the two young American drivers for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing. But there was skepticism that the Chevy teams were simply holding back, and that sure seemed to be the case after qualifying.

There's been no speculation whatsoever about the two Lotus entries, which have been so far off the pace there have been calls for IndyCar to park Simona de Silvestro and Jean Alesi after the start. The engine is a tremendous handicap to Alesi, the 47-year-old former Formula One driver who has never before raced an IndyCar, never raced on an oval and has been only sporadically racing in anything at all the last several years.

On Friday, his last day in the car before the race, Alesi was clocked at 204.452 mph ? almost 10 miles slower than the last non-Lotus car, and a long way off Franchitti's 222.360.

"The engine is a disaster," he was picked up saying during the television broadcast of practice. "The engine is really bad."

Nothing has been bad for Andretti, who has been one of the few constants this month at Indy. He's been consistently fast, and was thought to be a threat for the pole. He wound up fourth, right behind teammates James Hinchcliffe and Ryan Hunter-Reay.

IndyCar is seeking a new star now that Danica Patrick has fled to NASCAR, and will miss her first Indy 500 since 2005. She was the de facto face of the series, and IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard knows he needs somebody else to step up and fill her void.

He knows that an Andretti win would be a very good thing for the series.

"Wherever you go in the world, Andretti is known in racing," he said. "This is Marco's stance. I've never seen him so confident. It's like a new Marco to me."

But Bernard doesn't care who wins on Sunday so long as it is a great race with tremendous story lines. He watched on television as Bubba Watson won the Master's in April, and the golf had him longing for an emotional victory celebration in his series.

The promoter in him craves that spontaneous moment that captures the audience.

"When you're sitting at home on the couch, or you're sitting here, you just watched an exhausting 500 miles of a great race, and the drivers get absorbed in it and show their passion," Bernard said. "These 33 drivers, they have no guarantee they're going to be in the race next year. This could be their last opportunity to win. That's the drama. I think that is important to the sport."

Indy got that emotion last year when JR Hildebrand crashed coming out of the final turn while leading. It opened the door for Dan Wheldon to sail by for his second Indy 500 win, and made for a fascinating display of raw emotion. There was the rookie Hildebrand, devastated but showing how to lose with dignity, and there was Wheldon, ecstatic to have won with a tiny team in a year he did not have a full-time job.

Wheldon was killed five months later in a 15-car accident in the IndyCar season finale, and his presence has been felt at the speedway all month. He's featured on the race day ticket, his car has been on display and owner Bryan Herta will drive it in a lap of honor before the race.

Fans have been asked to wear white sunglasses during tributes on the parade lap, lap 26 and lap 98, which recognize the numbers of his winning cars, and Wheldon's wife, Susie, is here.

"He lived for that race, if that was the only race that he could do in the year, then he would do it," she said. "His family is the most important part of his legacy, so we want to be there to honor him in that way as far as him being last year's winner and everything about that race that he loved so much. I feel like it's important for me to be there."

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The Best BBQ Grill [Bestmodo]

A summer isn't a summer without a good grill to fire up. But you don't have to settle for good. The Wirecutter's Seamus Bellamy pinned down the cream of the charcoal crop. More »

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auto insurance-New Lexington | Baltimore Share

auto insurance New Lexington OH There are more cars and drivers hitting the road every year. With countless vehicles on the road, accidents will happen. The difference between a small aggravation and major pain can be car insurance. But why do you need insurance and just how much should you buy? Auto insurance protects you by covering the cost of damage or injury you cause others while driving your car, damage to your car or injury to you or your passengers from a crash, plus certain other occurrences, such as theft. Car insurance is required by law in all states and provinces. Without insurance, you risk having to pay the total cost of any harm you cause others or of repairing or replacing your car if it is damaged or stolen.Liability pays for damages due to bodily injury and property damage to others for which you are responsible. Bodily injury damages include medical expenses, lost wages and pain and suffering. Property damage includes damaged property and loss of use of property. It also covers your defense and court costs if you are sued. State laws usually mandate minimum amounts, but higher amounts are available and usually recommended. Personal injury protection: This is required in some states and is optional in others. It pays you or your passengers for medical treatment resulting from a crash, regardless of who may have been at fault, and is often called no-fault coverage. It may also cover lost earnings, replacement of services and funeral expenses. State law typically sets minimum amounts. Medical payments: This type of coverage is available in non-no-fault states and will pay no matter who is responsible for the accident. It pays for an insured person?s reasonable and necessary medical or funeral expenses for bodily injury from an accident. Collision: Pays for damage to your car caused by a collision. Comprehensive: This applies if your car is stolen or damaged by causes other than collision, including fire, wind, hail, flood or vandalism. Uninsured motorist: Pays for damages when an insured person is injured in a crash caused by another person who does not have liability insurance or by a person who cannot be identified (usually a hit-and-run driver). Under-insured motorist: Pays for damages when an insured person is injured in a crash caused by another person who does not have enough liability insurance to cover the full amount of the damages. Other coverages, like car rental and emergency road service, are also available. Insurance Quotes

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Group pays viewers $1 to watch graphic animal video

SANTA ANA ? Activist group Farm Animal Rights Movement parked a van in Santa Ana on Saturday and paid $1 to any passers-by who agreed to watch a graphic, 4-minute video showing disturbing treatment of livestock at factory farms and slaughterhouses.

The pay-per-view van, equipped with eight viewing screens and 32 headphone sets, is on a national tour. It stops in busy public locations and offers people $1 to watch the video. After watching, viewers are encouraged to decrease consumption of animal products and work toward a vegan diet.

Jeni Haines, a UC Berkeley graduate, coordinates the anti-animal-cruelty video van for activist group Farm Animal Rights Movement.

BRIAN MARTINEZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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"As consumers, we have the right to know where our food comes from," said Jeni Haines, the FARM staffer who travels with, sleeps in and coordinates the locations of the tour van. "Animals in our food system are forced to live miserable lives, and the way they are raised is out of line with most people's values. Everyone should see this video."

The video may be watched at 10BillionLives.com, where one in 25 online viewers will win a pair of movie tickets.

Nearly 10 billion land animals are raised and killed every year in the United States, according to reports by the Department of Agriculture.

The video was collected from hidden-camera footage inside animal agriculture facilities. It depicts harsh cruelty, as well as standard and legal industry practices that are "shocking to most viewers," the group stated.

The van will eventually travel with the Warped Tour, a three-month music and extreme sports festival. The project is funded by donors, Haines said.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7955 or bmartinez@ocregister.com

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The Salt Under My Skin

Whats with life these days, people always hurting themselves. Or teenagers running away? What has gotten into the world? Everyone just keeps salting their wounds. This is the story of a Mental Highschool.

Owner:

Game Masters:

This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?The Salt Under My Skin?. Anything posted here will also show up there.

Topic Tags:

Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.

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I have more time today, so today, I shall join one of your roleplays with the awesome rules. By the way, forgot to say this, but I dig the icon. Hetalia rocks.

? ??????? ??? ?? ?? ?? ???????.

c:

EDIT: Oh, pssh. Forgot to ask this, but would Asperger's syndrome also be accepted?

True inner joy is self - created,
It does not depend on outer circumstances,
A river is flowing in and through you carrying the message of joy,
This divine joy is the sole purpose of life
by Sri Chinmoy

KuruLesperance

Member for 1 years

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Sounds interesting... I might join. Just got to look for some mental disorders and what not. Oh,

? ??????? ??? ?? ?? ?? ???????.

Hehe. C=

Koda

Member for 1 years

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Post a reply

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Stanton 1st player to hit Marlins' sculpture

Associated Press Sports

updated 7:49 p.m. ET May 25, 2012

MIAMI (AP) - Giancarlo Stanton has become the first player to hit the Miami Marlins' home-run sculpture.

The Marlins slugger hit a pitch from San Francisco's Tim Lincecum into the base of the sculpture for a solo homer in the fourth inning of Friday's game. Giants center fielder Angel Pagan could only watch as the animated sculpture sprung into motion.

The home run was the 10th this month for Stanton, and his 11th of the season. The estimated distance was 409 feet.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Who deserves some early awards?

DeMarco: David Wright's hot bat ? he's hitting .405 ? makes him the pick for NL MVP thus far. But that's just for starters in our feature.

Pirates blank Cubs for 10th straight loss

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A.J. Burnett and four relievers worked out of trouble all game and the Pittsburgh Pirates sent the Chicago Cubs to their 10th straight loss with a 1-0 victory on Friday night.

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'Mob Wives' Drita And Carla Read 'Fifty Shades Of Grey'

'What is this? This is dirty!' Drita D'Avanzo exclaims after reciting a passage of 'Fifty Shades' for MTV News.
By Rob Markman

"Mob Wives" star Drita D'avanzo
Photo: MTV News

Filth or sensual fan fiction? It's impossible not to have an opinion on E L James' erotic New York Times best-seller "Fifty Shades of Grey." Single ladies, girlfriends and housewives have all been drawn to the steamy novel — not to mention "Mob Wives." VH1 reality star Carla Facciolo hasn't read the current "it" book, but she gets the gist of it.

"To me, it's like a sex book," she told MTV News in an attempt to describe the "50 Shades" phenomenon. "Grey is a guy that every girl wants; he's like a dream guy and he seduces."

Carla's synopsis was enough to whet the appetite of her "Mob Wives" pal Drita D'Avanzo, who immediately let her curiosity get the best of her. "I wanna read it," Drita blurted out.

Lucky for the reality-show beauty, MTV News had a copy of the book on hand for her to sample. "It's very intense," Carla warned.

Still, Drita opened the book and began her moment of "Fifty Shades" discovery. "Get off the bed, stand over here," D'Avanzo read from one of the book's later chapters, in which playboy Christian Grey introduces his naive lover Anastasia Steele to a kinky sexual experience. "He holds out his hand and in his palm are two shiny balls linked with a thick, black thread," Drita continued to read before she stopped herself, shocked by the sexual suggestiveness.

"What the f--- is this?" Drita questioned in her unmistakable Staten Island, New York, accent. "They're ass beads? What is this? This is dirty — what the hell is this?"

"Fifty Shades" wasn't Drita's cup of tea, but maybe she will change her mind when the book is adapted into a film (Universal Pictures has already secured the rights). "How do you even know about this, Carla?" she asked, chastising her buddy. "You, for even knowing about that book, I gotta think twice about you."

Carla had only one reasonable explanation: "It's the hottest book out right now."

Filth or sexy fan fiction? What do you think of "Fifty Shades of Grey"? Let us know in the comments!

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Obama strikes at Romney in Iowa, seeks 2008 energy

President Barack Obama, center, greets a young supporter during a campaign rally at the Paul R. Knapp Animal learning center, Thursday, May 24, 2012 in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama, center, greets a young supporter during a campaign rally at the Paul R. Knapp Animal learning center, Thursday, May 24, 2012 in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama speaks during a campaign rally at the Paul R. Knapp Animal learning center, Thursday, May 24, 2012 in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama greets supporter at a campaign rally at the Paul R. Knapp Animal learning center, Thursday, May 24, 2012 in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama greets supporter at a campaign rally at the Paul R. Knapp Animal learning center, Thursday, May 24, 2012 in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama, left, tours TPI Composites, a manufacturer of wind turbines blades, with plant manager Mark Parriott, Thursday, May 24, 2012 in Newton, Iowa. In Obama?s second visit as president to Newton, a city of about 15,000 east of Des Moines, he argued for Congress to renew wind energy tax credits.(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) ? President Barack Obama delivered his harshest rebuttal yet to rival Mitt Romney on Thursday, dismissing his challenger's claims as "a cowpie of distortions" while seeking to rekindle the all-but-faded Iowa magic that launched him in 2008. Escalating his criticism of Romney's background as a venture capitalist, Obama said it wasn't adequate preparation for the presidency.

"There may be value for that kind of experience, but it's not in the White House," Obama said.

The speech, to a cheering Iowa crowd of about 2,500 at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, represented a new intensity for Obama's campaign as Romney begins to hit his stride carrying the Republican standard. It came as Iowa, soured by the direction of the nation and its economy, has drifted away from Obama since his 2008 caucus victory over Hillary Rodham Clinton made him the Democratic front-runner.

While Obama carried the state in the general election by a comfortable margin that year, polls this year have shown voters narrowly preferring Romney, who plans to wage his own major effort in Iowa.

Trying to cast Romney as out of touch with working-class voters, Obama declared that hard work hasn't led to higher incomes. "Higher profits haven't led to better jobs," he said. "And you can't solve that problem if you can't even see that it's a problem."

Obama pointedly chose the same turf where Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee, once declared that corporations are people. Obama said Romney would roll back regulations and return to policies that he said helped create the recession and would increase government deficits.

Reacting to Romney's charge last week that Obama had created "a prairie fire of debt," the president countered that Romney's tax plan is "like trying to put out a prairie fire with some gasoline."

In a statement issued after the speech, Romney spokesman Ryan Williams said: "A president who broke his promise to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term has no standing when it comes to fiscal responsibility."

Earlier, in blue-collar Newton, Iowa, once the prosperous headquarters of Maytag appliances, Obama visited a wind-turbine plant to push his alternative energy agenda and delivered a message that could as well have applied to all of Iowa. "Yeah, we're facing tough times, but we're getting through them, we're getting though them together," he said.

While offering only six of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency, how Iowa voters ultimately judge Obama is expected to be an important factor in the race.

"Last time it was a lot more exciting. It was a new thing," said Nancy Bobo, a Des Moines Obama volunteer and one of his earliest Iowa backers in 2008. "Today, we're all just very serious."

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, has made the struggling economy the centerpiece of his campaign. But Obama can point to comparatively low 5.1 percent unemployment in Iowa, where stable financial services and strong agriculture sectors buoyed the economy while manufacturing has struggled to rebound.

Romney had made the comment about corporations as he argued against raising taxes as a way of shoring up Social Security and Medicare. Members of the audience interrupted, calling for increased taxes on corporations, and Romney responded: "Corporations are people, my friend. ... Everything corporations earn ultimately goes to people."

The comment has been used by opponents to characterize Romney, a former private equity firm executive, as more comfortable in the boardroom than the shop floor.

Obama's campaign has emphasized episodes in which Romney's former firm closed plants and laid off workers, and has aired a stinging TV ad on the subject in Iowa, Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

In his fairgrounds' speech Thursday, Obama said private-equity firms can sometimes create jobs. "But when maximizing short-term gains for your investors rather than building companies that last is your goal," he added, "then sometimes it goes the other way. Workers get laid off. Benefits disappear. Pensions are cut. Factories go dark."

Obama himself has struggled to attract blue-collar voters, keys to winning struggling swing working-class regions such as southeast Ohio, western Pennsylvania and rural Iowa. Newton is the seat of Jasper County, Iowa, where unemployment was 7.1 percent in April, higher than Iowa's average but down sharply from last winter.

While Iowa is known for its first-in-the-nation caucuses, it also is a coveted general election state, despite its small electoral total. Democrat Al Gore carried the state by less than a percentage point in 2000, followed by Republican George W. Bush's 2-point victory in 2004.

Obama has already spent more than $2.6 million on advertising, a pace as aggressive as in any other battleground state. He's been a regular visitor, and was making his second trip in a month.

Yet the president's approval rating here has been stuck below 50 percent for over two years, softened in part by criticism from Republicans campaigning for Iowa's leadoff caucuses.

Polls show Iowans also have become increasingly bothered by federal spending, an issue Romney stoked in Des Moines last week in a visit where he promised to shrink the deficit.

Iowans, many of whom met Obama in the 2008 campaign, also are disappointed by what they hoped would be a transcendent presidency, said J. Ann Selzer, the longtime director of The Des Moines Register's Iowa Poll.

"You hear disaffection. You hear them say, 'This isn't what I paid for,'" Selzer said. "The guy they sent there to recast things wasn't able to do it."

Privately updating Senate Democrats on Thursday, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said the president has several possible paths to collecting the 270 electoral votes he needs for victory in November. But he noted that Romney, the Republican Party and allied super PACs are likely to have a great deal of money to spend. Obama vastly outspent Republican John McCain in winning the White House four years ago, an advantage that Democrats appear unlikely to command in 2012.

Romney senses the opening. He too has cultivated an Iowa network. Indeed, he campaigned aggressively for the 2008 caucuses during his narrowly losing bid for the state's delegates. Romney and the Republican National Committee have hired state directors and are hiring staff to run a dozen or more offices planned for Iowa.

And his campaign has begun running television ads in Iowa.

___

AP Special Correspondent David Espo in Washington contributed to this report.

Associated Press

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