Jennifer Lawrence got a huge shock last night when screen legend Jack Nicholson interrupted an interview to compliment her work. We weren't shocked that the 75-year-old ladies man hit on her -- but we were a little surprised when she flirted back!
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By Tom Curry, National Affairs Writer, NBC News
While Chuck Hagel?s quest to become defense secretary was a long and painful ordeal, he?ll be facing a different kind of pain once he?s confirmed - likely on Tuesday - and replaces Leon Panetta at the Pentagon.
In addition to the spending cuts required by the Budget Control Act, which will trim the Defense Department?s budget resources by 8 percent in the current fiscal year, Hagel faces a nightmarish budget challenge.
He will be running a department with nearly 1.4 million people serving in uniform and nearly 800,000 civilian employees.
Hagel?s department is bigger than several major U.S. corporations, but its finances remain deeply troubled, obscure and impenetrable ? even to budget experts and even after more than 20 years of warnings from the federal government?s accounting watchdog, the Government Accountability Office.
Just two weeks ago, the GAO kept the Pentagon on its annual "High Risk List" of departments whose books are so mysterious and opaque that they're at high risk of fraud, waste and mismanagement.
Related: After seven-week struggle, Hagel poised for defense confirmation
Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Former Senator Chuck Hagel testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing to become the next secretary of defense on Capitol Hill January 31, 2013 in Washington, DC.
The GAO said that the Defense Department ?is one of the few federal entities that cannot accurately account for its spending or assets.? The report added, ?Without accurate, timely, and useful financial information, DOD is severely hampered in making sound decisions affecting its operations.?
As one specific example, the accounting watchdog cited the department?s supply-chain management which as of late 2011 had amassed $9.2 billion worth of excess inventory on hand and had already ordered $523 million worth of inventory which was purchased but likely unnecessary.
And the GAO noted that it had first put the Pentagon?s supply-chain management problem on its "High Risk List" in 1990.
Outside observers agree that the Pentagon?s finances are troubled and that it costs taxpayers too much money to get each aircraft carrier, missile, drone and other weapons system.
Retired Army Gen. David Barno, the former U.S. commander in Afghanistan and now a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security in Washington, told a Council on Foreign Relations panel discussion earlier this month, ?We're delivering capability in the military sense for more and more overhead cost year after year after year? due to an ?egregiously inefficient Defense Department that's leaking money.?
He said the Pentagon?s method of operating is comparable to driving a 1985 Oldsmobile which is leaking oil, ?and every time we go out on the highway at 65 miles an hour, we come back after another day, there's more and more oil on the floor of our garage in the morning. And our solution has been to buy more oil, to put it in the engine and go drive it at 65 miles an hour.?
Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee engage in a sharp discussion regarding Chuck Hagel's nomination as defense secretary and his disclosure of personal income.
And Hagel himself said in August of 2011 that the Defense Department ?in many ways, has been bloated. Let's look at the reality here. The Defense Department's gotten everything it wanted the last 10 years and more.?
Despite the warnings from GAO and others, the Defense Department?s financial morass wasn?t a major focus of the questioning?last month at Hagel?s confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Hagel did field some queries on the department?s finances from Sens. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and Angus King, I-Maine.
But apart from referring to the need for giving his subordinates in the Pentagon ?flexibility? and ?direction and expectations,? Hagel supplied little insight on what plans he might have in mind to make the Pentagon more accountable. And he more often asked questions than supplied answers.
Hagel did say that in both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Defense Department inspector generals had uncovered ?billions and billions of dollars that are unaccounted for. Corruption, fraud, waste, abuse, it really is quite astounding.?
But he added, ?When you think about the universe of money that went into both those wars, no one should be surprised.?
Then he asked ?How do we fix it? What we do? How do we learn from this??
He added more questions later in the hearing, ?Why aren't we auditing these programs? Where's the accountability? That's certainly an area that we're going to have to take a look at.? And within days Hagel will have his chance to begin that accountability and to reduce the bloat he saw in his department.
This story was originally published on Tue Feb 26, 2013 4:34 AM EST
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LONDON (AP) ? More than a decade after online file swapping tipped the music industry into turmoil, record executives may finally be getting a sliver of good news.
Industry revenue is up. A measly 0.3 percent, but it's still up.
"For the global music business, it is hard to remember a year that has begun with such a palpable buzz in the air," said Frances Moore, whose International Federation of the Phonographic Industry put together the figures released Tuesday.
"These are hard-won successes for an industry that has innovated, battled and transformed itself over a decade," she said in a statement. "They show the music industry has adapted to the Internet world."
That adaptation has been a long time coming. Online song sharing popularized by services such as Napster at the turn of the millennium seriously destabilized the industry, which reacted with a barrage of lawsuits and lobbying. But the war on piracy failed to stem the tide of free music, and by the time executives finally began making legal music available through download services such as Apple Inc.'s iTunes, the industry was in a free fall.
Since its 1999 peak, the global music industry's revenues have crashed more than 40 percent. Tuesday's figures, which show a rise in global revenue from $16.4 billion in 2011 to $16.5 billion in 2012, are the first hint of growth in more than a decade.
Mark Mulligan, of U.K.-based MIDiA consulting, warned that Tuesday's figures did not mean the industry had put its misery years behind it.
"We're probably near the bottom," he said, "but it's so marginal we could easily have another year or two where it could get worse."
The physical music market continues to contract, losing another $500 million in revenue between 2011 and 2012, according to Tuesday's IFPI figures. The industry group has placed its bets on downloads, streaming, and subscription services to make up for lost ground, but there's still a long way to go.
Downloads and streaming audio now account for most of the music sold in the United States and Scandinavia, but physical music ? everything from vinyl records to DVDs ? still accounts for the majority of industry revenue worldwide.
Mulligan said he believed some of the lost revenue may never be recovered, with many casual users who used to buy the odd CD turning to free services such as YouTube, television music channels, or Internet radio instead.
"This is a case of managed decline," he said, predicting "a sustainable but smaller market built around more engaged music fans."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/reversing-trend-world-music-revenue-inches-upward-130158433.html
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Qualcomm has seemingly out of nowhere released Snapdragon BatteryGuru, an app to help users with devices that have Snapdragon processors make the most out of their batteries. The app has some pretty lofty promises, and with support from the same manufacturer as your processor you'd hope that it would be able to help with battery life a notable amount.
So can Snapdragon BatteryGuru solve the battery woes on your new phone? Hit the break and see our results.
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/s8Q24AYiXag/story01.htm
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The beaches of Mauritius contain fragments of a type of rock typical of ancient continental crust ? rock which could have been brought to the surface by volcanic eruptions. Image: http://www.nature.com/polopoly_fs/7.9116.1361551494!/image/HIRES%2042-32415022%20reduced.jpg
The drowned remnants of an ancient microcontinent may lie scattered beneath the waters between Madagascar and India, a new study suggests.
Evidence for the long-lost land comes from Mauritius, a volcanic island about 900 kilometers east of Madagascar. The oldest basalts on the island date to about 8.9 million years ago, says Bj?rn Jamtveit, a geologist at the University of Oslo. Yet grain-by-grain analyses of beach sand that Jamtveit and his colleagues collected at two sites on the Mauritian coast revealed around 20 zircons ? tiny crystals of zirconium silicate that are exceedingly resistant to erosion or chemical change ? that were far older.
The zircons had crystallized within granites or other igneous rocks at least 660 million years ago, says Jamtveit. One of these zircons was at least 1.97 billion years old.
Jamtveit and his colleagues suggest that rocks containing the wayfaring zircons originated in ancient fragments of continental crust located beneath Mauritius. They propose that geologically recent volcanic eruptions brought shards of the crust to Earth?s surface, where the zircons eroded from their parent rocks to pepper the island?s sands. The team's work is published today in Nature Geoscience.
Crustal remains
The paper also suggests that not just one but many fragments of continental crust lie beneath the floor of the Indian Ocean. Analyses of Earth?s gravitational field reveal several broad areas where sea-floor crust is much thicker than normal ? at least 25 to 30 kilometers thick, rather than the normal 5 to 10 kilometers.
Those crustal anomalies may be the remains of a landmass that the team has dubbed Mauritia, which they suggest split from Madagascar when tectonic rifting and sea-floor spreading sent the Indian subcontinent surging northeast millions of years ago. Subsequent stretching and thinning of the region?s crust sank the fragments of Mauritia, which together had comprised an island or archipelago about three times the size of Crete, the researchers estimate.
The team chose to collect sand, rather than pulverize local rocks, to ensure that zircons inadvertently trapped in rock-crushing equipment from previous studies did not contaminate their fresh samples. The nearest known outcrop of continental crust that could have produced the Mauritian zircons is on Madagascar, far across a deep sea, Jamtveit notes. Furthermore, the zircons came from Mauritian sites so remote that it is unlikely that humans carried them there.
?There?s no obvious local source for these zircons,? says Conall Mac Niocaill, a geologist at the University of Oxford, UK, who was not involved in the research.
Also, it does not seem as if the zircons rode to Mauritius on the wind, says Robert Duncan, a marine geologist at Oregon State University in Corvallis. ?There?s a remote possibility that they were wind blown, but they?re probably too large to have done so,? he adds.
Other ocean basins worldwide may well host similarly submerged remains of ?ghost continents?, Mac Niocaill notes in an accompanying News & Views article. Only detailed surveys of the ocean floor, including geochemical analyses of their rocks, will reveal whether the splintered and now submerged Mauritia has any long-lost cousins, he suggests.
This article is reproduced with permission from the magazine Nature. The article was first published on February 24, 2013.
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=47d787e593f8cff9374c4a8995c30744
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WILLIAMSTOWN -- If the Williams College basketball teams win their respective NESCAC championships this weekend, the victories will be sweeter because they would win the titles on the home court of their biggest rivals.
Amherst College?s LeFrak Gymnasium will host the men?s and women?s semifinals this weekend.
The second-seeded Williams men will play No. 3 Middlebury in the second game of the four-game series. The Ephs and Panthers will tip-off at 3 p.m. The women?s tournament semifinals begin at 5:30. The third-seeded Ephs will play No. 4 Middlebury in the 7:30 p.m. finale.
The men?s championship game is Sunday at noon, and the women?s game is at 2:30 p.m.
Men?s semifinals
This semifinal is a rematch of a Jan. 26 game, the Ephs won 64-63 on Daniel Wohl?s layup with 31 seconds left in the game.
"We expect a conference semifinal game to be highly contested and it?s going to be that," Williams coach Mike Maker said.
Williams and Middlebury are tied for second in points for at 79.5 and points against at 64.1 The Ephs lead the conference in field goal percentage (50.4) and Middlebury is second (49.8)
Going into the Wayback Machine, the Ephs trailed 41-38 at halftime and were down 63-56 when Middlebury?s Nolan Thompson hit a 3-point shot with 4:21 left. From that point, the Ephs held the Panthers scoreless.
Taylor Epley hit a pair of
free throws to make it 63-62 with 1:10 left to play. But with the clock running down, Michael Mayer stole the ball from Thompson and Wohl converted at the other end. Middlebury?s Joey Kizel had a shot blocked by Nate Robertson with 8 seconds left and Hunter Merryman missed a trey with 2 seconds left, giving the Ephs the win.Wohl, who had a bout of mono, was cleared to practice without contact early in the week. The sophomore swingman has not played since the Amherst game, and will be a game-time decision. James Klemm, who missed the Trinity game with an injury, is back and hit four 3-pointers in the quarterfinal win against Bates.
Epley (18.1 points-per-game) and Mayer (17.2) are two of the top five scorers in NESCAC. Middlebury?s top scorer is senior Peter Lynch (15.1).
Women?s semifinals
The Ephs are seeking their first-ever NESCAC title this year. Based on the seeds, the semifinals should have been at Tufts. But Williams coach Pat Manning said she isn?t surprised her team isn?t busing to Medford for the weekend.
"The eighth seed was sort of weird because of the tiebreaker. [Bowdoin] definitely [wasn?t] a typical eighth seed," said Manning. "They lost to Wesleyan by a point, otherwise they would have been the fourth seed at home."
When Williams and Middlebury played in January, the Ephs held the Panthers to 15 points in the first half and won 62-36. Claire Baecher led the Ephs with 20 points, while Middlebury?s Tracy Borsinger (14) was the only Panther in double figures.
The Ephs are second in NESCAC in team defense, giving up 44.4 points per game. They are tops in field goal percentage defense (28.4) and field goal percentage on offense (41.6).
"We really preach defense. We talk about defense and we have starters and kids off the bench that play great ?D?," Manning said. "That?s what this team is all about."
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FILE - In this Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012 file photo, former Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor and his wife Pat, pose for photographers at the premiere of the film Argo in Washington. Taylor, Canada's former ambassador in Iran, who protected Americans at great personal risk during the Iran hostage crisis of 1979, says if "Argo" wins the Oscar for best picture on Sunday there would be something wrong with director Ben Affleck if he didn't mention Canada, Friday, Feb. 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)
FILE - In this Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012 file photo, former Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor and his wife Pat, pose for photographers at the premiere of the film Argo in Washington. Taylor, Canada's former ambassador in Iran, who protected Americans at great personal risk during the Iran hostage crisis of 1979, says if "Argo" wins the Oscar for best picture on Sunday there would be something wrong with director Ben Affleck if he didn't mention Canada, Friday, Feb. 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)
TORONTO (AP) ? The Canadian former ambassador to Iran who protected Americans at great personal risk during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis says it will reflect poorly on Ben Affleck if he doesn't say a few words about Canada's role if the director's film "Argo" wins the Oscar for best picture Sunday.
But Ken Taylor ? who said he feels slighted by the movie because it makes Canada look like a meek observer to CIA heroics in the rescue of six U.S. citizens caught in the crisis ? is not expecting it.
"I would hope he would. If he doesn't than it's a further reflection," Taylor said. "But given the events of the last while I'm not necessarily anticipating anything."
Taylor kept the Americans hidden at the embassy in Tehran and facilitated their escape by getting fake passports and plane tickets for them. He became a hero in Canada and the United States after. The role he played in helping the Americans to freedom was minimized in the film.
"In general it makes it seem like the Canadians were just along for the ride. The Canadians were brave. Period," Taylor said.
Affleck's thriller is widely expected to win the best-picture trophy. Two other high-profile best-picture nominees this year, Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty" and Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln," have also been criticized for their portrayal of some factual issues.
Affleck said in a statement Friday night he thought his issue with Taylor had been resolved.
"I admire Ken very much for his role in rescuing the six houseguests. I consider him a hero.?In light of my many conversations as well as a change to an end card that Ken requested I am surprised that Ken continues to take issue with the film," he said in a statement. "I spoke to him recently when he asked me to narrate a documentary he is prominently featured in and yet he didn't mention any lingering concerns.?I agreed to do it and I look forward to seeing Ken at the recording."
Taylor noted that former U.S. President Jimmy Carter appeared on CNN on Thursday night and said "90 percent of the contributions to the ideas and the consummation of the plan was Canadian," but the film "gives almost full credit to the American CIA."
Carter also called "Argo" a complete distortion of what happened when he accepted an honorary degree from Queen's University in Canada in November.
"I saw the movie Argo recently and I was taken aback by its distortion of what happened because almost everything that was heroic, or courageous or innovative was done by Canada and not the United States," Carter said.
Taylor said there would be no movie without the Canadians.
"We took the six in without being asked so it starts there," Taylor said. "And the fact that we got them out with some help from the CIA then that's where the story loses itself. I think Jimmy Carter has it about right, it was 90 percent Canada, 10 percent the CIA."
He said CIA agent Tony Mendez, played by Affleck in the film, was only in Iran for a day and a half.
The movie also makes no mention of John Sheardown, a deputy at the Canadian embassy who sheltered some of the Americans. Taylor said it was Sheardown who took the first call and agreed right away to take the Americans in. Sheardown recently died and his wife, Zena, called the movie disappointing.
Friends of Taylor were outraged last September when "Argo" debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival. The original postscript of the movie said that Taylor received 112 citations and awards for his work in freeing the hostages and suggested Taylor didn't deserve them because the movie ends with the CIA deciding to let Canada have the credit for helping the Americans escape
Taylor called the postscript lines "disgraceful and insulting" and said it would have caused outrage in Canada if the lines were not changed. Affleck flew Taylor to Los Angeles after the Toronto debut and allowed him to insert a postscript that gave Canada some credit.
Taylor called it a good movie and said he's not rooting against it, but said it is far from accurate.
"He's a good director. It's got momentum. There's nothing much right from Day 1 I could do about the movie. I changed a line at the end because the caption at the end was disgraceful. It's like Tiananmen Square, you are sitting in front of a big tank," he said.
Associated Press
Young fans cheer in hopes of snagging a T-shirt (NCAA Women's Basketball: Ball State 56 v. Eastern Michigan 34, Worthen Arena, Muncie IN, February 20, 2013)
Nathalie Fontaine #4 fights to keep the ball away from an Eastern opponent (NCAA Women's Basketball: Ball State 56 v. Eastern Michigan 34, Worthen Arena, Muncie IN, February 20, 2013)
Katie Murphy #33 attempts to block the shot taken by Sara Stone #14 (NCAA Women's Basketball: Ball State 56 v. Eastern Michigan 34, Worthen Arena, Muncie IN, February 20, 2013)
Shanee' Jackson #10 gets jostled out of position by Sara Stone #14 (NCAA Women's Basketball: Ball State 56 v. Eastern Michigan 34, Worthen Arena, Muncie IN, February 20, 2013)
Desyree Thomas #11 attempts two (NCAA Women's Basketball: Ball State 56 v. Eastern Michigan 34, Worthen Arena, Muncie IN, February 20, 2013)
Iesha Collins #5 (NCAA Women's Basketball: Ball State 56 v. Eastern Michigan 34, Worthen Arena, Muncie IN, February 20, 2013)
Iesha Collins #5 gets cut off by Brandy Woody #11 (NCAA Women's Basketball: Ball State 56 v. Eastern Michigan 34, Worthen Arena, Muncie IN, February 20, 2013)
Chelsea Hite #52 struggles to maintain control of the ball as Shelbie Justice #3 and Katie Murphy #33 attempt to either strip the ball or create a jump ball situation (NCAA Women's Basketball: Ball State 56 v. Eastern Michigan 34, Worthen Arena, Muncie IN, February 20, 2013)
Shanee' Jackson #10 takes a hit from Taylor Bird #1 (NCAA Women's Basketball: Ball State 56 v. Eastern Michigan 34, Worthen Arena, Muncie IN, February 20, 2013)
Nathalie Fontaine #4 led all scorers with 16 points and added 12 boards to her line for the game (NCAA Women's Basketball: Ball State 56 v. Eastern Michigan 34, Worthen Arena, Muncie IN, February 20, 2013)
Brandy Woody #11 gets a bear hug from India Hairston #34, which was ruled an intentional foul (NCAA Women's Basketball: Ball State 56 v. Eastern Michigan 34, Worthen Arena, Muncie IN, February 20, 2013)
Nathalie Fontaine #4 tries to find a path to the basket (NCAA Women's Basketball: Ball State 56 v. Eastern Michigan 34, Worthen Arena, Muncie IN, February 20, 2013)
Katie Murphy #33 grabbed 15 rebounds (NCAA Women's Basketball: Ball State 56 v. Eastern Michigan 34, Worthen Arena, Muncie IN, February 20, 2013)
FILE - In this Oct. 9, 2012 file photo, English food writer, journalist and broadcaster, Nigella Lawson poses during the 28th MIPCOM (International Film and Programme Market for Tv, Video,Cable and Satellite) in Cannes, southeastern France. With a new cookbook, "Nigellissima," coming on the heels of a new celebrity-rich reality food television show on ABC, the English food star seems intent on leaving a larger mark on the American culinary scene. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau, File )
FILE - In this Oct. 9, 2012 file photo, English food writer, journalist and broadcaster, Nigella Lawson poses during the 28th MIPCOM (International Film and Programme Market for Tv, Video,Cable and Satellite) in Cannes, southeastern France. With a new cookbook, "Nigellissima," coming on the heels of a new celebrity-rich reality food television show on ABC, the English food star seems intent on leaving a larger mark on the American culinary scene. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau, File )
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) ? America might not know what to make of a celebrity chef as comfortable quoting philosophers as corraling reality cooking show contestants.
And Nigella Lawson is completely at ease with that.
"Today, it's all about marketing and people want to know where to place you," Lawson said during an interview Saturday at the South Beach Wine and Food Festival. "And I suppose I just don't care about that."
Lawson has carved a long culinary career by rejecting steroetypes and speaking her mind.
Most recently, she garnered attention for telling the producers of her latest television venture "The Taste" that they could not retouch images of her to reduce her belly.
It's not about vanity. It's about voice. And she wants hers heard ? or in the case of her curves, seen ? without layers of producers and editors and retouchers reinterpreting her message to viewers and readers.
"I don't need that to be mediated by any other person," she said. "To have your voice tampered with is a terrible thing. It has to be a genuine conversation with the reader."
That's why when Lawson writes cookbooks ? including her just released ode to Italian cooking, "Nigellissima" ? she sends them to the designer long before they go to her publisher. It's a way to preserve her vision for the book rather than have an editor decide how it should look.
It's also why she's comfortable dropping the names of British philosophers ? in this case Bertrand Russell ? in the introduction of her new book, the sort of high-faluten chatter that would end up chopped by most cookbook editors.
As for "The Taste" ? which Lawson shoots with fellow culinary free spirit Anthony Bourdain ? she has ideas for changing it a bit if there is a second season, including more cooking and eating by the teams who compete on the show.
"The producers probably don't want all my extra ideas, but I probably will give them the benefit of my ideas whether they want them or not," she said.
Associated Press
Getty ImagesThe Buccaneers want to try to keep defensive end Michael Bennett, and met with his agent yesterday at the NFL Scouting Combine about a new deal.
But they?re not going to use the franchise tag on him, and are prepared to move forward with Da?Quan Bowers if need be, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times.
?We?ve spoken internally as an organization with ownership, certainly with Greg [Schiano] and me, and we?re not going to use the franchise or transition tag on any player on our roster,?? general manager Mark Dominik said. ?We?re trying to meet with the agents of every single one of our free agents so they can understand the direction we?re thinking, where we?re heading. We?re still having negotiations or conversations with them. It?s hard to say whether they will be productive or not, but it?s certainly something we try to do is have meetings with the agents of our free agents and have meaningful dialogue.??
Bennett led the team with nine sacks last year, and will certainly find interest if he reaches the market.
But despite the fact Bowers faces gun charges after a recent arrest at New York?s LaGuardia Airport, the Bucs are confident the former second-round pick can become their top pass-rusher if Bennett leaves.
?Da?Quan is a guy I thought continued to accelerate his play throughout the end of the season,?? Dominik said. ?The more we can get him on the football field, I think the better we are as a football team. Certainly, that?s part of the thought process going forward with our entire football team, hopefully getting Adrian Clayborn back and 100 percent healthy and then be able to pair him with a guy like Da?Quan who we feel can be a premier left end in this league. That certainly has to be part of the entire picture we?re looking at, not only with free agency, but how we?re putting this thing together.??
Of course, suggesting that?s a subtle reminder that Bennett?s not irreplaceable, especially for a team with $30 million in cap space and possibly more on the way.
Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/02/22/tom-coughlin-shuts-down-retirement-talk/related/
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The US slammed as ?provocative? the installment of 180 advanced centrifuge at Iran?s main uranium enrichment site at Natanz, stressing that this will be the six powers? focus in the talks with Iran opening next Tuesday in Kazakhstan. The UN nuclear atomic agency in its latest report confirmed that the new IR-2m centrifuges can enrich three to five times faster than the outdated machines in use at Natanz until now.
The report's findings "prove that Iran continues to advance quickly to the red line" which Israel considers intolerable, said a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, adding: "Iran is closer than ever to achieving enrichment for a nuclear bomb."
The "red line" also was a term Netanyahu used to the U.N. General Assembly. There, he said the world has until next summer at the latest to stop Iran before it can build a nuclear bomb.
After celebrating the Brit Awards in London on Wednesday, Kate Hudson and Muse frontman Matt Bellamy headed to Miami, Fla., with their family on Friday for the U.S. leg of Bellamy's tour.
The engaged couple, who have been together since 2010, hit the beach with their 1-year-old son Bingham and Hudson's son with ex-husband Chris Robinson, Ryder, 9, on Feb. 22, enjoying the warm weather as they splashed in the water along the shore.
Hudson, 33, was also seen playing some foosball with Ryder at their hotel pool before heading back to the beach to meet up with Bellamy, 34, and Bing.
As for their wedding plans, Hudson and Bellamy have stayed mum on the subject, but they're definitely looking forward to tying the knot eventually.
?We?re sort of going back and forth about, you know, is it a big wedding? Are we going to get married on a mountaintop? You know we?ve both been so into having a baby and our life schedules," Hudson told Ellen DeGeneres in September. "We just want to make sure it?s right when it happens.?
Check out Kate, Matt, Ryder and Bing in Miami below:
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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/23/kate-hudson-matt-bellamy-vacation-photos_n_2749104.html
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Evidence from Siberian caves suggests that a global temperature rise of 1.5 degrees Celsius could see permanently frozen ground thaw over a large area of Siberia, threatening release of carbon from soils, and damage to natural and human environments.
A thaw in Siberia's permafrost (ground frozen throughout the year) could release over 1000 giga-tonnes of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere, potentially enhancing global warming.
The data comes from an international team led by Oxford University scientists studying stalactites and stalagmites from caves located along the 'permafrost frontier', where ground begins to be permanently frozen in a layer tens to hundreds of metres thick. Because stalactites and stalagmites only grow when liquid rainwater and snow melt drips into the caves, these formations record 500,000 years of changing permafrost conditions, including warmer periods similar to the climate of today.
Records from a particularly warm period (Marine Isotopic Stage 11) that occurred around 400,000 years ago suggest that global warming of 1.5?C compared to the present is enough to cause substantial thawing of permafrost far north from its present-day southern limit.
A report of the research is published in this week's Science Express. The team included scientists from Britain, Russia, Mongolia and Switzerland.
'The stalactites and stalagmites from these caves are a way of looking back in time to see how warm periods similar to our modern climate affect how far permafrost extends across Siberia,' said Dr Anton Vaks of Oxford University's Department of Earth Sciences, who led the work. 'As permafrost covers 24% of the land surface of the Northern hemisphere significant thawing could affect vast areas and release giga-tonnes of carbon.
'This has huge implications for ecosystems in the region, and for aspects of the human environment. For instance, natural gas facilities in the region, as well as power lines, roads, railways and buildings are all built on permafrost and are vulnerable to thawing. Such a thaw could damage this infrastructure with obvious economic implications.'
The team used radiometric dating techniques to date the growth of cave formations (stalactites and stalagmites). Data from the Ledyanaya Lenskaya Cave ? near the town of Lensk latitude 60?N ? in the coldest region showed that the only period when stalactite growth took place occurred about 400,000 years ago, during a period with a global temperature 1.5?C higher than today. Periods when the world was 0.5-1?C warmer than today did not see any stalactite growth in this northernmost cave, suggesting that around 1.5?C is the 'tipping point' at which the coldest permafrost regions begin to thaw.
Dr Vaks said: 'Although it wasn't the main focus of our research our work also suggests that in a world 1.5?C warmer than today, warm enough to melt the coldest permafrost, adjoining regions would see significant changes with Mongolia's Gobi Desert becoming much wetter than it is today and, potentially, this extremely arid area coming to resemble the present-day Asian steppes.'
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University of Oxford: http://www.ox.ac.uk/
Thanks to University of Oxford for this article.
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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126980/Caves_point_to_thawing_of_Siberia
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The city remains largely unimpressed by Sony?s prospects as an investment after this week?s PS4 announcements.
Seeking Alpha?advised its readers against buying Sony shares, saying: ?What investors really need to consider is what they are getting when they purchase a share of Sony. A very poor balance sheet, and a chain of losses reveal that not even the PS4 can stop Sony?s slow decline.?
?Even though the PS4 could be a huge hit for Sony, the company?s poor financials and large exposure to interest rates should deter investors away. There is also much more information the company plans to unveil on the PS4, and investors should also wait until they hear about the new Xbox.?
Bloomberg?s?report noted: ?The PlayStation 4 makes its debut amid an industry shift toward mobile play on smartphones and tablets, raising the question of whether gamers will shell out several hundred dollars for a new device.?
It also quoted BGC Partners? Amir Anvarzadeh as saying: ?This enhanced PlayStation experience is simply not revolutionary to overcome big disruptions facing the industry. Sony?s heavy emphasis on the social aspect of PS4 seems a bit too ambitious to deliver on.??The new console ?is unlikely to deliver sufficient cash flow to turn around the company?s credit profile,? added a Fitch Ratings report.
?It?s unlikely that PS4 will boost Sony?s sales and profit in the long term,? Ichiyoshi Asset Management?s Mitsushige Akino told Bloomberg. ?Only core gamers buy game consoles like the PS4.?
Speaking to Reuters, Inside Network Research analyst Billy Pidgeon added: ?[PS4] looks good and had a lot of great games but the industry is different now. It?ll be a slow burn and not heavy uptake right away.?
Source: http://www.edge-online.com/news/ps4-wont-solve-sonys-wider-problem-say-analysts/
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Going on sale later this year in America, Canadians won?t be able to enjoy the new 415 hp, 415 lb-ft of torque SS that?s powered by the American automaker?s 6.2-liter V8 engine.
The announcement comes as a surprise to those north of the border as the car?s predecessor, the Pontiac G8, was offered in the true north strong and free.
The SS sedan won?t be the only model that has a discrepancy between the American and Canadian markets. In Canada, Chevrolet offers the Trax and Orlando, both of which aren?t available in America. But in this case, Canada is definitely getting the short end of the stick. Americans surely aren?t sulking over not being able to buy a Trax or Orlando.
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Source: http://www.ssforums.com/forum/new-2013-chevy-ss-news/241-chevrolet-ss-sedan-not-heading-canada.html
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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Just three months ago, "Zero Dark Thirty" looked like a strong contender for the movie industry's biggest prize.
But when the Oscar for Best Picture is handed out on Sunday, the thriller about the decade-long U.S. hunt for, and 2011 killing of, Osama bin Laden is unlikely to get its name engraved on the coveted gold statuette.
After a fierce campaign over the movie's depiction of torture that started in Washington and extended to human rights groups, "Zero Dark Thirty" went from front-runner to also-ran at the Academy Awards.
Despite winning early honors from influential critics in New York, Washington, Boston and Chicago, pundits say the failure of "Zero Dark Thirty" to win traction in Hollywood may have as much to do with its style as the heated debate it has provoked.
"It's a little cool," said Dave Karger, chief correspondent for Fandango.com.
"Usually you need some kind of crowd-pleasing element to have a shot at winning Best Picture at the Academy Awards, and that is what (Iran hostage drama) 'Argo' has. It has a great rousing emotional aspect to it which 'Zero Dark Thirty,' by design, does not have," Karger told Reuters.
'GROSSLY INACCURATE'?
Early signs of trouble for "Zero Dark Thirty" came in mid-December when U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein, John McCain and Carl Levin sent a letter to movie studio Sony Pictures.
They called the film "grossly inaccurate and misleading" for suggesting torture helped the United States track the al Qaeda leader to a Pakistan compound.
The senators cited intelligence records released in April 2012 that showed this was not the case and said the movie "has the potential to shape American public opinion in a disturbing and misleading manner."
Director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal said repeatedly that the film shows a variety of intelligence methods, not all of which produced results.
Three weeks later, Bigelow was omitted from the Oscar's Best Director shortlist, chosen by about 5,800 movie industry professionals who make up the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Bigelow was only one of four big directors to be snubbed, and "Zero Dark Thirty" received five Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture. But Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan was among those who pointed the finger at Washington.
"Chalk up this year's (Oscar) nominations as a victory for the bullying power of the United States Senate and an undeserved loss for Kathryn Bigelow," Turan wrote in January.
In a column in The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, deputy editor Daniel Henninger agreed.
"Had Senators Feinstein, Levin and McCain not saddled up their high horses in a December 19 letter to Sony Pictures denouncing the movie, 'Zero Dark Thirty' would not now be out of the running for Best Picture at the Oscars," Henninger wrote.
Pete Hammond, awards columnist at entertainment industry website Deadline.com, said the political attacks on the film certainly had an impact before "Zero Dark Thirty" was released in U.S. movie theaters nationwide in late January.
"But when it opened wide, it actually helped by bringing so much publicity, and now there has been a backlash against the backlash," Hammond told Reuters.
FIGHTING BACK
By late January, Bigelow and Boal were making speeches, getting magazine profiles, and writing opinion pieces in which they directed critics to the U.S. officials who sanctioned, or turned a blind eye, to harsh interrogation techniques.
Victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks ordered by bin Laden voiced their support, as did departing U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who called it a "great movie."
Steve Elzer, spokesman for Columbia Pictures, the Sony Pictures unit behind the film, said the studio was very proud of the movie, saying it had generated "an amazing national conversation."
"'Zero Dark Thirty' has been a huge critical and commercial success that has also been praised by a large number of experts, historians and academics outside of the political arena.
"No matter how we do at the Oscars on Sunday, we know this will be a motion picture that will be remembered many years from now. We couldn't be more proud to have been associated with this film," Elzer told Reuters.
Despite the furor and small protests by human rights activists at some awards ceremonies, "Zero Dark Thirty" has won stellar reviews and reaped more than $100 million at the worldwide box office, most of it in North America.
Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 94 percent positive rating. Oscar Best Picture favorites "Lincoln" and "Argo" score 89 percent and 96 percent respectively.
Yet "Zero Dark Thirty" has picked up just one major prize in the Hollywood guild awards for directors, actors, producers and writers that are considered a predictor of Oscar success.
Boal won the Writers Guild of America trophy for Best Original Screenplay last weekend, and is a strong contender for the Oscar in that category on Sunday.
Jessica Chastain is thought to have a good chance at taking home the Best Actress prize for her performance as the feisty young CIA agent credited with tracking down bin Laden in the face of skepticism from her bosses.
"Jessica Chastain is a good place to put your 'Zero Dark Thirty' vote if you are wounded by the backlash against the film and want to express your support some place," said Tom O'Neil, of awards website Goldderby.com.
However, the film, which is being promoted as the "most-talked about movie of the year," is seen as a long shot.
"Controversial movies suffer with Academy voters. I think 'Zero Dark Thirty' will have a tough time winning Best Picture because I think the Academy is going to go with less controversial choices," Rotten Tomatoes editor in chief Matt Atchity said.
(Editing by Stacey Joyce)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/zero-dark-thirty-too-cool-too-controversial-oscars-130859160--finance.html
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) - BJ Young hit a spinning layup in the lane with 6 seconds remaining to give Arkansas a 62-60 win over Georgia on Thursday night. The win is the third straight for the Razorbacks,More >>FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) - BJ Young hit a spinning layup in the lane with 6 seconds remaining to give Arkansas a 62-60 win over Georgia on Thursday night. The win is the third straight for the Razorbacks,More >>
COLUMBUS, Ga. (WTVM) - Carver football coach Dell McGee said on Thursday he is leaving the high school coaching ranks to take an administrative job with the Auburn University football program. The AuburnMore >>COLUMBUS, Ga. (WTVM) - Carver football coach Dell McGee said on Thursday he is leaving the high school coaching ranks to take an administrative job with the Auburn University football program. The AuburnMore >>
Sports folk love to add a little narrative. There is at least one "interesting" yarn per team, per year. And the better a team or player performs, the more it gets brought up.More >>Sports folk love to add a little narrative. There is at least one "interesting" yarn per team, per year. And the better a team or player performs, the more it gets brought up.More >>
COLUMBUS, Ga. (WTVM) - Game times have been set for the Round of 16 in the GHSA basketball playoffs. Girls games are on Friday, with the boys playing on Saturday. All game times listed are ET. FRIDAY'SMore >>COLUMBUS, Ga. (WTVM) - Game times have been set for the Round of 16 in the GHSA basketball playoffs. Girls games are on Friday, with the boys playing on Saturday. All game times listed are ET. FRIDAY'SMore >>
Tuscaloosa, Ala. ? Sophomore guard Rodney Cooper had 20 points and 10 rebounds to give him the first double-double of his career as he led Alabama to a 64-56 win over Mississippi State on Wednesday nightMore >>Tuscaloosa, Ala. ? Sophomore guard Rodney Cooper had 20 points and 10 rebounds to give him the first double-double of his career as he led Alabama to a 64-56 win over Mississippi State on Wednesday nightMore >>
COLUMBUS, Ga. (WTVM) - Carver football coach Dell McGee said on Thursday he is leaving the high school coaching ranks to take an administrative job with the Auburn University football program.
The Auburn grad led the Carver program for eight seasons, going 88-19 with seven straight region titles, four trips to the GHSA state semifinals, and the Class AAA state title in 2007. The Tigers have a 44-game region winning streak, dating back to 2006.
McGee played his college ball at Auburn, lettering as a defensive back from 1992-95. He played one season in the NFL, for the Arizona Cardinals.
He is one of three high school coaches hired by new Auburn coach Gus Malzahn over the past week to fill administrative roles. The others are Chip Lindsey of Spain Park and Brent Dearmon of B.C. Rain.
McGee says he'll begin his new duties on Monday.
Source: http://www.wtvm.com/story/21303799/mcgee-leaves-carver-hs-for-auburn-football-administrative-post
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After months of build-up, we're almost to the historic bout between Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche, which headlines UFC 157 in Anaheim. Here is how we think the fights will go. A big thank you to all the Cagereaders who contributed their picks.
Kevin Iole ?Ronda Rousey SUB1 Liz Carmouche: Scottie Bowman, the greatest hockey coach ever, always would say he'd stick with the hot hand. In this case, the hot hand is Rousey. She's got a far better athletic pedigree and she's looked unbeatable against elite competition in Kaufmann and Tate. First-round arm bar win for Rousey
Maggie Hendricks ? Ronda Rousey SUB1 Liz Carmouche: The thing about Rousey's armbar is that it's going to be unstoppable until someone stops it. Brilliant, right? Because of the move's unpredictability, it's equally difficult to predict who will be the one who can stop it.
Cagereader ? My pick: Ronda Rousey by first round armbar. Yes, again. I don't think anyone's got her figured out yet, and her aggression is too much to deal with for anyone at this point. -- Dan Butera
Cagereader ? Rousey. She has more to offer than Carmouche. I think it will be Rousey's longest fight ever since Carmouche is a scrappy chick. She definitely has her work cut out for her. -- Charlotte Petroskey
***
Kevin Iole ? Dan Henderson TKO2 Lyoto Machida: Henderson is going to grind on Machida and wear him down until he gets enough space to land his big right hand.
Maggie Hendricks ? Dan Henderson W3 Lyoto Machida: As Kevin Iole points out in his column, Machida is not the elusive fighter he once was. Henderson will wear him down and take the bout.
Cagereader ? I'll take Machida over Henderson. Machida's height, reach, and long torso is going to make it very hard for Hendo to impose his will. Throw in Machida's speed advantage, faster punches, better cardio, and youth, and this one could end up being lopsided. Dan Henderson, as always, does have a puncher's chance, but that is about it in my opinion. -- Buddy Kreutzer
***
Kevin Iole ? Urijah Faber SUB3 Ivan Menjivar: Faber hasn't fought like a star in a while and the pressure is on him to do so. He's primed for a good performance and I think he delivers it.
Maggie Hendricks ? Urijah Faber SUB2 Ivan Menjivar: Fighting in California, Faber should be able to get back on the winning track and outgrapple Menjivar for a win.
Cagereader ? Though both Faber and his opponent are very dynamic and multidimensional, predict the intense energy will lead to an unpredictable TKO with Faber winning! -- Ernie Brewer
***
Kevin Iole ? Josh Neer W3 Court McGee: This is a flip-a-coin match so I'm going to go with the guy with more experience.
Maggie Hendricks ? Court McGee W3 Josh Neer: Yep, pretty much what Kevin said, so my coin flipped to McGee.
Cagereader ? Hard not to like McGee's drop to 170. His smothering style should win the day. McGee by Decision. - John Wilcox
***
Kevin Iole ? Josh Koscheck W3 Robbie Lawler: Lawler is simply not the same fighter he once was. I think Koscheck wins a pretty wide decision here.
Maggie Hendricks ? Josh Koscheck W3 Robbie Lawler: Though Koscheck is coming off of a loss, Lawler hasn't done much to show he can stop Koscheck's wrestling or striking.
Cagereader ? I think Koscheck to beat Lawler. Kos will be desperate to get back into the win column and I see him wearing down Robbie with his outstanding wrestling ability and finishing him late on as Lawler tires. Koscheck by RNC round 3. - Craig Donaldson
Forgot to make your picks on Facebook in time for this post? That's OK. Post them here, on Facebook or on Twitter.
It's that time of day. Commodities exchanges are opening. And yet, today has a different feel to it. For some strange indiscernible reason, the incessant offer on gold and silver that appears every morning for most of the recent weeks has yet to appear. Did the central bankers get busted? Are too many people aware of the manipulation? Did a 3% drop in China spook them back at the margin? Who knows - its early yet...
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?
Chart: Bloomberg
(5 votes)
Source: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-02-21/gold-and-silver-are-not-selling-yet
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http://www.universalsports.com 2013, Minsk, Belarus, UCI Track Cycling World Championships, Although both Great Britain and Australia had close qualifying times, Australia dominated in the final for the win. (Watch the full event at UniversalSports.com)
Universal Sports Network is the premier destination for fans of Olympic and lifestyle sports, delivering exclusive coverage of world class competitions, interaction with top athletes, and in depth sports news year round.
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In a pair of new papers, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences upend a long-held view about the basic functioning of a key receptor molecule involved in signaling between neurons, and describe how a compound linked to Alzheimer's disease impacts that receptor and weakens synaptic connections between brain cells.
The findings are published in the Feb. 18 early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Long the object of study, the NMDA receptor is located at neuronal synapses ? the multitudinous junctions where brain cells trade electrical and chemical messages. In particular, NMDA receptors are ion channels activated by glutamate, a major "excitatory" neurotransmitter associated with cognition, learning and memory.
"NMDA receptors are well known to allow the passage of calcium ions into cells and thereby trigger biochemical signaling," said principal investigator Roberto Malinow, MD, PhD professor of neurosciences at UC San Diego School of Medicine.
The new research, however, indicates that NMDA receptors can also operate independent of calcium ions. "It turns upside down a view held for decades regarding how NMDA receptors function," said Malinow, who holds the Shiley-Marcos Endowed Chair in Alzheimer's Disease Research in Honor of Dr. Leon Thal (a renowned UC San Diego Alzheimer's disease researcher who died in a single-engine airplane crash in 2007).
Specifically, Malinow and colleagues found that glutamate binding to the NMDA receptor caused conformational changes in the receptor that ultimately resulted in a weakened synapse and impaired brain function.
They also found that beta amyloid ? a peptide that comprises the neuron-killing plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease ? causes the NMDA receptor to undergo conformational changes that also lead to the weakening of synapses.
"These new findings overturn commonly held views regarding synapses and potentially identify new targets in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease," said Malinow.
###
University of California - San Diego: http://www.ucsd.edu
Thanks to University of California - San Diego for this article.
This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.
This press release has been viewed 43 time(s).
Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126925/Rewriting_a_receptor_s_role
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 Country singer Mindy McCready delivered 15 sets of car keys to tornado victims on behalf of 1-800-Charity Cars during a presentation at the First Baptist Church of Paisley in 2007. (Tom Benitez, Orlando Sentinel / February 15, 2007) |
February 20, 2013
Mindy McCready may have been recognized nationally as a country music singer after her 1996 debut single "Ten Thousand Angels," but to many Lake residents she will be remembered for the empathy she showed in the aftermath of killer tornadoes in February 2007.
McCready ? who died Sunday of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound at her Arkansas home ? handed over the keys of 15 free automobiles to east Lake victims after a tornado outbreak that killed 21 people and destroyed several homes and automobiles. McCready appeared on behalf of the nonprofit 1-800-Charity Cars, which provided the cars.
Robert Lee Hicks, 56, said McCready helped put a roof back over his head after his home was blown away.
"I was literally staying in a tent on the property. Charity Cars actually donated a motor home to me, so I was out of the weather," Hicks recalled this week. "I couldn't believe somebody of her stature would come down and help somebody like me. At the time I literally had nothing."
McCready cried as she gave away the cars, saying, "Nothing could replace what you lost. Nothing could ever be good enough. But we hope that this is a start."
Said Doris Thomas, 54, of Lake Mack: "It was like she was an angel sent from God the way she helped us."
mdavidson@tribune.com or 352-742-5930
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/orlandosentinel/news/local/lake/~3/tCugQZUD2fw/story01.htm
FILE - In this April 23, 2008 file photo, five-month-old baby girls are held by workers at an orphanage in Bac Ninh province, near Hanoi, Vietnam. Vietnam and the United States are close to an agreement allowing Americans to adopt Vietnamese children again, five years after a ban was imposed amid allegations of baby-selling and babies offered without parents' consent, a visiting U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La, said Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2013. Vietnam was a popular destination for prospective adoptive parents before Washington imposed the ban in 2008 following a U.S. investigation. (AP Photo/Chitose Suzuki, File)
FILE - In this April 23, 2008 file photo, five-month-old baby girls are held by workers at an orphanage in Bac Ninh province, near Hanoi, Vietnam. Vietnam and the United States are close to an agreement allowing Americans to adopt Vietnamese children again, five years after a ban was imposed amid allegations of baby-selling and babies offered without parents' consent, a visiting U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La, said Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2013. Vietnam was a popular destination for prospective adoptive parents before Washington imposed the ban in 2008 following a U.S. investigation. (AP Photo/Chitose Suzuki, File)
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) ? Vietnam and the United States are close to an agreement allowing Americans to adopt Vietnamese children again, five years after a ban was imposed amid allegations of baby-selling and babies offered without parents' consent, a visiting U.S. senator said.
Vietnam was a popular destination for prospective adoptive parents before Washington imposed the ban in 2008 following a U.S. investigation.
Senators and adoption lobby groups have been urging Vietnam to pass stronger laws and better monitor the process so that adoptions can resume. A leading advocate, Sen. Mary Landrieu, said Vietnam now has safeguards in place to resume adoptions, including a central authority overseeing the process.
"The government of Vietnam seems to be willing to restart, and there are just some final details to be worked out with the government of the United States," the Democrat from Louisiana told reporters late Wednesday in Hanoi, Vietnam's capital. "We hope that it will be in the near future."
Demand for inter-country adoptions has risen in recent years, especially by prospective parents in the United States. For singles wanting a child, or couples unable or unwilling to conceive, the idea of adopting a foreign baby from an orphanage in a poor country is attractive. But programs in several developing countries like Haiti and Guatemala have been beset by scandals and allegations of baby-selling.
A U.N.-commissioned report into adoptions in Vietnam in 2009 said the demand from prospective parents, most of them in the United States, had essentially created a supply of young babies. Cash payments by adoption agencies to orphanages led them to seek out children for adoption abroad, often without proper checks into their background or their family circumstances.
"The availability of children who are adoptable abroad corresponds more to the existence of foreign prospective adopters than to the actual needs of abandoned and orphaned children," the report said.
Landrieu, the mother of two adopted children and the wife of a man adopted from overseas, said "there was no perfect system," but that the urgent need of children living in institutions needed to be considered.
"There is always going to be a possibility of something going wrong, but just because one or two or three or a handful of cases is not handled right, it doesn't mean that you shouldn't have an opportunity for kids to have families," said Landrieu, who was among a group of four U.S. senators visiting Vietnam.
Vietnamese government spokesman Luong Thanh Nghi said that "Vietnamese law has had clear regulations on the process and procedures on Vietnamese children adopted by foreign families."
Asked whether an agreement with the United States was close, he said that "the two sides were continuing to consider."
In September last year, officials from Ireland and Vietnam signed an agreement to restart adoptions, which were halted in 2009.
Partly as a result of fears over baby-selling scandals, the number of international adoptions has fallen to its lowest point in 15 years. Globally, the number of orphans being adopted by foreign parents dropped from a high of 45,000 in 2004 to an estimated 25,000 last year, according to annual statistics compiled by Peter Selman, an expert on international adoptions at Britain's Newcastle University.
Associated Press
