The top-ranked programs give students lots of exposure to the global economy.
Also: 
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Stop saving for retirement
A novel retirement strategy lets people spend on cruises and other indulgences without a loss of income. » The catch
Also: Seven tax-filing money savers
You may qualify for IRS programs that offer free tax preparation and advice.
Also: Don't fall for these ten scams
These tips will protect you against online-shopping fraud and high-pressure pitches.
Also: America's top restaurants
The chef at the top spot failed in New York before finding success out West.
Also: Thailand Tried to Barter Chickens for Fighter Jets
Not that there’s anything wrong with a lot of frozen chickens — even 80,000 tons of chicken. It’s just that Lockheed Martin wanted a more transferable currency for its F-16 fighter jets:For the embassy in Bangkok, winning achieved two goals: helping Lockheed and keeping the Russians from selling planes. There was, however, a small complication with the terms — the Thai government didn’t want to pay cash. Instead, it proposed trading 80,000 stockpiled tons of frozen chicken.
“Embassy contacts said that until Lockheed Martin offered a proposal to sell F-16s that included countertrade, the (Thai government) could not seriously consider its offer. Contacts also suggested that an offer that included an agreement to buy Thai chicken would be especially welcome,” the embassy said in a March 2005 cable setting the scene for the competition.
'Slumdog' star's home destroyed
Rubina Ali's one-room shack and family belongings are consumed in a Mumbai slum fire.
Also: Thieves Break Into Prison
A prison break usually involves someone wanting to get out, but someone actually broke into New Plymouth Prison in New Zealand Friday night. Firefighters responded to a blaze in the prison administration building and found the curtains on fire. Police were called because the window was found to have been forced open. A 50″ plasma screen TV set was missing.The level of security at the prison varies from building to building, according to the Corrections Department website.
The old jailhouse is surrounded by a large stone wall topped with razor wire, while a newer unit is surrounded by a fence topped with barbed wire.
Security measures include searches, dog teams, electronic security devices, cameras and closed circuit television.
Eric Clapton spotted doing his own washing in public launderette
If you want a job done properly, sometimes you simply have to do it yourself. But you’d think Eric Clapton, with a £125million fortune, would leave his washing to someone else these days. Or at the very least, have a laundry to do it in. But Slowhand doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty on wash day.
The 62-year-old singer and guitarist was seen in a laundrette near his Los Angeles home, bundling towels into a washing machine and then waiting around before shoving them in a dryer. In baggy jeans, brown jacket and trainers, he looked like any other customer with a pile of washing on his to-do list. And he transported the lot in a £5 mesh carrier bag.
According to the Sunday Times Rich List, Clapton is the 18th richest musician in Britain. He has built his fortune on decades as one of the world’s most talented guitar players. ‘I could not believe it was Eric Clapton and I would not have looked twice unless I was a huge fan,’ said an onlooker who spotted him cooling his heels between the rinse and spin cycle.
‘I have no idea why somebody like him would be in here. Maybe his washing machine is broken and he just needed to do some laundry. Then again he could just enjoy coming to the laundrette, a lot of people enjoy having a chat when they do their washing.’
The 62-year-old singer and guitarist was seen in a laundrette near his Los Angeles home, bundling towels into a washing machine and then waiting around before shoving them in a dryer. In baggy jeans, brown jacket and trainers, he looked like any other customer with a pile of washing on his to-do list. And he transported the lot in a £5 mesh carrier bag.
According to the Sunday Times Rich List, Clapton is the 18th richest musician in Britain. He has built his fortune on decades as one of the world’s most talented guitar players. ‘I could not believe it was Eric Clapton and I would not have looked twice unless I was a huge fan,’ said an onlooker who spotted him cooling his heels between the rinse and spin cycle.
‘I have no idea why somebody like him would be in here. Maybe his washing machine is broken and he just needed to do some laundry. Then again he could just enjoy coming to the laundrette, a lot of people enjoy having a chat when they do their washing.’
Take a ride in a flying zeppelin
The last zeppelin in the U.S. caught fire in a notorious disaster, but that's not a worry today.
Also: Spitfire makes anniversary flight
A Spitfire has taken to the skies over its birthplace to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the first flight of the world famous aircraft.The Thirteen Most Famous Trains In The World's History
Trains have been around longer than planes and automobiles and they carry a special charm into the world of transportation. They were present when the West was conquered and the railways were the predecessors of civilization in many parts of the world.
Here are the most famous trains remembered in the history of our society.
Kenyan Villagers Turn Invasive Plant into Moneymaker
Lake Victoria.
Photo: Lukas Bergstrom / Creative Commons.
The rapid growth of invasive water hyacinths has taken a serious toll on Kenya's Lake Victoria, creating inhospitable conditions for the fish local people depend on, while sheltering other unwelcome guests: disease-carrying snails and deadly snakes. But with a little help from a U.S.-based organization, villagers living near the lake are turning this environmental crisis into an economic opportunity.Article continues: Kenyan Villagers Turn Invasive Plant into Moneymaker
The Research Station At The End Of The World
Concordia
These pictures could easily be publicity stills from a new science fiction blockbuster set on an ice bound planet circling a distant sun. It is, however, the Concordia Research Station which is located on the Antarctic Plateau in Antartcica - the largest desert in the world. It is one of only three research stations on the plateau to operate permanently on a year round basis.
Icing the Medieval Warm Period
photo: Hans Splinter/Creative Commons
The following is a post from Skeptical Science by Daniel Bailey"It's cold out!" Not strange to hear that during the winter, here in the Northern Hemisphere. But strange to hear that raised as an objection in the warming world in which we live today. How much warmer it's going to get and what are the related impacts is what science is currently debating.
One of the commonly raised objections from those who would have us debate even the existence of gravity is that "It was warmer in the Medieval Warm Period." This is an innocent, but untrue, claim clearly unsupported by the available literature. Indeed, MartÃn-Chivelet et al reveals the 20th Century as the time with highest surface temperatures of the last 4000 years.
Article continues: Icing the Medieval Warm Period
Science News
The warming arctic leads to colder northern hemosphere winters
Science proves listening to music is good for you
Science proves listening to music is good for you
Scientist claims discovery of alien bacteria in ancient meteorites
A NASA scientist, publishing his findings on Friday, March 4 in the March edition of the Journal of Cosmology, believes he has found evidence of alien life in ancient meteorites.
Want a shark's tooth?
What big teeth you have! This jaw, containing 182 teeth, is 11 feet wide and over 8 feet high and was made from resin scaled up from a Great White jaw set. The teeth, measuring up to 7 5/8 inches along the diagonal, come from the megaladon, an extinct species of predaceous shark that could grow to the length of two city buses. The late scuba diver and fossil collector, Vito Bartucci, spent sixteen years collecting the right teeth to create the world’s largest jaw set. The specimens were found mostly in the rivers of South Carolina and surrounding Mid-Atlantic states and were arranged in the jaw in four rows – the better to eat you with. The jaw set will be going up for auction in Dallas with an opening price of $625,000.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
The Daily Drift
The Daily Drift
Today's horoscope says:Even if you don't finalize all the details you wanted to finalize today, you are making headway toward a great goal.
As you advance on this project, think of other people who either will benefit from what you are doing or can get involved and help you get to the finish line faster.
Today is a day to rally the troops and remember what you are doing all of this for.
Keep your eyes on the prize.
Some of our readers today have been in:
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
London, England, United Kingdom
Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei and Muara, Brunei Darussalam
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Santander, Cantabria, Spain
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Hamburg, Hamburg, germany
Reutlingen, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Doha, Ad Dawhah, Qatar
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
Olongapo, Olongapo, Philippines
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Georgetown, Ontario, Canada
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
London, England, United Kingdom
Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei and Muara, Brunei Darussalam
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Santander, Cantabria, Spain
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Hamburg, Hamburg, germany
Reutlingen, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Doha, Ad Dawhah, Qatar
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
Olongapo, Olongapo, Philippines
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Georgetown, Ontario, Canada
as well as Slovakia, Malta, Bulgaria, Israel, Finland, Austria, Norway, Georgia, Mexico, Peru, Kuwait, Serbia, Bangladesh, Latvia, Greece, Scotland, Hong Kong, Denmark, Wales, Iran, Singapore, Poland, Taiwan, Sweden, Afghanistan, Belgium, Tibet, Croatia, Pakistan, Romania, Paraguay, Sudan, Vietnam, Argentina, Cambodia, Egypt, France, Estonia, Puerto Rico, Maldives, Qatar, Brazil, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates, Slovenia, China, Iraq, Ecuador, Nigeria, Colombia, Chile, Honduras, Paupa New Guinea, Moldova, Venezuela, Germany, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Czech Republic, Vietnam, Norway, Finland and in cities across the United States such as Arcadia, Tampa, Miami, Daytona and more.
Today is:
Today is Saturday, March 5, the 64th day of 2011.
There are 301 days left in the year.
Today's unusual holiday or celebration is:
Potty Dance Day.
Don't forget to visit our sister blog!
President Obama's Weekly Address
Remarks of President Barack Obama
As Prepared for Delivery
Miami, Florida
March 5, 2011
As Prepared for Delivery
Miami, Florida
March 5, 2011
But in a larger sense, this is a moment when we’ve all got to do what the students and teachers are doing here. We’ve got to step up our game.
Our top priority right now has to be creating new jobs and opportunities in a fiercely competitive world. And this week, we received very good news on that front. We learned that the unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level in nearly two years as our economy added another 222,000 private sector jobs last month.
Now, we have a lot more work to do, not just for the Americans who still don’t have a job, but for the millions more who still don’t have the right job or all the work they need to live out the American Dream. But the progress we’re seeing says something about the determination and ingenuity of our people and our businesses. What’s also helping to fuel this economic growth are the tax cuts that Democrats and Republicans came together to pass in December and I signed into law – tax cuts that are already making Americans’ paychecks bigger and allowing businesses to write off their investments, freeing up more money for job creation.
Just as both parties cooperated on tax relief that is now fueling job growth, we need to come together around a budget that cuts spending without slowing our economic momentum. We need a government that lives within its means without sacrificing job-creating investments in education, innovation, and infrastructure.
The budget I sent to Congress makes these investments, but it also includes a 5-year spending freeze, and it will reduce our deficits by $1 trillion over the next decade. In fact, the cuts I’ve proposed would bring annual domestic spending to its lowest share of the economy under any president in more than 50 years.
Over the last few weeks, Members of Congress have been debating their own proposals. And I was pleased that Democrats and Republicans in Congress came together a few days ago and passed a plan to cut spending and keep the government running for two more weeks. Still, we can’t do business two weeks at a time. It’s not responsible, and it threatens the progress our economy has been making. We’ve got to keep that momentum going.
We need to come together, Democrats and Republicans, around a long-term budget that sacrifices wasteful spending without sacrificing the job-creating investments in our future. My administration has already put forward specific cuts that meet congressional Republicans halfway. And I’m prepared to do more. But we’ll only finish the job together – by sitting at the same table, working out our differences, and finding common ground. That’s why I’ve asked Vice President Biden and members of my Administration to meet with leaders of Congress going forward.
Getting our fiscal house in order can’t just be something we use as cover to do away with things we dislike politically. And it can’t just be about how much we cut. It’s got to be about how we cut and how we invest. We’ve got to be smart about it. Because if we cut back on the kids I’ve met here and their education, for example, we’d be risking the future of an entire generation of Americans. And there’s nothing responsible about that.
We’ve got to come together to put America back on a fiscally sustainable course – and make sure that when it comes to the economy of the 21st century, our children and our country are better-prepared than anyone else in the world to take it on. Our future depends on it. That’s not a Democratic or a Republican challenge – that’s an American challenge. And I’m confident it’s one we’ll meet. Thanks for listening.
It's The Economy Stupid
This guy is walking with his friend, who happens to be a economist. He says to this friend, "I'm a walking economy."
The friend asks, "How so?"
"My hair line is in recession, my stomach is a victim of inflation, and both of these together are putting me into a deep depression!"
The friend asks, "How so?"
"My hair line is in recession, my stomach is a victim of inflation, and both of these together are putting me into a deep depression!"
Retail jobs are disappearing as shoppers adjust to self-service
In an industry that employs nearly 1 in 10 Americans and has long been a reliable job generator, companies increasingly are looking to peddle more products with fewer employees.
It's a time of sacrifice after all ...
Salary of House/Senate...$174,000.
Salary of Speaker of House...$223,500.
Salary of Majority/Minority Leaders...$193,400.
Average US Salary...$33,000 to $77,000.
Maybe our elected officials should make an average salary too ...
It's a time of sacrifice after all ...
Wisconsin: The Teabaggers' Waterloo?
Don't celebrate quite yet, but repugican support for Scott Walker's budget bill is fraying.
Bad Cops
Kansas police officer charged with sexual battery
Florida schools police officer arrested
New Jersey cop is charged with official misconduct
Massachusetts police officer pleads guilty in injury scam
Ex-Alabama police officer sentenced to 33 months for gun-dealing scheme
Ex-NYPD cop/karate teacher gets nearly 22 years for molestation
Virginia police officer charged with sexual assault
Interpol alert over Gaddafi regime
Interpol has issued a worldwide alert against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and 15 of his close associates as the international community continued to ratchet up the pressure on the Libyan dictator.
Weight-loss scams
Learn how to spot them
Lose 10 pounds in ten days!
Melt away fat as you sleep !
Eat as much as you want and still lose weight!
Sound too good to be true?
It's a safe bet that anything promising quick results without the work means that your wallet - not your body - will be lighter.
Blair River, 575-pound spokesman for Heart Attack Grill dead at 29
The nearly 600-pound man who gained fame as spokesman for the Heart Attack Grill –a Phoenix-area restaurant that prides itself in serving excessively unhealthy food – is dead at the age of 29. Blair River's official cause of death is currently not known, but friends say he contracted pneumonia after a bout with the flu. He died on Tuesday.
The 6-foot-8, 575 pound man is being remembered as an energetic, creative, gentle giant. "Cynical people might think this (River's death) is funny," the restaurant's founder Jon Basso said. "But people who knew him are crying their eyes out. There is a lot of mourning going on around here. You couldn't have found a better person."
At the Heart Attack Grill, scantily-clad women dressed as nurses unabashedly serve its customers high-caloric food. The menu touts its 8,000-calorie quadruple bypass burger, “flatliner fries” fried in “pure lard,” a “butterfat shake,” and no-filter cigarettes. On the restaurant's website, River appears in a commercial that brags that if you're over 350 pounds, you eat for free. A sign in front of the building says, “Caution: This establishment is bad for your health,” and the restaurant's motto is “taste worth dying for.”
Basso said River—an Arizona state high school heavyweight wrestling champ -- was the creative genius behind the restaurant. "Even if he was skinny we would have given him the job," Basso said. "We would have just put a fat suit on him. He just had personality."
The 6-foot-8, 575 pound man is being remembered as an energetic, creative, gentle giant. "Cynical people might think this (River's death) is funny," the restaurant's founder Jon Basso said. "But people who knew him are crying their eyes out. There is a lot of mourning going on around here. You couldn't have found a better person."
At the Heart Attack Grill, scantily-clad women dressed as nurses unabashedly serve its customers high-caloric food. The menu touts its 8,000-calorie quadruple bypass burger, “flatliner fries” fried in “pure lard,” a “butterfat shake,” and no-filter cigarettes. On the restaurant's website, River appears in a commercial that brags that if you're over 350 pounds, you eat for free. A sign in front of the building says, “Caution: This establishment is bad for your health,” and the restaurant's motto is “taste worth dying for.”
Basso said River—an Arizona state high school heavyweight wrestling champ -- was the creative genius behind the restaurant. "Even if he was skinny we would have given him the job," Basso said. "We would have just put a fat suit on him. He just had personality."
Hazelnuts Linked to Three-State E. Coli Outbreak
Three states and the federal government are investigating an outbreak of E. coli linked to in-shell hazelnuts purchased from bulk food bins at grocery stores.
Woman smashes bottles at liquor store
Police say a woman at a suburban New York liquor store swept her arm through a shelf of high-priced booze, smashing $1,600 worth onto the floor because she felt a clerk was taking too long to wait on her.
Ten Things You May Not Have Known About Dr. Seuss And His Books
Why Some Countries Drive On The Right And Others On The Left?
In some countries people drive on the left side of the road. This strange quirk perplexes the rest of the world; but there is a perfectly good reason.
In the past, almost everybody travelled on the left side of the road because that was the most sensible option for feudal, violent societies. Since most people are right-handed, swordsmen preferred to keep to the left in order to have their right arm nearer to an opponent and their scabbard further from him. Moreover, it reduced the chance of the scabbard hitting other people.
And I Quote
“Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, ‘Where have I gone wrong?’
Then a voice says to me, ‘This is going to take more than one night.’”
~ Charlie Brown
Requests work better than orders
... even when we're asking or ordering ourselves
In a set of three experiments, Ibrahim Senay from the University of Illinois has shown that people do better at a simple task if ask themselves whether they'll do it than if they simply tell themselves to do so. Even a simple reversal of words - "Will I" compared to "I will" - can boost motivation and performance.
Therapists and managers alike are taught to ask people open questions that prompt them to think about problems for themselves, rather than having solutions imposed upon them. Senay's work suggests that this approach would work even if we're counseling or managing ourselves. When we question ourselves about our deeds and choices, we're more likely to consider our motivations for doing something and feel like we're in control of our actions. The effect is small but significant.
Beat Deafness
A Man Lost in Musical Time
Everyone has a friend that dances to their own rhythm -- and no one else's.
Now researchers have a theory why that is.
Higgs is Still Hiding in Quantum Haystack
When looking for a needle in a haystack, what's the best method for finding said needle?
One method would be to find where the needle isn't hiding.
Early microscopes offered sharp vision
Images from the first microscopes were clearer than was once believed.
A flea, as seen through an eighteenth-century microscope used poorly (left) and correctly (right).
Whipple Museum of the History of Science
The first microscopes were a lot better than they are usually given credit for. That's the claim of microscopist Brian Ford, a specialist in the history and development of these instruments based at the University of Cambridge, UK.
The Power Of Color
40 Colorful Bird Photos
Bird photography is one of the most popular parts of nature photography. Of course the most colorful birds you see don't live in your backyard.
Here are 40 colorful bird photos.
Businessman Spends $310,000 To Clone His Beloved Dogs
Peter Onruang love for his deceased dogs , Wolfie and Bubble, seems to know no bounds. Peter paid a South Korean biotechnology company a whopping $310,000 to clone them.The first clones should be available in the next 6-months. It’s very possible that he may get more than one clone of Wolfie the dog. If does he plans to name them all Wolfie.
Peter also hopes that one day he can clone himself.
“If I had an opportunity to clone myself, I’d do it right now,” Onruang says. “Because it’s me… I’m raising myself. I already know exactly my strengths and weaknesses. This person is gonna be the new and improved me, and would live the life I’ve always wanted to live.”
Canned cow farts offer 'authentic smell of countryside'
Farting and burping cows may have been blamed for global warming but they also provide an unmistakable countryside aroma that is now being canned and sold over the internet.
Tins filled with the air sucked out of an aging wooden stable, straw lined and filled with gas producing cattle has become an instant hit after it went on sale in Germany. Managers of the "Countryside air to go" project say their clients are mainly country people who have moved to the city and want to be reminded of home.
The cans cost £5 a time and can be ordered from the web site www.stallduft.de (Barnyyard Air) "Simply put your nose to the tin and peel back the lid for the authentic smell of the country" boasts one advert for the service.
Designer Daniela Dorrer from the village of Adlkofen in Bavaria in Germany said: "We hope to make people who miss the countryside happy and remind them of home. We are planning other smells such as horse, straw, pigs and manure. But most people miss the smell of the cows in the country, not really surprising as much of the smell is from cows."
Tins filled with the air sucked out of an aging wooden stable, straw lined and filled with gas producing cattle has become an instant hit after it went on sale in Germany. Managers of the "Countryside air to go" project say their clients are mainly country people who have moved to the city and want to be reminded of home.
The cans cost £5 a time and can be ordered from the web site www.stallduft.de (Barnyyard Air) "Simply put your nose to the tin and peel back the lid for the authentic smell of the country" boasts one advert for the service.
Designer Daniela Dorrer from the village of Adlkofen in Bavaria in Germany said: "We hope to make people who miss the countryside happy and remind them of home. We are planning other smells such as horse, straw, pigs and manure. But most people miss the smell of the cows in the country, not really surprising as much of the smell is from cows."
Does your canine companion need to go on a doggie diet?
A harsh Minnesota winter may have kept many dogs from getting walked, but not from eating treats.
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