Morbid Anatomy Library and Observatory, Open Studios, Next Weekend, October 13-14, 12-6

Posted on by


Next weekend, October 13th and 14th, please join the Morbid Anatomy Library and Observatory as we join dozens of other Gowanus-based galleries and artist studios in opening our spaces to the public for the Gowanus Artists Studio Tour, or "A.G.A.S.T."

So stop by to say hello, peruse the stacks, take a gander at the skeleton, join us in a glass of cheap red wine, and take in some "spirit art!"

Following are the full details: Hope very much to see you there.

Gowanus Artists Studio Tour (A.G.A.S.T.)
Saturday October 13th and Sunday October 14th 12-6
543 Union Street at Nevins, Brooklyn
Free and Open to the Public

Directions: Enter the Morbid Anatomy Library and Observatory via Proteus Gowanus Gallery

R or M train to Union Street in Brooklyn: Walk two long blocks on Union (towards the Gowanus Canal) to Nevins Street. 543 Union Street is the large red brick building on right. Go right on Nevins and left down alley through large black gates. Gallery is the second door on the left.

F or G train to Carroll Street: Walk one block to Union. Turn right, walk two long blocks on Union towards the Gowanus Canal, cross the bridge, take left on Nevins, go down the alley to the second door on the left.

You can find out more information about A.G.A.S.T., and get a full list of participants, by clicking here. You can find out more about Observatory and the exhibition now on view by clicking here.

Photo of The Morbid Anatomy Library by Shannon Taggart.

Source:
http://morbidanatomy.blogspot.com/2012/10/morbid-anatomy-library-and-observatory.html

Company Recalls Nutrition Bars

Posted on by

U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Nearly 80 Types of Peanut, Almond Butter Recalled

Several Crunch brand and Ridge Bar brand nutrition bars are being recalled due to possible health risk, Creative Energy Foods, Inc., announced Friday.

The nutrition bars being recalled include Crunch thinkThin varieties in the following flavors: Mixed Nuts; White Chocolate Dipped Mixed Nuts; Chocolate Dipped Mixed Nuts; Caramel Dipped Mixed Nuts; Cherry & Mixed Nuts; Blueberry & Mixed Nuts; and Cranberry Apple & Mixed Nuts.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the recalled products were sold at retail chain stores nationwide between March 2010 and October 12, 2012.

The nutrition bars are being voluntarily pulled from shelves because they contain blanched roasted peanuts supplied by Sunland, Inc., that may be contaminated with Salmonella.

Salmonella can cause serious and fatal infections. Symptoms include, but are not limited to, fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.

The other nutrition bars being recalled by Creative Energy Foods are Ridge Bar brand bars in the Peanut Butter Crunch flavor. These too contain blanched roasted peanuts supplied to CEF by Sunland, Inc., that may be contaminated with Salmonella. The only Ridge Bar products included in this recall are those sold online.

No illnesses have been associated with the Crunch or Ridge Bar products to date.

Consumers who have these products should not consume them and should dispose of them.

Originally posted here:
Company Recalls Nutrition Bars

State of Education: Biology students using 3D technology in the classroom

Posted on by

Updated10/12/2012 05:00 AM

Students are Broadalbin-Perth High School are using 3D technology to learn. Vince Gallagher has the details.

To view our videos, you need to enable JavaScript. Learn how. install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now. Then come back here and refresh the page.

The shades are on during this biology class at Broadalbin-Perth High School. The reason...3D technology.

Biology teach Brian Henry said, "It's been nothing short of spectacular in regards to teaching certain elements of biology and allowing students to view it in a completely different world."

Students viewed three dimensional models and instructional videos featuring, for example, the pumping of a human heart or photosynthesis.

Henry said, "The images pop out at them. They can almost reach out and touch them, and they are completely engaged from the minute they put their glasses on to the time the bell rings, and from an education standpoint you can't ask for anything more than that."

And that seems to be the case here. Upon first look, it's obviously different than a traditional learning tool we all know - the textbook.

Student Cody Husek said, "Being handed a diagram on a piece of paper and you're expected to look at it hard and look at the ventricles, I think it's a lot easier to get something out of it when you can see it on three dimension with something like this."

Henry said, "When you throw a 3D projection out there and the animations come to life, all of a sudden those kids that weren't engaged at one point are the first ones raising their hands, what's this all about, can we do this, etc."

Here is the original post:
State of Education: Biology students using 3D technology in the classroom

A closer look at the accused rogue chemist Annie Dookhan

Posted on by

As a girl and young woman, Annie Dookhan was quiet, unassuming, not one to wear makeup. She was charming but stood out more for her dedication to her studies, and by all accounts appeared headed for success.

The only child of hard-working immigrant parents, she enjoyed their pride as she glided through a prestigious Boston prep school, graduated from college with a degree in biochemistry and appeared headed for medical school.

Now, as she takes center stage in a shocking scandal that has sent the Massachusetts legal system into a tailspin, those familiar with her from school and work are struggling to reconcile the Annie Dookhan they knew with the chemist accused of falsifying criminal drug tests.

''I find it hard to believe that she was an individual who decided to falsify lab results ... that she would turn into someone who did something like that. ... That isn't the person I remember,'' said John Warner, an instructor who gave her A's and A-minuses in 2000 when she took his biochemistry class as a senior at the University of Massachusetts-Boston.

''Obviously, things can happen to people,'' he said. ''Either something happened in her life that changed the person that she is, or this is a deeper story.''

Dookhan's struggle with both personal and professional problems in 2009 - including a miscarriage and a legal ruling that put new pressures on chemists at the lab - may help offer an explanation, one former co-worker said.

''Perhaps she was trying to be important by being the go-to person,'' Elizabeth O'Brien told state police, who shut down the lab in August after discovering the extent of Dookhan's alleged mishandling of drug samples sent to the lab by local police departments.

In her own interview with police, Dookhan said she had not tested all the drugs she claimed she did, forged initials of her co-workers, and sometimes mixed drug samples to cover her tracks.

''I messed up bad; it's my fault. I don't want the lab to get in trouble,'' she said, according to a state police report.

She faces as many as 20 years in prison on obstruction of justice charges. More than two dozen drug defendants are already back on the streets as authorities scramble to figure out how to handle the cases of more than 1,100 inmates whose cases Dookhan handled.

The rest is here:
A closer look at the accused rogue chemist Annie Dookhan

5 Things We Might Find On Justin Bieber’s Stolen Computer That He Doesn’t Want Us To See

Posted on by

October 11th, 2012 | 2:16 pm

The Biebs is bummed today. Yes, Justin Bieber, the young zillionaire (estimate), boyfriend of the mega-hot Selena Gomez and driver of a seriously badass car is super pissed off because someone stole his laptop and camera. Sure thats a pretty crappy thing to have happen, but for a little bit there we had a hard time figuring out why he was so mad. Surely the kid could afford to find a way to bring Steve Jobs back to life and ask him to personally build him a brand new one-of-a-kind super computer. Whats the problem? Then Justin posted a series of tweets, and it all started to come together. The comp and camera contained personal footage. Hmmm, our reading comprehension skill arent so great, but that sounds an awful lot like sex tape. JK! But not really.

Sucks when you take personal footage and people dont respect your privacy, he angrily wrote on twitter on Wednesday. Yesterday during the show me and my tour manager josh had some stuff stolen. really sucks. people should respect others property. I had a lot of personal footage on that computer and camera and that is what bothers me the most. #lame #norespect Things got even worse for the 18-year-old a few hours later when a nude photo surfaced that appeared the show his lower torso and his, err, Scooter Braun, if you catch our drift. However, his loyal band of Belieber fans are quick to point out that his belly button and nipples dont match those of the real Bieber. This may prove that the photos are fake, but definitely proves that these folks spend far too much time studying Justin Biebers nipples.

In any event, what is it that the Biebs is so reluctant for us to see? Sure everyone is imagining a sex tape with Selena, but the real answer could be a lot more innocent. Check out some potential things weve come up with:

1. His recipe for spaghetti and milk, which has been in the Bieber family for generations.

2. His old AIM screen-name from 5th grade: BiebzBoi163 (so embarrassing!).

3. Photos from his super secret family reunion with all of the other Canadian celebrities.

4. All the Vanessa Hudgens + hot searches in his Google history.

5. Video of him vomiting after a game of beer pong. (#lame #lightweight)

See original here:

5 Things We Might Find On Justin Bieber’s Stolen Computer That He Doesn’t Want Us To See

NASA signs deal to make astronaut drug available to combat motion sickness

Posted on by

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 20:03 EST, 13 October 2012 | UPDATED: 20:15 EST, 13 October 2012

Soon even those of us who never go faster than the posted speed limit will have access to the same motion sickness drug that helps astronauts deal with the rigors of being launched into orbit.

NASA has signed a deal with a California's Epiomed Therapeutics to develop a nasal spray for motion sickness, based on a drug already administered to astronauts.

About half the astronauts who go into space develop motion sickness, with sumptoms including nausea and feeling light-headed.

Dizzy: NASA developed a drug to combat motion sickness after 40 percent of astronauts reported symptoms

To help give astronauts combat the effects, NASA has developed afast-acting drug called intransal scopolamine, or INSCOP.

INSCOP can be taken as a tablet, transdermal patch, or injected but the most reliable method of administering the drug is with a nasal spray.

'NASA and Epiomed will work closely together on further development of INSCOP to optimize therapeutic efficiency for both acute and chronic treatment of motion sickness,' said NASA researcher Lakshmi Putcha, with the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Read more here:

NASA signs deal to make astronaut drug available to combat motion sickness

Amazing Aurora: Best Images From NASA's Suomi Satellite

Posted on by

This is one of the most interesting images of Earth from space I've seen in a long time. NASA's Suomi-NPP satellite captured this view earlier this month with the day-night band of one of its instruments. This sensor detects relatively low light signals from things like reflected moonlight, city lights, airglow and auroras.

If you think this image is as amazing as I do, this gallery contains some of the other beautiful views of Earth Suomi has brought us since it first started gathering data nearly a year ago, including some of the most beautiful "blue marble" shots of Earth you can ever hope to see.

Images and captions courtesy of NASA.

Above:

Overnight on October 4-5, 2012, a mass of energetic particles from the atmosphere of the Sun were flung out into space, a phenomenon known as a coronal mass ejection. Three days later, the storm from the Sun stirred up the magnetic field around Earth and produced gorgeous displays of northern lights. NASA satellites track such storms from their origin to their crossing of interplanetary space to their arrival in the atmosphere of Earth.

Using the day-night band (DNB) of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite acquired this view of the aurora borealis early on the morning of October 8, 2012. The northern lights stretch across Canadas Quebec and Ontario provinces in the image, and are part of the auroral oval that expanded to middle latitudes because of a geomagnetic storm.

The DNB sensor detects dim light signals such as auroras, airglow, gas flares, city lights, and reflected moonlight. In the case of the image above, the sensor detected the visible light emissions as energetic particles rained down from Earths magnetosphere and into the gases of the upper atmosphere. The images are similar to those collected by the Operational Linescan System flown on U.S. Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites for the past three decades. When I first saw images like this as a graduate student, I was immediately struck by the fluid dynamic characteristics of the aurora, said Tom Moore, a space physicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Viewing the aurora in this way makes it immediately clear that space weather is an interaction of fluids from the Sun with those of the Earth's upper atmosphere. The electrodynamics make for important differences between plasmas and ordinary fluids, but familiar behaviors (for example, waves and vortices) are still very apparent. It makes me wonder at the ability of apparently empty space to behave like a fluid.

Auroras typically occur when solar flares and coronal mass ejectionsor even an active solar wind streamdisturb and distort the magnetosphere, the cocoon of space protected by Earths magnetic field. The collision of solar particles and pressure into our planets magnetosphere accelerates particles trapped in the space around Earth (such as in the radiation belts). Those particles are sent crashing down into Earths upper atmosphereat altitudes of 100 to 400 kilometers (60 to 250 miles)where they excite oxygen and nitrogen molecules and release photons of light. The results are rays, sheets, and curtains of dancing light in the sky.

Auroras are a beautiful expression of the connection between Sun and Earth, but not all of the connections are benign. Auroras are connected to geomagnetic storms, which can distort radio communications (particularly high frequencies), disrupt electric power systems on the ground, and give slight but detectable doses of radiation to flight crews and passengers on high-latitude airplane flights and on spacecraft.

The advantage of images like those from VIIRS and DMSP is resolution, according to space physicist Patrick Newell of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. You can see very fine detail in the aurora because of the low altitude and the high resolution of the camera, he said. Most aurora scientists prefer to use images from missions dedicated to aurora studies (such as Polar, IMAGE, and ground-based imagers), which can offer many more images of a storm (rather than one per orbit) and can allow researchers to calculate the energy moving through the atmosphere. There are no science satellites flying right now that provide such a view, though astronauts regularly photograph and film auroras from the International Space Station.

Read more:

Amazing Aurora: Best Images From NASA's Suomi Satellite

Iran mass producing over 35 nano-tech laboratory equipments

Posted on by

Source: ISNA, Tehran

According to The Secretary of Iran's Nanotechnology Initiative Council, Saeed Sarkar, Iran has been mass producing more than 35 types of nanotechnology laboratory equipments designed and made by Iranian researchers.

Iran's Nanotechnology Initiative Council Iran Nano 2012 was held October 4-8 in in Tehran

In an interview with ISNA, Sarkar, stressing on lack of laboratory equipments as one of the barriers of technology development, stated, Western countries had presumed that by imposing sanctions against Iran they are able to prevent it from developing the new technology, but the Nanotechnology Initiative Council identified the necessary advanced equipments and planed for their production in order to overcome the obstacles.

Iran currently stands at the 9th place in international ranking of nanoscience and technology production, the Secretary of Iran's Nanotechnology Initiative Council said and added, the country has succeeded in design and mass production of more than 35 kinds of advanced nanotechnology devices.

Various Iranian industries including laboratory equipments, antibacterial strings, power station filters and construction industries have employed domestic nanotechnology productions.

... Payvand News - 10/13/12 ... --

Read more from the original source:

Iran mass producing over 35 nano-tech laboratory equipments

Can Homeopathy Treat Domestic Violence?

Posted on by

A professional alternative medicine practitioner claims that homeopathy can be used to treat anxiety, aggression, and even domestic violence.

Homeopathy was invented around 1796 by a doctor named Samuel Hahnemann. He believed that a small dose of a substance will cure whatever symptoms it would cause in a high dose.

ANALYSIS: Homeopathy's Ineffectiveness Saves Lives

Hahnemann also invented a "law of infinitessimals," claiming that a substance becomes more potent the more it is diluted -- a premise which defies both common sense and the laws of physics.

Homeopathic solutions are often so literally watered-down that they don't contain a single molecule of the original medicine or substance: the patient is drinking nothing but water. Yet many homeopathic practitioners insist that it is safe and effective for a wide variety of problems -- including domestic violence.

The article, "Homeopathy for Domestic Violence and Abuse," was written by a woman named Binal Master, who lists her medical qualifications as having "a Bachelor of Homoeopathy Medicine and Surgery" from a homeopathic medical college in Mumbai, India. Her article appears on several homeopathic and alternative medicine web sites, including homeopathyplus.com, based in Australia.

HOWSTUFFWORKS: Alternative Treatments for Dogs

Master writes, "The seeds of violence and abuse arise from insecurities faced in day-to-day lives, in love, relationships and work, and from feelings of neglect and isolation. .... This can lead to feelings of grief, displeasure, guilt, inferiority, jealousy and anger, resulting in physical aggression.... After careful case taking and analyzing the case, the homeopathic physician decides on the remedy which suits the patients needs. Other therapies like yoga, meditation, music therapy, dance therapy, hypnotherapy, anger management, and family therapy are available as adjuncts. Some cases are due to psychiatric disorders such as antisocial personality, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Homeopathy has been found effective in such cases also, where it gives people a second chance to adapt to society and live within the community.... Homeopathy is a safe and effective way to treat the victims as well as the culprits of domestic violence."

Master is claiming that victims of domestic violence and their abusers can be effectively treated by drinking waterpossibly in conjunction with meditation or dance therapy.

Excerpt from:

Can Homeopathy Treat Domestic Violence?

Puppet helps out medical experts

Posted on by

Special to The Chronicle-Journal

Sunday, October 14, 2012 - 08:00

Puppeteering 101 may not be a class offered in medical school, but perhaps it should be. As part of a large medical conference held in Thunder Bay over the past week, medical students and professionals from all over the world had the chance to tour the pediatric surgery ward at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. The tour on Saturday included a visit with Sam Purple, a puppet that . . .

(For full story and picture, see today's newsprint edition of The Chronicle-Journal).

Continued here:

Puppet helps out medical experts

Health tax increase a ‘yes or no’ vote on medical school, UT says

Posted on by

Raising the stakes on a proposed property tax increase, the University of Texas has declared that its approval next month by Travis County voters is essential for establishing a medical school in Austin.

For us, this is a yes or no proposition, said Steven Leslie, UTs executive vice president and provost, in a memo to faculty and staff members that was obtained by the American-Statesman. Without a complete and reliable source of new funding, we will not be able to start a medical school.

Taxpayers in other Texas communities have helped finance medical schools and teaching hospitals through various means, but the proposal by Central Health, Travis Countys hospital district, differs in two important ways.

One, voters must first approve a 63 percent increase in their property taxes for health care, going from 7.89 cents to 12.9 cents per $100 of assessed value. No other medical school in Texas has hinged on raising local property taxes.

Two, a specific amount of the estimated $54 million a year in new tax revenue $35 million would be permanently earmarked for services provided to needy patients by the medical schools faculty and residents, who are physicians in training.

The tax is the final piece of a plan that has been under discussion for several years but that has not coalesced until recent months.

Building and operating the medical school for the first 12 years would cost $4.1 billion, according to UT-Austins cost estimates. The UT System Board of Regents has committed at least $25 million a year in endowment proceeds, plus $5 million a year for eight years to buy equipment. The nonprofit Seton Healthcare Family, which already spends $45 million to sponsor an academic education program, has tentatively committed $250 million to build a new teaching hospital to replace University Medical Center Brackenridge, which Central Health owns and Seton operates.

If Proposition 1 passes, the average Travis County homeowner would pay an extra $107.40 in 2014, for an average health care tax bill of $276.79. That prospect has aroused opposition from those who say UT should pay the full cost of its medical school.

Saying you have to pay a property tax for us to build a medical school is unprecedented in Texas history, said Don Zimmerman, campaign treasurer of the Travis County Taxpayers Union political action committee, which formed to fight the ballot proposition.

But proponents and others say it reflects changing financial and political realities.

The rest is here:

Health tax increase a ‘yes or no’ vote on medical school, UT says

West Liberty Stuns No. 25 Shepherd

Posted on by

WEST LIBERTY - The resurgent West Liberty University football team snapped No. 25 Shepherd's five-game winning streak Saturday, hanging on for a 17-16 victory before a Homecoming crowd at Russek Field.

Leading 17-10 at halftime, Coach Roger Waialae's Hilltoppers (4-3 overall, 3-2 WVC) had held the nationally ranked Rams (5-2, 4-1) at bay throughout the second half with a strong defensive effort but had to survive a wild finish.

Shepherd had taken over at the West Liberty 34 with 1:59 remaining following a short Hilltoppers punt. A 19-yard pass from Bobby Cooper to Larry Lowe gave the Rams a first down at the 15 but two incompletions and an intentional grounding flag left the visitors facing a fourth-and-23 from the 28.

With no timeouts remaining, Cooper lobbed a desperation pass into a crowd at the back of the end zone. The ball was batted away by a WLU defensive back but fell right into the hands of Shepherd's Billy Brown for a touchdown, igniting a wild celebration on the Rams' sideline.

That celebration proved short-lived, however, as Ryan Earls' PAT kick twisted wide left, preserving West Liberty's 17-16 lead with just 1:33 to play. The Hilltoppers' Marco Ricchetti recovered an onside kick and the WLU offense ran out the clock to a standing ovation.

"I'm very proud of every one of my players and coaches," Waialae said. "After what we went through last year and some of our struggles early this season, this shows our program is headed back in the right direction. We told the guys all week that it was going to be a war out there and every play would be a battle. We weren't perfect and we didn't win them all but we won enough battles to win the war and that's all I care about."

The West Liberty defense, which leads the nation in interceptions and turnovers, opened the scoring with one of the most exciting plays of the season before the game was three minutes old.

Ricchetti intercepted a Cooper pass at the Shepherd 48, reversed his field twice and picked up a wall of blockers down the right sideline. The Rams appeared to have him hemmed in inside the 10 but the junior safety lateraled the ball to a trailing Rod White at the 6 and the Hilltoppers cornerback dove into the end zone for the score.

"Marco's runback set the tone," Waialae said. "Shepherd has been one of the top teams in this league for a long time but that showed we weren't going to back down and be conservative. We were going to make things happen."

Earls and WLU's Jeff Hoak traded field goals later in the first quarter and the Hilltoppers took a 10-3 edge into the second quarter.

Read the original post:

West Liberty Stuns No. 25 Shepherd

Liberty dominates Presbyterian 56-7

Posted on by

CLINTON, S.C. (AP) -- Aldreakis Allen and Sirchauncey Holloway combined for five rushing touchdowns to lead Liberty past Presbyterian 56-7 in a Big South Conference matchup Saturday.

Liberty (2-4, 2-0) got off to a fast start. On its opening drive, Holloway scored from 3 yards out, and then Allen extended the lead on its next possession with a 59-yard touchdown run. Allen finished with 183 yards on 13 carries, and Holloway added 128 yards on 12 carries.

The Flames scored on its first three possessions and jumped out to a 28-0 lead before Presbyterian could answer.

Presbyterian (2-5, 0-2) scored its only points of the game when Kaleb Griffin connected with Michael Ruff for 32 yards in the second quarter.

Liberty's defense stifled Presbyterian, getting six sacks, while holding them to just 56 yards rushing.

Liberty improved its overall record against Presbyterian to 6-4, and has now won four straight against the Blue Hose.

Read more here:

Liberty dominates Presbyterian 56-7

Liberty roars past Presbyterian 56-7

Posted on by

CLINTON The Presbyterian College football team fell in its Homecoming matchup against Liberty at Bailey Memorial Stadium on Saturday, 56-7.

Liberty (2-4, 2-0 Big South) gained 692 yards against PC (2-5, 0-2 Big South), who did not commit a fumble or interception on the day.

The Blue Hose head to Charleston Southern next for a 1:30 kickoff on Saturday. Liberty returns home to host Concord on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

Kaleb Griffin (Florence, S.C.) made his first career start at quarterback and delivered a solid performance, connecting on 28 of 38 attempts for 194 yards and a touchdown.

Lance Byrd (Jacksonville, Fla.) led PC on the ground with seven rushes for 33 yards while 10 different Blue Hose caught at least one pass. Michael Ruff (Whitmire, S.C.) led the receiving corps with 60 yards and a touchdown. Anderico Bailey (Mauldin, S.C.) grabbed a career-high nine catches for 38 yards.

Defensively, Isaiah Lynn (Fort Lawn, S.C.) made seven stops to lead PC. Cedric Byrd (Tyrone, Ga.) forced a fumble in the red zone that Rickey Floyd (Jacksonville, Fla.) recovered to stop a Liberty drive in the second quarter.

Libertys Josh Woodrum went 15-for-21 through the air for 232 yards and a touchdown. Aldreakis Allen ran for 183 yards and four scores while Sirchauncey Holloway gained 128 rushing yards and a touchdown.

Liberty struck three times in the first quarter to take a 21-0 lead into the first break. Sirchauncey Holloway finished a four-play, 65 yard drive with a three-yard touchdown run on Libertys first drive before Aldreakis Allen ran one in from 59 yards out on the teams next series.

The Flames capped their first-quarter scoring on an eight-play, 81-yard drive that ended with a Justin Gunn two-yard touchdown reception with 4:01 remaining.

Nicky Fualaau found the end zone next for Liberty late in the second quarter. The fullback punched in a one-yard run to give the Flames a 28-0 advantage.

Read the original here:

Liberty roars past Presbyterian 56-7

Boneham raising Libertarian profile

Posted on by

This is the first of three stories about candidates for Indiana governor. Todays story looks at Libertarian Rupert Boneham.

INDIANAPOLIS Libertarian Rupert Boneham remembers getting caught by police with a six-pack of beer at age 18.

They made him dump it out and followed him back home to tell his parents. He wasnt cited or arrested but that didnt matter.

The lesson was learned, Boneham recalls. And my life wasnt ruined.

This is a key message he wants to spread while campaigning for governor the need to reform the criminal justice system so young people arent permanently punished by minor miscues.

Jail should be used for people who are hurting others, Boneham said. He has generally followed a theme of less government intervention in society, including his opposition to passage of a new law by Republicans that bars certain agreements between unions and private companies.

Boneham, 48, has an uphill battle, though, in his race to be the states top executive. He is facing six-term U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, a Republican, and former Indiana House Speaker John Gregg, a Democrat.

In recent polls, he received between 3 percent and 5 percent of the vote, a number Libertarian candidates in various races usually hover at.

Andy Downs, director of the Downs Center for Indiana Politics at IPFW, said he is surprised the number isnt higher given Bonehams relative fame.

Boneham competed on several seasons of TVs Survivor and became known for his bushy beard and tie-dye apparel. He won the $1 million prize based on audience votes in 2004.

Read the original here:

Boneham raising Libertarian profile

Tropical Storm Rafael dumps rain in east Caribbean

Posted on by

CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands (AP) Tropical Storm Rafael has moved north of the Virgin Islands while dumping heavy rains around the eastern Caribbean.

The storm was centered about 105 miles (170 kilometers) northeast of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands at 2 a.m. EDT Sunday. Rafael had top sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph) and was moving north at 14 mph (22 kph).

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Rafael could become a hurricane in coming days. Forecasters said the storm was expected to turn toward the north-northwest on Sunday, moving away from the Virgin Islands.

A tropical storm warning remained in effect for the U.S. Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Barbuda, St. Kitts, Nevis, Antigua, Montserrat and St. Maartin, among other places.

Puerto Rico was under a tropical storm watch.

More here:

Tropical Storm Rafael dumps rain in east Caribbean

The Orkney Islands

Posted on by

There are many inhabited Orkney islands which are easy to visit by boat, or even plane from the Mainland. They include Eday, Hoy, North Ronaldsay, Papa Wrestray, Rousay, Sanday, Shapinsay and Westray. Many of these islands have prehistoric monuments, some of which are open to the public.

The location of the Orkney Islands meant that they became a key player in defence of the British realm in the first and second world wars. The harbour Scapa Flow hosted British fleets in both wars. The loss of the lives of hundreds of men when the HMS Royal Oak was torpedoed by the Germans in 1939 resulted in the building of the Churchill Barriers, linking Mainland and some of the nearby islands, thus blocking enemy access to the harbour at Scapa Flow. Italian prisoners of war helped build the Churchill Barriers; their legacy, the Italian Chapel, has become one of the premiere tourist attractions in Orkney.

The prime reason many people visit the Orkney Islands is to explore prehistoric sites. Orkney has an abundance of historical sites, from the Neolithic village of Skara Brae to the Ring of Brodgar a huge stone circle in Stenness. Other iconic landmarks include the Old Man Of Hoy a towering sea stack first conquered by the climber Chris Bonington in 1966 and the Broch of Gurness. Brochs often defensive structures - proliferated in northern Scotland round buildings with one entrance and staircases sandwiched between inner and outer walls, leaving space for people and animals at the centre.

Orkneys proximity to the Gulf Stream means that the islands have a relatively temperate climate, though the wind can be fierce. Many of the inhabited islands are relatively flat with fertile soil for farming, a major industry in the Orkneys.

Orkney has a rich cultural heritage and hosts festivals such as the Orkney Folk Festival that draw visitors from all over the world. Poets Edwin Muir and George Mackay Brown were born in Orkney.

Read this article:

The Orkney Islands