Ipswich East Business over Breakfast (BoB Club), The Angel ...

This successful business networking club in Ipswich East meets every two weeks on a Tuesday. For those of you who may have tried networking before and felt under pressure to refer each week, try BoB Networking as we concentrate on quality referrals rather than quantity at our meetings. So come along and try our lively group and learn more about how Networking through BoB clubs can help both you and your business.

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Business over Breakfast (BoB) Clubs

www.bobclubs.com

BoB Clubs creates a secure and successful networking environment for members to cooperate and exchange referrals. Members actively seek and create opportunities for each other.

You and your business will thrive during your professionally structured meetings where you feel welcome, trusted and respected, whilst building confidence and potential business and profits.

You are encouraged to focus on quality referrals, not quantity, leaving you free to network without any undue pressure.

Constant support is on hand to help you save time, earn more money.

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Violence hits China's west ahead of anniversary

BEIJING (AP) ? Violent incidents have spread this week in a tense minority region of western China, just days before the anniversary of a bloody clash between minority Uighurs and the ethnic Han majority that left almost 200 dead and resulted in a major security clampdown.

China's communist authorities have labeled some of the incidents ? including one which left 35 people dead ? as terrorist attacks, and President Xi Jinping has ordered that they be promptly dealt with to safeguard overall social stability, state media reported.

The latest violent incidents were reported in southern Xinjiang's Hotan area. In one, more than 100 knife-wielding people mounted motorbikes in an attempt to storm the police station for Karakax county, the state-run Global Times reported.

Another was an attack mob in the township of Hanairike on Friday afternoon, according to the news portal of the Xinjiang regional government. It said the mob was armed, but did not say with what sort of weapons.

The official Xinhua News Agency reported a "violent attack" Friday afternoon on a pedestrian street in downtown Hotan city. No casualties were reported for any of the incidents, which state media say were quickly brought under control. The government's news portal, Tianshan Net, said there was no civilian casualty in Hanairike.

An exiled Uighur activist disputed those accounts. Instead, Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the Germany-based World Uyghur Congress, said there were several protests in the Hotan area against what Uighurs see as China's suppressive policies in Xinjiang.

"It's a crisis of survival," said Dilxax Raxit, who called for international observers to be sent to the region to help curb excessive violence against Uighurs by the Chinese government. He said 48 people have been arrested.

It has not been possible to independently verify the reports because of tight controls over information in the region.

The incidents on Friday in Xinjiang came after what the government described as attacks on police and other government buildings on Wednesday in eastern Xinjiang's Turpan prefecture's Lukqun township killed 35 people.

That was one of the bloodiest incidents since the July 5, 2009, unrest in the region's capital city, Urumqi, killed nearly 200.

Xinjiang (shihn-jeeahng) is home to a large population of minority Muslim Uighurs (WEE'-gurs) in a region that borders Central Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and has been the scene of numerous violent acts in recent years.

Critics often attribute the violence in Xinjiang to what they say is Beijing's oppressive and discriminatory ethnicity policies. Many Uighurs complain that authorities impose tight restrictions on their religious and cultural life.

The Chinese government says that it has invested billions of dollars in modernizing the oil- and gas-rich region and that it treats all ethnic groups equally.

Calls to local government agencies were either unanswered or returned with the answer that they were unauthorized to speak.

State-run media reported that the incident Wednesday started when knife-wielding assailants targeted police stations, a government building and a construction site ? all symbols of Han authority in the region.

Photos released in state media show scorched police cars and government buildings and victims lying on the ground, presumably dead.

Dilxat Raxit also disputed that account, saying the violence started when police forcefully raided homes at night. It was impossible to independently confirm the conflicting accounts.

Xinhua said 11 assailants were shot dead, and that two police officers were among the 24 people they killed.

"This is a terrorist attack, there's no question about that," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Friday at a regular news briefing. "As to who masterminded it, local people are still investigating."

State news reports did not identify the ethnicity of the attackers, nor say what may have caused the conflict in the Turkic-speaking region. The reports said police captured four injured assailants.

The Global Times newspaper said Saturday that police had stepped up security measures, deploying more forces to public areas, governmental institutes and compounds for police and military police. It said a suspect was captured Friday afternoon in Urumqi.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/violence-hits-chinas-west-ahead-anniversary-044148211.html

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Armstrong uninvited, unwanted guest at 100th Tour

PORTO VECCHIO, Corsica (AP) ? Lance Armstrong made himself the uninvited guest at the Tour de France on Friday, coming back to haunt the 100th edition of the race and infuriating riders both past and present by talking at length in a newspaper interview about doping in the sport.

Armstrong told Le Monde that he still considers himself the record-holder for Tour victories, even though all seven of his titles from 1999-2005 were stripped from him last year for doping.

He said his life has been ruined by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency investigation that exposed as lies his years of denials that he and his teammates doped. He also took another swipe at cycling's top administrators, darkly suggesting they could be brought down by other skeletons in the sport's closet.

None of those comments broke new ground, but in answering questions from Le Monde ? a newspaper he scorned when he was still competing ? Armstrong ensured that his views on doping at the Tour would have maximum impact in France and couldn't easily be written off as sour grapes being hurled at the race from afar. The respected daily is very much France's newspaper of record. Its interview with the rider and his assertion that doping won't be eradicated from cycling dominated French airwaves ahead of the race start on Saturday, causing dismay and anger in the sport desperate to prove that it has turned the page on his era of serial cheating.

The Tour's director, Christian Prudhomme, suggested Armstrong was milking the race's notoriety to further his own agenda.

"This is a very big tournament, just look around: There are 2,300 accredited journalists here, there are cameras everywhere. So if someone wanted to transmit a message, this is the time obviously, especially since everyone likes this kind of controversial statements," he said.

Armstrong's comments and the consternation they caused highlighted cycling's dilemma: It is a sport fighting to give itself a cleaner, brighter future by combating drug cheats but much of that good work is being overshadowed by the dirty secrets of dopers from the past.

Pre-Tour, a drip-drip-drip of doping confessions and revelations about the Armstrong era have rained on the sport. Armstrong's former rival on French roads, 1997 Tour winner Jan Ullrich, admitted to blood-doping for the first time. French media also reported that a Senate investigation into the effectiveness of anti-doping controls pieced together evidence of drug use at the 1998 Tour by Laurent Jalabert, a former star of the race now turned broadcaster.

Armstrong's claim that it was "impossible" to win the Tour without doping in his era echoed what he already told U.S. television talk show host Oprah Winfrey in January, when he finally confessed. Then, he said doping was "part of the job." The banned hormone erythropoietin, or EPO, wasn't detectable by cycling's doping controls until 2001 and so was widely abused because it prompts the body to produce oxygen-carrying red blood cells, giving a big performance boost to endurance athletes.

"The Tour is a test of endurance where oxygen is decisive," Le Monde quoted Armstrong as saying. It published the interview in French.

Asked later by The Associated Press to clarify his comments, Armstrong confirmed on Twitter he was talking solely about the period from 1999-2005. He indicated that doping might not be necessary now.

"Today? I have no idea. I'm hopeful it's possible," Armstrong tweeted.

Still, his comments touched a nerve ? both because cycling has since spent heavily on a pioneering anti-doping program and because Armstrong, once very much a boss of the peloton, is now a pariah.

"Those were cursed years for the Tour de France," Prudhomme said. "When Armstrong said it was impossible to win the Tour during those years without doping, he is probably trying to find excuses for himself and say implicitly that there was nothing else he could have done."

Jean-Rene Bernaudeau, manager of the Europcar team, likened Armstrong to a robber who tells a bank how it should be run.

"I don't think it is nice that a guy who embodies a decade we should completely forget gives us lessons on how we should behave, while we were the ones who suffered during that time. It is almost surreal," he said. "This is unacceptable."

In a statement issued in the name of competitors at the 100th Tour, a union representing European professional riders said: "Enough is enough!"

"It is disgraceful to be systematically dragged through the mud and be denigrated by people aiming to make money off our backs or seeking notoriety," said the French wing of the union, the CPA.

A group of riders also asked for and were granted a meeting with the French sports minister before the start of Saturday's first stage, so they can voice their unhappiness.

The renewed pre-Tour focus on cycling's past has led to renewed appeals from some involved in the sport for a "truth and reconciliation" process ? where those involved in doping past and present could air what they know once and for all, so cycling can then move forward

"Having it come out in dribs and drabs: You know, Laurent Jalabert this week, this guy (another week) ? is ridiculous and painful and unnecessary," Jonathan Vaughters, a former Armstrong teammate and manager of the Garmin-Sharp team, said this week before Le Monde's interview.

"I really wish that we could get on with the truth and reconciliation committee. ... Let's just move the sport forward, let's get it out, let's deal with it, let's recognize it, let's own it, let's learn from it."

Armstrong told Le Monde he would be prepared to appear before such a committee.

"The whole story has still not been told," he was quoted as saying. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency investigation that unmasked him as a serial doper "did not paint a faithful picture of cycling from the end of the 1980s to today. It succeeded perfectly in destroying one man's life but did not benefit cycling at all."

He argued that doping would never be eradicated.

"I did not invent doping," Le Monde quoted Armstrong as saying. "And nor did it end with me."

Perhaps what was most interesting about Armstrong's interview was the choice of newspaper: It was Le Monde that reported in 1999 that corticosteroids were found in the American's urine as he was riding to the first of his Tour wins. Armstrong complained back then he was being persecuted by "vulture journalism, desperate journalism."

Now seemingly prepared to let bygones be bygones, Armstrong was asked whether, when he raced, it was possible to succeed without doping.

"That depends on which races you wanted to win. The Tour de France? No. Impossible to win without doping," Le Monde quoted him as saying.

After Armstrong retired for the first time in 2005, cycling pioneered a so-called "biological passport" program, introduced in 2008, that monitors riders' blood readings for tell-tale signs of doping. Riders in the top tier of teams were tested an average of nearly 12 times in 2012.

Pat McQuaid, president of cycling's governing body, the UCI, called the timing of Armstrong's interview "very sad."

"The culture within cycling has changed since the Armstrong era and it is now possible to race and win clean," McQuaid said in a statement.

___

AP Sports Writer Jerome Pugmire, AP writer Jamey Keaten and AP video journalist Ben Barnier contributed from Porto Vecchio.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/armstrong-uninvited-unwanted-guest-100th-tour-201301783.html

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Levitating magician: How magicians use science to deceive

Levitating magician: A viral Pepsi ad shows an English magician apparently levitating alongside a double-decker bus. How are we so easily fooled by magic?

By Eoin O'Carroll,?Staff / June 27, 2013

A TV commercial posted online shows an English magician named Dynamo apparently levitating off the side of one of London's iconic double-decker buses, as amazed onlookers gape, point, and, because this is 2013, shoot photos and video with their phones. He then slides off the bus, produces a can of Pepsi Max, opens it, and takes a sip.

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It was posted on Monday, and by Thursday afternoon, it already had more than 2.3 million views. Have a look at the video at the top of this page, if you haven't done so already.

"If you can just take a moment to look at things from a new perspective," says Dynamo in his gentle Yorkshire accent, "you might see the world in a whole new light."?

So how did Dynamo do it? Here, we reveal his secret: He had the soda can in his pocket the whole time.?

OK, we're not going to say how Dynamo floated alongside the bus: Exposing the secrets of individual magicians serves only to diminish the entertainment. (It can also ruin their livelihoods, and why would we want to do that?)?

So instead, we'll just give away how every magician everywhere performs every illusion. And we'll share some cognitive psychology with you along the way.

At the heart of every illusion is misdirection, the manipulation of the audience's attention. ?

"Everyone knows what attention is," wrote William James in his seminal 1890 work, "Principles of Psychology."

"It is the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought. Focalization, concentration, of consciousness are of its essence. It implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others, and is a condition which has a real opposite in the confused, dazed, scatterbrained state which in French is called distraction, and Zerstreutheit in German."

And skilled magicians are the ultimate?Zerstreutheitmeisters. Gesturing hands, shiny props, dazzling spotlights, flying doves, "assistants" in sparkly outfits, and, in Dynamo's case, waggling feet and a smartphone are all expertly deployed to take your mind off of where the "magic" ? usually a fairly straightforward mechanism ? is really happening. And we fall for it almost every time.

We get fooled for two big reasons: The first is that we aren't able to take in all of the stimuli in our environment all at once. You might think that you're eyes are merely windows to the outside world, but the picture that you're seeing right now is mostly a simulation. As you focus your attention on these words, the rest your visual field is sketched out in only the barest detail. It only appears like a rich vista because your brain is constantly filling in the gaps, not with what it actually perceives, but with what it expects to perceive. ?

Want proof? Place your left hand over your left eye. Extend your right arm forward, with your index finger raised. Now, staring at a point straight ahead, and not at your finger, slowly move your arm to the right. When your arm is at an angle of about 15 degrees, the tip of your finger will vanish. Presto!

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/FKdOc55-VqM/Levitating-magician-How-magicians-use-science-to-deceive

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Apple Selling USA-Themed iPhone Cases For Independence Day

On the 4th of July Americans will celebrate Independence Day and Apple plans to help make a few bucks off that celebration with their USA-themed, all-American iPhone cases.

According to 9to5 Mac Apple will doling out some apple-pie-eating, cowboy-boot-wearing, gun-toting iPhone cases to celebrate American culture. I wonder if they?ll have a case to celebrate all of America?s soaring crime rates and gun violence, too?

Anyway, the specially themed cases will be made available on the week of the fourth of July, which is conveniently next week. You can grab a case by paying a visit to participating Apple stores across the nation, who will be providing the cases to the public.

Come comment on this article: Apple Selling USA-Themed iPhone Cases For Independence Day

iPhone Informer

This entry was posted in iphone and tagged Apple, Cases, Independence, iPhone, Selling, USAThemed on June 29, 2013 by admin.

Source: http://news-and-more.com/apple/apple-selling-usa-themed-iphone-cases-for-independence-day/

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At the Edge of the Solar System, Voyager 1 Finds a Mystery

NASA

In the 35 years since their launch, the two Voyagers have gone where no man or machine has gone before. They flew past Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, and now Voyager 1 is on course to become the first man-made object to leave our solar system and enter the interstellar medium?the space between stars. (In 2012, PopMech gave a Breakthrough Award to the Voyager team for pushing the frontiers of space exploration.)

This spring, several news organizations inaccurately reported that Voyager 1 had already left the heliosphere?the bubble of charged particles that encircles the sun and its planets. Voyager scientists quickly corrected the reports, stating that the spacecraft remained inside but had encountered some anomalies. Today, three papers published in (Science) provide a more thorough description of the nature of those anomalies. Voyager 1 is still within the solar system, they say, but it has discovered an unexpected layer in the boundary that separates our solar system from the interstellar medium.

"This is a totally new region, not a region predicted by any of our models," Edward Stone, project scientist on the Voyagers, said in a (Science) podcast.

Scientists determine just where Voyager 1 is by studying what kinds of particles strike the spacecraft. Inside the heliosheath, scientists expect Voyager 1 to be bombarded with lots of energetic particles erupting from the sun. The spacecraft should also be able to sense the direction and intensity of the sun's magnetic field. However, while the spacecraft is still inside the solar system, it shouldn't detect low-energy cosmic rays. These rays bounce around interstellar space but can't penetrate the heliosphere. Once beyond the heliosphere, the spacecraft would sense strong cosmic rays, but no particles, and the direction of the magnetic field would change.

On August 25, 2012, something dramatic happened: Voyager 1 stopped getting hit with particles and started detecting cosmic rays for the first time. But the magnetic field didn't change direction, which is what you'd expect if the spacecraft had left the solar system.

So Voyager 1 appears to be in a strange, unexpected region, and scientists aren't sure why such a strange place exists. But Stone gave one possible explanation: "It must be because somehow the solar magnetic field, which is in a huge spiral around the sun?because the sun rotates as the field is carried out, it wraps it into a huge spiral?that somehow the ends of that spiral have become connected, or at least accessible for particles inside to leave, and particles on the outside to enter. Sort of like a magnetic highway, with things inside streaming out, and particles outside streaming in."

Because it's still within the sun's magnetic field, Voyager 1 has not yet broken through into the interstellar medium. So how long until it finally does? Stone and his team just don't know how wide this new region is or how long it will take to cross. He says it could be a few months or several years for Voyager to clear it completely.

Voyager 1 is currently 11 billion miles away from Earth, or about three times the distance between Earth and Neptune. The little-spacecraft-that-could is expected to keep chugging along until 2025, when it will run out of fuel. Who knows what else it'll discover along the way, in the outer regions of our solar system and beyond. "We still have hopefully a good part of the journey left," Stone says.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/how-to/blog/at-the-edge-of-the-solar-system-voyager-1-finds-a-mystery-15634966?src=rss

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LinkedIn Celebrates 3 Million Company Pages ... - Marketing Pilgrim

LinkedIn started out as a place for career-minded individuals to network with other individuals but over the years it?s turned into the world?s biggest social network for everything business. They?ve added forums, mentor blogs, the ability to share videos and presentations. They also moved from the individual to the company with Company Pages.

According to their celebratory infographic, LinkedIn now has more than 3 million Company Pages, 500,000 of which were created in the past 12 months. Those pages represent 148 different industries and they range from think tanks to railroad companies and everything in between, beside, above and below. Dig around on LinkedIn and you can find The League of Paranormal Investigators, Inc, The Flipside Circus, and Tiny Paper Cranes ? a non-profit that makes origami birds for charity.

When LinkedIn says they have something for everyone, they?re not kidding.

Here?s my favorite slice from the infographic ? Ninja Style!

This slice makes me wonder about how much a company name effects business. Are you more likely to hire a company with the word Ninja or Samurai in the name or less likely? What about Pirate? How do you feel about weird names or unpronounceable names? You can say it?s all about results, but come on. . . when you?re scanning LinkedIn or Google you can?t help but be drawn in or put off by a company name.

Let?s look at one more slice:

I?m going to go out on a limb and say that you?re not using LinkedIn Company Pages to their fullest extent. Why am I saying this? Because there aren?t enough hours in the day to keep up every social media account you own. I get that. So here?s where you need to make a decision. If you?re a business to business company, spend more time on LinkedIn this week and less on Facebook. Post an interview with someone in your company. Add a video. Add a slide presentation.

Need inspiration? Mashable has the most engaged company page on LinkedIn. They?re a content site, so it?s easier for them to upload articles on a regular basis but I?d bet you have content on your hard-drive that you can use, too.? Look through your files and pick out two pieces of content that would be of interest to someone in your industry and post them.

With social media, what you get out of it is only as good as what you put in so make it a point to put in more on LinkedIn this week. It might help you find that one connection you need to take your business to the next level.

?

Source: http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2013/06/linkedin-celebrates-3-million-company-pages-infographic.html

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Visualized: The Lumia wall at Build 2013

What happens when you take 200 Lumia 820s and pin them to a wall? You get a 12,000 x 6,400-pixel display, natch. This week at Build 2013 in San Francisco, Nokia and Microsoft teamed up to show this tiled monitor made of identical phones each running the same custom-built app. A master handset is used to control what's on the wall by communicating with each phone over WiFi (IP multicast). One demo was showing a massive animated grid of live tiles representing a selection of apps from the Windows Phone store. In another demo, the wall was displaying Bing Maps (using Here data) and being controlled interactively by the master handset. Take a look at our gallery below.

Gallery: The Lumia wall at Build 2013

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Microsoft, Nokia

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/fXBUrHv3Upg/

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The Sonic Secrets That Bring Pixar's Latest Movie To Life

For a totally animated flick, it's the sound masters behind the scenes who are really responsible for bringing a movie to life?every squeal, sigh, and clunk is key. Thanks to the people over at SoundWorks, we get to see (and hear) the steps it took to give a literal voice to Pixar's newest film, Monsters University.

Sound designer Tom Myers lets us in on the more conceptual secrets of cinema sound, but he also breaks down an entire scene into the individual parts that make it whole. Each specific voice and noise sounds almost naked when you hear it on its own, so it's truly incredible to see the final effect when Myers brings the whole piece together. You'll never listen to an animated film the same way again. [Soundworks Collection]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/the-sonic-secrets-that-bring-pixars-latest-movie-to-li-587315793

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SAfrica president cancels trip amid Mandela worry

An unidentified woman wearing earrings bearing the image of former South African President Nelson Mandela, outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where he is being treated in Pretoria, South Africa, Wednesday, June 26, 2013. South Africa's president Jacob Zuma on Tuesday urged his compatriots to show their appreciation for Nelson Mandela, who is in critical condition in a hospital, by marking his 95th birthday next month with acts of goodness that honor the legacy of the anti-apartheid leader. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

An unidentified woman wearing earrings bearing the image of former South African President Nelson Mandela, outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where he is being treated in Pretoria, South Africa, Wednesday, June 26, 2013. South Africa's president Jacob Zuma on Tuesday urged his compatriots to show their appreciation for Nelson Mandela, who is in critical condition in a hospital, by marking his 95th birthday next month with acts of goodness that honor the legacy of the anti-apartheid leader. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

Lebani Sirinje, a Zimbabwean artist paints a portrait of former South African President Nelson Mandela, outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where is being treated in Pretoria, South Africa Wednesday, June 26, 2013. South Africa's president Jacob Zuma on Tuesday urged his compatriots to show their appreciation for Nelson Mandela, who is in critical condition in a hospital, by marking his 95th birthday next month with acts of goodness that honor the legacy of the anti-apartheid leader. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

Former wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, center, arrives for a second time today at the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where former South African President Nelson Mandela is being treated in Pretoria, South Africa Wednesday, June 26, 2013. There was no word early Wednesday on 94-year-old Mandela's condition, which was critical a day earlier, according to the government. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Lebani Sirinje, a Zimbabwean artist paints a portrait of former South African President Nelson Mandela, outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where is being treated in Pretoria, South Africa Wednesday, June 26, 2013. South Africa's president Jacob Zuma on Tuesday urged his compatriots to show their appreciation for Nelson Mandela, who is in critical condition in a hospital, by marking his 95th birthday next month with acts of goodness that honor the legacy of the anti-apartheid leader. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

A get well card hangs on the wall outside the Mediclinic Heart Hospital where former South African President Nelson Mandela is being treated in Pretoria, South Africa Wednesday, June 26, 2013. South Africa's president Jacob Zuma on Tuesday urged his compatriots to show their appreciation for Nelson Mandela, who is in critical condition in a hospital, by marking his 95th birthday next month with acts of goodness that honor the legacy of the anti-apartheid leader. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? South Africa's president visited a gravely ill Nelson Mandela in the hospital on Wednesday night, and canceled a visit planned for the next day to Mozambique, an indication of heightened concern over the deteriorating health of the man widely considered the father of the country.

President Jacob Zuma found 94-year-old Mandela to still be in critical condition during the 10 p.m. visit and was briefed by doctors "who are still doing everything they can to ensure his well-being," Zuma's office said in a statement.

It said the president decided to cancel a visit to Maputo, the Mozambican capital, on Thursday, where he was to attend a meeting on regional investment.

As worries over Mandela mounted, Mac Maharaj, the presidential spokesman, declined to comment on media reports that the former president and anti-apartheid leader was on life support systems in the Pretoria hospital where he was taken June 8 to be treated for what the government said was a recurring lung infection.

"I cannot comment on the clinical details of these reports because that would breach the confidentiality of the doctor/patient relationship," Maharaj said in an interview with South Africa's Radio 702.

South Africans were torn on Wednesday between the desire not to lose Mandela, who defined the aspirations of so many of his compatriots, and resignation that the beloved former prisoner and president is approaching the end of his life.

The sense of anticipation and foreboding about Mandela's fate has grown since late Sunday, when the South African government declared that the condition of the statesman had deteriorated.

A tide of emotional tributes has built on social media and in hand-written messages and flowers laid outside the hospital and Mandela's home. On Wednesday, about 20 children from a day care center posted a hand-made card outside the hospital and recited a poem.

"Hold on, old man," was one of the lines in the Zulu poem, according to the South African Press Association.

In recent days, international leaders, celebrities, athletes and others have praised Mandela, not just as the man who steered South Africa through its tense transition from white racist rule to democracy two decades ago, but as a universal symbol of sacrifice and reconciliation.

In South Africa's Eastern Cape province, where Mandela grew up, a traditional leader said the time was near for Mandela, who is also known by his clan name, Madiba.

"I am of the view that if Madiba is no longer enjoying life, and is on life support systems, and is not appreciating what is happening around him, I think the good Lord should take the decision to put him out of his suffering," said the tribal chief, Phathekile Holomisa.

"I did speak to two of his family members, and of course, they are in a lot of pain, and wish that a miracle might happen, that he recovers again, and he becomes his old self again," he said. "But at the same time they are aware there is a limit what miracles you can have."

For many South Africans, Mandela's decline is a far more personal matter, echoing the protracted and emotionally draining process of losing one of their own elderly relatives.

One nugget of wisdom about the arc of life and death came from Matthew Rusznyah, a 9-year-old boy who stopped outside Mandela's home in the Johannesburg neighborhood of Houghton to show his appreciation.

"We came because we care about Mandela being sick, and we wish we could put a stop to it, like snap our fingers," he said. "But we can't. It's how life works."

His mother, Lee Rusznyah, said Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison under apartheid before becoming South Africa's first black president in all-race elections in 1994, had made the world a better place.

"All of us will end," Thabo Makgoba, the Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday. "We just want him to be peacefully released, whatever he's feeling at this moment, and to be reunited with his Maker at the perfect time, when God so wills."

The archbishop said: "Ultimately, we are all mortal. At some stage or another, we all have to die, and we have to move on, we have to be recalled by our Maker and Redeemer. We have to create that space for Madiba, to come to terms within himself, with that journey."

On Tuesday, Makgoba visited Mandela and offered a prayer in which he wished for a "peaceful, perfect, end" for the anti-apartheid leader, who was taken to the Pretoria hospital to be treated for what the government said was a recurring lung infection.

In the prayer, he asked for courage to be granted to Mandela's wife, Graca Machel, and others who love him "at this hard time of watching and waiting," and he appealed for divine help for the medical team treating Mandela.

Visitors to the hospital on Wednesday included Mandela's former wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. The couple divorced in 1996.

Mandela, whose 95th birthday is on July 18, served a single five-year term as president and afterward focused on charitable causes, but he withdrew from public life years ago and became increasingly frail in recent years. He last made a public appearance in 2010 at the World Cup soccer tournament, which was hosted by South Africa. At that time, he did not speak to the crowd and was bundled against the cold in a stadium full of fans.

On April 29, state television broadcast footage of a visit by Zuma and other leaders of the ruling party, the African National Congress, to Mandela's home. Zuma said at the time that Mandela was in good shape, but the footage ? the first public images of Mandela in nearly a year ? showed him silent and unresponsive, even when Zuma tried to hold his hand.

"Let's accept instead of crying," said Lucas Aedwaba, a security officer in Pretoria who described Mandela as a hero. "Let's celebrate that the old man lived and left his legacy."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-06-26-South%20Africa-Mandela/id-371f6a376a1043de885eb6405b5312f1

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Feeling stressed? Oxytocin could help you reach out to others for support

June 25, 2013 ? The next time someone snubs you at a party and you think hiding is the solution to escape your feelings of rejection, think again. Scientists have shown that reaching out to other people during a stressful event is an effective way to improve your mood, and researchers at Concordia University suggest that the hormone oxytocin may help you accomplish just that.

Mark Ellenbogen and Christopher Cardoso, researchers in Concordia's Centre for Research in Human Development are taking a closer look at oxytocin, a hormone traditionally studied for its role in childbirth and breastfeeding, and more recently for its effect on social behaviour. Their latest study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Psychoneuroendocrinology, shows that oxytocin can increase a person's trust in others following social rejection.

Explains Ellenbogen, "that means that instead of the traditional 'fight or flight' response to social conflict where people get revved up to respond to a challenge or run away from it, oxytocin may promote the 'tend and befriend' response where people reach out to others for support after a stressful event. That can, in turn, strengthen social bonds and may be a healthier way to cope."

In a double-blind experiment, 100 students were administered either oxytocin or a placebo via a nasal spray, then subjected to social rejection. In a conversation that was staged to simulate real life, researchers posing as students disagreed with, interrupted and ignored the unsuspecting participants. Using mood and personality questionnaires, the data showed that participants who were particularly distressed after being snubbed by the researchers reported greater trust in other people if they sniffed oxytocin prior to the event, but not if they sniffed the placebo. In contrast, oxytocin had no effect on trust in those who were not emotionally affected by social rejection.

Cardoso, who is a doctoral student in the Department of Psychology, says that studying oxytocin may provide future options for those who suffer from mental health conditions characterized by high levels of stress and low levels of social support, like depression. "If someone is feeling very distressed, oxytocin could promote social support seeking, and that may be especially helpful to those individuals," he says, noting that people with depression tend to naturally withdraw even though reaching out to social support systems can alleviate depression and facilitate recovery.

For Ellenbogen, who holds a Canada Research Chair in Developmental Psychopathology, the contribution of stress the development of mood disorders like depression and bipolar disorder has long been a research focus. "I'm concerned with the biological underpinnings of stress, particularly interpersonal stress, which is thought to be a strong predictor of these mental disorders. So, oxytocin is a natural fit with my interests," says Ellenbogen. "The next phase of research will begin to study oxytocin's effects in those who are at high risk for developing clinical depression."

Cardoso says reactions to oxytocin seem to be more variable depending on individual differences and contextual factors than most pharmaceuticals, so learning more about how the hormone operates can help scientists to figure out how it might be used in future treatments.

"Previous studies have shown that natural oxytocin is higher in distressed people, but before this study nobody could say with certainty why that was the case," Cardoso says, "In distressed people, oxytocin may improve one's motivation to reach out to others for support. That idea is cause for a certain degree of excitement, both in the research community and for those who suffer from mood disorders."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/bFfgd4haaRI/130625092003.htm

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NIH to retire most chimps from medical research

WASHINGTON (AP) ? It's official: The National Institutes of Health plans to end most use of chimpanzees in government medical research, saying humans' closest relatives "deserve special respect."

The NIH announced Wednesday that it will retire about 310 government-owned chimpanzees from research over the next few years, and keep only 50 others essentially on retainer ? available if needed for crucial medical studies that could be performed no other way.

"These amazing animals have taught us a great deal already," said NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins. He said the decision helps usher in "a compassionate era."

The NIH's decision was long expected, after the prestigious Institute of Medicine declared in 2011 that nearly all use of chimps for invasive medical research no longer can be justified. Much of the rest of the world already had ended such research with this species that is so like us.

Any future biomedical research funded by the NIH with chimps, government-owned or not, would be allowed only under strict conditions after review by a special advisory board. In five years, the NIH will reassess if even that group of 50 government-owned apes still is needed for science.

"This is an historic moment and major turning point for chimpanzees in laboratories, some who have been languishing in concrete housing for over 50 years," said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States. "It is crucial now to ensure that the release of hundreds of chimpanzees to sanctuary becomes a reality."

What's unclear is exactly where the retiring chimps, which have spent their lives in research facilities around the country, now will spend their final years. NIH said they could eventually join more than 150 other chimps already in the national sanctuary system operated by Chimp Haven in northwest Louisiana. In that habitat, the chimps can socialize at will, climb trees and explore different play areas.

But NIH officials said currently there's not enough space to handle all of the 310 destined for retirement. They're exploring additional locations, and noted that some research facilities that currently house government-owned chimps have habitats similar to the sanctuary system.

The other hurdle is money: Congress limited how much the NIH can spend on caring for chimps in the sanctuary system. Negotiations are under way to shift money the agency has spent housing the animals in research facilities toward supporting their retirement.

"Everybody should understand this is not something that is going to happen quickly," Collins cautioned.

One chimp center, the Texas Biomedical Research Institute, said keeping just 50 of the animals for ongoing research isn't enough and could hamper efforts to fight not just human illnesses but diseases that kill apes, too.

Moreover, moving retired chimpanzees to the federal sanctuary "would take them away from their caregivers, many of whom they have known all of their lives," said an institute statement that argued the animals would fare better if they stayed put.

The NIH's decision came two weeks after the Fish and Wildlife Service called for protection of all chimpanzees as endangered. Until now there was a "split listing" that labeled wild chimps as endangered but those in captivity as threatened, a status that offers less protection.

That move also would affect any future use of chimps in medical research, and NIH said it would work with its government counterpart to ensure compliance.

Chimps rarely have been used for drug testing or other invasive research in recent years; studies of chimp behavior or genetics are a bit more common. Of nine biomedical projects under way, the NIH said six would be ended early. Of another 13 behavioral or genetic studies involving chimps, five would be ended early. NIH would not identify the projects, but Collins said potential future need for chimps could be in creating a vaccine against hepatitis C.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-06-26-Chimp%20Research/id-1265365804014cb4bf1aff2e1afdf3c4

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It's complicated: Lots to sort out on gay marriage

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Two landmark Supreme Court rulings that bolster gay marriage rights don't remove all barriers to same-sex unions by a long shot. Where gay couples live still will have a lot to do with how they're treated.

Some questions and answers about Wednesday's court rulings:

Q: Can you boil down these two big rulings ? 104 pages in all ? to the basics?

A: In one case, the court said legally married gay couples are entitled to the same federal benefits available to straight couples. In the other, it cleared the way for gay marriages to resume in California, where voters banned them in 2008.

Q: What type of benefits are we talking about?

A: More than you'd expect. There are more than 1,000 federal laws in which marital status matters, covering everything from income and inheritance taxes to health benefits and pensions. In states where gay marriage is legal, same-sex couples may actually be looking forward to filing their income taxes next April ? married, filing jointly.

Q. Why does it matter where a gay couple lives?

A: Even with Wednesday's ruling, where legally married gay couples live still may affect the federal benefits they can obtain, at least for now. Social Security survivor benefits, for example, depend on where a couple is living when a spouse dies. If that happens in a state that bans or does not recognize the union, it's not for sure that the surviving spouse will be entitled to the payments. Immigration law, meanwhile, only looks at where people were married, not where they live. It's complicated.

Q: What does the U.S. marriage map look like right now?

A: It's a patchwork. Same-sex marriage is legal in 12 states and the District of Columbia ? representing 18 percent of the U.S. population. When gay marriage resumes in California, the figure will jump to 30 percent. Twenty-nine other states have constitutional amendments that ban gay marriage. Six states have laws that ban it. Two states neither allow gay marriage nor ban it.

Q: How many same-sex couples in the U.S. have been legally married?

A: The numbers are squishy. The Pew Research Center estimates there have been at least 71,000 legal marriages since 2004, when Massachusetts became the first state to legalize them, but says there are almost certainly more. The Williams Institute, a UCLA-based think tank, says approximately 114,000 couples are legally married and more than 108,000 are in civil unions or registered domestic partnerships. In California alone, 18,000 same-sex couples were married during the 142-day period when gay unions were legal there in 2008.

Q: What's all this talk about DOMA?

A: DOMA is the federal Defense of Marriage Act, enacted in 1996. The court on Wednesday struck down a section of that law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman for purposes of federal law. That's what had denied legally married gay couples access to a host of federal benefits and programs that are available to straight couples.

Q: Why all of the focus Wednesday on California?

A: The second case that the court addressed related to a 2008 state ballot proposition that added a ban on gay marriage to the California Constitution. The court didn't rule on the merits of that ballot proposal, but it left in place a trial court's declaration that the proposition is unconstitutional. That means same-sex weddings could resume in California in about a month, although a federal appeals court there said it may continue to bar gay marriages even longer if proponents of Proposition 8 ask for a rehearing.

Q: What more could the Supreme Court have done?

A: Tons. It could have given gay Americans the same constitutional right to marry as heterosexuals. Instead, it sidestepped the looming question of whether banning gay marriage is unconstitutional.

Q: What's President Barack Obama's take on all of this?

A: He welcomed the ruling striking down part of the Defense of Marriage Act and directed Attorney General Eric Holder to make sure federal laws are in sync with the ruling. (Obama, who endorsed gay marriage last year, broke with his Republican and Democratic predecessors and declined to defend the law in court.) Already, the Defense Department says it is beginning the process to extend health care, housing and other federal benefits to the same-sex spouses of members of the military.

Q: How does the public feel about gay marriage?

A: Public support has grown dramatically in the last few years, with a majority now favoring legal marriage for gay couples. There's even broader support for extending to gay couples the same legal rights and benefits that are available to married straight couples. An Associated Press-National Constitution Center poll last fall found 63 percent favored granting gay couples the same legal benefits straight couples had. And 53 percent favored legal recognition of same-sex marriages.

Q: What happens next?

A: Supporters of gay marriage will keep pressing to legalize same-sex unions in all 50 states. That means more battles in individual states, and more visits to the Supreme Court.

___

Follow Nancy Benac on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/nbenac

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/complicated-lots-sort-gay-marriage-204458634.html

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Vertu's Perry Oosting steps down as CEO, replaced by CMO Max Pogliani

According to a statement we received earlier, Vertu's Perry Oosting (pictured left) has stepped down after his successful four year stint as President and CEO, though he'll continue to invest in the company. Despite the relatively short run, the Dutch exec oversaw Vertu's departure from Nokia and subsequently launched the company's first-ever Android device, the Ti. Little is known about the reasons behind this change, but judging by Oosting's considerable knowledge of the luxury goods market, he'll have plenty of options for his next move.

The luxury phone maker will now be led by CMO Massimiliano "Max" Pogliani (pictured right), who's probably best known for building up Nespresso, Nestlé's premium coffee brand, prior to joining Vertu last November. Pogliani will be assisted by ex-Jimmy Choo COO Jonathan Sinclair, who joined Vertu this month under the same title. Press release after the break.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/24/vertu-ceo-perry-oosting-massimiliano-pogliani/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Pope 'snub' of concert stuns cardinals, sends signal

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - A last-minute no-show by Pope Francis at a concert where he was to have been the guest of honor has sent another clear signal that he is going to do things his way and does not like the Vatican high life.

The gala classical concert on Saturday was scheduled before his election in March. But the white papal armchair set up in the presumption that he would be there remained empty.

Minutes before the concert was due to start, an archbishop told the crowd of cardinals and Italian dignitaries that an "urgent commitment that cannot be postponed" would prevent Francis from attending.

The prelates, assured that health was not the reason for the no-show, looked disoriented, realizing that the message he wanted to send was that, with the Church in crisis, he - and perhaps they - had too much pastoral work to do to attend social events.

"It took us by surprise," said one Vatican source on Monday. "We are still in a period of growing pains. He is still learning how to be pope and we are still learning how he wants to do it."

"In Argentina, they probably knew not to arrange social events like concerts for him because he probably wouldn't go," said the source, who spoke anonymously because he is not authorized to discuss the issue.

The picture of the empty chair was used in many Italian papers, with Monday's Corriere della Sera newspaper calling his decision "a show of force" to illustrate the simple style he wants Church officials to embrace.

Since his election on March 13, Francis, the former cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina, has not spent a single night in the opulent and spacious papal apartments.

He has preferred to live in a small suite in a busy Vatican guest house, where he takes most meals in a communal dining room and says Mass every morning in the house chapel rather than the private papal chapel in the Apostolic Palace.

The day before the concert, Francis said bishops should be "close to the people" and not have "the mentality of a prince".

On Saturday, while the concert was in progress in an auditorium just meters (yards) away, Francis was believed to be working on new appointments for the Curia, the Vatican's troubled central administration.

The administration was held responsible for some of the mishaps and scandals that plagued the eight-year reign of Pope Benedict before he resigned in February.

Francis inherited a Church struggling to deal with priests' sexual abuse of children, the alleged corruption and infighting in the Curia, and conflict over the running of the Vatican's scandal-ridden bank.

Benedict left a secret report for Francis on the problems in the administration, which came to light when sensitive documents were stolen from the pope's desk and leaked by his butler in what became known as the "Vatileaks" scandal.

The Vatican source said he expected Francis to make major changes to Curia personnel by the end of the summer.

Anger at the mostly Italian prelates who run the Curia was one of the reasons why cardinals chose the first non-European pope for 1,300 years.

The key appointment will be the next secretary of state, sometimes referred to as the Vatican's prime minister, to succeed the Italian Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who has been widely blamed for the failings of the Curia.

(Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-snub-concert-stuns-cardinals-sends-signal-143358270.html

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Ten thousandth near-Earth object discovered in space

June 25, 2013 ? More than 10,000 asteroids and comets that can pass near Earth have now been discovered. The 10,000th near-Earth object, asteroid 2013 MZ5, was first detected on the night of June 18, 2013, by the Pan-STARRS-1 telescope, located on the 10,000-foot (convert) summit of the Haleakala crater on Maui. Managed by the University of Hawaii, the PanSTARRS survey receives NASA funding.

Ninety-eight percent of all near-Earth objects discovered were first detected by NASA-supported surveys.

"Finding 10,000 near-Earth objects is a significant milestone," said Lindley Johnson, program executive for NASA's Near-Earth Object Observations Program at NASA Headquarters, Washington. "But there are at least 10 times that many more to be found before we can be assured we will have found any and all that could impact and do significant harm to the citizens of Earth." During Johnson's decade-long tenure, 76 percent of the NEO discoveries have been made.

Near-Earth objects (NEOs) are asteroids and comets that can approach the Earth's orbital distance to within about 28 million miles (45 million kilometers). They range in size from as small as a few feet to as large as 25 miles (41 kilometers) for the largest near-Earth asteroid, 1036 Ganymed.

Asteroid 2013 MZ5 is approximately 1,000 feet (300 meters) across. Its orbit is well understood and will not approach close enough to Earth to be considered potentially hazardous.

"The first near-Earth object was discovered in 1898," said Don Yeomans, long-time manager of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "Over the next hundred years, only about 500 had been found. But then, with the advent of NASA's NEO Observations program in 1998, we've been racking them up ever since. And with new, more capable systems coming on line, we are learning even more about where the NEOs are currently in our solar system, and where they will be in the future."

Of the 10,000 discoveries, roughly 10 percent are larger than six-tenths of a mile (one kilometer) in size -- roughly the size that could produce global consequences should one impact the Earth. However, the NASA NEOO program has found that none of these larger NEOs currently pose an impact threat and probably only a few dozen more of these large NEOs remain undiscovered.

The vast majority of NEOs are smaller than one kilometer, with the number of objects of a particular size increasing as their sizes decrease. For example, there are expected to be about 15,000 NEOs that are about one-and-half football fields in size (460 feet, or 140 meters), and more than a million that are about one-third a football field in size (100 feet, or 30 meters). A NEO hitting Earth would need to be about 100 feet (30 meters) or larger to cause significant devastation in populated areas. Almost 30 percent of the 460-foot-sized NEOs have been found, but less than 1 percent of the 100-foot-sized NEOs have been detected.

When it originated, the NASA-instituted Near-Earth Object Observations Program provided support to search programs run by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory (LINEAR); the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NEAT); the University of Arizona (Spacewatch, and later Catalina Sky Survey) and the Lowell Observatory (LONEOS). All these search teams report their observations to the Minor Planet Center, the central node where all observations from observatories worldwide are correlated with objects, and they are given unique designations and their orbits are calculated.

"When I began surveying for asteroids and comets in 1992, a near-Earth object discovery was a rare event," said Tim Spahr, director of the Minor Planet Center. "These days we average three NEO discoveries a day, and each month the Minor Planet Center receives hundreds of thousands of observations on asteroids, including those in the main-belt. The work done by the NASA surveys, and the other international professional and amateur astronomers, to discover and track NEOs is really remarkable."

Within a dozen years, the program achieved its goal of discovering 90 percent of near-Earth objects larger than 3,300 feet (1 kilometer) in size. In December 2005, NASA was directed by Congress to extend the search to find and catalog 90 percent of the NEOs larger than 500 feet (140 meters) in size. When this goal is achieved, the risk of an unwarned future Earth impact will be reduced to a level of only one percent when compared to pre-survey risk levels. This reduces the risk to human populations, because once an NEO threat is known well in advance, the object could be deflected with current space technologies.

Currently, the major NEO discovery teams are the Catalina Sky Survey, the University of Hawaii's Pan-STARRS survey and the LINEAR survey. The current discovery rate of NEOs is about 1,000 per year.

NASA's Near-Earth Object Observations Program manages and funds the search for, study of and monitoring of asteroids and comets whose orbits periodically bring them close to Earth. The Minor Planet Center is funded by NASA and hosted by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, MA. JPL manages the Near-Earth Object Program Office for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. More information about asteroids and near-Earth objects is available at: http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/, http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch and via Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/asteroidwatch .

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/YH3ceC95U68/130625112104.htm

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Blue Jays win 11th straight, beat Orioles 13-5

TORONTO (AP) ? These are the Toronto Blue Jays Edwin Encarnacion expected after a busy offseason.

Encarnacion homered and drove in four runs, Josh Johnson earned his first win of the season and the Blue Jays matched a team record by winning their 11th straight game Sunday, finishing a three-game sweep of Baltimore with a 13-5 win.

The Blue Jays have gone 28-15 since May 2, when they were a season-worst 10-21. They've won 15 of their past 18, outscoring their opponents 102-52 in that span.

"I've been waiting for this since the season started," Encarnacion said. "I believe in this team so I knew things had to change, things had to become good for us. That's the way right now and we enjoy it, enjoy the moment. I'm not surprised by this. I know this team is good and I know we can do it."

Toronto has swept three consecutive series for the first time since 1998, the last time they won 11 straight. The Blue Jays also won 11 consecutive games in 1987.

"Everybody is doing their job, everybody is pitching in," Johnson said. "It's been impressive."

Playing before a sellout crowd of 45,214, Toronto became the first team since Detroit in 2011 to win 11 straight.

"We're feeling pretty good about ourselves," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "We shut down a really good team over there."

The Blue Jays, who begin a three-game series at Tampa Bay on Monday, have not lost since a 10-6 defeat at the Chicago White Sox on June 10.

"A lot of guys have been in a good rhythm at the same time, which is kind of what we didn't have to start the season," catcher J.P. Arencibia said.

Ryan Flaherty hit two homers but Baltimore lost for the fifth time in eight games and allowed a season high in runs.

"We ran into a good team and came up short," Flaherty said.

Johnson (1-2) was winless in his first seven starts with Toronto, receiving just 13 total runs of support and losing twice. That changed Sunday, as the Blue Jays helped the right-hander with an early offensive barrage, scoring nine times in the first three innings.

Johnson allowed four runs and seven hits in six-plus innings, walked one and struck out five. He's 1-1 with a 2.84 ERA in four starts since missing 31 games with a right triceps injury, and has struck out 25 batters in his past 25 1-3 innings.

"It's not an easy lineup to face regardless of the score," Gibbons said. "That's another good outing for him. That's one win. Getting on the board so you've got something to show for it always makes you feel good."

Aaron Loup, Juan Perez and Dustin McGowan each worked one inning.

Flaherty hit a two-run shot off Johnson in the seventh and a solo homer off McGowan in the ninth for his first career multihomer game. He has five home runs this season.

With first base open, the Blue Jays intentionally walked Orioles slugger Chris Davis to load the bases for Matt Wieters in the first, but Johnson got Wieters to foul out.

"Every time you turn on the highlights he's doing some damage somewhere," Gibbons said of Davis. "We've seen plenty of that. That's key, getting out of that first inning without any runs."

Arencibia was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom half to drive in the game's first run.

The Blue Jays used small ball and the long ball to score three more in the second. Emilio Bonifacio led off with a bunt single over the head of Baltimore starter Freddy Garcia, stole second and went to third on a sacrifice bunt before scoring on Melky Cabrera's sacrifice fly. Jose Bautista walked and Encarnacion followed with a first-pitch homer to left.

Toronto blew it open with a five-run, bat-around third. Maicer Izturis and Bonifacio chased Garcia with back-to-back RBI doubles, bringing left-hander T.J. McFarland out of the bullpen. One out later, Cabrera singled home a run, Bautista walked and Encarnacion hit a two-run double.

Baltimore broke through against Johnson in the fifth, when Manny Machado led off with his ML-leading 34th double and scored on a double by Nick Markakis. Markakis went to third on Adam Jones' grounder and scored when Davis reached on Bonifacio's fielding error. Davis was credited with an RBI.

Flaherty's two-run homer made it 9-4 but Toronto answered with four in the bottom half. Colby Rasmus led off with a homer against McFarland, his 14th, and Bautista hit a bases-loaded double off Pedro Strop.

Garcia (3-5) had won his previous two outings in Toronto but lost for the third time in four starts. He allowed a season-worst seven runs and seven hits in 2 1-3 innings, his shortest start of the year.

"I made some good pitches and they just hit them," Garcia said. "Right now everything is going good for them. It's part of the game. You can't do anything about it."

Machado thought he'd fouled Johnson's strike three pitch into the dirt when he struck out in the first. After plate ump Doug Eddings checked the ball and upheld the call, Orioles manager Buck Showalter came out to see the ball for himself.

NOTES: Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos told MLB Network Radio that SS Jose Reyes (left ankle) will play one more rehab game at Triple-A Buffalo on Monday, then will likely join Double-A New Hampshire when Buffalo goes on the road. Anthopoulos said Reyes might not rejoin the Blue Jays until Thursday in Boston. ... Arencibia had three hits and scored twice. ... Blue Jays cleanup hitter Adam Lind has base hits in each of his past seven first inning at-bats, including two home runs. ... Toronto RHP Kyle Drabek (elbow surgery) allowed two runs and five hits in 2 1-3 innings in his first rehab start at Class-A Dunedin on Saturday. Drabek struck out two, walked none and allowed a home run.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blue-jays-win-11th-straight-beat-orioles-13-215927230.html

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Petition to Pardon Snowden to Receive White House Response (ABC News)

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