Inmates posting reviews of prisons on Yelp

Inmates move between cell blocks at San Quentin State Prison. (Yelp)?Not recommended.? When it comes to a firsthand prison review, do you really need to know anything other than that?

Believe it or not, that was the actual review from a Yelp user named ?Ticha B.,? who reviewed California?s San Quentin State Prison. And for the record, she gave it only one star.

And as it turns out, Ticha is far from alone. The Washington Post has written a story about the phenomenon of prison reviews showing up on Yelp, which lets users review any business, destination, or even prison, with a standard address.

?I think the reviews are actually helpful for bail bondsmen, attorneys, family members?a lot of people, actually,? attorney Robert Miller told the Post. In fact, Miller has written several reviews himself, though with the distinct advantage of being on the outside of a prison cell.

The Post notes that inmates have reviewed six prisons in the Washington, D.C., metro area.

Across the country, not many of the nation?s ?worst prisons? have received formal reviews for the site. For example, you won?t have any luck finding a detailed description of the services offered at the nation?s only supermax facility, ADX Florence, in Colorado. ADX is home to some of the nation?s most dangerous convicted felons, including the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski.

Interesting, there appears to be a scarcity of reviews for what are considered some of the nation?s luxury prisons.

However, San Quentin does not suffer from a lack of attention, with 35 reviews at the time of this blog entry's publishing.

The reviews come from a variety of individuals, some who have taken tours of the facility and some who claim to have spent time behind its bars. Overall, the site receives an average of 2.5 stars out of five.

"This is not a place you wanna end up,? writes Yelp user Scott D (2 stars), who says he spent four days in San Quentin when he was a teenager as part of California?s ?Scared Straight? program. ?Not all big bad & scary like the movies make it, but cold, damp and miserable with really sh***y food.?

Of course, there is no way to verify if these reviews come from actual inmates or just Yelp users with way too much time on their hands. For its part, Yelp refused to comment on the article.

Arlington County Sheriff Beth Arthur said she was suspicious of some of the Washington, D.C., area reviews. In particular, one reviewer praised the availability of juice boxes at one facility, which Arthur said is factually inaccurate.

?I thought, ?Wait a minute, I don?t understand what she?s talking about,? ? Arthur told the Post. ?I almost thought she meant the old facility, but this one has been here 20 years.?

However, there?s a potential upside to these reviews as well. For example, the Los Angeles County Sheriff?s Office says it regularly reviews allegations of abuse posted to the site.

?Every allegation we get, we investigate,? Stephen Whitmore, spokesman for Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, told the Post. ?But this Yelp phenomenon I find curious,? Whitmore said. ?Jail isn?t a restaurant. It isn?t seeing a movie. You?re doing time for committing a crime.?

?It helps elevate consciousness of the problems and brings transparency and oversight to a system that isn?t used to being transparent,? Miller added. ?That?s a very valuable tool.?

Though as Baca noted, it?s very strange to see the occasional positive review for a detention facility.

Dylan D. gave a 3-star review of San Quentin, writing, in part, ?I heard that the kitchen used local farms and put great thought in to their seasonally changing menu and the service was not exactly friendly but 'efficient.'?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/inmates-posting-reviews-prisons-yelp-212951533.html

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Alberta's Mystical Geography - ArticleSnatch.com

Alberta is considered to be one of the Prairie provinces. Alberta's landscape is very diverse, which is ideal for outdoor adventure seekers. You can go from mountain peaks, to glacial lakes, to roaming through the forest, and then frolicking in the prairies. The landscape has also been blessed with an abundance of natural mineral resources like petroleum and natural gas. These natural resources give Alberta's economy massive strength.

The Rocky Mountains:

The Rocky Mountains are one of Western Canada's most beautiful sight, they reach a very high altitude of 9,000 feet to more than 12,000 feet above sea level. Mount Columbia, which is located right at British Columbia's border, is Alberta's highest peak at 12,294 feet above sea level. The weather at the Rocky Mountains can be extremely unpredictable. The weather changes as you increase in altitude. For the most part, the Rocky Mountains have lots of precipitation, cold winters with deep snow and freezing temperatures, and mild summers. There is a diversity of vegetation in the Rocky Mountains, you will find pine trees, spruces, and firs.

The Great Plains:

The Great plains extend from the Western Canadian provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan, to Wyoming, Texas, South Dakota, North Dakota, New Mexico, Montana, Kansas, and Colorado. The Canadian portion of the Great Plains is referred to as the Prairies. As the name suggests, the area is generally covered mostly by prairies (grasslands), and also by forests. There are three types of prairies: tallgrass prairie, mixed grass prairie, and fescue prairie. In Alberta, the most common type of prairie is the mixed grass prairie.

The Canadian Shield:

The Canadian Shield surrounds the Hudson Bay, and is U-shaped which makes it look like a warrior's shield. The shield used to have jagged peaks that were higher in altitude than any of the mountains, but after centuries of erosion, the mountains changed into rolling hills, which consists of ancient, crystalline rock. It is one of the World's most mineral ore-rich areas, and contains large deposits of gold, nickel, copper, and silver.The Canadian Shield occupies the provinces of: Alberta, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador (Labrador only).

The Boreal Forest:

The Boreal Forest is a biome that consists of coniferous forests. The majority of the trees that are native to the Boreal Forest are conifers, which have needle leaves and cones, these include: Balsam Fir, pines, Cottonwood, White Spruce, Black Spruce, and larches. The forest is about 1000km wide, separating the tundra in the North, and the temperate rainforests and deciduous woodlands in the West. Canada's Boreal Forest is the largest intact boreal forest in the World, with about three million square kilometres that have not been urbanized. Approximately 80% of Canada's Aboriginal population live in the forested areas. The forest is accessible from various cities in Alberta. You can easily leave your Fort McMurray apartment rental, and take a drive up to the Boreal Forest to discover its beauty.

About the Author:
We're delivering a series of articles focused on providing useful information on lifestyle, employment, accommodations and housing for those moving to Fort McMurray. For more information on furnished apartments for rent in Fort McMurray, please visit: http://www.riverparkglen.ca/

Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Alberta-s-Mystical-Geography/4581198

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Kyna Baker of 5 Star Business Management 04/29 by Savvy Central ...

On his show, Comedian Rodney Perry covers arts and entertainment, everything from comedy and politics to music and acting, with his signature comedic slant.

MashUp Radio is a 30-minute podcast that discusses the fusion of technology, life, culture and science. Host Peter Biddle, engineer and executive for Intel?s Atom Software, dishes up a thought-provoking discussion.

Joy Keys provides her listeners with insight to improve their lives mentally, physically, monetarily and emotionally. Past guests on the show have included Meshell Nedegeocello, Blair Underwood, in addition to an impressive list of CEOs, humanitarians and authors.

Host Barry Moltz gets small businesses unstuck. He has founded and run small businesses with a great deal of success and failure for more than 15 years. This is a business radio show where he shares all the craziness of small business. It?s that craziness that actually makes it exciting, interesting and totally unpredictable.

The Bottom Line Sports Show is hosted by former NBA stars Penny Hardaway, Charles Oakley, Mateen Cleaves. Tune in to get the inside scoop on what's happening in sports today.

Hits Radio covers basketball, sports culture and entertainment with past guests including Jason Kidd, Robin Lundberg and Chris Herren.

Listeners get an earful on The Halli Casser-Jayne Show, Talk Radio for Fine Minds. Whether it?s the current political cocktail or the latest must-read award-winning book, Halli tackles all topics and likes to stir ? and sometimes shakes ? things up.

Official Internet radio show of forthcoming epic paranormal investigation book by Eric Olsen and "Haunted Housewife" Theresa Argie.

Award-winning World Footprints is a leading voice in socially responsible travel and lifestyle. Hosts Ian & Tonya celebrate culture and heritage and bring a unique voice to the world of travel.

Football Reporters Online is a group of veteran football experts in the fields of coaching, scouting, talent evaluation, and writing/broadcasting/media placement. Combined, the group brings well over 100 years of expertise in sports.

Host John Martin interviews the nation's leading entrepreneurs and small biz experts to educate small business owners on how to be successful. Past guests have included Emeril Lagasse and Guy Kawasaki.

The Movie Geeks share their passion for the art through interviews with the stars of and creative minds behind your favorite flicks and pay tribute to big-screen legends. From James Cameron and Francis Ford Coppola to Ellen Burstyn and Robert Duvall, The Geeks have got'em all.

Sylvia Global presents global conversations pertaining to women, wealth, business, faith and philanthropy. Sylvia has interviewed an eclectic mix from CEOs and musicians to fashion designers and philanthropists including Randolph Duke and Ne-Yo.

Mr. Media host Bob Andelman goes one-on-one with the hottest, most influential minds from the worlds of film, TV, music, comedy, journalism and literature. That means A-listers like Kirk Douglas, Christian Slater, Kathy Ireland, Rick Fox, Chris Hansen and Jackie Collins.

Paula Begoun, best-selling author of Don't Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me, separates fact from fiction on achieving a radiant, youthful complexion at any age. She?s regularly joined by health and beauty experts who offer the latest on keeping your skin in tip-top shape.

Source: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/savvycentral/2013/04/29/kyna-baker-of-5-star-business-management

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UFC 159 was clearly cursed by demons (Video)

"It was a very weird night."

UFC president Dana White started the post-UFC 159 press conference with these words. The event featured a nasty broken thumb on Yancy Medeiros, and equally nasty broken toe on Jon Jones, two fight stoppages because of eyepokes, and one fight that was canceled hours before it was supposed to happen.

But the craziest part of all? The demonic voice that was heard between rounds of Michael Bisping's win over Alan Belcher.

Did the gates of hell open before the fight, and did Satan send his minions to New Jersey? Were Bisping's cornermen, who were bathed in creepy red light, actually demons? Middle Easy thinks it was a spell from "Passages of the Dead."

It's possible the UFC ticked off the wrong person and got the evil eye thrown its way. The bigger question: Are we all cursed for watching the bouts?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-159-clearly-cursed-demons-video-172924960.html

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Alaska ferries lose nature experts to budget cuts

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) ? As the sun creeps into the sleeping quarters of the Tustumena, passengers who take a second to look out the window wake up to volcanic topography, sky blue lakes and wildlife that looks extraterrestrial even to most Alaskans.

That ethereal experience only lasts a few seconds; the berth's stripped-down bunk beds and dreary wallpaper quickly remind passengers they are sailing on a ferry that is almost 50 years old.

Having a ship that's a vestige of another era, however, does offer one small perk: During the summer, a handful of vessels have a nature expert on board who teaches passengers about the stunning local scenery and animals.

Alaska's state-owned ferries ? which shuttle residents and tourists between remote towns on the coasts of Washington state, Canada and Alaska ? are scaling back costs by getting rid of the naturalist program on all but one of the 11-ship fleet this year.

State officials say the program may eventually be brought back, but for now, the plan is to replace them with computerized equipment and brochures on the so-called Alaska Marine Highway System, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

In light of Alaska's declining revenues and an unclear financial future, the state's various departments were asked to bring expenses down by eliminating items that do not affect core functions.

Naturalists, who are hired and paid by the U.S. Forest Service or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, make about $22,000 a season. The state provides them free room and board on the ferry, which costs about $5,000 per year, per ship, according to Jeremy Woodrow, a spokesman for the Alaska Department of Transportation, the department responsible for the ferry system.

"The core purpose of the marine highway system really is providing transportation as a highway," Woodrow said.

The Marine Highway system is an aging, bare-boned necessity. Only four of the 11 ships in the fleet were built after 1980, but they remain a crucial link connecting the state's coastal cities to the rest of the world. The only way to reach Alaska's capital, Juneau, for instance, is to fly or take a ferry. There are no roads in or out of the rugged terrain.

Many of the ferries' passengers are Alaska residents shuttling from town to town or back from the mainland. But the trips also draw adventuresome tourists looking for an off-the-beaten-path vacation.

The naturalists, called "interpreters," are a valuable tool for tourists and residents because staff members don't have time to play tour guide, according to Doug Stuart, who served as the Tustumena's naturalist for over a decade.

Stuart, 71, is now out of work for the first summer in 12 years. He gets social security, but does odd jobs in the winter to supplement his income. Without the money from the naturalist job, Stuart and his wife are selling their big house in town with a mortgage ? where they currently live together after raising five children there? and moving to a smaller one on the outskirts of town that he's been building for the last few years.

Erin Kirkland, the publisher of AKontheGO.com, a website dedicated to family travel and outdoor activities in Alaska, said she is sad to see the naturalists go because a lot more tourists are starting to take the ferries instead of cruise ships. She and her family also enjoy the interpreters when they take the ferries.

"They have all the maps. They've got all the information about the communities you're headed to, the national forests, the national parks, and they will offer very insightful information," she said. "It's just a really nice fit."

Interpreter programs on many ships began disappearing when funding from the federal government became less certain, Woodrow said.

Without knowing for sure whether the federal government would be able to pay for interpreters in the future, the Department of Transportation is now hesitant to sign a contract to rent out a room for them.

That's space that could be used to transport Alaska's tourists and in-state travelers, the department said.

This summer will be the first time in 23 years that the Tustumena doesn't have a naturalist on board, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service official Larry Bell.

It's a loss for tourists because the state ferry system is the one of the few ways to see the Aleutian Islands. Cruise ships mostly travel southeast Alaska, with some venturing to Anchorage and Kodiak.

"I'm really befuddled, because to save a few bucks on what they pay for me to ride and do all the work for the passengers is eventually going to bite them," Stuart said. "I'm afraid that the state of Alaska is going to be hurt a little more deeply than just not getting ferry revenues. I think people just might not come to Alaska if they really wanted to do a ferry trip."

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Follow Joshua Berlinger on Twitter at https://twitter.com/j_berlinger

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-04-28-US-Marine-Highway-Naturalists/id-613f3943b9c747d9bf80e8bc56976043

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130 juicing for health-blood cleanser, & liver detoxification!

I just started juicing two days ago and i feel great
My? memory came back

?is BANANAS? GOOD i use cellulary brac etc..

hi a dont have a juicer machine cant i use a blender and add water
?

Great queston! Fennel bulb, parsley, mint leaves are my favorite main ingredients? for this problem.

I drink once or? twice per day ; )

how any? time a day you have to drink this I need it to clean my blood

Excuse me but I really need one juice recepie for my stomach I?ve been really bloated and gasie lately hope you could help id appreciate? it very much thank you

My rule of thumb is if I can?t? eat it raw, then I don?t juice it. Rhubarb should not be eaten raw. Thanks for great question!!

Why peel the carrots if you are juicing them? I? don?t know about you but nobody ain?t got time for that.

How do you know what is safe to put in? the juicer and what is not? I know not to put seeds and pits in there because they are toxic ? are there any other fruit/veggie parts you can?t use? Thanks!!!

Doctors cant make money off of Raw Juice and Herbs! They have to sell there Pills to make millions and keep big? Pharma happy! Its all BS!!

Cool but dry area! The crisper in your fridge is where? that is!

thanks? for the recipe can?t wait to try it bless

the juice? is good though. Thanks

water mellon rhine? really?

That makes sense! Now I know how to address the questions, well first of all I really want to commend you on making the decision to start buying vegetables, good job!!
When I buy my vegetables I usually store them in the refrigerator, to keep them longer. I even put my fruits such as oranges, watermelon, apples, etc, to keep them longer. Plus I really like my? produce chilled, If you want them to keep for 2 weeks, I would definitely refrigerate them. Good question!!

Well I suppose it?s more of a general question. See I pretty much never bought vegetables before, so I have no idea whether one stores them outside of a fridge, in an area of room-temperature like with bananas, or would keep them cool? in a refrigerator. I bought them from an organic food store, planning to keep them for around 2 weeks.

Sorry I did not list recipe: 1 large beet, with stems & leafs, 5 peeled carrots,? 3-4 small watermelon rinds, and a bunch of Italian parsley (handful).

What a completely worthless video. You dont tell people? the recipe.

Well, I don?t really know what you mean by better? If you grow them and when ready to eat or drink them that would be preferable, fresh!
But depends in climate? where you live, if too cold or hot, in order to store them would be depending that, and how long you plan to keep them? so I really don?t know what your question is?

Is it better to store the beets in? a fridge or outside?

the exact same recipe was just laid out for you on this very video ; ) I just made one? very similar to this. Love putting the beets in! Love that red colour

For a Video compilation of a number of different alternative cancer cures. Go to hub page.com and read the? article called?? Could We Already Have ?THE Cure for Cancer??

Thanks? for sharing ; )

This juice for liver detox looks very interesting. First time I heard of using watermelon rind. The best juicer,? however, is the Norwalk juicer. The alternating current of centrifugal juicer have a negative effect on the health giving, live nutrients given by fruits and vegetables according to Charlotte Gerson?s book. Thanks for sharing.

omg I was? salivating!
I would like the exact recipe please!

omg I was salivating!
I would like the exact recipe? please!

omg I was salivating!
I would like the? exact recipe please!

Source: http://detox.fitnessthroughfasting.com/uncategorized/130-juicing-for-health-blood-cleanser-liver-detoxification.php

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Owner of collapsed building captured in Bangladesh

SAVAR, Bangladesh (AP) -- The fugitive owner of an illegally constructed building that collapsed and killed at least 377 people was captured Sunday by a commando force as he tried to flee into India. At the disaster site, meanwhile, fire broke out in the wreckage and forced authorities to suspend the search for survivors temporarily.

Mohammed Sohel Rana was arrested in the western Bangladesh border town of Benapole, said Jahangir Kabir Nanak, junior minister for local government. Rana was brought back by helicopter to the capital of Dhaka where he faced charges of negligence.

Rana's capture was announced by loudspeaker at the disaster site, drawing cheers and applause from those awaiting the outcome of a continuing search-and-rescue operation for survivors of Wednesday's collapse.

Many of those killed were workers at clothing factories in the building, known as the Rana Plaza, and the collapse was the deadliest disaster to hit the garment industry in Bangladesh that is worth $20 billion annually and is a mainstay of the economy.

The fire that broke out late Sunday night sent smoke pouring from the piles of shattered concrete and halted some of the rescue efforts ? including a bid to free a woman who was found trapped in the rubble.

The blaze was caused by sparks as rescuers tried to cut through a steel rod to reach the woman, said a volunteer, Syed Al-Amin Roman. At least three rescuers were injured in the fire, he said. It forced them to retreat while firefighters frantically hosed down the flames.

Officials believe the fire is likely to have killed the trapped woman, said army spokesman Shahinul Islam. Rescue workers had delayed the use of heavy equipment for several hours in the hope that she could be extricated from the rubble first. But with the woman presumed dead, they began using heavy equipment around midnight.

An exhausted and disheveled Rana was brought before reporters briefly at the Dhaka headquarters of the commando team, the Rapid Action Battalion.

Wearing a printed shirt, Rana was sweating as two security officers held him by his arms. A security official helped him to drink water after he gestured he was thirsty. He did not speak during the 10-minute appearance, and he is likely to be handed over to police, who will have to charge him and produce him in court within 24 hours.

A small-time politician from the ruling Awami League party, Rana had been on the run since the building collapsed Wednesday. He last appeared in public Tuesday in front of the Rana Plaza after huge cracks appeared in the building. Witnesses said he assured tenants, including five garment factories, that the building was safe.

A bank and some shops on the first floor closed Wednesday after police ordered an evacuation, but managers of the garment factories on the upper floor told workers to continue their shifts.

Hours later, the Rana Plaza was reduced to rubble, crushing most victims under massive blocks of concrete.

Rana's arrest was ordered by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is also the Awami League leader.

On Saturday, police arrested three owners of two factories. Also detained were Rana's wife and two government engineers who were involved in giving approval for the building design. Local TV stations reported that the Bangladesh High Court has frozen the bank accounts of the owners of all five garment factories in the Rana Plaza.

Three floors of the eight-story building apparently were built illegally.

A garment manufacturers' group said the factories in the building employed 3,122 workers, but it was not clear how many were inside when it fell. About 2,500 survivors have been accounted for.

Army Maj. Gen. Chowdhury Hasan Suhrawardy, the coordinator of the rescue operations, said the next phase of the search involved the heavy equipment such as hydraulic cranes that were brought to the disaster site Sunday. Searchers had been manually shifting concrete blocks with the help of light equipment such as pickaxes and shovels, he said.

The work will be carried out carefully so as not to mutilate bodies, he said. "We have engaged many private sector companies which supplied us equipment, even some heavy ones," Suhrawardy said.

In a rare bit of good news, a female worker was pulled out alive Sunday. Rescuer Hasan Akbari said when he tried to extricate a man next to the woman, "he said his body was being torn apart. So I had to let go. But God willing, we will be able to rescue him with more help very soon."

The collapse and previous disasters in garment factories have focused attention on the poor working conditions of workers who toil for as little as $38 a month to produce clothing for top international brands.

The death toll surpassed a fire five months ago that killed 112 people and brought widespread pledges to improve worker-safety standards. But since then, very little has changed in Bangladesh.

Its garment industry was the third-largest in the world in 2011, after China and Italy, having grown rapidly in the past decade.

Among the garment makers in the building were Phantom Apparels, Phantom Tac, Ether Tex, New Wave Style and New Wave Bottoms. Altogether, they produced several million shirts, pants and other garments a year.

The New Wave companies, according to their website, make clothing for several major North American and European retailers.

Britain's Primark acknowledged it was using a factory in Rana Plaza, but many other retailers distanced themselves from the disaster, saying they were not involved with the factories at the time of the collapse or had not recently ordered garments from them.

Wal-Mart said none of its clothing had been authorized to be made in the facility, but it is investigating whether there was any unauthorized production.

__

AP writers Farid Hossain and Gillian Wong in Dhaka contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/owner-collapsed-building-captured-bangladesh-184621056.html

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Turtle genome analysis sheds light on turtle ancestry and shell evolution

Apr. 28, 2013 ? From which ancestors have turtles evolved? How did they get their shell? New data provided by the Joint International Turtle Genome Consortium, led by researchers from RIKEN in Japan, BGI in China, and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the UK provides evidence that turtles are not primitive reptiles but belong to a sister group of birds and crocodiles. The work also sheds light on the evolution of the turtle's intriguing morphology and reveals that the turtle's shell evolved by recruiting genetic information encoding for the limbs.

Turtles are often described as evolutionary monsters, with a unique body plan and a shell that is considered to be one of the most intriguing structures in the animal kingdom.

"Turtles are interesting because they offer an exceptional case to understand the big evolutionary changes that occurred in vertebrate history," explains Dr. Naoki Irie, from the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology, who led the study.

Using next-generation DNA sequencers, the researchers from 9 international institutions have decoded the genome of the green sea turtle and Chinese soft-shell turtle and studied the expression of genetic information in the developing turtle.

Their results published in Nature Genetics show that turtles are not primitive reptiles as previously thought, but are related to the group comprising birds and crocodilians, which also includes extinct dinosaurs. Based on genomic information, the researchers predict that turtles must have split from this group around 250 million years ago, during one of the largest extinction events ever to take place on this planet.

"We expect that this research will motivate further work to elucidate the possible causal connection between these events," says Dr. Irie.

The study also reveals that despite their unique anatomy, turtles follow the basic embryonic pattern during development. Rather than developing directly into a turtle-specific body shape with a shell, they first establish the vertebrates' basic body plan and then enter a turtle-specific development phase. During this late specialization phase, the group found traces of limb-related gene expression in the embryonic shell, which indicates that the turtle shell evolved by recruiting part of the genetic program used for the limbs.

"The work not only provides insight into how turtles evolved, but also gives hints as to how the vertebrate developmental programs can be changed to produce major evolutionary novelties." explains Dr. Irie.

Another unexpected finding of the study was that turtles possess a large number of olfactory receptors and must therefore have the ability to smell a wide variety of substances. The researchers identified more than 1000 olfactory receptors in the soft-shell turtle, which is one of the largest numbers ever to be found in a non-mammalian vertebrate.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by RIKEN, via AlphaGalileo.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Zhuo Wang, Juan Pascual-Anaya, Amonida Zadissa, Wenqi Li, Yoshihito Niimura, Zhiyong Huang, Chunyi Li, Simon White, Zhiqiang Xiong, Dongming Fang, Bo Wang, Yao Ming, Yan Chen, Yuan Zheng, Shigehiro Kuraku, Miguel Pignatelli, Javier Herrero, Kathryn Beal, Masafumi Nozawa, Qiye Li, Juan Wang, Hongyan Zhang, Lili Yu, Shuji Shigenobu, Junyi Wang, Jiannan Liu, Paul Flicek, Steve Searle, Jun Wang, Shigeru Kuratani, Ye Yin, Bronwen Aken, Guojie Zhang, Naoki Irie. The draft genomes of soft-shell turtle and green sea turtle yield insights into the development and evolution of the turtle-specific body plan. Nature Genetics, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/ng.2615

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/8zHOVHrvis0/130428144848.htm

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National survey highlights perceived importance of dietary protein to prevent weight gain

Apr. 26, 2013 ? Atkins Diet, Zone Diet, South Beach Diet, etc., etc., etc. Chances are you have known someone who has tried a high protein diet. In fact, according to the International Food Information Council Foundation, 50% of consumers were interested in including more protein in their diets and 37% believed protein helps with weight loss. In a new study released in the May/June 2013 issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, researchers found a relatively high proportion of women who reported using the practice of ''eating more protein'' to prevent weight gain, which was associated with reported weight loss.

Among a national sample, researchers from the University of Minnesota surveyed 1,824 midlife women (40-60 years old) to (1) describe perceptions about protein sources and requirements, (2) identify the reported frequency of using the ''eating more protein'' practice to prevent weight gain, and (3) compare reported protein intake to reported frequency of using the ''eating more protein'' practice to prevent weight gain.

Most women correctly identified good protein sources, and the majority could indicate the daily percent of dietary energy recommended from protein. ''Eating more protein'' to prevent weight gain was reported by 43% of women (and more than half of obese women) as a practice to prevent weight gain. Reported use of this practice was related to self-reported weight loss over two years. Two factors associated with effective use of this practice included the level of protein intake and self-efficacy toward weight management.

According to Noel Aldrich, lead author, those participants' who had reported weight loss with "eating more protein" had a protein intake that was consistent with the focus on protein suggested by the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. He said, "Education regarding dietary protein requirements may enhance the use of this practice. Women may need more information regarding protein energy content and effective selection of protein sources to enhance protein intake as a weight management strategy. Given that the majority of Americans are overweight, identifying the most effective practices and related factors surrounding successful weight loss and prevention of weight gain are important."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Elsevier Health Sciences, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/nutrition/~3/jvEwSUw8gvw/130426115618.htm

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US says Osama bin Laden's name belongs in NY trial (Providence Journal)

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Not 'brainwashed': American women who converted to Islam speak out

S. Deneen Photography

Lauren Schreiber, 26, converted to Islam in 2010 after a study-abroad trip. She and others want to dispel stereotypes that have sprung up after news reports about Katherine Russell, 24, the U.S.-born wife of suspected Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

By JoNel Aleccia, Senior Writer, NBC News

When an American convert to Islam was revealed as the wife of the dead Boston bombing suspect, Lauren Schreiber wasn?t surprised at what came next.

Comments from former acquaintances and complete strangers immediately suggested that 24-year-old Katherine Russell, a New England doctor?s daughter, must have been coerced and controlled by her husband, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who died last week in a firefight with police.

?She was a very sweet woman, but I think kind of brainwashed by him,? reported the Associated Press, quoting Anne Kilzer, a Belmont, Mass., woman who said she knew Russell and her 3-year-old daughter.

That kind of assumption isn?t new to Schreiber, 26, a Greenbelt, Md., woman who became a Muslim in 2010.

?The moment you put on a hijab, people assume that you?ve forfeited your free will,? says Schreiber, who favors traditional Islamic dress. ?

The Boston terror attack and the questions about whether Russell knew about her husband?s deadly plans have renewed stereotypes and misconceptions that U.S. women who have chosen that faith say they want to dispel.

?It?s not because somebody made me do this,? explains Schreiber, who converted after a college study-abroad trip to West Africa. ?It?s what I choose to do and I?m happy.?

Rebecca Minor

Rebecca Minor, 28, of West Hartford, Conn., converted to Islam five years ago. Wearing a hijab "reminds me to be a good person," she said.

Her view is echoed by Rebecca Minor, 28, of West Hartford, Conn., a special education teacher who converted to Islam five years ago. When her students, ages 5 to 8, ask why she wears a headscarf, she always says the same thing:?"It's something that's important to me and it reminds me to be a good person," says Minor, who is secretary for the Muslim Coalition of Connecticut.?

Muslims make up less than 1 percent of the U.S. population, according to studies by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. In 2011, about 1.8 million U.S. adults were Muslim, and about 20 percent had converted to the faith, Pew researchers say. Of those converts, about 54 percent were men and 46 percent were women. About 1 in 5 converts mentioned family factors, including marrying a Muslim, as a reason for adopting the faith.?

Accusations are 'harsh'
Women convert for a wide range of reasons -- spiritual, intellectual and romantic -- says Yvonne Haddad, a professor of the history of Islam and Christian-Muslim relations at Georgetown University.

?Islam is attractive to women that the feminist movement left behind,? says Haddad, who co-authored a 2006 book, ?Muslim Women in America: The Challenge of Islamic Identity Today.?

Women like Lindsey Faraj, 26, of Charlotte, N.C., say that wearing a headscarf and other traditional Islamic garb in public often leads people to assume she sacrificed her American life to please a man.

?'You must have converted in order to marry him,' I hear it all the time,? says Faraj, who actually converted simultaneously with her husband, Wathek Faraj, who is from Damascus, about four years ago.?

She?s also heard people say that her husband is allowed to beat her, that she?s not free to get a divorce, that she and her two children, ages 4 months and 2, are subservient to the man. Such concepts are untrue, of course, she says.

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Lindsey Faraj, 26, of Charlotte, N.C., converted to Islam four years ago. She says it was thoughtful, heart-felt choice that changed her life.

?In the beginning, it did offend me a lot,? says Faraj, who grew up in a Christian family in Florida. ?But now as my sense of my new self has grown, I don?t feel offended.?

She?s able to joke, for instance, about the woman who screamed insults from a passing car.

?They screamed: ?Go back to your own country? and I thought, ?It doesn?t get more white than this, girl,?? says Faraj, indicating her fair features.?

Like all stereotypes, such views are steeped in fear, says Haddad.

?Accusations of brainwashing are harsh,? she says. ?They cover up the fact that we don?t comprehend why people like ?us? want to change and be like ?them.??

All three women say they came to Islam after much thought and spiritual searching.

Islam 'entered my heart'
Schreiber, who is a community outreach and events coordinator for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, says she was drawn to the religion after meeting other Muslims on her trip abroad before graduating from St. Mary's College of Maryland in 2009.?

She grew up in an agnostic family where she was encouraged to discover her own faith.?

"It was, whatever you decide to do -- temple, church, mosque -- I support you finding yourself," says Schreiber. She's now married to a Muslim man, Muhammad Oda, 27, whose parents were both converts to Islam. She said came to the faith before the relationship.??

Faraj, a stay-at-home mom, says she never saw herself "as a religious person, in the least," but became enthralled after trying to learn more about Islam before a visit to see her husband's family.?

?The concept of Islam hit me,? Faraj recalls. ?It was just something that entered my heart.?

Minor, who is single, says she was intrigued by Islam in college, when she was?close friends with?a deployed?American Marine but had Muslim friends at school.

"I saw a huge discrepancy in the negative things I heard coming from my?(friend)?and the actions I could see in my co-workers," she recalls. After spending 18 months learning about Islam, she decided to convert.?

The response from family and friends has been overwhelmingly supportive, Minor says.?

"The more you can do to educate people about Islam, not by preaching, but by actions, the better," she says.?

Reports that Katherine Russell might have been embroiled in an abusive relationship, or that her husband intimidated her aren?t an indictment of Islam, Haddad says.?

"Abusive men come in all colors, nationalities, ethnicities and from all religions," she says. "No one says that Christianity teaches abuse of women because some Christian men are abusive."

Schreiber says she frequently gets comments from people surprised to see her fair skin and hear her American accent from beneath a scarf. She says she appreciates it when people actually ask questions instead of making assumptions.

?I just want people to know that there are American Muslim women who wear hijab by choice because they believe in it and it feels right to them, not because anyone tells them to.?

Related stories:?

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Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/26/17897741-not-brainwashed-american-women-who-converted-to-islam-speak-out

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New conservative lobbying push for gay marriage

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) ? A national group of prominent GOP donors that supports gay marriage is pouring new money into lobbying efforts to get Republican lawmakers to vote to make it legal.

A spokesman for American Unity PAC tells The Associated Press the group has established a lobbying operation called American Unity Fund. It already has spent $500,000 on lobbying since last month.

Half that came in Minnesota, which could hold votes on gay marriage as early as next week. Money has also been spent in Rhode Island, Delaware, Indiana, West Virginia and Utah.

In Minnesota, the money has gone to state efforts to lobby Republican lawmakers and for polling on gay marriage in a handful of suburban districts represented by the GOP.

Billionaire Republican donor Paul Singer started American Unity PAC last year.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/conservative-lobbying-push-gay-marriage-050802280.html

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NASCAR defends penalties against Matt Kenseth

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) ? Joe Gibbs Racing was still smarting Friday over the severity of the penalties NASCAR levied this week after an underweight part was found in Matt Kenseth's engine.

The issue is not whether the part was illegal. Because one of eight connecting rods failed to meet the minimum weight requirement, the team acknowledges it was indeed illegal. But the engine came from manufacturer Toyota Racing Development, and JGR is questioning the fairness in NASCAR's harsh ruling against the team.

The reasoning, NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton said Friday, is because the team is ultimately responsible for every piece of the car presented at inspection.

"At this time we will not and cannot penalize vendors," Pemberton said at Richmond International Raceway. "We'd be at it all day long, whether it was a shock that went bad, a spring that collapsed that caused the car (to be) low or any of those things.

"But when you go down that road, there are a million pieces on these cars, and so we choose to go down the path that it's the team's responsibility for quality control, to check on the parts and pieces that they bring and compete with at the racetrack."

Per NASCAR policy, Kenseth's race-winning engine from Sunday at Kansas was taken back to the North Carolina Research & Development Center for a thorough inspection. Once opened up to NASCAR inspectors, one connecting rod was found to be approximately three grams ? less than the weight of an envelope ? too light.

Kenseth had everything but his trophy taken away, with NASCAR docking him 50 points, plus the three bonus points he earned for the win. Crew chief Jason Ratcliff was fined $200,000 and he and team owner Joe Gibbs were both suspended for six races.

JGR is appealing, so Ratcliff and Gibbs could work Friday at Richmond, where Kenseth has gone on record in calling the penalties "grossly unfair" and "borderline shameful."

But Ratcliff also insisted that the No. 20 Toyota had no advantage from the one light connecting rod.

"I respect NASCAR's view on it as far as the part was illegal so by the letter of the law, the part's illegal and there's consequences for that. I do not feel like the spirit of the law was compromised," he said. "That's where we felt like the severity of the penalty is extremely harsh.

"We won Kansas, you can bet your bottom dollar on that. You make that change in that engine and that race doesn't change a bit."

The engines are made by TRD in Costa Mesa, Calif., and shipped to JGR's shop in North Carolina. JGR can't touch the engines beyond installing them in the cars, and TRD has accepted responsibility for the mistake. TRD officials said the manufacturer shipped the part with paperwork that indicated its correct weight, and TRD employees simply missed the fact it was not legal.

Pemberton said NASCAR isn't charged with determining intent or if the infraction provided an advantage.

"Everybody's asked the same thing ? why aren't things more black and white?" Pemberton said. "It's too light. It's too heavy. It's too wide. It's too high. It's too low. It's black and white, and we can't judge the performance because some guys do a better job of it than others, quite frankly."

Ratcliff argued TRD should have felt the burden of the penalty, not JGR. Although NASCAR did dock Toyota five manufacturer points, the bulk of the penalty went against Gibbs and Ratcliff, who wasn't sure if he would have to pay the $200,000 himself. "I hope not. If I do I'm going to be broke ? we need to start a relief fund," he said.

"Back in the day, most of the engines were built by the race team," Ratcliff said. "Now you have a handful of major engine builders that supply engines to most all the teams in the garage. How do you hold them accountable? I think it's time for some change on how NASCAR approaches it because times have changed so much."

The penalties against Joe Gibbs Racing came a week after NASCAR penalized Penske Racing for allegedly using illegal parts in the rear suspension of defending champion Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano's cars.

Keselowski and Logano were docked 25 points apiece, their crew chiefs were fined a total of $200,000 and were suspended along with five other Penske employees for six races. Penske's appeal will be heard next Wednesday, and team owner Roger Penske has maintained they were working in a gray area of the rule book.

The Penske and Gibbs cases aren't similar in that Penske has a difference of opinion about a rule, where the Gibbs group will argue the severity of the fines.

Pemberton stood by his rules are rules defense.

"We feel like we're consistent, but not every violation is exactly the same," Pemberton said. "We do our best and we feel like we do a good job interpreting the rules and levying the penalties they deserve."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nascar-defends-penalties-against-matt-kenseth-164618779.html

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Book Review: The Dohmestics by Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar

Book Review: The Dohmestics by Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar

????????? Six women live in the same gated community. Three are women of means. Three serve them. This poignant tale crosses racial, socio-economic, & moral barricades.
????????? Our first trio- Edna, Amira, & Noof- are well-off & mostly utilize their time fretting over their families & their help. Maria, Lillie, & Maya run these households as maids & nannies.
????????? Edna is the neutral party. Currently without ?help?, her main concern is her husband?s fidelity. Noof fears the same, but us kind to her nanny/maid Maria & tries to help her. Amira on the other hand has a nasty temper with her aide, Maya. Maya is treated more like a slave than hired help. Lillie floats from home to home while supplementing her income in more shady lines of work.
????????? All 6 have issues. The wealthy fret over keeping up appearances while the help desire to send money home to their own families. When disaster hits within the tight-knit walls of the community, there?s a ripple that affects all six- with devastating results. Join in the story to laugh & cry with these unique ladies!
????????? Fabulous from start to finish, there isn?t a thing that I didn?t love about ?The Dohmestics?. Each of the women is vastly extraordinary yet entirely believable. From a plot standpoint, it is fresh & original. I want to stand up & cheer that we finally have a book for women that doesn?t involve impossible romantic situations or shopping addictions! This is a book about women that you?ll want to recommend to your friends. I sure did.
????????? It is absolutely clean & any risky scenes are more implied than described. Its proof that a book can be written that will appeal to a majority of women of all ages. An absolute ?must read? 5 star novel, it?ll be perfect for summertime reading and/or book clubs. I?m confident that you?ll love it as I did.
I received 1 eBook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

Source: http://devotedmommyof3.blogspot.com/2013/04/book-review-dohmestics-by-mohanalakshmi.html

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East London Tech City Startups To Get Access To Network Of 4G Hotspots In June

The Tech City high tech cluster in London's East End is getting an extra helping of high speed mobile connectivity from June. Carrier EE, which owns and operates the U.K.'s first and still only LTE/4G network, has announced it is partnering with the Tech City Investment Organisation to install a network of 4G hotspots in "key locations" for businesses in the area to use.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/L4BVVGzfMPw/

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New hope for Autistic children who never learn to speak

Apr. 24, 2013 ? An Autistica consultation published this month found that 24% of children with autism were non-verbal or minimally verbal, and it is known that these problems can persist into adulthood. Professionals have long attempted to support the development of language in these children but with mixed outcomes. An estimated 600,000 people in the UK and 70 million worldwide have autism, a neuro-developmental condition which is life-long.

Today, scientists at the University of Birmingham publish a paper in Frontiers in Neuroscience showing that while not all of the current interventions used are effective, there is real hope for progress by using interventions based on understanding natural language development and the role of motor and "motor mirroring" behaviour in toddlers.

The researchers, led by Dr Joe McCleery, who is supported by autism research charity Autistica, examined over 200 published papers and more than 60 different intervention studies, and found that:

• Motor behaviours, such as banging toys and copying gestures or facial expressions ("mirroring"), play a key role in the learning of language.
• Children with autism show specific motor impairments, and less "mirroring" brain activity, particularly in relation to strangers in whom they show very little interest. This finding may hold the key to language problems overall.
• Despite extensive use of sign language training to improve speech and communication skills in non-verbal children with autism, there is very little evidence that it makes a positive impact, potentially due to the impairments in motor behaviours and mirroring.
• Picture exchange training can lead to improvements in speech. Here, children gradually learn to "ask" for things by exchanging pictures. This may work well because it does not depend on complex motor skills or mirroring.
• Play-based approaches which employ explicit teaching strategies and are developmentally based are particularly successful.
• New studies involving a focus on motor skills alongside speech and language intervention are showing promising preliminary results. This is exciting because these interventions utilise our new understanding of the role of motor behaviours in the development of speech and social interaction.

With the support of Autistica, the UK's leading autism research charity, Dr McCleery's team have now embarked on new work which builds on these findings to design interventions which specifically target the aspects of development where there are deficits in non-verbal autistic children.

Dr McCleery says: "We feel that the field is approaching a turning point, with potentially dramatic breakthroughs to come in both our understanding of communication difficulties in people with autism, and the potential ways we can intervene to make a real difference for those children who are having difficulties learning to speak."

Christine Swabey, CEO of Autistica, says: "80% of the parents in our recent consultation wanted interventions straight after diagnosis. Dr McCleery's work shows how critical it is for all intervention to be evidence-based, and that the best approaches are based on a real understanding of the development of difficulties in autism. We are proud to be supporting the next steps in this vital research which will improve the quality of life for people with autism."

Alison Hardy, whose son Alfie is six, says: "As a parent of an autistic child, who is non-verbal, I feel quite vulnerable. People are always saying "try this, it worked wonders for us." But you can't try everything. We need a proper, scientific evidence base for what works and what does not. Then we can focus our time and our effort, with some confidence that we have a chance of helping our children. The publication of this research is an exciting step in giving us that confidence, it is great that Autistica is supporting this vital work."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Frontiers, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Joseph P. McCleery, Natasha A. Elliott, Dimitrios S. Sampanis, Chrysi A. Stefanidou. Motor development and motor resonance difficulties in autism: relevance to early intervention for language and communication skills. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, 2013; 7 DOI: 10.3389/fnint.2013.00030

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/child_development/~3/0lZlMgGKZig/130424222552.htm

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Researchers track evolution of Philly's odd accent

In this Tuesday, April 23, 2013 photo, University of Pennsylvania linguistics professor Bill Labov takes part in demonstration highlighting his work, at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. Labov says the Southern-inflected sound of the Philadelphia dialect is moving toward a more Northern accent. Some of Philly's trademark twangy, elongated vowel sounds are becoming less so, though others are getting stronger. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

In this Tuesday, April 23, 2013 photo, University of Pennsylvania linguistics professor Bill Labov takes part in demonstration highlighting his work, at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. Labov says the Southern-inflected sound of the Philadelphia dialect is moving toward a more Northern accent. Some of Philly's trademark twangy, elongated vowel sounds are becoming less so, though others are getting stronger. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

In this Tuesday, April 23, 2013 photo, University of Pennsylvania linguistics professor Bill Labov takes part in demonstration highlighting his work, at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. Labov says the Southern-inflected sound of the Philadelphia dialect is moving toward a more Northern accent. Some of Philly's trademark twangy, elongated vowel sounds are becoming less so, though others are getting stronger. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

In this Tuesday, April 23, 2013 photo, University of Pennsylvania linguistics professor Bill Labov, right, takes part in demonstration highlighting his work, at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. Labov says the Southern-inflected sound of the Philadelphia dialect is moving toward a more Northern accent. Some of Philly's trademark twangy, elongated vowel sounds are becoming less so, though others are getting stronger. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) ? Will Philly no longer be a place where residents drink wooder and root for the Iggles?

Gid eowt!

A University of Pennsylvania linguistics professor says the Southern-inflected sound of the Philadelphia dialect is moving toward a more Northern accent. Some of Philly's trademark twangy, elongated vowel sounds are becoming less so, though others are getting stronger.

"Certain changes have continued in the same direction over 100 years and everybody's doing it," said Bill Labov, who has studied the Philadelphia accent since 1971 and recorded hundreds of native speakers born between 1888 and 1992 and living in dozens of neighborhoods. "It doesn't make a difference if you come from Port Richmond or Kensington or South Philadelphia."

With apologies to comedian Jeff Foxworthy, you might be a Philadelphian if: you say beggle (bagel), wooder (water), tal (towel), beyoodeeful (beautiful), dennis (dentist) or Fit Shtreet (Fifth Street). Your pronunciation of your own hometown might come out more like Philuffya, you call your football team the Iggles, you say "ferry" and "furry" the same way, and "radiator" rhymes with "gladiator."

Technological advances have allowed Labov and his colleagues to turn their decades of field recordings into voice spectrographs ? computer-generated visualizations of the human voice like an EKG ? to track speech variations over time. Regional dialects are cemented by adolescence, so a recording of a 75-year-old Philadelphian made in 1982, for example, should provide a snapshot of what people sounded like around 1925.

The researchers' recent paper in the journal Language, titled "One Hundred Years of Sound Change in Philadelphia," concludes that the city's linguistic character is not disappearing altogether ? but it is changing, with the most dramatic shifts occurring in the mid-20th century. The reasons aren't entirely clear but higher education appears to be a factor, as does simply being aware that certain local inflections are disparaged by outsiders.

"When we came to one of the most important Philadelphia features, of saying 'gow' for 'go,' it got stronger and stronger," Labov said, "until people born around 1950, 1960, when it turned around and it went the other way."

The Philly accent is getting thicker in other ways, however. Younger speakers use sharper "i'' sounds than their parents and grandparents, pronouncing "fight" and "bike" more like "foit" and "boik," and their "a'' sounds are closer to "e'' so words like "eight" and "snake" are closer to "eat" and "sneak."

"Children speak like their peer groups, not their parents," said Penn linguistics doctoral student Josef Fruehwald, so changes tend to occur by generation.

The familiar Philly-ism "wooder" also might be drying up.

"That sound is moving toward 'ah' so instead of 'cawfee' more Philadelphians are saying 'coffee,' 'wooder' becomes 'water,'" Labov said. "As people become aware ... they tend to reverse them. They say, 'Oh we shouldn't talk that way.'"

Not sure if you've heard the Philly patois? Listen to TV commentators Chris Matthews or Jim Cramer and you'll hear it leeowd (loud) and clear. "Jackass" star Bam Margera, who is from nearby West Chester, has it. So does Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his Philly-flecked American English a vestige of his childhood years in suburban Cheltenham.

Philadelphia characters often sound like New Yorkers ? think Rocky Balboa ? perhaps because Philly's nasal twang is tougher for non-natives to mimic. In last year's "Silver Linings Playbook," Robert DeNiro hung out with an uncle of co-star (and suburban Philadelphia native) Bradley Cooper to get the dialect down, though his wife played by Australian actress Jacki Weaver comes closest to nailing it.

The generational shift in the dialect was evident during a recent school event at The Franklin Institute, a science museum. Labov and several graduate assistants conducted hands-on demonstrations including one that asked, "Does Mad Rhyme With Sad?" Most of the youngsters answered yes, as in "mahd" and "sahd," while many adults said no, pronouncing "mad" with what linguists call a "tense a" ? sort of like "meeyad."

"I don't know how they can rhyme," said Betty McGonagle, who was on a field trip with students from the Harbor Baptist Christian Academy in Hainesport, N.J. "You're mad (meeyad), and you're sad (sahd)." For her teenage students, the words rhyme.

Mia Weathers, a freshman at the city's Science Leadership Academy, tried with some difficulty to pronounce "mad" as McGonagle does naturally.

"That is just, wow. That's strange," she said with a laugh.

Now the researchers' goal is answering what Labov calls "the most important and most mysterious" question about language change.

"How is it possible that people in every neighborhood in Philadelphia are moving in the same direction?" he said. "We don't have the answer yet."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2013-04-26-No%20More%20Wooder?/id-2dc22c1f807b4a9f90f65fd940ad8c37

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