Strange sight on college basketball court: sleeves

This undated image provided by Adidas shows models wearing new college basketball uniforms for, from left, Cincinnati, Kansas, Notre Dame, Baylor, UCLA and Louisville. (AP Photo/Adidas)

This undated image provided by Adidas shows models wearing new college basketball uniforms for, from left, Cincinnati, Kansas, Notre Dame, Baylor, UCLA and Louisville. (AP Photo/Adidas)

CINCINNATI (AP) ? Tradition-rich UCLA and Louisville are taking on an unconventional look for college basketball's postseason: sleeves.

Adidas unveiled its new brightly colored, camouflage-patterned uniforms for six men's teams Thursday. Kansas, Notre Dame and Cincinnati will also sport the multihued shorts but will stick with sleeveless jerseys. Baylor will join the Bruins and Cardinals in wearing the short-sleeved top, which the company debuted with the NBA's Golden State Warriors earlier this month.

Alternate uniforms have become big business in college sports, from Oregon's fluorescent tones with Nike to Maryland's loud designs with Under Armour.

No. 6 Kansas, No. 10 Louisville and No. 21 Notre Dame are currently ranked in the AP Top 25. UCLA, Cincinnati and Baylor might need a few more wins to guarantee they'll be playing in the NCAA tournament.

The second-ranked Notre Dame women and No. 16 Louisville will also wear the gear.

The teams will start using the uniforms for conference tournaments.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-02-28-Unique%20Uniforms/id-861e86e86edc4060a0fd6b6686ab07f7

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Sudan sends more troops to volatile border state

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan is sending reinforcements to Blue Nile state to fight rebels near the border to South Sudan, state-linked media said on Thursday.

Last week, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-North) said it had launched an offensive to take Kurmuk near the border to South Sudan and Ethiopia.

Sudan's army has been fighting rebels of the SPLM-North in Blue Nile and nearby South Kordofan state since around the time of South Sudan's secession in July 2011 under a 2005 deal which ended decades of civil war.

The fighting undermines efforts by the African Union to secure the poorly defined border and end tensions between the neighbors which came close to war in April. Sudan accuses South Sudan of backing the SPLM-North, a claim denied by Juba.

On Thursday, the Sudanese Media Center said an infantry battalion had arrived in Blue Nile's capital Damazin, where two more battalions would be expected in the next few days. The state's main airport is in Damazin.

It said the troops had arrived to "strengthen security" in the state and for a campaign of "cleansing", a term authorities use to describe fighting rebels.

The SPLM-North, whose fighters sided with the South during the north-south civil war, said this week its troops were inside Kurmuk town, a claim denied by the army. The SPLM had lost the town in autumn 2011.

Kurmuk is strategic for both sides because it was a stronghold of southern fighters during the civil war. Its loss would be a setback for Sudan, which has been trying to develop the resources of Blue Nile.

The state is rich in chrome and is a production site for gum arabic, used in soft drinks.

South Sudan accused Sudan two weeks ago of building up troops near the border, much of which is disputed.

The African Union brokered a deal in September to defuse hostilities between the two countries. But neither side has withdrawn its army from the zone or revived oil exports from the landlocked South Sudan through Sudan, as agreed in Addis Ababa.

The Sudanese foreign ministry said in a statement it was committed to implementing the September deal.

(Reporting by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Michael Roddy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sudan-sends-more-troops-volatile-border-state-001336584--sector.html

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Feeding limbs and nervous system of one of Earth's earliest animals discovered

Thursday, February 28, 2013

An extraordinary find allowing scientists to see through the head of the 'fuxianhuiid' arthropod has revealed one of the earliest evolutionary examples of limbs used for feeding, along with the oldest nervous system to stretch beyond the head in fossil record.

Until now, all fossils found of this extremely early soft-bodied animal featured heads covered by a wide shell or 'carapace', obscuring underlying contents from detailed study.

But a new fossil-rich site in South China has been found to contain arthropod examples where the carapace has literally been 'flipped' over before fossilisation ? allowing scientists to examine the fuxianhuiid head to an unprecedented extent.

The study, published today in Nature, highlights the discovery of previously controversial limbs under the head, used to shovel sediment into the mouth as the fuxianhuiid crawled across the seabed, millions of years before creatures emerged from the oceans.

Scientists say that this could be the earliest and simplest example of manipulative limbs used for feeding purposes, hinting at the adaptive ability that made arthropods so successful and abundant ? evolving into the insects, spiders and crustaceans we know today.

Using a feeding technique scientist's call 'detritus sweep-feeding', fuxianhuiids developed the limbs to push seafloor sediment into the mouth in order to filter it for organic matter ? such as traces of decomposed seaweed ? which constituted the creatures' food.

Fossils also revealed the oldest nervous system on record that is 'post-cephalic' ? or beyond the head ? consisting of only a single stark string in what was a very basic form of early life compared to today.

"Since biologists rely heavily on organisation of head appendages to classify arthropod groups, such as insects and spiders, our study provides a crucial reference point for reconstructing the evolutionary history and relationships of the most diverse and abundant animals on Earth," said Javier Ortega-Hern?ndez, from Cambridge's Department of Earth Sciences, who produced the research with Dr Nicholas Butterfield and colleagues from Yunnan University in Kunming, South China. "This is as early as we can currently see into arthropod limb development."

Fuxianhuiids existed around 520 million years ago, roughly 50 million years before primordial land animals crawled from the sea, and would have been one of the first examples of complex animal life ? likely to have evolved from creatures resembling worms with legs. Arthropods were the first jointed animals, enabling them to crawl.

Fuxianhuiid arthropods would have spent most of their time grazing on the sea floor, using these newly discovered limbs to plow sediment into their mouths. They could probably also use their bodies to swim for short distances, like tadpole shrimps.

The fossils date from the early part of the event known as the 'Cambrian explosion', when life on Earth went from multi-cellular organisms we know very little about to a relatively sudden and wide spread explosion of diverse marine animals - the first recognisable evolutionary step for the animal kingdom we know today.

"These fossils are our best window to see the most primitive state of animals as we know them ? including us," said Ortega-Hern?ndez. "Before that there is no clear indication in the fossil record of whether something was an animal or a plant ? but we are still filling in the details, of which this is an important one."

While still a mystery, theories about the cause of the 'Cambrian Explosion' include possible correlations with oxygen rises, spikes in oceanic nutrient concentration, and genetic complexity reaching critical mass.

But the new site in South China where these fossils were found could prove to be key in uncovering ever more information about this pivotal period in the history of life on Earth. The Xiaoshiba 'biota' - that is the collection of all organisms preserved in the new locality - in China's Yunnan Province is similar to the world-famous Chengjiang biota, which provided many of the best arthropod fossil records to date.

"The Xiaoshiba biota is amazingly rich in such extraordinary fossils of early organisms," said Ortega-Hern?ndez. "Over 50 specimens of fuxianhuiids have been found in just over a year, whereas previous areas considered fossil rich such as Chengjiang it took years - even decades - to build up such a collection."

"So much material is so well preserved. There's massive potential for Xiaoshiba to become a huge deal for new discoveries in early animal evolution".

###

University of Cambridge: http://www.cam.ac.uk

Thanks to University of Cambridge for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127053/Feeding_limbs_and_nervous_system_of_one_of_Earth_s_earliest_animals_discovered

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Why the Feds Won't Let Us Have Volvo's Smart Headlights

Driving unlit back roads in the late hours of the night is one of the rare moments of solitude in motoring. Just you and the relaxing dull rumble of the engine, with your high beams cleaving a swath through the thick black night. But every few minutes, a set of headlights pops into view, breaking your zen-like driving flow as you reach to flip the high beams off.

But what if it was possible to drive dark roads uninterrupted, and you didn't even have to flip your brights off to stop from dazzling the odd oncoming car? Automatic high-beam toggling isn't a new concept?GM flirted with it nearly 60 years ago with the autronic eye?and ever since the 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee automakers have used complimentary metal-oxide-semiconductor sensors to detect headlights and shut off the brights. But recently, automakers such as Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volkswagen are experimenting with complex tracking systems to automatically adjust high beam range just outside of any oncoming vehicle; now, joining in the quest for illuminatory cruise control, is Volvo and its "Active High Beam Control" technology.

Available on the 2014 S60, V60, and XC60, the Swedish automaker's tech functions much like the rest of the industry: A camera scans the road for nearby cars and continually adjusts the beam to keep the headlights from blinding fellow drivers. While Audi's system is able to turn off individual LEDs, VW tilts the bulbs away, and Merc's and BMW's selectively either lamp, Volvo keeps the high beams locked on and simply shades portions of the light that would otherwise blind the other car, to within a 1.5-degree accuracy.

Although this headlight tech might seem trivial?there are sure to be curmudgeons who argue it solves a non-existent problem?the effect is surprisingly profound. There's certainly an odd pleasure derived from watching a complex system handle a mundane task with a cold efficiency no human could replicate. Beyond the gee-whiz factor, Volvo is billing this new high-beam management system as a safety feature, one capable of keeping the trouble spots on the side of the road illuminated (deer can ruin any driver's day in a split-second) without blinding oncoming traffic.

Unfortunately for U.S. drivers, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) sees this brave new world of smart headlights as a major safety problem. According to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 108, headlights aren't allowed to vary their lighting pattern with such dexterity. Until the NHTSA changes its regulations, the U.S. is restricted to a future in which high beams merely shut off at the sight of an oncoming car, and not alter small a portion of their throw distance. Add it to the ever-growing list of things Europe has that we don't.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/auto-blog/why-the-feds-wont-let-us-have-volvos-smart-headlights-15150836?src=rss

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EU moves closer to imposing caps on banker bonuses

BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) - The European parliament and EU states could agree on Wednesday to impose caps on bankers' bonuses, a measure that would channel public fury at financial sector greed, but which opponents say marks a reckless overreach by Brussels into private pay deals.

Negotiations to introduce a cap on bankers' bonuses in the European Union resume on Wednesday, a week after European lawmakers and ambassadors from countries failed to reach a deal. A majority of states in the 27-member bloc would have to support a measure passed by the European parliament to make it law.

Limits to bankers' pay are popular on a continent still struggling to emerge from the ruins of a 2008 financial crisis. Lavish pay is blamed for encouraging bankers to take excessive risks, destabilizing banks that then needed to be bailed out.

Banks and industry lobbyists have strongly resisted bonus caps. They say such limits would only force banks to hike base pay to keep staff, making wage bills less flexible.

Britain in particular is wary of any measure that might hurt the City of London, the continent's financial capital, with 144,000 banking staff and many more in related jobs.

But European lawmakers see a cap - possibly limiting bonuses to double base salary - as the only way to rein in runaway pay, reduce incentives for risk and make banks safer.

"A cap is the only way we will see bonus restraint," said Arlene McCarthy, the British member of the European Parliament who pushed for pay reform. "The parliament is not prepared to budge. Legislators have got fed up because they don't see any restraint in the bonus culture."

Talks between EU country ambassadors about the rules broke up last week amid clashes over how far to go. But tougher rules seem certain.

"There will definitely be a bonus cap," said one official. "It's just a question of how much."

A decision is not expected before 1800 GMT and there is a possibility that it might be deferred for more negotiations.

Britain, anxious to protect a sector that accounts for one tenth of its economy, is trying to dilute the impact of the cap with proposals that would allow higher bonuses if they were paid in share options.

Nearly 700,000 people work in financial and professional services in London. About 27 billion pounds ($41 billion) of bonuses have been spent over the last decade on real estate in the British capital, according to data compiled for Reuters by property firm Savills.

"If implemented, the new pay restrictions would lead to an exodus of bankers and traders to Switzerland and the Far East," Norman Lamont, a former finance minister from Britain's ruling Conservative party, wrote in the Daily Telegraph.

"Not to put too fine a point on it, the bonus cap is a piece of economic lunacy that reflects tellingly on why it was a huge mistake giving the pointless hybrid parliament in Brussels any legislative powers at all."

Many in banking argue that such reform will do little to lower pay in finance, where head-hunters say some annual packages in London approach five million pounds.

MARKET-DRIVEN

"This will only change the way that pay is structured," said Andrew Breach, a head-hunter at Michael Page, which recruits traders and other bankers. "This is not the civil service. This is a market driven industry. If you want people to make profit, then you need to reward them."

An earlier attempt to limit bankers' pay with an EU law forcing financiers to defer bonus payments over up to five years merely prompted lenders to increase base salaries.

However McCarthy, the European lawmaker, said it will be harder for banks to raise base pay this time around. The bonus rules will come as part of wider legislation setting higher capital standards for banks, increasing their costs and curbing freedom to hike salaries.

Hedge funds and private equity firms will be excluded from such curbs although they face restrictions on pay later this year under another EU law.

Bankers who spoke to Reuters are worried about the law but reluctant, like many of their employers, to speak openly about the reform.

The restrictions planned by Brussels, which could come into force from the beginning of next year, may, however, be overtaken by events in an industry where slack activity has already driven down most bonuses to twice salary or lower.

Having peaked in 2008 at 11.5 billion pounds ($17.40 billion), the bonus pool in London fell to 4.4 billion pounds last year, according to research by the Centre for Economics and Business Research. It predicts that pool will be just 1.5 billion pounds this year and fall further in the future.

On Wall Street, by contrast, the securities industry's bonus pool was expected to total $20 billion last year with the average cash bonus rising an estimated nine percent to almost $121,900, New York state's comptroller said this week.

The rosier climate for banking in the United States and Asia combined with the bonus cap from Brussels could be the final straw for some bankers.

"We have been talking for years about the economy and the regulatory environment here potentially moving people abroad and we haven't really seen it. But this might be enough to push a lot of people off the ledges," said one London-based headhunter. ($1 = 0.6618 British pounds)

(Additional reporting by Steve Slater, Tom Bill and Costas Pitas in London; Writing by John O'Donnell; Editing by Carmel Crimmins and Peter Graff)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eu-moves-closer-imposing-caps-banker-bonuses-063925891--finance.html

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Today?s misc. links (Unqualified Offerings)

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Singer Morrissey says no to Kimmel, 'Duck Dynasty'

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? The TV series "Duck Dynasty" is coming between Morrissey and Jimmy Kimmel.

The singer and animal rights activist says he canceled his appearance Tuesday on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" because "Duck Dynasty" cast members will be on the talk show.

Morrissey says he can't perform on a show with what he called people who "amount to animal serial killers."

A&E's "Duck Dynasty" reality show follows a Louisiana family with a business selling duck calls and decoys.

A&E did not immediately respond to requests for comment from it and the Robertson family.

A person familiar with the Kimmel show's plans confirmed that Morrissey was to appear. The person lacked authority to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The person says Morrissey's performance will be rescheduled.

ABC says the Churchill band will perform Tuesday on Kimmel's show but declined comment on the switch.

___

Reach AP Television Writer Lynn Elber at http://www.twitter.com/lynnelber .

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/singer-morrissey-says-no-kimmel-duck-dynasty-022936792.html

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Odd 'gigantic jet' lightning seen over China

Steven Cummer

A gigantic jet captured above a storm in North Carolina in 2009.

By Elizabeth Howell
LiveScience

A rare glimpse of a "gigantic jet" ? a huge and mysterious burst of lightning that connects a thunderstorm with the upper atmosphere ? was made over China in 2010 and was recently described by scientists.

The gigantic jet took place in eastern China on Aug. 12, 2010 ? the farthest a ground-based one has ever been observed from the equator, according to the research team.

Previous jets were mainly seen in tropical or subtropical regions, but this one took place around 35 degrees latitude, about the same as the southern part of Tennessee in the United States.

"This is the first report from mainland China," lead researcher Jing Yang, an atmospheric scientist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, told OurAmazingPlanet. The results were recently published in the Chinese Science Bulletin.

Researchers got a good look at the storm using a variety of tools, including Doppler radar data and weather pictures in the infrared band of radiation.

The gigantic jet peaked at about 55 miles (89 kilometers) above the ground, far above the cloudtops that were measured with Doppler radar at an altitude of 11 miles (17 km). [Infographic: Earth's Atmosphere Top to Bottom]

Yang added that her team had possibly seen another gigantic jet in the same area during a different thunderstorm, but said they needed to recheck the data to confirm.

"It's not as clear as this one if it is a gigantic jet or not," she said.

It wasn't until the last century that electrical activity above thunderclouds was scientifically proven, although rumors based on undocumented observations circulated long before that time.

These electrical discharges can take several forms, such as sprites (orange-red flashes) and blue jets, which appear as blue cones.

The first confirmed gigantic jet was reported in 2001, after American researchers saw a blue jet reaching 44 miles (70 km) above the clouds at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. This was nearly double the 26-mile (42 km) limit for jets that was previously observed.

Two years later, researchers described shapes such as "tree jets" and "carrot jets" that they spotted during a 2002 thunderstorm over the South China Sea near the Philippines.

While scientists are still trying to understand how these gigantic jets work, they believe the jets balance out the electrical charge during thunderstorms by discharging the ionosphere ? a part of the upper atmosphere filled with charged particles.

Follow Elizabeth Howell @howellspace, or OurAmazingPlanet on Twitter @OAPlanet. We're also on Facebook and Google+.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://science.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/26/17103649-mysterious-gigantic-jet-lightning-spotted-over-china?lite

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Curiosity's spills add thrills to the Mars life hunts

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Kerry Washington Oscars Dress: Marvelous in Miu Miu

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Sasha Obama recital, Michelle 'mom dancing': A weekend of First Family moves

Sasha Obama recital: President Obama took an hour off to be Dad at his youngest daughter's dance recital while a video of Michelle Obama? 'mom dancing' with Jimmy Fallon went viral.

By Staff and wires / February 24, 2013

First Family dance: This weekend Michelle Obama's "Mom Dancing" video went viral, and President Obama took time off to go to Sasha's dance recital. Here, the first lady, center, danced on the "The Dr. Oz Show" with New Jersey third gradersand host Mehmet Oz. The episode will air on Feb. 28.

Barbara Nitke/Sony Pictures Telvision/AP

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Even as Michelle Obama?s ?Mom Dancing? video with Jimmy Fallon was going viral this weekend, Sasha Obama?s dance recital was not to be missed: President Obama took an hour out of his schedule last night to attend his youngest daughter's dance recital at an arts center in suburban Maryland.

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The White House said 11-year-old Sasha performed during a recital Saturday evening at the Music Center at Strathmore, a nonprofit arts center in North Bethesda, Md.

Mr. Obama, who told People magazine in Decemeber that he has a penchant for dancing Gangam Style to embarrass his daughters,? returned to the White House about an hour after arriving at the arts center.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/jv6cfW9P0fk/Sasha-Obama-recital-Michelle-mom-dancing-A-weekend-of-First-Family-moves

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Fez: a world heritage worthy of preservation | Morocco World News

By Mouhssine El Hajjami

Morocco World News

Fez, February 24, 2013

The historic city of Fez was founded in the year 789 AC by Moulay Idriss I.

In 809, the city became the royal residence of Idriss II, the son of Idriss. Fez was one of the greatest cities of the Muslim world during the Medieval ages and a zone for religion, arts, science, craft works and trade activities; the city was also classified by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage site and one of the greatest landmarks of Arab civilization in North Africa after Alkairawan in Tunisia. In both its tangible and intangible forms of cultural diversity, Fez constitutes a melting pot where the Arab and other ethnic groups coexist under the banner of Islam.

Today, the Medina of Fez is still playing active socio-economic, religious and cultural roles which all make it an attractive tourist center for foreign visitors. However, over the centuries, the Medina of Fez has started undergoing a continuous process of degradation due to overpopulation, weak and collapsing infrastructure in addition to lack of investments in maintenance and restoration. These very factors in particular have threatened the ability of the Medina to survive as a historical and cultural patrimony for Moroccans, as well as for humanity.

As a part of its architectural patrimony, Fez encompasses hundreds of minarets, which stand as a witness on the wealth of religious knowledge and dozens of ancient alleys leading to (Funduqs) hotels or (madrasas) schools. Unfortunately, all of this is threatened with decay and collapse due to the pressures of over urban population and also some neglect from stakeholders. UNESCO observed by the early 1980 that Fez was in danger of losing the original quality that makes it one of the purest zones of Islamic civilization. That same year, UNESCO at its general conference in Nairobi, announced the active safeguarding of the Medina of Fez.

More significantly, the late king Hassan II himself, and other members of the royal family did play an active part in calling for the promotion of the city of Fez. The king declared that, ?the historic role of Fez in the consolidation of civilization in Morocco and in spreading the light of faith and knowledge (?) our duty is to instill new life into it and to renovate it so that it may find its ancient traditions once again.?

Going back to the colonial era, there were some strategies exerted by the French protectorate, which were intended to preserve the material heritage of the city of Fez. In 1912, the French Resident General Marshall Lyaeuty considered the old architectural heritage of the Medina as a form of national heritage that should be conserved and protected. To this very reason, he created the institute of fine arts and historic monuments; the major concern of this latter was the protection of all the historic buildings and the ancient monuments of the city. The implementation of this project had to abide by three important rules of urbanization, which are still referred to even today. These rules vary as follow:

? The necessary separation of the European city, which was at the time in the process of construction, from the Islamic old city. This was done in order to ensure the non-dependence of each part of the city on the other.

? Providing more preservation to the most prominent historic sites and monuments which represent both the history and the architecture of Morocco.

? The implementation of high and modern forms of architectural construction in building Morocco?s new cities.

The first decree in this regard was issued in 1914. This decree was meant to preserve mainly the buildings, which stand as an outstanding symbol of both Moroccan art and history such as the artifacts, precious masterpieces and also the unique natural and historic sites that surround the old Medina.

Nowadays, to help maintain the authenticity of heritage inside the old city of Fez, UNESCO has adopted an integrated rehabilitation plan running over 15 years. This plan of rehabilitation was submitted after a five years study by Morocco, the UNESCO and the ADER-F?s (Agence pour la Dedentification et la Rehabilitation de la Medina de F?s) which was created in 1989. This agency, known today as the agency of the development and the rehabilitation of Fez, is a semi-private organization in charge of carrying out and co-coordinating the projects of save guarding the old cities.

The ADER agency was run by the former architect and director general of the restoration project Abdellatif EL-Hajjami. The director used to work in coordination with the UNESCO and the Moroccan government throughout the processes of rehabilitation, which the city of Fez underwent in the past. Before starting the project of preserving and restoring the historic buildings, Abdellatif El-Hajjami directed a staff of 160 workers and artisans, including an engineer, three architects, an archeologist, a geologist, a lawyer and various computer and documentation specialists.

The restoration project has already identified 11 madrasas, 320 mosques, 270 funduqs and over 200 hammams (public baths), houses or public ovens worthy of preservation. The estimated total fund of rehabilitation, which came from the Moroccan Ministry of Cultural Affairs, UNESCO and also the World Bank, was around $600 million as initial funds.

The general rehabilitation strategy has been planning to provide a well-grounded infrastructure to the old Medina of Fez by focusing on the following priorities:

? The improvement of the circulation network by creating accessible emergency circulation network that would meet the requirements of the overall commercial and social activities held inside the heart of the old Medina.

? The restoration plan calls for depopulating the old city by transforming most of the inhabitants to new industrial zones.

? The displacement of polluting industries outside the old Medina to a farther industrial area.

? The program focused on improving the built environment by restoring the demolition of ruins and the old traditional houses that are in a vulnerable state.

? The creation of active tourist circulation flows which would help to alleviate poverty among the young people through the regeneration of job opportunities.

All in all, the restoration plan has succeeded in retrieving and rehabilitating the patrimony of the old Medina of Fez by focusing mainly on the historic sites; however, the plan did not attain all the objectives set previously. Until today, many of the inhabitants in the city are still frustrated about the non-materialization of the ADER promises to restore their collapsing houses.

Thus, the extent to which the rehabilitation project managed to maintain the architectural tissue of the Medina is up to the stakeholders working in the agency to answer for the time being.

? Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed

Source: http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2013/02/79738/fez-a-world-heritage-worthy-of-preservation/

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Horrific Daytona Speedway Crash Leaves 28 Injured (Photos/Video)

Horrific Daytona Speedway Crash Leaves 28 Injured (Photos/Video)

At least 28 NASCAR fans were injured on Saturday when chunks of debris flew into the grandstands during a crash at Daytona International Speedway. The wreck occurred when they were nearing the finish line and Kyle Larson’s car went into the fence. Large chunks of Larson’s car landed in the grandstands and the burning engine ...

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Obama attends youngest daughter's dance recital

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama is attending his youngest daughter's dance recital at an arts center in suburban Maryland.

A White House official says 11-year-old Sasha Obama's recital is being performed Saturday evening at the Music Center at Strathmore.

Located in North Bethesda, Md., about a half-mile outside the capital beltway, Strathmore is a nonprofit arts center that hosts events and classes.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-02-23-US-Obama/id-8795bb6e4da242999baeb7395d979dc6

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Calgary Mayor Nenshi picks a fight with developers

This is interesting

Mayor Naheed Nenshi is reprimanding the top Calgary home builders group for speaking out against the city?s planning department.

In a letter sent Thursday, Nenshi informed the Calgary branch of the Canadian Home Builders Association that its members are sidelined from city advisory committees ? until its president recants statements he made to an industry dinner last month.

The advisory work includes cutting red tape and reforming the entire planning department.

Nenshi told the Herald the city would continue to work with the development industry and home builders, but it ?will find our representatives from the home building industry elsewhere? until they clarify comments the mayor contends contain ?misleading and inaccurate information.?

Nenshi is taking issue with a speech made by Charron Ungar at the CHBA?s Jan. 9 economic forecast dinner, which was attended by Premier Alison Redford.

Ungar was critical of the city?s planning and accused the city of freezing surburban development in favour of increasing density in existing communities.

?Currently, there exists a significant (divide) between city hall and our industry on this issue of how we are going to grow,? the Herald reported Ungar saying at the meeting.

Ungar, an executive with a major homebuilder, called the city?s plan to balance growth by increasing density in existing communities ?essentially a suburban development freeze.?

He told the group increasing density in existing communities shouldn?t be done ?at the expense of suburban growth. Ensuring proper and adequate housing in all areas of our city should be our main focus ? and not a byline of a grand experiment in planning.?

Nenshi said Ungar?s comments to colleagues contradict what CHBA has been saying directly to the city.

?It doesn?t mean we can?t disagree, we disagree with one another all the time, but we need to do so in a respectful, thoughtful way,? Nenshi said in an interview.

The mayor also says that Calgary ?is up to pre-recession year levels in housing starts.?

Although the group president made passing reference to Nenshi?s past comments about ?crap? development applications, the mayor says his reprimand isn?t about a personal grudge.

The CHBA is an influential organization whose members build the houses and condos of Calgary?s suburbia, and also redevelop existing neighbourhoods. They?re a top lobbying force in the city, and its home-builder members are among the top civic campaign finance donors.

If you let the market decide how to build homes, they will build for profit. ?One of the roles of a city planning development is to take in considerations on how the development will impact the city and those that live in it. ?Most cities abdicate that role because they don?t like fights like this with developers. ?It?s a gutsy stand to take, especially with an election next year. ?That being said I think it is the only stand a mayor can take here. ?Calgary suburb lots are being sold at a lifetime lost. ?The city isn?t making back the money needed to install and maintain the sprawling sewers, roads, and other infrastructure during the lots life which means that Calgary is subsidizing quite heavily each and every new suburban lot in Calgary. ?That is a path that has taken many American and especially Californian cities to bankruptcy.

Source: http://www.jordoncooper.com/2013/02/calgary-mayor-nenshi-picks-a-fight-with-developers/

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Dodgers legend Garvey reveals prostate cancer

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Source: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130222&content_id=41881632&notebook_id=41898594&vkey=notebook_la&c_id=la

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Local Talks With NYU Alumna, Screenwriter & Oscar Nominee Lucy ...

Eight years ago, Lucy Alibar was studying Drama in the Experimental Theater Wing at Tisch. Now she?s nominated for an Oscar Award for her work writing the screenplay for the film Beasts of The Southern Wild. So what?s it like to be up for the largest award in screenwriting?

?Sometimes I forget,? she tells us, referring to her nomination.

Three years ago, Lucy wrote Juicy and Delicious, a screenplay about a little boy who has to cope with his father?s illness, which later became the movie Beasts of the Southern Wild. ?As soon as I wrote the play, I sent it to Benh [Zeitlin, Beast?s director]. He came to me soon after to talk about what a film adaptation would look like, and it was just such an exciting concept for me. I think when you?re just starting out, you should just say yes to everything. That?s what I was doing, saying yes to everything, pursuing everything and maybe never sleeping, but it?s worth it because you end up writing so much.?

Before Beasts of the Southern Wild, Lucy was writing and putting out a ten-minute play every month with the help of a fellowship, which she says helped her ?learn to work quickly and make decisions really fast.? She considers the experience ?the best thing you could do for a playwright.?

?You get more ideas the more you write, it?s not like you use them up. I used to think that there was more scarcity in it, that I would use up all my ideas or something, [but] it actually works the opposite way.?

Besides her large-scale projects, Lucy keeps a daily journal. ?I write about whatever?s going on. When my dad was sick, I wrote about that. I write about travel. I write about whatever?s on my mind. It?s just very free-flowing. 99% of it is completely boring and uninteresting and then sometimes I?ll hit on something and say, ?Oh, I didn?t realize I was thinking about that, I didn?t realize I was so compelled by this for so long.? Like, wow, I?ve been writing about meteor showers a lot for the past week,? she laughs. ?For me, it?s about taking out any filter.?

To research Beasts of the Southern Wild, Lucy and Zeitlin spent a few months living in a small fishing marina in order to understand Louisiana and the people in the community. As a writer, she paid close attention to the Louisiana cadence and the way of speaking, but also spent time listening to the stories of the residents. ?I was really struck by how long their families had been there,? she recalls. ?Their families had been there since the 18^th century.?

Even after filming was completed, Alibar did not see Beasts in its entirety until five days before it was screened at Sundance. But even then, at the initial screening, it was just her and the filmmakers, not the cast. The first time she saw the movie with an audience was at Sundance. Although she had spent time imagining what the film would ultimately look like, she had never thought of what it would be like to watch others watching it.

?We got a standing ovation, but coming from the theater, everyone gets standing ovations, so I thought ?oh, that?s what happens at Sundance,?? she said. ?I didn?t think a standing ovation was anything. I was happy about it, but, you know.? Even when audience members greeted her later, she was still numb from the overwhelming experience of even showing at the prominent film festival. ?I just remember people coming up to me and talking to me afterwards, and I could tell that they were saying something really positive, but I couldn?t understand what they were saying because I was so?I felt like I was outside of my body.? But ?in a good way,? she added.

The screenplay is based on Lucy?s own experiences of battling with her father?s catastrophic illness. When we asked her whether it was a vulnerable experience to have so many people watch a film based on such personal grief, she answered, ?I used to feel a lot more possessive of it,? but that it?s become ?everybody?s experience now.?

Lucy also spoke a little about the beasts of the Beasts of the Southern Wild???the Aurochs. Although she had written them in, she didn?t know what they would actually look like until she finally saw the screening of the film. Was she surprised? Disappointed? The answer: shocked. Throughout the process, she would watch the art department and the crew building miniatures of the Aurochs, but nothing prepared her for seeing them on the big screen for the first time. ?Oh my god,? she tells us. ?Look at what these incredible people did with very little except their own ingenuity.?

So, what about her time at NYU? ?I absolutely loved it,? she said. ?It really gave me my understanding that it is more about making a lot of things and putting them up really quickly.? Entering NYU in 2001, she was much more of a perfectionist about her work, but the artistic community at school helped her to put out a lot more work, even when she didn?t feel that everything was finished and impeccable. ?It was a wonderful, wonderful time. It was hard?it was really hard?but so rewarding.?

One professor that stood out to her was Rosemary Quinn, who still teaches in the Experimental Theater Wing. ?The class was called Self Scripting but it was about creating on your feet. It really became about creating by talking, and then writing about it, which I had never done before. I had always sat down and wrote and my plays started like that. The class, I think, really taught me to write dialogue, it taught me to write action. It taught me to really make a three-dimensional story? It?s really about building a world and teaching you how to do that in a really technical way.?

At the time, she was living with a friend in Washington Heights, working as a nanny on Saturday and Sunday mornings at six, and visiting her favorite fruit cart (which is still there) on 1st and 14th, all while juggling the large amounts of class time and homework. ?It was a really intensive program. If you could sleep,? she jokes, ?that was great.?

As advice to current students, Lucy leaves three words of Alibar wisdom:

1. ?Do before you?re ready. Don?t wait to be ready.?
2. ?You?re going to know most of the people in your class for your whole life.?
3. ?Take Rosemary Quinn?s class.?

We wish her the best of luck this Sunday at the Oscars!

[Image via.]

Source: http://nyulocal.com/on-campus/2013/02/22/local-talks-with-nyu-alumna-screenwriter-oscar-nominee-lucy-alibar/

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Police: Hotel altercation sparked Vegas shooting

LAS VEGAS (AP) ? Bullets were flying from a black Range Rover at a gray Maserati as the vehicles raced toward a red light on the Las Vegas Strip.

Beneath the neon lights, police say, the Maserati ran a red light at one of the Strip's busiest intersections and smashed into a taxi that exploded into flames early Thursday, killing the two people inside.

Three more cars and a utility truck also collided at the crossroads home to Bellagio, Caesars Palace and Bally's, injuring at least six more people as the Range Rover sped off in the pre-dawn darkness.

The Maserati driver was pronounced dead at a hospital.

The dramatic scene that more than one tourist compared to something out of a violent action movie set off a frantic search for the occupants of the Range Rover that continued into the night, and marked the latest violent episode on the Strip since the beginning of the year.

Two people were critically wounded in a shooting at a parking garage Feb. 6, and a tourist was stabbed Saturday in an elevator at The Hotel at Mandalay Bay.

Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie told reporters several hours after Thursday's attack that it was sparked by an argument in the valet area of the nearby Aria hotel-casino, and that the violence at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road did not reflect the values of Las Vegas residents or visitors.

"What happened will not be tolerated," Gillespie said. He promised the shooters would be "found and prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

On the Strip ? closed and snarling traffic throughout the day until reopening late Thursday night ? the fiery rampage shocked tourists.

"We get stabbings, and gang violence," said Mark Thompson, who was visiting from Manchester, England, with his wife, "but this is like something out of a movie. Like 'Die Hard' or something."

Police said they were contacting authorities in three neighboring states about the Range Rover Sport with dark tinted windows and distinctive black custom rims and plates that fled the scene about 4:20 a.m. It had a car dealer's advertisement in place of a license plate.

In Southern California, the California Highway Patrol alerted officers in at least three counties to be on the lookout for the SUV.

Las Vegas police Sgt. John Sheahan said the Range Rover was last seen near the Venetian resort as it headed north from the shooting scene on Las Vegas Boulevard.

Witnesses also told police the SUV and Maserati had come from the nearby CityCenter area, the home of Aria, just south of the site of the attack.

"We have numerous witnesses to this," Sheahan said. "But what is the genesis of this? We don't know yet."

Predawn jogger Eric Lackey was on his way back to the New York-New York hotel when he snapped a cellphone photo of the blazing scene moments after the crash. Black smoke billowed from the flaming taxi, amid popping sounds from the fire.

Lackey, of Forest Hill, Md., said a security officer in a yellow shirt performed CPR on a person on the sidewalk while police officers canvassed a small crowd of perhaps 15 onlookers gathering at the scene.

"Police were asking if anyone was still in the vehicles and if they heard gunfire," Lackey told The Associated Press. "That's when I realized it wasn't just a regular accident."

Sheahan said police have video from traffic cameras at the intersection and were checking hotel surveillance systems. The video will not be made public, he said.

Police did not release the names of the people who were killed, citing the ongoing investigation.

The crumpled, gray Maserati, which had no license plate, came to rest several feet away from the incinerated taxi.

"The people I feel sorry for are the people in the taxi," said Elvina Joyce, a tourist from Regina, Saskatchewan. "Seconds made all the difference in the world for them. Wrong place, wrong time."

The area near the scene has been the site of high-profile violence in the past.

Rapper Tupac Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting in 1996 about a block away under similar circumstances, as assailants opened fire on his luxury sedan from a vehicle on Flamingo Road. The killing has never been solved.

___

Associated Press writers Michelle Rindels and Hannah Dreier contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/police-hotel-altercation-sparked-vegas-shooting-182403826.html

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More states consider ban on credit card surcharges

Herb Weisbaum ? ? ? 12 hrs.

Charge a fee to use your credit card? It?s legal for merchants to do that, unless barred by state law. Ten states already ban such surcharges ? California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma and Texas ? and more may join the list.

The legislatures in 13 other states are currently considering bills that would prevent these so-called ?check out? fees. Lawmakers in Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Tennessee are responding to a rule change that took place late last month. A similar bill will soon be introduced in West Virginia.

Visa and MasterCard agreed to let merchants add a surcharge to credit card transactions as part of the settlement agreement in an antitrust lawsuit brought by retailers. Until Jan. 27, both Visa and MasterCard had prohibited merchants from charging the customer for the cost of processing that credit card transaction.

The settlement does not affect Visa or MasterCard debit cards. American Express still prohibits a surcharge on any of its cards.

New Jersey Assemblyman Vincent Prieto (D-Secaucus) said he introduced a bill to ban surcharging because it would hit consumers in the pocketbook.

?The amount of the surcharge may seem miniscule on paper, but in the family budget 1.5 to 3 percent could add up to a shorter grocery list or less to spend on gas,? he said in a statement.

In Utah, Sen. Curtis Bramble (R-Provo) is sponsoring a bill that would prohibit surcharges on any type of ?financial transaction card? which would include debit cards.

Major retailers are not expected to tack on a credit card surcharge, at least not any time in the immediate future. Wal-Mart, Target, Sears and Home Depot told NBC News they have no plans to add a credit card surcharge. But just the possibility has spurred some lawmakers into action.

?It?s a waste of the legislative process,? said Mallory Duncan, senior vice president of the National Retail Federation. ?They could take steps to bring greater competition into the marketplace by prohibiting the price fixing of the hidden swipe fees merchants pay to process credit card transactions.?

Trish Wexler, spokesperson for the Electronic Payments Coalition, whose members include Visa and MasterCard Worldwide, told NBC News it has not taken a position on the issue.

?No one knows how checkout fees will work their way through the system,? Wexler said in an email statement, ?but the settlement provides sufficient consumer protections while the process plays out.?

What about disclosures?

The advocacy group Consumer Action has published a booklet on credit card checkout fees. It warns shoppers to be on the lookout for these fees and advises them to express their dissatisfaction.

?Customers shouldn?t stand for it,? said Ruth Susswein Consumer Action?s deputy director of national priorities. ?Our advice is to tell them you don?t like the fee and this makes you want to take your business elsewhere.?

The new rules from Visa and MasterCard require retailers who apply a credit card surcharge to post a notice at the store?s entrance. The exact percentage of the surcharge does not need to be disclosed until the point of sale. The customer receipt must list the amount of the surcharge.

Online stores with a surcharge will not be required to have a notice on the home page. They only need to alert shoppers about this when they reach the page where credit cards are first mentioned. In most cases, that means the final step of checkout when the purchase is being completed.

Not the end of this story

The settlement that allows merchants to impose a credit card surcharge is only preliminary. The court has yet to issue its final ruling in this case. That?s expected later this year.

Once that happens, various retailers and business groups plan to challenge the settlement. That could drag into late 2014.

The possibility that the settlement could be modified will probably keep most businesses of any size from instituting credit card fees for the time being.

Herb Weisbaum is The ConsumerMan. Follow him on Facebook and Twitteror visit The ConsumerMan website.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/more-states-consider-ban-credit-card-surcharges-1C8455523

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Birders tally 'huge' numbers in global count

Pamela Wertz

The American goldfinch is one of the 3,144 species counted in this year's Great Backyard Bird Count, which went global for the first time.

By John Roach, Contributing Writer, NBC News

Birdwatchers counted more than 25.5 million birds during the largest worldwide bird count ever conducted, according to preliminary results streaming in from the four-day event held earlier this month.

The global Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) builds on the success of the program run for 15 years in the U.S. and Canada. More than 120,000 checklists have been reported, accounting for 3,144 species. That?s a third of the world?s birds, and results will flow in until March 1.

Jennifer Taggart

The Northern Cardinal is one of the five most reported species in the Great Backyard Bird Count.

"It was huge," Geoff LeBaron, an ornithologist with the National Audubon Society, told NBC News. The conservation group helps coordinate the bird count with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Canada.

"In one year, you really can?t say too much aside from the fantastic statistics about the involvement and the number of birds and the checklists and all that, which is just phenomenal," he added. In years to come, though, the data should help scientists learn about the health of bird populations.

Among the highlights from this year?s count was the sighting of the colorful crested Northern Lapwing in several sites along the eastern seaboard. The bird is native to Europe and was likely blown across the Atlantic Ocean in the same weather patterns that generated superstorm Sandy.

"It wasn?t necessarily Sandy that caused lapwings to get here, but more the weather patterns that made Sandy move where it did because it made that weird left hook and suddenly it landed right on New Jersey/New York," LeBaron said.

Birders in Vancouver, Canada, are aflutter over the sighting of a single Red-flanked Bluetail, a little thrush native to Asia. Its Canadian appearance has attracted bird watchers from all over North America hoping to catch a glimpse of the rarity with striking blue tail, according to Audubon.

Most importantly, said LeBaron, the new global nature of the GBCC is proving a great tool to get people outside enjoying nature and collecting data that will eventually help scientists learn more about birds.

"It can give them that spark that may lead to a lifetime of watching birds and getting involved in conservation," he said.

John Roach is a contributing writer for NBC News. To learn more about him, check out his website.?

Source: http://science.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/21/17047752-birders-tally-huge-numbers-in-global-count?lite

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Four-Year-Old Hero Pulls Sister From Car Crash That Killed Their Mom (VIDEO)

Four-Year-Old Hero Pulls Sister From Car Crash That Killed Their Mom (VIDEO)

A four-year-old little girl from Oregon rescued her two-year-old injured sister after a tragic car crash that left their mother dead. Little Aryanna Rath, 4, drug her little sister Lylah, 2, out of the wrecked vehicle and wrapped them in a blanket while they waited for help to arrive. The mother, 26-year-old Jessica Marie Rath ...

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Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/02/four-year-old-hero-pulls-sister-from-car-crash-that-killed-their-mom-video/

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Newt Finding Might Set Back Efforts to Regrow Human Limbs

Unique proteins in these amphibians cast doubt on the existence of any latent potential for limb regeneration

By Zoe Cormier and Nature magazine

The Eastern, or red-spotted, newt may have evolved the ability to regenerate organs and limbs in relatively recent times Image: Flickr/StoneHorse Studios

The ability of some animals to regenerate tissue is generally considered to be an ancient quality of all multicellular animals. A genetic analysis of newts, however, now suggests that it evolved much more recently.

Tiny and delicate it may be, but the red spotted newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) has tissue-engineering skills that far surpass the most advanced biotechnology labs. The newt can regenerate lost tissue, including heart muscle, components of its central nervous system and even the lens of its eye.

Doctors hope that this skill relies on a basic genetic program that is common ? albeit often in latent form ? to all animals, including mammals, so that they can harness it in regenerative medicine. Mice, for instance, are able to generate new heart cells after myocardial injury.

The newt study, by Thomas Braun at the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Bad Nauheim, Germany, and his colleagues, suggest that it might not be so simple.

Attempts to analyze the genetics of newts in the same way as for humans, mice and flies have so far been hampered by the enormous size of the newt genome, which is ten times larger than our own. Braun and his colleagues therefore looked at the RNA produced when genes are expressed ? known as the transcriptome ? and used three analytical techniques to compile their data.

The team compiled the first catalogue of all the RNA transcripts expressed in N. viridescens, looking at both primary and regenerated tissue in the heart, limbs and eyes of both embryos and larvae.

The researchers found more than 120,000 RNA transcripts, of which they estimate 15,000 code for proteins. Of those, 826 were unique to the newt. What is more, several of those sequences were expressed at different levels in regenerated tissue than in primary tissue. Their results are published in Genome Biology.

Modern or ancestral?
The findings add to existing evidence that the ability evolved recently, says Jeremy Brockes of University College London, whose research provided the first evidence that regenerating tissue in salamanders express proteins that are not found in other vertebrates.

?I no longer believe that there is an ancestral program that is waiting to be reawakened,? Brockes says. ?However, I absolutely do believe it?s possible to coax mammal tissues into regenerating to a greater degree with the lessons we learn from newts.?

But saying that the trait is either ancestral or recent is probably too ?black and white?, says Elly Tanaka of the Center for Regenerative Therapies in Dresden, Germany. The truth, she says, could be somewhere in the middle. ?It may in fact be that regeneration is ancestral, but that newts have species-specific adaptations that allow it to have such spectacular regenerative capacities compared with other vertebrates.?

Moreover, Tanaka adds, scientists would do well to look for more grey zones in the potential for harnessing the regenerative capacities of newts (and of other animals, such as fish). Rather than focusing on spectacular, but perhaps unlikely, scenarios in which amputees could regrow entire limbs, researchers should instead focus on more plausible options, such as improving the healing of scars and burns or increasing the speed of organ regeneration.

This article is reproduced with permission from the magazine Nature. The article was first published on February 21, 2013.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=1996b3c04426dcb37dd2eb900d1fe881

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Judge tosses suit by suburban coach who was fired after writing sex book

BY KIM JANSSEN AND CASEY TONER Staff Reporters February 21, 2013 3:36PM

Updated: February 21, 2013 3:46PM

First, high school basketball coach Bryan Craig?s lurid, self-published book of questionable sex tips cost him his job.

Now it?s got another bum review ? from a federal judge, who has tossed out his $1 million lawsuit against the school administrators that fired him.

Craig hit the headlines last year after it emerged he had authored a book called ?It?s Her Fault? while working as a counselor and girl?s basketball coach at south suburban Rich Central High School. The book discussed in graphic detail Craig?s opinions on vaginal differences between women of different races, encouraged men to cheat on their partners and advised that ?the easiest kill for a man is through the young lady with low self-esteem.?

Fired in September by Rich Township High School District 227, he filed a federal lawsuit alleging his first amendment rights had been violated.

But in a scathing opinion issued this week, Judge Elaine Bucklo threw out the case ? and took a dig at Craig?s writing style.

Though Craig styled his tome a ?self-help? book, Bucklo dismissed it as ?little more than a lurid account of his own sexual preferences and exploits.?

?The first two chapters at least superficially discuss the balance of power between men and women in relationships,? the judge wrote. ?But by the third chapter plaintiff?s narration is focused on his own attraction to women, from ogling a ?sexy young lady? at the mall to working after-hours at a strip club...?

She said Craig had failed to prove his book met the burden of being ?a matter of public concern,? adding that the fact Craig self-published it, ?suggests that the book, though public, may not be a matter ?in which the public might be interested.??

In one particularly damning section of her opinion, she even compared his lawsuit to an unsuccessful San Diego one in which a police officer sued after he was fired for selling a video of himself masturbating on eBay.

Craig ?exploited his position as a high school guidance counselor and there is no question that the speech is detrimental to the mission and functions of the employer,? Bucklo wrote dismissing his lawsuit with prejudice, meaning he cannot re-file it.

Reached Thursday, Craig said he was disappointed but plans to appeal the ruling.

Source: http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/18383783-418/judge-tosses-suit-by-suburban-coach-who-was-fired-after-writing-sex-book.html

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