ANALYSIS - Is the Chinese bubble about to burst? For some time now out of the BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China - China's growth rate has been not only one of the most rapid, but it has also been dragging the rest of the world economies along behind it - shining as a beacon to the faltering economies in Europe and the US, writes TheCattleSite Editor in Chief, Chris Harris.
As the Chinese economy has been maintaining this rapid growth, so there has been a shift in the make up of the population. The shift has seen a growth in wealth and a growth in a middle class. The population has been moving to an urban way of living and out of the countryside.
The dynamic change in population and culture has also seen a change in eating habits. As with all populations where wealth grows, meat and protein diets start to replace cereals and crops.
Meat consumption in China reached around 59kg per head in 2010.
The International Monetary Fund forecasts that China's economy that spiked at over 14 per cent growth about four years ago, has now settled to a growth rate of about nine per cent.
The forecast for next year is that it will continue to grow at nine per cent, but according to Forbes, this does not take into account a potential collapse in the European economies.
"China's economic growth has been very good for quite some years," says Forbes. "The consensus forecast now is that 2012 growth will be right in line with the country's long-term growth potential of about nine per cent per year. However, there are five key issues to consider:
Inflation fighting
Housing bubble
Export markets
Cronyism
Value of the Yuan."
On the back of this potential growth, the meat processing market is also developing and growing. It is being spurred on by new technology and the population is also changing the way it is eating meat.
More and more consumption is in the form of processed and pre-cooked products.
As the economy is growing by nine per cent, so the meat industry is virtually keeping pace with it.
An IBIS World report, published this month forecasts that the industry will develop at a rate of 8.3 per cent a year, reaching $82.38 billion in 2016.
Revenue from the meat processing industry in China this year is expected to have risen by 13 per cent year on year to $55.24 billion. On average, since 2006 the industry has seen a 22.5 per cent rise in value.
However, imports are also an important part of the Chinese industry and the IBIS World report shows that they are expected to reach $2.59 billion this year.
A lot will depend on how and whether the Chinese government can keep a cap on inflation. The latest figures show that inflation was running at 4.2 per cent in November, down from a July figure of 6.5 per cent.
If inflation is kept in check and the economy continues to expand, meat consumption is expected to increase and the meat processing industry develop - albeit at a slower place than over the past decade.
Business travel outlook: Meetings to be shorter, smaller, closer to home
Although planning professionals expect an increase in the number of business meetings next year, they predict them to be shorter, smaller, busier and closer to home, according to a survey recently released by the meetings and events division of American Express.
WASHINGTON ? Republicans yielded on policy affecting communist Cuba and Democrats gave way on new energy standards for light bulbs to seal an agreement Thursday evening on a massive $1 trillion-plus year-end spending package in time avert a possible government shutdown this weekend.
Under pressure from White House veto threats, House Republicans agreed to drop restrictions on people who visit and send money to relatives in Cuba, while Democrats conceded defeat on a GOP demand to delay energy efficiency standards that critics argued could effectively ban inexpensive incandescent light bulbs. In late stage talks, Democrats also agreed to ban the District of Columbia's government from funding abortions.
These policy issues held up a final agreement on the must-do spending measure for most of the day. It came barely a day after Republicans said they planned to push the 1,200-plus-page legislation through the House with only GOP votes, which seemed like a bluff considering tea party opposition to the measure.
The measure funds 10 Cabinet agencies, awarding a slight increase to the Pentagon and veterans' programs while trimming most other domestic agencies. It drops most policy provisions sought by GOP conservatives.
Thursday's legislation implements the details of cost caps set under the August debt and budget accord between Republicans and President Barack Obama and adds to earlier agency savings enacted in April. It pays for programs ranging from border security to flood control to combating AIDS and famine in Africa.
The measure has bipartisan backing but is likely to encounter resistance from conservative tea party lawmakers seeking far more significant cuts to government agencies.
Days after saying that the measure was wrapped up, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers, R-Ky., acknowledged that talks had been reopened, as power lawmakers quarreled over the Cuba provisions and other unresolved issues.
The bill chips away at the Pentagon budget, foreign aid and environmental spending but boosts funding for veterans programs. The Securities and Exchange Commission, responsible for enforcing new regulations under last year's financial overhaul, won a 10 percent budget increase, even as the tax-collecting IRS absorbs more than a 3 percent cut to its budget.
Popular education initiatives for special-needs children and disadvantaged schools were basically frozen and Obama's cherished "Race to the Top" initiative, which provides grants to better-performing schools, would absorb more than a 20 percent cut. The maximum Pell grant for low-income college students would remain at $5,550, but only after major cost-cutting moves that would limit the number of semesters the grants may be received and make income eligibility standards more strict.
Environmentalists scored clear wins in stopping virtually every significant GOP initiative to roll back Environmental Protection Agency rules. Most importantly, industry forces seeking to block new greenhouse gas and clean air rules, as well as a new clean water regulation opposed by mountaintop removal mining interests, were denied. But Republicans succeeded in blocking new energy efficiency standards for light bulbs and won delays to a new Labor Department rule requiring a reduction of coal dust responsible for black lung disease.
Drafted behind closed doors, the proposed bill would provide $115 billion for overseas security operations in Afghanistan and Iraq but give the Pentagon just a 1 percent boost in annual spending not directly related to the wars, though creative accounting such as mixing war funds with the core Defense Department budget is allowing billions of dollars more into Pentagon coffers.
The Environmental Protection Agency's budget would be cut by 3.5 percent. Foreign aid spending would drop and House lawmakers would absorb a 6 percent cut to their office budgets.
And with tensions plain in the U.S.-Pakistan relationship, counterinsurgency aid for Pakistan would be cut to $850 million from Obama's $1.1 billion request. All told, $11.2 billion in emergency foreign aid funding would be provided for counterterrorism, humanitarian aid and training of Iraqi security forces, among other anti-terror activities.
The measure generally consists of relatively small adjustments to thousands of individual programs. Agencies like the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement will get a boost within the Homeland Security Department, while GOP defense hawks won additional funding to modernize the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal. The troubled, over-budget, next-generation F-35 fighter plane program would be largely protected.
Social conservatives won a ban on government-funded abortions in Washington, D.C., and restored a longstanding ban on funding for needle exchange programs used to prevent the spread of HIV. But efforts to take away federal funding for Planned Parenthood failed, as expected.
CRISIS TAKES TOLL: Foreign direct investment in China fell in November for the first time since 2009, by nearly 10 percent, as weakness in the U.S. and crisis-stricken Europe takes a growing toll on the country's growth.
REVERSING GAINS: The $8.8 billion in foreign investment in November was down 9.8 percent from a year earlier. In October, it had climbed 8.8 percent from the year before.
NEW FOCUS: The Commerce Ministry reported a surge in trade with other emerging markets such as Brazil and Russia, and the country plans to boost exports to those countries to help offset weakness in the West.
With increasing demand and the real estate being strong, the industry revenue growth is expected to be powerful in the beginning. But as the industry progresses, China's real estate markets become unsteady with deteriorating growth in the latter years
With the increasing industry revenue growth from 2005 to 2008, China?s building completion industry was found to increase by only 0.7% in 2009 due to the restriction of volume growth by higher property prices during the year. Regardless of this, the industry revenue improved by 8.5% in 2010 due to the growth in the domestic real estate market. Industry revenue is estimated to increase by 9.2% annually amounting to $348.2 B by 2011.
In order to encourage the Chinese economy, the Central Government increased its infrastructure construction investment in 2009, which is expected to increase the demand for building completion services in the forthcoming years.
The industry is an expert in decoration services with curtain wall decoration, public and domestic building completion, and accounting for only a fraction of the industry?s revenue. Design services seem to be the industry?s new revenue sources.
Due to the growing demand for decoration services, the industry anticipates rapid progress in the next five years.
NASA's RXTE detects 'heartbeat' of smallest black hole candidatePublic release date: 15-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Francis Reddy francis.j.reddy@nasa.gov 301-286-4453 NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
An international team of astronomers has identified a candidate for the smallest-known black hole using data from NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). The evidence comes from a specific type of X-ray pattern, nicknamed a "heartbeat" because of its resemblance to an electrocardiogram. The pattern until now has been recorded in only one other black hole system.
Named IGR J17091-3624 after the astronomical coordinates of its sky position, the binary system combines a normal star with a black hole that may weigh less than three times the sun's mass. That is near the theoretical mass boundary where black holes become possible.
Gas from the normal star streams toward the black hole and forms a disk around it. Friction within the disk heats the gas to millions of degrees, which is hot enough to emit X-rays. Cyclical variations in the intensity of the X-rays observed reflect processes taking place within the gas disk. Scientists think that the most rapid changes occur near the black hole's event horizon, the point beyond which nothing, not even light, can escape.
Astronomers first became aware of the binary system during an outburst in 2003. Archival data from various space missions show it becomes active every few years. Its most recent outburst started in February and is ongoing. The system is located in the direction of the constellation Scorpius, but its distance is not well established. It could be as close as 16,000 light-years or more than 65,000 light-years away.
The record-holder for wide-ranging X-ray variability is another black hole binary system named GRS 1915+105. This system is unique in displaying more than a dozen highly structured patterns, typically lasting between seconds and hours.
"We think that most of these patterns represent cycles of accumulation and ejection in an unstable disk, and we now see seven of them in IGR J17091," said Tomaso Belloni at Brera Observatory in Merate, Italy. "Identifying these signatures in a second black hole system is very exciting."
In GRS 1915, strong magnetic fields near the black hole's event horizon eject some of the gas into dual, oppositely directed jets that blast outward at about 98 percent the speed of light. The peak of its heartbeat emission corresponds to the emergence of the jet.
Changes in the X-ray spectrum observed by RXTE during each beat reveal that the innermost region of the disk emits enough radiation to push back the gas, creating a strong outward wind that stops the inward flow, briefly starving the black hole and shutting down the jet. This corresponds to the faintest emission. Eventually, the inner disk gets so bright and hot it essentially disintegrates and plunges toward the black hole, re-establishing the jet and beginning the cycle anew. This entire process happens in as little as 40 seconds.
While there is no direct evidence IGR J17091 possesses a particle jet, its heartbeat signature suggests that similar processes are at work. Researchers say that this system's heartbeat emission can be 20 times fainter than GRS 1915 and can cycle some eight times faster, in as little as five seconds.
Astronomers estimate that GRS 1915 is about 14 times the sun's mass, placing it among the most-massive-known black holes that have formed because of the collapse of a single star. The research team analyzed six months of RXTE observations to compare the two systems, concluding that IGR J17091 must possess a minuscule black hole.
"Just as the heart rate of a mouse is faster than an elephant's, the heartbeat signals from these black holes scale according to their masses," said Diego Altamirano, an astrophysicist at the University of Amsterdam in The Netherlands and lead author of a paper describing the findings in the Nov. 4 issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
The researchers say this analysis is just the start of a larger program to compare both of these black holes in detail using data from RXTE, NASA's Swift satellite and the European XMM-Newton observatory.
"Until this study, GRS 1915 was essentially a one-off, and there's only so much we can understand from a single example," said Tod Strohmayer, the project scientist for RXTE at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "Now, with a second system exhibiting similar types of variability, we really can begin to test how well we understand what happens at the brink of a black hole."
Launched in late 1995, RXTE is second only to Hubble as the longest serving of NASA's operating astrophysics missions. RXTE provides a unique observing window into the extreme environments of neutron stars and black holes.
Italian press release
http://www.media.inaf.it/2011/12/12/batticuore-buco-nero/
GRS 1915+105: Taking the Pulse of a Black Hole System
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2011/g1915/
RXTE Homes in on a Black Hole's Jets
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/black-hole-jets.html
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
NASA's RXTE detects 'heartbeat' of smallest black hole candidatePublic release date: 15-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Francis Reddy francis.j.reddy@nasa.gov 301-286-4453 NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
An international team of astronomers has identified a candidate for the smallest-known black hole using data from NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). The evidence comes from a specific type of X-ray pattern, nicknamed a "heartbeat" because of its resemblance to an electrocardiogram. The pattern until now has been recorded in only one other black hole system.
Named IGR J17091-3624 after the astronomical coordinates of its sky position, the binary system combines a normal star with a black hole that may weigh less than three times the sun's mass. That is near the theoretical mass boundary where black holes become possible.
Gas from the normal star streams toward the black hole and forms a disk around it. Friction within the disk heats the gas to millions of degrees, which is hot enough to emit X-rays. Cyclical variations in the intensity of the X-rays observed reflect processes taking place within the gas disk. Scientists think that the most rapid changes occur near the black hole's event horizon, the point beyond which nothing, not even light, can escape.
Astronomers first became aware of the binary system during an outburst in 2003. Archival data from various space missions show it becomes active every few years. Its most recent outburst started in February and is ongoing. The system is located in the direction of the constellation Scorpius, but its distance is not well established. It could be as close as 16,000 light-years or more than 65,000 light-years away.
The record-holder for wide-ranging X-ray variability is another black hole binary system named GRS 1915+105. This system is unique in displaying more than a dozen highly structured patterns, typically lasting between seconds and hours.
"We think that most of these patterns represent cycles of accumulation and ejection in an unstable disk, and we now see seven of them in IGR J17091," said Tomaso Belloni at Brera Observatory in Merate, Italy. "Identifying these signatures in a second black hole system is very exciting."
In GRS 1915, strong magnetic fields near the black hole's event horizon eject some of the gas into dual, oppositely directed jets that blast outward at about 98 percent the speed of light. The peak of its heartbeat emission corresponds to the emergence of the jet.
Changes in the X-ray spectrum observed by RXTE during each beat reveal that the innermost region of the disk emits enough radiation to push back the gas, creating a strong outward wind that stops the inward flow, briefly starving the black hole and shutting down the jet. This corresponds to the faintest emission. Eventually, the inner disk gets so bright and hot it essentially disintegrates and plunges toward the black hole, re-establishing the jet and beginning the cycle anew. This entire process happens in as little as 40 seconds.
While there is no direct evidence IGR J17091 possesses a particle jet, its heartbeat signature suggests that similar processes are at work. Researchers say that this system's heartbeat emission can be 20 times fainter than GRS 1915 and can cycle some eight times faster, in as little as five seconds.
Astronomers estimate that GRS 1915 is about 14 times the sun's mass, placing it among the most-massive-known black holes that have formed because of the collapse of a single star. The research team analyzed six months of RXTE observations to compare the two systems, concluding that IGR J17091 must possess a minuscule black hole.
"Just as the heart rate of a mouse is faster than an elephant's, the heartbeat signals from these black holes scale according to their masses," said Diego Altamirano, an astrophysicist at the University of Amsterdam in The Netherlands and lead author of a paper describing the findings in the Nov. 4 issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
The researchers say this analysis is just the start of a larger program to compare both of these black holes in detail using data from RXTE, NASA's Swift satellite and the European XMM-Newton observatory.
"Until this study, GRS 1915 was essentially a one-off, and there's only so much we can understand from a single example," said Tod Strohmayer, the project scientist for RXTE at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "Now, with a second system exhibiting similar types of variability, we really can begin to test how well we understand what happens at the brink of a black hole."
Launched in late 1995, RXTE is second only to Hubble as the longest serving of NASA's operating astrophysics missions. RXTE provides a unique observing window into the extreme environments of neutron stars and black holes.
Italian press release
http://www.media.inaf.it/2011/12/12/batticuore-buco-nero/
GRS 1915+105: Taking the Pulse of a Black Hole System
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2011/g1915/
RXTE Homes in on a Black Hole's Jets
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/black-hole-jets.html
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
DUTIES DUSTUP: China has imposed duties on imports of some U.S.-made vehicles, claiming damage from foreign automakers due to dumping and subsidies in the latest round of trade friction between the two countries.
VARIOUS VOLLEYS: China and the U.S. are at odds over a slew of trade issues. Beijing also has imposed tariffs on imports of U.S. chicken, among other products, while the U.S. has filed complaints against Chinese tariffs on steel and subsidies for wind power equipment.
HIGHER STICKER PRICES: The ministry's notice named General Motors Co., Chrysler Group Ltd., Mercedes-Benz U.S. International Inc., BMW's factory in Spartanburg, S.C., and Honda of America Manufacturing Co. as among the companies affected.
So you have your iPad. You also have some highly important contracts that have just landed in your inbox and needed printing 30 minutes ago. There's no time to faff around with that archaic work PC -- what are you going to do? Well, Lantronix think it's got the answer in xPrintserver. This iPhone-sized box will plug right into your network and give you wireless printing from any iOS device you have hanging around the office. The device supports more than 4,000 printers, connects directly to the print option within iOS and will set back wireless-printing businessmen $150 when it ships January 2012. Anyone unconvinced by alternative methods can investigate the press release below for more details.
Finance and the Economy: Occupy Wall Street in Historical Perspective (PDF) Source: Congressional Research Service (via Federation of American Scientists)
Wall Street and Main Street?the financial system and the real economy of goods and services? are bound together. If businesses large and small had to fund investment projects out of their own pockets, society would be significantly poorer. The financial system aggregates the savings of millions of households and allocates them to the most productive uses. The importance and value of this function are almost universally acknowledged and are axiomatic in market economics.
Nevertheless, the benefits of certain forms of financial intermediation to the real economy are not always apparent. American politics has a demonstrated history of attacks on Wall Street and financiers whose great personal fortunes appear disproportionate to their contribution to national prosperity. This tradition, which goes back at least to Thomas Jefferson, accuses high finance of siphoning off resources that could be better used elsewhere. A recurrent critique is that ?swapping pieces of paper? is not only less useful than, but morally inferior to, actual production of goods and services, and that great concentrations of wealth represent a threat to democratic values. For all their lack of a unified, coherent program, the Occupy Wall Street protestors can be seen as the latest in a long series of anti-financial sector critiques.
This report presents examples of political statements about the fundamental costs and benefits of finance and recent economic research that points to aspects of financial activity that may not be advantageous to the real economy. The report does not attempt a comprehensive survey of either literature, but provides a reminder of the breadth of the historical debates that have shaped congressional oversight of financial institutions and markets. Some of the political remarks excerpted here strike the theme of conflict between the real economy and the paper profits derived from financial speculation, and include claims that the temptations of the latter draw resources away from the former, or that speculators misappropriate the rewards that would otherwise accrue to hardworking businessmen, farmers, and wage earners.
Apart from the normative judgments of political and populist outcry, economists have expanded on prior research that focused on finance?s contribution to economic development to study whether an excessively large and complex financial system could be a drag on a country?s economic growth. Among the questions raised are the following:
When the volume of financial activity passes a certain threshold, does it have the potential to lower the rate or destabilize the pattern of growth?
Do incentives to ignore long-term risks in search of short-term profits produce financial instability, leading to crises that may trigger deep recessions?
Do the complex products of financial innovation yield any significant benefits to the real economy, or simply new opportunities for speculation? and
Does growing income inequality, driven in part by financial sector compensation, have negative implications for the economy?
The research summarized in this report may represent the beginning of a revaluation of the role of finance in the economy, but much difficult work remains to be done before general statements can be formulated. This report, which will not be updated, attempts to show that the basic questions raised by Occupy Wall Street about the value of certain forms of financial activity are not new.
You probably haven't heard of The Artist (it's playing in very limited release), but critics and film buffs have, evidenced by the film's soaring 96% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a string of wins and nominations at film festivals, including a nomination for the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival and the Best Actor award for the film's star, Jean Dujardin. With The Artist receiving five Spirit Award nominations and critics associations in New York and Washington choosing it as film of the year, The Artist is emerging as an early Oscar favorite.
It's hardly unusual for a festival and critical darling that few have heard of and even fewer have seen to pick up Oscar nominations -- it happens every year. But something that doesn't happen every year (and hasn't happened since 1931) is a silent film winning an Oscar. That's right -- The Artist is a black and white silent film about the death of silent films. Watch the trailer for The Artist below.
So why are critics going so crazy about a throwback oddity like The Artist? I have a few theories.
First, most critics love movies about moviemaking and Hollywood's golden era, and The Artist is both. It takes place in Tinseltown in the late 1920s and early 1930s during the turbulent transition from silent films to talkies. George Valentin (Dujardin) is the reigning king of silent film, and initially dismisses talkies as a fad that will run its course. As we know, that didn't happen, and Valentin soon finds himself being replaced by actors who talk, even as he doubles down by directing and starring in his own silent film. Riding the talkie wave is Peppy Miller (B?r?nice Bejo), a young woman who goes from Valentin fan to extra to the brightest star in Hollywood's newly verbal firmament.
In many ways, The Artist is like a darker take on Singin' In the Rain, which follows the transition from silent films to talkies with a decidedly sunny tone and stars Gene Kelly, whom Dujardin bears a striking resemblance to with his hair, smile, charisma, and physicality. But instead of deftly shifting to verbal acting as Kelly's Don Lockwood does, Valentin finds himself unable or unwilling to attempt the transition and soon finds himself a divorced, penniless drunk with only his trusted driver (James Cromwell) and his faithful dog by his side, with the newly famous Peppy, ever the fan, as Valentin's only hope to salvage his career.
But nostalgia can't be the only reason why The Artist is receiving such critical praise. And be sure -- The Artist is a charming, beautifully shot, often funny novelty that audiences of all ages would do well to take a chance on (if they can find it). But while I enjoyed The Artist, I would never consider it a contender for best film. So is there something else going on?
I think so. Much like the time period The Artist covers, the film industry has seen some radical technological changes in the past several years, to the point that it's even hard to call it "filmmaking" anymore. While some of these changes have been positive (like hi-definition video and increasingly realistic computer-generated effects), others like 3D and performance capture have been dubious at best and annoying, moneygrubbing, cynical, ugly boondoggles at worst that have earned my scorn on numerous occasions -- a sentiment shared by many critics. So in that sense, one can view critics' adoration for The Artist as a reaction and statement against trends in modern filmmaking, not the celebration of what is truly one of the year's best films. It's a way for film buffs (especially older ones) to say, "See? You don't need all those fancy hi-tech geegaws to make a good movie! Heck, you don't even need sound!"
First, this is hardly news to anyone who's ever seen one of Charlie Chaplin's or Buster Keaton's silent films, which are often funnier and more entertaining than most modern comedies released in a given year. Nor should the fact that good acting, emotion, story, and captivating, expressive faces will always trump technological gimmickry -- you learn that on the first day of any Intro to Filmmaking class.
Second, let's be serious.
There's a reason why silent films became extinct and won't return, no matter how loudly critics applaud The Artist or how many nominations it receives. And silent films are neither better nor more "pure" than talking, color, CG, 3D, IMAX, digital, etc. films -- there are good and bad examples of any medium. While The Artist is a nice movie that I enjoyed and recommend, I'm sure no one would be talking about it if it didn't have the gimmick of being silent, and the fawning adulation for it smacks of the sort of "Everything in the past was better and everything now is worse" rants that makes younger people roll their eyes and ignore their grandparents.
With the Academy attempting to attract more and younger viewers to the Oscar telecast with more popular and populist fare, critics' over-the-top lionization of a good (but not great) black and white silent film that no one has heard of is probably the last thing they wanted. Unless critics start wetting themselves over a movie with only audio and a blank screen celebrating the good old days of radio.
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Shanna and Ryan share their first kiss, at their wedding.
By Randee Dawn
Well, we did warn you. And advise you. So here's hoping all of you set your DVRs -- or heck, just tuned in -- to catch TLC's "The Virgin Diaries" on Sunday night. In the special, one giddy couple shared their very first kiss ever only after they were officially married. And it was awkward.
But there was so much more than the much-touted "baby-bird feeding" kiss to the episode, which largely focused on 27-year-old Shanna and her groom, 31-year-old Ryan.
As they strolled across the lawn, hand-in-hand, Shanna speculated about their first night together, saying, "I?m a little nervous. Just nervous about the actual intercourse I would say.'"
So she helped do a little visualization with Ryan: "We?ll have our robes on. We?ll slowly take our robes off. Then do foreplay, and then have sex."
They're both very earnest, and it almost seems unfair to mock their innocence. And yet, the morning-after comments hardly come as a surprise to most of the rest of the world: First-time sex wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
?It wasn?t really like the movies," Shanna said. "They make it seem really simple.?
Ryan agreed, adding, "It was good, but not as good as I was expecting."
Well, practice makes perfect. After that kiss, they have nowhere to go but up.
Did you tune into the "Virgin Diaries" special? Tell us what you thought of it on our Facebook page.
ISLAMABAD ? A Pakistani actress who posed in the nude for an Indian magazine with the initials of Pakistan's feared and powerful intelligence agency on her arm has triggered fury across this conservative nation.
Veena Malik's photo on the website of FHM India, in advance of its publication in the magazine's December issue, has been lighting up social network website Facebook and Twitter since earlier this week.
Many here anticipate a backlash, as nationalists and Islamists regularly stage rallies against anything they deem an insult to Islam or to the national honor. India and Pakistan have fought three wars, and the Inter-Services Intelligence agency or ISI has been accused of sponsoring terrorist attacks inside India.
Malik has broken Pakistani religious and national taboos in the past. She is a target for conservative ire and a heroine to some Pakistani liberals.
Conservative cleric Maulana Abdul Qawi declared on Aaj TV on Saturday that her latest venture into controversy was a "shame for all Muslims." Farzana Naz, interviewed by the same channel on the streets of Lahore, said that the actress had "bowed all us women in shame."
Twitter commentator Umair Javed however called on Pakistanis to "make copies of the picture and bury it in your backyard. This way, our grandkids will know there were some amongst us who lived free!"
Asked by reporters whether Pakistan would "pursue the matter" legally, the country's Interior Minister Rehman Malik said Saturday, "First, let us see whether it is real or fake."
Malik for her part says that the photo at the root of the current uproar was published in violation of her agreement with FHM India. In an interview with Pakistani Geo television broadcast Saturday, Malik acknowledged having been photographed for a "bold but not nude shot." She said the editor of the magazine had promised that he would cover most of the photo with the ISI initials.
Malik said that the photo was intended to poke fun at the Indian fear of Pakistani spies: "Whatever happens (in India), people say ISI is behind that."
Malik said she would "probably" take a legal action against the magazine for violating terms and condition.
Magazine editor Kabeer Sharma said Malik did all with her full consent.
"We have all the record(s)," he told the Pakistani television station. "Veena was very excited about that ISI idea."
Malik does most of her work in India. The entertainment sector there is booming, while Pakistan's is moribund. Her ties to Pakistan's archrival have landed her in controversy in the past.
During a much-publicized talk show appearance early this year, she lashed out her nemesis Abdul Qawi, who criticized her for having a scripted love affair with an Indian actor on an Indian reality show.
"What is your problem with me?" an angry Malik demanded of the scholar, who had accused her of insulting Islam.
The results of the measurements will be used to evaluate the effect of Best Available Techniques (BAT) at farm level to reduce the environmental impact on the air and soil. The initiative is co-funded by the Interreg Atlantic Area Programme through the BATFARM European project..
The mobile laboratory is equipped with diverse equipment to take and keep samples into optimal conditions. A photoacoustic gas analyser will be used to monitor in situ gas emissions. The mobile laboratory is going to work for one month in a pig farm near to Vitoria-Gasteiz (Basque Country). Tthe effectiveness of various additives to mitigate ammonia and greenhouse gases will be assessed during slurry storage.
The project aims to estimate the environmental and economical efficiency of different environmental technologies which are implemented in swine, poultry and cattle farms located in the European Atlantic Area. Thus, 5 research centres and universities of the Atlantic Area are also involved in BATFARM project together with NEIKER-Tecnalia: Teagasc-The Agriculture and Food Development Authority- (Ireland), Cemagref (France), ITG Ganadero (Spain), University of Glasgow Caledonian (United Kingdom) and the Instituto Superior de Agronoma (Portugal).
The initiative, which is part of the Operational Programme for Transnational Cooperation in the Atlantic Area 2007-2013, is of particular interest since much of the animal husbandry is carried out through intensive pig, poultry and cattle farming models.
The intensive production model yields considerable economic returns but has numerous environmental problems, such as the release of pollutant gases (ammonia, nitrous oxide and methane) into the atmosphere, and the contamination of soil and water by nitrates. Once the project is over, the farmer will be able to choose those technologies that best fit their environmental requirements. In this respect, the members of the BATFARM project are currently developing a software to select the best environmental techniques.
Directive to adopt the Best Available Techniques
In connection with the environmental problems coming from livestock production, the European Directive 96/61/EC is set out to regulate all emission forms into the atmosphere, water and soil coming from intensive livestock farms (farms with more than 40,000 hens, 2,000 fattening pigs or 750 breeding sows). Farms which are obliged to fulfill the 96/61/EC Directive will obtain the Integrated Environmental Authorisation if Best Available Techniques are applied on-farm.
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Neiker-Tecnalia sets up a mobile laboratory to reduce the environmental impact of farmsPublic release date: 5-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
The results of the measurements will be used to evaluate the effect of Best Available Techniques (BAT) at farm level to reduce the environmental impact on the air and soil. The initiative is co-funded by the Interreg Atlantic Area Programme through the BATFARM European project..
The mobile laboratory is equipped with diverse equipment to take and keep samples into optimal conditions. A photoacoustic gas analyser will be used to monitor in situ gas emissions. The mobile laboratory is going to work for one month in a pig farm near to Vitoria-Gasteiz (Basque Country). Tthe effectiveness of various additives to mitigate ammonia and greenhouse gases will be assessed during slurry storage.
The project aims to estimate the environmental and economical efficiency of different environmental technologies which are implemented in swine, poultry and cattle farms located in the European Atlantic Area. Thus, 5 research centres and universities of the Atlantic Area are also involved in BATFARM project together with NEIKER-Tecnalia: Teagasc-The Agriculture and Food Development Authority- (Ireland), Cemagref (France), ITG Ganadero (Spain), University of Glasgow Caledonian (United Kingdom) and the Instituto Superior de Agronoma (Portugal).
The initiative, which is part of the Operational Programme for Transnational Cooperation in the Atlantic Area 2007-2013, is of particular interest since much of the animal husbandry is carried out through intensive pig, poultry and cattle farming models.
The intensive production model yields considerable economic returns but has numerous environmental problems, such as the release of pollutant gases (ammonia, nitrous oxide and methane) into the atmosphere, and the contamination of soil and water by nitrates. Once the project is over, the farmer will be able to choose those technologies that best fit their environmental requirements. In this respect, the members of the BATFARM project are currently developing a software to select the best environmental techniques.
Directive to adopt the Best Available Techniques
In connection with the environmental problems coming from livestock production, the European Directive 96/61/EC is set out to regulate all emission forms into the atmosphere, water and soil coming from intensive livestock farms (farms with more than 40,000 hens, 2,000 fattening pigs or 750 breeding sows). Farms which are obliged to fulfill the 96/61/EC Directive will obtain the Integrated Environmental Authorisation if Best Available Techniques are applied on-farm.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Los Angeles police officers process two arrested Occupy LA protesters near City Hall after a deadline to dismantle their encampment passed on Wednesday.
By Kari Huus, msnbc.com senior reporter
Major police actions have cleared Occupy movement encampments in New York, Portland, Los Angeles and Philadelphia, leaving protesters in other cities preparing for the same. Among the next likely targets are camps in Seattle, Boston and San Francisco.
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For some 100-150 Occupy Seattle protesters living on the grounds of Seattle Central Community College, eviction was ordered on Nov. 23, but action was temporarily barred by a restraining order. A judge is slated to rule on the case Friday afternoon ? after which the camp could become fair game.
College administrators have voiced support for the camp and First Amendment rights but on Nov. 23 called for an emergency change of state administrative rules to bar camping, citing ?deteriorating conditions? in the camp.
Protesters argue that the problems administrators and others are pointing to are preexisting conditions ? homelessness, mental illness and poverty ? that have been ignored. ?We are dealing with people who have been thrown under the bus ? people who have addictions, they are out on the street,? says Joshua Farris, an organizer. ?We?re saying these drug problems, this crime, these people who we are helping were here before we even came here ? We?re saying our presence is making a positive impact. They are saying it's negative.?
The protesters are talking with neighborhood churches to create a backup plan in the event of eviction.
If the ban on camping is upheld, the eviction could be effective by the end of business Friday, said college spokesperson Patricia Paquette. But she emphasized that community college chancellor Jill Wakefield is committed to a civilized outcome.
?Seattle is well-known for coming up with innovative solutions,??Wakefield said. ?My hope is that we would be able to provide a model of cooperation to move the campground to a location that is safer and more appropriate.?
In San Francisco, members of the Occupy movement who have staked out territory in Justin Herman Plaza had faced a noon deadline to clear out. It was the latest of the ?final? orders to vacate, which have been ignored by the demonstrators.
Protesters met to consider an alternative site offered by the city, but the meeting ended inconclusively, according to a report by the Mercury News. As of noon, according to the report, no one at the encampment of about 150 appeared ready to leave.
Meanwhile in Boston, a judge ruled Thursday that protesters may stay in their encampment in Dewey Square until she issues a decision on or before Dec. 15, Bloomberg reports. There is a restraining order in place to prevent eviction of 100-150 protesters despite warnings that the combination of crowding, flammable tarps and cigarettes presented a safety hazard that one?fire official compared to napalm.
In?Portland,?some Occupy?demonstrators were planning to march through the city Saturday and occupy another unspecified park. The Occupy Portland folks were cleared from encampments at Chapman and Lownsdale Square parks on Nov. 13.
Ever wonder what it would be like to be married to Gary Busey or Flavor Flav?
ABC's new January series Celebrity Wife Swap will allow viewers to find out when the actor, rapper and eight other stars switch partners for one week and document their new lives on camera.
PHOTOS: Hottest A-list married couples
Following the pattern of ABC's real-people installment, Celebrity Wife Swap will find the star moms adhering to the departing mother's house rules for the first half of the week before having the chance to play by their own rules in the second half of the week.
PHOTOS: Busy celeb moms
Taking part in the five one-hour episodes are: Busey (swapping with Evangelical pastor Ted Haggard), former Growing Pains star Tracey Gold (swapping with singer-actress Carnie Wilson), Flavor Flav (swapping with rocker Dee Snider), wrestler Mick Foley (swapping with actor-model Antonio Sabato, Jr.) and comedienne Niecy Nash (swapping with Family Ties alum Tina Youthers).
VIDEO: Hollywood moms dish about married life
"The two moms are given the chance to see how another celebrity raises their children and deals with life in the spotlight, while allowing both couples the opportunity to re-discover why they love each other and decided to get together in the first place," reads an ABC statement. "It's a mind-blowing experiment that will change their lives forever."
Tell Us: Will you watch Celebrity Wife Swap in January?
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NEW YORK (AP) ? The money broker charged with unwittingly providing $7,000 to Times Square bomb plotter Faisal Shahzad (FY'-sul shah-ZAHD') has been sentenced to three years' probation.
Mohammad Younis of Centereach, on New York's Long Island, was sentenced Thursday.
He pleaded guilty in August to an illegal banking charge. Prosecutors had accused him of using an illegal money transfer system to funnel the money to Shahzad in 2010.
Shazad admitted using the money to finance his failed car bomb attack in Times Square. He's serving a life sentence.
The government conceded that Younis didn't know what Shazad was up to, and his lawyers argued that putting him behind bars was unnecessary. But prosecutors said a sentence of up to six months was appropriate to deter money transmissions that could fund terrorism.
LONDON (AP) ? After years of decline, measles is on the rise in Europe, according to a new report released Thursday.
As of October, European health officials reported more than 26,000 measles cases this year and nine deaths. That's a threefold increase in cases from the same time period in 2007, said the World Health Organization.
France accounted for about 14,000 cases, mainly in children older than five and in young adults.
Other big outbreaks of the highly-contagious disease have been identified in Spain, Romania, Macedonia, and Uzbekistan. So far, measles has killed nine people in Europe and hospitalized thousands of others. The report was published Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"We are seeing a surge of cases much larger than we've seen in the past five or six years," said Rebecca Martin, immunization program manager for WHO's Europe office in Copenhagen. Measles cases had been dropping for years, but began to increase sharply in late 2009.
Martin said the epidemic was fueled mainly by low vaccination rates and noted about half the cases were in people older than 15.
"Over the years, people who haven't been vaccinated are now giving the virus a big opportunity to spread," Martin said.
The report said overall vaccination rates in Europe were high, but still didn't meet the 95 percent target needed to stop outbreaks. Of the people who got measles, about half weren't vaccinated and the vaccination histories of many of the others was unknown.
More cases in Europe have also meant spillover elsewhere. The U.S. has 205 cases this year ? the most in a decade ? and virtually all are linked to other regions, including 20 cases from Europe. Because North America has so little measles, every imported case requires a thorough investigation and response costing tens of thousands of dollars, Martin said.
The U.S. normally only has about 50 cases a year. In May, international health officials posted an alert urging travelers everywhere to get vaccinated before flying overseas.
Measles is highly contagious and up to 90 percent of people exposed to an infected person get sick, experts say. The virus spreads easily through the air, and in closed rooms, infected droplets can linger for up to two hours after the sick person leaves.
It causes a fever, runny nose, cough and a rash all over the body. The disease kills about one to two children for every 1,000 it infects, and can also cause pregnant women to have a miscarriage or premature birth.
In 2008, there were about 164,000 measles deaths worldwide. More than 95 percent of those deaths were in poor countries.
Health officials say controlling measles outbreaks in Europe is still being compromised because of ignorance of the disease's severity and skepticism about the vaccine.
The measles shot was tainted by now discredited research published by Andrew Wakefield in 1998 suggesting a possible link between autism and the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella. Parents abandoned the vaccine in droves and suspicion about its safety still lingers, even though repeated studies have shown no connection.
Unlike in the U.S., where most states require children to be vaccinated against measles before starting school, no such regulations exist in most of Europe.
Spain and Switzerland exclude unvaccinated children from school during measles outbreaks, but don't otherwise insist on vaccination. In France and Britain, parents are advised to have their children immunized if they haven't received the measles shot, but there is no penalty for not doing so.
WHO's Martin said Europe's measles epidemic appeared to be on the decline. She said France and Switzerland were planning to offer the measles vaccine to older age groups in the future.
She warned people who skipped the shot that measles is not a mild disease.
"It's a dangerous decision not to get vaccinated," she said. "One death is too many when we have an effective vaccine."
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AP Medical Writer Mike Stobbe contributed to this report from Atlanta.
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Online:
CDC report:www.cdc.gov/mmwr/
(This version CORRECTS Corrects number of cases in U.S. to 205, not 250)
If you haven?t yet explored cloud storage, here?s another chance. The Syncplicity app provides an easy way to store and share files, photos, videos and music from your Android device, and Windows and Mac apps allow you to sync with the same storage from personal computers. With a service like this, moving files and memories between all your computers and devices is simple.
Getting started won?t take long. Download the free app, and launch it. You can create a new account or connect to an existing one on the initial screen. A couple of taps lets you upload files, photos, video or music to designated folders in the cloud, or you can create new folders. The ?sync? part of the app?s title means you can set a folder to synchronize with the cloud automatically whenever you put something new in there.
The personal-computer applications work smoothly, as well. You can right-click files through the Mac?s Finder or the Windows? Explorer, and send them instantly to Syncplicity or set them to sync automatically in the future.
A key difference between this service and some of the other cloud storage services is security. All transfers and storage use encryption to lower the chances of your stuff falling into the wrong hands. If you do want to share,. the service will create an easy shareable link for you to send around.
Out of the box, you get 2GB of free storage. Adding more will cost you.
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Public release date: 15-Dec-2011
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