Asia stocks fall after China production slips

BANGKOK (AP) ? Asian stock markets fell Tuesday after China's manufacturing growth slowed in April, adding to worries about the health of the world's second-largest economy.

A preliminary survey by HSBC Corp. said its monthly purchasing managers' index fell to a worse-than-expected 50.5 from March's 51.6 on a 100-point scale. That comes on top of data released last week that showed an unexpected slowdown in China's first-quarter economic growth.

"It builds on that picture last week and fears of a moderating growth scenario in China," said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney. "That set a negative tone."

Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 1.2 percent to 21,773.72. Mainland China's Shanghai Composite Index tumbled 2.1 percent to 2,194.12. The Shenzhen Composite Index lost 2.2 percent to 928.24.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei index slipped as the yen gained ground against the dollar. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo fell 0.1 percent to 13,548.76. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan and Indonesia also fell. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.9 percent to 5,010.20.

European stocks rose Monday in response to the re-election Saturday of Giorgio Napolitano as president of recession-mired Italy. He can now dissolve Parliament and call new elections, something he could not do in the final months of his first term. The country has been hobbled by political gridlock after inconclusive elections in February.

However, Michael Hewson, senior market analyst at CMC Markets in London, suggested in a commentary that Napolitano's selection by parliament reflected Italy's political chaos and the inability of its lawmakers to agree on a candidate apart from the incumbent who was planning to retire.

"Despite the optimism the inescapable fact remains that it is a sad state of affairs when an 87 year old man has to stand for re-election in an attempt to try and move the country forward."

Among individual stocks, Australia's Woodside Petroleum shot up 9.6 percent after the oil and gas company announced a special dividend and increased its dividend payout ratio after cutting a major LNG project.

Virgin Australia Holdings jumped 4.6 percent after the airline received approval from Australia's competition regulator for a takeover of budget rival Tiger Airways.

Wall Street posted modest advances Monday after energy stocks got a lift from recovering oil prices. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.1 percent to close at 14,567.17. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.5 percent, to 1,562.50. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.9 percent, to 3,233.55.

Investors are now turning their focus to company profits. About a third of the companies in the S&P 500 index, including Exxon Mobil and Apple, will report earnings this week. Of the companies that have reported earnings so far, 67 percent have exceeded analysts' expectations..

Benchmark oil for June delivery was down 51 cents to $88.68 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract for May gained 75 cents to close at $88.76 on the Nymex on Monday.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.3043 from $1.3060 late Monday in New York. The dollar fell to 98.78 yen from 99.42 yen.

___

Follow Pamela Sampson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/pamelasampson

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asia-stocks-fall-china-production-slips-033059778--finance.html

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Democratic Sen. Baucus rules out 7th term

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Democratic Sen. Max Baucus, the powerful Senate Finance chairman who steered President Barack Obama's health care overhaul into law but broke with his party on gun control, said Tuesday he will not run for re-election.

"I don't want to die here with my boots on. There is life beyond Congress," the 71-year-old Baucus said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

Baucus, who arrived in Washington as a member of the 1974 Watergate class in the House and has been a fixture in the Senate since 1979, said the decision was hard.

"It was probably the most difficult decision in my life," Baucus said.

He faced a tough re-election bid next year, with opposition to the health care law in his state taking a toll on his approval ratings.

A Democrat with an independent streak, Baucus supported the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and Obama's signature 2010 health care law. He broke with his party this year to oppose both the Senate Democratic budget blueprint and a hotly fought effort to beef up background checks for gun purchases.

Baucus, who helped write Obama's health care law, stunned administration officials last week when he told the president's health care chief that he thought the law was headed for a "train wreck" because of bumbling implementation.

"I just see a huge train wreck coming down," Baucus told Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Baucus was the first top Democrat to publicly voice fears about the rollout of the new health care law, designed to bring coverage to some 30 million uninsured people through a mix of government programs and tax credits for private insurance. Polls show that Americans remain confused by the complex law, and even many uninsured people are skeptical they will be helped by benefits that start next year.

In the interview Tuesday, Baucus said that successful rollout of the health care law will be a top priority, along with tax reform and the farm bill, until he leaves office.

"I want to make sure health care is implemented, and implemented very well," he said.

Baucus' retirement opens up an opportunity for Republicans to claim a Senate seat in a state where GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney easily defeated Obama by 12 percentage points last year. But Democrats have proved resilient in Montana, with Sen. Jon Tester winning re-election last year. The election of Steve Bullock last year is the third term in a row in which Democrats have held the governorship.

Former two-term Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer indicated an interest in the race in an interview with The Associated Press.

"The opportunity to try and get the country moving again like we did in Montana, that's appealing," Schweitzer said. "I'm a fixer."

Tester, who learned of Baucus' plans on Monday in their weekly meeting, said the state's senior senator told him he wanted to return to Montana, and that if he waited until the end of his next term he would be nearly 80.

Baucus, in the interview with the AP, said: "Been here 40 years. No regrets. It is time to do something different."

Tester, in looking at the list of Senate deaths and retirements, surmised that Baucus probably considered the drastically altered Senate lineup. Sens. Tom Harkin D-Iowa, and Carl Levin, D-Mich., have announced plans to retire; Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, died within the last five years.

"These guys are warhorses who've been through the battle. They know what it takes to get legislation passed," Tester said.

Asked how hard it would be for Democrats to hold the seat, Tester said, "Look, it's Montana. You've got to go out to the voters. You've got to talk to voters. I think voters in Montana are less persuaded by party and more persuaded by substance."

Republican campaign officials, who last week seized upon Baucus' comments on the health care law, sought to tar other Democratic Senate candidates in a statement Tuesday responding to Baucus' decision.

"Just days after calling Obamacare a 'train wreck,' its architect Max Baucus waved the white flag rather than face voters," said Rob Collins, executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. "Obamacare has gone from being an 'abstract' discussion to a real life pain for workers and families, which has Democratic candidates like Bruce Braley, Mark Pryor, Mark Begich and Kay Hagan backpedaling. ... The 2014 electoral map is in free-fall for Democrats, who were already facing a daunting challenge."

Possible Republican candidates for the seat are former Gov. Marc Racicot; Denny Rehberg, the former congressman who lost a bitter race last year to Tester; Rick Hill, another former congressman who lost to Bullock; and Steve Daines, the current Montana congressman.

The only Republicans who have declared their intention to run is state Sen. Champ Edmunds of Missoula and former state Sen. and gubernatorial candidate Corey Stapleton.

Democrats in the Senate will be defending 21 seats next year to Republicans 14, with several Democrats running for re-election in GOP-leaning states that Romney won handily. Among the Democrats facing tough challenges next year are Sens. Mark Begich of Alaska, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Mark Pryor of Arkansas.

Democrats also have more retirements than the GOP. Five Democrats in addition to Baucus have announced they will not seek another term: Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, Tim Johnson of South Dakota, Harkin and Levin.

Among Republicans, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia and Mike Johanns of Nebraska have decided to retire.

Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., who heads the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, touted last year's re-election of Tester and said, "We will continue to invest all the resources necessary to hold this seat."

Despite his standing as a top Democrat in Capitol Hill, Baucus sometimes bucked the party line in recognition of Montana being a fundamentally conservative state with voters who want someone willing to base votes on more than party lines.

"I don't focus on labels," he has said. "For me, Montana comes first and partisan labels are a distant second."

He was an architect of the President George W. Bush's prescription drug plan in 2003, one of the few Democrats to back a GOP-led effort to provide prescription drug coverage under Medicare. The law is now widely popular with Republicans and Democrats.

Baucus is from a wealthy Helena ranching family. He practiced law in Montana in the early 1970s until he was elected to the state House in 1973. He first won election to the U.S. House as part of the huge 1974 Watergate class and easily moved up to the Senate in 1978. He has had only one close race since, when he defeated then Lt. Gov. Denny Rehberg with less than 50 percent of the vote in 1996.

Baucus became an advocate for the residents of the Montana town of Libby after news reports in 1999 linked asbestos contamination from a vermiculite mine there to deaths and illnesses. He helped deliver money to those who fell sick and became a vocal critic of both the W.R. Grace Co., and the Environmental Protection Agency for not doing enough to clean up the town.

He also worked to protect the land bordering Glacier National Park by advocating energy companies to retire their leases in the North Fork watershed of Montana's Flathead River.

Baucus voted in favor of invading Iraq, but said later that his vote was a mistake based on faulty intelligence delivered to Congress. After his nephew was killed while deployed in Iraq, Baucus said in later years that the troops should come home as soon as possible.

Baucus ran afoul of his constituents during President Bill Clinton's administration when he supported a handgun-control law and a ban on the sale of some assault-style weapons. Gun ownership is widespread in Montana, and Baucus later supported allowing those laws to expire in 2004.

Baucus came under criticism in February 2009 when he recommended Melodee Hanes for Montana's U.S. attorney post when he was dating her. Hanes withdrew her name from consideration in March and was hired in June as a top official in the Justice Department.

She and Baucus married in June 2011 at the historic Montana ranch north of Helena run by his family.

Baucus attended Stanford University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1964 and a law degree in 1967. He worked as an attorney with the Civil Aeronautics Board from 1967 to 1968, and with the Securities and Exchange Commission from 1968 to 1971. He practiced law in Montana from 1971 to 1974.

He and his ex-wife, Ann Geracimos, have one son, Zeno.

___

Gouras reported from Helena. Associated Press writers Andrew Taylor and Alan Fram in Washington, and Carson Walker in Phoenix contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/democratic-sen-baucus-rules-7th-term-155541931--finance.html

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The Sennheiser OCX 685i Is a Great Set of Workout-Oriented Headphones

We've talked about a lot of great headphones and earbuds before, but when you're going for a jog, you need something a little different. Our friends at the Wirecutter picked the Sennheiser OCX 685i as their favorite workout earphones. Here's why.

When you're looking for exercise headphones, you need more than just good sound. You also want something that's durable, stays on your head when you move around, and gives you some situational awareness (so you can hear cars coming before you turn into a road pancake). After reviewing a bunch of different earphones, Seamus Bellamny at the Wirecutter found the OCX 685i to be the best:

The 685i Sports produced, clear, crisp audio, with excellent highs and mid-range sound as well as the deep thumping bass you?ll want to keep your cadence up while doing road work or sweating yourself thin on a treadmill. . .

Not only do they sound great, the OCX 685i also offer a great amount of situational awareness so you can avoid getting run over by traffic. With the volume on my iPhone 5 set to approximately 60%, I was still able to hear cars coming up behind me from about a half block away. I was also able to carry on a conversation with my personal trainer while she tried to kill me with some time on the recumbent bike at the gym.

The 685i earphones cost $63, but if you're looking for something cheaper, the Wirecutter has a list of the best options in a number of different price ranges. We haven't tested these ones ourselves, but you can hit the link below to check out the Wirecutter's very, very detailed review to see more?as well as the other great workout 'buds they recommend.

The Best Exercise Headphones | The Wirecutter

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/NX6tMd-G-0g/the-sennheiser-ocx-685i-is-a-great-set-of-workout-orien-477558418

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From outsiders to bombing suspects in Boston

FILE - This combination of undated file photos shows Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, left, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19. The FBI says the two brothers are the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing, and are also responsible for killing an MIT police officer, critically injuring a transit officer in a firefight and throwing explosive devices at police during a getaway attempt in a long night of violence that left Tamerlan dead and Dzhokhar captured, late Friday, April 19, 2013. The ethnic Chechen brothers lived in Dagestan, which borders the Chechnya region in southern Russia. They lived near Boston and had been in the U.S. for about a decade, one of their uncles reported said. Since Monday, Boston has experienced five days of fear, beginning with the marathon bombing attack, an intense manhunt and much uncertainty ending in the death of one suspect and the capture of the other. (AP Photo/The Lowell Sun & Robin Young, File)

FILE - This combination of undated file photos shows Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, left, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19. The FBI says the two brothers are the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombing, and are also responsible for killing an MIT police officer, critically injuring a transit officer in a firefight and throwing explosive devices at police during a getaway attempt in a long night of violence that left Tamerlan dead and Dzhokhar captured, late Friday, April 19, 2013. The ethnic Chechen brothers lived in Dagestan, which borders the Chechnya region in southern Russia. They lived near Boston and had been in the U.S. for about a decade, one of their uncles reported said. Since Monday, Boston has experienced five days of fear, beginning with the marathon bombing attack, an intense manhunt and much uncertainty ending in the death of one suspect and the capture of the other. (AP Photo/The Lowell Sun & Robin Young, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev sought to embrace American lives after emigrating from Russia ? joining a boxing club, winning a scholarship and even seeking U.S. citizenship. But their uncle last week angrily called them "losers" who failed to feel settled even after a decade of living in the United States.

The disparity between the brothers' struggle to assimilate in the U.S. and their alleged bombing of the Boston Marathon reflects what counterterror experts describe as a classic pattern of young first- or second-generation immigrants striking out after struggling to fit in. The U.S. has long been worried about people in America who are not tied to any designated terrorist group but who are motivated by ideologies that lead them to commit violent acts. Some are motivated by radical religious interpretations; others feel ostracized by their communities.

Three U.S. officials involved in the investigation said the brothers had no links to any terrorist groups. After interrogating Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on Monday, U.S. officials have concluded, based on a preliminary interrogation and other evidence, that they were motivated by their faith, apparently an anti-American, radical version of Islam. Another official called them aspiring jihadists. All three officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a police shootout Friday. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was charged Monday with using a weapon of mass destruction to kill, and he could face the death penalty if convicted.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev was an ardent reader of jihadist websites and extremist propaganda, two of the officials said. He frequently looked at extremist sites, including Inspire magazine, an English-language online publication produced by al-Qaida's Yemen affiliate. The magazine has endorsed lone-wolf terror attacks.

The psychological aspects of radicalization have been studied for years, and while there are some similarities among terrorism cases, there is not a single profile of a violent extremist in the U.S.

Complicating the challenge is that the threat often is rooted in an ideology protected by the Constitution.

Violent extremists can feel caught between two worlds ? the one their families left behind to seek better opportunities, and the other in which they feel trapped.

On the Russian social networking site Vkontakte, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev described his world view as "Islam" but his personal goals as "career and money" ? a far more capitalistic goal than Muslim teachings that wealth ultimately belongs to God.

"There's a sort of weird identity crisis," said Kamran Bokhari, a Toronto-based expert on jihadism and radicalization for the global intelligence company Stratfor. "In many ways, these people are radicalized of extreme religious persuasions in the West that's not even reflective of what's back home. So they're sort of frozen in time, where they're rejecting the reality in front of them."

The brothers emigrated in 2002 or 2003 from Dagestan, a Russian republic that has become an epicenter of the Islamic insurgency that spilled over from the region of Chechnya.

It's still not clear what investigators believe motivated Tamerlan and Dzhokhar to attack.

The brothers' uncle, Ruslan Tsarni, vehemently dismissed any suggestion that the bombings ? which killed three and wounded at least 180 ? were motivated by religious views. He called the men "losers" who felt "hatred to those who were able to settle themselves."

"Anything else to do with religion, with Islam ? it's a fraud, it's a fake," Tsarni told reporters. He said someone possibly "radicalized them, but not my brother who just moved back to Russia, who spent his life bringing bread to the table."

Tsarni also told reporters he hadn't spoken to his nephews in months.

One of the brothers' neighbors, Albrecht Ammon, recalled an encounter in which the older brother argued with him about U.S. foreign policy, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and religion.

Ammon said Tamerlan described the Bible as a "cheap copy" of the Quran, used to justify wars with other countries.

"He had nothing against the American people," Ammon told The Associated Press. "He had something against the American government."

Dzhokhar, on the other hand, was "real cool," Ammon said. "A chill guy."

The cases of homegrown and first-generation terror suspects in the U.S. are few, but the U.S. intelligence community has long been concerned about such potential attackers, particularly the threat posed by people like the Tsarnaev brothers who have no formal terror ties.

"And what makes them especially worrisome is that they're really difficult for us to detect and, therefore, to disrupt," Matt Olsen, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said in June 2011 about homegrown violent extremists.

The U.S. intelligence director's office has declined to provide official government data on homegrown terrorists, or comment on the Tsarnaev brothers and the investigation into the bombings.

But an August 2011 White House policy paper on countering and preventing violent extremism in the U.S. said that while the numbers remain limited, "violent extremists prey on the disenchantment and alienation that discrimination creates, and they have a vested interest in anti-Muslim sentiment."

Kenneth Wainstein, who served as the White House homeland security adviser and a top Justice Department lawyer under President George W. Bush, said homegrown and newly immigrated militants develop their extreme views over time and are often borne out of sense of isolation. It's a problem that has not been as prevalent in the United States as in Europe, which has a larger number of ethnic and nationalist divisions.

"But I think we have seen, over the last few years, some pretty clear and sobering examples of people inspired by overseas terror groups and terror propaganda," Wainstein said Friday, before Dzhokhar was captured. "They fit more in the category of where you have people who are radicalized here without any apparent connection overseas. A kid can go into his room get radicalized on the Internet without direct connect with anyone overseas, or even without going down the street to the radical preacher. That makes it very hard to detect that person, and poses a significant problem for the intelligence community and law enforcement."

Investigators also are looking at the six months Tamerlan Tsarnaev spent last year in his ancestral homeland in the predominantly Muslim provinces of Dagestan and Chechnya to see whether he was radicalized by the militants in the area who have waged a low-level insurgency against Russian security forces for years.

While there, he regularly attended a mosque and spent time learning to read the Quran, but "did not fit into the Muslim life," according to his aunt, Patimat Suleimanova.

She said he seemed more American than Chechen.

___

Associated Press writers Pete Yost and Arsen Mollayev, in Makhachkala, Russia, contributed to this report.

___

Follow Lara Jakes on Twitter at https://twitter.com/larajakesAP and Eileen Sullivan at https://twitter.com/esullivanap

.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-04-23-Boston%20Marathon-Homegrown%20Threats/id-048ab945ff7349f29e815d599620656d

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EPA again questions Keystone XL pipeline

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Environmental Protection Agency again is raising objections to the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that would carry oil from western Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast.

Despite more than four years of study, the State Department's analysis of the project's environmental impact is "insufficient," the EPA said Monday.

In a letter to the State Department, the EPA urged State to conduct a more thorough analysis of oil spill risks and alternative pipeline routes, as well as greenhouse gas emissions associated with the $7 billion pipeline.

The concerns are similar to objections the EPA raised about the project in 2011. The State Department has authority over the pipeline because it crosses a U.S. border. A draft report in March said the project would not create significant environmental impacts.

The State Department said late Monday that officials have long planned to conduct additional analysis and will incorporate comments from the public and other federal agencies into a final environmental report expected this summer.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/epa-again-questions-keystone-xl-032458468.html

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Rogers opens up LTE in 7 new markets

Canadian carrier Rogers has begun rolling out into the 44 markets they had promised a few weeks ago. Seven new markets go live today, including a few in my hometown of Ottawa.

• Ottawa, including Kanata, Nepean, Gloucester, Stittsville and Cumberland
• Airdrie, Alberta
• Langley, B.C
• Keswick; Ontario
• Hamilton, including Grimsby in Ontario
• Orillia, Ontario
• Stratford, Ontario

As ever, Rogers is touting their access to the 2600 MHz band for faster speeds on the Samsung Galaxy S4. Any Canadian readers in these new markets? How many Rogers customers out there happy with their LTE service? 

 

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/dn9RY8caiSg/story01.htm

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EdRev 2013: SpEd K12 - I Speak of Dreams

I spent yesterday at the Parents Educational Network's EdRev 2013. Kudos to PEN for putting on such a dynamic and information-rich day.?

One focus was on exhibitors of technologies focusing on special education students' need. ?I ran across a company new to me, SpEd K12, and their product, SpEd Pad:

• Samsung Galaxy Tab with branded carry case.
• Hundreds of preloaded Special Education apps.
• SpEd App license to manage your student, schedule, lesson plan and therapy log.
• SpEd Voice (Powered by AvAZ App) AAC Solution license.
• Steady supply of new apps.
• 10*5 live technical support
• Warranty for device malfunction and mechanical failures.

I took it for a brief spin. It looks like a very powerful device, especially with the Sped App features that would be very useful for maintaining records in an efficient manner. ?I didn't evaluate the?SpEd Voice.?

The company is based in Sunnyvale, so local folks may be able to visit with the company or schedule a demonstration.

SpEd K12 on Facebook?

SpEd K12 on Twitter

SpEd K12 on LinkedIn?

Source: http://lizditz.typepad.com/i_speak_of_dreams/2013/04/edrev-2013-sped-k12.html

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First Time Sex and the Virgin's Guide to Nailing It! - Lovepanky

There?s always a first time for everything in life.

And it always helps to know a few rules and a few tips to make sure you enjoy any of your first experiences.

And when it comes to having sex too, it works just the same way.

If you?ve been pondering over how to have sex for the first time, here?s everything you?ll ever need to know.

Use these suggestions and when you?re mentally prepared to have sex, you?ll definitely know everything there is to know about first time sex and the little details to make it more pleasurable.

[Read: 15 real life tips to look a lot sexier when you're naked!]

The virgin?s guide to first time sex

The first time is a big deal. It really is.?You spend several months or years wondering how first time sex would feel, and when the inevitable moment arrives, you?re obviously going to feel the immense pressure of your first sexual performance weighing on your shoulders. [Read: How to use the five senses of sex to arouse your partner]

The first time you rode a bicycle or drove a car, you weren?t your best at it, were you??You needed time and a bit of practice to perfect it.

And just like that, having sex too takes time and experience to master it.

Before having sex for the first time, most teens watch pornstars doing the deed to learn the moves and assume that?s what lovemaking should look like.?But here?s a piece of advice, the sex you watch in porn movies isn?t normal, so don?t compare yourself to that and don?t try to reenact a porn movie in your bedroom the first time you try to have sex.

In reality, first time sex is just like the first kiss. It?s instinctive and personal. [Read: 10 sexy tips to turn into a passionate kisser in no time]

Do you really have to wait to have sex for the first time?

Everyone says you have to wait for the right person to come along, wait for the right time, and wait for the right frame of mind, to have sex for the first time. But does that really matter?

Actually, it does.

When you have sex for the first time with someone who doesn?t really care about your feelings, they may not care about how you feel just as long as they take your virginity from you. And if you?re not in the right frame of mind, you may get carried away by the lust or even dislike sex for a long time.

First time sex is no different than the first kiss or the first time you dry hump, and every sexual experience is just as magical and passionate. So take your time to enjoy every sexual experience one step at a time, so when it?s time to have sex, you know you?ll be ready. [Read: Dry humping and the virgin?s guide to explosive orgasms]

You can have first time sex only once in your lifetime!

Well, I?m not going to preach here, and I?m sure you?re old enough to think for yourself *and know if you?re ready*. But here are a few things to keep in mind before diving into sexual intercourse.

After all, you can have first time sex just once in your entire lifetime!

If you think you?re ready to have sex, talk about it with your partner. Both of you should feel ready to have sex, and even if one of you isn?t ready just yet, wait a while. Don?t give into pressure or do it because a friend of yours says it?s amazing. First time sex feels perfect only if the two people indulging in it communicate with each other and care about each other. [Read: 50 relationship questions to find out if your lover is truly compatible with you]

If you?re being armtwisted into having sex for the first time, it could leave you feeling emotionally scarred and you may end up remembering it as a bad experience. If your boyfriend says all his friends have had sex and he?ll break up with you if you don?t have sex with him, dump the guy, he?s not worth it.

How to have sex for the first time and enjoy it

Take time to explore each other?s bodies before having sex for the first time. There?s so much to experience and try with different parts of each other?s bodies that there?s really no need to rush into sex if you haven?t done the rest yet. And when both of you feel emotionally ready, well, here?s what you need to do. [Read: 10 fun sex games to play with your boyfriend in bed]

Safety measures before having sex

If both of you are ready to have sex with each other, then there shouldn?t be any awkwardness talking about each other?s sexual history. After all, it?s always better to know where it?s been before you put it inside you!

And no matter what the circumstances are, always use protection. Being on the pill may protect you from an unexpected pregnancy, but that?s not enough. Make sure the guy uses a condom every time there?s penetration so both of you can feel protected from sexually transmitted diseases. [Read: 5 sexy ways to tease and make out with a guy like a sex goddess before penetration]

The best position to have first time sex

If you have no idea about how to have sex or about the different positions, you would definitely feel clumsy trying out moves that you?ve seen in the movies.

If you want to enjoy first time sex, stick to the basics and do the missionary. The missionary position is the one where one partner lies on their back, and the other partner lies down on top of them.

Not only is the missionary position easy, it?s also the best position for first time sex because both of you can control the movements of each other. Other positions may make one of you lose control and push harder or more forcefully than necessary. And more importantly, the missionary position ensures that both your faces are close to each other, which builds intimacy too. [Read: Best sex positions - 13 untold sex secrets you really need to know!]

Who?s on top?

While having sex using the missionary position, the person who?s on top is usually in control of the movements. Being on top also takes stamina and effort, and can be more tiring too. So both of you can switch places by rolling over now and then to take control. [Read: How to ride a man in bed and look really sexy doing it]

While the missionary position where one person lies on top of the other is the most comfortable position to have first time sex, you can always use other simple positions that instinctively work for both of you.

10 first time sex tips to make it perfect

First time sex can feel intense, or at other times, really lame and overhyped. If you want to make sure it?s an orgasmic success, use these 10 first time sex tips to master the art of seduction.

Firstly, make sure both of you have spent enough time toying with each other before having sex for the first time. The more comfortable both of you are with each other, the more relaxing and long lasting it?ll be. [Read: 30 sexy would-you-rather questions to set the mood for foreplay]

#1 Personal hygiene. Sex is an experience of the senses. If you?re having sex for the first time, make sure both of you are clean and trimmed all over. Bad odor has a way of ruining even the perfect setting, so pay particular attention to those places where the sun don?t shine.

#2 Foreplay matters. Spend a while playing with each other in bed. Penetrating too quickly before she?s wet may hurt the girl. And if the guy penetrates too soon, the overexcitement may cause him to lose his erection. [Read: 10 sexy tips to please your man in bed and everywhere else]

#3 Communicate. Speak to each other as the guy penetrates. Communicating about pain or pleasure is always a good way to understand each other?s likes and dislikes in bed. [Read: 10 things women want in bed to feel sexy and loved while having sex]

#4 Don?t be drunk. You may assume having a couple of drinks would ease the nerves. But it could also leave you drunk. And especially for the guy, having one drink too many may leave him with a limp member in bed.

#5 Relax. It?s alright to feel anxious about the first time. Take it slow, and let your passion and instincts guide the way.

#6 Use your fingers. Before penetrating for the first time, the guy should use a finger or two to play with the girl down there. It helps with lubrication and makes it easier to penetrate. The guy can also go down on the girl for a while to make sure she?s wet and prepared for penetration. [Read: 12 tips to make a guy go down on you and enjoy it]

#7 Follow your instincts. Everyone?s different. Your friend could tell you what works in bed, and it may not work for you or your lover. Follow your instincts. Don?t try to use moves that someone else claims is perfect, just trust your instincts.

#8 If it hurts, try to be gentler. After penetrating for the first time, the guy should avoid moving too aggressively. When the guy enters the girl, just let the penetration sink in until both of you feel comfortable. If it?s painful or uncomfortable, stop moving your pelvis and distract each other by kissing or using your hands.

#9 Privacy and phone calls. This is the first time, so try to avoid all kinds of distractions. Switch off your cell phones. Take it easy, stay focused on each other, and learn each other?s likes and dislikes with each to and fro motion. [Read: 20 ways to make first time sex last longer without any difficulty]

#10 Keep it simple. Don?t bother with fancy lingerie, seductive songs, or candles. Don?t overcomplicate something that?s meant to be simple, instinctive and natural. Just enjoy the pleasure without adding confusions to it.

Just keeping these first-time sex tips and positions in mind will definitely help you explore your sexuality for the first time without any hiccups. Click here to read more about the 22 tips on losing your virginity and having sex for the first time [part two].

We?re trying hard to create better relationships in the world.
But we can?t do it without YOU!

Did this feature help you better yourself or your relationship?
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Like Lovepanky on Facebook and follow us @Lovepanky. Join our conversations and let?s create better love and relationships in the world.

Source: http://www.lovepanky.com/sensual-tease/passion-pill/first-time-sex-the-virgins-guide

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Comedian Kevin Hart arrested on suspicion of DUI

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Authorities say comedian Kevin Hart has been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving after his black Mercedes nearly collided with a tanker trunk on a Southern California freeway.

California Highway Patrol Officer Ed Jacobs says Hart appeared intoxicated when he was pulled over before dawn Sunday on Highway 101 in Los Angeles.

Hart failed a field sobriety test and was booked for misdemeanor DUI. He was held on a $5,000 bond.

Jacobs says the Mercedes was being driven erratically at over 90 mph and nearly slammed into a gas tanker.

A female passenger in Hart's car was sent home in a taxi.

Hart starred in the 2011 stand-up special "Laugh At My Pain" and has appeared in TV's "Undeclared" and in several movies.

A call to a spokesperson for Hart was not immediately returned.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-04-14-US-People-Kevin-Hart-DUI/id-3f9f540cd07d40ed90c3c6d53cc5ad31

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Any business, which in turn decides : covol

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Source: http://www.covol.org/any-business-which-in-turn-decides.html

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Kerry, Lew to next meet top Chinese officials in July

By Douwe Miedema

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and Secretary of State John Kerry will meet senior Chinese officials in July as the world's two largest economies continue discussions on currency rates and the North Korean nuclear threat.

The so-called U.S.-China strategic and economic dialogue, an annual high-level forum, will be held in the week of July 8-12 in Washington, the Treasury Department said.

Kerry and Lew will meet Vice Premier Wang Yang and State Councilor Yang Jiechi, along with members of the Chinese delegation, and their U.S. colleagues.

Kerry has been meeting with China's leaders in Beijing this week, and the two countries agreed to make a joint effort to push for the peaceful denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

Lew traveled to China for a two-day visit in March, where he pushed Beijing to take more action on the exchange rate of the yuan, which many in Washington say is undervalued and is harming U.S. exports.

The discussions in July will follow up on these two meetings, the Treasury said.

"The dialogue will focus on addressing the challenges and opportunities that both countries face on a wide range of bilateral, regional and global areas," it said.

The United States and its allies believe North Korea violated the 2005 aid-for-denuclearization deal by conducting a nuclear test in 2006 and pursuing a uranium enrichment program that would give it a second path to a nuclear weapon in addition to its plutonium-based program.

(Reporting by Douwe Miedema; editing by Christopher Wilson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kerry-lew-next-meet-top-chinese-officials-july-155214842--business.html

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Even with 1-stroke penalty, 14-year-old makes cut

Amateur Guan Tianlang, of China, discusses his shot with caddie Brian Tam on the first fairway during the second round of the Masters golf tournament Friday, April 12, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Amateur Guan Tianlang, of China, discusses his shot with caddie Brian Tam on the first fairway during the second round of the Masters golf tournament Friday, April 12, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Amateur Guan Tianlang, of China, touches fists with his caddie Brian Tam after putting on the third hole during the second round of the Masters golf tournament Friday, April 12, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Amateur Guan Tianlang, of China, wears an Augusta National golf course hat while competing in the second round of the Masters golf tournament Friday, April 12, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Amateur Guan Tianlang, of China, talks to his Brian Tam on the first green during the second round of the Masters golf tournament Friday, April 12, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Amateur Guan Tianlang, of China, hold up his ball after putting on the first green during the second round of the Masters golf tournament Friday, April 12, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) ? Guan Tianlang will surely remember his first trip to the Masters.

Everyone else, too.

Already in the history books as the youngest ever to play the Masters, the 14-year-old added to his legend Friday. Hours after being the first player penalized for slow play at the Masters, he became the youngest to make the cut at Augusta National.

"I made it," Guan said afterward on Weibo, China's version of Twitter. "I hope I can continue to make miracles. Thanks to my parents! Thanks to everyone who has helped me, supported me and cared about me."

The eighth-grader is one of the most endearing stories at this year's Masters. He's too young to drive, and his mom still makes him snacks to take on the course. He arrived at Augusta National lugging six textbooks ? English, math and history are his favorite subjects at his public school in Guangzhou, China ? and has been juggling study sessions with his rounds.

The kid has game, though, and he was on track to make the cut when he headed for the 17th tee. But he was assessed a one-shot penalty after his second shot at the 17th hole, turning what would have been a par into a bogey.

He finished at 3-over 75 for the round, giving him a 4-over 148 total. With the top 50 players making the cut, as well as those within 10 strokes of the lead, Guan had to wait until the very last group finished to know whether he was in or out.

Jason Day went to 6 under with two holes left, but he missed a birdie putt by inches on 17, and was in the sand off the tee on 18.

"Obviously, it's an amazing achievement to get to the weekend at Augusta. And being able to play and experience what he's going to experience on the weekend, you can't buy that stuff," Day said. "I talked to him earlier and he seems like a really, really good kid. It's unfortunate that he received the penalty, but he can learn from that and move on and hopefully can play well over the next two days."

Slow play is a frequent complaint among golfers, particularly at major events, but it's rarely enforced. The last player to be penalized at a major was Gregory Bourdy in the 2010 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, and you have to go all the way back to 1995 ? before Guan was born ? for the last player to be penalized in a regular PGA Tour event.

"That's unfortunate," Brandt Snedeker said. "I wish they would have made an example out of somebody else except for a 14-year-old kid, you know? Make an example out of me or somebody else. But a kid just trying to make a cut in his first week of the Masters? I understand that slow play is a problem and it's just a tough situation. I feel bad for the kid."

Guan said he has never had issues with slow play before, and he wasn't warned Thursday. But conditions at Augusta National are notoriously tricky in perfect weather, and the swirling, gusty wind blowing Friday only made them more difficult.

Though Guan had played about a dozen practice rounds before the tournament, it often takes golfers years to figure out the best way to play Augusta National and Guan repeatedly sought the advice of his caddie, Brian Tam, a regular caddie at the course. The teenager tossed blades of grass into the air before many of his shots to test the wind. He was often indecisive about his clubs, pulling one, taking a few practice swings and then asking for another one.

"I just changed my routine before the Masters and the routine is good, but I think today is pretty hard," Guan said. "You need to make the decision, but the wind switched a lot. But that's for everybody."

Guan and his playing partners, Ben Crenshaw and Matteo Manassero, never held up the group behind them. But Fred Ridley, the competition committee chairman at Augusta National, said they were first warned for being out of position at No. 10.

The Masters follows the Rules of Golf, written by the U.S. Golf Association and the Royal & Ancient. Rule 6-7 requires golfers to keep up "with any pace of play guidelines that the committee may establish." For a threesome at Augusta National, those guidelines set a target of 4 hours, 38 minutes to play 18 holes. Once a group is warned it is "out of position" ? too far behind the group just ahead ? each player is timed and allotted 40 seconds to play the shot.

Guan went on the clock on 12 and received his first warning at the 13th.

"In keeping with the applicable rules ... he again exceeded the 40-second time limit by a considerable margin," Ridley said in a statement.

Guan said he understood the warning, and tried to pick up his pace.

"A little bit," he said. "But I think my routine is good. The only problem is I have to make the decision."

There was another long delay on the par-3 16th after a gust of wind dunked Manassero's tee shot in the water. Guan, hitting next, spent more than five minutes debating clubs with Tam.

"When the caddie pulls the club for him, I think he's ready. But he just sometimes ? most of the times ? he takes a little too long. He just asks questions that I think he knows, just to be sure, just to be clear in his mind," Manassero said. "If I would have took more time on 16, I probably would have saved two shots, as well."

John Paramor, the chief referee for the European Tour, said he warned Guan as the group walked to the 17th tee that he needed to speed it up. But Guan had another long delay before his second shot on the hole as he tried to read the wind, and Paramor pulled him aside as the teenager approached the green. Paramor informed Guan he was being assessed a one-stroke penalty, and they had an animated discussion for several minutes.

"You give him the news, the best you can," Paramor said.

Guan said he was aware of the rule, which has been part of golf etiquette since 1934 and was added to the rule book in 1952. But the penalty rattled him, and he missed an easy birdie putt on 17. He pulled himself together on 18, nearly holing out from a greenside bunker. When the ball hit the back of the cup and bounced a few inches past the hole, leaving Guan an easy putt for par, his father yelled, "Yes!" and clapped his hands several times.

"No problem," Han Wen said. "No problem."

It sure was for Masters officials, who were horrified that anything might spoil the coming out party of a youngster who has the potential to be golf's biggest star since Tiger Woods. Several "green jackets" were waiting for Guan at the scoring building when he finished his round, and he spent almost 90 minutes talking with rules and tournament officials.

"I respect the decision they make," Guan said. "They should do it because it's fair to everybody."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-04-13-Masters-Guan/id-c87c62a7883d480ab42db64fa0023e7b

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Meghan McCain "Disgusted" by Ann Coulter Murder Joke

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/04/meghan-mccain-disgusted-by-ann-coulter-murder-joke/

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Fossilized teeth provide new insight into human ancestor: Species identified in 2010 is one of closest relatives to humans

Apr. 11, 2013 ? A dental study of fossilized remains found in South Africa in 2008 provides new support that this species is one of the closest relatives to early humans.

The teeth of this species -- called Australopithecus sediba -- indicate that it is also a close relative to the previously identified Australopithecus africanus. Both of these species are clearly more closely related to humans than other australopiths from east Africa, according to the new research.

The study, published in the journal Science, revealed that both africanus and sediba shared about the same number of dental traits with the first undeniably human species.

"Our study provides further evidence that sediba is indeed a very close relative of early humans, but we can't definitively determine its position relative to africanus, said Debbie Guatelli-Steinberg, co-author of the study and professor of anthropology at The Ohio State University.

The research was led by Joel D. Irish, professor of natural sciences at Liverpool John Moores University.

The sediba fossils were found in South Africa in 2008 and first described in a series of articles published in Science in 2010. That study was led by Lee Berger of the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, who is also a co-author of this new study.

In this study, Irish, Guatelli-Steinberg and their colleagues extended that work by examining the teeth from sediba and comparing them to eight other African hominin species, which include modern humans from Africa, and extinct species of Homo, Australopithecus, and Paranthropus. In all, the researchers examined more than 340 fossils and 4,571 recent specimens. They also examined teeth from 44 gorillas for comparison.

The focus was on 22 separate traits of tooth crowns and roots that can give clues as to the relationship between the different species studied.

For example, they measured how much one of the incisors was shovel-shaped. Depending on the species in this study, the incisor may have no depression in the back of the tooth, a faint shovel shape, or a trace of that shape.

Researchers use standardized measurements from the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System to compare the teeth on these 22 traits.

The researchers found that on 15 of these traits, sediba and africanus scored the same. Sediba shared 13 traits with Homo erectus, an early human species, which was comparable to how africanus scored.

Sediba and africanus shared five dental traits that weren't found in earlier australopiths, further showing their close relationship. Both also share five traits with early humans -- Homo habilis/rudolfenis and Homo erectus -- which weren't shared with earlier ancestors, demonstrating the close relationship between these two australopiths and the first humans.

Teeth are an excellent way to study relationships between different species, Guatelli-Steinberg said. They are well preserved in the fossil record, and researchers can compare large samples, at least for many ancient species.

In addition, most of the dental traits the researchers used in this analysis don't have a selective advantage that could help one species survive over another. That means if researchers see a similar trait in two species, they can be more confident that they shared a common ancestor and that the trait didn't evolve independently.

In many ways, these new dental data support the earlier research on sediba, which included analysis of the inside of the skull, hand, spine, pelvis, foot and ankle, Guatelli-Steinberg said.

"All of the research so far shows that sediba had a mosaic of primitive traits and newer traits that suggest it was a bridge between earlier australopiths and the first humans," she said.

Guatelli-Steinberg said their dental analysis showed that both africanus and sediba are more closely related to humans than the famous "Lucy" skeleton fossil found in East Africa in 1974. This fossil represented a species, Australopithecus afarensis, that was at one time was thought to be the closest relative of humans.

Lucy is estimated to have lived 3.2 million years ago. Sediba lived 1.977 million years ago, while africanus lived between 3.03 and 2.04 million years ago.

"Our research on teeth can't definitively settle if either sediba or africanus is more closely related to humans than the other species," Guatelli-Steinberg said. "But our findings do suggest that both are closely related to each other and are more closely related to humans than afarensis.

"We need to find more sediba remains to help fill in the missing pieces of this evolutionary puzzle."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Ohio State University. The original article was written by Jeff Grabmeier.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. J. D. Irish, D. Guatelli-Steinberg, S. S. Legge, D. J. de Ruiter, L. R. Berger. Dental Morphology and the Phylogenetic "Place" of Australopithecus sediba. Science, 2013; 340 (6129): 1233062 DOI: 10.1126/science.1233062

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/eILjvDpis7Y/130411142935.htm

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Gun measures put moderate Senate Dems in bind

FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2010 file photo, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., enters the Speaker's office for a meeting about tax cuts on Capitol Hill in Washington. President Barack Obama's push for tougher gun measures and expanded background checks has placed several moderate Senate Democrats facing re-election next year in a bind, forcing them to take sides on a deeply personal issue for rural voters. Baucus, the only Democrat with the NRA's top rating, said he will vote against the bill as it currently stands, Friday, April 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2010 file photo, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., enters the Speaker's office for a meeting about tax cuts on Capitol Hill in Washington. President Barack Obama's push for tougher gun measures and expanded background checks has placed several moderate Senate Democrats facing re-election next year in a bind, forcing them to take sides on a deeply personal issue for rural voters. Baucus, the only Democrat with the NRA's top rating, said he will vote against the bill as it currently stands, Friday, April 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

FILE - In this Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012 file photo, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Department of Homeland Security Chairman Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., speaks to witnesses, during a hearing, to examine Hurricane Sandy, in Washington. President Barack Obama's push for tougher gun measures and expanded background checks has placed several moderate Senate Democrats facing re-election next year in a bind, including Landrieu, forcing them to take sides on a deeply personal issue for rural voters. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama's push for tougher gun measures and expanded background checks has placed several moderate Senate Democrats facing re-election next year in a bind, forcing them to take sides on a deeply personal issue for rural voters.

The choice: Either they stick with Obama and gun control advocates ? and give an opening to campaign challengers and the National Rifle Association to assail them ? or they stand with conservative and moderate gun owners back home worried about a possible infringement on their rights.

Five Senate Democrats ? Mark Begich of Alaska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Max Baucus of Montana and Kay Hagan of North Carolina ? are seeking another term in states carried by Republican Mitt Romney last fall. For the next few weeks, at least, the spotlight will be on how they maneuver as the Senate debates gun-control legislation pushed by Democrats in response to the deadly Newtown, Conn., elementary school shooting.

Two other GOP-leaning states with large numbers of gun owners ? West Virginia and South Dakota ? will have open seats following Democratic retirements. Republicans have placed many of these states at the top of their priority lists as they try to gain six seats to win back the Senate majority.

Debate begins next week on Senate legislation that would require nearly all gun buyers to submit to background checks, toughen federal laws banning illicit firearms sales and provide more money for school safety measures. The background checks are viewed by gun control advocates as the best step to prevent criminals and the mentally ill from accessing weapons. The NRA has opposed the expansion of background checks, saying it could lead to federal registries of gun owners. It has sought better enforcement of existing laws, which it contends is too easy for criminals to circumvent.

"There's a fear in these states that this is going to go further and farther than anyone has suggested," said Chris Kofinis, a Democratic strategist and former chief of staff to Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. But he said efforts to curb gun violence were aided by the emotional toll of the Sandy Hook shootings, in which 20 children and six adult educators were killed. "Newtown changed everything," he said.

Thus, these Senate Democrats are weighing the possibility of angry voters next year against pressure from fellow Democrats. So far, they're divided.

Baucus, the only Democrat with the NRA's top rating, said he will vote against the bill as it currently stands. He pointed to the 18,000 phone calls his office has received about it ? he said only 2,000 of those callers favored it.

"I represent Montana ? that's my first loyalty," Baucus said. "They're my employers. That's why I'm here."

Baucus knows the perils of a debate over firearms. He supported a 1994 crime bill sought by President Bill Clinton that included an assault weapons ban and survived a vigorous challenge from Republicans two years later.

Two other Democrats have already raised their objections.

Begich and Pryor voted Thursday with Republicans in an unsuccessful bid to block debate on Democrats' gun control legislation.

Begich said the current bill has "serious problems with it" and he wanted Democrats to consider his proposal with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to improve how the federal background check system prevents weapons from getting to people with certain mental health problems.

"My first priority is Alaska. It's not complicated for me," Begich said. "It doesn't matter if it's election year or non-election year. I've done 4 1/2 years of pro-gun votes here." Asked whether Obama's push on gun violence was complicating matters for him at home, Begich said with a laugh: "The president makes my life difficult on many fronts."

Pryor said the bill in its current form was "too broad and unworkable."

Hagan is taking a different position. She said in a statement she planned to support what's become known as the Manchin-Toomey measure for its sponsors, noting it would "explicitly" ban the federal government from creating a registry.

"As a mother there is nothing more important to me than protecting our kids. I am looking at each proposal to ensure it is common sense, will be effective and will not infringe on Second Amendment rights," she said.

Landrieu has yet to indicate what she might support in a final bill. She said following Thursday's vote that the Second Amendment right to own firearms "is not to be taken away" but that the nation was "plagued by gun violence." Making no commitments, she said it was "worthy of a debate to see if we can find a common-sense solution."

Debate begins next week on a measure forged by Manchin and Republican Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania that would expand background checks less broadly than the overall legislation. The proposal would subject buyers in commercial settings like gun shows and the Internet to the checks but exempt transactions such as sales between friends and relatives.

The Senate also is likely to hold votes on proposals to ban military-style weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, two measures that were excluded from the bill and are expected to be defeated. With so many votes ahead, and the potential for a number of procedural votes, any Democrat runs the risk of having one of their votes misconstrued in future TV ads.

All are bracing for negative ads ? and pressure from those they anger.

Gun control advocates holding rallies across the country have the deep pockets of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has pumped $12 million in TV advertising pressuring support for the measures. Bloomberg's group announced plans Friday for more ads next week in seven states, including Landrieu's Louisiana and North Dakota, home to freshman Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp.

An offshoot of Obama's campaign, Organizing for Action, planned to hold rallies in 14 states on Saturday to push for the measures.

On the flip side, the NRA is certain to spend a chunk of money assailing anyone who backs the measure. Republicans, meanwhile, say the issue could serve as a strong motivating factor in rural states next year.

"The discussion is devastating to Democrats ? that's why they stopped talking about it for a long time," said Brad Dayspring, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

___

Associated Press writer Matt Gouras in Helena, Mont., and Melinda Deslatte in Baton Rouge, La., contributed to this report.

___

Follow Ken Thomas on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AP_Ken_Thomas

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-04-12-Democrats-Guns/id-6d32a635624c411c842817433921526f

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How to make breadcrumbs

Making your own breadcrumbs is both easy and thrifty, and doesn't have the added preservatives found in store-bought breadcrumbs.

By Patricia Tanumihardja,?The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook / April 11, 2013

Making your breadcrumbs is easy: Simply toast bread in the oven until dry and brittle, and then reduce them to crumbs with a mortar and pestle or a food processor.

The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook

Enlarge

When I bake banana bread, I?m so eager to slice the end off and chomp down that barely five minutes passes from oven to mouth. And I have my red, sore fingers to prove it.?Sweet and chewy on one side, and thick and crusty on the other, the ends are definitely prime real estate on a freshly-baked loaf of banana bread. Plus, with only two of them, they are all the more alluring!

Skip to next paragraph Patricia Tanumihardja

Born in Indonesia and raised in Singapore, Patricia Tanumihardja writes about food, travel, and lifestyle through a multicultural lens and has been published in numerous national and regional publications. Pat is also the creator of the ?Asian Ingredients 101? iPhone and Android app, a glossary on-the-go that?s the perfect companion on a trip to the Asian market. Her first book,?The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook: Home Cooking from Asian American Kitchens,?will be available in paperback in September 2012.

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But somehow the same doesn?t hold true for store-bought bread. I can never bring myself to eat spongy Oroweat ends or even the heel of a freshly-baked baguette (they scrape the roof of my mouth). And it?s not that I?m averse to crusts either. I eat them, especially since I don?t condone my toddler not eating them. I usually end up throwing the ends out which makes my conscience prickle with guilt. (Darn those starving African children.)

Well, my husband came up with one solution: strategically face the brown ends inward when making grilled cheese sandwiches. Brilliant no? ?I?ll happily eat it because I can?t t tell where the ends are! But grilled cheese sandwiches are my husband?s forte and he ? ahem ? doesn?t cook all that much.

Recently, I was struck by a memory. I recalled trays of stale bread, including the ends, left out in the sun to dry. No, they weren?t meant for the birds. They were destined to become breadcrumbs. ?At that time and place, you couldn?t buy breadcrumbs at the store and my mum made her own to coat her risoles and?kroket. Once the bread slices were sufficiently dry,?she would break them up and pound them in her giant stone mortar until they turned to a fine, crumbly dust.

Now this is all very practical and possible when you live one degree north of the equator. Not so in Seattle where the sun peeks out only 58 days a year.

My solution? Dry them out in the oven. I used Franz?s ?Milk & Honey? bread which has a light, delicate crumb. I was hoping it would turn out like panko but no such luck. ?However, as far as bread crumbs go, they were great! And you get none of the unpronouceables, high fructose corn syrup, soy, dairy, goodness-knows what else that shouldn?t be in bread, that they put in in a can of store-bought breadcrumbs.

How to make homemade breadcrumbs

Start collecting those ends! I store them in the fridge or freezer until I have a good number of slices. Use any type of leftover or stale bread ? baguettes, ciabatta, homemade. Different types of bread will give a different crumb so go ahead and experiment. I haven?t tried whole wheat yet so I?m not sure what the texture would be like. Perhaps you could report back? If you?d like, add some dried herbs ? oregano, basil, tarragon. Store the breadcrumbs in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Time: 45 minutes (5 minutes active)

Arrange a rack in the middle of your oven. Preheat it to 250 degrees F.

Arrange your bread slices on a cookie sheet and place it on the middle rack.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until they are dry and brittle, flipping them halfway.

When they are done, pound them in a mortar or whizz them in a food processor until no big crumbs are left and/or they are the texture you want. I prefer using a mortar and pestle because I have better control of how fine the breadcrumbs turn out.

The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of food bloggers. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by The Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own and they are responsible for the content of their blogs and their recipes. All readers are free to make ingredient substitutions to satisfy their dietary preferences, including not using wine (or substituting cooking wine) when a recipe calls for it. To contact us about a blogger, click here.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/ABwLCUCUhc4/How-to-make-breadcrumbs

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Remains of the Day: Control Your Google Account After You Die

A new Google feature lets you decide what happens to your data when you die, Twitter had the sniffles this morning, and social browser Rockmelt will start working in other browsers.

• Plan Your Digital Afterlife with Inactive Account Manager Today Google announced a new feature called Inactive Account Manager that allows users to determine what happens to your data after a set amount of inactivity. You'll find the Manager in your Google Account settings page. [Google Public Policy Blog]
• Issue with Links Contained within Tweets This morning several Twitter users reported that links within Tweets had stopped working. The issue was resolved as of 7:10 am PST. [Twitter]
• Introducing Rockmelt for Web Today social browser Rockmelt launched a Flipboard-esque web version of its service that you'll be able to use in your existing browser, instead of Rockmelt's Chromium-based one. The site is currently in closed beta?users of the Rockmelt browser or iOS app are already invited. [Rockmelt]

Photo by photastic (Shutterstock), a2bb5s (Shutterstock), and Feng Yu (Shutterstock).

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/PRMTeIP-_U0/remains-of-the-day-control-your-google-account-after-you-die

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