Here are the Easter treats that I prepared for our neighbourhood get together and for our family Easter Dinner. Lemon cupcakes topped with rainbow icing and m&m eggs. Fruit trifle: layered with white cake, blueberries, strawberries, peaches, whipped cream & dark chocolate shavings.
My?Easter table center piece is made from a silver serving tray from?value village for?$3.00, a spring design clock? which?I recieved free, from our neighbour who was cleaning?out her cupboards, as well as the white bunny, which just?happens to be a candle. I filled the tray with artificial white and purple daisy tops, purchased at the dollar store for $1.00. We are going off the traditional Easter Grid for our Easter Sunday dinner?.ribs!? Wait for it!
When he agreed to a three-year, $6 million deal with the Ravens, one of the first things Michael Huff did was text Ed Reed.
But at the same time, he doesn?t need to spend too much time trying to be Ed Reed.
?It means a lot,? Huff said, via Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. ?He?s one of the greatest, if not the greatest free safety to ever play the game. I just told him that I?ll carry on his legacy, carry on the tradition of great safeties in Baltimore. I?m definitely going to go out there and hold up my end.
?For me to come in here, I don?t really feel like I?m following his footsteps. I?m more kind of starting my own legacy and going in here to help the defense and help us win.?
There are two important reasons not to invite comparisons. One, Reed?s a former NFL defensive player of the year who?s likely to end up in the Hall of Fame when he?s finished.
But as importantly, Reed wasn?t Reed any more on the field last season, which is why they were willing to let him go become a Texan.
The Ravens weren?t going to get into a bidding war for a guy who?s turning 35 this season, allowing Houston to pay him a three-year, $15 million deal for intangibles.
So they found a player who is nearly five years younger, $9 million cheaper, and for the moment, perhaps a better fit.
Huff?s in Baltimore to play safety, but was forced into playing corner last year in Oakland. While he?s not someone you want on an island playing coverage, he can still cover ground, and that?s something the Ravens need in the middle of their new defense.
?He?s just a tremendous player, a tremendous guy,? Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. ?He fits us really well both football-wise and technique-wise, the type of person he is, the type of family man he is.
?He?s going to enable us to keep doing the things on defense that we have been doing and even build on those things. He has done it all because he?s smart, he?s tough and he knows how to play the game.?
So while the Ravens might not have the same kind of name recognition they once had on defense, they might be better. For roughly the same $41 million the Browns spent to lure outside linebacker Paul Kruger away, the Ravens have restocked by signing pass-rusher Elvis Dumervil, lineman Chris Canty and Marcus Spears and Huff, which gives them a better opportunity to live up to the reputation the old guys created.
The love affair between U.S. residents and salt is making us sick: high sodium intake increases blood pressure, and leads to higher rates of heart attack and strokes. Nonetheless, Americans continue to ingest far higher amounts of sodium than those recommended by physicians and national guidelines.
A balanced review of the relevant literature has been published in the March 27, 2013 edition of The New England Journal of Medicine. Theodore A. Kotchen, M.D., professor of medicine (endocrinology), and associate dean for clinical research at the Medical College of Wisconsin, is the lead author of the article.
Dr. Kotchen cites correlations between blood pressure and salt intake in a number of different studies; typically, the causation between lowering salt intake and decreased levels of blood pressure occur in individuals who have been diagnosed with hypertension. Although not as pronounced, there is also a link between salt intake and blood pressure in non-hypertensive individuals. Additionally, recent studies have demonstrated that a reduced salt intake is associated with decreased cardiovascular disease and decreased mortality.
In national studies in Finland and Great Britain, instituting a national salt-reduction program led to decreased sodium intake. In Finland, the resulting decrease in systolic and diastolic blood pressures corresponded to a 75 ? 80 percent decrease in death due to stroke and coronary heart disease. Neverthelesss, not all investigators concur with population-based recommendations to lower salt intake, and the reasons for this position are reviewed.
"Salt is essential for life, but it has been difficult to distinguish salt need from salt preference," said Dr. Kotchen. "Given the medical evidence, it seems that recommendations for reducing levels of salt consumption in the general population would be justifiable at this time." However, in terms of safety, the lower limit of salt consumption has not beeen clearly identified. In certain patient groups, less rigorous targets for salt reduction may be appropriate.
###
Medical College of Wisconsin: http://www.mcw.edu
Thanks to Medical College of Wisconsin for this article.
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The families of four victims from the December shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary appear in two new anti-gun TV ads out this morning, part of an effort to reinvigorate a lagging campaign for new gun controls.
"Don't let the memory of Newtown fade without doing something real," Terri Rousseau, the mother of slain teacher Lauren Rousseau, says in an emotionally charged appeal.
The ads also feature personal testimonials from Neil Heslin, father of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis; Chris and Lynn McDonnell, parents of 7-year-old Grace McDonnell; and Jillian Soto, sister of teacher Vicki Soto, 27. All talk about their loved ones and what it was like to learn the tragic news on Dec. 14, 2012.
You can see the spots HERE and HERE.
The ads, which will run only in Connecticut, come as that state's legislature considers state-level gun control measures. They were produced by NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg's "Mayors Against Illegal Guns" and released in conjunction with a "National Day to Demand Action" taking place today across the country.
President Obama's outside advocacy group - Organizing for Action - is also part of the effort. More than 100 events are planned, organizers said.
At the White House later this morning, Obama will surround himself by victims of gun violence, their families and law enforcement officials to add his voice to the campaign. The Newtown families appearing in the ads are expected to attend.
The president and other advocates are still calling for legislation to impose comprehensive background checks; limits on high-capacity ammunition magazines; and an assault-weapons ban. But such measures face increasingly tough odds of passage in Congress.
Earlier this week, three Republican senators threatened to filibuster next month's expected Senate debate on a package of gun-control measures. That package does not include an assault-weapons ban, although Senate Democrats say it will get a vote as a separate amendment to the bill.
Mar 26 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $3,787,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $2,859,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,154,500 4. Steve Stricker $1,820,000 5. Phil Mickelson $1,650,260 6. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 7. John Merrick $1,343,514 8. Dustin Johnson $1,330,507 9. Russell Henley $1,313,280 10. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 11. Keegan Bradley $1,274,593 12. Charles Howell III $1,256,373 13. Michael Thompson $1,254,669 14. Brian Gay $1,171,721 15. Justin Rose $1,155,550 16. Jason Day $1,115,565 17. Chris Kirk $1,097,053 18. ...
Mar. 27, 2013 ? In 370 million-year-old red sandstone deposits in a highway roadcut, scientists have discovered a new species of armored fish in north central Pennsylvania.
Fossils of armored fishes like this one, a phyllolepid placoderm, are known for the distinctive ornamentation of ridges on their exterior plates. As with many such fossils, scientists often find the remains of these species as impressions in stone, not as three-dimensional versions of their skeletons. Therefore, in the process of studying and describing this fish's anatomy, scientists took advantage of a technique that may look a lot like it was stolen from crime scene investigators.
Dr. Ted Daeschler has shown the fossil and made a rubber cast by pouring latex into its natural impression in the rock. Once the latex hardened, Daeschler peeled it out and dusted its surface with a fine powder to better show the edges of the bony plates and the shapes of fine ridges on the fish's bony armor -- a lot like dusting for fingerprints to show minute ridges left on a surface. With this clearer view, Daeschler and colleagues were better able to prepare a detailed scientific description of the new species.
This placoderm, named Phyllolepis thomsoni, is one of two new Devonian fish species described by Daeschler in the Bicentennial issue of the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, with different co-authors. The other new species is a lobe-finned fish discovered in northern Canada.
Both the Pennsylvania placoderm and the Canadian lobe-finned fish species are from the late Devonian period, at a time long before dinosaurs walked the Earth -- but, geologically speaking, not long before the very first species began to walk on land. Daeschler studies Devonian species in particular to help describe the evolutionary setting that gave rise to the first vertebrate species with limbs. He has dug for Devonian species in Pennsylvania since 1993, and in northern Canada since 1999.
Daeschler, a vice president and associate curator at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, and an associate professor in Drexel's College of Arts and Sciences, and co-author Dr. John A. Long, a leading authority on placoderms from Flinders University in Australia, named the species in honor of Dr. Keith S. Thomson.
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CAIRO (AP) ? Egypt's top prosecutor has issued arrest warrants for five rights activists on suspicion of inciting violence against members of the president's Muslim Brotherhood.
A statement posted Monday on the attorney general's official Facebook page said all five have also been banned from traveling abroad.
The warrants came one day after Islamist President Mohammed Morsi sternly warned his opponents, saying he may be close to taking unspecified measures to protect the nation.
They also followed the issuing of summons for a larger group of politicians and activists for questioning over clashes on Friday outside the Brotherhood's office, the worst between the group's members and opponents in three months.
The five activists are: Alaa Abdel-Fattah, Ahmed Douma, Karim El-Shaer, Hazem Abdel-Azim and Ahmed Ghoneimi.
Actress Tilda Swinton performs the art of sleeping in her one-person piece called "The Maybe," in New York's Museum of Modern Art, Monday, March 25, 2013. In "The Maybe," first performed at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1995, Swinton lies sleeping in a glass box for the day. The exhibit will move locations within the museum every time Swinton performs. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Actress Tilda Swinton performs the art of sleeping in her one-person piece called "The Maybe," in New York's Museum of Modern Art, Monday, March 25, 2013. In "The Maybe," first performed at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1995, Swinton lies sleeping in a glass box for the day. The exhibit will move locations within the museum every time Swinton performs. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Actress Tilda Swinton performs the art of sleeping in her one-person piece called "The Maybe," in New York's Museum of Modern Art, Monday, March 25, 2013. In "The Maybe," first performed at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1995, Swinton lies sleeping in a glass box for the day. The exhibit will move locations within the museum every time Swinton performs. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Actress Tilda Swinton performs the art of sleeping in her one-person piece called "The Maybe," in New York's Museum of Modern Art, Monday, March 25, 2013. In "The Maybe," first performed at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1995, Swinton lies sleeping in a glass box for the day. The exhibit will move locations within the museum every time Swinton performs. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Actress Tilda Swinton performs the art of sleeping in her one-person piece called "The Maybe," in New York's Museum of Modern Art, Monday, March 25, 2013. In "The Maybe," first performed at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1995, Swinton lies sleeping in a glass box for the day. The exhibit will move locations within the museum every time Swinton performs. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Actress Tilda Swinton performs the art of sleeping in her one-person piece called "The Maybe," in New York's Museum of Modern Art, Monday, March 25, 2013. In "The Maybe," first performed at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1995, Swinton lies sleeping in a glass box for the day. The exhibit will move locations within the museum every time Swinton performs. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
NEW YORK (AP) ? It's not the kind of performance that will win her another Academy Award, but Tilda Swinton certainly has them buzzing at the Museum of Modern Art.
But keep it down, please. She's trying to sleep.
The "Moonrise Kingdom star has been engaging in a different kind of performance art. She's presenting a one-person piece called "The Maybe," in which she lies sleeping in a glass box for the day. The first performance was over the weekend, and the museum won't say if there's a schedule for when exactly it will come back for six other performances.
On Monday, the display drew a line of spectators that wound through a whole second-floor gallery into a museum hallway.
Erwin Aschenbrenner, a bemused German tourist, said it "just what you'd expect to see at MoMA."
The actress "is so pale and not moving in there that she looks like she's dead," said Robbie von Kampen, 20, a philosophy major at Bard College, north of New York City.
But after about seven hours a day of the shuteye pose on a white mattress in the glass box ? with only a carafe of water and a glass to get her through ? Swinton can stretch and walk off into the Manhattan night. But only when spectators leave.
So what's the point?
"This makes me think about myself, looking at her," said Quinn Moreland, 20, also a Bard student, majoring in art history.
"You don't usually get to stare at somebody like this; it makes me self-conscious," she explained.
How can we prepare better for emergencies?Public release date: 25-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Pressoffice Pressoffice@esrc.ac.uk Economic & Social Research Council
Well designed and planned exercises are essential to ensure that the UK can respond effectively to emergencies of all kinds, according to research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The emergencies may take the form of a terrorist attack, flooding, pandemic flu, rail or air disaster - or any major disruptive event requiring an emergency response.
The number of such exercises taking place across the UK each year within what the researchers call the 'resilience community' - including emergency services, local authorities, central government departments and agencies, and many large commercial organisations - is probably in the thousands, according to Dr Ben Anderson from Durham University and Dr Peter Adey of Royal Holloway. And each exercise varies in scale, duration and complexity depending on its design and purpose.
The aim of the research was to generate new knowledge about how exercises are planned, designed and undertaken, particularly following the 2004 Civil Contingencies Act, and to learn from practitioners about how the planning and design of exercises might be improved.
Researchers interviewed emergency services nationwide and observed exercises directly and have subsequently created white papers and user guides indicating good practice in exercise design. These underline the importance of pre-exercise briefing to communicate the purpose, activities, roles and responsibilities of an exercise. They explain the value of focusing on the role of the key responders and those in leading positions in a multi-agency scenario.
They also highlight how thought cards, task cards and aide memoirs for key individuals will instil confidence and knowledge. Equally, the research suggests the effectiveness of the surprise element by introducing a 'no notice' exercise to test capabilities and they stress the use of realism, plausibility and building up a sense of excitement.
The research demonstrates that exercises have a number of valuable functions. They develop, test and validate plans, protocols and procedures, such as those involved when an emergency situation moves from the immediate response to the recovery phase. They test organisational forms and systematic routines, such as how to set up strategic coordinating groups providing leadership. They check the workability of communications networks and practices. Not least, they develop staff competences to have the ability to use a tactical plan and to make judgements under pressure.
Says Dr Anderson: "The learning and capabilities deriving from all forms of exercise make a massive but largely hidden contribution to the ability of the UK to respond to emergencies and ensure public wellbeing."
The researchers have also emphasised the value of exercises in achieving familiarisation with other organisations. This demands multi-agency collaboration and co-ordination, enabling staff and participants to build new relationships and trust with different working cultures. Dr Anderson comments: "Organisations involved in emergency planning and responses have different working styles, hierarchies and structures so that exercises will be challenging in different ways to all involved."
Dr Anderson says: "The informal interaction between individuals and groups afforded by exercises is also central to their value. In our white papers and user guides we indicate how and why maximum learning can be gained and retained from the design, planning and prosecution of exercises. Improved exercising will help local authorities and other organisations be better prepared for the range of emergencies they face"
###
For further information contact:
Dr Ben Anderson
Email: ben.anderson@durham.ac.uk
Telephone: 0191 334 1897 or 07985 534039
ESRC Press Office:
Sarah Nichols
Email: sarah.nichols@esrc.ac.uk
Telephone: 01793 413122
1. This release is based on the findings from 'Staging and Performing Emergencies: The Role of Exercises in UK Preparedness'. The research project was funded by the ESRC and carried out by researchers from Durham University, Royal Holloway and Newcastle University. The project involved a major dissemination event attended by 40 practitioners including members of local authorities, Police, Red Cross, MoD, the Home Office, the Government Decontamination Service and numerous Local Resilience Forums.
2. The project approach was threefold: firstly, analysis of major documentation surrounding the 2004 Civil Contingencies Act. Secondly, in-depth interviews with emergency planners primarily from local authorities throughout the UK. The interviews focused on how exercises were designed, planned and undertaken and learnt from in the light of a range of threats and hazards facing the UK. Thirdly, observation of exercises and occasions of planning for exercises by the project team. This included focus on how multi-agency collaborations occur at various stages of an exercise, how exercises could be staged in a realistic way and the role of umpires, players and directors - plus the specific ways in which response in time-pressured complex situations is rehearsed.
3. The research is accredited to the RCUK Global Uncertainties programme. Global Uncertainties is examining the causes of insecurity and how security risks and threats can be predicted, prevented and managed. The programme is one of six RCUK priority themes and brings together the activities of all seven UK Research Councils to better integrate current research investments as well as support new multi-disciplinary research in security.
4. The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is the UK's largest organisation for funding research on economic and social issues. It supports independent high quality research which has an impact on business, the public sector and the third sector. The ESRC's total budget for 2012/13 is 205 million. At any one time the ESRC supports over 4,000 researchers and postgraduate students in academic institutions and independent research institutes.
5. The ESRC confirms the quality of its funded research by evaluating research projects through a process of peer review. This research has been graded as very good.
[ | 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.
How can we prepare better for emergencies?Public release date: 25-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Pressoffice Pressoffice@esrc.ac.uk Economic & Social Research Council
Well designed and planned exercises are essential to ensure that the UK can respond effectively to emergencies of all kinds, according to research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The emergencies may take the form of a terrorist attack, flooding, pandemic flu, rail or air disaster - or any major disruptive event requiring an emergency response.
The number of such exercises taking place across the UK each year within what the researchers call the 'resilience community' - including emergency services, local authorities, central government departments and agencies, and many large commercial organisations - is probably in the thousands, according to Dr Ben Anderson from Durham University and Dr Peter Adey of Royal Holloway. And each exercise varies in scale, duration and complexity depending on its design and purpose.
The aim of the research was to generate new knowledge about how exercises are planned, designed and undertaken, particularly following the 2004 Civil Contingencies Act, and to learn from practitioners about how the planning and design of exercises might be improved.
Researchers interviewed emergency services nationwide and observed exercises directly and have subsequently created white papers and user guides indicating good practice in exercise design. These underline the importance of pre-exercise briefing to communicate the purpose, activities, roles and responsibilities of an exercise. They explain the value of focusing on the role of the key responders and those in leading positions in a multi-agency scenario.
They also highlight how thought cards, task cards and aide memoirs for key individuals will instil confidence and knowledge. Equally, the research suggests the effectiveness of the surprise element by introducing a 'no notice' exercise to test capabilities and they stress the use of realism, plausibility and building up a sense of excitement.
The research demonstrates that exercises have a number of valuable functions. They develop, test and validate plans, protocols and procedures, such as those involved when an emergency situation moves from the immediate response to the recovery phase. They test organisational forms and systematic routines, such as how to set up strategic coordinating groups providing leadership. They check the workability of communications networks and practices. Not least, they develop staff competences to have the ability to use a tactical plan and to make judgements under pressure.
Says Dr Anderson: "The learning and capabilities deriving from all forms of exercise make a massive but largely hidden contribution to the ability of the UK to respond to emergencies and ensure public wellbeing."
The researchers have also emphasised the value of exercises in achieving familiarisation with other organisations. This demands multi-agency collaboration and co-ordination, enabling staff and participants to build new relationships and trust with different working cultures. Dr Anderson comments: "Organisations involved in emergency planning and responses have different working styles, hierarchies and structures so that exercises will be challenging in different ways to all involved."
Dr Anderson says: "The informal interaction between individuals and groups afforded by exercises is also central to their value. In our white papers and user guides we indicate how and why maximum learning can be gained and retained from the design, planning and prosecution of exercises. Improved exercising will help local authorities and other organisations be better prepared for the range of emergencies they face"
###
For further information contact:
Dr Ben Anderson
Email: ben.anderson@durham.ac.uk
Telephone: 0191 334 1897 or 07985 534039
ESRC Press Office:
Sarah Nichols
Email: sarah.nichols@esrc.ac.uk
Telephone: 01793 413122
1. This release is based on the findings from 'Staging and Performing Emergencies: The Role of Exercises in UK Preparedness'. The research project was funded by the ESRC and carried out by researchers from Durham University, Royal Holloway and Newcastle University. The project involved a major dissemination event attended by 40 practitioners including members of local authorities, Police, Red Cross, MoD, the Home Office, the Government Decontamination Service and numerous Local Resilience Forums.
2. The project approach was threefold: firstly, analysis of major documentation surrounding the 2004 Civil Contingencies Act. Secondly, in-depth interviews with emergency planners primarily from local authorities throughout the UK. The interviews focused on how exercises were designed, planned and undertaken and learnt from in the light of a range of threats and hazards facing the UK. Thirdly, observation of exercises and occasions of planning for exercises by the project team. This included focus on how multi-agency collaborations occur at various stages of an exercise, how exercises could be staged in a realistic way and the role of umpires, players and directors - plus the specific ways in which response in time-pressured complex situations is rehearsed.
3. The research is accredited to the RCUK Global Uncertainties programme. Global Uncertainties is examining the causes of insecurity and how security risks and threats can be predicted, prevented and managed. The programme is one of six RCUK priority themes and brings together the activities of all seven UK Research Councils to better integrate current research investments as well as support new multi-disciplinary research in security.
4. The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is the UK's largest organisation for funding research on economic and social issues. It supports independent high quality research which has an impact on business, the public sector and the third sector. The ESRC's total budget for 2012/13 is 205 million. At any one time the ESRC supports over 4,000 researchers and postgraduate students in academic institutions and independent research institutes.
5. The ESRC confirms the quality of its funded research by evaluating research projects through a process of peer review. This research has been graded as very good.
[ | 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.
Margery Gibbs uses coupons at a store in Omaha, Neb., in 2009. Coupon use fell in 2012 after several strong years.
By Allison Linn, TODAY
The good, old-fashioned coupon ? which surged in popularity in recent years ? appears to be falling out of favor.
Two separate studies show that coupon use declined significantly in 2012.
One study, from coupon industry consulting firm Inmar, found that about 3 billion coupons were redeemed in 2012, a drop of about 14.3 percent from approximately 3.5 billion coupons redeemed in 2011. Another, from NCH Marketing Services, found that coupon use fell by 17 percent in 2012 over the year before.
The drop came after several good years for the coupon, which seemed to indicate that the weak economy had helped bring coupon clipping back in style. The coupon has even enjoyed its 15 minutes of pop culture fame thanks to the reality show ?Extreme Couponing,? which documents people using thousands of coupons to save hundreds of dollars stockpiling diapers, paper towels and other items.
But experts say that while frugality is still in vogue, many shoppers have gotten so savvy at saving money that they've moved past the coupon.
?It was like the training wheels ? to teach people how to save money,? Phil Lempert, the chief executive of Supermarket Guru, said of coupons.
Experts say it?s pretty common for coupon use to rise when the economy goes south, and start falling as the economy gets better.
But the economic gains in 2012 weren?t really strong enough to warrant people giving up their frugal habits. In addition, experts say they saw plenty of other reasons that coupon use has declined.
?It?s sort of a thousand cuts,? said David Mounts, the chief executive of Inmar. ?It?s little things here and there.?
For starters, there were slightly fewer coupons. The industry distributed about 310 billion coupons in 2012, down from 313 billion in 2011 and a big drop from 336 billion in 2010, according to Inmar?s research.
Last year?s batch of coupons also tended to be for smaller discounts and to expire more quickly than in the past, Mounts said.
In addition, shopping habits have changed.
Some customers have started to want more than a one-size-fits-all coupon that you clip out of a Sunday newspaper, Mounts said.??Instead, more shoppers are looking for personalized deals that more closely match their shopping habits. They also want deals that are delivered digitally so they don?t have to manage a stack of paper.
So far, though, those types of coupons aren?t that widespread. Inmar?s data shows that more than four in 10 coupons still come from the newspaper inserts.
Frugally minded shoppers also are finding even more sophisticated ways to save money, said Lempert of Supermarket Guru, which tracks customer shopping habits.
These days, he?s seeing more savvy shoppers going to multiple stores to find the best prices on food and other items. Their stops may include drugstores, dollar stores, warehouse chains like Costco and specialty grocers such as Trader Joe?s.
They?re also turning more to store brands that may be cheaper than name brands, even when there?s a coupon for the branded item, he said.
Many younger customers also are constantly changing their eating and shopping habits, he said, and may not be as interested in buying the items that are traditionally discounted with coupons. They also may be more captivated by new types of ways to save, such as a four-hour sale promoted on Twitter.
?Frankly, the coupons weren?t meeting their needs,? Lempert said.
The extreme couponing fad may not have helped either.
The trend sparked a backlash among some in the industry, who alleged that the TV show set unrealistic expectations.
Lempert thinks it also made some shoppers feel uneasy. He said he receives thousands of emails a week from shoppers, and reaction to extreme couponing was largely negative.
Despite such challenges, experts say?the coupon industry is adapting to changing customer preferences.?Inmar?s early data from the start of 2013 appears to be showing more positive trends in coupon use than last year, Mounts said, which suggests coupon clipping likely won't disappear completely any time soon.
PASSAIC, N.J. (AP) ? The winner of a $338 million Powerball jackpot told several media outlets Monday that his first priority will be helping his family.
Pedro Quezada, 44, entered Eagle Liquors store, where the ticket was sold, late Monday afternoon. The Passaic store owner ran Quezada's ticket through the lottery machine to validate that it was a winner as a newspaper and television outlets recorded the moment.
The New Jersey Lottery confirmed that the winning ticket was validated at the store at 4:30 p.m. Monday, but officials said they didn't yet know the winner's name.
Quezada, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, told reporters in Spanish that he was "very happy" and that he intends to help his family.
His wife, Ines Sanchez, told the Bergen Record that Quezada called her with the news Monday afternoon.
"I still can't believe it," she said. "We never expected it but thank God."
The numbers drawn Saturday were 17, 29, 31, 52, 53 and Powerball 31. A lump sum payout would be $221 million, or about $152 million after taxes. It's the fourth-largest jackpot in Powerball history.
The family's apartment sits at the end of a short dead end block that abuts a highway in Passaic, 15 miles northwest of New York City. Neighbors stood out in the rain Monday night and spoke with pride that one of their own had struck it rich.
Eladia Vazquez has lived across the street from Quezada's building for the past 25 years. The block has a half-dozen three-story brick apartment buildings on each side, and Vazquez says it's a neighborhood where everyone knows everyone, including what car they drive and what parking space they use.
Vazquez described Quezada and his wife as "quiet and not overly talkative" but sensed that they seemed to be working all the time.
"This is super for all of us on this block," she said. "They deserve it because they are hardworking people."
Richard Delgado, who lives down the block from Quezada's building, said the man was "a hard worker, like all of us here. We all get up in the morning and go to work."
Delgado said he got up Sunday morning and was going to take his dog for a walk when he heard the radio announce the Powerball results.
"When I heard there was one winner and it was in New Jersey, I immediately went and checked my tickets," Delgado said. "I wanted to be that guy."
When asked what it would be like to suddenly win such a large amount, Delgado said a person would have to set priorities.
"No. 1 is your health, because if you don't have that, the rest doesn't matter," he said. "No. 2 is your family. You take care of your own and live the rest of your life in peace. That's all anyone can do."
No one had won the Powerball jackpot since early February, when Dave Honeywell in Virginia bought the winning ticket and elected a cash lump sum for his $217 million jackpot.
The largest Powerball jackpot ever came in at $587.5 million in November. The winning numbers were picked on two different tickets ? one by a couple in Missouri and the other by an Arizona man ? and the jackpot was split.
Nebraska still holds the record for the largest Powerball jackpot won on a single ticket ? $365 million ? by eight workers at a Lincoln meatpacking plant in February 2006.
Powerball is played in 42 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The chance of matching all five numbers and the Powerball number is about 1 in 175 million.
___
Associated Press writer Angela Delli Santi contributed to this report from Lawrenceville, N.J.
Mar. 25, 2013 ? Getting enough to eat is a basic human need -- but at what cost to the environment? Research published in BioMed Central's journal Agriculture & Food Security demonstrates that as their crops on higher ground fail due to unreliable rainfall, people in countries like Uganda are increasingly relocating to wetland areas. Unless the needs of these people are addressed in a more sustainable way, overuse of wetland resources through farming, fishing, and hunting will continue.
In 2009 it was estimated that about a third of Uganda's wetlands had been lost to growing crops and grazing. While the environmental significance of wetland loss is important, so are National Food Security targets and the Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of people who suffer from hunger by 2015. In order to evaluate how people are using the wetlands researchers from Makerere University, Uganda, with financial support from IDRC surveyed residents living in either Lake Victoria crescent, Kyoga plains, and South Western farmlands.
The survey revealed that more than 80% of people in these areas use wetland resources including collecting water, catching fish, hunting bush meat (Sitatunga, a type of antelope, and wild rat), and harvesting wild fruits and vegetables. Some of these they consume but others they sell in order to be able to buy food. Over half admitted to growing crops in the nutrient rich soil wetlands with its ready water supply. The families who were most likely to use the wetlands in this way were the ones who had the least access to other sources of food.
The locals blame their bad harvests on global warming, and as global weather systems change this can only get worse. Dr Nelson Turyahabwe explained, "Food insecurity is a real problem across the world. In Uganda the families most at risk tended to have younger or female household heads, or were less educated. Large families were also at high risk of not having enough to eat. In these cases use of wetlands allows families to survive. In designing sustainable use policies for wetlands the needs of humans also needs to be considered."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by BioMed Central Limited, via AlphaGalileo.
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Journal Reference:
Nelson Turyahabwe, Willy Kakuru, Manson Tweheyo and David Mwesigye Tumusiime. Contribution of wetland resources to household food security in Uganda. Agriculture & Food Security, 2013; DOI: 10.1186/2048-7010-2-5
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.
The Cypriot, left, and EU flag are seen at the Cypriot delegation building in Brussels on Sunday, March 24, 2013. The EU says a top official will chair a high-level meeting on Cyprus in a last-ditch effort to seal a deal before finance ministers decide whether the island nation gets a 10 billion euro bailout loan to save it from bankruptcy. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
The Cypriot, left, and EU flag are seen at the Cypriot delegation building in Brussels on Sunday, March 24, 2013. The EU says a top official will chair a high-level meeting on Cyprus in a last-ditch effort to seal a deal before finance ministers decide whether the island nation gets a 10 billion euro bailout loan to save it from bankruptcy. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
Bank employees protest outside the ministry of finance on Saturday, March 23, 2013. Thousands of bank employees took part in a protest that ended outside the Cypriot parliament. Politicians in Cyprus were racing Saturday to complete an alternative plan raising funds necessary for the country to qualify for an international bailout, with a potential bankruptcy just three days away. Banner at right reads: "Who voted for you members of parliament? The Troika?" (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades speaks on his phone in his car as he arrives at the airport in Brussels on Sunday, March 24, 2013. The EU says a top official will chair a high-level meeting on Cyprus in a last-ditch effort to seal a deal before finance ministers decide whether the island nation gets a 10 billion euro bailout loan to save it from bankruptcy. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
Bank employees protest outside the ministry of finance on Saturday, March 23, 2013. Thousands of bank employees took part in a protest that ended outside the Cypriot parliament. Politicians in Cyprus were racing Saturday to complete an alternative plan raising funds necessary for the country to qualify for an international bailout, with a potential bankruptcy just three days away. Banner at left reads: We fight not only for our jobs but also for people's savings" and banner at right reads: "Dimitriadis resign, you and your consultants". (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
A bank employee holds a placard that reads in Greek: ''Bums, Traitors, Politicians, Same'' protest on Saturday, March 23, 2013. Thousands of bank employees took part in a protest that ended outside the Cypriot parliament. Politicians in Cyprus were racing Saturday to complete an alternative plan raising funds necessary for the country to qualify for an international bailout, with a potential bankruptcy just three days away. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
BRUSSELS (AP) ? After failing for a week to find a solution at home to a crisis that could force it into bankruptcy, Cypriot politicians were turning to the European Union on Sunday in a last-ditch effort to help the island nation forge a viable plan to secure an international bailout.
Politicians are under pressure to come up with a solution quickly, with the European Central Bank threatening to stop providing emergency funding to Cyprus' banks after Monday if there is no agreement on a way to raise 5.8 billion euros ($7.5 billion) needed to get a 10 billion euro rescue loan package from the International Monetary Fund and the other European countries that use the single currency.
If Cyprus fails to secure a bailout, some of its ailing banks could collapse within days and rapidly drag down the government and possibly force it out of the euro, a huge threat to the stability of the currency used by more than 300 million people in 17 EU nations.
Despite the danger, Europe's biggest economy maintained a hard line. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said "if possible we want to avoid seeing Cyprus sliding into insolvency."
But, he added in an interview with the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag published Sunday that Cyprus cannot expect compromise over the threat of bankruptcy and possibility it could leave the eurozone.
"I'm also known for not giving in to blackmail, by nobody and nothing," he said.
The original plan, agreed to in marathon negotiations earlier last week, called for a one-time levy on all bank depositors in Cypriot banks. But the proposal ignited fierce anger among Cypriots and failed to garner a single vote in the Cypriot Parliament.
The idea of some sort of deposit grab has returned to the fore after Cyprus' attempt to gain Russian financial aid failed this week, with deposits above 100,000 euros at the country's troubled largest lender, Bank of Cyprus, possibly facing a levy of up to 25 percent.
Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades and his finance minister traveled to Brussels for meetings with European Union leaders.
European Council President Herman Van Rompuy was chairing a meeting, but a spokesman insisted his role was not to force a deal but to encourage discussion.
To avoid bankruptcy or the collapse of its banking system, Cyprus needs significantly more than the 10 billion euros the international creditors are willing to lend it. They fear that more loans would balloon the country's debt level to an unsustainable level. For that reason, the country must somehow raise the additional money.
Cyprus has "to fulfill a difficult mission to save the Cypriot economy and avert a disorderly default threatening the economy if there is no final deal for the loan agreement," government spokesman Christos Sylianides said in a written statement Sunday.
Officials fear that a Cypriot bankruptcy, which would likely force the country to become the first eurozone member to leave the currency bloc, would roil markets and result in uncertainty that could engulf other weaker eurozone nations, leading to capital flight and higher government borrowing costs.
Anastasiades was also set to meet IMF Chief Christine Lagarde and ECB President Mario Draghi.
If the Cypriots agree to a plan on Sunday, the IMF, European Central Bank and European Commission will then determine whether it meets the requirement that Cyprus' debt, including any new bailout loan, be sustainable over the long run.
Any new proposal would then have to be approved Sunday evening by the Eurogroup, the gathering of finance ministers from the 17 EU countries that use the euro currency.
Their decision might come only as a broad political agreement, with technical details to be hammered out in the coming days. But without an agreement in principle, the ECB is likely to pull the plug on the country's banking system.
Cyprus already took significant steps toward cementing a new plan Friday night, when lawmakers voted to restructure ailing banks, restrict financial transactions in emergencies and set up a "solidarity fund" that should act as the vehicle for raising funds from investments and contributions.
The bank restructuring will include the country's second largest lender, Laiki, which suffered heavy losses after being exposed to toxic Greek debt. The restructuring and the sale of Greek branches of Cypriot banks are expected to significantly lower the 5.8 billion euros that the country needs to raise on its own to secure the rescue loan package.
Cypriot banks have been closed this past week while the plan was being worked out, and are not due to reopen until Tuesday. Cash has been available through ATMs, but many have run out quickly.
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Associated Press writer Elena Becatoros in Nicosia, Cyprus, contributed to this story.
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Don Melvin can be reached at https://twitter.com/Don_Melvin
Juergen Baetz can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jbaetz
VATICAN CITY (AP) ? Pope Francis is celebrating Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Square, which is filled with thousands of people waving olive branches and palm fronds.
The new pontiff arrived in an uncovered vehicle to start solemn Holy Week ceremonies, which lead up to Easter, Christianity's most important day.
Francis wore bright red robes over a white cassock and presided over the Mass from an altar sheltered by a canopy on the steps of St. Peter's Basilica.
Cardinals, many of them among the electors who on March 13 chose the Roman Catholic church's first Latin American pope, sat in rows for the ceremony held under hazy skies on a breezy day.
Write for Dropbox is a brand new text editor for iPhone that lets you create notes on the fly quicker than ever. With extensive gestures, markdown support, lots of sharing options, and a beautiful interface, Write for Dropbox may just be the best text editor for iPhone we've ever seen.
When first launching Write for Dropbox, you'll be taken through a short tutorial of how to use gestures and the editor bar. All of which are straight forward and easy to remember. Now you're ready to start writing.
The first thing you'll notice is the editor bar that appears above the keyboard. You'll find commonly used symbols as well as a handy cursor tool that allows you to move the cursor around the screen without having to actually move your entire hand off the actual keyboard. Sliding the editor bar to the left reveals markdown options such as bold, italics, headers, links, and more. You can also insert images and preview markdown with the two icons to the far right in the markdown editor bar.
Write for Dropbox makes simple tasks just as they should be, simple. Expanding to full screen can be done by simply pulling the screen outwards with two fingers. You can access the top menu again by pushing inwards with two fingers. Deleting notes and saving them are also extremely quick and use pull to refresh actions. Naming a note is as easy as tapping in the title bar. It's little things like these that you really learn to appreciate as they can be huge time savers.
As far as sharing goes, Write for Dropbox supports tons of options including Evernote, Google Drive, CloudApp, and more. You can copy links to your clipboard as well for easy sharing on social networks such as Twitter.
Write for Dropbox creates a default folder called Write in your Dropbox account. You can add folders inside this one natively inside the app as well as create notes inside of it. They'll then sync and organize as you left them in your Dropbox account. You can also favorite notes for quick access later.
One of the biggest things when it comes to saving notes and using them across platforms is the ability to pick up where you left off on another device. For this, Write for Dropbox offers a free Mac plugin that allows you to quickly take notes on your Mac and they'll sync down to your iPhone. It isn't a great solution and not as powerful as a fully functionally Mac editor but it gets the job done for short notes and lists.
The good
Best interface of any iPhone text editor we have ever seen
Gesture controls make simple tasks even simpler
Sharing options aplenty, you'll be able to get your content to any platform or app you need to
Fast syncing, like super fast
Markdown support and the text editor bar are well laid out and make more sense than most
The bad
No iPad support, I really like to write on my iPad and this app would be amazing on the iPad
No full Mac support and quick notes are about the limit right now
You can't move documents to a new folder after they're already created, unless I'm missing something
The bottom line
Write for Dropbox is not only the most beautiful text editor I've ever seen for iPhone, it's the best. Everything from the menus to the gestures to the text editor bar are easy to use and the care and thought that went into creating them is obvious. The only down side is that there is no iPad or Mac version at this time which will keep me with Byword on those platforms for the time being.
If Write for Dropbox can deliver the same on iPad and Mac, there's no doubt that it'd be the best editing suite available.
This undated photo provided by Brown University shows Chinua Achebe at his home in Warwick, R.I. Achebe, an internationally celebrated Nigerian author, statesman and dissident, has died at age 82. Achebe's 1958 novel, "Things Fall Apart," is widely regarded as the first major work of modern African fiction and inspired others to tell the continent's story through the eyes of those who lived there. He joined Brown University in 2009 as a professor of languages and literature. (AP Photo/Brown University, Mike Cohea)
This undated photo provided by Brown University shows Chinua Achebe at his home in Warwick, R.I. Achebe, an internationally celebrated Nigerian author, statesman and dissident, has died at age 82. Achebe's 1958 novel, "Things Fall Apart," is widely regarded as the first major work of modern African fiction and inspired others to tell the continent's story through the eyes of those who lived there. He joined Brown University in 2009 as a professor of languages and literature. (AP Photo/Brown University, Mike Cohea)
FILE - This is a Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2008 file photo of Chinua Achebe, Nigerian-born novelist and poet as he speaks about his works and his life at his home on the campus of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York where he is a professor . Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, who wrote the classic "Things Fall Apart," has died. He was 82. Achebe's publisher confirmed his death Friday March 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
This 2010 photo provided by Brown University shows Chinua Achebe, left, with his wife Christie Achebe on campus in Providence, R.I. Achebe, an internationally celebrated Nigerian author, statesman and dissident, has died at age 82. Achebe's 1958 novel, "Things Fall Apart," is widely regarded as the first major work of modern African fiction and inspired others to tell the continent's story through the eyes of those who lived there. (AP Photo/Brown University, Mike Cohea)
In this Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2008 photo, Chinua Achebe, a Nigerian-born novelist and poet, poses at his home as he reflects on his works and life at his home on the campus of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., where he is a professor. Achebe, an internationally celebrated Nigerian author, statesman and dissident, has died at age 82. Achebe's 1958 novel, "Things Fall Apart," is widely regarded as the first major work of modern African fiction and inspired others to tell the continent's story through the eyes of those who lived there. He joined Brown University in 2009 as a professor of languages and literature. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
FILE - Chinua Achebe, Nigerian-born novelist and poet poses his life at his home on the campus of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York where he is a professor in this Jan. 22, 2008 file photo. Achebe, who wrote the classic "Things Fall Apart," has died. He was 82. Achebe's publisher confirmed his death Friday, March 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File)
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) ? Nigerian author Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani was just 10 years old when she first read Chinua Achebe's groundbreaking novel "Things Fall Apart."
She devoured the rich use of Igbo proverbs in his book, which forever changed Africa's portrayal in literature.
That inspiration carried over into the creation of a pivotal character in her debut work, "I Do Not Come to You by Chance," which pulls readers into the dark and greedy world of Nigerian Internet scam artists.
"Like many contemporary Nigerian writers, I grew up on a literary diet that comprised a huge dose of Achebe's works," she said. "My parents were so proud of his accomplishments, and quoted the Igbo proverbs in his books almost as frequently as they quoted Shakespeare."
Achebe's death at the age of 82 was announced Friday by his publisher. His works inspired countless writers around the world, though the literary style of "Things Fall Apart," first published in 1958, particularly transformed the way novelists wrote about Africa.
Adewale Maja-Pearce, a literary critic who succeeded Achebe as the editor of Heinemann's African Writers Series, called him a pioneer whose "contribution is immeasurable."
In breaking with the Eurocentric lens of viewing the continent through the eyes of outsiders, Achebe took readers to a place full of complex characters who told their stories in their own words and style.
Achebe once wrote that a major goal "was to challenge stereotypes, myths, and the image of ourselves and our continent."
He resisted the idea that he was the father of modern African literature, recalling a rich and ancient tradition of storytelling on the continent. Still, his influence on younger writers of the late 20th and early 21st century, particularly those from his homeland, was undeniable.
"Achebe's influence has been completely seminal and inspirational, and there are writers that have been called the School of Achebe who have imitated his style," said Chukwuma Azuonye, professor of African and African Diaspora Literatures at the University of Massachusetts in Boston.
A newer crop of successful novelists with ties to Nigeria has broken away from Achebe's mode, Azuonye said, developing their own modernist style of writing that focuses on clashes of cultures and other issues facing Nigerians abroad.
Among those influenced by Achebe was Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who won the Orange Prize for Fiction for "Half of a Yellow Sun."
On Friday, she released an elegy she had written for Achebe in the Igbo language.
"Something has happened. Something big has happened. Chinua Achebe is gone. A great writer, a man of great wisdom, a man of good heart," she wrote.
"Who are we going to boast about? Who are we going to take out to the world? Who is going to guide us? A storm has passed! Tears fill my eyes.
"Chinua Achebe, go in peace. It is well with you. Go in peace."
Nigerian novelist Lola Shoneyin, whose works include "The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives," says Achebe's fiction gives her something new each time she reads his work.
"In the last five decades, just about every post-colonial African author, one way or another, has been engaged in a creative call-and-response with Chinua Achebe," she said.
Igoni Barrett, the author of a collection of stories called "From Caves of Rotten Teeth," said Achebe had achieved a "saintly status among Nigerian writers" through his pioneering involvement in the African Writers Series.
"Chinua Achebe was an inspiration to me not only for his singular talent and his dedication to truth in art and life, but also because he had the fortitude to overcome the countless disappointments of the Nigerian state," he said.
One of Senegal's best-known novelists, 66-year-old Boubacar Boris Diop, was in high school when he read "Things Fall Apart." He says that in it, he found "the real Africa."
"I systematically advise young authors to read Chinua Achebe. I've often bought copies of 'Things Fall Apart' and offered them to young writers. It's well written ? in the sense that it's not written at all. In it, you won't find any great lyrical phrases. That's the great force of this book. It's written in simple language," said Diop.
"He wrote about a continent that is far from perfect, but which at the same time has things within it that fill you with wonder."
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Larson reported from Dakar Senegal. Associated Press writer Rukmini Callimachi also contributed to this report.
In This is 40 (the "sort of" sequel to Knocked Up), Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd return as bickering couple Debbie and Pete, who are trying to navigate their way through turning 40 and raising their two daughters, Sadie (Maude Apatow) and Charlotte (Sadie Apatow).
The American BlackBerry faithful have been waiting and while those with business (and T-Mobile) intentions got there a little early, the Z10 is now available to the more typical pay-monthly masses from AT&T. Priced up at $200 on a two-year contract, you can pick it up from Ma' Bell's for-real stores and online today, just click on that source link for all those carrier details.
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Public release date: 25-Mar-2013
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