Giant Snails Invade Florida

It always amazes me that people worry so much about moving one or two genes around in plants in a thought out and carefully controlled manner yet they hardly worry about the introduction of whole functional genomes (i.e. invasive species) into ecosystems. Given the clear and deleterious impacts of introduced species (as opposed to those for GMOs which are debatable at best) you would think there would be large organizations of anti-introduced genome activists.

Why would you expect activists on an issue where there is virtually no counterpressure?

Accidental introductions still happen, reasonably frequently, and individual 'wildcat' introductions (usually of something that somebody thinks will be tasty and/or amusing to hunt/fish) do happen as well; but essentially nobody in anything resembling an authoritative role will even suggest a deliberate introduction in anything but the most cautious terms(and usually then only in an effort to control a prior introduction that got out of hand).

The sheer difficulty of the task, and the near-impossibility of eradicating established populations, works against the effort; but there is no activism because being against introduced species is already policy(and downright uncontroversial policy, at that).

GMOs, by contrast, have much more... effective... friends and allies, which provides their opponents with some incentive to try to push back.

Regardless of how good or bad their cause is, people rarely get worked up about things that are already going the way they want.

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/azhiTxH784s/story01.htm

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Chavez heir barely wins; opposition rejects count

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ? Hugo Chavez's hand-picked successor, Nicolas Maduro, won a razor-thin victory in Sunday's special presidential election but the opposition candidate refused to accept the result and demanded a full recount.

Maduro's stunningly close victory followed an often ugly, mudslinging campaign in which the winner promised to carry on Chavez's self-styled socialist revolution, while challenger Henrique Capriles' main message was that Chavez put this country with the world's largest oil reserves on the road to ruin.

Despite the ill feelings, both men sent their supporters home and urged them to refrain from violence.

Maduro, acting president since Chavez's March 5 death, held a double-digit advantage in opinion polls just two weeks ago, but electoral officials said he got just 50.7 percent of the votes to 49.1 percent for Capriles with nearly all ballots counted.

The margin was about 234,935 votes. Turnout was 78 percent, down from just over 80 percent in the October election that Chavez won by a nearly 11-point margin.

Chavistas set off fireworks and raced through downtown Caracas blasting horns in jubilation. But analysts called the slim margin a disaster for Maduro, a former union leader and bus driver in the radical wing of Chavismo who is believed to have close ties to Cuba.

In a victory speech, he told a crowd outside the presidential palace that his victory was further proof that Chavez "continues to be invincible."

But in a hint of discontent, National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello, who many consider Maduro's main rival, expressed dismay in a tweet: "The results oblige us to make a profound self-criticism. It's contradictory that the poor sectors of the population vote for their longtime exploiters."

At Capriles' campaign headquarters, people hung their heads quietly as the results were announced by an electoral council stacked with government loyalists. Many started crying; others just stared at TV screens in disbelief.

Later, Capriles emerged to angrily reject the official totals: "It is the government that has been defeated."

He said his campaign came up with "a result that is different from the results announced today."

"The biggest loser today is you," Capriles said, directly addressing Maduro through the camera. "The people don't love you."

Armed forces joint chief, Gen. Wilmer Barrientos, called on the military to accept the results.

A Capriles' campaign staffer told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity that the candidate met with the military high command after polls closed. But campaign official Armando Briquet later denied a meeting was held.

Capriles, an athletic 40-year-old state governor, had mocked and belittled Maduro as a poor, bland imitation of Chavez.

Maduro said during his victory speech that Capriles had called him before the results were announced to suggest a "pact" and that Maduro refused. Capriles' camp did not comment on Maduro's claim.

Maduro, a longtime foreign minister to Chavez, rode a wave of sympathy for the charismatic leader to victory, pinning his hopes on the immense loyalty for his boss among millions of poor beneficiaries of government largesse and the powerful state apparatus that Chavez skillfully consolidated.

Capriles' main campaign weapon was to simply emphasize "the incompetence of the state."

Millions of Venezuelans were lifted out of poverty under Chavez, but many also believe his government not only squandered, but plundered, much of the $1 trillion in oil revenues during his 14-year rule.

Venezuelans are afflicted by chronic power outages, crumbling infrastructure, unfinished public works projects, double-digit inflation, food and medicine shortages, and rampant crime ? one of the world's highest homicide and kidnapping rates ? that the opposition said worsened after Chavez disappeared to Cuba in December for what would be his final surgery.

Analyst David Smilde at the Washington Office on Latin America think tank predicted the victory would prove pyrrhic and make Maduro extremely vulnerable.

"It will make people in his coalition think that perhaps he is not the one to lead the revolution forward," Smilde said.

"This is a result in which the 'official winner' appears as the biggest loser," said Amherst College political scientist Javier Corrales. "The 'official loser' ? the opposition ? emerges even stronger than it did six months ago. These are very delicate situations in any political system, especially when there is so much mistrust of institutions."

Many across the nation put little stock in Maduro's claims that sabotage by the far right was to blame for worsening power outages and food shortages in the weeks before the vote.

"We can't continue to believe in messiahs," said Jose Romero, a 48-year-old industrial engineer who voted for Capriles in the central city of Valencia. "This country has learned a lot and today we know that one person can't fix everything."

In the Chavista stronghold of Petare outside Caracas, Maria Velasquez, 48, who works in a government soup kitchen that feeds 200 people, said she voted for Chavez's man "because that is what my comandante ordered."

Reynaldo Ramos, a 60-year-old construction worker, said he "voted for Chavez" before correcting himself and saying he chose Maduro. But he could not seem to get his beloved leader out of his mind.

"We must always vote for Chavez because he always does what's best for the people and we're going to continue on this path," Ramos said. He said the government had helped him get work on the subway system and helps pay his grandchildren's school costs.

The governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela deployed a well-worn get-out-the-vote machine spearheaded by loyal state employees. It also enjoyed the backing of state media as part of its near-monopoly on institutional power.

Capriles' camp said Chavista loyalists in the judiciary put them at glaring disadvantage by slapping the campaign and broadcast media with fines and prosecutions that they called unwarranted. Only one opposition TV station remains and it was being sold to a new owner Monday.

At rallies, Capriles would read out a list of unfinished road, bridge and rail projects. Then he asked people what goods were scarce on store shelves.

Capriles showed Maduro none of the respect he earlier accorded Chavez.

Maduro hit back hard, at one point calling Capriles' backers "heirs of Hitler." It was an odd accusation considering that Capriles is the grandson of Holocaust survivors from Poland.

The opposition contended Chavez looted the treasury last year to buy his re-election with government handouts. It also complained about the steady flow of cut-rate oil to Cuba, which Capriles said would end if he won.

Venezuela's $30 billion fiscal deficit is equal to about 10 percent of the country's gross domestic product.

Maduro focused his campaign message on his mentor: "I am Chavez. We are all Chavez." And he promised to expand anti-poverty programs.

He will face no end of hard choices for which Corrales, of Amherst, said he has shown no skills for tackling.

Maduro has "a penchant for blaming everything on his 'adversaries' ? capitalism, imperialism, the bourgeoisie, the oligarchs ? so it is hard to figure how exactly he would address any policy challenge other than taking a tough line against his adversaries."

Many factories operate at half capacity because strict currency controls make it hard for them to pay for imported parts and materials. Business leaders say some companies verge on bankruptcy because they cannot extend lines of credit with foreign suppliers.

Chavez imposed currency controls a decade ago trying to stem capital flight as his government expropriated large land parcels and dozens of businesses.

Now, dollars sell on the black market at three times the official exchange rate and Maduro has had to devalue Venezuela's currency, the bolivar, twice this year.

Meanwhile, consumers grumble that stores are short of milk, butter, corn flour and other staples.

The government blames hoarding, while the opposition points at the price controls imposed by Chavez in an attempt to bring down double-digit inflation.

___

Associated Press writers Fabiola Sanchez, Jorge Rueda, E. Eduardo Castillo and Christopher Toothaker in Caracas and Vivian Sequera in Valencia contributed to this report.

___

Alexandra Olson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Alexolson99

Frank Bajak on Twitter: http://twitter.com/fbajak

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chavez-heir-barely-wins-opposition-rejects-count-062143967.html

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Alipay Launches Sound Wave Mobile Payments System In Beijing Subway

Alipay has launched a new payment system in the Beijing subway that uses sound waves to connect smartphones with ticketing machines. The sound wave payment system was introduced with the Alipay Wallet mobile app in January and uses white noise (link via Google Translate) generated by a smartphone to carry digital information to another device. Initially used for smartphone-to-smartphone transactions, the Beijing Subway launch marks the first time the system has been used with a payment kiosk for consumer transactions, according to Xinhua (link via Google Translate).

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/_XjI1iEKmA8/

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Bombs kill more than 30 across Iraq before local poll

By Kareem Raheem

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Car bombs and blasts in cities across Iraq, including two explosions at a checkpoint outside Baghdad's international airport, killed at least 23 people on Monday days before provincial elections.

No one claimed responsibility for the attacks in Baghdad, Kirkuk, Tuz Khurmato and other towns to the north to south, but al Qaeda's local wing is waging a campaign against Shi'ites and the government to stoke sectarian confrontation.

Iraqis will vote on Saturday for members of provincial councils in a ballot that is seen as a test of political stability since the last U.S. troops withdrew in December 2011.

The ballot for nearly 450 provincial council seats will also be an important measure of Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's political muscle against his Sunni and Shi'ite rivals before a parliamentary election in 2014.

A dozen candidates have already been killed so far in campaigning, including two moderate Sunni politicians over the weekend.

Monday's attacks were mostly car bombs, including two blasts that killed two passengers at an outer checkpoint as they were on their way into the Baghdad airport site. Attacks on the heavily guarded airport and the fortified International Zone housing many embassies are rare.

"Two vehicles managed to reach the entrance of Baghdad airport and were left parked there. While we were doing routine searches, the two cars exploded seconds apart. Two passengers travelling to the airport were killed," a police source said.

The most deadly attack was in Tuz Khurmato, 170 km (105 miles) north of Baghdad, where four bombs targeting police patrols killed five people and wounded 67, officials said.

SURGE IN ATTACKS

Iraqi violence has accompanied a long-running political crisis in the government that splits posts among Shi'ite, Sunni Muslim and ethnic Kurdish parties in an unwieldy, power-sharing coalition.

Critics dismiss Maliki, a former Arab-language teacher who spent many years in exile in Syria and Iran, as an autocrat who has failed to live up to power-sharing agreements. He threatens to form a majority government to end the deadlock.

Violence is down since the height of sectarian slaughter that erupted in 2006-2007 when an al Qaeda attack on a major Shi'ite shrine triggered a wave of retaliation between Sunni and Shi'ite fighters that killed thousands.

But al Qaeda's local wing, Islamic State of Iraq, and other Sunni Islamist insurgents tied to Saddam Hussein's outlawed Baath party, have managed to carry out at least one major coordinated attack a month since U.S. troops left.

Last year was first time Iraq's death toll had risen in three years and since the start of this year, al Qaeda has claimed a string of attacks, including a spike in suicide bombings on Shi'ite targets and security forces.

Ten years after the U.S.-led invasion, al Qaeda is regaining ground, especially in the western desert close to Syria's border, where it has benefited from the flow of Sunni fighters battling against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Islamic State of Iraq says it has joined forces with the al-Nusra Front rebels fighting in Syria. Sunni insurgents, especially al Qaeda, see Baghdad's Shi'ite-led government and Assad as oppressors of Sunnis. They view Shi'ites in general as apostates from true Islam.

Insurgents are also tapping into Sunni frustrations. Many Iraqi Sunnis feel sidelined since the overthrow of Saddam and the rise of the Shi'ite majority. Security experts say al Qaeda is seeking to use that as a recruiting tool among Sunnis who see themselves victimized by security forces.

(Additional reporting by Ahmed Rasheed; Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bombs-hit-cities-across-iraq-least-five-dead-060044661.html

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Woods story, predictably, dominates CBS broadcast

CBS announcer Jim Nantz led off the network's Masters coverage Saturday by describing what Tiger Woods did the day before on the 15th hole as an "innocent" and "absent-minded" mistake.

CBS devoted the first 12 minutes of its broadcast from the Masters entirely to Woods, who was given a two-stroke penalty earlier in the day for a bad drop that led to his signing an incorrect scorecard after his second round.

Woods' shot on the 15th hole of the second round hit the flag stick and bounced back into the water. He took his penalty drop 2 yards behind where he hit the original shot, a rules violation.

Woods was tied for 17th when the third-round broadcast started at 3 p.m. EDT, five shots off the lead. His story dominated the early coverage, and CBS didn't mention another player until 3:12 p.m., when it showed the leaderboard for the first time.

"A day of high drama at Augusta National Golf Club before a single shot was struck." was how Nantz described the scene.

The broadcast started with a live shot of Woods at the sixth hole and being applauded by the gallery.

From there, the network displayed the ruling that cost Woods two strokes but allowed him to remain in the tournament. It broke down what his three options were after his shot on the 15th hole on Friday ended up in the water, then aired a lengthy interview by Nantz of Fred Ridley, chairman of the Masters' competition committees.

Augusta National said it was Nantz who alerted Masters officials Friday that Woods' post-rounds comments were causing some doubts, leading to another review.

Woods had said after his round, "I went back to where I played it from, but went two yards further back and I tried to take two yards off the shot of what I felt I hit. And that should land me short of the flag and not have it either hit the flag or skip over the back. I felt that was going to be the right decision to take off four (yards) right there. And I did. It worked out perfectly."

"It was an innocent mistake," Nantz said, referring to Woods' actions.

Once CBS got through the initial wave of Woods coverage, it was largely business-as-usual, with cameras trained on an array of players over roughly the next 35 minutes. Then CBS again revisited the Woods matter, with analyst Nick Faldo ? a three-time Masters champion ? saying the way Friday's events transpired ultimately saved Woods.

Augusta National reviewed the matter Friday even before Woods' second round was complete and found no breach of rules. But when Woods said after the round that he chose to play his drop slightly farther back from where he played his original shot, Augusta National decided to review the matter once again.

"If this had all happened later at night, if somebody had called in late at night and then had gone back and reviewed everything, then in fact Tiger would be disqualified," Faldo said. "He would have signed for the wrong score. In a way, that helped him. They reviewed the situation, they decided from what they saw there was no infringement, but it was only after Tiger then said, 'Hey, I intentionally came back a couple of yards.'"

Faldo said he was surprised Woods did not know the rule, but added that he gave the world's No. 1 player "the benefit of doubt."

Earlier in the day, the Golf Channel's Brandel Chamblee said:

"The integrity of this sport is bigger than the desire to see Tiger Woods play golf today," Chamblee said. "I want to see Tiger Woods play golf. I have never seen anybody play golf like him. I want to see him make a run at Jack Nicklaus' majors record. I want to see that. But I don't want to see it this week; I don't want to see it under these circumstances. The right thing to do here, for Tiger and for the game, is for Tiger to disqualify himself."

Faldo agreed with Chamblee and didn't back down during the CBS broadcast.

"There was absolutely no intention to try to drop that as close to the divot, absolutely none at all," Faldo said. "So, in black and white, and that is the greatest thing about our game, our rules are very much black and white. You know, that's a breach of the rules. Simple as that."

Later in the telecast, Faldo's tone seemed more conciliatory.

Faldo reiterated that in his era, he thought most players ? when presented with a situation like the one Woods was in ? would either be disqualified or withdraw. But he stopped short of calling again for that to happen.

"We're in a new era now under new rules and even if they bring some controversy, Tiger is playing rightly under the new rules," Faldo said. "And myself and some of my old pros, we have to accept that now."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/woods-story-predictably-dominates-cbs-broadcast-201230101--golf.html

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RolePlayGateway?

Chapter 1: TV Rots The Brain

Darkness. Pitch black and nothingness. All one would see on the TV set, no men, no women, no cameras. Just darkness. Unsettling darkness with a just as unsettling quiet. Until a voice cut through it like a well-crafted blade.

"Welcome to World News with G. Gordon Godfrey." The voice prompted several spotlights to come on, revealing a large desk. A TV monitor shot on, images of several cities shown. Gotham, Tokyo, New York, Metropolis, London. Finally, the source of the voice stepped into view.

He was an average sized man, a redhead possibly in his mid-30s or early 40s. The carrot topped man wore a nice black suit with a nice red tie, an air of confidence surrounding him. There was a reason why he had highest rated news show on Fox, in America, possibly the entire world at this point. He knew how to speak to people, he knew what they wanted to hear, he knew how to say exactly what they didn't want to hear, but keep them listening.

"I apologize for my rather bleak, rather dark opening to tonight's show. But, it's fitting. Darkness and suddenly light, but this darkness came just as suddenly as my light." Godfrey said as he paced the stage. "Tomorrow Superman will be speaking to the world. He'll be speaking not as Superman, but as the boy who fell from Krypton."

"Yes, Krypton. Space. A planet far from Earth, a planet where they breed supermen, no pun intended. Superman is not like us. He isn't Human. He hasn't had to deal with what we've had to deal with!" Godfrey exclaimed, "When he is faced with a gun he is not at risk. But, when you and I meet the barrel of a gun our lives are possibly coming to an end. We cry, we think of those we love that'll we never see again, that will never see us again so full of life." Godfrey paused, the silence once again filling in the empty spaces for him.

It was nothing but truth. People witnessed it. It was all over the news, all over the internet. Superman could take bullet after bullet and all he had to show for it was a little dirt on his alien skin. Superman was stronger than Humans, he molded him as a champion of Humans.

Godfrey could almost hear the people across the country asking themselves one very important question.

"When will Superman turn and treat us like bugs beneath his red boots?" Godfrey asked the viewers at home, "I for one don't want to-..."

"I was watching that!" Augustus said as he tried to look around Raquel to see his TV, the young woman was working with the fact that Augustus couldn't see through her. "Yeah, you were watching that of all things." Raquel noted, "G. Gordon Godfrey is opposed to people like you. He doesn't want you here." Raquel said.

Augustus was a large African-American man, standing at about six feet and five inches. He was muscular, appearing to be a man who kept himself in shape. Raquel was possibly his opposite, a short, slim African-American woman.

"It's just television." Augustus told Raquel as he stood up from his seat, "Yeah, well, TV rots your brain. Even complex alien brains." Raquel retorted, making her way through the large Gotham City apartment towards the bathroom. "Don't turn it back on." Raquel ordered Augustus as she stepped into the bathroom.

"Bruce invited us to a party, I want to get there on time." Raquel said firmly, shutting the bathroom door. "I'll be ready." Augustus would be ready after he finished watching his program. He waited until he could hear the shower running, reaching out to turn his TV back on.

"...and on top of that they can look like us! They can talk like us! What other aliens are among us?" Godfrey asked as the program continued on the TV screen, "They destroy. The aliens destroy. Does anyone remember the alien Lobo?" Godfrey asked, looking around the set as he awaited an answer.

"Does anyone remember the carnage he left in his wake? What about Mongul and his Warworld? Do we suddenly forget these things before Superman and the Justice League postponed the carnage?"

"I don't see Mongul in chains, I don't see his grave. He'll come back, they always come back. Batman allows The Joker to return. Superman allowed Zod to return. Does anyone remember how close we were to kneeling before him?" Godfrey asked, "There are ways we begin to combat the alien menace."

"The aliens can register, become documented. They can go home. They can be sent home. They are not wanted if they won't play by the rules. But, I admit, I don't want them at all. Call me a bigot, call me hateful."

"Don't call me if Sinestro brings another army here." Godfrey said, spotlights on his sound stage shutting off one by one until there was nothing but darkness.

The bathroom door began to open, Augustus quickly jumped from his seat to change the channel. "I'm going to call a taxi. Take your time though." He told Raquel, "I'm going to grab my nice suit." Augustus said, making his way towards his room as a talk show aired.

Three woman sat on a couch on a large white set. The first was an Asian woman, she donned a purple suit jacket and white skirt. The second woman was a Caucasian woman, a stern, very professional looking woman dressed in a black pantsuit. The last woman was a Caucasian woman, she wore a white skirt and white jacket. She was serious, lacking any specific emotions.

"Welcome back to The Panorama! I'm Linda Park here with Lois Lane and Louise Lincoln." Linda said, "I understand that you have more personal questions Ms. Lincoln, Lois?" Linda asked, "Yes, your good friend Crystal Frost, later known as Killer Frost, passed away recently." Lois said to Louise, "Yes, I know. Why bring this up?" Louise asked, "I've heard from some unnamed sources that you're continuing her work." Lois told Louise.

"The same work that made her who she was. A criminal and a murderer with a power of ice. A female Mr. Freeze. Do you care to comment on these allegations?" Lois asked, "Crystal was a very good friend of mine, I owe it to her to continue with her experiments and take the necessary precautions to prevent the same thing that happened to her from happening with others." Louise answered.

"Do you blame Firestorm for her death?" Lois asked, "Do you hate him? Were you and Crystal something more than friends?" She continued, "Um... Lois?" Linda said, "That's none of your business!" Louise said, "I didn't hear a resounding 'no' to any of those questions." Lois said to Louise, "Did you bring me on this show for this?" Louise asked.

The woman stood from her seat, storming away from the set. "Um... we'll be back with Bruce Wayne's rival for billionaire playboy of the year, Oliver Queen, after this commercial break." Linda said to the cameras.

"Clear!" The director shouted, "What the hell was that?" Linda asked Lois, "Journalism, Linda. You should try it." Lois answered, getting up to make her way backstage. "You're not a journalist anymore." Linda told Lois as she followed, "You can't do stuff like that to people." Linda explained.

"If we did more like that to people then maybe G. Gordon Godfrey wouldn't be beating us in the ratings with his... bullshit." Lois said, "I'm not going lowbrow to get ratings." Linda protested, "Not lowbrow. Interesting. I for one don't want to talk to Green Arr-..." Lois stopped herself as several members of the film crew made their way backstage.

"Oliver Queen," She corrected herself "...about his new fragrance or what bimbo supermodel he's dating now. You might be fine with that, but that's tabloid shit and I want to be remembered for bringing people real news." Lois said, turning to walk away from Linda.

Linda sighed, "What does Clark see in that one?"

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/RolePlayGateway

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Inspired By Economic Madness - Mike Shedlock - Townhall Finance ...

Do not expect any government or central bank to learn much from history, especially Japan and especially now.

For example, please consider this bit of "inspirational madness": Bank of Japan Finds Inspiration in a 1930s Iconoclast.

The bank?s governor, Haruhiko Kuroda, announced a ?new dimension in monetary easing,? vowing to double the purchases of government bonds and expand the monetary base. The BOJ also formally adopted a previously announced two-year target of 2 percent inflation. Quantitative easing will be the bank?s core business for the near future, a strategy that resembles the Federal Reserve?s response to the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

The BOJ?s actions also mark a return, at least partly, to the unorthodox efforts of Japan?s finance minister in the early 1930s, Korekiyo Takahashi, who was praised by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke for ?brilliantly rescuing Japan from the Great Depression through reflationary policies.?

Takahashi has recently received renewed attention from economists, historians and policy makers. In Japan, the number of popular publications on him suggests a Takahashi following. A biography by Richard Smethurst, ?From Foot Soldier to Finance Minister: Takahashi Korekiyo, Japan?s Keynes,? became an academic hit when it was published in Japanese in 2010.

Source: http://townhall.com/columnists/mikeshedlock/2013/04/13/inspired-by-economic-madness-n1566413

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