Latest Apple TV reveals smaller A5 chip, adds to rumors of split with Samsung

Quiet, mid-cycle component upgrades are a thing with Apple, and they're sometimes worth watching out for. The iPad 2 got a chip update last year, for example, which significantly extended its battery life by using a 32nm A5 SoC instead of a 45nm one. Well, much as expected, a very similar processor update has just come to the Apple TV. MacRumors popped open the latest version, known as "AppleTV3,2", and found good evidence of a further die shrink: the central block of silicon is just 6 mm x 6 mm, which is even smaller than the 8 mm x 8 mm chip in the newest iPad 2. This inevitably leads to speculation that Apple has shifted to a 28nm fabrication process, possibly snubbing Samsung's 32nm foundries, but we'd need a proper silicon-level analysis to be certain. In the meantime, though, we'd guess that this update may not be worth hunting down to the degree that the new iPad 2 was -- the level of shrinkage here doesn't seem enough to have a huge impact on power draw, and in any case that's less of an issue for a device that's fed from the wall.

[Image credit: MacRumors]

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Apple

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Via: iMore

Source: MacRumors

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/bU_vnNdd76s/

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Japan marks second anniversary of triple disaster

TOKYO (AP) ? The two-year anniversary Monday of Japan's devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear catastrophe is serving to spotlight the stakes of the country's struggles to clean up radiation, rebuild lost communities and determine new energy and economic strategies.

More than 300,000 people remain displaced and virtually no rebuilding has begun along the battered northeastern coast where the tsunami swept away entire communities.

Memorial services were to be held Monday in Tokyo and in barren towns along the northeastern coast to mark the moment, at 2:46 p.m., when the magnitude 9.0 earthquake ? the strongest recorded in Japan's history ? struck off the coast, unleashing a massive tsunami that killed nearly 19,000 people.

In the ravaged fishing port of Kesennuma, a thin blanket of snow covered the ground where houses and fisheries once stood. Survivors live in temporary housing farther inland on higher ground, while others have decided to move away altogether. On Monday morning, fishermen, who are trying to get the vital industry back on its feet, lined up rows of tuna and other fish for auction.

"It's scary (living here) when there is an earthquake. It's scary, but I don?t plan to go anywhere else. I want to give my own very best, somehow, toward reconstruction of the city," said 75-year-old Kenichi Oi.

Farther south, in Fukushima prefecture, some 160,000 evacuees are uncertain if they will ever be able to return to abandoned homes around the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, where three rectors melted down and spewed radiation into the surrounding soil and water after the tsunami knocked out the plant's vital cooling system.

In Kawauchi, one of many towns with varying degrees of access restrictions due to radiation, village chief Yuko Endo is pinning his hopes on the success of a long decontamination process that may or may not enable hundreds of residents to return home.

It's a race against time because many residents might just give up on returning if kept waiting too long, he said.

"If I were told to wait for two more years, I might explode," said Endo, who is determined to revive his town of mostly empty houses and overgrown fields. "After spending a huge amount of money, with the vegetable patches all cleaned up and ready for farming, we may end up with nobody willing to return."

Evacuees are torn, anxious to return home, but worried over the potential, still uncertain risks from exposure to the radiation from the disaster, the worst since Chernobyl in 1986.

While there have been no clear cases of cancer linked to radiation from the plant, the upheaval in people's lives, uncertainty about the future and long-term health concerns, especially for children, have taken an immense psychological toll on thousands of residents.

A group of 800 people were filing a lawsuit Monday in Fukushima against the government and Tokyo Electric Power Co., the utility that operates the Fukushima plant. It demands an apology payment of 50,000 yen ($625) a month for each victim until all radiation from the accident is wiped out, a process that could take decades.

A change of government late last year has raised hopes that authorities might move quicker with the cleanup and reconstruction.

Since taking office in late December, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has made a point of frequently visiting the disaster zone, promising faster action, and plans to raise the long-term reconstruction budget to 25 trillion yen ($262 billion) from 19 trillion yen (about $200 billion).

Hopes for a significant improvement may be misplaced, said Hiroshi Suzuki, chairman of the Fukushima Prefectural Reconstruction Committee.

"There have been no major changes by the new government in response to the nuclear accident, though the budget has been increased," he said. "If the reconstruction budget continues to serve as a tool for expanding public works spending, then I believe local societies and economist will be undermined."

___

Associated Press writer Emily Wang in Kesennuma, Japan, contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/japan-marks-2nd-anniversary-triple-disaster-004108597.html

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Morgen's Author Interviews: Author interview with writer Rosemary O ...

Welcome to my blog interviews with novelists, poets, short story authors, scriptwriters, biographers, agents, publishers and more. Today?s is with women?s, family sagas and mainstream fiction author?Rosemary O?Brien. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found?here. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate further.

Morgen: Hello, Rosemary. Please tell us something about yourself, where you?re based, and how you came to be a writer.

Flash forward to my job at a an organization for freelance writers in Washington, DC where I had another epiphany. If all of these people are making a living doing what they love as freelance writers, why was I sitting at this desk serving them and the organization? I spent the next month or so talking to every experience writer who came through the door about how they did it before submitting my resignation and doing it myself. My first novel was written over the following 4 or 5 months writing full-time from home and was published a couple of years later. The writing services business followed and has served me well. It?s allowed me to stay home with my children despite our many moves as a military family. I still teach, but on my own terms. I teach other writers through adult education classes, online classes and through email, and I also direct children?s theatre in my community.

Morgen: What genre do you generally write and have you considered other genres?

Rosemary: I primarily write women?s fiction, family sagas and mainstream fiction. With that said, I?ve been toying with a comic mystery based on a story idea given to me by a friend. The idea keeps rolling around my head and lines are constantly popping up, so I may have to sit down and write that one next. I am also writing a non-fiction book titled Pocket Parks in NYC about the privately owned public spaces dotting New York City.

Morgen: What have you had published to-date? Do you write under a pseudonym?

Morgen: You?ve self-published, what lead to you going your own way? Are your books available as eBooks? How involved were you in that process? Do you read eBooks or is it paper all the way?

My latest novel, SCRAPS, was just published through a publisher who published primarily through ebook platforms. I actually enjoy reading books on my iPad despite my previous ambivalence to electronic publishing. I think it?s the wave of the future, though it still needs more of a filter.

Morgen: Do you have a favourite of your books or characters? If any of your books were made into films, who would you have as the leading actor/s?

Morgen: Did you have any say in the titles / covers of your books? How important do you think they are?

Rosemary: I had complete control over the title for FIRST SATURDAY. It fits perfectly with the theme of the book. The women met in a Catholic girls? school where they celebrated mass the first Friday of every month. When they got older and moved back to the same area after college, careers, etc., they began having dinners on the first Saturday of each month. The title could not have been anything else. The cover was the publisher?s creation and I love it. As for SCRAPS, I created the cover myself after being dissatisfied with what the publisher?s artist came up with. I think the covers are very important. It?s what draws a reader to your book. It is the initial impression which is an important one. If the cover stinks, the reader will think the book follows suit.

Morgen: What are you working on at the moment / next?

Morgen: Do you manage to write every day? Do you ever suffer from writer?s block?

Rosemary: I think writer?s block is contrived. Anna Quindlen once said something to the effect of she never had time for writer?s block. She had a column to write every day and deadlines to meet, so she wrote them and met them. She had to. I feel the same way. I write every day. If I miss a day, I feel guilty and unproductive. If I?m stuck on one area of a project, I just move to the next and come back to that part. It may require a major edit later, but it moves the story forward.

Morgen: Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?

Rosemary: I always plot my stories and even teach a class about how I write my novels. I tell students if you don?t know the ending of your book, how are you going to create foreshadowing and build the story to its climax? The class I teach came from a way that developed for me naturally as a reaction to my poor memory. It?s similar to what screenwriters do with index cards, which is something I may try with the next book. I think running with the idea promotes rambling and hardly accomplishes anything unless you have a superior memory. I don?t, so I plot.

Morgen: Do you have a method for creating your characters, their names and what do you think makes them believable?

Rosemary: Good writing makes any characters believable. You have to observe people that are similar to your idea of your character and then try to copy some or all of their mannerisms, speech patterns, etc. Other than that, I don?t have a method for creating characters. They come to me with the idea of the story, more or less, or they present themselves as I?m writing.

Morgen: Do you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?

Rosemary: I do a lot of editing when I go back to read the first draft, especially at the beginning of the manuscript. After I get going, the ideas are more full-formed. It is a common idea that a good writer is really a good reviser or editor. I feel that?s true. You can write the worst dreck in your first draft, but that?s okay because you always have revisions. The important thing is to get your story down on the page first and then go back and fix it.

Morgen: Do you have to do much research?

Rosemary: I always do a lot of research. This happens mostly during the plotting stage when I?m developing the story, but can also happen while I?m writing. We are always learning and growing, so I?m always looking things up. Much of the time the information I learn finds its way into my books because I like to share what I know. (I guess I?m a teacher at heart.)

Morgen: What point of view do you find most to your liking: first person or third person? Have you ever tried?second person?

Rosemary: I actually had to look up ?second person? to refresh my memory that?s how often I use it! I prefer third person, but have been considering trying first person with the next mystery I mentioned before. Third person gives me the chance to look into someone?s head without constantly saying, ?I? or ?me? constantly while also viewing the surrounding picture. With the first person you can?t do that as easily since the story is always from the point of view of the character doing the telling.

Morgen: Do you write any poetry, non-fiction or short stories?

Rosemary: I was first published as a poet. During my last leg of college (my education another story entirely), a friend said I should submit my poetry to a community journal the university she worked for was producing. It was a blind submission, so she was never going to see it and give me the upper hand if she liked it, so I went for it. Jane was the person who introduced me to poetry in high school and led me to find my voice. A few of my poems were published in that journal that year and the next. Since then, I?ve only published my poetry through a program called The Fiction Project. Facing Forward, my book of poetry, can be viewed digitally on their site?http://www.arthousecoop.com/library?as well as in person at the Brooklyn Art Library in Brooklyn, NY.

Morgen: Do you have pieces of work that you think will never see light of day?

Rosemary: YES! The first book I wrote was written right after I graduated from college. My husband was not due to transfer for a few months and the idea had been rambling around my head for months. It was way too autobiographically and poorly written. It sits in a box and on my computer, I believe, in case I ever figure out what to do with it. It doesn?t have legs, so I I don?t think I ever will.

Morgen: Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?

Rosemary: That first book was rejected at least 35 times. FIRST SATURDAY received about 17 rejections before the publisher requested a read, so I guess that?s progress. SCRAPS received 19 before I submitted it directly to a publisher. Being published is first about writing a good story and second, about perseverance.

Morgen: Do you enter competitions? Are there any you could recommend?

Rosemary: No. I would rather spend my time seeking paying work rather than paying for a contest.

Morgen: Do you have an agent? Do you think they?re vital to an author?s success?

Rosemary: No, I don?t have an agent, but I?m still looking for one. I feel they are very helpful, though from my own experience, they do not seem vital. They are helpful because they know who is buying what therefore they can submit more judiciously. They can also keep track of the royalties while the writer can concentrate on what the writer does best which is writing the next book. Some also guide the author toward project ideas they think would be a good fit.

Morgen: How much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ?brand??

Rosemary: A lot. An author?s work is not done once the book hits the shelves. Before I?m even finished with the editor?s revisions, I am looking for bloggers who might support the work, looking for bookstores that might host a reading, and generally stirring up buzz for my book. It?s exhausting which is why I would rather not self-publish if I can help it. Being a published novelist is a business albeit a creative one. The author has to comport herself (or himself) in a professional manner. No one is going to book a flighty person to read in their bookstore or to speak on their TV or radio show.

Morgen: What?s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life? Has anything surprised you?

Rosemary: Favorite: Making my own schedule around my family?s needs and devising my own projects.

Least favorite: I earn a lot less money than I would had I taken a corporate communications or even a writing job in someone else?s office.

Surprises: The amount of time I have to spend getting the word out astounds me.

Morgen: What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Rosemary: Decide if you really want it before dedicating yourself to this business and then dedicate yourself full throttle. The lows are very low, but the highs can also be very high. Learn all you can about the publishing business, but stay true to your own voice when writing. There is no one else who will write like you. Hold on to that and give it a whirl. Just don?t quit your day job unless you have a financial backup. Many writers write when they are not at their day job.

Morgen: If you could invite three people from any era to dinner, who would you choose and what would you cook (or hide the takeaway containers)?

Rosemary: Of course, Shakespeare. I?d probably serve some sort of roast with potatoes for him. He seems like he was a roast kind of guy. Dessert would be some sort of berry pie with cream.

Anna Quindlen because she is my favorite contemporary author. She sees life similiarly to the way I see life and would be interesting to chat with. I would probably serve lasagna and salad with an antipasto to pick on while I cook. Ice water with lemon during dinner and coffee and chocolate cake afterward.

J.K. Rowling. I think she is brilliant to have infused so much history and mythology into such an amazing story. I have no idea what I would cook for her.

Morgen: If you had to choose a single day from your past to re-live over and over, what day would it be and why?

Rosemary: No day is that good! I would get bored at some point, wouldn?t you? Some of my more beautiful days were the day (the moment) I said the vows that made me a wife for the second time. The day I found out I was pregnant with my first son, my second son and the day each was born. The day I received my first hard copy of First Saturday in the mail. The day I got my first professional acting job.

Morgen: Is there a word, phrase or quote you like?

Rosemary: I like the word ?sparkle?.

The quote I like the most is from Thoreau: ?If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.? I keep a card with this saying tacked to the side of my bookcase at my desk. It is so true.

Morgen: Are you involved in anything else writing-related other than actual writing or marketing of your writing?

Rosemary: I teach a class on how to organize your information while writing a novel as well as one about the business of freelance writing. I also go into my sons? schools during April, National Poetry Month, to read poetry and talk about its importance in our lives.

Morgen: What do you do when you?re not writing? Any hobbies or party tricks? :)

Rosemary: As a former musical theatre actress and trained vocalist, I love the theatre. I try to get to Broadway or off-Broadway as often as possible. I direct children?s theatre whenever I?m needed and can fit it into my schedule. I love to scrapbook and knit, and I make a mean chili.

Morgen: Are there any writing-related websites and / or books that you find useful?

Rosemary: Robert McKee?s STORY as a companion to his fabulous intensive class he teaches all over the world. (I?ve taken it 3 times over the past 10 years.)

Annie Lamott?s BIRD BY BIRD.

Jeff Herman?s GUIDE TO BOOK PUBLISHERS, EDITORS, AND LITERARY AGENTS

There are so many I can?t think of them all.

Morgen: Are you on any forums or networking sites? If so, how valuable do you find them?

Rosemary: I have been a regular participant of a Yahoo! group called Momwriters since it began in 1998. They provide excellent advice on issues related to writing with small children underfoot to where to find the best virtual assistant. They have helped me numerous times over my years of writing and working from home with children.

Morgen: What do you think the future holds for a writer?

Rosemary: I hope it holds many very popular novels along with popular books about pocket parks. Beyond that, I do not want to speculate. (Again, it?s the superstition thing!)

Morgen: Where can we find out about you and your writing?

Rosemary: Go to the following websites to find out more about me and my writing:

Morgen: Is there anything else you?d like to mention?

Rosemary: You have to do what you love and the rest will follow. Other than that, I think you have covered my career quite well with your questions. Thanks!

Morgen: You?re very welcome, Rosemary, thank you for answering them. Is there anything you?d like to ask me?

Rosemary: Do you have any tips on keeping all the balls up in the air without dropping any?

Morgen: <laughs> I?d say to have the passion to want to do it and structure your day as best you can. I don?t waste a minute which sadly means very little play. The only time I sit and do nothing is watching a movie but I?m still noting characters, dialogue etc. When you?re a writer you never switch off? but then I wouldn?t want to. Thank you, Rosemary.

I then invited Rosemary to include an extract of her writing and this is from?First Saturday?

Lifting her right arm, she felt for the spot with the tips of her fingers. There it was, a lump the size of a bb. Audrey had found it accidentally while showering a couple of mornings ago. It was in her right breast, and she was absolutely terrified. How long it had been there, she didn?t know. She had just had her yearly mammogram the day before she found it, but she knew that wasn?t enough. Audrey never gave herself a monthly breast exam, though she knew she should, and now she regretted her laziness. It might not have saved her from all of this agony , but maybe she would have found the lump when it was a little smaller. Perhaps if it were smaller, it would be easier to deal with, whatever it was.

How was she going to wait until Monday morning to find out? Immediately after she found it, Audrey called her doctor to make an appointment. It was set for Monday after her two daughters left for school. She would find out then what it was, and if it was anything to worry about. In the meantime, she had the rest of the weekend after everyone went home to imagine all of the terrifying possibilities.

Audrey forced herself away from the mirror and left the bathroom, leaving the light on, and continued to dress for her birthday party. She went over to the oak armoire and pulled out the simple black dress she planned to wear for the party. A perfect color for her mood tonight, she thought as she bought it over to the bed and carefully laid it down.

Up until a year ago, Audrey had led a charmed life. She and Mike married one week after college graduation in the church they had both attended while growing?up.? Both twenty-two years old, they thought they knew everything there was to know about love. Little did Audrey know that she would reach thirty-five, a divorced woman with two children, her husband and first and only love having taken up with his secretary.

And a synopsis?

SCRAPS

ANGELA has been trying to reunite her feuding grandmother and older sister all of her adult life. When her unmarried older sister, LISA, announced she was pregnant at only 19, a stormy argument ensued between LISA and their traditional Italian grandmother who had raised the two girls ever since their parents died tragically six years earlier. In the end, MARIA threw LISA out of the house, or did she? That was over 20 years ago and Angela has been trying to unite her family ever since.

On the eve of DAVID?S 21st birthday, Angela finds herself full of nostalgia for her family. She makes one final attempt at reconciling the two most important people in her life next to her little family. To do this, she decides to create a scrapbook of all of the children, David and Lisa included. Her plan is to present the scrapbook to her grandmother at her surprise 85th birthday party complete with the actual people involved, if Lisa will agree to her plan.

With a bittersweet ending, we learn that family is everything and we should cherish every moment.

***

Rosemary O?Brien officially began her writer?s journey over 15 years ago after a career as an actress in musical theatre. Her first novel,?First Saturday, was first published in 2002 and earned her a loyal readership, especially the people of West Haven, CT, the setting for the story. Her goal is to give her readers a ?good read.?

?I want to give my readers a story that keeps them up at night, turning the pages to find out what?s going to happen next,? says O?Brien. ?It doesn?t have to be full of blood and guts and car chases to be interesting.?

***

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking ?ooh, I?d like to do this? then you can? just?email me?and I?ll send you the information. They do now (January 2013) carry a fee (?10 / ?12.50 / $15) for the new interviews on this blog but everything else (see?Opportunities on the main?blog) is free. Alternatively, if you?d like a?free Q&A-only interview, I now have this blog,?http://morgensauthorinterviews.wordpress.com,?on which I?ve rerun the original interviews posted here then posted new interviews which I then reblog here. These interviews are Q&A only, so I don?t add in my comments but they do get exposure on both sites.

If you go for the interview, it?s very simple; I send you a questionnaire (I have them for novelists, short story authors, children?s authors, non-fiction authors, and poets). You complete the questions, and I let you know when it?s going to go live. Before it does so, I add in comments as if we?re chatting,?and then they get posted. When that?s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me? let me know.

** NEW!! You can now subscribe to the main blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!

For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at the main blog?s?Feedback?page. As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can?t unfortunately review books but I have a list of?those who do. I welcome items for critique for the online writing groups, and their associated Facebook groups, listed below:

Morgen?s Online Non-Fiction Writing Group

Morgen?s Online Novel Writing Group

Morgen?s Online Poetry Writing Group

Morgen?s Online Script Writing Group

Morgen?s Online Short Story Writing Group

We look forward to reading your comments.

Source: http://morgensauthorinterviews.blogspot.com/2013/03/author-interview-with-writer-rosemary.html

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Spring forward: It's daylight science time

Brian Snyder / Reuters

Peter Shugrue checks four custom-made clocks, destined for installation in Kansas City, Mo, at the Electric Time Company factory in Medfield, Mass. Daylight saving time begins in the United States at 2 a.m. Sunday.

By David Ropeik and Alan Boyle, NBC News

It's that time of year, when most Americans lose an hour's sleep setting their clocks ahead. (Remember? Spring forward, fall back.) So here are answers to questions about the time switch and about sleep.

In most of the United States, we'll be moving our clocks ahead for daylight saving time in the wee hours of Sunday morning. The official switch comes at 2 a.m. Sunday, which instantly becomes 3 a.m. Most people, however, move their clocks ahead just before going to bed Saturday night or just after getting up Sunday morning.

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The day of the big switch used to be the first Sunday of April, but in 2005, Congress changed the rule to make it the second Sunday in March, as an energy-saving measure.

What's the rationale?
As the year progresses toward the June solstice, the Northern Hemisphere gets longer periods of sunlight. Timekeepers came up with daylight saving time ? or summer time, as it?s known in other parts of the world ? to shift some of that extra sun time from the early morning (when timekeepers need their shut-eye) to the evening (when they play softball).

The idea is that having the extra evening sunlight will cut down on the demand for lighting, and hence cut down on electricity consumption ? and that few people will miss having it a little darker at, say, 6 o'clock in the morning. At least that's how the theory goes.

Who's in on the switch?
Not everybody goes along with the plan. Arizona sticks with Mountain Standard Time, which turns out to be the same as Pacific Daylight Time. (The Navajo Nation, however, goes along with the summertime switch.) Hawaii and U.S. possessions such as American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are also staying on standard time.

Most European countries don't switch to summer time until the last weekend in March. That means the usual time difference will be out of sync for three weeks. For example, when it's noon in New York, it'll be 4 p.m. in London. But starting March 31, the five-hour difference between the two cities' clocks will be back in force.

Some countries in the Southern Hemisphere move their clocks back an hour at this time of year. In Brazil, for example, the switch from daylight saving time to standard time took place in mid-February.

How can we cope?
If you?re in the ?spring forward? mode, don?t lose any sleep over the hour you?re losing. But do try to get back into your regular sleep routine. Rosalind Cartwright, a sleep expert at Rush Medical Center in Chicago, says that if you lose too much sleep, even a couple of hours for just two or three days, your immune system will suffer and you'll be more susceptible to colds and viral infections.

A couple of small-scale studies have suggested that heart attack rates go up during the switch to daylight saving time, perhaps because of the sleep-cycle disruption. But the evidence is too meager to make a solid connection to that issue or other purported health effects of the time change.

Generally speaking, if you get to sleep too late, or get up too early, your body will find a way to get the deep sleep it needs for rest. What you lose is the light sleep during which you dream, which is important for mood. Which explains why you might feel groggy and grumpy after we "spring forward" to daylight saving time.

More about the time changeover:

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David Ropeik is a consultant and author specializing in risk perception and risk communication. Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. This is an updated version of a report originally published in March 2000.

Source: http://science.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/08/17239708-spring-into-daylight-science-time?lite

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Protesters in Tokyo demand end to nuclear power

TOKYO (AP) ? Thousands of people rallied in a Tokyo park Saturday, demanding an end to atomic power and vowing never to give up the fight, despite two years of little change after the nuclear disaster in northeastern Japan.

Gathering two days ahead of the second anniversary of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that sent the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant into multiple meltdowns, demonstrators said they would never forget the world's worst nuclear catastrophe since Chernobyl, and expressed alarm over the government's eagerness to restart reactors.

"I can't see what lies ahead. It looks hopeless, but if I give up now, it's over," said Akihiro Nakata, a 47-year-old owner of a construction company, who had a drum slung around his shoulder. "I'd rather die moving forward."

Only two of Japan's 50 working nuclear reactors have been put back online since the disaster, partly because of continuous protests like Saturday's, the first time such demonstrations have popped up in this nation since the 1960s movement against the Vietnam War.

People have thronged Tokyo parks on national holidays, and have gathered outside the parliament building every Friday evening. The demonstrations have drawn people previously unseen at political rallies, such as commuter "salarymen" and housewives. Organizers said Saturday's demonstration drew 13,000 people.

Two years after the disaster, 160,000 people have left their homes around the plant, entire sections of nearby communities are still ghost towns, and fears grow about cancer and other sicknesses the spewing radiation might bring.

But the new prime minister elected late last year, Shinzo Abe, hailing from a conservative party that fostered the pro-nuclear policies of modernizing Japan, wants to restart the reactors, and maybe even build new ones.

The protesters said they were shocked by how the government was ignoring them.

"I am going to fight against those who act as though Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Fukushima never happened," Nobel Prize-winning writer Kenzaburo Oe told the crowd, referring to the atomic bombings preceding the end of World War II. "I am going to fight to prevent any more reactors from being restarted."

The demonstrators applauded, waving signs and lanterns that read, "Let's save the children" and "No nukes." Some were handing out leaflets, pleading to save animals abandoned in the no-go zone.

Kazuko Nihei, 36, was selling trinkets and soap that mothers, like her, who had fled Fukushima had made, hoping to raise funds for children's health check-ups and their new lives in Tokyo.

"When the government talks about recovery, they are talking about infrastructure. When we talk about recovery, we are talking about the future of our children," she said.

Another big Tokyo rally was planned for Sunday. A concert Saturday evening was to feature Oscar and Grammy-winning musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, one of the most vocal opponents of nuclear power. Commemorative services will be held Monday throughout the nation to remember the nearly 19,000 people who died in the disaster.

Less under the spotlight Monday will be a class-action lawsuit being filed against the government and Tokyo Electric Power Co., the utility that operates Fukushima Dai-ichi, demanding all land, the natural environment and homes be restored to their state before March 11, 2011.

The lawsuit in Fukushima District Court is unusual in drawing people from all walks of life, including farmers, fishermen and housewives, because of the wording of the damage demand.

It has drawn 800 plaintiffs so far, a remarkable number in a conformist culture that frowns upon any challenge to the status quo, especially lawsuits. That number may grow as people join the lawsuit in coming months. A verdict is not expected for more than a year.

"We can't believe the government is thinking about restarting the reactors after the horrendous damage and human pain the accident has caused," Izutaro Managi, one of the lawyers, said by telephone. "It is tantamount to victimizing the victims one more time."

Kazuko Ishige, a 66-year-old apartment manager who was at the rally with a friend from Fukushima, said she was sick of the government's lies about the safety of nuclear plants.

"I am really angry," she said. "I am going to have to keep at it until I die."

___

Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at twitter.com/yurikageyama

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/protesters-tokyo-demand-end-nuclear-power-091424462.html

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How Disruptions to Your Biological Clock May Play a Role in ...

Why Disrupting Your Biological Clock May Be Dangerous to Your Health

Do you or someone you love perform shift work? If so, you know how challenging it can to your lifestyle from sleep disturbances, to finding it hard to exercise regularly or eat properly, to feeling isolated and separated from your friends, family, and the rest of the world! But in addition to this, it can be harmful to your health. Researchers have found that shift work increases the risk for developing cardiovascular disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, obesity, and depression just to name a few. There are probably several contributing factors to this, one being the disruption to circadian rhythm or, in other words, your biological clock.

A recent study was conducted to look more closely at what affect circadian rhythms have on the activity of insulin. Insulin is responsible for facilitating the movement of sugar into the cells for either usage or storage. When the body does not respond properly to insulin (insulin resistance or insulin insensitivity), sugar (glucose) remains in the blood which can cause a myriad of problems and contribute to the development of metabolic syndrome, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity. The study looked at the 24-hour cycle of insulin in mice. Mice are nocturnal and have a circadian rhythm exactly opposite of humans but that is very similar. Their circadian rhythm consists of two phases: inactive/fasting phase similar to our sleep phase and high activity/feeding phase similar to our active phase. It was found that during the inactive/fasting phase, the mice were more resistant to insulin and during high activity/feeding phase were more sensitive to it (and therefore better able to transfer glucose out of the blood).

After this observation, the researchers wanted to see how insulin was affected when a disruption to these phases occurred. They did this in two ways. The first approach they took was to study mice that were missing a gene for proper circadian rhythm function. They found that these mice tended to be in a consistent insulin-resistant state. They tended to gain more weight and carry more fat. When providing a protein to re-establish their circadian rhythm, insulin sensitivity improved and prevented fat gain.

The second approach was to put normal mice in a constantly lit environment disrupting their circadian rhythm. Of course this mimics what shift workers experience. They found similar results?insulin insensitivity (or insulin resistance), higher amounts of body fat and greater weight gain. And this was despite being fed less food than the mice that did not have a disruption to their circadian rhythm.

While further study needs to be performed using human subjects, this is a viable explanation as to why there is the increased incidence of the previously mentioned diseases in those performing shift work. Interestingly, these researchers also found that high-fat diets disrupted the circadian rhythm of mice living in a normal environment.

While this evidence is concerning, it is important to remember that this is one of probably many other factors contributing to these health risks. Engaging in healthy behaviors can help and does make a difference. Here are some suggestions.

• Exercise Regularly. Exercise helps to control blood sugar levels and is vital to disease prevention. It also helps to regulate sleep and decreases the incidence of depression.
• Eat well. Despite being disrupted as this study suggests, insulin, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease are all affected by what and how much food we eat. Try to establish a normal meal schedule regardless of your work hours. For most this means consuming 3 meals in a 24 hour period of time with a few snacks. Time your meals according to the time of day not your shift. Regardless of what time you get up, eat breakfast as this helps to stimulate your metabolism and have your main meal ?mid-day? versus in the middle of your shift. As for any of us, avoid foods high in simple sugars, added sugars and high in unhealthy fats even though they may be more convenient. ?Try to bring healthy food options from home so you can have something available in case your time to eat is limited.
• Cut down on caffeine. It is best to have caffeinated drinks before or early in your shift. Try to avoid caffeine at least 4-5 hours before going to sleep and limit consumption to 3-4 six ounce cups. Stimulants remain in your blood stream for up to 8 hours so poorly timing caffeine consumption as well as consuming too much of it can interfere with your ability to sleep. Which brings me to?.
• Get enough sleep. Lack of sleep carries its own risks and unfortunately shift works have been shown to sleep less effectively one reason being, even brief exposure to sunlight causes hormones to be released that make the body more alert and therefore hard to sleep. ?Block out the light, use a sleep mask, avoid TV and other stimulants when it is time to go to sleep. (Easier said than done when you come home and have to help get the kids off to school!
• Try to have a consistent schedule. For many, shift work is a necessity. Many experts believe that rotating shifts carry even further detriments so if possible, try to have a consistent schedule.

Again remember, you do have control over your health. Healthy behaviors do make a difference!

Reference

Shi S, Ansari TS, Mcguinness OP, Wasserman DH, Hirschie Johnson C. (2013). Circadian disruption leads to insulin resistance and obesity. Current Biology, DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.01.048.

Source: http://todayiwill.com/2013/03/how-disruptions-to-your-biological-clock-may-play-a-role-in-obesity-and-diabetes/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-disruptions-to-your-biological-clock-may-play-a-role-in-obesity-and-diabetes

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Kate Levering Expecting First Child

The Drop Dead Diva star and her fianc?, AAG CEO Reza Jahangiri will welcome their first child together in August, her rep confirms to PEOPLE exclusively.

Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/TuDspIPcHqc/

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Reality check for Left-wing opponents of Israel: Hamas bans women from participating in the Gaza marathon because it's 'un-Islamic'

There's a wonderful moment in Radical Chic, Tom Wolfe's essay about the party Leonard and Felicia Bernstein gave for the Black Panthers in their Park Avenue duplex, when Field Marshall John Cox, who's addressing the assembled group of Upper East Side socialites, refers to "the merchants" who are "the exploiters of the black community". He's talking about the Jews, of course, and it strikes a discordant note because a majority of the rich, Left-wing sympathisers at the party are themselves Jewish. "For God's sake, Cox, don't open that can of worms," writes Wolfe.

For those who aren't sympathetic to fashionable, PC causes, there's something particularly satisfying about moments like this. Suddenly, the romantic, Left-wing perception of a minority group, which invariably casts them as victims of oppression, runs up against an unwelcome reality, such as the fact that they're all raving anti-Semites.

There's a great example of this kind of reality check on the Guardian's website today. It's a Comment Is Free piece by a journalist called Nabila Ramdani with impeccable right on credentials. As she says in her biog (referring to herself in the third person): "She was named a Young Global Leader 2012 by the World Economic Forum and was a winner of the inaugural European Muslim Woman of Influence Award in 2010. She has been named by DNA (Decide Now Act) as one of 101 most innovative individuals in the world for social good."

In the article, Ramdani?describes her disappointment that the Gaza marathon, which was due to take place on 10th April, has been cancelled. Ramdani, who's of Algerian descent, had planned to compete in the marathon to express her solidarity with the poor, benighted victims of Israeli imperialist aggression. "Through spending a few agonising hours with the ordinary people of Gaza on their war-ravaged roads, we would not only be able to empathise with their despair, but publicise it to the world outside," she writes.

Alas, she can no longer make this noble gesture. Why? Because the marathon has been cancelled following the decision of Hamas to ban women from participating in it. Turns out that the political party?Ramdani describes as an "Islamic resistance movement" ? in reality, a Holocaust-denying terrorist organisation?hell bent on the destruction of Israel ? isn't particularly keen on equal rights for women. Women running in marathons ? even if their bodies are covered from head to foot ? is "un-Islamic", apparently.?Who would have thunk it?

Ramdani is understandably disappointed. Not because she's finally woken up to the fact that her beloved Gaza is, in fact, a one-party state controlled by a bunch of Islamist thugs who have scant regard for the rights of women or, indeed, any other minorities. No, she's disappointed because Hamas has thrown away an opportunity "to draw attention to what is arguably the most pressing political problem in the Middle East, if not the world, today". That's Israel's occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, obviously, not the state-orchestrated genocide currently taking place in Syria.

That's the problem with reality checks. You'd think a Left-wing feminist might be pulled up short by the discovery that the "Islamic resistance movement" she's making common cause with turns out to be deeply misogynistic. But no. The important thing is to stay focused on the wickedness of Israel. As Albert Einstein said, "If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts."

I would love to have been present at the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights in Gaza when Hamas dropped this bombshell. Though I couldn't hope to produce something as brilliant as Tom Wolfe's essay. Well worth a read, by the way. The whole piece, which was originally the cover story of the 8th June 1970 issue of New York magazine, can be read here.

Read more by Toby Young on Telegraph Blogs

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Source: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyyoung/100205751/reality-check-for-left-wing-opponents-of-israel-hamas-bans-women-from-participating-in-the-gaza-marathon-because-its-un-islamic/

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