Nanotechnology: The art of molecular carpet-weaving

ScienceDaily (Dec. 29, 2011) ? Stable two-dimensional networks of organic molecules are important components in various nanotechnology processes. However, producing these networks, which are only one atom thick, in high quality and with the greatest possible stability currently still poses a great challenge. Scientists from the Excellence Cluster Nanosystems Initiative Munich (NIM) have now successfully created just such networks made of boron acid molecules. The current issue of the scientific journal ACSnano reports on their results.

Even the costliest oriental carpets have small mistakes. It is said that pious carpet-weavers deliberately include tiny mistakes in their fine carpets, because only God has the right to be immaculate. Molecular carpets, as the nanotechnology industry would like to have them are as yet in no danger of offending the gods. A team of physicists headed by Dr. Markus Lackinger from the Technische Universit?t M?nchen (TUM) und Professor Thomas Bein from the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit?t M?nchen (LMU) has now developed a process by which they can build up high-quality polymer networks using boron acid components.

The "carpets" that the physicists are working on in their laboratory in the Deutsches Museum M?nchen consist of ordered two-dimensional structures created by self-organized boron acid molecules on a graphite surface. By eliminating water, the molecules bond together in a one-atom thick network held together solely by chemical bonds -- a fact that makes this network very stable. The regular honey-comb-like arrangement of the molecules results in a nano-structured surface whose pores can be used, for instance, as stable forms for the production of metal nano-particles.

The molecular carpets also come in nearly perfect models; however, these are not very stable, unfortunately. In these models the bonds between the molecules are very weak -- for instance hydrogen bridge bonds or van der Waals forces. The advantage of this variant is that faults in the regular structure are repaired during the self-organization process -- bad bonds are dissolved so that proper bonds can form.

However, many applications call for molecular networks that are mechanically, thermally and/or chemically stable. Linking the molecules by means of strong chemical bonds can create such durable molecule carpets. The down side is that the unavoidable weaving mistakes can no longer be corrected due to the great bonding strength.

Markus Lackinger and his colleagues have now found a way to create a molecular carpet with stable covalent bonds without significant weaving mistakes. The method is based on a bonding reaction that creates a molecular carpet out of individual boron acid molecules. It is a condensation reaction in which water molecules are released. If bonding takes place at temperatures of a little over 100?C with only a small amount of water present, mistakes can be corrected during weaving. The result is the sought after magic carpet: molecules in a stable and well-ordered one-layer structure.

Markus Lackinger's laboratory is located in the Deutsches Museum M?nchen. There he is doing research at the Chair of Prof. Wolfgang Heckl (TUM School of Education, TU M?nchen). Prof. Bein holds a Chair at the Department of Chemistry at the LMU. The research was conducted in collaboration with Prof. Paul Knochel's work group (LMU) and Physical Electronics GmbH, with funding by the Excellence Cluster Nanosystems Initiative Munich (NIM) and the Bavarian Research Foundation (BFS).

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Technische Universitaet Muenchen.

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Journal Reference:

1. J?rgen F. Dienstmaier, Alexander M. Gigler, Andreas J. Goetz, Paul Knochel, Thomas Bein, Andrey Lyapin, Stefan Reichlmaier, Wolfgang M. Heckl, Markus Lackinger. Synthesis of Well-Ordered COF Monolayers: Surface Growth of Nanocrystalline PrecursorsversusDirect On-Surface Polycondensation. ACS Nano, 2011; 5 (12): 9737 DOI: 10.1021/nn2032616

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/QJunn6g9MgE/111229112256.htm

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Teacher Accused Of Lying About Terminal Cancer - Baltimore ...

POSTED: 5:31 pm EST December 30, 2011
UPDATED: 6:07 pm EST December 30, 2011

BEL AIR, Md. -- Harford County school employees have accused a teacher of falsely claiming she was dying of cancer, and say thousands of dollars were raised to help her.Harford County sheriff's deputies did not release the 24-year-old teacher's name Friday, but said charges are pending.On Dec. 12, a school employee who became very suspicious of the Bakerfield Elementary School teacher reported alleged fraud."We have a victim who alleges she had a coworker who was stating she had cancer, and this victim and several coworkers allegedly were giving the suspect money for necessities," Harford County sheriff's spokeswoman Monica Worrell said. "The detectives need to complete their investigation to determine what crime was committed."According to a Harford County Sheriff's Office report, coworkers raised approximately $10,000, and they began to pay the teacher's rent, buy groceries and supplied funds for various flights to several states for supposed cancer treatments.During the summer, the teacher advised that the cancer had been diagnosed as Stage IV, that it had spread to her lungs and that she only had a 15 percent chance of survival.The woman's coworkers at the Aberdeen school, who organized more fundraisers, said they no longer believe the teacher had cancer, and they have called for her to face charges."Because it's an early part of the investigative process, (there is) not a lot I can share," Worrell said. "We want to give detectives a chance to do their jobs."A Harford County Public Schools representative contacted by WBAL-TV 11 News said, "This a personnel matter" and that "the teacher is on authorized leave and the school district is conducting its own investigation."

? 2011 by WBALTV.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Contact Us

Source: http://www.wbaltv.com/news/30106325/detail.html

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In Iowa, Obama toils while GOP roars, then departs (AP)

DES MOINES, Iowa ? One presidential campaign claims an impressive effort in Iowa this year: eight offices opened, 350,000 phone calls to potential supporters and 1,280 events to recruit and train volunteers.

It's not Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich or Ron Paul. It's Obama for America, the president's re-election campaign, which badly wants to win this battleground state in November, as it did in 2008.

"The Republicans are here today, gone tomorrow," said Obama volunteer Pat Walters, of Johnston, a suburb of Des Moines. "We've been doing this since 2009."

Next Tuesday's Republican caucus has dominated political conversations. Largely overlooked is that Obama is running unopposed in the Democratic caucus the same night.

It's a dramatically different scene from four years ago, when Obama set his course for the White House by beating John Edwards and Hillary Rodham Clinton after months of intense campaigning in Iowa.

Obama can coast as far as this year's nomination is concerned. But Iowa remains a general election swing state, and no one assumes his 9-point win here over John McCain in 2008 will give him a cushion next November.

Obama's campaign never entirely left Iowa or several other competitive states, where he hopes relentless organizing can overcome a weak economy and his mixed record of fulfilling campaign pledges in the face of strong GOP opposition in Congress. If thousands of volunteers flocked to Obama's 2008 campaign, this time he's having to work a bit harder to recruit and energize them.

"People say, `The mood is different this time, it's not the same,'" said Peggy Whitworth, an Obama volunteer in Cedar Rapids. "Well of course it's not the same. But it's not about mood or feeling. It's about the future of the country."

Whitworth, 69, said she joins other Obama volunteers four hours every Tuesday night, and sometimes on other evenings as well, to telephone potential supporters. Many say they will vote for Obama again, she said, and some volunteer to help the campaign. But some are disappointed or angry that the president fell short on campaign promises such as ending the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy, and bringing a greater spirit of bipartisanship to Washington.

"Sometimes they simply want to have someone listen to them," Whitworth said. Most say they will stick with Obama after they've had a chance to vent their frustrations, she said.

Obama lacks some key advantages he enjoyed in 2008. They include a deeply unpopular GOP president who was largely blamed for a faltering economy, and a widespread excitement about Obama's precedent-breaking campaign built on "hope and change."

In exchange, of course, he has the power of the presidency and a well-oiled political organization that has been refining its practices for five years. Obama will raise many millions of dollars, although his eventual Republican opponent may do nearly as well.

Nowhere does Obama have a bigger base to build on than in Iowa, where he campaigned for months in 2007. Romney, Gingrich and other GOP contenders have not made comparable efforts, although they say the economy and other issues will make Obama's task much harder next year.

In activities that rarely compete with the hoopla of the GOP nominating contest, Obama's campaign has placed a handful of paid staffers in each of several key states. They try to leverage their clout by recruiting and training scores of volunteers. The volunteers, in turn, knock on doors, organize house parties and, above all, place phone calls to voters in hopes of identifying likely Obama supporters and tracking them through Election Day.

In a tortoise-versus-hare strategy, Obama supporters hope their steady chugging will build support precinct by precinct, town by town, while Republicans spend resources chasing the nomination for a few more weeks or months. The Republican candidates and their broadcast ads are flooding Iowa this week, but they will abruptly shift to New Hampshire on Jan. 4, the day after the caucuses.

Walters, a 60-year-old insurance executive, said he is a "neighborhood team leader" who helps organize house parties, phone banks and other activities. His chief recruiting tools, he said, involve reminding Iowans of Obama's accomplishments that include expanding medical benefits in the hard-won 2010 overhaul of the nation's health care system.

Walters said he hopes the week-by-week, month-by-month effort will build a strong ground operation to turn out Obama's voters next November. The Republican nominee will have to play catch up, he said.

Obama's ground game "is already in place," Walters said. "It's just a matter of growing it."

Iowa Democratic Chairwoman Chair Sue Dvorsky underscored the methodical nature of the efforts in a conference call with reporters Wednesday.

Since April, she said, "this has been a systematic grassroots effort. The same exact way we did it last time. It isn't very glamorous. It's not a very secret plan. It is voter to voter, one-to-one, then a street, then a precinct, then a county."

Dvorsky said Obama will beam "a live address to Iowa Democrats in every caucus site next Tuesday night.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111228/ap_on_el_pr/us_obama_campaign_iowa

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German Court Rules Muslim Student Disturbed the Peace by Praying (Time.com)

This post is in partnership with Worldcrunch, a new global-news site that translates stories of note in foreign languages into English. The article below was originally published in S?ddeutsche Zeitung.

(MUNICH) -- Yunus M., an 18-year-old Muslim high school student at Diesterweg Gymnasium in Berlin, Germany, has failed in his fight for the right to pray in the public corridors at school. The latest decision concerns this individual case only, judges at the Federal Administrative Court emphasized. But should the plaintiff, who is near graduation, opt to pursue the matter, the only further legal recourse open to him is the Federal Constitutional Court.

The question that the case raises, however, remains: should Muslim students be able to pray openly at school?

Four years ago, Yunus M. and seven friends gathered in the school corridor to bow in the direction of Mecca. The school's director forbid them to do it again, and the case went through a local court, then a court of appeal, before being heard at the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig. (See photos of Ramadan in the year of the Arab Spring.)

According to chief justice Werner Neumann, students have a fundamental right to pray at school. He said, however, that religious freedom has its limits if it threatens to cause social friction within the school, as was the case here. The court agreed with the position of the school, whose director stated that there had been repeated religious conflicts at the school, and that at an establishment where 90% of the students were not German it was impossible for them all to claim a right to pray there publically. In addition, the director stated, Yunus M. had been offered a space where he could pray privately.

A case-by-case issue?

The case had previously resulted in contradictory court decisions. In September 2009, the Berlin Administrative Court decided in favor of Yunus M., a ruling which the Administrative Appeals Tribunal overturned six months later.

The Berlin Administrative court called in jurist Matthias Rohe, an expert on Islam, who said that the Muslim boy's stance was a "plausible opinion in the spectrum of religious freedom" and that Yunus M. was not an extremist. The Appeals Tribunal called in a colleague of Rohe's, Tilman Nagel, who stated that even the prophet Mohammed had put off praying to make community life simpler.

Yunus M.'s case underscores a basic tension: Do state institutions have to accept strict, conservative, even fundamentalist practices when other interpretations are possible? (See the top 10 world stories of 2011.)

The Leipzig court avoided this debate by stressing the individual nature of its decision. For this the court earned praise from some Christian churches. Spokespersons for the Berlin-Brandenburg Evangelical Church and the Archdiocese of Berlin said the court's decision aligned with the freedom of religion guaranteed by the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Yunus M.'s lawyer said they were waiting for the written decision before deciding whether or not to go to the Supreme Court, a move he described, nevertheless, as unlikely.

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-- Die Welt

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-- S?ddeutsche Zeitung

See TIME's special report "The Middle East in Revolt."

See TIME's 140 Best Twitter Feeds.

View this article on Time.com

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/religion/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/time/20111227/wl_time/08599210227700

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NKoreans line streets for Kim Jong Il's funeral (AP)

PYONGYANG, North Korea ? Tens of thousands of North Koreans lined the snowy streets of Pyongyang on Wednesday, wailing and clutching their chests as a black hearse carrying late leader Kim Jong Il's body wound its way through the capital for a final farewell.

The funeral procession from Kumsusan Memorial Palace, where Kim's body had lain in state, was accompanied by top military and party officials, but there was little doubt who the leader was. Son and successor Kim Jong Un was the head mourner, walking with one hand on the hearse, the other raised in salute, his head bowed against the wind.

State media ? which over the past week have called Kim Jong Un "great successor," "supreme leader" and "sagacious leader" ? made it clear that the family's hold on power would extend to a third generation, declaring the country in the younger Kim's "warm care."

The funeral procession passed by huge crowds of mourners, most of them standing in the snow with their heads bare, many screaming and flailing their arms as soldiers struggled to keep them from spilling onto the road.

The procession was expected to head to the city's main plaza, Kim Il Sung Square, where hundreds of thousands of North Koreans have been paying their respects over the past 10 days. Sobs and wails filled the air as mourners in the front rows stamped their feet and cried as the hearse passed by.

"How can the sky not cry?" a weeping soldier standing in the snow said to state TV. "The people ... are all crying tears of blood."

Kim Jong Il, who led the nation with an iron fist following his father Kim Il Sung's death in 1994, died of a heart attack Dec. 17 at age 69, according to state media.

Even as North Koreans mourned the loss of the second leader the nation has known, the transition of power to Kim Jong Un was under way. The young man, who is in late 20s, is already being hailed by state media as the "supreme leader" of the party, state and army.

Like his father's in 1994, Kim Jong Il's coffin was wrapped in a red flag. A limousine carrying a huge portrait of a smiling Kim led the procession, and soldiers followed the hearse and lined the streets. A national memorial service will take place at noon Thursday, state media said.

Wednesday's footage was accompanied by rousing military music. North Korean state media said the memorial route was about 25 miles (40 kilometers) long, though top officials did not walk the entire route.

Outside observers will be watching Wednesday's footage closely for clues on the make-up of Kim Jong Un's inner circle.

Walking behind him was Jang Song Thaek, Kim Jong Il's brother-in-law and a vice chairman of the powerful National Defense Commission who is expected to play a crucial role in helping Kim Jong Un take power.

Also escorting the limousine were military chief Ri Yong Ho and People's Armed Forces Minster Kim Yong Chun. Their presence indicates they will be important players as the younger Kim consolidates his leadership. Top Workers' Party officials Choe Thae Bok and Kim Ki Nam and senior military officer Kim Jong Gak also were prominent positions, according to Seoul's Unification Ministry.

"It shows they will be core powers in North Korea," said Yoo Ho-yeol, a professor at Korea University in South Korea. "Particularly, Jang Song Thaek and Ri Yong Ho will be key to Kim Jong Un's leadership."

The military presence at the funeral Wednesday also suggests Kim will uphold his father's trademark military-first policy, Yoo said.

After the funeral, the young Kim is expected to cement his power by formally assuming command of the 1.2 million-strong military, and becoming general secretary of the Workers' Party and chairman of the party's Central Military Commission, Yoo said.

Kim Jong Il's two other sons, Kim Jong Nam and Kim Jong Chol, have not been spotted.

Kim Jong Un made his public debut just last year with a promotion to four-star general and an appointment as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers' Party.

Heavy snow was falling in Pyongyang, which state media characterized in the early days of mourning as proof that the skies were "grieving" for Kim Jong Il as well. Footage on state TV showed images of swirling snow, the log cabin in far northern Mount Paektu where Kim is said to have been born and the mountain named after him, where his name is carved into the rocky face in red.

Earlier, state television also replayed images of missiles being fired and the April 2009 long-range rocket launch that earned North Korea strengthened U.N. sanctions. The U.S., South Korea and other nations called it a test for a missile designed to strike the United States; North Korea said the rocket sent a communications satellite into space.

Even as they mourned his father with dramatic displays of grief at memorials and at Kumsusan, North Korea's officials have pledged their loyalty to his son.

In an essay paying homage to Kim Jong Il on Wednesday, Workers' Party mouthpiece Rodong Sinmun said North Korea under his leadership had been "dignified as a country that manufactured and launched artificial satellites and accessed nukes," referring to the country's nuclear program.

"Thanks to these legacies, we do not worry about the destiny of ourselves and posterity at this time of national mourning," the essay said, carried in English by the Korean Central News Agency.

"Supreme leader of our party and people Kim Jong Un takes warm care of the people left by Kim Jong Il. Every moment of Kim Jong Un's life is replete with loving care and solicitude for the people," the essay said.

Wednesday's procession had a stronger military presence than in 1994.

Kim Jong Il, who ushered in a "military first" era when he took power, celebrated major occasions with lavish, meticulously choreographed parades designed to show off the nation's military might, such as the October 2010 display when he introduced his son to the world.

___

Associated Press Korea bureau chief Jean H. Lee and writers Hyung-jin Kim, Foster Klug, Scott McDonald and Sam Kim in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report. Follow North Korea coverage at twitter.com/newsjean, twitter.com/APKlug and twitter.com/samkim_ap.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111228/ap_on_re_as/as_kim_jong_il_the_funeral

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Texas gunman was dressed as Santa, police say

A man suspected of opening fire on a family Christmas celebration outside Dallas was dressed in a Santa Claus suit when he killed six people and then himself, police said on Monday.

Authorities continued their search for clues in Grapevine, a Dallas suburb dubbed the ?Christmas Capital of Texas,? to explain the Sunday murder-suicide rampage that left seven shot dead among unwrapped holiday presents.

More related to this story

The dead ? four women and three men between the ages of 15 and 58 ? were found on Sunday morning in an apartment living-room by police answering a voiceless 911 emergency call, authorities said.

?By all appearances, they?re all part of the same family,? said Sergeant Robert Eberling of the Grapevine police department, adding that some were related through marriage.

Two pistols were recovered from the home, said Sgt. Eberling, who called it a ?gruesome crime scene? and the worst outburst of gun violence in the town?s history.

Authorities were waiting on autopsy reports before releasing identities, a potential motive and details on what exactly happened inside the home, Sgt. Eberling said.

?We have a petty good idea who these folks were, and we?re trying to work through contacting other family members so we can better piece together what took place and why it took place,? he said.

Sgt. Eberling said the suspected shooter was dressed in a Santa Claus suit but gave no further details.

The 911 caller never spoke to police, and officers did not see the telephone when they arrived, officials said. Sgt. Eberling said he believed police had to kick in the door to enter. No neighbours reported hearing gunshots, he said.

Sgt. Eberling said the victims appeared to have just opened Christmas presents when the shooting started, and there was no sign of forced entry or a struggle.

Circumstances of the shooting remained sketchy, but Sgt. Eberling said it appeared as though the bloodbath unfolded during a family holiday celebration.

No one was found alive by police arriving at the home, he said.

A community of about 46,000 people some 32 kilometres northwest of downtown Dallas, Grapevine is known for its wine-tasting salons and was proclaimed by the state Senate as the ?Christmas Capital of Texas? for its abundance of annual holiday-season events.

?This is obviously a terrible tragedy,? Mayor William Tate said on Sunday night in a statement.

?The fact that it happened on Christmas makes it even more tragic.?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheGlobeAndMail-International/~3/feP_ZCVqBa4/

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Live chat: Canada Vs. Finland

By QMI Agency

Posted 2 hours ago

EDMONTON - QMI Agency's Dave Cameron and Terry Jones are set to take you through the action during Team Canada's opening game at the 2011 world juniors.

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[OOC] RotG Lore: Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

Welcome to the "Roots of the Genesis" Lore on Nixae

This is an informational topic explaining about the dangerous enemies feared by the faeries, known as the nixae (nixi in singular form). These shadow beings deserve its own lore thread, and must be known to all faeries before adventuring into the mysterious lands and caves within Kiden. This lore thread will update according to the discovery of more nixae in the roleplays.

Past and Current RotG Roleplays

The world of Kiden is not one without monsters. Among those monsters are the feared nixae, the spawns of the shadow lands. Created by the figures representing the Darkness, these monsters hate light in general. Some will react painfully towards light, while others are just plain irritated by it. These beings can be spawned near the presence of true darkness, as long as either type of dark is shrouded over the area. The only time a figure of Darkness will spawn beings of their own is when they are needed for a planned raid, called a Shadow Invasion, against the faeries and the giant tree. Each type of dark spawn is from one of the nine figures of Darkness, all based on a certain theme. The people of Kiden must work together to fight the creatures of Darkness, and defend the sacred tree for everlasting life.

Types of Nixae

Dauhan
- Dauhans are considered the most simplistic form of a nixi, due to their body structures being a huge resemblance to the Hymas of either gender.
- Appearances vary on each Dauhan individual. They can have different genders, clothes, hairstyles, body builds, etc. They lack antennae of the Hymas, but have stapled features that define them as a nixi. The skin color of a Dauhan is pitch-black, their hair color is white, and their eye color is red.
- The one thing people will recognize immediately is their blank and emotionless faces. They are silent, and rarely make gestures. Their silence, however, makes them unable to cast magic.
- Their skin reacts violently toward sunlight, hurting them. One of the basic weaknesses of a nixi.
- Dauhans are commonly found in underground caves or near cave entrances. In rare cases, they can be found outside at night or during Rumiaury.
- Dauhans are usually seen wandering or working (like mining, pushing carts, making equipment, patrolling, etc.). They are generally aggressive, attacking any faery they see.
- They're the most common type seen in Shadow Invasions, because Dauhans have knowledge of wielding various weapons and tools. They make decent soldiers in big numbers.
- Dauhans might as well be the main infantry working for the shadows, but each one of them offers a horrifying expression on their faces: a feeling of nothing.

Berzerkr
- The Berzerkrs are fearsome giants bent on destroying any living being or object in their path. They are feared among common warriors, and can be dealt with by much more experienced fighters.
- A Berzerkr resembles a huge, fat ogre with a gray skin tone. There are bloody bandages wrapped around their bodies and a metal mask that covers their faces, only leaving a thin visor line and a few holes around the mouth area. Some Berzerkrs wear blood-stained, broken shackles on their arms, and only a few carry around a big, blunt weapon of some sort with them.
- Berzerkrs exhale fumes of darkness out of their masks. When fighting against faeries, they usually yell and scream in anger.
- These monsters are quite rare, even in the underground caves where most nixae are found at. When found, they will easily attack back.
- Berzerkrs under sunlight is a very rare case. It still hurts them, though. When such a case happens, they will begin destroying everything around them until the sunlight weakens them or found refuge from the light.
- One of the good facts about those giant nixae is that they are mindless. There are attempts by faeries to tame them, and most actually succeed.
- This type of nixi in the wilderness is a rare case, but they are quite frequent in Shadow Invasions. These ogres are the brute forces of the attack, as they can easily destroy city walls, towers, buildings, siege defenses, and groups of soldiers.
- One of their abilities, when angered enough, is to let out a violent roar, blowing away objects and people. Upon using this ability will break the mouth part of the mask, revealing their bloody mouths.
- Some say the Berzerkr represents the destructive nature of Darkness.

Reppalvarine
- Dare I say it? The Token Loli of the nixi types. They can look like innocent little girls, but they are still affiliated with Darkness.
- The Reppalvarines' overall appearances have a monochromatic tone. Their skin is white, hair color is black, eye color is black as well, dresses are white, etc. They vary in types of dresses, and some might have socks and dress shoes. Regardless, they will always have that monochrome look. A dangerous feature about them is their very sharp, deadly claws.
- Reppalvarines are always seen happy, whether it be smiling, laughing, or giggling. They just only want some fun.
- During the day, most are inside the underground caves. When the night time comes, the nixae come out and play around in areas like forests and swamps.
- Their skin does not react violently towards sunlight, but they hate being in places that are too bright.
- Unlike most nixi types, Reppalvarines are one of the two creature types that can communicate with faeries. Unfortunately, because of their nature, they're very stubborn and will only want to play.
- Reppalvarines aren't generally spawned for Shadow Invasion purposes. When there is a raid on a faery city, a couple of Reppalvarines would likely come there to seek joy.
- When Reppalvarines feel threatened or attempt to attack, they primarily pounce on their targets and shred their chests or faces with their own claws.
- Upon being provoked too much, they will start crying and enter a very dangerous state. Reppalvarines spawn huge black spikes out of their backs that act as spider legs. Upon spawning them, it loses large amounts of black blood and will eventually die. Before death, they will tear up the provoker and any being, faery or nixi, near them.
- The little Reppalvarines can express feelings depending on situation and act innocent at times, but they know no morals. Not that they ever will, since they belong to the Darkness.

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- The ??????r??????n???s and their love songs... were they singing about each victim they meet?

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- If there is anything that defines fear, the B??????????n????????h?e????? just might fit that term.

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Information may be updated at anytime. Also, some may be subject to change.

World of Kiden and "Roots of the Genesis" ? 2011
This material belongs to wamken619 and CiksKayVolts and Lucaris.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/WnFIcU1GtcE/viewtopic.php

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Minister: Spain to fall back into recession (AP)

MADRID ? Spain will slide back into recession early next year with the current quarter and the first of 2012 both registering negative growth, new Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said Monday.

De Guindos said he expects the economy ? the eurozone's fourth largest ? to contract by between 0.2 percent and 0.3 percent on the previous quarter in the final three months of this year and again in the first quarter of next year. He said the outlook for next year was poor.

If the Spanish economy were to contract by between 0.2 percent and 0.3 percent for an entire year, it would shrink roughly 1 percent.

"Let nobody be fooled, the next two quarters are not going to be easy either in terms of growth or employment," de Guindos said.

Spain began to emerge from a near two-year recession last year. It had two successive quarters of growth in 2011 before posting zero growth in the third period.

De Guindos took office last week as part of the new conservative Popular Party government. He said then he was confident the country would emerge from its severe economic crisis and return to prosperity and its former status as a job creator.

Spain has the highest unemployment rate of the 17 countries that use the euro, with 21.5 percent joblessness, and is running a swollen budget deficit following the recession that started with the collapse of a real estate bubble.

The Popular Party won a landslide victory in Nov. 20 elections on a promise to get the economy moving again.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has pledged austerity cuts totaling euro16.5 billion ($21.6 billion) and promised labor reforms.

His government is to begin approving urgent measures Friday, including a freeze on filling new civil service vacancies. except in key areas such as the security forces.

Spain has already made sharp cuts to its national spending and introduced several reforms under the former Socialist government, but the economy has failed to respond.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111226/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_europe_financial_crisis

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Army wife uses Facebook for injured husband

Army wife uses Facebook for injured husband

Sunday, December 25, 2011, 01:38 PM - News Stories Fort Drum wife uses Facebook to provide updates on injured husband. The wife of an injured soldier has gone online to pass along updates about her husband?s condition. Kimberly A. Flores, wife of Staff Sgt. Roberto Flores, created a group on Facebook, ?Prayers for SSG Roberto Flores,? after her husband was badly wounded Wednesday while fighting insurgents near Kandahar, Afghanistan. Sgt. Flores is part of the 10th Mountain Division?s 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team. He has served in the Army for 19 years and turns 38 today...
(Watertown Daily Times)

What an Army Withdrawal Looks Like?PICTURES. The war in Iraq has officially ended for the United States, but the logistical component of the withdrawal will go on until at least March. Here are scenes from the drawdown...
(National Journal)

Army man finds job at Google to be a hit. Last year, Army Maj. Vince Porter spent Christmas reconnecting with his wife and children after returning from his second yearlong deployment to Iraq in three years. This holiday is a little different: The Norfolk native and Maury High School alum is in the midst of a one-year fellowship at Google Inc.'s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif...
(HamptonRoads.com)

The Bracelet: A wartime gift holds the story of a man?s life. Fort Myers resident, Dolores Mistretta,90, displays a bracelet that was given to her to hold in 1942 by a serviceman, William Sexton in Mississippi. During that time the bracelet became stored with her mother's belongings until she died. Mistretta then found it and then forgot about it until recently. She is reuniting it with the owners daughter in Illinois...
(Chicago Sun-Times)

Gay Navy Kiss Condemned By Tea Party Nation. A historic homecoming kiss by a lesbian military couple as the USS Oak Hill docked in Virginia Beach after 80 days at sea has been condemned by The Tea Party Nation, media watchdog RightWingWatch.org reported. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta won the right to be the first to exit the vessel and be greeted by her partner, Petty Officer 3rd Class Citlalic Shell...
(On Top Magazine)

Media Feeding Frenzy on Phony General Story Erupts as Fermijon Marrero Cracks, Admits Lies But Adds More. Fermijon Marrero's pile of lies has come crashing down around him as media outlets from around the New York area have picked up the story after Talk of the Sound reported that the man honored as Grand Marshall of the 2011 Memorial Day Parade was not a Brigadier General in the U.S. Army or Vietnam POW. In fact, Marrero is an outright fraud, discharged from the Army in 1976 as a private after 9 months of service...
(Talk of the sound)

Reporter?s Notebook: Bob Woodruff Returns to Kuwait. The sands and weather in Kuwait have not changed much since the last time I was here.? It was almost nine years ago, in 2003, as the U.S. was preparing to invade Iraq, just over Kuwait?s northern border. But this time, in December 2011, I watched the troops moving in the opposite direction, leaving Iraq instead of going in. The soldiers we met were pouring into Camp Virginia, which is one of the U.S. bases in this country that resembles a wasteland...
(ABC News)

Revolutionary blogger freed in Egypt. A prominent Egyptian blogger freed by an Egyptian judge on Sunday lambasted the military government and said "nothing has changed" since President Hosni Mubarak was ousted from power in February. "It's not the end of the case, that I am out. The real criminals, the generals of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, are still at large and they must be tried," said Alaa Abd El-Fattah, whose case is pending further investigation. "I have been released, but there are thousands that remain in prison."
(CNN)

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Pic of female sailor kissing girlfriend goes viral

Friday, December 23, 2011, 04:16 AM - News Stories

A photo of a female sailor kissing her girlfriend was reposted on President Obama?s Tumblr page yesterday.

The photo has gone viral.?

According to Mashable, "The blog has attracted more than 800 Tumblr ?likes? and reposts in just two hours. The sentiment for the photo has been largely positive with Tumblr users reposting it with messages such as ?It?s about time. Beautiful,? ?Makes me want to cry? and ?Thank you Mr. President.?

Read the entire story here.?

Visit Obama?s Tumblr page here.

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Veterans Affairs launches 152 Facebook pages

Friday, December 23, 2011, 01:01 AM - News Stories U.S. Agency Expands Facebook Presence For Veterans. U.S. armed service members returning from active duty can stay connected to local government health services on Facebook, thanks to a new social media strategy deployed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The federal agency launched 152 individual Facebook pages for each hospital in the VA system...
(AllFacebook)

Where?s Santa? Military trackers stand by to give updates. The military base has been telling anxious children about Santa?s whereabouts every year since 1955. That was the year a Colorado Springs newspaper ad invited kids to call Santa on a hotline, but the number had a mistake, and dozens of kids wound up talking to the Continental Aerospace Defence Command, Norad?s predecessor...
(The Star)

ElBaradei says Twitter account hacked. Presidential hopeful Mohamed ElBaradei said Thursday that his Twitter account was hacked and his posts about the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) were deleted. ElBaradei tweeted Thursday at 10:19 am about the incident, saying, "The truth never dies." He did not specify when his account was allegedly hacked...
(Al-Masry Al-Youm)

US and Taliban in Twitter war. The US military and the Taliban are fighting a war 140 characters at a time on Twitter. US military officials and two Taliban spokesmen are battling for social media supremacy, The Washington Post reports. The International Security Assistance Force began in September, when @isafmedia tweeted "How much longer will terrorists put innocent Afghans in harms way?'' as Taliban forces rained rockets and gunfire on the US embassy in Kabul...
(News.com.au)

U.S. Considers Shutting Down Somalia Terrorist Twitter. The U.S. government is "looking closely" at possible measures to counter a Somalian militant group's Twitter use, sparking debate over fighting terrorism and free speech. According to the New York Times, U.S. officials aren't disclosing possible actions, but is possibly exploring legal options to shut down the Twitter account "HSMPress," which claims to be the press office of Harakat al-Shabab al-Mujahedeen, the Shabab's full name...
(Mobiledia)

Danville historian pens part of Civil War series. A local Civil War historian has had the honor of contributing to a five-volume series on the Civil War. Lawrence McFall wrote an essay entitled ?To Danville: A Government on Wheels,? one of eight essays featured in the book ?Virginia at War 1865.? The book is the final of the series, each volume of which deals with an individual year of the Civil War (1861-1865)...
(GoDanRiver.com)

Bahrain frees blogger on bail, to reinstate workers. Bahrain, under pressure to improve its right record to secure a purchase of U.S. arms, said on Tuesday it freed on bail a Shi'ite female blogger arrested last week and would reinstate state employees suspended following pro-democracy protests...
(Reuters)

Witness Ties Bradley Manning to Wikileaks. Adrian Lamo, 30, told the court Tuesday that Manning confessed to leaking hundreds of thousands of top-secret documents in an encrypted chat under the handle Bradass87.Though defense counsel called them "alleged chats," Lamo said the handle Bradass87 appeared on his Facebook page with his photographs and biographical information...
(Courthouse News Service)

Sarajevans moved by Angelina Jolie war film. Sarajevans among the first filmgoers to see Angelina Jolie's directorial debut, a Bosnian wartime love story, came away deeply moved from a special screening in their city. "The movie is very realistic, moving and hard to watch for someone who was here during the war. I am very emotional," Sabira Sokolovic said...
(NDTV)

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Terrorist Twitter pages should be taken down

Wednesday, December 21, 2011, 04:27 AM - Twitter, News Stories This week, a lot of news sites and blogs are talking about the Twitter accounts of terrorist organizations like that of Somalia's al-Shabab, which I wrote about earlier in the month.? Al-Shabab joined after Kenyan military spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir?made headlines on Twitter for warning Somali civilians of imminent attacks.

Instead of the news sites and blogs talking about the account as if it?s some neat online novelty, the focus is finally on whether the account is a threat.

Uri Friedman over at Foreign Policy?s Passport blog has a good roundup of the online discussion that has been taking place.

In fact, it's recruitment -- not rebranding -- that has the Obama administration worried about al-Shabab's new Twitter presence. When the group first launched the account, Wired noted that "journalists, terrorism researchers, and aid workers make up the lion's share of its early followers, not eager Muslim youth." But the New York Times reports today that officials across the U.S. government are concerned that al-Shabab's account, which now boasts over 5,000 followers, could reach potential recruits in the West with its scathing and sophisticated English-language tweeting. "American officials say they may have the legal authority to demand that Twitter close the Shabab's account," the paper explains (Twitter declined to comment).?

If the government does indeed pursue legal action, the Times notes, it could open up a "debate about over the line between free speech and support for terrorism." And, indeed, the debate is already underway. In what appears to be a response to the Times piece today, al-Shabab tweeted, "With millions of websites & newspapers disseminating their propaganda, the #US couldn't endure to hear the real truth. What a travesty!" (The group also called an earlier Times article on its Twitter account an "elaborate, sentimental piece of writing accentuating the oft-repeated canard that passes for #Journalism these days.")
Me, personally, I?m all for shutting down Al-Shabab?s account.

Like I?ve posted about before, Twitter has been allowing other terrorist organizations like the Taliban to freely post hateful messages in violation of Twitter?s own TOS.?

It is disturbing. See here, here, here and here.

Of course, Twitter?s approach to this whole matter is to do nothing, fully knowing that terrorists are among its users.

The company is swift to take down user accounts for posting duplicate messages or other minor rule violations, but accounts that promote violence are allowed to remain.

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Civil War Diary reveals a poet and other news

Wednesday, December 21, 2011, 01:25 AM - News Stories Diary reveals a poet in Civil War soldier?s uniform. South Harwich, Mass. resident Ebenezer Smalley was 25 when he left his Cape Cod home to serve the Union in 1864. It was the signing bonus that prompted him to join, part of the funds needed to build a home for his wife and child. He didn?t survive. Smalley was sent home to die from wounds the doctors could not heal, seven months after he left. His diary was recently donated to the Harwich Historical Society...
(The Washington Post)

Video of Egyptian Women?s March in Cairo. As my colleague David Kirkpatrick reports, ?Thousands of women marched through downtown Cairo on Tuesday evening to call for the end of military rule in an extraordinary expression of anger over images of soldiers beating, stripping and kicking a female demonstrator on the pavement of Tahrir Square.? Omar Kamel, an activist and blogger, posted this video of the march on YouTube...
(New York Times)

Military Wives have the Xmas Factor. And today the Military Wives choir celebrated their single becoming the fastest-selling song for six years with a live performance in Oxford Street. Crowds gathered outside HMV as 25 members of the 100-strong choir performed carols including Away in a Manger and O Little Town of Bethlehem. They are virtually guaranteed to top the charts for Christmas after selling 242,000 of their track, Wherever You Are, in two days...
(London Evening Standard)

Twitter Denies Yet Another Censorship Accusation. Yesterday, Business Insider contributor David Seaman posted an item titled, "Welcome to the United Police States of America, Sponsored By Twitter." Any headline that can combine Twitter with an appeal to the paranoia of Internet libertarians everywhere is a sure-fire hit, and this one was, too: Business Insider's hit counter suggests that Seaman's post has already garnered over 70,000 views. The thing is that Seaman's post appears to be flat-out wrong. Seaman argues on Business Insider that his stentorian writing and tweeting about the National Defense Authorization Act, a bill that has civil libertarians concerned about several expansions of military authority, led Twitter to suspend his account...
(TechPresident)

Ex-hacker testifies about reporting U.S. Army leaks suspect. The 24-year-old Manning is charged with downloading thousands of classified or confidential files from the military's Secret Internet Protocol Router Network, or SIPRNet. Those files are thought to have later appeared on WikiLeaks, a whistleblower website. Former hacker Adrian Lamo said Manning initially contacted him by email in May 2010 and the two began an online conversation about diplomatic cables and military video the Army private allegedly downloaded from the classified network he used as a member of the 10th Mountain Division in Iraq...
(Reuters)

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Facebook releases military social media guide

Tuesday, December 20, 2011, 04:27 AM - Milblogging/Op Sec Guidelines

Facebook has released its own social media guide for military families. ?The organization Blue Star Families helped to develop the guide in hopes of showing people how best to use Facebook, while navigating operational and personal security issues. ?

A Q&A was posted on the Facebook post announcing the guide's release. Don Paul, a former Marine who is also Facebook's Vice President of Online Operations, answered why he thought it was a good time to release the guide.

"We thought the holiday season was the best time to release the guide since it can be a challenging time for many military families, who may have a family member deployed or are stationed far from home. We hope that the guide gives military families tips and best practices for using Facebook and will help them share the holidays with friends and family no matter where they are located."

The guide is only about?9-pages of information and is divided into six sections called: 6 ways military families can use social media and maintain security.

But it really should be called: 6 ways military families can use Facebook.?

1. Stay in touch with family and friends.
2. Stay informed of DoD, branch and unit policies and relevant information.
3. Learn to maintain Operational Security by knowing what to and what not to communicate.
4. Learn to maintain Personal Security on Facebook through privacy and account settings.
5. Thank your military family and friends and stay up-to-date on Facebook resources.
6. Use Facebook as a professional development resource.

The guide isn?t anything new in terms of understanding op sec guidelines, but it?s useful for Facebook users, especially considering the social networking site has had its own share of privacy issues.

The DoD has been publishing its own guides for years, which can be found at the DoD Social Media Hub.

To download Facebook?s social media guide, go here.

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Twitter war heating up for U.S. military

Tuesday, December 20, 2011, 03:58 AM - Twitter, News Stories

U.S. military, Taliban use Twitter to wage war. U.S. officials have grown increasingly concerned about extremists? stepped-up activity on social media sites, citing cases in which Americans have been recruited online by terrorists overseas. The House Homeland Security subcommittee on counterterrorism and intelligence convened a hearing this month on how jihadists were using social media. ?Terrorist networks are spreading their message, recruiting sympathizers and are connecting operationally online,? subcommittee chairman Patrick Meehan (R-Pa.) said in opening remarks, according to a transcript. Although the Taliban is not the only extremist group on Twitter, it appears to be the only one exchanging regular tweets with the U.S. military...
(The Washington Post)

Palm Bay soldier in top 'Time' photos. The photo represents only a split second of soldier Michael Miller?s deployment to Afghanistan, but it?s one that his family hopes will be a lasting symbol of war?s reality. Miller, a 23-year-old Army specialist from Palm Bay, was patrolling with his infantry brigade near the Pakistan border when bullets pierced the leaves around them. In the ambush?s first minute, a sergeant was shot...
(Floriday Today)

Iranian blogger slams 'spy' confessions. An Iranian blogger on Monday slammed the Iranian intelligence agency for using outdated scare tactics by coercing alleged spies to confess on national TV, without providing any evidence that ties them to the act. The criticism comes a day after Iranian national TV aired a "confession" of an Iranian-American citizen, who admitted to being recruited by the CIA, and worked with the British and Israeli secret service to gather intelligence about Iran...
(Ynetnews)

Social Media and Syria?s Revolution. As thousands of Syrian protesters have poured into the streets to call for the end to autocratic rule, some Syrians have been tasked with a more specific work: to topple the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Using mobile phones and small cameras everyday, a group of Syrians have risked their lives to film crackdowns on protesters by the government?s armed and security forces. The images have been uploaded on websites such as Facebook and YouTube to keep the world informed of events during this difficult time in many parts of the country...
(Rudaw)

Law Enforcement Warns of Rise in "Relative in Distress" Scams. Los Angeles County residents are being warned of an increase in the number of reports by victims of telephone scams where a caller impersonates a family member in distress. According to law enforcement, the scam goes like this: the victim is contacted by an individual claiming to be a relative in some sort of distress...
(WalnutPatch)

Twitter Wins $300 Million Alwaleed Investment. Twitter Inc., the microblogging service with more than 100 million users, received a $300 million investment from Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal as it pushes through a redesign of its site to attract advertisers. ?Alwaleed, who leads the 2011 Arab Rich List, and his investment company agreed to buy a ?strategic stake? in Twitter, Kingdom Holding said today. A strategic holding means more than 3 percent, Ahmed Halawani, a Kingdom Holding director, said in an interview. That would give the San Francisco-based company a valuation exceeding $10 billion...
(Bloomberg)

Popular Kim Jong Il photo blog may continue. Most of us don't know much about Kim Jong Il, the reclusive North Korean leader who died Saturday. But thanks to a cult-favorite blog, we do know this: That country's "Dear Leader" spent countless hours visiting stores, factories and plantations and gazing stoically from behind his trademark sunglasses upon various things -- soldiers, machinery, livestock and lots and lots of food...
(ClickOn Detroit)

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The Facebook Revolutions and other news

Monday, December 19, 2011, 04:04 AM - News Stories In case you missed it, here?s a look at some of the top military and social media stories?over the past few days from around the web.

The Facebook Revolutions: One Year On. Saturday marked the one year anniversary of when a 26-year-old Tunisian fruit and vegetable street vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi fatally lit himself on fire in protest of government oppression, sparking a year of regime-ending revolutions many believe were sustained and nurtured by social media...
(The Daily Caller)

For a soldier's family, Skype and Facebook help during holidays. It should have been a scene ready-made for one of those sappy Hallmark commercials: a military mom based in Afghanistan using Skype to help her kids decorate the Christmas tree in their Ben Avon home. And for a few minutes, the laptop reunion on video chat was pretty picture-perfect, with Lt. Col. Chris Cieslak playfully directing her children where to hang certain ornaments on the tree in the dining room while her husband of 14 years, Jeff, looked on. Then, as family events so often do during the holidays, they quickly unraveled...
(post-gazette)

Military Academies Look to Fill Nation?s Cybersecurity Gaps. The rise of all things cybersecurity has been accompanied by a collective groaning that there is a shortage of personnel skilled enough to protect critical government and military networks. The Defense Department is under constant attack from hackers, and officials said they need to do a better job of recruiting Internet security experts to stop them...
(National Defense Magazine)

Welcome To The United Police States of America, Sponsored By Twitter. Imagine my surprise this morning when, without warning, my shiny new Twitter account (@d_seaman) was suspended and taken offline. No more tweets for you. You now have 0 followers. My crime? Talking too much about Occupy Wall Street...
(Business Insider)

Army Arrested Manning Based on Unconfirmed Chat Logs. The military arrested alleged WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning last year in Iraq based in large part on unconfirmed information that former hacker Adrian Lamo had gleaned from his chats with Manning, according to the government?s first witness in Manning?s hearing...
(Wired)

Defense cites Bradley Manning?s emotional, gender issues at Wikileaks hearing.? A struggle with emotional problems and even his gender may affect the culpability of an Army private accused of leaking thousands of classified military reports and diplomatic cables to Wikileaks, the defense argued at a preliminary hearing here Saturday...
(Politico)

Private Bradley Manning wanted to call himself 'Breanna' on Twitter, US military court is told. In a confrontational second day to the hearing that precedes the 24-year-old's full trial, the court heard for the first time about "Breanna Manning" - the female identity that the young soldier sometimes used while posted as an intelligence officer at an American base in Iraq...
(Telegraph)

Welcome Your Soldier Home on Patch. After nearly a decade, the Iraq war is officially over as of Saturday night. Top U.S. officials have said all military personnel in Iraq will be home by the end of the year. Most will be out by Christmas. Collingswood Patch wants to know about your loved ones who served in Iraq...
(Collingswood Patch)

Video Shows Egyptian Soldiers Beating and Shooting at Protesters. As our colleague David Kirkpatrick reports from Cairo, Egyptian soldiers chased down and beat unarmed civilians on Saturday, even while the prime minister appointed by the military ?was denying in a televised news conference that security forces were using any force.?
(New York Times)

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Army Cpt. builds iPhone app for artillery

Monday, December 19, 2011, 01:57 AM - News Stories This is a neat to story to follow that appeared on Bloomberg earlier this week.

At Camp Blessing in Afghanistan?s Pech Valley, some American soldiers played ?Angry Birds? on their iPhones when off-duty. Jonathan Springer decided to put his device to a different use: building an app to help fight the Taliban.

?I wanted to give something back to soldiers that might help save their lives,? Springer, 32, said in an interview from his base at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

The result is Tactical Nav, an iPhone application the U.S. Army captain built with $30,000 of his savings and a maxed-out credit card a year ago. The $5.99 app uses GPS technology and the iPhone?s camera to chart coordinates and guide artillery fire. It has been downloaded about 8,000 times by U.S., Canadian and Australian soldiers, as well as hunters and hikers, Springer said.

Read the entire story here.

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How do journalists cope with war?

Saturday, December 17, 2011, 06:32 AM - News Stories GUEST COMMENTARY: When war journalists come home. With U.S. military involvement in Iraq ending and troops coming home, news coverage rightfully focuses on the lives of these men and women and their adjustment to noncombat roles. Notable stories document the challenges facing veterans who cope with physical and mental health injuries, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. However, what is typically missing in the analysis of postwar issues are accounts of the print and broadcast journalists who have spent extended time embedded with troops and borne witness to death and destruction while working in harm's way...
(nwitimes)

Sign of the Times. As politicians in Washington declare the war in Iraq officially over, the vast majority of Americans, regardless of their political stance on the eight and a half year conflict, feel a deep sense of gratitude for the hundreds of thousands of men and women who fought there. We live in a noble, patriotic nation that knows how to thank those who volunteer to defend America. The New York Times, on the other hand, is treating this historic day as an occasion to smear our military. From the current front page of its website, which has a sub-headline of "An Unpopular Conflict Comes to an Uncertain End," to the print version's incendiary, inaccurate Dec. 15 front page story, the Times has made clear that it will continue to attack our troops in the name of "journalism."
(The Unknown Soldiers)

Rangers Give New Army Radio, Smartphone First Combat Test. Army Rangers in Afghanistan are now carrying new radios and tactical smartphones that allow them to track each other's position when their teammates are out of sight. Units from the Army's elite 75th Ranger Regiment have deployed to Afghanistan with the AN/PRC-154 Rifleman Radio -- a device developed under the Joint Tactical Radio System program, or JTRS -- that will connect them to the Army's tactical network, according to officials from Joint Program Executive Office JTRS...
(Military.com)

Al Jazeera producer detained, beaten during Egypt clashes. The military advanced, then retreated, but all the while attacking protesters and foreign journalists alike. Evan Hill, an online producer for Al Jazeera, was caught in the chaos, detained and beaten, activists reported on Friday early afternoon. According to fellow Al Jazeera produce Adam Makary, writing on Twitter, said he was ?beaten by military police. His phone, camera and passport confiscated...?
(Bikya Masr)

With Obama Prepared to Sign, Pennsylvania Senators Get ?TwitterBombed? over Defense Bill. President Barack Obama said yesterday he was backpeddling on his months-long threat to veto the National Defense Authorization Act, which, many contend, gives the U.S. military the right to indefinitely detain U.S. citizens as part of the war on terror. As we?ve noted, both Pennsylvania senators Bob Casey and Pat Toomey not only voted in favor of the $662 billion NDAA, but against two amendments which would have removed or edited Sections 1031 and 1032, which include vague language on the detention of terrorism suspects...
(Philadelphia Weekly)

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Soldier's death spreads quickly via Facebook

Friday, December 16, 2011, 03:45 AM - News Stories According to the Orlando Sentinel, Jalfred D. Vaquerano, 20, died December 13th from injuries he suffered during a firefight in Afghanistan.

The story of Vaquerano?s final days was chronicled by his fianc? on Facebook.

The Sentinel writes:

"I'll never be Mrs. Vaquerano," Madden wrote on her Facebook wall, after sitting at his bedside at the Landsthul Regional Medical Center in Germany. "I'll never have a chance to walk down the aisle towards him...I'll never be able to have beautiful green-eyed babies with the love of my life. I'll never be able to grow old with the one person on earth who made me so happy? I've lost everything."

Madden, 20, also of Apopka, chronicled the final days of Vaquerano's life on her Facebook wall after she and his mother flew to Germany upon receiving word Sunday he had been severely wounded in Logar province. He suffered injuries from small arms fire in the mountainous region south of Kabul, an area known for Taliban resistance.

On Tuesday, Madden wrote that Vaquerano had been pronounced brain dead.

"The last words I said to him were 'I can't wait to be your wife,' and his were 'Me either, I love you,'" Madden wrote in a note to friends and family.

Vaquerano was assigned to the 1st Battalion of the 41st Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Armored Division out of Fort Bliss, Texas. Neither Madden, nor members of Vaquerano's family could be reached for comment Wednesday.

News of his death spread quickly through a memorial page on Facebook ? "Pray for Jalfred Vaquerano, US Army" ? that quickly filled with page after page of postings. The network of care included his classmates who had attended Forest Lake Academy, a Seventh-day Adventist boarding school.

More here.

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Army Contracting Command embraces New Media

Friday, December 16, 2011, 02:46 AM - News Stories Army Contracting Command embraces new media. The U.S. Army Contracting Command and several of its subordinate organizations have embraced social media to help tell the ACC story. According to Art Forster, director of the ACC Office of Public and Congressional Affairs, the command began experimenting with social media in 2009. Since then, web and social media have become a vital part of ACC?s public affairs strategy. ?Ten years ago, websites were the latest and greatest in communications tools. Today we?ve shifted our philosophy ? rather than trying to get the public to come to us, we go to them. Statistically, social networking sites are where people spend most of their online time. Utilizing social media, we are able to share our news and information with both our folks and the general public,? Forster said.
(FtLeavenworthLamp.com)

Report: Marine Corps inflated Medal of Honor recipient's story. The Marine Corps promoted an exaggerated and unsubstantiated account of the actions that led to Sgt. Dakota Meyer receiving the Medal of Honor, including details contained in a narrative published the day the award was announced, according to an investigative report published Wednesday. The Corps' narrative of the battle was posted on the Corps' website on Aug. 12 as the White House announced the award. It credits Meyer with saving the lives of 13 U.S. service members and 23 Afghan forces in a fierce firefight on Sept. 8, 2009, in Ganjgal, Afghanistan...
(USA Today)

FBI warns of ?relative in distress? scam. For three Los Angeles-area grandparents who received calls about their loved ones, the voice on the other end of the phone was adamant and fear-inducing. One was told their grandchild was in jail or in a terrible car accident. Callers said they needed money to pay for legal bills or operations. Collectively, the grandparents wired $30,000 to overseas accounts in countries that included Lebanon, Spain, Canada, the Dominican Republic and Peru...
(Los Angeles Times)

Iraq's War Stories. Tracking the war has also occupied American journalism for the past nine years, at extraordinary cost -- both physical and financial. The war has claimed the lives of 145 journalists, including U.S. journalists such as The Atlantic's Michael Kelly, NBC News's David Bloom, and freelancer Steven Vincent. But it was also the sheer cost of protecting reporters and moving about the country that drove many media organizations out of the country: At the peak of the war, for example, the New York Times bureau in Baghdad cost an estimated $3 million a year to maintain and featured 45 armed guards, three armored cars, and a blast wall...
(Foreign Policy)

WikiLeaks Suspect's Trial Near Super-Secure NSA.? The military intelligence complex an hour outside Washington where the WikiLeaks case goes to court this week is known as a cloak-and-dagger sanctum off-limits to the public ? a reputation that's only partly true. Maryland's Fort Meade is, for the most part, an ordinary Army post, its 5,000-acres mostly made up of neat rows of army barracks and homes, a PX, and a golf course...
(NPR)

US urges Egypt to reconsider blogger verdict. The United States on Thursday urged Egypt's interim military rulers to reconsider a military court's verdict to jail a blogger for two years after he criticized the army. "We are very concerned about reports that the military court has again sentenced (Michael Nabil) to prison for criticizing the Egyptian Armed Forces," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters...
(AFP)

Egyptian blogger jailed for two years for insulting army. An Egyptian military court on Wednesday sentenced a blogger to two years in prison for insulting the army.? Maikel Nabil was granted an exceptional retrial after a military court initially gave him a three-year jail sentence in April...
(Monsters and Critics)

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Lackland investigates Facebook casket photo

Thursday, December 15, 2011, 04:26 AM - News Stories According to the Air Force Times, the commander of the 37th Training Group at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, has launched an investigation into a photo of airmen posing with an open casket, that first appeared on Facebook in October.

The photo, which can be seen on MilitaryTimes.com,?was emailed to the Air Force Times on Monday.

For lack of a better word, it is disrespectful to the fallen and their loved ones.

David Larter, a staff writer for the paper, says ?The purpose of the photo, its inscription and its intended audience are not known. It surfaced one month after the public disclosure that the Air Force?s Port Mortuary at Dover Air Force Base, Del., had lost and mishandled the remains of hundreds of fallen troops.?

The investigation could take up to two weeks.

More on the story over at MilitaryTimes.com.

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Chinese government Twitter-like blogs surge

Thursday, December 15, 2011, 03:39 AM - News Stories Govt officials use micro blog for better interaction. Officials joining China's online revolution by starting their own micro blogs has been one of the trends of 2011, and it shows government departments have embraced a form of communication which they previously held in disdain. Political observers said on Tuesday that in bursting into online conversation with citizens, the government has learned to listen and share information much better with the country's 300 million micro bloggers through the Internet. The number of accounts verified as being managed by government officials or departments on Sina Weibo, China's major Twitter-like microblog service, has surged to nearly 20,000, according to a report unveiled on Monday...
(China Daily)

Congress sends birthday tweets to the National Guard.? Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle flooded Twitter with birthday greetings for the National Guard on Tuesday. Many lawmakers offered shout-outs to the men and women from their home state serving in the reserve military force. Vice President Biden personally tweeted: ?Congratulations to @NationalGuard in honor of their 375th birthday today ? thank you for your #service?
(The Hill's Twitter Room)

Hospital CEO warns public about bogus Facebook page. A quick Facebook search will bring up not one, but two Jerry Penners located in Murray, Ky. One is ?Jerry Penner,? the profile of the CEO of Murray-Calloway County Hospital, and the other is ?Col Jerry Penner,? the profile of an unknown impostor.? Penner first noticed the fake profile a few months after he came to Murray...
(Murray Ledger & Times)

Army-Navy Project Ventures Far Beyond Football. Navy beat Army for the 10th straight year last Saturday, 27-21, but CBS?s broadcast will not be the last word on the Midshipmen?s victory. Instead, footage from nine video cameras stationed at FedEx Field will form a major part of a new documentary, ?A Game of Honor? (Showtime, Dec. 21, at 10 p.m.), that explores how the academies? players balance football with military commitments...
(The New York Times)

Home Depot $20,000 winner. The Dilley family of Clearfield is surprised with the news that they've won $20,000 in the Home Depot's Give the Gift of Good Facebook contest honoring military and veterans during a special celebration at the store. Blogger Stacy Risenmay nominated SSgt. Kevin Dilley, who is deployed to Greenland...
(YouTube)

Blue Star Moms Receive Donation After Supermarket Scam.? A group of military moms got a much-needed donation Monday from a supermarket chain. The South Bay Blue Star Moms is a non-profit organization that lost over $3,000 as part of a card-skimming scam at a Bay Area Lucky grocery store. The group was scrambling to come up with money to continue a December care package event when they received a donation from Save Mart, the parent company of Lucky...
(NBC Bay Area)

Egypt urged to release blogger sentenced by military court. Egypt?s military rulers are continuing their patterns of abuse, Amnesty International said today, after a military court confirmed the imprisonment of a prominent blogger upon his military retrial.? Prisoner of conscience Maikel Nabil Sanad had his three year sentence reduced to two years today after a retrial before a military court...
(Amnesty International)

Iraq War Veteran Discusses 'Band Of Brothers' And Other Soldier Stories. As the last American troops come home from Iraq, Paul Rieckhoff, founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, shares his five favorite books on the lives and sacrifices of soldiers -- books that have shaped his life as an Army officer, as the founder of IAVA, and as an American citizen...
(Huffington Post)

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USS Carl Vinson expands social media arsenal

Wednesday, December 14, 2011, 04:39 AM

Via Navy.mil

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SW) Byron C. Linder, USS Carl Vinson Public Affairs

USS Carl Vinson, responding to positive feedback from family members at the conclusion of the Nimitz-class carrier's last combat deployment in June, announced the expansion of its social media footprint Dec. 12.

Families and friends of Vinson and embarked Carrier Air Wing 17 Sailors, have new resources to stay informed during the carrier's current Western Pacific deployment that began Nov. 30.

Podcast interviews with Sailors and blogs posted to Tumblr are augmenting the existing Facebook page and Twitter account, keeping an audience of thousands up to date.

What appears to be nameless Vinson Sailors, blogging under pen names on the ship's Tumblr page (www.cvn70blogspot.tumblr.com) on subjects relating to their lives aboard the ship, are actually Sailors who have routed their blog through the ship's public affairs office where the blog is checked for professionalism and adherence to military order before being posted by public affairs staff.

The first blog, written by "2ndChanceSailor", detailed the challenges of staying Navy and converting to an undermanned rating. It was posted to the site Dec. 7, then consequently linked from Vinson's Facebook page and finally re-purposed through the Vinson Twitter account.

2ndChanceSailor has been pleasantly surprised by the positive reception she's received since her first blog post.

"The response that stuck out to me the most was from a mother who said it was a great message and asked if I could go tell her son because he needs to hear it from someone other than his mom," said 2ndChanceSailor. "I have never blogged on my own or ever had a diary, so this is a first for me."

2ndChanceSailor plans to explore the concerns facing many Sailors being forced to convert into new ratings from her personal experience.

"I felt like a new kid coming out of boot camp again," said 2ndChanceSailor, who converted to the Navy counselor rate after spending more than ten years as a nuclear electrician's mate. "It's a completely different world, and it's challenging to learn something new this late in my career."

2ndChanceSailor also identifies with those whose conversion intersects with another milestone in their careers - chief petty officer exams.

"For some people this is really scary because they're worried they're not as competitive for chief or they're going to get selected and be expected to train junior personnel who have probably worked in the rate longer than they have. It's a little nerve-wracking."

She praised Vinson's social media efforts to reach out to Sailors and their families, emphasizing the importance of reaching a large audience.

"We need to keep up with the times, and this is what people are doing. For our friends and family at home it gives a little peace of mind to see what's going on and we're okay. Not everyone has the time to write home," 2ndChanceSailor said.

Blogger "RadioHead" has been aboard Vinson for one year and welcomed the opportunity to provide a junior Sailor's perspective on day-to-day life to the ship's Facebook fans and Twitter followers.

"They see the photos, all the cool stuff we do, but they don't get an idea of what it's like everyday for a random Sailor. It's a different perspective on how things work," RadioHead said. "You see commercials for joining the Navy, and they're all epic shots of aircraft carriers and hyped-up action, but no one gets an idea from those ads of what it's like to be a Sailor missing your family and the sacrifices we make."

RadioHead would like to see the blogging effort grow aboard Vinson and gain a wider variety of viewpoints.

"There are so many aspects to people's lives on this ship, and there's definitely room for expansion," RadioHead said.

The second new addition to Vinson's social media offerings comes in the form of two-minute podcasts. These audio interviews with Sailors offer an insight into both their personal and professional lives, and are accessible on the ship's Tumblr page and the Vinson ombudsman's website at www.vinsonombudsman.org.

Read? the entire article here.

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Combat smartphones? Soldiers are skeptical

Wednesday, December 14, 2011, 03:37 AM - News Stories Soldiers Skeptical of Smartphones in Combat. Officials want to bring the battle network to ?the tactical edge,? they say, communicating in any environment, on the move and from command locations down to the soldier about to bust through a door in an Afghan village. Network Integration Evaluation exercises held here and at nearby Fort Bliss, Texas, will help determine what equipment to put in the hands of troops and how much information is too much for the individual soldier...?
(National Defense Magazine)

Army blog helps solve communication problems. A blog launched by the army in late November designed to assist communication between enlisted men and their commanding officers through e-mails, text messaging and other channels has helped solve dozens of problems, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said Tuesday. The blog, launched Nov. 28, has been visited 11,000 times and has helped resolve many questions asked by soldiers and their families...
(Taiwan News Online)

Briefs: Enquirer looking for Iraq War stories. With America's role in Iraq coming to an end this month, many veterans will be returning home with stories to tell and experiences to relate about their deployment. If you are an Iraq war veteran or a family member of a veteran, we'd like to hear from you...
(The Enquirer)

US-born Syrian blogger faces criminal charges. Syrian authorities have charged a U.S.-born Syrian blogger with trying to incite sectarian strife, activists said Tuesday, while regime forces fired on a funeral procession in a restive northwestern region, capping a bloody day of attacks that left at least 28 people dead...
(AP)

Egypt blogger's case gets boost in investigation. ?Egyptian authorities on Monday transferred the case of a prominent blogger from state security prosecutors to investigative judges, a move that opens up the possibility of a trial in a civilian criminal court with the right to appeal, his lawyer and family said...
(AJC)

War Horse brought Spielberg to tears. Steven Spielberg had to shoot a cavalry charge. He wanted it to be one of the most spectacular scenes in his new film, War Horse. But he was also directing a family movie, one that must earn no more than a PG-13 rating from the Motion Picture Association of America. And that posed a problem...
(VancouverSun)

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Trying to Skype during sand storms

Tuesday, December 13, 2011, 05:29 AM - News Stories At the top of today?s handpicked "social media" news articles, is the story of military wife Jennifer Willis and the challenges she faces trying to communicate with her husband who is deployed to Afghanistan. There?s even a video segment to go along with the story...

Military Families Battle Communication Barriers. Communicating across continents is never easy, but it just got harder for military wife Jennifer Willis. Her routine weekly Skype conversations with her Army husband have been disconnected for the past three months because of sand storms around his tent in Afghanistan. Willis said she has been limited to phone calls that may or may not be cut off from the storms...
(WVNSTV)

In-person support beats internet. Virtual support is a trend that is growing more and more popular in the military community. When spouses have questions, they no longer have to rely solely on their family readiness group for answers. Now, with Facebook pages and forums dedicated specifically to military spouse support, it?s easy to get instantaneous feedback...
(Coastal Courier)

Families invited to send messages to troops. Local military families with active servicemen and women are invited to record and send a free holiday video greeting to their deployed family members. The Illinois Center for Broadcasting in Lombard is helping Illinois military families record a free professional digital message which will be transmitted via Facebook to their loved ones during the Christmas season, according to state Sen. Chris Lauzen of Aurora...
(Aurora Beacon News)

Milestones of the Iraq War -- PICTURES. As President Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki meet in Washington with the U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq down to its final days, this photo gallery looks at the notable moments of the war...
(National Journal)

Couple's love story was tested by war -- four times. What could be more adventurous than joining the Army and seeing the world? That's how they met and married. And in March 2003, the couple found themselves sitting together in a tent in the Kuwaiti desert just hours before the invasion of Iraq. Raquel would eventually get out of the Army. But Iraq has never stopped shaping their lives. Nathan's most recent deployment -- to turn out the lights at U.S. bases before the withdrawal of American troops -- was his fourth...
(CNN)

South Bay Blue Star Moms hit in Lucky credit scam. Active military service members and homeless veterans are among the victims of a credit card-skimming scam that affected customers at 24 Bay Area Lucky supermarkets. Thieves swiped several thousand dollars from the account of the South Bay Blue Star Moms, a nonprofit that sends care packages overseas to active service members and provides basic supplies to homeless veterans in the South Bay...
(San Francisco Chronicle)

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Marine Impersonator

Tuesday, December 13, 2011, 04:27 AM

This story has already been online for awhile, but OMG, you have to read through the hundreds of comments on MilitaryPhotos.net and This Ain?t Hell.

Why people impersonate our brave men and women in the military will remain one of life?s little mysteries.

Source: MilitaryPhotos.net via This Ain?t Hell

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