oxalate baloney: May 2013

Friday, May 31, 2013

Agricultural fires in western Mexico

Public release date: 31-May-2013
[ | E-mail |

Share ]

Contact: Rob Gutro
robert.j.gutro@nasa.gov
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite detected dozens of fires burning in western Mexico on May 30, 2013. The fires are outlined in red.

The location, widespread nature, and number of fires suggest that these fires were deliberately set to manage land. Farmers often use fire to return nutrients to the soil and to clear the ground of unwanted plants. While fire helps enhance crops and grasses for pasture, the fires also produce smoke that degrades air quality. Although the smoke hits hardest right around the area being burned, a fair amount of it drifts. News outlets in Texas, including NBC affiliate KCBD, report haze over the area and add "the smoke is prevalent from late March through early June. If smoke arrives here, it will likely affect those with respiratory conditions such as asthma."

###
NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team, GSFC. Caption by Lynn Jenner.

[ | E-mail | Share ]
?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Agricultural fires in western Mexico Public release date: 31-May-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Rob Gutro
robert.j.gutro@nasa.gov
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite detected dozens of fires burning in western Mexico on May 30, 2013. The fires are outlined in red.

The location, widespread nature, and number of fires suggest that these fires were deliberately set to manage land. Farmers often use fire to return nutrients to the soil and to clear the ground of unwanted plants. While fire helps enhance crops and grasses for pasture, the fires also produce smoke that degrades air quality. Although the smoke hits hardest right around the area being burned, a fair amount of it drifts. News outlets in Texas, including NBC affiliate KCBD, report haze over the area and add "the smoke is prevalent from late March through early June. If smoke arrives here, it will likely affect those with respiratory conditions such as asthma."

###
NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team, GSFC. Caption by Lynn Jenner.

[ | E-mail | Share ]
?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-05/nsfc-afi053113.php
Cricinfo Geno Smith ny giants brandon marshall ryder cup Kate Middleton Bottomless the Pirate Bay

Zumba instructor gets 10 months for prostitution

ALFRED, Maine (AP) ? A high-profile prostitution scandal featuring sex videos, adultery, exhibitionism and more than 100 clients drew to a close Friday when a Zumba fitness instructor who turned her studio into a brothel was sentenced to 10 months in jail.

Alexis Wright was sentenced under a plea agreement to 20 counts including prostitution, conspiracy, tax evasion and theft by deception.

Justice Nancy Mills extended wishes for success after the sentence was imposed.

"Based on what you have to say and what I know about you from your attorney, I know that you will succeed when you're released and that you will prevail. I wish you success," Mills said.

Wright's attorney said the defendant had a difficult childhood, witnessing domestic violence and suffering sexual abuse, before she met Mark Strong, her eventual business partner. She said Strong used her background to manipulate her.

Addressing the judge through tears, Wright said she felt relief when police raided her business on Feb. 12, 2012, because she wanted out. She said she intends to work when she's released to help other women in similar situations.

"In my eyes I'm free. I free from this. And I have an incredible amount of strength that I knew was in me somewhere. Now that I have the strength I want to encourage others to come forward. I want them to know that there's at least one person out there who'll believe their story, no matter how crazy it seems," she told the judge.

"It's my intention to stand up for what is right. When I'm out, I'm going to pursue helping people fight through situations that are similar to mine. I'm optimistic that something good will come out of this."

Afterward, she was led from court to begin serving her sentence.

The 30-year-old Wright was accused of conspiring with an insurance business owner to run a prostitution business in which she videotaped clients without their knowledge and kept detailed records over an 18-month period indicating she made $150,000 tax-free. She also collected more than $40,000 in public assistance.

The scandal in the seaside town of Kennebunk, known for its sea captain's mansions, beaches and New England charm, became a sensation following reports that Wright had at least 150 clients, some of them prominent. So far, those who have been charged include a former mayor, a high school hockey coach, a minister, a lawyer and a firefighter.

Wright was originally charged with 106 counts. All the counts in the plea agreement were misdemeanors, including three counts relating to welfare and tax fraud that were reduced from felonies.

Under the agreement, prosecutors will seek restitution of $57,280.54. Prosecutors say Wright cooperated with prosecutors and spared the state an expensive trial.

Her business partner, Strong, 57, of Thomaston, was convicted of 13 counts related to promotion of prostitution and was sentenced to 20 days in jail. The married father of two, who has acknowledged having an affair with Wright, was originally charged with 59 counts.

It came as little surprise that Wright opted to avoid standing trial by pleading guilty because evidence against her was overwhelming in Strong's trial, with jurors watching a video of her engaging in sex with a client who left $250, which she pocketed.

Prosecutors say paid sex happened in her studio, apartment and an office, where tenants complained about moaning and groaning.

Electronic evidence was plentiful because the two kept in touch via text, email and Skype, which Wright used to send a live video stream of sex acts to Strong. Videos also showed them speaking openly of ledgers, payments and scheduling.

Evidence unsealed after the trial indicated electronic exchanges in which Wright talked about the business goals: nine clients a week, 45 clients a month. They also openly discussed scheduling, insurance payments, her sexy outfits and clients' preferences. She even appeared to seek advice from Strong after encountering an unhappy client.

Business was running smoothly before it came to an abrupt end.

"I feel like this is going to be a good week," Wright wrote to Strong two days before the arrival of detectives with search warrants on Feb. 14, 2012.

___

Follow David Sharp at http://twitter.com/David_Sharp_AP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/zumba-instructor-gets-10-months-prostitution-134347427.html

derrick rose injury st louis news correspondents dinner i am legend san antonio spurs greta van susteren tony parker

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Adam Levine Dating Model Nina Agdal!

Nina Agdal and Adam Levine together Singer and coach on “The Voice” Adam Levine has landed himself another supermodel. Levine is dating 21-year-old Danish model Nina Agdal, after splitting with Victoria’s Secret model Behati Prinsloo last year. Adam Levine, 34, has reportedly been dating Nina Agdal since early Spring following his split with Namibian model Behati Prinsloo. A source revealed, “Behati ...

Adam Levine Dating Model Nina Agdal! Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/05/adam-levine-dating-model-nina-agdal/

JJ Abrams New Orleans Pelicans chris brown hillary clinton apple stock Pro Bowl 2013 Kick Ass Torrents

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

'Fifty Shades of Grey': Will 'Anna Karenina' director Joe Wright take on the movie adaptation?

Multiple media outlets have cited 'insider' sources who say that Joe Wright is currently in the lead for the 'Fifty Shades of Grey' directing job.

By Molly Driscoll,?Staff Writer / May 13, 2013

Director Joe Wright is reportedly the frontrunner for the coveted job of directing the movie adaptation of 'Fifty Shades of Grey.'

Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

Enlarge

Will Joe Wright, the director behind the movies ?Anna Karenina? and ?Pride and Prejudice,? helm the Hollywood adaptation of ?Fifty Shades of Grey??

Skip to next paragraph

Saturday, May 4, 2013

In Middle East, public rejects arming Syrian rebels: poll

Citizens of many Middle East countries remain opposed to providing military assistance to the Syrian opposition for its fight against President Bashar al-Assad's regime, despite substantial fears that the violence will spill into their own countries, according to a poll released this week by the Pew Research Center.

The Pew results are based on a survey of 11,771 people between March 3 and April 7 from 12 countries: Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Tunisia, Germany, France, Britain, the US, and Russia.

Ninety-five percent of Lebanese said they were concerned that violence would spread west into their country, with 68 percent of them saying they were "very concerned" and 27 percent saying they were "somewhat concerned." Eighty percent of Jordanians, who live to Syria's south, and 62 percent of Turks, who are on Syria's northern flank, expressed worry.

RECOMMENDED: Sunni and Shiite Islam: Do you know the difference? Take our quiz.

All three countries share substantial borders with Syria, and have taken on huge numbers of Syrian refugees: according to the United Nations refugee agency, there are more than 450,000 Syrians in Lebanon, slightly fewer than that in Jordan, and more than 320,000 in Turkey. Firing across the Syrian-Lebanese border is no longer an unusual occurrence, as The Christian Science Monitor has reported.

And in Israel, which appreciated the decades-long cold war reached between the two after fighting multiple wars, 78 percent of those polled said spreading instability was a problem.

But countries farther afield share the unease of those whose borders are now inundated with desperate Syrians. Eighty-nine percent of Tunisians and 77 percent of Egyptians told Pew that they were worried about violence destabilizing the region, already in upheaval because of revolutions throughout the Arab world.

Public opinion is unquestionably not in favor of the US and European countries arming the Syrian opposition, however, with the exception of Jordan, where a slight majority (53 percent) support doing so. Reticence is strongest in Lebanon, where arms are almost certainly flowing already across the border as both rebels and Assad-allied Hezbollah fighters move back and forth and citizens are braced for tensions to explode into open conflict.

Eighty percent of Lebanese oppose Western arming of the rebels, and even among Sunnis, who are generally sympathetic to the predominantly Sunni opposition, a solid majority of 66 percent oppose the West sending military aid. Unsurprisingly, almost all (98 percent) Lebanese Shiites oppose sending arms; the regime's base is predominantly Alawite, a Shiite sect.

The picture changes slightly when such aid is coming from other Arab countries, but only Lebanese Sunnis join Jordan in supporting the idea ? 65 percent of Jordanians favor sending arms and other military supplies, while 63 percent of Lebanese Sunnis do (to show how starkly divided Lebanon is over the Syrian war, hold that up against the 97 percent of Lebanese Shiites who oppose Arab countries sending military aid).

The results should be examined with the caveat that the poll was conducted in March, before evidence surfaced that the Assad regime had used chemical weapons.

Demands from US politicians for stronger action against Assad have mounted since that revelation, and American public support has followed suit, growing from 25 percent to 45 percent ? but falling short of a majority. The Russian government's stance is also out of sync with public opinion. Only 27 percent of Russians support their government's consistent backing of Assad (although 52 percent of those who don't support it have no opinion).

Should the Syrian civil war bring down Assad, he may have trouble finding a place in the region to rest his head ? "he was not liked in 2012 and he is not liked today," Pew notes in the poll results. Lebanese Shiites are the only group with a favorable opinion of Assad. Even a solid majority (63 percent) of Lebanese Christians, whose co-religionists in Syria were well protected under the Assad regime and may be endangered by the rise in extremist Sunni groups among the Syrian opposition, do not support him.