The Scienceblogging Weekly (July 21th, 2012)

Blog of the Week:

Life is short, but snakes are long is written by Andrew Durso who is a PhD student at Utah State University, where he studies the behavior, physiology, and ecology of toad-eating snakes. So, everything on his blog is about snakes. And every post on his blog has something about snakes that you have not known before.

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Top 10:

Global Warming?s Terrifying New Math by Bill McKibben:

If the pictures of those towering wildfires in Colorado haven?t convinced you, or the size of your AC bill this summer, here are some hard numbers about climate change: June broke or tied 3,215 high-temperature records across the United States. That followed the warmest May on record for the Northern Hemisphere the 327th consecutive month in which the temperature of the entire globe exceeded the 20th-century average, the odds of which occurring by simple chance were 3.7 x 10-99, a number considerably larger than the number of stars in the universe?

The Mystery of the Missing Chromosome (With A Special Guest Appearance from Facebook Creationists) by Carl Zimmer:

There s something fascinating about our chromosomes. We have 23 pairs. Chimpanzees and gorillas, our closest living relatives, have 24. If you come to these facts cold, you might think this represented an existential crisis for evolutionary biologists. If we do indeed descend from a common ancestor with great apes, then our ancestors must have lost a pair after our lineage branched off, some six million years ago. How on Earth could we just give up an entire chromosome?.

Are Warnings About the Side Effects of Drugs Making Us Sick? by Steve Silberman

Your doctor doesn t like what s going on with your blood pressure. You ve been taking medication for it, but he wants to put you on a new drug, and you re fine with that. Then he leans in close and says in his most reassuring, man-to-man voice, I should tell you that a small number of my patients have experienced some minor sexual dysfunction on this drug. It s nothing to be ashamed of, and the good news is that this side effect is totally reversible. If you have any issues in the bedroom, don t hesitate to call, and we ll switch you to another type of drug called an ACE inhibitor. OK, you say, you ll keep that in mind?..

Battling antivaccinationists at FreedomFest by Orac:

Like so many other skeptics, I just returned from TAM, which, despite all the conflict and drama surrounding it this year, actually turned out to be a highly enjoyable experience for myself and most people I talked to. As I ve been doing the last few years, I joined up with Steve Novella and other proponents of science-based medicine to do a workshop about how difficult it is to find decent health information on the Internet, and how the University of Google all too frequently puts quackery on the same level as reliable sources of medical information because all that matters for most search engines when it comes to ranking search results is the number and kinds of sites that link to a given site?..

Epic fraud: How to succeed in science (without doing any) by John Timmer:

Running scientific experiments is, frankly, a pain in the ass. Sure, it?s incredibly satisfying when days or weeks of hard work produce a clean-looking result that?s easy to interpret. But often as not, experiments simply fail for no obvious reason. Even when they work, the results often leave you scratching your head, wondering ?what in the world is that supposed to tell me?? The simplest solution to these problems is obvious: don?t do experiments?.

One Molecule for Love, Morality, and Prosperity? by Ed Yong:

Imagine a molecule that underlies the virtues that glue societies together. Imagine that it brought out the better angels of our nature with just a sniff and could rebond our troubled world. Imagine that it was the source of love and prosperity and explained what makes us good and evil. Well, carry on imagining. This is a story about oxytocin, and oxytocin is not that molecule?.

How We Changed Penguins Just by Watching by Elizabeth Preston:

If a penguin falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, I don?t know what kind of forest that is but everyone who?s interested in penguins is probably hanging out a lot closer to the South Pole. The charismatic birds let scientists and tourists alike get a close look without too much trouble. And all that familiarity has the potential to change penguins, and other closely watched animals, for good?.

What Would Happen If a Lion Fought a Tiger? by Natalie Wolchover:

This ultimate cat fight has happened more times than you might expect. The Romans pitted African lions against Asian tigers in the Coliseum, to the rip-roaring pleasure of the Plebeians. A few fights were also staged in the early decades of the 20th century, and on several modern occasions, accidental cross-species encounters at zoos have quickly developed into gruesome scenes guaranteed to scar any nearby schoolchildren for life. But how do these lion versus tiger showdowns go down??

In Search of Grote Reber by Matthew Francis:

Unlike most sites where the business of cosmology is done, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory known colloquially as Fermilab isn t in a remote spot. The facility is in Batavia, Illinois, part of the sprawling metroplex of Chicago, and it s just a short drive from two major tollways. The Standard Model describes a plethora of particles, but it has nothing on the number of fast-food joints and auto shops within ten minutes drive of the Fermilab gates. My friend hosting me during my stay in Illinois wasn t even aware of the lab s location, despite having friends living close by the area around it is that dense?

Dancing in digital immortality: The evolution of Merce Cunningham?s ?Loops? by Ashley Taylor:

The modern dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham died in 2009, and his company gave its final performance at the end of last year. Many of his dances will live on in the memories of former company members who go on to restage them. But there s one solo, Loops, that Cunningham never taught to another dancer. This piece lives on through a different medium: digital motion capture?

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Special topic: Science of Superheros

Batman and Gotham: A Deeply Dysfunctional Love Story by Adam Rogers

The horrifying physiological and psychological consequences of being Aquaman by Southern Fried Scientist

Dear Science, leave Aquaman alone! by AmasianV

Why Aquaman is the best damn superhero in comic history by Cyriaque Lamar

Physics Shows Batman s Cape Is Suicide Machine by Liat Clark

The Fall and Rise of the Dark Knight-the Difficulties of Batman s Life While He Exists by E. Paul Zehr

Science sways superheroes by Alan Boyle

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Best Images:

The Goddamned Particle by Perrin Ireland

Your Skeleton on the Internet by Daniel Lende

Animals With Misleading Names by Rosemary Mosco

The Bizarre, Breathtaking Science Photos of Fritz Goro by Tanya Lewis

American World War II Plague Posters by Michelle Ziegler

Beautiful biodiversity illustrations by Becca Stadtlander

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Best Videos:

Friday Science Cinema by Justine E. Hausheer

When astronomers get video cameras by Niall

NSF Rhode Island Video Boot Camp participant Dr. Sunshine Menezes delivers her message. by NSFMessengers

Tagging Giants: Studying Whale Sharks in Cendrawasih Bay by Mark Erdmann

Variety is the Spice of Lice by TheFieldMuseum

Five Men Agree To Stand Directly Under An Exploding Nuclear Bomb by Robert Krulwich

Chuck Norris, tapeworms, and the future of science: video of my keynote talk by Carl Zimmer

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Science:

Patients, Prisoners, and Mass Shootings A Timeline by David Dobbs

Gorilla Youngsters Seen Dismantling Poachers? Traps A First by Ker Than

Life on the Leg of a Crab by Craig McClain

Can you Shoot an Arrow Backwards into Space? by David Dilworth

How to ?downplay the achievements of science? by Eoin Lettice

Why Facial Disfigurements Creep Us Out by Joseph Bennington-Castro

Wisconsin s Sand Rush by Kate Prengaman

A Way to Trap Carbon Deep in the Ocean and City Officials Declare War on Lawn Gardens by Rachel Nuwer

From Living Room to Lily Pad: Is the Fatal Amphibian Chytrid Fungus Spread via Pet Frogs? by Sarah Fecht

Just good friends? Attraction to opposite-sex friends is common but burdensome by Christian Jarrett

Just My Luck (or is it?) by David Nussbaum

The Bra Is 500 Years Older Than We Thought and 400 Years Worth of Water Discovered in Sub-Saharan Namibia by Colin Schultz

Learning from the Tubeworm by Michelle Nijhuis

The Real Life of Pi by Noby Leong

How would you like to sleep with the fishes? by aranyak

Get Over It : Climate Change Is Happening by Eric Roston

Recycling the Seasons by Erin Gettler

Fusing chromosomes by John Hawks

No sweet outcome for PhD worker bees by Elizabeth Gibney

Q&A With Mariette DiChristina: Born a Scientist by Jeanne Garbarino

Lion?s Mane Jellyfish Image: This Is (Literally) How Things Blow Up On The Internet! by Anthony Wing Kosner

The Endless Summer by Mark Bittman

Performance enhancement: Superhuman athletes by Helen Thompson

Discovery of God particle has UNC roots by Samuel Mason

Just the facts ain?t enough, ma?am by Wilson da Silva

Artificial Volcanoes Aren t the Solution to Warming by Erik Klemetti

Dolphins May Be Math Geniuses by Jennifer Viegas

New Science Emboldens Long Shot Bid for Dolphin, Whale Rights by Brandon Keim

What it?s Like to Witness a Grunion Run by Jason Goldman

Everything Is a Remix: The Sound of Horses Racing on TV Is Actually a Sample of Buffaloes Charging and Exploding Chocolate, Poisoned Scuba Suits, and the Bulgarian Umbrella: A Survey of Strange Assassination Tech by Alexis Madrigal

Secrets of the clam tongue: a case study in opportunistic science outreach and New nightmare fuel: the giant scaleworm Eulagisca by Miriam Goldstein

Pardon me is this stool taken? by Bug Girl

10 species named after famous people by Bethan Jinkinson

Pancakes, served with a side of science by Aatish Bhatia

One fish, two fish and 400,000 zebrafish by Kathleen Raven

The Dirty Dozen: A wish list for psychology and cognitive neuroscience by Chris Chambers

Brain Scanning? Or Vein Scanning? by Neuroskeptic

What was the oldest Olympic sport? by Greg Laden

Dr Hornstein hasn t gone the way of the dinosaur by Lucy Hornstein

Science Metaphors (cont.): Sub-Grid Physics by Ann Finkbeiner

Will we ever run the 100 metres in 9 seconds? by Ed Yong

Dinosaur Aunts, Bacterial Stowaways, & Insect Milk by Katie Hinde

Geneticists Evolve Fruit Flies With the Ability to Count by Liat Clark

Scientists take a bird s eye view to prevent bird-aircraft collisions by Allie Wilkinson

Technique gets clear images from light reflected off blank paper by Matthew Francis

Vitamin D gets frequent testing, but the results are a bit quizzical by Jessica M. Morrison

How Placebo?s Evil Twin Makes You Sicker by Elizabeth Preston

Gal pagos Monday: When Conservation Means Killing by Virginia Hughes

Canopy Meg wants you to care about the rainforest by Samantha Larson

Person With Autism Manages To Do Something by Zoe

Using zombies to teach science by Tara C. Smith

Ecomorphs Converge On Suites Of Correlated Traits by Yoel Stuart

Is Society Becoming Over-Medicalized? Interview with Executive Editor of Reuters Health, Dr. Ivan Oransky by Shiv Gaglani

How land-inefficient is organic agriculture? by Mark Lynas

Record Heat Wave Pushes U.S. Belief in Climate Change to 70% by Mark Drajem

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Media, Publishing, Technology and Society:

That plan to archive every tweet in the Library of Congress? Definitely still happening by Andrew Phelps

More on the Library of Congress and Twitter by Dave Winer (also see my Science Blogs definition, and a history)

v1 by Rethink Digg

Example Visualizations using the PLoS Search and ALM APIs and More fun with Visualizations by Martin Fenner

ScienceWriters2012: The NC Scouting Report by Rosalind Reid

Could the iPad save magazines? by Molly Mirhashem

The techies in journalism are not the problem by Anna Tarkov

Readership of papers vs. blog posts by Jeremy Fox

Why Flip The Classroom When We Can Make It Do Cartwheels? by Cathy N. Davidson

Higgs this, boson that by Richard Panek

Beginner Blogging The Prequel by Renee Dobbs

Power to the People (When it Comes to Funding Research) by Aur lie Coulon

Curation techniques, types and tips by Steve Buttry

No Internet For One Year: Tech Writer Tries Life Offline by Joanna Stern

Why Dave Winer Invented the Blog and How blogging came to be by Dave Winer

Introducing #smarttakes: pop-up aggregation from the Guardian by Ruth Spencer

False Balance in Some Coverage of Carolina Sea-Level Controversy by Sara Peach

Brought to book: Academic journals face a radical shake-up by The Economist

All s Not Fair in Science and Publishing by Frederick Southwick

Let journalists do their jobs by David Wescott

How Academics Face the World: A Study of 5829 Homepage Pictures by Owen Churches, Rebecca Callahan, Dana Michalski, Nicola Brewer, Emma Turner, Hannah Amy Diane Keage, Nicole Annette Thomas and Mike Elmo Richard Nicholls

MIT Economist: Here?s How Copyright Laws Impoverish Wikipedia by Robinson Meyer

Why future of journalism confabs fail by Alan D. Mutter

Why paywall journalism is changing how journalists write by Tim Burrowes

ProPublica gets $1.9 million from Knight to expand its efforts in data journalism by Adrienne LaFrance

The trouble with content by Jeff Jarvis

The Scholar?s Frenemy by PHLane

Dealing with Edits and Comments by hurleybirds

Don?t Have Time to Tweet-bollocks! Twitter can even save you time as a scientist. by Scott Wagers

Communicating science in the age of the internet by Deevy Bishop

Laptops in Lecture? by Rhett Allain

What was the first science blog? by Paul Raeburn

Scientific particles collide with social media to benefit of all by Marie Boran

On science blogs this week: Scandal by Tabitha M. Powledge

Standing on the Shoulders of Bloggers: Carnival frustration searing my soul. by Thony Christie

The Rise of Open Science by Roger C mara

The Web Is Not the Internet (You?re Probably Getting That Wrong) by Abraham_Riesman

Delete the Save Button by Farhad Manjoo

How Reddit Became the Internet?s Vigilante Voltron by Wylie Overstreet

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Blogs of the Week so far:

May 11, 2012: Academic Panhandling
May 18, 2012: Anole Annals
May 25th, 2012: Better Posters
June 1st, 2012: Vintage Space
June 8th, 2012: Tanya Khovanova s Math Blog
June 15th, 2012: Russlings
June 22nd, 2012: Parasite of the Day
June 29th, 2012: March of the Fossil Penguins
July 6th, 2012: Musings of a Dinosaur
July 13th, 2012: Contagions

Follow Scientific American on Twitter @SciAm and @SciamBlogs. Visit ScientificAmerican.com for the latest in science, health and technology news.
? 2012 ScientificAmerican.com. All rights reserved.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/scienceblogging-weekly-july-21th-2012-184300787.html

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Hotel Finance Being Aware Of What A Commercial Mortgage Is About

Hotel Finance

Desperate times will demand desperate measures and a lot of the time, when we are in financial trouble; we need innovative alternatives in order to make sure that almost everything will go smoothly. Among the numerous ways that you can get money for investments plus your business plans is by a loan; a commercial mortgage is a funding set up that you can get through your bank or using any other financial institution.

Fast idea-? A fantastic approach to get far more SBA Business Loan data is to go to an on the internet video website.? Video web sites are web sites that permit world wide web users to create, distribute, and display their videos on a number of ideas.

Here are 2 video sites to take a crack at: crunchyroll.com ? mojoflix.com

If you are an involved world wide web user, there is often a great opportunity you?ve heard of these websites just before. Despite the recognition of this website, you?ll find a lot of individuals who are still not aware that great details may be identified on these internet sites.? If that you are considered one of those men and women, go to one among the video internet websites above and look it over for yourself. Or else, you could be losing out on some great info.

Now, let?s examine numerous helpful tips.

This set up is a debt base arrangement and basically, this is where you will be able to make a loan in order to expand your business ventures, fund expenditures and even take advantage of other business opportunities which were previously unreachable to you as the owner because of the lack of funds. The commercial loan will basically help you by boosting your capital and allowing you to earn more.

A commercial mortgage loan is very useful specifically for small business owners who are not in a position to avail of debt along with equity markets, monetary problems may arise and the lack of cash may be a hurdle for most of them but an industrial loan will definitely have the ability to give them a great monetary option.

Relying on various other financial options as well as institutions in order to meet the requirements, a lot of small business owners would want to avail of a commercial mortgage especially whenever they will see new chances or when the need suddenly comes, a commercial mortgage however is often utilized for expansion functions and seldom to assist them in maintaining operations.

Effective idea-? For more USDA Commercial Loans facts try Podcasts.? Podcasts are comparable to net radio shows. A podcast is audio content material that may be down loaded as an MP3.? It is possible to them listen to the Podcast on your iPod.

Where can you discover Podcasts?? That?s straightforward, basically visit 1 of these directories: Odeo.com and VitalPodcasts.com

On-going podcasts will supply you the alternative to register to the podcast. As a subscriber you get notified whenever there is really a new Podcast. You?ll be able to then download the content material onto your iPod and listen away from home.

This type of economic option is very similar to the credit loan, you can use various types of commercial mortgage loan products and you can also take advantage of various terms that may suit your needs properly.

You will find varying terms and conditions and different financial institutions might offer you different merchandise as well, this is why you might make sure that you do your research very first before you avail of a loan product from one traditional bank or another so that you can be sure you get only the finest terms.

There are actually various kinds of commercial loans including the Acquisition Loans, Development Loans and also the Bridge loans, each one of these have different terms and they can be used for various purposes as well. These kinds of commercial loan, for as long as they are utilized properly and for after they are utilized at the perfect time and circumstance they will in fact benefit small business owners a whole lot.

There are also instances when an advert property will be desirable to a financial institutions, it?s also possible that a favorable time period for the payment can be received based on what kind of commercial residence you own. There will be financial studies conducted before the authorization and you can expect a close inspection to be done.

Here is a quick resource for you to take a look at:? sba-small-business-loans.com

Source: http://classacthomestagingandredesign.com/2012/07/22/hotel-finance-being-aware-of-what-a-commercial-mortgage-is-about/

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Home Improvements and Family Photos

Marc and I were both scheduled to be out and about for a significant portion of this past week but, in God?s Providence, we were blessed with a bit of a break in that (for various reasons) the majority of our commitments were either cancelled or re-scheduled. So, we got to relax and enjoy some time at home as a family?a true blessing. My family has been asking for some updated photos of the children (though photos are not usually our strong point), but here?s what we ended up with:

We often tell Jubilee (age 3) that she has BEAUTIFUL hair, and sometimes we call it ?scary hair? because it?s short in front and curly/bushy in back?looks especially interesting upon waking in the morning and after nap. So when a few of the children were visiting Auntie Jane one afternoon this week, here?s how Jubilee came home:

We are also praising God for some home improvements that we?ve been able to get done in the past week, the least of which is concreting in our clothesline (which was getting lower and lower as the post sagged under the weight of the clothes), AND we added a third line, which helps us better accommodate our day?s wash:

Also laundry-related, we had an outdoor wash table constructed, which allows us to do laundry in an upright position instead of squatting over the basin. AND, we FINALLY received our shipping crate a couple of weeks ago, which included a vintage wringer?mounted at the end of the wash table. I LOVE THIS, as now in rainy season, many days the sun has not been out long enough to completely dry the clothes (especially the cloth diapers and jeans). With the wringer, almost everything has been dry every day this week!

We also finally got our well developed (after a long wait and many various headaches), and after a few days of labor by Isaiah and his Dad, THIS is the much-anticipated result:

Indoor running water has got to be the biggest blessing!! Makes us feel so?American.

And last but not least, after months of having (literally!) NO counter space or drawers for storage, my kitchen now includes this:

You can see our Berkey water filter also arrived in the crate (YEAH!! Clean water without boiling or bleaching!!). Note the brownish color of the water from the well in the top (the water is still clearing up)?but perfectly clean coming out of the tap. Love it!

So, that?s what?s been happening on the home front?and lots happening recently on the ministry front as well. God is good!

Source: http://valuesdrivenfamily.com/home-improvements-and-family-photos/

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George W. Bush skipping Republican convention

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/george-w-bush-skipping-republican-convention-211720949.html

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Guest Book Review: FATED (BOOK ONE of The Soul Seekers) by ...

July 16, 2012 at 11:26 pm | Posted in Mysteries, Paranormal thriller, Teen fiction, Young Adult fiction, Young Adult, Macmillian Children's Books, Thriller, Family drama | Leave a comment
Tags: book reviews, Mysteries, Teen fiction, Young Adult fiction, The Children's and Teens Book Connection, young adult novels, Macmillian Children's Books, Fated, Alyson Noel, The Soul Seekers, Native American mysticism, paranormal thrillers, family drama, romance

Genre: Young Adult
Reading level: Ages 12 and up
Paperback: 440 pages
Publisher: Macmillan Children?s Books
ISBN-13: 97-1-4472-0680-4
Rating: 4.5 stars

Life changes for Daire?Santos at age seventeen. In fact, things get so weird that her mother, Jennika, a film make-up artist, sends Daire?to her grandmother in a little town called Enchantment, New Mexico. For a rebellious teen like Daire, this dusty backwater is anything but enchanting. She is also scared of what?s been happening to her: animals follow her; crows mock her; the atmosphere turns hazy and glowing people appear from out the blue. Daire?wonders if she is actually having the nervous breakdown her mother thinks she is. Once in Enchantment, her grandmother starts piecing together the puzzle that Daire?s life has become. She is not going nuts. Daire?has a role in life that ultimately she?s not too keen on accepting. Her father was a gifted Soul Seeker, as is Daire. His death points to the ominous force looming, one that Daire needs to battle. To do this, she has to learn her craft as a mystical Soul Seeker, one who can navigate between the Upperworld, Middleworld, and the dark Underworld. Daire must also connect with her Shaman bloodlines?and her animal guide to harness the kind of magickal powers she?ll need. Added to this, Daire meets Dace, the boy she has dreamed about. He is a handsome, pure young man, with similar powers. Alas, his twin, Cade is the exact opposite, and represents evil incarnate. The fight for control of Enchantment begins?
In a novel twist, this book introduces Native American traditions, mythology, and legends to the YA market. This makes for an intriguing story as the reader learns with heroine Daire. Admittedly, Daire?starts out a little whiney, but that?s understandable with so many seemingly crazy things happening to her. Daire?also loses control when nightmarish visions plague her, and that?s not good for the people around her. Daire?s grandmother is a fount of wisdom and it?s a unique way for the author to weave in the kind of traditions and history that give this book its unusual slant. Fated is filled with a rich mythology in the soul visions, the spiritual quest, and the animal guides that all have meaning for Daire. This book does focus on spiritual growth in a fascinating way, and makes a nice change from the usual menu of vampires/werewolves and other undead elements in the YA market. Daire learns about love, trust, faith and hope; all the things that have eluded her up until now. Teens keen on an interesting read will love this book. Fated is Book One in the Soul Seekers series. Look out for Book Two: Echo later in 2012.

(First reviewed for Jozikids)

No monetary compensation was received for this review.

Reviewer?s bio: Fiona Ingram is an award-winning middle grade author who is passionate about getting kids interested in reading. Find out more about Fiona and her books on www.FionaIngram.com. She reviews books for the Jozikids Blog.

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Source: http://childrensandteensbookconnection.wordpress.com/2012/07/16/guest-book-review-fated-book-one-of-the-soul-seekers-by-alyson-noel/

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UN investigates Syria massacre site

By msnbc.com news services

U.N. observers investigated the latest reported massacre in Syria, entering a village Saturday where activists say regime forces killed dozens of people the past week.

The investigation came along with two other key developments in the reported mass slaying by regime forces, who activists say have killed more than 17,000 people since the uprising against killings by President Bashar Assad?s rule began in March 2011:

• Turkey's prime minister blasted Damascus' leadership, warning that the Syrian people will "make them pay" for such mass killings.
• The International Committee of the Red Cross now views fighting in Syria as an internal armed conflict ? a civil war in layman's terms ? crossing a threshold experts say can help lay the ground for future prosecutions for war crimes.

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On Saturday, an 11-vehicle team of observers went into the central village of Tremseh after receiving confirmation a cease-fire was in place,?said spokesman for the U.N. mission in Syria Ahmad Fawzi. It was the first outside look into the village where activists say at least 150 people were killed by government troops who shelled the town before moving in alongside pro-regime militiamen.

"We have sent a large integrated patrol today to seek verification of the facts," Fawzi said.

Details of the killings remain unclear. The Syrian government says 50 people were killed in Tremseh Thursday when its forces clashed with "armed gangs" terrorizing village residents. The regime refers to its opponents as terrorists and gangsters. On Friday, the United Nations blamed government forces for the Tremseh assault, saying U.N. observers deployed near the village saw government troops using heavy weaponry and attack helicopters against it.

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World leaders have heaped criticism on Assad's regime over the Tremseh incident.

A suicide bomber blew up his car in the closest main town to Tremseh on Saturday, killing three civilians and one security officer, Syria's state news agency said.

SANA said the attacker, who camouflaged the bomb with onions, detonated the explosives in the town of Muhrada.

Warning from Turkey
The prime minister of Turkey ? once an ally of Assad before turning against him early on in the uprising over the regime's bloody crackdown, blasted Syria's leadership on Saturday over the Tremseh killings.

"These vicious massacres, these attempts at genocide, these inhuman savageries are nothing but the footsteps of a regime that is on its way out," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. "Sooner or later, these tyrants with blood on their hands will go and the people of Syria will in the end make them pay."

Donatella Rovera of Amnesty International discusses reports of bloodshed on a major scale in the central part of Syria.

Red Cross declaration
The Red Cross, guardian of the Geneva Conventions setting down the rules of war, previously classed the violence in Syria as localized civil wars between government forces and armed opposition groups in three flashpoints ? Homs, Hama and Idlib. But hostilities have spread to other areas, leading the Swiss-based agency to conclude the fighting meets its threshold for an internal armed conflict and to inform the warring parties of its analysis and their obligations under law.

"There is a non-international armed conflict in Syria. Not every place is affected, but it is not only limited to those three areas, it has spread to several other areas," ICRC spokesman Hicham Hassan told Reuters in response to a query.

"That does not mean that all areas throughout the country are affected by hostilities," he said.

The qualification means that people who order or commit attacks on civilians including murder, torture and rape, or use disproportionate force against civilian areas, can be charged with war crimes in violation of international humanitarian law.

This article includes reporting by Reuters and The Associated Press.

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Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/14/12741921-un-team-investigates-massacre-in-syria-village?lite

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Fireworks Suck

Meanwhile, the professional fireworks display is an exercise in pomposity, aggression, triumphalism, and hubris. The pyrotechnician?and, more importantly, his patron?intends to ornament the night sky beyond the powers of God himself. He means to inspire awe for little purpose other than to demonstrate his power. The first great fireworks nuts in the Western world were Peter the Great (who put on a five-hour show to celebrate the birth of his first son) and Louis XIV (who, with a specially equipped sundial, used them to tell time at Versailles). Fireworks are imperialist and, as we used to say in school, hegemonic. That they are popularly believed to be populist entertainment does not say much for the populace.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=c9cad24c770ed08e0944b902d4246177

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