WASHINGTON (AP) ? Four major universities are joining theater companies in Boston, Baltimore, Washington and Atlanta to commission new plays, music and dance compositions about the Civil War and its lasting legacy.
The National Civil War Project being announced Thursday will involve programming over the next two years to mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.
Harvard University will partner with the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Mass.; The University of Maryland's Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center will join CENTERSTAGE in Baltimore; George Washington University is working with Arena Stage in Washington, and Atlanta's Alliance Theatre will join Emory University.
The project will include a new theatrical production of U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey's Pulitzer Prize-winning book "Native Guard." It recounts a black Civil War regiment assigned to guard white Confederate soldiers.
In his play The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare wrote, ?But love is blind, and lovers cannot see / The pretty follies that themselves commit? (2.6.36-37).
Clearly, people have been perceiving love as a force incapable of perceiving the flaws of others for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Even a verse in the Bible states that ?[love] keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth? (1 Corinthians 13:5-6).
But here lies the conundrum: how can love both ?rejoice in the truth? and ?keep no record of wrongs?? Wouldn?t ignoring the wrongdoings of love be an untruthful perception of it?
And yet this is the theory behind the love-is-blind bias.
The love-is-blind bias describes the tendency to perceive those we love (particularly those we love romantically) in an extra-positive, but also less realistic, light. These so-called ?positive illusions? were first specifically analyzed by psychologists Shelley Taylor and Johnathon Brown in 1988. They concluded that an individual?s blindness to another person?s flaws is actually correlated with greater psychological well-being of that individual.
Since this discovery, many researchers have corroborated the beneficial effects of positive illusions in romantic relationships. However, as this topic unfolded, research has also questioned the flip side of love: what happens after disillusionment? After all, positive illusions can only take you so far.
Although positive illusions, or experiences of the ?love-is-blind bias,? can be correlated with level of satisfaction in the relationship, Swami et al. (2009) discovered a negative relationship between the degree of blind love and relationship length. This suggests that as a relationship progresses and an individual gets to know her or his partner better (or possibly with decreasing satisfaction derived from the relationship), the love-is-blind bias may decrease in strength.
But if this glowing perspective decreases as time passes, wouldn?t the perceived quality of the relationship also decline?
After the positive illusions have diminished, one might start to look for better alternatives to the person they once thought was ?perfect.? At this point, the satisfaction and commitment to the relationship would also be compromised and the relationship might be worse off than if those positive illusions had never existed in the first place.
In a more recent study, Swami and his colleagues discovered a positive correlational relationship between positive illusions in relationships and certain types of jealousy, especially anxious jealousy (2012). Anxious jealousy refers to a process where an individual ruminates about the possibility of a mate?s infidelity, and experiences feelings of anxiety, suspicion, worry, and distrust (Barelds & Dijkstra, 2006). After all, if you perceive your partner as perfect, wouldn?t you be concerned that others perceive him this way as well?
But what about even more extreme cases of disillusionment? What happens after Adam betrays Eve?
In cases of relationship betrayal, commitment to the relationship, rather than positive illusions of the other, tends to be the strongest motivation for forgiveness and continuing the relationship (Finkel et al., 2002). After all, without true commitment to each other, a relationship based on positive illusions alone is merely a fatuous love and cannot be sustained in the long term.
This situation certainly holds true for many celebrity relationships, which are typically short-lived and end in some sort of grand catastrophe such as infidelity. Since celebrities are the ultimate icons of positive illusions, it?s easy to understand how a relationship could be built on false impressions and quickly become unsustainable.
In general, it seems that positive illusions might be beneficial during the ?honeymoon? phase of the relationship. But after that stage is over, acceptance of the other?s flaws, not just overlooking them, is truly what will sustain a healthy and prosperous relationship.
?
References
Barelds, D. P. H., & Dijkstra, P. (2006). Reactive, Anxious and Possessive Forms of Jealousy and Their Relation to Relationship Quality Among Heterosexuals and Homosexuals. Journal of Homosexuality, 51(3), 183-198. doi: 10.1300/J082v51n03_09
Swami, V., Inamdar, S., Steiger, S., Nader, I. W., Pietschnig, J., Tran, U. S., & Voracek, M. (2012). A dark side of positive illusions? Associations between the love-is-blind bias and the experience of jealousy. Personality and Individual Differences, 53(6), 796-800. dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2012.06.004
Swami, V., Stieger, S., Haubner, T., Voracek, M., & Furnham, A. (2009). Evaluating the physical attractiveness of oneself and one?s romantic partner: Individual and relationship correlates of the love-is-blind bias. Journal Of Individual Differences, 30(1), 35-43. doi:10.1027/1614-0001.30.1.35
Taylor, S. E., & Brown, J. D. (1988). Illusion and well-being: A social psychological perspective on mental health. Psychological Bulletin, 103(2), 193-210. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.103.2.193
????Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 27 Feb 2013 ????Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.
APA Reference Teeple-Elder, A. (2013). Is ?Blind Love? Too Much of a Good Thing?. Psych Central. Retrieved on February 27, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/02/27/is-blind-love-too-much-of-a-good-thing/
Apple has announced that it's to settle a class action lawsuit about in-app purchases—that could have involved more than 23 million App Store users!—by bunging the affected parties free iTune credit. More »
Blood vessels 'sniff' gut microbes to regulate blood pressurePublic release date: 26-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Catherine Kolf ckolf@jhmi.edu 443-287-2251 Johns Hopkins Medicine
Researchers at The Johns Hopkins University and Yale University have discovered that a specialized receptor, normally found in the nose, is also in blood vessels throughout the body, sensing small molecules created by microbes that line mammalian intestines, and responding to these molecules by increasing blood pressure. The finding suggests that gut bacteria are an integral part of the body's complex system for maintaining a stable blood pressure.
A description of the research, conducted in mice and test tubes, appeared online Feb. 11 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"The contribution that gut microbes apparently make to blood pressure regulation and human health is a surprise," says Jennifer Pluznick, Ph.D., assistant professor of physiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "There is still much to learn about this mechanism, but we now know some of the players and how they interact," she adds.
Pluznick says that several years ago, thanks to a "happy coincidence," she found in the kidney some of the same odor-sensing proteins that give the nose its powers. Focusing on one of those proteins, olfactory receptor 78 (Olfr78), her team specifically located it in the major branches of the kidney's artery and in the smaller arterioles that lead into the kidney's filtering structures. Olfr78 also turned up in the walls of small blood vessels throughout the body, she says, particularly in the heart, diaphragm, skeletal muscle and skin.
To figure out which molecules bind and activate Olfr78, the scientists programmed cells to have Olfr78 protein receptors on their surface. They also gave these same cells the ability to start a light-producing chemical reaction whenever Olfr78 is activated. By adding different cocktails of molecules to the cells and measuring the light the cells produced, they homed in on a single mixture that activated Olfr78. They then tested each component in that mix and found that only acetic acid (a.k.a. vinegar) bound Olfr78 and caused the reaction.
Acetic acid and its alter ego, acetate, are part of a group of molecules known as short chain fatty acids (SCFAs). When the team tested other molecules in this group, they found that propionate, which is similar to acetate, also binds Olfr78. In the body of mammals, including humans, SCFAs are made when zillions of bacteria lining the gut digest starch and cellulose from plant-based foods. The SCFAs are absorbed by the intestines into the blood stream, where they can interact with Olfr78.
To pinpoint the effect of Olfr78, the scientists gave SCFAs to mice missing the Olfr78 gene and found that the rodents' blood pressure decreased, suggesting that SCFAs normally induce Olfr78 to elevate blood pressure. However, when they gave SCFAs to normal mice with intact Olfr78, they did not see the expected increase in blood pressure, but rather a decrease, though it was less pronounced than before.
To test the effect of reducing the SCFAs available to Olfr78, the team gave mice a three-week course of antibiotics to wipe out the gut microbes responsible for SCFA production. In this case, normal mice showed very little change in blood pressure, but mice without Olfr78 experienced an increase in blood pressure, suggesting that there were other factors involved in the Olfr78/SCFA/blood pressure relationship.
The mystery was solved, Pluznick says, when the team examined mice lacking Gpr41, a non-smell-related protein receptor located in blood vessel walls that also binds SCFAs. When SCFAs bind to Gpr41, blood pressure is decreased. The researchers eventually discovered that Olfr78 and Gpr41 both are activated by SCFAs, but with contradictory effects. The negative effect of Gpr41 is counterbalanced by the positive effect of Olfr78, but Gpr41's effect is stronger, so an increase in SCFAs produces an overall decrease in blood pressure.
"We don't have the full story yet," says Pluznick. "There are many players involved in the maintenance of stable levels of blood pressure, and these are just a few of them. We don't know why it would be beneficial for blood pressure to decrease after eating or why gut microbes would play a part in signaling that change. But our work opens the door for exploring the effects of antibiotic treatments, probiotics and other dietary changes on blood pressure levels in mice, and perhaps eventually people."
###
Johns Hopkins Medicine
Media Relations and Public Affairs
Other authors of the report include Ryan Protzko of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Jinah Han, La-Xiang Wan, Tong Wang, Anne Eichmann and Michael Caplan of the Yale University School of Medicine; Haykanush Gevorgyan, Arnold Sipos and Janos Peti-Peterdi of the University of Southern California; and others from the College de France, Columbia University, the Washington University School of Medicine and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
This work was supported by grants from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (DK081610, DK64324, DK17433) and the Leducq Foundation.
On the Web:
Link to article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1215927110
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.
Blood vessels 'sniff' gut microbes to regulate blood pressurePublic release date: 26-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Catherine Kolf ckolf@jhmi.edu 443-287-2251 Johns Hopkins Medicine
Researchers at The Johns Hopkins University and Yale University have discovered that a specialized receptor, normally found in the nose, is also in blood vessels throughout the body, sensing small molecules created by microbes that line mammalian intestines, and responding to these molecules by increasing blood pressure. The finding suggests that gut bacteria are an integral part of the body's complex system for maintaining a stable blood pressure.
A description of the research, conducted in mice and test tubes, appeared online Feb. 11 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"The contribution that gut microbes apparently make to blood pressure regulation and human health is a surprise," says Jennifer Pluznick, Ph.D., assistant professor of physiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "There is still much to learn about this mechanism, but we now know some of the players and how they interact," she adds.
Pluznick says that several years ago, thanks to a "happy coincidence," she found in the kidney some of the same odor-sensing proteins that give the nose its powers. Focusing on one of those proteins, olfactory receptor 78 (Olfr78), her team specifically located it in the major branches of the kidney's artery and in the smaller arterioles that lead into the kidney's filtering structures. Olfr78 also turned up in the walls of small blood vessels throughout the body, she says, particularly in the heart, diaphragm, skeletal muscle and skin.
To figure out which molecules bind and activate Olfr78, the scientists programmed cells to have Olfr78 protein receptors on their surface. They also gave these same cells the ability to start a light-producing chemical reaction whenever Olfr78 is activated. By adding different cocktails of molecules to the cells and measuring the light the cells produced, they homed in on a single mixture that activated Olfr78. They then tested each component in that mix and found that only acetic acid (a.k.a. vinegar) bound Olfr78 and caused the reaction.
Acetic acid and its alter ego, acetate, are part of a group of molecules known as short chain fatty acids (SCFAs). When the team tested other molecules in this group, they found that propionate, which is similar to acetate, also binds Olfr78. In the body of mammals, including humans, SCFAs are made when zillions of bacteria lining the gut digest starch and cellulose from plant-based foods. The SCFAs are absorbed by the intestines into the blood stream, where they can interact with Olfr78.
To pinpoint the effect of Olfr78, the scientists gave SCFAs to mice missing the Olfr78 gene and found that the rodents' blood pressure decreased, suggesting that SCFAs normally induce Olfr78 to elevate blood pressure. However, when they gave SCFAs to normal mice with intact Olfr78, they did not see the expected increase in blood pressure, but rather a decrease, though it was less pronounced than before.
To test the effect of reducing the SCFAs available to Olfr78, the team gave mice a three-week course of antibiotics to wipe out the gut microbes responsible for SCFA production. In this case, normal mice showed very little change in blood pressure, but mice without Olfr78 experienced an increase in blood pressure, suggesting that there were other factors involved in the Olfr78/SCFA/blood pressure relationship.
The mystery was solved, Pluznick says, when the team examined mice lacking Gpr41, a non-smell-related protein receptor located in blood vessel walls that also binds SCFAs. When SCFAs bind to Gpr41, blood pressure is decreased. The researchers eventually discovered that Olfr78 and Gpr41 both are activated by SCFAs, but with contradictory effects. The negative effect of Gpr41 is counterbalanced by the positive effect of Olfr78, but Gpr41's effect is stronger, so an increase in SCFAs produces an overall decrease in blood pressure.
"We don't have the full story yet," says Pluznick. "There are many players involved in the maintenance of stable levels of blood pressure, and these are just a few of them. We don't know why it would be beneficial for blood pressure to decrease after eating or why gut microbes would play a part in signaling that change. But our work opens the door for exploring the effects of antibiotic treatments, probiotics and other dietary changes on blood pressure levels in mice, and perhaps eventually people."
###
Johns Hopkins Medicine
Media Relations and Public Affairs
Other authors of the report include Ryan Protzko of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Jinah Han, La-Xiang Wan, Tong Wang, Anne Eichmann and Michael Caplan of the Yale University School of Medicine; Haykanush Gevorgyan, Arnold Sipos and Janos Peti-Peterdi of the University of Southern California; and others from the College de France, Columbia University, the Washington University School of Medicine and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
This work was supported by grants from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (DK081610, DK64324, DK17433) and the Leducq Foundation.
On the Web:
Link to article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1215927110
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.
Over the weekend, UFC president Dana White said featherweight champion Jose Aldo was refusing to take a fight with Anthony Pettis, the lightweight who was scheduled to fight Aldo in August. As Kevin Iole wrote, Aldo told White he didn't think Pettis had earned the title shot.
The fight is back on. Andre Pederneias, Aldo's manager, told SporTV in Brazil (with translation from our friends at Yahoo! Brazil) that Aldo will take the fight, with one condition:
?I had a meeting today (Monday) with Jos? Aldo, who said: ?I?m going to end with this clownery. People are saying that I?m running, so they are going to see who will run from who when the time comes. If you enjoy a brawl, you can buy the pay-per-view of august 3th and that what you are going to watch because heads will roll?. At that moment I called Dana White to agree with the fight, but on one condition: after that fight, the winner gets a title shot at LW?.
White confirmed that the fight is on.
Yes Aldo vs Pettis and it's for Aldo's UFC 145lb title
ESPN is reporting that Aldo will get his wish, and that if he beats Pettis on Aug. 3, he will get a shot at the UFC lightweight belt. Benson Henderson is currently the title holder, and will fight Gilbert Melendez in April.
This means the UFC lightweight belt has a clear path for 2013. Pettis was supposed to be the next lightweight contender, but pushed for the Aldo fight because he didn't want to wait until the Henderson and Melendez fight was over.
Are you looking forward to seeing Aldo possibly fight for the lightweight belt? Speak up in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.
OMAHA, Neb.?? Billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway said Monday that it is buying the Tulsa World, bringing its newspaper unit to 28 small- or medium-sized dailies.
The privately held Tulsa newspaper has a daily circulation of 95,000. The sale was reported Monday by the Tulsa World and Berkshire's Omaha World-Herald, whose executives oversee the company's newspapers.
Terms of the deal, which is expected to close in March, weren't disclosed.
Terry Kroeger, who runs Berkshire's newspapers, said the Tulsa paper will be a great fit. "The Tulsa World is a special newspaper in an outstanding market and we are honored to have the opportunity to own it," Kroeger said in a statement.
Buffett did not immediately respond to a message Monday about the Tulsa World acquisition.
The chairman of the World Publishing Company, which owns the Tulsa World, said selling to Berkshire would provide a secure future for the Tulsa newspaper.
"Our family takes great pride in the Tulsa World and its many years of service to Tulsa and Oklahoma," Robert Lorton Jr. said. "The newspaper business has become a difficult business model within a changing society and in particular for local family owned newspapers."
Besides daily newspapers, Berkshire owns 40 other newspapers that publish less frequently and other monthly publications and regional magazines. The growing media chain owns newspapers in Nebraska, Iowa, Texas, Oklahoma, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama and Florida.
Berkshire bought 63 Media General newspapers last year for $142 million to launch its newspaper unit. At the end of 2012, Berkshire did close the Manassas News & Messenger, a Virginia newspaper, because it was struggling to compete in the Washington suburbs.
But Berkshire has continued buying newspapers since then with the addition of the Greensboro, N.C., News & Record last month, and now the Tulsa World.
Buffett has said newspapers that are the primary source of information about their communities will continue delivering decent returns. Buffett, who is Berkshire's chairman and chief executive, has said he won't try to influence the newspapers' editorial policies.
Newspapers are still a relatively small part of Berkshire Hathaway, which owns an assortment of more than 80 subsidiaries and holds major stakes in companies like Coca-Cola Co., Wells Fargo and IBM.
Berkshire's subsidiaries include Geico and General Reinsurance, BNSF railroad, MidAmerican Energy utility, Fruit of the Loom, Nebraska Furniture Mart, Dairy Queen and many others.
___
Follow Josh Funk online at www.twitter.com/funkwrite
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? Iran's parliament has approved a North Korean-educated former military official for a key post in President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government.
The official IRNA news agency says Mohammad Hasan Nami ? nominated by Ahmadinejad last week for the post of communications minister ? got 177 votes in parliament on Tuesday. There were 243 lawmakers present in the 290-seat chamber.
Nami is the third minister with a military background to join Ahmadinejad administration, after Defense Minister Gen. Ahmad Vahidi and Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar.
Nami holds a doctorate degree in state management from Kim Il-Sung University in Pyongyang, North Korea. He is also a former deputy defense minister and Iran's ex-deputy Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Army.
Nami is fluent in English and is reportedly behind Iran's national intranet project.
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) ? The CEOs of AT&T, Vodafone and Telefonica ? three of the world's largest cellphone companies ? had some rare words of praise for U.S. regulators Monday, saying they're doing better than their European counterparts in promoting faster wireless data networks.
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson told an audience at Mobile World Congress, the world's largest cellphone trade show, that the U.S. government's practice of selling phone companies large swathes of space of the airwaves for perpetual use was helping encourage companies, including AT&T, to build out large networks using the latest "LTE" technology.
By contrast, many European countries lease out space on their airwaves for eight- to 15-year terms. The perpetual licenses in the U.S. gives phone companies the incentive to invest, Stephenson said. The large, contiguous slices of spectrum the U.S. sold in its latest auctions make it easy to build fast networks, he added.
He was joined in a panel discussion by Vittorio Colao, the CEO of British-based Vodafone Group PLC and Cesar Allerta, his counterpart at Spain's Telefonica SA, both of whom agreed with him. Vodafone and Telefonica have wide international holdings.
Verizon Wireless launched LTE service in the U.S. in 2010, followed by AT&T the year after. Both are using airwaves that regulators reclaimed from TV broadcasters ? a process that has run slower in Europe.
The cellphone trade show is being held in Barcelona, Spain, a country that illustrates the slow build-out of LTE in Europe. There are some LTE pilot projects in the country, but no plans for full nationwide build-outs. There are exceptions in Europe, like Sweden, where four phone companies offer LTE mobile services.
According to trade group 4G Americas, there were 33 million LTE-capable devices in North America at the end of last year, representing 52 percent of global LTE connections. Japan and South Korea also have strong LTE networks. The GSM Association, which organizes the show, said Europe accounts for 6 percent of global LTE devices.
Via?Twitter, Google+ and YouTube, people from over the world joined the first-ever live online video conference with three astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
By Miriam Kramer,?SPACE.com / February 22, 2013
Astronauts (L to R) Marshburn, Ford and Hadfield float free aboard the International Space Station at the conclusion of the Google+ Hangout on Friday.
NASA
Enlarge
Thousands of space fans young and old got a taste of what life in space is like Friday (Feb. 22) during NASA's first-ever Google+ Hangout with astronauts on the International Space Station.
Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition
The live online video conference connected three members of the space station's crew with chat participants from around the world and came just days after the $100 billion space laboratory?briefly lost communications?with NASA Mission Control.
"The space station is a robust, tough space ship," Canadian Space Agency?astronaut Chris Hadfield?said when asked about the communications malfunction. "We worked together as a crew following the procedures as we're trained to do. After just a couple orbits, we had the computers talking to the antennas properly so we could talk to the ground. We were working together as a team."
Expedition 34 commander Kevin Ford and flight engineer Tom Marshburn, both of NASA, joined Hadfield in answering questions from their online audience, which peppered the crew with questions via Twitter, Google+ and YouTube. The questions ranged from what books the astronauts read to how a cat might deal with life in zero gravity. [Take a video tour inside the space station]
Two students from Union High School in Iowa asked the astronauts to explain why space agencies around the world have people living in space.
"The whole point of having a space station is to have some place in space where people can take their ideas," Ford responded. "We have a huge power supply up here. We have a lot of rack space, and we have a lot of scientists on the ground with a lot of ideas of things to do in space."
Other questions focused on the health of the astronauts.
Space station astronauts are expected to monitor their health very closely to see how the body changes when exposed to microgravity. Hadfield was in the middle of one of those health experiments today.
Marshburn ? a medical doctor ? explained that two non-invasive temperature probes attached to Hadfield's head and chest allow the scientists see how his natural body cycles have changed since being in orbit.
Because the space station experiences 16 sunsets and as many sunrises in any given day, the circadian rhythms of station astronauts tend to change a great deal while in orbit, the astronauts said. Hadfield's temperature-monitoring probe will help doctors keep track of just how much those change.
The space station residents have contingency plans for medical emergencies too.
A group of students from the Neil Armstrong Institute in Monterrey, Mexico asked the spaceflyers what would happen if one of their colleagues fell ill while in space.
Marshburn explained that there are always two medical officers as part of the six person crew. The designated residents are trained to perform medical procedures that will stabilize the injured spaceflyer until he or she can be sent back to Earth using the Russian Soyuz capsule that brought them to the station.?
The question and answer session with the space station lasted about 20 minutes, but NASA astronauts on the ground Nicole Stott and Ron Garan fielded questions from the audience for the other 40 minutes.
Hadfield, Ford and Marshburn make up half of the Expedition 34 crew currently living on the?International Space Station. Three Russian cosmonauts round out the crew.
The International Space Station is the largest structure ever built in space. It is the size of a football field and was constructed by 15 different countries working under five space agencies representing the United States, Russia, Europe, Canada and Japan.
Construction of the space station began in 1998 and it has been continuously staffed by international astronaut crews working on a rotating mission schedule since 2000.
NASA also provides?live video from the International Space Station?via Ustream, as well as?live audio from the space station.
Follow Miriam Kramer on Twitter?@mirikramer?or SPACE.com?@Spacedotcom. We're also on?Facebook?&?Google+.?
Copyright 2013?SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Forget the Walking Dead (or whatever they call the Oscars these days...) because the iMore show is coming your way LIVE tonight. David Chartier is joining us, and we'll be talking about Google's new hardware and what, if anything, it means for iOS and Apple users. We'll also be talking about default apps on iPhone and iPad, and a whole lot more. You don't want to miss it.
JERUSALEM (AP) ? A veteran Israeli parliamentarian warns that violence between Israelis and Palestinians will escalate unless peace talks resume.
Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told Israel radio Sunday that "We are on the eve of an Intifada." He said stalled talks must resume if bloodshed is to be avoided.
His remarks come after a week of clashes between Palestinians demonstrating support for four hunger-striking prisoners in Israeli jails, and Israeli forces in the West Bank. Palestinians have warned of violence if a striking prisoner dies.
Thousands of prisoners are set to go on a on a one-day hunger strike in commemoration of a fellow inmate, who was not fasting but who died in jail the day before.
Israel said the cause was an apparent heart attack. It has launched an inquiry. Palestinians called foul play.
With it being sleep and relaxation week here at iMore for Mobile Nations fitness month, I've been on the hunt for related apps, and the newest gem I've discovered is Let's create! Pottery HD for iPhone and iPad. This pottery-creating app is surprising relaxing and fun.
The menu screen of Pottery HD shows a piece of clay slowly spinning on table with out-of-focus greenery in the background. As you move around your iPhone or iPad, the background will slightly move around as if you are changing your orientation.
After you go through the initial tutorial your inbox will be your source of quests to create beautiful pottery pieces beginning with your Aunt Chloe. Through her, word spreads of your work and other people come to you to make pieces for them.
To create a pottery item, you simply use your finger on the piece of clay. Moving your finger up or down the clay will make is taller and shorter, moving out from the center will make it wider from that point, and moving in towards the center will make it thinner.
After you've shaped your item, you must send it to cooked. As it goes through the firing process, a progress bar displays and the background makes it appear that the clay is in a hot oven. Then it's time to decorate it.
You can decorate your pottery with paint, ornaments and fancy brushes that stamp a pattern on your artwork. You do this all while the item slowly spins on the wheel. The constant movement in Pottery HD is part of what makes it so relaxing, engaging, and beautiful.
If you have an active quest, then a little picture of what you're supposed to create will be displayed while you work towards your goal. On this polaroid snapshot, there are two different objects: the shape and design. You can earn put to 5 stars for each one. As long as you get three stars in each, your piece will be accepted.
There are two things about creating ceramics with Pottery HD that are disappointing. The first is that when adding paint, sometimes it doesn't register the correct spot and actually adds the paint higher than you would expect.
The other is that sometimes it's way too difficult to get even just three stars for your decorations. The screenshot above demonstrates this -- my vase looks almost identical to the photo, yet I only earned three stars. The one I made before this one only earned me two stars even though it was just a little shorter. Both vases earned 5 stars for the shape, so I don't think it's fair that the height alone made me earn one less star for decoration.
If the ceramic you are making is not for a quest, then you have an option to sell it. You need coins to buy new decorating tools for your quests.
The good
Great graphics
Quests to make pots, vases, cups, and more
Earn coins when completing quests to buy materials to decorate your creations
Build your own pottery to sell and raise money
More decorations available as in-app purchases
Relaxing
Fosters creativity
Universal for iPhone and iPad
The bad
Touch isn't precise enough when adding paint
Sometimes it's nearly impossible to get 5 stars for the look your creation
No way to save snapshots of your pieces in the app
Once you sell an item, you can view even a photo of it in the app. It would nice to see a collection of everything you've made.
The bottom line
Let's Create! Pottery HD is the next best thing to actually creating real life ceramics, yet has the benefit of being able to kick back and relax while you sculpt your pottery without the mess.
COLLEGE STATION, Texas, February 22. IN what proved to be a heavyweight matchup between Texas A&M's Breeja Larson and Tennessee's Molly Hannis, Larson had more in the tank down the stretch and took down the 100-yard breaststroke NCAA, American and U.S. Open records at the Southeastern Conference Championships.
Hannis took off in a ridiculously fast time of 27.09 at the wall, faster than the fastest 50-yard breast currently on record in the USA Swimming database. That time stands to Megan Jendrick, who has a blistering 27.11 on her resume from the 2007 Chesapeake Elite Pro-Am. Larson, however, overhauled Hannis down the stretch after touching in 27.37 at the wall as Larson beat Hannis to the finish 57.43 to 58.24.
Larson's time clipped her U.S. Open, NCAA and American records of 57.53 set last November. It also beat the short-lived SEC record of 58.22 set when Larson and Hannis tied this morning. Auburn's Lindsey Norberg wound up third in 59.43.
CollegeSwimming.com Interview with Breeja Larson
The Florida men opened the night in a big way with a 1-2-3 finish in the 200-yard fly as Marcin Cieslak edged teammate Sebastien Rousseau by the slimmest of margins, 1:42.17 to 1:42.18. Additionally, Cameron Martin claimed third-place honors with a time of 1:43.04. Along with Dan Wallace's fifth-place 1:44.18, the Gators piled up more than 100 points in the finale. South Carolina's Michael Flach was the top non-Gator with a fourth-place 1:43.42.
While the big news of the night on the women's side definitely was Larson's record-breaking swim, the Aggies definitely had more to talk about in other events. Texas A&M pulled off a 1-2 in the women's 200-yard fly to begin the women's events tonight. Cammile Adams clipped the SEC meet record in the distance fly with a 1:52.48. That swim beat the 1:52.53 clocked by Florida's Jemma Lowe in 2009. Meanwhile, Caroline McElhany checked in with a second-place 1:53.24. Tennessee's Kelsey Floyd turned in a third-place 1:54.78.
Although down 200 points to Florida, the Auburn men showed some fight in the men's 100-yard back as Kyle Owens posted an NCAA A cut time of 45.60 for the win. A time just half-a-second off Ryan Lochte's 2005 meet record of 45.19. Tennessee's Sam Rairden (46.07) and Missouri's Logan Mosley (46.74) placed second and third in the event.
Texas A&M completed the women's swimming event title sweep of the evening as Paige Miller topped the 100-yard backstroke with a 51.62. That gave the Aggies its eighth-straight conference win in the women's 100-yard back, but its first in Southeastern Conference action after winning seven straight in the Big 12. Georgia's Megan Romano, now known for an incredible 20.99 anchor last night in the 200-yard free relay, earned second-place honors with a 51.82, while Florida's Sinead Russell (51.95) and Missouri's Dominique Bouchard (52.08) went 3-4 all under the NCAA A cut. Texas A&M scored another top-eight finish with a fifth-place 52.36 from Tess Simpson.
Georgia's Nic Fink tracked down an A cut in the men's 100-yard breaststroke with a 52.34, while Misouri's Igor Kozlovskij placed second in 52.89. LSU's Andrei Tuomoloa wound up third in 53.02. Florida picked up some prime team points as Matt Elliott (53.41) and Richard Munch (53.58) finished sixth and eighth.
Tennessee's Tori Lamp defended her platform diving title with 341.90 points, while Texas A&M's Jesse Macaulay nearly gave the Aggies a fourth SEC women's title on the night with a second-place 328.20. Georgia's Laura Ryan earned third with 319.95 points.
Auburn smashed the field in the men's 400-yard medley relay was Kyle Owens (45.69), Stuart Ferguson (52.85), Arthur Mendes (46.05) and Marcelo Chierighini (41.33) won in 3:05.92. Florida's Corey Main (46.91), Matt Elliott (52.79), Marcin Cieslak (45.78) and Bradley de Borde (42.32) placed second in 3:07.80. Tennessee's Sean Lehane (47.10), Renato Prono (53.20), Sam Rairden (46.04) and Ed Walsh (42.86) completed the podium with a third-place 3:09.20. Georgia (3:09.77) and LSU (3:10.42) touched fourth and fifth in what proved to be a strong finale as the top five teams earned NCAA A cuts.
Texas A&M then collected an astonishing fifth SEC women's title on the night with an SEC record time of 3:28.93 in the women's 400-yard medley relay. Paige Miller (52.21), Breeja Larson (57.26), Caroline McElhany (51.61) and Liliana Ibanez Lopez (47.85) won the event, beating the previous SEC time of 3:30.36 set by Tennessee in 2012. The squad also came within striking distance of California's 2012 NCAA and U.S. Open record of 3:28.10.
Georgia's Megan Romano (51.88), Melanie Margalis (59.00), Lauren Harrington (52.72) and Allison Schmitt (47.74) finished second in 3:31.34, while Tennessee's Lauren Solernou (52.78), Molly Hannis (59.19), Kelsey Floyd (52.26) and Lindsay Gendron (47.57) took third in 3:31.80. Auburn (3:32.44) and Florida (3:32:94) also cleared the NCAA A cut with fourth and fifth-place finishes.
BOSTON (AP) ? The Massachusetts Institute of Technology says a man carrying a long rifle and wearing body armor was spotted in a campus building, and the school is on lockdown.
MIT said in a statement Saturday that several law enforcement agencies have responded.
The school advises students and workers to stay indoors and report suspicious activity to campus police.
FILE - In this Feb. 15, 2013 file photo, President Barack Obama speaks in Chicago. The president and congressional Republicans each seem content with the political ground they hold and are prepared to let across-the-board spending cuts take effect on March 1, unlike during earlier rounds of budget brinkmanship that saw last minute frantic dealmaking. This time, there is no market-rattling threat of a US. default to force the two sides to compromise, no government shutdown on the short-term horizon and no year-end deadline to prevent a tax increase for every working American. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
FILE - In this Feb. 15, 2013 file photo, President Barack Obama speaks in Chicago. The president and congressional Republicans each seem content with the political ground they hold and are prepared to let across-the-board spending cuts take effect on March 1, unlike during earlier rounds of budget brinkmanship that saw last minute frantic dealmaking. This time, there is no market-rattling threat of a US. default to force the two sides to compromise, no government shutdown on the short-term horizon and no year-end deadline to prevent a tax increase for every working American. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama says a little compromise is all Congress needs to turn off automatic, across-the-board budget cuts set to kick in a week from now.
In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama says the cuts will slow the economy and hurt the middle class. He says thousands of teachers will be laid off and air traffic controllers will be forced into unpaid leave, leading to airport delays. He says almost 800,000 defense workers will also face furloughs.
Obama says he wants a balanced plan to deal with the deficit that mixes spending cuts with more tax revenue.
In the Republican address, Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota says Obama should approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline, which would carry oil from Canada to Texas, as a way to create jobs and grow the economy.
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The new white Apple iPad Mini gives you all the features of an iPad but in a slightly smaller form. With a 7.9-inch LED-backlit display and an A5 chip, the iPad Mini 16GB delivers a beautiful screen with a fast and fluid performance. Featuring a 5MP iSight camera with 1080p HD video recording and FaceTime, you can snap pictures, take video and talk to loved ones on a platform that fits in the palm of your hand. The iPad Mini has ultrafast wireless that gives you access to high-speed cellular data networks around the world. With up to 10 hours of battery life, the iPad Mini 16GB gives you the freedom to work anywhere, anytime. The white Apple iPad Mini even offers you all the amazing apps (over 275,000 apps on the App Store) that are made for iPad. So it's an iPad in every way, shape, and slightly smaller form. Key Features:
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In his play The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare wrote, ?But love is blind, and lovers cannot see / The pretty follies that themselves commit? (2.6.36-37). 
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Public release date: 26-Feb-2013
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Over the weekend, UFC president Dana White said featherweight champion Jose Aldo was refusing to take a fight with Anthony Pettis, the lightweight who was scheduled to fight Aldo in August. 
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