Facebook, Greenpeace Settle Clean Energy Feud After Two-Year Campaign

Remember when Greenpeace totally didn't like Facebook and its use of 'dirty energy' in its datacenters? Well, they're best buddies now. Greenpeace and Facebook this morning announced that they're teaming up on the promotion of renewable energy and "develop programs that will enable Facebook users to save energy and engage their communities in clean energy decisions". Facebook also committed to using clean and renewable energy to power its own operations.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/eFkGYrc-wiI/

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PFT: Marino thinks Cowher won't coach again

AP

If NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith ultimately receives a $1 million bonus for his efforts in conjunction with the new labor deal, there?s a chance it could also be a severance payment.

Smith?s contract expires in March.? Even if he keeps the job, it won?t happen without a fight.

Multiple sources have informed PFT that the players intend to take a serious look at whether Smith is the right man to lead them into the next decade of labor peace.? Though most seem to have an open mind regarding the question of whether Smith should remain in the position now that the labor situation has been resolved, one source says that a group of player representatives intends to ask Smith to not even run for re-election.

Candidates who have been discussed as a possible alternative to Smith include, in no particular order, former NFL linebacker Derrick Brooks, NFL Alumni executive director George Martin, agent Tom Condon, sports lawyer and former NFLPA executive director finalist David Cornwell, Colts center Jeff Saturday, and NFLPA in-house counsel Tom DePaso.? It?s unknown whether any of these men actually want the job.

In contrast to the long tenure of Gene Upshaw, whose contract renewals were more automatic than an extra point attempt in a domed stadium, Smith?s reappointment will come, if at all, only after a comprehensive debate regarding the full range of his performance on the job.? And while Smith has supporters among the Executive Committee and the Board of Player Representatives, he also has vocal detractors among these two key groups who?ll determine whether Smith or someone else runs the union.

Helping Smith is the fact that he successfully stared down the NFL, preventing the owners from rolling back dramatically the percentage of the total revenue that the players traditionally have enjoyed.? As to the critical TV deals, which are expected to generate $7 billion per year by 2014, the players will receive 55 cents of every dollar that passes through the cash register.

But Smith has absorbed widespread criticism for his dotting of the i?s and his crossing of the t?s in the 11th hour of the negotiations.? In sharp contrast to the 2006 CBA renewal, which featured multiple player-friendly noneconomic terms that the NFLPA slipped past the league while the league was obsessed with issues like cutting up the pie and sharing revenue among the 32 clubs, the 2011 agreement became finalized without sufficient attention being paid to key details, such as the application of the personal conduct policy to players arrested during the lockout, the reintegration of the policy regarding recreational drugs, and the agreement to submit to HGH testing.? Most recently, one member of the Executive Committee tactfully, but distinctly, expressed regret regarding the failure of the NFLPA to insist on improved protocols for in-game concussion diagnosis.

Then there?s the question raised by some regarding whether Smith, a former litigator, has the skills ? or the desire ? to preside over a union that isn?t fighting tooth and nail with management.

Some wonder whether Smith even wants to stay.? Smith has faced questions in the past about his long-term goals and ambitions.? Some owners believed during the lockout that Smith was hoping to spark a protracted and contentious lockout in order to create the kind of name recognition that would support a run for political office.

Regardless of whether Smith ever has to campaign for Congress or the Senate, Smith finds himself in a slowly boiling campaign for the job he currently holds.? At some point soon, he?ll need to make sure that the players know that he indeed intends to try to keep it.

And then he may need to work almost as hard as he did during the lockout to make that happen.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/12/14/marino-thinks-cowher-wont-coach-again/related/

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Europe anxiety pushes oil prices lower

NEW YORK (AP) ? Oil prices continued to drop after Wednesday's 5 percent plunge, as Europe's weakest economies failed to get more help from their central bank.

Benchmark crude on Thursday fell 58 cents to $94.37 per barrel in afternoon trading in New York. Similar concerns weighed on oil markets Wednesday, pushing the benchmark price to the lowest level since Nov. 7.

Brent crude, which is used to price foreign oil that's imported by many U.S. refineries, lost 22 cents at $104.03 a barrel in London.

Investors had hoped that the European Central Bank would take a bigger role in aiding heavily indebted countries like Greece, Italy and Spain. But the ECB has given no indication that it will do so.

Without more support those countries won't be able to pay their bills without even greater spending cuts, analysts said. That will further reduce energy demand and slow imports of manufactured goods from the U.S., China and elsewhere.

Many traders thought the European financial crisis would be resolved by now. With the situation still in flux, they have decided to close out their positions and lock in whatever profits they've made before the end of the fiscal year, PFGBest analyst Phil Flynn said.

"The market has come to the reality that the European situation won't be tidied up before the end of the year," Flynn said.

Oil prices fell despite a brighter outlook for the U.S. economy and rising stock prices. The government said that applications for unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest level since May 2008. While manufacturing output fell last month after six straight months of steady gains, a regional report on Thursday showed manufacturing activity is rising this month in the Philadelphia area.

The Energy Department said that natural gas supplies dropped by 102 billion cubic feet last week. That was more than analysts expected. The country is still loaded with a surplus of gas, however, and storage levels are more than 10 percent above the five-year average.

In other energy trading, heating oil rose 1 cents to $2.8397 per gallon, and gasoline futures rose by less than a penny to $2.5079 a gallon. Natural gas was flat at $3.142 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-12-15-Oil%20Prices/id-e5a10b837bc2410d802acd0a90fec409

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David Guterson wins 2011 Bad Sex writing award (AP)

LONDON ? American author David Guterson on Tuesday joined John Updike, Tom Wolfe, Norman Mailer and other literary stars as the recipient of the dreaded Bad Sex in Fiction award.

Guterson won the 2011 "prize" for sex scenes in his new novel "Ed King," which offers a modern take on the Oedipus myth and sets it in the second half of the 20th century.

The acclaimed author of "Snow Falling on Cedars" took the tongue-in-cheek honor in stride: "Oedipus practically invented bad sex, so I'm not in the least bit surprised," Guterson said in a statement released in response to his victory.

The choice was announced at a gala event at the Naval & Military Club in London.

The scene cited by the judges deals with the part of the myth where the son makes loves with his mother. It describes a night of abandon that concludes with a soapy shower interlude and finishes this way: "Then they rinsed, dried, dressed, and went to an expensive restaurant for lunch."

The Literary Review has given out the award each year since 1993. It was established by Auberon Waugh to highlight the "crude, tasteless and often perfunctory" way in which sex is described in modern novels ? and to discourage it.

The list of finalists this year included Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami, Sebastian Barry, James Frey, Peter Nadas, American horror master Stephen King, Jean M. Auel, and several others.

In the past it has been given to Mailer ? for one of his final works, "The Castle in the Forest" ? and a lifetime achievement award was given in 2008 to novelist, poet and critic John Updike, whose works often explored the pleasure and pain of adultery in the suburbs.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/britain/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111206/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_bad_sex

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Stocks rise despite the threat of a Germany credit downgrade

The Dow rose 78 points to close at 12097 after a threat to Germany's credit rating mostly erased an early morning rally

Stocks closed modestly higher Monday after a reported threat to Germany's credit rating deflated a morning market rally. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 78 points, giving back much of a 167-point gain from earlier.

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News reports Monday afternoon said Standard & Poor's will put all nations that use the euro on "creditwatch negative," meaning there is a 50-50 chance of a downgrade in the coming months. S&P had warned of possible rating demotions for many of the countries. But the inclusion on the list of Germany, Europe's strongest economy, came as a surprise.

Stocks had risen strongly in the morning after the leaders of France and Germany called for a new treaty to impose greater fiscal discipline on European countries. Yields on Italian government bonds receded sharply after the new government of Mario Monti introduced sweeping austerity measures over the weekend. That suggests that traders believe Italy is less likely to default.

"There's pent-up demand, and people will use any excuse to get back in, thinking there's been too much pessimism," said Brian Gendreau investment strategist with Cetera Financial Group. Despite strong signals about the U.S. economy, the market has been weighed down by negative headlines about the U.S. budget impasse, credit-rating downgrades of the U.S. and other nations, and Europe's spreading crisis, Gendreau said.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 78.41 points, or 0.7 percent, to 12,097.83.

The gains were broad. All 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 rose. Financials stocks were among the biggest winners. Investors have feared that U.S. banks might be dragged down by their close connections to the unstable European financial system.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. jumped 3.7 percent, the most in the Dow. Bank of America was the second-biggest gainer, rising 2.7 percent. Citigroup Inc. rose 5.9 percent, Morgan Stanley 6.8 percent.

The S&P 500 rose 13, or 1 percent, to 1,257. The Nasdaq rose 29, or 1.1 percent, to 2,656.

Investors are hoping that a summit of European leaders on Thursday and Friday will produce concrete measures to prevent a messy breakup of the euro currency, which is shared by 17 nations. Markets have been jittery because of fears that the euro might disintegrate, causing a sharp recession in Europe that would spread through the world economy.

While the statements from French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were far from a long-term solution, investors are eager to buy on any hint of good news because they have been earning meager returns from relatively low-risk investments such as Treasurys and CDs, Gendreau said.

Italian bond yields dropped to their lowest level in a month, a day after the nation's new government introduced austerity measures. That suggests traders believe that Italy is far less likely to default. The main Italian stock index jumped 2.9 percent.

Italy's borrowing costs pulled back from a level that might have forced the nation to default. Analysts say bailing out Italy would be too costly and would hurt the credit standing of German and France, which have the strongest economies in the euro group.

The yield on the 10-year Italian bond plunged half a percentage point to 5.93 percent. It rose above 7 percent last month, a level at which other nations were forced to take bailouts. By comparison, bond yields in Germany, Europe's largest and most stable economy, are roughly 2 percent.

Monday's strong gains follow the best week in more than two years for U.S. stock indexes. The S&P 500 rose 7.4 percent last week, the most since March 2009. The Dow jumped 7 percent, the most since July 2009.

Markets are hopeful that, given the gravity of the situation afflicting the euro zone, the German and French leaders will come up with a common proposal for tighter integration on budget matters. Analysts say that such a plan could lead to further emergency aid from the European Central Bank, possibly through the International Monetary Fund.

In corporate news:

? Gannett Co. leapt 10.2 percent after the media company was upgraded to "buy" from "neutral" by analysts at Lazard Capital Markets.

? Incyte Corp. fell 2 percent after a Citigroup analyst downgraded the drug maker to "neutral" from "buy," saying its new blood-disease drug Jakafi might not work as a long-term treatment.

? SuccessFactors Inc. soared more than 50 percent after the company agreed to be sold to German software company SAP for $3.4 billion. SuccessFactors makes software specializing in human resources tasks. The deal is part of SAP's plan to compete with software rival Oracle Corp.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/xpWEhTFAQ8M/Stocks-rise-despite-the-threat-of-a-Germany-credit-downgrade

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Spin Your Way to a Masterpiece, Battle on the High Seas, and Holes and Balls [App Deals Of The Day]

Remember when art class was fun? Before you had to worry about techniques like three-point perspective. It was just you and some finger paints and a smock. Save a buck and return to the art-creating world of your childhood with SpinArt. While you're down there, throw a ball in a hole. And while some parents don't want to admit it, I'm pretty sure we all played war at some point as kids. Let's keep our violent childhood alive with a cheap sea battle. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/4YdlBYdzcqY/spin-your-way-to-a-masterpiece-battle-on-the-high-seas-and-holes-and-balls

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Can You Be Diagnosed With Breast Cancer In Just One Day?

Last week, Boing Boing editor Xeni Jardin live-tweeted her first mammogram ? and same-day cancer diagnosis. A number of readers wanted to know if it was possible to be diagnosed with breast cancer so quickly. According to the experts we talked to, the answer is: not exactly.

In response to Jardin's experience, two main questions stood out. We'll tackle them each separately.

Can mammograms diagnose breast cancer on their own?

I wrote to Dr. Karla Kerlikowske, professor of medicine and epidemiology/biostatistics at USCF's Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. She explained,

Mammograms can identify a site likely to be cancer, but it requires taking a sample of breast tissue and looking at it under a microscope to know a person has breast cancer. Rarely, <1% of the time a radiologist can look at a mammogram and based on the mammogram know a woman has breast cancer, even then it requires a tissue diagnosis for confirmation.

I also spoke with Olive Peart, radiographer and author of the textbook Mammography and Breast Imaging: Just The Facts. She explained that "the mammogram is not 100% accurate. The accuracy will depend on the skills of the technologist (person taking the mammogram), the skills of the radiologist (doctor), and the equipment used." She noted that mammograms can actually miss 10-20% of cancers. "Fortunately," she added, "the mammogram is not the sole tool for detecting breast cancer (it is the gold standard and the most comprehensive) and most radiologists will recognize when an additional tool is needed and will therefore recommend that the patient have further testing."

Bottom line: a tissue diagnosis is required to confirm breast cancer.

Can you receive a breast cancer diagnosis the same day as a mammogram?

Kerlikowske explained that this was "possible but not likely since it takes having a radiologist present to perform the biopsy and having a designated suite for biopsies. It usually requires scheduling and it can takes 1 to 2 weeks." Peart added that, "some private mammography centers will have you take a mammogram then speak to the radiologist immediately afterward." The Pink Lotus Breast Center, where Jardin received her mammogram, does offer same-day reading of mammograms by a radiologist. I spoke with a doctor's assistant there who confirmed that radiologists there could provide their professional opinion on whether a mammogram indicated cancer, the same day the mammogram was performed. However, she emphasized that a biopsy would be needed to confirm the diagnosis, and that confirmation couldn't be completed in a single day. Even if the biopsy was performed right away, it would take at least 24 hours for results to come back. So while it would be possible for a patient to go to Pink Lotus and receive a doctor's opinion that she likely had breast cancer, all in one day, a hard-and-fast diagnosis would take longer.

Bottom line: you could learn that you're likely to have breast cancer in a single day, but it will almost certainly take longer than that to be 100% positive.

Earlier: Xeni Jardin Live-Tweets Her First Mammogram, Is Diagnosed With Cancer

Image via GWImages/Shutterstock.com

Source: http://jezebel.com/5865123/can-you-be-diagnosed-with-breast-cancer-in-just-one-day

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