helbergsimon: July 2013

Thursday, 25 July 2013

Glendale approves Meatball the Bear for city's Rose Parade float

A depiction of Glendale?s famous Meatball the Bear will be the centerpiece of the city?s next Rose Parade float, council members decided?Tuesday.?

After he was caught devouring frozen Costco meatballs from a garage refrigerator in Glendale last year, Meatball gained celebrity status for frequent jaunts through the city's hillside neighborhoods.

He was relocated to a San Diego County wildlife sanctuary in August.?

Titled ?Let?s be neighbors,? the Glendale float will feature the 400-pound California black bear?s animatronic likeness popping up and down inside a trash can ? its lid teetering on his head ? as he's surrounded by wildlife companions, including a waving raccoon, skunk, deer and red-tailed hawk.?

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the $155,000 project, concocted by a panel of city workers and float-builder Phoenix Decorating Co., the Glendale News-Press reported.

Mayor Dave Weaver noted Meatball?s star turn has already sparked widespread enthusiasm about the float.

?I never thought [the float] would take off like that. People have associated with Meatball so strongly,? said Weaver, a longtime booster for the city?s Rose Parade entries.?

The float will be the city?s 100th in the Rose Parade, a record of participation second only to Los Angeles, Glendale Community Services and Parks Director Jess Duran said.?

?I think it?s a really cute float and very topical, and really the first one in a long time that speaks to people,? Councilwoman Laura Friedman said.?

While many of the city?s past floats have privileged style over substance, ?this one kind of says something,? Friedman continued. ?A lot of us would like to work it out with wildlife and live side by side with them.??

Despite voting for the design, Councilman Ara Najarian shared a less-than-rose-colored view of Meatball?s removal from Glendale after two attempts to relocate the persistent visitor deep within the Angeles National Forest.?

Najarian said state wildlife officials should have made more attempts to release Meatball into the wild and was critical of his temporary placement in a fenced concrete enclosure.?

Meatball ?is not running free; he?s in a wildlife Guantanamo, as some have called it,? Najarian said. ?I hate to be a spoilsport, but does anyone out there find it ironic that under the caption of??Let?s be neighbors? is the centerpiece of Meatball, a former resident who was deported from Glendale in chains and is now in a wildlife prison??

Friedman applauded Glendale residents for mobilizing a fundraising campaign to help move Meatball into a more spacious outdoor habitat, though the effort hit a snag when he was denied entrance to a Colorado animal sanctuary.?

She and Councilman Frank Quintero instead focused concern on the float?s six-figure price tag and the city?s slow progress in raising $75,000 from corporate donors and the community in order to reduce the financial burden for the city.?

ALSO:

Nury Martinez wins Los Angeles' 6th City Council district seat

Body found in Huntington Beach park linked to double homicide

Female O.C. high school teacher charged with sexually assaulting boy

joe.piasecki@latimes.com

Twitter:?@JoePiasecki

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/lanowblog/~3/6RImMBIT0k0/la-me-ln-glendale-meatball-the-bear-rose-parade-float-20130724,0,3641997.story

san francisco 49ers san francisco 49ers stan musial Mega 49ers lance armstrong Earl Weaver

Thursday, 18 July 2013

Official: Iran open for nuke talks once team named

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? Iran will be ready to resume nuclear talks with world powers as soon as the country's president-elect puts together his negotiating team, the foreign minister said Wednesday amid signals on both sides to try to quickly restart dialogue.

The comments by Ali Akbar Salehi follow a meeting in Brussels with members of the six-member group that reopened talks last year with Iran on its disputed nuclear program. The West fears the program is designed to develop atomic weapons, while Iran insists it is only for peaceful purposes.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the group ? the five permanent U.N. Security Council nations plus Germany ? seeks to resume negotiations "as soon as possible." Four rounds of talks since last year have failed so far to make significant headway, and no date has been proposed for their resumption.

Iran's newly elected president, Hasan Rouhani, himself a former top nuclear negotiator, is currently piecing together his government. He will be sworn-in early next month.

In separate comments attributed to Rouhani, he dismissed Israel's warnings of possible military action against Iran's nuclear program, telling veterans of the 1980-88 war with Iraq that they should scoff at threats from a "miserable country in the region."

The remarks were carried by tasnimnews, a newly established conservative news website. The statement was not reported by state media or other more established news outlets. Rouhani's advisers declined to comment.

At the Brussels meeting, no new offers were discussed, according to a Western diplomat with knowledge of the session. But the diplomat said the possibility was raised about "positive" steps ? that could include easing sanctions ? in return for more flexibility by the new chief negotiator for Iran, who will replace hard-liner Saeed Jalili. He finished a distant third in June's presidential election to the centrist Rouhani.

The diplomat was not authorized to brief media and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Shortly after Iran's election in June, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the Islamic Republic was willing to halt its 20 percent enrichment of uranium, which has been a key concession sought in the negotiations. Iran, however, has not publicly commented on the presumed offer or what other potential steps the country could take.

The 20 percent enriched uranium is much closer to warhead-grade material than the level needed for energy-producing nuclear reactors. Iran says it needs the higher enrichment for its medical research reactor.

___

Associated Press writer George Jahn in Vienna contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/official-iran-open-nuke-talks-once-team-named-113236208.html

madmen james cameron liam hemsworth miss canada justin bieber boyfriend marianas trench camille grammer

COMIC RELIEF! Any idea if this has been photoshopped?? Courtesy: Facebook

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151718265528826&set=a.411792858825.190612.163648403825&type=1

reggie wayne taylor allderdice vincent jackson vicki gunvalson pierre garcon brown recluse spider wiz khalifa taylor allderdice

U.S. vague on whether Obama will go to Moscow amid Snowden flap

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House is deliberately leaving it vague as to whether President Barack Obama will attend talks in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin if the saga involving former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden is unresolved.

Putin has invited Obama for face-to-face talks in Moscow ahead of a St. Petersburg summit in September with leaders of the G20 nations, and the White House announced on June 17 that Obama would both attend the summit and go to the Russian capital.

But that announcement was before Snowden fled to Moscow from Hong Kong on June 23 to avoid facing U.S. espionage charges for revealing details about secret U.S. surveillance programs involving phone and Internet data.

Snowden, stuck in the transit area of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, has since applied for temporary asylum in Russia, putting Moscow further on the spot. The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Putin would not be the one making the decision.

Pressed on Wednesday on whether Obama will still go on the Moscow part of the trip, White House spokesman Jay Carney was vague.

"I have no further announcements on our travel to Russia. The president intends to go to Russia in September," he said.

An Obama decision not to go to attend talks with Putin would register his displeasure with the Russian leader's refusal thus far to expel Snowden back to the United States.

An administration official said the White House vagueness about the Obama Moscow visit "reinforces without being belligerent that this is an irritant."

Obama and Putin spoke by phone about Snowden last Friday. Administration officials say Obama's message was the same as that communicated by other U.S. officials at various levels to their Russian counterparts - that Russia has the legal basis to expel Snowden and should do so.

The Snowden affair has already prompted a U.S. lawmaker to suggest that Washington should consider boycotting the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics if Snowden is granted asylum in Russia.

"I love the Olympics, but I hate what the Russian government is doing throughout the world," Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told NBC on Tuesday. "If they give asylum to a person who I believe has committed treason against the United States, that's taking it to a new level."

Putin signaled on Wednesday that he did not want a dispute over Snowden to derail Russian relations with the United States.

The White House agreed.

"We share President Putin's views expressed again, that we don't want this matter to do harm to our bilateral relations," said Carney.

(Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton and Timothy Gardner; Editing by Alistair Bell and Sandra Maler)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-vague-whether-obama-moscow-amid-snowden-flap-204841948.html

kids choice awards 2012 micah true blood diamond kansas vs ohio state winning mega million numbers bruce weber google maps 8 bit

Thursday, 11 July 2013

Jagged graphene edges can slice into cell membranes

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Researchers have shown how tiny graphene sheets can be big trouble for cells. Sharp corners and jagged edges on the sheets puncture cell membranes, allowing the sheet to enter the cell and disrupt function. The new understanding of how graphene interacts with cells could lead to safer production of this important nanomaterial.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/eLl8adSfU_A/130710142010.htm

google goggles one tree hill projectglass stock act new york auto show khalid sheikh mohammed masters par 3

Wednesday, 10 July 2013

Mathew Knowles marries; Beyonce and sister skip wedding

By Liz Raftery,

Mathew Knowles, the father of Beyonce and Solange Knowles, married former model Gena Charmaine Avery in Houston, Tex. last weekend, Us Weekly reports. However, his daughters weren't among the guests in attendance.

Mathew, 61, who was formerly Beyonce's manager, told Us: "Unfortunately, Beyonce and Solange had previous engagements which made it impossible for them to attend."

See other celebrity wedding news

Beyonce fired her father as her manager in 2011 but insisted at the time that the split was amicable. She is currently in the midst of her "The Ms. Carter Show" world tour, but had a night off last Sunday, June 30, when the wedding took place, according to her website.

Mathew divorced Solange and Beyonce's mother, Tina, in 2011 after 31 years of marriage. He had been engaged to Avery for a year and a half, Us Weekly reports.

View original Mathew Knowles Marries; Beyonce and Sister Skip Wedding at TVGuide.com

Other Links From TVGuide.com

Source: http://www.kcoy.com/story/22776949/mathew-knowles-marries-beyonce-and-sister-skip-wedding

Watertown Ma Krystle Campbell Pressure Cooker MIT Shooting NFL schedule 2013 Boston Explosion West Texas

Monday, 8 July 2013

Panda from China delivers first cub in Taiwan

General Sources - Sunday 7th July, 2013

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - A giant panda, one of a pair presented by China four years ago to mark warming ties with Taiwan, has given birth to a female cub at a Taipei zoo, officials said Sunday. The 9-year-old Yuan Yuan delivered the cub Saturday night, following artificial insemination given in March, the zoo announced. It was the seventh such attempt on Yuan Yuan in three years, they said. ...

Dissident Chen snubs free Taiwan

Asia Times - Sunday 7th July, 2013

By Jens Kastner TAIPEI - Top officials of Taiwan's main opposition anti-unification Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), together with civic groups and think tanks close to the DPP, showered blind Chinese human rights activist Chen Guangcheng with pleasantness on his arrival in Taiwan. Then he reciprocated by tearing up their dream. After touring a former Taipei prison where ...

GOLDEN MELODY Sandy Lams Gaia biggest winner of night

Taiwan News Online - Saturday 6th July, 2013

Hong Kong singer Sandy Lam emerged as the biggest winner of Taiwan's Golden Melody Awards Saturday, bagging four awards, including Best Mandarin Album for Gaia and Best Mandarin Female Singer. Gaia, which tied for the most nominations with six nods, also won Best Musical Arranger and Best Album Producer. Taiwanese aboriginal a cappella singing group O-Kai Singers, which also got six nods, ...

Lam Hsiao sweep top prizes at Chinese Grammys

San Diego Union-Tribune - Saturday 6th July, 2013

TAIPEI, Taiwan -; Hong Kong pop diva Sandy Lam has won the best female singer award at Taiwan's Golden Melody festival, the Chinese-language equivalent of the ...

Mainland giant panda gives birth in Taiwan

Global Times - Saturday 6th July, 2013

The first cub of a pair of giant pandas given as a goodwill gift to Taiwan by the Chinese mainland was born at 8:05 pm Saturday in the Taipei Zoo, the zoo said.The newborn cub weighs only about one thousandth of its mother Yuan Yuan, and its gender has yet been identified as the mother has kept it around her since its birth, said Lin Huei-jhen, a spokeswoman of the zoo.According to the zoo, Yuan ...