Judge: Prosecutors Can Appeal Oscar Pistorius Verdict

Judge: Prosecutors Can Appeal Oscar Pistorius Verdict JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Oscar Pistorius again faces the possibility of a murder conviction after a South African judge ruled Wednesday that prosecutors can appeal against the double-amputee Olympian's conviction on the lesser charge of culpable homicide.



The sensational case will go to the Supreme Court of Appeal, which will review the murder trial of Pistorius, who fatally shot girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp through the closed door of a toilet cubicle on Valentine's Day last year. Judge Thokozile Masipa, who convicted Pistorius and sentenced him to five years in jail, acknowledged that chief prosecutor Gerrie Nel had raised legitimate "questions of law" that should be studied by the appeals court.



"This might have a practical effect" on the conviction, Masipa said.



"We note the finding of the court and abide by the ruling," Pistorius' family said in a statement.



Pistorius could face a minimum of 15 years in prison if the appeals court overturns the culpable homicide conviction and raises it to a murder conviction.



Under his current sentence, Pistorius could be released from prison and placed under house arrest after serving 10 months, or one-sixth of his sentence. It is unclear whether the appeals court will have ruled on his case within 10 months.



Nathi Mncube, the prosecution spokesman, said he hopes the appeal will be "expedited," but acknowledged that the process can take a long time.



"We're happy," Mncube told journalists.



The approval of an appeal represented a victory for South African prosecutors who had been disappointed that Pistorius was acquitted of murder.



In another disappointment for the state, British businessman Shrien Dewani left South Africa on Tuesday after being acquitted of the murder of his wife Anni during their honeymoon in Cape Town in 2010.



The appeals court has panels of three or five judges and does not meet again until Feb. 15, according to the website of the court, which is based in the South African city of Bloemfontein. Decisions are based on the opinion of a majority of judges.



"Witnesses do not appear before the court, and the parties need not be present during the hearing of an appeal. A written judgment is usually handed down shortly after the argument," the court's website says.



In arguing for an appeal, the prosecution said Judge Masipa incorrectly interpreted a legal principle. Under that principle, a person should be found guilty of murder if he foresaw the possibility of a person dying because of his actions, and went ahead with those actions anyway.



While approving an appeal against her own verdict, Masipa rejected the prosecution's argument for an appeal of the sentence for culpable homicide. Prosecutors had said it was too lenient.



In any case, if the appeals court finds Pistorius guilty of murder, the sentence would automatically be raised to match the severity of the crime.



Pistorius said he thought a dangerous intruder was in the house when he killed Steenkamp, a model and budding reality TV star; prosecutors allege he killed his girlfriend after an argument.



Pistorius' legs were amputated below the knees when he was 11 months old because he was born without fibula bones due to a congenital defect. However, he grew up playing sports with prosthetics. The sight of Pistorius racing at the London Olympics on carbon-fiber blades was one of the enduring and inspirational images of the 2012 games.

Shop Your Way to Free Flights and Travel Perks

Shop Your Way to Free Flights and Travel Perks

TravelingOtter / Flickr



The holidays are an ideal time to rack up an abundance of frequent flier miles and hotel loyalty points, but not necessarily from all your trips back home. While traveling is still the best way to redeem your loyalty rewards, it's become one of the least efficient ways to earn them. The trick is to use online shopping portals -- especially now, when gift-giving season is in full swing.



Using portals is free, and can be done with minimal inconvenience, meaning you can score additional points and miles with just a few extra clicks.



See: 5 Ways to Earn Miles Without Flying



How do shopping portals work?

Almost every airline in the United States, and a number of hotel chains, have created their own shopping portal, such as American's AAdvantage eShopping mall, Marriott's ShopMyWay or even Amtrak Guest Rewards Points for Shopping. Banks have portals as well, but you usually have to hold a credit card at that bank to use its portal.



Shopping portals partner with select retailers, many of which are mainstream stores you've undoubtedly shopped at before like JCPenney, Staples and Walmart, to name a few. These merchants, which usually number in the hundreds, have agreed to award extra loyalty points to any member who uses the shopping portal to buy goods at their website. You get extra miles or points, while retailers enjoy extra traffic.



For instance, a store like Macy's might offer 3 extra miles per dollar spent at macys.com to members of the shopping portal. Depending on the retailer, these bonus miles can get incredibly generous, even as high as 30 points or miles per dollar.



So when you sit down at your computer to do your online holiday shopping, your first step should be to sign into a shopping portal. On the portal home page, you'll find a list of featured merchants and a search function to find others. All these merchants are offering extra miles for purchases, so if you find a portal merchant that sells what you're looking for, it's just a matter of clicking on that merchant at the portal first.



That click takes you to the retailer's normal website, which looks just like it would if you navigated there directly. From there, you can buy your items as you normally would, but the portal will automatically track your purchase and award extra miles based on the amount you spend.



Which portal is the best?

Each portal has agreements with different merchants, so you won't always find the same merchants on every portal. Also, the number of extra miles offered by any given retailer fluctuates over time, sometimes daily. Even two portals with the same merchant might offer different mile-per-dollar amounts.



So with all the payouts changing daily, how can you keep track of which portal offers the best return at any given store?



A number of "portal finder" sites, such as CashbackHolic.com, Cashback Monitor and evreward.com, can assist with that task. Not only do these sites track the ongoing payouts from travel-based shopping portals, but they also report on cash-back portals like ShopDiscover and Upromise. These types of sites can also be an excellent way to find lists of all the available shopping portals. And since it's completely free to join a shopping portal, there's no reason not to sign up for all of them.



And remember: For airline and hotel shopping portals, you're not required to pay for your purchases with a co-branded credit card. That means you can easily go through a portal like Delta SkyMiles Shopping, charge your purchases to any credit card, and still get extra SkyMiles on top of your usual credit card rewards.



See: Are Frequent Flier Programs a Fool's Game?



Why now?

The incentive for shopping with a portal right now is twofold. Since you're spending more, you're also earning more. And since shopping portals routinely offer limited-time holiday bonuses, you have the chance to reap even more rewards.



For example, in recent weeks the Southwest Rapid Rewards Shopping portal offered an extra 300 Rapid Rewards points for every $175 spent at its portal. This was in addition to the extra miles offered by each merchant.



Sometimes these holiday bonuses are targeted specifically to existing portal members, so when you sign up for a portal, remember to opt in for e-mails so you're in the know about the best bonus offers.



What about brick-and-mortar stores?

If you're shopping offline, using an online portal would seem to be out of the question. However, there are two tricks you can use to get bonuses even when you want to get your items in store.



One alternative is to do your shopping online and select in-store pick-up at the end of the transaction -- an option that a substantial number of brick-and-mortar stores offer. For instance, if you wanted to buy items at a Target store near you, you could use a shopping portal to go to Target.com, choose your items, select in-store pick-up at checkout, and then get in the car and head over to Target to retrieve your purchase.



When it's necessary to actually be in the store while shopping, such as when you might want to try on clothes, there's a trick for that, too. In this case, you need to find a retailer that allows shopping portal points to be earned on the purchase of store gift cards like Sears, for example.



Most portals specifically state they are eligible for rewards on the purchase of Sears gift cards. So if you wanted to buy $200 worth of clothes at Sears, you could go through a shopping portal to Sears.com, buy a $200 Sears gift card, and then use that gift card at a Sears store to pay for your purchases.



But remember: By using a gift card instead of a credit card, you're forfeiting any extended warranty offered by banks on credit card purchases. While that won't make a difference for clothing purchases, it might not be worth risking for major appliances.



Shopping portals are a fantastic way to accumulate travel points and an important tool for any loyalty program junkie. Before you set out on your holiday shopping this year, consider starting at a shopping portal.



See: Best Travel Rewards Programs of 2014-15



About the author: Julian Mark Kheel learned the ins and outs of travel loyalty programs while flying more than 200,000 miles a year as a TV producer and director. He takes a contrarian view on travel wisdom in his "Devil's Advocate" series every Thursday at the blog Travel Codex. You can also reach him on Twitter @dvlsadvcate.

Let This Grown Man Dancing In A Watermelon Outfit Make Your Day

Let This Grown Man Dancing In A Watermelon Outfit Make Your Day When the normal world needs a break from their daily work duties, people turn to a LOL-worthy cat video or an adorable baby blooper to brighten their midday slump. The art world, however, prefers the gentle touch of a grown man dancing in a watermelon outfit. Yes, we win.







Today's inexplicable nugget of goodness is brought to you by English musician Tom Rosenthal, and his new song titled, you guessed it, "Watermelon." The devoted team at It'sNiceThat kindly recorded the simple yet brilliant lyrics of the song:



"It’s watermelon time, I said boom boom boom boom boom boom boom. It’s watermelon time, I said boom boom boom boom boom boom boom. It’s watermelon time, I said boom boom boom boom boom boom boom. It’s watermelon time, I said boom boom boom boom boom boom boom. It’s a fruit-based love."



The deliciously strange video features an inspired fellow in a very round watermelon ensemble prancing his way across various fields, valleys and meadows. It's a fruit salad for the eyes and so much more.



Don't ask questions. Just watch and watch again.

Banning Drones Won't Solve the Problem

Banning Drones Won't Solve the Problem

The Federal Aviation Administration recently released a report detailing more than 190 safety incidents involving drones and commercial aircraft. In response, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has vowed to push legislation that would crack down on the commercial use of drones, also called Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). India's Directorate General for Civil Aviation has already banned all use of drones in the country -- even for civilian purposes.

There are valid concerns that the proliferation of drones will endanger commercial flights and cause serious accidents. The U.S. military is rightfully worried that drones will be weaponized as killing machines and become autonomous flying IEDs (improvised explosive devices) that target a specific individual by means of facial recognition.

Banning commercial drone use will not solve these problems; it will just give us a false sense of comfort and kick the can further down the road.

About two years ago, I wrote a Washington Post column in which I argued that we need to prepare ourselves for the "drone age." It isn't just the United States that is developing drone capabilities; governments and DIYers all over the world are doing the same, particularly the Chinese. This isn't all bad; there are many good uses for drone technologies.

To start with, there isn't yet a clear consensus on what a drone is. Is it something that flies and is remote controlled? If that is the case, should the FAA also ban remote-controlled airplanes and helicopters that hobbyists have flown happily and relatively safely for many years? The drone encounter that Senator Feinstein cited in a Senate Commerce Committee hearing as a reason to regulate commercial drone flights was reportedlyjust a pink toy helicopter.

Then there is the practicability of enforcement. If the government should institute restrictions and penalties, who will enforce them? Will the police buy high-performance drones to shoot down illicit drones? Can we scramble the Air Force to blow a flock of $300 quadcopters out of the sky? Should we equip legions of young children with air rifles? Proposing laws without realistic hope of enforcement does nothing to solve the problems at hand.

Let's first acknowledge that drones will be common in our skies and that they will play an integral role in our economy and society. We know that drones are saving money and improving safety on many types of remote inspection such as that of distant pipelines and tall broadcast towers. Documentary filmmakers use drones to get aerial shots that are not affordable with a regular plane or helicopter. As well, start-ups like Matternet are pioneering the use of drones to deliver critical medical supplies to remote parts of the developing world. Drones could be used as long-haul cargo-delivery vehicles, allowing for more efficient point-to-point delivery of goods and materials. Then of course, companies such as Google and Amazon are developing drone delivery services that provide within-the-hour delivery of ordered goods--without putting any more traffic onto the streets or carbon into the skies.

So if we don't ban the drones, what can we do to prepare for them and weave their capabilities into a broader picture of economic development?



First, there needs to be a core technology framework for collision avoidance. This is no small problem. Even the best computer-vision algorithms struggle to navigate complex cityscapes. The vehicles in NASA's DARPA challenge weighed thousands of pounds and carried serious computational and sensor firepower. Yet they could barely navigate barren wastelands without flipping themselves over or running into a wall. So how will a drone the size of a shoebox carry enough intelligence to avoid hitting a building, a person, a car, a power line or, worst case, a commercial aircraft? It's a wonderful engineering challenge and worth the focus of some of our best minds.



Assuming we have collision-avoidance systems in place, how can we build a system of distributed air-traffic control for drones? It would obviously need to be computer-driven and automatic, and to include safety measures and emergency kill switches or other mechanisms to bring down a drone that is malfunctioning or poses a danger. We would need to plan for specific air corridors in city areas that are dedicated to drones and confine the drones to those places. Again, this is a huge engineering challenge, but not one that is insurmountable.



We also need to build private and commercial air-defense systems, just as the military is developing, to shield our schools, homes, and businesses from drone surveillance or attack. I wonder whether force fields such as we saw on Star Trek may become a practical reality.



Beyond the technical issues, we need to debate what is socially acceptable and to create legal frameworks. Should the cameras of delivery drones be recording and saving all video footage as they enter into the airspace of a customer's home? For that matter, should drones be allowed to fly over private property at all -- or should they be limited to public roads between droneports? Should we have the right to shoot down unauthorized drones on our property? If the Second Amendment grants the right of gun ownership to individuals for self-defense, then does it allow them to fly their own defensive drones?



These are issues we need to tackle -- and soon. The drones are coming, whether we are ready or not.



Vivek Wadhwa is a fellow at Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University, director of research at Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization at Duke, and distinguished fellow at Singularity University. His past appointments include Harvard Law School, University of California Berkeley, and Emory University.

The Best New Strong Female Characters Are The Weak Ones

The Best New Strong Female Characters Are The Weak Ones Back in June, I wrote about the problem of Trinity Syndrome: The phenomenon of bad-ass women movie characters who get intimidating introductions and impressive bona fides, but ultimately are only around to be broken down, sidelined, rescued, or won. But Trinity Syndrome is largely a summer problem, the province of action, genre, and blockbuster movies. The cooler winds of winter are bringing a wave of female-led movies and female characters in general who have their own form of strength, which looks peculiarly like weakness. Few of these women would last a single round in the ring with capable, aggressive Trinity Syndrome victims like The Lego Movie’s Wyldstyle, or How To Train Your Dragon 2’s Valka. None of them are necessarily physically powerful, good with guns or quips, or prone to handing male characters their heinies in a showdown. But their comparative vulnerability is what makes them interesting—and what drives their stories.

2014's Notable Developments in Landscape Architecture

2014's Notable Developments in Landscape Architecture This year there was a cultural shift that saw landscape architecture and its practitioners achieve an unprecedented level of visibility and influence.



This year the single most notable development came courtesy of the New York Times architecture Michael Kimmelman critic who wrote: "Great public places and works of landscape architecture deserve to be treated like great buildings."



Landscape architecture and architecture on equal footing. Let that sink in.





East 70th Street Garden at The Frick Collection designed by Russell Page. Photograph © 2014 Navid Baraty, courtesy The Cultural Landscape Foundation.





Kimmelman was writing about another notable development, the expansion plans at New York's Frick Collection, which would destroy its elegant Russell Page-designed viewing garden. When the plans were first announced in June, the garden was at best a peripheral concern. Now, as a recent New York Times article points out, it's the focal point; and the coalition Unite to Save the Frick has lined up numerous organizations, prestigious individuals and collected thousands of signatures all in opposition - among them, Robert AM Stern, architect and dean of the Yale University School of Architecture, who said: "Gardens are works of art."



Fortunately, enlightened rather than endangered accounts for the remaining notable developments - well, almost.




Buffalo Bayou Park. Photograph by Jonnu Singleton/SWA Group.






In Houston, TX, 2014 marks the climax of two decades of activity spurred by the 1995 Olin Master Plan for Hermann Park. Long known as the city without zoning, Houston has turned a corner - by engaging many of the nation's leading landscape architects, the city's patrons and stewards are showning a deep commitment and belief in the power of transforming the civic realm through the design, construction and renewal of parks and the creation of connected green spaces. The roster of practitioners and projects is impressive: Design Workshop and Reed Hilderbrand at the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center, Nelson Byrd Woltz at Memorial Park, Michael Van Valkenburgh at the Menil Collection, SWA at Buffalo Bayou Park, Hoerr Schaudt at Centennial Gardens in Hermann Park, and Hargreaves Associates at Discovery Green.



Forty years ago the great critic Ada Louise Huxtable wrote: "Houston is the place where money, power, and patronage are coming together in a city of singular excitement ... If Houston has found the formula for turning prosperity and growth into beauty and elegance, it is indeed the city of the future." Thanks to national design talent, visionary political leadership and successful public-private partnerships, Houston is transforming from the City of Petroleum to the City of Parks.



Inspired urban transformations in Atlanta, GA and Queens, NY also deserve attention. In the vein of Rails to Trails and the High Line, which have recreated abandoned railroad lines, the BeltLine, as the New York Times reported, is transforming "22 miles of vine-covered railroad into parks, housing and public transit around Atlanta," linking 45 neighborhoods in the process. In addition, "It would add 40 percent more parks to Atlanta. Only 4.6 percent of Atlanta is parkland, compared with 25 percent in New Orleans and 19 percent in New York." Last month, thanks to an $18 million TIGER V grant from the US Department of Transportation, ground was broken on the West Side Trail, a new three-mile section.




Hunter's Point South Waterfront Park. Photograph © Wade Zimmermann, courtesy Thomas Balsley Associates.




Also last month, Hunter's Point South Waterfront Park in Queens, NY, a project by Thomas Balsley Associates and architects WEISS/MANFREDI with ARUP as the prime consultant and infrastructure designer, received an Honor Award from the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA). The 5.5-acre park, which faces midtown Manhattan, is the first phase of a larger development that will transform a 30-acre, previously abandoned post-industrial area on the East River into a site with 5,000 housing units, recreation area and a public school. The park, a new model of urban ecology and a laboratory for innovative sustainable design, has been built to last - while under construction it was flooded by Hurricane Sandy, but its drainage system functioned exactly as planned.




Mellon Square. Photograph © Richard Schiavoni, courtesy The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy.






Modernism got a big boost. Mellon Square in Pittsburgh, PA, the first park over a parking garage, reopened following an extensive restoration by Heritage Landscapes, as detailed in the new book Mellon Square: Discovering a Modern Masterpiece . Designed by landscape architect John O. Simonds, of Simonds and Simonds, in collaboration with architect James Ritchey, of Mitchell and Ritchey, the plaza - called a "[M]odernist jewel" by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette's Marylynne Pitz - was paid for by the Mellon family foundations and conceived as an oasis, a gathering space in the midst of dense corporate buildings. The Thomas Church-designed General Motors Technical Center in Warren, MI, Church's only know collaboration with architect Eero Saarinen, joined an elite group when it was declared a National Historic Landmark.



Design reviewers hold great sway over aesthetic decisions, no more so than at the Commission of Fine Arts, an independent federal agency that reviews "design and aesthetics" of construction within Washington, DC. For the past two years, the presidentially appointed seven-person commission has included Elizabeth Meyer, the University of Virginia's dean of the school of architecture and a professor of landscape architecture. In 2014 two landscape architects, Mia Lehrer and Liza Gilbert, filled two vacancies at the commission - a historic event as it's the first time landscape architects, let alone three women landscape architects, have served as commissioners at the same time. The Commission oversees development on such iconic places as the National Mall, so participation by these thoughtful and considerate professionals is extremely important.




Cover: Connecticut garden designed by Richard Hartlage. An orb of steel agricultural disks rests among Rudbeckia fulgida var. deamii. Photograph by Rob Cardillo, courtesy Garden Design Magazine.






Garden Design Magazine , long a staple for informative stories and great photography, has been resurrected by publisher Jim Petersen. The new, advertising free quarterly, continues the magazine's tradition with gusto under the direction of editor in chief Thad Orr.



Finally, this year saw the passing of two exceptional people who deserve to be much better know. Conrad Hamerman, a selfless Modernist designer, devoted the greater part of his career to bringing his friend and colleague, Roberto Burle Marx, to the forefront of landscape architecture in the US. Although the bulk of Hamerman's career focused on teaching and mentoring, he also completed a significant body of built work including his own magical garden in Philadelphia, which is worthy of preservation.




People resting on the parterre under mesquites trees at Arizona Center in Phoenix, a project by Bill Callaway. Photograph by Dixi Carrillo/SWA Group.





William Callaway, known as Bill, who spent his 45-year career at SWA (originally known as Sasaki Walker Associates), was considered an "icon of post-World War II design" by Peter Walker, one of the field's most influential practitioners and educators. A statement issued by SWA said: "Bill's enormous talent and dedication produced impactful landscape architecture projects throughout the United States and internationally." Bill's inspiring and estimable legacy, which includes important Postmodernist projects, is worthy of emulation.



As I put the finishing touches on this article, the following appeared in the Chicago Tribune: "Final push for Obama library bids ahead of Thursday deadline." Among the sites being considered for the presidential library are two historic parks - Washington and Jackson - designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr. and Calvert Vaux, of Central Park fame. This comes on the heels of recently announced plans to build, what Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin calls, George Lucas' "ridiculously overscaled mountain of a museum along Lake Michigan."



For all of the progress we can cite with statements like the one from Mr. Kimmelman, we still have to deal with retrograde thinking that views parks as dumping grounds and places to put "stuff."

Even When You're Not Using It, Your iPhone Is Distracting You

Even When You're Not Using It, Your iPhone Is Distracting You Smartphones are a near-constant source of distraction in our daily lives. We check them an average of 110 times a day, according to a 2013 study, set them beside our plates at the dinner table, and even use them in the bathroom and during sex.



But even when we're not using them, our devices are still a distraction, according to new research.



Researchers from Southern Maine University found that the mere presence of a person's phone can be enough to divert his attention away from more important, complex tasks.



The researchers asked volunteers from two university statistics classes to participate in two attention exercises, one simple and one more challenging. In one of the classes, they asked students to keep their phones on their desks while they worked on the cancellation tasks. They were told that one of the tasks would ask about the type of phone they used. In the other class, the phones were kept out of vision.



On the simple tasks, both the phone-visible and the phone-away classes performed comparably. But when it came to the complicated tasks, the group without phones on their desks performed significantly better, getting an average of 26 answers correct, while the phone-visible group got 21 correct.



"When the task requires more attention and more executive functioning, then a slight distraction starts to cause a deficit," one of the study's authors, Bill Thornton, told the Huffington Post.



The researchers hypothesize that the phone likely becomes distraction because of our associations with what it provides us -- communication, connection, and access to our social networks.



"Even when you're not using it, it's a reminder of what's out there," said Thornton. "And you're not out there and you're not on it, so it becomes distracting in that sense."



As Thornton and colleagues note, the findings are consistent with prior research which has found that the presence of mobile devices can have a negative impact on interpersonal relationships, even if the phones are not being used.



But is out of sight really out of mind? When it comes to smartphone-induced distraction, it seems that we just can't win. Some research has suggested that among heavy smartphone users, being separated from the device causes anxiety -- likely also increasing levels of distraction.

Return Of The Rhythm Method

Return Of The Rhythm Method Tired of condoms and the Pill, many women are turning to new apps that help them practice one of the oldest forms of contraception.


Every morning when she wakes up, Becca, a college student in Pennsylvania, puts a teardrop-shaped thermometer called the Daysy under her tongue. If it lights up green, she knows that day she and her boyfriend can have sex without a condom. If it’s red or yellow, they need to use protection.

Missing Dog Reunited With Owner After 3 Years Couldn't Stop 'Jumping And Wiggling'

Missing Dog Reunited With Owner After 3 Years Couldn't Stop 'Jumping And Wiggling' Allen Williams got the happy surprise of his life last weekend, when a Missouri animal shelter called to tell him to come get his dog, Titan, who'd vanished from his yard about three years ago.



"It was pretty crazy," says Williams. "After all this time I'd given up."



As you can see from this photo, which the Kansas City Pet Project posted to Facebook, Titan was clearly excited for the reunion as well.




Titan and Williams, reunited at the shelter. Photo credit: Kansas City Pet Project




"Our staff said that Titan saw his owner and immediately started jumping and wiggling. It took a very long time to get their picture because Titan was wiggling so much," shelter representative Tori Fugate says.



Williams got Titan as a gorgeous, rambunctious puppy about five years ago. He was a gift from his then-girlfriend.



Titan was about 2 years old when he somehow got out of Williams' fenced backyard in Independence, Missouri, along with his daughter's German shepherd.



His dog was microchipped, though, and Williams -- who runs a small appliance sales service -- called around the local shelters and vets' offices, with no luck. He finally came to the conclusion that Titan must have been picked up by someone who'd decided to keep him.



"I always thought he was still alive," he says.



Titan was alive, indeed, and as it turned out, he was still playing the role of canine Harry Houdini.



Late last week, a family turned up at the Kansas City Pet Project with a now-middle-aged Doberman they were calling Cocoa.



"The people who surrendered Titan to our shelter said that he kept escaping their home and they didn’t have a fence," says Fugate. "They felt like they couldn’t handle him anymore so they made arrangements to bring him to our shelter for us to find him a new home."



The shelter checked for a microchip and found one that had migrated away from its original location and traveled down into Titan's leg. The chip was still registered to Williams, who then got an unexpected phone call.



"I was so surprised by the call," says Williams. "Nothing I expected after all this time."



"We made arrangements for him to come get him the next day," Fugate says. "It is thrilling to be able to reunite lost pets with their owners. This is definitely one of our happiest stories and we were so happy to bring the pair back together."




Titan in the car on his way back home. Photo credit: Allen Williams




There've been some changes in the last few years, of course. Titan is now older and bigger. And while his daughter's German shepherd is still at large, a couple of new dogs have moved into the house, where, Williams promises, a tall, locked fence keeps them from roaming.



Titan seems to be taking his old life in stride, Williams says. And so, after this ecstatic reunion, and peaceful settling-back-in period, Williams is optimistic that love, and a secure perimeter, will keep Titan safely at home this time around.



"So far he's been pretty good," he says. "Hopefully he's not an escape artist. Only time will tell, you know?"




Stay, Titan! Photo credit: Allen Williams




Head over to the Kansas City Pet Project's Facebook page for information about the many, many animals this open access, no-kill shelter has available for adoption.



Get in touch at arin.greenwood@huffingtonpost.com if you have an animal story to share!



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On Human Rights Day, We Remember Salwa Bugaighis

On Human Rights Day, We Remember Salwa Bugaighis





December 10 marks Human Rights Day, an opportunity for the world to recognize and celebrate global progress towards human dignity. For 2014, the United Nations has taken the theme of "Human Rights 365", underlining the fundamental nature of the declaration of human rights. For those of us whose daily lives are committed to the struggle to have our basic freedoms guaranteed and respected, it is a theme of great poignancy.



Though the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is now well over 60-years-old, its notions of fair treatment under the rule of law, equal rights in marriage, freedom of expression and so on are still far from universally respected. The struggle continues across the globe for governments to honor and enforce human rights through action, and for human rights defenders and the international community at large to hold them accountable when they fail to uphold them.



The reality of any such struggle is that sacrifice is as much part of the territory as progress, and that valiant men and women will be lost in the battle against those who see human rights as an encroachment on their untrammelled power. Today in particular, I will remember one person lost in the struggle -- my friend, Salwa Bugaighis. One of the strongest voices and bravest leaders in the Libyan revolution, Salwa was brutally assassinated in June, after she returned home from voting in the general elections.



Salwa was seen across the world as one of Libya's best hopes for a democratic future -- potentially even a future president of the country -- and it was for symbolizing this hope that she was so brutally targeted. So far, no one has been prosecuted for this terrible crime, and Libya remains a country bitterly divided and scarred by violence.



It is the indivisibility and universality of human rights that marks their power as a concept and as a measure of our human dignity, and that is why we say that Justice for Salwa is Justice for All.



Like many in the struggle for human rights, Salwa's life was marked by a burning desire for justice, for democracy, for equality, for dignity. Such a flame can ignite these passions in everyone that it touches. To have known Salwa is to have been inspired by her commitment, not just for Libyans, but for all who strive to make these ideals a reality. Those who tried so violently to extinguish this flame have failed; we will not be cowed from fighting for everything that Salwa believed in, fought for, and wanted for Libya and for the world.



Today we spread the message that human rights are nothing if they are not universal. We seek justice for Salwa, not merely in the prosecution of her assassins, but in peace, security and democratic freedom for the people of Libya. We seek freedom and security for men and women across the Arab region, freedom from persecution from unjust governments, from armed militias, and from those who withhold their human rights.



Securing fundamental rights for all must be Salwa's legacy. Her actions, her words, her inspiration lead us ever forwards. Justice for Salwa is Justice for All.

The Prince and I Sat Down Near the Window

Books as Chariots

Books as Chariots



So many youngsters and teens alike are facing difficult days as the holidays near. They are in search of another world, a more loving community, a less lonely future to think about. Every day we see children come for their first Reading Party here. As they walk in they are timid, skeptical of what will happen in the next hour, not sure if they should relax just yet - maybe it's not all OK. Volunteers help them take their coats off - they are staying for a while they are told. They are still uncomfortable in our foreign, albeit magical, surroundings.



But soon we hear them laughing. The ice-breaking introductions are in full swing.



"What's your favorite food?" they are asked.



They chuckle and roar to hear shy Justin whisper "carrots." They begin to scramble to get to the bookshelves. We know they are letting their guards down. We are melting.



"Do you want to pick a book from the shelves?" a volunteer asks 6-yr old Stella.



Stella nods and runs over to the crowd of classmates vying for the most popular books. She returns to her volunteer with a book about animals.



"Now that I have a new book I can learn new words," she announces.



A book is a chariot that takes children on a very special journey...into worlds where they fit in, peaceful galaxies that invite them to stay as long as they want, a personal high flying rocket that lifts off into a safe place.



"I always feel as if I am in the book," one boy told us this week. "I like being able to go on the adventure with the characters."



"What's the best thing about a new book at bedtime?" asks a volunteer to a little boy leaning on her as she holds him close.



"That you can go into your own world," he tells her.



"Do you like reading a story before bed each night?" she wants to know.



"Yes, because I can dream good dreams," he answers.



Maybe books do transport these children into a pretend existence. The words and pictures fill their imaginations with exciting and promising notions. For so many of them it's better to find an escape for at least a little while than to live in their real world right now. The children find comfort and solace in books and if it eases their minds, we can help them make-believe for an hour.

Soup-o-rama Mama

Soup-o-rama Mama Winter, a time to pull on our flannel PJs and snuggle. One thing this frosty cowgirl likes come snow time is a big bowl of hot soup ... and a True Blood marathon. What is it about vampires that make them so damn sexy?



Anyway, biscuits, here are a few recipes to sink your fangs into. Sometimes when I cater winter weddings, I pass the smooth soups in shot glasses and the chunky soups in espresso cups. Soup can make a downright exciting hors d'oeuvre! Who knew?



It's Like Butta ... (Nut Squash Soup) good for 2 to 4 people.



Butta recipe number one



Buy one large butternut squash. Peel the squash, cut it in half and scoop out the inside. Chop into bite-size chunks. Peel and dice one white onion.



In a deep, heavy-bottom pot, sauté your onion in butter and then add the squash. Cover with about 4 coffee cups vegetable stock and cook over medium heat till soft, about 30 minutes. Strain the veggies and puree, adding back in the stock as you go, then season with salt, ground white pepper and cinnamon or nutmeg.



Butta recipe number two



I love this version, too. Skip the whole onion sauté thing, and just throw the squash in a deep pot with enough water to cover, toss in two cinnamon sticks and boil till the squash is soft. Take out those cinnamon sticks, then puree in batches, using the cooking liquid, and season with salt, ground white pepper, brown sugar and a heaping plop of sweet butter. Sometimes I add nutmeg, too. Sometimes I add a pinch of curry - also nice. You can keep the soup thick or thin it out with more broth. If you want to keep it vegan, skip the butter and add a coffee cup of apple cider. That's yummy, too.



Sometimes I garnish this soup with crème fraiche and chives; that sure is pretty. I've also garnished it with a drizzle of balsamic reduction glaze. But it's fine as is, too.





Crazy for Carrot Soup

In a deep, heavy-bottom pot, sauté one chopped onion in olive oil or butter. Sometimes I add a plop of minced garlic for extra zing. Add two heaping coffee cups full of peeled and diced carrots and three coffee cups of vegetable stock and a plop of fresh peeled and minced ginger. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 40 minutes or until carrots are very soft. Let cool a little bit so it's not nuclear hot, then puree in batches, adding a couple of drizzles of fresh lemon juice. Season to your liking with salt, fresh ground pepper, ground cumin, ground cardamom and ground coriander.



You can also add cream to this soup but it's pretty darn good as is. I like to throw in a tiny pinch of cayenne pepper when I'm in the mood to kick it up. Sriracha also throws a little gas into the fire! Some folks skip all the above seasoning and just toss in a heaping pinch of good curry powder with salt and pepper. That's fine, too, dears.

Hitler Appears In Thai Video To Promote 'Values'

Hitler Appears In Thai Video To Promote 'Values' BANGKOK (AP) — The short propaganda film commissioned by Thailand's military rulers was supposed to promote the "12 core values" every Thai student must now learn. But there was one scene the junta has had trouble explaining: a grinning schoolboy painting an image of Adolf Hitler while his smiling classmate applauds.



The video, which has been screened before movies in major theaters since Saturday, has been met with ridicule on social media and condemned by the Israeli Embassy in Bangkok. On Wednesday, a senior official in the prime minister's office, Panadda Diskul, called the uproar a "misunderstanding," but said the Nazi imagery in the cartoon scene would soon be replaced.



The 11-minute film tells the story of two young kids learning about life and loyalty, and Panadda told The Associated Press that the boy shown merrily painting an image of Hitler saluting beside a swastika was trying to compare his mother to a dictator, in essence a rebellious jest.



In the video, however, there is no such explanation. It is part of a sequence without dialogue that depicts an otherwise normal day at school — the boys catching butterflies at a playground, doing experiments in a chemistry class and exercising on a karate mat. It lasts just a few seconds and runs with a cheery tune playing in the background.



"The film is good, but it has caused a slight misunderstanding in our society," Panadda said. "We won't stop the project, but we will replace that problematic picture with another, more proper one."



Israel's ambassador to Thailand, Simon Roded, issued a statement saying he was "deeply saddened to see this trivialization and misuse of Nazi symbols in an official Thai movie."



"I was surprised that throughout the screening process this movie must have gone through to be approved for public broadcast, none of the smart, well educated people checking it had identified it as being problematic and offensive," Roded said. ""If we learn anything from this incident it is that Holocaust education, especially its global messages of tolerance, should be introduced into the Thai curriculum."



The study of history in the Thai school system revolves primarily around the history of Thailand and its long line of kings. World history is glossed over, with little or no mention of the Holocaust.



After overthrowing the Southeast Asian nation's elected government on May 22, coup leader-turned-Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha introduced the so-called 12 values as part of a junta campaign to return "happiness" to the people. The values reflect traditional concepts in Thai culture the military felt needed reinforcing; they range from upholding the monarchy to respecting parents and understanding "true democratic ideals."



Last year, Thailand's premier Chulalongkorn University apologized for displaying a billboard that showed Hitler alongside Superman and other superheroes, saying it was painted by ignorant students who didn't realize Hitler's image would offend anyone. The billboard was removed after two days.

The Holy Monkeys Of Nepal's 'Monkey Temple' Captured In Stunning Video

Former Polish Leader Says He Was Unaware Of Torture In CIA Secret Prison

Former Polish Leader Says He Was Unaware Of Torture In CIA Secret Prison WARSAW, Poland (AP) — After denying the fact for years, a former Polish president acknowledged Wednesday that Poland had let the CIA run a secret prison on its territory but insisted that Polish officials did not authorize the harsh treatment or torture of its inmates.



Former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski spoke after a U.S. Senate report condemning CIA practices at secret prisons was released Tuesday in Washington. The report did not identify the host countries. Despite the repeated Polish denials, The Associated Press had published stories on the prison, citing former CIA officials who told the AP it operated from December 2002 until the autumn of 2003. Human rights groups believe about eight terror suspects were held in Poland, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks.



Kwasniewski was in power from 1995-2005 but like other left-wing government leaders of the time, he denied the site's existence until now.



Kwasniewski, who gave no dates for the prison's operation, said Wednesday that the CIA prison was halted under pressure from Poland's leaders.



"Poland took steps to end the activity at this site and the activity was stopped at some point," Kwasniewski said on Radio TOK FM in Warsaw.



He also said he pressured former U.S. President George W. Bush to terminate U.S. intelligence activity in a talk at the White House. Kwasniewski is known to have visited the White House in July 2002.



Several politicians in Poland criticized the publication of the report as a mistake that harms U.S. allies.



The report, which is heavily redacted, does not mention Poland by name. However, one section clearly refers to Poland, due to references to detainees and the dates they were held in Poland, facts known from earlier investigations by the AP, human rights organizations and the European Court of Human Rights.



In 2008, Poland's center-right government ordered a probe into the reports. Government officials say the U.S. report could provide new evidence for the probe, which is still ongoing.

'Bionic Bra' Automatically Shape-Shifts When You Need It To

'Bionic Bra' Automatically Shape-Shifts When You Need It To Scientists at Australia's University of Wollongong are hoping to boost women's workouts, but not with training tips or special sports drinks.



They're working on a bionic bra. Or, more specifically, on a sports bra that would automatically adjust in response to a woman's breast movements--providing extra support when it's needed without reducing overall comfort.



That's not such an easy combination to find.



"Unfortunately, the most supportive sports bras tend to be the most uncomfortable to wear," Dr. Julie Steele, director of Breast Research Australia (BRA) and professor of biomechanics at the university, said in a written statement. "Making matters worse, BRA research has found that 85 percent of women are wearing bras that do not fit or support their breasts correctly.”



And so Steele and her colleagues are hoping their bionic undergarment can solve those problems.



The bionic bra is knitted with movement-sensing "smart" materials. When the wearer moves, the materials send an electronic signal to the bra's fibers to tighten or adjust in response.



In an early prototype of the bionic bra, the fibers contract near the clasp at the back. In future bionic bra designs, the fibers will cover the entire piece, the New York Post reported.



"The components are currently modular and are fitted onto a commercially available sports bra," Steele told The Huffington Post in an email. "Ultimately, we will design an integrated product that will be custom manufactured."



The bra was discussed Nov. 30 at the 9th Australasian Biomechanics Conference (ABC9) at the University of Wollongong.

The Geography Of Happiness: Where Americans Are Happiest And Why

The Geography Of Happiness: Where Americans Are Happiest And Why The United States was founded so people could pursue happiness, but some places seem to do a better job of it than others. There's a big difference between the happiest and least happy places in the country, according to new research.



Led by Stephan Goetz, a professor at Penn State, the study looks at the number of "poor mental health days" reported per county—that is, the number of days people said they were in a negative mood. The "least happy" communities reported up to 8.3 days a month, compared to less than half-a-day for the happiest.

What Sexual Assault Does To The Brain

What Sexual Assault Does To The Brain The unraveling of Rolling Stone's recent blockbuster feature on campus sexual assault has led to a great deal of hand-wringing over the way the media covers these crimes.



The magazine's story centers around "Jackie," who described being subject to a horrific gang rape while a freshman at the University of Virginia. Independent reporting found fault in Rolling Stone's coverage, primarily surrounding some discrepancies between Jackie's account in the magazine and the memories of those who had been around her at the time of the attack.



Based on these discrepancies, some have called the story a hoax, or at least untrue. In response, activists were immediately concerned that the bad press would reinforce the prevailing tendency to doubt sexual assault victims, an estimated 92-98 percent of whom are telling the truth. But actually, the argument that Jackie's account is fake based on fuzzy detail recall isn't just unlikely -- it's scientifically unsound.



Though we may never know what happened in this particular case, it's not uncommon for trauma survivors to have very fragmented recollections and difficulty with details, according to psychologist Dr. David Lisak, a forensic consultant and sexual abuse expert. This can sometimes lead to an incorrect retelling of the story.



"That's what's so important to understand -- that this is a very normal thing for a victim of a traumatic experience," he told The Huffington Post. The victim is trying to make coherence out of an incredibly disorganized set of pieces -- in almost all cases, the intention is not to deceive but rather to make sense of what they've processed.



To understand the mechanics of how memories can become faulty, it's important to understand the way the brain is wired to respond to trauma. The intense fear that comes from experiencing a traumatic event suggests to a victim's body that she is experiencing a threat to her survival, activating the amygdala -- an area of the reptilian brain involved in both fear processing and stress response. When the amygdala starts sending out alerts, we go into survival mode, putting the brain and body on high alert.



In response to the amygdala's alerts, the adrenal glands, which are chiefly involved in stress response, secrete a flood of opioid-boosting hormones. These hormones, as well as the stress hormone cortisol, are meant to help the individual to cope with the physical and emotional pain of the traumatic situation.



On the one hand, we're hard-wired to try to remember a traumatic event. This makes sense from an evolutionary perspective: we need to live through the trauma, and then be able to communicate the threat to others. But the hormones we release can make it more difficult for the amygdala to work together with the hippocampus to encode and consolidate information, disrupting the victim's remembering of the event.



"The brain is trying to lay down a memory of the trauma," Dr. Rebecca Campbell, a community psychologist at Michigan State University who has lectured widely on the neurobiology of sexual assault, explained to The Huffington Post. "The problem is that those hormones... interfere with the brain's capacity to lay down a picture perfect representation of the trauma."



When we're in this state of high stress, it's natural to focus the attention on the most immediate aspect of the threat -- and lose attention to all other details.



"What we perceive changes, and we may become hyper focused on what we perceive to be the threatening stimuli," Lisak explains. "Very often when we become focused on that, we lose attention to everything else. So the peripheral details really fade away in terms of our attention. That has an impact on what we recall after the fact."



A victim may have a clear memory of certain details (for example, the assailant's tee shirt), and a hazy recollection of other aspects of the experience, like where it took place and when.



There are more complications to proper recall: "We may become hyper focused on what we perceive to be the threatening stimuli," said Lisak. "Very often when we become focused on that, we lose attention to everything else. So the peripheral details really fade away in terms of our attention. That has an impact on what we recall after the fact."



Campbell draws an analogy to listening to a college lecture with only mini post-it notes to write on. You have these little, separate pieces of information that you've tried to take down, and the end of the lecture, the notes fall on the ground and get scattered.



"It doesn't come together and store in a nice, neat complete package," said Campbell.



But often, victims are questioned or discredited for precisely this reason. Although the neuroscience of sexual assault tells us a great deal about the tendency of trauma to fragment memory -- and provides insights into to how to effectively investigate and provide support for victims [SOURCE?], law enforcement and campus officials rarely take these facts into consideration, according to Campbell.



Lacking an awareness of how memory works in trauma victims, law enforcement -- and sometimes also friends, family and campus officials, Campbell adds -- unwittingly contribute to "secondary victimization." This occurs when victims disclose and seek help for a sexual assault, and then feel victimized again because of the way they're treated.



"[Victims] are put through the ringer of having their credibility questioned, their integrity questioned, their behavior questioned," says Campbell, "so that they are the focus of the investigation rather than the offender's behavior."



Campbell and Lisak highlight the need for greater awareness and education on how traumatic memory works, and the necessity of taking this information into consideration in victim questioning procedures -- in examination rooms, on college campuses or, in this particularly unlucky case, the public court of national media.

Gegen den Umsatz-Rückgang: McDonald's bringt den Burger zum Selbermachen - nach Döner-Vorbild

Gegen den Umsatz-Rückgang: McDonald's bringt den Burger zum Selbermachen - nach Döner-Vorbild McDonald’s hat es derzeit schwer: unzufriedene Kunden, schlechter Umsatz. Nun will die Fastfood-Kette mit einem neuen Konzept wieder Kunden anlocken: Nach dem Mottto “Create your taste” können sich Kunden künftig ihren Wunsch-Burger zusammenstellen.



anih/FOL/Wochit