[USGS Earthquake] M 2.6, Mount St. Helens area, Washington

Earthquake Details

• This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.

Magnitude	2.6
Date-Time
Location	46.285?N, 122.208?W
Depth	5 km (3.1 miles)
Region	MOUNT ST. HELENS AREA, WASHINGTON
Distances	10 km (6 miles) NNW (347?) from Mount St. Helens Volcano, WA 31 km (19 miles) S (170?) from Morton, WA 35 km (22 miles) SE (142?) from Mossyrock, WA 79 km (49 miles) NNE (23?) from Vancouver, WA
Location Uncertainty	horizontal +/- 0.2 km (0.1 miles); depth +/- 0.4 km (0.2 miles)
Parameters	Nph= 43, Dmin=5 km, Rmss=0.14 sec, Gp= 61?, M-type=local magnitude (ML), Version=3
Source
Event ID	uw60503441

• Did you feel it? Report shaking and damage at your location. You can also view a map displaying accumulated data from your report and others.

Scientific & Technical Information

Source: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/uw60503441.php

case mccoy UFC 155 Jack Klugman weather channel weather forecast merry Christmas a christmas story

OH republicans won?t join in vote-rigging scheme, ending dreams of GOP coup

A Republican plan to rig the next presidential race by changing the way electoral votes are allocated in several key blue states appears to be dead in Ohio ? although it could still advance in other Republican-controlled states such as Michigan, Pennsylvania or Wisconsin. Several of the senior-most Republican officials in Ohio told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that they do not intend to push the GOP election-rigging plan:

Spokesmen for Gov. John Kasich, State Senate President Keith Faber and House Speaker William G. Batchelder told The Plain Dealer this week that they are not pursuing plans to award electoral votes proportionally by congressional district.

Batchelder went a step further, saying through his communications director that he ?is not supportive of such a move.? And Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted, the state?s chief elections administrator, emphasized that he does not favor the plan either, despite Democratic suspicions based on reported comments that he said were taken out of context.

?Nobody in Ohio is advocating this,? Husted said in a telephone interview.

Although the death of this election-rigging plan in Ohio is an important victory for the principle that Americans choose their own leaders ? and do not have them chosen for them by partisans in state capitols ? there is still very real danger Republicans could push this plan in other states. Michigan House Speaker Jase Bolger (R) indicated he is open to the election-rigging plan late last week, and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett (R) and state Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R) both support rigging the Electoral College.

Source: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/01/29/1511561/victory-for-democracy-ohio-republicans-will-not-rig-the-electoral-college/

north korea missile nerlens noel don t trust the b in apartment 23 world financial center shabazz muhammad angela corey zimmerman charged

Flu myths and legends: Five common flu misconceptions dispelled

Jan. 28, 2013 ? It seems you can't go anywhere these days without hearing "the flu this" or "the flu that." Unfortunately, this season's influenza outbreak is one of the worst in years. And it's not just the flu virus that's causing problems; there are also many myths about the flu that are keeping people from doing more to prevent it. Mayo Clinic infectious diseases and vaccine expert Gregory Poland, M.D., dispels some of the most common:

Myth No. 1: Flu vaccines can give me the flu

False. Injectable flu vaccines are composed of pieces of inactivated flu proteins -- and it's impossible for them to "cause" flu. The nasal spray vaccine has live flu organisms weakened so they cannot multiply or cause disease.

Myth No. 2: Flu shots never work anyway, so why bother?

Also false. When there is a good match between the viruses causing disease and those in the vaccine, protection is excellent in otherwise healthy people. Protection is lower if you are unhealthy or in the frail elderly group. But vaccines are like seat belts: They are not perfect but they are the best protection we have against serious injury and death.

Myth No. 3: Flu vaccines are dangerous, especially for pregnant women

Also false. Concerns about pregnant women getting vaccinated began when women were advised not to get any kind of vaccination during pregnancy, Dr. Poland says. Today's flu vaccines are safe for expectant mothers and highly recommended. A recent large study demonstrated significant increases in maternal death among unvaccinated women infected with influenza. However, because they have not been studied in pregnant women, pregnant women should stay away from nasal flu vaccines, which do contain live, weakened flu virus, Dr. Poland says.

Myth No. 4: It's too late to get vaccinated

Again, false. While it's always better to get vaccinated before flu season begins -- it can take about two weeks for the vaccination to take full effect -- it's never too late to get a flu vaccine, Dr. Poland says. Even if you didn't get vaccinated and caught the flu, get a flu vaccine to protect yourself against the other strains that are circulating, Dr. Poland says.

Myth No. 5: It's just the flu. What's the big deal?

Once again, false. While it might be "just" the flu, Dr. Poland says we should still be concerned, regardless of our age or physical condition. In an average year, up to 40,000 Americans die from influenza and its complications, and over 250,000 are hospitalized. Millions are sick, miss school, work, and important events and spend money on over-the-counter "cold remedies." Complications and death are particularly frequent in infants and young children, those with chronic medical conditions, the elderly, pregnant women and people who are obese. Health care providers also should get immunized to prevent spreading flu to vulnerable patients, Dr. Poland says.

"No one should confuse influenza with a "minor illness." Serious complications and death result every year due to flu. Vaccines, while imperfect, offer the best protection available for you and your family, as well as others you come in contact with," says Dr. Poland, the Mary Lowell Leary Professor of Medicine and director of the Vaccine Research Group at Mayo Clinic.

Dr. Poland offers these tips for sidestepping illness:

*Wash your hands thoroughly and frequently with soap and warm water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer, particularly before leaving a restroom, eating or touching your face. Wash your hands for about 20 seconds, about as long as it takes to sing "Happy Birthday." When visiting a public restroom, use a paper towel to turn off the faucet and open the door when leaving.

*Keep your vaccines up to date: Besides the seasonal flu shot, the most important ones include the MMR vaccine for measles, mumps, and rubella and a relatively new vaccine called Tdap, for tetanus, diphtheria and acellular pertussis, or whooping cough.

*Don't smoke: It can make you more susceptible to illness in general.

*Be an advocate for your health: If someone near you is ill, move away or ask to be reseated, if you can. If a server's hands touch your food or the rim of your glass, don't be embarrassed or hesitant about asking for a new serving or moving on and eating elsewhere.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Mayo Clinic.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/living_well/~3/XGaVl2O84YE/130128113812.htm

post grad arpaio carol burnett neil degrasse tyson neil degrasse tyson davy jones death born this way foundation

Djokovic beats Murray for 3rd straight Aust. title

Serbia's Novak Djokovic holds his trophy after defeating Britain's Andy Murray in the men's final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Serbia's Novak Djokovic holds his trophy after defeating Britain's Andy Murray in the men's final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

Britain's Andy Murray, right, holds the runner up trophy as he chats with former champion Andre Agassi after Murray's loss to Serbia's Novak Djokovic in the men's final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Serbia's Novak Djokovic celebrates his win over Britain's Andy Murray in the men's final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Britain's Andy Murray wipes the sweat from his face during the men's final against Serbia's Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Serbia's Novak Djokovic, right, is presented with the trophy by former Australian Open champion Andre Agassi after defeating Britain's Andy Murray, center, in the men's final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) ? Novak Djokovic became the first man in the Open era to win three consecutive Australian titles when he beat Andy Murray 6-7 (2), 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-2 in Sunday's final.

Little wonder he loves Rod Laver Arena.

"It's definitely my favorite Grand Slam," he said. "It's an incredible feeling winning this trophy once more. I love this court."

Djokovic has won four of his six major titles at Melbourne Park, where he is now unbeaten in 21 matches.

Nine other men had won back-to-back titles in Australia over 45 years, but none were able to claim three in a row.

Only two other men, American Jack Crawford (1931-33) and Australian Roy Emerson (1963-67), have won three or more consecutive Australian championships.

Born a week apart in May 1987 and friends since their junior playing days, Djokovic and Murray played like they knew each other's game very well in a rematch of last year's U.S. Open final. There were no service breaks until the eighth game of the third set, when Djokovic finally broke through and then held at love to lead by two sets to one.

Djokovic earned two more service breaks in the fourth set, including one to take a 4-1 lead when U.S. Open champion Murray double-faulted on break point.

"It's been an incredible match as we could have expected," Djokovic said. "When we play each other, it's always, we push each other to the limit and I think those two sets went over two hours, 15 minutes, physically I was just trying to hang in there. Play my game and focus on every point."

The 25-year-old Serb didn't rip his shirt off this time, as he did to celebrate his epic 5-hour, 53-minute win over Rafael Nadal in last year's final. He just did a little dance, looked up to the sky and then applauded the crowd after the 3-hour, 40-minute match.

Murray's win over Djokovic in the U.S. Open final last year ended a 76-year drought for British men at the majors, but he still is yet to make a breakthrough in Australia after losing a third final here in the last four years.

Djokovic's win went against the odds of recent finals at Melbourne Park. In four of the past five years, the player who won the second of the semifinals has finished on top in the championship match. But this year, Djokovic played his semifinal on Thursday ? an easy 89-minute minute win over No. 4-seeded David Ferrer. Murray needed five energy sapping sets to beat 17-time major winner Roger Federer on Friday night.

"You don't wake up the next day and feel perfect, obviously," Murray said of the Federer match. "It's the longest match I played in six months probably. It obviously wasn't an issue today. I started the match well. I thought I moved pretty good throughout."

The win consolidated Djokovic's position as the No. 1-ranked player in the world, while Federer and Murray will be second and third when the ATP rankings are released Monday.

Their last two matches in Grand Slams ? Murray's five-set win at last year's U.S. Open and Djokovic's victory here last year in five in the semifinals ? had a total of 35 service breaks.

It was a vastly different, more tactical battle on Sunday, with the first two tight sets decided in tiebreakers.

"All our matches in last three years have been decided in a very few points, so it's really hard to say if I've done anything different," Djokovic said. "I tried to be more aggressive. So I went for my shots, especially in the third and fourth; came to the net quite often. I was quite successful in that percentage, so it worked well for me."

Murray, who called for a trainer to retape blisters on his right foot at the end of the second set, was visibly annoyed by noise from the crowd during his service games in the third set, stopping his service motion twice until the crowd quieted down. After dropping the third set, he complained about the noise to chair umpire John Blom.

"It's just a bit sore when you're running around," Murray said. "It's not like pulling a calf muscle or something. It just hurts when you run."

Djokovic came from 0-40 down in the second game of the second set to hold his serve, something he called "definitely one of the turning points."

"He missed an easy backhand and I think mentally I just relaxed after that," Djokovic said. "I just felt I'm starting to get into the rhythm that I wanted to. I was little more aggressive and started to dictate the play."

Although Djokovic went into the match with a 10-7 lead in head-to-heads, Murray had beaten Djokovic five out of eight times in tiebreakers, and that improved to six of nine after four unforced errors by Djokovic to end the first set.

Djokovic pegged back that edge in the second set, when Murray also didn't help his cause by double-faulting to give Djokovic a 3-2 lead, and the Serbian player didn't trail again in the tiebreaker.

On the double-fault, Murray had to stop as he was about to serve to pick up a feather that had fallen on the court.

"I could have served, it just caught my eye before I served ... I thought it was a good idea to move it," he said.

"Maybe it wasn't because I obviously double faulted. At this level it can come down to just a few points here or there. My probably biggest chance was at the beginning of the second set; (I) didn't quite get it. When Novak had his chance at the end of the third, he got his."

Djokovic will have little time to savor the win ? he's playing Davis Cup for Serbia next weekend against Belgium.

"It's going to be a lot of fun ... to see how I can adjust to clay court in indoor conditions, playing away Davis Cup, which is always tricky," he said.

Andre Agassi was among those in the capacity crowd ? the four-time Australian champion's first trip Down Under in nearly 10 years ? and he later presented the trophy to Djokovic.

Victoria Azarenka, who won Saturday's women's singles final over Li Na, was also there with her boyfriend rapper Redfoo. Actor Kevin Spacey met in the dressing room with both players ahead of the match and later tweeted a photo of himself with them.

In the earlier mixed doubles final Sunday, wild-card entrants Jarmila Gajdosova and Matthew Ebden of Australia beat the Czech pair of Lucie Hradecka and Frantisek Cermak 6-3, 7-5.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-01-27-Australian%20Open/id-6fc4d98a14a6474daf0435e8bef224fd

samuel adams snowy owl one for the money 10 minute trainer sarah burke death etta james funeral erin brockovich

Strong start to earnings lifts FTSE

LONDON (Reuters) - The FTSE 100 rose on Wednesday with strong earnings from Unilever marking a positive start to the full-year results season.

The global consumer goods firm alone provided almost three points of a seven point gain on the FTSE 100 index, its 2.7 percent rise in strong volume leading blue-chip gainers.

Unilever earlier reported underlying sales growth of 6.9 percent for 2012, beating forecasts of 6.5 percent, propelled by double-digit growth in emerging markets.

"They've put in a stellar set of results," Basil Petrides, trader at Hartmann Capital, said, although with the stock at all-time highs, he was looking for a dip before buying.

At 1132 GMT, the FTSE 100 index was up 6.86 points, or 0.1 percent, at 6,186.03 points. Ex-dividend factors clipped 1.97 points off the index, with contractor caterer Compass Group and utility Scottish & Southern Energy both trading without entitlement to their latest payouts.

BHP Billiton also lent strength after posting results, up 1.1 percent and providing 2.4 points of the index's gains.

The global miner boosted iron ore output by 3 percent in the December quarter, racing to supply more of the raw material to Chinese steelmakers despite signs of a softening market.

BHP's advance helped to lift the heavyweight mining sector to gains of 0.3 percent.

This week has seen the earnings season - already well under way in the United States - start in earnest in Europe.

In the U.S. so far, 68 percent of companies have met or beaten expectations, with 61 percent of UK companies at least meeting expectations.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose to a fresh five-year closing high on Wall Street on Tuesday after Google and IBM posted encouraging results.

"We're still in a bull market on the FTSE. All the focus is on the U.S. earnings, which have been surprisingly good, and that's what's driving the markets at the moment, with decent earnings from the UK supporting sentiment as well," Fawad Razaqzada, market strategist at GFT, said.

"There is no reason that the market should be going down at this stage."

Global stocks were also supported after Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives said they aimed to pass a bill to extend the U.S. debt limit on Wednesday.

The White House said this would remove uncertainty about the issue, although Razaqzada said that while the move was supportive, some sort of a deal to avoid catastrophic default was already priced in.

(Additional reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Jon Hopkins; Editing by John Stonestreet)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/britains-ftse-pushes-towards-6-200-level-081229228--finance.html

storm shelters nick lachey chevy volt christina hendricks lifelock camp david hawaii weather

Do Animals in Chernobyl?s Fallout Zone Glow?

In the Chernobyl exclusion zone, Valentina Sachepok (right) points out herbs to author Mary Mycio.

Courtesy Mary Mycio.

Valentina Sachepok darted ahead while I chased her through a forest in the exclusion zone surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

A camera crew followed us; they were shooting a documentary about the babushkas of Chernobyl. The 1986 disaster forced the permanent evacuation of 300,000 people, but a smattering of women still live semi-legally in their old homes.

Sachepok, a retired nurse in her 60s with tufts of gray hair peering from under a maroon kerchief, didn?t walk but trotted, sprinting abruptly while the rest of us scrambled to keep up. After collecting fat yellow mushrooms from a clump of moss, she led me to a pine tree. ?This one is for the hedgehog,? she said of the spiny creature beloved in Slavic folktales. She pierced a mushroom on a pine branch close to the ground.

That?s where radioactivity is highest these days. The explosion and fire here spewed the equivalent of at least 20 Hiroshima bombs? worth of radiation, mostly within about 25 miles of the reactor building. The most radioactive isotopes have long since decayed, and rain has washed the rest into the soil and the food chain. Two of the most persistent isotopes are cesium-137, which chemically mimics potassium, and strontium-90, which imitates calcium in living things. As these isotopes have been taken up by plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria, radioactivity is no longer on the zone, but of it.

This is a unique ecosystem, twice the size of Rhode Island and about evenly divided between Belarus and Ukraine. A generation after most humans abandoned the area, forests and wetlands have consumed once-tended fields, villages, and towns. Only the occasional carcasses of crumbling buildings mutely testify to the former occupants.

Sachepok stuck another mushroom a foot higher on the tree. ?That?s for the roe deer. It?s hard for them to find food under the snow.? The late October day was still warm, but Ukraine?s winters are frigid.

Few wild animals lived in the region in 1986; their habitats had been destroyed for Soviet dairy farms and pine plantations. But large mammals started appearing almost immediately after the evacuations, and the animal populations soon exploded.

Roe deer and wild boar caught here in the early 1990s packed more than 2,000 times the safety norms for cesium-137 in meat. Though internal radiation levels have since dropped dramatically, some animals recently tested in Belarus still exceeded safe levels by dozens of times.

But in a surprise to just about everyone, the animals all looked physically normal. The same was true of other species tested?radioactive but normal-looking. The few known exceptions include albino spots and some deformities in barn swallows.

Standing up straight, Sachepok pierced the highest mushroom. ?And this is for the moose.?

Of the dozen moose sightings I?ve had in my lifetime, all were in the exclusion zone, where in the course of many journeys I?ve spent more than a month?s time researching my book Wormwood Forest: A Natural History of Chernobyl. It?s a strange and beautiful place where I?ve spotted wolves in broad daylight; lynx tracks in the snow; and huge herds of boar, roe deer, and elk. I?m still drawn back.

Sachepok smiled with more mischief than seemed possible for a lone woman in a radioactive no-man?s land. ?The animals all know me,? she said, a gold tooth glinting, before lecturing me on healthy living, including avoiding what she called the ?zombie box??television.

I think she meant it politically. Ukrainian TV is pure propaganda. But when it comes to Chernobyl, it is only a matter of time before zombies or mutants come up. Whenever I tell anyone about my encounters with Chernobyl wildlife, the questions are always the same: Do they have two heads? Do they glow? Do you glow?

Actually, in the early years, when contaminated dust coated everything, researchers found countless examples of the monstrous mutations imagined in 1950s horror movies: malformations, dwarfism, gigantism, strange growths, and, yes, even some glowing.

But those effects were seen only in plants. While Attack of the Giant Leaves doesn?t seem as horrible as the Creature With the Atom Brain, no one has ever found seriously deformed wild animals (or zombies) after the Chernobyl accident. Mutant animals born in the wild die or get eaten before they can be discovered. Whatever the biological costs of radiation to individuals, the fittest survived.

Chernobyl?s abundant and surprisingly normal-looking wildlife has shaken up how biologists think about the environmental effects of radioactivity. The idea that the world?s biggest radioactive wasteland could become Europe?s largest wildlife sanctuary is completely counterintuitive for anyone raised on nuclear dystopias.

The news isn?t good for all animals. Many species that like human company?swallows, white storks, pigeons?mostly left the region along with the people. Also, small creatures seem to be more vulnerable to the effects of radiation than large ones. That may be why Chernobyl rodents studied in the 1990s had shorter life spans and smaller litters than their counterparts outside the zone. Stag beetles had uneven horns. But it didn?t affect their population numbers.

And because the health of wild animal species is usually judged by their numbers rather than the conditions of individuals, Chernobyl wildlife is considered healthy. According to all the population counts performed by Ukraine and Belarus over the past 27 years, there is enormous animal diversity and abundance. The prevailing scientific view of the exclusion zone has become that it is an unintentional wildlife sanctuary. This conclusion rests on the premise that radiation is less harmful to wildlife populations than we are.

In an effort to challenge that view, biologists Timothy Mousseau of the University of South Carolina and Anders Moller of the University of Paris have published a series of papers claiming that populations of insects, birds, and mammals are declining in Chernobyl?s most contaminated regions. They also contend that birds avoid nesting in highly radioactive areas. They dismiss contrary reports of animal abundance as anecdotes.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=f05c77f8227e6d4c1f0bc48e66f0ca0c

nicollette sheridan apple dividend snow white and the huntsman snow white and the huntsman rupaul drag race walking dead comic kratom

Head of Human Resources at Karen Hospital / Kenyajoblink.com

Head of Human Resources at Karen Hospital in Nairobi ? Kenya Jobs, Careers and Vacancies

The Karen Hospital is a 110 bed multi speciality hospital with state of art technology providing health care needs to the entire East African community. It has 6 satellite clinics across Kenya and plans to expand to 10 more in the next one year having national and international medical faculties to provide medical services at an affordable cost and international standards. We are looking for dynamic, result oriented individuals, who are team players with honesty and integrity, excellent communication skills to take up challenging positions in our organization. They must also possess the following desired competences, academic qualifications and professional experience.

HEAD OF HUMAN RESOURCES

Reporting to the CEO, this position is responsible for providing expert advice in the management of the human resource function and support in all strategic and administrative areas.

Key duties and responsibilities:

• Developing human resources planning strategies.
• Conducting and managing the administration activities.
• Developing, implementing and managing the performance management system
• Ensure compliance with relevant labour legislation and HR policies, procedures and guidelines.
• Develop objective performance management systems and criteria for performance measurement.
• Develop and manage staff welfare schemes such as medical, insurance pension and benefits administration.
• Develop and effectively manage the staff grievance procedure so as to ensure a conducive working environment that is motivating to staff
• Assess staff training needs and develop training and development programmes aimed at addressing the needs as well as building staff capacity
• Coordinate staff recruitment, staff induction, retention and separation process
• Prepare timely reports and relevant communication to employees
• Managing the day-to-day activities of the human resource function of the organization.

Educational Qualifications & Experience

• Degree in Human Resource or Business Management
• Masters in HRM/Business Administration will be an added advantage
• Technical knowledge in labour laws and practical experience with Industrial Relations.
• At least 10 years relevant work experience
• Must be business driven with strong financial acumen
• Must have interpersonal skills with high personal integrity
• Experience in a healthcare institution will be a definite advantage

All candidates suitably qualified should send their detailed CV and a covering letter indicating current gross salary and expected gross salary with a daytime telephone contact so as to reach the undersigned strictly via email to hrm@karenhospital.org on or before 31st January 2013.

Candidates who do not meet the minimum requirements need not apply.

Source: http://www.kenyajoblink.com/job/23347/head-of-human-resources-at-karen-hospital/

dark shadows iau msft etan patz obama dog doug hutchison larry brown