US President-elect Barack Obama has taken part in a high-powered lunch at the White House. President George W Bush hosted the event to give his successor the chance to meet former Presidents George HW Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter. It was the first such meeting since 1981. US presidents usually only gather at sombre events such as funerals or historic ceremonies. The lunch took place with Mr Obama's inauguration less than two weeks away. President Bush and Mr Obama met privately for about half an hour in the Oval Office ahead of the lunch. Democrat Jimmy Carter (1977-81), Mr Bush's father Republican George HW Bush (1989-93) and Democrat Bill Clinton (1993-2001) then joined them for a group photograph in the Oval Office.
US President-elect Barack Obama has taken part in a high-powered lunch at the White House.
President George W Bush hosted the event to give his successor the chance to meet former Presidents George HW Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.
It was the first such meeting since 1981. US presidents usually only gather at sombre events such as funerals or historic ceremonies.
The lunch took place with Mr Obama's inauguration less than two weeks away.
President Bush and Mr Obama met privately for about half an hour in the Oval Office ahead of the lunch.
Democrat Jimmy Carter (1977-81), Mr Bush's father Republican George HW Bush (1989-93) and Democrat Bill Clinton (1993-2001) then joined them for a group photograph in the Oval Office.
a high-powered lunch
Let's hope it was sustainable.
The parents of a six-year-old boy in the US have been charged with neglect after the boy drove their car for 10km in an attempt to get to school on time. Police in Virginia said the boy, who was not named, took the keys to the car after he missed the school bus. He drove for six miles (10km) on major roads, weaving through traffic and overtaking slower cars, before losing control and going off the road. The boy told police he learned to drive by playing video games.
The parents of a six-year-old boy in the US have been charged with neglect after the boy drove their car for 10km in an attempt to get to school on time.
Police in Virginia said the boy, who was not named, took the keys to the car after he missed the school bus.
He drove for six miles (10km) on major roads, weaving through traffic and overtaking slower cars, before losing control and going off the road.
The boy told police he learned to drive by playing video games.
breakfast followed by physical education
no doubt followed by indigestion keep to the Fen Causeway
A skier was left dangling from a chairlift at an American resort after he became stuck upside-down with his ski trousers round his ankles. Photos show the man naked from his waist to his knees, swinging from one leg, and still wearing both skis.
A skier was left dangling from a chairlift at an American resort after he became stuck upside-down with his ski trousers round his ankles.
Photos show the man naked from his waist to his knees, swinging from one leg, and still wearing both skis.
I had thought yesterday of a captioning contest, with reference to the outgoing admin in the US. But i thought better of it.
Then "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
A cosmic chicken-and-egg question has been solved by astronomers, who now say that black holes came before galaxies. The findings were presented at a major astronomy meeting in California. Most if not all galaxies, including our own Milky Way, are believed to have massive black holes at their cores. It was unclear whether black holes came first, helping create galaxies by pulling matter towards them, or whether they arose in already formed galaxies. "It looks like the black holes came first," said Dr Chris Carilli, from the US National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Socorro, New Mexico, who took part in the study. "The evidence is piling up."
A cosmic chicken-and-egg question has been solved by astronomers, who now say that black holes came before galaxies.
The findings were presented at a major astronomy meeting in California.
Most if not all galaxies, including our own Milky Way, are believed to have massive black holes at their cores.
It was unclear whether black holes came first, helping create galaxies by pulling matter towards them, or whether they arose in already formed galaxies.
"It looks like the black holes came first," said Dr Chris Carilli, from the US National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Socorro, New Mexico, who took part in the study. "The evidence is piling up."
PARIS (Reuters) - Temperatures plunged to record lows in Germany and heavy snow forced normally sunny Marseille to close its international airport as freezing winter weather gripped much of Europe on Wednesday. Port authorities in the Dutch city of Rotterdam deployed an icebreaking ship for the first time 12 years, while in Britain forecasters issued a new severe weather warning. In the Balkans, thousands shivered in their homes after gas supplies to southeastern Europe were cut as a result of a contract dispute between Russia and Ukraine, reminding many of the freezing winters they endured in the wars of the 1990s. "It all reminds me of the war when we were freezing, except there is no shooting," said Hilmo Celjo, who stood in a queue near the Bosnian capital Sarajevo to buy wood and coal. Temperatures sank to record lows in parts of Germany overnight. A weather station in the eastern state of Saxony said the coldest spot was -27.7 degrees Celsius.
PARIS (Reuters) - Temperatures plunged to record lows in Germany and heavy snow forced normally sunny Marseille to close its international airport as freezing winter weather gripped much of Europe on Wednesday.
Port authorities in the Dutch city of Rotterdam deployed an icebreaking ship for the first time 12 years, while in Britain forecasters issued a new severe weather warning.
In the Balkans, thousands shivered in their homes after gas supplies to southeastern Europe were cut as a result of a contract dispute between Russia and Ukraine, reminding many of the freezing winters they endured in the wars of the 1990s.
"It all reminds me of the war when we were freezing, except there is no shooting," said Hilmo Celjo, who stood in a queue near the Bosnian capital Sarajevo to buy wood and coal.
Temperatures sank to record lows in parts of Germany overnight. A weather station in the eastern state of Saxony said the coldest spot was -27.7 degrees Celsius.
ScienceDaily (Jan. 8, 2009) -- Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine and at UC-San Francisco have succeeded in isolating stem cells from human testes. The cells bear a striking resemblance to embryonic stem cells -- they can differentiate into each of the three main types of tissues of the body -- but the researchers caution against viewing them as one and the same. According to the study, the testes stem cells have different patterns of gene expression and regulation and they do not proliferate and differentiate as aggressively as human embryonic stem cells. The findings, published in the January issue of the journal Stem Cells, are in contrast to those reported in a recent Nature paper, which concluded that the cells were, in fact, as pluripotent as embryonic stem cells. Pluripotent cells can become any cell in the body and form tumors called teratomas when transplanted into mice. "It's time to reinterpret the data," said Renee Reijo-Pera, PhD, professor of obstetrics & gynecology at Stanford, "and to accept that we're beginning to discover many different types of stem cells. Although they are all related to each other, they also all have unique therapeutic applications in which they surpass other family members."
ScienceDaily (Jan. 8, 2009) -- Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine and at UC-San Francisco have succeeded in isolating stem cells from human testes. The cells bear a striking resemblance to embryonic stem cells -- they can differentiate into each of the three main types of tissues of the body -- but the researchers caution against viewing them as one and the same.
According to the study, the testes stem cells have different patterns of gene expression and regulation and they do not proliferate and differentiate as aggressively as human embryonic stem cells.
The findings, published in the January issue of the journal Stem Cells, are in contrast to those reported in a recent Nature paper, which concluded that the cells were, in fact, as pluripotent as embryonic stem cells. Pluripotent cells can become any cell in the body and form tumors called teratomas when transplanted into mice.
"It's time to reinterpret the data," said Renee Reijo-Pera, PhD, professor of obstetrics & gynecology at Stanford, "and to accept that we're beginning to discover many different types of stem cells. Although they are all related to each other, they also all have unique therapeutic applications in which they surpass other family members."
Is this for real? Now even the pornographers are lining up for a government bailout. Larry Flynt, the publisher of Hustler magazine, and Joe Francis, the producer of the "Girls Gone Wild" videos, said Wednesday that they were asking Congress for $5 billion in federal assistance, asserting that the adult entertainment industry was among those hit by the recession, which "has acted like a national cold shower." "With all this economic misery and people losing all that money, sex is the farthest thing from their mind," Mr. Flynt said in a statement. "It's time for Congress to rejuvenate the sexual appetite of America. The only way they can do this is by supporting the adult industry and doing it quickly."
Is this for real? Now even the pornographers are lining up for a government bailout.
Larry Flynt, the publisher of Hustler magazine, and Joe Francis, the producer of the "Girls Gone Wild" videos, said Wednesday that they were asking Congress for $5 billion in federal assistance, asserting that the adult entertainment industry was among those hit by the recession, which "has acted like a national cold shower."
"With all this economic misery and people losing all that money, sex is the farthest thing from their mind," Mr. Flynt said in a statement. "It's time for Congress to rejuvenate the sexual appetite of America. The only way they can do this is by supporting the adult industry and doing it quickly."
