South Fork fire forces town to evacuate

South Fork fire threatens to engulf the Colorado tourist town as officials evacuate 400 residents and visitors. In South Fork, fire crews are working to save cabins and homes from the approaching blaze.?

By Jeri Clausing,?Associated Press / June 22, 2013

The smoke in the sky over a ranch near South Fork, Colo., glows red from a wildfire that is threatening the town. In South Fork, fire crews prepare to battle the blaze and save its homes and cabins.

Ed Andrieski/AP

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Fire crews with tankers and hoses at the ready stood guard Friday night as a massive and fast-burning wildfire threatened a popular mountain tourist enclave in southwestern Colorado, forcing the evacuation of more than 400 people.

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"It's like gasoline up there," said Cindy Shank, a former firefighter and executive director of the southwest Colorado chapter of the Red Cross, which set up a shelter at Del Norte's high school for residents and visitors of South?Fork, a summer retreat of cabins, RV parks and mostly part-time homes.

"I've never seen a fire do this before," Shank said of the blaze, which was being fueled by hot, windy weather and miles and miles of strands of trees killed by a beetle infestation. "It's really extreme, extreme fire behavior. It has split into two pieces. There are two heads to the fire."

A black smoky sky, broken up only by an orange glow over the outlines of the San Juan mountains, was all that was visible from the nearby town of Del Norte, where evacuees were given an update Friday evening by fire officials.

"It will be a couple of days before?South?Fork?is out of danger," Jim Jaminet, a fire management officer for the Rio Grande National Forest, told evacuees.

Although he tried to reassure the residents that their homes and cabins would be saved ? "Every type of structure protection is in place," Jaminet said ? he noted that the wind- and dead tree-fueled blaze was unpredictable.

"Every afternoon these things are getting legs and getting up and walking around," he said of the fires.

Dozens of fire crews were positioned around neighborhoods in the town, working to remove propane tanks and wood piles that could help ignite homes.

Authorities said the 47-square-mile fire was a few miles southwest of town Friday night and had been advancing at a rate of about a mile an hour.

Meantime, a third fire sparked to the West, raising concerns it would move toward the town of Creede, which has about 300 residents.

And to the east, in south-central Colorado, nine structures and four outbuildings have been lost in a wildfire in Huerfano County that forced the evacuation of about two dozen residents and more than 170 Boy Scouts since it started Wednesday, fire officials said.

South?Fork?a popular spot for hiking and camping. The fictional Griswold family camped in?South?Fork?in 1983's "National Lampoon's Vacation." The famous scene where a dog urinates on a picnic basket was filmed atSouth?Fork's?Riverbend Resort, called "Kamp Komfort" in the movie.

South?Fork's?mayor, Kenneth Brooke, sent his children and grandchildren to a safe location and stayed behind, helping several dozen area fire responders prepare for hosing down structures.

Brooke said authorities are allowing him to stay in?South?Fork?until the blaze crests a nearby mountain. Until then, the mayor was taking phone calls from nervous neighbors and telling them the town's grim forecast.

"I just tell them it doesn't look good," Brooke told The Associated Press by phone Friday. "I tell them the truth, that the fire is coming. I just tell them to keep themselves safe, evacuate as need be and don't come back.

Late June to August is usually peak season for?South?Fork, when tourists or part-time residents multiply the town's population.

Harold Josefy, his wife and their 13-year-old granddaughter left the Fun Valley RV park after officers knocked on doors Friday morning. "They told us we had to get out now," he said.

But Terri Allahdadi and her motor coach were staying in?South?Fork?for now. "It's like a ghost town," Allahdadi said by telephone Friday night. "We are not having trouble breathing. I know they need to evacuate people, but I don't feel threatened at all."

South?Fork?native Denny Fleming, 55, said he, his wife and his dad were the only residents he knew who stayed behind. His family runs?South?Fork's?only gas station. They were keeping it open so firefighters would have fuel, coffee and ice, he said. The family's Rainbow Grocery was closed though.

"We're usually very, very busy right now," Fleming said.

Since most of the residents are part-time, most evacuees said they were less concerned about personal possessions than lifestyle.

"There's just lots of memories," Sue McCraw of Stillwater, Okla., said of she and her husband, Dean's rustic cabin 11 miles from?South?Fork.

"It's an antique," Dean McCraw said. "But it has character."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/eDUfc4lCkmM/South-Fork-fire-forces-town-to-evacuate

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Justin Timberlake To Perform At BET Awards

Chris Brown, Nicki Minaj, Kendrick Lamar, Mariah Carey will also take stage at June 30 show.
By Nadeska Alexis

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1709416/justin-timberlake-bet-awards-performer.jhtml

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The Ways To Obtain The Best SEO Company In 2013

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Source: http://www.freequalityseolinks.com/seo-company-2013/

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Are Dogs 'Kids?': Owner-dog relationships share striking similarities to parent-child relationships

June 21, 2013 ? People have an innate need to establish close relationships with other people. But this natural bonding behaviour is not confined to humans: many animals also seem to need relationships with others of their kind. For domesticated animals the situation is even more complex and pets may enter deep relationships not only with conspecifics but also with their owners. Scientists at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna (Vetmeduni Vienna) have investigated the bond between dogs and their owners and have found striking similarities to the parent-child relationship in humans.

Their findings are published in the journal PLOS ONE.

Domestic dogs have been closely associated with humans for about 15,000 years. The animals are so well adapted to living with human beings that in many cases the owner replaces conspecifics and assumes the role of the dog's main social partner. The relationship between pet owners and dogs turns out to be highly similar to the deep connection between young children and their parents.

The importance of the owner to the dog

One aspect of the bond between humans and dogs is the so-called "secure base effect." This effect is also found in parent-child bonding: human infants use their caregivers as a secure base when it comes to interacting with the environment. Until recently the "secure base effect" had not been well examined in dogs. Lisa Horn from the Vetmeduni's Messerli Research Institute therefore decided to take a closer look at the behaviour of dogs and their owners. She examined the dogs' reactions under three different conditions: "absent owner," "silent owner" and "encouraging owner." The dogs could earn a food reward, by manipulating interactive dog toys. Surprisingly, they seemed much less keen on working for food, when their caregivers were not there than when they were. Whether an owner additionally encouraged the dog during the task or remained silent, had little influence on the animal's level of motivation.

When the owner is replaced by a stranger

In a follow-up experiment, Horn and her colleagues replaced the owner with an unfamiliar person. The scientists observed that dogs hardly interacted with the strangers and were not much more interested in trying to get the food reward than when this person was not there. The dogs were much more motivated only when their owner was present. The researchers concluded that the owner's presence is important for the animal to behave in a confident manner.

Why do adult dogs behave like human children?

The study provides the first evidence for the similarity between the "secure base effect" found in dog-owner and child-caregiver relationships. This striking parallel will be further investigated in direct comparative studies on dogs and children. As Horn says, "One of the things that really surprised us is, that adult dogs behave towards their caregivers like human children do. It will be really interesting to try to find out how this behaviour evolved in the dogs with direct comparisons."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/living_well/~3/8SeaNXWOkGA/130621095502.htm

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Does your salad know what time it is? Managing vegetables' 'internal clocks' postharvest could have health benefits

June 20, 2013 ? Does your salad know what time it is? It may be healthier for you if it does, according to new research from Rice University and the University of California at Davis.

"Vegetables and fruits don't die the moment they are harvested," said Rice biologist Janet Braam, the lead researcher on a new study this week in Current Biology. "They respond to their environment for days, and we found we could use light to coax them to make more cancer-fighting antioxidants at certain times of day." Braam is professor and chair of Rice's Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology.

Braam's team simulated day-night cycles of light and dark to control the internal clocks of fruits and vegetables, including cabbage, carrots, squash and blueberries. The research is a follow-up to her team's award-winning 2012 study of the ways that plants use their internal circadian clocks to defend themselves from hungry insects. That study found that Arabidopsis thaliana -- a widely used model organism for plant studies -- begins ramping up production of insect-fighting chemicals a few hours before sunrise, the time that hungry insects begin to feed.

Braam said the idea for the new research came from a conversation with her teenage son.

"I was telling him about the earlier work on Arabidopsis and insect resistance, and he said, 'Well, I know what time of day I'll eat my vegetables!' Braam said. "That was my 'aha!' moment. He was thinking to avoid eating the vegetables when they would be accumulating the anti-insect chemicals, but I knew that some of those chemicals were known to be valuable metabolites for human health, so I decided to try and find out whether vegetables cycle those compounds based on circadian rhythms."

Arabidopsis and cabbage are related, so Braam's team began their research by attempting to "entrain" the clocks of cabbage in the same way they had Arabidopsis. Entrainment is akin to the process that international travelers go through as they recover from jet lag. After flying to the other side of the globe, travelers often have trouble sleeping until their internal circadian clock resets itself to the day-night cycle in their new locale.

Using controlled lighting in a sealed chamber, Rice graduate student and study lead author Danielle Goodspeed found she could entrain the circadian clocks of postharvest cabbage just as she had those of Arabidopsis in the 2012 study. Following the success with cabbage, Goodspeed and co-authors John Liu and Zhengji Sheng studied spinach, lettuce, zucchini, carrots, sweet potatoes and blueberries.

"We were able to entrain each of them, even the root vegetables," Goodspeed said. She and Braam said the findings suggest that storing fruits and vegetables in dark trucks, boxes and refrigerators may reduce their ability to keep daily rhythms.

"We cannot yet say whether all-dark or all-light conditions shorten the shelf life of fruits and vegetables," Braam said. "What we have shown is that keeping the internal clock ticking is advantageous with respect to insect resistance and could also yield health benefits."

In the cabbage experiments, Braam, Goodspeed and Rice co-authors John Liu, Zhengji "Jim" Sheng and Wassim Chehab found they could manipulate cabbage leaves to increase their production of anti-insect metabolites at certain times of day. One of these, an antioxidant called glucoraphanin, or 4-MSO, is a known anti-cancer compound that has been previously studied in broccoli and other vegetables.

Braam's team has already begun follow-up research, which is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, into whether light and other stimuli, like touch, may be used to enhance pest resistance of food crops in developing countries.

"It's exciting to think that we may be able to boost the health benefits of our produce simply by changing the way we store it," Goodspeed said.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oP-99pOM4Yg

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/jCOBude4zvE/130620132324.htm

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Vast British spy op revealed in documents

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's spy agency GCHQ has tapped fiber-optic cables that carry international phone and internet traffic and is sharing vast quantities of personal information with the U.S. National Security Agency, the Guardian newspaper said on Friday.

The paper, which has in recent weeks been publishing details of top-secret surveillance programs exposed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, said on its website Snowden had shown it documents about a project codenamed "Tempora."

Tempora has been running for around 18 months and allows GCHQ to tap into and store huge volumes of data drawn from fiber-optic cables for up to 30 days, the paper said.

The story is likely to put further pressure on Prime Minister David Cameron's government to reassure the public about how data about them is collected and used.

Earlier this month, in response to questions about the secret U.S. data-monitoring program PRISM, Foreign Secretary William Hague told parliament that GCHQ always adhered to British law when processing data gained from eavesdropping.

He would not confirm or deny any details of UK-U.S. intelligence sharing, saying that to do so could help Britain's enemies.

"In line with longstanding practice we do not comment on intelligence matters," a GCHQ spokesman said on Friday.

"It is worth pointing out that GCHQ takes its obligations under the law very seriously. Our work is carried out in accordance with a strict legal and policy framework which ensures that our activities are authorized, necessary and proportionate, and that there is rigorous oversight."

The Tempora operation involves attaching intercept probes to transatlantic cables where they land on British stores from North America, the Guardian said.

This was done with the agreement of unnamed companies, who were forbidden from revealing warrants that compelled them to allow GCHQ access, it added.

Snowden made world headlines earlier this month when he provided details of NSA surveillance programs to the Guardian and the Washington Post.

In Washington, Snowden's disclosures have ignited a political storm over the balance between privacy rights and national security, but the NSA has defended the programs, saying they have disrupted possible attacks.

(Reporting by Rosalba O'Brien and Michael Holden; editing by Andrew Roche)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/british-spy-agency-taps-cables-shares-nsa-guardian-181011320.html

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Ex-Border Patrol agents get at least 30 years

SAN DIEGO (AP) ? A federal judge on Friday sentenced two former Border Patrol agents to at least 30 years in prison for running a ring that smuggled more than 500 illegal immigrants into the United States.

U.S. District Court Judge John Houston sentenced Raul Villarreal to 35 years in prison for being the ring leader and ordered him to pay a $250,000 fine. His brother, Fidel Villarreal, was sentenced to 30 years for managing the illicit business.

The sentences are among the longest given to border law enforcement officials for corruption.

Houston said he gave the severe sentences to deter other agents who have been entrusted by the American people to protect the border. The judge called their smuggling operation "disgusting" and a threat to national security.

Prosecutors said Raul Villarreal ? who made television appearances as an agency spokesman and once played the role of a smuggler in a public service ad ? recruited his brother to his ring. The veteran agents worked in cahoots with a corrupt Tijuana police officer and a network of others, including foot guides and drivers.

The agents would abandon their job duties manning the border to transport the migrants in Border Patrol vehicles ? sometimes several times a day from the Mexican city of Tijuana to a rugged mountainous area along the California border, federal officials said. Prosecutors said they smuggled in as many as 1,000 Mexicans and Brazilians; the judge put the figure at more than 500.

The ring smuggled in immigrants in groups of 10 and charged them about $10,000 per group, said prosecutors who alleged the brothers made more than $1 million from the scheme. The judge put the figure closer to $700,000.

"This long-term guaranteed method of bringing aliens into the United States was disgusting, pervasive and impacted significantly the national interest," Houston told the court before handing down their sentences.

Raul Villarreal thanked the court for giving him a "good trial, a fair trial." His brother echoed that. They did not show any emotion when the sentences were announced.

The federal probe began in May 2005 when an informant tipped off the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Investigators installed cameras in areas where migrants were dropped off, planted recording devices and placed tracking instruments on Border Patrol vehicles. They also trailed the ring's smuggling operations by airplane.

Prosecutors said when the brothers learned they were being investigated in June 2006, they quit their jobs and fled to Tijuana.

Two years later, the brothers were arrested there and extradited to the U.S. where they were charged with human smuggling, witness tampering and bribery.

Raul Villarreal's attorney, David Nick, had argued the prosecution's witnesses were not credible and surveillance yielded no evidence his client was the ring leader.

Fidel's attorney, Zenia Gilg, echoed that argument, saying the prosecution's case rested largely on two alleged accomplices who were promised leniency for testifying and "inconsistent statements" from migrants.

Gilg said an appeal will be filed.

"I was just disappointed," Gilg said after the sentencing. "The one thing I'm troubled by is the credibility that was given to the government's lead witness (an alleged smuggler). I felt the jury had rejected everything he said."

The Border Patrol has suffered a string of such embarrassments since doubling its size in less than a decade, including the case of an agent who pleaded guilty in April to smuggling marijuana while on duty along the Arizona-Mexico border.

But prosecutors and Judge Houston said the Villarreal case stands out as being among the worst corruption cases.

"They used their positions as Border Patrol agents to line their pockets," Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Salel said, adding later: "Unlike other corruption cases where agents have been led astray to join an organization, these agents created the organization. They called the shots. They were the ring leaders."

The defense asked the judge to request that the brothers be locked up at the same prison, but Houston declined.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-06-21-Border%20Agents-Sentencing/id-1b3bee3bbec54cad8552b0eac36e30f9

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