Video: Rumors of scandal swirl around pope?s final days

>>> but we're following breaking news coming out of the vatican this morning, include iing some rules from pope benedict that change how they pick his replacement.

>> the pope has given the cardinals permission to move up the start date of the conclave which will choose his successor. a cardinal that has been in the headlines for the past 24 hours for all the wrong reasons decides to resign and says he's not coming to the conclave. all this is happening while the faithful celebrate the end of benedict's papacy. even in his final days as pope, scandal continues to dog benedict's papacy and the church. headline rumors of blackmail and conspiracy that the vatican vehemental vehemently denies. because of his role protecting abusive priests, decide to stay home. and cardinal o'brian.

>> someone has erred in some way or another, it doesn't salt their judgment.

>> reporter: today he resigned. ugly headline that is one vatican watcher says will shape the deliberations of the conclave.

>> some of this is politics but other parts of it are the long-delayed reckoning with problems that require face iing and correcting in the church.

>> reporter: the scandals have left many of the faithful weary.

>> i'm a true believer and i hope that catholics will get a better name these days.

>> reporter: despite the controversy, st. peter's square still felt like a well-behaved mosh pit . 100,000 people came to say thank you to the 85-year-old pontiff, speaking from his window for the last time. he says he is not abandoning the church but following god's call to more prayer and meditation. now also this morning, the pope met with the three cardinals who prepared the secret dossier that's been talked about so much here, regarding the vati-leaks incident. the pope says only he has read that report and he will share it with the next pope. savannah?

>> anne thompson at the vatican for us this morning. i will be live at the vatican wednesday and thursday for the pope's final public audience and last day as the leader of the church. matt?

Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50939214/

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Fragments of continents hidden under lava in the Indian Ocean

Monday, February 25, 2013

The islands Reunion and Mauritius, both well-known tourist destinations, are hiding a micro-continent, which has now been discovered. The continent fragment known as Mauritia detached about 60 million years ago while Madagascar and India drifted apart, and had been hidden under huge masses of lava. Such micro-continents in the oceans seem to occur more frequently than previously thought, says a study in the latest issue of Nature Geoscience ("A Precambrian microcontinent in the Indian Ocean," Nature Geoscience, Vol 6, doi: 10.1038/NGEO1736).

The break-up of continents is often associated with mantle plumes: These giant bubbles of hot rock rise from the deep mantle and soften the tectonic plates from below, until the plates break apart at the hotspots. This is how Eastern Gondwana broke apart about 170 million years ago. At first, one part was separated, which in turn fragmented into Madagascar, India, Australia and Antarctica, which then migrated to their present position.

Plumes currently situated underneath the islands Marion and Reunion appear to have played a role in the emergence of the Indian Ocean. If the zone of the rupture lies at the edge of a land mass (in this case Madagascar / India), fragments of this land mass may be separated off. The Seychelles are a well-known example of such a continental fragment.

A group of geoscientists from Norway, South Africa, Britain and Germany have now published a study that suggests, based on the study of lava sand grains from the beach of Mauritius, the existence of further fragments. The sand grains contain semi-precious zircons aged between 660 and 1970 million years, which is explained by the fact that the zircons were carried by the lava as it pushed through subjacent continental crust of this age.

This dating method was supplemented by a recalculation of plate tectonics, which explains exactly how and where the fragments ended up in the Indian Ocean. Dr. Bernhard Steinberger of the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences and Dr. Pavel Doubrovine of Oslo University calculated the hotspot trail: "On the one hand, it shows the position of the plates relative to the two hotspots at the time of the rupture, which points towards a causal relation," says

Steinberger. "On the other hand, we were able to show that the continent fragments continued to wander almost exactly over the Reunion plume, which explains how they were covered by volcanic rock." So what was previously interpreted only as the trail of the Reunion hotspot, are continental fragments which were previously not recognized as such because they were covered by the volcanic rocks of the Reunion plume. It therefore appears that such micro-continents in the ocean occur more frequently than previously thought.

###

Torsvik, T.H., Amundsen, H., Hartz, E.H., Corfu, F., Kusznir, N., Gaina, C., Doubrovine, P.V., Steinberger B., Ashwal, L.D. & Jamtveit, B., ?A Precambrian microcontinent in the Indian Ocean", Nature Geoscience, Vol. 6, doi:10.1038/NGEO1736.

Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres: http://www.helmholtz.de/en/index.html

Thanks to Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126998/Fragments_of_continents_hidden_under_lava_in_the_Indian_Ocean_

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Stocks decline as investors follow Italian vote

NEW YORK (AP) ? Stocks turned lower Monday following signs that Italy could be headed for political gridlock, potentially undermining the country's efforts to reform its economy and rekindling the region's debt crisis.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 74 points, or 0.5 percent, to 13,926 as of 2:18 p.m. EST. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 10 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,505 and the Nasdaq composite dropped 14 points, or 0.4 percent, to 3,148.

Stocks had rallied in the early going as exit polls showed that a center-left coalition in Italy that favored economic reforms in the euro region's third-largest economy was leading in the polls. That gain evaporated after another poll showed that the elections could result in a stalemate in the country's legislature.

"The Italian elections have implications for the credit markets," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential. "The ultimate worry is that the credit markets start reacting."

Investors sold Italian government bonds and erased most of an early rally in Italy's stock market as the camp led by former premier Silvio Berlusconi appeared more likely to take control of Italy's Senate, threatening the country's reform efforts.

The yield on Italy's 10-year government bond edged up to 4.43 percent from 4.40 percent. The country's benchmark stock index, the FSTE MIB, rose 0.7 percent, giving up an early gain of 4 percent.

Investors worry about the outcome of Italy's election because it could set off another crisis of confidence in the region's shared currency, the euro. Financial markets in both Europe and the U.S. have swooned at the prospect of Italy or Spain being dragged into the region's government debt troubles, which have led to bailouts of Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

On the New York Stock Exchange, Barnes & Noble rose $1.39, or 10 percent, to $14.90 after founder and chairman Leonard Riggio told the bookseller he is going to try to buy the company's retail business. Hertz advanced $1.12 to $19.85, despite posting a fourth-quarter loss, after the rental car company said that pricing improved, volume rose and it cut costs.

The Standard & Poor's 500 had its first weekly decline of the year last week. Investors sent stocks plunging after minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting revealed disagreement over how long to keep buying bonds in an effort to boost the economy.

Fed chairman Ben Bernanke will testify before the U.S. Senate's banking committee Tuesday and again before Congress on Wednesday. Investors will watch to see if he gives any further indications about how long the central bank intends to keep providing stimulus to the economy.

Several reports about consumer confidence and the housing market, scheduled to be published Tuesday, will give investors more information about the state of the economy. Optimism that the housing market is maintaining its recovery have helped underpin a rally in stocks this year.

Many analysts say the Fed's bond-buying program and the resulting low interest rates have been a big driver behind this year's stock rally. The Dow has gained 6.3 percent this year and the S&P 500 5.6 percent, pushing both near record levels. The Dow's record close is 14,164, reaching in October 2007 and the S&P closed as high as 1,565 in the same month.

European stocks also advanced, but gave back much of their early gains. Benchmark indexes rose 0.4 percent in France, 1.5 percent in Germany and 0.8 percent in Spain. Britain's index was up just 0.3 percent after Moody's stripped the country late Friday of its triple-A credit rating.

The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, fell five basis points to 1.91 percent.

Among other stocks making big moves:

? Southwestern Energy rose 51 cents to $34 after Goldman Sachs added the company to its conviction buy list, saying that the company's shale returns are poised to improve.

? Drugmaker Affymax plunged $14, or 85 percent, to $2.49 after the company recalled its anemia drug following severe allergic reactions and the deaths of some kidney dialysis patients.

?Mead Johnson fell $2.60 to $76.33 after the company said that a new regulation in Hong Kong could affect the company's sales there as well as in mainland China.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stocks-decline-investors-italian-vote-192133256--finance.html

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96% West of Memphis

All Critics (83) | Top Critics (21) | Fresh (80) | Rotten (3)

And justice for all? Hardly.

It tells the story of a terrible crime compounded by a grave injustice that's been remedied, but only in part, so it's impossible to have a single or simple response to the movie.

What sets this film apart from previous efforts to document the story is that Jackson and Walsh financed a private investigative team with legal and forensic experts who re-examined old evidence, conducted new interviews and found new witnesses.

Happy, sad, inspiring, infuriating, right and terribly wrong, all at the same time.

Berg's film is as much an indictment of the state of Arkansas' legal system as it is the prosecution.

Berg's film helps illuminate a case that should certainly be the shame of the state of Arkansas, and perhaps the criminal justice system of the entire United States.

West Of Memphis isn't afraid to show us the graphic nature of the crime and more importantly, it isn't afraid to point fingers at those whose actions deserve to be questioned.

It's reasonable to question whether the time and resources poured into this project might have been better spent highlighting a miscarriage of American justice that nobody knows about rather than one that enjoys a celebrity profile.

The most intense, nail-bitingly suspenseful thriller franchise "from the dark side" these days is not the product of a screenwriter's imagination.

The most intriguing and worthy aspect of this accomplished documentary is that it never lets anyone forget the biggest tragedy of the many threaded through this story - the helpless children who never deserved the brutal fate handed to them.

Somewhere along this narrative's mammoth timeline, examining the construction of modern social heroes became more important than the memories of three little boys.

Together with the rich material comprising interviews with family and friends, the footage shot in the various court rooms and at the crime scene is riveting

A powerful, touching and very infuriating documentary, although Berlinger and Sinofsky got there first and did it best

Amy Berg's West of Memphis does bring new information to light, which is why this somewhat procedural feature is so important.

In all, the director has assembled a powerful film, but the celebrity component feels rather unnecessary.

A frankly extraordinary document about the three innocent children who were murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas and the three innocent teenagers who spent 18 years in prison for the crime.

(Director Amy) Berg's doc is gripping, often infuriating, but in the end hopeful about the ability of truth and innocence to prevail thanks to the efforts of those who strive against all obstacles to uphold them.

The new film is largely a recap of the older ones, with more celebrity testimonials and fewer Metallica songs but little fresh insight into the miscarriage of justice it chronicles.

Extols the efforts of celebrities to win the release of three innocent men [and is] suspenseful when it's straightforward-the best CSI investigation that money can buy.

Nearly overwhelms you with hopelessness, if not an adrenaline rush of rage - even if you're familiar with the case.

It's a beautifully done piece of work in its own right, yet viewed beside the trilogy which preceded it, it comes across a bit like "Paradise Lost 3b - the Celebrity Edition."

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/west_of_memphis/

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First female South Korean president takes office

AAA??Feb. 24, 2013?8:29 PM ET
First female South Korean president takes office
By FOSTER KLUG and HYUNG-JIN KIM??By FOSTER KLUG and HYUNG-JIN KIM

In this Feb. 22, 2013 photo, South Korean President-elect Park Geun-hye, left, listens to Deputy commander, Republic of Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command Gen. Kwon Oh-sung during her visit at the Combined Forces Command in Seoul, South Korea. Even before she takes office Monday, Feb. 25, 2013, as South Korea's first female president, Park's campaign vow to soften Seoul's current hard-line approach to rival North Korea is being tested by Pyongyang's recent underground nuclear detonation. Pyongyang, Washington, Beijing and Tokyo are all watching to see if Park, the daughter of a staunchly anti-communist dictator, pursues an ambitious engagement policy meant to ease five years of animosity on the divided peninsula or if she sticks with the tough stance of her fellow conservative predecessor, Lee Myung-bak. (AP Photo/Yonhap) KOREA OUT

In this Feb. 22, 2013 photo, South Korean President-elect Park Geun-hye, left, listens to Deputy commander, Republic of Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command Gen. Kwon Oh-sung during her visit at the Combined Forces Command in Seoul, South Korea. Even before she takes office Monday, Feb. 25, 2013, as South Korea's first female president, Park's campaign vow to soften Seoul's current hard-line approach to rival North Korea is being tested by Pyongyang's recent underground nuclear detonation. Pyongyang, Washington, Beijing and Tokyo are all watching to see if Park, the daughter of a staunchly anti-communist dictator, pursues an ambitious engagement policy meant to ease five years of animosity on the divided peninsula or if she sticks with the tough stance of her fellow conservative predecessor, Lee Myung-bak. (AP Photo/Yonhap) KOREA OUT

FILE - In this Feb. 12 2013 file photo, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, right, talks with President-elect Park Geun-hye during their meeting about North Korea's nuclear test at the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea. Even before she takes office Monday, Feb. 25, 2013, as South Korea's first female president, Park's campaign vow to soften Seoul's current hard-line approach to rival North Korea is being tested by Pyongyang's recent underground nuclear detonation. Pyongyang, Washington, Beijing and Tokyo are all watching to see if Park, the daughter of a staunchly anti-communist dictator, pursues an ambitious engagement policy meant to ease five years of animosity on the divided peninsula or if she sticks with the tough stance of her fellow conservative predecessor, Lee Myung-bak. (AP Photo/Yonhap, Do Kwang-hwan) KOREA OUT

South Korea's outgoing President Lee Myung-bak, left, and his wife Kim Yoon-ok, right, make heart shape with arms before leaving the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. Park Geun-hye will take office Monday, Feb. 25 as South Korea's first female president. (AP Photo/Yonhap, Do Kwang-hwan) KOREA OUT

South Korean honor guards hold flags during a rehearsal of the 18th presidential inauguration ceremony inside the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. South Korean President-elect Park Geun-hye's inauguration will be held on Feb. 25. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A South Korean soldier, wearing a traditional uniform, walks through a sea of chairs arranged at the National Assembly during a rehearsal on the eve of President-elect Park Geun-hye's inauguration in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? Park Geun-hye has become South Korea's first female president and returned to the presidential mansion where she grew up with her dictator father.

As president, Park will face stark divisions both in South Korean society and with rival North Korea, which detonated an underground nuclear device about two weeks ago. South Koreans worry about a growing gap between rich and poor, and there's pressure for her to live up to her campaign suggestion that she can return the country to the strong economic growth her strong-man father oversaw.

Park technically took over as the clock struck midnight. Her swearing-in ceremony Monday was to be attended by tens of thousands, including international dignitaries.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-02-24-AS-SKorea-New-President/id-e12f6a731736442db6ed32ec795597e1

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Are you a renter or a keeper?

Financially, people can be divided into two categories: renters and keepers. Ownership requires going without some things for now, while the philosophy of indebtedness lets you sacrifice some of the future to have those things now.?

By Trent Hamm,?Guest blogger / February 23, 2013

A house for rent and for sale sign sit in front of a home in Portland, Ore. According to Hamm, being a 'renter' involves making long-term sacrifices, while being a 'keeper' means making short-term ones.

Rick Bowmer/AP/File

Enlarge

A while back, I ran across this brilliant quote from Sam Lipsyte?s 2010 novel, The Ask:

Skip to next paragraph Trent Hamm

The Simple Dollar is a blog for those of us who need both cents and sense: people fighting debt and bad spending habits while building a financially secure future and still affording a latte or two. Our busy lives are crazy enough without having to compare five hundred mutual funds ? we just want simple ways to manage our finances and save a little money.

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She was from the people who kept everything. I was from the people who rented some of everything for brief amounts of time. I knew I deserved no pity, would get none from the people who kept everything. They only pitied the people with nothing at all.

Setting aside the political undertones of what he?s writing here, I thought the analogy of the financially secure ?people who kept everything? and the financially unstable ?people who rented some of everything for brief amounts of time? was an interesting comparison.

Think about this in terms of car ownership.

One person buys a late model used car, paying cash. They save a little each month for the next late model used car purchase, and when their current car stops working well, they replace it, buying a new late model used car, paying cash.

Another person also buys late model used cars, but they take out a loan for it, preferably the longest possible term loan so the monthly payments are as small as possible. By the time the loan is over with, there?s only a year or two before they?re looking to trade off that late model used car for another one, taking out a loan for it, preferably the longest possible term loan.

One person ?who kept everything,? one person ?who rented some of everything.?

You can do the same thing in terms of home ownership.

One person buys a very inexpensive home, paying the largest down payment possible. They pay off that home as quickly as possible while dumping time and effort into refurbishing that home. They continue to save, then in a few years, they sell their home and pay cash for the remainder of the cost of a much nicer home.

Another person rents an apartment for years, then makes a small down payment on a much nicer home, also picking up a thirty year mortgage in the process.

One person ?who kept everything,? one person ?who rented some of everything.?

Are you going to be a person ?who kept everything? or a person who ?rented some of everything??

The philosophy of ownership versus the philosophy of indebtedness.

The catch, for most people, is that sticking to the philosophy of ownership requires going without some things for now, while the philosophy of indebtedness lets you sacrifice some of the future to have those things now. Over the long run, though, the philosophy of indebtedness drains you. It gives you a pile of monthly bills, restricting your career and personal choices. It ends up depleting your net worth.

The philosophy of ownership, on the other hand, means that interest works in your favor. It means fewer monthly bills and thus more career and personal freedom. It means you have much more control over buying and selling the things in your life, and it means that you have little worry of things being taken away from you if you can?t pay the bills.

The choice is up to you, and you make it with almost every financial transaction.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/uqL0yJuefao/Are-you-a-renter-or-a-keeper

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The brutal, exaggerated death of the form factor phone

This year's Mobile World Congress is bound to be frenetic with phone news. That's why we're about to brave Barcelona's rain, airline strikes and pickpockets (no offense, dear BCN) in order to stay up-to-date. But if there's one aspect of mobile phones we're not counting on to provide much excitement, it's their fundamental physical design or form factor. We're in the grip of the monolith, the concrete slab, the plain rectangle, with its full touchscreen and a couple of buttons here and there, and that grip is so tight that even the pickpockets are slightly shocked when they haul in something with a physical QWERTY.

But the point of this piece isn't merely to plot the decline of form factor diversity. It's actually to argue that the current monotony is probably only temporary, and that signs of a revival are already in the air. Read on and we'll do our utmost to convince you.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/24/the-exaggerated-death-of-the-form-factor/

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