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Margaret Hassan, the kidnapped director of CARE International in Iraq, wept and pleaded for Britain to act to save her life in a video aired Friday. "Please help me. This might be my last hours," the gaunt Hassan begged, shaking with fear and burying her face in a tissue.
The wrenching appeal by Hassan puts new political pressure on Prime Minister Tony Blair's government after it agreed to a U.S. request to re-deploy troops to the Baghdad region to free up American forces for a new assault on insurgents.
Hassan, an Irish-British-Iraqi citizen who has been doing humanitarian work in Iraq for 30 years, pleaded with Britons to persuade Blair not to carry out the redeployment and warned she might meet the same fate as British hostage Kenneth Bigley, who was beheaded by his captors.
No foreign women have been killed in the wave of kidnappings that has struck Iraq. More than 150 foreigners have been abducted, and at least 33 of those have been killed, but the women among them have been freed unharmed.
Unlike most hostage tapes released by insurgents, Hassan's showed no masked gunmen, no banners of the militant organization and no explicit demands for her release. Bigley's kidnappers had demanded that U.S. and Iraqi authorities free all women prisoners.
In the video, aired on Al-Jazeera television, Hassan stood alone in front of a bare wall, visible from the shoulders up, her eyes baggy and her face haggard.
"Please help me. Please help me," Hassan said, trembling. "This might be my last hours. Please help me. Please, the British people, ask Mr. Blair to take the troops out of Iraq, and not to bring them here to Baghdad. That's why people like Mr. Bigley and myself are being caught. And maybe we will die like Mr. Bigley."
"Please, please, I beg of you," she said, then broke into tears and wept into the tissue.
Blair's Downing Street office had no immediate comment on the video.
No one has claimed responsibility for the abduction of Hassan, the most prominent figure to be swept up in the kidnapping campaign. More than 150 foreigners have been abducted — with more than 33 killed.
She was born in Dublin and was naturalized as an Iraqi after marrying an Iraqi man and became widely known for her charity work in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq, where she distributed food and medicines. But her kidnappers, who pulled her from her car in the Iraqi capital, have pointed specifically to her British citizenship.
Friday's video portended another agonizing hostage drama for Britain. Bigley's captors, said to be followers of Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, dragged out his fate in an apparent attempt to undermine Blair.
Bigley was kidnapped on Sept. 16 along with two Americans, who were beheaded within days after deadlines passed.
But the kidnappers put no deadline for Bigley's death and instead over several weeks released two videos of him pleading for Blair to save his life, one of them showing him sitting in a wire cage. Finally, footage was released in early October showing the 62-year-old being decapitated. His body, unlike those of the Americans, has not been found.


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tags: Chapter 4, KITH, Ronnie Fieg, Schooner, Sebago, Spinnaker, Spring, Summer
Chapter 4 is the final episode of the Ronnie Fieg For Sebago Spring/Summer 2013 collection. Finishing off the line are two of my favorite styles, an all new Spinnaker ($115 USD) and all new Schooner ($130 USD). The Sebago Spinnaker is a classic handsewn moc-toe boat shoe which needed two-tone nubuck uppers and Sebago's non-marking rubber Docksides soles. The style includes durable leather socklining and is laced with functional rawhide navy laces. The Schooner is one of Sebago's most iconic boat shoe styles. The handsewn model combines a classic silhouette with rubber slip-resistant Campside soles, while the genuine moccasin construction uses light brown nubuck and soft light denim on the upper. Off-white rawhide laces, calfskin lining, mudguard quarter panels and non-corrosive brass eyelets finish off the look.
The Ronnie Fieg For Sebago Spring/Summer 2013 Chapter 4 Collection will be releasing at Kith NYC stores and RonnieFieg.com starting today at 11am EST.

subset: commoncrawl


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Circumcision Pain
Several weeks ago, I was present at synagogue for a Bris celebrated on Shabbat. Truth to tell, I'd never attended a Bris. The rabbi explained that the baby would start crying because "his diaper is being taken off and it's cold in the sanctuary." But the howling screams from this tiny child were heart-rending. Yes, the wee one went to sleep fairly quickly afterward, and the ordeal was surely forgotten by him. Though I'll never forget it!
So my question is: Wouldn't it be better to have used some sort of anesthetic?
The Aish Rabbi Replies:
Having performed the circumcision on three of my sons, I can tell you that the skin itself is very soft, and most of the pain actually comes from the metal guide that is placed there prior to the cut.
As for your question, Jewish law does permit the use of anesthetic before a circumcision. The reason why it is usually not used is because the anesthesia is considered unhealthy for the child.
However, if the parents or Mohel prefer, then anesthetic is permitted. Of course, it is important to confirm with a doctor that this particular anesthetic poses no danger to the baby. (source: "Igrot Moshe" Y.D. 4:40)


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Do We Know What Causes Breast Cancer in Men?
Although certain risk factors may increase a man's chances of developing breast cancer, the cause of most breast cancers in men is unknown.
Hormone levels
Breast cells normally grow and divide in response to female hormones such as estrogen. The more cells divide, the more chances there are for mistakes to be made when they are copying their DNA. These DNA changes can eventually lead to cancer (see below).
Factors that change the ratio of female and male hormones in the body can therefore have an effect on breast cancer risk. Many of these were described in the section " What are the risk factors for breast cancer in men?"
Gene changes (mutations)
Researchers are making great progress in understanding how certain changes in DNA can cause normal cells to become cancerous. DNA is the chemical in our cells that makes up our genes, the instructions for how our cells function. We usually look like our parents because they are the source of our DNA. However, DNA affects more than how we look.
Some genes contain instructions for controlling when our cells grow, divide, and die. Certain genes that speed up cell division are called oncogenes. Others that slow down cell division or cause cells to die at the appropriate time are called tumor suppressor genes. Cancers can be caused by DNA mutations (defects) that turn on oncogenes or turn off tumor suppressor genes.
Acquired gene mutations
Most DNA mutations related to male breast cancer occur during life rather than having been inherited before birth. It's not clear what causes most of these mutations. Radiation to the breast area is a factor in a small number of cases. Some acquired mutations of oncogenes and/or tumor suppressor genes may be the result of cancer-causing chemicals in our environment or diet, but so far studies have not identified any chemicals that are responsible for these mutations in male breast cancers.
Inherited gene mutations
Certain inherited DNA changes can cause a high risk of developing certain cancers and are responsible for cancers that run in some families.
Some breast cancers are linked to inherited mutations of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 tumor suppressor genes. Normally, these genes make proteins that help cells recognize and/or repair DNA damage and prevent them from growing abnormally. But if a person has inherited a mutated gene from either parent, the chances of developing breast cancer are higher.
- In women, mutations of BRCA1 and BRCA2 are responsible for a small fraction of breast cancers. Women with either of these altered genes have a very high risk of breast cancer.
- In men, changes in the BRCA2 gene seem to be responsible for some breast cancer cases, but different studies have different estimates for how many.
- BRCA1 seems to play a role in only a small number of male breast cancers, but it may be more common in Jewish men.
Last Medical Review: October 10, 2014 Last Revised: January 26, 2016
American Cancer Society medical information is copyrighted material. For reprint requests, please see our Content Usage Policy.


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How to generate highest return in stock market – Warrens Buffett's Way. Explained with current stock pick Here is the strategy used to attain highest compound annual return in stock market. These formula's used by great stock pickers like Warren Buffet, Benjamin Graham and Charlie Munger to generate consistent and high compound annual return for long time. Here is the winning formula. As investors we have to look for stock that align with this formula to generate highest return in stock market. Temporary bargain price + Fixable error + Solid fundamental value + Able management = Highest return Here is the past and recent examples those are produced great returns, which are align with above formula. Examples from Warren Buffett: 1. In 1960, American Express (AXP) had salad oil crises, AMEX shares dropped $65/share to $35/share. Warren Buffett partnership invested $13 Million (40% of his partnership fund) in American express. In 2 years, his partnership netted $20 Million profit.2. In 1976, GEICO shares dropped from $61/share to $2/share. Over next 5 years, Berkshire Hathaway invested $45.7 million. In 1996, Berkshire owned 51% of the Company and agreed to pay $2.3 Billion for 49% of the company, which is close close to $70/share. For his initial investment which he did it in 1976, Buffett Generated 19.45% compounded annual return for 20 years Examples from last year: 1. Citigroup(C) traded around $30 in 2008, In March 2009 touched $0.97/share. In August 2009 it bounced back to $5.23/share. However bought the stock at $0.97/share might have made 530% return in 5 months. 2. Goldman Sachs traded around $195/share in January 2008 and reduced to $59/share in November 2008. It bounced back to $165/share in Dec 2009. It did generate 270% return in one year 3. Bank of America traded around $40/share in January 2008 and reduced to $2.53/share in March 2009. It bounced back to $15.28/share in December 2009. That is 600% return in 9 months. Current opportunity: Terex Corporation (TEX) Terex Corporation operates as a diversified global manufacturer. The company operates in four business segments: Terex Aerial Work Platforms, Terex Construction, Terex Cranes, and Terex Materials Processing & Mining. Terex Aerial Work Platforms segment offers material lifts, portable aerial work platforms, trailer-mounted articulating booms, self-propelled articulating and telescopic booms, scissor lifts, telehandlers, construction trailers, trailer-mounted light towers, power buggies, portable generators, and related components and replacement parts Now we examine how Terex align with our winning formula. 1. Temporary Bargain price: Terex was trading around $74/share in October 2007. Recession started, stock prices reached $8.92/share in February 2009.Here is the statistics of the company in 2007: 2007 yearly revenue: $9.1 Billion, Net income: $613 Million, 2007 Diluted shares = 104.9 million shares, Market cap in October 2007 = $7.76 Billion, EPS=$5.85/share. 2. Fixable Error: Industry down turn started in 2008 and continued in 2009. Terex revenue started declining. Terex started managing the business for cash conversion in 2009. Terex long term debt is $1.9 Billion. They have over $1.5 Billion Liquidity and no near term debt maturities until 2012. They reduced capital reduction around $199 Million in 2009. They got cash from inventory reduction $497 Million in 2009. They have improved prospects in 2010 and US and emerging markets demand is increasing. So that they can survive this down turn and improve the earnings coming years. 3. Solid Fundamental value: Terex EPS growth from 2004 to 2008 is 16.5% compound. Retained earnings are great. Each dollar retained it created $2.48/share from 2004 to 2008. Average Return on Equity is 22.58% from 2004 to 2008. Owner income increased 12.41% annually from 2004 to 2007.Company in the cost conservation strategy to survive the recession, after the recession, probably next year revenue will start grow. Here is the intrinsic value calculation assumption. If owner income increased 5% for next two years, 4% for another 3 years. I used higher discount rate to accommodate the uncertainty, which is 20%, In that scenario calculated intrinsic value is $45/share. 1/7/2010, Terex closing price is $22.41/share. Which is 50.2% discount to intrinsic value. This perfect investment.4. Able Management: Recently management Divestiture of mining business to Bucyrus international for $1.3 Billion cash. Through 2004-2008, mining has accounted for 12% and 14% of consolidated net salesand operating profit respectively. 2008 Net sales with Mining = $9.9 Billion, 2008 Net sales without mining = $8.4 Billion. Company is planning to concentrate on machinery and industrial production. Company projecting to earn EPS = $8.5/share in 2013 that is double the business.The company is planning to use the cash to pay down the debt. So Management is doing great job to divest low margin business.Terex return projection: As per owner earnings projection, Terex will generate around $694 Million that is around $6/share. This stock historically traded between 9 and 17 ratio. In 2013, Terex should trade around $54/share to $102/share, which is 24.9% and 46.5% compound annual return for 4 years.Do own research before investing in TEXDisclosure: Long on TEXAuthor:Jeeva Ramaswamy is ardent disciple of Warren buffet and managing partner of GJ Investment funds (www.gjfunds.com) which is value based investment fund focusing on US and emerging markets modeled after 1956 Buffett partnership. Since inception GJ Funds have consistently beaten Dow, NASDAQ and S&P 500 indicies and 95% of the mutual and hedge fund managers by wide margin. He can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com
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Free Press readers can enjoy the best seat in the house – a free cuppa at Doncaster's Cast Cafe-Bar.
Residents can have a drink on us as we have teamed up with Cast to offer readers a free cup of tea or coffee.
The stylish venue provides visitors with a place to meet and eat, with a range of locally sourced dishes on the menu.
Based in the fantastic new theatre building the Cafe-Bar has a great contemporary feel to it, with a menu based on wholesome food from local suppliers.
Chris Hone, head of commercial development, said: "We are delighted to be working in partnership with the Doncaster Free Press to offer readers the chance to come and try out the Cafe-Bar.
"The voucher will allow guests to enjoy a free cup of tea or regular coffee on us."
The Cafe-Bar is a grab and go coffee lounge by day with everything from fairtrade coffee, freshly made sandwiches and afternoon tea and a meeting hub by night with craft brews from around the world, a selection of fine but affordable wines, and light bites and tapas.
"We want people to pop in for a coffee, bring their friends for afternoon tea or book a meal before a show," added Chris.
It is open Monday to Friday from 7am-7pm. Weekend opening varies around show times.


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HARRISBURG - A bill to narrow the scope of a large state business tax loophole starting in 2015 won final approval this week from lawmakers.
The measure awaiting Gov. Tom Corbett's anticipated signing targets the Delaware loophole, the fate of which has been heavily debated during the past several years with the drain on state finances due to the recession.
The loophole allows businesses headquartered in other states to avoid paying the state corporate net income tax on their operations here. Businesses use this loophole to shift assets to an affiliated company in another state where they are not subject to tax. It derives its name from neighboring Delaware - considered a corporate tax haven. The fiscal code bill would require businesses, even if headquartered in other states, to comply with an expense add-back provision - a requirement they pay taxes on profits.
By targeting very specific business transactions among close business affiliates, the add-back provision affects businesses using the loophole to avoid paying taxes, said Rep. David Reed, R-62, Indiana, the bill sponsor.
"This plan represents a fair and responsible approach to addressing the loophole" he added.
The ad-back is expected to generate between $40 million to $60 million in annual revenue for state coffers when it takes effect.
Rep. Phyllis Mundy, D-120, Kingston, criticized Mr. Reed's approach for not going far enough to close the Delaware loophole.
She pushed unsuccessfully this year for an expanded "add-back" provision that would include such intangible items as patents and trademarks to a corporation's Pennsylvania taxable income.
Ms. Mundy also sponsored a separate bill to require corporations and their related subsidiaries to file taxes as a single company, called the combined reporting method, which advocates say would bring in considerably more state revenue.
The fiscal code bill lacks something that has been linked to the loophole debate - a reduction in the CNI tax rate. The two issues have been paired since a business tax reform commission created by former Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell issued its recommendations in 2004. At 9.99 percent, Pennsylvania has the second highest CNI tax rate in the nation.
Gene Barr, president of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, said it's disappointing that lawmakers didn't start to reduce the CNI tax rate.
"This is a huge red flag for business investment decisions," he added.
However, the bill increases a cap on the net operating losses that a corporation can use to offset the CNI tax.
The bill is a small step forward to tackling the Delaware loophole problem, said the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, a Harrisburg-based think tank that called for more revenue-raising measures to support state programs.
"After years of talk about corporate tax loopholes, the bill takes a small step forward, acknowledging that loopholes are a problem and should be closed," the policy center said.
This will provide some additional revenue to support schools, health care and needs, the think tank added.
Contact the writer: firstname.lastname@example.com


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If Ward Two Councilman Dustin Markham has his way some new additions will soon be on their way to his district.
"There are community development block grants. There are training facility block grants that we can use to expand the Velma Young Center into a mecca for things within that community. So, that we can have more things there just like there are things that go on in the Frank Cochran Center," says Markham.
In recent years Ward Two, which is in East Meridian, has had some of the highest numbers in the city for crime and abandoned houses. Markham projects that expanding the Velma Young Center and securing funding and volunteers for two other projects will significantly help improve conditions within the area.
"I would like to see a Planet Playground type co-op or initiative in Ward Two in the East End Community, kind of like the one in the Northeast Complex. That Planet Playground out there was put together by professionals and volunteers. Some of the materials were donated. That's something I think that we need to do as well in this community."
Then there's the Magnolia Ballpark which sits next to Magnolia school. Councilman Markham says he plans to work closely with the county to bring that park up to standard.
"'Magnolia Baseball Field does not have adequate restroom facilities. Kids and parents have to use port-a-potties. That's unacceptable in 2013. We need to have a facility that accentuates that field and allows the parents and children to have a place to use the bathroom."
The proposed concession stand for Magnolia Park will be equipped with restrooms. According to Markham, the estimated cost for that building is between $100,000 and $120,000. He says the amount of time it takes to accomplish the three projects will depend on how quickly funding for them can be secured.


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Her entire career has been about never taking a stand on anything of any substance - free coffee for students! - while networking in a way to neutralize any conceivable opposition. And she is walking back from her earlier demands for more clarity and transparency in Senate confirmation hearings. Josh notes that liberals are worried about an Obama Souter.Souter was the old level of utter blankness.
I just don't believe that Obama is that prone to risk.That should mean that Obama secretly knows what she's about and is hiding it from us. But that wouldn't make Kagan an "Obama Souter." Souter was appointed by a President — George H.W. Bush — who thought he was getting something quite different. Here's a New York Times article from the time of the Souter nomination (before his ascension to the Supreme Court):
John H. Sununu, the White House chief of staff, said today that he had assured President Bush that David H. Souter would uphold conservative values on the Supreme Court....
''I was looking for someone who would be a strict constructionist, consistent with basic conservative attitudes, and that's what I got,'' the chief of staff said in an interview. ''I was able to tell the President that I was sure he would do the same thing when he encountered Federal questions....Back to Sullivan:
The chief of staff's comments were designed to advance the overall White House strategy of seeking to convince conservatives that Judge Souter was their kind of man, who could be trusted to vote ''right'' on the big issues, without getting him involved in fierce debates about abortion or flag burning or other contentious specifics.
In being unusually candid about the details in the selection process, Mr. Sununu was carrying out his role as Mr. Bush's primary liaison to the right wing of the Republican Party and to the ideological groups that support Mr. Bush but are nervous about the commitment to their issues.
I predict that if confirmed, [Elena Kagan is] much more likely to surprise on the left than on the right...That would be Souterific.


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June 22, 2012
United Nations Environment Programme
Rio de Janeiro - The Rio+ 20 Summit ended today with a range of outcomes which, if embraced over the coming months and years, offer the opportunity to catalyze pathways towards a more sustainable 21st century.
Heads of State and more than 190 nations gave the green light to a Green Economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication.
Nations agreed that such a transition could be 'an important tool' when supported by policies that encourage decent employment, social welfare and inclusion and the maintenance of the Earth's ecosystems from forests to freshwaters.
The decision supports nations wishing to forge ahead with a green economy transition while providing developing economies with the opportunity for access to international support in terms of finance and capacity building.
Meanwhile the Summit also gave the go-ahead to a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to bring all nations-rich and poor-into cooperative target setting across a range of challenges from water and land up to food waste around the globe.
The SDGs are expected to compliment the Millennium Development Goals after 2015: they reflect the reality that a transition to an inclusive green economy and the realization of a sustainable century needs to also include the footprints of developed nations as well as developing ones as they aim to eradicate poverty and transit towards a sustainable path.
Other potentially positive outcomes include a ten-year framework on sustainable consumption and production with a group of companies announcing initiatives to move forward, including in the area of sustainable government procurement of goods and services.
There was also a decision to work towards a new global indicator of wealth that goes beyond the narrowness of GDP, and encouragement for governments to push forward on requiring companies to report their environmental, social and governance footprints.
After some four decades of discussion and calls for the environment programme of the UN to be strengthened, governments agreed on an upgrading of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
Meanwhile the World Congress on Justice, Governance, and Law for Environmental Sustainability, supported by the Brazilian Supreme Court and UNEP among others, committed to use international and national laws to advance sustainability, human and environmental rights and the implementation of environmental treaties.
The Congress, involving some 200 delegates including senior judges, attorney-generals, chief prosecutors and senior auditors, called on governments to back an Institutional Framework for the Advancement of Justice, Governance and Law for Environmental Sustainability in the 21st Century backed by UNEP.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director, said: "World leaders and governments have today agreed that a transition to a Green Economy-backed by strong social provisions-offers a key pathway towards a sustainable 21st century".
"Several other important agreements were also forged that can assist in enabling that transition, ranging from assessing the potential of a new indicator of wealth and human progress beyond the narrowness of GDP to increasing the level of accountability and transparency of companies in respect to their environmental, social and governance footprints," he added.
"The outcome of Rio+20 will disappoint and frustrate many given the science, the day-to-day reality of often simply surviving as individuals and as families, the analysis of where development is currently heading for seven billion people and the inordinate opportunity for a different trajectory. However if nations, companies and civil society can move forward on the positive elements of the Summit's outcome it may assist in one day realizing the Future We Want," said Mr. Steiner.
"Meanwhile after almost four decades of discussion, and for some disappointment, governments have decided to upgrade UNEP including in key areas such as universal membership and improved financial resources-this is welcome as one important way for improving the authority, the influence and the impact of the world's minister responsible for the environment in terms of moving development onto a more sustainable track," said Mr. Steiner.
Beyond GDP
Rio+20 addressed growing concern that Gross Domestic Product may have outlived its usefulness in a world where natural resource scarcity, pollution and social exclusion are also becoming drivers of whether a nation's wealth is truly going up or running down.
The Summit's outcome document requests the UN Statistical Commission to work with other UN bodies including UNEP and other organizations to work towards identifying new options for measuring progress.
The Commission's work will draw on a range of assessments and pilot projects on going across the globe.
UNEP and the UN University's International Human Development Programme at Rio+20 presented findings from an Inclusive Wealth Index (IWI) looking at several countries including Brazil.
Other pathways towards a new indicator include:-
Consumption and Production
Another potentially significant step forward was the adoption of a 10-year framework on sustainable consumption and production covering several sectors ranging from tourism to government procurement.
During Rio+20, over 30 governments and institutions including Brazil, Denmark, Switzerland and UNEP announced a new global International Sustainable Public Procurement Initiative (SPPI) aimed at scaling-up the level of public spending flowing into goods and services that maximize environmental and social benefits.
Studies indicate that sustainable public procurement, which represents between 15 and 25 per cent of GDP, offers a tremendous opportunity for green innovation and sustainability.
Examples from around the world show that sustainable public procurement has the potential to transform markets, boost the competitiveness of eco industries, save money, conserve natural resources and foster job creation.
Sustainability Reporting
An estimated 25 per cent of the 20,000 companies tracked by Bloomberg are reporting their environmental, social and governance footprints-but 75 per cent are not.
Such in-depth data offers the opportunity for pension funds to invest in companies with a long-term perspective of profits through sustainability reporting while assisting governments in measuring the contribution of multi-nationals towards national sustainability goals and progress beyond GDP.
On 20 June, several countries including Brazil, Denmark, France and South Africa-several of whom already have stock exchanges requiring better reporting- announced they would move forward on the issue with support from UNEP and the Global Reporting Initiative.
UNEP Upgrade
Rio+20 also agreed to 'upgrade' UNEP in order to strengthen the environmental pillar of sustainable development.
The decisions include addressing the limited membership of UNEP, which currently stands at 58 member states, into a body with universal membership of its Governing Council while increasing UNEP's financial resources by an increased allocation from the UN's regular budget.
The Rio+20 outcome also calls on the next General Assembly of the UN to strengthen and upgrade UNEP's ability to assist member states at the regional and national level and to build on its science-policy interface including through UNEP's flagship Global Environment Outlook process.
As part of this intensifying global relationship between scientists and governments, the International Council for Science led by Nobel Prize winner Yuan-Tseh Lee with UNEP and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization also launched the 'Future Earth' initiative.
Ways to advance the participation of civil society including cities is also envisaged as part of the strengthening and upgrading process.
Governments, civil society and the private sector have been preparing for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) for around two years.
Throughout the preparations and during Rio+20 the UN including UNEP have been providing assessments, studies and policy pathways aimed at supporting member states on the science and the options for transformational change.
UNEP's work on the Green Economy, in partnership with a wide range of UN and other bodies, has led to a range of supportive reports including:-
The flagship Green Economy Report: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication
Measuring Progress Towards a Green Economy
The joint International Labour Organization/UNEP report Working towards sustainable development: Opportunities for decent work and social inclusion in a green economy
The UN's Environmental Management Group's
Working towards a Balanced and Inclusive Green Economy
Why the Green Economy Matters to Least Developed Countries
The Global Environment Outlook-5
During Rio+20 a further range of supportive reports and initiatives were launched on behalf of member states including:
Avoiding Future Famines: Strengthening the Ecological Basis of Food Security through Sustainable Food Systems
The Principles for Responsible Insurance
A UN Water survey of over 130 national governments on efforts to improve the sustainable management of water resources
A Global Initiative for Resource-Efficient Cities
Inclusive Wealth Report 2012
Global Environment Outlook 5 (GEO-5) for Local Government
The Business Case for the Green Economy: Sustainable Return on Investment
Building an Inclusive Green Economy for All
Notes to Editors
The UN Conference on Sustainable Development 2012 (Rio+20) concluded on 22 June 2012.
The Green Economy www.unep.org.greeneconomy
UNEP's activities at UNCSD 2012 (RIO+20) are at http://www.unep.org/rio20/


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Every issue is packed with entertaining articles, informative reviews, and fascinating interviews with both famous writers and emerging talents.
Our award-winning critics will clue you in to hundreds of interesting books, TV shows, films, short fiction, reference works, and more, in every issue.
Throw in contests, jokes, quotes, and anecdotes and we think you'll find that Mystery Scene is your essential partner in crime.
Mystery Scene publishes five times per year as a full-color glossy print magazine and as a digital edition available for Apple, Android, and Kindle devices. Don't miss a clue, subscribe today!
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New Year's Eve lost some of its luster in April.
Dick Clark, the music and TV mogul and frequent personality, died then, ending more than half a century in television. Part of his video legacy is "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve," a late-night mainstay since the 1970s, with Clark long the host and the show even adding a prime-time component.
After he suffered a stroke in 2004, Clark missed that year's telecast; he returned in 2005 but with a reduced role — and Ryan Seacrest as the de facto host. In 2008, the show was renamed "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve With Ryan Seacrest." That will still be the name again this year, and Clark will be part of the programming.
At 8 p.m. EST Monday, ABC will present the 2-hour special "New Year's Rockin' Eve Celebrates Dick Clark," which promises to revisit "through clips and reminiscences, the legendary television personality and producer who rang in the New Year for four decades and launched and nurtured the careers of countless artists."
It will be followed at 10 p.m. by an hour of "Dick Clark's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve With Ryan Seacrest," then a break for local news before "New Year's Rocking Eve" at 11:30 p.m. rolls on until 2:12 a.m. Tuesday.
Taylor Swift, Carly Rae Jepsen, Flo Rida, Pitbull, OneRepublic and Neon Trees are among the scheduled performers, but I will be thinking about Clark.
I am of the generation that remembers when New Year's Eve was Lombardo on CBS and Ben Grauer announcing from Times Square on "The Tonight Show" — and what a change it was when Clark began putting rock and contemporary pop on that night, even if some of it had been recorded long before the ball dropped.
I am also among those who admired Clark's indomitable determination to come back to "Rockin' Eve" after his stroke — that, as I said after his 2005 return, his presence was a reminder to people that a stroke may slow you down, but it doesn't necessarily stop you.
And even if he had trouble speaking, you could see the enthusiasm in Clark's eyes. I checked in with him in every following year, and I will visit the tribute special on Monday — if only for a last goodbye.


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The Ministry of Health and Welfare yesterday rebuffed accusations that it was aware that cooking oil producer Chang Chi Foodstuff Factory Co's (大統長基) olive oil contained illegal additives or other mixtures as early as the end of last year, but delayed informing the public.
At a meeting of the legislature's Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee yesterday, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) questioned the ministry on why it had not previously reported the oil, after it was exposed by the media that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had commissioned a research unit to investigate the blended oil, aiming to come up with an effective testing method to verify the blending ratio, and found that Chang Chi olive oil contained illegal additives or other mixtures.
Ministry of Health and Welfare Vice Minister Hsu Ming-neng (許銘能) said that the research results had not shown any problems with Chang-chi's oil, and "four follow-up inspections [following a tip-off to the authorities at the end of last year] were not able to confirm that the olive oil contained illegal additives or other mixtures."
"That's why this time we have requested assistance from the prosecution unit to actually get hold of company's formulation, as testing alone cannot confirm oil adulteration," Hsu said.
An FDA official added that Chang-chi's olive oil was manufactured and doctored in a way that made it identical to pure olive oil in its fatty acid composition, which is currently used as an indicator for differentiating oils.
Changhua County's health authority disclosed that a large amount of low-cost cottonseed oil, which is toxic if left unrefined, was imported by Chang chi and added to its olive oil.
Chao pressed the administration to reveal the name of the other major importer, who the administration said imported 60 percent of the total cottonseed oil imported each year (Chang Chi had the remaining 40 percent).
FDA officials at first did not make the company's name public, but eventually said that it was Flavor Full Foods (富味鄉).
However, it added that the cottonseed oil imported by the company was refined and processed to be exported to other countries and none was used in products sold in Taiwan.
Flavor Full made an announcement on its Web site after its name was exposed, confirming what the FDA had said and denying that the company has been selling it in Taiwan.
The company held a press conference later in the day reiterating that it has not sold cottonseed oil-containing products in the nation and all of its products on the market — which are mainly sesame oil-based — are free of cottonseed oil.
Responding to the concern that cottonseed oil is harmful to humans, the administration said that refined cottonseed oil can be used for cooking.
It cited data from the US Department of Agriculture, which said that refined cottonseed oil has a 5 percent to 6 percent share of the US' edible oil market, 56 percent of which is for cooking and making salad, 36 percent for baking and frying and 8 percent for margarine and other uses.
Unrefined cottonseed oil contains a toxic substance known as gossypol, and its pure form can have a negative impact on human male fertility, the administration said, adding that the government has banned unrefined cottonseed from being used as edible oil since 1979.


text:
Posted 7 years ago
(56 items)
Earl Products Co. SceneX c.1940 black bakelite mini camera. It takes 8 exposures of 828 film and (as you can see in the second pic) is still loaded with film. Simular to the Cub camera of the same style. There are no settings and the camera takes photos in both up and down shutter lever positions. Also according to what I have read it is not to be used in cloudy or shady conditions(which makes sense).


text:
Hypopituitarism, also called an underactive pituitary gland, is a condition that affects the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland - usually resulting in a partial or complete loss of functioning of that lobe. The resulting symptoms depend on which hormones are no longer being produced by the gland. Because the pituitary gland affects the other endocrine organs, effects of hypopituitarism may be gradual or sudden and dramatic.
Symptoms vary depending on what hormones are insufficiently produced by the pituitary gland. The following are common symptoms associated with reduced production of certain hormones:
insufficient gonadotropins production
(luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone)
In premenopausal women, this leads to absent menstrual cycles, infertility, vaginal dryness, and loss of some female characteristics. In men, this deficiency leads to impotence, shriveling of testes, decreased sperm production, infertility, and loss of some male characteristics.
insufficient growth hormone production
This usually produces no symptoms in adults. In children, this deficiency can lead to stunted growth and dwarfism.
insufficient thyroid-stimulating hormone production
This usually leads to an underactive thyroid and may cause confusion, cold intolerance, weight gain, constipation, and dry skin.
insufficient corticotrophic production
This rare deficiency leads to an underactive adrenal gland, resulting in low blood pressure, a low blood sugar level, fatigue, and a low tolerance for stress.
insufficient prolactin production
This rare deficiency may cause an inability to produce breast milk after childbirth in some women.
The symptoms of hypopituitarism may resemble other conditions or medical problems. Always consult your physician for a diagnosis.
Causes of hypopituitarism can directly affect the pituitary gland or indirectly through the hypothalamus, which in turn affects the pituitary gland.
Causes of primary hypopituitarism (directly affecting pituitary gland):
Causes of secondary hypopituitarism (affecting the hypothalamus):
pituitary tumors
inadequate blood supply to pituitary gland
infections and/or inflammatory diseases
sarcoidosis - a rare inflammation of the lymph nodes and other tissues throughout the body
amyloidosis - a rare disease which causes the buildup of amyloid, a protein and starch, in tissues and organs
radiation therapy
surgical removal of pituitary tissue
autoimmune diseases
tumors of the hypothalamus
inflammatory disease
head injuries
surgical damage to the pituitary and/or blood vessels or nerves leading to it
Symptoms of several underactive glands may help a physician diagnose hypopituitarism. In addition to a complete medical history and medical examination, diagnostic procedures for hypopituitarism may include:
computed tomography (CT or CAT scan) - a non-invasive procedure that takes cross-sectional images of the brain or other internal organs; to detect any abnormalities that may not show up on an ordinary x-ray
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) - a non-invasive procedure that produces two-dimensional views of an internal organ or structure, especially the brain or spinal cord.
blood tests to measure hormone levels
Treatment of hypopituitarism depends on its cause. The goal of treatment is to restore the pituitary gland to normal function, producing normal levels of hormones. Specific treatment for hypopituitarism will be determined by your physician based on:
your age, overall health, and medical history
extent of the disease
your tolerance for specific medications, procedures, or therapies
expectations for the course of the disease
your opinion or preference
Treatment may include replacement hormone therapy, surgical tumor removal, and/or radiation therapy.
© 2015 All rights reserved. Privacy Policies


text:
BOZEMAN, Mont., Jan. 28 (UPI) -- A U.S. research team reported Monday they had reached a massive lake beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet by melting holes through half a mile of ice.
Researchers with the Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling project said they collected water and sediment from the lake, samples that could answer questions about the region, one of Earth's final frontiers.
"We're very proud of this accomplishment, which is due to a huge effort by many people and organizations," project manager Robert Edwards of Montana State University wrote in an email from McMurdo Station in Antarctica.
After melting through the ice, the researchers used specialized tools to collect samples without contaminating the environment or the samples, and also surveyed the lake floor with video.
It marked the first time clean samples had been successfully retrieved from a subglacial lake in Antarctica, researchers said.
"The analysis of these samples and data, together with the results from a planned field season next year at nearby sites, will allow WISSARD scientists to directly address many key questions regarding the nature of the subglacial aquatic environment under the Whillans Ice Plain, on the margin of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet," Roberts said.
Lake Whillans is part of a vast subglacial aquatic system that could harbor never-before-seen life that may offer lessons about how life can survive without light and at temperatures near the freezing point of water, the researchers said.


text:
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text:
Use another browser and don't stress about major changes ever.
I think just about every Chrome user is a former Firefox user.
How long before Safari passes Firefox as well?
I don't think that computes from the market share development.
I've had no problems with Firefox to be honest. I tried chrome once and it just didn't run a lot of scripts successfully. I mean literally sites that used to work didn't. Also I don't get the fuss about a faster browser, most modern computers are capable of running some seriously high end games and programs without blinking, even a crufty old browser like IE isn't going to slow up the show for more than a half second. Connection speeds are far, far more of an issue.
The moral of the story kids is that if you
It's not so much about processing speed - It's about memory hogging. I don't have much of a problem with that concerning Chrome or FF, but depending on what you have open using just a few tabs under IE can quickly eat a half-gig of RAM. With a couple of GB in the computer that may or may not be an issue, but it seems rude and makes me feel a little violated and dirty...
What are you people running Pent 2s? RAM is dirt dirt cheap. If you have less that 2gb you are doing it wrong.
Just because you have abundance does not mean you can become lazy with efficiency. If we learned anything with the economic collapse that we have had to deal with in the last few years, it is that people and corporations (not people) that operated fairly well in the good times started to get eaten alive by their own inefficiencies.
I may have 8GB in my laptop, and looking for more, but I also run a *lot* of programs at the same time while I am working. Having 10-20 tabs open at any one moment is not unusual, and even more when I am developing/debugging APIs, websites, etc. That does not include a separate browser on another screen with references open, etc.
If IE and Firefox want to be lazy buttheads and use twice the memory just because it is cheap, I can also use Chrome when I could use that gig or two of memory back for other processes.
That's just for single users. That kind of inefficiency is more evident on remote desktop environments where you have 50-100 sessions running at any one time with employees using 5-10 tabs for web portals to 20-30 SaaS vendors. When you get to that level, you will see the difference between using Chrome and IE very quickly.
How long before Safari passes Firefox as well?
Depends on your needs. For Mac OS X, vanilla Safari is just as good as vanilla Chrome.
If you want AdBlock and NoScript, then it's still a bit behind. Although I just discovered that there is an AdBlock for Safari (no idea how well it works) and there are extensions that provide rudimentary script blocking as well.
So, under Mac OS X at least, Safari is already nearly to Chrome levels. Under Windows, I'd have to recommend just sticking with Chrome.
I use AdBlock for Safari and it works just as well as the Chrome version I use at work. It's virtually the same.
I don't bother with NoScript at home, so I can't comment on that.
Ghostery is where it's at for Safari. For some annoying reason, though, Safari does very poorly on Youtube videos on my systems. I'm not sure if it's some extension problem or if it's inherent in the browser, but I generally use Chrome for Youtube.
I will be a chrome user as soon as I can find an add-on that supports Opera-style tabs.
The only reason I turned away from Opera was becaues it's so standards-compliant it breaks a lot of the webpages I need to use. And that isn't a dis on Opera...
IE 6 forever!
Good solution as their rolling releases will have bugs pop up from time to time. The tinyMCE issue was a BUG in FF and has been resolved in the nightly build. See the source: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=737784 [mozilla.org]
I stopped using Firefox and don't stress at all. I want my fucking browser to just work, and since i have no particular emotional investment in it, it got uninstalled, and it is unlikely, unless I start doing a lot of web work again, to ever reappear on my machine.
Microsoft's Exploder 8 infuriates me with how it FREEZES for like 30 seconds, until it finishes downloading all the ads and Flashcrap. What on earth is it doing??? I prefer Opera's instant draw feature better (it draws whatever it has, even incomplete pages).
The ESR version sometimes rants about libertarian issues when I'm trying to browse the web. Is there a Bruce Perens version?
Good luck getting the visitors to your site to use the browser/version you want them to.
This comment looks best in IE6.
But if you use the RMS version instead of the ESR, you show yourself as Truly Committed to the cause . . .
Maybe Add-on writers should push it up a few versions and hope it works? I dunno.
Sir (or miss, or ma'am, or droid
Maybe Add-on writers should push it up a few versions and hope it works? I dunno.
Mozilla forbids Add-on writers from putting it more than 2 major version numbers ahead. This policy worked fine when 2 major version numbers took years... but right now, that's 12 weeks.
Mozilla forbids Add-on writers from putting it more than 2 major version numbers ahead. This policy worked fine when 2 major version numbers took years... but right now, that's 12 weeks.
Add-ons default to compatible since Firefox 10. See https://wiki.mozilla.org/Features/Add-ons/Add-ons_Default_to_Compatible [mozilla.org] and http://blog.mozilla.com/addons/2012/01/05/default-compatibility-is-coming-and-your-help-is-needed/ [mozilla.com].
Maybe TinyMCE isn't actually as "platform independent" and "cross-platform" as it claims?
Code to standards (with appropriate polyfills) and ye shall prosper.
The relevant spec ( http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/#refsEDITING [whatwg.org] ) was last edited yesterday (28th March 2012). Damn hard to hit a moving target and all that.
Gyah; apologies, correct spec was edited the 12th ( http://dvcs.w3.org/hg/editing/raw-file/tip/editing.html [w3.org] ).
TinyMCE is not a plugin, it's a script library. Like jQuery. The bug is in FireFox, and probably would have been there regardless of the release schedule. IF they don't test releases with TinyMCE, they would not have noticed a regression.
It was confirmed as a bug in FireFox, and the newer versions of TinyMCE work around it. The relevant comment is:
// Wait for iframe onload event on Gecko
I'm pretty sure TinyMCE is cross-platform, as much as it can be when each browser can add bugs (or at least unexpected changes in behavior).
What I haven't searched for is whether the onload event order for iframes is documented in a standard, or by convention. Either way, if you write to the standard and the browser doesn't, your plugin looks broken.
Code to standards (with appropriate polyfills) and ye shall prosper.
In this case, it seems tinyMCE tickled odd behavior in Gecko's window.onload event. But, as with a lot of DOM events, figuring out what should fire and in what order i
I stuck with Mozilla starting with V1.0 in July 2002 but about a month ago the bloat and crashes from Firefox 11.0 got too much for me and I gave Chrome a try.
Chrome is faster with no crashes.
I don't know where Firefox went wrong but I'm not going back.
Unfortunately I've found chrome to really drag once you get a whole bunch of tabs open, and all too often I have a LOT of tabs open. Other than that I was pretty impressed with how far it's come, if I could get it to a useable speed with lots of tabs open, I'd use it as my primary browser. Unfortunately until then I'm sticking with firefox.
Tons of websites, including those with advanced features work perfectly with updated versions of firefox.
So what's wrong with this particular feature? And why is it that FF is getting the blame?
Because FF is the only one that has developed the compatibility problem.
From my point of view, it's not a question of "blame". It's a question of "does this tool meet my needs"? And for FF, the answer is increasingly "no" due in no small part to these kinds of issues. Is that the fault of FF? It doesn't matter. If FF doesn't work, it doesn't work, regardless of the reasons.
And the new features being added to Firefox of course are no reason to keep updating it.
Technology always moves forward. Should we pause all advancements to ensure that everything stays compatible? And why is it that this library (not sure what to call it) is the one with the problems? If firefox updates are breaking it, then something must be broken with the library itself. I use tons of different websites every day, so far I haven't seen any which have been broken by firefox (I'm using Aurora). So this seems to be a very rare occurance - I'm pretty sure where we can place the blame.
And the new features being added to Firefox of course are no reason to keep updating it.
For me, no, the new features are not compelling (and I wish many of them would cease to exist).
This is one of my main issues with the rapid-release stuff, that it's impossible to get bug fixes without getting unwanted new features.
Technology always moves forward. Should we pause all advancements to ensure that everything stays compatible?
No, but on the other hand, advancements come with a cost. Depending on the user's needs, it can be that the cost isn't worth it to them. In the case of FF, the cost is nowhere near worth it for me. I cannot even imagine a new browser feature that would be so compelling that I'm wi
This is one of my main issues with the rapid-release stuff, that it's impossible to get bug fixes without getting unwanted new features.
Or the best type of Firefox feature, the new bug!
There's a new bug in Firefox 11 that prevents tabs from reloading on startup correctly. Unfortunately it's caused by a new "feature" that's designed to restore tabs from startup more correctly.
Essentially, when Firefox 11 starts and reloads tabs from a previous session, Firefox 11 will now fire some JavaScript events that are only supposed to be fired due to user interaction. Except it A) sometimes fires these events when it shouldn't at all due to a race condition and B) is now automatically firing an event that should only ever fire due to user interaction with the webpage. Thereby completely breaking webpages that assume that events fired by a user interacting with the webpage only ever fire when the user intends to interact with the page. And not because some developer at Mozilla decided to randomly fire JavaScript events for no readily apparent reason.
Unfortunately this is a "feature" and therefore will not be fixed. Because Firefox is supposed to do that, as of Firefox 11. Despite the fact that, as far as I know, no other browser ever fires events in that fashion.
And the new features being added to Firefox of course are no reason to keep updating it.
What new features? As it happens, another side effect of version spam is that people stop paying attention to changelogs, since most of the time they have nothing important. That's another reason most programs do multi-part version numbering: bugfix releases are just that, minor releases might have some tweaks or enhancements to existing features, and major versions contain major new features you should take time to exp
With most browser extension APIs (Chrome, Safari, etc.), the browser vendors promise API backwards compatibility and their development teams go to great lengths to avoid making changes that would break that compatibility. By contrast, the Firefox extension API makes no such promises, and as far as I can tell, requires each extension to provide a minimum and maximum compatible version that is hard-coded into the extension itself. When the browser changes versions, if the maximum version in the extension is
The real annoyance for me is the version numbering / compatibility scheme. There are add-ins that are still relevant, and still work perfectly, but you have to go through a song and dance to install them every time the version numbers change, the song and dance being unpacking them, editing the version numbers in their metadata, and repacking them, or finding the add-in in your profile from an older version and editing it there.
If they could fix this, that would be much better. Instead of add-ins declaring which versions they are compatible with, it should be possible to compute which APIs they access, and whether their behaviour has changed.
In the case of TinyMCE, I'm not sure what the issue is, unless people are packaging it as an add-in - my only encounters with it are as something embedded in a web page, so it would naturally have to cope with a wide variety of browsers by default.
Except they did since version 10.
They did? I just fired up version 11 for the first time in ages (because now I use Chromium most of the time), and it's add-on compatibility checker just switched off my favourite add-on for the 8th time. I guess it's because it has an explicitly defined upper version number which I've been raising (but I didn't know you could leave the upper end off).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Firefox_(Rapid_release_development_cycle)#Version_10 [wikipedia.org]
They did. Authors must explicitly disable an add-on now.
There was an easier method to fix that - involved installing an addon called the Add-on Compatibility reporter. No need to unpack and change.
But now if I remember correctly stuff will just work unless the creator marks it otherwise.
None of the extensions I use break with 'every' revision. Most I don't even think have needed to be upgraded from 8.0 to the current 13.0a2[Aurora], and it updates Firefox essentially every time I restart Firefox. It makes me think TinyMCE are the one's doing something wrong.
TinyMCE is not an addon - the article seems to be talking about a Firefox bug, but doesn't provide a bug ID.
Addons are now up-issued automatically where possible; I have found fewer addons breaking compared with the sweeping changes made using the old model of major releases.
The article also misses the benefits from regular releases: features and improvements get in front of users more quickly, and changes are incremental, rather than jarringly abrupt. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Firefox_(Rapid_release_development_cycle) [wikipedia.org] for a list of changes since Firefox 4.
This is so obvious, I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.
Users see the Firefox version. Plugin developers see the plugin API version. So if FF 10, 11, 12
ffs, just do it and stop with all the noise!
I'm with you. There's no reason to depend on one version number for everything.
You have to find a balance somewhere.
I choose compatibility. Vulnerability can be addressed in other ways.
The only reason there would be a compatibility problem is if programs/scripts/modules/whatever are using user-agent identification to determine what features are available. This is (and always has been) a very bad practice - You check to see if the functions (or alternatives) are available, rather than checking against UA. That way you don't have to continually update scripts to maintain compatibility with the latest versions. When when browsers start supporting new functions coded in, those functions just work. When deprecated functionality is removed, the check for that particular function fails and the code moves on to another branch.
For example, rather than the following:
function getXMLHTTP() {
if (navigator.appName == 'Microsoft Internet Explorer')
var ua = navigator.userAgent;
var re = new RegExp("MSIE ([0-9]{1,}[\.0-9]{0,})");
if (re.exec(ua) != null)
rv = parseFloat( RegExp.$1 );
if (rv try { return new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP.6.0"); }
catch (e) {}
try { return new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP.3.0"); }
catch (e) {}
try { return new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); }
catch (e) {}
} else
return XMLHTTPRequest;
} else
return XMLHTTPRequest;
Which uses nasty browser detection to try and cope with IE 8 and below, you should use:
function getXMLHTTP() {
if (XMLHTTPRequest) return XMLHTTPRequest;
if (ActiveXObject) {
try { return new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP.6.0"); }
catch (e) {}
try { return new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP.3.0"); }
catch (e) {}
try { return new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); }
catch (e) {}
throw new Error("This browser does not support XMLHttpRequest.");
Which nicely checks to see both if the newer/proper XMLHTTPRequest Javascript object exists, and if not, tries to use the latest ActiveX object (Necessary for IE 8 and below), while only using the "ActiveXObject" function if it is available. It also means that if MS put out a version of IE that falls back to the ActiveX Object route, this code will still work with it, whereas the first will not. It's a minor example, true, but it's an example nonetheless.
Is this something people actually use?
You might not have heard of it, but if you've ever typed a comment on a site with a richtext editor, you've probably used it (it or CKEditor)
How is it that this asshat's "stories" continue to reach the front page?
From an add-on developer perspective, Firefox's frantic updates are a pain. I have the same add-on for Firefox and Google Chrome. [adlimiter.com] Most of the code is common. On the Firefox side, I have work-arounds for two bugs in Firefox, and they've been open bug reports in Bugzilla for many months. There's a new bug this week because the last update to the Mozilla add-on SDK broke something in message passing. That's supposedly fixed in the next version of the SDK being released today. Now I have to rebuild, update and test my add-on, then run it through the Mozilla approval bureaucracy again. (Yes, the AMO web site says this happens automatically. That's only true if you let them host the source code.)
Over on Google Chrome, it just works. No workarounds needed. A stable API. No updates needed from my side.
I get far more downloads of the Firefox version, though.
Rule number one. Never auto update, it just screws things up.
Information is the inverse of entropy.