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Friday, December 16, 2011

Dreams of the Fallen: Hope For the Lost [Pokemon OOC/signup]

Dreams of the Fallen: Hope for the Lost

When the sky illuminates a radiant fire, it stirs something within the hearts of others. It flushes out emotions hidden deep within our souls, our hearts, and it rises to the surface. They are called dreams, something everyone has. Whether they are a trainer, or a member of a crime organization, they all have dreams. Sometimes, the path they choose is not always the right one, and it leads them down a path of injustice and deceit. Sometimes, the path they choose might be a step in the right direction, but lead down a different path in their destiny.

Every trainer has a destiny, a dream to fulfill and they would stop at nothing to achieve it. But what happens when a group of crime syndicates abduct their one Pok?mon they cherish? They embark on a journey to retrieve the Pok?mon, and along the way, develop a bond thought taboo. Will the trainer forsake everything for the criminal? Or will the Criminal change his/her ways and return the stolen Pok?mon in return for something more? Their fate has been decided.

Code: Select all: [Place Image of your Character here] [b]Name:[/b] [What is your Character?s Name?] [b]Nickname:[/b] [Does your Character have a Nickname? If not, edit this out.] [b]Birth Date:[/b] [What is your Character?s Birthdate? Month/Day] [b]Age:[/b] [What is your Character?s Age? 18-30] [b]Gender:[/b] [Male/Female] [b]Ethnicity:[/b] [What is your Character? Be creative. Can be any Ethnicity and/or mixture.] [b]Regular Clothing:[/b] [What does your character wear on a daily basis? Can be a description and/or an image.][b]Pok?mon Type:[/b] [What type(s) of Pok?mon is your Character interested in?] [b]Starter Pok?mon:[/b] [What was your Starter Pok?mon?] [Kanto-Unova Regions] [u]Pok?mon Party[/u] [What other Pok?mon does your Character have? List more if you?d like.] [b]Status:[/b] [What is your Character?s Status? GymLeader/Trainer/Breeder/Rocket Member/Coordinator][If a Rocket Member, what is your Character?s Rank? Grunt/Leader/Etc.?] [b]Interest:[/b] [Who is your Character interested in?][What Pok?mon did your Character Steal? ? Only for Rocket Members ? This will also be your Interest.] [b]Change:[/b] [Does your Character change his/her ways to be with the one they love?][If Rocket Member, does your Character reform or convince the trainer to join?]

Rules
- This is the number one rule. Be Respectful To Others! I cannot stress this enough. A long time ago ? before I quit roleplaying ? other role-players were at each other?s throats and it was just chaos. I want to keep this role-play clean and friendly. Now I do not mind the character?s you are role-playing arguing/fighting whatever, but keep it down to a minimum.
- No pictures above 400x400 pixels.
- Do not control another role-player?s character unless they have given you permission and have notified me via PM or e-mail.
- This role-play is meant to be enjoyable and fun. Please, if you have a problem with something, notify me via e-mail or PM and we can discuss what you do not like or are having problems with.
- I understand that most of us have a life outside of role-playing, therefore; if you plan on being gone for longer than four days, please give me a head?s up and notify me of your absence. That way, if another role-player is waiting for your response, I, or another, may change the post to let them continue without you.
- I understand that not everyone is a grammar nazi, and I do not expect you to be. All I ask is that you know your grammar, when to use it, how to use it, and can post more than one paragraph. This role-play will require a three paragraph minimum and no maximum. Paragraphs are usually five to ten sentences long, so please keep that in mind.
- This is to be a Mature role-play. It also will comply with RPG?s rules and not exceed a PG-13 rating, however; if it does ? and is crucial to the plot ? you may e-mail/PM each other with the necessary information and then continue within the IC thread.
- You are not limited to the number of Attacks a Pok?mon can have, but please be reasonable.
- You ARE limited to a number of Character?s you can make. The limit is two, whether it is two females, two males, or one male, one female. Please, if you do make two characters, keep the gender ratio even.
- You are allowed ONE shiny Pok?mon. I don?t want everyone to have a team full of shiny Pok?mon.
- Absolutely NO Legendary Pok?mon in your team.
- If you are compliant with the rules, then we should have no problem.
- If you have any questions, you can e-mail me at manyfacesofthemoon@gmail.com. I will get back to you as soon as I can.
- Your Character can be any Ethnicity and from any region. Kanto ? Unova.
- Other than these few rules, do have fun with this.

Trainer(s)
- Yamamoto Zaira - MoonlightSonata
- Yamamoto Aurelio - MoonlightSonata
- Open
- Open
- Open
- Open

Team Rocket Memebers
- Open
- Open
- Open
- Open
- Open
- Open

More spots will open as the spaces are filled

Name: Yamamoto Zaira
Nickname: Ai
Birth Date: 9/24
Age: 23
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: Japanese/Italian
Regular Clothing: [Zaira?s clothing]
Pok?mon Type: Fire/Dark/Flying
Starter Pok?mon: Oshawott ? Samurott? [Piove]
Pok?mon Party
- Zoroark? [Kokuei]
- Houndoom? [Fuori]
- Rapidash? [Aoi]
- Krookodile? [Kuro]
- Rufflet? [Rosso]
Status: Breeder
Interest: Whoever is interested.
Change: Depends on pairing.
Name: Yamamoto Aurelio
Nickname: Yamamoto
Birth Date: 11/23
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Japanese/Italian
Regular Clothing: [Aurelio?s Clothing]
Pok?mon Type: Water/Electric/Flying
Starter Pok?mon: Squirtle ? Blastoise? [Ame]
Pok?mon Party
- Pidgeot? [Aria]
- Raichu? [Rai]
- Herdier? [Leale]
- Steelix? [Sacra]
- Haunter? [Fantasma]
Status: Trainer
Interest: Anyone who is interested.
Change: Depends on pairing.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/S_L98l5uEiw/viewtopic.php

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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Slower mail: A guide to the Postal Service's cutbacks (The Week)

New York ? Birthday cards, Netflix discs, and L.L. Bean catalogs will begin arriving a day later than usual, as the Post Office rolls back its delivery services

Snail mail is about to get even slower. In attempt to trim costs, the U.S. Postal Service announced Monday that, for the first time in 40 years, it will instate cutbacks that will slow the delivery of first-class mail in the continental United States. Here's what you should know:

How slow will mail be?
Currently, first-class mail is delivered to homes and businesses in the continental U.S. in one to three days, and?42 percent of mail arrives at its final destination the day after it was sent. Now, mail will now take either two or three days to be delivered. "Only commercial, bulk mailers might be able to get their first-class mail delivered the next day," says Mark Memmott at NPR. That is, "if they get it, properly bundled, to the Post Office early in the morning."

SEE ALSO: American Airlines' 'painful' bankruptcy: Winners and losers

Why is the Post Office cutting back?
The struggling Post Office, which lost $5.1 billion last year and expects to have a $14 billion deficit this year, needs to cut $20 billion in operating costs by 2015 in order to turn a profit. By slowing mail delivery, the USPS estimates that it will save $2.1 billion a year. First-class mail volume dropped 20 percent in the last decade. By 2020, another 47 percent drop is expected. The USPS doesn't receive tax money, and relies largely on postage costs and product sales to fund its operation. So with revenue plummeting, it has to cut costs.

Is there more than just slower mail?
Yes. The Postal Service will close 252 of the 461 mail processing centers across the country. That will account for the loss of 28,000 jobs by the end of 2012. The plan is to?rebrand the Post Office, reduce costs, and help keep the agency alive as mail delivery becomes less and less popular. Over the long haul, roughly 3,700 local post offices are expected to close, which could result in 120,000 lost jobs.

SEE ALSO: Midnight openings on Black Friday: Is Target 'destroying' Thanksgiving?

How does this affect me?
For starters, you're going to have to remember to mail mom her birthday card more than a day in advance. But beyond that, "the reduction in turnaround time could slow everything from check payments to Netflix's DVDs-by-mail, add costs to mail-order prescription drugs, and threaten the existence of newspapers and time-sensitive magazines delivered by postal carrier to far-flung suburban and rural communities," says Fox News.

Will this help or hurt the Postal Service?
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine)?says?that theses changes "could well accelerate [the Postal Service's] death spiral."?As consumers begin to notice the effects of slower delivery, "it will only increase the shift away from mail to alternatives," analyst Jim Corridore tells Fox News. "There's almost nothing you can't do online that you can do by mail." But Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe tells the Associated Press that his agency has no other choice. "We have a business model that is failing. You can't continue to run red ink and not make changes."

SEE ALSO: Time to nationalize the airline industry?

Sources: AP, Fox News, NPR, Wash. Post

View this article on TheWeek.com
Get 4 Free Issues of The Week

"Journey 2" team now attached to "Journey 3" (omg!)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - "Journey 2" doesn't hit theaters until February 10, but the movie tested well over the weekend, and New Line has attached the film's team to "Journey 3" -- if there is such a movie -- TheWrap has learned.

Director Brad Peyton, writers Brian Gunn, Mark Gunn and Richard Outten and producers Beau Flynn, Charlotte Huggins and Tripp Vincent are attached to the third installment in the franchise.

The first of the "Journey" films, the 2008 "Journey to the Center of the Earth," grossed nearly $102 million domestically and $242 million worldwide on a $60 million budget.

That movie starred Brendan Fraser and Josh Hutcherson. Eric Brevig directed.

The second, the 3D "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" stars Hutcherson, Dwayne Johnson and Vanessa Hudgens.

It is unclear whether they will return for a third "Journey" film, but TheWrap has learned that the studio would like to have the cast, as well as the director, writers and producers, back for a possible third "Journey."

The movies are based on Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_journey2_team_now_attached_journey_3_030647765/43828060/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/journey-2-team-now-attached-journey-3-030647765.html

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Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Pilot sick-out disrupts Caribbean airline flights

ST. JOHN'S, Antigua (AP) ? Caribbean airline LIAT says all of its pilots have called in sick, likely disrupting all of Tuesday's flights.

The pilots are protesting the firing of a captain for undisclosed reasons.

The airline says in a statement that travelers will be allowed to rebook for free within a week of their scheduled trip. Those who cannot reschedule will receive full credit for future travel.

LIAT serves 21 destinations across the Caribbean. It is based in Antigua and its shareholders include the governments of Antigua, Barbados and St. Vincent.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-12-06-CB-Caribbean-Airline/id-4935dda08e274c878da85b13aa85bd84

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Charter Looks For 2012 Opportunity To 'Play Offense' ? Deadline.com

Charter Communications continues to hope that technology will enable it to become?cable?s little engine that could. CEO Michael Lovett says that his company?s arrangement to sell TiVo DVRs to customers ? which is just getting started in Ft. Worth, Texas ? is ?a pretty dynamic game-changer.? He says the product ?allows us to play offense? against satellite companies and telcos led by AT&T?s U-verse that have targeted the No. 4 cable operator, which emerged from bankruptcy protection two years ago. ?We anticipate marketing this product aggressively.? The company also has big plans for on-screen navigation; it recently began to offer its broadband customers aggregated video listings for Hulu, Netflix and Amazon. But executives say they plan to resist broadcaster efforts to negotiate retransmission consent deals with high payments. ?At what point does the customer say enough?s enough?? CFO Christopher Winfrey asks.

Click Here for Deadline Email News Alerts - Subscribe Today!

Source: http://www.deadline.com/2011/12/charter-communications-looks-for-2012-opportunity-to-play-offense/

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New ADHD gene study points to defects in brain signaling pathways

ScienceDaily (Dec. 4, 2011) ? Pediatric researchers analyzing genetic influences in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have found alterations in specific genes involved in important brain signaling pathways. The study raises the possibility that drugs acting on those pathways might offer a new treatment option for patients with ADHD who have those gene variants -- potentially, half a million U.S. children.

"At least 10 percent of the ADHD patients in our sample have these particular genetic variants," said study leader Hakon Hakonarson, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Center for Applied Genomics at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "The genes involved affect neurotransmitter systems in the brain that have been implicated in ADHD, and we now have a genetic explanation for this link that applies to a subset of children with the disorder."

The study appears online December 4 in Nature Genetics.

ADHD is a common but complex neuropsychiatric disorder, estimated to occur in as many as 7 percent of school-age children and in a smaller percentage of adults. There are different subtypes of ADHD, with symptoms such as short attention span, impulsive behavior and excessive activity. Its causes are unknown, but it tends to run in families and is thought to be influenced by many interacting genes. Drug treatment is not always effective, particularly in severe cases.

The study team did whole-genome analyses of 1,000 children with ADHD recruited at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, compared to 4,100 children without ADHD. The researchers searched for copy number variations (CNVs), which are deletions or duplications of DNA sequences. They then evaluated these initial findings in multiple independent cohorts that included nearly 2,500 cases with ADHD and 9,200 control subjects. All the study subjects were children of European ancestry.

Among those cohorts, the research team identified four genes with a significantly higher number of CNVs in children with ADHD. All the genes were members of the glutamate receptor gene family, with the strongest result in the gene GMR5. Glutamate is a neurotransmitter, a protein that transmits signals between neurons in the brain. "Members of the GMR gene family, along with genes they interact with, affect nerve transmission, the formation of neurons, and interconnections in the brain, so the fact that children with ADHD are more likely to have alterations in these genes reinforces previous evidence that the GRM pathway is important in ADHD," said Hakonarson. "Our findings get to the cause of the ADHD symptoms in a subset of children with the disease."

"ADHD is a highly heterogeneous disorder, and separating out the different subgroups of genetic mutations that these children have is very important," said co-first author Josephine Elia, M.D., a child psychiatrist at Children's Hospital and an ADHD expert. She added that thousands of genes may contribute to the risk of ADHD, but that identifying a gene family responsible for 10 percent of cases is a robust finding in a common neuropsychiatric disorder such as ADHD. Overall, according to the CDC, 5.2 million U.S. children aged 3 to 17 have been diagnosed with ADHD.

Elia said the fact that their study identified gene variants involved in glutamate signaling is consistent with studies in animal models, pharmacology and brain imaging showing that these pathways are crucial in a subset of ADHD cases. She added, "This research will allow new therapies to be developed that are tailored to treating underlying causes of ADHD. This is another step toward individualizing treatment to a child's genetic profile."

Hakonarson expects this study will set the stage for further discoveries of ADHD-related genes along GMR signaling pathways. Moreover, the current research strongly suggests that selective GRM agonists could be tested in clinical trials as a potential therapy for ADHD in patients harboring particular CNVs. He added that further preclinical studies must first be done to evaluate candidate drugs.

Joseph T. Glessner, a Ph.D. trainee at the Center for Applied Genomics, is also a co-first author of the study along with Elia. Other collaborators were from numerous U.S. and European centers. Funding for the study came from an Institutional Development Award to the Center for Applied Genomics from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Funding also came from the National Institutes of Health, the Cotswold Foundation, a University of Pennsylvania National Center for Research Resources Clinical and Translational Science Awards grant, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and other sources.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, via Newswise.

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

Journal Reference:

Josephine Elia, Joseph T Glessner, Kai Wang, Nagahide Takahashi, Corina J Shtir, Dexter Hadley, Patrick M A Sleiman, Haitao Zhang, Cecilia E Kim, Reid Robison, Gholson J Lyon, James H Flory, Jonathan P Bradfield, Marcin Imielinski, Cuiping Hou, Edward C Frackelton, Rosetta M Chiavacci, Takeshi Sakurai, Cara Rabin, Frank A Middleton, Kelly A Thomas, Maria Garris, Frank Mentch, Christine M Freitag, Hans-Christoph Steinhausen, Alexandre A Todorov, Andreas Reif, Aribert Rothenberger, Barbara Franke, Eric O Mick, Herbert Roeyers, Jan Buitelaar, Klaus-Peter Lesch, Tobias Banaschewski, Richard P Ebstein, Fernando Mulas, Robert D Oades, Joseph Sergeant, Edmund Sonuga-Barke, Tobias J Renner, Marcel Romanos, Jasmin Romanos, Andreas Warnke, Susanne Walitza, Jobst Meyer, Haukur P?lmason, Christiane Seitz, Sandra K Loo, Susan L Smalley, Joseph Biederman, Lindsey Kent, Philip Asherson, Richard J L Anney, J William Gaynor, Philip Shaw, Marcella Devoto, Peter S White, Struan F A Grant, Joseph D Buxbaum, Judith L Rapoport, Nigel M Williams, Stanley F Nelson, Stephen V Faraone, Hakon Hakonarson. Genome-wide copy number variation study associates metabotropic glutamate receptor gene networks with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Nature Genetics, 2011; DOI: 10.1038/ng.1013

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/SvDsf9cKygk/111204144650.htm

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Monday, December 5, 2011

Gingrich meeting with Trump, running ad in Iowa

Donald Trump listens at left as Republican presidential candidate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich talks to media after their meeting in New York, Monday, Dec. 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Donald Trump talk to media after a meeting in New York, Monday, Dec. 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, right, waves after meeting with Donald Trump, and talking to the media in New York, Monday, Dec. 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Donald Trump shake hands after they met and spoke to the media in New York, Monday, Dec. 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Republican Newt Gingrich praised Donald Trump as a "true American icon" Monday, and said he had persuaded the celebrity real estate mogul to mentor a group of children from New York City's poorest schools. Trump said he was impressed by the former House speaker's strong showing in the GOP presidential contest, but said he would refrain from endorsing a candidate until after he hosts a televised debate in Iowa a week before that state's caucuses.

Gingrich was making several stops in New York the same day his campaign debuted a new television ad in Iowa. He's hoping to capitalize on polls showing him leading top rival Mitt Romney nationally and in Iowa, which holds the first nominating contest January 3.

Gingrich met privately with Trump, who flirted with a bid for the Republican nomination last spring and has hosted many of the GOP contenders in the Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan.

Gingrich, who recently sparked controversy by suggesting disadvantaged children as young as 9 should be encouraged to clean their schools in order to learn about work, told reporters he had pressed Trump to help train needy youngsters.

The idea, Gingrich said, would be "to get them into the world of work, get them into the opportunity to earn money, to get them into the habit of showing up and realizing that effort is rewarded and America is all about the work ethic."

Trump, who hosts the reality show "Celebrity Apprentice," said he was happy to take up Gingrich's challenge.

"I thought it was a great idea," Trump said. "We're going to be picking 10 young wonderful children and make them 'apprenti.' We're going to have a little fun with it."

Gingrich said he was pleased to participate in the Trump-hosted debate and dismissed criticism from rival Ron Paul that such a forum demeaned the presidency.

"This is a country that elected a peanut farmer to the presidency. This is a country that elected an actor who made two movies with a chimpanzee to the presidency," Gingrich said, referring to Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. "Donald Trump is a great showman; he's also a great businessman. I think one of the differences between my party and the other party is we actually go to people who know how to create jobs. We need to be open to new ways of doing things."

Trump has hinted he might run for president as an Independent if Republicans nominate a candidate who can't beat President Barack Obama. Trump sidestepped questions about a potential run but said he believes Paul has "zero chance" of getting the nomination.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-05-Gingrich-Show%20of%20Force/id-61293df5fee34699a956bdc7d2385078

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