Dalglish demands response in cup semi vs. City

By STUART CONDIE

AP Sports Writer

Associated Press Sports

updated 9:23 a.m. ET Jan. 23, 2012

LONDON (AP) -Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish wants a determined response from the players he lambasted for their weekend performances when his team takes on Manchester City on Wednesday for a place in the League Cup final.

Dalglish tore into his players after Saturday's woeful 3-1 loss at relegation-threatened Bolton and demanded a much improved display in the semifinals at Anfield.

With the club just one step away from a first final of any kind since the 2007 Champions League, Dalglish said his players were distracted by the match against City. Now they have the chance to show it was worth it.

"I was annoyed and disappointed, more so about the attitude, the commitment and the approach to the game," Dalglish said. "That wasn't us. All season we've been very complimentary about the way the boys have gone about their work but I don't think you could say that on Saturday. Their approach to the game was poor.

"Whether they had their minds on the next two games, I don't know. But every game we play is a very important game."

Liverpool leads City 1-0 from the first leg and the Anfield crowd is set to be in full voice for the visit of the Premier League leaders.

"Now we will get our minds on the Man City game," Dalglish said. "We have to solve our own problems. What do we do to put it right? Same as we always do: we work."

City is on a high after a dramatic 3-2 win over Tottenham on Sunday, but manager Roberto Mancini is keen for his players to forget about the Premier League for a couple of days and focus on what would be a second cup final in two seasons.

Although City looks to have nudged Spurs out of the title race, Mancini believes his team can further improve.

"His words in the dressing room were very profound," assistant manager David Platt said. "Regardless of the fact that it is a great victory against someone who is up there as well, he is not happy at the gift of a goal and the lapse in concentration to allow it to go in.

"He has made that clear in no uncertain terms."

In the other semifinal, Crystal Palace leads second-tier rival Cardiff 1-0 ahead of their second-leg match on Tuesday.

Cardiff, which is third in the League Championship and challenging for promotion, got a taste of cup final action when the Welsh side lost 1-0 to Portsmouth in the 2008 FA Cup final.

The players want another.

"All of the lads know how much it would mean and we're going to drive on together to try and reach Wembley," Cardiff captain Mark Hudson told the club's website. "We're fully focused on what we need to do and we're going out there to play with freedom and get the result."

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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More newsGiuseppe Cacace / AFP - Getty Images

Barca awaits Real Madrid again

Real Madrid probably will abandon its defensive strategy and go on the attack against Barcelona in the second leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Stefano Rellandini / Reuters

That's a reason?

AC Milan's Kevin-Prince Boateng is hurt again, and his girlfriend says it's because they have sex "7-10 times a week." Oh.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/44031201/ns/sports-soccer/

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Illinois Senator Kirk talking following stroke (Reuters)

CHICAGO (Reuters) ? Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois, who suffered a stroke over the weekend and had part of his skull removed to relieve brain swelling, is alert and talking but has a long recovery in store, his doctor said on Tuesday.

The 52-year-old Republican had breathing tubes removed and responds to questions, sometimes in longer sentences when not under sedation, said Dr. Richard Fessler of Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

"He was asking for his Blackberry, so he's thinking about communicating and thinking about work," Fessler told reporters. Doctors refused the request for his phone.

Fessler said Kirk's recovery would likely be "a long haul," beginning with a week in the hospital's intensive care unit so doctors can keep an eye on his brain swelling.

Surgeons will then replace a 4- by 8-inch section of his skull that was removed to prevent damage due to the swelling. After that, Kirk will face a period of rehabilitation at the hospital.

Kirk, a Naval Reserve intelligence officer, was slurring his words due to paralysis on the left side of his face, which should improve with therapy, Fessler said.

He suffered an ischemic stroke, caused by a blocked carotid artery, that affected the right side of his brain, which controls the left side of his body.

Fessler said it was not apparent what caused Kirk's stroke, whose symptoms began on Saturday with white flecks in his vision and head pain. Kirk checked himself into a suburban Chicago hospital, then was moved to Northwestern in Chicago when his condition worsened.

"I don't think this event had anything to do with either stress or his diet," Fessler said. "It is just one of those unfortunate disasters that happen to people sometimes."

"He had to pass his Navy physical twice a year. He has to be in reasonably good shape," he said.

Kirk, viewed as a moderate Republican, won President Barack Obama's former Senate seat in 2010. A native of Champaign, Illinois, Kirk was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2000 representing the northern suburbs of Chicago.

(Additional reporting by Andrew Stern; Editing by Cynthia Johnston)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120124/us_nm/us_senator_kirk_stroke

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2 more cruise bodies found, oil pumping to begin (AP)

ROME ? Salvage experts can begin pumping fuel from a capsized cruise ship as early as Tuesday to avert a possible environmental catastrophe and the ship is stable enough that search efforts for the missing can continue, Italian officials said.

The decision to carry out both operations in tandem was made after instrument readings determined that the Costa Concordia was not at risk of sliding into deeper waters, Franco Gabrielli, chief of the national civil protection agency, told reporters Monday.

"The ship is stable. ... There is no problem or danger that it is about to drop onto much lower seabed," Gabrielli said on the island of Giglio.

The Concordia rammed a reef Jan. 13 on the tiny Tuscan island and capsized a few hours later just outside Giglio's port as it was carrying 4,200 passengers and crew on a Mediterranean cruise.

Taking advantage of calm seas, divers on Monday found the bodies of two women near the ship's Internet cafe, raising to 15 the number of confirmed dead.

As of Monday night, 10 days after the accident, 17 people were still unaccounted for. Gabrielli's office said earlier reports that an unregistered Hungarian woman had called friends from the ship before it flipped over turned out to be "groundless."

The ship's Italian captain, Francesco Schettino is under house arrest near Naples as prosecutors investigate him for suspected manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning his vessel while some people were still aboard. He has insisted that he was coordinating rescue operations from a lifeboat and then from shore.

Costa Crociere SpA has distanced itself from the captain, contending that he made an unauthorized deviation from the ship's programmed route. Schettino, however, has reportedly told investigators that Costa officials had requested that he sail close to Giglio in a publicity move.

Schettino's lawyer, Bruno Leporatti, told reporters Monday that tests on urine and hair samples showed that his client had not been under the influence of alcohol or drugs before the crash. Prosecutors could not confirm the report, since they cannot speak about the investigation while it is still under way.

Despite earlier fears, officials said the crippled cruise ship, with a 70-meter (230-foot) long gash in its hull, is not expected to roll off its rocky seabed perch and be swallowed by the sea.

An Italian geologist, on Giglio to monitor the Concordia, told Sky TG24 Monday the ship was barely moving.

"It is moving at the rate of about one or two millimeters an hour," said Nicola Casagli, adding the ship has moved up to 3mm an hour when tides come in or out. "The ship responds to the tides."

The sea has been calm for several days but he said waves were expected to grow in the next few days.

In all, seven bodies await identification, but Gabrielli said officials have DNA from the relatives of all of the missing passengers and are working to confirm their names. He said the search for bodies would continue "as long as it is possible to inspect whatever can be inspected."

Meanwhile, Italian Admiral Ilarione dell'Anna said the fuel removal could begin as early as Tuesday, addressing growing concern among residents and environmentalists that the heavy, tar-like fuel could leak from the ship's 17 double-bottomed tanks.

"They should start the oil drainage operations on the ship. At this point those who died will not come back to life. Even if they pull them out later, unfortunately it won't make a difference," Andrea Ginanneschi, a resident of Giglio, told The Associated Press.

Dell'Anna predicted it would take 28 days to remove all of the fuel. Officials said the first tank to be emptied will be one above the waterline.

Eight kilometers (five miles) of oil barriers, including absorbent ones, have been laid in the area to protect marine life and the coast in the pristine waters, which are prime fishing grounds and a protected area for dolphins and whales.

Recovery experts from the Dutch salvage company Smit have previously said they will create holes in the top and the bottom of each tank, heating the fuel so it flows more easily and pumping from the top while forcing air in from the bottom. For the underwater tanks, sea water will be used to displace the fuel, which becomes thick and gooey when cooled.

Already, some diesel and lubricants have leaked into the water near the ship, probably from machinery on board. Officials have characterized the contamination as superficial.

"Smit has been ready for a week to begin pumping fuel from the tanks, awaiting only the go- ahead," said a company statement. "For this purpose, SMIT has mobilized an oil tanker with emergency response equipment including sweeping arms, booms and a skimmer."

It said the vessel arrived on Monday.

The company also said Italian authorities have indicated it can begin the removal once a second absorbent boom is in place around the ship.

Besides 2,200 metric tons of heavier fuel, there also are 185 metric tons of diesel and lubricants on board and chemicals including cleaning products and chlorine.

__

Barry reported from Milan. Andrea Foa reported from Giglio.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_italy_cruise_aground

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Multiple partners not the only way for corals to stay cool

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Recent experiments conducted at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) produced striking results, showing for the first time that corals hosting a single type of "zooxanthellae" can have different levels of thermal tolerance ? a feature that was only known previously for corals with a mix of zooxanthellae.

Zooxanthellae are algal cells that live within the tissue of living coral and provide the coral host with energy; the relationship is crucial for the coral's survival. Rising ocean temperatures can lead to the loss of zooxanthellae from the coral host, as a consequence the coral loses its tissue colour and its primary source of energy, a process known as 'coral bleaching'. Globally, coral bleaching has led to significant loss of coral, and with rising ocean temperatures, poses a major threat to coral reefs.

It was previously known that corals hosting more than one type of zooxanthellae could better cope with temperature changes by favouring types of zooxanthellae that have greater thermal tolerance. However, until now it was not known if corals hosting a single type of zooxanthellae could have different levels of thermal tolerance.

Results recently published in the prestigious scientific journal, Nature Climate Change, showed corals that only host a single type of zooxanthellae may in fact differ in their thermal tolerance. This finding is important because many species of coral are dominated by a single type of zooxanthellae.

PhD student, Ms Emily Howells from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS) at James Cook University, Townsville, together with scientists from AIMS and CoECRS, collected two populations of a single type of zooxanthellae (known as C1) from two locations on the Great Barrier Reef. The population collected from Magnetic Island near Townsville experiences average ocean temperatures 2?C higher than the population collected from the Whitsunday Islands. In experiments at AIMS, young corals were treated with one or other of the two different populations of zooxanthellae, and exposed to elevated water temperatures, as might occur during bleaching events.

The results were striking. Corals with zooxanthellae from the warmer region coped well with higher temperatures, staying healthy and growing rapidly, whilst corals with zooxanthellae from the cooler region suffered severe bleaching (loss of the zooxanthellae) and actually reduced in size as they partly died off.

Madeleine van Oppen, ARC Future Fellow at AIMS, says the research results will likely have a major impact on the field, as until now corals associating with the same type of zooxanthellae have been viewed as physiologically similar, irrespective of their geographical location.

"Our research suggests that populations of a single type of zooxanthellae have adapted to local conditions as can be seen from the remarkably different results of the two populations used in this study. If zooxanthellae populations are able to further adapt to increases in temperature at the pace at which oceans warm, they may assist corals to increase their thermal tolerance and survive into the future." says Emily Howells.

"However, we do not yet know how fast zooxanthellae can adapt, highlighting an important area of future research", says Bette Willis, Professor from the CoECRS at James Cook University.

Research at AIMS is therefore currently assessing whether zooxanthellae can continue to adapt to increasing temperatures and at what rate. This work in progress will provide insights into the capacity of zooxanthellae to adapt to future climate change.

###

ARC Centre of Excellence in Coral Reef Studies: http://www.coralcoe.org.au/

Thanks to ARC Centre of Excellence in Coral Reef Studies 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/116912/Multiple_partners_not_the_only_way_for_corals_to_stay_cool_

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Music Video Megamart Vevo Might Find New Home at Facebook [Facebook]

The go-to service for music videos on YouTube could be heading to Facebook of all places. Because we all know how well it works out when social networks become a place for musicians to hang out (*cough* MySpace). More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/D8yIHwGaRuw/music-video-megamart-vevo-might-find-new-home-at-facebook

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Romney on the ropes (Americablog)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

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Top 20 Concert Tours from Pollstar (AP)

The Top 20 Concert Tours ranks artists by average box office gross per city and includes the average ticket price for shows in North America. The previous week's ranking is in parentheses. The list is based on data provided to the trade publication Pollstar by concert promoters and venue managers.

TOP 20 CONCERT TOURS

1. (2) Kanye West / Jay-Z; $2,093,467; $118.23.

2. (1) Cirque du Soleil ? "Michael Jackson: The Immortal"; $2,039,167; $110.54.

3. (3) Taylor Swift; $1,120,727; $68.98.

4. (5) Foo Fighters; $713,947; $51.07.

5. (6) Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band; $697,857; $70.11.

6. (7) Trans-Siberian Orchestra; $571,979; $51.82.

7. (8) Zac Brown Band; $513,132; $43.48.

8. (9) Sting; $475,037; $92.43.

9. (10) Selena Gomez & The Scene; $464,699; $45.59.

10. (12) Guns N' Roses; $415,202; $52.44.

11. (13) Deadmau5; $360,479; $48.85.

12. (14) Andre Rieu; $302,452; $77.92.

13. (19) Jeff Dunham; $300,429; $47.33.

14. (18) Paul Simon; $255,730; $77.51.

15. (20) Lady Antebellum; $244,691; $45.25.

16. (21) Judas Priest; $207,393; $52.61.

17. (22) "So You Think You Can Dance"; $203,315; $54.14.

18. (24) John Mellencamp; $169,771; $90.14.

19. (27) "Scream Tour" / Mindless Behavior / Diggy Simmons; $131,650; $40.91.

20. (28) Mannheim Steamroller; $125,841; $56.44.

For free upcoming tour information, go to http://www.pollstar.com

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_en_mu/us_top20_concert_tours

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Apple revamps iTunes U and intros dedicated app

A facelift for iBooks wasn't the only change on Apple's agenda today, as the company's SVP Eddy Cue has just announced an overhaul of iTunes U. The service, mostly used as a means of delivering lectures to college students, has seen over 700 million downloads since its launch and is now gearing up to offer full online courses from the likes of Duke University, Yale, MIT, amongst others.

As an example of this new remote method of learning, the company demoed a Chemistry course at its event, showing an overview, syllabus, credits and even the professor's office hours. Tabs are placed along the right side of page with options for Info, Posts, Notes and Materials, allowing teachers to send updates direct to the app and students the ability to jot down important highlights. Wondering about integration? A simple tap on these pushed assignments will transport students direct to iBooks, where their specific coursework lies in wait and, once completed, can be crossed off on the provided task list.

The app can even be used for course registration, eliminating the frenzied rush typically associated with such events. It's all available to download on the App Store right now at no cost in 123 countries. So, if you're on Apple's participating list of schools and you're rocking an iPad, go ahead and get to virtually cracking those books.

Gallery: iTunes U app

Continue reading Apple revamps iTunes U and intros dedicated app

Apple revamps iTunes U and intros dedicated app originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jan 2012 10:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pakistan says "not possible" for U.S. envoy to visit (Reuters)

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) ? Pakistan has told U.S. special envoy Marc Grossman that it is "not possible at the moment" for him to visit the country, a senior government official told Reuters Wednesday, highlighting the increased tensions between the uneasy allies.

He did not elaborate on the reason for refusing Grossman's request to visit.

Relations between Islamabad and Washington plunged to the lowest point in years when a NATO cross-border air attack killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on November 26.

"Ambassador Grossman asked to visit Pakistan but we conveyed to him that it was not possible at the moment," a senior government official, who declined to be named, told Reuters.

Troubled U.S.-Pakistan ties threaten to set back peace efforts in neighboring Afghanistan, where the United States is gradually withdrawing troops after a decade of war.

Grossman is due to visit Afghanistan and Qatar this week, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last Wednesday.

Relations between Pakistan's civilian leadership and military are also at their worst since a 1999 coup following reports of a disputed memo allegedly from President Asif Ali Zardari's government seeking U.S. help in reining in Pakistan's powerful generals.

(Writing by Serena Chaudhry; Editing by Chris Allbritton and Sanjeev Miglani)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120118/wl_nm/us_pakistan_usa

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GEvision - Flight Simulation In Google Earth

It was announced on 21^st January 2010 that flight simulation is available in Google Earth through GEvision.

GEvision is a Google Earth based scenery engine which a flight simulator can directly link to in applications such as Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS) or XPlane, or any other applications that generate coordinate data.

If you use the flight simulation programs MSFS or XPlane, you can now link Google Earth to these programs. This is a development that will significantly improve the experience of flight simulation.

There have been several attempts in the past to link Google Earth to flight simulation programs, without much success. One of GEvision?s creators at Planet In Action commented: "In the past, various attempts had been made to use Google Earth scenery instead of the one included in Microsoft Flight Simulator FSX. Yet due to limitations in the interface technology this has never been fully achieved. GEvision is a new project that will enable the use of Google Earth as a full blown 3D scenery engine."

In anticipation of GEvision?s launch, users had this key question on their minds: will the images from Google Earth fully replace the graphics in flight simulator? This is in view of the fact that some details in flight simulator far exceeds what Google Earth offers, for instance, the detailed 3D models of various airports or the weather phenomena that make flights very realistic.

It is expected that in the near future GEvision will become a server solution where a user can have many computers which render a wide variety of views for a surround visual system. The developers of GEvision are currently carrying out some experiments to simulate weather, and this is expected to significantly improve the flight simulator?s experience. A combination of perfect scenery and weather scenario will help users to have a simulation experience that closely resembles reality.

At the time of this announcement, the creators of GEvision stated that they were planning to introduce GEvision to the public at Google IO Developers conference in May 2010 in San Francisco.

GEvision marks an important step in flight simulation ? it means that Microsoft Flight Simulator X can get significantly improved graphics with satellite pictures from Google Earth.

The company has a series of videos and screen shots that describe GEvision, how it works, and how to install and use it.

Talk about this article in the discussion forum.

Not a member of Fly Away Simulation? Sign-up for a membership here!

Source: http://flyawaysimulation.com/news/4319/gevision-flight-simulation-in-google-earth/

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Razer Fiona: A Gaming PC Trapped in the Body of a Tablet [Razer]

While it may look like your average Android tablet adorned with a pair of button-festooned handlebars, beneath the shimmering screen of Razer's Project Fiona lurks the beating heart of a high-powered gaming PC. Are we looking at the future of portable gaming? More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/b2OiUyvb-v4/razers-latest-concept-creation-is-a-gaming-pc-trapped-in-the-body-of-a-tablet

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Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and Foreign Ministers of South Korea and Japan to Meet on North Korea, Washington, D.C.

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

Source: www.cfr.org --- Sunday, January 08, 2012
January 16, 2012 ...

Source: http://www.cfr.org/region/north-korea/ri276

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Winter a tough time for Fla. tropical fish farmers

Imperial Tropical's breeding manager Kevin Kramer holds a male Swordtail Wednesday Jan. 4, 2012, at the tropical fish farm in Lakeland, Fla. Almost all the nation's domestically-raised tropical and ornamental fish come from Florida, and when cold weather strikes the results can be devastating. It will be days, if not weeks, before farmer Fran Drawdy discovers how the recent cold snap will affect her fish. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Imperial Tropical's breeding manager Kevin Kramer holds a male Swordtail Wednesday Jan. 4, 2012, at the tropical fish farm in Lakeland, Fla. Almost all the nation's domestically-raised tropical and ornamental fish come from Florida, and when cold weather strikes the results can be devastating. It will be days, if not weeks, before farmer Fran Drawdy discovers how the recent cold snap will affect her fish. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

In this Jan. 4, 2012, photo, Imperial Tropical's breeding manager Kevin Kramer, right, nets fish as owner Fran Drawdy looks on at their tropical fish farm in Lakeland, Fla. Almost all the nation's domestically-raised tropical and ornamental fish come from Florida, and when cold weather strikes the results can be devastating. It will be days, if not weeks, before farmer Fran Drawdy discovers how the recent cold snap will affect her fish. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

In this Jan. 4, 2012, photo, Imperial Tropical's breeding manager Kevin Kramer inspects a net full of Black Tetras at the tropical fish farm in Lakeland, Fla. Almost all the nation's domestically-raised tropical and ornamental fish come from Florida, and when cold weather strikes the results can be devastating. It will be days, if not weeks, before farmer Fran Drawdy discovers how the recent cold snap will affect her fish. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) ? It's a tense time at Imperial Tropicals, one of central Florida's largest ornamental fish farms.

It will be days, if not weeks, before farmer Fran Drawdy discovers how the recent cold snap will affect her fish.

Her millions of platies, mollies and guppies in outdoor ponds could die quickly from the drastic temperature change ? it went from 80 degrees on Christmas to 20 degrees two weeks later ? or they could fall sick and linger from stress or a fungus.

Almost all the nation's domestically-raised tropical and ornamental fish come from Florida, and when cold weather strikes the results can be devastating.

"We have tremendous challenges with the cold," said Drawdy, who has owned the central Florida farm with her family for 40 years. "Our prayer was that we wouldn't face that this year. We were just really starting to recover."

Drawdy is referring to 2010, when many Florida ornamental fish farmers lost between 80 and 100 percent of their stock. That year, temperatures stayed below 50 for 11 days straight in January and then another cold snap in December struck the area.

"The last three winters in a row it seems like we have been just clobbered," said David Boozer, executive director of the Florida Tropical Fish Farms Association, a group that counts 231 farmers as members.

The Sunshine State's fish farms are not as well known, or as lucrative, as oranges, strawberries or tomatoes. But the sales figures are still substantial and chances are, if you've bought a guppy at a large chain store, it's from Florida. The state's tropical fish sales were $32.2 million in 2007, the last year statistics were gathered.

Hillsborough and Polk counties in central Florida sold the most fish, although farmers are located in some South Florida counties as well. The industry started in Miami in the 1920s, and farmers migrated north as land there became more expensive. At one time, farmers say, tropical fish were the most shipped cargo from Tampa International Airport; today it's industrial and commercial machinery.

Tropical fish farmers usually keep dozens, if not hundreds, of small outdoor ponds on their property. Some, including Drawdy, also have greenhouses with concrete tanks inside and special breeding areas. Although the greenhouses are covered and farmers place plastic sheeting over the ponds when it gets cold, the fish ? and profits ? suffer if the temperatures drop too low for too long.

During the 2010 freeze, it took Imperial Tropicals nearly a year to replenish its stock because a lot of the company's breeding fish were also wiped out from the cold.

"It takes so long to recover," Drawdy said.

The recent and unusually cold winters are only part of the industry's problem. A bad economy, imports from Asia and the ubiquity of the Internet all play a role in why there are hundreds fewer fish farmers today than 20 years ago.

"Kids a lot of times aren't looking at an aquarium anymore," shrugged Kevin Kramer, the breeding manager at Imperial Tropicals. "They're looking at videogames."

Imported fish from Asia have taken over the consumer market, said Boozer. Labor in countries like Malaysia and Thailand is cheaper and it's also warmer ? Florida farmers' biggest competition is from Southeast Asia, where the temperatures never fall below 80 degrees. There are also more environmental regulations for U.S. farmers; Drawdy said her farm is inspected by the state Department of Agriculture and local water management authorities. Keeping up with the regulations can raise farming cists, she said.

Also, since there are fewer small pet stores of fish hobbyist shops, large chain stores are where most people buy their fish. Those stores carry fewer varieties and can set prices low.

Farmers must currently monitor which varieties are popular and breed accordingly. For Drawdy, selling to distributors quickly is key ? it's not like she can just hang on to the fish until they sell.

"These fish won't sit," she said. "We have to sell them or they get too big or they die."

Although Drawdy watched many of her fellow farmers sell their land during the real estate boom of the early 2000s, she is determined to continue.

"This is what we know," she said. "This has been our family's life."

___

Follow Tamara Lush on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tamaralush

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-06-Food%20and%20Farm-Tropical%20Fish/id-eb006d9f4eb74dd08ea254d44855e90b

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London property market faces sluggish first half

The economic uncertainty and sluggish growth that weighed on London office leasing in 2011 will continue into the first half of this year, according to property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle, with the majority of demand for space coming from technology companies and renewals.

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Source: http://www.efinancialnews.com/story/2012-01-06/london-property-faces-a-slow-first-half-of-2012?mod=rss-assetmanagement

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MLB, union approve Pujols contract; deal has $240M guaranteed

NEW YORK -- Albert Pujols officially joined the Los Angeles Angels when Major League Baseball and the players association confirmed the terms of the first baseman's 10-year contract and agreed its guaranteed value is $240 million.

The deal was reached four weeks earlier on the final day of the winter meetings. The contract took nearly a month to draft and was completed Thursday.

The team and Pujols will enter a 10-year, personal-services agreement following the playing contract's expiration or Pujols' retirement, a deal that will pay $1 million annually. But because it is contingent on Pujols actually working for the team, it is not considered guaranteed money for the purposes of baseball's luxury tax.

Pujols also will be paid separately for milestone accomplishments under a separate marketing agreement.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/cbssportsline/home_news/~3/au4m9OtKkjw/rss

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IVNetwork: IVN author Chris Hinyub looks into the future of #California food policy | Independent Voter Network http://t.co/lU1e8RHa #agriculture

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IVN author Chris Hinyub looks into the future of #California food policy | Independent Voter Network bit.ly/agfuture #agriculture Il y a environ 2 heures via HootSuite

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