Kenya's Mumias Sugar issues profit warning

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's Mumias Sugar warned its full-year pretax profits would tumble by at least a quarter after drought hurt cane output and earnings in the first six months of the financial year, it said on Wednesday.

Mumias, whose shares are some of the most frequently traded at the Nairobi bourse, also said that lower sugar prices had also stunted revenues in the first-half ended December.

"The outlook for the second half of the year is stronger and we expect improved profitability," Mumias said in a statement.

Mumias recorded pretax profits 1.76 billion shillings last financial year.

It is the biggest grower and miller of the sweetener in east Africa's largest economy.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kenyas-mumias-sugar-issues-profit-warning-150815793--finance.html

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Hagel?s confirmation; the Republican scorecard, with particular attention to Rand Paul (Powerlineblog)

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The Engadget Podcast is live tonight at 3:30PM!

Yeah, we're on a bit earlier today. Some of us have families to get back to, after all. Yeesh. Also, we just couldn't wait to talk about all of the news that's come out of Mobile World Congress in the past week. Join Tim, Brian and our old/new colleague Peter Rojas at 3:30 sharp(ish) just after the break.

February 28, 2013 3:30 PM EST

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/28/engadget-podcast/

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Reports of rare superbug jump in US, CDC says

CDC

In the U.S. today, the most common type of highly drug-resistant germs known as CREs are the Klebsiella pneumonia bacteria like those shown here. Nearly untreatable, they're being detected in a growing number of health care settings.

By JoNel Aleccia, Staff Writer, NBC News

A sharp jump in the number of rare but potentially deadly types of a superbug resistant to nearly all last-resort antibiotics has prompted government health officials to renew warnings for U.S. hospitals, nursing homes and other health care settings.

The move comes just as researchers in Israel are reporting that people colonized with dangerous CRE -- Carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae -- can take more than a year before they test negative for the bacteria, making it more difficult to control -- and raising the risk of wider spread.

Reports of unusual forms of CRE have nearly doubled in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported this month. Of 37 cases of rare forms of CRE, including the alarming NDM ?-- New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase -- 15 have been reported since last July.

?This increase highlights the need for U.S. health care providers to act aggressively to prevent the emergence and spread of these unusual CRE organisms,? the CDC said in a health advisory.

CREs are part of a?family of drug-resistant germs that have shown up in growing numbers of U.S. health care settings. They?re named for their ability to elude carbapenem antibiotics, the big guns in the medical arsenal. They usually strike people who are already ill and require devices such as ventilators or catheters or who have been taking antibiotics for a long time. But they can occur in any patient.

Twenty-nine of the unusual CRE cases have been NDM, up from the first case detected in the U.S. in 2010, said the CDC's Dr. Alex Kallen, a medical epidemiologist and outbreak response coordinator in the agency?s Healthcare Quality Promotion division. It's especially alarming because it confers resistance to multiple drugs and is easily transmitted to other types of bacteria.

The others were even rarer types of CRE, including VIMs, IMPs and OXA-48s, all of which produce enzymes that render most antibiotics virtually useless.

The agency called for stricter isolation and hygiene precautions, increased screening of patients potentially colonized with CRE and better communication within and between hospitals and other health care settings where the bugs can become intractable -- and deadly. CRE infections have a mortality of up to 40 percent, much higher than other health care infections, such as those caused by MRSA or C. difficile.

?Our main objective is to slow or stop the spread in places where we can identify them,? said Kallen. ?Right now, the therapeutic options are very limited.?

Health officials have been worried about them for more than a decade, particularly the KPCs, or carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumonia, which have now been reported in 43 U.S. states, the CDC reports.

Nine states have reported NDMs and at least two have reported other rare forms that also block antibiotic effectiveness, including those known as VIMs, or Verona integron-encoded metallo-beta-lactamase, and IMPs. ?So far, they?ve been associated mostly with people who?ve been hospitalized in countries outside the U.S.

The bugs were in the news last summer after reports of a CRE strain of Klebsiella penumoniae roared through the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center near Washington, D.C., killing seven people, including a 16-year-old boy.

In Colorado last summer, NDM-producing CRE was detected in eight patients, the largest outbreak in the U.S. to date, according to a CDC report this month. It was found largely because the University of Colorado Hospital already has stringent surveillance protocols in place, said Dr. Michelle Barron, director of infection control and prevention. Since then, the hospital has probably tested 500 or 600 patients with unusual resistance patterns, she told NBC News. ?

None of the eight patients in the original outbreak died.?The evidence showed that patients who were colonized with the germs, but not actually sick, contributed to the spread.

That?s a point underscored by the study by Israeli doctors published Wednesday in the American Journal of Infection Control. They studied medical records of adult patients hospitalized between January 2009 and December 2010 at Shaare Zedek Medical Center, a 700-bed, university-affiliated hospital in Jerusalem.

In 97 patients with positive CRE cultures, it took a mean time of 387 days to log a negative test -- and nearly 40 percent remained positive after a year, according to Dr. Amon Yinnon, one of the study authors.

?The major concern is that an undiagnosed carrier may be admitted to hospital for totally unrelated reasons, and subsequently and unwittingly pass his CRE to other patients,? Yinnon said in an email to NBC News.

Patients who were hospitalized repeatedly were at higher risk of remaining colonized with CRE, the study found.

CDC officials hope to increase awareness of the growing problem among the general public as well as the health care providers before it gets out of control.

?I can?t predict the future, of course, but there is a concern that we can see more of these as they spread,? Kallen said. ?This can become a community bug.?

Related stories:?

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Source: http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/27/17105852-reports-of-rare-superbug-jump-in-us-cdc-says?lite

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Indigo is a cloud-based, cross-platform personal assistant for Android and Windows Phone 8 (hands-on)

The idea of a personal assistant needs no introduction: you already know Siri, and those of you fortunate to own a Jelly Bean handset (or at least a hacked ICS one) have the privilege of using Google Now. So there's very little we haven't seen here. And yet, we were inclined to take a look at Indigo, a new personal assistant for Android and Windows Phone 8 that launched yesterday, and will be available as a free download in the coming weeks. Meet us past the break to find out why.

Gallery: Indigo personal assistant hands-on

Filed under: Software, Mobile

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Source: Indigo

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/26/indigo-personal-assistant-hands-on/

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Black History, Jazz and Poetry | Arts & Entertainment | Atlantic City ...

I?ve missed some of the poetry/spoken word and jazz events around Atlantic City recently, but I am sure having a great time this month at the ones I do attend.??

Kelsey?s restaurant's newest location at Kentucky and Pacific avenues has been jammin? every Friday and Saturday night with Tony Day and Friends, Eddie Morgan and other local talent.?

Sometimes, there?s even been a waiting line, but people don?t seem to mind. Local residents, anxious to help support Kelsey and Kim through the winter months, have filled the place for meals and music, and even some tourists have ventured away from the casinos and Boardwalk, braving the cold for delicious soul food dishes and live jazz well into the night.??

Elsewhere, poet and radio personality Ray Tyler partied with supporters of the Little Wellness Arts Center and artists of many genres in the Foundation Room at the Showboat last Saturday.

At the Asbury United Methodist?s Jazz Vespers last Sunday, a monthly program that is now going on two years, percussionist Tony Day appeared. On the third Sunday of every month from 4-6pm, you can fellowship in the sanctuary with a little bit of prayer and a whole lot of jazz. Light refreshments are also provided.?

On Feb. 17, Day was joined by friends and fellow musicians Teddy Royal on guitar, Lee Smith on bass and Yoichi Uzeki on the piano, all the way from Japan. The ensemble paid tribute to the legendary Duke Ellington with several of his signature tunes.?

With prayers to the Great Creator of the Universe, the Divine Maestro, the Master Musician and the Great Composer, about 30 people asked blessings on the musicians and their music and enjoyed an evening of excellent live entertainment with only an offering basket passed around midway through the program.?

It doesn?t get much better than that!?

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TheDude said...
Mandy Moore is pretty smokin. I wish I was cool enough to date her. Does anybody know how I can get her number?

*/ var formWrap = $( 'media_add_comment' ); var commentForm = formWrap.getElement( 'form' ); commentForm.setStyle( 'display', 'none' ); var msgPar = new Element( 'p', { 'html': 'Thank you, your comment has been added.' }); msgPar.inject( formWrap ); if ( comment != '' ) { if ( !flagged ) { if ( name == '' ) name = 'Anonymous'; var commentWrap = $( 'comments_wrap' ); var commentUl = commentWrap.getElement( 'ul' ); var commentLi = new Element( 'li', { 'class': 'clear' }); var numDiv = new Element( 'div', { 'class': 'num', 'html': '?' }); var commentPar = new Element( 'p', { 'html': '' + name + ' said...
' + comment }); numDiv.inject( commentLi ); commentPar.inject( commentLi ); commentLi.inject( commentUl ); } else { msgPar.set( 'html', 'Comment has been sent for approval' ); } } } function displayNewComment() { var msgP = document.getElementById("msg"); msgP.innerHTML = "Thank you for your submission. Your comment has been added below."; if(comment != "") { if(!flagged) { var commentSection = document.getElementById("ajaxSection"); var commentDiv = document.createElement("div"); var timeStamp = 'Feb 28, 2013 at 03:34AM'; commentDiv.innerHTML = ''; commentSection.appendChild(commentDiv); } } } function validateCommentForm(form){ var fieldEmail = document.getElementById("field.email"); var fieldName = document.getElementById("field.name"); var nameValue = fieldName.value; var emailValue = fieldEmail.value; var filter = /^([a-zA-Z0-9_\.\-])+\@(([a-zA-Z0-9\-])+\.)+([a-zA-Z0-9]{2,4})+$/; if (filter.test(emailValue)) { var fieldBody = document.getElementById("field.body") var bodyValue = fieldBody.value; bodyValue = bodyValue.replace(/&/g,"&"); bodyValue = bodyValue.replace(/,"/g,">"); bodyValue = bodyValue.replace(/\r\n/g,"
"); bodyValue = bodyValue.replace(/\n/g,"
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"); fieldBody.value = bodyValue; if(navigator.appName == 'Microsoft Internet Explorer') { if(document.getElementById('submit').disabled) { document.getElementById('submit').disabled=false; } else { document.getElementById('submit').disabled=true; } } return insertComment(form,true,function(){return showEditorialComment(nameValue, bodyValue)}); } else { alert('Please enter a valid Email below.'); form.elements[field.email].focus(); return false; } }

Source: http://www.atlanticcityweekly.com/arts-and-entertainment/-Black-History-Jazz-and-Poetry-193330271.html

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Meat plant shutdowns inevitable in budget cuts: USDA (reuters)

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World's largest turtle faces extinction in 20 years

Reuters/Ricardo Tapilatu/University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and the State University of Papua (UNIPA) in Indonesia/Handou

Turtle researcher, Ricardo Tapilatu tags a female leatherback turtle who just laid eggs on a beach in New Guinea in this 2012 photograph.

By Verna Gates, Reuters

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ? The giant Pacific leatherback turtle, known for its arduous 6,000-mile ocean trek from the U.S. West Coast to breeding grounds in Indonesia, could go extinct within 20 years as its population continues to plummet, scientists say.

"Sea turtles have been around about 100 million years and survived the extinction of the dinosaurs but are struggling to survive the impact of humans," said reproductive biologist Thane Wibbels of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), a member of a research team studying the fate of these reptiles.

The leatherback ? the world's largest turtle ? can grow to six feet long and weigh as much as 2,000 pounds.

A study published this week in the Ecological Society of America's scientific journal Ecosphere estimates that only about 500 leatherbacks now nest at their last large nesting site in the Pacific, down from thousands previously. The study tracked the turtle's ongoing population decline since the 1980s.

"If the decline continues, leatherback turtles will become extinct in the Pacific Ocean within 20 years," Wibbels said.

The Pacific leatherback braves a transpacific journey that is one of the longest migrations in nature. Experts say its continued existence is imperiled by threats like climate change, plastic pollution, fishing methods, predation and human hunting.

In the past 27 years, the numbers of western Pacific leatherback turtles have dropped by 78 percent, making it critically endangered, said Ricardo Tapilatu, a turtle researcher at UAB and the State University of Papua in Indonesia. He has studied the turtles at their last remaining refuge, the remote Bird's Head Peninsula on New Guinea.

State University Of Papua / Reuters

Leatherback turtle hatchlings head into the sea on the island of New Guinea in this 2012 photograph.

More than 75 percent of all western Pacific leatherback nesting occurs there, numbering 489 turtles in the last breeding season, the researchers said. The turtles forage across the Pacific as far away as the U.S. coast of California, Oregon, and Washington state.

The research team also included scientists from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service and the World Wildlife Fund Indonesia.

The turtles can dive as deep as 4,000 feet. To survive the cold depths, the leatherback can control its temperature, staying warmer than surrounding waters. They feed on jellyfish, eating hundreds a day.

The leathery shell feels like tire tread and it is distinctively different from hard-shell sea turtles.

Their exact lifespan is unknown, but is believed to be up to 80 years. It is difficult to determine since males never return to the beaches, living their lives in the sea.

Of the four primary Pacific nesting places of the past century, the Malaysian population is extinct, and the Mexico and Central American populations have fallen 95 percent.

The leatherback is the only sea turtle that lives in open ocean, negotiating numerous dangers along the way.

"They migrate 6,000 miles in seven months, and then back, going through the territorial waters of at least 20 countries. There is constant danger of being caught and killed," said Tapilatu, a native of New Guinea.

For example, fishermen's drift nets and long-lines can snag the air-breathing turtle, drowning it. Humans also introduced wild hogs and dogs to the remote beaches where they nest. The hogs are especially voracious predators of turtle eggs.

Near the nesting site, local fishermen still capture and slaughter leatherbacks to consume the meat. A local tribe has historically harvested about 100 turtles per year, as well as eggs.

On some beaches, as few as 20 percent of the eggs hatch due to increased beach temperatures, which could worsen with climate change, Tapilatu said. Sand temperature determines the gender of hatchlings, with higher temperatures favoring females.

There is hope of restoring the population of the endangered reptiles, the researchers said. The Atlantic leatherback, which is genetically different from the Pacific turtles, has made a comeback through mutual country agreements to ban harvesting adults or eggs on beaches.

Tapilatu said he plans to return to New Guinea to help replicate that success story with the leatherback turtles struggling to survive in his Pacific home.

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/27/17121197-famed-giant-pacific-leatherback-turtle-faces-extinction-in-20-years?lite

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Lesson Plan | Resources for Teaching Personal Finance With The ...

How can students learn to make informed decisions when it comes to saving money, using credit cards and taking on college debt?

In recognition of America Saves Week, we?ve put together a toolbox of activities to help students learn essential lessons about personal finance in these three areas.

For each, we start with tips from ?Money As You Grow,? a Web site created by the President?s Advisory Council on Financial Capability to provide children and families with straightforward financial advice. We then follow the tips in each category with classroom activities and related Times articles that can help students go further.

---

Saving Money

?Money As You Grow? Advice:

• You should save at least a dime for every dollar you receive.
• The sooner you save, the faster your money can grow from compound interest.
• Your first paycheck may seem smaller than expected since money is taken out for taxes.

Classroom Activities and Related Times Articles:

1. Calculate Compound Interest. Read ?Investing: Money Plus (Lots of) Time Equals Excitement?, and then complete your own compound interest activity. Test out some numbers using this compound interest calculator, which explains the math involved, or this investor?s calculator. Or, use the formula for compound interest, A = P(1+(r/n))^nt, to do your own calculations. What did you notice about the power of compound interest? Why does compound interest encourage people to save as early as possible?

2. Debate the Value of Saving. Read the discussion in ?Why Aren?t You Saving Money??, a Room for Debate feature, and then write your own response related to teenagers. You should address the questions: Why don?t more teenagers save money? Why should they start saving, even if it?s only a little money at a time? You may want to refer to the compound interest activity above for additional background.

3. Try Cutting Back. Read ?Cutting Back (but Not on Coffee!) To Save Money?, and then use the reviewed Web site to try your own cutting-back activity. How much money would you save if you stopped buying __________ every week? Is your weekly purchase worth the price in the long run?

4. Advise First-Time Job Holders. Read ?A Primer for Young People Starting Their First Job?, and then turn Mr. Lieber?s advice into a poster, pamphlet or social media campaign instructing teenagers and 20-somethings on how to navigate the confusing world of health insurance, taxes and retirement plans.

5. Teach Preschoolers About Money. Read ?Too Young for Finance? Think Again.? and have students create their own children?s books, fairy tales or dramatic sketches to teach preschoolers about personal finance based on the principles explained in the article: save, spend, share and earn.

6. Identify Your Own Attitudes Toward Money. We recently asked students, ?What Have Your Parents Taught You About Money?? Read our questions and post your response to think about the lessons and attitudes you?ve learned, directly or indirectly. How do you think these attitudes play out in your financial decisions now? Which are helpful and which do you think may be harmful to your long-term fiscal health? Why?

7. Just For Fun: Try your hand at our Student Crossword on Financial Literacy.

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Credit Cards and Other Credit Tools

?Money As You Grow? Advice:

• Using a credit card is like taking out a loan; if you don?t pay your bill in full every month, you?ll be charged interest and owe more than you originally spent.
• You should avoid using credit cards to buy things you can?t afford to pay for with cash.
• You should use a credit card only if you can pay off the money owed in full each month.

Classroom Activities and Related Times Articles:

1. Warn Consumers. Read ?Credit Cards and What You Need To Know? and then design a warning poster or label that advertises the potential dangers of using a credit card irresponsibly.

2. Do the Math. Read ?Impatient? It May Be Hurting Your Credit Score? and then calculate the risks of buying something you cannot afford with a credit card. For example, think of a big-ticket item, whether it?s a new iPad, fancy clothing or a new car, and imagine purchasing that product with an imaginary credit card. Then do the math using a credit card repayment calculator. How long will it take to pay off your credit card balance for that one item if you only pay the minimum balance every month? How much additional money will you pay in interest?

3. Learn About Credit Scores. Read ?Perfect 10? Never Mind That. Ask Her for Her Credit Score.? Then, do research to find out what a credit score is, how financial decisions affect your score, and why it matters.

To answer these questions you might learn about the basics here, at the MoneyUnder30 site, then continue by reading about credit scores in The Times. After you finish your research, discuss your findings with the class and consider the premise reported in the article: Should a credit score affect decisions about love and marriage? Why or why not?

---

---

The Cost of College

?Money As You Grow? Advice:

• When comparing colleges, be sure to consider how much each school would cost you.

Classroom Activities and Related Times Articles:

1. Calculate the Cost of College. Read ?A New Way To Compare College Costs Online? and ?Clarity and Confusion From Tuition Calculators.? Then compare the costs of two or more colleges using the colleges? own online calculators. What were the results? Were you surprised? Also, how would you rate the different calculators? Were they clear and easy to use?

To go further, you might choose ideas from the many listed in the Learning Network lesson plan, ?When College May Not Be Worth the Cost: Examining Student Loan Debt.?

2. Write a Personal Essay. George Edwards is a senior in high school in New York City, and he shares his own concerns about the high cost of a college education in an essay for the Learning Network. Write your own personal essay about your anxieties about going to college, including being able to pay for it, and share any helpful advice you have learned. (If you?re eligible, the Your Money column is extending An Invitation for High School Seniors to Write About Finances until April 1, 2013. Alternatively, you may want to answer our Student Opinion question, ?What Investment Are You Willing to Make to Get Your Dream Job??.)

3. Compare Colleges. Read ?Generation Hobbled by the Soaring Cost of College? and ?Battling College Costs, a Paycheck at a Time?, two articles in the ?Degrees of Debt? series that examines the implications of soaring college costs and the indebtedness of students and their families. Then visit the government?s college scorecard Web site, which allows you to compare different schools based on graduation rates, average cost, loan default rates and median borrowing levels. You can search schools based on name, location or degree, among other criteria. Choose colleges that interest you, or ones that are near your home, and make a chart comparing their scores. Which school has the highest graduation rate or the lowest loan default rate, for example?

4. Make a Plan to Pay for College. Read questions and answers in The Choice Blog?s six-post series about FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, and its five-post series about scholarships. Then visit the studentaid.ed.gov Web site, which gives users tools to research loans, scholarships and grants. Compare colleges that interest you, and write a preliminary plan that explains how you plan to pay for college.

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How do you teach financial literacy? Tell us below!

Source: http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/27/saving-credi-and-debt-learning-about-personal-finance-with-the-times/

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Is historical claim behind the mystery group of (armed?) Filipinos in Borneo?

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Laser mastery narrows down sources of superconductivity

Monday, February 25, 2013

Identifying the mysterious mechanism underlying high-temperature superconductivity (HTS) remains one of the most important and tantalizing puzzles in physics. This remarkable phenomenon allows electric current to pass with perfect efficiency through materials chilled to subzero temperatures, and it may play an essential role in revolutionizing the entire electricity chain, from generation to transmission and grid-scale storage. Pinning down one of the possible explanations for HTS?fleeting fluctuations called charge-density waves (CDWs)?could help solve the mystery and pave the way for rapid technological advances.

Now, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have combined two state-of-the-art experimental techniques to study those electron waves with unprecedented precision in two-dimensional, custom-grown materials. The surprising results, published online February 24, 2013, in the journal Nature Materials, reveal that CDWs cannot be the root cause of the unparalleled power conveyance in HTS materials. In fact, CDW formation is an independent and likely competing instability.

"It has been difficult to determine whether or not dynamic or fluctuating CDWs even exist in HTS materials, much less identify their role," said Brookhaven Lab physicist and study coauthor Ivan Bozovic. "Do they compete with the HTS state, or are they perhaps the very essence of the phenomenon? That question has now been answered by targeted experimentation."

Custom-grown Superconductors

Electricity travels imperfectly through traditional metallic conductors, losing energy as heat due to a kind of atomic-scale friction. Impurities in these materials also cause electrons to scatter and stumble, but superconductors can overcome this hurdle?assuming the synthesis process is precise.

For this experiment, Bozovic used a custom-built molecular beam epitaxy system at Brookhaven Lab to grow thin films of LaSrCuO, an HTS cuprate (copper-oxide) compound. The metallic cuprates, assembled one atomic layer at a time, are separated by insulating planes of lanthanum and strontium oxides, resulting in what's called a quasi-two-dimensional conductor. When cooled down to a low enough temperature?less than 100 degrees Kelvin?strange electron waves began to ripple through that 2D matrix. At even lower temperatures, these films became superconducting.

Electron Sea

"In quasi-two-dimensional metals, low temperatures frequently bring about interesting collective states called charge-density waves," Bozovic said. "They resemble waves rolling across the surface of a lake under a breeze, except that instead of water, here we actually have a sea of mobile electrons."

Once a CDW forms, the electron density loses uniformity as the ripples rise and fall. These waves can be described by familiar parameters: amplitude (height of the waves), wavelength (distance between waves), and phase (the wave's position on the material). Detecting CDWs typically requires high-intensity x-rays, such as those provided by synchrotron light sources like Brookhaven's NSLS and, soon, NSLS-II. And even then, the technique only works if the waves are essentially frozen upon formation. However, if CDWs actually fluctuate rapidly, they may escape detection by x-ray diffraction, which typically requires a long exposure time that blurs fast motion.

Measuring Rolling Waves

To catch CDWs in action, a research group at MIT led by physicist Nuh Gedik used an advanced ultrafast spectroscopy technique. Intense laser pulses called "pumps" cause excitations in the superconducting films, which are then probed by measuring the film reflectance with a second light pulse?this is called a pump-probe process. The second pulse is delayed by precise time intervals, and the series of measurements allow the lifetime of the excitation to be determined.

In a more sophisticated variant of the technique, largely pioneered by Gedik, the standard single pump beam is replaced by two beams hitting the surface from different sides simultaneously. This generates a standing wave of controlled wavelength in the film, but it disappears rapidly as the electrons relax back into their original state.

This technique was applied to the atomically perfect LaSrCuO films synthesized at Brookhaven Lab. In films with a critical temperature of 26 degrees Kelvin (the threshold beyond which the superconductivity breaks down), the researchers discovered two new short-lived excitations?both caused by fluctuating CDWs.

Gedik's technique even allowed the researchers to record the lifetime of CDW fluctuations?just 2 picoseconds (a millionth of a millionth of a second) under the coldest conditions and becoming briefer as the temperatures rose. These waves then vanished entirely at about 100 Kelvin, actually surviving at much higher temperatures than superconductivity.

Ruling out a Suspect

The researchers then hunted for those same signatures in cuprate films with slightly different chemical compositions and a greater density of mobile electrons. The results were both unexpected and significant for the future of HTS research.

"Interestingly, the superconducting sample with the highest critical temperature, about 39 Kelvin, showed no CDW signatures at all," Gedik said.

The consistent emergence of CDWs would have bolstered the conjecture that they play an essential role in high-temperature superconductivity. Instead, the new technique's successful detection of such electron waves in one sample but not in another (with even higher critical temperature) indicates that another mechanism must be driving the emergence of HTS.

"Results like this bring us closer to understanding the mystery of HTS, considered by many to be one of the greatest problems in physics today," Bozovic said. "The source of this extraordinary phenomenon is slowly but surely running out of places to hide."

###

DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory: http://www.bnl.gov

Thanks to DOE/Brookhaven National Laboratory 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/126997/Laser_mastery_narrows_down_sources_of_superconductivity

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Scientists May Have Uncovered Ancient Microcontinent

The remains of a small continent have been hiding right under our noses for the past 85 million years or so.

That's according to a new study published Sunday in the journal Nature Geoscience. Scientists looked at lava sands from beaches on Mauritius to determine when and where the material might have originated.

Their conclusion? The lava sands, containing particles called zircon xenocrysts, came from a Precambrian microcontinent dubbed "Mauritia" that was sandwiched between the land masses that today make up Madagascar and India. It was all part of a supercontinent known as Rodinia that existed between 2 billion and 85 million years ago. (Not to be confused with the better known and slightly more contemporary supercontinent Pangaea).

Mauritia was a sliver of land that broke apart and disappeared under the sea as the Rodinia ripped itself apart as part of the process of plate tectonics, scientists believe.

The BBC quotes the study's lead author, Trond Torsvik, as saying the sand his team examined dates to a 9-million-year-old eruption near the modern-day islands of Marion and Reunion that spewed much older material.

"We found zircons that we extracted from the beach sands, and these are something you typically find in a continental crust. They are very old in age," said Torsvik of the University of Oslo in Norway.

Torsvik believes pieces of Mauritia have been interred under 6 miles of surface and spread over a swath of the Indian Ocean, according to the BBC.

"However, a small part could have survived.

" 'At the moment the Seychelles is a piece of granite, or continental crust, which is sitting practically in the middle of the Indian Ocean,' explained Prof Torsvik.

" 'But once upon a time, it was sitting north of Madagascar. And what we are saying is that maybe this was much bigger, and there are many of these continental fragments that are spread around in the ocean.' "

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/02/25/172889362/scientists-may-have-uncovered-ancient-microcontinent?ft=1&f=1007

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Watch Jessie Ware Perform In A Flower Shop For Yours Truly

We?ve seen quite a few of our favorite females singing in odd places in the past couple months ? there was Sky Ferreira on a boat and Solange in the back of a cab ? and now comes another Idolator favorite,?Jessie Ware. The British singer linked up with?Yours Truly?in San Francisco for stripped-down performance?of her cover of ?What You Won?t Do For Love? in a flower shop.

Accompanied by an acoustic guitar, Ware?impressed us once again?with the sneaky power of her vocals. Since they were in a flower shop (or maybe that?s why they were in a flower shop?), Ware talked about past loves ? namely, that she often found herself in the friend zone with all her good-looking male friends, a victim of unrequited love. Ware said bittersweet songs are her favorite, so you can see why she covered this one on her EP?If You?re Never Gonna Move.

Source: http://idolator.com/7443428/jessie-ware-flower-shop-yours-truly-video

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Rhymes With Runt

Onion news rack

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Quvenzhan? Wallis, Best Actress nominee for her role in Beasts of the Southern Wild, arrives at the 85th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Calif., Feb. 24, 2013.

Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

The satirical newspaper the Onion offered a rare apology yesterday after it joked that 9-year-old actress Quvenzhan? Wallis was ?kind of a cunt, right?? Has that word always been so patently offensive?

No. In Middle English the word could be used as a standard term for the female genitalia, in a manner that was quite matter-of-fact. The earliest instance of the word recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary is actually from the name of a 13^th-century London street, Gropecuntelane. The name appears to have been quite literal, and there was at least one other red-light district of the same name, in Oxford. One of the next recorded uses of the word comes from a circa-1400 surgery manual and uses the word much like vagina might be used today: ?In women the neck of the bladder is short, and is made fast to the cunt.? Others have noted that some people in the 13^th and 14^th centuries also had the word in their names, in a way that seems unlikely today: Some men and women at that time included Bele Wydecunthe, Robert Clevecunt, and Gunoka Cuntles. Indeed, as Geoffrey Hughes wrote in his book Swearing, there were many such colorful names, but ?the days when the dandelion could be called the pissabed, a heron could be called a shitecrow and the windhover could be called the windfucker have passed away with the exuberant phallic advertisement of the codpiece.?

The word became more offensive over the next few centuries. While Chaucer used the variant quaint in both the Miller?s Tale (?he caught her by the quaint?) and the Wife of Bath?s Tale (?you hall have quaint right enough at eve?), Shakespeare dared only to slyly allude to the word. In Hamlet, for example, when Ophelia tells Hamlet that, yes, he can lie on her lap, Hamlet puns in his response: ?Do you think I meant country matters?? In Twelfth Night, Shakespeare finds a coded way to spell out the word, when Malvolio recognizes his lady?s ?C?s, her U?s, ?n? her Ts.? (?Thus makes her great P?s,? he continues, in what amounts to an elaborate potty joke.)

If in Shakespeare?s time the word was becoming too obscene to utter in public, by the end of the 18^th century it was truly taboo. When Robert Burns? printed the old Scottish folk song ?Yon, Yon, Yon, Lassie,? in 1796, the word appeared only as ?c?t.? In his 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, Francis Grose defined ?c**t? as ?a nasty name for a nasty thing,? while elsewhere he bleeped it out entirely (?****?), or referred to it only as ?the monosyllable.? (Lest you think him just a prude, Grose noted that others went even further, rendering the word constable as thingstable; Grose called this ?a ludicrous affectation of delicacy.?) By the early 20^th century, cunt had begun to be used as an insult, and it was also around this time that language taboos shifted from religious profanity to vulgar sexual and scatological language. This perception that it's one of the most taboo words continues today: In a 2000 BBC study of the most offensive words, it ranked No. 1, ahead of motherfucker, fuck, and even nigger.

Why has cunt become so much more taboo than, say, snatch or pussy? The main reason may simply be that it?s blunt. Linguists note that, unlike those other words for the female genitalia?whose origins are all Latinate, euphemistic, or diminutive?cunt is plain and Anglo-Saxon. There is also the sound of the word. Many of the most taboo words, in addition to generally being Anglo-Saxon in origin, are monosyllables with short vowels, such as shit, piss, fuck, and cock. These are considered more offensive than words of the same meaning, like poopy, pee, screw, and willy. In fact, one of the only other words to share many of these characteristics is twat, which is also often considered highly offensive, though its origins are more uncertain.

Got a question about today?s news??Ask the Explainer.

Explainer thanks Anatoly Liberman of the University of Minnesota, Jesse Sheidlower of the Oxford English Dictionary, and Ben Zimmer of the Visual Thesaurus and Vocabulary.com

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=fc7a0f5350f1da64b1385be6c81598e2

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UNC sexual assault victim faces expulsion for talking

(UNC.edu/Flickr)

A University of North Carolina sexual assault victim has been charged with violating the school's honor code and creating a hostile environment for her attacker by speaking out about her ordeal.

Landen Gambill?a sophomore who last spring reported being raped by a student she says is still on the school's Chapel Hill campus?was notified of the charge last week in an email from the school's graduate attorney general. The email, published by Jezebel.com, reads in part:

You are being charged with the following Honor Code violation(s):

I.C.1.c. - Disruptive or intimidating behavior that willfully abuses, disparages, or otherwise interferes with another (other than on the basis of protected classifications identified and addressed in the University's Policy on Prohibited Harassment and Discrimination) so as to adversely affect their academic pursuits, opportunities for University employment, participation in University-sponsored extracurricular activities, or opportunities to benefit from other aspects of University Life.

The matter has been turned over to UNC's Honor Court. If found guilty, Gambill could be subject to a range of sanctions, including probation, suspension or even expulsion.

The charge came approximately a month after a group of current and former UNC students including Gambill and Melinda Manning?the school's former assistant dean of students?filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights alleging that school officials had pressured Manning into underreporting sex offense cases.

An avatar used by Gambill's supporters (Twitter)

Gambill says that when she reported the assault to the Honor Court, she was met with resistance. Via the Daily Tarheel:

?The woman student said to me, ?Landen, as a woman, I know that if that had happened to me, I would?ve broken up with him the first time it happened. Will you explain to me why you didn?t??? she said.

Gambill said the court used her history of clinical depression and her suicide attempt?which she said was a result of her abusive relationship?against her.

?They implied that I was emotionally unstable and couldn?t be telling the truth because I had attempted suicide,? she said.

"This type of gross injustice is unacceptable," Gambill wrote on her Facebook page. "It's important to me that we continue to advocate for the rights of survivors?not just because it affects me personally but because I desperately hope no one has to go [through] anything like this again."

Some of Gambill's supporters have also taken to Facebook and Twitter, changing their avatars to say "I Stand With Landen" and tweeting messages with the hashtag #standwithlanden.

Colby Bruno, managing attorney for the national Victim Rights Law Center, told InsideHigherEd.com the code violation is "outrageous.? For the university "to entertain this as a viable claim is a problem, because it's not,? Bruno said.

The university would not comment on Gambill's case, citing federal privacy laws. But at a board meeting last month, Leslie Strohm, UNC's vice chancellor and general counsel, told trustees "the allegations with respect to the underreporting of sexual assault are false, they are untrue, and they are just plain wrong."

[Related: Fox News co-host apologizes for campus rape remark]

"UNC has the potential at this point to stand up for sexual assault survivors," Carey Hanlin, editor-in-chief of UNC's Campus Blueprint, wrote in an editorial. "By telling Landen Gambill that she could face expulsion for saying that she was raped, by denying the allegations that administrators ignored the best interests of sexual assault survivors, and by implying that it is not acceptable to challenge the school system on its inability to help survivors of sexual assault, UNC fails to be a beacon."

Rape on campus is a problem--and not just at UNC.

In 2010, the Department of Justice estimated that 25 percent of college women "will be victims of rape or attempted rape before they graduate within a four-year college period," and that schools with more than 6,000 students "average one rape per day during the school year.?

According to New York University's "National Statistics about Sexual Violence on College Campuses," fewer than 5 percent of such cases are reported to law enforcement.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/unc-sexual-assault-rape-victim-honor-code-142933849.html

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'There Is No Sustainable Business.' - NYTimes.com

BARCELONA ? Sustainable entrepreneurship ? a buzzword in an increasingly eco-conscious business world ? is often described as a balance between profit and environmental impact.

It?s a subject that Douglas Tompkins seems to have thought a lot about. He founded Esprit and The North Face, two of America?s most iconic clothing and fashion brands, only to quit the business world to become a staunch conservationalist, environmentalist and critic.

?Remove ?sustainable? from your dictionary, there is no sustainable business. Only biological sustainability counts,? he told a room full of business students at the IESE business school Doing Great and Doing Good conference on responsible business. (Disclosure: I moderated a panel at the same conference).

?Economic activity has impact and we are just now doing a better job of measuring what those impacts are,? said Mr. Tompkins in an interview.

A strict conservationalist, he rejects the idea that big business can reform itself and thinks the answer lies outside what he calls the ?techno-industrial culture.? He thinks measuring biodiversity is a yardstick for how society is doing.

?Healthy biodiversity is at the base of everything,? he said, with species extinction being the ultimate catastrophe. ?We?ll be living on a sand heap with a Norwegian rat and a few cockroaches at the end.?

Despite having co-founded ESPRIT, the multinational clothing giant, and The North Face, the maker of outdoor equipment, in the 1960s and having earned millions of the sale of the former, Mr. Tompkins is critical of business?s paradigms.

?We have an economy that?s based on growth without limits,? he said. ?How is that possible??

?To grow and grow and grow without limits is out of the question,? he said.

Even the companies that he is famous for launching do not escape his disapproval.

?My two companies are two monsters now,? he said.

His conversion from fashion to conservation work took place around 1990, however Mr. Tompkins still retains his sense of simple beauty.

?If we just use the aesthetic rule of thumb of saying if it looks bad, it is bad and if it looks good, it ? probably ? is good,? we?d get a lot further than with arcane and complex economic theories.?

But Mr. Tompkins is much more than an anti-business theorist or a conservation advocate. In the last two decades he and his wife have managed to conserve land that will ultimately enlarge or create national parks in Chile and Argentina.

Mr. Tompkins started his drive toward conservation and reclaiming natural habitat in 1990, right around the time he had sold his share of Esprit for a reported $150 million. (He sold his interest in The North Face much earlier in his career and at a much lower price.)

To date, he and his wife have bought up 1.1 million hectares (or almost 2.5 million acres) in South America, through several of his conservation foundations. The land conserved or in the process of being restored, is open to public use, with conditions, until it is donated to the countries? national park systems. (My colleague Larry Rohter visited Mr. Tompkins in 2007 and wrote about the political implications of an American buying up so much land in Chile.)

Besides their work restoring land for parks, the Tompkins are developing sustainable farms (he doesn?t like to call it sustainable, just less unsustainable) in both Chile and Argentina.

At Laguna Blanca in northeastern Argentina, the Tompkins have bought and reconstituted land for a sustainable farm project.

Organic crops are planted using small-scale methods not in square plots, as is common in commercial farming, but following the contours of nature. Passages for wildlife are integrated into the fields.

The farm products are then sold to the surrounding community, with profit going toward his conservation efforts.

Source: http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/25/there-is-no-sustainable-business/

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Zynga Closes Baltimore Office, Consolidates in Texas, New York

Zynga is cutting costs further by closing its Baltimore studio and consolidating its presence in New York City and Texas. The moves follow a series of cost-cutting efforts that saw the closure of the Boston and Tokyo offices along with layoffs for about 5 percent of the company’s workforce. Those moves allowed the company to save $25 million last quarter. In today’s changes, Zynga is consolidating the McKinney, Texas office, which came out of the very successful Newtoy acquisition back in 2010. The company is?moving the 30 or so employees there to Dallas, which is an hour away. The studio’s leaders and Newtoy’s founders Paul and David Bettner left in the last year as their “With Friends” line of games had a strong run under Zynga. Zynga is also closing the Baltimore studio, which was behind CityVille 2. Zynga recently shut that game down after it didn’t live up to expectations as a follow-up to the original CityVille. The company is also closing down one of its Austin offices and moving those employees to North Austin. Zynga’s New York City offices will also get moved to the company’s mobile studio in the city. The company says that fewer than 1 percent of the company’s employees will be affected. Zynga chief operations officer David Ko said in a statement: ?In an effort to leverage resources as we focus on creating franchises and driving profitability, Zynga has made changes to four of our US offices. We are closing the McKinney, Texas and downtown Austin offices and relocating those teams near-by to our existing Dallas and North Austin offices. And, we will be consolidating our NYC offices to move staff to our NYC mobile studio. Also, as a part of today?s changes, the Baltimore studio will be closed. While these decisions are always difficult, these steps will affect approximately 1% of our workforce and enable us to focus our resources on the most significant growth opportunities.?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/gYw2CZbiT7s/

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Survey: U.S. budget impasse holding back economy

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The political standoff over the U.S. budget is slowing the U.S. economy ? more so than any hesitance by Americans to spend freely.

That consensus emerges from the latest Associated Press Economy Survey just as the budget impasse in Washington is about to trigger automatic spending cuts across the economy.

Many of the economists think consumer spending has slowed in response to higher tax burdens but will rebound later in the year. By contrast, they worry that the budget fights in Washington will persist for much of 2013 and drag on economic growth.

Twenty-three of the 37 economists who responded to the survey last week say the paralysis in Washington is a significant factor in slowing the economy. The next-biggest factors they cite, in order: too little job growth, excessive government regulation and taxes, stagnant wages and cautious bank lending. Only eight say they worry about consumers saving more and spending less.

The budget impasse that will set off $85 billion in spending cuts starting Friday will shave an estimated half-percentage point from economic growth this year.

It will be followed by other key deadlines: Much of the government will shut down March 27 without new legislation to authorize spending. Congress must also agree to raise the government's borrowing limit in May or the government will risk defaulting on its debt.

Meeting those deadlines could involve more spending cuts or tax increases. Either could further slow growth.

The economists' views suggest that the budgetary paralysis hurts the economy in at least two ways: It's eroding consumer and business confidence, which could reduce spending and investment. And it will trigger the government spending cuts that are about to kick in.

These come on top of the reduced take-home pay for most workers caused by the Social Security tax increase that took effect Jan. 1.

Businesses "aren't willing to hire people or invest in plant and equipment knowing the uncertainty," says Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at California State University Channel Islands. "The prudent thing to do is to postpone."

The AP survey collected the views of private, corporate and academic economists on a range of issues. Among their views:

? The economy will grow 2.2 percent this year, a modest pace that roughly matches the average annual rate since the recession ended in June 2009. In a typical economy, such growth wouldn't be a concern. But it hasn't been enough to repair the damage from the Great Recession. Faster growth ? 4 percent to 5 percent annually ? would be needed to rapidly reduce the unemployment rate, which is still painfully high at 7.9 percent.

? Growth should increase in 2014 to 2.9 percent, economists expect. That would be the fastest for a full year since the recession ended and would roughly match the average for the five years preceding the Great Recession. Still, the economists foresee the unemployment rate at 6.3 percent by the end of 2015 ? nearly three years from now. In a normal economy, the unemployment rate is below 6 percent.

? Just over half think Europe's recession will end this year. That could benefit U.S. exporters. The 17 nations that use the euro have been in recession since mid-2012. But some encouraging signs have emerged: Germany reported a larger-than-expected budget surplus this month. And German business confidence rose in February for a fourth straight month.

? Nearly half think sales of previously occupied homes will return to normal levels next year. More than six years after the housing bubble burst, residential real estate is finally rebounding. Sales in 2012 reached 4.7 million. That's still well below the 5.5 million in annual sales considered healthy. But 17 of the economists think sales will return to that level in 2014. Ten others think it will happen in 2015.

? Though the economists favor reducing the government's budget deficit, nearly all prefer doing so over the long run rather than immediately.

One consequence of the Washington budget battles was a deal between the White House and Congress to let a cut in Social Security taxes expire Jan. 1. That tax increase cost a typical household with $50,000 in income about $1,000. Retail sales slowed last month as a result. And some big retailers, notably Wal-Mart, blamed the Social Security tax increase for a darker outlook for sales in coming months.

But when asked to choose the biggest reasons the economy isn't growing faster, barely one in five economists cite consumers' reluctance to spend.

Why the lack of concern?

Many economists think the damage from higher Social Security taxes will prove temporary. Most think consumer spending will slow in the first three months of this year but then pick up as companies add jobs. Some employers are even willing to pay more: After stagnating since the recession ended, hourly pay has been rising faster than inflation the past three months.

Analysts also generally think consumers' finances have recovered from the excesses of the housing bubble, when many piled up debt and bought larger houses than they could afford. As Americans repaid debts, they spent less.

But now, home values are up. Stocks have roughly doubled since June 2009. Americans who feel wealthier are typically more likely to spend. After years of delaying big purchases of autos, appliances and other items, consumers are spending more for them. Auto sales in January were the best for that month in five years.

"It's been nearly four years since the recession ended," says Beth Ann Bovino, deputy chief economist at Standard & Poor's. Consumers "have been saving more, and they've put more money in the bank, and I think they're ready to spend more. There's a lot of pent-up demand."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-survey-us-budget-impasse-080239876.html

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Auto Insurance Data To Help You ? Social Networking Community ...

Many people find auto insurance either boring or overwhelming, which makes it harder to understand than it needs to be. Honestly, you will feel less confused the more you learn about it.

Some of the most popular ways to drive down insurance premiums is to install an anti-theft alarm, GPS tracker or theft immobilizer in your vehicle. Your coverage is also based on whether or not your car is at high risk for theft. Your insurance will be lower if you have a safer vehicle.

You must understand the various coverage types when buying car insurance. There are many things that go into your final cost of insurance. The legal costs associated with things such as serious injury or death in an accident you cause are covered by bodily injury liability policies.

Advice You Need To Know About Auto Insurance The consumer complaint ratio should be available for most of the car insurers in your state. This number reveals the percentage of complaints for a given provider.

Gain Some Great Knowledge About Auto Insurance Make sure to stay informed about basic insurance terms prior to searching for a company to get a policy from. While each state varies in requirements, the basic concepts of insurance are the same. By doing some basic homework, you will be better prepared to buy a policy with appropriate coverage.

Before buying car insurance, request policy rates from several different companies. You will only get the best rate by shopping around.

When purchasing car insurance, it is important to keep in mind that they are only insuring the driver of the car that is on the policy. Many drivers lend their car out to a friend, only to find that the friend's accident is not covered because they were not listed on the driver's policy. If you have people driving your vehicle on a regular basis, you could purchase coverage that covers additional people. However, this comes at a higher price.

A great tip for auto insurance is to get 100/200/100 level coverage for liability if you have a good car with a few assets to protect. Make sure the amount of liability coverage you have is enough to meet state requirements.

Enrolling in a defensive driving course is one of the simplest ways to save on auto insurance. Not only will the course teach you to drive in a way that helps you avoid collisions, and filing costly claims associated with them, but most insurance companies also give you a discount on your premium just for taking the classes. You can inquire about these classes at your local driving school. You can search them out on the world wide web, too.

With other expenses already so high, it is a good idea to drop some of those after-market upgrades that only add to aesthetic value. Upgrades such as leather seats and a killer sound system are awesome, but these are not things you really need. Insurance companies will not pay for the damage or loss of any of these types of items.

Auto Insurance Shopping Made Easy With These Tips As previously mentioned, research everything before buying auto insurance so that you can get what you need. If you have enough information, you should be able to find good auto insurance at a fair price. Apply the advice in this article to ensure that you get the type of auto insurance that you need.

Source: http://crew.valkry.com/blog/90034/auto-insurance-data-to-help-you/

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$30 for Family 4-Pack to Peter Pan and Wendy by Creative Cauldron at ArtSpace in Falls Church ($54 value)

The Details

Second to the right and then straight on till morning!

Rediscover J.M. Barrie's classic novel in this delightful adaptation brought to life with the magical large puppets of Margie Jervis and the original music of acclaimed composer Matt Conner.

When boy extraordinaire Peter Pan flies into the nursery of the Darling home, Wendy is captivated by his promise of adventure in Neverland. With the help of some of Peter's fairy dust Wendy and her brothers are on their way to the magical land that brings them face to face with mermaids, Indians and the notorious Captain Hook and his pirate crew.? With exciting adventures and fun like this, it's no wonder Peter refuses to grow up! Presented by Creative Cauldron's Learning Theater, an ensemble of student and professional performers.

Show times options include:

• Friday March 1 at 7:30 pm
• Saturday March 2 at 2pm
• Saturday March 2 at 7:30 pm
• Sunday March 3 at 2 pm
• Friday March 8 at 7:30 pm
• Saturday March 9 at 2:00 pm
• Saturday March 9 at 7:30 pm
• Sunday March 10 at 2pm
• Friday March 15 at 7:30 pm
• Saturday March 16 at 2:00 pm
• Saturday March 16 at 7:30 pm
• Sunday March 17 at 2:00 pm

Information & Restrictions

Great for all ages!

Voucher is valid for shows on March 1st through March 17th (Fridays at 7:30pm, Saturdays at 2:00pm and 7:30pm, and Sunday at 2:00pm); must choose show time at checkout.

Select show upon purchase from CertifiKid; valid only for time and date on your voucher. PLEASE be careful when selecting the performance to make sure the one you want is not sold out. ? PLEASE check your voucher after purchase.

Additional tickets can be purchased online via brownpapertickets.com or by calling Creative Cauldron at (571) 239 - 5288. Tickets are $15 for Adults and $12 for Student/Seniors(62+).

Based on availability - ACT FAST!

Seating is first come first serve.

Expires March 18, 2013.

Bring printed voucher to Peter Pan performance on date of show.

Cannot be combined with any other offers or discounts.

This deal is redeemable for admission to a specific ticketed event and venue. It has no value once the event date and time has passed and CANNOT BE REFUNDED after the day of purchase.

This offer is only available for purchase through Certifikid (www.certifikid.com). If you experience any issues or difficulties with registering or purchasing, please email info@certifikid.com and we will get back to you shortly.

Source: http://www.certifikid.com/deal/5399/30-for-family-4-pack-to-peter-pan-and-wendy-by-cr

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