When Motherhood Hurts

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By Contributing Writer, Bambi Moore

As moms we all go through times of discouragement, challenges and temptations that cause us to sin, doubt or cry out to God for wisdom.??We may even have an MMM.? You know.? A Momentary Motherhood Meltdown. But real suffering?

I?m a mom to eight.??Many times I function throughout a?day within varying degrees of exhaustion, as I?m sure many of you do as well.? My family has been ill for several weeks now, sometimes seriously,?and it has made me weary.? But these are still light afflictions compared to what?many are facing.

Lately,? I have heard of some of the?most catastrohpic?trials imaginable to Christian parents.? Trials that make you shudder, cover your mouth with your hands and collapse into prayer for the ones God has afflicted.? Trials that make that fussy baby, sleepless night, or defiant toddler you?contend with each day, look like a walk in the park.

  • Children who?were wrongly removed from their loving, Christian home by CPS.
  • A three-year-old who accidentally shot and killed?himself in his home.
  • A child that has been loved and nurtured, was diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder and sent away from his home for the safety of?his siblings,?as his parents cried buckets of tears.
  • An adult child who has chosen the path of the prodigal, living a wicked, immoral life.
  • A nineteen-year-old, the son of a pastor, who confessed to brutally murdering another man and will spend his life in prison.
  • A mother who lives with severe, chronic pain who longs to care for her family but instead they must care for her.? She yearns for the day the Lord will take her home and her pain will cease.
  • A mother who has been praying for a child for years, conceives only to miscarry the baby, crushing her heart.

These are real people, some I know personally.? Real trials.? The kind we think happen to ?everyone else.?? Even as I write those words, I recoil inside.? ?Lord, don?t let it be me!?? I far prefer God?s cheerful promises, not the ones assuring me of tribulation and suffering.? I must?ask instead, ?Lord give me the grace required for a valley?such as?these are walking through, if you require it of me.?

All Things Work Together for Good

And we know that for those who love God all things work together? for good,? for? those who are called according to his purpose.(Romans 8:28)

God?also tells us that all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth. (Psalm 25:10)

How can many of these tragic examples above?possibly serve to?produce anything good?? In many ways, but here are a few ways trials are good for us:

Realizing?His Power

We can know God will uphold us in times of trial, just as he did Daniel in the den of lions, or Jonah is the whale?s belly.? Or how about the three Hebrews in the furnace? His strength will be made perfect in our weakness.

God may?allow into our lives times of loss whether they be relationships, health or finances. The withdrawal of things we value can help us learn to offer ourselves a little more willingly, as we allow the touch of death in areas we clutch tightly with white knuckles. Seeking God and His kingdom doesn?t come naturally to us. Troubles in our lives put the pressure on and lean us in the right direction?His strong arms.

?Though he slay me, I will hope in him.?? (Job 13:15)

Faithful to His Promises

??I will be with him in trouble.? (Psalm 91:15)

God does not bring us into trouble and leave us there.? He stands by us.? He holds us up when we are fainting.? He is our strength in times of trouble. (Psalm 37:39)

We Get to Know Ourselves

Once I was struggling near the end of one of my pregnancies.? I was certain I was to be the only woman alive that remained pregnant forever.? Finally my labor began!? Or so I thought.? Turns out it was a false alarm and boy, was?I ever whining like a spoiled child.? My husband gently reminded me with these words, ?Who we are in adversity?is who we really are.?

And it?s true, isn?t it?? In good times we are, for the most part, strangers to ourselves.? Affliction teaches us to know ourselves.? We see the corruption in our hearts that was there all along, but that we never would have realized?was there apart from walking through the refiner?s fire.? It?s humbling.

We Grow to be More Conformed and Grow in Grace

Christ was ?a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.?? He wept and bled and was crowned with thorns?and we want to be crowned with roses?

?A tree that is shaken by the wind is more settled and rooted; so, the blowing of a temptation does but settle a Christian the more in grace.?? Thomas Watson, All Things For Good

We are, at one time or another, going to share in His sufferings:

?...that I may know him and? the power of his resurrection, and? may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death?? Philippians 3:10

Trials Send Our Souls to Prayer

The more intense the trial, the more fervently a Christian prays.

?The deer being shot with the dart, runs faster to the water.? When Satan shoots his fiery darts at the soul, it then runs faster to the throne of grace.?? Thomas Watson, All Things For Good.

Circumstances that make us pray more are working for good.

Fit to Comfort Others

There is nothing quite like empathy?comforting others in distresses that we ourselves have walked through.? We can?t ?speak a word in due season? unless we ourselves have walked through dark valleys.

He is at Work

?In every situation and circumstance of your life, God is always doing a thousand different things that you cannot see and you do not know.? (Pastor John Piper)

Although there may be times that God allows us to see how He is at work, in my experience they?have been few and far between.? Not many times have I?smacked my forehead and said, ?Ah!? That makes sense!?? But I walk (sometimes stumble along)?by faith and not by sight, thankful for His mercies, filling my mind with His word and truth.

There are many times that He is working His will and it is obscured from our finite eyes.? We cannot possibly see the reason or even the outcome of every situation .? We can?t fully fathom what He is doing in our lives.? But we can be sure He is working.? Lovingly, graciously, mercifully and purposefully?working.

And some day, when we have Heaven?s perspective, we will understand more.? Until then, we will say in faith, ?Yes, Lord.? You do all things well.?

What about you?? Have you found that the ?schoolhouses?are in the valley??? What did you learn about the mercies of God there?

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Source: http://www.visionarywomanhood.com/when-motherhood-hurts/

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Massive outburst in neighbor galaxy surprises astronomers

The surprising discovery of a massive outburst in a neighboring galaxy is giving astronomers a tantalizing look at what likely is a powerful belch by a gorging black hole at the galaxy's center. The scientists were conducting a long-term study of molecules in galaxies, when one of the galaxies showed a dramatic change.

"The discovery was entirely serendipitous. Our observations were spread over a few years, and when we looked at them, we found that one galaxy had changed over that time from being placid and quiescent, to undergoing a hugely energetic outburst at the end," said Robert Minchin, of Arecibo Observatory, who presented the research.

The scientists were using the National Science Foundation's (NSF) 305-meter William E. Gordon Telescope at Arecibo for their study when they discovered the outburst in NGC 660, a spiral galaxy 44 million light-years distant in the constellation Pisces.

The outburst was ten times brighter than the largest supernova, or exploding star. They reported their findings at the American Astronomical Society's meeting in Long Beach, California.

After detecting the outburst, the team continued to observe NGC 660 with the Arecibo Telescope, and also sought to determine the cause of the outburst using an international network of telescopes to make a detailed image of the galaxy.

"High-resolution imaging is the key to understanding what's going on," said Emmanuel Momjian, of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO).

"We needed to know if the outburst came from a supernova in this galaxy or from the galaxy's core. We could only do that by harnessing the high-resolution imaging power we get by joining widely-separated radio telescopes together."

The astronomers used a network called the High Sensitivity Array (HSA), composed of the NSF's Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), a continent-wide system of ten radio telescopes ranging from Hawaii to the Virgin islands; the Arecibo Telescope; the NSF's 100-meter Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia; and the 100-meter Effelsberg Radio Telescope of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Germany.

"By adding the large collecting area of the three big dishes to the VLBA, we got the images much more quickly. What we did with the HSA in less than half a day would have taken nearly nine days with the VLBA alone," Momjian said.

The resulting images were more complex than the scientists expected. They thought they would see either the ring of an expanding supernova or a jet of superfast material from the galaxy's core. Instead, they saw five sites of bright radio emission, one near the center of the galaxy and two on either side.

"The most likely explanation is that there are jets coming from the core, but they are precessing, or wobbling, and the hot spots we see are where the jets slammed into material near the galaxy's nucleus," said Chris Salter, of Arecibo Observatory. "To confirm this, we will continue to observe the galaxy with the HSA over the next few years," he added.

If the jet idea is correct, the outburst probably was caused by material pulled into the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy. The material would form a rapidly-spinning disk around the black hole before finally falling into it, and the disk would generate jets of particles blasting outward at nearly the speed of light.

Astronomers are carefully watching a gas cloud in our own Milky Way Galaxy that is expected to fall into our Galaxy's central black hole in the middle of this year.

Source: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Massive_outburst_in_neighbor_galaxy_surprises_astronomers_999.html

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Unwired Planet Has Bought 2,400 Wireless Patents From Ericsson To Beef Up In Patent Fights Against Google, Apple And RIM

rat raceThe patent rat-race continues apace. Today Unwired Planet announced that it has purchased a portfolio of over 2,400 patents from the troubled Swedish mobile vendor Ericsson. The deal includes IP related to 2G, 3G and LTE technologies, and will give Unwired Planet significantly more ammunition in its various legal battles against Apple?(x2), Google and RIM over patent infringements. Prior to this deal, Unwired Planet had 260 patents. The news has sent Unwired Planet's stock, which is traded on Nasdaq, up nearly 20% in after-hours trading.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/lW3lJpBim1g/

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Paralyzed woman loses Ireland's first right-to-die case

DUBLIN (Reuters) - An Irish woman terminally ill with multiple sclerosis lost her battle for the lawful right to die in the first case of its kind to be brought in Ireland, Dublin's High Court said on Thursday.

Marie Fleming, a 59-year-old former university lecturer who is completely Paralyzed, made an impassioned plea last month to establish the right of her partner of 18 years to help her die, an act that could currently see him jailed in mainly Roman Catholic Ireland.

A 'right to die' debate has played out through recent high-profile court cases in neighboring Britain, where three people all failed in bids to win legal assistance to die. Assisted suicide is only permitted in four European countries: Belgium; Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Judge Nicholas Kearns said Fleming was the most remarkable witness any member of the court had encountered and acknowledged that her life has been "rendered miserable" after being "ravaged by an insidious disease".

However he said it would be impossible to tailor legislation governing assisted suicide on an individual basis and doing so would be harmful to the public interest in protecting the most vulnerable members of society.

"There are no words to express the difficulty we had in arriving at this decision," Kearns said, reading a summary of the 121-page judgment.

"Yet the fact remains that if this court were to unravel a thread of this law by even the most limited constitutional adjudication in her favor, it would - or at least might - open a Pandora's box which would be impossible to close."

"VERY SADDENED"

Suicide was decriminalized in Ireland in 1993, but the ban on helping someone to commit suicide remains, with a jail sentence of up to 14 years.

Kearns said he felt sure the state, which agreed to pay all legal costs, would exercise its discretion in a humane and sensitive fashion in deciding whether to prosecute if Fleming were to be assisted in taking her own life.

The mother of two adult children had told the court in a composed manner last month how her life had become totally undignified and too painful to bear, and said she had planned every detail, including funeral arrangements.

Her partner hugged and kissed her after the judgment was handed out and, reading a statement on her behalf outside the court, her solicitor said Fleming greatly appreciated the enormous support she had received from members of the public.

"Obviously Marie is very disappointed and saddened at today's outcome, and feels it would be inappropriate at the present time to discuss any specific legal aspects of the case having regard to the likelihood of an appeal," solicitor Bernadette Parte said.

A recent poll found that large majorities of west Europeans favor the legalization of assisted suicide.

As well as in the four European countries, assisted suicide is also legal in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington.

The issue of amending the Irish constitution has also been highlighted recently following the death of a woman who was refused an abortion of her dying fetus, re-igniting a debate that has divided the country for decades.

(Reporting by Sarah O'Connor; Writing by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Louise Ireland and Jason Webb)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/terminally-ill-woman-loses-first-irish-die-case-113357932.html

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Mussels inspire innovative new adhesive for surgery

Jan. 9, 2013 ? Mussels can be a mouthwatering meal, but the chemistry that lets mussels stick to underwater surfaces may also provide a highly adhesive wound closure and more effective healing from surgery.

In recent decades bioadhesives, tissue sealants and hemostatic agents became the favored products to control bleeding and promote tissue healing after surgery. However, many of them have side effects or other problems, including an inability to perform well on wet tissue.

"To solve this medical problem, we looked at nature," said Jian Yang, associate professor of bioengineering at Penn State. "There are sea creatures, like the mussel, that can stick on rocks and on ships in the ocean. They can hold on tightly without getting flushed away by the waves because the mussel can make a very powerful adhesive protein. We looked at the chemical structure of that kind of adhesive protein."

Yang, along with University of Texas-Arlington researchers Mohammadreza Mehdizadeh, Hong Weng, Dipendra Gyawali and Liping Tang, took the biological information and developed a wholly synthetic family of adhesives. They incorporated the chemical structure from the mussel's adhesive protein into the design of an injectable synthetic polymer. The bioadhesives, called iCMBAs, adhere well in wet environments, have controlled degradability, improved biocompatibility and lower manufacturing costs, putting them a step above current products such as fibrin glue and cyanoacrylate adhesives.

Fibrin glues are fast acting and biodegradable but have relatively poor adhesion strength. They may also carry risk of blood-borne disease transmission and have the potential for allergic reactions due to animal-based ingredients. Cyanoacrylate adhesives -- super glues -- offer strong adhesion, rapid setting time and strong adhesion to tissue, but they degrade slowly and may cause toxicity, often limiting their use to external applications.

Additionally, neither product is effective when used on wet tissue, a requirement of internal organ surgery, nor are there any current commercially available tissue adhesives or sealants appropriate for both external and internal use.

The researchers tested the newly developed iCMBAs on rats, using the adhesive and finger clamping to close three wounds for two minutes. Three other wounds were closed using sutures. The researchers reported their findings in a recent issue of Biomaterials.

The iCMBAs provided 2.5 to 8.0 times stronger adhesion in wet tissue conditions compared to fibrin glue. They also stopped bleeding instantly, facilitated wound healing, closed wounds without the use of sutures and offered controllable degradation.

"If you want the material to stay there for one week, we can control the polymer to degrade in one week," said Yang. "If you want the material to stay in the wound for more than a month, we can control the synthesis to make the materials degrade in one month."

The iCMBAs are also non-toxic, and because they are fully synthetic, they are unlikely to cause allergic reactions. Side effects were limited to mild inflammation.

"If you put any synthetic materials into your body," said Yang, "the body will generate some inflammation."

The researchers are now working on improving the formula.

"We are still optimizing our formulation," said Yang. "We are still trying to make the adhesion strength even stronger" to expand its use for things like broken bones where strong adhesion is tremendously important.

The researchers are also looking at adding in components that could control infection.

"We can introduce another component with anti-microbial properties, so it can do two functions at once," said Yang.

The iCMBAs could eventually be used in a wide range of surgical disciplines from suture and staple replacement to tissue grafts to treat hernias, ulcers and burns.

"There are so many applications that you can use this glue for to help in surgery," said Yang.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Penn State.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Mohammadreza Mehdizadeh, Hong Weng, Dipendra Gyawali, Liping Tang, Jian Yang. Injectable citrate-based mussel-inspired tissue bioadhesives with high wet strength for sutureless wound closure. Biomaterials, 2012; 33 (32): 7972 DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2012.07.055

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/biochemistry/~3/Q5WB8FFh9eA/130109185922.htm

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Nurturing an Entrepreneurial Mindset

Ms Chew Mok Lee, Co-Chair of the ACE Entrepreneurship?Education Task Force, speaks to SPRINGnews in this sixth?instalment of a seven-part Q&A series with the Action?Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE)

Entrepreneurial students from Zhonghua Secondary School produced the Rainwater Harvesting System for high-rise apartments.

SPRINGnews: Why was the ACE?Entrepreneurship Education Task Force?set up?

Ms Chew: ACE saw the importance of?nurturing an enterprising mindset and?values in students through ?learning?by doing?. We hope to expose youths?to entrepreneurship and equip them?with skills and knowledge to translate?ideas into products and services for the?marketplace. Hence, ACE formed the?Entrepreneurship Education Task Force?to review entrepreneurship learning in?schools and to identify more effective and?systematic approaches to work with the?schools to incorporate entrepreneurship-related?programmes. Comprising?educators from the Ministry of Education?and entrepreneurs, the Task Force focused?on two groups of students ? secondary?and JC students, and those from the polys
and ITE. The programmes will target these?students, who are at different stages of?maturity, with different aspirations.

SPRINGnews: Why is it important to?cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset?amongst students??

Ms Chew: Entrepreneurs drive Singapore?s?economy, creating wealth and employment.?Through entrepreneurship education, we?hope to equip our youths with the relevant?knowledge, skill sets, and resources so?they are aware of what it takes to be an?entrepreneur. This involves inculcating?the positive values of entrepreneurs,?such as the ability to bounce back from?setbacks, striving for excellence, and?the determination to succeed. For those?who choose to work for others, we hope they would also adopt this mindset to be the?best in their respective vocations.

Ms Chew Mok Lee, Assistant Chief Executive, SPRING Singapore (left) and Mdm Liew Wei Li, Director, Student Development Curriculum, Ministry of Education (right)

SPRINGnews: What are some of the?Task Force?s key recommendations?

Ms Chew: We developed two sets of?recommendations. For secondary school?students, we are developing a three-year?Entrepreneurship Programme, to be?incorporated as a CCA. The contents will?comprise workshops, company attachments?and competitions to expose the students?to the real world of business. There are?also plans to roll out the programme to?JCs. For students in the polytechnics and?ITE colleges, they can look forward to a?holistic framework to help them convert?their ideas into businesses. This includes?funding support for their projects, a start-up?launch pad, and incubation and mentoring?programmes in their schools.

SPRINGnews: How will the?Entrepreneurship Programme help?students to adopt an entrepreneurial?mindset??

Ms Chew: Entrepreneurship is a ?live??subject, so the best way to learn is?by doing. Schools participating in the?Entrepreneurship Programme will?be ?adopted? by enterprises under an??Entrepreneur-Adopt-a-School? initiative,?where at least one entrepreneur will be?attached to each school. Local enterprises?and start-ups such as Ya Kun International
and KooBits are already on board. They?have committed to engage the students?through regular talks and events, and
provide opportunities for the students to?be exposed to the real-world of business?through company visits, internships and?project mentorship. We hope to encourage?more entrepreneurs to come forward to?engage our youths.

SPRINGnews: How can schools or?educators who are interested in?promoting entrepreneurship get?involved in ACE?s efforts?

Ms Chew: The Task Force has also?proposed to set up an informal network?for educators and entrepreneurs to?interact and exchange best practices on?entrepreneurship learning. Through this?Educators? Network, educators will be?able to build up their entrepreneurship?knowledge and hone their pedagogy skills?in entrepreneurship education. We welcome
schools and educators to join our network!

Get in touch with ACE via email?info@ace.org.sg or Facebook?www.facebook.com/acestartups

Reproduced with permission from SPRINGnews December 2012 Issue. Published by SPRING Singapore.

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Source: http://mybusinesstechblog.com/archives/blog/nurturing-entrepreneurial-mindset

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Installing a Waterfall ? DIY Network | Home Improvement Ideas

[unable to retrieve full-text content]... Privacy Policy. 9Jan. Installing a Waterfall ? DIY Network. made by Cathy Lynch | posted in: Websites & You Tube Ideas. Indoors Out follows the installation of a waterfall in a backyard makeover. Be Sociable, Share! Tweet. Comments Off ...

Source: http://www.cohocton.org/467-installing-a-waterfall-diy-network

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Syrians brush off Assad speech as fighting rages

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Fighting raged across Syria on Monday with clashes reported just a few miles from where President Bashar al-Assad had unveiled a "peace plan" that Syrians on both sides said would do nothing to end the country's 21-month-old uprising.

Hours after Assad addressed cheering loyalists at the Damascus Opera House on Sunday in his first public speech in months, fighting erupted near the road to the city's international airport, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The opposition-linked group said artillery hit the district of Aqraba, 3 miles from the Opera House. Fighting continued all night and into Monday around the capital, as well as in the northern provinces of Idlib and Aleppo, it said.

In central Syria, the towns of Taybet Imam and Halfaya were bombarded with aerial strikes and artillery, said Abu Faisal, an activist speaking over the internet from Taybet Imam.

"Every four to five minutes, we hear the burst from a rocket. We cannot get any wounded out because we are essentially under siege by the shelling," he said, adding that many civilians had fled. Taybet Imam sits on an entrance to Syria's main north-south highway, close to the central city of Hama.

The government restricts access by international media and the accounts could not be verified.

Damascus residents said Assad's speech, which offered no concessions to his foes, was met with celebratory gunfire in pro-Assad neighborhoods.

But even there, some saw no sign peace was closer: a loyalist resident of southern Damascus reached by internet said the speech was eloquent but empty.

"It sounded more like gloating than making promises," said the woman, who gave only her first name, Aliaa. "I agree with the ideas but words are really just words until he takes some action. He needs to do something. But even so, everything he suggests now, it is too late, the rebels aren't going to stop."

"NO ONE CARES"

In the once-affluent district of Mezzeh, scene of several bomb attacks, an Assad critic said people had more pressing concerns than a TV speech. "Here, no one cares about this speech. They care about food and electricity."

Another said few people had watched the speech and that Assad's crackdown would not stop: "Military operations will continue in full swing, and he is staying."

France, the United States, Britain and Turkey all said Assad's speech, his first to an audience since June last year, showed he had lost touch with reality after unrest that the United Nations says has killed 60,000 people.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland had harsh words for Assad when she was asked whether the United States regarded him as a rational actor and whether he was "evil."

"I don't think anybody who is guilty of the kinds of crimes against your own people that he's guilty of could be considered rational," Nuland told reporters in Washington. "I personally consider what he's done evil."

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan accused Assad on Monday of "directing state terrorism".

"Bashar al-Assad's speech is further evidence of just how far he has cut himself off from reality in order to justify his repression of the Syrian people," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot said.

The plan described by the Syrian leader as a new peace initiative proposed an army ceasefire only after rebels halt their operations and summoned Syrians to mobilize for a war to defend the state against "a puppet made by the West".

The United Nations said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was disappointed that Assad's speech rejected the idea of a transitional government to pave the way to new elections - a central plank of a peace plan promoted by international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.

"NATIONAL PROGRAMME"

Syria's Prime Minister Wael al-Halki called on Monday for a special cabinet meeting to implement the "national program announced by President Bashar al-Assad yesterday to solve the crisis in Syria", the state news agency SANA said.

George Sabra, vice president of the opposition National Coalition, said the putative peace plan "did not even deserve to be called an initiative".

"We should see it rather as a declaration that he will continue his war against the Syrian people," he told Reuters.

Assad's ally Iran defended the speech as offering a "comprehensive political process". "This plan rejects violence and terrorism and any foreign interference," Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said.

There was no immediate response from Moscow, which has acted as Assad's main protector on the diplomatic stage. Russian state offices were quiet for the Orthodox Christmas holiday.

Syrian state television played up the speech, showing footage of convoys of cars driving through main streets in Damascus. People waving the Syrian flag leaned out of car windows and some braved the cold and rain to walk alongside.

"It was a victorious speech that respects the martyred Syrian soldiers," said one man on state TV, adding that his brother had been killed fighting the opposition.

After six months of advances, rebels now control wide areas of northern and eastern Syria, most of its border crossings with Turkey and a crescent of Damascus suburbs.

Assad's government is still firmly entrenched in the capital and controls most of the densely populated southwest, the Mediterranean coast, the main north-south highway and military bases countrywide. Its helicopters and jets are able to strike rebel-held areas with impunity.

U.S. military cargo planes carrying equipment and personnel arrived at the Incirlik air base in Turkey on Monday, part of a deployment of NATO Patriot anti-missiles to bolster security along Turkey's 900-km (560-mile) border with Syria. Dutch Patriot missile batteries bound for Turkey left an army base in the Netherlands.

(Additional reporting by Ayat Basma in Beirut, Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem, Vicky Buffery in Paris and Arshad Mohammed in Washington; writing by Peter Graff; editing by Philippa Fletcher and Giles Elgood)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/assad-peace-plan-greeted-scorn-foes-080058597.html

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Sony Handycam PJ790V and PJ650V get brighter projectors with HDMI input, we go hands-on

Sony Handycam PJ790V and PJ650V get brighter projectors with HDMI input, we go handson

In the past, we may have considered a projector-equipped camcorder if the price was right, but with dim output (typically less than 20 lumens) and content options limited to footage you've shot, the available functionality often didn't justify a premium of several hundred dollars. Sony, for its part, is working to make that secondary display massively more appealing -- the company's latest generation of high-end camcorders adds an HDMI input, with an option to display content from any compatible source (a full-size adapter ships in the box). Two such models, the Handycam PJ650V and PJ790V, will retail for $1,100 and $1,600, respectively. As their price tags imply, these are Sony's top-of-the-line consumer offerings for 2013, and they've got the features to match.

Both include Balanced Optical SteadyShot, which moves the entire lens module (not just specific elements) for much more effective stabilization, especially when zoomed in. There are Exmor R sensors on board, with a 20.4-megapixel chip on the 650 and a 24.1-megapixel imager on the 790. The lower-end model includes a 26.8mm wide-angle 20/12x G lens, 32GB of flash storage and a 20-lumen projector. The 790 ships with a 26mm wide-angle 17/10x Carl Zeiss lens, a whopping 96 gigs of memory and a 30-lumen projector on the side. Both also include 921k-dot 3-inch LCDs and electronic viewfinders, along with 5.1-channel mics (the 790's is raised to accommodate wind screens and isolate mechanical noises), an option for AVCHD or MP4 recording and a new Multi Interface Shoe that can be used with accessories like an external mic or the $75 ADP-WL1M WiFi module.

We had an opportunity to check out both camcorders, and were quite impressed, especially when it came to the Balanced Optical SteadyShot and (relatively) powerful built-in projectors. The HDMI input worked as advertised, accepting content from a laptop and an Android smartphone without issue. The 790's projector was bright enough to see detail even in a sun-lit room, but we could even see using it to watch a movie (with an external speaker), assuming that we're able to set up shop in a pitch-black environment with a suitable surface. Both Handycams felt like premium devices, and while they were significantly heavier than Sony's entry-level offerings, they're light enough to be comfortably used to capture handheld footage. This premium duo is set to hit stores in February, but you can take a look right now in the hands-on gallery below.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/07/sony-handycam-pj790v-pj650v-hands-on/

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