A Very Target Holiday Surprise for Hurricane Families

Los Angeles has been my home since July of 1999. ?I moved out here after I finished my MSW program at the University of Pennsylvania with the intention of staying for two years at the very most. ?I had recently lost my father. ?I needed a change. ?I craved new surroundings and warmer weather. ?But I never intended to stay. ?Of course, that?s the big joke out here. ?No one ever really?intends to stay forever, but we all do. ?For one reason or another, we all plant new roots and adapt to this new lifestyle.

Music keeps our little family here. ?In January of 2000, I met the love of my life. ?He blew through town on tour with his band. ?We met, we ate dinner, and we fell in love. ?And then we did what everybody else does. ?We had a fairytale wedding, we bought a house, we had a baby, we bought a bigger house, we had one more baby, and, before we new it, we had built a life in Los Angeles.

But pieces, very big pieces, of our hearts will always belong to New England. ?We were born there, we were raised there, and, more often than not, we think about ways to spend more time there. ?Because home is where the heart is, which means that we have two homes.

To say that watching the destruction unfold as hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc on New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut was difficult, is to significantly downplay the emotions we experienced that week. ?We worried about my family. ?We worried about our friends. ?And we worried about people we?ve never even met. ?Because when your heart belongs to a place, you worry about that entire place, not just the people that you know the best.

We immediately did as many others did: ?We donated money to the Red Cross. ?We wanted to ensure that help would be available as soon as practically possible.

But it never feels like enough, does it?

So I reached out to my friends at Target. ?Please help me help them. ?I need to help them. ?The truth is that we all go on with our lives. ?Bad things happen, we help where we can, but then we move on. ?We don?t have much of a choice. ?We all have bills to pay and children to feed. ?We all have to-do lists a mile long and family to care for.

But the many, many families who lost?nearly everything in that storm? ?They don?t have the luxury of just moving on. ?They are cold, tired, and displaced. ?They are overwhelmed and lacking adequate support. ?They are just getting by. ?And while the rest of the country prepares to light candles and stuff stockings, these families are just hoping for warm meal.

Take, for instance, the story of the mail carrier and the nurse. ?They have two little girls. ?They lived in a raised ranch prior to the storm. ?Their mortgage company made it a requirement that they buy flood insurance, but when the storm hit?the insurance proved useless. ?They have been told that their first floor is considered a basement, and therefore not covered. ?In that ?basement?? ?Kitchen, living room, furnace, washer/dryer, all of the books and toys belonging to those sweet little girls. ?And?this family lived paycheck to paycheck before the storm. ?Now? They are renting and apartment and trying to get by.

Or, there is the story of the Breezy Point family. ?They have three children: ?A four year old daughter and infant twins. ?They just put the finishing touches on their home before the storm. ?Now? ?It burned to the ground along with 110 other homes in the area.

I could go on. ?I could tell you hundreds of stories just like these. ?All of these people are now renting apartments, living with family, or living in shelters. ?Hannukah and Christmas? ?Where would they even begin?

That?s where Target comes in. ?I asked and they answered. ?Target sent me 10 holiday gift cards to send to 10 families in need this season. ?With the help of my new friend Kerri, who is a saint if I?ve ever met one, I will surprise 10 families this week.

Kerri, out of the goodness of her enormous heart, started Greater Hartford ? New York Relief Runs. ?For weeks, she has been running back and forth, delivering supplies, helping where she can, and even delivering warm pizzas to families. ?She is amazing.

Kerri helped me identify the first 10 families, and Target answered the call to help.

Sadly, we have a list of families that goes on for days. ?There are so very many families in need this holiday season. ?I don?t know about you, but the thought of children having absolutely nothing to open for Hannukah and Christmas just breaks my mommy heart?

So now I?m asking you. ?Will YOU help brighten the holiday season for families in need? ?It?s as simple as heading over to Target and purchasing a gift card in whatever amount you can spare this season. ?$10, $25, $50??? ?Every little bit helps, and every child deserves a holiday.

Please, if you can adopt a Sandy family this holiday season, leave me a comment below. ?MAKE SURE that I have your email address. ?Kerri and I will work together to match families. ?You will be given a family and address and you can send that Target card from the comfort of your couch?it?s just that simple.

And also? ?Please share this post on your Facebook wall when you get a chance. ?The best way to spread the holiday spirit is to come together and help those in need?and our friends in NJ, NY, and CT need us right now. ?They?really, really need us.

Thank you, Practical readers. ?I know I can count on you.

Source: http://practicalkatie.com/2012/12/04/a-very-target-holiday-surprise-for-hurricane-families/

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Fuhu's Nabi Jr. Tegra-powered kiddie tablet keeps the small ones occupied for five minutes

If your Clarkson-esque toddler screams "more power!" at its kiddie tablet, perhaps it's time to upgrade. Fuhu, makers of the Nabi, are trying to address that problem with the Nabi Jr., a 5-inch baby slate that's packing NVIDIA's marginally faster OG Tegra internals. The ICS-running hardware also includes an 800 x 400 capacitive touchscreen, rotating webcam and a customized education-friendly software layer. If you think it'll satisfy your spec-demanding infants, a 4GB model will set you back $100, or you can grab a 16GB version for $130.

Continue reading Fuhu's Nabi Jr. Tegra-powered kiddie tablet keeps the small ones occupied for five minutes

Filed under: Tablets, NVIDIA

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/FSWaD1Jttdk/

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Rob Kardashian (Sort Of) Denies Dissing Rita Ora

Rob Kardashian may have underestimated the power of Twitter. This week, the reality star went into attack mode on the microblogging site, hurling insults that appeared to be directed at ex-girlfriend Rita Ora. With the phrase #RitaWhora trending, Kardashian has now erased the tweets, and denies that he ever intended to blast his ex.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/rob-kardashian-denies-dissing-rita-ora/1-a-506760?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Arob-kardashian-denies-dissing-rita-ora-506760

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Awkward Photos: Dads On Vacation Edition (PHOTOS)

The weather outside hasn't quite hit frightful levels yet, but the chillier temperatures and upcoming holidays have us thinking about vacations here at Huff/Post50. Specifically the awkward photos that get taken during vacation, featuring incredibly eager husbands and fathers mugging for the camera.

Clarke Joyner of Dads on Vacation was kind enough to share some of these incredibly hilarious photos of dads being anything but cool on vacation. These pops haven't met a bronzed animal with gaping jaws or stuffed bear they didn't like, embarrassing their families and posing their ways into our hearts.

Check out the slideshow below for some of the most awkward photos on the site.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/03/awkward-photos-dads-on-vacation-tumblr_n_2007572.html

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US wildfire risk worsening according to climate projections

ScienceDaily (Dec. 4, 2012) ? Scientists using NASA satellite data and climate models have projected drier conditions likely will cause increased fire activity across the United States in coming decades. Other findings about U.S. wildfires, including their amount of carbon emissions and how the length and strength of fire seasons are expected to change under future climate conditions, were also presented Tuesday at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.

Doug Morton of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., presented the new analysis of future U.S. fire activity. The analysis was based on current fire trends and predicted greenhouse gas emissions.

"Climate models project an increase in fire risk across the U.S. by 2050, based on a trend toward drier conditions that favor fire activity and an increase in the frequency of extreme events," Morton said.

The analysis by Morton and colleagues used climate projections, prepared for the Fifth Assessment Report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, to examine how dryness, and therefore fire activity, is expected to change.

The researchers calculated results for low and high greenhouse gas emissions scenarios. In both cases, results suggest more fire seasons that are longer and stronger across all regions of the U.S. in the next 30-50 years. Specifically, high fire years like 2012 would likely occur two to four times per decade by mid-century, instead of once per decade under current climate conditions.

? Larger image A Landsat 7 image of the 60,000 acres burned by the High Park wildfire just west of Fort Collins, CO as of June 18, 2012. The fire, which started on June 9 by a lightning strike, destroyed 189 homes as of June 19. In the June 18 image, clouds hover just north of the burned area, with smoke from the fire visible as blue. Credit: USGS/NASA

Through August of this year, the U.S. burned area topped 2.5 million hectares (6.17 million acres), according to a fire emissions database that incorporates burned area estimates produced from observations by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instruments on NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites. That is short of the record 3.2 million hectares (7.90 million acres) burned in 2011, but exceeds the area burned during 12 of the 15 years since record keeping began in 1997. This and other satellite records, along with more refined climate and emissions models, are allowing scientists to tease out new information about fire trends.

"Fire is an inherently global phenomenon, and the only practical way to track large-scale patterns and changes in fire activity is with satellites," says Louis Giglio of the University of Maryland at College Park and Goddard.

As the U.S. land area burned by fire each year has increased significantly in the past 25 years, so too have the emissions. Carbon dioxide emissions from wildfires in the western U.S. have more than doubled since the 1980s, according to Chris Williams of Clark University in Worcester, Mass.

The satellite-based view allowed Williams and his colleagues to quantify how much carbon has been released from fires in the U.S. West. The team used data on fire extent and severity derived from Landsat satellites to calculate how much biomass is burned and killed, and how quickly the associated carbon was released to the atmosphere. The team found carbon emissions from fires have grown from an average of 8 teragrams (8.8 million tons) per year from 1984 to 1995 to an average of 20 teragrams (22 million tons) per year from 1996 to 2008, increasing 2.4 times in the latter period.

"With the climate change forecast for the region, this trend likely will continue as the western U.S. gets warmer and drier on average," Williams said. "If this comes to pass, we can anticipate increased fire severity and an even greater area burned annually, causing a further rise in the release of carbon dioxide."

Researchers expect a drier and more wildfire-prone U.S. in future decades. Previous research confirmed the connection between the measure of an environment's potential evaporation, or dryness, and fire activity.

From a fire and emissions management perspective, wildfires are not the entire U.S. fire story, according to research by Hsiao-Wen Lin of the University of California at Irvine. Satellite data show agricultural and prescribed fires are a significant factor and account for 70 percent of the total number of active fires in the continental U.S. Agricultural fires have increased 30 percent in the last decade.

In contrast with wildfires, agricultural and prescribed fires are less affected by climate, especially drought, during the fire season.

"That means there is greater potential to manage fire emissions, even in a future, drier climate with more wildfires. We need to use cost-benefit analysis to assess whether reductions in agricultural fire emissions -- which would benefit public health -- would significantly impact crop yields or other ecosystem services," Lin said.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/N6mdfKIb2fk/121204145918.htm

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'Twilight' (Barely) Holds On To #1 Spot At Box Office

'Breaking Dawn Part 2' edged out 'Skyfall' by less than half a million dollars to hold on to the box-office crown for its third week.
By Ryan J. Downey

Kristen Stewart in "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2"
Photo: Summit Entertainment

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1698244/twilight-breaking-dawn-weekend-box-office.jhtml

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Rebels in Congo demand negotiations

GOMA, Congo (AP) ? Rebels believed to be backed by Rwanda said Sunday they would take back Congo's city of Goma if the government does not agree to negotiate with them by Monday.

The M23 rebels completed their withdrawal from the strategic eastern city on Saturday, in compliance with an agreement reached between the rebel group and a regional body.

"It pained us to withdraw from Goma after having lost men on the battlefield to conquer the city. But if it is the price for peace, we accept it," said Bertrand Bisimwa, the spokesman for M23's political branch. "There was no external pressure. Friends of Congo have advised us to give negotiations a chance."

The M23 rebels took the capital of North Kivu on Nov. 20, after battling the Congolese army for nearly a day. The group had defied two earlier ultimatums to leave Goma, raising the possibility they did not intend to leave and giving credence to a U.N. report accusing Rwanda of using the rebels as a proxy to annex territory in the mineral-rich eastern Congo.

The eight-month-old M23 rebellion is led by fighters from a now-defunct rebel group, who agreed to lay down their arms on March 23, 2009, in return for being allowed to join the ranks of the Congolese army. The rebellion, which takes its name from that accord, began in April when hundreds of soldiers defected from the military, saying that the terms of the agreement had not been respected.

Bisimwa said that by Sunday the rebels have not received information on whether the government had decided to negotiate.

"If negotiations have not started by tomorrow at 2 p.m. , 48 hours since our withdrawal, or if there are attacks on citizens in Goma, we will take back the city," he said. "We know that President Kabila is not trustworthy, but we want to give a chance for our friends to realize that too."

Despite the rebels' retreat from Goma, which was a pre-requisite set by the Congolese government for negotiations, President Joseph Kabila has not yet made clear if the government will negotiate.

"The head of state said that he will listen to the M23's grievances and re-evaluate the 2009 peace agreement, and then he will give an answer," said the spokesman for the government Lambert Mende. "No one will give them the chance," to return to Goma, he told The Associated Press.

The rebels have demanded the implementation of the 2009 accord that oversaw their integration in the army and the recognition of their ranks, and also positions in the government. Following their seizure of Goma, the rebels have also added a list of demands meant to re-establish good governance in Congo, such as the liberation of all political prisoners, the dissolution of the current electoral commission who was in charge during fraudulent elections in 2011, and the opening of negotiations inclusive of the civil society, the opposition and the diaspora.

But most analysts believe the origin of the rebellion is a fight over Congo's vast mineral wealth, a good chunk of which is found in the North Kivu province where Goma is the capital. Starting this spring, the fighters seized a series of small towns and villages in North Kivu, culminating with the capture of Goma, a population hub of 1 million and a key, mineral trading post.

"It's a vicious cycle in which these people rebel and then they are rewarded with high-ranking positions in the army and they can exploit our resources," said Thomas d'Acquin, the president of the civil society in North Kivu.

In Goma, people were worried that violence may flare up again soon if a compromise is not reached.

"We live in fear, it's unbearable," said 38-year-old resident Anatole Bilemba. "The M23 comes, they leave, the Congolese army will come back and then the M23 says they will too. How do we do anything?"

A security vacuum followed M23's departure from Goma, which has not yet been filled by the Congolese army. Only several hundred policemen are securing the city.

In Mugunga, a camp outside Goma, the U.N. confirmed that armed men raped six women and looted displaced people's belongings last night.

___

Associated Press reporter Saleh Mwanamilongo in Kinshasa, Congo contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rebels-congo-demand-negotiations-160835103.html

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