PFT: Roethlisberger denies locker room unrest

AP

For weeks, stories have been percolating about the problems within the Steelers locker room.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had finally heard enough.

As valuable as any?salary cap space he created, Roethlisberger tried to restore some peace inside his own team.

?For anybody to say there are locker room issues or leadership issues are completely off base,? Roethlisberger told Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. ?I believe that?s the frustration. I believe that it?s frustration of last year, I honestly do.?

What began as anonymous criticizing of linebacker LaMarr Woodley grew until players began talking more and more about the internal strife, with safety Ryan Clark saying there was a ?fracture? in the locker room.

?Obviously, last year was frustrating for all of us, and when you?re frustrated and the season doesn?t go the way you want it to and things don?t go the way you want them to, things are said. I know all too well, after the Dallas game I was frustrated and said some things,? Roethlisberger said. ?The important thing to know is, there are no issues in our locker room. There are no issues with LaMarr. There are no issues on our team.

?The big thing for us is to move forward. Last year was last year, it was 8-8. We?re not happy about it. There are frustrations, but you know what? We?re done with it. We?re moving forward and we?re moving into this year ? with whoever?s here, we?re looking to move forward. And we know Woodley?s going to be here and we know Woodley?s going to be ready to go as we all are going to be.?

Roethlisberger took exception with the idea it was a leadership issue.

?No matter how the season goes, there?s always going to be some kind of issue come up,? he said. ?There?s never perfect harmony in any locker room, never. There?s always going to be some issue at some point in the year, that?s how it works. But the thing is, how do you move on from it? These things should be put in the rear-view mirror and we should be looking forward.

?I?m hoping by doing this to put a stop to it, to say, listen, everybody, as a leader in this locker room, as a guy who has been around here for a long time, I?m hoping that by saying there is no issue and this is fine, that this could be our exclamation point. Let?s move on with this offseason, to training, to getting ready. I don?t think there?s a reason to look back anymore.

?That?s what I?m hoping to just say: Done.?

Of course, saying there are no issues on an 8-8 team with as much chatter as this one has created is one thing. Making it the truth is something entirely different, and will prove to be more of a challenge for Roethlisberger and the Steelers.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/01/roethlisberger-tries-to-bury-talk-of-locker-room-unrest/related/

marquette university marquette city creek center hilary duff michigan state michigan state andrew luck pro day

Wizards Announcer Misidentifies Buzzer-Beating Airball as Winning "DAGGER!"

Source:

tenacious d steve smith zou bisou bisou tim tebow press conference tebow press conference trina rob dyrdek

Where the wild things go ? when there's nowhere else

Feb. 28, 2013 ? Ecologists have evidence that some endangered primates and large cats faced with relentless human encroachment will seek sanctuary in the sultry thickets of mangrove and peat swamp forests. These harsh coastal biomes are characterized by thick vegetation -- particularly clusters of salt-loving mangrove trees -- and poor soil in the form of highly acidic peat, which is the waterlogged remains of partially decomposed leaves and wood. As such, swamp forests are among the few areas in many African and Asian countries that humans are relatively less interested in exploiting (though that is changing).

Yet conservationists have been slow to consider these tropical hideaways when keeping tabs on the distribution of threatened animals such as Sumatran orangutans and Javan leopards, according to a recent Princeton University study in the journal Folia Primatologica. To draw attention to peat and mangrove swamps as current -- and possibly future -- wildlife refuges, Katarzyna Nowak, a former postdoctoral researcher of ecology and evolutionary biology at Princeton, compiled a list of 60 primates and 20 felids (the large-cat family that includes tigers and leopards) known to divide their time between their natural forest habitats and some 47 swamp forests in Africa and Asia.

Because swamp forests often lack food sources, fresh water and easy mobility, few mammals are exclusive to these areas, Nowak reported. Consequently, conservation groups have not intensely monitored the animals' swamp use.

But the presence of endangered cats and primates in swamp forests might be seriously overlooked, Nowak found. About 55 percent of Old World monkeys -- primates such as baboons and macaques that are native to Africa and Asia -- take to the swamps either regularly, seasonally or as needed. In 2008, the Wildlife Conservation Society reported that the inaccessible Lake T?l? swamp forest in the Republic of the Congo was home to 125,000 lowland gorillas -- more than were thought to exist in the wild. Among big cats, the Bengal tiger, for instance, holds its sole ground in Bangladesh in the Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest.

Life in the swamps can still be harsh for some animals. Species such as the crab-eating macaque and fishing cat can adapt somewhat readily to a life of swimming and foraging for crustaceans. Meanwhile, Zanzibar's red colobus monkey -- driven to coastal mangroves by deforestation -- can struggle to find the freshwater it needs, as Nowak reported in the American Journal of Primatology in 2008. Such a trend could result in local extinction of the red colobus nonetheless, she said.

Nowak concludes that swamp forests beg further exploration as places where endangered species such as lowland gorillas and flat-headed cats have preserved their numbers -- and where humans could potentially preserve them into the future.

The paper, "Mangrove and Peat Swamp Forests: Refuge Habitats for Primates and Felids," was published in the journal Folia Primatologica.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Princeton University, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Katarzyna Nowak. Mangrove and Peat Swamp Forests: Refuge Habitats for Primates and Felids. Folia Primatologica, 2012; 83 (3-6): 361 DOI: 10.1159/000339810

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/i6tJVLydE-k/130228155757.htm

ellen degeneres tomb of the unknown soldier tomb of the unknown soldier HMS Bounty dominion power Heather Clem Con Edison

Firefighters battle Southern California wildfire

(Reuters) - Firefighters were battling a wildfire on Friday that blazed across 200 acres in the hills of Southern California, authorities said.

No injuries or deaths were reported in the fire that was 30 percent contained as of early Friday, according to the Riverside County, California, fire department.

Weather conditions were windy in the area, where the National Weather Service issued a wind advisory for Friday. It said winds as strong as 35 miles per hour could be expected.

Two hundred firefighters were battling the blaze, which broke out Thursday afternoon in Jurupa Valley near Riverside City, the department said. The cause of the fire is under investigation, it said.

Riverside City residents lost power on Thursday, but power was restored on Friday, authorities said. Voluntary evacuation orders were issued on Thursday but lifted as of Friday, they said.

(Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Sofina Mirza-Reid)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/firefighters-battle-southern-california-wildfire-141346766.html

neil diamond orange crush harden nor easter nor easter veep los angeles kings

Giant cockroach genus Pseudophoraspis expands to the north with 3 new species

Feb. 28, 2013 ? Cockroaches (Blattodea) are an insect order remarkable in their biodiversity and distribution, with more than 4500 species known and great geographical reach. Cockroach fossils date back around 400 million years, which testifies to their great adaptability and endurance that puts them among the planet's great survivors.

The cockroach genus Pseudophoraspism has has been reported from China for the first time thanks to the discovery of three new species: Pseudophoraspis clavellata, Pseudophoraspis recurvata and Pseudophoraspis incurvata, alongside the first regional record of three already described ones. They belong to the cockroach family Blaberidae, known also as giant cockroaches. The study was published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

Although the adults of the newly described species can reach a size of around 3 cm in length, they are still some of the smallest representatives in the family. For comparison, the females of the largest species known, Blaberus giganteus, can reach up to 10 cm in length. The heaviest species, Macropanesthia rhinoceros, also known as the rhinoceros cockroach, reaches only around 8 cm but can weigh remarkable 35 grams.

All of the known species of the genus Pseudophoraspis, to which the three newly described ones belong, were reported from Southeast Asia and South Asia, with Vietnam considered the north boundary of their territory. This new record of three already known species, and three newly discovered ones in China's provinces Hainan, Yunnan and Guangxi, however, considerably expands the reach of the genus to the North.

One of the authors, Dr. Zongqing Wang from the Institute of Entomology, Southwest University, China comments: "All of the known species were reported from Southeast Asia and South Asia, and the previously known boundary of this genus would be Vietnam. We found three new species from China, located in Hainan, Yunnan and Guangxi Provinces respectively, which extends the range of the genus Pseudophoraspis northward."

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Pensoft Publishers, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Zongqing Wang, Keliang Wu, Yanli Che. New record of the cockroach genus Pseudophoraspis (Blaberidae, Epilamprinae) from China with descriptions of three new species. ZooKeys, 2013; 273 (0): 1 DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.273.4122

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/xFDHyMQ5TLo/130228103438.htm

Pacific Rim tumblr Ravi Shankar Geminid meteor shower right to work Clackamas Town Center 12 12 12

Syrians clash around 12th century Aleppo mosque

BEIRUT (AP) ? Syrian rebels clashed with regime troops in the narrow stone alleyways around a historic 12th century mosque inside the walled Old City of Aleppo on Thursday, while a government airstrike in the countryside north of the city killed at least seven people, activists said.

The rebels, who have been slowly chipping away at the regime's hold on Aleppo, received a boost Wednesday from the U.S. in their fight to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad. Washington pledged an additional $60 million in assistance to the opposition and ? in a significant policy shift ? for the first time will provide nonlethal aid like food and medical supplies directly to rebel forces on the ground.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced the decision on the sidelines of an international conference on Syria in Rome, where European nations were also expected to signal their intention to provide fresh assistance to the opposition, possibly including defensive military hardware.

The rebels have made a number of strategic gains in northern Syria in recent weeks, including the capture of a hydroelectric dam and some military bases. They also have been regularly hitting the heart of Damascus with mortar rounds, puncturing the aura of normalcy that the regime has tried to cultivate in the capital.

In Aleppo, a key battleground in the civil war, clashes raged around the landmark Umayyad Mosque in the walled Old City, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The rebels control one part of the mosque, and government troops hold the other.

Rebels launched an offensive on Aleppo, Syria's largest urban center and its commercial capital, in July 2012. Since then, the city has been carved into rebel- and government-controlled zones in brutal street fighting that has destroyed entire neighborhoods and damaged some of the ancient city's rich archaeological and cultural heritage.

The Umayyad Mosque, also known as the Great Mosque of Aleppo, sits near a medieval covered market in the Old City, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The mosque was heavily damaged in October 2012 just weeks after a fire gutted the old city's famed market.

North of Aleppo, a government airstrike on the village of Deir Jamal killed at least seven people, including five children, according to the Observatory. It was not immediately clear what the target was, but regime warplanes frequently carry out bombing runs on rebel-held towns.

Farther south in the central city of Homs, the state news agency said a car bomb caused casualties and extensive material damage, but it did not elaborate.

An official in the Homs governor's office told The Associated Press that there were two blasts and that four people were killed and at least six wounded. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

With the bloodshed showing no sign of abating, the Syrian opposition has grown increasingly frustrated with what it sees as the international community's apathy toward the suffering on the ground and its unwillingness to provide rebels with the arms they need to counter the regime's superior firepower.

The U.S. and its European allies have been reluctant to arm the opposition fighters the ground for fear the weapons could end up in the hands of Islamic militants, who might then carry out attacks on Western or Israeli targets.

So far, the U.S. has largely limited its assistance to the Syrian opposition to funding for communications and other logistical equipment.

The U.S. decision to provide more aid directly to the rebels is designed to increase the pressure on Assad to step down and pave the way for a democratic transition. The aid is also intended to help the opposition Syrian National Coalition govern newly liberated areas of Syria and blunt the influence of extremists.

"For more than a year, the United States and our partners have called on Assad to heed the voice of the Syrian people and to halt his war machine," Kerry said in Rome. "Instead, what we have seen is his brutality increase."

The Coalition, which has been hampered by the same infighting that has dogged the opposition since the uprising began, has struggled to agree on the leadership of a transitional administration since the opposition umbrella group was formed late last year. The group has met on previous occasions to select an interim prime minister, but has failed to reach a compromise.

In a statement posted on its Facebook page, the group said the March 2 conference in Istanbul was canceled for "logistical reasons." It said it would announce a new date as soon as possible.

Walid al-Bunni, a spokesman for the Coalition, said the meeting was pushed back "for few days" to allow for more consultations with members of the opposition inside Syria who have been hampered by security issues and because some local councils who were supposed to take part in the conference were holding elections.

___

Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, Ryan Lucas in Beirut, and Mathew Lee in Rome contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syrians-clash-around-12th-century-aleppo-mosque-173743021.html

optimal Samantha Steele Espn goog Sylvia Kristel st louis cardinals Steelers Schedule tory burch

Egypt to widen probe into fatal balloon crash

CAIRO (AP) ? Egypt's lead investigator says countries of some of the victims of the deadly balloon crash in Luxor have asked to join the probe.

Walid el-Moqadem said Thursday that Hong Kong, Britain, Japan and Hungary will not be sending investigators so far. He says they have been granted an advisory role and will for now be appraised of progress through emails.

Nineteen foreign tourists died when their hot air balloon caught fire and plummeted about 1,000 feet to the ground on Tuesday in southern Egypt.

Initial reports say the balloon was in the process of landing when a cable got caught around a gas tube and a fire erupted.

He says Egyptian investigators are currently collecting and documenting data. A separate criminal investigation is under way to rule out foul play.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-widen-probe-fatal-balloon-crash-114237659.html

rosh hashanah rosh hashanah boardwalk empire iOS 6 Release Date Canelo Alvarez Chavez vs Martinez Yunel Escobar