Friday, November 30, 2012

Video: Sandy's Impact on Same-Store Sales

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/50013721/

last train to clarksville tim tebow taylor swift post grad arpaio carol burnett neil degrasse tyson neil degrasse tyson

Scientists build structures with tiny bricks of DNA

A video from Harvard's Wyss Institute explains how strands of DNA can be assembled into three-dimensional nanostructures like tiny Lego building blocks.

By Alan Boyle

Researchers at Harvard's Wyss Institute have coaxed single strands of DNA to fit together like Lego bricks and form scores of complex three-dimensional shapes, including a teeny-tiny space shuttle. The technique, described in this week's issue of the journal Science, adds a new dimension to molecular construction and should help open the way for nanoscale medical and electronic devices.

"This is a simple, versatile and robust method," the study's senior author, Peng Yin, said in a news release.


The method starts with synthetic strands of DNA that take in just 32 nucleotides, or molecular?bits of genetic code. These individual "bricks" are coded in a way that they fit together like Lego pegs and holes to form larger shapes of a specific design. A cube built up from 1,000 such bricks (10 by 10 by 10) measures just 25 nanometers in width. That's thousands of times smaller than the diameter of a single human hair.

The latest research builds upon work that the Wyss researchers detailed in May, which involved piecing together DNA strands to create two-dimensional tiles (including cute smiley faces). This time around, the strands were twisted in such a way that they could be interlocked, Lego-style. As any visitor to Legoland knows, such structures can get incredibly complex in the hands of a skilled builder.

Yin and his colleagues are still learning their building techniques. Fortunately, the bricks could be programmed to build themselves, with the aid of 3-D modeling software. Once the designs were set, the researchers synthesized strands with the right combinations of nucleotides ??adenosine, thymine, cytosine and guanine ? so that when they were mixed together in a solution, at least some of the bricks would form the desired design.

To demonstrate the method, 102 different 3-D shapes were created using a 1,000-brick template.

The Wyss researchers reported a wide variation in assembly success rate, or yield: Depending on the design, the yield ranged from 1 percent to 40 percent.?That's roughly in the same range as the success rate for another method for molecular assembly, known as DNA origami. The origami method requires more custom work to design the "staples" to hold the DNA structures together, while the Lego-style method can rely more easily on a standard toolbox of DNA bricks.

In the future, DNA origami and DNA brick-building may be used together, said Kurt Gothelf, director of the Center for DNA Nanotechnology at Aarhus University in Denmark. "It is likely that a combination of the two methods will pave the way for making even larger structures in higher yields," Gothelf wrote in a commentary for Science.

Researchers say complex nanostructures could be used as smart drug delivery devices inside the human body, or as the components for microscopic electronic or photonic devices. It may look as if scientists are just playing around with smiley faces and toy shuttles, but a few years from now, DNA bricks will be no laughing matter.

Update for 3:30 p.m. ET: Peng Yin put me in touch with the Wyss Institute's Yonggang Ke, the lead researcher for the study, for an email Q&A. Here's an edited transcript:

Cosmic Log: I'm trying to visualize the self-assembly process. The shapes are designed using software, and that yields a recipe list for different strands that are synthesized, and then the various ingredients are combined to assemble themselves into the desired shapes?

Ke:?"All the designs were done using software. First, a cubic '3-D canvas' model that contains 1,000 'voxels' was generated. [Each voxel represents an 8-base-pair connection between bricks.] Second, a list of a master collection of DNA strands (we ordered 4,455 strands) was generated based on the 3-D canvas. This master collection of strands covers all possibilities of shapes that can be designed from the 1,000-voxel 3-D canvas. Then we made 102 shapes using the software; each shape was designed by removing the unwanted voxels. At last, the software translates each shape to a recipe list of strands and sends the information to a robot for mixing the ingredients."

Q:?Do you have to select 'good' structures of Lego blocks from undesirable or misshapen Lego structures?

A:?"We didn't select the 'good' structures. That is why some structures' yields in the paper are so low. However, there are a few designed structures that failed self-assembly. They were mentioned in the supplementary material."

Q: I mentioned a couple of figures in the May report on your team's work with 2-D shapes: 12 to 17 percent yield, expected production of one desired shape per hour, $7,000 to synthesize a toolkit theoretically capable of producing 2 x 10^93 shapes. Do you have comparable figures for 3-D brick production?

A: "Yields of 3-D DNA-brick shapes were, on average, lower than 2-D DNA-brick shapes, but comparable to 3-D DNA origami structures. We saw yields varied from 1 percent to 40 percent, depending on the designs. The robot can make one 3-D shape per hour, which is similar to the pace for making 2-D shapes.? The master collection of 4,455 strands cost about $11,000, but we can produce 2^1000 (about 10^301) potential shapes. The much larger number of potential shapes is due to the higher resolution in our 3-D brick design." [The size of the voxels is smaller, with just 8 base pairs per voxel.]

Q:?Do you visualize combining the short-strand bricks into a completed structure, or building modular structures that are in turn built up into bigger structures (for example, that nanoscale space shuttle)? I assume this is where the combination of brick-building and origami might come in.

A:?"Combining multiple DNA-brick structures to form a larger structure via 'hierarchical assembly' is certainly on our mind. I think we will inevitably need to combine many different DNA assembly methods, including DNA brick and DNA origami."

Q: It sounds as if you expect bricks as well as origami to be used together for nanostructure synthesis. Is this a change from the way you expected the field to develop in earlier days, or did you always expect that the two approaches would end up being used in combination?

A: "The ultimate goal of the DNA-brick technique and DNA origami is the same: making larger, more complex, more stable DNA structures. The two methods are also intrinsically connected.

"I borrow a paragraph from our paper: 'DNA origami can also be related to the brick framework, in which half of the bricks are concatenated into a long scaffold. ... The successes of constructions that use only short strands (as in bricks) and those that include a long scaffold (as in origami) together suggest a full spectrum of motif possibilities with strands of diverse lengths: Longer strands may provide better structural support, and shorter ones may provide finer modularity and features; the eclectic use of both may lead to the most rapid progression toward greater complexity.'

"We certainly expect the two techniques will complement each other."

Q: Do you feel as if this establishes a sufficient toolkit for nanostructure building, or are there other steps or techniques that will still be required? Are you working on additional techniques?

??A:?"Far from sufficient. The DNA-brick technique is great, compared with a lot of existing methods. It is modular, simple, and can make many complex shapes that were not accessible before. However, it is still not quite enough for many reasons. First of all, the structures are still only nanometer-scale objects. It will be great if we can get them to micrometer or even millimeter sizes. Second, we need to increase the stability of structures for many applications. Third, we want to be able to transfer the structural information to a lot of other materials (e.g. metals, carbon, silicon, protein?) to achieve more functions."

Q: Any more insight into the mechanism that leads to self-assembly?

A: "Right now we don't have any new hypotheses. A more important task for now is to search a reliable assay for studying the assembly mechanism."

Q: Is there any way to put an estimated time frame on applications for DNA structure assembly, or describe the potential applications?

A:?"It is hard to predict a timetable. However, we believe we are really close to making high-profile real-world applications using DNA structures, considering the rapid growth of the field in recent years. Many papers have been published in the last couple of years, showing the potential for DNA structures in biophysical study, plasmonic devices, biosensoring, targeted delivery vehicle, etc.

Q: In May, we mentioned the potential for drug delivery or medical monitoring (for example, by nanomachines in the bloodstream). How does going from 2-D to 3-D change the outlook for applications? What are the big obstacles yet to be overcome?

A:?"For some applications, 2-D DNA structures would suffice. However, for applications like drug delivery, going 3-D makes all the difference. A delivery vehicle/machine has to be a 3-D object that contains protective shell, recognition sites, etc. Note that we are at early stage of developing nano medical devices using DNA structures. The biggest obstacles in the near future are perhaps how to increase the stability of DNA structures in complex biological environments and how to observe the behaviors of the DNA structures in vivo."?

Q: Anything to report on patenting these technologies or forming a venture to commercialize them?

A: "We have filed a provisional patent on the DNA-brick technique. We also have filed patents for other DNA techniques that we have invented in the past. We certainly expect that commercialization of these techniques will be a possibility in the future."

More about DNA assembly:


In addition to Yin and Ke, the authors of the Science paper, "Three-Dimensional Structures Self-Assembled From DNA Bricks," include Luvena L. Ong and William M. Shih. The work was supported by the Office of Naval Research, the Army Research Office, the National Institutes of Health, Wyss Institute and the National Science Foundation.

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's?Facebook page, following?@b0yle on Twitter?and adding the?Cosmic Log page?to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out?"The Case for Pluto,"?my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Source: http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/29/15544581-scientists-build-with-dna-bricks?lite

final four 2012 bridesmaids winning lottery numbers megamillions winner kansas jayhawks mega millions results louisville

House votes to expand visas for high-tech foreign workers (reuters)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/267537657?client_source=feed&format=rss

google maps 8 bit mirror mirror robyn texas relays meniscus the colony kids choice awards

Trace Adkins Performs Two USO Shows for Airmen in Japan with the Promise of More to Come in the Following Days

Country music star Trace Adkins wraps up first leg of week-long USO holiday tour with a performance for troops and their families at Yokota Air Base (Nov. 27) and Misawa Air Base (Nov. 28). Coming up, Adkins will visit and perform more USO shows at Camp Hansen on Nov. 30, followed by Kadena Air Base on Dec. 1. This is the seventh USO tour for Adkins, who was among the first group of entertainers to travel to the Middle East with the USO in 2002.

Arlington, VA (PRWEB) November 29, 2012

Twitter Pitch: @TraceAdkins celebrates 11 years with @the_USO during holiday tour to Japan!

Country music star Trace Adkins has embarked on this seventh USO tour to bring holiday tidings to troops and their families stationed in Japan as part of a USO/Armed Forces Entertainment tour Nov. 26-Dec. 2. Earlier this week, Adkins performed two full band USO shows and toured multiple military duty posts.

DETAILS:

  • ????Three days into his six-day USO tour to the Pacific, Adkins has lifted the spirits of more than 1,000 Airmen, soldiers, sailors and their families. Having just wrapped up spirit lifting USO visits to Yokota Air Base (Nov. 27) and Misawa Air Base (Nov. 28), he will visit Camp Hansen on Nov. 30 followed by Kadena Air Base on Dec. 1. This is the singer?s first USO visit to the Pacific.

  • ????Among the first entertainers to travel to the Middle East with the USO in 2002, Adkins performed a special 9/11 USO concert at Ramstein Air Base in 2011. Since then, Adkins has lifted the spirits of more than 29,000 servicemen and women, and participated in seven USO tours. Among the countries he has visited with the USO are Bahrain, Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, the U.S. and Germany.
  • ????An avid supporter of our Armed Forces and the USO, Adkins performed with the West Point Cadet Glee Club at the 2009 USO Gala and is a recipient of the 2007 USO Merit Award for his ongoing patriotism. Coming up, Adkins will perform on NBC?s 15th Annual ?Christmas in Rockefeller Center? Special on Nov. 28 (8-9 p.m. EST) and on NBC?s first-ever ?All-Star Celebrity Apprentice.?

QUOTE:????

Attributed to Trace Adkins:


?A lot of people get attention for the wrong reasons, but the true measure of a hero is serving others. Our servicemen and women stationed around the globe are the real people who fit that bill. They devote their lives to supporting our nation, protecting our freedoms and sacrificing their lives. And deserve all the recognition and thanks we can give them. Each and every USO tour I go out on is important and unique, and this one is no different.?

MULTI-MEDIA:

USO Tour Photos: http://bit.ly/XWNpxW

USO Fact Sheet: http://bit.ly/yaebvo

###

About the USO


The USO (United Service Organizations) lifts the spirits of America?s troops and their families millions of times each year at hundreds of places worldwide. We provide a touch of home through centers at airports and military bases in the U.S. and abroad, top quality entertainment and innovative programs and services. We also provide critical support to those who need us most, including forward-deployed troops, military families, wounded warriors and their families and the families of the fallen.

The USO is a private, nonprofit organization, not a government agency. All of our programs and services are made possible by the American people, support of our corporate partners and the dedication of our volunteers and staff. In addition to individual donors and corporate sponsors, the USO is supported by President?s Circle Partners: American Airlines, AT&T, Clear Channel, The Coca-Cola Company, jcpenney, Kangaroo Express, Kroger, Lowe?s, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Procter & Gamble, and TriWest Healthcare Alliance and Worldwide Strategic Partners: BAE Systems, The Boeing Company, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft Corporation and TKS Telepost Kabel-Service Kaiserslautern GmbH & Co. KG. We are also supported through the United Way and Combined Federal Campaign (CFC-11381). To join us in this patriotic mission, and to learn more about the USO, please visit uso.org.

Oname Thompson
USO
(703) 908-6471
Email Information

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/trace-adkins-performs-two-uso-shows-airmen-japan-224840990.html

philadelphia eagles obamacare Todd Akin Register To Vote Fox News Live Obama 2016 Who Is Winning The Election 2012

Friday, November 23, 2012

Barbecue Birthday Parties | BBQ Barbecues News

For many parents the feeling associated with the mere thought of running a?birthday?party falls somewhere between mildly apprehensive and?sheer?panic. Over-excited children, too much sugar, confined indoors and getting shriller by the minute is not everyone?s choice of a fun way to spend the afternoon. Parents are also often bored at parties and look forward to it ending so that their hyperactive children can be taken home.

All is not lost however as it is possible to inject new life into the birthday party scene by having a barbecue party. Imagine, fantastic additive-free food which suits parents and children alike, a marquee in place to safeguard against the threat of rain, fresh air, plenty of room to run around, music and a whole new set of?party?games that are geared towards outdoor parties. It sounds blissful!

barbequick 22 kettle barbecue 00500297S Barbecue Birthday Parties

A barbecue party is perfect for very small children who only want to run around and for whom a clown, laser party or soft play experience would be lost on and older children who are too cool for such childish things (this kicks in around the age of six or seven years). Really, why more people haven?t already embraced this idea is a mystery.

Expensive birthday parties, especially when you have more than one child therefore more than one birthday to pay out for can get prohibitive. A barbecue event may easily be put together on a budget and reduces the need for shuttling between venues setting thing up. All that you need is a decent sized garden, a gas or charcoal barbecue, a `marque or gazebo, chairs, decorations and lots of food and drink. You don?t need clowns, town halls, lots of volunteers to help in the pool for a swimming party or anything like it. A simple ?dress in comfy clothes? rule needs to be handed out and the fun may begin.

Food-wise a barbecue may easily be adapted to suit any dietary needs and parents or carers will be able to let you know in advance of any allergies so that you can plan the food you want to buy and cook. Being a children?s party there is no need to buy expensive alcohol as those attending will likely be driving children home anyway. An added bonus of course is that unlike some soft play centres and similar birthday party venues you aren?t forced to have a minimum number of party-goers. This means that your son or daughter is free to choose just their ?top five friends if that is all they want to, instead of half their class many of whom they never speak to.

A birthday barbecue party is a great fun budget birthday party for all ages which will be talked?about?for weeks to come and which embraces the good old fashioned British?barbecuing?traditions.

Source: http://news.bbqbarbecues.co.uk/barbecue-articles/barbecue-birthday-parties

mary mary sag aftra merger dj am bully bohemian rhapsody bohemian rhapsody spike lee

Celebrity kitchens that make you want to cook

21 hrs.

They sing, they act and some of them even cook. While many celebrities are usually spotted dining out or confess to having private chefs, a small number of them say they love to play chef.

But who would blame them when their cooking space features high-end appliances, a deep farmhouse sink and extended counter space? We?re taking a tour through some gorgeous kitchens owned by celebs who actually use them.

Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel
Who?s the cook in Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel?s relationship?

The newlyweds actually share the kitchen duties, Timberlake told Jay Leno recently.

?She likes to cook. I like to bake ? so dinner and dessert,? Timberlake said.

Perhaps the two share duties in his modern Manhattan penthouse. The sleek and minimal space has deep counter space and stainless steel appliances.

Emma Stone
For Emma Stone, cooking is both therapy and passion. She confessed recently that baking was one way she could manage her anxiety growing up. Stone?s boyfriend, actor Andrew Garfield,?told Vanity Fair that the actress is also serious about some day opening a bakery of her own.

Might as well get some practice in! Her galley-style kitchen in her new Beverly Hills home has white tiled countertops, stainless steel appliances and a large sink with built-in drainboard.

Emma Stone bought her home in May 2012.

Gwyneth Paltrow
In between acting and raising a family with Coldplay rocker Chris Martin, Gwyneth Paltrow runs the website goop.com, which is devoted to healthy living. The actress also recently published a cookbook entitled ?My Father?s Daughter.?

The amateur chef likely needs a large space for preparing her meals, which is why her new?home in Los Angeles is perfect. The spacious and modern kitchen has high-end appliances and?a large island perfect for meal prep.

Paltrow?s kitchen would be a great setting for her next cookbook.

Matthew McConaughey
Texas-born actor?Matthew McConaughey?has long professed his love for Texas-style barbecue, stopping by Guy Fieri?s food show as well as sharing recipes with?Rachael Ray.

Even now as he prepares for a role requiring a strict diet, McConaughey told US Weekly he?s been preparing a lot of rib-eye steak for his wife, Camila Alves.

The couple share a home in Austin with their two children. Not only does McConaughey?s home include a large kitchen, but it also has a back patio with great barbecuing space.

McConaughey?s Austin home has great indoor and outdoor cooking spaces.

Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift has confessed that she loves to bake with her friends Selena Gomez and Emma Stone. She has plenty of kitchens spread across her homes in Nashville, and most recently Cape Cod, but we can imagine her spending time playing chef in her Beverly Hills home.

Her new California kitchen is a charming light-filled space with butcher block countertops and plenty of cabinet space.

Swift?s cheery cooking space is perfect for the singer.

Related:

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/celebrity-kitchens-make-you-want-cook-1C7154884

ufc 145 results orrin hatch marlon byrd charles colson humber raffi torres michael mcdonald

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Editorial: Vanishing 'copywrong' document blasts RIAA, suggests radical reform, and should be taken seriously

Editorial Change copyright now

Something startling happened over the weekend. It came and went in a flash, but the repercussions could, and should, be lasting. An unexpected and most unusual policy brief from the Republican Study Committee was released. (The RSC is a 165-member congressional policy review group.) Entitled Three Myths About Copyright Law and Where to Start to Fix It, the eight-page document is an astonishing declaration of revisionism, bristling with policy arguments that align with the most excitable rants of P2P advocates over the last 10 years. It is a devastating indictment of American copyright law.

Then, in less than 24 hours, the paper was rescinded. The committee's Executive Director, Paul S. Teller, offered an obscure apology with no explanation. Of course the thing is easily available, and its message remains a permanent part of the conversational record, deletion be damned.

By arguing that the current iteration of American copyright law is broken in several respects, and by proposing extreme solutions, the rogue document debilitates the talking points of institutional copyright holders and their agencies such as the RIAA. Anyone who has been following the hardened rhetoric over what copyright should be in a copy-share digital world will be startled by the accusatory language and sharply reformist intent of this document.

Continue reading Editorial: Vanishing 'copywrong' document blasts RIAA, suggests radical reform, and should be taken seriously

Filed under:

Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/20/change-copyright-now/

shell houston open mega millions winners anthony davis palm sunday toure patti smith lottery winners

DU Falls to No. 1 Stanford 3-0 in NCAA Round of 16

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.denverpioneers.com//ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=18600&ATCLID=205749233

Eddie Murphy Dead michelle obama robin roberts Democratic National Convention 2012 myocardial infarction What Is Labor Day jersey shore

Sunday, November 11, 2012

China's factory output rises in sign of recovery

(AP) ? China's auto sales, consumer spending and factory output improved in October in a new sign of economic recovery as the Communist Party prepared to install a new generation of leaders.

Growth in factory output accelerated to 9.6 percent over a year earlier from the previous month's 9.2 percent, the government reported Friday. Retail sales rose 14.5 percent, up from September's 14.2 percent.

Also in October, inflation eased further, giving Beijing more room to cut interest rates or launch new stimulus measures to speed a recovery with less danger of igniting politically dangerous price rises.

The data are welcome news for the ruling party, which is meeting in Beijing for a once-a-decade handover of power to younger leaders. Coming off the past year's steady declines in economic activity, a rebound might allow the new leaders to benefit from improving public sentiment.

"A modest recovery is under way," said UBS economist Tao Wang in a report.

Investment growth strengthened, rising 25.2 percent over a year earlier, up from the previous month's 25.1 percent.

Auto sales rose 6.4 percent to 1.3 million vehicles, rebounding from September's 0.3 percent contraction, a state-sanctioned industry group, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, reported.

The improvement comes as communist leaders are expected to install Vice President Xi Jinping as party leader and China's next president.

The new leadership faces challenges including slowing growth that the World Bank and Chinese analysts say will require a drastic change in the country's economic strategy. They say Beijing must reduce the dominance of state companies in industries from finance to energy to banking and nurture free-market competition to keep incomes rising.

Economic growth fell to a three and a half year low of 7.4 percent in the quarter ending in September but investment, retail sales and other indicators improved from the previous quarter. The government said last month it saw "steady economic growth," suggesting there was no need for further major stimulus.

The slowdown was due largely to government efforts to crush inflation and prevent economic overheating after the huge stimulus in response to the 2008 global crisis fueled sharp price rises. Beijing reversed course late last year after global demand for Chinese goods plunged, slamming exporters and raising the danger of job losses and unrest.

The abrupt slowdown added to complications for communist leaders as they tried to enforce calm ahead of the leadership change.

Forecasters expect growth to rebound this quarter or early in 2013. They say any recovery is likely to be gradual and too weak to drive global growth without improvement in the United States and Europe.

Beijing launched a mini-stimulus early this year, cutting interest rates twice in June and July and stepping up investment by state companies and spending on building airports and other public works. But authorities avoided bigger measures after their huge spending in response to the 2008 global crisis fueled inflation and a wasteful building boom.

In October, consumer prices rose 1.7 percent, down from the previous month's 1.9 percent. That was driven by a 1.8 percent gain in food prices, which are unusually sensitive in a society where the poorest families spend up to half their incomes to eat, down from September's 2.5 percent.

Auto sales have been hurt both by the slowing economy and by a dispute between Beijing and Tokyo over a group of islands in the East China Sea. Buyers have avoided showrooms of Japanese brands, possibly for fear of being targeted by protesters.

Sales growth might improve in coming months as China's economy starts to pull out of a deep slump and automakers put pressure on dealers to sell a backlog of inventory, said Jia Xinguang, an independent auto industry analyst in Beijing.

"The last two months of this year could be better," Jai said. Next year's sales "might be a bit better than this year" because the economy is improving, he said.

___

AP researcher Fu Ting in Shanghai contributed.

___

Online:

National Bureau of Statistics (in Chinese): www.stats.gov.cn

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-11-09-China-Economy/id-4c9ffd2327bd475fa5c0db139e2a8964

richard threlkeld moonrise kingdom coachella lineup coachella 2012 lineup school delays joran van der sloot honey badger

Thursday, November 8, 2012

The retired Stephan Bonnar suspended one year for PED usage

Stephan Bonnar announced his retirement last week, but soon after, it was announced he tested positive for performance enhancing drugs for his loss to Anderson Silva. Dave Herman tested positive for marijuana metabolites for his UFC 153 loss to Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera.

Because the fights were held in Brazil, which has no regulatory commission, the fights were overseen by UFC vice president of regulatory affairs. He suspended Bonnar for a year, while Herman's punishment will be decided later this week and will involve some sort of treatment.

OK, but what's the point of such a suspension at this point? This was Bonnar's second time testing positive. The $5,000 fine and nine-month suspension he received last time didn't deter him from taking banned substances again. Now, he has to serve a suspension while retired. How does this stop him from using again if he does come back -- as so many fighters do -- or keep other fighters from using?

For Herman, Ratner did say marijuana is treated differently than performance enhancers:

"We feel very strongly that there's a big difference between PED's [performance-enhancing drugs] and marijuana," Ratner said to MMA Fighting. "We think the commissions do a good job with PEDs, but we think with marijuana there should be some form of rehab involved, going through that kind of process and learning about it.

Considering two states changed their laws on marijuana on Tuesday, it's not surprising to see the UFC has a more lax attitude about the drug.

But performance enhancers can not just change the outcome of a fight. They can seriously injure a fighter, both for the one taking it and for the unwitting opponent. When a fighter blows weight, he or she quite often has to give up part of his or her purse. That money goes to the opponent. However, take a PED, and the opponent gets nothing?

Merely suspending a retired fighter and not punishing with a substantial fine is not enough for the UFC to stop future usage.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/retired-stephan-bonnar-suspended-one-ped-usage-202148274--mma.html

csco big bend national park leon russell meredith vieira prop 8 larry bird maria menounos