Preference for Striped Backgrounds by Striped Fishes - BioStor

ZOOLOGICAL SCIENCE 5: 501-503 (1988) ? 1988 Zoological Society of Japan [COMMUNICATION] Preference for Striped Backgrounds by Striped Fishes Yasutoshi Kohda and Munetaka Watanabe Department of Biology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Okayama University, Tsushima, Okayama 700, Japan ABSTRACT ? Six available species of freshwater fishes, two cross-striped, two lengthwise-striped and two non- striped ones, were exposed to vertically and horizontally striped backgrounds. The two cross-striped fishes pre- ferred to rest at vertically striped sites over horizontally striped ones. One of the two lengthwise-striped fishes tended to rest at horizontally striped sites. These results imply that many striped fishes prefer resting at sites with stripes similar to their own. The behavior of one non-striped fish suggests that there may be a factor other than a fish's own stripes that causes preference of vertically striped sites. INTRODUCTION Cryptic animals must merge with their back- grounds [1, 2]. It is known that some cryptic animals choose resting places appropriate to their body colorations [3-5]. Kohda and Watanabe [6] showed that the freshwater serranid fish oyani- rami, Coreoperca kawamebari, which has cross stripes on its body, chooses to rest at vertically rather than horizontally striped sites. Do cross-striped fishes other than the oyanirami have the same preference? Do lengthwise-striped fishes prefer horizontally striped sites? Do non- striped fishes have any preference between verti- cally and horizontally striped sites? In the present study, we tested the preferences of six available species of freshwater fishes including the oyani- rami for striped sites. MATERIALS AND METHOD Ten individuals from each of six species were Accepted August 31, 1987 Received July 13, 1987 used; two cross-striped fishes, C. kawamebari (7.8-8.8 cm in total length) and Macropodus chinensis (3.2-4.0 cm), two non-striped, Carassius auratus (6.3-8.0 cm) and Acheilognathus limbata (5.0-7.4 cm), and two lengthwise-striped, Barbus titteya (3.0-3.4 cm) and Melanochromis auratus (3.5-5.1 cm). The four former species were col- lected in Okayama Prefecture, Japan, while the latter two were obtained from a tropical-fish dealer. As all the specimens were small, we used an experimental apparatus different from that used in our previous study [6]. Instead, we utilized a gray plastic tank 150x100x50 cm high (20 cm deep), which had two vertically striped and two horizon- tally striped shelters (Fig. IB). Shelters were transparent plastic boxes (15x15x15 cm), which had three striped side walls and one open side, and were put on squares (25x20 cm) bordered by a light green line (Fig. 1A). The stripes were 2 mm black bands with 2 mm transparent intervals. A fish was placed in the center of the tank, and the time the fish spent in each square was recorded for 30 min. The fish was left in the tank and the next day its position was recorded again for 30 min. Five of the ten fishes of each species were tested under one arrangement of shelters (Fig. IB), and the other five were tested under the reverse arrangement. Preference for stripes by each species was tested by the two-tailed matched pairs signed test [7]. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION In the first-day test, the two cross-striped spe- cies, C. kawamebari and M. chinensis, preferred

Reference added about 14 hours ago

Viewer

View the discussion thread. blog comments powered by

Page loaded in 0.14541 seconds

ZOOLOGICAL SCIENCE 5: 501-503 (1988) ? 1988 Zoological Society of Japan [COMMUNICATION] Preference for Striped Backgrounds by Striped Fishes Yasutoshi Kohda and Munetaka Watanabe Department of Biology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Okayama University, Tsushima, Okayama 700, Japan ABSTRACT ? Six available species of freshwater fishes, two cross-striped, two lengthwise-striped and two non- striped ones, were exposed to vertically and horizontally striped backgrounds. The two cross-striped fishes pre- ferred to rest at vertically striped sites over horizontally striped ones. One of the two lengthwise-striped fishes tended to rest at horizontally striped sites. These results imply that many striped fishes prefer resting at sites with stripes similar to their own. The behavior of one non-striped fish suggests that there may be a factor other than a fish's own stripes that causes preference of vertically striped sites. INTRODUCTION Cryptic animals must merge with their back- grounds [1, 2]. It is known that some cryptic animals choose resting places appropriate to their body colorations [3-5]. Kohda and Watanabe [6] showed that the freshwater serranid fish oyani- rami, Coreoperca kawamebari, which has cross stripes on its body, chooses to rest at vertically rather than horizontally striped sites. Do cross-striped fishes other than the oyanirami have the same preference? Do lengthwise-striped fishes prefer horizontally striped sites? Do non- striped fishes have any preference between verti- cally and horizontally striped sites? In the present study, we tested the preferences of six available species of freshwater fishes including the oyani- rami for striped sites. MATERIALS AND METHOD Ten individuals from each of six species were Accepted August 31, 1987 Received July 13, 1987 used; two cross-striped fishes, C. kawamebari (7.8-8.8 cm in total length) and Macropodus chinensis (3.2-4.0 cm), two non-striped, Carassius auratus (6.3-8.0 cm) and Acheilognathus limbata (5.0-7.4 cm), and two lengthwise-striped, Barbus titteya (3.0-3.4 cm) and Melanochromis auratus (3.5-5.1 cm). The four former species were col- lected in Okayama Prefecture, Japan, while the latter two were obtained from a tropical-fish dealer. As all the specimens were small, we used an experimental apparatus different from that used in our previous study [6]. Instead, we utilized a gray plastic tank 150x100x50 cm high (20 cm deep), which had two vertically striped and two horizon- tally striped shelters (Fig. IB). Shelters were transparent plastic boxes (15x15x15 cm), which had three striped side walls and one open side, and were put on squares (25x20 cm) bordered by a light green line (Fig. 1A). The stripes were 2 mm black bands with 2 mm transparent intervals. A fish was placed in the center of the tank, and the time the fish spent in each square was recorded for 30 min. The fish was left in the tank and the next day its position was recorded again for 30 min. Five of the ten fishes of each species were tested under one arrangement of shelters (Fig. IB), and the other five were tested under the reverse arrangement. Preference for stripes by each species was tested by the two-tailed matched pairs signed test [7]. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION In the first-day test, the two cross-striped spe- cies, C. kawamebari and M. chinensis, preferred

Preference for Striped Backgrounds by Striped Fishes : COMMUNICATION : Behavior Biology

Reference added about 14 hours ago

Viewer

View the discussion thread. blog comments powered by

Page loaded in 0.14541 seconds

Source: http://biostor.org/reference/106998

jamie lynn spears wisconsin recall election april 4 santa monica college wisconsin primary dallas fort worth airport texas tornados

Russia tells US: We don't want your aid money

Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP

U.S. President Barack Obama, left, and then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev pictured at a bilateral nuclear security meeting in Seoul, in March. Medvedev is now Russia's prime minister.

By NBC News staff and wire reports

Russia accused the United States on Wednesday of using its aid mission in Moscow to try to influence Russian politics and the outcome of elections, a day after Washington announced Moscow had ordered the mission's closure.

The U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, has spent more than $2.7 billion in the two decades since the fall of the Soviet Union,?State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters Tuesday as she announced the closure, adding that it had planned to spend $50 million this year.


In a statement Wednesday, Russia?s Foreign Ministry said Moscow had serious questions over the operations of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in Russia's regions, especially in the North Caucasus where Russia is fighting a persistent Islamist insurgency.

"It's about attempts to influence political processes, including elections of various types, and institutions of civil society though the distribution of grants," the statement said, according to Reuters.

On Tuesday, Nuland said that while USAID would leave Russia ?we remain committed to supporting democracy, human rights, and the development of a more robust civil society in Russia, and we look forward to continuing our close cooperation with Russian non-governmental organizations.?

She added that USAID had worked over the years with the Russian government to ?fight AIDS there, fight tuberculosis, help orphans, help the disabled, combat trafficking, support Russian programs in the environmental area, wildlife protection.?

?So it is our hope that Russia will now, itself, assume full responsibility and take forward all of this work that we were proud to do together so that the Russian people continue to have the benefit,? she said.

'Rich enough'?
Asked if the Russian government had expressed ?specific points of dissatisfaction with USAID?s work? or had simply said ?We?re rich enough, we don?t need it??, Nuland said she would let the Russians ?characterize their motivations.??But she added that ?I would say it tends to trend toward the latter, their sense that they don?t need this anymore.?

Russia police investigate democracy protest by toys

USAID's ordered departure comes amid a broader crackdown on Russian civil society groups after fraud-tainted parliamentary election last year prompted massive anti-government protests.

President Vladimir Putin blamed Washington for trying to destabilize Russia and accused Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton for signaling the start of demonstrations.

Thousands of democracy campaigners protest in Russia

Steven Pifer, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine who is now at the Brookings Institution think tank, told Reuters that he believed the decision on USAID reflected some reluctance by the Russian government to see foreign support for pro-democracy efforts in the country.

Members of the band Pussy Riot, arrested in February after storming a Moscow cathedral, were sentenced to two years in jail Friday. Critics say the arrest was Putin's personal revenge, raising questions about justice in Russia. NBC's Duncan Golestani reports.

"They see AID's efforts in Russia as being a prime funder of the NGOs that are concerned about their elections and concerned about the regression of democracy in Russia," Pifer said.

He said the Russian government may also be "trying to make it more difficult" for the outside world to support pro-democracy NGOs in Russia.

Russia a 'great power'
Matthew Rojansky, of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Reuters that?Russian authorities "have made clear for the better part of a decade that they see Russia as a great power and a provider of assistance, not a recipient."?

"Add to that tension over the pre- and post-election protests, which the Kremlin alleges were orchestrated by U.S.-funded NGOs (non-governmental organizations), plus the deep disagreement over U.S. democracy-promotion activities in the Middle East, and you can see why Russia may have taken this decision now," he added.

Russian court sentences Pussy Riot rockers to 2 years in prison

NGOs receiving foreign funding and engaging in political activity must now register as "foreign agents," which is likely to undermine their credibility among Russians.

Another law sharply increases the punishment for taking part in an unauthorized protest rallies. State television has denounced the country's only independent election-monitoring body, Golos.

Grigory Melkonyants, the deputy director of Golos, which gets most of its funding from the U.S., said closing the USAID office "is an unfriendly move toward the U.S.?

Russia PM Medvedev: Pussy Riot members should be freed

He criticized the Kremlin's "paranoia and nervousness" and "inability to understand the reasons behind serious public discontent. They are looking elsewhere for culprits and think it's rooted in the American funding."

Supporters of the jailed girl punk band "Pussy Riot" stage a flash mob on the steps of the same cathedral in Moscow where the band trio was arrested in February. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

"The Russian government's decision to end all USAID activities in the country is an insult to the United States and a finger in the eye of the Obama Administration," Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican, said in a statement.

"There should be no confusion as to why this decision was made: an increasingly autocratic government in Russia wants to limit the ability of its own citizens to freely and willingly work with American partners on the promotion of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law in Russia," he added.

NBC News' Ian Johnston and Reuters contributed to this report.

More world stories from NBC News:

Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

?

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/19/13956839-russia-tells-us-we-dont-want-your-aid-money?lite

war of the worlds rock and roll hall of fame severe weather wichita brian wilson storm chasers david blaine

Pawlenty quits as Romney campaign co-chair

Former Minnesota Gov. and U.S. presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty addresses the Republican National Convention??Tim Pawlenty quit as co-chair of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign on Thursday to become one of Wall Street's top lobbyists in Washington. Pawlenty, a former governor of Minnesota, will lead the Financial Services Roundtable.

The move came with Romney's campaign struggling to find its stride with just seven weeks left before Election Day. Polls show the former Massachusetts governor running neck and neck with President Barack Obama in a contest both sides predict will be very close. But Romney's campaign has been grappling with a video showing him seemingly writing off Obama supporters as having a "victim" mindset and being reliant on government handouts. And Republicans outside the campaign have been grumbling that the campaign needs a shot in the arm.

"It is an honor to call Mitt and Ann my friends," Pawlenty said in a written statement released by the Romney campaign. "As the campaign moves into the home stretch, he has my full support and continued faith in his vision and his policies."

"Tim Pawlenty is a dear friend," Romney said in the same statement. "He's brought energy, intelligence and tireless dedication to every enterprise in which he's ever been engaged, and that certainly includes my presidential campaign.

"While I regret he cannot continue as co-chair of my campaign, his new position advancing the integrity of our financial system is vital to the future of our country," Romney said. "I congratulate him."

Romney passed over Pawlenty in his search for a vice presidential candidate, eventually settling on Congressman Paul Ryan. Pawlenty had been discussed as a possible running mate for Sen. John McCain in 2008, but the veteran lawmaker picked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin instead.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/pawlenty-quits-romney-campaign-co-chair-132022573--election.html

eric holder carole king crystal renn matilda cab calloway melissa gilbert deadliest catch

Payday Loans in 15 Minutes ? answer to sudden financial issues ...

Payday Loans in 15 Minutes ? answer to sudden financial issues

View PDF | Print View | Html View--> Author (nelsonhussy). 12 | Word Count: 468 |--> Submitted on Tue, 18 Sep 2012

When there's a scarcity of cash at intervals a month you are going to direct advances to fulfill your necessities and fee based coaching, medical bills, or the performance of urgent repairs. You cannot afford to attend till future payday. At intervals Payday Loans in 15 Minutes not abundant time to urge cash as it's near you thus you'll build from a short lived cash crunch.

The main reason for the recognition of Payday advance quick monetary support after you would like it extremely helps, as you reside, you will be stunned that cash use the subsequent. However the $64000 funds are an electronic deposit on your current account at intervals twenty four hours and different payment by cheque postdated next month Payday Loans In 15 Minutes are willing to pay. To start out your day the number of any payment ahead or the borrowers of those funds short term interest rates expected of the pay amount, this fee is beyond was doable by paying bound fees, like cash credit finance repays to expand. These funds are terribly straightforward as a result of they're on the market at the time of the day or night, where they will be; as a result of they're currently online. If you've got an emergency within the middle of the night and you would like cash, you'll immediately apply for an advance online and acquire quick approval and funding.

Borrowers should be over eighteen years older when applying for Payday Loans in 15 Minutes. They must have worked for an amount of six months and have a daily income at the minimum quantity that varies from lender to lender. Additionally borrowers are needed to own a sound checking account. These funds are on the market simply on the web through the web site of funds in giant quantities. Here, you'll receive free quotes and comparing them with the assistance of online comparison tool. Finally, you'll fill within the application type with the specified details. It?ll take you simply 10-15 minutes for the appliance method. The lender can review your finance application and you may be notified for identical standing. These funds are referred to as no credit check funds; as a result of they supply monetary funding despite their credit state of affairs. These credits broader section of the population, together with dangerous credit holders i.e. defaulters, arrears, CCJ and IVA etc that build their regular economic life is simple to handle.

?

About the Author

Nelson Hussy is financial adviser of Payday Loans In 15 Minutes.Please click here to know more about Payday Loans In 15 Minutes and Payday Loans In 15 Mins here.


Rating: Not yet rated

Comments -->

No comments posted. add_comment} not found-->

More articles in this Category

  • 1: Pet Grooming Tips For Beginners
  • 2: Doorstep Cash Loans ? Answer Your Financial Troubles Coming In the Mid Of Month
  • 3: Five Questions your Denver Personal Injury Lawyer may ask Today
  • 4: Tips On Government Contracts
  • 5: What You Need to Know Before Filing for Bankruptcy and Representation
  • Source: http://www.tongshu.net/business/payday-loans-in-15-minutes-a%80-answer-to-sudden-financial-issues.html

    summerfest fidel castro rick santorum ozzie guillen castro comments phish gluten free diet barry zito

    Geocaching, What is it? and Why? | TBN Ranch

    Geocaching is a free real-world outdoor treasure hunt. Players try to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, using a smartphone or GPS and can then share their experiences online. To learn more about this official site go to geocaching.com.

    A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook where the geocacher enters the date they found it and signs it with their established code name. This so called log book? is basically a long folded or rolled piece of paper. Inside the container are small trinkets of insignificant value, such as coins, or toys. Sometimes the bigger geocaches may be an ammo box or Tupperware, these may contain larger trading trinkets, but still of little value. Geocachers are free to take objects from the cache in exchange for leaving something of similar or higher value.

    Sunday afternoon my husband and I went geocaching locally and were located two caches. Here?s a few pics of our successful mission.

    Geocaching,? signing the log book.

    Cache with a little blue guy inside!

    If you?ve never heard of geocaching you are probably going to be surprised to learn there are 1,889,549 active geocaches and over 5 million geocachers worldwide. Geocaches are currently placed in over 200 countries around the world and on all seven continents, including Antarctica, and the International Space Station.

    Now you know what geocaching is, if you?re still wondering why, the answer is simple. Why not?

    amy elizabeth, TBN Ranch

    Learn more about Geocaching

    Like this:

    Be the first to like this.

    amy elizabeth, writer poet, author. Lives in the northeastern reaches of the Sonoran Desert on a small hobby farm.

    Source: http://tbnranch.com/2012/09/18/geocaching-what-is-it-and-why/

    christine christine will ferrell double fine adventure turbo tax katharine mcphee cold mountain

    Why You Don't NEED A Product Launch ... - Business Action Steps

    Are you thinking about buying Jeff Walker?s Product Launch Formula (PLF)?

    Are you looking for a bonus to get more value out of your purchase?

    If you?re looking for a bonus, then I don?t think you should buy the product. But if you do buy using my link, I?ll give you one.

    I know this makes very little sense, so please keep reading to learn more.

    Why PLF And Bonuses Don?t Mix

    Product Launch Formula isn?t cheap. While I don?t know the exact price, it will most likely cost at least $2,000.

    You should not spend that much money on a product if your business is not in a position to use it. Period.

    If your business is in a position where you can profitably spend that kind of money, then you don?t have time for a silly bonuses that consists of a truckload of information products. You?re too busy making your product the best it can be. They?ll take time away from other crucial activities that will move your business forward.

    If you have time for truckload of information products as a bonus, then you have no business spending this kind of money on any product, much less PLF. Period. In fact, if you do, you?ll probably be whining about how Jeff Walker is a rip-off artist within a month or two for selling some worthless, high priced product.

    And you?ll be lying through your nose when you do so because the problem lies with you. You had no business buying this product at this point in time but you bought it anyway. Wait until your business is ready for it, then buy it. But don?t buy it now.

    So What Is Product Launch Formula?

    Product Launch Formula will show you how to launch a product in a way that will help you sell more units, which can lead to greater profits. It?s a formula that many have used to sell more product.

    If you have a product that you want to launch for the first time (or re-launch an improved version), PLF is a step-by-step system you can use during the pre-launch phase to increase awareness, help you reach your market, and (hopefully) sell more units.

    So if you don?t have a product, why buy PLF? Unless your ?thing? is learning and collecting information, don?t buy this if you don?t have a product you want to sell.

    PLF isn?t a ?get rich quick? scheme. It assumes that you have a product and want to learn how to sell it to more people. If this isn?t you and you buy it, you?ll be disappointed. So please don?t buy PLF if you don?t have a product that you want to sell.

    I do recommend ? regardless of your situation ? that you go ahead and sign up for the PLF mailing list, even if you don?t think you?re ready to purchase and use the product. Jeff always gives out some free videos with great content and you can learn from them, even if you don?t have a product ready to sell just yet.

    Here?s My Product Launch Formual Bonus?

    I am offering a bonus if you sign up for PLF using my link. But it?s not a bunch of ?junk? information products that you don?t have time to read.

    I am currently in a joint venture broker training and certification program that Willie Crawford and Sohail Khan put together. I?m also a certified computer security pro and have several years experience in online business (or ?Internet Marketing? as some call it. I call it ?marketing my business on the Internet? since ?marketing? is not my sole reason for having a business).

    If you purchase through my link and I receive an affiliate commission for the referral (subject to verification), I?m going to give you consulting on the topic of your choice. Since you?re interested in launching a product, you?ll most likely want some joint venture (JV) help, but I?m open to whatever you?d like.

    If you go to Protector Support (my support site), you?ll see that I currently charge $120 an hour for consulting (subject to change). If you purchase Product Launch Formula using my link, I?ll give you five hours of consulting on the subject of your choice. You will have a full year to use the hours. Or, if you prefer, I?ll give you six months of email consulting (current value is $200 per month, or $1,200).

    And if you?re not ready to spend at least $2,000 on a course to learn how to do better product launches, I want to make a course on product launches available to you that costs 1% of what Jeff?s course costs. You can learn more about it here.

    NOTE: If you end up purchasing Product Launch Formula via my link after purchasing my product launch course, I?ll refund the purchase price of my course ? plus you get to keep my course.

    How To Sign Up For PLF

    If you?re ready to learn more about Product Launch Formula, click here. Once you get there, sign up for the email list so that you?ll get the free pre-launch videos (remember, even if you don?t plan on purchasing, you can still sign up for these information-packed videos).

    You?ll receive an email from Jeff Walker when he?s ready to accept orders (scheduled for September 18, 2012); when you get that email, simply follow the instructions in the email to order the course. After you do that, go to Protector Support (my support site) and create a ticket to let me know you purchased. Be sure to include a copy of your receipt.

    Once I verify your purchase and ensure that I was credited with the sale, I?ll send you instructions on how to claim your bonus (so be sure to include a good email address; I won?t use it for any reason other than coordinating your bonus with you).

    NOTE: If you?re not ready to purchase Jeff Walker?s full-blown course, I?ll have another course that covers the basics of launching a product within a day or two (the link will appear here once it?s ready). The good news is that my offer will cost about 1% of Jeff?s offer? :)

    -->

    Source: http://businessactionsteps.com/why-you-dont-need-a-product-launch-formula-bonus/

    romney etch a sketch jeb bush sherry arnold snooty fox el debarge portland weather clintonville

    Russia prepared for Georgia war, trained 'militiamen': Putin

    President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia did have a contingency plan for its 2008 war with Georgia and had even trained militiamen in the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

    Putin's confession immediately led Georgia to accuse the Kremlin of starting the brief but bloody war on 2008.

    Putin's comments appeared to be a bid to shield his Kremlin predecessor Dmitry Medvedev from criticism following an online documentary that accused the former commander-in-chief of procrastinating over the decision to use force against Georgia.

    Speaking on the fourth anniversary of the war, Putin said he had approved the contingency plan to counter a possible attack from Georgia months before the conflict broke out.

    "There was a plan, it's no secret in my opinion," Putin said at the Kremlin in televised remarks.

    "It's within the framework of this plan that the Russian side acted. It was prepared by the General Staff at the end of 2006 or the beginning of 2007."

    "It was approved by me, agreed with me," said Putin.

    "Moreover, within the framework of this plan the training was conducted of South Ossetian militiamen," he said, adding that the men proved very helpful during the conflict.

    Putin, who at the time served as prime minister after the maximum two consecutive Kremlin terms allowed by the Constitution, said he called Medvedev twice to discuss the conflict.

    Georgia said Putin's revealing comments proved that the Kremlin was responsible for the conflict.

    "Such a confession never happened before and it's a paradox that even today some people are arguing about who was the aggressor," the head of Georgia's National Security Council, Giga Bokeria, told journalists.

    The two neighbours clashed when President Mikheil Saakashvili's military attempt to reassert control over Moscow-backed South Ossetia was crushed by Russian troops who pushed deep into Georgian territory.

    After the war that stunned the West, Russia recognised South Ossetia and the fellow Georgian rebel region of Abkhazia as independent, a move that has been followed by only a handful of other far-flung states.

    In a documentary making the rounds on the Russian Internet, retired army chiefs accused Medvedev of dithering at the start of the war, claiming Russia could have avoided multiple casualties if not for his indecision.

    "The initial command came with great delay," Yury Baluyevsky, chief of General Staff between 2004 and June 2008, said in the documentary.

    "To put it mildly, everyone was afraid of something" before they got a "kick in the butt" from Putin, Baluyevsky said.

    Medvedev, speaking from South Ossetia where he arrived earlier Wednesday for commemoration ceremonies, appeared to defend himself, saying he had to make a series of "difficult decisions."

    "It was done in a timely manner, it was possible to prevent much higher casualties rather quickly," he said in the capital Tskhinvali where he was greeted with applause from locals. "These decisions were correct and just."

    Speaking on Tuesday, Putin told a reporter he did not see the documentary about the war but said a decision to use force should never be taken lightly.

    "Before making such decisions you have to think 10 times," he said, adding that Russian authorities took three days before deciding to repel Georgian troops.

    Saakashvili marked the anniversary by laying a wreath at a military cemetery in Tbilisi and meeting the families of some of the soldiers killed.

    National flags have been lowered across the country for two days and campaigning for October's parliamentary polls has been temporarily suspended.

    The fighting is estimated to have killed at least 250 people and forced some 118,000 others from their homes.

    Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russia-prepared-georgia-war-trained-militiamen-putin-200115109.html

    pac 12 tournament sun storm fiona apple tri international criminal court ios 5.1 apple tv update

    US Cellular 2Q hit by cost of smartphones

    (AP) ? U.S. Cellular posted a 30 percent drop in net income for the second quarter Friday, weighed down by hefty costs for the smartphones it sells to subscribers at a loss.

    The regional cellphone company net income was $52.7 million, or 62 cents per share, in the April to June period. That compares with $74.9 million, or 88 cents per share, in the same period of 2011.

    Revenue rose 3 percent to $1.10 billion from $1.08 billion, as U.S. Cellular boosted the average monthly cellphone bill to $50.99 from $50.52.

    Cellphone companies sell smartphones for hundreds of dollars less than they pay for them, hoping to make the money back over time in service fees. Last year, U.S. Cellular turned down the opportunity to sell the iPhone because it was too expensive, with an average price of more than $600. It's the only U.S. phone company known to have turned down the iPhone.

    U.S. Cellular saves money up front by not selling the iPhone, but that comes with its own costs. The company lost a record 48,000 subscribers from contract-based plans in the quarter, offset somewhat by a gain of 10,000.

    The company ended the quarter with 5.8 million customers, making it the seventh-largest cellphone company in the country.

    Shares of U.S. Cellular Corp. fell $1.19, or 2.9 percent, to $39.33 in afternoon trading.

    Associated Press

    Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2012-08-03-US-Earns-US-Cellular/id-45b585377d5547c6b273fd6d07a4ec01

    joe pa dead laura dekker stephen colbert south carolina seal seal and heidi klum drew peterson untouchable herman cain south carolina