black friday deals Sephora Cyber Monday 2012 Walmart.com detroit lions Thanksgiving Day cooking a turkey
Monday, March 18, 2013
Sunday, March 17, 2013
32-year-old man adopted by former foster mother
By Monica Garske and Lea Sutton, NBCSanDiego.com
Nearly 20 years after being ripped apart from his foster parents, a 32-year-old man was officially adopted Friday in San Diego, Calif., by the woman he has always considered to be his mother.
Maurice Griffin was abandoned as a baby. At age three, he found a loving family in foster parents Lisa Godbold and her husband, Charles.
?The whole reason we got into foster care in the first place is because we wanted to adopt Maurice,? recalled Godbold.
Over the next 10 years, Godbold and her husband eventually became Griffin?s foster parents, giving him the stable, happy home he had always dreamed of.
?It was a great, loving family,? said Griffin, remembering the trips to Sunday school and brunch with his foster family.
But Griffin?s happy family life didn?t last long.
Griffin says the foster system failed him, and he was abruptly taken away from the family at age 13. He and Godbold didn?t want to get into specifics about why Griffin was taken from the family, but both of them agreed it was a very painful and difficult time.
?It?s like being abducted from your family and being told to deal with it,? said Griffin.
?It was torture; it broke our hearts,? added Godbold. ?Not knowing where he was and not being able to have contact with him was like having a child abducted.?
From there, Griffin bounced from other foster homes to group homes, where he says he was abused and mistreated.
Through the years and tough times, Griffin held on to his fond family memories.
Meanwhile, Godbold tried time and time again to find her long lost foster son ? never giving up.
In 2009, Godbold tracked Griffin down on the internet using social media. From that point on, they vowed never to lose each other again.
Their enduring mother-son bond led them to a San Diego courtroom Friday, where Godbold officially adopted Griffin as her son.
?I?m excited ? this is 20 years overdue,? said Griffin minutes before heading into the courthouse with his soon-to-be mother.
Though the adoption proceeding was short, Griffin said it was the moment he?s been waiting for all his life.
?This is probably the happiest moment in my life. I love my family and I?m happy to be home,? said Griffin, adoption paperwork in hand.
Godbold was also overwhelmed with emotion and said adopting Griffin ? even at 32 years old ? was a privilege.
?This completes the circle. He?s always been my son, but this just completes the circle,? she added.
Griffin now joins Godbold and her two biological children to form a happy family once again. Sadly, Godbold?s husband passed away during the time they lost contact with Griffin.
Griffin said he would have loved to be adopted by Charles Friday too, as he was a man he always admired and loved. Both Godbold and Griffin believe Charles was proudly watching over them on this special day.
Their story of family, love, loss, struggle and perseverance is something they hope will impact other foster children and foster families out there.
Godbold says the message is simple: don?t give up.
?Don?t give up ? persevere. Keep looking for that love, that family connection, whether it?s with an infant or your 32-year-old child,? she added.
Griffin lives in San Diego and Godbold lives in San Jose, Calif., but now that they?re mother and son, they?ll be getting together often.
?She?s my mother,? said Griffin. ?She has always been my mother.?
amber alert seahawks natalie wood patriots Sandy Hook Hoax 2014 Corvette Stacie Halas
Egypt says 7 Palestinians deported to Gaza
CAIRO (AP) ? Egyptian authorities deported seven Palestinians to the Gaza Strip after they were detained for security reasons upon their arrival to Cairo airport, the state news agency said Saturday. It was the latest development suggesting growing tensions between Egypt and Gaza's Hamas rulers.
The group was arrested in the same week that a state-owned Egyptian magazine published a report accusing Hamas of orchestrating one of the bloodiest attacks against the Egyptian army in decades ? the killing 16 of soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula in August 2012.
Hamas officials deny involvement in the August attack and say the seven Palestinians were wrongfully held.
The men were detained Tuesday after flying in from Syria, the MENA agency reported, because they did not have exit stamps. They were released three days later after investigations showed no illegal activity.
Syrian authorities do not stamp passports issued by the Palestinian Authority, which has a measure of limited self-rule over Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Instead, they stamp papers that Palestinians hold as proof of entry and exits instead.
"Thank God for their safe arrival," wrote leading Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk on his Facebook page.
Hamas had poor relations with former longtime Egyptian ruler Hosni Mubarak, who cooperated with Israel in imposing a blockade on the tiny coastal sliver after the militant Islamic group seized control there following elections in 2005.
After Egypt's 2011 uprising that ousted Mubarak, the Muslim Brotherhood rose to power in Egypt, raising hopes in Gaza that Cairo's relationship with the enclave would improve. Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, from which Egypt's current President Mohammed Morsi hails.
But for the past several weeks Egyptian authorities have been destroying smuggling tunnels that crisscross the Egypt-Gaza border. Gaza smugglers use the tunnels to ship in cheap fuel, scarce construction materials and commercial goods into the territory, which is largely under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade. Other tunnels are used to haul in weapons and sneak in militants.
But Egypt's military, in particular, appears to view Hamas with suspicion, in part because the smuggling network into Gaza appears to overlap with Islamist militant groups in the Sinai Peninsula. The defense minister recently warned that the military is prepared to confront "anyone who dares to harm Egypt's security or armed forces."
Associated Pressphoebe snow jennifer hudson tribute to whitney houston nicki minaj grammy jason whitlock beach boys tony bennett joe walsh
EU could impose pesticide ban to protect bees
BRUSSELS |
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU governments failed to agree a ban on three widely used pesticides linked to the decline of honeybees on Friday, but the European Commission could force one through by the summer unless member states agree a compromise.
A sharp fall in bee populations around the world, partly due to a phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder, has fuelled concerns over the impact of widespread use of pesticides, notably the neonicotinoids class.
Syngeta and Bayer, leading global producers of neonicotinoids, say the harmful effects on bees is unproven and that a ban would cost the EU economy billions.
But campaign groups and some scientists accuse governments of caving into pressure from the agribusiness lobby.
Under EU rules, member states now have two months to reach a compromise or the Commission will be free to adopt the proposal.
"Forcing through the ban is one of the options available to us but first we need to reflect politically on the best way to proceed," said EU health spokesman Frederic Vincent.
The Commission, which could also try to get a majority for a compromise proposal, put forward the restrictions in January after the EU's food safety watchdog EFSA said neonicotinoids posed an acute risk to honeybee health.
However, the survey found no link between use of the pesticides and the specific problem of colony collapse.
Bees and other insects are crucial in pollinating most crops in Europe but neonicotinoids are used on more than 8 million hectares to boost yields of rapeseed, wheat and other staples.
The proposal would ban neonicotinoids on all crops except winter cereals and plants not attractive to bees, such as sugar beet. It would apply from July 1, 2013, ensuring this spring's maize sowing is unaffected, with a review after two years.
BEE-KILLERS
Sources close to the discussions said 13 EU governments favored a ban and nine voted against. Britain, Germany and three other states abstained.
"We are pleased that EU member states did not support the European Commission's shamefully political proposal," said John Atkin, chief operating officer for Swiss firm Syngeta.
"Restricting the use of this vital crop protection technology will do nothing to help improve bee health," his statement added.
While few deny that neonicotinoids can be harmful to bees, there are conflicting scientific opinions on the actual threat they pose under normal growing conditions.
"Of course they can kill bees, they are insecticides; but whether they actually do this, or whether sub-lethal effects occur and damage the colonies on any important scale, has not been proven," said Lin Field, head of biological chemistry at Britain's Rothamsted Research centre.
Some point to habitat decline and disease-carrying parasites such as the Varroa mite as the chief cause of bee deaths.
But David Goulson, professor of biological sciences at the University of Stirling in Scotland, said there was clear evidence feeding on treated crops was likely to cause bees significant harm.
"Yet politicians choose to ignore all of this. Presumably their opinions were swayed by the spurious claims that restricting use of these insecticides will cause vast economic losses to farming," he said.
A Syngenta and Bayer funded study showed a blanket ban on treating seeds with neonicotinoids would cut EU net wheat exports by 16 percent and lead to a 57 percent rise in maize imports, costing the EU economy 4.5 billion euros per year.
Separately, researchers have put the financial contribution of insect pollinators to the EU farming sector at 22 billion euros ($28.5 billion) a year, and 153 billion euros globally.
Campaign group Avaaz, which has collected more than 2.5 million signatures on a petition for the European Union to ban the products, accused governments of ignoring public opinion.
"Today, Germany and Britain have caved in to the industry lobby and refused to ban bee-killing pesticides," Avaaz campaigner Iain Keith said in a statement.
(Additional reporting by Mike Hogan in Hamburg, Katharina Bart in Zurich and Kate Kelland in London; Editing by Jon Boyle)
Nemo Storm redbox powerball weather forecast national weather service weather channel Rivals
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Italy's Kostner has a world of love for skating
LONDON, Ontario (AP) ? Carolina Kostner could have taken her gold medal from last year's world championships and run.
She finally had the title many had been predicting for the better part of a decade. Better yet, she'd redeemed herself from those dismal performances at the Vancouver Olympics and 2009 world championships, where she spent more time sprawling on the ice than a kid learning how to skate.
But to retire would have meant ignoring the precious lessons those awful times taught her.
"The reason is just that I love it," the Italian said Tuesday. "I cannot expect from everyone to love my skating, but I love to do it. I'm not ready to give that up yet. I know that there is a small chance that I can really repeat that perfection like last season. But it's in my heart, and every time I go on the ice I take it with me and say, 'You've got there and now you should enjoy it.'
"I try," she said, smiling. "It's not so easy but I try."
The World Figure Skating Championships begin Wednesday with the men's and pairs short programs. The women's competition begins Thursday, and Kostner is not even the favorite in what could be the toughest field assembled since the Vancouver Games in 2010.
Olympic champion Kim Yu-na is back for the first time since 2011, and Mao Asada is the best she's been since winning her second world title in 2010. The Russians have their best team since the days of Irina Slutskaya and Maria Butyrskaya. And don't overlook U.S. champion Ashley Wagner, silver medalist at the Grand Prix Final.
"This might be one of the most challenging world championships in the ladies event we've seen in a while," Wagner said. "To get onto that podium with everybody that's competing here would be such a huge accomplishment, just because everyone is so talented."
That Kostner was talented was never in question. Tall and lithe with the natural elegance of a ballerina, she makes even the simplest of stroking drills captivating. She may not have Asada's power, but she's a strong enough jumper to contend with the best.
She went to her first European championships at 16, simply hoping to make it out of the qualifying round. She wound up just missing a medal, finishing fourth overall.
The next year, she was fifth at the world championships.
"Everybody was talking about this huge talent, huge talent and then you kind of have big expectations on yourself," Kostner said. "And my career grew and grew and grew and I was just expecting more every year."
Expectations can be a heavy burden, however, and Kostner struggled under the weight. Her bronze medal at the 2005 world championships made her a favorite for the Turin Olympics, and she was chosen to carry Italy's flag in the opening ceremony. But she bombed in the short program and was only slightly better in the free skate, finishing ninth overall. A month later, she was 12th in the watered-down, post-Olympic field at the worlds.
She had rebounded by 2008, winning her second straight European title and finishing second to Asada at the worlds. But with Vancouver looming, she fell apart again.
Instead of contending for a medal as expected at the 2009 worlds, she finished 12th, doing three single jumps in her free skate and failing to land even one clean triple.
It was even worse the next year in Vancouver, where she fell three times on her way to a 16th-place finish.
"I think everybody has ups and lows in their lives, and we learn from the biggest disappointments, right?" the 26-year-old Kostner said. "You get to learn how to be humble. To be humble to yourself, to be humble to others. You learn to respect and you learn the value of a medal much more.
"You fall and you realize that, 'OK, the result is not everything.' It's your life and it's important that you are in balance with your private life and your skating, and it's important that you really love what you do," she said. "Yes, it was really hard times. I'm quite a sensitive person and the press in Italy ? it really (hurt) me. People would write, 'It's over, and 'She's done.' So I told myself, no results anymore, just skating. That's what I started skating for, right?"
But a funny thing happened: Once Kostner stopped caring about her results, she had her best year yet. She swept all the major events last season, winning her first Grand Prix Final title, her fourth European championship and, in her crowning achievement, that world title.
"When I won worlds last year, I just recognized the value of it," she said. "The much better feeling was finishing the program and just seeing the respect of everybody, the appreciation of the audience. Much more than having the gold medal around my neck.
"I always thought it would be such a strong feeling, but in fact it was much different," she added. "It was just being there on the ice and going through all these difficult times, it was a much more powerful emotion and feeling than the medal around your neck."
After a decade of chasing success, Kostner decided to skip the Grand Prix series this year. She wanted time to herself and to be with her friends, to not have to adjust to a new time zone every week.
"I would wake up in the morning and say, 'Today I don't feel like moving,' and then I could just leave my pajamas on and be lazy," she said, laughing.
Though she had some second thoughts once the season began, the break has rejuvenated her. Kostner won her fifth European title in January, and arrived at the worlds happy and secure in herself.
"Yes, I hope I'm going to have a good skate, but it's not the one reason I'm here," she said. "I mean, I love this."
___
Follow Nancy Armour at http://www.twitter.com/nrarmour
Associated PressNadia Comaneci Rebecca Soni Snoop Lion London 2012 Table Tennis badminton Dominique Dawes Gabby Olympic Gymnast
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
ZANETTI Jersey | Los Angeles Eating | Los ... - Midtown Lunch
Interpretations of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law to the Trial of Cases of Civil Disputes over the Protection of Well-known Trademark began to implement since May 1st, 2009. The judicial interpretations will have profound effects on protecting the well-known trademark as well as the healthy development of brand strategy. Since 2001, well-known trademarks can be protected through both administrative proceedings and judicial proceedings. However, due to some influences from economic factors, social environment and concepts, the original idea of well-known trademark has been distorted1, some operators even take advantage of this justice system, seeking inappropriate commercial purposes. The juristic determination of well-known trademark could be completed in the trial unit over Intermediate People's Court without any quota restriction; what's more, well-known trademark could take into effect through court proceedings and judgment, as long as there is an actual infringement case. Thus, the juristic determination has been regarded as a relatively simpler and faster way than administrative recognizing. Therefore, China's well-known trademarks increase sharply in recent years, and most of them are authorized through judicial means. Proceeding from the national conditions, by improving the mechanism in judicial protection on trademarks, government should not only strengthen the protection on the trademarks which comply with the statutory conditions according to the law, but also prevent operators applying recognized trademarks as a tool for pursuing honorary title improperly. That the scope of juristic determination of well-known trademarks is ambiguity, standard and scale of recognizing or protecting scope is not uniform is one of the main factors lead to the improper meanings or purposes of well-known trademarks. Based on this, from the concept of well-known trademarks, applicable scope, determining factors, burden of proof and protection requirements, this judicial interpretation has adjusted the extrusive issues reflected from the practical juristic determination of well-known trademarks. This article aims to introduce the changes and adjustments in the applicable scope of the juristic determination in this judicial interpretation.
This judicial interpretation limits the applicable scope of the juristic determination of well-know trademarks,Ugg Grey Cardy Boots 63 cheap ugg boots online outlet sale. In judicial practice, only when well-known trademarks are sued of infringement or unfair competition constitutes legal essential, that is to say, whether the trademark is the well-known one is Bailey Button Uggs Chocolate the premise and basis to recognize trademark infringement or constitutes unfair behavior, can it be necessary to recognize well-known trademark. Meanwhile, in order to prevent operators from pursuing other purposes beyond legal protection improperly by acquiring judicial cognizance, the judicial practice should follow the principles on-demand. The recognizance of well-known trademarks must be necessary for the adjudication of cases. In view of this, in order to comply with the demanded principles and norms and to unify the scope of judicial recognizance, in case of frequent occurrences of such negative phenomena above-mentioned, judicial interpretation should utilize positive enumerated list along with negative one, and limit the applicable scope of juristic determination of well-known trademarks from various angles, excluding some trademarks Ugg Classic Tall Black out of the scope of judicial recognizance. Article 2 of the judicial interpretation 2 stipulates the type of civil disputes on recognizing well-known trademarks, and article 3 stipulates the situations need not recognizance3. That is to say, only Uggs For Cheap For Kids in cases involving well-known registered trademark on cross class protection, request for retraining hurts to unregistered well-known trademarks, as well as trademark infringement due to the conflict between the name of company and well-known trademarks and improper competitions, can well-known trademarks be recognized. Judicial recognizance of well-known trademark needs legal essential recognizance for the protection for the rights of well-known trademarks, which belongs to the scope of recognized fact, therefore, in order to minimize the use of well-known trademark recognizance for pursuing improper interests, article 13 of judicial interpretation regulates: "In civil Sundance Ugg disputes concerning protection for well-known trademarks, recognizance from The People's Court will not be written into the judgment , only regarded as case facts and judicatory foundations. For cases concluded through conciliation, the facts that the trademark is well-known will not be identified in mediation agreement." Therefore, the efficacies of well-known trademarks through judicial determination should be clear, in order to limit the use of well-known trademark recognizance for pursuing other improper interests hereby.
It is hoped that the stipulations of this judicial interpretation can inhibit the negative phenomena of recognizing well-known trademark improperly or excessively through judicial means, optimize judicial protection mechanism for well-known trademark, Kids Tall Uggs as well as guide enterprises to create brands and developments healthily.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Well-known trade mark is not an honorary title, but a dynamic fact, the main significance of which is as a counter-attack to the infringement, characterized for cognizance afterward, Rosabella Ugg Boot single case cognizance and passivity protection. Taking the well-known trademark as a brand is a misinterpretation of its intent;
2. Articles2 In the following civil disputes, if the parties refer to well-known trademark as a factual basis, the People's Court will identify whether the trademark involved is well-known according to the specific circumstances of the case if needed:
a. Lawsuit on trademark infringement for violating the provisions of Article 13 in Trademark Law;
b. Lawsuit on trademark infringement or improper competition for the name of corporation being the same or similar to well-known trademark;
c. Deraignment or counterclaim lodged in accordance with the provisions of Article 6 in this Interpretation
3. Article 3 In the following civil disputes, the People's Court will not review whether the trademark involved is well-known or not:
a. Confirmation on trademark infringement or improper competition is not based on whether trademark is well-known;
b. Disconfirmation on trademark infringement or improper competition for having no other elements of legal provisions.
Source: http://midtownlunch.com/forums/topic/zanetti-jersey
michael kidd gilchrist national championship calipari national archives brock lesnar kentucky jayhawks
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)