Satellite Spots Light Show in the Middle of the Atlantic Ocean

Those weird lights in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean — what are they?
Are they an unstoppable force of electric underwater creatures swimming, slowly but steadily, toward the shore where they will flood our cities and force us all to watch "Finding Nemo" from now until the end of time?

Fortunately, no (for now). The lights, which were spotted using Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite on the Suomi NPP satellite, are actually a large collection of fishermen.


NASA explains, "There are no human settlements there, nor fires or gas wells. But there are an awful lot of fishing boats."
 
Yep, that's right, those lights that could easily be mistaken for a series of heavily populated islands are actually powerful lights on boats.

What exactly are the fishermen looking for? And why are they out blasting their high beams?

From NASA:
  " The night fishermen are hunting for Illex argentinus, a species of short-finned squid that forms the second largest squid fishery on the planet. The squid are found tens to hundreds of kilometers offshore from roughly Rio de Janeiro to Tierra del Fuego (22 to 54 degrees South latitude). They live 80 to 600 meters (250 to 2,000 feet) below the surface, feeding on shrimp, crabs, and fish. In turn, Illex are consumed by larger finfish, whales, seals, sea birds, penguins ... and humans. "

Fishermen use the powerful lights, "generating as much as 300 kilowatts of light per boat," to draw the plankton and fish that the squid eat toward the surface. The squid then follow the food. Alas, it's the last meal for many.

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Congress votes to end shutdown, avoid US default

WASHINGTON (AP) — Up against a deadline, Congress passed and sent a waiting President Barack Obama legislation late Wednesday night to avoid a threatened national default and end the 16-day partial government shutdown, the culmination of an epic political drama that placed the U.S. economy at risk.

The Senate voted first, a bipartisan 81-18 at midevening. That cleared the way for a final 285-144 vote in the Republican-controlled House about two hours later on the bill, which hewed strictly to the terms Obama laid down when the twin crises erupted more than three weeks ago.

The legislation would permit the Treasury to borrow normally through Feb. 7 or perhaps a month longer, and fund the government through Jan. 15. More than 2 million federal workers would be paid — those who had remained on the job and those who had been furloughed.

After the Senate approved the measure, Obama hailed the vote and quickly signed the bill early Thursday. "We'll begin reopening our government immediately, and we can begin to lift this cloud of uncertainty from our businesses and the American people," the president said.

In the House, Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky., said, "After two long weeks, it is time to end this government shutdown. It's time to take the threat of default off the table. It's time to restore some sanity to this place."

The stock market surged higher at the prospect of an end to the crisis that also had threatened to shake confidence in the U.S. economy overseas.

Republicans conceded defeat after a long struggle. "We fought the good fight. We just didn't win," conceded House Speaker John Boehner as lawmakers lined up to vote on a bill that includes nothing for GOP lawmakers who had demand to eradicate or scale back Obama's signature health care overhaul.

"The compromise we reached will provide our economy with the stability it desperately needs," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, declaring that the nation "came to the brink of disaster" before sealing an agreement.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who negotiated the deal with Reid, emphasized that it preserved a round of spending cuts negotiated two years ago with Obama and Democrats. As a result, he said, "government spending has declined for two years in a row" for the first time since the Korean War. "And we're not going back on this agreement," he added.

Only a temporary truce, the measure set a time frame of early this winter for the next likely clash between Obama and the Republicans over spending and borrowing.

But for now, government was lurching back to life. After Obama signed the bill, Sylvia Mathews Burwell, director of the Office of Management and Budget, issued a memorandum ordering department heads to "open offices in a prompt and orderly manner."

"All employees who were on furlough due to the absence of appropriations may now return to work," Burwell said.

After weeks of gridlock, the measure had support from the White House, most if not all Democrats in Congress and many Republicans fearful of the economic impact of a default.

Boehner and the rest of the top GOP leadership told their rank and file in advance they would vote for the measure. In the end, Republicans split 144 against and 87 in favor. All 198 voting Democrats were supporters.

Final passage came in plenty of time to assure Obama's signature before the administration's 11:59 p.m. Thursday deadline.

That was when Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said the government would reach the current $16.7 trillion debt limit and could no longer borrow to meet its obligations.

Tea party-aligned lawmakers who triggered the shutdown that began on Oct. 1 said they would vote against the legislation. Significantly, though, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and others agreed not to use the Senate's cumbersome 18th-century rules to slow the bill's progress.

In remarks on the Senate floor, Cruz said the measure was "a terrible deal" and criticized fellow Republicans for lining up behind it.

McConnell made no mention of the polls showing that the shutdown and flirtation with default have sent Republicans' public approval plummeting and have left the party badly split nationally as well as in his home state of Kentucky. He received a prompt reminder, though.

"When the stakes are highest Mitch McConnell can always be counted on to sell out conservatives," said Matt Bevin, who is challenging the party leader from the right in a 2014 election primary.

More broadly, national tea party groups and their allies underscored the internal divide. The Club for Growth urged lawmakers to vote against the congressional measure, and said it would factor in the organization's decision when it decides which candidates to support in midterm elections next year.

"There are no significant changes to Obamacare, nothing on the other major entitlements that are racked with trillions in unfunded liabilities, and no meaningful spending cuts either. If this bill passes, Congress will kick the can down the road, yet again," the group said.

Even so, support for Boehner appeared solid inside his fractious rank and file. "There are no plots, plans or rumblings that I know of. And I was part of one in January, so I'd probably be on the whip list for that," said Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce came out in favor of the bill.

Simplicity at the end, there was next to nothing in the agreement beyond authorization for the Treasury to resume borrowing and funding for the government to reopen.

House and Senate negotiators are to meet this fall to see if progress is possible on a broad deficit-reduction compromise of the type that has proved elusive in the current era of divided government.

Additionally, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is to be required to produce a report stating that her agency is capable of verifying the incomes of individuals who apply for federal subsidies under the health care law known as Obamacare.

Obama had insisted repeatedly he would not pay "ransom" by yielding to Republican demands for significant changes to the health care overhaul in exchange for funding the government and permitting Treasury the borrowing latitude to pay the nation's bills.

Other issues fell by the wayside in a final deal, including a Republican proposal for the suspension of a medical device tax in Obamacare and a Democratic call to delay a fee on companies for everyone who receives health coverage under an employer-sponsored plan.

The gradual withering of Republicans' Obamacare-related demands defined the arc of the struggle that has occupied virtually all of Congress' time for the past three weeks.

The shutdown began on Oct. 1 after Cruz and his tea party allies in the House demanded the defunding of the health care law as a trade for providing essential government funding.

Obama and Reid refused, then refused again and again as Boehner gradually scaled back Republican demands.

The shutdown initially idled about 800,000 workers, but that soon fell to about 350,000 after Congress agreed to let furloughed Pentagon employees return to work. While there was widespread inconvenience, the mail was delivered, Medicare continued to pay doctors who treated seniors and there was no interruption in Social Security benefits.

Still, national parks were closed to the detriment of tourists and local businesses, government research scientists were sent home and Food and Drug Administration inspectors worked only sporadically.

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Skip the Phone Call: Teen Uses Facebook to Bail Out of Jail

Get arrested, get your free phone call, get bailed out. If decades of cop shows and late-night “Dirty Harry” reruns have taught us nothing, it’s that the phone call is a key part of the U.S. criminal justice system.

But that was before Facebook.

David White, 19, on Saturday became what many believe is the first person to be sprung from jail thanks to a post on Facebook, after he was picked up at what police called a “raucous” gathering of 100 to 150 people in the leafy suburb of Beverly, Mass., about 25 miles south of Boston. According to a report Tuesday in The Daily News of Newport, five people were arrested at the house party after an “uncooperative crowd” drew officers from three local police departments along with Massachusetts State Police.

Once in custody, White had a hard time reaching anyone by phone to come pay his $40 fee – it wasn’t technically bail since he was only being held for disturbing the peace – so he asked officers if he could use his phone to post a plea to his Facebook page.

"If they call mom and they can’t get her, we’re not going to say you can’t have another call. Not as long as they’re respectful and cooperative,” detective Timothy Hegarty told the Daily News, though he admitted that White’s case was the first time he could remember of anyone “Facebooking” their way out of jail.

“A lot of people don’t want to put it on Facebook that they’ve been arrested,” Hegarty said.

It worked out for White, though. Shortly after posting his online call for help, a friend arrived to pay his fee to get him out.

Logical progression

It had to happen sooner or later. Calls go ignored, sometimes people can’t be reached, and many young people these days don’t memorize their friends’ and family’s phone numbers in the first place. The simply store them in their phones and look them up as needed.

For them, social media is actually a more sure-fire way to reach out.

The Beverly Police Department has also jumped into the mix, addressing the incident earlier this week on its own Facebook page.

"We allowed it; it worked. We are only required to allow one phone call, but when people are cooperative with us, we work with them, and that was the case here. Another good reason to own a smartphone."

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Hot Mom Defends Herself Against Facebook Haters

A California fitness enthusiast and mother of three is defending a controversial photo of herself that has prompted a cavalcade of Facebook critics to accuse her of fat shaming women.

More on Shine: Is the Post-Baby Body Obsession Hurting Women?

In the photo, seen at left, 32-year-old Maria Kang poses in a workout bra and matching micro shorts — revealing an incredibly toned figure with washboard abs — while surrounded by her three young sons, now 1, 3 and 4. Floating above her head is the question, “What’s your excuse?” The picture has gone viral, with more than 16 million views on Facebook, and has generated more than 12,000 comments. And while much of the input has been of the supportive “you go, girl” variety, plenty of it has been made up of angry, offended personal attacks on the photo subject, calling her everything from “obnoxious” and “fake” to a bad mom and a bully.

But Kang, in an exclusive interview with Yahoo Shine, says that making other women feel bad about themselves is the opposite of what she was going for.

More on Yahoo: Beyonce Flaunts Post-Baby Body

“I wanted to inspire people,” she explains, adding that the “What’s your excuse?” part was simply a borrowed, popular phrase that’s been used in various “fitspiration” campaigns. “I wanted to say, ‘I know you think you don’t have time if you have kids. But if I can do it, you can do it, too.’”

Kang, of Sacramento, California, is a former pageant queen and fitness competitor who founded the nonprofit Fitness Without Borders in 2007. She's also a recovering bulimic. Kang says she understands why some people reacted so defensively. “I think people struggle with their weight,” she notes. “When you add on being a mother — and the pressures we face to have it all and be everything, including fit — the expectations are so high. I think some moms saw the picture and just said, ‘This is ridiculous.’” But still, she says, “I felt really frustrated. Being called a bad mother and a bad person definitely hurts.”

Though she first posted the photo to her Facebook page a year ago, Kang noticed it was being shared a lot more recently and that it was generating a swell of negative comments toward her. So she reposted it to her own 72,000-plus followers, tacking on an apology — which, she admits, is really a “non-apology.”

“I'm sorry you took an image and resonated with it in such a negative way. I won't go into details that I struggled with my genetics, had an eating disorder, work full time owning two businesses, have no nanny, am not naturally skinny and do not work as a personal trainer,” she wrote, in part. “What I WILL say is this. What you interpret is not MY fault. It's yours. The first step in owning your life, your body and your destiny is to OWN the thoughts that come out of your own head. I didn't create them. You created them. So if you want to continue ‘hating’ this image, get used to hating many other things for the rest of your life.”  

That post brought a frenzy of negative responses, including, “Those precious little things need their mommy more than they need you to have glamour muscles,” “Not that I *NEED* an excuse for not working out, but here's mine you self-righteous idiot … fibromyalgia,” “You are part of the body shaming problem that is going on in North America and other parts of the world,” and “You are a bully with a super inflated sense of your own self.”

Many others, though, rallied in defense of Kang, with “Never apologize,” “Get a life and leave this woman alone,” and “Well done!”

Because of the barrage, Kang has put together a FAQ page about her personal life, with responses to many of the criticisms and accusations she’s become accustomed to hearing. For example: “Do you work?” (Yes. She owns two small residential care facilities for the elderly.) “Do you have a nanny?” (No.) “Are those your kids? They all look different.” (“I have to say this is the funniest comment I’ve read. Of course, my children look like both the mother and father,” she writes. “I am half Malaysian Chinese and Filipina. My husband is a Caucasian mix of German, French, Norwegian and Spanish. They are all my kids.”)

Kang says she works out five to six days a week, about an hour at a time, doing a half-hour of strength training and a half-hour of cardio — running, the stair climber, or a spin or Zumba class. She adds that, while it might seem amazing that she can fit in regular exercise while raising three kids and working, she structures her time in ways that make it all work. She watches no TV, for example, wakes up at 6 a.m., and, while she’s at the park with her children, “I’m working out. I’m not sitting there on my iPhone.” And she gets plenty of help from her husband, David Casler.

Casler, who suffered a traumatic brain injury during a bomb attack in Iraq, where he worked as a private security contractor, is no longer able to work. He volunteers, though, with the Team Rubicon disaster-relief organization.

It's not the first time a fitness-oriented mom has caused an online uproar. Just last month, a stay-at-home mom in Los Angeles received a barrage of criticism after posting a photo of herself lifting weights during a CrossFit workout.

Kang concludes that much in life is mind over matter — whether it’s recovering from an attack like her husband’s or staying in slamming shape while raising a brood of boys. “It’s really where your mind is,” she says, referring to the different ways that people might interpret her photo. “I just hope that the person who feels completely overwhelmed can see they can control their own destiny. To know that there’s no excuse for not making time for yourself.”

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Why Elizabeth Berkley Was 'So Excited' to Recreate Iconic 'Saved by the Bell' Pill-Popping Scene on 'DWTS'

It was the moment that "Saved by the Bell" fans were waiting for, and it satisfied to The Max! On Monday's "Dancing With the Stars," Elizabeth Berkley dusted off her legwarmers and took viewers back to the '90s to recreate an iconic TV moment as she paid tribute to her most memorable year.

Berkley's throwback moment was taken from the 1990 "Saved by the Bell" episode "Jessie's Song," which featured her character, Jessie Spano, freaking out after taking too many caffeine pills. Who can forget when Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) saved the day as Jessie broke down while singing the classic Pointer Sisters song, "I'm So Excited"? The scene has been named one of the most memorable moments from the show and has gone viral on YouTube, so it's no wonder the actress tied it in to her Most Memorable Year dance on "Dancing With the Stars."

Berkley explained that while her most memorable year was actually 2012 (the year her son, Sky, was born), everything before that — most notably, her life changing role on the '90s sitcom — led up to that moment.

"One of my wishes for Sky is that he knows he's allowed to dream big," she said. She described her breakthrough role on the teen comedy as "the beginning of the steps that changed the course of my life." But with so many "Saved by the Bell" episodes to choose from, why did she pick a scene from "Jessie's Song?"

"It is one of my favorite episodes," Berkley told Yahoo TV. "And because it's a fan favorite, it has a special place in my heart. It connects us all to our childhood."

Berkley's pro partner, Val Chmerkovskiy, didn't need a refresher course on the show because the Ukrainian-born dancer learned English from watching "Saved by the Bell." The actress said, "[Val] was already familiar [with the episode], but we watched it again together!"

A few tweeks to the dialogue (yes, the duo actually recreated the scene before their dance!), and one bottle of "jive" pills later and we were back to 1990, complete with big hair and bangle bracelets.

Berkley's "SBTB" co-star Mario Lopez ("A.C. Slater") — who placed second on "DWTS" back in Season 3 — turned up in the audience to see his pal's tribute dance in person, and offered support for Berkley from the very beginning. "Mario encouraged me to do the show," Berkley told us. "He knew it would be a great experience for me. He reminded me to enjoy every second and open my heart to this once in a lifetime experience."

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George W. Bush's heart condition was potentially life-threatening

What was originally thought to be a minor heart ailment for former President George W. Bush turned out to be much more serious.

According to a National Journal report, the blocked artery found during a routine procedure in August turned out to be potentially life threatening. When a CT angiogram revealed a 95-percent blockage in one of his coronary arteries, Bush, 67, agreed to allow doctors to use a stent to open the blockage, the report stated.

"He was more than 95% occluded," a source told the National Journal. "With a blockage like that in a main artery you're supposed to die. He was pretty lucky they caught it."

In August, a routine stress test revealed changes in Bush's electrocardiogram readings. The CT angiogram was immediately ordered, revealing the blockage. On August 6, Bush underwent a procedure to insert a stent, which helps to open a narrow artery, as a proactive measure to help prevent heart attacks. There have been no reports of complications since.

Bush spokesman Freddy Ford originally said the former president didn't experience any symptoms before undergoing a routine stress test during his annual physical exam in Dallas.

The report comes as a surprise as Bush was one of the more active and physically fit presidents. He has remained active and hosted a 62-mile mountain bike race on his ranch in Crawford Texas over Memorial Day weekend.

"He's back on the bike – easy, not hard," a friend told the National Journal. "But he's feeling terrific and doing fine."

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Israel Now Made F-35 Fighter Helmets

Although BAE welcomed the news, they were disheartened that they did not receive the contract for the F-35 fighter helmet because their company has a stake in the electronic warfare systems utilized by the fighter. Kristin L. Gossel, director of external engagement for U.S. headquarters of BAE Systems in Arlington, Va, said that the company is “disappointed at the decision by Lockheed Martin and the Joint Strike Fighter Program Office to discontinue the pursuit of a second helmet for the F-35 aircraft.”

The F-35 comes equipped with a technically sophisticated helmet that permits pilots an advanced user interface from which to view the battlefield. Lockheed Martin’s spokesperson, Laura Siebert, said that stopping BAE’s work on the helmet would save $47 million, and that $57 million had already been spent on BAE’s efforts.

The AFP reports that the Israel-based Elbit systems was also involved in the F-35 project by means of aircraft parts, and Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon saw the Pentagon’s decision as “a vote of confidence in Israel’s defence industries and their people… I congratulate Elbit Systems on becoming a partner in this global flagship project to produce the world’s most advanced warplane.”
 

The New Hampshire Union Leader reported this week that New Hampshire’s largest manufacturing employer, BAE Systems, was dealt a financial blow by the Pentagon’s F-35 contract.

The Pentagon announced earlier this week that manufacturing for the pilot’s helmet of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter would be performed exclusively by Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, IA and Elbit Systems in Israel. The announcement was part of a $39 million contract announcement that included infrared missile warning systems, spare parts, systems engineering, and technical support coming from BAE Systems.

The Israeli daily newspaper Yediot Aharanot reported that Israel’s air force has already ordered 19 F-35 fighters, and that the Israeli-made helmet would be “part and parcel” of all stealth aircraft made from 2016 onward. 4000 F-35 fighters are currently slated for manufacture, meaning the Pentagon contract could be worth over $1 billion over a decade.

Although the software is Israeli-made, the new helmet will be not be made entirely by Israel; its final manufacture will be performed by Rockwell Collins in the United States.

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