Jo Sue Castellanos

By BRETT ZONGKER

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Clara Barton’s downtown Washington office, where she led an effort to trace missing soldiers from the Civil War before she founded the American Red Cross, has survived since her death 100 years ago and will soon become a museum, organizers said Thursday.

The National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, Md., will lead the effort after signing an agreement with the General Services Administration to open the Clara Barton’s Missing Soldiers Office Museum.

Barton’s office is a Civil War time capsule, said George Wunderlich, the group’s executive director. It’s where she hired a staff to help track down the fates of at least 22,000 men in the war. In total, Barton’s office responded to more than 63,000 letters from grieving parents and families with $ 15,000 in government funding over four years.

“She was doing this at a time when women weren’t allowed to do anything,” Wunderlich said. “She bucked the system.”

The office now stands behind a restored facade in a revitalized section of downtown next door to a Starbucks. From 1920 to 1990, a shoe store occupied the first-floor space. The third-floor office suite was left mostly untouched for decades. Barton’s office and small sleeping quarters are still marked with the No. 9 and a carved mail slot to receive letters.

The discovery was made in 1996 when the government-owned building was slated for demolition. Carpenter Richard Lyons was sent in by a contractor to make sure no one was living in the space before it was torn down. Lyons said he kept hearing a noise in the front room and felt something touch his shoulder when he went to investigate. That’s when he noticed a letter hanging through a crack in the ceiling.

Lyons found a ladder in a back room and climbed into the attic to see what might be up in the crawl space. He found a treasure trove: government records, Civil War-era newspapers, letters, leftover wallpaper, 19th century clothing — and a sign from Barton’s Missing Soldier’s Office.

“Get rid of it,” a supervisor told Lyons when he reported the find, fearing it would halt the demolition. “Throw it away; don’t go to the GSA.”

“I was more determined then,” Lyons said.

He said he spent months researching the materials and eventually alerted a historian with the National Park Service through backchannels so that he wouldn’t face retribution for stopping the government demolition. Eventually, the National Park Service announced the find in 1997.

“Hopefully, this will be a monument to Clara Barton,” Lyons said Thursday, 100 years after Barton’s death in 1912.

Wunderlich said the rare find is one of the most important places in Washington related to the Civil War. Barton’s effort was the forerunner to the larger POW/MIA effort to locate missing soldiers.

“That’s her legacy,” he said. “She was not just a nurse, she was a humanitarian relief specialist.”

On the bloody battlefield, Barton was known for tending to wounded soldiers. She was also an innovator in using an ambulance process to evacuate the wounded, which are systems still used today, said Air Force Col. Roseanne Warner. Warner visited the site and commands a medical group at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington.

Barton was born in North Oxford, Mass., in 1821 and worked as a teacher and government worker before tending to soldiers in the Civil War. She went on to establish the American Red Cross in 1881 but insisted on a change in the International Red Cross mission to include relief for natural disasters.

The museum plans to create the Clara Barton Institute to offer training in her philosophy and how it applies to today’s medical relief efforts, supply organizing, and command and control, Wunderlich said. It already offers a training program for military medical personnel.

“History should change the world again and again,” Wunderlich said. “Our whole philosophy is how do we use history to make the future better?”

The group must raise $ 4.75 million to preserve and operate the site as a museum. Officials hope to open a storefront space in late 2012 or early 2013, followed by galleries in Barton’s office as soon as next summer. The government has committed $ 1 million for renovations.

___

Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office: http://www.civilwarmed.org/clara-barton-missing-soldiers-office/

___

Follow Brett Zongker on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DCArtBeat

___

April 13, 2012 09:41 AM EDT

Copyright 2012, The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Have you ever had an experience where your dog starts barking and growling at what looks like nothing at all? Have you ever heard of this happening to one of your friends or family members? Have you ever seen other animals, perhaps wild ones, act erratically at certain times of the day or night? While scientific evidence of animals being able to sense supernatural activity is inconclusive, anecdotal evidence would suggest that animals can, in fact, see or sense ghosts.

Sensitivity in Dogs

Most anecdotal evidence will tell you that dogs are more sensitive to supernatural activity than other animals. In her 2009 book, Tails of the Afterlife, Peggy Schmidt details several stories of dogs and their owners who have experienced actions they cannot explain, save for the presence of the paranormal. This collection of stories is not only eerie and enough to get your spine tingling, they are also true. What accounts for dogs’ heightened sense of the strange and ghostly? Some say that, because dogs are able to hear and smell better than most other animals, they are more likely to detect a change in their surroundings. Others believe that, since dogs are social animals and were, at one point, bread to protect their owners, they may be more likely to react to a paranormal entity in order to signal or warn their human counterparts. Whatever the reason, many dog owners report irregular behavior that can be attributed to a haunted house or room.

Sensitivity in Other Animals

While dogs are by far the most sensitive to supernatural activity, or are by far most likely to vocally warn of a change in the atmosphere, cats are also very sensitive to changes in electromagnetic activity – a change in which can signal a ghostly presence – though they may be more likely to hide rather than make noise or otherwise warn their owners. Cats may also sit and watch something move across a room that you cannot see with your human eyes. As far as wild animals go, you may notice that birds start chirping uncontrollably or begin to fly in crazy patterns at certain times of the night. This can signal the presence of ghosts.

The Haunted on Animal Planet

If you have not experienced this yourself, but want to learn more, The Haunted is a television series on Animal Planet that shows the accounts of real people with pets who have sensed paranormal activity. On the show, you will first see interviews with the family or inhabitants of a house that is believed to be haunted. They will always talk about how their pet had started acting strangely upon moving into the house, and then they will detail other strange things that happened that could only be attributed to a haunting. Then, a team of ghost hunters comes into the house and you see their footage as they look for an explanation.

What to Do if Your Animals Act Erratically

Whether you believe it is due to paranormal activity or not, if your pet starts to act differently than normal, you should definitely consult a veterinarian. They are the only ones that can truly diagnose what is going on. Before you freak yourself out thinking your house has an unwelcome resident, talk to your vet and see if there could be another cause. If you have recently moved, it can take your pet some time to get used to the new noises and surroundings. If the behavior continues and you suspect an otherworldly culprit, though, there are plenty of books and websites to consult.

In an attempt to take a shot at his likely GOP challenger head on, President Obama recently referred to some of Mitt Romney’s comments, insinuating that his very language indicates that he’s out of touch with voters. From the start, the wealthy, privileged, inexperienced president – who has led a very different life from the average American voter – has tried to portray Mitt Romney, a fellow millionaire and former hedge fund chief, as wealthy, privileged and out of touch with the average American voter. It’s a bit comical, to say the least.

The only discernible difference between the two is that Romney took people’s money with their consent and used it to enrich himself and, potentially, those from whom money was raised. Obama took people’s money to organize communities and monetize the U.S. debt. Well, in fairness, that was Ben Bernanke, but we’re assuming the president either sits in on some of those meetings about money printing, or at least gets wind of what’s going to happen before it actually transpires.

Now, again amusingly, Obama has noted of Romney’s support of the GOP budget (Obama has failed to produce any legitimate budget – let that serve as a backdrop of any discuss on the matter), “He said that he’s ‘very supportive’ of this new budget, and he even called it ‘marvelous’ — which is a word you don’t often hear when it comes to describing a budget.” He added, “It’s a word you don’t often hear generally.” Oddly, the president, you know, decided to attack the fact that, you know, Romney used the word, you know, “marvelous” in a speech. It was funny coming from a man who, you know, also repeats various nonsensical phrases in his speeches, you know, almost as a crutch that he, you know, uses to get from one thought to the, you know, next.

By Jared Newman, PCWorld    Apr 8, 2012 10:15 AM

AT&T’s longstanding policy against unlocking iPhones comes to an end this Sunday, allowing users to take advantage of cheaper service when traveling abroad.

To unlock an AT&T iPhone, subscribers must have completed their service contracts — most contracts last two years from the purchase of the phone — and their accounts must be in good standing, AppleInsider reports. Users who are in the middle of an iPhone service contract must pay an early termination fee in order to unlock the device.

An unlocked iPhone is ideal for users who are traveling overseas, because instead of paying for expensive service from AT&T, they can pop in a cheaper SIM card from a local GSM wireless carrier. Unlocked AT&T phones also work on T-Mobile’s network, but data speeds are slower than 3G. AT&T’s unlocked phones not work on Sprint or Verizon, due to their use of CDMA networks that don’t rely on SIM cards.

On Sunday morning, AT&T’s site still said iPhones were not eligible for unlocking, although some news reports indicate the service is available at AT&T stores.

Previously, AT&T refused to unlock subscribers’ iPhones, though the company had no problem unlocking other phones. Jailbreaking was the only way to free the iPhone for use with other carriers.

AT&T didn’t say why it had a change of heart, but Verizon Wireless and Sprint both allow users to unlock their iPhones for international use, even while still in contract. Their only condition is that users’ accounts must be in good standing for a short period of time.

AT&T’s out-of-contract policy is less favorable, but it could still come in handy for users who’ve hung onto their older iPhones and don’t want to pay a fortune for service abroad.

For new iPhone buyers, Apple has sold unlocked iPhones at full price since mid-2011.

Follow Jared on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+ as well as Today @ PCWorld for even more tech news and commentary.

Watch Nicki Minaj & Madonna Kiss on the “Give Me All Your Luvin’” Video Set

Last year, Nicki Minaj celebrated her 29th birthday (Dec. while recording the video for Madonna’s song “Give Me All Your Luvin’,” which the pair, along with M.I.A., performed at the Super Bowl in February. On the video set in December, Madonna planted a kiss on the rapper’s lips after singing “Happy Birthday” to her. The Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded creator gushed about the experience, taking to Twitter to share the news with her fans. Now a video of the intimate moment reveals just what went down.

“And now your birthday present,” Madonna told Nicki Minaj, as she leaned in towards her face and kissed her lips.

“I have to thank the queen, Madonna, for giving me this opportunity,” said the “Starships” performer. “I love her so much, and she’s fierce, and she didn’t have to do this for me and M.I.A…. Did you get the kiss with Madonna on camera?”

Goodreads.com is a website for book lovers everywhere. If you love to read, and if you love social networking, you should check out Goodreads. The website marries social networking and books in such a way that makes your friends’ reading progress easy to follow and makes it simpler than ever to find your next reading material.

What is Goodreads?

Goodreads is a social network for readers. Like Facebook or Twitter, it allows you to update statuses and share information. Unlike most popular social networks, Goodreads also allows you to show your friends your progress on the book you are reading and to write reviews for everything you’ve ever read. You can see and comment on your friends’ reading progress, as well as create or find a book club group page in your area.

How do you use Goodreads?

Goodreads is simple and intuitive to use. When you sign up for an account, you will be able to find your friends by their email addresses or other social network accounts. Once you have some friends, every time you log in, you will see a timeline of their updates. You can see when they’ve added a book to a list, or when they’ve finished or reviewed a book. As soon as you have an account, you can also start looking for books you’ve read or that you want to read and add them to your lists. Once you finish reading a book, you can go to the book page and review it by giving it any number out of five stars. If you wish to write a longer review, you can do that, too.

Finding Books

If you have ever finished a book and needed a recommendation for what to read next, Goodreads has the answer. Finding your next book has never been easier. Now, not only can you search for individual books you know you want to read and add them to your “to read” list, but you can also easily see what your friends have recently read. When you search through friends’ reviews, you can also see who liked what books, making your selection process even easier. Adding books to your “to read” list can help you keep track of what you want to read next, and seeing what books your friends enjoyed – or didn’t enjoy – can help you populate your list of books to read next.

Goodreads on the Go

Like all good social networks, Goodreads has apps for mobile phones and ways to connect to your other social networks. You can get Goodreads for iPhone and Android by downloading them from the App Store or Android Market. You can also connect your Facebook and Twitter accounts so all of your networks know what you’re reading. Furthermore, you can connect your Amazon Kindle to automatically update your progress on your e-books. Last but not least, you can set up Goodreads to auto-publish book reviews to your WordPress or Blogger blog. Sharing your favorite books has never been easier.

Book Clubs

If you are looking for a book club that meets in your area, or one that meets virtually, you can search for that on Goodreads, too. Similarly, if you want to create a web space for your own book club, you can do that easily; just start a new group on Goodreads and update the page to show what books you’re reading. You can also create events to easily share with members where and when book club meetings and author readings are taking place.

Miraculously, no deaths have been reported as a result of the tornadoes that tore through areas south of Dallas and the city itself. Fort Worth and surrounding suburbs were also hard hit, as a huge band of tornadoes randomly touched down, destroying homes, buildings and throwing vehicles hundreds of feet into the air. Authorities are still sorting through the damage and searching for anyone who may still be trapped amid the debris.

Tens of thousands were still without power on Wednesday as shocked residents and firefighters tried to assess the damage to homes and businesses. The town of Lancaster, south of Dallas, was one of the hardest hit areas, with many homes flattened by the tornadoes.

One of the factors that may have been instrumental in thus far avoiding any confirmed loss of life is that the tornadoes, while numerous, were not of the severity that tore through Missouri, Illinois and Alabama in recent months. Rather than EF 4 and 5s, the Dallas area tornadoes were more likely in the EF 1 and 2 range. The fact that the storms with such low numbers on the EF scale still create such widespread damage and destruction speaks to the frightening power of tornadoes.

Hundreds of flights into and out of Dallas-Fort Worth and Dallas Love Field were canceled on Tuesday. As many as five hundred flights remained grounded on Wednesday, presumably while officials confirm that all flight systems and the planes themselves are safe for operation. The tornadoes likely resulted from a slow-moving storm system that was making its way toward the Gulf of Mexico. It’s unclear if the system poses a threat to the southeastern U.S. as it moves east.

50 Cent defeated another rapper’s claims to the 2007 track “I Get Money (Straight to the Bank Pt. 2).”

That rapper, Tyrone Simmons, said that he paid $ 600 to songwriter and producer William C. Stanberry for an “exclusive license” for the beats and rhythms titled “I Get Money Instrumental.”

But Simmons said the beats remained on Stanberry’s website and eventually caught the attention of hip-hop producer Scott Muso, who sent them to 50 Cent.

On June 27, 2007, Stanberry allegedly sent Simmons an apologetic email telling him to “pick any other beat you want but the ’I Get Money’ [beat] is being used [by] 50 cent for his next single[.] [I] know I’m sorry man but this is good news [be]cause [you] can always get a track from an official producer. [A] lot of things about to change man, I hope you understand this is a once in a lifetime opportunity[.]“

Declining the offer, Simmons filed a copyright lawsuit against Stanberry, Curtis Jackson aka 50 Cent and their companies in 2010.

By that time, 50 Cent had sold more than two million copies of “I Get Money (Straight to the Bank Pt. 2),” and the clock had run out on the three-year statute of limitations for a copyright suit, according to an 11-page order released on Friday.

U.S. District Judge Dora Irizarry dismissed all counts against 50 Cent, UMG Recordings, Interscope Records, Aftermath Records, Shady Recors and G-Unit Records.

The judge has not yet ruled on the claims against Stanberry.

Today at noon Pacific Time, Facebook traded for the last time on private markets and closed at its highest price yet, $ 44.10 per share, giving the company an implied valuation of to $ 103.635 billion to $ 110.25 billion.

The former assumes 2.35 billion shares remain outstanding and the latter number is based on 2.5 billion shares outstanding. Since the end of last year, we’ve seen both numbers used for the share count.

The previous high closing price for Facebook shares, $ 44 apiece, occurred February 9.

The company hasn’t said when the shares might begin trading publicly, nor when an opening price might be set, but earlier this week, SharesPost moved the closing date for this auction back three days and told participants this would be the last auction. The private marketplace said that preparations for going public are the reason for the end in trading.

In a related development, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission expedited approval of a filing by attorneys for Facebook’s Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg disclosing his exercise of stock options before the company’s initial public offer.

Facebook hasn’t announced a date for its market opening, nor set a price range for the debut, but many speculate the trading might begin in May. And today’s closing price on SharesPost could inform how much the shares start at when the public offer begins.

With so much of SharesPost’s business over the past year or two consisting of Facebook trades, we’re wondering what the private marketplace will do for transaction fees; the site does suggest that deals may come through involving Bloom Energy, Redfin, Chegg, Kno, Truecar, Solarcity, Recyclebank, Etsy, Linden Lab, eHarmony, Eventbrite, Gilt Groupe, Kaya, Esolar, RightScale,  Powermat, Twitter and XDC, but none of them have the level of interest that Facebook does.

That said, here’s a copy of the email SharesPost sent out a couple of hours after the auction closed.

We are writing SharesPost members like you who indicated they would like to occasionally receive news from SharesPost.

SharesPost Financial Corporation completed its auction on March 30, 2012 of 150,000 units of an investment vehicle designated to hold shares of Facebook, Inc. (“Facebook”). A clearing price of $ 44.10 per share was established at this auction.

Barring something entirely unexpected, this will be our final auction of the shares of Facebook. We would like to thank the more than 1,100 institutions and individuals who participated in our Facebook auctions, resulting in total share and unit sales of more than $ 425,000,000 (valued at today’s closing price), making SharesPost the most active auction platform for Facebook shares. We look forward to serving your interests in the many other companies in which SharesPost currently facilitates transactions and in the emerging private capital markets.

Members submitting qualifying bids at or above the clearing price in this auction will be contacted shortly with instructions on next steps for completing this transaction. Successful auction bidders will hold an indirect interest in the shares of Facebook, Inc. through their ownership of units of an investment vehicle designated to hold the shares. The administrator of the investment vehicle, SP Investments Management, LLC, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SharesPost, Inc.

SharesPost members who wish to be informed of and be eligible to participate in future auctions of private company securities must first be qualified by our affiliated broker-dealer as an accredited investor under the U.S. securities laws by SharesPost Financial Corporation, Member FINRA and SIPC. To get qualified, please click on the green button below.

AllFacebook edited an image from Shutterstock.