juned.ahmed: March 2013

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Cory Booker Jokes Mayor Job Drove Him to Drink - Coffee That Is

Newark, New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker answered viewer questions from Facebook and Twitter for an ABC News' web exclusive before joining the This Week roundtable on Sunday. After Booker discussed his future Senate plans, his time as Newark mayor, and his Twitter routine, he admitted to a few other personal habits. He's a self-proclaimed 'Trekkie,' loves Ben & Jerry's ice cream, late night television, and believes that his job "drove him to drink" - but coffee is the vice in question.

"I did not drink coffee before this job. I always say this job drove me to drink," Booker joked.

Read More Below:

How many hours a day do you spend on Twitter?

"I guess it's so seamless that I don't really think about it that way. So it's like going from meeting to meeting, or waiting for people to come into the office. A lot of it happens in the early morning when I wake up or late at night, which gives a lot of my followers this idea that I don't sleep. But if I wake up? like this morning around four o'clock, I'll start checking my Twitter and responding to people."

Do you feel you can take a day off from tweeting?

"You know, it's so integrated. It's like saying 'do I want to take a day off from talking or do I want to take a day off from connecting to people.' And I've looked at the averages, maybe sometimes 15, 20 tweets a day. Sometimes it goes down, sometimes it goes up depending on what's going on. But? this is the democratization of our democracy in a weird way. Because so many forces are pulling people away, leaders away from the people, special interest groups, money in politics, creating more of an elite environment. But I think that social media has a chance to pull people back and have politicians far more accessible, far more transparent, far more connected, and ultimately move from a hierarchical society to a level playing field."

What are your thoughts on 'Clinton/Booker 2016'?

"Unless Clinton/Booker 2016 is some kind of new rock band that might be coming out? look, at the end of the day in life, purpose is far more important than position. And so many of us lose sight of where we are by looking at where we're going to go. So right now I'm mayor of the city of Newark and I love what I'm doing. In many ways, this is my highest aspiration in terms of having a job where I can really help people. The next thing I'm thinking about doing next year is possibly running for the United States Senate. But I think when you start going further? from that, it starts to get a little absurd."

What do you believe is your best policy achievement as mayor?

"I think the best thing you can say, and it's less policy and more spirit, is that we've taken a city that used to be disregarded, disrespected, and just plain dissed, that was losing population, losing tax base, losing business, and now we've reversed those trends. Now people really have a lot of respect for Newark. First time in 60 years our population is growing. Our tax base is growing. The first new hotels in our downtown in 40 years. First new office towers in decades. So creating jobs at a pretty dramatic clip for our residents."

Lightning Round:

Favorite TV show?

"Wow. Star Trek, unequivocally so. I'm a Trekkie. So of all the Star Trek universe, I would say 'The Next Generation' was my favorite."

Favorite character?

"Jean-Luc Picard, of course. He's got the greatest haircut."

First concert?

"I went to a Lionel Richie concert, was my first concert. Thank you very much, I like Lionel Richie."

Pet peeve?

"I have lots of pet peeves. But I think the biggest one I have is just meanness. Rudeness. For me, it's like the deal breaker. I'm on a date, and the person is like rude to the waiter, to the bus boy, something like that, to me, I think it's just?you know, life's too short, every moment we have a chance to show kindness, and that to me is the thing I like the most about a human. When people don't even think that you're being watched, and then you see somebody bend over and pick up some trash, or help somebody, that to me lifts me the most to witness that. And the opposite of that is what makes me frustrated the most."

Guilty pleasure?

"So many. Look, I think that two things I indulge in the most? one is food, so I have an illicit relationship with two guys named Ben and Jerry. That is enjoyable. And then you know it's just bad TV. So late, late at night if I come home particularly discouraged from the day, I can see myself sitting with ice cream and watching something on TV - John Stewart, Stephen Colbert - hoping that they'll make me laugh at the end of the day before I hit the sack."

Like "This Week" on Facebook here. You can also follow the show on Twitter here.

Google takes Easter heat over Cesar Chavez doodle

Rather than Easter, Google's doodle today commemorates farm labor leader Cesar Chavez's birthday. That's brought much criticism, although Chavez himself was a devout Christian.

By Brad Knickerbocker,?Staff writer / March 31, 2013

Cesar Chavez Google doodle. Critics say the image Sunday should have had something to do with Easter.

Google

Enlarge

Google is taking heat for its Easter Sunday doodle ? that cartoon modification of its logo that changes from day to day.

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Today, the middle letter is a round portrait of the late migrant farm labor union leader Cesar Chavez.

Like many such doodles, it comes on the birthday of the subject. Mr. Chavez was born March 31, 1927 in Yuma, Arizona.

But appearing on Easter ? one of the holiest days for hundreds of millions of Christians around the world ? the Chavez Google doodle has set off a mini-storm of protest, including (inevitably) in the twitterverse.

Some examples:

?Unbelievable! Their true colors are showing! Yahoo here I come!?

?Damn Google?. No Easter wishes from those Atheists.?

?A huge BOOO!! to Google for making their holiday doodle about Cesar Chavez's 86th birthday instead of Easter (celebrated by over a billion).?

?I've got nothing against Cesar Chavez, but even Chavez was a Catholic. I doubt he'd want Google to recognize him on Resurrection Day.?

?Better a dead lefty, them a risen Lord.?

?Google uses Caesar Chavez on Easter instead of using something Easter related? Okay, I'm switching to Bing.?

Apparently confusing Cesar Chavez with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, one wrote: ?Google can't celebrate Easter but can celebrate a dictator's birthday?!?

But there?s been more thoughtful comment as well, unlimited by the snappy 140-character Twitter format ? much of it alluding to Chavez?s own Christian religion

?Google?s odd choice should remind us that whatever one thinks of Chavez?s politics, they are impossible to understand apart from his belief in the resurrected Christ,? writes Matthew Schmitz, deputy editor of First Things, an ecumenical journal published by The Institute on Religion and Public Life.

?As a Christian, Chavez believed that the first revolution had to be a revolution of the soul, which meant that personal sacrifices were demanded ? not just of the oppressor, but of the oppressed,? writes Mr. Schmitz. ?For Chavez, social reform was never merely external. Without peace of spirit and purity of heart, there was little point in pursuing justice. Collective bargaining, just wages, shorter workdays: for Chavez none of these made sense outside the fact of his risen Lord.?

Although Chavez has been gone for 20 years, he continues to be remembered as an important figure in US history.

Cesar Chavez Day, is a state holiday in?California,?Colorado, and?Texas.

President Obama has proclaimed March 31 as ?Cesar Chavez Day? and designated the 105-acre ?Cesar E. Chavez National Monument? in Kern County, California farm country.

Mr. Obama?s campaign rallying cry ? ?Yes, we can!? ? echoed the UFW?s ?S?, se puede.?

Coincidentally, the Chavez Google doodle flap comes on the weekend that business and labor leaders have agreed on a guest worker program as part of comprehensive immigration reform.

Many critics may not know that Chavez was a deeply spiritual man and ascetic who tried to follow the nonviolent path of another legendary leader ? Mahatma Gandhi.

As a reporter, I once joined him on a march on behalf of farmworkers through California?s blistering Imperial Valley.

I was doing a lot of distance running in those days, and I thought I was in pretty good shape. But I had a hard time keeping up with Chavez (15 years my senior) as we walked along during the interview. Only later did I find out that he was well into a quiet personal fast and hadn't had anything to eat in 10 days.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/UiBmo-xlxoc/Google-takes-Easter-heat-over-Cesar-Chavez-doodle

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Rev. David Lewicki: John 20:1-18: How Long Does Darkness Last?

There is a pall over this morning. As this story begins in John's Gospel, "it is still dark."

It is still dark where we wake up today. Beautiful, beloved children of God awake this morning in rooms where no light will break through. Morning brings no solace. It is still dark.

WATCH How Women Are Breaking the Church's Glass Ceiling:

You know this. Your dear ones suffer from sickness that has no cure. Your own relationships are fragile to the point of breaking. Old hurts -- personal, cultural -- have not healed. Not far from the dark room where you slept, fellow human beings are hungry and enslaved.

Do we need to say more? It is still dark.

That is why this particular story, after all these years, still matters.

Mary Magdalene came to the tomb of Jesus while it was still dark.

The broken body of her friend had been pushed hastily inside two days before. There had been no time to prepare his corpse before the Sabbath came.

Mary arrived in the dark. The Gospels don't agree on all of the details of Easter morning, but one fact is consistent across the stories: Mary was there. Mary, from the Galilean town of Migdal, was one of Jesus' disciples. In Luke 8:2, she is described as a woman who had seven demons cast out from her -- a liberation that led her to follow Jesus. We don't know how it was that Mary -- nor any of the female disciples -- came to be an independent woman, traveling with Jesus. But with this company of women and men who befriended Jesus, and sat at his feet to learn about the Realm of God, she is free. Jesus honors women and men. They are equals. They are family.

On Easter morning, Mary arrived first at Jesus' tomb. According to John, she finds the great stone covering the entrance has been moved; she assumes the worst. Shocked and troubled, she runs to tell Simon Peter and the Beloved Disciple, who go to see the tomb for themselves. Both find it empty, except for Jesus' burial clothes. It is too much: their friend has been tortured and executed, and now, have they also desecrated his corpse? Simon Peter and the Beloved Disciple fear for their lives. They flee to their homes.

Mary knows the danger, too: She was one of the only disciples who stayed to watch Jesus die. But she returns to the tomb again, drawn by her grief. She is weeping. She peers into the tomb for the first time. She sees angels where the men saw emptiness. "Why are you crying?" they ask. "They have taken my Lord," she says to them. Death leaves a body -- where is his body?

In that very moment, Mary turns to see the form of a man whose face she does not recognize. She assumes he is the gardener. He speaks to her: "Woman, why are you crying?" "You have taken him," Mary pleads, "Where is he?"

"Mary." Jesus calls her by her name. He knows his own -- and his own know him. "Teacher!" she replies. Death has not taken him.

"Go and tell the other disciples," Jesus says to Mary. Mary listens to Jesus. She goes immediately and declares to disciples, "I have seen the Lord." Mary Magdalene is the first one to grasp the good news and the first one to proclaim that the power of death is defeated: Christ is Risen.

This same message is spoken to us today. Christ is Risen. It is a word of life for all who hear and receive it.

Christ is Risen. Mary's proclamation has never been more important. Remember, it is still dark.

Journalist Nicholas Kristof has spent much of his life reporting from parts of the world where the dawn of morning brings neither light nor life. In 2010, Kristof and his partner Sheryl WuDunn, wrote one of our generation's most important books, "Half the Sky." It is the painful, true story of the brutality inflicted upon women and girls around the world, through slavery, sex trafficking, and legal and economic repression. Kristof and WuDann call the subjugation of women the most important moral challenge of our century. But more than a story about crimes against women, Half the Sky is, ultimately, a proclamation of hope. It represents an emerging consensus that freeing women and girls to live into their full humanity is the most important thing we can do to ensure the flourishing of humankind.

Not long ago, I participated in a church-based forum called "End Hunger Now." Each of the four experts who presented had devoted their lives to discovering the underlying causes of hunger and working to end it. To a person, they focused on the central role of empowering women. If women can work, if they can keep their earnings, and if girls can receive an education, hunger will end. John Coonrod, Vice President of The Hunger Project, declared:

"Most hungry people in our world are working women who are prevented by cultural forces from benefiting from their own labor. We can and should all be feminists!"

For the sake of the world, we should all be feminists. And given what we know about the role of independent, empowered women in the community of disciples, for the sake world, we might be "Christians."

Raymond Brown, the late, great scholar of John, writes: "In this Gospel, where light and darkness play such a role, darkness lasts until someone believes in the risen Jesus."

Therefore no darkness, no heartbreak, no grief, no injustice can long stand where the Risen Christ is proclaimed. Jesus Christ is the light of the world. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not -- cannot -- will not overcome the light.

This morning, we awake, and it is still dark. But carried through the darkness on the lips of a woman who has seen and believed, comes a Word.

Wake up! Morning has broken, Christ is Risen!

Editor's Note: ON Scripture - The Bible is a series of Christian scripture commentaries produced in collaboration with Odyssey Networks. Each week pastors from around the country will approach the lectionary text of the week through the lens of current events, providing a religious voice that is both pastoral and prophetic.

Follow Rev. David Lewicki on Twitter: www.twitter.com/dlewick

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-david-lewicki/john-201-18-how-long-does-darkness-last_b_2980734.html

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Saturday, March 30, 2013

How to Tone Your Butt Without Stepping Foot in a Gym - Body Health

glutes
H?w ?? ??? ??t th?t coveted tight bum ?n time t? sport ???r skinny jeans? Fitness expert David Kirsch shares h?? expertise ?n h?w t? tighten up ??r glutes without having a gym membership ?n? using ??tt?? equipment.
People wh? ?r? working t? tone up th??r butts need t? ??? ??tt?? t? n? weights, using th??r body weights ?? th? ?n?? resistance, ???? Kisrch. One ?f th? best pieces ?f equipment f?r a tight butt ?? a bosu ?r stability ball. If ??? want a toned, tight bottom, ??? ?h???? stick t? exercises ??k? plie squats, lunges, b?nt leg deadlifts, platypus walk ?n? sumo lunges. D? 15-25 reps ?f each ?f th? moves below ?n? ????ll b? turning heads ?n n? time!

HOW TO GET TONED GLUTES:
Sumo Lunges

Stand w?th ???r legs shoulder length apart.
Lift ???r r??ht leg fr?m th? knee ?n? m??? ?t ?n a circular roundhouse.
Land out t? th? side, wider th?n ??? ?t?rt?? ?n? immediately squat down, channeling a real sumo wrestler.
A? ??? come out ?f th? squat, lift ???r r??ht leg ?n? kick out, leading w?th ???r heel.

(Each element ?h???? flow smoothly ?nt? th? next. Th?r? ?r? n? br??k? ?n a sumo lunge!)
Platypus Walk

St?rt ?n a plie squat position, w?th ???r hands behind ???r head ?n? ???r thighs parallel t? th? ground
Waddle forward! R??ht foot ?n front ?f ??? left, stay engaged ?n th?t plie squat. Now reverse?

(M?k? sure ???r knees stay out ?n? ???r weight stays back ?n ???r heels throughout th? movement)

B?nt Leg Deadlifts

Holding a body bar, dumbbells, medicine ball (a broomstick ?r a baby w??? ?? ?n a pinch!) stand ?n ???r ?t?rt position, w?th ???r legs shoulder width apart.
Hinge ?t th? waist. A? ??? bend forward, soften ???r knees ?n? stick ???r butt out.

(Modification: If ????re feeling shaky, hold th? back ?f a chair ?r th? edge ?f a table f?r balance.)
(Modification: If ????re feeling ?r??t, try lifting ???r alternate leg ?? ??? ?? down.)

Plie Squats

St?rt w?th ???r feet wider th?n shoulder-width distance ?n? turn ???r toes out. Weight ?? still ?n ???r heels.
Keeping ???r weight ?n ???r heels ?n? ???r knees turned out, squat down ?n? up.

**Tuck ???r pelvis ?n, ?n? stick ???r butt out. Th? more ??? engage, th? more ????ll shape th?t booty.
Advanced modification: Plie Toe Squats. Once ????ve mastered th? plie squat, turn ?t up lifting ???r heels up ?? ??? squat. Th?? puts greater emphasis ?n ???r inner thighs, butt ?n? core.
Lunges

St?rt w?th heels under shoulders, chest-width apart.
Y??r front heel ?? th? anchor f?r a lunge. Bend ???r knee t? a perfect r??ht angle.

**Th? perfect lunge w??? give ??? two r??ht angles. D? n?t allow ???r knee t? pass ???r toes.

from your own site.

Source: http://mybodyhealth.net/how-to-tone-your-butt-without-stepping-foot-in-a-gym/

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New EPA gas rules could add up at pump

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Reducing sulfur in gasoline and tightening emissions standards on cars beginning in 2017, as the Obama administration is proposing, would come with costs as well as rewards. The cost at the pump for cleaner air across the country could be less than a penny or as high as 9 cents a gallon, depending on who is providing the estimate.

An oil industry study says the proposed rule being unveiled Friday by the administration could increase gasoline prices by 6 cents to 9 cents a gallon. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates an increase of less than a penny and an additional $130 to the cost of a vehicle in 2025.

The EPA is quick to add that the change aimed at cleaning up gasoline and automobile emissions would yield billions of dollars in health benefits by 2030 by slashing smog- and soot-forming pollution. Still, the oil industry, Republicans and some Democrats have pressed the EPA to delay the rule, citing higher costs.

Environmentalists hailed the proposal as potentially the most significant in President Barack Obama's second term.

The so-called Tier 3 standards would reduce sulfur in gasoline by more than 60 percent and reduce nitrogen oxides by 80 percent, by expanding across the country a standard already in place in California. For states, the regulation would make it easier to comply with health-based standards for the main ingredient in smog and soot. For automakers, the regulation allows them to sell the same autos in all 50 states.

The Obama administration already has moved to clean up motor vehicles by adopting rules that will double fuel efficiency and putting in place the first standards to reduce the pollution from cars and trucks blamed for global warming.

"We know of no other air pollution control strategy that can achieve such substantial, cost-effective and immediate emission reductions," said Bill Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies. Becker said the rule would reduce pollution equal to taking 33 million cars off the road.

But the head of American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, Charles Drevna, said in an interview Thursday that the refiners' group was still unclear on the motives behind the agency's regulation, since refining companies already have spent $10 billion to reduce sulfur by 90 percent. The additional cuts, while smaller, will cost just as much, Drevna said, and the energy needed for the additional refining actually could increase carbon pollution by 1 percent to 2 percent.

"I haven't seen an EPA rule on fuels that has come out since 1995 that hasn't said it would cost only a penny or two more," Drevna said.

A study commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute estimated that lowering the sulfur in gasoline would add 6 cents to 9 cents a gallon to refiners' manufacturing costs, an increase that likely would be passed on to consumers at the pump. The EPA estimate of less than 1 cent is also an additional manufacturing cost and likely to be passed on.

A senior administration official said Thursday that only 16 of 111 refineries would need to invest in major equipment to meet the new standards, which could be final by the end of this year. Of the remaining refineries, 29 already are meeting the standards because they are selling cleaner fuel in California or other countries, and 66 would have to make modifications.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the rule was still undergoing White House budget office review.

___

Follow Dina Cappiello on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dinacappiello

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/epa-taking-aim-auto-emissions-sulfur-gas-071021486--finance.html

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Filipino devotees reenact crucifixion of Christ

SAN PEDRO CUTUD, Philippines (AP) ? Devotees in villages in the northern Philippines took part in a bloody annual ritual to mark Good Friday, a celebration that mixes Roman Catholic devotion and Filipino folk beliefs and sees some reenact the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

The crucified devotees spent several minutes nailed to crosses in Pampanga province while thousands of tourists watched and took photos of the spectacle, which the church discourages. Earlier in the day, hooded male penitents trudged through the province's villages under the blazing sun while flagellating their bleeding backs with makeshift whips. Others carried wooden crosses to dramatize Christ's sacrifice.

Devotees undergo the hardships in the belief that such extreme sacrifices are a way to atone for their sins, attain miracle cures for illnesses or give thanks to God.

Alex Laranang, a 58-year-old vendor who was the first to be nailed to a cross Friday, said he was doing it "for good luck and for my family to be healthy."

It was the 27th crucifixion for sign painter Ruben Enaje, 52, one of the most popular penitents from San Pedro Cutud village. He began his yearly rite after surviving a fall from a building.

Enaje screamed in pain as men dressed as Roman soldiers hammered stainless steel nails into his palms and feet. A wireless microphone carried his voice to loudspeakers for everyone watching to hear.

His cross was raised and he was hanged there for several minutes under the searing afternoon sun before the nails were pulled out and he was taken on a stretcher to a first aid station.

"It's intriguing and fascinating what makes people do something like this, how you can believe so much that you make yourself suffer to that extent," said Dita Tittesass, a tourist from Denmark.

Remigio de la Cruz, the chief of San Pedro Cutud village, explained that the practice began in his village in the 1950s.

Archbishop Jose Palma, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, told the church-run Radio Veritas that the practice is "not the desire of Jesus Christ."

"We are aware that this has been practiced long before ... but we still hope that this will not be done any more," he said. "We should all concentrate on prayers."

_____

Associated Press writer Oliver Teves contributed to this from Manila.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/filipino-devotees-reenact-crucifixion-christ-093544016.html

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Friday, March 29, 2013

Do robot ants dream of electric crumbs?

Which is smarter: a swarm of brainless mini-robots with clockwork guts, or a colony of ravenous, half-blind Argentine ants?

If you answered mindless robots, you?re right ? but just barely.

Researchers studying the problem-solving abilities of foraging ants enlisted the aid of 10 sugar-cube-sized robots to determine whether the real-life insects had to put any thought into deciding which direction they should go when they came to a fork in the road or an obstacle in their path. The answer to that question is important for the understanding of how large communities of organisms interact and coordinate their behavior.

The Argentine ant was selected for the study because it?s among the world?s most successful invasive species. When it gains a foothold in new lands, such as California, Florida, southern Europe, Australia and Southeast Asia, it out-competes local ants and can sever links in the larger food chain.

?These guys are a real problem;? they?ve caused a lot of trouble,? said Simon Garnier, who studies animal behavior at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and was lead author of the study published Thursday in PLOS Computational Biology. The ants, which measure about an eighth of an inch long and have very poor vision, are native to South America.

Certain species of ants can travel? farther than the length of two football fields to find food, and then tote morsels back to their nest. The paths they take can be extremely complicated, and Argentine ants deposit pheromones along the way to serve as guideposts for their trailing comrades.

The behavior of individual foragers can have drastic consequences for the entire group. A series of wrong turns by one or several workers can transform an otherwise successful picnic raid into a catastrophe: Wayward ants can accidentally lock their supply network into a closed loop, causing the group to march in a fruitless spiral until they drop from exhaustion.

Scientists at? the New Jersey institute and the Research Center on Animal Cognition, in Toulouse, France, hypothesized that the ants? foraging success was a result of a scripted set of instinctive behaviors, and not of calculations made by individual ants. Using grant money from the French government, the researchers tested their hunch by setting up a competition between real ants and a squad of micro-robots designed at the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland.

In the live-animal experiment, a colony of 500 worker ants was starved for a couple of days and then set free in a maze carved into a plastic board. Researchers placed a cotton ball soaked in a sugar solution at the opposite end of the maze and observed as the ants went into a frenzied search for food before returning to their nest.

The robot experiment took a lot longer to set up and conduct.

Each robot comes equipped with two Swatch watch motors and four tiny wheels. (Their top speed is a blistering 8 feet per minute, about four times faster than real ants.) The robo-ants communicate with light instead of pheromones, so they sport light sensors instead of antennae.

The electronic critters were programmed to move randomly, but in the same general direction ? just like real ants.

The robot ants were released into a cardboard maze with infrared light beacons to simulate their nest and their food source. As they wheeled down passageways, an overhead projector beamed blue circles onto the pathway behind them, as if they had left a pheromone marker for their buddy robots behind them. When the robots encountered an intersection, they were programmed to take the route that deviated least from their general direction of travel. However, if they encountered a blue circle of light, they followed that instead. (The projected light circles gradually faded in intensity, just as real pheromone deposits evaporate and lose strength.)

After running the contest between ant and machine many times, their rates of success and overall routes were very similar, although the robots tended to use shorter routes, the researchers found. Also, when the robots bumbled their way into closed loops, they were more likely to break free.

The research team concluded that ?a complex cognitive process is not necessary to explain the ants? behavior.?

Though it might appear that the robots were somewhat more efficient, or ?smarter,? Garnier said it wasn?t exactly a fair comparison. With hundreds of ants in the maze at once, traffic jams would cause the insects to disperse in different directions. ?If we had performed the experiment with 500 robots, we probably would have run into the same problems,?? he said.

Although the study?s methods were novel, its conclusions were ?not very surprising,? said Doug Yanega, a senior scientist at UC Riverside?s Entomology Research Museum. Computer simulations by animal behaviorist Nigel Franks have provided similar insights into ant behavior, he said.

monte.morin@latimes.com

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/d4rv8vOx0j8/la-sci-sn-ant-robots-20130327,0,6081107.story

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Sandy Hook shooting survivors left homeless by fire

A Newtown, Conn., home destroyed by a fire this week was owned by a couple whose children survived the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in December.

Wednesday afternoon's fire left Hans and Audra Barth and their three children homeless, according to Monsignor Robert Wise, of St. Rose of?Lima Church. The American Red Cross has put them up in a hotel and the church is collecting donations for the family.

Two of their children attended Sandy Hook Elementary School, including a first-grader in teacher Kaitlin Roig's classroom,?the?Danbury News-Times?reported. Roig has been called a hero for barricading her students in a bathroom as the shooter killed 20 other first-graders and six educators.

For more, visit NBCConnecticut.com

Friends say the family lost everything in the fire, and their pet dog and several baby chickens died.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

By NBCConnecticut.com

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2a2268f4/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C290C17516930A0Esandy0Ehook0Eshooting0Esurvivors0Eleft0Ehomeless0Eby0Efire0Dlite/story01.htm

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EPA to propose rule to clean up tailpipe pollution

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration will unveil a proposal Friday to clean up gasoline and automobile emissions, a step that officials say will result in cleaner air across the U.S. and slightly higher prices at the pump.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the rule to reduce sulfur in gasoline and tighten emissions standards on cars beginning in 2017 could increase gas prices by less than a penny per gallon and add $130 to the cost of a vehicle in 2025.

But the agency says it will yield billions of dollars in health benefits by slashing smog- and soot-forming pollution come 2030.

The oil industry, Republicans and some Democrats had pressed the EPA to delay the rule, citing higher costs. An oil industry study says the rule could increase gasoline prices by 6 to 9 cents per gallon.

The so-called Tier 3 standards would reduce sulfur in gasoline by more than 60 percent and reduce nitrogen oxides by 80 percent, by expanding across the country a standard already in place in California. For states, the regulation will make it easier to comply with health-based standards for the main ingredient in smog and soot. For automakers, the regulation allows them to sell the same autos in all 50 states.

Environmentalists hailed the proposal as potentially the most significant in President Barack Obama's second term.

The Obama administration has already moved to clean up motor vehicles by adopting rules that will double fuel efficiency and putting in place the first-ever standards to reduce the pollution blamed for global warming from cars and trucks.

But the head of American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, Charles Drevna, said in an interview Thursday that the refiners' group was still unclear on the motives behind the agency's regulation, since refining companies have already spent $10 billion to reduce sulfur by 90 percent. The additional cuts, while smaller, will cost just as much, Drevna said, and the energy needed for the additional refining could actually increase carbon pollution by 1 to 2 percent.

"I haven't seen an EPA rule on fuels that has come out since 1995 that hasn't said it would cost only a penny or two more," Drevna said.

A study commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute estimated that lowering the sulfur in gasoline would add 6 to 9 cents per gallon to refiners' manufacturing costs, an increase that would likely be passed down to consumers at the pump. The EPA estimate of less than 1 cent is also an additional manufacturing cost and likely to be passed on.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the rule was still undergoing White House budget office review.

___

Follow Dina Cappiello on (at)dinacappiello

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/epa-propose-rule-clean-tailpipe-232824168.html

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Thursday, March 28, 2013

Memories of near death experiences: More real than reality?

Mar. 27, 2013 ? University of Li?ge researchers have demonstrated that the physiological mechanisms triggered during NDE lead to a more vivid perception not only of imagined events in the history of an individual but also of real events which have taken place in their lives! These surprising results - obtained using an original method which now requires further investigation - are published in PLOS ONE.

Seeing a bright light, going through a tunnel, having the feeling of ending up in another 'reality' or leaving one's own body are very well known features of the complex phenomena known as 'Near-Death Experiences ' (NDE), which people who are close to death can experience in particular. Products of the mind? Psychological defence mechanisms? Hallucinations? These phenomena have been widely documented in the media and have generated numerous beliefs and theories of every kind. From a scientific point of view, these experiences are all the more difficult to understand in that they come into being in chaotic conditions, which make studying them in real time almost impossible. The University of Li?ge's researchers have thus tried a different approach.

Working together, researchers at the Coma Science Group (Directed by Steven Laureys) and the University of Li?ge's Cognitive Psychology Research (Professor Serge Br?dart and Hedwige Dehon), have looked into the memories of NDE with the hypothesis that if the memories of NDE were pure products of the imagination, their phenomenological characteristics (e.g., sensorial, self referential, emotional, etc. details) should be closer to those of imagined memories. Conversely, if the NDE are experienced in a way similar to that of reality, their characteristics would be closer to the memories of real events.

The researchers compared the responses provided by three groups of patients, each of which had survived (in a different manner) a coma, and a group of healthy volunteers. They studied the memories of NDE and the memories of real events and imagined events with the help of a questionnaire which evaluated the phenomenological characteristics of the memories. The results were surprising. From the perspective being studied, not only were the NDEs not similar to the memories of imagined events, but the phenomenological characteristics inherent to the memories of real events (e.g. memories of sensorial details) are even more numerous in the memories of NDE than in the memories of real events.

The brain, in conditions conducive to such phenomena occurring, is prey to chaos. Physiological and pharmacological mechanisms are completely disturbed, exacerbated or, conversely, diminished. Certain studies have put forward a physiological explanation for certain components of NDE, such as Out-of-Body Experiences, which could be explained by dysfunctions of the temporo-parietal lobe. In this context the study published in PLOS ONE suggests that these same mechanisms could also could also 'create' a perception - which would thus be processed by the individual as coming from the exterior - of reality. In a kind of way their brain is lying to them, like in a hallucination. These events being particularly surprising and especially important from an emotional and personal perspective, the conditions are ripe for the memory of this event being extremely detailed, precise and durable.

Numerous studies have looked into the physiological mechanisms of NDE, the production of these phenomena by the brain, but, taken separately, these two theories are incapable of explaining these experiences in their entirety. The study published in PLOS ONE does not claim to offer a unique explanation for NDE, but it contributes to study pathways which take into account psychological phenomena as factors associated with, and not contradictory to, physiological phenomena.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Li?ge, via AlphaGalileo.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

Marie Thonnard, Vanessa Charland-Verville, Serge Br?dart, Hedwige Dehon, Didier Ledoux, Steven Laureys, Audrey Vanhaudenhuyse. Characteristics of Near-Death Experiences Memories as Compared to Real and Imagined Events Memories. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (3): e57620 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0057620

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/living_well/~3/nU6TwYi_i1I/130327190359.htm

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MetroPCS shares up as T-Mobile deal is criticized

NEW YORK (AP) ? Investors bet Thursday that T-Mobile USA will have to sweeten its proposal to merge with smaller cellphone carrier MetroPCS Communications Inc. after an influential shareholder advisory firm came out against the deal.

Shares of Dallas-based MetroPCS, the country's fifth-largest cellphone company, rose 42 cents, or 4 percent, to $10.95 in midday trading. It was the highest level for the stock since November, a month after the deal was announced.

Under the deal, T-Mobile USA's parent company, Deutsche Telekom AG of Germany, will hold a 74 percent stake in the combined company, while MetroPCS shareholders will own the remainder and receive a special dividend of $1.5 billion.

Institutional Shareholder Services recommended on Wednesday that shareholders vote against the deal when they meet on April 12, saying their share of the combined company is unfairly small, and MetroPCS would do fine as a standalone company.

Some large MetroPCS shareholders have opposed the deal for months. Analyst Kevin Smithen at Macquarie Capital said Thursday that the "no" recommendation from ISS clinches it.

"We now believe the deal will be voted down, absent modifications to current deal terms," Smithen said. He raised his price target on MetroPCS shares from $12 to $13.50.

In a rebuttal to ISS, MetroPCS said the deal offers "compelling benefits," and another shareholder advisory firm, Egan Jones, supports it.

"We strongly believe that ISS' report contains material flaws and reaches the wrong conclusion," MetroPCS said in a statement.

T-Mobile CEO John Legere said Tuesday that T-Mobile is outcompeting MetroPCS in the market for prepaid, no-contract service, and suggested that its shareholders should want own part of the winning company.

"I don't think their shareholders want any part of that deal voted down," he said.

The deal has all requisite regulatory approvals.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-03-28-T-Mobile%20USA-MetroPCS/id-8aa14bd003164473bc22141249b16bfc

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LG Optimus G now shipping to the UK from Expansys

LG Optimus G

After a somewhat ridiculously long wait, the LG Optimus G is finally available in the U.K. from at least one retailer. Expansys, which put the phone up for pre-order just shy of a couple weeks ago, now has the device in stock and ready to ship. This is the same Optimus G we know and love, and its coming out of the box with Jelly Bean on board (rightfully so) compared to the ICS we saw at the initial release. The price has dropped just slightly from the pre-order, now £469.99 (incl. VAT) for the SIM-free version.

It may seem like old news if you've seen the Optimus G available for several months here in the states, but those of you in the U.K. still interested in picking one up can head to the source link below.

Source: Expansys

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/3ZlRSxVENk0/story01.htm

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Synchrotron yields 'safer' vaccine

27 March 2013 Last updated at 18:00 ET

Producing vaccines against viral threats is a potentially hazardous business and that's why manufacturers have to operate strict controls to ensure that no pathogens escape.

British scientists have developed a new method to create an entirely synthetic vaccine which doesn't rely on using live infectious virus, meaning it is much safer.

What's more the prototype vaccine they have created, for the animal disease foot-and-mouth, has been engineered to make it more stable.

That means it can be kept out of the fridge for many hours before returning to the cold chain - overcoming one of the major hurdles in administering vaccines in the developing world.

The research, published in the journal PLOS pathogens, was a collaboration between scientists at Oxford and Reading Universities, the Pirbright Institute, and the UK's national synchrotron facility, the Diamond Light Source near Oxford.

?Start Quote

What we have achieved here is close to the holy grail of foot-and-mouth vaccines?

End Quote Dave Stuart Prof of Structural Biology

Diamond is a particle accelerator which sends electrons round a giant magnetic ring at near light speeds.

The electrons emit energy in the form of intense X-rays which are channelled along "beamlines" - into laboratories where they are used to analyse structures in extraordinary detail.

Infectious

Synchrotrons have been used before to analyse viruses at the atomic level, but the technology has advanced considerably to enable scientists to create a stable synthetic vaccine.

"What we have achieved here is close to the holy grail of foot-and-mouth vaccines.

Unlike traditional vaccines, there is no chance that the empty shell vaccine could revert to an infectious form," said Dave Stuart, Life Sciences Director at Diamond, and MRC Professor of Structural Biology at the University of Oxford.

"This work will have a broad and enduring impact on vaccine development, and the technology should be transferable to other viruses from the same family, such as poliovirus and hand-foot-and-mouth disease, a human virus which is currently endemic in South-East Asia."

These human disease threats, like foot-and-mouth, are all picornaviruses.

Viruses are inherently unstable and fragile, but picornaviruses can be studied using X-ray crystallography.

This enables the protein shell of the virus to be analysed at the atomic level - something a billion times smaller than a pinhead.

Pathogen

As with any vaccine, the aim is to prompt the immune system to recognise this outer shell and destroy the pathogen before it has time to lock onto cells and infect them with its genetic material.

In this research the scientists created a synthetic viral shell, but lacking its pathogenic RNA interior - the genetic material the virus uses to replicate itself.

Crucially they were able to reinforce the structure of the viral shell to make it stronger, to improve the stability of the vaccine.

Pre-clinical trials have shown it to be stable at temperatures up to 56C for at least two hours. Foot-and-mouth is endemic in central Africa, parts of the Middle East and Asia, so this would be a significant improvement over existing vaccines.

With current foot-and-mouth vaccines it is difficult to distinguish between immunised livestock and those which have been infected.

That proved to be a major hurdle in controlling the foot-and-mouth outbreak in the UK in 2001 because it would have prevented the export of livestock.

Polio

But the synthetic vaccine should allow scientists to show the absence of infection in vaccinated animals.

"The foot-and-mouth-disease virus epidemic in the UK in 2001 was disastrous and cost the economy billions of pounds in control measures and compensation," explained Dr Bryan Charleston, Head of Livestock Viral Diseases Programme at the Pirbright Institute.

"This important work has been a direct result of the additional funding that was provided as a result of the 2001 outbreak to research this highly contagious disease."

The potential hazards of working with viruses was underlined in 2007 when the Pirbright laboratory site was identified as the source of a leak which led to an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.

Polio, another picornavirus, which exclusively affects humans, has been eliminated from nearly every country in the world, although it stubbornly persists in Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The need for secure vaccine production will become even more vital should polio be wiped out.

"Current polio vaccines, which use live virus for their production, pose a potential threat to the long-term success of eradication if they were to re-establish themselves in the population.

"Non-infectious vaccines would clearly provide a safeguard against this risk", said Dr Andrew Macadam, a virologist specialising in polio at the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control in Hertfordshire.

"This technology has great potential in terms of cost and biosafety.

"Any design strategy that minimises the chances of accidental virus release would not only make the world a safer place but would lower the bio-containment barriers to production allowing vaccines to be made more cheaply all over the world."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21958361#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Michele Bachmann faces congressional ethics probe (Washington Post)

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Magnetic fingerprints of interface defects in silicon solar cells detected

Mar. 27, 2013 ? Using a highly sensitive method of measurement, HZB physicists have managed to localize defects in amorphous/crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells. Now, for the first time ever, using computer simulations at Paderborn University, the scientists were able to determine the defects' exact locations and assign them to certain structures within the interface between the amorphous and crystalline phases.

In theory, silicon-based solar cells are capable of converting up to 30 percent of sunlight to electricity -- although, in reality, the different kinds of loss mechanisms ensure that even under ideal lab conditions it does not exceed 25 %. Advanced heterojunction cells shall affront this problem: On top of the wafer's surface, at temperatures below 200 ?C, a layer of 10 nanometer disordered (amorphous) silicon is deposited. This thin film is managing to saturate to a large extent the interface defects and to conduct charge carriers out of the cell. Heterojunction solar cells have already high efficiency factors up to 24,7 % -- even in industrial scale. However, scientists had until now only a rough understanding of the processes at the remaining interface defects.

Now, physicists at HZB's Institute for Silicon Photovoltaics have figured out a rather clever way for detecting the remaining defects and characterizing their electronic structure. "If electrons get deposited on these defects, we are able to use their spin, that is, their small magnetic moment, as a probe to study them," Dr. Alexander Schnegg explains. With the help of EDMR, electrically detected magnetic resonance, an ultrasensitive method of measurement, they were able to determine the local defects' structure by detecting their magnetic fingerprint in the photo current of the solar cell under a magnetic field and microwave radiation.

Theoretical physicists of Paderborn University could compare these results with quantum chemical computer simulations, thus obtaining information about the defects' positions within the layers and the processes they are involved to decrease the cells' efficiency. "We basically found two distinct families of defects," says Dr. Uwe Gerstmann from Paderborn University, who collaborates with the HZB Team in a program sponsored by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG priority program 1601). "Whereas in the first one, the defects are rather weakly localized within the amorphous layer, a second family of defects is found directly at the interface, but in the crystalline silicon."

For the first time ever the scientists have succeeded at directly detecting and characterizing processes with atomic resolution that compromise these solar cells' high efficiency. The cells were manufactured and measured at the HZB; the numerical methods were developed at Paderborn University. "We can now apply these findings to other types of solar cells in order to optimize them further and to decrease production costs," says Schnegg.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

B. M. George, J. Behrends, A. Schnegg, T. F. Schulze, M. Fehr, L. Korte, B. Rech, K. Lips, M. Rohrm?ller, E. Rauls, W. G. Schmidt, U. Gerstmann. Atomic Structure of Interface States in Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells. Physical Review Letters, 2013; 110 (13) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.136803

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/b0247wn1A30/130327104151.htm

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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Analysis: "Rock star" campaign may not be enough for Venezuela's Capriles

By Andrew Cawthorne

MATURIN, Venezuela (Reuters) - Emerging from his bus, Venezuela's opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles is engulfed by frenzied female supporters who push past bodyguards to hug, kiss and photograph their idol.

Most are young and have been waiting for hours under the sun to see him. Laughing and punching his fist in the air as he wades through his fans, Capriles emerges on stage moments later to roars from the crowd and screams of "Marry me, skinny!"

"He's more than a politician, he's a rock star!" said 19-year-old law student Eugenia Diaz, waving a heart-shaped banner that read "I love you, Henrique!" at a rally on a basketball court in Maturin in Venezuela's sweltering eastern plains.

As in the 2012 presidential election, which Capriles lost to the late socialist president Hugo Chavez, the youthful and energetic opposition leader is once again creating a buzz as he criss-crosses the South American nation ahead of the April 14 vote.

Yet despite the euphoria around him, the 40-year-old state governor again looks like a long shot, this time struggling to catch up with acting President Nicolas Maduro, who sells himself as Chavez's political heir.

Chavez named Maduro as his preferred successor before dying of cancer on March 5. Playing heavily on that, Maduro has a formidable lead over Capriles with three recent polls showing him ahead by between 14 and 21 percentage points.

Neither Capriles, nor the scores of strategists and advisers around him from the 30 or so political movements in the opposition Democratic Unity coalition, underestimate their task.

"There is a possibility of winning - though I have everything against me," Capriles told Reuters, pumped up but also realistic after a convoy parade in southern Bolivar state where over-eager supporters even pulled open his shirt.

FIGHTING 'NICOLAS'

Maduro has not only Chavez's powerful personal endorsement - in an emotional last public speech before his death - but also the power and cash of the state behind his campaign.

That allows him to appear at will to the entire nation across all broadcast media in so-called "cadena" or "chain" shows that foes see as a blatant abuse of power.

As well as benefiting from the emotion over Chavez's death, Maduro is basking in the goodwill generated among the poor by the multiple social welfare "missions" that were such an important part of his former boss's 14-year rule.

Foes say he also has behind-the-scenes support from communist-led Cuba, where Chavez was treated before his death and which receives more than 100,000 barrels per day of oil from Venezuela.

"We're fighting against a president-candidate, all the oil dollars, the public institutions, the Cuban government and of course the myth they want to create around Chavez," complained Capriles' campaign director, Carlos Ocariz.

Opponents say Maduro and other senior government figures are receiving guidance directly from Cuban President Raul Castro, as well as allowing Cuban advisers to wield influence in Venezuela's military and intelligence services.

Though the time frame is shorter, Capriles is using the same strategy as in 2012: a punishing schedule of visits across two states per day, mixing rallies with media interviews and meetings with local politicians and residents.

His political and rhetorical thrust is different though.

At every turn, Capriles baits Maduro, 50, referring to him only as "Nicolas" and seeking to depict him as an incompetent puppet of Cuba's communist government trying to imitate Chavez.

One of his taunts - "Nicolas, don't get dressed up, you're not going anywhere!" - is a popular chant at opposition rallies.

Maduro, who calls himself an "apostle" of Chavez and names his mentor at every turn during his own events, has tried to turn the scorn back on Capriles.

"For every 10 words, he names me nine times. He's obsessed," Maduro told a crowd in western Zulia state. He joked that his rival wakes up thinking about him and urged supporters to learn a new song called the "Nicolas dance" that lampoons Capriles.

HOW TO "BEAT A GHOST"?

Beyond the rhetoric, Capriles is trying to present a radically different vision of government to the Chavez-style socialism that Maduro vows to continue.

A centrist politician who admires Brazil's model of free-market economics with strong welfare policies, Capriles vows to end social polarization and economic nationalizations while keeping the best of Chavez's anti-poverty projects.

He wants to stop preferential alliances with Venezuela's most controversial foreign friends of the Chavez era - Iran, Belarus, Syria and Cuba for example - in favor of improving ties with Latin American neighbors and "democratic" nations.

In Maturin, Capriles was preceded on stage by various local residents who presented complaints that ranged from lack of toilet paper in the shops to unfair distribution of oil revenue.

As well as attacking Maduro, that is the opposition's second main campaign offensive: presenting themselves as the only force with the will to tackle Venezuelans' myriad daily problems.

"What's the point of having the biggest oil reserves in the world if people still live in homes with mud floors," Capriles told locals in Maturin, where many work in the oil industry.

Turnout may be a crucial factor on April 14.

Opposition supporters are still recovering from the double disappointment of losing to Chavez last year, and then taking a thrashing in regional elections in December where the ruling party won all but three of the country's 23 states.

So Capriles' first challenge will be to get out the 6.6 million people who voted for him in the October election - a 44 percent share of the total.

Although Chavez won comfortably, it was the best showing by an opposition candidate in four presidential elections against Chavez. Voter participation hit 80 percent, a record for Venezuela.

The opposition will hope government supporters, though generally expected to follow the late Chavez's instructions to vote for Maduro, might do so with less enthusiasm and in fewer numbers than last year.

"You don't have to be very clever to see that Maduro is the favorite," said local pollster Luis Vicente de Leon. "Capriles' big challenge is to overcome apathy and the feeling (within the opposition) that nothing can change the result."

Wherever Capriles goes, it is impossible to avoid the influence of Chavez, whose image and name appear to have become even more ubiquitous in death.

In Maturin, a stencil of his signature could be seen on the side of the stage where the opposition leader spoke. On a wall nearby, a slogan read: "Chavez lives! The revolution continues!" in fresh paint.

"This is a tough and surreal election," mused one Capriles aide. "How do you beat a ghost?"

(Editing by Kieran Murray and Claudia Parsons)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-rock-star-campaign-may-not-enough-venezuelas-150737580.html

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US eyes anti-piracy effort along west Africa coast

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The U.S. and some of its allies are considering plans to increase anti-piracy operations along Africa's west coast, spurred on by concerns that money from the attacks is funding a Nigerian-based insurgent group that is linked to one of al-Qaida's most dangerous affiliates.

Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea has escalated over the past year, and senior U.S. defense and counter-piracy officials say allied leaders are weighing whether beefed up enforcement efforts that worked against pirates off the Somalia coast might also be needed in the waters off Nigeria.

There has been growing coordination between Nigeria-based Boko Haram and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, which was linked to the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, last September that killed four Americans, including the ambassador. Military leaders say AQIM has become the wealthiest al-Qaida offshoot and an increasing terrorist threat to the region.

It has long been difficult to track whether there are terrorist ties to piracy in the waters off Africa. But officials are worried that even if Boko Haram insurgents aren't directly involved in the attacks off Nigeria and Cameroon, they may be reaping some of the profits and using the money for ongoing terrorist training or weapons.

No final decisions have been made on how counter-piracy operations could be increased in that region, and budget restrictions could hamper that effort, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about emerging discussions between senior U.S. military commanders and other international leaders.

But officials say the solution could include continued work and counter-piracy training with African nations. The U.S. participated last month in a maritime exercise with European and African partners in the Gulf of Guinea.

"Maritime partnerships and maritime security and safety are increasingly important in the Gulf of Guinea region to combat a variety of challenges including maritime crime, illicit trafficking and piracy," said Gen. Carter Ham, head of U.S. Africa Command.

In recent weeks, Ham and other U.S. military commanders have bluntly warned Congress that the terrorist threat from northern Africa has become far more worrisome.

"If the threat that is present in Africa is left unaddressed, it will over time grow to an increasingly dangerous and imminent threat to U.S. interests, and certainly could develop into a threat that threatens us in other places," Ham told Congress earlier this month. "We've already seen from some places in Africa, individuals that ? from Nigeria, for example ? attempt to enter our country with explosives."

A Nigerian man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was sentenced to life in prison last year for trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner with a bomb sewn into his underwear on Christmas 2009. The bomb failed.

Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea has escalated from low-level armed robberies to hijackings and cargo thefts and kidnappings. Last year, London-based Lloyd's Market Association ? an umbrella group of insurers ? listed oil-rich Nigeria, neighboring Benin and nearby waters in the same risk category as Somalia.

Pirates have been more willing to use violence in their robberies, at times targeting the crew for ransom. And experts suggest that many of the pirates come from Nigeria, where corrupt law enforcement allows criminality to thrive and there's a bustling black market for stolen crude oil.

Typically, foreign companies operating in Nigeria's Niger Delta pay cash ransoms to free their employees after negotiating down kidnappers' demands. Foreign hostages can fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars apiece.

Lately, however, the attacks, which had traditionally focused on the Nigerian coast, have spread, hitting ships carrying fuel from an Ivory Coast port. In January pirates made off with about $5 million in cargo from a fuel-laden tanker near the port of Abidjan, and two weeks later a French-owned fuel tanker was hijacked in the same area.

Just days after that, three sailors were kidnapped off a U.K.-flagged ship off the coast of Nigeria, and late in February six foreigners were taken off an energy company vessel in that same region.

The International Maritime Bureau has raised alarms about the Ivory Coast attacks, calling the first January incident a "potential game changer" in piracy in the region because was the farthest ever from Nigeria in the Gulf of Guinea. And U.S. Navy Capt. Dave Rollo, who directed the recent naval exercise in the Gulf of Guinea that involved as many as 15 nations, said piracy in that area is not just a regional crime issue, it's "a global problem."

Meanwhile, over the past year, piracy off Somalia's coast has plummeted, as the U.S.-led enforcement effort beefed up patrols and encouraged increased security measures on ships transiting the region. After repeated urgings from military commanders and other officials, shipping companies increased the use of armed guards and took steps to better avoid and deter pirates.

According to data from the combined maritime force, nearly 50 ships were taken by pirates in 2010 in the Gulf of Aden and Somali Basin and there were another close to 200 unsuccessful attempts. Last year, just seven ships were pirated there along with 36 failed attacks.

Even as defense officials warn about the growing threat, they acknowledge that increasing counter-piracy operations around the Gulf of Guinea presents a number of challenges.

In recent weeks, the U.S. Navy has had to postpone or cancel a number of ship deployments because of budget cuts, including a decision not to send the aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman to the Persian Gulf. The U.S. has maintained two carrier groups in the Gulf for much of the past two years, as tensions with Iran have escalated.

U.S. Africa Command has no ships of its own, so any U.S. vessels needed for operations would have to come from other places, such as Europe or America.

And defense officials also note that it may be difficult to build as much international interest in the Gulf of Guinea attacks as those in the more heavily traveled shipping lanes on the northeastern side of the continent.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-eyes-anti-piracy-effort-along-west-africa-151649714--politics.html

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Sony Xperia ZL goes on pre-order for US customers, off-contract: $720 for HSPA, $760 for LTE

Remember the Xperia ZL? While it lingered in the shadow of the waterproof Xperia Z back at CES, the phone does still exist and has now gone on preorder at Sony's own webstore. Withc the same 5-inch 1080p display, 13-megapixel camera and Snapdragon S4 Pro of the omnibalanced Z model, the Xperia ZL packs it into a smaller footprint and adds the courtesy of a physical camera button. Sony's NFC skills remain onboard and that lead camera is capable of HDR video capture, alongside recent improvements to the Xperia range's automatic shooting mode. While its own retail site is currently down (and there's no concrete date for when you'll get your hands on the phone), Sony says that it will be available from other online stores soon, pricing the Xperia ZL, contract- and carrier-less, at a hefty $720 on HSPA, or $760 for the 4G variant. That pricier option includes LTE Bands 2, 4 5, and 17, which means it should connect with AT&T's 4G network -- with or without any carrier branding.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/96nq_k9HGgo/

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Spotify reportedly interested in expanding to streaming video service with orignal content

In his new cover story for New York magazine, Joe Hagan offers the most in-depth look at the Today?show ratings?disaster that has created Matt Lauer's weeks-long attempt at image rehabilitation, and it's now clear that the defining moment that brought the morning show crashing own to Earth ? the exit of Ann Curry ? was something of a cross between the fourth circle of Hell and?and running with the Heathers?in high school: Curry got pranked, she got her clothes made fun of, she was prevented from reaching out to Robin Roberts, and her legacy lives on as a ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/spotify-reportedly-interested-expanding-streaming-video-orignal-content-014536974.html

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Monday, March 25, 2013

Sandusky speaks again, maintains innocence

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) ? Nine months after being convicted of sexually abusing 10 boys ? a scandal that destroyed the once unimpeachable reputation of Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno ? Jerry Sandusky is again claiming he did nothing wrong.

Sandusky has rarely spoken about the allegations, although he has consistently maintained his innocence since his November 2011 arrest. The latest statements came Monday in portions of a taped interview aired on NBC's "Today" and transcripts posted on the web site of a filmmaker who aims to clear Paterno's name.

In the interviews, the former Penn State assistant coach denied having inappropriate contact with the boys, although he acknowledged he may have "tested boundaries."

"Yeah, I hugged them," Sandusky said, according to transcripts posted on the filmmaker's site. "Maybe I tested boundaries. Maybe I shouldn't have showered with them. Yeah, I tickled them.

"I looked at them as being probably younger than even some of them were. But I didn't do any of these horrible acts and abuse these young people. I didn't violate them. I didn't harm them."

Although Sandusky's comments aired and posted Monday were given to a man endeavoring to clear Paterno's name, the late coach's family has distanced themselves from the statements.

Wick Sollers, a Paterno family lawyer, said in a statement that Sandusky's statements are "transparently self-serving and yet another insult to the victims."

"The Paterno family would prefer to remain silent on this matter, but they feel it is important to make it clear that they had no role in obtaining or releasing this recording," Sollers said. "Moreover, they believe that any attempt to use this recording as a defense of Joe Paterno is misguided and inappropriate."

Sandusky told filmmaker John Ziegler he was not sure whether Paterno, who was fired after Sandusky's arrest, would have let him keep coaching if he suspected Sandusky was a pedophile. Sandusky was investigated by university police after showering with a boy on campus in 1998, but remained one of Paterno's top assistants through 1999.

"If he absolutely thought I was, I'd say no," Sandusky said in the audio recording. "If he had a suspicion, I don't know the answer to that."

Not long after his arrest, Sandusky also denied wrongdoing in an interview on NBC's "Rock Center." In halting statements, he acknowledged showering with young boys and engaging in what he called "horseplay."

On the eve of his sentencing in October, Sandusky told a Penn State radio station he was the victim of a "well-orchestrated effort" by his accusers, the media, Penn State, plaintiffs' attorneys and others.

"I speak today with hope in my heart for a brighter day, not knowing if that day will come," Sandusky said in October. "Many moments have been spent looking for a purpose. Maybe it will help others, some vulnerable children who might have been abused, might not be, as a result of the publicity."

Ziegler said the interviews were conducted during three sessions, and told the AP on Monday that additional excerpts will be posted online over the coming days. The transcripts were posted by Ziegler on his site, www.framingpaterno.com.

He describes himself as an author, broadcaster, commentator and maker of films, including the 2009 movie, "Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected and Palin Was Targeted."

Along with the Sandusky interview material, Ziegler posted a piece about himself that anticipates critical media coverage of his background. As an example, he noted he has been "fired in radio lots of times for saying things which seem outrageous."

Penn State, which funded an investigation by former FBI director Louis Freeh that concluded Paterno and other top university officials covered up allegations against Sandusky in order to protect the school's reputation, issued a statement that said Sandusky's latest remarks "continue to open wounds for his victims, and the victims of child sexual abuse everywhere."

Attorneys for a young man who says he is "Victim 2" ? the boy whose assault in a team shower in 2001 was witnessed by then graduate assistant Mike McQueary ? said Sandusky's victims "have heard enough from Jerry Sandusky."

The lawyers ? Joel Feller, Matt Casey, Justine Andronici and Andrew Shubin ? issued a statement Monday saying Victim 2 and their other clients are focusing on "healing and holding Penn State accountable for choosing to protect Jerry Sandusky and themselves instead of protecting children from years of horrific sexual abuse."

Sandusky, 69, is serving a 30- to 60-year prison sentence after being convicted last year of 45 counts of child sexual abuse. He is pursuing appeals.

___

Scolforo reported from Harrisburg, Pa.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sandusky-speaks-again-maintains-innocence-180148499--spt.html

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