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Source: http://www.ummagumma.co/post/54171280686
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Sunday, June 30, 2013
American college student killed in Egypt was interning, teaching English
An American college student who was stabbed to death during a protest in Egypt was in the country to teach English to children. NBC reports.
By Daniel Arkin, Staff Writer, NBC News
The American college student killed Friday amid bloody protests in Egypt was in the country teaching young children English and bettering his Arabic speaking skills, family members said.
Andrew Driscoll Pochter, 21, a student at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio and a native of Chevy Chase, Md., was killed in the city of Alexandria during clashes between anti-government demonstrators and supporters of President Mohamed Morsi, the college said in a statement.
Pochter was apparently watching the violent protests as a bystander when he was fatally stabbed by an unidentified protester, his family said in a statement uploaded to Facebook.
?He went to Egypt because he cared profoundly about the Middle East, and he planned to live and work there in the pursuit of peace and understanding. Andrew was a wonderful young man looking for new experiences in the world and finding ways to share his talents while he learned,? the statement reads.
Gen. Amin Ezzeddin, a senior security official in Alexandria, told Reuters that Pochter was using a mobile phone camera near an office of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood as it was being ransacked by protesters. He died at a military hospital, Ezzeddin said.
Pochter was due at the end of the summer to begin his junior year at Kenyon, a liberal arts college northeast of Columbus, Ohio. He was planning to spend his spring semester abroad in Jordan, his family said.
Pochter Family via AP
This undated photo provided by the Pochter family shows Andrew Driscoll Pochter, 21, who was killed during clashes in Alexandria, Egypt on Friday.
The college said in an online statement that Pochter was an intern at AMIDEAST, an American non-profit organization ?engaged in international education, training and development activities in the Middle East and North Africa,? according to the group?s website.
The AMIDEAST internship is not affiliated with Kenyon, the college said.
Two years ago, Pochter lived with a host family in Morocco, according to an article he wrote for the Al Arabiya News in June 2011. The article centered on the promise of the Arab Spring protests that ousted President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt earlier that year.
?By their participation in community protests, members of my host family and friends are trying to reinvent themselves as members of their society and changing how the rest of the world perceives them,? Pochter wrote, referencing his Moroccan host family. ?By voicing their opinions, they can help shape the true face of this Moroccan generation, not by what the media say.?
Pochter was one of the student leaders of Hillel, a campus Jewish group with chapters across the country, according to a November 2012 article in The Kenyon Collegian, the student newspaper.
The U.S. State Department on Saturday confirmed Pochter?s death and offered sympathy to his loved ones.
?We extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends. We are providing appropriate consular assistance from our Embassy in Cairo and our Bureau of Consular Affairs at the State Department,? said department spokeswoman Marie Harf.
At least 80 other people have been wounded in the Alexandria protests, Egyptian state news agency MENA reported.
The protests are part of the buildup to nationwide "June 30" demonstrations marking a year since Morsi's election. Morsis opponents hope to force early presidential elections, citing a range of social and economic issues.
Morsi's supporters have promised that they will also take to the streets to defend the Muslim Brotherhood-backed government.
"There are no services. We can't find diesel or gasoline," Mohamed Abdel Latif, an accountant, told Reuters. "We elected Morsi, but this is enough."
NBC News' Charlene Gubash contributed to this report from Cairo, Egypt. M. Alex Johnson and Jeff Black also contributed.
Related:
This story was originally published on Sat Jun 29, 2013 12:57 PM EDT
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San Francisco transit talks resume, strike looms
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) ? With a Sunday night deadline approaching, negotiations between the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit and two of its largest unions have intensified with a possible strike at stake.
As the parties went back to the bargaining table Saturday in Oakland for anticipated around-the-clock sessions, both sides described the talks as tense and said they're far apart on key sticking points including salary, pensions, health care and safety.
About 400,000 riders use BART, the nation's fifth largest rail system, on weekdays. A strike that could start as early as Monday would be chaotic for those commuters and affect every mode of transportation, clogging highways and bridges throughout the Bay Area.
BART said it has agreed to at least a handful of minor proposals from members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Local 1021 and the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), Local 1555, but not on the major issues.
BART spokesman Rick Rice said that while talks were stagnant after the agency offered employees a new contract proposal on Thursday, he said both parties were talking by midday Saturday. On Friday, a mediator exchanged proposals between the parties who did not meet.
Rice said he expects long discussions right down to Sunday's deadline.
"Nobody wants a strike," ATU local president Antonette Bryant said Saturday. "We are prepared to spend the night ? a couple of nights ? in order to finally reach a deal."
The unions want a 5 percent annual raise over the next three years. BART said Saturday that train operators and station agents in the unions average about $71,000 in base salary and $11,000 in overtime annually. The workers also pay a flat $92 monthly fee for health insurance.
Meanwhile, BART has offered a 1 percent raise annually over the next four years and for employees to contribute to their pensions.
The unions' current contract expires at midnight Sunday. On Friday, the ATU asked California Gov. Jerry Brown to issue a 60-day "cooling off" period if no deal can be reached by Sunday's deadline, but the SEIU and BART officials have urged Brown not to issue such an order.
The governor's office has declined to comment.
"Negotiations are frustrating," Rice said. "But, we'll be here, no matter long it takes. We're committed to work this out."
BART's last strike lasted six days in 1997. On Friday, other area transit agencies urged commuters to consider carpooling, taking buses or ferries, working from home and, if they must drive to work, to leave earlier or even later than usual.
"The bottom line is that a BART strike will be an absolute nightmare for everyone," said Jim Wunderman, president and CEO of the Bay Area Council, a business advocacy organization. "Our transportation system simply does not have the capacity to absorb the more than 400,000 BART riders who will be left at the station. There will be serious pain."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/san-francisco-transit-talks-resume-strike-looms-230845272.html
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Saturday, June 29, 2013
The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW): Where were you on iPhone launch day six years ago?
It's hard to believe that six years ago today -- June 29, 2007 -- was the first time that anyone other than Steve Jobs and a handful of Apple employees got their hands on an iPhone. I asked my fellow TUAW bloggers to join me with what they remember about that special day, and here's the result:
Steve Sande
In 2007, I wasn't yet writing for TUAW. I had my own blog at the time called "The iPhone Ranch" that I had started up a couple of weeks before. So on launch day, I woke up really early and drove four miles over to the Aspen Grove Apple Store in Littleton, CO where I found that I was about the fortieth person in line. The line kept growing on that hot day -- I think there were several hundred people by the the time the doors opened.
I caught video with my camcorder that day (before the good video from the iPhone showed up) and caught the excitement -- and the excruciating boredom of waiting outside in the heat all day. It's interesting to see how different Apple Stores were back in the day. Here's the video:
Kelly Hodgkins
In June 2007, I was expecting our sixth child, and a new iPhone was not on my priority list. I was intrigued by it no doubt, but I was a Verizon Wireless customer and the iPhone was AT&T only. AT&T didn't have coverage in my area and wouldn't let me sign up for service. I watched from the sidelines as the world bought the iPhone and raved about it. I was still on Windows Mobile and dying inside every minute.
A few months later, I eventually relented and bought the iPhone by driving across state borders to an area that had service. Sadly, I had to return the iPhone because a phone isn't much of a phone if you can't make calls. I bought an iPod touch instead, but it wasn't the same. I tried the iPhone again with the 3GS and still no coverage. I finally joined the iPhone revolution in full when Verizon got the iPhone 4. I stayed up until 3 AM to pre-order it online and haven't looked back since.
Mike Schramm
I lived in Chicago back in 2007, and as an editor on TUAW, I was out covering the iPhone's launch. I put a gallery together of the launch at the Michigan Ave. Apple Store, and I took video of the launch at both that store and the State Street location. I also rounded up a series of reports from all over the country, with people waiting in line and picking up their brand new "magical" iPhones.
I didn't buy an iPhone myself on launch day, though. My purchase came a month or so later, I believe. And I've since moved on, skipping every other generation, to an iPhone 4, and now a 5. I've never preordered an iPhone -- I've always just waited a week or two and purchased it in the store without a problem. But who knows? Maybe the next iteration is the one that will get me to jump on it right away.
Erica Sadun
Family was visiting that weekend, so I couldn't get out until, if memory serves, Sunday. I called up the local store, found out a truck had just arrived -- hopped over, bought a phone, and was out of there in minutes. What followed, trying to get it activated through AT&T on was a bit of a nightmare, but the actual purchase was just fine. I spent an entire day waiting as the (kind) AT&T people attempted to get the phone going. Eventually it worked, and the world became something new, wonderful, and exciting. A brave new frontier of mobile computing had just opened up.
Victor Agreda Jr.
After plumbing the depths of my Gmail, I remember! I went to the Knoxville Apple Store in the mall and wrote this up:
http://www.tuaw.com/2007/06/29/knoxville-has-a-line-waiting-for-iphones/
My brother got one (not me), and later that day I went to his apartment and took some pics of it. Pretty boring. I had a corporate BlackBerry and no money to afford one, let alone "go AT&T" haha.
My Verizon zinger has surely stood the test of time.
John-Michael Bond
I was still using a flip phone and was making fun of my friends for thinking they needed to spend over 400 dollars on a phone.
Richard Gaywood
No great story here. I think I followed along on a liveblog, because I'd made some (in hindsight quite accurate) guesses and I wanted to see how on the money I was. I was stuck in a contract on a (bloody awful) Windows phone at the time, and in the end I waited out the first iPhone entirely and skipped straight to the 3G. The iPhone 1 didn't launch in the UK for some prolonged amount of time anyway -- six months or so, I think.
Chris Rawson
I was at work, at PR Newswire in Cleveland. I wasn't the least bit interested in the iPhone at the time. I knew I'd be moving to New Zealand the next year, so committing to (and then breaking) a two-year contract with AT&T (barf) wasn't going to happen.
The price also turned me off. "$600 for a phone?! That's more than a PlayStation 3 costs, and the PS3 does way more." This statement has, of course, become utterly ridiculous in hindsight; I have spent north of NZ$1000 on an iPhone three times now (will be four when the next one comes out), and my PS3 is dead from its third "yellow light of death" failure and sitting in a closet.
Yoni Heisler
Alas, my iPhone story isn't terribly exciting. Stuck on Sprint at the time, and like Chris, intimidated by the unsubsidized pricetag, I wasn't able to pick up an iPhone on launch day.
I did, however, trek down to the downtown Apple store in Chicago where I waited in line (inside the store) to finally get my hands on this magical device. I remember being particularly impressed with the weather app (swipe to the left.. a whole new city!)
Ah, times were simpler back then :)
Michael Grothaus
I was being briefed by Apple and being told I would need to be in AT&T's flagship store in Chicago for the launch. I have pics of the lines from launch day while I'm safely in the store playing with the iPhone.
Best part of that day was explaining to the Chicago White Sox owner that I didn't care who he was, I couldn't hold a phone for him; he needed to stand in line like everyone else.
Mike Rose
I'm not sure I remember... but I do know that during the Macworld keynote I was on the phone with Laurie Duncan, who was standing outside the Moscone auditorium watching on a repeater monitor. "iPhone -- they're calling it iPhone," she said, but I could barely hear her over the roar.
I have a print of Duncan Davidson's "Monolith" photo now. Need to get it framed. http://duncandavidson.com/blog/2011/10/iphone_2007/
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Source: http://feeds.smartphonemag.com/~r/iPhoneLife_News/~3/bJ8FAapEJyU/
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Rescuers: American schooner sank
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) ? Rescue crews searching for a classic American schooner carrying seven people believe the boat sank between New Zealand and Australia, although they haven't given up hope of finding survivors.
A third day of aerial searches Friday turned up no sign of the 85-year-old wooden sailboat or its crew. Named Nina, the boat left New Zealand on May 29 bound for Australia. The last know contact with the crew was on June 4. Rescuers were alerted the boat was missing on June 14, but weren't unduly worried at first because the emergency locator beacon had not been activated.
The six Americans on board include captain David Dyche, 58, his wife Rosemary, 60, and their son David, 17. Also aboard was their friend Evi Nemeth, 73, a man aged 28, a woman aged 18, and a British man aged 35.
The leader of Friday's search efforts, Neville Blakemore at New Zealand's Rescue Coordination Centre, said it's now logical to assume the 70-foot (21-meter) boat sank in a storm but added it's possible some crew members survived either in the life raft that was aboard or by making land.
On the day the boat went missing, a storm hit the area with winds gusting up to 110 kilometers (68 miles) per hour and waves of up to 8 meters (26 feet).
Blakemore said the Southern Hemisphere winter months tend to produce the year's worst storms, although he added that he wouldn't normally expect a sturdy and well-maintained craft like the Nina to sink in a storm like the one in early June.
Friday's search focused on the coastline around northern New Zealand, including the small Three Kings Islands. Rescuers were looking for wreckage or the life raft.
Blakemore said plane searches earlier this week covered a wide band of ocean between New Zealand and Australia. He said searchers were considering their options for the weekend.
He said the logical conclusion is that the boat sank rapidly, preventing the crew from activating the locator beacon or using other devices aboard including a satellite phone and a spot beacon. He said that unlike many locator beacons, the one aboard the Nina is not activated by water pressure and wouldn't start automatically if the boat sank.
Dyche is a qualified captain and he and his family are experienced sailors. Blakemore said the family had been sailing around the world for several years and were often joined on different legs by friends and sailors they met along the way.
Susan Payne, harbor master of the St. Andrews Marina near Panama City, Florida, said the couple left Panama City in the Nina a couple of years ago and sailed to Mystic Seaport in Connecticut where they prepared for the trip.
New Zealand meteorologist Bob McDavitt was the last person known to have been in contact with the schooner, when the boat was about 370 nautical miles west of New Zealand.
He said Nemeth called him by satellite phone June 3 and said: "The weather's turned nasty, how do we get away from it?"
He advised them to head south and brace for the storm.
The next day he got a text, the last known communication: "ANY UPDATE 4 NINA? ... EVI"
McDavitt said he advised the crew to stay put and ride out the storm another day. He continued sending messages the next few days but didn't hear back. Friends of the crew got in touch with McDavitt soon after that, and then alerted authorities.
___
Associated Press writer Melissa Nelson-Gabriel in Pensacola, Florida, contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rescuers-believe-american-schooner-carrying-7-sank-053935827.html
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A Deal With Time Warner Just Gave Your Xbox 300 New Live TV Channels
Microsoft has just announced a major deal that means Time Warner Cable subscribers with an Xbox Live Gold membership will be able to watch more than 300 live TV channels direct from their Xbox 360 this summer.
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US agency sues Corzine over failure of MF Global
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Jon Corzine once saw a boutique brokerage called MF Global as his best hope to rescale the heights of Wall Street he'd once occupied as head of Goldman Sachs.
Now, MF Global is bankrupt. And Corzine faces a lifetime ban from the futures industry.
On Thursday, federal regulators sued Corzine, a onetime U.S. senator and governor of New Jersey. They allege that he was responsible for the misuse of customer money while CEO of MF Global, which collapsed in 2011.
A civil lawsuit filed in Manhattan by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission seeks to restrict Corzine's ability to trade investments and demands he pay unspecified penalties.
The suit charges that MF Global violated U.S. laws in the weeks before it collapsed by using customer funds to support its own trading operations. About $1.2 billion in customer money vanished when the firm collapsed.
Corzine bore responsibility for the unlawful acts by MF Global because he controlled the firm and its holdings and "either did not act in good faith or knowingly induced these violations," the lawsuit says.
In a conference call with reporters, CFTC Enforcement Director David Meister said Corzine failed to do enough to "prevent the firm from dipping into customers' funds to stay afloat."
MF Global has agreed to pay a $100 million penalty as part of a settlement announced Thursday. The money will come from bankruptcy proceedings.
Corzine has disputed the allegations by the CFTC, which regulated New York-based MF Global. He did so again Thursday through his lawyers.
"Mr. Corzine did nothing wrong, and we look forward to vindicating him in court," attorney Andy Levander said in a statement.
James Giddens, the court-appointed trustee overseeing MF Global's bankruptcy, called the settlement with the CFTC "appropriate." He said the $100 million penalty will be paid only after the firm's customers and creditors have received all their claims.
The CFTC also filed civil charges against Edith O'Brien, the firm's former assistant treasurer. Last year, O'Brien was summoned to a congressional hearing into what happened in MF Global's final days. She declined to answer questions, invoking her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Attorneys for O'Brien didn't immediately return a call seeking comment Thursday.
The lawsuit seeks to bar Corzine and O'Brien from working for any firms that trade commodities or other investments regulated by the CFTC. Corzine and O'Brien would also be barred from trading any such investments on their own. They could still trade stocks and bonds.
Thursday's lawsuit is striking in that regulators have seldom charged individuals with financial crisis-era misdeeds. They have instead imposed fines and penalties against companies, often with no one having to admit blame.
Nearly 90 percent of the money belonging to the firm's U.S. customers has been recovered. Many farmers, ranchers and business owners used futures contracts through MF Global to hedge their risks against fluctuating crop prices. A futures contract allows someone to agree with someone else to buy or sell something ? corn, say, or gold ? at a set price at some point in the future.
The CFTC need not show in court that Corzine personally authorized the use of customer money, said Anthony Sabino of the New York law firm Sabino & Sabino, which specializes in white-collar crime. Top executives can be liable for "failure to maintain internal controls" or "failure to supervise," Sabino said.
Under a 2002 anti-corporate fraud law ? which Corzine co-wrote as a U.S. senator ? CEOs of public companies must personally certify the accuracy of their company's financial statements.
"When the Titanic went down, you didn't blame the cook; you didn't blame the guy in the engine room," Sabino said. "You blamed the captain. And Corzine is the captain of the ship called MF Global."
The CFTC has "a very substantial case" against Corzine and MF Global, Sabino said.
Robert Mintz, a former federal prosecutor, predicted that Corzine and the CFTC would eventually settle but not before a drawn-out battle.
That the CFTC filed suit against such a major defendant signals confidence that they have a strong case, he suggested.
"A defeat in a case like this, in such a high-profile setting, would come at some cost to the reputation of the agency," said Mintz, now at McCarter & English in New Jersey.
It isn't clear how much money Corzine is worth. He spent roughly $100 million of his fortune to win a U.S. Senate seat and the New Jersey governorship. In 2005, the last full year that he was a U.S. senator, he was estimated to be worth between $125 million and $175 million.
MF Global sought bankruptcy protection in 2011 after a disastrous bet on European countries' debt. Under Corzine's leadership, the firm bet $6.3 billion on bonds issued by Italy, Spain and other nations with deeply troubled financial systems. Those bonds plummeted in value in the weeks before MF Global's failure as fears intensified that some European countries might default.
The firm's $41 billion bankruptcy was the eighth-largest in U.S. history. It was also the first collapse of a Wall Street firm since the 2008 financial crisis ended. Critics have long complained that regulators have failed to aggressively pursue much bigger financial firms, whose high-risk bets nearly toppled the financial system.
Corzine, 66, had been a CEO of Wall Street powerhouse Goldman Sachs before entering politics in 2000. He served as a Democratic U.S. senator from New Jersey and later governor of the state. He took the top job at MF Global in March 2010 after losing his 2009 bid for re-election as governor to Chris Christie.
MF Global was a small commodities broker when Corzine arrived. His vision was to transform the firm into a full-scale investment bank, similar to Goldman. The CFTC's lawsuit says he sought to do so by generating revenue from aggressive trading strategies.
The plan worked for a while even as the firm's investments grew increasingly risky, the lawsuit said. In the second half of 2011, its investments put heavy strains on its cash flow and capital. By October 2011, the lawsuit says, sources of cash were drying up.
Corzine and other employees communicated with one another, by email and sometimes on recorded phone lines, about the firm's "dire situation," the lawsuit says.
It says a treasurer of the firm's parent company, MF Global Holdings Ltd., told a chief financial officer and another employee in a recorded conversation on Oct. 6, 2011, that "we have to tell Jon that enough is enough. We need to take the keys away from him."
Corzine "disparagingly nicknamed the Global treasurer 'the Gravedigger,'" the lawsuit says
Corzine stepped down as MF Global chief in November 2011, a few days after the firm filed for bankruptcy protection.
Three reports on MF Global's collapse, by a House panel and two court-appointed trustees, placed most of the blame on Corzine. It said his risky strategies caused the failure.
Shareholders of MF Global have sued Corzine and other top managers. The investors say they lost about $585 million in just a week as the firm foundered. They accuse MF Global and the executives of making false and misleading statements about the firm's financial strength.
Giddens, the trustee, also joined a lawsuit filed by MF Global customers against Corzine and the other top executives.
Corzine testified at three hearings of House and Senate committees in December 2011 after lawmakers subpoenaed him. It was a rare sight in Washington: A former member of Congress being called by former colleagues to testify publicly about potential violations of law.
Corzine's testimony offered little to satisfy lawmakers or MF Global customers who lost money. Yet his explanations would be hard to disprove, legal experts said.
He said he never intended to "misuse" client money or to order anyone else to do so. Corzine also rebuffed an assertion that he knew about customer money that might have been transferred to a European affiliate just before MF Global collapsed.
O'Brien, the former assistant treasurer, was subpoenaed to testify at a hearing last year about an email she sent that appeared to contradict testimony from Corzine. The email said Corzine ordered a transfer of customer money to cover an overdraft in the firm's bank account in London.
"On the advice of counsel," she told Congress, "I respectfully decline to answer based on my constitutional right."
___
Neumeister and Rexrode contributed from New York.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-agency-sues-corzine-over-failure-mf-global-185641107.html
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Who Would You Cast In a Live-Action Jetsons Movie?
Kanye West is making the rounds again claiming that he's the creative director for a live-action Jetsons movie that's currently (sort-of, kind-of, not really) in development. Beyond the fact that "creative director" isn't actually the title for a job on any movie ? but something you'd find at an advertising agency ? consider this retrofuture blogger skeptical that a Jetsons movie will ever see the light of day.
But that being said, it's still fun to imagine who might be cast in a movie about the world's most famous family from the future.
Over at Entertainment Weekly they've taken a couple guesses at who might be good for each role ? along with a strange, fictionalized response from Kanye West. But I have two issues with the EW list: 1) They SKIPPED JANE! and 2) You can't cast a human to play Rosey. It's unnatural. Rosey is a robot and will be played by a robot. End of discussion.
However, a lot of things feel right about the EW list. I think their choice of Ty Burrell (Phil Dunphy on ABC's "Modern Family") is perfect for George. And Bob Hoskins as Mr. Spacely is a great pick. But while Elle Fanning is a fine actress, I'm not sure she's right for the role of Judy.
So who do you think should be cast in each of these flesh-and-blood retro-futuristic roles? Let me just stress again that I don't think this movie is actually going to get off the ground anytime soon. But we can dream!
Image: Screenshot of a "Jetsons" DVD and Getty Images
Source: http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/who-would-you-cast-in-a-live-action-jetsons-movie-598378176
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Friday, June 28, 2013
John Oliver Applauds Wendy Davis Filibuster, Slams Texas Republicans For 'One Of The Shadiest Moves Of All Time' (VIDEO)
Wendy Davis
Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, left, who tries to filibuster an abortion bill, reacts as time expires, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. Amid the deafening roar of abortion rights supporters, Texas Republicans huddled around the Senate podium to pass new abortion restrictions, but whether the vote was cast before or after midnight is in dispute. If signed into law, the measures would close almost every abortion clinic in Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Wendy Davis, Kirk Watson
Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, center, talks with Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, left, after she was called for a third and final violation in rules to end her filibuster attempt to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Members of the gallery respond as Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, is called for a third and final violation in rules to end her filibuster attempt to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Member of the gallery respond by holding up their shoes as Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, is called for a third and final violation in rules to end her filibuster attempt to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Wendy Davis
Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, reacts after she was called for a third and final violation in rules to end her filibuster attempt to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Members of the gallery respond as Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, is called for a third and final violation in rules to end her filibuster attempt to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Wendy Davis
Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, center, who tries to filibuster an abortion bill, hold up a no vote as time expires, Wednesday, June 26, 2013, in Austin, Texas. Amid the deafening roar of abortion rights supporters, Texas Republicans huddled around the Senate podium to pass new abortion restrictions, but whether the vote was cast before or after midnight is in dispute. If signed into law, the measures would close almost every abortion clinic in Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Wendy Davis
Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, cener, filibusters in an effort to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Wendy Davis
Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, filibusters in an effort to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
A line to enter the Senate Chamber spills into the rotunda as Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, filibusters in an effort to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
David Dewhurst
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, center, holds a conference with senators to discuss a rule during Sen. Wendy Davis', D-Fort Worth, filibusters in an effort to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Wendy Davis, Rodney Ellis
Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, left, helps Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, right, with a back brace during her filibusters of an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. Davis was given a second warning for breaking filibuster rules. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Wendy Davis, Rodney Ellis
Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, left, and Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, right, vote against a motion to call for a rules violation during Davis' filibusters of an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. Davis was given a second warning for breaking filibuster rules by receiving help from Ellis with a back brace. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Wendy Davis
Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, left, votes against a motion to call for a rules violation during her filibusters of an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. Davis was given a second warning for breaking filibuster rules by receiving help from Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, with a back brace. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Wendy Davis
Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, reacts after she was called for a rules violation during her filibusters of an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. Davis was given a second warning for breaking filibuster rules. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Hundreds line up to enter the Senate Chamber spills into multiple levels of the rotunda as Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, filibusters in an effort to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Wendy Davis
Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, reacts after she was called for a third and final violation in rules to end her filibuster attempt to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Wendy Davis
Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, center, holds her hand to her mouth as she stands with fellow senators after she was called for a third and final violation in rules to end her filibuster attempt to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Wendy Davis
Standing in front of a portrait of President Lyndon B. Johnson, Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, begins a filibuster in an effort to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Hundreds line up to enter the Senate Chamber spills into multiple levels of the rotunda as Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, filibusters in an effort to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Member of the gallery respond by holding up their shoes as Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, is called for a third and final violation in rules to end her filibuster attempt to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Members of the gallery respond as Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, is called for a third and final violation in rules to end her filibuster attempt to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Wendy Davis, Kirk Watson
Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, center, talks with Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, left, after she was called for a third and final violation in rules to end her filibuster attempt to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Members of the gallery respond as Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, is called for a third and final violation in rules to end her filibuster attempt to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Wendy Davis
Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, speaks as she begins a filibuster in an effort to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Wendy Davis
Standing in front of a portrait of President Lyndon B. Johnson, Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, begins a filibuster in an effort to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Wendy Davis
Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, begins a filibuster in an effort to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
A line to enter the Senate Chamber spills into the rotunda as Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, filibusters in an effort to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Opponents to an abortion bill sit in the senate chamber as Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, filibusters in an effort to kill the abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Opponents to an abortion bill sit in the senate chamber as Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, filibusters in an effort to kill the abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Wendy Davis
Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, stands on a near empty senate floor as she filibusters in an effort to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Wendy Davis
Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, stands on a near empty senate floor as she filibusters in an effort to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Opponents to an abortion bill sit in the senate chamber as Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, filibusters in an effort to kill the abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Wendy Davis
Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, holds up two fingers to cast a no vote to bring an abortion bill to the floor early for debate, Monday, June 24, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Wendy Davis
Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, stands on a near empty senate floor as she filibusters in an effort to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Wendy Davis
Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, stands on a near empty senate floor as she filibusters in an effort to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Wendy Davis
Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, center, speaks as she begins a filibusters in an effort to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Wendy Davis
Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, wears tennis shoes in place of her dress shoes as she begins a one-woman filibuster in an effort to kill an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Wendy Davis, Kirk Watson, Rodney Ellis
Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, second from left, talks with Sen. Rodney Ellis, left, Sen Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen, right, and Kirk Watson, D-Austin. as she prepares to filibusters an abortion bill, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Wendy Davis
Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, center, talks with fellow senators during a recess, Monday, June 24, 2013, in Austin, Texas. Senate democrats are trying to hold off on a bill that would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Wendy Davis
Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, holds up two fingers to casts a no vote to bring an abortion bill to the floor early for debate, Monday, June 24, 2013, in Austin, Texas. The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/27/john-oliver-wendy-davis-f_n_3509669.html
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Thursday, June 27, 2013
John Zimmer Says Lyft Will Work With Sidecar, Uber To Fight Regulators In Wake Of LA Cease & Desist
Lyft co-founder John Zimmer says the company is trying to work with other ride sharing companies to fight regulators after Los Angeles served Lyft, Uber, and Sidecar with cease and desist letters yesterday. "We'd love to work together with Sidecar and Uber on this front and have initiated multiple meetings to do just that," Zimmer wrote.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/6dgVOastI1A/
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Pats release Hernandez in homicide investigation
FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2013 file photo, New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez runs after a catch during the second half of an AFC divisional playoff NFL football game against the Houston Texans in Foxborough, Mass. Hernandez has been taken from his home in Attleboro, Mass. in handcuffs, Wednesday, June 26, 2013, after a Boston semi-pro football player was found dead in an industrial park a mile from his house. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2013 file photo, New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez runs after a catch during the second half of an AFC divisional playoff NFL football game against the Houston Texans in Foxborough, Mass. Hernandez has been taken from his home in Attleboro, Mass. in handcuffs, Wednesday, June 26, 2013, after a Boston semi-pro football player was found dead in an industrial park a mile from his house. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 1, 2012 file photo, New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez (81) tries to break free of Buffalo Bills linebacker Chris Kelsay (90) during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass. Hernandez has been taken from his home in handcuffs, Wednesday, June 26, 2013, after a Boston semi-pro football player was found dead in an industrial park a mile from his house. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)
The New England Patriots didn't wait for Aaron Hernandez's legal troubles to play themselves out.
Hours after police arrested Hernandez in connection with a homicide probe Wednesday, the Patriots cut the tight end who had signed a five-year deal with New England just last summer.
"Words cannot express the disappointment we feel knowing that one of our players was arrested as a result of this investigation. We realize that law enforcement investigations into this matter are ongoing," the team said in a statement. "We support their efforts and respect the process. At this time, we believe this transaction is simply the right thing to do."
Hernandez was taken from his home in handcuffs early Wednesday, more than a week after a Boston semi-pro football player was found dead in an industrial park a mile from Hernandez's house.
Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old member of the Boston Bandits, was found slain June 17. Officials ruled the death a homicide but did not say how Lloyd died.
The NFL released a statement expressing sympathy to Lloyd's family.
"The involvement of an NFL player in a case of this nature is deeply troubling. The Patriots have released Aaron Hernandez, who will have his day in court," it read. "At the same time, we should not forget the young man who was the victim in this case and take this opportunity to extend our deepest sympathy to Odin Lloyd's family and friends."
The 23-year-old Hernandez was an All-American at Florida and part of a tight end duo in New England that was among the league's most productive.
But heading into the 2010 NFL draft at least one team said it took him off its draft board ? refusing to select him under any circumstances ? and all of the other teams in the league bypassed him repeatedly as he fell to New England in the fourth round.
Afterward, Hernandez said he had failed a single drug test in college ? reportedly for marijuana ? and was up front with teams about it.
Ever since he became entangled in the investigation into Lloyd's death, other off-field issues have become public.
A South Florida man filed a lawsuit last week claiming Hernandez shot him in the face after they argued at a strip club. The man, who lost his right eye, told police after the February incident that he did not know who shot him.
The Boston Globe reported that Hernandez lost his temper and threatened teammate Wes Welker during an argument in the team's weight room shortly after being drafted.
Hernandez became a father to a daughter on Nov. 6, and he said it made him think.
"I'm engaged now and I have a baby. So it's just going to make me think of life a lot differently and doing things the right way," he said. "Now, another one is looking up to me. I can't just be young and reckless Aaron no more. I'm going to try to do the right things, become a good father and (have her) be raised like I was raised."
The loss of Hernandez deprives the Patriots of the second half of one of the league's best tight end tandems. Fellow Pro Bowl selection Rob Gronkowski has had five operations this offseason on his back and broken left forearm.
Hernandez was chosen for the Pro Bowl in 2011, when he caught 79 passes for 910 yards and seven touchdowns. He missed 10 games last season with an ankle injury.
In 38 games over his three NFL seasons, the 6-foot-1, 245-pound Hernandez has 175 receptions for 1,956 yards and 18 touchdowns. Last summer, the Patriots gave Hernandez a five-year contract worth $41 million just months after the team locked up Gronkowski through 2019.
"Aaron's improved a lot," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said at the time. "He's worked hard, he's improved a lot in all phases of the game ? the passing game, the running game, protection and his overall versatility. He's doing a good job for us."
Despite the size that makes him a capable blocker, Hernandez has the speed and moves of a wide receiver and is elusive after making a catch.
Born in Bristol, Conn., Hernandez played at Bristol High School before attending Florida, where he won the John Mackey Award as the nation's best tight end as a junior in 2009. He was college teammates with two current Patriots ? quarterback Tim Tebow and linebacker Brandon Spikes on the team that won the national championship in 2009.
Hernandez had shoulder surgery in April, but was expected to be ready for training camp. The Patriots did not say which shoulder was operated on.
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Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Future Stunt Pilots Could Train in These All-Electric Planes
Didier Esteyne and EADS turned heads at the 2011 Paris Air Show when they debuted the the world's first all-electric airplane, the single-seat Cri-Cri. Fast forward two years, and the miniscule Cri-Cri has grown into a sleek tandem-seat training craft that's as green as it is acrobatic.
Dubbed the E-Fan, this Light Sport Aircraft prototype is 21 feet long, has a 31-foot wingspan, and weighs about 1,212 pounds. Esteyne and EADS (the parent company of Airbus) have spent more than eight months developing the platform with funding from French civil aviation authority, among others.
It's powered by 250 volt, 40 amp-hour Li-ion battery packs in the bases of the wings that drive a pair of 1.5kN electrical engines that spin the ducted fans, rather than the conventional propellers, to provide thrust. This offers significant energy savings, less noise and danger, according to Esteyne, albeit at the cost of some power. "This plane, with these dimensions, can fly with 20 kilowatts [per side], easy,? he told Wired. That should be enough for an hour's flight at 110 mph.
To further improve its energy efficiency, the E-Fan is outfitted with a powered main landing gear that allows the plane to taxi without running the fans as well as help get the plane up to takeoff speed with a 35MPH boost.
Like it's tiny predecessor, the E-Fan can handle a bit of aerial acrobatics. Sure, barrel rolling and loop-de-looping through the wild blue yonder is way fun, it also cuts the flight time in half to just 30 minutes.
While the plane hasn't actually ever "flown" yet, it has successfully completed taxi and ground testing with flight testing to commence later this year. If it's successful, "we believe that the E-Fan demonstrator is an ideal platform that could be eventually matured, certified to and marketed as an aircraft for pilot training,? explained Jean Botti, CTO of EADS. Of course that'd require the FAA and civil air authorities the world over to enact new regulations for electric aircraft first, though it's got to be easier than writing the new rules for UAVs. [Cleantechnica - EV World - AV Web - Gas 2 - Image: EADS]
Source: http://gizmodo.com/future-stunt-pilots-could-train-in-these-all-electric-p-533027421
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A reporter's eyewitness account of Taliban attack
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? One moment I was standing in a quiet, secure and heavily guarded area and the next it had turned into a battlefield.
It was 6:30 a.m., and I waiting with about 20 other journalists for an escort into the palace for a speech by President Hamid Karzai. It was a routine assignment for Kabul journalists, and the presidential compound is a scenic and peaceful oasis lined with pine trees in my chaotic hometown.
Suddenly I saw the four armed men jump out of their vehicle. They kneeled down and started shooting. Two of them fired at presidential palace security guards stationed at a checkpoint. The two others aimed their weapons at the Ariana Hotel, where the CIA is known to have an office.
I didn't know what to do. Bullets were flying all over. Gunfire was coming from different directions. No one really knew who were the attackers and who were the security forces because both sides were wearing similar uniforms.
I thought at first that this must be an insider attack or an argument between security guards. I just couldn't believe that Taliban fighters could have made it this far into the presidential compound, through two checkpoints. Soon I realized they must be Taliban.
___
EDITOR'S NOTE: Rahim Faiez, a correspondent with The Associated Press in Afghanistan since January 2002, was waiting in a security area outside the heavily fortified Afghan presidential compound in Kabul for an escort to the palace to cover a speech by President Hamid Karzai when he got caught up Tuesday in a Taliban attack. This is his account.
___
I hit the ground and kept my head down, asking myself, what I should do? I looked around to try to find a place to use as a shelter and call my office ? report the news as fast as possible.
Mostly, though, my thoughts focused on my small children ? my nearly 6-year-old son, Mohammad Akmal, and my two daughters, Hadia, who is 4, and Muqadasa, just 15 months.
Some other reporters took shelter behind an armored SUV used by an American television network. A few others lay in a ditch.
I saw a white, small, religious shrine nearby, and crawled about 10 to 15 meters (yards), then ran as fast as I could toward the wall of the shrine. I saw blood on my clothes but was sure I had not been hit. Later I noticed scratches on my arms and knees from pulling my body across the ground.
I finally reached the wall and thought it was safe enough to take my mobile phone and call the office.
Breathless and scared, I shouted over the phone to a colleague, "David, attackers are inside and shooting is going on." He was shocked.
Grenades and rockets were exploding in the background and automatic weapons were firing. My colleague asked, "Are you safe, Rahim? Are you OK? I replied I was fine, even if I wasn't entirely.
Then I managed to take a deep breath and started reporting, the battle still going on in the background.
Most of the reporters moved with me behind the shrine.
Looking out, we saw a small boy, around 6 years old, wearing a school uniform and running close to us. He was so brave, not crying, but of course very worried.
We grabbed him and pulled him behind the wall. He didn't know how to call his parents but one of the reporters had a number for the director of his nearby school. He called and told the director that one of his students was with us and safe.
I wanted to move out from behind the wall and take some photos with my cell phone. But bullets kept coming and never gave me the chance. We all wanted to leave from our precarious position, but security guards from the other gate, about 50 meters (yards) away from us, kept shouting that we must stay there. Otherwise we could be shot from the CIA building because guards there wouldn't know who we were.
We sheltered behind that wall for about an hour until the shooting finally eased. During that time, my father called me twice. I lied to him, telling him I was farther from the battle than I really was.
More guards moved into the area, first securing it and finally motioning to us one by one to leave. By then, we later learned, eight attackers and three guards lay dead.
But at the moment I wasn't sure whether other attackers were hiding nearby. I felt safe only when I finally got away from the area. I called my father and told him I was on my way back to the office and not to worry.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Rahim Faiez, a correspondent with The Associated Press in Afghanistan since January 2002, was waiting in a security area outside the heavily fortified Afghan presidential compound in Kabul for an escort to the palace to cover a speech by President Hamid Karzai when he got caught up Tuesday in a Taliban attack. This is his account.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/reporters-eyewitness-account-taliban-attack-184444286.html
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Turtles have fingerprints? New genetic technique reveals paternity and more
June 24, 2013 ? For 220 million years they have roamed the seas, denizens of the bustling coral reef and the vast open ocean. Each year, some emerge from the pounding surf onto moonlit beaches to lay their eggs. Throughout human history, we have revered them, used them, and worked to protect them, but we have only begun to understand these ancient, iconic creatures. Now, with all five of the sea turtle species in the U.S. threatened or endangered, knowledge is more crucial than ever.
NOAA scientist Dr. Peter Dutton leads a team that's trying to answer some important questions about marine turtles. What will happen as sea levels rise, covering the nesting beaches turtles have used for hundreds of years? Which turtle laid this mysterious clutch of eggs on a remote beach? Where in the ocean do they mate, and how big is this population?
Thanks to a recent breakthrough in the genetics lab, Dutton and his colleagues have a clever way to find answers. Like detectives, they have learned that fingerprints help solve the puzzle?genetic fingerprints. For decades, most sea turtle studies and conservation efforts have focused on nesting females and hatchlings, because they're easiest for humans to access. Male sea turtles, which don't come ashore, are elusive characters.
Dutton's team has pioneered a technique that allows them to fill in the blanks using tiny DNA samples from nesting females and hatchlings. As Dutton and his colleague Dr. Kelly Stewart wrote in a recent article, "Hidden in a hatchling's DNA is its entire family history, including who its mother is, who its father is, and to what nesting population it belongs." (See: http://seaturtlestatus.org/sites/swot/files/report/030612_SWOT7_p12_Sea%20Turtle%20CSI.pdf)
This innovative tool is opening up new avenues in marine turtle conservation. Population recovery goals are based on how long turtles take to reach maturity, and genetic fingerprinting can help reveal this key piece of information, which may be different for each population. Dutton's team developed the technique while studying endangered leatherbacks on St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. In the last four years, they have sampled 20,353 hatchlings there, and discovered the genetic identity of the fathers, even when multiple males have sired a single clutch of eggs; how often individual turtles mate and their reproductive success; and the ratio of males to females among the breeding turtles.
On Padre Island National Seashore in Texas, critically endangered Kemp's ridley turtles have been leaving scattered nests along remote beaches, but females are often long gone by the time monitors find the nests. There, NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center and the National Park Service are using the technique to match mystery nests to mother turtles. Identifying who's nesting where and when, survival rate, and breeding success over many years will help us monitor this small population and gauge the impact of major events like disasters.
In the most surprising news yet, green turtles have begun nesting in the main Hawai'ian islands for the first time in generations. Green turtles, or honu, have nested in the remote Northwest Hawai'ian Islands, primarily on the quiet, low-lying beaches of French Frigate Shoals, a coral atoll about 500 miles from Honolulu.
Genetic fingerprinting shows that about 15 untagged females have become "founders" on the main Hawai'ian islands, boldly nesting where no one has nested before?at least not for hundreds of years. It's possible that this pioneer population could provide a kind of buffer as sea level rise threatens to shrink their traditional nesting beaches. Many questions remain, but for now science is giving turtles, and those who care about them, reason to hope.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/ldgcQeFmidI/130624143922.htm
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Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Mad Catz M.O.U.S. 9
-
Pros
Flexible design. Comfortable.
- Cons Expensive. Sensor isn't quite as gaming-oriented as other Mad Catz mice.
-
Bottom Line
The Mad Catz M.O.U.S. 9 looks and feels like a flexible, albeit pricey, wireless gaming mouse, even if Mad Catz tries to promote it as a mouse for non-gamers.
Mad Catz made a very strange choice when it made the M.O.U.S. 9 wireless mouse. It pitched the mouse as a powerful, everyday, non-gaming mouse. Despite its name being M.O.U.S. 9, its design coming from Mad Catz' R.A.T. gaming mice series, and its $129.99 (direct) price and wireless-mouse-with-nano-dongle-and-carrying-pouch status matching the company's R.A.T. M gaming mouse. Indeed, if you were to compare the two mice at a glance, you'd be hard pressed to see the difference. The M.O.U.S. 9 is more focused on its software-powered productivity features and Mad Catz is hesitant to describe its specific sensitivity compared to the R.A.T. M (but the M.O.U.S. 9 does use a laser sensor that can function on glass and most other surfaces), but as a gaming mouse it fares very well. More importantly, it's simply more comfortable than the R.A.T. M, with a larger design you won't notice packed in your bag but you will notice under your hand. The mouse is available in red, white, and matte and glossy black versions, and while Mad Catz doesn't promote it as a gaming mouse, it gets the job done very well.
Design
The M.O.U.S. 9 is a full-sized Mad Catz mouse, dwarfing the company's similarly equipped R.A.T. M mouse by a few comfortable fractions of an inch. Its palm rest can extend by pressing a button under it, letting you adjust the mouse to fit the size of your hand. It also locks in to place once you stop pressing the button, making it much more secure than the R.A.T. M's palm rest. It's very angular and tech-themed, like other Mad Catz R.A.T. mice, with stark, geometric edges interrupting the smooth mouse's lines. Besides the two main buttons and the mouse wheel, the M.O.U.S. 9 has an additional button to the left of the index finger, a large thumb button and two smaller forward/backward buttons on the thumb rest, a thumb wheel below the left mouse button, and a sensitivity toggle below the mouse wheel. All of these buttons can be configured and programmed with Mad Catz's free PC and Mac software.
The underside of the mouse holds the laser sensor next to a small power switch. A small USB receiver sits in a spring-loaded hole when not in use, and since it's a GameSmart Bluetooth mouse it can be used by any computer or tablet that can accept a Bluetooth pointing device without the adapter. A cylinder under the palm rest hides a compartment for one AA battery, which Mad Catz claims can run the M.O.U.S. 9 for a year. The mouse can fit in a drawstring bag that comes included, giving it extra protection if you toss it in your bag.
Comfort
I found the M.O.U.S. 9 comfortable to use even under my large hand, which felt cramped when using the R.A.T.M. While it lacks the four-way hat switch under the thumb found on the R.A.T.M, the larger thumb button and the thumb wheel are more functional and feel more solid; the hat switch felt slightly fiddle, and it was hard to use it in a given direction instead of pushing it straight down.
While both of Mad Catz's wireless mobile gaming mice offerings are a tad on the expensive side, the M.O.U.S. 9 stands as the superior model, with a larger, more functional design and a palm rest that locks into place. $130 is a lot to pay for a wireless mouse with no cradle, cable, or rechargeable battery, but it performs very well and works as a very convenient package for mice on the go. If you want a full-featured gaming mouse for your notebook and don't want to carry around a sack of cables and accessories, the Mad Catz M.O.U.S. 9 is an excellent choice. If you don't mind a cable, the Logitech G700s is a great, rechargeable wireless gaming mouse available for $30 less and our Editors' Choice for gaming mice.
By Will Greenwald Analyst, Consumer Electronics Will Greenwald has been covering consumer technology for more than six years, and has served on the editorial staffs of CNET.com, Sound & Vision, and Maximum PC. Since graduating from Syracuse University in 2005, Will has...
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Monday, June 24, 2013
Column: Acceptance and pragmatism, American style
WASHINGTON (AP) ? It's a counterintuitive notion in an era where it's easy to feel like Americans are sitting in judgment of one another every day. Yet here it is right in front of us: When it comes to social policy in the United States, a new pragmatism prevails in a number of surprising ways.
In a relatively short span, American views have shifted on everything from gay marriage to marijuana legalization to illegal immigration and, perhaps, more. New laws, predictably, have followed. And, today, parts of this country now allow gays to wed and people to smoke marijuana for fun, while Congress is debating whether to permit millions of people in the country unlawfully to stay.
Like it or not, this is what appears to be happening: We are becoming a country that's becoming more accepting rather than exclusive as technology and globalization combine with generational, ideological, demographic changes that are reshaping the nation's very fabric.
With the lessons of war and recession fresh in our minds, is it possible that the period we just underwent gave us some perspective? When people are worried about feeding families in the face of tough economic times and staying safe in the face of terrorism threats, do we no longer have the bandwidth to worry about whom others sleep with, what they smoke or whether they're living here legally? Have we reordered our priorities, becoming so focused on existential challenges that we don't have room for as much judgment in our lives anymore?
Certainly, prejudice still exists and it will likely forever. But the numbers agree. When it comes to social policy, at least, we are changing.
President Barack Obama remarked on how far we've come before an audience of young people in Belfast last week, when he invoked his own nation's history of discrimination while praising the peace achieved so far in Northern Ireland.
He spoke about the Civil War, segregation, slavery and interracial marriage bans, saying that "over time, laws changed, and hearts and minds changed, sometimes driven by courageous lawmakers, but more often driven by committed citizens." He added: "While we have work to do in many ways, we have surely become more tolerant and more just, more accepting, more willing to see our diversity in America not as something to fear, but as something to welcome because it's a source of our national strength."
As the Supreme Court prepares to rule on gay marriage, a Pew Research Center survey has found that for the first time in its polling just over half ? 51 percent ? of Americans favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally. It also found that 72 percent say that legal recognition of same-sex marriage is "inevitable." This comes a year after Obama declared his support for it.
With two states deciding last fall to legalize pot for recreational purposes, Pew also found in April that most Americans ? 52 percent ? now back doing so. It's the first time in more than four decades that a majority has taken that position. Support for legalization has risen 11 percentage points since 2010. As recently as a decade ago, only about one-third backed making marijuana legal.
And as Congress reaches toward a comprehensive immigration reform measure, a CBS News/New York Times survey in April found 83 percent favoring an eventual path to citizenship for people in the country unlawfully. That was 20 percentage points higher than what a Pew poll found in 2007, the last time the country engaged in a debate over the issue.
At first glance, these swings in public opinion, and the political changes that at times grudgingly follow, seem easy to explain: Our culture is increasingly defined by the younger, more liberal, more accepting generation but our system of laws remain defined by the older, more conservative, less tolerant generation.
Partly. That explanation belies the complexity of what's really going on. Attitude shifts, including greater acceptance of differences, tend to follow times of high stress.
"Whether it's the war on terror or the recession or this or that, society then reacts to those periods, and change usually results," says Fariborz Ghadar, a global business scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Affairs.
These days, he says, "the younger generation is getting more accepting, the pace of change is much faster, data is available to us more quickly, we're more plugged in to the world around us and it's all combining to allow people to develop their own opinions and be open to others'."
Certainly millennials, people born since 1980 who are now generally between 18 and 32, play a large role in the country's reshaping.
This generation of Americans skews left ideologically, growing up in the polarized period of the George W. Bush years and rallying behind Obama in the period since, becoming more liberal than the previous generation and even their parents' Baby Boomer generation. They came of age at a time when images of the burning World Trade Center towers and unemployment lines likely were seared into their memories as they determined what mattered to them ? and, perhaps as importantly, what didn't.
Their impact on the nation's fabric is similar to the impact young people had on the nation in the late 1960s, only in reverse.
"While everyone lost faith in Vietnam, there was a lot of pushback on the cultural, social and political beliefs of the younger generation that created all this tumult," says Andy Kohut of Pew. "It sent the country rightward, not leftward."
But the influence of millennials is only one factor contributing to this public opinion swing.
Other demographic changes ? racial and ethnic ? are also at play in a nation where whites have long been a majority. They are on pace to lose will lose that status in the next generation, somewhere around the year 2043, as fast-growing Latinos exert their dominance. All that has helped fuel changes in American views about reforming the nation's patchwork immigration system.
And then there's the ideological shift, with significant swaths of both the right and the left showing a be-and-let-be libertarian bent, wary of government intrusion in their personal lives. That strain is evident in both views on pot and gays, and, to some extent, immigration as well.
Contributing to all that is the fact that we're more connected than ever, with seemingly unlimited information literally at our fingertips and the ability to communicate with someone on the other side of the world through a handheld devices ? something so recent, yet already so universally accepted that we tend to overlook its power.
We're also more exposed to different people and ideas, given that the around-the-clock media environment picks up on ? and promotes ? changes in societal attitudes. Just look at programs like "Weeds," ''Modern Family" and "Ugly Betty."
Diversity, it seems, is all around us to larger degrees than ever before, a byproduct of globalization. By being exposed, matter-of-factly, to different people with different beliefs, it's hard to see how we wouldn't eventually become more open to including and accepting others who look or act different than the majority.
Even if we wanted to go back to being more exclusive, could we? It's hard to imagine that in this increasingly open society, at least socially, America could turn back in the other direction. As the president put it: "Each successive generation creates a new space for peace and tolerance and justice and fairness."
So while there will always be some degree of prejudice in the world, the United States ? a nation engaged in a constant quest to figure out who we are and what we believe ? will probably continue chipping away at it, one generation at a time.
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EDITOR'S NOTE ? Liz Sidoti is the national politics editor for The Associated Press. Follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/lsidoti
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/column-acceptance-pragmatism-american-style-071248820.html
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