Monday, April 29, 2013

What Lies Beyond This Interstellar Rabbit Hole?

Steven Hawking is right, ?We must continue to go into space for humanity.? But what do we do when confronted with the unimaginable possibilities we find out there?

Read more...

    


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/xnEP6oRNVpc/what-lies-beyond-this-interstellar-rabbit-hole-484451421

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Pre-K programs take biggest state funding hit ever

The 2011-12 school year was not a good one for pre-K funding, for enrollment, or for quality, according to a major new survey.

States' funding overall dropped by more than half a billion dollars ? its biggest one-year drop ever. After a decade of growth, enrollment in state-funded pre-K programs stalled. State funding per child fell by more than $400; counting previous drops, state per-pupil spending decreased by more than $1,100 over the prior decade. And quality also slipped in a number of state programs.

?What was surprising was not that the recession hurt [pre-K programs], but that it hurt so much,? says Steven Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers University, which released the annual ?State of Preschool? 2012 yearbook Monday. ?The one indicator that increased was inequality, because some states have continued to move ahead, while other states are moving backwards.?

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The report comes at a time when early childhood education is getting more attention than ever, at least at the federal level. In his State of the Union message, President Obama highlighted the importance of quality pre-K and urged a major expansion.

?Every dollar we invest in high-quality early education can save more than seven dollars later on ? by boosting graduation rates, reducing teen pregnancy, even reducing violent crime,? Mr. Obama said in his speech. In his budget, he requested $75 billion over 10 years to help states dramatically expand preschool options for low-income children.

?If ever there was a report that makes the case for the need for President Obama's preschool-for-all proposal, this report is it,? said Education Secretary Arne Duncan, speaking at a release of the NIEER report on Monday.

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Not all the news is bad on the preschool front, and state funding and enrollment vary dramatically from state to state. Ten states, for instance, have no public preschool program at all, while eight enroll more than half of all 4-year-olds in public pre-K programs. Washington, D.C., has the highest percentage, with more than 90 percent of 4-year-olds and nearly 70 percent of 3-year-olds enrolled, and Florida, Oklahoma, Vermont, Wisconsin, and West Virginia all served more than 60 percent of 4-year-olds in state-funded pre-K during the 2011-12 school year. Eleven states, meanwhile, have programs but served fewer than 10 percent of 4-year-olds.

The lack of enrollment growth for that school year, according to the report, was almost entirely due to 16 states that reduced their enrollment from the previous year ? including four that reduced it by more than 10 percent.

And enrollment, cautions Dr. Barnett, is not the whole picture. Research makes clear that the benefits from preschool are only seen in high-quality programs, he says, and both the reduction in funding and the loss of ?quality benchmarks? ? things like comprehensive standards, training and degree requirements for teachers, and site visits ? are troubling to him.

Particularly notable, he says, is the fact that five states stopped conducting site visits to monitor program quality, which he sees as a shortsighted decision.

?The first thing that gets cut is state capacity to monitor quality,? says Barnett. ?That?s a recipe for seeing that the rest of the money is not going to be well spent?. The focus has to be on quality.?

Barnett cites Oklahoma and West Virginia as models of states that not only serve a relatively high percentage of children, but that also keep their quality standards high, meeting nearly all of the 10 benchmarks the report tracks.

Still, the biggest bright spot Barnett sees lies not in the state-funding picture, but in the promise of things to come if even some version of Obama?s plan is funded.

In particular, he notes, the fact that Obama has proposed a 10-year state-federal partnership with matching funds would help states during the time they need it most, as they recover from the effects of the recession.

?Some of these states have a deep hole to climb out of,? Barnett says. Seventy-five billion dollars over 10 years ?could get states to where they need to be.?

But mostly, Barnett is glad to see universal ? or at least expanded ? preschool a major part of the national conversation, more people aware of its benefits, as well as the cost to America if it continues to lag behind other nations in providing it.

?I think this is the most important moment for preschool in the 30 years I?ve been studying it, because the president has put it on the national agenda,? he says. ?If America is going to seize the future, this is the moment for preschool.?

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pre-k-programs-biggest-state-funding-hit-ever-222353890.html

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FEMEN : The Stream ? Who speaks for Muslim women? | Morocco ...

Source: http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2013/04/88920/femen-the-stream-who-speaks-for-muslim-women/

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Wahlberg's "Pain & Gain" knocks Cruise from box office lead

By Lisa Richwine and Andrea Burzynski

(Reuters) - Mark Wahlberg's dark comedy "Pain & Gain" brought enough box office muscle to knock Tom Cruise out of the No. 1 spot on movie charts in the United States and Canada.

Another box office heavyweight, Robert Downey Jr., scored big overseas with the international debut of Marvel superhero sequel "Iron Man 3."

"Pain & Gain" took in $20 million at U.S. and Canadian theaters over its first three days, according to studio estimates released on Sunday. Cruise's sci-fi thriller, "Oblivion," slipped to second place with $17.4 million.

"Iron Man 3" hauled in $195.3 million in 42 international markets, distributor Walt Disney Co said, a total that surpassed the international opening of "The Avengers." The movie arrives in the United States and Canada on Friday to kick off Hollywood's lucrative summer blockbuster season.

Receipts for "Pain & Gain" beat pre-weekend forecasts for a debut of at least $15 million. The film is based on the real-life story of Miami bodybuilders who kidnap a wealthy deli owner and plan to steal his fortune. When their plot goes awry, the criminals scramble to escape being caught.

"We were estimating high teens, so anything with a two in front is good," said Don Harris, president of domestic theatrical distribution at Paramount Pictures, the Viacom Inc unit that released the movie.

Paramount Pictures produced "Pain & Gain" for $26 million. Dwayne Johnson stars alongside Wahlberg in the film, which is directed by Michael Bay of the blockbuster "Transformers" series.

"Oblivion," a post-apocalyptic drama about the last humans on Earth, brought its two-week total in North America (the United States and Canada) to $64.7 million. Comcast Corp's Universal Pictures estimated international sales through Sunday at $134.1 million, bringing the film's worldwide total to $198.8 million.

Baseball drama "42," about Jackie Robinson's debut as Major League Baseball's first black player, finished in third place with $10.7 million domestically.

In fourth place, new romantic comedy "The Big Wedding" earned $7.5 million. Despite a big-name cast including Robert DeNiro, Susan Sarandon and Katherine Heigl, the movie was ravaged by critics. Only 6 percent of reviews on the Rotten Tomatoes website recommended the film.

Lions Gate Entertainment Corp distributed "The Big Wedding," and Millennium Films covered most of the $35 million production cost.

In the No. 5 slot, animated Stone Age comedy "The Croods" grossed $6.6 million.

North American ticket sales for all movies this year reached nearly $2.9 billion, running 11.8 percent behind sales at the same point in 2012, according to the box office division of Hollywood.com.

The release of "Iron Man 3" next weekend is expected to jump-start domestic sales. Boxoffice.com is projecting $151 million in North American receipts over the film's first three days, which would rank as the biggest opening so far this year.

Disney's executive vice president for motion picture distribution Dave Hollis declined to make a prediction for the film's U.S. opening, but was optimistic based on the overseas numbers.

"To say that we are encouraged by these results is an understatement," Hollis said.

"Oblivion" was distributed by Universal Pictures, a unit of Comcast Corp. Time Warner Inc's Warner Bros studio released "42," while "The Croods" was produced by Dreamworks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine and Andrea Burzynski; editing by Christopher Wilson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wahlbergs-pain-gain-knocks-cruise-box-office-lead-163451177.html

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AdvSecret.com How To Use Business Networking Events To Find ...

By James Kupe

Building successful relationships with people who are similar to you is one of the surest ways to ensure you have a successful business. It?s very common for business owners who network together to refer clients to each other when they see how their clients can benefit. The more relationships you create with the people inside and outside your industry, the more chance you have of a potential client being referred to you right when you need them.

Unfortunately, many business owners don?t network enough or don?t even know how to go about doing so. The three tips in the section below will help you figure out how to take advantage of business networking. Here are 3 top tips for successful business networking.

1. Approach Other Business Owners From A Position Of Service

When you decide to do this and start meeting with new business owners once or twice a month, it?s really important that you first of all show them how much you could be of service to their business. Don?t go talking about yourself and your business, but instead ask them questions about themselves and what they do instead. Give them snippets of valuable info they can use improve their business right away, and they?ll pretty quickly see you as someone who can help them rather than just a person who?s out to push their own agenda.

2. Keep Your ?Here?s What I Do? Message Simple

You don?t want to confuse anyone with your complicated objectives, keep it simple so it is easy to explain. Most importantly, if your business goals are too complicated to explain then people will probably assume your business is unorganized and not worth mentioning to clients.

3. A Lot Of Your Business Networking Can Be Done Online

LinkedIn has grown over the last few years and is now a huge online networking opportunity especially for business owners, sales people and people who are self-employed. You can look at a person?s public profile and tell whether or not they are somebody you would like to build a relationship with. Offline networking meetings are still important, but you?ll find it?s a lot better use of your time searching for networking opportunities online, at least initially before you make the first contact

Learn To Grow Your Business With Personal Networking

Your immediate goal should be to put together a crystal clear description of what your business is and does, and then go out and meet business owners with similar interests so you can start referring clients to each other. Successful business networking is an simple but important way to grow your business, get more sales, and make more money.

Want to grow your business quickly and easily? Read this review of Eben Pagan?s Accelerate Training. You can start growing your sales and profits more quickly by understanding this.


Source: http://www.advsecret.com/how-to-use-business-networking-events-to-find-your-ideal-customers/

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Kar Nanny Helps You Track Your Kids And Cheating Spouse Using GM's App Platform

kar nannyOne hack from our Disrupt NY Hackathon, called Kar Nanny, seeks to let users see where their kids are driving and get notifications if they're being unsafe. Or you can see where your spouse is. Or, if you own a car rental fleet, this will give you the opportunity to keep tabs on how renters are using your cars.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/n2hy3x5Z-BU/

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Friday, April 26, 2013

Key cellular organelle involved in gene silencing identified

Apr. 25, 2013 ? RNA molecules, made from DNA, are best known for their role in protein production. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), however, are short (~22) nucleotide RNA sequences found in plants and animals that do not encode proteins but act in gene regulation and, in the process, impact almost all biological processes -- from development to physiology to stress response.

Present in almost in every cell, microRNAs are known to target tens to hundreds of genes each and to be able to repress, or "silence," their expression. What is less well understood is how exactly miRNAs repress target gene expression.

Now a team of scientists led by geneticists at the University of California, Riverside has conducted a study on plants (Arabidopsis) that shows that the site of action of the repression of target gene expression occurs on the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), a cellular organelle that is an interconnected network of membranes -- essentially, flattened sacs and branching tubules -- that extends like a flat balloon throughout the cytoplasm in plant and animal cells.

"Our study is the first to demonstrate that the ER is where miRNA-mediated translation repression occurs," said lead researcher Xuemei Chen, a professor of plant cell and molecular biology and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute-Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Investigator. "To understand how microRNAs repress target gene expression, we first need to know where microRNAs act in the cell. Until now no one knew that membranes are essential for microRNA activity. Our work shows that an integral membrane protein, AMP1, is required for the miRNA-mediated target gene repression to be successful. As AMP1 has counterparts in animals, our findings in plants could have broader implications."

Study results appear today in the journal Cell.

Simply put, DNA makes RNA, and then RNA makes proteins. Specifically, RNA encodes genetic information that can be "translated" into the amino acid sequence of proteins. But noncoding RNAs -- RNAs that do not encode proteins -- are increasingly found to act in numerous biological processes. MicroRNAs are a class of noncoding RNAs whose main function is to downregulate gene expression.

Research on miRNAs has increased tremendously since they were first identified about 20 years ago. In the case of diseases, if some genes are up- or down-regulated, miRNAs can be used to change the expression of these genes to fight the diseases, thus showing therapeutic potential.

MicroRNAs are known to regulate target genes by two major modes of action: they either destabilize the target RNAs, leading to their degradation, or they do not impact the stability of the target RNAs, but simply prevent them from being translated into proteins -- a process known as translation inhibition. The end result of translation inhibition is that the genes do not get expressed. Just how miRNAs cause translational inhibition of their target genes is not well understood.

"We were surprised that the ER is required for the translational inhibition activity of miRNAs," Chen said. "This new knowledge will expedite our understanding of the mechanism of gene silencing. Basically, now we know where to look: the ER. We also suspect it is the rough ER portions that are involved."

Chen explained that the ER has two types: rough and smooth. Rough ER, which synthesizes and packages proteins, looks bumpy; smooth ER, which acts in lipid synthesis and protein secretion, resembles tubes. The ER protein AMP1, she said, is anchored in the rough ER.

"My lab has been conducting research on AMP1 for many years," she said. "And it's this protein that drew our attention to the ER. First, we realized that AMP1 is involved in miRNA-mediated translational inhibition. Then, since we already knew that AMP1 is localized in the rough ER, we shifted our focus to this organelle."

Next, her lab will attempt to crack the mechanism of miRNA-mediated translational inhibition. They will investigate, too, how miRNAs are recruited to the ER.

Chen was joined in the study by Shengben Li (first author of the research paper), Lin Liu, Xigang Liu, Yu Yu, Lijuan Ji and Natasha Raikhel at UC Riverside; Xiaohong Zhuang and Liwen Jiang at the Chinese University of Hong Kong; Xia Cui and Xiaofeng Cao at the Chinese Avademy of Sciences, Beijing; Zhiqiang Pan at the University of Mississippi; Beixin Mo at Shenzhen University, China; and Fuchun Zhang at Xinjiang University, China.

The study was supported by grants to Chen from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - Riverside. The original article was written by Iqbal Pittalwala.

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


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/health_medicine/genes/~3/hP4uiZtvpTo/130425132656.htm

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Insight: Ageing deepens debt-laden Europe's economic woes

By Alan Wheatley, Global Economics Correspondent

RIGA/LISBON (Reuters) - Long after the debt crisis is over, Europe will be grappling with an even more serious problem - how to pay for growing numbers of old people.

The population of some countries is stagnant or already shrinking, notably Germany's. That will reduce savings and potential economic growth.

The workers who remain are getting older and so are less productive. That will hold back living standards.

And the ranks of retirees are swelling. That will threatening the financing of pensions and health care.

In the 27 countries of the European Union, each pensioner is today supported on average by four people of working age. By 2050, this old-age support ratio will have fallen to just 2:1, according to United Nations and EU projections.

Latvia, which has applied to join the euro in 2014, is but an extreme example of these trends. By 2060 there will be four Latvians of working age for every three aged 65.

Because of emigration and low fertility, the Baltic state's population shrank by 14 percent, or 340,000 people, between 2000 and 2011, prompting warnings of an existential threat to the nation.

"I don't want to make apocalyptic statements. I hope that the country can manage. But the alarm bell has rung," said Mihails Hazans, an economics professor at the University of Latvia and the county's leading demographer.

ALARM BELLS

Many European countries are raising the retirement age. And some, including Britain, have favorable population profiles.

But Martins Kazaks, chief economist with Swedbank in Riga, said governments had yet to grasp the magnitude of the policy shifts required.

"If you define the tipping point as the point of no return, then in some respects we have passed it - and not only us, but most of Europe," Kazaks said.

"With an ageing population and the burden of pensions and welfare, the growth rate is going to be lower. If you don't do anything today, the future is going to be a lot more difficult," he added.

Policymakers need look no farther than low-growth Japan to grasp the economic impact of population decline and ageing.

"Europe is the new Japan," said Douglas Roberts, an economist with Standard Life in Edinburgh.

Apart from putting pension systems on a more sustainable footing, investing in education and training so that workers are more productive should be a policy priority, economists say. So should expanding child care to allow more women to join or stay in the work force.

How to share out the cost of ageing spells potential political trouble, pitting cosseted pensioners against younger generations who are overtaxed and overworked.

George Magnus, a senior economic adviser to Swiss bank UBS in London, said it was understandable because of the euro zone crisis that the current focus was on the near-term affordability of welfare.

"But behind that is a very structural issue, which is really about the social model and the rights and obligations of citizens vis-a-vis the state. We are going to have to have that debate," said Magnus, author of "The Age of Aging".

Edward Hugh, an economist in Barcelona, agreed that the sovereign debt crisis gripping the developed world was at root about how to meet implicit liabilities for ever older populations: expectations of future levels of health care and pension provision may prove too optimistic.

As such, Hugh is critical of policymakers in Europe and at the International Monetary Fund for neglecting the impact of demographic change.

"In the absence of policies that acknowledge these issues exist and that then address them, none of the sustainability analyses - debt, financial sector, whatever - are worth the paper they have been written on," he said.

PORTUGAL'S POPULATION PAINS

Recession-hit Portugal also illustrates the vicious economic and fiscal circle that Hugh identifies in countries on the periphery of the euro zone as a result of demographics.

Portugal's fertility rate, which stood at 1.32 last year, has been below the 2.1 replacement rate - the number of children each woman needs to have to maintain current population levels - since the early 1980s.

In 2012, only 90,000 children were born, the lowest number in more than a century, as economic fears gave couples pause.

In short, ageing is pre-programmed. By 2050, Portugal is projected to have more people aged 60 or over than any other EU member - 40 percent of the population against 24 percent today.

What's more, some 100,000 to 120,000 Portuguese, or 1 percent of the population, are emigrating every year to look for better-paid work, depleting the tax base and adding to the strain of financing the welfare state.

"One of the biggest problems we have is holding on to employees," said Joao Carlos Costa, general manager of Arpial, a metal-working firm in Lisbon.

Jose Cesario, secretary of state for Portuguese communities abroad, puts a brave face on the drain of brain and brawn.

Emigrants acquire valuable skills and remitted some 2.7 billion euros in 2012. Influential members of the Portuguese diaspora of around 5 million can also act as ?ambassadors' for the country, Cesario said in an interview.

But he acknowledged that both Switzerland and Luxembourg had urged him to slow the flow of emigration.

"It's the fish that bites its own tail," Cesario said, using a Portuguese proverb. "We can get emigrants to come back only if we have economic development, but we cannot do that without them." If he had the solution, Portugal would not be in the situation it is, he added.

LATVIAN EXODUS

The same goes for Latvia.

"It's a big challenge for Latvia, both for the economy and for our society." Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis told Reuters. "What we need to concentrate on now is economic growth and job creation so that people see perspectives here in Latvia and so don't have to leave."

The government also hopes to lure back 100,000 emigrants, or a third of those who have left since the turn of the century, by 2030.

Given that Latvia is one of the poorest countries in the EU, that will not be easy. "We're not expecting people to pack their bags and be here on Monday," said Dace Akule, a public policy researcher in Riga who has worked on a proposed package of incentives.

One emigrant unlikely to be tempted back is Datsa Gaile, who has been in Britain since 2006. She left Latvia because, as a single mother, she was unable to bring up her two sons on a wage of about 150 lats ($275) a month.

After a rocky start, she learned English, got a string of ever-better jobs and now runs Anglo Baltic News (www.anglobalticnews.co.uk), a website aimed at the estimated 100,000 Latvians in Britain.

"The main problem at the moment is that there are not enough jobs in Latvia. It's a bit risky if you decide to go back," said Gaile, who lives in Northampton, a town in central England that is home to 8,000 Latvians.

"Also, I have been away for almost eight years and my lifestyle has changed. People are different here. They have more opportunities in this country," she added.

Professor Hazans of the University of Latvia said at most 20 percent of recent emigrants might return. What's more, his surveys show that the proportion of ?firm stayers', who have no thought of leaving Latvia, has fallen to a quarter from a third since 2010.

As in Portugal, a vicious economic circle becomes hard to break.

"Emigration sends a negative signal to foreign investors. It also sends a negative signal for domestic business startups," Hazans said. "You think about how many potential customers you will have."

The psychological harm of sustained emigration, which has accounted for two-thirds of Latvia's population decline since 2000, is as striking as the economic damage. Women's fertility rate has dropped to 1.1, one of the lowest in the world.

Akule, the policy researcher, spoke of the "demographic sadness" of a country where most people have a relative working abroad.

Hazans added: "The sense of bitterness is still very much there. Why? A feeling that if everyone is leaving the boat, the boat must be sinking. Or if the boat is afloat and others are leaving, why am I staying?"

The imperative, then, is for Latvia to sustain its recovery from a deep recession in 2008/09, when output slumped by 20 percent as the government opted for austerity rather than devalue its way out of the financial crisis.

Whether it be in Latvia or Portugal - or eastern European countries such as Bulgaria and Romania - only more and better-paid jobs will stop the hemorrhaging of people and perhaps improve longer-term demographic prospects.

"If you get the chance to live and work normally in our country, it's a luxury. It's a luxury to be able to stay," said Dace Beinare, an adviser with SOS Children's Villages, a non-governmental organization in Riga.

(This version of the story corrects the names in paragraphs 8, 35 and 44.)

(Additional reporting by Aleks Tapinsh in Riga and Daniel Alvarenga in Lisbon; Editing by Giles Elgood)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/insight-ageing-deepens-debt-laden-europes-economic-woes-185849003--business.html

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Warmer Days are Here! - Portland Food and Drink

I do my best to keep the outdoor dining guide updated, and as it looks like warmer weather is headed towards Portland, I wanted to remind everyone that the list is here!

As always, corrections/deletions are welcome. If you have a patio that you?d like listed, fill out the simple form here.

"I have a wide-range of food experience - working in the restaurant industry on both sides of the house, later in the wine industry, and finally traveling/tasting my way around the world. Whether you agree or disagree, you can always count on my unbiased opinion. I don't take free meals, and the restaurants don't know when, or if, I am coming."

?

Source: http://portlandfoodanddrink.com/warmer-days-are-here-dont-forget-the-newly-updated-outdoor-dining-guide/

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Thursday, April 25, 2013

Amazon reportedly introducing set-top box this fall

Will Amazon release a set-top box this year? All the pieces seem to in place certainly, between the retailer's robust online video offerings both premium and Prime (not to mention a slew of original material), as well as some experience in the hardware department through various Kindle devices. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, the company will be doing just that this fall -- that information, incidentally, comes from three anonymous sources. The device is said to let users stream web content to a set, not unlike Apple's own offering in the space. The site even went so far as suggesting "Kindle TV" as a name, though that seems to be Businessweek's own wishful thinking.

Update: We reached out to Amazon and received, not surprisingly, the customary no comment.

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Source: Businessweek

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/24/amazon-reportedly-introducing-set-top-box-this-fall/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Mortar attack hits government-held suburb of Damascus

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Two mortar bombs hit a government-held suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus on Wednesday, killing seven people and wounding more than 25, activists and state media said.

The state news agency SANA blamed the attack on terrorists", the term commonly used to describe rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad.

No group claimed responsibility for the mortar fire, which SANA said had hit a municipality office and a school building in Jaramana, a pro-Assad suburb controlled by the army but surrounded by rebel-held areas.

Rebels have seized a ring of suburbs around southern and eastern Damascus, but have been struggling to maintain their hold in recent weeks.

Forces loyal to Assad have been trying to choke off rebel areas as the army pounds them with air and artillery strikes.

Opposition fighters have been stepping up mortar fire and assassination attacks on the heart of the capital. They have been trying for months to create a route into Damascus from Jaramana but have been repelled by local militias.

SANA said an electricity ministry official was killed in central Damascus on Wednesday by a bomb planted in his car.

Rebels largely support attacks on government officials but some have criticized the targeting of civilian areas. A unit in Damascus condemned the mortar fire on Jaramana, calling it an unfair attack on civilians.

"We offer our full condolences to the victims and the families of Jaramana. We call on the Lord Almighty to accept them as martyrs," the Saad bin Abada al-Khudraji battalion said.

"Our brigade loudly condemns these criminal acts, which have nothing to do with Islam in any way."

The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is based in Britain but has a network of activists across Syria, said the death toll in Jaramana was likely to rise, as at least six people were in critical condition.

(Reporting by Erika Solomon; editing by Andrew Roche)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mortar-attack-hits-government-held-suburb-damascus-132539752.html

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Boeing sees early-May restart of 787 deliveries

FILE - This Feb. 11, 2013 file photo shows a Boeing 787 flight test jet taxing following a test flight, at Boeing Field, in Seattle. Boeing's beleaguered 787 Dreamliners will be able to resume flights under an order expected to be issued Friday by the Federal Aviation Administration, although the root cause of battery failures on two of the planes is still unknown, according to congressional sources briefed by the agency. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)

FILE - This Feb. 11, 2013 file photo shows a Boeing 787 flight test jet taxing following a test flight, at Boeing Field, in Seattle. Boeing's beleaguered 787 Dreamliners will be able to resume flights under an order expected to be issued Friday by the Federal Aviation Administration, although the root cause of battery failures on two of the planes is still unknown, according to congressional sources briefed by the agency. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)

Boeing reported a better-than-expected first-quarter profit even as it scrambled to fix its grounded 787.

The company said on Wednesday that deliveries of the 787 should resume in early May. Most of the 50 planes that have been delivered to airlines will be fixed by the middle of the month, Chairman and CEO Jim McNerney said on the company's quarterly earnings conference call.

Resuming deliveries and passenger flights would cap a notable turnaround for Boeing. The three-month grounding over battery problems frustrated airlines and turned a spotlight onto the way commercial planes are designed and regulated. Putting the problem behind it will let Boeing focus on building new versions of its best-selling 737 and 777.

Air safety authorities around the world grounded 787s after two different planes suffered from smoldering batteries ? one of them including a fire, one of them in-flight ? in January. The Federal Aviation Administration has approved Boeing's redesigned battery system, which the company says should sharply reduce the risk of a fire.

Once the FAA approves the fix on individual planes, airlines can start flying them again. United Airlines, the only U.S. airline with the planes, moved one of its six 787s to a Boeing facility in San Antonio, Texas, on Tuesday so it can get the battery fix. Neither of the battery incidents involved a United jet.

The new battery system includes extra insulation between the battery's individual cells, a box designed to contain any fire and changes that Boeing says will extinguish any fire almost instantly. The fix should keep any battery problems "from affecting the airplane or even being noticed by passengers," McNerney said.

The new battery setup has been installed on 10 787s that belong to airlines, and on nine more that have been built but not delivered, he said. Each installation takes about five days.

Boeing wouldn't say how much the 787 issue has cost. Much of the expense was soaked up by its research and development budget, Chief Financial Officer Greg Smith said.

Boeing's net income rose 20 percent in the quarter to $1.11 billion, or $1.44 per share. Excluding pension-related charges, Boeing would have earned $1.73 per share, well above analyst expectations.

The 787 troubles showed up in other places besides Boeing's bottom line. Revenue fell 3 percent to $18.89 billion in part because Boeing delivered just one 787 before the grounding. Airlines make their final payment for the plane when it's delivered. And Boeing generated almost no cash in the quarter. Free cash flow, a measure of cash generated by a business, dropped to $3 million, from $413 million a year ago.

Boeing loses money on each 787 it builds now. Smith said it should be breaking even on each plane in about two years.

Boeing still expects to meet its financial and delivery targets this year. That includes delivering at least 60 787s. It delivered 137 planes during the quarter, because faster production of 737s and 777s offset the lack of 787 deliveries.

Operating profit rose 12 percent in its defense unit as its space business grew sharply.

Shares of Chicago-based Boeing Co. rose $2.65, or 3 percent, to $90.83 in trading Wednesday after rising as high $92.65 earlier. That was the highest level for the shares since December 2007, according to FactSet.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-04-24-Earns-Boeing/id-a3e9f692771947abbf8fafca68b1b0b9

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Britain proposes airwaves shake-up to meet broadband demand

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's telecoms regulator is proposing to change the way it will allocate the next batch of airwaves to be made available to mobile operators facing burgeoning demand for mobile data.

Telecoms operators have previously paid billions of pounds to secure long leases on the best chunks of airwaves, known as the real estate of the mobile industry, most recently in the 4G auction.

But Ofcom Chief Executive Ed Richards said the industry would have to become more flexible on the terms of spectrum ownership to solve problems such as interference and the changing dynamics of the industry.

That means operators could own specific parts of spectrum for shorter lengths of time as newer demands emerge, he said.

But the flip side for consumers is that, with spectrum changing hands more often, products such as handsets and tablets would need to be updated and retuned, and could become obsolete faster.

"At every stage, industry and consumers will need to modify their expectations in relation to the spectrum certainties of the past," he said at the Telecoms Regulation Forum on Tuesday.

A consultation on the changes is expected to be launched by Ofcom on Wednesday as part of its strategy to eventually reallocate the 700 MHz spectrum, some of which is used for television broadcasting to mobile services, in about 2020.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by David Goodman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/britain-proposes-airwaves-shake-meet-broadband-demand-170904589--finance.html

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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Songs of a Restless City

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Songs of a Restless City

[Modern magic and swords] The gritty underbelly of the city bends its knees in prayer to the fat cats that rest in their oppressive skyscraper, smirking down at the homeless, the ill, and the debtors. Gunpowder and Spells fill the air.

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Monday, April 22, 2013

Reese Witherspoon charged with disorderly conduct

This combination of undated photo provided by the City of Atlanta Department of Corrections shows Reese Witherspoon, left, her husband James Toth. The Oscar-winning actress was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge after a state trooper said she wouldn't stay in the car while Toth was given a field sobriety test in Atlanta. (AP Photo/City of Atlanta Department of Corrections)

This combination of undated photo provided by the City of Atlanta Department of Corrections shows Reese Witherspoon, left, her husband James Toth. The Oscar-winning actress was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge after a state trooper said she wouldn't stay in the car while Toth was given a field sobriety test in Atlanta. (AP Photo/City of Atlanta Department of Corrections)

This undated photo provided by the City of Atlanta Department of Corrections shows Reese Witherspoon. The Oscar-winning actress was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge after a state trooper said she wouldn't stay in the car while her husband, James Toth, was given a field sobriety test in Atlanta. (AP Photo/City of Atlanta Department of Corrections)

This undated photo provided by the City of Atlanta Department of Corrections shows James Joseph Toth. Oscar-winning Actress Reese Witherspoon was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge after a state trooper said she wouldn't stay in the car while Toth, her husband, was given a field sobriety test in Atlanta. (AP Photo/City of Atlanta Department of Corrections)

FILE - In this Friday, March 8, 2013 file photo, actress Reese Witherspoon and her husband, Jim Toth, watch the Toronto Raptors take on the Los Angeles Lakers in an NBA basketball game in Los Angeles. Police in Georgia say that Witherspoon has been arrested on a disorderly conduct charge after a traffic stop involving her husband in Atlanta. A Georgia State Police incident report says that Witherspoon was arrested early Friday, April 19, 2013, and charged with disorderly conduct. The report says a state trooper observed that a car driven by Toth was failing to stay in its lane. The officer writes that Witherspoon disobeyed multiple orders to stay in the car while he performed a field sobriety test on Toth. After she refused to return to the car, she was handcuffed and arrested. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)

(AP) ? Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge after a state trooper said she wouldn't stay in the car while her husband was given a field sobriety test in Atlanta.

Witherspoon was released from jail after the Friday morning arrest and was in New York Sunday night for the premiere of her new film "Mud." She posed for cameras on the red carpet but did not stop to talk to reporters.

The trooper noticed the car driven by her husband wasn't staying in its lane early Friday morning, so a traffic stop was initiated. Her husband, James Toth, had droopy eyelids, watery, bloodshot eyes, and his breath smelled strongly of alcohol, according to the report.

Toth told the trooper he'd had a drink, which Witherspoon said was consumed at a restaurant two hours before the traffic stop, the trooper writes.

Before the field sobriety test began, the 37-year-old Witherspoon got out of the car, was told to get back in and obeyed, the report said. After the "Walk the Line" star got out a second time, the trooper said he warned her that she would be arrested if she left the car again.

As the test continued, "Mrs. Witherspoon began to hang out the window and say that she did not believe that I was a real police officer. I told Mrs. Witherspoon to sit on her butt and be quiet," Trooper First Class J. Pyland writes.

Toth, 42, was then placed under arrest. He was charged with driving under the influence and failure to maintain the lane.

At that point, the report says, Witherspoon got out and asked the trooper what was going on. After being told to return to the car, she "stated that she was a 'US Citizen' and that she was allowed to 'stand on American ground,'" the report states.

The trooper then began to arrest Witherspoon. The report says Witherspoon was resistant at first but was calmed down by her husband.

"Do you know my name?" Witherspoon is quoted as asking the trooper. She also said: "You're about to find out who I am" and "You're about to be on national news," according to the report.

Toth and Witherspoon were then taken to jail.

A message left at the office of Witherspoon's publicist, Meredith O'Sullivan Wasson, wasn't immediately returned Sunday.

News of the arrest broke shortly before Witherspoon arrived on the "Mud" red carpet.

"I can't say anything because I don't know," said director Jeff Nichols. " I literally ? the first guy on the press line to say something was the first time I heard about it so I gotta go figure it out."

Matthew McConaughey, who plays the lead role in "Mud" and is represented by Toth, said "I'm not going to comment on that because it's too fresh."

__

AP reporter Lauri Neff contributed to this report from New York.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-04-21-Reese%20Witherspoon%20Arrest/id-ffbcc35b0fc64fc198fab266dea58f0b

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Kerry pushes Turkey-Israel rapprochement

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, left, shows U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, the skyline of Istanbul before the start of a meeting on Sunday, April 21, 2013, in Istanbul, Turkey. Kerry is wrapping up a 24-hour visit to Istanbul with talks aimed at improving ties between Turkey and Israel and pushing ahead with Mideast peace efforts. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool)

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, left, shows U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, the skyline of Istanbul before the start of a meeting on Sunday, April 21, 2013, in Istanbul, Turkey. Kerry is wrapping up a 24-hour visit to Istanbul with talks aimed at improving ties between Turkey and Israel and pushing ahead with Mideast peace efforts. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu point toward the Bosporus before a working lunch in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, April 21, 2013. Wrapping up a 24-hour visit to Istanbul, Kerry on Sunday sought to cement and speed up an improvement in relations between Turkey and Israel as well as explore new ways to relaunch Mideast peace efforts. President Barack Obama has made both issues foreign policy priorities for his second term and Kerry was pushing them in meetings with Abbas and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.(AP Photo/Hakan Goktepe, Pool)

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, third from left, meets with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, third from right, on Sunday, April 21, 2013, in Istanbul, Turkey. Kerry is wrapping up a 24-hour visit to Istanbul with talks aimed at improving ties between Turkey and Israel and pushing ahead with Mideast peace efforts. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool)

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas leaves a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, April 21, 2013. Wrapping up a 24-hour visit to Istanbul, Kerry on Sunday sought to cement and speed up an improvement in relations between Turkey and Israel as well as explore new ways to relaunch Mideast peace efforts. President Barack Obama has made both issues foreign policy priorities for his second term and Kerry was pushing them in meetings with Abbas and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.(AP Photo)

(AP) ? U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday urged Turkey to speed up and cement an American-brokered rapprochement with Israel, and he explored with Palestinian officials new ways to relaunch Mideast peace efforts.

Kerry tried to advance those second-term foreign policy priorities for President Barack Obama in meetings with Turkey's foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, and the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas.

Kerry also said he had made it clear to the Turks that a planned trip to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan after his May 16 visit to the White House "would be better delayed and that it shouldn't take place at this point in time.

Both Israel and Abbas, whose Palestinian Authority is based in the West Bank, oppose the Gaza visit.

"We would like to see the parties begin with as little outside distraction as possible. So our sense is that it would be more helpful to wait for the right circumstances," said Kerry, who did not meet with Erdogan on this stop in Turkey.

On a trip to Israel last month, Obama secured a pledge from Turkish and Israeli leaders to normalize ties that broke down after a 2010 Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla that killed eight Turks and a Turkish-American.

But the rapprochement has been slow, fueling concerns that Turkey may be backsliding on its commitment.

Israeli and Turkish negotiators plan to meet this coming week to discuss Turkey's demand for compensation for victims of the flotilla.

U.S. officials hope the discussions will jumpstart the process of restoring full diplomatic relations and exchanging ambassadors between two countries that Washington sees as vital strategic partners in the volatile Middle East.

The raid sparked throughout outrage in Muslim-majority Turkey, making it politically difficult for Erdogan to bend to persistent U.S. appeals to improve relations with Israel.

In March, Obama extracted an apology for the raid from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that broke the stalemate.

Kerry said he understood the anger and frustration of those Turks who lost friends and family in the raid. The former Massachusetts senator said last week's Boston Marathon bombings made him acutely aware of the emotions involved.

"It affects the community, it affects the country. But going forward, you know, we have to find the best way to bring people together and undo these tensions and undo these stereotypes and try to make peace," he said.

Kerry said he had a "prolonged and constructive" discussion with Davutoglu, about "the importance of completing the task with respect to the renewal of relations between Turkey and Israel."

Kerry added that he believed Erdogan and Davutoglu "are deeply committed to fulfilling all of the obligations of that understanding."

U.S. officials are keen to see substantive process by the time Erdogan comes to Washington.

"We would like to see us get to a point where we are moving on improving the situation in Gaza, which was part of the agreement ... and where we are also completing the tasks of moving to full diplomatic relations between the countries, which would be very beneficial to everyone," he said.

With Abbas, Kerry discussed ways to improve the Palestinians' living conditions as a confidence-building measure to improve the atmosphere for a resumption of peace talks with Israel.

Kerry has said he fears there is only a two- or three-year window of opportunity to reach a deal on a two-state solution that would end the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict and wants to move as quickly as possible.

Kerry was in Istanbul primarily to attend an international conference on Syria that began on Saturday and stretched into early Sunday as participants debated how best to boost aid to rebels trying to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad's government.

He announced that the Obama administration would double its nonlethal assistance to the Syrian opposition with an additional $123 million in supplies that could include for the first time armored vehicles, body armor, night vision goggles and other defensive military supplies.

"I can't tell you how quickly it will change things on the ground," Kerry said Sunday. "I can promise you that as soon as I return to Washington, I am going to press as hard as I can" to get it to the opposition within a matter of weeks.

"This has to happen quickly, it has to have an impact," he added.

The additional aid, which brings total nonlethal U.S. assistance to the opposition to $250 million since the fighting began more than two years ago, "underscores the United States' firm support for a political solution to the crisis in Syria and for the opposition's advancement of an inclusive, tolerant vision for a post-Assad Syria," Kerry said.

The U.S. pledge was the only tangible, public offer of new international support at the meeting of the foreign ministers of the 11 main countries supporting the opposition and fell well short of what the opposition has been appealing for: weapons and direct military intervention to stop the violence that has killed more than 70,000 people.

The Syrian National Coalition is seeking drone strikes on sites from which the regime has fired missiles, the imposition of no-fly zones and protected humanitarian corridors to ensure the safety of civilians.

With the exception of the United States, none of the participants offered new assistance, although European nations are considering changes to an arms embargo that would allow weapons transfers to the Syrian opposition.

Kerry ended the day in Brussels, where he plans talks with European officials and was to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of a NATO-Russia Council meeting. He has said he has not given up on persuading Moscow to reverse its support for Assad.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-04-21-Kerry/id-f79ad36addbc43f0a4b5ca2ff7cc6e7e

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Saturday, April 20, 2013

Prison Planet.com ? BREAKING: Photo surfaces of 'The Craft' mobile ...

Mike Adams
Natural News
April 19, 2013

A detailed, hi-res photo of more ?The Craft? operatives and what appears to be their mobile communications van has just surfaced. ?The Craft? is a group of private military operatives who have been revealed through a fast-growing number of photos published by Natural News and Info Wars.

The mainstream media is engaged in a total blackout and refuses to run any photos of ?The Craft? operatives. This story is quickly becoming the biggest media cover-up in history.

Natural News was the first to identify?the brand of the radiation detector being held in the hand of one ?Craft? operatives. Now, we appear to be the first to run this photo of what looks to be an extremely high-end mobile communications van with?seven more ?Craft? operatives.

The van clearly has a foldable satellite dish as well as what is possibly a microwave communications dome. The vehicle is a Chevy Escalade that has been outfitted with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of roof racks and communications equipment.

Note: We can?t be 100% certain this vehicle belongs to The Craft team, but it fits their M.O. While all the other emergency vehicles on the scene are clearly marked, this vehicle is unmarked. The proximity of The Craft members to the van is also an indication that this vehicle may be a ?rally point.?

Here?s the image:

BREAKING: Photo surfaces of The Craft mobile communications van at Boston marathon The Craft Communications Van 600

  • A d v e r t i s e m e n t

For a hi-res version of this photo, click the following link:

http://www.naturalnews.com/gallery/articles/The_Craft_Communications_?

IP satellite?

We may have identified the nature of the dish on the top of the vehicle. It closely resembles?Quickspot IP satellite systems.

Click here to visit the Quickspot IP page to see more photos.

BREAKING: Photo surfaces of The Craft mobile communications van at Boston marathon Quickspot IP satellite

Quickspot allows a vehicle to have broadband internet access on demand, anywhere in the world.

Here are some additional photos of ?The Craft? operatives that the alternative media has spearheaded while the delusional mainstream media continues to pretend that none of these photos even exist!

BREAKING: Photo surfaces of The Craft mobile communications van at Boston marathon The Craft Three Guys 600

BREAKING: Photo surfaces of The Craft mobile communications van at Boston marathon The Craft Two Guys Boston Marathon

BREAKING: Photo surfaces of The Craft mobile communications van at Boston marathon The Craft Skull Logo

BREAKING: Photo surfaces of The Craft mobile communications van at Boston marathon Bomb Resembles Black Backpack

BREAKING: Photo surfaces of The Craft mobile communications van at Boston marathon Gun Training Craft Skull Shirt

This article was posted: Friday, April 19, 2013 at 4:32 am





Source: http://www.prisonplanet.com/breaking-photo-surfaces-of-the-craft-mobile-communications-van-at-boston-marathon.html

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Snapshot:1 Boston bomb suspect dead+ Mayor: Up to 35 killed at plant

Courtesy of the FBI

Authorities said early Friday the Boston Marathon bombing suspect seen in the photo wearing the black hat is dead, and the suspect in the white hat is on the run in Boston.

Carla Caldwell, Morning Call Editor

Atlanta Weather

*The forecast for Atlanta on Friday calls for showers and thunderstorms. High temperature: 68. Click here for an hour-by-hour forecast from Atlanta Business Chronicle broadcast partner WXIA-TV.

Today?s Talkers

*One suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings is dead, and a second suspect is on the run after a night of chaos in Boston.

*As many as 35 people, including 10 first responders, were killed in the Texas fertilizer plant explosion, West, Texas, Mayor Tommy Muska told USA Today.

* Twenty-four current and former Internal Revenue Service employees have been charged with stealing government benefits.

*Microsoft is working with manufacturers to produce a line of small touch-screen devices powered by Windows, apparently intended to compete with 7-inch tablets like the iPad Mini and Amazon Kindle Fire, reports The Associated Press.

AP reports that Peter Klein, Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) chief financial officer, told investors and analysts on a conference call Thursday the new devices will be available in "coming months" at competitive prices.

* The head of engineering at Boeing Co.?s (NYSE: BA) Commercial Airplanes unit told managers Thursday the company will trim its engineering workforce by up to 1,700 positions this year, with as many as 700 job cuts coming through layoffs, reports the Seattle Times.

*How sharing a video clip can lead to arrest. A man who says he was only pretending to drink and drive on a video he posted online faces charges of consuming alcohol while operating a vehicle and driving without a license.

*KPMG LLP said it will reassess its internal safeguards following an insider-trading case that has led to the firing of a senior partner and the accounting firm's resignation as the auditor for two companies.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vertical_2/~3/lkE3gEkYCpo/snapshot1-boston-bombing-suspect.html

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