Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Burj Kahlifa on Street View: The World's Tallest Building, Inside Out

The beauty of Google Street View is it can take you to places you might never otherwise see, and now it includes the crazy panoramic view from the top of Dubai's Burj Khalifa.

Read more...

    


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/E63wWI6PSuU/burj-kahlifa-on-street-view-the-worlds-tallest-buildi-556896674

sweet potato pie sweet potato pie Turkey Cooking Time Kmart Black Friday PlanetSide 2 sweet potato casserole Pumpkin Pie Recipe

U.S. justices send affirmative action case back to lower court

By Lawrence Hurley

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday avoided a major ruling in a closely watched racial case on the affirmative action admissions policy at the University of Texas at Austin by sending the case back to a lower court.

The court, on a 7-1 vote with Justice Elena Kagan not taking part, said an appeals court did not apply the correct standard in deciding whether the Texas policy violated the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equal protection.

In doing so, Justice Anthony Kennedy made it clear that the program is not on solid legal ground and could still be overturned.

When the case returns to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, the university "must make a showing that its plan is narrowly tailored to achieve the only interest that this court has approved in this context," Kennedy wrote.

Under court precedent, that means a program that takes into account a broad array of qualifications and characteristics "of which racial or ethnic origin is but a single though important element."

The Supreme Court avoided making a decision on whether to overturn a 2003 precedent in a ruling written by the now-retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor that let universities use race in admissions as one factor among others that make particular applicants more desirable.

The court's composition has become more conservative since that decision in Grutter v. Bollinger, which upheld the University of Michigan Law School's affirmative action program.

The University of Texas at Austin fills most of its freshman classes by granting automatic admission to in-state students in the top 10 percent of their high school classes. The policy was introduced to improve minority enrollment without falling foul of restrictions on affirmative action.

The case against the university was led by Abigail Fisher, a white suburban Houston woman who said that her race kept her from being admitted and that the top 10-percent rule was enough to improve diversity.

Texas countered that the rule did not result in the admission of enough minorities.

Fisher later graduated from Louisiana State University.

The University of Texas and its supporters contended that universities must have the flexibility to consider race to ensure diversity. Opponents said it is time to eliminate racial preferences, which they say are unconstitutional.

Justice Elena Kagan, believed to be a supporter of affirmative action, recused herself from the Fisher case, presumably because she had worked on it as U.S. solicitor general under President Barack Obama.

For decades, dating back at least to the John F. Kennedy administration of the 1960s, U.S. leaders have struggled with what "affirmative action" should be taken to help blacks and other minorities. In the early years, it was seen as a way to remedy racial prejudice and discrimination. In more recent times, it has been seen as a way to bring diversity to campuses and workplaces.

Since 1978, the Supreme Court has been at the center of disputes over when universities may consider applicants' race. In that year's groundbreaking Bakke decision from a University of California medical school, the justices forbade quotas but said schools could weigh race with other factors.

The case is Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin et al, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 11-345.

(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Howard Goller and Will Dunham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-justices-send-affirmative-action-case-back-lower-142619755.html

houston weather the night they drove old dixie down levon robbie robertson the curious case of benjamin button secret service prostitute rich ross

Monday, June 24, 2013

Testimony starts in Zimmerman trial

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) ? George Zimmerman was fed up with "punks" getting away with crime and shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin "because he wanted to," not because he had to, prosecutors argued Monday, while the neighborhood watch volunteer's attorney said the killing was self-defense against a young man who was slamming Zimmerman's head against the pavement.

The prosecution began opening statements in the long-awaited murder trial with shocking language, repeating obscenities Zimmerman uttered while talking to a police dispatcher moments before the deadly confrontation.

The defense opened with a knock-knock joke about the difficulty of picking a jury for a case that stirred nationwide debate over racial profiling, vigilantism and Florida's expansive laws on the use of deadly force.

"Knock. Knock," said defense attorney Don West.

"Who is there?"

"George Zimmerman."

"George Zimmerman who?"

"Ah, good. You're on the jury."

Zimmerman, 29, could get life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder for gunning down Martin on Feb. 26, 2012, as the unarmed black teenager, wearing a hoodie on a dark, rainy night, walked from a convenience store through the gated townhouse community where he was staying.

The case took on racial dimensions after Martin's family claimed that Zimmerman had racially profiled Martin and that police were dragging their feet in bringing charges. Zimmerman, whose mother is Hispanic and whose father is white, has denied the confrontation had anything to do with race.

Prosecutor John Guy's first words to the jury recounted what Zimmerman told a dispatcher in a call shortly after spotting Martin: "F------ punks. These a-------. They always get away."

Zimmerman was profiling Martin as he followed him, Guy said. He said Zimmerman viewed the teen "as someone about to a commit a crime in his neighborhood."

"And he acted on it. That's why we're here," the prosecutor said.

Zimmerman didn't have to shoot Martin, Guy said. "He shot him for the worst of all reasons: because he wanted to," he said.

The prosecutor portrayed the watch captain as a vigilante, saying, "Zimmerman thought it was his right to rid his neighborhood of anyone who did not belong."

West told jurors a different story: Martin sucker-punched Zimmerman and then pounded the neighborhood watch volunteer's head against the concrete sidewalk, and that's when Zimmerman opened fire.

Showing the jury photos of a bloodied and bruised Zimmerman, the defense attorney said, "He had just taken tremendous blows to his face, tremendous blows to his head."

West said the story that Martin was unarmed is untrue: "Trayvon Martin armed himself with a concrete sidewalk and used it to smash George Zimmerman's head."

The prosecutor, however, disputed elements of Zimmerman's story, including his claim that Martin put his hands over Zimmerman's mouth and reached for the man's gun. Guy said none of Zimmerman's DNA was found on Martin's body, and none of the teenager's DNA was on the weapon or the holster.

But West said that doesn't prove anything, arguing that crime-scene technicians didn't properly protect Martin's hands from contamination.

Two police dispatch phone calls that could be important evidence for both sides were played for the jury by the defense. Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, left the courtroom before the second recording, which has the sound of the gunshot that killed Martin.

The first was a call Zimmerman made to a nonemergency police dispatcher, who told him he didn't need to be following Martin.

The second 911 call, from a witness, captures screams in the distant background from the struggle between Zimmerman and Martin. Martin's parents said the screams are from their son, while Zimmerman's father contends they are his son's.

Circuit Judge Debra Nelson ruled last weekend that audio experts for the prosecution won't be able to testify that the screams belong to Martin, saying the methods used were unreliable.

On Monday, one of the first witnesses for the prosecution was a custodian of police dispatch calls. During the witness' testimony, prosecutors started playing police calls Zimmerman had made in the months before he shot Martin. The defense objected, arguing the calls were irrelevant.

The judge said she would address the matter Tuesday and sent the jurors to the hotel where they are being sequestered for the duration of the trial, which could last several weeks

Other witnesses who testified Monday included a convenience store clerk and the 911 dispatcher who took Zimmerman's call when he was following Martin. Martin had gone to the convenience store to buy Skittles and a can of iced tea.

The 911 dispatcher, Sean Noffke, testified that he had advised Zimmerman not to follow Martin.

Randy McClean, a criminal defense attorney in Florida with no connection to the case, called the prosecution's opening statement "brilliant" in that it described Zimmerman's state of mind. But he described the knock-knock joke as less than stellar.

"If you're defending your client for second-degree murder, you probably shouldn't start your opening with a joke," McClean said.

___

Follow Kyle Hightower on Twitter at http://twitter.com/KHightower

Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MikeSchneiderAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/testimony-starts-zimmerman-trial-212912403.html

vanessa bryant Prince Harry naked Prince Harry Vegas Melky Cabrera Mayim Bialik Rich Kids of Instagram felix hernandez

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Communications of Millions Subject to US-UK Spying | Global ...

Whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed on Friday that the UK intelligence agency GCHQ and the NSA record the content of phone calls, email messages, Facebook posts and browser histories of tens of millions of people. By tapping into fiber-optic cables?the infrastructure through which all Internet traffic must pass?the two agencies have created a systematic procedure for procuring, filtering and storing private communications.

The leak is the latest in a series that have left the US and UK governments scurrying to cover up their deeply antidemocratic maneuvers with scripted lies. It comes one day after the release of secret FISA Court documents showing the NSA has almost complete latitude to monitor the communications of US residents (See, ?NSA monitoring US communications without a warrant, documents show?)

Hours after the release of the latest documents, the US government announced that it was filing charges against Snowden under the Espionage Act, which contains a possible penalty of execution.

?Nobody is listening to your telephone calls,? President Obama said in a public speech two weeks ago. UK Foreign Minister William Hague told MPs last week that there is ?a strong framework of democratic accountability and oversight? within the national intelligence apparatus.

According to documents leaked to the?Guardian, and reported by Glenn Greenwald, however, GCHQ and the NSA have set up a complex scheme by which the intelligence agencies collect data and content from the communications of at least tens of millions of people. Officials monitor the data and content of those communications and then store what they deem valuable.

Described by GCHQ with the revealing titles ?Mastering the Internet? and ?Global Telecoms Exploitation,? the programs expose the repeated claims of President Obama and his coconspirators as outright lies.

Through the ?Tempora? program, the two agencies have been tapping and storing hundreds of petabytes of data from a majority of the fiber-optic cables in the UK over the past 18 months. The NSA has a similar program in the US, as revealed in an Associated Press report last week.

First, GCHQ handles 600 million ?telephone events? each day by tapping over 200 fiber-optic cables, including those that connect the UK to the US. According to the?Guardian, GCHQ is able to collect data at a rate ?equivalent to sending all the information in all the books in the British Library 192 times every 24 hours? by processing data from a minimum of 46 fiber-optic cables simultaneously.

The data is then transmitted to a government database and shared with the NSA, which is given top clearance. Lawyers for the GCHQ told their American counterparts that it was ?your call? as to what limitations should be in place for data sifting and storage.

According to the leaked documents, these massive databases have been built up over the past several years through widespread corporate collaboration. GCHQ colludes with an array of companies it calls ?intercept partners,? and sometimes forces them to hand over huge quantities of data for inspection and storage. The corporate agreements were kept highly guarded under fears that public knowledge of the collusion would lead to ?high-level political fallout.?

Once the data is collected, the agencies then filter information through a process known as Massive Volume Reduction (MVR). Through this process, information is pared down to specific individuals, email addresses, or phone numbers. The NSA identified 31,000 ?selector? terms, while GCHQ identified 40,000. The leaked documents reveal that a majority of the information extracted is content, including word-for-word email, text and phone recordings.

Through Tempora, GCHQ and the NSA have set up Internet buffers that allow the agencies to watch data accumulate in real-time and store it for less than a week for content or 30 days for metadata.

?Internet buffers represent an exciting opportunity to get direct access to enormous amounts of GCHQ?s special source data,? agents explained in the leaked documents. Valuable information is presumably removed from this temporary buffer and kept on file in intelligence storage facilities.

This information filtration system is not aimed at eliminating the possibility of storing the data of innocent people. In fact, this is precisely the purpose of the surveillance programs. Rather, unnecessary information is sifted out because the governments do not yet have the ability to store such vast quantities of communications content and metadata.

Despite these technological limitations, the immensity of the Tempora program was best described by GCHQ attorneys who acknowledged that listing the number of people targeted by the program would be impossible because ?this would be an infinite list which we couldn?t manage.?

GCHQ officials bragged that its surveillance program ?produces larger amounts of metadata than NSA,? and were told by GCHQ attorneys that ?[w]e have a light oversight regime compared with the US.? The latter statement is extraordinary given the fact that the FISA Court allows the NSA to operate almost entirely without constraint.

Friday?s revelations highlight the international character of the global surveillance programs. Far from being satisfied by storing the content of the communications of its own residents, the US and UK governments are working together to create an unprecedented database of international intelligence.

The intimacy of the two spy agencies is evidenced by an order given by NSA head Keith Alexander in 2008: ?Why can?t we collect all the signals, all the time? Sounds like a good summer homework project for [British and American spy center] Menwith!?

Snowden noted Friday that ?it?s not just a US problem. The UK has a huge dog in this fight. They [GCHQ] are worse than the US.?

Just like their American counterparts, the GCHQ attorneys have attempted to place a legal veneer over the facially illegal spying operations of the government.

GCHQ lawyers have invoked paragraph four of section 8 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa) to run around the legal requirement that intelligence officials acquire a warrant before performing a wiretap. Since this would have required GCHQ to acquire a warrant for every person in the UK, the attorneys instead have claimed that they can perform indiscriminate data mining operations with a ?certificate? from a minister.

In a briefing document released by Snowden, GCHQ attorneys claim that these certificates ?cover the entire range of GCHQ?s intelligence production.?

Under Ripa, GCHQ officials may also seek a Sensitive Targeting Authority (STA), which would allow them to spy on any UK citizen ?anywhere in the world? or on a foreign person in the UK.

A lawyer for GCHQ also noted in the secret documents that the parliamentary intelligence and security committee, which oversees the intelligence agencies, has ?always been exceptionally good at understanding the need to keep our work secret,? and that a tribunal set up to monitor the agencies has ?so far always found in our favor.?

Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, to which the UK is a signatory, states: ?Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence,? and that ?[t]here shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society??

In Britain as much as the United States, the ruling class is engaged in activity that is in flagrant violation of these democratic principles.

Source: http://www.globalresearch.ca/communications-of-millions-subject-to-us-uk-spying/5340025

cnn debate equatorial guinea marine helicopter crash photo of whitney houston in casket star jones carrot top george huguely

Windows 8 Music update brings in-app searching, login-free trial ...

Music on Windows 8 update brings in-app searching, login-free trial listening

Windows 8 has built-in search tools for apps, but a tweak in the June update to Xbox Music is making that feature more accessible. The media player now lets you search for songs on both your PC and Xbox Music through an in-app button. If you don't have any local tunes, you won't have to sign in to start listening -- Music now lets you stream 15 tracks through Xbox Music's ad-supported free tier without using an account. While other bug fixes and UI enhancements are minor in nature, what's here is enough to justify a trip to the Windows Store for the new version.

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/22/windows-8-music-update-brings-in-app-searching/

Sandy Hook Univision josh hamilton Susan Rice the Who jon bon jovi jon bon jovi

Virginia court, home to spying and cyber cases, to hear Snowden case

By Diane Bartz

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The federal court in Virginia where the Justice Department has decided to charge Edward Snowden with leaking secrets about U.S. surveillance programs has a long track record of hearing cases related not only to national security cases but also to cyber crime.

The United States filed a criminal complaint including charges under a U.S. espionage law against Snowden, a former U.S. National Security Agency contractor, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The charges are the government's first step in an effort to arrest and extradite Snowden from Hong Kong, where he is in hiding, to try him in the United States.

Snowden has acknowledged leaking secrets about classified U.S. surveillance programs to the Washington Post and Britain's Guardian newspaper. On Saturday, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post said Snowden had divulged information to the newspaper showing how computers in Hong Kong and China had been targeted.

On Friday, the Guardian reported that documents made available by Snowden showed that Britain's electronic eavesdropping agency, known as GCHQ, downloaded masses of data from telecommunications cables it had tapped into.

In the past 20 years, the U.S. government has racked up remarkable success rates in winning convictions or guilty pleas from people brought before the federal court in Virginia who were accused of espionage or terrorism. Because of its speed, the court is considered a "rocket docket."

But its most high-profile cyber case - that of accused copyright pirate Kim Dotcom - has proved a tougher nut to crack.

The U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Neil MacBride, has worked as chief counsel to then-Senator Joe Biden, as a prosecutor in Washington handling homicide and other criminal cases, and as a general counsel for the anti-software piracy group Business Software Alliance.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia is where the government charged Russian spies like former CIA officer Aldrich Ames in 1994 and former FBI agent Robert Hanssen in 2001; and Zacarias Moussaoui, who pleaded guilty to an al Qaeda conspiracy linked to the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and the Pentagon, outside Washington.

Its Norfolk court is where the Justice Department prosecuted five Somalis accused of piracy in attacking the USS Ashland in 2010 off the coast of Africa. They were convicted and are scheduled to be sentenced next month.

Sources say the same court has had a grand jury probe underway of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange after the website put online confidential U.S. documents allegedly acquired by U.S. soldier Bradley Manning. Court papers show that prosecutors in the Eastern District have subpoenaed message records generated by some of Assange's contacts or associates.

Manning is being court-martialed in connection with the case while Assange has taken refuge in Ecuador's Embassy in London, trying to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces allegations of sexual assault, or the United States.

In addition to espionage cases, the court is also where the U.S. government has opted to try some of the biggest cyber crime cases - like the prosecution of Kim Dotcom's Hong Kong company Megaupload for what is alleged to be a massive scheme to help users swap pirated movies and music.

While the espionage cases led to convictions, the Megaupload case has hit some rocky shoals in a battle over whether prosecutors properly notified defendants in the case. Kim Dotcom is fighting extradition from New Zealand.

An extradition hearing is scheduled for August, but may be delayed due to separate cases linked to another court ruling that unlawful warrants were used in the police raid.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball and Nate Raymond; Editing by Eric Beech)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/virginia-court-home-spying-cyber-cases-hear-snowden-195317753.html

Kate Upton Topless summer solstice tahiti tahiti chris bosh Chris Andersen Xbox

Box Office: Brad Pitt's 'World War Z' Earns Solid $3.6M on Thursday

By Brent Lang

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - So much for bad buzz, because "World War Z" is not the box-office disaster that some observers had gleefully speculated it would be.

The zombie thriller grossed a solid $3.6 million in late night showings Thursday night, according to studio estimates. The Brad Pitt-led cast of thousands racked up those numbers in 2,600 screens. It expands to more than 3,600 screens on Friday and is projected to generate roughly $50 million over the weekend.

The midnight numbers fall short of those generated by blockbusters like "Man of Steel" and "Iron Man 3," but they compare favorably with "The Great Gatsby," which earned $3.25 million in its late night showings on its way to a $50 million opening.

Despite the hot start, "World War Z" is not expected to be the weekend's top film. That honor will likely go to "Monsters University." The 3D prequel to 2001's "Monsters Inc." is projected to matriculate with around $70 million. If tracking holds, that will give Pixar its 14th consecutive first place opening.

Still it's a remarkable turn around for the $190 million-budgeted "World War Z," which had been plagued with reports of cost-overruns and expensive re-shoots, including an 11th hour decision to cook up a new ending.

The global backdrop of the zombie pandemic film appeared to be paying off as well. "World War Z" grossed a total of $5.7 million internationally on Thursday from territories like Korea, Argentina and Australia.

"World War Z" finds Pitt as a United Nations bureaucrat racing around the world in the hopes of stopping a virus that's turning the population into flesh-eating members of the undead. Reviews have been decent with the film earning a respectable 68 percent "fresh" rating on the critics aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/box-office-brad-pitts-world-war-z-earns-224647346.html

Larry Hagman macys jcpenney toys r us toys r us kohls target

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Should pro-amnesty Republicans be ?primaried?? (Powerlineblog)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/314319160?client_source=feed&format=rss

Leslie Van Houten paris jackson paris jackson Tropical Storm Andrea CMT Awards 2013 Samantha Power Philadelphia building collapse

Video: Flood evacuations in Canada

Heavy flooding in western Canada could force evacuation of as many as 100,000 people, city officials in Calgary, Alberta, said Friday.

Torrential rains and widespread flooding throughout that province washed out roads and bridges, floated away cars, couches and refrigerators, and left at least one person missing.

Mud slides also forced closure of the Trans-Canada Highway, the Associated Press reported, isolating the mountain towns of Banff and Canmore.


The uploader of this video, Kevin Heinrichs, marked it as footage of people being evacuated during severe flooding in the High River area of Alberta on Thursday. Rescuers employed heavy machinery to try to move people to safety.

In this video, uploaded Thursday to YouTube by Tristan Zaba, a house floats down Bragg Creek, which has obviously swelled to a torrent, and smashes against a bridge.

This video was posted to YouTube by prairieboy18, showing flooding in downtown Calgary itself, including MacLeod Trail and the Stampede Grounds where the city's famed rodeo is held.

This dawn-light view Friday of Louise Bridge in Calgary, showing the swollen Elbow River, was uploaded to YouTube by Dong Kim.
The Elbow began carving out the structure around this bridge southwest of Bragg Creek, Alberta, on Thursday. The bridge carried Highway 66, but later collapsed, according to the uploader of this video, Andrew Morrison.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/news/video-canada-flood-victims-evacuated-huge-bulldozer-floating-145638179.html

Veterans Day 2012 Nate Silver Obama Acceptance Speech 2012 dow jones Selena Gomez ariel winter Paige Butcher

Prisoner swap? What Taliban want in return for US soldier Bowe Bergdahl.

US soldier Bowe Bergdahl has been a Taliban captive for four years. The Taliban, after opening an office in Qatar from which to conduct reconciliation talks on Afghanistan, wants a prisoner exchange with the US.

By Anna Mulrine,?Staff writer / June 20, 2013

This file image provided by IntelCenter December 2010 shows a frame grab from a video released by the Taliban containing footage of a man believed to be US soldier Bowe Bergdahl, left. The US military has been trying to rescue Bergdahl since June 2009, when he disappeared in eastern Afghanistan.

IntelCenter/AP/File

Enlarge

As the Taliban opened an office in Doha, Qatar, this week and prepared for peace talks with the United States and the government of Afghanistan, a spokesman let it be known that one of the top items on the insurgent group?s agenda is a plan for a prisoner exchange.

Skip to next paragraph

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; // google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

?A top negotiating point for the Taliban is that they have been holding US Army Spc. Bowe Bergdahl.?The US military has been trying to rescue Bergdahl since June 2009, when he disappeared in eastern Afghanistan.

Bergdahl ?is as far as I know in good condition,? Taliban spokesman Shaheen Suhail said in an interview with the Associated Press from the group?s newly opened offices in Doha.

The Taliban are proposing that they swap Bergdahl for five Taliban prisoners that the United States is holding at the terrorism detention camp at Guant?namo Bay, Cuba ? a proposal that the Taliban have been making for more than a year.

In May 2012, Bergdahl's parents shared news that the US government was in talks with the Taliban to trade their son for Guant?namo detainees affiliated with the group.?

Bergdahl, from Halley, Idaho, was last seen in Paktika Province in eastern Afghanistan. In a video released shortly after his capture, Bergdahl said he was captured when he lagged behind on a patrol. Some US defense officials said it was also possible he left the base at night with Afghan soldiers, possibly after they had been drinking.?

In the video, Bergdahl said he has a girlfriend back home whom he hopes to marry. ?I am scared ? scared I won?t be able to come home,? he said in the video. ?It is very unnerving to be a prisoner.?

Senior Pentagon officials believe that a particularly violent branch of the Taliban, called the Haqqani network, is holding Bergdahl.

Even as the US begins peace talks with the Taliban, the Haqqani network may prove irreconcilable, Gen. Joseph Dunford, commander of US troops in Afghanistan, said Tuesday.

When news broke last year of the proposed prisoner swap, senior Pentagon officials refused to comment but did stress that the Pentagon had long been trying to rescue Bergdahl.

?I can assure you that we are doing everything in our power, using our intelligence resource across the government, to try to find, locate him,? Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters last May.

Dempsey added that he is in touch with Bergdahl?s parents. They have visited his office, and he has corresponded with them several times, he told reporters at the time.

He also said a poster of Bergdahl hangs in the US Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Fla., which has responsibility for running the war in Afghanistan.

Prisoner exchanges must be the top item on the agenda in any talks, the Taliban have demanded. ?FIrst has to be the release of the detainees,? Mr. Suhail said. ?Then step by step, we want to build bridges of confidence to go forward.?

In the meantime, the Taliban, which held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for their offices Tuesday, said they would not stop fighting in Afghanistan and Pakistan.?

They claimed responsibility for a rocket attack on a large US base in Afghanistan that same day that killed four US troops.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/F72-dKBHPZU/Prisoner-swap-What-Taliban-want-in-return-for-US-soldier-Bowe-Bergdahl

PS4 iOS 7 tim tebow Mac Pro Kingdom Hearts 3 Xbox 360 PlayStation 4

Friday, June 21, 2013

Sleep deprivation in teens linked to poor dietary choices

June 20, 2013 ? Well-rested teenagers tend to make more healthful food choices than their sleep-deprived peers, according to a study led by Lauren Hale, PhD, Associate Professor of Preventive Medicine at Stony Brook University School of Medicine. The finding, presented at SLEEP 2013, the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, may be key to understanding the link between sleep and obesity.

"Not only do sleepy teens on average eat more food that's bad for them, they also eat less food that is good for them," said Dr. Hale, speaking about the study results. "While we already know that sleep duration is associated with a range of health consequences, this study speaks to some of the mechanisms, i.e., nutrition and decision making, through which health outcomes are affected."

The study, which was supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, examined the association between sleep duration and food choices in a national representative sample of 13,284 teenagers in the second wave of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The data were collected in 1996 when the interview subjects had a mean age of 16 years.

The authors found that those teens who reported sleeping fewer than seven hours per night -- 18 percent of respondents -- were more likely to consume fast food two or more times per week and less likely to eat healthful food such as fruits and vegetables. The results took into account factors such as age, gender, race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, physical activity and family structure, and found that short sleep duration had an independent effect on both healthy and unhealthy food choices.

The respondents fell into one of three categories: short sleepers, who received fewer than seven hours per night; mid-range sleepers, who had seven to eight hours per night; and recommended sleepers, who received more than eight hours per night. The American Academy of Pediatrics currently recommends that adolescents get between nine and 10 hours of sleep per night.

"We are interested in the association between sleep duration and food choices in teenagers because adolescence is a critical developmental period between childhood and adulthood," said the first author of the study, Allison Kruger, MPH, a community health worker at Stony Brook University Hospital. "Teenagers have a fair amount of control over their food and sleep, and the habits they form in adolescence can strongly impact their habits as adults."

The research team -- which included co-authors Eric N. Reither, PhD, Utah State University; Patrick Krueger, PhD, University of Colorado at Denver; and Paul E. Peppard, PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison -- concluded that addressing sleep deficiency may be a novel and effective way to improve obesity prevention and health promotion interventions.

Dr. Hale said that one of the next steps in the research will be to explore whether the association between sleep duration and food choices is causal.

"If we determine that there is a causal link between chronic sleep and poor dietary choices, then we need to start thinking about how to more actively incorporate sleep hygiene education into obesity prevention and health promotion interventions," she said.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/nutrition/~3/M7Fj0YVNSm4/130620162746.htm

shaka smart hungergames bagpipes aspirin aspirin 21 jump street illinois primary results

Greek PM says determined to avoid early elections

Antonis Samaras, Prime Minister of Greece arrives for a meeting of leaders of the European People's Party (EPP) in Vienna, Austria on Thursday, June 20, 2013. On the agenda will be the preparation of the European Council, scheduled for June 27 and 28. (AP Photo/Hans Punz)

Antonis Samaras, Prime Minister of Greece arrives for a meeting of leaders of the European People's Party (EPP) in Vienna, Austria on Thursday, June 20, 2013. On the agenda will be the preparation of the European Council, scheduled for June 27 and 28. (AP Photo/Hans Punz)

Fired employees of the Greek state broadcaster ERT are protesting outside a high court that convened to consider union objections to the closure of broadcaster ERT in Athens on Thursday june 20, 2013 ahead of talks by the troubled coalition government on restarting the station's transmissions. Conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is due to meet center-left coalition partners for a third time this week to decide on the fate of the future public TV and radio company and its nearly 2,700 employees, which it closed down nine days ago. (AP Photo.Dimitri Messinis)

Fired employees of the Greek state broadcaster ERT are protesting outside a high court that convened to consider union objections to the closure of broadcaster ERT in Athens on Thursday june 20, 2013 ahead of talks by the troubled coalition government on restarting the station's transmissions. Conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is due to meet center-left coalition partners for a third time this week to decide on the fate of the future public TV and radio company and its nearly 2,700 employees, which it closed down nine days ago. (AP Photo.Dimitri Messinis)

Socialist party leader Evangelos Venizelos leaves the prime minister's office after a meeting in Athens, on Thursday, June 20, 2013. Conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras was meeting with coalition partners for a third time this week late Thursday to decide on the fate of public broadcaster ERT, after it was shut down nine days ago, causing a political crisis. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Leader of Democratic Left party Fotis Kouvelis leaves the prime minister's office after a meeting in Athens, on Thursday, June 20, 2013. Conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras was meeting with coalition partners for a third time this week late Thursday to decide on the fate of public broadcaster ERT, after it was shut down nine days ago, causing a political crisis. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

(AP) ? Greece's prime minister said Friday he's determined to avoid early elections despite a deep rift with a coalition ally, which threatened new political instability in the bailed-out country and prompted warnings from international creditors.

One year into his mandate, at the head of a three-party coalition formed to stave off financial collapse, Antonis Samaras said his overriding priority was to persevere with reforms demanded to keep the country's rescue loans flowing.

"We have three years left, and we will see them through," Samaras said in an address televised live.

The political crisis was sparked by Samaras' unpopular decision last week to yank the state-run broadcaster ERT off the air to save money ? axing all 2,656 jobs. Both his center-left minority partners objected strongly, but matters came to a head late Thursday when the Democratic Left party rejected a compromise that Socialist Pasok accepted.

"I want us to proceed all together, as we started," Samaras said after the negotiations broke down. "But I will forge ahead in any case."

With Pasok, Samaras' conservatives have a slim parliamentary majority that would allow the government to pass key reforms, including the pledged sackings of some 15,000 public sector employees by 2015. It was not immediately clear whether the Democratic Left would remain in the coalition.

Austerity inspectors from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund are in the course of reviewing Greece's progress with reforms, and will return to Athens by early July.

The European Union's top economics official, Olli Rehn, said the ball is in Greece's court.

"It is very important that the Greek government and the administration identify the technical work on the fiscal policies and the structural reforms that need to be adopted before the review can be completed," he said after a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Luxembourg late Thursday.

Rehn argued that recent stability in Athens has yielded encouraging signs of a recovery for the recession-mired Greek economy.

"I do hope for the sake of the Greek people that this stability will be preserved," he said. "I want to appeal to the sense of responsibility of political leaders in Greece."

IMF spokesman Gerry Rice warned that Greece has just over a month to deliver quickly with pledged reforms to ensure smooth release of bailout payments.

"If the review is concluded by the end of July, as expected, no financing problems will arise because the program is financed till end-July 2014," he said.

ERT, whose workforce costs have been considerably trimmed over the past three years, is funded by obligatory contributions from all Greeks ? whether they own a TV set or not ? and by advertising revenue. After years of murky finances, the corporation is now turning a modest profit, and critics argue that sacking its entire workforce makes no financial sense, particularly as the state budget will have to bear the cost of compensating all laid-off workers.

ERT's closure on June 11 sparked days of protests outside the corporation's Athens headquarters, and was sharply criticized abroad.

The Geneva, Switzerland-based, European Broadcasting Union has backed ongoing broadcasts by ERT employees that are being streamed online, while Amnesty International also condemned the shutdown.

EBU Director General Ingrid Deltenre, speaking at the European Parliament Thursday, sharply criticized Samaras' actions.

"The abrupt decision to close down ERT ... actually isn't going to save the country any money," she said. "ERT was funded from the license fee by citizens. ERT was generating a small surplus. The channel was not bankrupt."

A high court has sanctioned ERT's closure but condemned shutting off the signal, in a provisional ruling issued this week. Fired ERT employees protested outside the central Athens court Thursday as judges met to reach their final decision.

___

AP Writer Juergen Baetz in Luxembourg contributed.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-06-20-Greece-State%20Broadcaster/id-145757fdc9c54175b15d7f1ff4affdc4

maurice sendak E3 Schedule Gamespot rafael nadal cicely tyson falling skies johnny depp

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Major new initiative for patient safety in Europe unveiled

Major new initiative for patient safety in Europe unveiled [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 1-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: ESA Secretariat
president@esahq.org
32-274-33295
ESA (European Society of Anaesthesiology)

The European Patient Safety Foundation

A major new initiative for patient safety in Europe is today launched by Professor Eberhard Kochs, President of the European Society of Anaesthesiology (ESA). The new European Patient Safety Foundation, covering all aspects of patient safety was announced by Professor Kochs during his welcome address on Saturday 1 June at the ESA's annual European Anaesthesiology Congress in Barcelona, Spain (1-4 June).

ESA has made patient safety its core mission, and has been extremely proactive in promoting this vital area up the agenda of its 35 member states. Its many initiatives to date include the landmark Helsinki Declaration on Safety in Anaesthesiology (2010), and the Patient Safety Starter Kit, also launched at this year's meeting, that includes a wide range of tools for anaesthesiology departments across Europe to help improve their safety records (such as lectures, podcasts, hazard warnings, safety checklists and texts on patient safety).

"The new European Patient Safety Foundation takes the work we have already done to the next level, and we invite all organisations with a stake in patient safety to join us," said Prof Kochs. "We encourage other medical associations, patient organisations, industry, and government to become part of the Foundation. We are aiming to create a platform for all aspects of patient safety to be discussed in a collaborative and open way."

While the ESA will be the founding member, it is expected that a wide range of affiliates will quickly sign up in order to contribute their views and experience.

The European Patient Safety Foundation will aim to raise safety standards in all countries in Europe and close any existing gaps between them. The Foundation will also aim to work in tandem with patient safety foundations in other parts of the world, such as the USA and Australia.

The new foundation will hold its first major meetingthe European Patient Safety Summitduring Autumn 2014, with exact details of date and venue to be announced later.

"This is the most important initiative on patient safety in Europe for some years," concludes Professor Kochs. "We look forward to working with colleagues across the entire health spectrum as the Foundation develops to improve safety for our patients."

###


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Major new initiative for patient safety in Europe unveiled [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 1-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: ESA Secretariat
president@esahq.org
32-274-33295
ESA (European Society of Anaesthesiology)

The European Patient Safety Foundation

A major new initiative for patient safety in Europe is today launched by Professor Eberhard Kochs, President of the European Society of Anaesthesiology (ESA). The new European Patient Safety Foundation, covering all aspects of patient safety was announced by Professor Kochs during his welcome address on Saturday 1 June at the ESA's annual European Anaesthesiology Congress in Barcelona, Spain (1-4 June).

ESA has made patient safety its core mission, and has been extremely proactive in promoting this vital area up the agenda of its 35 member states. Its many initiatives to date include the landmark Helsinki Declaration on Safety in Anaesthesiology (2010), and the Patient Safety Starter Kit, also launched at this year's meeting, that includes a wide range of tools for anaesthesiology departments across Europe to help improve their safety records (such as lectures, podcasts, hazard warnings, safety checklists and texts on patient safety).

"The new European Patient Safety Foundation takes the work we have already done to the next level, and we invite all organisations with a stake in patient safety to join us," said Prof Kochs. "We encourage other medical associations, patient organisations, industry, and government to become part of the Foundation. We are aiming to create a platform for all aspects of patient safety to be discussed in a collaborative and open way."

While the ESA will be the founding member, it is expected that a wide range of affiliates will quickly sign up in order to contribute their views and experience.

The European Patient Safety Foundation will aim to raise safety standards in all countries in Europe and close any existing gaps between them. The Foundation will also aim to work in tandem with patient safety foundations in other parts of the world, such as the USA and Australia.

The new foundation will hold its first major meetingthe European Patient Safety Summitduring Autumn 2014, with exact details of date and venue to be announced later.

"This is the most important initiative on patient safety in Europe for some years," concludes Professor Kochs. "We look forward to working with colleagues across the entire health spectrum as the Foundation develops to improve safety for our patients."

###


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/eso-mni052913.php

los angeles kings timothy leary jonathan frid pujols watchmen hitch justin beiber