Egyptian satirist questioned for insulting Mursi, freed on bail

By Tom Perry

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian prosecutors questioned Egypt's most popular television satirist on Sunday over allegations that he insulted President Mohamed Mursi, a case regarded by his critics as new proof of a crackdown on dissent.

Bassem Youssef turned himself in after the prosecutor general issued an arrest warrant for him on Saturday. He was released on bail of 15,000 Egyptian pounds ($2,200).

Youssef rose to fame with a satirical online show after the uprising that swept autocrat Hosni Mubarak from power in 2011. His program, which has been compared to the Daily Show of U.S. satirist Jon Stewart, is now broadcast on television.

The comedian is accused of insulting Islam and undermining the standing of Mursi, a Muslim Brotherhood politician freely elected last June. The prosecutor general issued the warrant after at least four legal complaints filed by Mursi supporters.

Arriving at the prosecutor general's office, Youssef was wearing an oversized version of a graduation hat modeled on one donned by the president when he was awarded an honorary degree in Pakistan earlier in March.

He had sported the hat on his widely watched show, one of many satirical jabs at Mursi. Last year, he poked fun at Mursi's repeated use of the word "love" by singing a love song to a heart-shaped pillow with the president's face printed on it.

FEARS FOR FREE SPEECH

The investigation has raised fears for freedom of expression in the post-Mubarak Egypt. "It is an escalation in an attempt to restrict space for critical expression," said Heba Morayef, Egypt director at Human Rights Watch.

It is the most high-profile of a series of similar cases brought on accusations of insulting Mursi. Two dozen such cases were brought in the first 200 days of his rule - four times as many as during Mubarak's 30 years in power, according to human rights lawyer Gamal Eid.

Prominent liberal politician Mohamed ElBaradei said it was the kind of action only seen under "fascist regimes". "It is the continuation of the failed and ugly moves to thwart the revolution," he wrote on Twitter.

Mursi has hardened his tone in response to recent violent protests against him and the Brotherhood. After promising a week ago to take steps to protect the nation, Mursi vowed on Tuesday to "break the neck" of anyone who threw a petrol bomb.

The unrest is frustrating efforts to revive the economy.

Youssef was questioned after the prosecutor general issued five arrest warrants last week for prominent political activists accused of inciting violence against the Muslim Brotherhood, the group that propelled Mursi to power in last year's election.

The United States, which supplies $1.3 billion in military aid to Egypt each year, expressed concern last week over reports that arrest warrants had been issued for political activists.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the U.S. government was also concerned this case was being investigated while others, including cases where protestors were attacked outside Mursi's palace in December or cases of "extreme police brutality" had "not been appropriately investigated".

Opposition figures say that the prosecutor, Talaat Ibrahim, is biased towards Mursi, who appointed him last November, and they want him removed from office.

A court ruled last week that Ibrahim's appointment was illegal and that he must step down. Ibrahim, who denies any bias, plans to appeal against the ruling.

(Editing by Mark Heinrich and Stephen Powell)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-satirist-questioned-insulting-mursi-124223025.html

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Loeb's Third Point outperforms hedge fund rivals again

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

BOSTON (Reuters) - Hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb outperformed his rivals again in the first quarter with returns that kept pace with the stock market's recent rally, a person familiar with Loeb's returns said.

The New York-based manager told investors late on Thursday that his flagship Third Point Offshore Fund rose 2.8 percent in March while the Third Point Ultra fund, the leveraged version of the Offshore fund, gained 4.2 percent.

For the year to date, the Offshore fund, with $5.6 billion in assets, is up 9.2 percent while the Third Point Ultra Fund gained 13.3 percent.

During the same time, the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index climbed 10 percent while it rose 3.6 percent during the month.

A spokeswoman for Loeb's fund declined to comment.

Low cost index funds, which oversee roughly $1.3 trillion worldwide, have been a hit with investors with the Vanguard 500 index, for example, gaining 10.57 percent this year.

Loeb, whose firm oversees roughly $11.6 billion, is traditionally among the first in the super secretive hedge fund industry to tell clients how he did during the month, carrying on a friendly rivalry with David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital to see who can be the first to inform investors. Hedge fund returns are rarely made public by their managers.

The Third Point numbers stand in contrast to many other hedge funds where returns have been tepid. Many investors have questioned why they should pay hefty management and performance fees for hedge funds at a time when straight stock investments are performing so well.

Einhorn also shared his returns with investors late on Thursday, reporting a 2.3 percent gain in his Greenlight Capital fund in March, leaving it up 6.1 percent for the year.

A spokesman declined to comment.

Star stock picker Leon Cooperman's Omega Advisors was up 6.55 percent during the first two months of the year and his son Wayne Cooperman's Cobalt Offshore fund was up 3.63 percent through February. John Paulson's Advantage fund lost 2.63 percent in the first two months of the year.

Loeb and Einhorn calculated their returns very quickly, sending their monthly numbers out even before the month ended just hours after trading concluded on Thursday and before Friday's holiday when U.S. stock markets and most European markets are closed.

Most hedge fund managers take a few business days to calculate their numbers and longer to pen their quarterly letters, which are expected to be released later highlighting trends in the first three months of the year.

Early indications show that 2013 is not starting on a strong note for the an industry that used to pride itself in making money in all markets. Hedge Fund Research data show most funds nearly flat for the month with only a 0.69 percent gain, leaving them up only 3.11 percent for the year.

Loeb has won praise from investors in recent weeks for moving in and out of trades more quickly than some rivals, for example, making money as nutritional supplements company Herbalife and for his so-called Japan macro trade where he was betting against the currency.

Einhorn has a more U.S.-focused portfolio, with Apple remaining one of his biggest bets. Even though the stock was tumbling late last year, Einhorn stuck with his bet and this year squared off against the computer maker first by suing it and later convening a public conference call to suggest Apple should adopt perpetual preferred shares to send more cash back to investors.

(Reporting By Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by David Gregorio)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-loebs-third-point-outperforms-hedge-fund-rivals-155616304--sector.html

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Booq Boa Courier

As a lifelong user of backpacks, I'm fully aware that it borders on heresy to admit that I've secretly been coveting messenger bags for a while. Perhaps it's simply a side-effect of growing older, but I've slowly come to appreciate the way that messenger bags can carry a lot of stuff while maintaining a sleek, business-casual look that eludes most backpacks. The Booq Boa Courier ($109.95 list) is one such example, merging function and style in a versatile bag that can accommodate your MacBook (or any laptop up to 15 inches) while looking clean enough to bring to work and cool enough for happy hour.

The Boa Courier is available in 10-, 13-, or 15-inch sizes. Our review unit was the 13-inch model, and its exterior accordingly measures 10.8 by 17.1 by 4.7 inches (HWD) and weighs two pounds like the Ju-Ju-Be Be Hip (Messenger Bag)'s timber model. The Boa Courier's nylon exterior rocks a graphite finish that's decidedly more understated than the Magic Eye-like prints that we saw on the Ju-Ju-Be Micra Be Laptop Bag . In addition to its waterproof coating, the Boa Courier's nylon exterior also features a reflective piping along the flap's outer edges to help increase visibility when making moves during the night.

Since it's a messenger bag, the Boa Courier is designed to be slung over your shoulder. Accordingly, its seatbelt nylon shoulder strap runs across your chest in a manner that allows the bag to hang over your back in a 45-degree angle. A removable shoulder pad can be fastened to this strap to increase its overall comfort. There's also a removable "crossbody strap" that supposedly improves stability by running under your armpit to connect the shoulder strap to an extra buckle on the bag's bottom portion. I found this feature unnecessary, though, and ditched it early on. Although the thought of my bag dangling from a weird angle initially freaked me out, two sturdy plastic buckles kept it securely closed. While I'd choose buckles over Velcro any day, it may not be your cup of tea if you like buttons or zippers.

Despite its compact size, the Boa Courier boasts ample interior storage space by virtue of its many compartments. The main compartment houses a dedicated laptop sleeve that closes over your system with a thick Velcro strap. Between its dense plush padding and snug fit, your laptop feels secure. The rest of the main compartment, meanwhile, is made from a soft herringbone nylon material that protects your gadgets from getting scratched. Here, you'll also find a pen holder and a smartphone compartment. An external zippered pocket beneath the bag's flap serves as a storage pouch for miscellany. On the opposite end of the Boa Courier, a rear external sleeve can hold thin materials like magazines and loose papers. This section also sports a key ring that can conveniently be removed via a sliding buckle mechanism. Nearby, you'll also find a single briefcase handle for carrying the Boa Courier by your side. While two handles would have made more sense, the handle nevertheless feels durable enough to transport a heavy load.

The interior of the Boa Courier also houses a metal-framed Terralinq serial tag, which allows Boa Courier owners to register the unique serial number on the Booq website. In the event of losing the bag, the finder can enter said number on the site, and Booq will in turn contact the original owner and assist in its eventual return. It's a nice idea, in theory at least.

I put the Boa Courier to the test by using it as my primary bag for two full weeks, a period that entailed frenetically zipping between crowded trains and some bicycle riding. In both instances, I stashed my usual necessities inside, like my 13-inch MacBook Pro, a bottle of water, an umbrella, a book, and (in one instance), a six-pack. Throughout, the Boa Courier comfortably rested on my back, and its shoulder strap allowed it hew close enough to my body so it didn't jut out and bump into others on crowded trains. Thanks to its compact size, I was able to deftly swing the Boa Courier in front of me and sit in those rare instances that I got a seat. Moreover, the Boa Courier never lost its shape or sagged, an attribute that became apparent when, at one point, the train's doors closed onto the bag and I had yank it out. Much to my surprise, the Boa Courier took this unscripted stress test in stride.

Even while riding a bike, the Boa Courier never felt burdensome. Thanks to the semi-vertical angle that it rested on my back, it never bumped into my body with my every movement?one of my biggest pet peeves with messenger bags. Moreover, all of my wares consistently remained accessible, making interior navigation and organization feel like second nature. I especially liked the key ring since I was able to grab my keys without having to fiddle with any compartments or zipper every time I needed to enter or leave my apartment.

So the question remains: After two weeks of using the Booq Boa Courier, am I a messenger bag convert? The answer is a resounding "yes." The Boa Courier proved itself to be a highly functional and comfortable way to carry my gear around without compromising my style. For students, commuters, and wavering backpackers looking for a cool way to tote their gear around, it's definitely worth checking out.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/8yHvrL5XrDE/0,2817,2417194,00.asp

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Philadelphian jumps on tracks to help fallen man

In this Thursday, March 28, 2013 photo, Christopher Knafelc, who rescued a man who had fallen off the platform in a north Philadelphia subway station, is photographed during an interview in a transit police office in Philadelphia. Knafelc, 32, jumped down onto the tracks to help the man, knowing that a train would be arriving in a few minutes. Train traffic was halted and the man was taken to a hospital and listed in stable condition. (AP Photo/Philadelphia Daily News, Brian X. McCrone) THE EVENING BULLETIN OUT, TV OUT; MAGS OUT; NO SALES

In this Thursday, March 28, 2013 photo, Christopher Knafelc, who rescued a man who had fallen off the platform in a north Philadelphia subway station, is photographed during an interview in a transit police office in Philadelphia. Knafelc, 32, jumped down onto the tracks to help the man, knowing that a train would be arriving in a few minutes. Train traffic was halted and the man was taken to a hospital and listed in stable condition. (AP Photo/Philadelphia Daily News, Brian X. McCrone) THE EVENING BULLETIN OUT, TV OUT; MAGS OUT; NO SALES

In this still image taken from security video provided by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), Christopher Knafelc jumps off a subway platform in north Philadelphia to help a man who fell onto the tracks Thursday afternoon, March 28, 2013. Knafelc, 32, jumped down to help the man, knowing that a train would be arriving in a few minutes. Train traffic was halted and the man was taken to a hospital and listed in stable condition. (AP Photo/SEPTA)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) ? The recovering drug addict with a long rap sheet who had just sat down on the bench at a north Philadelphia train station often wondered if he was a good person, and perhaps never considered that anyone thought he was a hero to anybody.

But there was no self-doubt when Christopher Knafelc's instincts kicked in Thursday afternoon and he leaped onto the tracks to help a complete stranger he'd just seen flail and fall off the platform.

Now, Knafelc, 32, is being hailed as a hero and he's holding his head a little higher, viewing the good deed he did, and the praise that followed, as another sign that he is on the right path in life.

"It did help reinforce that I'm a good person," Knafelc told The Associated Press in a Friday interview at his mother's south Philadelphia apartment. "I questioned that a lot because of my colorful past."

Still, Knafelc deflected the praise Friday by saying he was just doing the "right thing."

Knafelc said he has battled substance abuse ? including heroin and the powerful pain drug Oxycontin ? since he was in middle school in Baden, a small town outside Pittsburgh, and spent years in and out of rehab.

"I created a pretty deep hole to come out of," he said.

Court records show Knafelc pleaded guilty in 2010 in Pennsylvania to charges of theft, driving under the influence, child endangerment and driving without a license. Two years ago, he came to Philadelphia, where his mother and a cousin live, to get a fresh start, he said.

He said he has been sober since 10 days after his daughter's birth in July 2010, when he picked her up from her crib and she smiled at him.

"That was the most powerful thing I've ever felt in my life to this day," Knafelc said. "It was better than any high from drugs."

On Thursday afternoon, he instinctively jumped down to help the men on the tracks, knowing that a train would be arriving any minute.

He called up to people on the platforms to get the trains stopped and held the man's head and neck stable until firefighters arrived. Train traffic was halted.

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority spokeswoman Jerri Williams said she spoke with Knafelc soon after his heroics.

"He's clean and sober for about 2 1/2 years but still trying to get his life together," she said. "I think by doing this good Samaritan deed he's kind of surprised himself."

Williams said she saw that as Knafelc recounted the incident on the tracks, "I could see the light go off, the a-ha moment" when he realized that after he was helped by many people in his past, he was able to finally help someone else in return.

"This almost instinctive move to save this guy made him see 'I am a good person,'" Williams said. "It's amazing. This incident may be the start of really good things for him."

Knafelc agreed with that assessment, and he connected the help he's been given by family members to survive his addiction with the favor he did the man on the tracks Thursday.

"I'll never be able to repay them, financially or any other way," Knafelc said. "The next best thing I can do is pay it forward."

Investigators do not know what caused the man to fall on the tracks. Surveillance video shows him walking slowly toward the platform's edge and then over it. He was taken to a hospital and listed in stable condition.

___

Associated Press researcher Judith Ausuebel contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-03-30-Philly%20Subway%20Hero/id-b9c6491e91894e5baf03285cfb105e64

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Dozens of teachers indicted in cheating scandal

By David Beasley

ATLANTA (Reuters) - A grand jury indicted 35 former Atlanta public school educators, including an award-winning former superintendent, on Friday for allegedly conspiring to cheat on standardized test scores to obtain cash bonuses.

Former Superintendent Beverly Hall was named National Superintendent of the Year by the American Association of School Administrators in 2009, the same year prosecutors contend widespread cheating took place.

Hall received a $78,000 bonus that year for improving the school system's test scores, prosecutors said.

"The money she received, we are alleging, was ill gotten and it was theft," Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said at a news conference.

Besides Hall, those indicted included administrators, principals and teachers. The 65-count indictment said "test answer sheets were altered, fabricated and falsely certified."

Hall was charged with racketeering, making false statements, theft by taking and false swearing. She and others could face up to 45 years in prison if convicted, Howard said.

A state investigation of test results in 2009 found cheating in 44 of the 56 Atlanta public schools examined. The cheating was prompted primarily by pressure to meet targets in a data-driven environment, according to a investigation conducted by Georgia Governor Nathan Deal's office.

The 2009 cheating was said to include teachers erasing incorrect answers on state standardized tests.

The 2011 state report concluded that there was a "major failure of leadership throughout Atlanta Public Schools with regard to the ethical administration" of the 2009 standardized exams known as the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests.

Amid the investigation, Hall stepped down after nearly 12 years as superintendent of the Atlanta Public Schools. Her successor, Erroll Davis, said on Friday the school system now has extensive training and other safeguards to prevent cheating.

He said 95 percent of the school system's staff was not implicated in the scandal.

Justina Collins, the mother of an Atlanta public school student, told the news conference her daughter had trouble reading yet scored well on the standardized tests.

Collins said when she asked the superintendent about the discrepancy, Hall told her, "Your daughter is simply the kind of person who tests well."

Collins' daughter is now in the ninth grade but reads on a fifth-grade level, Howard told reporters, adding that the real victims of the cheating scandal were the children.

"Her example points out the plight of many children" in the scandal, said the prosecutor.

Richard Deane, Hall's attorney, could not be reached for comment.

(Editing by Ian Simpson and Todd Eastham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/former-atlanta-schools-chief-others-indicted-cheating-scandal-010308965.html

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Kristen Bell & Dax Shepard Welcome a Baby Girl!

The Veronica Mars star and Parenthood actor welcome their daughter to the world! Plus, see more stars who welcomed new bundles of joy.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/celebrity-babies-2013/1-b-16266?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Acelebrity-babies-2013-16266

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How diabetes drug delays aging in worms

Mar. 28, 2013 ? A widely prescribed type 2 diabetes drug slows down the aging process by mimicking the effects of dieting, according to a study published today using worms to investigate how the drug works.

Following a calorie-restricted diet has been shown to improve health in later life and extend lifespan in a number of animals, ranging from the simple worm to rhesus monkeys. The type 2 diabetes drug metformin has been found to have similar effects in animals but until now it was not clear exactly how the drug delays the aging process.

Researchers supported by the Wellcome Trust and Medical Research Council looked at the effects of metformin on C. elegans worms that were grown in the presence of E. coli bacteria, a relationship similar to that which humans have with the 'healthy' bacteria in our gut. They found that the worms treated with metformin lived longer only when the E. coli strain they were cultured with was sensitive to the drug.

Dr Filipe Cabreiro from the Institute of Healthy aging at UCL, who led the research, explains: "Overall, treatment with metformin adds up to 6 days of life for the worm which is equivalent to around a third of its normal lifespan. It seems to work by altering metabolism in the bacteria that live in the worm, which in turn limits the nutrients that are available to the worm host and has a similar effect to restricting the diet."

Bacteria living in the gut have an important role in helping the host organism to digest and extract nutrition from food. Defects in gut bacteria have been linked to metabolic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease and cancer. It has also been suggested that gut bacteria may have an impact on the aging process, but this is the first study to suggest a mechanism for how this works.

The team used strains of E. coli with defects in genes that are linked to metabolism and tweaked the levels of nutrients available to tease out which metabolic pathways might be affected by the drug. They found that treatment with metformin disrupted the bacteria's ability to metabolise folate, a type of B-vitamin, and methionine, one of the building blocks of proteins. This limits the nutrients that are available to the worm and mimics the effects of dietary restriction to enable the worms to live longer.

However, when they added an excess of sugar to the diet, the team found that the life-extending effects of metformin were cancelled out. As the drug is used as a treatment for diabetes caused by elevated glucose levels in the blood, this finding is particular relevant for understanding how the drug works in people.

Professor David Gems, who directed the study, said: "We don't know from this study whether metformin has any effect on human aging. The more interesting finding is the suggestion that drugs that alter bacteria in the gut could give us a new way of treating or preventing metabolic diseases like obesity and diabetes."

Metformin is currently one of the most widely prescribed drugs and the findings should help to inform how it is used in patients.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Wellcome Trust, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Filipe Cabreiro, Catherine Au, Kit-Yi Leung, Nuria Vergara-Irigaray, Helena?M. Cochem?, Tahereh Noori, David Weinkove, Eugene Schuster, Nicholas?D.E. Greene, David Gems. Metformin Retards Aging in C.?elegans by Altering Microbial Folate and Methionine Metabolism. Cell, 2013; 153 (1): 228 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2013.02.035

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/top_news/top_health/~3/tv-92dVqdys/130328125106.htm

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Cache of weapons found in Newtown gunman's home

FILE - In this Dec. 18, 2012 file photo, a police cruiser sits in the driveway and crime scene tape surrounds the home of Nancy Lanza in Newtown, Conn. Nancy Lanza was killed in the home by her son Adam Lanza before he forced his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn, killing 26 people. Search warrants released Thursday, March 28, 2013, revealed that an arsenal of weapons including guns, more than a thousand rounds of ammunition, a bayonet and several swords was seized in the Lanza home. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

FILE - In this Dec. 18, 2012 file photo, a police cruiser sits in the driveway and crime scene tape surrounds the home of Nancy Lanza in Newtown, Conn. Nancy Lanza was killed in the home by her son Adam Lanza before he forced his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn, killing 26 people. Search warrants released Thursday, March 28, 2013, revealed that an arsenal of weapons including guns, more than a thousand rounds of ammunition, a bayonet and several swords was seized in the Lanza home. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

FILE - This undated file photo circulated by law enforcement and provided by NBC News, shows Adam Lanza, who authorities said Lanza killed his mother at their home and then opened fire inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., on Friday, Dec. 14, 2012. Search warrants released Thursday, March 28, 2013, revealed that an arsenal of weapons including guns, more than a thousand rounds of ammunition, a bayonet and several swords was seized in the Lanza home. (AP Photo/NBC News, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 14, 2012 file photo provided by the Newtown Bee, a police officer leads two women and a child from Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., shortly after Adam Lanza opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children. State's Attorney Stephen Sedensky III asked a judge in Danbury Superior Court, Wednesday, March 27, 2013 to limit the information to be made public from warrants in Newtown school shooting, due to be released Thursday. (AP Photo/Newtown Bee, Shannon Hicks, File) MANDATORY CREDIT: NEWTOWN BEE, SHANNON HICKS

FILE - In this Friday, Dec. 14, 2012 file photo provided by the Newtown Bee, Connecticut State Police lead a line of children from the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. after Adam Lanza opened fire, killing 26 people, including 20 children. State's Attorney Stephen Sedensky III asked a judge in Danbury Superior Court, Wednesday, March 27, 2013 to limit the information to be made public from warrants in Newtown school shooting, due to be released Thursday. (AP Photo/Newtown Bee, Shannon Hicks, File) MANDATORY CREDIT: NEWTOWN BEE, SHANNON HICKS

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) ? A cache of weapons including guns, more than a thousand rounds of ammunition, a bayonet and several swords was found in the home of the gunman who carried out the Newtown school shooting, according to search warrants released Thursday.

Adam Lanza killed 26 people inside Sandy Hook Elementary School and took his own life within five minutes of shooting his way into the building, State's Attorney Stephen J. Sedensky III said in a statement accompanying the release of the warrants in the Dec. 14 massacre. Lanza was found dead in the school wearing military-style clothing.

The arsenal seized from Lanza's home and the car he drove to carry out the massacre provided glimpses into the world of a troubled young man, but it does not answer the question of what could have motivated the attack. Investigators say it will take until June or later to complete the investigation.

Sedensky said Lanza killed all 26 victims inside Sandy Hook Elementary School with a Bushmaster .223-caliber rifle before taking his own life with a Glock 10 mm handgun. He said Lanza had another loaded handgun with him inside the school as well as three, 30-round magazines for the Bushmaster.

Sedensky said 154 spent .223 casings were recovered at the scene. A loaded 12-gauge Saiga shotgun was found in the Honda Civic Lanza drove to the school and the warrants said there were two magazines containing a total of 70 shotgun rounds. The warrant does not offer further explanation, and authorities did not respond to questions, but some Saiga shotguns can be fitted with magazines that hold up to 30 rounds.

Mark Barden, whose 7-year-old son, Daniel, was killed at Sandy Hook, said he was not surprised by the details released Thursday.

"Most of this is pretty high-level stuff that we were aware of already and it just reminds me of what happened, that a gunman stormed his way into an elementary school and shot to death 26 people, 20 of which were first-grade boys and girls," Barden said.

At the Lanza house, investigators found books about autism and Asperger's syndrome as well as a National Rifle Association guide to pistol shooting, the warrants said. The NRA said Lanza and his mother were not members. Another book found at the home with tabbed pages is titled: "Train Your Brain to Get Happy."

Writings and journals that belonged to Lanza were seized by police and turned over to the FBI for analysis. They also found three photos containing images of what appears to be a dead person covered with plastic and blood.

Police said they found a smashed computer hard drive and a gaming console in the house. An unnamed person told investigators that Lanza was an avid gamer who played "Call of Duty" and other games and rarely left his home.

Investigators found a holiday card containing a check made out to Lanza for the purchase of a firearm, authored by his mother, Nancy Lanza. Adam Lanza shot and killed his mother in their Newtown home before driving to the school to carry out the massacre.

Documents indicate authorities found a gun safe with shotgun shells in the house and numerous boxes of bullets. In a bedroom closet, they found ear plugs, a handwritten note regarding ammunition and magazines, paperwork on guns and a metal bayonet.

In a top drawer of a filing cabinet, they found paper targets. In a duffel bag, they found ear and eye protection, binoculars, numerous paper targets and an NRA certificate that belonged to Adam Lanza.

Authorities found numerous knives, including samurai swords. They found a military-style uniform in Lanza's bedroom and handwritten notes containing the addresses of local gun shops. The guns found at the home included a .323-caliber Enfield Albian bolt-action rifle, a .22-caliber Savage Mark II rifle, a BB gun and a .22-caliber Volcanic starter pistol.

Among the items seized was a news article on a 2008 school shooting at Northern Illinois University.

A judge's order to seal the warrants expired on Wednesday, and a Danbury Superior Court judge granted a request by Sedensky to withhold some details. Sedensky asked to redact the name of a witness, saying the person's safety might be jeopardized if the name were disclosed. He also asked that the release not include other information such as telephone numbers, serial numbers on items found and a few paragraphs of an affidavit.

Until now, prosecutors had made few details of the Newtown investigation available, despite pressure to do so from the governor, who criticized leaks to the press and lawmakers who clamored for more details as they craft legislation on mental health and gun control.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced last week that additional information would be released at his request. He expressed concern that some information about the shooting rampage at Sandy Hook reportedly disclosed by a top state police commander at a recent law enforcement seminar in New Orleans was leaked.

In his statement, Sedensky said he ordered a stop to any presentations involving evidence in the case to prevent such disclosures. He said the investigation is ongoing.

"No conclusions have been reached and no final determinations have been made," Sedensky said.

Senate President Donald E. Williams Jr. said this week that legislative leaders are eager to review the search warrant documents before finishing work on a bipartisan bill that addresses gun control and other issues related to the massacre.

___

Associated Press writers Dave Collins and Michael Melia in Hartford contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-03-28-US-Connecticut-School-Shooting/id-00437ea9def1415a97ac165f544347f9

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Diverse bacteria on fresh fruits, vegetables vary with produce type, farming practices

Mar. 27, 2013 ? Fresh fruit and vegetables carry an abundance of bacteria on their surfaces, not all of which cause disease. In the first study to assess the variety of these non-pathogenic bacteria, scientists report that these surface bacteria vary depending on the type of produce and cultivation practices.

The results are published March 27 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Jonathan Leff and Noah Fierer at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

The study focused on eleven produce types that are often consumed raw, and found that certain species like spinach, tomatoes and strawberries have similar surface bacteria, with the majority of these microbes belonging to one family. Fruit like apples, peaches and grapes have more variable surface bacterial communities from three or four different groups. The authors also found differences in surface bacteria between produce grown using different farming practices.

The authors suggest several factors that may contribute to the differences they observed, including farm locations, storage temperature or time, and transport conditions. These surface bacteria on produce can impact the rate at which food spoils, and may be the source of typical microbes on kitchen surfaces. Previous studies have shown that although such microbes don't necessarily cause disease, they may still interact with, and perhaps inhibit the growth of disease-causing microbes. The results of this new research suggest that people may be exposed to substantially different bacteria depending on the types of produce they consume.

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Journal Reference:

1. Jonathan W. Leff, Noah Fierer. Bacterial Communities Associated with the Surfaces of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (3): e59310 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0059310

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/top_news/top_health/~3/kBX0D1wTFq0/130327190542.htm

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Google adds street views inside Japan nuclear zone

TOKYO (AP) ? Concrete rubble litters streets lined with shuttered shops and dark windows. A collapsed roof juts from the ground. A ship sits stranded on a stretch of dirt flattened when the tsunami roared across the coastline. There isn't a person in sight.

Google Street View is giving the world a rare glimpse into one of Japan's eerie ghost towns, created when the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami sparked a nuclear disaster that has left the area uninhabitable.

The technology pieces together digital images captured by Google's fleet of camera-equipped vehicles and allows viewers to take virtual tours of locations around the world, including faraway spots like the South Pole and fantastic landscapes like the Grand Canyon.

Now it is taking people inside Japan's nuclear no-go zone, to the city of Namie, whose 21,000 residents have been unable to return to live since they fled the radiation spewing from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant two years ago.

Koto Naganuma, 32, who lost her home in the tsunami, said some people find it too painful to see the places that were so familiar yet are now so out of reach.

She has only gone back once, a year ago, and for a few minutes.

"I'm looking forward to it. I'm excited I can take a look at those places that are so dear to me," said Naganuma. "It would be hard, too. No one is going to be there."

Namie Mayor Tamotsu Baba said memories came flooding back as he looked at the images shot by Google earlier this month.

He spotted an area where an autumn festival used to be held and another of an elementary school that was once packed with schoolchildren.

"Those of us in the older generation feel that we received this town from our forbearers, and we feel great pain that we cannot pass it down to our children," he said in a post on his blog.

"We want this Street View imagery to become a permanent record of what happened to Namie-machi in the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster."

Street View was started in 2007, and now provides images from more than 3,000 cities across 48 countries, as well as parts of the Arctic and Antarctica.

___

Online: Namie Street View link: http://goo.gl/maps/iFIWD

Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at www.twitter.com/yurikageyama

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/google-adds-street-views-inside-japan-nuclear-zone-002350658.html

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Disabled man awarded $8000 after being stranded on Disneyland ride

A wheelchair-bound man was awarded $8,000 by Disneyland after the "It's A Small World" ride broke, stranding him for a half hour while the theme song played continuously, according to an attorney for the plaintiff.

Jose Martinez, who suffers from panic?attacks and high blood pressure,?did not medically stabilize for three hours after the ride broke down in 2009, attorney David Geffen said.

"He has panic disorder and that was really what started everything rolling,"?Geffen said. "What caused the court concern, as well, because Disney was alerted about his panic problem and didn't call for the fire department right away."

Disneyland spokeswoman Suzi Brown said the Anaheim theme park believes it provided appropriate assistance during the incident, and is disappointed that the court did not fully agree.

Martinez uses a wheelchair, and Geffen said the plaintiff's high blood pressure was aggravated by a need to urinate while he was stuck on the ride.

More news from NBCLosAngeles.com

While the other riders were able to get off, Martinez was stuck until he could access his wheelchair.

Half the award ordered last week is for pain and suffering, and the rest is for a violation of disability law, Geffen said.

Brown told NBC4 the violation concerning the height of the counter in Disneyland?s first aid station has been corrected.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2a096f19/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C270C174827150Edisabled0Eman0Eawarded0E80A0A0A0Eafter0Ebeing0Estranded0Eon0Edisneyland0Eride0Dlite/story01.htm

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These Clever Packages Can Turn Crates of Coke Into Boxes of Life-Saving Medicine

It's one thing to have life-saving medicine, but it's quite another to get it delivered to where its really needed. And what better way to make sure it gets to the furthest reaches of the world than by packing it in with a truly vital necessity like Coke. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/qr-vUUtL-9E/these-clever-packages-can-turn-crates-of-coke-into-boxes-of-life+saving-medicine

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Liz Riggs: 8 Ways to Make Long Distance Work

So you're dating someone long distance. Lucky you, right? Eh... Those familiar with long distance love affairs know that if you've got a long distance relationship, you've got a full time job, and it doesn't pay -- at least not in real American tender. But don't fret. Just follow these eight tips, and you'll be enjoying your long distance relationship a lot more than most of your sorry-ass friends are enjoying whatever passes for romance in their lives.

1. Talk Every Day

The most important thing about making a long distance relationship work is to be so doe-eyed, star-crossed, stomach-flipping batshit crazy about each other that you have to talk every single day -- possibly multiple times. You never see each other! You're deprived of love's most basic perks! You've got to have an emotional bond on such a soul-shattering, spirit-bending, molecular level that time and space are seen as but pesky obstacles on your quest to carve a sacrificial amount of time out of your every single day to fuel the unquenchable fire in your heart. Also, the more people around when you're talking -- the better. They'll be throwing up, which is the surest proof of true love.

2. Talk to Other People About Each Other

Another key to making a long distance relationship work is to truly believe that you are the first two people to have ever felt this way about each other in recorded history, and to see yourself as divinely anointed with the task of spreading your Gospel of Love to every friend, family member and hater that comes within shouting distance. Ideally, you should also believe that you are the only people who have ever fallen in love more than three miles away from one another and you should spend significant amounts of time explaining to people why Death Cab For Cutie's Transatlanticism was written specifically for you and your long distance lover. Even perfect strangers should not be safe from your sermon of how you met, what the other person is like, what they might be up to right now (if you're following Point One, you won't have to guess) and why your relationship is superior to whatever they're enduring at the moment. (Usually, it will be.)

3. Stop Going on Dates With Other People

This doesn't seem like any kind of novel idea, but it's such a common mistake that it bears mentioning here. Going on little dates with other people is the easiest way to make your long distance relationship into a series of drunken hate-voicemails, threatening packages and arson attacks. These days, it's easy to end up on a date that you thought was nothing more than an opportunity to eat a hamburger with someone else. You misunderstood a text message (more on these later) and next thing you know, someone is trying to have sex with you in the middle of the street. The best way to avoid this is to never respond to any advance, friendly or unfriendly, from a single human of the opposite sex. Dogs and other animals as well. Just to be safe.

4. Text Always

While this may seem to be a sort of addendum to Point One, it's not. Not only should you speak to your significant other every day (preferably for extended periods of time and ideally where there is potential for nakedness), but you should also spend a good deal of your time texting this person. This allows you to constantly know what your long distance lover is doing (see Point Two and then also Point One again). Texting can also lead to sexting, which only sounds dumb to people who've never been in a long distance relationship.

5. Spend Most Of Your Money On Plane Tickets And/Or Gasoline

People who claim to be in long distance relationships and only see each other once a month (OR LESS?) are, in fact, much closer to living in a Monastery than they are to being in love. To make it work? Fly out to each other more than seems reasonable, or necessary. Fly out for fun. Meet halfway. Go back and forth. Skip work sometimes. Even when it's stupid to skip work. Fly out for reasons that sound miserable, like bar mitzvah's, or her roommate's birthday, or her dad's vasectomy, or meeting her extended homeschooled Amish family -- because at least she will still be there, and that's what relationships are about.

6. Skype Your Life

Do the sorts of things you'd do if you were together, like drink too much and watch movies and sit around with your roommates acting like assholes and fall asleep. Listen to music. Read each other stories. Show each other pictures of your friends you may never meet. Plan a trip. Write a book. Cook dinner. Play an instrument. Do jumping jacks. Take off your pants. Just use the wonder of technology to make yourself feel a little less lonely doing it. And remember: It's not drinking alone if it's a long distance relationship. Well, yes it is. But, still.

7. Send Each Other Shit

People love presents. Anyone who says he doesn't is an asshole. Find $10 (or steal it from a roommate) and send your boo a copy of your favorite book. Amazon will probably have it delivered before you've even realized you actually ordered it. Find some place near her work that delivers snacks and send her lunch. Don't send flowers. Flowers are stupid. Oh, she tells you she likes flowers? Well, why don't you just write this damn thing then, since you're so smart? Of course she likes flowers, but here's the thing: you can do better. Flowers show that you are normal and trite and that you have the same ideas any douchebag in the whole world. Send her something she can eat. Or hold. Or listen to. Send something that will make her coworkers jealous. Find a way to make her think about you while you are a thousand miles away; although, if you've been paying any attention and are following Points One, Two, and Four, this probably won't be an issue.

8. Have a Foreseeable End

Like most relationships, long distance relationships will end in either a break-up or a lifelong commitment. Oh, you've only spent a total of 136 hours together over the course of the last month? That's like, 136 normal-ass, mundane, in-person dates. So, while most couples can take their time to figure this out, or just not really care to figure it out at all, you can't. You've got to be thinking in terms of how much you're willing to put your money, job, friendships, rollover minutes and free time towards someone you only see via the Internet. Breaking up is an option. Moving to the same city is also an option. But doing all other seven points here, month after month, waiting to see where things go next? That's not an option. Talk goals. Figure your life out. But, the absolute best thing you can do for your long distance relationship is make it into a short distance one.

?

Follow Liz Riggs on Twitter: www.twitter.com/riggser

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/liz-riggs/long-distance-relationships_b_2965780.html

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Burn Note Comes Back With A Vengeance, Aims To Protect Your Private Messages With New Mobile Apps

Way back in January 2012, a service called Burn Note launched, aiming to protect your private messages by destroying them after a certain period of time. Right around the same time, the concept of ephemeral messaging caught on with mainstream users with the launch, and mini-controversy, of Snapchat. While Snapchat allows you to send photos and videos that self-destruct, something that was copied executed quickly by Facebook, Burn Note is back and it’s still focused on the straight-up messaging aspect of communication. Today, Burn Note is launching new iOS and Android apps that have some really interesting features that limit the viewing area of messages to further protect them from getting screenshotted by the recipient. While this might sound overly paranoid, there is absolutely a useful place in the world for technology like this that has nothing to do with sexting. I spoke with Burn Note’s creator, Jacob Robbins, and he explained the new “Spotlight” approach to viewing a message, and it’s really cool. Not only that, but it uses patent-pending technology, as Robbins has clearly spent time on the service since it launched early last year. What Spotlight does is force you to use your finger, or mouse on the desktop, to hover a spotlight over the message, exposing only bits of it at a time. This is great to stop people from screenshotting or copying your messages, as well as discouraging those pesky people that like to read over your shoulder. Here’s a quick look at how it works: The messages in Burn Note self-destruct using a timer that starts once the message is opened by the recipient. The service will take a guess at how long the reader will need to read it, or you can set the time yourself. Once the timer expires, your message is destroyed forever. By destroyed, Robbins says that all message data are securely deleted from the Burn Note services and both participants’ devices. This is a key component for a service like Burn Note:?If that trust is lost, then so is Burn Note’s chance of success. You can send messages to other Burn Note users, email addresses or send a link to anyone on any platform. Robbins says the goal of Burn Note is to: “allow online communication at the same level of intimacy as in-person conversation; more personal than sharing on a social site, sending email or using SMS.” I

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/kvWC-1ntpUg/

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US training Syrian moderates in Jordan: officials

In this image taken from video obtained from the Ugarit News, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, Free Syrian Army fighters aim their weapons during clashes, in Damascus countryside, Syria on Monday, March 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Ugarit News via AP video)

In this image taken from video obtained from the Ugarit News, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, Free Syrian Army fighters aim their weapons during clashes, in Damascus countryside, Syria on Monday, March 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Ugarit News via AP video)

In this Sunday, March 24, 2013 image taken from video obtained from the Ugarit News, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, Free Syrian Army fighters drops a shell into a firing tube, in Damascus countryside, Syria. (AP Photo/Ugarit News via AP video)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? For months now, the United States has been training secular Syrian fighters in Jordan with the goal of bolstering the array of forces battling President Bashar Assad's regime while at the same time strengthening the hand of moderates among the country's fractured opposition, American and foreign officials said. They said the effort is ongoing.

The training has been taking place since late last year at an unspecified location, concentrating largely on Sunnis and tribal Bedouins who formerly served as members of the Syrian army, officials told The Associated Press. The forces aren't members of the leading rebel group, the Free Syrian Army, they said. The U.S. and others fear the growing role of extremist militia groups in the rebel ranks, including some linked to al-Qaida.

Officials said the operation is being run by U.S. intelligence. But those in Washington stressed that the U.S. was only providing nonlethal aid at this point, stopping short of a step that is being increasingly advocated by lawmakers in Congress but which the Obama administration opposes.

Others such as Britain and France are involved, officials added, though it's unclear whether any Western government is providing materiel or other direct military support after two years of civil war that, according to the United Nations, already has killed more than 70,000 people.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly about the program.

Officially, the Obama administration has been vague on the subject of what type of military training it may be providing, while insisting that it is doing all it can ? short of providing weapons to the rebels or engaging in its own military intervention ? to hasten the demise of the Assad family's four-decade dictatorship.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Monday the U.S. has "provided some logistical nonlethal support that has also come in handy for the Syrian rebels who are, again, fighting a regime that is not hesitating to use the military might of that regime against its own people.

"That is something we're going to continue to work to bring to an end," he told reporters.

It's unclear what effect the training has had in the conflict. It has become a quagmire, with Assad's regime unable to snuff out the rebellion and Syria's opposition incapable thus far of delivering any serious blow to the ruling government's grip on Damascus and control over much of the country.

Some of the Syrians the U.S. is involved with are in turn training other Syrians inside the country, officials said.

They declined to provide more information because they said that would go too deep into intelligence matters. Defense Department officials insisted the Pentagon isn't involved with any military training or arms provisions to the Syrian rebels, either directly or indirectly. The CIA declined to comment.

The New York Times reported Monday that the CIA helped Arab governments and Turkey sharply increase their military aid to Syria's opposition in recent months, with secret airlifts of arms and equipment. It cited traffic data, officials in several countries and rebel commanders, and said the airlift began on a small scale a year ago but has expanded steadily to more than 160 military cargo flights by Jordanian, Saudi and Qatari planes landing at Turkish and Jordanian airports.

The training in Jordan, however, suggests the U.S. help is aimed somewhat at enhancing the rebels' capacity in southern Syria, the birthplace of the revolution two years ago when teenagers in the sleepy agricultural outpost of Dara'a scribbled graffiti on a wall and were tossed into jail, spurring Syria's own version of an Arab Spring uprising. Much of the violence since, however, has been in the northern part of the country, where rebels have scored several military successes after the Assad regime cracked down brutally on peaceful protesters.

Despite months of U.S. and international support to build a cohesive political movement, Syria's fractured opposition is still struggling to rally Syrians behind a common post-Assad vision. And the opposition coalition appears as much hampered by its political infighting as its military deficiencies against an Assad regime arsenal of tanks, fighter jets and Scud missiles.

The coalition's president, Mouaz al-Khatib, resigned his position Sunday because of what he described as restrictions on his work and frustration with the level of international aid. He said Monday he would still represent the opposition this week in Doha, where the Gulf state of Qatar will host a two-day Arab League summit starting Tuesday.

Al-Khatib's resignation comes only days after the opposition chose Ghassan Hitto, a long-time Texas resident, to head its interim government after intense wrangling over posts and influence that U.S. officials say has strained the opposition's unity and caused friction among its primary benefactors Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.

It's also unclear how al-Khatib's departure will affect the U.S. goal of political negotiations with amenable members of the Assad regime to end the civil war, given the moderate preacher's support for talks. Much of the Syrian opposition, including Hitto, rejects such talks.

___

Halaby reported from Amman, Jordan. Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor and Lara Jakes in Washington also contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-03-26-US-Syria/id-4ba7489847ba42868e3e2a469030ec32

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National Secular Society - Islamic veils still a source of conflict in ...

Last week we reported on the case of a Muslim woman in France who won a court ruling that she had been unfairly dismissed from her job in a private nursery school after she refused to remove a headscarf.

The case seems to have sparked a backlash according to a poll in Le Parisien newspaper on Monday.

More than 80% of respondents favour toughening up the country's 2004 law, which bans religious dress and insignia in schools, nurseries, and anywhere that involves the care and education of children. Another 83% are in favour of extending the ban to the private sector, with 16% against.

A group of socialists, intellectuals, politicians and humanitarian NGOs launched an online petition in the Marianne weekly, calling on the government to enact a new, tougher law in defence of secularism, one that will explain with ''pedagogy and clarity'' where and when the principle of secularism is to be applied.

Prominent signatories include philosophers Elisabeth Badinter, Alain Finkielkraut and Jean-Pierre Le Goff, Socialist Party secretary Harlem Desir, and several former ministers.

However, the influential think tank Institut Montaigne said that the existing law does not need reforming.

The Interior Minister, Manuel Valls, strongly criticized the court ruling, which he said ''brings secularism into question''.

Since 2004, French law bans ostentatious wear of all ''religious insignia'' in public schools. A law banning women from wearing the full-body Islamic veil (burka and niqab) in all public places, including the street, was enacted in 2011. Women defying the ban risk fines of 150 euros, although the law is proving almost impossible to enforce.

Source: http://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2013/03/islamic-veils-still-a-source-of-conflict-in-france

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Meet the Entrepreneurs Trying to Shake Up Manufacturing

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Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/news/meet-the-entrepreneurs-trying-to-shake-up-manufacturing?src=rss

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Obama Is Negotiating Our Failure - Business Insider

The American public are confused, and President Obama doesn?t even try to persuade them of his viewpoint; he instead negotiates with Republicans in order to produce a mythical ?compromise,? which lies in some unseen place at the bottom of the deep ideological canyon that separates the two Parties, someplace between the positions that he ran on and the positions at the opposite side, which is far away and without any bridge or airplane to reach it.

A case in point was published on March 18th when?The Hill?headlined??Hill Poll: Voters Prefer Republican Budget Ideas, But Dislike GOP.??Voters were presented with two plans, without identifying which Party favored which plan: ?55 percent of likely voters opted for a plan that would slash $5 trillion in government spending, provide for no additional tax revenue and balance the budget within 10 years ? in essence, the path recommended by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) last week. This was almost twice as many voters as opted for a proposal that would include $1 trillion in added tax revenue as well as $100 billion in infrastructure spending, and which would reduce the deficit without eradicating it. Only 28 percent of voters preferred this option, which reflects the proposal put forth by Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) last week.?

These findings are what one should expect when we have a President who doesn?t educate the people, but who thinks he can just maneuver behind the scenes and negotiate with John Boehner or other Republican leaders, even though the American Society of Civil Engineers?rates this country?s infrastructure a D+,?unchanged since 2001, still in desperate need of repair and/or reconstruction, even after the ?stimulus.? Obama had had a perfect opportunity to bring that issue of crumbling infrastructure to the public ? to lay out the dire condition of our roads, bridges, water tunnels, electrical grid, and other infrastructure that?s so in need of bringing up to competitive international standards ? when he first came into office. But he did nothing then, except talk about ?shovel-ready projects? and ?stimulus spending.? He didn?t even focus at all upon that horrid D+ rating, and what it meant. Nothing at all. He could have energized the nation, pounded the Republicans on their having gotten the nation into this mess and crisis, and taken advantage of the collapse in private hiring that the Republicans had caused, and used it so as to hire millions for work that the nation needs to be done in order for the future economy to thrive. A humming economy brings in more in taxes, and the debt then goes down. But instead, Obama ?negotiates,? endlessly, with Republicans. Year after year, he ?negotiates? with them, instead of pounds them into shame.?

When did he ever go to the nation with photos, and charts, and graphs, and present witnesses who could testify personally to the wasted 30 minutes extra a day they travel to get to work, because of a bridge out of service, or present a mother whose child is sick because of contaminated drinking water, etc.? Never. He won?t attack the Republicans for what they did to this country; he ?negotiates? with them.

There are many jobs to be done, right now, which are more important than many of the jobs that are being done in private industry (the Republican Party?s nirvana), and the outcomes from which will benefit?everyone, and not?only??entrepreneurs?; but, instead, Obama is not laying out the case: he?s not saying what?are?these jobs, and how many people will be put to work by them, and how much training will be required from the government in order to get these jobs done, and how useful will that job-training itself be, to these workers and the economy, after Bush?s, and now Obama?s, economic slump is finally over?

Instead, Obama simply negotiates with John Boehner about how much to cut Social Security, and how much to cut Medicare, and how much to cut Medicaid, and how much to cut, throughout the government, in order to be able to make up, for what? For the trillions of dollars that Obama?s Administration and Bush?s Administration have been, and still are, spending, in order to bail out the investors in the mega-banks on Wall Street. Basically, Obama is relying upon Wall Street, so as to get Main Street going again. And all the while, he ?negotiates,? with Republicans.

It?s no wonder, then, the voters are confused:?so is this President. He didn?t get us into this mess, but he sure doesn?t know how to get us out of it. He can?t ?negotiate? his way out of it. That won?t work. Obama still hasn?t learned this.

The reason why Obama doesn?t constantly make, to the public, the cases that he needs to make, and has needed to make ever since he got into office, is that he thinks he?ll find the answers if only he looks hard enough at the bottom of that vast and deep canyon, and finds some way to meet with John Boehner, down there, outside of public view.

Leadership means having a vision and presenting it, constantly,?to the public, so as to get the public?s?buy-in?to it, like Franklin Delano Roosevelt did, when he came into the White House after many years of Republican misrule and corruption (not basically different than the eight Bush years, except for the invasion of Iraq, which Republicans still support).

What we needed when a new President was sworn in on 20 January 2008 was another Franklin Delano Roosevelt. What we got was just mush.

That?s why the public is still confused: America has no leader.

Voters knew that Mitt Romney craved to lead us in the wrong direction, but Barack Obama still hasn?t presented any direction. He just ?negotiates? his ? and our ? collective failure.

America needs a real progressive in the White House: someone like Elizabeth Warren. Someone who is ready, and willing, to lead, not just to ?negotiate? the failure of us all.

This is what our times call for. The political hacks are destroying the nation, regardless of?which?side of the ?negotiations? with the Republicans they are on. FDR didn?t negotiate with Republicans; he led.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-is-negotiating-our-failure-2013-3

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BitTorrent 's Bram Cohen Patents Revolutionary Live Streaming ...

BitTorrent ?s Bram Cohen Patents Revolutionary Live Streaming Protocol

Hoping to revolutionize live broadcasting on the Internet, Bram Cohen has filed a patent application for the new BitTorrent Live streaming protocol. BitTorrent?s inventor has worked on the new technology for several years and believes his new protocol can be world-changing. ?We plan to shape the future of live broadcasts and want to work with broadcasters to accomplish that,? Cohen says.

Earlier this month BitTorrent Live was unveiled to the public.

The new protocol allows the public to send a video stream to millions of people, without having to invest in expensive bandwidth.

Around the same time as BitTorrent Live was launched the underlying patent application was published online. In it, Cohen describes what makes the technology so unique and TorrentFreak caught up with BitTorrent?s creator to find out more.

It took nearly half a decade before BitTorrent?s live stream service was released to the public. One of the main reasons is that it has been quite a challenge to make it work seamlessly. BitTorrent?s inventor is known for his passion for puzzles, and the streaming challenge is probably one of the most difficult puzzles he has solved to date.

?Doing live streaming well on the Internet has long been a problem. Peer to peer live-streaming has always suffered from high latency, meaning there is typically a lot of delay between when a broadcast happens and when end users see it, typically dozens of seconds or minutes,? Cohen told TorrentFreak.

?BitTorrent Live allows a broadcaster to stream to millions of people with just a few seconds of latency. This is new, and unique, and potentially world-changing,? he adds.

Bram Cohen explains that the patent is in no way going to restrict user? access to the new protocol, quite the contrary. BitTorrent Live will be available to end users for free, and publishers who are using the service and hosting it on their own will not be charged either.

?We want people to use and adopt BitTorrent Live. But we aren?t planning on encouraging alternative implementation because it?s a tricky protocol to implement and poorly behaved peers can impact everyone. We want to ensure a quality experience for all and this is the best approach for us to take,? Cohen told TorrentFreak.

BitTorrent Live is a complex technology but basically works by dividing peers into various ?clubs? of peers who share data among each other via a UDP screamer protocol.

?To get slightly more technical, the way BitTorrent Live works is by making subsets of peers responsible for subsets of data. High robustness and low latency is achieved by using a screamer protocol between those peers,? Cohen explains.

?For the last hop it uses a non-screamer protocol to regain congestion control and efficiency. There is redundancy and some waste in the screaming, but that?s kept under control by only using it to get data to a small fraction of the peers.?

BitTorrent Live Clubs

Bram Cohen believes that the future of television is on the Internet, and BitTorrent Live can help to deliver live high-definition content to millions of people at once at no cost. This is not just the future for independent broadcasters, but also for the major content companies.

?I believe that inevitably all video streaming will be done over the Internet. It?s simply a better technology for doing so. On a technical level the cable approach is expensive and can only reach subscribers, as opposed to the Internet which can reach anyone,? Cohen told us.

?So far the one thing cable infrastructure has managed to still do better is live broadcasting. But the BitTorrent Live technology makes it practical to move that to the Internet without being cost prohibitive. We plan to shape the future of live broadcasts and want to work with broadcasters to accomplish that.?

While it can?t be expected that all major broadcasters will convert to BitTorrent during the next month, the technology is there and the patent is coming. It will be interesting to see how it develops over time and if it can gain mainstream adoption.

There are not many people who can change the fundamentals of the Internet two times in a row. However, Bram Cohen already did it once with the original BitTorrent protocol, and he believes that BitTorrent Live can have a similar impact.

Those who are interested in trying out BitTorrent Live can do so here. The more people join, the better it gets.

Source: http://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-s-bram-cohen-patents-revolutionary-live-streaming-protocol-130326/

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