Wednesday, February 27, 2013

SPIN METER: In budget fight, sky is falling again (The Arizona Republic)

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/287440131?client_source=feed&format=rss

summer solstice Summer Solstice 2012

Rocket hits Israel, 1st from Gaza since truce

Amir Cohen / Reuters

Members of the media photograph the remains of a rocket, displayed by Israeli explosives experts, at Kibbutz Zikim near Ashkelon on Tuesday.

?

By Allyn Fisher-Ilan, Reuters

JERUSALEM -- A rocket exploded in southern Israel on Tuesday in the first such attack by militants in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip since a truce ended a week of cross-border fighting in November, Israeli police said.

The rocket caused some damage to a road near the city of Ashkelon but no injuries, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

A rocket was fired into Israel today amid heightened tensions over the death of a Palestinian in Israeli custody. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

"An explosion was heard in the Ashkelon region experts searched areas experts and found one rocket that struck, damaging a road but causing no injuries," Rosenfeld said.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a militant group in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' West Bank-based Fatah movement, called the rocket a "first response" to inmate Arafat Jaradat's death in disputed circumstances on Saturday.?

"We must resist our enemy by all available means," the group said in a statement emailed to reporters. "We stress our commitment to armed struggle against the Zionist enemy."

Hamas said it was investigating the attack, which followed a surge in West Bank protests since Jaradat's death and intermittent hunger strikes by four other prisoners.

In the latest violence there, Israeli troops shot and wounded five Palestinians during confrontations with protesters in the Bethlehem area on Monday and a 15-year-old boy was in critical condition.

The death in disputed circumstances of Arafat Jaradat, buried in a funeral in the Hebron area attended by thousands on Monday, and a hunger strike by four other Palestinian inmates, have stoked tensions ahead of a planned visit next month by U.S. President Barack Obama.

?

Related: Christians, Muslims pray to halt Israeli security wall

Thousands of Palestinians - among them masked gunmen - took to the streets of the West Bank for the funeral of a prisoner who died in an Israeli jail. His family says he was tortured while Israel claims it was a heart attack in what threatens to becomes a new uprising. ITV's John Ray reports.

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/26/17095099-rocket-explodes-in-israel-first-attack-from-gaza-since-truce?lite

dr. oz heart attack grill las vegas the heart attack grill joe kennedy iii joseph kennedy iii ghost hunters lightsquared

HomeSync Media Hub Is Samsung?s Android Answer to Apple TV

HomeSync Media Hub Is Samsung’s Android Answer to Apple TV
The growing set-top box space just got another entrant with Samsung's just-announced HomeSync Media Hub. Samsung's box focuses on providing ample storage for downloaded content, and offers multiple, separate profiles to differentiate family members' preferences and content.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/l1yyNoUso68/

adam levine mumford and sons miranda lambert prince jessica biel Lena Dunham elton john

Monday, February 25, 2013

Cuban leader Raul Castro announces he will retire in 2018

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban President Raul Castro announced on Sunday he will step down from power after his second term ends in 2018, and the new parliament named a 52-year-old rising star to become his first vice president and most visible successor.

"This will be my last term," Castro, 81, said shortly after the National Assembly elected him to a second five-year term.

In a surprise move, the new parliament also named Miguel Diaz-Canel as first vice president, meaning he would take over if Castro cannot serve his full term.

Diaz-Canel is a member of the political bureau who rose through the Communist Party ranks in the provinces to become the most visible possible successor to Castro.

Raul Castro starts his second term immediately, leaving him free to retire in 2018, aged 86.

Former President Fidel Castro joined the National Assembly meeting on Sunday, in a rare public appearance. Since falling ill in 2006 and ceding the presidency to his brother, the elder Castro, 86, has given up official positions except as a deputy in the National Assembly.

The new government will almost certainly be the last headed up by the Castro brothers and their generation of leaders who have ruled Cuba since they swept down from the mountains in the 1959 revolution.

Cubans and foreign governments were keenly watching whether any new, younger faces appeared among the Council of State members, in particular its first vice president and five vice presidents.

Their hopes were partially fulfilled with Diaz-Canel's ascension. He replaces former first vice president, Jose Machado Ventura, 82, who will continue as one of five vice presidents.

Commander of the Revolution Ramiro Valdes, 80, and Gladys Bejerano, 66, the comptroller general, were also re-elected as vice presidents.

Two other newcomers, Mercedes Lopez Acea, 48, first secretary of the Havana communist party, and Salvador Valdes Mesa, 64, head of the official labor federation, also earned vice presidential slots.

Esteban Lazo, a 68-year-old former vice president and member of the political bureau of the Communist Party, left his post upon being named president of the National Assembly on Sunday. He replaced Ricardo Alarcon, who served in the job for 20 years.

Six of the Council's top seven members sit on the party's political bureau which is also lead by Castro.

The National Assembly meets for just a few weeks each year and delegates its legislative powers between sessions to the 31-member Council of State, which also functions as the executive through the Council of Ministers it appoints.

Eighty percent of the 612 deputies, who were elected in an uncontested vote February 3, were born after the revolution.

EFFORT TO PROMOTE YOUNGER GENERATION

Raul Castro, who officially replaced his ailing brother as president in 2008, has repeatedly said senior leaders should hold office for no more than two five-year terms.

"Although we kept on trying to promote young people to senior positions, life proved that we did not always make the best choice," Castro said at a Communist Party Congress in 2011.

"Today, we are faced with the consequences of not having a reserve of well-trained replacements ... It's really embarrassing that we have not solved this problem in more than half a century."

Speaking on Sunday, Castro hailed the composition of the new Council of State as an example of what he had said needed to be accomplished.

"Of the 31 members, 41.9 percent are women and 38.6 percent are black or of mixed race. The average age is 57 years and 61.3 percent were born after the triumph of the revolution," he said.

The 2011 party summit adopted a more than 300-point plan aimed at updating Cuba's Soviet-style economic system, designed to transform it from one based on collective production and consumption to one where individual effort and reward play a far more important role.

Across-the-board subsidies are being replaced by a comprehensive tax code and targeted welfare.

Raul Castro has encouraged small businesses and cooperatives in retail services, farming, minor manufacturing and retail, and given more autonomy to state companies which still dominate the economy.

The party plan also includes an opening to more foreign investment.

At the same time, Cuba continues to face a U.S. administration bent on restoring democracy and capitalism to the island and questions about the future largess of oil rich Venezuela with strategic ally Hugo Chavez battling cancer.

(Editing by Kieran Murray and Vicki Allen)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cuban-leader-raul-castro-announces-retire-2018-004912977.html

Anne Hathaway Wardrobe Malfunction man of steel man of steel Adrienne Maloof Telemundo real housewives of beverly hills Pink Floyd

WASHINGTON - B? T? Ph?p Hoa K? tham gia v? ki?n do c?u cua-r? Floyd Landis n?p t...

B? T? Ph?p v?o cu?c, ki?n Armstrong t?i doping - Hoa k? - - Ng??i Vi?t Online

www.nguoi-viet.com

WASHINGTON -B? T? Ph?p Hoa K? tham gia v? ki?n do c?u cua-r? Floyd Landis n?p t? n?m 2010. Landis l? ng??i t?ng b? t??c ch?c v? ??ch Tour de France n?m 2006 v? b? kh?m ph? c? s? d?ng thu?c k?ch th?ch, theo tin c?a The Washington Post.

Source: http://www.facebook.com/NguoiVietOnline/posts/146619792168480

kombucha tea separation of church and state dale earnhardt oscar predictions nba all star game 2012 academy awards 2012 nominations academy awards

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Sponsored By:

We were unable to forward you to the advertisement you clicked on.

The likely cause for this is that your browser, feed reader, or email application is configured to not accept cookies, or your reader may launch an external browser to view links without sharing cookies.

  • If you're using Internet Explorer, make sure your privacy setting is at medium or below.
    • Select 'Internet Options' from the 'Tools' menu in your browser window
    • Click the Privacy tab
    • Adjust your privacy setting if necessary
      ?
  • If you're using a reader that embeds Internet Explorer (examples: Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Feed Demon), you'll also need to select Internet Explorer as your default web browser.
    • Open Internet Explorer
    • Select 'Internet Options' from the 'Tools' menu in your browser window
    • Click the 'Programs' tab and check the box for Internet Explorer to check if it is the default browser and save your change
    • Close your browser, re-open it, and when prompted, select Internet Explorer as your default
    • You can then click on an ad in your newsletter and visit the site you wish to view

Source: http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=4b658fad4a5a20a4282815b816fc7754&p=4

pfizer signing day 2012 football gasland college football recruiting bjork national signing day 2012 landon collins

Remez Sasson online eBooks Store ? Self Improvement ? Spiritual ...

Remez Sasson online eBooks Store - Self Improvement - Spiritual Growth

Remez Sasson online eBooks Store ? Self Improvement ? Spiritual Growth

Remez Sasson eBooks. Buy and download ebooks on self improvement, spirituality, creative visualization, affirmations, success, willpower, self discipline and peace of mind.
[Read more Remez Sasson online eBooks Store - Self Improvement - Spiritual Growth]

Remez Sasson online eBooks Store ? Self Improvement ? Spiritual Growth Specifications

Remez Sasson online eBooks Store ? Self Improvement ? Spiritual Growth Features

?Read more Remez Sasson online eBooks Store ? Self Improvement ? Spiritual Growth


Source: http://weightlossprogrammes.7daysfatburningdiet.com/remez-sasson-online-ebooks-store-self-improvement-spiritual-growth/

leap day michigan primary results olympia snowe davey jones dead monsanto boston weather dr seuss birthday

Monday, February 18, 2013

Pakistan vs South Africa 3rd Test at Centurion

Pakistan vs South Africa 3rd Test Scorecard

Cricket Live Score of Pakistan vs South Africa 3rd Test - Centurion on 2013. Get Cric Live Score of South Africa vs Pakistan, 3rd Test of Pakistan tour of South Africa 2012-13. South Africa vs Pakistan 3rd Test begins at 22 Feb 2013 onwards at Centurion. Get Full Scorecard of Pakistan vs South Africa, 3rd Test Pakistan tour of South Africa 2012-13 online free. Get batting and bowling figures of 3rd Test match starting at 2013, 22 Feb 2013. Online Live Match of Pakistan vs South Africa 3rd Test - Pakistan tour of South Africa 2012-13 live from Centurion.

Current Time: 02/18/2013 05:57:00 GMT

Time Left:

Toss: NA

Result: Match scheduled to begin at 10:30 local time (08:30 GMT)

Source: http://www.cricwaves.com/1706/pakistan-vs-south-africa-22-feb-2013/Scorecard.html

Lizzie Velasquez NFL Network att libya

No. 1 Rifle Travels to OSU for NCAA Qualifiers









By Micah Truex for WVUsports.com
February 16, 2013 02:39 PM

SMALLBORE
AIR RIFLE

MORGANTOWN, W. Va.- The No. 1-ranked West Virginia University rifle team is set to travel to Ohio State to shoot in an NCAA qualifying match, on Feb. 17 at the Lt. Hugh W. Wylie Range in Converse Hall, in Columbus, Ohio.

The Mountaineers (11-1, 5-1 GARC) will shoot smallbore at 9 a.m. and air rifle at 11:30 a.m.

?To qualify for the NCAA Championships is the number one goal this weekend, but at the same time Sunday has to be treated as just another match? says coach Jon Hammond. ?We are close to the end of the season. We need to just keep the momentum going, keep improving and have solid performances this weekend.?

WVU is coming off of a win over then- No. 11 Murray State, 4700-4628, on Feb. 9, at the WVU Rifle Range.

The Mountaineers won smallbore, 2328-2292, with senior Petra Zublasing winning the discipline with a school-record 594 (199 prone, 197 standing, 198 kneeling). The Appiano, Italy, native?s record is one shot better than the previous Mountaineer record of 593, shot by Olympic Gold medalist Nicco Campriani in 2010.

Freshman Garrett Spurgeon finished second in smallbore with a 581 mark. Sophomore Meelis Kiisk shot a 578 and finished third.

WVU outshot the Racers in air rifle as well, 2372-2336. Zublasing paced the Mountaineers with a season-best mark of 599 (100-100-100-100-100-99). Sophomore Maren Prediger finished second behind Zublasing, with a career-best 598. Kiisk finished third with a 589, mark while classmates Taylor Ciotola and Thomas Kyanko tied for fourth with scores of 586.

?We are going to Ohio State for the qualifiers, which is where the NCAA Championships will be held,? says Hammond. ?This means that we can use this extra match there to our advantage to get ready for the championships in March.

?I want to see the team really work hard during the match. I look for them to do their best, fight it out and give the best performance that they can.?

SMALLBORE
AIR RIFLE


Tags
WVU Rifle, NCAA Rifle

Source: http://www.wvusports.com/page.cfm?story=23028

netflix les miserables Django Unchained iTunes Alfred Morris weight watchers fandango

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Gun ban would protect more than 2,200 firearms

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Congress' latest crack at a new assault weapons ban would protect more than 2,200 specific firearms, including a semi-automatic rifle that is nearly identical to one of the guns used in the bloodiest shootout in FBI history.

One model of that firearm, the Ruger .223 caliber Mini-14, is on the proposed list to be banned, while a different model of the same gun is on a list of exempted firearms in legislation the Senate is considering. The gun that would be protected from the ban has fixed physical features and can't be folded to be more compact. Yet the two firearms are equally deadly.

"What a joke," said former FBI agent John Hanlon, who survived the 1986 shootout in Miami. He was shot in the head, hand, groin and hip with a Ruger Mini-14 that had a folding stock. Two FBI agents died and five others were wounded.

Hanlon recalled lying on the street as brass bullet casings showered on him. He thought the shooter had an automatic weapon.

Both models of the Ruger Mini-14 specified in the proposed bill can take detachable magazines that hold dozens of rounds of ammunition. "I can't imagine what the difference is," Hanlon said.

President Barack Obama has called for restoring a ban on military-style assault weapons and limiting the size of ammunition magazines.

A bill introduced last month by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. would ban 157 specific firearms designed for military and law enforcement use and exempt others made for hunting purposes. It also would ban ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.

Yet there are firearms that would be protected under Feinstein's proposal that can take large capacity magazines like the ones used in mass shootings that enable a gunman to fire dozens of rounds of ammunition without reloading.

Feinstein said in a written response to questions from The Associated Press that the list of more than 2,200 exempted firearms was designed to "make crystal clear" that the bill would not affect hunting and sporting weapons.

The December shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., that left 26 students and educators dead forced Washington to focus on curbing gun violence, a risky political move not tried in decades.

The gun industry, which is fighting any sort of ban, says gun ownership in the U.S. is the highest it's ever been, with more than 100 million firearms owners.

Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden have traveled around the country in an effort to gain support for new laws. Feinstein's proposal is the only sweeping piece of legislation designed to ban assault weapons currently being considered.

But some gun experts say the lists of banned and exempted firearms show a lack of understanding and expertise of guns.

"There's no logic to it," said Greg Danas, president of a Massachusetts-based expert witness business and firearms ballistic laboratory. "What kind of effect is it going to have?"

Feinstein's bill defines an assault weapon as a semi-automatic firearm with a detachable magazine that has one of several military characteristics that are specified in her legislation. Examples of those characteristics include a pistol grip, which makes a firearm easier to hold, and a forward grip, which makes the firearm easier to stabilize to improve accuracy. The definition is similar to the one in Congress' original ban on assault weapons, which went into effect in 1994 and was widely criticized for outlawing firearms based on cosmetic features.

Feinstein was behind the 1994 law which, at the time, protected more than 600 firearms. The current bill would exempt by name and model more than 2,200 firearms by name and model. Feinstein said her staff had worked for more than a year to draft updates for the ban that expired in 2004, and it was apparent in the wake of recent mass shootings that now was the time to introduce a new bill. She said her staff consulted with law enforcement agencies and policy experts for months to create the expanded list.

Naming firearms that would remain legal under an assault weapons ban is a politically motivated gesture that was used to help pass the original ban in the early 1990s, people familiar with the process said.

Any firearm that does not fall within the law's definition of an assault weapon would not be banned. As a result, the list gives vulnerable politicians cover from constituents who do not want to give up their firearms.

For example, a politician can look at the list and assure a constituent that the government would not ban the firearm he or she loves to use for deer hunting. Under both the 1994 law and the currently proposed one, the government would not have the authority to take away guns people already legally own. The ban would only apply to specific firearms manufactured and sold after the law is enacted.

A list of exempted firearms was not part of Feinstein's original assault weapons ban two decades ago, said Michael Lenett, one of the lead congressional staffers on gun control issues in 1994. A separate bill in circulation exempted far fewer hunting and sporting firearms, Lenett said.

The purpose of creating such a list was to assure people that the government was not going after any legitimate hunting or sporting weapons. "The other purpose of the list was to have a high profile way of assuring certain folks ? including legislators ? that we would not be going after their weapons that they use for those legitimate purposes," Lenett said.

"It was a win-win situation," Lenett recalled, because, he said, if the list could help pick up votes needed to pass the bill and temper some of the opposition, it could assuage some opponents of the ban without making the law less effective.

But gun experts say the lists in 1994 and the expanded lists of today don't make much sense.

"The bill demonstrates a shocking ignorance of the product they are purporting to regulate," said Lawrence Keane, senior vice president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade association based in Newtown, Conn., that represents gun manufacturers. "I have no idea how they arrived at this list. It would seem to be random, bordering on throwing darts at a dart board."

For instance, Feinstein's current proposal includes exemptions for three specific types of the M-1 Carbine, an assault rifle designed for the military that the U.S. currently bans from being imported. A draft of the legislation, created and modified in November and early December last year, banned the M-1 Carbine and didn't exempt any models, according to a copy obtained by the AP.

Feinstein said there was disagreement among firearms experts, law enforcement and gun safety organizations about whether to include the M-1 Carbine on the list of banned weapons.

"It has been used in multiple police shootings, and was originally used by U.S. soldiers on the battlefield," Feinstein said. "On the other hand, it comes in models that would not meet the military characteristics test." She said she decided to limit banned weapons to those that met the definition outlined in the bill.

At a Jan. 30 hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee on gun violence, National Rifle Association President Wayne LaPierre said Feinstein's bill is "based on falsehoods to people that do not understand firearms, to convince them that the performance characteristics of guns that they are trying to ban through that bill are different than the performance characteristics that they're not trying to ban."

The Ruger Mini-14 is a perfect example.

The model that has a fixed stock would be exempted by Feinstein's ban; the gun was protected in the 1994 law as well. A Ruger Mini-14 with a collapsible and folding stock would be illegal.

The guns fire the same caliber bullet and can take detachable magazines that could hold dozens of rounds of ammunition. The folding stock only reduces the gun's length by 2.75 inches, according to the manufacturer's website.

"It's irrelevant," Edmund Mireles, an FBI agent who survived the Miami shootout, said of the differences in features. "They're equally dangerous."

Mark D. Jones, a senior law enforcement adviser for the University of Chicago Crime Lab, said the folding stock does not affect the firearm's lethal potential.

"Given that both firearms will accept a 30 round or larger magazine, it renders the differences between them entirely cosmetic," Jones said.

Kristen Rand, the legislative director at the Washington-based Violence Policy Center, said the Ruger Mini-14 model that would be banned under Feinstein's legislation is easier to hold while firing because it has a pistol grip, and it's easier to hide because it has a collapsible stock. That's what makes it more dangerous that the Ruger Mini-14 with the fixed stock which would be exempted under the Feinstein bill, she said.

"And that's supposed to save somebody's life?" asked Hanlon, the FBI agent shot alongside Mireles.

Hanlon considered the differences between the two models and whether the events of April 11, 1986, would have been different if the shooter used a Ruger Mini-14 with a fixed stock. "I don't think it would have changed a damn thing," he said. "I don't see what makes that gun less dangerous."

___

Follow Eileen Sullivan on Twitter: http://twitter.com/esullivanap

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gun-ban-protect-more-2-200-firearms-132222943.html

Yunel Escobar Irish Daily Star seth macfarlane Black Mesa

Exactly Why Is President Obama Going to Israel?

Both Israel and the United States seek to quash expectations that the visit will jump-start the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he and U.S. President Barak Obama have agreed that when the U.S. President visits Israel they would discuss ?three main issues ... Iran's attempt to arm itself with nuclear weapons, the unstable situation in Syria ... and the efforts to advance the diplomatic process of peace between the Palestinians and us," that?s not exactly what others are saying in either Washington or Tel Aviv.

As soon was announced that the President would be visiting the Middle East, supporters of the policies of the Netanyahu government went into overdrive in an effort to throw cold water on any idea that the diplomatic mission could achieve any breakthrough in the Israeli-Palestinian ?peace process.?

?While the US ambassador to Israel said today that Mr. Obama would visit the country with an ?urgent? mission to revive peace negotiations, Israeli diplomats said talks with Benjamin Netanyahu would focus on Iran,? reported the British daily Telegraph. ?The peace process may be the subject that is initially emphasized in public but there are other issues on the table that must be addressed before the summer,? one diplomat told the paper, alluding to Israel's spring deadline for Iran to stop enriching uranium. ?The deal they will have done may be on the subject of war, not of peace.?

?There are currently bigger and much more urgent issues to address than the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,? one Israeli official told the Telegraph.

To say the U.S. moved quickly to squash any expectation that the President?s visit to the Middle East might move toward resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict would be an understatement. At a press briefing February 6, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said that ?this is a trip the President looks forward to making that is timed in part because we have here obviously a second term for the President, a new administration, and a new government in Israel, and that's an opportune time for a visit like this that is not focused on specific Middle East peace process proposals. I'm sure that any time the President and Prime Minister have a discussion, certainly any time the President has a discussion with leaders of the Palestinian Authority, that those issues are raised. But that is not the purpose of this visit.?

Writing in Foreign Policy magazine, national security and foreign policy commentator Josh Rogin quoted former Congressman Robert Wexler, the president of the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace, as saying, "I don't think it would be prudent to raise expectations on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The trip is about Israeli security in the face of Iran's nuclear program and in the context of the violence and conflict in Syria. Certainly the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an important part of that, but I don't think it would be accurate to highlight the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over other aspects of the relationship."

All of this would seem to raise the question: why is he going?

In response to the demands of the Republicans and rightwing supporters of the Netanyahu government that he make such a pilgrimage? Not likely.

To bolster the standing of Netanyahu following the shellacking he and his Likud party suffered in the recent Israeli parliamentary elections? That has been suggested by Israeli critics of government policy.

To engage the embattled regime of Jordan?s King Abdullah II, with whom Obama will also meet after the visit to Israel, as some have suggested? That last suggestion is not farfetched. One element largely overlooked so far in the discussion about Obama?s visit next month is that he will also visit Amman.

?With the region already in flames ? Egypt no longer a reliable US partner, and Syria in utter chaos ? stability in the Hashemite Kingdom and the survivability of King Abdullah II is a crucial interest not only to Israel, but to the US,? wrote Keinon in the Jerusalem Post,? adding that Obama?s visit to Amman ?and the signal that sends of US support for Abdullah ? is not insignificant.? Evidence that Washington is concerned about the stability of the Jordanian regime has been around for some time.

Last October, the U.S. rushed troops to the Jordan-Syria border to bolster that country's military capabilities. One hundred military planners and others are already on the scene, operating from a joint U.S.-Jordanian military center, and the U.S. forces are said to be building another base for themselves. U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said the move was prompted by developments in adjacent Syria.?

On January 28, Abdullah II met with Khaled Mashaal, leader of the Palestinian political movement Hamas for the third time in one year. Abdullah is said to have told Mashaal that direct negotiations with Israel and the creation of a timetable for the two-state solution are ?the only way to achieve security and stability in the Middle East.? Mashaal was reported to have said later that he and the king had discussed the inner-Palestinian reconciliation and examined the Palestinian issue and its future in light of the then upcoming U.S. and Israeli elections.

Mashaal, a Jordanian citizen, was exiled from the country in 1999, accused of being a risk to Jordan?s security.

During the meeting the king expressed his support of the inter-Palestinian reconciliation attempt, saying it forms the basis to bolster the Palestinian people's unity and that only through unity could they achieve their legitimate rights, including a Palestinian state's establishment.

Last year, Abdullah II met twice with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.

On the other hand, there has been some speculation that there is, indeed, agreement between Washington and Tel Aviv on an approach to the Palestinian question. It?s called ?get Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table.? That?s the way U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro put it last week.

Herb Keinon, diplomatic correspondent for the Jerusalem Post, wrote February 8 that the U.S. ?is looking for something from Jerusalem to dangle in front of the Palestinians and thereby bring the Palestinian Authority back to the negotiating table.?

It didn?t dangle long.

A headline two days later said it all: ?Israel approves new settler homes ahead of Obama visit.?

It?s hard to get more provocative than that.

In defiance of international law that bars an occupying power transferring citizens from its own territory to occupied territory ? and overwhelming world public opinion ?? the Netanyahu regime has decided to build additional 90 units ? the first of a planned 300 unites ? in the Bet El illegal settlement, just east of the central West Bank city of Ramallah, the majority Christian capital of the Palestinian Authority.

?The advancement of this program could overshadow Obama?s visit,? said Yariv Oppenheimer, a spokesman for Peace Now, an Israeli group that opposes settlement construction to the media. ?This is a misguided and ill-timed decision.?

Misguided it was but there is little reason to think the timing was unintentional.

One idea being floated in the Israeli media (but so far disavowed by the government) is that Netanyahu has offered to suspend settlement activity in the West Bank, except in Jerusalem and around existing colonial blocks.

?While there are no guarantees, it is hard to believe that if Netanyahu made such an offer, and Obama and his new Secretary of State John Kerry pushed hard on Ramallah, PA President Mahmoud Abbas would reject it,? Keinon wrote February 8. ?And one of the arguments likely to be used in prodding the Palestinians is that a failure to accept the offer, a continued refusal to reenter talks, could have negative repercussions on an already precarious Jordan.?

?The Palestinian position is clear,? Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said in response to the new Beit El construction. ?There can be no negotiation while settlement continues."

The Secretary-General of Palestinian People's Party Bassam al-Salhi told the news agency Ma'an that Obama?s visit may create the "illusion" of returning to negotiations, but would have no impact on the peace process. Jamal Muhaisen, a member of the Central Committee of the Palestinian political party Fatah, said negotiations can resume only when Israel fulfills its previous commitments under international law and stops settlement construction on occupied land.

Hanan Ashrawi, a senior official with the Palestine Liberation Organization and member of the Palestinian National Council, said she and other Palestinians would welcome Obama?s visit ?if it signals an American promise to become an honest and impartial peace broker?which requires decisive curbs on Israeli violations and unilateral measures, particularly settlement activity and the annexation of Jerusalem, as well as its siege and fragmentation policies.?

?Negotiating in good faith means you don?t place preconditions,? Netanyahu recently told a group of settlers. ?In the last four years, the Palestinians have regrettably placed preconditions time after time, precondition after precondition. My hope is that they leave these preconditions aside and get to the negotiating table so we don?t waste another four years.? Well, not exactly. The chief impediment to achieving a solution to the conflict has been and remains the Israeli governments continued colonial expansion. While Netanyahu?s rightwing Likud party didn?t do as well as it had expected to in the last election, gains were made by coalition partners even further to the right who oppose a Palestinian state and advocate outright annexation of major parts of the West Bank.

?Should we be happy or not?? Israeli writer Uri Avnery asked last week, concerning the upcoming visit of the U.S President. Writing from Tel Aviv in Counterpunch, he answered: ?Depends. If it is a consolation prize for Netanyahu after his election setback, it is a bad sign. The first visit of a US President since George Bush Jr. is bound to strengthen Netanyahu and reinforce his image as the only Israeli leader with international stature.

But if Obama is coming with the intention of exerting serious pressure on Netanyahu to start a meaningful peace initiative, welcome.

Netanyahu will try to satisfy Obama with "opening peace talks." Which means nothing plus nothing.

Yes. Let?s talk. "Without preconditions." Which means: without stopping settlement expansion. Talk and go on talking, until everyone is blue in the face and both Obama?s and Netanyahu?s terms are over.

?But if Obama is serious this time, it could be different,? wrote Avnery, a founder of the Gush Shalom peace movement, who has been advocating a two-state solution for decades. ?An American or international blueprint for the realization of the two-state solution, with a strict timetable. Perhaps an international conference, for starters. A UN resolution without an American veto.?

Carl Bloice, a member of the National Coordinating Committee of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism, is a columnist for the Black Commentator, where he serves on its editorial board. His writing can also be found at Left Margin.?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FPIF/blog/~3/j8v7A5_bS7Q/exactly_why_is_president_obama_going_to_israel

Jordyn Wieber michael phelps Kerri Strug Ledecky Nadia Comaneci Rebecca Soni Snoop Lion

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Meteorite falls in Russian Urals

(AP) ? Fragments of at least one meteorite fell in the Chelyabinsk region some 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) east of Moscow, causing flashes in the morning sky and sharp explosions, Russian officials said Friday.

The office of the governor of the region in the Ural Mountains said in a statement that many calls about injuries and damage to buildings had been received. But there were no immediate confirmed figures or specific reports on damage.

Reports conflicted on the event: A spokeswoman for Russia's Emergency Ministry, Irina Rossius, told The Associated Press that there was a meteor shower, but another ministry spokeswoman, Elena Smirnikh, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying it was a single meteorite.

The ministry said some fragments fell near the town of Satka, about 200 kilometers (120 miles) from the regional capital city of Chelyabinsk.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-02-15-EU-Russia-Meteorite/id-1cf5a1cd81494cb2961daa3084304d96

dwts sean hannity bobby petrino fired buffett rule lollapalooza lineup joss whedon ronnie montrose

Friday, February 15, 2013

Benaroya Research Institute announces $4.4 million grant for type 1 diabetes

Benaroya Research Institute announces $4.4 million grant for type 1 diabetes [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 14-Feb-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Kay Branz
kbranz@benaroyaresearch.org
206-342-6503
Immune Tolerance Network

Benaroya Research Institute establishes the T1D Exchange Biobank Operations Center to advance discoveries in type 1 diabetes research with biosamples from thousands of participants

(Seattle, Feb.14, 2013) In a major effort to advance discoveries in type 1 diabetes research, the Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI) established the T1D Exchange Biobank Operations Center with a $4.4 million grant from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. The T1D Exchange Biobank Operations Center led by Carla Greenbaum, MD, Director of the Diabetes Research Program at BRI, will coordinate clinical study proposals and sample requests including protocol design, sample procurement and distribution.

Dr. Greenbaum serves on the Joint Steering Committee for the T1D Exchange which offers a comprehensive view of type 1 diabetes including clinical and academic research, real-world data, clinically-annotated biosamples, and patient insights. The T1D Exchange consists of a Clinic Network with access to more than 100,000 patients, a Clinic Registry with over 26,000 well-characterized patients, the online community Glu, and the Biorepository whose goal it is to distribute, share and exchange meaningful data and biosamples to drive collaboration and disseminate knowledge across the type 1 diabetes (T1D) community.

"We are thrilled to see the establishment of the T1D Exchange Biobank Operations Center as a key factor in advancing the mission of T1D Exchange to speed better treatments, therapies and research. Giving biological samples is one way people touched by type 1 diabetes are empowered to contribute to improved outcomes on the path to a cure. We have a strong, productive working relationship with Dr. Carla Greenbaum and her team at the Benaroya Research Institute and are eager to see this collaboration yield data that will be impactful to the type 1 diabetes community," shared Dana Ball, CEO and Cofounder of the T1D Exchange.

BRI was selected to receive this grant to establish the T1D Exchange Biobank Operations Center by the Helmsley Charitable Trust because of the organization's reputation in autoimmune diseases research with a focus in type 1 diabetes and biobanking. Under the direction of Dr. Greenbaum, BRI has created one of the world's most robust biobanks for the study of autoimmune disorders dating back to the year 2000. BRI actively maintains biobanks for eleven different autoimmune diseases. BRI also maintains a registry of healthy people for comparison purposes.

"BRI has a long track record of developing and maintaining biobanks which have led directly to the advancement of understanding autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes. We are excited to be in on the ground floor of an initiative that will have enormous impact on the type 1 diabetes community by helping to facilitate research with a large numbers of participants. This work will accelerate our understanding, hopefully leading to a cure for this disease," notes Dr. Greenbaum.

"We are pleased to support this important initiative, which is in keeping with our strategy of filling gaps and creating tools that help the entire T1D community," said David Panzirer, a Trustee of the Helmsley Charitable Trust.

###

About Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason

Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI), founded in 1956, is an international leader in immune system and autoimmune disease research, translating discoveries to real-life applications. Autoimmune diseases happen when the immune system, designed to protect the body, attacks it instead. BRI is one of the few research institutes in the world dedicated to discovering causes and cures to eliminate autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, arthritis and many others.

BRI serves as a worldwide leader in research to prevent, treat and cure type 1 diabetes through its Diabetes Research Program, where scientists have accounted for some of the substantial discoveries in the field. The cornerstone of diabetes research at BRI is multidisciplinary research centered on the patient -- translating basic science discoveries to advance new approaches to disease prediction, intervention and therapy. BRI is the Pacific Northwest Clinical Center for Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet, the JDRF Center for Translational Research and the T1D Exchange Biobank Operations Center.

About The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust

The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust aspires to improve lives by supporting effective nonprofits in a variety of selected areas. Since 2008, when the Trust began its active grant-making, it has committed more than $800 million to a wide range of charitable organizations. Through the Helmsley Type 1 Diabetes Program, the Trust is one of the largest private funders of T1D-related research, treatment and support programs. For more information, please visit www.helmsleytrust.org.

About the T1D Exchange

T1D Exchange, a not-for-profit organization, is a dynamic, multi-purpose, real-world patient data platform designed to accelerate all aspects of drug and device development. T1D Exchange has established a unique model to speed better treatments, therapies and research for type 1 diabetes (T1D). The Exchange consists of an integrated Clinic Network of 65+ clinics across the U.S., a Biorepository, and Glu, an online community with mobile capabilities for people touched by type 1 diabetes. The T1D Exchange fosters faster and more fluid information transfer and sharing among diabetes patients, physicians, researchers, and pharma, medical device, education, and outreach organizations.

Media Contacts:

Benaroya Research Institute
Kay Branz
BRI Director of Communications
kbranz@benaroyaresearch.org
206-342-6903



[ 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.


Benaroya Research Institute announces $4.4 million grant for type 1 diabetes [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 14-Feb-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Kay Branz
kbranz@benaroyaresearch.org
206-342-6503
Immune Tolerance Network

Benaroya Research Institute establishes the T1D Exchange Biobank Operations Center to advance discoveries in type 1 diabetes research with biosamples from thousands of participants

(Seattle, Feb.14, 2013) In a major effort to advance discoveries in type 1 diabetes research, the Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI) established the T1D Exchange Biobank Operations Center with a $4.4 million grant from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. The T1D Exchange Biobank Operations Center led by Carla Greenbaum, MD, Director of the Diabetes Research Program at BRI, will coordinate clinical study proposals and sample requests including protocol design, sample procurement and distribution.

Dr. Greenbaum serves on the Joint Steering Committee for the T1D Exchange which offers a comprehensive view of type 1 diabetes including clinical and academic research, real-world data, clinically-annotated biosamples, and patient insights. The T1D Exchange consists of a Clinic Network with access to more than 100,000 patients, a Clinic Registry with over 26,000 well-characterized patients, the online community Glu, and the Biorepository whose goal it is to distribute, share and exchange meaningful data and biosamples to drive collaboration and disseminate knowledge across the type 1 diabetes (T1D) community.

"We are thrilled to see the establishment of the T1D Exchange Biobank Operations Center as a key factor in advancing the mission of T1D Exchange to speed better treatments, therapies and research. Giving biological samples is one way people touched by type 1 diabetes are empowered to contribute to improved outcomes on the path to a cure. We have a strong, productive working relationship with Dr. Carla Greenbaum and her team at the Benaroya Research Institute and are eager to see this collaboration yield data that will be impactful to the type 1 diabetes community," shared Dana Ball, CEO and Cofounder of the T1D Exchange.

BRI was selected to receive this grant to establish the T1D Exchange Biobank Operations Center by the Helmsley Charitable Trust because of the organization's reputation in autoimmune diseases research with a focus in type 1 diabetes and biobanking. Under the direction of Dr. Greenbaum, BRI has created one of the world's most robust biobanks for the study of autoimmune disorders dating back to the year 2000. BRI actively maintains biobanks for eleven different autoimmune diseases. BRI also maintains a registry of healthy people for comparison purposes.

"BRI has a long track record of developing and maintaining biobanks which have led directly to the advancement of understanding autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes. We are excited to be in on the ground floor of an initiative that will have enormous impact on the type 1 diabetes community by helping to facilitate research with a large numbers of participants. This work will accelerate our understanding, hopefully leading to a cure for this disease," notes Dr. Greenbaum.

"We are pleased to support this important initiative, which is in keeping with our strategy of filling gaps and creating tools that help the entire T1D community," said David Panzirer, a Trustee of the Helmsley Charitable Trust.

###

About Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason

Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI), founded in 1956, is an international leader in immune system and autoimmune disease research, translating discoveries to real-life applications. Autoimmune diseases happen when the immune system, designed to protect the body, attacks it instead. BRI is one of the few research institutes in the world dedicated to discovering causes and cures to eliminate autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, arthritis and many others.

BRI serves as a worldwide leader in research to prevent, treat and cure type 1 diabetes through its Diabetes Research Program, where scientists have accounted for some of the substantial discoveries in the field. The cornerstone of diabetes research at BRI is multidisciplinary research centered on the patient -- translating basic science discoveries to advance new approaches to disease prediction, intervention and therapy. BRI is the Pacific Northwest Clinical Center for Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet, the JDRF Center for Translational Research and the T1D Exchange Biobank Operations Center.

About The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust

The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust aspires to improve lives by supporting effective nonprofits in a variety of selected areas. Since 2008, when the Trust began its active grant-making, it has committed more than $800 million to a wide range of charitable organizations. Through the Helmsley Type 1 Diabetes Program, the Trust is one of the largest private funders of T1D-related research, treatment and support programs. For more information, please visit www.helmsleytrust.org.

About the T1D Exchange

T1D Exchange, a not-for-profit organization, is a dynamic, multi-purpose, real-world patient data platform designed to accelerate all aspects of drug and device development. T1D Exchange has established a unique model to speed better treatments, therapies and research for type 1 diabetes (T1D). The Exchange consists of an integrated Clinic Network of 65+ clinics across the U.S., a Biorepository, and Glu, an online community with mobile capabilities for people touched by type 1 diabetes. The T1D Exchange fosters faster and more fluid information transfer and sharing among diabetes patients, physicians, researchers, and pharma, medical device, education, and outreach organizations.

Media Contacts:

Benaroya Research Institute
Kay Branz
BRI Director of Communications
kbranz@benaroyaresearch.org
206-342-6903



[ 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/2013-02/itn-bri021313.php

nit championship transcendentalism bells palsy channel 5 news uc berkeley harrison barnes brett ratner

Monday, February 4, 2013

Ride-hailing apps offer new way to get around town

In this Jan. 4, 2013 photo, Lyft driver Nancy Tcheou smiles as she drives in San Francisco. Fed up with traditional taxis, city dwellers are tapping their smartphones to hitch rides from strangers using mobile apps that allow riders and drivers to find each other. Internet-enabled ridesharing services such as Lyft, Uber and Sidecar are expanding rapidly in San Francisco, New York and other U.S. cities, billing themselves as a high-tech, low-cost alternative to cabs. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

In this Jan. 4, 2013 photo, Lyft driver Nancy Tcheou smiles as she drives in San Francisco. Fed up with traditional taxis, city dwellers are tapping their smartphones to hitch rides from strangers using mobile apps that allow riders and drivers to find each other. Internet-enabled ridesharing services such as Lyft, Uber and Sidecar are expanding rapidly in San Francisco, New York and other U.S. cities, billing themselves as a high-tech, low-cost alternative to cabs. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

In this Jan. 4, 2013 photo, Lyft driver Nancy Tcheou uses her phone to accept a ride from a passenger in San Francisco. Fed up with traditional taxis, city dwellers are tapping their smartphones to hitch rides from strangers using mobile apps that allow riders and drivers to find each other. Internet-enabled ridesharing services such as Lyft, Uber and Sidecar are expanding rapidly in San Francisco, New York and other U.S. cities, billing themselves as a high-tech, low-cost alternative to cabs. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

In this Jan. 17, 2013 photo, a Lyft car drives crosses Market Street in San Francisco. Fed up with traditional taxis, city dwellers are tapping their smartphones to hitch rides from strangers using mobile apps that allow riders and drivers to find each other. Internet-enabled ridesharing services such as Lyft, Uber and Sidecar are expanding rapidly in San Francisco, New York and other U.S. cities, billing themselves as a high-tech, low-cost alternative to cabs. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

In this Jan. 4, 2013 photo, Lyft driver Nancy Tcheou drives in San Francisco, Friday. Fed up with traditional taxis, city dwellers are tapping their smartphones to hitch rides from strangers using mobile apps that allow riders and drivers to find each other. Internet-enabled ridesharing services such as Lyft, Uber and Sidecar are expanding rapidly in San Francisco, New York and other U.S. cities, billing themselves as a high-tech, low-cost alternative to cabs. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

In this Jan. 4, 2013 photo, Lyft driver Nancy Tcheou waits in her car after dropping off a passenger as a taxi cab passes her in San Francisco. Fed up with traditional taxis, city dwellers are tapping their smartphones to hitch rides from strangers using mobile apps that allow riders and drivers to find each other. Internet-enabled ridesharing services such as Lyft, Uber and Sidecar are expanding rapidly in San Francisco, New York and other U.S. cities, billing themselves as a high-tech, low-cost alternative to cabs. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

(AP) ? When Hesky Kutscher needed to get across town, he didn't call a taxi. He tapped a smartphone app called Lyft, which allows users to request car rides.

Minutes later, a black hatchback with a big fluffy, pink mustache on its grille pulled up. Kutscher hopped in the front seat and gave the driver a fist bump. Then they cruised over the hilly streets of San Francisco, chatting like neighbors until he was dropped off near Union Square.

Kutscher, who runs a medical data firm, said ride-hailing apps like Lyft ? with its whimsical mustaches ? are more convenient than cabs: "I need to get from A to B. They do it well, they do it for a good price, and the drivers are friendly."

Fed up with traditional taxis, more city dwellers are using their smartphones to request rides using GPS-enabled mobile apps that let riders and drivers find each other in real time. Ride-summoning services such as Uber, SideCar and Lyft are expanding rapidly in San Francisco, New York and other U.S. cities.

Uber allows passengers to use their smartphones to summon luxury town cars and other vehicles driven by professional drivers. Customer credit cards are charged fares based on time and distance.

Lyft and SideCar describe themselves as community "ridesharing platforms" that connect riders and drivers, who use their own vehicles. After each ride, passengers are asked for a voluntary donation based on what others paid for similar trips. The companies take a 20 percent cut.

"We started Lyft to create a system for matching up people who need a ride with people who can offer a ride," said Logan Green, co-founder of San Francisco-based Zimride, which operates Lyft.

But taxi operators say the new ride services are little more than illegal cabs that don't have permits, pay city fees or follow regulations. The upstarts are also steering business away from cab drivers, making it harder to earn a living.

"It makes for an uneven playing field," said Barry Korengold, who heads the San Francisco Cab Drivers Association. "We're not trying to stifle technology. We're saying do it in the legal way."

Uber, which launched in 2010 and offers ride services in 18 cities, has been sued by San Francisco cab drivers and Chicago car-service companies alleging unfair business. The San Francisco-based company has also run into trouble with regulators in New York, Vancouver, Boston and Washington, D.C.

The California Public Utilities Commission last year issued cease-and-desist orders and $20,000 fines to Lyft, Sidecar and Uber for operating illegally. The agency says they are "charter-party carriers of passengers" that need permits certifying their drivers are properly screened, licensed and insured.

In December, the commission agreed to evaluate the safety of the Internet-based ride services and plans to draft new rules to regulate them over the next several months. Last week, the agency reached agreements with Lyft and Uber that allows them to operate legally until the new rules are written. It's in discussions with SideCar over its operations.

"We're not trying to put them out of business, but they cannot avoid the basics of public safety," said Frank Lindh, the commission's general counsel.

Lyft and SideCar say they're not charter-party carriers, but ridesharing platforms. They say they shouldn't be regulated like taxis or limos because rides are prearranged, payments are voluntary and the firms don't own the vehicles or employ the drivers.

"Existing regulations have not caught up with the technology," said Sunil Paul, CEO of SideCar, which launched a year ago in San Francisco and is preparing to expand to 15 other cities. "This is a new medium, and a new medium needs a new set of rules."

Lyft and Sidecar say they have measures to ensure passenger safety. They interview drivers, check driving records, conduct criminal background checks and inspect vehicles. Drivers use their own insurance, but both companies provide additional coverage up to $1 million.

Other cities and states are also figuring out how to regulate the new transportation apps. The International Association of Transportation Regulators is working on guidelines for regulations that, if adopted, could restrict the upstarts.

Internet-based ride-hailing apps should be regulated, but regulators must be careful not to quash innovation in a transportation sector, said Daniel Sperling, director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis.

Sperling believes technology can reduce congestion, pollution and greenhouse-gas emissions by making transportation more efficient and convenient, allowing more people to live without personal cars.

"This is the first wave of what we hope will be a whole series of innovative companies and technologies that will transform transportation as we know it," Sperling said.

Lyft launched in San Francisco in June and began offering rides in Los Angeles on Thursday. It's cultivated a playful image with its pink mustaches and fist-bump ice-breakers. Users sign up with their Facebook accounts.

To maintain safety and quality, both Lyft and SideCar ask passengers and drivers to rate each other after each ride. Too many low ratings, and they're booted from the network.

Both services have attracted a diverse group of drivers. Lyft drivers include PhD students who need a break from writing dissertations, preschool teachers looking for adult conversation and artists seeking to earn extra money, said Green.

San Francisco State University student Shelby Stone, 23, drives her black Volkswagen Rabbit for Lyft four or five days a week to help pay car expenses and other bills.

"I have a blast with Lyft," Stone said after dropping off passenger Kutscher by Union Square. "All day long I'm meeting new people and getting to know the city of San Francisco."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-02-04-Ride-Hailing%20Apps/id-d893894f889c4ba184f19a42d7af69f3

lindsay lohan snl lindsay lohan on snl real housewives of disney awakenings phantom of the opera agoraphobia andrew lloyd webber

Video: Mike Lupica talks impact of Super Bowl blackout

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50692125/

Johnny Pesky spice girls justin theroux Bumbo recall USA Basketball taio cruz taio cruz

Kate Upton Mercedes Commercial: Super Bowl Ad Features Model, Willem Dafoe (VIDEO)

Kate Upton? Check. Willem Dafoe? Present. Usher? Dancing.

Outlandish, but sparkling with celebrities, this star-studded Mercedes-Benz Super Bowl commercial features the beautiful Upton, the R&B dancing extraordinaire Usher and a smooth-talking devil by Dafoe.


CLICK HERE to see the rest of the 2013 Super Bowl commercials as well as all of the best, worst and most unforgettable from the past.

As the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens battled for the right to lift the Lombardi Trophy, Super Bowl advertisers competed for another prize: your attention. Each time that CBS cut away from Super Bowl XLVII to pay the bills (or because the lights went out), another group of blockbuster commercials and movie trailers were unveiled (although many had been teased). At your Super Bowl party, were people paying closer attention during the game or the commercial breaks?

While memorable Super Bowl commercials like Apple's '1984' and Snickers' spot that featured Betty White will be remembered so many more are soon forgotten or, even worse, ridiculed as super fails. Will this ad make this year's best list? Is it controversial? Or, even worse, destined to be forgotten?

Related on HuffPost:

"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/04/kate-upton-super-bowl-commercial-mercedes_n_2613646.html

fidel castro rick santorum ozzie guillen castro comments phish gluten free diet barry zito mac virus

Video of police beating roils Egypt

A man who was beaten and dragged naked across the ground during a demonstration on Friday now is blaming Egyptian riot police, reversing an earlier statement in which he blamed demonstrators.?

By Reuters / February 3, 2013

A man who was beaten and dragged naked across the ground during a demonstration on Friday told the public prosecution that Egyptian riot police were responsible for the incident, reversing an earlier statement in which he blamed demonstrators.

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 video of Hamada Saber, 48, being beaten with truncheons by helmeted police has infuriated the opposition, which accuses President Mohamed Morsi of ordering a harsh crackdown on protests two years after the uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Mr. Morsi's government has announced an investigation into the incident, which came at the end of eight days of violent protests that saw nearly 60 people killed, the deadliest unrest of his seven months in office.

The state news agency MENA said late on Sunday that Mr. Saber "had amended his earlier testimony during the investigation, in which he had exonerated the police."

State television had aired overnight a recording of Saber, lying on bed in the police hospital, giving his account of the incident, in which he blamed protesters for stripping and robbing him.

Footage shows police beating

However, the widely seen footage clearly showed police beating him with truncheons and dragging him naked across a road.

Saber said he had seen a crowd running and then felt himself shot in the leg.

"I fell over, I failed to stand up again, then they surrounded me in a circle and attacked me," he said. The interviewer asked if he was referring to the demonstrators, and he answered: "Yes I am. They took my clothes off, maybe they were looking for money in my pockets. Then someone among them shouted: 'He is not a soldier. He is not a soldier, he is an old man and you are going to kill him.'

"The soldiers ran towards me. I was afraid of them, but they were saying, 'We will not beat you'. I swear to God this is what happened. I kept on running. They said again: 'Do not be afraid.' I kept running away and they said, 'We are exhausted because of you'."

Egypt's?prosecutors' office earlier released a statement saying Saber denied that police had hit him. That statement was received angrily by the opposition which suspected the authorities of intimidating him to exonerate the police.

"That a citizen be dragged in a public space is a crime against humanity. That he be forced to amend his testimony before the Public Prosecution is tyranny. It has dire consequences for justice," Nasser Amin, a prominent lawyer and campaigner for judicial independence said on Twitter.

The prosecutor heading the Heliopolis district in which the case is being investigated ordered that Saleh be moved to a public hospital instead of the police hospital in which he is currently being treated, MENA said.

* Writing by Peter Graff and Shaimaa Fayed; Editing by Stephen Powell.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/ATO-QgACf3o/Video-of-police-beating-roils-Egypt

keanu reeves whitney houston national anthem beverly hills hotel beverly hills hotel the watchmen whitney houston dies dolly parton i will always love you

Authorities mum about talks with alleged abductor in Alabama

MIDLAND CITY, Ala. (AP) ? As a police standoff with an Alabama man accused of holding a 5-year-old boy hostage in an underground bunker entered its fifth day, authorities were saying little except that their talks with the 65-year-old loner were continuing through a ventilation pipe.

Negotiators were still trying late Friday to persuade Jimmy Lee Dykes to surrender. Police have said they believe the Vietnam-era veteran fatally shot a school bus driver on Tuesday, and then abducted the boy from the bus and disappeared into the home-made bunker.

While police were mostly staying mum about the delicate negotiations, it fell to neighbors to fill in the blanks about Dykes, described by some as a menacing figure who held anti-government views.

One of Dykes' next-door neighbors said the suspect spent two or three months constructing the bunker, digging several feet into the ground and then building a structure of lumber and plywood, which he covered with sand and dirt.

Neighbor Michael Creel said Dykes put the plastic pipe underground from the bunker to the end of his driveway so he could hear if anyone drove up to his gate. When Dykes finished the shelter a year or so ago, he invited Creel to see it ? and he did.

"He was bragging about it. He said, 'Come check it out," Creel said.

He said he believes Dykes' goal with the standoff is to publicize his political beliefs.

"I believe he wants to rant and rave about politics and government," Creel said. "He's very concerned about his property. He doesn't want his stuff messed with."

Police have used a ventilation pipe to the bunker to talk to the man and deliver the boy medication for his emotional disorders, but they have not revealed how often they are in touch or what the conversations have been about. Authorities waited until Friday to confirm the suspect's identity.

While much of what is going on inside the bunker remains a mystery, local officials who have spoken to police or the boy's family have described a small room with food, electricity and a TV. And while the boy has his medication, an official also said he has been crying for his parents.

Meanwhile, Midland City residents held out hope that the standoff would end safely and mourned for the slain bus driver and his family. Candlelight vigils have been held nightly at a gazebo in front of City Hall. Residents prayed, sang songs such as "Amazing Grace" and nailed homemade wooden crosses on the gazebo's railings alongside signs that read: "We are praying for you."

"We're doing any little thing that helps show support for him," said 15-year-old Taylor Edwards said.

Former hostage negotiators said authorities must be cautious and patient as long as they are confident that the boy is unharmed. Ex-FBI hostage negotiator Clint Van Zandt advised against any drastic measures such as cutting the electricity or putting sleeping gas inside the bunker because it could agitate Dykes.

The negotiator should try to ease Dykes' anxieties over what will happen when the standoff ends, and refer to both the boy and Dykes by their first names, he said.

"I want to give him a reason to come out," Van Zandt said,

Police seemed to be following that pattern. At a brief news conference to release a photo of Dykes, they brushed off any questions about possible charges.

"It's way too early for that," said Kevin Cook, a spokesman for the Alabama state troopers.

Police have described the bunker as about 4 feet underground, with about 6-by-8 feet of floor space and the PVC pipe that negotiators were speaking through.

State Rep. Steve Clouse, who represents the Midland City area, said he visited the boy's mother and she is "hanging on by a thread." Clouse said the mother told him that the boy has Asperger's syndrome as well as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.

Dr. Nadine Kaslow, a family therapist and psychiatry professor at Emory University in Atlanta, said the boy's emotional troubles might make things even more difficult for him.

"They have less way to make sense of things," she said of children with Asperger's and ADHD.

The normally quiet red-clay road leading to the bunker was busy Friday with more than a dozen police cars and trucks, a fire truck, a helicopter, officers from multiple agencies and news media near Midland City. The town, population 2,300, is about 100 miles southeast of Montgomery.

Police vehicles have come and gone for hours from the command post, a small church nearby.

Neighbors said Dykes was easily angered and once beat a dog to death with a lead pipe, threatened to shoot children for setting foot on his property and patrolled his yard at night with a flashlight and a firearm.

He was in the Navy from 1964 to 1969, serving some time in Japan, according to military records.

Authorities said Dykes boarded a stopped school bus filled with 21 children on Tuesday afternoon and demanded two boys between 6 and 8 years old. When the driver tried to block his way, the gunman shot him several times and took the 5-year-old boy.

The bus driver, Charles Albert Poland Jr., 66, was hailed by local residents as a hero who gave his life to protect the pupils on his bus.

Dykes had been scheduled to appear in court Wednesday to answer charges he shot at his neighbors in a dispute last month over a speed bump. Neighbor Claudia Davis said he yelled and fired shots at her and her family over damage Dykes claimed their pickup truck did to a makeshift speed bump in the dirt road. No one was hurt.

Creel said his father and Dykes are friends. Creel said that after Dykes' arrest, Dykes wrote a 2- to 3-page letter that at least in part addressed the menacing case.

Michael Creel said he hasn't seen the letter but that his father, Greg Creel, has. Dykes reportedly told the elder Creel he had sent the letter to the local media, politicians and Alabama's governor.

Police on Friday took a copy of the letter from the Creels' home, according to Michael Creel. Reached for comment, Greg Creel confirmed the existence of the letter but declined further comment and said he was cooperating with police.

A neighbor directly across the street, Brock Parrish, said Dykes usually wore overalls and glasses and his posture was hunched-over. He said Dykes usually drove a run-down "creeper" van with some of the windows covered in aluminum foil.

Parrish often saw him digging in his yard, as if he were preparing to lay down a driveway or building foundation. He lived in a small camping trailer and patrolled his lawn at night, walking from corner to corner with a flashlight and a long gun. Authorities have not disclosed what firearms Dykes might have in his possession.

___

Associated Press writers Eric Tucker in Washington; Phillip Rawls in Midland City; Bob Johnson in Montgomery, Ala., and AP researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/authorities-mum-talks-alleged-abductor-081655942.html

Allegiant Air Melissa Rycroft mega millions Cyber Monday Deals 2012 Sasha McHale Boy Meets World elizabeth taylor

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Super Bowl 2013 ? ? How To Watch The Super Bowl Online ...

For the past several years there wasn?t really an easy way to watch the Super Bowl online. It was possible to do, of course, but required third party software applications and a little bit of knowledge of the Internet?s ?seamy underbelly?. Often it required heading to dodgy sites with countless pop up ads, spotty video quality and the ever present risk of spyware and viruses. As odd as it may seem it was actually easier to bet on the Super Bowl online than to actually watch the game.

Now Super Bowl viewers in the United States are in luck. The CBS TV network is televising this year?s game and they?re well aware that the audience for online coverage of the game is growing exponentially. They?ve offered the March Madness college basketball tournament online for several years now and this year they?ll broadcast Super Bowl XLVII in its entirety as well as all of the pregame, postgame and halftime coverage. And unlike some networks who have required silly registration or other eligibility requirements for their online video coverage of major sporting events CBS?to their credit?is making it very easy.

CBS will stream everything at their main website and at CBSSports.com. They also broadcast several web-only preview shows in the days before the game. The NFL is also offering their own streaming platform at their website (NFL.com) though they?re requiring registration and a small fee.

The growth of online video viewing of major sporting events is staggering and showing no signs of reversing itself. Tablet ownership doubled in 2012 and now some tech industry surveys indicate that over 36% of all Super Bowl viewers plan to use a ?secondary device? other than a TV set to watch all or part of the game. CBS no doubt sees the writing on the wall and is hoping to get on top of these trends and leverage them for their benefit instead of getting steamrolled and made irrelevant by them. Unlike some sports properties?notably NBC?s ham handed online coverage of the London Summer Olympics?CBS isn?t putting their head in the sand and pretending that the Internet and the trends it has helped shaped are just going to go away.

Source: http://maboot.com/super-bowl-2013-how-to-watch-the-super-bowl-online/

student loan forgiveness ufc 145 weigh ins record store day 2012 detroit red wings jose canseco zimmerman derek fisher