Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Don't Expect To See New iPhone Or iPad Hardware At WWDC, The Loop Advises, But New Macs Possible

wwdc13-about-mainThe Loop's Jim Dalrymple is probably the best-connected Apple blogger on the planet at the moment, so when he posts an entry called "WWDC Expectations," the entire community's ears perk up. The annual Apple developer conference is only a couple of weeks away, and there's been lots of speculation about what we might see. Dalrymple brings us back to earth, outlining pretty clearly what we will or won't see.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/UGzLz0pLoF0/

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Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Obama and Christie yet again; emphasis on recovery

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama is looking to get his groove back ? at the beach.

A post-Hurricane Sandy tour of the New Jersey coast line on Tuesday, gives the president a chance for a three-point play that can move him ahead of the recent controversies that have dogged the White House. With New Jersey's Republican Gov. Chris Christie at Obama's side, effective government, bipartisanship and economic opportunity will be the unmistakable message in the face of the coastal recovery.

For Obama, the tour helps him continue redirecting the political conversation after two weeks of dealing with the fallout over the administration's response to terror attacks last September in Benghazi, Libya, the targeting of conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service and the Justice Department's review of journalist phone records as part of a leak investigation.

The visit occurs as Congress is away for a Memorial Day holiday break, a weeklong recess that likely will silence the daily attention lawmakers, particularly Republicans, had been paying to the three political upheavals. It also comes just days after Obama started seeking to change the subject in Washington with a speech defending his controversial program of strikes by unmanned drones and renewing his push to close the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention facility.

On Sunday Obama traveled to Oklahoma to view damage from the recent tornado and console victims of the deadly storm.

For Christie, the president's appearance is yet another way to showcase his beloved Jersey Shore. The Republican has been touting it throughout the Memorial Day weekend as a destination point that is back in business and he broke a Guinness World record Friday by cutting a 5.5 mile ceremonial ribbon that symbolically tied together some of the hardest-hit towns by Sandy. The state has a $25 million marketing campaign to highlight the shore's resurgence in time for the summer season.

Both men will reprise the remarkable bipartisan tableau they offered during Sandy's immediate aftermath when Obama flew to New Jersey just days before the election to witness the storm's wreckage. Politically, the visit plays well for both men. Christie, seeking re-election this year, will stand shoulder to shoulder with a president popular among Democrats in a Democratic leaning state. And Obama, dueling with congressional Republicans on a number of fronts, gets to display common cause with a popular GOP stalwart. (Obama has not scheduled any face time with state Sen. Barbara Buono, Christie's likely Democratic opponent in the governor's race).

Christie, in an interview with NBC's Matt Lauer on Friday, downplayed the politics, even when asked if ties to Obama could hurt him among conservatives if he were to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.

"The fact of the matter is, he's the president of the United States, and he wants to come here and see the people of New Jersey," Christie said. "I'm the governor. I'll be here to welcome him."

To be sure, New Jersey is still rebuilding. Obama is visiting those regions that have been among the first to recover ? Christie ranks the recovery of the state's famous boardwalks as an eight on a scale of 10 but concedes that in other parts of the state many homeowners are still rebuilding six months after the devastating superstorm struck. Overall, the storm caused $38 billion in damages in the state, and harmed or wrecked 360,000 homes or apartment units.

But the coastal recovery is a big potential boon for the state where tourism is a nearly $40 billion industry.

For Obama, coming off a week that had the IRS in the crosshairs of a scandal, the trip also offers an opportunity to demonstrate the work of another part of government that provides a foil for the IRS: the Federal Emergency Management Agency, whose response to disasters has been met with bipartisan praise.

Indeed, inside the White House, FEMA is perceived as an example of what's best about government. The agency, panned for its response under President Bush to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, has made a turnaround under administrator Craig Fugate and has been commended for its work in disasters from the Joplin, Mo., tornado in 2011 to Hurricane Sandy last year.

Obama's trip Tuesday also comes two days after he toured the tornado devastation outside Oklahoma City, Okla., where FEMA has been the face of the federal government as well.

Josh Earnest, the White House's deputy press secretary, says FEMA represents "competent, efficient government that meets the needs of the people."

"The renaissance of the agency embodies what the president ran on," he said.

Overall, the federal government has directed more than $14 billion so far in aid to help families, support state and local rebuilding efforts, and assist major transportation reconstruction and in community development grants to states affected by Sandy, the bulk of which has gone to New Jersey and New York.

Even as Obama meets businesses and homeowners who have benefited from recovery work, the White House says he also plans to talk about the importance of renewing economic opportunities for middle-class families still getting their lives back. It's a message that dovetails with Obama's attempts to keep the economy prominent by highlighting economic growth after the Great Recession while also making his case for additional initiatives to keep the economy from stumbling again.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-christie-yet-again-emphasis-recovery-113948548.html

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Sunday, May 26, 2013

Overwhelmed Parents: A National Crisis - Huffington Post

Laura: "Now that I am back to work full time, I get up at 5:00 a.m. to get the kid's lunches ready. I often find myself doing laundry at 10:00 p.m. Last week I was picking up groceries at the supermarket at 11:00 p.m., and my stomach is churning while driving to the day care center because I don't want to be charged the late pick-up fee. I'm so exhausted at night when I got to bed, I can hardly talk to my husband, much less make love with him. I don't like living this way, but I'm not seeing a way out."

Jack: "I don't like it either; but if we want to continue to enjoy our standard of living, we need both incomes. It's really stressful when one of the kids gets sick and can't go to day-care. We get into a big argument every time about who will stay home with them, because it may put each of our jobs in jeopardy to not come in. I'm sure we're working much harder and longer than our parents did, with less to show for it."

For reasons that are too complex to cite, Jack is correct. The young parents in contemporary America not only work longer hours than their parents did, but they work longer hours than do citizens of any other country in the world. We have even recently surpassed the Japanese who have coined the term "Karoshi syndrome" meaning "death from overwork."

While it is easy to take the stress produced by excessive overwork personally, in fact symptoms such as irritability, depression, anxiety, insomnia, and exhaustion are less a personal failure than they are expressions of dysfunctional economic and social systems. Those countries with the lowest levels of stress disorders, such as the Northern European and Scandinavian nations, tend to be those that provide a safety net for families, children, the elderly and those who are most vulnerable.

When we traveled to Scandinavia recently, our informal survey of citizens in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark revealed that social structures including universal health care and higher education, and extended paid maternity and paternity leave, and day care greatly diminished the stress-related conditions that plague many contemporary American families.

Our culture's failure to prioritize the needs of the family over the values of "free enterprise" is a primary factor in the disintegration of the American family. This phenomenon has become known as the "work-family conflict," and in America, work is clearly winning. Joan Williams of the Center for Worklife Law, at the University of California Hasting College Center for American Progress found that the typical American middle class family worked 11 hours a week more in 2006 than in 1979. That's an average of 572 extra hours worked per year!

On top of the stress of working more hours, American families don't have the supports that other countries take for granted, such as high-quality, conveniently located, subsidized child care, paid sick days, limits on mandatory overtime, the right to request work time flexibility without retaliation, and proportional wages for part time work. Of the thirty industrialized democracies, only the United States lacks paid maternity leave laws. In almost all cases where family leave is available, it is unpaid, limited to three months, and covers only half of the labor force. Discrimination against workers with family responsibilities is illegal throughout all of Europe.

The American workplace was designed for the typical family of 1960, a time in which the father was the breadwinner and mom stayed home. The income from one working parent could cover the cost of home, car and other necessities. Those days are over. Now 59 percent of children live in households where both parents are employed. Today the typical American family struggles to earn a living in a tough economy. Family life is compromised by rising demands in the workplace, where many employers think they have to assign longer hours to employees in order for their businesses to remain competitive.

In the United States, 90 percent of American mothers and 95 percent of American fathers report high levels of stress. The United States has the most family-hostile public policies in the developed world. There has been no major legislation designed to enhance family life since 1993.

Some couples attempt to meet the challenge of child-care by working opposite shifts. They call it the "tag team" when one is working a night shift and the other a day shift in order for one parent to always be available for the kids. The kids may be receiving adequate care, but these couples have so little together time that their risk of divorce is six times the national rate.
Jobs in the second decade of the 2000s are not as readily available today as in years past due to four strong trends, dating back to the 1970s:

  1. Increasing use of computers, which have made it possible for employers to reduce their number of workers.
  2. Outsourcing of workers to other parts of the world where wages are lower.
  3. Women joining the paid workforce in large numbers.
  4. Latin American immigrants moved here looking for jobs when the number of jobs was already declining.

Since none of these trends is likely to change in the near future, a tight job market is what we have for the time being. A tight job market makes people hold on to the job that they have, do what is required of them, and work harder than they really want to out of the fear that there are a lot of people lined up eagerly waiting to take their job. People who were not predisposed to becoming workaholics become so because of the fear that if they don't overwork they will loose their job.

In the realization that we are a part of a larger issue, we may become able to use the energy that is freed up from worrying about our imagined shortcomings to make the very best of an extremely challenging situation. Perhaps we can carve out time to be with our partner to focus more attention on the quality of our relationship. If we set aside time when other distractions cannot take our attention and completely devote ourselves more fully to each other, speak from our heart, have some fun together, and work as a team to solve the numerous problems that occur in every family, we can keep our heads above the water line, even if just barely. By seeing the broader nature of our predicament, we get some relief. Millions of families are suffering with the same challenges. Once we commit ourselves to creating more sane, balanced, and integrated lives, we might even provide a model for other couples that share the same concerns.

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Follow Linda Bloom LCSW and Charlie Bloom MSW on Twitter: www.twitter.com/bloomwork

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-bloom-lcsw-and-charlie-bloom-msw/overwhelmed-parents-a-nat_b_3308576.html

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Jennifer Lawrence's Brother Stalked By Man Who Wanted To Get To The Actress; Stalker Arrested & Charged

LOUISVILLE, Ky. ? A Canadian man is facing charges that he stalked the brother of Jennifer Lawrence after authorities say he repeatedly insisted that the man put him in touch with the Oscar-winning actress so he could protect her, according to court documents.

Zhao Han Cong, 23, of Vancouver, British Columbia, was ordered Friday to remain held until he could undergo a psychiatric examination to determine if the case against him can proceed.

FBI agents in Louisville charged Cong on Monday with interstate stalking and repeated harassing phone communications. Lawrence is a native of Louisville.

Cong's attorney, public defender Donald J. Meier, requested the psychiatric exam. Meier didn't cite any specific behavior in making the request, though prosecutors did not object. Cong has not yet entered a plea.

FBI Special Agent Richard Boswell III wrote in an affidavit that Cong started contacting "B.L.," who is identified in a related state court record as the actress' brother Blaine Lawrence, on April 4. Lawrence received numerous phone calls and text messages from "Ted" on his work cell phone at 2 a.m., Boswell wrote. Boswell said "Ted" was later identified as Cong.

The phone calls and text messages came from numbers with area codes in California and Colorado but were later traced to Cong.

Cong initially asked Lawrence to put him in contact with the actress so he could "protect" her and made references to the Boston Marathon bombings, Boswell said. Cong then blamed Blaine Lawrence for putting his sister in danger because she was in Boston before the attack, Boswell said.

Cong made comments about "bad things" happening to Lawrence and his family and eventually gave up his real name and phone number in Canada, Boswell wrote.

Two weeks later, Cong sent three email messages to Blaine Lawrence, making references to the Bible and their relation to Jennifer Lawrence. Cong told his life story and said he was Jennifer Lawrence's "husband for life," Boswell wrote.

Cong told Blaine Lawrence he "wouldn't kill anyone for sure," but would scare people with real things happening in their lives and would get angry "and all hell's going to break loose," Boswell wrote.

Cong flew from Vancouver to Louisville on April 18 and kept contacting Blaine Lawrence, Boswell wrote.

"Either I find out, or you come and see me, okay?" Boswell quoted Cong as saying. "You got me really upset. When I'm, when I'm upset, let's see what happens, alright?"

Cong took a cab to the Indian Hills Police Department in suburban Louisville on April 19 and asked about the home address of Lawrence's mother. Police interviewed Cong for three hours. During the interview, Cong described himself as the second coming of Jesus and said Lawrence's mother had what he needed to complete his journey, Boswell wrote.

Officers took Cong into custody and involuntarily hospitalized him for a psychiatric evaluation. He was taken to Central State Hospital, where he called Blaine Lawrence, Boswell wrote.

Upon his release, police arrested Cong. Federal authorities took custody of Cong on May 7 and filed a criminal complaint against him Monday.

___

Follow Associated Press reporter Brett Barrouquere on Twitter: http://twitter.com/BBarrouquereAP

Related on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/24/jennifer-lawrence-brother-stalked_n_3333286.html

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Zendaya's 'Crying' Fans 'So Sad' About 'Dancing With The Stars' Loss

Actress chats with MTV News about her time on the dance competition.
By Christina Garibaldi

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1708018/zendaya-dancing-with-the-stars.jhtml

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Saturday, May 25, 2013

Obama to visit Oklahoma, tour Jersey Shore with Gov. Chris Christie

A battered sign stands outside the wreckage of Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla. (Charlie Riedel/??President Barack Obama will travel to Oklahoma City on Sunday "to see first-hand the response to the devastating tornadoes and severe weather" that ravaged the area, meet with families affected by the devastation, and thank emergency responders, the White House announced Friday.

On Tuesday, Obama will head to the Jersey Shore to assess the rebuilding and recovery efforts in the months since deadly Superstorm Sandy battered the coast.

"The president, joined by Governor Chris Christie, will visit with families and business owners who have shown such resilience in the face of the destructive storm, highlight the extensive rebuilding efforts to date, and underscore his administration?s ongoing commitment to stand with the impacted communities as the important work of recovery continues," the White House said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-visit-oklahoma-tour-jersey-shore-chris-christie-203429952.html

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Terror threat has shifted, Obama says

By Mohammed Abbas LONDON (Reuters) - Strapping his baby into a car seat, Abu Khaled said it was unfortunate that a British soldier was hacked to death in an apparent Islamist attack a day earlier in London, but it was not the only misfortune on his mind. "A 75-year-old man was stabbed to death earlier this month on his way back from the mosque in Birmingham. You didn't hear about that, did you?" said the bearded 36-year-old personal trainer, speaking near East London Mosque, one of the capital's oldest and largest. "Eleven children died in Afghanistan in a U.S. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-says-terror-threat-shifted-defends-drones-184454615.html

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Monday, May 20, 2013

Justin Bieber And Selena Gomez: Their Billboard Music Awards Reunion

The exes (?) both perform, while Bieber proclaims during an acceptance speech, 'I should be taken seriously.'
By Jocelyn Vena


Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards
Photo: Ethan Miller/ Getty Images

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1707639/justin-bieber-selena-gomez-billboard-music-awards-2013.jhtml

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Federer, Nadal to renew rivalry in Rome final

ROME (AP) ? Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will renew their rivalry in the Italian Open final Sunday ? exactly a week before the French Open starts.

In Saturday's semifinals at the Foro Italico, Federer held off a stiff challenge from Frenchman Benoit Paire 7-6 (5), 6-4. Six-time Rome champion Nadal defeated sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych 6-2, 6-4, a day after Berdych rallied to beat top-ranked Novak Djokovic.

It will mark Nadal's eighth consecutive final since his return earlier this year from a seven-month layoff because of a left knee injury. As for Federer, who recently returned from a seven-week break from the circuit, it will be his first final of the year.

"We are here in 2013 and he is No. (3) in the world and I am No. 5 after not playing months and we are still playing good, and I hope that this is not going to be the last time," Nadal said.

On the women's side, top-ranked Serena Williams moved within one victory of winning her fourth consecutive title this year. She'll face third-seeded Victoria Azarenka in the final.

Williams overcame an early break of her serve to ease past Romanian qualifier Simona Halep 6-3, 6-0 and extend her career-best winning run to 23 matches. Azarenka kept her concentration through two rain delays to beat seventh-seeded Sara Errani 6-0, 7-5.

Williams is coming off consecutive titles in Miami, Charleston and Madrid.

The men's final will mark the 30th meeting between Federer and Nadal, and it will be a rematch of the 2006 Rome final that Nadal won in a fifth-set tiebreaker. These days, Masters series finals are best-of-three sets.

Nadal holds a 19-10 edge head to head against Federer, but they have split their last four meetings.

"It's nice to have these revival moments for both of us," Federer said. "I'm sure we're both looking forward to it. I clearly am."

Federer overcame a break of his serve midway through the first set against the 36th-ranked Paire, who was playing his first Masters series semifinal. The set was decided by just a few points in the tiebreaker, which Federer closed out with an overhead smash.

Federer then went ahead with an early break in the second set and stayed in front from there.

Nadal broke in the opening game of his match and immediately took control.

After being pushed to three sets in his previous two matches ? against Latvian qualifier Ernests Gulbis and fourth-seeded David Ferrer ? Nadal appeared back in his comfort zone against Berdych.

"The first set was fantastic," Nadal said. "I think I played one of the best matches since I'm back."

Williams' only title at this clay-court event came in 2002, when she beat Justine Henin in the final. That was also the year she won her only French Open title. Last year in Paris, Williams lost in the opening round of a major tournament for the first time, falling to 111th-ranked Virginie Razzano of France.

"I love the clay. I haven't had many wins at Roland Garros, but I do love it. I love to slide," Williams said. "My goal is just to win a match there this year."

Williams had twice won 21 matches in a row before, although both of those runs came more than a decade ago, in 2002 and the beginning of 2003.

Martina Navratilova established the longest women's win streak in the Open Era at 74 matches in 1984.

At 31, Williams is back at the top of her game after missing 11 months in 2010 and 2011 with a right foot injury and a pulmonary embolism.

Williams went directly to the practice court after winning.

"I was unhappy with some things today," she said. "I want to do well here as well as (in Paris)."

It's Azarenka's first final since beating Williams for the title in February at Doha. That followed her Australian Open victory. Since then, Azarenka has been slowed by right ankle and left foot injuries.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/federer-nadal-renew-rivalry-rome-final-195252333.html

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Swift, Bieber, more ready for Billboard Awards

FILE - In this April 2, 2013 file picture Canadian singer Justin Bieber performs at O2 World in Hamburg, Germany. German officials say Justin Bieber will have to pay the bill for his monkey?s two month stay at a Munich animal shelter. A spokesman for Munich?s customs office says the cost of care, food and vet visits for Mally is several thousand euros (dollars). That?s, of course, what you might call ?chimp change? for the global superstar. Customs spokesman Thomas Meister says Bieber has until midnight Friday May 17, 2013 to claim the monkey seized by authorities March 28 when the singer failed to produce its papers after landing in Munich on tour. Bieber?s management company has asked the shelter to place the 20-week-old monkey in a zoo but hasn?t talked with customs. If not claimed, Mally becomes German government property and will likely go to a zoo in any case. (AP Photo/dpa, Sven Hoppe,File)

FILE - In this April 2, 2013 file picture Canadian singer Justin Bieber performs at O2 World in Hamburg, Germany. German officials say Justin Bieber will have to pay the bill for his monkey?s two month stay at a Munich animal shelter. A spokesman for Munich?s customs office says the cost of care, food and vet visits for Mally is several thousand euros (dollars). That?s, of course, what you might call ?chimp change? for the global superstar. Customs spokesman Thomas Meister says Bieber has until midnight Friday May 17, 2013 to claim the monkey seized by authorities March 28 when the singer failed to produce its papers after landing in Munich on tour. Bieber?s management company has asked the shelter to place the 20-week-old monkey in a zoo but hasn?t talked with customs. If not claimed, Mally becomes German government property and will likely go to a zoo in any case. (AP Photo/dpa, Sven Hoppe,File)

They battle it out weekly on the Billboard charts, and now they're competing at the Billboard Music Awards.

Today's biggest stars ? from Taylor Swift to fun. to Maroon 5 ? are the key finalists at Sunday's awards show, airing live from MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on ABC. Those acts are up for 11 awards each; Rihanna, Carly Rae Jepsen and One Direction are up for 10, nine and eight trophies, respectively.

Most of the top stars will also blaze the stage, too, including Swift, Justin Bieber, Bruno Mars, Miguel, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Chris Brown, Selena Gomez and others.

Prince, who will receive the icon award, will also hit the stage, and Madonna, to be named top touring artist, will make an appearance.

Jepsen, whose nine nominations include top Hot 100 song for the ubiquitous "Call Me Maybe," top female artist and top new artist, will present an award this year.

"The Billboard Awards is kind of a nostalgic one for me because it was the first awards show I attended outside of Canada," the 27-year-old recalled in an interview. "I had never really done anything quite so big. And to be going back a year later, and to be nominated, and then to also being doing all the fun stuff like pick a dress, and see the party, and watch the show ? I feel just lucky to be involved."

Jepsen's mentor, Bieber, is up for the night's biggest award, top artist. Other nominees include Swift, Rihanna, One Direction and Maroon 5. Swift is the only U.S. act nominated for top Billboard 200 album for her multiplatinum "Speak Now," which will compete with One Direction's first and second albums ? "Up All Night" and "Take Me Home" ? Mumford & Sons' "Babel" and Adele's 10 million-selling "21," which won the award last year.

Bieber, Swift and Mars are also up for the fan-voted milestone award.

Comedian-actor Tracy Morgan will host the Billboard Music Awards, which is celebrating its third year back on the scene following a five-year break.

Jepsen, whose new single "Tonight I'm Getting Over You" features Nicki Minaj, said she's excited to see the rapper perform with Lil Wayne on Sunday, but she's also happy to be in her seat and not onstage.

"I can remember being like just a big bundle of nerves last time," she said. "I've had a year of experience under my belt, and I'll probably still be nervous, but I'll be way more excited than anything."

Jennifer Lopez, The Band Perry, Pitbull, Christina Aguilera, Ed Sheeran, David Guetta and Kacey Musgraves will also perform Sunday night. Presenters include Shania Twain, Psy, Celine Dion, Miley Cyrus and CeeLo Green.

____

Online:

http://www.billboard.com/bbma

___

Follow Mesfin Fekadu at http://www.twitter.com/MusicMesfin

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-05-19-Billboard%20Music%20Awards/id-e8ee4ba1eb624c92be5d67e0754fa2d7

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Sunday, May 19, 2013

Earthquake Hits Northern Japan, No Reports of Damage (Voice Of America)

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Will Durst: Benghazi Smoke Screen

Up until about an hour ago, most Americans thought Benghazi was the guy who palled around with John Cassavetes back in the 60s, but now it's obvious we're talking about the foreign policy arm of a multi-ramped tar pit in which the president has found himself swimming up to his armpits. Yes, friends, it's pity time at the White House.

After flogging the issue nonstop since September 11, the Fox News team's persistence finally pushed the story of the Libyan Embassy riot that resulted in the death of four Americans over the cliff into the public consciousness. Space available only because both Survivor and Duck Dynasty are on hiatus.

The hue and cry from the right is demanding many questions be answered. Was the protest planned or spontaneous? Did the group that initiated the attack have any affiliation with Arab terrorists? Who altered the talking points; the CIA or the State Department? Where were the drones? Queens? Wasps? Chigger mites? How many angels can dance on the head of a bent and broken Romney/Ryan pin? What would Cheney do?

Having taken all this in, the American people responded with what can only be characterized as even more penetrating questions such as: "Who cares? What difference does it make? Aren't we stuffed to the gills with enough partisan gobbledy goop already? Does anyone really give an albino rat's ass? Isn't there a seafood buffet around here somewhere?"

The revelations have been as startling as mint jelly on lamb. Tragic violent events occurring in the Middle East? Oh no! Not that. Perpetual infighting amongst government agencies? That couldn't happen here, could it? Republicans accusing a Democratic administration of not being patriotic enough? What are the odds?

Next you'll tell me the Justice Department investigation of the Justice Department's seizure of AP reporters' phone records will lead to the Justice Department concluding that the Justice Department did nothing wrong. The public's eyes are glazing over like a fifth grader lectured on the nutritional aspects of broccoli rabe.

Haven't we been told for the last 20, 30 years that Libya is a godless pit of iniquity and now they want us to heap truckloads of blame onto our own guys because someone got killed over there? After they themselves voted down additional money for embassy security? Another example of that whole "dynamite the front steps then complain what a pain it is to climb into the house on a rope ladder" school of logic.

But the GOP remains convinced they have the administration on the run, and is calling for all sorts of investigative committees and dedicated inquiry boards and pretty soon it will be special prosecutors and court rooms full of hopping kangaroos and then pointy sticks and barbed wire and dungeon doors with keys specifically designed to be thrown away. Just in time for the midterms.

And if everything goes according to plan, Hillary Clinton and her nascent 2016 presidential run will wither and rot behind the same Benghazi charges. But the Republicans must know how tricky this sort of maneuver can be. As with all smoke screens, you have to pay real close attention to which way the wind blows, or you could easily end up choking on the same stuff you're spreading.


Recipient of seven consecutive nominations for Stand Up of the Year, Will Durst's new one- man show "BoomerAging: From LSD to OMG" is presented every Tuesday, at the Marsh, San Francisco. Go to... themarsh.org or willdurst.com for more info.

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Follow Will Durst on Twitter: www.twitter.com/willdurst

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/will-durst/benghazi-embassy-security_b_3295803.html

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How to Lose Weight Fast | Lose Weight And Love The Results!

As many have said, shedding weight is hard and it can only be achieved by working hard and by having the right amount of willpower. Use the tips to boost your efforts. While not everything may be beneficial to your needs, you are sure to find some that you can put to use right away.

Try eating your largest meal for lunch rather than dinner. Eat a healthy, filling breakfast, a moderate lunch and a light dinner with healthy snack in between. Because you burn a greater number of calories earlier in the day than at night, it only makes sense that you eat more throughout the day and not as much during the night.

A good way to make weight loss is to stop eating several hours directly preceding bedtime. When you eat before bed, it will sit in your stomach and not burn off. Try to spend your evening while doing something productive such as reading a good book instead of eating.

Don?t turn away from your cravings. Replace ice cream with frozen yogurt and try baked sweet potato fries instead of french fries. Cravings related to unhealthy foods could kick into high gear when you?re on a diet. Practice willpower if you can, but don?t deny yourself everything. Instead, try to satisfy the craving by eating low-calorie alternatives.

Invest in a comfortable and supportive shoes for working out.If you wear shoes that do not fit properly, you will end up with sore feet on top of the muscle aches you are going to experience from increased activity.

Eat a larger number of low calorie meals throughout the day. Several small meals spaced throughout the day are better for you than a few large ones. This increases your body?s metabolism in an effort to burn more calories.

Be sure that you are getting enough rest. Most adults should sleep every night. Staying awake will not lead to your body to lose weight. Getting enough sleep will help your body maintain a healthy metabolism.

When looking to lose weight, focus on what you are drinking. Except for water, almost everything you drink contains calories. The calories that are found in drinks like beer, Kool-Aid and soda will add up quickly. Don?t forget to count your beverages in your caloric tally for the day.

Extra Calories

Drink lots of water throughout the day. Try to consume between 60 and 80 ounces of water daily. When it?s hot out you have to drink more. Drinking lots of water aids in digestion while also making you feel full, and that helps to avoid overeating.

You can shed extra weight simply by walking up short flights of stairs if you want to lose weight. You might only burn a few extra calories, but all extra calories that you burn will eventually add up to weight loss.

Switch from mayo to mustard. Although lots of people like to eat mayonnaise, it is one of the highest fat foods. Using mustard can help to lower the fat and calorie content in your meals. Cut out simple calories by ordering or making all foods without mayo, too.

Take a small break while eating.Sometimes our bodies might have difficultly telling when it is full. Make it a routine that you stop halfway through each meal. Take a short break to try to think about your hunger level before you eat again.

Use butter that has been whipped. Some people are hesitant to replace butter with margarine or whipped butter. These people prefer how butter tastes. You don?t have to stop using butter to lose weight. Eat whipped butter instead. It tastes just like real butter with only half the calories.

Angel food cake is a decent way to satisfy a craving for sweets. It is hard to resist cravings for a long period of time.Angel food cake is a good idea because it is very light and fluffy. They also have fewer calories than most cakes.

Weighing yourself regularly will give you insight of where you currently are. This helps you see how well you are doing! A notebook is a great tool to use when tracking your weight loss. Seeing your successes will keep you motivated and seeing an increase in weight will allow you to correct it before it goes too far.

It?s always best not to the think of your program as a diet.

If you are following an eating plan to lose weight, always eat a meal before you depart from home to attend a function. You?ll find it easier to avoid overeating party food and desserts. Instead of drinking high calorie beer or mixed drinks, sip a glass of red wine.

Do not be fooled into by a package that there is no nutritional value. You might lose weight, but your health will suffer.

One easy way to lose weight is to eat leftovers. Make more than enough of each healthy meal so you can save some for the next day. Create a healthy chicken salad pita from last night?s grilled chicken. This will make preparing a healthy lunch much easier.

You can reduce your tummy while sitting at your desk! The main muscle you will be working on is called the transversus abdominis.

Eliminating fatty foods such as french fries not only helps with weight loss, but it also helps eliminate acne. Experts point out often that foods that are low in fat, and high in lean protein are best for most people. The healthy balance of natural skin oils can be disrupted when you eat a lot of high fat foods and sweets, creating problems for your complexion.

If you can?t eat a healthy meal at a normal hour, at least make an effort to eat a healthy snack to tide you over until your next meal. Even a small amount of healthy food is better than having nothing to eat.

Before sitting down to eat supper, enjoy a leisurely walk around the neighborhood. This allows your body to burn calories consumed during the meal. In addition, your appetite won?t be as large, so you won?t eat as much. This does not only apply to people who are already semi-fit. This also works for people who are very overweight.

Weight Loss

There is a diet plan out there for everyone. Some people see quick and dramatic results from a low carb diet, while others see little if any change. Be sure to pick a diet that will work for you in which your needs will be considered.

Every weight loss tip or eating plan will not show the same results to every person. Try not to compare your weight loss with others, so you can focus on your own personal goals. It will take some time, but with the effort and dedication, you will meet your goals.

Green tea is a proven diet aid, capable of increasing the amount of fat burned. It is also used to detoxify the body. Green tea, brewed fresh with no added sweeteners is probably one of the healthiest things you can drink other than water. Following these simple steps will help you begin to shed pounds.

Source: http://www.stratfu.com/lose-weight-and-love-the-results/

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Saturday, May 18, 2013

Fed's chairman tells graduates that the best tech is yet to come

innovation

3 hours ago

Image: Bernanke

Reuters file

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, shown here during a Washington speech in April, told graduates at Bard College at Simon's Rock in Massachusetts that society will gain from a wealth of innovations.

WASHINGTON ? Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says pessimists forecasting that the economy will not reap sizable benefits from the computer revolution are likely to be proven wrong.

Bernanke told a college graduating class Saturday that the long-range practical consequences of innovations such as faster computers and the Internet are hard to predict. But he said inventors have only scratched the surface of the commercial applications that can be obtained in such fields as medicine and clean energy.

Bernanke's remarks came in a commencement address at Bard College at Simon's Rock, a small liberal arts college in Great Barrington, Mass. Bernanke's son Joel graduated from the school in 2006.

The Fed chairman did not make any comments about interest rates in his speech, saying he wanted to use his address to focus not on short-range economic problems but to speak about economic growth measured in decades.

"We live on a planet that is becoming richer and more populous and in which not only the most advanced economies but also large emerging market nations like China and India increasingly see their futures as tied to technological innovation," Bernanke said in his prepared text, which was released in Washington.

"The number of trained scientists and engineers is increasing rapidly, as are the resources for research being provided by universities, governments and the private sector," he said. "Both humanity's capacity to innovate and the incentives to innovate are greater today than at any other time in history."

Bernanke cited these factors to bolster the view that the current computer revolution will prove just as beneficial to increasing living standards as past industrial revolutions that gave the world the steam engine and railroads and then later electricity and airplanes.

The Fed chairman told the new graduates that the best way to succeed will be to keep learning.

"During your working lives, you will have to reinvent yourselves many times," he said. "Success and satisfaction will not come from mastering a fixed body of knowledge but from constant adaptation and creativity in a rapidly changing world."

? 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2c1977b1/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Cfeds0Echairman0Etells0Egraduates0Ebest0Etech0Eyet0Ecome0E1C9984420A/story01.htm

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Wash. state releases draft rules for legal pot

SEATTLE (AP) ? Officials in Washington state took their first stab at setting rules for the state's new marijuana industry Thursday, nearly eight months after voters here legalized pot for adults.

Among the preliminary regulations: They want to track marijuana from "seed to store." They'd put a cap on the number of retail outlets in each county, but not on the number of licensed pot growers or processors.

No sales of what the board described as marijuana extracts, such as hash, would be allowed ? unless the extract is infused into another product ? and all pot-related businesses would have to have security systems, 24-hour video surveillance and insurance.

Any marijuana product sold at state-licensed stores would carry a label noting that it "may be habit forming" and that "this product is unlawful outside of Washington state" ? accompanied by an official pot logo, featuring Washington state with a marijuana-leaf silhouette smack in the middle.

Staff at the state Liquor Control Board spent long hours visiting marijuana grow houses, studying the science of getting high and earning nicknames like "the queen of weed" before issuing the rules.

"They are based upon hundreds of hours of internal research and deliberation, consultation with multiple industry experts and input from the over 3,000 individuals who attended our forums statewide," said Sharon Foster, chairwoman of the state Liquor Control Board.

Foster -- who began a speech at a recent conference by saying, "My friends now call me the queen of weed" ? said the board is trying to create a tightly regulated system that ensures both large and small operations a place in the emerging market.

Last fall voters made Washington and Colorado the first states to legalize the sale of taxed marijuana to adults over 21 at state-licensed stores.

In Colorado, devising rules for the pot industry fell to the Legislature, which has passed a series of bills laying out how marijuana should be grown, packaged and taxed. Gov. John Hickenlooper is expected to sign the bills May 28.

In Washington, people are allowed to have up to an ounce of dried marijuana; 16 ounces of a pot-infused solid, such as brownies; or 72 ounces of a pot-infused liquid, such as tea. The rules issued Thursday are essentially a draft of a draft: After gathering feedback, the Liquor Control Board will issue draft rules next month, then accept more public comment.

Marijuana sales in Washington should begin in early 2014 ? unless the Justice Department has something to say about it. Pot remains illegal federally, and the DOJ could sue to try to block the licensing schemes in Washington and Colorado from taking effect.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said Thursday the board "is on the right track."

"I'm impressed with the depth and thoughtfulness of their approach and look forward to moving forward," he said.

When asked if he thought this would satisfy concerns held by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Inslee said "I certainly hope so."

"I don't think you can design a system with much more integrity, as far as tracking the product from the producer to the consumer," he said. "This plan has a robust system of controls and checks in a variety of ways."

Some crucial questions remain ? most notably, how much legal weed will Washington produce? Rand Corp., a subcontractor working for Washington's official pot consultant, is researching pot consumption in the state, and production levels will be based on that data.

Under the 46 pages of rules circulated Thursday, there would be advertising restrictions, including a ban on ads intended to appeal to those under 21.

Washington would use a criminal history point system in determining whether someone is eligible for obtaining a license to grow, sell or process pot. A felony in the past decade or two misdemeanors in the past three years would disqualify an applicant ? but applicants could get a free pass on up to two pot-possession misdemeanors, and any single state or federal conviction for selling, growing or possessing marijuana could be waived on a case-by-case basis.

The board also said it will conduct criminal and financial background checks on "financiers" of pot businesses ? anyone who invests more than $10,000.

The "seed-to-store" system for tracking marijuana, similar to Colorado's system for tracking medical marijuana, is designed to help prevent any pot from being diverted to the black market. It would require growers, processors and retailers to notify the board of any marijuana shipments, and to keep records such as when plants are harvested and destroyed.

Alison Holcomb, the drug policy director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, led the campaign to legalize marijuana under state law. She said she was pleased to see the board balancing public safety and public health with the creation of a workable legal market for marijuana.

But Holcomb also said she was concerned about the board's interpretation of "marijuana-infused product" ? an interpretation that would preclude hash or hash oil ? highly potent forms of pot ? from being sold at stores. The board determined that Washington's voter-approved initiative only allows the sale of marijuana or marijuana-infused products, and that hash is more properly considered an "extract."

If that's true, people in Washington could still be arrested for possessing hash ? which, Holcomb suggested, was not the intent of the measure.

"If you've got hash oil that is 98 percent THC and 2 percent some emulsifying liquid that keeps it in liquid form, I would argue that's marijuana-infused product," Holcomb said.

___

Johnson can be reached at https://twitter.com/GeneAPseattle . AP writers Rachel La Corte in Olympia and Kristen Wyatt in Denver contributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wash-state-releases-draft-rules-legal-pot-205517071.html

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Porsche shows 918 Spyder in production form

Porsche shows 918 Spyder hybrid in final production form

Porsche isn't about to let the LaFerrari steal the hybrid spotlight: it just unveiled the finished design of the 918 Spyder, which is expected to ship as a 2015 model. The look won't shock anyone keeping up with their spy videos, although Porsche's formal unveiling helps firm up the specifications that customers will get if they've dutifully shelled out $845,000. The performance is even more intimidating than it was in 2011, we know that much: there's 887HP of combined V8 and plug-in electric power, a 0-62MPH time of 2.8 seconds and up to 18 miles of gas-free driving. About the only disappointment (price notwithstanding) is the lack of options beyond a weight reduction package. We doubt many Spyder buyers will complain when they can even outrace a 911 GT3.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/16/porsche-shows-918-spyder-in-production-form/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Roadside bomb kills 19 in west Baghdad: police, medics

MADRID, May 16 (Reuters) - Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos put in an assured performance in front of the cameras after coach Jose Mourinho failed to appear in Thursday's news conference ahead of the King's Cup final. Better known for his tough tackles, powerful heading ability and nerves of steel when taking penalties, the 27-year-old Spain international appeared in the conference room to represent the club and deftly handled a string of awkward questions. "If I am here it is for a reason. I can also answer questions just like the boss," Ramos said. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/roadside-bomb-kills-19-west-baghdad-police-medics-184649695.html

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Wednesday, May 8, 2013

'Dr. Phil' producer sues Gawker over Te'o segment

By Tim Kenneally

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Manti Te'o's girlfriend might have turned out to be fictional - but she's helped to spark a very real lawsuit.

Peteski Productions, one of the producers on syndicated talk show "Dr. Phil," has filed a suit against Gawker Media over an episode of the series that featured an interview with Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, who claimed to have perpetrated the girlfriend hoax against Te'o.

In the suit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for Eastern District of Texas on Tuesday, Peteski claims that Gawker-owned sports blog Deadspin published the February 1 episode of "Dr. Phil" - on which Tuiasosopo demonstrated "the voice" of fake girlfriend Lennay Kekua, which he used to dupe Te'o - before the episode aired to most of its audience.

According to the lawsuit, Deadspin's early posting of the episode - the second of a two-part interview with Tuiasosopo - had a negative effect on the episode's ratings, because it spoiled the cliffhanger of whether he would demonstrate the Kekua voice.

"In a premeditated plan to steal Peteski's copyrighted material, Deadspin posted the video of the second show to the Deadspin blog not later than 9:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, hours before the Dr. Phil Show aired to over 98 percent of its viewers," the complaint reads. "Although the second show was expected to exceed the ratings number of the first show, in fact, the ratings declined substantially because the result of the 'CLIFFHANGER' was no longer in doubt. It had been misappropriated by Deadspin."

The lawsuit, which characterizes Deadspin and Gawker as "serial copyright infringers," claims that Deadspin infringed the copyright on a "CBS This Morning" story involving Te'o as well.

Te'o, formerly a linebacker on the Notre Dame football team and a Heisman Trophy finalist, captured national attention with a heartstring-tugging story about how his "girlfriend" had died on the same day as his grandmother, and how he vowed not to miss any games as a promise to Kekua. He again gathered headlines when it was revealed that Kekua didn't exist, and Tuiasosopo subsequently admitted to perpetrating the hoax by luring Te'o into a bogus online relationship on "Dr. Phil."

Peteski is seeking unspecified damages in the suit. Deadspin editor-in-chief Tommy Craggs has not yet responded to TheWrap's request for comment.

(Pamela Chelin contributed to this report)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dr-phil-producer-sues-gawker-media-over-manti-235025344.html

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Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Lauryn Hill gets 3 months for failing to pay taxes

FILE - This April 15, 2011 file photo shows singer Lauryn Hill performing during the 12th Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Hill faces sentencing in New Jersey on tax evasion charges. Hill pleaded guilty last June to not paying federal taxes on $1.8 million earned from 2005-2007. She faces a maximum one-year jail term on each of the three counts when she's sentenced Monday, April 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Spencer Weiner, file)

FILE - This April 15, 2011 file photo shows singer Lauryn Hill performing during the 12th Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Hill faces sentencing in New Jersey on tax evasion charges. Hill pleaded guilty last June to not paying federal taxes on $1.8 million earned from 2005-2007. She faces a maximum one-year jail term on each of the three counts when she's sentenced Monday, April 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Spencer Weiner, file)

FILE - This April 22, 2013 file photo shows singer Lauryn Hill walking from federal court in Newark, N.J. Hill is facing sentencing Monday, May 6, on federal tax charges. Hill pleaded guilty last year to not paying federal taxes on $1.8 million earned from 2005 to 2007. A judge two weeks ago said Hill had paid only about $50,000 of more than $500,000 she owes. Hill said she has signed a recording contract with Sony that will help her pay her taxes. Citing the legal deadline, she made a song available on iTunes over the weekend. She faces up to a year in prison on each of three counts. Her attorney is seeking probation for her. (AP Photo/Mel Evans, file)

(AP) ? Grammy-winning singer Lauryn Hill stood in federal court Monday and compared her experience in the music business to the slavery her ancestors endured before a judge sentenced her to three months in prison for failing to pay about $1 million in taxes over the past decade.

"I am a child of former slaves who had a system imposed on them," Hill said before U.S. Magistrate Madeline Cox Arleo. "I had an economic system imposed on me."

Hill, who started singing with the Fugees as a teenager in the 1990s before releasing her multiplatinum 1998 album "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill," pleaded guilty last year to failing to pay taxes on more than $1.8 million earned from 2005 to 2007. Monday's sentencing also took into account unpaid state and federal taxes in 2008 and 2009 that brought the total earnings to about $2.3 million.

Despite having paid more than $900,000 in the past several days, Hill still owes interest and penalties, the U.S. attorney's office said.

In a forceful but controlled statement to the judge punctuated by occasional raps with her first on the podium, Hill described how she failed to pay taxes during a period when she'd dropped out of the music business to protect herself and her children, who now number six.

She said the treatment she received while she was in the entertainment business led to her decision to leave it.

"There were veiled threats, there was blacklisting," she said, without giving specifics. "I was told, 'That's how it goes, it comes with the territory.' I came to be perceived as a cash cow and not a person. When people capitalize on a persona, they forget there is a person in there."

In addition to serving three months in prison, Hill must pay a $60,000 fine. After she is released from prison, she will be under parole supervision for a year, the first three months of which will be spent under home confinement.

The 37-year-old South Orange resident had faced a maximum sentence of one year each on three counts of failing to file taxes. Her attorney had sought probation, arguing that Hill's charitable works, her family circumstances and the fact she paid back the taxes she owed should merit consideration.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra Moser acknowledged Hill's creative talent and work on behalf of impoverished children but called Hill's explanation for her actions "a parade of excuses centering around her feeling put upon" that don't exempt her from her responsibilities.

"She wasn't interested in all those years in paying what she owed," Moser told the judge.

At the time of her arrest last year, Hill wrote a criticism rejecting pop culture's "climate of hostility, false entitlement, manipulation, racial prejudice, sexism and ageism."

"Over-commercialization and its resulting restrictions and limitations can be very damaging and distorting to the inherent nature of the individual," Hill wrote. "I did not deliberately abandon my fans, nor did I deliberately abandon any responsibilities, but I did however put my safety, health and freedom and the freedom, safety and health of my family first over all other material concerns! I also embraced my right to resist a system intentionally opposing my right to whole and integral survival."

Hill is to report to prison by July 8. It's not clear where she'll serve her sentence. She didn't comment after the sentencing.

She said in a recent post online that she has signed a recording contract with Sony.

"She is looking forward to putting her case behind her and getting back to her music and creating again," attorney Nathan Hochman said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-05-07-Lauryn%20Hill-Taxes/id-1d2151addd4f45efb4b6d771fd3577fd

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Anderson Silva fined $50K for skipping media

UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva is $50,000 lighter today, as he was fined that amount for skipping out on a day of media in Los Angeles. Silva is scheduled to fight Chris Weidman at UFC 162. Ignoring promotion of that fight didn't sit well with UFC president Dana White.

"He doesn't like talking to the media, but it's part of his contractual obligation," White said to USA Today. "Everybody wants more money, more money, more money, but nobody wants to sell the fight or go out and talk to the media. Talking to the media is part of your job, whether you like it or not."

The UFC's newly instituted code of conduct opens the door for the promotion to fine fighters who engage in conduct that "puts at risk the promotion of a UFC event," including "failure to deliver, engage in or otherwise execute any and all promotional responsibilities."

Silva is hardly the first athlete to lose a whole lot of money for missing out on media obligations. In the NBA, LeBron James was fined $25,000 in 2009 for skipping a postgame press conference after his team was knocked out of the playoffs. When he was with the Washington Wizards, Gilbert Arenas was fined the same amount for not making himself available to media. Osi Umeniyora didn't go to a mandatory Super Bowl media session before his New York Giants won it in 2012, and had to pay out $20,000.

The biggest difference is that UFC athletes aren't required to make themselves available to the media nearly as often as NFL and NBA athletes are. For each of his fights, Silva will usually have to do a press conference when the fight is announced, a media conference call, one or two media events during fight week, and a postfight press conference if his health allows. For three fights a year, Silva is required to face the media 10-15 times a year.

Compare that to an NBA player like James. Between post-game interviews, post-practice interviews, and off-season interviews to help sell the Miami Heat season tickets, James has to meet with media at least 100 times a year.

Plus, UFC fighters have a financial stake in making sure their names are as popular as possible. Popularity means sponsors will pay more. It also means more fans will pay for a pay-per-view, affecting how much he will get off of pay-per-view sales.

When you combine a possible fine with other financial hits a fighter can take, it just makes more sense for fighters to put up with media. I promise. We're not that bad.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/anderson-silva-fined-50k-skipping-media-130454344.html

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Helen Mirren gives noisy drummers a royal rebuke

LONDON (AP) ? Silence for the queen, please.

A troupe of street drummers got a shock when Helen Mirren, dressed as Queen Elizabeth II, emerged from a London theater to berate them for disrupting her show.

Mirren is starring in "The Audience," a drama about the weekly meetings between the queen and Britain's prime ministers over her 60-year reign.

Mirren told the Daily Telegraph newspaper that she used less-than-royal language in the rant during the intermission of Saturday's performance.

"I'm afraid there were a few 'thespian' words used," Mirren was quoted as saying Monday. "They got a very stern royal ticking off but I have to say they were very sweet and they stopped immediately.

"I felt rotten, but on the other hand they were destroying our performance so something had to be done."

The drummers were marching through London's West End to promote As One in the Park, a gay music festival being held later this month.

"Not much shocks you on the gay scene," parade organizer Mark McKenzie told the Telegraph. "But seeing Helen Mirren dressed as the queen cussing and swearing and making you stop your parade ? that's a new one."

Festival spokesman Mark Williams said organizers "are terribly upset if we caused her any distress. If she'd like to let her hair down and attend the festival she'd be more than welcome."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/helen-mirren-gives-noisy-drummers-royal-rebuke-084338088.html

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Scientists build a living patch for damaged hearts

May 6, 2013 ? Duke University biomedical engineers have grown three-dimensional human heart muscle that acts just like natural tissue. This advancement could be important in treating heart attack patients or in serving as a platform for testing new heart disease medicines.

The "heart patch" grown in the laboratory from human cells overcomes two major obstacles facing cell-based therapies -- the patch conducts electricity at about the same speed as natural heart cells and it "squeezes" appropriately. Earlier attempts to create functional heart patches have largely been unable to overcome those obstacles.

The source cells used by the Duke researchers were human embryonic stem cells. These cells are pluripotent, which means that when given the right chemical and physical signals, they can be coaxed by scientists to become any kind of cell -- in this case heart muscle cells, known as cardiomyocytes.

"The structural and functional properties of these 3-D tissue patches surpass all previous reports for engineered human heart muscle," said Nenad Bursac, associate professor of biomedical engineering at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering. "This is the closest man-made approximation of native human heart tissue to date."

The results of Bursac's research, which is supported by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, were published on-line in the journal Biomaterials.

Bursac said this approach does not involve genetic manipulation of cells.

"In past studies, human stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes were not able to both rapidly conduct electrical activity and strongly contract as well as normal cardiomyocytes," Bursac said. "Through optimization of a three-dimensional environment for cell growth, we were able to 'push' cardiomyocytes to reach unprecedented levels of electrical and mechanical maturation."

The rate of functional maturation is an important element for the patch to become practical. In a developing human embryo, it takes about nine months for a neonatal functioning heart to develop and an additional few years to reach adult levels of function; however, advancing the functional properties of these bioengineered patches took a little more than a month, Bursac said. As technology advances, he said, the time should shorten.

"Currently, it would take us about five to six weeks starting from pluripotent stem cells to grow a highly functional heart patch," Bursac said.

"When someone has a heart attack, a portion of the heart muscle dies," Bursac said. "Our goal would be to implant a patch of new and functional heart tissue at the site of the injury as rapidly after heart attack as possible. Using a patient's own cells to generate pluripotent stem cells would add further advantage in that there would likely be no immune system reaction, since the cells in the patch would be recognized by the body as self."

In addition to a possible therapy for patients with heart disease, Bursac said that engineered heart tissues could also be used to effectively screen new drugs or therapies.

"Tests or trials of new drugs can be expensive and time-consuming," Bursac said. "Instead of, or along with testing drugs on animals, the ability to test on actual, functioning human tissue may be more predictive of the drugs' effects and help determine which drugs should go on to further studies."

Some drug tests are conducted on two-dimensional sheets of heart cells, but according to Bursac, the 3-D culture model provides a superior environment for functional maturation of cells. This is expected to better mimic real-world heart muscle responses to different drugs or toxins. Engineered heart tissues made with cells from patients with a cardiac genetic disease could be used as the model to study that disease and explore potential therapies.

The current experiments were conducted on one human pluripotent stem cell line. Bursac and his colleagues have reproduced their findings on two other cell lines and are testing additional lines. They are also planning to move to larger animal models to learn how the patch would become functionally integrated with its host and how the patch establishes connections with the circulatory system.

Other members of the research team were Donghui Zhang and Ilya Shadrin from Duke, and Jason Lam, Hai-Qian Xian and Ralph Snodgrass, from VistaGen Therapeutics, San Francisco, who provided cardiomyocytes for these studies. Bursac's team and VistaGen are collaborating to develop engineered cardiac tissues for more predictive drug screening and development.

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/matter_energy/electricity/~3/wY8_b4kJi6s/130506132405.htm

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