U.S. halts Chinese IT purchases over hack attacks

The U.S. has taken its first real swipe at China following accusations that the Beijing government is behind a widespread and systemic hacking campaign targeting U.S. businesses.

Buried in a spending bill signed by President Barack Obama on Tuesday is a provision that effectively bars much of the federal government from buying information technology made by companies linked to the Chinese government.

It's unclear what impact the legislation will have, or whether it will turn out to be a symbolic gesture. The provision only affects certain non-defense government agency budgets between now and Sept. 30, when the fiscal year ends. It also allows for exceptions if an agency head determines that buying the technology is "in the national interest of the United States."

Still, the rule could upset U.S. allies whose businesses rely on Chinese manufacturers for parts and pave the way for broader, more permanent changes in how the U.S. government buys technology.

"This is a change of direction," said Stuart Baker, a former senior official at the Homeland Security Department now with the legal firm Steptoe and Johnson in Washington. "My guess is we're going to keep going in this direction for a while."

In March, the U.S. computer security firm Mandiant released details on what it said was an aggressive hacking campaign on American businesses by a Chinese military unit. Since then, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has used high-level meetings with Beijing officials to press the matter. Beijing has denied the allegations.

Congressional leaders have promised to push comprehensive legislation that would make it easier for industry to share threat data with the government. But those efforts have been bogged down amid concerns that too much of U.S. citizens' private information could end up in the hands of the federal government.

As Congress and privacy advocates debate a way ahead, lawmakers tucked "section 516" into the latest budget resolution, which enables the government to pay for day-to day operations for the rest of the fiscal year. The provision specifically prohibits the Commerce and Justice departments, NASA and the National Science Foundation from buying an information technology system that is "produced, manufactured or assembled" by any entity that is "owned, operated or subsidized" by the People's Republic of China.

The agencies can only acquire the technology if, in consulting with the FBI, they determine that there is no risk of "cyberespionage or sabotage associated with the acquisition of the system," according to the legislation.

The move might sound like a no-brainer. If U.S. industry and intelligence officials are right, and China is stealing America's corporate secrets at a breathtaking pace, why reward Beijing with lucrative U.S. contracts? Furthermore, why install technical equipment that could potentially give China a secret backdoor into federal systems?

But a blanket prohibition on technology made by the Chinese government may be easier said than done. Information systems are often a complicated assembly of parts manufactured by different companies around the globe. And investigating where each part came from, and if that part is made by a company that could have ties to the Chinese government could be difficult.

Depending on how the Obama administration interprets the law, Baker said it could cause problems for the U.S. with the World Trade Organization, whose members include U.S. allies like Germany and Britain that might rely on Chinese technology to build computers or handsets.

But in the end, Baker says it could make the U.S. government safer and wiser.

"We do have to worry about buying equipment from companies that may not have our best interests at heart," he said.

???

Follow Anne Flaherty on Twitter at https://twitter.com/AnneKFlaherty.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-swipes-china-hacking-allegations-193407762.html

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Scientists discover driving force behind prostate cancer

Mar. 27, 2013 ? Scientists at the University of York have discovered the driving force behind the development of prostate cancer.

Their research, published in Nature Communications today and funded by the charity Yorkshire Cancer Research, reveals the existence of a cancer inducing DNA re-alignment in stem cells taken from human prostate cancers.

This opens the way to the development of drugs that target the stem cells, leading to more effective therapies that work against the root cause of the disease.

Professor Norman Maitland, Director of the YCR Cancer Research Unit, and his team in the University?s Department of Biology were the first to isolate prostate cancer stem cells in 2005. While other cancer cells can be killed by current therapies, stem cells are able to evade their effects, resulting in cancer recurrence. The team has since been exploring the exact molecular properties that allow these cells to spread, survive and resist aggressive treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy.

Professor Maitland said: ?This discovery marks a fundamental shift in our understanding of how solid cancers start. It is believed that ?root? cancer cells arise from healthy stem cells going wrong ? for example certain controls can be turned off which allow the cells to keep growing and invade surrounding tissue.

?In blood cancers such as leukaemia, DNA is rearranged during an event known as chromosomal translocation, which results in a mutant protein that drives cancer progression. Although similar rearrangements have recently been discovered in solid cancers, until now, they have not been considered as stem cell functions. Our work has challenged this idea.?

Professor Maitland?s team has found these genetic accidents in prostate cancer stem cells and has shown that they result in a specific cancer-associated gene within the cells called ERG being inappropriately activated. It is believed that this activation triggers the stem cells to renew more often.

Professor Maitland continued: ?The cells become selfish by surviving outside normal controls that exist in the prostate and thrive at the expense of their neighbours, ensuring that the genetic accident becomes permanent and passed from generation to generation. This process appears to be essential for the initiation of prostate cancer.?

Yorkshire Cancer Research funded a ?2.15m five year programme at the YCR Cancer Research Unit in August 2011 to allow scientists to continue their internationally-award winning research into prostate cancer.

Kathryn Scott, Head of Research Funding at the charity, said: ?This exciting discovery is another step forward in our understanding of how prostate cancer begins. Professor Maitland has detected one of the earliest possible changes in the development of prostate cancer. The findings mean that new therapies can now be developed which specifically target the protein identified, killing the stem cells that remain after chemotherapy while leaving healthy cells untouched.?

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of York.

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Journal Reference:

1. Euan S. Polson, John L. Lewis, Hamza Celik, Vincent M. Mann, Michael J. Stower, Matthew S. Simms, Greta Rodrigues, Anne T. Collins, Norman J. Maitland. Monoallelic expression of TMPRSS2/ERG in prostate cancer stem cells. Nature Communications, 2013; 4: 1623 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2627

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/genes/~3/Y_bibmJEgrk/130327132441.htm

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How low (or what %) do you set auto-decline on OBO? - Blowout ...

I think it really depends on the card and the seller's interest in the card

If its an artifically scarce insert of a semi-star that the "right buyer" or super collector will pay 30, 50% , 100% more than the average casual collector will, its an art to what to initially list it for . Many sellers may set an auto decline of 50% of the BIN/BO asking price. Also, if it's a card that is only $10-20, seller may decide that $10 is not worth the hassle of selling.

Many top RCs or autographed inserts of top superstars or 'safe' rising stars have a pretty close selling range and there'e no reason to accept an offer on a $100 card at $80 if either
a) there's a 98% chance that it will sell between $95-100 if the seller will wait a few more days.
b) if the seller believes that there's a more than 50% chance that the card will go up say 20%+ in value over the next year

As you have found out, most cards fall in the middle and I suspect that if it's a nice rookie card that might grade well and/or appreciate in value more than 20-40% (such as top Chrome color), seller will be more specific in his ask price.

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Last edited by edhou1; Today at 11:19 AM.

Source: http://www.blowoutcards.com/forums/baseball/478769-how-low-what-do-you-set-auto-decline-obo.html

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Senate Democrats on track to pass budget

FILE - In this March 18, 2013 file photo, House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Senate pressed ahead Wednesday on a huge, bipartisan spending bill aimed at keeping the government running through September and ruling out the chance of a government shutdown later this month. The developments in the Senate come as the House resumed debate on the budget for next year and beyond. Republicans are pushing a plan that promises sharp cuts to federal health care programs and domestic agency operating budgets as the price for balancing the budget in a decade. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - In this March 18, 2013 file photo, House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Senate pressed ahead Wednesday on a huge, bipartisan spending bill aimed at keeping the government running through September and ruling out the chance of a government shutdown later this month. The developments in the Senate come as the House resumed debate on the budget for next year and beyond. Republicans are pushing a plan that promises sharp cuts to federal health care programs and domestic agency operating budgets as the price for balancing the budget in a decade. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Democrats controlling the Senate moved on Friday toward approving their first budget in four years, promising another, almost $1 trillion round of tax increases on top of more than $600 billion in higher taxes on the wealthy enacted in January.

The nonbinding but politically symbolic measure would protect safety-net programs for the poor and popular domestic priorities like education, health research and federal law enforcement agencies from cuts sought by House Republicans, who adopted a far more austere plan on Thursday.

The Democratic plan caters to party stalwarts on the liberal edge of the spectrum just as the House GOP measure was crafted to appeal to more recent tea party arrivals. The $1 trillion in new revenue would accrue over the coming decade and would be coupled with a net $875 billion in spending cuts, generated by modest cuts to federal health care programs, domestic agencies and the Pentagon and reduced government borrowing costs.

The GOP budget proposal, similar to previous plans offered by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., demonstrates that it's possible, at least mathematically, to balance the budget within a decade without raising taxes. But to do so, Ryan, his party's vice presidential nominee last year, assumes deep cuts that would force millions from programs for the poor like food stamps and Medicaid and cut almost 20 percent from domestic agency budget levels assumed less than two years ago.

Ryan's plan passed the House on a mostly party-line, 221-207 vote, with 10 Republicans joining Democrats against it.

Senators braced for dozens of votes during a marathon session expected on Friday, with pessimists in the Capitol predicting a final vote on the Democratic plan in the pre-dawn hours of Saturday. In early voting Friday morning, Democrats rejected yet another attempt to repeal Obama's landmark health care law by a strictly party-line vote.

That tall stack of votes follows up a quintet of politically freighted Senate tallies Thursday night, including a move by Democrats to force a vote on the controversial Ryan budget, which was rejected by a 59-40 vote, with five Republicans joining every Democrat in opposition.

Republicans countered with a move by Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., putting Democrats on record in opposition to balancing the budget by the end of the decade. It failed on a near party-line vote.

Indeed, Thursday's votes demonstrated the raw politics driving the budget debate, which is more a display of party positions and priorities than an attempt to move the combatants closer together.

The dueling House and Senate budget plans are anchored on opposite ends of the ideological spectrum in Washington, appealing to core partisans in warring GOP and Democratic tribes long gridlocked over how to attack budget deficits. The GOP plan caters to tea party forces, while Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray, D-Wash., crafted a measure designed to nail down support from liberal senators like Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who vehemently oppose cuts to safety net programs.

What the Ryan and Murray budgets both fail to do is reach out to the political middle, where any possible bargain would have to be forged. President Barack Obama has been reaching out to lawmakers in hopes of sparking a budget compromise that has proved so elusive.

But Murray's plan would actually increase government spending ? on top of a baseline that already assumes automatic budget increases averaging more than 5 percent a year ? after accounting for the $1.2 trillion cost of repealing the automatic cuts, known as sequestration. That means the net cuts to the deficit would amount to just a few hundred billion dollars in a federal budget estimated at $46 trillion or so over the coming decade.

Murray's position is that the automatic cuts were designed to prod Washington into action on the debt and were never intended to take effect. By that math, her budget promises $1.85 trillion in lower deficits after 10 years. She points out that Republicans on a 2011 deficit "supercommittee" used the same math when describing their proposals.

"Sequestration was not deficit reduction," Murray said. "It was there to trigger deficit reduction that would come from replacing it."

Murray's plan promises a $693 billion deficit in 2014, dropping to the $400 billion range for the middle years of the decade. While large, such deficits would hover just above 2 percent of gross domestic product, a level that many analysts see as economically sustainable.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-03-22-Budget%20Battle/id-a93b247f79664b03a1051cb0fc8a1218

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Israel apologizes to Turkey over flotilla deaths

President Barack Obama walks on the tarmac with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and Israeli President Shimon Peres, left, prior to his departure from Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, March 22, 2013, (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama walks on the tarmac with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and Israeli President Shimon Peres, left, prior to his departure from Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, March 22, 2013, (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama walks with Israeli Benjamin Netanyau, right, and Israeli President Shimon Peres, left, walk across the tarmac prior to his departure from Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, March 22, 2013, (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

JERUSALEM (AP) ? Israel agreed to restore full diplomatic relations with Turkey in a surprising turnaround Friday after apologizing for a botched naval raid that resulted in the deaths of nine Turkish activists aboard an international flotilla bound for Gaza in 2010.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the breakthrough after a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The 20-minute phone call was brokered by visiting President Barack Obama shortly before he left Israel.

The announcement was an unexpected reversal by Netanyahu, who has repeatedly rejected calls to apologize. But the two countries' joint interests, including fears that the Syrian civil war could spill over their respective borders, made the time ripe to mend relations.

"The two men agreed to restore normalization between Israel and Turkey, including the dispatch of ambassadors and the cancellation of legal steps against Israeli soldiers," a statement from Netanyahu's office said.

Netanyahu "expressed regret over the deterioration in bilateral relations and noted his commitment to working out the disagreements in order to advance peace and regional stability," it said.

The statement stressed that the bloodshed was not intentional. "In light of the Israeli investigation into the incident, which pointed out several operational errors, Prime Minister Netanyahu apologized to the Turkish people for any errors that could have led to loss of life and agreed to complete the agreement on compensation," the statement said.

Israel intercepted a ship named Mavi Marmara while stopping an international flotilla trying to breach an Israeli blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Israel considers Hamas, which has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings and other attacks on buses and cafes, a terrorist group. Israel says it imposed the blockade to prevent Gaza militants from getting weapons. Gaza militants have fired thousands of rockets and mortar rounds at Israeli border communities and towns during the past decade.

Israel has previously blamed the activists on the bloodshed of the morning of May 31, 2010, saying its naval commandos were attacked when they boarded the ship. Israel released videos showing armed activists brandishing iron rods and clubs attacking the soldiers as they slowly rappelled onto the deck from a helicopter. Soldiers were overpowered as they landed. They were surrounded by men with sticks. One soldier was tossed onto a lower deck.

The military later said the soldiers were not expecting trouble and had paintball guns as their primary weapons while handguns were only for an emergency. Two activists grabbed the handguns away from soldiers and shot two of them, the military said at the time. Both activists were then shot and killed.

The fighting left nine activists dead, most of them Turks, and dozens were wounded. On the Israeli side, a total of seven soldiers were wounded.

Israel insisted that its soldiers acted in self-defense and later showcased knives, slingshots and clubs they said were found onboard the ship. Some activists had military-style gear, including bullet-proof vests and night-vision goggles. Israel said this indicated that the activists had planned for violence.

The activists also said they acted in self-defense and insist they were attacked first.

Israeli officials said Obama helped play a role in the reconciliation, but that efforts had been going on behind the scenes for some time.

Israel and Turkey were once close allies. But in recent years, ties have deteriorated with the rise of Erdogan's Islamist party. Following the flotilla incident, Turkey withdrew its ambassador to Israel and greatly scaled back military and economic ties. But relations were never broken completely.

A statement from Erdogan's office said Netanyahu had apologized on behalf of Israel for all kinds of mistakes that resulted in the loss of life or injuries in light of an investigation led by the Israeli side that pointed at a series of operational mistakes. "Our prime minister accepted the apology in the name of the Turkish people," it said.

The statement from Turkey said an agreement also had been reached on the issue of compensation and that Israel had lifted restrictions on the movement of goods to Gaza as long as "calm" lasts.

During the telephone conversation, Erdogan told Netanyahu that he valued the strong ties of friendship between the Turkish and Jewish people, the statement said.

Erdogan "expressed that it was saddening that relations, which are of vital strategic importance for peace and the stability of the region, have been soured in recent years," the statement said.

The statement said Erdogan "renewed his support for international and regional efforts to find a lasting and comprising solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on the two-state vision."

The U.S. welcomed the development as a means to advance regional peace and security.

"I am hopeful that today's exchange between the two leaders will enable them to engage in deeper cooperation on this and a range of other challenges and opportunities," Obama said in a statement.

___

Suzan Fraser in Ankara and Matthew Lee aboard Air Force One contributed to this report

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-03-22-Israel-Turkey/id-2fa77b298d3c40da918274ff6fd1851e

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All You Want To Know Concerning Auto Repair | CulturaPopulara.ro

Have you ever wondered whether you could save some funds carrying out the auto repairs oneself? Have you wished you could choose a greater auto repair shop or be capable to better diagnose the difficulty with your vehicle? Take the time now to hold reading about some wonderful suggestions for creating the proper decisions when it comes to your auto repairs.

In addition to fundamental tire altering gear, keep a plastic tote filled with DIY auto repair supplies in the trunk of your automobile in case of emergencies. Fill it with at least a quart every of motor oil, transmission fluid, steering fluid, and brake fluid and a gallon of water. Add a can of penetrating oil spray, a roll of duct tape, twine, bungee cords and standard tools so that you can handle minor repairs on the road.

Be cautious of mechanics that attempt to use scare tactics. If your mechanic says factors like ?I wouldn?t drive this another mile,? you must be a tiny concerned. You need to not be afraid to drive your vehicle, the fear need to be that you have a mechanic that is trying to scam you.
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When looking for a reputable automotive repair facility, only take into account certified repair shops. Certifications, such as the seal for Automotive Service Excellence, are an indication that the shop has demonstrated a basic level of competence in the field of automobile repair. Although such certifications are in no way an absolute guarantee of very good service, the odds are considerably greater when the establishment is certified.

It is time to get focused on auto repair so that you know what to do when the time arrives. You want to be able to make the right decision, whether you are taking your automobile to a shop or trying to repair it your self. Bear in mind all the tips that has been given to you.

In: 10 | | Link ????? 26 vizualizari

Source: http://culturapopulara.ro/?p=37645

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Texas shootout may tie to Colo. prison chief death

DECATUR, Texas (AP) ? Investigators from three Colorado police agencies rushed to Texas to determine if a man identified as a parolee, who was critically wounded by Texas police after a harrowing 100-mph car chase, is linked to the slaying of Colorado's state prisons chief.

The black Cadillac the suspect drove, with Colorado license plates, matched the description of a car spotted outside Tom Clements' home in Monument, Colo., just before he was fatally shot while answering his front door Tuesday evening.

Evan Spencer Ebel, 28, was gravely wounded in the clash with police Thursday. Authorities said he was not expected to survive and was hooked up to equipment for organ harvesting.

Colorado investigators immediately headed to Texas to determine whether Ebel was linked to Clements' slaying and the killing Sunday of Nathan Leon, a Denver pizza delivery man. Police in Colorado would only say the connection to the Leon case is strong but would not elaborate or say if they believe Ebel killed Clements and Leon.

The Denver Post first reported Ebel's name, and that he was in a white supremacist prison gang called the 211s. A federal law enforcement official confirmed his identity and gang affiliation to The Associated Press. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the case and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

The killing of Clements, 58, shocked his quiet neighborhood in Monument, a town of rolling hills north of Colorado Springs, for its brutality: He answered the door of his home Tuesday evening and was gunned down. Authorities wouldn't say if they thought the attack was related to his job, and all Clements' recent public activities and cases were scrutinized.

The Texas car chase started when a sheriff's deputy in Montague County, James Boyd, tried to pull over the Cadillac around 11 a.m. Thursday, authorities there said. They wouldn't say exactly why he was stopped, but called it routine.

The driver opened fire on Boyd, wounding him, Wise County Sheriff David Walker said at an afternoon news conference in Decatur. He then fled south before crashing into a semi as he tried to elude his pursuers.

After the crash, he got out of the vehicle, shooting at deputies and troopers who had joined the chase. He shot at Decatur Police Chief Rex Hoskins four times as the chief tried to set up a roadblock.

"He wasn't planning on being taken alive," Hoskins said.

Boyd, the deputy who was shot, was wearing a bulletproof vest and was at a Fort Worth hospital, authorities said. Officials had said he wasn't seriously injured but later said his condition was unknown.

The car is so far the main link authorities have given between the Colorado case and the Texas shootout. El Paso County sheriff's investigators have been looking for a dark, late-model car, possibly a Lincoln or a Cadillac, that a neighbor spotted near Clements' home around the time of the shooting.

"We don't know yet exactly whether this is the guy," Gov. John Hickenlooper told reporters Thursday afternoon. "There's some indication. I hope it is."

El Paso County sheriff's officials did not return repeated messages Thursday. In a statement, Lt. Jeff Kramer said investigators will inspect evidence in Texas and would need crime lab analysis before they're able to determine whether the suspect is linked to Clements' shooting.

"These efforts take time," Kramer said.

Other links between Ebel and the Colorado killings aren't clear. Legal records show he was convicted of several crimes in Colorado dating back to 2003, including assaulting a prison guard in 2008. He apparently was paroled, but Colorado Department of Corrections spokeswoman Alison Morgan said she could not release information on prisoners because of the ongoing investigation into Clements' death.

Scott Robinson, a criminal defense attorney and media legal analyst, represented Ebel in 2003 and 2004. He said Ebel had been sentenced to a halfway house for a robbery charge in 2003 before he was accused in two additional robbery cases the following year that garnered prison sentences of three and eight years.

"I thought he was a young man who was redeemable, otherwise I wouldn't have taken the case," Robinson said, saying he didn't recall the details of the case.

Robinson said he knew Ebel before he got in trouble. He said Ebel was raised by a single father and had a younger sister who died in a car accident years ago.

Vicky Bankey said Ebel was in his teens when she lived across from him in suburban Denver until his father moved a couple of years ago. She remembers seeing Ebel once jump off the roof of his house. "He was a handful. I'd see him do some pretty crazy things," she said.

"He had a hair-trigger temper as a kid. But his dad was so nice," Bankey said.

Ebel's father didn't return an after-hours phone message left at his business.

Clements came to Colorado in 2011 after working three decades in the Missouri prison system. Missouri Department of Corrections spokeswoman Mandi Steele said Thursday the department was ready to help in the probe if asked.

"Tom regularly commented that corrections is inherently a dangerous business, and that's all that I'll say," Morgan, who worked closely with Clements, said earlier.

Officials in positions like Clements' get a deluge of threats, according to people who monitor their safety. But it can be hard sorting out which ones could lead to violence. A U.S. Department of Justice study found that federal prosecutors and judges received 5,250 threats between 2003 and 2008, but there were only three attacks during that time period.

The last public official killed in Colorado in the past 10 years was Sean May, a prosecutor in suburban Denver. An assailant killed May as he arrived home from work. Investigators examined May's court cases, but the case remains unsolved.

___

Banda reported from Denver. Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Nicholas Riccardi, Colleen Slevin and Ivan Moreno in Denver, and Jordan Shapiro in Jefferson City, Mo.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/texas-shootout-may-tie-colo-prison-chief-death-225947667.html

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Engadget HD Podcast 340 - 03.12.2013

We've got a pair of new boxes to discuss this week, with the TiVo Mini and Roku 3 both making their debut. While we discuss what they add to the mix (and what they're still missing), other news includes the end of Netflix's public API program and UK pricing for LG's first OLED HDTV. Meanwhile Google Fiber has picked up its first 3D channels and we discuss the importance of Who Framed Roger Rabbit in the history of film as a whole. Finally, we'll remind you to check in Saturday afternoon at 2:15PM for our "How Technology is Changing the Way We Watch TV" panel at Engadget Expand featuring guests from Sling, Boxee and TiVo.

Hosts: Ben Drawbaugh (@bjdraw), Richard Lawler (@rjcc)

Producer: James Trew (@itstrew)

Hear the podcast

Filed under: Podcasts, HD

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/12/engadget-hd-podcast-340-03-12-2013/

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Senator's 'aggressive' airport pat-down (CNN)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

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FAA approves Boeing plan to fix 787's batteries

FILE - In this Jan. 7, 2013, file photo, a Japan Airlines Boeing 787 jet aircraft is surrounded by emergency vehicles while parked at a terminal E gate at Logan International Airport in Boston as a fire chief looks into the cargo hold. Federal regulators have approved a Boeing plan to redesign the fire-prone lithium-ion batteries, although extensive testing will be needed before the planes can fly passengers again. The Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday, March 12, 2013, the plan includes a redesign of the internal battery components to minimize the possibility of short-circuiting, better insulation of the battery's eight cells and the addition of a new containment and venting system.(AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

FILE - In this Jan. 7, 2013, file photo, a Japan Airlines Boeing 787 jet aircraft is surrounded by emergency vehicles while parked at a terminal E gate at Logan International Airport in Boston as a fire chief looks into the cargo hold. Federal regulators have approved a Boeing plan to redesign the fire-prone lithium-ion batteries, although extensive testing will be needed before the planes can fly passengers again. The Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday, March 12, 2013, the plan includes a redesign of the internal battery components to minimize the possibility of short-circuiting, better insulation of the battery's eight cells and the addition of a new containment and venting system.(AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A Boeing plan to redesign the 787 Dreamliner's fire-plagued lithium-ion batteries won approval Tuesday from the Federal Aviation Administration, moving the cutting-edge planes a step closer to flying passengers again.

The plan includes changes to the internal battery components to minimize the possibility of short-circuiting, which can lead to overheating and cause a fire. Among the changes are better insulation of the battery's eight cells and the addition of a new containment and venting system, the FAA said in a statement.

The FAA statement didn't provide an estimate for when the grounded planes might return to service. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., who was briefed by the agency, said that if all goes well, the FAA could give final approval by mid- to late April for the 787 to resume flight.

Boeing would still have to retrofit the 50 planes already delivered to eight airlines in seven countries, Larsen said in an interview. That could mean the plane wouldn't return to the skies until late April or early May, he said.

First, Boeing's redesigned batteries have to pass a series of 20 separate tests lab, Larsen said, then flight tests would follow.

"If there's any one test that isn't passed, it's back to the drawing board for that particular part of the tests," he said.

So far, test flights of two 787s have been approved ? one with a complete prototype of the new battery, the other with only a new, more robust containment box for the battery, Boeing spokesman Marc Birtel said.

The plan is an outline for a recertification of the plane's batteries, the FAA said. The 787 has two identical lithium-ion batteries, one of which is located toward the front of the plane and powers cockpit electrical systems, the other toward the rear and used to start an auxiliary power unit while the plane is on the ground, among other functions.

Every item that is part of an airplane, down to its nuts and bolts, must be certified as safe before FAA approves that type of plane as safe for flight.

The 787 fleet worldwide has been grounded by the FAA and civil aviation authorities in other countries since Jan. 16, following a battery fire on a Dreamliner parked in Boston and a smoking battery that led to the emergency landing of another 787 in Japan.

"This comprehensive series of tests will show us whether the proposed battery improvements will work as designed," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. "We won't allow the plane to return to service unless we're satisfied that the new design ensures the safety of the aircraft and its passengers."

The airliner's troubles have raised concerns that the FAA has ceded too much responsibility for evaluating the safety of new aircraft to manufacturers. To save manpower, the FAA designates employees at aircraft makers and their subcontractors to conduct the safety testing of new planes. Boeing's battery testing concluded that short-circuiting wouldn't lead to a fire and that the chance of a smoke event was one in every 10 million flight hours.

Instead, there were two battery failures when the entire fleet had clocked less than 52,000 flight hours.

The FAA's approval of Boeing's plan "is a critical and welcome milestone toward getting the fleet flying again and continuing to deliver on the promise of the 787," Jim McNerney, the aircraft maker's CEO, said in a statement.

The 787 is Boeing's newest and most technologically advanced plane. Its grounding on Jan. 16, an enormous black eye for Boeing, marked the first time since 1979 that FAA had ordered every plane of a particular type to stay out of the air for safety reasons.

UBS analyst David Strauss estimated that the 787 will cost Boeing $6 billion this year. Besides the battery problems, the plane already costs more to build than it brings in from customers.

United Airlines is the only U.S. carrier with Dreamliners in its fleet. It has six, plus another 44 on order. American and Delta have also ordered 787s. Boeing has orders for more than 800 of the planes from airlines around the globe.

Steven Udvar-Hazy, CEO of Air Lease Corp., which has ordered 12 of the planes, said it could still take months for the plane to fly again and that a very long-term grounding could damage the 787 Dreamliner brand.

"It's important to get the airplane back in the air," Udvar-Hazy said while attending an airplane finance conference in Orlando, Fla. "Every plane has mechanical issues, but this was one that was considered serious by the authorities and I think Boeing has done everything it can to get that under control."

Udvar-Hazy has had weekly updates from Boeing's CEO of commercial airplanes, Ray Conner, and daily conversations with others at the airplane manufacturer. He has then relayed that information to his airline customers around the world.

"Boeing has been very transparent and I think they've made a very concerted effort to address this issue ... to come up with a fix that hopefully is a permanent fix, not just sort of a Band-Aid solution," he said.

Boeing plans to begin test flights within days, Birtel said. The new battery design will be tested on a plane that has been identified elsewhere as being built for LOT Polish Airlines. Boeing also plans to fly a 787 that is used exclusively for testing. That plane has the stronger battery box, and will also be used for unrelated engine tests.

Before the fire on Jan. 7, Boeing shares had closed at $77.69. They closed as low as $73.65 three weeks later, after the planes had been grounded. But the shares have been recovering as anticipation grew for a battery fix. Boeing's gains have outpaced the strong rise in the Dow Jones industrial average, of which Boeing Co. is a member.

On Tuesday, Boeing shares rose $1.22 to close at $84.16, and rose another 28 cents to $84.44 in aftermarket trading.

___

Freed reported from Minneapolis. AP Airline Writer Scott Mayorwitz in Orlando contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-03-12-Boeing%20787-FAA/id-b66f4a1107b44dd09dd47e0dc428c3f9

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NYC soda ban hits restaurants Tuesday

NYC soda ban on large, sugary drinks goes into effect Tuesday, and restaurants are making the necessary adjustments. Some are ordering smaller glasses, while others are having customers sweeten their own coffee to comply with the NYC soda ban.

By Jennifer Peltz,?Associated Press / March 11, 2013

A Coca-Cola poster about the new NYC soda ban is displayed at a pizza shop last week at New York's Penn Station. The nation?s first limit on the size of sugar-laden beverages is set to take effect Tuesday in the city. Customers will no longer get 24-ounce tumblers of soda, since the new rule bars selling non-diet cola in cups, bottles or pitchers bigger than 16 ounces.

Bebeto Matthews/AP/File

Enlarge

?At barbecue joints, coffee counters and bottle-service nightclubs, a coming NYC soda ban ? a clampdown on big, sugary soft drinks is beginning to take shape on tables and menus in a city that thrives on eating and going out.

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Some restaurants are ordering smaller glasses. Dunkin' Donuts shops are telling customers they'll have to sweeten and flavor their own coffee. Coca-Cola has printed posters explaining the new rules, and a bowling lounge is squeezing carrot and beet juice as a potential substitute for pitchers of?soda?at family parties ? all in preparation for the nation's first limit on the size of sugar-laden beverages, set to take effect Tuesday.

Some businesses are holding off, hoping a court challenge nixes or at least delays the restriction. But many are getting ready for tasks including reprinting menus and changing movie theaters' supersized soda-and-popcorn deals.

At Brother Jimmy's BBQ, customers still will be able to order margaritas by the pitcher, cocktails in jumbo Mason jars and heaping plates of ribs. But they'll no longer get 24-ounce (720-milliliter) tumblers of?soda, since the new rule bars selling non-diet cola in cups, bottles or pitchers bigger than 16 ounces (480 milliliters).

"Everything we do is big, so serving it in quaint little 16-ounce?soda?cups is going to look kind of odd," owner Josh Lebowitz said. Nonetheless, he's ordered 1,000 of them for the North Carolina-themed restaurant's five Manhattan locations, rather than take on a fight that carries the threat of $200 fines.

"As long as they keep allowing us to serve beer in glasses larger than 16 ounces, we'll be OK," Lebowitz reasoned.

The restriction doesn't apply to alcoholic beverages, among other exemptions for various reasons. But it does cover such beverages as energy drinks and sweetened fruit smoothies.

City officials say it's a pioneering, practical step to staunch an obesity rate that has risen from 18 to 24 percent in a decade among adult New Yorkers. Health officials say sugar-filled drinks bear much of the blame because they carry hundreds of calories ? a 32-ounce (960-milliliter)?soda?has more than a typical fast-food cheeseburger ? without making people feel full.

The city "has the ability to do this and the obligation to try to help," the plan's chief cheerleader, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, said last month.

Critics say the regulation won't make a meaningful difference in diets but will unfairly hurt some businesses while sparing others. A customer who can't get a 20-ounce (600-milliliter) Coke at a sandwich shop could still buy a Big Gulp at a 7-Eleven, for instance, since many convenience stores and supermarkets are beyond the city's regulatory reach.

New Yorkers are divided on the restriction. A Quinnipiac University poll released last week found 51 percent opposed it, while 46 percent approved.

"I don't know if the state should be our surrogate parent," Peter Sarfaty, 71, said as he drank a diet cola with lunch in Manhattan this week. "You get the information out there, but to tell people what they can or can't do? As if it's going to stop them."

Business organizations ranging from the massive American Beverage Association to a local Korean-American grocers' group have asked a judge to stop the size limit from taking effect until he decides on their bid to block it altogether. He hasn't ruled on either request.

Many businesses aren't taking chances in the meantime.

Dominic Fazio, the manager of a Penn Station pizzeria, has stopped ordering 32-ounce (960-milliliter) and 24-ounce (720-milliliter) cups, though he calls the regulation "ridiculous."

"But I guess the law is the law, right?" said Fazio, who put up an explanatory sign Coca-Cola Co. provided. The Atlanta-based?sodagiant said in a statement that helping small businesses prepare was "the responsible thing to do."

Managers at rapper Jay-Z's 40-40 Club were busy this week making sure they wouldn't get in hot water over carafes of?soda?and other sweet mixers that accompany bottle service, spokeswoman Lauren Menache said. The carafes are slightly bigger than 16 ounces; city lawyers have indicated such containers should pass muster.

Dunkin' Donuts shops, meanwhile, have set out colorful fliers explaining the complex rules surrounding coffee.

Lots of lattes are exempt because they're more than half milk. And it's OK for customers to load their large and extra-large coffees with all the sugar or sweet flavoring they want. But the chain will no longer do it for them, for fear of running over the limit of roughly three calories per ounce (30 milliliters).

Starbucks, meanwhile, believes most of its products won't be affected and isn't making any immediate changes, spokeswoman Linda Mills said.

Even some businesses that specialize in big?sodas?aren't making moves ? yet ? in light of the lawsuit and the city's pledge not to impose fines until June. Until then, violations would just spur a notice.

At Dallas BBQ, "Texas-size" 20-ounce?sodas?are staying for now, said Eric Levine, one of the directors.

Switching to 16 ounces would mean ordering roughly 10,000 new glasses for the New York-based company's 10 locations, including a Times Square spot that seats 1,000 people. And customers wouldn't feel they were getting the same deal: double thesoda?for little more than the price of the 10-ounce (300-milliliter) size, Levine said.

The rule's effects may be particularly pronounced at movie theaters, where belly-buster?sodas?are as familiar as coming attractions. Big beverages also account for about 10 percent of profits, according to court papers.

"People just like that comfort, while they're sitting there ? to make sure they have enough to drink for the whole movie," Russell Levinson, the general manager of Movieworld, mused this week.

The family-owned theater sells?soda?in 20-ounce bottles and 44-, 32-, 22-, and 12-ounce cups. The theater is looking at getting 16-ounce cups, considering two-drink and refill specials and retooling all its drink-and-popcorn combination offers, Levinson said.

Some businesses, though, are adapting to the new rule with gusto.

At Frames Bowling Lounge, a Manhattan spot that mixes bowling with an upscale bar, the families who pack the lanes on weekend days will no longer be offered pitchers of?soda?as part of a party package, executive general manager Ayman Kamel said.

Instead, they can get individual, eight-ounce (240-milliliter) cups of?soda?? or pitchers of the low-sugar, house-made juices that he and staffers spent an afternoon tasting this week. They experimented with such options as carrot, beet and mint-and-citrus.

"It's going to cost a little bit more money, but nothing is more valuable than having freshly squeezed juice available for our clients," he said. "We're taking advantage of the situation to promote the good side ? healthy options."

___

Associated Press writer Karen Matthews and AP Food Industry Writer Candice Choi contributed to this report.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/UqaIKJ9DF1o/NYC-soda-ban-hits-restaurants-Tuesday

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Wrecking Crew (3DS eShop / NES) Review - Nintendo Life

I'm gonna wreck it!

It?s common knowledge for most gamers that Mario has been in countless games over the years, in which he has taken on a bevy of different roles and occupations. From race-car driver to boxing referee, Mario has done it all. Curiously enough, just about the only job Mario hasn?t performed in a video game is that of a plumber, but that?s completely beside the point. Wrecking Crew, the latest 3DS Virtual Console release, has Mario donning his hardhat for a bit of construction, or, more accurately, destruction.

Originally released as a launch title for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Wrecking Crew is an early entry is what is now known as the puzzle platform genre. Each stage takes place in a vertically scrolling arena filled with breakable walls and ladders. Your goal is to destroy all of the breakable objects with your giant hammer while avoiding enemy characters and frantic fireballs. What sets this one apart as a puzzle game rather than a straight platformer is your inability to jump. Because of this, you?ll have to pay close attention to the stage and figure out the safest path for Mario to travel, without blocking yourself off from reaching a particular platform by accidentally destroying a ladder that you may need to climb.

While the concept may be simple, this is definitely not a puzzle game for the faint of heart. Early levels tend to be fun and light-hearted, but it quickly takes a nasty turn with a difficulty curve that isn?t to be scoffed at. Luckily, you can choose which stage you would like to start at from the menu screen, so losing all of your lives on a particularly difficult level does not necessarily mean starting the whole game over. There are 100 different stages to complete, with bonus stages staggered between, so being able to choose your starting level is almost necessary for anyone hoping to experience them all.

With simple gameplay comes a simple control scheme. The 3DS D-Pad or Circle Pad is used to move Mario around, while pressing either A or B will cause him to swing a crushing blow with his hammer. As mentioned before, you don?t even have the ability to jump, so the controls remain simple, and they?re responsive. There is also a two-player mode in which a second player takes on the role of Luigi, but the gameplay involves trading the 3DS off to player 2 once the first player?s turn is over rather than sharing a screen, much like Super Mario Bros. Also like the aforementioned 3DS VC game featuring the pair of plumbers is the necessity to hold L and R while pressing Y to switch to the second player?s controls. This requirement to swap controllers is a strange inclusion, but necessary for anyone craving multiplayer action.

One of the more fascinating things about this game is that it features an additional play mode titled ?Design,? which is essentially an archaic level editor. While level editors are becoming more common in modern games, with an emphasis on community sharing, there aren?t too many games from the NES era that allowed you to customize your own stages. Design mode allows you to create a short campaign of four customized stages that you can then save and play whenever you?d like. Creating stages is easy as it only involves moving around the stage area in a grid pattern and pressing either A or B to cycle through and place objects, but it gets the job done. While this definitely isn?t the main selling point, it is a good way to spend some extra time on the title once you?ve exhausted the campaign.

As with many early NES games, Wrecking Crew doesn't have the most impressive artwork to look at, but the pixel sprites and environments get the job done. The soundtrack is satisfyingly 8-bit, and many players will be surprised at how familiar the music may be, with certain elements making appearances in the Super Smash Bros. series. Like the graphics, the soundtrack is not the most remarkable in gaming history, but iconic nonetheless.

Wrecking Crew is a solid puzzle platforming game that manages to be just as entertaining on the 3DS today as it was on the NES nearly 30 years ago. While the multiplayer and design modes may be simplistic and slightly flawed, they still add a bit of variety and replayability to an otherwise straightforward game. With its iconic music and lasting appeal in terms of gameplay, fans of the genre won?t want to miss out on this piece of gaming history.

Source: http://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/eshop/wrecking_crew_nes

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Steatite Limited | Industrial and Rugged Mobile Computing Platforms ...

Steatite are a market leader in the supply of Industrial and Rugged Mobile computing platforms and integrated Battery solutions for customers who demand high performance and reliability in mission critical and environmentally challenging environments.

As a Windows Embedded gold partner with ISO 9001: 2008 certification and working within the SC21 framework, Steatite has a strong engineering and design capability with an in depth knowledge of CE, UK DEF STAN, American MIL-STD, NATO STANAG and UK, European and American TEMPEST requirements. This allows Steatite to offer the additional services of prototype design and development (COTS modification), custom enclosure design, Post Design Services (PDS), pre-compliancy testing and through life support (15+ year support contacts).

Rugged Mobile Military Computers

Steatite specialises in Military Rugged Mobile and handheld computing solutions. This capability covers a basic hardware platform solution to a fully integrated installation, supported by custom software design and build. Steatite supplies a range of Military-Off-The Shelf (MOTS) and Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) products into defence and security markets across Europe. These include rugged laptop computers, rugged tablets, rugged workstations and rugged pda?s.

Over the last 25 years Steatite has developed a clear understanding of demanding operational environments, user requirements and procurement cycles.? This knowledge has enabled Steatite to successfully design, manufacture and deliver hardware solutions into applications like Testing Equipment, Man Machine Interfacing, Data Collection and Communications terminals.

Typical Features

• MIL-STD-810G
• MIL-STD-461F
• IP65 ? IP67
• In-Vehicle Computers
• Specialist Encryption
• Custom Modification
• Mobile Electronic Forms
• Custom OS Design ? Microsoft Gold Partner

Military Comms

Steatite is a primary European distributor of ViaSat and Persistent Systems military communications products and specialise in designing custom solutions to meet your specific requirements. Products available range from "true" mobile ad-hoc networking systems (MANET), Mesh Radios, UHF SATCOM terminals and amplifiers, VUHF and L Band Communications System (VULC) as well as other innovative satellite and digital communication products that enable fast, secure, and efficient communications to any location.

Typical Features

• Scalability
• Cost Effective Solution
• High Performance and Speed
• Rapid Network Deployment / Flexible Deployment
• Fault Tolerant

Rugged Military Switches and Routers??

• Typical Features
• Rugged Switches with IP ratings
• Wide Operating Temperatures
• Rack, Wall & DIN Rail mounting options
• Redundant Ring Technology

Rack Mount Computers

Steatite design and build military rack mount computers to suit specific programme requirements. Using high quality components throughout and employing strict build controls, we can guarantee the quality of every system we ship. Steatite offers a full design service including custom chassis, PCBs and cable assemblies, helping us to meet our customer?s exact requirements.

Typical Features

• Dual and Single Xeon rack mounts with Military approvals (0035, 49-41 & 461F)
• Micro technology
• 1, 2, 3 & 4U Systems ? Custom and COTS (0035, 49-41 & 461F)
• Support for all windows operating systems
• Custom chassis design
• Wide operating temperatures
• Special configurations, modular platforms, turn-key systems and custom design capabilities
• Custom OS Design ? Microsoft Gold Partner

Portable Military Power Solutions

Steatite is an approved supplier to the UK MoD and other Government authorities, providing a wide range of battery packs and cells for use in demanding operations.

Steatite is familiar with working to the latest Defence Standards and highest quality controls. We are experienced at designing battery packs and systems for Land, Air and Sea operations. Military operations are conducted with critical equipment and in some of the world?s harshest environments. Using world class cell manufacturers, our customized battery and power solutions help ensure success, mission after mission.

Typical Features

• Custom Battery Pack Design & Manufacture
• Batteries for Mobile Asset Tracking
• Military Communications Battery Packs for the UK MoD
• Portable power packs used for surveillance and communications
• Electrochem lithium primary cells used in data communications

Rugged Military Printers

Utilising Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) print engines and mounting them into custom-made protective enclosures, rugged printing solutions from Steatite have seen action on Navy vessels, been used in aircraft ground support, under canvas and outdoors.

Steatite has the benefit of having their own test laboratories for Heat, Cold, Humidity, Shock and Vibration.? The company also has its own in-house design team using ?solid works? 3D design software. This enables the company to design, prototype and test at our Oxford facility, to meet standards such as MIL-STD-810, MIL-STD-461 and a given IP rating.

A bespoke range of rugged printers and mobile printing solutions are available.

Typical Features

• Custom enclosure design
• Free standing or hard mounted
• Internally isolated from shock and vibration
• Custom mounting solutions
• UK designed and manufactured
• Fully protected (810) and shielded (461) whilst in operation
• Low cost of ownership

Rugged Military Displays

Steatite offer a range of rugged displays that are specifically engineered to withstand harsh environments experienced in military, marine, industrial and transportation applications.

When working in extreme shock, vibration and specifically salt fog environments, rugged displays provide a reliable solution for any military, nautical or offshore application, these displays can be highly customised to suit any application or operational environment by specification, colour, finish and format.

Several levels of EMC protection are available as options, providing reliable data protection in the field of operations. Further upgradeable options are available for secure desk, console or rack mounted environments.

Steatite also offers KVM Switches, giving the ability to switch Keyboard, Video and Mouse between multiple computers.

Typical Features

• Available in a range of sizes, from 3.5" to 57"
• Panel Mount, Rack Mount or Vehicle Mount options
• 19? Rack mount monitors with keyboards
• MIL-STD-810 / MIL-STD-461 Approved
• Custom Rugged KVM design

Source: http://www.militarysystems-tech.com/suppliers/industrial-and-rugged-mobile-computing-platforms-and-integrated-battery-solutions/steatite

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Cemetery puts brakes on NASCAR-themed headstone

Jason Carr's headstone (Andrew Laker/AP Photo/The Republic)

A Catholic church has put the brakes on a headstone designed with the NASCAR logo.

Sharon Carr, to honor her late husband, Jason Carr, had a a headstone built in the shape of a couch and decorated with images of a dog, a deer, and NASCAR and Indianapolis Colts logos to represent his interests. But according to the Daily Mail, St. Joseph Catholic Church in Indianapolis has refused to let the headstone in, saying it doesn?t meet the requirements of the century-old cemetery.

In turn, Carr is now suing St. Joseph, arguing that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis Properties Inc., which owns the cemetery, never produced any guidelines for headstones until a year after she wanted to add the $9,600 monument. Her husband died in a car accident in 2009.

The Rev. Jonathan Meyer, priest at St. Joseph, disputes this, telling the Daily Mail, ?They told her not to move forward with the purchasing of the monument, but she went ahead anyway.?

He added, ?We have consistently communicated the same message prior to the purchase and after the purchase. We did not think a granite couch was an appropriate monument in our historic cemetery.?

The church, Meyer added, doesn't want a monument that is "secular in nature. ... Faithful Christians know rules and regulations are set up so there can be good for everyone."

The church's decision has apparently caused debate among churchgoers. Sharon Carr's father-in-law, Henry Carr, told the Daily Mail, "I'm told the controversy is splitting the church apart, tearing it in half. But I guess that's what has to be done."

Carr's headstone includes a NASCAR logo (Andrew Laker/AP Photo/The Republic)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/woman-sues-church-bans-nascar-decorated-headstone-husband-161837062.html

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AP source: Obama poised to pick Perez for Labor

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Two people familiar with the process say President Barack Obama is close to naming Thomas Perez, a civil rights official in the Justice Department, as his choice to head the Department of Labor.

His nomination could come as early as Monday, the people familiar with the process said Saturday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the official announcement has not yet been made.

If confirmed, Perez would replace Hilda Solis, who resigned in January.

White House spokesman Matt Lehrich declined to comment.

Perez was the first Latino elected to the Montgomery County Council in Maryland, where he served from 2002 to 2006.

Perez, 51, has led the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division since 2009 and previously served as Maryland's labor secretary. He is expected to have solid support from organized labor and the Hispanic community, which is eager to have Hispanic representation in Obama's Cabinet.

Perez would come to the Labor Department as Obama pushes a major immigration overhaul, which could include changes in how employers hire guest workers. Labor Department officials have also taken a prominent role in supporting Obama's effort to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 an hour.

At the Justice Department, Perez played a leading role in the decision to challenge voter ID laws in Texas and South Carolina that could restrict minority voting rights. A federal court later struck down the Texas law and delayed implementation of the law in South Carolina until after the 2012 election.

Perez was easily confirmed by the Senate for his Justice Department post, but since then, some GOP lawmakers have criticized his role in persuading the city of St. Paul, Minn., to withdraw a lending discrimination lawsuit from the Supreme Court. In exchange, the Justice Department declined to join two whistle-blower lawsuits against St. Paul that could have returned millions in damages to the federal government.

The St. Paul case had challenged the use of statistics to prove race discrimination under the 1968 Fair Housing Act, and Justice Department officials were concerned the court could strike down the practice.

A letter last year from four Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Rep. Darrell Issa of California, criticized Perez for a "quid pro quo arrangement" that potentially cost taxpayers more than $180 million.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-10-US-Labor-Secretary/id-2a5e525d4a454332ade5d9801faee9b0

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Teaching a Love of Reading: Education Reforms Go Nowhere

The Washington Post has an article titled "The Education Reforms We've Been Arguing About? ?Mostly They Go Nowhere?here. ?It makes the case that so-called game-changing reforms don't raise scores much at all. ?Well, of course. Kids still aren?t reading much.? It?s as simple as that.? I taught high school English for 37 years, and saw over and over again that the best students, in all subjects, were the avid readers.? Avid readers read better, write better, concentrate better, and have wider frames of reference that help them excel in all subjects.? Kids who read book after book after book learn how to process information more efficiently.? They?ve kept multiple plots straight, understood complex characters, become sensitive to theme and tone.? They are continually pulled into the viewpoints of various narrators, and so become aware of different layers of meaning. The current practice, of assigning class books for everyone to read?and then dragging the class through with comprehension questions, vocabulary lessons, and assigned papers--does nothing to develop a habit and love of reading.? Au contraire.? It drives kids away from books.

Source: http://teachloveofreading.blogspot.com/2013/03/education-reforms-go-nowhere.html

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Slow Cooker Recipe Blog

by mediocremum on 10/03/2013

I finally decided to take the plunge and start a new blog just for my slow cooker recipes. I was very conscious that I may be confusing my readers.

Those who subscribed just for recipes may not be interested in my parenting antics and those who were coming to laugh at my parenting ability (or lack of) and didn?t have a slow cooker, may not be interested in all the recipes.

Don?t worry if you have any of my old recipes bookmarked as they will stay put, but any new recipes will be posted on Slow Cooker Queen. So, feel free to pop over and subscribe to the new blog. I?d love to hear any of you feedback both positive and negative.

?

As for the name, Slow Cooker Queen, I genuinely don?t believe I?m royalty but on a few occasions I?ve been called this on Twitter so it seemed fitting and I?m always tickled when people do say it.

Thanks again for all your support and I do hope to see a few of you over there.

Cheers, ?Chrissie

About Chrissie Saunders

A slightly older mum of one, who drinks far too much red wine and has an unhealthy obsession with her slow cooker. During the day she's an ICT Trainer, Social Media/Online Marketing consultant and does a bit of public speaking.

I'd love to hear your thoughts? Please leave a comment, share using the nifty buttons or subscribe to have future posts delivered to your inbox.

Tagged as: blog, cooker, recipe, slow

Source: http://mediocremum.com/2013/03/introducing-my-new-slow-cooker-blog/

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Woods stretches his lead on Blue Monster

DORAL, Fla. (AP) ? With one last birdie putt that never looked like it was going anywhere but in the hole, Tiger Woods walked off the Blue Monster in a familiar position.

He had a four-shot lead over Graeme McDowell in the Cadillac Championship, the 17th time on the PGA Tour that he has led by at least four shots going into the final round. Woods has never lost when leading by that much on tour.

Saturday at Doral was a reminder, however, how quickly it all can change.

Woods knocked in a short birdie putt on the 15th hole to put six shots between him and McDowell.

Two holes later, after McDowell chipped in for eagle and Woods found himself staring some 20 feet in the air at his golf ball lodged in a palm tree to the right of the 17th fairway, the lead was cut in half.

Woods saved his best for the final hole.

He drilled a tee shot into the fairway, hit 9-iron to 15 feet and made his 24th birdie of the tournament for a 5-under 67, putting him on the cusp of another World Golf Championship and a big step toward returning to No. 1 in the world.

"After I made birdie on 15, I was looking pretty good with a six-shot lead, and with a drivable par 4," Woods said. "Two holes later, it's now cut down to three. I piped a tee shot down there, hit a little 9-iron there and was able to pour that putt in there."

The ball never came down from the tree, which was about the only thing that didn't fall his way.

The 24 birdies and 74 putts are personal records for Woods. More importantly, it put him in great position to win his 17th WGC title, and his first since 2009.

"He controlled every part of his game very well, very few loose shots," said McDowell, who did well to two-putt for par from 85 feet on the last hole for a 69 that at least kept him in final group for Sunday.

"You know, 17 was a really bad break for him. But in true Tiger fashion that we've become very accustomed to over the years, to come back and birdie the last, he was fantastic today," he said.

"So maximum respect there. He's going to be a tough man to catch tomorrow. I get to watch it and get to see him, and hopefully get a chance to get close to him tomorrow."

Woods has a 39-2 record when he has the outright lead going into the final round on the PGA Tour. The only time he has ever lost a lead of more than two shots in any tournament around the world was in 2010 against an 18-man field at the Chevron World Challenge, when McDowell beat him in a playoff.

McDowell certainly was up for the fight on a breezy, sunny afternoon near Miami. Despite a shaky stretch of holes that appeared to end his chances, he drove just over the green on the par-4 16th and chipped in for eagle, and hit that putt across the 18th green that amazed even Woods.

"He hit a hell of a putt," Woods said.

Woods was at 18-under 198.

Phil Mickelson, who badly wanted to get into the final group, overcame a three-putt from 4 feet for double bogey on the third hole by making four birdies the rest of the way. He had a 69, along with Steve Stricker, and both were five shots behind.

"I threw away five or six shots on the greens and around the greens, and I feel like I don't have to play too much different," Mickelson said. "I just can't afford to give away those shots. I'm going to have to play a round like I played at Pebble last year, something in the low 60s."

A year ago, Mickelson shot 64 in the final round to win at Pebble Beach while playing in the same group with Woods.

Rory McIlroy, the world's No. 1 player, had a rough start until rallying on the back nine with five birdies in a six-hole stretch that carried him to a 71. He was 15 shots behind.

Woods used to own these WGC events, winning 16 of the first 30 that he played. He has gone 0-for-10 since Firestone in August 2009, though the odds were stacked in his favor at the Cadillac Championship. He already is a three-time winner at Doral, and he has been putting well ever since Stricker gave him a tip on the eve of the tournament.

"You know what kind of closer he is," Stricker said. "When he gets the lead in a golf tournament, it's tough. He doesn't let too many guys in usually when he gets the lead. We've all got our work cut out for us. We're going to have to go out and try to make birdies on a difficult golf course, which is hard to do."

It's even tougher with Woods playing like this. He has matched the low round of the tournament all three days.

For nine holes, McDowell threw his best golf at Woods, and Woods counterpunched in a magnificent display on the breezy Blue Monster.

McDowell opened with a 20-foot eagle, Woods with back-to-back birdies. McDowell hit his approach to 10 feet on the third hole, and Woods followed with a shot 6 inches inside as both made birdie.

McDowell finally tied him for the lead with a 20-foot putt on the sixth hole, and he had a 10-foot birdie attempt on the seventh for the outright lead. The stroke was tentative, and the ball dipped on the low side.

And that was as close as McDowell could get.

Woods had a one-shot lead as they walked toward the green on the par-5 10th hole, with McDowell on the green in two and poised to catch him again.

It all turned so suddenly.

Woods hit another superb wedge to 6 feet for birdie, while McDowell's eagle attempt slid 4 feet by the cup, and he missed it coming back for par. McDowell was furious, slapping his leg in disgust. McDowell and Woods each had 6 feet for par on the 11th ? Woods made, McDowell missed, his first bogey of the week.

That gave Woods a three-shot lead, and McDowell fell even further behind when he muffed a pitch behind the 14th green and took double bogey, and Woods hit a towering tee shot on the par-3 15th to 6 feet for birdie.

"The three-putt on 10 kind of rattled me a little bit, because Tiger didn't look like he was going to do anything wrong," McDowell said. "I really felt like I needed to be making putts like that."

McDowell at least stayed in the game, but after his putt across the length of the 18th green stopped inside a foot from the hole, he could only watch as Woods poured in another putt for yet another birdie, making the task on Sunday even more difficult.

The leaderboard still had the best golfers. Woods, however, separated himself from them.

Honda Classic winner Michael Thompson and Sergio Garcia each had a 67 and were at 11-under 205, along with Charl Schwartzel (69) and Keegan Bradley (69). Masters champion Bubba Watson could only manage a 71 and was eight shots behind.

Woods will be going for his second win of the year, an ominous sign with the Masters a month away. Woods has not won twice before the Masters in five years.

"All respect to the way he handled himself today and the way he played," McDowell said. "He's going to be a tough guy to catch. But according to the forecast tomorrow, we are going to have strong winds. I think that's an advantage to the rest of the field. ... With tough conditions tomorrow, hopefully we'll have a chance."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-03-09-Cadillac%20Championship/id-3368a56f1c5640859032e2c35c22e37c

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