Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/167366304?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Marine: Fears of end to gay ban prove unfounded
In this photo taken July 29, 2011, Marine Corp Commandant Gen. James Amos speaks with reporters the at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md. Since the lifting two months ago of a longstanding U.S. ban on gays serving openly in the military, Amos said U.S. Marines across the globe have adapted smoothly and embraced the change. ?I'm very pleased with how it has gone,? he said in an Associated Press interview during a week-long trip that included four days in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
In this photo taken July 29, 2011, Marine Corp Commandant Gen. James Amos speaks with reporters the at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md. Since the lifting two months ago of a longstanding U.S. ban on gays serving openly in the military, Amos said U.S. Marines across the globe have adapted smoothly and embraced the change. ?I'm very pleased with how it has gone,? he said in an Associated Press interview during a week-long trip that included four days in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
FILE - In this Dec. 3, 2010, file photo Marine Crops Commandant Gen. James Amos testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington about the military policy of Don't Ask Don't Tell during a Senate Armed Service Committee. Amos, who had argued against repealing the ban during wartime said, ?I'm very pleased with how it has gone.? He told The Associated Press that U.S. Marines across the globe have adapted smoothly and embraced the change since the lifting two months ago of the longstanding ban on gays serving openly in the military. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) ? Marine Gen. James F. Amos, the face of opposition in the military to lifting the ban on gays serving openly, now acknowledges his concern has proven unfounded that repeal would undermine the war effort. In fact, he says, Marines have embraced the change.
In an Associated Press interview, Amos called the repeal in September "a non-event."
That is in contrast to his cautionary words to Congress in December 2010, shortly before President Barack Obama signed the repeal legislation. The ban was not lifted until this year to allow the Pentagon to prepare troops for the change.
"Successfully implementing repeal and assimilating openly homosexual Marines into the tightly woven fabric of our combat units has strong potential for disruption at the small unit level as it will no doubt divert leadership attention away from an almost singular focus on preparing units for combat," Amos testified. Still, he said at the time that if the law were changed, it would be faithfully followed by Marines.
He now sees no sign of disruption in the ranks ? even on the front lines.
"I'm very pleased with how it has gone," Amos said during a weeklong trip that included four days in Afghanistan, where he heard nary a word of worry about gays. During give-and-take sessions with Marines serving on in Helmand province, he was asked about a range of issues, including the future of the Corps ? but not one about gays.
The Associated Press accompanied Amos on the trip.
In the AP interview, he also offered an anecdote from the home front to make his point that the change has been taken in stride.
He said that at the annual ball in Washington this month celebrating the birth of the Marine Corps, a female Marine approached Amos' wife, Bonnie, and introduced herself and her lesbian partner.
"Bonnie just looked at them and said, 'Happy birthday ball. This is great. Nice to meet you,'" Amos said. "That is happening throughout the Marine Corps."
Looking back, Amos said he had no regrets about publicly opposing repeal during wartime. He said he had felt obliged, as commandant of the Corps, to set aside his personal opinions and represent the views of the 56 percent of combat Marines who told a Defense Department survey last year that repeal could make them less effective and cohesive in combat.
"I think I did exactly what I should have done," Amos said. "I've never looked back on it and said it (his concern) was misplaced."
Not only did Amos hear no talk about the repeal's impact during his visit to Afghanistan, the subject also did not arise when he fielded questions from Marines on board the USS Bataan warship in the Gulf of Aden on Saturday.
In Bahrain on Sunday, one Marine broached the topic gently. He asked Amos whether he planned to change the Marines' policy of leaving it to the discretion of local commanders to decide how to handle complaints about "homosexual remarks or actions." Amos said no.
He said he is aware of only one reported incident in Afghanistan thus far, and that turned out to be a false alarm. He said a blogger had written of a gay Marine being harassed by fellow Marines for his sexual orientation. In an ensuing investigation, the gay Marine denied he had been harassed.
A Defense Department spokeswoman, Cynthia O. Smith, said implementation of the repeal of the gay ban is proceeding smoothly across the military.
"We attribute this success to our comprehensive pre-repeal training program, combined with the continued close monitoring and enforcement of standards by our military leaders at all levels," Smith said.
In the months leading up to Congress' repeal, there were indications that the change might not be embraced so readily.
During a visit to a Marine combat outpost in southern Afghanistan in June, then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates was confronted by an enlisted Marine who clearly objected to the repeal. He told Gates that the Marine Corps had "a set of standards and values that is better than that of the civilian sector," and that repeal of the gay ban had "changed those values."
He asked Gates whether Marines who object to serving with gays would be allowed to opt out of their enlistment. Gates said no and predicted that if pre-repeal training was done right, "nothing will change" with regard to rules of behavior and discipline.
That Marine was not alone in making known his doubts about the wisdom of allowing gays to serve openly in uniform. In a survey of military members last year, 45 percent of Marines viewed repeal negatively in terms of how it could affect combat readiness, effectiveness and cohesion. Among those Marines who serve in combat roles, 56 percent expressed that view.
The issue split the military. Gates and other senior military leaders supported lifting the restrictions, pointing to a Pentagon study showing that most people in uniform don't object to serving with gays.
But Amos and his Army counterpart bucked their bosses to recommend against lifting the ban during wartime.
"I don't want to lose any Marines to the distraction," Amos said then.
___
Robert Burns can be reached on Twitter at http://twitter.com/robertburnsAP
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Focus on Business Bay Dubai | Real Estate and Construction ...
Business Bay, Dubai is a waterfront development in the heart of the city, designed to create a mixed-use central business district alogside sections of the extended Dubai Creek. Phil Blizzard takes a look at the progress of this development and talks to Porush Jhunjhunwala, Head of Commercial Poperty, Better Homes and H.H. Sheikh Ahmed Mohammed Saqer Al Nahyan, Chairman, R Squared Offices.
Phil Blizzard, Head of Broadcast
Wednesday, November 30 - 2011 at 12:06 UAE local time (GMT+4)
Phil Blizzard, Head of BroadcastWednesday, November 30 - 2011 at 12:06 UAE local time (GMT+4)
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Multimedia content in this section is produced by AMEinfo.com and may not be replicated in full or in part without the express written consent from AME Info FZ LLC / Emap Limited.
Source: http://www.ameinfo.com/282512.html
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Monday, November 28, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Video: CROC's Black Friday Strategy
John McCarvel, CROC's CEO, sheds insight on the consumer and holiday shopping season.
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Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/45437895/
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Thursday, November 24, 2011
Nothingness: The turbulent life of empty space
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Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Fleet Insurance For Men and women
Anybody in the United kingdom who likes maintaining a range of vehicles must contemplate fleet insurance as an alternative to get their automobiles insured. A minimal of four automobiles would need to have to be involved in a fleet insurance policy, and then, until there are an exceptionally large amount of automobiles generally used for business functions all your cars can be integrated in a single insurance policies coverage.
Normally opted for by companies, in circumstance you have 4 autos or far more, you too can avail of the positive aspects fleet insurance has to provide. Irrespective of the number of automobiles you have, they all do need to be insured.
For starters, the fleet insurance coverage handles the insurance for all the autos that you personal. This outcomes in less paperwork, and ends up saving you the time and the headache that is concerned with preserving and subsequent up on diverse insurance policies documents. In situation you need to file for a claim for any of your cars, you would have only 1 policy to refer to.
There is also a common notion that when claims are submitted for fleet insurances, they are handled in a a lot more productive way as compared with promises submitted underneath other vehicular insurances.
Yet another explanation fleet insurance must be considered is that it gives the client the option of offering cover to people in addition to the primary insurance holder, as there could be various folks making use of diverse vehicles in the home.
There are a big range of vehicle insurance providers in the Uk who offer fleet insurance. The more the hard work you can set into discovering an insurance coverage company, the better are your chances of getting a excellent deal. This is because diverse insurance coverage companies do supply various pricing, and some have periodic reductions on their fleet insurance insurance policies. More recent insurance policies companies are acknowledged to offer unique special discounts in buy to improve their customer foundation.
You would need to provide insurance companies with information like the amount of automobiles you have, their calendar year of manufacture, their helps make and the purpose they serve in order to obtain a quote. They would also get into consideration the present issue of the automobiles. Generally, acquiring distinct types of automobiles insured would range in value from acquiring the exact same sort of vehicles insured.
Insurance coverage companies that offer in fleet insurance would also get into account the drivers expertise and heritage before arriving at a last quote. Even with all these elements, finding fleet insurance turns out to be less costly than acquiring all your cars insured individually.
The internet is a great location to start when looking for insurance policies companies in the Uk who offer in fleet insurance. There are extensive web sites in area that offer you to give you free of charge quotes for your fleet insurance requirements. It is greatest to ask for as a lot of different quotes as doable, as this gives you a very clear photo of what is being provided by diverse auto insurance policies companies.
With the significant quantity of choices accessible for fleet insurance, and the financial savings that arrive with it, anyone who has four autos or a lot more, should give this solution a critical imagined.
Mini Fleet Insurance
Source: http://aristem.com/11/fleet-insurance-for-men-and-women/
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Despite Poor Reviews, Kindle Fire On Track To Be #2 Tablet
According to new consumer survey data from ChangeWave Research, Amazon's Kindle Fire is poised to become the first real competitor to the Apple iPad, with one in five planned tablet buyers (22%) indicating they will purchase the Kindle Fire. This is the first time since the original iPad's launch that the number two device ever achieved a double-digit percentage in terms of consumer interest.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/YUaYwMB_E9s/
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49 penguins freed after rescue from NZ oil spill (AP)
WELLINGTON, New Zealand ? Forty-nine penguins rescued from an oil spill off New Zealand have been freed after being cleaned and nursed back to health by wildlife officials.
The birds released Tuesday are among 343 little blue penguins that have been cleaned of oil since a cargo ship ran aground on a reef near Tauranga on Oct. 5 and spilled some 400 tons of fuel oil.
More than 2,000 sea birds died in the spill.
The penguins were nursed to health at a wildlife facility manned by specialists from New Zealand, Australia and the United States. They were fitted with microchips so they can be monitored after their release.
Wildlife Response Manager Kerri Morgan says it's important wild penguins do not remain in captivity for too long because they can develop injuries and illnesses.
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Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Iran daily closed over Ahmadinejad aide interview
TEHRAN?? Iranian authorities shut down a reformist newspaper on Sunday after it published a scathing attack by an aide to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the president's rival conservatives, the latest sign of a split in the highest echelons of the Islamic Republic.
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The aide, media adviser Ali Akbar Javanfekr, was also sentenced to a year in jail and banned from journalism over a separate publication which was deemed to have offended public decency, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
Both incidents spotlighted a feud between Ahmadinejad's camp and others in the conservative establishment that runs the world's fifth biggest oil exporter and faces increasing international pressure over its nuclear activities.
Tehran's prosecutor's office ordered the daily Etemad to close for two months for "disseminating lies and insults to officials in the establishment," according to Fars.
In the interview in Saturday's edition, Javanfekr hit back at critics who accuse Ahmadinejad of being in the thrall of a "deviant" circle seeking to undermine the Islamic clergy, saying they had "poisoned" politics and implying many were corrupt.
"What have we 'deviated' from? Yes, we have deviated from those friends, from their beliefs, behavior and interpretations," Javanfekr, who also heads the official Iranian news agency IRNA, told Saturday's Etemad.
"If they meant the deviant current is a deviation from their beliefs, we confirm it."
The counter-attack, published verbatim over three pages, signaled the determination of Ahmadinejad's camp to fight back as Iran gears up for parliamentary elections in March.
Javanfekr's lawyer told Reuters he had not been notified of the jail sentence and three-year ban from journalism imposed by the prosecutor's office following a guilty verdict pronounced by the Press Supervisory Board earlier this month.
Abdollah Nakhaie said he would appeal the sentence which, according to the ISNA news agency, he has 20 days to do.
Javanfekr was convicted over an article published earlier this year on the historical origins of women's Islamic dress.
The article, in a supplement to the Iran daily in August, contained an interview suggesting that chadors - the traditional black dress of devout Iranian women - had their origins in 19th-century Paris, rather than being prescribed by Islam.
The suggestion outraged traditional hardliners who had already accused Ahmadinejad's faction of putting secular nationalist values ahead of its Islamic identity.
Stability at stake
With the opposition "Green" movement crushed after protesting Ahmadinejad's 2009 re-election, the battle for power in Iran is now between rival conservatives -- the traditional religious hardliners and the more populist Ahmadinejad camp.
That rift became more apparent after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei forced Ahmadinejad to reinstate the intelligence minister he sacked in April -- a move seen by the president's critics as a political maneuver.
Since then parliament and the judiciary have moved against the president, with lawmakers threatening impeachment and prosecutors arresting some people on the fringes of his faction.
Rebutting accusations that Ahmadinejad's faction sought to undermine Iran's clerical ruling system, Javanfekr said that the president had been endorsed by Khamenei.
"The great leader of the revolution called Ahmadinejad's government the government of work and effort. If they believe the government is not serving people it is better that they say they have a problem with the supreme leader," he said.
Analysts say that Khamenei prefers to keep Ahmadinejad in place rather that allow his rivals to unseat him and jeopardize stability at a time of economic difficulties and the risk of popular unrest spilling over from the nearby Arab world.
But Javanfekr said Ahmadinejad was far from a spent force and retained public support that meant he did not need the support of conservatives who backed him in 2009 as the best bet against a strong showing by reformists.
"It was not us who were ungrateful, they were the ones that did not acknowledge Ahmadinejad and his government...Ahmadinejad has popularity and does not owe them anything," he said.
Javanfekr criticized the treatment of Mohammad Sharif Malekzadeh, an ally of Ahmadinejad's top aide, who was arrested in June, saying he had been held in solitary confinement and suffered mental and physical consequences.
Etemad was among the few reformist papers still publishing after the June 2009 election. It has suffered temporary bans since for alleged violation of media law -- something critics say is a catch-all offence used to suppress dissent.
Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45375610/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/
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Monday, November 21, 2011
Human, artificial intelligence join forces to pinpoint fossil locations
ScienceDaily (Nov. 21, 2011) ? In 1991, a team led by Washington University in St. Louis paleoanthropologist Glenn Conroy, PhD, discovered the fossils of the first -- and still the only -- known pre-human ape ever found south of the equator in Africa after only 30 minutes of searching a limestone cave in Namibia.
Traditionally, fossil-hunters often could only make educated guesses as to where fossils lie. The rest lay with chance -- finding the proverbial needle in a haystack.
"I don't want to say it's total luck," says Conroy, professor of physical anthropology in Arts & Sciences, "but it's a combination of hard work, meticulous planning and, well, a good dose of luck."
But thanks to a software model used by Conroy and researchers at Western Michigan University, fossil-hunters' reliance on luck when finding fossils may be diminishing.
Using artificial neural networks (ANNs) -- computer networks that imitate the workings of the human brain -- Conroy and colleagues Robert Anemone, PhD, and Charles Emerson, PhD, developed a computer model that can pinpoint productive fossil sites in the Great Divide Basin, a 4,000-square-mile stretch of rocky desert in Wyoming.
The basin has proved to be a productive area for fossil hunters, yielding 50 million- to 70 million-year-old early mammal fossils.
The software builds on satellite imagery and maps fossil-hunters have used for years to locate the best fossil sites. It just takes the process a step further, Conroy says.
With information gathered from maps and satellite imagery -- such as elevation, slope, terrain and many other landscape features -- the ANN was "trained" to use details of existing fossiliferous areas to accurately predict the locations of other fossil sites elsewhere in the Great Divide Basin.
Because few sites are 100 percent identical, researchers had to "teach" the ANNs to recognize sites that shared key features in common. With the help of guidance from the scientists, the ANNs use pattern recognition to identify sites that share similar features.
"The beauty and power of neural networks lie in the fact that they are capable of learning," says Conroy, also a professor of anatomy and neurobiology at the School of Medicine. "You just need to give them a rule to deal with things they don't know."
Conroy and colleagues tested the software at the Great Divide Basin last summer. The ANNs correctly identified 79 percent of the area's known fossil sites, and 99 percent of the sites it tagged contained fossils.
Next up, the scientists tested the software on the nearby Bison Basin, also in Wyoming. Despite having been taught to recognize fossil sites at a neighboring location (the Great Divide Basin), the ANNs correctly identified four fossil sites in the Bison Basin.
"That gave us encouragement that a blind test based on a neural network for a different basin still gave us pretty good predictive results," Conroy says.
Next, Conroy is planning to continue to use the software to search for early hominid fossil sites in South Africa.
The scientists hope this new application of existing technology will help increase the efficiency of paleontological fieldwork.
"In the old days, we'd all bring different maps, and start walking," Conroy says. "Now, we're talking about ways to improve one's chances."
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Journal Reference:
- Robert Anemone, Charles Emerson, Glenn Conroy. Finding fossils in new ways: An artificial neural network approach to predicting the location of productive fossil localities. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews, 2011; 20 (5): 169 DOI: 10.1002/evan.20324
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Natalie Wood detectives face conflicting accounts
FILE - In this April 9, 1979 file photo, actress Natalie Wood is shown at the 51st Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles. Los Angeles sheriff's homicide detectives are taking another look at Wood's 1981 drowning death based on new information, officials announced Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011. (AP Photo, file)
FILE - In this April 9, 1979 file photo, actress Natalie Wood is shown at the 51st Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles. Los Angeles sheriff's homicide detectives are taking another look at Wood's 1981 drowning death based on new information, officials announced Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011. (AP Photo, file)
FILE - The 55-foot yacht "Splendour," belonging to actor Robert Wagner and his wife, actress Natalie Wood, sits in the waters off Catalina Island in Santa Catalina, Calif., near the site where Harbor Patrol personnel and lifeguards discovered the body of Wood, an apparent drowning victim, Nov. 29, 1981. Los Angeles sheriff's homicide detectives are taking another look at Wood's 1981 drowning death based on new information, officials announced Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011. (AP Photo/Harrington, File)
FILE - A Dec. 1, 1981 file photo shows actress Natalie Wood. Dennis Davern, captain of the yacht Splendour, which Wood was aboard on the night she died, said on national TV Friday, Nov. 18, 2011 that he lied to investigators about Natalie Wood's mysterious death 30 years ago and blames the actress' husband at the time, Robert Wagner, for her drowning in the ocean off Southern California. A Los Angeles County sheriff's detective will speak to reporters Friday about the decision to take another look at the Oscar-nominated actress' nighttime demise. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - In a Nov. 28, 1981 file photo, "Prince Valiant," the inflatable dinghy used by 34-year-old actress Natalie Wood on the yacht Splendour, sits pierside in Catalina Island, Calif. Yacht captain Dennis Davern said on national TV Friday, Nov. 18, 2011 that he lied to investigators about Natalie Wood's mysterious death 30 years ago and blames the actress' husband at the time, Robert Wagner, for her drowning in the ocean off Southern California. (AP Photo/Harrington, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Natalie Wood's drowning death nearly 30 years ago came after a night of dinner, drinking and arguments but the question remains ? was it anything more than a tragic accident?
Conflicting versions of what happened on the yacht shared by Wood, her actor-husband Robert Wagner and their friend, actor Christopher Walken, have contributed to the mystery of how the actress died on Thanksgiving weekend in 1981.
Two sheriff's detectives are now diving into the mysterious events on the yacht Splendour, although whether they reach any different conclusions than their predecessors remains to be seen. They recently received new, seemingly credible information and heard from potential witnesses who weren't included in the original investigation of Wood's death, sheriff's Lt. John Corina said Friday.
But he said nothing has happened to changed the official view that Wood's death was originally an accidental drowning. Wagner, the star of "Hart and Hart" is not considered a suspect, he added.
Corina released few details about who investigators have contacted or plan to re-interview, but the inquiry will certainly lead them to speak with the three survivors of the trip ? Wagner, Walken and skipper Dennis Davern.
Wood's sister, Lana, was not on the boat, but told CNN's Piers Morgan on Friday that she has spoken with Davern many times and believes her sister did not fall off the boat.
"I don't think she fell, I don't know if she was pushed, I don't know whether there was an altercation and it happened accidentally but she shouldn't have died and that does stay with me and hurt," Lana Wood said.
"I would prefer to always believe that RJ (Wagner) would never do anything to hurt Natalie and that he loved her dearly, which he did, and I don't believe that whatever went on was deliberate. I've always cared about him. I always will care about him," she said.
The captain said on NBC's "Today" on Friday that Wagner is to blame for the Oscar-nominated actress' death in the chilly waters of Southern California in November 1981, but didn't offer many specifics. For years he has maintained that he heard the famous couple arguing on the boat before Wood went missing and Wagner refusing to immediately search the waters nearby for his wife.
Davern's account is dramatically different from what he told investigators after Wood's body was found in 1981, when no mention of an argument between the couple was made. Wood was wearing a nightgown, wool socks and red down coat when she was found floating off Santa Catalina Island.
The renewed investigation comes at a time when plenty of attention was sure to be focused on Wood, whose beauty and acting in films such as "West Side Story" and "Rebel Without a Cause" made her Hollywood royalty. Her death stunned the world and CBS' "48 Hours Mystery" has been looking into the case for a special airing on Saturday.
Sheriff's officials denied the renewed attention prompted their review, which could take months.
"We're not concerned with the anniversary date," Corina said. "It may have jarred some other people's memories."
Davern and Wagner agree on one point about the fateful night ? there was a heated argument on the yacht after the group returned from dinner on Catalina. All had been drinking, and here is where the three men's accounts begin to differ.
Davern said he heard Wagner and Wood arguing and its outcome had horrific consequences.
Was that fight "what ultimately led to her death?" Davern was asked by "Today" show host David Gregory.
"Yes," Davern replied.
"How so?"
"Like I said, that's going to be up to the investigators to decide," Davern responded after a long pause.
Wagner acknowledges a fight took place on the Splendour, but in his best-selling 2008 memoir "Pieces of My Heart," he wrote that the fighting was between him and Walken. The disagreement began over the acting profession and led to Wood retreating to her cabin, while the dispute raged on between Wagner and Walken. Later Walken went to bed, according to Wagner, who, after staying up with Davern for a while, went looking for his wife and couldn't find her on board. He then noticed that a dinghy attached to the boat ?and his wife ? was gone.
Walken, who has rarely spoken about the events that led to Wood's death, denied in a 1982 interview on "Good Morning America" that he and Wagner quarreled.
"No, that's not true," Walken said when asked if a fight was the reason Wood left the yacht. "They were very good to me, that family, and that's not true.
"We were having a Thanksgiving weekend, a good time," he said.
But Walken told sheriff's detectives that there was an argument, according to a 2000 Vanity Fair piece that included statements from a report by the investigating detective. It also included comments from Davern, who told the magazine that he heard Wagner and Wood fighting before she went missing.
The detective, Wagner and Walken and coroner's officials all have maintained that Wood's death was an accident, possibly caused by her trying to secure the dinghy to the side of the yacht.
"The people who are convinced that there was something more to it than what came out in the investigation will never be satisfied with the truth," Walken was quoted in the Vanity Fair piece as saying during an interview in the 1980s. "Because the truth is, there is nothing more to it. It was an accident."
Wagner too addressed the uncertainty about what happened in his book.
"Nobody knows," he wrote. "There are only two possibilities; either she was trying to get away from the argument, or she was trying to tie the dinghy. But the bottom line is that nobody knows exactly what happened."
Wagner said through a spokesman that his family trusts the sheriff's department to conduct a fair investigation into Wood's death.
The couple were married twice, first in 1957 before divorcing six years later. They remarried in 1972.
___
Associated Press writer Denise Petski contributed to this report.
___
Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP .
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Sunday, November 20, 2011
Top GOP Congressman Threatens Legal Action Against DHS Over ...
Fox News:
A top House Republican is threatening to enforce a subpoena for criminal immigrant information ?to the fullest extent? of the law, after claiming the Obama administration ?stonewalled? his request.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith for months has been seeking a comprehensive list of names and other information for the thousands of immigrants who are flagged, but not taken into custody or deported through a program known as Secure Communities.
Earlier this month, a subcommittee on his panel subpoenaed the Department of Homeland Security for the information, claiming it was ?not acting in good faith.? It was the first subpoena issued by the committee since it came under GOP control.
The department ended up turning over documents by a Nov. 10 deadline ? but Smith claimed all he received was a list of numbers.
?Instead of providing this information, all DHS gave was a list numbered 1 through 220,995. Proving the administration can count is not what we asked for,? Smith said in a statement.
He wrote a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Friday urging her to ?immediately comply? with the subpoena.
?If you do not, the committee will be forced to seek enforcement of the subpoena to the fullest extent allowed by the law,? Smith wrote.
Secure Communities is a program that allows federal immigration officials to check the names and fingerprints of suspects booked at federal, state and local jails against their immigration databases.
Republicans want detailed information about criminal immigrants who were not pursued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, so they can then check their records and see if they went on to commit more crimes.
Smith said he received a sprawling list from the department on Nov. 10 that included just three things for each entry ? a ?unique ID,? a date and time for each ?encounter,? and the national origin for a few hundred of them. He said the ?unique ID? was merely a number, from 1 to 220,955, which he described as ?useless.?
The Department of Homeland Security said it is trying to comply with Smith?s requests.
?DHS previously told to the committee it would provide the data requested without being compelled by subpoena. We have begun to provide that data as it becomes available and will continue to do so,? DHS spokesman Matthew Chandler said in a statement Saturday.
Chandler stressed that ICE removed 216,000 criminal immigrants in fiscal 2011, described as an 89 percent increase from 2008.
According to DHS, more than 107,000 immigrants convicted of crimes have been removed after being flagged through Secure Communities.
The number represents a fraction of all immigrants flagged through the program. But DHS claims many immigrants who are flagged could not be arrested or deported.
Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Nelson Peacock earlier wrote a letter explaining to Smith that many of the immigrants whose names show up in their system through Secure Communities are legal and would simply not count as a ?removable alien.?
He said, for instance, that naturalized U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents could show up. Peacock also noted that ICE would not take somebody into custody if they are already serving time for a criminal offense.
Smith, though, wrote in his letter to Napolitano that it appears that either DHS ?never planned to comply? with his request or that the White House intervened for ?political reasons.?
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Saturday, November 19, 2011
Mayor's last-ditch effort to save Detroit would privatize 88,000 streetlights
Detroit Mayor Dave Bing?asked for deep cuts and concessions from unions and city officials to stave off a?state takeover. Privatizing streetlights and buses is one part of his plan.?
Since assuming office as mayor of Detroit two years ago, Dave Bing has challenged the city council and union leadership, saying the city is broke and needs sacrifice on all levels of the private and public sectors to prevent insolvency.
Skip to next paragraphMayor Bing is now bringing the message to the people. He appeared on local television Wednesday to announce several ways the city can plug the $45 million cash shortfall anticipated next year. If left unresolved, the financial crisis could result in a state-ordered emergency takeover.
Among Bing?s proposals:
- Concessions by the city?s 48 unions for 10 percent pay cuts and reductions in health-care and pension benefits, as well as overtime. Police and firefighters will also face similar pay cuts.
- Concessions by city retirees to voluntarily reduce medical and pension benefits.
- Layoffs affecting 1,000 city employees.
- Recouping the $220 million the state owes Detroit after failing to keep a 1998 promise that guaranteed Detroit revenue sharing in exchange for lowering the income tax rate.
- Raising corporate taxes by less than 1 percent.
- Lowering city contractor pay by 10 percent.
?Detroit has had, for a long time, some pretty severe economic difficulties and Mayor Bing recognizes that those have to be fixed somehow. The politics of it, of course, are the real trick,? says Charles Ballard, an economist at Michigan State University in East Lansing.
Bing did not give specifics about how to make any of his proposals a reality. Making them happen would involve more negotiations with the city council and unions, both of which have shared a contentious history with the mayor?s office. Unions say they?ve sacrificed enough and the city is not doing enough to cut back redundancy in its own ranks.
Perhaps the two most drastic steps in Bing?s plan, however, are part of a controversial plan to outsource management of the city bus operation and lighting system.?Both services have struggled for decades and suffer from aging infrastructure and maintenance costs the city no can longer afford, Bing said.
?Like a car or a house, if you don?t pay to maintain it, eventually it breaks down and falls apart,? he said of the city?s beleaguered lighting system.
Almost 20 percent of Detroit?s 88,000 lights do not work; in some neighborhoods 50 percent of the lights are broken. Lighting costs the city nearly $11 million each year. About $300 million in new infrastructure and maintenance is needed to overhaul the lights.
Then there are the buses, which Bing said cost taxpayers almost $100 million each year. Outsourcing management of the city?s transportation department requires city council approval by Dec. 1.
Bing?s plan to outsource the services is the equivalent of a ?Hail Mary? pass in football, says Mark Skidmore, another economist at Michigan State University. But privatization could potentially ?get some efficiencies for the city and offload the expense.?
A more reliable approach to generating money would be to get foreclosed property back in private hands.??Because of abatement and tax foreclosures, there are vast chunks of the city that just aren?t making the same level of tax contribution,? he says.
Privatization is a murky option because city councils can be pressured to sign deals that prove detrimental in the long run, says Evan McKenzie, a political scientist at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
?Inevitably the details are buried, and the details are everything,? Professor McKenzie says.
He points to the deal former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley made with Morgan Stanley to sell off the city?s 36,000 parking meters. The city council was given little time to review the contract, which promised the city an immediate payment of $1.15 billion in exchange for owning and operating the parking meters until 2083.
It was only in the deal?s wake that the public learned the meters were grossly undervalued. Today, the city does not benefit from or control the continued rate hikes imposed by Morgan Stanley, and the situation is considered one of the greatest blunders of Mr. Daley?s legacy.
McKenzie warns that Detroit should learn the lesson from Chicago and ?not grasp at straws.???The history of these short-term fixes is very dismal,? he says. ?If you privatize a previous public function, people no longer have political control over it. Then you have a monopoly.?
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"Jeopardy!" burglary suspect facing trial (AP)
SAN FRANCISCO ? A San Francisco woman accused of breaking into the hotel room of "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek is facing trial on charges of first-degree burglary and receiving stolen property.
San Francisco Superior Court Judge Andrew Cheng ruled at the end of a preliminary hearing Tuesday that there was sufficient evidence for 56-year-old Lucinda Moyers to stand trial on those charges.
Authorities say Moyers broke into Trebek's room at a downtown San Francisco hotel July 26 and stole a bracelet, purse and wallet with $661 in cash.
The Jeopardy host allegedly tore his Achilles tendon as he tried to chase Moyers down.
Moyers's attorney, Mark Jacobs, has said his client was not in Trebek's room.
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Friday, November 18, 2011
Online Piracy Act endangered as opponents speak out (Reuters)
WASHINGTON (TheWrap.com) ? The tide seems to have turned against the Stop Online Piracy Act, as both Nancy Pelosi and Darrell Issa have come out against passage.
"Need to find a better solution than #SOPA #DontBreakTheInternet," the liberal Democratic House leader tweeted on Thursday, in response to a tweeter who asked: "Where do you stand on internet censoring and #SOPA?"
And, from the right, California Rep. Darrell Issa has told The Hill newspaper that the House of Representative's anti-piracy act has no chance of passage.
Congress, the leading Republican lawmaker said, is "realizing there are so many unintended consequences that they can't just use Google as a pinata and bash on it here."
There is, he said, "a very broad coalition from far left to far right who realize this will hurt innovation, something we can't afford to do. And there are other ways to accomplish what they say is their goal."
Pelosi has not elaborated, but her office was planning to issue a statement.
Introduced by Lamar Smith (R-TX) and heavily supported by the entertainment industry, the act would give federal authorities new power to block service providers, search engines, payment processors, and advertising networks it considers to be facilitating illegal on-line activity, such as streaming pirated television programs, films or selling pharmaceuticals.
"I don't believe this bill has any chance on the House floor," Issa said. "I think it's way too extreme, it infringes on too many areas that our leadership will know is simply too dangerous to do in its current form."
Opponents, including internet giants Google, Twitter, eBay and Facebook, as well as a host of public interest groups, say the legislation lays the groundwork for online censorship. The law, they point out, could shut down law-abiding websites when, for example, users post links to infringing websites.
Indeed, Google's Katherine Oyama testified at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday that the company had "grave concerns" about aspects of the law that provide authority to "disappear" foreign websites.
What's more, Oyama said, the law would inflict onerous monitoring costs upon internet companies, especially start-ups, which would stifle innovation.
Oyama was the only one of six witnesses to speak out against the bill at Wednesday's hearing, a situation public-interest organizations decried.
Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge, called Wednesday's hearing a "great disappointment."
Sohn said the majority of the committee's comments "clearly reflected the views of only one industry -- the big media companies which are pushing this bill, yet another piece of legislation to impose Draconian measures on the technology sector -- the fastest-growing and most productive part of our economy."
Sohn said the committee did not extend invitations to an array of opponents "from human-rights groups to entrepreneurs to Internet engineers to civil libertarians."
Consumer Electronics Association president and CEO Gary Shapiro said in at statement that SOPA should be rewritten to "target bad actors without ensnaring legitimate companies."
As written, Shapiro said SOPA would "expose legitimate American businesses and innovators to broad and open-ended liability. The result will be more lawsuits, decreased venture capital investment, and fewer new jobs."
Meanwhile, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Tom Collamore blogged Wednesday that an anti-piracy law is crucial:
"While consumer health and safety is being undermined on one front, jobs in our most creative and innovative industries are being attacked on the other. The counterfeiting and piracy perpetuated by rogue sites stifles innovation by undercutting the investments in making the newest cancer drug, or latest 'it' movie, or most innovative home technology."
No action was taken at Wednesday's hearing. The bill has been referred to the Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet
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Thursday, November 17, 2011
Service employees union to boost efforts for Obama
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Service Employees International Union endorsed President Barack Obama's re-election bid on Wednesday, saying it would deploy its formidable political machine earlier and on a wider scale than it did four years ago.
SEIU President Mary Kay Henry said the union plans to reach out to all 2.1 million members by Labor Day and focus on getting more Hispanic and black voters to the polls.
"We're trying to do it on a scale that we've never done before," she said.
The politically powerful union is the latest labor organization to jump in with an early endorsement of the president, following the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and the National Education Association. It could signal even broader campaign spending by labor groups, which poured about $400 million to help elect Obama in 2008.
The SEIU is starting early, in part, because of reports that some Obama supporters are less enthusiastic than they were four years ago, Henry said. But while some union leaders have expressed disappointment with Obama's commitment to create jobs and willingness to back the union agenda, the SEIU has remained a steadfast supporter.
One of Obama's earliest backers in 2008, the SEIU spent about $60 million to help him win the presidential race. That led the union to become an influential voice in forming administration policy, particularly on Obama's health care overhaul plan. Former SEIU president Andy Stern has been one of the most frequent White House guests and is a member of Obama's debt commission.
Obama's campaign manager, Jim Messina, welcomed the endorsement, saying the SEIU and Obama "share many common goals," including the right to collective bargaining, better access to affordable health care and keeping workplaces safe.
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Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Just Show Me: How to edit pictures on your iPhone or iPad (Yahoo! News)
Welcome to?Just Show Me on Tecca TV, where we show you tips and tricks for getting the most out of the?gadgets in your life. In today's episode we'll show you how to edit photos on your iPhone or iPad once you've upgraded to?iOS 5.
There's a lot of new great features in iOS 5 that let you take better photos and edit them to correct any errors. When taking pictures you can do things such as pinching the image on the screen to zoom, or turning over the phone on its side and using a volume button to snap a shot. There's also easy ways to rotate photos, auto-enhance photos to remove common problems, and even automatically remove red eye from pictures of people.
For more episodes of Just Show Me, subscribe to Tecca TV's YouTube channel and check out all our Just Show Me episodes. If you have any topics you'd like to see us cover, just drop us a line in the comments.
This article originally appeared on Tecca
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Apple recall targets first-gen iPod Nano
Apple
iPod nano, first generation
By Athima Chansanchai
If you still have a first-generation iPod Nano, now is your chance to trade it in for one that won't overheat. Apple is providing replacements for that model due to some problems it found in the six-year-old devices.
As stated by Apple:
"...in very rare cases, the battery in the iPod nano (1st generation) may overheat and pose a safety risk. Affected iPod nanos were sold between September 2005 and December 2006.
This issue has been traced to a single battery supplier that produced batteries with a manufacturing defect. While the possibility of an incident is rare, the likelihood increases as the battery ages."
Though Apple says it's "very rare," and only affects this particular model, the company does make a point of advising first-gen iPod Nano owners to stop using the device and follow the process for ordering a free replacement unit.
You should get that about six weeks after Apple receives your iPod Nano. Personalized Nanos don't come back with the original inscriptions, unfortunately. You'll get a clean one. Also, be sure to back up any data you have on?your device?before sending it off.
If you're unsure about whether or not your nano is first-gen, check for a black or white plastic front and a silver metal back. Later generations of Nanos have a metal front and back. You can see how much they've changed over the years with the latest iteration here:
Apple
This isn't the first time Apple recalled devices. In 2006, Apple recalled 1.8 rechargeable million batteries?for its?12-inch iBook G4, 12-inch PowerBook G4 and 15-inch PowerBook G4 laptops sold in the U.S. from October 2003 through August 2006, as well as another 700,000 batteries sold in units abroad.?It remains the second largest recall of electronics and/or computers in the U.S.
In 2008, Apple issued a recall of iPhone 3G power adapters with metal prongs that were getting stuck in power outlets.
In the summer of 2010,?the clamor over the iPhone 4 "Antennagate" reached a crescendo in recall demands. (Apple did give?free bumpers?to owners.)
The company has also replaced headphones and the bottom cases of certain MacBooks.
More recently, Apple recalled iPad 2s in June for duplicate mobile equipment identifiers that connected to Verizon's mobile network, and iMac?Seagate 1TB hard drives.
But, Apple is hardly the only consumer tech company that issues recalls. In the year Apple had to recall nearly 2 million batteries, Dell had to recall about twice as many for its laptops. And just about a month ago, Sony recalled 1.6 million LCD HDTVs.
More stories:
Check out Technolog on?Facebook, and on Twitter, follow?Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the?Google+?stream.
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Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Saints beat Falcons 26-23 in OT on Kasay kick
APAtlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez (88) scores a touchdown as New Orleans Saints free safety Malcolm Jenkins (27) and outside linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar (56) defend during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2011, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Rich Addicks)
By PAUL NEWBERRY
updated 6:48 p.m. ET Nov. 13, 2011
ATLANTA - A disconsolate Mike Smith watched the chip-shot field goal sail through the uprights, then walked slowly across the field, his head down, to shake hands with the other coach.
Smith knew this loss was on him.
John Kasay kicked a 26-yard field goal in overtime after the Atlanta coach decided to go for it on fourth down deep in his own territory Sunday, a decision that backfired horribly and handed the New Orleans Saints a 26-23 victory over the Falcons.
"I know it will be scrutinized all week long," Smith said. "I want everybody to understand I take full responsibility."
New Orleans (7-3) took control of the NFC South race, snapping Atlanta's three-game winning streak. But this one will be long remembered for Smith's gutsy and ill-fated call, especially if this loss comes back to cost the defending division champion Falcons a return to the playoffs.
Atlanta (5-4) rallied from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter, tying it on Matt Bryant's 27-yard field goal on the final play of regulation.
In overtime, Atlanta appeared to pick up a first down on a pass to Mike Cox, but he was ruled just short after referee Terry McAuley looked at the replay. Then, stunningly, Smith decided to go for it on fourth down from his own 29.
Michael Turner was stuffed.Game over.
"We were going to be aggressive in all that we did," Smith said. "Unfortunately, it did not work out."
After each offense went three-and-out on its first possession of overtime, Atlanta faced third-and-1 from the 29. Matt Ryan flipped a pass to Cox, the backup fullback, who was met short of the 30 but stretched out the ball with his right arm, appearing to get it across the line. It was initially ruled a first down, but the replay showed he was bobbling the ball as he was going down along the sideline, and the spot was moved back.
The Falcons initially sent on the punting team, then called timeout. After thinking it over, Smith decided to go for it, figuring his team could pick up the foot or so needed to keep the drive going.
Boy, did that turn out to be a mistake.
Ryan handed off to Turner, but the bruising runner never had a chance. He was swarmed by a pile of defenders and actually lost a couple of feet, and the jubilant Saints took over. Four plays later, Kasay won it with his fourth field goal of the game.
"I just saw a guy in my face as soon as I got the ball," Turner said. "I would like to have it back. I would love to be in that situation again."
New Orleans coach Sean Payton coached the game on crutches in his return to the sideline after a collision with one of his players left him with a broken left leg and severe knee injuries nearly a month ago.
"I just felt like this was an important game," Payton said. "That presence is important. I talked to the doctors this morning."
Drew Brees went 30 of 43 for 322 yards, including a pair of touchdowns. Marques Colston had eight catches for 113 yards. The Saints were certainly glad to have their coach among them, not sending down calls from the booth.
"It was great having him, just his presence," Brees said. "He couldn't wait to get back down there. He has his hands in everything."
Ryan threw a staggering 52 passes, completing 29 for 351 yards and two touchdowns. Harry Douglas became his favorite receiver after rookie Julio Jones left the game, sidelined again by an ailing hamstring. Douglas finished with eight receptions for 133 yards.
Turner rushed for 96 yards, but couldn't get the one yard that mattered most.
"We've just got to get a couple inches. Make that play and move on," center Todd McClure groaned. "I like the fact our coach has faith in us to make the play."
Brees was impressed by Smith's courage, if nothing else.
"It takes some steel and you-know-what to make that call," the quarterback said. "This one play is the game."
In regulation, Atlanta was down to its last chance, facing fourth-and-3 at the New Orleans 45 with about 4? minutes remaining. Ryan kept the drive going by hitting Roddy White on a 6-yard completion, then struck quickly with two more passes to make a game of it. A 19-yarder to White was followed by a 20-yard touchdown to Tony Gonzalez with 4:13 to go, bringing the Falcons to 23-20.
With only one timeout remaining, the Falcons felt compelled to try an onside kick. It didn't work.
The Saints moved into position to give Kasay a 45-yard try. He drilled the kick right down the middle, but Jimmy Graham was called for holding and New Orleans decided to back up the Falcons with a punt.
After Eric Weems made a fair catch at the Atlanta 5, the Falcons put together a clutch drive that forced OT. Ryan hooked up three times with Douglas on completions totaling 66 yards, and Atlanta actually had plenty of time to take three shots at the end zone for a winning touchdown.
They caught a break on Ryan's first throw over the middle, which was right in the hands of New Orleans safety Roman Harper. He couldn't hang on. Ryan then looked for White, but Jabari Greer got a hand on the ball to knock it away. After one more incompletion, Bryant trotted on to make his third field goal.
Notes: Brees extended his NFL record with a 30th straight game completing at least 20 passes. ... Bryant missed a 41-yard field goal on the final play of the first half, snapping his franchise-record streak of 30 in a row over two seasons. ... The Saints rushed for just 41 yards on 16 carries.
___
Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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More newsWhat was right about wild Week 10
??Peter King and Mike Florio the latest struggles of the Eagles and if Andy Reid will keep his job, how Denver tweaked its offense for Tim Tebow and more.
Pats crush Jets ?|? ??Highlights? |? Familiar story
Tom Brady threw three touchdown passes, including two to Rob Gronkowski, and the New England Patriots took control of the AFC East with a convincing 37-16 victory over the New York Jets on Sunday night.
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45279326/ns/sports-nfl/
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