seignior pond: May 2013

Friday, May 31, 2013

Letters highlight NYC mayor's place in gun debate

Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks at the Real Estate Board of New York on Thursday, May 30, 2013, in New York. Two threatening letters containing traces of the deadly poison ricin were sent to Bloomberg in New York and his gun-control group in Washington, police said. The anonymous letters were opened in New York on Friday at the city's mail facility in Manhattan and in Washington on Sunday at an office used by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the nonprofit started by Bloomberg, police said Wednesday. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Mayor Michael Bloomberg arrives to speak at the Real Estate Board of New York on Thursday, May 30, 2013, in New York. Two threatening letters containing traces of the deadly poison ricin were sent to Bloomberg in New York and his gun-control group in Washington, police said. The anonymous letters were opened in New York on Friday at the city's mail facility in Manhattan and in Washington on Sunday at an office used by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the nonprofit started by Bloomberg, police said Wednesday. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been a public face of gun control for years, but he's in a new, unsought spotlight after ricin-laced letters were sent to him and a group he helps lead.

The billionaire hasn't shied from using his political post and his personal fortune to push for gun control well beyond the city limits, garnering both plaudits and complaints that he's overreaching.

The poisoned letters to Bloomberg and the group Mayors Against Illegal Guns essentially threatened that "anyone who comes for my guns will be shot in the face," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Thursday, shortly before the Secret Service disclosed that a similar missive was sent to President Barack Obama.

Bloomberg didn't comment on the case Thursday, but he said Wednesday he didn't feel angry, threatened ? or inclined to back down.

"We're not going to walk away from those efforts," he said.

Fellow gun-control advocates deplored the letters, which arrived after Bloomberg played a prominent role in a now-stalled push for new firearms laws in response to the December school massacre in Newtown, Conn.

"The work Mayor Bloomberg does is vitally important to our cause, and our thoughts are with them this week," Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said in a statement Thursday. He emphasized that the organization doesn't think the letter episode reflects the mass of Americans engaged in the issue.

Thanks to his office and pocketbook, Bloomberg has become a uniquely influential figure in the gun debate.

Vice President Joe Biden said in March that "there has been no support that has been more consequential" than Bloomberg's in the recent, White House-fueled press for new gun restrictions. And the National Rifle Association has made clear it sees Bloomberg as a leading foe, caricaturing him as an octopus on the cover of its magazine in 2007 and branding him an "evangelist for the nanny state."

Representatives for the NRA and another gun-rights advocacy group, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, didn't immediately respond to inquiries Thursday about Bloomberg.

As leader of the nation's biggest city, Bloomberg often emphasizes that he feels mayors are on the front lines of a fight against gun violence ? and that killings and shootings have dropped to historic lows in New York during his nearly 12-year tenure. And he has pursued the fight elsewhere.

His administration has set up gun-buying stings in other states to highlight what it said were illegal sales, on the premise that many illicit guns in New York were bought elsewhere. The city has sued dozens of out-of-state gun dealers, resulting in court-appointed monitoring for many. One South Carolina dealer also ended up pleading guilty to a federal weapons charge.

Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino founded Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which now includes more than 900 mayors. Financed partly by Bloomberg , the nonprofit group has spread its message through such means as a Super Bowl ad this year and another, $12 million ad campaign less than two months later.

The Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-unaffiliated Bloomberg also has spent millions of dollars advancing his gun-control views through political contributions. In one example, his super PAC, Independence USA, spent more than $2 million on ads in the Democratic primary in a special congressional election in Chicago this year.

Bloomberg's favored candidate, then-Illinois state Rep. Robin Kelly, got the seat. And Bloomberg got some criticism that he was butting in where he didn't belong.

"You had someone from outside of the community determining what the issue was for Chicago and that district," Delmarie Cobb, a Democratic political consultant who worked with one of the other candidates, recalled Thursday. Her candidate, Alderman Anthony Beale, called for tougher gun laws himself during the campaign, but he also sought to focus on job growth and other topics.

Bloomberg said at the time he was just a concerned citizen who happens "to have some money, and that's what I'm going to do with my money ? try to get us some sensible gun laws."

It wasn't the first time he'd been branded a gun-control interloper. Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne complained in 2011 that Bloomberg had overstepped his power in authorizing investigators to run a sting at a Phoenix gun show. Bloomberg's representatives noted that Arizona-based private investigators carried out the undercover operation.

Now, government investigators are working to figure out who sent the letters to Bloomberg and Obama.

The two directed at Bloomberg were postmarked from Shreveport, La., according to the postal workers' union, which cited information from a Postal Service briefing. The Shreveport postal center handles mail from Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas, Louisiana State Police spokeswoman Julie Lewis noted.

The White House and Bloomberg letters were intercepted at mail facilities before reaching the president or mayor. The third was opened by the mayors' group director, Mark Glaze.

Three New York police officers who examined the letter to Bloomberg experienced minor symptoms that have since abated, authorities said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ricin is found naturally in castor beans. Exposure can cause difficulty breathing, vomiting and redness on the skin.

The letters were the latest in a string of toxin-laced missives, but authorities would not say whether the letters to Bloomberg and Obama were believed to be linked to any other recent case.

In Washington state, a 37-year-old was charged last week with threatening to kill a federal judge in a letter that contained ricin.

About a month earlier, letters containing the substance were addressed to Obama, a U.S. senator and a Mississippi judge. One of the letters was traced back to Tupelo, Miss., and a Mississippi man was arrested.

___

Follow Jennifer Peltz at http://twitter.com/jennpeltz

___

Associated Press writers Frank Eltman and Colleen Long in New York; Holbrook Mohr in Jackson, Miss.; and Darlene Superville and Pete Yost in Washington contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-05-31-Bloomberg-Ricin/id-5d60818235aa4018b72ad9400938e92a

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Small plane crashes into Va. apartment, 2 hurt

HERNDON, Va. (AP) ? Two people were taken to a hospital after a two-seat, single engine Cessna crashed into the living room of a third-story apartment outside Washington, Virginia State Police said Friday.

The plane crashed through the roof of the apartment building in Herndon after it had electrical problems and its engine cut off, and came to rest on the living room floor, police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said. The tail of the plane poked through the roof and a window of the apartment appeared to be blown out.

David Ventura, who lives in the apartment with his family, was awakened by the loud crash and said he was shocked to discover a plane in his living room with two men crawling out asking if everyone was OK.

"That's the last thing that is going to come to your mind," he told WRC-TV.

Four adults and two children were asleep in the apartment at the time, Geller said. Ventura told WTTG-TV that one of his two children slept through the crash and had to be woken up.

The pilot was taken to Inova Fairfax Hospital with serious injuries and his passenger's minor injuries were treated at the scene. Ventura said his wife was shaken by the incident and was taken to the hospital, too.

The two men were taking infrared photographs for an aerial photography company, Geller said. They took off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport and were headed to Manassas Regional Airport, but rerouted to Dulles when they ran low on fuel.

The Red Cross is helping about 20 people who were removed from the damaged building.

The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration were investigating.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/small-plane-crashes-va-apartment-2-hurt-153824098.html

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Japan deflation persists, industrial output falls

TOKYO (AP) ? Japan's consumer price index fell 0.4 percent in April while industrial production also fell from a year earlier, despite slight gains from the month before, the government reported Friday.

The data offer scant evidence of a rebound, though officials say the economy is on the cusp of a recovery and should show stronger gains by midyear.

Industrial production fell 2.3 percent from a year earlier though it was up a seasonally adjusted 1.7 percent from the month before. The strongest gains were in autos and other transport equipment and in electronic components and devices, according to the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Trade.

Despite recent turmoil in financial markets, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has vowed to persist in aggressive monetary easing and stimulus spending aimed at helping Japan break out of deflation, or falling prices, and end two decades of stagnation.

"No action, no growth," he declared to a group of economic experts gathered this week in Tokyo to assess his "Abenomics" policies.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index was trading 2.1 percent higher early Friday after tumbling 5.2 percent the day before, as investors responded to retreats in other major markets.

Abe characterized recent market gyrations as "routine financial phenomena."

Though the Nikkei remains around 30 percent higher for the year, boosted by optimism over the Bank of Japan's unprecedented monetary easing, it's down 13 percent from its peak on May 22, reflecting doubt over whether the government's economic strategy can extricate the country from years of economic malaise.

The prospect of more yen in circulation weighed on the currency, which has fallen sharply to the relief of the country's exporters. It also is pushing up prices for imported crude oil and other commodities, a factor expected to help the central bank eventually reach its target of a 2 percent pace of inflation within the next two years.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/japan-deflation-persists-industrial-output-falls-005443582.html

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Zaha Hadid's First Storefront Puts a Living Legend Up Close

Even if you don?t get down with her brand of extreme formalism, it?s hard to deny that Zaha Hadid is a living legend. Hadid is the only female architect to have ever won the Pritzker Prize (well, unless you count those who were mysteriously excluded by the Pritzker jury) and the force behind some of the more controversial buildings of the past decade?she?s as much an entrepreneur as she is a designer. In fact, it?s likely that her architecture, these days, serves as something of a loss leader for the business her brand does outside of the construction industry.

For a glimpse of Hadid?s business sense, look no further than her booming business selling things other than architecture: $160,000 tables, Louis Vuitton bags, and avant-garde haircuts. This week, in the tony London neighborhood of Clerkenwell, Hadid and her office opened a permanent gallery and showroom devoted to products, including a second floor where visitors can peruse architectural models. According to The Guardian, the space is a physical manifestation of the another bit of news from the Hadid universe: the registering of her brand's seventh company, Zaha Hadid Design.

Whatever your opinion of the excessive cost of the objects or the ethos they represent, it's hard not to admire Hadid's business accumen. For a closer look at Hadid's empire, check out this New Yorker profile from 2011. [The Guardian]

Zaha Hadid's First Storefront Puts a Living Legend Up Close

Source: http://gizmodo.com/zaha-hadids-first-storefront-puts-a-living-legend-up-c-510359679

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Jennifer Lopez Too Sexy For ?Britain?s Got Talent?? (VIDEO)

Jennifer Lopez Too Sexy For “Britain’s Got Talent”? (VIDEO)

Britains Got Talent Jennifer Lopez video Jennifer Lopez performed on “Britain’s Got Talent” on Tuesday night promoting her new single, but gave television viewers an eyeful! The singer took to the stage in a tiny black leotard with her famous asset on display, drawing criticism from angry viewers over her “inappropriate” attire. The broadcasting industry regulator Ofcom received tons of complaints ...

Jennifer Lopez Too Sexy For “Britain’s Got Talent”? (VIDEO) Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/05/jennifer-lopez-too-sexy-for-britains-got-talent-video/

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Thursday, May 30, 2013

Teaching Our Kids to Build the Computers of the Future | Social ...

Teaching Our Kids to Build the Computers of the Future

By Nell Edgington

code-infographic-5-16 There is a new nonprofit that nicely demonstrates the challenge of identifying a social problem and then developing the right strategy for solving that problem. Code.org?s sole aim is to solve the impending shortage of computer programmers. Because we have grown?increasingly dependent on technology in our everyday lives, while our schools have not adequately prepared our children to keep up, we are facing an enormous shortage of people who can create the technology we desperately need.

Projections estimate that by 2020 we will need 1.4 million computer programmers, but will only have 400,000 computer science graduates, creating a 1 million person gap. And 9 out of 10 schools aren?t currently teaching computer programming. This is a huge problem.

Enter code.org. The nonprofit was founded earlier this year with two stated goals:

Spread the word that there is a worldwide shortage of computer programmers, and that it?s much easier to learn to program than you think.
Build an authoritative database of all programming schools, whether they are online courses, brick+mortar schools or summer camps.

They have an impressive team and list of supporters, many of the darlings of the technology startup world. And they?ve already attracted the attention of the national media and have a very savvy media presentation including some pretty cool videos.

Code.org is fascinating to me, not just because I agree that connecting how we educate our children with the skills they will need in the future is a huge issue, but also because code.org demonstrates the strategic struggle facing every social change agent. The struggle lies in identifying a social problem and then creating the right solution to the problem you?ve identified.

There are many ways you could attack the problem of a shortage of future computer programmers. You could decide to:

Advocate for changes to the public education system
Create new training sites around the country
Develop coding games for kids
Create a marketing campaign that encourages more kids to try coding
Develop a database of available training programs

So far code.org has decided to focus on the last two. But it begs the question, why those two?

In identifying a social problem and then choosing a possible way to attack it, social change leaders must ask the following questions:

What is the most effective entry point for changing this problem? For code.org they think the entry point is kids themselves, getting them to demand coding training, as opposed to changing education policy or increasing the supply of coding locations.
How do we use our unique assets to address that entry point? Code.org?s biggest asset is their long list of technology celebrity supporters, so they are tapping into those people (Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg) to show kids how cool coding is. If, instead, code.org had a unique ability to move education policy forward, or proprietary coding software that more quickly delivered results they could have decided to go those routes.
How do we structure our organization to deliver the solution? Right now code.org is a website with a series of videos and a growing database of training locations. So they don?t need a lot of staff or structure. If, however, they had decided to set up new training sites around the country or advocate for public education changes in every state, they would have needed a much larger operation with more locations and staffing.
How will we measure if our solution is working? Code.org has clearly delineated where they need to be. By 2020 they want to see 1 million more computer programmers. So they have to figure out how many more college students they need in computer sciences, how many more high school students they need who can code, how many more middle school students who are dabbling in code and so on. I?m hoping they have metrics all along the way and the ability to see if the numbers are actually growing.

Code.org has very clearly defined a critical social problem and they have marshaled an impressive army of supporters to work toward change. It remains to be seen, however, whether they have asked the right questions and selected the right path for making that change a reality.

Learn more about nonprofit innovation and
download a free Financing Not Fundraising e-book
when you sign up for email updates
from Social Velocity.

Tags: Bill Gates, childhood education, code.org, Mark Zuckerberg, nonprofit planning, nonprofit strategy, public education

Source: http://www.socialvelocity.net/2013/05/teaching-our-kids-to-build-the-computers-of-the-future/

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Wednesday, May 29, 2013

UK police: Man charged in UK soldier's murder

British police officers walk past some of the thousands of tributes left in honour of murdered 25-year-old British soldier Lee Rigby, near Woolwich Barracks in London, Wednesday, May 29, 2013. An autopsy shows that an off-duty soldier killed in a suspected Islamic extremist in London attack last week died from multiple cuts and stab wounds after he was hit by a car, police said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

People look at some of the thousands of floral and other tributes left in honour of murdered 25-year-old British soldier Lee Rigby, at the scene near Woolwich Barracks in London, Wednesday, May 29, 2013. Two men attacked and killed the off-duty soldier in broad daylight, Wednesday, May 22. They were shot by police and arrested on suspicion of murder. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

LONDON (AP) ? Police have charged a man with murder in the killing of a British soldier in a suspected Islamic extremist attack in broad daylight on a London street.

Michael Adebowale, 22, was charged late Wednesday by counterterrorism officers and will appear in court on Thursday, police said. He is one of two main suspects in the killing of Lee Rigby, 25, who was struck by a car and stabbed to death last week near his barracks in southeast London's Woolwich district.

Gruesome images that emerged after the attack showed two men wielding bloody knives and meat cleavers. Both men were shot and wounded by police.

Suspect Michael Adebolajo, 28, remains hospitalized in stable condition. Adebowale was discharged from a hospital Tuesday and taken into custody. Adebowale also was charged with a firearms offense related to possessing a 9.4 mm revolver with the intent "to cause persons to believe that unlawful violence would be used," police said in a statement announcing the charges.

The charges, coming just hours after police said Rigby's autopsy showed he died from "multiple incised wounds," shed further light on the frenzied attack.

Witnesses reported seeing the soldier struck by a car, then set upon by two men wielding long knives and cleavers. Adebolajo, bloodied and clutching a cleaver, was seen in a video boasting about the attack and railing against the government.

The attack has raised questions about whether Britain's intelligence services could have done more to prevent Rigby's murder. British officials said the two main suspects had been known to them for some time as part of previous investigations.

Kenyan police have said they believed Adebolajo, a British citizen, had earlier associated with a radical Kenyan Muslim cleric who tried to help him join an al-Qaida-linked rebel group in neighboring Somalia.

Police said an inquest on Rigby's death will open Friday. In Britain, inquests are conducted to establish the circumstances surrounding unexpected or violent deaths.

Ten people have been arrested in the case, including the two main suspects. Two were released and several others have been set free on bail pending further inquiries.

One of the men arrested for questioning in the case released a statement through his lawyer Wednesday proclaiming his innocence. Hayden Allen, 21, said he wanted to send his condolences to Rigby's family.

"My family are wholly uninvolved," said Allen, who has not been charged and is free on bail. "I ask that the police continue to investigate and that my family be allowed without harassment to continue their lives."

Rigby's murder has raised racial enmities in many parts of England, with far-right groups mobilizing to protest. The English Defense League, a right-wing group with strong anti-Islam leanings, has held a series of protests, while Muslim community organizations have reported a surge in attacks and harassment.

One mosque in the northern England town of Grimsby was firebombed, and the word "ISLAM" was daubed in big red letters across the Royal Air Force Bomber Command memorial in London's Green Park, near Buckingham Palace.

Two people have been charged in the arson attack. It was unclear who was responsible for the graffiti.

Hackers have also posted a purported list of English Defense League leaders and supporters online. The list was at least partially genuine, according to English Defense League supporter Glen Warren, 32, whose name and phone number were among those posted.

Amid the unrest, British prison officers have been warned to be on the lookout after a hostage drama blamed on extremist Muslim inmates, British newspapers reported Wednesday.

An email to high-security prisons and young offenders' institutes warned that Sunday's incident at Full Sutton detention facility in the northern England region of Yorkshire was linked to religious extremism and warned of an increased risk of attacks at other institutions, according to several British papers, including The Yorkshire Post and The Times.

"Three Muslim prisoners took an officer hostage in an office. Their demands indicated they supported radical Islamist extremism," the letter was quoted as saying. "All staff are reminded to remain vigilant to the increased risk of potential attacks on prison officers inspired by these and last Wednesday's events."

The hostage-takers' demands have not been disclosed. Britain's Ministry of Justice declined to comment on the email.

___

Associated Press writer Raphael Satter contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-05-29-Britain-Attack/id-9d4a964b53cd494d9c45e595428b036e

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Google+ for iOS adds Auto Enhance, interactive Google Offer posts, and hashtags

Google+ for iOS updated on Tuesday with huge improvements to photos and the stream.

The revamped app features an overhauled photo experience that includes the ability to browse highlights from photos, share short animations and panoramas, and make photos look better with Auto Enhance.?Today's photo tweaks update follows a recent roll-out of similar features to Google+ for Android.

Google again warned users in the app's description that Hangouts has moved to its own app?for messaging and video calls, but Google+ for iOS is still feature-rich with new interactive Google Offer posts in the stream and options for users to edit more profile fields, upload cover photos and control What's Hot posts in the stream.?

Read:?Google peers at your snaps for Photo Highlights feature, offers corrections, 'auto awesome' animations

Google+ also included the new hashtags feature from its Android app, so users can now discover interesting content more easily. The hashtags will appear in the top right of Google+ posts and reveal relevant streams of content. The refreshed app further added support for displaying strikethrough text and?functions for editing comments and copying permalinks to posts.

Grab the latest version of Google + for iOS on Apple's App Store now.?

Source: http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/121325-google-for-ios-adds-auto-enhance-interactive-google-offer-posts-and-hashtags

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Frequently Asked Questions ? Entomology ? Penn State University

1. When and where was the emerald ash borer (EAB) first detected in Pennsylvania?

The emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis, is an invasive highly destructive wood-boring insect that attacks ash trees.? It has killed more than 40 million ash trees in the states of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Maryland, and Illinois.? It was detected for the first time in Pennsylvania in late June 2007.? EAB adults were found on a green ash tree in Cranberry Township, Butler County through a joint effort by federal and state agriculture departments, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), and the Pennsylvania State University, Department of Entomology, Cooperative Extension.? As a result of this first detection in Pennsylvania, an order of quarantine was issued for Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, and Lawrence Counties in Pennsylvania. ?Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff said, ?Emerald Ash Borer poses a major threat to ash trees.?? Secretary Wolff also stated, ?To best manage any effects of an infestation, we?re working to determine whether this is an isolated incident or a more widespread problem.?

Since this initial detection, EAB infestations have been discovered in Mercer (2008), Westmoreland (2009), Washington (2009), Armstrong (2009), and Indiana (2009) Counties in western Pennsylvania?and in Mifflin (early in 2009) and Juniata (late in 2009)?counties?in central Pennsylvania. ?In mid-May 2010 Bedford County and in July 2010 Centre, Somerset, Fulton, Union, and Cumberland counties were added to the list of Pennsylvania counties were the EAB has been detected. Clarion County was added to this list in September 2010.

In May 2011 the EAB was detected in southern Lycoming County. ?This brings the total number of counties?confirmed for the emerald ash borer?in Pennsylvania to 19. ?Early in July 2011 the EAB was detected in southern Wyoming County. ?On July 5th?Huntingdon County was confirmed positive for the EAB. ?Eight adult EAB specimens were recovered from a purple panel sticky trap baited with manuka oil in a small wooded lot in Mt. Union, PA adjacent to warehouse. ?The EAB was confirmed in Sullivan County on Thursday July 28. The location is along Rt. 87 east of Colley, PA in?Colley Township in?northeastern Sullivan County. ?One EAB adult was taken on a purple panel sticky trap.

In mid-March 2012 the EAB was confirmed on trees in a residential area in Warrington, Bucks County.

In early June 2012 the EAB was confirmed?in two locations?in?Perry County. ?The first site was in a campground on the Susquehanna River in Liverpool, PA. ?The second location was at the first eastbound truck pull-off on Rt. 322 as you enter Perry County. Both of these sites are USDA-APHIS, Otis Lab's trap efficacy test sites.

The EAB was also found in Venango County. ?This site was turned in by the USDA and was found by visual / destructive survey in a campground in Emlenton, PA.

Additionally, the EAB was confirmed on a trap in an USDA-APHIS, Otis Lab's trap efficacy test site at the State Center in Selinsgrove, Snyder County.

In early July 2012 the EAB was confirmed in Franklin?County.?In late July 2012 the EAB was confirmed in Jefferson?County.

In early August 2012 the EAB was confirmed in?Clinton?County on a purple panel prism trap.

In early December 2012?the EAB was detected by a PDA employee in?a visual/destructive sample?near Watsontown, PA in Northumberland County.?Confirmation of another positive EAB population in a new Pennsylvania county occurred on December 17, 2012. ?The sample was collected from the Interstate 80 westbound Rest Area in Montour County near Mooresburg, PA.

On January 8, 2013 an employee of the PA DCNR, Bureau of Forestry, Div. of Forest Pest Management collected a sample of the EAB near SGL 79 in Cambria County.

In April 2013 employees of the PA DCNR, Bureau of Forestry, Div. of Forest Pest Management collected a sample of the EAB in Fayette County.

Early in May 2013 the PA Department of Agriculture confirmed the EAB in Blair County.

This brings the total number of counties?confirmed for the emerald ash borer?in Pennsylvania to 34.

State and federal regulatory officials continue to conduct intensive surveys for the EAB.

The federal quarantine on the EAB and external?quarantine?on firewood from outside Pennsylvania are still in effect.?This means it is legal to move firewood, ash, and the insect between counties inside the state, but it is not legal to move non-compliant items out of the state, nor is it legal to move non-compliant firewood into the state.

2.? What is being done on a statewide basis about this new pest?
Federal, state, and local authorities are working together to educate the citizens of Pennsylvania about the accurate identification of ash trees and EAB, options for protecting valuable shade trees, and locations where dead or dying ash trees can be taken for proper disposal. Since 2002 federal agencies, and state educational institutions have been conducting research to learn more about the biology of EAB, its rate of spread, methods for detection of EAB, and natural enemies that may attack the EAB, and how insecticides may be applied to protect ash trees in infested areas.?

3. ?Where did the EAB infestation in the United States come from?
The EAB is believed to have arrived in North America on solid wood packing material from China.? The native range of EAB is eastern Russia, northeast China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Mongolia.? Before June of 2002, this species had never been found in North America, and very little was known about it.

4.? How did the EAB get to the United States?
We don't know for sure, but it most likely came in association with ash wood used for stabilizing cargo in ships or for packing or crating heavy consumer products.

5.? What types of trees does the EAB attack?
In North America, it has only been found in ash trees.? All species of ash in the plant genus Fraxinus and their cultivars appear to be susceptible to the EAB in North America.? It does not attack mountain ash in the plant genus Sorbus.? Ash trees in the forest, woodlots, and landscapes are affected.? Larval galleries (tunnels beneath the bark) have been found in trees or branches measuring as little as 1-inch in diameter.?

6.? Where was the EAB first found in the United States?
In 2002 the EAB was discovered in six counties in southeastern Michigan and in Ontario, Canada.? Our ability to detect and find the EAB has substantially improved since then, however, and we now realize that a much greater area was infested than what was initially thought.? Those areas include all but four counties in Michigan.? It has also been found in Ohio (2003), Indiana (2004), Illinois (2006), Maryland (2003; 2006), Pennsylvania (2007), West Virginia (2007), Virginia (2003; 2008), Missouri (2008), Wisconsin (2008), Minnesota (2009), Kentucky (2009), New York (2009), Tennessee (2010), Iowa (2010), Connecticut (2012), Kansas (2012), Massachusetts (2012), and New Hampshire (2013) making the EAB a national pest problem.? Most of these infestations are not new, we are simply getting better at finding infestations as survey methods improve.? However, it is important to watch for symptoms and signs of the EAB in non-quarantine areas where this metallic wood-boring beetle may have been accidentally transported.? Much of the spread of the EAB to other states is believed to be through the movement of infested firewood, nursery stock, and other ash wood products.?

7.? What happens to infested ash trees?
The foliage in the crown of EAB-infested trees begins to thin above infested portions of the trunk and major branches because the larval stage of this wood-boring insect destroys the water and nutrient conducting cells and tissues beneath the bark. Heavily infested trees exhibit canopy dieback usually starting at the top of the tree.? One-third to one-half of the branches may die in one year.? Most of the canopy will be dead within 2 years of when symptoms are first observed.? Sometimes ash trees push out sprouts from the trunk after the upper portions of the tree dies.? Although difficult to see, EAB adults leave a capital "D"-shaped emergence hole in the bark.? This exit hole is approximately 1/8 inch in diameter.?

8.? What does the adult stage of the EAB look like?
The adult is a flatheaded wood-boring beetle in the insect family Buprestidae that?s slender, elongate, dark metallic green, 1/2 inch-long and 1/8 inch-wide (12 mm long and 3 mm wide) beetle.? Females are larger than males. ?

9.? What is the life cycle of the EAB?

Recent research shows that the?EAB can have a one- or?two-year life cycle.? Adults begin coming out of ash trees in mid- to late May with peak emergence in late June and early July.? After emerging, adults eat ash leaves around the leaf margins for about two weeks.? Females usually begin laying eggs about 2 weeks after emergence.? Eggs hatch in 1-2 weeks, and young larvae bore through the bark and into the cambium (the active growing area between the bark and wood where nutrient levels are high).? Larvae feed beneath the bark for several weeks, usually from late July or early August through October.? Cream-colored EAB larvae typically pass through four stages, eventually reaching a length of 1 to 1.25 inches (26-32 mm).? Larvae have a 10-segmented abdomen with a pair of brown pincer-like appendages on the last segment.? Most EAB larvae overwinter in a small chamber in the outer bark or in the outer inch of wood.? Pupation occurs in spring and the new generation of adults will begin to emerge in May or early June, to start the cycle again.

EAB adults may begin to emerge during mid-May described by a growing degree day (GDD) range of 450-500 GDD (using a threshold air temperature of 50?F).? Adults may be active through August.? Adult EAB emergence peaks from late June to mid-July that occurs around 1000 GDD based upon research conducted in Michigan.

10.? How does the EAB move from one location to another?
We know EAB adults can fly at least 1/2 mile from the tree where they emerge.? Many infestations, however, are started when people unintentionally move infested ash firewood, ash nursery trees, or logs into uninfested areas.? Shipments of ash nursery trees and ash logs with bark are now regulated, and transporting firewood outside of the quarantined areas is illegal, but transport of infested ash firewood remains a problem.? PLEASE - do not move any ash firewood or logs outside quarantined areas.?

11.? How long has the EAB been in Michigan?
No one really knows for sure.? Experts feel that the EAB may have been in the Detroit area for at least 12 years.? The initial infestation probably started from a small number of beetles.? Over the next few years, the population of the EAB began to increase and spread.? By 2002 many trees in southeastern Michigan were dead or dying.? In North America, native ash trees have little or no resistance to the EAB, and natural enemies have so far had little effect when EAB populations are high.

12.? Does the EAB only attack dying or stressed ash trees?
Healthy ash trees are also susceptible, although the EAB may prefer to lay eggs or feed on stressed trees.? When EAB populations are high, small trees may die within 1-2 years of becoming infested and large trees may be killed in 3-4 years.

13.? How big a problem is the EAB?
The EAB is becoming an international problem, with infestations in Canada as well as Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Missouri, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Kentucky, New York, Tennessee, and Iowa.? The economic damage from the EAB problem could reach the billions of dollars nationwide if not dealt with effectively.? State and federal regulatory agencies have made the EAB problem a priority.? Homeowners can also help by carefully monitoring ash trees for symptoms and signs of EAB throughout the year.

14. ?Are there other insects that can cause similar damage to ash trees in Pennsylvania besides the EAB?"

There are two species of wood-boring caterpillars and several species of wood-boring beetles that also develop in ash trees in Pennsylvania.? None of these other species of wood-boring insects that attack ash create a capital ?D?-shaped emergence hole the size of that created by an adult EAB when it comes out of an ash tree.? Some of the other wood-boring species that attack ash include the ash/lilac borer, Podosesia syringae, the banded ash clearwing, Podosesia aureocincta, the redheaded ash borer, Neoclytus acuminatus, the banded ash borer, Neoclytus caprea, and the eastern ash bark beetle, Hylesinus aculeatus.? When the five species listed above emerge from an ash tree, they create round emergence holes in varying sizes.? These round holes range from approximately 1/16-inch to 1/4-inch (1.5 mm to 6 mm) in diameter.

15.? Who do I contact to get more information on the EAB in Pennsylvania, get an EAB suspect specimen accurately identified, or to report a potentially EAB-infested ash tree?

Contact your local county Pennsylvania State University Cooperative Extension Office, the nearest Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture regional office, or the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry?s Division of Forest Pest Management office.? You may also contact the Pennsylvania EAB hotline at 1-866-253-7189.? Additional information on the emerald ash borer is available by visiting the following web sites:

------------------------
The above list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) was provided by Gregory Hoover, Department of Entomology, Pennsylvania State University, and Dr. Deborah McCullough and Robin Usborne, Michigan State University Cooperative Extension in October 2010.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AgSuperfeed/~3/S0HuELQwLgo/frequently-asked-questions

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Age of Blood {Closed}

Chase hated going to the ?surface? but it had to be done. Who else was going to the ?surface? as he called it, and get more food or water? Sure he had a huge supply of food and water and he really didn?t need to come out of his basement but he liked to collect more food and water just in case. Who knew how long you?d have to stay hiding, right? That and he was tired of doing this alone. Maybe there were other non-infected people running around. He could provide a place to stay, food, water, and company. If the Infected didn?t kill him, he knew the lack of socialization would. Humans were the ?cultural? animal and all that jazz after all.

Chase pushed his trap door up slowly and looked around his empty living room. True his windows were all bared with metal as were the door, all thanks to a paranoid father who died before the apocalypse he warned of, but he still liked to check just in case an infected person managed to get in somehow. Once the coast was clear, Chase got out of his basement and locked the door again and put a rug over the door. He adjusted the guns on his body and checked his daggers before he was sure he was set. He ran a gloved hand through his blond hair and opened his front door quietly before he was finally out in the completely unprotected streets.

The young man decided to check the grocery store first. People needed food and water so he hoped he might find a non-infected person there. Infected also hung around the area so he?d have to be careful. Hopefully, he could use his sword and daggers before he had to shoot. A loud gunshot would call other zombie quicker after all and he wasn?t in the mood to be nibbled on. Chase constantly looked around him as he maneuvered quietly through the streets towards the supermarket and had to shuffle backward into an alley when he saw a whole group of infected around a body. They were all gorging themselves on what used to be a man. Chase had to calm his hammering heart for a moment before he took a different shortcut and got into the store.

As usual, it was way too damn quiet in here. A lot of the food had gone bad, but preserved food was still good. He opened his pack and started to put canned tuna and chicken into it as well as some bottled water and crackers. He turned a corner too fast and nearly ran right into a swaying zombie. Chase gasped and shuffled back a little as he grabbed his sword just as the infected man swiveled around to look at him. Chase swung the sword and got the infected man in the throat. The head fell and sprayed blood before the body fell to the ground as well.

?Ech. Gotta pay attention, Chase,? he muttered to himself before he finished looking around the store. It was disappointing to see that no other life form had decided to come to the store. Where else should he look? He didn?t fancy the idea of wandering around aimlessly. That was just inviting trouble, but still. How long has it been since he had someone to talk to? Months? It was driving him crazy. Hell, he was talking to himself after all. That and he started to talk to a Fennec Fox he had saved as a puppy like it was his best friend in the world. Kinda like Wilson. He even named the fox Wilson just to be funny. He usually brought the fox along with him but decided he?d go solo today. He adjusted his bag and checked the street one more time before he headed out of the store.

?Another lonely day?? he mumbled.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/0BS4STsKldc/viewtopic.php

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Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Canon 50D gains video recording through Magic Lantern RAW hack

It may be time to dust off that Canon 50D you purchased back in 2008. The folks behind the Magic Lantern firmware add-on have pulled yet another rabbit out the proverbial hat (or is it lantern?) by enabling RAW video recording on the APS-C-based DSLR. What's even more impressive is that the 50D lacks video support out of the box, so this new-found functionality is truly magical. This hack comes hot on the heels of the Magic Lantern team coaxing the Canon 5D Mark II / III into capturing 24 fps RAW video. With the firmware add-on installed, the 50D is capable of shooting video up to 1592 x 1062 pixels at 30 fps. There are some caveats, though. First, there's no audio recording since the camera lacks a microphone input and associated electronics. Second, capturing RAW video requires fast CF cards (at least UDMA 6). Third, we now fully expect to see the 50D skyrocket in value on the used market. Hit the break for a few sample videos.

Filed under: Cameras, Canon

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Via: No Film School

Source: Magic Lantern Forums

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/mxRY_VFj6vQ/

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Obama to nation: Don't take US troops for granted

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) ? Reflecting on the personal toll of war, President Barack Obama on Monday implored a nation in which few volunteer for the armed forces to "always remember and to be worthy of the sacrifice" of its fallen heroes.

Addressing a Memorial Day service at Arlington National Cemetery, Obama said he worries that U.S. servicemen and women ? including thousands he sent to war in more than four years as commander in chief ? aren't being fully appreciated in an era in which "most Americans are not directly touched by war."

Less than 1 percent of the population of more than 313 million people serves in the military, officials have said.

Obama said he couldn't explain why few are touched by war, but he allowed that it could be because of the bravery and skill of the all-volunteer force, along with new technologies that make it possible to carry out missions while endangering fewer personnel. Contrast that with generations past, when Obama said millions of Americans contributed during World War II, including his grandparents, and when "just about everybody knew somebody" who served in the Vietnam War.

"As a consequence, not all Americans may always see or fully grasp the depth of sacrifice, the profound costs that are made in our name ? right now, as we speak, every day," Obama said.

He cited fears of loved ones being forgotten that he said were expressed in letters he had received from a Naval reservist recently returned from Afghanistan and from a Charlotte, N.C., woman whose two sons are Marines who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Obama noted that his address here last year was the first time in nine years that Americans were no longer fighting and dying in Iraq, where the war has ended. The U.S. also is ending its mission in Afghanistan, with most of the more than 60,000 troops stationed there due to come home by the end of next year.

"But even as we turn the page on a decade of conflict," Obama said, "our nation is still at war."

He urged Americans, as they go about their daily lives, to remember that their fellow countrymen are still serving, still fighting and still putting their lives on the line every day.

"Let it be our task, every single one of us, to honor the strength and the resolve and the love these brave Americans felt for each other and for our country," the president said. "Let us never forget to always remember and to be worthy of the sacrifice they make in our name."

Obama spoke at the nation's hallowed burial ground four days after declaring in a major national security address that the U.S. has taken down the al-Qaida terrorist organization, particularly after the killing of its leader, Osama bin Laden. But terrorist threats remain, he said, cautioning the U.S. against letting its vigilance slide.

The president spoke at the amphitheater of Arlington National Cemetery on a sun-splashed morning after he placed a wreath of red, white and blue flowers at the Tomb of the Unknowns and observed a moment of silence.

In the speech, Obama reflected on the human toll of armed conflict, noting that "every loss is devastating" for the parents who lose a child, the husbands and wives who lose a partner and the children who lose a parent.

As the one who has final say on whether to send troops into combat, Obama said he feels the losses, too.

"I feel it every time I meet a wounded warrior, every time I visit Walter Reed and every time I grieve with a Gold Star family," he said, referring to families whose loved ones were killed during military service.

He last visited wounded troops at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., in March.

Before returning to the White House, Obama stopped at the cemetery's Section 60, the final resting place for U.S. troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, including two whose stories the president shared in his remarks.

He and first lady Michelle Obama spent more than a half hour there, walking among the white headstones and greeting and taking pictures with many of those who were at the cemetery to pay their respects.

Before departing the White House, the president and first lady held a private breakfast in the State Dining Room for Gold Star families.

___

Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-nation-dont-us-troops-granted-193421780.html

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EU duties on Chinese solar panels losing member: state support

By Robin Emmott and Ethan Bilby

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A majority of EU governments oppose a plan to impose hefty duties on solar panel imports from China, a survey of member states showed on Monday, undermining efforts by Brussels to pressure Beijing over its trade practices.

The European Commission, the EU's executive, accuses Chinese firms of selling solar panels at below cost in Europe - a practice known as "dumping" - and plans to impose duties, making it far harder for China to gain market share.

The duties, averaging 47 percent, will come into force from June 6 for a trial period and could be withdrawn if both sides reach a negotiated settlement.

It is the largest trade case the Commission has undertaken, with about 21 billion euros of China-made solar panels sold in the EU.

The duties are being proposed by the EU's trade commissioner, Belgian lawyer Karel De Gucht, who met with Chinese Vice-Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan for an informal meeting in Brussels on Monday.

The Chinese side described the meetings as "constructive" and said the pair discussed solar duties as well as an EU threat to open an investigation into mobile telecom equipment makers Huawei and ZTE.

But Zhong said that either EU move would lead to a definitive Chinese response.

"Such practices of trade protectionism are not acceptable to China," a spokeswoman for the Chinese mission to the European Union said in a statement, and would "seriously sour the climate on bilateral trade and economic engagement."

"The Chinese government would not sit on the sidelines, but would rather take necessary steps to defend its national interest," if the EU went ahead, the statement said.

The fear of Chinese reprisal and potential loss of business has led Germany, Britain and the Netherlands to be among at least 14 member states to oppose the sanctions, diplomats told Reuters.

The Commission said China was pressuring some EU countries to oppose the duties.

"Commissioner De Gucht ... made it very clear to the Vice-Minister that he was aware of the pressure being exerted by China on a number of EU member states, which explains why they are positioning themselves as they are in their advisory positions towards the European Commission," the Commission said in a statement.

The EU's 27 countries had until last Friday to submit a formal, written response to De Gucht's plans. While the trade commissioner would still have the right to impose the duties, doing so in the face of member states' opposition would be hard.

The Commission statement said De Gucht told China's vice-minister he wanted "to examine the possibility of a negotiated settlement in partnership with the United States should this become necessary."

Provisional duties will more than likely still go ahead on June 6, once they are published in the European Union's official journal, officials say, but the pressure to roll them back before they become permanent in December will be intense.

The split underlines the depth of division in the EU over how to deal with China, a critical market for many EU exporters and the region's second biggest trading partner over all.

Reuters spoke to 21 of the EU's 27 countries and confirmed that 15 opposed the duties, while six supported them. The other six either declined to say or were unreachable.

France and Italy are leading a group of countries that say De Gucht is right to go ahead with sanctions, arguing that China's rapid rise in solar panel output to more than the world's entire demand could not have happened without illegal state support.

Chinese companies have captured more than 80 percent of the European market from almost zero a few years ago.

De Gucht met China's deputy commerce minister for informal talks in Brussels on Monday, a day after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, meeting in Berlin, called for an end to the dispute, as well as another conflict over Chinese telecoms companies accused of dumping in Europe.

Germany initially supported De Gucht's plans for duties, and it was a German company, Solar World, that first raised the complaint against the Chinese.

But rather than punitive measures, Merkel now appears to favor a negotiated solution, wary of the potential impact on German exporters if China were to take retaliatory steps.

"There is no need for more sanction measures," German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler told a news conference on Monday after talks with Li.

TRADE CHIEF'S STRATEGY

Although De Gucht says he had no intention of damaging European business interests in China, he wants to show Beijing that the Commission is serious about preventing dumping and that China must play by international trade rules.

France shares that view.

"We want to see a balanced relationship between China and the European Union," said French Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg. "Countries that use protectionism, and China is one of them, should accept reciprocal rules," he told reporters.

EU officials told Reuters earlier this year they were frustrated with the Chinese leadership's lack of engagement.

By levying provisional duties, the Commission feels it has leverage, because under EU law the sanctions could be cemented for up to five years from December if no solution is found.

According to a copy of the Commission's solar investigation obtained by Reuters, the Commission found clear evidence of dumping by Chinese producers.

"The Commission was presented with prima facie evidence that dumping occurred. They can't just ignore that," said Stuart Newman, a legal adviser to the Foreign Trade Association, a lobby group based in Brussels.

(Reporting by Luke Baker, Ethan Bilby, Robin Emmott, Francesco Guarascio and Phil Blenkinsop in Brussels, Yann Le Guernigou in Paris and Andreas Rinke in Berlin; Editing by Mike Collett-White, Will Waterman and Peter Cooney)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/berlin-tells-eu-opposes-solar-anti-dumping-action-110915654.html

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Monday, May 27, 2013

Getting Started with SEO 101: Beginner's Guide for Businesses

By Shannon Steffen on May 27, 2013

Beginners SEO for Business

If you have a business or company website, you definitely want it to be easy to find by your online target market. Search engine optimization (SEO), will help your business?s online success by improving the visibility of your website in the search engines. Here are some great optimization tips to get you started to Stand Out and Get Results on search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, and Bing.

Optimize Your Business Website?s Content ? The search engines love to provide searchers with high-quality content. Your business website?s content should be relevant, unique, and concise. Think like your target market and use keywords that people would search for online.
Improve Your Business Website?s Coding (HTML) ? It?s one thing to get the search engine spiders to your website but it?s another thing for them to properly index your website. Ensure that the SEO on your business website contains all the proper HTML tags so that the search engine crawlers understand each page. Every page should have relevant title, description, and alternative text that concisely describe that web page?s content.
Share Your Business Website with the Public ? Although Google, Yahoo!, and Bing (and other search engines) learn a lot about your company from your website, they also pay attention to the other websites to learn even more about your website. Share your website with relevant public websites; such as online communities, forums, business listings, etc. One-way relevant links add weight to your business website.

Implementing all of this could be an overwhelming task. When businesses do not have internal SEO specialists, they should look outside to hire white-hat and ethical search engine optimizers.

Remember that, just like hiring anyone else for your business needs, you complete your due diligence.

To help, here?s 32 SEO Questions and Answers to make sure you are bringing in a SEO Consultant and Strategist that is a great fit and adheres to SEO Best Practices.

Question: What?s the greatest SEO hurdle for your small business?

Shannon Steffen is a business inbound marketing consultant who helps Fortune 500s and small businesses around the world to Stand Out and Get Results by creating solid online strategies. She speaks widely on the science and art of online long-term success through strategic and creative thinking known as Human SEO^?.

Source: http://exciramedia.com/getting-started-with-seo-101-for-businesses/

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Suspected Indian Maoist rebels kill 19 in Congress convoy ambush

By Devidutta Tripathy

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Suspected Maoist rebels killed at least 19 people when they ambushed a convoy carrying regional leaders from India's ruling Congress party in dense forest on Saturday, officials said, one of the deadliest such attacks in recent years.

The rebels felled trees to block the 20-car convoy in the eastern state of Chhattisgarh and then detonated a landmine and raked the vehicles with gunfire, Indian media reported.

Among those killed was Mahendra Karma, a senior Congress leader from Chhattisgarh who founded an anti-Maoist group and was believed to be the main target of the attack. The state's Congress party leader and his son were also killed.

Senior Chhattisgarh police official Mukesh Gupta told Reuters by telephone six policemen were among the dead and that 35 people were also wounded in the ambush.

Police had earlier put the death toll as high as 27 but that had been revised down, Gupta said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the attack and said his government would take firm action. Singh, who flew to Chhattisgarh with Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi on Sunday, has called the Maoists the greatest domestic threat to India.

The rebels, also known as Naxals, have fought for decades in a wide swathe of central and eastern India, including many resource-rich regions where tensions run high between poor farmers and industrial developers.

They are estimated to number between 6,000 and 8,000 hardcore fighters in nearly a third of India's 630 districts. While they have made few inroads into cities, they have spread into rural pockets in 20 of 28 states.

Maoists say they are fighting for the rights of poor farmers and landless laborers. Thousands have been killed in the insurgency since the late 1960s.

In the worst previous Maoist attack, an ambush by hundreds of rebels killed 75 policemen in Chhattisgarh in 2010.

Television reports said scores of rebels trapped the convoy in a forest in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh, about 340 km (210 miles) south of the state capital Raipur, on Saturday. The Congress politicians had been returning from a rally.

"When our cars reached a turning point, the Naxals started firing. Two cars were blown up and the firing continued for almost one-and-a-half hours," NDTV quoted an injured Congress party worker as saying from hospital.

(Writing by Ross Colvin; Editing by Paul Tait)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/suspected-indian-maoist-rebels-kill-19-congress-convoy-082621185.html

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T.J. Grant earns lightweight title shot with TKO of Gray Maynard at UFC 160

The next lightweight contender had a chance to make himself known at UFC 160. T.J. Grant earned the spot with dismantling of Gray Maynard on Saturday night.

Grant absorbed a few early shots from Maynard, and then landed a right hand that shook Maynard. He had no time to recover, as Grant continued to swarm with punches and knees. Maynard went down, worked his way back to his feet and then was taken back down again. Finally, the bout was stopped at 2:07 in the first round.

Both Maynard and Grant knew going into the bout that the winner was expected to get the next UFC lightweight title shot. After such an impressive performance, he should get it, but he made sure to ask for it in his post-fight interview.

"I want to fight [UFC lightweight champ] Benson Henderson for the title. I wanna be the champ. I wanna beat the champ," Grant said.

He's on a five-fight win streak. Before Maynard, he took out Matt Wiman with a first-round TKO in January.

Henderson fully expects to fight Grant. He tweeted:

Wowser!!! TJ Grant it is...#UFC160

? Benson Henderson (@BensonHenderson) May 26, 2013

With the display Grant put on at UFC 160, Henderson isn't the only one looking forward to that fight.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/t-j-grant-earns-lightweight-title-shot-tko-032254038.html

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Affleck gets honorary doctorate from Brown

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) ? Academy Award-winning actor and director Ben Affleck has received one of six honorary doctorate degrees from Brown University.

Affleck was among artists, writers, scientists and educators to receive the degrees from the Ivy League school at commencement exercises Sunday. He received a doctor of fine arts degree. The Massachusetts native directed, produced and starred in "Argo," which won this year's Oscar for Best Picture.

Others getting honorary doctorates were author and MIT Professor Junot Diaz; retired Stanford University bacteriologist Stanley Falkow; Tougaloo College President Beverly Wade Hogan; medical doctor and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation President Risa Lavizzo-Mourey; and Miami Dade College President Eduardo Padron.

The university conferred more than 2,400 degrees Sunday.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/affleck-gets-honorary-doctorate-brown-012809939.html

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Sunday, May 26, 2013

Fuel-friendly summer: Four convertibles with good gas mileage

It's now possible to have fun in the sun and get good gas mileage with these four sensible convertibles.?

By Antony Ingram,?Guest blogger / May 25, 2013

The 2013 Volkswagen Beetle TDI convertible (2005 version shown here) is the only diesel convertible for sale right now, and it gets over 40 mph on the highway.

PRNewsFoto/Volkswagen of America/File

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Many things can signify summer--the weather finally being warm enough to ditch those outer layers of clothing; TV ads taking a distinctly more cheery tone; maybe simply hunting around for your sunshades for the first time in six months.

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