Euro mayors try to keep youths from going to Syria

Mayor of Mechelen Bart Somers speaks to the Associated Press after early morning police raids took place in the city of Mechelen, Belgium on Tuesday, April 16, 2013. Belgian police have conducted early morning searches at numerous locations regarding the recruitment of fighters to help rebels trying to overthrow Syrian leader Bashar Assad. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Mayor of Mechelen Bart Somers speaks to the Associated Press after early morning police raids took place in the city of Mechelen, Belgium on Tuesday, April 16, 2013. Belgian police have conducted early morning searches at numerous locations regarding the recruitment of fighters to help rebels trying to overthrow Syrian leader Bashar Assad. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Mayor of Mechelen Bart Somers speaks to the Associated Press after early morning police raids took place in the city of Mechelen, Belgium on Tuesday, April 16, 2013. Belgian police have conducted early morning searches at numerous locations regarding the recruitment of fighters to help rebels trying to overthrow Syrian leader Bashar Assad. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

MECHELEN, Belgium (AP) ? From his city hall under Belgium's most imposing cathedral, Mayor Bart Somers is wracking his brains trying to figure out how to keep young Muslims from going to fight "holy war" in Syria against the Assad regime.

Through much of western Europe, scores of Islamic youths have heeded the call to take up arms for a cause that is only a few hours away by plane. The phenomenon has alarmed authorities amid signs that the insurgency is becoming increasingly radicalized, with strong infiltration by al-Qaida. European authorities see a double danger, one that's summed up by Somers who describes the youths as "cannon fodder" in Syria ? and potential "full-blown terrorists" if they make it back home alive.

But it all raises a conundrum: In a free society, how can you prevent these young people from packing up and leaving?

"The major challenge of each democrat is to see what we can do in the fight against fundamentalism without sacrificing our own democratic laws," said Somers. "Otherwise we play into the hands of the terrorists."

That dilemma was again put to the test two weeks ago when Belgian authorities organized a major anti-terror sweep seeking to weed out agitators inciting young Muslims to fight against the Assad regime. In a high-profile raid of four dozen homes, police put six people behind bars, raising criticism among some that they had overstepped their bounds by infringing on freedom of speech.

In the Brussels municipality of Schaarbeek, the mayor even banned a soup kitchen for the needy, among them young Muslims, fearful that the charity workers were inciting youths to fight in Syria. The action came after two Muslim schoolboys disappeared, apparently to Syria ? departures that Mayor Bernard Clerfayt linked to soup kitchen recruitment.

There have been mounting calls to confiscate passports from youths who seem on the verge of leaving, something that many civil libertarians criticize as an anti-democratic restriction on movement.

Those who do go to fight often leave behind distraught parents. At least one Belgian father went to look for his son, to no avail. Concerned families seek any help to prevent the outflow of young people to Syria.

"We do not want people to go, especially the young men," said Abu Yamen, a Syrian who runs the El Rass pharmacy in Schaarbeek.

But the daily suffering shown on television can push the young into extreme, foolhardy decisions, mayor Somers said. The fighting has exacted a huge toll on the country, killing more than 70,000 people, laying waste to cities, towns and villages, and forcing more than a million people to seek refuge abroad. It has all created an opportunity for al-Qaida to win new converts to its cause, as the hardcore Syrian regime has also tried to present itself as one of the Middle East's most secular.

Insurgencies in Iraq and Libya also attracted foreign fighters. What is different in Syria is the extent to which fears are rising of the rebellion being hijacked by radical Islamist elements under the thumb of al-Qaida.

At Friday prayers in Brussels, Sheikh Mohamed El Tamamy has sought to discourage youths from leaving. "Some of these youngsters think that is jihad, when youngsters go from Belgium or Holland to Syria," he said. "But in truth, jihad in Islam has conditions and rules. For jihad, you must get permission from the authorities."

Many Europeans, however, fear fighters coming back more than volunteers heading to Syria.

The EU's law enforcement agency, Europol, said in the EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report it published last Friday that returning fighters "have the potential to utilize their training, combat experience, knowledge and contacts for terrorist activities inside the EU."

The International Centre for the Study of Radicalization, an international group of five major academic institutions, estimates that up to 590 Europeans have left, accounting for about 10 percent of the foreign fighter total in Syria. Europol said Friday that in 2012, "Syria emerged as a destination of choice for foreign fighters."

This month's bombings at the Boston Marathon reinforced Europe's fears about youths leaving the West to be radicalized overseas, and coming back to carry out attacks. U.S. authorities are investigating whether one of the suspects, ethnic Chechen Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was influenced by religious extremists when he spent six months in Russia's Caucasus in 2012.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said after a meeting with his Belgian counterpart, Didier Reynders, that "we just had a young person who went to Russia and Chechnya who blew people up in Boston. So he didn't stay where he went, but he learned something where he went and he came back with a willingness to kill people."

It's a trajectory that some Europeans fear carries parallels to the youths traveling to Syria to fight in the insurgency.

"We have to follow them to protect our society," said Reynders. "We have a real terrorist risk because of such behavior."

In the neighboring Netherlands, anxiety has spread to the historic city of Delft, until recently known for its blue-and-white pottery, canals, and burial site of kings and queens. Now, you can add suspected jihadists as well.

In the Netherlands, as in Belgium, there has been alarm over some Muslim youths leaving for Syria, with estimated departures going as high as 100. "It was known that some Delft youngsters were radicalizing," Delft mayor Bas Verkerk wrote to his city council, after unconfirmed reports that two fighters from Delft had died.

And last month the nation raised its terror alert to "substantial," with the terrorism coordinator citing "signs of youngsters radicalizing in the Netherlands and the increased number of jihad travelers to Syria."

As a liberal, Somers is hesitant to choose between freedom and added security and intrusion into people's lives. But he is also sensitive to the need for strong surveillance ? and is seeking compromises.

Somers says he wants security personnel to be "the eyes and ears in our cities" to see who plans to leave ? "and then we try to influence him in a positive way."

"We try it with the police and the secret service. We try to find out who is behind those people," he said. Somers is now coordinating surveillance and outreach efforts with the mayors of Antwerp and Vilvoorde, which is close to Brussels.

But some human rights organizations argue that fundamental rights are being trampled in the process.

"We are talking about views that these youngsters hold, and you cannot change opinions with a repressive approach," said Jos Vander Velpen, the chairman of the Belgian League of Human Rights. "To the contrary, they will become even more convinced, and win more status because of it."

___

AP videojournalists Bishr Eltouni and Mark Carlson contributed to this article.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-04-29-Europe-Syria%20Fighters/id-a2879414802247a2bba979eb54b3bcae

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Man stabs choir members during closing hymns at New Mexico church, police say

By Daniel Arkin, Staff Writer, NBC News

At least four people were stabbed at an Albuquerque, N.M., church when a man went on a rampage during?a Sunday?service?s closing hymns, police said.

Albuquerque Police Department officials say the unidentified suspect with a weapon leaped over pews and lunged at members of the choir just before noon on Sunday. He repeatedly stabbed choir members, according to police.

Police officers dispatched to St. Jude Thaddeus Parish discovered that several parishioners had?pinned the suspect to the floor, according to police spokesperson Tasia Martinez.

?The scene was chaotic when officers arrived and it was quickly ascertained that numerous parishioners essentially jumped on the male offender and held him down until officers arrived,? Martinez said.

Officials have the suspect in custody. Officials said they have determined that the assailant was not a parishioner at the church but have not determined a motive for the attack.

The four stabbing victims all sustained non-life threatening injuries and were being treated at local hospitals, according to authorities. Officials have not yet released the names of the victims.

Law enforcement officials and the Albuquerque Fire Department plan to release more information about the incident late Sunday.

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Pyongyang glitters but most of NKorea still dark

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) ? The heart of this city, once famous for its Dickensian darkness, now pulsates with neon.

Glossy new construction downtown has altered the Pyongyang skyline. Inside supermarkets where shopgirls wear faux French designer labels, people with money can buy Italian wine, Swiss chocolates, kiwifruit imported from New Zealand and fresh-baked croissants. They can get facials, lie in tanning booths, play a round of mini golf or sip cappuccinos.

Nearly 2 million people are using cell phones. Computer shops can't keep up with demand for North Korea's locally distributed tablet computer, popularly known here as "iPads." A shiny new cancer institute features a $900,000 X-ray machine imported from Europe.

Pyongyang has long been a city apart from the rest of North Korea, the showcase capital dubbed a "socialist fairyland" by state media.

But a year after new leader Kim Jong Un promised publicly to bring an end to the "era of belt-tightening" and economic hardship in North Korea, the gap between the haves and have-nots so far has only grown with Pyongyang's transformation.

Beyond the paved main streets of the capital, life remains grindingly tough. Food is rationed, electricity is a precious commodity and people get around by walking, cycling or hopping into the backs of trucks. Most homes lack running water or plumbing. Health care is free, but aid workers say medicine is in short supply.

___

For decades, North Korea seemed a country trapped in time. Rickety streetcars shuddered past concrete-block apartment buildings with broken window panes, chipping pastel paint and crumbling front steps.

But since 2010, as part of the campaign to build a new city for their new leader, Pyongyang has been under construction. Scaffolding covers the fronts of scores of buildings across the city. Red banners painted with slogan "At a breath" ? implying breakneck work at a breathless pace ? flutter from the skeletons of skyscrapers built by soldiers.

Often, the soldiers are scrawny conscripts in thin canvas sneakers piling bricks onto stretchers or hauling them by hand. In 2011, they set up temporary work camps along the Taedong River, makeshift shantytowns decorated by red flags.

Their work focused on downtown Changjon Street, where ramshackle cottages were torn down to make way for department stores, restaurants and high-rise apartments.

Today, the street would not look out of place in Seoul or Shanghai. Indeed, many of the goods ? Hershey's Kisses, Coca-Cola and Doritos ? on sale at the new supermarket were imported from China and Singapore.

"What is a 'delicatessen'?" a North Korean asked as a butcher in a white chef's hat sliced tuna for takeaway sashimi beneath a deli sign written in English. Upstairs, baristas were serving Italian espressos, bakers were churning out baguettes and white wedding cakes.

___

One new Changjon Street resident, Mun Kang Sun, gave The Associated Press a tour of the apartment she and her husband were granted in recognition for her work at the Kim Jong Suk Textile Factory.

A framed wedding portrait hangs on the wall above their Western-style bed. There's a washing machine in the bathroom, an IBM computer in the study and a 42-inch widescreen TV. AP was not allowed to visit other apartments to compare whether the furnishings are typical for Pyongyang residents.

Orphaned as a child, Mun said she began working in factories at age 16. She earned the title "hero of the republic" after exceeding her work quota by 200 percent for 13 years. She says she accomplished that by dashing around the factory floor operating four or five machines at once.

"When we heard the news that we'd get a nest where we can rest, and we got the key for our apartment and took a look around, we were totally shocked because the house is so nice," said her husband, Kim Hyok. "It's still hard to believe this is my home; it still feels like we're living in a hotel."

Though the apartment has faucets, old habits die hard. The bathtub was still filled with water, a bucket bobbing in the tub, as in countless homes across the country where water is pumped from a well, carried in by hand and used sparingly.

___

Elsewhere in the city, aging buildings are getting upgraded. But most are still drafty, the walls poorly insulated, even in the capital. Elevators and heat are rare. North Koreans are accustomed to wearing winter jackets and thermal underwear indoors from October to April.

Power cuts have been less frequent in Pyongyang since the opening of a hydroelectric power station to the northwest, but it's still common for the lights to go out in the middle of dinner. Most people just carry on drinking and eating.

Outside Pyongyang, nightfall comes early. In Ryonggang, west of the capital, lights were out as soon as the sun set. At one inn, two women stood chatting quietly in a lobby lit with a candle as a shrill voice from a radio broadcast chortled from loudspeakers nearby.

Kim Jong Jin's farm cottage in Hamhung has a generator, allowing him and his wife to watch DVDs at night on a TV they carefully cover during the day with a frilly lace veil.

Their thimble of a home is simple but spotless, the papered floors clean enough to eat from. Water is piped into a well in the kitchen. Heat comes from the traditional Korean "ondol" system of feeding an underground furnace with wood. Waste is turned into methane gas for cooking. Food for the household comes from the garden outside.

But not everyone lives in such relative comfort as the Kims, whose home government officials are willing to show off. There are stark signs of poverty across the country. A mother huddles over a child as she sits shivering by the side of the road. Barefoot boys in a village destroyed by floods scamper about dressed in little more than underwear. Sharp shoulders and splotchy faces betray the gnawing hunger of young soldiers.

Beyond the paved, pocked highways that radiate from Pyongyang, there are few roads between the denuded mountains, just dirt paths that become dangerously muddy with rainfall and treacherously slippery in winter. Villagers struggle to clear snow with makeshift shovels crafted out of planks of wood.

Private cars are a rarity outside the capital, and gasoline is scarce. In Hamhung, North Korea's second-largest city, soldiers cram into the backs of trucks powered by wood-burning stoves that send smoke billowing behind them.

Goods are strapped to the back of bicycles, from firewood to dead pigs. Old men sit crouched by the side of the road with bike pumps, offering to fix flats. Oxen, and people, plod past pulling carts.

The closest most may get to the capital in their lifetime is by seeing it on state TV. For them, Pyongyang would truly seem like a fairyland.

___

Life in the North Korean countryside would be familiar to South Koreans old enough to recall the poverty in their nation just after the Korean War. Indeed, into the 1970s, North Korea was the richer of the two Koreas.

Today, newly affluent South Korea has the world's 15th-largest economy. In North Korea, meanwhile, two-thirds of people struggle to find their daily meal, according to the World Food Program.

North Koreans acknowledge the devastating economic loss of the Soviet safety net in the early 1990s. But they blame the county's growing international isolation on the U.S., its Korean War foe, which has led efforts to punish North Korea for developing its nuclear weapons program.

Pyongyang instead has turned to fledgling trade with companies in China, Singapore, Indonesia, Italy, Egypt and elsewhere. These joint ventures keep the shelves in the capital stocked with goods, computer labs filled with PCs, streets crowded with VWs, in spite of sanctions.

For years, foreign goods and customs were regarded with practiced suspicion, even as they were secretly coveted. Kim Jong Un has addressed that curiosity by encouraging trade and by quoting his father in saying North Korea is "looking out onto the world" ? a country that must become familiar with international customs even if it continues to prefer its own.

Kim has not made it significantly easier for North Koreans to travel, channel surf or read travelogues posted online, but he is arranging to bring the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben to them in the form of a miniature world park slated to open later this year.

The flow of cash and goods has created a burgeoning middle class in the capital. Pyongyang now has a parade of fashionistas in eye-popping belted jackets, sparkly barrettes clipped to their hair, fingernails painted with a clear gloss. At one European-style restaurant last week, a young couple on a date sipped cocktails topped off with Maraschino cherries and feasted on pizza, their cellphones laid on the table.

At one beauty salon, the rage is for short cuts made popular by singers from the all-girl military Moranbong band who have jazzed up North Korea's staid performance scene with their bobbed hair, little black dresses and electric guitars.

"There are so many young women asking to get their hair done like them," hairstylist Chae Cho Yong said.

___

While the differences between the showcase capital and the hardscrabble countryside are growing starker, one thing remains the same: the authoritarian rule and the intricate web of laws governing life in the Stalinist state.

Even as they laugh, North Koreans calibrate their words. Criticism of the state and leadership is not only taboo but dangerous; when asked for their opinion, most people parrot phrases they've heard in state media, still the safest way to answer questions in a country where state security remains tight and terrifying.

Very few have access to the Internet, cable TV, international phone lines. It's still illegal for them to interact without permission with foreigners, who are kept on a tight leash and discouraged from making impromptu visits to homes, shops, restaurants and offices.

Around Chae, the cavernous barber shop was empty, not a single customer in the brand new swivel seats.

An employee explained that most North Koreans are at weekly ideology study sessions on Saturdays, the only day of the week foreigners are allowed inside.

___

Follow AP's bureau chief for Pyongyang and Seoul at www.twitter.com/newsjean.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pyongyang-glitters-most-nkorea-still-dark-050645191.html

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Down 3-0, Celtics try avoid sweep Sunday vs Knicks

WALTHAM, Mass. (AP) ? Hanging on a wall of the Celtics' practice facility, opposite the faded banners that hung in the old Boston Garden a half-century ago, is a spotless one.

It went up a few years ago to hold the location where the NBA's greatest champions would mark their next title.

That banner will apparently remain blank another year. As soon as Sunday, the Celtics' quest for No. 18 could be over for this season.

Down 3-0 to the New York Knicks, the Celtics are thinking much smaller than another title when they host Game 4 on Sunday afternoon.

"You've got to focus on the single game. You can't win four without winning one," Boston coach Doc Rivers said Saturday.

Even that looks difficult for a Celtics team that can't get any offense going. Boston has averaged a feeble 75 points, not breaking 80 in any game, on 39.5 percent shooting.

No NBA team has overcome a 3-0 deficit to win a series, as the Knicks know. They were swept by the Celtics two years ago and managed only to get to Game 5 after dropping the first three against Miami last year, when they ran their NBA-record postseason losing streak to 13 games.

Now Carmelo Anthony sees the Celtics in the same position he was in during his first two postseasons in New York, and he wants the sweep.

"To be honest with you, to accomplish that would be spectacular. It would be a dream come true. I've never swept anybody. But we know Game 4 is win or go home for them guys," Anthony said.

"I've been on that side of the ball plenty of times and I know that feeling, so I know the type of energy they're going to come out and display here on Sunday. We've just got to be prepared for the punches that they throw and everything they put out there on the basketball court."

There haven't been any punches, though the Celtics' Jason Terry did take an elbow from New York's J.R. Smith late in Game 3. Terry wouldn't comment on the play Saturday, but said he was annoyed by what he thought was some Knicks' showboating and is clearly agitated by what's gone on in the series.

"I mean, when you get your butt kicked like they've been doing to us the last week or so and you're seeing the same team every day, you're going to get tired of it. Or you're going to lay down. I'm tired of it," Terry said.

The Celtics haven't lost in the first round since 2005 and haven't been swept since Indiana beat them in the first round a year earlier.

They returned to prominence six years ago when they acquired Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to team with Paul Pierce, and it's been a good run for the Celtics. They won a title in 2008, lost in a Game 7 to the Lakers two years later, and pushed Miami to seven games in last year's Eastern Conference finals.

But Allen then joined the Heat, and All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo was lost to a knee injury around midseason. Garnett will turn 37 next month and Pierce is 35, and the Celtics have had opportunities to trade both of them. There may be more decisions in the offseason, so the end of this series could actually be the end of an era.

"I dread the end all the time. I really do," Rivers said. "I just like to be able to know when the end is, meaning you're in Game 7 of the world championship. Then you know you're playing for the end. I hate when the end can come early. But I dread them all."

Game 5 would be Wednesday, though the Knicks would prefer to wrap it up Sunday and give one of the oldest rosters in NBA history some extra rest before their first appearance in the second round since 2000.

"For sure," said point guard Raymond Felton. "Just like Melo said, I've been on the other end of the stick as well. I was in Charlotte, made the playoffs for the first time and we got swept by Orlando. So it feels good to be on the winning side. So if we could come out and definitely sweep this game, it would be something special for all of us. For me, for him, especially individually, and then on top of that we'd get a lot of rest. And hopefully Indiana and Atlanta can go to Game 7."

The Celtics believe they can turn things around with more effort, though their execution has been just as poor. Not even Pierce has been immune to their woes, missing a layup on the first possession of Friday's 90-76 loss and just fumbling the ball away on a couple of occasions later in the game.

But forward Jeff Green said his confidence is "still high," even if the Celtics' chances of advancing aren't.

"I mean, look at the guys on this team, guys who have been through so much throughout their career," he said. They've been down. I mean you have guys who are confident in their game and believe that we have a chance, and that's all that it takes."

___

Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/down-3-0-celtics-try-avoid-sweep-sunday-190239545.html

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International troops should prepare to go into Syria: U.S. senator

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of nations should get troops ready to invade Syria in order to secure possible stocks of chemical weapons, a senior U.S. senator said on Sunday.

Senator John McCain, a Republican from Arizona, said U.S. troops should not go into Syria, but that an international force must "be ready operationally" to go in and prevent Islamic militants involved in Syria's civil war from getting their hands on chemical weapons.

"There are number of caches of these chemical weapons. They cannot fall into the hands of the jihadists," McCain, who was the 2008 Republican presidential candidate and is an influential voice on military issues in the U.S. Senate, told NBC's Meet The Press.

More than 70,000 people have died in Syria's two-year-old civil war, and the White House said on Thursday the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad had probably used chemical weapons on a small scale in the conflict.

Syria denies using chemical weapons in the war.

The U.S. fears anti-Assad Islamist rebels affiliated to al Qaeda could seize the chemical weapons, and Washington and its allies have discussed scenarios where tens of thousands of ground troops go into Syria if Assad's government falls.

(Reporting by Jason Lange; editing by Christopher Wilson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/international-troops-prepare-syria-u-senator-150852575.html

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Two Meteorites Discovered In Antarctica May Be From The Same Supernova

There's nothing more fascinating or TV special-worthy than twins separated at birth. Whether they're reunited at 15 or 50 it's safe to say that there'll be some eerily similar food preferences and a whole lot of crying. But what about two chemically identical grains of silica that haven't seen each other for more than 4.6 billion years? More »

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Overseer of US victim funds says work wrenching

BOSTON (AP) ? Massachusetts lawyer Kenneth Feinberg has been near the heart of some of the worst catastrophes, dealing with people who've faced profound loss after 9/1l, the BP oil spill, the Virginia Tech shootings, and the Colorado movie theater ambush.

Now, he's adding the Boston Marathon bombings to his workload, managing a victims' compensation fund as he did after the previous tragedies.

The 67-year-old Feinberg said his work takes an emotional toll but is about wanting to help, in the same spirit as those who donate.

The experiences are wrenching, he said. And recipients invariably resent him, thinking he's trying to put a price on the priceless things they've lost.

"Don't expect thanks or appreciation or gratitude, none of that," Feinberg said. "We have very emotional victims and you're offering them money instead of a limb, instead of the return of a family member. This is a no-win situation."

But he keeps saying yes to the work because he wants to help.

"Look at the amount of money that pours in from private people, private citizens?" he said. "How do you say no if the governor calls, the mayor?"

In 1984, the Brockton native was appointed to distribute money from a $180 million settlement for military veterans exposed to Agent Orange. His work was stellar enough to prompt a call when President George W. Bush was looking for someone to manage the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund. Since then, the calls have come regularly.

Currently, he is advising a panel distributing money after the December school massacre in Newtown, Conn., and mediating settlement discussions between Penn State and alleged sex abuse victims of former football coach Jerry Sandusky.

The One Fund ? now nearing $26 million ? was established to help victims of the April 15 marathon explosions that killed three people and injured more than 260. Feinberg has established an aggressive timeline in Boston. He hopes to meet with families by June 15 and get checks out by June 30.

Most of the work is pro bono, including the Boston Marathon job, though Feinberg was paid for his work with the 9/11 fund and the BP oil spill, the job that earned Feinberg the most abuse.

In his 2012 book, "Who Gets What," he said he became a "human pinata." Residents complained about the speed and distribution of the payouts, and insults flew at public meetings. "You are such a lying piece of (garbage)," one person said.

Meanwhile, lawyers scoffed at his vigorous declarations of independence from BP, a claim Feinberg said now widely believed.

Attorney Anthony Tarricone, now of the Boston firm Kreindler & Kreindler, who represented both BP and 9/11 victims, called Feinberg the perfect person to manage the marathon fund. Tarricone cited Feinberg's legal skills and the respectful, kind manner in which he dealt with 9/11 families.

"He was fair, he listened to the families, the families felt as if they were being listened to, and that he was understanding what they were going through," Tarricone said.

Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, who worked with Feinberg when he was handling the 9/11 fund, said Feinberg balances compassion for the victims with vigilance in protecting the money from abuse.

"I can't say exactly how he handles it emotionally and psychologically, I just know that he does it professionally," Ashcroft said. "I don't think the world would keep going back, knocking on his door, saying 'Ken, we need you again,' if they were displeased because there's nothing that locks him into this responsibility."

The eventual total of the One Fund will determine who can be helped. Payment for deaths takes priority, followed by compensation for physical injuries. Payment for mental health issues comes if money is available, Feinberg said.

His principle is to pay the same amount on all deaths. His top indicator for determining the seriousness of the injuries is the length of the hospital stay.

Feinberg has established an aggressive timeline. He hopes to meet with families by June 15 and get checks out by June 30. Along the way, the classical music aficionado will most likely take refuge in music when he can.

"During the day, I'm working on a project that shows you how uncivilized some people can be and how they willy-nilly, at random, kill and maim people," he said. "And at night you turn on Mozart, and it's the height of civilization." It reminds him "that mankind isn't all bad."

Associated Press

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Atlanta weekend food events: drink with the butterflies, dine out for a ...

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Controllers to return; flight delays sway Congress

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Furloughed air traffic controllers will soon be heading back to work, ending a week of coast-to-coast flight delays that left thousands of travelers frustrated and furious.

Unable to ignore the travelers' anger, Congress overwhelmingly approved legislation Friday to allow the Federal Aviation Administration to withdraw the furloughs. The vote underscored a shift by Democrats who had insisted on erasing all of this year's $85 billion in across-the-board budget cuts, not just the most publicly painful ones, for fear of losing leverage to restore money for Head Start and other programs with less lobbying clout and popular support.

With President Barack Obama's promised signature, the measure will erase one of the most stinging and publicly visible consequences of the budget-wide cuts known as the sequester.

Friday's House approval was 361-41 and followed the previous evening's passage by the Senate, which didn't even bother with a roll call. Lawmakers then streamed toward the exits ? and airports ? for a weeklong spring recess.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama would sign the bill, but Carney complained that the measure left the rest of the sequester intact.

"This is a Band-Aid solution. It does not solve the bigger problem," he said. Using the same Band-Aid comparison, Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., said that "the sequester needs triple bypass surgery."

The FAA and Transportation Department did not respond to repeated questions about when the controllers' furloughs would end. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who helped craft the measure, was told by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Friday that the agency is "doing everything they can to get things back on track as quickly as possible," said Collins spokesman Kevin Kelley.

In the week since the furloughs began, news accounts have prominently featured nightmarish tales of delayed flights and stranded air passengers. Republicans have used the situation to accuse the Obama administration of purposely forcing the controllers to take unpaid days off to dial up public pressure on Congress to roll back the sequester.

"The president has an obligation to implement these cuts in a way that respects the American people, rather than using them for political leverage," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said in a written statement.

"Unfortunately for this administration, the term 'sequester' has become synonymous with fear," Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., said during the debate.

Halting the furloughs was the latest example of lawmakers easing parts of the sequester that became too painful.

They previously used a separate, wide-ranging spending bill to provide more money for meat and poultry inspectors. Attorney General Eric Holder cited extra funds in that same bill as the reason the Justice Department would be able to avoid furloughs. Transportation Security Administration employees also have gotten relief.

The Obama administration and congressional Democrats ? backed by many fiscal experts ? say the sequester law gives agencies little maneuverability, requiring them to spread cuts evenly among most budget accounts. The Federal Aviation Administration was achieving about a third of its required $637 million in cuts by furloughing nearly all its workers ? including the 15,000 air traffic controllers ? one day every two weeks.

Obama and his Democratic allies want to roll back the entire sequester, with the White House proposing a substitute mix of spending cuts and tax increases that Republicans have rejected. The GOP has proposed replacing the across-the-board spending cuts with others, many of them aimed at programs Democrats defend.

That has left many Democrats reluctant to ease across-the-board cuts for individual programs that cause a public outcry because they worry that would relieve pressure on Republicans to undo the entire sequester.

"While there is a little bit of leverage and pressure, let's broaden it to the sequester as a whole," Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., told reporters before voting against the bill.

Said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.: "How can we sit there and say, 'Four million Meals on Wheels for seniors gone? But that's not important. Over 70,000 children off Head Start. But that's not important.' What is important is for Republicans to hold a hard line" on budget cuts.

Even so, the complaints about flying delays became too intense, and in the end only 29 Democrats and 12 Republicans voted against the measure Friday in the House. The FAA said there had been at least 863 flights delayed on Wednesday attributed to the furloughs, with hundreds of others daily since the furloughs began last Sunday.

The bill would let the FAA use up to $253 million from an airport improvement program and other accounts to halt the furloughs through the Sept. 30 end of the government's fiscal year. The money can be used for other FAA operations, too, including keeping open small airport towers around the country that the agency said it would shut to satisfy the spending cuts.

But Democrats were bitter Friday that cuts in many federal programs remain. Besides the Head Start pre-school program, they complained about ongoing cuts for health research, feeding programs for poor women, children and the elderly and jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed and about furloughs of civilian Pentagon workers.

"Let's get a big deal. Let's deal with all the adverse consequences of the sequester," said No. 2 House Democrat Steny Hoyer, whose Maryland district has many civil servants and who voted no.

Congressional approval was hailed by groups representing the airline industry and the union representing controllers.

"The winners here are the customers who will be spared from lengthy and needless delays," said Nicholas E. Calio, president of Airlines for America, representing major carriers.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association said the week of problems showed that a "fully staffed air traffic control workforce is necessary for our national airspace system to operate at full capacity."

___

Associated Press writers Andrew Taylor, Joan Lowy and Nedra Pickler contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/controllers-return-flight-delays-sway-congress-210602052.html

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Teachers in Mexico break windows, torch offices to protest anti-union reforms

Mexican teachers and teachers-in-training once again abandoned lesson plans to protest education reform in the southwestern state of Guerrero this week.

The individuals charged with educating Guerrero's children, and helping build a brighter future for a country lauded for its economic promise, have been on strike since a federal education reform bill was introduced almost two months ago.

The bill is part of a wider reform agenda by President Enrique Pe?a Nieto which aims to feed economic opportunity and growth in Mexico. Other initiatives discussed include boosting competition in the telecommunications industry and increasing bank lending rates.

But in yet another sign that President Enrique Pe?a Nieto is facing pushback on his ambitious reform plan, this week scores of educators took to the streets armed with sticks and spray paint. They broke windows, threw papers and plants out of buildings, vandalized furniture and office equipment, and set fire to political offices, according to Mexican news outlets.

RECOMMENDED: How much do you know about Mexico? Take our quiz.

?Teach and learn ? vandalism,? read today?s front page of Mexican newspaper Reforma, with photos splashed above the fold showing a political party office in Guerrero engulfed in flames, and a highway road block using a ?kidnapped? 18-wheeler from state-owned oil company PEMEX in the neighboring state Michoac?n, which is also experiencing teacher protests.

Earlier this year President Pe?a Nieto passed far-reaching education reform that aims to diminish the tight grasp of Mexico?s powerful teachers union and reverse common practices like teachers receiving pay despite not showing up to work. According to The Christian Science Monitor:

The reform strips the education union ? arguably the most powerful in Latin America ? of its influence over the hiring of teachers. It provides for a system of merit-based pay and promotions, subjects Mexico?s estimated 1 million teachers to evaluations, and requires exams of those entering the profession. All with greater oversight by the federal government.

In Guerrero state, educators upped protests after state legislators failed to incorporate the 200,000-member education union?s demands to water down the federal legislation at the state level on Tuesday.

The mayor of Chilpancingo, where the vandalism took place yesterday afternoon, told Mexican newspaper Milenio that he?s requested federal assistance. The governor of Guerrero announced via Twitter that arrest warrants had been issued for the head of the state Education Workers Union, Minervino Moran, and another union leader, for ?masterminding? the destruction of property, reports the Associated Press.

Guerrero, home of the well-known beach destination Acapulco, has repeatedly made headlines this year for violence and the uptick in vigilante militias and self-defense groups.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/teachers-mexico-break-windows-torch-offices-protest-anti-213926443.html

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RNC Hires Former Real Estate Agent as Director of 'African ...

Click if you like this column!

I can?t decide if the Republican National Committee?s (RNC) minority outreach effort is more like watching a sitcom or a soap opera dubbed ?The Young and the Foolish.? In another twist to the organization?s Growth & Opportunity Project, to attract more voters of color to the GOP, the RNC hired former realtor Amani L. Council to the newly appointed position of Director of African American Communications.

No, you didn?t misread anything. I wrote realtor. (I won?t get started on why Republicans have followed Democrats into the hyphen world of calling blacks AAs. Blacks are no more African than whites are Caucasian, German or French Americans.)

As an RNC staffer remarked: ?Makes perfect sense. If she can sell real estate in the DC she should be able to sell the GOP to the black media or sell you a house.?

An Internet search revealed Council is an agent working for RE/MAX Specialists in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. You just can?t make this stuff up. According to the Branch Avenue in Bloom March/April 2012 newsletter, sponsored by the Maryland Small Business Development Center, Council is described as a ?successful realtor for the past six years,? working for RE/MAX Specialists.

Council said: ?I haven?t done real marketing since I?ve been in the business. My clients are my billboards. I truly do believe customer service is my best tool and I make it a point to treat each client with the same level of attention and care I would expect in any business deal I encounter. Anyone can sell HOMES but not everyone delivers great service!?

It looks like the RNC and its conservative message may be the biggest billboard Amani Council has ever had to ?sell? to one of the most dubious group of buyers ever, blacks. In the RNC press release touting this dynamic new hire, the RNC notes Council will be working with Deputy Press Secretary Raffi Williams, son of political commentator Juan Williams, to ?build relationships with African American media as we work to earn the trust of more African American voters.?

The RNC praised Council?s ?wealth of experience on the Hill and in public relations? but makes no mention of the six years she worked in real estate. Why?

Council's resume indicates since 2008 she has worked at Bass Public Affairs, as Director of New Media and Business Development. Council?s Hill experience includes working as a Legislative Assistant for Rep. J. Randy Forbes (R-VA) from 2001-2002 and as a Legislative Correspondent/Systems Administrator for Rep. Clay Shaw (R-FL) 1998-2001. From 2006-2007, her resume states she was Director of Government Affairs for the Family Research Council.

Source: http://townhall.com/columnists/crystalwright/2013/04/25/rnc-hires-former-real-estate-agent-as-director-of-african-american-communications-n1577499

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Google policy change stops apps like Facebook from bypassing Play Store updates

Google just released a new Play Store version (4.0.27) that, at first glance, contained only very minor tweaks -- except for one little thing. A new policy change will no longer permit any apps to update without going through the Play Store's internal system. That won't affect most software, but there's a notable exception in Facebook, which recently added auto-downloading to the latest version of its Android app, allowing it to bypass the Play Store. The new policy seems designed to put a stop to that kind of thing, but you never know -- it could be just be a coincidence.

[Thanks, Thomas]

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Google, Facebook

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Source: Google Play

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/26/google-policy-change-play-store/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Budget cuts cause delays, concern in federal court

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) ? Federal budget cuts have caused delays in at least one terror-related court case in New York and prompted a federal judge in Nebraska to say he is "seriously contemplating" dismissing some criminal cases.

The automatic cuts are also causing concerns about funding for the defense of the Boston Marathon bombing suspect, who is being represented by a public defender's office that's facing three weeks of unpaid furloughs and whose defense costs could run into millions of dollars.

Federal defenders' offices have been hit especially hard by the cuts, which amount to about 10 percent of their budgets for the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30. Some offices have laid off staffers. The head public defender in Southern Ohio even laid himself off as a way to save money.

Much of the reductions are due to automatic cuts known as the sequester, and public defenders warn they could face even more cuts next year.

Members of the Federal Bar Association, including federal lawyers and judges, were on Capitol Hill on Thursday, meeting with members of the House and Senate and their staffers and appealing to them for adequate funding, said Geoff Cheshire, an assistant federal public defender from Arizona, who was among them.

"The federal defenders are the front bumper of this fiscal crunch, getting hit first and hardest. But behind it is the third branch of government as a whole. The message is, this is having real effects on the federal courts and the rule of law," Cheshire said.

He and others are pushing for Congress to make an emergency appropriation for the judiciary that would mitigate some of the cuts to defenders and the court system. Cheshire said $61 million would be enough to eliminate the furloughs.

In New York, furloughs have caused delays in the case of Osama bin Laden's son-in-law, charged with conspiring to kill Americans in his role as al-Qaida's chief spokesman. A public defender told U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan this month that furloughs in his office were making it impossible to prepare for trial quickly, prompting the judge to say he found it "extremely troublesome" and "stunning" that sequestration was interfering with the case.

But it's not just the public defenders who are being affected. Federal courthouses around the country are starting to close their doors to the public as ways to deal with the sequester.

In the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California, courtrooms and court clerks' offices will be shuttered in San Francisco, San Jose and Eureka on the first Friday of each month and in Oakland on the first Monday of the month through the end of September. On those days, no clerks or support staff will be available to run the courtrooms so no trials will move forward.

"There will be no proceedings in any of the courtrooms in those facilities on those days I described," said Richard W. Wieking, clerk of court for the Northern District.

Other courthouses also are reducing services.

In U.S. District Court in Delaware, only emergency criminal procedures will be heard on Fridays as a way to help federal prosecutors, federal defenders and U.S. marshals manage their jobs with the furloughs, Clerk of Court John Cerino said. The courthouses will be open, but the courts won't be hearing "anything that's not an emergency," he said.

The Department of Justice told employees on Wednesday that despite budget cuts it would not furlough anyone, including FBI agents and prosecutors. While that's good news for prosecutors, it leaves an imbalance that affects cases, several defenders said. By law, prosecutors and defenders are supposed to be paid the same but effectively are not when some defenders have to take three weeks off, they said.

Boston federal defender Miriam Conrad is representing marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. She told The Associated Press on Wednesday that it was too early to tell what the impact of the furloughs would be on Tsarnaev's case.

Other public defenders warned of the imbalance when one side has the resources of the entire Department of Justice behind it and the other is trying to handle deep cuts that could affect its investigations, ability to pay experts, and the ability to show up in court five days a week.

"Imagine the imbalance now of having people working on the case losing two or three weeks of pay," said Michael Nachmanoff, a federal public defender in Virginia.

One month before the bombings happened, Conrad told the AP in an interview that she worried furloughs could cause delays, hurt the cause of justice, be devastating to her office and demoralize her staff. She noted at the time that the office can't require or even allow its lawyers to work on furlough days.

Meanwhile, a senior federal judge in Nebraska said he is "seriously contemplating" dismissing some criminal cases, perhaps involving immigration offenses, to cope with public defender furloughs in the state.

U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf said in a post on his Hercules and the Umpire blog that Congress is squarely to blame for the predicament.

"Congress is therefore on notice that its failure to fund the judiciary, and most particularly the Federal Public Defenders and Criminal Justice Act counsel, may result in the guilty going unpunished. If a banana republic is what members of Congress want, I may help them get it," Kopf said.

An appointee of President George H.W. Bush, Kopf took on a reduced caseload at the end of 2011. He started his blog on the role of judges in February.

___

Holland reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Mark Sherman in Washington contributed to this report.

___

Follow Michelle R. Smith at www.twitter.com/MRSmithAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/budget-cuts-cause-delays-concern-federal-court-201951432.html

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Five Simple Solutions For Small Business Security | Young Upstarts

by Claire Taylor

If you own and operate a small business, you?ll find dozens of cyber security tips. Search the Internet for ?small business security? and pages upon pages of websites will be returned to you, telling you how to protect your computer systems. But what if you want to protect your physical property? In the technological age, these tips aren?t as easy to find.

Here are five simple solutions for small business security that you can implement almost immediately:

1. Point of Sale Position.

According to national crime statistics, approximately $300 billion is lost to business crime every year. Compare this to the approximately $20 billion lost to street crime and you can easily see why it?s so important to protect your business. One of the easiest things that you can do is position your point of sale properly. Don?t put your point of sale in front of a window where it is easily seen by all passers-by. In the same vein, you don?t want it so far back in your store that a robbery would never be noticed. Look for a position that will allow your employees to seek help should they need it, yet not show the world how much cash you have in the till.

2. Mirrors.

Even if you operate out of one room, there will be areas of the floor that are not readily visible. Take a good look around your space and decide where these blind spots are. Convex, concave and dome mirrors can make invisible corners and other areas easier to view. You may want to consider hiring a security professional to conduct a walk-through of your business to tell you where mirrors would be best placed. Check out www.mirrorpros.com for other security ideas.

3. Panic Buttons.

You?ll undoubtedly install a security alarm in your business to secure your property and assets. Make sure that your security package includes panic buttons that will silently alert your security monitoring company to an emergency. Panic buttons should be located at your point of sale, in every office and near the safe. You should consider installing a panic button in any room that your employees may flee to in an emergency, such as a closet, a storage room or even a bathroom.

4. Cell Phones.

With the boom in popularity of smartphones, many employers now require that their workers keep their cell phones in lockers or lunchrooms. While you don?t need to let your employees carry their phones with them, you should have a cell phone available in several locations throughout your business. These phones will allow your employees to call for help in an emergency should your phone lines be tampered with. Prepaid cell phones are excellent for this type of emergency purpose.

5. Cameras.

Consider installing security cameras throughout your business. If you choose this option, be sure that you have a monitor set up in an office that is occupied while your business is in operation. This will ensure that at least one person can see the comings and goings of employees and customers, and will be alerted quickly in the case of a robbery attempt or other criminal activity.

Protecting your small business is a matter of personal choice but, if you don?t want to lose everything that you?ve worked hard to build, it?s the only choice that makes sense.

Follow the tips above to be sure that your business is as protected as it should be. If you need further assistance, consider hiring a professional to perform a security audit of your property.

?

Claire Taylor is a retired retail manager with expertise on store security.

This is an article contributed to Young Upstarts and published or republished here with permission. All rights of this work belong to the authors named in the article above.

Source: http://www.youngupstarts.com/2013/04/24/five-simple-solutions-for-small-business-security/

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Good Times for All - Memphis Daily News

VOL. 128 | NO. 80 | Wednesday, April 24, 2013

There will be kickball games, limbo dances, arts and crafts, and a talent show.?There will be all of that and more at the sixth annual Camp Good Times residential summer camp May 30 through June 5 at Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park in Millington.

Caroline Williamson, left, and Daniel Lawrence spend the afternoon in the pool at Camp Good Times. The residential summer camp is for developmentally disabled children and adults.?

(Photos Courtesy of Camp Good Times)

The campers are a group of about 35 developmentally disabled children and adults. The staff is a handful of friends and volunteers who leave their day jobs in Memphis and elsewhere for a week to encourage therapeutic recreation while also providing a break for campers? families.

?For some of our campers, this is the only time they are away from their families and able to spend independent time with their peers,? said Niki Boswell, founder/director of Camp Good Times. ?We strive to provide a camp that is not only fun, but helps develop their independence and promote their growth and development.?

Boswell founded Camp Good Times as a 501(c)3 in 2008 with Daniel Lawrence. Both had volunteered several years at Camp Celebration, a summer camp for children and adults with mental disabilities that came to an end in the summer of 2006 after 16 years of operation.

?In the summer of 2007, I had this horrible feeling in my heart and I realized that it was the kids that I missed so much,? said Lawrence, who has a sister with autism that attends camp. ?Camp Good Times gave me the opportunity to reach the kids on a personal level, and it has changed my life.?

To qualify for Camp Good Times, campers must be at least 6 years old, ambulatory, toilet trained and able to complete basic self-help skills with minimal assistance. Cabin assignments are based on gender and age and usually contain four to six campers with two to three counselors.

Daily activities include arts and crafts for motor skill development, outdoor fun for teambuilding, health and fitness to promote nutrition and well being, and swimming for the advancement of sensory skills. Each night, a camp-wide activity such as a dance, carnival or talent show is held to allow the entire camp to get together and interact.

?I enjoy planning activities and seeing the joy on the campers? faces while playing and achieving things they hadn?t before,? Boswell said. ?I connect with the counselors and allow them to see that same joy by helping their campers.?

Camp Good Times is different from most camps in that it is based solely on the work of a group of individuals. There is no foundation, company or organization that backs the seven-day production, which, after nursing, transportation, insurance, lodging, activities, T-shirts and medical supplies, costs approximately $16,000 each year to operate.

?We ask the campers to pay $350 for the week,? said Lawrence, who oversees Camp Good Times? finances. ?This is low compared to other camps, but my goal was eventually through donations, to lower costs each year, not raise them.?

?Vashti Ricks enjoys the petting zoo that visits Camp Good Times for an afternoon.

Joey Maurizi, director of meals and charitable giving, said Camp Good Times has been fortunate to have meals donated from local restaurants such as Patrick?s Steaks & Spirits, Neil?s Bar, Central BBQ, Huey?s, and Memphis Pizza Caf?.

?Over the first few years, we have focused on three areas: to ensure long-term sustainability, to provide exciting programming for our campers for the duration of camp, and to seek out meal donations from area businesses to help offset our largest expense for the week,? Maurizi said.

As Camp Good Times approaches its sixth year, its staff and activity directors are reaching out to friends and family in hopes of attaining new supporters capable of making annual donations. Maurizi?s focus areas are twofold: ?camperships? to cover the cost of one camper ($350) to attend camp, while also raising funds to pay for the nurse for the week.

?In recent years, a previous counselor who had become a nurse had volunteered his/her time for the week of camp. However, this year neither of those individuals is available,? Maurizi said. ?In order to not affect our operating budget, I hope to help raise the $4,300 over the next two months to support this crucial part of camp.?

Camp Good Times also differs from other camps in that it allows campers from the age of 6 on. Most camps only allow campers until the age of 18.

?Some of our most excited and fun campers are in their 50s,? Boswell said. ?Camps were not available when these individuals were children, so we want to provide them a camp experience that everyone should be afforded.

?Many of our older or higher functioning campers enjoy helping and working with younger campers or campers that do not function at the same level. We encourage these relationships as they promote independence and self esteem while developing social skills and relationships.?

Contact Boswell at niki.cgt@gmail.com for camper and volunteer information. Contact Maurizi at joey.cgt@gmail.com for meal donations and charitable giving. Visit camp-goodtimes.org for more information.

Source: http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2013/apr/24/good-times-for-all/

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Air pollution and hardening of arteries

Apr. 23, 2013 ? Long term exposure to air pollution may be linked to heart attacks and strokes by speeding up atherosclerosis, or "hardening of the arteries," according to a study by U.S. researchers published in this week's PLOS Medicine.

The researchers, led by Sara Adar, John Searle Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, and Joel Kaufman, Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences and Medicine, University of Washington, found that higher concentrations of fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) were linked to a faster thickening of the inner two layers of the common carotid artery, an important blood vessel that provides blood to the head, neck, and brain. They also found that reductions of fine particulate air pollution over time were linked to slower progression of the blood vessel thickness. The thickness of this blood vessel is an indicator of how much atherosclerosis is present in the arteries throughout the body, even among people with no obvious symptoms of heart disease.

"Our findings help us to understand how it is that exposures to air pollution may cause the increases in heart attacks and strokes observed by other studies," Adar said.

The authors reached these conclusions by following 5362 people aged between 45 to 84 years old from six U.S. metropolitan areas as part of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and Air Pollution (MESA Air). The researchers were able to link air pollution levels estimated at each person's house with two ultrasound measurements of the blood vessels, separated by about three years. All participants in their study were without known heart disease.

After adjusting for other factors such as smoking, the authors found that on average, the thickness of the carotid vessel increased by 14 ?m each year. The vessels of people exposed to higher levels of residential fine particulate air pollution, however, thickened faster than others living in the same metropolitan area.

"Linking these findings with other results from the same population suggests that persons living in a more polluted part of town may have a 2 percent higher risk of stroke as compared to people in a less polluted part of the same metropolitan area," Adar said.

"If confirmed by future analyses of the full 10 years of follow-up in this cohort, these findings will help to explain associations between long-term PM2.5 concentrations and clinical cardiovascular events," the authors wrote.

In an accompanying Perspective, Nino Kuenzli from the University of Basel in Switzerland says: "the [Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and Air Pollution study] further supports an old request to policy makers, namely that clean air standards ought to comply at least with the science-based levels proposed by the World Health Organization."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Public Library of Science.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Adar SD, Sheppard L, Vedal S, Polak JF, Sampson PD, et al. Fine Particulate Air Pollution and the Progression of Carotid Intima-Medial Thickness: A Prospective Cohort Study from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and Air Pollution. PLoS Med, 2013 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001430

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/heart_disease/~3/fNMbl5NT8J4/130423172706.htm

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Kentucky Derby Man Vs Food @ Beard To Tail | Londonist

Meat bastions and party people Beard to Tail are continuing to bring the people of East London Americana love with their latest event for Kentucky Derby Day.

The festival of whiskey sipping, pulled pork consuming, apple bobbing, toy horse racing, cocktail mixing and relentless face-stuffing is set to take place on Saturday 4 May, and pets, kids and hobby horses fashioned out of brooms are most welcome.

This is the second Man vs Food venture the venue has hosted, where brave (or hungry) contenders consume as much pulled pork as possible in 2 minutes, which set to kick off at 3pm. ?To wash down all that swine, Tom Vernon, Woodford Reserve brand ambassador, will be conducting whisky master classes throughout the day.

Entry to the hoggy hotbed is ?20, and includes a keepsake customised hip flask, a Horses Neck cocktail, plus tangible prizes for the food challenge winner in addition to their bragging rights. There?s an ultra altruistic element too, as all proceeds will go to Heros Charity which helps retired and injured racing horses.

The meaty eatery livens up Curtain Road at regular intervals, having already thrown a pancake day extravaganza earlier this year, and a piggy beer fest for New Year?s, so they?re pretty much the perfect neighbours* for fun. Pass us the pork.

*Pun resisted. Oh yes. Think we?ll go treat ourselves to a pint for that.

Beard to Tail, 77 Curtain Road, Shoreditch, London, EC2A 3BS. You must register by email to take part. Oink.

Photo from Beard to Tail?s Facebook page, with permission.?

Source: http://londonist.com/2013/04/kentucky-derby-man-vs-food-beard-to-tail.php

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Stocks gain on earnings; fake tweet rattles market

NEW YORK (AP) ? The stock market climbed Tuesday following strong earnings across a range of U.S. industries.

Coach, Lockheed Martin, DuPont and Travelers all rose after they reported results that were better than analysts expected.

Markets swooned briefly, then quickly recovered, shortly after 1 p.m. when The Associated Press' Twitter account was hacked and a fake tweet was posted about an attack at the White House.

Major indexes rose about 1 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average increased 152 points to 14,719.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 16 points to 1,578 and the Nasdaq composite rose 35 points to 3,269.

The gains were broad. Four stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was average at 3.5 billion shares.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stocks-gain-earnings-fake-tweet-rattles-market-201754129--finance.html

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Thor: The Dark World Trailer Released, Epic, Surprising

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/04/thor-the-dark-world-trailer-released-epic-surprising/

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Asia shares, commodities rattled by weak China PMI

By Chikako Mogi

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares and other more risky assets fell back on Tuesday while the yen rose broadly after the HSBC "flash" PMI reading showed manufacturing growth in China slowed in April, underscoring market concerns about global growth prospects.

European stock markets were seen rising, with financial spreadbetters predicting London's FTSE 100, Paris's CAC-40 and Frankfurt's DAX would open up to 0.3 percent higher.

U.S. stock futures were down 0.2 percent to hint at a soft Wall Street open.

The preliminary or "flash" HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index for April fell to 50.5 in April from 51.6 in March. It was still stronger than February's reading of 50.4 but a contraction in new export orders pointed to fragile global demand.

The HSBC report was China's first economic indicator for the second quarter and followed weaker-than-expected growth in first-quarter gross domestic product reported earlier this month, which triggered a sharp market sell-off last week.

"No doubt the market was hoping for a PMI reading closer to 51.5 and while the 50.5 result today is not disastrous, it does reinforce market concerns about the state of growth in the Chinese economy at the moment," said Tim Waterer, senior trader at CMC Markets in Sydney.

"I am not surprised at the downward reaction by risk assets ... Because a lot of the market rally so far in 2013 has been premised on a strong Chinese economic recovery, this takes away some of that buying enthusiasm."

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a separate briefing on Tuesday that companies have no strong desire to invest and face insufficient demand, noting China's economy faces unstable and uncertain factors at home and abroad.

Weaker-than-expected U.S. existing home sales data overnight added to worries over prospects for the U.S. economy, focusing even more scrutiny on China.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.5 percent, dragged lower by Chinese shares which appeared headed for their worst day in nearly a month and weighed on Hong Kong markets. Hong Kong shares slid 1.2 percent and Shanghai tumbled 2.2 percent.

"Today's data is a confirmation of a weak trend," said Hong Hao, chief strategist at Bank of Communication International Securities. "I won't be telling clients to take excessive risks. Markets are still adjusting to this slower reality."

Shares in Australia, which are highly sensitive to economic indicators from China, its largest trading partner, trimmed some gains after the HSBC report to rise 0.9 percent.

The Australian dollar hit a session low of $1.0221, a six-week low, from around $1.0248 before the data.

Japan's Nikkei stock average eased 0.2 percent, as investors took profits from Monday's nearly five-year highs.

DOLLAR PAUSES

The dollar fell 0.4 percent to 99.79 yen, having failed to top the key 100 yen mark on Monday despite hitting a high of 99.90 yen. The weak U.S. housing data weighed on the dollar but traders say the upcoming Bank of Japan meeting on Friday may provide another opportunity to clear that symbolic level.

"Personally, I feel that any dips in dollar/yen and the related crosses will be bought into," said a trader for a Japanese bank in Singapore. "There is no indication, at least at my end, of any significant move to buy the yen, except on profit-taking."

The BOJ's reflationary plans were accepted by the Group of 20 gatherings in Washington late last week. The dollar hit a four-year peak of 99.95 on April 11. Heavy option barriers lined up around 100 yen have blocked the dollar's smooth climb against the yen, but if and when the 100 level is broken, traders expect stop-loss buying to lift the dollar even higher.

The dollar firmed against the euro, which traded down 0.2 percent at $1.3047, weighed by comments by European Central Bank policymakers stressing falling inflation and poor growth prospects in the euro zone, which suggest the bank may be leaning towards a rate cut.

Gold recovered some ground after last week's tumble but more gold outflows from exchange-traded funds summed up investors' weakening confidence in the metal.

Spot gold was at $1,425.81 an ounce, moving away from a two-year low of $1,321.35 touched last week, but still some $50 below the closing level before the sell-off began.

London copper dropped 1 percent to $6,864 a tonne.

Brent crude futures turned lower, trading down 0.6 percent at $99.80 after rising for a third straight session on Monday. U.S. crude fell 0.7 percent to $88.59 a barrel.

(Additional reporting by Ian Chua in Sydney, Masayuki Kitano in Singapore and Clement Tan in Hong Kong; Editing by Eric Meijer)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asia-shares-rattled-weaker-china-pmi-024811494--finance.html

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