Kerry says progress made in peace talks

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry smiles at a question from a reporter during a news conference about his trip to the Middle East, in Tel Aviv, Israel on Sunday, June 30, 2013. Kerry engaged in breakneck shuttle diplomacy to coax Israel and the Palestinians back into peace talks over a four-day span with multiple trips to Jordan and Israel and a stop in the West Bank town of Ramallah. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry smiles at a question from a reporter during a news conference about his trip to the Middle East, in Tel Aviv, Israel on Sunday, June 30, 2013. Kerry engaged in breakneck shuttle diplomacy to coax Israel and the Palestinians back into peace talks over a four-day span with multiple trips to Jordan and Israel and a stop in the West Bank town of Ramallah. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks about his trip to the Middle East during a news conference in Tel Aviv, Israel on Sunday, June 30, 2013. Kerry engaged in breakneck shuttle diplomacy to coax Israel and the Palestinians back into peace talks over a four-day span with multiple trips to Jordan and Israel and a stop in the West Bank town of Ramallah. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas brief the media after the meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Sunday, June 30, 2013. Kerry continued his frenzied shuttle diplomacy Sunday to restart Mideast peace talks, but while Israel says it's ready to sit down, it showed no sign of bending to the Palestinians' long-standing demands for negotiating a two-state solution to the conflict. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) ? U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry completed a new round of shuttle diplomacy Sunday without a hoped-for breakthrough in relaunching Mideast peace talks, but optimistically said he had narrowed the gaps between Israel and the Palestinians and vowed to return to the region soon to complete his mission.

Kerry said he was working on an emerging "package" meant to bring the sides together, and said he would leave a team of aides in the region to continue the efforts.

"With a little more work, the start of final status negotiations could be within reach," he told reporters, shortly before leaving Israel for an Asian security conference in Brunei.

It was not clear how much progress Kerry had truly made. He refused to provide details of the package he is working on, and Israeli and Palestinian officials, at Kerry's request, remained mum.

Even before negotiations have begun, the gaps remain wide on simply establishing the ground rules.

Negotiations have been stalled since 2008, in large part due to Israeli settlement policies in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

The Palestinians claim both areas, captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, for a future independent state alongside Israel and have demanded that Israel stop building settlements on occupied lands before talks resume. More than 500,000 Jewish settlers now live in areas sought by the Palestinians, making it increasingly difficult to partition the land into two states.

The Palestinians also say Israel's pre-1967 frontiers should be the baseline for the final borders between Israel and a future Palestine. Previous Israeli leaders have accepted the 1967 lines as a starting point for talks. But Israel's current prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, while endorsing the idea of a Palestinian state, has refused the Palestinian demands, saying talks should begin immediately without any preconditions.

Netanyahu has ruled out a return to the 1967 lines, saying it would threaten Israel's security and noting the Jewish people's biblical connection to the West Bank. He also rejects any division of the holy city of Jerusalem, home to sensitive Christian, Jewish and Muslim holy sites.

His tough line and the continued construction of settlements have raised Palestinian accusations that he is not serious about pursuing peace.

The Palestinians also seek the Gaza Strip for their state. Israel, which captured Gaza in 1967, withdrew in 2005. Hamas militants subsequently overran the area.

Kerry was on his fifth visit to the region since taking office early this year. Starting Thursday night, he shuttled between Amman, Jordan, Jerusalem and Ramallah, West Bank, holding three meetings each with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israel's Netanyahu.

Their talks were long, sometimes stretching into the wee hours of the morning. His last meeting with the Israeli prime minister and his advisers ended after 3 a.m. Sunday. Afterward, Kerry took a pre-dawn stroll in Jerusalem with senior advisers. Kerry, the sleeves on his white shirt rolled up, walked with a security escort to a park near the hotel, gesturing and talking with his top advisers on the Mideast peace process. Just hours later, he traveled by convoy to Ramallah for one last meeting with Abbas, cancelling a trip to Abu Dhabi to extend his work with Israel and the Palestinians.

Addressing reporters at Israel's international airport, an exhausted Kerry, running on adrenaline, said he would have stayed longer if he did not have to attend the international conference.

"I am very positive," he said. "I also know progress when I see it, and we are making progress," he added.

He said both Netanyahu and Abbas had asked him to return to the region ? on what would be his sixth visit. But he declined to disclose, even broadly, the main elements of the "package" being pursued to restart talks.

Kerry said it was best not to float ideas for others to "tear apart, evaluate and analyze." He said he would not have agreed to leave his staff in place if he didn't think it was possible to flesh out a "serious" framework for restarting discussions.

"I think this is worth it, folks," he told reporters. "Obviously, the work has to be completed. People have to make a few choices still. But the gap has been narrowed very significantly."

A Palestinian official who was briefed on Kerry's efforts said the package would likely include, as a goodwill gesture, the release of some Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. He said the Palestinians were told that Netanyahu is prepared to restrain settlement construction and to discuss the 1967 borders, without any promise to withdraw to those lines. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.

The emerging deal is also expected to include large amounts of international aid to the Palestinians; Israeli agreement to allow the Palestinians to launch new development projects in the West Bank; and Palestinian pledges to halt their campaign of seeking recognition of their independence in international bodies before there is a peace agreement.

Over Israeli and U.S. objections, the Palestinians last year won upgraded observer status at the United Nations, and they have threatened to pursue war crimes charges against Israel if peace efforts remain stalled.

Israel's Channel 2 TV, citing anonymous Israeli officials, said there had been progress, but sticking points remained in the areas of settlements, prisoners and borders. It said Kerry was expected back in a week or so and was aiming to restart talks before the Muslim holiday of Ramadan begins early next week.

Addressing his Cabinet on Sunday, Netanyahu showed little signs of bending.

"We are not putting up any impediments on the resumption of the permanent talks and a peace agreement between us and the Palestinians," he said.

At the same time, he said, "We will not compromise on security, and there will be no agreement that will endanger Israelis' security."

He added that any agreement would be presented to the public in a referendum.

Critics have said such a step would merely add an additional obstacle to implementing any deal, which would require a broad pullout from the West Bank.

Following Sunday morning's meeting in Ramallah, the chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, reported progress but said gaps remained.

"I cannot say we have a breakthrough," he said. "All I can say once again is no one benefits more from the success of Secretary Kerry than the Palestinians, and no one stands to lose more from its failure than Palestinians."

As Kerry strolled to the tarmac Sunday, his top Mideast adviser patted him on the back, but both knew the job was not finished.

___

Associated Press writer Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-06-30-ML-Kerry/id-4139819019e240dfa6a8437d9abf6f30

brian wilson storm chasers david blaine gotye divine mercy cabin in the woods the legend of korra

Israel lawmaker emerging as main foil to Netanyahu

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) ? Danny Danon says he has no problem with his party leader, Israel's prime minister ? so long as he doesn't make peace.

The ambitious deputy defense minister isn't a household name internationally yet, but at home he has emerged as an unlikely opponent to Benjamin Netanyahu and his strongest opposition within the hawkish ruling Likud Party.

A soft-spoken lawmaker with a penchant for sharp suits, Danon is suddenly a major stumbling block toward Palestinian statehood as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry embarks on his latest push to restart long-dormant peace talks.

While Netanyahu attempts to convince the world of his peaceful intentions and sincere commitment to establishing a Palestinian state as part of a final peace settlement, Danon has repeatedly defied the prime minister's stance while generating the type of political power that could hinder Netanyahu's ability to make concessions.

His rising influence has raised Palestinian suspicions that Netanyahu is unwilling ?and unable ? to make peace. From his plush office on the 15th-floor of the gleaming, state-of-the-art Defense Ministry complex in Tel Aviv, Danon does nothing to dispel the suspicions.

"I think the prime minister knows that if he is presenting the ideology of the Likud Party we all support him," Danon said, noting that Likud has only had four leaders in its 65-year history. "It means that we do respect our leaders. But if the leader decides to go to the other direction then ... there will be changes within the Likud."

The Likud has long been the leader of Israel's nationalist camp, believing the country should control all of the biblical Land of Israel between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. But Netanyahu and other party moderates have gradually come to the conclusion that there is no choice but to divide the land between a Jewish state and a Palestinian one.

Danon, 42, is among a group of young hard-liners who rose to prominence during a Likud primary vote last year. These officials, including Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin, Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein, deputy transportation minister Tzipi Hotovely and coalition whip Yariv Levin, oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state and are strong proponents of building settlements in east Jerusalem and the West Bank. The Palestinians claim both areas, captured by Israel in the 1967 war, for their future state.

Danon, a secular father of three, is the most vocal and has become the brightest star and strongest counterforce within the party. He finished fifth in the slate of candidates chosen in last year's primary, well ahead of many party stalwarts, and this week he was overwhelmingly elected head of the Likud convention with 86 percent of the vote. On Sunday, he is expected to score another landslide victory and become chairman of the Likud Central Committee, a key position that will grant him power to set the agenda of the committee's 3,500 members and complicate any Netanyahu initiatives.

He has also generated an impressive following in America, particularly among Christian evangelicals. His recent English-language book ? "Israel: the will to prevail" ? outlines his vision of further Israeli control over the West Bank. It won't find many fans in the Obama administration, but it did receive high praise from two of Danon's closest American allies: former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and conservative TV personality Glenn Beck.

The front page of Friday's mass-daily Yediot Ahronot points to Danon's surge to prominence at home. Under the headline "Between Kerry and Danon," a cartoon shows Danon and others pinning Netanyahu to the ground. The paper's humor column has a mock quote from Kerry saying he is optimistic his visit can help promote a "brave and effective negotiation between Netanyahu and Danny Danon."

Danon, until recently a rather anonymous backbencher, has garnered so much influence that Netanyahu's chief peace negotiator, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, recently called on the prime minister to reject "Danonism" and forge ahead toward peace. The Palestinian chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, had also cited Danon by name as someone who is killing the prospect of peace.

Danon remains undeterred and is convinced Netanyahu does not have the political backing to cede parts of the West Bank.

"I think that the majority of people, not only inside the Likud, but also within the Israeli public, will not support such a dangerous initiative," he said of a Palestinian state. "It is not just my personal opinion. I represent a lot of people ... that think like me that the idea of land for peace doesn't work anymore."

Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula following its 1979 peace accord with Egypt and made small border adjustments after signing peace with Jordan in 1994. It unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip and evacuated Jewish settlers there in 2005. But the Hamas militant group subsequently seized control of the area, and continued rocket fire out of Gaza has stoked fears that a pullout from the West Bank, located close to major Israeli cities, would bring similar and devastating results.

That withdrawal also spawned a revolt within the Likud against then-leader Ariel Sharon, who eventually bolted to establish the centrist Kadima Party. Netanyahu, who led the rebel forces, eventually took over as leader.

His party has since drifted further to the right, with Jewish settlers taking over key positions and introducing legislation that seeks to give Israel's Jewish nature precedence over its democratic nature.

Political commentator Hanan Kristal said Danon is trying to position himself as leader of the group and a potential future alternative to Netanyahu.

"Danon is Bibi from 10 years ago," he said, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname. "He (Danon) is a Likudnik and he is saying what a lot of them believe. He just says it clearly and without mincing words."

Netanyahu has distanced himself from Danon, insisting his comments do not reflect government policy, but he hasn't fired him either as some have suggested he should.

Danon makes no apologies for his maverick ways.

"I don't do things to try and disturb him," he said. "We are in the same boat. I don't want everyone rowing their oars in different directions but I do try to preserve what I believe in."

With Kerry pressing hard to get Israeli and Palestinian leaders to resume peace talks that have been on hold since 2008, and Netanyahu's centrist coalition partners urging a breakthrough, the prime minister may soon be forced to choose between the unity of his government and the unity of his party.

Danon says Netanyahu is free to negotiate as he pleases, but if he ultimately reaches the contours of a deal he will have to bring it to a vote among his party and a general election for the people to decide.

"It is not the case today. It is premature to even discuss this because I don't think the prime minister is going in this direction," he said.

Others disagree. There are jitters in the party that Netanyahu is nearing the point of following in Sharon's path toward concessions. He has recently been sending signals that he is ready for compromises and has accepted the narrative of former opponents that ending the West Bank occupation is essential for Israel.

The prime minister's office refused to comment on Danon's rise in Likud. Associates, though, have been quoted anonymously in the media as saying Danon is pushing Netanyahu out of the party with an extremist hostile takeover.

"Being prime minister of Israel is a very difficult job," Danon said. "There are those who are pushing the ship in one direction and it is legitimate for people like me to pull him in a different direction. He is the captain, steering the ship. At the end of the day, the prime minister navigates."

____

Follow Heller on Twitter @aronhellerap

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/israel-lawmaker-emerging-main-foil-netanyahu-072900230.html

Andy Enfield La Salle University Denny Hamlin My Chemical Romance Olympus Has Fallen Arnold Palmer Invitational 2013 arnold palmer invitational

Biomarker predicts risk of breast cancer recurrence after tamoxifen treatment

Public release date: 28-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Katie Marquedant
kmarquedant@partners.org
617-726-0337
Massachusetts General Hospital

Elevated HOXB13/IL17BR ratio may indicate who should receive extended treatment with letrozole

A biomarker reflecting expression levels of two genes in tumor tissue may be able to predict which women treated for estrogen-receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer should receive a second estrogen-blocking medication after completing tamoxifen treatment. In their report being published online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center investigators describe finding that the HOXB13/IL17BR ratio can indicate which women are at risk for cancer recurrence after tamoxifen and which are most likely to benefit from continuing treatment with the aromatase inhibitor letrozole (Femara).

"Most patients with early-stage, ER-positive breast cancer remain cancer-free after five years of tamoxifen treatment, but they remain at risk of recurrence for 15 years or longer after their initial treatment," says Dennis Sgroi, MD, of the MGH Cancer Center and Department of Pathology, lead and corresponding author of the report. "Our biomarker identifies the subgroup of patients who continue to be at risk of recurrence after tamoxifen treatment and who will benefit from extended therapy with letrozole, which should allow many women to avoid unnecessary extended treatment."

Previous research by Sgroi's team, in collaboration with investigators from bioTheranostics Inc., discovered that the ratio between levels of expression of two genes HOXB13 and IL17BR in tumor tissue predicted the risk of recurrence of ER-positive, lymph-node-negative breast cancer, whether or not the patient was treated with tamoxifen. The current study of patients from MA.17, the highly successful clinical trial of letrozole, was designed to evaluate the usefulness of the HOXB13/IL17BR ratio for both prognosis predicting which tamoxifen-treated remained patients at risk of recurrence and for identifying who could benefit from continued treatment with letrozole.

To answer those questions the investigators analyzed primary tumor samples and patient data from the placebo-controlled MA.17 trial, which confirmed the ability of extended letrozole therapy to improve survival after the completion of tamoxifen treatment. Tissue samples were available from 83 patients whose tumors recurred during the study period 31 who had received letrozole and 52 in the placebo group and 166 patients with no recurrence, 91 of whom had received letrozole, with 75 getting the placebo. Analysis of the tumor samples revealed that a high HOXB13/IL17BR ratio meaning the expression level of HOXB13 is greater than that of IL17BR predicts an increased risk for tumor recurrence after tamoxifen therapy, but that elevated risk drops significantly if a patient receives letrozole

Paul E. Goss, MD, PhD, director of the Breast Cancer Research Program at the MGH Cancer Center and a co-author of the report, explains, "This discovery means that about 60 percent of women with the most common kind of breast cancer can be spared unnecessary treatment with the concommitant side effects and costs. But more importantly, the 40 percent of patients who are at risk of recurrence can now be identified as needing continued therapy with letrozole, and many will be spared death from breast cancer." He and Sgroi note that their findings need to be validated by additional studies before they can be put into clinical practice.

###

Additional co-authors of the JNCI report are Erin Carney, Elizabeth Zarrella, Lauren Steffel, Shemeica Binns, Dianne Finkelstein, and Jackie Szymonifka MGH Cancer Center; Atul Bhan, MGH Molecular Pathology; Lois Shepherd and Dongsheng Tu, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario; Yi Zhang, Catherine Schnabel and Mark Erlander, bioTheranostics, Inc., San Diego; James Ingle, Mayo Clinic; Peggy Porter, Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle; Hyman Muss, University of North Carolina; Katherine Pritchard, University of Toronto; and David Rimm, Yale University School of Medicine.

The study was supported by National Institute of Health grant R01-CA112021, Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program grant W81XWH-04-1-0606, and grants from the Avon Foundation, the Breast Cancer Foundation, the NCI SPORE in breast cancer at MGH and Novartis.

Massachusetts General Hospital (http://www.massgeneral.org), founded in 1811, is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The MGH conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the United States, with an annual research budget of more than $775 million and major research centers in AIDS, cardiovascular research, cancer, computational and integrative biology, cutaneous biology, human genetics, medical imaging, neurodegenerative disorders, regenerative medicine, reproductive biology, systems biology, transplantation biology and photomedicine. In July 2012, MGH moved into the number one spot on the 2012-13 U.S. News & World Report list of "America's Best Hospitals."

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 28-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Katie Marquedant
kmarquedant@partners.org
617-726-0337
Massachusetts General Hospital

Elevated HOXB13/IL17BR ratio may indicate who should receive extended treatment with letrozole

A biomarker reflecting expression levels of two genes in tumor tissue may be able to predict which women treated for estrogen-receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer should receive a second estrogen-blocking medication after completing tamoxifen treatment. In their report being published online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center investigators describe finding that the HOXB13/IL17BR ratio can indicate which women are at risk for cancer recurrence after tamoxifen and which are most likely to benefit from continuing treatment with the aromatase inhibitor letrozole (Femara).

"Most patients with early-stage, ER-positive breast cancer remain cancer-free after five years of tamoxifen treatment, but they remain at risk of recurrence for 15 years or longer after their initial treatment," says Dennis Sgroi, MD, of the MGH Cancer Center and Department of Pathology, lead and corresponding author of the report. "Our biomarker identifies the subgroup of patients who continue to be at risk of recurrence after tamoxifen treatment and who will benefit from extended therapy with letrozole, which should allow many women to avoid unnecessary extended treatment."

Previous research by Sgroi's team, in collaboration with investigators from bioTheranostics Inc., discovered that the ratio between levels of expression of two genes HOXB13 and IL17BR in tumor tissue predicted the risk of recurrence of ER-positive, lymph-node-negative breast cancer, whether or not the patient was treated with tamoxifen. The current study of patients from MA.17, the highly successful clinical trial of letrozole, was designed to evaluate the usefulness of the HOXB13/IL17BR ratio for both prognosis predicting which tamoxifen-treated remained patients at risk of recurrence and for identifying who could benefit from continued treatment with letrozole.

To answer those questions the investigators analyzed primary tumor samples and patient data from the placebo-controlled MA.17 trial, which confirmed the ability of extended letrozole therapy to improve survival after the completion of tamoxifen treatment. Tissue samples were available from 83 patients whose tumors recurred during the study period 31 who had received letrozole and 52 in the placebo group and 166 patients with no recurrence, 91 of whom had received letrozole, with 75 getting the placebo. Analysis of the tumor samples revealed that a high HOXB13/IL17BR ratio meaning the expression level of HOXB13 is greater than that of IL17BR predicts an increased risk for tumor recurrence after tamoxifen therapy, but that elevated risk drops significantly if a patient receives letrozole

Paul E. Goss, MD, PhD, director of the Breast Cancer Research Program at the MGH Cancer Center and a co-author of the report, explains, "This discovery means that about 60 percent of women with the most common kind of breast cancer can be spared unnecessary treatment with the concommitant side effects and costs. But more importantly, the 40 percent of patients who are at risk of recurrence can now be identified as needing continued therapy with letrozole, and many will be spared death from breast cancer." He and Sgroi note that their findings need to be validated by additional studies before they can be put into clinical practice.

###

Additional co-authors of the JNCI report are Erin Carney, Elizabeth Zarrella, Lauren Steffel, Shemeica Binns, Dianne Finkelstein, and Jackie Szymonifka MGH Cancer Center; Atul Bhan, MGH Molecular Pathology; Lois Shepherd and Dongsheng Tu, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario; Yi Zhang, Catherine Schnabel and Mark Erlander, bioTheranostics, Inc., San Diego; James Ingle, Mayo Clinic; Peggy Porter, Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle; Hyman Muss, University of North Carolina; Katherine Pritchard, University of Toronto; and David Rimm, Yale University School of Medicine.

The study was supported by National Institute of Health grant R01-CA112021, Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program grant W81XWH-04-1-0606, and grants from the Avon Foundation, the Breast Cancer Foundation, the NCI SPORE in breast cancer at MGH and Novartis.

Massachusetts General Hospital (http://www.massgeneral.org), founded in 1811, is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The MGH conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the United States, with an annual research budget of more than $775 million and major research centers in AIDS, cardiovascular research, cancer, computational and integrative biology, cutaneous biology, human genetics, medical imaging, neurodegenerative disorders, regenerative medicine, reproductive biology, systems biology, transplantation biology and photomedicine. In July 2012, MGH moved into the number one spot on the 2012-13 U.S. News & World Report list of "America's Best Hospitals."

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/mgh-bpr062613.php

Epic Tim Curry amanda bynes bridge collapse Fast And Furious 6 Tony Kanaan Hangover 3

American-US Airways merger: Feds investigate possible antitrust issues

Airlines

Reuters

5 hours ago

LARRY DOWNING / Reuters

A U.S. Airways jet takes off from Washington's Reagan National Airport outside Washington, passing an American Airlines plane, February 25, 2013. Reuters reports the Justice department is probing the proposed American-US merger for antitrust issues.

The U.S. Justice Department is taking depositions as part of a probe into a planned merger of American Airlines and US Airways that would create the world's largest airline, three sources close to the discussions told Reuters.

The sticking point in talks between the Justice Department and the companies is whether the airlines will agree to sell slots -- take-off and landing rights -- to reduce their dominance at Reagan National Airport outside Washington, D.C., according to one source.

The three sources spoke privately to protect business relationships.

US Airways announced on February 14 that it planned to merge with American, which is emerging from bankruptcy, to create an $11 billion airline. The deal requires the approval of the Justice and Transportation Departments. The companies hope to wrap up the merger by the end of September.

American Airlines and US Airways declined comment. Justice Department spokeswoman Gina Talamona said only that the agency's investigation was continuing.

The fact that the Justice Department is taking sworn testimony in the form of depositions indicates it has concerns that the proposed merger creates antitrust problems. Depositions will be needed if the agency approves the deal with conditions or, in rare cases, if it decides to try to stop it. The department could also decide to approve the merger without requiring asset sales.

Depositions preserve testimony if the department decides to challenge the merger, said Robert Doyle, an antitrust expert with Doyle, Barlow and Mazard PLLC.

If the deal is approved, the new airline would have 68 percent of the slots at Reagan National, far more than Delta Air Lines with 12 percent, United Airlines with 9 percent and the 11 percent held by other airlines, according to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

The companies have pushed back hard against any suggestion that takeoff and landing slots at Reagan National be sold.

US Airways CEO Doug Parker told lawmakers in congressional testimony last week that requiring the combined company to surrender slots could mean fewer flights to small and medium-sized cities.

Antitrust experts have said the Justice Department could request divestitures of some slots at Reagan National and a small number of other airports. Outside these hubs, the carriers fly different routes for the most part.

In late May, more than 100 members of Congress asked U.S. regulators to allow the new American to keep all the slots at Reagan National. The airport is used by many members of Congress to travel to and from their home districts.

The U.S. airline industry has undergone five years of rapid consolidation. Delta acquired Northwest Airlines in 2008, United merged with Continental in 2010 and Southwest Airlines Co bought discount rival AirTran in 2011.

With fewer carriers competing, ticket prices have risen. The average fare rose about 8 percent to $375 in the third quarter of 2012, compared with $346 in 2008, according to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663286/s/2def37a2/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Cbusiness0Camerican0Eus0Eairways0Emerger0Efeds0Einvestigate0Epossible0Eantitrust0Eissues0E6C10A480A485/story01.htm

kenny powers carl hagelin triple play james neal virginia tech emancipation proclamation april 16

July 10: Human Resources Business Seminar | Bernews.com

Do you have challenges managing your human resources? Would you like to know how to effectively utilise your HR to better run your business? Get answers to these questions and more at the upcoming breakfast seminar entitled ?Effective HR Strategies in an Ever Changing Environment? on ?July 10 from 8 a.m. until 11 a.m.

This seminar, co-hosted by the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation [BEDC] and KPMG, will provide attendees with practical tips to help manage the HR process utilising creative techniques and strategies to remain competitive in an ever changing environment.

KPMG expert, Micky Swindale will be on hand to review their ?Our People and Change? function which helps to transform the performance of organisations by changing the way people are led, managed, rewarded and developed.

In addition, BEDC chairman and vice-president of Bermuda Forwarders, Nick Kempe, will facilitate a panel of experts covering a variety of topics including:

• Employee Retention
• Employee engagement and increasing productivity
• Creating cost savings
• Payroll tax relief for new Bermudian hires
• Hiring the right person ? How to Spot a Fraudster

Registration for this seminar is complimentary, but spaces are limited. Please RSVP by Friday, July 5 by emailing Rachellin O ?Connor at rachellinoconnor@kpmg.bm or calling 294-2675 to make reservations.

A light breakfast will be served from 8 a.m. until 8:30 a.m with the seminar starting promptly at 8:30am.

The Bermuda Economic Development Corporation is Bermuda?s source of free, confidential business advice. The mission is to actively assist the development of a strong, well-managed and prosperous local business sector in Bermuda. The key objective of the BEDC remains providing a broad range of business advice, counsel and financial assistance to local businesses in Bermuda.

KPMG is a group of Bermuda limited liability companies which are member firms of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative, a Swiss entity.

Read More About: Bermuda business, Seminars in Bermuda

Category: All, Business

Source: http://bernews.com/2013/06/upcoming-human-resources-business-seminar/

gap Victoria Secret Bath And Body Works Dicks Sporting Good office max office max jcp

Open Thread (Balloon Juice)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/315749479?client_source=feed&format=rss

vikings Colin Powell noaa Jessica Ridgeway ipad mini Kevin Krim Autumn Pasquale

Watchdog warns of waste in Afghan aircraft buy

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Pentagon is spending more than three-quarters of a billion dollars to buy Russian-made helicopters and other aircraft for an Afghan aviation unit that lacks the troops and expertise to operate and maintain the equipment, a government watchdog warned.

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said in a report Friday these shortcomings mean the helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft destined for the Afghan Special Mission Wing "could be left sitting on runways in Afghanistan, rather than supporting critical missions, resulting in waste of U.S. funds." The report recommended putting the purchases on hold until the Afghans develop the capacity to support the aircraft.

The findings are sure to reverberate on Capitol Hill, where there is stiff opposition to the purchase of the Mi-17 helicopters from Rosoboronexport, the state-run Russian arms exporter that is a top weapons supplier to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The Pentagon announced June 17 that Rosoboronexport had been awarded a $554 million contract for 30 Mi-17s to be used by the Special Mission Wing, a move that came just days after the House approved a 2014 defense policy bill that included a prohibition on contracts with the Russian agency. The Senate Armed Services Committee included a similar ban in its version of the bill.

The defense policy bill for 2013 also barred the Pentagon from using funds from that fiscal year for contracts with Rosoboronexport. But the Pentagon said money from the 2012 fiscal year was being used for the Mi-17 acquisition, so the restriction does not apply.

A Defense Department spokesman said there was an "urgent, near-term need" to buy the wing the Mi-17s, a multimission aircraft designed to operate at high altitudes and uniquely suited for the wing.

"Careful consideration of all the information available to the department confirms that it would be in the public interest to procure the Mi-17s needed for the (wing) from Rosoboronexport," Army Lt. Col. Jim Gregory said in a statement.

In addition to the Mi-17s, the Pentagon is spending $218 million on 18 PC-12 cargo aircraft from the Sierra Nevada Corp. of Sparks, Nev., to allow the Special Mission Wing to perform counterterrorism and counternarcotics missions, the report said.

The special inspector general is recommending the purchase be suspended until the wing's staffing, recruiting and training problems are resolved. Chief among them is finalizing a memorandum of understanding between the Afghan interior and defense ministries that would give the military control of the wing. But the document remains unsigned due largely to the interior ministry's "resistance to surrendering authority" over the wing, according to the report.

Michael Dumont, the deputy assistant defense secretary for Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia, said in comments included in the report that delaying the purchase of the aircraft until the agreement was signed "would unacceptably delay our efforts to develop the (wing) into a capable force."

The wing was to have 806 personnel by mid-2015, but as of late January had just 180, according to the report.

Filling out the wing's ranks won't be easy, the report said, due to challenges of finding Afghan recruits who are literate in their own language, competent in English and can pass the strict, 18- to 20-month U.S. vetting process that includes eliminating candidates who have ties to criminal or insurgent activities.

The flow of Afghan trainees from helicopter flight training at Fort Rucker, Ala., to more intense training in the Czech Republic "has been slow and uneven, ranging from a low of two up to eight trainees at a time," according to the special inspector general.

The report blamed a lack of steady funding for the training from the Defense Department, failed background checks for prospective pilots and flight engineers, and the Czech government's requirement that each Afghan trainee have a certificate signed by Afghan authorities.

Compensation, especially for mechanics, is another barrier to recruitment because Afghans with a basic command of English are in high demand and can get higher pay elsewhere, the report said.

Another key shortcoming is the dearth of pilots capable of flying at night, when most counterterrorism missions are conducted. As of late January, only seven of the 47 pilots assigned to the wing were fully mission qualified to fly with night vision goggles, the report said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-06-28-US-Afghanistan-Aircraft/id-e674b36c65d645328c564cf89561e448

oakland news pinnacle airlines kansas vs kentucky oakland college basketball joe posnanski michael kidd gilchrist

Early brain stimulation may help stroke survivors recover language function

June 27, 2013 ? Non-invasive brain stimulation may help stroke survivors recover speech and language function, according to new research in the American Heart Association journal Stroke.

Between 20 percent to 30 percent of stroke survivors have aphasia, a disorder that affects the ability to grasp language, read, write or speak. It's most often caused by strokes that occur in areas of the brain that control speech and language.

"For decades, skilled speech and language therapy has been the only therapeutic option for stroke survivors with aphasia," said Alexander Thiel, M.D., study lead author and associate professor of neurology and neurosurgery at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. "We are entering exciting times where we might be able in the near future to combine speech and language therapy with non-invasive brain stimulation earlier in the recovery. This could result in earlier and more efficient aphasia recovery and also have an economic impact."

In the small study, researchers treated 24 stroke survivors with several types of aphasia at the rehabilitation hospital Rehanova and the Max-Planck-Institute for neurological research in Cologne, Germany. Thirteen received transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and 11 got sham stimulation.

The TMS device is a handheld magnetic coil that delivers low intensity stimulation and elicits muscle contractions when applied over the motor cortex.

During sham stimulation the coil is placed over the top of the head in the midline where there is a large venous blood vessel and not a language-related brain region. The intensity for stimulation was lower intensity so that participants still had the same sensation on the skin but no effective electrical currents were induced in the brain tissue.

Patients received 20 minutes of TMS or sham stimulation followed by 45 minutes of speech and language therapy for 10 days.

The TMS groups' improvements were on average three times greater than the non-TMS group, researchers said. They used German language aphasia tests, which are similar to those in the United States, to measure language performance of the patients.

"TMS had the biggest impact on improvement in anomia, the inability to name objects, which is one of the most debilitating aphasia symptoms," Thiel said.

Researchers, in essence, shut down the working part of the brain so that the stroke-affected side could relearn language. "This is similar to physical rehabilitation where the unaffected limb is immobilized with a splint so that the patients must use the affected limb during the therapy session," Thiel said.

"We believe brain stimulation should be most effective early, within about five weeks after stroke, because genes controlling the recovery process are active during this time window," he said.

Thiel said the result of this study opens the door to larger, multi-center trials. The NORTHSTAR study has been funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and will be launched at four Canadian sites and one German site later in 2013.

The Walter and Marga Boll and Wolf-Dieter-Heiss Foundations funded the current study.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/QC3RAuNF0D0/130627161434.htm

kim zolciak kim zolciak Richard Matheson Big Brother 15 red panda Rizzoli And Isles amy schumer

Uncle Sam's portfolio is (partly) offsetting the public debt

America's net debt will expand to almost 10 percent of GDP by 2023, while financial assets will grow twice as fast as the public debt. As the federal investment portfolio expands, the growing public debt is overstating the US' debt burden, Gleckman says.

By Howard Gleckman,?Guest blogger / June 25, 2013

A flag hangs outside the New York Stock Exchange in New York, New York. Although many policymakers look at the US' public debt, they should also focus their attention on the government's federal assets, Gleckman says.

Eric Thayer/Reuters/File

Enlarge

When policy folks talk about America?s federal borrowing, their go-to measures are the public debt, currently $12 trillion, and its ratio to gross domestic product, which is approaching 75 percent. Those figures represent the debt that Treasury has sold into public capital markets, pays interest on, and will one day roll over or repay.

Skip to next paragraph Howard Gleckman

Howard Gleckman is a resident fellow at The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, the author of Caring for Our Parents, and former senior correspondent in the Washington bureau of Business Week. (http://taxvox.taxpolicycenter.org)

Recent posts

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; // google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

Subscribe Today to the Monitor

Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of
The Christian Science Monitor
Weekly Digital Edition

These debt measures are important, but they paint an incomplete picture of America?s fiscal health. They don?t account for the current level of interest rates, for example, or for the trajectory of future revenues and spending. A third limitation, the focus of this post, is that the public debt doesn?t give Treasury any credit for the many financial assets it owns.

As we noted last week, Uncle Sam has been borrowing not only to finance deficits but also to make student loans, build up cash, and buy other financial assets. That portfolio now stands at $1.1 trillion, equivalent to almost one-tenth of the public debt.

Those assets have real value. They pay interest and dividends and could be sold if Treasury ever cared to. In fact, Treasury has sold many financial assets in recent years, including mortgage-backed securities and equity stakes in TARP-backed companies, even as it expanded its portfolio of student loans.

One way to take account of these holdings is to subtract their value from the outstanding debt. The rationale is straightforward. If Ann and Bob each owe $30,000 in student loans and have no other debts, they both have the same gross debt. But that doesn?t mean their financial situations are the same. If Ann has $10,000 in the bank and Bob has only $5,000, then Ann is in a stronger position. Her net debt is $20,000, while Bob?s is $25,000.

The same logic applies to the federal government: $12 trillion in debt is easier to bear if the government has some offsetting financial assets than if it has none. That?s why both the Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office regularly report the public debt net of financial assets. The net debt isn?t a perfect measure; many assets are harder to value than Ann and Bob?s bank accounts, and official valuations may not fully reflect their risk. Nonetheless, as CBO has said, the net public debt provides ?a more comprehensive picture of the government?s financial condition and its overall impact on credit markets? than does the gross public debt.

The net debt is now a bit less than $11 trillion or about 68 percent of GDP. That?s more than $1 trillion less than the usual, gross measure of public debt, or about 7 percent of GDP. That difference was only 3 percent of GDP as recently as 2006. Under President Obama?s budget, it would expand to almost 10 percent by 2023, with financial assets growing twice as fast as the public debt.

Financial assets are thus playing a bigger role in America?s debt story. Accumulating deficits remain the prime driver of the debt. But the expansion of Uncle Sam?s investment portfolio means the growing public debt overstates America?s debt burden.

This post was coauthored by Hillel Kipnis, who is interning at the Urban Institute this summer.

The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here. To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on taxvox.taxpolicycenter.org.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/6wCO0iA11Uc/Uncle-Sam-s-portfolio-is-partly-offsetting-the-public-debt

reba mcentire acm awards global payments eli young band wrestlemania country music awards 2012 wrestlemania 28 results

Activists say death toll in Syria now tops 100,000

BEIRUT (AP) ? The civil war in Syria has now killed more than 100,000 people, a grim new estimate Wednesday that comes at a time when the conflict is spreading beyond its borders and hopes are fading for a settlement to end the bloodshed.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has been tracking the death toll through a network of activists in the country, said most of the 100,191 killed in the last 27 months were combatants.

The regime losses were estimated at nearly 43,000, including pro-government militias and 169 fighters from the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah group ? a recent entrant in the conflict.

The Observatory said 36,661 of the dead are civilians. Recorded deaths among the rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad reached more than 18,000, including 2,518 foreign fighters.

Observatory director Rami Abdul-Rahman said he suspected that the toll actually was higher, since neither side has been totally forthcoming about its losses.

The United Nations recently estimated that 93,000 people were killed between March 2011, when the crisis started, and the end of April 2013, concurring with Abdul-Rahman that the actual toll is likely much higher.

The Syrian government has not given a death toll. State media published the names of the government's dead in the first months of the crisis, but then stopped publishing its losses after the opposition became an armed insurgency.

Abdul-Rahman said that the group's tally of military deaths is based on information from medical sources, records obtained by the group from state agencies and activists' own count of funerals in government-held areas of the country. Other sources are the activist videos showing soldiers who were killed in rebel areas and later identified.

The new estimate comes at a time when hopes for peace talks are fading. The U.N.'s special envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, said Tuesday an international conference proposed by Russia and the U.S. will not take place until later in the summer, partly because of opposition disarray.

Regime forces are pushing into rebel-held areas in an attempt to secure the seat of Assad's power in the capital of Damascus and along the Mediterranean coast in the heartland of the Alawites, an offshoot of Shiite Islam to which Assad belongs.

The offensive, along with new reports that Assad has used chemical weapons in 10 different incidents in the conflict, also prompted Washington and its allies to declare they have decided to arm the rebels.

On Wednesday, the Observatory said the regime drove rebels out of the town of Talkalakh, along the border with Lebanon. The town, which had a predominantly Sunni population of about 70,000 before the conflict, is surrounded by 12 Alawite villages located within walking distance of the Lebanon border.

The government takeover will likely affect the rebels' ability to bring supplies, fighters and weapons from Lebanon.

The town also lies on the highway that links the city of Homs to Tartus, in the coastal Alawite enclave that is home to one of Syria's two main seaports.

Syrian state TV showed soldiers patrolling the streets of Talkalakh, inspecting underground tunnels and displaying weapons seized from the opposition.

The governor of Homs, Ahmed Munir, told the private Lebanese broadcaster al-Mayadeen that some rebels in Talkalakh handed their weapons over to authorities. He said the town was a major area for infiltrators from Lebanon.

"Talkalakh is clear of weapons," Munir said.

Southeast of Talkalakh, government forces also took control of the village of Quarayaten on a highway that links the rebels to another supply route from Iraq, according to an activist who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear for his safety.

The regime victories are likely to help it advance on rebel-held areas of the city of Homs, he said. The activist, who is connected to rebels in Homs, spoke by Skype.

The main opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, urged the U.N. to help civilians in Talkalakh open routes to facilitate the rescue of women, children, the elderly and the wounded.

The fighting has increasingly taken on sectarian overtones. Sunni Muslims dominate the rebel ranks while Assad's regime is dominated by Alawites, and has been backed by Hezbollah fighters, particularly in towns near the Lebanese borders.

The conflict has also polarized the region. Several Gulf states, including Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia, back the rebels. Shiite powerhouse Iran is a major Assad supporter.

Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi lashed out at Saudi Arabia after that country condemned Damascus for enlisting fighters from its Lebanese ally in its struggle with rebels.

The remarks by al-Zoubi were carried late Tuesday by the state agency SANA after Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Jiddah and condemned Assad for bolstering his army with fighters from Hezbollah. Prince Saud charged that Syria faces a "foreign invasion."

Al-Zoubi fired back, saying Saudi diplomats have blood on their hands and are "trembling in fear of the victories of the Syrian army."

___

Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue and Barbara Surk in Beirut contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/activists-death-toll-syria-now-tops-100-000-201432503.html

frankie muniz katt williams greg mcelroy bob costas bowl projections Jovan Belcher Charlie Batch

Silver ? An Opportunity Reset by Ted Butler | Gold Silver Worlds

This is an excerpt from Ted Butler?s latest newsletter to his paid subscribers. We strongly encourage readers to subscribe to the newsletter on www.butlerresearch.com for in-depth analysis in the gold and silver markets.

The extreme price smash, while painful to existing holders, represents something else completely to new silver investors. The fact that there is no legitimate reason for the drop, away from price manipulation, not only does not undermine the opportunity in buying silver, it enhances it.

Silver prices have become so depressed and unreasonably cheap, that what has been created is the rarest of circumstances ? a second chance at buying what has been the best investment asset at a bargain price. While I suppose it is natural to moan about the loss of value (I confess to doing that), that does not detract from this being the ideal time to buy silver. Rather than view it as the end of a magnificent run, I can?t help but think of it as the opportunity of a lifetime making a u-turn and giving everyone who chooses a second chance to get on board.

I can?t help but think that we are situated price-wise, adjusting for everything that has occurred since then, at the equivalent of $4 or $5 or $6 ten years ago. The biggest similarity is that the one thing that is most out of balance is the price itself. I?m not talking about any inflation adjustment; I?m talking about an adjustment for all the known facts over the past ten years. Sure, back then, silver had been depressed for years and decades; this time it?s been a relatively sudden down move. But the common denominator on both occasions is that the price has gotten stupid cheap.

What?s stupid cheap? It?s a price that can?t be sustained long term, for the impact of what it will do to the law of supply and demand. Simply put, the price of silver is at a level that can?t be sustained indefinitely for real world supply/demand considerations, including production costs and ultimate investment demand. Can it go lower in the very short term? Maybe. Must it go higher in the long term, whether it goes lower or not short term? I can?t see how that won?t happen.

I think the real key here is to buy silver with the same mindset that folks bought it at $5, namely, buying it with the intention of holding it for a long time in order to sell it at a stupid expensive high price down the road. Just like one would buy a piece of raw land with the intent of putting its daily value out of mind. That?s what the most successful holders did ten years ago and what astute holders and buyers of silver will do this time around. It took a crushing price decline to create the opportunity, but how else could that opportunity have been created?

Source: http://goldsilverworlds.com/investing/silver-an-opportunity-reset-by-ted-butler/

glenn beck AJ Clemente Thor 2 Trailer Administrative Professionals Day Ryan Lochte Bayern Munich the blaze

Diddy hopes to bring music back to TV with Revolt

FILE - This Oct. 16, 2012, file photo, shows Sean "Diddy" Combs at the National Action Network's 3rd Annual Triumph Awards in New York. Diddy announced last week that he reached a deal with Time Warner Cable to launch a music network called Revolt TV this fall. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - This Oct. 16, 2012, file photo, shows Sean "Diddy" Combs at the National Action Network's 3rd Annual Triumph Awards in New York. Diddy announced last week that he reached a deal with Time Warner Cable to launch a music network called Revolt TV this fall. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Diddy had been working on developing a TV network for years. When he was almost shut out of performing on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" around the release of a 2010 album, the rapper-producer realized he needed to launch the network sooner rather than later.

"I had to beg to be on ... 'Dancing With the Stars' and it was something to me that wasn't right about that," he said.

Diddy believed there weren't enough outlets for musicians on TV ? and that moment drove home the point.

He's launching Revolt TV in the fall.

"There's ESPN for sports, CNN, Fox News for news and the AP. There should be a brand for music, and now we have that brand that's going to focus on music and not reality shows," he said. "There's been a gaping hole once some of the other channels stopped having focus on music and focused more on reality, and it left a gaping hole for artists and fans of not having a place to go."

The 43-year-old entrepreneur announced last week that Revolt TV had reached a deal to have his network distributed on Time Warner Cable. Comcast Corp. announced a deal with Diddy's network last year.

Sean "Diddy" Combs has produced shows like "Making the Band" for MTV, and he's hoping to bring the flavor of what's buzzing on the Internet ? viral videos, behind-the-scene music moments and raw interviews ? to TV sets. He's "embracing" what's happening online and plans to tap into that audience.

"We want to have partnerships with YouTube and we want to have partnerships with Facebook and Instagram and Spotify and Beats (by Dre)," he said. "We're all in this together."

MTV, which has shifted to reality TV, occasionally plays music videos, and there are channels like MTV Hits and VH1 Soul that show videos throughout the day. Diddy said Revolt TV will proudly play music videos, but "this is not an MTV 2 (or) 3.0."

"I wanted my MTV and so when I missed it, I didn't want to complain about it, I wanted to do something about it," he said. "They inspired me and helped with the blueprint."

Diddy, whose brand includes movies, fragrances, fashion lines and endorsements, said he's making sure Revolt TV isn't Diddy TV. He said Oprah Winfrey, who launched her OWN network in 2011, warned him of the hardships that would come with owning a network.

"One of the things I did learn from Oprah is that this is a marathon, not a sprint," he said.

____

Online:

http://www.revolt.tv

____

Follow Mesfin Fekadu on Twitter: twitter.com/MusicMesfin

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-06-25-People-Diddy/id-4c80cb5314714ea48509cf2f15775085

ufc145 chimpanzee chimpanzee the lucky one pittsburgh pirates mariners mets

Saints Row IV banned in Australia due to 'unjustified' evil

For every tearful accountant at Saints Row HQ, there must be a gleeful marketing person punching the air, playing mini golf and doing whatever else marketing people do when they're full of glee. Conflicted emotions aside, however, game publisher Deep Silver can now claim the notorious distinction of having its latest title, Saints Row IV, rejected outright by the Australian Classification Board (ACB). It's the first such refusal since the ACB implemented a new R18+ rating, which is meant to allow for adult themes within games but which evidently couldn't cope with Saints Row's peculiar depictions of sexual violence (which were "not justified by context") or its drug-themed reward system (which is "prohibited by the computer games guidelines"). According to The Guardian, this effectively means Saints Row IV is banned from sale in retail stores in Australia, but Joystiq has received word from Deep Silver saying it intends to create a "reworked" version of its open world game specifically for that country. Meanwhile, the regular version has been given PEGI 18 and ESRB M ratings elsewhere, and it looks to be on track for an August release date.

Filed under: Gaming

Comments

Source: Joystiq, The Guardian

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/T198rRBAaqc/

People Water Fred Willard Emmy nominations 2012 Ramadan 2012 Michelle Jenneke batman Colorado Shooting News

The Real Housewives of Miami Season 3 Preview: Double the Drama!

Source:

news channel 9 insanity workout mass effect 3 launch trailer yelp huntsville al channel 2 news adrienne bailon

Power plant limits at center of Obama climate plan

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Taking climate change efforts into his own hands, President Barack Obama is proposing sweeping steps to limit heat-trapping pollution from coal-fired power plants and to boost renewable energy production on federal property.

Obama, in a speech Tuesday at Georgetown University, was to announce he's issuing a presidential memorandum to launch the first-ever federal regulations on carbon dioxide emitted by existing power plants, moving to curb the gases blamed for global warming despite adamant opposition from Republicans and some energy producers.

The far-reaching plan marks Obama's most prominent effort yet to deliver on a major priority he laid out in his first presidential campaign and recommitted to at the start of his second term: to fight climate change in the U.S. and abroad and prepare American communities for its effects. Environmental activists have been irked that Obama's high-minded goals never materialized into a comprehensive plan.

By expanding permitting on public lands, Obama hopes to generate enough electricity from renewable energy projects such as wind and solar to power the equivalent of 6 million homes by 2020, effectively doubling the electric capacity federal lands now produce, senior administration officials said. He'll also set a goal to install 100 megawatts of energy-producing capacity at federal housing projects by the end of the decade.

Obama also was to announce $8 billion in federal loan guarantees to spur investment in technologies that can keep carbon dioxide produced by power plants from being released into the atmosphere.

"While no single step can reverse the effects of climate change, we have a moral obligation to act on behalf of future generations," the White House said in a statement, arguing that climate change is no longer a distant threat ? the 12 hottest years on record all occurred in the past 15 years.

The linchpin of Obama's plan involves new and existing power plants. Forty percent of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions, and one-third of greenhouse gases overall, come from electric power plants, according to the federal Energy Information Administration. The Obama administration already has proposed controls on new plants, but those controls have been delayed and not yet finalized. Tuesday's announcement would be the first public confirmation that Obama plans to extend carbon controls to existing plants.

"The country is facing a threat; the president is facing facts," said Dan Lashof of the Natural Resources Defense Council, praising Obama for taking aim at power plants. "Reducing that pollution is the most important step we can take as a nation to stand up to climate change."

A spokesman for major power companies said the industry long has understood the importance of addressing climate change and has been working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for two decades. The industry will consider whether new climate change policies and regulations "mesh" with its ongoing transition to a cleaner generating fleet and an enhanced electric grid, said Tom Kuhn, president of the Edison Electric Institute, a group that represents power companies.

Even before Obama spoke, reaction from Republicans was swift and dismissive, reflecting the opposition to climate legislation on Capitol Hill that prompted a frustrated Obama to sidestep lawmakers and take action himself. Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said imposing carbon rules on power plants amounts to a national energy tax.

"Will the president explain the massive costs to American jobs? Will the president explain how low-income Americans would pay for their new, higher utility bills?" Stewart said.

Senior administration officials, who weren't authorized to comment by name and requested anonymity, said Obama will set a timeline for putting new power plant controls in place. But he won't issue detailed emission targets or specifics. Instead, the president will launch a process in which the Environmental Protection Agency will work with states to develop specific plans to rein in carbon emissions, with flexibility for each state's circumstances.

Obama also will announce more aggressive steps to increase efficiency for appliances such as refrigerators and lamps, the White House said, adding that stricter standards could reduce carbon pollution by more than 3 billion tons between now and 2030 ? the equivalent of a half-year's worth of carbon pollution from power plants. Another component of Obama's proposal will involve ramping up hydropower production from existing dams.

Obama raised climate change as a key second-term issue in his inaugural address in January, but has offered few details since. In his February State of the Union, he issued an ultimatum to lawmakers: "If Congress won't act soon to protect future generations, I will."

"His view reflects reality," White House spokesman Jay Carney said Monday. "We've seen Congress attempt to deal with this issue, and fail to."

Framing Obama's efforts as part of a broader, global movement, the White House said the U.S. can play a leading role in persuading other nations to join in efforts to slow the warming of the planet.

Obama is calling for an end to U.S. support for public financing for new coal-fired plants overseas, officials said, but will exempt plants in the poorest nations as long as the cleanest technology available in those countries is being used. He's also pledging to work with major polluting countries like China and India to curb emissions, building on an agreement Obama struck recently with China's leader to phase out hydrofluorocarbons, potent greenhouse gases used in air conditions and refrigerators.

Another of Obama's goals ? to prepare communities for the inevitable effects of climate change ? appears to be more aspiration than concrete plan. Community leaders and environmental activists say that what cities and states need to prepare for flooding and higher temperatures is money ? something Obama is hard-pressed to provide without Congress' go-ahead.

Sidestepping Congress by using executive action doesn't guarantee Obama smooth sailing. Lawmakers could introduce legislation to thwart Obama's efforts. And the rules for existing power plants will almost certainly face legal challenges in court.

___

Follow Matthew Daly on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC

Follow Josh Lederman on Twitter: https://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/power-plant-limits-center-obama-climate-plan-100209230.html

baa samoyed kenny powers kenny powers carl hagelin triple play james neal

Biological arithmetic: Plants do sums to get through the night

June 24, 2013 ? New research shows that to prevent starvation at night, plants perform accurate arithmetic division. The calculation allows them to use up their starch reserves at a constant rate so that they run out almost precisely at dawn.

"This is the first concrete example in a fundamental biological process of such a sophisticated arithmetic calculation." said mathematical modeller Professor Martin Howard from the John Innes Centre.

Plants feed themselves during the day by using energy from the sun to convert carbon dioxide into sugars and starch. Once the sun has set, they must depend on a store of starch to prevent starvation.

In research to be published in the open access journal eLife, scientists at the John Innes Centre show that plants make precise adjustments to their rate of starch consumption. These adjustments ensure that the starch store lasts until dawn even if the night comes unexpectedly early or the size of the starch store varies.

The John Innes Centre scientists show that to adjust their starch consumption so precisely they must be performing a mathematical calculation -- arithmetic division.

"The capacity to perform arithmetic calculation is vital for plant growth and productivity," said metabolic biologist Professor Alison Smith.

"Understanding how plants continue to grow in the dark could help unlock new ways to boost crop yield."

During the night, mechanisms inside the leaf measure the size of the starch store and estimate the length of time until dawn. Information about time comes from an internal clock, similar to our own body clock. The size of the starch store is then divided by the length of time until dawn to set the correct rate of starch consumption, so that, by dawn, around 95% of starch is used up.

"The calculations are precise so that plants prevent starvation but also make the most efficient use of their food," said Professor Smith.

"If the starch store is used too fast, plants will starve and stop growing during the night. If the store is used too slowly, some of it will be wasted."

The scientists used mathematical modelling to investigate how such a division calculation can be carried out inside a plant. They proposed that information about the size of the starch store and the time until dawn is encoded in the concentrations of two kinds of molecules (called S for starch and T for time). If the S molecules stimulate starch consumption, while the T molecules prevent this from happening, then the rate of starch consumption is set by the ratio of S molecules to T molecules, in other words S divided by T.

This research is funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/qb4963q8I7k/130624093524.htm

Castel Gandolfo Silver Linings Playbook daniel day lewis Life of Pi Christoph Waltz Quvenzhané Wallis dancing with the stars cast