[unable to retrieve full-text content]When Florida Governor Rick Scott's administration began an effort to find and purge non-citizens from the voting rolls last year, life-long citizens and voters received letters asking them to prove their citizenship. That became a political embarrassment. But now, the Scott administration is ready to start the purge again, this time using a federal citizenship database. But county election officials remain wary.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NprProgramsATC/~3/rggqouO70Ik/story.php
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Monday, October 14, 2013
Friday, October 11, 2013
German groom forgets bride at gas station
BERLIN (AP) — A German couple's marriage got off to a rocky start when the groom forgot his bride at a highway gas station on the way home from their honeymoon, only noticing she was missing after hours had passed.
Police said Friday the couple was heading home to Berlin from France when the man pulled over near the central town of Bad Hersfeld late Thursday to fill up their van.
The woman had been sleeping in the back but got up — unbeknownst to the man — to use the toilets and he drove off before she returned.
Only after 2 ½ hours on the road did he notice she was gone and called police, who said she was patiently waiting.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/aa9398e6757a46fa93ed5dea7bd3729e/Article_2013-10-11-EU-Germany-Forgetful-Groom/id-9cdcca45959e41acaccb5721125654f0Similar Articles: Cal Worthington tommy morrison Bryan Cranston usher brian wilson
Friday, June 28, 2013
Protests near Mandela hospital over 'disappointment' Obama's South Africa trip
President Obama is heading to South Africa from Senegal as part of his African tour, where Nelson Mandela's daughter says he might visit Mandela if doctors approve. NBC's Keir Simmons reports.
By Stacey Klein and Ian Johnston, NBC News
Barack Obama said Friday that he did not need a ?photo op? with Nelson Mandela, saying the ?last thing? he wanted to do was be intrusive at a time when the anti-apartheid icon?s family are concerned about his health.
However, the president did not rule out a meeting with Mandela, whose ex-wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela said Friday had made a ?great improvement? compared to a few days ago.
On Tuesday, Mandela's daughter Zindzi said that her father ?opened his eyes and gave me a smile? when she told him Obama was coming.
Speaking about her ex-husband Nelson Mandela, Winnie Mandela says, 'From what he was a few days ago, there is great improvement' in the former South African president's condition.
Speaking on Air Force One as he flew to South Africa from Senegal, Obama said that ?we?ll see what the situation is when we land.?
?I don't need photo op," he said. "The last thing I want to do is be intrusive at a time when the family is concerned? with Mandela?s condition.
He said the main message he wanted to deliver was ?profound gratitude? for Mandela?s leadership and to say that ?the thoughts and prayers of the American people are with him, his family and his country.?
This message could be delivered to his family and not directly to Mandela, the president said.
On Thursday, Obama said he had already had the "privilege of meeting Madiba [Mandela's clan name] and speaking to him."
"And he's a personal hero, but I don't think I'm unique in that regard," Obama added. "If and when he passes from this place, one thing I think we'll all know is that his legacy is one that will linger on throughout the ages."
Madikizela-Mandela, speaking outside Mandela's former home in the Johannesburg township of Soweto, said her ex-husband seemed to be getting better.
?I?m not a doctor but I can say that from what he was a few days ago there is great improvement," she said.
When asked by NBC News Special Correspondent Charlayne Hunter-Gault?whether the family would welcome a visit by Obama, Zindzi Mandela said Thursday she wasn't aware of any formal request. However, she added that decision would be left with doctors treating the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Ahead of his arrival in Johannesburg on Friday, an anti-Obama protest was held not far from the hospital where Mandela is being treated with one demonstrator claiming the U.S. president had been a ?disappointment.?
Siphiwe Sibeko / Reuters
Protesters protest the visit of President Barack Obama in Pretoria Friday. One said he viewed Obama as a "disappointment" and thought Nelson Mandela would too.
Reuters reported that nearly 1,000 trade unionists, Muslim activists, South African Communist Party members and others marched to the U.S. Embassy where they burned a U.S. flag, calling Obama's foreign policy ?arrogant and oppressive.?
"We had expectations of America's first black president. Knowing Africa's history, we expected more,? Khomotso Makola, a 19-year-old law student, told Reuters. He said Obama was a ?disappointment, I think Mandela too would be disappointed and feel let down.?
South African critics of Obama have focused in particular on his support for U.S. drone strikes overseas, which they say have killed hundreds of innocent civilians, and his failure to deliver on a pledge to close the U.S. military detention center at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba housing terrorism suspects.
However, Nigerian painter Sanusi Olatunji, 31, had brought portraits of both Mandela and Obama to add to a growing number of flowers, tribute notes and gifts outside the hospital.
?These are the two great men of my lifetime,? he told Reuters. ?To me, Mandela is a prophet who brought peace and opportunity. He made it possible for a black man like me to live in a country that was only for whites.?
/
View images of civil rights leader Nelson Mandela, who went from anti-apartheid activist to prisoner to South Africa's first black president.
In the latest statement on Mandela?s condition, South African President Jacob Zuma said the 94-year-old was ?much better? on Thursday than he had been the previous night. "The medical team continues to do a sterling job," he added.
A statement issued by Zuma?s office said he and Obama would hold ?crucial bilateral talks that will take forward relations between the two countries? on Saturday.
?South Africa values its warm and mutually beneficial relationship with the United States immensely. This is a significant visit which will take political, economic and people to people relations between the two countries to a higher level, while also enhancing cooperation between U.S. and the African continent at large,? it said.
The statement noted Obama?s visit was being made as South Africa prepares to celebrate ?20 years of freedom? ? 1994 saw the first elections in the country in which all its citizens were eligible to vote. Mandela voted for the first time in his life in that year and was elected the country?s first black president, serving until 1999.
?South Africa greatly appreciates the solidarity provided by the Anti-Apartheid Movement in the United States during the struggle for liberation,? the statement said.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Related:
This story was originally published on Fri Jun 28, 2013 5:05 AM EDT
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Obama arrives in South Africa
JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? Inspired by Nelson Mandela's struggles in South Africa, a young Barack Obama joined campus protests in the U.S. against the racist rule that kept Mandela locked away in prison for nearly three decades.
Now a historic, barrier-breaking figure himself, President Obama arrived in South Africa Friday to find a country drastically transformed by Mandela's influence ? and grappling with the beloved 94-year-old's mortality.
It was unclear whether Mandela's deteriorating health would allow Obama to make a hospital visit. The former South African leader is battling a recurring lung infection and is said to be in critical condition at a hospital in the South African capital of Pretoria.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One as he made his way to Johannesburg, Obama said he would gauge the situation after he arrived.
"I don't need a photo-op," he said. "And the last thing I want to do is to be in any way obtrusive at a time when the family is concerned about Nelson Mandela's condition."
Obama's visit to South Africa is seen as something of a tribute to the man who helped inspire his own political activism. The president will pay homage to Mandela at Robben Island, the prison where he spent 18 of his 27 years in prison. And with South Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress, facing questions about its effectiveness, Obama will urge the government and the South African people to live up to the democratic example set by their first black president.
"He's a personal hero, but I don't think I'm unique in that regard," Obama said during a news conference Thursday in Senegal, the first stop on his weeklong Africa trip. "I think he's a hero for the world. And if and when he passes from this place, one thing I think we'll all know is that his legacy is one that will linger on throughout the ages."
Obama and Mandela have met just once, a hastily arranged meeting in a Washington hotel room in 2005 when Obama was a U.S. senator. A photo of the meeting hangs in Obama's personal office at the White House, showing a smiling Mandela sitting on a chair, his legs outstretched, as the young senator reaches down to shake his hand. A copy of the photo also hangs in Mandela's office in Johannesburg.
Since then, the two have spoken occasionally by telephone, including after the 2008 election, when Mandela called Obama to congratulate him on his victory. The U.S. president called Mandela in 2010 after the South African leader's young granddaughter was killed in a car accident. Obama also wrote the introduction to Mandela's memoir, "Conversations With Myself."
Despite the two men's infrequent contact, people close to Obama say his one-on-one meeting with Mandela left a lasting impression.
"He is one of the few people who the president has respected and admired from afar who, when he met him, exceeded his expectations," said Valerie Jarrett, Obama's senior adviser and close friend.
Obama's own political rise has drawn inevitable comparisons to the South African leader. Both are Nobel Peace Prize winners and the first black men elected to lead their countries.
But their paths to power have been vastly different. While Mandela fought to end an oppressive government from the confines of a prison cell, Obama attended elite schools and rose through the U.S. political system before running for president.
"President Obama would believe that the challenges he has faced pale in comparison to those faced by President Mandela," Jarrett said.
Mandela had already shaped Obama's political beliefs well before their first encounter. As a student at Occidental College in Los Angeles, Obama joined protests against the school's investments during South Africa's apartheid era. In 1981, Obama focused his first public political speech on the topic.
"It's happening an ocean away," Obama said, according to a retelling of the story in his memoir "Dreams From My Father." ''But it's a struggle that touches each and every one of us. Whether we know it or not. Whether we want it or not."
More than 30 years later, as he traveled through the African continent, Obama recalled the influence Mandela had had on him during that period of his life.
"I think at that time I didn't necessarily imagine that Nelson Mandela might be released," Obama said Thursday. But the president said he had read Mandela's writings and speeches and understood him to be a man who believed in "treating people equally and was willing to sacrifice his life for that belief."
Following his release from prison, Mandela was elected president in 1994 during South Africa's first all-races elections. He served just one term, focusing in large part on racial reconciliation in the post-apartheid era, and retreated from public life several years ago.
The most recent images of him depict a frail man apparently approaching the end of his life. While South Africans have long been loath to talk about Mandela's inevitable death, there is now a growing sense in the country that the time is near. Well-wishers have delivered flowers and messages of support to the Pretoria hospital where he is being treated, and prayer sessions have been held around the country.
___
Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obamas-ties-mandela-loom-over-africa-visit-173837509.html
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HandiBot Is The Robotic Carpenter Of Geppetto's Dreams
Given that I have no talent in woodworking I suspect Handibot may - dare I say it? - come in handy. The device is a motorized CNC machine - they're calling it a Universal Digital Power Tool (UDPT) - for wood. It can cut, machine, drill, and carve. Build by the guys who built the ShopBot, a similarly complex CNC system for woodworking.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/hoTl_EM2-fI/
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Pope names commission of inquiry into Vatican bank
VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope Francis' new commission of inquiry into the troubled Vatican bank has a brand new money-laundering case to look into: How a Holy See monsignor withdrew more than a half-million euros in charitable donations from the bank without any flags being raised, walked out of Vatican City with the cash, and then used the money to pay off his personal mortgage.
The case of Monsignor Nunzio Scarano is just one example of how lax norms and incompetence, if not more serious shortcomings at the Institute for Religious Works, or IOR, have sullied the Vatican's reputation in international financial circles and made it a target for Francis' clean-up and reform campaign.
Francis on Wednesday announced the creation of a commission of inquiry to look into the IOR's activities and legal status "to allow for a better harmonization with the universal mission of the Apostolic See," according to the legal document he signed creating it.
It was the second time in as many weeks that Francis has intervened to get information out of the IOR, a secretive institution best known for the scandals it has caused the Vatican. On June 15, he filled a key vacancy in the bank's governing structure, tapping a trusted prelate to be his eyes inside the bank.
Francis named five people to the commission, including two Americans: Monsignor Peter Wells, a top official in the Vatican secretariat of state, and Mary Ann Glendon, a Harvard law professor, former U.S. ambassador to the Holy See and current president of a pontifical academy.
American cardinals were among the most vocal in demanding a wholesale reform of the Vatican bureaucracy ? and the Vatican bank ? in the meetings outlining the priorities for the new pope in the run-up to the March conclave that elected Francis. The demands were raised following revelations in leaked documents last year that told of dysfunction, petty turf wars and allegations of corruption in the Holy See's governance.
Francis, who has made clear he has no patience for corruption and wants a "poor" church, has already named a separate commission of cardinals to advise him on the broader question of reforming the Vatican bureaucracy as a whole.
The Vatican bank was founded in 1942 by Pope Pius XII to manage assets destined for religious or charitable works. Located in a tower just inside the gates of Vatican City, it also manages the pension system for the Vatican's thousands of employees.
The bank commission's members have authority to gather documents, data and information about the bank's legal status and activities, even overriding normal secrecy rules to do so. Members can receive information from anyone in the Vatican bureaucracy as well as people who spontaneously volunteer information, and the commission can refer to outside advisers if necessary, according to the terms.
The commission will report back to Francis ? presumably with both information and recommendations ? and then will be dissolved, the document states. No timeframe was given but the commission is to start working soon.
The bank's daily management and activities continues unchanged.
The announcement came as the Vatican faces a new embarrassment involving the bank: Prosecutors in the southern city of Salerno have placed Scarano, an accountant in one of the Vatican's key finance offices, the Administration for the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, under investigation for alleged money-laundering stemming from his IOR account.
Scarano's attorney, Silverio Sica, told The Associated Press that the investigation concerns transactions Scarano made in 2009 in which he took 560,000 euros ($729,000) in cash out of his personal IOR bank account and carried it out of the Vatican and into Italy to help pay off a mortgage on his Salerno home.
To deposit the money into an Italian bank account ? and to prevent family members from finding out he had such a large chunk of cash ? he asked 56 close friends to accept 10,000 euros apiece in cash in exchange for a check or money transfer in the same amount, Sica said in a telephone interview. Scarano was then able to deposit the amounts in his Italian account.
"The money came from the Vatican. He wanted to bring it into Italy. He was advised to do it in this way," Sica said.
The original money came into Scarano's IOR account from donors who gave it to the prelate thinking they were funding a home for the terminally ill in Salerno, Sica said. He said the donors had "enormous" wealth and could offer such donations for his charitable efforts.
He said Scarano had given the names of the donors to prosecutors and insisted the origin of the money was clean, that the transactions didn't constitute money-laundering, and that he only took the money "temporarily" for his personal use.
The home for terminally ill hasn't been built, though the property has been identified, Sica said.
"He declares himself absolutely innocent," Sica said.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, confirmed Wednesday that Scarano had been suspended temporarily from his job and that the Vatican's financial watchdog agency, known by its acronym AIF, was "aware of the case and is taking ? if and where appropriate ? the necessary measures."
Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported over the weekend that the Bank of Italy had flagged the case to the AIF, seeking information about Scarano's IOR account as part of the Salerno probe. Lombardi didn't respond when asked why the IOR itself didn't flag such unusually large cash withdrawals back in 2009.
There have long been questions about just what the IOR actually is and does ? questions which the commission presumably will try to iron out for Francis. Vatican officials have long insisted it's not even a bank, since it doesn't perform key banking activities like making loans.
It does however take deposits, transfer money and invest for its clients, who include Vatican officials, members of religious orders and diplomats accredited to the Holy See. The bank performs asset management services that in 2012 helped earn it 86.6 million euros in profit on 7.1 billion euros in total assets under management.
___
Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-names-commission-inquiry-vatican-110533778.html
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Thursday, June 27, 2013
An Amazing Photo of China's Space Station Crossing the Sun
While it's the International Space Station that tends to take all the glory, there is in fact another: China's Tiangong-1, which went into low-Earth orbit in 2011. In this amazing pictures, you can see it silhouetted against the Sun.
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Kerry: Urgent progress is needed on Mideast peace
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) ? Secretary of State John Kerry is beginning a new round of Middle East peace diplomacy, arriving Wednesday in Jordan, his base for talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
Kerry is to travel from Amman to Jerusalem on Thursday for dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and has a lunch scheduled on Friday in Amman with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
At a news conference earlier in the day in Kuwait, Kerry expressed hope that two sides could make progress but denied press reports that any three-way meetings with both Netanyahu and Abbas were expected.
Kerry said he's set no specific deadline for making concrete progress in talks between Israel and the Palestinians that he's continuing this week, but that long before September there needs to be some kind of progress shown.
U.N. General Assembly, which reconvenes in September, voted overwhelmingly in November to upgrade the Palestinians from U.N. observer to non-voting member state. The Palestinians have said that if attempts at reaching an accord between the two sides fail, that they'd pursue a strategy of international recognition on their own, which would make finding peace in the decades-long conflict more elusive.
Kerry spoke during a news conference with Kuwait's emir, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah. It is Kerry's fifth visit to the region since becoming secretary of state earlier this year.
"The time is getting near where we need to make some judgments. Last time, I was here, I said it's time for leaders to make some hard decisions," Kerry said. "That stands. It is time. Why is it urgent? It's urgent because time is the enemy of a peace process."
"I don't want to trap myself or any of the principals in this with arbitrary ? or somewhat ad hoc time limits," Kerry said.
But he added: "Long before September we need to be showing some kind of progress in some way. ...That's why I'm here for this visit and I hope it can be productive."
Kerry has been shuttling between the Israelis and the Palestinians in search of a formula to restart talks. So far, there have been no signs of a breakthrough.
Abbas is being propelled toward a stark choice that could come as soon as next week, define his legacy and set the course for his people in their conflict with Israel. Abbas' aides fear he's being pushed by the U.S. into dropping his conditions for negotiating with Netanyahu
Israeli settlements lies at the heart of the heart of the nearly five-year impasse in Mideast peace efforts. The Palestinians say they will not negotiate while Israel continues to construct settlements in territory they seek for a future state. Netanyahu says the fate of the settlements should be resolved in negotiations, and talks should resume immediately without any preconditions. The Palestinians claim the West Bank and east Jerusalem, which were captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, as parts of a future state.
"We come at this carefully. We have been working towards, hopefully an understanding that allows everybody to move forward, notwithstanding the difficulties that people face in the politics of their own countries," he said. "Why am I confident that something can be down? Because I believe peace is understood by them ? both of them ? to be urgent."
On Syria, Kerry acknowledged that getting a transitional government set up in Syria would be a "hard lift."
But he painted a dire picture of the alternative to convening an international conference to reach a political resolution to the two-year civil war.
"The people of Syria are suffering ... the prospect a long, continued war, which is very possible, means not only will many, many people die, many more homes will be destroyed, cities be destroyed. Not only will you have more atrocities, more violations of human rights, even some small evidence here and there of some ethnic cleansing.
"Not only will you have all that, but you may ultimately have complete destruction of the state of Syria so that the army and the institutions will fall apart and you will have a complete sectarian breakdown and that becomes far more dangerous for all of the region because it will empower extremists as well as create ongoing sectarian strife" in the region.
He reiterated his called for Iran and the Hezbollah fighters, which are bolstering Assad's forces, to leave Syria ? a move he said would make it easier for a political resolution to be reached.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kerry-urgent-progress-needed-mideast-peace-130625075.html
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Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Miley Cyrus Is A 'Skilled Twerker,' And Ying Yang Twins Co-Sign!
D-Roc and Kaine explain why they consider the 'We Can't Stop' singer 'the twerking mascot.'
By Jocelyn Vena
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1709565/miley-cyrus-ying-yang-twins-twerk.jhtml
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Scientists find neighbor star with three planets in life-friendly orbits
By Irene Klotz
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - A neighbor star has at least six planets in orbit, including three circling at the right distance for water to exist, a condition believed to be necessary for life, scientists said on Tuesday.
Previously, the star known as Gliese 667C was found to be hosting three planets, one of which was located in its so-called "habitable zone" where temperatures could support liquid surface water. That planet and two newly found sibling worlds are bigger than Earth, but smaller than Neptune.
"This is the first time that three such planets have been spotted orbiting in this zone in the same system," astronomer Paul Butler, with the Carnegie Institution in Washington, D.C., said in a statement.
Scientists say the discovery of three planets in a star's habitable zone raises the odds of finding Earth-like worlds where conditions might have been suitable for life to evolve.
"Instead of looking at 10 stars to look for a single potentially habitable planet, we now know we can look at just one star and have a high chance of finding several of them," astronomer Rory Barnes, with the University of Washington, said in a statement.
Additional observations of Gliese 667C and a reanalysis of existing data showed it hosts at least six, and possibly, seven planets.
The star is located relatively close to Earth, just 22 light years (129 trillion miles/207 trillion km) away. It is about one-third the size of the sun and the faintest star of a triple star system.
In addition to the three well-positioned "super-Earths," two more planets may orbit on the fringe of the star's habitable zone and also could possibly support life.
The research will be published this week in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
(Editing by Kevin Gray and Mohammad Zargham)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/scientists-neighbor-star-three-planets-life-friendly-orbits-002751999.html
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Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Mobile Online Casino, Convenience Maximized | Tech on the Go ...
Posted by Admin on June 24th, 2013, 2:04 pm GMT
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Source: http://www.techonthego.co.uk/2013/06/mobile-online-casino-convenience-maximized-13836
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E-cigarette study hints at quit-aid potential
By Andrew M. Seaman
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In a trial of e-cigarettes among Italian smokers with no desire to quit using tobacco at the outset, up to 13 percent of participants were not smoking regular cigarettes at all a year later.
Though the study was not billed as a smoking-cessation test, more than half of participants cut down on tobacco soon after they started using the e-cigarettes. And the percentage who quit smoking entirely by the end rivals results achieved with medications, the authors note in the journal PLOS ONE.
"I think the main message of the study is that we can use these products as an extraordinary tobacco control tool," Dr. Riccardo Polosa, the new study's senior author from the University of Catania, told Reuters Health.
"This really is the first clinical trial that's ever been reported on electronic cigarettes. There has been survey evidence and anecdotal reports, but this is the first serious study," said Dr. Michael Siegel, who studies e-cigarettes but wasn't involved in the new research.
E-cigarettes were first introduced in China in 2004. The battery-powered devices let users inhale nicotine-infused vapors, which don't contain the harmful tar and carbon monoxide in tobacco smoke.
While past studies have looked at the use of e-cigarettes, the new study is the first to follow hundreds of smokers for an entire year. It did not, however, compare the devices to traditional nicotine replacement therapies, such as gum or patches.
To see how many e-cigarette users would cut down or quit smoking cigarettes without any encouragement, the researchers recruited 300 people between June 2010 and February 2011. All were current smokers who stated they had no intention of quitting in the near future. Each participant was then randomized into one of three groups.
One group received e-cigarettes along with cartridges containing 7.2 milligram (mg) of nicotine. Another group also received the devices and 7.2 mg nicotine cartridges, but later in the study they were switched to 5.4 mg nicotine cartridges. And a third group got e-cigarettes and cartridges containing only tobacco flavor but no nicotine.
Each participant received enough supplies to last three months and went to regular checkups throughout the year.
At the end of the study, 13 percent of the group that first received the highest-dose nicotine cartridges was no longer smoking. That compared to 9 percent of those who were in the reduced-nicotine group and 4 percent in the group without nicotine.
Since there was no control group of smokers who got no e-cigarettes at all, it's hard to know how many would have quit smoking on their own by the end of a year, experts noted.
Siegel, a professor at the Boston University School of Public Health, said he would expect about 2 percent of the participants to quit within a year if they weren't involved in a study.
However, Polosa's team also found that between 9 and 12 percent of people in each of the nicotine-cartridge groups had reduced the amount they smoked by at least half.
"The study is very positive in that it shows if you smoke even a low- or medium-strength e-cigarette, you can get some increased quitting and decreased smoking," Dr. Murray Laugesen, a tobacco and nicotine researcher who was not involved with the new study, told Reuters Health.
"It also has to be acknowledged that these are good results in people who had no intention of quitting," said Laugesen, a public health medicine specialist at Health New Zealand Ltd in Christchurch. He is also involved in an e-cigarette clinical trial and hopes to present the results in September.
Siegel told Reuters Health that what's attractive about e-cigarettes is they can not only provide the nicotine that smokers crave without other harmful substances, they allow people to mimic their traditional smoking behavior.
Researchers said that's one reason why e-cigarettes might turn out to be a better form of nicotine replacement therapy than patches and gums, but there's no data yet to prove it.
"I think that's why they? found the people who actually got no-nicotine electronic cigarettes had some sort of quitting behavior? But obviously the people who got the nicotine and the high dose of nicotine did the best. Clearly having the nicotine and device structure is ideal," Siegel said.
But he cautioned that more research is needed - especially on the long-term safety of e-cigarettes and how the devices stack up against traditional smoking cessation methods.
"My advice to people is to try the traditional therapy first. But I think electronic cigarettes are for people who have tried and failed nicotine replacement therapy, which is, sadly, most people," Siegel added.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1cec3gn PLOS ONE, online June 24, 2013.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/e-cigarette-study-hints-quit-aid-potential-210528041.html
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98% Mud
All Critics (149) | Top Critics (33) | Fresh (146) | Rotten (3)
For at least three-quarters of the way, this is a fine film, and one that kids and parents could see together.
There is an enchanted-fairy-tale aspect to Mud, but its bright, calm surface only barely disguises a strong, churning undercurrent.
A modern fairy tale, steeped in the sleepy Mississippi lore of Twain and similar American writers, and with a heart as big as the river is wide.
Nichols has a strong feeling for the tactility of natural elements-water, wood, terrain, weather.
Nichols takes his time with the story, dwelling on how the boy is shaped by the killer's tragic sense of romance, yet the suspense holds.
"Mud" isn't just a movie. It's the firm confirmation of a career.
Just like its lead character, this film is packed to the brim with sadness, swagger and soul.
All the women in this movie are shrews, liars and/or emasculators.
Mud is a moving exploration into the nature of manhood, with superb performances, striking location and engrossing story creating a mesmerising and heartfelt coming of age drama.
A stripped back approach to tracking the process of growing up, but lacks the faith to see the plan executed to the end
Nichols takes his time unravelling Mud and Ellis's entwined fates, but his characters are so rich that it's well worth being in their company.
In its energy and nuance, Mud seems like the kind of film Hollywood would've made in the Seventies, and would've continued to do if not for the advent of market-conscious filmmaking.
More than a mere tribute to Twain and Dickens: this has all the makings of a modern classic.
An extremely sophisticated and progressive examination on how adolescent masculinity is defined by often-contradictory cultural attitudes towards femininity.
Mud is as beautiful to watch as it is to listen to, and feel kinship to, whether you're from the South or just Southern at heart.
In Jeff Nichols, America has a champion of the religious and working class. With the schism between the right and left in the U.S. growing ever larger... his ascent couldn't have come at a better time.
This is a film with a great naturalistic style and captivating performances and which does just about everything right.
Jeff Nichols writes characters with depth, nurtures strong performances form his cast and allows the screenplay's backwater setting to effectively create tone and texture.
This is American cinema at its very best as Huckleberry Finn meets Stand By Me.The two boys are terrific and McConaughey is sensational as Mud, dazzlingly frazzled as the hunted and haunted man on the run.
Up till just past the three-quarter mark, Mud is one heck of a nifty psychological fable.
The Southern-fried drama "Mud" is an electrifying example of what happens when you merge a crackerjack yarn with a very specific setting, and then pour on the heat with riveting performances.
McConaughey and Sheridan 's acting skills, as well as those of the entire supporting cast, make this movie better than it ought to be.
It gets under our skin because Nichols gives us time to come to know Mud's island like the places we knew as children.
As Mud might say, it's a hell of a thing.
The boys are so skillfully played that Mud also plays like cinema verite. Nichols' fluid camerawork suggests a documentary-style approach. That helps these young lads transform into flesh-and-blood characters who get our attention and support.
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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mud_2012/
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Monday, June 24, 2013
Fujifilm X-M1 mirrorless ILC ships in July with 16.3-megapixel APS-C sensor, $700 price tag
In January of 2012, Fujifilm first detailed its APS-C X-Trans CMOS sensor -- the company promised superior image quality, thanks to a design that omitted an optical low-pass filter, and it delivered, in the form of the X-Pro1. That camera's relatively massive footprint and $1,700 price tag limited its appeal, however, though Fujifilm unveiled a smaller, and much more affordable variant, the X-E1, several months later. Now the saga continues. Today, the Japanese manufacturer is announcing an X-Trans-equipped model for the masses. The X-M1 includes the same 16.3-megapixel sensor as both the X-Pro1 and X-E1, yet it's housed in a lightweight body that's due to ship next month for just $700.
The X-M1 tips the scale at 11.6 ounces, including the battery and memory card, but without a lens attached. As for optics, the ILC will be available as part of a kit with a brand new f/3.5-5.6 16-50mm (24-76mm equivalent) lens with optical image stabilization for $800, and will be compatible with the existing XF and XC lineup, including a variety of prime and zoom options. There's a 3-inch 920k-dot tilting LCD (but no EVF), a built-in flash, dedicated mode dial and on-board WiFi, letting you transfer images and movies to Android and iOS devices via a dedicated app. The EXR Processor II enables the camera to start up in 0.5 seconds, with a 0.05-second shutter lag and a maximum burst shot speed of 5.6 fps for 30 consecutive frames. The cam sports a fairly standard sensitivity range of ISO 100-25,600. The X-M1 is set to hit stores in July with black and silver finishes for $700, or $800 with the lens. A brown version (body only) will also be available come August for $700.
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/FzypGpb1swc/
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Congress Not Likely To Pass Sweeping Climate Legislation
 
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Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=195272190&ft=1&f=1007
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Video: Are World Economies Living on Borrowed Time?
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Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/video/cnbc/52294358/
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Sunday, June 23, 2013
U.S. to seek cooperation with countries where Snowden is travelling: DOJ official
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has been told by Hong Kong that former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has left Hong Kong for "a third country" and will seek cooperation with countries Snowden may try to go to, a Justice Department official said on Sunday.
"We will continue to discuss this matter with Hong Kong and pursue relevant law enforcement cooperation with other countries where Mr. Snowden may be attempting to travel," Justice Department spokeswoman Nanda Chitre said in a statement.
The United States contacted Hong Kong on Saturday seeking Snowden's extradition, Chitre said.
Hong Kong earlier on Sunday allowed Snowden to leave Hong Kong for a third country. According to a source at Russia's Aeroflot airline, Snowden is traveling to Moscow and is planning to go to Venezuela via Cuba.
(Reporting by Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Bill Trott)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-says-seek-cooperation-countries-snowden-traveling-132627694.html
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Stephanie Mott: 'Are You a Boy?'
A 4-year-old boy asked me once, "Are you a boy, or are you a girl?"
I responded, "That's a good question," buying myself a few moments to think about how to answer. I didn't look very much like a woman at the time, and I didn't exactly look like a man either. It was an awkward time in my transition, when questions like this one were just beginning to become an expected part of my day, although seldom as innocent and honest as was the question on this day. After a few seconds, I stopped and turned to the boy and asked, "What do you think?"
He stopped and looked at me and said, "I think you are a girl because you have a purse and you are wearing a necklace."
I said, "That's a good answer." And from that moment on, I was a girl in this young man's mind. The question had been asked and answered. That was that. No need to spend any more time trying to figure out what it all meant, or if it was right or wrong. It just was.
It was during this same time in my transition that I went with some friends to a local restaurant for lunch. As I sat down at the table with my friends, I noticed some other patrons staring at me. Soon after, they caught the attention of their server and were quickly shuffled off to another table, where they wouldn't have to look at me.
Those were the days, my friend. Every moment of every day contained the possibility that anything could happen. Anything good, and anything bad. "You are so courageous to be who you are," some people would say to me. I would respond as politely as I knew how, but I would be thinking how courageous it would be to go back to not being who I am.
Those were frightening times, but at least they contained the possibility that something good could happen. Before, that possibility didn't exist. All that existed was the certainty that each and every day would contain thoughts of suicide. The certainty that eventually I would die, and that would be the day the pain stopped. Going back to that life would have been truly courageous, indeed.
It was during this time in my transition that I was able to start my day in front of the makeup mirror. To choose the day's clothing by how it matched my soul and told the truth, rather than by how it reminded me of the daily lie of pretending to be a man.
It was a time when I walked out the door of my home in sweet, perfect honesty. A time when my closet became a place for clothing -- which was a good thing, because I was about to need the space.
It was a time of hope. Living in a time of hope is far less courageous than living in a time of no hope. It was a time when dreams began to become dares, and dares began to become life. It was a time when I would begin to surround myself with people who didn't need to ask if I was a boy or girl. They knew.
I began to discover myself within the framework of who I was. To discover my woman self within a newly discovered freedom to be my woman self. And watch her come to life. And see me come to life with her. As her.
Little did I know of the amazing journey that could only begin when I asked myself the same question that was asked by the 4-year-old boy. Am I a boy, or am I a girl? Little did I know that there would still be otherwise knowledgeable adults, seven years later, still asking the same question.
I haven't found it necessary to ask myself the same question in a really long time. I still have a purse and wear a necklace. It is both far more complicated than that, and just as simple as that. Because who I am is who I say I am.
And from that moment on, I was a girl in this young man's mind. The question had been asked and answered. That was that. No need to spend any more time trying to figure out what it all meant, or if it was right or wrong. It just was.
Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
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Follow Stephanie Mott on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TransInTopeka
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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephanie-mott/are-you-a-boy_b_3478851.html
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Saturday, June 22, 2013
Religion plays irreplaceable role in society, Archbishop Lori says ...
This is a syndicated post from CNA Daily News. [Read the original article...]
Baltimore, Md., Jun 22, 2013 / 10:06 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Opening the 2013 Fortnight for Freedom, Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore emphasized the unique contribution that religion brings to society, warning that it must be protected and allowed to flourish.
?Faith enriches public life not only by the magnitude of its services but by the qualities of mind and heart, by the values and virtues, it brings to the task,? said Archbishop Lori.
He warned that while religious organizations and individuals provide vital services for the common good, ?our government is taking from what belongs to God by state-sponsored attempts to force the Church to compromise her own teachings as the price to be paid for serving the wider community.?
Archbishop Lori, who chairs the U.S. Bishops? Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, delivered the homily at a June 21 Mass at the Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the nation?s oldest Cathedral, in downtown Baltimore, Md.
The cathedral was packed with members of the faithful who had come from both Maryland and from other states across the country to attend the opening Mass of the Fortnight for Freedom. They welcomed the archbishop?s homily with a standing ovation.
The Fortnight for Freedom ? currently in its second year ? is a two-week period of prayer, education and action for a greater respect for religious liberty both in the U.S. and abroad.
Growing threats to religious freedom prompted the U.S. bishops to call for the first Fortnight for Freedom last year. Among these threats is the upcoming Aug. 1 deadline when religious organizations must comply with the controversial HHS mandate, which requires employers to facilitate insurance coverage for contraception, sterilization and some drugs that can cause early abortions, even if such cooperation violates their firmly-held religious beliefs.
Other religious liberty concerns raised in past months include attempts to redefine marriage and threats to freedom of religious activity in the realms of health care, humanitarian aid and immigration.
Archbishop Lori explained that ?the Church does not have two wings: a ?faith and worship? division on the one hand, and a ?service? division on the other.? Rather, he said, ?what we believe and how we worship gives rise to public service.?
Acts of service such as education, health care and aid to the poor are not a separate branch of the Catholic faith, he stressed, but ?these activities are part of our baptismal DNA as Catholic Christians.?
?No wonder we shudder, no wonder we react so strongly, when governmental authority tries to slice and dice our Church by separating in law and policy our houses of worship from our charitable, healthcare and educational institutions on the score that the latter are somehow less religious than our churches.?
In the attempt to impose various restrictions on faith-based action and belief, ?Caesar is taking from what belongs to God,? Archbishop Lori said.
In its infringements on religious freedom, ?our government is not only taking what belongs to God; it is also taking from what belongs to human dignity and the common good,? he continued.
?For by imperiling religious freedom, all human rights are put at risk.?
The archbishop explained that rights such as ?the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly ? are linked, and these rights are not granted to us by the State but by the Creator.?
Faith is a source of values that lead to deeds which benefit the common good, he stated.
?Through faith we understand that every person is called to share God?s life,? Archbishop Lori observed. ?Through faith we see more readily what a truly just and humane society should be and we receive the strength we need to build a true civilization of truth and love.?
Therefore, he stressed, religious belief benefits the public square ?not only by the sheer magnitude of the humanitarian services it offers but by its witness to Christ Jesus, its witness to those moral truths and values without which democracy cannot flourish.?
The archbishop also explained that the maintenance of religious freedom is important not only to Christians in America, but to all believers of all faiths across the entire globe.
?We continue to live in an age of martyrs ? when believers, not just Christians, are being persecuted for professing and practicing their faith ? when believers are tortured and killed because they are believers, in places like Iran, Iraq, China and Nigeria.?
?Let us keep the flame of faith and the flame of freedom burning brightly not only for our children and our children?s children,? Archbishop Lori entreated, ?but also for the sake of these persecuted believers who see in our form of government and in our great land a beacon of hope.?
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Stanford's Cookie Clearinghouse adds another layer of security to ...
Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society Launches "Cookie Clearinghouse" to Enable User Choice for Online Tracking
STANFORD, Calif., June 19, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Center for Internet and Society (CIS) at Stanford Law School launched a new online privacy initiative today called the "Cookie Clearinghouse," which will empower Internet users to make informed choices about online privacy. The Cookie Clearinghouse is being spearheaded by Aleecia M. McDonald, the Director of Privacy at CIS.
Websites may place small files called "cookies" on an Internet user's machine, and some types of cookies can be used to collect information about the user without his or her consent. The Cookie Clearinghouse will develop and maintain an "allow list" and "block list" to help Internet users make privacy choices as they move through the Internet. The Clearinghouse will identify instances where tracking is being conducted without the user's consent, such as by third parties that the user never visited. To establish the "allow list" and "block list," the Cookie Clearinghouse is consulting with an advisory board that will include individuals from browser companies including Mozilla and Opera Software, academic privacy researchers, as well as individuals with expertise in small businesses and in European law, and the advisory board will continue to grow over time. The Clearinghouse will also offer the public an opportunity to comment. With this input, the Clearinghouse will develop an objective set of criteria for when to include a website's cookies on the lists. The Clearinghouse will create and maintain the lists. Browser developers will then be able to choose whether to incorporate the lists into the privacy options they offer to consumers. Company websites with cookies that have been included on the "block list" will be able to respond to the Clearinghouse to correct any mistakes in classification.
"Internet users are starting to understand that their online activities are closely monitored, often by companies they have never heard of before," said McDonald, "But Internet users currently don't have the tools they need to make online privacy choices. The Cookie Clearinghouse will create, maintain, and publish objective information. Web browser companies will be able to choose to adopt the lists we publish to provide new privacy options to their users."
The need for the Clearinghouse evolved out of an effort by CIS fellows called Do Not Track. Initially, Stanford's Do Not Track work raised consumer awareness about the way in which "tracking cookies" are used by websites--and by unaffiliated third parties--to compile extensive individual browsing histories that provide those companies with data about individual consumer behavior. This effort has since progressed to a global standards effort led by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C.) More recently, CIS researchers began a new effort to prevent companies from tracking without the user's consent. CIS student affiliate Jonathan Mayer wrote a software patch for use in Mozilla's Firefox browser that limits third-party tracking through cookies. Mayer's patch mimics existing functionality in the Safari browser, which already prevents tracking from websites users have not visited. While Do Not Track efforts continue into their third year, the Cookie Clearinghouse is a new opportunity to accelerate Internet users' ability to make effective online privacy choices.
For more details, please visit the Cookie Clearinghouse: http://cch.law.stanford.edu
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Olympus Electronic Viewfinder VF-4
The Olympus Electronic Viewfinder VF-4 ($279.99 direct) is, without question, the best EVF that we've seen for digital cameras at this point. It's bundled with the Olympus PEN E-P5 as part of the standard kit, but can also be purchased separately and used on older Olympus PEN cameras with the AP2 accessory port.
The finder delivers 1.48x magnification?basically, this means that if you're shooting with a standard-angle lens (25mm in the Micro Four Thirds format), what you're seeing in the finder is going to be noticeably larger than it is in reality. And what you see is extremely crisp thanks to a 2.36-million-dot resolution. This gives you a clear view of what you're shooting, and overlay information is displayed so you also know what settings your camera is using.
It's an LCD finder, so it doesn't pack quite as much contrast as the OLED Sony Electronic Viewfinder that is compatible with the Cyber-shot DSC-RX1 and some other Sony cameras. Of course, because there's no cross-system standard for accessory ports, you can only use the Sony finder on Sony cameras, and you can only use this Olympus finder on Olympus cameras.
In addition to the sharp resolution, the finder delivers a very fast refresh rate when used on the E-P5. Older Olympus cameras require a firmware update to use this new finder. We also looked at it on the PEN Lite E-PL5. The finder seemed a little slower to refresh on that camera, even with an f/1.8 lens attached. Even on the E-P5, the refresh can get a little laggy if you are using a lens with a narrow maximum aperture in dimmer light.
The EVF itself is fairly large, which is necessary because of its magnification factor. It is hinged and can tilt up to 90?; there is a locking notch, so you won't accidentally tilt it. If you use it on an E-P5 the eye-sensor automatically switches between the rear LCD and the EVF, and for older PEN cameras there is a button to do so.
It's heads and shoulders better than the older VF-2, which was previously the top-end accessory viewfinder for Olympus cameras. The VF-2 features a 1.15x magnification factor and a 1.44-million-dot resolution, so the image it projects is not only smaller, it's not as sharp.
The Olympus Electronic Viewfinder VF-4 is more expensive than the older VF-2, but delivers a much better experience, even for occasional EVF use. We were blown away by the image quality that the EVF delivered, and are also quite happy with the asking price?it's $170 less expensive than the OLED EVF that Sony sells for some of its cameras. The VF-4 earns our Editors' Choice award, and is without a doubt the EVF to get if you're a PEN shooter.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/zVsaF9GxAik/0,2817,2420716,00.asp
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Saturday, June 8, 2013
Group Home No Stranger to Police Attention | KTXL FOX40
DAVIS-
Davis Police say an 11-year-old girl is accusing two teen boys she lives with at a group home of rape.
The kids were supposed to be at the Families First group home instead of Playfields Park over the weekend.
The home is an around the clock treatment program where children aged 6 to 17 come for help. The home?s goal is to get the kids adopted, placed into foster care or reunited with their families.
But Davis Police aren?t sure how much rehabilitation was going on.
?We are talking 500 calls since January of 2013,? Davis Police Lieutenant Paul Doroshov said.
Doroshov says the calls range from anywhere between children walking away from the facility to accusations of assault between kids.
Families First has yet to comment on why the three children were at Playfields Park. Two other teens were arrested this weekend on unrelated charges.
Source: http://fox40.com/2013/06/06/group-home-no-stranger-to-police-attention/
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