nashville entertainment calendar: 2011

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Calif. Low-Carbon Fuel Standard Blocked In Court

A federal judge moved Thursday to block California from enforcing its first-in-the-nation mandate for cleaner, low-carbon fuels, saying the rules favor biofuels produced in the state.

The lawsuit challenging the state regulations, which were adopted as part of California's landmark 2006 global warming law, was filed in federal court last year by a coalition that includes the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association and the Consumer Energy Alliance.

Fresno-based U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence O'Neill's written ruling Thursday said the low-carbon fuel rules violated the U.S. Constitution's commerce clause by discriminating against crude oil and biofuels producers located outside California.

Out-of-state fuels producers hailed the decision as a win for California drivers.

"Today's decision ... struck down a misguided policy that would have resulted in even higher fuel costs for Californian consumers while increasing the cost of business throughout the state," said Consumer Energy Alliance Executive Vice President Michael Whatley.

The board plans to ask the judge to stay the ruling, and appeal if necessary to the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, spokesman Dave Clegern said.

The rule is "an evenhanded standard that encourages the use of cleaner low carbon fuels by regulating fuel-providers in California," Clegern said, adding that it "does not discriminate against any fuels on the basis of geography."

Beginning this year, the standard has required petroleum refiners, companies that blend fuel and distributors to gradually increase the cleanliness of the fuel they sell in California.

The board previously had said the low-carbon mandate will reduce California's dependence on petroleum by 20 percent and account for one-tenth of the state's goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.

The regulation does not mandate specific alternative fuels. Rather, it assigns a so-called carbon-intensity score to various fuels. All gasoline and diesel fuel sold in California must be 10 percent less carbon-intensive by 2020.

The Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, the California Dairy Campaign, the Renewable Fuels Associations and other groups filed a similar lawsuit in the same court in 2009. Their complaint said the regulation conflicted with the federal Renewable Fuel Standard and would close California's borders to corn ethanol made in other states.

The fuel standard "discriminates against out-of-state and foreign crude oil while giving an economic advantage to in-state crude oil," O'Neil wrote Thursday.

The nonprofit legal organization Earthjustice, which was not party to the suit but works on climate-related issues, said the ruling was a major setback for the state's aggressive greenhouse gas emission regulations.

"California is leading the way on cleaner fuels and a cleaner power grid, and the state's programs are consistent with federal law," Earthjustice President Trip Van Noppen said. "It is not surprising that the oil industry is attacking these programs, but like previous attacks in the courts and at the ballot box, we expect this one ultimately to fail."

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/12/29/144458016/calif-low-carbon-fuel-standard-blocked-in-court?ft=1&f=1007

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HTC tool unlock bootloaders on some Android devices (Digital Trends)

HTC EVO 3D

Last summer, phone maker HTC raised eyebrows by announcing it would enable users to unlock the bootloaders on some of its most popular phones, enabling technically-inclined customers to root the devices and install custom operating systems or, really, any darn thing they like. Now, HTC has come through, releasing a tool to unload the bootloader on phones launched after September 2011. HTC also says it is working to make the bootloader operational on phones launched before September 2011.

The company has offered a complete list of devices currently supported by the tool. HTC notes some devices may never be supported by the unlock tool due to operator restrictions.

HTC had previously gone to some lengths to lock down bootloaders on its Android devices?partly as a defense against malicious software?but reversed course in the face of strong feedback from technically-inclined customers who feel that the ability to install their own custom operating systems is a key element of Android?s ?openness.? (HTC says it was ?overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of our fans.?) After all, what?s the point of an operating system being available as open source if programmers can?t download it and install it on devices?

For ambitious users, unlocking the bootloader may be a quick way to get Android 4 Ice Cream Sandwich onto HTC devices without waiting for official updates.

HTC is clear that it not officially supporting devices that have been unlocked with the bootloader, merely allowing users to unlock their devices at their own risk?and may mean they?re no longer covered by device warranties. HTC also notes that it?s possible unlocking devices may have unintended consequences, including overheating.

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

Friday, December 30, 2011

M.E. in Casey Anthony case speaks out

By Ree Hines

It's been almost six months since a Florida jury found Casey Anthony not guilty of murder in the 2008 death of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee. Since then, the court of public opinion has continued to question the verdict and the case the prosecution presented.

One very important person involved in that case was Dr. Jan Garavaglia, or Dr. G, as she's known to fans of her TLC series "Dr. G: Medical Examiner." Six months after the disappearance of Caylee, with only skeletonized remains, hair, duct tape and a few weathered objects to work with, Garavaglia concluded that "the cause of death will be listed as homicide by undetermined means."

It was Garavaglia's determination that allowed prosecutors to move forward and charge Anthony with murder, but many believe the "undetermined means" part of that also allowed the jury to return a verdict of not guilty.

According to NBC news correspondent Kerry Sanders, that may be because of what's called the "CSI"-factor, "an expectation among jurors today that a medical examiner will present high-tech, flashy, convincing forensic evidence."

But in an upcoming TLC special, Dr. G will try to piece the forensic case back together and explain why the jury dismissed some of her findings. She'll also fire back at a defense expert who, during the trial, took the stand and referred to the autopsy she performed as "shoddy."

"My job is not to determine who did it," Garavaglia explained during a Thursday morning interview on TODAY. "My job is to determine what happened. So I feel very strongly that we could say this was a homicide ? death by the hands of another. My job is not to point the finger at one person or another."

But now that her job on the case is over, she is able to share her personal perspective on that.

"Well, obviously we always have to look at the last person who was seen with the child ? the person who is legally, morally, ethically responsible for the child," she said, alluding to Caylee's mother. "What stories do they give? What happened? We never did get anything from (Casey) on what happened. Yet we found (Caylee) with duct tape, discarded in the woods. That tells a lot."

In her television special, Garavaglia intends to make the point that there simply wasn't more that the forensic evidence could have revealed.

"These were very dry bones," she explained. "Information that's coming out makes it seem like we could do this test or that test or that we could expect DNA. You wouldn't expect that. These are bones that don't have anything left on them."

Which is why, ultimately, she believes "we'll never know what happened until the perpetrator states what happened."

As for the information she'll present on "Dr G: Inside the Caylee Anthony Case," which airs Sunday night on TLC, Garavaglia wants to make one thing clear: she's simply providing information about the case, not profiting from it.

"First of all, I'm not making a penny off of it," she insisted. "I never wanted to. Anything I make from that show, because it's part of my regular series, will go to children's charities. I really just did it to get away from the hype and be able to explain why you could say that the duct tape was there in less than just little sound bites."

What do you think of Garavaglia's post-trial comments? Will you tune in to her show to hear what else she has to say? ?Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.

Also in the Clicker:

Source: http://theclicker.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/29/9799417-medical-examiner-in-casey-anthony-case-speaks-out

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Thursday, December 29, 2011

European shares edge higher, Italy debt sale eyed

LONDON | Thu Dec 29, 2011 3:19am EST

LONDON Dec 29 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Thursday in low volume, recovering from the previous session falls, on hope there would be demand at an Italian auction of long-term sovereign debt after the European Central Bank's three-year funding operation last week.

"Volume is low and I hope we have a reasonable result at the Italian auction, but we are stuck in a trading range," Andrea Williams, manager of Royal London Asset Management's European Income fund.

"The ECB three-year funding has been a great thing as it has brought a lot of stability to the system and the market."

At 0807 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.2 percent at 983.83 points.

Mining stocks featured among the top performers, STOXX Europe 600 Basic Resources index which fell in the previous gained 0.6 percent as risk appetite improved.

Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/companyNews/~3/nA0nWgRAu2s/markets-europe-stocks-open-idUSP6E7NR00B20111229

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Egypt court bans military 'virginity tests'

An Egyptian court has ordered the country's military rulers to stop the use of "virginity tests" on female detainees.

The courtroom erupted in celebration and chants against military rule when the judge announced the verdict, Egypt Independent reports.

The issue surfaced in March following the arrest of demonstrators in Cairo's Tahrir Square. The rights group Human Rights Watch said seven women were subjected to the tests.

"This is a case for all the women of Egypt, not only mine," said Samira Ibrahim, 25, who filed two lawsuits after her arrest. One suit demanded the practice be ended and the other accused an officer of sexual assault, the Associated Press reports.

The ruling "is incredibly important not only because it comes after scenes of sexual assault and battery of women by military troops," said Heba Morayef, an Egypt researcher with Human Rights Watch. "It is also important because it is the first time a civilian court acknowledged and criticized abuse by the military."

At first the military denied administering such tests. Then last week, the military prosecutor said one army doctor is on trial for abuse. Today, following the decision, military prosecutor Adel el-Morsi said the tests are not condoned by the military, calling the abuse "an individual behavior" that is before the courts.

Rights groups have said some officers have explained the tests as a way to clear their names of possible charges of abuse by the protesters. Female protesters said they were threatened with prostitution charges before they were subjected to the tests.

Source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/TP-OnDeadline/~3/gZmhO8HT2zU/1

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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

PFT: Phillips back to work with Texans

During Saturday?s loss to the Eagles, Cowboys owner Jerry Jone went down to the sideline to talk to head coach Jason Garrett, to make sure Garrett knew the Giants had won earlier in the day and therefore the Cowboys didn?t have anything to play for.

Some fans and media members have suggested that Jones was out of line by doing that, but Jones says he can?t understand why anyone would think the owner of a business shouldn?t be involved in every element of that business.

?It has amazed me to be criticized for really walking down on the floor of the company,? Jones said on KTCK-AM 1310, via the Dallas Morning News. ?The more involved your top management, the more involved ownership can be, I?ve always thought made the best way for it to work.?

Jones says he doesn?t act any differently on game days now than he did in the 1990s, and that it worked out pretty well then.

?You didn?t see that kind of criticism very early on, but we were winning Super Bowls,? Jones said. ?And it was the same exact way that we handled our decision-making and the exact same way that we handled our ultimate information gathering system. We?ve been doing it ever since I owned the team. The exact same way.?

Jones says he doesn?t tell Garrett who can play and who can?t, but he did want to make sure Garrett understood that quarterback Tony Romo didn?t need to take any chances by playing in an essentially meaningless game against the Eagles.

?That?s Jason?s decision, but he doesn?t need to be making that one by himself,? Jones said. ?So I wanted to, very briefly, step down there with just a few minutes gone in the first quarter, sit there and say, ?Here?s the lay of the land. Romo?s got a hand injury, but it looks like we?re going to have him for New York.??

And if Jones thinks his coach might not know the lay of the land, Jones is going to make sure his coach knows the lay of the land. That?s going to be the case as long as Jones owns the Cowboys.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/12/26/wade-phillips-is-back-to-work-with-the-texans/related/

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Source: http://nickmomrik.com/2011/12/25/wordpress-meets-apple/

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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Kim Jong Il's heir meets with SKorean delegation

ALTERNATE CROP OF XWS101 - Lee Hee-ho, wearing glasses, widow of late former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, and Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun, right, prepare to depart from the Inter-Korean Transit Terminal en route to North Korea from the border village of Paju in the demilitarized zone (DMZ), in Paju, South Korea, Monday, Dec. 26, 2011. Lee and Hyun are part of a 18 person group allowed by South Korea to attend the Dec. 28 funeral of late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP Photo/Wally Santana)

Mourners line up in Kim Il Sung Square to pay respects to late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang, North Korea, early Monday, Dec. 26, 2011. (AP Photo)

Mourners react after paying respects to a portrait of late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, early Monday, Dec. 26, 2011. (AP Photo)

In this Saturday, Dec. 24, 2011 photo released by the Korean Central News Agency and distributed in Tokyo, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011, by the Korea News Service, Kim Jong Un, center, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's youngest known son and successor, visits at Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang, North Korea, to pay respect to his father. At far left front is Jong Un's uncle Jang Song Thaek. (AP Photo/Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service) JAPAN OUT UNTIL 14 DAYS AFTER THE DAY OF TRANSMISSION

Mourners line up in Kim Il Sung Square to pay respects to late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang, North Korea, early Monday, Dec. 26, 2011. (AP Photo)

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) ? North Korea's next leader burnished his diplomatic skills Monday, welcoming a private South Korean mourning delegation as state media revealed a new title that gives Kim Jong Un authority over political matters.

Kim Jong Un has rapidly gained prominence since the death of his father Kim Jong Il on Dec. 17, and his brief meeting with a group led by a former South Korean first lady and a prominent business leader shows Seoul that he is assured in his new role.

State media have showered Kim with new titles. On Saturday, the North referred to him as "supreme leader" of the 1.2 million-strong armed forces and said the military's top leaders had pledged their loyalty to him. On Monday, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper described him as head of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party ? a post that appears to make him the top official in the ruling party.

On Monday, a South Korean delegation stood in a line on a red carpet and bowed silently during their visit to the Kumsusan Memorial Palace, where Kim Jong Il's body is lying in state in a bier surrounded by flowers and flanked by an honor guard.

Kim Jong Un gave the South Koreans his thanks after they expressed condolences and sympathy, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said. Seoul's Unification Ministry confirmed the meeting in a statement but didn't elaborate.

The lead delegates were the widow of former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, who engineered a "sunshine" engagement policy with the North and held a landmark summit with Kim Jong Il in 2000, and Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun, whose late husband had ties to the North.

Their meeting with Kim Jong Un could be intended to push South Korea to pursue previously agreed upon cooperative projects that would give North Korea much-needed aid, said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, which is in South Korea.

Footage from AP Television News in North Korea earlier showed the South Koreans being greeted by North Korean officials during a stop at a factory park in the North Korean border town of Kaesong. North Korea sent delegations to Seoul when the women's husbands died.

Monday's meeting appeared to be Kim Jong Un's first reported meeting with South Koreans since his father's death.

The Kim family has extended its control over the country of 24 million people to a third generation with Kim Jong Un, who is in his late 20s and was revealed last year as his father's choice among three sons for successor.

Kim Jong Il, who ruled North Korea for 17 years, wielded power as head of three main state organs: the Workers' Party, the Korean People's Army and the National Defense Commission. His father, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung, remains the nation's "eternal president" long after his 1994 death.

Kim Jong Un was named a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party last year, but was expected to ascend to new military and political posts while being groomed to become the next leader.

Monday's reference to his new title was in commentary in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper, the mouthpiece of the Workers' Party, urging soldiers to dedicate their lives "to protect the party's Central Committee headed by respected Comrade Kim Jong Un." Rodong Sinmun has also called on the people to become "eternal revolutionary comrades" with Kim Jong Un, "the sun of the 21st century."

The language echoed slogans used years ago to rally support for Kim Jong Il, and made clear the son is quickly moving toward leadership of the Workers' Party, one of the country's highest positions, in addition to the military.

North Korea refers to Kim Il Sung as the "sun" of the nation and his birthday is celebrated as the "Day of the Sun," and state media have sought to emphasize Kim Jong Un's role in carrying out the Kim family legacy throughout his succession movement.

His titles are slight variations of those held by his father, but appear to carry the same weight. It was unclear whether the nation's constitution had been changed to reflect the transfer of leadership as when Kim Jong Il took power after his father's death.

Mourning continued, meanwhile, despite frigid winter weather, in the final days before Kim Jong Il's funeral is set to take place Wednesday and a memorial Thursday.

People continued lining up Monday in central Kim Il Sung Square, where a massive portrait that usually features Kim Il Sung has been replaced by one of Kim Jong Il, to bow before his smiling image and to lay funereal flowers. Heated buses stood by to give mourners a respite from the cold, and hot tea and water were distributed from beverage kiosks.

___

Associated Press writers Foster Klug, Hyung-jin Kim and Jiyoung Won in Seoul, South Korea, and AP Korea bureau chief Jean H. Lee, contributed to this report. Follow AP's Korea coverage at twitter.com/newsjean and twitter.com/APKlug.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-26-AS-Kim-Jong-Il/id-8dddf9f719e74325a9f4732965aeb0dd

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New look Clippers ready to deal with great expectations (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Long overshadowed in Los Angeles by the star-studded Lakers and their 16 NBA Championship banners, lowly city rivals the Clippers have suddenly become the talk of the town following their stunning off-season acquisitions.

Boosted by the arrival of premier point guard Chris Paul and former All Stars Chauncey Billups and Caron Butler, the Clippers have instantly been installed as genuine title contenders for the 2011-12 season.

While the players themselves claim they are not feeling any added pressure, there is no question their long-suffering fans now hold great expectations, starting with Sunday's season-opening game away to the Golden State Warriors.

"We don't feel any pressure," four-time All-Star Paul told reporters while preparing for his first official game in Clippers colours. "Who's putting that pressure on us?

"The thing is, at the end of the day, we're the players. We control what we can control and that's the people in this organization who are in here at practice every day.

"We can't control what you guys (reporters) say because that is what it is."

The acquisition of Paul from the New Orleans Hornets for guard Eric Gordon, center Chris Kaman, forward Al-Farouq Aminu and a 2012 first-round draft pick was comfortably the biggest signing in the NBA's off-season.

Add in twice All-Star small forward Butler and Billups to a line-up already boasting the astonishing dunking talents of Blake Griffin, along with veteran All-Star Mo Williams and talented center DeAndre Jordan, and it is no wonder Clippers fans are suddenly drooling with delight.

'GREAT OUTLOOK'

"We really do have a great outlook but, in all actuality, we haven't won a game yet," five-time All-Star guard Billups said warily ahead of Sunday's game.

"And the difficult thing is that everybody knows we should be a lot better, so we don't have the advantage of sneaking up on teams anymore. Teams are going to be ready. We are going to get a teams' best punch, so we've got to guard for that."

The Clippers, who won only 32 games last year and have exceeded the .500 mark just once in the last 19 years, have captured the interest of former Lakers great Magic Johnson.

"For the first time, I'm going to be watching Clippers games," the 12-time All-Star said earlier this month.

"You're talking about excitement for the city. Wow. I mean, since that (Paul) trade everybody's talking about both teams, that's all the conversation.

"I think you're going to see sellouts on both sides. It's a great time to be in the city of Los Angeles ... you're going to be able to go see a great Lakers team and then a great Clippers game as well."

Sunday will supply the first confirmation of Johnson's prediction as the Lakers host the Chicago Bulls at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles before the Clippers take on the Warriors on Christmas night.

(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Patrick Johnston)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111225/sp_nm/us_nba_clippers

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What's next for Russian protests?

By Jim Maceda, NBC News

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MOSCOW -- Saturday's protest was doubly impressive in that so many could have made excuses not to show.?It was snowing, it was bone-chillingly cold, and?it was the beginning of the Russian holiday season. Anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 people, by my guess, filled up Avenue Prof. (Andrei) Sakharov (the USSR's once infamous dissident) in Moscow and it must have signaled to the Kremlin "observers," hiding behind tinted glass in four-wheel drive vehicles beyond the police barriers, that the unprecedented protest two weeks earlier had been no fluke.

But where does it go from here? Will this protest movement -- marked so far by restraint, humor and non-violence -- turn a Russian winter into a "Russian Spring"?

There are already ominous signs.

Alexander Aleshkin / Getty Images

Demonstrators take part in a mass anti-Putin rally on Saturday in Moscow.

Alexei Navalny, a passionate orator who until recently was known only to social networkers as an anti-corruption blogger, is quickly emerging as the new face of the anti-Vladimir Putin opposition. He roused the crowd on Saturday, declaring that if the movement weren't peaceful it could easily have taken over the Kremlin with the Russian crowd at hand. But, he warned, that could change if Putin connived to steal the NEXT presidential election, in March. "If these crooks and thieves go on cheating us, if they continue telling lies and stealing from us, we will take what belongs to us with our own hands.''

This wasn't just crowd-pleasing rhetoric coming from an aspiring leader. Many protesters, like 30-year-old Vasily Gnuchev, a normally quiet, self-employed architect, see red when faced with the possibility, even likelihood, that Prime Minster Vladimir Putin will not only win the presidency but rule for yet another two six-year terms.

"It's absolutely unacceptable that the man who's in power [already] for 12 years will be here for 12 years more!," Vasily spurted out in a rented apartment in dire need of repairs, literally red with anger. "We don't want another revolution, or bloodshed, but if Putin is going to win then there may be a "Russian Spring -- not an Arab Spring but a Russian one."

Putin, after the initial shock of barely scraping by in the parliamentary elections of Dec. 4, said nothing about the protests for a week,? then treated them with contempt. He finally realized he had to engage, and (through the usual conduit of Russian President cum Putin spokesman Dmitri Medvedev) announced on Thursday a set of positive political reforms, none of which would take effect until the next cycle, in?six years.

Which makes Vasily see red ... again. ''We don't have?six years to wait. And we know what will come of it in?six years. It will be blah- blah-blah and nothing else!'

Some of my Russian analyst friends in Moscow are quick to point out that Russia is not the Middle East. That the Arab Spring happened to dictatorships based on violence and repression. And that Russia -- with all of its abuses -- is still an open society with a market economy and that the "Freedom Genie" can never be put back into the bottle.

Fyodor Lukyanov is one of President Medvedev's advisers on human rights who took the courageous step this week of calling for the annulment and repeat of the Dec. 4 ?parliamentary elections. He believes the only way Putin can win back his popularity is by running a squeaky clean and transparent campaign for president.

"Putin may go to a second round -- that's?OK, ?he can still beat any of the contenders in the second round,'' says Lukyanov. ''And he will have his legitimacy back -- maybe not in the amount he had 10 years ago, but a big part of the population believes that Putin is much better than anybody else.''

For many protesters, the animosity goes way beyond Putin the candidate. Vasily's father, Fyodor, now 50, says he watched in shock as the Soviet Union fell 20 years ago, then in horror as Russia passed, rudderless, through a decade of economic collapse and war. And then came Putin. Stability. Prosperity. "All over the country there was a scream of joy when we got rid of this alcoholic, Yeltsin. We finally saw a man who was sane, who was physically fit, and he wasn't reading from his notes," recalled the older Gnuchev.

His son Vasily says he was too young to remember the bad old days of democratic Russia. But he prospered under Putin, and always felt free. And that's the real problem. The Putin regime's reportedly widespread electoral fraud pulled the rug from under a whole generation who believed in their leader, who believed in?Putinism. "Now we see that everything is a lie," Vasily explained. "The Kremlin just stole our votes? -- it's just incompatible with the picture of the world we grew up in."

It's that humiliation -- indeed, violation -- mixed with anger that seems to drive many Russian, middle-class protesters into the streets -- even when the elements are conspiring against them -- and will keep the pressure on Putin, with promises of more protests to come. But what if this "people power" movement really blossoms, only to be thwarted yet again, not in a free and fair election come March, but by another brazen, Putin-led ploy to retain power?

Lukyanov admits he's "cautiously pessimistic." "Unfortunately," he told me, "Russian and Soviet and pre-Soviet history shows us that those in power are capable of making almost any mistakes and stupidities."

On the one hand,? "Russian people" determined to take back the country they feel they've lost, and on the other,? "Russian power" equally determined to hold onto it. What's next? "It's absolutely impossible to predict the course of events in 2012," offered Lukyanov.

Whatever happens, those two driving forces of 2012 look to be on a collision course.

Jim Maceda is an NBC News correspondent based in London who has covered the Soviet Union and Russia since the 1980s.

More from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/25/9695973-whats-next-for-russian-protests

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Monday, December 26, 2011

David Stark: NRDC Gala: What Are You a Part of?

A couple of weeks ago we had the pleasure of re-inventing the NRDC's annual Forces For Nature Gala at the Museum of Natural History, and it could not have been a more fitting location to raise awareness and funds for the incredible work that this organization does FOR ALL OF US. What does the NRDC do? They revive the world's oceans, defend endangered wildlife, they ensure safe and sufficient water, among many, many other important things to protect our natural world.

It was really important to us to make this a crackling cool evening (not an earthy/crunchy one) and with the innovative leaders of the NRDC, partnered with the evening's honorees Wendy and Eric Schmidt and Arianna Huffington, all at the forefront of digital technology, we created an evening about interconnectedness. We asked the question, "What are you a part of?"

The evening started in the Rotunda of the museum for cocktails. A wall of dry erase boards (which were donated to schools after the gala) became an interactive installation where the guests responded to the evening's question at hand.

Dinner and the program followed in the Hall of Ocean Life, and as a focal point to the room, we created a giant, open newspaper, filled with headlines and stories heralding the news of NRDC current events. Instead of printing all of the images of the "paper," some were ever-changing projections that either punctuated moments of the presentation or provided incredible eye candy emphasizing why the world is so important to protect.

Each of the dining tables were dressed in cloths printed with a collage of news items concerning the environment, all culled from the Huffington Post, traditional newspapers, and other online sources. Thus, the "news" is the conceptual and physical background texture to the room and one of the things that connects us all. The cloths were made into tote bags and given as gifts after the event.

On the dining tables, and befitting the Museum, we created gorgeous nature studies that utilized magnifying glasses and an array of bell jars holding both actual, natural jewels like berries, feathers, and succulents to invented nature -- spiders created from recycled computer keys and webs from copper wire (also salvaged from computers), to name a few. The bell jars and magnifiers were donated to schools after the event.

Designing for these kinds of evenings is a wonderful brain teaser. We start with the question, "How can we infuse the meaning of the evening into the d?cor?" That is a hard nut to crack, like the Sunday Times crossword puzzle, but when you do figure it out, it is such great fun! A huge thank you to our friends at the NRDC. We could not have been more honored to lead the charge on your important evening, and we thank you for the amazing work you do for us ALL. We are honored "to be a part of" YOU.

Photography by Susan Montagna.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-stark/nrdc-gala-what-are-you-a-_b_1168439.html

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Egypt Salafists against improving ties with Israel

Egypt?s leading Salafi movement on Sunday clarified the party's stance on diplomatic relations with Israel, saying that it would oppose an improvement in ties between the two countries.

"We will stand firmly against normalization [of ties] between the two countries in a variety of forms, and against any entity that wants to harm Egypt's identity," the movement announced in a written statement quoted by Army Radio.

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Salafis represent a fundamentalist religious stream that seeks to create an Islamic state according to strict social codes and a legal system based entirely on Islamic law. The various Salafi parties have thus far been the biggest surprise of the Egyptian parliamentary elections, taking about 30 percent of votes to place second after the Muslim Brotherhood which garnered around 40%.

The announcement came a week after a spokesman for the group gave an interview to Army Radio, during which he said "the peace agreement with Israel will not be canceled."

Nour Party spokesman Yusri Hammad said during the unprecedented interview "we are not against the agreement but we say that Egypt is committed to the agreements signed by the previous governments."

?If there are some clauses that the people of Egypt want to change in the agreements, then these belong on the negotiating table,? he said. ?We respect all treaties.?

The head of the Salafi movement last Tuesday also spoke about the peace treaty issue and said that the party would respect Cairo?s 1979 peace treaty with Israel.

Representatives of the party quickly backtracked, however, saying the matter was still being looked into.

?Treaties Egypt has signed must be upheld ? we intend to respect them,? Nour party chairman Emad Abdel Ghaffour told a press conference in Cairo, adding though that Israel has not implemented certain clauses in the agreement regarding the Palestinians.

These include ?a solution to the Palestinian issue, their right to self-determination, self-governance and the creation of a Palestinian state on Palestinian land,? Abdel Ghaffour said.

Oren Kessler contributed to this report.

Source: http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r5661820989

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Sunday, December 25, 2011

Afghan president to replace top human rights officials (Reuters)

KABUL (Reuters) ? Afghan President Hamid Karzai will replace four people at the national human rights commission to bring fresh blood into the group, and not because he is seeking to remove some of his most outspoken critics, his spokesman said on Friday.

The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) is appointed by the state but acts independently. Any move by the government to oust its workers could raise questions about the state's commitment to protecting human rights.

Aimal Faizi, chief spokesman at the president's office, said Ahmad Nader Nadery, Ahmad Fahim Hakim, and Moulawee Ghulam Mohamad Ghareb will leave the commission after serving two 5-year terms.

A fourth commissioner, Hamida Barmaki, was killed in a suicide attack on a supermarket in Kabul in early 2011 and would need to be replaced as well, he added.

Faizi denied reports that the three men will be replaced because of a report by the rights commission detailing war atrocities over the past three decades, which is expected to be released in early 2012.

"The president is authorized by law to extend or not extend their mission if he wants to. We just want fresh people, new people," Faizi told Reuters.

"The fact that they were working on a report on war atrocities has nothing to do with it because we cannot stop the publication of such a report."

He said the president would announce the new commissioners in coming days.

Nadery and his colleagues have been frank in the past speaking out on issues plaguing war-torn Afghanistan, from women's rights, land grabs, child labor, civilian deaths by Taliban and NATO forces, to the fraud-marred presidential election in 2009.

Nadery said the government was violating procedures which require a consultative process before appointments in the human rights body are made or dismissed.

"I'm waiting for an official letter or decree to see what exactly the reason for my dismission was," he said.

Depending on who is appointed to replace them, the activists' removal could be seen as a blow to Afghanistan's human rights campaigners.

It may also undermine international efforts to foster good governance in the country, combat corruption and strengthen the rule of law as the West is preparing to withdraw the last of its combat troops by the end of 2014.

Karzai's government has also been seeking to negotiate a deal with the hardline Islamist Taliban, which many activists say could compromise the progress made in securing rights of women and other minorities in the past 10 years.

(Reporting by Mirwais Harooni and Agnieszka Flak; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111223/wl_nm/us_afghanistan_humanrights

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Latin patriarch arrives at Nativity Church

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Latin Patriarch of Palestine and Jordan Fuad Twal arrived at the Nativity Church in Bethlehem on Saturday, as thousands gathered to celebrate the annual Christmas mass.

"We ask the baby of Bethlehem to give us the peace we really need, peace in all the countries of the Middle East. We demand peace in the Holy Land," said Twal.

After greeting the crowd, he spent a short time in the church performing an annual blessing. Celebrations follow until midnight mass, which will be attended by senior clergy and government officials including President Abbas.

Thousands of foreign pilgrims and Palestinian Christians, some in Santa hats, gathered at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity.

Loudspeakers blared carols in Arabic and a Palestinian cleric in a festive purple robe pleaded for peace in the Holy Land and in the wider Middle East.

Israeli and Palestinian officials said at least 50,000 visitors had arrived in the steep hillside town, and many were expected to attend midnight mass at the church in Manger Square, the place where Christians believe Christ was born.

"It's really hectic, but everybody is happy so it's really nice to be here," said Emily, a tourist from Denmark. "And, well, it's just so nice to experience everything with people who believe in the same thing."

The number of foreign visitors to Bethlehem has risen steadily in the past few years, encouraged by a decline in the violence that often marred the occasion in the past.

Bethlehem, just a few minutes' drive from Jerusalem, is inside West Bank territory captured by Israel in a 1967 war, which Palestinians want for a future state.

Diplomacy toward reaching that goal stalled months ago in a dispute over Jewish settlement building.

"Obviously it's very special to be at this place where Jesus was born, as part of a tradition of the Christian church," said Ted Settle, an American pilgrim.

"It's very meaningful to be here with the people of Palestine who have endured so much hardship, to be here where Jesus was raised and taught about justice and peace."

In Manger Square, tourists mingled with locals, many of whom wore red and white Santa caps as an Arabic rendition of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" played over a sound system.

Reuters contributed to this report

Source: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=447515

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Saturday, December 24, 2011

BetweenMyths: Twitter says @WhisperSystems encryption software will no longer be a secret | http://t.co/Xhc3xr3l #android

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Source: http://twitter.com/BetweenMyths/statuses/150193501030723584

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Rhapsody soars past a million paying customers, president Jon Irwin shaves his head in celebration

Whatever Spotify can do, Rhapsody can do better? Not quite, but it's getting there. While the former cruised past 2.5 million paying customers last month, Rhapsody has just announced that it has "gone platinum." It's now serving a cool million paying subscribers, right on the heels of its ten-year anniversary. The company's delivering around ten million songs per day, while making itself available on over 60 devices. What's next? Well, president Jon Irwin has to grow his locks back (seriously!), and we're guessing it'll try to lock down a few more carrier partnerships as the months drag on. When pinged for comment, Billy Corgan said: "I'm on vacation."

Continue reading Rhapsody soars past a million paying customers, president Jon Irwin shaves his head in celebration

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/22/rhapsody-soars-past-a-million-paying-customers-president-jon-ir/

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Friday, December 23, 2011

Washington Vs. Cal State Northridge Score Update: Huskies Up 38-19 At Halftime

By Kevin Cacabelos - Contributor

Washington leads Cal State Northridge in the first half in Thursday's game at Alaska Airlines Arena

Dec 22, 2011 - Washington dominated the first five minutes of the game against Cal State Northridge, storming out to 14-2 lead. The Huskies are leading the Matadors 38-19 at halftime. The Matadors did not make their first field goal until the 14:01 mark.?

Huskies' center Aziz N'Diaye saw his first action after missing two games. The seven-footer came off the bench, scoring six points and grabbing three rebounds in ten minutes of action.

Head Coach Lorenzo Romar will be happy with his team's defense; Washington held the Matadors to 4-for-25 (16%) shooting in the first half. The Huskies also have the rebounding edge, 27-13. Terrence Ross leads all scorers with 10 points.?

The game is not televised, but can be heard on 950 KJR. Gregg Bell of Washington Athletics is holding a live chat at?GoHuskies.com?covering the game. Also, Percy Allen from the Seattle Times has a running game thread at his?Husky Men's Basketball Blog.

For more on the Huskies, check out?UW Dawg Pound.

Read More: Terrence Ross (G - Washington), Washington Huskies, Cal. St.-Northridge Matadors

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Source: http://seattle.sbnation.com/2011/12/22/2656719/uw-huskies-basketball-cal-state-northridge

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Interstates reopening after Great Plains snowstorm (AP)

TOPEKA, Kan. ? Holiday travelers were breathing a sigh of relief Wednesday after a snowstorm that closed interstates across the Great Plains moved out of the region, allowing crews to plow away snow drifts and let stranded motorists leave roadside hotels.

The storm was blamed for at least two fatal car accidents as it crawled from eastern New Mexico and Colorado through the Texas Panhandle, Oklahoma and Kansas. The fierce winds and heavy snowfall closed several major roadways before weakening Tuesday as the weather moved into Missouri and toward the Great Lakes.

But another winter weather system threatened some of the same areas that had been hit, including the Rockies and parts of Wyoming, New Mexico and western Kansas. Those areas could see another round of snow and wind over the next few days, but it wouldn't be as strong as the recent storm, said meteorologist Brian Barjenbruch of the Nation Weather Service's Topeka, Kan., office.

"It's tough to match what we had in some areas with this past storm," he said early Wednesday.

Meanwhile, authorities still reported snow drifts of up to 10 feet high in southeast Colorado, and Texas officials warned drivers to stay off the road in the Panhandle so crews could remove ice and snow. Some highways in the western half of the Oklahoma Panhandle remained closed early Wednesday, with transportation officials warning of hazardous conditions.

At least 40 people were stranded the Longhorn Motel on Main Street in Boise City, Okla., where manager Pedro Segovia said blowing snow had created drifts 2- and 3-feet high and closed the main road.

"Some people cannot even get out of their houses. There is too much snow," Segovia said Tuesday. "It's was blowing. We've got big piles. It's real bad."

Receptionist MaKenzee Grove sympathized with the 50 or so people stranded at the hotel where she works in Guymon, about 60 miles east of Boise City.

"I have this rinky-dink car that does not do well in this," Grove said. "If we wouldn't have had the wind, it wouldn't have been as bad. The winds ... made the drifts really bad."

A few guests traveling to Oklahoma City managed to leave Tuesday, but others would likely have to wait another night before all roads were clear, she said.

Officials reopened Interstate 40 in the Texas Panhandle and New Mexico, and portions of Interstate 70 in western Kansas that had been closed Tuesday. New Mexico reopened a closed section of Interstate 25, the main route from Santa Fe to the Colorado line, after crews cleared drifts as high as 5 feet.

The storm dumped as much as 15 inches of snow as it hit parts of five states.

In Kansas, schools in Manhattan canceled classes Tuesday, anticipating several inches of snow. The National Weather Service reported later that 3 inches or less fell.

To the east, a cold rain pelted the Topeka area, turned into a mix of light sleet and snow without much accumulation and tapered off. Forecasters said the storm became less potent as it moved northeast toward the Great Lakes.

Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Ben Gardner said the patrol dealt with dozens of accidents in which motorists slid off highways Tuesday.

"We had ice-covered roads, covered by snow packed on top," he said.

The late-autumn snowstorm lumbered into the region Monday, turning roads to ice and reducing visibility to zero. Many of the areas hit had enjoyed relatively balmy 60-degree temperatures just 24 hours earlier.

The storm was blamed for at least six deaths, authorities said. Four people were killed when their vehicle collided with a pickup truck in part of eastern New Mexico where blizzard-like conditions are rare, and a prison guard and inmate died when a prison van crashed on an icy road in eastern Colorado.

The Colorado Army National Guard said it rescued two stranded motorists early Tuesday in eastern Las Animas County, in the state's southeast corner, using a special vehicle designed to move on snow. Smaller highways in that area remained closed.

___

Associated Press writers Jeri Clausing in Albuquerque, N.M.; Matt Curry in Dallas; and Tim Talley in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111221/ap_on_re_us/us_winter_weather

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Monday, December 19, 2011

Redskins hurt Giants playoff bid with 23-10 win (AP)

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. ? Rex Grossman threw a touchdown pass and the Washington Redskins put a hurt on the New York Giants and their playoff hopes with a 23-10 victory on Sunday.

Grossman threw a 20-yard scoring pass to Santana Moss, Darrel Young scored on a 6-yard run after one of the Redskins' three interceptions of Eli Manning and Graham Gano picked three field goals as Washington (5-9) won for only the second time in 10 games.

The loss knocked the Giants (7-7) out of first place in the NFC East.

Dallas (8-6) now leads the division by a game with two to go, including one with Giants on the final weekend. If New York beats the Jets and the Cowboys in its final two games it will win the division.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111218/ap_on_sp_fo_ga_su/fbn_redskins_giants

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Sunday, December 18, 2011

Poll: Is it Election Day yet? (Politico)

A whopping seven in 10 Americans can?t wait for the presidential campaign to be over, according to a new poll Friday.

The Iowa caucuses aren?t for 17 days, but 70 percent of Americans say they already wish campaign season was done, a USA Today/Gallup poll released Friday shows. Slightly over one-fourth of Americans, or 26 percent, disagree with the majority of those polled and say they can?t wait for the presidential campaign to begin.

And campaign fatigue is even greater in 12 swing states key to the election ? 75 percent of residents in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin want it to be over. Only 21 percent of those living in these swing states say they are looking forward to the presidential election season with anticipation, the poll found.

As for Republicans and Democrats, there?s finally some bipartisan agreement on an issue: 67 percent of Democrats and 66 percent of Republicans can?t wait for the 2012 presidential campaign to be over. Just 31 percent of Republicans are looking forward to its kickoff, and only 27 percent of Democrats say they feel the same.

The poll surveyed 1,034 adults from Dec. 6-7. The margin of error is plus or minus three percentage points.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories1211_70573_html/43932758/SIG=11m9m9lkk/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/70573.html

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Christian Bale roughed up in bid to visit Chinese activist (Reuters)

BEIJING (Reuters) ? Actor Christian Bale was roughed up by Chinese security guards as he attempted to visit a blind legal activist whose detention has sparked a domestic and international outcry, CNN reported on Friday.

Bale, who plays crime-fighting superhero Batman, and a camera crew from CNN were jostled by men in plainclothes in Dongshigu village in eastern Shandong province, where activist Chen Guangcheng has been under house arrest for 15 months, according to a video released by CNN on its website.

"Why can I not visit this man?" Bale asked several security officers, while they were pushing him.

"You know, I'm not being brave doing this," Bale told CNN. "The local people who are standing up to the authorities and insisting on going to visit Chen and his family and getting beaten up for it, and my understanding, getting detained for it and everything. I want to support what they are doing."

CNN said the guards shadowed its van for more than half an hour.

The fate of Chen, a self-schooled advocate who has campaigned against forced abortions, has become a test of wills, pitting the Communist Party's crackdown on dissent against activists championing his cause and that of artist Ai Weiwei.

In recent months, dozens of supporters have been blocked from visiting Chen. Many were beaten by men in plain clothes.

CNN said that Bale, in China for the premiere of his latest film "The Flowers of War" made by Chinese director Zhang Yimou, approached the news network to try to meet Chen.

They took an eight-hour car journey to Chen's village from Beijing.

"This doesn't come naturally to me," Bale said to CNN. "But this was just a situation, I said, I can't look the other way."

China's Foreign Ministry did not respond to a faxed inquiry about Bale's visit.

It was not clear if the incident would have any impact on "The Flowers of War," which is China's Oscar entry for next year, or the release of Bale's new Batman film in the country.

China's film regulator, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, did not answer telephone calls seeking comment.

"INTRINSIC WEAKNESS"

In a later interview with CNN, Bale said: "It's amazing that a superpower like China is actually terrified of this man and shows such an intrinsic weakness within the fabric of the country."

"This kind of treatment ... represents the power structure and their attitudes towards their own citizens, which is disgusting," he said.

Internet users took to the Twitter-like microblogging service Weibo to applaud Bale's visit to see the "blind man." Authorities have blocked searches for "Chen Guangcheng."

"Mr Bale, I admire your courage and heart," said a microblogger called "Chen Xiaoying wants to support."

"But next time if you want to save a person, remember to wear your Batman suit. The Chinese official media will not report this, it's up to CNN to broadcast it."

Chen angered Shandong officials in 2005 by exposing a program of forced abortions as part of China's one-child policy. He was formally released in September 2010 after four years in jail on a charge of "blocking traffic."

"What I really wanted to do is to shake the man's hand and say 'thank you', and tell him what an inspiration he is," Bale told CNN.

Other Hollywood stars have also been active in criticizing Chinese policies. Actor Richard Gere is a strong supporter of Tibet, for example.

China does not take kindly to foreign criticism of its rights record. In 2008, Icelandic singer Bjork shouted "Tibet! Tibet!" at a Shanghai concert after performing her song "Declare Independence," angering the government and local fans alike.

As a young boy, Bale starred in "Empire of the Sun," a film set in World War Two about a British family in Shanghai.

(Reporting by Sui-Lee Wee, Additional reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111216/en_nm/us_china_bale_activist

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Saturday, December 17, 2011

Google donates $11.5 million to the fight against modern slavery | ZDNet

It would be nice if Google donated to the sex worker rights groups (of which there are many nationally and internationally with 501 (c) 3 status) which are also fighting against human trafficking in ALL its forms, and also fighting against the conflation of sex work and sex trafficking which so harms those whom society views as 'victims.'

From our perspective, Google's support of JUST those prohibitionists posing as anti-human trafficking organizations is as though it was supporting the anti- gay/lesbian/transgendered groups of yesteryear when those groups were promoting the bigotry and ignorance which claimed all gays were pedophiles, all lesbians were made that way by child sexual abuse and transgendered persons and gays could be 'cured' by a good dose of heterosexual love.

Clearly there is another side to the issue of prostitution vs. sex trafficking, but unfortunately we are out financed by those whose disdain for consenting adult commercial sex have confused the issue of true trafficking and consenting adult sexual activity.

No one wants to abolish all human trafficking more than sex worker activists. It will no more happen by abolishing all sex work than it would by abolishing all domestic servitude, agriculture, garment manufacturing or any of the other areas of labor into which millions of people are trafficked every year.

Because we know how to spot true victims of sex slavery and we are willing to turn in those who use force or abuse us, we are the ones who ought to be funded so that we can in fact fight for our rights and the rights of those who are victims.

A government that cannot tell the difference between a consenting adult who chooses to engage in commercial sex and someone who is a victim of ANY form of human trafficking is not a government that can really solve the problem of human trafficking, anymore than it could help victims of rape or pedophilia if it was unable to distinguish between victims of rape, child sexual abuse and those who engaged in NON commercial consenting adult sex.

Source: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/google/google-donates-115-million-to-the-fight-against-modern-slavery/3497

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Safety seemed to be an afterthought before the BP oil spill

Reporting from Washington?

The petroleum industry and federal regulators focused more on exploration and production than safety in the years leading up to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, helping to set the stage for the worst offshore environmental disaster in U.S. history, according to a new independent report by the National Academy of Engineering and the National Research Council.

Conducted at the behest of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, the report said the "multiple flawed decisions that led to a blowout" on the Deepwater Horizon rig resulted from "a deficient overall systems approach to safety" among the corporations that ran the drilling of the Macondo well, including BP, Transocean and Halliburton.

The report, titled "Macondo Well ? Deepwater Horizon Blowout, Lessons for Improving Offshore Drilling Safety," echoed many findings from previous studies of the disaster. But it added new levels of detail and put the nation's top engineering peer group behind a call for redesigning a massive set of valves, rams and hydraulic devices once thought to be fail-safe: the blowout preventer that failed to stem the flow of more than 200 million gallons into the Gulf of Mexico.

"There were numerous warnings to both industry and regulators about potential failures of existing BOP [blowout preventer] systems" over the previous decade, according to the report, which demanded greater emphasis on safety than industry and regulators have shown, and questioned industry and regulatory norms that could erode safety.

The fragmented nature of offshore oil drilling, with different companies responsible for highly specialized tasks, means that few people on a rig may have a complete sense of the risks involved in the drilling operation, the report concluded.

The report committee's chairman, former Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter, said that improvements in regulatory oversight and in industry response to offshore disasters gave him confidence that offshore drilling should continue. But he stressed that more work needed to be done.

"Our concern is whether this is a good first step in the right direction," Winter said in a conference call, "or whether these changes represent a transient response in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon."

The Interior Department said in a statement that it welcomed the report's findings, which it said backed the regulatory policies it has pursued since the Deepwater Horizon explosion on April 20, 2010.

The department introduced more stringent environmental and safety regulations, and the industry responded by developing new oil spill response and containment systems, incorporating lessons from the gulf disaster.

But the report expressed concerns about how serious and sustained industry efforts might be, given that its research and development efforts over the last 20 years have been shrunk and outsourced. And most of those efforts have "been focused disproportionately on exploration, drilling, and production technologies as opposed to safety."

Erik Milito of the American Petroleum Institute trade group defended the industry's research focus. "The industry is leading the way in applying the best elements of the most successful existing safety programs, including the use of independent auditing and certification by third parties," Milito said.

Complacency about safety, particularly in the case of blowout preventers, became apparent in testimony before the committee that showed "a misplaced confidence that blowout preventers could provide a guarantee, an insurance policy to the blowout," Winter said.

The industry seems to have tempered its confidence in the reliability of blowout preventers, said Roger L. McCarthy, a private engineering consultant from Palo Alto and a member of the report committee. Still, there is no uniform standard for blowout preventers and no independent certification of their efficacy, McCarthy said.

"You can't buy a circuit breaker for your home that hasn't been independently certified by Underwriters Laboratories," McCarthy said, "while a BOP is kind of a circuit breaker for an incredible amount of power that comes up the drill string, and it's not certified to any standard."

Deep offshore oil drilling is becoming more common, as evidenced by the $337 million in bids offered Wednesday in the Interior Department's first auction of federal leases in the western Gulf of Mexico since the BP spill.

In such an environment, the industry needs to approach safety through a "proactive" system that articulates all the risks inherent to each particular process and puts in place steps to prevent them, the report recommended. Although that approach was adopted in the North Sea in the wake of disasters there a generation ago, not all companies use the approach beyond their North Sea operations.

neela.banerjee@latimes.com

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/LHAVta1iv7Q/la-na-bp-spill-report-20111215,0,6496189.story

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Friday, December 16, 2011

Cloth: An App That Tells the World You Look Pretty, Oh So Pretty [Apps]

Click here to read Cloth: An App That Tells the World You Look Pretty, Oh So Pretty

My wife tells me I dress like a hobo. So, when I actually dress like an adult ready to face the world, it's sort of a big deal. Cloth will help me remember the outfit my wife picked out for me and share it with my friends. Because there's no way I'm going to remember what pants I was wearing. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/aGrl5m_fuuE/cloth-an-app-that-tells-the-world-you-look-pretty-oh-so-pretty

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