Dual-SIM Samsung Galaxy S 4 launches in China with an Exynos 5 Octa inside

Remember the leaked GT-i9502, that dual-SIM variant of the Galaxy S 4 that ultimately confirmed many rumors? That smartphone is at last exists beyond a collection of photos, as Samsung just launched it for China Unicom customers. The support for an extra cellular line is naturally the highlight, although there's another perk for GS4 connoisseurs: the i9502 has the same 1.6GHz Exynos 5 Octa processor as the i9500, which might eke out more performance than the Snapdragon 600 models. There isn't any word on whether or not the i9502 edition will leave China, although we wouldn't count on European or North American editions when there isn't LTE inside to please 4G-obsessed carriers.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung

Comments

Via: GSMArena

Source: Samsung (translated)

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/nmthDUR-Q-k/

bear grylls us news law school rankings gael glen rice jr bars lindzi cox bachelor finale

WikiLeaks suspect won't be SF Pride parade marshal

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Racing to stanch a flow of criticism, the president of San Francisco's annual gay pride celebration said Friday that the U.S. Army private charged in a massive leak of U.S. secrets to the WikiLeaks website will not be an honorary grand marshal after all.

SF Pride Board President Lisa Williams said in a statement that an employee of the organization had prematurely notified imprisoned intelligence specialist Bradley Manning this week that he had been selected for the distinction, which recognizes about a dozen celebrities, politicians and community organizations each year for their contributions to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities.

"That was an error, and that person has been disciplined. He does not now, nor did he at that time, speak for SF Pride," Williams said.

A committee of former San Francisco Pride grand marshals did select the 25-year-old Manning, who is openly gay, for the honor, but the Pride Board decided his nomination would be a mistake, Williams said.

Manning's lawyers have argued that his experience as a soldier before the repeal of the U.S. military's ban on gay service played an important role in his decision to pass hundreds of thousands of sensitive items to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks.

"In point of fact, less than 15 people actually cast votes for Bradley Manning," Williams said. "However, as an organization with a responsibility to serve the broader community, SF Pride repudiates this vote."

While the event's grand marshals are typically celebrated as they wave from convertibles during a downtown San Francisco parade, naming Manning as one was destined to be a symbolic gesture. He is in custody at a military prison in Kansas while he awaits court-martial and would have been unable to attend the June 30 parade.

Earlier Friday, Daniel Ellsberg, the former military analyst who in 1971 leaked the classified information about the Vietnam War that became known as the Pentagon Papers, had agreed to participate in the San Francisco parade on Manning's behalf, said Rainey Reitman, a member of the Bradley Manning Support Network who had cheered the short-lived recognition.

"I and many other LGBT Manning supporters are deeply disappointed by this sudden change in position on the part of the committee," Reitman said. "Bradley is a gay American hero who sacrificed a great deal so we could learn the truth about our government, and he was fairly elected to serve as grand marshal in the parade."

Contingents of Manning supporters have marched in past pride parades, and will do so again this year in San Francisco, Chicago, San Diego and other cities, she said.

But other gay rights activists were less enthusiastic about celebrating Manning, arguing that he should not be honored either as an individual or as a representative of the gay rights movement.

"Manning's blatant disregard for the safety of our service members and the security of our nation should not be praised," said Stephen Peters, president of American Military Partners Association. The group, which advocates for same-sex military families, had called on the Pride Committee to rescind the invitation.

"No community of such a strong and resilient people should be represented by the treacherous acts that define Bradley Manning," Peters said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wikileaks-suspect-wont-sf-pride-parade-marshal-025956668.html

Beasts of the Southern Wild 2013 Oscars academy awards Sally Field The Oscars Searching For Sugar Man george clooney

Sept. 11 airplane debris could have been placed deliberately, police say

NYPD

Pieces of what is believed to be landing gear from one of the airliners that hit the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, was discovered wedged between two buildings in lower Manhattan.

By Shimon Prokupecz and Andrew Siff, NBCNewYork.com

Police say they are not ruling out the possibility that a 5-foot-long chunk of airplane debris found near the World Trade Center site, believed to be a piece of landing gear from one of the planes that hit the towers more than 11 years ago, could have been placed there deliberately.

NBC 4 New York was the first to report Friday that?the part was found wedged between two buildings in a very narrow alley only about 18 inches wide between the rear of 50 Murray St. and the back of 51 Park Place (see map at NBCNewYork.com), the site where a mosque and community center has been proposed three blocks from ground zero.

See original report at NBCNewYork.com

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said there was rope intertwined in part of the gear, and there were no marks on the buildings indicating the piece hit the walls on the way down. The part bears a "Boeing" stamp, followed by a series of numbers, as seen in an exclusive photo obtained by NBC 4 New York (see below).

Kelly visited the alley Friday evening and viewed the debris from about 30 feet away. He described the piece as being about 5 feet by 4 feet by 17 inches, lying in a "very, very narrow, confined area."?

---

Lucas Jackson / Reuters

A New York Police Department officer on Friday guards a door in front of 51 Park Place where debris from one of the 9/11 airplanes is believed to have been found in New York.

"Somehow the part gets down there," Kelly said. "Could it have been lowered at some time, it's possible."

Still, Kelly said he was not surprised to see such a large plane part anchored in such a tight area.

"If you see how confined this space is, and you realize the chaos that existed down here on this street, it's not surprising," he said. "No cleanup went on in this 18-inch space between these two buildings."?

The NYPD said the landing gear was found after surveyors hired by the property owner inspecting the rear of 51 Park Place called police on Wednesday. See below for a map.

Police spokesman Paul Browne said the NYPD has?secured the location "as it would a crime scene," and investigators are photographing the scene and restricting access until the medical examiner completes a health and safety evaluation.

Officials said the soil below the piece of debris could also be searched for remains.?

Police officials say the part could be difficult to remove, and may require demolition work that would destroy the two surrounding buildings. Officials are expected to be back at the scene on Monday to see if it can be removed.

"It really is a historical artifact," Kelly said.

When plans for the Islamic center at 51 Park Place were made public in 2010, opponents said they didn't want a mosque so close to where Islamic extremists attacked. They argued the site was "sacred" because landing gear from one of the hijacked Boeing 767 jets had punctured the roof of the building on Sept. 11.

During street protests, they clashed with supporters of the center, who said it would promote harmony between Muslims and followers of other faiths.

The building includes a Muslim prayer space that has been open for three years. After protests died down, the center, called Park51, hosted its first exhibit last year. The space remains under renovation.

Mohammed Fekonus, who prays inside the mosque at Park51 and whose son was a Stuyvesant High School student who ran from the dust cloud on Sept. 11, is convinced discoveries like the plane part could be endless.

"We were all emotionally distressed by that event," he said.

"If you really want to look for things, we'll find things 100 years from now."?

Donna Marsh O'Connor, who lost her daughter Vanessa Lang Langer in the attacks and is a member of September 11th Families for a Peaceful Tomorrow, called the landing gear discovery "bizarre."

O'Connor is a supporter of the Islamic center and said the fact that the plane fragment was found there "makes me think that this was the right place for a center that was going to heal the divide."

The name Boeing and a serial number is visible on what is believed to be a piece of land gear from one of the commercial airliners destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001. The piece was discovered wedged between two buildings in lower Manhattan.

In a statement, Sharif El-Gamal, the president of Soho Properties, which owns 51 Park Place, said workers called the city and the police as soon as they discovered the landing gear. He said the company is cooperating with the city and the police to make sure the piece of equipment "is removed with care as quickly and effectively as possible."

Patricia Riley, whose sister Lorraine Riley was killed in the Sept. 11 attacks, called the landing gear discovery "very strange."

"Twelve years later we are still finding remnants of the attack on our country," she said. "... For years to come we'll continue to find things that we didn't see before. Hopefully, they'll serve as a reminder that we have to stay vigilant."

The Park51 space, a former Burlington Coat factory, is a five-story, mildly run-down building. Renovations are expected to take years and would add an auditorium, a pool, a restaurant and culinary school, a child care facility and artist studios.

On Sept. 11, American Airlines flight 11 hit the north tower at 8:46 a.m., and United flight 175 hit the south tower at 9:03 a.m.

The rubble from the 9/11 attack was cleared from the 16-acre site by the spring of 2002. Other debris, including human remains, has been found scattered outside the site, including on a rooftop and in a manhole, in years since.

Boeing declined comment.

This report includes information from The Associated Press.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2b413087/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A40C270C179482120Esept0E110Eairplane0Edebris0Ecould0Ehave0Ebeen0Eplaced0Edeliberately0Epolice0Esay0Dlite/story01.htm

hana taylor momsen xbox live update joan rivers gary carter dies oolong tea survivor one world

This Tilt-Shift Timelapse Video Makes Miniature Melbourne the Cutest City of All

If there's any photography effect that's more fun to look at than the time-lapse, it's tilt-shift photography, the camera trick that makes a normal real-life scene look like it's actually built out of miniatures. But the coolest effect is a mix of the two, like in this tilt-shift time-lapse of Melbourne, Australia by Nathan Kaso. The piece took 10 months to make, and includes scenes from festivals, parades, fireworks displays, and every-day life in Melbourne. It makes you want to visit the place, if only you could shrink down to the right size. [design you trust] More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/RzqOvgOL-sw/this-tilt+shift-timelapse-video-makes-miniature-melbourne-the-cutest-city-of-all

the great gatsby the great gatsby roger ebert north korea Daddy Yankee jay leno Brian Banks

Oppo's 4.7-inch, 6.93mm-thick R809T pays homage to the Finder

No, this isn't the world's thinnest phone thanks to Alcatel and BBK, but Oppo's recently announced R809T is still a seemingly attractive device judging by the above official image. Measuring at 6.93mm thick (instead of the rumored 6.13mm), we're surprised that Oppo didn't set this to be the follow-up to the Finder: sure, it's 0.28mm thicker, but it also aces the latter with a 4.7-inch 720p in-cell display, a 1.2GHz quad-core chip with 1GB RAM (likely MediaTek's Cortex-A7-based MT6589 SoC), Android 4.2 and a sorely missed 3.5mm headphone jack -- so no micro-USB adapter required. Then there's also an 8-megapixel main camera plus an increasingly common 2-megapixel, 88-degree wide front-facing imager, which is obviously no match for the 5-megapixel counterpart on Oppo's Ulike 2.

Pricing and availability have yet to be announced, but given the "T" in the model name, chances are it'll only work on China Mobile's TD-SCDMA network, anyway; unless you really don't mind using just GSM. Close-up shot after the break.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Comments

Via: Engadget Chinese

Source: Sina Weibo (login required)

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/baB-g2DnXgs/

St Francis Anquan Boldin Pope Benedict Jesuits percy harvin percy harvin mike wallace

Unique Woe all set to rock the party in Go Topless With The New ...

Unique Woe all set to rock the party in Go Topless With The New Vauxhall Cascada at Romford

Unique Woe has shown enough to win a minor open race like Go Topless With The New Vauxhall Cascada, which is due to take place at Romford on Friday, April 26^th. It is a 400 metres contest, scheduled to begin at 20:34 GMT.

Besides Unique Woe, there are five quick hounds in the pack. Their names are: Droopys Causeway, Janes Oasis, Youtalktoomuch, Aero Yeah, and Citizenship. The winner will be given a prize of 20:34 GMT.

Unique Woe was quite impressive in the recent trials. He always led the proceedings at Henlow, and seized the first rank by a couple of lengths. Prior to that, he made a couple of fine solo runs. The son of Ace Hi Rumble was last seen in a competition on January 27^th, when he completed the order of finish.

The Feb-11 hound took a long layoff after that. Although he is returning to the ring after a while, it is hard to overlook his class. He has done well in the past. The recent trial efforts are good enough to show that he will make a winning move today.

He just needs to stay cautious of Droopys Causeway, who is showing continuous performance. The black dog should steer clear of any hassle from the sixth box. Therefore, one can expect him to play a role. On his latest ride at Hove, the black dog finished third on the table.

Citizenship lacks a look round, but hardly pitched in the deep end. Janes Oasis, the Belle Vie raider, held every chance on last visit. It was a nice victory, but at the lower level. The black dog needs to show more to do something special in this class.

Youtalktoomuch, the new comer, has shown ability in the trials. But it is still not confirmed how he will perform in this hard competition. Aero Yeah would not have to be out of the ordinary. The black dog could not do anything special in the recent trials. We wish the best of luck to all the hounds.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and do not reflect Bettor.com's editorial policy.

Source: http://blogs.bettor.com/Unique-Woe-all-set-to-rock-the-party-in-Go-Topless-With-The-New-Vauxhall-Cascada-at-Romford-a214815

binders of women presidential debates Felix Baumgartner Little Nemo gawker Romney Bosses Day 2012

IRL: Timbuk2's Commute Messenger and Fujifilm's EF-X20 flash

Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment.

When he's not copy editing Engadget, Philip Palermo likes to write about his gadget collection. And that gadget collection includes an impressive pile of camera gear (like this and this and this). Now he's back, taking Fujifilm's EF-X20 flash for a spin alongside his X-E1. Meanwhile, Dan's found a bag spacious and compartmentalized enough to fit several days of clothing and all his trade show gear. Not an easy feat, folks.

Filed under: Misc

Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/15/irl-timbuk2-commute-messenger-fujifilm-ef-x20-flash/

the patriot hall of fame occupy dc ufc 143 fight card my fair lady conversion disorder the chronicle

CSN: Cubs set WP record, fall to Giants in extras

The 2013 Cubs can officially call themselves record setters, but it?s doubtful they wanted to earn this distinction.

In the sixth inning of the Cubs? 10-7 extra-inning loss to the Giants on Sunday at Wrigley Field, starting pitcher Edwin Jackson and reliever Michael Bowden combined to throw five wild pitches. The performance set a new regular-season Major League record for the most wild pitches thrown in a single inning.

There had been five wild pitches in an inning before, though they came in the postseason, when Cardinals pitcher Rick Ankiel threw five all by himself in Game 1 of the 2000 NLDS against the Braves. Four wild pitches in a single inning has been seen seven times, most recently by the Mariners on Aug. 17, 2008.

The frame was a particularly ugly one for the two Cubs pitchers, who in addition to making five errant tosses walked four batters and surrendered four runs.

Jackson started the inning with his team holding a 4-1 lead on San Francisco. He issued a leadoff walk to Hunter Pence before allowing him to advance to second on wild pitch No. 1. After walking Brandon Belt, Jackson yielded a run-scoring double to Gregor Blanco. He struck out Hector Sanchez and walked Brandon Crawford, with ball four to the Giants? shortstop being wild pitch No. 2, allowing Belt to score.

Bowden then replaced Jackson, whose pitch count had run up to 112. Bowden threw his first wild pitch during the at-bat of pinch-hitter Nick Noonan, allowing Crawford to move up to second. Noonan then singled in a pair of runs to give the Giants a 5-4 lead and moved around the bases when Bowden threw two more wild pitches during Angel Pagan?s at-bat. The inning finally came to an end when Marco Scutaro hit into a double play.

After the game, manager Dale Sveum made sure the blame didn?t go to catcher Dioner Navarro, who got a workout during the inning by running behind home plate to secure the off-target throws.

?One of them threw three fastballs right in the dirt,? Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. ?You?re not going to block fastballs when they?re cold and thrown 94 miles an hour. One splitter was pretty much unblockable, and there was probably one of the five that you were able of have a chance of blocking in that half inning.?

Bowden also said that there was little chance for Navarrp and that there was no confusion between he and the catcher, either.

?There wasn?t a mix-up,? Bowden said. ?Besides that first one that advanced a guy to second base, they didn?t hurt us. That was it, I was just trying to stay down in the zone and execute pitches and I spiked a few. Those are very, very hard pitches to block. I just mis-threw a few.?

Source: http://www.csnchicago.com/blog/cubs-talk/jackson-bowden-set-record-wild-pitches

engadget twin towers gizmodo cnet iPhone 5 9-11 Chris Brown Tattoo

Sarah Dille: Dear Teachers: Let's Not Be the Demise of Our Own Profession

I am a clich?; I was born a teacher. A school photographer first snapped my photo when I was six months old, sitting on the lap of my very proud father, a kindergarten teacher who had taken me along for his school photo. I used to line my dolls up to teach them lessons from workbooks my dad's class had finished with and when my younger brother was old enough to comply and not quite old enough to protest, I sat him down in my class and tutored him from math and reading workbooks. My mother became an elementary school teacher when I was in middle school, though she had certainly been a teacher long before that. And almost every one of my aunts and uncles was a teacher or a principal. Little did my family know that they would not only mold me into a life-long learner, but into a life-long teacher as well.

See, it's true; I am that clich? -- the teacher who knew all along that the classroom is where she was meant to be. There have been, however, a few times in my life that I've tried to resist the lure of the classroom, where I've tried to deny that teaching is a part of my blood. I thought about law school, working for a law firm in college for a while. I've thought about entertaining my dreams of making a living from setting words on a page -- being a writer full time and not as an additional part of my life. But nothing else feels quite like the ground under my feet in my classroom. Nothing else fulfills me and challenges me quite like the art of teaching.

Lately I've wondered if I'd be here, standing in front of a room of students, challenging them to write and think and create if I knew what I know now. If I was making my decision in the culture of viral posts warning young people not to teach, claiming our profession no longer even exists.

I read these posts and I'm saddened. I'm saddened and disheartened and, really, when it gets down to it, I'm mad. I'm mad that other teachers are using their voices to warn off others, to claim that things are so dire it's time for all of us to jump ship. Because in my eyes, it's time to bring in more bright young people with a passion for learning, with a drive to do the real hard work that teaching requires. In my eyes all of the problems running rampant in our educational system signal a need for new blood, for new ideas, for a resurgence of the importance of what I do in room 265 every day.

On one hand, I identify with way too much of what these other teachers claim. But as someone who has taught for 13 years, I don't at all have the same feelings that Randy Turner has after working as a teacher for 14. Is it a bad time for education? Yes. Are there bad decisions being made? Yes. Is testing culture sucking the life-blood out of what a true education should be? Yes. But I say that is all the more reason that we need young people to make the hard choice to be teachers. How else will we ever guarantee that this all changes? That my children and your children won't go to school in this breaking system. We need young teachers more than ever perhaps because of all that he points out, not despite it.

In my department this year I have six teachers with fewer than five years experience. Some are brand new and others are a few years in. Each one of them has been met head on with the struggles of balancing learning and testing, figuring out how to manage students in a culture that is sometimes not supportive. They have seen first-hand the truth of what Randy Turner lays out in his argument. But they are creative and intelligent and hard-working. They challenge students to think, to create, to see the value in what they are learning. The new teachers around me are certainly not the types to fall victim to a world of pressures to conform to a new norm that none of them are comfortable with. They, instead, are the future leaders of a profession that cannot die. A profession that can only be saved by intelligent, stubborn, creative people who, at heart, are teachers. The new teachers around me? They are aware of their own power.

So my message to young people deciding whether to teach is this: Come help us take back our profession. Don't give in to the rhetoric warning you against stepping into a classroom. Because changing all of this? It starts with us. It starts with our voices and our ideas and our power. It starts with good teaching in our classrooms, with strong relationships with our students, with our stubborn cry to make this system better. It starts with teachers.

?

Follow Sarah Dille on Twitter: www.twitter.com/toddlersummer

"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-dille/teachers_b_3070024.html

weather the walking dead the walking dead Walking Dead Season 3 smash Richard III Superbowl Commercials 2013

Republicans start backing background checks

WASHINGTON (AP) ? With the Senate set to begin debate on gun control legislation this week, a proposal to expand background checks for gun buyers picked up some key Republican support over the weekend. But it may not be enough to ensure the measure is adopted.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine issued a statement Sunday saying that she would vote for the compromise crafted by Sens. Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. The proposal requires background checks for people buying guns at gun shows and online, but exempts private gun sales.

The plan would "strengthen the background check system without in any way infringing on Second Amendment rights," Collins said. But Collins took a wait-and-see approach on the entire package, saying "it is impossible to predict at this point the final composition of the overall legislation."

Arizona Sen. John McCain, who has a B+ rating from the National Rifle Association, said he was "very favorably disposed" to the Manchin-Toomey compromise. It was in McCain's home state that a gunman with schizophrenia shot then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in the head during a 2011 rampage in Tucson that left six people killed.

Even with their support, the vote on the measure ? expected as early as Wednesday ? will be close.

"It's an open question as to whether or not we have the votes," Toomey said.

Asked how many votes he thought he had now, Manchin said, "Well, we're close. We need more."

Collins and Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois are the only two Republicans besides Toomey who are expected to vote for the compromise as of now.

It will take 60 votes to pass, meaning that more Republicans will have to come on board because some Democrats from gun-friendly states are expected to oppose the measure.

The measure requires background checks for people buying guns at gun shows and online. Background checks currently apply only to transactions handled by the country's 55,000 licensed gun dealers. Private transactions, such as a sale of a gun between family members, would still be exempt.

Advocates say the measures would make it harder for criminals and the mentally ill to get weapons.

Opponents argue that the restrictions would violate the Constitution's right to bear arms and would be ignored by criminals.

Manchin urged lawmakers to read the 49-page proposal.

"If you are a law-abiding gun owner, you're going to like this bill," Manchin said. "Now, if you're a criminal or if you've been mentally adjudicated and you go to a gun show or try to buy a gun online, you might not like this bill because you can't do it."

Manchin later noted that one gun rights group, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, has announced support for his plan.

And later Sunday, the Manchin-Toomey compromise was endorsed by the Independent Firearms Owners Association, a pro-gun group that is smaller and more moderate than the NRA.

The bill is the right way to "stand firm in defense of our constitutional rights and the security of our fellow citizens," said the group's president, Richard Feldman, a former NRA official.

The senators' agreement actually includes language expanding firearms rights by easing some restrictions on transporting guns across state lines, protecting sellers from lawsuits if buyers passed a background check but later used a gun in a crime and letting gun dealers conduct business in states where they don't live.

The compromise, if successful, would be added to broader gun control legislation to strengthen laws against illegal gun trafficking and to slightly increase school security aid.

Other additions to the legislation also are expected to be debated this week, including a measure that would allow concealed hand gun permits issued by one state to be accepted nationwide as a de facto background check.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said on several news shows that concealed weapons permits should be applied nationally. He also called for more prosecution of people that are trying to buy guns and fail a background check.

The Senate is also expected to consider, and reject, Democratic amendments to ban assault weapons and ammunition magazines carrying more than 10 rounds.

Manchin and Toomey were on CNN's "State of the Union" and CBS' "Face the Nation." McCain was on CNN.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/background-checks-gun-buyers-win-more-backing-081148614--politics.html

Yahoo Fantasy Football Nick Foles Auguste Rodin Breaking Amish Indianapolis explosion mike brown bcs rankings

Anti-euro party a wildcard in German elections

BERLIN (AP) ? It's a spectacle that Germans are getting tired of: southern European protesters burning their flags and waving placards comparing Chancellor Angela Merkel to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, all in reaction to Berlin's insistence on reforms and austerity in return for bailout funds.

And it's enough to make people such as Berlin businessman Horst Freiberg, who never felt much love for the euro currency, pine more than ever for the return of the German mark.

"I'd immediately vote for a party that wants to abolish the euro," said Freiberg, who has run a small business selling ink stamps in central Berlin for more than 40 years. "How can you have one currency with banana republics like Cyprus and Greece? And they always accuse us of being Nazis. It's sick."

Such sentiments are still the exception in Germany, where a sense of obligation to help fellow Europeans in distress is rooted in shame for the crimes of the Third Reich. But a new political party hopes to capitalize on simmering fears that the euro crisis could deepen and drag down Europe's biggest economy. It aims to garner enough votes from people like Freiberg in September elections to reach the 5 percent minimum needed for seats in Parliament.

Called Alternative for Germany, the main goal of the party founded by academics and economists is the "orderly dissolution" of the euro, said Frauke Petry, a business owner and party spokeswoman.

The stance puts the party in sharp opposition to Merkel's position that there can be no Europe without the preservation of the single currency, with her repeated insistence that "if the euro fails, Europe will fail." While still a fledgling movement, the new party could hurt Merkel by sapping support from her main coalition partner ? which she has relied on for a stable government.

"For us, the euro is at the heart of many problems," Petry told The Associated Press. "The way decisions are being made in Europe right now shows that many democratic mechanisms don't work anymore," she said. Alternative for Germany wants to introduce Swiss-style national referendums so voters can have a say on important matters ? including economic rescue packages.

On Sunday, Alternative for Germany held its founding congress to adopt a program and vote for a party board. More than 1,500 members filled two spacious halls at the city's upscale Intercontinental Hotel in Berlin, most of them elderly men.

Many expressed anger about what they said have been unfair money transfers from German taxpayers to help bail out countries such as Cyprus and Greece.

"This party has good ideas," said Andreas Fluegge, 49, a software specialist from Limburgerhof in the country's southwest. "The euro is a big problem for us. Since we have had the euro I'm making less money and paying more taxes for things I don't understand. I hope these politicians will change this."

For all the talk about what it doesn't like, however, the party has been short on what it does like, and its leaders were slammed in an editorial this week in the top-selling Bild newspaper as "political amateurs."

The conservative tabloid has never shied away from accusing southern Europeans of being lazy, nor has it stopped deploring the cost Germany shoulders to bail out other nations, but turning against the euro itself remains unthinkable.

"They can craftily explain what is wrong with rescuing the euro, but they have no concept on how the future of Europe should look," Bild wrote.

Experts believe the party has little chance of garnering enough of the protest vote to reach the 5 percent threshold. But it could draw enough voters away from Merkel's center-right coalition to force her into an alliance with the opposition or give the opposition an outright majority.

"There is space for an anti-euro party in Germany," said Oskar Niedermayer, a political scientist at Berlin's Free University. "So far this position hasn't really been represented in the German party system."

Underlining the potential appeal, a recent poll showed that even though 69 percent of Germans now back the euro ? up from about 50 percent last year ? a significant minority of 27 percent said they'd like to see a return to the mark. The survey of 1,003 people was conducted April 2-3 for the business daily Handelsblatt. The poll had an estimated margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Abandoning the euro currency would have significant costs, especially for Germany as a heavily export-oriented economy. According to analysts' estimates, it could easily knock down the country's annual output by a double digit percentage figure.

"I think the Germans know, and to some extent accept, that they have to pay the bill for saving the euro," said Ursula Weidenfeld, an economist and author. "They just want to make sure that they aren't paying more than necessary."

Other nations such as the Netherlands, Austria and Finland have also insisted on the same austerity measures that Germany has demanded in exchange for European bailouts, but as the bloc's largest economy and the largest single contributor to the funds, most of the anger has been directed at Germany and Merkel.

Some of Merkel's voters are now beginning to wonder whether their country ? and their savings ? should be tied to the struggling euro project, and Weidenfeld said support for the euro "could quickly change if a new rescue package has to be negotiated."

Should the eurozone's woes spread to fully engulf Italy or Spain ? the bloc's third- and fourth-largest economies ? and require them to ask for a bailout, German voters could panic, said Niedermayer.

In Germany's election in September, the issue poses the greatest threat to the Free Democratic Party, Merkel's junior coalition partner which has a pro-business platform. Because the party has polled only slightly above five percent, even the loss of a few thousand voters could mean disaster.

"It's not impossible that this new party could sap half a percent from the FDP and thereby kick them out of parliament," said Niedermayer. That could create a huge headache for Merkel, who may find it hard to form a workable majority in parliament without the FDP.

Merkel's own party, too, could suffer if conservative voters see Alternative for Germany as a credible way to express their frustration about her leadership.

Economist Rudolf Hickel told Germany's Deutsche Welle, however, that even though there is anti-euro sentiment out there, Alternative for Germany doesn't have broad enough appeal to effectively tap it.

"They are professors and frustrated economists," he said. "If the party were headed by a populist, I'd consider them dangerous."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/anti-euro-party-wildcard-german-elections-060420112.html

arnold palmer invitational Chinua Achebe The Croods ashley greene marquette university Chris Porco cbs sports

The U.S.'s huge North Korean intelligence coup

When North Korean engineers launched a satellite into space on December 12, it seemed like business as usual, with the familiar cycle of condemnations from the west and statements of defiance from the Hermit Kingdom. But that launch also led many U.S. intelligence analysts to assess that Pyongyang possessed the ability to miniaturize the components necessary to yield a nuclear explosion for a crude warhead that would sit atop a ballistic missile.

After the North Korean launch, U.S. Navy ships managed to recover the front section of the rocket used in it, according to three U.S. officials who work closely on North Korean proliferation. That part of the rocket in turn provided useful clues about North Korean warhead design, should the next payload be a warhead rather than a satellite.

READ MORE Razor-Thin Win

The same basic engineering and science needed to launch a satellite into space is also used in the multi-stage rockets known as inter-continental ballistic missiles. The front of the satellite rocket, according to three U.S. officials who work closely on North Korean proliferation, gave tangible proof that North Korea was building the missile?s cone at dimensions for a nuclear warhead, durable enough to be placed on a long-range missile that could re-enter the earth?s atmosphere from space.

?Having access to the missile front was a critical insight we had not had before,? one U.S. non-proliferation official told The Daily Beast. ?I have seen a lot of drawings, but we had not seen the piece of that missile at that time.? This official continued: ?we looked at the wreckage from the launch and we put it together with other kinds of intelligence and came to this judgment that they had figured out the warhead piece.?

READ MORE Afghan Aides Wait for U.S. Visas

The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) released a classified assessment last month? saying that it now has ?moderate confidence? that the ?North currently has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles however the reliability will be low,? South Korea has provided additional intelligence bolstering this conclusion, according to U.S. officials.

That assessment, in line with? but more assertive than earlier comments from the agency., was made public three days ago, in a question from Rep. Doug Lamborn, a Republican from Colorado, to the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey. The Pentagon spokesman, George Little and the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, soon after the disclosure issued statements trying to play down the news. Clapper said, ?it would be inaccurate to suggest that the North Korean regime has fully developed and tested the kinds of nuclear weapons referenced in the passage." He added ?North Korea has not yet demonstrated the full range of capabilities necessary for a nuclear armed missile.?

READ MORE BBC Sneaks Into North Korea

But neither Little or Clapper disputed the basic judgment that North Korea could likely build a nuclear warhead of low reliability. While the DIA assessment does not represent the view of all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies, the recovered satellite rocket helped move CIA analysts away from their skepticism about North Korea?s ability to build a nuclear warhead as well. ?The DIA was always more forward leaning on this,? one U.S. official said. ?The CIA was always extremely cautious on this. The doubters in the CIA finally found some common ground with DIA when we did the recovery.? (The CIA declined to comment.)

Intelligence suggesting North Korea could design a nuclear warhead has been building for many years.? A.Q. Khan, the man considered to be the father of the Pakistani nuclear program, for example has said in interviews and correspondence that in 1999 on a visit to North Korea he was shown boxes of components for three finished nuclear warheads that could be assembled within an hour.

READ MORE Ch?vez Successor Narrowly Wins Election

One U.S. official who works on North Korean proliferation said there was reason to believe that Khan could have been lying when he said this. ?Khan was like a used car salesman,? he said. ?He wanted future customers to think he could get them the full package even though many times the equipment would not work as well as he said.? This official said there may have been components for warheads in a box, but ?we never knew if those components could actually work.?

More recently though, other kinds of intelligence have also come to the attention of the U.S. intelligence community that suggest North Korea has mastered the miniaturization and warhead design work as well. Another U.S. official who works on North Korea work told the Beast that South Korea has recently shared more traditional kinds of intelligence with the United States about North Korea?s warhead design work, but did not get into the details of that intelligence. ?

Related from The Daily Beast

Like us on Facebook - Follow us on Twitter - Sign up for The Cheat Sheet Newsletter

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-tipped-hand-084500657--politics.html

space shuttle discovery spacex tupac hologram tupac back tax deadline death race buffet rule

Sandy Hook mom makes plea for 'common sense' gun controls

All across the country Saturday, people turned out at rallies to demand tougher gun laws. Meanwhile, Sandy Hook mother Francine Wheeler made an emotional appeal for national gun-control legislation. NBC's Kristen Welker reports.

By Matthew DeLuca, Staff Writer, NBC News

A mother who lost her 6-year-old son in the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School made an emotional plea for national gun-control legislation in an address from the White House.

Francine Wheeler made her appeal in lieu of the president?s weekly address. Her appearance is the only time President Obama has handed the address to anyone other than Vice President Joe Biden since the two first took office. Wheeler was joined by her husband David.

?I have hear people say that the tidal wave of anguish our country felt on 12/14 has receded, but not for us,? Wheeler said. ?To us it feels as if it happened just yesterday, and in the four months since we lost our loved ones, thousands of other Americans have died at the end of a gun.?

The address, taped Friday, comes as several Sandy Hook families have mounted an aggressive effort to get a gun-control bill passed by Congress. Wheeler and her husband wrote the remarks after they were approached, the White House said.

?We have to convince the Senate to come together and pass common sense gun responsibility reforms that will make our communities safer and prevent more tragedies like the one we never thought would happen to us,? Wheeler said.

Jessica Hill / AP file

Francine Wheeler, mother of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victim Benjamin Wheeler, cries as she listens to Vice President Joe Biden speak during a gun violence conference in Danbury, Conn., Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013.

Family members of the Newtown victims were present on Capitol Hill Thursday when Senators voted 68-31 to move forward with the process of debating a gun bill that several Republican lawmakers had threatened to filibuster. Several Republican senators have said that the presence of Newtown families helped contribute to the unexpectedly overwhelming vote to move forward with the bill.

Among the more than a dozen relatives in the gallery was Jillian Soto, whose sister was killed at Sandy Hook.

?The tears that we had weren?t tears of joy, but tears of remembering this is happening,? Soto told NBC News shortly after the vote. ?We?re here because of what happened to us.?

During her remarks, Wheeler and her husband wore green pins to commemorate the 20 schoolchildren, including their son, and six adults who died in the December shooting. The Wheelers? older son Nate, a 4th grader at Sandy Hook, survived the shooting.

?Sometimes I close my eyes and all I can remember is that awful day waiting at the Sandy Hook volunteer firehouse for the boy who would never come home ? the same firehouse that was home to Ben?s Tiger Scout Den 6,? said Wheeler, choking back tears. ?But other times I feel Ben?s presence filling me with courage for what I have to do for him and all the others taken from us so violently and too soon.?

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related:

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2aad23f5/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A40C130C177341940Esandy0Ehook0Emom0Emakes0Eplea0Efor0Ecommon0Esense0Egun0Econtrols0Dlite/story01.htm

kawasaki disease resurrection masters tickets one direction tulsa news scalloped potatoes the ten commandments

Anti-euro party a wildcard in German elections

German Chancellor Angela Merkel visits the public transport company PVGS Personenverkehrsgesellschaft mbH on April 12, 2013 in Salzwedel, eastern Germany. (AP Photo/Pool/Ronny Hartmann)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel visits the public transport company PVGS Personenverkehrsgesellschaft mbH on April 12, 2013 in Salzwedel, eastern Germany. (AP Photo/Pool/Ronny Hartmann)

BERLIN (AP) ? It's a spectacle that Germans are getting tired of: southern European protesters burning their flags and waving placards comparing Chancellor Angela Merkel to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, all in reaction to Berlin's insistence on reforms and austerity in return for bailout funds.

And it's enough to make people like Berlin businessman Horst Freiberg, who never felt much love for the euro currency, pine more than ever for the return of the German mark.

"I'd immediately vote for a party that wants to abolish the euro," said Freiberg, who has run a small business selling ink stamps in central Berlin for more than 40 years. "How can you have one currency with banana republics like Cyprus and Greece? And they always accuse us of being Nazis. It's sick."

Such sentiments are still the exception in Germany, where a sense of obligation to help fellow Europeans in distress is rooted in shame for the crimes of the Third Reich. But a new political party hopes to capitalize on simmering fears that the euro crisis could deepen and drag down Europe's biggest economy. It aims to garner enough votes from people like Freiberg in September elections to reach the 5 percent minimum needed for seats in Parliament.

Called Alternative for Germany, the main goal of the party founded by academics and economists is the "orderly dissolution" of the euro, said Frauke Petry, a business owner and party spokeswoman. The stance puts the party in sharp opposition to Merkel's position that there can be no Europe without the preservation of the single currency, with her repeated insistence that "if the euro fails, Europe will fail." While still a fledgling movement, the new party could hurt Merkel by sapping support from her main coalition partner ? which she has relied on for a stable government.

"For us the euro is at the heart of many problems," Petry told The Associated Press. "The way decisions are being made in Europe right now shows that many democratic mechanisms don't work anymore," she said. Alternative for Germany wants to introduce Swiss-style national referendums so voters can have a say on important matters ? including economic rescue packages.

For all the talk about what they don't like, however, the party has been short on what they do like and its leaders were slammed in an editorial this week in the top-selling Bild newspaper as "political amateurs."

The conservative tabloid has never shied away from accusing southern Europeans of being lazy, nor has it stopped deploring the cost Germany shoulders to bail out other nations, but turning against the euro itself remains unthinkable.

"They can craftily explain what is wrong with rescuing the euro, but they have no concept on how the future of Europe should look," Bild wrote.

Experts believe the party has little chance of garnering enough of the protest vote to reach the 5 percent threshold. But it could draw enough voters away from Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right coalition to force her into an alliance with the opposition or give the opposition an outright majority.

More than 7,000 people have applied to join the party even before its founding congress in Berlin on Sunday, said Petry.

"There is space for an anti-euro party in Germany," said Oskar Niedermayer, a political scientist at Berlin's Free University. "So far this position hasn't really been represented in the German party system."

Underlining the potential appeal, a recent poll showed that even though 69 percent of Germans now back the euro ? up from about 50 percent last year ? a significant minority of 27 percent said they'd like to see a return to the mark. The survey of 1,003 people was conducted April 2-3 for the business daily Handelsblatt.

Abandoning the euro currency would have significant costs, especially for Germany as a heavily export-oriented economy. According to analysts' estimates, it could easily knock down the country's annual output by a double digit percentage figure.

"I think the Germans know, and to some extent accept, that they have to pay the bill for saving the euro," said Ursula Weidenfeld, an economist and author. "They just want to make sure that they aren't paying more than necessary."

Other nations like the Netherlands, Austria and Finland have also insisted on the same austerity measures that Germany has demanded in exchange for European bailouts, but as the bloc's largest economy and the largest single contributor to the funds, most of the anger has been directed at Germany and Merkel.

Some of Merkel's voters are now beginning to wonder whether their country ? and their savings ? should be tied to the struggling euro project, and Weidenfeld said support for the euro "could quickly change if a new rescue package has to be negotiated."

Should the eurozone's woes spread to fully engulf Italy or Spain ? the bloc's third- and fourth-largest economies ? and require them to ask for a bailout, German voters could panic, said Niedermayer.

In Germany's election in September, the issue poses the greatest threat to the Free Democratic Party, Merkel's junior coalition partner which has a pro-business platform. Because the party has polled only slightly above five percent, even the loss of a few thousand voters could mean disaster.

"It's not impossible that this new party could sap half a percent from the FDP and thereby kick them out of parliament," said Niedermayer. That could create a huge headache for Merkel, who may find it hard to form a workable majority in parliament without the FDP.

Merkel's own party, too, could suffer if conservative voters see Alternative for Germany as a credible way to express their frustration about her leadership.

Economist Rudolf Hickel told Germany's Deutsche Welle, however, that even though there is anti-euro sentiment out there, Alternative for Germany doesn't have broad enough appeal to effectively tap it.

"They are professors and frustrated economists," he said. "If the party were headed by a populist, I'd consider them dangerous."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-04-14-EU-Germany-Anti-Euro-Party/id-1c6520c5beb749b7ada46e288ff53e14

nyc marathon willie nelson khloe kardashian Wreck It Ralph Movember USC shooting halloween

Iran urged to boost nuke safety review after quake

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) ? The head of the Gulf states' main political bloc is urging Iran to join an international accord on nuclear safety following an earthquake near the country's lone energy-producing reactor.

Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani, secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, opened a meeting Sunday in Riyadh to discuss nuclear safety issues after last week's 6.1 magnitude quake about 96 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Bushehr, the site of Iran's reactor.

The quake killed at least 37 people. Iran says there was no damage to the reactor and insists it was built to withstand far stronger quakes.

Al-Zayani urged Iran to join the U. N.'s Convention on Nuclear Safety, which allows greater review by the U.N.'s atomic watchdog agency. But Iran is part of other U.N. pacts to report any nuclear accidents.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iran-urged-boost-nuke-safety-review-quake-112748537.html

Bath And Body Works Dicks Sporting Good office max office max jcp Sports Authority Hollister

Conor McGregor, Matt Mitrione and Uriah Hall: See where they fall on Cagewriter?s hot or not list

Check out who was burning up and who was chilling out in this week's hot or not list.

Hot -- "The Ultimate Fighter:" It's been a long road for the reality show that helped launch the UFC into the company it is today. Until this season, there hadn't been many memorable moments or fighters in year, but an updated show changed that.

Not -- Matt Mitrione: You think he'd be on the hot list after his fast knockout win last weekend, but his mouth has pushed him to the not list. Mitrione went on the MMA Hour on Monday and ripped trans fighter Fallon Fox as a "sociopath" and "freak," which led to Mitrione's suspension.

Hot -- Conor McGregor: After winning over Marcus Brimage at UFC on Fuel 9 last weekend with a Knockout of the Night win, McGregor didn't have to pick up another welfare check. Though his lobbying for a fight at UFC 159 didn't work because of injuries to both Joe Proctor and Al Iaquinta, he still made quite the jump into MMA's zeitgeist this week.

Hot -- UFC code of conduct: The UFC said that they were introducing their code of conduct in January, but Mitrione's actions tested it. You can check the complete code here, and find out what UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta hopes to accomplish with it.

Still taking temperature -- Uriah Hall: Saturday's TUF finale is filled with fighters who have a great opportunity. At the top of the list is Hall, who has the most hype behind him of any TUF contestant in years. Can he handle it? We'll find out Saturday night.

Stick with Cagewriter on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest in MMA.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/conor-mcgregor-matt-mitrione-uriah-hall-see-where-230559002--mma.html

what time is the super bowl 2012 nfl mvp lana del rey snl performance nick diaz sheryl sandberg superbowl recipes super bowl kick off

Schoolboy finds 300 million year old fossil

Apr. 7, 2013 ? An Oxford schoolboy has discovered what appears to be an extremely rare fossil of footprints from more than 300 million years ago.

Ten-year-old Bruno Debattista, who attends Windmill Primary School in Oxford, brought a piece of shale rock containing what he thought might be a fossilised imprint to the after-school club at Oxford University's Museum of Natural History.

Oxford University Natural History Museum experts were astonished to find that it appeared to contain the trackways left by a horseshoe crab crawling up the muddy slopes of an ancient shore around 320 million years ago.

Chris Jarvis, education officer at the Museum and organiser of the Natural History After-School Club, said: 'Footprints of this age are incredibly rare and extremely hard to spot, so we were amazed when Bruno produced them at our After-School Club.

'Still more impressive is the fact that Bruno had a hunch they might be some kind of footprints, even though the specimen had some of our world expert geologists arguing about it over their microscopes!''

Bruno's fossil has been confirmed by the Museum as likely showing footprints of a pair of mating horseshoe crabs laid down during the Carboniferous period, some 308-327 million years ago. At this time, the sea was slowly being sealed off as Earth's landmasses crunched together to form Pangaea. Bruno and his family have decided to donate the fossil specimen to the Museum's collection.

The Natural History After-School Club is run by the Museum's education department and encourages Year 6 children to develop their interest in the natural world, in the hope that some might become the next generation of geologists and zoologists.

The club's weekly sessions look at rocks, fossils, insects and other animal life, and members are encouraged to make observations and collect specimens to be shared each week.

Bruno was specially selected for the Club by his teachers, after showing a particular interest in nature. He collected the fossil while on holiday in Cornwall last summer.

'Unfortunately, the excitement and motivation that many children instinctively feel for studying nature is often lost during their teenage years as it is seen as "uncool" or a bit "weird," and science can become text-book oriented and exam-driven during secondary school,' Chris Jarvis said.

'The club is our attempt to encourage children to value and extend their skills and knowledge and to follow their interests. I hope it is helping to create a group of kids that will continue to share their interests into their teenage years and beyond.'

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Oxford.

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

---

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/C0Cd95-RIOw/130407145835.htm

chicago marathon Johnny Depp Dead college football rankings Steel Magnolias Niels Bohr the Rumble 2012 Columbus Day 2012

LSI and Intel put 1TB worth of SSD cache on a Nytro MegaRAID board

RAID cards are one of the more difficult things in the technology world to get excited about. Especially since most of these discrete add-on boards are really aimed at enterprise users, not media centers or gaming rigs. But, we've got to hand it to LSI and Intel for knowing how to make a splash. The companies caught our attention by slapping a pair of 512GB SSDs on a Nytro MegaRAID PCIe card. While there are a couple of models of the controllers, it's the RCS25ZB040LX specifically that's carrying the 1TB of flash storage. The media isn't meant for installing programs or archiving data, though, instead its dedicated cache for the controller. All that blazing fast SLC flash should help speed up any task that is reliant on frequent random reads. We don't think you'll be picking up one of these SandForce-powered bad boys for your personal server though, even an entry level version with 100GB of SLC will set you back $1,795.

Filed under: Storage, Intel

Comments

Via: SemiAccurate

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/08/lsi-intel-put-1tb-ssd-cache-on-raid-board/

jon jones rashad evans ufc jones vs evans watergate pregnant man outside lands 2012 lineup beloved ufc results

Britain's Cameron to meet EU leaders to push reform plan

By Peter Griffiths

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron hopes to overcome opposition to his plan to claw back power from Brussels when he meets the leaders of Germany, France and Spain this week for talks on Britain's future in the European Union.

Cameron infuriated European allies in January when he said he would try to renegotiate terms of Britain's EU membership and ask voters in a referendum if they wanted to stay in the bloc.

France and Germany accused him of treating the EU like an "a la carte menu" from which he could pick powers. The opposition Labour Party said Britain risked sleepwalking towards EU exit.

Facing hostility to his policy across the continent, Cameron faces an uphill battle when he meets Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in Madrid on Monday. He flies to Paris later that day to meet French President Francois Hollande before going to Germany on Friday for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Cameron will argue the euro zone crisis means it is inevitable that the EU will undergo big changes and reform its treaties, allowing Britain to forge a new role.

"This is not about cherry-picking, but to argue as some do that you can't have a flexible Europe is wrong," he said in a statement. "We can have a flexible Europe where we don't all have to do the same things in the same way at the same time."

Cameron will press the case for an EU in which countries have different roles. He will point to the fact that not all members, including Britain, signed up to the euro currency. London also stayed out of the border-free Schengen zone.

'RIPE FOR REFORM'

Cameron must come from behind in the polls, win re-election in 2015 and persuade EU leaders to allow him to reclaim powers from Brussels before British voters would have their say in a referendum on Europe.

The scale of his task was made clear in January when European politicians denounced his setpiece speech on Europe as unrealistic and divisive.

Seeking to take the initiative, Cameron will frame his case for reform as part of a wider appeal for the EU to become leaner and more competitive.

He will seek to win support in Europe with a call to reduce the bloc's spending and red tape.

"This organisation is ripe for reform," he said. "We need a Europe that is more open, that is more competitive, that is more flexible."

Cameron faces a dilemma over Europe. He believes Britain is stronger inside the bloc. However vocal anti-EU parliamentarians in his Conservative Party, who see Brussels as a threat to British sovereignty, want him to take a tougher line with the EU or leave altogether.

Pressure on Cameron over Europe has grown because the UK Independence Party, which wants Britain to exit the EU, has poached voters from his Conservatives. Disagreement over Europe plagued the last two Conservative governments under former prime ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major.

(Editing by Jason Webb)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/britains-cameron-meet-eu-leaders-push-reform-plan-231709803.html

little league world series us open tennis us open tennis Empire State Building shooting Republican National Convention Karlie Redd guild wars 2

Dana Clark: Stop Underestimating How Powerful You Really Are

As a country, we're losing our sense of value.?And in the other half of what is now a fatal and destructive cycle, we are losing our value as individuals as well.?In place of religion and family tradition for much of the new generations who thought they had emancipated themselves, and in the wake of what appeared to be the new revolution, reigns a new god: media.?And it has happened because we have yet to identify our self as a worthy enough power to follow. ?

Until we approach the complete awareness of ourselves, we will not know the peace; the beauty that is our truth. We are unable to claim the possibility of our strength.

We give out our power anywhere else.?We immerse ourself in need, we let success say no one loves us if we're not successful, models tell us we're not thin enough, celebrities tell us we're not funny or enjoying life, sports teams tell us if we're losing; our children tell us we're failing, romantic interests determine if we're valuable or not, schools dictate if you have the right answers, magazines inform us we don't look good because don't have the clothing they recommend, news coverage announces that we should be scared at night, books tell us what products our babies need for survival, the government says we have one vote for one of two candidates, and the winner will or will not save our humanity.? ?

It is all an illusion.?It all takes advantage of our vulnerability.?And it all tells us what we're worth -- is nothing.?

These things inevitably take part in our lives, but we are in charge of them letting ourselves feel like we've fallen short or not.?Each individual is responsible for drawing that boundary. And if we don't, we're left as victims -- powerless over the enormous anxiety our nation provides.?And we abandon ourself again, over and over.?Avoiding our shame and repressed anger by drinking.?By eating.?And dieting, and purchasing merchandise, by depressing, by revaluing our sex -- by the vicious search for something we're in control of.?Including our own children, our husbands and wives, our families, and employees, and our dearest friends.?

The last place we look is ourselves.?The last place we look for strength is within our own integrity, our honesty and patience.?Our kindness. The last thing we value in each other is character. And the last place we search is within our own vulnerability and capacity to connect, and find joy in what we already have.?

Left behind in the distance is simplicity; our imagination; our presence, and the innocence of youth.?And in its place: the useless comparison of ourselves to others, the devaluation of our natural given gifts.?Every move we make becomes another weighted source of disappointment.?And good dissolves in the hands of resentment and in the image of fear. We continue the path of oppression.?

All our choices, where we put our energy, the way we interact with others -- practice awareness of why, trace behavior to its root.?Do you interact with the world from a place of fear, from a place of doubt? I used to approach the world as though there would be terrible pain and disappointment everywhere. In place of my presence to life was constant prediction of how it might hurt me, or how I might not meet its expectations -- I let the underestimation of myself safely lead my life for me because I let others' standards tell me I was not good enough. All along, my valuable qualities were there, waiting for me to acknowledge them. Waiting to be nourished.

When you feel anxiety, dig deep and identify where it is placed.?Don't avoid it. It is the key to your potential, it is your body telling you there is something you need to reconcile. When used properly, anxiety is your talent, it is your energy, it represents the possibility of how bright you're capable of shining.?But if it gets smothered, it will only amount to a pit in your stomach, and the hold around your neck.

Dive into the uncertainty and trust yourself. And with the boundaries in place of respect for yourself, trust others. It's OK if you're disappointed -- you will survive. Trust is peace. Let anxious energy release as its divine intention -- as positivity -- as your purpose in life.?Listen to yourself and know that purpose is there.?Live with truth and it will never empty.?Through calmness and presence to what surrounds us, presence to our challenges, we discover meaning. We grow. Discovering how to trust is exactly what informs the limitlessness of our whole life.

For 13 years I avoided my life, my anger and disappointment, my uncertainty and apparent shortcomings with control over what I ate. It was nearly my sole reward and punishment system, and it was all a harmful delusion. A practice based in approval and disapproval from others, at the expense of myself.

The energy we put into obsessing over food, alcohol, unhealthy relationships, and money is the same abundant energy available for us to engage in a life that is truly fulfilling and unattached to societal validation and the crippling worry of outcome. All those other things give us a sense of control -- they mean nothing, they are void of connection and only continue our pain. The one different ingredient between living within the superficial and illusory world of our escapes and what is our actual potential, is trust. Trust in our courage to face life, to breathe through our frustration, to let others see who we are, to accept our circumstances, and then, if necessary, trust that we can handle the discomfort it takes to change them.

In the misinformed guidelines of achievement and virtue, we depend on approval.?We've forgotten how to listen to the only accurate compass of worth there is -- which is ourselves.

For more by Dana Clark, click here.

For more on emotional wellness, click here.

?

Follow Dana Clark on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kaleforyoursoul

"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dana-clark/society-self-worth_b_3017449.html

Tate Stevens Miss Universe 2012 x factor x factor john kerry eastbay Samantha Steele

Spring Blooms, And So Do The Creepy Crawlies

Springtime means bug time. Michael Raupp, professor of entomology at the University of Maryland has the story of a big brood of cicadas that is set to emerge up and down the East Coast. We can also expect the largest infestation of stink bugs this year. USDA entomologist Tracy Leskey tells guest host Jacki Lyden about the bugs and efforts to stop them.

Copyright ? 2013 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

JACKI LYDEN, HOST:

It's WEEKENDS on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Jacki Lyden. Spring is here. And just as temperatures begin to creep up, so do the bugs - all matter of creepy crawlies. Among the noisiest and, for my money, most repulsive...

(SOUNDBITE OF CICADAS)

LYDEN: ...cicadas.

MICHAEL RAUPP: My name is Michael J. Raupp. I'm professor of entomology and the bug guy here at the University of Maryland, College Park.

LYDEN: Raupp is lucky for a guy who makes bugs his business. He's living in the heart of what people in his world consider insect Super Bowl. Now, I don't normally think of myself as a squeamish type, really, but maybe you're OK with shoveling dead cicadas in the backyard by the wheelbarrow. If not, and you live on the East Coast, be on the lookout for a teeming horde is on its way.

(SOUNDBITE OF CICADAS)

RAUPP: This one's going to be absolutely spectacular. This one's going to go all the way from northern North Carolina up to the Hudson Valley in New York.

LYDEN: They're known as the Brood II cicadas, and they've been developing underground 17 years.

RAUPP: I've seen estimates as high as a billion cicadas per square mile. This is really going to rock some people's world.

LYDEN: Like mine. But Raupp says there's really nothing to fear.

RAUPP: Understand that they're not going to hurt you or your children or your pets. They're not going to breed in your house.

LYDEN: And cicadas actually do a lot of good, like aerating the soil and providing a good meal.

RAUPP: In about six weeks, when these guys make the big break for it, the birds are simply going to go nuts. Everything on the planet is going to want to eat a cicada. And historically, we know that Native Americans consider the cicada emergence a huge bounty because there was just simply so much protein out there.

LYDEN: There are about 18 broods of periodical cicadas. Those that live for 13 or 17 years underground, those aren't to be confused with the annual cicadas, which appear later on in the summer. Raupp says gardeners have already begun to uncover the Brood II nymphs in the soil. And once the soil hits the 64-degree mark, things will really start to heat up.

RAUPP: They'll build their escape chimneys from their subterranean grips. So underneath trees, we'll begin to see holes about the size of the dime, and in some cases, little mud tubes that might extend an inch or two above the surface of the soil.

LYDEN: Oh, how exciting. Then the nymphs will shed their skins, climb the tree and then amorous males (unintelligible).

RAUPP: The sound is all about love. It's about romance. They make this noise with an organ called the tymbal, which is like a drum pad, just beneath their wings. They vibrate this. Now, there'll be three different songs that the male uses to attract his mate. The first is something like, hey, I think I've seen you here before. The second one is, wow, that's a really pretty outfit you have on. And the third one is something like, you want to come back to my place and look at the etchings?

LYDEN: They only get to live and love a few weeks above ground. Around late June, their siren song sort of peter out, and so will the cicadas. But we can look forward to meeting them here in the next generation in 2030.

(SOUNDBITE OF CICADAS)

LYDEN: But wait, there's more. Here's another horror, friends: stink bugs. I once had one crawl in my ear while I was sleeping.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

TRACY LESKEY: Officially, they have been detected in 40 states and the District of Columbia, as well as Ontario, Canada.

LYDEN: That's Tracy Leskey.

LESKEY: I'm a research entomologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

LYDEN: And her specialty is stink bugs.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

LESKEY: This insect is commonly referred to as brown marmorated stink bug. The scientific name is halyomorpha halys. And this is an invasive species. It's actually native to China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan.

LYDEN: The stink bug came over to the U.S. in the late 1990s, probably aboard a shipment from China.

LESKEY: These are a large, conspicuous bug. If you look at it from above, they look similar in shape to a shield. Now, the name marmorated means marbled, and that's based on the appearance of the black and white pattern that you see on the sides of their abdomen. They also have stripes on their antennae that are pretty conspicuous. They're pretty big, and because they're stink bugs, they have what we call piercing, sucking mouth parts, which is basically like a straw that they inserted to plants to feed on the juices.

LYDEN: That's right - only plant juices. No need to worry about those piercing, sucking mouth parts finding an arm or a leg. But, yeah, they can be a household gross-out for most people.

LESKEY: Especially, you know, when they find one poised on their toothbrush, that sort of thing.

LYDEN: But to farmers, brown marmorated stink bugs are destructive. That's how Leskey and the USDA got involved with the bugs. Farmers were worried about the impact on crops. These stink bugs will eat almost any crops, especially fruit, like apples and peaches.

LESKEY: They insert their mouth parts through the skin of the fruit and then suck up the juices, so leaving behind these dry, corky areas just beneath the skin. And oftentimes, it collapses, so you see these depressions on the surface of the fruit as well.

LYDEN: Right now, Leskey and the USDA are working out ways to control the spread of stink bugs, and one method they're trying is fighting bugs with other insects.

LESKEY: This is something that actually recognizes stink bug eggs as a really good meal.

(LAUGHTER)

LESKEY: It is a very tiny wasp. And so these wasps are in quarantine in Newark, Delaware, where they are being screened for their capacity to choose brown marmorated stink bug over our native stink bug species.

LYDEN: It's a risky strategy. What if the wasps go rogue? So stink bug researchers are really taking their time before they release any tiny wasp predators. Unfortunately, there will be no miracle cure on the line for this summer. It looks like it's going to be an especially stink bug-y one.

LESKEY: We have started to see a little bit of activity here in our own building. I have quite a few walking around my office. I think they actually are taunting me at this point.

(LAUGHTER)

LYDEN: With all these creepy, crawly bugs on the way, I think it's about time to book a summer vacation to, say, Antarctica. Anyplace but here.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

Copyright ? 2013 NPR. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to NPR. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2013/04/06/176446679/spring-blooms-and-so-do-the-creepy-crawlies?ft=1&f=1007

pecan pie recipe Hector Camacho Jill Kelly McKayla Maroney gronkowski jeremy renner best buy black friday deals