Entire galaxies feel the heat from newborn stars: Bursts of star birth can curtail future galaxy growth

Apr. 25, 2013 ? When galaxies form new stars, they sometimes do so in frantic episodes of activity known as starbursts. These events were commonplace in the early Universe, but are rarer in nearby galaxies.

During these bursts, hundreds of millions of stars are born, and their combined effect can drive a powerful wind that travels out of the galaxy. These winds were known to affect their host galaxy -- but this new research now shows that they have a significantly greater effect than previously thought.

An international team of astronomers observed 20 nearby galaxies, some of which were known to be undergoing a starburst. They found that the winds accompanying these star formation processes were capable of ionising [1] gas up to 650 000 light-years from the galactic centre -- around twenty times further out than the visible size of the galaxy. This is the first direct observational evidence of local starbursts impacting the bulk of the gas around their host galaxy, and has important consequences for how that galaxy continues to evolve and form stars.

"The extended material around galaxies is hard to study, as it's so faint," says team member Vivienne Wild of the University of St. Andrews. "But it's important -- these envelopes of cool gas hold vital clues about how galaxies grow, process mass and energy, and finally die. We're exploring a new frontier in galaxy evolution!"

The team used the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) instrument [2] on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to analyse light from a mixed sample of starburst and control galaxies. They were able to probe these faint envelopes by exploiting even more distant objects -- quasars, the intensely luminous centres of distant galaxies powered by huge black holes. By analysing the light from these quasars after it passed through the foreground galaxies, the team could probe the galaxies themselves.

"Hubble is the only observatory that can carry out the observations necessary for a study like this," says lead author Sanchayeeta Borthakur, of Johns Hopkins University. "We needed a space-based telescope to probe the hot gas, and the only instrument capable of measuring the extended envelopes of galaxies is COS."

The starburst galaxies within the sample were seen to have large amounts of highly ionised gas in their halos -- but the galaxies that were not undergoing a starburst did not. The team found that this ionisation was caused by the energetic winds created alongside newly forming stars.

This has consequences for the future of the galaxies hosting the starbursts. Galaxies grow by accreting gas from the space surrounding them, and converting this gas into stars. As these winds ionise the future fuel reservoir of gas in the galaxy's envelope, the availability of cool gas falls -- regulating any future star formation.

"Starbursts are important phenomena -- they not only dictate the future evolution of a single galaxy, but also influence the cycle of matter and energy in the Universe as a whole," says team member Timothy Heckman, of Johns Hopkins University. "The envelopes of galaxies are the interface between galaxies and the rest of the Universe -- and we're just beginning to fully explore the processes at work within them."

The team's results will appear in the 1 May 2013 issue of The Astrophysical Journal.

Notes

[1] A gas is said to be ionised when its atoms have lost one or more electrons -- in this case by energetic winds exciting galactic gas and knocking electrons out of the atoms within.

[2] Spectrographs are instruments that break light into its constituent colours and measure the intensity of each colour, revealing information about the object emitting the light -- such as its chemical composition, temperature, density, or velocity.

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 ESA/Hubble Information Centre.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Sanchayeeta Borthakur, Timothy Heckman, David Strickland, Vivienne Wild, David Schiminovich. THE IMPACT OF STARBURSTS ON THE CIRCUMGALACTIC MEDIUM. The Astrophysical Journal, 2013; 768 (1): 18 DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/768/1/18

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/top_news/top_science/~3/3ypRbNu_Qzk/130425103312.htm

Eddie Murphy Dead Democratic National Convention 2012 myocardial infarction What Is Labor Day jersey shore Pasquale Rotella Michael Clark Duncan

Xing puts a Wii U at the heart of its costly karaoke machine

Sure, we've seen game consoles modified for use beyond their original purpose, but this apparatus turns things up a notch. Pictured above is the Joysound Festa, a mobile entertainment system powered by the Wii U's hardware and software. Built by Japanese karaoke machine maker Xing, this beastly console mod is controlled from the system's Gamepad and includes the gracelessly named Nintendo x Joysound Wii Karaoke U. Pre-loaded with 90,000 songs, this party starter also ships with a set of dance, exercise, yoga and brain training videos. Already reaching for your wallet? You should know that this unique setup is Japan-only, and headed to hotels and nursing homes at a hefty price of 1,580,000 yen (around $15,884). At that price, it may take around 25 years until we see one of these bad boys up for grabs on eBay.

Filed under: Gaming, Nintendo

Comments

Via: Kotaku

Source: Joysound Festa (translated)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/25/xing-wii-u-karaoke-machine/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

nike foamposite galaxy bill maher seabiscuit dingo nba all star weekend malin akerman jeff carter

University of Cambridge Computer Lab 75th anniversary ...

We?re celebrating today: it?s the 75th anniversary of the University of Cambridge?s Computer Laboratory. From its beginnings in 1938 as the Mathematical Laboratory, it?s provided the foundations for much of our computing history; Raspberry Pi is only one of hundreds of successful business set up by academics and alumni, and we?re very proud to be associated with the Lab.

The old Mathematical Lab, on the New Museums Site in the centre of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge Computer Lab today: the William Gates Building.

Things have changed in computing since the Mathematical Laboratory?s early days. Just before our wedding, when Eben was writing up his PhD and we were living in university housing, the wife of a very old, very decorated gentlemen took me by the elbow with startlingly strong fingers after a dinner, and proffered a dire warning.

?You need to understand that life will not be easy if you marry a computer scientist, especially early in your marriage; you won?t always come first. When we were young marrieds, John would disappear for hours in the middle of the night to cool that damned machine for his supervisor.?

It turns out that ?that damned machine? was EDSAC. (My advice to ?young marrieds?: if you can?t beat them, join them.)

EDSAC1 in the 1940s, with Maurice Wilkes and William Renwick.

It?s thanks to work done in that laboratory that you?re holding a Raspberry Pi now that doesn?t need cooling at all, let alone in the middle of the night; ARM, whose technology is in the Pi?s processor, was originally a spinoff from the Computer Lab.

The Lab?s anniversary announcement says:

It was where EDSAC, the first programmable computer ever brought into general service, was built, and where microprogramming was pioneered by Maurice Wilkes, the Lab?s second Director, using EDSAC 2. Towards the end of the mainframe age, major advances were made in fields such as networked computing and computer-aided design. Cambridge?s Computer Lab was the home of the world?s first webcam. It was the place where Michael Burrows, the leading computer scientist in search engine development, learned his trade, and where Bjarne Stroustrup, inventor of the hugely popular computer language C++, did his PhD. Without the Lab, early home computers like the BBC Micro, or the low-power chip technology used in iPads and mobile phones, or the Raspberry Pi, might well never have emerged.

We?re a bit overwhelmed to find ourselves discussed in such august company. Eben?s one of the (ha) Distinguished Speakers at today?s celebrations; tomorrow it?s back to normal, but for today we?re enjoying an incredible feeling of taking part in history, and a sense of the extraordinary pace we?ve been moving at for the last 75 years.

Congratulations to everybody at the Lab, past, present and future. Here?s to the next 75 years ? let?s make them good ones!

Updated to add: I?ve just been pointed at a slideshow about the Lab?s first 75 years on the BBC News website. It?s short but interesting, and you might recognise the object in the final slide.

Source: http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/3791

mark sanchez christina aguilera Mayan End Of The World Olivia Black World Ending 2012 gossip girl Ink Master

personal loans rates calculator ? Nuhitz ? Social Networking ...

Should your track record will not be up to the mark, this can be difficult to acquire personal loans with bad credit rankings, although private finance companies complete do business with others together with a bad credit score history. In the majority of of these cases, your security have to always be very considerable in advance of that they earmark just about any mortgage towards anxious individual. It must be thought of in which developing a low credit score history, signifies that that can be done nothing at all pertaining to getting rid of the idea in the files, despite you have paid backside just about all outstanding expenses. The financing history stays for file for Many years, before it is expunged. There are 2 forms of personal loans for people with a bad credit score record; rapid guaranteed personal loans along with unguaranteed loans.

http://openurbandev.com/index.php?title=User:AidaOlsen
http://techday7.com/sessions/personal-loans-wiki
http://chatalone.com/social3/link/5245
Securing loan consent might be the remaining problem to empty, which is generally reason for special event. Although if the negative financial institution is usually concerned, the prices could finish way up producing crying as an alternative to cheers. Hence, get into the BBB sites prior to tallying the actual unsecured credit card personal financial loan.It appears the probability of having a personal unsecured loan using bad credit tend to be really trim. In addition a criminal record possess a a low credit score historical past, however, there is zero security up for grabs to help ease loan company worries either. Within these situation, receiving individuals added capital to help raise many of the financial pressure manufactured by debts is really a fantasy. But in fact, acquiring financial loan acceptance devoid of basic safety is very simple than a lot of anticipate, as the difficulty involving a bad credit score can be a moot a person. Undoubtedly, you can find strategies this enhance the probability of obtaining substantial loans. As well as central in order to those approaches is understanding that lenders in order to tactic, and the data loan companies find.

Unsecured credit card credit card debt combination loans are usually full of credit score you need to combine debt. Unlike frequent personal loans, unsecured personal loans undertake and don't one to commitment just about any security contrary to the mortgage loan. Which means creditors tend to be counting just on your own offer to the money based on the small print that they have founded. Acquiring a individual credit card debt loan consolidation, will let you pay back your debt speedily. Through the elimination of distinctive expenses, in addition to being focused on trying to pay back 1 personal loan solely, it is possible to substantially reduce your monthly premiums.
http://mainframebrasil.com.br/artigos/index.php?title=Usu%C3%A1rio:RosieClou
http://www.onlinepressearchiv.de/index.php/Benutzer:RetaPipki
http://onthank.info/FamilyTree/tiki-index.php?page=UserPageedisonpai
Several lenders will help you to create a personal bank loan versus a trade bank account, old age profile, or dependant on ones credit history if it is adequate. You may want to organize a bit of property or home or a automobile so that you can safe the credit to ensure that it will end up certain. Secondly, in the event you absolutely need the amount of money and also you need it speedy, it is possible to use the internet here and obtain an assured on-line personal financial loan via an online bank. All these typically come in the sort of pay day loans or even payday cash advances. You can aquire amongst $1000 along with $10,1000 by an on-line mortgage. This is very feasible for you tend to be loan merchants which do not actually look at the credit history. Past, you may go online and acquire a personal unsecured loan that isn't a payday loan or payday loan when you've got a good credit score or maybe below-average credit. This may be a safe and secure or maybe unprotected mortgage loan, however you will have approximately $10,1,000. If you have a good credit score it will be easy to receive guaranteed on the net personal loans with little hassle of course, if you might have poor credit it is possible to visit the actual payday advance way. You can aquire more information about Secured On the net Personal Loans in order to find all you need to be familiar with On the internet Personal Loans with: Confirmed On line Personal Loans

Here is more info about simply click the next web page check out www.spirit-of-rock.com/wiki/index.php

Source: http://www.nuhitz.com/blog/10703/personal-loans-rates-calculator/

st. bonaventure ira glass swain match day nene dark shadows trailer nate mcmillan

South Africa: fight over rhino poaching escalates

JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? A U.S. firm recently gave smart phones to some game rangers in South Africa to help them track poachers who kill rhinos for their horns. An anti-poaching ad campaign in Vietnam, a key illegal market, shows rhinos with human hands or feet in place of horns, which are made from the same material as fingernails and toenails.

Despite these and other globe-spanning projects to protect the rhinoceros, the rate of poaching in South Africa ? home to most of Africa's rhinos ? this year is on track to exceed the record number of illegal kills in 2012, conservation officials say. The more money, innovation and publicity go into the cause, the more poachers, who see rhino horn as a high-priced commodity, seemingly diversify their hunt.

It resembles a tit-for-tat escalation, similar to the old arcade game "Whac-a-Mole," in which disparate campaigns can target a poaching tactic or location only for the killing to pop up in other places and forms.

"The demand seems to be such that every time there's a clampdown in one area, another issue emerges," said Dr. Jo Shaw, a rhino expert in South Africa for the World Wildlife Fund.

South Africa, a haven-turned-killing ground, was once a big success. The intensity of the battle here has since made it a crucible for experiments and policy debates on how to stop poachers seeking to meet surging demand in some Asian countries. Consumers covet rhino horn after it is ground into a powder as a balm for health, despite no supporting evidence.

A South African opposition party has urged the government to label rhino poaching as a national disaster, allowing the allocation of disaster management funds to fight poaching. The Democratic Alliance also called for more discussion about legalizing the trade in rhino horns, which can grow back after cutting.

"A total ban on rhino horn trade will eventually lead to the complete extinction of the species. A regulated and controlled trade would supply demand and dismantle poaching syndicates through open market pressures," opposition lawmaker Anthony Benadie said in a statement.

Some conservationists warn that a legal trade would not necessarily stamp out the illegal one. Besides, it would require the approval of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES. The group, which has 173 signatory countries, met in Bangkok in March and won't meet again for three years.

Poachers killed 668 rhinos in South Africa in 2012, a 50 percent increase over the previous year. On April 18, South Africa said 232 rhino had been illegally killed so far this year, 70 percent of them in the vast Kruger National Park.

"The patterns keep indicating that it will be over 800" this year, said Shaw of the World Wildlife Fund.

She said the number of white and black rhinos in South Africa, 19,000 and 2,000 respectively, is actually rising. By some estimates, however, the populations will reach a "tipping point" in 2016 and then decline if poaching persists.

Albi Modise, spokesman for South Africa's department of environmental affairs, said the use of gun silencers and other sophisticated equipment by poachers "requires that we up our game as well in terms of anti-poaching activity."

In one success, Shaw said, authorities have stopped Vietnamese and others killing rhinos in South Africa under the guise of legal trophy-hunting, and then illegally selling the horns abroad. South Africa regulates limited hunting of rhinos, though this practice is coming under increasing scrutiny.

The poaching crisis has triggered an array of measures whose effectiveness is hotly debated.

The private Sabi Sand game reserve has injected horns of some rhinos with a pink dye and chemicals that could sicken a person who ingests rhino horn. The tactic would be tough to implement in the nearby Kruger park, where rhinos are harder to track in the vast expanse and where rangers sometimes clash with armed poachers from neighboring Mozambique. CITES is pushing Mozambique to get tougher on poachers, and also urging Vietnam to take steps to curb demand.

Canvas, a Virginia-based technology company, equipped some rangers at the Sabi Sand reserve with smart phones this year. The devices enable them to swiftly share data and images ? for example, footprints, holes cut in fences and animal carcasses ? that help them patrol the bush and could eventually serve as courtroom evidence against suspected poachers.

James Quigley, head of Canvas, acknowledged there is a strong financial incentive behind poaching. The price of rhino horn has been compared to the U.S. street value of cocaine, a temptation for criminal syndicates, triggermen from poor villages and some corrupt officials.

"The risk versus reward becomes such that each side has to amplify just to keep in line with each other," Quigley said of the battle to stop poachers.

Tom Snitch, an American expert in imagery from satellites and drone aircraft, plans to test small drones in a South African game reserve in late May. He will use satellite imagery and mathematical models to plot flight paths based on predictions of the movements of both rhinos and poachers.

"If we see the poachers, we put the drones on top of them and basically vector them in where they can be apprehended," Snitch said. Some of the technology mirrors that used by U.S. forces to detect insurgents planting roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the fight against poachers is similarly cat-and-mouse, he said.

"You constantly have to refine your model in the anticipation that your adversary is learning your techniques and tactics," said Snitch, a visiting professor in computer studies at the University of Maryland.

South Africa has signed an anti-poaching deal with Vietnam, which has pledged more rigorous inspections of cargo, particularly from Africa, at land, air and sea entry points as well as public awareness campaigns. The World Wildlife Fund and TRAFFIC, a wildlife monitoring network, are launching an ad campaign on social media networks and elsewhere in Vietnam. One poster depicts hands and feet on a rhino's face, noting human nails and rhino horns are both made from a tough protein called keratin.

The caption reads: "Rhino horn is made of the same stuff as human nails. Still want some?"

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/south-africa-fight-over-rhino-poaching-escalates-094252134.html

Phil Ramone louisville Kevin Ware Injury Video Richard Griffiths FGCU Reid Flair tony romo

'Cougar Town' star Philipps reveals baby gender

Paul A. Hebert / Getty Images Contributor

By Alyssa Toomey, E! Online

Break out the pink baby blankets: Busy Philipps is having a girl!?E! News confirms the "Cougar Town" star is expecting a daughter with screenwriter hubby Marc Silverstein.

Philipps first revealed the gender news to The Huffington Post at the Tribeca Film Festival in NYC where she gushed the entire family -- including the couple's four-year-old daughter Birdie -- is "really excited" about the baby on the way.

VIDEO: Busy Phillips on "Chelsea Lately"

"My daughter is super-excited," she confessed. "She's actually incredibly helpful and she's four and a half.... So I think for right now it's OK, but we'll see what happens when the actual baby comes. I'm planning for that moment like, 'And when does she go back?' I know that will happen.'"

Too cute! And while we're sure Birdie will love being a big sister, it's safe to say the soon-to-be mother of two hasn't exactly enjoyed her pregnancy.

"This one hasn't been so relaxing," she recently admitted to E! News while adding that round two has been "harder."

NEWS: Busy Philipps dishes on pregnancy No. 2

Busy announced she was expecting in December, tweeting out a pic of a Clearblue pregnancy test with positive results.

Hang in there, girl. We can't wait to meet your little one!

PHOTOS: Celeb baby bumps

Related content:

Source: http://todayentertainment.today.com/_news/2013/04/23/17875837-cougar-town-star-busy-philipps-having-a-baby-girl?lite

komen chrome for android hatchet leah messer freedom riders 9th circuit court of appeals gisele bundchen tom brady

Charges dropped against man in ricin case

By Robbie Ward

TUPELO, Mississippi (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors dropped charges against a Mississippi man accused of sending ricin-laced letters to President Barack Obama and a U.S. senator, according to a court order signed by a judge on Tuesday.

The decision came hours after Paul Kevin Curtis was released from a Mississippi jail on bond.

In a court order dismissing the charges, prosecutors said the "ongoing investigation has revealed new information" without providing any addition detail.

Curtis told a news conference afterward that he respected Obama and would never harm a public servant. "I love this country," he said.

The release of Curtis, 45, on bond came shortly after a judge indefinitely postponed a court hearing on his detention.

Christi McCoy, Curtis' attorney, told CNN she believed her client had been framed. The Clarion Ledger newspaper reported that law enforcement officials searched the house of a second Mississippi man in connection with the case. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Oxford, Mississippi, did not return calls for comment.

"I do believe that someone who was familiar and is familiar with Kevin just simply took his personal information and did this to him," McCoy told CNN. "It is absolutely horrific that someone would do this."

Curtis was arrested last Wednesday at his home in Corinth, Mississippi. He was charged with mailing letters to Obama, U.S. Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi and a state judge containing a substance that preliminarily tested positive for ricin, a highly lethal poison made from castor beans.

The letters were intercepted by authorities before they reached their destinations.

Over the weekend, investigators searched Curtis' home, his vehicle and his ex-wife's home, but failed to find any incriminating evidence, McCoy told the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.

The poison scare put Washington on edge during the same week the Boston Marathon bombings occurred.

Curtis, known in Mississippi as an Elvis impersonator, was held in the Lafayette County Detention Center prior to his release. He was charged with threatening to harm Obama and using the mail to make other threats.

In a statement last week, his family said they had not been shown any evidence of the charges against him, but added that Curtis suffers from a long history of mental illness.

Typewritten on yellow paper, the three letters contained the same eight-line message, according to an affidavit from the FBI and the Secret Service filed in court.

"Maybe I have your attention now / Even if that means someone must die," the letters read in part, according to the affidavit. The letters ended: "I am KC and I approve this message."

The initials "KC" led law enforcement officials to ask Wicker's staff if they were aware of any constituents with those initials, and the focus of the investigation then turned to Curtis, the affidavit said.

(Reporting by Kevin Gray, David Adams and Tom Brown; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Andre Grenon and Dan Grebler)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mississippi-man-ricin-letter-probe-released-jail-bond-180310607.html

maurice jones drew Yash Chopra George McGovern braxton miller braxton miller Whitney Heichel Tippi Hedren

Justice says Armstrong was 'unjustly enriched'

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) ? The federal government is going after Lance Armstrong's money. As much as it can get.

The Justice Department unveiled its formal complaint against Armstrong on Tuesday, saying the cyclist violated his contract with the U.S. Postal Service and was "unjustly enriched" while cheating to win the Tour de France.

The government had previously announced it would join a whistle-blower lawsuit brought by former Armstrong teammate Floyd Landis under the federal False Claims Act. Tuesday was the deadline to file its formal complaint.

The Postal Service paid about $40 million to be the title sponsor of Armstrong's teams for six of his seven Tour de France victories. The filing in U.S. district court in Washington, D.C., says the USPS paid Armstrong $17 million from 1998-2004.

The lawsuit also names former team Armstrong team director Johan Bruyneel and team management company Tailwind Sports as defendants.

"Defendants were unjustly enriched to the extent of the payments and other benefits they received from the USPS, either directly or indirectly," the complaint said.

The financial costs for Armstrong and Bruyneel could be high. The government said it would seek triple damages assessed by the jury. Armstrong has been dropped by his personal sponsors and left the cancer-fighting foundation he started in 1997.

Armstrong had previously tried to negotiate a settlement, but those talks fell through before the government announced it would join the Landis lawsuit. Settlement talks could resume as the case proceeds to trial.

Armstrong, who in January admitted using performance-enhancing drugs after years of denials, has argued that the Postal Service's endorsement of his team earned the government agency far more than it paid him.

Armstrong attorney Elliot Peters called the government's complaint "opportunistic" and "insincere."

"The U.S. Postal Service benefited tremendously from its sponsorship of the cycling team. Its own studies repeatedly and conclusively prove this," Peters said. "The USPS was never the victim of fraud. Lance Armstrong rode his heart out for the USPS team, and gave the brand tremendous exposure during the sponsorship years."

The government must prove not only that the Postal Service was defrauded, but that it was damaged somehow.

Previous studies done for the Postal Service concluded the agency reaped at least $139 million in worldwide brand exposure in four years ? $35 million to $40 million for sponsoring the Armstrong team in 2001; $38 million to $42 million in 2002; $31 million in 2003; and $34.6 million in 2004.

Landis attorney Paul Scott dismissed the idea that money gained by the Postal Service should negate the claims of fraud. Scott the Postal Service is tainted by the drug scandal.

"Even if the USPS received some ephemeral media exposure in connection with Mr. Armstrong's false victories, any illusory benefit from those times will be swamped over time immemorial by the USPS forever being tied to the largest doping scandal in the history of sports," Scott said.

The formal complaint against Armstrong appears to rely heavily on evidence and statements supplied by Landis and gathered by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for its 2012 investigation that exposed a doping program on the USPS team. Armstrong has been banned from sports for life and stripped of his seven Tour de France victories.

As Armstrong's teammate, Landis participated in the doping program. He was later stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title won with another team because of his own doping violations.

Bruyneel, who lives in London, also has been charged by USADA with doping violations but is fighting that case in arbitration.

The government notes the contract with the Postal Service required riders to follow the rules of cycling, which included bans on performance-enhancing drugs and methods. Armstrong now admits using steroids, blood boosters and other illegal performance-enhancing drugs and measures to win.

By breaking the rules and covering it up, Armstrong and Bruyneel committed fraud against the U.S. government, the complaint said.

The complaint said that for years, team officials assured the Postal Service that the team wasn't doping.

Armstrong had been the target of a federal criminal grand jury, but that case was closed without charges in February 2012. Armstrong has previously tried to settle the Landis whistleblower lawsuit, but those talks broke down before the government announced its intention to join the case.

Armstrong also is fighting a lawsuit from Dallas-based promotions company SCA to recover about $12 million it paid him in bonuses, and a lawsuit from the London-based Sunday Times, which wants to get back $500,000 it paid him to settle a libel case.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/justice-says-armstrong-unjustly-enriched-223928621--spt.html

cate blanchett nfl news tebow tebow jets romney etch a sketch jeb bush sherry arnold

Wash. state man is national teacher of the year

SEATTLE (AP) ? A Washington state science teacher who helped transform his small school into a place where nearly every student graduates with some college credit was named as national teacher of the year.

Zillah High School's Jeff Charbonneau is state teacher of the year and was announced Monday as the national winner by the Council of Chief State School Officers.

Principal Mike Torres said Charbonneau, 35, has added a lot to the school located in Washington's Yakima Valley and has inspired other teachers to push themselves.

"Jeff is one of our many instructors that make Zillah High School a special place," Torres said. "The level of passion that he has for teaching is contagious."

Torres also gives Charbonneau credit for helping push more kids to continue learning after high school. Ninety percent of last year's graduating class went on to continue their learning, either at college, in an apprenticeship program or the military.

Those numbers have a lot to do with a program Charbonneau started to help students get college credit for the classes they take at the high school but not through Advanced Placement tests. Seventy-two classes at Zillah High School can result in credits from Central Washington University, Eastern Washington University or local community colleges.

Torres would like to keep Charbonneau right where he is, teaching science classes at his alma mater, but he also recognizes what he could share with teachers and others across the nation.

"When I look at his background and how he carries himself, I think he would be a great representative for education across the nation," Torres said. "I feel like he can compete with anyone for national teacher of the year."

The teacher-of-the year program began in 1952 to focus public attention on excellence in teaching. The winner is recognized by President Barack Obama in a White House ceremony, scheduled for Tuesday.

Charbonneau started teaching in 2001 at Zillah, the same school he attended. He teaches chemistry, physics, engineering and architecture. He also runs a statewide robotics competition and serves as yearbook adviser for the 400-student school.

His favorite part of teaching is being present at the moment of discovery for a student.

"When they get it and they have that 'aha moment.' There's really nothing that matches that," he said.

Charbonneau said he breaks down topics into small enough steps that students can grasp each one and gain confidence as they advance and accomplish what they want. The nation should feel the same way about public schools, he said.

"Nothing in life is truly hard," Charbonneau said.

"We are not a nation of failing schools. When I hear that I literally cringe," he said. "There is so much going right with education that we ignore."

He does believe there's still work to be done, including addressing the achievement gap between students from different ethnic and economic groups.

The three other finalists were Rhonda Holmes-Blankenship, an English teacher from Maryland; Alex S. Lopes, a special education teacher from Florida; and Heidi Welch, a music teacher from New Hampshire.

___

Online:

http://www.ccsso.org/ntoy.html

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wash-state-man-national-teacher-165030911.html

amityville horror acm passover recipes 2012 kids choice awards kansas ohio state wrestlemania results womens final four

6 gripping new details about the Boston bombing endgame

After a weekend of media digging and officials talking, we have more tantalizing clues about just what happened last week

We still don't know a lot of things about the Boston Marathon bombings and their aftermath, the biggest question being what motivated alleged bombers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev to allegedly commit the awful acts. The bombings killed three people and wounded more than 100 others, and police say the brothers shot dead an MIT police officer and critically wounded a Boston transit officer Thursday night and early Friday morning.

An interagency federal interrogation team is at the ready to try to get some answers out of the surviving brother, 19-year-old Dzhokhar, but thanks to a possibly self-inflicted gunshot wound to his throat, it's not clear if?Dzhokhar will ever talk again. ABC News says that the suspect, in serious but stable condition at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, is awake and responding to some questions in writing.

SEE MORE: Urban warfare comes to America

We do know a lot more, though, after a weekend of digging by reporters, media appearances by Boston-area officials, and statements from federal officials and members of Congress. Here are six of the most interesting things we've learned about the Tsarnaev brothers and the week of terror they allegedly inflicted on Boston.

1. Police tracked the brothers down through a carjacked vehicle
The carefully calculated decision by the FBI to release images of the suspects on Thursday afternoon set in motion the chaotic endgame that ended in Dzhokhar's capture and Tamerlan's death: Police noticed the pair in 7-Eleven surveillance video after an unrelated robbery, for example, placing the brothers in Cambridge; and their alleged decision to kill MIT officer Sean Collier linked them to the nearby carjacking of a Mercedes SUV.

SEE MORE: 10 things you need to know today: April 21, 2013

But their biggest giveaway, says Michael Crowley at TIME, came from their letting the SUV's driver either escape or releasing him unharmed ? the reports are conflicting ? at a gas station. Federal authorities say the Tsarnaevs used the man's ATM card to withdraw $800, which "would explain keeping him alive initially, rather than shooting him and taking his car" ? they needed his PIN. The decision to keep him alive, after identifying themselves and, according to one report, saying they planned to drive to New York, appears to be a fortuitous "blunder that indirectly spared the lives of many others."

The man was unharmed, though understandably hysterical, and immediately called 911.... Naturally, the carjacking victim provided police with the make and license plate of his vehicle. Even better, the Tsarnaevs now had their very own GPS beacon, as authorities tracked the location of a cell phone the man had left in his car. Within minutes, police had found the men and an ensuing gun battle left Tamerlan dead and Dkhokhar in hiding, soon to be caught. End of rampage. [TIME]

2. Dzhokhar apparently killed his brother
Tamerlan?was?killed in the shootout in the Boston suburb of Watertown, but not by police, according to Watertown Police Chief Ed Deveau. One officer spotted the brothers driving two cars, the stolen SUV and a Honda Civic, and the brothers immediately started shooting, Deveau tells The Boston Globe. "Quickly we had six Watertown police officers and two bad guys in a gunfight," with 200 to 300 shots fired.

SEE MORE: From Boston, powerful truths for America

Deveau says the brothers also lobbed several explosives at the officers, including a pressure-cooker bomb like the ones used at the marathon and five "crude grenades," two of which exploded. Finally, Tamerlan started walking toward the cops, firing. When he appeared to run out of bullets, police tackled him and started handcuffing him. At that point, Deveau says, Dzhokhar jumped in the SUV and started driving toward the officers; they dove out of the way, and Dzhokhar plowed over his brother, briefly dragging him under the car. Dzhokhar's maneuver allowed him to escape, but apparently proved fatal for his brother.

3. The brothers had lots of guns, but no permits
Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev had "a small arsenal of guns, ammunition, and explosives" when they confronted the police Friday morning, say Eric Schmitt and Michael S. Schmidt in The New York Times. Along with the homemade grenades and bomb, they also had at least four guns ? two handguns and a BB gun apparently used in the Watertown street fight and "an M-4 carbine rifle ? a weapon similar to ones used by American forces in Afghanistan."

SEE MORE: Fay Weldon's 6 favorite books

What they didn't have, says Cambridge Police Commissioner Robert Haas, were permits to carry guns. It's not clear if they applied for gun permits ? applications are not public records ? but at least Dzhokhar would have been turned down since state law only allows people 21 and older to own firearms.

4. Dzhokhar talked about the bombing with a classmate
Between the bombings on Monday and the release of the FBI photos on Thursday, Dzhokhar returned to class at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. In fact, he "acted like any other college sophomore," say Ann O'Neill and Melissa Gray at CNN. Dzhokhar "attended classes and dorm parties and went to the gym while the rest of Boston came to a tense standstill."

SEE MORE: Game of Thrones recap: Revenge is a dish best served hot

Fellow student Zach Bettencourt saw Tsarnaev in the gym on Tuesday and brought up the bombing. "You hear about this kind of thing happening in Iraq and Afghanistan, but not here," Bettencourt remembers saying. "He was like, 'Yeah, tragedies happen like this all the time and it's sad.'" At a party Wednesday night, attended by some of Tsarnaev's soccer friends, he was described as relaxed and normal.

5. FBI questioned Tamerlan in 2011
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said Sunday that from all the information he had, "they acted alone, these two individuals, the brothers." Tamerlan is widely believed to be the driving force behind the plot. Authorities believe Tamerlan had "brainwashed" his younger brother to follow him and "read those magazines that were published on how to create bombs, how to disrupt the general public, and things like that," Menino told ABC's This Week.

SEE MORE: Everything you need to know about the Bitcoin boom

Tamerlan had come up on the FBI's radar screen before, in 2011, the bureau said Friday. Russia had requested that the U.S. question the older Tsarnaev brother, "based on information that he was a follower of radical Islam and a strong believer, and that he had changed drastically since 2010 as he prepared to leave the United States for travel to the country's region to join unspecified underground groups," the FBI said. Federal agents did investigate Tamerlan and question him and family members, but found no "terrorism activity, domestic or foreign," and informed Russia.

Now, the U.S. is asking Russia what exactly it knew in 2011. But lawmakers also have some questions for the FBI. A group of four House Republicans are calling the FBI's handling of Tsarnaev "an intelligence failure," and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said that "the fact that we could not track him has to be fixed." Whether "our laws are insufficient or the F.B.I. failed," Graham said on CNN Sunday, "it's people like this that you don't want to let out of your sight, and this was a mistake."

SEE MORE: The newest dieting craze: Not eating

6. Dzhokhar was finally caught thanks to a restless, brave boat owner
People have been, and will continue arguing about the decision by Boston authorities to essentially lock the city down on Friday, as police searched house-to-house for Dzhokhar. But it's pretty clear that the surviving brother was finally caught only after the police finally told people they could leave their houses.

In what is fast becoming legend, after the lockdown was lifted, George Henneberry?stepped outside for a cigarette and noticed the tarp flapping on the boat in his backyard. Then he saw some blood and called the cops. Here's how The Washington Post describes the final piece in the capture of the younger Tsarnaev:

As soon as authorities lifted the stay-inside order Friday just before dusk, Henneberry stepped out of his Watertown house. Something about his boat seemed off. The plastic cover was flapping in the wind, which made no sense, especially given that Henneberry had tied it down so well that it hadn't moved even through this winter's blizzards.

On inspection, the cover appeared to have been sliced open. Then Henneberry saw the blood. He came closer, pulled himself up a ladder to peer inside and saw more blood ? and a curled-up form. He called 911. Within minutes, he was hurried out of his house, and men in uniforms were firing at the boat and someone was shooting back. [Washington Post]

The swarms of police used a thermal imaging camera on a helicopter and flash-bang grenades to make sure Dzhohkar was responding inside the boat. He was, weakly. After 25 minutes of coaxing through a bullhorn, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev stood up, lifted his shirt to show he wasn't wearing a bomb, and taken into custody. Watch video of his final standoff, including thermal imaging, below:

SEE MORE: Mad Men recap: To have and to hold

Sources: ABC News, The Associated Press, The?Boston Globe, CNN, The New York Times, TIME, The Washington Post (2)

View this article on TheWeek.com Get 4 Free Issues of The Week

Other stories from this section:

Like on Facebook?-?Follow on Twitter?-?Sign-up for Daily Newsletter

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/6-gripping-details-boston-bombing-endgame-072500361.html

deer antler spray Jason London rick ross yahoo finance iOS 6.1 BlackBerry Kwame Harris

6 films and shows that remind you to love Earth

There is no reason not to love Earth. Despite what scientists speculate about Mars or distant "water worlds" discovered by NASA's Kepler probe, this planet is the only game in town if humans want to keep breathing, drinking water and, you know, existing in the near future. But as our entertainment choices frequently point out, we're not always the best caretakers of this big blue marble in space. In honor of Earth Day on Monday here are a few films and television shows that provide food for thought about why we should celebrate our planet every day of the year.

'Terminator 2: Judgment Day'
The opening minutes of 1991's "T2" deliver a jarring scene: Los Angeles in 2029 is nothing but a leveled wasteland of twisted bits of metal and piles of human skulls scattered about. It?s as dark as midnight, dusty, with not a single ray of natural light, not a blade of green grass, not a drop of water, not a tree branch. Earth is nearly devoid of the living, overrun instead by Skynet?s terrifying cyborgs. Kinda makes you appreciate our blue skies, (somewhat) clean air, mountains, rivers, human-run planet and non-murderous machines, doesn?t it? So take a break and get up from your desk. Go outside, suck in some fresh air, bask in the sunshine and be thankful that your TV isn?t a T-1000 intent on crushing your skull in its poly-alloy hands. --?Anna Chan

'Planet of the Apes'
Look, we?re not saying we humans have treated our dear Mother Earth well. But we?re not ready to hand it over to the monkeys yet. Don?t get us wrong: We loved Cornelius and Zira in the original "Planet of the Apes" film series that started in 1968. But the planet wasn?t any better under Ape Law, what with blowing up New York ("YOU MANIACS!") so that the Statue of Liberty was left chest-deep in the sand, and creating a race of mutants who worship the atom bomb. Damn dirty apes! We may not want them ruling our planet, but we puny humans continue to go bananas for ape movies, with the next one, ?Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,? coming in 2014. -- Gael Fashingbauer Cooper?

'Revolution'
The main conceit of "Revolution," for those who haven?t seen the NBC series that first started airing in 2012, is that the power goes out. Not for a night, not for a week, but for always. There?s just no more electricity. In fact, anything that has to remotely be powered up ? cars, planes and the like ? is unable to do so. The net result goes beyond not having a refrigerator, air conditioning and creature comforts. It also means all those digital photos you took of your family are gone forever. Your ability to move from point A to point B? Better hope points A and B are close together. Otherwise your feet will be getting pretty tired. And when everyone?s blaming each other for the sorry state of affairs, leaders are ousted and tempers flare, who can you trust? The show isn?t about saving Earth or being "green." Rather, it illustrates just how thoroughly everything is intertwined on this planet of ours. Take care of it, and be nice to people. -- Courtney Hazlett

'March of the Penguins'
While "March of the Penguins" definitely brought the cute factor, the 2005 documentary also explored some heavy environmental issues. In addition to giving viewers an awe-inspiring glimpse of the natural habitat of the emperor penguins of Antarctica, the Academy Award winning film also showcased the effects that global warming has had on the adorable, noble creatures. Not only is the footage visually stunning, taking viewers under water and across the icy Antarctic terrain, but it taught that animals are much like humans in how they love, interact and live. Plus, who doesn?t like to watch baby penguins run around for 80 minutes? --?Ashley Majeski

'WALL-E'
The title robot in Pixar's animated "WALL-E" is so adorable. With his fixation on movie musicals, it's almost easy to forget that on at least one level, the film is an ecological horror story: WALL-E exists solely to help a garbage-covered (thanks, Buy-n-Large Corp.), human-depopulated Earth clean again so that humans can (in theory) eventually return to live there. The idea that humans can survive the trashing of their own planet is only vaguely comforting. The notion that they've been living in space for hundreds of years and are literally fat lazybones is not precisely a positive comment on human nature. If any movie will inspire you to pick up that piece of trash you absentmindedly tossed aside, it's this one. -- Randee Dawn

'Fringe'
Oxygen is awesome! That is a legit takeaway from the sci-fi thriller, which wrapped up its run early in 2013 and featured antagonists called Observers ?-- created, futuristic humans who pumped carbon dioxide into the atmosphere because current-day Earth's air was too oxygenated for their super-evolved DNA. (They also paved over Central Park -- heresy!) These visitors from the future came from a world saturated with pollution, so be warned: If you want new generations to be able to blow dandelion seeds in the park (instead of struggling for breath in an apocalyptic urban landscape), do what you can to protect our environment. Also, don't create humans without emotions in the first place. -- Dru Moorhouse

Related content:

Source: http://todayentertainment.today.com/_news/2013/04/20/17838859-six-films-and-tv-shows-that-will-make-you-appreciate-earth?lite

mlb trade rumors Misty May And Kerri Walsh Jake Dalton London 2012 field hockey Missy Franklin Hunter Pence NBCOlympics

Self Improvement | How To Double Your Productivity In Only Two ...

By Ashton Aiden -

Do you want to be organized and more productive, but don?t know where to start? It?s no secret that large organizations have whole departments, dedicated to optimizing the efficiency of their processes. Individuals and small businesses all have great ideas, but find it hard to get these ideas through the end. Productivity is the bridge between good ideas and actual success, so you may as well start with yourself! Here is a good technique to get you started.

When you are focused on the important things, you will become more productive and find you are doing a lot more work in a lot less time. And the best part is that instead of feeling tired from the work you have done, you will feel more confident, active and satisfied. So here is a quick and easy suggestion that will reward you with instant benefits.

Organizations waste a surprising amount of time doing unproductive things, which affects their profitability. A well-known business technique for improving efficiency is to conduct a ?time management? study. You can do this for yourself by writing down precisely how you spend your time. Here is my own experience.

I wanted to find out what was the one thing that could most improve my productivity.

I decided to write down how I spent my time. To do this, I used the free ?Calendar? application in Google and for my own convenience I divided each day into three periods ? morning (8:00 to 12:00), afternoon (12:00 to 18:00) and night (18:00 to 00:00).

In the Calendar application each day is divided into thirty minute intervals. For two days I recorded and saved online what I had been doing every thirty minutes.

I expected this to be tedious and confusing, but in fact it did not take much time or effort. Although the days were graduated in thirty minute intervals, that did not mean I stopped work every thirty minutes to write down what I was doing. For example, I worked on one task continuously throughout an afternoon, and afterwards I recorded that it took me two and a half hours. In other words, I was recording my activities to the nearest half hour.

As another example, on Monday morning I had a meeting at 9.00. It lasted three hours, and during that time I had no opportunity to think about anything except the meeting. This meant that for three hours I did not record anything. After the meeting, my first action was to update my calendar.

After two days I reviewed my recorded activities.

The results were unexpected and very interesting.

Remember that until this point I had never thought about where my time went or what I was really doing during the day.

I thought I was spending hours doing various work-related tasks. Instead, I found out that only 40% of my time was actually spent doing those tasks. The other 60% was talking on the phone, checking my email, catching up with friends on Facebook, chatting on Skype, and surfing aimlessly on the Internet.

If someone asks you ?What have you done today??, are you going to say ?Well, I talked on the phone and I checked my email?? Of course not! You would probably say you were working on such-and-such a project, you?d done this and you?d done that, etc, etc. However, if you had kept a calendar, you would have found that your true work activity was only a small part of your day!

Of course, the true work/non-work time balance will be different for each individual. The importance of doing this two day ?time management? study is to make you realize how much of your time is wasted on unproductive activity. You can benefit from this knowledge a lot more than you think!

Benefits

Firstly I understood something in greater depth than before. Namely that you cannot have power over something if you don?t know what it is.

Here is an example of what that last sentence means. If you want to improve your finances, the first thing you should do is find out how you are spending your money. Only when you have this knowledge can you exercise the power to decide whether to buy something or not.

The same thing happens with time management. Once I realized I was spending three hours a day checking my email and two hours a day on Skype and Facebook, it was easy for me to decide not to do these things. That meant I had an extra five hours a day available for doing genuine productive work.

In addition, I discovered another benefit. I realized that my mornings were more productive than my afternoons. By dividing the day into three parts, I realized that most of my non-productive activities were in the afternoon. Therefore, I decided to postpone my Skyping and Facebook time until the evenings after work. Overall, I believe that anyone can do a time management exercise and reach many useful conclusions about themselves.

Actions

After two days of recording my activity and a simple analysis of the results, I made the following minor adjustments:

? I shut down Skype during the day (unless I really needed it for a business call).
? I checked my email once an hour instead of all the time.
? I only read my favorite websites at the very beginning and end of the workday.
? I moved all other activities that were not contributing to my business goals to the evening.

As you can see, I did not stop doing anything I did before. Instead, I either moved those unproductive activities to other times of the day, or I strictly regulated how long they took. As a result, by the third day of keeping my calendar, I had doubled my productive time, while still doing the things I like.

To conclude, the answer is if you don?t open that website, if you don?t go onto Skype, if you stop reading the same emails, if you stop chatting pointlessly with friends or colleagues, then you can focus on being more productive. This can make all the difference between finding time for that new project or idea of yours or not. Your productivity can be the difference between failure or success. Which one do you choose?

Ashton Aiden is a life coach, passionate about helping people reach their goals and experience success in all areas of life. His expertise spreads over a wide range of fields, including manifestation, goal setting, nutrition, power breathing, brainwave entrainment, and more. He is dedicated to sharing his best knowledge and tools on his blog at Brainwavelove.com.

Source: http://theselfimprovementblog.com/self-improvement/featured/how-to-double-your-productivity-in-only-two-days/

gucci mane Chicago sinkhole Panda Express illuminati illuminati ricin Google Fiber

Fall Out Boy's Save Rock And Roll Storyline: We Know What Happens Next!

Pete Wentz says FOB's next videos will feature fire, wild animals ... and Daft Punk?
By James Montgomery

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1706107/fall-out-boy-young-volacanoes.jhtml

how to tie a tie sweet potato recipes the sound of music celebration church new york auto show 2012 tulsa easter eggs

Hagel: Israel and US see 'exactly the same' threat from Iran

On a trip to Israel, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said the US and Israel view the threat from Iran the same way, but differ on the point at which military action would be necessary.

By Robert Burns,?AP National Security Writer / April 21, 2013

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel as he testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Pentagon's budget for fiscal 2014 on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday. Hagel is currently on a trip to Israel, where he outlined the similarities and differences between Israel's and the US's attitudes toward Iran.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Enlarge

US Defense Secretary?Chuck?Hagel?said Sunday the United States and Israel see "exactly the same" threat from Iran, but differ on when it may reach the point of requiring US or Israeli military action.

Skip to next paragraph

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

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

Subscribe Today to the Monitor

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

Hagel?used his first visit to Israel as Pentagon chief to highlight his view that Israel must decide for itself whether and when to pre-emptively attack its neighbor.

"Israel will make the decision that Israel must make to protect itself, to defend itself,"?Hagel?told reporters before arriving here on Sunday to begin a weeklong tour of the Middle East.

Hagel?acknowledged that while Israel and the US share a commitment to ensuring that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon, there "may well be some differences" between the two allies on the question of when Iran's leaders might decide to go for a bomb.

He said there is "no daylight at all" between Israel and the US on the central goal of preventing a nuclear-armed Iran.

But he added, "When you back down into the specifics of the timing of when and if Iran decides to pursue a nuclear weapon, there may well be some differences."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tends to see more urgency, reflecting in part the fact that certain Iranian technological advances toward a nuclear weapon could put the program beyond the ability of the Israeli military to destroy it with airstrikes. US forces have greater reach.

The first thing?Hagel?did upon arrival in Jerusalem was take a guided tour of the Yad Vashem Holocaust history museum, participate in a ceremony at the Hall of Remembrance and write an inscription in the guest book at a memorial for the 1.5 million Jewish children who perished in the Holocaust.

"There is no more poignant, more touching, more effective way to tell the story than this reality, as painful as it is, but it is a reality," he said after completing his visit. "It did happen, and we must prepare our future generations ... for a clear understanding that we must never allow this to happen again."

In an interview on an overnight flight from Washington,?Hagel?repeatedly emphasized Israel's right of self-defense and stressed that military force ? by implication, Israeli or American ? remains an option of last resort.

"In dealing with Iran, every option must be on the table," he said.

Hagel, 66, came under intense fire from Republican critics, prior to his February Senate confirmation hearing, for some of his past statements on Israel. His critics painted him as insufficiently supportive of the Jewish state.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/1Mr2Tl5lh-M/Hagel-Israel-and-US-see-exactly-the-same-threat-from-Iran

anne hathaway Castel Gandolfo Silver Linings Playbook daniel day lewis Life of Pi Christoph Waltz Quvenzhané Wallis

UK lawmakers want review into RBS-Lloyds "bad bank"

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's finance ministry should examine the advantages and disadvantages of breaking up state-backed lenders RBS and Lloyds and hiving off their toxic assets into a "bad bank," senior lawmakers have demanded.

The cross-party Treasury Select Committee, responsible for examining the finance ministry's policies, recommended it deliver a cost-benefit analysis in time for the government's spending review in June.

The report should also look at the impact on competition, it said.

Britain pumped 66 billion pounds ($101 billion) into the banks to keep them afloat during the 2008 financial crisis, taking an 81 percent stake in RBS and a 39 percent shareholding in Lloyds.

The government does not have to adopt recommendations made by the committee but it would be considered unusual for it not to do so.

Officials at Britain's finance ministry could not be reached for comment. RBS and Lloyds declined to comment.

The committee has considered evidence from the outgoing head of Britain's central bank, Mervyn King, who called on the government to break up RBS so the state-backed lender could return to health and be sold to the private sector.

King said RBS needed to split off the bad assets on its books and build up capital at the remaining "good bank" so it can lend more.

However, Finance Minister George Osborne appeared skeptical about the move, expressing concerns over the time it would take and the disruption it would cause when appearing before the committee.

RBS and Lloyds have already undertaken restructuring programs shedding hundreds of billions of pounds worth of assets including the majority of their toxic assets.

RBS has said it hopes to be in a position to allow the government to start selling its shares before the next general election in 2015.

Industry and political sources have said a sale of the government's shares in Lloyds is possible before the election if they hit the 61 pence level which the government regards as its break-even price. They closed at 47.5 pence on Friday. ($1 = 0.6554 British pounds)

(Reporting by Matt Scuffham; editing by Jason Neely)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/uk-lawmakers-want-review-rbs-lloyds-bad-bank-151925797--finance.html

james cameron liam hemsworth miss canada justin bieber boyfriend marianas trench camille grammer camille grammer

FAA approves Boeing 787 battery fix, gives the green light for repairs

There's been a few weeks of silence following the Boeing 787's successful battery testing, but the FAA has finally weighed in on the proposed design tweaks. Today the organization approved Boeing's battery fix, which means the aircraft maker can take the next step in returning the fleet of 50 Dreamliners to the air. The real action will come next week, when the FAA will issue instructions for making changes to the 787s and -- according to an official statement -- "publish in the Federal Register the final directive that will allow the 787 to return to service." Airlines operating the Dreamliner -- including United and ANA -- will be required to install containment and venting systems for the batteries in addition to replacing the batteries with the new, modified components.

Developing...

Filed under: Transportation

Comments

Via: Reuters

Source: FAA

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/19/faa-approves-boeing-787-battery-fix/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

what is autism the giver march 30 rimm pauly d project adrienne rich autism

Tom Cruise In 'Oblivion': The Reviews Are In!

What are critics saying about the 'Mission: Impossible' star's return to sci-fi?
By Kevin P. Sullivan

Tom Cruise in "Oblivion"
Photo: Universal

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1705974/oblivion-movie-reviews.jhtml

brown recluse front door alyssa bustamante protandim weightless ellen degeneres jcpenney yeardley love

Ex-mayor returns Rolex

A former mayor has taken steps to hand over to police investigators, a Rolex watch he allegedly received from the political activist held in connection with the Swiss Stores robbery.

A reliable source told The Gleaner that the former mayor received the watch long ago and is not connected to last week's robbery.

The source says the former mayor became aware of the investigation of the activist and decided to give the watch to police investigators to help with the probe.

The name of the political activist is being withheld.

He is to be questioned on Monday.

Five persons, including the political activist and a Chinese businessman, have been detained in connection with last week's Swiss Stores robbery.

The police said they have recovered 16 of the 23 watches which were stolen from the Swiss Stores in downtown Kingston.

Law-enforcement agents probing the heist of Rolex watches from the Swiss Stores have now turned their eyes to the Cayman Islands, where a similar robbery took place and some of the expensive watches transported to Jamaica.

Source: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130419/lead/lead7.html

andy cohen andy cohen mozambique oosthuizen great expectations jake owen oosthuizen louis

Couple Having Sex on Google Street View: Real or Fake?

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/04/couple-having-sex-on-google-street-view-real-or-fake/

chk ryan seacrest kentucky derby beltane ryan o neal dark knight rises trailer dark knight rises trailer

After court, gay rights spotlight shifts back to Obama

By Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama may have made a slow start on gay rights issues, but by the end of his first term his record was such that a news magazine dubbed him the nation's "first gay president." Now activists want more.

Fresh from historic Supreme Court arguments over same-sex unions, advocates want Obama to use his executive powers to fight discrimination at businesses, schools, and military bases and stop waiting for action from a reluctant Congress.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule in June on big issues: the constitutional right to gay marriage and the right of gay married couples to federal benefits. Both are backed by Obama.

Now gay rights groups are pushing for additional measures they believe are key elements for cementing equality.

First on their wish list is an executive order from Obama barring federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, an act that could have sweeping impact.

"There is more that he can do," said Jon Davidson, legal director at Lambda Legal, a non-profit organization supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. "He has repeatedly said as president that it's people's job to push him to do more and more, so we intend to keep doing that."

So far, the president helped bring an end to the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that prevented gays from serving openly in the military, signed hate crimes legislation into law, and mandated that nearly all U.S. hospitals give visitation rights to partners of LGBT patients.

Last year, in the middle of the presidential election, Obama announced his support for same-sex marriage, concluding an "evolution" of his views that took years.

While Obama's advisers tout his record on the issue, they make clear that an executive order on federal contractors soon is unlikely, arguing that it would carry far less weight than broader congressional action. Legislation called the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) lacks enough votes to become law.

"We want to continue to advocate for legislation. We think that that's the most robust way to accomplish what we want to accomplish," White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett told Reuters in an interview.

"ENDA is a priority. Right now the votes aren't there, but that doesn't mean they won't be," she said.

However, congressional aides say they see little evidence that the White House - already consumed by gun control, immigration reform and budget issues - is pushing to win support for ENDA.

Political support for gay rights is certainly gathering momentum - a point conservative Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts made in the March arguments when he told a lawyer defending same-sex marriage: "Political figures are falling over themselves to endorse your side of the case."

Apart from a few exceptions, however, Republican lawmakers have not been vocal supporters of gay rights. On Friday, the Republican National Committee reaffirmed its commitment to defining marriage as between a man and a woman and called on the Supreme Court to "uphold the sanctity of marriage."

A NEW FOCUS

After lobbying successfully for Obama to weigh in against Proposition 8, a California measure prohibiting same-sex marriage that is now before the Supreme Court, gay rights activists argue executive action is the best way to keep up the momentum.

"Now the priority for our community is definitely continued progress on getting that executive order out of the administration," said Fred Sainz, a spokesman for the gay-rights group Human Rights Campaign.

An order barring discrimination by federal contractors would apply to about 20 percent of the U.S. workforce, according to HRC. It would make it illegal for companies with U.S. government contracts to fire or avoid hiring employees based on sexual orientation and gender identity, just as it now is with race.

Federal action is necessary, activists say, because state laws are inconsistent. They say it is legal to fire someone for being gay in 29 states and for being transgender in 34 states.

Some activists are skeptical that Obama is backing away from executive action because he believes Congress will act. They think he is wary of upsetting the business community by forcing a new regulation on it.

"This Congress is not going to pass ENDA, and they know that," said one activist, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Republican Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois intend to introduce a bill on the issue, according to a Senate aide. However, a similar bill is stalled in committee in the House of Representatives, another aide said.

Obama's advisers believe he has proven his commitment to gay rights is more than lip service, and gay-rights advocates recognize that patience pays off.

Obama's actions, including his administration's decision to weigh in on Proposition 8 and decline to defend the Clinton-era federal Defense of Marriage Act before the Supreme Court, led Newsweek magazine to call him "The First Gay President" in a story on its cover last year.

"He said going in he wanted to do a lot, but I don't think anybody really was sure that he meant it. I put myself in that category, and I admit to being proven wrong," said Richard Socarides, a former senior adviser on gay issues to President Bill Clinton in the late 1990s.

Critics say it took a while to get there. Some Obama backers were frustrated that his "evolution" on gay marriage took so long, and some thought the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" did not get its momentum from the White House.

"He supported it, he signed it, but it's clear that they weren't pushing it," Socarides said.

Now gay rights activists are cautious. Pushing too hard for an executive order would seem ungrateful and could backfire.

POLITICAL PAYOFF

Activists believe Obama could send other signals - for example, by naming an openly gay member to his cabinet.

He could also grant spouses of gay military personnel equal access to commissaries, allow them to live on bases rent free and give them access to legal services such as preparation of wills.

Legislatively, Obama could push for measures to include LGBT students in public school anti-bullying programs.

And, activists say, he could maintain his support for the inclusion of same-sex couples under protections offered by immigration reform efforts making their way through Congress.

Politically, Obama's actions so far have boosted his standing with young voters, and politicians from both parties have noticed, leading to a wave of new, high profile declarations of support in the last few weeks alone.

Exit polls from the 2012 presidential election showed 5 percent of voters considered themselves gay, lesbian or bisexual, and 76 percent of them supported Obama.

Since endorsing gay marriage, Obama underscored the point by referring to it during his Inaugural Address on January 21, tying the push for gay rights to the broader civil-rights movement.

Polls have shown a rapid shift in public opinion on gay rights issues, but Jarrett said that while Obama recognizes his role in shaping public opinion, that was not what drives him.

"This isn't a matter of satisfying a constituency. It's a matter of doing what's right," she said.

(Additional reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Marilyn W. Thompson, Mary Milliken and David Brunnstrom)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/court-gay-rights-spotlight-shifts-back-obama-050508551.html

Missy Franklin Hunter Pence NBCOlympics Danell Leyva Ye Shiwen OJ Murdock Olympics Live