nainagosh: April 2013

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Black Turnout, GOP Denial Both High

Did black turnout exceed white turnout for the first time in history, as the Associated Press reported over the weekend, simply because a black guy was on the ballot? Look, there?s no denying Barack Obama?s presence at the top of the ticket made a substantial difference. But Obama wasn?t the only factor driving this, and I invite conservatives to deceive themselves into thinking that this is the case. Because for all this talk about a ?new? GOP out to steal minorities? hearts, the (usually white) people doing the talking seem to forget that today?s Republican Party is doing more to stop black people from voting than George Wallace ever did.

First, let?s look over the AP findings. It?s pretty amusing, really, because this is one of those cases where the interpretation and implied lesson depends wholly on who?s writing it up. At HuffPo, the headline read ?Black Voter Turnout Rate Passes Whites in 2012 Election,? which is pretty neutral and straightforward, but if anything I suppose is designed to make your average HuffPo reader think: good.

Calif. cops describe intruder suspected of fatally stabbing 9-year-old

By Daniel Arkin, Staff Writer, NBC News

Police in the Northern California town of Valley Springs on Sunday released information about the man they suspect fatally stabbed a 9-year-old girl at her home over the weekend.

The Calaveras County Sheriff?s office in a statement described the intruder as a ?muscular? white or Hispanic male approximately six feet tall.

Authorities warned residents in the area to lock their doors as the suspect is considered armed and dangerous.

The victim?s 12-year-old brother reportedly encountered an intruder in his home and witnessed the man flee the residence. The boy then checked on his sister and found she had been stabbed, according to NBC?s Sacramento affiliate KCRA.

The girl was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

The Sheriff?s office has declined to disclose details of the murder, but they plan to release more information Sunday afternoon.

Sheriff?s investigators are scouring Valley Springs and interviewing several people of interest, according to the police statement.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2b4698dc/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A40C280C1795740A20Ecalif0Ecops0Edescribe0Eintruder0Esuspected0Eof0Efatally0Estabbing0E90Eyear0Eold0Dlite/story01.htm

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Friday, April 26, 2013

Israel shoots down suspected Hezbollah drone

An unidentified reconnaissance drone was shot down off the coast of northern Israel Thursday in what Israeli officials said was a provocation by Lebanon?s militant group Hezbollah.

There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah. A source in the United Nations peacekeeping force in south Lebanon said that an initial assessment indicated no drone had been detected on their radars. The rare drone flight comes amid a significant increase in Israel?s aerial violations of Lebanese airspace since the beginning of the year, with up to 34 jets flying in Lebanese skies in one day alone in January.

Hezbollah has sent drones over Israel in the past, linking their use to Israeli violations of Lebanon's airspace.

RECOMMENDED: Hezbollah 101: Who is the militant group, and what does it want?

The Israeli military said it detected the pilotless drone in the early afternoon heading toward the northern port city of Haifa, 25 miles south of the border with Lebanon. Israeli air force jets were dispatched to the area and the drone was shot down some five miles off the coast.

Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, the Israeli army spokesman, said that the drone had been tracked for several minutes as it passed through Lebanese territory before it was determined to be ?hostile.?

?The drone was at 6,000 feet when it blew up and it was not immediately clear whether the drone was armed or not,? he said.

A helicopter carrying Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, to a ceremony in northern Israel was forced to land briefly while the drone was shot down.

?I see this attempt to breach our borders as extremely grave,? Prime Minister Netanyahu said. ?We will continue to do whatever we must to protect the security of Israel?s citizens.?

Israeli military officials were initially cautious over allegations of who operated the drone. But Danny Danon, the deputy defence minister, squarely blamed Hezbollah.

?We?re talking about another attempt by Hezbollah to send an unmanned drone into Israeli territory,? he told Israeli army radio, describing it as ?another attempt to destabilize the Middle East.?

He added, ?We are ready to act as necessary. They know not to provoke us.?

Hezbollah has flown Iran-manufactured drones in Israeli airspace on seven separate occasions since November 2004, three of them during the month-long war with Israel in July 2006.

The last overflight was in October 2012 when Hezbollah flew a drone above southern Israel before it was shot down by an Israeli jet over the Negev desert. On that occasion, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah?s leader, admitted his organization sent the drone.

?It was not the first time and it will not be the last. We can reach all the zones of Israel,? he said.

Nasrallah also used the occasion to note that in the six years between the end of the 2006 war and the drone flight over the Negev desert, Lebanon?s airspace had been violated 20,468 times by Israeli jets and drones.

The United Nations has repeatedly described Israel's overflights in Lebanese airspace as ?provocative" and demanded a halt to the practice. A recent UN report recorded that Israel staged 34 air violations in one day alone in January. The report added that on November 28, 2012, six Israeli attack helicopters flew at low altitude in Lebanese airspace off the southern port city of Tyre.

Since the beginning of this year, there has been a significant escalation in Israeli aerial violations. Twin white contrails marking the passage of Israeli jets are a regular sight in the blue skies above Lebanon. Hours before the drone was intercepted off the Israeli coast, the rumble of Israeli jets flying above Beirut was clearly audible.

Israel says the reconnaissance flights are necessary to monitor Hezbollah?s activities in Lebanon. Additionally, Israel is concerned that advanced air defense systems or even chemical weapons could be delivered to Hezbollah from Syria.

On Jan. 31, Israel staged an unprecedented air strike against a suspected arms convoy outside Damascus that reportedly was carrying SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles for delivery to Hezbollah.

RECOMMENDED: Hezbollah 101: Who is the militant group, and what does it want?

NBC gives full-season renewals to 5 of its dramas

NEW YORK (AP) ? Television producer Dick Wolf will be busy next season.

NBC said Friday that it has renewed five of its dramas for next season. Two of them ? the long-running "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and "Chicago Fire" ? are made by Wolf and his team.

"Revolution," ''Parenthood" and "Grimm" were also given the guarantee that they will go on for another year. Each was given a full-season order of 22 new episodes.

It's less than a month before broadcast networks reveal next season's schedule to advertisers. NBC's announcement gives makers of these series some extra time to map out the stories going forward and to write scripts.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nbc-gives-full-season-renewals-5-dramas-194101192.html

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Controversially, Physicist Argues Time Is Real

NEW YORK ? Is time real, or the ultimate illusion?

Most physicists would say the latter, but Lee Smolin challenges this orthodoxy in his new book, "Time Reborn" (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, April 2013), which he discussed here Wednesday (April 24) at the Rubin Museum of Art.

In a conversation with Duke University neuroscientist Warren Meck, theoretical physicist Smolin, who's based at Canada's Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, argued for the controversial idea that time is real. "Time is paramount," he said, "and the experience we all have of reality being in the present moment is not an illusion, but the deepest clue we have to the fundamental nature of reality." [Album: The World's?Most Beautiful Equations]

Smolin said he hadn't come to this concept lightly. He started out thinking, as most physicists do, that time is subjective and illusory. According to Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity, time is just another dimension in space, traversable in either direction, and our human perception of moments passing steadily and sequentially is all in our heads.

Over time, though, Smolin became convinced not only that time was real, but that this notion could be the key to understanding the laws of nature.

"If laws are outside of time, then they're inexplicable," he said. "If law just simply is, there's no explanation. If we want to understand law ? then law must evolve, law must change, law must be subject to time. Law then emerges from time and is subject to time rather than the reverse."

Smolin admitted there are objections to this idea, especially what he calls "the meta-law dilemma:" If physical laws are subject to time, and evolve over time, then there must be some larger law that guides their evolution. But wouldn't this law, then, have to be beyond time, to determine how the other laws change with time? Other physicists have cited this objection in reaction to Smolin's work.

"The problem I see with the argument for laws that evolve in time is one that you yourself identify in the book: what you call the 'meta-laws dilemma,'" Columbia University physicist Peter Woit wrote on his blog Not Even Wrong. "You speculate a bit in the book on ways to resolve this, but I don't see a convincing answer to the criticism that whatever explanation you come up with for what determines how laws evolve, I?m free to characterize that as just another law."

Smolin admitted this is currently a sticking point, but maintained that there are possible solutions.

"I believe you can resolve the meta-law dilemma," Smolin said at the Rubin event. "I think the direction of 21st-century cosmology will depend on the right way to resolve the meta-law dilemma."

Smolin and Meck discussed the consequences of his idea, including what it means for our understanding of human consciousness and free will. One implication of the idea that time is an illusion is the notion that the future is just as decided as the past.

"If I think the future's already written, then the things that are most valuable about being human are illusions along with time," Smolin said. "We still aspire to make choices in life. That is a precious part of our humanity. If the real metaphysical picture is that there are just atoms moving in the void, then nothing is ever new and nothing's ever surprising ? it's just the rearrangement of atoms. There's a loss of responsibility as well as a loss of human dignity."

Follow Clara Moskowitz on Twitter?and Google+. Follow us?@livescience,?Facebook?&?Google+. Original article on?LiveScience.com.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/controversially-physicist-argues-time-real-161310790.html

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Has Real Estate Sales Activity Peaked? | Lance Roberts ...

Over the last month I have been discussing the deterioration in the economic data (see here, here and here). However, the one bright spot, economically speaking, has been real estate. However, that "bright spot" has come with many caveats since much of the recovery in real estate has been through "cash only" purchases of distressed homes, hedge funds buying large quantities of homes to turn them into rentals and multifamily units making up a large portion of the new construction. The recovery in housing, to this point, has not been in question - but the sustainability of that recovery is of real concern given the weakness in employment and the economic environment in general.

The latest data from on existing and new home sales show that the recovery in housing may be in the early stages of sputtering. David Rosenberg, in his latest missive, confirmed this view:

The 14% slide in the S&P 500 Homebuilding index from the March cycle highs may be telling us not to hold our breath over a near-term turnaround...And the housing indicators are part of a bigger picture of a sharp slowing in the pace of overall economic activity. Consider that three months ago 65% of the incoming economic data were coming in better than consensus views. And in the past month, the share of economic data surprising the consensus to the high side has fallen to a mere 36%.
Household employment (-206k in March, the steepest decline in well over a year)
Real retail sales (-0.3 in March, down for the second time in three months)
Manufacturing production (-0.1% and also down in two of the past three months)
Core capex orders (-3.2% in February, and again, down in two of the past three months)
Single-family housing starts (-4.8% in March and negative for two of the past three months as well)
New home sales (-4.6 in February)
Philly Fed for April down to 1.3 from 2.0
NY Fed Empire manufacturing index down to 3.05 from 9.24
NAHB Housing Market index down to a six-month low of 42 in April from 44
Conference Board consumer confidence index down to 59.7 in March from 68.
University of Michigan consumer sentiment down to 72.3 for April from 78.6 - the lowest in over a year.
Conference Board leading indicators down 0.1% in March, first decline in 7 months.

The importance of housing on the overall economy is still very small comprising just a tad more than 2.5% of overall GDP. This is as compared to durable goods or exports which, as a percentage of GDP, are vastly more important. This is one reason why, despite the continual headlines of a housing boom and recovery, that economic growth has failed to gain any substantial traction.

GDP-Residential-Exports-Precent-042313

The latest data on existing and new home sales shows that we are likely getting close to the peak of the bounce from the bottom in housing activity seen in 2010. It is important to remember, as we have discussed previously, that there are only a certain number of individuals that, at any given time, are actively seeking to "buy" or "sell" a home in the market. Furthermore, individuals buy "payments," not "houses," so artificially suppressed interest rates are only have of the payment equation. When home prices increase to levels that begin to price buyers out of the market - activity will slow.

Finally, since many of the homes that have been purchased to date were for conversions to rental properties, when "price-to-rent" ratios reach levels of low profitability - the demand for such activity will decrease. We are likely witnessing the beginning of that slowdown.

The chart below shows the Total Real Estate Sales Activity Index (TRESAI) which is a composite of the seasonally adjusted new and existing home sales data.

Housing-TotalActivityIndex-042313

It is actually quite amazing, despite the variety of government programs, ultra-low interest rates, and financial bailouts and supports implemented so far, that the recovery has been as weak as it has been. I would suggest that, as opposed to the mainstream economists, and analysts, who have been tripping over themselves to report the resurgence of the housing market, that the results have actually been very disappointing.

Another important sign that we may be close to a near term peak in activity is the NAHB Homebuilder Sentiment Index which has recently rolled over. Homebuilder sentiment has gotten well ahead of actual underlying activity (as shown by the Total Housing Activity Index) and we may see a slowdown in activity as sentiment reverses to catch up with actual underlying market activity.

NAHB-Index-vs-Housing-042313

While homebuilders will build excess inventory in anticipation of future sales - they have not entirely forgotten the pain they suffered in 2008. Therefore, it is unlikely that they will willingly push speculative building too far from fear of another reversion in activity. Excess inventory of homes that must be liquidated at "fire sale" prices is what crushed homebuilders previously and many have not fully recovered since.

The reality is that housing has experienced a much expected recovery from extremely oversold conditions. However, we are likely approaching an end to that bounce as the economy continues to exhibit more signs of softening in the near term. The underlying details of the housing market, in general, are not healthy. The bulk of the activity is in the creation of rental units which is a sign that the employment, wage growth and buyer confidence remains weak.

In the longer term these things are likely to improve. However, improvement is one thing; but a return of housing activity to levels where it becomes a major driving force of economic growth in the future will likely be a disappointing dream for some time to come. The excesses of what was arguably the largest housing bubble and bust in the history of the world, except for that yet to come in China, will take much more time to clear the system.? Eventually that will occur. However, the future of housing is likely to look far different that what was seen during the previous boom and will likely be far less than optimists are hoping for.

Source: Street Talk Live

Source: http://www.financialsense.com/contributors/lance-roberts/has-real-estate-sales-activity-peaked

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Thursday, April 25, 2013

White House says it's open to fix on FAA furloughs

FILE - This April 22, 2013 file photo shows travelers standing in line at the LAX International Airport in Los Angeles. Under pressure, the White House signaled Wednesday it might accept legislation eliminating Federal Aviation Administration furloughs blamed for lengthy flight delays for airline passengers, while leaving the rest of $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts in place. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) chief Michael Huerta testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 24, 2013, before the House Appropriations subcommittee on Transportation hearing on flight delays that are being caused by the FAA's decision to furlough air traffic controllers because of mandatory budget cuts. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Under growing pressure, the Obama administration signaled Wednesday it might accept legislation eliminating Federal Aviation Administration furloughs blamed for lengthy delays affecting airline passengers, while leaving the rest of $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts in place.

The disclosure came as sentiment grew among Senate Democrats as well as Republicans for legislation to ease the impact of the cuts on the FAA, and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood held talks with key senators.

"I think there was a meeting of the minds" on steps to remedy the situation, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said after the meeting. He said he hoped for a resolution before the Senate begins a scheduled weeklong vacation at week's end.

Said LaHood, "There are too many delays and common ordinary citizens are being affected."

According to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, which is privy to FAA data, there were 5,800 flight delays across the country for the three-day period beginning Sunday, when the furloughs took effect. Some were caused by weather. The union said that compares with 2,500 delays for the same period a year ago.

At the White House, press secretary Jay Carney said that if Congress "wants to address specifically the problems caused by the sequester with the FAA, we would be open to looking at that.

"But that would be a Band-Aid measure," he added. "And it would not deal with the many other negative effects of the sequester, the kids kicked off of Head Start, the seniors who aren't getting Meals on Wheels, and the up to three-quarter of a million of Americans who will lose their jobs or will not have jobs created for them."

Officials estimate the FAA furloughs will save slightly more than $200 million through Sept. 30, a small fraction of the $85 billion in overall reductions that stem from across-the-board cuts, officially known as a sequester, that took effect in March.

Neither Rockefeller nor LaHood disclosed the terms of possible legislation.

Other senators in recent days have proposed giving the FAA flexibility in the rules governing its spending. Under a different suggestion, funds would be shifted from a federal grant program for airport improvements into the account that pays for air traffic controller salaries.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and the other top Democrats have consistently expressed opposition to piecemeal legislation aimed at easing the impact of the spending cuts, a position that congressional officials say reflected the administration's position.

But support for that view among Senate Democrats has eroded in recent days as airlines reported thousands of flight delays and industry executives pressed for a restoration of full funding for air traffic controllers.

"I think it's better to do a big deal, but as we work toward that big deal we have to admit that there are some things that are very problematic," said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat who helped write legislation to give the FAA flexibility to switch money between accounts and permit full staffing by controllers.

At least three other Democrats support the measure, which Klobuchar co-sponsored with Republican Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota and several other GOP lawmakers. "This is a very simple bipartisan bill that fixes the problem," Hoeven said, adding he had informed the White House of his plans.

Rockefeller, who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, was joined at the meeting by Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the panel's senior Republican, as well as LaHood and Michael Huerta, the FAA administrator.

Referring to the lawmakers, LaHood said he and Huerta "offered our apologies to them for the fact that we had not kept them informed about all of the things that we had been discussing. We talked about some fixes and we'll see where it takes us."

Echoing Carney's remarks, he also said he had told Rockefeller and Thune "if there were a fix, the White House would consider it."

It was not clear whether supporters of the legislation or of similar proposals could gain a vote in the Senate before Congress begins its vacation, and if so, what the prospects might be in the House.

Nor was it clear whether any FAA-related measure might include a provision to keep open smaller towers that the agency says might be closed as a result of the spending cuts, a provision that numerous lawmakers in both parties favor.

Democrats said it was unlikely any FAA bill would be expanded to offset the impact of the cuts on Head Start or other programs that draw more support from Democrats than Republicans.

Apart from the inconvenience caused by delays, some lawmakers have criticized Huerta, saying they were blindsided by the flight delays. Republicans have been particularly vocal.

Huerta got a public tongue-lashing during the day when he appeared before the House Appropriations Committee.

"You didn't forewarn us this was coming. You didn't ask advice about how we should handle it. This imperial attitude on the part of this administration ? you are the latest example of it ? is disgusting," Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., said.

Huerta said LaHood had warned at a news conference in February that the furloughs were coming and could create flight delays of up to 90 minutes.

He also said he had testified about them at a hearing before a different committee earlier over the winter.

"It's fair to say the thing that captured the media's attention was the" threatened closure of small towers, he added. "The furlough problem didn't sink in with Congress and the public until recently."

___

Associated Press writer Joan Lowy contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-04-24-Obama-FAA/id-6434e7c0d9c64b9b8d3d84fb3c0f5c44

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Eifert As Draft's Top Tight End Would Be Slam Dunk Insurance

Name: Tyler Eifert

Position: Tight End

College: Notre Dame

Height/Weight: 6-5/250

Age: 22 (born Sept. 8, 1990)

Honors: Eifert became the first Notre Dame tight end to win the Mackey Award in December 2012, after he finished the regular season with 44 catches for 621 yards and four touchdowns. He was one of the only components of the Notre Dame offense who produced against Alabama in the BCS Championship Game, as he hauled in six passes for 61 yards. Eifert was also named a second-team All-American.

Key Stat: The game tape shows Eifert to be another Jason Witten, Jimmy Graham, Rob Gronkowski-type of matchup nightmare as a receiving tight end. His size and speed give him the ability to line up at both tight end or as a possibility out wide on occasion, which is becoming more and more common. Blocking isn?t Eifert?s strongest suit at this point, but his 6-5, 250-pound frame allows for plenty of improvement in that category.

Where He?s Headed: He?s a first round lock as the consensus best tight end in this draft. Where he goes is a matter of opinion, but it?ll probably be somewhere between No.10 and No. 20.

How He Helps the Cowboys: Obviously the Cowboys have an all-time great in Witten, and backup James Hanna showed some spark to close out 2012. Eifert is a two-for-one prospect, though, as he could help out the Cowboys? blocking efforts as well as the passing game.

Scout?s Take: Can adjust to the ball behind him. ? Is an on-the-move, point-of-attack blocker. ? Not much pop. ? Can line up at WR. ? Fights his way up field. ? Doesn?t have many moves. ? Not much initial quickness. ? Tries to stay after blocks on edge. ? Doubled in red zone. ? Looks for the ball on the HOT. ? Better route-runner in the red zone. ? Lunges as a pass blocker. ? Missed man off the edge. ? Off balance. ? Better with release when in line. ? Not great on backside cut-off. ? Good adjust in traffic. ? Protects the ball from the defender. ? Drives off the ball to hook inside. ? Used as a wham blocker inside, but not one of his strengths. ? Shield and wall-off type of blocker. ? Will body catch the ball some, but have seen him snatch it as well. ? Will extend for it. ? Will go after the ball along the sideline. ? Outstanding awareness of where he is on the field. ? Had a fumble in Alabama game when ball got stripped in the flat, but was called down. ? Tries to get push on down block. ? Will need to develop strength for better sustain. ? Can push off to gain separation. ? Works to get open. ? Can be a real problem for defenses to have to deal with because of his size and his ability to go get the ball. ? Remember that Jason Witten was not a great blocker coming out of Tennessee, but worked at it throughout his career. ? Clearly the best tight end in the draft for the number of things he could do offensively. ? Bryan Broaddus

Source: http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/article-DavidHelman/Eifert-As-Drafts-Top-Tight-End-Would-Be-Slam-Dunk-Insurance/4f1ab6d1-998c-4c77-856c-daef0de3e086

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House honors ?four little girls? killed in Birmingham church bombing (Washington Post)

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Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/04/best-of-celebrity-tweets-music-video-style/

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Palestinian Christians battle Israel barrier route

BEIT JALA, West Bank (AP) ? Palestinians in this Christian village are hoping the new pope can succeed where others have failed ? pressing Israel to drop plans to build a stretch of its West Bank separation barrier through their picturesque valley.

Since Vatican properties are affected, residents have appealed to the Roman Catholic Church to use more of its significant influence in the Holy Land to reroute the barrier, even as local Catholic leaders hold a special protest Mass in threatened orchards each week.

The Vatican has called on Israel not to seize the lands, but local Palestinian Catholics want the new pontiff to lean more heavily on Israel.

"We have hope in the new pope, as he is close to the poor and the oppressed," said the Rev. Ibrahim Shomali, the Palestinian priest who has been leading the protests.

Israel has been building the barrier since 2002 in response to a wave of suicide bombings early last decade that killed hundreds of people. Israel says the barrier is needed to keep out Palestinian attackers.

Palestinians say the barrier is a land grab because it zigzags through the West Bank. When complete, nearly 10 percent of the West Bank, including many Israeli settlements, would lie on Israel's side, according to the United Nations. Roughly two-thirds of the 700 kilometer (450-mile) structure has been built.

Beit Jala is a postcard-pretty Christian town of 16,000 in the overwhelmingly Muslim West Bank. The likeness of the Palestinian patron, Saint George, is carved into building facades. Groceries sell beer and butchers sell pork, items banned under Islamic law. A bowling alley faces an Israeli military base.

Yet the village feels hemmed in. It abuts the biblical town of Bethlehem on one side. On another, barbed wire separates Beit Jala from the Jewish settlement of Har Gilo. Part of the separation barrier seals in another side, protecting a nearby road used by Jewish settlers. Residents say the planned stretch of construction will close off one of the village's last remaining open spaces.

"They are crowding us inside a ghetto," sighed Issa Khalilieh, whose family lost 12 acres (five hectares) in years of Israeli confiscations, and is poised to lose another three acres (one hectare) to the barrier.

An Israeli defense official said Jerusalem would remain "open and vulnerable" if the section isn't built. He noted that during the height of violence a decade ago, militants fired at nearby Gilo from Beit Jala. Although the fighting has quieted, he said Palestinians now use the valley to sneak into Israel to work. The official spoke anonymously under ministry policy.

In the Beit Jala area, Israel's Defense Ministry plans to seize some 790 acres (320 hectares) of the Cremisan Valley, said lawyer Ghaith Nasser. Israel's Defense Ministry would not confirm how much land they intend to seize.

Some one-third of the land is Vatican-owned, with a monastery surrounded by pines, playground and vineyard that monks have used to make wine since 1882. Nearby is a convent where nuns run a school for 600 Palestinian students. Some 60 families own the rest, a series of terraced olive and apricot orchards plunging into the valley. Residents go there to relax, barbecue and pray.

If the route goes as planned, the monastery and orchards will be on Israel's side of the barrier. The convent and school will be on the Palestinian side, surrounded by high concrete walls, lawyers said.

Since January 2012, about two dozen people have gathered in the groves every Friday to pray to save their lands. George Abu Eid, whose family's five acres (two hectares) of olive and lemon orchards are threatened, said activists hope to build international support.

On a recent windy Friday, some two dozen worshippers gathered in a circle around Rev. Shomali, who used a cloth-covered table as a makeshift altar, held down with a crucifix. Palestinians and European Christian volunteers sang hymns. One woman read part of a Bible passage. Rev. Shomali reminded the congregation that Christians are obligated to help the oppressed.

Rev. Shomali's protest Mass isn't sanctioned by the church. Instead, he said he was making an honest Christian act of standing with people defending their land. He said the village plans to send a delegation to the Vatican to plead their case.

Residents have been challenging the project in court for years, and construction remains on hold pending a ruling. A Catholic legal aid group is assisting the court battle, and the Latin Patriarchate, which oversees local Catholic affairs, said it sympathizes with the residents. The Vatican signed an October letter that condemned the barrier's route and called on Israel to keep the Cremisan valley attached to Beit Jala.

Rev. Shomali and residents said the letter wasn't enough. They want the Vatican to either join their legal case or publically condemn Israel.

"If the church stands with us, we would have our land. Israel is scared of the church and her voice," said Rev. Shomali.

Yigal Palmor, spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry, said the government is in "direct dialogue" with the Vatican and affected monks and nuns in the area to try come to an amicable decision.

"We have been trying to make our case and reach an agreement on what would be possible," he said.

A senior church official confirmed discussions were underway with Israel. He spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to brief reporters.

The Palestinians seek all of the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, as parts of a future state.

For years, they have staged marches in villages affected by the barrier, sometimes succeeding in altering the route of the barrier. An Israeli-Palestinian documentary on the fight of residents in the village of Bilin to reroute the barrier was nominated for an Oscar this year.

The route of the barrier has drawn accusations that Israel is using the structure to incorporate some Jewish settlements, how home to more than 500,000 Israelis, into its future borders.

"The barrier has a route that ... is clearly not defined by what Israel calls security reasons," said Aviv Tatarsky of Ir Amim, an advocacy group that monitors the route of the barrier around Jerusalem. "The planned route goes way into the West Bank to put the settlement blocs within its area."

Israeli governments have said that they intend to keep the main settlement blocs close to the old 1949 cease-fire line along the West Bank under a peace treaty, offering the Palestinians Israeli land in exchange, but negotiations have failed to produce an agreement.

___

Follow Hadid on twitter.com/diaahadid

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/palestinian-christians-battle-israel-barrier-route-185408315.html

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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

'Red line': Reports say Syria uses chemical weapons

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Syrian government forces have used chemical weapons - probably nerve gas - in their fight against rebels waging a two-year-old uprising, the Israeli military's top intelligence analyst said on Tuesday.

Brigadier-General Itai Brun told a security conference photos of victims showing foam coming out of their mouths and contracted pupils were signs deadly gas had been used.

"To the best of our understanding, there was use of lethal chemical weapons. Which chemical weapons? Probably Sarin," Brigadier-General Itai Brun said in remarks broadcast on Army Radio.

In a transcript of Brun's speech provided by the Israeli military, he said forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad were behind the attacks on "armed (rebels) on a number of occasions in the past few months".

The Syrian government and rebels last month accused each other of launching a chemical attack near the northern city of Aleppo.

On Monday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who is visiting Israel, said U.S. intelligence agencies were still assessing whether chemical weapons may have been used in Syria's civil war.

"We, the United States, along with Israel have options for all contingencies and certainly the Syrian government's use of chemical weapons would be a game changer in crossing that red line," Hagel said.

(Reporting by Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-general-says-syria-government-forces-used-chemical-074330220.html

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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

A New Solution That Stops Snoring and Lets You Sleep - TPF ...

If you?re like most Americans you probably don?t get eight hours sleep each night.

But, if you also constantly feel exhausted, experience headaches for no obvious reason or have high blood pressure, you could have a more serious problem.

That?s because these can all be the result of snoring?which is, in turn, the most common symptom of a potentially serious health problem?obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

While most people think of snoring as a minor annoyance, research shows it can be hazardous to your health.? That?s because for over 18 million Americans it?s related to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). People who suffer from OSA repeatedly and unknowingly stop breathing during the night due to a complete or partial obstruction of their airway.? It occurs when the jaw, throat, and tongue muscles relax, blocking the airway used to breathe.? The resulting lack of oxygen can last for a minute or longer, and occur hundreds of times each night. ?

Thankfully, most people wake when a complete or partial obstruction occurs, but it can leave you feeling completely exhausted.? OSA has also been linked to a host of health problems including:

Acid reflux
Frequent nighttime urination
Memory loss
Stroke
Depression
Diabetes
Heart attack

People over 35 are at higher risk.

OSA can be expensive to diagnosis and treat, and is not always covered by insurance. ?A sleep clinic will require an overnight visit (up to $5,000).? Doctors then analyze the data and prescribe one of several treatments.? These may require you to wear uncomfortable CPAP devices that force air through your nose and mouth while you sleep to keep your airways open, and may even include painful surgery.

Fortunately, there is now a?comfortable, far less costly and invasive treatment option available. ?A recent case study published by Eastern Virginia Medical School's Division of Sleep Medicine in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine concludes that wearing a simple chinstrap while you sleep can be an effective treatment for OSA.

The chin strap, which is now available from a company called MySnoringSolution, works by supporting the lower jaw and tongue, preventing obstruction of the airway.? It?s made from a high-tech, lightweight, and super-comfortable material.? Thousands of people have used the MySnoringSolution chinstrap to help relieve their snoring symptoms, and they report better sleeping, and better health overall because of it.

Reference:

http://www.howlifeworks.com/Article.aspx?Cat_URL=health_beauty&AG_URL=A_New_Solution_That_Stops_Snoring_and_Lets_You_Sleep_284&AG_ID=1138&cid=7065xm2_1302000266&aid=1137859

Source: http://tpf.trupowerfitness.org/2013/04/22/a-new-solution-that-stops-snoring-and-lets-you-sleep.aspx?ref=rss

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Monday, April 22, 2013

Netflix's Updated iOS App Comes With a Shiny, New Intuitive Design

While it may not be quite the total overhaul some were hoping for, Netflix has just released a not-quite-major but definitely more convenient update to its iOS app. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/2ktGUZw8wpM/netflixs-updated-ios-app-comes-with-a-shiny-new-intuitive-design

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Netgear 802.11ac update adds beamforming, delivers up to 60 percent faster WiFi

Although Netgear was one of the quickest out of the gates with 802.11ac WiFi hardware, that doesn't mean its hardware is the quickest today: without beamforming to optimize the signal, it risks trailing behind newcomers who've had more time to prepare. Starting with the R6300 router and A6200 USB adapter, the company will soon catch up through a firmware update that rolls in support for the beamforming standard. The upgrade targets wireless signals at devices' specific locations, offering a big speed boost at shorter distances -- Netgear estimates up to a 60 percent improvement at a 50-foot range. R6300 and A6200 owners can swing past the source links today for their tune-up, while those using Netgear's other 802.11ac devices should expect brisker speeds around the early summer.

Filed under: Peripherals, Networking

Comments

Source: Netgear (1), (2), (3)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/22/netgear-802-11ac-device-update-adds-beamforming/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Sunday, April 21, 2013

Kardashian-Humphries divorce settlement approved

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? The marriage of Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries, which began with a storybook wedding, ended Friday in a grim courtroom with a judge approving a divorce settlement after a protracted legal battle between the former couple.

"I think this is a reasonable way to resolve this case," said Superior Court Judge Hank Goldberg, who did not disclose terms of the settlement.

Humphries sent his lawyer but did not appear in court. Kardashian, who is pregnant with a child by her boyfriend Kanye West, appeared in a black silk puffy sleeveless maternity dress embellished with sequins on the skirt.

"Ms. Kardashian, is this your signature?" the judge asked her as he perused a three-page settlement agreement.

"Yes," she replied. She continued to answer yes when asked if she had discussed the matter with her attorney and understood that there would be no trial.

"During your marriage did irreconcilable differences occur?" the judge asked.

"Yes," said Kardashian.

"Is there any way your marriage can be saved?" he asked.

"No," said Kardashian.

She married the NBA player in a high-profile wedding in August 2011. She filed for divorce later that year.

He sought an annulment claiming their marriage in an elaborate wedding ceremony was a fraud staged for her reality show, "Keeping Up With the Kardashians."

She denied the allegations and insisted on a traditional divorce. She apparently won.

"The court is going to grant dissolution of marriage," the judge said, advising that the divorce would not be final until papers are drawn up and signed.

Humphries did not attend the brief hearing. His lawyer, Benjamin Johnson, said he agreed to the settlement. The judge dropped an order for the Brooklyn Nets power forward to appear and explain why he failed to attend a previous hearing.

Kardashian was hustled into court by sheriff's deputies through a back entrance and no photos were allowed.

The judge congratulated Johnson and Kardashian's attorney, Laura Wasser, for achieving the settlement.

"I wish both parties the best of luck as they move forward with their lives," he said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kardashian-humphries-divorce-settlement-approved-161522373.html

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G-20 countries pledge stronger efforts

WASHINGTON (AP) ? World finance leaders are pledging to pursue further actions to bolster a disappointingly weak global recovery. They also reaffirmed their commitment to avoid using their currencies as an economic weapon to gain unfair advantage in foreign trade.

Finance ministers and central bank presidents from the leading rich and developing nations, or Group of 20, wrapped up two days of talks Friday with a joint statement that said they had managed to avoid some of the biggest economic threats, but growth was still too weak in many countries and unemployment too high.

The joint statement revealed no major new policy initiatives but did urge the United States and some other countries to emphasize efforts to jump-start growth even if that meant less emphasis on deficit reduction in the near term.

"Further actions are required to make growth strong, sustainable and balanced," the G-20 said in their joint statement.

The United States was represented at the talks by Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, who was attending his first G-20 meeting since taking office in late February, and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. The discussions were led by Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov whose country is leading the G-20 this year.

The G-20 joint statement singled out the recent aggressive credit-easing moves pushed by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, saying they were intended to stop prolonged deflation and support domestic demand.

Those comments were viewed as giving a green-light to Japan's program, which has driven the value of the yen down by more than 20 percent against the dollar since October. That sizable decline has raised concerns among U.S. manufacturing firms that Japan's real goal is not to fight deflation, a destabilizing period of falling prices, but to weaken the yen as a way to gaining trade advantages.

To address those concerns, the G-20 did repeat language it used in February that all countries should not use their currency as a trade weapon and guard against policies that could trigger currency wars.

Japanese officials told reporters following the discussions that they were pleased by the support the G-20 had given them to pursue growth policies in an effort to lift the world's third largest economy out of its two-decade slump.

Haruhiko Kuroda, head of the Bank of Japan, said that Japan would continue with its monetary easing policies which he said were aimed at stimulating domestic growth and fighting deflation and not an effort to gain trade advantages.

"There has been international understanding and acceptance of this so we can have further confidence to appropriately conduct monetary policy," he told reporters at a briefing after the G-20 talks ended.

Siluanov told reporters at a news conference that the group did not spend as much time discussing currency issues as they had in February.

The United States had sought to get a strong endorsement of the need to emphasize growth, given the weakness of the global economy, rather than trying to achieve quick progress on cutting deficits.

However, other nations, led by Germany, have resisted a move away from austerity programs, saying it is critical to keep making progress in getting government deficits under control.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble apologized to a Washington audience for being late for a speech after the G-20 discussions, saying, "on reduction of indebtedness ... we have a little bit of differences of opinion all over the world, to be very frank, and that's the reason I am a little bit late."

Schaeuble said the German position remains that "if you promise to deliver only immediately on growth, you will only create the next bubble" in asset prices.

Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said that the G-20 countries remain committed to setting hard targets for reducing debt to a certain percentage of the economy, an idea first raised at an economic summit in Toronto in 2010. He said the issue would be explored more when leaders of the G-20 countries hold their summit in Russia in September.

___

Associated Press writers Harry Dunphy, Matthew Pennington and Desmond Butler contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/g-20-countries-pledge-stronger-efforts-181302511.html

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Saturday, April 20, 2013

Google CEO Larry Page confirms: yes, Google Glass runs on Android

We suspected it from the outset, but up until now, we haven't actually heard it confirmed from the mouth of a Google honcho: Google Glass runs on Android. The tidbit was dropped on today's earnings call, with CEO Larry Page uttering: "Obviously, Glass runs on Android, so [Android] has been pretty transportable across devices, and I think that will continue." The response was given to a question regarding engagement increment, but Page stopped short of divulging details about version type. We're guessing it does a fine job of integrating snippets of Google Now, however, so make of that what you will.

Comments

Source: TechCrunch

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/18/google-ceo-larry-page-confirms-google-glass-runs-android/

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Friday, April 19, 2013

the Connection | Butler Bulldogs or Butler Catfish? Relationships ...

This event is designed to promote dialogue about the risks and rewards that come with developing and maintaining relationships in technologically mediated environments. Given the success of the documentary film and television series ?Catfish? as well as the recent ?Mantai Teo hoax,? this casual event expects to provide a ripe environment for students to express their questions and concerns about communication in a technologically sophisticated word. Moreover, this event will provide students with some of the latest research findings on the actual relational risks and rewards that can come from communication in face-to-face as well as mediated environments.

Jessica Moore of the Organizational Communication & Leadership program will facilitate this event on Friday, April 19, from 3-4 p.m. in Fairbanks Building, Room 246.

Free Jimmy John?s at the event and one lucky attendee will win a Starbucks gift card!

Want to learn more about the Organizational Communication & Leadership program in the College of Communication? Contact Jessica Moore at moore@butler.edu.?

Source: https://news.butler.edu/connection/2013/04/butler-bulldogs-or-butler-catfish-relationships-and-risk-in-a-wired-world/

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Physicist's atom struggles revealed

17 April 2013 Last updated at 07:52 ET By Jason Palmer Science and technology reporter, BBC News, Denver

Newly released letters from the famed Danish physicist Niels Bohr shed light on his struggles with great English researchers over his nascent theory of the atom.

The correspondence between Bohr and his then-fiancee Margrethe Norlund reveal a rocky settling in period in England.

Excerpts of letters sent during Bohr's time in England were discussed at the American Physical Society meeting.

The letters show an exchange rich with literary allegory.

Bohr was eventually instrumental in overturning the "plum pudding" model of the atom, propounded by J J Thomson of Cambridge University, instead suggesting a dense nucleus orbited by electrons - the atom as we know it today.

He came to Cambridge in 1911 specifically to work among the famous Cambridge mathematicians including Thomson. But the letters to Margrethe showed that his transition to Cambridge intellectual circles was turbulent.

"He thought 'Thomson was a genius who showed the way to everybody', and he wanted to be part of that story," said John Heilbron, a fellow of Oxford University.

"But when he got there, he found out that Thomson was busy showing the way to other people, and also following his own research," he told BBC News.

"James Jeans, another of the Cambridge mathematicians, was too shy to do battle with Bohr, and [Joseph] Larmor? would not read Bohr until he prepared a proper English version of his work and had it published in a proper English journal - which never happened.

"The Royal Society of London declined on the interesting grounds that it was 'polemical', and it would not include in its Transactions insults to anyone who had not already been insulted in the Transactions. That was a great disappointment to him, that he couldn't engage with these guys."

But what strikes Prof Heilbron about the letters to Margrethe, whom Bohr married the following year, is the intellectual character of their exchanges.

"The material concerning literature - which is essentially the core of this new correspondence - consists of their making personae of one another derived from literature.

"We have in the case of Margrethe her appearance as several heroines from Ibsen, there are all these Dickens heroines, whereas Bohr is to her some hero as in a Carlyle story, but also people from Shakespeare and other heroic figures.

"In a way, their courtship is conducted on a level above the carnal."

The letters will be excerpted in a forthcoming book by Prof Heilbron and Finn Aaserud of the Niels Bohr Archive, titled Love, Literature and the Quantum Atom.

They were made available by the Bohr family, who Prof Heilbron said "have come to realise that these documents do honour to everybody, (and) are of great interest to a much wider society".

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22174013#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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Thursday, April 18, 2013

Senate Sets Up Big Votes Wednesday for Gun Control

ABC News' Sunlen Miller and Jeff Zeleny report:

The day of reckoning is Wednesday for the embattled Manchin-Toomey background check provision and a myriad of other gun amendments, including a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity clips.

The outcome of which will determine the fate of the biggest gun control legislation the Senate will vote on in two decades.

A 4 p.m. vote on the Manchin-Toomey amendment will kick off the votes.

The amendment, proposed this past week as a bipartisan compromise from Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, and Sen. Pat Toomey, a Republican from Pennsylvania, always faced an uphill climb to pass in the Senate.

But the first real signs of trouble came Monday when a vote on the amendment was delayed from being formally scheduled when it was clear that the votes were not yet there for it to pass. By Tuesday, momentum seemed to slip away bit-by-bit when a few senators key to the outcome of the vote, including Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., and Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., announced that they could not vote for the bill.

The amendment will need 60 votes to pass. And as of tonight, the votes are not there yet.

When Manchin was asked by ABC News if he had 60 votes locked down, he said: "We need more than we have."

Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois, one of the Republican supporters for expanding background checks, said he was still working to win over some Republican senators. When asked if his side had enough votes to pass the amendment, he said: "We are not ready for a vote."

The vote will be razor thin - so thin that neither side was sounding confident.

There are three Republican senators and four Democratic senators believed still undecided - John McCain, R-Ariz., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., Mary Landrieu, D-La., Mark Begich D-Alaska, Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., and Mark Pryor, D-Ark.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., was seen as a wild card because, although he supports the amendment, he has been ill and home in New Jersey. Aides said Lautenberg "hopes" to get back for the vote Wednesday.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., sounded a bit resigned Tuesday when he defended the bill's momentum while, in the same breath, admitting that the votes may not be there. Regardless, he said, gun control supporters have the "wind at our back."

President Obama made calls to the few undecided senators Tuesday, ABC News' Jonathan Karl reported. A White House official said there still was a path to 60 votes but conceded it is "a narrow path."

Yet the situation remained fluid, Republican and Democratic aides told ABC News, and either outcome was possible when the voting was to begin at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.

Following the Manchin-Toomey amendment vote, the Senate will vote on at least eight other gun amendments, all of which matter to the debate. They included voting up or down on an assault weapons ban, the issue of concealed carry, a high-capacity clip ban and mental health provisions.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Aurora Borealis tonight? Dazzling northern lights forecast

Aurora Borealis tonight? Yes, New York, Pennsylvania, and parts of the US Midwest could see a rare spectacular aurora borealis light show tonight, based on the forecasts.

By David Clark Scott,?Staff writer / April 13, 2013

Accuweather is forecasting that the northern lights, aka, the aurora borealis, will be visible in parts of the United States tonight.

Accuweather.com

Enlarge

You don't have to be in chilly Fairbanks, Alaska or Yellowknife, Canada, to see the Aurora Borealis tonight.

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Seattle, New York, Pittsburgh, and Washington might see a display of the northern lights after sunset. At least that's what some forecasting models are saying.

Thanks to a big solar flare that left the Sun Thursday, Accuweather.com is generating some buzz online by predicting a "dazzling" light show tonight:

"The flare is also expected to cause vibrant northern lights from the Arctic as far south as New York, the Dakotas, Washington and Michigan, with a smaller possibility of it going into Pennsylvania and Iowa, even Kansas. The lights are currently estimated for 8 p.m. EDT Saturday arrival, with a possible deviation of up to seven hours. If the radiation hits much after dark settles on the East Coast the lights may be missed and will instead only be visible for the West."

They've also provided a pretty cool map (see above) that may or may not prove accurate.

Solar flares are waves of charged plasma that come streaming toward our planet at about four million miles per hour. When they hit the Earth's upper atmosphere they release visible light and are channeled toward the Earth's poles by the planet's magnetic field. The norther aurora borealis is called the northern lights. The displays over the southern pole are called the southern lights or aurora australis.?

This particular blast of plasma may also put on a light show over parts of Europe and Russia too. Accuweather says the British Isles, and as far south as the northern parts of Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia and Estonia may see the northern lights.

Accuweather's Hunter Outten has been updating this latest aurora borealis watch on the company's Facebook page. At 3:35 p.m., he wrote:

"Still have not seen any key signs yet of the CME close to hitting the planet. Looks like the time is shaping up right on schedule for anywhere from 5-9PM EDT."

CME refers to the Coronal Mass Ejection, the burst of plasma released from the Sun. Mr. Outten shares how he's tracking the arrival of the plasma burst via the compression of the magnet field with this NOAA chart..

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has its own forecasting model, including a chart, which is a lot harder to parse. You can check out the Ovation Auroral Forecast here.

The opportunity to see the northern lights at many of these latitudes is a rare treat, but the usual caveats for celestial events still apply. A successful sighting will be dependent on a variety of local factors, such as cloud cover, full moon, and urban light pollution.

And if you happen to be in Fairbanks or Yellowknife tonight, the?University of Alaska Geophysical Institute says the prospects are also good for viewing? the aurora borealis.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/8viiySQK9vo/Aurora-Borealis-tonight-Dazzling-northern-lights-forecast

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