pomposity stet: February 2013

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Iraq resumes flights to Kuwait after 22-year halt

BAGHDAD (AP) ? An Iraqi Airways flight landed in Kuwait on Wednesday for the first time since Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of the tiny emirate as the neighboring states try to repair more than two decades of strained relations.

Government ministers from both countries were on hand for the ceremonial landing at the international airport in Kuwait City shortly before noon.

Iraq's Transportation Ministry spokesman, Karim al-Nouri, said the flight will open "important horizons for cooperation based on brotherhood" with Kuwait. Passenger demand will determine the number of flights in the future, he said.

In January, Kuwait's parliament approved a deal under which Baghdad will pay $500 million in compensation to Kuwait's national carrier for damages caused during the Iraqi occupation. The accord seeks to end a long-running dispute over reparations for Kuwait Airways.

The disagreement had centered on Kuwait's accusations that Saddam's regime stole 10 airplanes and millions of dollars' worth of equipment and spare parts during the invasion. Kuwait earlier wanted $1.2 billion in reparations, which Iraq's postwar leaders resisted.

The chairman and managing director of Kuwait Airways Corp., Sami al-Nisf, said all outstanding issues between the Kuwaiti and Iraqi carriers have been completely and fully resolved, Kuwait's state news agency reported. He suggested that there could be interest in Kuwait resuming flights to Baghdad, but an aircraft shortage hinders those plans for now.

Although the airline dispute appears settled, there are other disputes over war reparations between the two nations.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iraq-resumes-flights-kuwait-22-halt-112457278--finance.html

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Thursday, February 21, 2013

White House announces anti-theft trade strategy

Attorney General Eric Holder speaks about strategy to mitigate the theft of U.S. trade secrets, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013, in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington. The Obama administration is launching a new strategy to fight the growing theft of trade secrets following new evidence linking cyberstealing to China's military. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The building housing ?Unit 61398? of the People?s Liberation Army is seen in the outskirts of Shanghai, Tuesday Feb. 19, 2013. Cyberattacks that stole information from 141 targets in the U.S. and other countries have been traced to the Chinese military unit in the building, a U.S. security firm alleged Tuesday. According to the report by the Virginia-based Mandiant Corp., it has traced the massive amount of hacking back to the 12-story office building run by ?Unit 61398?, and that the attacks targeted key industries including military contractors and companies that control energy grids. China dismissed the report as "groundless."(AP Photo)

Attorney General Eric Holder, center, speaks about strategy to mitigate the theft of U.S. trade secrets, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013, in the Eisenhower Executive Office building on the White House complex in Washington. From left are, Undersecretary of Stat Robert Hormats; U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator Victoria Espinel; Holder; Acting Commerce Deputy Secretary Rebecca Blank; Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer; and General Electric Vice President Karan Bhatia. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Mandiant founder and CEO Kevin Mandia is seen in his office in Alexandria, Va., Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013. Mandiant, started in 2004 by Mandia, a private technology security firm described in extraordinary detail efforts it blamed on a Chinese military unit to hack into 141 businesses, mostly inside the U.S., and steal commercial secrets. China denies the claim. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Obama administration announced new efforts Wednesday to fight the growing theft of American trade secrets, a broad but relatively restrained response to a rapidly emerging global problem that was brought into sharp focus this week by fresh evidence linking cyberstealing to China's military.

Mentioning China but not specifically targeting that country, Attorney General Eric Holder announced the plan, which includes a new diplomatic push to discourage intellectual property theft abroad along with better coordination at home to help U.S. companies protect themselves.

The administration says indications are that economic espionage is increasing, not only through electronic intrusion over the Internet but also through the recruitment of former employees of U.S. companies with knowledge of inside trade information.

"Particularly in this time of economic recovery, this work is more important than it ever has been before," Holder said at the White House announcement of the administration's strategy.

"As new technologies have torn down traditional barriers to international business and global commerce, they've also made it easier for criminals to steal trade secrets ? and to do so from anywhere in the world," Holder said. "A hacker in China can acquire source code from a software company in Virginia without leaving his or her desk. With a few keystrokes, a terminated or simply unhappy employee of a defense contractor can misappropriate designs, processes, and formulas worth billions of dollars."

Earlier this week, a Virginia-based cybersecurity firm, Mandiant, accused a secret Chinese military unit in Shanghai of years of cyberattacks against more than 140 companies, a majority of them American. The accusations and supporting evidence increased pressure on the United States to take more action against the Chinese for what experts say has been years of systematic espionage.

The Chinese government denied being involved in cybertheft, with China's defense minister calling the Mandiant report deeply flawed. China's Foreign Ministry said that country has also been a victim of hacking, much of it traced to the United States.

Wednesday's Obama administration report did not target any one violator, but the China problem was evident in the case studies it cited. Those examples did not involve cyberattacks but rather the theft of hundreds of millions of dollars in trade secrets by former employees of U.S. corporations including Ford Motor Co., DuPont Co., General Motors Corp., Cargill, Dow Chemical Co., Valspar and Motorola.

The administration report didn't threaten any specific consequences for theft of trade secrets, and no new fines or other trade actions were announced. It included five actions to protect American innovation:

? Applying diplomatic pressure by senior officials to foreign leaders to discourage theft.

? Promoting best practices to help industries protect against theft.

? Enhancing U.S. law enforcement operations to increase investigations and prosecutions.

? Reviewing U.S. laws to determine if they need to be strengthened to protect against theft.

? Beginning a public awareness campaign.

President Barack Obama signed an executive order last week aimed at helping protect the computer networks of American industries from cyberattacks. It called for the development of voluntary standards to protect the computer systems that run critical sectors of the economy such as the banking, power and transportation industries. It directed U.S. defense and intelligence agencies to share classified threat data with those companies.

He also prodded Congress during his State of the Union address to go further.

"Now, Congress must act as well by passing legislation to give our government a greater capacity to secure our networks and deter attacks," Obama said.

The president said America's enemies are "seeking the ability to sabotage our power grid, our financial institutions and our air traffic control systems. We cannot look back years from now and wonder why we did nothing in the face of real threats to our security and our economy."

___

Follow Nedra Pickler on Twitter at https://twitter.com/nedrapickler

Associated Press writer Lolita Baldor contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-02-20-US-China-Hacking/id-9f1897739a3548269289306cd5bd6ba2

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Wednesday, February 20, 2013

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Mutant champions save imperiled species from almost-certain extinction

Feb. 19, 2013 ? Species facing widespread and rapid environmental changes can sometimes evolve quickly enough to dodge the extinction bullet. Populations of disease-causing bacteria evolve, for example, as doctors flood their "environment," the human body, with antibiotics. Insects, animals and plants can make evolutionary adaptations in response to pesticides, heavy metals and overfishing.

Previous studies have shown that the more gradual the change, the better the chances for "evolutionary rescue" -- the process of mutations occurring fast enough to allow a population to avoid extinction in changing environments. One obvious reason is that more individuals remain alive when change is gradual or moderate, meaning there are more opportunities for a winning mutation to emerge.

Now University of Washington biologists using populations of microorganisms have shed light for the first time on a second reason. They found that the mutation that wins the race in the harshest environment is often dependent on a "relay team" of other mutations that came before, mutations that emerge only as conditions worsen at gradual and moderate rates.

Without the winners from those first "legs" of the survival race, it's unlikely there will even be a runner in the anchor position when conditions become extreme.

"That's a problem given the number of factors on the planet being changed with unprecedented rapidity under the banner of climate change and other human-caused changes," said Benjamin Kerr, UW assistant professor of biology.

Kerr is corresponding author of a paper in the advance online edition of Nature the week of Feb. 9.

Unless a species can relocate or its members already have a bit of flexibility to alter their behavior or physiology, the only option is to evolve or die in the face of challenging environmental conditions, said lead author Haley Lindsey of Seattle, a former lab member. Other co-authors are Jenna Gallie, now with ETH Zurich, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, and Susan Taylor of Seattle.

The species studied was Escherichia coli, or E. coli, a bacterium commonly found in the lower intestine and harmless except for certain strains that cause food-poisoning sickness and death in humans. The UW researchers evolved hundreds of populations of E.coli under environments made ever more stressful by the addition of an antibiotic that cripples and kills the bacterium. The antibiotic was ramped up at gradual, moderate and rapid rates.

Mutations at known genes confer protection to the drug. Researchers examined these genes in surviving populations from gradual- and moderate-rate environments, and found multiple mutations.

Using genetic engineering, the scientists pulled out each mutation to see what protectiveness it provided on its own. They found some were only advantageous at the lower concentration of the drug and unable to save the population at the highest concentrations. But those mutations "predispose the lineage to gain other mutations that allow it to escape extinction at high stress," the authors wrote.

"That two-step path leading to the double mutant is not available if a population is immersed abruptly into the high-concentration environment," Kerr said. For populations in that situation, there were only single mutations that gave protection against the antibiotic.

"The rate of environmental deterioration can qualitatively affect evolutionary trajectories," the authors wrote. "In our system, we find that rapid environmental change closes off paths that are accessible under gradual change."

The work was funded by the National Science Foundation, including money through the consortium known as the Beacon Center for the Study of Evolution in Action, and UW Royalty Research Funds.

The findings have implications for those concerned about antibiotic-resistant organisms as well as those considering the effects of climate and global change, Kerr said. For instance, antibiotics found at very low concentrations in industrial and agricultural waste run-off might be evolutionarily priming bacterial populations to become drug resistant even at high doses.

As for populations threatened by human-caused climate change, "our study does suggest that there is genuine reason to worry about unusually high rates of environmental change," the authors wrote. "As the rate of environmental deterioration increases, there can be pronounced increases in the rate of extinction."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Washington. The original article was written by Sandra Hines.

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

Journal Reference:

Haley A. Lindsey, Jenna Gallie, Susan Taylor, Benjamin Kerr. Evolutionary rescue from extinction is contingent on a lower rate of environmental change. Nature, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nature11879

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/strange_science/~3/Tib6mC5ZycQ/130219161301.htm

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The Sweat Factory Opening This Week in Summit - The Alternative ...

SUMMIT, NJ - The Sweat Factory, a Cardio Kickboxing, Health and Fitness facility located on 485 Springfield Avenue in Summit, will officially be opening its doors to fitness fanatics and beginners alike this week. Owner and head instructor, Emerson W. Laohoo said his idea to open his own fitness studio began when he realized that quite a bit of instructors are not focus on correct forms in the classes he observed, so he wanted to break the chain and implement proper techniques given his experience of being a personal trainer for over 5 years, 3 years at Equinox Fitness in NYC and an avid Martial Artist for over 20 years.?

?Kickboxing and Martial Arts is really my passion and I want to teach and share my passion with others," Emerson said. "Cardio Kickboxing along with any type of fitness should focus on proper forms and techniques to build a strong foundation.?

Emerson explained that with his 20 years of extensive background and experience from competitions in various Martial Arts from Kickboxing, Brazilian Jujitsu to Boxing, and being a personal trainer he has the experience and qualifications necessary to provide excellent training and instruction. He will be the head instructor along? with one other full time instructor, Ricardo Datts, a natural bodybuilder and a few part time instructors all with extensive Martial Arts background like Frank Caruti, a retired police officer with 33 years of martial arts experience. Black Belt USA Goju, Brown Belt in Tae Kwon Do and Blue Belt in Brazialian Jujitsu under the legendary Gracie Family.? Business partner and brother Edwardson will be also instructing.

The class offerings will consist of Cardio Kickboxing daily morning and evening classes. Cardio Fit Lunch will be offered at noon, and Kids Kickboxing classes and strength and conditioning classes such as Reach Your Limit, Leave You Breathless and Intermediate Kickboxing will also be offered, which vary in intensity depending on each class, to improve strength and cardiovascular overall fitness.

Personal training will also be available at the facility for members seeking more personalized training and the class schedules will be progressive as time goes on, Emerson explained. ?I guarantee anyone who attends a class will sweat,? Emerson said. ?Kickboxing burns over 1,000 calories per class and you acquire self-defense skills along the way.

?Emerson and brother/business partner, Edwardson, explained that Sweat Factory classes are different because they incorporate kickboxing and various fitness disciplines all rolled into one. ?These classes will be a different dynamic compared to how others teach typical kickboxing classes because we will have one instructor teaching front and one constantly walking? around to correct form,? Edwardson said.
?
Emerson added that the first class is free for each new member and walk-ins are always welcome.

Source: http://thealternativepress.com/articles/the-sweat-factory-opening-this-week-in-summit

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Supreme Court upholds police dog sniff of truck

(Reuters) - A Texas mother had a one-in-70-million kind of Valentine's Day this year when she gave birth to two sets of identical twin boys, a Houston hospital announced on Monday. The four brothers were delivered at 31 weeks to Tressa Montalvo, 36, via Cesarean section at The Woman's Hospital of Texas in Houston, according to a news release from the hospital. Tressa and Manuel Montalvo Jr. were not using any fertility drugs and had just hoped for a little brother or sister for their 2-year-old son, Memphis, according to the release. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/supreme-court-upholds-police-dog-sniff-truck-151906595.html

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Asian shares hit 18-month high on growth hopes

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares rose to their highest since August 2011 on Wednesday after an improving global economic outlook boosted world equities overnight, encouraging investors to take on risk.

The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.miapj0000pus> added 0.7 percent, rose for a third day in a row, led by a 1.7 percent gain in its technology sector <.miapjit00pus>. The index has risen 4 percent so far this year.

Asian shares have been on an uptrend as risks from the euro zone debt crisis the U.S. fiscal crisis abated and signs of tepid recovery emerged in major economies including China. Corporate earnings have also been generally positive.

"A shift to cyclicals from defensives has come to a full circle and investors are now looking at sector-specific factors within an asset class, selecting those with a tight supply/demand outlook," said Naohiro Niimura, a partner at research and consulting firm Market Risk Advisory.

News of possible fresh mergers boosted U.S. stocks on Tuesday, pinning the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> near a five-year high, while a stronger-than-expected rise in the German ZEW investor sentiment index to a three-year high supported European stocks.

Australian shares rose 0.4 percent, extending a rally that has taken the market to 4-1/2 year highs, with financials and retailers supporting prices. The Australian market has risen nearly 10 percent this year.

"There's a few good earnings reports but I think it's this hunt for yield that continues to push our market higher," Weston said. "I think that's keeping the support; the market doesn't want to go down and you just don't want to be missing out."

South Korean shares <.ks11> outperformed with a 1.5 percent jump to hit a one-month high, as foreigners stepped up buying and a pause in the yen's falling trend soothed sentiment.

"The KOSPI had decoupled with global equities in January because of currency moves and foreign selling. But this is changing with the pace of currency changes easing," Shawn Oh, an analyst at Daishin Securities, said of Seoul shares.

Positive growth in Southeast Asia has drawn foreign investors, keeping regional stocks robust. The Philippines stock market <.psi> extended gains to a record high while Bangkok's SET index <.seti> hit a fresh 18-year high.

The rise in equities weighed on assets perceived as safe-haven, such U.S. Treasuries and gold on Tuesday. Spot gold inched up 0.2 percent to $1,607.94 an ounce, but hovered near a six-month low hit the day before.

London copper climbed 0.6 percent to $8,095 a metric ton, off Tuesday's three-week lows.

Tokyo's Nikkei stock average <.n225> added 0.7 percent, after touching a 52-month high. <.t/>

The yen remained jittery, swinging in narrow ranges on concerns Japan may not be able to pursue as strong a reflationary policy mix as previously thought.

A week-long delay in the government nominating a new Bank of Japan governor fuelled talk of friction between the prime minister and the finance minister over who should run a central bank charged with taking bold action to reignite the economy.

The dollar eased 0.1 percent to 93.49 yen, still near its highest since May 2010 of 94.465 hit on February 11. The euro was up 0.1 percent to 125.36 yen. It touched a peak since April 2010 of 127.71 yen on February 6.

Sterling was under pressure on growing speculation the UK could soon lose its prized triple-A credit rating. Sterling traded at $1.5444, having plumbed a seven-month low at $1.5414 in New York.

"Markets continued to consolidate while reallocation trades helped risky assets to outperform and the USD to come under some pressure," said Sebastien Galy, strategist at Societe Generale, said in a note to clients.

"Fears regarding the UK are steadily rising, reinforcing a bearish tendency...We remain short GBP, CHF, JPY and AUD," he said, adding that the market will use any bearish excuse to sell the yen.

Japan logged its biggest monthly trade deficit on record in January, underscoring the country's deteriorating trade balances and accenting the yen's weak fundamental trend.

Investors remained wary of the possible U.S. federal spending cuts and outcome of the upcoming Italian election, limiting losses in sovereign bonds.

The ZEW report was a positive sign ahead of the more important euro zone flash PMIs on Thursday and Germany's IFO business sentiment on Friday, said Vassili Serebriakov, a strategist at BNP Paribas.

U.S. crude steadied around $96.70 a barrel but Brent eased 0.2 percent to $117.34.

(Additional reporting by Thuy Ong in Sydney and Hyunjoo Jin in Seoul; Edting by Eric Meijer)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asian-shares-hit-18-month-high-growth-hopes-053155549--finance.html

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Obama to become first sitting US president to receive Israel?s Medal of Honor

A Deeper Divide: The Gun Control Debate After Newtown

Last fall, residents of Newtown were having a debate that could have taken place almost...

I hope all of you are still continuing to enjoy my blog. I am continuing to find more ways of making the blog more interesting. Hard to believe that...

Source: http://quickhits.tumblr.com/post/43417830371/obama-to-become-first-sitting-us-president-to

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Sunday, February 17, 2013

Politics Blog: Dems: GOP Tries 'Brinkmanship on Medicaid'

By R.L. Nave February 14, 2013

The following is a verbatim statement from the Mississippi Democratic Trust:

Jackson, MS- This afternoon, the House Rules Committee killed S.B. 2207, a measure that would extend the repealers on various provisions of Mississippi?s Medicaid program and allow for the consideration of Medicaid expansion.

Proponents of Medicaid expansion say that in the long-term, expansion will save both state and federal dollars while extending healthcare coverage to thousands of lower-income Mississippians. In Mississippi, expansion would also mean jobs by improving Mississippi?s healthcare workforce.

By tabling S.B. 2207, House Republicans are attempting to shut down the conversation on Medicaid expansion in Mississippi. As a result of the Rules Committee?s actions, the only remaining Medicaid bill is H.B. 560, a measure that failed to pass in the House and is currently being held on a Motion to Reconsider. H.B. 560 does not contain any of the code sections that would allow for Medicaid expansion.

House Democratic Caucus Leader Bobby Moak (D-Bogue Chitto) said, ?Republicans are again proving that they are not interested in an open and honest discussion on Medicaid. If they were, they would allow Mississippians the benefit of considering this important issue with all options on the table.?

Moak added, ?House Democrats will not abide false deadlines or political ploys on this issue. We are ready to kill every bill that comes before us that does not allow for a full vetting of the crucial question of Medicaid expansion. Any attempt by Republicans to suggest that they don?t have options to revive a Medicaid bill is nonsense. They have the Governor?s mansion, the Senate and the House. If a Medicaid bill doesn?t pass in the next month its because Republicans are more interested in playing politics than doing their jobs.?

Source: http://jacksonfreepress.com/weblogs/politics-blog/2013/feb/14/dems-gop-tries-brinkmanship-on-medicaid/

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Facebook users take 'unfriending' seriously

(HealthDay News) -- Many people say they would avoid real-life contact with someone who unfriended them on Facebook, a new study finds.

"People think social networks are just for fun, but ... what you do on those sites can have real-world consequences," study author Christopher Sibona said in a news release from the University of Colorado, Denver.

Sibona, a doctoral student in the university's Computer Science and Information Systems program, looked at almost 600 survey responses gathered via Twitter and found that 40 percent of respondents said they would avoid in real life anyone who unfriended them on Facebook. Half said they would not avoid the person and 10 percent were unsure.

Women were more likely than men to avoid people who unfriended them, according to the study, which was released earlier this month at the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

Six factors predicted whether someone would avoid a person who unfriended them:

If the person who did the unfriending discussed the event later.

If the unfriended person had an extremely negative emotional response.

If the unfriended person believed the action was because of their offline behavior.

If relationship trouble was discussed prior to the unfriending.

How strong the person valued the relationship before the unfriending.

The geographical distance between the two.

"The No. 1 predictor was whether the person who said the relationship was over talked about it to someone else," Sibona said. "Talking to someone is a public declaration that the friendship is over."

More information

The American Academy of Pediatrics outlines how parents should talk to their children about social media.

Source: http://southeuclid.woio.com/news/news/89526-facebook-users-take-unfriending-seriously

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Tiger Woods joins vacationing Obama for golf round

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) ? That was a big-time ringer in President Barack Obama's golfing group Sunday in Florida.

Tiger Woods joined the president at the Floridian, a secluded yacht and golf club on the state's Treasure Coast.

The White House says the group also included Jim Crane, the Houston businessman who owns the resort and baseball's Houston Astros, and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk.

Obama is spending the long President's Day weekend at the Floridian and is expected to return to Washington on Monday. First lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha are on an annual ski vacation out West.

On Saturday, Obama got some instruction and played a few holes with Butch Harmon, Woods' former swing coach.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tiger-woods-joins-vacationing-obama-golf-round-194013813--politics.html

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RI records: Relatives worried about Catholic widow

FILE - In this Nov. 30, 2004 file photo, Pope John Paul II gives his blessing to father Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legion of Christ, during a special audience at the Vatican. Pope Benedict XVI took over the Legion in 2010 after a Vatican investigation determined that Maciel had sexually molested seminarians and fathered three children by two women. Following a decision Thursday Feb. 14, 2013, by the Rhode Island Supreme Court, documents are set to be unsealed related to a lawsuit contesting the will of Gabrielle Mee, who left $60 million to the Legion. (AP Photo/Plinio Lepri, File)

Attorney Bernard Jackvony poses at his office in Providence, R.I., Friday Feb. 15, 2013. Documents released Friday shed light on the inner workings of a secretive and now-disgraced Roman Catholic order called the Legion of Christ, including new details on how the organization took control of Gabrielle Mee finances and persuaded her to bequeath it $60 million. Jackvony represents Mee's niece. (AP Photo/Rodrique Ngowi)

Snow covers the grounds of the Mater Ecclesiae College in Greenville, R.I., Friday Feb. 15, 2013. The facility previously was home to Gabrielle Mee, who bequeath $60 million to the Legion of Christ, a secretive and now-disgraced Roman Catholic order. (AP Photo/Rodrique Ngowi)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) ? The disgraced Roman Catholic religious order the Legion of Christ bent its own rules for a wealthy elderly woman while it also isolated her from some relatives, according to newly released court documents, and a lawyer says the moves show the order was intent on becoming the beneficiary of her $60 million fortune.

The Legion counters that widow Gabrielle Mee was independent, strong-willed and happy and was never coerced into anything. The fact she led a less-restrictive life than others in its community shows she freely gave them her money, the Legion argues. Mee died in 2008 at age 96.

The Legion, founded by the late Rev. Marcial Maciel, was taken over by the Vatican in 2010 after a church investigation determined that Maciel had sexually molested seminarians and fathered three children. The Vatican knew of Maciel's abuse for decades yet held him up as a model for the faithful because of the order's perceived orthodoxy and ability to attract money and vocations.

Part of a lawsuit filed in Rhode Island by Mee's niece, the documents include thousands of pages of testimony from high-ranking leaders at the Legion, its members, and Mee's relatives and friends. They were sealed until Friday, after The Associated Press and other news organizations successfully argued that it was in the public interest to release them.

Mee's niece, Mary Lou Dauray, sued the Legion after her aunt died. She said Mee was defrauded by an order whose leaders orchestrated an effort to hide its founder's misdeeds from her aunt.

A Superior Court judge ruled in September that Dauray did not have standing to sue. But Judge Michael Silverstein took pains in his order to detail the process by which the Legion wooed Mee, bending the rules to let her become a "consecrated" member of its lay movement, giving her privileged access to Maciel and inviting her on special trips to Rome and Mexico.

Among the documents released Friday was a deposition from one of Mee's friends, Joanne McKosker, who testified how the two had bonded in the 1980s through their deep Catholic faith. She said she would visit after Mee moved into a Legion center in Smithfield, R.I. Around 2001, she asked Mee for a $5,000 donation for an anti-abortion charity. After Mee gave it to her, McKosker was prevented from visiting or calling Mee again.

"Months that went on, my trying to see her," she said. "I was getting, I was angry because I, I wanted to be still friends with her, you know, and I wanted, I felt she wanted, too."

The Legion says Mee had her own private phone line in her apartment and it never screened her calls.

Mee's grandniece, Jeanne Dauray, testified that a visit to her aunt left her feeling "something was amiss" in the restrictions that Mee lived under compared with other relatives who were members of other religious orders. For example, someone else always had to be in the room during the visit. Mee was also forbidden by a panel of Legion members from going to visit her sister, Fifi, in California, before Fifi died.

After they made the decision, "Gabrielle was visibly upset," Jeanne Dauray said. "She grabbed my hand very tightly and grabbed on to my arm and she said, 'Oh, I'm so disappointed. I understand that they, you know, they have to make their decision, but I'm so disappointed, I really wanted to see Fifi.'"

The order tried cutting her off from other potential beneficiaries of her money, Mary Lou Dauray's lawyer, Bernard Jackvony, has said.

"When you have a goose that lays golden eggs, you clip its wings and don't let it leave the farm," he wrote in one filing.

However, other family members, including nephew Stephen Kelley, reported that Mee seemed happy when they saw her, and that they could visit with her in private.

In fact, Mee led a far less restrictive life than the vast majority of the women at the facility, according to Heather Sellors, a former member of the community.

The Legion points out Mee lived in her own apartment, had newspaper subscriptions, cable television and her own Mercedes-Benz she could take out on outings. She often took the other members out to lunch or for ice cream and would shop at the mall or grocery store, Sellors said. The Legion argues in court documents that the fact that she paid her own way showed she had control over her own finances.

That would violate many of the rules that other consecrated women were forced to live under. Former consecrated women have said they lived regimented, isolated lives where nearly every minute of their day was occupied with chores and prayers, where they were forbidden from forming close friendships and were told how to eat, speak and interact. They said they were told that a violation of the most minor norm was a violation of God's will.

Jackvony said in an interview Saturday that the order's decision to bend the rules for Mee was designed to "gain her favor and keep her under their wing."

"The rules did not apply to her, and when you look at it the reason why is clear: because she had the capability of providing enormous amounts of money on a regular basis," he said.

Among the other documents that were released Friday were some that showed the group's former second-in-command testified he discovered that Maciel, the order's founder, had fathered a daughter in 2006, but never confronted Maciel about his double life and didn't share the news with the group's broader membership.

___

Winfield reported from Rome.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-16-Legion%20of%20Christ/id-673df9f69afa42c1a15de02a68117368

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Sass & Bide Kicks Off London Fashion Week With A Bang!

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Posted on February 17, 2013 7:08AM by Genevieve Rota ?

If there's one thing Sarah-Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton know how to do, it's how to ramp up the cool factor. With their label, sass & bide, taking London Fashion Week by storm on Friday night (Olivia Palermo was just one of the fashion-plates in the front row), we were catapulted into a world of tough, industrial shapes and structured lines. But it was the sexy cut-outs and sheer inlays that really stepped things up ? the collection was edgy and modern, with a bit of romance and sensuality thrown into the mix. With luxe leathers, heavy metal, pops of yellow and a moody palette of grey, black and ivory, it was a dark and dangerous walk down the runway ? and we couldn't get enough of it. Click through now to check out the whole collection!
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Source: http://www.fabsugar.com.au/2013-W-London-Fashion-Week-Trends-Sass-Bide-Runway-28095013
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IN PRIVATE, OBAMA FLASHES ANGER OVER GOP STRAFING OF HAGEL -- Justice's Tracy Schmaler to ASGK Public Strategies -- The era of big Wall Street deals is back -- Ted Cruz shakes Senate

GOP FLEXES MUSCLE ? WashPost 2-col. lead, ?Hagel pick faces a GOP filibuster: DEMOCRATS DECRY UNPRECEDENTED MOVE -- Pentagon nominee still expected to be confirmed,? by Paul Kane: ?The move was one more signal of how times have changed in the once-clubby Senate. Democrats say they think that some senior Republicans facing reelection in 2014 are so fearful of conservative primary challenges that they will ignore the bipartisan traditions of the Senate to be more in line with junior GOP senators elected on the strength of tea party affiliations. ? ?It?s just unfortunate that this kind of politics intrudes at a time when I?m still presiding over a war in Afghanistan and I need a secretary of defense who is coordinating with our allies,? Obama said Thursday in an online forum hosted by Google.? ? Republicans denied that their actions constituted a filibuster because they expect Hagel to be confirmed, and they insisted they will allow a simple-majority vote on the nomination later this month. ?

?The ? tally ? was 58 votes to end the filibuster to 40 against, ? but 59 initially backed Hagel ? Reid changed his vote to ?no? so he could use parliamentary rules to quickly reconsider the nomination. Four Republicans ? Sens. Thad Cochran (Miss.), Susan Collins (Maine), Mike Johanns (Neb.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) ? joined 54 members of the Democratic caucus ? Another Hagel vote is scheduled for Feb. 26, when the Senate returns from a 10-day break. ? Minority Leader Mitch McConnell ? has deputized Sen. John McCain ? as the weather vane by which to judge when Republicans should yield.? http://wapo.st/YjmNUG

--THE TOLL ? Josh Gerstein and Glenn Thrush: ??It?s going to put him in a difficult position once he gets there,? said Bill Cohen, ? who served as defense secretary under President Bill Clinton. ? ?Those resentments will weigh around. ? I think it?s tragic what?s happening, and I think it?s shameful,? said Cohen, part of a group of ex-officials backing Hagel?s nomination. ? The president feels personally invested in the nomination of Hagel. ?Democrats close to the White House say the typically cool-headed Obama has expressed flashes of real anger at what he sees as a politically motivated GOP fishing expedition that already netted his first choice for secretary of state ? U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice. ? Cohen said the perceived linkage between Rice?s nomination and Hagel?s makes it even more important for the White House to rally behind Hagel.? http://politi.co/XD7VPd

TRACY SCHMALER, director of the Justice Department Office of Public Affairs, departs March 8 to join ASGK Public Strategies, co-founded by David Axelrod, as managing director and head of a new practice group focusing on crisis communications, litigation/regulatory/congressional matters, and issues management. Tracy covered state politics in Vermont and Massachusetts, including a stint following Vermont Gov. Howard Dean around the country as he made a bid for the White House. He didn?t make it to Washington, but she did ? moving to the Senate Judiciary Committee as communications director to work for another Vermont political powerhouse, Sen. Patrick Leahy.? Prior to leading the public affairs shop at Justice, Schmaler oversaw Yahoo?s global public affairs office in Washington.

--Attorney General Holder: ?While I am sad to lose one of my closest and most trusted advisors, I am grateful to Tracy for her wise counsel, loyalty, good humor and unwavering support of me and the Justice Department over the last four years. Tracy has been a valued member of my senior staff and a good friend whose tireless spirit and keen judgment have served me and this Department well. She will be truly missed, though I wish her all the best in her future endeavors.?

MIKE MURPHY in the new TIME, ?Stop Campaigning, Mr. President?: ?Only a bold Nixon-to-China-style realignment of Washington?s budgeting politics can give him? ? a meaningful second term. Six magic words can unlock the door to the votes inside the Republican fortress: ?Some beneficiaries pay more and chained CPI,? budgetary code for slightly lowering benefit increases over time. Saying those words would mean the President is finally serious about facing the soaring cost of entitlements, with adjustments to future cost increases in Social Security and Medicare ? The Democratic leadership will violently oppose this, but if the President really aspires to use his political capital as he says he does, then he must use it on his own party, where it can actually accomplish a result.? http://ti.me/Vl5jLr

SO MUCH FOR PRESUMED INNOCENT: N.Y. Post cover, ?BLADE SLAYS BLONDER: Legless Olympian arrested.? http://bit.ly/ZeZ0u3 ... N.Y. Daily News cover, ?BLADE GUNNER: Legless Olympian charged in murder of model gal pal.? http://nydn.us/vp5qdB

--BREAKING ? ?Pistorius statement disputes he committed murder,? by AP?s Gerald Imray in Pretoria, South Africa: ?Oscar Pistorius held his head in his hands and wept openly in court ? as prosecutors said they would pursue a charge of premeditated murder against the Paralympic superstar. ? Pistorius' family and his London management company issued a statement calling into question the criminal charge the 26-year-old athlete faces. ?The alleged murder is disputed in the strongest terms,? the statement read. The statement did not elaborate.?

**A message from the National Association of Manufacturers: Manufacturing means jobs, and we have a plan to get our economy moving again! Manufacturing supports one in six private-sector jobs. We are the voice for the 12 million men and women who make things in America. Visit www.nam.org/stateofmanufacturing to read our Growth Agenda.**

THE NEW AGENDA ? Atlanta Journal-Constitution, middle of page, ?Obama touts pre k; details yet to come: Local programs to be blueprint for U.S. initiative,? by Daniel Malloy, Nancy Badertscher and Greg Bluestein: ?Obama traveled to Decatur on Thursday to tout his plans to expand pre-kindergarten education nationwide ? But the details and cost of Obama?s initiative remain in flux, and any new spending faces difficult odds against a deficit-conscious Congress. The midday visit brought flocks of onlookers to DeKalb County?s side streets and shut down interstates as the presidential motorcade traveled from Dobbins Air Reserve Base. Obama, in his first visit to Georgia since June, played learning games with 4- and 5-year-olds at the College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center and then spoke at the Decatur Recreation Center about the need for universal pre-k. ?Hope is found in what works,? Obama said.?

--With A1 pic: ?President Barack Obama uses a magnifying glass to play with AnnMarie Sawyer, 4, at College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center.?

COMING HOME ? L.A. Times 2-col. lead, ?U.S. toll down, but Afghan war goes on: As more troops withdraw, fewer are dying. But that may not mean the Taliban is losing, analysts say,? by Shashank Bengal in in Kabul: ?Over the last 25 days, something unusual has happened in Afghanistan: Not one U.S. service member has been killed. The lion?s share of the fighting ? and dying ? is now being done by Afghans. The last American troop death, from injuries suffered in a December roadside bombing, occurred Jan. 20, marking the longest stretch without a fatality since 2008 and offering a glimmer of evidence that the United States? 11-year war is in its twilight. Deaths among U.S. troops in Afghanistan last year reached a four-year low as commanders hailed a tipping point in a conflict that has claimed more than 2,100 American lives. ? Afghans now lead well over 80% of combat operations and control areas where more than three-quarters of the population resides.?

MOOD MUSIC ? N.Y. Times 2-col. lead, ?Confidence on Upswing, Mergers Make Comeback: Market Rises and Economy Strengthens ? Buffett Joins a Deal to Buy Heinz,? by Peter Lattman, with Michael J. de la Merced: ?The mega-merger is back. For the corporate takeover business, the last half-decade was a fallow period. Wall Street deal makers and chief executives, brought low by the global financial crisis, lacked the confidence to strike the audacious multibillion-dollar acquisitions ? [I]n the opening weeks of 2013, merger activity has suddenly roared back to life. On Thursday, Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate run by Warren E. Buffett, said it had teamed up with Brazilian investors to buy the ketchup maker H. J. Heinz for about $23 billion. And American Airlines and US Airways agreed to merge in a deal valued at $11 billion. Those transactions come a week after a planned $24 billion buyout of the computer company Dell by its founder, Michael S. Dell, and private equity backers. And Liberty Global, the company controlled by the billionaire media magnate John C. Malone, struck a $16 billion deal to buy the British cable business Virgin Media.? http://nyti.ms/XIUD7u

--WSJ 4-col. lead, ?Heinz Sold as Deals Take Off?; refer box: ?Return of Big Deals? ? Financial Times splash, ?Buffett and Brazilian tycoon make $28bn move for Heinz ? Dealmaking tide rises ? More targets sought.?

ELEVATOR FODDER -- USA Today cover story, ?The fiction behind ?early? flights: AUSA TODAY analysis shows that major airlines pad the numbers, creating new problems for passengers,? by Thomas Frank: ?One in five domestic flights on major airlines got to the arrival gate 15 minutes or more ahead of schedule in 2012 ? the highest early-arrival rate since the DOT began tracking arrival times in 1987 ? Early arrivals partly result from ? airlines ? padding flight schedules and cramming more people on airplanes. ? The steady expansion of the times means that an ?early? flight often takes longer than it once took. The average flight from Boston's Logan airport to New York's LaGuardia took one hour in 1995. In 2012, it took 75 minutes. Yet the Logan-to-LaGuardia early-arrival rate soared to 38% last year from just 2% in 1995 as Delta and US Airways added nearly 20 minutes to the schedule. ? [S]ome padding reflects industry caution, ? as the DOT, responding to passenger frustration over extreme delays, has stepped up its authority to fine airlines for delays.? http://usat.ly/XCY9N0

FIERY FRESHMEN:

--Sen. ?Ted Cruz [R-Tex.] comes out swinging,? by Manu Raju: ?[T]he no-nonsense freshman has quickly become a lightning rod ? on issues ranging from guns to Chuck Hagel?s nomination for defense secretary ? upending the Senate?s conventional ways ? Cruz?s sharp-elbowed Senate style underscores the dilemma facing Republicans as they seek a way out of the political wilderness: Rising stars like Cruz, a tea party favorite, are winning elections and GOP primaries. But their no-compromise, firebrand styles could turn off voters eager to see the two parties start making deals. ? Behind closed doors, some Republican senators report that Cruz, in his stone-cold serious prosecutorial style, speaks at length when it?s far more common for freshmen to wait before asserting themselves ?

?[I]n response to written questions, Cruz [said]: ?I made promises to the people of Texas that I would come to Washington to shake up the status quo, to fight for conservative principles and to lead a concerted and meaningful effort to end the unsustainable spending, deficits and debt that have been propagated, unfortunately, by members of both parties ? Of course comity is important, but comity does not mean avoiding the truth concerning a nominee?s policy record.?? http://politi.co/XdvuyG

--Boston Globe 1.5-col. lead, ?Warren rips deals with big banks,? by? David Uberti: ?Senator Elizabeth Warren was ? quiet during her first month ? But that changed ? at the Massachusetts senior senator?s first hearing, when she rebuked federal regulators for settling civil cases with big banks instead of taking them to trial. ? Looking at the seven regulators arrayed before the Senate Banking Committee, ? she [said:] ?The question I really want to ask is about how tough you are ? about how much leverage you really have ? Tell me a little bit about the last few times you?ve taken the biggest financial institutions on Wall Street all the way to trial.? ? But none of the witnesses ? representing the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and others ? offered a response. ?Anybody?? Warren asked, pursing her lips and raising her eyebrows above her glasses.? http://bo.st/Vkxomb

2016 WATCH ? RICK PERRY MAY RUN ? Jonathan Martin in Austin: ?The other big question now hanging over Texas is whether Attorney General Greg Abbott is feeling as emboldened as Cruz. Abbott, who has held his office for a decade, is sitting on an $18 million war chest and is mulling whether to run for governor in 2014. That could mean a primary challenge against Perry, who is now in his 13th year as governor and has been back in the news for another job poaching run in California. But the betting in Austin is that the governor could forgo a fourth gubernatorial campaign to prepare for another run. ?If he doesn?t run for governor, I assume he?ll run for president,? said one Perry adviser.? http://politi.co/WMvitG

2014 WATCH -- The? (Newark) Star-Ledger, ?Series of ailments tells Lautenberg not to run: Senator, 89, vowing high-impact work over next two years,? by Matt Friedman: ?Sen. Frank Lautenberg [age 89] ? said he won?t run for a sixth term next year, winding down an almost 30-year career in which the scrappy senator fought the alcohol, tobacco and gun industries. ? [H]e has ? fought for pet issues: funds for transportation projects, reducing drunken driving and ridding public places of cigarette smoke.?

--Maggie Haberman writes that the announcement helps pave the way ?for Democratic Newark Mayor Cory Booker to assume the spot. ? [H]e had bristled publicly at Booker?s designs on the seat ? All public polls in recent weeks had shown Booker leading Lautenberg. However, it?s not clear that Booker ? will have a glide path. Rep. Frank Pallone ? has a close relationship with Lautenberg and a $3 million war chest ? Other Democrats who may run are Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver and State Senate President Steve Sweeney. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) declined to comment on whether he has a favorite in the Democratic primary, or if he himself is interested. ? Lautenberg retired from the Senate in 2000, but stepped back in when Sen. Robert Torricelli was engulfed in ethical problems.? http://politi.co/WtQZNs

MEDIAWATCH ? ?Megyn Kelly Pregnant With Third Child,? by TV Newser?s Merrill Knox: ?A Valentine?s Day announcement from Megyn Kelly this afternoon on her Fox News Channel program: the ?America Live? anchor is pregnant with her third child. Kelly?s announcement came after meteorologist Janice Dean asked Kelly if she and her husband, novelist Douglas Brunt, exchange Valentine?s Day gifts. ?We always struggle to find just the right gift, and yet this year I believe that we?ve found the perfect solution ? Happily, Doug and I are expecting another baby.? Kelly and Brunt are parents to three-year-old Yates and one-year-old Yardley.? http://bit.ly/12K9SfZ

--GLEN JOHNSON SUCCESSOR ? Dylan Byers: ?National Journal?s Jim O?Sullivan is heading to the Boston Globe and filling the position former online politics editor Glen Johnson left open when he resigned ? to work for Secretary of State John Kerry. O?Sullivan will be taking over Johnson?s post on Political Intelligence, the Globe?s deputy managing editor for local news Jennifer Peter wrote in a memo to staff. ?For Jim, this will be a homecoming ? He grew up in Cohasset, graduated from Boston College, and worked at the Dorchester Reporter and State House News Service, before heading down to Washington three years ago. ? Talk to this guy for five minutes and you will realize he lives, sleeps and breathes Massachusetts politics.??

--MIKE TACKETT?Memo yesterday from Bloomberg News Executive Editor Susan Goldberg: ?Since 2008, we have been lucky enough to have Mike Tackett at Bloomberg News in Washington as Political Editor, Bureau Chief and Managing Editor. His tireless work with the election team led by Al Hunt was a major reason the coverage made us all proud. Beginning today, Mike takes on a new role that will use his deep knowledge of Washington and national politics to produce marquee Bloomberg News stories under his own byline. We expect Mike's enterprise to cover a broad array of topics from policy to politics, from the White House to Congress to how federal mandates are playing out in the states. ? Mike, who will continue to be a Managing Editor, will report to me. ? Mike has covered every presidential election since 1988 and ... launched the Chicago Tribune's first political blog, The Swamp. ?

?Tim Franklin ? Managing Editor in charge of the regulation and contract teams, will add supervision of the government teams to his portfolio, becoming Managing Editor/Washington. He and Cesca Antonelli, our extraordinary Managing Editor/Bureau Chief, will jointly coordinate all government and political coverage across these teams.? ? During [Tim?s] five years as editor of The Baltimore Sun, his newsroom was a Pulitzer finalist for local reporting.?

BIRTHDAYS: Josh Marshall ... Bloomberg's Jonathan D. Salant (hat tips: Patrick Gavin) ... former Illinois Congressman John Anderson is 91 ? former Defense and Energy Secretary James Schlesinger is 84 ? Susan Brownmiller is 78 ? Melissa Manchester is 62 ? "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening (GREE'-ning) is 59 ? Darrell Green is 53 (h/ts AP)

**A message from the National Association of Manufacturers: Manufacturers make our lives better. They design innovative products that save lives, improve our work and keep us connected on a daily basis. The state of the union is strongest when the manufacturing sector is vibrant and productive. The state of manufacturing and the 12 million men and women who make things in America rely on pro-growth policies to keep us competitive in a global economy. Visit www.nam.org/stateofmanufacturing to read our Growth Agenda.**

Source: http://feeds.politico.com/click.phdo?i=c0f68d97627e1c1d5eb9a81e33dc9fe5

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Google careless with Android app users? privacy, critics charge

Google Inc?s privacy practices are drawing heat after an Australian software developer said the company was providing him with personal information, including e-mail addresses, of everyone who purchased his mobile app.

The information that Google shared, which included customers? full names, e-mail and some postal code information, was not the result of a glitch with its software. Rather it appears to be in accordance with Google?s existing policies for its app store and its Google Wallet payment service ? though some privacy advocates believe Google has not been clear enough in informing consumers about the practice.

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Google has ?buried? the notice about how it shares users? personal information in fine print rather than obtain the express consent of users, said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

?Meaningful consent is about people understanding what they?re getting into. It?s about not tricking them,? said Rotenberg. ?In a situation like this, where people just don?t know what information is being transferred or who it?s going to or for what purpose, it seems ridiculous to say that Google has consent.?

The episode represents the latest privacy flare-up for Google, the world?s No.1 search engine. In August, Google agreed to pay a $22.5-million fine to settle charges that it bypassed the privacy settings of customers using Apple Inc?s Safari browser. Google also settled a privacy investigation by the Federal Trade Commission 2011 related to its rollout of the now-defunct Buzz social networking service.

Other Web companies, including Facebook Inc., have also drawn scrutiny over their privacy practices and entered into settlements with regulators.

Google said in an e-mailed statement that ?Google Wallet shares the information needed to process transactions, and this is clearly stated in the Google Wallet Privacy Notice.?

EPIC?s Rotenberg said he believed that Google may be violating its 2011 settlement with the FTC.

Developer Dan Nolan broke the issue online in a blog post on Tuesday: ?This is a massive oversight by Google. Under no circumstances should I be able to get the information of the people who are buying my apps unless they opt into it and it?s made crystal clear to them that I?m getting this information.?

Nolan?s app, which automatically generates insults in the style of a well-known Australian politician, has been a best-seller on Apple Inc iPhone. Nolan recently released a version of the app for smartphones that rely on Google?s Android operating system.

He told Reuters that Google acts as a marketplace when an app is purchased, hence the transactions occur directly between developer and the purchaser.

?The way the system is designed, it (the information) is not what a user would expect to hand over,? said Nolan. ?If you buy something on the iOS app store, you purchase it off Apple, and they pass the money to the developer.?

The Google Wallet privacy notice states that Google will share users? personal information with other companies ?as necessary to process your transaction and maintain your account.?

That?s different than the way Apple?s App Store works. According to an Apple spokesman, the company only shares general information about the number of downloads with third-party app developers. Apple does not pass along personal information, such as e-mail, except with publications available through its Newsstand store, if customers agree to it.

Barry Schwartz, an app developer and editor for the online blog Marketing Land, said he was pleased with Google?s policy of passing along customer information to developers, since it made it easier for developers to directly handle customer service issues, such as refunds.

?I want to be able to service my customers, and yes, they are my customers, not Google?s and not Apple?s customers. They download our products,? Schwartz wrote.

But Joel Reidenberg, Director of the Center on Law and Information Policy at Fordham University School of Law, said Google and other online and mobile services needed to be more transparent about what personal information was being shared with third-party firms.

?When you buy an app, you could have a pop-up that tells you this is the information that?s going to the app developer,? he said.

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Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/tech-news/google-careless-with-android-app-users-privacy-critics-charge/article8711361/?cmpid=rss1

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Saturday, February 16, 2013

Photography Inspiration: Nikisha + Carl?s California Wedding

About Angel Y.

Angel Y. is a freelance graphic designer and web developer living in Orlando, FL. She owns a web design studio, Sevenality, with her husband. She is currently working to open a small online stationery shop. Angel is also an avid lover of all things inspirational and enjoys sharing inspiration through her blog.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Static-romanceorg/~3/G6v0i_P5sy4/photography-inspiration-nikisha-carls-california-wedding

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Friday, February 15, 2013

Google Serves BT With Patent Suit In The UK Using Motorola TV Patents

Following up from its legal filing yesterday in the U.S., Google has now officially served BT with legal papers for patent infringements in its home market of the UK. While yesterday's suit concerned enterprise services, the UK finding reveals that Google is using Motorola patents to go after BT, claiming it is making infringements in its IPTV services and its set-top boxes. Thus a legal battle between the two companies ratchets up another notch, and now the question is whether the two sides will settle outside of court, or whether BT plans to file a countersuit in the UK. BT already filed one patent suit against Google in December, 2011, which is what spurred Google's actions in the two countries.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/J6mzvhaR44Q/

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Thursday, February 14, 2013

Lesson Plan | Researching a Connection Between Video Games ...

Overview | Do violent video games promote aggressive or hostile behaviors among gamers? How have social scientists tried to answer this question? Is it answerable?

In this lesson, students read about studies exploring how video games affect gamers. They learn about the challenges in adequately exploring this question, critically evaluate the evidence that both supports and rejects the connection between violent video games and aggression, and discuss the issue in a class talk show or structured debate.

Materials | Computers with Internet access, projection equipment

Warm-Up | When students arrive, have them write one or two sentences in their notebooks answering the following question:

What emotions do you feel right now?

Then, project the cute animal video of your choice at the front of the room. Ask students:

What emotions did you feel after watching the video?
How did the video make you feel physically ? relaxed? Tense?
Did watching the video make you feel any differently than you did upon coming to class?

Next, at your discretion, show the students the trailer for the game ?Call Of Duty?. [Note: in the interest of saving time, play the segment from 1:30 until the end.]

Ask the same three questions as above, and then ask:

Based on this experience, can you make any generalizations about how observing different types of media can affect your mood? Why or why not?
Do you think your response would change if we actually interacted with the videos in some way, instead of just watching, like when playing a video game?

As a segue into the main part of the lesson, take a quick poll by having students raise their hands to answer ?yes?:

Finally, explain to the class that they will now jump into the current public discussion over purported connections between violence in video games and violent behavior by assessing some of the current research in the field.

Related | In the article ?Shooting In The Dark,? Benedict Carey reports on conflicting studies about the role of violent video games in promoting aggression among gamers:

The young men who opened fire at Columbine High School, at the movie theater in Aurora, Colo., and in other massacres had this in common: they were video gamers who seemed to be acting out some dark digital fantasy. It was as if all that exposure to computerized violence gave them the idea to go on a rampage ? or at least fueled their urges.
But did it really?
Social scientists have been studying and debating the effects of media violence on behavior since the 1950s, and video games in particular since the 1980s. The issue is especially relevant today, because the games are more realistic and bloodier than ever, and because most American boys play them at some point. Girls play at lower rates and are significantly less likely to play violent games.
A burst of new research has begun to clarify what can and cannot be said about the effects of violent gaming. Playing the games can and does stir hostile urges and mildly aggressive behavior in the short term. Moreover, youngsters who develop a gaming habit can become slightly more aggressive ? as measured by clashes with peers, for instance ? at least over a period of a year or two.
Yet it is not at all clear whether, over longer periods, such a habit increases the likelihood that a person will commit a violent crime, like murder, rape, or assault, much less a Newtown-like massacre. (Such calculated rampages are too rare to study in any rigorous way, researchers agree.)

Read the entire article with your class, using the questions below.

Questions | For discussion and reading comprehension:

For how long have social scientists studied the effects of violence in the media on behavior? Why do you think the author calls the topic ?especially relevant? today?
What are the three categories into which research on video games and aggression fall? What are correlation studies?
In one study referenced in the article, students played the game ?Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance? and then measured out portions of hot sauce for students who, they were told, did not like hot sauce. What was the purpose of this study? What characteristic were the researchers trying to assess by having participants measure out servings of hot sauce?
What did the researchers conclude in the hot sauce experiment? How did they come to this conclusion?
According to the author, ?Some studies done in schools or elsewhere have found that it is aggressive children who are the most likely to be drawn to violent video games in the first place; they are self-selected to be in more schoolyard conflicts.? In your own words, what does this mean? Given this information, do you think there should be tighter regulations on the level of violence permitted in video games played by children? Explain.
What other questions does this article raise? How might they be addressed?

Activity | Students prepare to take part in a discussion focused on the argument that video games make people act violently or aggressively in other settings.

The discussion can be structured in a variety of formats, like a talk show or debate. No matter which format you choose, our Debatable Issues handout (PDF) can be useful.

Either to get started or after you have finished the activity, you might invite students to post thoughts on our related Student Opinion question also inspired by this article, Do violent video games make people more violent in real life?

Then, lead a brainstorming session, asking students what kinds of questions the public may want to know about video games and violence. Jot all student ideas on the board.

The list below provides additional questions that students may want to consider. You might decide to share some or all of these questions with students.

RELATED RESOURCES

From The Learning Network

From NYTimes.com

Around the Web

What evidence is there to suggest that violent video games increase aggression and violence in gamers?
What evidence is there to contradict this finding?
How should parents, gamers, or others interested in this topic answer the question, ?Do violent video games promote violent behavior? when studies appear to give mixed results? What about the notion that playing violent games allows people to act out aggression in a safe space ? namely, on a video screen?
What should the standard be in terms of declaring someone an authority on the topic of violence in video games? For example, a recent study indicates that those who say violent video games are harmful to teenagers have provided much more evidence to support their claims than those who argue the opposite?
How are the studies that explore the relationship between violence in video games and behavior designed? What do they control for, and what should they control for?
Are there standard methods for exploring a behavioral trait like aggression or hostility? What are they?
What evidence did the Supreme Court cite in its ruling overturning a California ban on the sale of violent video games to children? Why did some of the justices disagree with this ruling?
Does research showing that playing relaxing video games increases measures of kindness strengthen the argument that the content of video games does affect player behaviors?
How do public perceptions about violence in video games affect politicians? willingness to take action? How do industry leaders respond to these actions?

TimesCast about the Supreme Court decision to strike down a California law banning the sale of violent video games to minors. Go to related article ?

Have students research one or more of the research questions they generated, or that were suggested in the list above. Students should do their research in teams, pairs or individually ? depending on which grouping works best for the discussion format you selected.

Students might want to start by combing through Times reporting on the link between video games and violence, or by consulting ProCon.org for its collection of arguments supporting both sides of the issue.

The PBS Web site ?The Impact of Gaming? hosts a number of essays on the topic, and NPR has a story that offers a good introduction by focusing on the question: Why do we like violent games, anyway?

Allow ample time for students to research questions and prepare answers. Then, hold the talk show, debate or discussion.

NOTE: If students will be performing in their own class talk show, you can make the activity even more realistic by assigning groups a real persona who holds a position on the issue of video games and violence. Students can use their own research to support these positions, and then one person in the group can represent that individual in the talk show. Here are five possible roles:

To wrap up, you may want to ask students to write a reflection. What do they believe now about the link between video games and violence? What is their evidence? Did their research influence their position? What about the class discussion? What further questions do they still have?

Going Further | Students can explore whether violent video games bring on violent behavior by designing surveys or experiments (PDF) of their own. They might survey fellow students or members of their families, recreate one of the studies described in The Times article, or design an experiment meant to address a question that came up while participating in the class activity.

Alternatively, students might write an argumentative essay about the topic of video games and violence. They should take a position, support it with evidence, and address counter-claims.

Common Core ELA Anchor Standards, 6-12

Reading

1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.

2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

Speaking and Listening

1. Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others? ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

2. Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively and orally.

3. Evaluate a speaker?s point of view, reasoning and use of evidence and rhetoric.

4. Present information, findings and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development and style are appropriate to task, purpose and audience.

5. Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations.

Language

1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

MCREL Health Standards

2. Knows environmental and external factors that affect individual and community health.

Source: http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/collateral-damage-researching-a-connection-between-video-games-and-violence/

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U.S. legal philosopher Ronald Dworkin dies in London

LONDON (Reuters) - American legal philosopher Ronald Dworkin, the man behind some of the most influential theories of law and morality in modern jurisprudence, died on Thursday. He was 81.

His family said in a statement that Dworkin died of leukaemia in London early in the morning. He is survived by his wife, two children and two grandchildren.

Dworkin, revered by both critics and friends for his sharp intellect and prolific writing, transformed the philosophy of law during his long career by making equality and human dignity the central pillars of English-language legal theory.

He is best known for his theory of law as integrity which states that propositions of law are true if they follow from the principles of fairness and justice, effectively encouraging judges to use moral considerations when deciding cases.

Dworkin overwhelmed his opponents with his ferocious debating skills, and was often unbeatable when defending his views. He was a committed Democrat and believed strongly in liberalism, equality and human rights.

"He was famous for making seemingly effortless presentations, composed in perfect sentences and paragraphs, but apparently delivered on the fly - almost always without notes," Legal Theory Blog wrote in a Thursday entry. "Dworkin was not one to give ground."

Dworkin was emeritus professor at University College London and a professor of law at New York University. He wrote on a variety of topics - often controversial - in his many books and articles, particularly for the New York Review of Books.

His work had tremendous impact on legal theory and he often waded into sensitive issues such as abortion, triggering intense debate in international philosophy and legal theory circles.

He was born in 1931 in the United States, studied at both Harvard and Oxford, and worked for a New York law firm before embarking on a fully academic career by becoming professor of law at Yale University.

In one of his best known books, "Law's Empire", Dworkin describes Hercules as an imaginary judge of superhuman intellect and reflects on the application of law in democracy. It received a prestigious award from the American Bar Association.

Dworkin was Professor of Jurisprudence at Oxford and Fellow of University College and had a joint appointment at Oxford and at NYU where he was a professor both in the Law School and the Philosophy Department.

(Writing by Maria Golovnina, editing by Paul Casciato)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-legal-philosopher-ronald-dworkin-dies-london-170530604.html

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The Feminine Mystique at 50

The Feminine Mystique, first edition

Courtesy of Wikipedia

Confession: I just read The Feminine Mystique, 50 years old this month, for the first time, so I could think about it with you, Noreen. That?s embarrassing for a bunch of reasons?I?m a feminist, I helped start Slate?s DoubleX, I?m supposed to be a generally educated person, and Betty Friedan was my grandmother?s cousin, so I grew up knowing her. She actually gave me a copy of the 20^th anniversary of her life-altering bombshell of a book for my bat mitzvah, with a lovely inscription. But it seemed weighty and intimidating when I was a teenager, and in college, I somehow took seminars called ?Women in the Bible? and ?Witches and Saints? rather than a basic women?s history or women?s studies class. When Betty died in 2006, I wrote about shopping for clothes with her and my stylish grandmother, and about the amazing march she led down Fifth Avenue in 1970, in honor of the 50^th anniversary of women?s suffrage. But I only skimmed the book that?s at the heart of it all.

OK, I?m a fraud. I think, though, that I didn?t read The Feminine Mystique precisely because it had seeped so deeply into American culture that I figured I had already digested its message. But in her masterful introduction to this 50^th-anniversary edition we are reading, Gail Collins says that ?if you want to understand what has happened to American women over the last half-century, their extraordinary journey from Doris Day to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and beyond, you have to start with this book.? She?s exactly right. Here?s one tiny example: In the book, Betty recounts giving up a fellowship she won after graduating from Smith, which would have supported her in getting a Ph.D. in psychology, because a boy she liked said their relationship would have to end since he?d never win a fellowship like hers. She writes, ?I gave up the fellowship, in relief.? What? In relief? This is inconceivable to me. I don?t mean compromising one?s career goal for love, which I?ve done, but giving up a plum opportunity because of a guy?s insecurity?that is not in my universe. And that shift captures much of the power of this book, right? For middle-class American women, it changed the whole deal?the aspirations we felt we could have and the reception we expected for them.

When I actually opened the book and started reading (as opposed to hearing about it for all these years), what hit me was Betty?s howl of frustration. It?s primal, and you feel it?s desperate force on almost every page. God, did she feel trapped among the slipcovers of the suburbs and in the pages of the women?s magazines she wrote for, where big ideas and questions were entirely unwelcome. The only way to escape was to pulverize the image of the Happy Housewife Heroine who is the title of Chapter 2. Betty?s fiercest critique in this book is of the ?mistaken choice? she thinks traditional gender roles forced middle-class women and their husbands to make. ?She ran back home again to live by sex alone, trading in her individuality for security,? she writes of the HHH. ?Her husband was drawn in after her, and the door was shut against the outside world. They began to live the pretty lie of the feminine mystique, but could either of them really believe it?? To Betty the answer was no, a thousand times no, and for many of us, who could never have hacked it in the world she helped blow up, and who made our lives in her remade image, the response from the heart has to be THANK YOU.

Of course, it?s also true that Betty?s battle cry wasn?t universal. She has long been criticized for leaving working-class and black women out of the picture in The Feminine Mystique. Collins defends her by pointing out that the specificity of her distress?her laser focus on how educated and relatively well-off women were being sidelined?made the book ?supremely, specifically personal, that?s what gives it such gut-punching power.? That seems right. Also, Betty was a reporter trying to push her first book out the door?how was she supposed to know she would produce a work of such importance that she?d be held accountable for her omissions? I?m inclined to give her a break, especially because she devoted most of her decades in the women?s movement to economic concerns. In my memories of her around the dinner table, she stressed the battle against inequality first and foremost.

Betty?s conception of the mistaken choice, however, still has bite. Decades after the publication of her book, women still argue about whether feminism means making any choice, including the choice to stay home, nursing your baby into toddlerhood, and baking bread?two activities Betty scorns?or if only certain choices are kosher. (See: round after round of the mommy wars.) Noreen, as the spring chicken to my old hen, do you identify with any of this, or do you just find it quaint? Or alienating? Did second-wave feminism, which Betty helped spark, draw the lines between women too sharply?

I asked Betty?s granddaughter, Nataya Friedan, for her take on the book, and she used that word?sharp?in her answer. ?The Feminine Mystique was a sharp portrait of its time, and in that dated quality there is room for a conversation between generations,? Taya writes. ?One of her main illustrations was that we can undo the meaningfulness of what the last generation fought for, and, for that reason, these conversations across time are absolutely necessary. Reading The Feminine Mystique today, the sections that feel dated act as a warning cry and the sections that feel completely unconquered, a shock to reality and, as always, a call to get out the door and off the armchair.?

So what feels unconquered, from your perch? Before this monumental book turns 75, or 100, what do you want to see change?

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=0c11dda53ec6c6940fc0dc87448e5e06

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