Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/321988531?client_source=feed&format=rss
project m colts colts big ten tournament 2012 dennis quaid bruce weber fired notorious big
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Bill would prevent military pay during pre-trial confinement
Service members in pre-trial confinement for serious crimes ? including rape, sexual assault and murder ? would have their military pay and allowances suspended, under legislation introduced Monday.
Withheld money could end up going to the victim of the crime under the terms of the bill, HR 2777.
The Stop Pay for Violent Offenders Act is aimed at accused service members such as Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, the suspect in the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, who has continued to receive his military pay while in custody. Hasan?s trial is now under way in Texas.
The bill?s chief sponsor, Rep. Tim Griffin, R-Ark., said the fact Hasan still receives pay is ?outrageous.? Griffin is an Army Reserve lieutenant colonel who has been a judge advocate since 1996. He worked in the White House during the George W. Bush presidency as a special assistant for political affairs.
Under the bill, military leaders would decide whether to suspend all or just part of pay and allowances during confinement. A waiver could be requested, but would have to be done within seven days.
The bill does not specifically address what would happen to the pay and allowances of a service member with a family that depended on it as the sole source of income, but this is one of the issues that could be covered by a waiver.
A statement from Griffin?s office said a waiver also could be used in instances when a service member can provide affidavits or other evidence to show they may have been falsely accused.
The bill allows, but does not require, a formal hearing to consider waiver requests.
If a service member is acquitted of charges, or if they are convicted but their sentence is commuted or suspended, they would receive full back pay and allowances. If they are convicted, the withheld pay would be provided to the victim or victims of the crime.
The fate of the bill is unclear. It was referred to the House Armed Services Committee, which is responsible for military criminal law. However, this committee generally wraps all of its legislation for the year into a single defense policy bill, which already has passed the committee and the full House of Representatives. The bill may sit until next year before getting serious attention.
A cosponsor, Rep Frank Wolf, R-Va., said withholding pay of service members in pre-trial confinement makes sense because similar rules already apply to federal law enforcement officers in similar situations.
?This bill would correct a huge oversight that has allowed military personnel charged with a serious crime to continue to receive their pay while awaiting trial,? Wolf said.
Former Army judge advocate Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Fla., said there is a sense of justice involved. ?How can we justify the fact that the victims of the Fort Hood attack and their families are fighting to get the benefits they deserve, while taxpayers have paid Nidal Hassan almost $300,000 to sit in a jail cell? This is unconscionable.?
Source: http://www.armytimes.com/article/20130723/NEWS05/307230034
lindsay lohan saturday night live snl lindsay lohan valley fever
Concert Review: 'Video Games Live: Bonus Round!' at Wolf Trap
?Video Games Live? at Wolf Trap. Photo courtesy of Wolf Trap.
For those who call video games anti-social or who think that only a minority of people, ?nerds? play them they are in for a shock when going to a performance of Video Games Live: Bonus Round! The evening opened with Video Games Live creator and Video Game composer Tommy Tallarico saying, ?Some people think video games are just for little kids, video game music is just a bunch of annoying bips and bloops, video games are the cause of violence.? Well if there was ever a crowd to staunchly disagree it was at Wolf Trap saturday night. People of all ages were out to see the National Symphony Orchestra and a chorus prepared by Danny Ozment perform music from Pacman to Skyrim.
Video Games Live! was created by Mr. Tallarico in 2002 as an immersive audio and video experience to celebrate and support the art of video game music. It is now in its 10th anniversary of touring with two albums and numerous awards.
Emil de Cou the NSO at Wolf Trap festival conductor wrote in the introduction ?all the worlds of music are welcome on our stage? and never was it more true than for the Video Games Live: Bonus Round performance. If you are a fan of orchestra concerts ?the calm spectators clapping politely at just the right moments? this performance was not for you. Rarely have I seen such audience enthusiasm, energy and sheer joy for the music being performed, it was infectious.
??a fun, exciting, and unique experience.
The National Symphony Orchestra was stellar, conducted with elegance and mirth by Emmanuel Fratianni. They were gleefully cheered on as they had to perform the music, sound effects and all, while select members of the audience got on stage and played super smash brothers live. It is hard to imagine a better way to expose young people to the wonder of the orchestra as with music that they already love and appreciate.
Composed by Nobuo Uematsu, a ?famous? composer in the gaming world,??Final Fantasy 8, Liberi Fatali? was one piece that stood out, and I must say that the music was absolutely AMAZING. ? This song is the introduction when you start a new game, foreshadowing the epic love story between Squall and Rinoa. ?For the time this game came out (1999), this took video game music to a whole new level. ?Nobuo said, ?screw that?, to conventional video game music, which was usually really short and catchy. ?He wanted to make something huge and beautiful ?and he did.They also performed a medley from Zelda. ?The girl who played the flute for the medley is Laura Intravia, and she became popular via youtube for doing this.
I can promise you that going to a performance of Video Games Live, whether you are a gamer, a musician, a parent or all three, you will have a fun, exciting, and unique experience.
Running time: Three hours with two encores.
Video Games Live: Bonus Round!?was their only performance at Wolf Trap. ?For future events at Wolf Trap, click here.
Source: http://www.mdtheatreguide.com/2013/07/concert-review-video-games-live-bonus-round-at-wolf-trap/
London 2012 China muhammad ali Opening ceremony London 2012 Olympics Schedule 2012 Olympic Medal Count 2012 Olympics 2012 Olympic Schedule 2012
VINCENT BONSIGNORE: Dallas Cowboys are California dreaming
,
OXNARD -- The pleasant 65-degree weather Sunday in this coastal Ventura County city was a distinct tipoff the Cowboys were no longer in Dallas.
And considering the scorching 93 degrees most of Texas was sweating through back home - with 43 percent humidity - that was a good thing.
As for the hundreds upon hundreds of fans decked out in Cowboys gear screaming their favorite players' names through most of a late afternoon practice, well, that was Dallas through and through.
In other words, you can take the Cowboys out of Texas but that won't stop their legion of fans from following them wherever they end up.
On Sunday - and for the next six weeks or so - that would be Oxnard, California, the Cowboys' on-again, off-again summer training camp home.
And a cooler, more agreeable home it is, the players soaking in the delightful conditions as they took their first step on a journey they hope will deliver them to the postseason for the first time in three seasons.
Rather than withering in the steamy conditions back home in Texas.
"It was a great start," Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo said. "I think our football team took some steps to get better. I think they did that during the offseason, so I'm excited about the way the day went and what we're doing to get better."
The Cowboys returned to Oxnard for the eighth time since 2001 in search of a launching pad more conducive to building a championship team, the hope being the better weather results in
better work habits resulting in a team better prepared to navigate its way back to the playoffs.Somewhere Dallas hasn't been since 2009.
Three years without a postseason appearance doesn't go over very well in Dallas, most notably the big office occupied by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones at the club's Valley Ranch headquarters.
Presumably, a fourth straight season out of the playoffs will put head coach Jason Garrett in imminent danger of losing his job, although Jones downplayed any of that talk as his club prepared to kick off training camp.
"Everything I'm thinking about is not only about how to beat the Giants when we open up (the season), but also about what our future is in a plus manner or in a positive way with Jason," Jones said. "I look to the future with Jason, not just through his contract that we're sitting here with right now. I think he has a couple of years left on his contract, but that's not a thought.
"It is not what is implied when you say, 'This is an Armageddon year for him.' It's not that with me."
Read what you want into that, but it sure sounds like the dreaded vote of confidence to me.
And with Jones working on his seventh coach over his 24 years owning the Cowboys, it's obvious he has a tendency to quickly run out of patience if things are operating at an optimal level - optimal being the Cowboys consistently knocking on the door of the Super Bowl.
Still, Jones went out of his way to reduce the heat to the seat on which Garrett sits, pointing out Garrett's strong relationship with Romo and the role Garrett's played in Romo's development iinitially as an assistant and now the head coach.
"He's been directly involved in the coaching of Romo for six years. When he got here, Romo had never had the same guy two years in a row. We've got to take advantage of that. His safety-net presence for what we're doing not only as a team but on offense is a big part of the plan. It gives us a real advantage. "Romo has the kind of skills, by everyone that has ever been around him, to do what we're asking him to do. I don't mind telling you, it'd be tough to go there if you didn't have Jason who has been involved and right there as quote, if you will, 'the safety net' as to how we're going to not only put the team together, but what we're doing offensively, make no mistake about it.
"To answer your question specifically, one of the neatest things about not only this year but a positive about this year is that, if you're in close here, you see how Jason is responding to obviously unsatisfactory times. And I can tell you firsthand that's impressive, so I like that looking ahead at the future. It is very good."
Perhaps, but that didn't prevent sweeping changes on the coaching staff this year as Garrett and Jones try to strike the perfect balance, the most notable change Garrett relinquishing play calling duties in favor of taking a more broader role in the running of the team. Garrett, who has called plays for the Cowboys since 2007, is handing the job over to former Raiders head coach Bill Callahan.
"It'll just give you a practical opportunity to kind of step away from the offense a little bit," Garrett said. "I made a very conscious effort over the last couple of years to coach the whole football team. I spent time with the defensive guys on their side of the practice field. I spent a lot of time in the defensive meetings and the special teams meetings. I've always done that.
But just the mechanics of someone else calling the actual plays allows me to maybe take a different view of it. So you'll see that on the practice field. That's how we operated all throughout the offseason in our OTAs and our mini-camp, and it worked very smoothly for us, and we'll continue to do that."
As for Romo, he was cleared for full practice Sunday after having a cyst removed from his back last April. Sunday also marked his first practice after signing an eight-year, $108 million contract that includes $55 million in guaranteed money.
That's an enormous amount of money invested in a quarterback that hasn't won a playoff game - and it's more than Super Bowl winner Joe Flacco got from the Baltimore Raven last offseason.
But the Cowboys are clearly comfortable with hitching their wagon to Romo, and step one was getting through the initial practice with a clean bill of health.
"I feel good," Romo said. "I've been running and throwing and doing all of that stuff. But I was excited about getting out here. Honestly, just the smell of the grass of a football field is a great feeling. You never want to take that for granted."
The Cowboys aren't taking anything for granted these days. Three seasons out of the playoffs will do that to a team. Vincent.bonsignore@dailynews.com @DailyNewsVinny
liquidmetal gsa scandal kelis dick clark dies ibogaine jamie moyer bone cancer
Monday, July 22, 2013
Use of Automated License Plate Readers Expanding in Northern California, and Data is Shared With Feds
The feeling of freedom that comes from driving down California?s sunny open roads is at risk?and rising gas prices are not to blame. Our investigations show that at least twenty Northern California law enforcement entities as well as the California Highway Patrol track the whereabouts of millions of Californians using automated license plate readers (ALPR), and some apparently even share records with a ?fusion center? connected to the federal intelligence community.
Scanning thousands of plates per minute, ALPR cameras create records of innocent people?s movements that can be held for years. Unfortunately, as the ACLU?s recent report shows, many agencies use ALPR without clear privacy protections for the collected data. Without proper safeguards, license plate readers can be used to identify every car parked near a protest or event, or to collect data about your visits to a doctor?s office, local bar, religious services, and more. We need clear, strong rules to prevent the misuse of ALPRs and the data they collect.
The massive amounts of data collected by a few Northern California police departments show how ALPR data makes it easy to track residents? whereabouts. In Piedmont, a tiny city east of Oakland with about 11,000 residents, the local police department captured 1,641,841 plate scans with one ALPR unit in just one year. South Bay city Milpitas, with only 67,000 residents, collected 4.7 million plate images in slightly more time. On the state?s highways, the California Highway Patrol operates at least 200 cameras, but we don?t even know how much data they have collected. To bring into focus how these large quantities of scans can be used to track cars within a given area, take a look at these maps produced by Berkeley?s ALPR parking enforcement system.
Unfortunately, there are no statewide privacy protections for these records, and many individual law enforcement agencies have no such protections either. In fact, only about half of the 20 agencies we learned use ALPR had a written policy manual at all. Of those agencies with written policies, many allowed the data to be used for all ?legitimate law enforcement business.? Some cities, including Milpitas in the South Bay, do not even keep records of who accesses the ALPR information. In addition, agencies vary wildly in how long they retain ALPR records. Although the Marin County town of Tiburon deletes records after 30 days if not associated with a criminal investigation, cities such as Concord, Elk Grove, and East Palo Alto allow the data to be held for upwards of two years?and Berkeley did not even have a retention policy.
We also found that sensitive ALPR data is shared with other counties and potentially the federal intelligence community through a ?fusion center.? A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by Daly City describes an ALPR database shared by a Bay Area fusion center and fifteen Northern California counties. Under the plan, participating counties get continuous access to each other?s data with no clear limits on what it can be used for. By combining records from multiple jurisdictions, this database has the potential to contain extensive records of motorists? travels throughout Northern California. The U.S. Senate concluded in 2012 that fusion centers fail to make us safer, tend to be mismanaged, and needlessly intrude on Americans? privacy, so the suggestion that counties are sharing Californians? data en masse is particularly concerning.
ALPR technology should be used to accomplish specific law enforcement goals, not deployed as a tool for dragnet surveillance. As it stands, lax safeguards on the use of ALPR and the availability of collected data to the federal intelligence system raise substantial privacy concerns. Real safeguards formed through democratic debate can shed light on the technology?s use, and prevent future misuse. The starting point for establishing these safeguards is to have an open discussion with local government and citizens about the risks and benefits of ALPRs. Driving may be a privilege, but privacy is a right.
livan hernandez soledad o brien mega ball lottery winner lottery numbers mega millions lottery jackpot
Boxing Matthysse vs. Garcia Propel Floyd News ... - Top Sports Up
You?ll forgive my suspicion when Golden Boy Promotion?s CEO Richard Schaefer informed me previously this month that they were considering placing a bout between Lucas Matthysse (34-2, 32 KOs) and Danny Garcia (26-0, 16 KOs) on the undercard of the soon to be common Floyd Mayweather versus Saul Alvarez battle.
It?s not that Schaefer is specifically undependable, not as boxing promoters go anyhow. It?s merely that a move like that, using genuine headliners in an assisting role, hasn?t belonged to the boxing tradition in years.
Pay-per-view telecasts, in the last decade a minimum of, usually include a tremendous centerpiece, some customers on the undercard and nothing more from another location palatable. Only true gluttons for penalty would certainly risk sit through a whole show. The majority of listen for the main event just.
That?s been the case for many years, a practice somewhat established in stone. Is it any kind of marvel I found it unlikely that even Schaefer, among the most effective guys in the recreation, could transform the system that substantially?
But, here we are. The two best 140-pound fighters worldwide will indeed do fight on September 14 before Mayweather takes the stage. Just like that, an event that guaranteed to be amongst the biggest pay-per-view spectaculars of perpetuity threw its hat in the wedding band to be amongst the best also.
The battle, Schaefer stated, has actually currently damaged the Nevada document for ticket sales, going beyond $19.5 million, with tens of countless closed-circuit tickets anticipated to move rapidly in the days prior to the fight too. While he feels positive that they will certainly damage the total revenue generated by Mayweather-De La Hoya, he cut short of predicting a record-setting number of buys.
?I do not intend to be that vibrant,? Schaefer stated, maybe actually. Nevertheless, including a marquee fight to an already sold-out show is just one of the boldest relocate current boxing history and a legacy-making move for Schaefer and his partners, the most effective promoters in boxing.
Source: http://www.topsportsup.com/boxing-matthysse-vs-garcia-propel-floyd-news-review/
nba trade rumors desean jackson 2012 ncaa tournament schedule laurent robinson dantoni black and tan dwight howard trade
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Kody: 'Sister Wives' are not pushing polygamy
TV 
2 hours ago
Kyle Christy / TLC
The Brown family, from left, Christine, Meri, Janelle, Robyn and Kody.
The fourth season of TLC's "Sister Wives" is about to kick off, and that means there's more drama on the way for the Brown family.
Even though Kody Brown and his four wives ? Meri, Janelle, Christine and Robyn ? have been open about how they live their lives for some time now, there are still those who have big problems with the polygamous family and aren't shy about saying so. In fact, on the upcoming season premiere, the family travels to St. George, Utah, and find themselves in the midst of some of those unwelcoming faces.
It's no surprise that there are some in St. George who have a particular problem when the topic of polygamy comes up. The community is located close the FLDS headquarters, a base for a group of Mormon Fundamentalists who embrace polygamy and have been embroiled in many scandals involving child marriages, child abuse and incest. St. George is also the town in which FLDS president Warren Jeffs was once tried and convicted of being an accomplice to the rape (a conviction later overturned) before going on to be convicted of two counts of sexual assault of a child in Texas. (Jeffs is currently serving a life sentence for his crimes.)
While the Brown family practices a very different sort of polygamy than that seen in Jeffs' church, it's a difference that's lost on some. That's why Robyn felt so much trepidation about returning to the area, as she explains in this clip from the "Sister Wives" premiere that TLC shared exclusively with TODAY.com.
"I remember in high school, actually, teachers would make derogatory comments about polygamists," she said. "I kept my nose down and I hid who I was because of this."
The family actually encountered a wide range of reactions on the trip, as the full episode will reveal on Sunday night, including one very negative reaction.
TODAY.com recently spoke to Browns about that and asked them how they felt about encountering such rejection.
"I just feel like we live in a world of diversity, and we've chosen how to structure our family," Kody explained. "And we are not pushing it on other people. We don?t even push it on our children."
It's a live-and-let-live attitude he'd like to see from others.
"We kind of anticipate that we'd really appreciate the same kind of tolerance," Kody said.
Things are much different back in their new hometown of Las Vegas. There, the family has found tolerance.
"It's been the land of opportunity," Christine told TODAY.com. "I know that seems weird when you talk about Vegas. We usually refer to it as Sin City, but because of the diversity of the culture, it's actually worked in our benefit. You know, our children aren't expected to be anything but good people ? just because of the diversity. ... As far as the ladies goes, (we have) more friends than we've ever had before. People are welcoming and it's really, really sweet."
And for the kids in school, it's a far cry from the environment Robyn recalled in the episode.
"They've been fully embraced, and they can embrace their brothers and sisters (publicly)," Janelle said. "It is true that we have two or three children in the same grade. We actually have multiple children graduating from high school every year for the next 10 years, pretty much. So the teachers in the school are very well aware of who we are because they have so many of the children."
See how the Browns' trip to St. George plays out and find out more about life back home on the season premiere of "Sister Wives," Sunday at 9 p.m. on TLC.
Pia Zadora chicago blackhawks Alexandra Lenas Secret Life of the American Teenager zynga PNC Bank floyd mayweather
Cape Cod camp pairs military families, horses
FALMOUTH ? Through a bit of horsing around, military families that attend a new camp will have the opportunity to tackle the deployment-related challenges they face.
"It's about being together as a family ... and being with families who are going through the same thing," said Kerry Bickford, of Marstons Mills, coordinator of the Cape Cod chapter of the nonprofit Operation Military Kids.
Families in Transition Camp will run for a week in August. Along with support groups and shared dinners, it will feature daily time with the horses at Smithfield Farm in East Falmouth.
After running a children's-only horse camp last year, interest from other family members led camp organizers to open it to other ages this year. "There are still so many families experiencing a deployment around here," Bickford said.
More than 700 children on the Cape and Islands are affected by the "deployment cycle," meaning they have a family member recently returned, currently deployed or preparing to deploy, according to data compiled by Operation Military Kids.
The August camp has space for 30 people, and preference will be given to families with members currently deployed or those who have recently returned.
Although it feels like play, spending time with the horses can actually be beneficial, camp organizers said.
"Working with horses is so magical ... they sense your anxiety, and they calm you down," Cynthia Jones, of Mashpee, founder of the nonprofit organization Heroes in Transition, said. Her group is helping to pay for the $295 per-person cost for the camp, which is offered at no charge to the families attending.
When the group got involved with Operation Military Kids, Jones ? whose son, Marine Capt. Eric Jones, was killed in Afghanistan in 2009 ? visited the stables and immediately felt better. "Carrying the grief and everything else ... life is a challenge. But going up to them, to nuzzle with them, it really is therapy," she said.
Smithfield Farm has an equine therapy program for physically and emotionally disabled people that includes work with a therapist and the gentle, intelligent American paint horses, owner Jan Foster said.
At last year's Operation Military Kids camp, many children started the week "frozen in their footsteps" at the sight of the large animals. But by the end, they were sending pictures to their deployed family members of their new friends. "You can see them just beginning to relax," she said.
big ten tournament big east tournament 2012 solar storm spanx solar flares mary j blige gcb
Sony Xperia Z Ultra priced at US$799 for Hong Kong launch
?
Sony Xperia Z Ultra gets Hong Kong pricing, launches end July
The 6.4-inch Sony Xperia Z Ultra has been priced at US$799 for its Hong Kong launch text at the end of this month, which buys the 3G HSPA+ model (C6802/XL39h). The 4G LTE version (C6833) is also available on launch for $824, which puts the model at the very high end of the smartphone segment. Although not yet formally priced for the North American market, its Asian pricing is indicative of what it will cost when it launches this quarter.
The Xperia Z Ultra has taken the title of the world?s largest smartphone from Samsung, which briefly held the title with its Galaxy Mega 6.3. It is also being marketed as the ?world?s thinnest? full high-definition smartphone at 0.27-inches (6.5mm), making it a genuine contender in the ?phablet? segment that is currently dominated by Samsung?s Galaxy Note lineup. In addition to its Triluminos display, the Xperia Z Ultra is also able to support text input from lead pencil?s and regular pens.
It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC clocked at 2.2GHz, which incorporates an Adreno 330, while onboard storage is 16GB and can be expanded by a microSD card up to 64GB. The Ultra also incorporates an 8-megapixel camera with a mobile Exmor RS sensor and sound enhancements including Sony?s ClearAudio+ and Xlound tech. Like Sony?s other flagship devices for 2013, it is also water resistant. A US launch date is yet to be set, but it will hit the UK mid-September. [via Xperia Blog]
By Electronista Staff
viktor bout ncaa hockey role models ferdinand porsche gregg williams theraflu joe avezzano
Google bringing ?Chromoting? to Android, eventually
Chances are, you can already tell from the headline if this news is of any interest to you or not. If you?re deeply invested in Chrome or you frequently work with people who are, this is a big deal. Or at least, it will be.
Developer Fran?ois Beaufort pointed out an interesting snippet of text in a commit to the Chromium code base that mentions ?[adding] the beginnings of a Chromoting Android app.? While this certainly sounds cool, it doesn?t do a whole lot at the moment. From the description in the repo:
Currently, this has only the following capabilities:
- Authenticate using a Google account on the phone
- Query and display the host list from the Chromoting directory server
- Connect to and communicate with the host service over XMPP/ICE
- Establish peer-to-peer channels for communicating with the host service
Notable missing features are:- Display the host?s desktop
- Handle any kind of input
That?s developer-speak for ?right now it doesn?t do anything.? Even so, the groundwork is being put in place for what could be both very useful to certain people and just plain cool.
If you want to take a look at what this could end up being like, there is no shortage of remote desktop apps available in the Google Play Store. There is also the Chrome Remote Desktop for (your guessed it) Google Chrome, which could give a hint as to how this ?Chromoting? app could work.
Does this sound like something you would use? Or is it better left to hardcore nerds and developers?
bachelor justin timberlake gerard butler danielle fishel daylight savings Daylight Savings Time 2013 DeAndre Jordan
Islamist-Kurdish fighting spreads in rebel-held Syria
By Erika Solomon
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Clashes between Islamist rebel forces and Kurdish militias spread to a second Syrian province on Saturday, activists said, as factional tensions rose in the north of the country.
The fighting is further evidence that the 2011 uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's rule has splintered into turf wars that have little to do with ousting him and highlight the risk of regionalized conflicts that could have an impact on neighboring countries.
The new round of fighting broke out in Tel Abyad, a border town near Turkey in the rebel-held Raqqa province. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said clashes began after Kurdish militias in the area discovered fighters from an al Qaeda-linked rebel group trying to rig one of their bases with explosives.
The Kurds retaliated by kidnapping several fighters, including the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham, one of the most powerful Qaeda-affiliated forces fighting in Syria.
The country's revolt has transformed from a peaceful protest movement into a civil war that has killed more than 100,000 people and become increasingly sectarian.
Syria's marginalized Sunni Muslim majority has largely backed the rebellion against four decades of Assad family rule. Minorities such as Assad's own Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, have largely supported the president.
Syria's ethnic Kurdish minority, meanwhile, has been alternately battling both Assad's forces and the rebels. Kurds argue they are backers of the revolt but rebels accuse them of making deals with the government in order to ensure their security and autonomy during the conflict.
Divided between Iran, Turkey, Iraq and Syria, the Kurdish people are often described as the largest ethnic group without a state of their own.
Activists also reported on Saturday a rare eruption of clashes between Assad's forces and rebels in the coastal province of Tartous, an Alawite enclave and Assad stronghold with only a few pockets of revolt.
The fighting broke out near the Sunni town of Banias, the site of a massacre of dozens of people only a few months earlier when militias loyal to Assad stormed the area after a rebel attack on their fighters.
COUNTER-ATTACKS
An activist from the area said Assad's forces launched a new assault after discovering more rebels operating in the area.
The Observatory reported a massing of security forces and militias loyal to Assad both near Banias and the Sunni village of Bayda, which was also the site of a massacre of dozens just days before the Banias killings.
Assad's forces have been on the offensive the past two months after a string of victories. They are trying to cement control of a belt of territory between the capital Damascus and his Alawite stronghold on the Mediterranean coast.
Security sources have said Assad's next move will be to push on to rebel-held territories near the border areas of northern and southern Syria, for which they are slowly trying to build up forces in the area.
Assad's offensive has been dogged by rebel counter-attacks in the north, even as a string of government victories elsewhere in Syria has shifted the battlefield tide in his favor after more than two years of bloodshed.
Activists said opposition forces advanced on the northern town of Khan al-Assal on Saturday and appeared close to seizing one of the last towns in western part of Aleppo province still held by Assad's forces.
Elsewhere in northern Syria, Assad's forces launched a third day of heavy air strikes on the town of Saraqeb in Idlib province.
Some activists suggested the army may be trying to hammer areas near a critical road leading to Aleppo in order to distract the rebels and bring in supplies to its forces.
Rebels have been blockading government-held areas in Aleppo city, Syria's largest urban centre. Aleppo has been mired in a bloody stalemate since rebels launched an offensive in the province last year.
Hardline Islamist rebels also appear to be leading the fight to seize Khan al-Assal. Western powers such as the United States are alarmed about the rising power of radical Islamist groups, particularly since Washington has pledged to offer military support to Assad's opponents.
No military aid has been given yet due to political deadlock over the Islamist issue in the U.S. Congress.
"Perhaps the Islamists are trying to stay out of the spotlight. They've been regrouping and naming themselves with numbers, things like 'the 9th Division' and so on, but these are the same Islamist radical groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham or the Islamic Front to Liberate Syria," one opposition activist said, declining to be named.
(Editing by Alison Williams)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-rebels-advance-northern-army-held-town-150057342.html
beyonce lottery Preakness results justin bieber John Hurt taylor swift taylor swift
Friday, July 19, 2013
Why's 'Teen Wolf' Star Tyler Posey Rocking Nipple Tattoos At Comic-Con?
'My nipples have been too bare for too long,' Posey said, lifting his shirt.
By Ryan J. Downey, with reporting by Steven Smith
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1710861/teen-wolf-tyler-posey-nipple-tattoo-comic-con.jhtml
Doc Rivers Under the Dome Naked and Afraid Demi Lovato Patrice Bergeron Adrien Broner Anna Kendrick
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Captain of cruise liner disaster seeks new plea deal
By Gabriele Pileri and Silvia Ognibene
GROSSETO, Italy (Reuters) - Lawyers for Francesco Schettino, captain of the shipwrecked Costa Concordia cruise liner, will again request a plea deal in a trial over the disaster in which 32 people died, his defense said on Wednesday.
Schettino faces charges including manslaughter and causing the loss of his ship in the accident in January 2012 when the huge liner struck a rock off the picturesque island of Giglio and keeled onto its side, setting off a chaotic night evacuation of more than 4,000 passengers and crew.
Defense lawyer Donato Laino told reporters Schettino would offer to plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of three years and five months, which would allow the complex trial to be resolved more quickly. A previous offer to serve three years and four months was rejected in May.
Five other officials - four ship's officers and the crisis coordinator of the vessel's owners, Costa Cruises - were allowed to present plea bargains for more lenient sentences, with a ruling expected on July 20.
Schettino's lawyers at the trial, which resumed on Wednesday in the town of Grosseto on Italy's west coast after a delay due to a lawyers' strike earlier this month, said he was not the only one to blame for the disaster.
"He has never shied away from his responsibilities. But it is only fair that he is treated justly," another defense lawyer, Francesco Pepe, told reporters outside the courthouse.
"He was the captain, it is right that for certain things he should be the point of reference. But it is not right to blame him for responsibilities that he did not have," he added.
Schettino, 52, is accused of abandoning ship before all crew and passengers had been rescued.
His lawyers argue that he prevented an even worse disaster by steering the 290 meter (950 foot) vessel into shallow waters after the impact and that he was thrown overboard due to the angle of the leaning ship.
"We expect that right from the first we will finally get to the bottom of things and finally understand what really happened that night," Pepe said.
The trial began on July 9 but was immediately suspended because lawyers involved were taking part in a nationwide strike against measures to streamline civil trials.
PLEA BARGAIN
Wednesday's hearing is expected to focus on requests by various people and institutions including Costa Crociere Spa and the Italian Environment Ministry, who wish to be represented as plaintiffs, before the main arguments begin later in the week.
They include Domnica Cemortan, a young Moldovan woman who was at the time a friend of Schettino and was on the liner's bridge when the collision occurred. Prosecutors plan to call her as a witness.
"I hope the truth will come out and the guilty are found responsible for this accident," Cemortan told reporters outside the court. "I'm a passenger like the others."
Costa Cruises, a unit of Carnival Corp, agreed to pay a 1 million euro ($1.29 million) fine to settle potential criminal charges in April. That means that for now Schettino is the only person facing trial.
But Daniele Bocciolini, a lawyer representing victims, said last week he hoped investigations would show that the trial should be widened to include all those responsible.
As the court proceedings got under way, salvagers said they hoped to pull the vessel upright in September despite risks that it could break up.
Senior salvage master Nicholas Sloane said he expected some of the "minor structural elements" of the ship could collapse.
"There will be a lot of deformation," he said. "It's almost like a body with a spinal injury, you need to support the neck as she rolls over."
(Writing by Naomi O'Leary and James Mackenzie; Editing by Barry Moody and Alistair Lyon)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/captain-cruise-liner-disaster-seeks-plea-deal-144205140.html
cyber monday lupus iCarly banana republic gap Victoria Secret Bath And Body Works
Sports Stars And Hollywood Elite Walk The Red Carpet For 2013 ESPYS
There was plenty of star power on the red carpet Wednesday night (July 17) as some of the biggest names in the sports and entertainment worlds arrived at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles for the ESPY awards.
Basketball MVP LeBron James, "Mad Men's" Jon Hamm and pop star Selena Gomez were among the eclectic group to walk the red carpet.
"It is an evening of celebrating what we've accomplished throughout our careers and this past year," explained tennis champion Maria Sharapova. "It is so rare, that we never get the chance to sit down in one room and get to see the the video montages of the plays and the beautiful moments of all the different athletes, present and receive awards for their accomplishments. It is all very special."
The ESPYs, in their 21st year, are given out by ESPN to the best athletes, plays, teams and moments in sports, and are attended annually not just by top athletes but Hollywood stars.
"I just met Gabrielle Union and she was with Dwayne Wade." said an excited Gabrielle Douglas, the gold medal winning gymnast. "I love them both and that was my first time meeting her and she is amazing."
This year's ESPYS were hosted by actor Jon Hamm with stars Ben Affleck, Kevin Bacon, Don Cheadle, Selena Gomez and Sharapova acting as presenters. The show also featured a musical performance by the band Vintage Trouble.
The Miami Heat were the big winners of the night as they were honored as the year's Best Team for the second consecutive year. While star LeBron James won for Best Championship Performance, Best NBA Player and Best Male Athlete. This marks the second consecutive year that LeBron James won all three of those awards.
Swimmer Michael Phelps collected the award for Best Record-Breaking Performance for setting the all-time record for most Olympic medals with 22. (He also won this award in 2009.)
Video Credit: Reuters
Source: http://tv.ibtimes.com/sports-stars-and-hollywood-elite-walk-red-carpet-2013-espys-12709
dont trust the b in apartment 23 johnny damon kirk cameron news 10 hillary rosen j.k. rowling j.k. rowling
How to Stop Your Bad Eating Habits | Body Health ? Bodybuilding ...
B?? eating habits ?? ?n issue widely discussed nowadays. It ?? n?t ?n?? th? lack ?f w??? power th?t m?k?? ?? over indulge, th?r? ?r? many ?th?r habits th?t ??? possess unconsciously wh??h m?k? ??? gain weight. Y?? don?t even know wh??h habit ?f yours contributes th? m??t t? ???r b?? health. Many a times w? don?t even realize h?w ??r diet ?? being affected b? ??r b?? eating habits. Through th? r??ht information ??? ??n change ???r eating habits f?r th? better ?n? live a healthier life.
1 D? n?t try t? restrict yourself a lot b?????? ??? w??? ?n? up collapsing; crash dieting rarely works. Give yourself th? permission t? consume one t? two snacks a day; th?? ????? b? between 100 t? 300 calories each. Ty t? avoid cookies ?r chips, instead eat something more substantial, nutritious ?n? filling. Y?? ????? opt f?r a sandwich ?r nuts. D? n?t deny yourself th??? pleasures.
2. Th? m??t ?m??rt?nt rule ?? t? ???w down. Take ?n small bites ?n? chew slowly. Those people, wh? eat f??t, tend t? eat more. It doesn?t give th? brain a chance t? recognize th?t ??? ?r? full. Try t? stay away fr?m finger foods ?? th?? ??t f?n??h?? quickly ?n? give ??? th? feeling th?t ??? h??? eaten less. Keep ?n mind t? ??? small plates instead ?f eating fr?m a dish. Keep drinking water throughout th? day ?? ?t w??? ???? keep ??? full ?n? hydrated. M?k? healthier choices ??k? eating salads ?? th?? w??? keep ??? full f?r longer without adding ?n extra pounds.
3 Try t? analyze ???r eating pattern. Ar? ??? ?n emotional eater ?r n?t? If ??? eat under stress ?r pressure t? distract yourself, ??? ?r? ?n f?r tr??b??. Try t? keep yourself occupied ?n ?th?r healthy activities ??k? walking ?r ??m? ?th?r hobby. If ??? w?r? habitual ?f eating junk ?n earlier life, ??? ?r? prone t? seeking comfort fr?m ?t now. Y??r focus ?h???? b? ?n solving th? problem instead ?f hiding fr?m ?t b? diving ?nt? tubs ?f ice-cream ?r Mac n cheese. Y?? ???? need t? consider ???r social eating habits. M?k? plans wh??h revolve around ?th?r activities besides food. If ??? ???n a ??t together, eating shouldn?t b? ?t? main purpose.
4 Try t? remain persistent. It ?? n?t easy t? br??k a habit ?n? m??ht take ??m? time. Many people find ?t difficult t? resist th? urge ?f eating junk food. Try t? m?k? ??tt?? changes ??k? keeping healthier stuff ?n ???r pantry.
Related Articles:
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.Source: http://mybodyhealth.net/how-to-stop-your-bad-eating-habits/
NBA Playoffs 2013 Watertown Boston npr Oblivion Hemlock Grove Boston Bomber Death Photo Fox
Whaling arguments between Japan and Australia continue
Jul 16th, 2013 ?
Bernadette Carreon ? Fourth Estate Cooperative Contributor
Tokyo, Japan (4E) ? Japan said that Australia has committed an affront to its national dignity as presentation of arguments continue over controversial whaling program at the international court of justice in The Hague.
According to Japanese media Australia has accused Japan of using scientific research , a loophole that allows them to conduct commercial whaling. Australia is asking the court to revoke the Japanese fleet?s whaling license.
Japan has killed more than 10,000 whales since the IWC ban went into force, although its fleet has returned to port with only a fraction of their intended catch in recent years, following confrontations with Sea Shepherd.
Akhavan said Japan had decided not to leave the IWC because it preferred to settle the whaling dispute peacefully and according to the rule of law.
The 16-judge ICJ panel is expected to issue a ruling later this year. When the hearings opened late last month, the Australian attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, said he was confident that the court would ban the hunts before the next hunting season begins at the end of the year.
Source: http://www.zeibiz.com/2013/07/whaling-arguments-between-japan-and-australia-continue/
black friday deals Sephora Cyber Monday 2012 Walmart.com detroit lions Thanksgiving Day cooking a turkey
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Conservatives who oppose immigration bill see issue as opportunity to connect with black Democrats
WASHINGTON ? By the time Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King reached the top of Capitol Hill after leading a mile-long walk across Washington, his blue oxford shirt was drenched in sweat.
?I may be the only one here today that is actually happy that it?s going to be 100 degrees in Washington, D.C.,? King told a crowd of several hundred gathered near the U.S Capitol Monday to protest federal immigration reform.
?No you?re not!? a man in the audience yelled back. ?I like it hot!?
?It?s the sweat of American workers that have built this country,? King went on. ?So I think it?s all together fitting and proper that we should sweat here today as we stand up for the American workers.?
A half-hour before, King had kicked off the demonstration across town at Freedom Plaza ? the same patch of concrete where a faction of Occupy Wall Street had pitched tents nearly two years before ? to protest efforts to overhaul the nation?s immigration laws.
After railing against the immigration bill in his brief speech earlier that day, King sped through the crowd, leapt over a concrete barrier and took a spot at the front of the group. He led the group down the center of Pennsylvania Avenue toward the Capitol while chanting ?Close the Border! Now!? and ?No Amnesty!?
The protesters on Monday, bused into town from several states, represent the most staunch hardliners against immigration reform. In Congress, the Senate passed a bill last month with bipartisan support that would offer lawful status to unauthorized immigrants and increase border security, and the House is taking up its own immigration legislation later this year. Many who joined the march said they oppose any legislation on immigration and want to see current laws enforced and unauthorized immigrants sent back to their home countries. They waved American flags, wore red shirts with the words ?Protect American Jobs: No Amnesty? printed across their chests and held massive signs that read things like ?DEPORT.?
To the outside observer, the march had the traditional look of a tea party rally: the Gadsden flags; the aging baby boomers wearing red, white and blue T-shirts with fold-up lawn chairs; the homemade signs. But this event wasn?t cobbled together by the usual suspects behind tea party rallies. At the helm this time was an organization called the ?Black American Leadership Alliance,? a group of longtime activists working to rally African Americans against the immigration effort that has connections to the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a nativist, anti-immigration organization. Its primary message: that low-wage immigrants threaten jobs of black workers.
![](http://l.yimg.com/os/mit/media/m/base/images/transparent-1093278.png "Demonstrator at "DC March for Jobs" on July 15, 2013. (Chris Moody/Yahoo News)"){kind=spacer}
Demonstrator at "DC March for Jobs" on July 15, 2013. (Chris Moody/Yahoo News)
The fusion of tea party regulars and black protesters ? many who voted for President Barack Obama and are registered Democrats ? made for an unlikely pair during the daylong rally, but it shined a light on how some conservatives view the immigration debate as a rare opportunity to join some in the black community against an issue.
Throughout the day Monday, event speakers and rally-goers made intentional efforts to make black leaders part their arguments against the immigration bill.
During the march toward Capitol Hill, one white demonstrator shouted toward three black men unaffiliated with the event who were sitting on a park bench.
?Black young men need jobs!? she yelled toward them. The trio sat still and stared back in silence as the woman and other demonstrators filed past them.
Later, during the rally, speakers made a point to name-drop civil rights heroes and black leaders. Names like W.E.B Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, Martin Luther King Jr. and Frederick Douglas were staples in many of the speeches.
King, for instance, quoted Abraham Lincoln and emphasized his own family's role as fighters for the North in the Civil War.
?My family on my mother?s side of the family were abolitionists. They helped form the Republican Party. They paid their price,? King said, mentioning an ancestor who had been killed in the Civil War. Reaching into his sweat-drenched breast pocket, King pulled out a small copy of the New Testament that he said a relative carried with him during the war. ?I?m sure there was a lot of sweat on it from all the time he marched to put an end to slavery to emancipate people. Because he believed profoundly, and we believe today, that we are all God?s children created in his image.?
(He also took a moment to point out that he was the owner of ?a tape of Whitney Houston.? )
Another speaker, Allen West, the black Republican former congressman from Florida, alluded to Rosa Parks to argue that the federal government would prefer foreign workers in passing the Senate?s version of immigration reform.
?Oh, you don?t believe or respect our laws? That?s OK, just come on in, and we?ll tell Americans to take the back seat,? West said, providing his translation of the bill. ?Americans ride in the front seat of this bus!?
The crowd, both white and black, cheered them on.
The rally, of course, does not represent some kind of turning point for black voters or prove that they will suddenly vote for the Republican Party. (More than 90 percent voted for Obama last year.) But it does provide insights into how some of the most conservative Republicans are attempting to woo black voters on the issue, even while they struggle to find common ground elsewhere.
Some of the black demonstrators said after the rally that it was the first time they had cheered for politicians like King and West.
Two siblings at the the rally, Courtney and Brandee Reddix, both black Democrats who traveled by bus from Los Angeles, said that immigration was something they could rally around, at least for now, even though they disagreed with conservatives on most issues.
?I recognize this is a more conservative rally, but we are working toward one singular issue,? Courtney said.
?We?re with him on the amnesty issue, but on other issues we differ,? Brandee added. ?We can have different ideological values and still agree on this one issue. We?ll still have things to work out once this is settled.?
Steve Sabol Yom Kippur 2012 Aaron Paul packers Dancing With The Stars All Stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt space shuttle
Monday, July 15, 2013
Suncor Energy thanks Canadians for supporting Alberta flood relief
CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - July 12, 2013) - Suncor Energy is thanking Canadians who have donated more than 70 million Petro-Points to the Canadian Red Cross - Alberta Floods Fund. The Petro-Points matching program is part of the $1.5 million flood-relief program announced by Suncor which also included donations to the Calgary Foundation, the United Way Emergency Fund and the Bridges Foundation.
Through the program, Canadians have given more than $70,000 which will be matched by Petro-Canada, a Suncor Energy business, until July 14. Canadians can continue to contribute Petro-Points to the Canadian Red Cross - Alberta Floods Fund until July 31 by visiting www.petro-canada.ca.
"The outpouring of support and generosity from coast to coast demonstrates the true spirit of Canadians," said Steve Williams, Suncor president and chief executive officer. "We developed a comprehensive flood-relief program that is delivering dollars to organizations that have expertise in getting funds to those who need it the most."
Suncor's flood-relief program focused on providing support in four areas: the immediate response, re-entry programs, recovery activity and rebuilding efforts. The funding and program has been administered through the Suncor Energy Foundation (SEF).?Suncor, through SEF, will continue to support Alberta flood relief efforts.
Canadians supported a number of Suncor matching programs, including:?
- Red Cross - Alberta Floods?Fund: Suncor employees and retiree donations have exceeded $100,000, with?Suncor matching donations.?
- The Calgary Foundation -?Flood Rebuilding Fund: individual donations to the Calgary Foundation,?with Suncor matching $150,000.?
- The Calgary Arts Foundation:?individual donations to the Calgary Arts Foundation, with Suncor matching?$50,000.
In the spirit of Canadians supporting Canadians, Suncor will be contributing to the Red Cross - Lac-M?gantic Support Fund and opening the Petro-Points Red Cross donation program early next week.
Suncor Energy and the Suncor Energy Foundation (SEF) have a proud history helping build sustainable communities through collaborative partnerships that enhance the quality of life in key operating areas. Over the past 10 years, Suncor and the SEF have invested more than $110 million in charitable and non profit organizations across Canada and internationally. The SEF is a private, charitable foundation established to receive Suncor's contributions and support registered Canadian charitable organization.
Suncor Energy is Canada's leading integrated energy company. Suncor's operations include oil sands development and upgrading, conventional and offshore oil and gas production, petroleum refining, and product marketing under the Petro-Canada brand. While working to responsibly develop petroleum resources, Suncor is also developing a growing renewable energy portfolio. Suncor's common shares (symbol: SU) are listed on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges
For more information about Suncor Energy please visit our web site at suncor.com, follow us on Twitter @SuncorEnergy or read our blog, OSQAR.
2013 Super Bowl Commercials joe flacco Go Daddy Superbowl Commercial 2013 michael oher superbowl score ray lewis alicia keys
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Diseases/Conditions News Headlines - Yahoo! News
Source: http://rss.news.yahoo.com/rss/diseases
Danielle Bradbery kate spade danny green danny green Magna Carta Holy Grail true blood fathers day
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)