Liberty Newspost Mar-16-2012

Curated News Edition
- 16/03/12
http://www.LibertyNewspost.com
Apple grows on iPad demand, but can the bubble burst?

RT (News RSS : Today)
most striking statistic, probably, is that Apple alone is worth more Submitted at 3/16/2012 10:39:17 AM than three other high-tech giants People try the new iPad on the Microsoft, Intel and Cisco first day it went on sale around combined. the world March 16, 2012 in New While masterminds at Apples York City (AFP Photo / Spencer base in Cupertino, California Platt) uncorked champagne to celebrate The world is back into mile-long the companys leap over the halfqueues besieging Apple Stores as trillion mark it is only the 6th the 3rd generation iPad hits the time in history that any company market. Apples value soared to has managed to achieve this feat over $500 billion, but is it an some media have already started apple-flavored bubble soon to comparing the technological giant burst. with countries.Apple is worth -Even before the new iPad more than Poland has been a became available, Apples worth p o p u l a r h e a d l i n e i n t h e hit an astonishing 559 billion technologies and finance sections dollars, making it the worlds of global newspapers. At first most valuable company. It is now glance, the idea may be right worth almost 90 billion dollars Polands current GDP stands at m o r e t h a n t h e o i l g i a n t around 470 billion dollars. ExxonMobil. In the first three Apples net worth is 36 billion months of 2012, Apples shares more and if it were a state, it went up by more than 30 percent, could have been the worlds 20th and have grown a staggering 4500 biggest economy. per cent over the last decade. The Vladimir Rozhankovskiy, content] [unable to retrieve full-text
director of the analysis department at Nord Capital believes such comparison may not be the most accurate. "Certainly, everything has its price. And, say, one gram of caesium costs more than a Maserati sports car if we compare their worth. But in the case of GDP, it is a very relative number. It depends on whether it is judged on the products and services revenue itself or on the domestic markets capitalization. And in the case of Poland with its narrow market its hard to say what actual GDP number will be there. Moreover, a companys worth is estimated from current and future sales. Which means Polands GDP would have to be multiplied by its potential growth rate and that could be by 5 times if it were to be compared with Apple. But all comparisons aside, Apple is still a huge company with [unable to retrieve full-text
probably the hottest shares on the market. But not so attractive for everyone, as some analysts believe Steve Jobs creation could within years become another financial bubble to burst. Latest market research in Asia says its interest towards the proposed iPhone5 is waning. Competition especially with Samsung and its Galaxy Note is stronger than ever. But Apple now doesnt have Steve Jobs the genius who generated ideas for the peoples needs. Now it doesnt have the man to take it forward and, I think, it will now only modernize its products, not innovate as before. Thats why I would not buy an Apple share now says Vladimir Rozhankovskiy. Moreover, Vladimir says, Apple belongs to the Nasdaq index one of the three most volatile indexes across the Atlantic. It may be on the rise now, but software giant content]
Microsoft provides a clear example of how things could go wrong. Back in 2000, it became the most valuable company of alltimes, estimated at staggering 600 billion dollars. Now it stands at less than half of that 266 billion. So a comparison between a countrys economy and a multibillion corporation may seem inaccurate and out-of-place to some. But they do have one thing in common just like a prosperous state can witness a sudden economic crisis, any companys shares can free-fall at any time. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Headline/
More than 100 homes damaged by Mich. tornado

(USATODAY.com Feed)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 10:11:16 AM
DEXTER, Mich. A solitary hand stuck out of the rubble of a home destroyed when a tornado ripped through a Michigan village leaving more than 100 homes in splinters. Find your local weather with The Weather Channel zip-code lookup: By Kimberly P. Mitchell, Detroit Free Press A tornado leaves a home damaged Thursday in Dexter, Mich. By Kimberly P. Mitchell, Detroit Free Press A tornado leaves a home damaged Thursday in Dexter, Mich. The first officer on the scene, Washtenaw County Sheriff's Deputy Ray Yee, reached for the hand and pulled out an elderly man who was shaken but able to walk. "That's the best part," Yee said. "Every place I went to, I would have thought I would have found somebody laying there deceased or whatever. But, knock on wood, everybody was OK." Initial estimates indicate the tornado that hit Dexter, northwest of Ann Arbor, Thursday evening was packing winds of around 135 mph, National Weather Service
meteorologist Steven Freitag said Friday. He said it was on the ground for about a half hour and plowed a path about 10 miles long. There were no reports of serious injuries or fatalities, authorities said. If the Dexter tornado attains an "EF3" rating, it would be the earliest "3 or stronger" rated tornado for the state of Michigan and the first ever in Washtenaw County before June, according to Weather Channel meteorologist Jonathan Erdman. An EF3 tornado has winds of 136 mph. Damage survey teams from the weather service will be in the area Friday to determine the tornado's rating. The storm, which flooded roads and tossed trees, was part of a slow-moving system packing large hail, heavy rain and high winds. Gusts downed power lines, sparking fires. Thursday was an active day for severe weather in the Midwest and Ohio Valley region. The Storm Prediction Center received more than 200 reports of severe weather on Thursday, mostly for hail and high winds. There were three tornadoes reported in Michigan on Thursday. Temperatures soared well into the upper 70s across southern
Michigan, more than 30 degrees above normal for the date, according to AccuWeather meteorologist Meghan Evans. The warm, moist air in place on Thursday helped to fuel thunderstorms capable of spawning tornadoes. "A tornado near Detroit is about as rare of an event as you can get in March," said AccuWeather meteorologist Henry Margusity. There is no severe weather forecast Michigan on Friday, according to the weather service. The weather service is predicting a slight risk of severe thunderstorms and isolated tornadoes over the southern High Plains Friday afternoon and evening. Conditions are favorable for widely scattered thunderstorm development by late this afternoon from western Texas into southwestern Oklahoma. In Michigan, sheriff's spokesman Derrick Jackson said 105 homes were significantly damaged in two neighborhoods of the hard-hit village and the surrounding area,
and 13 were destroyed. Crews were assessing the damage. On Friday, Gov. Rick Snyder expressed thanks for the local and state authorities that responded swiftly to the storms. State troopers assisted local authorities, his office said, but there haven't yet been any requests for state emergency aid. About two dozen homes in Sharon Carty's Huron Farms neighborhood "are pretty much unlivable," she said. "One house, the whole front of the house is gone. Folks whose houses were hit are pretty stunned. We don't get too many tornados around here." She saw no evidence of any injuries. Carty, 38, said she and her family heard the first weather siren around 5:15 p.m. and were in their basement when the tornado struck. Their house was untouched. Jack Davidson, 63, said he was watching TV when he heard warning sirens go off near his home in Dexter, sending him and his wife to the basement. When they emerged, they didn't see much damage at first and thought the storm had spared the area. But one look across the street revealed a different reality: a flattened self-serve carwash was among the damaged structures.
"It's bad," Davidson said. "The pizza shop's bad. But the worst damage is to the carwash." Two blocks away, the twister didn't touch down. "I guess we were just lucky we were in the right spot," Davidson said. A sign that declares Dexter a "Tree City USA" community was bent and affixed to a telephone pole. Nearby, trees lay on the ground, rendering surrounding roads closed or impassable. Freitag said a weaker tornado was on the ground for 3 to 5 minutes in Monroe County's Ida Township. He estimated those winds at 80 to 90 mph. "We're getting absolutely hammered," Fire Capt. Jim Hemwall of Monroe County's Frenchtown Township said Thursday night. "We have funnel clouds spotted all around us." Hemwall said a house in the town of Exeter was struck by lightning and debris swirled around another in Monroe County's Dundee. A third possible tornado was reported in northwest Lapeer County, near Columbiaville. Authorities reported damage in a three-mile area there. The storm ripped a two-story home from its foundation, damaged barns and vehicles, and knocked down trees. MORE page 5
Headline/ Economy/
Cameroon losing battle to save elephants from poachers

(USATODAY.com Feed)
400 elephants have been killed. David Hoyle, the fund's conservation director in Cameroon, said the government Stringer photo, AFP/Getty had sent up to 150 soldiers into Images At least half of the 400 the national park on March 1 elephants in Cameroon's Bouba taking action after weeks of N'Djida National Park have been pressure from the fund and from killed recently by poachers. the European Union. Hoyle said at least another 20 Stringer photo, AFP/Getty elephants were slaughtered during Images the first week of the military At least half of the 400 elephants deployment. in Cameroon's Bouba N'Djida "We know there have been National Park have been killed c o n f r o n t a t i o n s b e t w e e n t h e recently by poachers. military and the poachers, we JOHANNESBURG (AP) don't have figures on how many Soldiers in Cameroon are losing have been arrested or killed," he t h e b a t t l e t o s a v e t h e l a s t said. elephants in a remote frontier park Hoyle said the soldiers had f r o m m a r a u d i n g h o r s e m e n confiscated 49 tusks, representing believed to be invading from 25 dead elephants. Sudan, the World Wildlife Fund This past year has seen an said Thursday. unprecedented increase in "The forces arrived too late to poaching of elephants for their save most of the park's elephants, tusks which are smuggled mainly and were too few to deter the to China and Thailand to make p o a c h e r s , " s a i d N a t a s h a ivory ornaments. Kofoworola Quist, director of the Wildlife activists blame China's fund's Central Africa program. " growing footprint in Africa for an WWF is disturbed by reports that unprecedented surge in poaching the poaching continues unabated elephants for their tusks. Most are in Bouba N'Djida National Park believed to be smuggled to China and that a soldier's life has been and Thailand to make ivory lost." ornaments. She said at least half of the park's Growing demand for ivory in
Submitted at 3/16/2012 10:13:28 AM
China is "the leading driver behind the illegal trade in ivory today," said Tom Milliken, an elephant and rhino expert for the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC. China has a legal ivory market that is supposed to be highly controlled but tons and tons of illegal ivory has made its way there in recent years, said the Zimbabwe-based Milliken, who spoke in a conference call with several World Wildlife Fund officers. Chinese middlemen among new immigrants to Africa have "cornered the market" for poached ivory, offering prices that have put thousands of Central African ivory carvers out of work. Ivory sales are banned in most countries since the 1980s under an international treaty to help conserve elephants. Kofoworola Quist said the World Wildlife Fund has for years been
warning Cameroon that its game rangers are not properly trained or equipped to address the scale, intensity and organized nature of the poaching. Heavily armed poachers are believed to come from Sudan and Chad, moving on horseback with herds of cattle and camels and sometimes crossing through Central African Republic. "They move 1,000 kilometers (more than 600 miles) on horseback to get to northern Cameroon because they have already wiped out the elephants of Chad and Central African Republic," said Richard Carroll, vice president of the U.S. chapter of WWF. Quist said the fund wants "a concrete assurance" from Cameroon's President Paul Biya "that he will do whatever is necessary to protect the remaining elephants in Bouba N'Djida, and to bring the killers to justice." The fund had urged Cameroon to engage the governments of Chad and Sudan in a coordinated response. "WWF has offered its assistance and is awaiting meaningful action from Cameroon and its neighbors," she said. Northern Cameroon's elephant
population represents 80 percent of the total population of savanna elephants in all of Central Africa. For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com. USA TODAY is now using Facebook Comments on our stories and blog posts to provide an enhanced user experience. To post a comment, log into Facebook and then "Add" your comment. To report spam or abuse, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box. To find out more, read the FAQ and Conversation Guidelines. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]
Headline/ Technology/
What effects the health care law has had and what's to come
(USATODAY.com Feed)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 10:46:07 AM
Two years after President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, some provisions have taken effect, while others still have two years to wait. By Dan MacMedan, USA TODAY Roxanne Gross, a mammography technologist, conducts a mammogram on a patient in September at UCLA. New health plans provide mammograms. By Dan MacMedan, USA TODAY Roxanne Gross, a mammography technologist, conducts a mammogram on a patient in September at UCLA. New health plans provide mammograms. In a recent poll by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, two in three Americans said they have not been affected by the law yet. Only 14% said they have benefited; 21% said they have been affected negatively. Here's a look at some provisions
with the broadest potential impact: Already in effect Pre-existing conditions. People uninsured for at least six months can join a new federal or state insurance plan. Children with preexisting conditions must be covered. Lifetime limits. Insurers cannot impose lifetime dollar limits on essential benefits, such as hospital services. More than 20,000 people hit their lifetime limits in 2009. Preventive care. All new health plans must provide certain preventive services, such as mammograms and colonoscopies, without deductibles or copayments. This affected about 54 million people in 2011. Young adults. About 2.5 million young adults without private insurance can stay on their parents' plans until they turn 26. Seniors. About 4 million seniors who reached the Medicare prescription drug coverage gap received a $250 rebate check in 2010. More than 3.5 million who hit the coverage gap in 2011 have received a 50% discount on brand -name drugs. More than 32
million seniors have received free preventive services, such as annual wellness visits. Early retirees. Employers are eligible for federal assistance to provide health coverage to early retirees not yet eligible for Medicare. Medicaid. States are eligible for federal aid to cover certain additional low-income individuals and families. Small business tax credits. Up to 4 million small businesses are eligible for federal tax credits if they offer insurance coverage to their workers. Health care costs. A study by Aon Hewitt estimates that the law raised costs by an average of 1.5% in 2011. Projection for 2012: 0.6%. Effective in 2014 and beyond
Insurance exchanges. Federal and state health insurance exchanges will offer a marketplace of insurance options for people without employer-sponsored coverage. Individual mandate. Most people will be required to buy insurance or pay a penalty. Pre-existing conditions. Insurers will be prohibited from denying coverage to anyone because of a pre-existing condition. Annual limits. Insurers issuing group plans and new individualmarket plans will be banned from imposing annual limits on essential benefits. Medicaid. The program will be open to Americans with incomes up to 133% of the federal poverty level now about $15,000 for individuals and $30,700 for a family of four. Tax credits. People with incomes up to 400% of poverty now about $44,680 for individuals and $92,200 for a family of four will be eligible for tax credits. Newly insured. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that by 2016, the law will increase the number of
Americans with health insurance by 30 million to 33 million. For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com. USA TODAY is now using Facebook Comments on our stories and blog posts to provide an enhanced user experience. To post a comment, log into Facebook and then "Add" your comment. To report spam or abuse, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box. To find out more, read the FAQ and Conversation Guidelines. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
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It packed wind gusts of up to 70 mph in Lapeer County and 2-inch hail, the weather service said. Survey teams from the weather service planned to be in Washtenaw, Monroe and Lapeer counties on Friday to examine the damage. Police closed all roads into Dexter as darkness fell Thursday, and emergency personnel were conducting a door-to-door search for injured residents, said Jackson, the Washtenaw sheriff's spokesman. People needing shelter for the night were directed to a local school. University of Michigan Health
System spokeswoman Kara Gavin said patients were moved into hallways and window blinds were closed in rooms. Gavin said there were no reports of damage in or around the Ann Arbor hospitals. The American Red Cross of Washtenaw and Lenawee counties planned to open a shelter at Mill Creek Middle School in Dexter and another in Ann Arbor, spokeswoman Jenni Hawes said. Hawes said anyone wanting to donate can contribute through the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund by calling (734) 971-5300 or online at www.wc-redcross.org. Contributing: Doyle Rice, USA
TODAY Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
China steps up E-Cat, Rossi: nella sua fusione control of Tibetan - greenMe.it monasteries - Los
(andrea rossi e-cat - Google News)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 7:22:16 AM
Angeles Times
(china - Google News)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:12:42 AM
E-Cat, Rossi: nella sua fusione greenMe.it E-Cat. Si torna a parlare della fusione fredda con Andrea Rossi. Di recente l'ingegnere ha rilasciato un'intervista aa ColdFusionNow, spiegando altri dettagli riguardo al suo lavoro, ma non riguardo all' E-Cat che fino alla fine rimarr un mistero.
Smells like Pope: His Holiness commissions custom-made perfume

the complete list of ingredients secret to prevent unauthorized copying of the Popes scent. Pope Benedict XVI (AFP Photo / His Holiness, the Head of the Andreas Solaro) Roman Catholic Church will be P o p e B e n e d i c t X V I h a s the only person to wear this commissioned a signature scent fragrance."I would not ever repeat just for him. His Holiness custom the same perfume for another -made eau de cologne will convey c u s t o m e r , " C a s o l i t o l d t h e his love to nature, peace and G u a r d i a n n e w s p a p e r . tranquillity. However she still named a few Famed Italian perfume maker ingredients. Notes of lime tree, Silvana Casoli preferred to keep verbena and grass will help
Submitted at 3/16/2012 9:29:20 AM
embody the Popes idea of a perfect eau de cologne. Casoli has created perfumes for star clients like Madonna, Sting and King Juan Carlos of Spain, The Guardian reports. She has already worked for the Catholic Church, having produced fragrances for pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Those were so warmly welcome by Vatican priests, that they presented the scent to the Pope,
who later decided to commission his own fragrance from the perfume maker. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
The Economist China steps up control of Tibetan monasteries Los Angeles Times Under new rules, Tibetan monasteries must now be run by Chinese government officials, a step that worries a human rights group that says it will worsen tensions in an already inflamed region. Monks have officially run the monasteries since the early... Tibetan monk in China sets himself on fire, triggering antiBeijing protest Washington Post Video Shows Large Protest by Tibetan Monks in China New York Times (blog) Tibetan monk in self-immolation bid in China Aljazeera.com Voice of America- Asia Times Online- The Economist all 265 news articles
Blatter: FIFA received guarantees from Brazil

(Sports News Headlines Yahoo! News)
Brazil reassured soccer's governing body Friday that it will
fulfill its commitments in preparing for the 2014 World
Cup.
Top News/
Good Bosses Are The Same Today As They Were In 1992

Robert I. Sutton, PhD (Fast Company)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:05:38 AM
In a world of near-constant innovation and disruption, the definition of a great boss (or leader or manager) may be the one thing that doesn't require reinvention. This is the fourth in a series excerpted from a new chapter in the paperback version of Good Boss, Bad Boss, a New York Times best-seller by Robert Sutton. Read the three other installments here. A lot of people write business books: about eleven thousand are published each year. There are armies of consultants, gurus, and wannabe thought leaders, and thousands of management magazines, radio and TV shows, websites, and blogs. These purveyors of management knowledge have incentives for claiming their ideas are new and improved rather than the same old thing. One twist, which Ive seen a lot lately, is the claim that management or leadership needs to be reinvented. Many reasons given for this need seem sensible: Gen X and Gen Y require different management techniques; outsourcing, globalization, and information technology means working with people we rarely if
ever meet in person; the pressure to think and move ever faster is unprecedented; so many employees are disengaged that they need to be managed so they feel appreciated. Yet, no matter how hard I look at studies by academics and consulting firms, or at contrasts
between successful and unsuccessful leaders, I cant find persuasive evidence of substantial change in the kinds of bosses people want to become or work for, or that enable human groups and organizations to thrive. Changes such as the computer revolution, globalization, and
distributed teams mean that if you are a boss, staying in tune with followers is more challenging than ever. And, certainly, bosses need to be more culturally aware because many workplaces are composed of more diverse people. But every new generation of bosses faces hurdles that seem to
make the job tougher than it ever was. The introduction of the telephone and air travel created many of the same challenges as the computer revolution--as did the introduction of the telegraph and trains. Just as every new GOOD page 12
Top News/
Karzai casts doubt on US account of rampage - CNN

(Top Stories - Google News)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:45:00 AM
Afghan massacre suspect hires attorney STORY HIGHLIGHTS NEW: Hamid Karzai says U.S.Afghanistan relations are at "the end of the rope" NEW: A U.S. military surveillance video shown to Afghan officials is "not convincing," Karzai says The U.S. soldier accused in the killings is on his way to Kansas, his attorney says The soldier, whose identity has not been released, is a combat veteran, his lawyer says Lea este artculo en espaol/Read this article in Spanish. Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN)-Afghan President Hamid Karzai cast doubt Friday on the account of events given by U.S. authorities as he met with with the families of 16 civilians allegedly killed by a U.S. soldier during a house-to-house rampage. In his meeting at the presidential palace in Kabul, Karzai suggested the Americans had not been frank about what happened. Karzai told the villagers: "We tried to talk to the soldier involved, but there was no cooperation from America. Based on what you are saying, the killer was not just one person."
Asked if he had seen surveillance footage apparently filmed at the soldier's base in Kandahar province, Karzai questioned the authenticity of the video. "The army chief and the police chief have been shown, or I believe their representatives have been shown, a video of the
surveillance that they have, which has not been satisfactory to our team. Not convincing," he said. Karzai said he had spoken to U.S. President Barack Obama earlier Friday and that Obama had been upset by Afghanistan's response to the attack. And he suggested the relationship
between the two countries is at breaking point. "It is by all means the end of the rope here. The end of the rope that nobody can afford such luxuries anymore," he said. Four Afghan homes had been affected by the shooting, Karzai said. One of village elders, who did
not identify himself but said he had lost a family member in the shooting, told the president: "Now they (the Americans) are offering us money. I don't want money. I want justice." Karzai said: "We have not asked KARZAI page 12
Top News/
Fast Talk: When Is A Startup Like An Attack Submarine?

David Zax (Fast Company)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 12:28:56 PM
Meet Roy Gilbert, a former Googler and the CEO of "social learning" company Grockit, who finds similarities between his experience aboard a nuclear attack sub and the world of Silicon Valley. Roy Gilbert is the CEO of Grockit, a 3-year-old social learning company that aims to make test prep more fun, and in the process hopes to democratize what companies like Kaplan typically peddle to the relatively well-to-do. Grockit's users are on track to soon answer their collective 15 millionth question, and each day the site gains more users than would fill the chairdesks of a pair of American high schools. Fast Company spoke with Gilbert to talk about education in India, his ambivalence over the term "gamification," and his experience working on a nuclear attack submarine. FAST COMPANY: What is Grockit? ROY GILBERT: Our company is focused on social learning, the idea that people that study together or work together to learn new things tend to do better, and tend to enjoy doing it more. What were focused on right now is
people studying for big events like standardized tests. When people study together, chat together, and answer each others questions, they tend to do twice as much work and get answers right 10 percent more often than we would expect. Social learning predates Grockit by decades, but only recently has technology and the Internet made it possible to do group study and social interaction
with the same fidelity as offline interactions. Your interest in education grew out of time you spent building Googles presence in India. I was at Google for seven years, and for about half the time, we lived in India. My family and I had the cool opportunity to move to Hyderabad to open and grow the office there. The office had about 20 people when I got there,
and by the time I left, it was about 1,100 people across three different cities. If you walked into my office, it looked like a very sleek Silicon Valley office building. Meanwhile my wife Leigh Anne Gilbert, who is an incredible entrepreneur, took over a school in an impoverished area in Hyderabad about a half mile from my office. The school was literally a tent with 30 kids in it.
She built an actual building, created a foundation to hire teachers, and it ended up being the second- or third-bestperforming school in the state. We were in two different worlds: I was living in, essentially, California, and she was living in the poor areas of a developing country. FAST page 15
Top News/
Obama budget makes radical cuts in immigration enforcement

(The Front Page)
time far exceeds 14,000. In 1996, Congress required that most removable aliens be The Obama administration now detained. Congress took that step wants to advance its amnesty- for one reason: Most aliens who loving ways through its FY 2013 were released never showed up budget proposal. for their deportation hearings. As every Washington insider Since 1996, 40 percent of nonknows, policy measures mean detained aliens facing removal something, but the best way to simply disappear into the U.S. accomplish things is with money. landscape, the Justice Department Allocating more dollars or fewer has found. Immigration and dollars, beefing up funds for one Customs Enforcement testified to program and cutting spending on Congress in 2007 that 90 percent something else. Thats how of aliens let out of detention never Washington really works. show up for their immigration True to form, Obamas budget hearings. Today, some 480,000 f o r n e x t y e a r w o u l d c u r b alien absconders remain at large. immigration enforcement. It The Justice Departments w o u l d f u r t h e r d i s a r m o u r inspector general reports that vulnerable border. It would detention works, pointing out that effectively accomplish de facto 94 percent of detained aliens a m n e s t y f o r m a n y m o r e under a final order of removal are foreigners. actually deported. Only 11 Detention beds cut percent of aliens not held in For one, Obamas Homeland detention with final orders of Security budget reduces the removal get deported. Thats why funding for detention space. DHS Obama wants less detention. He wants to drop available bed wants more illegal aliens on spaces for detaining removable American streets. aliens from 34,000 to 32,800. Local-federal cooperation cut While 1,200 beds might not seem Congress created the 287(g) like a huge number, keep in mind program in 1996 to enable state that more than 70 percent of a n d l o c a l l a w e n f o r c e m e n t d e t a i n e d a l i e n s r e m a i n i n personnel to play a bigger role detention for less than one month. when immigrants cross their Thus, the number of aliens in p a t h s . B u t t h e O b a m a those 1,200 beds over a years administration in 2009 made
Submitted at 3/16/2012 4:45:00 AM
287(g) more onerous and much less responsive to local police and local challenges. Now, Obama slashes the 287(g) program budget by one-fourth. Its no fluke that state and local 287(g) agencies have identified many thousands of illegal and criminal aliens. After all, 287(g) strengthens the hands of our communities eyes and ears. Obamas anti-enforcement zealots also have refused to enlist any more local police departments in the program. However, Congresss intent with 287(g) was to give states and localities a meaningful tool to demand federal cooperation in cases involving aliens. Thus 287(g) has been the answer to ending federal refusal to respond when a sheriffs deputy calls the feds with a truckload of illegal aliens in hand. US-VISIT neutered Another victim of the Obama budget is the US-VISIT program. This entry-exit system records foreigners biometrics as they come into and leave the country. The data from US-VISIT help immeasurably in identifying foreign terrorists, enmeshing criminal aliens and supporting enforcement through a range of other programs. Obamas approach here would deprive enforcement agencies of vital data
sources for carrying out their missions. The administration budget splits up the programs functions from a single office that operates it into two ill-fitting new homes: Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This literally implements a divide-and-conquer strategy to neuter US-VISIT. REAL ID zeroed out Obama asks for zero funds for the REAL ID Act. This valuable law set uniform security standards for forms of identification such as drivers licenses. This administration has already delayed and delayed the deadline for the laws standards to become effective. REAL ID became law six years ago, so theres no telling how many illegal aliens and terrorists might have acquired valid IDs in the meantime. No expanded visa security program The administration doesnt want any more funding to expand the Visa Security Program. Only 19 of the 50 biggest threat locations have VSP screening resources. At these high-security-risk locations, every visa applicant undergoes extra close scrutiny at American consulates. Keeping terrorists from getting visas in the first place rather well guarantees
that they wont step foot in this country. Border Security Index charade The Obama budget does seek funds to create a so-called border security index. This amounts to a smoke-and-mirrors charade to try to fool the public into believing that the dangerous Southwestern border is more secure than it actually is. In short, the Obama budget plan undercuts immigration enforcement and border security. It advances the administrative amnesty policies Obama has already put into place over the past two years. No wonder the Center for Immigration Studies has estimated that the illegal alien population stopped its decline once Obama took office. In contrast, one million illegals had left the country in the final year of the Bush administration. Mr. Edwards is coauthor of The Congressional Politics of Immigration Reform. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
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Top News/
Guilty verdict in Rutgers webcam spying case - CNN

Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:45:00 AM
himself in September 2010 by jumping off the George Washington Bridge, which spans STORY HIGHLIGHTS the Hudson River between New Dharun Ravi, 20, is found guilty York and New Jersey, after of charges of intimidation learning that Ravi had secretly His former roommate, Tyler spied on his sexual encounter with Clementi, killed himself in 2010 another man. Clementi's death stirred Clementi's death stirred discussion about bullying discussion about bullying, with Obama releasing a videotaped ( C N N ) - - A f o r m e r R u t g e r s message less than a month later University student accused of condemning it. A few months spying on and intimidating his later, New Jersey legislators gay roommate by use of a hidden enacted stricter laws to better webcam was found guilty on p r o t e c t a g a i n s t b u l l y i n g i n charges of invasion of privacy and s c h o o l s . bias intimidation in a case that The most serious charges in the thrust cyberbullying into the Rutgers case centered on whether national spotlight and prompted Ravi's actions had constituted bias comments from President Barack intimidation, meaning that he was Obama. motivated to inspire fear in the The jury found Ravi not guilty on Ridgewood, New Jersey, native several questions within the because of his sexual orientation. verdict sheet, but because he was Those charges carry jail time of found guilty on at least one up to 10 years and possible question of whether his actions deportation back to his native constituted bias discrimination, he India. could now face the maximum Prosecutors have said that Ravi penalty: Up to 10 years in jail and tried to embarrass Clementi deportation to his native India. because he was gay. Ravi, 20, also was found guilty of "These acts were purposeful, they witness tampering, hindering were intentional, and they were apprehension and tampering of planned," prosecutor Julia L. physical evidence. McClure told the jury on the first His roommate, Tyler Clementi, day of the trial. Ravi "was an 18-year-old freshman, killed bothered by Tyler Clementi's
sexual orientation," she later said more bluntly. Ravi's attorneys have argued that their client acted thoughtlessly, portraying him as an immature college student who made a mistake, and that his actions were not based on homophobia. "He hasn't lived long enough to have any experience with homosexuality or gays," said attorney Steven Altman in closing arguments earlier this week. "He doesn't know anything about it. He just graduated high school." Ravi and fellow student Molly Wei -- who admitted joining Ravi to watch the surreptitious webcam encounter, which others were also alerted to via social media -- were charged in the wake of Clementi's suicide. They were not, however, charged directly with his death. Facing two counts of invasion of privacy, Wei reached a plea deal in May 2011 that required her to testify against her friend and former high school classmate, as well as to complete a three-year program on cyberbullying and do 300 hours of community service. Ravi turned down a plea deal offered by Middlesex County prosecutors that would have allowed him to avoid jail time in exchange for undergoing counseling, doing 600 hours of
community service and disposing of any information that could identify the man who appeared in the web video with Clementi. Prosecutors also offered to help Ravi avoid deportation, though they said they could not guarantee it. Ravi, who had been studying on a visa at the New Jersey university, did not testify on his own behalf. During the prosecution's phase of the trial, the man whom Clementi was intimate with, identified only as "M.B.," told jurors that he had noticed a web camera aimed directly at Clementi's bed. The 32-year-old man testified that he first met Clementi on an Internet social networking site for gay men and that they eventually met three times in the student's dorm room. The two conversed online, exchanged text messages and later had sex, he said. Wei testified that she watched a sexual liaison involving M.B. and Clementi after Ravi had secretly set up the webcam in his and Clementi's dormitory room. Ravi's lawyer, Altman, has argued that his client had initially switched on the webcam to monitor his personal items because he did not trust his roommate's visitor. In Twitter messages from that
day, Ravi wrote that he'd gone into a friend's room, "turned on my webcam" and saw his roommate "making out with a dude." On September 22, 2010, Clementi took a train to New York and posted a mobile status update on his Facebook page that read, "Jumping off the gw bridge sorry," before killing himself. Ravi had apparently tried to make amends with his estranged roommate that same night, according to text messages revealed in court. "I've known you were gay and I have no problem with it," Ravi wrote said in messages sent after he apparently learned his roommate had requested a dormitory room change. It is not clear if Clementi ever viewed the messages. InSession's Jim Kyle contributed to this report This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
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Senators terrified with abuse of Patriot Act's secret laws

Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:45:59 AM
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (AFP Photo / Chip Somodevilla) Horrified with the way the US government uses the Patriot Act against its own people, two senators have been trying to make these practices public for years. Tired of being ignored, they're now taking their fight against secret programs to public. Two US senators wrote the attorney general of the United States this week, urging the federal government to give the American public evidence explaining how the Patriot Act has been interpreted since signed into law in 2001. In a joint letter to Attorney General Eric Holder sent Thursday, Senators Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and Mark Udall (DColorado) plead with the government to provide the American people with the facts behind what the Patriot Act can let Americas top investigators do. The lawmakers, who have rallied for disclosure of these details for more than two years, say citizens would bestunned to learn what the government believes it can get
away with under the law. The controversial USA Patriot Act was hastily signed into legislation after the September 11 al-Qaeda attacks under the guise of a being a necessity for preventing future terrorist efforts, but for over a decade since the law has become notorious for its ability to stick federal eyes into seemingly every aspect of the American public in the name of counterterrorism. Although the government has gone on the record to downplay the constitutionally-damning powers they are granted under the law, Senators Wyden and Udall say it is time that the feds fulfill the demands of millions of concerned Americans and discuss in detail what they can do under the act and what theyve already done. Wydell and Udall are specifically calling on Holder to provide information about how the government has interpreted Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which grants government officials with certain clearance to obtaintangible things deemedrelevant to issues of terrorism. While that much is clear, write the senators, how the government goes about abiding by
ithas been the subject of secret legal interpretations, which they add are contained in classified opinions that are not made available to much of Congress, let alone members of the general public. We believe most Americans would be stunned to learn the details of how these secret court opinions have interpreted Section 215, add the senators. As we see it, there is now a significant gap between what most Americans think the law allows and what the government secretly claims the law allows. This is a problem, because it is impossible to have an informed public debate about what the law should say when they public doesnt know what its government thinks the law says. The Justice Department has in their own defense said that disclosing details on certain interpretations could be detrimental to national security, an issue to which the senators acknowledge.We believe that is entirely legitimate for government agencies to keep certain information secret, write the lawmakers.The argument being made by Wyden and Udall,
however, is that the government is letting itself perceive the law in a way which not only are Americans completely oblivious to, but Americans are also under the false impression that matters are marvelously different. In a democratic society in which the government derives its powers from the consent of the people citizens rightly expect that their government will not arbitrarily keep information from them, reads the letter to Holder. Americans expect their government to operate within the boundaries of publicallyunderstood law, and as voters they have a need and a right to know how the law is being interpreted, so that they can ratify or reject decisions made on their behalf. Americans know that the government will sometimes conduct secret operations, but they dont think that government officials should be writing secret laws, write the senators. Wydell and Udall add that this is not something that theyve only recently been pressing for. They claim to have gone after the president himself to declassify the interpretations of the Patriot Act so that Congress can consider
discussions on Capitol Hill, but say that despite repeated attempts to appeal to Holder and others in the past, no leeway whatsoever has been accomplished. Now both the American Civil Liberties Union and The New York Times are trying to get the truth through filing Freedom of Information Act requests, but the feds are working overtime to make sure that the attempts at finding the facts are ignored. The senators say they had a glimmer of hope in August 2009 when the Department of Justice and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence announced that they would begin a new processes for reviewing and releasing details of decisions from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court the court that interprets the Patriot Act buttwo and a half years later, however, this process had produced literally zero results. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
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generation of teenagers believes they have discovered sex and their parents cant possibly understand what it feels like to be them, believing that that no prior generation of bosses ever faced anything like this and these crazy times require entirely new ways of thinking and acting are likely soothing to modern managers. These beliefs also help socalled experts like me sell our wares. Yet there is little evidence to support the claim that organizationslet alone the humans in themhave changed so drastically that we need to invent a whole new kind of boss. This isnt a new idea, either. In 1992, two Harvard Business School professors, Robert Eccles and Nitin Nohria (now the dean of HBS), wrote Beyond the Hype. This book showed that while management thinkers (notably the much worshipped Peter Drucker) have repeatedly claimed it is a whole new world out there for managers and employees--that everything needs to be reinvented because the old ways are obsolete --the fundamentals of what it takes to lead, organize, and inspire followers were pretty much the same as it ever was. Eccles and Norhias argument applies as well in 2012 as in 1992 --at least when it comes to bosses. Just like the leaders people wanted before the industrial revolution, we humans still yearn to follow others who are competent enough to bring in
resources, teach us new skills, and generate attention and prestige from key outsiders--who drive performance. We also want fair leaders who protect us, and who make us feel cared for and respected--who inject humanity. Although the ways bosses accomplish these things is and has always been constrained by technologies, culture, different kinds of work, and on and on, the fundamentals remain unchanged. Yet the hype keeps flying about how we need to reinvent management. In particular, we often hear calls for the end of hierarchy, the virtues of empowerment, and how knowledge workers need to be treated in new and different ways. The notion that people who do creative or complex work need more autonomy than others is quite old. Thomas Edisons lab in Menlo Park, New Jersey, was decentralized; workers there were encouraged to develop their own ideas, and there were fewer and less obvious status differences between people at different hierarchical levels compared to traditional organizations of the time. Yet, at Edisons lab--as at todays Apple, Google, Facebook, and Pixar and every other creative organization I knowthere was a clear pecking order. Indeed, a careful review of research by my Stanford colleagues Debra Gruenfeld and Larissa Tiedens shows that we humans prefer
hierarchical relationships, are happier when we work in clear hierarchies than where power differences are absent or unclear, and we experience less distress and work more effectively. Gruenfeld and Tiedens suggest that we prefer hierarchies because they are effective for sorting people based on different skills and reduce ambiguity. The upshot is that although good bosses-especially in creative places--do encourage input and delegate decisions, little evidence suggests that the need or desire for bosses-and bosses of bosses--will disappear anytime soon. So the challenge is not to reinvent management. Rather it is to find ways to dampen the known drawbacks of pecking orders and amplify the positive elements. That is what great bosses do and have always done. The Google experience is instructive. In 2009, Lazlo Block, vice president of People Operations, launched a study called Project Oxygen to figure out the differences between the best and the worst bosses at Google. Since Google was first founded about fifteen years ago, its leaders believed that technical expertise was the most crucial quality of a great boss and that since such smart people worked there, a bosss job was pretty much to leave people alone unless they asked for technical help. Project Oxygen revealed insights that surprised Googles leaders,
but it fit with thousands of studies --including many that shaped Good Boss, Bad Boss. Technical expertise ranked dead last among the predictors of a bosss effectiveness. Instead, as The New York Times reported, What employees valued most were even-keeled bosses who made time for one-on-one meetings, who helped people puzzle through problems by asking questions, not dictating answers, and who took an interest in employees lives and careers. Google is an evidence-based place. So they boiled down their list of what good bosses do into just a few key factors, and they now work intensely with underperforming bosses to change their behavior. If you are a boss, you can save yourself a lot of trouble by considering Googles journey. Dont believe the hype about reinventing management. As over fifty years of research shows, treating employees with respect, encouraging them to participate and to make suggestions, and listening to them are as important as ever. The same is true about setting a clear direction, making decisions, and taking charge. [Image: Flickr user D Flam]
China's modern economy belies its secretive and opaque politics Washington Post
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:37:08 AM
Telegraph.co.uk China's modern economy belies its secretive and opaque politics Washington Post BEIJING The dramatic events this week in China underscored one of this country's most baffling dichotomies: between an increasingly sophisticated and globally connected economy, now the world's second-largest, and the opaque, Leninist-style... In China's Chongqing, dismay over downfall of Bo Xilai Reuters rise and fall of China's Bo Xilai CNN In China, a Rare View of Infighting by Leaders New York Times Wall Street Journal- San Francisco Chronicle all 1,025 news articles
KARZAI
for compensation. The Afghan government will not ask for compensation -- we ask for justice, not compensation." The White House said in a statement that Obama and Karzai had agreed "to further discuss concerns voiced by President KARZAI page 13
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Karzai about the presence of foreign troops in Afghan villages." They had also spoken of Karzai's "longstanding concerns regarding night raids and house searches," the statement said. White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters the two leaders were "very much on the same page" in their discussions and that Obama had acknowledged the recent challenging times for Karzai. Karzai received a report from an Afghan investigative team before talking Thursday with U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in Afghanistan. The report's findings were "clearly on his mind" during his session with Panetta, according to a senior U.S. defense official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. It was not immediately known whether Karzai planned to release the findings to the families or the public. The fallout from the killings has further strained tense U.S.-Afghan relations. Afghans have been demanding the soldier, who was flown out of Afghanistan by the U.S. military, be returned to stand trial. His attorney, John Henry
Browne, said the soldier, who was originally transported to Kuwait, is being taken to the U.S. military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he is expected to arrive later Friday. Karzai called the shootings a cruel act against the people of Afghanistan and told Panetta that Afghans have lost trust in the international force, the presidential palace said in a statement. Karzai also recommended that American troops withdraw from Afghan villages, the statement said. Defense Department spokesman George Little told reporters that "the issue of the villages noted in the press release did arise (in the meeting), but it was in the context of a shared commitment" to an agreed-upon plan that outlines the time frame for handing over security duties to Afghan forces by 2014. The plan, known as the Lisbon Strategy, was adopted during a summit in Lisbon, Portugal, in November 2010. The soldier, whose identity has been withheld by the military, is accused of leaving the remote outpost of Camp Belambay on foot early Sunday and heading to neighboring villages in the Panjwai district of Afghanistan's
Kandahar province. In the villages, the soldier shot and killed nine children, three women and four men, witnesses and Afghan authorities said. The U.S. military has not confirmed the number of casualties. Afghan lawmaker Muhammad Naim Lalai accused the United States of showing "a fake video" to convince people that the soldier acted alone. Lalai said he was one of several Afghan officials shown a surveillance video from the soldier's base in Kandahar province. "We were shown a video in which a soldier climbs the wall of a military base and then goes indoors and pulls his bulletproof jacket off and then puts his arms up to surrender himself," Lalai said. The United States has not confirmed it showed the video to Afghans, though a U.S. official has confirmed there is footage taken by an "aerial asset" that shows the soldier lying on the ground outside the base and then attempting to "low crawl" back into the outpost. The soldier, who is based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Washington, belongs to the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division,
according to a congressional source who was not authorized to speak publicly. He was on his first tour to Afghanistan but had deployed to Iraq three times. In 2010, he suffered a traumatic brain injury in a vehicle rollover caused by a roadside bombing. "I think it's of interest that we have a soldier who has an exemplary record, a decorated soldier who was injured in Iraq to his brain and to his body, and then despite that, was sent back. I think that's an issue. I think it's a concern," said Browne, the soldier's attorney. The lawyer said he had spoken with the soldier over the phone. CNN's Larry Shaughnessy, Chris Lawrence, Carol Cratty, Barbara Starr, Casey Wian and Ninette Sosa and journalist Ruhullah Khapalwak contributed to this report. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
China says McDonald's, Carrefour sold expired chicken USA TODAY

Submitted at 3/16/2012 10:46:02 AM
Chicago Tribune China says McDonald's, Carrefour sold expired chicken USA TODAY BEIJING (AP) Chinese state television has accused McDonald's and French retailer Carrefour of selling expired chicken products in separate incidents at a time of increased public anxiety in China over food safety. By Peter Parks, AFP/Getty Images A... China probes McDonald's outlet over quality Reuters Chinese state TV targets McDonald's, Carrefour CBS News China probes McDonald's over expired chicken Chicago Tribune BusinessWeek all 225 news articles
Top Posts Of The Week And Open Thread

Laura Northrup (The Consumerist)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 10:45:00 AM
[unable to retrieve full-text content] Here It Is, Your Lineup For Worst Company In America 2012! Worst Company In
America Round One: Target Vs. Old Girl Buy A House? Worst Best Buy My Condo Association Company In America Round One: Is Demanding DNA Sample From EA Vs. Sony My Dog How Does A 14-Year-
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TEDTalks Now On Netflix, Security Companies Ignore Pakistan Censor Bid, Groupon UK Told To Straighten Up
Nidhi Subbaraman (Fast Company)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 10:36:58 AM
Breaking news from your editors at Fast Company, with updates all day. TEDTalks Now On Netflix. Netflix and TED are partnering up to stream a selection of TEDTalks Shows in 14 categories. Shows consist of mini episodes that can each be played separately. --NS --Updated 9:15 a.m. Security Companies Ignore Pakistan Censor Bid. McAfee, Cisco, Websense, Verizon, and a handful of security companies have said they will not answer Pakistan's call to help filter the web in the country. Last week, Pakistan advertised for bidders to help censor up to 50 million websites. In response, an advocacy group called Bolo Bhi has been writing to security companies advising them not to do so. Five of their eight contacts have agreed to not help Pakistan. -NS --Updated 8:30 a.m. EST Groupon UK Told To Straighten Up. Guilty Groupon has agreed to stop misleading customers in the U.K. and alter its practices according to new
recommendations from U.K.'s Office of Fair Trading. Groupon took over MyCityDeals, an existing U.K. company, which has been selling coupons under Groupon's name. The company has three months to put the OFT's
recommendations into effect. -NS --Updated 7:45 a.m. EST Where Was Your Startup Started? A conversation with Zynga's Mark Pincus sparked off early ideas for Flatiron Partners,
which eventually grew into Union Square Ventures, founder Fred Wilson tells us on his blog. His own musings about his startup story was inspired by Y Combinator's telling of their origin story to mark their 7th
birthday. --Updated 7:15 a.m. EST iPads Go On Sale Today. Walmart started selling iPads last night at midnight, 8 hours ahead TEDTALKS page 15
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So she was the slumdog and you were the millionaire? [Laughs.] I would never say that to her! The things that Leigh Anne lacked while there was the ability to scale. When I was ready to leave Google, our brains were attuned to, What are some ideas that can scale, that can use technology? What kind of technology can we use to fundamentally transform education? My daughter is 9 years old. If you took me when I was 9 years old and time-traveled me to now, a classroom wouldnt seem that different. Everything else in my 9-year-old daughters life is wildly different, but the classroom is virtually untouched by technology. You want to make education more fun and social. But it doesnt seem like you throw the term gamification around. We dont use it just because it sounds like such a fake word. But the biggest problem that we see in education is, how do you keep someone on track to do the next question, read the next paragraph, or to solve one more problem? There are a lot of different incentives boiled into the product, badges and experience points and sharing points with friends, but we dont have one person sitting here focused on, How do we
make it more fun and gamey? We spend a lot of time thinking, How do we get someone to just do one more incremental bit of work? Are you taking on Kaplan by offering a lower-priced alternative? Most people actually dont use high-priced tutoring. Most people do almost nothing to prepare for standardized tests. Over a million people take the SAT each year, but half do nothing to prepare. What we do is charge a monthly subscription of $29 a month, the cost of a book or two, and you get the same level of treatment you would if you went to high-end tutoring. You work with other people, you work with tutors online. Weve opened up access. Here is a question I dont ask my interviewees often... Are you going to ask me to dinner? How did your experience as a navigator on a nuclear attack submarine influence your work as an entrepreneur? I graduated from the Naval Academy, and I was on a nuclear submarine for almost four years. The longest I was submerged was three-and-a-half months. On a nuclear submarine, you can make your own electricity, water, and air. The only thing you cant
make is food. Before you deploy, you fill the freezers on board, and then there are cans of food on the floor. People walk on the food for months at a time, and you sort of eat your way through the passageways. It seems radically different than working in Silicon Valley, but it actually has a lot in common. Submarines are highly stressful, engineering-focused environments. Youre making a lot of decisions based on very limited information. In many ways, it feels a lot like a startup, except now I see sunlight and work in SoMa and am much happier. In terms of stress, coming to periscope depth in the middle of the night in a shipping lane is much more stressful than fundraising or figuring out acquisition metrics. This interview has been condensed and edited. For more from the Fast Talk interview series, click here. Know someone who'd make a good Fast Talk subject? Mention it to David Zax. Follow Fast Company on Twitter. [Top image: U.S. Navy]
Quick Cook Pizzas

(Cooking Light: Editor's Picks)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 3:05:00 AM
[unable to retrieve full-text
content] Pizza's a real crowdpleaser, perfect for any weeknight. Watch Bruce and Mark make Salad Bar Pizza and
Barbecued Chicken Pizza using healthy convenience products.
of iPad stores across the U.S. Meanwhile, Apple fans lined up outside Apple stores and retailers around the world to get the device, including Steve Wozniak, who's been in line (and first) at a Los Angeles store since Thursday afternoon. --NS --Updated 6:50 a.m. EST US And EU Investigate Google Over Safari Cookies. Google is in more hot water over privacy concerns, the Wall Street Journal has heard, this time to do with bypassing privacy settings on Safari's browser to plant cookies. The new investigation is headed by the U.S. Federal Trade Comission and France's CNIL in Europe (a group that is already investigating Google's new privacy settings on its own products). Kevin Rose To Join Google. Digg founder Kevin Rose, also founder of incubator Milk, has been hired by Google, sources have told AllThingsD. This follows after Rose announced yesterday that Milk's first product, a ratings app called Oink, was going to be shut down. --NS --Updated 6:30 a.m. EST YouTube Stocks Up On Indian TV. YouTube now hosts 19,000 episodes from 300 different shows from partners like Star India, Colors, Imagine TV, and Sony Entertainment. It's yet another way Google is growing a tentacle in India. Also, YouTube's plumped-up international TV
offerings sets YouTube Channels apart from competitors on U.S. turf like Hulu. --NS Dropbox Getting More Social With Cove? Dropbox's new startup acquisition, Cove, hints that the addition to the team may extend Dropbox's social sharing options. Dropbox posted an official welcome note on the Dropbox blog, describing the roles the Cove engineers would play. In it, Dropbox highlights social search (a legacy from the Cove team's Facebook search history) and contact sorting and indexing as key skills Dropbox is keen to snap up. --NS Pinterest Launches Profile Pages. Pinterest's new profile pages are now live. Boards now have a banner image, with pin images listed below. The new profile pages now show visitors other sharers a pinner has re-pinned from so they can trace pins back to their source, and possibly making the site even more addictive than it already is. --NS --Updated 5:45 a.m. EST [Image: Flickr user Yodel Anecdotal] Yesterday's Fast Feed: Zynga Plans $400 Million Offering, Google To Revamp Search, Dutch Court Rejects Samsung's iPhone Ban Plan, and more!
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George Clooney arrested, handcuffed, outside Sudan embassy in DC - msnbc.com

Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:11:06 AM
Manga/Anime Fans' Guide to WonderCon 2012 in Anaheim Manga.about.com

(Andrea Rossi - Google News)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 5:27:49 AM
Win Mcnamee / Getty Images Plastic handcuffs were used on actor George Clooney, who was arrested Friday for a protest at the Sudanese embassy in Washington. By Gael Fashingbauer Cooper No, it wasn't for a movie. Actor George Clooney, long a political activist, was arrested and handcuffed outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington for protesting the country's blockage of food and aid from entering the Nuba Mountains area of the country, as well as its treatment of its people. Clooney's father, journalist Nick Clooney, 78, was with him and was also arrested, as were Martin Luther King III, NAACP President Ben Jealous, Rep Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) and Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) and former Rep. Tom Andrews (D-Mass.). The group was handcuffed with plastic handcuffs and were taken away by police. Speaking before the large crowd that gathered to watch the protest, Clooney said "we need immediate
humanitarian aid into Sudan before it becomes the worst humanitarian crisis in the world." He went on to say that the group wanted "the (Sudanese) government in Khartoum to stop randomly killing its own innocent men, women and children. Stop raping them, and stop starving them." Half a million people in Sudan's Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile regions risk starvation due to the blockage of supplies, and the coming rainy season will only make it worse, the actor told the crowd. "Its about to start raining, and once it starts raining there, thousands of people are going to die," Clooney said. Because the embassy is private property, Clooney and colleagues knew that refusing to move would end in arrest. They were warned three times before police moved in to make the arrests. The group held a sign that read "Sudan: Stop Weapons of Mass Starvation." On Thursday, the actor testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about what
he saw in Sudan; then met with Secretary Hillary Clinton and President Obama in the Oval Office. The Washington Post later reported that Clooney said Obama promised to push China's president to aid in forcing Sudan to open its southern region to
relief efforts. He later told reporters that "people turn on the news and see an awful lot of bad stories," but added that the United States "is still the most generous country in the world and truly the most compassionate." On Wednesday, Clooney appeared on TODAY with Ann Curry and discussed how he came under rocket fire in the Sudan on a recent trip there. He also attended Wednesday night's White House State Dinner for British Prime Minister David Cameron. Clooney is expected to appear on msnbc's"Hardball with Chris Matthews" later on Friday. What do you think about Clooney's arrest? Tell us on Facebook. Related content: This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Manga/Anime Fans' Guide to WonderCon 2012 in Anaheim Manga.about.com Meet Andrea Cremer (The Nightshade Series) and Ann Aguirre (Enclave), Kami Garcia (co-author of the Beautiful Creatures novels), Gretchen McNeil (Possess), Lissa Price (Starters), Ransom Riggs (Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children), and Veronica... and more
AP Sources: Gov., Hornets, set to announce lease

Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:34:26 AM
People familiar with the deal say Gov. Bobby Jindal and the Hornets plan to announce an agreement on a 10-year lease extension at the New Orleans Arena.
Business/ Featured/
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A Study About Sex-Deprived Male Fruit Flies Craving Alcohol Sheds Light On The Human Brain
Jana Kasperkevic (Business Insider)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:48:35 AM
Housing bubble a danger to economy, TD says - CBC.ca

(housing - Google News)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:19:55 AM
It's not just human men who seek solace in the bottle after being turned away by women. Sex-deprived male fruit flies also turn to alcohol, according to a study published in the journal Science. Researchers found that male fruit flies, who continued to strike out with female fruit flies over a fourday period, preferred alcoholsoaked food mash, while sexually sated fruit flies preferred nonalcoholic snacks. Neuroscientist Galit ShohatOphir, author of the study, told Sarah C. P. Williams of Science Magazine that neuropeptide F (NPF) levels drive behavior such as drinking, and the rejected virgin sex-deprived flies had only half the amount of NPF in their brain. To verify this, the researchers lowered the amount of NPF in the brains of sexually sated flies, who
neurobiology and addiction at the Scripps Research Institute told Benedict Carey of the New York Times that by creating drugs to manipulate levels of NPY, scientists could reduce drinking: The study implies that it is this system that goes haywire in addiction, and that its very sensitive to stress. For instance, after you lose a loved one, or a relationship has crashed, you get dysphoric, your NPY goes down, and this provides a strong urge to drink a lot whether youre a mammal or a fruit fly. Please follow Business Insider on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this in turn began drinking more as Humans and other mammals story well. contain neuropeptide Y (NPY) in See Also: What we did, in order to their brains a similar substance Why Men Can't Think Straight establish a causal relationship, to NPF which has previously After Interacting With Women was manipulated the system, been tied to depression and PTSD. The T. Rex Had The Strongest researcher Ulrike Heberlein told Alcohol and drug addiction Bite Of Any Land Animal Ever Bloomberg. We were able to connection to NPY has only been Raccoons Have Infested A prove it in both directions, so proven in rats so far, reported Middle School In Florida t h a t s s t r o n g e v i d e n c e o f Williams. causality. George Koob, a professor of
CBC.ca Housing bubble a danger to economy, TD says CBC.ca Overvalued housing markets in several Canadian cities and high household debt poses a "clear and present danger" to Canada's economy, TD Bank warned in a report Friday. The study by the bank's chief economist, Craig Alexander, proposes the government... Bank warns Canada housing 1015 percent over-valued Reuters Canada all 270 news articles
Cameron Undermines Israel's Position on Iran

Daniel Halper (The Weekly Standard)
Ynetnews.com reports that British PM David Cameron says the UK won't support an Israeli
time: strike of Iran's nuclear at this
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Bin Laden Wanted Obama Dead

Robert Johnson (Business Insider)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:48:18 AM
Dad: Man Had Housing Stress Before Ohio Stabbings - ABC News
Submitted at 3/16/2012 10:51:03 AM
It's been nearly a year since the May 2 raid on Osama bin Laden and still details of the event continue to unfold. David Ignatius at The Washington Post writes that before he was killed, bin Laden ordered the assassination of President Obama and General David Petraeus. Bin Laden ordered special terrorist cells in Afghanistan and Pakistan to focus on attacking the aircraft of the two men and offered this explanation. The reason for concentrating on them, bin Laden explained, is that Obama is the head of infidelity and killing him automatically will make (Vice President Joe) Biden take over the presidency. Biden is totally unprepared for that post, which will lead the U.S. into a crisis. As for Petraeus, he is the man of the hour and killing him would alter the wars path. The scheme described in the documents taken from the Abbottabad compound was apparently never a serious threat according to White House officials. But it wasn't for lack of trying. Bin Laden tasked Pakistani
ABC News Dad: Man Had Housing Stress Before Ohio Stabbings ABC News The father said John Mallett's aunt asked him to move because he had been causing problems, and he thinks Mallett might have
been searching for a housing agency when he went to downtown Columbus, where the attacks occurred. He said the family had for... Dad: Son had housing stress before Ohio stabbings Kansas City Star all 1,220 news articles
Norway Faces Housing Bubble as Krone Steals Policy Agenda - BusinessWeek

terrorist Ilyas Kashmiri with getting the jobs done. Please ask brother Ilyas to send me the steps he has taken into that work, he asked his top lieutenant, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman. Former FBI profiler Brad Garrett told ABC News, " I would say this is probably very personal on Bin Laden's part, to kill [Obama] that he believes has violated the Muslim faith." A month after bin Laden's death Rahman was killed in a drone strike and whatever shape the plot actually held, likely fell apart. Igantius got a personal look at the trove of documents taken from bin Laden's compound and his editorial is worth checking out here > Please follow Military & Defense on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story See Also: The Navy Is Afraid It's Going To Get Its Butt Kicked In The World's Oldest Game Of Military Strategy US Marines Waiting To Hear Leon Panetta Speak In Afghanistan Were Told To Get Rid Of Their Weapons Qaddafi's Missing State Of The Art Missiles Are Now Pointed At Israel
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:36:11 AM
Bloomberg Norway Faces Housing Bubble as Krone Steals Policy Agenda BusinessWeek By Josiane Kremer and Kristin Myers on March 16, 2012 Norway is moving closer to a
housing bubble as the central bank's strategy of cutting interest rates to weaken the krone spurs credit growth and bloats property values. Norway Risks Housing Bubble as Krone Steals Agenda: Mortgages San Francisco Chronicle all 83 news articles
Gingrich Staying In
Daniel Halper (The Weekly Standard)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:15:00 AM
Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is committed to staying in the race, the former
speaker of the House told CBS this morning:
Business/ News Wire/ Technology/
19
Goldman Has Announced That It Will Review Its Conflict Of Interest Policies
Linette Lopez (Business Insider)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:45:00 AM
Epoch Times | National, World, China, Sports, Entertainment News

(Epoch Times | National, World, China, Sports, Entertainment News)
This may not be directly related to Greg Smith, but you can't help but think of him here. Goldman told the WSJ that it is considering beefing up its rules about disclosing bankers' personal investments to clients. They're saying it's because of the Kinder Morgan/El Paso deal which it seems like everyone has kind of forgotten about. So in case you missed it, here's what happened there: On February 29th a Delaware judge ruled that Goldman Sachs had a conflict of interest when it advised its client, El Paso, to sell itself to Kinder Morgan. The judge said that Goldman had gotten El Paso to sell below value because the bank had multi-billion dollar interest in Kinder Morgan. The thing is, Smith accused Goldman of doing just that screwing its clients for its own benefit. From the WSJ: In a statement to The Wall Street Journal, Goldman said it was reviewing its "policies and procedures [on banker conflict
and enlisting [...] A law professor believes that institutional structures required by the U.S. Constitution are Top Stories contributing to the malaise of Bo Xilai is Party chief of American politics. Chongqing no longer, according The U.S. military is working to the Chinese Communist Party overtime to secure its networks mouthpiece Peoples Daily. The against cyber-attacks, while also public destruction of Bos career developing new systems to strike comes on the [...] back. Burmas new law allowing for This entry passed through the peaceful protests and assembly Full-Text RSS service if this is f a i l s t o m e e t i n t e r n a t i o n a l your content and you're reading it standards, a rights group said. on someone else's site, please read In the first verdict ever delivered the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentby the International Criminal only/faq.php#publishers. Five Court (ICC), Congolese militia Filters recommends: Donate to leader Thomas Lubanga Dyilo Wikileaks. was found guilty of conscripting
issues] with the goal of strengthening them.." "Bankers will now self-disclose if they own any amount of shares," said a lawyer for a major bank, describing the new attitude as "super-conservative. We'll disclose anything we find and we'll pass the ball to the company or its counsel and say, you decide what you want to do." Timing is everything. Read the full story at the WSJ>> Please follow Clusterstock on Twitter and Facebook.
Join the conversation about this story See Also: HANK GREENBERG: Traders And Going Public Changed The Internal Culture At Goldman Sachs Colbert On Greg Smith: 'BANKER-DICT ARNOLD' Josh Brown's Hilarious Wall Street Tour Makes Fun Of Everything From Dick Fuld's Ego To J.P. Morgan's Yoga Habits
Bedridden Photo Shoots - Designer Ken Okada Invites the Paris Public to a Bed Photography Session (TrendHunter.com)
(TREND HUNTER - The Latest Trends)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 7:36:01 AM
( TrendHunter.com) In celebration of spring, Paris designer Ken Okada has invited the public to
his store for an in-bed photography session. As a tribute to the famous whims of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, the Ken Okada...
20
News Wire/
Afghanistan's Karzai slams United States over massacre

(Reuters: Top News)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:13:37 AM
By Mirwais Harooni and Rob Taylor KABUL| Fri Mar 16, 2012 12:13pm EDT (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Friday lashed out at the United States for failing to fully cooperate with an investigation into the massacre of 16 Afghan villagers by a U.S. staff sergeant and questioned whether only one soldier could have been involved. A series of blunders by the United States, including the killings in Kandahar province on Sunday and the inadvertent burning of copies of the Koran at a NATO base last month, has further strained already tense relations between the countries. "This has been going on for too long. You have heard me before. It is by all means the end of the rope here," Karzai told reporters at the heavily fortified presidential palace. Flanked by senior officials, a tired and sometimes angry Karzai listened to village elders and the families of victims of the massacre, and dressed somberly in black for the start of an expected two days of talks to discuss the killings. Some at the meeting shouted,
some demanded answers, but all said they wanted any soldiers involved punished. "I don't want any compensation. I don't want money, I don't want a trip to Mecca, I don't want a house. I want nothing. But what I absolutely want is the punishment of the Americans. This is my demand, my demand, my demand and my demand," said one villager, whose brother was killed in the nighttime slaughter. Furious Afghans and lawmakers have demanded that the soldier responsible be tried in Afghanistan, but despite those calls, the U.S. staff sergeant was flown out on Wednesday. "The army chief has just reported that the Afghan investigation team did not receive the cooperation that they expected from the United States. Therefore these are all questions that we'll be raising, and raising very loudly, and raising very clearly," Karzai said. Karzai appeared to back the belief of the villagers, and many other Afghans including the country's parliament, that one gunman acting alone could not have killed so many people, and in different locations some distance apart. "They believe it's not possible for one person to do that. In (one) family, in four rooms people were killed, women and children were
killed, and they were all brought together in one room and then put on fire. That one man cannot do," Karzai said. TWIN INVESTIGATIONS With twin investigations still underway by both U.S. and Afghan officials, any discovery of more than one soldier involved in the massacre would be a disaster for NATO, with Western leaders needing to win over Afghans ahead of a withdrawal by most foreign combat troops in 2014. Civilian casualties caused by NATO forces hunting insurgents are a major source of friction between the Afghan government and its Western backers, and have damaged efforts to win the "hearts and minds" of locals in the decade -old war. "Our families are finished and our houses are destroyed," said a furious Hajji Abdul Samad Aka, who lost 11 members of his family in the killings in two villages of Panjwayi district. An unnamed U.S. official told The New York Times the attack by the accused soldier was a result of "a combination of stress, alcohol and domestic issues - he just snapped." The lawyer for the soldier said the staff sergeant was upset at having to do a fourth tour of duty in a war zone and was likely suffering from stress after seeing
colleagues wounded. Anger over the massacre spilled into weekly Friday prayers at a major mosques in central Kabul with one cleric calling the shooting "unforgivable" and questioning how a soldier with alleged mental problems could be in the U.S. military. "Revenge for the blood of these victims will be taken either today, tomorrow, in 10 years or the next 100 years," said Mullah Ayaz Niazi at Wazir Akhbar Khan mosque in Kabul's diplomatic enclave, which is also home to NATO headquarters. The soldier accused of the shooting was attached to a small special forces compound similar to others around the country which underpin NATO's antiinsurgent strategy. On Thursday, Karzai called for NATO troops to leave Afghan villages and confine themselves to major bases, underscoring fury over the massacre and clouding U.S. exit plans. He also demanded the handover of security to Afghan police and soldiers by 2013, a year ahead of schedule. Such a move could undercut U.S. President Barack Obama's strategy for Afghanistan and hamper efforts to mentor Afghan police and help with local governance.
In a further blow to NATO hopes of a negotiated end to the decadeold war, the Afghan Taliban said they were suspending nascent peace talks with the United States, following the massacre and ahead of the traditional summer fighting months. The United States said it was committed to political reconciliation involving talks with the Taliban but progress would require agreement between Kabul and the insurgents. "The Taliban leadership were and may still be serious about talks, but instead of discussing how to end the war, they will now be persuading the rank and file to go out again this year and fight," Kate Clark of the Afghanistan Analysts Network said. "That another round of fighting and killing is now on the agenda is a difficult prospect to face," she wrote in a blog. (Writing by Jack Kimball, Editing by Rob Taylor and Sanjeev Miglani) By Mirwais Harooni and Rob Taylor KABUL| Fri Mar 16, 2012 12:13pm EDT (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Friday lashed out at the United States for failing to fully cooperate with an AFGHANISTAN'S page 23
News Wire/
21
Apple cements tablet market dominance with new iPad

(Reuters: Top News)
shopping," said Henry, a systems engineer at a railway company who was hoping to buy his first By Pauline Askin and Ethan iPad mainly to watch films and Bilby read during his more than two SYDNEY/LONDON| Fri Mar 16, hours of travel per day. 2012 9:04am EDT The new iPad - Apple has (Reuters) - Apple Inc's newest refrained from calling it iPad 3 iPad was looking like another hot has faster chips, fourth-generation seller on Friday, with hundreds wireless, a crisper display and a queuing at stores across Asia and better camera, making it harder Europe to get their hands on a for competitors like Samsung's gadget likely to dominate the Galaxy, which also lack Apple's tablet-computer market well into range of apps and content, to next year. catch up. The third-generation device has On price, too, Apple's rivals will only a few new features, but the struggle to beat it. The new iPad buzz helped propel Apple shares starts at $499 in the United States, to a record high of $600 in New 479 euros ($630) in Germany and York on Thursday. 42,800 yen ($510) in Japan. Only "I just got hyped into it, I guess," Amazon's far more basic Kindle said David Tarasenko, a 34-year- Fire is significantly cheaper. old construction manager who Analysts expect a strong start for was the first to pick one up from a the latest iPad and some even Telstra store at midnight in expect sales of the current model Sydney. to overtake the iPad 2. So far, the D a n i e l B a d e r , a s o f t w a r e company has sold 55 million developer who builds iPad apps iPads since it was launched, and was queuing outside the kicking off the tablet market, in Apple store in Munich, said: "You 2010. can't explain it." Apple will continue to sell the Even in a tough economic iPad 2 but has dropped its price climate in some parts of the by $100 to start at $399. world, many buyers, like 27-year- Tablet sales are expected to old Steve Henry in Paris, said increase to 326 million by 2015 they would scrimp elsewhere if with Apple largely dominating the necessary. market, according to research firm "I save money on my other Gartner, rivaling sales of desktop p u r c h a s e s f o r h i g h - t e c h computers, which Gartner expects
Submitted at 3/16/2012 8:04:48 AM
to total 368 million units this year. MATURE PRODUCT The enduring popularity of Apple products, and stock, have provided Chief Executive Tim Cook, who took over after the death of Steve Jobs last year, with a good start in the job. The share price peaked at just over $600 half an hour after the first iPad went on sale, extending the market worth of the world's most valuable company to almost $560 billion. Only a month earlier, the stock price had crossed $500 for the first time. It has jumped 45 percent this year. Canaccord Genuity analysts raised their target price on Apple stock to $710 from $665. Dickie Chang, an analyst with technology research firm IDC, said Cook will need to do more in future to keep up the firm's astonishing momentum. "The iPad is already a pretty mature product and it's hard to revolutionize it any further," he said. "Going ahead, with Tim Cook at the helm now, I think he may have to come up with another product to mark his stamp. That could come in the form of launching a smaller iPad with a longer battery life, for instance." UBS raised its target price to $675 from $550, and said the
expected launch of the redesigned iPhone 5 in October was the big catalyst ahead. SMUGGLERS The new iPad goes on sale on Friday in 10 countries, including the United States, Canada, Singapore, France and Britain. Most of those countries outside the United States do not yet have the faster, fourth-generation telecoms networks that the new iPad supports, but some buyers travelled from countries where it is not expected to be available for several months to get their hands on one. "I've come from Russia to buy an iPad for my three-year-old son David," Oleg Konovalov, a newspaper salesman, told Reuters in Tokyo. "Everyone in Russia wants an iPad, but to buy it there I will have to wait several months." "This reminds me of the time 30 years ago when I waited 8 hours in the cold to see Lenin's Mausoleum." In London, 21-year-old Piotr, who works at noodle bar Wagamama, said: "It's not for me, it's to sell. I will bring them to Russia to sell them." In the Chinese city of Shenzhen, people keen to get their hands on the new iPad waited for them to be smuggled across the border from Hong Kong. "We don't have iPad3s yet, but
some will arrive later in the day when the students deliver them to us. We'll have more supplies over this weekend," said a store operator in Shenzhen. "Customs has become stricter, but if you take one at a time across the border, that's still pretty safe. At most they'll ask you to take it out of the box to prove that it's for self use." Online reviews of the new iPad overwhelmingly praised Apple for its improved screen resolution. "My epiphany came when I placed my iPad 2 next to the new model, with the same text on the screen. Letters and words that had seemed sharp on the older model five minutes earlier suddenly looked fuzzier," said one online reviewer. Shintaro Aizawa, 16, who waited 15 hours outside a Tokyo store: said: "After this, well, I'll first of all open it up and check it's as beautiful as I thought. Then I'll get some sleep." GOLD STANDARD As consumers lined up around city streets to buy the iPad, one firm that took the new device apart said Qualcomm, Broadcom, and Samsung Electronics had all held onto their prized roles as key parts suppliers. Supplying parts for Apple's APPLE page 26
22
News Wire/
Turkey considers Syria buffer zone; Annan seeks unity

(Reuters: Top News)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:11:38 AM
By Jon Hemming and Jonathon Burch ANKARA, BOYNU YOGUN, Turkey| Fri Mar 16, 2012 12:11pm EDT (Reuters) - Turkey said on Friday it might set up a "buffer zone" inside Syria to protect refugees fleeing President Bashar alAssad's forces, raising the prospect of foreign intervention in the year-long revolt. With the uprising entering its second year, U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan urged the Security Council to end its divisions over Syria and work to help a peace mission mired in difficulty. On the ground in Syria, the violence continued. Syrian forces battled protesters in at least three suburbs of the capital Damascus, opposition activists said. They were also flare-ups in other cities, with a number of deaths reported. Refugees were crossing hills into Turkey, evading Syrian forces and minefields to be taken into refugee camps there. The increasing flow, and memories of a flood of 500,000 fleeing into Turkey from Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War, are causing growing concern in Ankara. Annan said he would dispatch
advisors to Syria early next week for talks about sending international monitors, in the hope their presence would brake the violence. But Western diplomats had little expectation of any swift breakthroughs. The United Nations estimates that Assad's forces have killed at least 8,000 people, many of them civilians during the revolt, which has splintered Syria along sectarian lines and also deeply divided world powers. While the West and much of the Arab world has lined up to denounce Assad, Russia, China and Iran have defended him and warned against outside interference. Neighbor Turkey, which has grown increasingly at odds with Assad, urged its citizens to quit Syria because of the growing insecurity and raised the prospect of setting up a buffer zone along the border to protect the swelling ranks of refugees. "A buffer zone, a security zone, are things being studied," Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told reporters, adding that this was not the only proposal under consideration. Ankara is wary of any military intervention in Syria, fearing a broader civil war could spill over its borders. It has made clear that any
creation of a 'security zone' would need some form of international agreement and backing, not least because it would require armed protection and could profoundly alter the dynamics of the uprising. "If implemented, it may be a game changer," said Anthony Skinner, Middle East analyst at UK-based political risk consultancy Maplecroft. He added that it would "clearly benefit the opposition". CELEBRATIONS Turkey says it is now hosting 14,700 Syrian refugees after 250 people crossed its borders on Friday. Some 1,000 had arrived the day before, fleeing fierce fighting in the Idlib province. At a refugee camp near the village of Boynu Yogun,, Syrians celebrated with songs and chants against Assad when they heard Erdogan's comments broadcast on live television. "This is what we wanted from the beginning. We want all the civilians in this area protected," said Walid Hassan, one of the refugees, who fled Syria nine months ago. Turkey has become a hub of the anti-Assad movement, hosting the main opposition umbrella alliance and the rebel Free Syrian Army. As such it has a unique insight into the growing division among the groups that could complicate
any establishment of a new administration in Damascus. Some 45 civilians have been killed in the Idlib region in the past day, including 23 whose bodies were found with their hands tied behind their backs, as well as five army deserters, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said. The Syrian government denies accusations of brutality against civilians. It says it is grappling with an insurgency by terrorists and foreign-backed militants. Pro-Assad supporters staged mass rallies around Syria on Thursday to mark the first anniversary of the uprising, but anti-regime protesters were met with live fire when they tried to take to the streets, opponents said. Activists said security forces fired heavily in southern Damascus's Qadam suburb on Friday to chase demonstrators off the streets. They also reported firing in the western suburb of Daraya and clashes with army deserters in Ghouta, east of the capital, which has seen gun battles in the past. Reports from Syria cannot be independently verified as authorities have barred outside rights groups and journalists. ISOLATION Underlining Assad's growing isolation, four members of the
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) announced the closures of their embassies in protest against its violent crackdown, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said. Kuwait, Oman, United Arab Emirates and Qatar were to follow in the footsteps of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain and halt diplomatic activity in Syria, the GCC was quoted as saying in a statement. Russia, one of Assad's few remaining friends, condemned the decision, saying it was vital to keep communication open. Mikhail Bogdanov, a deputy foreign minister, told reporters in Moscow that international calls for Assad to step down were "counterproductive because they send the opposition a false signal that there is no sense in entering dialogue". Annan, a former U.N. Secretary General, went to Damascus last weekend to discuss proposals to end the violence. Syria said it responded positively to the initiative, but Western diplomats have expressed pessimism about the chances of success. Addressing a closed-door meeting of the 15-nation Security Council via video link, Annan said the stronger their message was in support of his efforts to negotiate a ceasefire, the better his TURKEY page 26
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AFGHANISTAN'S
investigation into the massacre of 16 Afghan villagers by a U.S. staff sergeant and questioned whether only one soldier could have been involved. A series of blunders by the United States, including the killings in Kandahar province on Sunday and the inadvertent burning of copies of the Koran at a NATO base last month, has further strained already tense relations between the countries. "This has been going on for too long. You have heard me before. It is by all means the end of the rope here," Karzai told reporters at the heavily fortified presidential palace. Flanked by senior officials, a tired and sometimes angry Karzai listened to village elders and the families of victims of the massacre, and dressed somberly in black for the start of an expected two days of talks to discuss the killings. Some at the meeting shouted, some demanded answers, but all said they wanted any soldiers involved punished. "I don't want any compensation. I don't want money, I don't want a trip to Mecca, I don't want a house. I want nothing. But what I absolutely want is the punishment of the Americans. This is my demand, my demand, my demand
and my demand," said one villager, whose brother was killed in the nighttime slaughter. Furious Afghans and lawmakers have demanded that the soldier responsible be tried in Afghanistan, but despite those calls, the U.S. staff sergeant was flown out on Wednesday. "The army chief has just reported that the Afghan investigation team did not receive the cooperation that they expected from the United States. Therefore these are all questions that we'll be raising, and raising very loudly, and raising very clearly," Karzai said. Karzai appeared to back the belief of the villagers, and many other Afghans including the country's parliament, that one gunman acting alone could not have killed so many people, and in different locations some distance apart. "They believe it's not possible for one person to do that. In (one) family, in four rooms people were killed, women and children were killed, and they were all brought together in one room and then put on fire. That one man cannot do," Karzai said. TWIN INVESTIGATIONS With twin investigations still underway by both U.S. and Afghan officials, any discovery of more than one soldier involved in
the massacre would be a disaster for NATO, with Western leaders needing to win over Afghans ahead of a withdrawal by most foreign combat troops in 2014. Civilian casualties caused by NATO forces hunting insurgents are a major source of friction between the Afghan government and its Western backers, and have damaged efforts to win the "hearts and minds" of locals in the decade -old war. "Our families are finished and our houses are destroyed," said a furious Hajji Abdul Samad Aka, who lost 11 members of his family in the killings in two villages of Panjwayi district. An unnamed U.S. official told The New York Times the attack by the accused soldier was a result of "a combination of stress, alcohol and domestic issues - he just snapped." The lawyer for the soldier said the staff sergeant was upset at having to do a fourth tour of duty in a war zone and was likely suffering from stress after seeing colleagues wounded. Anger over the massacre spilled into weekly Friday prayers at a major mosques in central Kabul with one cleric calling the shooting "unforgivable" and questioning how a soldier with alleged mental problems could be
in the U.S. military. "Revenge for the blood of these victims will be taken either today, tomorrow, in 10 years or the next 100 years," said Mullah Ayaz Niazi at Wazir Akhbar Khan mosque in Kabul's diplomatic enclave, which is also home to NATO headquarters. The soldier accused of the shooting was attached to a small special forces compound similar to others around the country which underpin NATO's antiinsurgent strategy. On Thursday, Karzai called for NATO troops to leave Afghan villages and confine themselves to major bases, underscoring fury over the massacre and clouding U.S. exit plans. He also demanded the handover of security to Afghan police and soldiers by 2013, a year ahead of schedule. Such a move could undercut U.S. President Barack Obama's strategy for Afghanistan and hamper efforts to mentor Afghan police and help with local governance. In a further blow to NATO hopes of a negotiated end to the decadeold war, the Afghan Taliban said they were suspending nascent peace talks with the United States, following the massacre and ahead of the traditional summer fighting
months. The United States said it was committed to political reconciliation involving talks with the Taliban but progress would require agreement between Kabul and the insurgents. "The Taliban leadership were and may still be serious about talks, but instead of discussing how to end the war, they will now be persuading the rank and file to go out again this year and fight," Kate Clark of the Afghanistan Analysts Network said. "That another round of fighting and killing is now on the agenda is a difficult prospect to face," she wrote in a blog. (Writing by Jack Kimball, Editing by Rob Taylor and Sanjeev Miglani) This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
AP sources: Dolphins out of Manning chase

The Miami Dolphins are out of work out Friday for the Denver the chase for Peyton Manning, Broncos, people familiar with the and the quarterback planned to negotiations said.
24
News Wire/
Dems Want Fannie, Freddie Overseer Removed

(FOXNews.com)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 12:04:49 PM
Aug. 8, 2011: The Fannie Mae headquarters is seen in Washington. A top regulator's unbending refusal to use troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to rescue underwater homeowners is whipping up a growing protest from liberal lawmakers and advocacy groups - some of whom are now calling on President Obama to fire him. The little-known Washington official, Edward DeMarco, is under pressure by the left to reduce mortgage principals for struggling borrowers. Nearly 20 Democrats in Congress along with groups like MoveOn.org have launched somewhat of a campaign against the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Their solution would presumably help thousands of families, but at taxpayer expense. And DeMarco has suggested it just wouldn't be fair to use government-backed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to clear the way for a multi-billion-dollar homeowner bailout. In a recent letter, he said foreclosure prevention programs have already added to American taxpayer loss and destabilized neighborhoods. But the lawmakers and advocacy
groups allege he's standing in the way of a robust housing recovery, and want him to either relent to their demands or step down. Absent that, some are calling on Obama to fire him. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the top Democrat on the House Financial Service Committee, recently joined the ranks of those calling on DeMarco to step down. The lawmakers specifically want DeMarco to agree to write down principal amounts for struggling homeowners. The Van Jonesbacked Rebuild the Dream, which is circulating a petition supposedly signed by 90,000 people, calls DeMarco the "number one obstacle to solutions for struggling homeowners" and a "right-wing ideologue" who sides with Wall Street. A House aide with the Progressive Caucus, whose members are pressuring DeMarco, told FoxNews.com that the strategy is to get him to "write down the loans or get out of the way." "It's absolutely unconscionable that people would defend DeMarco and his unwillingness to let American homeowners get the relief that they need at a time that we're all trying to put America back to work and get this economy back on track," the aide said.
In an interview with Fox Business Network, he said DeMarco "has done an incredible job." "If people had listened to DeMarco earlier, I think we could have avoided some of the problems that we have. He's actually brought a lot of credibility to his job and I give him my strongest vote of confidence," Bachus said. But some claim a principal relief program could actually make money for the government. A But DeMarco repeatedly has encouraged - not dampened with Treasury official told The Hill defended his agency's approach, incentives for people to not newspaper last month that a w h i c h f o c u s e s o n e x i s t i n g continue paying," DeMarco said. s m a l l e r - s c a l e p r i n c i p a l m o r t g a g e r e l i e f p r o g r a m s DeMarco has been steadfast in forgiveness initiative could save including recent refinancing trying to strike that balance. In a $20 billion by reducing defaults -opportunities. The agency pushes, February letter to California's as opposed to the $100 billion it among other options, forbearance attorney general, he rejected a would supposedly cost to write -- which defers interest payments request to suspend foreclosures in down all underwater mortgages. for portions of the principal. the state, noting Fannie and Fox Business Network's Rich At a recent forum hosted by the Freddie over the past few years Edson contributed to this report. National Journal, DeMarco said have already done more than 1 Related Stories uReport: What the key to mortgage relief is to million loan modifications. He campaign slogans do you want to reduce monthly payments and s a i d t h e r e ' s " n o q u e s t i o n " hear in 2012? Send us your videos relieve the strain on family underwater borrowers "would and photos! Obama goes on budgets. He said forbearance -- as benefit from other taxpayers fundraising blitz in Chicago, opposed to principal write-downs across the United States" paying Atlanta - - a c h i e v e s t h a t g o a l , a n d off their underwater portions, but This entry passed through the "preserves" taxpayer dollars in the suggested that would not be fair to Full-Text RSS service if this is process. Furthermore, he said the taxpayers. your content and you're reading it majority of deeply underwater The chairman of the House on someone else's site, please read homeowners are "current" on their Financial Services Committee, the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentmortgages, meaning they are Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., only/faq.php#publishers. Five willing to meet their obligations. e a r l i e r t h i s w e e k c a m e t o Filters recommends: Donate to "This should be recognized and D e M a r c o ' s d e f e n s e . Wikileaks.
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25
Daredevil Prepares for Record-Setting Plunge

(FOXNews.com)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 12:04:49 PM
March 15 2012: Pilot Felix Baumgartner of Austria seen before his jump at the first manned test flight for Red Bull Stratos in Roswell, New Mexico. In this test he reach 71,500 f) and landed safely. balazsgardi.com/ Red Bull Content Pool March 15 2012: A camera captures Felix Baumgartner of Austria, moments before his death -defying jump from 13 miles up. Red Bull March 15 2012: Pilot Felix Baumgartner of Austria prepares to exits the capsule before his jump at the first manned test flight for Red Bull Stratos in Roswell, New Mexico. balazsgardi.com/ Red Bull Content Pool March 15 2012: Pilot Felix Baumgartner of Austria seen before his jump at the first manned test flight for Red Bull Stratos in Roswell, New Mexico. balazsgardi.com/Red Bull Content Pool March 15 2012: The balloon ascends during the first manned test flight for Red Bull Stratos in Roswell, New Mexico. Joerg Mitter/Red Bull Stratos Next Slide Previous Slide The plunge from 71,581 feet was
a success. Next up: 120,000 feet. Daredevil adventurer Felix Baumgartner's plans to plunge 23 miles from the edge of space back to Earth -- a Red Bull-sponsored stunt that would be the world's highest freefall -- and on Thursday, his team announced the completion of a key test flight over Roswell, N.M. "The height of Felix's test flight was significant, as it was the first time he passed the Armstrong Line of approximately 63,000
feet, where the atmospheric pressure truly tests Felix's custommade space suit," his team said in a news release. "I like the challenge. I have a passion for aviation." - Daredevil adventurer Felix Baumgartner It may not have reached the level of a space plunge, but what a fall it was. Baumgartner is said to have reached about 365 mph and fell for three minutes and 43 seconds before he opened his
parachute at 7,890 feet. Perviously, Baumgartner's highest freefall was from a paltry 30,000 feet. The launch window for the 120,000 jump starts in July in New Mexico, Baumgartner told FoxNews.com last month. With air temperatures of -70 F degrees, his very blood would boil if exposed to the air. So what could compel a man to make such a dangerous attempt? "I like the challenge,"
Baumgartner said. "I have a passion for aviation, and I love working on things that start from scratch," he explained. To do it at all required a custom supersonic spacesuit, designed by the David Clark Company, which made the first such pressurized suits to protect World War II fighters during high-speed maneuvers. In the process of his leap, DAREDEVIL page 26
26
Technology/ Finance/
APPLE
DAREDEVIL
iPhones and iPads, the industry's gold standards, is considered a coup for chipmakers and other manufacturers. The inner workings of the iPad are similar to previous models, based on a "teardown" by a tinkerer from California gadgetrepair firm iFixit, who queued up in Australia to get one of the new tablets and quickly took it apart for a Web blog. IFixit said the iPad's display appears to be from Samsung, Apple's closest rival in the tablet market. The iPad includes a Qualcomm LTE cell phone chip and a Qualcomm wireless modem for 3G and 4G. Broadcom supplies a semiconductor handling wireless tasks like WiFi and Bluetooth, according to iFixit. The iPad's new A5X application processor, with improved graphics horsepower, is based on energyefficient technology licensed from
Britain's ARM Holdings and is manufactured by Qualcomm, as in past Apple devices. A NAND flash memory chip, used to store media like music and video, is supplied by Toshiba. Japan's Elpida provides the DRAM chips. The iPad teardown also revealed chips from Avago Technologies, Triquint Semiconductor and Fairchild. Analysts recommend caution in drawing conclusions from the teardowns because Cupertino, California-based Apple sometimes uses more than one supplier for a part. What is found in one iPad may not be found in others. Still, teardowns remain a key source of information for investors interested in betting on Apple's suppliers, and the appearance of unexpected chips can move stocks. "There are a whole lot of hedge
funds out there that like to shoot first and ask questions later," said Alex Gauna, an analyst at JMP who covers technology stocks. ($1 = 0.7651 euros) ($1 = 83.2900 Japanese yen) (Additional reporting by Lee Chyen Yee in Hong Kong, James Topham and Ruairidh Vikllar in Tokyo, Sisi Tang in Hong Kong; Jens Hack in Munich and Axelle du Crest in Paris; Writing by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Michael Perry and Andrew Callus) This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Baumgartner hopes to become the first parachutist to break the sound barrier, plummeting toward the ground at 760 miles per hour. Print Email Share Comments Recommend Tweet Related Video Daredevil survives plunge from 71,581 feet Related Slideshow Step Inside the Spacesuit Related Stories NASA video shows the moon's 4.5 billion year evolution Google plans major overhaul to search engine Radio
glitch delays 5-rocket launch to edge of space Review: Hands-on with Apple's new iPad Share This Article Newsletter Signup Sign up for free e-mail news alerts from FoxNews.com and FoxBusiness.com. Newsletter Signup This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Debt crisis: live

Amy Wilson (Finance News Business news from the UK and world)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:41:36 AM
TURKEY
chances would be of altering the dynamics. Russia and China have twice vetoed Security Council resolutions condemning Assad. (Writing by Crispian Balmer; Additional reporting by Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Amman, Steve Gutterman in Moscow, Louis Charbonneau in New York,; Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, Jonathon Burch in Boynu Yogun and Peter Apps in London; Edited
by Richard Meares) This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Post-Modern Art Spoofs - Henry Hargraves Recreats Damien Hirsts Spot Paintings (TrendHunter.com)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 7:06:02 AM
( TrendHunter.com) Artist Henry Hargraves has an interesting take
on Damien Hirsts Spot paintings. While many in the art world were applauding Hirsts innumerable circles, it seems Hargraves had a different...
Britain's banks continued to cut their exposure to European debt in the fourth quarter, reducing exposure to Germany to $187.755bn, as well as to the Netherlands and Spain, but raising it in relation to France to $298.2bn.
News Wire/ World News/ Finance/
27
Verdict Reached In Rutgers Webcam Case

(FOXNews.com)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 12:04:49 PM
The Realist Prism: Obama's 'Coalition of the Willing' Problem on Iran

(World Politics Review: Articles)
Feb. 28: Dharun Ravi listens to testimony during his trial at the Middlesex County Courthouse in New Brunswick, N.J. Ravi is accused of using a webcam to spy on his roommate, Tyler Clementi, in an intimate encounter with another man. Days later Clementi committed suicide. URGENT: The former Rutgers University student accused of using a webcam to spy on his roommate's tryst with another man was found guilty of invasion of privacy and the hate crime of bias intimidation against his roommate. Dharun Ravi, 20, sat expressionless as the guilty verdicts were read Friday in the Middlesex County, N.J. courtroom. He was found not guilty of some lesser counts. His former roommate, Tyler Clementi, killed himself in September, 2010, by jumping off the George Washington Bridge after learning his encounter had been caught on camera, touching off a national debate on bullying. Ravi's attorneys acknowledged to the jury that the former college student acted in a thoughtless,
justify the invasion: the unilateral right of the United States or a Submitted at 3/16/2012 3:49:00 AM group of states to enforce In the immediate aftermath of the previous U.N. Security Council 2003 Iraq War, before the Iraqi resolutions; and the invocation of insurgency had come to define the an ad hoc coalition of the conflict, one of the Democratic willing in which small states Partys loudest criticisms of the made token contributions, while Bush administration was that it the brunt of the operation was had utterly bungled the diplomatic borne by the U.S., Australia and angle in the run-up to the war: Great Britain. During his first President George W. Bush had debate with Bush as the 2004 been unable to replicate his D e m o c r a t i c n o m i n e e f o r fathers success in getting the president, Sen. John Kerry immature manner, but denied he he had been watched and leaped United Nations to pass a catch-all explicitly targeted this approach, was motivated by hatred toward from the bridge after posting one r e s o l u t i o n a u t h o r i z i n g a l l declaring, That's not a grand gays. last status update on Facebook: necessary means to ensure that coalition. We can do better. ... "He hasn't lived long enough to "Jumping off the gw bridge, Iraq was disarmed. Nor had he This entry passed through the been able to get a major regional Full-Text RSS service if this is h a v e a n y e x p e r i e n c e w i t h sorry." homosexuality or gays," said The Associated Press contributed security organization to endorse your content and you're reading it military action after efforts at the on someone else's site, please read attorney Steven Altman in closing to this report. arguments. "He doesn't know This undated file photograph U.N. Security Council had ended the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contenta n y t h i n g a b o u t i t . H e j u s t provided by Joseph and Jane in deadlock, as his Democratic only/faq.php#publishers. Five graduated high school." Clementi shows their son Tyler predecessor Bill Clinton had Filters recommends: Donate to succeeded in doing over Kosovo. Wikileaks. Prosecutors said that Ravi set up Clementi. a webcam in his dorm room in This entry passed through the Instead, the Bush team fell back September 2010 and captured Full-Text RSS service if this is on two slender and weak reeds to Clementi kissing another man, your content and you're reading it t h e n t w e e t e d a b o u t i t a n d on someone else's site, please read excitedly tried to catch Clementi the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentin the act again two days later. only/faq.php#publishers. Five About a half-dozen students were Filters recommends: Donate to believed to have seen the live Wikileaks. Helia Ebrahimi (Finance News - is facing a bitter shareholder video of the kissing. Business news from the UK and revolt that could spark a hostile world) Within days, Clementi realized battle for control of the FTSE250 company. Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:06:47 AM Exclusive: SVG - one of the oldest listed private equity firms -
SVG Capital faces a shareholder revolt
28
World News/ Finance/
To Rethink the State Department, Look to Business

(World Politics Review: Articles)
Former India hockey captain Dilip Tirkey to be BJD Rajya Sabha - Hindustan Times
(Nation - Google News)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:19:22 AM
seem like the best approach under conditions of fiscal austerity. It is Submitted at 3/16/2012 3:57:00 AM not. Instead, as Congress looks to D e m a n d s o n t h e S t a t e save dollars, the State Department Department may be growing but, should seize the opportunity to if last weeks congressional rethink how it operates, getting hearings are any indication, the nimbler and more effective in State Departments coffers will addition to getting leaner. Rather not be. Even longtime champions than just stretch an already of robust international affairs strained and aging bureaucracy funding like Sen. Patrick Leahy that much further, it should seek have warned the secretary of state ways to execute its strategies that the $54.7 billion diplomatic differently. ... a n d d e v e l o p m e n t b u d g e t This entry passed through the r e q u e s t e d b y t h e O b a m a Full-Text RSS service if this is a d m i n i s t r a t i o n - - a m o d e s t your content and you're reading it increase over last year -- is on someone else's site, please read unlikely to win full funding. the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentThough increased funding for only/faq.php#publishers. Five foreign affairs may well make Filters recommends: Donate to sense, its chances are remote at Wikileaks. best. Merely doing more with less may
Orissadiary.com Former India hockey captain Dilip Tirkey to be BJD Rajya Sabha Hindustan Times Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday announced the name of former Indian hockey captain Dilip Tirkey as a candidate for the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) for the
upcoming Rajya Sabha elections. The elections for three Rajya Sabha seats in the... BJD to contest 2 of 3 RS seats in Odisha Zee News BJD to field Dilip Tirkey for Rajya Sabha: Naveen Patnaik Indian Sports news Odisha: BJD nominates Dilip Tirkey, Rabi Mohapatra name for Rajya Sabha Orissadiary.com Daily Mail all 5 news articles
Fears Murrumbidgee levees will be breached Ninemsn

Submitted at 3/16/2012 10:50:53 AM
LNP: 'We don't have a back-up plan' - Gold Coast Bulletin News
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:47:29 AM
Jump in US underlines threat of petrol prices

Richard Blackden (Finance News - Business news from the UK and world)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 10:22:59 AM
a reminder of the threat that rising petrol prices pose to America's economic recovery.
US inflation jumped the most in almost a year last month, offering
Brisbane Times LNP: 'We don't have a back-up plan' Gold Coast Bulletin News THEY are the Gold Coast's silent 10 -- the LNP candidates who are toeing the party line, too welltrained to speak openly about what the party will do if leader Campbell Newman fails to win Ashgrove from ALP incumbent
Kate Jones. Corruption body probes Newman donation The Australian Counting chickens with roosters not such a wise move Sydney Morning Herald Labor MP Kate Jones receives crucial boost with Greens preferences going to... Courier Mail Brisbane Times- ABC OnlineNEWS.com.au all 283 news articles
Yahoo!7 News Fears Murrumbidgee levees will be breached Ninemsn People are being told to evacuate hundreds of properties along the Murrumbidgee River, with fears that floodwaters will breach levees. The NSW State Emergency Service (SES) has issued an evacuation order for the town of Hay and neighbouring village of... More Riverina residents told to evacuate as flood waters rise NEWS.com.au Riverina Mayor at odds with SES evacuation order ABC Online Murrumbidgee River forces NSW evacuations Sydney Morning Herald The Australian- Weekly Times Now- Cowra Community News all 110 news articles
World News/
29
Will sort out differences Argentine warning with Rawat: Bahuguna - fails to dent oil groups IBNLive.com - Financial Times
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:24:26 AM
Home care: 'So useless I told them to leave' BBC News

Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:31:05 AM
Tehelka Will sort out differences with Rawat: Bahuguna IBNLive.com PTI | 09:03 PM,Mar 16,2012 New Delhi, Mar 16 (PTI) Beleaguered Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna today said he would make efforts to resolve differences with senior Congress leader Harish Rawat and
hoped that the party would be able to prove... Opp outnumbers Treasury Bench in Uttarakhand Daily Pioneer Bahuguna meets Sonia Gandhi, 3 more Cong MLAs in Uttarakhand Daily News & Analysis A temporary reprieve for the Congress Tehelka Indian Express- The HinduTimes of India all 115 news articles
Gas, has hired the Leiv... Argentina threatens legal action Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:32:16 AM over Falkland Islands oil Telegraph.co.uk production Metro Argentine warning fails to dent Argentina threatens legal action oil groups against any company involved in Financial Times oil... Daily Mail By Michael Kavanagh Technical Expat guide to Argentina: health problems at its Darwin prospect is care Telegraph.co.uk set to add a further four or five BBC News- Evening Standardweeks to scheduled work at the The Press Association well, which began in late January. all 707 news articles Borders & Southern, along with fellow explorer Falkland Oil &
Labour work plan for Costello slams Future young jobless - The Fund 'shemozzle' Ninemsn Press Association
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:30:00 AM
BBC News Home care: 'So useless I told them to leave' BBC News The consumer group Which? has described the standards of care provided for older people in their homes in the UK as "shocking and disgraceful". Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Which? said the findings - based on a survey... Home care branded as disgraceful ITN Elderly Suffering 'Disgraceful' Home Care Sky News Home care for elderly 'disgraceful', report finds The Guardian Daily Mail- Silver Surfer Today all 118 news articles
Telegraph.co.uk Labour work plan for young jobless The Press Association Labour leader Ed Miliband has called for long-term unemployed young people to be guaranteed a job but stripped of benefits if they refuse the offer. All under-25s out of work for more than one year
would be given paid employment, funded by a bank bonus... The Left's appalling hypocrisy on unemployment: It was Labour that introduced... Daily Mail Harman struggles to explain funding of Labour 'real jobs guarantee' The Guardian Labour miss out the details Spectator.co.uk BBC News- Mancunian Matters all 110 news articles
Submitted at 3/16/2012 10:47:12 AM
Sydney Morning Herald Costello slams Future Fund 'shemozzle' Ninemsn Tax Time 2011Doing your tax doesn't need to be daunting! Check out ninemsn Finance's Tax Time for tips and advice on how to make your 2011/12 tax return work for you. Peter Costello says
the federal government has damaged the Future Fund's reputation... Future Fund sees Peter Costello jilted again Herald Sun Headhunters omitted Gonski in line-up Sydney Morning Herald Costello has tickets on himself, says Wayne Swan The Australian The Age- ABC Online- Yahoo!7 News all 30 news articles
30
World News/ Technology/
I have full faith in Neudesic Pulse Integrates Prime Minister, says Social Streams With Microsoft Trivedi - IBNLive.com SharePoint and Dynamics
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:24:13 AM
IBNLive.com I have full faith in Prime Minister, says Trivedi IBNLive.com PTI New Delhi: Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi, whose fate hangs in balance, on Friday maintained his decision on the fare hike, saying it was in the best interest of the nation, adding he
had full faith in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Decision on Trivedi unlikely before Monday Times of India I have full faith in PM, says Trivedi Firstpost Dinesh Trivedi out of Cabinet on 19 March: Sources Zee News Daily News & Analysis- Indian Express all 2,788 news articles
David Strom (ReadWriteWeb)

Submitted at 3/16/2012 10:52:42 AM
Budgeting Economy Graphs - The 'Frugal is the New Black' Infographic Shows a Coupon-Cutting World (TrendHunter.com)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 7:21:02 AM
( TrendHunter.com) The Frugal is the New Black infographic
If you are in the market for an enterprise social networking tool and haven't yet considered Yammer or Jive or Socialtext or the dozens of other competitors out there, there is a new version 3.0 of Neudesic Pulse that might be worthy for you. It will be announced next week at the Microsoft Convergence conference, and the reason is clear: they offer the best integration with a variety of Microsoft services to their social streams. (We noted that Yammer had SharePoint integration for more than two years here.) uses facts to show that the United Sponsor States public have become much Here is an example of how they more consciousness of how they work with TeamSite, so you can spend their money in recent years. s e e n o t i f i c a t i o n s o f y o u r Families are looking... documents in your stream and still use the native TeamSite controls
and menu ribbon too. The idea is to establish an enterprise-wide social fabric that connects workers and enhances their ability to work together efficiently by sharing whatever tool each user is most comfortable with, at least in theory. Besides TeamSite, there are integrators with SharePoint and Dynamics CRM services too, so you can place activity streams inside their interfaces. There is also
integration with Microsoft Lync, so you can send IMs from within Pulse. Pulse also has native apps on all three mobile platforms: Android, Blackberry, and iOS. What is intriguing about the product is that you can follow all sorts of things besides people in your activity stream, such as groups that are setup around specific topics, or even documents in your SharePoint repository. A few other social networking services have begun offering this flexibility, such as Yammer Files for example. Pulse comes in both on-premises (with typical prices ranging from $8-$10,000 for a one time license with annual maintenance extra) and cloud versions. The private cloud version is $12 per user per month. One nicety is that there are no add-on costs for the various integration services. Discuss
Rolls-Royce rules out building electric car

Olivia Solon
Submitted at 3/16/2012 7:51:00 AM
Rolls-Royce's CEO Torsten Mller-tvs has said that the automaker won't be building a
production version of its 102EX electric Phantom concept any time soon. The car was unveiled with a great fanfare in February 2011, fulfilling a two-year-old promise t h a t t h e c o m p a n y w o u l d
experiment with battery power. debate whether you could have a At the time Mller-tvs said that super luxury electric vehicle. the experiment was crucial for By: Olivia Solon, Edited by: Nate informing future decisions on Lanxon Continue reading... alternative technologies. It even set up a dedicated website to
Technology/ Featured/
31
SendHub Crosses Messaging Platforms To Accidental Time Capsule: Moments from Get Real Stuff Done Computing in 1994 And Starts To Take Off
Scott M. Fulton, III (ReadWriteWeb)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 12:00:00 PM
Eric Eldon (TechCrunch) If you ever have your friends and /or relatives help 10:58:43 AM Submitted at 3/16/2012 you relocate, be sure to keep the security cameras There There will companies rolling. are plenty of be packing trying to create new forms are and unpacking decisions that of g r o u for you,t some of rwhichcyou made p t e x i n g o s o i a l networking. There are far fewer will never be aware of unless w h o aevidencenin front f f eyou. there's r e t r y i g t o o of r a messaging during the late summer Sometime service that crosses the web, email and mobilebriefcase.in of 1994, I lost a small devices aIt seamless way. in it; in fact, is had no valuables Facebook it p e r h a p soneh purpose. o b v i o u s had but t e m o s t I carried example,nbut itsnutility isysociall magazi es i it, t pica ly you might mags. use been computer not want Itohad it for work, or almost a year. your kids married for organizing My wife, l i t t lyet l e a g u e g a m e , o r was not e my business partner, f o r communicating with the parents an editor and contributing author of class youre teaching. forawhat was then Prentice-Hall Enter north side of town this on the SendHub, a startup in (it's years Y met her; she was that where I Combinator class, my has already started There were editor on a book). to get some serious traction up outside on picnic tables set by focusing the professionals. The company offers office, and as I waited to pick her a clean interface for creating this up for lunch, I'd bring and organizing groups of people, me. briefcase of magazines with and communicating back and forth It's a sign of how importantly I witht e d c o m p u t e r m adesired t r e a them over their g s : I format. intentionally scheduled my time The result one hour has been to allow for is that it for lunch with Jen, and one hour reading my mags. Sponsor Daniel Halper (The Weekly They were Standard) my connection to a brighter world - the continual, monthly affirmation that everything I believed to be important as a kid (not that long before), actually was. I often used
growing fast. When Sarah Perez covered SendHub in February, the company was sending 30,000 messages a month. Now, its sending around that amount per week. Check out the graph below. The numbers are still small, but theyre in the right direction. YC partner Paul Graham says that its growth looks like AirBnBs in the early days. What types of users are causing this growth? A few big partnerships are helping, including one with Teach For America and another with the Florida Department of Education, cofounders Garrett Johnson and Ash Rust tell me. But some people are using it for social purposes as well, including a group of cross-fit trainers who coordinate times to work out. And theres a variety of folks who veer into Facebook Messaging territory by communicating with each other to keep social activities like beer crawls together. How does the app work? Youll
need to go to the website, sign up with Facebook or Google or a new user account, then enter the information of the people you want to share with. You can do it manually, or import CSV docs from Gmail, Outlook and other email clients. Youll also get a new local phone number (the company uses Twilios voice messaging platform on the backend). Then you can start writing messages and texting them out to people. Other users can also join using a keyword you choose. So a local business could invite existing customers via uploading its CSV file of them and asking new users to text in to sign up (which is how most people are joining). You get a unique new phone number, and youre asked to either add contacts manually or via a bulk importer. Users who receive the texts are also sent a link to go back and rate the message or block the sender. So if a local business starts
spamming too many deals, theyll be able to get feedback quickly. But why did the growth take off? The founder joined YC with a product in hand, but they tell me they got a bunch of design help that has made the site easier to use for people. Other cofounders with specific technical skills have also helped them with scaling their services for new waves of users. And, they also got encouraged to focus on every single user who called in. Right now, theyre sleeping shifts so they can respond to any issues 24 hours a day. Where to next? Email and social will be our primary focus in the short term, Rust says, but we expect voice will be an important frontier for us to develop.We did a basic integration and were seeing over 3,000 calls a month. IM is attractive, but its not requested nearly as much. These types of messaging apps are inherently viral, but sometimes have trouble making
money as a result of too much success (see: GroupMe, Beluga). SendHub provides a set of premium features instead. If you want to go above 1,000 messages a month, youll need to pay at least $10 a month. If you want more than three groups, larger API requests, the ability to bring your own number, phone support, or a branded profile page, youll need to buy more expensive options. The team still has a couple things to work out. In testing it out, the bulk importer had some trouble uploading my contact list. And the interface has some oddities, like an error message telling you that you need to type in a ten digit telephone number, which appears as youre typing your number in. But all in all it feels right, and the engagement numbers seem to indicate that many more users will, too.
Illinois Poll: Romney 37, Santorum 31, Gingrich 14, Paul 8

The latest Fox Chicago poll of likely Republican voters in Illinois:
So the IEEE thought perhaps an
industry will respond with a flood
day, among the most insightful
statistically, there is no greater
32
Technology/
The New Blueprint for App Provisioning: VMware's Application Director

Scott M. Fulton, III (ReadWriteWeb)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 8:00:00 AM
The presumed "elasticity" of cloud technology tends to fall apart whenever the bindings change. That is, when a virtual machine or virtualized application relies upon the specific configuration of the hardware providing its infrastructure, it isn't exactly cloud-like when you have to migrate that element to a new host. You often find yourself rewriting some configuration file or maybe even engineering some one-time script. You don't have to write an instruction manual every time you stretch a rubber band. In rethinking its approach to making it easier for you to rewrite and reconfigure components that are said to be elastic, VMware has decided to engineer an administrative system that dispenses with the notion altogether. Call it a "zero-step process." In its place, the company's vFabric Application Director, which VMware We introduced you to vFabric App Director announced last October and is generally releasing this morning, substitutes this process for application deployment with a procedure that's reminiscent of drawing an org chart in Visio.
Sponsor It's called blueprinting. You draw a chart of the components that your cloud-based application will rely upon, wherever it happens to migrate to within your cloud infrastructure. It's a map of the virtual app. When the component migrates, the vFabric system takes over the process of marrying the map to the new configuration of its supporting hardware. Modern business applications
don't really run on the operating system's infrastructure anymore the platform has become completely virtual. So the paradigm of using the OS to figure the app is now broken, states VMware group product manager Shahar Erez in an interview with ReadWriteWeb. "Ten years ago, when you developed an application, you went to the procurement team and asked for a huge server to be provisioned for you. Today, you
either use a credit card or provision a VM with a click of a button. You start working on that, config that application and move it around, without caring if that physical component runs, breaks, if it's an HP or a Dell server - all that is irrelevant for me in building that application." Erez demonstrated the entire blueprinting process for me over the course of 15 minutes. For someone who manages cloud infrastructure day-to-day, it might
not take any longer. The basic building blocks - the grey chrome squares in the diagram - represent individual virtual machines. You drag them into the canvas from the Logical Templates bin, which contains a list of VMs organized by their OS configuration. As you create more VM classes for your enterprise, you configure new templates for them, which will appear here. Like drawing a NEW page 35
Technology/
33
MegaUpload, U.S. tussle for Kiwi hearts and minds

Greg Sandoval (CNET News)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:44:58 AM
MegaUpload founder Kim DotCom says U.S. government is persecuting him for political reasons. MegaUpload founder Kim DotCom has six months to try and create the image of himself as a legitimate businessman as well as a victim of U.S. aggression. The U.S. Department of Justice, which has accused him of criminal copyright violations, wire fraud, and racketeering, will seek to create the perception that DotCom is a digital Genghis Khan, a convicted felon who has dedicated most of his adult life to plunder and trampling over people's rights. For DotCom, 38, and the DOJ, the public relations war is on. In January, New Zealand police, at the request of the United States, raided DotCom's home, seized his assets and threw him in jail. He and his associates in the MegaUpload cyberlocker service are accused of enabling massive piracy and U.S. officials want them brought to the United States for trial. DotCom, born Kim Schmitz, is out on bail and is doing his best to sway public opinion in the hope of avoiding extradition. Just this week, the German national, tried
to paint his accusers as hypocrites by claiming members of the U.S. government were among MegaUpload's users. For U.S. officials, if they send DotCom to prison they will also be sending a clear message that helping people commit piracy is no longer just a civil matter but is now a criminal act. Related stories MegaUpload's users may
include U.S. government officials U.S. files to extradite MegaUpload's Kim DotCom Kim DotCom: Why didn't MPAA sue me? MegaUpload founder to remain free on bail The Pirate Bay tosses all torrents Here's how the two sides will
likely use the media to go at each other: The U.S. will try to play up DotCom's criminal record. The 67, 300-pound DotCom is a convicted felon (credit-card fraud and insider trading). Following the raid of his home by New Zealand police in January, he was found in possession of sawed-off, semiautomatic shotgun, illegal in
New Zealand. Copyright owners will use the images of the mansion he lived in and his fleet of exotic cars to show DotCom lived like a Pasha. They will try to tie his riches to the $500 million that the U.S. government said was illegally siphoned away from artists. Last MEGAUPLOAD, page 34
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Technology/
MEGAUPLOAD,
week, New Zealand media outlets were reporting that documents show DotCom used his wealth to influence the New Zealand government's decision to allow a convicted felon to reside there. DotCom promised to buy bonds and bankroll a massive fireworks show. Some in New Zealand have been critical of their government for bending the rules for the rich. Mega wealth and antisocial behavior doesn't play well with New Zealanders, says Rick Shera, an attorney in New Zealand and a well-known voice in online copyright issues in that country. Cary Sherman, RIAA CEO, says if DotCom can 'pull off the PR coup of making himself look like an upstanding businessman...good luck.' "That fed into kiwi's traditional dislike of what we call 'tall poppies,' Shera told CNET. Those are "people like Dotcom whose apparent wealth allows them to lead lifestyles which are not the norm." But Shera said that the police raid on DotCom's leased mansion was also unsavory to Kiwis. When police arrested DotCom at his home, more than 70 officers showed up and some were
wielding automatic weapons. Critics say this was too heavy handed for copyright violations. "There has clearly been a shift towards a more sympathetic view, particularly in reaction to the unusual raid on the Dotcom mansion and the subsequent refusal of bail for a month," Shera said. He also said that shutting down the MegaUpload service and seizing all of DotCom's assets without a trial doesn't sit well with some in New Zealand either. Look for DotCom to try and tap into New Zealand's sense of sovereignty and national pride. Nobody wants to think their government is being pushed around by a foreign entity. The notion that the United States snatches people from foreign countries in the post-911 world is very controversial across the globe. For some, it smacks of Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and men, wearing orange jump suits, bound and blindfolded. DotCom is sure to tie his company to others that offer similar services but have not been shut down, such as Google and YouTube. In the lone extended television interview DotCom has
given, he pointed to the similarities between MegaUpload and YouTube. YouTube was sued by entertainment conglomerate Viacom for copyright violations and prevailed in court. DotCom, who turned down an interview request through his attorney, asked why YouTube's offices weren't raided and why cofounders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen weren't thrown in jail. That leads us to what the government says are scores of MegaUpload internal e-mails that show just different that company was to YouTube. "We have a funny business . . . modern days pirates :)" wrote Bram van der Kolk, one of MegaUpload's managers to fellow company manager Mathias Ortmann. Ortmann responded: "We're not pirates. We're just providing shipping services to pirates :)" It's ironic that DotCom compares MegaUpload to YouTube. Internal e-mails show that when DotCom and his staff were trying to get MegaUpload started, they ripped off all of YouTube's videos. Cary Sherman, CEO and chairman of the Recording Industry Association of America,
says nobody should be surprised by DotCom's self-serving behavior. "What he seems to be doing is right out of playbook 101 for pirates," Sherman told CNET earlier this week. "First, they try to disguise themselves as legitimate businessmen who are being unfairly persecuted by people trying to live by their old business models. "But here you have the U.S. government," Sherman continued, "after a two-year investigation has shown exactly what his business model really was and how he was implementing it. It doesn't look like a legitimate business model to me...If he can pull off the PR coup of making himself look like an upstanding businessman...good luck." This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
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Wired.co.uk Podcast 67: Cyborg snails, homeless hotspots, BBC downloads

Nate Lanxon
Submitted at 3/16/2012 10:42:00 AM
On the show this week we
discuss military plans to create cyborg snails, Russia's plans to visit Venus, the BBC's rival to the iTunes Store and a social media-
focused art gallery that brings
privacy invasion into a whole new light. By: Nate Lanxon, Continue reading...
Technology/ Culture/
35
NEW
relationships diagram of database tables, you double-click on the top of each virtual component to place your cursor there and rename it. Placement of the components in the diagram is completely arbitrary; you arrange them as though you were composing a presentation. The green boxes dragged into each of these grey blocks come from the Services bin. They represent the servers and middleware components that provide the service layer through the operating system. In this example, Apache Web Server, JBoss, and MySQL all qualify. "When we finish building the blueprint, this is a logical representation. We still don't describe where it's running, how it's running - all these things are only going to be in the late binding," explains Erez. "So when we finish building the blueprint, we can save it, provide it in a catalog to your builders, your building release team, they can pick it up where they want and place it anywhere they want. So it can support any vCloud instantiation; but we have to go broader than that, to pretty much any cloud that you want it to run on."
VFabric accomplishes this by means of VMware's patentpending cloud abstraction layer, Erez goes on. "We don't touch the infrastructure. We work with the cloud API, [which] uses whatever APIs we need to instantiate a machine - it doesn't matter whether it's a vSphere machine or [Amazon Machine Image] or maybe Hyper-V one day, because we don't deal with the actual machine. We interact with the cloud API... At no point in time does the user dealing with App Director need to worry [about] what is the underlying infrastructure or who is the underlying cloud." The application relationships are represented by the dashed arrows. In this example, the AppTier component running JBoss relies on the Apache server to be running, and the DBTier component running MySQL relies on JBoss. The predecessors need to be running ahead of them, so the dependencies denote the start order. "Each of the elements that we just placed on the topology map comes with a best practices provisioning script," explains Erez. This way, the IT guru will be able to review these default settings prior to any of these
components ever being deployed, and specify at the blueprint stage which settings may be overridden at deployment time. Any business logic which needs to be run by a service (for instance, a JBoss WAR file) can be loaded into the service during deployment by adding its orange box from the Application Components bin. Enabling a class of component to become clustered is as simple as clicking on its associated component's cluster icon (in the upper right corner), and choosing the number of units in the cluster. Once the blueprint is complete, the designer has the option to publish it for anyone in the organization to use for later deployment, or to deploy the system immediately. During the deployment phase, App Director previews how the execution will take place with a NASA-style diagram - this isn't the one you drew yourself as a blueprint, but rather an extrapolation of that blueprint into a workflow, where the X-axis represents time consumed. Then when VM systems are deployed, you can monitor their status and progress through this All Deployments screen. Of
course, the entire App Director service may be run through a modern Web browser, which does mean it can run in a tablet - Erez' demonstration was using Safari on Mac, though it could very easily have been Safari on iPad. "The reality is, provisioning a new application in enterprise IT takes anywhere between four days for a very small application, to eight weeks," states VMware's Shahar Erez. "Which really doesn't make sense. When you talk about the problems of the cloud, and the cloud getting infrastructure up and running very fast, you're really alleviating a portion of that wait time. On the other hand, we accelerating the development cycle, and then we're stuck in the middle with getting the code to run on that available infrastructure. And that problem is what's delaying getting your business value out to the market sooner. This is the gap that we're trying to bridge." Discuss
Big Chill founder crowd-funds second festival through Unbound book

Olivia Solon
Submitted at 3/16/2012 9:44:00 AM
Controversial ESP study fails

(Holy Kaw!)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:50:06 AM
A study published last year in a scientific journal claimed to have
found strong evidence for the existence of psychic powers such as ESP. So far its not looking good for psychics; the experiment was
replicated, and failed.
Full story at Discovery News. More news from Discovery Communications. Permalink| Leave a comment
Big Chill festival's founder Peter Lawrence is to fund a new festival -- called Alfresco -- by writing a book and publishing it through crowd-funded publishing platform Unbound. Alfresco mini-festival -- in partnership with Unbound -- will take place on 9 June 2012 and will feature no corporate sponsorship or big names from major record labels. Instead it will be a festival centred around storytelling, with a campfire, author talks and live music. The festival aims to "break the boundaries between the audience and the performers". The event will only sell 499 tickets at a cost of 100 that includes a signed and dedicated copy of Lawrence's book, The Big Chill and Other Alfresco Stories. By: Olivia Solon, Edited by: Nate Lanxon Continue reading...
36
Technology/
Google TV Adds New International Apps, But Its Still Only Available Christian In U.S.
Ingrid Lunden (TechCrunch)
specific reasons for why is has not done so yet. We dont break out Submitted at 3/16/2012 10:34:16 AM the reasons why, but we do want Google today announced another t o m a k e s u r e t h a t u s e r s step in the build-out of its Google e v e r y w h e r e g e t t h e f u l l TV service: it is adding several experience, so we want to make new international channels in the sure we work towards that, he form of apps to the Google TV said. platform, aimed at those who live He also did not specify which in the U.S. but are missing content markets might be the first to see from home. Among them are a roll-outs of the service outside of mix of entertainment and news the U.S. services, including al-Jazeera, the To get Google TV, Google Chinese-language PPTV, the currently lists two options: either IslamBox collection of channels, buy a special Sony Internet TV, or Yupp TV (another aggregator, a set-top box from Sony or this time of Indian content) and Logitech that you use with your Japans Crunchyroll. own Internet-enabled TV. Sony in But while it is going international January said that it didnt expect on one level, it is not on another: to offer its Google-TV-enabled still no definite dates on when devices in the UK, at least, until Google plans to launch its service September. That was already a outside of the U.S. delay on earlier estimates which Were looking to roll out had put it at an autumn 2011 internationally through the course arrival. of 2012, a Google spokesperson There could be a number of told TechCrunch. But no specific reasons for the delay, from timings beyond that, or the supplies to getting international
rights sorted out for the video and other content. That has been one of the key issues with the international expansion of other IP video services, such as Hulu. At the moment, Google TV says it has thousands of apps for the service basically, everything in Google Play (nee Android Market) that doesnt require touchscreens, location or other mobile-only features but in terms of apps that have been optimized for Google TV itself, there are 150. Todays list in full: PPTV: HD cinema blockbusters and TV dramas from Asia, as well as anime series, variety shows such as Taiwanese Idol and China Super Girl, and live sports and financial news. IslamBox: more than 40 live TV channels and over two thousand hours of video on demand in four different languages from around the world, including the Islam Channel from UK, Express News
from Pakistan, Peace TV from India, Bridges Television from USA, Huda TV from Egypt. Yupp TV: more than 80 channels available in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali and Punjabi languages. Raaga: South Asian music from more than 200 music labels from the region in almost 20 languages including Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi and more. Crunchyroll: Japanese anime and Asian drama. Euronews: web app that publishes news every 30 minutes covering the days top world, sport, business, lifestyle and breaking news in Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish and Ukrainian. Al Jazeera: the English version, not the Arabic edition.
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Technology/
37
Googles Kevin Rose and Milk team grab confirmed

Chris Davies (SlashGear)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:38:40 AM
Kevin Rose has announced that he has taken a job with Google, just as rumored earlier this week, along with the team brought together for short-lived mobile app incubator Milk. The Digg founder somewhat appropriately took to Google+, the search giants social network, to confirm his new employer, though theres still no indication of what it is that Rose will be doing at Google. Im beyond excited to announce that the Milk crew (Kevin Rose, Daniel Burka, Chris Hutchins, Joshua Lane) is joining Google!
Rose said in his post. Its been a privilege to use Google products over the years (I still remember begging for a Gmail invite) and I cant wait to be a part of the amazing team that is shaping the future of the web. :) Currently Roses profile on Google+ still lists him as CEO of Milk. The startup incubator shut down its first project, an app called Oink, earlier in the week, in what was presumably paving the way for the team to down-tools at Milk and get their collective hands dirty at Google. Bradley Horowitz, VP of product at Google+, said today that Ive had a chance to get to know Kevin
days, and its likely that Google will look to leverage that in pushing Google+ adoption. The service has come in for criticism in recent weeks over its useruptake, something which Googles Vic Gundotra has dismissed as unfair. Google+ is, he argued, part of a greater strategy for the company, and shouldnt be judged as a standalone service. Googles Kevin Rose and Milk and Daniel a bit over the years, here, and Im excited to welcome team grab confirmed is written by Chris Davies& originally posted and have been truly impressed them to Google! with the quality, depth and Rose has a track-record in social, on SlashGear. thoughtfulness of their work. as well as a strong following from 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All Theyre going to fit in really well his Diggnation video podcast right reserved.
Google To Release New Ice Cream Sandwich Update For Nexus S

Chris Velazco (TechCrunch)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:25:03 AM
I dont blame Nexus S users for feeling a bit forgotten for a device ostensibly meant to be on the cutting edge of Android updates, the Nexus S hasnt had much luck on the Ice Cream Sandwich front. If Engadgets sources hold true though, that may all change very
shortly. According to them, Google is once again preparing to make the Ice Cream Sandwich update available, and its expected to drop within the next few weeks. Google initially pushed out the update in mid-December 2011, but issues with battery life and the occasional sketchy wireless connection eventually caused them to stop pushing the update to
users. At the time, Google said the update was paused so they could monitor feedback, and many users were ultimately without a way to upgrade. There were still ways to get the update going, if you were lucky. T -Mobile Nexus S users could download the update and install it manually, but anyone who didnt feel up to the task were plumb out of luck. Sprint customers working
with Nexus S 4Gs have actually had it even worse while their GSM brethren at least got a crack at downloading the update, Google has been quiet about an update for the CDMA/WiMax variant since day one. Thankfully, their patience is finally being rewarded that is, if they havent bit the bullet and loaded up a custom ROM already.
38
Technology/
User modified CM9 TouchPad build adds Cornerstone multitasking support

Ben Kersey (SlashGear)
apps, only being able to see and interact with one at a time. A user on xda-developers has created his The HP TouchPad continues to own build of CM9 that adds a see strong Ice Cream Sandwich n e w m o d i f i c a t i o n c a l l e d support from the talented hackers Cornerstone. Cornerstone allows a over at xda-developers, and a user user to have three applications modified build of the popular running at once on your display, CyanogenMod adds a unique with the main app taking up the twist that even regular Android left side of the screen, and two tablet users should be jealous of: other apps stacked on top of each true multitasking. other to the right hand side of the Yes, Android already supports screen. multitasking, but normally youll Its not perfect right now, though, be jumping in and out of different with some bugs that still need to
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:12:22 AM
be squashed. Meanwhile, CM9 itself has seen further progress on the TouchPad, and now includes full hardware acceleration for
As for when Cornerstone will come to other devices? The project is open source, so theres nothing stopping developers from including it in other Android builds. Until then, check out Cornerstone in action in the embedded video below. User modified CM9 TouchPad build adds Cornerstone multitasking support is written by video, something that has been Ben Kersey& originally posted on sorely missing for a while. SlashGear. Graphical issues have also been 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All corrected in the most recent build. right reserved.
Verizon iPad running with AT&T SIM installed

Erica Sadun (TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog)
unit using AT&T's 3G service. You can use this approach for both standard AT&T iPhone Submitted at 3/16/2012 12:50:00 PM accounts as well as the Pay-asOver at the MacRumors forums, You-Go ones discussed in this reader jsnuff1 has confirmed that TUAW post. the new Verizon iPad works with If you take this approach, do not AT&T's 3G network. The Verizon expect to use AT&T's LTE iPad has a built-in GSM SIM slot network. Real 4G service (i.e. not and supports connections on the FauxG) runs on 700 and 2100 same 850/900/1800/1900 MHz MHz for AT&T. The Verizon bands as the AT&T unit. model supports only 700 MHz. What jsnuff1 did was to slot in an The opposite approach will not iPhone microSIM, using the w o r k . T o t h e b e s t o f m y standard AT&T APN carrier understanding, Verizon CDMA settings hack, and then test the does not use a transferable SIM,
so you cannot move a Verizon account onto an AT&T iPad. In the end, what this means is greater flexibility. When you move outside a Verizon coverage area, you can swap in an AT&T SIM and get 3G data service at
least, or share that service without tethering but with a little bit of paperclip work and SIM swaps when on vacation. Verizon iPad running with AT&T SIM installed originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 16 Mar 2012 12:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Source| Permalink| Email this| Comments
Nokia Lumia 610 can double as Wi-Fi hotspot

Lance Whitney (CNET News) Nokia's NOKIA610 offers Wi-Fi Lumia page 39 tethering out of the box.
Technology/
39
NOKIA
Owners of Nokia's Lumia 610 can use their phone as a hotspot to provide Wi-Fi coverage for up to five different devices. Nokia's Lumia 610 Web site specifically lists that feature under the Sharing and Internet category. The feature pages for the Lumia 710 and the 800 don't yet make any mention of hotspot capability. But sit tight, Lumia owners. A Nokia spokesman confirmed to CNET that the company will add hotspot functionality to the 710 and 800 in a future software update. Nokia's Web site doesn't yet provide details on the Lumia 900, which is expected to debut in the U.S. on April 22 through AT&T. But the 900 will also offer built-in hotspot access for up to five devices. A Nokia product manager confirmed that news in January, explaining that the 900
will come with Wi-Fi tethering out of the box with the right AT&T data plan. Both Nokia and Microsoft are fighting to make a dent in the smartphone market and can use every available advantage. With more customers using phones, tablets, and other laptops to hop online, the ability to offer a Wi-Fi hotspot no longer seems to be an option but a necessity. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
2,100 piece LEGO R2-D2 yours for 150 this May

Ben Kersey (SlashGear)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:31:36 AM
If youre a LEGO fan, this may very well be the droid youre looking for. LEGO are set to release a version of R2-D2 as part of their Ultimate Collectors Series. R2 is made from over 2,100 individual pieces, and the attention to detail the designers have displayed is admirable. R2 can stand either on his two legs, or via his third which extends from the bottom of the unit. The designers have also added various touches and nods from R2s exploits in the original trilogy, including his data jack (be careful not to put it in an electrical socket), as well as a buzzsaw.
Both can be extended and tuck neatly away inside R2s body. The head can be rotated a full 360 degrees, and the blue flaps on the upper half of the body can
also be extended. R2 stands tall at around 30cm, and the designers say they had access to all sorts of Star Wars reference material, as well as the movies, in order to create the perfect R2 unit. When it goes on sale in the UK in May, it will cost roughly 150 (~$237). If you cant wait until then, feast your eyes on the video below for a more detailed look at the worlds favourite astromech droid. [ via Geekologie] 2,100 piece LEGO R2-D2 yours for 150 this May is written by Ben Kersey& originally posted on SlashGear. 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Preparing Hong Kong Apple Store for iPad launch

Kelly Hodgkins (TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog)
Kong was selling the iPad using a reservation system. Customers must sign up for an iPad the night Submitted at 3/16/2012 12:00:00 PM before and wait for an email with M.I.C. Gadget has the inside a time to come and pick up their details(and lots of photos) on the tablet. Hong Kong launch of the iPad. Some people, mostly scalpers, Unlike the US, UK and other are hovering outside, hoping countries which sold on a first- Apple will sell them an iPad, but M.I.C. Gadget sums up the come, first-served basis, Hong they are getting turned away. experience by saying "And it is
exciting to see boxes and boxes of the new iPad rolling in, stacking up on the shelf all ready for the die-hard Apple fans!" You can read more about the launch and thumb through some of the launch photos at M.I.C. Gadget's website. Preparing Hong Kong Apple Store for iPad launch originally
appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 16 Mar 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Source| Permalink| Email this| Comments
40
Technology/ Culture/
I'm first in the UK to buy new iPad at bleakest launch ever

Andrew Hoyle (CNET News)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:38:07 AM
PC Worlds nationwide will have received stock of Apple's new slate over the past couple of days, The queue to buy Apple's new ready to put into the hands of the iPad may have started at the excited masses when it officially Apple Store days ago, but the PC launches to the public today. W o r l d s t o r e o n L o n d o n ' s Normally though, the official Tottenham Court Road had its 'opening ceremony' is done by own launch as the clock ticked Apple itself, usually at its flagship over to 16 March, beating Apple's Regent Street store. o w n e v e n t b y e i g h t h o u r s . The fact that PC World beat Unexpectedly, this meant I was Apple to the punch is somewhat the first person in the UK to buy surprising, but not quite as the new tablet. Sorry Zohaib! startling as the distinct lack of
people queueing at the shop. The queue had only begun to stretch out properly from around 11pm -only an hour before the doors
opened. By contrast, eager Apple fans had begun to queue outside the Apple store days ago Read more" I'm first in the UK to
buy new iPad at bleakest launch ever" at Crave UK. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Apple tops J.D. Power customer survey 7 years running

Steven Sande (TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 12:30:00 PM
J.D. Power and Associates is a well-known provider of customer satisfaction survey data, often known for providing those shiny award statues to automobile manufacturers. Well, they also do surveys of smartphone and traditional mobile phone customers, and for the seventh year in a row, Apple is at the top of the list for customer
satisfaction. In a report subtitled "Smartphone battery life has become a significant drain on customer satisfaction and loyalty," Apple ended up with an index ranking of 839 points out of 1,000 total and a JDPower.com Power Circle score of a perfect five. Next highest on the list was HTC, which pulled in with a power ranking of 798 points. Apple's arch-rival Samsung was while LG and RIM BlackBerry below the industry average figure were tied with a score of 733. At of 774 with a ranking of 769, the bottom of the pile was Palm
with a score of 697 -- their customers are probably miffed that they've been abandoned by the company. Apple tops J.D. Power customer survey 7 years running originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 16 Mar 2012 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of Adam Pash (Lifehacker) feeds. Source| Permalink| Email this| Submitted at 3/16/2012 8:30:00 AM Comments Need someone to vent to? A should to cry near? (We don't want to get our shirts wet!) This week's open thread starts now. More
We're Looking Out for You in This Week's Open Thread [Open Thread]
Economy/
41
In Upwardly Distorting The Economy, Has "Global Warming" Become Obama's Best Friend?
Tyler Durden
abysmal until the just released expectations meet). Ironically, Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:49:32 AM while everyone else continues to Back in early February, Zero ignore this glaringly obvious Hedge was among the first to o b s e r v a t i o n , i t i s B a n k o f suggest that abnormally warm America, who as already noted temperatures and a record hot before are desperate to validate a winter, were among the primary QE as soon as possible (even if causes for various employment their stock has factored in not trackers to indicate a better than only the NEW QE, but the NEW expected trendline (even as many QE HD), that expounds on the other components of the economy topic of the impact of record were declining), in " Is It The warm weather. In fact, not only W e a t h e r , S t u p i d ? D a v i d that, but BofA makes sense of the Rosenberg On What "April In fact why GDP growth continues January" Means For Seasonal to be in the mid 1% range while Adjustments." It is rather logical: various other indicators are after all the market is the first to representative of much higher forgive companies that excuse growth. The culprit? Global poor performance, or economies Warming. that report a data miss due to Of course we jest, at least with "inclement" weather. So why that term, but wouldn't it be very s h o u l d t h e d i r e c t i o n o f ironic if it was truly unseasonally exculpation only be valid when it hot weather that was benefitting serves to j u s t i f y the biggest critic of greenhouse underperformance? Naturally, the gas emissions? Unfortunately, permabullish bias of the media while central banks can believe and the commentariat will ignore that have normalized mean this critical variable, and attribute reversion and the business cycle, "strength" to other factors, when weather always will get back to instead all that abnormally warm the mean with a vengeance. weather has done is to pull Which simply means that the past demand forward - whether it is for 3 months of strength will be "cash construction and repair, for part- for clunkered" quite soon, as all time jobs, or for retail (and even the soaked up extra demand so retail numbers had been disappears in coming months.
February data continue to come in above consensus expectations. Hot topic: Mild winter weather lowers energy consumption, but boosts almost every other sector of the economy. Preview: Housing starts are likely to increase, but we expect existing and new home sales to edge lower. Review: A hot economy February was a good month for the US economy (Table 1). In the past week, retail sales, jobless claims and regional manufacturing indexes confirmed the strength already reported for employment and motor vehicle sales. As we have noted before, a variety of tailwinds continue to support growth, but should fade three months. Add in a percentage over the course of the spring. point for productivity gains, and it Hot topic: Weathering heights s u g g e s t s n e a r l y 5 . 0 % G D P This improvement in part reflects growth. Why the disconnect? a n i n c r e d i b l y m i l d w i n t e r . Blame it on the weather: GDP is A v e r a g e t e m p e r a t u r e s f o r h u r t b y l o w e r e n e r g y December, January and February consumption, while the rest of the were the fourth highest since economy (and most monthly national data started being kept in indicators) benefit from lower 1890. According to the National energy costs and milder weather. O c e a n i c a n d A t m o s p h e r i c Administration (NOAA), there Full note from BAC: have been 45 high-impact Bulls, Bears and winter naps UPWARDLY page 43 Review: As expected, the
To wit: In one respect, we agree with the perma-bulls: the weather helps explain why Q1 GDP is weak despite solid monthly indicators (Chart 3). Our GDP model is tracking just 2.0% growth in the quarter. Yet, most of the important monthly indicators are consistent with higher GDP growth. For example, aggregate hours worked have grown at a 3.9% annual rate over the last
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Economy/
Wall Street Pimps and Whores Story Extends Far Beyond Goldman Sachs: Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, All Guilty
noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mish Shedlock) (Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 1:49:00 AM
Much has been written these past few days about allegations of impropriety at Goldman Sachs. For example, I commented on the Parasitic Behavior of Goldman to Its Clients. Some defended Goldman, however, there really is no defense. Worse yet, the problem goes far beyond Goldman to Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and for that matter everywhere else one looks. I will get into specifics in a bit, but first consider an email from Timothy who writes Hello Mish, I just had to comment on your post. My dad lost 100s of thousands in GM bonds. He was a 30 year client of Merrill Lynch. His portfolio is always 100% invested. Thats the Wall Street psychology. Timothy Yes Timothy, that is the philosophy because it benefits Wall Street, not the client. Moreover, I am not surprised in the least by the pimping of GM. Underwriters get paid to pimp garbage. They do not care what fools, pension plans, or widows
on their last dime they sucker in. All they are concerned with is pimping the bond, pimping the IPO, and pimping whatever "trading" portfolio the corporation has to whatever suckers they can find. Moral Bankruptcy of Wall Street Flashback Aug 5, 2008. Please consider General Motors and the Intellectual and Moral Bankruptcy of Wall Street by by Karen De Coster and Eric Englund on Lew Rockwell. On June 25, 2007, Wall Street powerhouse Morgan Stanley put out a buy recommendation with respect to General Motors' common stock. Robert Barry, Morgan Stanley's star analyst, proclaimed a 52-week target price of $42 per share. Less than five months later, on November 7, 2007, Wall Street analysts were stunned by General Motors' staggering third-quarter (9/30/07) loss of $39 billion one of the largest bookkeeping losses in history, which was mostly related to the writedown of deferred tax assets. Fifty-three weeks after Morgan Stanley's buy recommendation, GM's stock hit a 54-year low of $9.98 per share on July 2, 2008, after Merrill Lynch's recommendation had gone from a
buy to underperform (i.e., sell) on that day. In one sweeping move overnight, Merrill Lynch analyst John Murphy cut his target price on GM by a whopping 75%, reducing the target price from $28 to $7. So how is it that GM suddenly went from respectability to mediocrity in one analyst's mind overnight? In fact, why did it take until July 2008 to concede that GM was on life support? Wall Street, belatedly, is willing to acknowledge the fact that General Motors is teetering on the verge of bankruptcy. Accordingly, key questions come to the forefront. How did any stock analyst, worth his salt, get blindsided by the aforementioned $38.3 billion writedown of deferred tax assets? Are Wall Street's Ivy League-educated MBAs able to comprehend advanced accounting and finance? Has rigorous security analysis, on Wall Street, been supplanted by self-serving cheerleading and inane platitudes with the objective of transferring wealth from the masses to the Wall Street elites? For Wall Street analysts to claim surprise at GM's massive deferred tax asset writedown, during fiscal year 2007, and to finally discuss (in mid-2008)
General Motors' financial condition in terms of a possible bankruptcy, indicate that lowlevel fluff is easily passed on to Main Street investors under the guise of serious analysis. The point here is that GM is so unprofitable that its top-level management realized they had to come clean and write down the value of its deferred tax assets because it became completely unpredictable as to when the company would actually return to making a profit, and thus use that tax asset against any future tax liability it incurs. So, just how savvy are some of Wall Street's best and brightest analysts? Nine days before GM's deferred tax asset writedown bombshell, UBS upgraded its rating of GM to a buy. On September 13, 2007, Citigroup initiated coverage and issued a buy recommendation. Other Wall Street heavyweights, in 2007, that had weighed in with upgraded opinions of GM included Banc of America Securities, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Lehman Brothers, and Deutsche Securities. One must heed Graham and Dodd's words as to what purpose is behind a securities analyst's recommendation. But then again,
Wall Street analysts long ago abandoned their roles of providing independent expertise, and instead turned to selling their firm's investment banking services. Blatant Fraud, Not Rampant Stupidity I invite you to read the rest of that damning expos because there is plenty more to the story. Moreover, the story goes far beyond what is credible for a simple "stupidity" explanation. Unfortunately, the pimping of GM stocks and bonds when GM was clearly headed towards bankruptcy is exactly the kind of "semi-soft fraud" that no one can prove. A Word on Conflict of Interest and Bias I am biased. So is John Hussman; So is Barry Ritholtz; So is Marc Faber; So is Jim Chanos; So is everyone else. We all are. It's impossible to not be biased by something. However, no one in the above group gets paid to underwrite securities. No one in the above group to the best of my knowledge gets paid commissions on transactions. Therein lies the rub. Wall Street pimps and whores have no WALL page 44
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UPWARDLY
snowstorms that affected the Northeast since 1956, including five last winter, but none this winter. While the weather has small effects on the economy most of the year, weather has big economic impacts in the winter. Recently, perma-bull economists[ZH: !!!] have been pushing a revisionist view of the impact of a mild winter on the economy. They point out that warm temperatures mean less spending on energy, lowering overall consumption and GDP growth. As Chart 1 shows, there is some truth to this argument: in the past three months overall consumer spending has been flat in real terms, but excluding energy spending has grown at a 1.7% annual rate. Is a mild winter causing artificial weakness in the economy? And, as such will the spring bring even stronger growth? We strongly doubt it and we would turn the perma-bull argument on its head. While warm weather hurts energy consumption (and small sectors like the ski industry) mild winter weather stimulates most of the economy. What is striking about Chart 1 is how weak growth has been even outside of energy consumption. Households saved a lot on their energy bills this winterwith a fall in both price and quantityand despite this windfall, non-energy consumption was weak. In our view, this confirms that consumers remain quite cautious.
A long winters nap One way to gauge the broad impact of winter on the economy is to look at the seasonal fluctuations in employment. At the outset it is useful to net out the retail sector, which is dominated by hiring and firing for the holiday season. Obviously, this is not because winter weather makes it easier to shop, but because of the timing of Christmas. Indeed, like most sectors, unusually bad weather dampens the normal seasonal-surge in holiday shopping. The rest of the economy tends to take a winter nap. As Chart 2 shows, the normal seasonal pattern for non-retail employment is about a 2.5% drop from October to January, followed by a sharp recovery in the spring and early summer. The biggest job losers in the winter are construction (down 12% from October to February), leisure and hospitality (down 4.2%) and mining and logging (down 4%). However, dividing the labor market into 15 major groups, every sector experiences a drop over the winter, with a typical decline of about 2%. Abstracting from the holiday blitz, even retail employment drops 2% in the October-to-February period. While seasonal factors illustrate the powerful negative impact of normal winter weather, it is much harder to quantify the impact of unusual winter weather. The easiest sector to quantify is the housing market. Regression
models suggest both warm weather and light precipitation have a statistically significant positive impact on housing starts. In particular, we found the mild winter has boosted starts by 5 to 10 pp per month, with the biggest impact in January. We also find smaller impacts for home sales, construction and motor vehicle sales. Looking ahead, weather is not particularly important in the spring. Hence, even if the weather remains mild, as some forecasters predict, the official seasonally adjusted data will likely drop back to pre-winter levels. Weather whiplash In one respect, we agree with the perma-bulls: the weather helps explain why Q1 GDP is weak despite solid monthly indicators (Chart 3). Our GDP model is tracking just 2.0% growth in the quarter. Yet, most of the important monthly indicators are consistent with higher GDP growth. For example, aggregate hours worked have grown at a 3.9% annual rate over the last three months. Add in a percentage point for productivity gains, and it suggests nearly 5.0% GDP growth. Why the disconnect? Blame it on the weather: GDP is hurt by lower energy consumption, while the rest of the economy (and most monthly indicators) benefit from lower energy costs and milder weather. It is likely that the markets will get the weather story wrong on the way in and on the way out.
How so? In the near term, the markets seem to be over-reacting to the better February data, seeing an improving trend rather than a temporary blip. Going forward, the markets will likely expect more of the same, only to be disappointed by a second quarter payback. We are particularly skeptical about the idea that the housing market is starting to turn in earnest. The weather has likely played a role in pushing 10-year yields out of their recent trading range of 1.80 to 2.10% (Chart 4). Some of the low rates reflected a misguided view that the Fed would move straight from Operation Twist to QE3 even with okay growth in the economy. As our discussion above suggests, it is also likely that the markets have not factored in the weather properly. Thats all for now, Im headed over to Bryant Park to catch some rays. Average: Your rating: None This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Bank Of America Just Keeps Surging

Joe Weisenthal (Money Game)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:14:40 AM
Bank of America is up nearly 4% today. It's now at $9.58. Remember, last year it briefly dipped below $5, so it if hits $10/ share, we'll be talking about a double. Please follow Clusterstock on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story See Also: Merrill's Former Chief Broker Rips Into Bank Of America For Ignoring Clients These Are The Last Assets Bank Of America Would Sell If Everything Went Horribly, Terribly Wrong Things At Bank Of America Are So Bad, Merrill Lynch Brokers Want To Join... Wells Fargo
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Economy/
GLD Technicals: Bottom of Range

thetechnicaltake
Submitted at 3/16/2012 10:50:36 AM
WALL
This is a comprehensive look at the SPDR Gold Trust (symbol: GLD) technicals. Before getting to the technical picture, one word about the fundamentals for gold. They remain solid. Spiking yields on the 10 year Treasury are a headwind, but other measures, such as the cost of money being less than the rate of inflation, are gold positive. In some respects, the fundamental and technical picture are in sync in that we have been and will likely continue in a period of consolidation. The good news for those inclined to be bullish on gold is that prices are approaching the lower part of that trading range. Figure 1 is a monthly chart of GLD. The pink labeled bars are negative divergence bars, and in this case, the negative divergence is between price, which was heading higher, and an oscillator type indicator used to measure price, which was heading lower. What we know about negative divergence bars is that signify slowing upside price momentum, and the highs and lows of the negative divergence serve as areas of resistance and support respectively. Once a negative divergence bar is printed, future
prices will be contained within the highs and lows of that negative divergence bar until a breakout (or break down) occurs. This is what I have tried to show with the gray shaded areas as each area of consolidation following a negative divergence bar led to a thrust higher in prices. Figure 1. GLD/ monthly The most recent negative divergence bar has a low of 154.19; if prices close below this level on a monthly closing basis, I would be very cautious on GLD. Figure 2 is a weekly chart of the GLD. The red dots are key pivot levels, and these are the best areas of support and resistance. 157.18 is the first area of support, and 153.12 is the second. A weekly close below 153.12 would not be welcomed as this is a break of support. Figure 2. GLD/ weekly
Figure 3 is a daily chart of the GLD. Once again, the key pivot points show the best areas of support. 163.34 is resistance. A daily close above this level would be gold positive. For the conservative trader (i.e., those looking for confirmation of a price move), I would look for a close above this resistance level before going long GLD. Figure 3. GLD/ daily TheTechnicalTake offers a free newsletter: Average: Your rating: None Average: 1( 1 vote) This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
fiduciary responsibility to clients but they do have a vested interest to peddle compete garbage to anyone and everyone. For that reason, I am strongly in favor of a "hard" wall between giving investment advice and offering securities to trade. Clearly the "soft promise" by Wall Street that "we won't do it" is insufficient. Some may suggest this goes against my Libertarian principles. I disagree. No Libertarian should be against laws that preserve property rights and no Libertarian should be against laws designed for the explicit purpose of preventing fraud. Interestingly, independent investment advisors such as myself do have a hard legal requirement of fiduciary responsibility. However, Wall Street pimps and whores do not have a legal requirement for fiduciary responsibility. Instead they duck and hide under "suitability" clauses. That does not mean I will always be right, and indeed I guarantee you in advance I won't be. However, I will guarantee you that I will not recommend anything I do not believe to be in
the best interest of clients. GM bonds, rating agency garbage, IPO mania, Beat-theStreet hype, and "Strong Buy" hysteria while insiders unload and firms actually bet against advice given to clients are proof of the pudding. The fraud and the greed speaks for itself. Mike "Mish" Shedlock h t t p : / / globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. com Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http:// www.sitkapacific.com/ account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.
Economy/ Culture/
45
GEOPOLITICAL GURU: There's A Bigger Threat To Oil Prices Than Iran

Mamta Badkar (Money Game)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:13:00 AM
Oil prices are now considered by many to be the biggest risk to global financial markets having taken over the mantle from Europe for the moment. And all the headlines seem to be focused on the threat from Iran whether it is Iran halting oilexports, Iran threatening to cut off access to the Strait of Hormuz, or other countries potentially striking on Iran. But Alastair Newton, Nomura's senior political analyst thinks the real threat to oil prices may come from Iraq: "...Both the governance and security situation appear to us [to] have deteriorated further since the US withdrawal (the latter borne out by rising civilian deaths from acts of terrorism), obliging us to stand by our earlier conclusion that, of all the countries in the MENA region, Iraq currently appears to be the one most likely to succumb to civil war. Total loss of Iraqi oil 2.7mbpd of which 1.9mbpd (equivalent to
pre-crisis Libya and Yemen combined) would be a serious blow to global oil supply. Indeed, if our assessment is correct that a military strike against Irans nuclear programme may disrupt global oil supply only briefly (see below), we believe that Iraq may pose a more significant threat of a protracted oil price hike than Iran. In other words, for all the headline attention which Iran is
likely to continue to attract, we urge market participants to keep one eye over their shoulder on the Iraqi side of the Gulf." In terms of a sustained downturn in oil supply and related increase in prices, Newton argues Iraq could prove to be a bigger threat than an Israeli strike on Iran. Newton thinks an acceleration of Iran's uranium enrichment program at Fordow could speed
up an Israeli attack though the threat is likely to decrease if Iran engages in negotiations with the international community. He also thinks Iran is likely to shy away from trying to block the Strait of Hormuz since it could provoke U.S. military action. Nigeria which has seen an increase in violence at the hands of the Boko Haram and political events in Venezuela could pose a risk to oil prices. Don't Miss: Here's The US Energy Outlook From Now Through 2035 > Please follow Money Game on Twitter and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story See Also: Art Cashin's Warning Came True, A Top Chinese Politician Was Just Replaced By A North Korean-Trained Economist 20 Cities Where Foreclosures Are A Huge Problem JP MORGAN: CHINA'S ECONOMY IS EXPERIENCING A HARD LANDING
Grammar Quiz: Do You Know Your Commas?

(HowStuffWorks Daily Feed)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 9:15:56 AM
Most of us think we know when to use commas and when to leave them out. We went to elementary school, after all. Still, be it all those years without grammar lessons or an initial misunderstanding about this allimportant piece of punctuation, so many of us get it wrong from time to time do you? Test your comma knowledge and find out if you know your stuff! Earn a point for every right answer! Save your score at the end of the quiz. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
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Economy/ Culture/
Remember Fukushima: Presenting The Radioactive Seawater Impact Map

Tyler Durden
Submitted at 3/16/2012 10:46:27 AM
A few days after the one year anniversary of the Fukushima disaster, nobody talks about it anymore. After all it's "fixed", and if it isn't, the Fed will fix it. Remember in the New Normal nothing bad is allowed the happen. So for those who have forgotten, here is a reminder. From ASR, a global coastal and marine consulting firm, The Radioactive Seawater Impact Map We use a Lagrangian particles dispersal method to track where free floating material (fish larvae, algae, phytoplankton, zooplankton...) present in the sea water near the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station plant could have gone since the earthquake on March 11th. THIS IS NOT A REPRESENTATION OF THE RADIOACTIVE PLUME
CONCENTRATION. Since we do not know exactly how much contaminated water and at what concentration was released into the ocean, it is impossible to estimate the extent and dilution of the plume. However, field monitoring by TEPCO showed concentration of radioactive Iodine and Cesium higher than the
legal limit during the next two months following the event (with a peak at more than 100 Bq/cm3 early April 2011 for I-131 as shown by the following picture). Assuming that a part of the passive biomass could have been contaminated in the area, we are trying to track where the radionuclides are spreading as it
will eventually climb up the food chain. The computer simulation presented here is obtained by continuously releasing particles at the site during the 2 months folllowing the earthquake and then by tracing the path of these particles. The dispersal model is ASR's Pol3DD. The model is forced by hydrodynamic data
from the HYCOM/NCODA system which provides on a weekly basis, daily oceanic current in the world ocean. The resolution in this part of the Pacific Ocean is around 8km x 8km cells. We are treating only the sea surface currents. The dispersal model keeps a trace of their visits in the model cells. The results here are expressed in number of visit per surface area of material which has been in contact at least once with the highly concentrated radioactive water. h/t Nolsgrad Average: Your rating: None Average: 3.9( 9 votes) This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Beetle baby boom takes double toll on trees

(Holy Kaw!)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:26:00 AM
A population explosion among mountain pine beetles may help explain increased damage to
forests from New Mexico to Alaska. We followed them through the summer, and we saw something that had never been seen before, ecologist Jeffry Mitton says. Adults that were newly laid eggs
two months before were going out and attacking trees in the same year. Normally, mountain pine beetles spend a winter as larvae in trees before emerging as adults the following summer.
Full story at Futurity. More research news from top universities. Photo credit: Jeffry Mitton Permalink| Leave a comment
Economy/ Culture/
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The Fact That Iceland Is Repaying Its IMF Loans Early Seems To Suggest Defaults Work
Adam Taylor (Money Game)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 10:46:00 AM
10 Medieval Torture Devices

Ed Grabianowski (HowStuffWorks Daily Feed)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 9:15:56 AM
Iceland was one of the countries worst hit by the financial crisis the small country's economy had rested heavily on its underleveraged banking sector and was nearly wiped out in 2008. But then, it did something different. It let its banks default. Flash forward to this week, and Iceland announces it will be prepaying a fifth of its IMF loans: In March, the Treasury of Iceland and the Central Bank of Iceland will prepay loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Nordic countries in the amount of 116 b.kr. The transaction represents the prepayment of SDR 289 million (the equivalent of 55.6 b.kr.) to the IMF, and 366 million euros (the equivalent of 60.5 b.kr.) to the Nordic countries. The prepayment amounts to just over 20% of the funding from the IMF and the Nordic countries in connection with the IMF-led Stand-By Arrangement. We've talked multiple times about how unique Iceland's response to the crisis was
putting bankers and former heads of state on trial, and forgiving 13 percent of the country's debts. The prepayments of the IMF loan seem to suggest that these tactics, along with the defaults, have worked. While the IMF has said it has some reservations, the Icelandic economy will grow 2.5 percent, and will be at 2.5 to 3 percent in the medium term. So, are these tactics a viable option for Greece? Please follow Europe on Twitter
and Facebook. Join the conversation about this story See Also: Video From Greece Seems To Show Police Attacking Protesters Unprovoked This Is Just Getting Ugly, As A Verbal War Is Breaking Out Between Germany And Greece The Real Reason The Rest of Europe Is Just Torturing Greece Now
-The period known as the Middle Ages stands out as one- of -the most violent eras in history. This epoch, lasting roughly 1,0-00years, from the 5th century to the 15th-, was a time of great inequality and brutality in much of Europe. What really sets this time apart is the ghoulish inventiveness that gave rise to a plethora of torture methods. There were many grounds for torture during the Middle Ages -- religious fervor and criminal punishment come to mind -- but why would a person take the time to invent a device designed to maim? In his 1975 b-ook "A History of Torture in England," L.A. Parry attempted to explain this bizarre phenomenon: -"...What strikes us most in considering the mediaeval
tortures, is not so much their diabolical barbarity as the extraordinary variety, and what may be termed the artistic skill, they displayed. They represent a condition of thought in which men had pondered long and carefully on all the forms of suffering, had compared and combined the different kinds of torture, till they had become the most consummate masters of their art, had expended on the subject all the resources of the utmost ingenuity, and had pursued it with the ardour of a passion." In this article, we will explore a collection of the most heinous torture devices ever invented. We begin on the next page. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
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Culture/
IT Consumerization, the Cloud and the Alleged Death of the CIO

Peter Kretzman (Wired Top Stories)
expressed as the question of who needs a CIO anymore, it goes even further: who needs an IT Submitted at 3/16/2012 10:49:00 AM department at all anymore? Says Photo: Courtesy Peter Kretzman one article, If IT does not As with just about any area, IT is provide the end user with the a discipline subject to fads and infrastructure they need, the latter memes, received truths that can rent it, by the hour or month seem to arise in the press or the from companies like Rackspace or blogosphere and then ricochet Amazon All you need is a around the echo chamber until credit card and no approval from they sound plausible even to IT. skeptics. A number of these roll Other CIO thought leader across my Twitter stream every articles feature astonishing day. But one such meme rises so blanket statements like, With the high to the top that it has to be the consumerization of IT, consumers sole focus here. And that is the can create value for themselves much-repeated death of the CIO a n d t h e e n t e r p r i s e , u s i n g meme, coupled as it is currently t e c h n o l o g y t h a t c o s t s with dreamy visions of the world the enterprise nothing. And b r o u g h t t o u s b y t h e people even take this so far as consumerization of IT and the arguing that the CIO at this point cloud. Theyre all linked, at least should just leave technology up to in many pundits eyes. the VARs. Heres the gist of their argument: Let me be clear once again: this Users can go out and get their frequent linking of cloud and IT own technology now; they dont consumerization to the looming need IT to do it for them. End- demise of the CIO and IT is not users are now IT-savvy, and can just misguided, but actually gets it fend for themselves.Theyll bring completely backwards. In fact, I their own devices (BYOD); they argue that IT consumerization and dont need or want IT to provide the cloud will actually elevate the devices for them. Theyll procure i m p o r t a n c e o f I T w i t h i n a the services they need and want company, as both a service and a from the various SaaS offerings in strategic focus. the cloud or from outsourced Lets list and then discuss some vendors, and theyll handle it all of the ways that combining these themselves. memes (IT consumerization, All this ultimately gets not only cloud, and the ensuing heralded
death of the CIO) falls down when measured against common sense and reality: It fails to understand the full range of what a CIO (or IT) actually provides for modern-day companies. It fails to recognize the profound pitfalls of a d e c e n t r a l i z e d and fragmented approach for company systems and technologies. It erroneously equates IT consumerization with the BYOD trend, missing the larger important picture that underscores the strategic need for IT.
It misunderstands the interplay never go away. What it means for o f c o m m o d i t i z a t i o n a n d IT to be a service organization competitive strategic advantage. Yes, IT needs to be a service organization to the rest of the What IT provides company. But, pundits complain, People who see the CIOs role often it isnt a very good one, or diminishing or IT even vanishing its too expensive, or often it a l t o g e t h e r d o n t s e e m t o focuses so much on being a understand the full range of the service organization that it doesnt CIOs responsibilities, and the get perceived anymore as adding i m p o r t a n c e o f m o r e , n o t much value beyond that service. less, technology stewardship as And as those services become system access broadens. They readily and cheaply available somehow seem to view the CIO e l s e w h e r e , a n d u s e r s m o r e and IT predominantly as the folks sophisticated in technology, its who keep the servers running. If easy to jump to the conclusion we have no in-house servers, they that IT is no longer necessary, and reason, why do we need IT? But, many do just that. But that leap a s s o m e o n e r e c e n t l y a n d reflects a kind of tunnel vision eloquently said, thats like about ITs role. viewing the job of the parent as Many IT pundits cant seem to being the one who drops the kid recognize two simultaneous off at school every day. truths: IT needs to be a strategic Face it: Its not technology alone, value-add; and it needs to be a the bits and bytes and systems and key service to the company when wires, thats the hard part when it it comes to getting things done, comes to leveraging technology reliably. When things dont work: itself to provide value to an people need help. It doesnt e n t e r p r i s e . R a t h e r , f i r m s matter if we have cloud or BYOD desperately need someone, at a o r t h e u p c o m i n g A p p l e I T s u i t a b l y h i g h l e v e l i n t h e telepathy product; users will still organization, to actively shepherd need help. But realize that the day t h e b u s i n e s s p r i o r i t i z a t i o n , -to-day work of helping users is integration, implementation, actually not the major role of IT outsourcing, and articulation of in any non-trivial modern-day value when it comes to complex, firm: even before the days of technology-based undertakings: BYOD, administering desktops thats the hard part. That part wont go away. That part will CONSUMERIZATION, page 49
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CONSUMERIZATIO
and laptops, while important, was one of the relatively minor services provided by IT. Even if that aspect of the work disappears entirely in this brave new clouddriven world, were left with everything else: the hard part of making things work together, support business changes, and so on. And tackling the hard part is actually the key IT service to the organization. Because sure, maybe people can now administer their own devices and procure their own systems in the cloud. But then, often without having planned or anticipated it, it turns out they need those systems to talk to one another. Then they need to worry about changes and versions and backups and downtime. All the simple stuff about cloud and BYOD works just great, but only while its still simple. As Marc J. Schiller puts it, tech-savvy business users dont have the time or the inclination to work through all of the nitty-gritty details that are required to ensure that the systems they are putting in place do, in fact, collect and integrate data with other corporate resources. They dont have the time or the expertise to evaluate the information integration and interface requirements a particular system may create. And they certainly dont want to be on the hook for all of the data security and regulatory compliance issues that are growing by the day. In other words, were left with the hard part, the messy part, the part that someone needs to figure
out holistic, long-term answers to. That wont go away. That will never go away. The pitfalls of IT fragmentation Stop for a moment and realize that the argument that the cloud and IT consumerization will lead to the death of the CIO pundits are making amounts to this: that in an IT world that is becoming staggeringly more complex, with ever more options and an accelerating rate of change, we somehow no longer need skilled IT management to manage that transition carefully. How can that make sense to anyone? As MITs noted IT scholar Jeanne Ross pointed out recently, companies already tend, in terms of their systems, to let everybody decide whats most important for their part of the business. The usual result is a tangled mess of IT system architecture. The answer to this dilemma cant be dispensing altogether with ITspecific leadership and hoping for the best. Dell CIO Robin Johnson wrote a piece last fall that described the pitfall of balkanized decision-making amid burgeoning complexity: Dell wanted to add a new payment type to its web site, but had different systems in every region, 10 separate customer databases, etc. The estimate simply to add this one new type came in, staggeringly, at a year. Picture, then, pushing for a world where every line of business has made its own technology decisions, not just with no unifying presence of leadership, but with the avowed philosophy
that IT leadership is actually no longer necessary at all. Scream with me, now. Why the IT consumerization trend increases the need for skilled IT leadership And the scale of such problems is increasing. Rather than IT consumerization consisting mostly of the identified BYOD dilemmas (which are important, of course), Bernard Golden points out, Consumerization of IT isnt about employees using consumer devices; its about consumers becoming the primary users of internal IT applications. The ensuing greater volume and variety of application access, as consumers tap into what used to be internal IT systems from every conceivable device and geography and time zone, has huge implications for companies, their organization, their architectures. As we face this very real trend, and the resulting even greater requirements for system cohesiveness and robustness, it is hardly the time to opine that IT leaders are now extraneous. Finally, lets talk a bit about IT becoming a commodity. Thats nothing new. A company that had a great custom financial system used to (perhaps) have a competitive advantage, until such systems were commoditized by the advent of ERP. Commoditization of a technology means that that it can no longer provide much of a competitive advantage, other than through superior execution. But every time something gets commoditized, we are able to
move up the stack in abstraction: We can now focus on reaping value from other, higherorder things that cant (yet) be commoditized. If youre using technology thats available to everyone, off the rack, you have no differentiator, and no competitive advantage. Pundits argue that since some key technologies are now a commodity, we no longer need a CIO to handle them. But Id turn that argument around: thats precisely when you do need a CIO, to rise above the commodity level and figure out how to leverage technology for competitive advantage and business value. And the way to do that means using something other than technology thats available to everyone, just off the rack. You want a differentiator. So, get rid of the CIO because some technologies have now become commodities? You might as well posit that since we now have drugstores, theres really no need for doctors anymore. Or with a different spin, theres an old joke about a small child who observed brightly, We dont need the farmers anymore; we just go to the grocery store instead! Thats a true-but-false statement if there ever was one. Ponder those two analogies, and consider how IT represents both the farmers and the doctors. And that the need wont go away. Lagniappe: Christina Torode, IT consumerization rules in the hands of the business, September
11, 2011. http:// itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.c om/total-cio/it-consumerizationrules-in-the-hands-of-the-business / Greg Chase, February 15, 2012. Pondering at SAP Inside Track Palo Alto: Has Cloud Computing Made IT and the CIO Unnecessary? http:// blogs.sap.com/cloud/2012/02/15/ pondering-at-sap-inside-trackpalo-alto-has-cloud-computingmade-it-and-the-cio-unnecessary/ Nick Heath, January 27, 2012. Time to shut up about the death of the CIO. http:// www.silicon.com/management/ cio-insights/2012/01/27/time-toshut-up-about-the-death-of-thecio-39748428/ Steve Romero, February 1, 2012. Time to End the Claims of the End of the CIO. http:// www.itgevangelist.com/blog/2012 /2/1/time-to-end-the-claims-of-the -end-of-the-cio.html Alan S. Cohen, February 4, 2012. An Arab Spring for IT. http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/04 /an-arab-spring-for-it/ Bernard Golden, August 12, 2011. Cloud CIO: What Consumerization of IT Really Means to CIOs. http:// www.cio.com/article/687931/ Cloud_CIO_What_Consumerizati on_of_IT_Really_Means_to_CIO s Marc J. Schiller, October 31, 2011. The Role of the CIO: Why You Deserve to Be Demoted. http://www.cioinsight.com/ CONSUMERIZATION, page 51
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Culture/
iPad Goes On Sale, Launch Barely Bruised By Anti-Apple Protest

Dave Mosher (Wired Top Stories)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 8:55:00 AM
| Next >>
First in the pre-order line, Jim Bascuec was the first to receive the new iPad. | Next >> View all
NEW YORK The third iteration of the iPad went on sale Friday morning in the US, greeted by the usual throngs of early adopters. This time it also attracted a small group protesters, part of a coordinated campaign pushing Apple to improve working conditions at the overseas factories where the companys iconic mobile devices
are made. iPads began selling in 10 countries overseas hours before they were first available at east coast Apple stores 8 a.m. Eastern time. But at the companys flagship 5th Ave. store ground zero in New York hundreds lined up for the new iPad, which reviewers have said introduces some powerful new processor and
graphics features but lacks the wow factor of the two previous versions. That bit of sour grapes didnt dampen the spirits of hundreds of hearty souls who braved a chilly, misty morning to be among the first to own the new iPad. (No such crowd was in evidence IPAD page 51
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IPAD
CONSUMERIZATIO
(including the new iPad). Apples association with Foxconn has drawn increasingly negative scrutiny in the past year. Wireds March 2011 cover story asked: 1 Million Workers. 90 Million iPhones. 17 Suicides. Whos to Blame? In January the New York Times weighed in: Problems are as varied as onerous work environments and serious sometimes deadly safety problems. Apple has responded in part by engaging the Fair Labor Association to audit Foxconn and the other facilities which make Apple hardware. Were Apple fans, too, and we really have high expectations of Apple, Shelby Knox, a 25-yearold senior organizer for Change.org, told Wired. We want to be able to use these products without having to know people suffered to make them for us. The nonprofit organization promoted a petition started by Mark Shields, also a selfdescribed Apple fan, who wants the company to increase its transparency and create a worker protection plan. Charlene Carruthers, a 26-yearold community organizer not employed by Change.org who signed the petition, said shes not buying any more Apple products until she sees the company improve conditions in its overseas manufacturing operation. I always think about the products I buy and who I buy them from, and I try to be as supportive as I can of companies that are treating their workers ethically, Carruthers said. I think that this is bigger than Apple. However were starting with Apple given the history of the company and its ability to be innovative and its ability to be a game-changer and a leader, she said. They say as New York goes, so does [the rest of the] country. Well, as Apple goes, so does the rest of the industry. Apple is a trend-setter. Eager new iPad owners emerging from the store were unfazed by the presence of the dozen-or-so protesters. And some of those waiting to buy new iPads thought the criticism of Apple was a little overblown. Wherever the iPad is made, Apple is following local labor regulations and laws, said Omar Ferreira, 25, a real estate worker living in New York City, as he, his girlfriend and their two friends each toted a new iPad. Apple is following the law. When the labor laws in China change, and when the Chinese government looks out for its own people, then Im sure Apple will follow suit. All photos: Alex Welsh/ Wired.com This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks. index2.php?option=content&task =view&id=884844&pop=1&hide _ads=1&page=0&hide_js=1 Robin Johnson, November 2, 2011. Why Todays CIO Must Foster IT Agility. http:// www.cio.com/article/693052/ Why_Today_s_CIO_Must_Foster _IT_Agility This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
shortly before 8 a.m. at Apples latest New York Store, in Grand Central Terminal). Im cold and this line hasnt moved at all, but I dont care. Its the new iPad, said Al Cleghorn, a businessman from the United Kingdom who planned to buy one for his wife. He stood in the middle of a barricaded line that wrapped three-quarters of the way around a city block. Unlike previous years, however, it was not all unbridled joy. A small handful of protesters used the opportunity to hoist a large sign in front of the lines that said 250,000+ to Apple: Think Different, Think Ethical. It contained personal lines from a petition signed by a quarter million people documents previously delivered to Apple stores in a similar demonstration. Their goal: to draw attention to allegedly poor working conditions in electronics factories in Shenzhen, China owned by Foxconn the company Apple uses exclusively to assemble its products
Buried Alive: An Unsafe Environment

(HowStuffWorks Daily Feed)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 9:15:56 AM
Buried Alive: An Unsafe Environment
In addition to roaches, most watched: insect and exterminators have found a nest a r a c h n i d v i d e o s of black widow spiders in Sherry's recently added: insect and home. In response to the news, arachnid videos Sherry gets defensive. explore video categories: insects
& arachnids This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read
the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
52
Culture/
What's In a Name? In the Cloud, a Data Service!

Jon Udell (Wired Top Stories)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:11:00 AM
Suppose you have a set of images that depict assorted tables, chairs, and sofas in various colors. You A Flickr tag can create a data want to be able to serve up views service. Photo: yoppy/Flickr of all the tables, or just the black A friend who runs a market tables, or green chairs, or red survey business recently asked for sofas. Many web developers, some advice. For an upcoming given this problem, will proceed survey he needs to augment a as follows: q u e s t i o n n a i r e w i t h a First, define a database table programmable image gallery. with columns for furniture type H e s d a b b l e d i n w e b and color. programming, and reckoned he Then create the interface youll could figure out how to build a use to populate that table with database-backed web app to solve images. this problem. But its been a while Finally build an app that queries since he tried anything like that, the table and serves up sets of and he wondered how all the images. cloud developments hes been hearing about lately might alter Heres a different approach: the equation. Go to Flickr. I think he was expecting me to Upload your images. review the tradeoffs between the Tag the black tables with black c o n v e n t i o n a l i n f r a s t r u c t u r e and table, the green chairs with hosting hes familiar with and the green and chair, and so on. new breed of cloud-based i n f r a s t r u c t u r e . I n s t e a d I Now youve accomplished steps recommended an approach that 1 and 2 without needing to create has nothing to do with that choice, a database, host it somewhere, a n d e v e r y t h i n g t o d o w i t h and build an interface to it. Two thinking like the web. insights make this possible. First,
and displays the results. For that, I suggested that my friend use a jQuery plugin. There are probably dozens that can do the job, heres one Ive tried that seems to work well. When your digital stuff lived mainly on your own hard disk, useful naming was a best practice for personal information management. As the stuff migrates to the cloud that remains true. But the personal cloud isnt just a remote hard disk. The things you put there can participate in an open ecosystem of data services. The quality of service you can provide to the ecosystem is a function of your ability to create, and usefully name, collections of web resources. when you use cloud services like api.flickr.com/services/feeds/ This entry passed through the Flickr or YouTube or Delicious photos_public.gne?id=FLICKR_I Full-Text RSS service if this is you are not just sharing stuff, you D&tags=green,chair your content and you're reading it are managing collections of web Swap in your FLICKR_ID and on someone else's site, please read resources. Second, by naming this query produces an RSS feed the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentthose resources in a useful way for your photos, selecting just only/faq.php#publishers. Five y o u a r e d e f i n i n g A P I s f o r those matching the given tags. Filters recommends: Donate to accessing the resources. Here one Now all thats left is step 3: build Wikileaks. such API for Flickr: an app that performs the query
Culture/
53
Veterans Call 'Obama' Flag Michelle Williams 'Disrespectful,' Demand and Jason Segel Removal From Democrat HQ Dating?
(Christianpost.com > Most Popular)
(FiscalRangers.com/Vance Jochim) Altered U.S. Flag with image of President Barack Obama in place of stars flying in front of Lake County, Florida Democratic Party Headquarters. Local veterans demanded the flag be removed. March 13, 2012. March 14, 2012| 4:10 pm "It's absolutely disrespectful," 71year-old veteran Jim Bradford told Fox News. "It's totally ridiculous. To put somebody's picture there, to me, it's a disgrace to do that." The flag with the president's image was spotted flying under the American flag outside of the Democrat Party office. Bradford took pictures of the flag in front of the headquarters and after researching the issue and finding it was in violation of U.S. law. Since the property is in Florida, Statute 256.05 of the state's code says: "No person shall, in any manner, for exhibition or display: "(1)Place or cause to be placed any word, figure, mark, picture, design, drawing or advertisement of any nature upon any flag,
standard, color, ensign or shield of the United States or of this state, or authorized by any law of the United States or this state; or "(2)Expose to public view any such flag, standard, color, ensign or shield upon which shall have been printed, painted or otherwise produced, or to which shall have been attached, appended, affixed or annexed any such word, figure, mark, picture, design, drawing or advertisement." Like us on Facebook Soon after Bradford circulated a picture of the flag, a group of veterans showed up at the Democratic Party office and delivered the chairwoman of the Lake County Democratic Party, Nancy Hurlbert, a copy of the federal code governing the U.S. flag. "We read that to her, but she would not accept that," Bradford told Fox News. "The discussion finally got a little heated." Bradford and his group offered to take the flag down, instead replacing it with the POW/MIA flag the group offered as a gift, but Hurlbert declined their offer. "No, you will not," Hurlbert told the veterans. "This is private property." The chairlady said the flag had
been given to the group as a gift and had been flying in front of the headquarters for about two months. Before Bradford and his fellow veterans showed up there had been no complaints. "It leads me to believe that it's not about the flag," Hurlbert told Fox News. "Certain elements cannot accept Barack Obama as president." Hurlbert eventually relented and removed the flag, but when asked if she or Democratic Party officials would fly it again, Hurlbert would not say. "I won't say no and I won't say yes," she said. "We want to find out what our legal rights are." The group's chairlady refused to take the POW/MIA flag. It has also been determined that the flag with Obama's image was made in China. Several states have introduced and passed legislation requiring that all U.S. flags been made in America. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Katie Henry (PopSugar)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 8:28:14 AM
Michelle Williams and Jason Segel went on a four hour dateUs Weekly George Clooney and his father arrested in Washington DCHuffPost Entertainment Giuliana Rancic "didn't want to look in the mirror" after mastectomy- People Find out who got kicked off American Idol- Hollywood Reporter Karl Lagerfeld a hoarder?Lainey Gossip Which stars were caught robbing a bank?- TooFab Michael Fassbender dating his former Shame costar?- Celebitchy Susan Sarandon talks about her split from Tim Robbins- The Daily Beast Dark Shadows trailer reveals Johnny Depp as a vampireBuzzFeed
Heidi Klum parties with Tom Hanks- The Insider 21 Jump Street is a hit with critics- Rotten Tomatoes Christina Applegate wants another baby- Wonderwall Sofia Vergara hosting SNL in April- Lifeline Live Is Billy Corgan joining The X Factor?- Zap2It Olivia Palermo gives tips for wearing a monochromatic looksOlivia Palermo
54
Culture/
Jeremy Lin Combats Racist Tweet With Love of Jesus

(Photo: Reuters/Mike Segar) New York Knicks guard Jeremy Lin celebrates after a play in the second quarter of their NBA game against the Sacramento Kings in New York's Madison Square Garden, Feb. 15, 2012. March 15, 2012| 12:43 pm Lin, an Asian-American Harvard Graduate, was called a "Chink" on Twitter after the Knicks' 121-79 win against the Portland Trailblazers, where Lin only scored six points with six turnovers and six assists. Instead of ignoring the Tweet, Lin responded by re-tweeting the message and offering the love of Jesus to the person behind the racial slur. "This is happening in 2012," Lin tweeted to the individual who
wrote the slur. "Jesus loves you bro and I do too." Since leading the New York Knicks to a winning streak after a stint in the D-League and being dropped by multiple NBA teams, Lin has been no stranger to racial jabs at the expense of his AsianAmerican heritage. Two ESPN employees were publicly reprimanded after using the phrase "chink in the armor" to describe Lin's trouble with turning over the ball while running the Knicks offense last month. Ben & Jerry's ice cream company was also accused of committing insensitive racial acts against Lin after producing a "Taste the LinSanity" flavor that featured vanilla frozen yogurt, lychee honey swirls and fortune-cookie pieces that people complained reinforced Asian stereotypes last month. Last month, athletes also took part in highlighting the Knicks guard's ethnicity in an insensitive way
that sparked outrage. Floyd Mayweather, a polarizing undefeated boxer, tweeted about Lin being overrated because of his ethnicity. Like us on Facebook "Jeremy Lin is a good player but all the hype is because he's Asian," Mayweather tweeted in February. "Black players do what he does every night and don't get the same praise." However, Lin's fans backed him up on Twitter during the most recent racial slur being made against the Harvard graduate on Wednesday night. After Lin and fans spoke out against the offensive tweeter, the individual deleted their account. "This man called Jeremy Lin a chink, then was getting violated so much he had to delete his account," one person tweeted. "#Linsanity." Another respected the fact that Lin combated the offensive tweet
with the love of Jesus. "Jeremy Lin just hit somebody with the most peaceful ether ever for calling him a chink," the person tweeted. It seemed others began to see the error in referring to the AsianAmerican guard's ethnicity in an insensitive way. "After the Jeremy Lin thing, I don't think I will ever use 'chink in the armor' in a sentence naturally again," the person tweeted. Lin is the first American player in the NBA to be of Chinese or of Taiwanese descent. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Double Your Investments, Guaranteed: Why You Shouldn't Pass Up Employer Matching [Personal Finance]
Melanie Pinola (Lifehacker)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 9:00:00 AM
Timeline of sex pictures

(Holy Kaw!)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:39:00 AM
If someone were to say to you they'd matchdollar for dollar, no strings attachedevery dollar you put into your savings account (effectively doubling your money for free), you'd jump at the chance, wouldn't you? Yet nearly 40% of us aren't using our employer 401(k) matching benefits. Let's talk about that for a bit. More
Sex is as old as humankind, a biological imperative for propagation -- and evolution -- of the species. For instance, earliest depictions of condoms were
identified in cave paintings from 15,000 B.C. The how-tos havent changed much over the ages, but the collective understanding of whats actually happening and why comprises a fascinating history that rapidly accelerates during the Renaissance and
HowStuffWorks.com. Total aggregation of HowStuffWorks.com. Photo credit: Fotolia Permalink| Leave a comment onward. See slideshow at
Culture/
55
Democrats Attack Romney Over Planned Parenthood Cuts

George Clooney Arrested at Protest in Washington DC

Lauren Turner (PopSugar)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 9:21:16 AM
funding besides government appropriations," Ferhnstrom explained. According to a 2009 report, (Photo: Reuters/Brian Snyder) Planned Parenthood receives Mitt Romney takes the stage at a about a third of its funding from campaign rally in Exeter, New government funding and grants at Hampshire January 8, 2012. both the federal and state levels. Like us on Facebook March 14, 2012| 3:55 pm It did not take long for the The furor began after Romney Obama campaign to pounce upon o u t l i n e d h i s p l a n s t o c u t the comment, with associate government spending during an campaign director Stephanie i n t e r v i e w o n T u e s d a y w i t h Cutter sending out an email blast Missouri television station KDSK released on the same night. -TV. "Mitt Romney's comments today "The test is pretty simple," that he would 'get rid of' Planned Romney said. "Is the program so Parenthood show how low he is critical, it's worth borrowing willing to go to pander to the most money from China to pay for it? e x t r e m e e l e m e n t s o f t h e And on that basis of course you Republican base," Cutter wrote. get rid of Obamacare, that's the Democratic National Committee easy one. Planned Parenthood, c h a i r w o m a n R e p r e s e n t a t i v e we're going to get rid of that." D e b b i e W a s s e r m a n - S c h u l t z Senior Romney adviser Eric echoed Cutter's words, claiming Ferhnstrom later clarified that that Romney wanted to "pander to Romney's plan was not to destroy the far right wing of his party." Planned Parenthood outright, but The DNC has also already to cut its federal funding. released a 30-second ad focused "They have other sources of on the interview, which accuses
Romney of "Cutting preventative health care for millions of women to pay for tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires." Romney's camp, however, has continued to insist that the funding cut is about saving money, not about women's healthcare. As Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul told ABC News, "Mitt Romney believes it is morally irresponsible to spend more money than we take in, and he is certainly not willing to borrow money from China to fund our nation's leading abortion provider. The real question should be why President Obama thinks that is the right course for our nation." This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
George Clooney was arrested in Washington DC today. He was part of a group of demonstrators that also included his father, Nick, who gathered outside of the Sudanese embassy to bring attention to the country's humanitarian crisis. George's rep added that "they were protesting the violence committed by the government of Sudan on its own innocent men, women, and children. They were demanding they allow humanitarian aid into the country before it becomes the largest humanitarian crisis in the world." George has been in the nation's capital all week working toward
this cause, after recently returning from his sixth trip to Sudan and South Sudan. He testified to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, had a meeting with President Obama, and held a press conference to bring light to the issue. View Slideshow
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Culture/ TV/ Food/
Birthday Girl Eva Longoria Hits the Town With Victoria Beckham and Kate Beckinsale
Lauren Turner (PopSugar)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 9:07:26 AM
Victoria Beckham led the way for Eva Longoria and Kate Beckinsale in LA last night. The trio dined out at Cecconi's to celebrate Eva's birthday. It was apparently the second bash of the week, since Eva was spotted having dinner at Cut with Mario Lopez, his fiance Courtney Mazza, Kevin Connolly, and others on Tuesday. Eva was surrounded by friends as she rang in her 37th year and tweeted, "My house is a flower shop! I'm overwhelmed with happiness today! Thank U everybody!" There was one person missing
Add an Inexpensive Sliding Door to Your Home [Weekend Project]

from the fun, however, since Eva Melanie Pinola (Lifehacker) r e p o r t e d l y s p l i t f r o m h e r Submitted at 3/16/2012 9:30:00 AM boyfriend Eduardo Cruz, though the couple were spotted on Is there a spot in your home vacation together just last month. where you could use a sliding door but you don't want to go View Slideshow through the expense or hassle of ripping out a wall to put in a pocket door? Take a look at this track solution. More
Did 'Community' Really Beat 'Idol'?!

Chris Harnick (TV on HuffingtonPost.com)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 12:14:51 PM
Cooking with Guinness

(Cooking Light: Editor's Picks)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 3:00:00 AM
Our first recipe is mouthwatering Guinness Lamb Stew, a favorite of Cooking Light Test There's more to St. Patty's Day Kitchen Professional Robin than shamrocks and pots of gold. Bashinsky. He explains, "The We're bringing you recipes touch of mustard at the end adds a featuring a famous Irish stout that little tangy punch that sets off the has become beloved by the robust flavors of the hearty, masses. Cheers to celebrating this slowly simmered broth." decidedly jolly holiday to the View Recipe: Guinness Lamb fullest. Stew Next Beef and Guinness
Stew This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
The darkest timeline is over: " Community" is back on NBC and with solid ratings to boot. According to NBC, the midseason premiere of "Community" brought in 4.9 million viewers at 8 p.m. on Thurs., March 15. The return of Greendale's Human Beings bested the premiere of ABC's " Missing" in the coveted 18-49 demographic. The new Ashley Judd series premiered to a 2.0 rating in the 18-49 demo and 10.6 million viewers total. "Community" pulled a 2.2 rating in the demo. In the 18-34 demographic, "Community" beat "American Idol" from 8-8:30 p.m. "Community" averaged a 2.8 rating while "Idol" pulled in a 2.5. " American Idol" had 15.5 million viewers total. NBC pulled "Community" from its schedule in November, replacing it with "30 Rock.""Community's" last
original episode in that timeslot had 3.6 million viewers with a 1.5 rating. In the Thursdays at 8 p.m. timeslot, " 30 Roc k" at times performed worse than "Community." The timeslot is a tough one with "American Idol" on Fox, " The Big Bang Theory" on CBS and now "Missing" on ABC. It's important to note there was no "Big Bang Theory" on Thurs., March 15, CBS aired the NCAA tournament. In its new timeslot at 8:30 p.m., "30 Rock" earned a 2.0 rating in the 18-49 demo and 4 million total viewers, higher than it had been getting at 8 p.m. Following "Community's" benching, fans took to social media and flash mobs to show their support for the show. Comedy Central recently announced a syndication deal with Sony, the studio behind "Community," that will bring the misfits of Greendale to Comedy Central in 2013.
Politics-Left/
57
North Korea to launch new 'long-range rocket'

(AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE))
Submitted at 3/16/2012 10:43:49 AM
The move to honour late leader's birth by launching a "working" satellite has drawn criticism [Reuters] North Korea has announced it will launch a long-range rocket carrying a "working" satellite to mark the centenary of founder Kim Il-sung's birth next month. The move on Friday sparked condemnation from the United States and others who claim North Korea's ambition was in violation of a United Nations resolution. Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said the announcement was highly provocative and urged Pyongyang to honour its obligations including UN Security Council resolutions banning ballistic missile launches. "Such a missile launch would pose a threat to regional security and would also be inconsistent with North Korea's recent undertaking to refrain from long-range missile launches," she said in a statement. North Korean authorities, who have said previously it would suspend long-range missile testing as part of talks with the United States, pledged that next month's Experts said the launch was l a u n c h w o u l d n o t i m p a c t clearly another long-range missile neighbouring countries. test, and could be seen as an act of Another test brinkmanship to pressure
Washington into more talks in return for aid. South Korea, which is still technically at war with the North
after signing only an armistice to end the 1950-53 Korean War, said the ballistic launch threatened regional security.
The Japanese government echoed South Korea's sentiments. NORTH page 59
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Politics-Left/
US 'did not cooperate' with Kandahar probe

Qais Azimy (AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE))
soldier whether he acted alone, or was part of a team, as has repeatedly been claimed by tribal Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:35:18 AM elders. K a b u l , A f g h a n i s t a n - T h e The soldier was flown to Kuwait US military did not cooperate on Wednesday, and is expected to with the Afghan team dispatched arrive in a military prison in the to investigate the massacre of 16 US as early as Friday, according civilians by a rogue American to reports. army sergeant in Kandahar John Henry Browne, the soldier's province, the Afghan president attorney, told US media the has said. accused would be held at a The accusations came as Hamid maximum security detention Karzai met in his palace on Friday facility at a US military base in with distraught families of victims Kansas. of last weeks incident as well as Night raids tribal elders. During the nearly three-hour "The Afghan government didn't meeting at the palace, Karzais receive cooperation from the USA anger was apparent as he listened regarding the surrender of the US to victims recount their stories, s o l d i e r s t o t h e A f g h a n and in his answers to question g o v e r n m e n t , " K a r z a i s a i d . about his inaction. L i e u t e n a n t G e n e r a l S h e r Two of the family members Mohammed Karimi, chief of the broke down in tears in front of the A f g h a n a r m y w h o l e d t h e president. investigation into the massacre, They killed so many of our loved t o l d t h e g a t h e r i n g t h a t h i s ones, and do you have an answer delegation did not receive the full why? one elder asked Karzai. cooperation they expected. The president said he did not. He said that despite repeated "I don't want any compensation. I requests from high-level Afghan don't want money, I don't want a officials, including the minister of trip to Hajj [pilgrimage], I don't defence, to meet with the accused want a house. I want nothing but soldier, they were not granted the punishment of the Americans. access by US generals. This is my demand, my demand, Karimi said he wanted to ask the my demand and my demand,"
he demanded foreign forces pull back from Afghan villages. He also called for the full transfer of security responsibility to Afghan forces be completed one year ahead of the announced schedule in 2013. Karzai said US President Barack Obama called him after the announcement. Yesterday, I said clearly that the Americans should leave our villages,'' Karzai said. "This morning, Obama called regarding this issue. He asked, 'Did you announce this?' I said, 'Yes, I announced it'." another elder said. brought to justice. From the Karzai added: I insist on this The leaders insisted the soldier perspective of one neighbourhood issue. The fight is not in the villages, not in the houses of met no resistance because s in Herat villagers are used to frequent This has been going on for too Afghanistan.'' night raids, as reported earlier by long. This is by all means the end The two presidents agreed to Al Jazeera. of the rope here,'' Karzai told discuss accelerating the security They bring our own Afghan reporters at the end of the transfer during the NATO summit on Afghanistan in Chicago in soldiers to secure them as they meeting. break down our doors like This form of activity, this May. animals. If you resist, they will behavior, cannot be tolerated. It's This entry passed through the shoot you. And if you dont resist, past, past, past the time,'' Karzai Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it they will put a hood over your added. head and take you to Bagram, He said he will relay the leaders' on someone else's site, please read another elder said. concern that more than one the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentObamas call soldier was involved in the only/faq.php#publishers. Five Karzai once again reiterated that massacre, and he will make Filters recommends: Donate to he would hold the US accountable sure the allegation is investigated. Wikileaks. and make sure the soldier is Karzai met the elders a day after
Daily World/ Gaming/
59
NORTH
Any launch by North Korea, whether for a satellite or not, that uses ballistic missile technology violates Security Council resolutions, the Japanese government said. "We urge North Korea to exercise restraint and refrain from the launch," said Osamu Fujimura, the top government spokesman and chief cabinet secretary . China, the reclusive state's only main ally, was more restrained in its response, but stressed on maintaining peace on the divided peninsula. "Protecting the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and North East Asia suits the joint interests of all parties and is the consistent expectation of the international community. This requires that all relevant parties take a constructive role," Liu Weiminm, China's foreign ministry spokesman, told reporters at a regular news briefing. Deepening isolation In April 2009, the North conducted a similar ballistic rocket launch which culminated in a new round of toughened UN sanctions, squeezing the secretive state's already troubled economy
and deepening its isolation. That launch, dismissed as a failure after the first stage fell into the Sea of Japan without orbiting a satellite, provoked outrage in Tokyo which had threatened to shoot down any debris or rocket that threatened its territory. Another test failed in similar circumstances in 1998. Washington says the North's long -range ballistic missile programme is moving ahead quickly and former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said last year that the American mainland could come under threat within five years. "The DPRK is to launch a working satellite, Kwangmyongsong-3, manufactured by itself with indigenous technology to mark the 100th birth anniversary of President Kim Il-sung," the North's official KCNA said, quoting a spokesman for the Korean Committee for Space Technology. The launch will take place between April 12-16, KCNA said. It is scheduled to occur at around the same time its foes in the South hold a parliamentary election, and just over three weeks after a
global nuclear security summit in Seoul. 'Strong and prosperous' Pyongyang has been planning massive celebrations for years to mark Kim Il-sung's birthday on April 15, and has boasted the occasion would also mark its emergence on the international stage as a "strong and prosperous" nation. Analysts contend that the launch was designed to boost the country's new leadership and to pressure Washington into making concessions. "For the outside world this is the same as a long-range missile test," said Park Young-ho of the Korea Institute for National Unification, a government affiliated think-tank. "This can [be] interpreted as a means of applying pressure on the Americans in negotiations, and is a celebration of the founder's birth as well as an opportunity for the new leadership to celebrate the beginning of a new era," Park said in Seoul. The state's new young leader Kim Jong-un, who became the third member of the Kim family to lead the state after his father Kim Jong-il's death in
December, has presented an image of military might to his countrymen since taking power. He has visited several military sites and been seen mixing with top brass in what analysts say is a move designed to win the all-powerful army's backing for the succession process. KCNA said the launch would be conducted from a base near its border with China, indicating it would take place at a newly constructed missile testing site believed to be larger and more advanced than the site used to launch previous rockets. The launch will be made southward and debris generated from the flight will not impact neighbouring countries, it said. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Kinect controls revealed for Xbox Live HBO Go app

Richard Mitchell (Joystiq)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 12:00:00 PM
With the HBO Go app for Xbox just weeks away, HBO has released a teaser. The clip reveals app's required Kinect functionality, which unsurprisingly includes gesture and voice control. It sounds like a great idea, until you realize you'll only use it once. "Xbox, Boardwalk Empire, play, forever." Kinect controls revealed for Xbox Live HBO Go app originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 16 Mar 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments
John 3:16-17 (03-16-12)

(Verse of the Day)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 2:00:00 AM
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17(NIV) Thoughts on Today's Verse... Jesus came to
save the world. Jesus came to save you. Jesus came to save me. Why? Because of the Father's love! My Prayer... Holy and Righteous Father, thank you for your love. I know I didn't earn it
or deserve it, but thank you. Until your Son, and your salvation. I the day I see you face to face and thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. express my appreciation and my praise, please know my heartfelt gratitude and my deep and abiding joy because of your plan,
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Politics-Left/ Politics-Right/
Fresh protests in Syria ahead of UN briefing

(AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE))
Submitted at 3/16/2012 8:37:22 AM
Damascus. She said technical staff from the UN and Organisation of Islamic Syria's opposition has pressed for Cooperation would join the foreign military intervention in mission "and take the opportunity protests across the country, to gather information on the as Kofi Annan, the UN and Arab overall humanitarian situation and League's special envoy, prepared observe first-hand the conditions to brief the Security Council on in various towns and cities". Such a buffer zone, under Security Council on his efforts But Amos stressed that "it is his mediation mission. T h e d e m o n s t r a t i o n s o n consideration for months, would video link. increasingly vital that Friday spread from the northern allow refugees to leave and UN experts will also accompany humanitarian organisations have city of Aleppo to the central humanitarian supplies to enter, an upcoming Syrian government- unhindered access to identify regions of Hama and Homs, and but could also become a safe led humanitarian mission, the u r g e n t n e e d s a n d p r o v i d e s o u t h e r n p r o v i n c e o f haven and supply route for armed second time UN personnel have e m e r g e n c y c a r e a n d b a s i c visited protest sites this month, s u p p l i e s " . Daraa. Activists are calling this opposition fighters. In recent weeks, the Syrian army the organisation's humanitarian In a message to mark the first week's protests "The Friday for I n t e r n a t i o n a l M i l i t a r y has driven rebels out of the cities chief said. anniversary of the start of protests of Homs and Idlib. In the past two Valerie Amos said on Thursday in Syria on Thursday, Ban KiIntervention". Calls for foreign countries to arm days, troops have assaulted Deraa, that UN technical experts would moon, the UN secretary-general, t h e o p p o s i t i o n o r d i r e c t l y the southern birthplace of the year join the Syrian mission, but she said Assad had "responded with intervene in the conflict have -old revolt, using machine guns d e m a n d e d t h e o b s e r v e r s b e brutal repression, which has grown stronger in the face of a and conducting house-to-house given free access to to restive continued unabated". He said cities. violent government crackdown, raids. "well over" 8,000 people have although the strategy is not Still, the armed opposition, which Analysts said the delegation, died. popular with the United States or calls itself the "Free Syrian which will visit Homs, Deraa and "It is urgent to break the cycle of Army," remains hard to crush, and Hama, where thousands have violence, stop military operations European countries. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the elements have even established been killed, fell short of an earlier against civilians and prevent a Turkish prime minister, said on themselves in the Damascus offer of a joint assessment further militarisation of the Friday his government was suburbs, where they fought mission. It is not scheduled to conflict in Syria," Ban said. considering setting up a "security" government troops on Thursday visit Idlib, in the north, the most This entry passed through the recent site of major clashes Full-Text RSS service if this is or "buffer" zone along the border night and Friday morning. between the army and armed your content and you're reading it with Syria. Erdogan called on UN mission Annan has said he believes a opposition. Turkish citizens in Syria to return on someone else's site, please read home and said the Turkish negotiated political settlement to Amos said the mission would the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentambassador might be withdrawn end the conflict is possible. He start this weekend and also visit only/faq.php#publishers. Five from Damascus as soon as they visited Syria a week ago to meet Tartous, Latakia, Aleppo, Deir al- Filters recommends: Donate to Assad and on Friday will brief the Zour and rural areas around Wikileaks. do.
Science: Watching Romanitc Comedies Can Hurt Your Marriage

(The Feed)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 7:21:29 AM
Via HuffPo: Jenna McCarthy, author of If If Was Easy Theyd Call The Whole Damn Thing a Honeymoon, stopped by AOL studios recently to share a few of the surprising facts she learned about successful marriages while researching her book. McCarthy told AOL that watching romantic comedies might actually hurt your marriage. [A] study found that when couples watch romantic comedies together, their relationship satisfaction tends to plummet, she said. So maybe choose a nice horror movie.. . . Well, duh! Greg Pollowitz This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
TV/
61
Maggie Q On Why Tonight's 'Nikita' Made Her Bawl

Laura Prudom (TV on HuffingtonPost.com)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:49:52 AM
It's been a long month since we last saw our favorite rogue agents on screen, but " Nikita" is back Fri., March 16 with what promises to be an explosive hour, pitting Amanda (Melinda Clarke) against Percy (Xander Berkeley) with their former protg stuck in the middle. HuffPost TV caught up with star Maggie Q via phone to find out what the last few episodes of the season have in store for our titular heroine and the people she loves, as well as Q's thoughts on a potential Season 3. Tread lightly, there are spoilers ahead. In the new episode, Amanda tries to make a deal with Nikita against Percy, who is killing Division agents now that he's on the outside. Who does Nikita currently see as the bigger threat: Amanda or Percy? I think that there is an equal threat. I dont think that Nikita sees Amanda in a position to be as dangerous as Percy, but because Percy is out there and has waged war in this sort of bizarre triangle against the two of them, it heightens everything. It becomes something so much bigger. I think Percy being out and about is very, very strange to me. That is
something to be watched very closely. Within Division, there's something that can still be monitored. Outside of Division, I think Percy being on the loose is a little bit terrifying. Amanda offers Ryan to Nikita in exchange for taking down Percy, but Amanda never makes deals that easily. So what's the catch? Is Ryan still the same guy Nikita remembers after being tortured? Oh, I love that youre saying that! Well see, I guess. I mean, I know that when Nikita first gets the call and hears Ryans voice that she obviously doesnt believe that its him. I think that it all becomes a game of "keep yourself together until he's standing in front of you and you can pinch him and he's real." But you're right, it isn't simple -- it isn't simple at all. You're making a definite, definite deal with two devils. So, she's got to kind of get closer and more in bed with Amanda and Percy than she has really ever in this episode. It's pretty cool. It's nice to see those three big players at each other. In next week's episode, Nikita and Michael fly to Moscow to confront Cassandra over a secret. What can you tease about that storyline? Lets see ... Well, Cassandra again has a secret -- she's lying all the time! There is one big thing
that she's sort of kept from them. It's actually Alex that brings something to their attention. They sort of figure it out and then they go to find her because they do need to confront her, because there's something bigger involved here, which is the kid. Really, what the episode becomes about through the reveal -- sort of like the Cassandra reveal -- the main purpose of it is to lead us into what Michael's going to do about it. So, Michael's got to make some big decisions in this episode. Nikita and Michael haven't really had a chance to talk about their relationship since he got back; it's been all Percy and Amanda drama all the time. Are they actually going to have an opportunity to regroup and redefine themselves in upcoming episodes? God, yes and no. I mean, what I like about their very sort of strange relationship and how real it is, is that you live in this heightened sort of spy world, but at the same time, they have the same problems that any man or woman have. Stuff goes down, they sweep it under the rug. They don't really want to talk about it; they've got bigger things. You've got to if you want to make it. I think part of their thing is, "We have to survive first, then we'll fix our relationship problems." So that's one of the things. The other
thing is that ... theres an episode coming up in April where I think they touch on things a little bit. I think it's actually Birkoff who says to him, "Dude, you guys have been through all this stuff. Have you ever sat down with her and told her how much she means to you?" You know, kind of thing. He sort of looks at him and says, "What do you mean? She knows that." You know, like any other guy would, like, "What do you mean, I don't have to say that." It's just like, "Actually, you kind of do because she's kind of been through a lot for you very recently. You haven't just said those really simple things that she needs to hear." So, that's always a huge danger. It's like, you may think someone knows, but if they don't they could lose something. How is Nikita feeling about him at this point? I think she's really hurt. I mean, no woman wants to be the woman who you're going to come back to just because you can't be with [Cassandra] and the kid because it's dangerous. It's like, "Oh, thanks. Oh, youre back because the kid would be in danger if you weren't there. Would you rather be there or not?" It's really romantic, right? I don't think that is acceptable for anyone, much less Nikita. But I think what makes her special and different is
that she has given him the space and the time to figure it out. Like, she realizes, "It's not just me who's in this sort of crappy predicament." He also had no idea this was ever going to happen to him. He's also got to figure it out too. So, there's loads of understanding that's going on. But what I like about what you asked is that they don't really get into it. Then, when Nikita does get into it, which will be episode 19 ... whoa. I'll just say, "Whoa!" Its not going to be pretty. Episode 18 sounds like it has a lot going on between Amanda and Nikita. Can you talk about their dynamic there? Im really excited about that episode for two reasons. One is we get to see the relationship between Nikita and Amanda in flashback, which is really cool. And get a little bit of insight into who they were at that time and what she meant to Nikita and what Nikita meant to her, which is one of the thorns in Amandas side. Losing Nikita is something that really hurts her. We get into that. The other thing that I've been really waiting for between the two of them that I hope works, is they actually get to confront each other in this episode. It's not Nikita on the computer and Amanda is on MAGGIE page 63
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TV/ Politics-Right/
Jackie K. Cooper: The USA Network Is Double the Fun On Friday Nights
Jackie K. Cooper (TV on HuffingtonPost.com)
promptly fired her from the firm. Kate was also married to Assistant District Attorney Justin Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:44:45 AM Patrick (Trucco) but as this season Friday nights just got a lot starts they are in the middle of a brighter entertainment wise with divorce. She loves him but she the return of Fairly Legal and In wants to leave him. She also Plain Sight on the USA Network. wants to stay with the firm but not Legal is back for its second be a part of the firm. This makes season while Sight is starting its her role of mediator a little fifth and final season. If Legal difficult to understand. c o u l d e v o l v e i n t o a f u l l y This season Shahi appears to satisfactory series like Sight then have turned her personality as there would definitely be double Kate back a notch. She isn't quite trouble on Friday nights. as extreme and she is allowing her Legal got off to a rough start last heart to shine through more than year. Sarah Shahi, who plays last year. Kate also seems to be mediator Kate Reed, never really coming to terms with Lauren's fulfilled her promise in the role. r o l e i n h e r l i f e . N o w h e r She was too cute, too quirky, too relationship with Justin, well full of herself. Plus the role was that's another story. written so that she dominated the The story lines seem to be a little series and rolled over all the more inclusive of all the members members of the supporting cast of the cast rather than just w h i c h i n c l u d e d V i r g i n i a spotlighting Shahi. In addition to Williams, Michael Trucco and the regular cast members Gerald Baron Vaughn. McRaney is back as Judge David The basis of the show is that Nicastro. McRaney is always a Kate's father has died, leaving the welcome addition to any cast. law firm he established to Kate, Plus we have Ryan Johnson her brother and his fairly new joining the cast as Attorney Ben wife Lauren (Williams). Kate Grogan. In short order Grogan decided to stop being an attorney becomes firmly entrenched in at the firm and took on the role of Kate's life and career. Baron mediator. This did not sit well Vaughn still adds comic touches w i t h h e r s t e p m o t h e r , w h o as Kate's assistant Leo.
Having seen the first few episodes I am willing to give this series another chance. It didn't win a spot in my regular viewing lineup last year but with its new attitude and cast adjustments it might do it now. Fairly Legal might become one of my fairly favorites. One show that is definitely on my can't miss list is In Plain Sight. Mary McCormack and company have held me enthralled for all the past seasons and this show about the Witness Protection Program just keeps getting better and better. McCormack plays tough talking, rough acting Mary Shannon. She is a Marshal with WITSEC stationed in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her partner is Marshal Marshall Mann (Frederick Weller). Their boss is Stan McQueen (Paul Ben-Victor). Mary's mother Jinx is played by Lesley Ann Warren. This year Mary is a single mother of a brand new daughter, and is trying to juggle motherhood and her career. Marshall is still involved romantically with a member of the Albuquerque Police Department and Mary is trying to adjust to this too. Up till now she has always been number
one in Marshall's life. Admittedly just as a friend. As this season progresses it is hoped Mary and Marshall's relationship will be resolved, as well as her relationships with the father of her baby. There is also talk that Mary's father, who abandoned the family many years ago, will be coming back into the picture. It is a nice turn that In Plain Sight has announced it is ending and that some of the storylines will be wrapped up. That might diminish some of the sorrow of losing characters who have turned into friends of the viewers. McCormack and her cast have always delivered unique entertainment and it will continue until the last show is shown. Then with regret we will have to bid Mary, Marshall and all the regulars a fond farewell. Fairly Legal airs on the USA Network Friday nights at 9, followed by In Plain Sight at 10. Those are two hours of quality television you will want to watch. Jackie K Cooper www.jackiekcooper.com
Norks In Space!
(The Feed)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 8:03:34 AM
Via NYT: North Korea announced on Friday that it planned to launch a satellite into orbit next month, testing a technology that the United States and the United Nations Security Council have condemned as a cover for developing and testing long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles. .. This is the guns and butter strategy, without the butter. Or flour. Or much food of any kind. . . Greg Pollowitz This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Products/
63
MAGGIE
the line or Amanda is via satellite. It's like Nikita is trapped, Amanda walks up -- there's this confrontation that happens over three or four scenes. It's heavy duty stuff because it's two women. If that confrontation were to happen with Nikita and Percy, it would be big, but it wouldn't be as emotionally devastating as it is when it's two women. You're going to see Amanda actually say to Nikita, "You hurt me. I gave you everything and you did this to me." You get to see, whoa, Amanda hurts? Amanda has a heart? Its really exciting. Another reason why I'm really excited is that our creator actually flew up here the other day and said to me, "By the way, that episode is unbelievable." I was like, "Oh, good." I think it's something people have been waiting for. Nikita, as a girl, became this woman under Amandas watchful eye. Now, these two women are confronting each other. It's heavy; very, very heavy. I remember when I read it, I was completely depressed. Just going there in that space, being in that emotional space with someone ... it was really difficult. Melinda is so wonderful in it.
She's so good. Speaking of strong women, Carla has been a great addition to the show, but it seems like she's a little too close to Percy. How's that going to play out in upcoming episodes? It's actually going to play out in this episode [airing March 16]. It's going to come to a head. I mean, you're dealing with Michael, Birkoff and Nikita. They're not stupid, right? Obviously, things are going to come out. The way that everything unfolds is going to be pretty devastating. It's going to be one of those episodes where Nikita gains something but she also, in the end, just really loses. It was a really intense episode to watch. I was watching it and bawling. The whole idea of it was just very sad. It's just sort of like, you can never fully win. Do you know anything about the broad strokes of the last two or three episodes, since the show did so well at building towards an awesome climax last year? I know what the finale is going to be, yeah. What I will say about it is that there is going to be a big chapter that is going to close, as it needs to. I mean, for anyone to begin with something, there's got
to be a big loss, something big. It will not disappoint. What are your feelings on Season 3. As you said, a chapter is going to close, but are we going to be left with a cliffhanger regardless, or are the writers trying to tie things up? We do have a big plan for the third season. Craig [Silverstein, the showrunner] has got it all figured out. I think he knew what the third season was going to be when we did the pilot. He's always been very invested in this. We're going to go out with a bang. But the plan to close the chapter in two and open up a very new one in three is definitely there. We'll see if they let us -- fingers crossed! "Nikita" returns with new episodes on Fril, Mar. 16 at 8 p.m. ET on The CW. What do you think the future holds for Nikita and Michael? Do you think that Amanda has somehow managed to turn Ryan? Share your predictions below.
Daily electronics deals: Samsung Series 9 ultrabook 12-inch laptop

Consumer Reports News (Consumer Reports)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 7:14:59 AM
Daily electronics deals: Samsung Series 9 ultrabook 12-inch laptop Today's electronics deals, courtesy of The Consumerist: Adorama: Think Tank Skin Double Wide Camera Waist Pouch for $25 + free shipping Microsoft Store: 2.3-lb. Samsung Core i3 Dual 1.33GHz 12" Laptop for $649 + free shipping Buy.com: Audio Technica ATLP60 Belt Drive Turntable $69.00 with Free Shipping Entertainment Amazon: Buy 1 PC Download Game of $5, Get 1 Free Amazon: The Darkness 2 [Xbox 360, PS3] $39.99, free ship Neither Consumer Reports nor The Consumerist receive anything in exchange for featuring these deals; the posts are intended to be purely informational. These deals are often fleeting, with prices changing or products becoming unavailable as the day progresses. These posts are not an
endorsement of the featured products or the Web sites that sell themthough some of the sites may be included, and recommended, in our Ratings of retailers for computers and other major electronics(both available to subscribers). Price shouldn't be your only criterion. Be wary of lower-priced deals that seem too good to be true, and check return policies for restocking fees and other gotchas. For general buying advice for many of the products on sale above, check out our free Buying Guides. Subscribe now! S u b s c r i b e t o ConsumerReports.org for expert Ratings, buying advice and reliability on hundreds of products. Update your feed preferences
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Products/
Neato All Floor Robotic Vacuum

(Woot! - One Day, One Deal)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 12:00:06 AM
saw. From the stories Id heard, Manny had made his fortune in Cant spell Neato without N-O the bottling industry. The Even a Neato XV-12 All Floor conversations he had with his Robotic Vacuum can have a hard friends, however, painted a time living clean. different picture entirely. I often Naturally, I was excited at first. found myself cleaning a room What an honor, right? Manny while some shady deal or another Southdakota had chosen me to be was going down. It made me feel his full-time cleaning robot. The so uncomfortable that it took Manny Southdakota, famed for every circuit in me not to just seek his lavish fortune and his love of out my recognized doorway and gadgets! high-tail it to another room, Now, Id known I wasnt a total cleaning be damned. nobody. I mean, after all, its not And to make things worse, it every day that you meet a vacuum appeared that some of the illegal robot that can easily adapt to new activities involved the gadgets room arrangements or return themselves. Here was a smart automatically to its base for phone receiving a text message recharging and then resume about a new shipment. There cleaning where it left off. Not to was a powerful sub woofer mention, I pack the largest dirt riddled with bullet holes. On the bin of any of my kind, and I can coffee table sat a new iPad that handle carpet, hardwood, Pergo, Manny had secured through his all that stuff. But still, getting connections, its screen already chosen by a famous gadget covered with a thin residue of enthusiast? Thats not something white powder from some party or you ever expect, you know? another. My first few weeks of service Thats what eventually did me in, were glorious. I arrived in all the parties. Obviously, I never Mannys mansion in Miami and attended any of them. But, before immediately went about tidying anyone had awoken the next things up. In fact, I was so morning, Id have to go around, worried about making a good sucking up whatever dust or pills impression that I didnt really had been dropped. It wasnt long give myself a chance to take in before Id developed a bit of a bad my surroundings. habit. Well, after a little while I felt Then, Manny went on vacation, confident enough in my work to just up and disappeared for a just have a look around, and let whole month. There were no m e t e l l y o u , I w a s n o t s o parties, so there was none of the pleasantly surprised with what I usual stuff to clean up. I was
useless. I felt like I couldnt live. Thats when I realized I had to make a change. So I got outta there and checked into this facility. Now, Im just about ready to step back into the world. Im looking forward to going to a nice quiet home. Sure, the floors may not be as beautiful as Mannys were and I probably wont be able to look out the window and watch the sun set over the beach, but thats okay. I could use some peace and quiet. Authorized for SquareTrade Extended Warranty Warranty: 1 Year Neato Condition: New Features: Product Video Designed to meticulously clean floors on a daily basis, this allfloor robotic vacuum cleaner covers every inch of your floors, smartly seeing and working around furniture, stairs, and more. A simple user interface allows you to schedule it to clean your rooms while you are away. Neato's laser-based Room Positioning System gives the robot vacuum a full 360-degree view of a room so it can create a map of the room, detecting walls, doorways, furniture and other obstacles. Using its map, the Neato avoids most obstacles that other robots can only detect by impact. Just press the Start button and your Neato determines the best cleaning path to clean the floors using its unique, methodical
straight-line pattern. Once it finishes cleaning one entire room, it drives through one of the "recognized doorways," to start cleaning the next room. And, with its powerful vacuum suction, it picks up all your dirt, debris, and pet hair on your floors. Bonus accessories include:- 1 Replacement Squeegee Blade- 4 Extra Filters- 6 Replacement Brush Blades It's Smart- The Room Positioning System (RPS) is the proprietary technology that makes Neato as smart as--sometimes smarter--than a human housekeeper. Go ahead and rearrange the furniture: Neato will adapt its course without missing a beat. It's Powerful- The highperformance vacuum inside your robot works in a precise back-and -forth motion, picking up even tiny specks, and easily sliding under sofas, tables and beds. It's Simple- Just charge it up, press the Start button, and watch it work. Once it's finished in one room, it will begin working in the next--or return automatically to its base for recharging and resume cleaning where it left off. Schedule everyday cleaning with a few simple button presses and your house is always ready for guests, even when you've been out all day. It works on all floor types-carpet, rugs, hardwood, Pergo, and tile--so you never have to clean another floor, even in your
bathroom. It uses the most powerful vacuum system with efficient air flow and suction to clean up dirt, dust, and pet hair Easy to Use - Just press start and it cleans for you Low maintenance design means you just need to empty the dirt bin between cleanings Neato cleans using a back and forth pattern, ensuring that it thoroughly cleans all of your floors Largest dirt bin in a robotic vacuumit's easy to access and empty Designed as a true vacuum with a beater brush and the strongest suction available in any robotic vacuum cleaner Scuff-free navigation: At the vacuum's core is a centrifugal compression impeller that follows jet engine airflow principles. It creates sustained high-powered suction, allowing the Neato to thoroughly pick up dirt and debris Additional Photos: Easy-Access, Removable Dust Bin Menu Display / Push-Button Start Back Profile Bottom Profile Interior of Charging Base Filter and Replacement Filters Package Contents Packaging NEATO page 67
Products/
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Consumer Reports is not the only Fisker owner to experience bad Karma
Submitted at 3/16/2012 9:29:59 AM
Consumer Reports is not the only Fisker owner to experience bad Karma Last week, we experienced a failure with our $108,000 Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid that required the car to be transported back to the dealer with less than 200 miles on the odometer. It turns out that Consumer Reports isn't the only Karma owner to experience problems. (Read the original post: " Bad Karma: Our Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid breaks down.") Reading comments on our recent blogs, posts to owner forums, and searching the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) complaints database, we have found several notable issues reported. While there are not a high number of complaints, it does show we are not alone. And remember, there have been only about 500 cars sold, according to Fisker, and the owners skew to the affluent, meaning the Karma is not the typical owner's only car and miles have likely been modest thus far. http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ complaints/results.cfm Examples of complaints include: My Karma (with less than a
thousand miles on it) had a mysteriously worn-down coupling between one of the motors and the wheels. This will require a completely new differential. As of today... my Karma [has been] "in the shop" longer than I have driven the car. And the prospect of having it in the shop for another 2 weeks (or possibly longer) is making me really unhappy...[From FiskerBuzz.com] While driving the car, a 2012 Fisker Karma, at 35 mph, the car shut itself off, all lights on the dash illuminated, the brakes did not work, and the steering was impaired, leaving basic directional control only.[From NHTSA] So, after leaving the car with my dealer for the last five days, I finally got it back today and really all they did was update my software from [version] 6.12 to 6.14.2. They didn't address ANY of the other issues on the list I sent them last week. They didn't fix the heat shield. They didn't fix the trunk. They didn't fix the body panels. They didn't fix the leather on the passenger seat. Or the wind noise/rattle from the rear window or the driver's window. They didn't even give me floormats![From FiskerBuzz.com] This would be a funny story if it wasn't [that] I picked up [my Karma] last Monday and it broke down on Tuesday morning. It had
Yesterday, I figured it out why my car goes into a frenzy and this may help some of you. When I first got the car, I parked in the garage and put the parking brake on. I had many of the intermittent problems you guys have: CEL, oil lights, wouldn't start, dancing PRND cube, etc. Then I stopped t o b e t o w e d b a c k t o t h e using the parking brake. All the dealership. They "corrected" the problems went away. [From problem and I got it back today. FiskerBuzz.com] W e w i l l s e e . N o t a g o o d In fairness, the challenges Fisker s t a r t . [ F r o m has surmounted in going from a C o n s u m e r R e p o r t s . o r g ] start-up to a bonafide automaker My car has about 160 miles on it o v e r a s h o r t p e r i o d a r e with 6.14 loaded. On Monday, it monumental. Some birthing pains would not go into D or R. I did are not unexpected, especially as several hard reboots, and it didn't it is presumed the company faced fix it. The ... Fisker tech came significant timeline challenges to over to my house and did another reach milestones necessary to hard reboot and it worked. So this obtain funding. Further, the morning, I go to take the kids to Karma is a leading-edge car. school and it wouldn't go into D Check the reliability track record or R. I did a hard reboot and it for other companies pushing tech worked.Dropped off one of the boundaries (ahem, Mercedeskids at pre-school and when I Benz) and you will often find came outside, the car wouldn't go hiccups. into D or R. I tried several hard Tough thing is, because the reboots, and it didn't work. So Karma is projected to be a smallthere I sat in a parking lot with my volume car, we may not receive h o o d o p e n f o r 3 0 m i n u t e s enough ownership data to provide wondering what would have a solid look at its reliability. For a happened if my wife were driving c a r t o b e i n c l u d e d i n o u r with our two small kids. This is reliability results, we must receive not acceptable. A car made in information on at least 100 cars 2011 or 2012 should never leave a per model year. The Chevrolet p e r s o n s t r a n d e d . [ F r o m Volt, which uses a similar technology, crossed that threshold FiskerBuzz.com]
with 113 examples in our last survey. The results were based only on its initial months on the road but have showed it to be a reliable car right out of the gate. (We'll gain deeper insights this year, as ownership length has increased and more cars have been sold.) The Volt proved that all-new, high-tech electrified cars can indeed be reliable, just as the Toyota Prius has demonstrated for years. But both cars have a distinct advantage over the Karma: They were designed, engineered, developed and manufactured by the largest automakers in the world, with vast resources and experience that runs many decades deep. Historically, buying an all-new car in its first year carries additional reliability risks, as exhibited by several recent models, including the Ford Fiesta and Focus. Being an earlier adopter carries certain risks, no matter what the product or service. But then again, brave trendsetters are necessary to advance the state of the art. Our customer service experience with Fisker was top-notch, with the vehicle being picked up and returned to our facility, fixed, within 48 hours. While multiple complaints about service have CONSUMER page 68
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Products/
My torrid love affair with the lowest-rated vehicle, the Jeep Wrangler
generally ill mannered. It could make short work of trails, as experienced on numerous Submitted at 3/16/2012 8:29:59 AM occasions throughout Western My torrid love affair with the deserts. But the trek to the trails, lowest-rated vehicle, the Jeep and more significantly the tasking Wrangler daily commute in the war-born I must confess, the allure of the beast, just didn't keep pace with Jeep Wrangler has long issued a the quickly developing SUV well-targeted Siren call, tugging segment. at my adventurous spirit. Through Like a torrid love affair, my heart the years, I have looked forward would grow fonder after time to each new generation, hoping it away, but repeated experiences would be the one to hit the right had me always holding off on balance of civility and off-road commitment. acumen that could coax me into Then came the current JK: A t r a d i n g i n m o r e r a t i o n a l bigger, far-better-finished model transportation for this American launched for 2007 with more icon. Our latest test has been power and driving refinement. completed, and I haven't given in T h e f i r s t e x a m p l e o f t h i s to temptation yet. generation we tested more than I r e c a l l t e s t d r i v i n g t h e tripled the road test score of the rectangular-headlamped YJ p r e v i o u s m o d e l , t h o u g h Wrangler some 20 years ago. admittedly the score went from a With its low-mounted gauges, mere 5 points to 17 points. agricultural powertrain, and mail- Statistically significant, though truck dynamics, the 1987-1996 YJ around a quarter the points needed simply didn't live up to its to meet the threshold to be advertised promise. Then came a r e c o m m e n d e d . T h e J K w a s return to round lamps with the TJ further updated for 2011, with a (1997-2006). new interior, followed in 2012 The TJ was a significant leap with a new V6 engine. Our recent f o r w a r d , w i t h a m o r e Wrangler Unlimited test shows it conventional dashboard and better edged up in points, but it still -finished interior. The powertrain hasn't caught up with my evolving was still gruff, thirsty, and expectations.
Getting behind the wheel of our latest Wrangler Unlimited, earlier this month, brought an instant smile. I love off-roading. I am as pro-American as the next guy, and my family's Jeep lore includes tales of my father and his father driving Jeeps in the military. Had this been a dealership test drive, especially around my local Jeepfilled town (I have a showroom within a mile of my house), I could have been reaching for the checkbook. But living with it, I hate to say, the Wrangler still falls short. I can't budget a new plaything, so any vehicle has to meet daily use expectations. And I'm sad to say, the Wrangler again doesn't cut it. The Wrangler is getting close. After all, sales show that it is spot on for a large number of people. But, its appeal could improve with a few significant refinements, and even more so with a redesign for
the next generation, reportedly being developed with Fiat. Steering and on-road handling are behind the times, as detailed in our road tests. Somehow the bouncy ride needs taming. Other things cropped up when driving with family... Removable doors are cool, but I never see a current Wrangler with them removed. Leave this ability to just the Rubicon off-road king, and give proper door detents to the other trims, so kids (big and small) don't fling the unhindered doors open into adjacent parked cars. I love the removable Freedom Top roof panels. Taking off the soft-tops have always been a thankless chore to contend with, especially as they age, stretch, and fray. Give me a hard top with the removable panels for fresh air, but how about insulating them and the entire top to reduce the windnoise resonance that drowns conversation and rational thought? And finally, a simple back-up camera would compensate for the limited rearward visibility, compromised by the tire, center brake light, and rear wiper motor. It would aid in securing a trailer hitch, as well as improve safety.
Even better, offer a front camera to assist with off-roading. It could be actuated when the transmission is put into low gear, giving a helpful view ahead for proper tire placement on craggy trails. By the time the next Wrangler appears, fuel economy will likely be an even greater concern than it is now. Given how reluctant some of us have been to log many miles on the Wrangler at 17 mpg overall, Jeep may have a real challenge ahead. Split the difference on vehicle size between TJ and JK, offer a smalldisplacement diesel, and tend to aerodynamics, and a few refinements to make it bettersuited to the real paved world, and perhaps the next one will be the Jeep that gets me to commit. Related: Test complete video: 2012 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara From the logbook: 2012 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara Just in: 2012 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara Subscribe now! S u b s c r i b e t o ConsumerReports.org for expert Ratings, buying advice and reliability on hundreds of products. Update your feed preferences
Products/
67
Should Your Estate Be Able March To Access Your Facebook Angriness: Account After You're Gone? Politics, Round 1
Mary Beth Quirk (The Consumerist)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:30:00 AM
In ye olden days of yore, when someone passed away, the estate or family would pore over private papers, diaries, letters and any record of that person's life, as part of preserving the deceased's legacy. Now, a whole lot of that life record is online. So should access to your social media accounts live on after you die? It's a sticky situation, as the Washington Post reports, citing an example where the mother of a young man who died was blocked from accessing his Facebook account after his death. They changed his password within two hours of her request to be granted permission to maintain his account. "I wanted full and unobstructed access, and they balked at that," she told the paper. "It was heartbreaking. I was a parent
grasping at straws to get anything I could get." It took her a lawsuit and two years to get access to his account for 10 months, before Facebook ultimately removed the page. Legislators in a few states are currently looking into proposals that would require Facebook, Twitter and any other social network to hand over access to loved ones in the wake of a family member's death. That would in effect make that information part of a person's digital estate. Oklahoma was the first state to write a law on the topic, as Ryan Kiesel, the former legislator and author of the law says: "Mementos, shoeboxes with photos. That, we knew how to distribute once someone passed away. We wanted to get state law and attorneys to begin thinking about the digital estate." Facebook currently has an online form to report a death, at which time they put the account in a
memorialized state where some info is removed, and only friends can view the profile. The wall is left intact for messages from friends to leave as they remember their loved one. You can instruct Facebook in your will to allow your estate to have access with a download account of data, as well. Family members can also request that your page be removed entirely. *Thanks for the tip, Dee! Is Facebook part of your estate? State laws to govern social media accounts after death[Washington Post] This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.

Submitted at 3/16/2012 12:00:00 AM
Yesterday, we kicked off March Angriness with the Technology/ Internet Region(still open for voting, by the way). Today, we continue the infuriation with the Politics Region. It doesn't matter what political party you align yourself with; these 16 competitors will enrage anyone. But which is the most enraging? That's for you to decide! Before you vote, just a few quick things to keep in mind: Remember, you don't want to vote for your favorite option; you want to vote for whatever makes you angrier. You might have to scroll within the window to get to the bottom (sorry!). BE SURE TO CLICK SUBMIT WHEN IT'S ALL FILLED OUT. IF YOU DON'T, YOUR VOTES WON'T COUNT! Happy choosing!
Loading... THE REMAINING REGIONS WILL BE POSTED TOMORROW AND THE NEXT DAY! ROUND 1 VOTING FOR ALL REGIONS WILL CLOSE TUESDAY, MARCH 20TH AT NOON PACIFIC TIME! Photo by flickr user, JoshBerglund19 used under a Creative Commons License.
NEATO
In the box: Neato XV-12 Robotic Vacuum Cleaner (1) Charging Base
Accessory Kit includes: (1) Replacement Squeegee Blade
(4) Replacement Filters (6) Replacement Brush Blades Discuss this product
Price: $299.99 I want one!
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Products/ Daily World/
Worst Company In America Round One: UPS Vs. USPS

Chris Morran (The Consumerist)
CONSUMER
customer whose local driver first couldn't get the apartment number right, and then delivered the Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:00:00 AM package to someone else 11 miles We hope these two parcel- away; and the small business punting pugilists know how to whose damaged $5,000 package deliver the punches, because they was caught in the blame game both seem to have a problem between UPS, the UPS Store and delivering your packages. UPS' insurance provider. Given the sheer volume that both And then there's the nearly of these companies deal with, insolvent U.S. Postal Service even a very small percentage of which is not, contrary to a widely errors adds up to an awful lot of held belief, directly funded by ticked-off customers every day. taxpayers and hasn't been for But what really gets under the decades a company that soft, supple skin of Consumerist wouldn't deliver to hundreds of readers is the way neither UPS people because their apartment nor USPS seems to care or accept building had a leaky pipe... blame for their own problems. dropped customers' Christmas In just the last few months, there gifts into another dimension for was the reader whose UPS driver more than a year... added food would go straight to "final items to a care package from delivery attempt" notices on the mom... and got an upper body first attempt, and who couldn't get workout by tossing parcels over anyone at any level of the the fence... all while racking up c o m p a n y t o c a r e ; t h e U P S billions of dollars in debt.
You now have a 2.5 day window to choose which of these companies is worse. Failure to do so means you will have to pick up your vote at your nearby vote depot. Be sure to bring your slip and proof of address. (Voting for this poll will close at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, March 18) Which Company Is Worse? This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2012 series. The companies competing for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. See the entire WCIA 2012 bracket and schedule of match-ups HERE. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is (Evening Standard - News) your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read Submitted at 3/16/2012 10:52:58 AM the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentThe protesters accuse Sudan's only/faq.php#publishers. Five president, Omar al-Bashir, of Filters recommends: Donate to provoking a humanitarian crisis Wikileaks. and blocking food and aid from entering the Nuba Mountains in the country's border region with South Sudan. Clooney, his father, Nick and others, including Democratic US Representative Jim Moran of Virginia and civil rights leader Ben Jealous, were arrested after being warned three times not to cross a police line outside the
surfaced online, other owners have praised the care they and their vehicles have received. All Karmas sold in the United States come with a 50-month, 50,000mile bumper-to-bumper warranty. We hope we don't need to use ours again. But our car isn't trouble-free, even after the repairs. The ESC, ABS, and brake warning lights came on at start-up earlier this week and stayed on for a 15 minute drive; they went away the next day. There is also an intermittent warning tone and light indicating an overheating situation; this warning lamp illuminates, then instantly goes
out, signaling that something is amiss. We'll continue to share our experiences and findings as the Karma moves through our comprehensive program of more than 50 tests. Subscribe now! S u b s c r i b e t o ConsumerReports.org for expert Ratings, buying advice and reliability on hundreds of products. Update your feed preferences
George Clooney arrested in protest outside Sudanese embassy

embassy. They were handcuffed and placed into a US Secret Service van. Clooney said earlier that he hopes to draw more attention to the issue and that if action is not taken in the next three to four months "we're going to have a real humanitarian disaster". This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Products/ Gaming/ Sports/
69
Flash In The Brain Pan: The Love Letter

Submitted at 3/16/2012 9:00:00 AM
The Love Letter is such a simple game. You'll be using your mouse as the controller, and you'll be driving a little kid through the hallways of his school. Today he's found his very first love note in his locker and is kind of embarrassed about it.
It'd be much easier to read this note if he wasn't the most popular kid around. The moment the bell rings, it's like everyone wants to see what our hero is doing! Even still, there are a few secret corners where he might not be disturbed. Your job is to steer him to those corners so he can read the entire directions so you can meet your note. secret admirer at their locker. But If you succeed, you'll get
if you get caught holding that note well, you remember how elementary school went. The Love Letter is not as easy a game as it might seem, but it's a nice, short blast of low-key Friday fun. With a little effort, maybe all of you will get to find true love in the end.
Ohio at Michigan CBS Sports

(- Bing News)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 8:02:10 AM
TIME: 07:20 P.M. EST NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Michigan coach John Beilein says there's treasure in losses if players look for it beyond their OHIO page 70
Hayashida: Super Mario 3D Land is a gateway game

JC Fletcher (Joystiq)
entry point to the Mario games for a lot of people," director Koichi Hayashida told me during GDC. Super Mario 3D Land has a "So the way we see it is someone curious structure: it's very easy would pick up Super Mario 3D throughout the first eight worlds, Land and play that, and then and then it surprises the player maybe they would move onto with a "special" set of eight Super Mario Galaxy or Super additional worlds, which test Mario Sunshine or Super Mario players with insane time limits, 64 after that." ever-pursuing "Shadow Marios" There's an even more personal and every other trick EAD Tokyo motivation. "Speaking as a Mario could think of. So why backload game fan personally, I should the challenge? admit that I had trouble trying to "We thought of setting the clear the first two Super Mario difficulty level about as low as we Bros. games," Hayashida said. could go realistically for this "So for me, I wanted to create a game because we saw this as an game that I could at the very least
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:30:00 AM
clear. Even if it meant using Assist Blocks, I was able to clear this one, of course." Hayashida and his team designed a game that allowed "lots of
people" to see an ending, which plays at the end of world 8 before the Special Worlds appear. "Even though there's still a little bit of good challenge in worlds 7 and 8,
people have at least the option to adjust the difficulty for what feels appropriate to them. If that means they need to challenge themselves to find all the star medals in a certain levels, they can do that. But we're not forcing people to do something at a very high level of difficulty all the way through." At least, not until the Special Worlds. Hayashida: Super Mario 3D Land is a gateway game originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 16 Mar 2012 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Email this| Comments
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OHIO
disappointment. The Wolverines have put that approach into practice. Instead of wallowing after getting thumped by rival Ohio State, they went back to work. "Usually your mistakes are going to stand out a little bit more after a loss," Beilein said Thursday. "So we've been able to take defeat and turn it into a great learning experience." Now Michigan (24-9) is hoping the reward following the 22-point loss to Ohio State in the Big Ten tournament semifinals is a run in the NCAA tournament. The fourth-seeded Wolverines face No. 13 seed Ohio on Friday in the second round. Ohio (27-7) is back in the NCAA tournament two years after upsetting third-seeded Georgetown 97-83 as a No. 14 seed. The Bobcats who were around for that game aren't expecting to get any boost from it against Michigan, though. "We know that's in the past," Ohio junior guard D.J. Cooper said. We just know that we've got to beat a better team tomorrow night, and we have to come out
and play hard, and we know that Georgetown, that doesn't even matter anymore." What matters to Bobcats coach John Groce is that his team has won eight of its last nine, including a one-point victory against favored Akron in the MidAmerican Conference tournament championship. "I think sometimes January and February become a little bit of a grind, and you've got to be able to grab your guys and get them focused on getting a little bit better every day," he said. "Teams are either going to trend upward or downward, and I'm blessed to be around a group of guys and players that have trended upward here towards the end of the year." While Ohio was celebrating its MAC tournament title, Michigan was spending extra time in the film room and on the practice court. Beilein calls post-loss film study "instructional clips," and senior guard Stu Douglass knows it's best to keep a similarly positive attitude about it. It's paid off for the Wolverines, who haven't lost two games in a row all season and have won
games after losses by average 10.7 points. "You've got to put pride aside and grow up a little bit, just take responsibility for your own actions and move on and ask yourself what are you going to do for this team instead of saying, `Woe is me. Why is coach picking on me?' Douglass said. Senior guard Zack Novak added, "There's been a few games this year we played really bad, and the film sessions were a little bit more lively and spirited. ... If we want to be the team that we can be, this is what you've got to do." Douglass, Novak, sophomore guard Tim Hardaway Jr. and freshman point guard Trey Burke have made Michigan a very dangerous team in the half-court and at the 3-point lien, where it averages 8.2 baskets per game. The Bobcats hope to counter the guard-heavy Wolverines lineup with their more traditional size, which served them well in the MAC where undersized wings and post players aren't unusual. "It won't be the first time we've seen that situation, but they do it at such a high level with those
four guards, and then when (Evan) Smotrycz is in the game, it's really five guys that shoot 3s," Groce said. "We have our hands full." Beilein is on a mission to get Michigan back fully in the national spotlight. He's taken the Wolverines to the Big Dance three out of four years, but they haven't made it past their second game since 1994. The coach likes where his program is headed thanks to support from school officials and the way players Douglass and Novak are focused on getting better every day. "It's a destination," Beilein said. "There's a momentum going on right now." This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Sports/ Daily World/
71
Broncos attend Peyton Manning drills - ESPN

(- Bing News)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 9:56:42 AM
Updated: March 16, 2012, 12:34 PM ET ESPN.com news services Accustomed to going under the knife, Peyton Manning is now going under the microscope. A contingent of Denver Broncos officials will watch Manning work out Friday in Durham, N.C., sources have told ESPN. It marks the first time Manning will have worked out for a prospective team after visiting four over the last week, including the Broncos. Manning also is expected to work out for the Tennessee Titans, though the specific day is not known, sources said. I'm not an NFL coach, of course, but I think I know what it takes to complete passes in the NFL, and it's clear that Peyton can make all those throws.-- David Cutcliffe, who has watched Peyton Manning work out several times over the past few months in Durham, N.C. The private plane of Broncos owner Pat Bowlen left Denver en route to Raleigh-Durham on Friday morning.
Among Broncos officials on board to watch Manning, according to the sources, were John Elway, executive VP for football operations; head coach John Fox; offensive coordinator Mike McCoy; quarterback coach Adam Gase; general manager Brian Xanders; and a medical team. Manning will work out for them at the indoor facility at Duke. Duke coach David Cutcliffe, who has observed Manning work out and throw several times the past few months in Durham, told The Tennessean of Nashville that Manning will have what it takes to play at the highest level when he resumes his career this fall. "It's incredible how much progress he's made in throwing the football," Cutcliffe told the newspaper. "He's gotten his arm strength back and his accuracy is there. "I'm not an NFL coach, of course, but I think I know what it takes to complete passes in the NFL, and it's clear that Peyton can make all those throws," said Cutcliffe, who was Manning's offensive coordinator at the University of Tennessee from 1994 to 1997 and
himself to getting ready for the season." In addition to the Broncos and Titans, the Arizona Cardinals are still in the race to get Manning. The Miami Dolphins have been informed that Manning will not sign with them. The Dolphins, though, have emerged as the favorites to sign free-agent quarterback Matt Flynn, league sources have told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter. The Dolphins have arranged for Flynn, who has been Aaron Rodgers backup with the Green Bay Packers, to visit Miami after his visit to Seattle, according to remains one of his friends. the sources. Cutcliffe was also the coach at Flynn's visit with the Seahawks, Mississippi when Manning's which began Thursday night, will brother, Eli Manning, played for continue Friday. the Rebels. Information from The Associated Manning wrapped up his latest Press was used in this report. free-agent visit Wednesday, This entry passed through the leaving the Titans' complex after Full-Text RSS service if this is spending more than eight hours your content and you're reading it with team officials. on someone else's site, please read "From what I've seen, he's right the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contenton target for that," Cutcliffe said only/faq.php#publishers. Five o f M a n n i n g ' s 2 0 1 2 r e t u r n . Filters recommends: Donate to "Everybody knows what a hard Wikileaks. worker he is, and he's dedicated
Ex-borders chief settles

(Evening Standard - News)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 10:17:11 AM
The ex-head of the UKs Border Force, who was suing Home Secretary Theresa May after quitting in a row over relaxation of immigration checks, has settled his dispute with the Home Office. Brodie Clark, 60, has reached an out-of-court deal in which neither side admits liability or wrongdoing. No details of how much he will receive are being revealed due to a confidentiality agreement but it is likely to be six figures. Mr Clark was suspended then resigned after a 40-year Home Office career last November when he was blamed by Mrs May for the allegedly unauthorised easing of border checks. He began a constructive dismissal case that could have won him 135,000 but today issued a statement with the Home Office saying the matter was settled. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
72
Sports/ News Photos
Syracuse survives controversial ending; UNC Asheville leaves angry - Boston Herald
(- Bing News)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 4:20:16 AM
News of the world in photos: iPad insanity Seattle Post Intelligencer

(news photos - Google News)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 10:01:43 AM
PITTSBURGH Syracuse was the second of the four No. 2 seeds to lose to a No. 15 seed in the NCAA tournament when the Orange was beaten by Richmond in 1991 at Cole Field House in College Park, Md. On Thursday, Jim Boeheims team nearly became the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed, surviving with a closer-than-itlooks 72-65 win over North Carolina-Asheville at Consol Energy Center. The Bulldogs as well as a large majority of the crowd felt a few calls helped Syracuse sneak through to the second round Saturday against Kansas State. It left longtime UNC Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach seething. "Theres not enough time for cooling off for this one," he said. "Syracuse is better than Asheville. Tonight we were better than Syracuse. I have all the respect for
Jim Boeheim, their team being 31 -2. Hes a fantastic coach. They deserve all the recognition theyve got this year. This (UNC Asheville) was the better team tonight." Boeheim wasnt buying it. Asked whether he thought that UNC Asheville was better than Syracuse on Thursday, Boeheim said, "Thats why they make scoreboards." Later on in the news conference, Boeheim was asked whether he thought his team was lucky. "I dont think luck has anything to do with winning games," said Boeheim, the third-winningest coach in Division I history behind Dukes Mike Krzyzewski and Bob Knight. "We had to make some plays. James (Southerland) made a couple of big shots. We took control of the game. No, I dont think luck was involved at all." UNC Asheville (24-10) led by as many as seven points in the first half and was only the sixth No. 16
seed to even take a halftime lead (34-30) over a No. 1 seed since the tournament was expanded in 1985. Despite two-time Big South Player of the Year Matt Dickey missing 12 of 13 shots, the Bulldogs stayed close. The game was decided largely by two calls that went in Syracuses favor. The first came when Syracuse guard Scoop Jardine, a 49 percent free-throw shooter, missed the front end of a one-and-one with 1:20 remaining and the Orange hanging on to a 62-58 lead. UNC Asheville guard J.P. Primm got the rebound but was called for a lane violation. Jardine then made both ends of a new one-and-one. The second came after Primm (18 points) had cut Syracuses lead to 66-63 with 38.2 seconds left. With UNC Asheville pressing full court on the ensuing inbounds play, it appeared that Syracuse guard Brandon Triche lost the ball out of bounds as he was bumped. No call was made, but Syracuse
was awarded possession. Jardine was fouled again and made a pair of free throws. Referee Ed Corbett told a pool reporter after the game that Primm, who swooped in from the side off the lane, was "in clear violation. The player released early, before it hit the rim. Weve since watched the replay 20 times and it was the right call." Corbett declined to comment on the inbounds play because "thats not reviewable." (c)2012 The Baltimore Sun. Distributed by MCT Information Services This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
The Star-Ledger - NJ.com News of the world in photos: iPad insanity Seattle Post Intelligencer AFP PHOTO/ Yoshikazu TSUNO Japanese customers show off their newly purchased Apple's new iPads in Tokyo on Friday. Hundreds of gudget lovers queue up for the new tablet as a worldwide launch followed the global sunrise. AFP PHOTO/ Yoshikazu TSUNO... PHOTOS: Crazy Lines In New York For The iPad 3 (AAPL) San Francisco Chronicle Apple launches new iPad in Japan: photos ZDNet (blog) Apple's new iPad goes on sale ( photos) CNET The Star-Ledger - NJ.comHuffington Post UK- Calgary Herald all 5,209 news articles
Gaming/ Featured/
73
Before I use Branch

(Dave Winer's "Scripting News" weblog)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 8:14:39 AM
Rovio sponsors Formula 1 driver Heikki Kovalainen

Jordan Mallory (Joystiq)
worldly locales sporting the above Angry Birds crash helmet. Call us Submitted at 3/16/2012 12:29:00 PM superstitious, but were we to drive We're starting to wonder what " around at several hundred miles limited resources" actually means an hour in an open-air vehicle, we over at Rovio. If you've got wouldn't want to make ourselves enough cash to send your product look like something renowned for into space itself, and then turn crashing into things and exploding a r o u n d a n d a l s o s p o n s o r a at high velocity. Formula 1 driver's head, we get [Image source:@MyCaterhamF1] the feeling our definitions of Rovio sponsors Formula 1 driver "limited" vary by a few billion Heikki Kovalainen originally dollars. appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 16 Heikki Kovalainen, a Finnish F1 Mar 2012 12:29:00 EST. Please driver that races on the Caterham see our terms for use of feeds. F1 team, will now blast around Permalink| Email this| Comments Monte Carlo and various other
I was recently invited to discuss a topic of interest on a new service called Branch. What is Branch? I'm sure they think it's more than this, but to me it appears to be a simplified version of Disqus that can't be embedded in other sites. Discussions are invite-only. Like Twitter, it seems to be about what it doesn't do more than what it does. I didn't respond to the invitation. Instead I pondered how I wanted to respond. I decided to write a blog post. More often than not that's how I respond, because I am a blogger. Anyway, I can't just use it, because then I would be breaking a rule, one that keeps me from using services like Quora and Google-Plus. I'm not going to willfully put my writing in spaces that I have no control over. I'm tired of playing the hamster. The business models of these companies, if they become successful, keep them from being part of the web. And it's not in my interest to support what they do, that's the broad reason I don't use them. Further, I am creating an
instead as citizens of the web, sentient and powerful beings who create in a variety of ways that they can enhance by combining it with other people's writing. And if other people want to be hamsters, god bless. I don't. The technical answer is to accept contributions in the form of URLs that point to content source, which can then be rendered in their space. To the reader there is no difference. To the writer, there's a world of difference. My writing is already available in such a format. If they would rather use a different format, I'm open to suggestions. To see how it works just view-source on this archive of my writing, over many page, and you'll see a link to an years. And if I scatter my writing OPML document. It reflects the all over the place, even if these text of this piece, before it was services were part of the web, it rendered. That same text could be would be against my interest to do rendered in any context. This is the only way I can that. Having it all in one place is participate in these discussions. value, to me at least. But every time one of these BTW, people ought to take a look services comes along, before at a system developed at Berkman they've become established, Center called Harvard 2.0 or H20 there's a chance to incentivize for short. It's truly different from them to give me what I want, and all the discussion systems I've thereby open their services up. To seen elsewhere, and I believe it's give us our cake, and view us not likely to work better because the as hamsters in a nice fun and ideas are very good. It was colorful and entertaining cage, designed, as far as I know, by Jon Zittrain and Charlie Nesson.
74
Featured/ Science/ News Photos
Why the JOBS act?

(Dave Winer's "Scripting News" weblog)
you could guarantee that every investment was legit, there would be nothing wrong with it. But Submitted at 3/16/2012 7:46:05 AM when you take all the regulations I s e e V C s a n d s u c c e s s f u l off public offerings the same entrepreneurs promoting the thing that happened in the JOBS Act, a bill with a confusing unregulated financial services name. It doesn't seem to be about market in the lead-up to the crash creating jobs, or that isn't the of 2008. Unscrupulous people reason the investors like it. What posing as bankers ripped off a lot it does is make it easy for startups of ordinary people. People to sell their stock to the public. assumed that someone was If you were a very trusting covering their back, and no one individual, you'd think -- what was. And when the bottom c o u l d b e w r o n g w i t h t h a t ? dropped out, a lot of people were Everyone knows that investments left bankrupt and homeless. are are risky propositions. You That whole mess was the result could win big or lose everything, of the assumption that all the or somewhere inbetween. And if regulations established after the
crash of 1929 were misguided, unnecessary, socialist, wimpy or whatever. In the lead-up to that crash everyone was betting on stocks, the same way they will be if this law passes. Everyone assumed stocks could do nothing but go up. Sound familiar? Yeah, that's what everyone thought about real estate, not that long ago. I assume the investors of 2012 who are pushing for this law are well-intentioned people who are just unaware of history, or optimists about human nature. But we've been through this before, very recently. We should not have to go through it again.
Photos of the Day: Skydiver Attempts to Go Supersonic Product Design & Development
Submitted at 3/16/2012 9:33:20 AM
halfway toward his goal of setting a world... Amazing Photos Show Practice BBC News Run for Record-Breaking Space Photos of the Day: Skydiver Jump Space.com Attempts to Go Supersonic Video, photos: Jumping out of a Product Design & Development space capsule at 21800 metres In this photo provided by Red thejournal.ie Bull Stratos, Felix Baumgartner Felix Baumgartner, Daredevil prepares to jump during the first S k y d i v e r S e e k i n g A l t i t u d e manned test flight for Red Bull R e c o r d , M a k e s 1 3 - M i l e . . . Stratos over Roswell, NM on H u f f i n g t o n P o s t Thursday, March 15, 2012. all 457 news articles Baumgartner is more than
The New iPad's Screen, Under a Microscope

Dan Nosowitz (Popular Science - New Technology, Science News, The Future Now)
Lukas Mathis over at Ignore the Code stuck the new iPad, as well as about a dozen other gadgets, under a microscope to check out Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:32:10 AM iPads, Under a Microscope Lukas what the pixels look like way up Mathis close, at 80x magnification. The new iPad's screen is The new iPad's pixels are apparently so amazing it can't be predictably minuscule, though not described in words(though we're quite as small as the current-gen certainly going to try; look for our iPhone's. But there are some other review early next week). But interesting tidbits in there too--the images can sometimes tell the BlackBerry PlayBook and Kindle story more effectively, anyway. Fire, as you may or may not know
inch tablets. And the E Ink-ed Kindle looks completely different, with its electrophoretic screen that's closer to a Woolly Willy than a regular LCD. Check out the images over at Ignore the Code. [via Buzzfeed FWD] (hopefully not, because it's an awfully arcane bit of gadget knowledge), are built on the same platform, which is why they look exactly alike. But apparently the screen is very different--the pixel arrangement, shape, and color are all different between the two 7-
Science/
75
The Electric-Car Movement Enters A Quiet, Crucial Phase

Seth Fletcher (Popular Science - New Technology, Science News, The Future Now)
they had no idea how many people would buy them. Then, rising oil prices and environmental concerns led Submitted at 3/16/2012 10:43:29 AM Electric-Car Alison Seiffer The governments to enact stricter t r a n s i t i o n f r o m n o v e l t y t o emissions standards and push normality carmakers to build cars that could Early this year, when it became meet those standards. In the U.S., clear that the Chevrolet Volt and the federal government lent Nissan Leaf had missed their several carmakers (not just GM 2011 sales targets, critics declared and Chrysler) money to develop the electric-car revolution over. electric vehicles and retool Yet at Detroit's annual North factories. American International Auto Ford used part of its $5.9-billion Show in January, plug-in cars loan to develop a system for abounded. BMW displayed its building gas cars, hybrids, plugforthcoming i3 electric city car, ins and electric cars all on the along with its i8 plug-in hybrid same line. In a renovated Detroitsports car. Acura unwrapped a area factory, it will build gas and hybrid concept version of the electric versions of the Focus NSX supercar. Tesla Motors compact car, along with hybrid brought its all-electric Model S a n d p l u g - i n h y b r i d C - M a x sedan. But the most important car minivans. The company will use on the show floor might have the same strategy for the Fusion. been one that, on the surface, Compared with the ambitious eseemed much less exciting: the car launches of recent yearsnew Ford Fusion, which will be particularly those of the Chevy available in gasoline, hybrid and Volt and the Nissan Leaf-Ford's plug-in hybrid versions. approach might appear Carmakers long refused to build noncommittal. But it could turn plug-in cars because they said out to be transformative. It's
evidence that once the investments have been made, manufacturing electric cars isn't all that hard. It's a matter of adding a few assembly-line stations where plug-in cars get their batteries, electric motors and electronic controls. And when Ford and other automakers use the
same lithium-ion batteries across a range of electrified vehicles, it will help reduce the cost of those batteries, pushing electric-vehicle sticker prices down and ultimately in line with conventional gas cars. Drivers won't just benefit from lower prices; they will finally get some choice. Picking a power
train could eventually become as simple as opting for the premium sound-system package. And making that choice won't have to be a lifestyle statement. Outwardly, the plug-in hybrid version of the Ford Fusion will be almost indistinguishable from the hybrid or conventional versions, with the exception of a chargeport door and a little badge that says "Energi." Habituating Americans to the concept of plugging in should make it more likely that all manner of electrified cars receive a warm reception. The debut of the Volt and the Leaf was just one phase of a long process. First came the highprofile launches and the saturation media coverage. Now it's time for plug-in cars to slowly become normal, even boring-or, to put it another way, accepted.
76
Science/ Politics-Right/
Wheel Wars: Can The Scooter Be Improved?

Brett Zarda (Popular Science New Technology, Science News, The Future Now)
Three testers ran the Sbyke and a Razor through a series of everyday obstacles in New York City. First they rode around a Submitted at 3/16/2012 9:28:26 AM Sbyke Sam Kaplan block to see how well the scooters Since the Razor came out in the take 90-degree turns. Next the U.S. in the late 90s, inventors riders ran a downhill slalom have tried, with varying success, through construction scaffolding to create the next generation of supports. Finally, they tested the kick-powered conveyance. Now a S b y k e ' s t u r n i n g r a d i u s b y Nevada start-up aims to beat the attempting 180s on the sidewalk. Razor in both maneuverability THE RESULTS and stability. The Sbyke is a The Razor kept pace with the B M X b i k e m i x e d w i t h a Sbyke just cruising around the skateboard. The company claims block but was no match in that the fixed 20-inch wheel maneuverability. Testers wove the allows its scooter to negotiate S b y k e e a s i l y t h r o u g h t h e uneven surfaces better than a scaffolding (on the Razor, they Razor. It also says its novel rear- often needed to bypass turns to WEIGHT 13 pounds axle mount, which uses ball keep from tipping over). No one WEIGHT CAPACITY 220 bearings that let the axle turn up was able to pull off a four-foot p o u n d s to 50 degrees in either direction, 180 on the Sbyke, but the five- TURNING RADIUS 2 feet makes the Sbyke the nimblest foot turns the riders did manage PRICE$250 s c o o t e r y e t - o n e t h a t c a n toppled the Razor---as one MORE NEW WAYS TO MOVE purportedly execute tight four- unfortunate road-rashed tester SKATEBOARD + TANK foot turns. THE TEST found out the hard way.
they would on a snowboard. Rockboard Descender:$120 SEGWAY/2 The Solowheel propels riders perched on platforms on either side of the 26-pound device. When moving, a gyroscope-based motor helps keep them upright, similar to the way a Segway works. Riders tilt forward to accelerate up to 10 mph, stop by rocking backward, and steer by leaning. Solowheel:$1,800 UNICYCLE + 2 When seated on top of the CycoCycle's 20-inch front wheel, riders pedal and steer as on a unicycle, with balance provided Snowboarders can ride slopes by its two 12-inch rear wheels. To year-round on the Descender. move along more quickly, users Designers equipped the 31-inch can stand on the 18-inch bar deck with rubber treads instead of between the rear wheels and push skateboard wheels. More rubber o f f a s o n a k i c k - s c o o t e r . means even more traction on CycoCycle by Dynacraft:$119 grass. Riders steer by leaning, as
Saudi Man Marries the Wrong Cousin

(The Feed)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 7:02:28 AM
Via Emirates 24/7: A Saudi man who married his cousin got the shock of his life when he found out hours later that she was replaced by her older and
less beautiful sister, a newspaper reported on Wednesday. The unnamed man said he had immediately decided to marry his cousin as he was impressed by her beauty and young age. Just after the wedding, I was shocked to find that the bride was her
sister, who is older and less
beautiful than her, he said, quoted by the Saudi Arabic language daily Sabq. . . This would make for a funny episode of Bravos The Real Housewives of Riyadh. . . Greg Pollowitz This entry passed through the
Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Politics-Right/ News Photos
77
Irans Menace in Azerbaijan

Ariel Cohen (The Foundry: Conservative Policy News Blog from The Heritage Foundation)
symbolizing Islam up top. Iran wants Shiite Azerbaijan to fall in line with its version of religion and not to emphasis Turkic Submitted at 3/16/2012 9:39:53 AM N o t e v e n a m o n t h a f t e r identity, which brings it closer to Azerbaijani counterintelligence Turkey. This was the second time services arrested Iranian agents the Iranians have offended their planning terrorist attacks against n e i g h b o r s t o t h e n o r t h b y Israeli diplomats and prominent disrespecting their flag; the first m e m b e r s o f t h e J e w i s h time they did it during the 2005 community, a network of 22 more Tehran visit by President Ilham Iranian agents were arrested Aliyev. Thursday. These alleged Iranian Iranians are not only operating operatives were hired by the terrorist networks on Azerbaijani Iranian spy agencies to carry out territory, but are also allegedly terrorist attacks against the United behind the 2006 murder of Rafik States and Israeli targets as well Tagi, a prominent Azeri writer as international oil companies, against whom an Iranian ayatollah including BP. All of them are issued a fatwa sentencing him to Azerbaijan citizens and were death. The third wave of antit r a i n e d b y t h e I r a n i a n terrorist arrests since the Revolutionary Guard Corps. They beginning of the year is seen as a were paid on a monthly basis. reprisal by Baku to signal to Iran Recently, Azerbaijans ministers to play by the rules. of foreign affairs and defense Relations between Iran and went out of their way to point out Azerbaijan have been steadily that the relations between Baku deteriorating as Azerbaijan and Tehran are good, reiterating continues to develop its ties to the that Azerbaijan will not allow its United States and the North territory to be used for a strike Atlantic Treaty Organization against the Iranian nuclear (NATO). The United States has program. However, the ayatollahs been leading the effort to impose appear not to be listening. During sanctions to prevent Iran from the recent visit to Iran by the developing a nuclear weapon. It is Azerbaijani Defense Minister possible that Iran is growing more Safar Abiyev, the national flag of wary and aggressive as sanctions Azerbaijan was hung upside start to bite. downwith the green strip Azerbaijan is not the only
country in the region that Iran targets. Iranian intelligence and its Hezbollah subsidiary recently conducted operations against Israeli targets in Tbilisi, Georgia, New Delhi, and Bangkok. According to some experts, Iran is wary of a major confrontation and wants to provoke Israel into smaller confrontations, because it needs an external threat around which it can organize its increasingly dissatisfied population. Theocrats in Tehran also have a problem with Bakus secular nature. This is not surprising, as millions of ethnic Azeris live in Iran under ethnic and linguistic discrimination, and may want a freer life like their brethren in Azerbaijan. Iran is attempting to undermine secular Azerbaijan by paying off preachers in mosques, stirring up religious extremism in the countrys south, beaming in Shia Islamist propaganda broadcasts, and supporting radical organizations. The government in Baku is guarding against radical Shiite organizations that may try to gain political power. Common interests lead to expanding ties between Azerbaijan and the West. For Baku, this partnership also means increasing options to counter
Iranian influence in the region. The United States should lead the Wests efforts to boost cooperation with Baku, including counterterrorism, intelligence cooperation, and border security improvements. For starters, the Obama Administration should appoint a new, high-profile U.S. Ambassador to Baku after Matthew J. Bryzas recess appointment has expired. It is time to facilitate a mutually acceptable agreement over the NagornoKarabakh issue and engage Azerbaijan as a true strategic partner in the region rather than a supply outpost for Afghanistan or an alternative gas station beyond the Persian Gulf. Azerbaijan may have a significant role in how the conflict with Iran will develop, but more importantly, it is and should remain a long-term friend of the United States. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Recommended: Never-before-seen Marilyn Monroe photos up for auction msnbc.com

Submitted at 3/16/2012 7:53:13 AM
DAWN.com Recommended: Never-beforeseen Marilyn Monroe photos up for auction msnbc.com Now, Snyder's estate (Whitey died in 1994) has put up for auction many photos he took of Monroe in a professional and personal capacity over the years -many of which have never been seen. "It's spectacular," said Martin Nolan of Julien's Auction... Rare Marilyn Monroe photos hit auction block Chicago Sun-Times all 210 news articles
78
Politics-Right/
Releasing Oil from SPR Still Not a Good Idea

Nicolas Loris (The Foundry: Conservative Policy News Blog from The Heritage Foundation)
that exacerbates the market impact of global supply disruptions. There are more responsible Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:30:53 AM Reuters reported that President actions that the U.S. could take to Obama and Prime Minister David ensure that high oil prices do not C a m e r o n d i s c u s s e d j o i n t l y curtail long-term economic releasing oil from emergency growth. Foremost, increasing reserves. Although the White access to oil reserves in the House denied the report, releasing U . S . b o t h o n s h o r e a n d oil from our nations Strategic offshorewould help offset Petroleum Reserve is still not a rising demand, increase jobs, and good idea. stimulate the economy. The The Strategic Petroleum Reserve c o m m o n c o m p l a i n t i s t h a t ( S P R ) , m a n a g e d b y t h e opening access to domestic Department of Energy (DOE), resources takes too long (710) exists for moments of national years. While this is true, were crisis when there is a dramatic likely going to need that oil in the disruption in oil supplies. The next decade, so why not open up current high prices at the pump those areas now? Well be the are a national concern, but playing first in line to thank President politics with a national security Obama years from now when that asset is not the way to address the oil is helping to offset higher problem. The global oil market prices. can adjust to supply disruptions. In the nearer term, there are still Releasing reserves now simply things the Administration can do allows the Administration to besides releasing emergency avoid addressing the underlying reserves. As the Institute for problem with U.S. energy policy Energy Research reports,
Crude oil production on Federal and Indian lands decreased 13 percent from 739 million barrels in fiscal year 2010 to 646 million barrels in fiscal year 2011. Production of crude oil on Federal lands is dominated by offshore production, which fell by 17 percent in fiscal year 2011, mostly notably due to government actions taken following the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Ramping up production on federal lands where we do have access will bring more supply to offset higher global demand. Releasing reserves from the SPR wasnt a good idea last year, either, nor was it effective. Heritages David Kreutzer says, If there is going to be a one-shot injection into the system, price will drop during the injection and bounce back after it stops. The speculators simply kept that price dip/jump from being bigger than it otherwise would have been by buying as the oil was released and reselling when the release
stopped. And, just to do something is no legitimate reason to tap the SPR. As James Jay Carafano and I outlined earlier, there are very limited circumstances under which the White House should release the oil, and none of the conditions for a severe energy supply interruption are reasonably met at this time. Whether or not there is any truth to the rumor of a joint U.S.U.K. release of oil from the respective reserves, it doesnt matter. The idea is nothing more than a temporary political fixone that could make us worse off, should events deteriorate further in the Middle East. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Politics-Right/ Daily World/
79
Wiki Worries
James Carafano (The Foundry: Conservative Policy News Blog from The Heritage Foundation)
well with slow-moving, deliberate decision making. As the Cluetrain Manifesto declared back at the dawn of Web Submitted at 3/16/2012 10:32:17 AM Oops! In order to prevent leaks 2 . 0 , h y p e r l i n k s s u b v e r t over the trial of alleged Wiki- hierarchy. The systems and leaker Bradley Manning, e-mail processes of government and the f i l t e r i n g f o r g o v e r n m e n t regular means of doing day-to-day p r o s e c u t o r s i n a d v e r t e n t l y business just cannot keep up. screened out messages from the That is not to say that judge and Mannings defense b u r e a u c r a t i c h i e r a r c h i c a l team. Another reminder that Wiki s t r u c t u r e s a r e o u t d a t e d o r War, the competition online for unnecessary. They have their safe and secure communications, purposes. Government does not is like every other kind of need online social networks to competitiona game of action conduct routine activities like and counteraction where every cranking out Social Security move has consequences, good and checks or holding trials. There is bad. also brute power in government The challenges are particularly processes. They can wear down acute for hierarchical systems many problems in a war of (like the deliberations in a attrition. Still, they do not have military courtroom), because the the creative, flexible, adaptive Internet is a complex, non-linear power of social networks. A good environment that doesnt play g o v e r n m e n t s h o u l d w a n t
bothnetworks and hierarchies. The trick of good governance is to figure out how they fit together and then have the capacity to harmonize them. The government ought to able to figure out how to keep spam filtering from interfering with the deliberation of justice. On the other hand, it should forget the idea that spam filters, putting up firewalls, and changing passwords are going to be sufficient to be dominant in the world wide Wiki War. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Stepping into Streetdance sequel filled me with terror, says Conti, 70

(Evening Standard - News)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 10:58:47 AM
crew as The Surge. But with a storyline that crosses Europe as well as London, there are also The star of films such as Shirley new additions in the German Valentine said his scenes with dancer Falk Hentschel and French sexy salsa dancer Elisabetta di -Algerian Sofia Boutella. Carlo, as the character Bam Bam, Pasquini said: In Streetdance, were a major trial. Learning a we wanted to show the raft of dance for me is an extremely t a l e n t i n t h e U K . B u t i n tricky process because it doesnt Streetdance 2, we wanted to open c o m e n a t u r a l l y , s a i d t h e it up to the whole world. George Hampstead-based star. Sampson plays Eddie who offers The effort is remembering what to help Hentschels character, you do next. One can remember Ash, create an international dance words but remembering those crew for the world championships kinds of moves while youre in Paris. acting... Its okay with props, I But Eddie decides they need can deal with props. I can pour tea something extra and visits an and do all sorts of things whilst underground salsa club where he talking, but turning on the ball of discovers Manu and his niece Eva my left foot whilst saying my (Boutella). They evolve a whole lines was a whole new terror. new style, fusing streetdance with Conti, 70, is the surprise new Latin. addition to the cast of Streetdance The premiere is at the Cineworld 2 3D, the follow-up to the 2010 at The O2 on Monday with cast hit Streetdance. He plays salsa attending, and opens in cinemas club owner Manu and was chosen on March 30. by Max Giwa, co-director with This entry passed through the Dania Pasquini, because he had Full-Text RSS service if this is the whole look, style and your content and you're reading it swagger. on someone else's site, please read He joins a cast which again the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentincludes Britains Got Talent only/faq.php#publishers. Five winner George Sampson, 18, in a Filters recommends: Donate to much expanded role from the first Wikileaks. movie, and the Flawless dance
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90s Tech Icons: Where Are They Now?

Rob Lammle (Mashable!)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:43:08 AM
The 1990s comprised a fascinating, transitional time in technology more people were buying home computers, Windows 3.1 was released, and we all started logging on to this thing called the World Wide Web. Of course, none of that innovation would have been possible without the creative minds behind those advancements. To that end, lets catch up with some of the people that made 90s computers and Internet culture cool. 1. Solitaire for Windows Wes Cherry Its hard to believe now, but when many people got their first home computers in the 90s, theyd never even used a mouse before. To master this basic skill, they often turned to a little program written by Wes Cherry, called Solitaire. Cherry wrote Solitaire while he was an intern at Microsoft in 1989 as a way to learn the Windows programming environment, and because there just werent that many games available for Windows at the time. Unfortunately, despite Solitaires presence on millions of computers for the last few decades, a contract technicality meant he never received any royalties for the game. However, the internship paid off and he wound up writing code for Microsoft Excel for most of the 90s.
Today, Wes Cherry works with apples but not of the OS X variety. He and his family recently moved to Vashon Island, WA, where they are planting seven acres of apple trees as part of a new venture: Dragons Head Cider. He still does the occasional bit of programming in his free time, but mostly, Cherry works on
odd projects, like the restoration of a six-wheeled Swedish fire truck. He also makes the trek to Burning Man (see picture). Despite not getting paid for the popular game, Wes Cherry might be only person in history for whom Solitaire wasnt a total waste of time. 2. After Dark Screensaver Jack Eastman and
Patrick Beard Before the Internet spawned identity theft and viruses, home computer users only really worried about two things: power surges and screen burn-in. A good power strip solved the first problem, and flying toasters solved the second. The After Dark Screensaver was
released in 1989 by Berkeley Systems, a company that, at the time, wrote Mac software accessible for the vision impaired. The screensaver soon became a Mac staple and was later ported to Windows, where the signature flying toasters really took off. 90S page 81
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Later, Berkeley released the very popular trivia game series, You Dont Know Jack, which helped gain the attention of Sierra OnLine, the makers of classic games in the Space Quest and Kings Quest series. Sierra bought the company for just under $14 million. After Dark key figures Jack Eastman and Patrick Beard had support from Berkeley Systems co -founders, Wes Boyd and Joan Blades. After the Sierra On-Line buy-out, Eastman left to co-found CloudSource, a developer of website production software, and is now co-founder of Eightfold Way Consultants, which offers website management software with a special emphasis on people with disabilities. Patrick Beard left Berkeley for graduate school, had stints at Apple and Netscape, and has since returned to Apple as a senior engineer. After the 1997 buy-out, Wes Boyd and Joan Blades founded MoveOn.org, which has since become one of the most popular political sites on the web. Blades also founded MomsRising.com, and is an occasional contributor to The Huffington Post. 3. Youve Got Mail! Elwood Edwards Throughout the 90s, there were only three things you could be certain of: death, taxes and another AOL CD in your mailbox. You could also expect to hear
Youve Got Mail! about 500 times a day from the TV, the radio and your Great Aunt Margarets computer. That familiar phrase was first uttered in 1989 by Elwood Edwards, whose wife worked for Quantum Computer Services, which later became AOL. Quantum was looking for a friendly voice for their new email program, so Edwards sat in his living room with a cassette tape recorder and spoke those nowfamous words, as well as other AOL staples: Files done, Welcome and Goodbye. Edwards voice-over career didnt end there. Aside from a few gigs, mostly parodying the AOL catchphrase, hes been working as a graphics and film editor at WKYC-TV in Cleveland since 2002. 4. WebCrawler Brian Pinkerton Back in the early days of the World Wide Web, finding all of those X-Files message boards and under construction animated GIFs wasnt easy. Then came WebCrawler, the first full-text search engine. The service enabled keyword search among its 4,000 indexed webpages, and set a standard that is still the norm today. WebCrawler launched in April 1994 as a spare-time project of University of Washington student Brian Pinkerton. By November,
WebCrawler had served its 1 millionth search result (for nuclear weapons design and research). Just over a year later, WebCrawler was purchased by AOL, which later sold it to Excite, and was then acquired by InfoSpace in 2001. Believe it or not, its still around today as a meta-search engine, combining results from Google, Yahoo and Bing. Not surprisingly, Brian Pinkerton is still kicking around the web, too. After Excite closed shop in 2003, hes worked at a variety of companies as a search engine expert, including his latest gig as chief architect of search at A9, the company that helps you find all the cool stuff on Amazon.com. 5. Hotmail Jack Smith and Sabeer Bhatia For much of the 90s, the average persons email address was tied to his or her Internet service provider. You could change providers, but that meant youd lose the associated email address, so you were kind of stuck. But that all changed on July 4, 1996, when Jack Smith and Sabeer Bhatia launched the first webbased email service, HoTMaiL(the strange capitalization emphasized HTML). Hotmail offered users free email accounts, each with a whopping 2MB of storage space accessible
from anywhere and through any ISP. In exchange, users simply had to look at a few banner ads. With that kind of convenience, the service grew quickly, reaching 40 million users by 1998, when Microsoft knocked on the door with a check for $400 million. Since the acquisition, over 1 billion Hotmail accounts have been created, and there are still several hundred million active users today. After the buy-out, both Smith and Bhatia briefly worked for Microsoft before striking out on their own. Smith founded Akamba Corporation, which made accelerator cards for high-traffic web servers, and is currently the president of Proximex Corporation, a security system software company. Bhatia has been especially busy founding Arzoo.com, a travel site that services India, then InstaColl, whose Live-Documents.com is an MS Office alternative. And in Nov. 2011, he launched JaxtrSMS, a free, international text messaging service. Images courtesy of Flickr, monkeymanforever, Wikipedia, Wikimedia, Wikimedia More About: aol, features, hotmail, Tech
Twitter Users Show Support for George Clooney After Arrest

Samantha Murphy (Mashable!)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:22:23 AM
George Clooney Arrested Image via@Time Click here to view this gallery. Twitter users were quick to react to the news that actor George Clooney was arrested on Friday for protesting outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington, D.C., with many in support of his actions. Clooney participated in a protest against Sudans President Omar al -Bashir, who has reportedly prevented food and aid to help people in its struggling villages. Clooney wasnt the only one arrested for civil disobedience and refusing to leave the area he was taken away with his father Nick, Martin Luther King III and several members of Congress. The hashtag #FREEClooney immediately started to trend in the U.S., as well as the keyword George Clooney ARRESTED. ABC News has the video of Clooneys arrest, showing that he spoke to members of the press TWITTER page 82
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The View From the iPad Line [PICS]

Christine Erickson (Mashable!)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:08:02 AM
The View From the iPad Line Mashable reader Rafael Savino shows off the view from 2nd in line in Houston. Click here to view this gallery. After all the hype surrounding the long-awaited new iPad, many finally found the device in their
hands Friday morning and its likely most of them are asleep right now. People began to wait in line as early as Monday for Apples latest product. SEE ALSO: New iPad: Everything You Need to Know Mashables entertainment editor Christina Warren and community new iPad. The two captured manager Meghan Peters were pictures from Best Buy in Union among the crowds waiting for the
Square and then headed over to the new Apple store in Grand Central Station. We also asked Mashable readers to submit their pictures from the lines around the world using the hashtag #ipadline. Take a look at the lines in the gallery above. More About: apple, best buy, features, ipad, pics
TWITTER
while he was handcuffed and taken from the scene. Ive never gotten arrested before, Clooney said with a slight smirk to a reporter. When asked if he knew there was a possibility of this happening, he responded: No. More About: celebrities, Facebook, Movies, Twitter For more Entertainment coverage:
Follow Mashable Entertainment on Twitter Become a Fan on Facebook Subscribe to the Entertainment channel Download our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
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How Voter ID Laws Are Being Used to Disenfranchise Minorities and the Poor
Andrew Cohen (Politics : The Atlantic)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:10:00 AM
Conservatives say this kind of legislation is meant to curb voter fraud. But while evidence of fraud is scant, proof of the regulations' failings is not. Associated Press First, let's call it what it is. The burgeoning battles over state redistricting and voter ID laws -and the larger fight over a key part of the Voting Rights Act itself -- are all cynical expressions of the concerns many conservatives (of both parties) have about the future of the American electorate. The Republican lawmakers who are leading the fight for the restrictive legislation say they are doing so in the name of stopping election fraud -- and, really, who's in favor of election fraud? But the larger purpose and effect of the laws is to disenfranchise Hispanic voters, other minorities, and the poor -most of whom, let's also be clear, vote for Democrats. Jonathan Chait, in a smart recent New York magazine piece titled " 2012 or Never," offered some numbers supporting the theory. "Every year," Chait wrote, "the nonwhite proportion of the electorate grows by about half a percentage point -- meaning that
in every presidential election, the minority share of the vote increases by 2 percent, a huge amount in a closely divided country." This explains, for example, why Colorado, Nevada, and Arizona are turning purple instead of staying red. "By 2020," Chait writes, "nonwhite voters
should rise from a quarter of the 2008 electorate to one third. In 30 years, "nonwhites will outnumber whites." Which is why "whites," and especially white men, seem so determined this election cycle to make it harder for nonwhites to exercise their right to vote. The
news from the front this week is telling. On Wednesday, in Pennsylvania, GOP Governor Tom Corbett raced to sign a bill that requires photo identification of voters. The day before, in Texas, GOP Attorney General Greg Abbott amended the Lone Star State's complaint against the
federal government to seek to strike down the pre-clearance section of the Voting Rights Act, which had in turn been used by the Justice Department to block Texas' recent efforts at a stringent new voter-ID law. HOW page 84
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In Wisconsin, meanwhile, a state court judge on Monday blocked the state's new voter ID law, ruling that it unconstitutionally created a new (and lower) class of citizen-voter. Even the Human Rights Council of the United Nations has been dragged into the controversy, by the NAACP, to the great consternation of conservative bloggers and conspiracy theorists. It's all happening because lawmakers are dissatisfied with less onerous identification requirements -- like those just enacted in Virginia -which allow registered voters to produce a wide range of documentation to establish that they are who they say they are. Even though the Justice Department acted first in December in blocking a South Carolina voter-ID law, election law experts seem to agree that the Texas case is going to be the tip of the spear. Here's how the Justice Department responded when it reviewed Texas' new voter-ID law. Federal lawyers wrote: [W]e conclude that the total number of registered voters who lack a driver's licenseor personal identification card issued by DPS could range from 603,892 to 795,955. The disparity between the percentages of Hispanics and non-Hispanics who lack these forms of identification ranges from 46.5 to 120.0 percent. That is, according to the state's own data, a Hispanic registered voter is at least 46.5 percent, and potentially 120.0 percent, more
likely than a non-Hispanic registered voter to lack this identification. Even using the data most favorable to the state, Hispanics disproportionately lack either a driver's license or a personal identification card issued by DPS, and that disparity is statistically significant. There's more. As Brentin Mock wrote earlier this week at Colorlines, the practical reality of life in Texas makes it difficult, if not impossible, for people who want to comply with the new ID law to do so. Mock wrote: Texas has no driver's license offices in almost a third of the state's counties. Meanwhile, close to 15 percent of Hispanic Texans living in counties without driver's license offices don't have ID. A little less than a quarter of driver's license offices have extended hours, which would make it tough for many working voters to find a place and time to acquire the IDs. Despite this, the Texas legislature struck an amendment that would have reimbursed low-income voters for travel expenses when going to apply for a voter ID, and killed another that would have required offices to remain open until 7:00 p.m. or later on just one weekday, and four or more hours at least two weekends. Here's how Governor Rick Perry responded: Texas has a responsibility to ensure elections are fair, beyond reproach, and accurately reflect the will of voters. The DOJ has no valid reason for rejecting this important law, which requires
nothing more extensive than the type of photo identification necessary to receive a library card or board an airplane. Their denial is yet another example of the Obama Administration's continuing and pervasive federal overreach. Continuing and pervasive federal overreach. We've heard that refrain before, as constantly as a chorus in fact, since President Obama took office in 2009. Opponents of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, for example, have asserted that Congress overreached its authority under the Commerce Clause when it enacted. Now many of those same people say that the Justice Department is overreaching with its interpretation of the Voting Rights Act by seeking to void these state ID laws -- and that the federal law itself is a statutory overreach that violates the 10th Amendment right of states to determine their own election rules. Which brings us to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who alone among his colleagues has expressed interest in striking down section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. In 2009, in a case styled Northwest Austin v. Holder, Justice Thomas memorably proclaimed"victory" in the federal war against state laws designed to disenfranchise black voters. "The constitutionality of section 5 has always depended," he wrote, "on the proven existence of intentional discrimination so extensive that
elimination of it through case-bycase enforcement would be impossible ... 'There can be no remedy without a wrong.'" (citations omitted by me) And then Justice Thomas wrote this: The lack of sufficient evidence that the covered jurisdictions currently engage in the type of discrimination that underlay the enactment of 5 undermines any basis for retaining it. Punishment for long past sins is not a legitimate basis for imposing a forward-looking preventative measure that has already served its purpose. Admitting that a prophylactic law as broad as 5 is no longer constitutionally justified based on current evidence of discrimination is not a sign of defeat. It is an acknowledgment of victory. So if section 5 doesn't apply to "long past sins" against black voters, what about current sins against Hispanic voters? If the Voting Rights Act was originally designed to protect the rights of black Americans to vote, do we now need a new Voting Rights Act that would protect the rights of Hispanic Americans to vote? If so, why aren't federal lawmakers tripping over themselves to get on the good side of a voting bloc that is going to increase in power over the next generation? Oh, that's right. As Chait reminds us, we are not quite yet at the point at which the benefit of shilling for Hispanic votes outweighs the burden of angering white voters. It's unlikely new legislation is
needed -- we can still use the old reliable 1965 statute and apply it to new circumstances like the ones presented now. But does the discriminatory effect of state ID laws have to be so bad -"violence, terror and subterfuge" is how Justice Thomas put it -before the federal government may step in against a state? Or is it enough to establish that there is a national effort by conservative groups to press for these types of laws? (Ironic, isn't it, in a dispute conservatives argue is states' rights, that so many of these state voter ID laws would be conceived within the Beltway.) Several commentators over the past week or so have called the current generation of voter ID laws "a solution in search of a problem." But that doesn't give enough respect to the argument that we should as a nation strive to be as accurate as possible with our voting. If voting fraud is the third oldest profession, and if it is somehow rampant in all these states that have Republican leaders at their helm, then there should be reasonable ways to combat it. No responsible lawmaker ought to be against that. But no one seems able to find good evidence that a crisis is at hand. All Texas Attorney General Abbott could muster this week was this: Since 2002, the U.S. Department of Justice has prosecuted more than 100 defendants for election fraud. During the same period, HOW page 87
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Video: What if auto insurance mandates were just like ObamaCares?

Ed Morrissey (Hot Air Top Picks)
think, will be held constitutional. Ive addressed this so often in the past that Ill just reiterate my Submitted at 3/16/2012 10:00:26 AM rebuttal from December 2010, posted at 11:00 am on March 16, when Eric Holder and Kathleen 2012 by Ed Morrissey Sebelius tried making the same Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) argument: argued on C-SPAN last week that This is such a bad argument that t h e u p c o m i n g r e v i e w o f it staggers the imagination why ObamaCare by the Supreme Court the administration would still be wont overturn the law, because making it. Drivers carry required ObamaCares mandate is just like insurance to cover damage done those imposed by states on auto to others, not themselves, for one insurance. CNS News Eric thing. Its not applicable at all. Scheiner imagines the reverse: Furthermore, states impose the what would auto insurance look insurance requirement, not the like if it were handled like federal government, because ObamaCare? Only fans of Monty s t a t e s l i c e n s e d r i v e r s a n d Python could conceive of the vehicles. Driving is, after all, a result: voluntary activity conducted on During a March 8th interview on public property (roads); there is C-Span Rep. Jackie Speier (D- no requirement for licensing or C a l i f . ) w a s d i s c u s s i n g t h e insurance for those who drive upcoming Supreme Court date only on their private property. focused on Obamacare. People who dont drive on public When asked what would happen roads arent required to buy a if part, or all of the healthcare law license or the insurance. was overturned she said, I dont There are other problems with think that its going to be this analogy as well. Those who overturned. We have a long do have auto insurance only file history of requiring proof of auto claims when significant damage i n s u r a n c e a t t h e t i m e o f occurs. Auto insurance doesnt r e g i s t r a t i o n o f a v e h i c l e , pay for routine maintenance, like mandatory responsibility to carry oil changes, lube jobs, and tire auto insurance. So this individual r o t a t i o n . T h a t s w h y a u t o mandate for health insurance, I insurance is relatively affordable.
Also, auto insurance is priced to risk. If a driver lives in a highcrime area, then the premiums will rise to cover the risks associated with theft. If they drive badly (get moving violations and accidents), premiums will go up, or in some cases, the insurer will drop the driver. Policies are priced for risk according to age as well; the youngest and oldest drivers pay more due to their propensity for causing losses. Those who drive well and present a lower risk get rewarded with lower premiums. Right now, the federal government is preventing insurers in some instances from risk-pricing health insurance to impose government-approved fairness. That means we all pay more, removing the incentive to lower risk. Finally, lets use another related analogy: fire insurance. If we forced insurers to write comprehensive policies on burning homes, we would have no insurers left in the market. However, Holder and Sebelius want health insurers to do the same thing and need the mandate to force all of us to assume that risk through the higher premiums that subsidize it. And, by the way, the government
is doing exactly what Holder derogates in the essay forcing insurers to write policies after the accident/fire/illness. By the way, the Obama administration has now subtly shifted its defense in advance of the oral arguments at the Supreme Court: A ruling that the mandate is unconstitutional could make it nearly impossible to implement other parts of the healthcare lawwhich is exactly the point the Department of Justice is highlighting in its most recent briefs. Justice has aggressively defended the mandate as its own regulation of economic activity, but is now stepping up a separate argument emphasizing that the mandate is part of a broader regulatory scheme. The shift moves the focus of Justices argument from the Commerce Clause of the Constitution to the Necessary and Proper Clause, which says Congress can make laws that are necessary for carrying out its other powers[.] The briefs give a long history of failed efforts to expand healthcare coverage and say the new laws purpose was to reform the overall
system. The Hill thinks that Obama and his team have moved to this argument in order to get Antonin Scalia on board with the mandate. Good luck with that. If Scalia bought that argument, it would make the restrictions on Congressional power in the Constitution meaningless. The necessary and proper clause allows Congress to make law within the restrictions of the Constitution, and is just a common-sense statement that Congress has the power to write laws in areas where it has jurisdiction not that they can write any laws they please in order to solve all public questions. Thats almost as funny as Scheiners Mandate Clinic. Update: I know Speiers a Democrat, but for some reason I wrote (R-CA) after her name. Ive corrected it above. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
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Time Capsule: Barbara Bush's Controversial 1990 Speech at Wellesley

Conor Friedersdorf (Politics : The Atlantic)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:19:49 AM
The former First Lady's appearance drew protests from students who thought a career woman would've been more appropriate. Reuters With President Obama preparing to give a commencement address this spring at Barnard College, hoping in part to win over women voters, it's an opportune moment to revisit a bygone moment in the culture wars: the controversy that erupted when then-First Lady Barbara Bush was invited to keynote the 1990 graduation ceremony at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. "The conflict has centered on a protest by 150 Wellesley students who said they were 'outraged' by the selection of Mrs. Bush as the graduation speaker," The New York Times reported at the time. "They said she did not represent the type of career woman the college seeks to educate. Mrs. Bush dropped out of Smith College after two years to marry, and has been best known as a supportive wife and mother in the family of a politician." Said the petition prepared by protesting students: Wellesley teaches that we will be
rewarded on the basis of our own merit, not on that of a spouse. To honor Barbara Bush as a commencement speaker is to honor a woman who has gained recognition through the achievements of her husband, which contravenes what we have been taught over the last four years at Wellesley. Bush did in fact end up delivering the Wellesley commencement address that year. (An interesting footnote: Gorbachev's wife attended the
ceremony too, and also made remarks to the students.) Her speech is online. The following passage struck me as most interesting: Cherish your human connections: your relationships with family and friends. For several years, you've had impressed upon you the importance to your career of dedication and hard work, and, of course, that's true. But as important as your obligations as a doctor, lawyer or business leader will be, you are a human being
first and those human connections -- with spouses, with children, with friends -- are the most important investments you will ever make. At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a child, a friend, or a parent. Insofar as she put forth a socially conservative message, she did so in measured language from which Rick Santorum could learn:
Maybe we should adjust faster, maybe we should adjust slower. But whatever the era, whatever the times, one thing will never change: Fathers and mothers, if you have children -- they must come first. You must read to your children, hug your children, and you must love your children. Your success as a family ... our success as a society depends not on what happens in the White House, but on what happens inside your TIME page 88
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Hatch learns a lesson from Bennett
HOW
election fraud investigations by the Texas Attorney General's Office have resulted in 50 convictions. Those cases include a woman who submitted her dead mother's ballot, a paid operative Ed Morrissey (Hot Air Top through numerous rounds of (79%), and much better than Thad who cast two elderly voters' Picks) elimination. Hatch supporters Cochrans 68%. In 2010, Hatch ballots after transporting them to used their slight majority to got 100% again. The NTU, which Submitted at 3/16/2012 10:35:10 AM the polling place, a city council methodically eliminate pro- sticks more to fiscal issues, gives posted at 11:35 am on March 16, L i l j e n q u i s t c a n d i d a t e s , a s Hatch As and Bs for all but two m e m b e r w h o u n l a w f u l l y registered ineligible foreign 2012 by Ed Morrissey Liljenquist merely shook his head. y e a r s o u t o f t h e l a s t 2 0 . Tea Party activists in and out of Liljenquist even lost the last Normally, wed reward that kind nationals to vote in an election Utah have targeted six-term available delegate on a 69-68 of growth as an officeholder, and that was decided by a 19-vote margin, a Starr County defendant Senator Orrin Hatch for a primary vote. it raises questions about why who voted twice on Election Day, challenge, hoping to replicate M a t t L e w i s s a y s t h a t FreedomWorks and others went their 2010 success against his FreedomWorks, the Tea Party after Hatch rather than putting a Harris County man who used his former colleague Bob Bennett. group that organized against their time and effort into a less- d e c e a s e d f a t h e r ' s v o t e r Bennett got caught by surprise at Hatch, will wind up looking rather conservative Republican registration card to vote in an election, a worker who pled guilty the caucuses, but Hatch didnt foolish: perhaps by finding a good make that mistake, according to One year ago yesterday, I wrote a alternative to Olympia Snowe, for after attempting to vote for two of her family members, and a Brooks the Salt Lake Tribune: column titled: Orrin Hatch: 5 e x a m p l e o r u n s e a t i n g a County man who presented Ive been told that things went Reasons He Will Be Re-Elected. D e m o c r a t . fairly well. Actually Ive been The third reason on my list was Objecting to Hatch on the basis another voter's registration card told that things went really well, this:Hatchs team understands of his length of service might be and illegally cast that voter's ballot on Election Day. but who knows, Hatch told The the caucus process. valid, but politicians with that Tribune. Im a tough old bird It was so bad that his opponent, kind of survival rate dont get In 10 years, just 100 federal and nobody is going to push me Dan Liljenquist, even lost his own caught by surprise often. Hatch p r o s e c u t i o n s a n d 5 0 s t a t e convictions -- in a colossal state around without a fight. precinct. may not be out of the woods yet, Republican caucus-goers elected Liljenquist, of course, received but he just delivered a lesson in with a population of more than 25 4,000 state delegates, who will t h e s t r o n g b a c k i n g o f t h e retail politicking that grassroots million people. You can do the math. You can be stupid and vote gather April 21 to vote on the c o n s e r v a t i v e g r o u p activists need to learn well and in America. You can be drunk and partys nominee. FreedomWorks. They will likely quickly. First among those might Dan Liljenquist, a former state come out of this with egg on their be choosing targets wisely. senator and Hatchs leading rival face, at the hands of Utahans This entry passed through the among the 10 GOP challengers, err, Utahns. Full-Text RSS service if this is l o s t t h e b a t t l e i n h i s o w n Count me among the skeptics for your content and you're reading it Bountiful Precinct 12, with Hatch the anti-Hatch effort, too. Hatch on someone else's site, please read sweeping all three delegates got a 100% rating from the ACU the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentavailable there. in 2011 admittedly, however, only/faq.php#publishers. Five Slightly more than half of the after seeing Bennett get unseated Filters recommends: Donate to crowd supported Hatch and in 2010. In 2008, though, Hatch Wikileaks. rules required all delegates to got an 80%, better than Lamar eventually win by a majority Alexander (72%), John Cornyn
vote in America. You can be mentally insane and vote in America. You could vote in America for Snooki or Rod Blagojevich. Or, like tens of millions of your fellow citizens, you can choose not to vote at all. But if you don't have the means to get a driver's license, or if you cannot afford the time and money it takes to get certain other forms of government ID, you are out of luck? What a great country this is. This article available online at: http://www.theatlantic.com/ politics/archive/2012/03/howvoter-id-laws-are-being-used-todisenfranchise-minorities-and-thepoor/254572/ This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
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North Korea announces satellite launch

Ed Morrissey (Hot Air Top Picks)
TIME
Such a missile launch would pose a threat to regional security and would also be inconsistent Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:10:29 AM with North Koreas recent posted at 12:10 pm on March 16, undertaking to refrain from long2012 by Ed Morrissey range missile launches, she said Less than three weeks ago, North in a statement. Korea agreed to a moratorium on In other words meet the new long-range missile testing in boss, same as the old boss. This exchange for badly-needed food. is nothing more than the same bait Today, the Kim Jong-un regime -and-switch from the DPRK that announced that it would launch a occurred throughout Kim Jongs a t e l l i t e i n t o o r b i t , j u s t ils long reign as Supreme coincidentally on the very same Leader. They got the US to missile platform Pyongyang has negotiate an agreement, and now been testing for military use: want to threaten to renege in order The US is not amused: to get more concessions. The North Korea said on Friday it Kim regime would also like to will launch a long-range rocket split the international coalition carrying a working satellite to organized to force the North to m a r k t h e c e n t e n a r y o f abandon its nuclear weapons, but founder Kim Il-sungs birth next China so far isnt playing along: month, sparking condemnation China, the reclusive states only from the United States and others main ally, was more restrained in that it was in breach of a U.N. its response, but stressed on resolution. maintaining peace on the divided U.S. Secretary of State Hillary peninsula. Clinton said the announcement Protecting the peace and stability was highly provocative and called of the Korean Peninsula and upon Pyongyang to honor its North East Asia suits the joint o b l i g a t i o n s i n c l u d i n g U . N . interests of all parties and is the S e c u r i t y C o u n c i l consistent expectation of the resolutions banning ballistic international community. This missile launches. requires that all relevant parties
house. Those words turned out to be especially true for Bush, whose married life included not only stints as an ambassador's and president's wife but also raising take a constructive role, Foreign six children, one of whom would Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin serve as president and another as told reporters at a regular news Florida's governor. She now has briefing. 14 grandchildren, and is 86 years South Korea urge[d] old. Pyongyang to abandon its plans. This article available online at: Japan wont be amused either, http://www.theatlantic.com/ even if the previous test of the politics/archive/2012/03/timemissile failed rather spectacularly capsule-barbara-bushsin 2009. That too was billed as a satellite launch, which no one believed then and no one will believe now. At that time, Japan threatened to shoot down any missile that traversed its airspace, but the US left its missile-defense radar sitting on the dock of the bay in Hawaii, wasting time and opportunity. What are the odds that President Smart Power forgets to tow it out to the ocean for this satellite launch, if it happens? Id say high. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Conor Friedersdorf (Politics : The Atlantic)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 9:36:55 AM
controversial-1990-speech-atwellesley/254594/ This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Why Rush Limbaugh's New Twitter Account Is Cause for Celebration

His foray into the new medium helps to break through the bubble in which talk-radio hosts exist -and is only likely to further discredit him. Associated Press Rush Limbaugh started a Twitter account Thursday. As I write this WHY page 89
Technology/
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WHY
post, he has sent out two tweets, has more than 112,000 followers, and has sent traffic to items at Legal Insurrection and The Daily Caller. Critics of his work might be tempted to lament his emergence on another platform. Despite thinking he is deliberately offensive and frequently inaccurate or misleading in his assertions, I'm glad to see him in my TweetDeck, to which I've already added his musings. Why? One flaw of talk radio as a medium is the ease with which a host can exist in a bubble. He sits alone in a studio. The few audience members who reach him are filtered through a call screener. Another flaw is the difficulty with which the host is held accountable for the words he broadcasts. Until recently they just drifted off into the ether. The Sandra Fluke controversy wouldn't have played out as it did but for the easy access to audio and video clips of his remarks. On Twitter, Limbaugh himself will be interacting more outside
his radio bubble, and his words will be even more accessible to critique. As someone who thinks that his rhetoric is often indefensible, I think this medium is most likely to discredit him. It's possible that he'll try it out for a week or two, tire of the invective that comes his way, and let his account go dormant. But if he keeps at it -- if he commits to the medium -- he'll find over time that he lacks the discipline to refrain from tweeting messages that further discredit him. After excoriating Limbaugh and his enablers for his Fluke remarks -- words Limbaugh apologists would do well to remember that even he wouldn't defend -- I noted that calling on government to force him off the air was even more problematic, and suggested that rather than coercing ritual apologies out of pubic figures when they offend, we ought to shame them into debates. I am not someone who thinks that the best ideas always win when ideas are exchanged. But a lot of what Limbaugh says is really stupid.
Stripped of the ideological bubble that helps protect him, the medium at which he most excels, and the inhibitions that people seem to lack most on Twitter, I am convinced that Limbaugh's worst ideas will lose even more than is now the case. So welcome to Twitter, Rush. And don't let an evening drink or two stop you from telling us what you really think! This article available online at: http://www.theatlantic.com/ politics/archive/2012/03/why-rush -limbaughs-new-twitter-accountis-cause-for-celebration/254593/ This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.
Nokia applies for skin-friendly haptic material patent, hints at notification system
James Trew (Engadget)
response. Our guess is that this could be used as a notifier that Submitted at 3/16/2012 12:23:00 PM could be "painted" onto the skin, I f U S p a t e n t a p p l i c a t i o n and although there is mention of 20120062371 is to be correctly the word tattoo, we're hoping understood, Nokia has at least that's just part of the required thought about a topical haptic legalese. But alas, until it's notification system. The first granted, it's just a subject of our claim covers "An apparatus curious imaginations. Those comprising: a material attachable curious, can read more at the to skin, the material capable of source. detecting a magnetic field and [Thanks to everyone who sent this t r a n s f e r r i n g a p e r c e i v a b l e in] stimulus to the skin, wherein the Nokia applies for skin-friendly perceivable stimulus relates to the haptic material patent, hints at magnetic field." It then goes on to notification system originally c l a r i f y i t s r e l a t i o n t o appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 telecommunications messages and Mar 2012 12:23:00 EDT. Please communications indications. see our terms for use of feeds. Based on ferromagnetic powder, P e r m a l i n k U n w i r e d V i e w | the material would respond to USPTO| Email this| Comments magnetic fields and vibrate in
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Samsung NX20 WiFi gets unofficial reveal

Mat Smith (Engadget)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 12:17:00 PM
Dutch site Focus Media got its hand on Samsung's new mirrorless camera. While it's labeled up as pre-production model, that didn't stop it getting the once-over. A larger frame than the existing NX11 apparently makes space for a new 20.3-
megapixel APS-C sensor now capable of 1080p video. Other specification bump-ups include a new max ISO of 12800, a minimum shutter speed now reaching 1/6000 of a second and WiFi connectivity to boot. Pricing and release information remain non-existent, but once it gets acknowledgment from Samsung's higher powers, we'll get you the
source. Samsung NX20 WiFi gets unofficial reveal originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Mar 2012 12:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Sammy Hub| Focus Media (translated)| Email this| full technical rundown. Until then, Comments a full gallery is waiting at the
Google to end support for cookie-free logins on mobile devices

Terrence O'Brien (Engadget)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 12:57:00 PM
Chances are this won't affect you but, just in case, we figured we'd give you a little heads up -Google will soon end app support for mobile browsers that don't
support cookies. This primarily means that older phones, most of them in Japan as the web giant points out, will no longer be able to log in to Google services. Some, like search and Maps, which don't require you to log in, aging browsers, but things like will still be available through the
Calendar will not. The change will go into effect on May 1st, so, if you're still using a six-year-old flip phone to check your Gmail -it might be time for an upgrade. [Thanks, Num0] [Original cookie photo via Shutterstock.]
Google to end support for cookiefree log-ins on mobile devices originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Mar 2012 12:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| Google| Email this| Comments
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KXKW: How #SxSW Influenced Us

Lan Nguyen (The Official Klout Blog)
Submitted at 3/16/2012 11:00:38 AM
Tweet Klout went to SxSW this year to touch base with friends and peers in the tech community. We had a great time connecting with people who influence us and learning who influences them. We started off by inviting Klout family and friends to the #KloutKrib for a little afternoon delight. With good company all around, we feasted on Torchys Tacos and knocked back PBRs. We then filmed a little
documentary about influence. A big part of SxSW is saturating your brain sponge after all! We asked people a simple question: who influences you? Music and Videography by Mark Likosky With all the people connecting, ideas brewing and bottles popping, we knew that SxSWers would need to refuel. We brought in the big boys, Pecos Tacos, to the corner of W. 6th and Rio Grande to give out free tacos on Friday and Saturday nights! The taco truck, decked out in Klout colors, invited people to feed their influence.
To get a glimpse of our SxSW trip on the ground and on Twitter, check out our Pinterest and Storify. Thank you everyone who came to hang out with us at #KloutKrib! It was great catching up with old friends and connecting with new people. To all of SxSW, we hope you enjoyed the #kloutacos and see you next year! P h o t o Credits:@Likosky,@Katelin_Cru se,@AChenKPCB,@JennyDeVau ghn, and@foxycar

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