Tuesday, April 23, 2013

More Than a Pipe Dream

Texas Gulf Coast activist Hilton Kelley (hat, middle) and Bill McKibben lead an estimated 40,000 marchers for the Forward on Climate rally on Feb 17, 2013. Texas Gulf Coast activist Hilton Kelley (hat, middle) and Bill McKibben lead an estimated 40,000 marchers for the Forward on Climate rally on Feb 17, 2013.

Courtesy of Christine Irvine/Project Survival Media

It is perhaps fitting that Bill McKibben was among the first people arrested protesting climate change. After all, he had written The End of Nature, the first widely read book on the subject in 1989. At the time, though, he naively thought, as he often puts it now, that people would ?read my book, then change.? But after 10 years of complete governmental inaction, McKibben was ready to try a different tack. And so, on April 21, 2000?a day before Earth Day?he joined a small group of campaign-finance activists in the Capitol Rotunda, where they were arrested with a banner that read, ?Stop campaign contributions from global warmers.?

?That didn't accomplish much,? he said, thinking back on it now. ?It was maybe premature.?

McKibben should know. He has spent the better part of the next decade building a climate movement that in February showed up 50,000 strong on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Days earlier he had been arrested again, his third and most recent such offense?but this time he was joined by representatives of the nation's largest environmental groups. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of the Natural Resources Defense Council was there, as were the heads of Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. But of particular significance was the presence of Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune?who broke with the organization's 120-year ban on civil disobedience by cuffing himself to the White House gate.

The occasion was not to stop something as extensive as campaign contributions but rather a single pipeline?the Keystone XL?which, if granted a special presidential permit, would carry dirty oil from Canada's tar sands region in Northern Alberta to the Texas Gulf Coast. McKibben and a few organizers, who now work for his climate group 350.org, had made this pipeline a national issue in August 2011 when they held two weeks of sit-ins in front of the White House. This protest, which led to 1,253 arrests, was the largest organized act of civil disobedience in the United States in decades. [Full disclosure: I was one of those arrested.]

Still, many consider the construction of the Keystone pipeline inevitable?after all, even 54 percent of Democrats support it. It's for this reason that critics such as New York Times columnist Joe Nocera have called the protests ?boneheaded.? They believe environmental action could be better spent on some other goal, like perhaps encouraging people to reduce their carbon footprint.

But these critics are missing something vital about the anti-Keystone movement: It was never about just a pipeline. McKibben and a handful of others had another, less talked about goal?to remake the environmental movement into something far more active, creative, and formidable for years to come. The gap that once existed between mainstream environmental groups and grass-roots activists has now largely dissolved, resulting in widespread action that has not been seen in the United States for decades?perhaps even since the first Earth Day in April 1970.

On that day, mainstream environmental groups with roots going back to the conservation movement of the early 20th century united with grass-roots activists for a day of teach-ins, influenced by the burgeoning student anti-war movement. Amid the thousands of demonstrations that took place across the nation, there was at least one major act of civil disobedience, in which 15 people were arrested for holding a mock funeral inside Boston?s Logan Airport. Interestingly enough, it was a sort of proto-climate protest against a supersonic plane and its accompanying release of water vapor?a major greenhouse gas.

After that Earth Day, however, the two strands of environmentalism largely went their separate ways, with mainstream groups preferring a more professional approach that took them to courtrooms, shareholder meetings, and the halls of Congress rather than street demonstrations. And for a time, that approach succeeded wildly, earning some of the most important and long-standing environmental gains in this country's history. But according to a 2012 report by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, such efforts have yielded no "significant policy changes at the federal level in the United States since the 1980s." For perhaps no issue is that fact more clear than with climate change.

?We knew enough way back then to act,? says James Gustave Speth, who has advised two presidents on the environment and co-founded the Natural Resources Defense Council in 1970. ?When I was chair of President Carter's Council on Environmental Policy, we issued several reports calling for climate action. So much for my effectiveness.?

Speth has since turned to activism and was among the first people arrested during the two weeks of sit-ins outside the White House.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=8a2d0e17667e6e04eccfb08abf14d1a5

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Xbox SmartGlass now available on Amazon's Kindle Fire tablets

Xbox SmartGlass now available on Amazon's Kindle Fire tablets

Amazon's just updated its Appstore today with a much welcome offering for avid gamers: Xbox SmartGlass. Microsoft's app-based second screen solution has been available on iOS and Android since late last fall, but despite sharing a kernel with Google's OS, hadn't been made dispensable to Kindle Fire / Fire HD owners until now. The app's been configured to scale natively on Amazon's refreshed tablet line, letting users navigate their Xbox 360 remotely, push and pull streaming content, as well as access achievements, messaging and Xbox Music. So if it's the living room of the future you're after, you might want to hit up the source and make that free download your own.

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Gay marriage opponents stage last-ditch protest in Paris

By Pauline Mevel

PARIS (Reuters) - Thousands of gay marriage opponents waving pink and blue flags marched through Paris on Sunday in a last-ditch protest before a law allowing same-sex union and adoption is passed next week.

Chanting "We don't want your law, Hollande!", some 50,000 protesters massed behind a banner reading: "All born of a Mum and a Dad" and said it was undemocratic to bring about such a fundamental social change without holding a referendum.

Hastily organized after the law's passage was sped up to circumvent a big rally set for late April, Sunday's march capped months of protests by a dogged opposition movement that has sullied President Francois Hollande's flagship social reform.

"We warned the president back in November that we would not give up and that we would do everything to stop this law being passed, or to get it repealed if it is adopted," one of the protest organizers, Alberic Dumon, told Reuters.

Attended largely by families with children and old people, it was much more peaceful than a series of agitated demonstrations outside parliament this month that saw hard-right youths pelt police with stones and bottles and damage cars.

The piggy-backing by hard-right youths of a movement led by conservatives and Catholics has fed other ugly scenes including the public stalking of government ministers and a spate of homophobic attacks around the country.

As far back as January, the "anti" movement came under fire when some 350,000 protesters massed under the Eiffel Tower tore up the lawns beneath the monument.

Hollande, who is grappling with the lowest popularity ratings of any recent French president as unemployment surges above 10 percent, hoped to win some glory from passing a reform already in place in a dozen other countries.

Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, one of very few French public officials who is openly gay, headed a rival march in favor of same-sex marriage and said that it was too late for anything to derail the law, set for a final parliament vote on Tuesday.

(Additional reporting by Yves Clarisse; Writing by Catherine Bremer; Editing by Stephen Powell)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gay-marriage-opponents-stage-last-ditch-protest-paris-154907583.html

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Monday, April 22, 2013

CrunchWeek: Facebook's Weird Home Commercial; Our Experiences With Google Glass, And Fibermania

glasscloseupThe weekend is here, and so is another episode of CrunchWeek, the TechCrunch TV show where a few of us writers sit down for some real talk about the stories that dominated the tech world over the past seven days. This week, Ryan Lawler, Greg Kumparak and I talked about Facebook Home's weird new commercial featuring a screaming goat, our experiences with Google Glass (which was released to developers this week) and the expansion of Google Fiber to Austin, TX and Provo, UT.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/mPEL9_g7T-k/

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Paraguayans vote for president; Colorado favored

ASUNCION, Paraguay (AP) ? Paraguayans are voting for president, congress and governors in elections they hope will end the country's isolation from regional groups that challenged last year's impeachment of President Fernando Lugo as a threat to the democracies of neighboring countries.

Most pre-election polls are giving the lead in Sunday's contest to wealthy businessman Horacio Cartes of the Colorado Party. Leading challenger Efrain Alegre of the Radical Liberals says he might not accept the results until votes are certified in May.

The initial count is to be announced Sunday night by Paraguay's Supreme Electoral Court.

Nobel Peace Prize Winner laureate Oscar Arias is leading an observer mission from the Organization of American States. He says he has complete confidence in the results that will be released by the electoral court.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/paraguayans-vote-president-colorado-favored-172650363.html

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Sunday, April 21, 2013

CBS Twitter feeds are compromised

This screen grab shows a tweet from the compromised "60 Minutes" Twitter account, Saturday, April 20, 2013. The Twitter accounts for two national CBS programs have been compromised and suspended. A CBS News spokeswoman confirms Saturday that tweets sent earlier in the afternoon from the "60 Minutes" and "48 Hours" Twitter handles saying their accounts were compromised are correct. (AP Photo)

This screen grab shows a tweet from the compromised "60 Minutes" Twitter account, Saturday, April 20, 2013. The Twitter accounts for two national CBS programs have been compromised and suspended. A CBS News spokeswoman confirms Saturday that tweets sent earlier in the afternoon from the "60 Minutes" and "48 Hours" Twitter handles saying their accounts were compromised are correct. (AP Photo)

(AP) ? The Twitter accounts for two national CBS programs have been compromised and suspended.

A CBS News spokeswoman confirms Saturday that tweets sent earlier in the afternoon from the "60 Minutes" and "48 Hours" Twitter handles saying their accounts were compromised are correct.

The tweets said the network is working with Twitter to investigate. On Saturday night both accounts were suspended and inaccessible.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The CBS spokeswoman didn't comment further.

Earlier in the day tweets coming from the 60 Minutes account seemed farfetched, including one that claimed the US government was "hiding the real culprit of the Boston bombing."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-04-21-CBS-Twitter%20Accounts%20Suspended/id-ae7adc59283d43f1beb1fc86b1cd694b

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Friday, April 19, 2013

Community gardens may produce more than vegetables

Apr. 18, 2013 ? People who participate in community gardening have a significantly lower body mass index -- as well as lower odds of being overweight or obese -- than do their non-gardening neighbors. Researchers at the University of Utah reported these and other findings in the American Journal of Public Health published online today.

"It has been shown previously that community gardens can provide a variety of social and nutritional benefits to neighborhoods," says Cathleen Zick, lead author of the study and professor of family and consumer studies at the University of Utah. "But until now, we did not have data to show a measurable health benefit for those who use the gardens."

To gauge a health benefit, researchers used body mass index, or BMI, a calculation based on a person's height and weight and which is widely used to screen for weight categories that may lead to health problems. In general, a normal BMI ranges from 18.5 to 24.9; a smaller number is better than a larger one.

Results showed that women community gardeners had an average BMI 1.84 lower than their neighbors, which translates to an 11 pound weight difference for a woman 5 feet 5 inches tall. For men, the BMI was lower by 2.36 for gardeners -- a difference of 16 pounds for a man 5 feet 10 inches tall -- compared to the neighborhood cohort. Gardeners were also less likely to be overweight or obese; 46 percent less for women gardeners, and 62 percent less for men gardeners.

Researchers also looked at the BMIs of individuals related to the gardeners, namely siblings and spouses.

When compared to same sex siblings, a similar advantage to unrelated neighbors was found. Women in the community gardening group had a BMI 1.88 lower than their sisters; for men, the difference was 1.33 lower for the gardeners compared to their brothers. Both differences were statistically significant.

For spouses of married gardeners, there was no difference in BMI or odds of being overweight or obese. That finding was not surprising, as researchers had expected that spouses would benefit from eating food produced in the garden, and perhaps from helping out with the gardening activities.

"These data are intriguing, although they were drawn from participants in a single community gardening organization in Salt Lake City and may not apply broadly until more research is done," Zick notes. "However, as the percentage of Americans living in urban areas continues to grow, this initial study validates the idea that community gardens are a valuable neighborhood asset that can promote healthier living. That could be of interest to urban planners, public health officials and others focused on designing new neighborhoods and revitalizing old ones."

How the study was conducted

The study used unique administrative data to examine -- for the first time -- the relationship between community gardening and a health outcome. Researchers compared community gardeners' BMIs, and odds of being overweight or obese, with three control groups.

One group included unrelated people from the same geographic neighborhood. This group would share similar physical environments, like walkability and proximity to food shops and stores, as well as economic status.

The second group was same sex siblings, who would be expected to share genetic predispositions for weight and family influences on diet and exercise.

The third group was married spouses of the gardeners, because they would likely share lifestyle and food choices, including food grown in the community garden.

Gardeners were drawn from a pool of individuals active with Wasatch Community Gardens (WCG), a 20-year old non-profit organization located in Salt Lake City. WCG provides a network of urban gardens located throughout the local area, as well as classes, programs and events focused on gardening and eating locally. After gaining assurance from the gardeners that they had no concerns regarding WCG's involvement with the study, WCG staff provided names and addresses of 423 adults who had gardened on one of the community plots for at least one year between 1995 and 2010.

Data for neighbors, siblings and spouses were drawn from administrative records, using the Utah Population Database, a multi-faceted data resource used by health researchers. It includes a large set of Utah family histories, and links to publicly-available historical birth, marriage, and driver's license records.

A total of 375 gardeners were linked to BMI information in the database; once linked, driver's license records were used to build a sample of neighbors -- individuals matched for age, gender and residential location, and Utah marriage, divorce and birth records to identify siblings and spouses. In the end, data on 198 gardeners and 67 spouses were included in the analyses, and height and weight information came from driver's license records after they began community gardening.

"We know obesity is costly," Zick concludes. "This study begins to shed light on the costs and benefits of the choices families make about eating and physical activity. Future research with controlled, randomized field studies across a range of communities are needed to further advance our understanding of the role gardening can play in healthy lives."

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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/0002PAHkWiU/130418162135.htm

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Business Management Daily to celebrate Administrative ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 18, 2013

Contact: Elizabeth Hall, Senior Web Editor?
(800) 543-2055? (703) 905-8000
editor@BusinessManagementDaily.com?

Business Management Daily to Celebrate Administrative Professionals Week With Giveaways

Falls Church, Va. ? Administrative professionals are essential to the success of many organizations. They keep companies operating smoothly by taking on a variety of diverse responsibilities, including maintaining records, delivering correspondence and answering phones. Administrative Professionals Week, April 22-26, celebrates this hard work and dedication that admins put into their jobs.

During this week, Business Management Daily will offer giveaways to recognize the efforts of admins at work.

?Congratulations on being an administrative professional!? says Carolyn Frazier, the editor of Business Management Daily?s Administrative Professional Today newsletter. ?What other profession gives individuals the opportunity to be involved in just about every area of an organization? To help celebrate this great career choice and Administrative Professionals Week we?re offering free resources to help you in your job.?

Business Management Daily is offering the following FREE resources during Administrative Professionals Week:

  • Monday, April 22: Download the Standard Operating Procedure manual for admins.
  • Tuesday, April 23: Take the survey for administrative professionals. The three admins who give the best answers will each win a $25 American Express gift card.
  • Wednesday, April 24: A surprise gift is in store! Keep an eye on your email this morning to find out what it is.
  • Thursday, April 25: Take the Are you America's Next Top Admin? quiz and claim your prize (everyone gets one).
  • Friday, April 26: The survey winners will be announced. Check Business Management Daily?s LinkedIn group, Facebook Page or Twitter account to find out who gave the best answers.

In order to receive emails with directions on how to obtain these FREE resources during Administrative Professionals Week, visit our Administrative Professionals Week sign-up page.

?This is your week to shine, and we?re excited to share it with you,? says Frazier. ?This is a great time to reflect on how much the job has changed and how much you have grown with it. Administrative Professional Today is your monthly source to help you on that journey.?

Business Management Daily?provides plain-English, actionable news, information and tips to busy professionals in the areas of human resources,?leadership, management, administrative skills, office technology, employment law, tax and more. Subscribe to our?free e-newsletters?and download our?free reports. ?Like? us on Facebook?and follow us on?Google+?and Twitter at?@BizDaily.

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Like what you've read? ...Republish it and share great business tips!

Attention: Readers, Publishers, Editors, Bloggers, Media, Webmasters and more...

We believe great content should be read and passed around. After all, knowledge IS power. And good business can become great with the right information at their fingertips. If you'd like to share any of the insightful articles on BusinessManagementDaily.com, you may republish or syndicate it without charge.

The only thing we ask is that you keep the article exactly as it was written and formatted. You also need to include an attribution statement and link to the article.

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How the Dow Jones industrial average did Thursday

Disappointing earnings from a range of companies pushed the stock market lower on Thursday, giving major indexes their third loss this week.

The stock prices of Morgan Stanley, UnitedHealth Group and others sank after they turned in weaker quarterly results. Prices of commodities held steady following a wild couple of days.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 81.45, or 0.6 percent, to close at 14,537.14.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 10.40 points, or 0.7 percent, to 1,541.61.

The Nasdaq composite fell 38.31 points, or 1.2 percent, to 3,166.36.

For the week:

The Dow is down 327.92 points, or 2.2 percent.

The S&P 500 is down 47.24 points, or 2.9 percent.

The Nasdaq is down 128.59 points, or 3.9 percent.

For the year:

The Dow is up 1,433.00 points, or 10.9 percent.

The S&P 500 is up 115.42 points, or 8.1 percent.

The Nasdaq is up 146.85 points, or 4.9 percent.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dow-jones-industrial-average-did-215644889.html

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So, We Still (Balloon Juice)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

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Thursday, April 18, 2013

Catholic religious order abuse files may go public

Apr 15 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $4,139,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $3,137,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,442,389 4. Adam Scott (Australia) $2,100,469 5. Steve Stricker $1,935,340 6. Phil Mickelson $1,764,680 7. Dustin Johnson $1,748,907 8. Jason Day $1,659,565 9. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 10. Keegan Bradley $1,430,347 11. Charles Howell III $1,393,806 12. John Merrick $1,375,757 13. Russell Henley $1,331,434 14. Michael Thompson $1,310,709 15. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 16. Bill Haas $1,271,553 17. Billy Horschel $1,254,224 18. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/catholic-religious-order-abuse-files-may-public-073137979.html

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Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Quantcast Passes $100M Run-Rate, Lands Senior Hires As Ads Business Booms

feldman-konrad-quantcast_largeOnline display advertising has been a murky business -- who is actually viewing all those ads, and do those ads make a difference to them? Quantcast has been quietly trying to solve this problem since 2006, and now it's starting to break out. I'm hearing from a reliable industry source that it has been EBITDA-profitable for a couple years, and reached a $100 million revenue run-rate six months ago. That number, I'm told, should go significantly above that by the end of 2013.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/DsmXB7dm3LA/

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Barney Frank on the Boston bombing: Let this serve as a reminder to you, smaller government tax cut zealots! (Michellemalkin)

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Why Rand Paul could be key player on immigration

Sen. Rand Paul hopes to attract conservatives to immigration reform by requiring annual certification of border security for five years before any undocumented immigrants could be granted legal status.

By David Grant,?Staff writer / April 17, 2013

Sen. Rand Paul (R) of Kentucky talks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. Paul would tie immigration reform to annual reports documenting border security.

Charles Dharapak/AP

Enlarge

Sen. Rand Paul (R) of Kentucky hasn?t been a major part of the immigration reform debate to this point.

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But as the Senate begins to put a bipartisan immigration reform bill through the legislative process, he may be the chairman of what could be called the Getting to Yes Caucus: deeply conservative lawmakers who want to tweak the bill in order to bring more conservative support, not battering the measure with poison pill amendments in an effort to kill it.

?I am for immigration reform, I am for finding a place for those who are in our country, whether documented or undocumented, finding a place for them if they want to work,? said Senator Paul at a breakfast sponsored by The Christian Science Monitor on Wednesday.

Paul acknowledged there are some in his party who simply won?t be won over. One of those deeply opposed to the current immigration reform effort made his stance clear just hours after Paul spoke.

?As we explore [the bill?s] many flaws and loopholes in the coming days, I am confident the American public will firmly reject it,? said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R) of Alabama in a statement.

Despite intractable opposition from those like Senator Sessions, Paul believes a convincing package of border security proposals could bring a larger group of Republican lawmakers into voting for a comprehensive fix to the immigration system.

For his part, Paul said he would offer his ?trust but verify? amendment to the current immigration bill. Under Paul?s vision, Congress would vote to certify that the border was secure every year for five years before any of the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in the country received permanent legal status (also known as a green card).

The current immigration reform law, offered Wednesday by the bipartisan ?Gang of Eight,? requires the Department of Homeland Security to achieve a 90 percent effectiveness rate at apprehending or deterring potential border crossers over the first five years after the bill is enacted. If that benchmark is not met, a slew of other requirements come into play over the next five years.

None of those currently in the country illegally are eligible for permanent residence until both the border security requirements are met and a decade has elapsed.

In addition, Paul noted that helping shape the Senate bill to be more palatable to the GOP-controlled House could help immigration reform?s prospects.

To that end, Paul said that breaking the comprehensive Senate bill introduced Wednesday into smaller pieces could help ? a line of argument offered by key House Republicans, including Rep. Raul Labrador (R) of Idaho and Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R) of Virginia, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee overseeing immigration reform legislation.

?We make it a lot harder to find a deal when it has a thousand moving parts,? Paul said. ?It?s why the public is upset with us. They?re like ?Why don?t we ever pass anything, why don?t we get along?? It?s because all the stuff we agree on we won?t pass, because we say that?s going to be the sweetener for the particular deal that we?re never able to get.?

But both of those changes would put Paul at loggerheads with the bipartisan group of eight senators who crafted the more than 800-page immigration compromise in the first place.

In moving the bill rightward without dooming it, then, Paul faces careful tradeoffs on a host of issues like how much to trust the executive branch to carry out its immigration enforcement duties.

Paul cited his distaste for using reports from the executive branch as a condition for other activity, citing a report on Egyptian democracy that is both a prerequisite for US aid and that is summarily ignored upon publication.

?I don?t think there?s enough, really, seriousness of the administration on these reports,? Paul said.

Would the fact that the Senate?s immigration plan relies heavily on just such administrative reports to jump start its border security program be a problem, then?

?Maybe,? Paul said. ?I?m not completely opposed to that.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/N6QqAssV3DY/Why-Rand-Paul-could-be-key-player-on-immigration

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A new web address, and perhaps slightly modified content?

Given that the much shorter http://wjt.com is owned by the WJT Buddhist Ministries (who they?), and even if they were willing to sell the price would be way outside the What Japan Thinks annual budget, I instead decided to invest $4 in the even shorter http://wjt.pw ? the pw is supposed to be for Professional Web, but Pretty Worthless would be just as accurate, I suspect. As you may have noticed already, for now it just redirects back here, but I might do something more with it later. If you want your own vanity .pw domain, I can recommend NameCheap most heartily, and not just because the link below contains an affiliate code!

Namecheap.com - Cheap domain name registration, renewal and transfers - Free SSL Certificates - Web Hosting

The other matter mentioned in the title, slightly modified content, is to not just stick exclusively to the pie chart/demographics/tables format but do something a bit more chatty. I remember a few years back trying this out, but I chose to do each survey twice, once with the usual format, and once in a more textual format, which seemed more effort than it was worth. Since then, however, a number of the companies I use for surveys have gone bust, merged, or hidden their contents behind member-only walls, and even good old goo Research reports in japan.internet.com now only average one instead of three graphs per article. Furthermore, I have recently discovered a source that collects together a lot of survey-related press release and reports on them in a shorter, more chatty form. A good number of these press releases come from perhaps slightly unreliable sources, but what they lack in rigorousness of method they perhaps make up for in number of participants. For example, web sites with straw polls beside news columns.

Hmm, the above is probably rather unclear; let me post some examples this week, and let me know what you think.

Read more on: url

Permalink

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WhatJapanThinks/~3/JJ6OJXMIgfE/

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Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Ronda Rousey advises future ?The Ultimate Fighter? hopefuls not to make a $100,000 mistake

Ronda Rousey has already made history as the first woman to sign with the UFC, and its first female champion. Now, she and Cat Zingano will make history as the first female coaches of "The Ultimate Fighter."

She has appeared on TUF as a guest coach twice, and was comfortable acting as a coach. The upcoming season will feature male and female bantamweights. Though Rousey has shown that she is comfortable coaching both men and women, it's the female fighters she has special advice for.

Since men and women will be living and training together, there is a chance fighters will hook up. However, Rousey will warn the women against focusing on anything but their fights.

"If they're the chick that's screwing around in the house, for the rest of their career they'll be known as the chick that was screwing around in that house. Sponsors are going to be looking at that, everybody's going to be looking at that. So if you think it's worth $100,000, that lay, then go for it. But I'm just going to remind them that there's going to be a lot of very permanent consequences to how they carry themselves in house."

Rousey is right that a reputation earned on TUF sticks with fighters well past the airing of the show. Rashad Evans was booed by crowds for years after TUF. Josh Koscheck's bad boy reputation was started on the show. When you hear the names War Machine or Junie Browning, do you think of their fighting skills or their antics on the show?

But it's not just about a reputation for that one fighter. It's how female fighters are viewed. She says it's important for the women to show they're professionals and serious about the fight game.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ronda-rousey-advises-future-ultimate-fighter-hopefuls-not-161614062--mma.html

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EA Kills SimCity Social And Several Other ... - Business Insider

On June 14, Electronic Arts and Maxis will be shutting down several Facebook games, EA announced in a blog post on its web site.

EA says interest in the games has dropped dramatically.

This news follows the well-documented troubles of Facebook game maker, Zynga.

So, this could mean that? people just aren't spending as much time playing games on Facebook anymore, as EA hints in its announcement. EA references "other recent shutdowns of social games." It is perhaps referring to Zynga's decision to kill off PetVille and several other titles late last year.

Facebook says it's still a major hub for game players. Last month, Facebook offered a bunch of stats, Chris Welch at The Verge reported: over 250 million users playing via the Facebook.com website every month; about 20 percent of daily visitors playing games; more than 100 game makers that generated over $1 million last year. Overall, games generated a total of $2 billion in payouts to developers last year, too, Facebook said.

So, this news could also be part of EA's attempt overhaul itself. EA was just named among the Consumerist's list of "worst companies in America" for angering players by requiring that they connect to the Internet to play SimCity 5. Last month, Electronics Arts CEO John Riccitiello stepped down from his post after six years.

Here's EA's full announcement:

Today we are informing players of the difficult decision to retire some of our Facebook games: The Sims Social, SimCity Social and Pet Society.

After millions of people initially logged in to play these games, the number of players and amount of activity has fallen off. For people who have seen other recent shutdowns of social games, perhaps this is not surprising.

EA will continue to deliver popular titles for Facebook, most notably games from PopCap, including Bejeweled Blitz, Solitaire Blitz and the recently-announced Plants vs. Zombies Adventures.

For players who have enjoyed our games, we will be making a special offer to introduce you to a PopCap game. You?re a valued fan and we want to make sure you get a smooth transition to PopCap. More details about that offer will appear in-game soon.

Players with questions about the shutdowns can find FAQs linked here: The Sims Social, SimCity Social and Pet Society. The titles will go offline on June 14, 2013.

On behalf of the teams who developed these games, thank you for playing.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/ea-kills-simcity-social-and-several-other-facebook-games-2013-4

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Jenna Bush Hager gives birth to 1st child, Mila

(AP) ? Former President George W. Bush has become a grandfather.

His twin daughter Jenna Bush Hager (HAY'-gur) gave birth to her first child, a daughter, on Saturday night in New York City.

The former president announced the birth in a statement Sunday. The baby's name is Margaret Laura "Mila" (MEE'-luh) Hager.

Jenna Bush Hager is a contributing correspondent for the "Today" show. She's married to Henry Hager.

The former president says the baby was named for her grandmothers.

He says he and former first lady Laura Bush met their "beautiful granddaughter today," adding, "Jenna and Mila are healthy. And our family is elated."

This is a big month for the family. The George W. Bush Presidential Center will be dedicated April 25 on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-04-14-People-Jenna%20Bush/id-ecd3cbdfd9c5420dbf3c1627c6752d92

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Monday, April 15, 2013

Rebel Wilson's MTV Movie Awards Gig Approaches As Actress Readies Show

CULVER CITY, Calif. ? Rebel Wilson sings, dances and summons laughs ? and that's just in the opening moments of this weekend's MTV Movie Awards.

The Australian actress is hosting the show, and she's set to start the ceremony by singing solo.

Wilson and her co-stars from "Pitch Perfect" rehearsed a multi-genre opening medley Friday that features Wilson spoofing last year's films and spinning nunchucks.

Brittany Snow, Anna Camp and Skylar Astin, along with a troupe of gymnastic dancers, joined the first-time host at Sony Pictures Studios to run through four songs not featured in the film. MTV insists on keeping the titles a surprise until Sunday's show.

When the group finished rehearsing, Wilson thrust her fist toward the sky and shouted, "`Pitch Perfect' two!"

A sequel to the musical comedy has not been announced.

Wilson will be joined at the MTV Movie Awards by presenters such as Brad Pitt, Melissa McCarthy, Seth Rogen and Kerry Washington and performers including Selena Gomez. Jamie Foxx, Will Ferrell and Emma Watson will receive special awards at the ceremony, which will be broadcast live Sunday on MTV from 9-11 p.m. EDT.

___

Follow AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen on Twitter at . http://www.twitter.com/APSandy

___

Online:

http://www.mtv.com/ontv/movieawards/2013/

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/13/rebel-wilson-mtv-movie-awards_n_3076135.html

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Sunday, April 14, 2013

US, China agree to work together on cybersecurity

China and the United States will set up a working group on cybersecurity, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Saturday, as the two sides moved to ease months of tensions and mutual accusations of hacking and Internet theft.

Speaking to reporters in Beijing during a visit to China, Kerry said the United States and China had agreed on the need to speed up action on cybersecurity, an area that Washington says is its top national security concern.

Cybersecurity, Kerry said "affects the financial sector, banks, financial transactions, every aspect of nations in modern times are affected by the use of cyber networking and obviously all of us ? every nation ? has an interest in protecting its people, protecting its rights, protecting its infrastructure".

Earlier, China's official Xinhua news agency quoted Foreign Minister Wang Yi as telling Kerry in their meeting that China and the United States should make joint efforts to safeguard cyberspace.

Cyberspace should be an area where the two countries can increase mutual trust and cooperation, Wang told Kerry, according to Xinhua.

Beijing and Washington have traded accusations in recent months of massive cyber intrusions. The United States says hacking attacks emanating from China have targeted U.S. government and corporate computer networks among others, stealing government and commercial data.

A U.S. computer security firm released a report in February saying a secretive Chinese military unit is believed to be behind a wave of hacking attacks against the United States.

China claims it is the victim of large-scale cyber attacks from the United States, though it has given few details. Wang repeated to Kerry the Chinese government's oft-stated position that it opposes any form of hacking.

The working group announcement follows other recent calls for dialogue and cooperation. Officials and business executives attending a China-U.S. Internet Industry Forum in Beijing this week sought to find common ground.

"It's important to have a dialogue on this, but it's also important that the dialogue be a means to an end, and the end is really ending these practices," Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Robert Hormats, who spoke at the forum, told Reuters in an interview.

Last month China's premier, Li Keqiang called for both sides to stop the war of words over hacking.

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2aadf7ef/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Ctechnolog0Cus0Echina0Eagree0Ework0Etogether0Ecybersecurity0E1C9337442/story01.htm

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In the virtual cockpit: What it takes to fly a drone

Drone pilots escape the physical demands and dangers of a traditional cockpit. There's no g-force pinning them to their seats, no uncomfortable pressure suit to wear and no panic because the aircraft they are sitting in is spiraling out of control.

Instead of soaking in sensory information through their eyes and ears and fingers, drone pilots spend hours watching their crafts through their computer screens ? their only physical link with the craft they fly.

Over the last few years, the military has been taking on drones faster than it can train pilots. The old guard, airmen and women who clocked flight hours in regular aircraft before taking control of a Predator, is being replaced by a generation of cadets with basic flight training and hours and hours of video game time. Drones themselves are evolving into complex automatons, making novel demands on their minders' brains and bodies. Scientists who study how machines and humans work together are only just filling in our understanding of what it really means to be a drone pilot.

A drone operator who has a flying history will tell you that switching gears to remote control takes some getting used to.

In a manned aircraft, "you can see outside, where you can hear the noise of the engine and hear the turbulence ? You have all your five senses," Phil Hall, a pilot for NASA's Global Hawk research drone, told NBC News.

But drone pilots today rely on a computer screen, system status updates and a map, sometimes continents away from the craft they are flying.

"In a manned aircraft if you have a problem you know right away," Hall said, but when there's a drone involved, there's a bit of translation, and there's only so much of the situation you can read.

Some of the hardest lessons to teach new drone pilots? Where to look for information that in a manned craft would be right at their fingertips, says Tom Miller, an ex-Air Force pilot who now flies NASA's Global Hawk drone. For example, in the case of a lost data link, a drone is programmed to return to either a pre-programmed location or its original launch point. When that happens, "A pilot needs to know what the programming is if they need to manage it," so the programming can be changed if needed, Miller said.

Boredom an issue
Drones like the Global Hawks are so sophisticated that they need more minding than flying. In other words, flying a drone doesn't suck up every drop of a pilot's focus every second they are at the controls. This makes boredom a unique but very real problem among pilots, and it cuts into their performance, a study published last year found.

Missy Cummings, an ex-Navy pilot and MIT professor who led the study, explained that "babysitting" a craft while waiting for a target makes it harder for pilots to spring back into action when they're needed. When she tested the subjects' attention through 4-hour simulations, she found that high scorers were distracted: They read a book, checked their phones or left the controls to get a snack.

But training for one drone doesn't mean you're ready to fly another, as drone controls can vary greatly between models. "They're apples and oranges," Hernan Posada, who pilots NASA's Predator named Ikhana, said. Predator drones, among the oldest, are operated with a stick and rudder, while the newer Global Hawk is controlled with a mouse and keyboard. The Predator is less autonomous and needs a lot more manual control, especially during take offs and landings, Posada explained.

"A lot" of unmanned aircraft systems were "built as if a (jet) pilot was going to fly it," which explains the rudder and stick, Raza Waraich who has studied the link between control design and rates of crashes, said. But newer designs are made for those without flight training to fly the craft. "I found a couple of UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) that incorporate the PlayStation2 controller," he said, explaining that pilots would use the video game controller to navigate menus.

Which is just as well, since some believe the newest recruits into drone flight school are already wired differently. "They grow up playing Xbox and Nintendo and gaming systems ... they have a different multitasking capability, they collaborate differently with their fellow pilots" and other operators, said Brad Hoagland, a colonel with 23 years in the Air Force, who is now studying drones and drone pilots as a Federal Executive Fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Different physical cues
Starting in 2010, the Air Force designated drone piloting as its own career path. Trainees would complete one tough year without going through undergraduate pilot training, motivated in part because the Air Force's targeted need for operators was higher than the rate at which they are graduating.

"We've been building the platform faster than we can fill them with operators," Hoagland said.

There's some evidence that suggests putting a pilot with less flight experience behind the drone controls is a better strategy than the other way around.

"Pilots in an aircraft are used to an entirely different set of physical cues," MIT's Cummings said in an email. A 2004 report that studied drone accidents showed that pilots with real flight experience made more mistakes than operators with no flight experience. That's because "pilots learn to rely on a set of cues they do not have in the control of UAVs so it is not clear that pilots are the best qualified people for control of drones," Cummings said.

But pilots who made the switch seem happy with their decision. Hoagland, citing an internal Air Force study, said 487 fighter and bomber pilots were assigned to a three-year stint on drone duty, and when their time was up, 412 of those mid- to late-career pilots decided to stick with drones. The younger cadets have caught the bug too, he says. When a brood of 244 fresh undergraduates were given a chance to pick any career in the Air Force, 25 percent of them decided to become drone pilots.

Nidhi Subbaraman writes about technology and science. Follow her on Twitter and Google+.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2aabcd0e/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Ctechnolog0Cvirtual0Ecockpit0Ewhat0Eit0Etakes0Efly0Edrone0E1C9319684/story01.htm

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Woods story, predictably, dominates CBS broadcast

CBS announcer Jim Nantz led off the network's Masters coverage Saturday by describing what Tiger Woods did the day before on the 15th hole as an "innocent" and "absent-minded" mistake.

CBS devoted the first 12 minutes of its broadcast from the Masters entirely to Woods, who was given a two-stroke penalty earlier in the day for a bad drop that led to his signing an incorrect scorecard after his second round.

Woods' shot on the 15th hole of the second round hit the flag stick and bounced back into the water. He took his penalty drop 2 yards behind where he hit the original shot, a rules violation.

Woods was tied for 17th when the third-round broadcast started at 3 p.m. EDT, five shots off the lead. His story dominated the early coverage, and CBS didn't mention another player until 3:12 p.m., when it showed the leaderboard for the first time.

"A day of high drama at Augusta National Golf Club before a single shot was struck." was how Nantz described the scene.

The broadcast started with a live shot of Woods at the sixth hole and being applauded by the gallery.

From there, the network displayed the ruling that cost Woods two strokes but allowed him to remain in the tournament. It broke down what his three options were after his shot on the 15th hole on Friday ended up in the water, then aired a lengthy interview by Nantz of Fred Ridley, chairman of the Masters' competition committees.

Augusta National said it was Nantz who alerted Masters officials Friday that Woods' post-rounds comments were causing some doubts, leading to another review.

Woods had said after his round, "I went back to where I played it from, but went two yards further back and I tried to take two yards off the shot of what I felt I hit. And that should land me short of the flag and not have it either hit the flag or skip over the back. I felt that was going to be the right decision to take off four (yards) right there. And I did. It worked out perfectly."

"It was an innocent mistake," Nantz said, referring to Woods' actions.

Once CBS got through the initial wave of Woods coverage, it was largely business-as-usual, with cameras trained on an array of players over roughly the next 35 minutes. Then CBS again revisited the Woods matter, with analyst Nick Faldo ? a three-time Masters champion ? saying the way Friday's events transpired ultimately saved Woods.

Augusta National reviewed the matter Friday even before Woods' second round was complete and found no breach of rules. But when Woods said after the round that he chose to play his drop slightly farther back from where he played his original shot, Augusta National decided to review the matter once again.

"If this had all happened later at night, if somebody had called in late at night and then had gone back and reviewed everything, then in fact Tiger would be disqualified," Faldo said. "He would have signed for the wrong score. In a way, that helped him. They reviewed the situation, they decided from what they saw there was no infringement, but it was only after Tiger then said, 'Hey, I intentionally came back a couple of yards.'"

Faldo said he was surprised Woods did not know the rule, but added that he gave the world's No. 1 player "the benefit of doubt."

Earlier in the day, the Golf Channel's Brandel Chamblee said:

"The integrity of this sport is bigger than the desire to see Tiger Woods play golf today," Chamblee said. "I want to see Tiger Woods play golf. I have never seen anybody play golf like him. I want to see him make a run at Jack Nicklaus' majors record. I want to see that. But I don't want to see it this week; I don't want to see it under these circumstances. The right thing to do here, for Tiger and for the game, is for Tiger to disqualify himself."

Faldo agreed with Chamblee and didn't back down during the CBS broadcast.

"There was absolutely no intention to try to drop that as close to the divot, absolutely none at all," Faldo said. "So, in black and white, and that is the greatest thing about our game, our rules are very much black and white. You know, that's a breach of the rules. Simple as that."

Later in the telecast, Faldo's tone seemed more conciliatory.

Faldo reiterated that in his era, he thought most players ? when presented with a situation like the one Woods was in ? would either be disqualified or withdraw. But he stopped short of calling again for that to happen.

"We're in a new era now under new rules and even if they bring some controversy, Tiger is playing rightly under the new rules," Faldo said. "And myself and some of my old pros, we have to accept that now."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/woods-story-predictably-dominates-cbs-broadcast-201230101--golf.html

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Saturday, April 13, 2013

North Korean press briefing in New York? Forget about it

By Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - It's not easy getting North Korean diplomats to talk about missile launches or nuclear tests these days.

A few years ago the mission's top diplomats would speak to the press, occasionally inviting large groups of selected reporters to their mission on Second Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. Often they repeated whatever the country's official KCNA news agency had run, but there was an exchange.

Now all you are likely to get is a terse brush-off on the phone.

Several diplomats said the North Korean mission changed its modus operandi when it became clear several years ago that North Korea's late leader Kim Jong-il was preparing to pass the baton to his son, the current leader Kim Jong-un.

"The DPRK (North Korea) mission became very cautious during the transition period and remains so," a U.N. Security Council diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity. "They like to let Pyongyang do the talking on the big issues."

"These diplomats are afraid," another diplomat said. "One wrong word and who knows what could happen to you."

In June 2010, Pyongyang's U.N. Ambassador Sin Son-ho packed the U.N. briefing room, where empty seats are commonplace, when he convened a press conference to defend his nation against Seoul's allegations that the North Korean military torpedoed a South Korean naval ship on March 26, killing 46 sailors.

Speaking in English, Sin showed a jovial side at least twice during his hour-long briefing, in which he fielded numerous questions from reporters, many of them Japanese and South Korean. He laughed heartily when asked how North Korea's soccer team would perform in the World Cup in South Africa.

"This is not a place to be concerned about a soccer team," Sin said with a big smile. "I am not in a position to give you any answer to your question, because your question is not directly related to the sinking of the South Korean warship."

Sin's former deputy, Pak Tok Hun, also used to give interviews to Reuters and other media. But in recent years the mission appears to have become more media-shy, a perception that other members of the U.N. press said they shared.

A telephone call to the North Korean mission on Friday highlighted how things seem to have changed.

An official who answered was asked by Reuters if the ambassador or someone else at the mission was available to talk about North Korea's threatened missile launch, expected over the next few days, or any other issue.

"I'm sorry but we don't have any comment on that," he said.

Next question. Why has the North Korean mission stopped organizing news conferences for U.N. reporters?

"This mission has a name, the permanent mission of the DPRK (North Korea) to the United Nations," he said. "So we are deal only with issues related to the United Nations."

"It's very clear we don't have any mind to have an interview or the press conference," he added.

When I asked him his name, he said it was Kim, which narrowed it down to four of the 10 North Koreans listed in the official U.N. roster of accredited national diplomats.

DISCREET DIPLOMACY

But it is not as if North Korean diplomats have gone silent. Recently they were very vocal during negotiations on a U.N. arms trade treaty, joining forces with Iran and Syria to prevent a drafting conference from reaching consensus on the first ever treaty to regular global international arms trade.

The North Korean delegation spoke openly and repeatedly against the treaty, which the U.N. General Assembly ultimately approved after the drafting conference collapsed due to North Korean, Iranian and Syrian opposition.

The mission is also involved in more discreet diplomacy.

Last month North Korea's deputy U.N. ambassador Han Song-ryol met with a senior U.S. official - the so-called "New York channel" for U.S.-North Korean dialogue - to discuss Pyongyang's February nuclear test, diplomatic sources have said. This was first reported by Josh Rogin on his Foreign Policy magazine blog but U.N. diplomats later confirmed it for Reuters.

Other national diplomats and senior U.N. officials confirmed that the North Korean U.N. mission has adopted a lower public profile in recent years, opting instead for discreet diplomacy.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, a former South Korean foreign minister, has said repeatedly that he has not had any direct communications with Pyongyang in recent months.

That contrasts sharply with U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Yukiya Amano, who told an audience at the Japan Society on Wednesday that even though North Korea withdrew from the Vienna-based agency, there are open avenues of contact the IAEA can use to communicate with Pyongyang.

"We have a channel of dialogue and when we need to talk to them we can," Amano said, without giving details.

(Editing by Eric Walsh)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/north-korean-press-briefing-york-forget-173948782.html

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