Don't Let Iowa be the Next California

Dear Marriage Supporter,

Last Friday I told you about the witch hunt in Iowa initiated by a homosexual activist whose sole goal is to silence NOM and people like yourself from standing up in public for the truth of God's design for marriage. If you have not been able to give an emergency donation to help us fight this frivolous complaint, please do so today because the story is even more outrageous than even we realized.

Get this: Megan Tooker, Chief Executive and General Counsel for the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board ? the very person charged with conducting a fair and impartial investigation into the complaint ? worked for Supreme Court Justice Michael Streit, one of the judges we helped remove from office during the 2010 judicial retention campaign! Talk about an apparent conflict of interest. It's no wonder that Ms. Tooker has in effect already publicly "convicted" NOM in absentia through the press. Instead of giving the good people of Iowa ethical and impartial service, Ms. Tooker has revealed her deep bias and animosity by declaring, without seeing any evidence in the case, that NOM is "absolutely false" and "absolutely wrong" in its position. Worse, she has blatantly lied to the public and media by misrepresenting our views on what must be disclosed under Iowa campaign finance laws. Her impertinent behavior is an attempt to poison the well of public opinion against NOM before anyone reviews the actual evidence.

We are not going to accept such outrageous and unprofessional behavior. Yesterday we demanded that Ms. Tooker be removed from any involvement with NOM's case. The people of Iowa are entitled to the highest standards of ethical conduct and independence from the state's top ethics officer, not conflicts of interest and misleading comments.

Sadly, we've seen this type of thing before. Ms. Tooker's behavior is frighteningly reminiscent to Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco, who outrageously declared Proposition 8 to be unconstitutional, thus invalidating the votes of over 7 million Californians. Walker refused to disclose that he is homosexual and engaged in a long-term gay relationship despite rules that require federal judges to make such disclosure if a reasonable person would believe him to have a conflict of interest. Just as Walker could never be expected to rule fairly on homosexual marriage, how can Megan Tooker be counted on to fairly handle a complaint that involves a campaign that helped remove her former boss from office?

Whether or not our demand of the Ethics Board that Ms. Tooker be removed from being involved in the complaint against NOM is granted or denied, we still have to defend ourselves from the blatantly false accusations that have been leveled by the homosexual activist who filed the complaint. This defense will cost money, time, and manpower, and distracts us from the critical job of fighting to preserve marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

We prayerfully ask you to stand with us against these forces of animosity and prejudice by making a sacrificial donation today. NOM will not be cowed or intimidated by bullies in the gay marriage movement, and we know the good people of Iowa will stand with us for the truth. Please join us today through an emergency gift so the truth can prevail and NOM can continue to work in Iowa and many other states to restore the true and blessed definition of marriage there.

Public officials and judges with conflicts of interest, frivolous complaints, and misrepresentations and lies to the public and media are all tools of our opponents to silence NOM and people like you who stand for God's truth and design for marriage. Don't let them win! Stand with us today with your generous donation.

Faithfully,

Brian S. Brown

Contributions or gifts to the National Organization for Marriage, a 501(c)(4) organization, are not tax-deductible. The National Organization for Marriage does not accept contributions from business corporations, labor unions, foreign nationals, or federal contractors; however, it may accept contributions from federally registered political action committees. Donations may be used for political purposes such as supporting or opposing candidates. No funds will be earmarked or reserved for any political purpose. This message has been authorized and paid for by the National Organization for Marriage, 2029 K Street NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20006, Brian Brown, President. This message has not been authorized or approved by any candidate.

Source: http://www.nomblog.com/36998

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Microsoft Valuable Penguin

I sometimes think the IT industry is a bit like a load of penguins on the pack ice, each one checking the others out to see who going to brave the ocean first.? In IT it?s nervousness about when to jump onto a new technology and if there is one technology that makes IT professionals really nervous then that would be cloud.? So when Microsoft launched the Cloud OS, there was always going to be a some nervousness about it and a reluctance to jump in and try it no matter what it did or how good or bad it was.? However there are some pioneers out there who have already implemented the cloud OS and some of these? are MVPs (Microsoft Valued Penguins Professionals), as they not only try out the new stuff like the Cloud OS, they share their knowledge ad experience as early adopters. Moreover unlike me they are independent, and although well connected into Microsoft they can on occasion be very vocal when they feel there is a real problem or missing feature in a new product.

There are about 200 MVPs based in the UK and some of the best of them have decided to run a series on the Cloud OS where they can share what they are doing with it and what they have learned by implementing this in production.? The event runs 9th-13th Septembers in Microsoft's London Offices and the agenda looks like this..

	Monday 9th September Please register to attend either track 1 or track 2: ? Track 1 will focus on building the modern enterprise data platform. In a series of three presentations we will tackle the issues of architecture, application frameworks, data integration and data exchange; learning all about the challenges faced by the modern data tier developer. Most importantly, we will learn how to creatively overcome them by enhancing our processing efficiency and analytical capability. Register to attend ? Track 2 will focus on the creation of Business Intelligence and advanced analytics solutions that utilise both structured and un-structured data. We will demonstrate the use of data mining and predictive analytics technologies and also demonstrate how advanced visualisation technologies can be used by business users to deliver the insight and action required to drive real value from data. Register to attend
	Tuesday 10th September Each session will demonstrate how to: ? Deliver best practices with Windows Server 2012 R2 and System Center 2012 R2 ? Lower costs through effective management of VMware and Hyper-V ? Enable management of datacentres of any size! ? Drive automation of complex applications with service templates Register to attend
	Wednesday 11th September Sessions will include: ? Windows Azure Service Bus ? Windows Azure BizTalk Services ? Microsoft BizTalk Server (both on-premise and Cloud Virtual Machine) Register to attend
	Thursday 12th September at the Microsoft Office, London, Victoria Join leading MVPs for a one day event to understand how to manage your client devices in a single tool while reducing costs and simplifying management. Best of all, you can leverage your existing tools and infrastructure. Sessions will include: ? Helping with data security and compliance ? Unified device management ? What powers people-centric IT with Cloud OS? ? Real World customer examples Register to attend ?
	Friday 13th September The explosion in devices, connectivity, data and the Cloud is changing the way we develop and deliver software.? New infrastructure services permit existing server applications to be ?lifted & shifted? into the Cloud.? Attend a one day event to hear from MVPs about how Microsoft?s data platform and development tools enable you to develop, test, and deploy applications faster than ever. Sessions will include: ? Infrastructure services, ? Media services, ? Service Bus? & Mobile services Register to attend ?
?	?	?

So please register and pppick up an MVP, and learn about what this Cloud OS is really all about.

Source: http://blogs.technet.com/b/andrew/archive/2013/08/13/microsoft-valuable-penguin.aspx

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Tuition isn't only bill college students see

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Despite all the grumbling about tuition increases and student loan costs, other college expenses also are going up.

The price of housing and food trumps tuition costs for students who attend two- and four-year public universities in their home states, according to a College Board survey. Even with the lower interest rates on student loans that President Barack Obama signed into law, students are eyeing bills that are growing on just about every line.

A look at typical college students' budgets last year and how they're changing:

COMMUNITY COLLEGES

The public two-year schools charged in-state students an average $3,131 last year, up almost 6 percent from the previous year. While the tuition hike was larger than at other types of schools, students at community colleges saw the smallest increase in room and board costs ? a 1 percent increase to $7,419. Total charges for students to attend an in-state public two-year school: $10,550.

Tuition and fees at community colleges are up 24 percent beyond overall inflation over the past five years, according to the College Board.

PUBLIC FOUR-YEAR SCHOOLS

Tuition for students attending public four-year schools in their state was an average $8,655 last year, a 5 percent jump from the previous year. They paid more than that ? $9,205 ? for housing and food. These schools, like other four-year schools, posted a 4 percent jump in housing costs. Add in books and supplies, transportation and other costs and the total reaches $17,860 to attend an in-state public school, such as a student from Tallahassee attending Florida State University. When grants and scholarships are included, the average student pays $12,110 at such schools.

For students who choose to attend state schools outside their home state, the costs increase to $30,911. They pay the same $9,205 price tag for room and board, but the tuition rates are more expensive. The typical student who crossed state lines to attend a public college in 2012 paid $21,706 in tuition and fees after grants and scholarships ? a 4 percent jump from the previous year.

Over the past five years, the tuition sticker price at public four-year colleges is up 27 percent beyond overall inflation.

PRIVATE SCHOOLS

On the surface, private four-year schools are the most costly colleges, with the average student's sticker price coming in at $39,518 for all expenses. Tuition and fees were $29,056 last year ? another 4 percent jump ? while room and board ran to $10,462. After grants and scholarships, the average student paid $23,840 to attend schools such as Yale or Stanford.

The tuition at private schools was up 13 percent beyond overall inflation over the past five years adjusted for inflation.

___

Follow Philip Elliott on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/philip_elliott

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-08-13-US-Back-to-School-What-College-Costs/id-93a6e84fe1794534919ac10a0551a642

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AOL CEO Tim Armstrong Apologizes For Brutally Firing Employee During Patch All-Hands Call

After a call with the AOL-owned Patch team included the public firing of Patch Creative Director Abel Lenz last week, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong has issued an internal memo apologizing for the action and providing some additional context (disclosure: AOL also owns TechCrunch). In the memo obtained from a tipster, Armstrong says that he has apologized to Lenz for the behaviour and that it was unfair to the former employee at a "human level."

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/6_2ows36tKo/

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The Wind Energy Industry Gets Its Groove Back

Money is flowing back into wind after a first-quarter hiatus stemming from policy uncertainty.

The Q2 2013 venture capital investment of $210 million dwarfed the Q2 2012 $16 million VC funding, according to Mercom Capital. Though total Q2 2013 wind sector investment of $3.5 billion, covering VC funding, debt financing and announced project deals, did not match Q2 2012?s nearly $5.5 billion, it was a strong showing for an off year.

The VC money included a $135 million Goldman Sachs (GS) addition to its now $385 million backing for India project developer ReNew Power.

There were 36 wind project acquisitions in Q2. That brought the 2013 total to 53, as compared to 72 during all of 2012. Fifteen investment funds, eight project developers, six independent producers and four utilities were among the buyers.

Another indicator was the just-reported Broadwind Energy (BWEN) $200 million order backlog for turbine towers. CEO Peter Duprey said his company is now booking 2014 orders and expects to fill its 500-tower annual manufacturing capability.

Although no new wind capacity went on-line in Q2, 25 power purchase agreements representing 3,950 megawatts of capacity have been completed thus far in 2013. Utilities have announced they will build a further 1,300 megawatts and 1,280 megawatts of wind are in construction, according to the American Wind Energy Association Q2 Market Report.

Utilities also issued eleven wind-specific RFPs representing 1,300 more megawatts. Many are seeking to complete deals in time to take advantage of the current production tax credit that will apply if construction gets underway this year.

The reasons behind the PPA activity were reflected in data from the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL) 2012 Wind Technologies Market report. ?It showed that PPA prices for wind in the resource-rich Midwest fell as low as $40 per megawatt-hour last year.

Competitiveness remained tenuous, however, because low natural gas prices and slowed electricity demand kept wholesale power prices as low as $20 per megawatt-hour to $40 per megawatt-hour. PPA activity in the West and other regions continues to be driven largely by state mandates.

Bigger, smarter turbines have increased wind?s average capacity factor to 32.1 percent, the LBNL report noted, despite more wind being built in low-wind locations.

GE dominated the 2012 U.S. wind turbine manufacturing marketplace with a 38 percent share and 5 gigawatts of new capacity. Vestas was second with 20 percent. Siemens (14 percent) and Gamesa (10 percent) followed. New inroads were made in 2012 by Chinese and South Korean manufacturers, including Goldwind, China Creative Wind Energy, Guodian United Power, Sinovel, Hyundai, HZ Windpower, and Sany Electric.

Recent turbine prices, which the LBNL report said are exerting downward pressure in the marketplace, range from $950 per kilowatt to $1,300 per kilowatt. Average project costs fell almost $200 per kilowatt in 2012 to $1,940 per kilowatt.

Obstacles to further price competitiveness and growth for wind, according to the LBNL report, include federal policy uncertainty, low natural gas and wholesale electricity prices, competition from solar in sunny regions, slowed electricity demand, the filling out of state mandates, and transmission bottlenecks.

The single most noticeable 2Q 2013 wind industry trend was a dramatic opening up of utility-scale offshore wind opportunities.

The Department of Interior (DOI) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) July competitive lease auction for wind development off the Massachusetts-Rhode Island coast was won by Deepwater Wind.

Backed by the D.E. Shaw hedge fund, the developer plans to begin construction in 2017 on a $5 billion, 1,000-megawatt project. Deepwater Wind expects to sell the electricity to Long Island, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut utilities looking to hedge high and unpredictable electricity prices.

BOEM announced another lease auction for Virginia coastal waters in September, with another for ocean acreage off Maryland expected to follow.

And Cape Wind, the first U.S. large-scale offshore wind project, continued to move toward initiating construction by late 2013 or early 2014. In June, PensionDanmark committed $200 million to the project, and in July the developers signed a $15 million deal with the Lawrence-Lynch Corp. to build onshore interconnections.

Also noteworthy:

Sinovel, once China?s wind turbine manufacturing flagship, announced it would close offices in the U.S., Canada, Belgium, and Italy. It has lost steam internationally since being implicated in the theft of intellectual property from U.S.-based AMSC. Though it has a 2013 order pipeline of more than 9 gigawatts, only 82.5 megawatts are outside China.

At the request of the Anti-Mafia Directorate, Sicilian police arrested five, including a town mayor, on charges that permits were delayed at two Iberdrola-owned wind farms in order to force the developer to use preferred suppliers. This follows an ongoing investigation into Mafia involvement in a?wind farm in the southern Italian region of Calabria.

Finally, Google, Inc. (GOOG) bought kite-wind pioneer Makani Power in May. Makani?s flying wing would carry rotors up to high altitude winds and deliver electricity to ground substations via the power cable tethering the craft. Makani believes it can eliminate 90 percent of a traditional turbine?s bulk and cut wind energy?s LCOE in half. It plans to have an Airborne Wind Turbine operational by 2015.

Source: http://theenergycollective.com/stephenlacey/258721/wind-industry-gets-its-groove-back

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Yum's July China restaurant sales drop more than expected

By Lisa Baertlein

Mon Aug 12, 2013 5:48pm EDT

(Reuters) - KFC parent Yum Brands Inc (YUM.N) on Monday reported a steeper-than-expected 13 percent drop in July sales at established restaurants in China after back-to-back blows from a food safety scare and a bird flu outbreak in its most important market.

The Chinese sales fall was something of a setback for Louisville, Kentucky-based Yum, which in recent months had seen same-restaurant sales declines ease.

Shares in Yum fell $2.86, or 3.8 percent, to $71.61 in after-hours trading.

Analysts, on average, had expected a 7.1 percent decline in China's July same-restaurant sales, according to Consensus Metrix.

Yum generates more than half of its overall operating profit in China, where it is the biggest Western restaurant operator with roughly 6,000 mostly KFC restaurants.

Yum executives repeatedly have said that the company has successfully dealt with crises in China before.

In a regulatory filing on Monday, they repeated their forecast for same-restaurant sales in the world's fastest-growing major economy to turn around in the fourth quarter.

Yum's China sales swoon started at the end of 2012, when the discovery of excessive levels of antibiotics in chicken from two of Yum's suppliers prompted government food safety agencies to probe the company's supply chain.

Yum was not fined by food safety authorities, but it suffered a widespread backlash in the mainstream media and on social media sites.

The July same-restaurant sales result included a 16 percent sales drop at established KFC restaurants, which the company on Monday attributed to "residual effects" of negative publicity surrounding that December poultry supply incident.

Investment Technology Group analyst Steve West said he expects Yum's China recovery to be uneven and that some investors and analysts got "a little ahead of the curve."

Worries about a new bird flu gripped China this spring, battering chicken sales - including at KFC.

The World Health Organization on July 20 said it had been informed of 134 laboratory-confirmed cases, including 43 deaths, of the novel H7N9 bird flu virus in China. While the number of reported cases has fallen sharply, WHO has cautioned against calling the outbreak over because the flu virus does not circulate as easily in warm weather.

There is concern that China's cooling growth could keep a lid on demand for fried chicken and other fast food.

Once boasting double-digit growth, China is now expanding at a more modest 7.5 percent rate and there are concerns that its credit markets are overheated and its housing market is in bubble territory.

Yum is not the only company struggling with softness in China. McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) last week reported that its China same-restaurant sales declined in July.

(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by David Brunnstrom, Leslie Gevirtz and Andrew Hay)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/reuters/businessNews/~3/RSptfqIddho/story01.htm

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Verbatim: I-69 Union Chapel exit work extended

The Indiana Department of Transportation issued this news release tonight:

ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. ? The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) announces that the contractor?s schedule for work on the I-69/Union Chapel Road interchange (Exit 317) has been changed due to inclement weather overnight from August 12 to August 13. The new schedule for work, with the necessary restrictions, is listed below. The contractor has planned for nighttime work to reduce the impact as much as possible on the traveling public.

On Tuesday night, August 13, from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Wednesday morning, August 14, the contractor will restrict the right lane on southbound I-69 to place surface mix asphalt on the northwest and southwest ramps (the southbound I-69 off- and on-ramps). The northwest ramp will close while paving takes place, followed by the southwest ramp. The contractor will leave the southwest ramp open as long as possible while paving the northwest ramp.

On Wednesday night, August 14, from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Thursday morning, August 15, the contractor will restrict the right lane on northbound I-69 to place surface mix asphalt on the southeast ramp (the northbound I-69 off- ramp).

On Thursday night, August 15, from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Friday morning, August 16, northbound and southbound I-69 will have intermittent restrictions for application of pavement markings.

On Monday night, August 19, from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. Tuesday morning, August 20, the contractor will restrict the northbound left lane and the southbound left lane on I-69 to mill out the temporary pavement and also mill shoulder rumble strips.

INDOT reminds drivers to use caution and consider worker safety when driving through a construction zone. For the latest news and information about INDOT, visit www.in.gov/indot. You can find traffic restriction information at www.trafficwise.IN.gov. Contact the Fort Wayne District toll free at 866-227-3555.

Source: http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130813/BLOGS01/130819817/-1/BLOGS

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Will Android Device Manager be the last ?Find My Device? app?

Android Device Manager has received a lot of press lately and for good reason. It?s a solid little application that will find your phone wherever it might be. It also gives you a small selection of tools to either help you find your phone or erase it as the situation warrants. With this awesome new feature out, the question has to be asked. Will this replace the competition?

There are a lot of ?find my phone? type applications. One of the most popular apps that strictly finds your phone is called Cerberus and there are many more like it. The ?find my phone? functionality is even baked into some anti-virus apps. So there is no lack of options when it comes to using this feature.

Is Android Device Manager enough to kill of the competition? We?ll make this quick and easy and answer with a resounding no. There are several reasons for this and even though most of the reasons are pretty simple, the bottom line is that even if Android Device Manager is a great app, it?s still a very young app that doesn?t have a lot of features.

Since Cerberus is the benchmark for everything a ?find my device? app should be, we?ll compare Android Device Manager to it. Let?s begin.

• Cerberus has every feature that the Android Device Manager has. This includes a website interface to track, the ability to wipe the phone, and the ability to ring the phone to help you find it. Another common feature is neither app shows up in the app drawer. Cerberus hides itself while Android Device Manager hides in the Google Settings app.
• Cerberus adds a lot of functionality. You can lock the device with a code, control via SMS, prevent unauthorized users from installing apps, record audio using the phone mic, and get a list of calls sent and received.
• One of Cerberus? most unique features is the ability to detect whether a new SIM card has been dropped into your device. Obviously this is for GSM devices only, but it would be nice to know if someone?s put a new SIM in your phone to use it as their own. The SIM Checker feature also tells you the new number of the phone. It?ll also tell you what carrier and network the device is on. These are all very, very handy things to be able to do.
• Rooted users can actually prevent people from uninstalling the app unless they wipe the device and flash a whole new ROM.
• If Cerberus is found and uninstalled, you always have Android Device Manager there to back you up. Two is always better than one. Especially when neither service runs a background process unless ordered to remotely and, therefore, consumes no battery life.

We could go on but the point has pretty much been made. Android Device Manager is great, but it cannot stack up to the competition feature for feature. It is simple and easy to use. It gives you the bare essentials that you need if your phone is lost or stolen. The bottom line, though, is most ?find my device? apps are capable of these exact same things and more. It?s also highly likely that Google didn?t release this to squash the competition, but rather add a service that will help you that?s always installed no matter what. Perhaps its biggest feature is that it?s a Google service and virtually no Google services constitute as bloatware.

We would love to know what you think. Would you rather use Android Device Manager instead of a third party service? If you have the time, feel free to leave us a comment to tell us what you think.

Source: http://www.androidauthority.com/android-device-manager-last-find-device-app-255246/

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LeBron James decides not to run for National Basketball Players Association president - NBA News | FOX Sports on MSN

LeBron James has decided not to run for president of the National Basketball Players Association, FOXSports.com confirms.

LIFE OF LEBRON Relive the biggest highs and lows of LeBron James' basketball career .

James told FOX Sports' Bill Reiter on Saturday that he was considering a run at the position, which came open this summer when Derek Fisher 's term expired. The union also needs to name a new executive director to replace Billy Hunter.

"It?s something I?m engaged in, understanding where our union is at right now. It?s not in a bright spot today with the departure of Billy Hunter and we?re looking for so many spots to be filled, so it?s something that I will look into," James told Reiter.

"The one thing that concerns me from a personal standpoint is my time. I don?t have a lot of time. ... And if I feel like I can?t give everything to be the president of the union, then I will not do it because I?ll be cheating not only myself but cheating the 400-plus players and the people around that deserve to have someone who is fully committed."

James called Heat teammate and NBPA secretary-treasurer James Jones on Monday and told him that he would not run for president or vice president of the union, according to USA Today.

James could have given the NBPA a voice with major star power, something it hasn't had in many years.

The union also has been mired in controversy recently. Fisher and Hunter are involved in a legal battle over Hunter's firing for misuse of union money.

The NBPA plans to meet next week in Las Vegas and vote for a new president. NBPA executive committee vice president Roger Mason Jr. has emerged as a strong candidate to replace Fisher, according to USA Today. James may back the possible candidacy of Jones, his Heat teammate.

"If it?s not me," James told Reiter, "hopefully we can have someone in that position who understands how important it is, and getting it back to where it should be."

Source: http://msn.foxsports.com/topics/device/mobile/t/79412718/lebron-james-decides-not-to-run-for-national-basketball-players-association-president-nba-news-fox-sports-on-msn.htm

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Canada issues RFP for vehicles; Oshkosh eyes contract

The Canadian government is moving ahead with plans to acquire as many as 1,500 trucks for its armed forces.

Public Works and Government Services Canada, on behalf of the Department of National Defense, said recently that it has issued a Request for Proposal from industry. The RFP will close in December of this year and the contract for the medium-sized trucks will be announced in the third quarter of 2015.

The announcement by the government agency coincided with one from U.S. vehicle manufacturer Oshkosh Defense that it intends to bid on the fleet modernization program.

"We are committed to providing tactical vehicles with the performance and protection that Canadian Forces require to keep their missions moving," said John Urias, Oshkosh Corp. executive vice president and president of Oshkosh Defense. "By developing a nationwide network of [Canadian] suppliers, Oshkosh Defense is well-positioned to support Canadian vehicle modernization strategy and bring measurable benefits to the Canadian economy."

Canada first began exploring the vehicle acquisition with industry at the beginning of this year when it issued a Letter of Interest and then conducted one-on-one meetings with representatives of vehicle manufacturers.

Public Works and Government Services Canada said the vehicles to be procured would be in the standard military pattern and would come in five variants. In addition to the vehicles, the military would also require associated equipment and in-service logistics support for the operational life of the vehicles.

Government testing and evaluations of vehicles offered by companies are scheduled to take place next year.

Delivery of the first vehicle under the contract award would occur in 2017, with final deliveries the following year, the agency said.

The government's Industrial and Regional Benefits Policy will apply to the contract issued. The IRB is designed to ensure that a government contractor creates economic benefits in Canada equal to 100 percent of the contract value, including a minimum of 20 percent direct IRB for the acquisition and 35 percent direct IRB for the in-service portions of the work.

Oshkosh Defense said the vehicles it intends to offer will leverage its current product line and that its sustainment services.

"The Oshkosh MSVS SMP [Medium Support Vehicle System, Standard Military Pattern] solution is designed to improve the protection and performance capabilities of the Canadian Forces' medium-payload fleet, both today and for decades to come," said Serge Buchakjian, senior vice president and general manager of International Programs for Oshkosh Defense. "The MSVS SMP technical solution developed by Oshkosh is based on a platform with more than 1 billion real-world operational kilometers in missions around the globe."

Oshkosh Defense said it would use a Canadian network of suppliers and assemblers and that its efforts would be conducted from the Oshkosh Defense Canada office in Ottawa, Ontario.

Source: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Canada_issues_RFP_for_vehicles_Oshkosh_eyes_contract_999.html

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Expert Tips For Personal Financial Fitness Now! - ProjectPB ? The ...

Your ability to manage your personal finances can affect almost everything that you do in life. Take control of your money in order to gain control of your life. The tips provided here will help you to achieve your goal of effective financial management.

When you do Forex trading, keep an eye on the trends. Keep on top of things so you can buy at a lower price and sell high. You do not want to sell during an upswing, or, for that matter, a downswing. If not wanting to ride out a trend all the way, have clear goals.

If a credit repair company guarantees a better credit score, run away screaming. A lot of companies don?t give all the information about their skills for repairing your history. Credit repair can never be guaranteed as every situation is unique, and the steps needed for repair will be unique as well. The only credit repair agencies that guarantee success are fraudulent ones.

Credit History

Don?t believe any credit repair service that says they guarantee they will repair your credit history. A lot of companies out there make vague statements about how they will repair your credit history. This isn?t accurate since there is no similarity to how your credit score is affected to how another deals with credit issues. Guaranteeing success is fraudulent.

Most electronics that have defects will show them within the manufacturer?s warranty for the product. Businesses makes a killing on extended warranties, and they don?t provide good value.

Most products come with either 90-day or one-year limited warranties, and if a failure is likely to occur, it will probably do so within that time. Extended warranties are just a way for the business to make an extra buck, but they?ll rarely be worthwhile for the user.

TIP! Set up an automatic savings plan with your bank so that a certain amount of money is transferred to a savings account each month from your checking account. This will help you save money every month.

It is important that you file your federal income taxes in a timely manner. To get your money faster, file your refund as early as you can if you are expecting a refund. If you owe the IRS money, file as close to April 15th as possible.

Consider changing to a checking account which is free, or one which carries no service fees. Possible options to consider are credit unions, online banks, and local community banks.

You will need to pay off your debits before you can repair your credit. In order to pay off any debt that you have, you should try to save money in other areas of your life. A few ways to get access to more money include cooking at home or cutting back one night of socializing on a weekend. Bringing lunch with you to work and eating in on weekends will make great strides in your personal savings. When you cut this spending, you can put those funds elsewhere.

If you or your spouse have less than perfect credit, the partner with the healthier credit score should apply for any loans you need. If your credit is poor, build it back up with a new credit card account that you use and pay off each month. Once you are both happy with your credit score you?ll be able to get loans and spread the debt out more evenly.

Credit Card

Using a credit card is an awesome idea, rather than using your debit card, which has no added benefits to it, like a rewards program etc. Put routine purchases like gas and groceries on a credit card. Some credit card companies even offer you the chance to earn rewards that can be used for cash back.

As you know, money management affects every aspect of your life. Fold this advice into your life and set yourself onto the path to becoming a financial wizard.

Frequent flier programs are advantageous to anyone who travels by air often. There are a lot of credit card companies that reward you with free or reduced airfare for making certain purchases. Some hotels will also redeem frequent flier miles. They can be cashed in for discounted stays, or even free lodging.

Source: http://www.projectpb.net/blog/index.php/personal_finance/expert-tips-for-personal-financial-fitness-now-4/

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The Great Leveling

England's Wayne Rooney celebrates his goal in Rio de Janeiro on June 2, 2013

Photo by Pilar Olivares/Reuters

This piece was adapted from Chris Anderson and David Sally?s book The Numbers Game: Why Everything You Know About Soccer Is Wrong.

There are two histories of soccer. One is a tale of wonderful players, of ingenuity and guile and wizardry, constantly finding new ways to improve on (what at the time looks like) perfection. It explains the great defining geniuses who have illuminated soccer?s various ages: Di Stefano, Pel?, Maradona, Zidane, Messi?all finding new ways to take the game to the next level.

And there is a second history, one of the men who did all they could to stop them. Not the defenders, but the managers, who dreamed up catenaccio and zonal marking and the sweeper system, all of it designed to stop the virtuosos showcasing their talents. Even the tiki-taka style honed and perfected by Barcelona and adopted by Spain has been labeled a primarily defensive approach?passenaccio?because its emphasis is on starving the opposition of the ball.

Players have improved as the game has matured: They run faster, they shoot harder, they dribble quicker, and they pass more accurately. And as they have improved, so structures have been built to contain them. These structures?offside traps, pressing, triangular passing?are the reason that goal scoring has largely withered on the vine, moving from an average of 4.5 goals per game in 1890 to 2.6 goals more than 100 years later.

There was a time when seven players on any given side were given over to attacking, with two halfbacks and one fullback. That soon morphed into the W-M formation as two attackers were pulled back, and then came the 4-2-4 of Hungary and Brazil, the 4-4-2 so beloved of English managers, and now, the trend is to deploy just one striker. Barcelona and Spain do not even do that, since the rise of what has been called the false nine. As the title of Jonathan Wilson?s magisterial history of tactics suggests, the pyramid has been inverted.

That says a lot about the nature of the game we love. Where once soccer was purely an attacking sport, it is now focused on developing a symmetry between scoring and not conceding. It has grown into a more balanced game of offense and defense. When tactical changes produced teams that were more defensive but still won (or perhaps won even more), their opponents adapted their playing styles in response. Over time soccer was discovered as a game that is fundamentally about avoiding mistakes and punishing the other side for theirs.

That bears itself out in the numbers. Had the analytics firm Opta been present at a league game in 1910, we suspect they would have recorded hundreds of touches of the ball from forwards, but very few from a team?s ineffectual defenders. A century later, that too has been inverted. Opta?s figures show that defenders averaged 63 touches of the ball per 90 minutes in the 2010?11 Premier League season, with midfielders on 73 and forwards down to 51.

This is a worrying trend, not least because the loss of two goals per match since the dawn of the 20^th century?together with the switch in emphasis from an attacking to a defensive game?suggest that, at some point, the goal, already endangered, may die out altogether.

To find out quite how fast that event horizon may be approaching, we gathered recent information, focusing on soccer after World War II. Since one season can be unusual for a host of reasons?the weather, luck, a few particularly dire teams?we wanted to be certain we were homing in on a historical trend not distorted by random fluctuations. When we employed a statistical technique known as lowess smoothing that cuts away much of that ?noise,? a startling picture emerged.

Instead of the consistent and insistent downward trend in goals we have seen over a century and a half of play, in the last 60 years or so there appears to be a leveling off. Goals are not dying. They are plateauing. Scoring has remained essentially stable in the last two decades, perhaps even as far back as the 1970s.

This means a dynamic balancing between two forces: offensive innovation and defensive technology.

Over time, as knowledge about the game spread and successful ideas were copied all over the world, teams have become more alike. Many of the higher scores in the early days of the game had less to do with variations in players? abilities and playing conditions, and more to do with some select clubs having huge advantages in training, setting up tactically, and organizing and coordinating instantly on the pitch. Slowly but surely, intentionally and through trial and error?and mostly by eliminating errors and weaknesses?teams have become more similar to one another over time.

To draw an economic parallel, we would say that the manufacturing technologies?the best ways of playing?have been diffused over time: Through sharing and imitation, along with an opening to a global pool of talent everyone has access to, teams have grown more similar. Soccer, in this sense, is just another economic sector. Today, a Toyota car is scarcely different from a Honda or a Volkswagen; in the very early days of the car industry, each manufacturer was identifiably different.

That suggests that one of the sport?s great truisms?that the power and wealth of elite clubs has unbalanced leagues across the world?may be a myth, at least when examined from a long-term, historical perspective. If anything, league soccer is more competitive now than it was 50 or 100 years ago.

The relative rate of improvement for the worst clubs has been greater than that of the best, so there are no longer regular games between fully professional teams and those comprised of tinsmiths, gasfitters, and cricketers. Derby, 2007?08 vintage, may have been the worst team in Premier League history, but they were closer in collective ability to champions Manchester United than Birmingham would have been when they propped up the division a century earlier as United secured their first league title.

One of the great misunderstandings about soccer is the belief that fans come to see goals. That was behind the change in the offside rule, the introduction of three points for a win, and the abolition of the back-pass?a misguided belief that all supporters want to see is the ball in the back of the net. But it is the rarity, the preciousness, of each and every goal that makes them mean so much. What we really want to see are matches in which every goal is essential and potentially decisive. With the leveling off of total goals and the continued decrease in goal difference, the industry of soccer has delivered its customers exactly that?tight, nail-biting matches in which no team is guaranteed a thrashing or is facing insurmountable odds.

Currently, goals in English soccer are manufactured at a rate of around 2.6 for every game played, across the divisions and ability levels. Sometimes that goes up a little, sometimes it goes down, but overall it is remarkably stable. So you will see 1,000 goals, give or take, in the Premier League this season, and the season after that, and the season after that. Soccer seems to have found its equilibrium.

This piece was adapted from Chris Anderson and David Sally?s book The Numbers Game: Why Everything You Know About Soccer Is Wrong.

Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2013/08/the_numbers_game_why_soccer_teams_score_fewer_goals_than_they_did_100_years.html

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Lyon College Pipe Major wins bagpiping gold medal

By Samantha Jones
Lyon College Communications Assistant

BATESVILLE, Ark. (LYON) - Ringing in his tenth year at Lyon College this fall, Scottish Heritage Director and Pipe Major Jimmy Bell has quite a bit to celebrate. Bell has won many awards for piping since joining the Lyon community, but his recent win at the Glengarry Highland Games tops them all.

Performing "The End of the Great Bridge," Bell won the Piobaireachd Society Gold Medal in Ontario, Canada. The medal is awarded to the most premiere pipers in the world, being withheld if the competing pipers don't perform outstandingly.

The Glengarry Highland Games is one of the many contests Bell has competed in since childhood. His parents being from Scotland, Bell began piping at a young age. He worked in a hospital 14 years before coming to Lyon, judging and participating in piping competitions in his downtime.

But he didn't really begin competing until he joined the Lyon community in 2003.

"I always won prizes, but I have so much more opportunity here," Bell said. "Lyon is a unique place for bagpipers in that way."

Since 2007, Bell has won all the major piping awards in the country, including the overall title last year. His students, too, have been on a winning streak.

According to Bell, his students excel both at Lyon and in competitions. Bell said that he encourages members of the pipe band to take academics seriously, telling them to always stay two weeks ahead of their syllabi.

"What we do is about life lessons," he explained. "You have to have focus and determination no matter what you do."

These values have led to student-driven management in the pipe band, allowing pipers to succeed long after graduating from Lyon. Bell named several successful alumni, such as Patrick McLaurin, an instructor in the chemistry department at Texas Tech University College of Arts and Sciences.

"If you're dedicated and focused, you'll succeed in every facet of life," he continued.

Bell also noted how much he's enjoyed working at Lyon the past 10 years, noting how there are many intelligent people at Lyon.

"There are not many places like this in the world," he said, emphasizing the opportunities he's had at Lyon. "I get to do my hobby for a living. I love it here."

(Source: Lyon College)

Source: http://batesville.todaysthv.com/news/news/254943-lyon-college-pipe-major-wins-bagpiping-gold-medal

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Scosche is now offering the boltBOX and microBOX retractable charge and sync cables

Tangled cables will be a thing of the past with the boltBOX retractable charge and sync cable from Scosche which has been designed for devices with Lightning connectors like the iPod touch (5th generation), iPod nano (7th generation), iPhone 5, iPad (4th generation) and iPad mini. The microBOX is a version for Android and other […]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/08/12/scosche-is-now-offering-the-boltbox-and-microbox-retractable-charge-and-sync-cables/

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Sushi-go-round -- Japan tradition served with technology

AFP - With its masters required to hone their skills over decades, sushi in Japan is steeped in tradition. But it is also often a high-tech operation where robotic precision steals the limelight from the chef's knife.

The country is dotted with thousands of "kaiten" (revolving) sushi restaurants where raw fish slices atop rice balls travel on conveyer belts along counters waiting to be picked up by diners.

Behind the scenes, however, it is far from a simple merry-go-round, with robots in some locations rolling out perfectly-sized rice balls onto plates embedded with microchips.

Measured dollops of spicy wasabi paste are squirted onto the rice assembly-line style before they're topped with raw fish.

And the most cutting-edge eateries are even connected to monitoring centres that can quickly tell whether the right balance of dishes is being produced -- a far cry from traditional-style places where the sushi chef and his knife still reign supreme.

"Sushi isn't going round at random but rather it is coming out based on a number of calculations," said Akihiro Tsuji, public relations manager at Kura Corp., a major operator in a market expected to hit $5.0 billion in revenue this year, according to industry figures.

"Though traditional, sushi is stuffed with high technology. You can't operate low-price revolving sushi restaurants without databases and scientific management," he told AFP at a Tokyo outlet.

Kura has invented a serving device called "sendo-kun", which roughly translates as "Mr Fresh", a plate with a transparent dome that opens automatically when diners select the dish.

While the hood keeps the sushi moist and clean, it also contains a microchip telling managers what kind of fish are swinging around on the conveyer belts and how long they have been there.

Since their birth half a century ago, kaiten sushi restaurants have evolved from selling traditional sushi into miniature museums of the food that Japanese people eat today, including battered tempura, noodles, and even ice cream.

The dishes are cheap, usually starting at around 100 yen (around $1) for two pieces of sushi.

Now, more and more outlets are equipped with dedicated "high-speed" lanes where customers can receive their order via a touch-screen menu.

Ryozo Aida, a 68-year-old university lecturer, said he visits the Kura outlet with his wife because of its "affordable prices".

"It may sound strange in a sushi restaurant, but I like tempura," he said as he jabbed his fingers at a touch-screen panel.

Inside the kitchen, screens show how many adults and children are dining and roughly how long they have been in the restaurant.

"Even if all the 199 seats here are occupied, how much sushi we need will differ depending on how long they have been at the table," Tsuji said.

The system combines real-time data with information about how many items were consumed in similar circumstances in the past, displaying results for kitchen staff.

Complementing on-the-spot efforts, the Kura chain also has a remote assistance system serving its network of more than 300 outlets.

In-store cameras feed images to dozens of supervisors who move from restaurant to restaurant with laptops -- while others watch from monitoring centres -- to advise restaurants instantly if there is enough food and the right mix of offerings on the conveyer belt. The cameras can zoom in on sushi to make sure it is laid out in regulation elegance -- although they don't monitor customers' faces for privacy reasons.

At another outlet run by Genki Sushi's "Uobei" brand in the fashionable Tokyo district of Shibuya, the concept of one conveyor belt has been updated. All 90 seats face counters with three decks of "high-speed" lanes delivering sushi directly to the person who ordered via multi-lingual touch screen.

Accuracy and speed is the name of the game with the store targeting delivery in under a minute.

"As we looked at how fast we can deliver what's ordered, we came up with this system," said Akira Koyanagi, district manager for Genki, adding that it also cuts down on wasted food.

All this high technology costs money, but sales at kaiten sushi restaurants have grown 20 percent over the past five years with the industry expected to rake in nearly $5.0 billion this year, according to research firm Fuji-Keizai Group.

A key challenge, however, is that Japanese people are eating less fish and more meat these days as world prices rise due to strong demand in the United States and Europe.

"Procurement is getting tough," said a Genki Sushi spokesman.

Source: http://www.france24.com/en/20130812-sushi-go-round-japan-tradition-served-with-technology

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moving from Google Code to GitHub: a horrible, ultimately rewarding odyssey

The beets project began on May 14, 2008 with my first commit to a Subversion repository. On that day, GitHub was four days old.

Had I known of GitHub then, I never would have started the project on Google Code. But I didn't, so I did, and it's been a hell of a time gradually moving the project over. Moving the code was easy and happened earliest. (The repository is also mirrored on BitBucket as a Mercurial repo.) The wiki was its own ordeal and required manual conversion from Google Code's proprietary wiki syntax to Markdown (thanks, vim macros). But I procrastinated on the hardest part: the issues. Today, I finally moved that last puzzle piece over.

While I'm excited to finally move from an aging, neglected issue tracker to a shiny, well-supported new thing, the process probably could not have been more painful. Here are some tips for other open-source projects looking to make the same transition.

• Start early! This was only made more painful by having more than 500 issues in the Google Code tracker. I wish I had not procrastinated so long.
• Use the handy, hacky google-code-issues-migrator script by @arthur-debert on GitHub.
• But be aware that this project suffers from a peculiar kind of tragedy of the commons. Everybody needs this script once but no one is motivated to maintain it long term. So take a look at the repository's forks and choose one by a reasonably recent pilgrim. Here's mine. As messy as the code and the network of forks is, this little cottage industry is an incredible testament to the open-source bazaar and how GitHub is able to facilitate it.
• To test your migration, I suggest creating a temporary, private repository that won't bug anyone as you open and close a million issues. This way, I was able to debug lots of problems with labels, which you don't get to see when performing a dry run.
• You're going to need to hack the script for your particular needs. Here are some things I did:
  • I cobbled together some features from various forks of the repository, such as a --skip_closed flag. (Beets has hundreds of closed issues that I don't need clogging up the issue tracker.)
  • I added a flag to turn off comments and issue bodies. The issues now just link back to Google Code for their historical context. This works for us because the issues in the old tracker are old and have lots of comments, some of which are totally irrelevant. The original report text is also not usually very relevant out of context (although the title usually is).
  • I changed the script to only migrate labels that have a configured mapping since I've resolved to fiddle with labels less and use a simpler organization scheme.
• Here's the worst part: since there's no way to avoid creating each issue in turn, GitHub is going to send an email for every new issue that gets copied over. There's no awesome way to get around this; you'll just have to apologize to all your repository's watchers. (I tried temporarily removing all the repository collaborators, but this does not, unfortunately, unsubscribe them.)
• I did, however, use a temporary user to do the migration instead of my main account. This helped avoid cluttering my history with 89 different ?created issue? events. Since I deleted that user, the migrated issues are now marked as having been created by a cute little ghost.
• Finally, Google code lets you replace a project tab with a wiki page. I used this to redirect users to the GitHub issue tracker. Fortunately, this does not prevent access to old issues (which are linked from GitHub).

As unpleasant as it was (as I write this, I'm still deleting straggling notification spam), I recommend moving from Google Code to GitHub Issues. This is an observation that's been made umpteen times before, but I remember when Google Code was an incredible relief from the antiquated and convoluted SourceForge?and this move has been every bit as satisfying.

Have comments or questions? Send me an email, tweet at @b33ts, or discuss on Hacker News.

Source: http://beets.radbox.org/blog/github-issues.html

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Google Glass Update Adds Video Player, Voice Actions For Path And Evernote, And New Cards

Google has added some new features to Glass in the latest software update for its experimental face-based computing device. There's a new video player with simple tap to start/pause, swipe to fast forward and rewind commands, and new voice commands for posting an update or taking a note that uses Path or Evernote glassware by default if you have them installed.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/wGuaqg-fGlE/

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Kerry defends NSA surveillance programs

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) ? U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry defended the National Security Agency surveillance programs on Monday and downplayed their impact on U.S. efforts to deepen relations with two key allies in Latin America.

Brazil and Colombia, two of the United States' closest friends in the region, have been rankled by reports that citizens of Colombia, Mexico, Brazil and other countries were among the targets of a massive NSA operation to secretly gather information about phone calls and Internet communications worldwide. The disclosures were made by NSA leaker Edward Snowden.

Kerry sought to play down the rift during a press conference in Bogota before heading to Brazil on his first trip to South America as secretary of state.

"Frankly, we work on a huge number of issues and this was in fact a very small part of the overall conversation and one in which I'm confident I was able to explain precisely that this has received the support of all three branches of our government," Kerry said. "It has been completely conducted under our Constitution and the law. ... The president has taken great steps in the last few days ... to reassure people of the U.S. intentions here."

He referenced the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. "It's obvious to everybody that this is a dangerous world we're living in ... we are necessarily engaged in a very complex effort to prevent terrorists from taking innocent lives."

Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin said Colombia officials had traveled to Washington to learn more about the surveillance program. "We have received the necessary assurances to continue to work on this," she said through a translator.

In her opening remarks, Holguin said she appreciated Kerry's efforts to restart the Mideast peace talks.

Kerry said he doesn't think the recent flap over Israeli settlement announcements will derail the second round of Mideast peace talks this week in the region.

Israel approved building nearly 1,200 more settlement homes Sunday ? the third settlement announcement in a week. It fueled Palestinian fears of a new Israeli construction spurt under the cover of U.S.-sponsored negotiations.

"The announcements with respect to settlements were to some degree expected because we have known that there was going to be a continuation of some building in certain places," Kerry said. "And I think the Palestinians understand that. I think one of the announcements was outside of that expectation and that's being discussed right now."

He restated the U.S. position that it views the settlements as illegitimate. He said the recent controversy underscored the importance of getting to the negotiating table quickly and resolving the questions with respect to settlements.

"Once you have security and borders solved, you have resolved the question of settlements," he said. "With the negotiation of major issues, these kind of hotpoint issues ... are eliminated as the kind of flashpoints that they may be viewed today."

He said he expected to talk with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the issue later today or tomorrow. "I'm sure we will work out a path forward."

Kerry arrived late Sunday in Bogota, the Colombian capital, at a time when the country is holding peace talks to end a half century-old conflict with the Western Hemisphere's most potent rebel army. The rebel force has diminished in strength thanks in considerable measure to U.S. military and intelligence support. Kerry's discussions in Colombia also focused on trade, energy and counternarcotics and he met with Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos.

"Colombia is a success story," Kerry said. "The Santos administration has taken a very courageous and very necessary and very imaginative effort to seek a political solution to one of the world's longest conflicts."

Kerry began the day by having breakfast with two negotiators from the Colombian government, which has been conducting peace talks in Havana, Cuba, with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia since last year. Formed in the 1960s, the FARC is the oldest active guerrilla band in the Western Hemisphere. Observers say the FARC currently has about 8,000 armed fighters.

After breakfast at his hotel, Kerry visited a gymnasium where members of the Colombia police and army, many who have lost limbs in the conflict, were playing rugby in wheelchairs reinforced with hard plastic instead of spokes. The chairs were designed to take a beating and during the game, and some players collided so violently that their chairs overturned on the court.

Kerry rolled up one of his pants legs, a national show of support for those who have lost their limbs in the fighting.

Then he walked to the other side of the gym to watch amputees playing volleyball. They used their hands to move themselves around the floor and spike the ball from sitting positions. Kerry got into the game and scooted along the floor in his suit, reaching from side to side to tap the ball over the net.

Before leaving for Brazil, Kerry visited the headquarters of the Colombian National Police Counter-Narcotics Directorate for a briefing on the U.S.-Colombia partnership on fighting drugs, progress that has been made during the past decade, and an update on Colombia's efforts to share its expertise in security work with other countries in the region. Colombia has helped to train more than 13,000 international police personnel from 25 Latin American countries and more than 20 other countries since 2009.

According to the State Department, Colombia has seen a 53 percent reduction in the cultivation of coca since 2007. Last year, Colombian authorities reported a record seizure of 279 metric tons of cocaine and cocaine products in the country and abroad.

The Colombian government has increasingly assumed operational and financial responsibility for many U.S.-backed drug-fighting programs, has worked to dramatically reduce kidnappings and political assassinations and disrupt illegal narcotics trafficking with the help of more than $8.5 billion from the U.S. since 2000.

But U.S. assistance to Colombia has been gradually decreasing, falling from $287 million in fiscal 2008 to $161 million in fiscal 2012.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-08-12-LT-Kerry/id-aee2aa03baa74081b2d593a0a20ecc0e

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Volcano spews more hot ash, lava in east Indonesia

Mount Rokatenda spews volcanic smoke on Palue island, Indonesia, Monday, Aug. 12, 2013. The volcano spewed more hot ash and lava on the tiny Indonesian island Monday after causing six deaths during its eruption over the weekend. (AP Photo/Jacob Herin)

Mount Rokatenda spews volcanic smoke on Palue island, Indonesia, Monday, Aug. 12, 2013. The volcano spewed more hot ash and lava on the tiny Indonesian island Monday after causing six deaths during its eruption over the weekend. (AP Photo/Jacob Herin)

Map locates Mount Rokatenda in Indonesia where an active volcano forced 500 Palua island residents to evacuate.; 1c x 2 inches; 46.5 mm x 50 mm;

MAUMERE, Indonesia (AP) ? A volcano spewed more hot ash and lava on a tiny Indonesian island Monday after causing six deaths over the weekend.

More than 500 Palue island residents who had earlier refused to leave the 3-kilometer (1.9-mile) exclusion zone around Mount Rokatenda have been evacuated to the neighboring island of Flores, said Mutiara Mauboi, an official at a disaster command post.

The bodies of two children who were among six people killed by lava as they slept early Saturday have not been recovered.

"There is no more searching for the victims. The main activity now is evacuation," Mauboi said from her office in the town of Maumere. "All of the residents in eight villages on Palue have to be moved gradually."

The eruptions were smaller Monday but the potential danger was high because the volcano continues to release hot gas clouds, said government volcanologist Surono, who uses only one name like many Indonesians. Molten lava and ash have covered most of Palue, an island in East Nusa Tenggara province with only a 4-kilometer radius.

"Mount Rokatenda remains on high alert," Surono said. "There has been no significant decline in activity."

About a quarter of the island's 12,000 people moved to Flores after the volcano began erupting last October, said Tini Thadeus, head of the local disaster agency, adding the government has agreed to build new houses for the displaced.

Food and thousands of blankets have been sent to several temporary shelters, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman. More than 3,500 displaced people remain in desperate need of sleeping mats, tents and clean water.

The six victims were among residents who had refused to leave last year when the safety zone was established, he said, adding that many who stayed believed in old customs that requires their presence to keep lava from destroying villages, Thadeus said. Among the dead was a 58-year-old woman, the grandmother of the two children whose bodies have not been found.

During past eruptions dating to the 1930s, lava had typically flowed south, but this time it moved north toward the beaches where the victims slept, he said.

Mount Rokatenda is one of 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands that's home to 240 million people. The country is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because it sits along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a horseshoe-shaped series of fault lines.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2013-08-12-AS-Indonesia-Volcano-Erupts/id-319d9b4c363841c3abcafc8c3f67c0e4

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New Targets for Hackers: Your Car and Your House - NYTimes.com

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Hackers and security researchers are exploring vulnerabilities to break through the high-tech security of homes or cause car accidents. Read more? ... Bits - Business, Innovation, Technology, Society. Go. August 11, 2013 .... ?We haven't figured out how to stop attacks against Web browsers in personal computers despite trying for the last 10 years, so there isn't any reason to think that we can stop attacks against cars or other devices in the near future,? Mr. Miller said.

Source: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/11/taking-over-cars-and-homes-remotely/

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Falling Rain Rome, Italy 2013 Nezih Tavlas took up photography...

Falling Rain Rome, Italy 2013

Nezih Tavlas took up photography while a student at the faculty of journalism and public relations in the 1980s. As a reporter his news photos had been published in both national and international magazines & newspapers. When his 18-year journalism career has taken him to war zones such as Iraq, Somaila he ended his career as a journalist but he continues to take documentary photos from street and daily life?

http://www.tavlas.com/
NO PHOTOSHOP PHOTOGRAPHY

Source: http://photographersdirectory.tumblr.com/post/57967633298

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Gophers coach Jerry Kill tackles epilepsy at pivotal point in his career

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As darkness fell over TCF Bank Stadium, the Gophers trooped onto the field for the second half against Michigan State. Fans hunched under blankets and sipped hot chocolate, braving 25-degree temperatures during Thanksgiving weekend.

But Minnesota?s coach remained inside. Jerry Kill had suffered another epileptic seizure in the locker room after players headed to the field, and he couldn?t make it back to the sideline.

So the final regular-season game went on without him. The Gophers stayed close until the fourth quarter, but their offense sputtered in a 26-10 loss.

Hours later, Kill and his wife, Rebecca, walked out of the empty stadium and headed home. It was, he said later, ?about the lowest point of my life.?

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Not again. That?s all Kill could think ? not again. This had been his fifth documented seizure in two years at Minnesota, the second to strike during a game. He knew people doubted him. He never wanted concerns about his health overshadowing his team?s performance.

Now, at the dawn of a new season, Kill has come to a pivotal juncture in his eight-year quest to gain control of his seizures. The Gophers need to keep improving, and he needs to prove he can stay healthy.

Knowing the stakes, he found a new doctor, changed medication plans, honed his diet, exercised and adopted a whole new outlook ? embracing the word epilepsy instead of shunning it.

?Believe me, there?s nobody who?s trying to do the right thing more than I am because I love coaching the game of football,? Kill said. ?And I want to make sure I never have a situation, ever, during a game again.?

Experts say about 70 percent of the people with epilepsy can become seizure-free with the right medication. Kill insists he?s making progress.

Source: http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/219135991.html

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