NBA veteran Jason Collins comes out as gay

FILE - In a Wednesday, April 17, 2013 file photo, Washington Wizards center Jason Collins, right, battles for a rebound against Chicago Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Chicago. NBA veteran center Collins has become the first male professional athlete in the major four American sports leagues to come out as gay. Collins wrote a first-person account posted Monday, April 29, 2013 on Sports Illustrated's website. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

FILE - In a Wednesday, April 17, 2013 file photo, Washington Wizards center Jason Collins, right, battles for a rebound against Chicago Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Chicago. NBA veteran center Collins has become the first male professional athlete in the major four American sports leagues to come out as gay. Collins wrote a first-person account posted Monday, April 29, 2013 on Sports Illustrated's website. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

FILE - Boston Celtics center Jason Collins battles Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard (12) for a rebound during the first half of their NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013 in Los Angeles. NBA veteran center Collins has become the first male professional athlete in the major four American sports leagues to come out as gay. Collins wrote a first-person account posted Monday, April 29, 2013 on Sports Illustrated's website.(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 20, 2013 file photo, then-Boston Celtics center Jason Collins (98) guards Detroit Pistons center Greg Monroe, right, in the second half of an NBA basketball game in Auburn Hills, Mich. Jason Collins has become the first male professional athlete in the major four American sports leagues to come out as gay. Collins wrote a first-person account posted Monday on Sports Illustrated's website. The 34-year-old Collins has played for six NBA teams in 12 seasons. He finished this past season with the Washington Wizards and is now a free agent. He says he wants to continue playing. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson, File)

NEW YORK (AP) ? NBA veteran Jason Collins became the first active male player in the four major American professional sports to come out as gay.

The 34-year-old center, who has played for six teams in 12 seasons, wrote a first-person account that was posted on Sports Illustrated's website Monday. Collins finished the season with the Washington Wizards and is now a free agent. He says he wants to keep playing.

"If I had my way, someone else would have already done this," he writes. "Nobody has, which is why I'm raising my hand."

Collins played in a Final Four for Stanford and reached two NBA Finals. His twin brother, Jarron, was also a longtime NBA center. Collins says he told his brother he was gay last summer.

"Jason has been a widely respected player and teammate throughout his career and we are proud he has assumed the leadership mantle on this very important issue," NBA commissioner David Stern said in a statement.

Among those offering support on social media was former first daughter Chelsea Clinton, a friend from Stanford. She tweeted: "Very proud of my friend Jason Collins for having the strength & courage to be the first openly gay player in the NBA."

Collins was also college roommates with another member of an American political dynasty: Rep. Joe Kennedy III, D-Mass. In his account, Collins wrote that he realized he needed to go public when the congressman walked in Boston's gay pride parade last year ? and Collins couldn't join him.

Kennedy tweeted Monday that "I've always been proud to call (Collins) a friend, and I'm even prouder to stand with him today."

Mostly a backup in his career, Collins has averaged 3.6 points and 3.8 rebounds for the Nets, Grizzlies, Timberwolves, Hawks, Celtics and Wizards. He was traded from Boston to Washington in February. Collins was the 18th pick in the first round of the 2001 NBA draft.

Several male athletes have previously come out after they retired, including the NBA's John Amaechi, the NFL's Esera Tuaolo and Major League Baseball's Billy Bean. But Collins is the first to do so while planning to keep playing.

Advocacy organization GLAAD released a statement from Aaron McQuade, who head of its sports program.

"'Courage' and 'inspiration' are words that get thrown around a lot in sports, but Jason Collins has given both ideas a brand new context," he said. "We hope that his future team will welcome him, and that fans of the NBA and sports in general will applaud him. We know that the NBA will proudly support him, and that countless young LGBT Athletes now have a new hero."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-04-29-BKN-Jason-Collins-Comes-Out/id-7873434162fb45b39ec424495f6eee38

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Consumer spending up, inflation pressures muted

By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Consumer spending rose in March but the increase was largely a result of higher outlays for utilities due to cool weather, leaving expectations of slower second-quarter economic growth intact.

The Commerce Department said on Monday consumer spending advanced 0.2 percent last month after an unrevised 0.7 percent increase in February. While spending on services, mostly utilities increased, outlays on goods fell.

Consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity and the increase last month provided a higher base for second-quarter consumer spending. Economists had expected a flat reading last month.

"But much of the upside in March was in a second straight enormous gain in utilities consumption, which appears likely to see a substantial reversal in coming months," said Ted Wieseman, an economist at Morgan Stanley in New York.

The report also showed inflation remained muted. After adjusting for price changes, spending increased 0.3 percent after advancing by the same margin in February.

Details of the report were largely included in Friday's first-quarter gross domestic product report. The dollar slipped after the report, while U.S. Treasury debt prices rose.

"The report was generally consistent with our view that the economy lost momentum at the end of the first quarter," said Daniel Silver, an economist at JPMorgan in New York.

A separate report showed contracts to buy previously owned homes rose last month to their highest level since April 2010, showing underlying strength in the housing market recovery, even though the pace of sales growth has cooled in recent months.

The National Association of Realtors said its Pending Sales Index, based on contracts signed in March, rose 1.5 percent to 105.7.

Housing remains the bright spot in the economy, which appears to have hit a soft patch in recent weeks, with data ranging from retail sales to employment and factory activity significantly weakening in March.

The economy grew at a 2.5 percent rate in the first quarter, accelerating from a 0.4 percent rate in the last three months of 2012. Growth estimates for the second quarter are currently in a 1.0 to 1.5 percent range.

But some economists believe the better-than-expected reading in consumer spending in March, as well as cooling inflation, increased the chances of a better GDP number in the second quarter than currently being expected.

"This makes it much more likely than we thought for real consumer spending to post a solid gain in the second quarter and increases the chances that real GDP growth in the second quarter will come in above 2 percent," said John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics in New York.

Consumer spending grew at a brisk 3.2 percent rate in the first three months of the year.

LITTLE INFLATION

Last month, income rose 0.2 percent after a 1.1 percent increase in February. Income growth is being restrained by the end of a 2 percent payroll tax cut on January 1.

But subsiding inflation pressures are helping to support households' purchasing power. Income at the disposal of households after inflation and taxes increased 0.3 percent last month after a 0.7 percent gain in the prior month.

With income growth matching spending, the saving rate - the percentage of disposable income households are socking away - was unchanged at 2.7 percent.

The report showed little inflation, with a price index for consumer spending dipping 0.1 percent, the first drop since November. A core reading that strips out food and energy costs was flat.

Over the past 12 months, inflation has risen just 1.0 percent, the smallest gain since October 2009 and a slowdown from the 1.3 percent logged in the period through February.

Core prices are up 1.1 percent, the smallest rise since March 2011 and well below the Federal Reserve's 2 percent target. Core PCE had increased 1.3 percent in February.

The lack of inflation pressure gives the U.S. central bank scope to maintain its very easy monetary policy stance.

"People are going to pick up how low inflation is and how low it's going. That's what the Fed will be keeping an eye on given the weak demand environment," said Sam Bullard, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Fed officials meet this week to assess the health of the economy. The Fed is widely expected to keep purchasing bonds at a pace of $85 billion a month.

(Additional reporting by Margaret Chadbourn in Washington and Richard Leong in New York; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/consumer-spending-inflation-pressures-muted-124605766.html

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Piece of 9/11 plane was from wing

NEW YORK (AP) ? Authorities now say a 5-foot part that's believed to be from a hijacked 9/11 World Trade Center jetliner came from a wing.

Police said Monday the rusted metal part from a Boeing 767 is a trailing edge flap support structure. It helps secure wing flaps that aid in regulating plane speed.

Investigators initially thought it was part of the landing gear, because both pieces have similar hydraulics.

Authorities believe the aircraft part is from one of the two hijacked planes that brought down the trade center and killed nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001. But Boeing officials can't determine which flight.

The chief medical examiner's office says its workers will sift soil at the site for human remains starting Tuesday.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jet-part-found-last-week-nyc-wing-163129144.html

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California police search for suspect in fatal stabbing of girl

(Reuters) - Authorities were searching on Sunday for a man suspected of stabbing an 8-year-old girl to death at a home in a northern California suburb, officials said.

Residents of Valley Springs, California, 60 miles southeast of Sacramento, were warned to stay inside their homes with their doors locked as investigators fanned out across the region, hunting for the girl's attacker.

Detectives interviewed potential witnesses, family members and collected fingerprints and possible DNA from the home where the girl was killed on Saturday, but had no specific suspect, the Calaveras County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

The sheriff's office identified the girl as Leila Fowler, 8, and said it expected an autopsy to be performed on Monday. They had previously said she was 9 years old.

Authorities said the girl's 12-year-old brother encountered an intruder in his home on Saturday afternoon and the suspect fled, according to KCRA, a local television news station. The boy then went to check on his sister and found her stabbed. She was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, KCRA reported.

The sheriff said the suspect was considered armed and dangerous and described him as a "muscular" white or Hispanic man, about 6-feet (1.83-meters) tall with longish gray hair. They said he was last seen wearing a long-sleeved black shirt and blue pants.

The sheriff's office said it had notified the local school district about the case and planned to have an increased presence at the schools and bus stops on Monday.

(Reporting by Chris Francescani and David Bailey; Editing by Barbara Goldberg, Jackie Frank and Paul Simao)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/california-police-search-suspect-fatal-stabbing-girl-051918273.html

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U.S. consumers keep spending despite reduced pay

WASHINGTON (AP) -- This year got off to a sour start for U.S. workers: Their pay, already gasping to keep pace with inflation, was suddenly shrunk by a Social Security tax increase.

Which raised a worrisome question: Would consumers stop spending and further slow the economy? Nope. Not yet, anyway.

On Friday, the government said consumers spent 3.2 percent more on an annual basis in the January-March quarter than in the previous quarter ? the biggest jump in two years. It highlighted a broader improvement in Americans' financial health that is blunting the impact of the tax increase and raising hopes for more sustainable growth.

Consumers have shed debt. Gasoline has gotten cheaper. Rising home values and record stock prices have restored household wealth to its pre-recession high. And employers are steadily adding jobs, which means more people have money to spend.

"No one should write off the consumer simply because of the 2-percentage point increase in payroll taxes," says Bernard Baumohl, chief economist at the Economic Outlook Group. "Overall household finances are in the best shape in more than five years."

Certainly, spending weakened toward the end of the January-March quarter. Spending at retailers fell in March by 0.4 percent, the worst showing in nine months. And more spending on utilities accounted for up to one-fourth of the increase in consumer spending in the January-March quarter, according to JPMorgan Chase economist Michael Feroli, because of colder weather.

Higher spending on utilities isn't a barometer of consumer confidence the way spending on household goods, such as new appliances or furniture, would be.

Americans also saved less in the first quarter, lowering the savings rate to 2.6 percent from 3.9 percent in 2012. Economists say that was likely a temporary response to the higher Social Security tax, and most expect the savings rate to rise back to last year's level. That could limit spending.

But several longer-term trends are likely to push in the other direction, economists say, and help sustain consumer spending. Among those trends:

? WEALTH IS UP

Home prices rose more than 10 percent in the 12 months that ended in February. And both the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 stock indexes reached record highs in the first quarter. As a result, Americans have recovered the $16 trillion in wealth that was wiped out by the Great Recession. Economists estimate that each dollar of additional wealth adds roughly 3 cents to spending. That means last year's $5.5 trillion run-up in wealth could spur about $165 billion in additional consumer spending this year. That's much more than the $120 billion cost of the higher Social Security taxes.

? DEBT IS DOWN

Household debt now equals 102 percent of after-tax income, down from a peak of 126 percent in 2007. That's almost back to its long-term trend, according to economists at Deutsche Bank. And households are paying less interest on their debts, largely because of the Federal Reserve's efforts to keep borrowing rates at record lows. The percentage of after-tax income that Americans spent on interest and debt payments dropped to 10.4 percent in the October-December quarter last year. That's the lowest such figure in the 32 years that the Federal Reserve has tracked the data.

? JOBS ARE UP

Employers have added an average of 188,000 jobs a month in the past six months, up from 130,000 in the previous six. Job gains slowed in March to only 88,000. But most economists expect at least a modest rebound in coming months. And layoffs sank to a record low in January. Fewer layoffs tend to make people feel more secure in their jobs and more willing to spend.

? GAS PRICES ARE DOWN

Gasoline prices have fallen in the past year and are likely to stay low. Nationwide, the average price of a gallon of gas has dropped 28 cents since this year's peak of $3.79 on Feb. 27. Analysts expect gas to drop an additional 20 cents over the next two months. Each 10 cent drop over a full year translates into roughly $13 billion in savings for consumers.

? LOAN COSTS ARE DOWN

Lower interest rates have enabled millions of Americans to save money by refinancing their mortgages. Mortgage giant Freddie Mac estimates that in the fourth quarter of 2012, homeowners who refinanced cut their interest rate by one-third, the biggest reduction in 27 years the agency has tracked the data. On a $200,000 loan, that means $3,600 in savings over the next 12 months.

Some economists note that the Social Security tax cut didn't spur much more spending when it first took effect at the start of 2011. The tax cut gave someone earning $50,000 about $1,000 more to spend each year. A household with two high-paid workers had up to $4,500 more.

Despite the tax cut, Baumohl notes that consumer spending rose only 2.5 percent in 2011 and 1.9 percent in 2012. In the 10 years before the recession began in December 2007, the average annual spending increase was 3.4 percent.

And a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that consumers spent only 36 percent of the increased income that resulted from the tax cut. The rest went to paying down debt or to savings.

Since the tax cut didn't boost spending that much, its expiration may not drag it down much, either. Economists say temporary tax cuts are often ineffective because many consumers assume that the tax breaks will eventually disappear. So they don't ramp up spending in response.

Scott Loehrke, 25, hasn't cut back spending this year. Loehrke went ahead in March with some car repairs that could have been delayed. And he still plans to vacation in May in Mexico with his wife, Jackie.

The couple, who live just outside Cleveland, feel secure in their jobs. Loehrke is a salesman for a company that makes T-shirts, cups, key chains and other promotional products. Business has picked up in the past year as the economy has improved. His wife is a pharmacist.

"Everything that we've planned to do we're still doing," Loehrke says.

The Loehrkes both have heavy student debt and so are focused on keeping their expenses in check. They both drive used cars. That's enabled them to build up some savings and made it easier to absorb the tax increase.

New threats have emerged. Across-the-board government spending cuts kicked in March 1. The spending cuts have triggered government furloughs and could lead private companies that do business with the government to cut staff. And the cuts are expected to shave a half-point from economic growth this year.

Even so, most economists are relieved that consumers have proved so resilient so far.

"It's very encouraging that consumers and thus the broader economy have been able to weather that storm as well as they have," says Mark Zandi, an economist at Moody's Analytics.

___

Follow Chris Rugaber on Twitter at https://Twitter.com/ChrisRugaber

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-consumers-keep-spending-despite-070217622.html

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Analysis: Israeli credibility on line over Iran nuclear challenge

By Crispian Balmer and Dan Williams

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel risks a loss of credibility over both its "red line" for Iran's nuclear program and its threat of military action, and its room for unilateral maneuver is shrinking.

After years of veiled warnings that Israel might strike the Islamic Republic, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laid out an ultimatum at the United Nations last September.

Iran, he said, must not amass enough uranium at 20 percent fissile purity to fuel one bomb if enriched further. To ram the point home, he drew a red line across a cartoon bomb, guaranteeing him front page headlines around the world.

However, a respected Israeli ex-spymaster says Iran has skillfully circumvented the challenge. Other influential voices say the time has passed when Israel can hit out at Iran alone, leaving it dependent on U.S. decision-makers.

"If there was a good window of opportunity to attack, it was six months ago - not necessarily today," said Giora Eiland, a former Israeli national security adviser. Pressure from Washington, he said, had forced Israel to drop its strike plan.

Israel has long insisted on the need for a convincing military threat and setting clear lines beyond which Iran's nuclear activity should not advance, calling this the only way to persuade Iran that it must bow to international pressure.

Serving officials argue that Netanyahu's repeated warnings of the menace posed by Iran's nuclear project have pushed the issue to the top of the global agenda and helped generate some of the toughest economic sanctions ever imposed on a nation.

But some officials have also questioned the wisdom of his red line, arguing that such brinkmanship can generate unwelcome ambiguity - as the United States has discovered with its contested stance on the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

Amos Yadlin, a former military intelligence chief who runs a Tel Aviv think-tank, suggested last week that Israel had also got itself into a tangle, saying Iran had expanded its nuclear capacity beyond the Israeli limit, without triggering alarms.

"Today it can be said that the Iranians have crossed the red line set by Netanyahu at the U.N. assembly," Yadlin told a conference at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), which he heads.

DRUM BEAT RESUMES

Netanyahu's office declined to respond to Yadlin's remarks, noting that the prime minister, in recent public statements, had said Iran was "continuing to get closer to the red line".

Tehran denies there is any military component to its nuclear activities, saying it is focused only on civilian energy needs. It charges that Israel, widely believed to have the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal, is the greater regional threat.

Keeping in step with Netanyahu, Israeli defense and military officials issued clear warnings this month that Israel was still prepared to go it alone against Iran, once more beating the drums of war after months of relative quiet.

"We will do what is necessary when it is necessary," armed forces chief of staff Benny Gantz told Israel Radio on April 16.

But there is increasing skepticism within diplomatic circles about the viability of such an option. Envoys doubt that the Israeli military could now make much of a dent on Iran's far-flung, well-fortified nuclear installations.

"If nothing happened last year, I struggle to see why it will happen this year," said a top Western diplomat in Tel Aviv, speaking on condition of anonymity given the sensitivities.

Israeli President Shimon Peres has done little to bolster belief in unilateral action, making clear this month that he thought U.S. President Barack Obama would be the one to go to war against Iran if nuclear diplomacy failed.

"He knows no one else will do it," Peres told Israeli TV.

The United States offered Netanyahu a new array of military hardware last week, including refueling tankers that could be used to get fighter jets to and from Iranian targets.

However, Israel cannot match the sort of firepower that the United States could bring to a battlefield. For example, Israel lacks the biggest bunker-busting bombs that experts say would be needed to penetrate Iran's underground Fordow enrichment plant.

Such limitations always cast doubt on a possible Israeli assault and the more time passes, the more the doubts grow.

Ehud Barak, the previous Israeli defense minister, said in November 2011 that within nine months it would probably be impossible to halt Iran because it was increasing the number of centrifuges and its network of sites, creating what he termed a "zone of immunity". Seventeen months have gone by since then.

RECONVERSION RATES

Washington has promised Israel it will not let Iran develop a nuclear bomb. Israelis get jittery, however, because they have set a very different clock for when they believe it would be necessary to intervene - hence the importance of the red line.

The Israelis make no distinction between Iran developing the capacity to build an atomic bomb and having the actual weapon. Yadlin told the INSS conference that as soon as Tehran could put just one rudimentary device on a boat and sail it to an Israeli port, it was a de-facto nuclear-armed nation.

Some analysts question whether Iran would indeed attack Israel if it had an atom bomb, or even try to build one, rather than just establish an apparent nuclear capability to project deterrence and regional power. To fire a nuclear weapon at Israel, they say, could spell the ruin of the Islamic Republic in counter-strikes by a foe with a far bigger nuclear arsenal.

Gantz himself said last year he felt Iran's leadership was "very rational" and unlikely to build an atomic bomb.

The U.S. concern is to prevent Iran, which has called for Israel's destruction, from reaching the verge of acquiring a nuclear bomb - a nuance at variance with Israel's position that provides a longer window of opportunity to continue diplomacy.

Exasperated by Washington's refusal to set a clear ultimatum, Netanyahu came up with his 240-250 kg (530-550 pound) limit for 20 percent enriched uranium, hoping this would concentrate minds. The Iranians stayed below this threshold by converting 110 kg of the gaseous material to solid form that they say is destined to power a research reactor.

Yadlin said that rather than turn all of this into solid reactor fuel, Iran had kept 80 kg of it in the interim powdered state. That, he said, could be converted back to original gas form in around a week, inflating the stockpile beyond 250 kg.

With the red line in possible jeopardy, and unilateral military action in doubt, one security official suggested that Israel might turn to covert sabotage, with renewed focus on those specifically working on the 20 percent enrichment.

Five Iranian scientists and academics have been killed or attacked since 2010 in incidents believed to have targeted Iran's nuclear program. Israel has remained silent about the attacks and other known acts of sabotage at Iranian sites.

(Additional reporting by Fredrik Dahl in Vienna; Editing by Jeffrey Heller and Mark Heinrich)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-israeli-credibility-line-over-iran-nuclear-challenge-095926903.html

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Recording studio in Newcastle: What makes a good facility? - Artipot

Finding a recording studio in Newcastle isn't a difficult job as there are many but you have to choose a facility according to your needs so that you get what you want. For instance take a home based facility. This facility would work well, if your needs are limited and you have just one project to complete. But if you want to work on many projects then you should locate a professional facility.

Could a home based facility be a professional facility? Yes it could, provided it has all the equipments required for producing different beats. The facility should be managed by experienced musicians that understand the needs of their clients. There are many factors to consider other than cost or the service charge of the facility. If price matters most then you should look for a home based facility because home studios charge much less than their commercial counterparts.

Start with determining your needs. If you know how to play music instruments and produce musical sound beats then you could manage to complete your project in a substandard facility. But if you are looking for professional assistance by experienced sound engineers then you should look for a commercial facility, where you have access to everything from necessary equipments to sound mixing software.

How much a facility would charge? Here you can't do a comparison between the service charge of a home based facility and a commercial studio because former charges much less than latter. But you could do a comparison between two home based facilities. Do an online search and find some home based studios located close to your home. Pay a visit to the facilities to know their services. If you are satisfied with the services, a home based recording studio in Newcastle is offering, you could go ahead and search more facilities.

Before choosing a home based facility, do a quality comparison between former and a professional recording studio in Newcastle. Look at the quality of services of both the establishments and choose one that you find reliable. Also look at the suitability and convenience of both the facilities. In this way, you would be able to find a perfect studio.

Whether you are a singer, website designer or an ad maker, you could improve your business with the help of a professional recording studio in Newcastle. Your professional studio could be a home based facility or a commercial establishment. You should explore all the options.

Source: http://www.artipot.com/articles/1564563/recording-studio-in-newcastle-what-makes-a-good-facility.htm

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Kashmir civil society seeks re-investigation into Kunanposhpora ...

By News Desk | Srinagar, Kashmir

Demanding re-investigation into the ?mass rape? of at least thirty two women in Kunanposhpora village of North Kashmir?s Kupwara district, in 1991, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court. The petitioners also sought directions for implementation of the 2011 recommendations of the Human Rights Commission of Kashmir for re-investigating the case.

Women in Kunanposhpora alleged that on the intervening night of February 23 and 24 in 1991 the Indian troops of Rajputana Rifles raped them while men where beaten up. After the incident under forceful public anger, police had lodged an FIR at Trehgam police station against the troops on 18 March 1991.

The PIL has been filed by students, teachers and other professionals through their counsel, Parvaiz Imroz- a prominent human rights lawyer, and had sought directives for initiating criminal proceedings against the then Divisional Commissioner of Kashmir, Wajahat Habibullah, President of Indian Federation of Working Journalists, K Vikram Rao, and a visiting Professor, Boobli George Varghese, for their individual roles in covering up the matter of the ?mass rape?.

On 19 October 2011, a division bench of the commission had asked the authorities to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for re-opening the case and had also recommended to prosecute the then Director Prosecution who had sought closure of the case on the grounds that the perpetrators were untraced.

- Agencies

Source: http://www.thekashmirwalla.com/2013/04/kashmir-civil-society-seeks-re-investigation-into-kunanposhpora-mass-rape/

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10 Tips for Using Credit Cards Responsibly When You Have ADHD ...

The very nature of ADHD makes it difficult for adults with the disorder to use credit cards responsibly. ?Impulsivity, for one thing, means an adult with ADHD will see something they want and without thinking it through, will pull out their credit card and make a purchase,? according to Terry Matlen, ACSW, a psychotherapist and author of Survival Tips for Women with AD/HD.

It also doesn?t help that credit cards are so easy to use. ?Credit cards are rather intangible. They?re plastic, easy to store and don?t look like money. It?s much easier handing a card to a clerk than reaching for cash that generally has more meaning and is more concrete.?

Psychotherapist Stephanie Sarkis, Ph.D, agreed. ?Credit cards can give the illusion that one is not really spending ?real? money.?

Plus, you get instant gratification, and the negative consequences are delayed, since your bills don?t arrive for weeks, Matlen added.

But while using credit cards is more challenging when you have ADHD, you can learn to use them responsibly. Below, Matlen and Sarkis shared their practical and realistic suggestions.

1. Use cash.

?It?s much easier to hand over a little plastic card than a wad of bills that the person worked very hard to earn,? Matlen said. Cash is tangible. ?[U]sing cash is a giant cue that there is only so much money available once some or much of it is spent.?

2. Use one credit card.

If you can?t use cash all the time, have one card for all your purchases, Matlen said. And make sure it has the lowest finance fees you can find, she said.

3. Get a credit card with full payment requirements.

Some people have a remaining balance on their credit cards each month, which leads to finance charges, said Sarkis, author of several books on adult ADHD, including 10 Simple Solutions to Adult ADD.

She compared having an unpaid balance to ?taking out a high-interest loan. An item that seemed like a deal at 50 percent off may actually cost you 200 percent for the original cost if you don?t pay off your balance.? That?s why she suggested having a card like an American Express that requires paying off the full balance every month.

4. Set up automatic withdrawals.

It?s common for adults with ADHD to rack up late fees, because they forget to pay their bills. This is why having money automatically taken out of your account every month is helpful. But, as Sarkis said, you have to make sure there?s enough money in your account.

5. Set up online payments.

Another option is to pay your bill online, Matlen said. Set up reminders to help you pay on time, she said. For instance, you can create reminders in an online calendar and with alarms on your phone.

6. Create a system for bills.

If online payments aren?t possible, Matlen also suggested keeping a box or manila folder for your bills: When each bill arrives, open it, and look at the due date. Write that date on the envelope, and put the bill in your box or folder. Keep the bills in the order in which they?re due. Then, pick two days each month to pay your bills. Note those days in your calendar.

7. Have a pre-paid card.

Both experts suggested having a pre-paid card that fits your budget. ?This helps to prevent over-spending on credit cards,? Matlen said.

8. Take drastic measures.

Some readers might need to take more drastic measures. For instance, for clients whose over-spending is particularly bad, Matlen suggests ?they take their credit cards and put them in the freezer so that they aren?t so easily accessible.?

9. Give yourself a day to reconsider purchases. ?

According to Matlen, when it seems like you?re making an impulsive buy, stop and take a picture of the item instead. (Most cell phones have cameras.) Then give yourself one day to decide if you really want it.

10. Shop with a person who can keep you accountable.

?Shop with someone who can help you curb your impulsive buying,? Matlen said.

It?s common for adults with ADHD to overspend and forget to pay their bills. But while these problems are prevalent, they?re also surmountable. The key is to find a system that works for you and stick with it.

Margarita Tartakovsky, M.S. is an Associate Editor at Psych Central and blogs regularly about eating and self-image issues on her own blog, Weightless.

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Tartakovsky, M. (2013). 10 Tips for Using Credit Cards Responsibly When You Have ADHD. Psych Central. Retrieved on April 26, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/04/26/10-tips-for-using-credit-cards-responsibly-when-you-have-adhd/

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Source: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/04/26/10-tips-for-using-credit-cards-responsibly-when-you-have-adhd/

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New drug stimulates immune system to kill infected cells in animal model of hepatitis B infection

Apr. 26, 2013 ? A novel drug developed by Gilead Sciences and tested in an animal model at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio suppresses hepatitis B virus infection by stimulating the immune system and inducing loss of infected cells.

In a study conducted at Texas Biomed's Southwest National Primate Research Center, researchers found that the immune modulator GS-9620, which targets a receptor on immune cells, reduced both the virus levels and the number of infected liver cells in chimpanzees chronically infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV). Chimpanzees are the only species other than humans that can be infected by HBV. Therefore, the results from this study were critical in moving the drug forward to human clinical trials which are now in progress.

The new report, co-authored by scientists from Texas Biomed and Gilead Sciences, appears in the May issue of Gastroenterology. Gilead researchers had previously demonstrated that the same therapy could induce a cure of hepatitis infection in woodchucks that were chronically infected with a virus similar to human HBV.

"This is an important proof-of-concept study demonstrating that the therapy stimulates the immune system to suppress the virus and eliminate infected liver cells," said co-author Robert E. Lanford, Ph.D., of Texas Biomed. "One of the key observations was that the therapy continued to suppress virus levels for months after therapy was stopped.

The current therapy for HBV infection targets the virus and works very well at suppressing viral replication and delaying progression of liver disease, but it is a lifelong therapy that does not provide a cure.

"This GS-9620 therapy represents the first conceptually new treatment for HBV in more than a decade, and combining it with the existing antiviral therapy could be transformative in dealing with this disease," stated Lanford.

The Gilead drug binds a receptor called Toll-Like Receptor 7 that is present in immune cells. The receptor normally recognizes invading viruses and triggers the immune system to suppress viral replication by the innate immune response and kill infected cells by the adaptive immune response, thus orchestrating both arms of the immune system.

HBV damages the liver, leading to cirrhosis and liver cancer. Liver cancer is the fifth most common cancer worldwide and the third most common cause of cancer death. According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), up to 1.4 million Americans are chronically infected with HBV.

The World Health Organization estimates that two billion people have been infected with the hepatitis B virus, resulting in more than 240 million people with chronic infections and 620,000 deaths every year.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Texas Biomedical Research Institute.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Robert E. Lanford, Bernadette Guerra, Deborah Chavez, Luis Giavedoni, Vida L. Hodara, Kathleen M. Brasky, Abigail Fosdick, Christian R. Frey, Jim Zheng, Grushenka Wolfgang, Randall L. Halcomb, Daniel B. Tumas. GS-9620, an Oral Agonist of Toll-Like Receptor-7, Induces Prolonged Suppression of Hepatitis B Virus in Chronically Infected Chimpanzees. Gastroenterology, 2013; DOI: 10.1053/j.gastro.2013.02.003

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

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/ww9ov1VhtEA/130426152556.htm

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Pick-by-pick draft analysis? |? Draft?chatter

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Rate of return analysis of Management Education: with special ...

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Chiefs pick Central Michigan's Eric Fisher at No 1

FILE - In this Dec. 26, 2012, file photo, Central Michigan offensive linesman Eric Fisher blocks against Western Kentucky during the second half of the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl NCAA college football game at Ford Field in Detroit. Only twice since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 has an offensive tackle been drafted first overall. On Thursday night, the Kansas City Chiefs could make it three. Luke Joeckel and Fisher are the hot names to go No. 1, assuming the Chiefs still have the pick. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 26, 2012, file photo, Central Michigan offensive linesman Eric Fisher blocks against Western Kentucky during the second half of the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl NCAA college football game at Ford Field in Detroit. Only twice since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 has an offensive tackle been drafted first overall. On Thursday night, the Kansas City Chiefs could make it three. Luke Joeckel and Fisher are the hot names to go No. 1, assuming the Chiefs still have the pick. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

Draft prospects Eric Fisher, center, of Central Michigan, and Jonathan Cooper, of North Carolina, build mock trophies from hospital materials with pediatric patient J.T. Flanagan, left, of Carmel, N.Y., in the Kravis Children's Hospital of New York's Mount Sinai Medical Center, Thursday, April 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

IFLE - In this Feb. 23, 2013 file photo, Central Michigan offensive lineman Eric Fisher runs a drill during the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis. Fisher is considered a possible first round pick in the NFL Draft on Thursday, April 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Dave Martin, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 26, 2012, file photo, Central Michigan offensive linesman Eric Fisher gets set at the line to during the first quarter of the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl NCAA college football game against Western Kentucky at Ford Field in Detroit. Don't be shocked if the first four names called Thursday night at the NFL Draft by Commissioner Roger Goodell come from the trenches: tackles Luke Joeckel of Texas A&M and Eric Fisher of Central Michigan; defensive end Dion Jordan of Oregon; and defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd of Florida. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) ? The Kansas City Chiefs began to realize about two weeks ago that Central Michigan's Eric Fisher would be their choice with the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft.

The only reason they used up the 10 minutes allotted them Thursday night? The offensive tackle's cellphone kept cutting out inside New York City's Radio City Music Hall.

"We waited a while because we had a hard time getting ahold of him," Chiefs coach Andy Reid said with a smile. "The phone was dying. That was the reason for waiting."

Evidently, Fisher was worth the wait.

The Chiefs picked him ahead of Texas A&M offensive tackle Luke Joeckel, who went No. 2 to the Jacksonville Jaguars, to kick off a draft heavy on linemen. Fisher is a potential replacement for Branden Albert, and should help protect the blindside of new quarterback Alex Smith.

"It was almost surreal that phone call was happening," said Fisher, just the third offensive lineman picked No. 1 since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. "It was my goal all along, but I think it didn't hit me until my phone rang."

The Chiefs had the top pick in the NFL draft for the first time in franchise history. But rather than announce their intentions early, like the Indianapolis Colts did in picking Andrew Luck last season, new general manager John Dorsey and Reid decided to wait until they were on the clock before making their choice public.

Kansas City was still considering a handful of players early this week, including Joeckel, who many believed was the best available player. Dorsey also indicated that he would listen to offers from teams trying to trade up until the last possible minute.

When nothing materialized, Dorsey phoned in his selection and Fisher became the first player from Central Michigan to be picked first overall.

"What you're getting is a very athletic player, a great kid, a smart kid ? engineering major," Reid said. "He can play any position along the line, and loves to play the game."

The Chiefs were in a need of a quarterback after going 2-14 a year ago, but without a top-end talent available, they chose to acquire Smith in a trade with San Francisco. That allowed them to spend the most coveted pick in the draft on who they believed to be the best player.

Fisher is only the third player in the past 20 years to be drafted first from a non-BCS school, and the first non-quarterback. The only other player out of Central Michigan to go in the first round was Joe Staley, the San Francisco 49ers' Pro Bowl left tackle.

With surprising athleticism in a 6-foot-7, 306-pound frame, Fisher rocketed up draft boards after the Senior Bowl. And while he doesn't play a marquee position such as quarterback, and may not push the needle for many Chiefs fans, Fisher does fill a significant need.

Albert, who the Chiefs picked in the first round in 2008, was given the franchise tag in March and is due to make about $9.3 million next season. But he has repeatedly expressed his unhappiness with the lack of long-term stability, and the Chiefs granted permission to the Dolphins to speak with Albert's agent, making a trade possible at some point during the draft.

That would allow Fisher to slide into the starting lineup at left tackle. And if Albert is still with the Chiefs next season, one of them could shift to the right side.

"That doesn't bother me," Reid said, "because he's a good football player. I'm going to take the five best guys and put them up there. Position doesn't matter to me. Never has."

Fisher certainly isn't going to quibble: "Wherever I can help the team out, wherever they put me, I'm fine with it," he said. "Wherever they need me, I'm ready to play."

Fisher's only scholarship offers out of high school came from Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan, and he said at the combine in February that he heard from Michigan State and Purdue but that "neither of them really wanted anything to do with me."

The Chiefs certainly have made him feel wanted.

The only other offensive linemen to be picked first overall had been Orlando Pace, who the Rams selected in 1997, and Jake Long, the choice of the Dolphins in 2008.

"So many great players have been the first pick, and you can throw me in the bunch now. I don't know if it's hit me yet," said Fisher, adding that he will use some of his rookie contract to help his mother retire after 33 years spent working for Volkswagen.

Fisher is the 13th offensive lineman that the Chiefs have drafted in the first round. He also continues a trend: Dorsey helped to pick offensive linemen two of the past four years while he was working for the Green Bay Packers, and Reid selected offensive guard Danny Watkins with the Philadelphia Eagles' first-round pick in 2011.

"We're fortunate to have a draft where there's a number of offensive linemen who are first-round-caliber guys," Reid said. "That's what we need here, and we have a good nucleus now."

__

Online: http://pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-04-25-FBN-Draft-Chiefs/id-3046e12a64584f0089bba8371c8c906b

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More Asians Travel, Global Travel Budgets Rise 5% -

More Asians Travel, Global Travel Budgets Rise 5%

V

Global travel budgets may rise by an average of 5% in Y 2013 as more Asians travel for leisure, according to a survey released by payment services provider Visa Inc. NYSE:V Thursday.

While Saudi Arabians were the biggest spenders in the past, Asians on average are likely to increase their travel budgets 46% this year, with travelers from Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong planning to at least double the budget of their last trip in the future, Visa said in a statement.

According to Visa?s Global Travel Intentions Study 2013 that surveyed 12,631 travelers from 25 countries, the pull of attractions, scenery and rich culture are strong reasons for travel, offsetting budget concerns.
The study ?hints at a change in both the financial landscape and consumer mindset, suggesting either economic recovery or a growing appetite for larger travel budgets,? said Ross Jackson, Head of Cross-Border in Asia Pacific, Central Europe, Middle East and Africa at Visa. ?Both provide excellent news for everyone involved in the global travel and tourism industry.?
The US ranked as the most popular destination choice for global travelers, both for trips taken in the past two years and for intended travel in Y 2013, the survey showed.
Other top destinations in Ys 2011 and 2012 included the UK, France, China, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong.

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Paul A. Ebeling, Jnr. writes and publishes The Red Roadmaster?s Technical Report on the US Major Market Indices, a weekly, highly-regarded financial market letter, read by opinion makers, business leaders and organizations around the world.

Paul A. Ebeling, Jnr has studied the global financial and stock markets since 1984, following a successful business career that included investment banking, and market and business analysis. He is a specialist in equities/commodities, and an accomplished chart reader who advises technicians with regard to Major Indices Resistance/Support Levels.

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Source: http://www.livetradingnews.com/more-asians-travel-global-travel-budgets-rise-5-111976.htm

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Jenelle Evans: Heroin Wasn't Mine, Assault Was Self-Defense!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/04/jenelle-evans-heroin-wasnt-mine-assault-was-self-defense/

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Spanish unemployment rate at record 27.16% | Morocco World News

MADRID, April 25, 2013 (AFP)

Spain?s unemployment rate soared to a new record of 27.16 percent of the workforce in the first quarter of 2013 as the number of those without jobs surpassed six million, official data showed on Thursday.

The unemployment rate jumped from 26.02 percent in the previous quarter. The number of unemployed climbed by 237,400 people to 6.2 million, the National Statistics Institute said.

Spain, once the motor of job creation in the 17-nation eurozone, is in a double dip recession, having yet to recover from the collapse in 2008 of a labour-intensive property boom in 2008 which had allowed economic growth to outpace the European union?s for more than a decade.

The Spanish economy, the eurozone?s fourth biggest, contracted by 1.37 percent last year, the second worst yearly slump since 1970, and the government forecasts it will shrink again by between 1.0 percent and 1.5 percent this year.

Spain?s jobless rate fell to an almost 30-year low of 7.95 percent in the second quarter of 2007 at the peak of an economic boom that allowed the country to create more than half the new jobs in the euro zone between 2002 and 2005.

But the jobless rate has risen steadily every quarter since as the country?s housing market collapsed, throwing millions of people out of work.

In France, the second biggest eurozone economy, official data to be released later on Thursday are also expected to show a record number of jobless workers.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy?s conservative government, which took office in December 2011 after a landslide general election victory on the back of promises to create jobs, will Friday unveil a new package of reforms aimed at reviving economy activity.

Source: http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2013/04/88391/spanish-unemployment-rate-at-record-27-16/

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Team deploys hundreds of tiny untethered surgical tools in first animal biopsies

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

By using swarms of untethered grippers, each as small as a speck of dust, Johns Hopkins engineers and physicians say they have devised a new way to perform biopsies that could provide a more effective way to access narrow conduits in the body as well as find early signs of cancer or other diseases.

In two recent peer-reviewed journal articles, the team reported successful animal testing of the tiny tools, which require no batteries, wires or tethers as they seize internal tissue samples. The devices are called "mu-grippers," incorporating the Greek letter that represents the term for "micro." Instead of relying on electric or pneumatic power, these star-shaped tools are autonomously activated by the body's heat, which causes their tiny "fingers" to close on clusters of cells. Because the tools also contain a magnetic material, they can be retrieved through an existing body opening via a magnetic catheter.

In the April print edition of Gastroenterology, the researchers described their use of the mu-grippers to collect cells from the colon and esophagus of a pig, which was selected because its intestinal tract is similar to that of humans. Earlier this year, the team members reported in the journal Advanced Materials that they had successfully inserted the mu-grippers through the mouth and stomach of a live animal and released them in a hard-to-access place, the bile duct, from which they obtained tissue samples.

"This is the first time that anyone has used a sub-millimeter-sized device -- the size of a dust particle -- to conduct a biopsy in a live animal," said David Gracias, an associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering whose lab team developed the microgrippers. "That's a significant accomplishment. And because we can send the grippers in through natural orifices, it is an important advance in minimally invasive treatment and a step toward the ultimate goal of making surgical procedures noninvasive."

Another member of the research team, physician Florin M. Selaru of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said the mu-grippers could lead to an entirely new approach to conducting biopsies, which are considered the "gold standard" test for diagnosing cancer and other diseases.

The advantage of the mu-grippers, he said, is that they could collect far more samples from many more locations. He pointed out that the much larger forceps used during a typical colonoscopy may remove 30 to 40 pieces of tissue to be studied for signs of cancer. But despite a doctor's best intentions, the small number of specimens makes it easy to miss diseased lesions.

"What's the likelihood of finding the needle in the haystack?" said Selaru, an assistant professor in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. "Based on a small sample, you can't always draw accurate inferences. We need to be able to do a larger statistical sampling of the tissue. That's what would give us enough statistical power to draw a conclusion, which, in essence, is what we're trying to do with the microgrippers. We could deploy hundreds or even thousands of these grippers to get more samples and a better idea of what kind of or whether a disease is present."

Although each mu-gripper can grab a much smaller tissue sample than larger biopsy tools, the researchers said each gripper can retrieve enough cells for effective microscopic inspection and genetic analysis. Armed with this information, they said, the patient's physician could be better prepared to diagnose and treat the patient.

This approach would be possible through the latest application of the Gracias lab's self-assembling tiny surgical tools, which can be activated by heat or chemicals, without relying on electrical wires, tubes, batteries or tethers. The low-cost devices are fabricated through photolithography, the same process used to make computer chips. Their fingerlike projections are made of materials that would normally curl inward, but the team adds a polymer resin to give the joints rigidity and to keep the digits from closing.

Prior to a biopsy, the grippers are kept on ice, so that the fingers remain in this extended position. An endoscopy tool then is used to insert hundreds of grippers into the area targeted for a biopsy. Within about five minutes, the warmth of the body causes the polymer coating to soften, and the fingers curl inward to grasp some tissue. A magnetic tool is then inserted to retrieve them.

Although the animal testing results are promising, the researchers said the process will require further refinement before human testing can begin. "The next step is improving how we deploy the grippers," Selaru said. "The concept is sound, but we still need to address some of the details. The other thing we need to do is thorough safety studies."

Further development can be costly, however. The team has applied for grants to fund advances in the project, which is protected by provisional patents obtained through the Johns Hopkins Technology Transfer Office. Biotechnology investors might also help move the project forward.

"It is more a question of money than time as to how long it will take before we could use this in human patients," Selaru said

###

Johns Hopkins University: http://www.jhu.edu

Thanks to Johns Hopkins University for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127883/Team_deploys_hundreds_of_tiny_untethered_surgical_tools_in_first_animal_biopsies

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Will the Internet Sales Tax Bill Help or Hurt the Small Business ...

President Obama on Monday, said that the proposed Marketplace Fairness Act, which would require online retailers to collect sales tax, ?will level the playing field for local small business retailers that are in competition every day with large out-of-state online companies.?

Far be it for me to disagree with the President, but I don?t see it.

Let?s take this step-by-step. Brick and mortar stores say they?re going out of business because people are choosing to buy online instead of in their store. I believe this is true. I don?t think it?s a stretch to say that Amazon helped put Borders out of business.

On the other hand, we have my favorite grocery chain Fresh & Easy.? The British parent company says they lost over 2 billion dollars on the venture and they?re done. They?re going to sell the chain or close up 200 stores. What happened there? Very few Americans buy their groceries online, so you can?t blame the internet for that failure.

As far as sales tax goes, I?ve heard of people driving to the next state to save money on a big purchase, but I?ve never heard of someone going online to avoid paying tax. Think about it? You might save $5.00 but you?re paying $17.00 to ship, so tax free isn?t much of an incentive.

What?s really causing the collapse of the small business is the economy. The average person simply doesn?t have enough to go around, so they have to cut corners where they can which might mean buying online. It also could mean buying at Walmart instead of the mom and pop grocery store down the street. Or it means buying a used product on eBay instead of a new one at Walmart.

I might be more on board with the proposed act if the officials promoting the bill were more transparent about the reason behind it. It?s not about saving local businesses, it?s about collecting an additional $22 to $24 billion in sales tax. That?s money for schools and police and roads and social services. Who doesn?t want that?

Still, Senators backing the bill continue to say it?s all about helping small business. What about people who run a small business online. Are we really going to require that 2-man business to collect a different tax from every customer from another state? That?s an accounting nightmare.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., has a comeback for that;

?We?re way beyond the quill pen and ledger days. Thanks to computers and thanks to software it is not that complex.?

Not complex? Four states don?t have sales tax at all so they?d have to create a sales tax department to handle the revenue from the new bill. (What?s that going to cost?) The New York Times article I read said the bill would only apply to online retailers who sell more than $1 million in goods to people in other states. So, are we talking Amazon as a whole or are we counting sales of each individual third party seller? Same goes for eBay.

Looking at this from the consumer side, I have to figure that my favorite online stores are going to have to raise prices to cover the additional accounting burden. Higher prices means I buy less. How is that helping the economy?

The only way to make this work is to create a sales tax just for the internet. A single percentage that everyone pays when they shop online. That would be less of accounting nightmare but it would still fly in the face of the states who don?t charge sales tax or only charge for certain types of items.

This week, the Senate voted 74 to 20 to take up the bill. We?ve had this discussion before and this time, I?m really worried.

What do you think? Is there any good news for anyone in this push to tax online sales?

Source: http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2013/04/will-the-internet-sales-tax-bill-help-or-hurt-the-small-business-retailer.html

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UK man convicted of selling fake bomb detectors

LONDON (AP) ? A millionaire businessman who sold fake bomb detectors that were based on a novelty golf ball finder to countries including Iraq was convicted Tuesday of fraud in a British court.

Police investigators said the bogus devices put people's safety at risk.

James McCormick, 56, is said to have made an estimated 50 million pounds ($76 million) from sales of his detectors, which claimed to be able to find explosives, drugs and people from planes, under water, underground and through walls. They could purportedly detect at distance and bypass "all known forms of concealment."

But experts said the hand-held devices, which were sold for up to 27,000 pounds ($41,000) each, in fact lacked "any grounding in science" and were "completely ineffectual as a piece of detection equipment."

"The devices did not work, and he knew they did not work," prosecutor Richard Whittam said. One of the earlier models McCormick sold was based on a novelty machine for finding golf balls that could be bought in the U.S. for less than $20, he added.

The detectors were sold to military and police forces around the world, including Iraq, Niger, Georgia, Egypt and Thailand.

Nigel Rock, an investigating officer with the Avon and Somerset Constabulary ? the police force that arrested McCormick in 2010 ? said the businessman sold 6,000 devices to Iraq for more than $40 million between 2008 and 2010.

"The devices were used at numerous checkpoints within Iraq during this period. It is clear that both civilians and armed forces personnel were put at significant risk in relying upon this equipment," Rock said.

McCormick was found guilty of three counts of fraud at London's Central Criminal Court. He will be sentenced on May 2.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/uk-man-convicted-selling-fake-bomb-detectors-131902046--finance.html

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Asian monsoon is getting predictable: Strong correlation between summer monsoon and preceding climate pattern

Apr. 23, 2013 ? For much of Asia, the pace of life is tuned to rhythms of monsoons.

The summer rainy season is especially important for securing the water and food supplies for more than a billion people. Its variations can mean the difference between drought and flood. Now a Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego-led study reports on a crucial connection that could drastically improve the ability of forecasters to reliably predict the monsoon a few months in advance.

Yu Kosaka and Shang-Ping Xie from Scripps and colleagues from NOAA found that a winter appearance of the climate phenomenon called El Ni?o in the Pacific Ocean can leave its mark on monsoon formation in the Indian Ocean a full six months later. In between is an atmospheric phenomenon called the Pacific-Japan pattern that provides the teleconnection between the two ocean basins and further poleward to East Asia.

"It has long been a mystery that climate anomalies in the region correlate better with El Ni?o in the preceding winter than with the one developing in the concurrent summer," said Xie, a climate scientist and inaugural holder of the Scripps Roger Revelle Chair in Environmental Science. "The new paper shows that Indian Ocean temperature and atmospheric anomalies in the western Pacific are physically coupled, and their interactions amplify each other. We demonstrated that this new mode of coupled ocean-atmospheric anomalies is predictable a season ahead. Such predictions have tremendous benefits to society."

The National Science Foundation-funded study, "Origin of seasonal predictability for summer climate over the Northwestern Pacific," appears online on April 22 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Ngar-Cheung Lau and Gabriel Vecchi of NOAA are also co-authors.

El Ni?o is a climate phenomenon coupling the ocean and atmosphere that includes a shift in the distribution of warm water in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. El Ni?o years are characterized by unusual weather and storm activity globally.

The summer after a major El Ni?o features above-average sea-surface temperatures in the Indian Ocean. El Ni?o exerts its influence via the Pacific-Japan pattern, which can bring to East Asia cool, wet weather in the subsequent summer, while La Ni?a leads to dry, hot weather.

The violent storm activity associated with El Ni?o takes place in the eastern Pacific Ocean, but the chain of events the researchers describe ultimately ends up being detected in the western Pacific Ocean. Xie likened it to an echo effect, saying that El Ni?o serves to pull clouds and convection eastward toward the International Date Line, which means those clouds are not available over the western Pacific to keep ocean surface temperatures cool. It also weakens winds in the northern Indian Ocean and the effects of those weakened winds travel back eastward to the Pacific Ocean.

"The last sound El Ni?o makes is in the western Pacific Ocean," Kosaka said, "because the positive feedback between the Indian Ocean and Pacific-Japan pattern we found amplifies climate anomalies in this region."

The last echoes of El Ni?o have devastating consequences to the region.

Extremes in the East Asian summer monsoon have been behind some of the largest natural and economic disasters to hit the region in the last 20 years. The authors note that excessive rains and cool temperature in Japan in 1993 caused a widespread failure of that country's rice crop that opened it to imports from other countries. Dry monsoon phases led to widespread heat waves and drought in several East Asian countries in 2004.

Kosaka cautioned, however, that there is much more work to be done to make prediction of the Asian monsoon reliable. El Ni?o is just one factor; other regional patterns complicate the sequence that ultimately produces monsoon rains, Kosaka said.

But the paper does establish that El Ni?o influences the monsoon and describes the means by which it does so, she said.

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