Liberty Newspost May-03-2012

Curated News Edition

- 03/05/12

http://www.LibertyNewspost.com

Documents from bin Laden raid released

Bachmann to endorse Romney

Submitted at 5/3/2012 5:44:00 AM

Submitted at 5/3/2012 6:09:00 AM

(USATODAY.com Feed)

Documents seized in last year's raid on Osama bin Laden's house in Pakistan will be posted online today by the Army's Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy.

Update at 9:15 am. ET: Some documents have been released.

USA TODAY report Aamer Madhani has more in The Oval blog.

Original post: White House counterterrorism chief John Brennan said this week that bin Laden's own words confirm that America is safer after the Navy SEAL team raid that left bin Laden dead. Brennan says bin Laden wrote of his worries that his leaders were being killed so quickly the group would not survive.

The correspondence shows a [unable to retrieve full-text content]

(USATODAY.com Feed)

Rep. Michele Bachmann plans to endorse ex-rival Mitt Romney for president today at a campaign event in Portsmouth, Va. National Review Online, CBS News, CNN and others have confirmed the Minnesota congresswoman's intentions.

Bachmann dropped out of the GOP nomination fight in January after the Iowa caucuses, where she finished with 5% of the vote. leader revered but sometimes o r e-mailing us a t Bachmann, a Tea Party favorite, ignored by field commanders, c o m m u n i t y @ u s a t o d a y . c o m . h a d h e l d o f f o n a f o r m a l who dismissed him as out of This entry passed through the endorsement because she said she touch even as he urged them to Full-Text RSS service — if this is w a n t e d t o h e l p u n i f y keep attacking U.S. targets, your content and you're reading it c o n s e r v a t i v e s , T e a P a r t y Brennan says. on someone else's site, please read supporters and evangelical voters.

Readers who dig through the the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content- She had always indicated she documents can let us know what only/faq.php#publishers. Five would support the Republican s e e m s m o s t i n t e r e s t i n g o r Filters recommends: Donate to nominee. noteworthy by commenting below Wikileaks. [unable to retrieve full-text content] [unable to retrieve full-text content]

Romney's Portsmouth event today also features Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, who is often mentioned as a possible running mate.

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Chinese activist's future remains uncertain (USATODAY.com Feed) Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:06:30 AM

BEIJING – Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng's fears for his family's safety are well-founded, friends and human rights groups said Thursday. • U.S. Embassy Beijing Press Office via AP Chen Guangcheng, center, holds hands with U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke, right, as State Department legal adviser Harold Koh applauds Wednesday in Beijing.

U.S. Embassy Beijing Press Office via AP Chen Guangcheng, center, holds hands with U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke, right, as State Department legal adviser Harold Koh applauds Wednesday in Beijing.

Sponsored Links Chen, 40, now says he and his family want to go to the United States. He changed his mind hours after leaving the U.S. Embassy on Wednesday, planning to remain in China in a deal negotiated between Washington and Beijing.

Chen was reunited with his wife, daughter and son at a Beijing hospital, where his wife described the beatings she received once his escape became known, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. They "had a change of heart" about staying in China, Nuland said.

Nuland stopped short of saying whether Washington would try to

reopen negotiations to get Chen abroad. "We need to consult with them further to get a better sense of what they want to do and consider their options," she said.

Supporters of Chen said they were dismayed that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made no mention of his plight in her remarks Thursday during U.S.China talks over economic other matters, which is the reason she is in Beijing this week. Clinton did mention human rights in general, saying that as part of her dialogue with the Chinese she will raise "the importance of human rights and fundamental freedoms."

China's government has also refused to discuss publicly Chen's request for asylum to the United States, but on Thursday the Foreign Ministry did not raise its previous demands that the United States apologize for providing sanctuary to Chen in the U.S. embassy for six days until he left Wednesday.

Chen fled to the embassy after seven years of imprisonment, harassment and often brutal house arrest in his village in east China's Shandong province. On Thursday, Chen remained inside the hospital where he was taken by U.S. Embassy personnel Wednesday.

Latest on Chen Guangcheng Outside a VIP wing of the staterun Chaoyang Hospital, three U.S. Embassy staff waited, without making comment, beside an embassy vehicle. Chinese security agents stopped and filmed foreign

resisted this option."

While Chen is a devoted family man, he must be genuinely scared to choose to leave his legal work here, said Hallett.

"He's very keen to be at the center of activity; he's a natural campaigner, not looking for fame but wants to be influential," he journalists attempting to enter the said. "He knows if he went to USA, he'd move into the exile ward.

The threats Chen says Chinese community and have less and less officials have made against his influence." family have alarmed supporters. Chen remains in danger wherever "I never thought the Chinese he is in China, Hallett said. government would take such "In the past Chen and his wife brutal measures; this is worse than have been abducted from the expected," Hu Jia, a friend of streets of Beijing," said Hallett.

Chen and fellow activist, said of "The Shandong authorities have a the threats. "He still faces great powerful influence. I wouldn't risks here. It would be better if trust these kinds of reassurances Chen could go to the USA for a at all. Once the press spotlight while, to study and recuperate." moves away from him, he'll be Hu said he met Chen in secret very vulnerable again," he said. last week, when they agreed Chen If Chen returns to Shandong, "his would not seek asylum but only person will in great danger, as stay temporarily inside the they hate him for exposing their embassy until Chinese authorities crimes" related to abuse of the family planning policy, said rights met his conditions.

Briton Stephen Hallett has known lawyer Li Baiguang, who has Chen since 2003 and twice visited known Chen since supplying him with legal texts and working his home village.

"Guangcheng's latest statements jointly on rights cases, a decade only confirm what we feared ago. "Now he is in greater danger most: that he and his family are a s t h i s h a s b e c o m e a n still in grave danger and that once international crisis, and conflict the U.S.-China talks are over between China and the USA." there might well be further If Chen leaves China, he "will retribution," said Hallett, a China have the space to be free, but a f f a i r s c o n s u l t a n t b a s e d i n won't be able to continue the Beijing. "Requesting asylum cause he loves: improving the rule sounds like a plea of desperation of law and human rights," said Li. from someone who has previously Yet that cause grows ever harder,

he said. "We rights lawyers do these individual cases, but we often feel grieved as rule of law has worsened, local officials don't follow the law, and citizens cannot protect their legal rights," said Li. The safety of Chen, his family, friends and supporters is Amnesty International's major concern, said Sarah Schafer, a China researcher, based in Hong Kong, for Amnesty, a human rights group.

"It's clear now there are questions" about the promises U.S. officials say China made, she said. "Will they be kept, and how will the U.S. ensure they are kept?"

After the indirect reassurances to date, "we'd like to see the top leadership make a very public commitment to protecting Chen and his family," said Schafer. "It's too early to say if the U.S. government has failed Chen, even though many people are jumping to that conclusion." But the U.S. was told Chen's family would be sent back to Shandong, where they "lived in hell for so many years," and "it's easy to see that Chen would take that as a pretty clear threat," she said.

Shandong's Linyi city authorities carried out the persecution of Chen and his family, but the central government in Beijing also "played a central role in the abuses against Chen Guangcheng in the past seven years," said CHINESE page 3

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CHINESE continued from page 2

Wang Songlian, research coordinator for Chinese Human Rights Defenders, a Hong Kongbased rights group.

"There is no reason to believe he'll be safe anywhere in China.

We hope that both the U.S. and Chinese governments will respect his wishes," she said. "There is a strong possibility that his life is in danger, and his family too. I hope that he is able to leave China."

Contributing: Associated Press

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Shipped from abroad, Italy: Inter loses, becomes the most important team in Italy - NBCSports.com (Andrea Rossi - Google News) Submitted at 5/3/2012 8:29:42 AM

NBCSports.com Shipped from abroad, Italy: Inter loses, becomes the most important team in Italy NBCSports.com That coach, Andrea

Stramaccioni, suffered his first loss on Wednesday. Three second half goals, including one from former Inter trainee Jonathan Biabiany, leave Inter three back of a Champions League spot.

Thankfully, they remain slotted for Europa... and more »

Fraying deal on Chen Guangcheng shows power of China's security apparatus Washington Post (Top Stories - Google News)

decision-making body. The party makes all key decisions, dictating policy through a cluster of secrecy Instead, Assistant Secretary of - s h r o u d e d c o m m i t t e e s a n d State Kurt Campbell and U.S. “working groups” that stand diplomats negotiated Chen’s fate above government departments with Cui Tiankai, a vice minister nominally responsible for setting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, policy. Foreign officials have one of the weakest departments in little direct contact with party the Chinese government and one structures and conduct business that has been repeatedly big- t h r o u g h w e a k C h i n e s e footed and on occasion humiliated g o v e r n m e n t a g e n c i e s .

by China’s powerful and lavishly Jeffrey A. Bader, a senior fellow funded security apparatus. at the Brookings Institution who China’s foreign minister, Yang served as director for East Asian J i e c h i , s i t s o n n e i t h e r t h e Affairs on President Obama’s Politburo nor its nine-member National Security Council until standing committee, the supreme April last year, said the United Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:53:54 AM

States has no choice but to work with China’s Foreign Ministry on questions relating to dissidents.

“The ministry is the designated channel of interaction with the U.S. government on these kinds of issues,” he said. “They were in 1989 when we dealt with [dissident astrophysicist] Fang Lizhi and also every dissident since. But they don’t act as a free agent. They go back and coordinate in whatever fashion they do.”

The Foreign Ministry, Bader noted, negotiated and delivered a deal that allowed Fang to leave China after more than a year

holed up in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. “The question is always whether the Foreign Ministry can deliver. They cannot deliver without a coordinated position.”

Chen, the activist now in a hospital in Beijing, and other dissidents fall within the orbit of China’s Public Security Bureau and Ministry of State Security, which are in turn supervised by the Communist Party’s Political and Legislative Affairs Committee. The head of this committee, Zhou Yongkang, sits on the Politburo standing committee.

When security agents roughed up

foreign journalists early last year in central Beijing following anonymous calls on the Internet for a “Jasmine revolution,” Foreign Minister Yang categorically denied any such incidents, despite video footage and other evidence to the contrary.

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Bin Laden worried he wasn't in control, documents show - CNN (Top Stories - Google News) Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:09:11 AM

Bergen: Documents could damage al Qaeda STORY HIGHLIGHTS • The Combating Terrorism Center releases documents from Pakistan raid • Documents were seized during the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden • The writings show the terror leader still hoped for another big attack in the U.S. Here are the documents. What do you think? Let us know in the comments section at the bottom of this article.

(CNN)-- A trove of documents the U.S. Navy SEALs took from the Pakistan compound where they killed Osama bin Laden in 2011 was published Thursday morning on the website of the Combating Terrorism Center.

Read the full documents here The papers paint a picture of a terror mastermind who had grown increasingly worried he could not get control of the many al Qaeda affiliates that had sprung up across the globe. Yet bin Laden, the papers reveal, still had grand ambitions for al Qaeda, and he wanted to see another major terror attack in the United States.

The documents also reveal bin

Laden as a man of vain impulses - such as dying his hair. They show him joking about having multiple wives yet being concerned for one of them, and especially worried about his children's safety. He seemed to appreciate that he was enemy No. 1 in the West.

The Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, posted the original Arabic-language notes on its site. CNN is reviewing the documents and will update this report.

The documents were found on the five computers, dozens of hard

drives and more than 100 storage devices, such as thumb drives and discs. U.S. officials have described the cache as the single largest collection of senior terrorist material ever obtained. It included digital, audio and video files, printed materials, recording devices and handwritten

documents.

CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen had access to some of the materials while researching his new book, "Manhunt: The TenYear Search for Bin Laden From 9/11 to Abbottabad."

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In passenger complaints, Spirit Airlines soars - Fox News Fox News (Top Stories Google News) Submitted at 5/3/2012 9:22:52 AM

• A dying former Marine refused a refund by Spirit Airlines isn't alone in complaining about the tight-fisted carrier — it leaves the competition on the ground when it comes to passenger gripes.

The Florida-based budget airline, run by brash and unapologetic CEO Ben Baldanza, had well more than twice the rate of passenger complaints as runnerup United Airlines in January.

Spirit racked up 8.27 complaints per 100,000 passengers for the month, while United registered 3.5 such complaints per 100,000 fliers, according to U.S. Department of Transportation statistics. By comparison, Southwest notched just 0.2 complaints per 100,000 fliers.

“They’re the worst airline in the U.S. They put no money back into customer service, which is a black hole at Sprit.”

- Kate Hanni, Flyers Rights Kate Hanni, executive director of Flyers Rights, which bills itself as the largest nonprofit consumer organization representing U.S. airline passengers, said she’s not surprised people complain about

Spirit at a higher rate than any other carrier.

“They’re the worst airline in the U.S.,” Hanni said. “They put no money back into customer service, which is a black hole at Spirit.”

Hanni estimated that her organization receives five times

the amount of complaints pertaining to Spirit than any other domestic airline — budget or legacy carrier alike.

“Spirit Airlines has a history of cruelty toward their passengers, but they continue to treat them like meat in a seat because they’re fares are so low they are confident

people will continue to fly with them,” she continued. “But the fact is people are damaged by Spirit every day and Spirit Airlines just has a culture of ‘I don’t care.’”

The carrier was fined $100,000 in 2010 by the federal Department of Transportation for not recording

and responding to the complaints regarding the treatment of disabled passengers.

Baldanza, who has signaled he will speak to Fox News Thursday, has lamented the number of complaints, but is notoriously PASSENGER page 7

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BIN continued from page 4

"The documents paint a portrait of a man who was simultaneously an inveterate micromanager, but was also someone almost delusional in his belief that his organization could still force a change in American foreign policies in the Muslim world if only he could get another big attack" in the United States, Bergen said this week.

Bin Laden appreciated that al Qaeda's brand name was in deep trouble, in particular, because the group and its affiliates had killed so many civilians.

Bin Laden warned smaller splinter groups against attaching themselves to the al Qaeda franchise.

"Rather than a source of strength, bin Laden was burdened by what he viewed as the incompetence of the 'affiliates,' including their lack of political acumen to win public support, their media campaigns and their poorly planned operations which resulted in the unnecessary deaths of thousands of Muslims," according to an analysis by the Combating Terrorism Center posted Thursday.

"He was at pains advising them to abort domestic attacks and ... instead focus on the United States, 'our desired goal.' " Bergen's reporting stresses that bin Laden was chiefly concerned about franchise activities.

"On (August) 7, 2010, he wrote to the leader of the brutal al-Shabaab militia in Somalia to warn that declaring itself part of al Qaeda would only attract enemies and make it harder to raise money from rich Arabs," Bergen notes.

But seven months later, alShabaab did just that, announcing a merger with the organization now headed by Ayman alZawahiri.

A U.S. intelligence bulletin obtained by CNN after the two terror groups announced the merger suggested that relationship could "undermine" efforts by alShabaab supporters in the United States.

They also contain advice to the leader of Al-Shabaab not to identify his group as being part of the larger terrorist network so it wouldn't put off potential financial donors.

Bin Laden "was frustrated by what he viewed as the incompetence of the affiliates, including their failure to win public support as well as their poorly planned operations that resulted in the deaths of thousands of Muslims," said Lt. Col. Liam Collins, acting director of the Combating Terrorism Center and one of the authors of the center's analysis.

Unlike the terror leader's public statements "focusing on the

corrupt governments in the Muslim world as well as enemies such as the United States," Collins said, bin Laden's "private letters lamented at Muslims' suffering at the hands of his jihadi brothers."

Nothing could conclusively be gleaned about Pakistan's possible involvement with bin Laden in the documents, he said.

"There are no explicit references to any institutional Pakistani support for al Qaeda or its operatives," he said.

The papers reveal intimate details about bin Laden's personal life and concerns.

Bin Laden wrote about his son Hamza and Hamza's mother, asking that their security be given extra care. Bin Laden suspected they were under watch.

He wrote: "Regarding my son Hamzah and his mother, I wish you take all the security precautions that were mentioned before in order to disrupt surveillance on him. He should move only when the clouds are heavy.

"As for Hamzah, if you find my companion that we talked about, please send him (to) Peshawar and the surrounding area and ask him to arrange a house that can hold two families in addition to his family. He should stay there with Hamzah," bin Laden wrote.

"If you did not find him yet, then

please have a trusted Pakistani brother accompany him. Make sure to tell Hamzah that I am of the opinion that he needs to get out of (Waziristan) if he is there, and he should not go there if he is not there. ..."

Michael Birmingham, a spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, would not say this week what percentage of the overall material is being made public.

However, Birmingham said some documents will remain classified for security and operational reasons. Others will not be released because they have been determined to be limited in substantive value or are what Birmingham described as "household clutter" -- written materials on mundane issues.

CNN's Pam Benson and Joe Sterling contributed to this report.

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Blind activist Chen Guangcheng: 'I want to leave China on Hillary Clinton's plane' msnbc.com (china - Google News) Submitted at 5/3/2012 8:09:39 AM

USA TODAY Blind activist Chen Guangcheng: 'I want to leave China on Hillary Clinton's plane' msnbc.com Hours after leaving his refuge in the US embassy, Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng has said he fears for his life and wants to leave China. NBC's Ian Williams reports. By NBC News and Alastair Jamieson, msnbc.com BEIJING – Frantic efforts to resolve...

US rethinking Chen Guangcheng's wish to stay in China, official says Los Angeles Times Chinese Dissident Changes Mind, Now Wants US Asylum Voice of America Activist Asks to Leave China, Deepening US Predicament New York Times USA TODAY- Fox News all 6,083 news articles Âť

London 2012 Olympics: Coca-Cola to use Games to test new products Graham Ruddick (Finance News - Business news from the

Company hails 'biggest UK catering event since Second

World War'.

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Americans denounced their citizenship in record numbers in 2011 RT (News RSS : Today)

citizens no matter where they reside on Earth. As long as a Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:15:38 AM person maintains citizen status, Americans denouncing their they are expected to send the citizenship in record numbers United States government pennies If you think residing in America on every dollar earned no matter is taxing, just talk to one of the where they live, under current m a n y e x p a t r i a t e s w h o i s law. With the US enacting stricter contributing to a shocking statistic guidelines in recent years that recently discovered: across the demand wealthy Americans globe, people are renouncing their abroad paying the IRS even more, US citizenship in record numbers. citizens are voluntarily refusing A t l e a s t 1 , 7 8 8 A m e r i c a n s the perks and protection of the officially threw away their US U n i t e d S t a t e s i n n u m b e r s citizenship in 2011, exceeding the unmatched in recent memory. totals from 2007, 2008 and 2009 “The complexity of international combined. The Internal Revenue tax law, combined with the Service has been keeping a tally administrative burden placed on o f U S c i t i z e n s d r i v e n t o these taxpayers, creates an renouncing that title since only environment where taxpayers who 1998, but last year’s number has are trying their best to comply officially raised the bar when it simply cannot,” explains the IRS comes to calling America quits. in a report published in 2011.“For What’s more, experts say, is that some, this means paying more US more and more Americans will tax than is legally required, while soon be saying 'sayonara' to Uncle others may be subject to steep Sam if the federal government civil and criminal penalties. For keeps up its trend of heavily some US taxpayers abroad, the taxing US citizens abroad. tax requirements are so confusing Out of the 34 countries that and the compliance burden so belong to the Organization for great that they give up their US E c o n o m i c C o o p e r a t i o n a n d citizenship.”

Development, the United States is Following up on the trend, the only nation that taxes its Reuters reveals that in recent

years more and more millionaires and billionaires have voluntarily removed themselves from the American Empire in order to hold onto their earnings.

“Every dollar you save, you lose to the US tax man,” tax lawyer Matthew Ledvina explains to Bloomberg News. “ That’s one reason why people give up citizenship.”

The US attorney, who now works for Anaford AG in Zurich, adds that more and more non-US banks are being pressured by the government to give away their clients’ cash. As a result, fewer banks are willing work with US citizens, even if they have millions or billions to install in their institutions.

“It started with the fallout from UBS and non-US banks feeling it’s too risky to deal with Americans abroad,” he adds. “ It will increase because Fatca will require banks to track down people, some of whom will make voluntary disclosures before renouncing their citizenship.”

Facta, or the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, was amended in 2010 with harsher penalties for US citizens living

abroad. Under that update, banks are required to take 30 percent from “certain US-connected payments” from those who don’t give the IRS enough information about their income, no matter how or where they earn it.

“There is incredible frustration at the audacity and imperial overreach of this law,” David Kuenzi of Thun Financial Advisors in Madison, Wisconsin tells Bloomberg of Facta. Brent Lipschultz, an accountant at New York’s EisnerAmper firm, adds that the whole thing is very“big brother” of America.

This year alone, around 6.3 million US citizens living abroad are expected to oblige to America’s tricky tax laws, lest they want to risk heftier penalties.

Given the recent trend, however, that number is looking to only shrink.

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China's Bright Food buys Weetabix Reuters (china - Google News) Submitted at 5/3/2012 8:05:56 AM

Bloomberg China's Bright Food buys Weetabix Reuters Largest overseas deal by a Chinese food group * Weetabix will bring healthy mix to Bright Food * Deal value Weetabix group at 1.2 billion pounds By Samuel Shen and David Jones SHANGHAI/LONDON, May 3 (Reuters) - China's Bright Food will take control of...

China's Bright Food to Buy 60% of British Cereal Maker Weetabix Bloomberg China's Bright Food Buys 60% of Weetabix New York Times WSJ: China's Bright Food Group To Acquire UK Cereal Maker Weetabix - Spokesman Wall Street Journal Washington Post- The Guardian all 112 news articles »

PASSENGER continued from page 5

firm in his refusal to bend company refund rules, even in dramatic cases like Jerry Meekins, the Florida man whose bid for a $197 refund was nixed.

“People understand that they won’t get the same product they’d get if they paid thousands of PASSENGER page 8

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PASSENGER continued from page 7

dollars to fly on American, Delta, or Continental,” Baldanza said in a 2008 interview with Leaders magazine.

In an internal memo about the Meekins incident, he reiterated his hard line.

“Every customer chooses what services they buy,” the April 27 memo read. “That’s all they pay for and not a penny more. Our approach treats each customer with respect and puts each customer in charge of their own costs — and no one else’s.

Unfortunately, unexpected curves are a part of life for everyone.”

And while Baldanza said he was “saddened” by Meekins’ diagnosis, the New York-born executive refused to budge while explaining the matter to all Spirit employees. FoxNews.com readers overwhelmingly believe the boss got it wrong: In a "You Decide" poll with more than 100,000 responses, 8 out of 10 readers said Spirit should have refunded Meekins' fare.

In 2007, Baldanza laid bare his feelings about customer service in

an email which he meant to send to a colleague, but accidentally hit reply all, sending the missive out to the very passenger who had complained.

“Please respond, Pasquale, but we owe him nothing as far as I’m concerned," the email read. "Let him tell the world how bad we are. He’s never flown before with us anyway and will be back when we save him a penny.”

Baldanza told reporters during a post-earning call on Tuesday that Spirit plans to boost capacity by 23 percent this year as legacy carriers reduce domestic routes.

Spirit reported a first-quarter profit of $23.4 million, compared to $7.9 million a year earlier. The budget carrier has recently expanded routes in cities like Dallas, Chicago and Denver. The airline's all-Airbus fleet currently operates more than 190 daily flights to more than 50 destinations within the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean.

“I’m pleased with how well our team continues to execute on our

network expansion,” Baldanza said in a news release announcing the company’s first-quarter results. “We continue to see a growing number of smart, valueconscious consumers respond favorably to our introduction of low fares to even more places.

Robust demand for our ultra low base fares with a range of optional services for a fee resulted in our revenue growth outpacing our capacity growth.”

Baldanza told reporters the carrier’s average fare fell during the first quarter by nearly 7 percent to $76.65.

Asked by a reporter last month from FlightGlobal.com if the airline’s additional domestic routes versus international locales are a sign of what’s to come, the Baldanza replied: “Our strategy is simpler than that. Our strategy is to make money.”

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Fusione Fredda: nuova tecnologia USA si affianca a ECat Rossi, studenti ... WebMasterPoint.org (andrea rossi e-cat - Google News) Submitted at 5/3/2012 5:11:49 AM

WebMasterPoint.org Fusione Fredda: nuova tecnologia USA si affianca a E-Cat Rossi, studenti...

WebMasterPoint.org La macchina per la fusione fredda fa gola anche a un team di ricercatori statunitensi conviti di aver realizzato un dispositivo migliore dell' E-cat. Non c'è solo l' E-cat di Andrea Rossi. Almeno sulla carta. A interessarsi dello sviluppo della macchina... and more »

Temasek Reduces Stake in 2 Chinese Banks - New York Times (china - Google News)

Submitted at 5/3/2012 7:57:50 AM

Bloomberg Temasek Reduces Stake in 2

Chinese Banks New York Times HONG KONG — The Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings sold shares in China Construction

Bank and Bank of China for $2.5 billion, term sheets for the sales show, in a move that reshuffles the fund's sprawling $150 billion portfolio but still leaves...

Hong Kong shares snap winning streak, but China climbs Reuters Temasek Gets Selective on China Banks Wall Street Journal Temasek Raises $2.48 Billion in

China Construction Bank and BOC San Francisco Chronicle Bloomberg- CBS News all 97 news articles »

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Anti-doping authorities may allow athletes to smoke pot

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Fiorentina manager Delio Rossi attacks his own player, Adem Ljajic – video - The Guardian (Andrea Rossi - Google News) Submitted at 5/3/2012 4:49:46 AM

Fiorentina manager Delio Rossi attacks his own player, Adem RT (News RSS : Today) spirit of sport, or it’s dangerous to in some sports, but not in others. Ljajic – video the health of athletes.

That may well be an option they The Guardian Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:11:04 AM M a r i j u a n a q u a l i f i e s a s a [ t h e W A D A b a n n e d - l i s t Footage of Fiorentina manager The World Anti-Doping Agency forbidden drug under current committee] may wish to come to (WADA) is planning a serious rules, with sportsmen getting two- the board with in due course. But shake up of the international drug year bans if it’s found in their I won't pre-empt that, I'll let them code. system, but the situation may soon decide without any influence from Up in the smoke; the ban on change. me," he added. marijuana use in sports may soon "There are those who believe our It is widely acknowledged that be lifted, where it’s not proven to current criteria needs to be c a n n a b i s d o e s n ’ t g i v e a n y be a performance enhancer. The amended and that will be given advantage in fast-paced sports, World Anti-Doping Agency appropriate consideration through b u t m a y p r o v e h e l p f u l i n (WADA) is planning a serious this review process,” John Fahey, disciplines like pistol shooting or (housing - Google News) shake up of the international drug WADA President, told The golf where a steady hand is Submitted at 5/3/2012 9:50:51 AM code.

Guardian newspaper."Specifically needed.

-The issue will be raised after to cannabis, I can only say to Weed-loving athletes will have to Fed's Funny Money Makes Wednesday’s statement from the those, particularly in the football wait till November 2013 when Housing A Huge Bargain coalition of Australian sporting c o d e s w h o h a v e e x p r e s s e d WADA’s new code will be Forbes bodies, which said cannabis can’t concern that we're focusing on an settled.

Adjusted for inflation, housing be put on a par with human area that really isn't about This entry passed through the prices are back to 1979 levels, he growth hormone or anabolic cheating in sport, I urge them to Full-Text RSS service — if this is steroids and that the drug code put a request up to WADA, which your content and you're reading it must be reviewed. w i l l b e g i v e n t o o u r l i s t on someone else's site, please read At the moment, a substance committee, who will examine it.” the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentappears on the WADA banned list "I won't express a view I'll simply only/faq.php#publishers. Five if it meets the following criteria: s a y i t w i l l b e t h o r o u g h l y Filters recommends: Donate to it’s proven to be performance e x a m i n e d . T h e r e a r e s o m e Wikileaks. enhancing, it goes against the substances today that are banned

Delio Rossi appearing to attack his own player, Adem Ljajic, after he complained about being substituted. The Fiorentina president, Andrea Della Valle, later announced that Rossi has been fired, and said a replacement...

Fed's Funny Money Makes Housing A Huge Bargain - Forbes

How to use statistics to find your dream date Ben Beaumont-Thomas Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:21:00 AM

Dating used to be romantic, but

thanks to the amount of data we share online it's now almost a science. Sam Yagan, cofounder of dating site OkCupid, explains

how to use this to best effect.

By: Ben Beaumont-Thomas, Edited by: Ian Steadman Continue reading...

says. But they're much better deals now. Because mortgage rates in '79 were three times higher. “If you took out a mortgage in 1979,” says Steve, “you'd be paying 15% to 20% interest. and more »

10

Top News/ Business/ Technology/

Curated News Edition

Chechen official’s wife promises to ‘destroy’ youth activists (VIDEO) RT (News RSS : Today)

Russian president for the Chechen republic, Tamerlan Mingaev.

Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:47:58 AM The woman verbally attacked the A shocking video showing a activists, urging them to run away b r a w l i n v o l v i n g a c t i v i s t s and delete the video they were campaigning against illegal filming in case they“were hoping parking and the wife of a high- to survive.” ranking Chechen official has gone “If the video hits YouTube, I will viral on YouTube. find you anywhere and cut off -Activists from the Nashi youth your legs! I'll destory you!” she Kremlin movement were trying to says on the video. persuade car the drivers of Then the woman called her son, illegally parked cars next to the who immediately arrived at the Evropeisky Shopping Center to scene accompanied by a bunch of move their vehicles. friends. They engaged in a violent T h e c a m p a i g n s t a r t e d o f f brawl with the activists. peacefully: the youngsters first Although both parties said they came up and talked to car owners; do not want to initiate legal action if those did not agree to move, the over the incident, police have activists stuck a big sticker to already launched a criminal their car windows saying “I don’t investigation into the case. The care about anyone; I park where I Chechen republic’s representative want.” said he also considered the matter It all went quite well until the closed. activists reached a car driven by a While the video is being watched woman who was later recognized and re-watched by millions of as Madina Mingaeva, the wife of shocked internet users, analysts a deputy representative of the say that the situation may have

been partially staged and intended at boosting racial hatred.

“Everybody in Moscow knows that the Evropeisky Shopping Center is controlled by some Chechen businessmen,” Tim Wall, editor-in-chief of The Moscow News, told RT.“It’s pretty easy to target wellconnected people outside of this center. I would strongly take the issue with this campaign first. I don’t think this is a legal response to Moscow’s traffic jams. If you see someone parking illegally, give them a ticket. If people keep getting those tickets, get them to court.”

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Heat rises for Swiss housing marketUBS index - Reuters (housing - Google News) Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:43:27 AM

Heat rises for Swiss housing market-UBS index Reuters Risk zone of UBS house bubble index is 1.0 * Index at 0.95 in Q1

Housing Gains Amid Still Tough Mortgage Market - LoanSafe (housing - Google News) Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:11:35 AM

Housing Gains Amid Still Tough Mortgage Market LoanSafe (Source: Nancy Sarnoff Houston

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Your gift to provide seeds, tools, and training will be multiplied 4 times by grant funds, and can mean the difference between life

2012 * UBS says index may cross risk threshold in Q2 ZURICH, May 3 (Reuters) - Switzerland's housing market shows increasing signs of a bubble, according to UBS's real estate index,... and more »

and death for hungry children.

Chronicle (MCT) — New jobs and better access to credit for homebuyers helped lift Houston's housing market during the first quarter. Areawide, homes sales jumped 9 percent over the same period last year, to 12936,...

Business/ News Wire/ Technology/

Curated News Edition

11

Celebrity Startups Are So Hot, Epoch Times | National, This Tech-Focused PE Firm Just World, China, Sports, Bought Part Of A Talent Agency Entertainment News (Epoch Times | National, World, China, Sports, Entertainment News)

Julie Bort (Business Insider) Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:27:55 AM

What startup wouldn't want a big name celeb like Taylor Swift, Queen Latifah, or Jude Law to invest in the company and then become a spokesperson?

That's the kind of celebrity/tech matching clout that private equity firm Silver Lake bought for itself.

Silver Lake just grabbed a stake in one of the biggest, baddest talent agencies in Hollywood, William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (WME). It represents some of the biggest celebs, movie directors, authors and athletes. While the two companies didn't disclose how big that stake was, the New York Times Dealbook says 31 percent.

It's an interesting move for Silver Lake, which is best known for its investments in tech companies like Groupon, Zynga, and Skype.

WME benefits because it has been dabbling with digital technologies, investing in interactive advertising, social media, social gaming and online retail. It wants to help its clients be more seen and more

successful. Silver Lake can help it do more in tech.

While Silver Lake didn't come out and say it will be trolling for celebs to be part of its tech investments, that seems like an obvious outcome. It did say that it will be part of WME's Technology Advisory Council "that will identify technologyrelated growth opportunities which would benefit WME's clients," according to the press

release.

This isn't the first time Hollywood and the Valley have partnered. In 2010, the Creative Artists Agency sold a 35 percent stake to TPG Capital, reports Dealbook.

Silver Lake has been asked for comment.

Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Top Stories Human rights lawyer Chen Guangcheng has spoken of his wish to take his family out of China after cracks began to appear in a U.S. deal to guarantee his safety.

Eighteen months after being released from house arrest—and 10 days after it was scheduled to happen—Burma’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi formally assumed public [...]

The escape of blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng from house arrest may have been assisted by allies of premier Wen Jiabao, according to a high-level

source in Beijing.

New transcripts and audio recordings of covert phone calls made to high-level Communist Party officials reveal widespread knowledge of organ harvesting of living Falun Gong [...]

Asian-Americans are the fastestgrowing community in the United States and their businesses are more likely to create jobs than any other, but they are largely ignored by [...]

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Fusione Fredda: nuova tecnologia USA si affianca a E-Cat Rossi, studenti ... - WebMasterPoint.org (brillouin - Google News)

della macchina per la fusione fredda c'è anche la Brillouin Energy Corporation di Berkeley.

WebMasterPoint.org In realtà, stando a quanto Fusione Fredda: nuova tecnologia sostenuto, avrebbero già compiuto USA si affianca a E-Cat Rossi, ulteriori passi in avanti. Non solo studenti... sarebbe stata attivata la...

WebMasterPoint.org and more » A interessarsi dello sviluppo Submitted at 5/3/2012 5:11:49 AM

12

Business/ World News/ Featured/

The 15 Most Expensive Megaprojects In The World Ashley Lutz (Business Insider)

Curated News Edition

With Eye on Asia, U.S. Seeks Greater Global Security Role for Brazil (World Politics Review: Articles) Submitted at 5/3/2012 6:05:00 AM

November to facilitate information-sharing. Both agreements have already resulted in greater military-to-military cooperation, at times in new domains. Although the U.S.Brazilian navies have a long history of cooperation, most recently jointly participating in a maritime security exercise near Africa in February, cooperation between their air forces is a relatively new phenomenon. In 2010, the U.S. Air Force participated in Brazil’s annual Cruzex multinational air exercise for the first time. Next year, Brazil will reciprocate by joining the annual multilateral Red Flag exercise in Nevada. ...

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Last week’s inaugural U.S.Brazilian Defense Cooperation Dialogue was the latest example The most expensive large-scale of the Obama administration’s projects in the world range from efforts to enhance defense airports to entire city districts. cooperation with Brazil. Though While some changed a lot of improving broader relations with lives for the better, such as public Brazil has been a priority for the transit systems, others are just Obama administration, the U.S. billion-dollar eyesores, like the emphasis on bilateral defense ties never-completed Dubailand. should also be seen as part of We' eve ranked the top 15 Washington’s ongoing effort to according to their inflationget Brazil to increase its global adjusted cost using this calculator. security profile as the U.S. 15. The John F. Kennedy Airport focuses more of its strategic Expansion attention and shrinking defense Inflation-adjusted cost:$12.7 resources on the Western Pacific. billion.

Even before announcing the U.S. Cost in 2001:$10.3 billion pivot to Asia last fall, the Obama This amazing underground tunnel administration had actively New York's JFK airport is among Cost in 2007:$17 billion This subway line on the west side takes high-speed railways 31.4 pursued expanded security ties the busiest in the world. The of Manhattan has been in the miles underneath the English with Brazil. The two countries airport's comprehensive expansion a decade ago included building works for 75 years but delayed Tunnel into France. In 1996, it signed a defense cooperation new terminals and constructing an because of funding problems. was named one of the Seven agreement in April 2010 and 8-mile-long AirTrain to make it Developers broke ground on the Wonders of The Modern World. another agreement the following project in 2007 and the 8.5-mile Source: The Los Angeles Times public transit-friendly.

See the rest of the story at Source: The Port Authority of line is near completion.

Source: New York Magazine Business Insider New York and New Jersey Please follow Business Insider on Daniel Halper (The Weekly 14. The Second Avenue subway 13. Channel Tunnel Republicans are seeking to Inflation-adjusted cost:$22.4 Twitter and Facebook.

Standard) expansion portray President Obama as the Inflation-adjusted cost:$17.9 billion divider-in-chief, arguing the Submitted at 5/3/2012 9:31:00 AM Cost in 1994:$15.4 billion billion presidential candidate who T h e R e p u b l i c a n s ' l i n e o n trumpeted hope and change four President Obama: That he is the years ago is now running an divider in chief. The Hill reports: increasingly negative campaign.

Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:22:30 AM

Divider in Chief?

Business/ World News/ Technology/ Finance/

Curated News Edition

13

World Citizen: Is These Are The Most Popular Star Wars Ads Of Europe's Left Poised for a Comeback?

All Time (World Politics Review: Articles)

center Barack Obama win the White House. But throughout Europe voters seemed generally When the global financial crisis d i s i n c l i n e d t o b r i n g l e f t i s t erupted in 2007, it seemed liked p o l i t i c i a n s t o o f f i c e . the ideal moment for the political That might be about to change. ... left to launch a comeback, This entry passed through the particularly in Europe. The crisis Full-Text RSS service — if this is was a disaster that started in the your content and you're reading it very heart of capitalism, the on someone else's site, please read banking system, and which the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contenttriggered massive layoffs, soaring only/faq.php#publishers. Five unemployment and painful home Filters recommends: Donate to foreclosures. In the U.S., the Wikileaks. financial crisis helped the left-of-

Laura Stampler (Business Insider)

Submitted at 5/3/2012 6:03:00 AM

Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:25:41 AM

In celebration of Star Wars Day on Friday—May the 4th be with you!—Unruly Media has compiled a list of the most shared Star Wars ads of all time.

While everyone knows about Volkswagen and Deutsch LA's Darth Vader Super Bowl spot in 2011 (and less popular 2012 follow-up), most people would be happily surprised to find out that R2-D2 and C3PO made an antismoking PSA in the 1980s.

Or that a collection of Ole Miss students petitioned to make Admiral Ackbar their mascot in 2011 to replace Colonel Reb, who had strong ties to the old South.

Their campaign got turned into an ad for ESPN. Click through to see what else

you've been missing. 10. Star Wars Smoking PSA 19,882 shares all time 9. ESPN Ole Miss Star Wars Commercial—Campaign to make Admiral Ackbar the school mascot, 2010 27,055 shares all time By the students of Ole Miss (yes ... this is real)

8. Adidas Originals, Star Wars Collection (with David Beckham), 2010 66,778 shares all time

By Sid Lee Amsterdam See the rest of the story at Business Insider Please follow Advertising on Twitter and Facebook.

Debt crisis: live Szu Ping Chan (Finance News Business news from the UK and world) Submitted at 5/3/2012 9:37:25 AM

ECB president Mario Draghi said on Thursday, though he added that growth and fiscal compacts could work hand in hand.

Eurozone growth must be "put back at the centre of the agenda,"

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14

News Wire/

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Chinese dissident seeks exile, strains U.S.China ties (Reuters: Top News)

improve his circumstances.

But Chen said on Thursday by telephone from hospital, where he

By Chris Buckley and Andrew was escorted by U.S. officials and Quinn was being treated for a broken BEIJING| Thu May 3, 2012 foot, that he had changed his mind 11:22am EDT after speaking to his wife, who ( R e u t e r s ) - B l i n d C h i n e s e spoke of recent threats made dissident Chen Guangcheng against his family. appealed on Thursday for asylum "I feel very unsafe. My rights and in the United States, throwing into safety cannot be assured here," he doubt an agreement used to coax said. His family, who were with him out of hiding in the U.S. him at the hospital, backed his Embassy in Beijing and fanning decision to try to reach the United U.S.-China tensions at a sensitive States, he added. time.

The activist, citing descriptions The standoff appears particularly from his wife, Yuan Weijing, said troublesome for the Obama his family had been surrounded administration, with Chen saying by Chinese officials who menaced he now fears for his and his them and filled the family home. family's safety if he stays in Chen, from a village in rural China, as was planned under the Shandong province, has two deal that Washington called a children. good outcome for the dissident. "When I was inside the American C h i n a ' s F o r e i g n M i n i s t r y Embassy, I didn't have my family, declined to comment on Chen's and so I didn't understand some request to leave the country and things. After I was able to meet repeated its criticism of the way them, my ideas changed." the United States had handled the U.S. Ambassador to Beijing Gary issue as "unacceptable".

Locke told reporters that Chen Chen, a self-taught legal activist, had made it "very, very clear" to l e f t t h e U . S . E m b a s s y o n U.S. officials that he wanted to Wednesday and is now under stay in China.

Chinese control in a Beijing A senior U.S. official said the hospital. He had taken refuge at United States was seeking to the U.S. mission for six days after c l a r i f y C h e n ' s w i s h e s a n d escaping house arrest and left continued to discuss his fate with after U.S. officials assured him the Chinese government. that Beijing had promised to "When we feel that we have a Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:22:49 AM

clear view of what his final decision is, we will do what we can to help him achieve that," the official said.

FRAGILE TIME The Chen case comes at a fragile time for both nations: U.S. President Barack Obama will be sensitive to any criticism of the handling of Chen in the run-up to a November presidential election and China is struggling to push through its own leadership change late this year.

That carefully choreographed transition has already been wrongfooted by the downfall of ambitious senior Communist Party official Bo Xilai after he was caught up in a scandal linked to the apparent murder of a British businessman.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton found herself in the eye of the diplomatic storm on Thursday, turning up for the opening of annual bilateral talks in Beijing which have been overshadowed, but not derailed, by the Chen case.

She used the occasion to urge China to protect human rights but made no specific mention of Chen, whom she had spoken to on Wednesday after he left the embassy.

"Of course, as part of our dialogue, the United States raises the importance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,"

Clinton said. "We believe all governments have to answer our citizens' aspirations for dignity and the rule of law and that no nation can or should deny those rights."

Despite Chen's change of heart about staying in China, it was unclear if he would be able to travel to the United States.

U.S. officials appeared no longer to be with him on Thursday, with the dissident saying he had still not had an opportunity to explain his change of heart to the U.S. side.

"I hope the U.S. will help me leave immediately. I want to go there for medical treatment," Chen said from the hospital, where a pack of camera crews and reporters was waiting outside, kept away from the entrance by police.

Washington had hoped its deal with Beijing over Chen would defuse the crisis, with both Clinton and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in the Chinese capital for this week's talks - in which the United States will aim to secure more cooperation from China on trade and international flashpoints such as North Korea, Iran and Syria.

Under the deal, according to U.S. officials, Chen and his family would have been relocated within the country in safety and he would

have been allowed to pursue his studies.

'GET OUR FAMILY OUT' But Chinese authorities have taken a tough tone, criticizing what they called U.S. meddling and demanding an apology for the way U.S. diplomats handled the case.

Chinese President Hu Jintao made no mention of the Chen case in his remarks to the U.S.-China talks but stressed that the two nations needed trust.

"It is impossible for China and the United States to see eye-to-eye on every issue, but both sides must know how to respect each other," he said.

Earlier, in comments aired on CNN, Chen said: "I would like to say to President Obama, please do everything you can to get our family out."

Chen, 40, is a legal activist who campaigned against forced abortions under China's "onechild" policy. He escaped 19 months of house arrest, during which he and his family faced beatings and threats, late last month.

U.S. officials had said Chen left the embassy of his own free will because he wanted to be reunited with his wife and children. They said he wanted to remain in China CHINESE page 20

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Curated News Edition

15

Denying Dying Vet in LineWith Spirit Flier Complaints (FOXNews.com)

Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:53:00 AM

• A dying former Marine refused a refund by Spirit Airlines isn't alone in complaining about the tight-fisted carrier — it leaves the competition on the ground when it comes to passenger gripes.

The Florida-based budget airline, run by brash and unapologetic CEO Ben Baldanza, had well more than twice the rate of passenger complaints as runnerup United Airlines in January.

Spirit racked up 8.27 complaints per 100,000 passengers for the month, while United registered 3.5 such complaints per 100,000 fliers, according to U.S. Department of Transportation statistics. By comparison, Southwest notched just 0.2 complaints per 100,000 fliers.

“They’re the worst airline in the U.S. They put no money back into customer service, which is a black hole at Sprit.”

- Kate Hanni, Flyers Rights Kate Hanni, executive director of Flyers Rights, which bills itself as the largest nonprofit consumer organization representing U.S. airline passengers, said she’s not surprised people complain about Spirit at a higher rate than any

other carrier.

“They’re the worst airline in the U.S.,” Hanni said. “They put no money back into customer service, which is a black hole at Spirit.”

Hanni estimated that her organization receives five times the amount of complaints

pertaining to Spirit than any other domestic airline — budget or legacy carrier alike.

“Spirit Airlines has a history of cruelty toward their passengers, but they continue to treat them like meat in a seat because they’re fares are so low they are confident people will continue to fly with

them,” she continued. “But the fact is people are damaged by Spirit every day and Spirit Airlines just has a culture of ‘I don’t care.’”

The carrier was fined $100,000 in 2010 by the federal Department of Transportation for not recording and responding to the complaints

regarding the treatment of disabled passengers.

Baldanza, who has signaled he will speak to Fox News Thursday, has lamented the number of complaints, but is notoriously firm in his refusal to bend DENYING page 18

16

News Wire/

Curated News Edition

Blind Activist Now Wants toLeave China, US Says (FOXNews.com)

Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:53:00 AM

• The Chinese activist at the center of an international tug-of-war now wants to flee China with his family, a U.S. official confirmed, with the blind dissident telling one reporter he wants to "leave for the U.S. on Hillary Clinton's plane."

The latest twist in an increasingly complex diplomatic stand-off comes as a prominent human rights advocate on Capitol Hill accuses the Obama administration of trying to sweep away the controversy to make way for diplomatic photo-ops at a round of Beijing meetings. The opening day of those talks, which include Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, was Thursday.

"Unfortunately, having this summit and trying to get this off the table in time for the happy pictures and the photo-ops with the summit may have driven this in a way that led to a poor outcome," Rep. Chris Smith, RN.J., told FoxNews.com. "How are they going to guarantee his safety?"

The situation is developing by the hour, though, and U.S. officials are continuing to reach out to

Chen Guangcheng.

The blind activist first escaped house arrest and fled to the U.S. Embassy in China last week, touching off the diplomatic dispute. He finally left the embassy Wednesday to seek medical care and visit his family at a local hospital -- a decision

U.S. officials described as his own. Yet despite initial U.S. claims that the Beijing government offered assurances to Chen and that Chen wanted to stay in China with his family, those claims are being challenged.

Chen told reporters Wednesday that the Chinese, via U.S.

intermediaries, had threatened to send his family back to their home province where they were persecuted if he did not leave the embassy -- he said one U.S. official passed on a message that his wife would be killed, though the U.S. State Department adamantly denies the claim. Chen

is now saying he wants to leave China -- he told The Daily Beast he wants to fly out with Clinton.

A U.S. spokeswoman on Thursday confirmed that Chen wants to leave with his family.

State Department spokeswoman BLIND page 20

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17

East Asia boosts safety net as euro zone crisis lingers (Reuters: Top News)

three economic powers agreed to boost cross-investment in government bond markets, worth

By Choonsik Yoo and Rie nearly a combined $15 trillion.

Ishiguro The series of agreements come as MANILA| Thu May 3, 2012 many of the export-oriented 7:31am EDT economies in the region seek (Reuters) - China, Japan and ways to avoid a repeat of the 1997 South Korea took steps on /98 Asian financial meltdown Thursday to tie their markets a f t e r f a c i n g r e c e n t c r i s e s closer and agreed with their originating outside their part of smaller Asian neighbors to boost the world. t h e i r e m e r g e n c y p r o t e c t i o n "We are fully aware of the against financial shocks. potential downside risks to the The ASEAN+3 regional grouping region's economic performance in agreed to double the size of their 2012," said the statement by the emergency liquidity program and ASEAN+3 finance ministers and made it more readily available by central bank chiefs, who met in adding a preemptive function and Manila on the sidelines of the reducing its compulsory link to A s i a n D e v e l o p m e n t B a n k the International Monetary Fund's m e e t i n g s . bailout conditions.

"The prolonged sovereign debt A heightened sense of urgency crisis in the euro zone could due to the euro zone crisis helped continue to weigh on ASEAN+3 t h e 1 3 c o u n t r i e s s t r i k e a n economies through trade and agreement that South Korean financial channels. Inflationary Finance Minister and co-chair pressures remain, driven, in Bahk Jae-wan described as the particular, by rising oil prices." most noteworthy in the grouping's EMERGENCY PROGRAMME more than 10-year history.

TO BE DOUBLED In a further move to protect their The agreement calls for boosting financial markets from shocks, the the size of the Chiang Mai Submitted at 5/3/2012 6:31:27 AM

Initiative Multilateralisation (CMIM) program to $240 billion

by November, while cutting the amount tied to an IMF program to 70 percent from 80 percent and extending the maturity of currency swaps.

The program, created in 2000 initially as a network of bilateral currency swaps, has never been put to use because of the stigma associated with the IMF that angered the region for its insufficient bailouts during the Asian currency crisis.

"Memories of 1997-1998 keep coming in the way and that is why each country has built significant foreign reserves," Rajat Nag, ADB managing director general, told Reuters.

"But we hope Asia can move beyond that now."

The absence of top officials from China dented the mood somewhat as they were at home hosting senior U.S. officials. The Chinese delegation was headed by deputy chiefs of the finance ministry and central bank.

CHINA, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA TO MUTUALLY

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HOLD BONDS The region's three economic powers struck a formal agreement on their mutual bond holdings, a rare one on securities investment, to safeguard their capital markets against possibly massive crossborder fund flows.

"We agreed to promote the investment by the foreign reserve authorities in (each other's) government bonds, further strengthen our cooperation, including information sharing, and thereby enhance the regional economic relationship among the three countries," they said in a joint statement.

Local currency-denominated government bonds in the three countries amounted to $14.61 trillion at the end of 2011, with Chinese and Japanese bonds accounting for 97 percent of the total, ADB data showed.

Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi told reporters that the country would start with a small amount of purchases in Chinese and South Korean bonds as it hopes to diversify assets in foreign reserves for stable

management.

"I believe the step is effective in boosting confidence in currencies and deepen the three countries' mutual trust," he said.

Working level officials are due to work out the specific methods and procedures of the cooperation as the three want to avoid conflicts that may arise from one country's massive holdings of another's bonds, South Korean officials have said.

China started buying South Korea's local-currency government bonds a few years ago but Seoul began to invest in Chinese bonds only recently.

Japan also recently announced its plan to buy China's bonds.

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DENYING continued from page 15

company refund rules, even in dramatic cases like Jerry Meekins, the Florida man whose bid for a $197 refund was nixed.

“People understand that they won’t get the same product they’d get if they paid thousands of dollars to fly on American, Delta, or Continental,” Baldanza said in a 2008 interview with Leaders magazine.

In an internal memo about the Meekins incident, he reiterated his hard line.

“Every customer chooses what services they buy,” the April 27 memo read. “That’s all they pay for and not a penny more. Our approach treats each customer with respect and puts each customer in charge of their own costs — and no one else’s.

Unfortunately, unexpected curves are a part of life for everyone.”

And while Baldanza said he was “saddened” by Meekins’ diagnosis, the New York-born executive refused to budge while explaining the matter to all Spirit employees. FoxNews.com readers overwhelmingly believe the boss got it wrong: In a "You Decide"

poll with more than 100,000 responses, 8 out of 10 readers said Spirit should have refunded Meekins' fare.

In 2007, Baldanza laid bare his feelings about customer service in an email which he meant to send to a colleague, but accidentally hit reply all, sending the missive out to the very passenger who had complained.

“Please respond, Pasquale, but we owe him nothing as far as I’m concerned," the email read. "Let him tell the world how bad we are. He’s never flown before with us anyway and will be back when we save him a penny.”

Baldanza told reporters during a post-earning call on Tuesday that Spirit plans to boost capacity by 23 percent this year as legacy carriers reduce domestic routes.

Spirit reported a first-quarter profit of $23.4 million, compared to $7.9 million a year earlier. The budget carrier has recently expanded routes in cities like Dallas, Chicago and Denver. The airline's all-Airbus fleet currently operates more than 190 daily flights to more than 50

destinations within the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean.

“I’m pleased with how well our team continues to execute on our network expansion,” Baldanza said in a news release announcing the company’s first-quarter results. “We continue to see a growing number of smart, valueconscious consumers respond favorably to our introduction of low fares to even more places.

Robust demand for our ultra low base fares with a range of optional services for a fee resulted in our revenue growth outpacing our capacity growth.”

Baldanza told reporters the carrier’s average fare fell during the first quarter by nearly 7 percent to $76.65.

Asked by a reporter last month from FlightGlobal.com if the airline’s additional domestic routes versus international locales are a sign of what’s to come, the Baldanza replied: “Our strategy is simpler than that. Our strategy is to make money.”

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Parenting support axed when child turns 8 - Ninemsn (Nation - Google News) Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:50:00 AM

Parenting support axed when

child turns 8 Ninemsn Single, unemployed parents will be given a nudge back into the

workforce when parenting support payments are cut back in next week's federal budget. The Gillard government is expected to reap

savings of $700 million by axing support payments to parents... and more »

French presidential and London mayoral elections: Give the Conservatives one ... - Daily Mail (Nation - Google News) Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:09:51 AM

Daily Mail French presidential and London mayoral elections: Give the Conservatives one...

Daily Mail

By Francesca Preece Like France, we face a similar situation today at the local polls: frustration and rebellion. While voters seethe at David Cameron, French voters are contemplating the political guillotine for Nicholas Sarkozy and his celebrity wife...

Labour ten points clear of Tories as Britain goes to the polls Telegraph.co.uk David Cameron must be prepared to learn in his post-MDGs role at UN The Guardian Conservatives face local polls backlash over recession Reuters UK Mirror.co.uk- LocalGov- Sky News all 30 news articles »

News Wire/ Technology/ World News/

Curated News Edition

Jobless claims tumble, service sector slows (Reuters: Top News)

April created the fewest jobs in seven months.

Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:07:02 AM Initial claims for state A man holds his briefcase at a job unemployment benefits dropped fair in New York April 18, 2012.

27,000 to a seasonally adjusted C r e d i t : R e u t e r s / S h a n n o n 365,000, the Labor Department Stapleton said on Thursday. It was the

By Lucia Mutikani and Leah biggest weekly drop in claims Schnurr since early May last year WASHINGTON/NEW YORK| "This offsets the concerns from Thu May 3, 2012 11:07am EDT yesterday's ADP number. You're (Reuters) - The number of getting mixed signals ... It might Americans filing new claims for not be as bad as we were thinking jobless aid dropped by the most in after ADP," said Phil Flynn, a a year last week, easing fears the senior market analyst at PFG Best l a b o r m a r k e t r e c o v e r y w a s in Chicago. stalling.

Economists polled by Reuters But separate data on the vast U.S. had forecast claims falling to services sector was less upbeat, 380,000 last week. The four-week with the rate of growth slowing average of new claims, considered more than expected and a gauge a better of measure of labor of employment falling to its market trends, rose 750 to lowest level in four months. 383,500 - the highest level since The bigger-than-expected decline December. in new claims helped lift some of Last week's jobless claims data the dark cloud cast over the labor falls outside the survey week for market by data from payroll April payrolls and thus has no processor ADP on Wednesday direct bearing on the closely that showed private employers in watched government report on

employment to be released on Friday. According to a Reuters survey, that report is expected to show employers added 170,000 new jobs last month, an improvement over March's disappointing 120,000.

However, there is a downside risk to this forecast. Initial claims were elevated for much of April and the ADP survey showed private employers added only 119,000 jobs last month. Analysts said the drop in the service sector employment gauge also added to that risk.

The Institute for Supply Management said its services index fell to 53.5 last month from 56.0 in March, missing economists' forecasts for a modest decline to 55.5.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector. The services sector accounts for about two-thirds of U.S. economic activity.

The forward-looking new orders index dropped to 53.5 from 58.8,

while the employment gauge slipped to the lowest level since December at 54.2 from 56.7.

"We're seeing some softness in the economy after a good start to the year," said Gary Thayer, chief macro strategist at Wells Fargo Advisors in St. Louis.

"We think it's a temporary cooling off and that the outlook is still favorable this year because of easy money policies around the world and declining inflation."

U.S. stocks turned lower immediately after the services data, while Treasuries prices trimmed losses and the dollar trimmed gains against the yen.

(Additional reporting by Ryan Vlastelica in New York; Editing

by Andrea Ricci) This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.

19

Miller vows to keep Rangers intact - The Press Association (Nation - Google News) Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:00:00 AM

Globe and Mail Miller vows to keep Rangers intact The Press Association The US businessman named as the preferred bidder for Rangers Football Club has vowed that his proposal offers a "fresh start" with "no loss of history". Rangers' administrators say vehicle recovery tycoon Bill Miller could complete his purchase of the...

Rangers administrators cannot give '100% guarantee' over liquidation stv.tv Rangers' Administrators Say Miller Granted Preferred Status BusinessWeek Miller set to seal Gers deal before season ends as American is named preferred... Daily Mail Yahoo! Eurosport UK- ScotzineThe Guardian (blog) all 582 news articles Âť

Robot bird gracefully lands on a human hand Mark Brown Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:08:27 AM

A team of researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-

Champaign have made a robotic bird that can fly by flapping its wings, and can navigate while gliding. But the biggest hurdle has been getting it to land

gracefully.

"Of all manoeuvres executed by flapping wing aircraft in a gliding phase, a perched landing is arguably the most challenging," says Aditya Paranjape, a

postdoctoral scholar working on the project.

By: Mark Brown, Edited by: Duncan Geere Continue reading...

20

Culture/

Curated News Edition

BLIND

CHINESE

continued from page 16

Victoria Nuland told reporters that U.S. officials had spoken twice Thursday with Chen and also with his wife and "they as a family have had a change of heart about whether they want to stay in China."

Nuland and other officials would not discuss the possibility of Chen being granted U.S. asylum but said earlier that "we will do what we can to help him achieve" what he wants.

U.S. Ambassador Gary Locke also told reporters that Chen had been "very clear from the very, very beginning that he wanted to stay in China."

"We asked him, did you want to go to the United States, and he said no; maybe someday to study, but his immediate goal was to stay in China and to help with the cause," Locke said.

The ambassador said Chen was "never pressured to leave" the embassy and had never asked for asylum in the U.S. But Smith said the U.S. should "without a doubt" revisit his case and consider granting him asylum, chiding the administration for its handling of the affair.

"There is no safe place in China if you're a dissident. It doesn't exist.

continued from page 14

It's an oxymoron," Smith said. "I think we missed an opportunity to press for asylum."

Chen reportedly has tried to reach out to Smith, asking that a message be sent to him to "help my family and I leave safely."

Smith, in an interview with FoxNews.com, said he has not yet gotten in touch with Chen. He said he called the U.S. Embassy in China on Tuesday night to try to reach him and "stood by the phone all night," to no avail. He said he never got a call back but is "responding as if I did."

Smith has tried to visit Chen in China before, but said the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., had turned him down for a visa.

Other Republican lawmakers also put added pressure on the Obama administration in the wake of Chen's published comments.

"Having handed Chen Guangcheng back over to the Chinese government, the Obama administration is responsible for ensuring his safety," House Speaker John Boehner said in a statement. "While our economic relationship with China is important and vital to the future of people in both countries, the United States has an obligation to use its engagement with China to

press for reforms in China's human rights practices, particularly with respect to the reprehensible 'one-child' policy."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said that "if American does not speak up for Mr. Chen, who will?"

FoxNews.com's Judson Berger and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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and never asked for asylum.

"He knew the stark choices in front of him," U.S. Ambassador Locke told reporters of Chen, who at one point in talks with the Americans demanded to speak to Premier Wen Jiabao. "He knew and was very aware that he might have to spend many, many years in the embassy. But he was prepared to do that ...

"And he was fully aware of and talked about what might happen to his family if he stayed in the embassy and they stayed in the village in Shandong province."

Chen's dramatic escape from house arrest and his flight to the U.S. Embassy have made him a symbol of resistance to China's shackles on dissent, and the deal struck by Beijing and Washington would have kept him an international test case of how tight or loose those restrictions remain.

"He made it very, very clear from the very, very beginning that he wanted to stay in China, that he wanted to be part of the struggle to improve the human rights within China," Locke said.

Now, however, his change of mind throws not only his own future into doubt, but also raises questions about the wider U.S.-

China relationship.

It could also prove politically costly for Obama, who has already been accused of being soft on China by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and who could now face further criticism over Chen's case.

What initially appeared to be a foreign policy success for the Obama administration could quickly turn into a liability.

(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard, Don Durfee, Lucy Hornby and Michael Martina in Beijing; Brian Rhoads, James Pomfret and Tan Ee Lyn in Hong Kong; and Arshad Mohammed and Paul Eckert in Washington.; Writing by Mark Bendeich; Editing by Jonathan Thatcher, Nick Macfie and Eric Beech) This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.

Extinction's toll could rival climate change (Holy Kaw!) Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:11:00 AM

Loss of biodiversity appears to affect ecosystems as much as

climate change, pollution, and other major forms of environmental stress.

“Our results show that species extinction can have major impacts

on the ecosystems upon which we all depend,” says co-author Andrew Gonzalez, an ecologist at McGill University. “We have shown that biodiversity loss

matters, and that it will rank as one of the most important forms of global change for the 21st century.”

Full story at Futurity.

More research news from top universities.

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21

Bin Laden Docs DetailStruggle to Control Minions (FOXNews.com)

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Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:53:00 AM

PDF: Letters from Abbottabad: Bin Ladin Sidelined?

Newly released documents obtained from Usama bin Laden's compound reveal that the former Al Qaeda leader was unsure -even fearful -- of the terror network's affiliate groups and his ability to control them.

The documents, which were seized last year in a Navy SEAL team raid that killed bin Laden, show he was deeply troubled by terrorist attacks carried out by regional jihadist groups that caused Muslim civilian casualties.

"No Muslim (should) fall victim except when it is absolutely necessary," bin Laden writes.

In private letters, bin Laden called for affiliate groups to abort domestic attacks and focus their attention on the United States, "our desired goal." In particular, bin Laden wished to take down planes carrying Gen. David Petraeus and President Obama.

"We shall avoid carrying out attacks in Islamic countries except for the countries that fell under invasion and direct occupation,"

Related Video Afghanistan ready for withdrawal of US troops?

Related Images •

bin Laden writes.

He cites several reasons: the potential killing of Muslims who the enemy uses as human shields, and the possibility of getting involved in a war against a regime and one Al Qaeda didn't start.

An assassination of Obama, bin Laden wrote, would bring an "utterly unprepared" Vice President Biden into power and the U.S. into crisis.

The documents, a selection of

which were posted online Thursday by the U.S. Army's Combating Terrorism Center, also suggest difficulties in Al Qaeda's relationship with Iran.

The 17 documents -- totaling about 175 pages in Arabic -range in dates from September 2006 to April 2011.

The former Al Qaeda chief was killed May 2, 2011, when an elite Navy SEAL team stormed his secret three-story compound in

Abbottabad, Pakistan. The team managed to seize roughly 100 flash drives, five computer hard drives, piles of paperwork and bin Laden's handwritten journal, in hopes the information could inform U.S. leaders of Al Qaeda's future operations.

Fox News' Catherine Herridge contributed to this report.

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Related Stories US-Afghanistan 10-year security compact has loopholes for both nations Related Opinion Obama's Bin Laden overkill Never underestimate Team Obama's ability to overdo anything Share This Article Newsletter Signup Sign up for free e-mail news alerts from FoxNews.com and FoxBusiness.com. Newsletter Signup This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.

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World News/

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Pranab A father's tears and pure fury at Coronation Street: Catherine whoever killed his daughter, Allison Tyldesley pays homage to Madonna Mukherjee frontrunner for Baden-Clay - The Daily Telegraph for Jubilee ... - Daily Mail (Nation - Google News) Allison. "We always had a (Nation - Google News) Tyldesley's character Eva Price President's post? positive attitude that each... has looked to the Queen of Pop...

Allison Baden-Clay's parents tell Cake portrait of the Queen Daily News & Brisbane Times of their grief for murdered Daily Mail created to celebrate Jubilee BBC Analysis A father's tears and pure fury at daughter Perth Now Coronation Street: Catherine News Submitted at 5/3/2012 9:20:45 AM

whoever killed his daughter, Allison Baden-Clay The Daily Telegraph GEOFF Dickie broke down and cried on a police officer's shoulder upon learning the body they found at the Kholo Creek crossing in Brisbane's west this week was his "loving" daughter and "soulmate"

Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:01:28 AM

Confirmed: Body found in creek identified as Allison Baden-Clay Courier Mail THE HUNT BEGINS: The clues that will help catch Allison's killer The Australian Brisbane Times all 204 news articles »

J'hand: BJP's Ahluwalia loses RS polls, Cong, JMM win - Zee News (Nation - Google News) Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:21:29 AM

IBNLive.com J'hand: BJP's Ahluwalia loses RS polls, Cong, JMM win Zee News Ranchi: In what could add to the worries of BJP, its leader SS Ahluwalia on Thursday lost Rajya Sabha polls in Jharkhand as Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Congress candidates won with 23 and 25 votes respectively.

Ahluwalia, who has been former...

SS Ahluwalia loses RS elections in Jharkhand; Congress, JMM win Economic Times Jharkhand: BJP leader SS Ahluwalia loses in Rajya Sabha polls Hindustan Times RS poll results point to BJP heading 'uneasy' govt : Cong Business Standard IBNLive.com- Daily News & Analysis- New York Daily News all 89 news articles »

Tyldesley pays homage to Madonna for Jubilee...

Daily Mail

By Emily Sheridan The cast of Coronation Street have been dressing up for a fancy dress street party to celebrate the Queen Elizabeth II's forthcoming Jubilee.

But it looks like Catherine

Kenyan Choir Arrive For Jubilee In Fine Voice Sky News Dress your Letchworth window to impress for Queen's Diamond Jubilee competition Comet 24 Travel-News.co.uk- TelevisualThe Press Association all 137 news articles »

Defence cuts 'tough yet manageable' ABC Online (Nation - Google News) Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:03:17 AM

The Age Defence cuts 'tough yet manageable' ABC Online A recently-retired defence strategist says the planned cuts to the Defence budget are achievable, but will involve tough choices for a department already under pressure to make savings.

His comments come as the

defence fraternity raises the alarm on...

Strategic shift toward Australia drives government's early update The Australian Prime Minister's Global Summit speech The Age Defence in firing line for Budget cuts of $5bn NEWS.com.au Sydney Morning Herald- Herald Sun all 212 news articles »

(Nation - Google News) Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:06:46 AM

The Hindu Pranab Mukherjee frontrunner for President's post?

Daily News & Analysis Place: New Delhi | Agency: PTI Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee appears to be emerging as front runner in the race for President's post within his party and outside with allies and some others backing him. Key UPA constituent Trinamool Congress and...

As consultations gather pace, Pranab emerges as front runner The Hindu Prez poll: Cong gets a headstart; Pranab the front-runner Firstpost Pranab Mukherjee not ruled out from Presidential race: Congress Economic Times Indian Express- Newstrack India all 254 news articles »

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23

Sachin Tendulkar: There 42Floors Launches ‘Showroom’ are no shortcuts to For All The Stuff Offices Need success - Cricket Country (Nation - Google News)

Pratapgad Warriors team who are participating in the...

Sachin Tendulkar tries yoga to be BBC News in top shape India Today Sachin Tendulkar: There are no So no Bharat Ratna for Sachin? shortcuts to success Daily News & Analysis Cricket Country I won't quit cricket for politics:

By Cricket Country Staff The Sachin Tendulkar Times of India recently turned Rajya Sabha MP, IBNLive.com- Firstpost- The Sachin Tendulkar has enthralled Hindu cricket fans for over two decades all 219 news articles » by his masterful batting. In his recent meeting with the players of Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:05:46 AM

Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:26:20 AM

Betterment, the better investment app, launched at Disrupt in 2010 and went on to manage approximately $50 million in two years.

The site is essentially an investment engine. Seamless automatic deposits ensure that you drag cash over to your investment account every month and the UI is clean, readable, and eminently simple – a gauge tells you how much you’re investing in various buckets of stocks and bonds, and

Colleen Taylor (TechCrunch)

Jason Freedman tells me that eventually it will actually be a full e-commerce marketplace.

4 2 f l o o r s , t h e s t a r t u p t h a t “With hiring in tech absolutely launched in March out of Y crazy right now, it’s nearly Combinator’s Winter 2012 class, impossible to find people. So as a i s s t i l l o n l y p r o v i d i n g i t s startup your offices have to be commercial real estate search cool,” Freedman said. “Big product in the San Francisco Bay companies hire full-time product Area. 42Floors says more regions managers to do stuff like this, but are on the way, but in the our core user is a startup CEO and meantime, the company has found his or her office manager. They another way to go national: The have full-time jobs already, and debut today of “ Showroom,” a moving can be a full-time job. We marketplace that provides all the want to help with every aspect of stuff businesses need to move into that.” a new office after they sign the To assemble Showroom, lease on the space.

Freedman says 42Floors visited With Showroom, 42Floors has dozens of the “coolest startup assembled a curated collection of offices around” and catalogued a built-in advisor tells you where things such as office furniture, the products and services they to keep your money in order to decor items, kitchen accessories, were using. The site also has an and services such as interior inspiration tab, which showcases reach a certain goal.

Betterment is slowly rolling out designers and wellness program offices with especially interesting improvements to the interface and providers. For now, Showroom decor, Apartment Therapy style.

In addition to the instant site and we talked to CEO Jon links to places where those things can be bought and collects an nationwide expansion angle, Stein about the Disrupt bump, how his employees had to take affiliate fee — but 42Floors CEO Showroom is is a smart move service calls in the audience, and the stratospheric growth of the company. He said that it took them a year to reach $10 million and less than a year to quadruple the money under their management.

Betterment Talks About The Disrupt Bump And The Future Of Investing John Biggs (TechCrunch)

After Signing The Lease Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:02:35 AM

because it means that 42Floors can now be a relevant place for businesses to go year-round — not just the one or two times that they make a big move.

Meanwhile, 42Floors is in the process of closing what I’m hearing is a very buzzed-about round of funding from some of the startup scene’s biggest name investors (which seems to show a pattern emerging with Y Combinator’s latest batch of companies.) Freedman was mum on that process for now, but he did say that his six-person team has been working overtime since officially launching at Y Combinator demo day in late March — which is partially why they’re making their aggressive hiring process so entertainingly public. The Showroom launch is just the latest example of how 42Floors is emerging rapidly as a key Silicon Valley startup to watch.

24

Technology/

Curated News Edition

Boutique Chic: Five Great Analysts Who Are Under the Radar Cormac Foster (ReadWriteWeb)

Three. Full disclosure: I've worked with some of these people before, but don't hold that against Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:03:00 AM them.

There's a reason that IDC, Billy Pidgeon Forrester, and Gartner are so big. M2 Research They offer scale and coverage that Coverage Area: Gaming small firms can't match, and they The gaming industry is a tough attract industry heavyweights who nut to crack. It's an art, a business can make or break emerging and a unique exercise in supplytechnologies. But there's a chain economics. Plenty of downside to scale. Unless you're a a n a l y s t s c o v e r f i n a n c i a l s corporate whale, it's easy to get ("300,000 units shipped!") and lost in the shuffle, and getting that tech ("11 million polygons!"), but superstar on the phone in a pinch most leave the games themselves might take more time than you to the press. have.

M2's Billy Pidgeon understands I'm certainly not suggesting that all three worlds. While he's spent you throw away your existing the last dozen years at various subscriptions, particularly if research houses, Pidgeon will you're a vendor or solution always be a gamer at heart. He's provider. Put some effort into produced more than 20 games, those relationships, and they'll pay including major releases such as themselves back several times 1997's Turok: Dinosaur Hunter. over. But there's something to be This street cred gives him access said for the little guy, and there to insights and talent that more are hundreds of smaller analysis buttoned-up analysts might miss. firms that can provide you with If you're looking for one-on-one the kind of service and support practical advice about the gaming you need to make informed market from someone who's been decisions on a daily basis. there but also gets the big picture, There's no way to provide a check him out. comprehensive list of analysts or The Guys at RedMonk coverage areas in small firms, but RedMonk I've chosen five analysts who Coverage Area: Multiple (Techexemplify the kind of breadth in Related) business model, coverage areas If you're a Firefly fan, think of and perspective you can find RedMonk as the BrownCoats of when you look beyond the Big the analyst world. If you're not,

important than the CIO, which is dramatically different than the coverage aims of most larger firms. If you're a software developer, $5,000 a year is a very small price to pay for a contrarian perspective.

David Schatsky Green Research Coverage Area: Sustainability Sustainability is no longer just hip; it's an essential (and sometimes mandated) part of their motto should tell you what doing business, sitting on a you need to know. "Analysis by growing pile of hard science. It's a the people, for the people" says it big industry, so hundreds of all. I would have chosen just one consultancies have bolted on an of their four analysts, but that "eco-" to get your business. It's would have violated their whole tough to weed out the pretenders. "community" vibe.

David Schatsky has a background RedMonk tips its hat to the open- in technology, policy and finance. source world it covers by giving He also spent nearly 10 years at away its research, believing that JupiterResearch as a Research an open discussion provides the Director and President (yet more greatest benefit to everyone, disclosure: He was also my boss including their paying customers. t h e r e f o r a w h i l e ) , s o h e They make their money from understands the analyst gig. But consulting services that start at a what sets him apart from the rest flat $5,000 per year, increasing o f t h e e c o - k i d s i s h i s with the size of your company or understanding that he shouldn't do your consulting demands. For it alone. When he founded Green your money, you get access to Research, Schatsky brought in very astute technical minds David Meyers, an environmental focused on helping vendors heavyweight, to build out the produce tools that developers will company's real-world expertise actually want to use. As the and complement his research business model might suggest, it's experience, and they've further a very populist approach in which rounded out their expertise with the end user, IT manager, or associated content providers. The systems analyst is a lot more

result is a small, personalized shop that should be able to address most of your environmental concerns directly, but has the connections to pull in other experts where needed.

Tony Byrne Real Story Group Coverage Area: Content Management Real Story Group doesn't work with vendors they cover. At all.

No consultations, white papers, or appearances at vendor events nothing that could possibly influence their coverage. This independence irritates the industry and helps their clients (anyone working with content or knowledge management) trust what they read. While RSG has a number of top-notch analysts ( Theresa Regli deserves a shoutout, particularly regarding international content management issues), the man behind the business model is Tony Byrne, the company's founder.

RSG's Evaluation Reports are their most popular deliverable, largely because of their Consumer Reports-style comparison charts.

They aren't cheap (running around $2,500 per report), but they can save you tens or hundreds of thousands during your evaluation process and give you the answers BOUTIQUE page 30

Technology/

Curated News Edition

25

What Everyone Needs to Learn from the Data Journalism Handbook Joe Brockmeier (ReadWriteWeb)

an e-book - or especially on paper - would be a little frustrating.

Inside the Handbook Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:03:00 AM The handbook offers a glimpse It's hard to pay attention to the i n t o t h e p r a c t i c e o f d a t a business of journalism without journalism, with some guidance hearing about data journalism or on how to get started. You'll find data-driven journalism. But a slew of case studies, along with despite all the discussion of the s e c t i o n s o n g e t t i n g d a t a , topic, there's precious little understanding data and delivering documentation to guide practicing data to the public. and future journalists in becoming The handbook covers topics like p r o f i c i e n t i n i t . T h e D a t a open data, data use rights, Journalism Handbook aims to fix scraping and crowd-sourcing data, that, albeit at a high level. and community engagement.

The Data Journalism Handbook You'll also find some high-level effort started at a workshop at the discussion of tools to work with L o n d o n M o z F e s t 2 0 1 1 l a s t open data, and how to get that November. From there, the data. handbook represents the work of Most importantly, the book offers "an international, collaborative a resounding case for data-driven effort involving dozens of data journalism. The case studies journalism's leading advocates demonstrate the utility of dataand best practitioners." This driven journalism and the service includes folks from ProPublica, that it offers the public. For The Washington Post, the BBC, instance, the OpenSpending.org The New York Times and many example should inspire any others. journalist that covers politics and The result, so far, is an online public funds. The Price of Water book that's just now in beta. case study shows not only the E v e n t u a l l y i t w i l l a l s o b e service to the public, but the published in dead tree and e-book service of the public in gathering form by O'Reilly. However, given data. the nature of the tome, it's most The handbook is not a useful online. As you'd expect comprehensive guide to all of the from a title that was born at a c o n c e p t s a n d s k i l l s t h a t a Mozilla conference, the text is full journalist needs to practice data of links to online resources. I journalism. It doesn't teach the suspect trying to read the title as skills necessary for data literacy,

book. Specifically, the sections on getting data, understanding data and delivering data.

For example, " Become Data Literate in 3 Simple Steps." This piece advises journalists, at a high level, how to approach data. Ask yourself how the data was collected and if it can be tested.

Don't assume that data handed to you by a source is going to be valid. (And if the data is not valid, it may be a story, or it may defeat though it does provide some links t h e p r e m i s e o f t h e s t o r y . ) to resources. It also, of course, Question the data, how it was explains the importance of data gathered and whether it's a literacy. But it certainly doesn't reliable sample. You see, for try to teach journalists how to instance, many "trend" stories program and make use of APIs, or about technology based on a how to use tools to create data single data set. You may not have visualizations. a large enough sample size to rely In short, it's not Big Data for on.

Journalists or even Programming The section on visualizing data is 101 for Journalists, and more's the a l s o u s e f u l . T h e h a n d b o o k pity. Programming and working r e c o m m e n d s t h a t r e p o r t e r s with data sets is a skill set that working with data find a way to many journalists would do well to visualize it, even if that's just have, but most don't. To be fair, p u l l i n g n u m b e r s i n t o a the handbook doesn't necessarily spreadsheet. Visualizing data advocate that journalists be allows you to find patterns that programmers. It does emphasize you might otherwise miss. being able to work well with In the enthusiasm for working p r o g r a m m e r s , b u t i t w o u l d with data, scraping websites or probably be a very good idea to gathering data in other ways, have at least a fair grasp of basic there's also the small matter of programming. Tips and Ideas legal restrictions. Whose data is it, If you read just part of the and do you have the right to h a n d b o o k , I ' d r e c o m m e n d distribute it? The "Using and skipping the case studies and Sharing Data" section advises going straight to the meat of the

reporters to consider the ownership and licensing of data, and when "database rights" might mean that you can't distribute a data set in its entirety. It also covers various open-data licenses and recommends that news organizations apply those when distributing homegrown data sets.

An Unevenly Distributed Future What the handbook also does, sadly, is provide a tantalizing picture of what is, and what should be. As William Gibson said, "the future is already here it's just not very evenly distributed." The same can be said for data journalism. We have marvelous tools for doing data journalism, and they're getting better all the time. In some newsrooms, journalists are producing solid work with inhouse or open-source tools, examining everything from public data sets to data curated in-house.

In most newsrooms, however, reporting has not yet been significatnly affected by data journalism. In an era of continual layoffs and cutbacks, there's no budget for training or tools to help reporters get up to speed with the necessary tools and practices.

Most of the case studies describe projects that take weeks or months, a depressing concept for WHAT page 27

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Curated News Edition

NetPlenish Raises $1.9M For Mobile Shopping Service That Finds Lowest Prices On Household Goods Sarah Perez (TechCrunch) Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:39:33 AM

A new mobile shopping service called NetPlenish is announcing today that it has closed a round of $1.9 million in seed funding from Dave McClure’s 500 Startups, Gold Hill Capital, BHV Capital, TEEC Angel Fund, Ludlow Ventures and several angel investors, including its founders. The news was timed alongside the official launch of the company’s mobile application, available on both iPhone and Android. With the app, consumers are able to shop for everyday household items online which are sourced from trusted name merchants like Walmart, Target, Sears, K-Mart, Walgreens, Drugstore.com, Pets.com and Sephora.

The interesting thing about the mobile experience in NetPlenish is that’s it’s aggregating the content from multiple merchants into one single application. The benefit to this method is that NetPlenish can then use its fancy algorithms to figure out which

merchant currently has the best price on the item in question, allowing you to save both time (no need to shop around) and, obviously, money. The algorithms thankfully take into account tax and shipping costs, too.

This is somewhat different from how a price comparison app may work – for example, ShopSavvywhich tells you what different things cost at different stores, both online and off. While those apps are generally used for big ticket items like HDTV’s or household appliances, NetPlenish is after the diapers and dog food market.

When you tap an item to add it to the cart, the app serves up the best price, and even lets its merchants compete to offer you the best deal as you proceed to checkout.

You can build up your list using the integrated barcode scanning feature, so your everyday items are saved for regular use. Plus, the service offers its own take on the Amazon 1-Click checkout process with something it calls the “No Checkout Checkout.” Instead of filling out a screen each time with your info, the checkout process is

a one-button process…after the initial setup, that is. Facebook sign-up is supported, too (although in my test version, it failed to work).

The app itself is well-designed, but lacks a few key features, including a search option, category browsing, support for multiple household lists (e.g. would be great to have one-click replenish for all baby items – diapers, pull-ups, wipes, diaper genie refills, etc. – all at once).

The app could also take advantage of those new credit card scanning technologies from Jumio or Card.io, which would speed up the setup process.

This wouldn’t be the first time a tech company has attempted to serve the everyday household goods market, however.

Amazon.com has notably competed in this space beginning years ago with its Amazon Fresh service, which still exists but has never really been able to expand to a nationwide rollout. It also acquired Quidsi to tackle the diapers, drugstore items, pet supplies and toys verticals. And

Quidsi’s Soap.com added groceries to the list last fall. Given the Amazon relationship, it wouldn’t be surprising to see further integration of these properties with Amazon’s core products in the future. Other startups, like Alice.com, also serve this market.

So the unique part to what NetPlenish is doing is not just this idea of serving everyday shoppers’ needs through a household goods-targeted service, but the price comparison features, mobile-first focus, and simplified checkout process. Sounds promising, at least.

NetPlenish’s new apps are available for download here. The Ventura-based company is led

by CEO Dave Compton, who is the former CEO of Opportunities in Options and the former EVP of TradingMarkets.com. CMO Scott de Rozic, meanwhile, was the founder and CEO of XMarkstheSpot, the first customer acquisition network for the web, which was acquired by Aptimus.

Steve Jobs plays FDR in this old Mac sales video Victor Agreda, Jr. (TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog) Submitted at 5/3/2012 12:00:00 PM

It's not often you see Steve Jobs impersonating a former president, but leave it to the creatives who made Apple sales videos to make it happen. Yes, in this neverbefore-seen footage (well, never seen outside the sales meetings at Apple back in the 1980s), Steve Jobs plays a certain commanderin-chief, and gives his generals (sales guys) a rousing speech. It's a great watch for Jobs, but check out the full video as well, over at Network World. Sales videos are a source of endless entertainment, from Apple or elsewhere, but it's kinda cool to see Jobs have fun with a role like this.

Steve Jobs plays FDR in this old Mac sales video originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 03 May 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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5 Ways to Bootstrap Your Startup Rieva Lesonsky (ReadWriteWeb)

ownership of your company.”

Blankstein offers five ways to operate your startup with minimal Submitted at 5/3/2012 9:02:00 AM cash burn.

The conflicting (frequently Bootstrap 1. Offer Equity u n s o l i c i t e d ) a d v i c e s t a r t u p Compensation to Team Members: entrepreneurs too often hear is Generate interest in joining your enough to make you tune it all team by giving equity to others out. Either you’re told that you with complementary skill sets to need to go big and grab all the yours. With a four-year vesting angel or VC money you can get schedule and a six-month “cliff” your hands on, or that you should or trial period, you can get others start small, do it on your own, and to join in on the fun of startup, retain control of your company. and make progress without But bootstrapping a startup is not expending cash. This type of easy, requiring discipline and equity structure safeguards you, fortitude, as well as ingenuity. But so you won’t have to give away a entrepreneurs who have done it lot of your company if the person h a v e d i s c o v e r e d s o m e b e s t does not produce results. In fact, practices to increase the odds of with the six-month cliff, if they do success. not work out within that Serial entrepreneur Rachel timeframe, you have not given Blankstein is bootstrapping her away any equity. latest startup, Comparz, the Bootstrap 2. Leverage the Skilled largest independent user review Unemployed: Encourage talented site for businesses seeking Web- workers who are between jobs to based software. Blankstein admits work for you, which benefits them bootstrapping also involves “a lot by keeping their resumes fresh, of ingenuity, trial and error - and and allows them to build new an immense amount of hard skills. This is a win-win for the work.“ But she insists there are younger segment of the workforce benefits to bootstrapping. It who value building skills and enables you to “build something enhancing their resumes. They incredible with next to no cash, w i l l b e g r a t e f u l f o r t h e a n d t o r e t a i n s i g n i f i c a n t opportunity, and you will be

the IRS. Bootstrap 4. Build Relationships with Key Influencers: A successful entrepreneur often has strong relationships with key influencers in their industries. If you don’t have these relationships at the outset of your venture, build them. This gives your brand more exposure to the “right people,” offers you priceless insights into your industry and snowballs as these contacts introduce you to grateful for their hard work with more “important people” if you no cash expenditure. Just make prove to be good at what you are sure you don’t violate any doing. employment laws.

Bootstrap 5. Outsource: Don’t Bootstrap 3. Barter, barter, barter: hire people, use independent You can barter more than you consultants who come highly think. It can be as simple as recommended from your peers saving money on marketing by when you need to bring in promoting someone in a blog post expertise. That way you can learn who then promotes your company from them, and use your low-toto their audience. There are a no-cost team to implement their thousand ways to do it, but by ideas. Blankstein adds, “While providing more favors to others, these may not be ideal [solutions], they will be happy to do favors this is how you limit cash burn, for you - whether you need expert which is important for a startup or advice, exposure or someone to business of any size.“ (See also: 4 test your product, etc. You can Ways to Avoid Hiring Your First also barter for services. Exchange Employee.) your coding skills with someone Image courtesy of Shutterstock. who will offer the equivalent value of marketing. Just remember, it’s all accountable to

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WHAT continued from page 25

journalists tasked with writing several stories per day.

There's a deep need for the handbook, and a sequel or two that dive deep into the actual practice of data-driven journalism.

(To my friends at O'Reilly, a "programming for journalists" book would be a nifty title.) It's inspiring and educational material, if less focused on "howto" than one might like.

Data-driven journalism is in its infancy right now, despite the amount of discussion it's generating. I suspect that it's going to be five to 10 years before we'll see the practices in the handbook becoming mainstream.

Image from the Data Journalism Handbook, which is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported(CC BY-SA 3.0) in its entirety.

Chamber Lobbies Hoosiers for Lugar Michael Warren (The Weekly Standard) Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:17:00 AM

Dick Lugar, Richard Mourdock

The Chamber of Commerce is sending out a new direct mail item on behalf of Indiana senator Dick Lugar, the National Journal reports. "Hoosiers are concerned

about job growth...And...Dick

Lugar is standing up for Indiana," the mailer reads, noting Lugar's support for building the Keystone XL pipeline and his opposition to Dodd-Frank, Obamacare, and cap

and trade. View the mailer here.

28

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Curated News Edition

Tablet sales disappoint on Android weakness, but iPad wins the day Don Reisinger (CNET News)

perspective, Android-based devices tallied several million unit sales during the period.

Kindle Fire market share has " A l t h o u g h t o t a l A n d r o i d tailed off considerably, according shipments were down sharply in to IDC.(Credit: Amazon) [the first quarter], companies such The tablet market showed some as Samsung and Lenovo are weakness during the first quarter, beginning to gain traction in the but Apple's iPad remained strong, market with their latest generation according to new research from of Android products," IDC wrote IDC. in a statement today. "IDC During the first quarter of 2012, expects the segment to rebound total worldwide tablet shipments quickly as other vendors introduce hit 17.4 million, 1.2 million units new products in the second less than the research firm had quarter and beyond." anticipated. And although that Still, it's hard to see which figure is down 38.4 percent Android vendor will be able to compared to the busy holiday- worry Apple. According to IDC, shopping season, it was up 120 Apple's market share last quarter percent over the 7.9 million jumped from 54.7 percent in the tablets that shipped during the fourth quarter to 68 percent last first quarter of 2011. quarter. Amazon's Kindle Fire, The main issue last quarter was which secured 16.8 percent w e a k e r - t h a n - e x p e c t e d market share in the fourth quarter, performance of Android-based could only muster a 4 percent tablets. IDC did not provide exact slice of the market during the first Android tablet shipments for the three months of 2012. Samsung quarter, since its figures are had the highest market share in preliminary. Considering 11.8 the Android ecosystem, followed million iPads were sold during the by Amazon and Lenovo. first quarter, however, and since "Apple reasserted its dominance RIM's PlayBook sales were not in the market this quarter, driving substantial from a market-wide huge shipment totals at a time Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:24:29 AM

instead of just a content consumption device, is resonating with consumers as well as educational and commercial buyers. And its decision to keep a lower-priced iPad 2 in the market after it launched the new iPad in March seems to be paying off as well."

Even with a sluggish first quarter, it's hard not to be bullish on the tablet market. NPD DisplaySearch reported today that tablet shipments are set to explode in the coming years, reaching 184.2 million units next year, and jumping to 424.9 million by 2017.

"The folks in Cupertino (Apple) keep talking about how tablets will exceed notebook shipments," DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim said today in a statement.

"Well, we're starting to see that as well." when all but a few Android This entry passed through the vendors saw their numbers drop Full-Text RSS service — if this is precipitously after posting big your content and you're reading it gains during the holiday buying on someone else's site, please read season," said Tom Mainelli, the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentr e s e a r c h d i r e c t o r , M o b i l e only/faq.php#publishers. Five Connected Devices at IDC. Filters recommends: Donate to "Apple's move to position the Wikileaks. iPad as an all-purpose tablet,

US textbooks will be the new digital battlefield Richard Blackden (Finance News - Business news from the UK and world)

It was immediately christened a win-win deal. Win-win is one of corporate America's less irritating

phrases and, in this case, an accurate description of Microsoft's $300m (ÂŁ186m) tie-up

with US bookseller Barnes & Noble.

Breakfast-Themed Still Life - Victor Ponomarenko Paints Edible Objects in a Realistic Manner (TrendHunter.com) (TREND HUNTER - The Latest Trends) Submitted at 5/3/2012 7:05:02 AM

( TrendHunter.com) Several famous artists have made a name for themselves by illustrating nostalgic objects in a hyperrealistic manner, but Victor Ponomarenko may be the first of the bunch to focus heavily on gourmet...

Technology/ Featured/

Curated News Edition

29

iPad hits 68% share Chris Burns (SlashGear)

continue its dominance of the market essentially without end, save for the time when Apple no There’s no denying that Apple’s longer holds the hearts and the version of what everyone else in minds of the entire planet with the world calls a tablet has been their brand power on a giant scale. one of the greatest successes in Have a peek at the last few iPad gadget history, the iPad today stories here on SlashGear and see being shown by IDC as having a the truth: Story Timeline 68% share in the market for • iPad Mini orders received in tablets and tablet-like devices.

China The IDC group shows the Apple • New iPad wait drops to 5-7 worldwide tablet market share days online increasing on the whole from 54.7 • iPad demands Australia speed percent in the holiday quarter at up the end of 2011. These numbers • 35 million iPhones and 11.8 have been shown to be sucking million iPads in Apple Q2 the blood of the Amazon Kindle • iPad is Apple's gateway drug fire market, it falling steeply from • Better an iPad than an a 16.8 percent share in the fourth Ultrabook quarter of last year to a rather • New iPad 4G claims scrutinized scary 4 percent here in the first course, with Lenovo sitting in compete in the media tablet Note to the Galaxy Tab 10.1. in UK fourth place here in the first market with Apple, they must “Apple’s move to position the • New iPad US delay slims to 3-5 quarter of 2012.

These numbers are so large that quarter of 2012 with Barnes & offer their products at notably iPad as an all-purpose tablet, days there’s no mistaking exactly what Noble coming in fifth with their lower price points.” – Mainelli i n s t e a d o f j u s t a c o n t e n t they mean. You’ll find that the many Nook device. Tom Mainelli, Samsung then sits in second consumption device, is resonating [ via Apple Insider] remaining market belongs mainly research director for Mobile place this first quarter of 2012 w i t h c o n s u m e r s a s w e l l a s iPad hits 68% share is written by to Android, with Samsung and Connected Devices at IDC spoke according to IDC, it having fallen educational and commercial Chris Burns& originally posted on behind to third place the quarter buyers. And its decision to keep a SlashGear.

Lenovo being shown to be up on the subject. coming up in the world through “It seems some of the mainstream before. Samsung may well be lower-priced iPad 2 in the market © 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All the next couple of quarters by Android vendors are finally jumping forward again this year after it launched the new iPad in right reserved.

IDC. Numbers sit with Apple beginning to grasp a fact that as it continues its push of many, March seems to be paying off as though here as well as ever since Amazon, B&N, and Pandigital many different iterations of tablet well.” – Mainelli the iPad’s initial release, of figured out early on: Namely, to devices from the Samsung Galaxy It’s expected that the iPad will Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:26:48 AM

Obama Team Accuses GOP of Outsourcing to Manila, Pays Firm that Outsources to Manila Daniel Halper (The Weekly Standard)

Ben LaBolt, President Obama's campaign spokesman, claimed on Twitter that the Republican

National Committee, "following their nominee's example," has "apparently been outsourced to

Manila."

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Curated News Edition

EA recants on Rock Band Chris Burns (SlashGear)

an error, but refrained from saying how on earth such a message could possibly have been sent.

Though earlier this week Especially considering the hundreds of owners of the iOS specificity of the message, it app Rock Band were sent a including some fancy additions message with a death notice on it like “Thanks for rocking out with for months end, EA games now us!” EA’s message today says says nay. This message we’re something quite different: s p e a k i n g a b o u t s a i d q u i t e “Rock Band for iOS will remain specifically that on May 31, the live – the in-app message users game Rock Band would “no received yesterday was sent in longer be playable on your error. We apologize for the device” – now Electronic Arts is confusion this caused. We’re saying that the message itself was working to clarify the issue that a complete error. Speculation for caused the error and will share this chain of events includes EA additional information as soon as reacting to backlash from their possible.” – EA Games own announcement as the gaming This also comes in opposition to world was certainly not happy at what EA games added to an FAQ the news once it dropped this just today as well, it saying that week. they would be “suspending Sending a message out to CNET support of ROCK BAND after this week, EA noted that the May 31 and focusing resources on message was nothing more than other EA titles.” It’s certainly not

Speed & SimCity at Apple events • Rock Band storage ottoman debuts from LevelUp • Rock Band Reloaded Announced by EA Games for iPhone and iPad • EA Games Debuts a Batch of New Games for iOS Including Scrabble and Mortal Kombat • Battlefield 3 To Be EA Games' Biggest Launch • EA Games $0.99 App Store sale begins • (Update!) iOS Rock Band app unplayable after May 31

Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:33:03 AM

the most pleasing thing in the world to think about what a game company must go through to support several games at once as this mobile landscape changes so rapidly, but EA certainly must have understood the rules of the

game before joining the fray. That said, have a peek at our post by the name of You don’t actually own your apps. Story Timeline • EA Games laying off 6% of employees • EA Games preview Need for

foremost authority in the study of using technology to remain in the home as you age. In fact, she kind of created it.

Jeff Makowka, AARP's Senior Strategic Advisor, Thought Leadership, explains her impact: "She's a real visionary. She took her past life (as a Forrester analyst) and overlapped it with a caregiving experience and basically thought up the category.

Solutions already existed, but she

defined and legitimized Aging in Place Technology."

Like every boutique analyst, Orlov's journey is unique, and probably impossible at one of the largest firms. Small firms will never give you the coverage of the Big Three, and can't shout your voice as loudly to the world, but they do a great job of filling the gaps if you're willing to do some searching.

Have you had experiences with

[ via CNET] EA recants on Rock Band is written by Chris Burns& originally posted on SlashGear. © 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

BOUTIQUE continued from page 24

you need to ask the right questions of your vendors. Byrne is convinced that RSG's objectivity and laser focus will convince most one-off purchasers to stick around as clients for further research, as well as advisory services to help manage the tools and content with the software you've bought. So far, so good.

Laurie Orlov Aging in Place Technology

Watch Coverage Area: Seniors, Health Technology Seniors are our fastest-growing demographic segment, and the technology required to help them age is of tremendous social and financial importance. So it's strange that until fairly recently, most major research firms treated the category like an afterthought.

Laurie Orlov is one of the few experts in that space, and the

small research firms? Let us know who you've used and how it worked.

Lead image courtesy of Shutterstock.

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Curated News Edition

31

Sweet, simple texting app iPhones, iPads increasingly subject lets you reach out and to search warrants touch someone Edward Moyer (CNET News)

he developed as his final project at the Copenhagen Institute of Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:17:46 AM Interaction Design, lets people How many times have you given reach out and "touch" each other your significant other a little through their smartphones in real touch of some kind just to show time. you're there and you care? Maybe When you touch your phone's you slip your hand into his or her screen, a dot appears on the back pocket as you're walking screen of the person you're down the street. Or maybe you communicating with. And when give his or her thigh a little that person touches the dot, a squeeze under the table during a reaction is triggered on both dinner out. screens -- a visual cue, along with You probably couldn't count the a sound or vibration -- letting you number of times you've done this, both know you're "touching" each r i g h t ? W h i c h s h o w s h o w other. You can touch with more i m p o r t a n t t h e s e n o n v e r b a l than one finger too, and playfully connections are. It's one thing to m o v e y o u r f i n g e r s a r o u n d say "I love you," it's another to t o g e t h e r . take someone by the hand.

As a person in the embedded Marco Triverio, an interaction video says, the app could provide designer at IDEO, is trying to a sweet way to end a text bring something of this physical exchange with someone you care affection to text messaging. about -- the SMS equivalent of a Triverio's "Feel Me" app, which quick hug or handhold. Another

talks of using it to briefly "be" with a family member who's ill.

We can even imagine President Obama and his First Lady using it for a virtual fist bump.

The app is fully functional on iOS, Triverio says, but it hasn't been commercially released yet. If you like what you see in the embedded video, you can sign up to be notified when "Feel Me" does become available.

(Via Creative Applications Network) This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.

Dave Caolo (TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog) Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:00:00 AM

iPhones and iPads are rapidly becoming a primary computing device for many users. As such, they're increasingly subject to search and seizure by legal authorities, according to GigaOM. The first time a search warrant was issued for an iPhone was shortly after the device debuted in 2007. Since then the numbers have increased steadily.

According to the US Public Access to Court Electronic Records(or PACER), there have been 50 cases in which "iPhone" was listed. Additionally, this year's warrants have already outnumbered those issued in 2009.

Authorities seized an iPad for the first time last year.

This trend illustrates how nabbing a thief's mobile device

can be just as helpful to investigators as acquiring a hard drive, if not more so. As I've said before, the iPhone is a computer in my pocket that just happens to make phone calls. iPhones, iPads increasingly subject to search warrants originally appeared on TUAW The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 03 May 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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‘Tough love’ for energy reform so far (Holy Kaw!)

energy needs a makeover, say finance experts.

“Wind and solar power will never To make a real impact on energy reach the scale necessary to make security or the environment, a difference to national security or America’s approach to clean the environment unless they can Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:14:00 AM

be produced economically,” writes Jeffrey Ball, a former energy reporter now in residence at Cornell University.

“The objective is not wind turbines or solar panels. It is an

affordable, convenient, secure, and sustainable stream of electrons.”

Full story at Futurity.

More research news from top universities.

Permalink| Leave a comment »

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TV is far from dead, according to Nielsen Lance Whitney (CNET News) Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:21:56 AM

The good old-fashioned TV set is still the king of content.

As the average American watches almost five hours of video each day, 98 percent of it is viewed on a TV set, says a new study from Nielsen. And watching traditional TV shows - both live and timeshifted - continues to be the favorite activity, accounting for more than 33 hours of viewing per week.

Those numbers have dropped slightly from what they were in the past. But people are not turning off their TV sets; rather they're using them with other technologies to watch their favorite content whenever they want, says Nielsen.

Internet-enabled TVs, blu-ray players, set-top boxes, game

consoles, and connected computers all ensure that virtually any type of content can be viewed on the family TV. Game consoles alone are now found in 45 percent of the homes included in Nielsen's study, a three percent gain over last year.

More consoles are offering access to Netflix and other entertainment services. Some can also double as blu-ray players.

As such, they're acting as a second conduit beyond but connected to the TV to provide access to more content, both online and offline.

"When it comes to newly released movies, old TV shows and everything in between, consumers are increasingly turning to devices that enable them to watch streamed content on their big screen," Nielsen noted in its Cross Platform report. "Two-thirds of

Watercraft-Inspired Caskets - The Boat Coffin by Sebastian Errazuriz Encourages Memorable Funerals (TrendHunter.com) (TREND HUNTER - The Latest Trends) Submitted at 5/3/2012 6:50:02 AM

( TrendHunter.com) While water burials are no longer as common

as they once were in the past when bodies of heroes were cast adrift in specially crafted rafts, the Boat Coffin may encourage more people to embrace the...

game consoles in homes are now connected to the Internet, creating a new conduit for content delivery. In fact, more than half of Netflix users watch on their TV set via a game console or over-the -top streaming device."

Though the TV set is still champ, smartphones are being used more as portable TVs, Nielsen noted.

Around 33.5 million mobile phone users now watch video on their devices, a gain of 35.7 percent from last year.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Olivia Solon Filters recommends: Donate to Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:18:00 AM Wikileaks.

The European Court of Justice has ruled that you can't copyright a computer language of computer functionality in a landmark case between the SAS Institute and World Programming Limited (WPL).

The SAS Institute has developed the SAS System, a set of programes which let users carry out data processing and analysis tasks. The core component of the system lets users write and execute application programs (or

EU Court of Justice rules you can't copyright a programming language scripts), written in the SAS programming language for data processing. WPL saw a market for alternative software capable of executing scripts written in SAS. As a result it produced the World Programming System (WPS), which emulates the functionalities of the SAS components. WPL developed the program by studying lawfully acquired copies of the SAS System. Although there is no evidence to suggest that WPL had access to the source code.

By: Olivia Solon, Edited by: Nate Lanxon Continue reading...

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33

SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up: May 3, 2012 Chris Burns (SlashGear) Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:53:33 AM

It’s Samsung day here on the planet earth, with half of the SlashGear crew all the way over in London to see the big event!

What we’ll see today is likely the next generation Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone you’ve heard so much about over the past few months, with perhaps a few surprises in store as well! Stick with us here in the main news feed all day to check out the hot action – all afternoon! Meanwhile we’re all about the business this

morning, starting with EA Games recanting on their stance on Rock Band – woopsie!

Next check out our hands-on look at iHeartRadio for iPad 3 complete with retina-quality graphics, new Facebook integration, and customized stations at your will! The LG smartphone wave has started with the LG Optimus L7 being released all across Europe. The next iPhone has been tipped to be coming out with a 4-inch display and metallic back. Windows Live will no longer be the brand-name of Microsoft’s Windows 8 and

forward system with similar abilities.

The vice president of Apple’s iOS software Scott Forstall has cashed in 64 thousand Apple

shares to rack up $38.7 million dollars in the bank. BlackBerry will soon have a PlayBook with LTE if RIM’s CEO has anything to say about it. Nokia’s first tablet

Rock Band for iOS to remain playable after all Victor Agreda, Jr. (TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog) Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:15:00 AM

We had the original story on this waiting in our queue for a couple of days while we hoped EA would answer the question, "Why is an app people paid for being 'shut off' remotely?" Unfortunately we never got an answer. To sum up: EA released Rock Band for iOS way back in 2009, but within the past week users saw a notification (above), alerting them that the app would cease to function after May 31. As often happens when people are getting robbed by a major

corporation, folks took to the Internet to express their displeasure.

Today, we see reports that a new alert has appeared -- one stating the app will continue to be

playable after May 31. Well, that's good, because bait-and-switch tactics don't win many fans.

I don't know about you, but I think this whole thing is ridiculous and really not what

Apple promised should happen with apps. Further, EA should have immediately sent out a release indicating this was an error. Unless it wasn't. Joystiq reports EA will tell us "soon" what was really going on here. I can't wait to hear the explanation.

Rock Band for iOS to remain playable after all originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 03 May 2012 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Source| Permalink| Email this| Comments

will be coming by the end of the year. Apple may be beating Android after all. There’s a bit of Android malware out there being spread via hacked websites. And finally have a peek at our massive Samsung Galaxy S III Pre-Launch Rumor Round-Up. SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up: May 3, 2012 is written by Chris Burns& originally posted on SlashGear. © 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Surreal Diamond Depictions Jonathan Saiz Renders Epic Scenes Within Facets of Precious Gems (TrendHunter.com) (TREND HUNTER - The Latest Trends) Submitted at 5/3/2012 7:20:02 AM

( TrendHunter.com) Diamonds are often thought of as objects of beauty, but very few artists have used the gems as subjects the way Jonathan Saiz has. And it isn’t as though Saiz is content with simply emulating the...

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China's iPad Generation - By Deborah Jian Lee and Sushma Subramanian DEBORAH JIAN LEE, SUSHMA SUBRAMANIAN (Foreign Policy) Submitted at 5/3/2012 8:57:19 AM

Meet the children left behind when mommy and daddy go to the factory. BY DEBORAH JIAN L E E , S U S H M A SUBRAMANIAN| MAY 3, 2012 On a sweltering night in July 2011, 17-year-old Zhang Juanzi arrives at her farmhouse in the remote village of Silong in Hunan province. Despite the cramped 12hour van journey from Shenzhen, the young girl bounds past the wooden doors to wake up her 5year-old brother, Zhang Yi, whose face scrunches in the flickering light. He is thrilled by her arrival, but when he sees his mother, Huang Dongyan, he recoils into his sister's arms. He will not look at Huang, who is squealing at him, begging him to say "Mommy."

After many minutes of this game, Huang, exasperated, pulls out a plush animal. "Say 'Mommy,'" she lilts. "Mama," he says, snatching his new toy. Huang had hoped for a better start to her visit. She will soon deliver some life-altering news to her son: After this visit, she will move him to Shenzhen, the city where she, along with about 12 million other migrants, maintain their fragile economic circumstances by producing

shoes, iPads, and other exports sold all over the world.

Huang and her son have a strained relationship, one damaged by Huang's absence. It

has been months since they last saw each other. Her son seems to view Huang as a stranger who visits once or twice a year and demands his affection. Huang

blames the country's housing million rural migrant laborers who registration policy, or hukou move to urban areas for work. system, for their broken bond. Because of this policy, migrant The hukou system denies social benefits to China's some 150 CHINA'S page 35

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CHINA'S continued from page 34

workers like Huang are forced to leave their children behind in the village to receive schooling, health care, and other necessary services.

Roughly 58 million children like Yi are left in China's countryside without their parents. This might be economically necessary, but it is emotionally disastrous: Chinese University of Hong Kong researchers found that adolescents left behind in their villages were more likely to engage in risky behavior such as binge drinking, and have increased thoughts of suicide. The children separated from their migrant parents are also more likely to have learning disabilities and psychological problems, says Zhang Ping, a researcher at the Psychological Science Institute of Guangdong Province. In school, they lack focus; at home they lack guidance.

Before Huang brings her son with her to Shenzhen, she wants to bridge the emotional distance. But on this morning in July, she can't seem to attract his attention. "Let mommy feed you," she says, but Yi has already left the table, breakfast of chicken feet in hand, and is prancing toward his sister.

Yi's only contact with his mother has been by phone, a few times a month. Parenting by phone is the norm for this generation of migrants, says researcher Zhang.

Many migrant parents, including Huang, ask about school and the family but little else. This limited scope of interest makes it difficult to establish a real bond, which is

formed when parents help their kids through problems. And the aging, ailing grandparents, typically charged with rearing a brood of grandchildren, struggle with the physical demands of farming the land, maintaining the house, and raising a new generation. "The changing speed of China is unprecedented," Zhang says. "For grandparents living in an isolated village, their knowledge of the world outside is too far behind what is really happening in Chinese society."

Later, when Yi asks his sister to clip his nails, Huang insists on doing the task. "You listen to your sister, but not your mother?"

Huang teases, with pain in her voice, as her son ignores her.

Wang Yanlin, a shy, rosycheeked 17-year-old, says she often felt depressed and abandoned, even though she understood why her parents took jobs hundreds of miles away from their home in rural Hunan province. Her father, a construction worker, and her mother, a factory cleaner, left her as an infant to work in the industrial city of Dongguan, which borders Shenzhen. While her parents called home several times a month, it wasn't enough to forge real closeness.

Wang's depression grew worse when her peers, also children of migrant workers, started physically attacking her. "Every kid who had parents could say, 'I will tell my parents, and they will teach you a lesson,' but for me, when I was bullied, I couldn't say

that," she says. Once, on a desolate country road, a group of kids hurled rocks at her. One heavy stone fractured her leg and knocked her to the ground. She lay there until she found the strength to hobble home. "When I told my grandmother, she told me that it was my fault, that I shouldn't hang out with those people," Wang says. "That was one of my saddest memories."

In recent years, a rash of suicide attempts by children has rattled the migrant community. In September, three preteen girls in eastern Jiangxi province attempted suicide by jumping off a two- story building because they feared the consequences of not completing a class assignment.

The girl who initiated the jump lived apart from her migrant parents. Two summers ago, five primary school students attempted group suicide at a temple in Shaanxi province. Local media reported that a passing villager found the sixth-graders just after they tried to drink a mixture of herbicide and soda. Four of them were left-behind youth.

Without parents around to protect them, these children have also been targets for kidnapping. In May 2011, the Chinese investigative business magazine Caixin reported that local familyplanning officials had seized more than a dozen children in Hunan province between 1999 and 2006 and sold them to orphanages, which then put them up for lucrative international adoptions.

Many of their parents had lived

hundreds of miles away.

One father, whose faulty phone connection only let him call home once a month, didn't know until weeks later that his baby daughter had been kidnapped in the spring of 2005. He rushed home and gathered the roughly $900 required by local officials to get his daughter back, only to learn that she had been sent to a local orphanage. By the time he found the orphanage, his daughter was gone.*** By their teen years, sometimes as early as age 13 or 14, many children of migrant workers decide to become laborers in factories. Left-behind child Peng Boyan struggled with depression each time her parents left her. At age 16, she decided to drop out of school and join them as a factory worker in Shenzhen.

At first, she felt freed by her new city life, working late nights alongside new friends and watching TV instead of going to bed. But the thrill wore off quickly. Now, in her early 20s, she feels that she has aged a decade since leaving home. She works 11-hour days at an electronics company, pulling night and weekend shifts.

"Maybe I was energetic at that time because I was young," she said. "Now I am no longer. This is the most tiring work I have ever had." The roughly $315 she makes each month -- $475 if she works weekends -- is satisfying, but she wonders what could have been if she hadn't followed her parents to the factories. "I felt that

I was clever and good at schoolwork when my parents were at home," she said. But once they left, Peng couldn't focus.

Peng believes she could have gone to college or qualified for a better job if she had stayed in school. But even with parents to take care of them, rural children face an uphill climb to better their social standing. The main path to urban hukou for rural children is through a college education, says Donald Treiman, a social demographer at the University of California, Los Angeles, who studies migration. But few migrant kids are able to get that far in their schooling.

Many rural areas lack high schools, so parents who want their children to ascend the educational ladder are required to pay dormitory fees at a more distant school that many cannot afford, adds Treiman. "If you get into a university, you're set," he says. "If you don't, you have to go home and be a peasant."

By the time Zhang Juanzi graduated junior high, 60 percent of her classmates had already dropped out to find jobs outside their town, she says. As they fled, only older people and children remained in the village. Some of the elderly spread hurtful rumors about Juanzi's relationships with boys and late-night outings. She couldn't wait to get out.

For years, Huang worried that her daughter might dash to the city for easy factory money, and hang CHINA'S page 38

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President Paul - By Michael Scheuer MICHAEL SCHEUER (Foreign Policy) Submitted at 5/3/2012 9:10:41 AM

Ron Paul maybe a long shot in November, but he's America's best bet on foreign policy. BY MICHAEL SCHEUER| MAY 3, 2012 Ron Paul's treatment by mainstream media, other Republican hopefuls, and the punditry makes me think the W.B. Yeats lines"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world" also describe the year 2012 in the United States. Indeed, Paul's experience in the nomination campaign suggests U.S. politics lacks reasoned substance, common sense, and an understanding of what America's Founding Fathers intended.

Open up any newspaper to see the mess America has sunk itself into around the world: for example, facing off with China over a lone, non-American dissident whose safety has no relation to U.S. security. Yet today, Paul's call for staying out of other people's wars unless genuine U.S. national interests are at stake is deemed radical, immoral, even anti-American.

Amazing.

If elected president, Paul's most valuable contribution to a prosperous and secure American future might well lie in his application of a noninterventionist foreign policy, following the

wishes of George Washington and the other founders.

Before explaining why Paul's foreign policy would benefit the United States, it is worth rebutting those ill-educated jackasses in politics, the media, and the academy who denigrate the founders as " dead white males."

To them, the modern world is so different from Washington's time that nothing the founders said or wrote pertains to contemporary foreign-policymaking. Such selfserving and ahistoric attitudes allow their advocates to pursue policies negating the Constitution, piling up debt, and fueling

relentless intervention abroad.

Several years ago, Georgetown University's distinguished professor emeritus Daniel Robinson cogently explained that the founding generation did not prescribe specific policies for unforeseeable future problems, but, rather, conducted a prolonged

and profound seminar on "the nature of human nature." They examined history and their own experiences and devised a set of principles true not only in their own era and in ancient Sparta, but also for the unknowable American PRESIDENT page 37

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future: Human nature never changes; man is not perfectible; individuals and governments must live within their means; man is hard-wired for conflict; and small government, frequent elections, and secure private property best protect liberty. Most crucial today is the principle that foreign interventions when no genuine U.S. interest is at risk will yield lost wars, deep debt, and decreased domestic liberty. These common-sense principles were the key to national security in the early republic and would regain that status in a Paul presidency.

A President Paul would infuse these principles into U.S. foreign policy and produce a noninterventionist doctrine: far fewer unnecessary and costly wars, far fewer dead soldiers, and far greater U.S. national security.

This is a workable, adult approach to the world -- especially the Muslim world -- unlike the adolescent approach America's bipartisan governing elite has hewed to for decades.

What the founders and Paul advocate, and what the U.S. political elite have forgotten, might be termed the "Schoolyard Rule." Most of us, in the halcyon days of youth, learned at recess that every action elicits a reaction:

Push someone in the schoolyard, and you will be pushed back. We also learned that a single, cavalier push meaning little to you might quickly turn into a bigger fracas, complete with cuts, bruises, or worse, until Sister Mary Lawrence and her metal-edged yardstick arrived to stop the fight and restore order.

We also learned the Schoolyard Rule's corollary: If you are pushed during recess, you better push back -- even if the instigator is bigger -- and hope that the good sister arrives to save your bacon.

If you do not push back, the pain you receive becomes a daily occurrence. Militant Islamists assiduously apply this corollary to defend a Muslim world they perceive as too-long passive in the face of murderous superpower pushing. The Islamists are pushing back and depending on Allah -- in the role of Sister Mary Lawrence -- to give eventual victory to the Muslim David.

This action-reaction lesson is a key part of a youngster's practical education, and in the course of his or her pre-college schooling the Schoolyard Rule is reinforced by courses in subjects like history, physics, religion, and chemistry.

At high school graduation, most American teenagers have a handle

on the idea that if you push, you will be pushed back, and are confident that this is an iron law.

When was the last time you met a schoolyard Gandhi?

But then comes college. The unfortunates who trundle off to Yale, Harvard, Columbia, and elsewhere in the Ivy League are cleansed of the Schoolyard Rule's common sense, emerging four years later with few contact points with reality. They have learned to shape policies for the world they want, not the one on offer. They believe it their duty to use whatever tool available, be it laws, bayonets, or cruise missiles, to turn the world's people into semi-socialist, spendthrift, ahistoric, anti-religious democrats -- in short, mirror images of themselves.

These Ivy League graduates who have forgotten the Schoolyard Rule now dominate U.S. foreign policy. Eager to push hard any person or state they disagree with or dislike, they blithely assume the pushed will know such punishment is indispensable in becoming as smart, cool, and sophisticated as people like Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John McCain.

Nearly alone among Republicans and Democrats, Paul knows that

ignoring the Schoolyard Rule, its corollary, and the founders' warning against nonessential intervention in foreigners' affairs would be ruinous for America. As president, Paul would push only if a genuine U.S. national security interest were at stake. Wars would be fought only over life-and-death matters -- like access to energy and freedom of the seas -- and not over ephemera like Israel's interests and women's rights and human rights overseas.

Paul would listen to the enemy.

Not to empathize or sympathize, but to understand his motivation and form policy to defeat him, ensuring the motivation of today's enemies is not passed to the next generation. The failure of both Bushes, Clinton, and Obama to understand that it is U.S. government actions in the Islamic world that fire Islamist motivation, not hatred of freedom or how Americans live at home, proves that only Paul's approach can restore U.S. security. The Islamists have educated Americans just as clearly and openly as Ho Chi Minh and General Giap did; the United States' failure of perception has already ensured that much of the next generation of young Muslims will become Islamists.

A Ron Paul presidency would reverse a half-century of Republican and Democratic leaders maintaining national security policies that lethally push Muslims, premised on the delusion they will not push back.

President Paul would replace the interventionism of these men and women -- who are merely miseducated, not evil -- with the founders' guidance, the Schoolyard Rule, and a belief that the federal government is an engine of national destruction and bankruptcy. For President Paul, the protection of the United States' genuine interests by avoiding unnecessary wars and frivolous interventions is first, last, and always the main foreignpolicy priority of the U.S. government.

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TED: Gary Kovacs: Tracking the trackers - Gary Kovacs (2012) TEDTalks (TEDTalks (video)) Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:00:19 AM

As you surf the Web, information

is being collected about you. Web tracking is not 100% evil -personal data can make your browsing more efficient; cookies

can help your favorite websites stay in business. But, says Gary Kovacs, it's your right to know what data is being collected about

you and how it affects your online life. He unveils a Firefox add-on to do just that.

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CHINA'S continued from page 35

with a bad crowd, or worse, stumble into prostitution. At one point, Huang encouraged her daughter to find a job in Shenzhen, so she could keep an eye on her. But by then, Juanzi had held a summer job at a factory and began to understand her mother's life. She decided instead to complete her high school degree in early childhood education.

This past summer, she fulfilled her dream, if not her mother's, of moving to the city of Dongguan to begin an internship as a kindergarten teacher. "It's nonsense to talk about what I hope she will do," says Huang, who had urged Juanzi to stay near her home village. "She won't follow my suggestions. She makes up her own mind."

Huang wants to give Yi what she couldn't give Juanzi: daily attention and guidance through his most formative years. On their day-long journey back to Shenzhen, she tucks Yi's sleeping, pint-sized body into the crook of her arm. This move to the city, she hopes, could restore the intimacy her family has lacked for years.

Still, Huang worries about the

discrimination Yi will face as a migrant child. Yi speaks his local Hunanese dialect, but only knows a few phrases of Mandarin. Public schools often deny children like Yi entry because they don't have urban hukou, or the city education benefits that come with it, while migrant schools opened by NGOs and charities don't draw skilled teachers. "If my son was born in an urban family, his life would be very different," says Huang. "Just look at the welfare, living conditions, and education standards of city kids. It's so different for kids of migrant workers."

Jiang Caihang, a waifish, sharpfeatured 23-year-old woman from rural Hunan province, says discontent among migrant families is palpable. "It is so unfair to kids," says Jiang. The migrant children in the city are denied proper schooling, while the left-behind kids "are forced to do housework that city kids would never have to do. All of this influences their future job opportunities. Kids should have the right to get an education in the city with their parents."

Reform efforts by local governments can only go so far.

"While they recognize the needs of migrant workers in factories, there is a reluctance to allow them to share in the benefits," says Geoffrey Crothall, spokesman for the China Labor Bulletin, a Hong Kong-based human rights group that advocates for factory workers. Hukou reform can be taxing for cities, which would be forced to pay benefits for their new urban residents.

Huang says she is nervous, but ready to face the hardships of bringing her son to the city. Any number of events could upset the delicate balance of this new life and send Yi back to the countryside: unaffordable school fees, a change in Huang's work schedule, an unexpected medical expense. But for now, she just wants to enjoy the presence of her son, who seems thrilled with the move. To village children, city life is glamorous. Holding his mother's hand, Yi lets his eyes wander toward the young women in their office clothes and the men smoking together on stools outside noodle shops.

Back in Huang's matchbooksized studio apartment, located in a residential neighborhood in northwest Shenzhen, Yi jumps on

the bed, screaming joyfully while he pries open a pomegranate. His whirlwind of energy overwhelms Huang. "My son has never been so close to me before," she says, elated.

To Huang, this is her second chance at motherhood. "I've never had any experience bringing up kids or taking care of kids -- like zero experience," she says. "The only thing I know is it's very difficult. My hope is that my son will help me learn."

Together, they are learning how to be a family. She grabs Yi's rainbow-colored plastic sword and taps him playfully on the stomach. He squeals and calls her "Mommy," all on his own.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.

Start the Day Right with a Morning Routine That Feeds Your Mind [Mind Hacks] Melanie Pinola (Lifehacker) Submitted at 5/3/2012 8:30:00 AM

If your morning routine consists of a mad rush to get out the door on time, it's probably time for an upgrade so you can frame your day better. Weblog Daring to Live Fully details two methods for feeding your mind the best stuff and setting the tone for the rest of the day. More Âť

UK military shows off missiles to protect Olympics (Sports News Headlines Yahoo! News)

On a muddy field on the outskirts of London, Britain's military

showed off a weapon Thursday it hopes it never has to use.

Economy/

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Previewing The First Of Many Greek Elections Tyler Durden

Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:02:59 AM

This weekend the Greeks will go to the polls - and with support for the two main parties (New Democracy - center-right; and PASOK - socialist) at historical lows (and the share of protest and extremist votes at historical highs) - is Greece about to become Belgium. This is likely exactly what the bankers want - a relatively ungoverned nation to pilfer - but as the WSJ reports, against a backdrop of economic crisis, a 'failed' election is expected to usher in such political instability that officials from the country's major parties are planning for another possible election within months. Can they break Belgium's record-breaking run of not having an official government or will the Greeks transform their economy with Greek Fries, Greek Beer, and Greek Chocolate? At the moment, New Democracy is widely expected to win the elections, without however securing the majority in parliament and even in the case of a coalition with PASOK the two parties would not have a majority in parliament. The problem, of course, is that many of the extreme-left and extremeright minority parties (who are likely to get seats) advocate the

renegotiation of agreements with official sector creditors, a rejection of austerity measures, or even leaving the euro altogether.

Credit Suisse provides a succinct preview of the Greek elections and three scenarios (bad, badder, baddest) that the post-election EU /IMF-dependent nation faces.

From UBS: Both main parties have campaigned on the idea that they will renegotiate the Memorandum

of Understanding (MoU) with the IMF. In our view, that suggests a degree of liberty they do not have; we think there is little, if any, appetite at the Fund or at the EC to renegotiate the agreement.

Rather, the new government’s task will be daunting: €3bn of spending cuts to implement immediately and an additional €12bn to be detailed for 2013-14.

Risks have risen around Greece’s ability to implement austerity

and the undecided remaining very high. The latest polls published more than a week ago (due to a restriction for publication of opinion polls two weeks before the elections), suggest that no single party will be in a position to get a majority in parliament, so a coalition government would be likely – not something very common in the Greek political scene.

Greek political system – how does it work?

The Greek parliament has 300 members, elected by a system of “reinforced proportionality”.

“Reinforced” because the party that has the most votes is awarded 50 additional seats (irrespective of its share of the votes) and for a party to be represented in parliament, it has to get at least 3% of the votes. “Proportional”, because the remaining 250 seats are allocated proportionally to measures, against a backdrop of those parties that meet the 3% i n c r e a s i n g l y f r u s t r a t e d a n d threshold. Based on the above, for impatient official sector lenders. a party to secure a majority of the Credit Suisse: Preview of the seats (151 MPs), without having Greek elections to rely on a number of parties not Less than a week before the meeting the 3% threshold, needs Greek general election (May 6) to get at least 40.5% of the the outcome remains uncertain. votes(i.e. 40.5% of 250 = 101 Support for the two main parties – seats, plus the 50-seat majority New Democracy and PASOK – is premium). In practice, this at historical lows(35%-40% percentage is lower, since it is against 78% in the 2009 election), with the share of the protest vote PREVIEWING page 40

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unlikely for all parties participating in the election to make it into parliament.

Main political parties Exhibit 3 provides an overview of the main political parties in Greece and their stance towards euro membership and the EU/IMF programme.

Where things stand at the moment?

At the moment, New Democracy is widely expected to win the elections, without however securing the majority in parliament, despite the 50-seat premium. If a coalition government was decided upon, the PASOK party would be the most likely candidate, given their common stance on the EU/IMF programme and their coexistence in the latest interim government.

However, some opinion polls, suggest that even in such a scenario, the two parties would not be in a position to have a majority in parliament, or have a weak majority at best. Adding to the complexity, the leader of the New Democracy party, Antonis Samaras, is strongly against the idea of a coalition government with PASOK. If an additional member for the coalition was to be looked for, Democratic Alliance – a liberal party in favour of the reforms – would be a likely candidate, however it is unclear whether it will reach the 3% threshold needed to get into parliament. From the remaining parties, the Democratic Left – a pro-European party in favour of

some reforms – would be a possible candidate, however its rejection of the EU/IMF programme as it is and its refusal to participate in a New Democracy-PASOK coalition complicates the situation.

The protest vote in this election is high, with up to ten parties getting into parliament – five of which for the first time – and ranging from far-right to far-left. Also the number of undecided at 15-20% remains at high levels and would largely determine the outcome of the election. Political analysts suggest, that as the election date is approaching, the New Democracy and the PASOK party will manage to get back part of their traditional voters and hence their support would be slightly higher than what the latest opinion polls imply.

It is worth noting that no coalition of parties without the participation of New Democracy seems likely, mainly due to the 50 -seat premium that the New Democracy party will get and due to the fact that the rest of the votes are split among a collection of parties with strong ideological differences, ranging from far-right to far-left.

Timeline after the elections The election result will be known late at night on Sunday 6 May. Following that, if no party has the majority of the votes (which is the most likely scenario), the president will ask the leader of the first party in votes to try to form a government(e.g. through a

coalition) that enjoys the confidence of the parliament. If this fails or the party withdraws from its right, then the second party is asked to do the same and so on. The process is repeated for the three largest parties and each one has a three-day deadline. If these attempts fail, the president calls the parliamentary leaders of the parties on a last attempt to form a broad coalition government. If that is also unsuccessful an interim government is formed that would lead the country to a new election within a month.

Post-election scenarios Given that it is unlikely that after the elections a single party will have a clear majority, there are several scenarios that could play out. In the list below, we highlight those scenarios that in our view are the most likely ones.

• Scenario 1: New Democracy – PASOK coalition. This is the most likely scenario, in our view.

Despite their pre-election announcements – in light of the international pressure and the lack of other alternatives – the two parties are likely to form a coalition government. Based on the poll numbers – if nothing fundamentally changes – this would be a rather weak coalition.

It is expected to implement the EU/IMF programme, however frictions between the coalition members are likely. It is also expected to face strong opposition by the anti-bailout parties, especially if it does not have the

majority of the votes (lack of strong popular mandate). It would be a rather fragile government, whose stability would be largely determined from the economic outlook and the progress of the reforms, in our view.

• Scenario 2: Broader coalition with the participation of other parties as well. Either due to a lack of parliamentary majority of the above coalition or the need to enlarge the popular base, a smaller party might be asked to join the coalition, e.g. the Democratic Left or the Democratic Alliance. This will allow for a stronger parliamentary majority, but the dynamics are not as straightforward. Taking into consideration the different programme goals of the members of the coalition – especially in the case of the Democratic Left – the government might not be flexible enough to implement the agreed reforms and a lot of the measures might have to be watered down, in order to be passed in parliament.

• Scenario 3: New elections. If there is unwillingness from the New Democracy party to form a coalition government or attempts to do so fail, then new elections will follow suit. This outcome would be disruptive, at least in the short term, and questions regarding the implementation of the EU/IMF programme and Greece’s existence in the euro will emerge.

In the new election it is possible

that, in fear of an ungoverned country, part of the protest vote will be shifted towards the main parties, resulting in a stronger government/coalition, that would be in a position to implement its mandate. However, if this is not the case, the risk of a disruptive development will materially increase.

As UBS notes, "We believe that the Greek situation is far from resolved and that a further restructuring of the debt is quite likely."

What if Greece does not deliver?

We think that there is a clear risk that the IMF simply refuses to make the next payment. In that case it is probable that the EU would follow suit. However, it is unlikely in our view that payments would stop altogether; rather, they might be postponed until Greece fulfills its obligations Average: Your rating: None Average: 5( 1 vote) This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.

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Comments from Brazil on Brazil and China: Nonperforming Loans Soar, Recession in Brazil Arrived, China will Follow noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mish Shedlock) (Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis)

Brazilian version of QE here.

However, the economy is showing signs of weakness. Just today, Industrial Production came Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:46:00 AM This morning I received an email out at -0.5 percent but economists from Otavio who lives in Brazil. predicted an increase of 1.2 Otavio writes ... percent.

Hi Mish, Our economy has been strongly Hello from Brazil. Much of what correlated with China's in the last we both expected has begun to decade. If we are this close to a o c c u r i n B r a z i l s i n c e w e recession in Brazil, the slowdown exchanged emails last year. The in China will be far more than e c o n o m y h a s s l o w e d d o w n most expect. greatly. We are on the brink of a Regards Otavio Brazilian recession here, if not in recession Banks Drop on Delinquency already.

Concern Nonperforming loans have risen A quick check of ITUB on pretty much on banks' balance Bloomberg turned up Bovespa sheets causing bank stocks to Declines as Brazilian Banks Drop plunge. Check out ITUB US on Delinquency Concern Equity on Bloomberg.

The Apr 25, 2012 3:42 PM CT Brazilian middle class is very The Bovespa stock index much sunk in debt. declined as Itau Unibanco SA The BACEN (Brazilian Central (ITUB) led Brazilian banks lower Bank) has cut overnight rates after it said it expects losses from from 12 percent to 9 percent, but bad loans to rise in the second the market expects at least another quarter.

100 bps cut in the next two Itau, Latin America’s biggest months.

These aggressive rate bank by market value, was the cuts, plus massive interventions in worst performer on the MSCI the FX market to sell Brazilian Brazil/Financials Index, which REAL, have weakened the REAL fell the most among 10 industry from 1.70 to 1.93 per USD. groups. OGX Petroleo (OGXP3) T h e g o v e r n m e n t h a s a l s o & Gas Participacoes SA gained instructed public banks to lower the most in four months after it their lending rates. It's our own said an oil field off the coast of

first PMI manufacturing reading below 50 in 2012, signalling a contraction of activity in the industrial sector.

Broken down, numbers show a broad-based decline in industrial activity, with all components falling below 50, except for both input and output prices which accelerated relative to one month ago (and with output prices reaching the highest level of growth since May 2011).

Concurrently, inflationary pressures should remain a source Rio de Janeiro was declared delinquency rates really scared of concern, despite the string of commercially viable. investors,” Pedro Paulo Silveira, benign CPI readings earlier this The Bovespa dropped 0.4 percent c h i e f e c o n o m i s t a t T O V year.” If Brazil weakens further as to 61,750.38 at the close in Sao Corretora, said by telephone from I expect, the country is already in Paulo. The real weakened 0.1 Sao Paulo. “Considering interest recession. Moreover, the much percent to 1.8800 per U.S. dollar rates are decreasing and the beloved BRICs (Brazil, Russia, at 5:32 p.m. local time. economy is slowing down, banks India, China) and emerging Itau expects to spend as much as may see their revenue fall as markets in general will not be 6.4 billion reais in bad - loan well.” ITUB Chart good hiding places. provisions in the second quarter, Brazil Manufacturing PMI in Mike "Mish" Shedlock up from 6 billion reais in the first Contraction h t t p : / / three months of 2012, according Inquiring minds are investigating globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. to a regulatory filing today. Banco the HSBC Brazil Manufacturing com B r a d e s c o S A ( B B D C 4 ) ’ s PMI™ published May 2.

Click Here To Scroll Thru My delinquency rate may rise 10 basis Both output and new orders fall Recent Post List Mike "Mish" points in the second quarter, for first time in 2012 so far Shedlock is a registered executive director Luiz Carlos Andre Loes, Chief Economist, investment advisor representative Angelotti said in a conference call Brazil at HSBC said: “The HSBC f o r S i t k a P a c i f i c C a p i t a l yesterday.

Manufacturing PMI index fell to a Management. Sitka Pacific is an “ T h e s e a l e r t s f r o m b a n k s four month low of 49.3 in April, COMMENTS page 43 regarding expectations of rising from 51.1 in March. This was the

42

Economy/

When All Else Fails, Hope For More Stimulus noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mish Shedlock) (Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis)

only mentioned the ECB's latest forecasts and none of their own.

With that highlight in red (emphasis mine), Markit chief Submitted at 5/3/2012 9:34:00 AM Eurozone Markit Final economist Chris Williamson Manufacturing PMI numbers finally got it right (had he only were released yesterday. The stopped right there). Instead, he is results, as I warned months in now hoping for more stimulus as advance, were decidedly not if it would matter. pretty.

Here's a hint: it won't.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock • Final Markit Eurozone h t t p : / / Manufacturing PMI at 34-month globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. heavily impacted. This hurt even output showed a renewed decline, com low of 45.9 • Production declines across big- German manufacturers, who saw attributed by many firms to weak Click Here To Scroll Thru My four economies for first time in production fall for the first time in demand from southern Europe. As Recent Post List Mike "Mish" 2012-to-date as an accelerated such, it is hard to see where S h e d l o c k i s a r e g i s t e r e d the year-to-date • Weak demand and falling intra- rate of decline in new export growth will come from in coming investment advisor representative Eurozone trade volumes hurting volumes reverberated through the months, unless export demand f o r S i t k a P a c i f i c C a p i t a l sector. picks up strongly from countries Management. Sitka Pacific is an both output and employment Further causes for concern were outside of the Eurozone. asset management firm whose The weak PMI number reflected sharper rates of decline in output “ The ECB’s latest forecast of goal is strong performance and a drop in Eurozone manufacturing a t I t a l i a n a n d S p a n i s h merely a slight contraction of low volatility, regardless of p r o d u c t i o n f o r t h e s e c o n d manufacturers, plus an ongoing GDP this year is therefore already market direction. Visit http:// consecutive month, as new order s t e e p d o w n t u r n i n G r e e c e . looking optimistic. However, with w w w . s i t k a p a c i f i c . c o m / F r e n c h t h e s u r v e y a l s o s h o w i n g account_management.html to inflows declined at the fastest M e a n w h i l e , pace since December. Austria was manufacturing output contracted inflationary pressures to have l e a r n m o r e a b o u t w e a l t h the only nation to see production at a weaker pace than that seen in waned, the door may be opening m a n a g e m e n t a n d c a p i t a l March. Finally Seeing the Light for further stimulus.” Note the preservation strategies of Sitka rise in April. word "latest". Months ago, Markit Pacific.

Manufacturers reported weak (Sort Of) demand from both domestic and Once again the comments from s a i d n o r e c e s s i o n , t h e n n o export clients – with intra- Markit Economists are amusing. recession in Germany, then short Eurozone trade volumes also Even German manufacturing recession. For some reason Markit

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Swiss Gold Stored At “Decentralised Locations” – SNB Does Not Disclose Where GoldCore Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:45:13 AM

Contact Information: Tips: tips [ at ] zerohedge.com General: info [ at ] zerohedge.com Legal: legal [ at ] zerohedge.com Advertising: ads [ at ] zerohedge.com Abuse: abuse [ at ] zerohedge.com Suggested Reading: Make sure to read our " How To [Read/Tip Off] Zero Hedge Without Attracting The Interest Of [Human Resources/The Treasury/Black Helicopters]" Guide It would be very wise of you to study our disclaimer, our privacy policy and our (non)policy on conflicts / full disclosure.

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Dallas Fed Proposes Ending "Too Big To Fail", Urges Removal of Failed CEOs, Breakup of Banks noreply@blogger.com (Mike Mish Shedlock) (Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis) Submitted at 5/2/2012 11:53:00 PM

Richard Fisher, governor of Dallas Fed wants to end "Too Big To Fail" and Urges Removal of CEOs of Bailed-Out Banks The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas said taxpayer aid to failing banks should come only after the voiding of all employment and bonus contracts and the removal of chief executive officers and boards of directors.

“A set of harsh, non-negotiable consequences” for requesting U.S. Treasury assistance might also include “clawbacks” to gain cash and stock bonuses paid the top management team during the prior two years, the Dallas Fed said today in a slide presentation on its website.

The proposal reflects Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher’s view that large U.S. banks need to be split apart because they operate with an implied government

safety net that puts their risks of failure on taxpayers. End Too Big to Fail Now Please consider the Dallas Fed Slideshow Why We Must End Too Big to Fail – Now Concentration Intensifies the Impact of Mistakes “Human weakness will cause occasional market disruptions.

Big banks backed by government turn these manageable episodes into catastrophes.”

Close But Not Quite Correct I have one major disagreement with the proposal. Fisher said "taxpayer aid to failing banks should come only after the voiding of all employment and bonus contracts ..."

COMMENTS continued from page 41

asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://

w w w . s i t k a p a c i f i c . c o m / preservation strategies of Sitka account_management.html to Pacific. learn more about wealth management and capital

I say taxpayer aid to banks should never happen. Banks and bondholders should take the hit.

However, it is refreshing to see this kind of talk. It would be a major step in the right direction.

Unfortunately, Bernanke is against it.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock h t t p : / / globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot. com Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http:// www.sitkapacific.com/ account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

43

The Story Of Blind Chinese Dissident Chen Guangcheng Explained In Two Minutes Tyler Durden Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:52:05 AM

Confused by the latest flop in US foreign policy hyporicy (not to mention China's domestic) involving blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng, whom America (usually so very strongly in favor of human rights, except when push comes to shove), sold down the river? Fear not, because here, courtesy of Taiwan based cartoon outfit NMA World Edition, is an abbreviated version for dummies and intellectuals alike, explaining everything one needs to know about this story in 135 seconds.

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David Einhorn Reveals Why He Thinks Stocks Are So Cheap Right Now Linette Lopez (Money Game) Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:08:28 AM

David Einhorn's calls are the stuff of modern day hedge fund legend (think: Lehman Brothers collapse, Green Mountain Coffee), and he's definitely asserted himself as one of the industry's hot shots.

So now when he talks, everyone listens.

Maybe that's why he's finally written an opinion piece about one of today's hottest debates — interest rates, to raise or not to raise? The column, full of colorful Simpsons references, was published in the Huffington Post today, and is called'The Fed's Jelly Donut Policy.'

Basically, Einhorn clearly loves jelly donuts, but he thinks The Fed is giving us too much of a good thing by keeping rates to so low. He argues that it's adversely effecting the middle class by giving them a false sense of wealth (in equities) and making retirement savings grow at a

snail's pace. He also argues that low rates make it easier for the rich to speculate in the market, and widen the income gap.

Here's another negative thing Einhorn thinks low interest rates do, and explains something people have been wondering about for what seems like ages(from the piece):

I believe that stocks are depressed because there is a pervasive feeling that something awful is going to happen. What is this enormous tail-risk? It's the intersection of reckless fiscal policy with Jelly Donut monetary policy...

I believe that removing the tail risk that Chairman Bernanke will

feed us a coma inducing dose of Jelly Donuts would go a long way toward restoring the relationship between P/E multiples and longterm interest rates to the benefit of stocks, at the expense of bonds. If the Fed were to stop trying so hard to prop-up the stock market, the reduction in tail risk would probably fuel the market going up on its own.

I think we've reached the point where even Homer can see that the last thing he needs is another Jelly Donut, but the Fed Chairman is oblivious.

We can all say "D'oh!"

Fair enough, Einhorn. And if you come to Business Insider and let us sit you in front of a camera for an interview about all this, we'll get you a dozen jelly donuts for your trouble.

Please follow Clusterstock on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Videos: Where can you go to see the northern lights?

(HowStuffWorks Daily Feed) Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:00:56 AM

Playlist | Northern Lights Videos Learn more with the 6 northern lights videos in this playlist. There are 6 videos tagged "Northern Lights"' + ''; $('#googleAdRightRail').html(rt); } function getValidChannel() { var getChannel = function(subDomain) { return subDomain; } var validChannels = new Array("adventure", "auto","computer","electronics"," entertainment","food","health","h ome","mobiltravelguide","money" ,"people","recipes","science","trav el","www","reference","maps","vi deos","history","geography","ani m a l s " ) ; v a r subDomain=document.domain.spl it(".")[0]; if (subDomain) { var x; for (var x = 0; x This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.

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45

10 Famous Mothers Cristen Conger (HowStuffWorks Daily Feed)

TREASURY: Here's The Truth About The Economy Right Now Joe Weisenthal (Money Game)

misconceptions, such as the tax burden (it's not that high) and regulations (which haven't grown The US Treasury department has very much). put out a new presentation on the All in all, a very useful state of the economy. presentation.

It's pretty non-biased in its It's been non-stop growth since assessment of things. the crisis, but there have been The presentation acknowledges major headwinds including the that the economy has a lot further Japanese earthquake, oil, Europe, to go to get to a real "recovery" and the debt ceiling. but it does point out what the In terms of growth components economy has done since the crisis, See the rest of the story at and what's held it back.

Business Insider It spends a lot of time on public Please follow Money Game on sector fiscal drags.

Twitter and Facebook.

It also attempts to clear up other Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:13:00 AM

approve of such extravagant spending.

Anna Jarvis organized the first Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:00:56 AM Mother's Day celebration on May Flowers are some of the most 10, 1908, in Grafton, W. V., to commonly purchased items in the encourage families to honor their United States on the second mommies dearest with simple, atSunday in May. Indeed, Mother's home gatherings. When the Day is like the Black Friday of the h o l i d a y q u i c k l y a t t r a c t e d floral industry -- more than 35 commercial attention in the percent of American adults following years, Jarvis became bought blooms to celebrate the incensed. Neither a wife nor day in 2011 alone [source: mother herself, Jarvis vocally -Krause]. It's also the most popular and unsuccessfully -- protested day of the year for folks to dine at Mother's Day-related charity restaurants [source: National events and floral and candy sales Restaurant Association]. But [source: Handwerk]. To her, the o d d l y e n o u g h , t h e w o m a n cultural rituals that became responsible for ushering Mother's associated with the holiday Day into existence likely wouldn't detracted from her initial vision

for humble displays of gratitude toward mothers and grandmothers.

But considering the incredible accomplishments that mothers, including the following 10 famous women, have made inside and outside the home, it's hard to resist going all out for mom at least one day a year.

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The Ultimate Computer History Quiz (HowStuffWorks Daily Feed) Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:00:56 AM

Computers are so much a part of our daily lives that it's sometimes hard to believe that only 60 years ago, they were rare, massive machines that were the size of studio apartments and required 10 men to run. It wasn't until the '80s that computers entered our homes and really made an impact on the average person's life. You don't

have to be a total computer nerd to do well on this quiz, but it would probably help.

Earn a point for every right

answer! Save your score at the end of the quiz.

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Cute Candids Celebrities Shared This Week Brittney Stephens (PopSugar) Submitted at 5/3/2012 9:15:46 AM

The Future Of European Sovereign Ratings In One Massive Chart Simone Foxman (Money Game) Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:01:39 AM

Fitch just published a report outlining five reasonably likely ways in which Europe will end its debt crisis in the future. While

other outcomes are possible, the agency admits, they spell out five likely scenarios, and the effect each would have on countries' long-term issuer ratings.

For now, "Fitch believes there is a third way between break-up and

full fiscal union, and expects the eurozone to muddle through the sovereign debt crisis."

Take a look at what could happen: Read the full report from Fitch Ratings.

Please follow Money Game on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story Âť

We caught up with some of our favorite social media-friendly stars this week during their moments of work and play. Bar Refaeli and Jared Leto both enjoyed the great outdoors with adorable animals, while Leann Rimes hit the beach in a teeny bikini. Meanwhile, lots of celebs shared snaps from the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

Elizabeth Banks reunited with her The Hunger Games costar Josh Hutcherson, while Sofia Vergara experienced a very handsome star sighting.

Click through now to see the week's cutest celebrity candids, and don't forget to follow PopSugar on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram! View Slideshow ›

Culture/

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47

Is the Megachurch the New Liberalism?

(Christianpost.com > Most Popular)

orientation, at least in a general sense. In America, a large number of megachurches are associated Featured Posts with the charismatic movement Testimony Katie's Story and denominations such as the I didn't really grow up in a Assemblies of God. Many are Christian household. I had some independent, though often loosely things happen to ... associated with other churches.

May 1, 2012| 9:05 am The largest number of Over the last 40 years, the m e g a c h u r c h e s w i t h i n o n e megachurch has made its presence denomination is found within the known, often dominating the Southern Baptist Convention, the Christian landscape within the nation's largest non-Catholic nation's metropolitan regions. The denomination. megachurch came into dominance The emergence of the at the same time that massive m e g a c h u r c h w a s n o t e d b y shopping malls became the s o c i o l o g i s t s a n d c h u r c h landmarks of suburban consumer r e s e a r c h e r s a t t e m p t i n g t o life. Sociologists can easily trace understand the massive shifts that the rise of megachurches within were taking place in the last the context of America's suburban decades of the 20th century. explosion and the development of Researchers such as Dean M. t h e t e c h n o l o g i e s a n d Kelley of the National Council of transportation systems that made Churches traced the decline of the both the mall and the megachurch liberal denominations that once possible. constituted the old Protestant On the international scene, huge "mainline." This decline was congregations can be found in contrasted with remarkable many African nations and in growth among more conservative nations such as Brazil, South denominations and churches - a Korea, and Australia. In London, pattern traced in Kelley's 1973 where the megachurch can trace l a n d m a r k b o o k , W h y its roots back in the 19th century Conservative Churches Are to massive urban congregations Growing. Kelley argued that such as Charles Spurgeon's conservative churches were Metropolitan Tabernacle, a few growing precisely because of their modern megachurches can be s t r i c t d o c t r i n e a n d m o r a l found. For the most part, t e a c h i n g s . T h e e a r l y h o w e v e r , t h e s u b u r b a n megachurches were the leading evangelical megachurch is an e d g e o f t h e g r o w t h a m o n g American phenomenon. conservative churches, especially T h e o l o g i c a l l y , m o s t in metropolitan and suburban megachurches are conservative in settings.

and sermons by video transmission. From the beginning, the megachurches led in the embrace of new technologies, and these now include the full array of digital and social media.

What about theology? This question requires a look at the massive shifts in worldview now evident within American culture.

Trends foreseen by researchers such as James Davison Hunter of the University of Virginia and others can now be seen in full The megachurches were not Conservative Resurgence - the flower. The larger culture has without their critics. Theologian m o v e m e n t t o r e t u r n t h e turned increasingly hostile to David Wells leveled a massive Convention and its institutions to exclusivist truth claims such as c r i t i q u e o f t h e d o c t r i n a l a n a f f i r m a t i o n o f b i b l i c a l the belief that faith in Christ is minimalism, methodological inerrancy. The most intense years necessary for salvation. One pragmatism, and managerial of this controversy (1979-1990) megachurch pastor in Florida culture of many megachurches. saw the Convention elect an r e c e n t l y t o l d m e t h a t t h e O s G u i n e s s a c c u s e d t h e unbroken stream of conservative megachurches in his area were m e g a c h u r c h m o v e m e n t o f megachurch pastors as SBC abandoning concern for biblical "flirting with modernity" to a president. In the main, the gender roles on a wholesale basis. degree that put the Christian megachurches provided the As one pastor told him, you i d e n t i t y o f t h e m a s s i v e platform leadership for the cannot grow a church and teach congregations at risk. movement, even as the churches biblical complementarianism.

Like us on Facebook themselves became symbols of Even greater pressure is now exerted by the sexual revolution On the other hand, there is denominational aspiration. evidence that the megachurches Sociologically, the megachurch in general, and, more particularly, have also helped to anchor model faces real challenges in the the question of homosexuality. conservative Christianity within p r e s e n t a n d e v e n g r e a t e r The homosexuality question was the social cauldron of the United challenges in the future. The vast preceded by the challenge of States in recent decades. The s u b u r b a n b e l t s t h a t f u e l e d divorce. By and large, the story of evangelistic energies of most megachurch growth in the last evangelical Christianity in the m e g a c h u r c h e s c a n n o t b e few decades are no longer the United States since the advent of s e p a r a t e d f r o m a d e e p population engines they once legal no-fault divorce has been commitment to conversionist were. Furthermore, cultural near total capitulation. This is t h e o l o g y a n d c o n s e r v a t i v e changes, demographic realities, c e r t a i n l y t r u e o f t h e doctrinal affirmations. Within the and technological innovations megachurches, but it is unfair to Southern Baptist Convention, have led to the development of single them out in this failure. The megachurches played an essential megachurch modifications such as MEGACHURCH page 48 role in what became known as the churches with multiple locations

48

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MEGACHURCH continued from page 47

reality is that the "Old First Church" and smaller congregational models were fully complicit - and for the same basic reason. Holding to strict biblical teachings on divorce is extremely costly. For the megachurches, the threat was being called judgmental, and the perceived danger of failing to reach the burgeoning numbers of divorced persons inhabiting metropolitan areas. For smaller churches the issue was the same, though usually more intimate. Divorced persons were more likely to have family members and friends within the congregation who were reluctant to confront the issue openly. Church discipline disappeared and personal autonomy reigned triumphant.

Is the same pattern now threatening on the issue of homosexuality? No congregation will escape this question, but the megachurches are, once again, on the leading edge. The challenge is hauntingly similar to that posed by divorce. Some churches are openly considering how they can minister most faithfully, even as the public and private challenge of homosexuality and alternative sexual lifestyles has radically transformed the cultural landscape. Other churches, both large and small, are renegotiating their stance on the issue without drawing attention to the changes.

A shot now reverberating around the evangelical world was fired by Atlanta megachurch pastor Andy Stanley in recent days. Preaching at North Point Community

Church, in a sermon series known as "Christian," Stanley preached a message titled "When Gracie Met Truthy" on April 15, 2012. With reference to John 1:14, Stanley described the challenge of affirming grace and truth in full measure. He spoke of grace and truth as a tension, warning that "if you resolve it, you give up something important."

The message was insightful and winsome, and Andy Stanley is a master communicator. Early in the message he spoke of homosexuals in attendance, mentioning that some had shared with him that they had come to North Point because they were tired of messages in gay-affirming churches that did nothing but affirm homosexuality.

Then, in the most intense part of his message, Stanley told the congregation an account meant to illustrate his message. He told of a couple with a young daughter who divorced when the wife discovered that the husband was in a sexual relationship with another man. The woman then insisted that her former husband and his gay partner move to another congregation. They did move, but to another North Point location, where they volunteered together as part of a "host team."

The woman later told Andy Stanley that her former husband and his partner were now involved as volunteers in the other congregational location.

The story took a strange turn when Stanley then explained that he had learned that the former

husband's gay partner was still married. Stanley then explained that the partner was actually committing adultery, and that the adultery was incompatible with his service on a host team. Stanley told the two men that they could not serve on the host team so long as the one man was still married.

He later told of the former wife's decision not to live in bitterness, and of her initiative to bring the whole new family structure to a Christmas service. This included the woman, her daughter, her former husband, his gay partner, and his daughter. Stanley celebrated this new "modern family" as an expression of forgiveness.

He concluded by telling of Christ's death for sinners and told the congregation that Jesus does not condemn them, even if they cannot or do not leave their life of sin.

Declaring the death of Christ as atonement for sin is orthodox Christianity and this declaration is essential to the Gospel of Christ.

The problem was that Stanley never mentioned faith or repentance - which are equally essential to the Gospel. There is indeed no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, but this defines those who have acted in repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21). As for those who are not in Christ, they stand condemned already (John 3:18).

The most puzzling and shocking part of the message was the illustration and the account of the

homosexual couple, however. The inescapable impression left by the account was that the sin of concern was adultery, but not homosexuality. Stanley clearly and repeatedly stressed the sin of adultery, but then left the reality of the homosexual relationship between the two men unaddressed as sin. To the contrary, he seemed to normalize their relationship.

They would be allowed to serve on the host team if both were divorced. The moral status of their relationship seemed to be questioned only in terms of adultery, with no moral judgment on their homosexuality.

Was this intended as a salvo of sorts? The story was so well told and the message so well constructed that there can be little doubt of its meaning. Does this signal the normalization of homosexuality at North Point Community Church? This hardly seems possible, but it appeared to be the implication of the message.

Given the volatility of this issue, ambiguity will be replaced by clarity one way or the other, and likely sooner than later.

We can only hope that Andy Stanley and the church will clarify and affirm the biblical declaration of the sinfulness of homosexual behavior, even as he preaches the forgiveness of sin in any form through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. His affirmation of grace and truth in full measure is exactly right, but grace and truth are not actually in tension. The only tension is our finite ability to act in full faithfulness. The

knowledge of our sin is, in truth, a gift of grace. And grace is only grace because of the truth of what God has done for us in Christ.

And yet, even as we know this is true, we also know that the Christian church has often failed miserably in demonstrating grace to those who struggle with samesex attractions and those who are involved in homosexual behaviors. We have treated them as a special class of sinners and we have assured ourselves of our moral superiority. The Gospel of Jesus Christ destroys that pretension and calls for us to reach out to all sinners with the message of the Gospel, declaring the forgiveness of sins in Christ and calling them to faith and repentance.

The Gospel is robbed of its power if any sinner or any sin is declared outside it's saving power.

But the Gospel is also robbed of its power if sin - any sin - is minimized to any degree.

What does Andy Stanley now believe about homosexuality and the church's witness? We must pray that he will clarify the issues so graphically raised in his message, and that he will do so in a way the unambiguously affirms the Bible's clear teachings - and that he will do so precisely because he loves sinners enough to tell them the truth - all the truth - about both our sin and God's provision in Christ. Biblical faithfulness simply does not allow for the normalization of MEGACHURCH page 54

Culture/

Curated News Edition

49

A/B Testing: Why Is a Financial Times Subscription So Expensive?

Felix Salmon (Wired Top Stories) Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:47:00 AM

Wired has a big article on A/B testing this month, which makes a good point: Today, A/B is ubiquitous, and one of the strange consequences of that ubiquity is that the way we think about the web has become increasingly outdated. We talk about the Google homepage or the Amazon checkout screen, but it’s now more accurate to say that you visited a Google homepage, an Amazon checkout screen.

But it’s not just web pages that change with A/B testing, it’s prices, too. And Exhibit A in this regard is the Financial Times. Go to this page, laying out the cost of subscribing to the FT, and you could get any number of different prices. A standard online subscription in the United States, which excludes the Lex column and a handful of other extras, shows up for some people as $4.99 a week. Others see $5.39, $5.75, $5.79, or $6.25. Guan Yang reported this morning, for instance, that on his first attempt at viewing the FT page, he was given a price of $4.99; when he opened the same page in Chrome, Felix Salmon the price was $6.25. Chrome for All of these prices are pre-tax, Windows, meanwhile, revealed a and are weekly based on an upfront annual commitment: the price of $5.39. equivalent of those newspaper ads

touting incredibly low airfaires which are “one-way based on round-trip purchase” and exclude hundreds of dollars in taxes.

When I subscribed to the FT last

year, they charged me an extra 8.88% in sales tax — which means that someone buying a subscription at $6.25 a week will end up seeing their credit card

charged a total of $353.86.

What’s more, Rob Grimshaw, the FT managing director who sets all A/B page 50

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these prices, tells me that in fact that annual price is “heavily discounted because those customers arereal price of an online subscription, by that measure, is $35 a month. Which, adding on sales tax, comes to $457.29 per year. And that includes no premium content at all.

By contrast, a basic online subscription to the NYT is $15 every four weeks, tax included: that’s $195 per year. And the WSJ charges$17.29 every four weeks, or $224.77 per year; it’s a bit cheaper, $207.48, if you pay by the year. It’s not the NYT which is the outlier, it’s the FT. Even if you reload that FT page in multiple browsers on multiple operating systems and eventually get the cheapest possible $4.99 offer and pay a whole year up front, you’re still paying $282.52 for a year’s access, which is 36% more than the WSJ charges. The recommended retail price, or RRP — the default amount that the FT will charge me for renewing my subscription — is $353.86, or a 70% premium over the WSJ rate.

And if I want the full FT online package, including Lex, then that’s $486.35 annually, or 2.3 times the cost of a WSJ online subscription. Alternatively, it’s $53.35 per month, which means that you end up paying more in four months than you would for a full year of the WSJ. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that I run into the FT paywall much more often than I run into any other paywall. Grimshaw says

that the problem of hitting the paywall when following links on Twitter or Facebook “was fixed some months ago and seems to be working well”; I’d beg to differ.

He also says, more encouragingly, that there will be social login later this year, which will allow nonsubscribers to view a (very) limited number of articles by logging in with their Twitter or Facebook accounts, rather than having to set up and remember an FT-specific username and password.

But I fear that so long as the FT keeps up this super-premium pricing strategy, it’s going to wind up chasing local maxima. Here’s how the Wired article puts it: A/B tests might create the best possible outcome within narrow constraints—instead of pursuing real breakthroughs. Google’s Scott Huffman cites this as one of the greatest dangers of a testingoriented mentality: “One thing we spend a lot of time talking about is how we can guard against incrementalism when bigger changes are needed.”

If you test lots of prices for your FT subscription, it makes sense that the higher the subscription price, the higher the revenues generated, and the higher the publisher’s profits. Most of the FT’s subscribers have very little price sensitivity: either they’re on expense accounts, or they’re incredibly rich, or their subscriptions are handled by some kind of support staff and they never even know how much they’re paying. In that world, it

makes sense to raise the RRP as much as possible, since the RRP is the rate that all renewals get charged at, and most renewals are automatic. Even if the amount stands out on some expense report and eyebrows get raised, the FT, by policy, won’t refund the payment. “We do not provide refunds to customers who wish to cancel their subscription mid-term but the subscription will remain valid until the term of the subscription expires” is how Grimshaw puts it in the official FT email.

The result is that the FT’s readership will slowly drift further and further away from the 99% — something which has to affect its journalism at some point. When real people look at the price of an FT subscription, they’ll have much the same reaction as they do when they look at the prices at Cipriani. They won’t just refuse to pay, they’ll take away the understanding that the FT was never written for them in the first place, and that the readership of the FT is a chummy group of of rich people who probably like the exclusivity that a high entrance price provides. It’s like the membership fees at exclusive golf clubs, designed more to keep the middle class out than to actually pay for any particular service.

And while it’s possible to make the case that the global 1% is big enough and rich enough to comfortably support a publication like the FT, it’s dangerous to chase that demographic too assiduously, to the exclusion of

everybody else. If you want to be a news paper rather than a news letter, you have to aspire to being more than a service vehicle for bankers.

After all, it’s pretty much impossible to make the case that the journalism in the FT — the product being paid for — is so better than the journalism in the WSJ or NYT that it’s worth twice as much money. Especially when much of the best FT journalism is still free, on Alphaville and Martin Wolf’s Economists’ Forum. And as I can attest, because news is social, you don’t end up reading the FT very much even after you’ve paid through the nose for your subscription.

What’s more, at least for readers in the US, the FT isn’t remotely comprehensive enough to suffice as a one-stop shop for business news. The FT has some fantastic content, but it needs to be read in addition to, rather than instead of, the NYT / WSJ / Reuters / Bloomberg. As a result, you need to be really price-insensitive to buy it: you can get access to all four of those sources online for less than the price of a single premium FT subscription. When a five-course meal costs twice as much as a four-course meal, you generally go with the four courses.

And as I can attest, because news is social, you don’t end up reading the FT very much even after you’ve paid through the nose for your subscription. I read news which is shared with me, and the people in my social circles don’t

share FT stories all that often. In turn, I want to read news I can share, and it’s very hard to share FT stories, since I can’t assume that the people in my social circles, or the people reading Counterparties, have FT subscriptions.

This I think is the real problem with the FT’s pricing strategy. In the old world, the more you charged for a subscription, the more it was valued, and the more your journal was read by its subscribers. In the social world, the more you charge for a subscription, the less it gets read by its subscribers. As a result, the amount I end up paying per story that I read becomes enormous. I kinda wish the FT had a ticker, like the NYT did at one point, telling me how many stories I’ve read this month. It would give me some kind of masochistic thrill, working out what vast sum I was paying per article. Either way, over the long term, the marginal cost of reading an FT article will become so high that even business -news junkies like myself won’t be able to justify it any more.

On the other hand, there could be a silver lining here. The FT’s pricing doesn’t make sense as a long-term strategy: it makes newcustomer acquisition extremely difficult, and it only serves to remove the FT ever further from the minds of the global professionals it really wants to reach. As a short-term revenuemaximization strategy, on the A/B page 56

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U.S. Turns Osama Against Al-Qaida With Document Dump Spencer Ackerman (Wired Top Stories) Submitted at 5/3/2012 9:25:00 AM

Osama bin Laden (center) in 1998. Photo: AP In an apparent attempt to sow discord within the ranks of alQaida’s remaining sympathizers, the U.S. government declassified personal communications from Osama bin Laden showing the terror leader fretting about the bloodthirsty movement he launched.

If al-Qaida affiliates keep killing Muslim civilians, bin Laden wrote to an aide shortly before the Navy SEAL raid that killed him, “they will spoil [things and] alienate the people, who could be won over by enemy after enemy. … our brothers are making things worse by opening themselves up to evil and hostility!”

At the behest of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Combatting Terrorism Center at West Point released a declassified, translated version of 17 documents seized in the raid.

SEALs left the Abbottabad compound seizing hundreds of bin Laden’s laptops, hard drives, cellphones and flash drives, a collection of thousands of pieces of data that U.S. intelligence officials have often described as a treasure trove of information

about al-Qaida. Accordingly, the surprise declassification presents a selective narrative that the U.S. wants in circulation.

It is not difficult to see why. “The focus of his private letters is Muslims’ suffering at the hands of

his jihadi ‘brothers.’ He was at pains advising them to abort domestic attacks that cause Muslim civilian casualties and instead focus on the United States, ‘our desired goal,’” the Center’s summary reads. “Bin Ladin’s

frustration with regional jihadi groups and his seeming inability to exercise control over their actions and public statements is the most compelling story to be told on the basis of the 17 declassified documents.”

Seemingly every active al-Qaida offshoot comes in for criticism by bin Laden and his coterie in Pakistan. One of his top lieutenants, the American Adam U.S. page 52

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Gadahn, urged bin Laden to publicly repudiate al-Qaida in Iraq, which targeted Iraqi civilians it considered insufficiently Islamic more than it did U.S. forces. He struggled to focus alQaida in the Arabian Peninsula on striking Americans rather than taking over sections of Yemen.

Somalia’s al-Shabab offered “little practical value” in bin Laden’s eyes. The offshoot in north Africa appears to be an afterthought.

It’s worth mentioning that these four groups deeply concerned U.S. intelligence and counterterrorism officials who briefed reporters on Friday about the current strength of al-Qaida.

Those offshoots, the officials said, have eclipsed the remnants of alQaida central in the danger they pose to the United States.

“Bin Ladin was burdened by what he viewed as the incompetence of the ‘affiliates,’” the summary reads, “including their lack of political acumen to win public support, their media campaigns and their poorly planned operations which resulted in the unnecessary deaths of thousands of Muslims.”

The terrorist leader may have had a point. al-Qaida in Iraq’s brutality ended up alienating the very Sunni Iraqis that it relied upon for support, resulting in the “Anbar Awakening” that enabled

the U.S. troop surge of 2007 to become a tactical success. Shabab appears to have alienated many Somalis by not allowing the United Nations to provide food relief into its territory during the country’s devastating famine.

But al-Qaida’s decentralized structure became a hindrance to stopping the offshoots from damaging its brand. One Indonesian jihadist quoted in the documents described the relationship with central al-Qaida as “a business affiliate, we can ask them (i.e., al-Qa`ida) for an opinion but they have no authority over us. We are free. We have our own funds, our own men.”

That would seem to undercut U.S. intelligence officials’ frequent declarations in the wake of the raid that bin Laden played a major operational role in ordering the network’s attacks, as most of those attacks over the years have been launched by the regional affiliates, not the core al-Qaida group.

“The documents show that some of the affiliates sought Bin Ladin’s blessing on symbolic matters, such as declaring an Islamic state, and wanted a formal union to acquire the al-Qa’ida brand,” the Center concludes. “On the operational front, however, the affiliates either did not consult with Bin Ladin or were not prepared to

follow his directives. Therefore, the framing of an ‘AQC’ [alQaida Central] as an organization in control of regional ‘affiliates’ reflects a conceptual construction by outsiders rather than the messy reality of insiders. … Far from being in control of the operational side of regional jihadi groups, the tone in several letters authored by Bin Ladin makes it clear that he was struggling to exercise even a minimal influence over them.”

Ironically, bin Laden’s main concern with the affiliates resembles that of U.S. military commanders waging counterinsurgency campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan: preventing the deaths of innocent Muslim civilians.

In 2010, bin Laden proposed making the affiliates sign a “memorandum of understanding” placing them further under the operational control of bin Laden, to ensure “we do not violate our words with some of our practices.” Killing Muslim civilians would lead to unforced errors that the U.S. and its allies could exploit: “the mistakes of the jihadis were exploited by the enemy, [further] distorting the image of the jihadis in the eyes of the umma’ general public and separating them from their popular base,” he wrote to a top aide.

Nor did the Internet extremist

forums provide much of an alternative. Gadahn wrote bin Laden that their membership and contents would be “repulsive to most Muslims.” The forums “distor[t] the face of Qa’ida, due to what you know of bigotry, the sharp tone that characterizes most of the participants in these forums.”

We’ll have more from the document dump later in the day as we comb through its contents.

For ten years, U.S. analysts have debated what kind of information operations would be most effective against al-Qaida, with some lamenting the U.S.’ lack of facility with the relatively untraditional means of attack.

And while it may be a low bar to clear, releasing bin Laden’s own words of discomfort with the movement he created might be the most sophisticated U.S. information operation launched to date.

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Alzheimer’s protein sparks toxic ‘tangle’ (Holy Kaw!) Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:08:00 AM

A highly toxic protein in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease may serve as a “trigger” for the condition’s progress.

University of Virginia biologist George Bloom says the process is similar to various prion diseases, such as mad cow disease or chronic wasting disease, where a toxic protein can "infect" normal proteins that spread through the brain and ultimately destroy it.

Full story at Futurity.

More research news from top universities.

Photo credit: George Bloom/U. Virginia Permalink| Leave a comment »

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Pastor Andy Stanley Responds to Questions Over Homosexuality Stance (Christianpost.com > Most Popular)

"When Gracie Met Truthy."

While preaching on the tension between grace and truth ("the truth is 'you're a sinner,' and the • (Photo: North Point via The grace is 'I don't condemn you'"), Christian Post) Pastor Andy Stanley told the story of a Stanley preaches at North Point divorced couple who formerly Community Church in Alpharetta, attended North Point together.

Ga., March 11, 2012.

They separated after the woman's husband began a same-sex Featured Posts relationship with another man, Testimony Katie's Story who was still married to a woman.

I didn't really grow up in a The man and his partner wanted Christian household. I had some to serve as volunteers at the things happen to ... church, but Stanley explained that May 2, 2012| 4:00 pm the two men were committing In the meantime, he pointed adultery since one of them did not people to his 8-part message finalize his divorce yet and thus series on what it means to be could not serve as volunteers.

Christian, which concludes this The "messy" story, as Stanley Sunday. described it, ends with the gay "We are requesting that everyone couple, the first man's ex-wife and watch the entire series: Christian. their child, as well as her new It concludes this Sunday. It's 8 boyfriend and his child from parts. That's a lot of content to another relationship, all coming wade through. But I figure that's together to worship together at a better than a sound bite or an big service at North Point Church. interview," Stanley, who leads The pastor refers to them as an North Point Community Church example of a modern day family. in Alpharetta, Ga., said in an Christians, he said, are called not email to CP. only to hold on to the truth, but The sermon in question was also to grace which includes delivered on April 15, titled forgiveness and love.

of Jesus Christ," as Mohler stated.

The first seven parts of Stanley's "Christian" sermon series are available for viewing on North Point's official website. His story about the "modern day family" begins half-way through Part 5: "When Gracie Met Truthy."

WATCH VIDEO OF ANDY STANLEY'S SERMON IN QUESTION: "WHEN GRACIE MET TRUTHY" SEE VIDEO OF PASTOR ANDY STANLEY PRAYING Like us on Facebook if both were divorced. The moral WITH PRESIDENT OBAMA That message prompted a few status of their relationship seemed WATCH ALBERT MOHLER Christian leaders, including Dr. to be questioned only in terms of DISCUSS HOMOSEXUALITY Albert Mohler of The Southern adultery, with no moral judgment ON LARRY KING READ: CHRISTIANITY IS Baptist Theological Seminary, to on their homosexuality."

NOT ABOUT GOING FROM ponder whether Stanley was Dan Delzell, pastor of Wellspring GAY TO STRAIGHT; IT'S condemning only adultery and not Lutheran Church in Papillion, homosexuality.

N e b . , a l s o c o m m e n t e d t h a t ABOUT TURNING FROM SIN "Stanley clearly and repeatedly Stanley seemed to send "mixed TO JESUS This entry passed through the stressed the sin of adultery, but messages." then left the reality of the Both Mohler and Delzell are Full-Text RSS service — if this is homosexual relationship between hoping the Georgia pastor will your content and you're reading it the two men unaddressed as sin," clarify his stance and "affirm the on someone else's site, please read Mohler wrote on his blog this b i b l i c a l d e c l a r a t i o n o f t h e the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentweek. "To the contrary, he s i n f u l n e s s o f h o m o s e x u a l only/faq.php#publishers. Five s e e m e d t o n o r m a l i z e t h e i r behavior, even as he preaches the Filters recommends: Donate to relationship. They would be forgiveness of sin in any form Wikileaks. allowed to serve on the host team through the death and resurrection

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MEGACHURCH continued from page 48

homosexuality. We desperately want all persons to feel welcome to hear the Gospel and, responding in faith and repentance, to join with us in mutual obedience to Christ. But we cannot allow anyone, ourselves included, to come to Christ - or to church - on our own terms.

The current cultural context creates barriers to the Gospel even as it offers temptations. One of those temptations is to use the argument that our message has to change in order to reach people.

This was the impetus of theological liberalism's origin.

Liberals such as Harry Emerson Fosdick claimed that the Christian message would have to change or the church would lose all intellectual credibility in the modern world. Fosdick ended up denying the Gospel and transforming the message of the Cross into psychology. Norman Vincent Peale came along and made this transformation even more appealing to a mass audience. Fosdick and Peale have no shortage of modern heirs.

Theological liberalism did not set

out to destroy Christianity, but to save it from itself. Is the same temptation now evident? The Great Commission, we must remind ourselves, is not a command merely to reach people, but to make disciples. And disciples are only made when the church teaches all that Christ has commanded, as the Great Commission makes clear.

The megachurches are once again on the leading edge of these questions, but they are not alone.

The urgency to reach people with the Gospel can, if the church is not faithful and watchful, tempt us to subvert the Gospel by redefining its terms. We are not honest if we do not admit that the current cultural context raises the cost of declaring the Gospel on its own terms.

Given their size and influence, the megachurches have an outsize responsibility. I am a member and a teaching pastor in a megachurch, and I am thankful for its faithfulness. I know a host of faithful megachurch pastors who are prepared to pay whatever cost may come for the sake of the Gospel. I know that my own

denomination was regained for biblical fidelity under the leadership of brave megachurch pastors, who used their pulpits to defend the truth. We desperately need these churches as both theological anchors and missiological laboratories.

The times now demand our most careful and biblical thinking, and our clearest conviction matched to a missiological drive to reach the world with the Gospel. We must embrace the truth with the humility of a sinner saved only by grace, but we must embrace it fully.

Once again, the megachurches are on the leading edge. We must pray that they will lead into faithfulness, and not into a new liberalism.

READ: THE CONFUSED CONTROVERSY OVER ANDY STANLEY WATCH VIDEO OF ANDY STANLEY'S SERMON IN QUESTION: WHEN GRACIE MET TRUTHY SEE VIDEO OF PASTOR ANDY STANLEY PRAYING WITH PRESIDENT OBAMA WATCH ALBERT MOHLER

DISCUSS HOMOSEXUALITY ON LARRY KING Adapted from R. Albert Mohler Jr.'s weblog at www.albertmohler.com.

R. Albert Mohler, Jr. is president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. For more articles and resources by Dr. Mohler, and for information on The Albert Mohler Program, a daily national radio program broadcast on the Salem Radio N e t w o r k , g o t o www.albertmohler.com. For information on The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, go to www.sbts.edu. Send feedback to mail@albertmohler.com.

O r i g i n a l S o u r c e : www.albertmohler.com.

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Merkel, others, urge treatment for Tymoshenko (Sports News Headlines Yahoo! News) Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:37:26 AM

German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Ukrainian leaders on Thursday to allow jailed exPremier Yulia Tymoshenko "proper treatment" for her ailments, as more top officials announced they would boycott the Euro 2012 soccer championship co-hosted by Ukraine.

The Best (and Worst) Days to Dine Out [Eating] Melanie Pinola (Lifehacker) Submitted at 5/3/2012 9:00:00 AM

Dining out might always be a treat, but there's one day that may be than all the others to head to

the restaurant. Smart Money

suggests making your reservations on Tuesdays and avoiding Sunday. Here's why. More Âť

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NC Megachurch Pastor Says It's a Sin to Forbid Speaking in Tongues (Christianpost.com > Most Popular)

• (Photo: The Summit Church via The Christian Post) J. D. Greear, lead pastor of The Summit Church in Durham, N.C., preaches on spiritual gifts.

Featured Posts Testimony Katie's Story I didn't really grow up in a Christian household. I had some things happen to ...

May 1, 2012| 2:00 pm "You're never going to hear me either publicly or privately tell somebody that they should not be speaking in tongues in their private prayer times," The Summit Church Pastor J. D. Greear stated on Sunday to his congregation, noting that the Apostle Paul was clear on this.

"That's not going to be forbidden at our church."

Greear made the statement as he was ending a message series focused on the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts such as prophesying and speaking in tongues, which he defined as a form of prayer and

praise in a language that is unknown to the speaker that is spoken to God. During the series, Greear noted that his denomination – the Southern Baptist Convention – has in many ways restricted speaking in tongues and believes "they are wrong and they are in sin for doing that."

The SBC does not have an official stance on the issue of charismatic gifts. At the same time, the denomination says that "probably most believe that the gift of tongues as described in the Bible ceased upon the completion of the Bible" and that only a very small minority might accept it as valid.

Greear described his church as "charismatics with a seatbelt" – that is, they honor and want to receive spiritual gifts but cautiously.

Like us on Facebook Addressing those who may be uncomfortable with spiritual gifts, he posed, "Do you believe that God is alive and that He supernaturally moves on the earth, that He works through His church, that He puts thoughts in your

mind?"

While he desires for his church, which draws some 6,500 weekly attendees, to become more Spiritfilled where people use their gifts to contribute to the church and the community, he noted that they will not be a church where people smack each other and fall to the ground or where congregants holler out prayers in tongues in the middle of worship.

Spiritual gifts, he preached, must be used to edify or benefit others.

"If you're speaking a language no one understands, you're not benefitting anybody," he pointed out.

"If you speak in tongues ... pray for interpretation," he advised, saying it would be a "whole lot more edifying" if they heard it in English.

The purpose of the gift of tongues, the Durham pastor stressed, is not to make you feel close to God, though that might be a side effect.

"It's not a private prayer language where the Spirit makes you feel close to God. You've got the blood of Jesus for that," he underscored. "You don't need

anything else."

Rather, the gift is "a sign of the new frontiers of the Gospel." It signifies the spread of the Gospel into non-Jewish peoples, he added.

Greear clarified that not all Christians speak in tongues. It's a gift that God doesn't give to everybody and it's something that can be desired but does not have to be sought after. "The Bible never tells you one time to seek for the gift of tongue," he said.

SEE VIDEO OF PASTOR JD G R E E A R B E I N G INTERVIEWED ON THE GOSPEL MOVEMENT SEE VIDEO OF PEOPLE SPEAKING IN TONGUES READ: ARE SPIRITUAL GIFTS FOR TODAY? This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.

Embrace the Supernatural: How Superstitions, Placebos and Rituals Help You to Achieve Your Goals [Mind Hacks] Thorin Klosowski (Lifehacker) Submitted at 5/3/2012 8:00:00 AM

Michael Jordan wore his college team's shorts underneath his Bulls uniform because he believed it brought him good luck. If six NBA championships can be considered proof, his superstition worked. It sounds silly (well, it is silly), but it's not all magic.

Absurd as superstitions may seem, psychologists have an explanation for why it's not so farfetched to believe a lucky charm can make you perform better.

More »

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Get Ready To Kickstart Project Hexapod Damon Lavrinc (Wired Top Stories) Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:05:00 AM

Meet Stompy. He’s a hexapod – a six-legged robot being built by a team of 15 students and three instructors at Artisan’s Asylum in Somerville, Massachusetts. And if the rendering above didn’t tip you off, Stompy holds two passengers, can walk over a car and takes up nearly two lanes of road. Needless to say, Stompy is awesome.

The brainchild of Gui Cavalcanti, Dan Cody and James Whong, three robotics engineers with ties to Boston Dynamics, Stompy is part of a four-month course the trio is teaching at “The Asylum” this summer.

You might know Cavalcanti from his previous work on AlphaDog (aka L3), the DARPA-funded, four-legged robot designed to assist soldiers by carrying up to 400 pounds for around 20 miles.

Cavalcanti has since left Boston Dynamics to work at the Asylum full time, and Stompy is the first

class he’s organized.

“We always wanted to design robots,” Cavalcanti told Wired, “but they take a lot of time, effort and money.”

So Cavalcanti and his coconspirators hatched a plan: create a working leg and develop a smaller prototype that can be scaled up. Once they’ve produced a proof of concept, “we’ll figure out a bill of materials and Kickstart it,” as the current budget only pays for, “the powerplant, core training leg and the overhead,” according to Cavalcanti.

Project Hexapod kicked off on April 17th, with the three instructors enlisting the help of students ranging in age from 21 to 45, with previous experience in everything from open-source software to robotic kit entrepreneurs. There’s also Adam Bercu, a two-time collegiate Battle Bots champion and cofounder of electric motorcycle startup, Ozone Motors.

Over the course of the next four

months, the class will learn how to weld, prototype, develop software and control systems, and build Stompy at the 31,000 square -foot Asylum creative space. Four teams are tasked with different sub-systems, with one group handling the powerplant (an inline -six cylinder engine pulled from a

actuators. “Think of it as six excavators tied together,” Cavalcanti said. And it’s all opensource.

Team Stompy is still trying to figure out how the “driver” will control the hexapod, but according to Cavalcanti, the best solution is comprised of two joysticks, one controlling turning, forward and backward movement, and another that would rotate the body/passenger compartment independent of the legs.

If all goes according to plan, Stompy will be living up to his namesake this August, and Kickstarter addicts will be able to get in on the fun.

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Said legs are force controlled Wikileaks. through hydraulics, with a computer running real-time Linux and manipulating 18 hydraulic

I’m going to hold out hope, then, that the FT’s prices are a temporary aberration, a way of extracting some huge sum from potential buyers. I don’t really think that the FT will ultimately end up being sold on some multiple of profits or cashflows, but those things can never hurt when you’re deep in negotiations.

Once the FT is finally sold, to Thomson Reuters or to somebody else, its subscription price will be able to revert to reality. But it’s not going to come down before then.

Update: My commenters have worked out that if you really want a cheap FT subscription, you can get one for less than $50 if you

live in India, and you’re more than welcome to pay with a foreign credit card. This actually works, it seems, for people with VPNs. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-

A/B continued from page 50

other hand, charging people as much as $640 a year for an online -only subscription makes all the sense in the world. And if Pearson intends to sell the FT in the next year or two, it would surely love to be able to point to healthy profits and cashflows as a way of justifying some enormous purchase price.

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Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart Say Bye to Breaking Dawn Reshoots and Vancouver Allie Merriam (PopSugar) Submitted at 5/3/2012 8:11:13 AM

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart were together this morning when they left Vancouver. They caught a flight out of the city's airport, with Robert looking a lot like his pale Edward Cullen character. Robert and Kristen were only North of the Border for a few days doing extra work on the final Twilight film. The picture's director, Bill Condon, assured fans that no major redos were being shot. He said of the extra time on set, "A film is a lot like a puzzle, with each piece - each shot, no matter how brief - needing to fit exactly with the ones around it. Our Part Two puzzle is finally coming into full view, and in a few weeks we'll be heading back north to pick up some additional shots the last tiny missing pieces. We're not shooting any new scenes or dialogue, just some technical work with some of our cast and

Rachel Weisz and 404 Not Daniel Craig Take Found Turkey Together (404 Not Found)

Allie Merriam (PopSugar) Submitted at 5/3/2012 8:51:47 AM

stunt actors."

The excitement of the final Twilight film's release is one highlight from Robert and Kristen's big year - who do you think had a bigger 12 months?

Make sure to vote in the PopSugar 100 for your favorite! Robert just got another big deal with the announcement that he's landed the lead in a new thriller. Robert will star in Mission: Blacklist, an action story about the capturing of Saddam Hussein. View Slideshow ›

Rachel Weisz and Daniel Craig held hands yesterday while out in Istanbul together. It seems Rachel's accompanied her husband on a brief press tour on behalf of his latest James Bond movie, Skyfall. Daniel and his costars Naomie Harris and Bérénice Marlohe joined director Sam Mendes for a photocall on Sunday at the city's Ciragan Palace to celebrate the ongoing shoot. James Bond villain Javier Bardem unfortunately wasn't part of the picture session, but he was seen last month on set in London.

It's a special time for Rachel and Daniel - they're coming up on their one-year wedding anniversary! The couple married

last June in an intimate ceremony in upstate New York. Rachel and Daniel are competing each other in this year's PopSugar 100. Who do you think had the bigger 12 months? Make sure to cast your votes in the PopSugar 100 and enter to win $2,500! View Slideshow ›

404 Not Found The requested URL /author/ DavidF/feed was not found on this server.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request. Apache/2.2.21 (Unix) mod_ssl/2.2.21 OpenSSL/ 0.9.7a mod_auth_passthrough/2.1 mod_bwlimited/1.4 FrontPage/ 5.0.2.2635 mod_fcgid/2.3.5 Server at www.frumforum.com Port 80 This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.

Notre Dame QB Rees jailed in police confrontation (Sports News Headlines Yahoo! News)

Police pepper-sprayed Notre Dame quarterback Tommy Rees and put him in jail early Thursday

57

after he allegedly he raised his knee and knocked the wind out of a police officer who had chased

him down following an offcampus house party.

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Politics-Left/ Politics-Right/

Curated News Edition

Chinese dissident Chen seeks US exile deal (AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE))

abused him in prison and house arrest for nearly seven years.

But Chen told Reuters news Chen Guangcheng, the blind agency on Thursday by telephone Chinese activist, has said he wants from hospital, where he was to leave for the US rather than escorted by US officials after stay in China, throwing into doubt leaving the embassy, that he had a deal used to coax him out of the changed his mind after speaking US embassy in Beijing and defuse to his wife who spoke of recent an impasse that has strained China threats made against his family.

-US ties.

"I feel very unsafe. My rights and That stalemate appears all the safety cannot be assured here," he more troublesome for the US, said, adding that his family with Chen saying on Thursday supported his decision to try to get that he feared for his and his to the US. family's safety if he stayed in The activist, citing descriptions China under an agreement that US from his wife, Yuan Weijing, said officials initially said he was his family had been surrounded happy with.

by Chinese officials who menaced Chen, a self-taught legal activist, them and filled the family home. is under Chinese control in a Chen, from a village in rural Beijing hospital, having left the Shandong province, has two embassy on Wednesday. children.

He had taken refuge at the "When I was inside the American m i s s i o n f o r s i x d a y s a f t e r embassy, I didn't have my family, escaping house arrest and left and so I didn't understand some under a diplomatic solution in things. After I was able to meet w h i c h t h e U S s a i d C h i n a them, my ideas changed." promised that Chen could join his Precarious situation family and be allowed to start a Al Jazeera's Rob McBride, new life in a university town, safe reporting from Hong Kong, said from the rural authorities who had that Chen's new situation does not Submitted at 5/3/2012 9:42:12 AM

necessarily offer him much safety.

"At the moment he does seem to be in a fairly precarious position.

Almost, you'd have to say, back in the position as he was before he sought sanctuary in the US embassy," he said.

Chen's decision puts more strain on US-China relations at a tense time for both countries.

Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, found herself in the eye of the diplomatic storm on Thursday, turning up for the opening of annual bilateral talks in Beijing which have been overshadowed but not derailed by the Chen case.

She used the occasion to urge China to protect human rights but made no specific mention of Chen, whom she had spoken to on Wednesday after he left the embassy.

"We believe that all governments do have to answer to citizens' aspirations for dignity and the rule of law and that no nation can or should deny those rights," Clinton said as she opened on Thursday the annual strategic and economic Dialogue.

Clinton, however, did not directly

mention the name of Chen.

China's President Hu Jintao, in his speech, said China and the US must respect each other even if they disagree.

Hu said that "given our different national conditions it is impossible for both China and the United States to see eye to eye on every issue".

Apology sought China has demanded that the US apologise for sheltering Cheng in its embassy, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Liu Weimin, foreign ministry spokesman, said: "China is very unhappy over this. The US action is an interference in China's internal affairs and China cannot accept it."

"Chen Guangcheng, a native from Yinan County of eastern China's Shandong province, entered the US embassy in Beijing in late April and left of his own volition after a six-day stay in the embassy," he said.

Chen, who has been blind since childhood, has long been a highprofile figure and international rights groups have frequently

expressed alarm at the treatment of him and his family.

Chen exposed how local authorities in Linyi, in Shandong province, forced thousands of women to have abortions or be sterilised as part of China's onechild policy He was placed under house arrest in 2010 after spending more than four years in jail for disrupting traffic and damaging property.

Chen's colleagues said the escape from house arrest had taken months to plan, and was carried out with the help of a network of friends and activists.

He had jumped over the wall that the authorities had built around his house, he was taken to Beijing, where supporters say he stayed in safe houses before fleeing to the embassy.

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Online Chat about the Federal Budget Todd Thurman (The Foundry: Conservative Policy News Blog from The Heritage Foundation)

direction our country is headed under current policies. Join us on Friday May 4 from 12-1 ET for our “Lunch with Heritage” online Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:00:26 AM Heritage recently released the chat. We will be joined by 2012 Federal Budget in Pictures. Heritage’s Alison Fraser and she It graphically illustrates the will be taking your questions

about the charts, the budget, the direction of the country, and how to change course. If you cannot make the chat leave a question in the comments and we will try and answer it for you. If you would like to RSVP for the chat, leave

your email address in the form below.

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University protest in Syria 'turns deadly' (AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)) Submitted at 5/3/2012 7:22:38 AM

Syrian activists and opposition groups say security forces have stormed student dormitories at a university in the city of Aleppo following anti-government protests there, killing at least four students and wounding several others.

Thaer al-Ahmed, a local activist, said on Thursday that security forces and armed pro-government men fired tear gas and live ammunition to disperse the students at Aleppo University after entering the students' residences late on Wednesday night.

He said raids and intermittent gunfire continued until early morning on Thursday.

More than 50 students have reportedly been arrested.

The Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC) activist group and the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the raid and casualties.

"Regime forces demanded through loudspeakers that the dorms be evacuated, then began detaining the students," the LCC said in a statement.

The deadly incident prompted the University of Aleppo to announce on its website that it was

suspending classes until after final exams on May 13.

Aleppo - the country’s second city - has been largely spared from the violence that has plagued other Syrian cities, but the university students have been staging almost daily protests calling for an end to President Bashar al-Assad's rule.

Meeting with Annan The apparent violence against students in Aleppo came just hours after Syrian officials in Damascus sat down with Kofi Annan, former UN secretary -general, to negotiate the terms of the ceasefire in March and early April.

The 12 April truce has led to a small reduction in the daily carnage, especially in cities were monitors are deployed permanently.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused government forces on Wednesday of going on a killing spree in oppositio-dominated

targeted; that there had been people who had been taken out and executed; that there was both - my words, not theirs - a form of collective punishment going on and quite discriminate elimination of homes ... that belonged to people who were known to be in opposition to the government areas. yes, we saw all of that," she said.

"Everywhere we went, we saw Syria is also gearing up for multiburnt and destroyed houses, shops party elections on May 7, part of a and cars, and heard from people political reform package agreed to whose relatives were killed. It was by Assad as a as if the Syrian government forces gesture towards those who want used every minute before the an end to his family's four-decade ceasefire to cause harm," Anna grip on power.

Neistat, senior HRW researcher, Western states do not set much said on Wednesday. faith in either the ceasefire or Human Rights Watch blames reform process. France has called Syria for war crimes for UN sanctions, but the West In assaults on the northern can do little given the diplomatic province of Idlib, troops killed at c o v e r S y r i a e n j o y s a t t h e least 95 civilians and destroyed Security Council from China and hundreds of homes, HRW said in Russia. a report that accused the Syrian According to the UN, more than government of war crimes.

9,000 people have been killed in Syria has not commented on the Syria since an anti-government report. It accuses foreign-backed uprising began in March last year. armed groups of being behind the This entry passed through the violence.

Full-Text RSS service — if this is Anita McNaught, reporting from your content and you're reading it near the Syrian border in Mardin, on someone else's site, please read T u r k e y , s a i d t h e r e p o r t the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentcorroborated what Al Jazeera had only/faq.php#publishers. Five witnessed in Syria.

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59

Blind Dissident Chen to Obama, Hillary: Help!!!

(The Feed) Submitted at 5/3/2012 7:53:55 AM

Via BBC: Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng says he has been unable to meet US officials to discuss his desire to leave the country. The blind activist, in hospital in Beijing, told the BBC he believed Chinese officials were preventing US envoys from visiting him on Thursday. After he escaped house arrest last week, Mr Chen spent six days in the US embassy before emerging on Wednesday. The issue continues to overshadow key talks between the US and China. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Beijing to attend talks focusing on North Korea and Syria. As the talks opened, Mrs Clinton did not mention Mr Chen by name but addressed the topic of human rights. . .

So, so disgusting on the part of the Obama administration.

Basically the wheeled a blind guy, who had just escaped his captors, b a c k i n t o t h e i r clutches.— Greg Pollowitz This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.

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Seized Bin Laden documents posted online (AL JAZEERA ENGLISH (AJE)) Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:44:14 AM

A selection of documents seized by the United States which detail the communiques of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden have been posted online.

The 17 letters, posted online by the US Army's Combating Terrorism Center on Thursday, reveal the al-Qaeda leader to be weary of dysfunction in his terrorist network.

Bin Laden feared a loss of trust from Muslim populations he had hoped to incite against their governments and Western powers.

The deaths of the network's leadership, in quick succession, amplified bin Laden's fears for the prospects of his organisation's survival.

Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher, reporting from Washington, said bin Laden feared the actions of "so-called al-Qaeda affiliates", would hurt the al-Qaeda "brand".

"Experts have described the seized papers as the

motherlode of terrorism documents," said Fisher.

The al-Qaeda leader wanted to reduce attacks that led to the deaths of Muslims and instead "concentrate efforts on the US", Fisher added.

US critical Bin Laden had aimed to carry out a large-scale strike, like the September 11 attacks, which he thought would lead to a change in US policy.

He wished especially to target airplanes carrying General David Petraeus and President Barack Obama, reasoning that an assassination of the US president would elevate an "utterly unprepared" vice president, Joe Biden, into the presidency and plunge the US into crisis.

The documents, totaling 175 pages in the original Arabic, were part of over 6,000 documents seized in last year's raid on bin Laden's compound in Pakistan.

Referencing the compound, 50 kilometres from Islamabad, bin Laden said he was very happy

with the security situation.

Notably, the al-Qaeda leader pointed to the fact that "the children weren't allowed outside the compound without an adult" who could ensure the noise level would be kept down so as not to arouse suspicion, said our correspondent.

In the year since the operation that killed the al-Qaeda leader, US officials have remained critical of Pakistan's answers to who helped Laden during his years in the northwestern garrison town of Abbottabad.

Even so, our correspondent said "there is no suggestion in the documents ... that there was institutional Pakistani support for Osama bin Laden or al-Qaeda".

America 'safer' The correspondence, dating from September 2006 to April 2011, also depicts a leader revered but sometimes ignored by field commanders, some of whom dismissed him as out of touch as he urged them to keep attacking US targets.

The documents were disseminated as part of a complicated process that started with the al-Qaeda leader writing his letters in the Microsoft Word programme on one of the compound's five different computers, and then transmitting them to hard drives and DVD discs.

The documents would then be sent by courier to far-flung internet access points on flash drives before their contents were emailed out.

White House counter-terrorism chief John Brennan said this week that bin Laden's own words confirm that America is safer with him gone.

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61

13 Million U.S. Facebook Users Don’t Use Privacy Controls, Risk Sharing Updates Beyond Their “Friends” Press Room (Consumer Reports)

Facebook as it is the largest social network with just over 900 million users worldwide and more Submitted at 5/3/2012 2:59:59 AM than 150 million users in the U.S. 13 Million U.S. Facebook Users The service makes it easy for Don’t Use Privacy Controls, Risk people to keep up with friends, Sharing Updates Beyond Their family and colleagues, discover “Friends” great content, and connect to Investigation Looks at Data causes. Consumer Reports notes Collection through the Biggest that to deliver this service, Social Network; Nine Ways for F a c e b o o k a n d o t h e r s o c i a l Consumers to Protect Themselves n e t w o r k s c o l l e c t e n o r m o u s YONKERS, NY — Nearly 13 amounts of often highly sensitive million U.S. Facebook users do information and distribute it not use, or are not aware of the widely and quickly. site’s privacy controls, according Consumer Reports points out that to a new Consumer Reports all of this data collection is not investigation on Facebook and without risks. A projected seven privacy, potentially exposing m i l l i o n h o u s e h o l d s u s i n g personal information beyond their Facebook said they had trouble network of Facebook friends. The last year, ranging from someone report also revealed that a u s i n g t h e i r l o g - i n w i t h o u t projected 4.8 million people have permission to being harassed or posted about where they planned threatened – up 30 percent from to go on a certain day, a potential the previous year, according to the tip-off to burglars, while 4.7 Consumer Reports Annual State million have “liked” a Facebook of the Net survey. And unless an page about health conditions or individual has chosen their treatments, details that insurers privacy settings meticulously, one might use against them. of their friends who runs an app The full report can be found in could grant it access to their the June 2012 issue of Consumer i n f o r m a t i o n w i t h o u t t h e i r R e p o r t s a n d o n l i n e a t knowledge, including information w w w . C o n s u m e r R e p o r t s . o r g . that was set to “friends” only T h e C o n s u m e r R e p o r t s view. Only 37 percent of users i n v e s t i g a t i o n f o c u s e d o n say they have used the site’s

privacy tools to customize how much information apps are allowed to see, according to the Consumer Reports survey.

“Facebook really is changing the way the world socially communicates and has become a successful service in part by leveraging copious amounts of personal data that can be spread far wider than its users might realize,” said Jeff Fox, Consumer Reports Technology Editor. “Our investigation revealed some fascinating, and some disquieting trends – but ones always worth knowing for consumers who wish to keep their personal data under better control.”

What does Facebook know?

Americans feed all kinds of personal details into Facebook’s vast database by posting status updates on their “wall,” updating their profile, “liking a page,” or using other Facebook features. The numbers below show how many people engaged in each activity during the past 12 months, based on projections from the Consumer Reports State of the Net survey: • 39.3 million identified a family member in a profile • 20.4 million included their birth date and year in their profile

• 7.7 million “liked” a Facebook page pertaining to a religious affiliation • 4.6 million discussed their love life on their wall • 2.6 million discussed their recreational use of alcohol on their wall • 2.3 million “liked” a page regarding sexual orientation

to records of their past Facebook activity. In addition, it says it watches vigilantly for apps that misbehave. According to a company spokesperson, “We have a dedicated team that reviews apps using a risk-based approach to ensure we address the biggest risks, rather than just doing a cursory review at the time an app is first launched.”

While some privacy or security Better protections. Consumers issues arise from poor choices Union, the advocacy arm of Facebook users themselves make, Consumer Reports, wants a other problems can stem from the national privacy law that holds all ways the company collects data, companies to the same privacy how it manages and packages its standards and lets consumers tell privacy controls, and the fact that companies not to track them users’ data can wind up with online. It also supports the people or companies with whom Obama administration’s effort to they did not intend to share. Some bring industry and privacy groups users might be surprised to know together to set clear rules for how that Facebook gets a report every personal data is collected and time they visit a site with a “Like” used. Additionally, Consumers button, regardless of whether or Union launched a petition urging not they click on that button, have Facebook to improve privacy a Facebook account, or are even controls and address concerns logged in. about sharing practices. The For its part, Facebook says it petition is highlighted in a CU takes privacy and safety issues policy ad appearing in Politico seriously. CEO Mark Zuckerberg w h i c h c a n b e f o u n d a t has said that the company does w w w . h e a r u s n o w . o r g . privacy access checks tens of It addition to the privacy billions of times each day. The safeguards that Facebook already company has also announced that MILLION page 62 it would offer users greater access

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MILLION continued from page 61

has in place, Consumer Reports notes that the company could also fix a security lapse that permits users to set up weak passwords including some six-letter dictionary words. And it could help users avoid inadvertently sharing status updates with the public, either by alerting them more prominently when they are about to do so or by changing the default audience for posts to the user’s preferred audience.

Nine ways to stay protected.

Facebook offers many privacy controls that may not be easy for layfolk to understand. A new study by Siegel+Gale, New Yorkbased consultants, finds that Facebook’s and Google’s privacy policies are tougher to comprehend than the typical bank credit card agreement. Below are nine tips from Consumer Reports that will help users understand and utilize privacy tools: • Think before typing. Even if a user deletes his/her account (which takes Facebook about a month), some info can remain in Facebook’s computers for up to 90 days.

• Regularly check Facebook exposure. Each month, users should check out how their page looks to others. Review individual

privacy settings if necessary.

• Protect basic information. Set the audience for profile items, such as town or employer. And users should remember: Sharing info with “friends of friends” could expose them to tens of thousands.

• Know what can’t be protected.

Each user’s name and profile picture are public. To protect one’s identity, they should not use a photo, or use one that doesn’t show their face.

• “UnPublic” the wall. Set the audience for all previous wall posts to just friends.

• Turn off Tag Suggest. If users would rather not have Facebook automatically recognize their face in photos, they could disable that feature in their privacy settings.

The information will be deleted.

• Block apps and sites that snoop.

Unless users intercede, friends can share personal information about them with apps. To block that, they should use controls to limit the info apps can see.

• Keep wall posts from friends.

Users don’t have to share every wall post with every friend. They can also keep certain people from viewing specific items in their profile.

• When all else fails, deactivate.

When a user deactivates their account, Facebook retains their profile data but the account is made temporarily inaccessible.

Deleting an account, on the other hand, makes it inaccessible forever.

Inside the June 2012 issue of Consumer Reports Additional findings from Consumer Reports latest State of the Net Report are featured in the June issue of Consumer Reports magazine available on newsstands on May 8th or online at www.ConsumerReports.org. In addition to the cover article on Facebook and user privacy, the issue also features a broader report on online security and what consumers can do to protect themselves.

Consumer Reports State of the Net Survey Methodology Consumer Reports National Research Center conducted the annual State of the Net survey from January 16 - 31, 2012. A sample of 2,002 members of the TNS interactive consumer online panel over the age of 18 with a home Internet connection participated in the survey. The

findings are nationally representative of Internet households. The margin of error for the full sample was ± 2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

About Consumer Reports Consumer Reports is the world’s largest independent producttesting organization. Using its more than 50 labs, auto test center, and survey research center, the nonprofit rates thousands of products and services annually.

Founded in 1936, Consumer Reports has over 8 million subscribers to its magazine, website and other publications.

Its advocacy division, Consumers Union, works for health reform, food and product safety, financial reform, and other consumer issues in Washington, D.C., the states, and in the marketplace. Subscribe now!

S u b s c r i b e t o ConsumerReports.org for expert Ratings, buying advice and reliability on hundreds of products. Update your feed preferences

Photos: “The Scream” Auctioned for $119 Million Denver Post (news photos - Google News) Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:12:28 AM

RT Photos: “The Scream” Auctioned for $119 Million Denver Post ( Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) Edvard Munch's "The Scream" is auctioned at Sotheby's Wednesday, May 2, 2012, in New York. The image is one of four versions created by the Norwegian expressionist painter.

Three are in Norwegian museums.

'Scream' fetches record sum at Sotheby's ( PHOTOS) RT The Scream painting sells for record $120 million (with photos) Calgary Herald 'The Scream' Sells for $119 Million & More Expensive Art ( PHOTOS) Daily Beast all 1,807 news articles »

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Topsy Tomato & Herb Planter 2-Pack (Woot! - One Day, One Deal) Submitted at 5/3/2012 12:00:20 AM

DOWN WITH BIG AGRICULTURE! Stop supporting a broken industrial farming system! Grow ‘em at home!

“I’m telling you, Dave, it feels so good to not depend on horrible mega-corporations and their poison. Now that we’re growing tomatoes in this Topsy Tomato & Herb Planter 2-Pack we picked up, I feel like we’re making a difference.”

“By growing tomatoes?”

“Yeah, by growing tomatoes!

These things are perfect for us; they don’t take up a lot of space, the hanging design reduces nasty stuff like fungus, bacteria, worms, and weeds, and we can also use it for stuff like herbs, peppers, zucchini, the whole nine!”

“Well that’s a great way to save some money on groceries and help ease the burden on the food system in this country.”

“PLUS we get to stick it to those thieving, conniving bastards at Monsanto and DuPont and the like! No more factory farming!

Hell no, GMO! Keep your patents off our pollen!”

“Right. The companies responsible for some of the greatest developments in human agriculture that have helped feed millions. Those are the guys we want to stick it to.”

“Don’t you read Huffington Post?

THEY’RE EVIL! Warranty: 90 Day Woot Limited Warranty Condition: New Features: • The Topsy Turvy® Tomato and Herb Planter is the novel way to grow your own fresh fruits and veggies • Hangs upside down so gravity pulls the water and nutrients directly from the root to the fruit • It’s simple to use and saves you time and space:- Just hang up the planter- Place your chosen plants in the bottom and sides- Add your favorite potting soil- Water daily • The sun warms the plant like a greenhouse, the root system grows and thrives inside the planter • Hanging in the air helps reduce ground fungus, harmful bacteria, cutworm damage, use of pesticides, digging & weeding

and backbreaking work • Planter can also grow cucumbers, peppers, zucchini, and more • Grow tomatoes and herbs all season long • Grows all varieties of tomatoes and herbs including parsley, oregano, basil, rosemary, mint and more • Simple to set-up & maintain • Hangs Easily, Just Water

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Ripping Up Checks Will Not Necessarily Prevent ID Theft Chris Morran (The Consumerist)

they wouldn't have been able to create these fraudulent checks if the people that had thrown them Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:45:00 AM out had disposed of them properly If you make an error while in the first place. writing a check, how thoroughly If you don't have a proper are you shredding it when you shredder that will render the toss it out? And in an era where d o c u m e n t s u s e l e s s , w e some banks let you deposit checks recommend that whenever you cut just by taking a photo with your up a check, be sure that the smartphone, what are you doing account and routing numbers have with those pieces of paper after been obscured. It also doesn't hurt Additional Photos: • Topsy Tomato & Herb Planters the money has cleared? if the remnants of the cut-up A couple in California are c h e c k a r e s p r e a d o u t o v e r In Full-Bloom (Plants NOT accused of piecing together ripped d i f f e r e n t b a g s o f t r a s h .

Included) • Topsy Tomato & Herb Planters -up checks stolen from the trash at Overkill? Perhaps, but we bet • Topsy Tomato & Herb Planters a self-storage facility. Rather than that the victims of this crime are just take those taped-together wishing that the folks who Collapsed checks to a bank, where they disposed of their checks had gone PLEASE NOTE: You will need would likely be caught, they used the extra mile. to buy 18 quarts of the soil of the account and routing numbers Couple Allegedly Pieced your choice, along with a healthy on the checks to create counterfeit Together Shredded Checks To green seedling and fertilizer. checks for their own use.

Steal $16K From 20 Santa Clarita Click here for Topsy Turvy® Police say at least 20 people were Victims[CBS L.A.] Gardening Tips. For outdoor use taken for a total of $16,000 by the From ConsumerReports.org: scammers, who cashed the bogus This entry passed through the only. checks all around Southern Full-Text RSS service — if this is In the box: (2) Topsy Turvy TT071112 California. your content and you're reading it The pair have been charged with on someone else's site, please read Tomato & Herb Planters 45 felony counts of identity theft, the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentDiscuss this product forgery, burglary, grand theft, only/faq.php#publishers. Five Price: $4.99 I want one! receiving stolen property, among Filters recommends: Donate to other charges.

Wikileaks.

While we're obviously glad these people were eventually nabbed,

64

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Are Verizon Reps Pushing 4G Android Smartphones Over The 3G iPhone?

Hacked websites delivering Android malware, warn security analysts

Android device, but perhaps not because of a deep-seated hatred of iPhones or any kind of deal with Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:00:00 AM Android. There are more Is there some kind of anti-iPhone p r a c t i c a l , s e n s i b l e r e a s o n s . conspiracy going on at Verizon In each of the 10 discussions, Wireless stores? Some customers representatives steered me toward think so, but perhaps it's just a either the Motorola (MMI) Droid matter of 4G versus 3G. After all, Razr Maxx, the Droid Razr, or the there is no 4G-compatible iPhone LG Lucid — all 4G-capable for Verizon, and many customers phones running Google's (GOOG, w a n t t h e f a s t e s t , n e w e s t Fortune 500) Android software. technology. Or maybe it's all one When I asked if those devices big secret deal conducted in dark were better than the iPhone, they corners with men in trench coats responded that the iPhone was an and fedoras! inferior alternative because it only CNNMoney's David Goldman runs on the company's slower 3G decided to take the questions network. being batted around on various As one rep put it, "The iPhone is online forums and put it to the test a great phone, but it's on 3G. I'm for himself, so he went out and not going to recommend a phone had conversations with some that's outdated."

Verizon reps in the New York Another says it costs the area, as well as phone chats and company money when customers online chat sessions. purchase a 3G iPhone, then go He found that yeah, Verizon home and figure out that they really does want you to get a 4G could be doing things faster with a

Hacked websites delivering Android malware, warn security analysts Bad news for owners of smart phones powered by Google's Android operating system.

Security researchers say they've discovered NotCompatible, a piece of malware specifically targeting Android devices. And it's being spread using an old computer trick: drive-by downloads.

According to Lookout Mobile Security, NotCompatible "does not currently appear to cause any direct harm" to smart phones or tablet computers running Android.

However, the Android malware can "be used to gain illicit access to private network," say the researchers.

More significant, NotCompatible appears to spread through hidden code at the bottom of Web pages on "compromised websites."

Lookout's blog warns: If a user visits a compromised website from an Android device, their mobile web browser will automatically begin downloading the NotCompatible application, named 'Update.apk'.

Mary Beth Quirk (The Consumerist)

4G, and return the iPhone.

Verizon itself isn't directly answering the question of whether or not reps are told to focus on Android devices.

"Our sales force's mission is to ensure customers are familiar with our product line and to match the customer with the right device to best meet their needs," Verizon Wireless spokesman Tom Pica said in a written statement. "At the end of the day, our goal is that every customer is delighted with the device that they have chosen."

Verizon reps push 4G Android over iPhone[CNNMoney] From ConsumerReports.org: This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.

Consumer Reports News (Consumer Reports) Submitted at 5/3/2012 8:44:59 AM

While the danger and spread of NotCompatible is currently believed to be low, security experts warn that the growing population of mobile device users can increasingly become victims of data and privacy crimes if they don't take adequate preventive measures.

For the five ways to protect your smart phone and other safeguards, check out Consumer Reports Guide to online security.

Sources: Security Alert: Hacked Websites Serve Suspicious Android Apps (NotCompatible)[Lookout Blog] For the First Time, Hacked Websites Deliver Android Malware[PC World] Subscribe now!

S u b s c r i b e t o ConsumerReports.org for expert Ratings, buying advice and reliability on hundreds of products. Update your feed preferences

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10 Signs Your Used Car Is Really A Rebuilt Wreck Laura Northrup (The Consumerist)

openings reveals that the adjacent panel was repaired.

• Misaligned fenders suggest a Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:30:00 AM poor repair job or use of We often hear from readers n o n o r i g i n a l e q u i p m e n t horrified to discover that their manufacturer (non-OEM) parts. perfectly lovely used car was once • CAPA (Certified Automotive another owner's total loss. They Parts Association) sticker on any only find out much later, once part may indicate collision repair. something goes horribly wrong • Uneven tread wear reveals due to the previous damage. But wheel misalignment, possibly once the vehicle is all fixed up because of frame damage. and shiny, how is the average car • Mold or air freshener cover-up buyer to know the difference? It suggests water damage from a turns out that there are distinctive leak or flood. signs that a car was previously in • Silt in trunk may mean flood a crash or flood. Some you might damage. notice yourself, and others require • Fresh undercoating on wheel a mechanic's eye. wells, chassis, or engine strongly Our friends at Consumer Reports suggests recent structural repairs Cars give you the lowdown. covered up.

• Paint that chips off or doesn't • Door that doesn't close correctly match indicates damage repair could point to a door-frame and poor blending. deformation and poor repair.

• Paint overspray on chrome, • Hood or trunk that doesn't close trim, or rubber seals around body squarely may indicate twisting

from side impact.

For the rest of the signs, some which are more complex and perhaps better left to pros, check out the post over at Consumer Reports.

RELATED: No, Of Course This Car We're Selling Has Never Been In A Severe Accident Buyer Says CarFax Report Didn't Let Him Know Car Was All Messed Up The Used Car You Are Looking To Buy May Have Been Totaled From ConsumerReports.org: This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.

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Kentucky Derby 2012: D. Wayne Lukas to extend own record for Derby starts - Sporting News (- Bing News)

qualifying. The defection opened the door for Optimizer and Lukas, and moved My Adonis up one Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne slot.

Lukas will extend his own record "I've got to get his 'A' game, I've for Derby starters when he got to get his best race," Lukas saddles Optimizer, a 50-1 shot said. "As you know over the years from post No. 2. there have been some surprises. I The colt with the modest 1-9 don't know if he'll be a surprise or record will be the 45th Lukas not. I don't have any grandiose runner in the Derby. His closest ideas we're going to go over there pursuer is former assistant Todd and win. He's got to step way up."

Pletcher with 26. Pletcher sends While his chances for a Derby out the duo of Gemologist (6-1) victory are slim, Lukas takes pride and El Padrino (20-1) in the 1 1/4 in seeing three of his former mile race. assistants with horses in the race.

With four Derby wins, Lukas In addition to Pletcher, Kiaran trails only Ben Jones, who won McLaughlin will send out Alpha six times from 1939-52. Dick (15-1), while Mike Maker runs Thompson also trained four Hansen (10-1). winners.

"From Lukas U, we've got three By his own admission, Lukas is guys who all graduated with not playing a strong hand this honors," Lukas said. "I'd like to time. see all three of them do good."

Optimizer won his debut on the MORE ON THE DERBY: turf last August at Saratoga and The field: Odds, jockeys, trainers has suffered several double-digit for the 21 Derby hopefuls defeats since then. His best recent History lesson: All the past effort was a rallying second in the Derby winners Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park in Photo Gallery: Images from the March. Optimizer was beaten 20 Derby lengths last time out in the This entry passed through the Arkansas Derby.

Full-Text RSS service — if this is He didn't secure a Derby spot your content and you're reading it until Tuesday morning, when on someone else's site, please read Mark Valeski was withdrawn. the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentOptimizer had been on the bubble, only/faq.php#publishers. Five sitting 21st on the graded-stakes Filters recommends: Donate to earnings list with the top 20 Wikileaks.

Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:11:22 AM

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Sports/ Gaming/

Curated News Edition

Gayle eyes Windies return after snubbing somerset YAHOO! (- Bing News)

"I have now satisfied all of the requests of the WICB ( West Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:11:22 AM Indies Cricket Board) and their L O N D O N ( R e u t e r s ) - selection panel... and to whom I Flamboyant opener Chris Gayle reiterated previous assurances has scrapped his deal with English given to the board regarding my county Somerset to make himself availability. available for West Indies after "So that there is no doubt, I ending his year-long dispute with confirmed to the selectors that I the cricket board. was available for West Indies Gayle has not been part of the duty in all forms of cricket, West Indies team since his attack i m m e d i a t e l y f o l l o w i n g t h e on the board in a radio interview conclusion of my contractual in April last year and was not obligations to my IPL franchise, picked in the squad for the three- Royal Challengers Bangalore." match test series against England The IPL is scheduled to finish on starting on May 17.

May 25 and Gayle will still not be The 32-year-old left-hander, considered for selection for any of c u r r e n t l y p l a y i n g f o r t h e the test matches.

Bangalore franchise of the Indian Somerset chief executive Guy Premier League( IPL), is now Lavender told the county website eyeing a place in the three one- (www.somersetcountycc.co.uk) of d a y e r s a n d a T w e n t y 2 0 their "disappointment" at the news international that follow the but West Indies coach Ottis England tests.

Gibson said Gayle's appetite for "I have written to Somerset CC international cricket had returned. and advised them that I will not "Nobody wants to renege on be honouring the commitment I contracts but the honour of made to them when I signed a representing your country should contract with them for the 2012 still be very strong and Chris is Friends P r o v i d e n t realising that," the former Championship," Gayle said in a England bowling coach told Sky statement.

Sports.

Gibson said he hoped Gayle, who is 22nd on the all-time list of most ODI runs with 8,087, would return for the limited-overs matches in June.

"Chris Gayle is our best one-day batsman and the saga that's been going on has been going on far too long," added Gibson.

"He can add real value to our team in terms of runs so we're looking forward to having him.

He's dealt with his differences with the board and we just get on with playing cricket."

The tourists are in Brighton for a two-day warm-up match against Sussex starting on Saturday before they head to Northampton for a four-day game with the England Lions from next Thursday.

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Steam Workshop's Skyrim mods top over 13.6 million downloads, Macho Man is pleased Ben Gilbert (Joystiq)

experience in minor ways bolstered sound offerings, more robust map markers, new spells Between Valentine's Day and while a few add whole new now, 11.6 million Skyrim mods quests. Thankfully Skyrim's mod were downloaded from Steam, community moved away from its totaling 13.6 million. 13.6 damn obsession with clean faces. At million! That's a lot of hanging least for today. out with space cores and dragons Steam Workshop's Skyrim mods modeled after Randy Savage! Oh top over 13.6 million downloads, yeah!

Macho Man is pleased originally The top mods represented on appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 03 Steam's Workshop as of this May 2012 11:15:00 EST. Please w r i t i n g a r e n ' t a d d i n g o r see our terms for use of feeds. subtracting major things from the Permalink| Email this| Comments original game. Many extend the Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:15:00 AM

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Saints Row: The Third gets 'freaking super powers' this fall in 'Enter the Dominatrix' expansion Ben Gilbert (Joystiq)

Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:30:00 AM

In what is now becoming an annual tradition, one April Fools' joke is turning into an actual, reallife thing: Saints Row: The Third's "Enter the Dominatrix" expansion. THQ announced the content update this morning, identifying it as the aforementioned gag and noting that the expansion adds "freaking super powers." Oh, also, it'll cost $30. No joke!

Enter the Dominatrix arrives this fall, and it'll bring a whole new angle to the world of the Saints: "alien warlord Zinyak and his

malevolent race" are apparently trying to grab up all the Earth's resources and/or women. It sounds like those freaking super powers will come in handy, eh?

The dubious character seen above

- named "Paul," innocuously enough - will also play some role in the expansion, which remains to be seen. THQ says we'll hear more about Enter the Dominatrix this summer, so keep an ear flap

on your gimp mask unzipped for now.

Update: THQ confirmed to us that Enter the Dominatrix is a standalone expansion and Season Pass owners will have to pay $30 like everyone else.

Continue reading Saints Row: The Third gets 'freaking super powers' this fall in 'Enter the Dominatrix' expansion Saints Row: The Third gets 'freaking super powers' this fall in 'Enter the Dominatrix' expansion originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 03 May 2012 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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67

Photos: Lionel Messi sets European scoring record with 68th soccer goal Denver Post (news photos - Google News) Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:37:28 AM

Photos: Lionel Messi sets European scoring record with 68th soccer goal Denver Post (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez) Barcelona's Argentinian forward Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring during the Spanish League football match Barcelona vs Malaga at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on May 2, 2012. AFP PHOTO/ JOSEP LAGOJOSEP... and more »

Verse of the Day - Psalm 5:3 (Verse of the Day)

more than requesting or interceding or kneeling or humbling ourselves. Prayer is In the morning, O LORD, you expecting that God wants us there, hear my voice; in the morning I expecting that God hears us, and lay my requests before you and expecting that God will meet us in wait in expectation. — Psalm 5:3 our prayer time and do what is Thoughts on Today's Verse... best for us and those we love. My Prayer is more than asking. Prayer Prayer... Loving Father and is more than praising. Prayer is Eternal God, thank you for more than thanking. Prayer is meeting me in this prayer time. I Submitted at 5/3/2012 12:00:00 AM

know that you hear me and care about what I share with you.

Thank you for paying attention to someone like me and accepting me as your precious child. Thank you, in Jesus' name. Amen.

The Thoughts and Prayer on Today's Verse are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org. © 1998-2012, Heartlight, Inc.

Verseoftheday.com is part of the Heartlight Network.

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.

Ben Gilbert (Joystiq)

The Elder Scrolls Online being developed by ZeniMax Online Submitted at 5/3/2012 12:00:00 PM

The Elder Scrollspage Online ELDER 68 was just

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ELDER continued from page 67

revealed to be ZeniMax Online's long-rumored MMO. Game Informer's next cover announced the game this morning. The mag says The Elder Scrolls Online will take place across the "entire land of Tamriel," approximately one thousand years before Skyrim's place in time. The story will focus on daedric prince Molag Bal as he attempts to make Tamriel part of "his demonic realm."

The game's director is Matt Firor.

"It will be extremely rewarding finally to unveil what we have been developing the last several years," he says. "The entire team is committed to creating the best MMO ever made - and one that is worthy of The Elder Scrolls franchise." The game's July cover reveal will detail a variety of the game's possibilities: soloing, public questing, and a unique new

take on player-vs-player, in which the three factions battle over sections of land or a desired position of power.

More will be revealed tomorrow in a "brief teaser trailer" of the game, GI says. We've got our double-horned helm on while we wait, just in case.

Update: Bethesda's PR says the game will launch for both PC and Mac. The Elder Scrolls Online being developed by ZeniMax Online originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 03 May 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink| Email this| Comments

How a wifi camera should work (Dave Winer's "Scripting News" weblog)

work with the Canon.)

3. Go to my desktop Mac. The camera appears in my list of Submitted at 5/3/2012 8:04:17 AM nearby computers.

Sometime in the last few months 4. Click on the icon, see the disk, Canon released a couple of same as any other computer on cameras that support wifi. If the LAN. you've been following Scripting 5. Open the disk, open the folders News for a few years, you know and there are my pics. this is an event I've been waiting 6. Use the Finder to copy them for. And since I had a birthday where ever I want. (They are my coming up, I decided to spring for pictures, yes?) it. I'm going to give my old Canon Reading the docs, which are, as point-and-click to my Mom. She usual, awful, or the reviews on needs a new camera. And I need a Amazon, makes me pretty sure new toy! this isn't the way it works. Instead, Which has turned out to be a real you somehow have to connect to puzzle. How do you get the wifi the desktop from the camera and to work? then use its unfamiliar and I started a thread for that, awkward UI on its low-rez screen detailing my experience so far. (which is really cheap of them Here's how I think the camera because the screen is actually very should work: high resolultion, it's the software 1. Turn it on. that doesn't have enough pixels 2. Like either of my smartphones, and that's just memory, and not an iPhone and a Samsung Galaxy very much) to copy the files from running Android, it automatically the camera to the computer. That's connects to my router, which I exactly the wrong way to do it. h a d p r e v i o u s l y t o l d i t t h e But I'm pretty sure that's the way password to. (That much seems to it works.

There have been some reviews of this product in the usual tech pubs. Gizmodo claims they got the camera to connect to the computer, but they didn't say how they did it other than "it's a bit of a pain."

The other day I wrote a piece about how I like to spend enough time with my own products to make sure stuff like this works and isn't embarassingly difficult.

It's products like this Canon camera that have taught me how a lot of product makers don't give a shit. Or their companies don't let them give a shit. Net-effect is the same.

BTW, it takes a really sharp picture. This is why I want to use a Canon camera that communicates instead of using a smartphone that takes pictures.

PS: The manual on the CD included with the camera says nothing about wifi.

PPS: Peter Rojas started a thread on gdgt to try to figure out how to get the Canon 320 wifi working.

Science/

Curated News Edition

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Video: How to Fold the Longest-Flying Paper Airplanes Corinne Iozzio (Popular Science - New Technology, Science News, The Future Now) Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:00:14 AM

Fly Like Paper Dan Bracaglia Two paper-folding masters demonstrate the principles of flight with custom PopSci airplanes There are lots of way to learn first-hand the principles of flight, but most of them require years of studying or a pilot's license. There is, however, an exception: folding paper airplanes. Da Vinci did it, as did the Wright Brothers and Jack Northrop, and if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for us. So we enlisted two master paper-plane folders, Takuo Toda (current Guinness record holder for the longest timed paper aircraft flight of 27.9 seconds) and Ken Blackburn (a former record holder and engineer at Florida's Eglin Air Force Base), to show us their best cracks at making a longflying plane out of a sheet of super-light magazine paper.

When we asked Blackburn to design a custom paper plane, we couldn't have imagined he'd come back with what he did. As a lifelong student of aeronautical engineering, Blackburn knew something we didn't: a paper plane doesn't necessarily have to look like a real plane-with a nose,

two wings, and a tail-in order to stay aloft for a long time.

The Blackburn Popular Science 1 (BPS1) is a single-wing glider, designed to float gently from a slow, lofted launch. "This," Blackburn says, "is what the world-record plane would look like if [Guinness] didn't need the 60mph throw at the start of the flight," Though a folded BPS1 looks simple, every fold, fin and

flap is integral to maximizing flight time. So let's start with the front of the plane and work our way back: The front end of the BPS1 sets up the balance of the whole gilder.

The frontmost edge of wing is folded to move than five times the thickness of single sheet of paper; "For rectangular flying wings, the balance point needs to be no further aft than one-quarter the

distance from the front to the back edge," Blackburn explains. "If an airplane is too tail-heavy, it becomes unstable."

Blackburn created four separate wing tips on the BPS1. The forwardmost pair are angled up slightly to provide lateral stability and prevent the BPS1 from going into diving into a spiral. The rear pair are perfectly vertical, keep the glider flying straight; if you

want the glider to turn, manipulating the angle of these fins will do the trick.

Finally, the subtle lip on the back edge of the wing stops the structure from taking a nose-dive.

"Try flying it without bending this area up," jokes Blackburn, "and see what it does."

Toda's plane, by comparison, looked pretty much how we expected an over-engineered paper airplane to be. His design, the Hyper Sky King, is a modification of the record-setting Sky King model. Toda focused his attention on setting more weight at the front of the plane, similar to how Blackburn did; he did so by widening the nose of the plane and doubling up its thickness with a few intricate folds at the tip.

In the end, both design strategies netted planes with similar flight times. But we did learn one more important thing about tossing paper planes: making a perfectly aerodynamic craft is one thing, but without a solid, straight throw, you're sunk.

Here's how to make the planes.

For those with a copy of the May issue of Popular Science, you guys can turn to page 64 and follow the instructions. If not, we've provided some PDFs below VIDEO: page 70

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Curated News Edition

Classic FYI: Is It Ever OK To Drink Your Own Urine?

Ryan Bradley (Popular Science - New Technology, Science News, The Future Now) Submitted at 5/3/2012 9:15:25 AM

This Is Probably Not Okay Siegfried Kramer/Superstock Not really, but urine has been a faddish health drink for centuries nonetheless. Celts in the Iberian peninsula gargled it to whiten their teeth about 50 years before Christ; amaroli is a Sanskrit word that refers to urine therapy, which in ancient Ayurvedic practice meant imbibing urine in the morning, mid stream; Proverbs 5:15 is thought to be in support of the act ("Drink waters from thy own cistern, flowing water from thy own well"); and J.D. Salinger famously sipped his own, as did the former prime minister of India, Morarji Desai, who even appeared on 60 Minutes to defend his habit.

Click here to launch a gallery about urine therapy.

Still, drinking your urine has no

known health benefit. Urine is at least 95 percent water, but the remaining 5 percent is not very good for you-that's why your body is getting rid of it. It carries excess electrolytes, such as chloride, sodium and potassium (urine also carries small traces of excess toxins in the form of acids from your kidney, but you'd need to drink a lot for that to do

damage). Electrolytes enable some of our cells to conduct electricity, but too much sodium draws water out of our cells, dehydrating us, and too much potassium leads to a heart attack.

"Think about it like drinking ocean water," says Jeff Giullian, a nephrologist (kidney doctor) at South Denver Nephrology Associates in Colorado. "It's

going to dehydrate you and do significantly more harm than good."

Dan Woolley would disagree. He spent 65 hours trapped beneath the rubble of the Hotel Montana in Haiti after last year's earthquake and partially attributes his survival to drinking his own urine-many survivors do. Yet survival experts are split on the

above.

"Popular Science 1" Make sure to line up the eagle on both sides of the sheet--if you reverse the sheet, the eagles should be back-to-back.

• Page 65

• Page 66

marked 6 should be on the right, with the red "center line" running vertically.

• Page 67 • Page 68

VIDEO: continued from page 69

that you can print out yourself. It might take some work--they have to be printed double-sided, with everything properly lined up--but it's possible. To ease that process along, here are some diagrams to go along with the video tutorial

"Hyper SkyKing" These two are aligned about right --on the first page, the line marked 2 should be to the right, and on the second page, the line

issue. Bear Grylls, the host of the TV show Man vs. Wild, is for it (Woolley credits Grylls for teaching him the trick), but the star of Survivorman, Les Stroud, is not. The U.S. Army Survival Handbook lists urine on its "do not drink" list, but Aron Ralston, the adventurer pinned under a boulder and forced to sever his own arm, drank his urine too (both acts were depicted in the movie 127 Hours).

Drinking urine for survival is even more harmful, since dehydration makes it less dilute and all those electrolytes and acids appear in greater concentration, making a bad situation worse. Also, it's gross.

Have a science question you've always wondered about? Send an email to fyi@popsci.com This FYI was first published April 21, 2011.

Science/ Social Media/

Curated News Edition

In Successful Test, Microsubmarines Help Clean Up Oil Spills Rebecca Boyle (Popular Science - New Technology, Science News, The Future Now) Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:00:14 AM

These microsubs could also patrol your bloodstream Tiny, self-propelled microsubmarines could pick up and tote droplets of oil away from contaminated waters, according to a new study. The cone-shaped objects are extremely waterrepellent, improving their oilgrabbing capabilities, and could serve as simple helpers in oil spills.

Joseph Wang at the University of CaliforniaSan Diego and colleagues in Spain note that small tubular micro-machines have already proven useful in biology, with their ability to work as receptors or drug delivery systems. But they're the first team to test them as environmental

helpers.

Related Articles Winner of Million-Dollar X Challenge Cleans Up Oil Spills Three Times Better Than Existing Tech New Magnetic Soap Could Clean Oil Spills With No Suds Left Behind Video: Wireless Devices Swim Through Your Bloodstream and Fix You Up, 'Fantastic Voyage' Style Tags Technology, Rebecca Boyle, micromachines, microrobots, oil cleanup, oil spills, submarines, subs The conemachines are made from selfassembled monolayers and have special chemical properties that encourage them to pick up oil.

They move quickly through the water and require very little fuel, so they could work efficiently. In lab tests, Wang and colleagues proved the machines could move through water and pick up both olive oil and motor oil, transporting collections of

droplets around.

Their water-repellency could also pave the way for new drugdelivering molecules or for transferring liquids in otherwise immiscible environments, the authors say.

The devices are about 10 times thinner than a human hair, so presumably you would need epic fleets of them to make a difference in massive oil spills like the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Large-scale cleanup operations would also require different types of motors, perhaps driven by magnetic fields or electrical current, the authors note. Still, the machines could be more environmentally friendly than new types of soaps or other absorbent material.

The study appears in the journal ACS Nano.

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Facebook Call to Boycott Airline Takes Off for Treatment of Dying Vet Zoe Fox (Mashable!)

Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:28:02 AM

Facebook users are rallying around a campaign to boycott Spirit Airlines, after the carrier refused to refund the cost of a dying veteran’s flight.

Jerry Meekins, a 76-year-old former marine, requested a refund on his $197 flight to New Jersey from Florida, to visit his daughter during a surgery. Meekins’s doctor told him not to fly because he is suffering from terminal esophageal cancer.

The “ Boycott Spirit Airlines” Facebook Page, which had about 700 likes earlier in the week, has more than 18,000 likes as of Thursday morning, Fox News reports. The page was initially started in 2010 when the airline announced it would begin charging for checked luggage.

Much of the backlash on Facebook against Spirit Airlines is coming from current military members and veterans.

“I believe Spirit Airlines owes a debt to the Veteran and an apology. Being a good corporate

citizen seems not to be in their culture. I will not fly them because of this. I am a proud U.S. Navy Veteran,” wrote one Facebook commenter, Robert Twigg.

SEE ALSO: 10 Tech Innovations That Streamline Air Travel Spirit Airlines didn’t respond to a request for comment.

In addition to the Facebook campaign, the Veterans of the Vietnam War and the Veterans Coalition wrote a letter to Spirit Airlines Tuesday.

Is Facebook the right channel to call for airline boycotts? Do you think there’s a better way to build a strong campaign?

Image via Spirit Airlines More About: Facebook, Spirit Airlines, travel, trending, veterans

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Health/

Curated News Edition

Energy Drinks Can Take Teeth On An Irreversible Acid Trip (Shots - Health Blog)

Submitted at 5/3/2012 9:09:00 AM

AFP/ AFP/Getty Images Drinks like Red Bull contain citric acid, which can strip away the enamel that protects teeth from decay.

Drinks with a lot of sugar will rot your teeth, right? That's the conventional wisdom.

But what about the acid? It's not something we think much about, but dentists say it's high time we start, especially when it comes to the river of energy drinks we — and young people in particular — are consuming.

In a study published in the May/ June issue of General Dentistry, researchers have looked for the first time at the effects of energy

drinks on teeth. It turns out there's often a lot of citric acid in the drinks.

Why? It's a preservative that enhances flavor and shelf life. But it also happens to be very good at stripping enamel from teeth.

Dentists are especially worried about teens — 30 to 50 percent of whom are estimated to be gulping down energy drinks — losing

enamel because once it's gone teeth are more prone to cavities, and more likely to decay.

"We are well aware of the damage that sugar does in the mouth and in the whole body — the role it can play in obesity, diabetes, etc," says Poonam Jain, an associate professor in the School of Dental Medicine at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, and the

lead author of the study. "But the average consumer is not very well aware that acid does all kinds of damage, too."

To measure just how energy and sports drinks affect teeth, the researchers looked at the fluoride levels, pH, and something called "titratable acidity" of 13 sports ENERGY page 73

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ENERGY continued from page 72

drinks and nine energy drinks, including Gatorade and Red Bull.

That last data point, by the way, is all about how long it takes for saliva to neutralize acid in the mouth.

The researchers then measured how much enamel the drinks took off teeth, dousing sliced-up molars in a petri dish with the beverages for 15 minutes, followed by artificial saliva for two hours. The was repeated four times a day for five days.

The researchers found that teeth lost enamel with exposure to both kinds of drinks, but energy drinks took off a lot more enamel than sports drinks.

The precise amount of citric acid in a drink isn't something beverage companies have to declare on the label. And the American Beverage Association says drinks can't be blamed for damage to teeth.

"It is irresponsible to blame foods, beverages or any other single factor for enamel loss and tooth decay (dental caries or cavities)," the ABA said in a statement responding to Jain's paper.

"Science tells us that individual susceptibility to both dental cavities and tooth erosion varies depending on a person's dental hygiene behavior, lifestyle, total diet and genetic make-up."

And, it should be said, previous research in the same journal showed that acids in citrus fruit juices (particularly lemon juice) can also erode the enamel on teeth.

Jain, the dental researcher, is concerned about health effects beyond cavities . She says consuming a lot of citric acid can lead to loss of bone mass and kidney stones. "This has become a big concern because people are drinking more of these drinks and

Photos: Deion Sanders' mansion, divorce drama - AZFamily (news photos - Google News)

mansion in rural Collin County.

PROSPER, Texas — The divorce drama between former Dallas Photos: Deion Sanders' mansion, Cowboys Deion Sanders and his divorce drama estranged wife Pilar is expected to AZFamily play out inside a courtroom at Deion Sanders gave "Good the...

Morning America" a tour of his and more » Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:45:57 AM

less milk," she says.

This dust-up over acid isn't the first time, of course, that energy drinks have come under fire from health experts.

Last year, as we reported, the American Academy of Pediatrics said children should never drink caffeinated energy drinks out of concern about what high doses of caffeine can do to a young growing body that's not fully mature.

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Tablet Newspaper ‘The Daily’ Launches on iPhone Lauren Indvik (Mashable!)

Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:05:09 AM

The Daily, a News Corp.-owned daily news publication that launched exclusively on the iPad 15 months ago, is continuing to expand to new platforms with the launch of an iPhone edition Thursday.

The app[iTunes link] is relatively basic, lacking the creative design that makes its tablet counterparts so eye-catching and immersive.

After bypassing a static screenshot of the cover, users can pull up a menu to navigate and explore stories by vertical. Stories are displayed with an image or video, followed by a headline, text and sometimes a slideshow at the end. Banner ads hover at the bottom of every screen.

Given its lack of a ‘wow’ factor, I doubt the iPhone app will do much to boost The Daily subscriber numbers, but it will

allow existing subscribers to access content when they don’t have their tablets on hand.

The Daily launched an Android tablet edition in January and announced in February that it had passed the 100,000 paid subscriber mark. Publisher Grey Clayman told Mashable in February that he expects The Daily will be profitable within “the next couple of years.”

A subscription to The Daily costs $0.99 per week (iOS subscribers only), $3.99 per month or $39.99 per year following a one-week free trial.

More About: iphone app, News Corp, The Daily

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Was U.S. Duped by China on Dissident Deal?

Rick Moran (FrontPage Magazine » FrontPage)

activist.

From his hospital bed, Chen reached out to several news Submitted at 5/2/2012 11:55:29 PM services, saying he had changed A deal negotiated by US and his mind and now wanted to leave Chinese officials regarding the China, a request he did not make fate of human rights activist Chen while sheltered by the embassy Guangcheng appeared to be because he was unaware that he unraveling Wednesday night as and his family were in danger. He friends of the dissident claim he also claimed that an American was coerced into leaving the US official had told him that he had embassy where he had sought been advised by a Chinese refuge for six days after escaping government official that if he from house arrest nearly two didn’t leave the embassy, they weeks ago. It appears that in the would beat his wife to death. The interest of removing a bone of State Department strongly denies contention between the two that charge, saying no American countries in advance of bi-lateral official told Mr. Chen anything talks that start on Thursday, the except that if he didn’t leave the US may have hastily negotiated embassy, his wife would be sent an agreement that the Chinese home from Beijing. might have no intention of The confusion surrounding the honoring, thus putting the human deal has the potential to upend the rights activist’s life — and that of economic and security talks his family — in danger. between the two countries that The deal would have seen Chen begin on Thursday. Secretary of released to a local hospital for State Hillary Clinton and Treasury treatment of his leg, injured in his Secretary Timothy Geithner are in daring escape from house arrest. Beijing for bi-lateral talks that The Chinese would have then will touch on security issues like allowed him to reunite with his Iran and North Korea as well as family and move to a university economic matters like China’s town where he could continue his currency policies and its huge legal studies. The Chinese also trade surplus with the US. promised that he would face no Shortly after Chen’s release, the more legal issues and that the Chinese foreign ministry issued a oppressive authorities in his blistering statement, demanding hometown would be punished for t h a t t h e U S a p o l o g i z e f o r their extra-legal detention of the s h e l t e r i n g C h e n a n d f o r

would be returned to Shandong, and they would lose their opportunity to negotiate for reunification.

Chen told Reuters that the reason he changed his mind about staying in China was because, once in the hospital, he was able to speak to his wife, who told him of his family being menaced by authorities. “When I was inside the American embassy, I didn’t have my family, and so I didn’t understand some things. After I was able to meet them, my ideas changed.” He also made a personal appeal in a CNN interview to President Obama to interfering in the internal affairs P o s t , “ H e f e l t h i s s a f e t y i s help him escape China with his of China. And American officials threatened. He feels pressure family because he feared for his who were staying with Chen at now,” Teng said. “In fact, from life after learning that his wife had the hospital were ordered to leave, his language, I can tell that the been bound and beaten following r e p l a c e d b y a c o r d o n o f decision to leave the embassy was his escape: plainclothes policemen who not 100 percent his idea,” he She was tied to a chair by police limited access to the activist. It is added. for two days. Then they carried unclear whether the Chinese will In an emailed statement to the t h i c k s t i c k s t o o u r h o u s e , follow through and live up to their N e w Y o r k T i m e s , S t a t e threatening to beat her to death. end of the bargain, which has D e p a r t m e n t s p o k e s p e r s o n Now they have moved into the caused Chen to change his mind Victoria Nuland denied the claim house. They eat at our table and about staying in China and is now that Chen was coerced into use our stuff. Our house is pleading with US officials to leaving the embassy: teeming with security — on the secure his passage to America for At no time did any U.S. official roof and in the yard. They himself and his family. speak to Chen about physical or installed seven surveillance Chen, who fought government legal threats to his wife and cameras inside the house and built officials in his rural province for children, nor did Chinese officials electric fences around the yard. years over their forced abortion make any such threats to us. U.S. The fact that the Chen incident policy and other outrages, told the interlocutors did make clear that if threatened to overshadow the biAssociated Press that he fears for Chen elected to stay in the his family’s safety. His lawyer, embassy, Chinese officials had WAS page 77 Teng Biao, told the Washington indicated to us that his family

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75

A Closer Look at the U.S.-Afghan Partnership Agreement Alan W. Dowd (FrontPage Magazine » FrontPage)

have to look over their shoulders as they fight.

II. The document states that the Submitted at 5/2/2012 11:50:11 PM U.S. and Afghanistan “reaffirm” A y e a r a f t e r a f e a r l e s s , their commitment to “defeating al anonymous team of Navy SEALs Qaeda and its affiliates.” s e n t O s a m a b i n L a d e n t o There are two problems with this wherever mass-murderers go part of the agreement, and they when they die, the commander-in- a r e s i g n i f i c a n t . F i r s t , t h e chief continued his yearlong commitment of the Afghan v i c t o r y l a p w i t h a s t o p i n government and military is shaky Afghanistan to sign a framework at best. (See Point I.) Fresh from a agreement with Afghan leader tour of Afghanistan, Lt. Col. Hamid Karzai. While the Left Daniel Davis describes Afghan gushes over President Obama’s troops as largely unwilling to swaggering anniversary speeches engage the Taliban. According to and the Right questions the a classified report leaked to The president’s tone and tactics, it’s New York Times, one Afghan t h e s u b s t a n c e o f t h e U . S . - colonel describes his own troops Afghanistan agreement—or lack as “thieves, liars and drug thereof—that worries me. addicts.” An American quoted in I. The document states that the report says Afghan troops are “ c o o p e r a t i o n b e t w e e n “pretty much gutless in combat; Afghanistan and the United States we do most of the fighting.” is based on mutual respect and Second, just how committed are shared interests.”

Kabul and Washington to Try telling that to the families of defeating “al Qaeda and its U.S., British and French troops affiliates” if the two have directed who have been killed by Afghan their diplomats to talk to al troops—there have been some 45 Qaeda’s closest, oldest affiliate? attacks by uniformed Afghan That would be the Taliban. It pays troops on U.S. and other NATO to recall that Afghanistan became f o r c e s , k i l l i n g 7 0 a l l i e d the world headquarters for al troops—or to the Western forces Qaeda because the Taliban still fighting for Afghanistan, who welcomed bin Laden with open

arms. The Taliban and al Qaeda share the same worldview and the same enemy. Given the terror that was unleashed when the Taliban was in power—and their brutality since being ousted from power—there’s no reason to think Mullah Omar and his henchmen have changed. CIA Director David Petraeus certainly doesn’t think so. A year ago, when asked to make the case for staying the course, then-Gen. Petraeus bluntly replied, “Two words…Nine Eleven,” reminding us of what happened the last time the Taliban ruled Afghanistan.

Moreover, when it comes to

that America’s help “expires on Monday”—a bruising metaphor for what passes as American leadership in the age of Obama.

III. The document calls on NATO member states “to sustain and improve Afghan security capabilities beyond 2014 by taking concrete measures to implement” previous security agreements.

Good luck with that. Following Washington’s lead, NATO is headed for the exits. From the beginning, most NATO members have been half-hearted about the Afghanistan mission. Consider: commitment, it pays to recall, as The United States is contributing Karzai surely has, that the Obama 71 percent of all forces to the administration always keeps its mission; non-NATO members eyes on the calendar and the exit Australia, Georgia and Sweden sign—and has little regard for have more troops deployed than standing agreements with allies. Belgium, Iceland, Luxembourg, Obama casually scrapped a hard- the Netherlands, Norway and earned missile-defense agreement Portugal—all founding members w i t h P o l a n d a n d t h e C z e c h of the alliance; Germany, Italy Republic in order to get an arms and Spain refused to help in control treaty of questionable Afghanistan’s restive south; Italy merit with Russia; jettisoned didn’t permit its fighter-bombers Mubarak when the going got in Afghanistan to carry bombs; tough in Egypt; and when NATO and German troops, until recently, allies made an urgent request for were required to shout warnings an extension of U.S. air power t o e n e m y f o r c e s — i n t h r e e during the Libya war, a NATO languages—before opening fire. official took pains to emphasize

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Rodney King, Obama and the Looting of America Daniel Greenfield (FrontPage Magazine » FrontPage)

looting spree as martyrs, while the rioted-upon pick up the broken glass and try to reopen their stores Submitted at 5/2/2012 11:45:03 PM again.

Riots are the exclusive domain of Minorities rarely riot against those who view themselves as majorities for the practical reason outside the law. Whether they are that rioters are cowards and they outside the law because they are want to have the numbers on their above or below the law is a matter side. A riot is less often a of perspective. The rioters may symptom of injustice and more see themselves as the oppressed often a sign that they have the and below the law, while their numbers and all they need is a victims tend to think of them as pretext to go out for a fine day of above the law, with the power to looting and maiming. A riot isn’t rob and kill, without paying any a response to injustice; it’s a significant price for it. All that is power play by people who believe true whether we are talking about that they are above the law and Russian peasants killing Jews, t h a t t h e i r v i c t i m s a r e Indonesians killing ethnic Chinese o u t n u m b e r e d . or African-Americans killing It’s a rather odd development that whites. white people in America took on The riot is usually directed at the t h e r o l e o f t h e C h i n e s e i n authorities or some vulnerable Indonesia or the Jews in Russia, group, sometimes both, but long before they became a invariably one of them takes demographic minority, but not precedence. The authorities prefer entirely so. Race riots have mostly that they direct their rage at a happened in cities where white conveniently vulnerable group people were on the way to and afterward the vulnerable becoming a minority. And all group takes the blame for the three groups share the vital violence directed at them. The characteristic of being hardrioters treat those few of their working types whose success is number who were killed in the overestimated by the looters

looking for a taste of that success without having to go out and work for it.

If riots were really triggered by a black and white racial disparity, then Asians wouldn’t be the victims of African-American riot rage from New York to Los Angeles. If anyone can be exempted from charges of shipping slaves or conspiring to employ their privilege to keep people of color down, it would be the Chinese and Korean immigrants. But it isn’t really race

that’s the issue; it’s being a successful minority.

Chinese, Jewish and white store owners in America are targeted by rioters for the same reason that Chinese store owners in Indonesia are. Because they are members of an outside group who are working hard and getting ahead and that is the worst imaginable crime to people who believe that success through honest work is impossible. That anyone who succeeds has taken advantage of a rigged system and is exploiting

them to get ahead.

That mindset is no longer confined to a few ghettos; it finds open expression in city government, in state government and even in the White House and the Justice Department. The ugly resentment, the selfish greed by those who have never worked for a living, is dressed up with American flags and the looting is described as wealth redistribution, but it’s still the same thing.

Except the government functionaries are the ones doing the looting.

The American city was once the heart of an industrial machine manned by workers who believed that they could get ahead in life.

And then the worker became a minority in cities dominated by the indolent, municipal unions, social workers, community organizers and bleeding heart college graduates who squeezed him out. When the looters came for the American worker, he fled to the suburbs, the city declined, and the rioters unleashed their rage on the Chinese who came to take his place.

Politics-Right/

Curated News Edition

Obama’s Policy Toward Missile Defense Draws the Ire of Nation’s Leading Defense Experts Scott Erickson (The Foundry: Conservative Policy News Blog from The Heritage Foundation)

consistent with contemporary threats.

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan ushered in a new era of Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:00:46 AM In a recent National Journal t h o u g h t o n t h e t o p i c o f article, three-quarters of defense maintaining the national security experts interviewed opposed any of the U.S. Reagan spoke to the a t t e m p t b y t h e O b a m a world’s evolving threat dynamic Administration to scale back and the need for America’s missile defense deployment in defense capabilities to change as Europe in exchange for promises well: of Russian cooperation with Iran. There was a time when we “If we drop these plans, we could depended on coastal forts and witness the reemergence of Russia artillery batteries, because, with as a dominant force in Europe, the weaponry of that day, any and that would be antithetical to attack would have had to come by U.S. interests,” stated one expert. sea. Well, this is a different world, O t h e r e x p e r t s o f f e r e d t h e and our defenses must be based following critiques: on recognition and awareness of “ M i s s i l e d e f e n s e i s m o r e the weaponry possessed by other important than Russian intel. If nations in the nuclear age. we have to choose, we should He further explained the need to pick the deterrence against Iran.” adopt new and innovative ways to “Rapprochement with Russia is defend the American homeland, important. Consistency before our or our national security interests friends and enemies is more so.” abroad, when confronting an The Obama Aadministration’s enemy with ever more powerful d e p a r t u r e f r o m r e s o l u t e l y weaponry. In this vein, Reagan p u r s u i n g m i s s i l e d e f e n s e introduced to the American public capabilities throughout the world the concept of missile defense: upends the Reagan vision of an What if free people could live enhanced national security model secure in the knowledge that their

security did not rest upon the threat of instant U.S. retaliation to deter a Soviet attack, that we could intercept and destroy strategic ballistic missiles before they reached our own soil or that of our allies?

Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative would provide the catalyst for a new generation of thought on American missile defense, one that has seen its capabilities dramatically evolve from the first Gulf War to the present. A robust missile defense initiative should remain a bulwark of American national security policy.

President Obama does not appear to share this view. When Obama ceded to Russian demands in his first year in office that the U.S. halt deployment of missile defense and tracking capabilities in Poland and the Czech Republic, he only emboldened the Russians into demanding even more concessions.

Now, as Russia continues to pressure the U.S. to dramatically scale back its deployment of missile defense systems in

Europe—ostensibly in return for Russian intelligence cooperation with Iran—the diplomatic and strategic achievements of past Administrations are rendered precarious.

The Obama Administration should be more forthcoming with its plans related to America’s missile defense strategies.

Equivocation on this issue only renders uncertainty.

President Reagan’s vision for an American national security policy predicated upon a comprehensive missile defense capability should not be abandoned or scaled back at this time. Hostile and provocative regimes in North Korea and Iran only magnify this necessity and reinforce the prescience of Reagan’s vision.

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WAS continued from page 74

lateral talks with China and that the US was desperate to make a deal in order to remove Chen as an irritant prior to the meetings gives credence to the dissident’s charges of coercion — despite the denials by US officials. But it is clear that Chen changed the parameters of the deal himself when he performed an about-face and indicated he wanted US help to leave the country. This was not part of the original bargain and his request has American diplomats scrambling to explain their actions, as well as control the political damage that has exploded back in America.

The Human Consequences of EPA’s War on Coal Lachlan Markay (The Foundry: Conservative Policy News Blog from The Heritage Foundation) Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:55:01 AM

There are very real consequences to the Environmental Protection Agency’s continued efforts to undermine America’s coal industry. Those consequences were recently spotlighted in an industry-produced video, embedded above.

HUMAN page 78

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HUMAN continued from page 77

Maria Tworek owns a sports bar in Omaha, Nebraska. “Our energy bills are sky-high,” Tworek explains. The bar has to keep its cooling facilities running 24/7 to keep all of its beer cold. If “we can’t cool our product, we don’t make money,” Tworek says. “It’s as simple as that.”

The bar is Tworek’s livelihood.

“This is how we live,” she says.

“This is how we support our family.”

Nebraska is a coal-intensive state.

According to the video, 71% of the state’s power comes from coal. And while the state has the 11 th lowest electricity costs in the nation, Tworek says “prices seem to continually go up.”

If the EPA has its way, those price hikes will only intensify. For the first time ever, the agency has classified carbon dioxide, the chemical compound that sustains vegetative life, as a “pollutant.”

Using the resulting authority over

carbon emission regulations, the EPA now plans restrictions on coal power plants that are so stringent, they will likely herald the demise of coal’s role in electricity production.

“New coal plants would effectively be banned because their emission rate is almost double that of the proposed standard,” explains Bloomberg’s Rob Barnett in a new report ( subscription required).

Because coal is such a cheap source of electricity – by far the cheapest, according to the Energy Information Administration – increases in the price of coal brought on by declining production would likely lead to significantly higher prices for electricity consumers. States such as Nebraska, which are particularly reliant on coal, would be hit hardest.

But other EPA regulations are hiking prices for other sources of

electricity. According to a study by consulting company NERA conducted last year, EPA policies may add $52 billion to Americans’ electricity bills by 2022.

That means higher energy bills for Maria Tworek and everyone else who buys electricity. There are real, human consequences of electricity price hikes, something that policymakers would do well to keep in mind.

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Why the London mayoral election won't be won on housing policy Don Levett (Evening Standard News)

the biggest problems facing the capital today, it plays second fiddle in the political discourse. It Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:05:21 AM is a convenient thing for both But with over half of London candidates to let take a back seat. households owning their own That said, home owners should homes, the housing problem is a care. As the baby boomers hit wicked one: measures targeted at r e t i r e m e n t , t h e y o u n g e r curbing house price increases generations - many of whom will alienate a significant (and active) also be laden with student debt proportion of the voter base, so will need to fund the pensions, anything drastic is off the menu. welfare and health-care costs of On rents too, as the private rental their parents' generation. If market only accounts for around accommodation costs develop an 20 per cent of households, increasing stranglehold on their fighting their corner really doesn't economic well-being, it will only stack up. It's an easier issue to be a matter of time before this champion, but an equally difficult effect comes full circle - whether one to actually address. Rental via later or reduced pensions; less c a p s w o u l d w i n v o t e s , b u t access to health care or otherwise. measures that could decelerate This is why regardless of whether increases in the availability of or not you are a homeowner, you supply deserve caution. should think about housing first The truth is, pushing a radical when you vote today. housing agenda would ostensibly This entry passed through the b e n e f i t o n l y a m i n o r i t y o f Full-Text RSS service — if this is Londoners most - largely the your content and you're reading it young - whereas reductions in on someone else's site, please read fares and council tax affect much the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentbroader sweeps of the London only/faq.php#publishers. Five population. So although with its Filters recommends: Donate to enormous social and economic Wikileaks. costs the housing crisis is one of

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Curated News Edition

Scumbag Steve: How the Internet Meme Became a Rapper Christine Erickson (Mashable!)

Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:20:21 AM

Note: The video contains explicit language and is definitely not safe for work!

The meme who parties too hard is coming to an iTunes account near you.

Scumbag Steve, whose real name is Blake Boston, has come full circle on his unintentional Internet fame. The meme— which is often associated with apathetic behavior, partying, drugs and other objectionable activity — spawned from an album cover photo by Boston’s former rap group, Beantown Mafia.

The photo features Boston in a sideways fitted cap, looking dazed and flush in a hallway. It caught the attention of Reddit in 2011 and was turned into a series of “macros” — pictures with funny captions.

Today, there are nearly 500 pages of captioned images on the Scumbag Steve website, and the character has been featured in advertising for Pepsi— though it’s

are included in the lyrics, but Boston says there are some not actually Boston. original “scumbag moments” on Now, Boston says that he is the album. combining his love of music with But does this persona actually the publicity he’s received from portray Boston in real life, or is it this persona to pursue what he is only a character? According to calling Scumbag Thursdays. him, sometimes. There are some SEE ALSO: Meme Management: memes which have spiraled out of Meet the Man Who Reps Internet control at the misfortune of the Stars person in the image, but Boston “Blake Boston AKA Scumbag seems to be rolling with the Steve” — which is his full rapper punches, and attempting to use it name — will release one song on to his advantage. iTunes, along with a music video, “Everyone has their scumbag every Thursday, until he decides moments. Even before Scumbag not to. The song is available for Steve happened, I maybe had a free to download every Thursday couple too many drinks,” says on his website. The album will Boston. “But right now, it’s more then follow. about Scumbag Steve as a According to Boston, the persona character. With the whole persona has helped him a lot. of the CD, yeah, I’m going to sing “You can always come up [with] about scumbag stuff to do.” different scumbag stuff that Do you think memes can really people do,” says Boston. “Putting transcend formats the way Boston it in the first person is a little bit hopes? Let us know in the easier. At the same time, it’s still comments. r e a c h i n g p e o p l e w h o a r e More About: features, Meme, interested in what Scumbag Steve Music, scumbag steve is all about.”

The captions submitted by people

79

Argentina uses Olympics training video to publicise its claim to sovereignty of the Falklands (Evening Standard - News) Submitted at 5/3/2012 9:04:16 AM

President Cristina Kirchner’s government has released a TV advert which shows Olympic hopeful Fernando Zylberberg training on the islands.

The 35-year-old Argentinian hockey player was filmed outside a pub, the Globe Tavern, and running past local newspaper the Penguin News and a red telephone box.

The 90-second film finishes with the slogan “To compete on English soil, we are training on Argentine soil” and adds: “Tribute to the fallen and ex-combatants.”

The advert, made by US agency Young & Rubicam for President Kirchner’s office, was shown on several Argentinian TV stations last night — the 30th anniversary of the sinking of the General Belgrano by British forces.

“This is going to generate

international repercussions,” said one official.

Senator Anibal Fernandez tweeted: “Very good advert about the Malvinas and the Olympics.”

The Argentinian government did not say if it had permission to film in the Falklands.

Today, many Argentinians were critical of the advert. One wrote on the website of newspaper La Nacion: “This advert seems to me to show a lack of respect for the soldiers who died in the Malvinas and what our claims to sovereignty mean… It is a disgrace and a game aimed at submerging people in greater ignorance.”

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Elderly woman with Alzheimer's locked in minibus overnight in Luton (Evening Standard - News)

possible on Tuesday to make sure everything is being done for her continued welfare and to express The woman, who is in her 80s, how very, very sorry we are that was picked up from the Hockwell this appalling incident took place.

Ring Day Centre in Luton on "We are deeply shocked that Monday afternoon and should something has gone so seriously have been taken home to her flat wrong and we will do everything at the Jill Jenkins Court extra care we can to find out exactly what home. took place and ensure it cannot Instead, she was found by a happen again." driver at 7am on Tuesday A multi-agency adult morning locked inside the Luton safeguarding meeting organised Borough Council minibus in the b y t h e c o u n c i l t o o k p l a c e city's Kingsway depot. yesterday to investigate how the She was returned home shortly woman was left on the minibus, after being found and is not why an alarm was not raised thought to have been injured. earlier and to ensure immediate The council has launched an a c t i o n h a d b e e n t a k e n t o internal investigation into the safeguard all users of the service, incident and the driver of the the council said. minibus has been "suspended In accordance with adult without prejudice", a council safeguarding policy, Bedfordshire statement said.

Police will complete its initial Trevor Holden, the council's investigation and then each chief executive, said: "Senior organisation will proceed further officers from the council met with w i t h i t s o w n i n t e r n a l our client's family as soon as investigations relating to the Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:17:29 AM

woman's care.

Mr Holden added: "We deeply regret the distress caused to everyone affected. Action will be taken.

"The family members are understandably distressed and we are providing ongoing round-theclock support for them.

"We are also taking extremely seriously our duty of care towards our member of staff."

The council has immediately put a temporary procedure in place to ensure every passenger transport vehicle is checked before the end of each day, and this will remain in force until further notice.

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Video: Juan Williams takes on Michelle Malkin over comparisons between the Occupy movement and the Tea Party Morgen Richmond (Hot Air » Top Picks) Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:01:31 AM

posted at 12:01 pm on May 3, 2012 by Morgen Richmond Hot Air’s Boss Emeritus was on Hannity last night, facing off against Juan Williams on a discussion segment dealing with the Occupy protests on Tuesday.

In defense of the violent behavior of the occupiers, Williams attempted to compare the movement to the Tea Party. The result was predictably one-sided, but highly entertaining nonetheless. Michelle at her very best, via Gateway Pundit: If it wasn’t for his baseless attacks on the tea party, I’d almost feel a little sorry for Juan Williams. He was outmatched to begin with and he’s really in a position here of trying to defend the indefensible. To support the Occupy movement in any way is to support anarchy, and orchestrated chaos and violence.

This is a movement founded on anarchist principles, and led by anarchists and other radical leftists who openly call for the destruction of capitalism and the political system which supports it.

To compare it to the Tea Party is really an insult to both

movements. Tea partiers abhor violence, and the bulk of the energy behind the movement is directed at demanding more fiscally responsible behavior from government, and restoring the freedoms and institutions which have made this country great. The aim of the occupiers is to tear down the system from within, and replace it with mob rule. They encourage the presence of revolutionary communists and black bloc anarchists within their midst, knowing full well that violence will ultimately be required to achieve their aims.

Restore and preserve versus tear down and destroy. The contrast could not be more clear and it’s a disgrace that people who consider themselves to be mainstream Democrats would support or defend a movement as transparently anti-American as this.

Malkin 1, Williams 0.

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81

CBS: House Oversight Committee to take first steps on contempt charge against Holder on Fast & Furious Ed Morrissey (Hot Air » Top Picks)

Oversight and Government Reform Committee, on Thursday sent to every member of his Submitted at 5/3/2012 9:41:14 AM committee a 64-page draft posted at 10:41 am on May 3, contempt order against Holder as 2012 by Ed Morrissey well as a 17-page memo outlining T h e f i g h t b e t w e e n H o u s e the history of the scandal.

Republicans, the Department of “Operation Fast and Furious’ Justice, and the White House over outrageous tactics, the Justice Operation Fast and Furious will Department’s refusal to fully escalate this morning, according cooperate with the investigation t o C B S N e w s . T h e H o u s e and efforts to smear and retaliate Oversight Committee will take the against whistleblowers have first steps to charging Attorney tainted the institutional integrity G e n e r a l E r i c H o l d e r w i t h of the Justice Department,” Issa contempt of Congress over wrote. c o n t i n u e d s t o n e w a l l i n g o f According to Fox, Issa won’t call demands for documentation and for a vote on the charge — yet. testimony on the disastrous ATF The draft states that the committee operation that led to the death of has subpoenaed documents in 22 at least one Border Patrol agent categories, and that Holder and a n d h u n d r e d s o f p e o p l e i n the DoJ have yet to produce a Mexico: single document in 12 of 22 Fox News reports that Oversight categories. The question will be chair Darrell Issa has begun whether Issa can get the votes to distributing a draft contempt take this next step, but it’s citation: doubtful that Issa would have Republican Rep. Darrell Issa has begun circulating a draft if he circulated a lengthy pair of didn’t feel comfortable with his documents making the case for position. holding Attorney General Eric A release from the Oversight Holder in contempt of Congress Committee details the specifics: over his “refusal” to cooperate in House Oversight and an investigation of the ill-fated Government Reform Committee Fast and Furious operation.

Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) has Issa, chairman of the House distributed a staff briefing paper

and draft of the contempt of Congress resolution against Attorney General Eric Holder to Members of the Oversight Committee. The briefing paper explains what happened in Operation Fast and Furious, the hardships faced by the family of fallen Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in getting truthful answers about his death, how agents who blew the whistle on the reckless operation have faced retaliation, and the carnage in Mexico that Fast and Furious has helped fuel.

“This briefing paper and draft contempt report explains the case, to both Members of the Committee and the American people, for holding Attorney General Holder in contempt of Congress,” said Issa. “In describing the results of the Justice Department’s refusal to cooperate – including the hardships the family of a fallen Border Patrol agent have faced in seeking the truth, and retaliation against agents who blew the whistle on gunwalking – this briefing paper provides the facts, on which decisions will be made.”

Highlights of the briefing paper include: On information sharing failures (p.6):

“When [firearms trafficking syndicate ringleader] Celis-Acosta informed ATF of the names of the two cartel contacts for whom he had been working, agents quickly came to learn that these two U.S.based cartel contacts were already known to the Department of Justice … In exchange for one associate’s guilty plea to a minor charge of “Alien in Possession of a Firearm,” both of these cartel associates became FBI informants and were considered essentially unindictable well before Operation Fast and Furious concluded. One ATF official would later say that the discovery that the primary targets of their investigation were not indictable was a “major disappointment.”

Adding to the information-sharing failure, DEA had actually provided Celis-Acosta’s cartel connection to ATF in December 2009 in an effort to ensure that ATF’s efforts in Operation Fast and Furious were not duplicative.”

On the Justice Department’s Failure to Cooperate (p.9): “When the Committee issued a subpoena to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on October 12, 2011, for Justice Department documents, the Committee

specified 22 categories of documents it required the Department to produce.

Department representatives specifically confirmed their understanding of each category.

To date, the Department has not produced any responsive documents for 12 of the 22 categories. The Department has not completely fulfilled any of the 10 categories for which documents have been produced.

For over a year, the Department has issued false denials, given answers intended to misdirect investigators, sought to intimidate witnesses, unlawfully withheld subpoenaed documents, and waited to be confronted with indisputable evidence before acknowledging uncomfortable facts.”

On the struggle of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry’s family to get the truth (p. 11): “While the Justice Department’s admissions have largely come as a result of being confronted with indisputable facts, the painfully slow process of getting the truth has been a continuing frustration for the Terry family. They still do not have the all the facts about the CBS: page 85

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Can Mitt Romney Co-opt the Conservative Media?

Conor Friedersdorf (Politics : The Atlantic) Submitted at 5/3/2012 8:10:47 AM

He and his wife hosted dozens of right-leaning magazine writers and bloggers at an off-the-record Washington, D.C., meeting.

Reuters Mitt Romney met with dozens of conservative journalists at a private club in Washington, D.C., Wednesday. Did they press him on the agenda he'll implement as president and report their findings back to the rank-and-file? Nope.

It's only because The Huffington Post reported on the meeting that we know about it. "The attendees came from numerous conservative sites and right-of-center publications, including National Review, Daily Caller, American Spectator, Washington Examiner, Right Wing News, Powerline, Townhall, Ace of Spades, Rhiel World View, White House Dossier, and Pajamas Media.

RNC chairman Reince Preibus also attended," Michael Calderone reports. "Details of the Romney meeting did not previously leak out because of the off-the-record ground rules. So even though there were as many as 60 writers at the Capitol Hill Club gathering, along with others calling in by phone, they weren't permitted to cover."

Well played, Mitt Romney.

This is how to co-opt journalists.

Eager for access to the Republican nominee, or curious about what he'd say at the meeting, they agreed to the off-the -record ground rules. It's easy to imagine how it could all play out.

Romney vows he'll be a loyal conservative who'll ambitiously push a Tea Party agenda. And tells the journalists they're so very important. They feel important, in

spite of themselves, for getting exclusive access; and having heard the man affirm his bona fides, they can't help but be won over a bit. They go easier on Romney, defending him at times while thinking that they possess private information the rest of us don't know -- stuff that Romney isn't saying publicly because he has to win over swing voters. It's perfect for Romney because he need never be held accountable to

what he told the conservative journalists, or at least not nearly as accountable as if he'd been forced to say it on the record.

That's how it typically goes when politicians gather journalists together for off-the-record meetings. They're doing it because they feel it's in their interest. That they can favorably influence coverage by saying things in private that they aren't willing to say in public.

Journalists like inside information. They like being courted. They don't want to miss out on a meeting competitors are attending. And they don't want to believe a seemingly likable guy is using them.

So you get people -- many of whom were outraged at the notion that liberal journalists were having off-the-record, CAN page 85

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Reality Check: Yes, President Obama Is a Hawk Conor Friedersdorf (Politics : The Atlantic) Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:17:30 AM

Both parties have an interest in painting the president as a dove, but rep orters should not allow that spin to skew their coverage.

President Obama delivers a nationally televised address from Bagram Air Force Base Tuesday. / Reuters Hawk (noun): A person who favors military force or action in order to carry out foreign policy. - The American Heritage Dictionary In a New York Times article titled " A Delicate New Balance on National Security," White House correspondent Peter Baker unintentionally demonstrates why it's problematic to describe a candidate's foreign policy by presenting the rhetoric put forth by the man and his partisan opponents.

Says the article: One moment he boasts about taking out America's No. 1 enemy, and the next he vows to bring home troops from an unpopular war. For President Obama, the days leading up to his re-election kickoff have been spent straddling the precarious line between hawk and dove, and possibly redefining his party for years to come.

Obama may be worried about the perception that he is dove. He may need to respond to Republicans who say that he has "a fundamentally weak approach to rivals and rogue states like Iran, North Korea and Russia," as Baker puts it. But let's not lose sight of his actual record.

Obama isn't straddling a line between hawk and dove.

He is a hawk.

It's terrifying that isn't clear to everyone, because it suggests the

neoconservative desire for even more foreign wars is skewing the way that Americans conceive of hawkishness and dovishness. It suggests we're defining "warmonger" down.

Here are the facts: • Obama escalated the war in Afghanistan, adding tens of thousands of troops at a cost of many billions of dollars.

• He committed American forces to a war in Libya, though he had neither approval from Congress nor reason to think events there threatened national security.

• He ordered 250 drone strikes that killed at least 1,400 people in Pakistan.

• He ordered the raid into Pakistan that killed Osama bin

Laden.

• He ordered the killings of multiple American citizens living abroad.

• He expanded the definition of the War on Terrorism and asserted his worldwide power to indefinitely detain anyone he REALITY page 87

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Obama in Love: The Story Behind 'The Story' James Warren (Politics : The Atlantic) Submitted at 5/3/2012 9:14:00 AM

Yes, the upcoming biography of the president goes into the details of his love life as a young man.

But it really dives much deeper than that. AP Imagine: a college undergraduate lounging about with his lady friend on a Sunday afternoon, bare-chested, wearing a blue sarong and doing the New York Times crossword puzzle.

This would not seem the stuff of headlines. But if the kid was a future president, and initial consumers of the modestly titillating revelation include a voracious and at times ideologically-driven media, well, it's the stuff of instant, sneering caricature and pseudo-cultural debate.

And it's too bad.

But it is an image found in the Vanity Fair excerpt of journalisthistorian David Maraniss' upcoming Barack Obama biography, "Barack Obama: The Story."

I can hear Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, and my friend Laura Ingraham now, mocking his effete ways -- imagine, too, that the guy was reading T.S. Eliot! -- as they themselves live lives distinctly removed from many proletarian

realities.

I've been lucky enough to help Maraniss on the editing of several of his books, including the new one. He's a remarkable reporter, wonderful writer, fair-minded but tough analyst and, knock on wood, not combative when it comes to editing.

Despite my anemic commercial sense, I had suspected that disclosures of Obama's college romance with Genevieve Cook would be instant fodder for the

Obama-bashing chattering classes.

But it's in no way, shape or form the crux of the book; more a revealing and only modestlysalacious parenthetical.

When the book arrives, those who actually read it will find a revealing effort that insightfully expands on several fine works on Obama by David Remnick, David Mendell, and Janny Scott. It will underscore how Obama's own books about his life are as much

strong literature as they are truly empirical histories.

I thought I knew about all there was to know about the guy.

Instead, I found mounds of new material on his dysfunction-filled family and the evolution of his mind and temperament, especially during years as a community organizer in Chicago.

Even living now far from the Beltway, I have a better sense of how he deals with others and with issues, be it dueling with the

Republican leadership on raising the debt ceiling or wrestling fitfully with the mess of Afghanistan.

It's a portrait that shreds the caricatures of him found among critics both on the political left and right; either of a weak-kneed liberal sellout or some closet socialist clamoring to nationalize all our basic industries.

Yes, there's stuff about his OBAMA page 85

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CBS:

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continued from page 81

circumstances surrounding Brian Terry’s murder …. As Brian’s sister said of his family’s desire to know the full truth, ‘Brian was about making a difference and justice. And I just feel that this country owes it to him, because he spent his whole life fighting for this country some way or another.’”

On Retaliation Faced by Agents who blew the whistle (p.13): “Agent Alt notified his superiors about his impending testimony.

The next day, ATF Internal Affairs notified Alt that they wanted to talk with him about another matter. On May 5, 2011, Agent Alt met with ATF internal affairs investigators about allegations that Alt downloaded two prohibited applications to his government-issued phone. The total cost of these applications was eight dollars …. Alt was prevented from transferring offices and his eligibility for promotions and pay raises barred during the pendency of the

continued from page 82

investigation – all supposedly over eight dollars in phone applications.”

On Fast and Furious fueling violence in Mexico (p. 15): “In October 2010, cartel members kidnapped Mario Gonzalez Rodriguez, the brother of the Attorney General for the Mexican state of Chihuahua, where Juarez is located. The cartel posted a video of the kidnapped Rodriguez online, in which he alleged, under duress, that his sister had ordered killings at the behest of the Juarez cartel. The video went viral and became a major news story in Mexico. Two weeks later, Mexican authorities found Rodriguez’s body in a shallow grave. In a subsequent shootout with cartel members responsible for the murder, police arrested eight and recovered sixteen weapons. Two of these weapons traced back to Operation Fast and Furious. Although the Department of Justice learned that these weapons traced back to Fast and

Furious almost immediately, no one informed the Mexican government. Not until congressional investigators were on the verge of learning the truth about the connection did an ATF agent in Mexico finally tell the Mexican Attorney General in June 2011 – seven months after Rodriguez’s murder.”

On allegations of intentional wrongdoing by Justice officials (p. 17): “Perhaps the most damning assessments of the Department’s handling of the fallout from Operation Fast and Furious have come from two Justice Department officials. Kenneth Melson, the former Acting AFT Director during the pendency of Fast and Furious, told Congress that, “it appears thoroughly to us that the department is really trying to figure out a way to push the information away from their political appointees at the department.” Patrick Cunningham, who had been

tasked by the Justice Department with investigating ATF whistleblower allegations of gunwalking, would later invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination in refusing to answer questions about his work.”

Will the contempt citation push the DoJ into greater transparency? I wouldn’t bet that way, but the White House won’t want this in court, either, where a judge could order the release of a lot more than the administration would like. Brinksmanship just got a little more brink-ish.

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ideologically closed chats and purportedly coordinating coverage via Journolist -- meeting off-therecord to talk about covering the presidential race... with an actual presidential candidate!

Says Calderone: "The basic message I got is the primary's over and we want you on our side and working with the campaign," said one attendee.

Another described the meeting as "sort of an olive branch to conservative media." Romney told attendees that it will be tough getting the campaign's message across through mainstream media in a general election, presumably because of the assumption shared by conservatives that political journalists are likely to put their thumb on the scale for Obama.

I found this nugget interesting too: During a Q&A period, attendees brought up Fast and Furious, the botched U.S. gunrunning sting CAN page 86

more about him.

Of course, we can all only imagine what a bigtime reporter would uncover if inspecting our individual lives. For sure, he or she would shred many uncritically accepted accounts of the family passed along by aunts, uncles and grandparents.

That may mean a pinch of pain for Obama. But, by and large, there should be a certain grudging

gratitude to Maraniss for revealing greater complexities than he's known. It will be an important document for Obama's daughters and their children.

As for the American electorate, it probably won't move many one way or another. Most won't read it. And that's too bad. Whichever way they plan to vote in November, they might just concede that Obama's personal

odyssey is a remarkable tale of self-discipline, ambition and dealing with adversity This article available online at: http://www.theatlantic.com/ politics/archive/2012/05/obama-in -love-the-story-behind-the-story/ 256671/ This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read

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OBAMA continued from page 84

personal life, including those more bohemian younger days.

Yes, some of it involves women.

Yes, he inhaled.

Obama himself may learn quite a bit since there are some folks, who know much about his family background, who had not previously spilled any beans to a journalist. If you thought the philandering father was a piece of work, wait until you read even

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Michele Bachmann to endorse Mitt Romney

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CAN continued from page 85

that conservative outlets have given more attention than the national media, along with concerns that the Romney campaign will continue leaking to establishment outlets, including Erika Johnsen (Hot Air » Top uncomfortable soundbites, but rhetoric on Romney, and insisted ABC News and Politico, rather Picks) thus goes primary politics. that she would be a force for GOP than conservative ones.

A l o n g w i t h t h i s w e e k ’ s unity behind the party’s eventual Submitted at 5/3/2012 10:23:54 AM If that accurately characterizes endorsement from southern Tea nominee. the Q&A period it doesn't say posted at 11:23 am on May 3, Party freshman Rep. Tim Scott, Echoing similar sentiments by much for conservative journalists.

2012 by Erika Johnsen Bachmann’s jumping on the ‘Mitt Santorum and other former You've got the candidate in the I’d call it a pretty telling sign of -train’ may help to convince any c a n d i d a t e s , B a c h m a n n h a s room, and the subjects on which t h e t i m e s t h a t o n e o f socially conservative and Tea emphasized that any Republican you question him are 1) an Obama ObamaCare’s most vociferous Party factions still ruing the losses would be better than President Administration scandal; and 2) critics is throwing her support o f S a n t o r u m o r G i n g r i c h . Obama, allowing her to avoid whether you're going to be the behind the former governor Bachmann will join Romney and contradicting herself with her recipient of his future leaks? responsible for RomneyCare, but V i r g i n i a G o v e r n o r B o b endorsement for Romney, which This is how it starts. with the GOP race virtually McDonnell (who’s also pledged was first reported by the National Mitt Romney and the decided, the intra-party fun n’ his support to Romney) in his Review. conservative media establishment g a m e s a r e o v e r a n d t h e state today — the purplish “We will see an open ear from get excessively cozy with one conservative legions are steeling c o m m o n w e a l t h i s a l r e a d y Mitt Romney,” Bachmann told another.

Perverse incentives are themselves to do what it takes to becoming a focus in both Romney CNN in late April. “So far, he has i n t r o d u c e d .

H e gets more u n s e a t B a r a c k O b a m a i n a n d O b a m a ’ s r e s p e c t i v e proved to be a person who listens. favorable coverage, and if he November — I repeat, this is not a campaigns — to offer her sales T h a t ’ s w h a t w e n e e d — a becomes president, he's held less drill. Rep. Michele Bachmann pitch for party unity. nominee who listens.” accountable than he ought to be w a s a m o n g M i t t R o m n e y ’ s Rep. Michele Bachmann (R- This entry passed through the by journalists who share his harsher detractors before she M i n n . ) w i l l e n d o r s e M i t t Full-Text RSS service — if this is ideology. dropped out of the presidential Romney’s presidential bid on your content and you're reading it race in January — she’s said upon Thursday, a campaign source told on someone else's site, please read Conservative journalists and GOP partisans become at least one occasion that a victory The Hill. … the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentindistinguishable. for the “candidate who has given B u t w h i l e B a c h m a n n h a s only/faq.php#publishers. Five the blueprint for ObamaCare” is r e m a i n e d c o y a b o u t h e r Filters recommends: Donate to And come 2016, I find myself writing an essay about the just “not going to happen” — endorsement plans since leaving Wikileaks. uncanny similarities between the c o u l d m a k e f o r s o m e the race, she has also softened her way the conservative media carried water for George W. Bush and Mitt Romney; how it ultimately hurt conservatives in

both cases; how maybe the conservative media would do better to stop conceiving of itself as MSM critics, producing work derivative of what the "lamestream media" does, and to start producing the best work it can, as if producing journalism is an end rather than a means.

I'm sure a lot of people with integrity attended that off-therecord meeting. As individuals, everyone had an incentive to go.

I'm equally sure that the Romney campaign would love to co-opt the conservative media, and that conservative journalists have an interest in not letting it happen.

Except Rush Limbaugh, who is doubtless eager to be invited back to the White House.

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REALITY continued from page 83

deems a terrorist.

• He expanded drone attacks into Somalia.

• He's implied that he'd go to war with Iran rather than permitting them to get nuclear weapons.

In summary, President Obama escalated a major war and sent • He ordered a raid on pirates in tens of thousands more troops to Somalia. fight it, even as he joined in regime change in a different country, ordered drone strikes in • He deployed military squads to at least three others, and sent fight the drug war throughout commandos into Pakistan, a list of Latin America. aggressive actions that isn't even exhaustive.

It's perverse for that record to be • He expanded the drone war in rendered, in America's newspaper Yemen, going so far as to give the of record, as Obama "straddling CIA permission to kill people the precarious line between hawk even when it doesn't know their and dove." In fact, he is a hawk. identities so long as they're Republicans are misrepresenting suspected of ties to terrorism. his record and positions and some progressives are doing the same,

because they are rightly embarrassed by the gulf between his campaign promises and the record he's amassed.

This article available online at: http://www.theatlantic.com/ politics/archive/2012/05/realitycheck-yes-president-obama-is-ahawk/256674/ This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/contentonly/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.

Foxconn builds a fanless nano PC, forgets to put someone else's name on it Sharif Sakr (Engadget)

Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:24:00 AM

Two nano PCs, actually, and both expected to be announced officially this week according to FanlessTech. The first is the Foxconn AT-5300, running off a 2.13GHz dual-core Cedar Trail D2700, while the second -- the AT-5600 -- is powered by AMD's popular(but last-gen) 1.65GHz E450 APU. Each one consumes

around 15W idle and 24W under load, which is the equivalent of somewhere between an Ultrabook and a regular laptop and low enough to be passively cooled.

What's distinctly unlaptop-like, though, is the 190 x 135 x 38mm form factor, which should sit discreetly on your desk, below your TV or on a VESA mount, and also the price, which is expected to be under $200 with worldwide availability. As with

Foxconn builds a fanless nano PC, forgets to put someone else's name on it originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 May 2012 11:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| FanlessTech| Email this| Comments similar mini-ATX budget barebones, you'll need to add your own HDD (or maybe a hybrid) to that, but you do get a pair of USB

3.0 ports, Gigabit LAN, a multilingual card reader and builtin 802.11n WiFi. The only thing missing? You guessed it.

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IDC: Apple makes big gains in tablet market, Android stumbles Terrence O'Brien (Engadget) Submitted at 5/3/2012 12:21:00 PM

Research firm IDC predicted there would be a steep drop off in tablet shipments during Q1 of 2012. Following the surge of sales during the holiday season, a fall of 34 percent, while certainly staggering, is hardly surprising.

But there's bad news: shipments failed to meet even those bleak predictions. Shipments fell by 38.4 percent, thanks in large part to Android slates stumbling dramatically. After a reasonably impressive holiday season, IDC expected Android would continue to make inroads in the market.

Instead, the number of units moved dropped drastically,

allowing Apple to not just maintain its position at the top of the heap, but assert an unquestionable dominance not seen since the early days of Honeycomb. After accounting for 54.7 percent of all tablet

fell to number three -- accounting for only 4 percent of tablets shipped, a precipitous fall from 16.8 percent last quarter. That's good news for Samsung, however, which reclaimed its place as first runner up slate wars. For more, check out the PR after the break.

Continue reading IDC: Apple makes big gains in tablet market, Android stumbles IDC: Apple makes big gains in tablet market, Android stumbles shipments in Q4 of 2011, the iPad originally appeared on Engadget opened up an impressive lead, on Thu, 03 May 2012 12:21:00 claiming 68 percent of the market EDT. Please see our terms for use in Q1 of 2012. What's more, after of feeds. Permalink| | Email this| catapulting to the number two Comments spot by shipping 4.8 million units at the end of last year, Amazon

Boingo to offer its WiFi services to New York City subway stations Billy Steele (Engadget)

Submitted at 5/3/2012 11:51:00 AM

Your dreams of WiFi connectivity from within NYC's subway stations will soon be a reality. Boingo has announced an agreement with Transit Wireless to offer wireless internet service inside the Big Apple's subway

stations. The partnership will allow eager commuters the chance to connect via their smartphones, tablets, e-readers and other WiFiequipped devices. One-click access will be available to those with a Boingo subscription as well as through the outfit's roaming partners: Skype, Sprint, now, the plan is to roll out the T-Mobile and Verizon. Right new service to subway stations

over the next five years. If you're jonesing for a few more details, hit the PR button below to read on.

[Image credit: pspyro2009/ Flickr] Continue reading Boingo to offer its WiFi services to New York City subway stations Boingo to offer its WiFi services

to New York City subway stations originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 May 2012 11:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink| | Email this| Comments