Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/309399186?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Friday, May 31, 2013
Registration Opens for Kids Golf Summer Camps | Ashburn Sports ...
21670 Red Rum Dr Ste 113, Ashburn, VA | Get?Directions??
$150.00
Saturdays June 22 - July 27
Session 1 (5-7 years of age) 9 - 10am
Session 2 (8-10 years of age) 10 - 11am
For more information on these and other summer camps (baseball, softball, indoor and outdoor, and special needs sports camps) please visit:? http://replaysportsandtraining.com/sports_camps.htm
39.016638
-77.479282
primary
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Source: http://ashburn.patch.com/events/registration-opens-for-kids-golf-summer-camps
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Daft Punk's analog 'Random Access Memories' tops Billboard chart
By Piya Sinha-Roy
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - French electronic dance music duo Daft Punk scored their first No. 1 album on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday, as their risk to use retro technology paid off with fans.
"Random Access Memories," the highly anticipated fourth studio album from Daft Punk, sold 339,000 copies in its first week, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan. That was the group's best sales week to date.
Digital downloads of the album were approximately 65 percent of overall sales, with 221,000 copies downloaded.
Daft Punk, formed by childhood friends Thomas Bangalter, 38, and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, 39, were at the forefront of electronic dance music in the 1990s, fusing synthesizers and computers to create music on hits such as "Around the World." Daft Punk became popular figures in the dance music field, known for wearing shiny helmets on stage and being elusive and unpredictable.
For the release of their latest album, they stayed away from big stages and instead launched it at a small music festival in the small Australian town of Wee Waa on May 17, which they themselves did not attend.
After the 2005 album "Human After All," Bangalter and de Homem-Christo said they took time out to explore "uncharted territories" in their field, waiting eight years before releasing "Random Access Memories."
"It's always been a quest (with the) making of each record, somehow reinventing ourselves a little bit, and this time we feel like it's the same musical influence somehow that we maybe had 15 years ago on our first record," Bangalter told Reuters ahead of the album's release.
"Random Access Memories" is not just an homage to the dance floor music of the late 1970s but an attempt to capture the actual time period itself, the duo said.
"If you listen to Pink Floyd records or the majority of the albums in the late 1970s, they were really experimenting with art, elegance, radicality and integrity," Bangalter said. "That was inspiring for this record, to try to do something that has certain elegance and certain experimentation to it."
The new album features numerous collaborators, including singer Julian Casablancas of the Strokes, veteran Italian music producer Giorgio Moroder and R&B singer Pharrell Williams, who lent his vocals to the raunchy dance floor track "Get Lucky."
ANALOG IN A DIGITAL WORLD
After inspiring a new wave of electronic dance music DJs in the past decade that has included David Guetta, "Random Access Memories" sees Daft Punk strip away all digital components, recording solely with live instruments onto analog tape in a studio setting.
"Digital technologies are more efficient at working on other aspects of music, like dynamic and energetic qualities," Bangalter said.
"In the same way that sometimes a film camera seems to grab a moment in raw emotion than with a digital camera, that's what analog tape usually is ... it tends to - and we don't know why - grab a magic moment that is emotional."
The risk of going analog appears to have paid off, as the duo topped the Billboard chart with the second-highest debut album of the year, behind only Justin Timberlake's "The 20/20 Experience," which opened in March with 968,000 copies.
"Get Lucky," which first premiered as a music video broadcast at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Southern California in April, has been streamed more than 33 million times globally on Spotify since its April 18 release.
Daft Punk led four new albums debuting in the top 10 of the Billboard chart this week. Darius Rucker, frontman of rock group Hootie & the Blowfish, entered the chart at No. 2 this week with his country solo effort, "True Believers," selling 83,000 copies.
Rock band The National landed at No. 3 with "Trouble Will Find Me," while rapper French Montana rounded out the debuts in the top 10 this week with his first album, "Excuse My French," at No. 4.
Rockers 30 Seconds to Mars landed at No. 6 the album "Love Lust Faith + Dreams," while last week's chart-toppers, Vampire Weekend, fell to No. 7 this week as sales of "Modern Vampires of the City" dropped by 64 percent.
(Editing by Eric Kelsey and Bill Trott)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/daft-punks-analog-random-access-memories-tops-billboard-213710745.html
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Instagram prankster finds way into celeb pics
Pop culture 
5 hours ago
If you think celebrities are Photoshopped in many of the images they appear in, you're going to love the work of Instagram user PeejeT.
The 25-year-old, who goes by what he calls his "stage name" on the photo-sharing site and Twitter, is gaining attention and followers for his very fun ability to insert himself into events where only celebs previously existed.
@PeejeT
Instagram user PeejeT gives himself a seat next to Kim Kardashian, right, and shares a laugh with Jay-Z and Beyonce as Kanye West gets pushed back a row.
Many of his 100 or so photos have him sitting next to -- or on the lap of -- some of the leading women and men of hip-hop. And it's not a stretch to say PeejeT has a thing for Beyonce, Rihanna and Kim Kardashian in particular.
"Yeah, I am a fan of hip-hop and all of those ladies," PeejeT said via email on Thursday. "I'm sure they think I'm the weirdest dude ever."
Judging by the comments on Instagram, his 64,000 followers think he's hilarious. There he is sitting next to Kardashian at an awards show, with Kanye sulking in the background. Ever wanted to vacation with Beyonce? PeejeT took the liberty of making that happen for himself, despite the awkward presence of her husband, Jay-Z.
@PeejeT
PeejeT is poolside with Beyonce -- take another lap, Jay-Z.
"I've gotten some replies and re-tweets from the celebs themselves. It's cool when they realize it's all in good fun," PeejeT said. "Some hardcore fans of these people do send me tweets begging me to stop followed by many frowny faces. I'm sure Jay-Z, Kanye, and Chris Brown aren't my biggest fans either ... ha!"
What makes the photos fun is a mix of the moment PeejeT chooses to insert himself into, and the relatively amateur manipulation of the photos with the editing software.
"I don't claim to be some graphic design wizard or anything," PeejeT said. "I'm just a guy that downloaded and taught myself how to use Photoshop a couple years ago thinking it would be funny to put myself in some pictures with celebs. I started doing them for something my friends and I can laugh at."
He told The Daily Dot that he chooses pics by whatever is trending on Twitter.
"For instance, when Miguel leg dropped that fan at the Billboard Music Awards everyone was talking about it so I tried to get as creative and funny with it as I can," PeejeT said. "I just love making people laugh."
And for a guy whose web identity is growing by the moment thanks to this labor of love, PeejeT preferred not to take a phone call on Thursday ... because he was "at work."
@PeejeT
PeejeT deflects Miguel's ill-fated leap at the Billboard Music Awards.
@PeejeT
Halle Berry is creeped out after red carpet security couldn't keep PeejeT away.
@PeejeT
Rihanna's on the arm of PeejeT and Chris Brown looks bummed about it.
@PeejeT
Sorry, Drake, PeejeT's got a secret for Nicki Minaj.
@PeejeT
PeejeT, escorting Beyonce on President Obama's Inauguration Day.
Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/instagram-prankster-gets-cozy-celebs-thanks-photoshop-6C10130982
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Paper could be basis for inexpensive diagnostic devices
May 29, 2013 ? Paper is known for its ability to absorb liquids, making it ideal for products such as paper towels. But by modifying the underlying network of cellulose fibers, etching off surface "fluff" and applying a thin chemical coating, researchers have created a new type of paper that repels a wide variety of liquids -- including water and oil.
The paper takes advantage of the so-called "lotus effect" -- used by leaves of the lotus plant -- to repel liquids through the creation of surface patterns at two different size scales and the application of a chemical coating. The material, developed at the Georgia Institute of Technology, uses nanometer- and micron-scale structures, plus a surface fluorocarbon, to turn old-fashioned paper into an advanced material.
The modified paper could be used as the foundation for a new generation of inexpensive biomedical diagnostics in which liquid samples would flow along patterns printed on the paper using special hydrophobic ink and an ordinary desktop printer. This paper could also provide an improved packaging material that would be less expensive than other oil- and water-repelling materials, while being both recyclable and sustainable.
"Paper is a very heterogeneous material composed of fibers with different sizes, different lengths and a non-circular cross-section," said Dennis Hess, a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. "We believe this is the first time that a superamphiphobic surface -- one that repels all fluids -- has been created on a flexible, traditional and heterogeneous material like paper."
Research leading to development of the superamphiphobic paper has been supported by the Institute for Paper Science and Technology (IPST) at Georgia Tech. Details were published online May 24 in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.
The new paper, which is both superhydrophobic (water-repelling) and super oleophobic (oil-repelling), can be made from standard softwood and hardwood fibers using a modified paper process. In addition to Hess, the research team included Lester Li, a graduate research assistant, and Victor Breedveld, an associate professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Producing the new paper begins with breaking up cellulose fibers into smaller structures using a mechanical grinding process. As in traditional paper processing, the fibers are then pressed in the presence of water -- but then the water is removed and additional processing is done with the chemical butanol. Use of butanol inhibits the hydrogen bonding that normally takes place between cellulose fibers, allowing better control of their spacing.
"The desirable properties we are seeking are mainly controlled by the geometry of the fibers," Hess explained.
The second step involves using an oxygen plasma etching process -- a technique commonly used in the microelectronics industry -- to remove the layer of amorphous "fluffy" cellulose surface material, exposing the crystalline cellulose nanofibrils. The process thereby uncovers smaller cellulose structures and provides a second level of "roughness" with the proper geometry needed to repel liquids.
Finally, a thin coating of a fluoropolymer is applied over the network of cellulose fibers. In testing, the paper was able to repel water, motor oil, ethylene glycol and n-hexadecane solvent.
The researchers have printed patterns onto their paper using a hydrophobic ink and a desktop printer. Droplets applied to the pattern remain on the ink pattern, repelled by the adjacent superamphiphobic surface.
That capability could facilitate development of inexpensive biomedical diagnostic tests in which a droplet containing antigens could be rolled along a printed surface where it would encounter diagnostic chemicals. If appropriate reagents are used, the specific color or color intensity of the patterns could indicate the presence of a disease. Because the droplets adhere tightly to the printed lines or dots, the samples can be sent to a laboratory for additional testing.
"We have shown that we can do the operations necessary for a microfluidic device," Hess said. "We can move the droplet along a pattern, split the droplet and transfer the droplet from one piece of paper to another. We can do all of these operations on a two-dimensional surface."
For Hess, Li and Breedveld, creating a superhydrophobic suface was relatively straightforward because water has a high surface tension. For oils, which have a low surface tension, the key to creating the repellent surface is to create re-entrant -- or undercut -- angles between the droplets and the surface.
Previous examples of superamphiphobic surfaces have been made on rigid surfaces through lithographic techniques. Such processes tend to produce fragile surfaces that are prone to damage, Hess said.
The principal challenge has been to create high-performance in a material that is anything but geometrically regular and consistent.
"Working with heterogeneous materials is fascinating, but it's very difficult not just to control them, because there is no inherent consistent structure, but also to change the processing conditions so you can get something that, on average, is what you need," he said. "It's been a real learning experience for us."
The new paper has so far been made in samples about four inches on a side, but Hess sees no reason why the process couldn't be scaled up. Though long-term testing of the new paper hasn't been done, Hess is encouraged by what he's seen so far.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/Ttm60UKrBKA/130529092053.htm
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"I am a gym-freak" | 15082 - India Forums
What does fitness mean to you? What's your idea of fitness?
Fitness for me is a healthy body and a fresh mind.
What efforts do you take to stay in shape?
I am a gym freak. So in order to stay in shape, I workout everyday and follow a strict diet.
Are you conscious about your food choices?
Actually, I'm foodilicious. That's why I allow myself to cheat on the strict diet once a week. But otherwise, I'm bound to follow my boring strict diet. (Laughs)
Three things you do every day to remain fit.
Three things that I do on a daily basis are:
1) I make it a point to not eat anything post 7 in the evening.
2) Under no circumstances I skip my cardio workout.
3) And the most important thing, I drink lots and lots of water.
Is there any sport you are skilled at?
I love to play cricket.
Is there a dream role you would like to play? If so, what would it be?
My dream role would be the role I see myself doing in my first film.
What is your fitness secret?
Well, to be frank, there is no secret as such. As I said, I workout everyday and follow a particular diet.
A fitness tip for your fans.
I would like to advice my fans to firmly eat healthy and nutrient-rich food. For those who wish to have a fit and lean body, follow a rigorous workout. There is no magical tip that will turn you into a desired shape. It is the end result of the discipline you follow constantly.
Source: http://www.india-forums.com/tellybuzz/buzzin-hot/15082-i-am-a-gym-freak.htm
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It's Official: NYSE Margin Debt Hit New Record, Surpasses 2007
Thursday, May 30th, 2013
By Michael Lombardi, MBA for Profit Confidential
Is it just me, or have investors completely abandoned the concept of risk and reward?
The reality of the situation is that the key stock indices are treading in shark-infested waters and the risks are piling up daily. I see bearish signals all over, but the theme among investors, even conservative investors, continues to be ?keep buying.?
It?s official?
Margin debt?that?s the amount of money borrowed to purchase stocks?on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) reached its all-time high in April. Margin debt on the NYSE registered at $384.3 billion as the key stock indices hit new record-highs. (Source: New York Stock Exchange web site, last accessed May 29, 2013.) The highest margin debt ever reached prior to this was in July of 2007, when it stood just above $381.0 billion. At that time, just like today, the key stock indices were near their peaks and ?buy now before it?s too late? was the prominent theme of the day
Looking ahead, corporate earnings, which ultimately drive the direction of the key stock indices, don?t look so good. So far, 106 companies in key stock indices like the S&P 500 have provided their corporate earnings outlooks for the second quarter, and more than 80% of them have issued earnings outlooks that are negative! Corporate earnings growth for the second quarter is now projected to be only 1.4%?and the estimate keeps going down! (Source: FactSet, May 28, 2013.)
And this chart doesn?t look good either:
?
Chart courtesy of www.StockCharts.com
The above chart shows the performance of the S&P 500 utilities stocks through an exchange-traded fund (ETF) called the Utilities Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca/XLU). Why is this chart important? Utilities stocks are considered safe because the companies in the sector usually have good long-term growth and consistent corporate earnings. But this chart shows how investors are fleeing the safety of utilities stocks?and I think they are running to high-risk stock sectors.
But in spite of all these factors, it wouldn?t surprise me to see the key stock indices go even a little higher because of all the buying momentum. The bear market rally, which began in 2009, has done a masterful job at convincing investors that the stock market is safe again?but it will all end in a collapse. It?s only a matter of when it will happen.
Key stock indices rising on anemic economic growth, poor corporate earnings, and leveraged investors?this is not going to end pleasantly.
Michael?s Personal Notes:
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has officially lowered its growth expectation for the Chinese economy, the second-biggest engine in the global economy. The IMF expects China to grow 7.75% this year compared to the eight percent it previously projected.
The First Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, David Lipton, said, ?while china still has significant policy space and financial capacity to maintain stability even in the face of adverse shocks, the margins of safety are narrowing.? (Source: ?IMF Forecasts Lower China Growth, Warns on Debt,? Wall Street Journal, May 29, 2013.) This will be the first year since 2009 that China?s economic growth is in the single digits.
France, a key economy in the eurozone and the fifth-biggest in the global economy, is back in a recession for the third time in five years, as the economic slowdown in the country continues to take its toll. In May, consumer sentiment in the French economy reached lows not seen since July of 2008. (Source: France 24, May 28, 2013.)
As I have written before, there is no way the economic slowdown in the global economy will not end up affecting America. The price action in the stock market doesn?t show this, but in the first quarter of 2013, of the 11 companies on the Dow Jones Industrial Average that reported their revenues in Europe, nine of them posted a decline in sales from that region! (Source: FactSet, May 28, 2013.)
Dear reader, while the U.S. economy still hasn?t recovered from the last economic slowdown, more troubles from outside our domestic control lie ahead.
China and France are just a few of the many examples of what?s actually happening in the global economy. Other nations like Japan are facing severe scrutiny as well.
There are several countries in the eurozone that are in an outright depression. The youth unemployment rate in some eurozone countries is close to 50%. In Cyprus, the government has gone so far as to take money right out of its citizens? bank accounts if their deposits totaled over 100,000 euros.
While you don?t read or hear as much about it as you did last year, the economic issues in the eurozone are dire?and the ramifications for the global economy are very real. Should Germany?s economy soften further, we could see all of Europe come under economic pressure, the winds of which will surely sail across the Atlantic to the West.
What He Said:
?Even the most novice investor can now read the chart of the Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction Index and see that it is trading at its lowest level in five years. If, like me, you believe that stocks are an indication of what lies ahead, this important index is telling us housing prices are headed to 2002 levels! What would that do to the economy? Such an event would devastate the U.S.? Michael Lombardi in Profit Confidential, December 4, 2007. That devastation started happening in the first quarter of 2008.
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Gmail?s New Inbox Sorts E-mails Into Tabbed Categories
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/1yxQfNJ4S48/
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Thursday, May 30, 2013
HowAboutWe: What It's Like to Date When You're Allergic to ...
By Marla Pachter for HowAboutWe
I have a lot of food allergies. Like, a lot. Whatever number you're thinking, double it. Then have an elephant sit on it. Peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, lentils, coconut, peas (and carrots!), apples, seafood, chickpeas, red meat... to name a fraction. I am, quite literally, a freak of nature. Luckily, I don't have any allergies of the throat closing variety, but they will shut me down for the day, either lying by the toilet or in a Benadryl coma.
Like most things in life, there are upsides and downsides. The down being illness and/or even potential death, and the up being never getting overwhelmed by the choices on a menu. For the most part though, it's other people who are bothered by my allergies. (Apparently it's a sin to be allergic to steak.)
Related: 15 Steps to Mastering the At-Home Dinner Date
When you're dating, having a metric ton of food allergies can make things highly awkward. Let's say you're out at a bar and you're feeling kind of slutty (in the good way). There's a guy you're really getting along with, and you're not sure you ever want to see him again, but hot damn is he sexy and you do not want to leave without playing a little tonsil hockey with this Greek god.
Related: The Most Popular Day for Moms to Cheat on Their Husbands Is...
Now, let's say you're me. Despite a desire to make out with random strangers, I am completely incapable of doing so. Because instead of just going for it in the moment, I have to ask a question, seemingly out of nowhere:
Me: What have you eaten today?
Random Hot Dude (RHD): Uh... I'm sorry, what?
Me: (muffled)Er, what have you eaten today?
RHD: I don't know. Like, a pack of Skittles and three Red Bulls?
Me: Okay, we can make out now... although I think I'm less interested in you as a person.
Related: The Top Secret to Having a Healthy Relationship is...
Worse, if they have eaten something I'm indeed allergic to, which is likely (elephant amount and whatnot), I now have to ask the poor guy to brush his teeth. AND THEN, I get to be the weirdo who has to-go toothbrushes in her purse, just in case she decides to make out with someone that night.
I did this once. True story. My friend was setting me up with his incredibly beautiful vision of a man friend who was in New York for one night, and one night only. But they came to the restaurant I worked at first, and I knew what he ate for dinner. It was not Marla-friendly. So after work on my way to the bar they were hanging out in, I stopped in a Walgreen's and bought some to-go toothbrushes for him. I felt gutsy when I purchased them, but the moment never felt quite right to say "Brush your teeth, I want to rub my face all over your face."
Related: 'Modern Dating: A Field Guide'-Pin to Win Over $2,000 in Prizes!
The truth is, even if he is in the clear, I get neurotic and over-think everything. What if this guy is all brawn and no brains? What if a pack of Skittles and three Red Bulls isn't really everything he ate? I mean, let's face it, all that Red Bull has gotta have some repercussions on your brain cells. I could DIE trying to kiss this stranger. Yeah. No. Not happening, buddy.
Related: Should Women List Their Incomes in Dating Profiles?
And what about first dates? Dear God, first dates. Let's ignore the fact that I'm deathly allergic to Thai, Indian, Vietnamese, Japanese, and basically any other ethnic cuisines. (Not to mention, my body can't process alcohol, so I can't even drink to curb the awkwardness -- but that's a whole other story for a later post.) When a date begins, you don't know what's going to happen, and you don't want to make assumptions, either. So it's usually when he's halfway through his tutti frutti salmon (I can't eat seafood, so I have no clue -- that's a legit salmon dish, right?) that I mention I'm allergic to it.
First Date (FD): Want to try some of my tutti frutti salmon?
Me: Uh... actually, I'm allergic to seafood.
FD: No, you're not. You're allergic to shellfish.
Me: No, really. I'm allergic to all fish and sea creatures. People can be allergic to anything, you know.
FD: That's not true. My doctor says I'm allergic to my sister, but I think the hives are just a nervous reaction. She's super hot.
Okay, my allergies aren't the only problem with these dates sometimes.
Related: The 5 'Worst Date' Ideas of all Time
Even if my date isn't disturbed, now kissing is completely off the table for the evening. But what was I supposed to say? Three minutes into meeting a guy, and I'm all, "Hey if you wanna kiss me later, avoid these foods!" Then hand him a handy checklist. "If you are a polite gentleman and don't want to kiss me on the first date, I respect that, too. I even like that quite a bit. You can order the tutti frutti salmon if you really want it."
If only life were like a movie, and I could just magically end up in the emergency room next to the man of my dreams, who has the same laundry list full of allergies. We have everything in common, and we understand the importance of full mouth brushing before a good make out session. Hey, wait. That's not actually a bad idea. Gotta kiss a few poisonous tree frogs to find your prince, I guess.
For all of your modern love needs, follow HowAboutWe on Twitter and like us on Facebook!
For more by HowAboutWe, click here.
For more on personal health, click here.
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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/howaboutwe/allergies-and-dating_b_3348594.html
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PFT: Gronk needs back surgery? |? Out how long?
APA year ago, Packers defensive coaches spent the offseason talking about tackling.
This year, they have a new emphasis, and it?s changing the way practice looks.
Unhappy with the number of fumbles they?re creating, the Packers are treating every ball in OTAs as if it?s a live ball, diving on dropped passes and swarming to the ball.
?You see us going to the ball with a little more intensity, you see everybody poking at the ball, trying to get the ball out,? defensive coordinator Dom Capers said, via Jason Wilde of ESPNWisconsin.com. ?We?re just trying to get them conditioned mentally. You see us every time the ball is on the ground, you see someone scooping it. We?re treating it like it?s [a live ball] just to condition everybody to get to that ball, scoop the ball and to try to get the mentality of taking the ball away.
?In four years, we?re No. 1 in interceptions but we aren?t close in caused and recovered fumbles.?
Since 2006 when coach Mike McCarthy took over, the Packers have recovered 55 fumbles, tied with the Jaguars for fewest in the league over that span. The Bears (who employed the same aggressive practice habits under coach Lovie Smith) had 107, nearly double their division rivals.
Of course, forced fumbles are often a creation of pass-rush, and the unusual part is the Packers have been good there, ranking 11th or better in the league in sacks three of the last four years. But they forced just eight fumbles last year (recovering just four), and they?re determined to change it.
?You would think with our style of play ? we moved back into the top five in sacks ? you?d think that as many shots as we get on quarterbacks, we?d get the ball out. And we?re trying,? Capers said. ?I?ll say this: Throughout my career, and even here, when we?ve put an emphasis on something, when we?ve said, ?All right guys, this is a point of emphasis,? we?ve improved.?
Taking Charles Woodson out of the back of the secondary won?t help that goal, but they?re hoping the extra work in practice puts it in the front of players? minds, and it becomes a habit in the fall.
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Tuesday, May 28, 2013
The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh and his wife Smt. Gursharan Kaur at the private dinner hosted by the Prime Minister of Japan, Mr. Shinzo Abe and Mrs. Abe, in the honour of them, in Tokyo, Japan on May 28, 2013.
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Source: http://pib.nic.in/release/phsmall.asp?phid=47485
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Finance Help Australia | A Ezbukz Blog For Financial Help
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Forex trading market is expanding with every passing moment. Therefore, the need arises to keep track of every second of the exchange rates of currencies. Finance- live helps you to know every detail of the business world and exchange trade globally. It provides you with currency trading news and stock market news and with the business news of all around the world. Finance live acts as your personal foreign exchange broker. If you have little or no knowledge about the foreign exchange, this site can provide you with currency trading training. So that, you can understand, how the exchange market works and its norms and regulations. It provides you with currency trading online service, so that you don't have to go to the exchange office or the stock exchange every time to indulge in trading. It is a forex trading company, which provides you with best forex trading system. It assists you in foreign money exchange and provides you up-to-date information on the exchange rates of the currencies of all around the world. It guides you about your investment and tries that you get the best results for your investments.
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Source: http://ezbukz.com/consumer-finance-help/finance-help-australia-2/
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How Sending Mirror Image Signals Could Speed Up the Internet
A team of researchers has developed a technique which uses mirror images signals to dramatically increase the accuracy?and speed?of data transmission across the internet.
The team explain in Nature Photonics how it's possible to send not one but two beams of light down a fiber cable: one the normal data signal, the other its mirror image?or, more accurately its phase conjugate. At the other end of the cable it's possible to recombine the signals in such a way that errors caused by noise in the signals is cancelled out.
The trick works in much the same way as noise-cancelling headphones, and crucially means that data can be transmitted much further before it becomes corrupted by interference. In fact, the paired beams are able to travel four times further than normal data streams, and the team has so far managed to achieve speed of 400Gb/s down 12,800km of optical fibre.
As ever, while it sounds like a wonderful idea in theory, transferring the technology to the real world will require extra infrastructure?and it's not clear that this is the best technique to use. But it's at least comforting to know that engineers around the world are at least coming up with new ideas to satisfy our insatiable appetite for bandwidth. [Nature Photonics via BBC via Verge]
Image by nrkbeta under Creative Commons license
Source: http://gizmodo.com/how-sending-mirror-image-signals-could-speed-up-the-int-509984934
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Hotel magnate, Mo. philanthropist Hammons dies
FILE - In a March 30, 2004 file photo, John Q. Hammons poses for a photo in his new 8,000 seat baseball stadium in Springfield, Mo. Hammons, a prominent hotel developer and southwest Missouri philanthropist, died Sunday, May 26, 2013 at a nursing home in Springfield, Mo., said Sheri Davidson Smith, a spokeswoman for John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts. He was 94. (AP Photo/John S. Stewart, File)
FILE - In a March 30, 2004 file photo, John Q. Hammons poses for a photo in his new 8,000 seat baseball stadium in Springfield, Mo. Hammons, a prominent hotel developer and southwest Missouri philanthropist, died Sunday, May 26, 2013 at a nursing home in Springfield, Mo., said Sheri Davidson Smith, a spokeswoman for John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts. He was 94. (AP Photo/John S. Stewart, File)
A 2009 photo provided by John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts shows John Q. Hammons. Hammons, a prominent hotel developer and southwest Missouri philanthropist, died Sunday, May 26, 2013 at a nursing home in Springfield, Mo., said Sheri Davidson Smith, a spokeswoman for John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts. He was 94. (AP Photo/John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts)
FILE - In a July 6, 2005 file photo, Missouri developer John Q. Hammons announces plans Wednesday, July 6, 2005, at the Chamber of Commerce in Jonesboro, Ark., to build his sixth hotel in Arkansas, in Jonesboro. Hammons, a prominent hotel developer and southwest Missouri philanthropist, died Sunday, May 26, 2013 at a nursing home in Springfield, Mo., said Sheri Davidson Smith, a spokeswoman for John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts. He was 94.(AP Photo/The Jonesboro Sun, David Stout, File)
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) ? John Q. Hammons, a prominent hotel developer and southwest Missouri philanthropist who rose from a poor Depression-era childhood to build a national real estate empire, has died. He was 94.
Hammons, who actively led his company well into his 80s, died peacefully Sunday at a nursing home in Springfield, said Sheri Davidson Smith, a spokeswoman for John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts.
Hammons' first business ? a company that sold mortar-less bricks ? went bust in the late 1940s, saddling him with debt. He paid off that debt after two years and recovered to build housing subdivisions in southwest Missouri over the next decade before purchasing 10 Holiday Inn franchises with a partner in 1958 from the company's founder.
He went on to build 200 hotels nationwide, including Embassy Suites, Marriotts, Radissons and Holiday Inns. Hammons also developed an expansive real estate portfolio associated with those hotels of golf courses, restaurants, convention centers, a casino and riverboat gambling. He avoided big-city locations in favor of properties in college towns and state capitals.
"He would say, 'The kids will always go to school, and you can't fire the damn politicians,'" former company executive Scott Tarwater said in a March 2011 interview.
Along the way, he donated millions of dollars to local hospitals, colleges and public television. His name graces so many buildings and streets in Springfield ? from the basketball arena at Missouri State University to the city's tallest building ? that comedian Bob Hope once joked that the city should change its name to "Hammonsville."
He regularly appeared on Forbes magazine's list of the wealthiest Americans and estimated his personal wealth several years ago at $1 billion. He took his company public in 1994 before returning it to private ownership a decade later. During his career, according to the company, Hammons developed 210 hotel properties in 40 states.
"He has made such a major, significant difference to this community," Jim Anderson, president of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, said in a 2007 interview. "Some people may not see the way he has put us on the map."
But Hammons' recent years were shrouded in secrecy and controversy. In March 2011, a group of friends asked Greene County probate court to appoint Hammons a public guardian.
The friends' lawsuit said they weren't being allowed to visit him at a Springfield nursing home or even talk to him on the phone after Jacqueline Dowdy, whom Hammons gave power of attorney several years ago, took control of the John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts in October 2010, purged most of its top officials and placed Hammons in "involuntary seclusion."
The court appointed a Springfield doctor in May 2011 to serve as Hammons' temporary guardian. The doctor allowed supervised visits with Hammons, though that didn't alleviate the feud. Dowdy, a former administrative assistant and accountant, became CEO after nearly 40 years of working alongside Hammons.
On Monday, Dowdy praised Hammons for his professional and philanthropic work.
"Hammons was a giant in the hospitality industry and was unwavering in his commitment to exceptional quality and service and to giving back to the community," she said in a company statement. "He was a great mentor and friend and will be missed by all who came to know him, but his legacy will live on forever."
The hotel magnate was born James Quentin Hammons in 1919 in rural Fairview, about 60 miles southwest of Springfield, to a dairy farmer who lost the 200-acre family farm during the Depression. As a teen, he trapped rabbits and sold their pelts for a nickel apiece to survive.
"I swore I would never be poor," he told a biographer in 2002.
A graduate of Southwest Missouri State Teachers College, which is now Missouri State University, Hammons spent two years teaching science and history and coaching junior high basketball before going to work on the construction of the Alaska Highway. He married the former Juanita Baxter, a Springfield elementary school teacher and also a Southwest Missouri graduate, in September 1949. The couple, who met at a hotel dance, had no children.
Hammons' legacy is on full display in his adopted hometown of Springfield. His office in the John Q. Hammons Building is across from the federal courthouse his company built and the 22-story Hammons Tower, the city's tallest building. Nearby are a 270-room hotel and convention center he developed and Hammons Field, which he built for $32 million to lure the minor league Springfield Cardinals to town. All sit on John Q. Hammons Parkway.
Other buildings in town, including at Missouri State University, have his name. Hammons also gave a grant that started public television station KOZK.
"Whenever you can be successful in a community, it can't be without cooperation, without support," Hammons said in a 1992 interview. "So I think it behooves everybody to register that sincerity and try to return a little bit."
Hammons was unfailingly modest about his wealth and his success. An avid sports fan ? especially of the St. Louis Cardinals ? he faithfully attended baseball spring training and the NCAA Final Four annually for decades until his health faltered.
"It's no big deal," Hammons once said of his success. "I've been at it so long, it's just old hat by now."
___
Associated Press writer Erin Gartner contributed to this report from Chicago.
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QC Technical Writer - Grafton Recruitment Cork - Jobs.ie - Jobs in ...
Grafton Recruitment Cork
Contact: Eddie Finn
Address: Unit 2 Webworks Building Eglinton Street Cork, Co. Cork
Phone: 021-4250607
Grafton Recruitment Cork - QC Technical Writer
| Location: | Dublin North |
| Salary: | DOE |
| Job type: | Contract, Full-time |
Quality Control Technical Writer:
Our client is looking to hire a QC Technical Writer include duties would include Develop, review and update Standard Operating Procedures. Writing of non-conformances/deviations use of trackwise system to monitor actions. Involvement in quality meetings as part of coordination of specification changes that will lead to updates to SOPs.
Involvement in projects as part of continuous process improvement and / or troubleshooting, including Liaison with EBR process improvement team to troubleshoot and develop new ways of working
Liaison with site training teams to enhance and develop the site procedures
Liaise with Quality Assurance to ensure that GMP standards are maintained in line with current SOPs.
Use specified software packages and standard procedures, responsible for compiling and maintaining all relevant documentation.
Provide technical and clerical support to the QC Services team in the preparation of documentation, collation of data and tracking of SOPs
Contribute and assists with Corporate, FDA, IMB Auditors and other regulatory bodies during company audits.
Basic Qualifications: Educated to degree level or equivalent. Significant experience gained within a biotech, pharma or health care organisation. Strong investigational skills. Experience with quality systems and deviation writing.
Email this job to yourself / a friend
Source: http://www.jobs.ie/ApplyForJob.aspx?Id=1266056
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Monday, May 27, 2013
Texas Legislature passes measure to prevent Medicaid expansion
By Corrie MacLaggan
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - The Republican-majority Texas House and Senate on Sunday sent Governor Rick Perry a proposal to prevent the state from expanding its Medicaid program as outlined by President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law.
Perry, a Republican, notified the Obama administration last summer his state would not expand Medicaid, which provides healthcare for low-income people. He repeated his opposition in an April news conference at which he called expansion "foolish."
The proposal, an amendment to a Medicaid-related bill, says state health officials "may only provide medical assistance to a person who would have been otherwise eligible for medical assistance or for whom federal matching funds were available under the eligibility criteria for medical assistance in effect on December 31, 2013."
The House had tacked on the amendment after the Senate had passed a version of the bill without the amendment. Members of both chambers met to work out differences in the legislation.
That House-Senate conference committee chose to keep the amendment, although its members tweaked the language to prevent unintended consequences, said the bill's author, Republican Senator Jane Nelson.
"This prevents the expansion of Medicaid," she said in a statement.
Republican Representative Jeff Leach, the author of the amendment, has said Medicaid expansion is too big of a decision to be made without lawmakers' input.
Last June, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Obama's healthcare overhaul but allowed states to opt out of a provision expanding the Medicaid program.
Since then, 26 governors have indicated support for Medicaid expansion, according to the Advisory Board Company, a consulting firm that is tracking the issue.
Democrats have called on Perry to drop his opposition to expanding Medicaid in the state, which has the nation's highest percentage of uninsured people. About 24 percent of Texans are uninsured.
The biennial legislative session is set to end on Monday.
(Reporting By Corrie MacLaggan; Editing by Bill Trott)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/texas-legislature-passes-measure-prevent-medicaid-expansion-043027507.html
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No Food Stamps for Violent Criminals ? Rapture In The Air Now ~
Totally agree.
Convicted Felons already can't find employment and yet we don't want them to commit crime again. The fact is, we all have to eat to live and desire a warm place to sleep. I don't understand why our Gov. (maybe our churches?) doesn't employ (road const. trash removal, state park improvements, etc etc) these people to provide them a way to move out of crime. And I am not a "Gov fixes things" person, far far from it. But seriously, it would be so much less expensive, to instill a work ethic, and provide a way back into society positively, then to house them again within the prison system, plus the myriad complications that crime imposes; emotionally upon it victims, with insurance rates, with destruction of families etc etc etc. We so often think that punishment is "always" the answer....if it was, the penal system would work, and we would be phasing out prisons instead of building more. (remember I said "always"....sometimes punishment is necessary). sigh....come Lord Jesus. It always comes back to WE NEED JESUS doesn't it.
DL
Source: http://raptureintheairnow.com/news-you-can-use/no-food-stamps-for-violent-criminals
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Obama: Gov't with Oklahoma 'every step' of the way
President Barack Obama greets Robert Romines, Asst. Superintendent, Personnel for Moore Schools, and Susan Pierce, Superitendent of Moore Schools, and tornado victims at Plaza Towers Elementary in Moore, Okla., on Sunday, May 26, 2013. Obama visited tornado-devastated Moore, Oklahoma, consoling people staggered by the loss of life and property and promising that the government will be behind them "every step of the way." (AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Bryan Terry, Pool)
President Barack Obama greets Robert Romines, Asst. Superintendent, Personnel for Moore Schools, and Susan Pierce, Superitendent of Moore Schools, and tornado victims at Plaza Towers Elementary in Moore, Okla., on Sunday, May 26, 2013. Obama visited tornado-devastated Moore, Oklahoma, consoling people staggered by the loss of life and property and promising that the government will be behind them "every step of the way." (AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Bryan Terry, Pool)
President Barack Obama tries to comfort Plaza Towers Elementary School principal Amy Simpson Sunday May 26, 2013, in Moore, Okla., as he views the devastation of the school caused by tornado and severe weather last week. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
President Barack Obama walks across the tarmac to greet people as he arrives on Air Force One, Sunday, May 26, 2013, at Tinker Air Force Base in Midwest City, Okla., en route to the Moore, Okla., to see the response to the severe tornadoes and weather that devastated the area. He will also visit with the families affected, and with first responders. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
President Barack Obama greets people on the tarmac as he arrives Sunday, May 26, 2013, at Tinker Air Force Base in Midwest City, Okla., en route to the Moore, Okla., to see the response to the severe tornadoes and weather that devastated the area. He will also visit with the families affected, and first responders. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
President Barack Obama is greeted by Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin as he arrives Sunday, May 26, 2013, at Tinker Air Force Base in Midwest City, Okla., en route to the Moore, Okla., to see the response to the severe tornadoes and weather that devastated the area. He will also visit with the families affected, and first responders. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
MOORE, Okla. (AP) ? President Barack Obama visited tornado-devastated Moore, Okla., Sunday, consoling people staggered by the loss of life and property and promising that the government will be behind them "every step of the way."
"I'm just a messenger here," the president said, saying "folks are behind you" across America. He offered moral and monetary support in the wake of the monstrous EF5 tornado that killed 24 people, including 10 children, last Monday afternoon.
Standing with Gov. Mary Fallin and other state and federal officials, Obama noted a substantial rebuilding job ahead and said that "our hearts go out to you."
"This is a strong community with strong character. There's no doubt they will bounce back," he said. "But they need help."
The White House said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has already provided $57 million in rebates and incentives to help build about 12,000 storm shelters in Oklahoma. "These storm shelters can be the difference between life and death," presidential spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters accompanying Obama to Oklahoma on Air Force One.
For Obama, Sunday's visit had an all-too-familiar ring.
Only five months into his second term, he has traveled to the northeast to console people in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, and visited Connecticut and Arizona to comfort people traumatized by shooting rampages. He also has undertaken his consoler-in-chief role at the site of plant explosions and mine disasters, not to mention a series of natural disasters including Joplin, Mo., and the Jersey Shore, which was heavily damaged by Superstorm Sandy last year.
Once on the ground, Obama urged the American people to make contributions, saying the damage was "pretty hard to comprehend."
Shortly after his arrival on a partly cloudy day, Obama rode past grassy fields strewn with scattered debris, witnessing devastation so awesome that it appeared as if garbage had literally rained from the sky. His first stop was the demolished site of the Plaza Towers Elementary School, where seven students were killed when the tornado turned the one-story building into a heap of bricks, broken concrete and twisted metal.
"I know this is tough," he told superintendent Susie Pierce as he gripped her hand. As he walked, the demolished school was on his left and on his right, homes as far as the eye could see were reduced to piles of rubble. Vehicles were turned upside down and toys like a pink doll carriage and children's books were strewn with furniture and ripped out wall insulation. Every tree had been stripped of its leaves and bark.
Obama at one point joined the Lewis family, which lost their home behind the school. He said the important thing was that they survived and could replace their things.
"What a mess," he told their son Zack, a third grader at the shattered school. Zack's father, Scott, ran into the school just before the storm hit and ran with his terrified son back to their home's storm shelter.
"You've got some story to tell," Obama told the boy. "This is something you'll remember all your life."
Obama later met privately with victims' families at Moore Fire Department Station (hash)1, which has turned into a command center with dozens of first responders sitting at folding tables where fire trucks are normally parked. Obama marveled that they saved so many lives "given the devastation."
"I know this is tough," he told superintendent Susie Pierce as he gripped her hand.
As he descended the stairs upon landing at Tinker Air Base near here, Obama was greeted first by Fallin, who had said earlier she appreciated the visit, but that her state also needed quick action from FEMA.
The Republican governor said that so far, the agency has done a great job of speeding relief and cash assistance to affected families, but said she's concerned about the long run.
"There's going to come a time when there's going to be a tremendous amount of need once we begin the debris clearing, which we already have, but really get it cleared off to where we need to start rebuilding these homes, rebuilding these businesses," she said on CBS' "Face the Nation." ''And we know at different times in the past, money hasn't come always as quickly as it should."
Fallin said the money is particularly vital for the victims. "A lot of people lose their checkbooks, they lose their credit cards, they lose their driver's license, their birth certificates, their insurance papers, they lose everything, and they have no cash. And some of the banks were even hit, the ATM machines, so people need cash to get immediate needs," she said on CBS.
Earnest touted the federal contributions so far, including Obama's signing of a disaster declaration within hours of the storm to speed aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Earnest said that 450 FEMA personnel were working on the ground in Oklahoma and have delivered 43,000 meals, 150,000 liters of water and thousands of cots, blankets and tarps. He said 4,200 people have applied for disaster assistance, and $3.4 million in payments have been approved.
Among the tornado victims were 10 children, including two sisters pulled by the strong winds out of their mother's grasp, an infant who died along with his mother trying to ride out the storm in a convenience store and seven students at Plaza Towers. Many students were pulled from the rubble after the school was destroyed.
After Obama departed, Fallin hosted an interdenominational religious service that drew 2,000 people.
"God will give us the ability to mend our broken hearts," Fallin said at the end of the 80-minute service. "We may be knocked down, but we will rise up again, and for that we thank God."
___
Associated Press Writer Justin Juozapavicius contributed to this report.
___
Follow Nedra Pickler on Twitter at https://twitter.com/nedrapickler
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Sunday, May 26, 2013
Texas makes teachers' pensions less reliant on markets
By Karen Brooks
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Texas lawmakers passed sweeping changes to the state's $116 billion teacher pension system on Sunday, including the first cost-of-living increase in a dozen years and a new requirement that school districts pay part of the expense.
The state, the teachers themselves and the school districts will increase contributions, making the Teachers Retirement System of Texas less reliant on market returns.
Without the changes, the healthcare account alone would have faced a $1 billion shortfall by 2017, supporters of the legislation said.
"We were upside-down earlier, because we were relying too much on investment returns," said state Senator Robert Duncan, Republican of Lubbock, who authored the legislation. "This puts us in a situation where we are actually having long-term fixed contributions rates that should support this system for a long time."
Teacher contributions to the Teachers Retirement System of Texas would increase over the next four years from 6.4 percent of their pay to 7.7 percent, and school districts would contribute 1.5 percent of total salary costs, up from zero.
The state contribution would increase from 6.4 percent of covered payroll to 6.8 percent starting in September.
Those three sources are expected to add some $600 million to the pension fund over the first two years, according to state documents.
The last time the state passed a cost-of-living increase for retired teachers was in 2001.
Under the plan passed Sunday, teachers who have been retired since early 2004 will see a three-percent increase in benefits, affecting some 195,000 teachers, or 60 percent of those in the system.
The law increases their monthly benefits by an average of $42, though it caps that increase at $100.
Teacher groups said they were disappointed the legislation decreased the pension and health benefits of hundreds of thousands of current employees who had already earned those benefits under the existing system.
Current employees with less than five years of service by August 2014 will have to work two extra years to get full retirement benefits under the new plan. The legislation raises the minimum retirement age for those employees from 60 to 62, according to the Texas branch of the American Federation of Teachers.
It also raises to 62 the minimum age at which a retiree is eligible for the TRS-Care health benefits beyond catastrophic coverage, reducing the benefits for hundreds of thousands of current employees, the group said.
That new requirement does not apply to members who by August 2014 meet a rule of 70, or age plus years of service equal to 70 or more, or have at least 25 years of service credit.
"One of our goals was to continue the stability of the system, and that has been done with the increased state contributions," said Linda Bridges, president of the Texas chapter of the American Federation of Teachers. "There's still more work to be done to improve the system for retirees and active members."
The Texas teachers' pension fund offers a defined-benefit plan and serves more than 1.3 million employed and retired teachers. The average annual teacher benefit is $22,764.
The pension fund is one of the world's largest private equity investors and has invested billions of dollars with firms including Apollo and KKR.
(Editing by Daniel Trotta and Philip Barbara)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/texas-makes-teachers-pensions-less-reliant-markets-234802827.html
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What's an American lawyer doing in Afghanistan?
Kimberley Motley, best known for defending a young girl imprisoned for 'adultery' after being raped and impregnated in 2010, is the first US lawyer to litigate on behalf of Afghans in Afghanistan.
Afghan police take cover following a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday. A suicide bomber struck in the heart of the Afghan capital on Friday, sending a plume of smoke billowing over Kabul and setting up a gun battle in the second major attack in the city in little over a week, police said.
Ahmad Jamshid/AP
EnlargeAs Western troops plan for the drawdown in Afghanistan, one American lawyer has set up her own private practice in the Afghan capital and doesn?t have plans to leave any time soon. She?s?too?focused on helping make sure the laws are enforced.?
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The lawyer, Kimberley Motley, is best known for defending a girl imprisoned for ?adultery? after being raped and impregnated by her attacker in 2010. The victim had received a 12-year sentence in appellate court with the alternative of marrying her rapist, and was serving the sentence when her case came to Ms. Motley?s attention.
She lodged a request for a presidential pardon citing Sharia law, Afghan law, and international conventions, while at the same time launching an online petition that garnered 6,000 Afghan signatures in three days.?The girl was granted the pardon in December 2011 by President Karzai and released to a shelter.
Motley is trying to lead by example. She says it is important to draw attention to human rights abuses through specific cases ? if the victims are willing to go public ? in order, she says, ?to create test cases of how things can be done.?
She made her first trip to Afghanistan in 2008 as part of the US government?s rule-of-law support program after five years working for the Wisconsin Public Defenders? Office.?
The aim of the program was to address a lack of general legal knowledge. Motley and the others on the program helped train?local defense lawyers and assisted them in writing legal briefs.?Motley personally helped write the brief for?the landmark 2009 appeal by an Afghan student who had been sentenced to death after downloading an article on women?s rights.
As she looked around at all the nongovernmental organizations and researchers in Kabul trying to help,?though,?she realized tangible results were?relatively?few and far between. ?
So, ?sick of all the report writing on capacity building,? she determined the best way she?could achieve results was to act directly within the system.?She started her own private legal services and consultancy firm, initially taking only foreign clients.?She then spent two and a half years gaining familiarity with the complications and intricacies of Afghan law and courts?before she decided it was time to accept her first Afghan client.
A series of firsts
Motley?s first case?for an Afghan client?didn?t?draw?much attention, but?some of her subsequent ones?have made international headlines and brought her death threats and an arrest warrant, which she shrugs off. ?It?s sort of standard operating procedure,? she says.?
In December Motley filed the first civil suit against government officials for refusing to act: A young law student reported spousal abuse to police who did nothing, and the student was later killed. The case is currently pending.?Many local colleagues in the area have expressed appreciation for Motley?s work but also concern over potential backlash from conservatives.?
"Sometimes international attention is needed,"?says Mary Akrami, who opened Kabul?s first women?s shelter and who represented Afghan civil society at the 2001 Bonn Conference. "But sometimes it is also very risky, given the reactions we?ve seen from conservatives.??
Ms. Akrami has reason for concern. The few shelters in the country are in danger of shutting down due both to a sharp reduction in funding from the international community and an immediate threat to the Elimination of Violence Against Women law from traditionalist members of Parliament.??
Hurdles
Motley is determined to make an impact on the system, but faces a number of hurdles, including corruption, lack of understanding of law ? among both the population and many of those working within the system itself ? and widespread distrust of the formal justice system.?Many of the traditionalists have no?formal training?in Afghan?constitutional?law.
There are a lot of people currently working in the justice system who have been there for years, prior to any reform, says Heather Barr a researcher from Human Rights Watch. She points out that there are judges and lawyers who never went to university and who ?cannot read and write well, let alone understand? Afghan law.?
"You see this in the poor quality of judicial decisions, in the fact that there really isn?t any tradition of case law, of precedent. So it?s a very, very weak system, and it?s a system where rule of law is really compromised. And this is one of the threats to stability here,'' says Ms. Barr.
''There?s this feeling that if somebody violates your rights, if somebody comes to your house and steals from you or kills you, the government isn?t necessarily able or ready to protect you."?
Another major problem, Barr notes, is that ?the formal justice system is absent in many parts of the country,? leaving many with little choice but to make recourse to?jirgas?and?shuras?to solve disputes: traditional systems in which neither women nor the young have any voice.?
In an attempt to address the inconsistency of decisions handed down and thus the population?s faith in the system, Motley recently launched a set of sentencing guidelines drawn up on the basis of Afghan law and in collaboration with the Italian Cooperation.
She noted that the Supreme Court had already ?gotten on board? with the project. The idea is to apply the guidelines initially to juvenile cases, training judges and assessing them, and then eventually incorporate them into the entire justice system. She hopes that the guidelines will play a major role in increasing accountability.??I feel very strongly about this,? she says. ?I think this is a very good way of building foundations, and I think I have enough institutional knowledge to create something like this.??
Overall, though, she says that "whether or not it?s sustainable is really up to the Afghan people ? it?s always been up to whether or not they really want it."
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/Kras8ZJmHwc/What-s-an-American-lawyer-doing-in-Afghanistan
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Female suicide bomber injures 18 in Russian region
MAKHACHKALA, Russia (AP) ? A female suicide bomber blew herself up in the southern Russian region of Dagestan on Saturday, injuring at least 18, including two children and five police officers, authorities said. The attacker was later identified as a widow of two Islamic radicals killed by security forces.
It was the first suicide bombing in Dagestan since the Boston Marathon attacks last month. The Tsarnaev brothers suspected of carrying out those blasts are ethnic Chechens who lived in this turbulent Caucasus province before moving to the U.S. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the elder brother who was killed in a shootout with police days after the April 15 bombings, spent six months in Dagestan in 2012.
Dagestan remains an epicenter of violence in the confrontation between Islamic radicals and federal forces. Islamic extremists strive to create an independent Muslim state, or "emirate," in the Caucasus and parts of southern Russia with a sizable Muslim population.
In Saturday's attack, the bomber detonated an explosives-laden belt in the central square in the provincial capital, Makhachkala, Dagestan's police spokesman Vyacheslav Gasanov said.
The woman was identified as Madina Alieva, 25, who married an Islamist who was killed in 2009 and then wedded another Islamic radical who was gunned down last year, police spokeswoman Fatina Ubaidatova said.
Since 2000, at least two dozen women, most of them from the Caucasus, have carried out suicide bombings in Russian cities and aboard trains and planes. All were linked to an Islamic insurgency that spread throughout Dagestan and the predominantly Muslim Caucasus region after two separatist wars in neighboring Chechnya.
The bombers are often called "black widows" in Russia because many are the widows, or other relatives, of militants killed by security forces. Islamic militants are believed to convince "black widows" that a suicide bombing will reunite them with their dead relatives beyond the grave.
Police said two of the people injured in the attack were in critical condition. There were no details about the injured children.
This week, a double explosion in Makhachkala killed four civilians and left 44 injured, while three security officers and three suspected militants have been killed in other incidents. One of the devices was in a parked car and the other was placed in a trash bin.
Although Chechen separatists were battered almost a decade ago, Islamists continue to move through the region's mountains and forests with comparative ease despite security sweeps by federal forces and police under the control of local leaders loyal to the Kremlin.
Human rights groups say that abductions, torture and extrajudicial killings of young men suspected of militant links by Russian security forces have helped swell the rebels' ranks. Caucasus experts say that Islamists routinely extort money from government officials and businessmen and attack or kill those who refuse to pay.
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Mansur Mirovalev contributed to this report from Moscow
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