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Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/video/cnbc/52344884/
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Sunday 30 June 2013
Tornado watch called after funnel cloud spotted near Choiceland
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A picture tweeted by @cazbone6 appears to show a funnel cloud near Nipawin Friday.
Photograph by: Twitter , @cazbone6 (Chad Caza)
Environment Canada has issued a tornado watch for the area around Melfort, Tisdale, Nipawin and Carrot River.
At around 10 a.m. Friday, a funnel cloud was spotted five kilometres north of Choiceland it was headed southeast at 20 kilometres per hour.
"Conditions are favourable for the development of funnel clouds or weak tornadoes," according to the notification on Environment Canada's website.
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Source: http://feeds.canada.com/~r/canwest/F280/~3/BgCnPitcxg0/story.html
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Saturday 29 June 2013
U.S. watchdog raps Pentagon for buying aircraft for Afghan unit
By David Alexander
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A government watchdog criticized the Pentagon on Friday for forging ahead with controversial helicopter purchases from a Russian arms dealer despite warnings the Afghan special forces unit due to receive the aircraft could not fly or maintain them.
The watchdog - the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction - urged the Pentagon to suspend the $553 million Russian arms deal as well as a $218 million contract for 18 planes from a U.S. firm until plans were in place to fully recruit and train the Afghan special forces unit.
The Pentagon was already under fire for agreeing this month to buy 30 additional Mi-17 helicopters from the Russian arms dealer, Rosoboronexport. That company is a major supplier of weapons to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is battling rebels trying to overthrow his government.
U.S. intelligence agencies concluded this month that Assad's forces have used chemical weapons, and the White House announced on June 13 that President Barack Obama had decided to provide direct military assistance to the Syrian opposition. The Pentagon announced the helicopter purchase five days later.
John Sopko, the special inspector general, noted in a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel that the Army entered into the new purchase agreement even though the Pentagon had a draft report from SIGAR recommending that aircraft purchases for the Afghan unit be suspended.
"We maintain that moving forward with the acquisition of these aircraft is imprudent," Sopko said in the letter.
The helicopter purchases are a difficult issue for the Pentagon. Defense officials say the Mi-17 is the best choice for Afghanistan because the aircraft handles the terrain and climate well and Afghan pilots, air crews and maintenance workers have dealt with the craft since the 1980s.
While U.S.-made helicopters would be a more sophisticated purchase, they are sensitive to Afghanistan's extreme conditions and require more specialized maintenance and longer training to master, they said.
Shifting the Afghan military to a significantly different aircraft would require completely retraining the fliers and maintenance workers, delaying the effort to build the country's helicopter capacity by about three years, said Lieutenant Colonel Jim Gregory.
The special inspector general, in its investigation of the aircraft sales, found that the Afghan Special Mission Wing, which will support counterterrorism and counternarcotics operations, had only 180 personnel earlier this year, less than a quarter of the 860 people envisioned for the force by July 2015.
Control of the force initially was to be split between the Afghan Interior and Defense ministries, and tensions between the departments was hampering recruitment, the report said. A memorandum of understanding shifting control to the Defense Ministry has been drafted but remains unsigned, it said.
The inspector general recommended aircraft purchases for the unit be suspended until the memorandum is signed transferring command and control of the unit to the Defense Ministry.
His office also recommended a series of other steps, including tying acquisition and delivery of new aircraft to completion of personnel and other milestones and developing plans for transferring maintenance and logistics to the Afghans.
The Pentagon and NATO training mission in Afghanistan rejected the request to suspend the aircraft contracts, saying it would delay efforts to build the unit into a capable force. They agreed to SIGAR's other recommendations.
The Pentagon began buying helicopters for Afghan forces from Rosoboronexport in May 2011, when it agreed to purchase 21. Last year it exercised an option to buy an additional 12, bringing the total to 33.
Including the new contract this month, the Pentagon has spent more than $1 billion on helicopters and related maintenance and service with the Russian firm.
The arms deals with Rosoboronexport have outraged some U.S. lawmakers. Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, who sponsored a ban on such purchases, said it was "simply outrageous" for the United States to be buying weapons from Assad's top arms supplier.
Congress barred purchases from Rosoboronexport in the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act, but officials said the Pentagon used 2012 funding to pay for the 30 helicopters purchased this month.
(Editing by Stacey Joyce)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-watchdog-raps-pentagon-buying-aircraft-afghan-unit-040603914.html
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Chinese firm accused of stealing US software
MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- China's largest wind turbine company and three people are accused of trade secrets from a U.S. software company, the Justice Department announced Thursday.
An indictment handed up in Wisconsin alleges Sinovel Wind Group and the three individuals stole proprietary wind turbine software technology from Devens, Mass.-based AMSC, formerly known as American Superconductor Inc., cheating the American company out of more than $800 million.
It alleges the defendants stole software that was developed in Wisconsin by downloading it from an AMSC computer in Middleton, Wis., to a computer in Austria.
None of the individual defendants is in custody. The Justice Department said two of them are Sinovel employees who live in China, while one who now lives in Serbia formerly worked for an AMSC subsidiary in Austria.
The indictment charges Sinovel; Su Liying, 36, the deputy director of Sinovel's research and development department; Zhao Haichun, 33, a technology manager for Sinovel; and Dejan Karabasevic, 40, a former employee of AMSC Windtec GmbH, an AMSC subsidiary in Klagenfurt, Austria; with one count each of conspiracy to commit trade secret theft, theft of trade secrets and wire fraud.
Sinovel officials did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
AMSC issued a statement calling on the Obama administration and Congress to re-evaluate the U.S. trade relationship with China. It said the stolen software was used in four Sinovel turbines that have been installed in Massachusetts.
"The fact that Sinovel has exported stolen American intellectual property from China back into the United States ? less than 40 miles from our global headquarters ? shows not only a blatant disrespect for intellectual property but a disregard for international trade law," Daniel McGahn, AMSC's president and CEO, said in a news release.
McGahn said more than 500 AMSC employees around the world have lost their jobs because of Sinovel's actions.
AMSC said it filed four civil actions against Sinovel in China in March 2011 after the company abruptly broke several contracts, and that it asked Chinese police to bring criminal cases against Sinovel and some of its employees after it discovered the theft a few months later, all without any apparent success.
"The allegations in this indictment describe a well-planned attack on an American business by international defendants ? nothing short of attempted corporate homicide," John Vaudreuil, the U.S. attorney for the western district of Wisconsin, said in a news release.
According to the indictment, the AMSC software was designed to regulate the flow of electricity from wind turbines to electrical grids and to keep wind turbines operational when there is a temporary dip in the flow of electricity in the grid.
If convicted, Sinovel faces a maximum penalty on each count of five years of probation and fines on each count of up to $1.6 billion, the Justice Department said. Su, Zhao and Karabasevic each face a maximum penalty of five years in prison on the conspiracy charge, 10 years in prison for theft of a trade secret and 20 years in prison for wire fraud.
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Online
AMSC: http://www.amsc.com
Sinovel's English site: http://www.sinovel.com/en/index.aspx
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chinese-firm-accused-stealing-us-011930626.html
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Fracking critics unhappy with Obama climate speech
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- President Barack Obama's speech this week on climate change forcefully rejected some key arguments made by opponents of natural gas fracking, upsetting some environmental groups that otherwise back his climate goals.
Obama, in his address Tuesday calling for urgent action to address climate change, praised what he called "cleaner-burning natural gas" and its role in providing safe, cheap power that he said can also help reduce U.S. carbon dioxide emissions.
Regulators in many states with heavy new drilling activity say fracking, a colloquial term for hydraulic fracturing, is being done safely and is essentially similar to the hundreds of thousands of oil and gas wells that have been drilled all over the nation.
The drilling boom has reduced oil and gas imports and generated billions of dollars for companies and landowners. Many scientists and environmental groups also agree with Obama's main point: that while there are some negative effects from natural gas, burning coal is far worse for the environment and public health. There's no dispute that natural gas burns far cleaner than coal, but its main component, methane, is a potent heat-trapping gas.
Some environmental groups advocate a total rejection of all fossil fuels and an all-out effort to switch to renewables such as wind turbines and solar panels. They also say people living close to drilling operations have suffered from too much pollution.
"When it comes to natural gas, the president is taking the wrong path," Deb Nardone, the head of the Sierra Club's Beyond Natural Gas program, wrote in a blog post.
Robert Howarth, a Cornell University professor who argues that methane leaks from drilling negate other climate benefits of gas, said in an email to The Associated Press that he is "extremely disappointed in the President's position" and said the support for natural gas "is very likely to do more to aggravate global change than to help solve it."
Not so, Obama said.
Advances in drilling, the president said, have "helped drive our carbon pollution to its lowest levels in nearly 20 years," and "we'll keep working with the industry to make drilling safer and cleaner, to make sure that we're not seeing methane emissions."
"These critics seem to think that when we ask our businesses to innovate and reduce pollution and lead, they can't or they won't do it," Obama added, mentioning that taking lead out of gasoline and the phase-out of ozone-depleting gases were examples of the industry making needed changes.
The Sierra Club and some activists argue that fracking comes with unacceptable levels of air and water pollution and that "no state has adequate protections in place."
Obama disagreed.
"The old rules may say we can't protect our environment and promote economic growth at the same time," Obama said. "Don't tell folks that we have to choose between the health of our children or the health of our economy."
Critics have also claimed that the fracking boom just makes a few energy companies rich, and that average Americans get few benefits. But Obama responded by saying "The bottom line is natural gas is creating jobs. It's lowering many families' heat and power bills."
Some environmental groups agree with Obama's position that switching from coal-fired power to natural gas has helped reduce emissions and protect the environment.
The Breakthrough Institute, an Oakland, Calif., think tank, said in a report released Wednesday that despite problems and legitimate concerns over fracking, the gas industry has "a far smaller impact on mortality and disease, landscapes, waterways, air pollution, and local communities than coal mining and coal burning."
"Natural gas is a net environmental benefit at local, regional, national, and global levels," the Breakthrough report said.
One Pennsylvania Democrat jumped to endorse Obama's fracking plan. Gas from the Marcellus Shale formation there has led to a huge surge in drilling and production over the last five years.
Sen. Bob Casey said he plans to introduce legislation to place more natural gas fueling stations along Interstate highways. Casey said the plan could "help reduce emissions and create jobs."
But some other Democrats were silent. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is trying to decide whether to allow fracking to begin in a small part of his state and is facing heavy opposition from some groups.
Cuomo had no immediate comment Thursday about the speech but said his decision will be based on New York state's own health report and data from Pennsylvania's experience.
Industry groups welcomed Obama's strong support for gas.
"We are pleased to see that President Obama's climate action plan recognizes natural gas as a key component of America's clean energy future," Don Santa, the president the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, said in a statement.
At the core of Obama's plan are new controls on new and existing power plants that emit carbon dioxide, a heat-trapping gas blamed largely for global warming. Coal-fired power plants would be under the most pressure, since they emit far more pollution than ones that burn natural gas.
The program also will boost renewable energy production on federal lands, increase efficiency standards and prepare communities to deal with higher temperatures. Obama called for the U.S. to be a global leader in the search for solutions to climate change.
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Follow Kevin Begos at https://twitter.com/kbegos
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fracking-critics-unhappy-obama-climate-194620419.html
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Early brain stimulation may help stroke survivors recover language function
June 27, 2013 ? Non-invasive brain stimulation may help stroke survivors recover speech and language function, according to new research in the American Heart Association journal Stroke.
Between 20 percent to 30 percent of stroke survivors have aphasia, a disorder that affects the ability to grasp language, read, write or speak. It's most often caused by strokes that occur in areas of the brain that control speech and language.
"For decades, skilled speech and language therapy has been the only therapeutic option for stroke survivors with aphasia," said Alexander Thiel, M.D., study lead author and associate professor of neurology and neurosurgery at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. "We are entering exciting times where we might be able in the near future to combine speech and language therapy with non-invasive brain stimulation earlier in the recovery. This could result in earlier and more efficient aphasia recovery and also have an economic impact."
In the small study, researchers treated 24 stroke survivors with several types of aphasia at the rehabilitation hospital Rehanova and the Max-Planck-Institute for neurological research in Cologne, Germany. Thirteen received transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and 11 got sham stimulation.
The TMS device is a handheld magnetic coil that delivers low intensity stimulation and elicits muscle contractions when applied over the motor cortex.
During sham stimulation the coil is placed over the top of the head in the midline where there is a large venous blood vessel and not a language-related brain region. The intensity for stimulation was lower intensity so that participants still had the same sensation on the skin but no effective electrical currents were induced in the brain tissue.
Patients received 20 minutes of TMS or sham stimulation followed by 45 minutes of speech and language therapy for 10 days.
The TMS groups' improvements were on average three times greater than the non-TMS group, researchers said. They used German language aphasia tests, which are similar to those in the United States, to measure language performance of the patients.
"TMS had the biggest impact on improvement in anomia, the inability to name objects, which is one of the most debilitating aphasia symptoms," Thiel said.
Researchers, in essence, shut down the working part of the brain so that the stroke-affected side could relearn language. "This is similar to physical rehabilitation where the unaffected limb is immobilized with a splint so that the patients must use the affected limb during the therapy session," Thiel said.
"We believe brain stimulation should be most effective early, within about five weeks after stroke, because genes controlling the recovery process are active during this time window," he said.
Thiel said the result of this study opens the door to larger, multi-center trials. The NORTHSTAR study has been funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and will be launched at four Canadian sites and one German site later in 2013.
The Walter and Marga Boll and Wolf-Dieter-Heiss Foundations funded the current study.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/QC3RAuNF0D0/130627161434.htm
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Friday 28 June 2013
Recollections from hundreds of executions in Texas
HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) ? About once every three weeks, I watch someone die.
Beginning in 1984 when I arrived in Texas for The Associated Press, I've been just a few feet away as one convicted killer after another took a final breath in the Texas death chamber in Huntsville, where the state's 500th execution in modern times took place Wednesday.
I really don't know how many I've seen. I lost count years ago and have no desire to reconstruct a tally.
While death penalty cases are not the only assignments I cover, those certainly leave the strongest impressions.
One inmate, Jonathan Nobles, sang "Silent Night" as his last words as he was receiving the lethal injection. He got to "Round yon virgin, mother and child" before gasping and losing consciousness. Christmas, for me, never has been the same.
When I walked into the death chamber to witness Bob Black's execution, he called my name, said hello and asked how I was doing. What do you say to an otherwise healthy man seconds away from death?
J.D. "Cowboy" Autry was the first lethal injection I saw, in March 1984. A female friend of his who was a witness loudly sobbed about his "pretty brown eyes." Moments later, Autry's eyelids popped open as he died, revealing for a final time his brown eyes.
Autry's case was a memorable one. Six months earlier he was on the gurney with the needles in his arms when the U.S. Supreme Court issued a last-minute reprieve. To make sure no one had to make the final walk twice again, the prison stopped taking inmates to the death chamber until all appeals were resolved.
I remember Charles Rumbaugh's mangled hand, the result of being shot by a federal marshal he attacked in a courtroom. Henry Lee Lucas, who avoided execution when it was determined he hadn't really committed the hundreds of murders he had copped to, always had orange-tinged fingertips from rolling his own cigarettes. The arms of Angel Resendiz, the notorious "Railroad Killer," were scarred by repeated self-inflicted razor cuts. Markham Duff-Smith, who insisted he didn't kill four relatives, made a death chamber confession.
The death chamber, for 50 years home to the electric chair, has undergone its own changes. The gurney, once on wheels, is a permanent pedestal-like structure bolted to the tile floor. The simple horizontal bar between the inmate and the viewing area was replaced by a thick transparent plastic wall after a needle popped out of Raymond Landry's arm, spraying the lethal drugs toward me and other witnesses.
The first executions were carried out just after midnight. Years later, death warrants were set to take effect at 6 p.m., more convenient for lawyers and judges and less costly in prison overtime.
Some executions came with raucous public demonstrations outside. When Ronald Clark O'Bryan, known as "The Candy Man," was executed for lacing his son's Halloween candy ? a Pixy Stick ? with cyanide so he could collect on an insurance policy, dozens of students dressed in Halloween costumes filled the streets. One carried a giant Pixy Stick replica that looked like a barber pole.
One convict, Ponchai Wilkerson, spit out a hidden handcuff key in his mouth as he was about to die. A Houston judge added a smiley face to his signature on Robert Drew's execution warrant. Carl Kinnamon gave a long final statement in hopes of delaying the procedure until his death warrant expired. He thanked me and others for covering his case, then tried to wriggle out of the leather restraints.
The final statements ? which some victims' relatives have criticized as providing prisoners with an opportunity their slain loved ones never had ? have included songs, poems, prayers and Bible verses. Some inmates have spouted profanity. At least two prisoners thanked the Dallas Cowboys for brightening their lives.
Patrick Knight held a contest dubbed "Dead Man Laughing," encouraging people to send him a joke to tell from the chamber. He said he got 1,300 responses. The "joke" turned out to be Knight's claim that the person being executed wasn't really Patrick Knight. But fingerprints confirmed it was.
Richard Hinojosa repeatedly invoked "Yahweh" during his final words as thunder boomed and lightning crackled outside, adding an eerie backdrop to the proceeding.
Johnny Frank Garrett thanked his family for loving and caring for him, then added: "And the rest of the world can kiss my ass."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/recollections-hundreds-executions-texas-234721680.html
IFC Midnight takes U.S. rights to Supernatural Thriller '+1'
By Jeff Sneider
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - IFC Midnight has acquired U.S. rights to Dennis Iliadis' supernatural thriller "+1," which stars Rhys Wakefield ("The Purge") Ashley Hinshaw ("Chronicle"), Logan Miller and Natalie Hall.
Written by Bill Gullo and based on a story by "Last House on the Left" director Iliadis, "+1" premiered at the 2013 South by Southwest Festival.
Story follows three college friends who go to the biggest party of the year, each looking for something different: love, sex and a simple human connection. When a mysterious phenomenon disrupts the party, it quickly descends into chaos that challenges their friendships and survival skills.
Tim Perell ("World's Greatest Dad") produced the film, which was executive produced by Brothers Strause, Edson Williams, Thomas Nittmann and Guy Botham. The movie was shot by cinematographer Mihai Malmaire, who did gorgeous work on Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master."
"+1" is a Process Production in partnership with leading VFX company Lola/Hydraulx ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"), which provided visual effects for the film.
"Dennis Iliadis has created a sexy, thrilling mind-bender that delivers on many levels. We look forward to bringing it to the widest audience possible," said Jonathan Sehring, president of Sundance Selects/IFC Films.
Deal was negotiated by Jeff Deutchman for Sundance Selects/IFC Films with CAA on behalf of the filmmakers.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ifc-midnight-takes-u-rights-supernatural-thriller-1-001434240.html
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Thursday 27 June 2013
4 officers shot in 2 separate attacks in LA
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Four officers were shot in two separate attacks on Los Angeles law enforcement, leading to a manhunt in one case and a SWAT response to a barricaded suspect in the other.
In the first shooting, a black-clad gunman ambushed two undercover detectives returning to a police station early Tuesday.
Police Chief Charlie Beck described the shooting as an attempted assassination and mobilized a huge search involving helicopters, dogs and about 200 officers. The officers' wounds didn't prevent them from aiding the hunt for the attacker. Police still had not found the suspect early Wednesday.
Police initially cordoned off 25 square blocks of the Mid-City area of Los Angeles, leaving thousands of residents stranded in homes and forcing drivers to find detours for their morning commutes.
Later in the day, the search focused on a neighborhood just south of the LAPD's Wilshire substation, where the attack occurred.
At least 10 people were detained for questioning and released. Police also planned to look at surveillance video from homes and businesses.
One officer suffered a minor wound to the back of his head, either from a bullet graze or debris from the damaged car, officials said. The other had an injury to the back of his hand.
Across town Tuesday evening a police officer aiding in a probation check near South Los Angeles was shot in the face and the gunman barricaded himself inside a home.
The officer was hospitalized in stable condition Tuesday night and will require surgery, according to Los Angeles Police Cmdr. Andrew Smith. Television footage from the scene showed the victim awake and sitting up as he was loaded into an ambulance following the shooting on 117th Street in the Willowbrook area.
A probation officer suffered a minor graze wound to his leg. He was treated at the scene.
The two officers were carrying out a search of the house when they encountered the gunman, who opened fire, Smith said.
At least five officers exchanged gunfire with the suspect.
The officers were part of a unit conducting a parole-probation search of the home in an area patrolled by the LA County Sheriff's Department, the Los Angeles Times said.
Dozens of police officers including a SWAT team with snipers surrounded the home. Negotiators were talking to the gunman. Several surrounding homes were evacuated.
Officials said the two incidents did not appear to be connected.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/4-officers-shot-2-separate-attacks-la-070937774.html
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Myanmar's telecom race enters final stretch
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) ? Foreign companies will tap into one of the world's final telecom frontiers Thursday when Myanmar hands out licenses to operate two new mobile phone networks ? part of efforts by the long-isolated nation to use technology to spur economic development.
Currently less than 6 million of country's 60 million people have mobile phones, putting it on par with North Korea when it comes to connectivity. The government hopes it will be able to push mobile phone usage rates to 80 percent within three years by releasing its grip on the industry.
Those are the kinds of numbers that have left international telecom consortiums salivating.
Of the 90 that initially submitted bids, 11 have been shortlisted including Singapore Telecommunications, Bharti Airtel of India, KDDI Corporation of Japan, Telenor of Norway and Digicel of the Caribbean ? some opening offices and even recruiting staff in gleeful anticipation of the announcement.
"It's a great first start," said Richard Dobbs, director of the McKinsey Global Institute. "My only hope is that the winners will move quickly to get broadband ? either 2G, 3G or 4G ? rolled out countrywide."
He said the government views the opening of telecommunications to foreign investment as an opportunity to spur the type of rapid economic growth that has raised living standards in other developing countries.
"This should not just be about profit maximizing," he said. "It should be about enabling other services," Dobbs said.
By using mobile banking and e-commerce the country may be able to spread banking and other consumer services more widely and at a reduced cost. Mobile telecommunications could also extend health and education services to even the remotest villages.
Myanmar, located in the heart of one of the fastest growing regions in the world, became one of the most isolated and poorest nations during its half-century of iron-clad military rule.
After taking control of a quasi-civilian government in 2011, former general Thein Sein started implementing promised political and economic reforms.
But the country faces monumental development challenges. Some roads are almost unnavigable, with pot holes several meters wide. Electricity blackouts are routine. Real estate prices in the commercial capital Yangon rival New York City due to limited supply and a surge in demand brought on by the country's emergence from isolation.
The communications industry, long-neglected by the country's military rulers, is in need of a complete overhaul. That's in part because the original network set up by the country's military rulers was intended for only a tiny number of subscribers ? mostly the rich. Up until a few years ago, the cost of SIM cards could reach $2,000.
Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google, says there are tremendous advantages to starting from scratch.
"You all will have an opportunity to skip all the previous ... generations of technology," he told a group of young business leaders during a visit to Yangon earlier this year.
"You'll have fiberoptic cable in your cities. You'll have 3G and 4G networks that will connect to smartphones. You will literally leapfrog 20 years of difficult to maintain infrastructure."
Experts are quick to point out, however, that while the potential returns for the winners of Thursday's bid are staggering, so are the risks.
Investors preparing to invest billions of dollars are rightly nervous about how political reform will evolve, whether the government can maintain the fragile peace between ethnic groups, and how regulation and ownership rights will develop.
The government insists a new industry regulator will take over within the next few years, but the job is still effectively in the hands of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. A telecom bill to set the legal framework for the industry is stuck in parliament.
Foreign companies "will be entering the market while the process is still taking place and major reforms are yet to happen," said Peter Evans, a senior analyst at the telecom research group, BuddComm.
It's also unclear what role the state-owned incumbent telecom operator, Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications, will be playing. The idea is that it will eventually be divorced from state control but what its structure, funding and role will be at this time remains unclear.
Yatanarpon, which is majority government-owned and primarily an Internet service provider until now, has a much smaller network. And also newly on the scene is the army-owned Myanmar Economic Corporation.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/myanmars-telecom-race-enters-final-stretch-072823693.html
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Wednesday 26 June 2013
Chris Brown charged with misdemeanor hit-and-run
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? The Los Angeles city attorney's office has charged singer Chris Brown with misdemeanor hit-and-run and driving without a valid license.
City attorney spokesman Frank Mateljan says the charges filed Tuesday involve a minor accident on May 21 in the San Fernando Valley.
If convicted, Brown would face up to one year in jail.
Arraignment is scheduled for July 15 at the Van Nuys courthouse, but an attorney can appear on Brown's behalf.
Mateljan says the county district attorney's office will be notified of the charges and it will be up to that office and the courts to determine if the case will have any effect on Brown's felony probation in the 2009 beating of singer Rihanna.
A call seeking comment from a Brown representative was not immediately returned Tuesday.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chris-brown-charged-misdemeanor-hit-run-181636948.html
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Why You Can't Get Stoned from Smoking Hemp
It's an honest mistake, thinking that marijuana and industrial hemp are one and the same. And in some ways they are: both are species of the genus cannabis, they both have the iconic five-fingered pot leafs, and both are widely sought after the world over. But aside from their outward appearance, they two have very little in common, including where it counts the most.
A Quick History of Hemp
We've been cultivating hemp for more than 12,000 years, making it one of humanity's earliest domesticated plants. While the Chinese have used the material in everything from shoes to paper since at least the 5th century BC, it did not arrive in Western Europe until relatively recently.
Cannabis sativa, "grew and was known in the Neolithic period all across the northern latitudes, from Europe (Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Romania, Ukraine) to East Asia (Tibet and China)," stated Elizabeth Wayland Barber in her book Prehistoric Textiles: The Development of Cloth in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages with Special Reference to the Aegean, noting that it did not reach Western Europe until the Iron Age. "I strongly suspect, however, that what catapulted hemp to sudden fame and fortune as a cultigen and caused it to spread rapidly westwards in the first millennium BC was the spread of the habit of pot-smoking from somewhere in south-central Asia, where the drug-bearing variety of the plant originally occurred. The linguistic evidence strongly supports this theory, both as to time and direction of spread and as to cause."
When it did land in Europe, hemp became a very valuable crop as its fibers could be processed into rope and sailcloth, as Christopher Columbus did. What's more, hemp fibers have proven themselves longer, stronger, more absorbent and insular than cotton, which is why George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew it. The plant has even shown promise as both a biogas precursor, thanks to the long hydrocarbons in its oil, and as a soybean replacement, as it contains more fatty acids and dietary fiber than soy.
Today, hemp is big business. China is the single largest grower and exporter of industrial hemp, though more than 30 countries produce the crop. It goes into everything from foodstuffs to cosmetics to textiles. Hemp is legal to import into the United States; however, due to our draconian prohibition of cannabis, hemp is illegal to grow, at least on the federal level. Nineteen states have enacted legislation to promote the use of hemp while another nine?Colorado, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia?have legalized its production outright.
A Weed by Any Other Name
As any self-respecting stoner can tell you, there are two strains of weed that get you high
Sativas are especially high in THC (containing anywhere from 10 to 30 percent THC), which produces the euphoric stoner "head high," and low in CBD, which has been shown to relieve a number of maladies. Indicas are also high in THC but have elevated levels of CBD, which provides a mellower "body high." Ruderalis is the inverse of sativas in that they contain virtually zero THC and massive amounts of CBD. This is the result of both the species' natural disposition and generations of breeding.
The certified low-THC varieties used in Europe and Canada contain maybe 0.2 to 0.3 percent THC when fully matured, and even the lesser-used varieties bred as biofuel precursors top out at 1 percent THC by volume. Trying to get high smoking a one percent THC concentration would be akin to getting hammered on O'Douls, as studies have shown that a sub-one percent concentration produces the same effects as placebo. What's more, the large amounts of the non-psychotropic antagonistic CBD compound further overwhelms the effects of the THC.
As Test Pledge, an arm of the Hemp Industries Association, suggested in a 2000 study, industrial hemp doesn't even contain enough THC to set off a common pre-employment urine test:
Even industrial hemp varieties, bred for low THC content, produce small non-psychoactive quantities of THC - short for delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. If seeds are not properly cleaned after harvesting, excess trace residual THC sticks to their hulls and infuses oil and other products. Until 1998, when thoroughly cleaned seeds from Canada and the European Union became widely available, hemp oil containing more than 50 parts per million (ppm) of THC was often found in the market. While too low in THC to cause psychoactivity, studies have shown that such oil may produce a positive drug test for marijuana. Of course, that has also caused a few cases of alleged false-positives in workplace drug testing.
To determine whether current hemp foods can still cause positive drug tests, a Canadian governmental research program (ARDI) and members of the hemp industry commissioned a toxicological study. 15 individuals consumed hemp oil with a known THC concentration. Four different daily doses were given, each for a ten-day period, to allow the THC concentration to reach steady-state concentration in the body. At the end of each period, two urine samples were collected and analyzed. The study found that none of the 15 individuals who consumed up to 600 ?g (micrograms, or one-millionth of a gram) of THC per day were even close to producing a urine sample that was "confirmed positive".
With current seed-cleaning technology and the correspondingly low trace THC levels in hemp oil and hemp nut, producing a confirmed positive test result would require that unrealistically high amounts of hemp oil or hemp nut be eaten. The practice of "confirming" all urine samples, which test positive in an initial screening test is followed by all federal and most private employers. Because some employers and law enforcement agencies rely on screening tests only, screening positive results caused by copious hemp food ingestion are conceivable, yet not likely.
Turns out the well-worn idiom, "you'd need to smoke a hemp joint the size of a telephone pole to get high" isn't that far from the truth. [Cannabis News - Test Pledge - Wikipedia - 420 Times - HuffPo - National Cancer Institute - Top Image: paul prescott/ Shutterstock]
Source: http://gizmodo.com/why-you-cant-get-stoned-from-smoking-hemp-514157145
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Conversations with teens about weight linked with increased risk of unhealthy eating behaviors
June 24, 2013 ? Conversations between parents and adolescents that focus on weight and size are associated with an increased risk for unhealthy adolescent weight-control behaviors, according to a study published Online First by JAMA Pediatrics.
The study by University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, researchers also found that overweight or obese adolescents whose mothers engaged in conversations that were focused only on healthful eating behaviors were less likely to diet and use unhealthy weight-control behaviors (UWCBs).
"Because adolescence is a time when more youths engage in disordered eating behaviors, it is important for parents to understand what types of conversations may be helpful or harmful in regard to disordered eating behaviors and how to have these conversations with their adolescents," Jerica M. Berge, Ph.D., M.P.H., L.M.F.T., of the University of Minnesota Medical School, and colleagues write in the study background.
The study used data from two linked population-based studies and included surveys completed by adolescents and parents. The study's final sample consisted of 2,348 adolescents (average age, 14.4 years) and 3,528 parents.
Among overweight adolescents whose mothers engaged in healthful eating conversations compared with those whose mothers did not engage in healthful eating conversations, there was a significantly lower prevalence of dieting (40.1 percent vs. 53.4 percent, respectively) and UWCBs (40.6 percent vs. 53.2 percent, respectively), according to the study results.
The results also indicate that weight conversations from one parent or from both parents were associated with a significantly higher prevalence of dieting relative to parents who engaged in only healthful eating conversations (35.2 percent and 37.1 percent vs. 21.2 percent, respectively). The study also found that adolescents whose fathers engaged in weight conversations were significantly more likely to engage in dieting and UWCBs than adolescents whose fathers did not.
"Finally, for parents who may wonder whether talking with their adolescent child about eating habits and weight is useful or detrimental, results from this study indicate that they may want to focus on discussing and promoting healthful eating behaviors rather than discussing weight and size, regardless of whether their child is nonoverweight or overweight," the authors conclude.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/living_well/~3/ayL4822PGio/130624172806.htm
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Tuesday 25 June 2013
Sony Xperia C S39h is company's first MediaTek device, does the dual-SIM trick
There's no denying that MediaTek is becoming mainstream these days, to the point that even Sony finally decided to join the party. The manufacturer's first attempt in this space is the Xperia C (S39h), a 5-inch qHD phone with dual-SIM capability (WCDMA and GSM) destined for China Unicom, and it'll come in either black, white or purple. Like many flagship devices from Chinese brands these days, the handset packs a quad-core MediaTek MT6589 SoC, along with an 8-megapixel camera -- Exmor R, specifically -- with voice shutter function. On top of the hardware, users in China will also have access to 3 million tracks from local music content provider Duomi. There's no price or date just yet, so we'll be keeping an eye out for further announcements.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Sony
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/mIqhaQ-oUgw/
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By taking in Snowden, Ecuador would defy US again
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ? President Rafael Correa of Ecuador embraces his role as a thorn in Washington's side, railing against U.S. imperialism in speeches and giving WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange refuge in his nation's embassy in London.
But nothing Correa has done to rankle the United States is likely to infuriate as much as granting the asylum being sought by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who faces espionage charges back home after revealing details of two highly secret surveillance programs.
WikiLeaks, which has been assisting Snowden, said Sunday that he formally requested asylum from Ecuador. Ecuador's foreign minister confirmed receiving the request, and analysts said the precedent set by Assange's case suggested Correa would honor it.
Snowden flew from Hong Kong to Moscow on Sunday, and Aeroflot confirmed that he was booked to fly to Cuba on Monday. The reports said he was then booked on a flight to Venezuela, another South American country whose government has touchy relations with Washington.
Both Cuba and Venezuela previously had been rumored as possible destinations for Snowden, although they now appeared more likely to be only transit points on the way to Ecuador.
"Correa may find it hard to resist the temptation to get increased attention and seize this opportunity to provoke and defy the U.S.," said Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue think tank. "Correa is confrontational and relishes fights. Should he ultimately grant Snowden asylum, one hopes that Correa has thought through the likely consequences of such a decision."
Taking in Snowden certainly would increase Correa's popularity among those who see him as a champion of open information, help him counter criticism of a new media law that some call an assault on freedom of speech in Ecuador and cement his name as a leading voice of opposition to U.S. foreign policy.
But it could threaten preferential access to U.S. markets for Ecuadorean goods under the U.S. Andean Trade Preference Act, and strain already shaky ties between two nations that only last year re-established full diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level.
Some 45 percent of Ecuadorean exports went to the United States last year, accounting for about 400,000 jobs in the small nation.
Giving Snowden asylum for leaking secret information would be "irresponsible," former Ecuadorean diplomat Mauricio Gandara said.
"It would be an illegal act, because what he has done is a crime in both the United States and Ecuador," said Gandara, who was Ecuador's ambassador in London. "It is a confrontation with the people and government of the United States and both (political) parties. It is an unnecessary conflict."
Ecuadorean analyst Grace Jaramillo said Washington takes the Snowden case more seriously than Assange's because it involves an internal leak of intelligence activities that otherwise operate in total secrecy.
"The United States will keep pushing until the end for Snowden to be handed over, and could even resort to commercial sanctions or direct intervention if the case becomes difficult," Jaramillo said.
Yet, granting him safe passage and refuge has appeal for Ecuador as well as Cuba and Venezuela, which have all been criticized for rules limiting independent media.
"This is a case in which I think the U.S. does not look all that good," said David Smilde, a Venezuela expert at the University of Georgia.
"I think it's quite useful for either Venezuela or Ecuador to grant a person like this asylum, because it allows them to sort of deflect attention towards the United States and the United States' own shortcomings," Smilde said.
The Cuban state controls all TV, radio and newspapers. Venezuela has done things like forcing TV stations off the air by not renewing licenses and detaining people for tweets deemed destabilizing. Ecuador's media law, approved last week, establishes official media overseers, imposes sanctions for besmirching personal reputations and limits private ownership to a third of radio and TV licenses.
But Cuba and Venezuela are both in the midst of quiet thaws in long-chilly ties with the United States, and taking in Snowden would likely damage those efforts.
Last week, Cuba and the United States held talks on restarting direct mail service, and announced that a separate sit-down to discuss immigration issues will be held in Washington on July 17.
Diplomats and officials from both countries also report far greater cooperation in behind-the-scenes dealings, including during a brief incident involving a Florida couple who sought asylum in Cuba after kidnapping their own children. Cuba worked with U.S. officials to quickly send the couple back to face justice.
Philip Peters, a longtime Cuba analyst, said allowing Snowden to pass through Cuban territory would not necessarily doom rapprochement, though he acknowledged the fallout would be unpredictable.
"My guess is that it would be a blip, because Cuba, by allowing him to pass through Cuban territory, is hardly embracing his actions, or sheltering him or giving him asylum," Peters said.
It's the same story for Venezuela, which earlier this month agreed to high-level negotiations on restoring ambassadorial relations and easing more than a decade of sour ties. That announcement came after a meeting in Guatemala between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elias Jaua.
Caracas has huge commercial dealings with the United States, which remains the No. 1 buyer of Venezuela's oil.
"It's much better for President Nicolas Maduro that (Snowden) is not going to Venezuela," said Gregory Weeks, a political scientist specializing in Latin America at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. "It's something that Maduro really doesn't want to have to deal with, whereas Correa, he's already in it (by giving Assange asylum). So of all the places to go, Ecuador is logical."
Being placed on the international stage by Snowden's asylum bid drew mixed reactions from Ecuadoreans.
"People who steal information or any other thing should face the consequences, and Ecuador shouldn't get involved," said Maria Jimenez, a 42-year-old homemaker.
Jorge Rojas Cruzatti, a 34-year-old web designer, disagreed.
"I'm proud of my country ... and more than pride, I'm glad that human rights are being protected," he said. "Other countries wouldn't dare grant this type of support to citizens who are helping protect freedom of expression."
___
Associated Press writers Gonzalo Solano in Quito, Ecuador; Paul Haven in Havana; Vivian Sequera in Bogota, Colombia; and Luis Andres Henao in Santiago, Chile, contributed to this report.
___
Peter Orsi on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Peter_Orsi
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/taking-snowden-ecuador-defy-us-again-090726069.html
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Monday 24 June 2013
Pregnant Jessica Simpson Steps Out For Lunch With Fianc? (PHOTO)
Celebuzz:
Jessica Simpson continued to bask in her pregnant glow this weekend with a lunch outing in sunny California.
Read the whole story at Celebuzz
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Jessica Simpson continued to bask in her pregnant glow this weekend with a lunch outing in sunny California.
Filed by Youyoung Lee ?|?
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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/22/pregnant-jessica-simpson-fiance_n_3484087.html
Saturday 22 June 2013
A year in asylum, Assange digs in for the long haul
The Wikileaks founder says even if the Swedish investigation against him were dropped, he would not leave his 'space station' existence in the Ecuadorean embassy in London.
Supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange show letters that read 'Free Assange' as they wait for his appearance in front of the Ecuadorian embassy in London Sunday. Today marks the anniversary of Mr. Assange seeking sanctuary in the embassy, where he is trying to avoid being extradited to
Frank Augstein/AP
EnlargeIt?s been a year since Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, walked into the Ecuadorean embassy in London and sought political asylum, living there ever since as if in a ?space station.?
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Sara Miller Llana?moved to Paris in April 2013 to become the Monitor's Europe Bureau?Chief. Previously she was the?paper's?Latin America Bureau Chief, based in Mexico City, from 2006 to 2013.
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In an interview with various news outlets marking today?s anniversary, he said that even if Sweden were to drop its investigation into sex allegations against him, he plans to stay put. That means London faces the prospect of an unusual guest for years to come.
"I wouldn't say I wouldn't leave," he said. But "my lawyers have advised me I shouldn't leave the embassy because of the risk of arrest and extradition to the United States."
Mr. Assange?s plight has drawn in equal measure support and disdain. Some call him a criminal and danger to security, others a crusader of freedom of information. And those same divides are apparent within the United Kingdom itself: just read the comments section of any Guardian article on the Wikileaks head, and the range of views are obvious.?
But it appears the UK, after a year hosting Assange, does not want another leaker in its midst. Britain last week warned global airlines not to let Edward Snowden, the American contractor who identified himself as the source of the leak about widespread American surveillance programs called PRISM, into British territory. And this was before Mr. Snowden released documents showing British intelligence spying on foreign diplomats at a G20 in London in 2009.
Assange linked Britain?s position on Snowden?to his own, saying the country "doesn't want to end up with another Julian Assange," he said. Yet, Assange said, the UK should consider Snowden a hero and offer him asylum.
That?s not something that Britain was willing to do for Assange, who walked into the Ecuadorean embassy last June after the British government said it would send him to Sweden, where he faces questioning over sexual assault and rape. Assange, who maintains his innocence in that case, says his real fear is being extradited to the US for being behind one of the biggest leaks of confidential documents in US history.
Ecuador has granted Assange asylum, but he cannot leave the embassy in London because Britain promises to arrest him if he does. Recent talks between Ecuador and the UK did nothing to end the stalemate. So the status quo remains: Assange living without natural sunlight, relying on a sun lamp instead, and working 17-hour days in front of his computer, he says, with police on constant guard. He?s likened his circumstances to living in a space station.
Assange is not the only one to compare himself to Snowden. After Snowden answered questions on an online chat this week, Zeke Miller, in Time, draws parallels between the two men.??There were other clear echoes of Assange?s?past remarks?in Snowden?s responses Monday. Both men suggest that much, if not all, American spying abroad is wrong, including the spying on allies and foreign leaders that perhaps every government has practiced for decades, if not centuries,? Miller writes.
Assange has drawn critics who fault him for putting global security at risk, but also has his share of detractors who distinguish the issue of Wikileaks from the separate sex allegations he faces.
Snowden, meanwhile, has gotten some support in Britain for leaking information about PRISM, says?Orla Lynskey, a lecturer in law at the London School of Economics and Political Science. ?What really struck people here was the disproportionate nature of that kind of intelligence, the blanket surveillance,? Ms. Lynskey says. ?That?s where Snowden gets some support.?
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This week on gdgt: MOGA Pro, Xbox One, Xperia Tablet Z
Each week, our friends at gdgt go through the latest gadgets and score them to help you decide which ones to buy. Here are some of their most recent picks. Want more? Visit gdgt anytime to catch up on the latest, and subscribe to gdgt's newsletter to get a weekly roundup in your inbox.
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/b20aGZX3R90/
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Friday 21 June 2013
Government leads new GM crops push
20 June 2013
Last updated at 04:19 ET
GM crops are probably safer than conventional plants, according to the Environment Secretary.
Making the strongest call yet for the adoption of the technology, Mr Paterson told the BBC that that GM has significant benefits for farmers, consumers and the environment.
He said the next generation of GM crops offers the "most wonderful opportunities to improve human health."
But green groups say this new push is dangerous and misguided.
The environment secretary has never made a secret of his support for GM technology. Speaking to the BBC ahead of a major speech in favour of GM, Mr Paterson said it was being adopted by the rest of the world and the UK and Europe risked being left behind.
He dismissed criticisms that GM could pose problems to human health.
"The use of more precise technology and the greater regulatory scrutiny probably make GMOs even safer than than conventional plants and food," he said.
"The EU chief scientist Anne Glover has said it pretty bluntly - there is no substantiated case of any adverse impact on human health on animal health or on environmental health."
Persuade the publicMr Paterson said that GM offers benefits not just to UK consumers and farmers but holds a great deal of promise especially in the developing world. He cited the example of Golden Rice, a GM variety that has been modified to have increased levels of vitamin A.
Continue reading the main storyGlobal GM
Last year about 170 million hectares of GM crops were cultivated in 28 countries. Proponents argue that about half of the GM crops grown worldwide are produced by resource poor farmers. Apart from the US, the world's leading growers are Brazil, Argentina, Canada and India.
This helps prevent blindness in young children especially in deprived environments. But even though the rice was developed in 1999, it has yet to be grown commercially.
"Every attempt to deploy has been thwarted and in that time seven million children have gone blind or died," said Mr Paterson.
In his speech on Thursday morning at Rothamsted Research in Harpenden, Mr Paterson argued that the government, along with industry and the scientific community "owe a duty to the British public to reassure them GM is a safe, proven and beneficial innovation".
The European Union has been deadlocked on GM for a number of years. Only two crops have been approved for commercial growing - another seven are awaiting the green light.
In the speech, Mr Paterson suggested that member states which are open to the safe use of GM crops should not be prevented from moving forward with the technology.
"We need evidence-based regulation and decision-making in the EU. Consumers need accurate information in order to make informed choices. The market should then decide if a GM product is viable," he said.
"Farmers are also consumers but right now that market is not functioning and they are being denied choice. That's why I want to explore ways of getting the EU system working, as this will encourage further investment and innovation."
But critics have been quick to condemn Mr Paterson's view that GM is a "safe, proven and beneficial innovation".
Soil Association policy director Peter Melchett said that GM would make it harder, not easier, to feed the world.
"The British Government constantly claim that GM crops are just one tool in the toolbox for the future of farming. In fact GM is the cuckoo in the nest. It drives out and destroys the systems that international scientists agree we need to feed the world.
"We need farming that helps poorer African and Asian farmers produce food, not farming that helps Bayer, Syngenta and Monsanto produce profits," he added.
Kirtana Chandrasekaran, from Friends of the Earth, said: "We have loads of other types of farming science that are delivering, that are, through conventional breeding, giving us drought tolerant crops.
"They are starved of funding... We are continuing to flog GM when it's not delivering what we need."
Mr Paterson's stance was backed by a number of scientists, including Professor Dale Sanders, the Director of the John Innes Centre in Norwich. He wants to see a greater focus on solving global problems such as malnutrition rather than arguments about one technology or another.
Continue reading the main storyEU spud spat
Only two commercial GM products have so far been licensed, and neither of them was for human consumption.
One was a type of potato called Amflora developed by German chemical firm BASF. It had been modified to produce more of a type of starch useful for industrial processes.
But in January this year, BASF announced it was withdrawing the product and ending development of all its GM potato varieties.
The commercially grown GM is a type of maize made by Monsanto. Modified to make it resistant to pests, it is mainly grown in Spain for animal feed.
"Evaluation of potential scientific solutions to agriculture should be evidence-based," he said.
"The overwhelming global conclusion regarding the deployment of GM technologies in the field is that the risks associated with the technologies are infinitesimally small."
Mr Paterson's speech comes in the same week that the National Farmers Union warned that the UK's wheat crop could be 30% smaller than last year because of extreme weather.
The environment secretary said that GM could "combat the damaging effects of unpredictable weather and disease on crops".
The technology has "the potential to reduce fertiliser and chemical use, improve the efficiency of agricultural production and reduce post-harvest losses. If we use cultivated land more efficiently, we could free up space for biodiversity, nature and wilderness."
At present there are no commercial GM crops grown in the UK although cattle, sheep and pigs are often fed on imported GM. There is only one active GM trial of wheat that has been modified to deter aphids.
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Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22967571#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
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