Monday, 29 April 2013

Mother of bomb suspects insists sons are innocent

In this image taken from a video, an undated family photo provided by Patimat Suleimanova, the aunt of USA Boston bomb suspects, shows Anzor Tsarnaev left, Zubeidat Tsarnaev holding Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Anzor's brother Mukhammad Tsarnaev. Now known as the angry and grieving mother of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, Zubeidat Tsarnaev is drawing increased attention after federal officials say Russian authorities intercepted her phone calls, including one in which she vaguely discussed jihad with her elder son. In another, she was recorded talking to someone in southern Russia who is under FBI investigation in an unrelated case, U.S. officials said. (AP Photo/Patimat Suleimanova)

In this image taken from a video, an undated family photo provided by Patimat Suleimanova, the aunt of USA Boston bomb suspects, shows Anzor Tsarnaev left, Zubeidat Tsarnaev holding Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Anzor's brother Mukhammad Tsarnaev. Now known as the angry and grieving mother of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, Zubeidat Tsarnaev is drawing increased attention after federal officials say Russian authorities intercepted her phone calls, including one in which she vaguely discussed jihad with her elder son. In another, she was recorded talking to someone in southern Russia who is under FBI investigation in an unrelated case, U.S. officials said. (AP Photo/Patimat Suleimanova)

FILE - This April 25, 2013 file photo shows the mother of the two Boston bombing suspects, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, left, speaking at a news conference in Makhachkala, the southern Russian province of Dagestan. Two government officials tell The Associated Press that U.S. intelligence agencies added the Boston bombing suspects' mother to a federal terrorism database about 18 months before the attack. At right is her sister-in-law Maryam. (AP Photo/Musa Sadulayev, File)

Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, the mother of the two Boston bombing suspects, speaks at a news conference as the suspects' father, Anzor Tsarnaev listens in Makhachkala, in the southern Russian province of Dagestan, Thursday, April 25, 2013. Anzor Tsarnaev said Thursday that he is leaving Russia for the United States in the next day or two, but their mother said she was still thinking it over. (AP Photo/Musa Sadulayev)

ALTERNATIVE CROP OF MOSB107 - Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, mother of Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the two men accused of setting off bombs near the Boston Marathon finish line on April 15, 2013 in Boston, walks near her home in Makhachkala, Dagestan, southern Russia, Tuesday, April 23, 2013. The Tsarnaev brothers are accused of setting off the two bombs at the Boston Marathon on April 15 that killed three people and wounded more than 200. Tsarnaev, 26, was killed in a gun battle with police. His 19-year-old brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was later captured alive, but badly wounded. (AP Photo/Ilkham Katsuyev)

(AP) ? The angry and grieving mother of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects insists that her sons are innocent and that she's no terrorist.

But Zubeidat Tsarnaeva is drawing increased attention after federal officials say Russian authorities intercepted her phone calls, including one in which she vaguely discussed jihad with her elder son. In another, she was recorded talking to someone in southern Russia who is under FBI investigation in an unrelated case, U.S. officials said.

In photos of her as a younger woman, Tsarnaeva wears a low-cut blouse and has her hair teased like a 1980s rock star. After she arrived in the U.S. from Russia in 2002, she went to beauty school and did facials at a suburban day spa.

But in recent years, people noticed a change. She began wearing a hijab and cited conspiracy theories about 9/11 being a plot against Muslims.

Tsarnaeva insists there is no mystery and that she's just someone who found a deeper spirituality. She fiercely defends her sons ? Tamerlan, who was killed in a gunfight with police, and Dzhokhar, who was wounded and captured.

"It's all lies and hypocrisy," she told The Associated Press in Dagestan. "I'm sick and tired of all this nonsense that they make up about me and my children. People know me as a regular person, and I've never been mixed up in any criminal intentions, especially any linked to terrorism."

At a news conference in Dagestan with her ex-husband Anzor Tsarnaev last week, Tsarnaeva appeared overwhelmed with grief one moment, defiant the next. "They already are talking about that we are terrorists, I am terrorist," she said. "They already want me, him and all of us to look (like) terrorists."

Amid the scrutiny, Tsarnaeva and Anzor say they have put off the idea of any trip to the U.S. to reclaim their elder son's body or try to visit Dzhokhar in jail. Tsarnaev told the AP on Sunday he was too ill to travel to the U.S. Tsarnaeva faces a 2012 shoplifting charge in a Boston suburb, though it was unclear whether that was a deterrent.

Tsarnaeva arrived in the U.S. in 2002, settling in a working-class section of Cambridge, Mass. With four children, Anzor and Zubeidat qualified for food stamps and were on and off public assistance benefits for years. The large family squeezed itself into a third-floor apartment.

Zubeidat took classes at the Catherine Hinds Institute of Esthetics, before becoming a state-licensed aesthetician. Anzor, who had studied law, fixed cars.

By some accounts, the family was tolerant.

Bethany Smith, a New Yorker who befriended Zubeidat's two daughters, said in an interview with Newsday that when she stayed with the family for a month in 2008 while she looked at colleges, she was welcomed even though she was Christian and had tattoos.

"I had nothing but love over there. They accepted me for who I was," Smith told the newspaper. "Their mother, Zubeidat, she considered me to be a part of the family. She called me her third daughter."

Zubeidat said she and Tamerlan began to turn more deeply into their Muslim faith about five years ago after being influenced by a family friend, named "Misha." The man, whose full name she didn't reveal, impressed her with a religious devotion that was far greater than her own, even though he was an ethnic Armenian who converted to Islam.

"I wasn't praying until he prayed in our house, so I just got really ashamed that I am not praying, being a Muslim, being born Muslim. I am not praying. Misha, who converted, was praying," she said.

By then, she had left her job at the day spa and was giving facials in her apartment. One client, Alyssa Kilzer, noticed the change when Tsarnaeva put on a head scarf before leaving the apartment.

"She had never worn a hijab while working at the spa previously, or inside the house, and I was really surprised," Kilzer wrote in a post on her blog. "She started to refuse to see boys that had gone through puberty, as she had consulted a religious figure and he had told her it was sacrilegious. She was often fasting."

Kilzer wrote that Tsarnaeva was a loving and supportive mother, and she felt sympathy for her plight after the April 15 bombings. But she stopped visiting the family's home for spa treatments in late 2011 or early 2012 when, during one session, she "started quoting a conspiracy theory, telling me that she thought 9/11 was purposefully created by the American government to make America hate Muslims."

"It's real," Tsarnaeva said, according to Kilzer. "My son knows all about it. You can read on the Internet."

In the spring of 2010, Zubeidat's eldest son got married in a ceremony at a Boston mosque that no one in the family had previously attended. Tamerlan and his wife, Katherine Russell, a Rhode Island native and convert from Christianity, now have a child who is about 3 years old.

Zubeidat married into a Chechen family but was an outsider. She is an Avar, from one of the dozens of ethnic groups in Dagestan. Her native village is now a hotbed of an ultraconservative strain of Islam known as Salafism or Wahabbism.

It is unclear whether religious differences fueled tension in their family. Anzor and Zubeidat divorced in 2011.

About the same time, there was a brief FBI investigation into Tamerlan Tsarnaev, prompted by a tip from Russia's security service.

The vague warning from the Russians was that Tamerlan, an amateur boxer in the U.S., was a follower of radical Islam who had changed drastically since 2010. That led the FBI to interview Tamerlan at the family's home in Cambridge. Officials ultimately placed his name, and his mother's name, on various watch lists, but the inquiry was closed in late spring of 2011.

After the bombings, Russian authorities told U.S. investigators they had secretly recorded a phone conversation in which Zubeidat had vaguely discussed jihad with Tamerlan. The Russians also recorded Zubeidat talking to someone in southern Russia who is under FBI investigation in an unrelated case, according to U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation with reporters.

The conversations are significant because, had they been revealed earlier, they might have been enough evidence for the FBI to initiate a more thorough investigation of the Tsarnaev family.

Rep. Peter King, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, told NBC's "Today" show Monday he believes the FBI investigation of the two young men would have gone much further if the Russian government had informed Washington of "the mother's radicalization, the son's radicalization. .. It definitely would have caused the investigation to go further."

Anzor's brother, Ruslan Tsarni, told the AP from his home in Maryland that he believed his former sister-in-law had a "big-time influence" on her older son's growing embrace of his Muslim faith and decision to quit boxing and school.

While Tamerlan was living in Russia for six months in 2012, Zubeidat, who had remained in the U.S., was arrested at a shopping mall in the suburb of Natick, Mass., and accused of trying to shoplift $1,624 worth of women's clothing from a department store.

She failed to appear in court to answer the charges that fall, and instead left the country.

___

Seddon reported from Makhachkala, Russia. Associated Press writers Eileen Sullivan and Matt Apuzzo contributed to this report from Washington.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-04-29-US-Boston-Marathon-Suspects'-Mother/id-da04631a519c4cb88f4ede5fbf17a083

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The Military's New Flying Gas Station Will Be Open 24/7 Worldwide

KC-135 Stratotanker planes have been refueling fighter craft in-flight for more than 60 years. While such longevity is commendable, the US military?s fleet of mid-air refuellers is in desperate need of an update. And that?s where this new flying gas station comes in.

The Boeing KC-46A is a derivative of the Boeing 767-200 built at Boeing?s Everett, WA facility and converted to military use at another Boeing facility in Puget Sound. The KC-46 program has been a long time coming. Congress and the military have wrangled over funding for the project for more than a decade, finally agreeing to an initial investment of $3.5 billion in 2011 for Boeing?s design. The aerospace company has until 2017 to deliver the first 18 tankers with the remaining 161 due in 2028. In all, explains Maj. Gen. John Thompson, program executive officer and program director for the KC-46, the deal is "worth about $32 billion in then-year dollars, goes from about two years ago out into the 2020s and is something that they will be able to leverage into a very important weapon system for the United States Air Force for decades to come. Absolutely, it is a win-win."

The KC-46A will offer greatly-improved performance and capabilities than its sexagenarian predecessor. The new plane measures 165 feet in length with a 157 foot wingspan. It?s powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney PW4062 turbofan engines, each providing 63,300 lbf of thrust to get the plane?and the 212,299 pounds of fuel it carries?off the ground and keep it aloft for a range of more than 6,000 nautical miles.

The plane?s crew of three (two pilots and a boom operator) operate within a large glass cockpit augmented with banks of monitors providing critical mission information. The pilots use a bank of 15-inch displays to check flight and weather data while the refueling operator will be afforded a set of 24-inch 3D displays giving him a panoramic 185 degree field of view.

Designed to support and refuel any fixed-wing receiver capable aircraft for the Air Force, Navy, and Marines, the plane is typically equipped with either a 1,200 gallon-per-minute center-line boom or 400 gallon-per-minute Centerline Drogue System. It can also carry a pair of 400 gallon-per-minute Wing Air Refueling Pods to pull crazy stunts like this. What?s more, the KC-46A can itself receive in-flight refueling, allowing it to remain aloft practically indefinitely.

In addition to fuel, the KC-46A can carry up to 114 people, 18 standard military cargo pallets, or 58 patients (24 litters, 34 ambulatory). Across the board?fuel, passengers, and cargo? the KC-46A carries more than the plane it will eventually recapitalize.

[Air Force News 1, 2, 3 - Defence News - Wikipedia - GAO - Images: USAF]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/the-militarys-new-flying-gas-station-will-be-open-24-7-484398864

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Auto dealers sue Carfax for $50 million

Dealerships from across the US are suing Carfax for violating antitrust laws, Read writes.?If you're looking at vehicle history report on a certified used car, Read writes, there's a very good chance that your dealer has been obligated to use Carfax.?

By Richard Read,?Guest blogger / April 28, 2013

Pre-owned Porsches are on display in the front lot at Porsche of Norwell in Norwell, Mass. Carfax has exclusivity agreements with several popular used-car sites, Read writes.

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

Enlarge

Carfax's catchy ads have encouraged millions of Americans to say "Show me the Carfax!" when purchasing used cars. That's great for Carfax's bottom line, but not so much for the dealers who have to provide those brand-name reports -- to the tune of $16.95 a pop, or a monthly subscription of up to $1,549.

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According to AutoNews, 120 dealerships from across the U.S. are now suing Carfax for violating antitrust laws. And according the lawyer handling the case --?Leonard Bellavia of Bellavia Blatt Andron & Crossett in Mineola, New York* -- dozens more dealerships have submitted paperwork to join the suit.

THE CLAIMS

Bellavia's clients are suing Carfax for $50 million in damages. Among the plaintiffs' allegations:

  • Carfax has exclusivity agreements with several popular used-car sites. In practical terms, that means dealers selling vehicles on those sites can only show?vehicle?history reports from Carfax, which effectively shuts out the competition.
  • Out of 40 used-car certification programs run by automakers, Carfax has exclusive arrangements with 37. In other words, if you're looking at vehicle history report on a certified used car, there's a very good chance that your dealer has been obligated to use Carfax.?
  • Carfax charges more for vehicle history reports than its competitors.?

Adding a little bit of spice to the plaintiff's case is the fact that Carfax reports aren't always accurate. Carfax and its competitors rely largely on the?National Motor Vehicle Title Information System, a database of insurance claims and other data pulled from 41 states. Vehicle info from other regions can be left out of those reports, resulting in inaccuracies, not unlike the kind recently uncovered on?20/20. (Check out that news segment, embedded above.)

What does Carfax have to say about these allegations? So far, the company hasn't released a statement on the matter.

* If Bellavia's name sounds familiar, that's because he was also the lead attorney for?U.S. Saab dealers seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy status?last year.?

The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best auto bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger,?click here.?To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on the link in the blog description box above.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/1MFhWs_BnZ0/Auto-dealers-sue-Carfax-for-50-million

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NYNE NH-5000


NYNE's latest ?iPod speaker dock, the NH-5000 ($229.95 list) offers an interesting combination of a 30-pin docking connector and wireless Bluetooth capability. That means it works with older Apple devices docked, and newer Android or iOS devices over Bluetooth. The NH-5000 sounds pretty good, too, but a number of questionable design decisions, plus some EQ and distortion issues at higher volumes, keep it from being a top choice.

Design, Connectivity, and Remote
The stylish NH-5000 measures 15.7 by 6.6 by 8 inches (HWD) and weighs 6.5 pounds. It looks more expensive than it is, thanks to its piano black gloss finish, black metal grille, and nicely curved enclosure.?The 30-pin docking connector sits on a hard plastic external protrusion. The NH-5000 is large enough that an iPad docked on it actually looks good, and a small rubberized bumper in the middle of the speaker grille is strong enough to keep everything secure. Plus, the dock connector rotates forward and back on a hinge, so you can pull a device off of the NH-5000 without accidentally snapping off the connector.

Unfortunately, the dock itself doesn't retract. A retractable dock, or at least one that's mostly hidden from view like the one found in the Editors' Choice Bowers & Wilkins Z2, would have made more sense here, given the NH-5000's wireless capabilities. That said, the side of the protruding dock features a 3.5mm auxiliary input, so at least you don't have to reach around the back of the unit to plug in a different kind of MP3 player or cell phone than the dock supports.

The top edge of the NH-5000 features a touch-sensitive control panel with capacitive controls, so you don't feel them when you press down. They include a Power button, a Source select button, and a finicky Volume trackpad that lets you swipe right or left to change volume. I could never get this to work reliably; sometimes it seemed to miss my finger swipes. In a recessed area toward the bottom of the back panel, there's a redundant Power switch, an AC adapter input, a full set of component video outputs, and stereo audio RCA inputs. The video outputs are a nice addition; assuming your HDTV has component video in, you can output any video stored on your iPod, iPad, or iPhone to a large screen while audio plays through the NH-5000.

Pairing via Bluetooth is as simple as can be: Press the Bluetooth button on the remote, and it lights up a flashing Bluetooth icon on the NH-5000's touch-sensitive panel. Search for devices using your device, choose the NYNE NH-5000 when it appears, enter in '0000' for the PIN, and it connects almost instantly.?Power the NH-5000 on, and you'll see a blue LED light up in the bottom right corner of the speaker grille. On top, small white LEDs light up for the selected source and the current volume setting, which increase in number as you turn up the volume. The blue LED also flickers red whenever you press buttons on the remote control, which indicates that it's receiving input.

The included remote control is a thin black slab with a variety of bubbled membrane keys for controlling the NH-5000, including Source, Volume, Track Skip, Play/Pause, Power, Mute, and four EQ modes. The remote doesn't offer playlist control, which is unfortunate. Also in the package: An AC adapter, 3.5mm stereo auxiliary cable, component video out cable, user manual, and Quick Start guide.NYNE NH-5000

Performance and Conclusions
The internal stereo amplifier outputs 25 watts per channel, and features digital signal processing to sculpt the sound. This is a vented enclosure; two bass ports on the back panel, above the extra inputs and outputs, fire backward to increase overall bass response.

About those EQ settings: You get a choice of Movie, Pop, Classic, and Rock settings, with absolutely no explanation in the manual whatsoever, and no indication which one is the default, or most natural-sounding mode. I found the Rock setting to be the most audibly pleasing, and the closest to the way most small speaker docks without configurable EQ are tuned: with a nice bump in the bass response, and a little extra treble emphasis.?Classic seems to be the one that's closest to flat, with less of a smiley EQ curve than the others (which would exaggerate bass and treble response), but it's too harsh for most music thanks to its overly prominent midrange. Pop mode sounds dreadful; it's all upper-midrange boost, which is too harsh even for casual listening. Movie mode boosts low-end extension for bombastic sound effects, and there's a 10kHz treble boost that helps bring out crisp dialog but also sounds unnatural with music.

I tested the NH-5000 with an original Apple iPad docked, and with an iPhone 5 connected via Bluetooth. Flunk's electronic trip-hop track, "Indian Rope Trick," sounded smooth and full, with a nice upper-bass kick drum and a well-rounded sine-wave bass. Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name" sounded powerful and energetic, if a bit strident, and some of the detail I usually hear in the bass guitar's harmonics was MIA; the NH-5000's drivers just aren't that revealing.

Using our standard bass test track, The Knife's "Silent Shout," it was pretty easy to get the NH-5000 to distort. Not so much in Classic mode, but with any of the others, the sound completely fell apart in the low-end as I turned the volume up, even at levels I'd consider reasonable in a small room. This isn't a speaker dock for parties.

In a decidedly crowded field, the NYNE NH-5000 sounds about the way it should for a $230 dock, and its Bluetooth wireless mode adds value, but there are plenty of superior choices.?The Editors' Choice Bowers & Wilkins Z2 speaker dock offers beautifully transparent sound in a slightly smaller enclosure, and also features Apple's new Lightning Connector and AirPlay compatibility, although it costs considerably more and lacks Bluetooth support. The Bose SoundLink Bluetooth Mobile Speaker II, our Editors' Choice for wireless Bluetooth speakers, sounds a bit more neutral, is much smaller, and runs for eight hours on a battery charge, but it doesn't offer the sheer bass oomph of the NH-5000 at lower volumes, and doesn't charge iOS devices either. The Beats by Dr. Dre Beatbox Portable delivers bombastic bass output, offers similar 30-pin docking and Bluetooth wireless capability, and also runs on D-cell batteries, but we weren't thrilled with its audible background hiss, and it's larger and heavier than the NH-5000 as well.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/6JK0gXj9LBE/0,2817,2418171,00.asp

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Bangladesh owner is at nexus of politics, business

SAVAR, Bangladesh (AP) ? When the cracks in the building appeared early Tuesday afternoon, a stocky man in his early 30s, a feared political operative who a neighbor says dropped out of school in seventh grade, quickly arrived at the scene in this crowded industrial suburb of the capital.

By then, fear had spread through the 3,200 people who worked in the five clothing factories that jammed the upper floors of Rana Plaza, and the handful of shops on the lower ones. Most of the workers had gathered in the street out front. Few wanted to go back in. Inspectors said the eight-story building should be closed until it could be inspected.

But Mohammed Sohel Rana scoffed.

"The building has minor damages," Rana, the building's owner, told gathering reporters. "There is nothing serious."

The next morning, many of the building's shops and a first-floor bank remained closed. But the factories' 8 a.m. shift began as usual. About 45 minutes into the shift, the building suddenly collapsed, killing at least 350 people in a fury of falling concrete. It was the worst industrial accident in the history of Bangladesh. More than three days later, rescuers are still crawling through the wreckage, hoping to find anyone who has managed to survive so long. By Saturday, nearly all the people being carried out were dead.

Rana, though, has disappeared. He hasn't been seen, according to local media reports, since he left his basement office in Rana Plaza and drove away, just before the collapse. Today, his political patron has abandoned him and authorities want to arrest him.

Rana sits at the nexus of party politics and the powerful $20 billion garment industry that drives the economy of this deeply impoverished nation. Experts say this intersection of politics and business, combined with a minimum wage of $9.50 a week that has made Bangladesh the go-to nation for many of the world's largest clothing brands, has created a predictable danger for factory workers.

Government officials, labor activists, manufacturers and retailers all called for improved safety standards after a November fire in the same suburb, when locked emergency exits trapped hundreds of garment workers inside amid spreading flames and 112 people died. But almost nothing has changed.

"Successive Bangladeshi governments have paid lip service to worker safety but in reality it is only the factory owners who have the ear of policymakers," Brad Adams, the Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. "How many factory tragedies will it take before the Bangladeshi government ends its cozy relationship with powerful company owners and prioritizes worker safety?"

Before the collapse, Rana was little known outside of the few blocks of his tiny empire, a grid of poorly paved streets in the crowded industrial suburb of Savar, built up over the past decade or so around hundreds of garment factories.

The son of a local businessman with political connections, Rana became a neighborhood force by working as an organizer for the two political parties that have competed for power for decades in Bangladesh, according to local politicians, as well as someone who grew up near Rana and still lives in the area.

While Rana is currently a leader of the youth group of the ruling Awami League, he has also worked for that party's archrival, the Bangladesh National Party.

"He doesn't belong to any particular political party," said Ashrafuddin Khan Imu, an Awami League leader and longtime Rana rival. "Whatever party is in power, he is there."

In essence, these people say, Rana is a neighborhood political enforcer, regularly ordering thousands of people into the streets for rallies. Most recently, Imu said, he has been working for Awami League lawmaker Talukder Touhid Jang Murad. When Murad was asked about Rana after the collapse, Murad denied any connections. The next day, Dhaka newspapers printed photographs of Murad kissing Rana on the forehead after a successful rally earlier this year.

"He used to intimidate people whenever he needed them, like bringing people out for street marches in support of the lawmaker," said the neighbor, who spoke on condition he not be named, fearing Rana would send his men to beat him up after having been threatened once before. "Neighbors would avoid him ... No one wanted to upset him."

Money came with his political connections, with wealth built upon a string of government-owned properties he acquired at reduced prices, according to local media reports. He built a small apartment building and a small commercial building, where a Bata shoe store is now on the ground floor. In 2010 he built Rana Plaza on land that had once been a swamp. He had a permit to erect a five-story building, but built three additional stories illegally.

Until Wednesday, he lived just a few blocks from Rana Plaza, in a five-story red-brick building he owns at the end of a narrow alley. The ground floor has a hand-painted medieval scene, with an aristocratic woman, or perhaps a bride, being carried by scowling bearers in a covered palanquin. The neighbor says he is married, and has two children. The buildings indicate he is a man of considerable stature locally, but is almost certainly not a member of the country's tiny elite.

After the cracks appeared in the building, witnesses say Rana quickly went to work. On Wednesday morning, he and a number of factory managers ordered nervous workers into the building shortly before the collapse, according to the neighbor, who was present at the scene, and local press reports.

"I was too afraid to go inside the building. But the factory officials assured us they would also be in the factory, so there should not be any problem," said Kohinoor Begum, a factory worker who survived but whose hands were injured.

By Saturday night, Rana was still nowhere to be found. Authorities say they detained his wife on Friday, apparently as a way to convince him to surrender.

What will happen to him? At first glance, the situation doesn't look good: He's on the run, his political allies have publicly abandoned him, Bangladesh's most powerful garment industry association says he ignored their warnings to shut the building, the prime minister has called for his arrest.

But in the streets of Savar, many people note that while three managers have been arrested in connection with the Tazreen fire, the factory owner remains free.

___

Sullivan reported from New Delhi, India. Julhas Alam in Dhaka contributed to the report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bangladesh-owner-nexus-politics-business-051832391.html

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Cops: Charges filed against burglar who punched police dog

By NBCPhiladelphia.com

Numerous charges have been filed against a burglary suspect who allegedly punched a police dog that helped apprehend him in northern New Jersey.

Clifton police tell The Record of Woodland Park that 22-year-old Angel Mendez ran from police on Friday and was found a short time later hiding under the front porch of a home. Mendez allegedly punched the police dog as he was being arrested, and the canine bit Mendez on the upper thigh.?

Mendez, who has no known address, faces four counts of burglary.

He's also charged with aggravated assault of a police dog, resisting arrest and obstruction of justice.?A telephone number for Mendez could not be found Saturday, and it was not known if he has retained an attorney.?

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2b43af44/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A40C280C17955310A0Ecops0Echarges0Efiled0Eagainst0Eburglar0Ewho0Epunched0Epolice0Edog0Dlite/story01.htm

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Revive Old, Smelly Wooden Spoons with a Few Simple Tricks

Over time, wooden spoons absorb the various foods they come in contact with and start smelling funky. Luckily, it is possible to de-stink them and extend their lifespan.

Chow suggests several options to revive your old spoons. Before trying anything else, boil the spoon in a pot of water, and then set it outside in the sun for a few hours. Failing that, a deep scrubbing with dish soap or or a bath in vinegar solution might do the trick. If the smell still won't go away, you could put the spoon in a bag with activated charcoal, scrub it with a lemon, sandpaper off the top layer of wood, or even kill the bacteria with bleach. Clearly, there's no shortage of ways to give an old spoon new life. I probably wouldn't spend half a day trying each method before replacing it, but it's worth exhausting a few options before you throw it away for good.

Be sure to check out the source link, where Chow commenters have several other suggestions for reviving your cookware.

Can These Funky-Smelling Wooden Spoons Be Saved? | Chow

Photo by windu (Shutterstock).

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/biqZV8pmXFI/revive-old-smelly-wooden-spoons-with-a-few-simple-tric-478892912

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Saturday, 27 April 2013

Humane Society for Greater Nashua recognized for volunteerism ...

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Nashua;46.0;http://forecast.weather.gov/images/wtf/small/nfew.png. The Telegraph · Home ... Franks has been a volunteer at the Humane Society for eight years, and logged 2,439 volunteer hours in 2011. Enlarge. NASHUA ...

Source: http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/1001830-469/humane-society-for-greater-nashua-recognized-for.html

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Instapaper sold to Betaworks

Instapaper sold to Betaworks

Marco Arment, creator of popular read-it-later service Instapaper, has sold a majority stake in the service to Betaworks. Arment was concerned that he alone was not able to give Instapaper the attention that it needed going forward, determining that to remain healthy, it would need a full team of developers.

Instapaper is much bigger today than I could have predicted in 2008, and it has simply grown far beyond what one person can do. To really shine, it needs a full-time staff of at least a few people. But I wouldn?t be very good at hiring and leading a staff, and after more than five years, I?d like an opportunity to try other apps and creative projects. Instapaper needs a new home where it can be staffed and grown, but I didn?t want to give it to a big company that would probably just shut it down in six months.

Betaworks is also the owner of the Digg brand, which they purchased last July. Arment has said that he will continue to advise the development of Instapaper indefinitely, while Betaworks takes over the day-to-day operations and workload. He says that Betaworks will be a good home for Instapaper, and they will be able to give it the attention that it deserves.

Source: Marco.org

    


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Build up Wealth and Stability When you Buy a ... - Inside Real Estate

Build up Wealth and Stability When you Buy a Home in Draper

If you are torn whether you should buy a home in Draper, or continue renting, then the answer is clearly buy a home in Draper. Studies actually show that owning a home is the greatest way to build up long-term household wealth, and the sooner you own a home, the faster your chances of building up wealth and equity. But when you buy a home in Draper, it is not all about monetary value, it is also about stability and knowing that you will come home every day to your home, not someone else?s that you are borrowing. No rent increases and the same monthly payment will make you feel more secure in your lifestyle and your budget. So are you are thinking about whether or not to buy, just say yes.

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A stunning 2-story home like this is hard to say no to. It is well cared for from the inside out and has a large secluded backyard with beautiful valley views in the front. You will never be disappointed with a home like this and there is plenty of space for you and your family. With 5-bedrooms and 3 baths, this home has so much room to grow. It features a gourmet kitchen with a large family room, and 5,165 square feet of living space. So come on in and lay your eyes on your new home.

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Source: http://inside-real-estate.com/craighawker/buy-a-house/build-up-wealth-and-stability-when-you-buy-a-home-in-draper/

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Pakistan won't have Musharraf to kick around anymore

General Musharraf was a somewhat benign autocrat who wanted to be like Ataturk; but his return from exile to get elected in the top job, smacks of miscalculation.

By Robert Marquand,?Staff writer / April 18, 2013

Pakistan's former President and military ruler Pervez Musharraf leaves the High Court in Islamabad, Pakistan, Thursday. Musharraf and his security team pushed past policemen and sped away from a court in the country?s capital on Thursday after his bail was revoked in a case in which he is accused of treason.

B.K. Bangash/AP

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Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan?s former Army chief and national ruler today escaped a set of judges and an Islamabad arrest order, climbed in a black bullet proof SUV, and sped red-faced away for the protection of home.

Skip to next paragraph Robert Marquand

Staff writer

Over the past three decades, Robert Marquand has reported on a wide variety of subjects for?The Christian Science Monitor, including American education reform,?the wars in the Balkans, the Supreme Court, South Asian politics, and the oft-cited "rise of China." In the past 15 years he has served as the Monitor's bureau chief in Paris, Beijing, and New Delhi.?

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For General Musharraf, who once held all the reins of power in Pakistan, it seems a spectacle of humiliation and miscalculation, or as the BBC calls it??high drama and farce.??

The Islamabad judges that Musharraf sought to muzzle and dismiss in 2007 now appear to have muzzled him ? ultimately thwarting his aim to run for high office May 11, in what will be the first formal civilian transfer of authority in Pakistan?s history.

Musharraf?s lawyers will likely appeal the charges of malfeasance against him for ordering 60 judges to be removed in 2007. But for Musharraf, born in New Delhi before the partition of India and Pakistan, and who of late has been living in self-imposed exile in Dubai and London, a chapter may have closed.

He long dreamed of himself as Pakistan?s Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, forging a path similar to the Turkish military ruler that secularized that Muslim country. ?He hoped to be a moderating force of reason, a ?chief executive,? a secular reformer with clout in a land of Taliban and madrassas, the guy that could keep things together and running while the nation modernized, someone that impressed US Pentagon chief Colin Powell.

But last week Musharraf?s much-touted return to Karachi did not excite crowds; efforts to run his All-Pakistan Muslim League party failed in four districts. And he?s ended up looking more like Don Quixote than an Ataturk.

The Guardian describes Musharraf?s bid to return home as doomed and offers today that the general is:

...politically what Imran Khan was in the mid-1990s, when the famous cricket-turned-philanthropist launched his own career in politics: a high-wattage name that grabs a disproportionate share of the media spotlight but has negligible traction with the voting public. Now that he has been barred from contesting the upcoming general election by a judiciary that has not forgotten Musharraf's?attempt in 2007 to sack Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, Musharraf still faces a sea of legal trouble, brought into sharp focus by Thursday's refusal to extend the bail granted to him last month. Musharraf may yet be able to return to life abroad ?but his political obituary has long been written.

Musharraf now finds three criminal cases thrown against him: He?s charged with not providing enough security to prevent the 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, allegations that he ordered the killing of a Baloch nationalist leader in 2006, and the court case he walked out of today.

Whether Musharraf, who in court brushed past police on his way out, will finally be made an example in his own country and put behind bars is unclear. The Los Angeles Times quotes a prosecuting attorney:

?The security he has been given is only meant to safeguard his life, not to allow him to avoid the law,? said senior lawyer Chaudhry Muhammad Aslam Ghumman, the complainant in the judges' detention case against Musharraf. ?They are flouting the law. The people responsible for implementing the order of the court are facilitating the culprit.??

But Musharraf?s lawyers said today that the Islamabad court ruling against him wasn?t about law and order, but was?"seemingly motivated by personal vendettas."

Though many?Pakistanis started to loath Musharraf by the time he stepped down and he may not have stood a chance at actually securing the position of prime minister, fair questions may be asked about whether Pakistan is better served by fewer candidates running for the high office.?

And unlike ostensible current front-runner Nawaz Sharif, who hails from the Punjab, and who in the late 1990s as national leader was unable to reign in the growing jihadis in places like Lahore, Musharraf could crack down. He is one of about two current candidates for high office not part of the small coterie of regional family dynasties that rule the nation.?

While Musharraf gets called a former ?military dictator,? ?anyone who has watched Pakistani politics might think the term overly harsh, considering the Muammar Qaddafi or Bashir al Assad end of the ?dictator? spectrum. Unlike those dictators, after all, Musharraf stepped down.

Future of Pakistan

Pakistan may be just about rid of Musharraf, but in a country where judicial authority has been distorted so often, it remains unclear what kind of future leadership Pakistan will see.

The nation is fractured, faces a need for more IMF bailouts, has an uncertain but powerful military influence, grudges are rife in every direction. ?

Though today it is a different world than when he last held power, it is worth remembering that at one point Musharraf may truly have been within striking distance of peace with India over the jewel of Kashmir. Steve Coll asked Musharraf about it in an interview he wrote up in 2009 the New Yorker:

"I've always believed in peace between India and Pakistan," [Musharraf] replied. "But it required boldness on both sides. . . . What I find lacking sometimes is this boldness ? particularly on the Indian side." He then reviewed a long negotiating session he had had, many years before, with former Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee, in which the pair had tried and failed to agree on a particular joint statement. As he recounted the incident, the pitch of Musharraf's voice rose slightly; he seemed to be reliving his frustration.

He returned to the subject of the 2007 talks. "I wasn't just giving concessions ? I was taking from India as well," he said, a touch defensively. Then he calmed. He fixed his gaze and added, "It would have benefitted both India and Pakistan."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/yPYfUqKfw50/Pakistan-won-t-have-Musharraf-to-kick-around-anymore

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Friday, 26 April 2013

Creative Chaos HR: Lisa Macabu: The HR Interview

Human Resources is a funny profession. Many people "fall into" HR, meaning that they didn't actively choose to practice this. Either they assumed greater responsibilities and then earned the title, or they were in another role and wanted to switch gears.

My pathway was like that. I was a Department Manager for a fashion retailer. I noticed that there was a direct connection between hiring the right person and a store's profitability. I began to request and earn recruitment assignments, thus beginning my career in Human Resources.

Today's HR Interview walked a similar path. While Lisa Macabu didn't set out to be a Human Resources practitioner, she's fully embraced it and has become a top-notch professional. Having met her in person I can also say that she's pretty cool, in my opinion. Check out the interview and see for yourself!



State your name. rank, and serial number (aka who you are and what you do).

Lisa Macabu, Director of HR for Consilient Restaurants. We are an independent restaurant group based in Dallas, TX.?I have been in HR for 15 years and love it. I was previously the Associate Director of HR at Grey Healthcare Group and before that I was a Senior Benefits Analyst with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MLSO).

How do you help your organization reach its strategic objectives?

By understanding the business--its challenges, the goals, the mission and the vision. This is paramount.

You used to be a Sales and Marketing professional. Why did you make the leap into Human Resources?

It was completely by accident. I was temping as an Executive Assistant at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and the President asked me, ?What do you want to be when you grow up?? I flippantly replied, ?A philanthropist.? The company was preparing its aggressive growth strategy and realized that the HR department of two wasn?t going to help it achieve its goals. They created a Benefits Administrator role and the President and CFO hand-picked me for the job. It took about 6 months to have the ?Where have you been all my life?? moment where I realized this was the career that was meant for me. I am so thankful that MSLO gave me a shot and the opportunity to learn HR on the job.

You?ve managed to successfully move between industries (Publishing, Healthcare Advertising, and now Hospitality) as a Human Resources professional. How did you accomplish this?

It?s all about learning the business and providing value. It?s important to get out of your office and meet folks in the field, in their departments, in the restaurant, the studio, wherever. I loved going over to the Style and Craft departments at MSLO. I always got the chance to learn new things (like how to tie the perfect bow on a gift!) as well as gain an understanding of how to clearly and easily communicate benefit plan complexities and options to creative folks. We speak HR everyday and it makes perfect sense to us, but we?ve got to understand our audience and their perspective in order to affect change or provide value.

What is the #1 misconception people have about your role or Human Resources in general? How do you overcome that?

There are so many misconceptions about HR but it?s our job to show the value we can bring to an organization. We can be seen as the police, the paper-pushers, the nay-sayers, the Debbie downers, etc. I once proposed to a CFO that HR should not be seen as a cost center because we are the folks that are responsible for bringing in the talent that drives revenue! If we understand the business and align HR with the business strategy, we are able to better demonstrate the value we bring. We are far more than polices, paperwork and rules. That stuff is important but it?s not our core deliverable.

Broadly speaking, where is the HR profession headed? How do you feel about that?

I love that the HR community on Twitter grows each day. With more collaboration and information sharing, we can continue the movement wherein we are a true, strategic business partner. It?s not just about wanting it though. We need to roll up our sleeves, and get in there and ask the hard questions to really understand the business in order to help achieve its goals. The biggest failure I?ve had as an HR person was early in my generalist career, and it is the one I learned the most from. I started implementing a policy without understanding its impact and one of the SVP?s said ?you?re killing my business.? This was a wake-up call for me. They don?t call us ?trench HR? for nothing. Get out there in the trenches to learn where you can leverage your HR expertise and know-how to provide value to your organization. It?s fun!

How did we meet?

We met through Twitter in 2008 (I think) and met in person for coffee at a Starbucks in Manhattan in 2009. I had iced coffee!

You?re active in social media. What made you decide to get involved in this medium?

Back in January 2008, I attended a Digital Bootcamp facilitated by Erin Byrne, who was the Managing Director of Digital Media at Burson Marsteller. She introduced us to Twitter in the session and I jumped in. It took me awhile to figure out the power of Twitter but once I did, I discovered an amazing Human Resources community that has helped me become a better HR person.

What are some of the ways in which you keep up with current business or HR related news and info?

I read, I listen and connect. I am so thankful for the immediacy with Twitter and social media because it has helped me keep up with regulations from folks like Daniel Schwartz and Heather Bussing, tech advancements from Mashable; Joel Cheesman, and best practices from HR thought leaders like yourself, Jennifer Benz, and the Fistful of Talent (FOT) and TLNT crews.

What?s the next challenge for you, professionally speaking?

I?ve been the number two for ten years and I?m now ready to take the reigns and leverage my knowledge, skills and abilities as the number one.

When are you coming back to New York City?

Hopefully the day my Jersey house sells and I sign the closing paperwork! Hope you don?t mind if I make a pitch--If you are in the market for a beautiful two bedroom colonial style house ten minutes from the Jersey shore, on one of the best streets in Red Bank with original, hardwood floors, hit me up. We?ve got a great home that is move-in ready!


Source: http://www.victoriomilian.com/2013/04/lisa-macabu-hr-interview.html

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John McCain: focus on flight delays shows 'upside down' sequester concerns

Sen. John McCain, speaking at a Monitor breakfast Thursday, said it is 'criminal and scandalous' that Congress is ignoring the effect of the 'sequester' on national defense.

By David T. Cook,?Staff writer / April 25, 2013

Senator John McCain speaks at a Monitor-hosted breakfast for reporters in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.

Michael Bonfigli/The Christian Science Monitor

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Sen. John McCain (R) of Arizona says it is ?criminal and scandalous? that Congress is ignoring the effect of budget cuts on national defense, while actively hunting for a way to offset spending cuts at the Federal Aviation Administration.

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?We?ve got our priorities upside down,? Senator McCain said Thursday at a Monitor-hosted breakfast for reporters. ?If we are going to take care of airline passengers, why don?t we take care of our national security? The world is a more dangerous place than I have seen ... in many respects.?

The "sequester" ? the across-the-board spending cuts that took effect last month ? has posed budget dilemmas for the Pentagon and other government agencies providing national security, and it has also meant delays at airports. Starting this week, the FAA has furloughed some control-tower staff, resulting in widespread flight postponements.

?I am terribly uncomfortable with the delays of FAA. I think it is a terrible thing. I have been subject to it myself,? Arizona senator said. But McCain, a decorated war hero and longtime member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, also said, ?Every one of our uniformed service chiefs have said they can?t defend the nation if we continue with this sequester.???

Sen. Charles Schumer (D) of New York, vice chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus, was also a guest at the breakfast. When asked what action should be taken regarding the FAA delays, he said, ?My best solution is to undo sequester and replace it with more rational types of cuts.? ?

He noted, ?Last night Jay Carney, the president?s spokesperson, said that he would be open to a solution just for FAA.? The White House and top Democrats had been holding out for a comprehensive solution to the sequester as opposed to piecemeal relief.

At Wednesday?s White House briefing, Mr. Carney said that if Congress ?wants to address specifically the problems caused by the sequester with the FAA, we would be open to looking at that.?

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D) of West Virginia, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee; and the panel?s ranking Republican, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, met Wednesday with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and FAA Administrator Michael Huerta, seeking a solution. ?I would certainly be open? to any proposal they develop, Senator Schumer said.

McCain said, ?I will go along with whatever the FAA thing is, but it is criminal and scandalous that we are ignoring the effect of sequestration on our national security."

? Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/jL8Dd1Z-I-U/John-McCain-focus-on-flight-delays-shows-upside-down-sequester-concerns

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Video: PFT Live: Geno Smith wise to?defend himself?

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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/21134540/vp/51647266#51647266

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Lorenzo Fertitta says women?s groups are being used as a pawn by unions in fight for MMA in NY

While on Laurence Holmes podcast on the Score on Monday night, he asked me how it was being a woman covering such a male-dominant sport as mixed martial arts. I answered that while there were some problems and I did come up against some jerks from time to time, MMA was fantastic to me. I pointed out that the few jerks were rarely fighters.

So imagine my surprise when I heard from women's groups that I've long respected that the sport I cover is full of negative attitudes against women. As New York debates legislation sanctioning MMA, women's groups have protested because of the "violent nature of MMA."

"Due to the violent nature of mixed martial arts and the surprisingly high incidence of unchallenged sexism and misogyny displayed by certain fighters, commentators and other public figures associated with this sport, the prospect of legalization in New York state raises legitimate concerns about the increased exposure of our children to this new and potentially very negative influence," stated a bill introduced Friday by state Sen. Liz Krueger, who represents much of Manhattan's east side.

Have MMA figures said and done terribly misogynistic things? Absolutely. But so have NFL players. So have NHL players. Both football and hockey also feature violent collisions and catastrophic injuries. Where are the protests to evict the Buffalo Bills or New York Rangers from the state?

UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta, who has been lobbying for MMA's sanctioning in New York for years, thinks that these women's groups are being used as a pawn by the Culinary Union.

?It?s actually kind of sad,? Fertitta said. ?These women?s organizations and women?s groups stand for great things ? yet they are being used as a pawn by the Culinary Union.?

The union has a beef with Fertitta and his brother Frank because they own the largest non-union casinos in Las Vegas. The union has contacted women's groups to bring their attention MMA's rise and possible sanctioning in New York. But what would make more sense for the union to focus on is that fighters don't have a collective bargaining agreement and aren't unionized.

Krueger and others have pointed to links between MMA and violence when no such link has been found. There is also no discussion of how MMA has empowered women as fighters, officials, media and fans, or how women have learned self defense techniques at MMA gyms across the country. Invicta FC, a promotion run by a woman that features women's bouts, must have escaped their view.

There are real problems facing women. Sexual violence, domestic abuse, unequal pay, unequal treatment in the workplace, sexual harassment, and many other serious issues face women every day. Let's focus on how we should solve those real issues, and not a sport that has no proven link to any of these problems.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/lorenzo-fertitta-says-women-groups-being-used-pawn-224954336--mma.html

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WHO: New flu passes more easily from bird to human

BEIJING (AP) ? A new strain of bird flu that emerged in China over the past month is one of the "most lethal" flu viruses so far, worrying health officials because it can jump more easily from birds to humans than the one that started killing people a decade ago, World Health Organization officials said Wednesday.

Scientists are watching the virus closely to see if it could spark a global pandemic but say there is little evidence so far that it can spread easily from human to human.

WHO's top influenza expert, Dr. Keiji Fukuda, told reporters at a briefing in Beijing that people seem to catch the H7N9 virus from birds more easily than the H5N1 strain that began ravaging poultry across Asia in 2003. The H5N1 strain has since killed 360 people worldwide, mostly after contact with infected fowl.

Health experts are concerned about H7N9's ability to jump to humans, and about the strain's capacity to infect birds without causing noticeable symptoms, which makes it difficult to monitor its spread.

"This is definitely one of the most lethal influenza viruses we have seen so far," Fukuda said. But he added that experts are still trying to understand the virus, and that there might be a large number of mild infections that are going undetected.

The H7N9 bird flu virus has infected more than 100 people in China, seriously sickening most of them and killing more than 20, mostly near the eastern coast around Shanghai. Taiwan on Wednesday confirmed its first case, a 53-year-old man who became sick after returning from a visit to the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu.

In comparison, the earlier bird flu strain, H5N1, is known to kill up to 60 of every 100 people it infects.

Wednesday's briefing came at the end of a weeklong joint investigation by WHO and Chinese authorities in Beijing and Shanghai.

Experts said they still aren't sure how people are getting infected but said evidence points to infections at live poultry markets, particularly through ducks and chickens. They said it was encouraging that reported infections appeared to slow down after the closure of live poultry markets in affected areas.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/flu-passes-more-easily-bird-human-073635353.html

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A Boycott Is Happening in Chicago?And This Time It Isn?t Teachers

Students in Chicago have had enough with their school system.

A group called Chicago Students Organizing to Save Our Schools boycotted the state-mandated test, PSAE, on Wednesday and protested citywide. Like many people against standardized testing, the students, which numbered in the hundreds, have had enough with test taking.

But their objections, however, go further.

?

?

They are also fed up with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the public school system?s leaders in their attempts to shutter 54 school programs and 61 school buildings, mostly in underprivileged and minority neighborhoods.

Brian Sturgis, a senior at Chicago?s Paul Robeson High School and an organizer of the boycott, wrote in an Education Week blog, ?Mayor Emanuel and the Chicago Board of Education are supposed to make the CPS system work for all of us. But instead they are putting too much pressure on standardized testing and threatening to close schools that don't have high test scores. When schools are under so much pressure to raise test scores it leads to low-scoring students being neglected, not supported.?

The protestors posted frequently on social media to keep people updated on their activities. Their Twitter feed shows a picture of students lined up, arms interlocked, in front of school. One student held a sign that said, ?The best way to learn is by taking a test?No child ever said.?

The students? activities haven?t sat well with administrators.

Earlier this week, the school district made robocalls to students? parents, warning how important the test results are to a their children?s academic future.

Every student must take at least one day of the two-day exam to be promoted to 12th grade and graduate. The second part of the test, given on Wednesday, included science, math and reading. This part, in turn, gives a career-readiness certificate endorsed by employers to students.

Of course, as is the norm in America?s classrooms, the tests are also used to help evaluate each school and teacher.

Barbara Byrd-Bennett, the Chicago Public Schools CEO said on Wednesday, ?The only place that students should be during the school day is in the classroom with their teachers getting the education they need to be successful in life. Today's PSAE is one of the most critical exams our students will take. Every adult should support and encourage our students to make sure they are in school.?

Mark Naison, a Fordham University academic who monitors educational movements in the United States, compared the Chicago protest to the student?lunch counter sit-ins that began in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1960.

?In both instances, you had a situation that many people thought was outrageous?and yes, many people do think the level of testing in schools has become so intrusive and counterproductive that it is national tragedy?but people in elected office seemed unable to change, so young people decided to take history into their own hands,? he said. ?I would not be surprised to see these walkouts and boycotts multiply next year.?

Last week, New York parents, teachers, and students participated in a similar protest when students decidedly opted out of tests administered by the state of New York. An overabundance of testing has, according to critics, contributed to a rise in cheating by teachers and administrators, a segregation of students based on test scores, high teacher turnover, and the decrease of classes that teach enrichment, such as the arts.

Some see these protests as a last resort to help students and teachers in a broken system with few benefits.

Shaun Johnson, a Maryland-based teacher educator, former public school teacher, and blogger for At the Chalk Face, feels that while a boycott to prevent data from being collected may not be the most effective tool, it's perhaps all we have left.

Related Stories on TakePart:

? Op-Ed: Watching Our Chicago Schools Close Is ?Like Being Stuck in a Bad Dream?

? What Will the Closure of 61 Chicago School Buildings Mean for Kids?

? Op-Ed: It?s Not Always the Right Choice to Close a Failing School


Suzi Parker is an Arkansas-based?political and cultural journalist whose work frequently appears in?The Washington?Post?and?The Christian Science Monitor. She is the?author of two books. @SuziParker | TakePart.com?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/boycott-happening-chicago-time-isn-t-teachers-212009314.html

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Thursday, 25 April 2013

George W. Bush: 'Painting has Changed My Life' (ABC News)

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Boxee Cloud DVR reaches the San Francisco Bay Area in beta

Boxee Cloud DVR expands to the San Francisco Bay Area in beta

Boxee Cloud DVR has been active in only eight markets since its inception as Boxee TV, but it's at last time for the platform to spread its wings. As of now, Boxee's live TV recording service is up and running in the San Francisco Bay Area in beta form; owners just need to update their firmware to start uploading shows. While the company hasn't outlined its plans for other markets just yet, its target of 26 cities by the end of 2013 means that other areas shouldn't be far behind.

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Via: GigaOM

Source: Boxee (Twitter)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/25/boxee-cloud-dvr-reaches-the-san-francisco-bay-area-in-beta/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Thailand bans film about Thai-Cambodian border row

BANGKOK (AP) ? Thailand's film censors have banned a documentary about the country's long-running border dispute with neighboring Cambodia as a threat to national security, the filmmaker said Wednesday.

"Boundary" tells the story of the Thai-Cambodian conflict through accounts of an ex-soldier who lives near the border, as well as villagers from the two countries. It also touches on other conflicts in Thailand, including the 9-year-old insurgency in the south and the political divisiveness that led to a deadly military crackdown on protesters in 2010.

Director Nontawat Numbenchapol said the Culture Ministry's film screening office informed him that the movie's content "is a threat to national security and international relations." He said he will appeal the ban.

The border dispute has its roots in a 1962 International Court of Justice ruling that the 1,000-year-old Preah Vihear temple stands in Cambodia. Thailand's government argues that definitive boundaries have never been drawn in the area around the World Heritage-listed site.

The dispute has become a rallying point for many Thai nationalists, who don't recognize the court's ruling and say the area, including the temple, belongs to Thailand and they have pressured politicians to keep pressing the issue.

The Thai and Cambodian armies have repeatedly clashed in the disputed area in recent years, including in April 2011, when 17 soldiers and a civilian were killed and thousands near the temple were displaced.

In 2011, the court in The Hague created a demilitarized zone around the temple but troops were not withdrawn until a year later.

The court is currently hearing testimony from both sides after they asked it to clarify its original ruling.

According to Nontawat, the film and video screening sub-committee said some of the claims in the documentary, including accounts from the Cambodian side, were "groundless."

The censors also said some information presented in the film was still being deliberated by the court and had yet to be formally resolved.

"I made this movie to create the space for people living near the border to speak their mind," Nontawat said, adding that he was stunned by the decision. "Now I have to work harder not only to let people know about the border issue, but also about freedom of expression."

Thailand's censors target a wide range of political and social issues. They blur out cigarettes and alcohol on television and crack down on any perceived criticism of the monarchy.

Last year, the film board banned a Thai adaptation of Shakespeare's "Macbeth," saying it has content that causes divisiveness among the people. In 2011, the board also banned a movie, called "Insects in the Backyard," about a transgender father struggling to raise two children, citing scenes they deemed immoral and pornographic.

"In the U.S., a movie like 'Bowling for Columbine,' which boldly criticized the president, can still be shown. It sparked constructive arguments and made the country more developed," Nontawat said. "In Thailand, the more you censor things, the more you make the country more outdated."

"Boundary" premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in February and received financial support from international movie funds.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/thailand-bans-film-thai-cambodian-border-row-040350874.html

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