Moody's revises 2013 airport outlook to stable

(Reuters) - Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday said it revised its 2013 outlook for the U.S. airport sector to stable from negative as the rating agency said it expects the airports to maintain the financial performance achieved last year.

Moody's said the outlook on the airports sector has been negative since August 2008. However the agency said that the uncertainty of federal funding remains a negative for airport credit quality.

"Although the long-term FAA reauthorization bill passed in 2012 provides for stable funding levels, these levels are currently exposed to across-the-board cuts from sequestration, debt ceiling, or budget negotiations," Moody's said.

"The outlook for the U.S. airport sector is stable due to projected modest economic growth in the U.S. and global economies that should support enplanement and subsequent revenue increases," the rating agency said in a statement.

The stable outlook also reflects strengthened airport finances, and better than expected operating results in 2011 and 2012, Moody's said.

Airline financial strength has increased, reducing the risk of sudden declines at the airports and supporting a stable outlook, Moody's said.

Fewer seats and higher fares as airlines continue to consolidate will make enplanement growth difficult, Moodys said.

Moody's expects enplanement growth to be about the same rate as gross domestic product growth, or roughly 2 percent.

(Reporting by Caryn Trokie; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/moodys-revises-2013-airport-outlook-stable-151409271--finance.html

malin akerman jeff carter chomp national enquirer kate gosselin helicopter crash matt jones

19 dead in balloon crash near Luxor: How will this affect tourism?

19 are reported dead after a balloon crash in Luxor, Egypt. The dawn hot air balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings is popular with tourists, even after the post-Mubarak tourism slump.

By Marwa Awad,?Reuters / February 26, 2013

In these stills from amateur video obtained by Al Jazeera, smoke pours from a hot air balloon over Luxor, Egypt, top left, before bursting, top right, and plummeting about 1,000 feet to earth, bottom left and right, on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. The balloon crash left 19 people dead.

Al Jazeera / AP

Enlarge

At least 19 people, most of them Asian and European tourists, died on Tuesday when a hot air balloon caught fire and crashed near the ancient Egyptian town of Luxor after a mid-air gas explosion, officials said.

Skip to next paragraph

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

Subscribe Today to the Monitor

Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of
The Christian Science Monitor
Weekly Digital Edition

The balloon came down in farmland a few miles from the Valley of the Kings and pharaonic temples popular with tourists. Rescue workers gathered the dead from the field where the charred remains of the balloon, gas canisters and other pieces of wreckage landed.

One Egyptian was also killed, Health Minister Mohamed Mostafa Hamed told Reuters, listing the other victims as tourists from Japan, China, France, Britain and Hungary. Earlier, officials had said all the dead were foreigners.

The balloon crashed on the west bank of the Nile, where many of the area's major historical sites are located.

Konny Matthews, assistant manager of Luxor's Al Moudira hotel, said she heard an explosion at about 7 a.m. "It was a huge bang. It was a frightening bang, even though it was several kilometres away from the hotel," she said by phone. "Some of my employees said that their homes were shaking."

Ahmed Aboud, head of an association representing Luxor balloon operators, said the fire had begun in the pipe linking the gas canisters to the burner. He said it was an accident.

The deaths were caused by burns and injuries sustained in the fall, said Mohamed Mustafa, a doctor at the hospital where the injured were treated.

The pilot survived by jumping from the basket, Aboud said.

The British government said two British citizens and a British resident of Egypt had been killed. "We can also confirm that one other British national was involved and is in a stable condition," a British foreign ministry statement said.

Two French citizens were killed, according to France's foreign ministry. The Japanese embassy in Cairo said it believed four Japanese had been aboard and had sent staff to Luxor to confirm this.

Transport accidents are frequent in Egypt. Dozens of children were killed in November when the bus they were on collided with a train. Accidents affecting foreign tourists are rarer, but not unusual. Five Germans were killed in December in a bus crash near a Red Sea resort.

A LOUD EXPLOSION

U.S. photographer Christopher Michel, who was on board another balloon, told Britain's Sky News television that the balloon was one of eight flying at the time. "We heard a loud explosion behind us. I looked back and saw lots of smoke. It wasn't immediately clear that it was a balloon," he said.

Hot air ballooning at dawn is popular with tourists, who are a mainstay of the Egyptian economy, although visitor numbers have fallen sharply since a 2011 uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak. Two years of political instability have kept many foreign tourists away.

Tourism accounted for more than a 10th of Egypt's gross domestic product before the revolt. In 2010, about 14.7 million visitors came to Egypt, but this slumped to 9.8 million the next year.

Wael Ibrahim, head of the tour guides' syndicate in Luxor, said he did not expect the accident to make the situation worse for tour operators in the area than it already was. "We've already been affected badly in Egypt," he said.

Some tourists may be more wary of activities like hot air ballooning, he said, but added: "This (type of) accident could happen anywhere in the world."

Last year a balloon plunged to the ground in flames in Slovenia, killing four people and injuring 28.

Egyptian Civil Aviation Minister Wael el-Maadawi said a committee from the ministry was heading to Luxor to investigate the incident. He said hot air balloon flights would be stopped until an investigation into the cause of the accident.

"We cannot say whether this was because of maintenance or human (error) until the investigation committee is completely done with its investigation," he told Al Jazeera TV's Egyptian channel.

(Reporting by Tom Perry, Alexander Dziadosz, Shaimaa Fayed and Asma Alsharif in Cairo, Michael Holden, Estelle Shirbon and Tim Castle in London and Vicky Buffery in Paris; Writing by Tom Perry and Alexander Dziadosz; Editing by Tom Pfeiffer)

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/mmWuSXtVqDg/19-dead-in-balloon-crash-near-Luxor-How-will-this-affect-tourism

marijuana huffington post elizabeth warren puerto rico diane sawyer Cnn.com Colorado Marijuana

Groupon CFO says shared more revenue with merchants in fourth quarter

MADRID, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Lionel Messi has rarely been accused of failing to deliver in big games, having scored in two European Cup finals, but after subdued performances against AC Milan and Real Madrid, questions are being asked. The four-times World Player of the Year and leading scorer in one of the greatest club teams of all time, was a shadow of his usual self at the San Siro in a Champions League last-16 first leg last week, when Barcelona slumped to a 2-0 defeat. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/groupon-cfo-says-shared-more-revenue-merchants-fourth-220044225--sector.html

m.i.a super bowl coin toss best superbowl commercials madonna super bowl halftime kelly clarkson super bowl giants super bowl 2012 half time show

Military leaders say Congress must stop sequester

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The billions of dollars in defense budget cuts scheduled to begin at the end of the week will have a swift and severe impact on military readiness and Congress needs to take fast action to stop them, members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday in an 11th hour bid to keep the reductions from going into effect.

Testifying before the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, the five uniformed leaders of the military branches described how national security would be put at risk if they are forced to make deep decreases in spending for personnel, training, and equipment modernization programs.

Their appearance marks the fourth time in the last three weeks that top Pentagon's leaders have testified before a congressional oversight committee about how the country's fiscal outlook affects the armed forces. Their warnings of a looming readiness crisis haven't changed, but the pending deadline has made them more urgent.

"If we do not have the resources to train and equip the force, our young men and women will pay the price, potentially with their lives," said Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army chief of staff.

Despite the dire predictions, many of the cuts to hit the Defense Department and other federal agencies would come in later years and could be partially offset by cuts in programs that are wasteful or behind schedule. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., criticized Defense Department officials earlier this month for "adding drama" to the budget debate by publicly highlighting the cuts to the readiness accounts. Hunter, a former Marine who served two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, is a member of the House Armed Services Committee.

The automatic cuts, known as a sequester in Washington speak, are scheduled to begin on March 1 and are the result of Congress' failure to trim the deficit by $1.2 trillion over a decade. The Pentagon faces a $46 billion budget reduction through the end of September, and additional cuts would come in future years as long as the sequester remains in effect. The military also has to absorb a $487 billion reduction in defense spending over the next 10 years mandated by the Budget Control Act passed in 2011.

The military's fiscal challenges are further complicated by the lack of a budget for the current fiscal year, according to defense officials. Congress hasn't approved one. Instead, lawmakers have been passing bills called continuing resolutions, which keep spending levels at last year's rates. That means the Pentagon is operating on less money than planned, compounding the financial problem facing the armed forces.

The main problem with the sequester is not the size of the cuts to the defense budget, but rather the across-the-board way they are administered, according to Todd Harrison of the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington.

The military has very little flexibility under the law to make smart spending reductions, he said. "High-priority, successful programs must be cut by the same percentage as wasteful, redundant, and low-priority programs," Harrison said.

Yet even with the sequester, the Pentagon will still maintain an annual budget, adjusted for inflation, of well over $500 billion a year for the rest of the decade. That's a modest reduction when compared to the previous drawdowns in defense spending that came after the wars in Korea and Vietnam and the Cold War, Harrison said.

Gen. James Amos, the Marine Corps commandant, told the defense subcommittee that the sequester combined with the lack of a 2013 defense budget will have a "devastating impact" on military readiness and create "unacceptable levels of risk" to the U.S. national security strategy.

Amos said America's allies and enemies are watching to determine whether the country remains able to meet its commitments overseas. "Sequestration viewed solely as a budget issue would be a grave mistake," he said.

Gen. Mark Welsh, the Air Force chief of staff, said the sequester and the failure to pass a 2013 budget will "combine to render us unable to continue our current and expected level of operations."

The Pentagon has previously announced that it is cutting the U.S. aircraft carrier presence in the Persian Gulf region from two carriers to one, and Adm. Jonathan Greenert highlighted that move as one of the most significant effects of the sequester.

Greenert, the chief of naval operations, also said that if a 2013 budget isn't passed, the Navy will have to stop the refueling overhauls to two other carriers - the USS Abraham Lincoln and the USS Theodore Roosevelt - and delay the construction of other ships.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-02-26-Defense%20Budget%203rd%20LdWritethru/id-7133ede8c72f4a2aa2c233f47e674bd4

michigan football askew blue moon ann romney farrah abraham Paul Ryan Speech chris cooley

USA TODAY: New Home Sales Rise?And We're Cocooning Again ...

New home sales rise almost 16%

26 February 2013 13:24 EST
USA Today
New home sales surged in January, rising almost 16% from December in another sign of an improving housing market.
Sales of new single-family homes in January came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 437,000, the government said Tuesday.
The results bested consensus estimates of 381,000.
The pace of sales was almost 29% above the January 2012 estimate of 339,000, and almost 16% above the revised December rate.
The strong showing in January follows an uptick in home builder sentiment and housing starts in recent months that hadn?t been matched with an increase in sales. ?Now, we?re seeing sales pick up,? says Patrick Newport, economist with IHS Global Insight.
The homebuilding industry has been starved for good news for years. Last year?s new home sales totaled 367,000, making 2012 the third lowest year on record for new home sales. They hit record lows in 2011.
IHS Global Insight expects new home sales to rise to 464,000 this year. IHS doesn?t expect new home sales to return to more normal levels, above 800,000 a year, until 2015.
Increased new home sales are a strong indicator of increasing consumer confidence in the overall U.S. housing market, says John Tashjian, principal, Centurion Real Estate Partners.
As buyers absorb existing inventory, builders will ramp up construction starts, which is also give the economy a ?much needed shot in the arm,? Tashjian says.

Cocooning: It?s Back and Thanks to Tech, It?s Bigger

26 February 2013 10:52 ESTUSA Today

Cocooning is undergoing a metamorphosis: Call it super-cocooning.

Thanks to always-on wireless Internet connectivity and bigger, better TVs that reproduce pixel-perfect high-definition video, cocooning is entering a new evolutionary stage. Consumers are staying home more, watching movies delivered via cable, satellite, Internet or disc, eating in and transforming their apartments and houses into a shelter from the daily social storm.

This new level of super-cocooning is affecting Hollywood, professional sports and restaurants across the U.S. ?Everybody is nervous, really nervous,? says trend forecaster Faith Popcorn, who coined the term ?cocooning? in 1981. ?I think we are looking for protection. Almost like the Jetsons, we want to walk around in a little bubble. We are moving toward that.?

Cocooning is not a new behavior. Born out of a mix of fear and fun, it became a trend identified with Cold War unease that led to stay-at-home entertainment such as the first home video game systems, rec rooms and the adoption of home swimming pools and trampolines.

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a refocus on cocooning occurred. Homeowners lined their nests with media rooms and remodeled kitchens meant for entertaining. And in the last 12 months, with the July 20 movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colo., and the Dec. 14 school shootings in Newtown, Conn., many have a heightened sense of unease. ?We don?t feel too safe, and people are getting more and more nervous about being vulnerable,? Popcorn says. ?Cocooning is going strong in 2013.?

By the numbers
An indication of super-cocooning comes from a recent JPMorgan Chase analysis of credit card spending. Consumers with Chase Freedom credit cards spent significantly more (65%) on electronics such as TVs and tablets during the last three months of 2012 than during the same period the year before, the firm found.

Overall, consumers spent 2% more during the fourth quarter of 2012 than a year before, but spent less on hotels (-21%), car rentals (-26%), restaurants (-16%) and tolls (-8%). ?It does appear that consumers are staying closer to home,? says Phil Christian, general manager for Chase Freedom.

That trend is buttressed by the slowed growth in travel and tourism spending, from about 5% growth in the first three months of 2012 to 2.2% and 0.6% in the second and third quarters, reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis in December.

On the plus side, movie theaters set a box office record of $10.8 billion in 2012. but overall attendance remained flat, according to Nielsen.

That?s in part because Hollywood is increasingly catering to consumers by getting films from theaters into homes more quickly via on-demand or pay-TV services. Among those who stay close to home, a subset of about 7% of U.S. homes with Internet access are inhabited by ?heavy home entertainment cocooners,? says consulting and research firm Frank N. Magid Associates. They spend nearly $300 each month on pay TV, Internet service, video games, on-demand video, music, books, newspapers and magazines, says Magid.

These heavy cocooners are an affluent, racially diverse group: More than one-third (35%) make $75,000 or more annually. Whites make up 57%, Hispanics 22%, blacks 14% and Asians 7%, according to Magid. The firm conducted the nationally representative survey of 2,540 digital consumers in March 2012.

Even a large portion of digital consumers in the $35,000-$50,000 annual-income bracket identified themselves as heavy cocooners.

?The emerging cocoon of home entertainment is being led by a new, technologically sophisticated and more culturally diverse American consumer,? says Andrew Hare, senior analyst for Magid.

The cost of cocooning
While pay-TV bills have risen about 6% annually, The NPD Group says, more homes are opting for higher-cost packages. About 23% of homes pay more than $100 monthly for cable-delivered pay TV, up from 19% in 2008, Magid found. Homes paying more than $100 for satellite pay-TV service rose to 14% from 10%.

But in other ways, the price of becoming a super-cocooner is falling. As the average price for an HDTV has plummeted, now about 88% of homes have one, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. And bigger TVs, those larger than 55 inches, cost on average $1,400, about 10% less than a year ago, The NPD Group says.

Consumers bought slightly more TVs last year than in 2011, with many upgrading to bigger displays, says NPD analyst Ben Arnold. ?The move toward big screen is part of that (cocooning) story. You?ve got tons of content options. You?ve got TVs that connect directly to the Internet, so you don?t even have to get a DVD; you can call up Netflix or Amazon video services directly on your TV.?

There?s more HD content available, too, he says. ?There are a lot of reasons to stay home and either watch movies or sports on TV. Picture quality has become better and better. Actually being able to see the event or see the game, one might argue that it?s a better experience than in person.?

Among recent TV buyers is Kornel Lelea of Hawthorne, Calif., who bought a new 70-inch Sharp HDTV before his annual Super Bowl party. Three other screens also had the game on, but the new set was the star attraction. ?The technology is so much better. It has 3-D capability, the color saturation,? he says. ?It is just beautiful.?

The 46-year-old L.A. housing inspector watches a lot of sports, movies, as well as the Discovery Channel. ?With the (new) 70-inch now, it?s better than a movie theater,? he says.

And it?s safer, even for a guy who?s 6 foot, 2 inches. ?I?m a big Dodgers fan, but the last time I was at a game someone was actually trying to get stupid with me,? he says. ?I?m a fan, but I?m not going to lose my career or my life over a game, either, you know.?

Recent assaults at sports events have caught the attention of the public and fueled cocooning. A post-game stabbing occurred at the NFC Championship game in Atlanta last month. And in 2011, national attention was turned on Los Angeles after a San Francisco Giants fan was beaten at Dodger Stadium. The National Football League in 2008 enacted a Fan Code of Conduct; last season it toughened the rule by requiring fans kicked out of a stadium to take an online behavior-management course before returning.

While convenience, cost and quality of home theater were the biggest factors cited for staying at home, security was a concern for several others who responded to USA TODAY about the subject on Twitter and Facebook. ?Why leave the comfort of my lazy boy (sic) when I can see/watch a HD football game?? wrote Nathan Tameling.

Said Dave Majewski of Columbus, Ohio, ?It?s cheaper and more comfortable and safer.?

That is a growing consumer sentiment, says Tom Campbell of retailer Video & Audio Center in Los Angeles. He was surprised at the rate at which consumers began snapping up new $17,000, 84-inch Ultra HD televisions after LG Electronics began shipping them in late October.

?We called some of them back to ask, ?Why did you buy it?? We found out that with the ever-increasing violence at sports events people are becoming concerned about their safety,? said Campbell, who called several dozen customers. The three-store chain has sold more than 100 Ultra HD displays.

Other retailers also report an uptick in sales of larger-screen TVs, he says: ?It?s beyond the cocooning we saw in the Jimmy Carter years.?

Sales of Sony?s first Ultra HD 4K TV, a $25,000 84-inch model that it began shipping in early December, have been ?exceeding expectations,? says Sony Electronics Vice President Brian Siegel. ?Over the last few years, consumers have been spending more time at home, and their expectations are increasing? for TV quality, he says.

Not so super socially
Super-cocooning is making us less social, says analyst Michael Greeson of The Diffusion Group, a media research group.

Technology makes it possible for us to avoid leaving our homes ? whether seeing a movie or getting food delivered ? and, he says, it can lessen our connections with others.

?With all the information and entertainment at arm?s reach at home, why get out and meet up with a friend when you can chat on Facebook? Why go shopping for a book at Barnes & Noble when you can search through a virtually unlimited bookstore like Amazon and never leave your couch??

Trend analyst Popcorn doesn?t see an end in sight for super-cocooning.

If anything, we will line our cocoons with more technology like the IllumiRoom that Microsoft showed off at the Consumer Electronics Show last month. Using a Kinect camera controller and projector, the IllumiRoom turns your entire room into a 3-D movie or game environment.

?You can see the evolution,? she says. ?But it all comes out of the same thing: We?re people getting more and more nervous about being vulnerable.?

Like this:

Like Loading...

Source: http://1045his.com/2013/02/27/usa-today-new-home-sales-riseand-were-cocooning-again/

Cruel Summer Endeavor shaun white carolina panthers amanda bynes Revolution TV Show bankofamerica

EU moves closer to imposing caps on banker bonuses

BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) - The European parliament and EU states could agree on Wednesday to impose caps on bankers' bonuses, a measure that would channel public fury at financial sector greed, but which opponents say marks a reckless overreach by Brussels into private pay deals.

Negotiations to introduce a cap on bankers' bonuses in the European Union resume on Wednesday, a week after European lawmakers and ambassadors from countries failed to reach a deal. A majority of states in the 27-member bloc would have to support a measure passed by the European parliament to make it law.

Limits to bankers' pay are popular on a continent still struggling to emerge from the ruins of a 2008 financial crisis. Lavish pay is blamed for encouraging bankers to take excessive risks, destabilizing banks that then needed to be bailed out.

Banks and industry lobbyists have strongly resisted bonus caps. They say such limits would only force banks to hike base pay to keep staff, making wage bills less flexible.

Britain in particular is wary of any measure that might hurt the City of London, the continent's financial capital, with 144,000 banking staff and many more in related jobs.

But European lawmakers see a cap - possibly limiting bonuses to double base salary - as the only way to rein in runaway pay, reduce incentives for risk and make banks safer.

"A cap is the only way we will see bonus restraint," said Arlene McCarthy, the British member of the European Parliament who pushed for pay reform. "The parliament is not prepared to budge. Legislators have got fed up because they don't see any restraint in the bonus culture."

Talks between EU country ambassadors about the rules broke up last week amid clashes over how far to go. But tougher rules seem certain.

"There will definitely be a bonus cap," said one official. "It's just a question of how much."

A decision is not expected before 1800 GMT and there is a possibility that it might be deferred for more negotiations.

Britain, anxious to protect a sector that accounts for one tenth of its economy, is trying to dilute the impact of the cap with proposals that would allow higher bonuses if they were paid in share options.

Nearly 700,000 people work in financial and professional services in London. About 27 billion pounds ($41 billion) of bonuses have been spent over the last decade on real estate in the British capital, according to data compiled for Reuters by property firm Savills.

"If implemented, the new pay restrictions would lead to an exodus of bankers and traders to Switzerland and the Far East," Norman Lamont, a former finance minister from Britain's ruling Conservative party, wrote in the Daily Telegraph.

"Not to put too fine a point on it, the bonus cap is a piece of economic lunacy that reflects tellingly on why it was a huge mistake giving the pointless hybrid parliament in Brussels any legislative powers at all."

Many in banking argue that such reform will do little to lower pay in finance, where head-hunters say some annual packages in London approach five million pounds.

MARKET-DRIVEN

"This will only change the way that pay is structured," said Andrew Breach, a head-hunter at Michael Page, which recruits traders and other bankers. "This is not the civil service. This is a market driven industry. If you want people to make profit, then you need to reward them."

An earlier attempt to limit bankers' pay with an EU law forcing financiers to defer bonus payments over up to five years merely prompted lenders to increase base salaries.

However McCarthy, the European lawmaker, said it will be harder for banks to raise base pay this time around. The bonus rules will come as part of wider legislation setting higher capital standards for banks, increasing their costs and curbing freedom to hike salaries.

Hedge funds and private equity firms will be excluded from such curbs although they face restrictions on pay later this year under another EU law.

Bankers who spoke to Reuters are worried about the law but reluctant, like many of their employers, to speak openly about the reform.

The restrictions planned by Brussels, which could come into force from the beginning of next year, may, however, be overtaken by events in an industry where slack activity has already driven down most bonuses to twice salary or lower.

Having peaked in 2008 at 11.5 billion pounds ($17.40 billion), the bonus pool in London fell to 4.4 billion pounds last year, according to research by the Centre for Economics and Business Research. It predicts that pool will be just 1.5 billion pounds this year and fall further in the future.

On Wall Street, by contrast, the securities industry's bonus pool was expected to total $20 billion last year with the average cash bonus rising an estimated nine percent to almost $121,900, New York state's comptroller said this week.

The rosier climate for banking in the United States and Asia combined with the bonus cap from Brussels could be the final straw for some bankers.

"We have been talking for years about the economy and the regulatory environment here potentially moving people abroad and we haven't really seen it. But this might be enough to push a lot of people off the ledges," said one London-based headhunter. ($1 = 0.6618 British pounds)

(Additional reporting by Steve Slater, Tom Bill and Costas Pitas in London; Writing by John O'Donnell; Editing by Carmel Crimmins and Peter Graff)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/eu-moves-closer-imposing-caps-banker-bonuses-063925891--finance.html

st louis university mario manningham mario manningham williams syndrome hoya casa de mi padre corned beef and cabbage

Cell scaffolding protein fascin-1 is hijacked by cancer

Feb. 22, 2013 ? A protein involved in the internal cell scaffold is associated with increased risk of metastasis and mortality in a range of common cancers finds a meta-analysis published in Biomed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine.

The protein, fascin-1, is involved in bundling together the actin filaments which form the internal scaffolding of a cell and are involved in cell movement. Though it is absent, or only present at a low level in normal epithelial cells, several small studies have shown fascin-1 to be increased in many carcinomas, but its role in metastasis and mortality risk has been uncertain.

Researchers from the University of Bristol combined and reanalysed data from 26 studies looking at five different types of carcinomas. The meta-analysis showed that increased fascin-1 was associated with increased risk of mortality in breast, colorectal and esophageal carcinomas but not in gastric or lung carcinoma. It was also associated with disease progression in breast and colorectal carcinoma, but not lung carcinoma. It was associated with local and distant metastasis in colorectal and gastric carcinomas but there was no involvement of fascin-1 in metastasis of esophageal carcinomas.

These results show that the picture is not simple and that different types of cancer are affected in different ways. The story of fascin-1 not only provides a biomarker and potential avenue for research into anti-cancer therapy but also demonstrates the complexity of cancer.

Josephine Adams and Richard Martin who led this study said, "Our results show that fascin-1 is associated with several types of human carcinomas. The results will help focus further research into fascin-1 as a marker and potential target for cancer therapy to the most relevant types of carcinomas."

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by BioMed Central Limited.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Vanessa Y Tan, Sarah J Lewis, Josephine C Adams and Richard M Martin. Association of fascin-1 with mortality, disease progression and metastasis in carcinomas: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Medicine, 2013 (in press) [link]

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/NNO8Aq881R0/130225201820.htm

michael madsen spring forward day light savings day light savings daylight saving time 2012 grapes of wrath silent house

Three legal DeKalb school board members: Our hands are tied until ...

12:37 pm February 26, 2013, by Maureen Downey

The legally recognized and unchallenged DeKalb Board of Education members Melvin Johnson, Jim McMahan and Marshall Orson issued this statement on the state of affairs in the district:

As elected representatives on the DeKalb Board of Education, we find ourselves in a unique and confusing situation. We are the three members of the Board of Education not subject to the State Board of Education?s review process because we joined the DeKalb Board in January 2013, and the State Board?s action concerned the nine Board members who held office prior to January 2013.

We, along with Superintendent Michael Thurmond, are committed to restoring full accreditation and focusing our efforts on the academic achievement of DeKalb?s 99,000 students and the professional well-being of the people who teach and serve those students, and we pledge to restore making outcomes for children the priority of the DeKalb County School District.

We realize there is a great deal of frustration with the current legal proceedings. However, Judge Richard Story?s order clearly states that his intention is to maintain the ?status quo? until at least Friday, March, which, in effect, prohibits any action by the DeKalb Board of Education.

As a result of that order, any potential appointees by Governor Nathan Deal cannot take office, and the suspended members cannot participate in any decisions or official Board activity. Under Georgia law, a quorum of at least five members is required for the DeKalb Board of Education to act. With only the three of us authorized to act by virtue of the federal court order, the DeKalb Board of Education will lack a quorum to conduct any business until such time as there is a decision in the legal matter.

We will continue to work with Superintendent Thurmond to focus on our students, the hardworking educators who are with those students every day in our schools, and the parents and families who support them. We will not be satisfied until every decision made by the DeKalb County School District is made on the basis of how it advances our responsibility for student achievement.

?from Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog

Source: http://blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2013/02/26/three-legal-dekalb-school-board-members-our-hands-tied-until-court-acts/?cxntfid=blogs_get_schooled_blog

Diwali elmo Kevin Clash Walmart Black Friday 2012 Paula Broadwell Tilted Kilt Barbara Palvin

Mastercard's MasterPass Turns Your Phone Into Your Own Personal Checkout Lane

MasterCard is no stranger to high-tech purchasing. Its existing PayPass Wallet already lets you tap your credit card on NFC terminals to but. But the new MasterPass service takes it all to another level, letting you do things like scan barcodes and buy items with your phone, right on the spot. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/bKVFmoPFlCI/mastercards-masterpass-turns-your-phone-into-your-own-personal-checkout-lane

danny o brien alicia silverstone park slope food coop anchorman sequel safety not guaranteed lifehouse al gore

A bone to pick with the Oscars (Washington Post)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/287079150?client_source=feed&format=rss

dark knight rises trailer vince young vince young evan longoria ryan seacrest kentucky derby beltane

Iceland's plan to ban Internet porn sparks uproar

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) ? In the age of instant information, globe-spanning viral videos and the World Wide Web, can a thoroughly wired country become a porn-free zone? Authorities in Iceland want to find out.

The government of the tiny North Atlantic nation is drafting plans to ban pornography, in print and online, in an attempt to protect children from a tide of violent sexual imagery.

The proposal by Interior Minister Ogmundur Jonasson has caused an uproar. Opponents say the move will censor the Web, encourage authoritarian regimes and undermine Iceland's reputation as a Scandinavian bastion of free speech.

Advocates say it is a sensible measure that will shelter children from serious harm.

"When a 12-year-old types 'porn' into Google, he or she is not going to find photos of naked women out on a country field, but very hardcore and brutal violence," said Halla Gunnarsdottir, political adviser to the interior minister.

"There are laws in our society. Why should they not apply to the Internet?"

Gunnarsdottir says the proposals currently being drawn up by a committee of experts will not introduce new restrictions, but simply uphold an existing if vaguely worded law.

Pornography is already banned in Iceland, and has been for decades ? but the term is not defined, so the law is not enforced. Magazines such as Playboy and Penthouse are on sale in book stores, and more hardcore material can be bought from a handful of sex shops. "Adult" channels form part of digital TV packages.

Iceland's left-of-center government insists it is not setting out to sweep away racy magazines or censor sex. The ban would define pornography as material with violent or degrading content.

Gunnarsdottir said the committee is still exploring the details of how a porn ban could be enforced. One possibility would be to make it illegal to pay for porn with Icelandic credit cards. Another, more controversial, route would be a national Internet filter or a list of website addresses to be blocked.

That idea has Internet-freedom advocates alarmed.

"This kind of thing does not work. It is technically impossible to do in a way that has the intended effect," said Smari McCarthy of free-speech group the International Modern Media Institute. "And it has negative side effects ? everything from slowing down the Internet to blocking content that is not meant to be blocked to just generally opening up a whole can of worms regarding human rights issues, access to information and freedom of expression."

Despite its often chaotic appearance, the Internet is not a wholly lawless place. It is regulated, to varying degrees, around the world. Police monitor the net for child pornography and other illegal material, and service providers in many countries block offending sites.

Some governments also censor the Internet at a national level ? though the likes of authoritarian Iran, North Korea and China are not countries liberal Iceland wants to emulate.

European countries including Britain, Sweden and Denmark ask Internet service providers to block child pornography websites, measures that have met with only limited opposition.

But broader filtering has mostly been resisted. A few years ago, Australia announced it would introduce an Internet filtering system to block websites containing material including child pornography, bestiality, sexual violence and terrorist content. After an outcry, the government abandoned the plan last year.

Critics say such filters are flawed and often scoop up innocent sites in their net ? as when Denmark's child pornography filter briefly blocked access to Google and Facebook last year because of a glitch.

On the streets of Iceland's capital, Reykjavik, there was some support for a porn ban, but also skepticism about how it would work.

"I think this is a good idea, but I think it might be problematic to implement this," said shop assistant Ragnheidur Arnarsdottir. "It is difficult to fight technology."

Iceland's moves are being closely watched. It may be a tiny country of only 320,000 people, but its economic and social experiments ? like its active volcanos ? often have international impact.

For centuries economically dependent on fishing, Iceland transformed itself in the early 21st century into a pioneer of aggressive credit-driven banking. Then in 2008, the country's debt-burdened banks all collapsed, making Iceland the first and most dramatic casualty of the global financial crisis, and leaving a string of failed businesses around the world.

The economy is now bouncing back, aided by Iceland's status as one of the world's best connected countries, with one of the highest levels of Internet use on the planet. Recent initiatives to boost growth include plans to make Iceland a global center of media and technology freedom ? a status that advocates like McCarthy fear could be threatened by an online porn ban.

Anti-porn activists, however, are hailing Iceland as a pioneer. It is certainly not afraid to go its own way. Although the country has largely liberal Scandinavian values, it broke with most of Europe in 2010 by banning strip clubs.

"This is a country with courage," said Gail Dines, a professor of sociology and women's studies at Wheelock College in Boston and author of the book "Pornland."

"Iceland is going to be the first country with the guts to stand up to these predatory bullies from L.A. (in the porn industry)," she said. "It is going to take one country to show that this is possible."

But opponents say the project is both misguided and doomed.

"I can say with absolute certainty that this will not happen, this state filter," said Icelandic parliamentarian Birgitta Jonsdottir, a prominent advocate of online freedom.

She is confident those drafting the anti-porn measures will see the error of their ways. They may also run out of time ? Iceland is due to hold parliamentary elections in April, and the unpopular coalition government could be thrown out.

Jonsdottir said the key to protecting children and others from hardcore harm is for citizens to better inform themselves about the Internet and how it works.

"People just have to make themselves a bit more knowledgeable about what their kids are up to, and face reality," she said.

Gunnarsdottir, the political adviser backing the ban, just hopes the emotional debate around the issue will cool down.

"I think we should be able to discuss the Internet with more depth, without just shouting censorship on the one hand and laissez-faire on the other hand," she said.

"Is it freedom of speech to be able to reach children with very hardcore, brutal material? Is that the freedom of speech we want to protect?"

___

Lawless reported from London. Jill Lawless can be reached at http://Twitter.com/JillLawless

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/icelands-plan-ban-internet-porn-sparks-uproar-074215822.html

James Holmes Minka Kelly sex tape Colorado shooting Colorado shooting victims aurora Angie Everhart tom hardy

Lindsay Lohan Signs Up For Anger Management ... as Charlie Sheen Love Interest!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/02/lindsay-lohan-signs-on-for-anger-management-as-charlie-sheen-lov/

kony kony 2012 jim irsay the new ipad apple announcement indianapolis colts joseph kony

Santana exhibition debut pushed back to mid-March

New York Mets starting pitcher Johan Santana reacts during a spring training baseball workout, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013, in Port St. Lucie, Fla. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

New York Mets starting pitcher Johan Santana reacts during a spring training baseball workout, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013, in Port St. Lucie, Fla. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) ? Johan Santana will not make his first spring training appearance for the New York Mets this year until mid-March.

General manager Sandy Alderson said Friday the 33-year old left-hander is expected to pitch in an exhibition game sometime from March 10-12 instead of March 2. Alderson said he didn't think Santana will miss the start of the regular season, but said it was a possibility.

"There's no structural issue. It's just a matter of building up strength," Alderson said. "He'll be long-tossing before he gets back on the mound. We expect that his schedule will have been delayed somewhat."

A two-time AL Cy Young Award winner, Santana missed 2011 following shoulder surgery and went 6-9 with a 4.85 ERA in 21 starts last year, when he pitched the first no-hitter in Mets history on June 1 against St. Louis. He didn't pitch after Aug. 17 because of lower back inflammation.

Santana threw off a mound Sunday for the first time since August on Sunday. He said he felt fine after the 20-pitch session and was on track to start the April 1 opener against San Diego.

Mets medical director Dr. David Altchek examined Santana this week.

"We expected he would have had a normal offseason and he did have a normal offseason with the exception of not throwing," Alderson said. "His throwing program is somewhat behind, but the important thing is Altchek saw him yesterday. There's no structural issue. There's no shoulder issue, it's just an overall conditioning issue as it relates to throwing."

Santana gets $25.5 million this year in the final guaranteed season of his $137.5 million, six-year contract. The Mets hold a $25 million option for 2014 with a $5.5 million buyout.

Alderson also said reliever Pedro Feliciano and outfielder Jamie Hoffmann have returned to New York for follow-up exams to their physicals, which took place Sunday. Alderson would not go into detail other than terming the issues "non-orthopedic." He expects the both players to return to camp within two days.

New York said reliever Frank Francisco is expected to begin throwing Monday or Tuesday. Francisco was examined by Altchek on Thursday and Alderson said it was determined there was no structural issues in his surgically repaired right elbow. Francisco has not pitched in more than a week due to inflammation.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-02-22-Mets-Santana/id-01ce557713b04e92ace22593da9ea449

green bay packers nfl schedule houston texans houston texans aaron rodgers Joe Webb Fiesta Bowl

China raps Abe over remarks on disputes

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://straitstimes.com.feedsportal.com/c/32792/f/640967/s/28db4bd8/l/0L0Sstraitstimes0N0Cpremium0Ctop0Ethe0Enews0Cstory0Cchina0Eraps0Eabe0Eover0Eremarks0Edisputes0E20A130A223/story01.htm

whitney houston has died whitney houston death the vow the voice season 2 ron paul maine safe house jay z and beyonce baby

Osborne says AAA downgrade is reminder of debt problems

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - As it turns out, Lindsay Lohan doesn't have much luck as a plaintiff in legal proceedings either. Troubled "Liz & Dick" actress Lohan, who has experienced more than her share of legal woes in recent years, was shot down Thursday in her lawsuit against Pitbull, Ne-Yo and Afrojack over the 2011 song "Give Me Everything." Lohan had sued the trio, along with others, under New York Civil Rights Law, claiming that the song made "disparaging and defamatory statements" about Lohan, violated her privacy, and used her name for advertising purposes without authorization. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/osborne-says-aaa-downgrade-reminder-debt-problems-221715863--finance.html

buckeye west side story final four 2012 bridesmaids winning lottery numbers megamillions winner kansas jayhawks

Like Facebook and Twitter, Microsoft was also hacked

Microsoft has revealed that, just like Facebook and Apple earlier this week, it too was victim to hacking.

Matt Thomlinson, general manager of?Trustworthy Computing Security at Microsoft, just wrote a blog post about this. Due to Microsoft protocol, the Redmond software giant didn?t make any public statements as they figured out exactly what was going on.

?During our investigation, we found a small number of computers, including some in our Mac business unit, that were infected by malicious software using techniques similar to those documented by other organizations,? Thomlinson writes.

Thomlinson noted the attacks on Facebook and Apple and the Microsoft?computers were infected with malware using techniques similar to the Facebook and Apple hacks. Luckily,?there is no evidence of customer data being affected.

?This type of cyberattack is no surprise to Microsoft and other companies that must grapple with determined and persistent adversaries (see our?prior analysis?of emerging threat trends),? he wrote. ?We continually re-evaluate our security posture and deploy additional people, processes, and technologies as necessary to help prevent future unauthorized access to our networks.?

Microsoft?s investigation is ongoing.

Previously on GeekWire: Microsoft got $195 million for selling its 50 percent stake in msnbc.com

Reach staff reporter Taylor Soper at?[email?protected]?or on Twitter?@Taylor_Soper

FEATURED POST

No lines. No security. No airport parking fees. And, yes, you can?? Read More...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/geekwire/~3/Q4ehaIrLVBo/

martin luther king jr quotes Inauguration 2013 Tony Gonzalez Richard Blanco The Following Anna Burns Welker Martin Luther King, Jr.

One Direction's Self-Shot 'One Way Or Another' Video: Watch It Now!

Clip for their Comic Relief single brings fans along around the globe, and in the shower!
By Jocelyn Vena

One Direction's Harry Styles in "One Way or Another"
Photo: Simco Limited

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1702312/one-direction-one-way-or-another-video.jhtml

kurt cobain Las Vegas shooting Jerry Buss Chris Bosh wife josh duhamel josh smith presidents day

12 killed in twin bomb blasts in southern India

People gather on the scene after a bomb blast in Hyderabad, India,Thursday, Feb.21, 2013. Several people were killed and many injured Thursday in a pair of explosions in a crowded area of the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, officials said. (AP Photo)

People gather on the scene after a bomb blast in Hyderabad, India,Thursday, Feb.21, 2013. Several people were killed and many injured Thursday in a pair of explosions in a crowded area of the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, officials said. (AP Photo)

The scene of a blast at Dilsukhnagar in Hyderabad, India, Thursday, Feb.21, 2013. At least five people were killed Thursday in a pair of explosions in crowded areas of the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, police said. More were feared dead and injured. (AP Photo) INDIA OUT

The scene of a blast at Dilsukhnagar in Hyderabad, India, Thursday, Feb.21, 2013. At least five people were killed Thursday in a pair of explosions in crowded areas of the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, police said. More were feared dead and injured. (AP Photo) INDIA OUT

People gather on the scene after a bomb blast in Hyderabad, India,Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. At least 11 people were killed and 50 injured Thursday in a pair of explosions in a crowded area of the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, officials said. (AP Photo)

People walk past a damaged bus waiting shelter after a bomb blast in Hyderabad, India,Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. Several people were killed and many injured Thursday in a pair of explosions in a crowded area of the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, officials said. (AP Photo)

HYDERABAD, India (AP) ? A pair of bombs exploded Thursday evening in a crowded shopping area in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, killing at least 12 people and wounding scores of others in the worst bombing in the country in more than a year, officials said.

The blasts occurred about two minutes apart at around 7 p.m. outside a movie theater and a bus station, police said. Storefronts were shattered, motorcycles covered in debris, and food and plates from a roadside restaurant were scattered on the ground near a tangle of dead bodies. Passersby rushed the bleeding and wounded out of the area.

"This is a dastardly attack, the guilty will not go unpunished," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said. He appealed to the public to remain calm.

The bombs were attached to two bicycles about 150 meters (500 feet) apart in Dilsukh Nagar district, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters in New Delhi. The district is a usually crowded shopping area near a residential neighborhood.

When asked if the government had any suspects, Shinde responded: "We have to investigate."

The blast killed 12 people, Home Secretary R.K. Singh said.

Mahesh Kumar, a 21-year-old student, was heading home from a tutoring class when a bomb went off.

"I heard a huge sound and something hit me, I fell down, and somebody brought me to the hospital," said Kumar, who suffered shrapnel wounds.

Hyderabad, a city of 10 million in the state of Andhra Pradesh, is a hub of India's information technology industry and has a mixed population of Muslims and Hindus.

"This (attack) is to disturb the peaceful living of all communities in Andhra Pradesh," said Kiran Kumar Reddy, the state's chief minister.

The explosions Thursday were the first major bomb attack to hit India since a September 2011 blast outside the High Court in New Delhi killed 13 people. The government has been heavily criticized for its failure to arrest the masterminds behind previous bombings.

Officials from the National Investigation Agency and commandos of the National Security Guards were sent from New Delhi to Hyderabad to help with the investigation.

Rana Banerji, a former security official, said India remains vulnerable to such attacks because there is poor coordination between the national government and the states. Police reforms are also moving very slowly and the quality of intelligence gathering is poor, he said.

"The concept of homeland security should be made effective, on a war footing," he said.

India has been in a state of alert since Mohammed Afzal Guru, a Kashmiri, was hanged in a New Delhi jail nearly two weeks ago. Guru had been convicted of involvement in a 2001 attack on India's Parliament that killed 14 people, including five gunmen.

Many in Indian-ruled Kashmir believe Guru did not receive a fair trial, and the secrecy with which the execution was carried out fueled anger in a region where anti-India sentiment runs deep.

___

Associated Press writer Ashok Sharma in New Delhi contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-02-21-India-Explosions/id-fefb6456b4294a16a681cb55aa09266b

ufc 145 fight card ufc145 chimpanzee chimpanzee the lucky one pittsburgh pirates mariners

McCain defends immigration plan to angry residents

PHOENIX (AP) ? Arizona took center stage in the national immigration debate Tuesday as Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano toured the state's border with Mexico and Sen. John McCain defended his proposed immigration overhaul to an angry crowd in suburban Phoenix.

The presence of the top officials is the latest sign that Arizona will play a prominent role in the immigration debate as President Barack Obama looks to make it a signature issue of his second term.

Napolitano toured the border near Nogales with the highest-ranking official at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the incoming chairman of the Senate's homeland security committee and an Arizona congressman. Napolitano, Arizona's former governor, said afterward that comprehensive immigration reform will strengthen the nation's border against criminals and other threats.

Also Tuesday, McCain hosted two town hall meetings in Arizona, during which he defended his immigration plan to upset residents concerned about border security. A bipartisan group of senators ? including Arizona Republicans McCain and Jeff Flake ? want assurances on border security as Congress weighs what could be the biggest changes to immigration law in nearly 30 years. Arizona is the only state with both of its senators working on immigration reform in Congress, a sign of the state's widely debated border security issues.

Immigration activists and elected officials say it's only natural for Arizona to continue to take the forefront in the national conversation on immigration after years of internal debate on the topic.

"No state in this country has had more experience with enforcement-only immigration laws than Arizona," said Todd Landfried, executive director of Arizona Employers for Immigration Reform, which opposes the state's tough immigration laws.

During a heated town hall gathering in the Phoenix suburb of Sun Lakes, McCain said the border near Yuma is largely secure, but he said smugglers are using the border near Tucson to pump drugs into Phoenix. He said immigration reform should be contingent on better border security that must rely largely on technology able to detect border crossings.

McCain said a tamper-proof Social Security card would help combat identity fraud, and noted any path to citizenship must require immigrants to learn English, cover back taxes and pay fines for breaking immigration laws.

"There are 11 million people living here illegally," he said. "We are not going to get enough buses to deport them."

Some audience members shouted out their disapproval.

One man yelled that only guns would discourage illegal immigration. Another man complained that illegal immigrants should never be able to become citizens or vote. A third man said illegal immigrants were illiterate invaders who wanted free government benefits.

McCain urged compassion. "We are a Judeo-Christian nation," he said. McCain's other town hall meeting took place in Green Valley, south of Tucson.

Arizona gained international recognition as an epicenter of the U.S. immigration debate when it passed its tough anti-immigrant law in 2010. A handful of other states ? including Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Utah ? have since adopted variations of Arizona's law.

Arizona has the nation's eighth-highest population of illegal immigrants, according to the Pew Research Hispanic Center. In 2010, illegal immigrants represented roughly 6 percent of the state's population.

Activists said Arizona's anti-immigrant laws inspired many illegal immigrants to demand more rights. Last week, some college students rallied outside Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's office for driver's licenses for illegal immigrants.

"They no longer are afraid to come and say, 'I am not able to vote, but I can make my voice heard, and they have to listen to me,'" said community organizer Abril Gallardo.

A report released in January showed the U.S. Border Patrol's Tucson sector remains the busiest along the U.S.-Mexico border. The Tucson sector accounted for 38 percent of all drug seizures and 37 percent of all apprehensions along the border.

Brewer said last week the border cannot be declared safe until the people living near it feel secure from drug and human trafficking.

But Democratic Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona told Latino and black community leaders at a Phoenix luncheon Tuesday that Arizonans need to spread the word on how much more secure the border has become.

"There are lots of folks who don't live in Arizona who have no idea what the border is like," Sinema said.

Napolitano toured the border Tuesday afternoon with U.S. Customs and Border Protection Deputy Commissioner David Aguilar, Democratic Rep. Ron Barber of Arizona and Democratic Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware. Carper is the incoming chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

She said in a statement after the tour that border crossings are down 50 percent since 2008 and 78 percent since their peak in 2000.

___

Cristina Silva can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/cristymsilva.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mccain-defends-immigration-plan-angry-residents-004915369.html

jason smith jon corzine austin rivers austin rivers sweet home alabama etch a sketch the host

Tabloid slams novelist Mantel over Kate comments

LONDON (AP) ? A novelist, a duchess and a tabloid newspaper have made an explosive combination in Britain.

The Daily Mail on Tuesday ran a front-page broadside against two-time Booker Prize-winner Hilary Mantel for her "venomous attack" on the former Kate Middleton.

In a speech earlier this month, Mantel characterized the wife of Prince William as "a jointed doll on which certain rags were hung ... a shop-window mannequin."

Mantel said that as a royal consort, Kate "appeared to have been designed by committee and built by craftsmen, with a perfect plastic smile and the spindles of her limbs hand-turned and gloss-varnished."

Mantel's speech, reprinted this week in the London Review of Books, was about the British public's complex relationship with royalty over the centuries ? a relationship both symbiotic and voyeuristic.

The speech looked at the way the public and the press glorify and destroy royals, from Anne Boleyn to Princess Diana, casting them in roles and stories in which "adulation can swing to persecution, within hours."

But for the Daily Mail, this became "an astonishing and venomous attack on the Duchess of Cambridge."

The newspaper's front page juxtaposed pictures of the author and the duchess alongside the front-page headline "A plastic princess designed to breed."

It quoted Mantel's speech at length, though did not note that Mantel was describing what she saw as a view of Kate constructed by the press and public opinion.

Online reaction was divided, with some slamming Mantel but others defending her words as provocative and thoughtful.

Even Prime Minister David Cameron ? on a trip to India ? commented about the affair. The Press Association news agency reported that he called Mantel's comments "completely misguided and completely wrong."

Others argued that Mantel's real target was not Kate, but the press. On the Daily Telegraph website, journalist Catherine Scott said Mantel's speech was "an attack on how some parts of the media canonize royal women ... while also rendering them voiceless and purposeless."

The royal couple's office declined to comment.

Meanwhile, a large media presence was on hand to record the duchess as she visited a center for recovering addicts Tuesday in one of her first public appearances since announcing in December that she was pregnant. News reports commented on the 31-year-old duchess's baby bump and Max Mara dress.

Mantel, 60, won the prestigious Booker Prize in 2009 and 2012 for "Wolf Hall" and "Bring Up the Bodies," novels set at the court of King Henry VIII and centered on the king's search for a queen who will give him a male heir.

Her speech touched on royal figures from Henry's wife Anne Boleyn to Kate.

Mantel said Diana "passed through trials, through ordeals at the world's hands." Prince Harry "doesn't know which he is, a person or a prince" ? a confusion Harry himself recently remarked on.

And Kate, whose first child is due in July, finds herself cast by the press as someone whose "only point and purpose (is) to give birth."

Of the royal family, she said that "however airy the enclosure they inhabit, it's still a cage."

Mantel ended her speech ? ironically, given the media furor ? with a plea for us all "to back off and not be brutes."

____

Online:

London Review of Books: www.lrb.co.uk

____

Jill Lawless can be reached at http://Twitter.com/JillLawless

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tabloid-slams-novelist-mantel-over-kate-comments-122552877.html

Dancing With The Stars All Stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt space shuttle Torrey Smith Brother fiona apple awkward awkward

Robert Scoble Is Switching To Android

Social media maven Robert Scoble says he's migrating from Apple to Android. "I'm no longer an Apple fanboy," Scoble wrote in a post on Google+ yesterday. "I'm getting ready to leave the Apple platform and switch to Android."

That might not seem like a big deal. But the fact is, a lot of people follow Scoble on social media and consider him influential. They respect his opinion. And Scoble isn't just any fanboy. He's the kind who?camps outside Apple stores?and sleeps on the sidewalk when a new Apple product is coming out and cheers like a triumphant hero when he walks out of the store with the latest iToy in his hands. (See also here and here and here.)

Scoble isn't the first high-profile Apple defector. A few months ago we reported that legendary Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki had become a hardcore Android fan.?

Reasons For Switching

Kawasaki said he moved to Android because he simply believed that Android had leapfrogged past Apple and was delivering a better solution.

Scoble said he's bailing because "Apple lately HAS slipped in my eyes and there are lots of examples how (Google Now, Waze maps, and tons of apps that are here already and coming on the Android platform, like SwiftKey keyboards)."

Scoble still believes that "most apps are smoother and have fewer problems on iOS," but he's switching anyway.?

Partly Scoble seems excited about Google's Project Glass wearable computer. He's getting one soon, and says that "of course that will work better if you use Android."

Yet Another Switcher

The irony is that Scoble was writing this stuff about Android in a post where he was criticizing a reporter from GigaOm who Scoble felt had unfairly criticized Apple.

The GigaOm reporter, Mathew Ingram, had written an article describing his own switch from Apple to Android.

Ingram originally adopted Android because he got sick of Apple's walled garden, only to discover that he also likes the way Android handles notifications and finds it less intrusive than how Apple does it.

Scoble went on a rant saying you can just turn off Apple notifications if you don't like them.?But then Scoble confessed that he too is in the process of switching to Android.

What does it mean when high-profile "influencers" and devoted Apple lovers start moving to Android? They all have different reasons, and you may or may not agree with them or be persuaded by their arguments. But even the most hardcore Apple fans must recognize that these decisions are significant.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/readwriteweb/~3/hk1eQUg7OgE/robert-scoble-is-switching-to-android

the walking dead Jodi Arias Walking Dead Season 3 smash Richard III Superbowl Commercials 2013 irs

Jay-Z, Timberlake perform at first London Olympic park concert

LONDON (Reuters) - Rapper Jay-Z will return to the London Olympics site this summer where he performed at the 2012 Paralympics as the sporting complex takes on a new life as the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z were named on Tuesday by live music promoter Live Nation Entertainment as headline acts for the Wireless Festival on July 12 and July 13.

Other acts will include Snoop Dogg, John Legend, Frank Ocean, Emeli Sande, Rita Ora, and DJ Calvin Harris.

Last month Live Nation said it had secured exclusive rights in 2013 to host concerts in the Olympic Park and Stadium complex in east London that was designed so it could be transformed into a space for entertainment, leisure and work after the Games.

The announcement was a boost for the British government which pumped public money into the London 2012 Games, adamant the Olympic site would not become an expensive white elephant.

"This is a stellar line up of stars that is set to bring the house down this summer at Queen Elizabeth Park London. It proves that our fantastic Olympic park is now a destination of choice for world class musical events," London Mayor Boris Johnson said in a statement.

Live Nation said this would be Jay-Z's only European show this year and Timberlake's sole British festival appearance.

Earlier this month the two U.S. singers appeared together at the Grammys to perform their collaboration "Suit & Tie" off Timberlake's first new album in seven years that is due out on March 18.

Live Nation plans to hold the Wireless Festival and Hard Rock Calling events at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and avoid a repeat of previous years when the concerts were staged in London parks and triggered complaints from nearby residents.

Concert-goers were surprised in July when microphones were suddenly switched off on Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen in mid-duet when a Hyde Park concert ran over time.

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith, editing by Paul Casciato)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jay-z-timberlake-perform-first-london-olympic-park-170006355--finance.html

Microsoft Tropical Storm Isaac amber portwood Phyllis Diller Darla Moore newsweek Tony Scott