Sunday, March 31, 2013

Dodger Stadium Renovations Reveal A Facelift For Opening Day

LOS ANGELES _ Dodger Stadium opened its gates to fans for the first time in nearly six months Friday, unveiling a $100 million range of renovations to the 51-year-old ballpark.

They're not quite done yet, though. With opening day Monday, construction workers will be working on the stadium through the weekend to ensure regular-season readiness.

"It was no small feat," team president Stan Kasten said at a Friday news conference marking the changes. "We do still have tweaks to make, but we have, I think, enhanced the experience of fans on every level of this park."

To that end, the Dodgers completely renovated all restrooms in four of the five areas of the park, installed new hexagonal high-definition video boards in left and right field and added food options on the top three levels.

Cell-phone service support and a stadium-wide Wi-Fi network are also coming shortly.

"We think all those things together," Kasten said, "will bring you to a Dodger Stadium that is going to be as familiar as it's ever been for anyone who's come here for the last 50 years and a lot more comfortable."

Aesthetically, the park won't look all that different to fans, the most noticeable changes being the scoreboards and the smaller size of the field box section, designed to improve sightlines for higher-paying fans. Other adjustments include wider concourses, new entry plazas and play areas for children.

"They're subtle, and they're respectful of Dodger Stadium's rich history and its unique setting here," said Janet Marie Smith, the team's senior vice president of planning and development. "We tried to take some things that were vintage 1962 and not in a good way and transform this place into something that's really worthy of the marquee name of the Dodgers."

Smith oversaw the entire project in her fourth stadium renovation after Camden Yards in Baltimore, Fenway Park in Boston and Turner Field in Atlanta, where she worked with Kasten, then the Braves' president.

To renovate the now-twice-as-large home clubhouse, she hired the firm of D'Agostino-Izzo-Quirk the same architects responsible for putting seats atop the Green Monster at Fenway. Different firms were used for other parts of the renovation, helping to turn what Smith said should have been a "two-year project" into one condensed in an offseason.

The Dodgers also added an underground batting cage for visitors, which Angels manager Mike Scioscia said was "important" before Friday night's Freeway Series game.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/30/dodger-stadium-renovations-face-lift_n_2985580.html

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EPA Proposes New Rule To Clean Up Gasoline And Reduce Smog

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed on Friday a rule to clean up gasoline. The new lower sulfur gas is already what California uses to reduce air pollution, and the EPA wants it to be used nationwide. The agency estimates that it would save lives while adding a penny a gallon to the cost of gas. The oil industry fears it will cost more.

Copyright ? 2013 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Audie Cornish.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

And I'm Robert Siegel. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed a new rule to clean up gasoline. The regulation would reduce ozone and other air pollutants by close to 30 percent. That would benefit 100 million people who now live in areas that at times have unhealthful air. NPR's Richard Harris reports.

RICHARD HARRIS, BYLINE: Even though automobile emissions have improved a lot in recent decades, cars are still a major source of the compounds that create smog, so the EPA has been working on new regulations to reduce those emissions more. The main target now is to reduce sulfur in gasoline. Sulfur hampers catalytic converters, so they aren't as effective as they could be in eliminating pollution. Bill Becker, who heads the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, says this would play a critical role in helping regions meet health-based air quality standards.

BILL BECKER: We know of no other air pollution strategy that will achieve as substantial, as immediate and as cost-effective emission reductions as lowering sulfur in fuel. We can do this for less than a penny. It can be done literally overnight, and it is cost-effective compared to other strategies.

HARRIS: But the American Petroleum Institute is arguing against the new regulation saying that modifying the refineries to reduce sulfur would add 6 to 9 cents to the price of a gallon of gas. EPA rules are designed to minimize that cost by giving the industry flexibility to meet the target. California already requires gas to meet this new standard, along with Japan and the European Union. Richard Harris, NPR News.

Copyright ? 2013 NPR. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to NPR. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2013/03/29/175722031/epa-proposes-new-rule-to-clean-up-gasoline-and-reduce-smog?ft=1&f=1007

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Saturday, March 30, 2013

Wall St edges higher as S&P 500 tops record close

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks edged higher on Thursday, with the S&P 500 rising just above its record closing high, which has acted as a significant resistance point in recent weeks.

The S&P had been caught in a range, having traded within 10 points of the record closing high of 1,565.15 over the prior 13 sessions before successfully piercing that level on Thursday, while buyers moved in on signs of weakness to quickly eliminate any declines.

A close above the record level could signify more gains, although investors may tread lightly with government payroll data and corporate earnings season on the horizon.

"A close at a high is good for investor confidence. It may attract a little bit of near term activity," said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co in Lake Oswego, Oregon.

"We are still trying to climb a grudging wall of worry regarding economic momentum and that means we are not going to sprint ahead as we take off into April."

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 43.12 points, or 0.30 percent, to 14,569.28. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 3.60 points, or 0.23 percent, to 1,566.45. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 3.64 points, or 0.11 percent, to 3,260.16.

U.S. stocks were set to close out a strong quarter with the S&P 500 up 9.8 percent for the first three months of 2013. The Dow was up 11.2 percent and the Nasdaq up 8 percent. For the month, the S&P is up 3.4 percent, the Dow is up 3.7 percent and the Nasdaq is up 3.1 percent.

Thursday is the U.S. stock markets' last trading day of the quarter due to the Good Friday holiday.

Data showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, but probably not enough to suggest a faltering in the labor market recovery. Other data showed the economy expanded more in the fourth quarter than was prevously estimated by the government.

The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago business barometer showed the pace of business activity in the Midwest slowed in March as the new order rate tumbled.

In a positive sign, Cypriots lined up as banks reopened despite tight controls imposed on transactions. There was no sign of a run on deposits, as feared, after the government was forced to accept a stringent EU rescue package.

BlackBerry announced an unexpected fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, driven by demand for its new touchscreen device which holds the key to a successful turnaround for the smartphone maker. U.S.-listed shares were up 3.6 percent at $15.09.

Chesapeake Energy Corp's search for a new chief executive to replace Aubrey McClendon is likely to extend beyond an April 1 deadline, according to a person familiar with the situation. The stock shed 0.7 percent at $20.38.

Influential proxy advisory firm ISS threw its weight behind opponents of MetroPCS Communications Inc's proposed merger with T-Mobile USA, saying the deal undervalued the company and shareholders should vote against it. MetroPCS shares were up 3.2 percent at $10.87.

JPMorgan Chase & Co shares slipped 0.6 percent to $47.50 as the top drag on the Dow after a federal judge said on Wednesday the bank must face a lawsuit by a pension plan that accused it of mismanaging its money by investing in Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc notes before that bank filed for bankruptcy in 2008.

(Additional reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wall-st-edges-higher-p-500-tops-record-160839732--finance.html

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Friday, March 29, 2013

UK police: Berezovsky's neck had been bound

WINDSOR, England (AP) ? Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky was found dead on his bathroom floor with his neck bound and a similar piece of material attached to a shower rail, a police officer told a coroner's inquest on Thursday.

Detective Inspector Mark Bissell of Thames Valley Police said there were no signs of a struggle, but that the involvement of a third party "cannot be completely eliminated as tests remain outstanding."

Investigators have not specified the nature of the ligature ? a cord or other material used for binding ? that was found around the neck of the 67-year-old oligarch.

Berezovsky, a one-time Kremlin powerbroker-turned-critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, lived in self-imposed exile in Britain.

Bissell said Berezovsky was last seen alive at 9:05 p.m. on Friday. His body was found Saturday by a member of his staff at 3:20 p.m. at his mansion in Ascot, 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of London.

Police are still searching the property and toxicology tests are being conducted on Berezovsky's body.

Several wealthy Russians have died suddenly in Britain in recent years ? most notoriously Berezovsky's friend Alexander Litivinenko, who died in 2006 of poisoning after ingesting the radioactive isotope polonium-210. Britain has accused two Kremlin-linked Russians in the killing of the former KGB agent, who had fled to Britain.

Speculation has swirled about possible foul play in Berezovsky's death. But friends also say he was depressed after losing a 35 million pound ($54 million) lawsuit against a former business partner, Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich.

A mathematician-turned-Mercedes dealer, Berezovsky built up his wealth during Russia's chaotic privatization of state assets in the 1990s following the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union.

Berezovsky helped build up Putin's power base but fell out of favor and was charged in Russia with fraud and embezzlement.

A U.K. coroner's inquest ? held to determine the facts in cases of violent or unexplained deaths ? opened with a brief hearing Thursday at Windsor's Guildhall, then was adjourned to a later date.

Officials said Berezovsky had legally changed his name to Platon Elenin in 2003 and would be identified by that name at the inquest.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/uk-police-berezovskys-neck-had-bound-120105951.html

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Thursday, March 28, 2013

Forty years later: Vietnam troop's exit recalled

Forty years ago, soldiers returning from Vietnam were advised to change into civilian clothes on their flights home so that they wouldn't be accosted by angry protesters at the airport. For a Vietnamese businessman who helped the U.S. government, a rising sense of panic set in as the last combat troops left the country on March 29, 1973 and he began to contemplate what he'd do next. A young North Vietnamese soldier who heard about the withdrawal felt emboldened to continue his push on the battlefields of southern Vietnam.

While the fall of Saigon two years later ? with its indelible images of frantic helicopter evacuations ? is remembered as the final day of the Vietnam War, Friday marks an anniversary that holds greater meaning for many who fought, protested or otherwise lived the war. Since then, they've embarked on careers, raised families and in many cases counseled a younger generation emerging from two other faraway wars.

Many veterans are encouraged by changes they see. The U.S. has a volunteer military these days, not a draft, and the troops coming home aren't derided for their service. People know what PTSD stands for, and they're insisting that the government take care of soldiers suffering from it and other injuries from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Below are the stories of a few of the people who experienced a part of the Vietnam War firsthand.

___

Former Air Force Sgt. Howard Kern, who lives in central Ohio near Newark, spent a year in Vietnam before returning home in 1968.

He said that for a long time he refused to wear any service ribbons associating him with southeast Asia and he didn't even his tell his wife until a couple of years after they married that he had served in Vietnam. He said she was supportive of his war service and subsequent decision to go back to the Army to serve another 18 years.

Kern said that when he flew back from Vietnam with other service members, they were told to change out of uniform and into civilian clothes while they were still on the airplane to avoid the ire of protesters at the airport.

"What stands out most about everything is that before I went and after I got back, the news media only showed the bad things the military was doing over there and the body counts," said Kern, now 66. "A lot of combat troops would give their c rations to Vietnamese children, but you never saw anything about that ? you never saw all the good that GIs did over there."

Kern, an administrative assistant at the Licking County Veterans' Service Commission, said the public's attitude is a lot better toward veterans coming home for Iraq and Afghanistan ? something the attributes in part to Vietnam veterans.

"We're the ones that greet these soldiers at the airports. We're the ones who help with parades and stand alongside the road when they come back and applaud them and salute them," he said.

He said that while the public "might condemn war today, they don't condemn the warriors."

"I think the way the public is treating these kids today is a great thing," Kern said. "I wish they had treated us that way."

But he still worries about the toll that multiple tours can take on service members.

"When we went over there, you came home when your tour was over and didn't go back unless you volunteered. They are sending GIs back now maybe five or seven times, and that's way too much for a combat veteran," he said.

He remembers feeling glad when the last troops left Vietnam, but was sad to see Saigon fall two years later. "Vietnam was a very beautiful country, and I felt sorry for the people there," he said.

___

Tony Lam was 36 on the day the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam. He was a young husband and father, but most importantly, he was a businessman and U.S. contractor furnishing dehydrated rice to South Vietnamese troops. He also ran a fish meal plant and a refrigerated shipping business that exported shrimp.

As Lam, now 76, watched American forces dwindle and then disappear, he felt a rising panic. His close association with the Americans was well-known and he needed to get out ? and get his family out ? or risk being tagged as a spy and thrown into a Communist prison. He watched as South Vietnamese commanders fled, leaving whole battalions without a leader.

"We had no chance of surviving under the Communist invasion there. We were very much worried about the safety of our family, the safety of other people," he said this week from his adopted home in Westminster, Calif.

But Lam wouldn't leave for nearly two more years after the last U.S. combat troops, driven to stay by his love of his country and his belief that Vietnam and its economy would recover.

When Lam did leave, on April 21, 1975, it was aboard a packed C-130 that departed just as Saigon was about to fall. He had already worked for 24 hours at the airport to get others out after seeing his wife and two young children off to safety in the Philippines.

"My associate told me, 'You'd better go. It's critical. You don't want to end up as a Communist prisoner.' He pushed me on the flight out. I got tears in my eyes once the flight took off and I looked down from the plane for the last time," Lam recalled. "No one talked to each other about how critical it was, but we all knew it."

Now, Lam lives in Southern California's Little Saigon, the largest concentration of Vietnamese outside of Vietnam.

In 1992, Lam made history by becoming the first Vietnamese-American to elected to public office in the U.S. and he went on to serve on the Westminster City Council for 10 years.

Looking back over four decades, Lam says he doesn't regret being forced out of his country and forging a new, American, life.

"I went from being an industrialist to pumping gas at a service station," said Lam, who now works as a consultant and owns a Lee's Sandwich franchise, a well-known Vietnamese chain.

"But thank God I am safe and sound and settled here with my six children and 15 grandchildren," he said. "I'm a happy man."

___

Wayne Reynolds' nightmares got worse this week with the approach of the anniversary of the U.S. troop withdrawal.

Reynolds, 66, spent a year working as an Army medic on an evacuation helicopter in 1968 and 1969. On days when the fighting was worst, his chopper would make four or five landings in combat zones to rush wounded troops to emergency hospitals.

The terror of those missions comes back to him at night, along with images of the blood that was everywhere. The dreams are worst when he spends the most time thinking about Vietnam, like around anniversaries.

"I saw a lot of people die," said Reynolds.

Today, Reynolds lives in Athens, Ala., after a career that included stints as a public school superintendent and, most recently, a registered nurse. He is serving his 13th year as the Alabama president of the Vietnam Veterans of America, and he also has served on the group's national board as treasurer.

Like many who came home from the war, Reynolds is haunted by the fact he survived Vietnam when thousands more didn't. Encountering war protesters after returning home made the readjustment to civilian life more difficult.

"I was literally spat on in Chicago in the airport," he said. "No one spoke out in my favor."

Reynolds said the lingering survivor's guilt and the rude reception back home are the main reasons he spends much of his time now working with veteran's groups to help others obtain medical benefits. He also acts as an advocate on veterans' issues, a role that landed him a spot on the program at a 40th anniversary ceremony planned for Friday in Huntsville, Ala.

It took a long time for Reynolds to acknowledge his past, though. For years after the war, Reynolds said, he didn't include his Vietnam service on his resume and rarely discussed it with anyone.

"A lot of that I blocked out of my memory. I almost never talk about my Vietnam experience other than to say, 'I was there,' even to my family," he said.

___

A former North Vietnamese soldier, Ho Van Minh heard about the American combat troop withdrawal during a weekly meeting with his commanders in the battlefields of southern Vietnam.

The news gave the northern forces fresh hope of victory, but the worst of the war was still to come for Minh: The 77-year-old lost his right leg to a land mine while advancing on Saigon, just a month before that city fell.

"The news of the withdrawal gave us more strength to fight," Minh said Thursday, after touring a museum in the capital, Hanoi, devoted to the Vietnamese victory and home to captured American tanks and destroyed aircraft.

"The U.S. left behind a weak South Vietnam army. Our spirits was so high and we all believed that Saigon would be liberated soon," he said.

Minh, who was on a two-week tour of northern Vietnam with other veterans, said he bears no ill will to the American soldiers even though much of the country was destroyed and an estimated 3 million Vietnamese died.

If he met an American veteran now he says, "I would not feel angry; instead I would extend my sympathy to them because they were sent to fight in Vietnam against their will."

But on his actions, he has no regrets. "If someone comes to destroy your house, you have to stand up to fight."

___

Two weeks before the last U.S. troops left Vietnam, Marine Corps Capt. James H. Warner was freed from North Vietnamese confinement after nearly 5 1/2 years as a prisoner of war. He said those years of forced labor and interrogation reinforced his conviction that the United States was right to confront the spread of communism.

The past 40 years have proven that free enterprise is the key to prosperity, Warner said in an interview Thursday at a coffee shop near his home in Rohrersville, Md., about 60 miles from Washington. He said American ideals ultimately prevailed, even if our methods weren't as effective as they could have been.

"China has ditched socialism and gone in favor of improving their economy, and the same with Vietnam. The Berlin Wall is gone. So essentially, we won," he said. "We could have won faster if we had been a little more aggressive about pushing our ideas instead of just fighting."

Warner, 72, was the avionics officer in a Marine Corps attack squadron when his fighter plane was shot down north of the Demilitarized Zone in October 1967.

He said the communist-made goods he was issued as a prisoner, including razor blades and East German-made shovels, were inferior products that bolstered his resolve.

"It was worth it," he said.

A native of Ypsilanti, Mich., Warner went on to a career in law in government service. He is a member of the Republican Central Committee of Washington County, Md.

___

Denis Gray witnessed the Vietnam War twice ? as an Army captain stationed in Saigon from 1970 to 1971 for a U.S. military intelligence unit, and again as a reporter at the start of a 40-year career with the AP.

"Saigon in 1970-71 was full of American soldiers. It had a certain kind of vibe. There were the usual clubs, and the bars were going wild," Gray recalled. "Some parts of the city were very, very Americanized."

Gray's unit was helping to prepare for the troop pullout by turning over supplies and projects to the South Vietnamese during a period that Washington viewed as the final phase of the war. But morale among soldiers was low, reinforced by a feeling that the U.S. was leaving without finishing its job.

"Personally, I came to Vietnam and the military wanting to believe that I was in a ? maybe not a just war but a ? war that might have to be fought," Gray said. "Toward the end of it, myself and most of my fellow officers, and the men we were commanding didn't quite believe that ... so that made the situation really complex."

After his one-year service in Saigon ended in 1971, Gray returned home to Connecticut and got a job with the AP in Albany, N.Y. But he was soon posted to Indochina, and returned to Saigon in August 1973 ? four months after the U.S. troops withdrew from Vietnam ? to discover a different city.

"The aggressiveness that militaries bring to any place they go ? that was all gone," he said. A small American presence remained, mostly diplomats, advisers and aid workers but the bulk of troops had left. The war between U.S.-allied South Vietnam and communist North Vietnam was continuing, and it was still two years before the fall of Saigon to the communist forces.

"There was certainly no panic or chaos ? that came much later in '74, '75. But certainly it was a city with a lot of anxiety in it."

The Vietnam War was the first of many wars Gray witnessed. As AP's Bangkok bureau chief for more than 30 years, Gray has covered wars in Cambodia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Rwanda, Kosovo, and "many, many insurgencies along the way."

"I don't love war, I hate it," Gray said. "(But) when there have been other conflicts, I've been asked to go. So, it was definitely the shaping event of my professional life."

___

Harry Prestanski, 65, of West Chester, Ohio, served 16 months as a Marine in Vietnam and remembers having to celebrate his 21st birthday there. He is now retired from a career in public relations and spends a lot of time as an advocate for veterans, speaking to various organizations and trying to help veterans who are looking for jobs.

"The one thing I would tell those coming back today is to seek out other veterans and share their experiences," he said. "There are so many who will work with veterans and try to help them ? so many opportunities that weren't there when we came back."

He says that even though the recent wars are different in some ways from Vietnam, those serving in any war go through some of the same experiences.

"One of the most difficult things I ever had to do was to sit down with the mother of a friend of mine who didn't come back and try to console her while outside her office there were people protesting the Vietnam War," Prestanski said.

He said the public's response to veterans is not what it was 40 years ago and credits Vietnam veterans for helping with that.

"When we served, we were viewed as part of the problem," he said. "One thing about Vietnam veterans is that ? almost to the man ? we want to make sure that never happens to those serving today. We welcome them back and go out of our way to airports to wish them well when they leave."

He said some of the positive things that came out of his war service were the leadership skills and confidence he gained that helped him when he came back.

"I felt like I could take on the world," he said.

___

Flaccus reported from Los Angeles and Cornwell reported from Cincinnati. Also contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Chris Brummitt in Hanoi, David Dishneau in Hagerstown, Md., and Jay Reeves in Birmingham, Ala.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/40-years-vietnam-troop-withdrawal-remembered-172252613.html

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NASA turns up the heat on construction of the Space Launch System

Mar. 27, 2013 ? Welding engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., have had an extremely busy winter assembling adapters that will connect the Orion spacecraft to a Delta IV rocket for the initial test flight of Orion in 2014. The adapter later will attach Orion to NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), a new heavy-lift rocket managed and in development at the Marshall Center that will enable missions farther into space than ever before. The 2014 Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) will provide engineers with important data about the adapter's performance before it is flown on SLS beginning in 2017.

In a high bay of Marshall's Building 4755, expert welders using state-of-the-art friction stir welding machines worked on two separate adapters. For each adapter, a vertical welding machine stitched panels together to form a conical cylinder, then a circumferential welding machine attached a thicker, structural support ring at the top and the bottom.

"While the adapters are identical and are considered flight articles, only one will actually be used for EFT-1," said Brent Gaddes, Spacecraft & Payload Integration Subsystem manager. "The other will undergo strenuous structural testing to ensure quality, while its twin will make the trip to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for integration into the rest of the test vehicle for launch."

United Launch Alliance (ULA), which makes the Delta IV rocket in nearby Decatur, Ala., will deliver a full-size section of the rocket later this spring for engineers to test the fit of the adapter.

"You really don't have the tools and the resources in one place anywhere else in the world," said Justin Littell, a mechanical engineer with the welding group at the Marshall Center. "The work that we do here is exciting and I get to work with a great team. It's amazing."

See the friction stir welds in action in this video: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=161317831

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by NASA. The original article was written by Bill Hubscher, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.

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


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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/fMGSIAD7__Q/130327114133.htm

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How to Stage a Home in Moncton NB ? by Ryan Davison of Martell ...

Source

Staging your house can drastically increase your chances of a fast sale and may also give you a nice boost in your selling price. It takes some effort upfront but its well worth the effort. In this article, we will go over the basics of staging your home. In just a few minutes, you will know exactly how to stage your home for the fastest and most profitable sale.

Step #1 ? Clean Out Your House
The first and often most difficult step is cleaning out your house. All your personal belongings apart from furniture that you?re using to stage your house must go.
If you have not moved in to your new house yet, a great strategy is to rent a storage unit. A storage unit is usually very cheap and you can store all your belongings until you?re ready to move.

Step #2 ? Arrange Your Furniture
Arrange your furniture in a way that really showcases the house. When in doubt, an empty room is better than furniture that does not look good.
Make sure that there?s enough light coming into the rooms. Pull back your curtains and bring in lights if the lighting is dim.
One thing that?s often neglected with home staging is the smell or scent in the rooms. Make sure your house smells nice. Candles or air refreshers can make a big difference.? However, it is important to be sure you do not use any scent that is overpowering.

Step #3 ? Have Your House Critiqued
Have your real estate agent look over your staging and give you a good critique. A good real estate agent will know exactly what to look for in staging a house.
Once you?ve had your real estate agent look over your house, make the changes that he or she recommended. This review process can often take a bit of time, so get started as early as you can.

One key part of the Martell Realty difference is access to a home stager.? We will bring our home stager through your property at no cost to you ? saving hundreds of dollars in consultaion fees.? Because our professionally trained home stager is paid by us and not the client, they do not make outlandish requests to justify their fee.? We would be happy to extend our offer of our stager to any of our Martell Realty clients.

Finding a real estate agent in Moncton NB that you know you can trust can be a challenge. If you have not found an agent that works for you yet, feel free to give me a call for a free consultation. You can reach me at (506)-962-7926 or ryan@martellrealty.ca. You can also learn more about me at www.martellrealty.ca.

Source: http://realestatemarketingblog.com/how-to-stage-a-home-in-moncton-nb-by-ryan-davison-of-martell-realty/

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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Nerve regeneration research and therapy may get boost from new discovery

Mar. 22, 2013 ? A new mechanism for guiding the growth of nerves that involves cell-death machinery has been found by scientists at the University of Nevada, Reno that may bring advances in neurological medicine and research. The team obtained the evidence in studies of fruit flies and reported their discovery in an article published in the publication Cell Reports.

"Although the fly is a relatively simple organism, almost every gene identified in this species appears to be carrying out similar functions in humans," said Thomas Kidd, associate professor in the University's biology department in whose lab the work was performed.

The Kidd lab is part of a $10 million Center for Biomedical Research Excellence Project in Cell Biology of Signaling at the University, which is funded by the National Institute of Health's Institute of General Medical Sciences. The project is also funded by the National Science Foundation.

"Flies are useful because the neural mechanisms we are studying are similar to those in mammals," said Gunnar Newquist, lead author of the Cell Reports article and a post-doctoral neuroscience researcher in Kidd's lab. "We've found something no one has seen before, that blocking the cell-death pathway can make nerves deprived of guidance cues figure out the right way to connect with other neurons. This was completely unexpected and novel, but really exciting because it changes the way we look at nerve growth.

"Neurons have a natural ability to die, if they fail to make the right connections they usually die. Neurons, like most other cell types, have the capacity to commit suicide and many do so during the formation of the nervous system."

The wiring of nervous systems is composed of axons, specialized extensions of neurons that transmit electrical impulses. During development axons navigate long distances to their targets by using signals in their environment. Netrin-B is one of those signals. Kidd, Newquist and colleagues have shown that Netrin-B also keeps neurons alive.

"Take away the Netrin-B and growth and cell death goes haywire," Newquist said.

This led them to the discovery that the cell-death machinery is active in growing nerves, and appears to be an integral part of the navigation mechanism.

"We use fruit fly genetics to study how these axons navigate these long distances correctly when developing," Kidd said. "Understanding the mechanisms they use to navigate is of great interest, not only for understanding how our brains form, but also as a starting point to devise ways to stimulate the re-growth of axons after injury, especially spinal cord injuries.

"Our work suggests that therapeutics designed to keep neurons alive after injury may be able to stimulate neurons to start re-growing or sprouting new connections."

"I am very pleased to see Tom's and Gunnar's hard work come to fruition," said Chris von Bartheld, director of the University's cell-biology COBRE and a professor in the University of Nevada School of Medicine. "Linking axonal path finding and cell death signaling opens exciting new venues to better understand both topics. It also shows that our recently established center in cell biology is achieving its goals of producing top-level biomedical research."

The research featured intheCell Report article is a major focus of Kidd's lab, which is one of five research projects in the COBRE. The center is a strong stimulus to integrate the University's research in cell biology, developmental biology, signaling and neuroscience and to develop collaborations between basic scientists and clinicians.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Nevada, Reno. The original article was written by Mike Wolterbeek.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Gunnar Newquist, J.?Michelle Drennan, Matthew Lamanuzzi, Kirsti Walker, James?C. Clemens, Thomas Kidd. Blocking Apoptotic Signaling Rescues Axon Guidance in Netrin Mutants. Cell Reports, 2013; DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2013.02.017

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/~3/mxk-OMdLW6Y/130325094032.htm

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Monday, March 25, 2013

Microsoft did not violate Google patent: ITC judge

Afterdawn.comWASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Microsoft Corp did not violate a patent owned by Google subsidiary Motorola Mobility when it made its popular Xbox, an administrative law judge at the International Trade Commission said in a preliminary decision issued on Friday.Trade Commission Judge Rules Microsoft Did Not Violate Google PatentForbesMicrosoft didn't infringe Google patent, ITC judge saysAfterdawn.comITC Rules in Favor of Microsoft in Patent Case by MotorolaThe Next WebEngadget?-Bloomberg?-The West Australianall 39 news articles?? ?

Read more at Yahoo!7 News.

Source: http://www.twytter.net/blog/microsoft-did-not-violate-google-patent-itc-judge-2/

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Saturday, March 23, 2013

FDA: 'Male enhancement' products deliver more than you bargained for

By Maggie Fox, Senior Writer, NBC News

Three ?male enhancement? products being sold online say they?re all herbal, but they contain hidden prescription drug ingredients and could be dangerous, the Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday.

The three contain compounds similar to the active ingredients in the erectile dysfunction drugs Viagra and Cialis, the FDA said. They can cause serious problems in men being treated for heart disease and should not be taken without a doctor?s supervision.

The names of the three products -- ?Rock-It Man?, ?Libido Sexual Enhancer? and ?Stiff Days? -- leave little doubt what they are supposed to be used for. But while they are marketed as alternatives to the prescription drugs to be used without the guidance of a doctor, they are in fact virtual copies, without any oversight to ensure they are safe.

?FDA laboratory analysis confirmed that ?Rock-It Man? contains the undeclared ingredient hydroxythiohomosildenafil.? Hydroxythiohomosildenafil is structurally similar to sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra, an FDA-approved prescription drug for Erectile Dysfunction (ED),? the FDA says in a statement.

?This undeclared ingredient may interact with nitrates found in some prescription drugs, such as nitroglycerin, and may lower blood pressure to dangerous levels. Men with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or heart disease often take nitrates.?

Testing confirmed similar findings in ?Libido Sexual Enhancer? and ?Stiff Days".

Anyone who has bought any of the products should just toss them, the FDA advises.

?Consumers who have experienced any negative side effects should consult a health care professional as soon as possible,? it adds.

?This notification is to inform the public of a growing trend of dietary supplements or conventional foods with hidden drugs and chemicals.? These products are typically promoted for sexual enhancement, weight loss, and body building, and are often represented as being ?all natural.?? FDA is unable to test and identify all products marketed as dietary supplements on the market that have potentially harmful hidden ingredients.?

Related:

Over 40? Go easy on the extreme workouts, dude

Erectile dysfunction may increase a man's heart woes

Men can get bone disease, too -- but most don't know it

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653351/s/29d75d95/l/0Lvitals0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C210C1740A11990Efda0Emale0Eenhancement0Eproducts0Edeliver0Emore0Ethan0Eyou0Ebargained0Efor0Dlite/story01.htm

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Friday, March 22, 2013

Police: Pa. man skips sentencing, blows up house, self

Investigators in Pennsylvania say a man intentionally triggered a bomb ahead of being sentenced to jail for running a meth lab. WJAC's Melanie Gillespie reports.

By Elizabeth Chuck, Staff Writer, NBC News

A suspicious blast that leveled a home brought the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and explosive-detecting dogs to rural Pennsylvania on Tuesday, after the explosion killed a man who was due in court that day and injured two other people.

The explosion in Clearfield Township happened Tuesday just before 9 a.m., when Bradley Kollar, 40, was supposed to be sentenced in the county court for pleading guilty to drug charges. Instead, investigators arrived at the scene to find Kollar dead, and a homeowner and his teenage son injured, said Pennsylvania State Trooper John Matchik.?

"Upon arrival, [state police] found a two-story house completely leveled, with the homeowner trapped inside the rubble," Matchik said. "The remnants of a vehicle were recognized in front of the house. From a preliminary sense, the damage appeared to originate from that vehicle."

The ATF is still investigating what types of materials were involved in the device that was detonated from Kollar's truck, which investigators believe Kollar drove up to the home before detonating the explosive device Tuesday morning. The FBI, explosives experts and local fire departments are also assisting in the investigation.?

Kollar, of Hastings, Pa., was a "known acquaintance" of William Shaner, 44, the homeowner, Matchik said. Investigators believe Kollar called Shaner before driving to his house with explosives, but it's not clear what may have transpired in their conversation.

"It may have been a threat," Matchik said. "The explosion appears to be an intentional act."

Shaner and his teenage son, whose identity was not made public, were hospitalized after the explosion, which was felt by residents in the remote area for several miles around. Shaner's son has been released; Shaner is still in intensive care but is expected to survive.

The area remained closed off Wednesday afternoon. Residents will likely be able to come back in the evening.?

"The only thing I can state about the explosion itself was it was quite significant," Matchik said. "The true nature of that explosive device is yet to be determined, and that's going to take a significant analysis by the lab from the ATF to find out exactly what materials we're looking at or how that device may have been configured and how it was actually detonated."

The Cambria County coroner, Dennis Kwiatkowski, confirmed Kollar's death was ruled a suicide.

"It almost looked as if the house was a gas explosion at first," Kwiatkowski?said of the scene Tuesday. "Then we found out there were other circumstances."

Clearfield Township, which is in Cambria County, is about 80 miles east of Pittsburgh.

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/20/17388830-police-pa-man-blows-up-house-on-day-he-is-due-in-court-killing-self-injuring-others?lite

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The Compact Chopsticks: You'll Never Dine Unprepared Again

Forks are for amateurs; if you're going to eat you're going to work for it, dammit. Enter the chopstick. But all those splinter-laden, wooden eating-twigs don't come without a price, you tree killer. The Compact Chopsticks, however, will let your live your life environmentally friendly and fork-free. Just like God intended. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/qVeo4yLR6UI/the-compact-chopsticks-youll-never-dine-unprepared-again

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Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Drumbeat Grows Louder in Congress for Obama to Act on Syria

WASHINGTON - As the Syrian regime and opposition trade accusations over the use of chemical weapons, the drumbeat in Washington for the United States to get more directly involved in the two-year old conflict is growing louder.

Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain released a statement today, calling for President Obama to act against Syrian President Bashir al-Assad.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the U.S. was looking into claims that the Assad regime had used a chemical weapon in a recent attack in the opposition stronghold of Aleppo. She would not confirm whether the administration believes Syria's chemical stockpile is secure, citing intelligence reasons, but said there continues to be an increasing concern that Assad will cross that line.

"We've been very clear about our concerns that the Assad regime is increasingly beleaguered, that it finds that the violence that it is using by conventional means is inadequate, including its barbaric use of Scuds. And so we are quite concerned that they will resort to other weapons," she said. "We've made clear that this would constitute a red line for the United States. The president could not have been clearer about it."

But Graham and McCain argue that Assad has likely already crossed the line and they want to see action taken.

"President Obama has said that the use of weapons of mass destruction by Bashar Assad is a 'red line' for him that 'will have consequences,'" the statement reads. "If today's reports are substantiated, the President's red line has been crossed, and we would urge him to take immediate action to impose the consequences he has promised."

The senators are calling for the United States to provide arms to vetted rebel fighters, to launch targeted strikes against Assad's aircraft and SCUD missile batteries on the ground, and to establish safe zones inside Syria to protect civilians living in opposition controlled areas.

Graham and McCain said time was not on the side of the administration to make sure Syria's chemical weapons cache does not fall into the hands of terrorists. Graham told Foreign Policy's The Cable that securing Syria's chemical weapons needs to be America's top priority, even if it means sending in U.S. troops to do it.

"I don't care what it takes," Graham said. "If the choice is to send in troops to secure the weapons sites versus allowing chemical weapons to get in the hands of some of the most violent people in the world, I vote to cut this off before it becomes a problem."

Foreign Policy also reported that the top Senate Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, Carl Levin, is now in support of establishing a no-fly zone in Syria.

"I believe there should be the next ratcheting up of military effort and that would include going after some of Syria's air defenses," Levin said.

America's European allies Britain and France have called for lifting the UN arms embargo against Syria so that they can legally provide more direct weapon and ammunition help to Syria's opposition army. Britain announced last week that it will begin proving armored trucks and body armor to rebel fighters.

Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters Monday that the Obama administration is still unwilling to provide anything more than the non-lethal assistance the U.S. is already giving, but will not oppose the actions of other governments.

"President Obama has made it clear that the United States does not stand in the way of other countries that have made a decision to provide arms, whether it's France or Britain or others," he said.

Kerry acknowledged, however, that the danger of Syria's chemical weapons falling into the hands of radicals on both sides of the conflict is growing.

"We have consistently said, and I say again, the longer the bloodshed goes on, the greater the prospect that the institutions of the state of Syria implode, and therefore the greater the danger is to the region and the world that chemical weapons fall into the hands of really bad actors," he said.

Kerry called the two-year conflict, which has killed an estimated 70,000 people and produced nearly 1 million refugees, a "global catastrophe," admitting that the status quo is not working.

"So as long as President Assad continues to attack his own people with Scuds, with aircraft, with tanks, there is an imbalance in this," Kerry said. "If he believes he can shoot it out, Syrians and the region have a problem and the world has a problem."

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/drumbeat-grows-louder-congress-obama-act-syria-010402163--abc-news-politics.html

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Biennial mammograms best after 50, even for women with dense breasts, experts say

Mar. 19, 2013 ? Screening for breast cancer every two years appears just as beneficial as yearly mammograms for women ages 50 to 74, with significantly fewer "false positives" -- even for women whose breasts are dense or who use hormone therapy for menopause.

That is the finding of a new national study involving more than 900,000 women that was published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine.

The same team of researchers from UC San Francisco and Seattle-based Group Health Research Institute recently reported similar results for older women ages 66 to 89.

By contrast, women in their 40s with extremely dense breasts who undergo biennial mammography are more likely to have advanced-stage and large tumors than women who undergo annual mammography -- but annual mammograms also resulted in more false positives, according to the new study from the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium (BCSC), the largest available screening mammography dataset in the United States. Having dense breasts means it is difficult for X-rays to pass through the breast tissue.

"Increasing age and high breast density are among the strongest risk factors for the disease," said senior author Karla Kerlikowske, MD, a professor of medicine at UCSF and a physician at the UCSF-affiliated San Francisco VA Medical Center.

Weighing the Risks and Benefits of Screening

Kerlikowske and other BCSC researchers reported in 2012 that risk factors may inform individual decisions that women make with their doctors about when to start breast cancer screening and how often to repeat it. For instance, a family history of breast cancer raises the likelihood of developing the disease but it does not increase the chances of advanced-stage tumors or large tumors.

"These individual decisions involve evaluating the balance between the benefits of screening -- detecting cancer early -- and the potential harms, such as false positives among healthy women," Kerlikowske said. "Some people who are at higher risk of disease may be more willing than those at lower risk to accept such potential harms of screening."

False positives mean that women without cancer are called back for more testing, including biopsies, ultrasounds and more mammograms.

"For women 50 to 74 years old with dense breasts who are cancer free, we estimated that more than half will be recalled for additional mammography at least once over the course of 10 years of annual screening," said study co-author Rebecca A. Hubbard, PhD, an assistant investigator at Group Health Research Institute who is also at the University of Washington School of Public Health. "Screening every other year decreases this risk by about a third. The risk of false-positive results is even higher for women who begin annual screening at age 40."

National Guidelines for Mammograms

When the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force updated its breast cancer screening guidelines in 2009, it advised women to make individual decisions with their doctor. But for average-risk women, these guidelines advised screening mammography every two years for women ages 50 to 74. The guidelines recommended that women in their 40s consider their personal values regarding the benefits and harms and then decide when to begin regular screening. The Task Force deemed evidence on risk factors other than age to be weak at that point.

The new study was designed to explore other risk factors for breast cancer, beyond age. Extremely dense breasts and taking combination hormone therapy (with estrogen and progestin, although not with estrogen alone) had already been shown to raise women's rates of advanced-stage or large tumors. The new study adds to this evidence by showing regardless of breast density or hormone use, screening every other year did not raise the likelihood of detecting advanced-stage or large tumors, compared to yearly screening.

Approximately 12 to 15 percent of women in their 40s -- and approximately 3 to 6 percent of those ages 50 to 74 -- have extremely dense breasts.

How does a woman know if her breasts are dense or extremely dense?

"It's a "Catch- 22"," said co-author Diana L. Miglioretti, PhD, a senior investigator at Group Health Research Institute who is also at the University of California at Davis. "The only standard way to determine your level of breast density is to get a mammogram. But unless your breasts are extremely dense and you have other strong risk factors, the data don't necessarily support your starting screening mammograms before age 50."

The study was supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health (R03 CA150007, RC2 CA148577, and P01 CA107584); the National Cancer Institute-funded Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium (U01 CA 63740, CA86076, CA86082, CA63736, CA70013, CA69976, CA63731, and CA70040. Several state public health departments and cancer registries throughout the United States supported, in part, the collection of cancer data used in this study.

Co-authors from Group Health Research Institute are: Karen J. Wernli, PhD, Ellen S. O'Meara, PhD, and Weiwei Zhu, MS; from UCSF: Dejana Braithwaite, PhD; from the University of Vermont: Berta Geller, EdD, and Kim Dittus, MD, PhD.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - San Francisco. The original article was written by Elizabeth Fernandez.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Karla Kerlikowske et al. Outcomes of Screening Mammography by Frequency, Breast Density, and Postmenopausal Hormone TherapyOutcomes of Screening Mammography. JAMA Internal Medicine, 2013; : 1 DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.307

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/most_popular/~3/5zghY6KEQGQ/130319144537.htm

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PFT: Dolphins' Starks signs franchise tender

2013 Pro BowlGetty Images

Letting players pick teams isn?t the only big Pro Bowl change being weighed by the NFL.

NFL Network?s Albert Breer reported Tuesday that the location of the Pro Bowl and the way players are compensated?are among the potential changes being discussed by the league. (Earlier Tuesday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network said that the way teams are comprised was on the table, too, something Breer also noted.)

According to Breer, the league will soon announce its plans regarding the location of future games,?and locations other than Honolulu, where this year?s game was held, could be in the mix. Breer also reported that the game, for now, will continue to be played the weekend before the Super Bowl.

The NFL, per the CBA negotiated with the players, can choose when and where to have the Pro Bowl, ?provided that the (league) will consult with the NFLPA prior to making?any such determination.?

Per Breer, the league could also change how it pays players for the game, with performance incentives tied to the results of game periods ? quarters, halves, etc. ? something being weighed, along bonuses for individual stellar performance.

This is a very interesting issue.

The total amount of compensation for players is also a collectively bargained matter. For next winter?s Pro Bowl, the winner?s share is $53,000, while the loser?s share is $26,000. In short, complete game result is the measuring stick used now.?Pro Bowl payouts are collectively bargained through 2020.

It?s understandable that the league is looking at ways to change the Pro Bowl. But the compensation matter is a compelling one. As the CBA is written right now, I could not see the NFLPA standing for any player making less than $26,000 in the game. After, it?s a bargained issue.

So here?s the question: would the NFL be open to increasing the total amount of money available to players, or will it simply be redistributing the dollars a different way?

The Pro Bowl has lacked some intrigue over the years. But you know what will be very intriguing? The process by which any changes to the NFL?s all-star game come to pass.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/19/randy-starks-signs-his-franchise-tender/related/

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Condoleezza Rice Writing Book About Democracy

NEW YORK ? Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is working on a book about democracy.

Henry Holt and Company announced Tuesday that the book, currently untitled, will be published in 2015. The 58-year-old Rice has previously written or co-written a handful of policy books, along with memoirs about her family and her years in the George W. Bush administration.

Rice served as national security adviser during Bush's first term and secretary of state during his second term. She is currently a professor of political economy and political science at Stanford University, where she has taught off and on since the early 1980s.

In her new book, Rice will draw on personal and professional experiences to address such issues as self-government, immigration and education.

Also on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/19/condoleezza-rice-book_n_2908057.html

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Tuesday, March 19, 2013

2 inmates recaptured after helicopter escape

MONTREAL (AP) ? Two inmates made a daring daylight escape from a prison northwest of Montreal in a hijacked helicopter, then led police in a car chase and exchanged gunfire at a rural cabin before they were finally recaptured, authorities said Monday.

Police said the helicopter pilot was held hostage in the Sunday jail-break and was not a suspect. He was treated for shock at a hospital.

"This is the first time this has occurred in a Quebec facility," said Yves Galarneau, correctional services manager of the Saint-Jerome prison.

Galarneau said there are no security measures in place at the prison to prevent a helicopter from swooping down from above.

Yves Le Roux, president of the helicopter rental company, Passport-H?lico, said Monday that two men posing as tourists pulled a gun on the pilot, 23-year-old Sebastien Foray, and told him to fly over the prison.

The hijackers used a rope to hoist two prisoners, 36-year-old Benjamin Hudon-Barbeau and 33-year-old Danny Provencal, from inside the gates. Th escapees dangled from the helicopter before it landed in an open field where they were able to hop aboard. Le Roux said one of the convicts got tangled in the rope, upside-down, and may have been hurt.

They took off again and the pilot switched on an emergency signal during the flight to alert authorities before landing the chopper in Mont-Tremblant, about 55 miles (85 kilometers) away from the prison, Le Roux added.

Police said they followed the helicopter until it landed, and then chased a car until it reached a rural cabin.

"When they got out of their vehicle they started shooting at police officers," Richard said.

Two of the suspects then broke into the cabin and the residents fled unharmed.

Hudon-Barbeau and another suspect were arrested at the scene and Provencal surrendered peacefully after barricading himself in a building for several hours. Another suspect was arrested on a nearby highway.

The two alleged accomplices and the two escaped convicts appeared in court Monday but did not enter a plea.

They were expected to do so as early as their next court appearance on April 16.

Police said the charges include attempted murder, hijacking an aircraft, evasion, possession of restricted weapons, and breaking and entering.

Hudon-Barbeau was serving time on firearms related charges, but it was not immediately clear what Provencal was convicted of.

Both prisoners, however, have long criminal records. Hudon-Barbeau has ties to the Hells Angels biker gang, according to Quebec court records. In January 2012, the Quebec Court of Appeal overturned a 2010 attempted murder conviction against Hudon-Barbeau when the key witness retracted her testimony.

Although the helicopter jailbreak is a first for Quebec, it has a long and colorful history.

A helicopter swooped down on a prison courtyard in Greece last month as armed men on board fired on guards and lowered a rope to help a convicted killer make his fourth attempt to escape from the prison. But the plot was foiled after the prisoner was shot and the chopper was forced to land in the prison's parking lot.

In 1971, New York businessman Joel David Kaplan used a chopper to escape from a Mexican jail and went on to write a book about it.

The prison at the center of Sunday's escape in Quebec is a provincial detention center with a maximum-security wing.

_________

Associated Press Writer Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/2-inmates-recaptured-helicopter-escape-020002675.html

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Monday, March 18, 2013

CA-NEWS Summary

China's new premier pledges reform, sees risks

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Sunday ensuring economic growth was the top priority for his government, pledging to fight graft, tackle vested interests and calling for an end to a cyber-hacking row with the United States. Li's first news conference as premier, at the close of the annual meeting of China's rubber-stamp parliament that confirmed his appointment, covered topics that have been the principal focus of recent government rhetoric, with a strong emphasis on the necessity of reform to deliver long-term economic stability.

As drone monopoly frays, Obama seeks global rules

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, who vastly expanded U.S. drone strikes against terrorism suspects overseas under the cloak of secrecy, is now openly seeking to influence global guidelines for their use as China and other countries pursue their own drone programs. The United States was the first to use unmanned aircraft fitted with missiles to kill militant suspects in the years after the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.

Al Qaeda claims assault on Iraqi justice ministry

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate said on Sunday it carried out a coordinated suicide bomb and gun attack on the country's justice ministry last week that killed at least 25 people in the centre of Baghdad. The assault near the heavily fortified Green Zone, where several Western embassies and government offices are located, fanned fears about Iraq's still fragile security a decade after the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.

Ex-general Yaalon named as Israeli defense minister

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chose Moshe Yaalon, a right-wing former armed forces chief, to be Israel's defense minister on Sunday, saying his experience was needed to tackle challenges in a turbulent Middle East. Yaalon, 62, belongs to Netanyahu's Likud party and spent the past four years in his inner circle of ministers, publicly backing his reluctance to give up the occupied West Bank and make way for a Palestinian state.

Show mercy, don't rush to condemn, new pope urges

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis, speaking to an overflow crowd of more than 150,000 in St Peter's Square, urged the world on Sunday to be more forgiving and merciful and not so quick to condemn other people's failures. "A little bit of mercy makes the world less cold and more just," he told the cheering crowd from the window of the papal apartments overlooking the square.

From teenage graffiti to a country in ruins: Syria's two years of rebellion

BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) - On a cold winter's night in early 2011, some Syrian schoolboys drew a few slogans on a wall in a town the world had barely heard of. Two years on, more than 70,000 people have died in the bitter conflict that ensued, and calls for the West to give more help to the Syrian rebels are rising. It was in the southern town of Deraa that 16-year-old Mohammad and five friends gathered to scrawl graffiti demanding the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad, whose family had ruled the country for 40 years. They chose to vent their anger at the pervasive fear and repression in the country at their school in the Hay al-Arbeen district.

Fifth French soldier killed in Mali campaign

PARIS (Reuters) - A fifth French soldier has been killed in the country's nine-week-old military campaign against Islamist rebels in Mali, the government said on Sunday. An explosive device went off under a vehicle carrying Corporal Alexandre Van Dooren during a search for rebel arms caches in northern Mali's Ifoghas mountains on Saturday, according to France's defense ministry and the president's office.

Albanian prisoner seizes hostages in third Greek escape bid

ATHENS (Reuters) - An Albanian murderer who has already used a helicopter to stage two prison breaks has seized hostages in a Greek jail and threatened to blow himself up with them if he is not allowed to escape, police said on Sunday. Alket Rijai, who is also a convicted robber, barricaded himself into part of the Malandrino jail in central Greece with around five guards late on Saturday, a source in the force told Reuters.

Cyprus parliament postpones vote on savings levy to Monday

NICOSIA (Reuters) - Cyprus's parliament postponed an emergency session called to approve a levy on bank deposits on Sunday after signs lawmakers could block the surprise move agreed in Brussels to help fund a bailout and avert national bankruptcy. In a radical departure from previous aid packages, euro zone finance ministers want Cyprus savers to forfeit up to 9.9 percent of their deposits in return for a 10 billion euro bailout to the island, financially crippled by its exposure to neighboring Greece.

China's new premier seeks "new type" of ties with U.S.

BEIJING (Reuters) - New Chinese Premier Li Keqiang pledged on Sunday to work with U.S. President Barack Obama to forge "a new type of relationship" for the sake of peace in the Asia-Pacific region, and said the war of words about cyber-hacking must end. Li did not specifically mention the U.S. military "pivot" towards Asia which has concerned China nor Beijing's territorial spats with its neighbors, stressing instead the common interests between the world's top two economic powers.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-news-summary-000324387.html

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Sunday, March 17, 2013

Kate Middleton, Baby Bump Attend Horse Races, Look Stylish

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/03/kate-middleton-baby-bump-attend-horse-races-look-stylish/

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Xbox 360 racks up 26th consecutive month as top console

By Sarah McBride SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Access to one of California's most exclusive strips of sand will soon become easier as a Malibu homeowner settles a decade-long legal battle that will result in a paved path to Carbon Beach, better known as "Billionaire's Beach." The mile-long sandy strip boasts beach getaways owned by record mogul David Geffen, former Dodgers Chief Executive Jamie McCourt, and Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison. It also has been home to many movie stars, including John Travolta, Courtney Cox and David Arquette. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/xbox-360-racks-26th-consecutive-month-top-console-040027675.html

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Saturday, March 16, 2013

Vatican: anti-clerical campaign against pope

VATICAN CITY (AP) ? The Vatican lashed out Friday at what it called a "defamatory" and "anti-clerical left-wing" campaign to discredit Pope Francis over his actions during Argentina's 1976-1983 military junta, saying no credible accusation had ever stuck against the new pope.

While the former Jorge Mario Bergoglio, like most other Argentines, failed to openly confront the murderous dictatorship, human rights activists differ on how much responsibility he personally deserves. Bergoglio ran the Jesuit order in Argentina during the dictatorship.

The Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi noted Friday that a Jesuit who was kidnapped during the dictatorship in a case that involved Bergoglio had issued a statement earlier in the day saying the two had reconciled.

Lombardi also noted that Argentine courts had never accused Bergoglio of any crime and that, on the contrary, there is ample evidence of the role he played protecting people from the military as it kidnapped and killed thousands of people in a "dirty war" to eliminate leftist opponents.

He said the accusations were made long ago "by anti-clerical left-wing elements to attack the church and must be decisively rejected."

Lombardi's statement and the accusation behind it were an interruption in the honeymoon that Francis has enjoyed since his remarkable election as pope on Wednesday, when even his choice of footwear ? his old black shoes rather than the typical papal red ? was noted as a sign of his simplicity and humility.

On his first day as pope, Francis slipped out of the Vatican to settle the bill at the hotel where he had stayed before the conclave, returning to deliver his first homily as pope.

On Friday, he slipped out again to visit an ailing Argentine cardinal, Jorge Mejia, who had a heart attack on Wednesday and was being cared for at Rome's Pius XI hospital, Vatican Radio reported. Francis had told cardinals of Mijia's illness earlier in the day in an unscripted aside during his audience with them.

The accusations of Bergoglio's past are clashing with the upbeat narrative unfolding during Francis' first few days as pope in Rome. And Lombardi clearly felt that he needed to say something to try to put an end to them ? even if in doing so he gave the story further legs.

The most damning accusation against Bergoglio is that as the military junta took over in 1976, he withdrew his support for two slum priests whose activist colleagues in the liberation theology movement were disappearing. The priests were then kidnapped and tortured at the Navy Mechanics School, which the junta used as a clandestine prison.

Bergoglio said he had told the priests ? Orlando Yorio and Francisco Jalics ? to give up their slum work for their own safety, and they refused. Yorio later accused Bergoglio of effectively delivering them to the death squads by declining to publicly endorse their work. Yorio is now dead.

Jalics, who had maintained silence about the events, on Friday issued a statement saying he had spoken with Bergoglio years later, that the two had celebrated Mass together and hugged "solemnly."

"I am reconciled to the events and consider the matter to be closed," he said.

Bergoglio in 2010 revealed his side of the story to his official biographer Sergio Rubin: that he had gone to extraordinary, behind-the-scenes lengths to save the men.

The Jesuit leader persuaded the family priest of feared dictator Jorge Videla to call in sick so that he could say Mass instead. Once inside the junta leader's home, Bergoglio privately appealed for mercy, Rubin wrote.

Lombardi said the airing of the accusations in recent days in the press following Francis' election was "characterized by a campaign that's often slanderous and defamatory."

While harsh, such remarks are not unusual for the Vatican when it feels under attack. Earlier this week, Lombardi issued a similar denunciation of an advocacy group for victims of sexual abuse, accusing it of using the media spotlight on the conclave to try to publicize old accusations against cardinals. The accusations, Lombardi said, are baseless and the cardinals deserve everyone's "esteem."

The accusations against Bergoglio started with the priest Yorio and with lay people working inside church offices. Horacio Verbitzky, an advocacy journalist who was a leftist militant at the time and is now closely aligned with the government, has written extensively about the accusations in Argentina's Pagina12 newspaper.

Lombardi's statement was delivered after Francis paid a heartfelt tribute to his predecessor Benedict XVI, saying his faith and teaching had "enriched and invigorated" the Catholic Church and would remain its spiritual patrimony forever.

Francis offered the respects during an audience with the cardinals who elected him to succeed Benedict, whose resignation set in motion the extraordinary conclave that brought the first prelate from the New World and first Jesuit to the papacy.

Francis, 76, tripped and stumbled when he greeted the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, at the start of the audience, but he recovered immediately.

Speaking at times off the cuff, Francis said Benedict had "lit a flame in the depths of our hearts that will continue to burn because it is fueled by his prayers that will support the church on its missionary path."

"In these years of his pontificate, he enriched and invigorated the church with his magisterium, his goodness, guide and faith," Francis said. Pausing for effect, he added: "His humility and his gentleness."

Francis has said he wants to visit Benedict at the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo where he has been living since Feb. 28, when he became the first pope in 600 years to resign. No date has been set for the visit. Francis is due to be installed as pope on Tuesday.

The relationship between the two pontiffs has been the subject of intense speculation given the novelty of soon having a retired and reigning pope living side by side. Some analysts have expressed concern about the influence Benedict and his loyalists might wield over the new pontificate, or worse how certain factions in the church might try to undermine Francis' authority by continuing to use Benedict as their reference point.

___

Reporter Michael Warren in Buenos Aires and David Rising in Berlin contributed.

Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/vatican-anti-clerical-campaign-against-pope-130802228.html

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Thursday, March 14, 2013

94% Barbara

All Critics (62) | Top Critics (19) | Fresh (58) | Rotten (4)

The movie examines the possibility of maintaining one's humanity in a truly oppressive society.

Hoss, wearing her blond hair pulled back tight, and wearing an expression of inscrutable melancholy, gives a performance that doesn't feel like a performance at all.

The occasional ravings of the patients, ringing off the walls in Petzold's measured quiet, provide an appropriate backdrop to the heroine's need for freedom, yet the movie's politics never trump its humanity.

This is well-trod ground for Petzold, but never has it been so fully realized, so palpable, as in "Barbara."

Hoss is fantastic. Barbara is ice cold at the start, understandably so. Yet Hoss makes her sympathetic.

[Leaves] you drained and horrified.

Petzold renders Communist oppression in a provocatively muted manner.

Stories of characters like Barbara continue to have meaning, even in a "free" society.

Engrossing Cold War thriller and love story set in East Germany in 1980.

In short, the failures in storytelling detract from the film, despite its sensitivities, its subtleties and its final payoff of personal sacrifice.

A meticulously crafted drama in which the depiction of character, place and circumstance evolves slowly and with intrigue, Barbara is gripping cinema

This well acted political melodrama, set during the Cold War, is Germany's entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar.

Hoss' outstanding performance is a deep well of subtle yet unmistakable motives and reactions.

A crafty filmmaker, Petzold gives us information in increments. During the first half of his movie, which he co-wrote, we are all but left to our own devices; yet it is fascinating, and appropriate.

Worth seeing ... both for Petzold's singular aesthetic and for Hoss, who as usual is a riveting presence.

A well-observed, compelling, and evocative character piece, haunted by the ghosts of Germany's recent past.

Feels like total immersion into the sights, stresses, and the subtle solidarity among middle-class professionals living in the workers' paradise that Petzold's parents fled.

[R]esides somewhere in an unsatisfying borderland between drama and thriller, never quite catching fire as either...

A superbly crafted low-boil drama that gets its hooks into you the old-fashioned way, through character, and highlights the difficulties and cost of living by principles.

Subtly intriguing and ambiguous, it's filled with suspicion and subterfuge.

Despite the limited scope of its predictable narrative, "Barbara" remains a compelling character study thanks to Nina Hoss's enigmatic performance in the title role.

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/barbara_2012/

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