Tropical Storm Barry bears down on Mexico's coast

VERACRUZ, Mexico (AP) ? Tropical Storm Barry hit Mexico's Gulf Coast on Thursday, lashing the state of Veracruz with heavy rains but causing only minor flooding and no heavy damage in its first hours over land.

The second tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season packed sustained 40-mph (64-kph) winds. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the storm hit Veracruz just before 11 a.m. EDT. Civil defense workers readied emergency shelters and forecasters warned that heavy rains could trigger potentially deadly flash floods or mudslides.

Between 3 to 5 inches of rain were possible with up to 10 inches in some areas, the hurricane center said. Classes were canceled around the state but flights were operating normally out of the main airport in the city of Veracruz.

At the center, Hurricane Specialist Lixion Avila warned the rains could trigger life-threatening flash floods and mudslides, especially over mountains.

"There is still going to be a lot rain in the hours ahead," he told AP by telephone.

Early Thursday, blustery winds were already being reported around the Gulf Coast areas closest to the storm's center. Forecasters said tropical storm conditions were already being felt in some areas and that strong winds would continue through Thursday morning.

A tropical storm warning was in effect from Punta El Lagarto to Tuxpan, in Veracruz state.

Veracruz state Civil Protection Secretary Noemi Guzman said 2,000 shelters had been readied in the state with mattresses, blankets, water and canned food. She said the shelters at schools and recreation centers could house up to 306,000 people.

The port of Veracruz was closed to small vessels because of the strong winds, Guzman added.

The storm had formed as a depression off the coast of Belize on Monday and began moving northward, dumping heavy rains on parts of that country and northern Guatemala before entering the Gulf of Mexico off Mexico's Bay of Campeche and strengthening somewhat over warm Gulf waters.

After moving inland Thursday, the storm was expected to weaken throughout the day and then begin breaking apart Friday as it crosses southern Mexico, the hurricane center said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tropical-storm-barry-bears-down-mexicos-coast-092832654.html

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Man Masturbates, Barks Like Dog As Historic Club Burns | Motor City Muckraker |

Photo via Getty.

Motor City Muckraker:

As firefighters battled an enormous blaze at the historic University Club in Detroit this weekend, a wild-eyed man wearing only a black polo shirt emerged from the dark brush and began masturbating and barking like a dog.

After frenziedly satisfying himself in front of firefighters and onlookers at 4:30 a.m. Saturday, the lurker crawled on his hands and knees, with his tongue out, and gazed at flames that tore through the three-story Collegiate Gothic building at 1411 E. Jefferson.

Read the whole story at Motor City Muckraker

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Filed by Ashley Woods ?|?

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1. HuffPost
2. Detroit

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/21/man-masturbates-barks-lik_n_3478285.html

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Significant step forward in combating antibiotic resistance

Apr. 24, 2013 ? Antibiotic resistance is a global problem. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that for tuberculosis alone multi-drug resistance accounts for more than 150,000 deaths each year. WHO warns of "a doomsday scenario of a world without antibiotics," in which antibiotic resistance will turn common infections into incurable killers and make routine surgeries a high-risk gamble.

Certain types of bacteria are a scourge of the hospital environment because they are extremely resistant to antibiotics and consequently difficult, if not impossible, to treat. This group of bacteria is classified as 'gram-negative' because their cells have a double membrane or outer layer, compared with gram-positive bacteria, which just have one outer layer.

Not only are these cells difficult to penetrate in the first instance, due to their double membrane, but they have effective 'pumps' which quickly reject anything that interferes with the activity of protein-building within the cell and the development of the protective cell wall.

This research, which was funded by the Wellcome Trust, gives for the first time a clear insight into how these protein components of the pump work together to transport an antibiotic from the cell.

Examples of gram-negative bacteria include those which cause food poisoning, meningitis, gonorrhoea and respiratory problems. Since the antibiotic is an interfering agent, many of these pathogenic bacteria use the membrane pumps to transport the medication out of the cell.

The pumps are made up of three different proteins within the cell that work together to bring about the movement. Research lead, Professor Adrian Walmsley from Durham University's School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences explained:

"Patients with bacterial infections are often treated with antibiotics, but since many strains are resistant to one or more of these drugs, clinicians often try to bring such infections under control by prescribing a combination of different types of antibiotics in the hope that they will override the resistance mechanisms. This sometimes works, but other times it does not. Pumps exacerbate this situation by reducing the effective concentration of the drug inside the cell. "

"By investigating how these pumps function, we have been able to identify the molecular events that are involved in binding and transporting an antibiotic from the cell. This advance in our understanding will ultimately aid the development of 'pump blockers'. This is important because these pumps often confer resistance to multiple, structurally unrelated, drugs; which means that they could also be resistant to new drugs which have never been used before."

Dr Vassiliy Bavro from the the Institute of Microbiology and Infection at the University of Birmingham said: "This study greatly expands our understanding of the mechanistic aspects of the pump function, and in particular challenges our previous concepts of energy requirements for pump assembly and cycling. By elucidating the intricate details of how these essential nanomachines come together, it also provides a new working model of their functional cycle in general, paving the way to development of novel approaches to disrupting their function."

Dr Ted Bianco, Acting Director of the Wellcome Trust, said: "A world without antibiotics is a world where simple surgery becomes a life-threatening procedure, where a scratch from a rose might prove fatal, and where diseases like tuberculosis return with a ferocity not seen in Britain since the Victorian era. This is why fundamental research to understand the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance is so important. Only when we know what we're up against can researchers begin to design new antibacterial agents to help us win the war against bacterial infections."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Durham University.

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Journal Reference:

1. Thamarai K. Janganan, Vassiliy N. Bavro, Li Zhang, Maria In?s Borges-Walmsley, Adrian R. Walmsley. Tripartite efflux pumps: energy is required for dissociation, but not assembly or opening of the outer membrane channel of the pump. Molecular Microbiology, 2013; 88 (3): 590 DOI: 10.1111/mmi.12211

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/~3/9lrScfLULdA/130424222554.htm

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iPhone 5 vs. Samsung Galaxy S4: Which should you buy?

Apple's iPhone 5 has been around going on 6 months now, but Samsung's Galaxy S4 has only just now hit the streets, and already we're being asked the question -- which one should you buy?

Never mind the iPhone 5 is last year's model, until Apple announces a new one this is the phone that's sitting on the shelves next to the Galaxy S4 and that makes the question a real one for real people. And luckily, it's a fairly easy one to answer, because both phones are different enough -- philosophical opposites in many cases -- they'll likely appeal to different audiences.

I attended the Samsung Galaxy S4 event in NYC with Phil Nickinson, and had a chance to try out the phone then. I've also had a chance to use it this week while Alex Dobie was working on his comprehensive Samsung Galaxy S4 review. So while I haven't gone as in-depth as those guys, I've had the chance to form some opinions.

The Galaxy S4 has a 5-inch SAMOLED screen compared to the iPhone 5's 4-inch LED IPS in-cell display. On size and size alone, the Galaxy S4 wins. If all you want is as much screen real estate possible this side of a phablet, the Galaxy S4 takes it hands down. If you want a smaller display that's easier to fit on tight hipster pockets or use one-handed, the iPhone 5 will be more to your liking. Samsung also cleans Apple's Retina clock with a 1920x1080 (1080p) display, compared to Apple's 1136x640.

When it comes to display technology, however, the iPhone 5 cremes the Galaxy S4. Not only does Apple use in-cell display to make the pixels look like they're part of the glass, IPS LED LCD -- sorry for all the initials -- just looks and works better. Samung sticks with SAMOLED, which, like OLED in general, just isn't great for displays. It does save on power and produce nice blacks, but it remains overly saturated, subject to an annoying blue-shift, and just doesn't hold up as well under direct sunlight. Also, Samsung has stuck with an odd sub-pixel arrangement -- some variant or another of PenTile -- and while it's very difficult to see at that resolution, it's still not as good as the traditional RGB layout.

Samsung has also stuck with plastic for their casing, which not only doesn't feel as good as the plastics used by HTC and Nokia, it feels downright cheap compared to the aluminum and glass casing of the iPhone 5, and the aluminum used in the new HTC One. Samsung's plastic does make it easier for them to include a door for a removable battery and SD card, but I'm happy enough to recharge my phone when I need to, and I'd rather not have a cheap-feeling experience all day, every day, when I'm using it.

The software is a mixed bag as well. I love that Samsung is trying so many things and experimenting with so many things. Sure, some of them are beyond wacky, but some of them might just be wonderful as well. Companies that throw things against the wall do sometimes find what sticks, and that's how we get the future faster.

I just wish they'd hire some really good designers to give the icons and interface a once-over because it still comes off as an afterthought, inconsistent and utilitarian.

Overall, it's a good improvement over last year's Galaxy S3. Some are calling it a Galaxy S3S, similar to Apple's S-class iPhone updates, but the screen size increase and some of the other hardware features make it more than that. Just not a lot more.

However, it remains a largely uninspired and un-opinionated phone. The beige box of mobile. It'll be a best seller, no doubt about it. Maybe even the best seller this year. But If you don't want an iPhone 5 -- and there are some valid reasons for not wanting an iPhone 5 -- I wouldn't recommend a Galaxy S4. If you love phones and you love Android, I'd recommend an HTC One far, far more.

But don't take my word for it, read Alex's review, and then come back and let me know what you think.

• Samsung Galaxy S 4 review

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/0pb9VvkKCfg/story01.htm

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College Football Playoff Name, Format Revealed By BCS Conference Commissioners

PASADENA, Calif. ? The Bowl Championship Series will be replaced by the College Football Playoff.

The BCS conference commissioners announced the name of the new postseason system that starts in 2014 on Tuesday, the first of three days of meetings at a resort hotel in the Rose Bowl's backyard.

They also will choose the remaining three sites for the six-bowl semifinal rotation and the site of the first championship game to be held Jan. 12, 2015, this week.

The website is already up and running and allowing fans to vote on a new logo. And there also is a Twitter handle: (at)cfbplayoff. www.collegefootballplayoff.com

"It's really simple. It gets right to the point," BCS executive director Bill Hancock, who will hold the same position in the playoff system, said at a short news conference with the 10 commissioners of the FCS conferences.

"Nothing cute. Nothing fancy. We decided it would be best to call it what it is."

Premiere Sports Management in Overland Park, Kan., was hired to help come up with a name and brand the new system. A committee of commissioners handled the naming of the new system. Hancock said they ran through "in the neighborhood of three dozen" names.

Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said, "We're clearly trying to make a clear break from the BCS."

Before the news was reported, Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said he'd be happy with whatever was selected.

"I'm am not good with names ? obviously," Delany said with a smile, referring to the Big Ten's division names, Legends and Leaders, that produced so much negative feedback the conference has already decided to change them.

The new postseason format will create two national semifinals to be played New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, with the winners advancing. The six bowls in the playoff rotation will host marquee, BCS-type games on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day during the seasons they do not host a semifinal.

"I don't think you can ever go too wrong calling something what it is," Scott said. "Things that make sense tend to stand the test of time."

Three semifinal spots have already been decided: the Rose, Orange and Sugar bowls.

Four other bowls have bid for the final three spots. The clear front-runners are the Cotton, Chick-fil-A and Fiesta. The Holiday Bowl in San Diego also put in a bid, but even its organizers have acknowledged they are a long shot at best to land the game.

Those decisions will be announced Wednesday.

The coaches on the Big 12's spring teleconference were already talking about the Cotton Bowl having a spot in the rotation as if it was a done deal.

"I think it's really exciting for this region, for everybody, and I think all of the schools in this region, to have Dallas as one of those sites is great for everybody in this region, and exciting for everybody," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. "Obviously, everybody knows what a great and quality, what an awesome stadium it is, then the location for us is an advantage, or should be."

The first semifinals will be played at the Rose and Sugar bowls.

The site of the first national championship game in the new system will also be determined at these meetings and the finalists are Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the billion dollar home of the NFL team and the Cotton Bowl, and Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., home of the Buccaneers.

Arlington is the favorite to land that first championship game, but the competition from Tampa has been serious.

"I'm glad it has," Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said Tuesday. "I think it will give us a better outcome."

Also on the agenda this week for the commissioners will be the composition of the selection committee that will set the field for the playoff. They have said they would like the committee to be similar to the one that picks the teams for the NCAA basketball tournament, made up of conference commissioners and athletic directors.

Bowlsby said he expected both current and former administrators to have a spot on the committee.

"The hardest thing is making sure we're arming whoever is on the committee with the tools that it takes to differentiate among closely proximal teams," Bowlsby said. "You have to have some metrics available to differentiate between three, four, five, six and seven."

"You can't just say we like blue uniforms and not gold uniforms. You've got to arm the committee with the tools that it takes to do their job."

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/23/college-football-playoff-name-bcs_n_3142757.html

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'Nice Work If You Can Get It' to close in June

This theater image released by Boneau/Bryan-Brown shows Jessie Mueller, left, and Matthew Broderick during a performance of "Nice Work if You Can Get It," in New York. Producers announced Wednesday, April 24, 2013 that the production will play its final performance on Broadway on June 15, 2013. (AP Photo/Boneau/Bryan-Brown, Joan Marcus)

This theater image released by Boneau/Bryan-Brown shows Jessie Mueller, left, and Matthew Broderick during a performance of "Nice Work if You Can Get It," in New York. Producers announced Wednesday, April 24, 2013 that the production will play its final performance on Broadway on June 15, 2013. (AP Photo/Boneau/Bryan-Brown, Joan Marcus)

NEW YORK (AP) ? The work is indeed nice, but it won't last forever ? Broadway's musical "Nice Work If You Can Get It" will be making a lot of people unemployed this June.

Producers said Wednesday the Tony-nominated production will play its final performance on June 15 after 27 previews and 478 regular performances at the Imperial Theatre.

"Nice Work If You Can Get It" is a screwball romantic comedy that takes place in the 1920s and tells the story of a female bootlegger who meets a wealthy, often-drunken playboy, played by Matthew Broderick. He had said June 15 was his last show.

Book writer Joe DiPietro and director and choreographer Kathleen Marshall raided the Gershwin song catalog to cobble together a sumptuous score including "S'Wonderful" and "Fascinating Rhythm."

Judy Kaye and Michael McGrath received best supporting actors in a musical Tonys. The musical itself lost the best musical revival award to another show with Gershwin songs, "The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess."

___

Online: http://www.NiceWorkOnBroadway.com

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-04-24-US-Theater-Nice-Work-If-You-Can-Get-It/id-b7054e48c7f9458a865427690bfcbc63

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Israel: OK to check emails of foreigners at border

JERUSALEM (AP) ? Israel's attorney general on Wednesday upheld a practice to allow security personnel to read people's email accounts when they arrive at the airport, arguing it prevents militants from entering the country.

The ruling followed an outcry last year when some people trying to enter Israel were ordered to open their emails after hours of interrogation at Israel's Ben-Gurion airport. In one instance, three Palestinian-American women were forbidden from entering after email checks were conducted.

Critics say it primarily targets Muslims and Arabs and appears to be aimed at keeping out visitors who have histories of pro-Palestinian activism, citing a history of such people being turned away from Israel's border crossings.

Security personnel may ask visitors to open their email accounts for inspection if they are perceived as being suspicious, wrote Nadim Aboud of Israel's attorney general office. In a response to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, he said potential entrants may refuse to allow their emails to be checked, but that would be a factor in deciding whether a person would be allowed to enter the country.

Aboud said the checks were justified because there was an increasing risk of foreigners being involved in militant activity. He said security services could not properly investigate the backgrounds of some potential entrants without the additional check.

A Justice Ministry official said the search was conducted only in "extraordinary cases." He spoke anonymously in line with ministry policy.

The attorney general's office wrote the letter in response to a request for clarification by ACRI after incidents were reported last year, said attorney Lila Margalit of the organization. She said Aboud's response effectively legalized the checks, which could now be challenged only in court.

"It was a concern because of the level of invasion inherent in (checking) a personal email account," Margalit said. "It constitutes a violation of privacy."

She said inside Israel, police could search a person's computer data only with court approval, even if there was a criminal investigation underway.

Israeli officials tend to conduct exhaustive checks on foreigners entering the country, or passing through border crossings they control, if they are deemed suspicious.

It particularly affects people who hope to travel to Palestinian areas of the West Bank. The Palestinians a measure of self-government in the West Bank, a territory east of the Jewish state; but Israel controls entry into those areas.

Such visitors frequently complain that they risk not being allowed into the country if they announce they will visit areas under Palestinian Authority control; but risk being accused of lying if they omit that information to security investigators.

There are no statistics on how many people are refused entry into Israel or through border crossings that Israel controls.

One aspect of the issue is that most people entering Israel obtain visas at the airport or other border crossings. Unlike many countries, Israel does not require people to obtain visas from their embassies in advance of their trips, eliminating possible screening before visitors arrive in Israel.

In contrast, Israelis themselves are required to obtain visas far in advance before visiting many countries. Even the U.S. requires an exhaustive interview process at its embassy in Tel Aviv, and it does not grant visas to all who apply. Iranian-born Israelis, for example, are often refused visas.

The practice of email checks appears to be a step beyond what some Western countries allow, while others permit similar measures.

Germany does not allow such searches. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has seized computers and other electronic devices from people arriving in the United States to search them.

In a narrow ruling last month, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that while Customs and Border Protection officers can do "a quick look" at a laptop computer or other equipment, reasonable suspicion is required for a more in-depth forensic exam of electronics. It was not immediately clear if that included email.

___

AP writers Alicia A. Caldwell in Washington and Robert Reid in Berlin contributed.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-04-24-ML-Israel-Email-Search/id-b1b4bcf4c51d46ed912a424792988f16

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PFT: Milliner revealed to have had five surgeries

Getty Images

There will be ?enhanced? security guidelines for the NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall in New York, the league said Tuesday.

According to the NFL, those entering Radio City Music Hall for the draft must consent to searches by security personnel, with pat-downs and metal detectors among the measures that can be employed.?What?s more, all items brought into the building will be inspected, the league said.

The draft begins Thursday and runs through Saturday in New York.

The league, along with Radio City Music Hall and New York City police, are recommending those attending the draft to limit the number of objects brought into the building.?No containers will be allowed inside, with backpacks among the excluded items.?The NFL?s statement on the security measures has a list of banned items.

?Fans are urged to bring nothing larger than a very small purse,? the league said.

The league noted it already had security procedures in place before these additions.

?The NFL and its clubs have operated with a very high level of security since 9/11 for all of our games and events,? said Jeffrey Miller, NFL vice president and chief security officer in the league-issued statement. ?With the help of the FBI, New York Police Department, Radio City and our private security partners, we will enhance our already comprehensive plans for the safety of our fans and other attendees.?

A noticeable security presence at major sporting events doesn?t figure to go away anytime soon, and the NFL?s enhancements make sense, considering recent events.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/04/23/dee-milliner-has-had-five-surgeries/related/

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Groupon Adds Global Search To iPhone, Android, Now Supports Android Tablets To Sharpen Up For Yelp, Foursquare Rivalry

Groupon’s VP of mobile, David Katz, says that it has been “business as usual” at the daily deals company since the dramatic departure of founder/CEO Andrew Mason. “We’re still just focused on shipping new stuff,” Katz told TechCrunch in an interview. Today, that includes news of updates to Groupon’s iPhone and Android apps: it is adding a universal search feature that will let consumers use the apps to search for Marketplace deals that are available nearby, covering not just local discounts that are time-sensitive but rolling offers that are not. The search feature lays the groundwork for a larger attack that publicly traded Groupon is making on mobile to stay competitive in location-based mobile services against the likes of Google, Yelp and Foursquare — with the latter just raising $41 million to position itself as a platform for local search, offering local deals as an added twist. On top of the new search updates, the Android app is now able to support tablets, the first time that it has been optimized for screens of up to 10 inches. With the search feature available now in the U.S., Groupon plans to turn the feature on across the rest of its mobile footprint this year, Katz says. And while the iPad app is not getting an update today, Groupon says that this week it is extending the number of countries where it will work. Belgium, Japan, Malaysia, South Africa and Switzerland are getting added, taking the total to 18 countries. That’s still a far cry from the 42 that Groupon supports with its iPhone app, but Katz says that they hope to reach parity “by the end of the year, if not sooner.” iOS usage, he says, “still dominates” on Groupon’s platform but the company’s move to roll out features like search internationally, into countries where Android is stronger than iOS, may see that balance changing, which is why it’s important for Groupon to not only keep updating that Android app but add tablet support as well. Groupon’s bid to “transition from being just daily deals into a more complete offering,” in Katz’s words, is so far showing some signs of paying off, with both mobile and non-time-specific Marketplace deals playing roles in that. About half of the company’s local transaction volume in North America is coming from its Deals Marketplace at the moment, and that deal bank (Groupon’s internal term for

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/QSKAnOF22Cw/

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Up to 500 feared dead in Damascus suburb: activists

AMMAN (Reuters) - At least 109 people have been documented as killed and up to 400 more are likely to have died in an almost week-long offensive by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on a rebellious Damascus suburb, opposition activists said.

If the accounts are confirmed, the killings in the mainly Sunni Muslim suburb of Jdeidet al-Fadel would amount to one of bloodiest episodes of the two-year-old uprising against Assad. Many of the dead were civilians, the activists said.

Syrian state media gave no death toll but confirmed the army had been fighting in Jdeidet al-Fadel. It said it had saved the town from what it described as criminal terrorist groups, killing and wounding an undisclosed number of them.

On Sunday activists said at least 85 people had been killed and the toll might reach 250, but with the army beginning to pull back they said more accounts were emerging which suggest the final figure could be even higher.

The activists, speaking from the area, 10 km (six miles) southwest of Damascus, said residents had buried some victims in the early stages of the five-day attack by elite forces and pro-Assad militias. More bodies are now being found burnt or summarily executed in buildings and streets.

They said rebel brigades who numbered around 300 fighters withdrew two days ago, leaving Assad's forces in total control.

The working-class district is one of several Sunni Muslim towns surrounding the capital that have been at the forefront of the uprising. It is situated near hilltop bases of elite forces which are mostly from Assad's minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam that has dominated Syria since the 1960s.

Documented deaths of people who were discovered in the street and buildings on Saturday and Sunday and later buried in mass graves stood at 109, the opposition activist said. Activist Abu Ahmad al-Rabi' said they included seven refugees from nearby towns found shot dead inside a residential building.

Dozens of bodies were also seen near a disused railway line in the centre of the district but the presence of army patrols have prevented the collection and documentation of victims.

"Assad's forces are beginning to withdraw from Jdeidet al-Fadel but they are still there patrolling the streets and there are snipers deployed," he said.

BODIES LYING IN STREETS

In addition to those buried over the weekend, and those bodies reported lying in the streets, between 100 to 200 people were killed and buried in the first three days of the fighting, the activists said.

Shamel al-Golani of the opposition Sham News Network said among the hardest hit areas was a neighborhood adjacent to the 100 army brigade, one of several elite units based around Jdeidet al-Fadel.

"In the first three days the army would go into neighborhoods and commit killings and withdraw and come back the next day," he said.

"Many of them who were killed early were refugees from Daraya and al-Mouadamiya and were buried quietly," he said, referring to two adjacent suburbs that have been the scene of fighting and several army incursions.

Assad's forces have been accused of massacring hundreds of Sunni Muslims in areas they stormed in Hama and Homs provinces and Damascus suburbs. International rights groups say rebel forces have also committed atrocities, although on a smaller scale.

Jdeidet al-Fadel lies on the road from Damascus to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Its residents are Golan refugees and in the last year thousands of families from nearby areas took shelter in the town.

The Local Coordination Committee, an organization of grassroots activists, put the death toll at 450, while the Syrian Organization for Human Rights (Sawasiah) said the number of victims was at 500.

In a statement, Sawasieh said the army forces included elite Republican Guards, the 100 and 153 artillery brigades and the 555 brigade, formerly known as the Defense Brigades.

Units of "sectarian militia" supported by members of airforce intelligence, one of the most feared of a myriad of secret police branches, accompanied the army units, it said.

According to witness accounts interviewed by the Syrian organization, water and electricity were cut off from the town and residents were not allowed to leave as Assad's forces blocked the entrances of the suburbs.

Many of the victims, Sawasiah said, were civilians, targeted because the suburb was an "incubator for armed resistance" and showed solidarity with refugees in adjacent towns also subjected to mass killings.

(Reporting by Khaled Yacoub Oweis, Amman newsroom; Editing by Dominic Evans and Angus MacSwan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/500-feared-dead-damascus-suburb-activists-145743572.html

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Frankfurt, Kaufmann, Stemme top opera honors

By Belinda Goldsmith

LONDON (Reuters) - Frankfurt Opera was crowned the world's best opera company on Monday at the inaugural International Opera Awards which were set up to promote opera to a wider audience as it comes under increasing financial pressure.

The award was one of 21 prizes announced at a ceremony in central London to kick off "The Operas", annual awards set up by Opera Magazine and British businessman Harry Hyman.

German Jonas Kaufmann, often described as the "new king of tenors", was crowned the best male singer after strong reviews from productions of "Carmen" and with his solo albums, Verismo Arias and Wagner, becoming bestsellers within weeks of release.

Swedish soprano Nina Stemme, who received raves in Munich, Milan and Paris for her Wagner, beat five others including Joyce DiDonato and Sarah Connolly to be named best female singer.

Briton Antonio Pappano, music director of Britain's Royal Opera House, won the award for best conductor.

The winners list said that under its intendant Bernd Loebe, the Frankfurt Opera had established itself as one of Europe's best, with houses almost regularly filled to capacity for a mix of rarely performed works and more mainstream repertoire.

Opera Magazine editor John Allison said he hoped the awards would bring more recognition to opera at an economically tough time when many opera houses were struggling due to a drop in private sponsorships and state subsidies.

"Very few opera companies in the world are immune to the financial pinch," Allison said, adding that this could stifle creativity and tempt opera companies "to play it safe".

Hyman said the awards were intended to broaden the audience for opera and encourage new talent by creating bursaries.

"I hope they will become the Oscars of opera," he said.

The awards received 1,500 nominations from 41 countries and the winners decided by a 10-member jury made up of opera critics, opera house chiefs and singers.

The award for the best new production went to "The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh" by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov that was performed by the Netherlands Opera and directed by Russia's Dmitri Tcherniakov, who also won the award for best director.

The award for best world premiere was won by the favorite, "Written on Skin" by George Benjamin which premiered at the Aix-en-Provence festival in France before runs in several major opera houses.

The young singer award went to British soprano Sophie Bevan and the best newcomer, conductor or director, was won by Italian conductor Daniele Rustioni.

A lifetime achievement award was given to George Christie, former chief executive of the British opera house Glyndebourne.

Here is a list of winners in key categories. OPERA COMPANY: Frankfurt Opera CONDUCTOR: Antonio Pappano MALE SINGER: Jonas Kaufmann FEMALE SINGER: Nina Stemme YOUNG SINGER: Sophie Bevan DIRECTOR: Dmitri Tcherniakov WORLD PREMIERE: "Written on Skin" by George Benjamin, Aix-de-Provence NEW PRODUCTION: "The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh," Netherlands Opera and Dmitri Tcherniakov LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: George Christie NEWCOMER (CONDUCTOR OR DIRECTOR): Daniele Rustioni ORCHESTRA: Metropolitan Opera CHORUS: Cape Town Opera

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith; Editing by Michael Roddy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/frankfurt-kaufmann-stemme-top-opera-honors-215248612.html

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NM slaughterhouse ground zero in horse debate

ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) ? About five miles from this southeastern New Mexico town's famed UFO museum, tucked between dairy farms, is a nondescript metal building that could be home to any number of small agricultural businesses.

But Valley Meat Co. is no longer just another agricultural business. It's a former cattle slaughterhouse whose kill floor has been redesigned for horses to be led in one at a time, secured in a huge metal chute, shot in the head, then processed into meat for shipment overseas.

It's also ground zero for an emotional, national debate over a return to domestic horse slaughter that has divided horse rescue and animal humane groups, ranchers, politicians and Indian tribes.

At issue is whether horses are livestock or pets, and whether it is more humane to slaughter them domestically than to ship tens of thousands of neglected, unwanted and wild horses thousands of miles to be slaughtered in Mexico or Canada.

Front and center of the debate is Rick De Los Santos, who along with his wife, Sarah, has for more than two decades worked this small slaughterhouse, taking in mostly cows that were too old or sick to travel with larger herds to the bigger slaughterhouses for production.

Now, with cattle herds shrinking amid an ongoing drought, De Los Santos says he and his wife are just trying to transform their business and make enough money to retire by slaughtering domestically some of the thousands of horses that he says travel through the state every month on their way to what are oftentimes less humane and less regulated plants south of the border.

"They are being slaughtered anyway. We thought, well, we will slaughter them here and provide jobs for the economy," De Los Santos said.

Instead, Valley Meat has been ensnarled in a yearlong political drama that has left the plant idle and its owners the target of vandalism and death threats ? warnings that increased after humane groups found a video a now-former plant worker posted of himself cursing at animal activists, then shooting one of his own horses to eat.

"People are saying, 'We will slit your throat in your sleep. We hope you die. We hope your kids die,'" De Los Santos said. "Sometimes it's scary. ... And it's all for a horse."

Indeed, voice mails left on the company's answering machine spew hate and wishes for violence upon the family.

"I hope you burn in hell," said one irate woman who called repeatedly, saying, "You better pack your (expletive) bags (expletive) and get out of there because that place is finished."

The couple have hired security and turned over phone records to federal authorities. They are, nevertheless, surprisingly candid about their plans, offering media access to the 7,200-square-foot slaughterhouse with one kill floor and two processing rooms that De Los Santos says can process 50 to 100 horses a day.

"It's complicated, this industry of feeding the world," Sarah De Los Santos says matter-of-factly. The meat would be processed for human consumption and exported to countries in eastern Europe and Asia.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is scheduled to inspect the facility to decide whether it can become the first plant in the country to slaughter horses in more than six years.

De Los Santos says he is not worried about passing the inspection. The plant passed one last year but then was told it couldn't begin operations until the USDA developed an acceptable test to measure the horse meat for drug residue.

It wasn't until the plant sued the USDA for blocking its application that the agency earlier this year agreed to move forward with the inspections necessary to allow Valley Meat Co. and about a half-dozen other plants around the country to slaughter horses.

The Obama administration wants to prohibit such slaughters. The administration's 2014 budget request excludes money for inspectors for horse slaughter plants, which would effectively keep them from operating.

The USDA did not respond to an email from The Associated Press asking about the inspection process and whether a drug test has been developed.

"Everyone is talking about this as a humane issue. This is not a humane issue. It's politics," said De Los Santos.

Humane groups and politicians including Gov. Susana Martinez and New Mexico Attorney General Gary King strongly oppose the plant. They argue that horses are iconic animals in the West, and that other solutions and more funding for horse rescue and birth control programs should be explored over slaughter.

Fueling opposition is a recent uproar in Europe over horse meat being found in products labeled as beef.

Still others are pushing for a return to domestic slaughter. Proponents include several Native American tribes, the American Quarter Horse Association, some livestock associations and even a few horse rescue groups that believe domestic slaughter would be more humane than shipping the animals elsewhere.

They point to a 2011 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office that found horse abuse and abandonment increasing since Congress effectively banned horse slaughter by cutting funding for federal inspection programs in 2006. Because rescue groups can't take care of all of the horses in need, tens of thousands have been shipped to slaughterhouses in Mexico.

In this mostly agricultural town, whose welcome sign touts it as the Dairy Capital of the Southwest, there is surprisingly little uproar over the plant.

"I was against it," said Larry Connolly, a retiree having coffee at Starbucks last week. "Then I started talking to some ranchers. They said they were for it. So I'm neutral."

Local horse trader and former rancher Dave McIntosh said opening the plant would be "the best thing for the welfare of horses."

But Sheriff Rob Coon said he believes most people in town oppose the plant. His office was inundated with calls and emails from irate people after the horse-killing video was discovered online last month. The former Valley Meat worker posted the video more than a year ago in response to animal activists opposed to horse slaughter.

"A lot the ranchers are for it, simply because they want a place to take a horse rather than starve it out," he said. "But it's not our society. We don't eat horses."

Coon said his department has met with other local agencies in preparation for protests and potential trouble should the plant get the green light to open. But he clearly longs for the day when Roswell ? whose main street is populated with statues of green extraterrestrials ? was known for a rumored 1947 UFO landing, and little else.

"I was just telling our county manager: What happened to our aliens?" Coon said.

___

Follow Jeri Clausing at https://twitter.com/jericlausing

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nm-slaughterhouse-ground-zero-horse-debate-071837115.html

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You Can Buy the Leica That Captured the Iconic Kiss in Times Square Picture

If you fancy buying yourself a little slice of photographic history, now's your chance. Because the Leica IIIa rangefinder used by Alfred Eisenstaedt to capture the iconic V-J day photo Kiss in Times Square is up for sale. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/ePZXCLVcMjg/you-can-buy-the-leica-that-captured-the-iconic-kiss-in-times-square-picture

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LG's Curved OLED TVs Are Actually Going on Sale

When LG showed off the first curved 3D OLED screen at CES earlier this year, it was sure exciting—but seemed unrealistic as a commercial venture. Now, though, LG has announced that it's planning to sell the curvy TV. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/jwxsHVkCmtM/lgs-curved-oled-tvs-are-actually-going-on-sale

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Canada February factory sales surge, new orders fall

Apr 15 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $4,139,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $3,137,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,442,389 4. Adam Scott (Australia) $2,100,469 5. Steve Stricker $1,935,340 6. Phil Mickelson $1,764,680 7. Dustin Johnson $1,748,907 8. Jason Day $1,659,565 9. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 10. Keegan Bradley $1,430,347 11. Charles Howell III $1,393,806 12. John Merrick $1,375,757 13. Russell Henley $1,331,434 14. Michael Thompson $1,310,709 15. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 16. Bill Haas $1,271,553 17. Billy Horschel $1,254,224 18. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/canada-february-factory-sales-rise-2-6-pct-124033355--business.html

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Inspired By Economic Madness - Mike Shedlock - Townhall Finance ...

Do not expect any government or central bank to learn much from history, especially Japan and especially now.

For example, please consider this bit of "inspirational madness": Bank of Japan Finds Inspiration in a 1930s Iconoclast.

The bank?s governor, Haruhiko Kuroda, announced a ?new dimension in monetary easing,? vowing to double the purchases of government bonds and expand the monetary base. The BOJ also formally adopted a previously announced two-year target of 2 percent inflation. Quantitative easing will be the bank?s core business for the near future, a strategy that resembles the Federal Reserve?s response to the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

The BOJ?s actions also mark a return, at least partly, to the unorthodox efforts of Japan?s finance minister in the early 1930s, Korekiyo Takahashi, who was praised by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke for ?brilliantly rescuing Japan from the Great Depression through reflationary policies.?

Takahashi has recently received renewed attention from economists, historians and policy makers. In Japan, the number of popular publications on him suggests a Takahashi following. A biography by Richard Smethurst, ?From Foot Soldier to Finance Minister: Takahashi Korekiyo, Japan?s Keynes,? became an academic hit when it was published in Japanese in 2010.

Source: http://townhall.com/columnists/mikeshedlock/2013/04/13/inspired-by-economic-madness-n1566413

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Film review: Harsh lessons for fathers and sons in 'Place Beyond the ...

Ryan Gosling plays Luke, a motorcycle stunt rider, in the drama "The Place Beyond the Pines." Atsushi Nishijima | Focus Features

Review ? Gosling intense in drama that spans generations.

Ryan Gosling is a charismatic leading man, so dynamic an actor, that the movies in which he appears can be defined by his presence and his absence ? and his latest, the multi-generational drama "The Place Beyone the Pines," is a different movie when he?s in it than when he?s not.

Gosling commands "The Place Beyond the Pines" from the opening scene, a single-take shot that introduces us to Gosling?s character, Luke, and his world. Luke is a carnival performer, a daredevil motorcycle rider whom the camera follows from his trailer across the midway and into the "Globe of Death" in which he rides his bike at breakneck speeds. Luke?s life is moving, never staying in one place.

?

HHH

?The Place Beyond the Pines?

Ryan Gosling burns through the screen in this intense multi-generational drama.

Where ? Area theaters.

When ? Opens Friday, April 12.

Rating ? R for language throughout, some violence, teen drug and alcohol use, and a sexual reference

Running time ? 140 minutes.

When Luke meets up again with Romina (Eva Mendes) at a stop in Schenectady, New York, he learns that Romina has a baby son, Jason. Luke?s son. Luke decides then and there to drop out of the carnival and live in Schenectady (whose name means "the place beyond the pines") helping to raise Jason ? even though Romina is now living with another man (Mahershala Ali). But to raise the money to provide for Jason, Luke takes to crime. He works with a garage mechanic, Robin (Ben Mendelsohn), to rob the banks and then speed off on his motorcycle.

One robbery ends in a fateful encounter with a rookie cop, Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper). That?s when the movie?s narrative switches from Luke to Avery, and a good deal of the movie?s energy fades away.

Avery, we learn, graduated from law school but joined the force because of his idealistic belief in crimefighting. That idealism is tested when, after the robbery incident, some senior cops (led by Ray Liotta) take Avery out for some unofficial police business ? which leads them back to Romina.

The third part of the film takes place 15 years later. Avery is an ambitious politician, but is at odds with his spoiled teen son A.J. (Emory Cohen). His worries about A.J. compound when the kid makes a new friend at school: Jason (Dane DeHaan).

Director/co-writer Derek Cianfrance, who made the hard-hitting drama "Blue Valentine" with Gosling, is ambitious enough to try a sweeping drama that crosses generations and decades. In part he succeeds, as Luke?s sins become reflected in Jason?s psychic scars and Avery?s cynicism thrown back at him by A.J.?s despondency.

The movie?s weakness comes from relying on Cooper as the pivot point. Cooper gives a better performance here than in "Silver Linings Playbook," but he still hasn?t crossed that threshold where authentic emotions outplay his matinee-idol looks. (If Cooper needs an example of submerging one?s looks for the role, he can look at Mendes, who deglamorizes herself effectively to play the downtrodden Romina.)

But Gosling?s energy radiates through the entire picture. Gosling is one of those rare actors who can make you watch intently when his character is doing something wrong ? or not doing anything at all. If Gosling is the sun, DeHaan is a fast-rising moon, reflecting Gosling?s intensity and augmenting it with his own.

"The Place Beyond the Pines" dares to tell a big story, a sweeping tale of fathers and sons and the enduring damage the past can inflict on the present. Even when that ambition isn?t entirely realized, Cianfrance?s drive is enough to keep you absorbed.

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Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/entertainment2/56131687-223/ryan-pictures-photos-gosling.html.csp

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New Glass opera "The Lost" premieres in Austria

LINZ, Austria (AP) ? Forget minimalist.

It's a term Philip Glass never liked as a term for his musical style, and the rich complexity of "The Lost," his newest opera, proves those who insist on using it just plain wrong.

Written for the new Linz opera house, where it world-premiered Friday, "The Lost"? "Spuren der Verirrten" in the original German ? is a strangely reassuring confirmation that although mankind has gone astray we are all in the same boat; that while all we do has no sense, that rule applies to all of us.

Life; death; fame; fortune; joy; tears. All human striving in vain. It's a story that has been told many times, in word, music, song and dance. "The Lost" combines all those threads and then some with magnificent result in what in some ways combines Samuel Becket's "Waiting for Godot," and Fritz Lang's "Metropolis."

Don't look for named characters. That would be too personal. Instead we have singer "A'' interacting with "B'' and so on. The fact that "A'' and "B'' are lost is clear from the very start, even as they mark the way they came.

Hansel and Gretel did that too. In vain.

Two hours later, pause included, more than a hundred people crowd the cavernously deep stage and spill into the pit where they make a show of playing imaginary instruments. The orchestra has moved onto stage. They wear funny hats and conductor Dennis Russell Davies sports a paper crown.

The music soars to a crescendo. Drums pound. All of humanity is lost, and all around is chaos. "Where are we?" they sing on the sinister, red-lit stage, knowing there will be no answer.

But a lot happens before that sonorous end, as one tableau follows the other depicting vignettes of the banality of being.

An old couple sit, both soaking their feet. "Whatever happens I will never desert you," sings one. "We've come through tougher times than these," intones the other; "Even when you sweated in fear, it smelled good" ? exchanges that make clear in their triteness that it is the audience ? all of us ? who are on stage.

Another couple are fighting, "Die, die," screams one before changing tack in mid-breath to suddenly sing "Let's get along again, neighbor. Peace."

Bizarre shapes populate the action. An armless man moves wormlike across the stage as his partner berates him for failing life's tests. They both die.

Another character ? "The Third" ? takes on the role of the Greek chorus loudly proclaiming the futility of it all, while "The Spectator" wonders where all the exertion is leading.

Adding to the on-stage edginess is nervous ballet choreography. The dancers jerk and move rapidly but without a sense of the purpose that a life lived well should have. The motions are mechanical. Life is mechanical.

A visual feast, compliments of director David Pountney, choreographer Amir Hosseinpour, and Anne Marie Legenstein, who created the bewildering array of delightfully bizarre costumes. Fabrice Kebour's lighting ? cold and dreary blues, alternating with jarring brightness ? were also effective.

But none of it would work without Glass's music.

Menacingly buzzing strings, roaring brass instruments and a crashing synthesizer alternate with poignantly melodic lines. Glass is boldly symphonic in one moment, softly insistent the next, weaving a harmonic tapestry that becomes part of the visual fabric on stage.

One of the world's greatest living composers, Glass shows in "The Lost" that he truly is a man for all musical seasons and his wonderful sounds are brought alive by Davis, the conductor, who leads Bruckner Orchestra with the authority and vigor that this music demands.

The soloists ? from "A'' to "K'' also did well, in roles that were less challenging vocally and more dramatically.

Ahead of the performance, Austrian dramatist Peter Handke, on whose play the opera is based, praised Glass's work as "faithful" to his own while Glass described his effort as an attempt at "Gesamtkunst" ? the term coined by Richard Wagner meaning "Total Art."

"I call it earth, air, fire and water," he said in comments to The Associated Press of the totality of art forms that went into "The Lost." ''Movement, text, image and music ? those are the elements we worked with."

While not speaking German, Glass said working to Rainer Mennicken's libretto in that language was no problem because "I knew the grammar and I just plugged in the words. Beyond that, he also is drawn to Austria "because the musicians are so good."

"I used to think that the American orchestras would be my true home," he said. "But I found out that there is another element, another layer of music that you get in a Central European orchestra? a depth of sound" that most American ensembles do not have.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/glass-opera-lost-premieres-austria-001040569.html

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