whitehall redgrave: March 2013

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Scientists examine nothing, find something

Two studies of vacuums suggest that the speed of light in a vacuum might fluctuate, pointing the way to a quantum mechanical explanation for why the speed of light and other so-called constants are what they are.

By Eoin O'Carroll,?Staff / March 25, 2013

A young person attempts to navigate a laser maze during the grand opening ceremony for the Angry Birds Space Encounter at the Kennedy Space Center earlier this month. Researchers say that the speed of light in a vacuum, long thought to be a universal constant, may actually fluctuate.

Malcolm Denemark/Florida Today/AP

Enlarge

Where did the speed of light in a vacuum come from? Why is it 299,792,458 meters per second and not some other figure?

Skip to next paragraph

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

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

The simple answer is that, since 1983, science has defined a meter by the speed of light: one meter equals the distance light travels in one?299,792,458th of a second.?But that doesn't really answer our question. It's just the physics equivalent of saying, "Because I said so."?

Unfortunately, the deeper answer has been equally unsatisfying: The speed of light in a vacuum, according to physics textbooks, just is. It's a constant, one of those numbers that defines the universe. That's the physics equivalent of saying, "Because the cosmos said so."?

Or did it? A pair of studies suggest that this universal constant?might not be so constant after all. In the first study, Marcel Urban from the University of Paris-Sud and his team found that the speed of light in a vacuum varies ever so slightly.

This happens because what we think of as nothing isn't really nothing. Even if you were to create a perfect vacuum, at the quantum level it would still be populated with pairs of tiny "virtual" particles that flash in and out of existence and whose energy values fluctuate. As a consequence of these fluctuations, the speed of a photon passing through a vacuum varies, about?50 quintillionths of a second per square meter.

That may not sound like much, but it's enough to point the way toward a new underlying physics.

Before 1905, when?Albert Einstein formulated his special theory of relativity, scientists regarded space and time as composing the backdrop of the universe, the immovable stage upon which motion takes place. The only problem with this model is that light seems to move at the same speed regardless of the speed of the source, creating an apparent paradox. Einstein's theory resolved this paradox by replacing Newton's absolutes of time and space with a single absolute, the speed of light.

But if even that can vary, what's left for us to hang our hat on? Nothing, it turns out.

But, as we just noted, nothing is something. Urban's paper suggests that the speed of light and other constants "are not fundamental constants but observable parameters of the quantum vacuum." In other words, the speed of light emerges from the properties of particles in the vacuum.

In the other paper, physicists?Gerd Leuchs and Luis L. S?nchez-Soto, from the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Light in Erlangen, Germany, hypothesize how this emergence occurs. They suggest that the impedance of a vacuum ? another electromagnetic 'constant' whose value depends on the speed of light ? itself depends only on the electric charge of the particles in the vacuum, and not their masses.

If their hypothesis is correct, it answers our question of where the speed of light comes from: It emerges from the total number of charged particles in the universe.?

Time will tell if this hypothesis is correct. And of course, by "time," we mean "space and time," by which we mean "the speed of light," by which we mean "nothing," by which we mean "the properties of the quantum vacuum." But in the meantime ? or whatever ? you can thank us for informing you that, as the speed of light in a vacuum continues to fluctuate, so too does the length of the meter. Think nothing of it.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/JZLe20Gk_Iw/Scientists-examine-nothing-find-something

anchorman 2 kentucky basketball oaksterdam the fray national anthem dallas tornado oikos kentucky wildcats

Saturday, March 30, 2013

N.C. police: 3 dead after shooting, police standoff

HARRISBURG, N.C. (AP) ? Authorities in a Charlotte suburb say a man suspected of shooting two neighbors has committed suicide after a six-hour police standoff.

The Charlotte Observer is reporting that Cabarrus County sheriff's deputies said late Friday that the suspected shooter shot himself as deputies and SWAT team members surrounded the house where he was hiding.

Late Friday afternoon, deputies responded to a report of a man shooting a gun at a house. They said the suspect shot two neighbors in what was described as a neighborhood feud. Neighbors told the newspaper that the two victims were adult males.

WBTV-TV reports that a woman and her young children were able to escape the home where the initial shootings occurred.

Sheriff Brad Riley couldn't immediately be reached for comment by the Associated Press.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nc-police-3-dead-shooting-police-standoff-034401056.html

benjamin netanyahu storm shelters nick lachey chevy volt christina hendricks lifelock camp david

Paying the Costs of Iraq, for Decades to Come (Atlantic Politics Channel)

Share With Friends:

| Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/295362847?client_source=feed&format=rss

mlb pregnant man outside lands 2012 lineup beloved ufc results water for elephants old school

Employer Health Insurance Tax "Penalty" - Penalty or Contribution?

Health Care Reform requires certain businesses to offer employees health insurance.?Starting in 2014, businesses with more than 50 full-time-equivalent employees will be required to either offer health insurance coverage, or pay a tax penalty based on full-time employees. ACA Employer Tax Penalty

Penalty or Contribution?

Business with greater than 50 employees should view the potential penalties as a contribution toward their employees' health benefits. ?

By the employer paying the minimal penalty (much lower than the cost of sponsoring a traditional group health plan), it will allow qualifying employees to obtain the tax credits for health insurance through the state health insurance marketplaces.

As such, the employer "penalty" is actually a contribution that provides financial assistance to qualifying employees.

Let's explore this in more detail. ?

New Options with Health Insurance Marketplaces & Defined Contribution

With the creation of state?health insurance marketplaces?(guaranteed-issue, with tax subsidies for eligible employees), many employers are already asking:

For many employers, the second option will make more sense. Rather than paying the costs to provide a specific group health plan (a "defined benefit"), employers will instead fix their costs by establishing a monthly dollar amount (a ?defined contribution?) that employees choose how to spend.

What About the Tax Penalty... Don't I Have to Offer Health Insurance? ?

No. Even with the tax penalty, many businesses (with over 50 employees) will drop their group health insurance, provide a Health Reimbursement Arrangement, and send employees to the health insurance exchanges.?

The tax penalty is simply incorporated into?your overall health benefits expense. ?With rising costs of group health policies, employers can offer great benefits at a lower cost (even with the tax penalties).

Complete a Financial Analysis

If your company has more than 50 employees, you'll want to compare the cost of the three options:

Qualified, affordable group health insurance
Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) + Penalties
Penalties

For a detailed look at how to calculate tax penalties see: Quick Guide to Calculating the Business Health Insurance Tax Penalty.

Less Than 50 Employees? ?No Tax Penalty

If your company has less than 50 FTE employees, the mandate and tax penalty does not apply to you. With the new health insurance marketplaces, many small employers will:

Drop their group health insurance plan (if they have one)
Send employees to their state health insurance exchange to purchase individual and family policies?
Reimburse employees for their premiums (or a portion of their premiums) by offering a stand-alone Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA)

?

Note: This should not be taken as legal or tax advice.

Source: http://www.zanebenefits.com/blog/bid/279474/Employer-Health-Insurance-Tax-Penalty-Penalty-or-Contribution

russell wilson Pokemon nhl jillian michaels Freddy E NHL lockout Honey Boo Boo

Friday, March 29, 2013

Make The Ocean Your Play Area; Water Sports In Male

By: Nelson With a brilliant tropical weather and gorgeous beaches with crystal clear ocean waters and powdery sand beaches that set for endless miles, these islands exude the essence of any holiday, spelling out relaxation, rejuvenation and adventure with a healthy mixture of all three.

Maldives welcomes both veteran as well as new players into the excitement of water sports. The group of islets each has hotels and rest houses and villas that also provide services and centres that facilitate water sports, by providing and renting equipment like surfboards and other items to lending instructors and giving lessons in numerous water based sports. The range of water sports are so diverse and provide diving into the depths of the ocean or rising above it with the giant waves or gliding across it or merely sailing with it to different destinations. Diving and snorkelling offers fascinating views of the ravishing Indian Ocean and its treasure troves of colourful reefs, the haunts of manta rays and the flamboyance of multi coloured fish and other sea creatures that frolic in the waters.

Water skiing as well as wind surfing allows you to glide across the water and catch the wind while getting quite a bit of the warm sun and a glowing tan on your back while having the pleasure of a lifetime. Kayaking offers a more relaxed journey to explore the islands and the lagoon with its crystal clear waters at your own gentle pace and savour the scenery and the moments in the sun. kite surfing, para sailing and wake boarding are more adventurous forms of water sports that can also be seen in plenty around the coasts of Maldives by both locals and foreigners.

There is no end to the array of accommodation for the vast number of foreign visitors who travel to Maldives right around the year. However the requirements of some would be to ensure that they experience Luxury Holidays Maldives with an insight into all the heavenly and almost surreal experiences and exposure and sights that it can offer. This is where Silver Sands provides their services as a travel house that offers to tailor make your visit to your own whims and dreams by presenting Maldives and its various perspectives in a way that appeals to your tastes and requirements.

About the Author:
Pushpitha Wijesinghe is an experienced independent freelance writer. He specializes in providing a wide variety of content and articles related to the travel hospitality industry.

Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com

Travel-and-Leisure RSS Feed | RSS feed for this author

South Africa "" Nature"s Backyard By: southafricatravel | Mar 29th 2013 - The journey of the oppressed clans of tribes, the relevance and the struggles of apartheid are even today resonant in many parts of South Africa.
Classification Of Modern Limo Services By: Shae Lynn | Mar 29th 2013 - Modern limo service providers have classified their services on the basis of diverse transportation needs and requirements of individuals. They range from wedding limo service to airport transfers, meet and greet wedding, graduation and corporate limo services in Vancouver.
Mexico City International Airport Information By: Philip Lord | Mar 28th 2013 - A brief article on Mexico City's Benito Juarez International airport. Including passenger facilites, location, transportation to and from the airport and which airlines serve the airport.
The Priceless Benefits Of Apartments On The Beach By: aayana | Mar 28th 2013 - Apartments on the beach are a great location to call home, to vacation, relax, and take in all of the waterfront activities and lifestyle has to offer. There are different styles and sizes of apartment homes for a single person, vacation rental or a large family of any size.
Saving Time And Energy Looking For Apartments For Air Force Professionals By: aayana | Mar 28th 2013 - As a busy military professional it is important to know that one has a secure and comfortable space to call home or for their family when they are not there. Apartments for Air Force professionals are provided on Base as well as in the nearby area to accommodate overflow and family nee ...
Inexpensive And Comfortable Scott House Hotel By: Eugenio Balasa | Mar 28th 2013 - Spacious rooms of Scott House Hotel and easy accessibility to the popular places of interest offers a great advantage to its guests.
Traveling Is A Lot Easier When You Follow Expert Advice By: Ernest Ballard | Mar 28th 2013 - When you are a novice traveler, and then there are some guidelines you may want to follow.The ideas on this page will assist you plan trips more effectively making better choices when it comes to planning your destination.
Beijing Tours - The Best Places To Explore In Beijing By: Billy Harris | Mar 28th 2013 - China Travelling tours are a lot popular because China also lies in the list of those destinations that can make a trip memorable. China is rich is cultural heritage. It has got plenty of mammoth palaces, museums, templates, strolls and historical buildings that are quite exciting to b ...
Luxury Seminyak Accommodation By: Dewey Noel | Mar 28th 2013 - Sound appealing? Well without a doubt it is, company being able to stay in trendy Seminyak, effortlessly its stores ,nightlife and restaurants.
The Travel From Beijing To The Great Wall Of China By: Billy Harris | Mar 28th 2013 - Beijing being the capital of Peoples Republic of China has got a great historical and cultural background to represent. It has been more than 800 years since Beijing has been declared the capital city of China. In the year 2008 when Beijing hosted the 2008 Olympics Games, it started ...

Still can't find what you are looking for? Search for it!

Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Make-The-Ocean-Your-Play-Area--Water-Sports-In-Male/4507888

jeff carter chomp national enquirer kate gosselin helicopter crash matt jones whitney houston in casket photo

Mass rally in Pyongyang in support of Kim Jong Un

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) ? Thousands of North Koreans have turned out for a mass rally at the main square in Pyongyang in support of their leader's call to arms.

Chanting "Death to the U.S. imperialists" and "Sweep away the U.S. aggressors," soldiers and students marched through Kim Il Sung Square in downtown Pyongyang on Friday during a 90-minute rally.

State media reported early Friday that leader Kim Jong Un called an emergency military meeting to order the army's rocket unit to prepare to strike the U.S. and South Korea in case of a "reckless provocation" by Washington or Seoul.

A full-blown North Korean attack is unlikely, though there are fears of a more localized conflict. Pyongyang has railed against the U.S. decision to send B-2 bombers for military drills with South Korea.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mass-rally-pyongyang-support-kim-jong-un-043129729.html

harrison barnes brett ratner stevie nicks anchorman capybara duggars peter facinelli

In Her Own Words: True Stories From Women Veterans

Women veterans are part of the national conversation as never before. This topicality is partially thanks to the fact that the Pentagon has lifted its official ban on women in combat.

Credit also goes to the success of the Oscar-nominated film The Invisible War, which shone a harsh spotlight on the underreported problem of sexual assault in the military. And the women veterans organization Grace After Fire has received national media attention for its peer support programs. ??

But the individual stories of women veterans are the most powerful indicators of a larger truth: Women veterans experience all the same issues as male veterans, but they also face difficulties specific to their gender.

In honor of Women Veterans Month?and Women?s History Month?TakePart spoke to three women vets about their transitions from life overseas to life back at home.

Brandi?s Story

The antipsychotic medication finally helped Brandi remember her nightmares.

Brandi, 30, lives in her hometown of Lincoln, Indiana. She joined the National Guard when she was 17. A young wife and mother, she deployed to Iraq in May 2007 and returned home in May 2008. She tells TakePart, ?I had missed out on a whole year of my daughter?s life. That is something that I will never get back, but I try to make up for it every day of her life?it?s very hard?to leave and return to children that have changed so much.?

?Most of my family never really asked me what happened while I was in Iraq,? Brandi says. ?I am very grateful for that. They let me tell them stories as I was ready. They were there to listen and not cast any judgments.?

Upon her return, Brandi divorced her husband of five years. She says, ?Not long after leaving for Iraq, I found out he was cheating. This is pretty common with many married soldiers. I suppose better now than in 20 years.?

Thankfully, she has a family she calls ?very supportive.?

She registered with the VA hospital. Previously, her only prescription was for birth control. Suddenly she found herself with five prescriptions for different medications.

Like many soldiers, Brandi came back from war with a major sleep problem. After she participated in a sleep study, the doctors informed her that she woke up an average of 27 times per hour during the night. She could never remember any of it?all she knew was that she started each day exhausted. The doctors chalked it up to old-fashioned insomnia and prescribed sleeping pills. The pills didn?t help.

?Try going 4 years without sleeping,? Brandi tells TakePart. ?It?s hell.?

Four years after she returned from war, Brandi was finally diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder. A doctor took her off the ineffective sleeping aids and instead gave her an antipsychotic.

?It made me sleep, but it also showed why I [hadn?t been] sleeping,? Brandi said. ?When sleeping, I would have nightmares of being in a war zone.?

Vanasa?s Story

Life as a Marine wasn?t exactly a heroine?s journey for Vanasa.

Vanasa, 42, of Riverton, Utah, joined the Marine Corps when she was 19. She served for two years in Okinawa, Japan, during Desert Storm, then was sent to Camp Pendleton in California. At the end of her service, she was given an ?other than honorable? discharge and went to college without the benefit of the GI Bill. ?By the time she graduated college, she was able to successfully appeal and have her discharge changed to ?honorable.? Unfortunately, her newly reinstated GI Bill benefits did not apply to the $20,000 in student loans she had already accrued.

?In the two decades since I have served, there have been very few instances where it has benefited me tangibly at all.?

Vanasa delayed motherhood in exchange for a military career and a degree. She said, ?We always have the time clock ticking trying to get a job and college in before [having] kids. After Marine Corps and college, I was 30 and ready to start a family; so an advanced degree wasn?t really an option. ?I had one kid at 33 and one at 38. Now I am 42 with a 3-year-old, wondering what?s going to happen when I rejoin the workforce.?

She says she doesn?t regret her two decades of service, but tells Take Part that ?in the two decades since I have served, there have been very few instances where it has benefited me tangibly at all. I am a divorced mom of two who is unemployed and uninsured with a student loan debt. Supposedly, there are programs out there, but I don?t know where to begin and what are worthwhile pursuits.?

Michele?s Story

War left an invisible mark on Michele.

Michele is 32 and lives in Fayetteville, North Carolina. She joined the Navy when she was 19, in December 2000. She traveled everywhere from Thailand to Iraq, which she says was ?an insane asylum? during her time there in 2005 and 2006. By the time she left in 2008, she had been deployed six times. As a lesbian, she had become ?disenfranchised? with the military and especially the Don?t Ask, Don?t Tell policy.

?They never tell you that the world is different overall and sometimes people don?t give a damn what you did ?over there? as a contractor or a military member.?

Her mother thought Michele came home with PTSD; Michele said that just might be true.

She tells Take Part, ?After getting out, I was lost, but I was lucky to have a family that was supportive for the most part. I did not file with the VA, because I heard all horror stories and there were so many people coming back with half a brain and no legs not getting proper VA care. What were they going to do for me, a woman vet who was not brandishing a Purple Heart or visible scars? As the last decade can show, not much.?

The vet still struggles with emotional issues related to her time in the military. She says, ?It is probably why [my mother] allowed me to get a dog. My mom is not a dog person. She? figured it would help.? Michele?s chocolate lab is named Jane.

Michele tells TakePart that military training on re-acclimating to society after deployment ?is complete bullshit?. They never tell you that the world is different overall and sometimes people don?t give a damn what you did ?over there? as a contractor or a military member.?

Did you serve in the military, or are you close to someone who did? Talk about coming back to civilian life in COMMENTS.

Related Stories on TakePart:

? Waging ?Invisible War? Onscreen and Off Against Rape in the U.S. Military

? Judge Fines Jamie Leigh Jones $145K for Rape Charges

? Are PTSD Drugs Killing Veterans?

Sara Benincasa is a blogger, comedian, and author of Agorafabulous!: Dispatches From My Bedroom. She has created online content for MTV News, Comedy Central, Vice, Wonkette, Jezebel, CNN and the Huffington Post. She holds a master's degree in education from Teachers College at Columbia University. She lives in Los Angeles, where she is at work on two novels for young adults.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/her-own-words-true-stories-women-veterans-175004916.html

minka kelly James Holmes court Rupert Sanders bachelorette penn state Ernie Els Teen Choice Awards 2012

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Encoding.com Adds Dynamic Text Overlays To Its Cloud Encoding Platform

Encoding.com is trying to add a few features that will set it apart from the competition. One of these features is dynamic text overlays, which was showed off as part of a Google Hangout campaign late last year. For the Google campaign, the dynamic text overlay was part of a custom workflow that Encoding.com worked on to enable the custom message.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/tZbwlNoi8lw/

mike d antoni nba trade rumors desean jackson 2012 ncaa tournament schedule laurent robinson dantoni gillian anderson

Hayden Panettiere: Engaged to Wladimir Klitschko?

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/03/hayden-panettiere-engaged-to-wladimir-klitschko/

kevin costner budweiser shootout animal house invincible jesse jackson whitney houston funeral video tyler perry whitney houston

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Simpler Raises $1.2M From Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins, Khosla To Make Employee Onboarding Paperless

Simpler, a new startup that wants to disrupt employee onboarding, is launching today and announcing $1.25 million in funding from Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins, Khosla Ventures, SV Angel, Data Collective, AngelPool, Kenny Van Zant, Alex Bard, Gary Benitt, Elad Gil, Sid Henderson and Formation8. Simpler is in private beta, and companies can sign up here.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/5JT7IQ-AaZ8/

Auguste Rodin Breaking Amish Indianapolis explosion jay cutler applebees jeff gordon veterans day

Luckiest 5-Year-Old Gets To Frolic With 14 German Shepherds (VIDEO)

We'd like to introduce you to 5-year-old Pernille from Norway. She's the queen of her own kingdom of floppy-eared, bushy tailed German Shepherds from the breeders at Kennel Finika.

Here she is with 14 (yep, count 'em) of the kennel's finest at her command. Could anything look more like paradise than a little girl frolicking with dogs in a forest?

Check out the kennel's Facebook page for more photos of puppies, prize-winning pooches and little Pernille with her pals.

H/T msnNOW

Also on HuffPost:

"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/26/14-german-shepherds_n_2958691.html

eminem eminem yankees Tagg Romney Bosses Day Cabin Fever 2 Alexis Wright Zumba

Blake Shelton: Usher is a 'thorn in my side' on 'The Voice'

By Susan C. Young, TODAY contributor

Mark Seliger / NBC

Blake Shelton and new "Voice" coach Usher.

Blake Shelton says he?s not going to BS? ? ?The Voice? is going to be different when it comes back Monday night.

Gone are fellow coaches Cee Lo Green and Christina Aguilera. Their revolving red thrones will now be occupied by one-name wonders Shakira and Usher.

?It?s different with different personalities and a different chemistry,? Shelton shared at NBC's party at the TV Critic's winter press tour.

For one thing, he and fellow returning coach Adam Levine will be competing with smooth operator Usher and international superstar Shakira for the best competitors on the ?The Voice.?

Right away, he knew Usher would be a fierce competitor.

?This is the guy who found Justin Bieber,? Shelton said. ?That's what we are trying to do on this show, and he?s already done it.?

The country superstar knew a lot about Usher, but less about Shakira before the show started.

?The most intimidating thing came later. I had heard of Shakira, but one day I Googled her and Wikipediaed her,? Shelton said. ?And I saw where she had sold over a 100 million records and I was like, ?What the (expletive)?!???

He said that?s when he and Levine looked at each other and said, ?Hey, we?ve been worrying about the wrong person.?

The pre-voting shows have already been recorded, and although Shelton has won the last two battles with his team representative, he said he often gets shut down when he and other judges turn for the same contestant ? and have to woo the singer to their respective teams.

?The thorn in my side many times was Usher,? Shelton said. ?Adam always takes artists away from me and I?m used to that. But when Usher would turn around, especially if it was a girl, they would just melt when they saw that guy. So yeah, he was a problem.?

Not that it was so easy with Shakira, though.

?This is a girl who knows how to affect an audience, and she does it worldwide, ? Shelton said. ?I?m excited when I leave Oklahoma and somebody knows who I am.?

But does he engage in a little nose rubbing when it comes to his past wins?

?I don?t mention it unless I?m around Adam, knowing how competitive he is and what a baby he can be,? Shelton said with an impish grin.

For fans eager to watch how well the new judges mesh with the vets, there will be a spectacular joint performance.

?I?m not going to say which song because somebody will be bitching at me,? Shelton said. ?I will say the only thing that compares to it was the first season when we did Cee Lo?s ?Crazy.? I felt we were truly a band.?

"The Voice" airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on NBC.

How do you think the new group of coaches will do this season? Tell us on our Facebook page!

Related content:

More in The Clicker:

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35197/f/653459/s/29fa4c71/l/0Ltheclicker0Btoday0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C250C17458970A0Eblake0Eshelton0Eusher0Eis0Ea0Ethorn0Ein0Emy0Eside0Eon0Ethe0Evoice0Dlite/story01.htm

mega ball winning numbers baltimore county current tv megamillions ncaa basketball tournament 2012 megamillions winning numbers lotto winner

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Syrian forces take back rebel neighborhood in Homs

BEIRUT (AP) ? Syrian government forces have seized control of a long-contested neighborhood in the central city of Homs that is considered a symbol of opposition to President Bashar Assad's regime, anti-regime activist said Tuesday.

The recapture of Baba Amr came as Syrian opposition representatives took the country's seat for the first time at an Arab League summit, a significant diplomatic boost for the rebel forces.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that government forces pushed rebels from Baba Amr after two weeks of clashes, shelling and airstrikes that destroyed many homes.

The Syrian state news agency SANA said Monday that government forces had "restored security and stability" to the neighborhood.

Baba Amr, a poor neighborhood in southwest Homs, emerged early in the uprising as a symbol of the rebel movement, first for its protests and later for the armed groups who held it against regime troops.

While not strategically important in the two-year civil war, the loss of Baba Amr is a symbolic blow to the rebels.

The government seized the neighborhood in March of last year after months of daily shelling that damaged much of the area and killed hundreds, including two foreign journalists who had sneaked into the area to report on the siege.

It has changed hands a number of times since, with rebels saying early this month that they had taken advantage of a regime security lapse to take it back and set up checkpoints.

The regime has ample heavy weapons and a fleet of fighter jets but a shortage of ground troops, meaning it often abandons areas to rebel forces then pounds them with artillery and airstrikes from afar, sometimes forcing rebel retreats.

It also frequently claims to have "secured" areas only to report months later that it "secured" them again, with little explanation of how rebels got back in.

Also Tuesday, the Observatory said that at least 13 charred bodies, including those of four children and five women, were found on the outskirts of the village of Abil, southwest of Homs city.

The group, which relies on a network of contacts inside Syria, circulated a video that showed charred and disfigured bodies laid out on sheets. Some had holes in their heads and others appeared to have had their throats slit.

The video appeared authentic and corresponded with other reporting by The Associated Press.

The Observatory said local activists blamed the killings on pro-government thugs.

The Syrian government does not respond to requests for comment and did not mention the killing in official media.

Meanwhile, at the Arab League summit in Qatar, a delegation led by former president of the main opposition alliance Mouaz al-Khatib took the seats assigned for Syria to the applause of other delegates.

The decision for the Western-backed Syrian National Coalition to take Syria's seat was made at the recommendation of Arab foreign ministers meeting earlier this week in the Qatari capital, Doha. The Arab League in 2011 suspended the Syrian government's membership in the organization in punishment for the regime's crackdown on opponents.

The diplomatic triumph, however, could not conceal the disarray within the top ranks of the Syrian opposition.

Besides al-Khatib, the Syrian delegation included Ghassan Hitto, recently elected prime minister of a planned interim government to administer rebel-held areas in Syria, and two prominent opposition figures, George Sabra and Suheir Atassi.

Addressing the gathering, al-Khatib thanked the Arab League for granting the seat to the opposition.

"It is part of the restoration of legitimacy that the people of Syria have long been robbed of," he said.

Even as rebel fighters gain more territory on the ground in their fight against Assad's troops, their mostly exile political leadership has been thrown into disarray. Al-Khatib announced his resignation on Sunday because of what he described as restrictions on his work and frustration with the level of international aid for the opposition. The coalition rejected the resignation and al-Khatib said he would discuss the issue later and represent the opposition at the Qatar summit "in the name of the Syrian people."

Also, Hitto's election as the head of the interim government was rejected by the opposition's military office, which said he was not a consensus figure. Some members have accused Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood of imposing their will on the Coalition.

In Damascus, the government on Tuesday blasted the Arab League's move to allow the opposition to take its seat at the Doha summit, portraying it a selling-out of Arab identity to please Israel and the United States.

"The Arab League has blown up all its charters and pledges to preserve common Arab security, and the shameful decisions it has taken against the Syrian people since the beginning of the crisis and until now have sustained our conviction that it has exchanged its Arab identity with a Zionist-American one," said an editorial in the Al-Thawra newspaper, a government mouthpiece.

The crisis began in March 2011 with protests demanding Assad's ouster. With a harsh government crackdown, the uprising steadily grew more violent until it became a full-fledged civil war. The United Nations estimates that more than 70,000 people have died so far in the conflict.

____

Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, and Hamza Hendawi in Cairo contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-forces-back-rebel-neighborhood-homs-084453928.html

landon collins dorial green beckham mike kelly kristen bell colbert super pac colbert super pac sloth

Asus Direct CU II Radeon HD 7790

The Asus Direct CU II Radeon HD 7790 is a new mainstream graphics card based on AMD's Bonaire GPU. Bonaire is a new chip?the other two members of the HD 7700 family, the 7750 and 7770 use a graphics core known as Cape Verde?but it's not a new architecture. Bonaire uses the same Graphics Core Next architecture that powers the rest of the HD Radeon 7700 to 7900 cards. It's rare for a company to re-spin a budget GPU on the same architecture and process technology. According to AMD, there was a performance gap between the 7800 and 7700 product families that HD 7790 is meant to address. At present, the HD 7770 GHz Edition family of cards starts at roughly $109, while HD 7850 cards are around $179. With a $149 base, the HD 7790 is meant to drop neatly in between these two cards.

Design and Features

The HD 7790 has 40% more stream processors (896 vs. 640) and texture units (56 vs. 40) than the HD 7770. It can handle two primitives per clock instead of the 7770's one, which doubles the card's potential geometry throughput. The total number of raster operator units (ROPs), however, remains steady at 16. That puts a hard limit on the card's pixel fillrate, which remains capped 16 gigapixels (GP) per second.

The 7790's other major improvement over the HD 7770 is its memory bandwidth. Both cards use a 128-bit memory interface, but the HD 7790 ratchets up its memory clock to a blistering 1500MHz (6GHz effective data rate). Total bandwidth is 96GBps, up from the HD 7770's 72GBps.

The other new feature of the HD 7790 is the card's enhanced overclocking technology (AMD PowerTune). Previous HD 7700 to HD 7900 cards have had four distinct states, each with a different clock speed, voltage, and power consumption target. The HD 7790 has eight states and switches between them more quickly. Unlike Nvidia, which recently switched to temperature-based overclocking with the GTX Titan video card, AMD's new PowerTune tech is still based on TDP.

That's the new GPU in general. The specific card we've tested is the Asus DirectCU Radeon 7790 GPU with 1GB of RAM (AMD says to expect a mixture of 1GB and 2GB cards on the market). The card ships with a default 1,075MHz clock, which is a tad higher than the 1GHz AMD specifies. Memory clock speeds are also higher, at 1600MHz (6.4GHz effective clock rate). The DirectCU II OC uses a dual-fan design with a heatsink + fan configuration that's actually longer than the card it covers. Up to four displays are supported (HDMI, 2x DVI, and DisplayPort).

We tested the card on an Intel DZ77GA-70K motherboard with an Intel 3770K CPU and 8GB of DDR3-1600. Windows 7 64-bit w/ SP1 and all available patches was used.

Performance
Since AMD decided to launch the HD 7790 on extremely short notice, we've got fewer test results than we'd otherwise prefer, and they're split between the HD 7770 and the Nvidia GTX 660. The GTX 660 isn't Nvidia's comparable product in this market; the cheapest card at NewEgg is $214. That's well into HD 7850 / HD 7870 territory and $65 above the HD 7790's $149 MSRP. Our Nvidia figures, therefore, will be presented for reference only.

Our first set of benchmark tests, in older titles, show that the HD 7790 is a worthy upgrade to the HD 7770. Aliens vs. Predator, DiRT 3, and Just Cause 2 were all btest at 1,680-by-1,050 resolution with all details set to maximum. The first two titles include their own benchmark utilities; our Just Cause 2 test used the "Concrete Jungle" benchmark map. The HD 7790 is 26% faster in Alien vs. Predator (32.8 fps vs. 26.1 fps) and 40% faster in DiRT 3. (64.7 fps vs 42.6 fps). In Just Cause 2, the Asus Direct CU II 7790 hit 43.23 FPS compared to 29.9 FPS for the standard HD 7770?a gain of over 40%.

The gap between the Nvidia GTX 660 and HD 7790 at 1,920-by-1,080 and in newer titles is still significant. In Civilization V's Late Game View benchmark, the GTX 660 hit 70fps vs. 58.6fps. Other titles, like Batman: Arkham City, Shogun 2, and Metro 2033 favored the GTX 660 by 50-70%. Then again, the cheapest GTX 660 is 1.43 times as expensive as the HD 7790.

Performance-wise, the HD 7790 is a clear improvement over the AMD HD 7770. Its overall value proposition, however, is less clear. AMD has set a baseline price of $149 for 1GB configurations?but HD 7850 2GB cards are available on NewEgg starting at $182. In this case, the extra $32 buys twice the RAM, 50% more memory bandwidth, and a higher pixel fill rate.

AMD intends to sweeten the deal by offering a free copy of Bioshock Infinite to new buyers as part of the Never Settle bundle, and that's a fairly enticing carrot. Asus's Direct CU dual-fan design keeps the HD 7790 running quietly, and there's some nice headroom in the GPU?we were able to increase the GPU clock to 1200MHz without touching the card's voltage and a modest voltage tap let the GPU hit 1275MHz while keeping temperatures below 65C.

The one fly in the ointment is how prices will settle out. If you've been eyeing an AMD HD 7770 at $100, but can afford to stretch a bit, the Asus Direct CU II Radeon HD 7790 is a nice deal at $150. If, on the other hand, you've been eyeing the $150 price point, the $185 AMD HD 7850 is still a better bet?$35 buys a hefty chunk of additional GPU power and the 2GB frame buffer is a nice bit of insulation against next-generation games with hungry VRAM requirements.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/2Xp3j023wl8/0,2817,2416921,00.asp

maundy thursday fab melo google glasses kim kardashian and kanye west henrik stenson jobs act greg mortenson

Calgary woman dies in motorcycle crash in Mexico

Report an error

CALGARY?-?

Reports are coming from media in Mexico of the death of a young city woman Friday while on vacation.

Mexican newspaper Diario de Quintana Roo reported Laura Dawn Penton, 26, struck her head in a motorcycle wreck on the island of Cozumel,

She died at the scene.

Diario de Quintana Roo reported the crash happened when the motorcycle went out of control and skidded.

Online, on Facebook, messages of mourning have begun appearing.

Angela Alanko Leavitt publicly posted, "The world got a little dimmer this week as my good friend and fellow boot-camper Laura Penton left this world a lot sooner than we all would have liked."

"I am grateful to of had her in my life. I will forever appreciate her friendship and zest for life. She will be sorely missed," her post read.

"Laura was a shining light in any room she entered, her quick wit and indomitable spirit made her a joy to know and to work with," she said in another post.

Diana MacEachern posted in reply, "So sorry to hear this ... she was such a funny girl and super sweet when I was in the bootcamp with her."

damien.wood@sunmedia.ca

On Twitter: @SUNDamienWood

Source: http://www.torontosun.com/2013/03/24/calgary-woman-dies-in-motorcycle-crash-in-mexico

Isaac path Tropical Storm Isaac path Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Isaac Path Isaac Hurricane earthquake san diego Hurricane Isaac

Italy court to decide whether Amanda Knox should be tried again for murder

In the six years since Seattle student Amanda Knox was tried for murder in Italy, she was convicted, spent four years in jail, and was finally acquitted. In a new twist, prosecutors are asking the court to try the case again. NBC's Michelle Kosinski reports.

By Michelle Kosinski, NBC News

ROME -- Italy's highest court was set to decide on Monday whether to overturn the acquittal of American student Amanda Knox in the murder of her roommate.

Knox and her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were both convicted and then acquitted of Meredith Kercher's 2007 murder in Perugia, Italy, where they were students.

Knox spent four years in prison after being found guilty.

Small-time drug dealer Rudy Hermann Guede, an acquaintance of Knox's, was also convicted and was jailed for 16 years.

Prosecutors argued that Knox and Sollecito killed Kercher after a drug-fueled sexual assault.

Oli Scarff / Getty Images

The long legal saga of Amanda Knox, an American student accused of the violent death of her roommate, British student Meredith Kercher, has made headlines around the world since it began in Perugia, Italy, in late 2007.

If judges reject the prosecutors' argument that the acquittal should be thrown out and a new trial ordered, Knox's acquittal will be final.

"The only way the evidence could be characterized was absent, non-existent, inconclusive and unreliable," said Theodore Simon, Knox's defense attorney.

The scant DNA evidence initially linking Knox and Sollecito the murder was later found to have likely been contaminated. Defense attorneys argued that Guede was the sole killer and that the acquittal was justified.

Since her release from prison in 2011, Knox has resumed her studies in Seattle.

Knox and Sollecito did not appear in court Monday.

Related:

Amanda Knox leaves prison after murder conviction overturned

Knox heads home from Italy; prosecutor to appeal verdict

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653387/s/29f6e177/l/0Lworldnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C250C174546990Eitaly0Ecourt0Eto0Edecide0Ewhether0Eamanda0Eknox0Eshould0Ebe0Etried0Eagain0Efor0Emurder0Dlite/story01.htm

cleveland browns minnesota twins bobby abreu 2012 draft colt mccoy arbor day mike adams

Monday, March 25, 2013

Evernote Smart Notebooks Now Work with Android

evernote-moleskine-android Evernote Smart Notebooks can finally be used with the?note-taking?service?s Android app. An update rolled out from Google Play early this morning which adds additional features supporting the Moleskine and Evernote Android app functionality.

The notebooks are a collaboration between Evernote and Moleskine, blending the traditional?note taking?of pen and paper with the evolution in digital file-keeping. Through a series of stickers users are able to take pictures of their handwritten notes for easy filing inside of Evernote. The paper is also said to be designed by Evernote for better picture quality.

The new version of the app also includes a ?Page Camera,? which is designed for more accurate?digitization?of physical documents and pages.

The Moleskine notebooks have been available for several months in tandem with the company?s iOS apps. Today?s Android app update brings these specific Evernote features to devices powered with Google?s mobile operating system.

Those who purchase one of the Moleskine notebooks get a three-month subscription to Evernote Premium, which includes the more robust camera features, offline storage and additional space for saving files.

Evernote Premium subscribers also now have access to search in attached office documents, spreadsheets, and presentations with the latest Android app.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/theappplanet/~3/iyg9TdgOSFQ/

Frank Ocean Gay bill clinton andy roddick Costa Rica Earthquake sandra fluke kellie pickler costa rica

Rand Paul rising: 2016 in sight?

Sen. Rand Paul is getting lots of attention since his filibuster on drones and his enthusiastic reception at the Conservative Political Action Conference.?Can he convert that into a serious run for the presidency?

By Brad Knickerbocker,?Staff writer / March 23, 2013

U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at National Harbor, Maryland, March 14. In a speech before the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce March 19, Paul unveiled his immigration policy and outlined his platform for reform.

Kevin Lamarque/REUTERS

Enlarge

Rand Paul is the junior US senator from Kentucky, a medical doctor from Bowling Green who never held elective office until two years ago.

Skip to next paragraph

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

Yet Senator Paul ? a libertarian Republican like his father, former congressman Ron Paul ? is getting more attention than any of the other would-be presidential candidates at the moment.

It was announced this week that Paul will headline the Republican Party of Iowa?s annual ?Lincoln Dinner? in May. That?s Iowa, where precinct caucuses early in a presidential election year kick off the selection of delegates to the party convention. It?s a big deal.

?Senator Rand Paul?s 13-hour filibuster earlier this month caught the attention of Republicans across the nation who are seeking GOP leaders who will stand up to Barack Obama,? Iowa Republican Party Chairman A.J. Spiker told the Washington Post. ?As the ?First in the Nation? state, we immediately extended an invite to Senator Paul to allow him to introduce himself to Iowa Republicans.?

(It should be noted that Mr. Spiker was a Ron Paul supporter during the 2012 presidential campaign.)

Writing in Politico this week, James Hohmann listed ?five reasons why Paul will be a force to be reckoned with ahead of 2016, even if the odds of him winning the nomination are long.?

The reasons: He has a stronger organization than any other Republican; He?s perceived as principled; He?s more cautious than voters realize; He appears to have fewer skeletons than his father; He can play the inside game in a way his dad never could.

For any politician, appearing principled and yet flexible (without flip-flopping) is required for success.

One of the hottest topics in the Republican National Committee?s ?autopsy? report on how to secure a better future for the GOP was the need to ?embrace and champion comprehensive immigration reform.?

Paul?s position here has shifted notably in that direction. As a candidate for the Senate in 2010, he favored an electronic fence along the whole 1,969-mile US-Mexican border, and he questioned the 14^th Amendment to the US Constitution granting citizenship to children born in the US to illegal immigrants.

This past week, he told the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce that he supports a legal status for illegal immigrants to remain in the US, working and paying taxes while they go through the citizenship process ? not specifically a ?pathway to citizenship,? as even some Republicans are urging, but a far cry from the hard line ?self-deportation? urged by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

At last weekend?s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Paul edged out Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida in the presidential straw poll 25-23 percent among a long list of possible candidates. His speech to the assembled conservative activists was enthusiastically received (more so than Rubio?s rather flat offering) ? especially by the college students and other young activists who comprised the bulk of those voting in the poll.

It?s those young voters the GOP needs to attract. But at CPAC, was it more than the charged-up Paul loyalists ? a mix of libertarians and some tea partyers ? that were bused in to such events to cheer (and vote for) Ron Paul in 2011-12?

At the moment, it?s not just those loyalists who seem to be fascinated with Rand Paul.

Washington Post pundit Dana Milbank ? usually more inclined to tweak if not pummel right-leaning politicians ? confesses ?with some trepidation? that he ?stands with Rand? (the mantra Sen. Paul supporters tweeted by the thousands during his drone filibuster).

He mentions Paul?s apparent shifts on immigration and same-sex marriage (something to do with the tax code), the drone filibuster (?a stance Democrats would have championed if a Republican were president?), and Paul?s vote to confirm Chuck Hagel as Defense Secretary ? one of only four by Republicans.

?Taken together, these pleasant surprises suggest that Paul is more complex than his tea-party caricature and more savvy than the libertarian gadfly his father had been,? Milbank writes. ?In his?speech to CPAC, the younger Paul didn?t even mention the Federal Reserve or the gold standard [Ron Paul favorites]. He has spoken, instead, of reaching out to minorities, young voters and other Democratic constituencies.?

?It?s very early days in the 2016 presidential race, of course, and a lot could change as Republican hopefuls jockey for position.

But Paul ?seems to demonstrate the interest in expanding his support beyond libertarian conservatives, something his father rarely did, and he will have three years to experiment with how to find the right formula,? writes political polling guru Nate Silver on his New York Times ?FiveThirtyEight? blog.

That doesn?t make him as likely a nominee as a more traditional candidate like Sen. Rubio, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, or Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, Silver writes. ?But his odds look better than the 20-to-1 numbers that some bookmakers have placed against him.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/FvVahUkNenw/Rand-Paul-rising-2016-in-sight

mary j blige burger king islands 2013 nissan altima masters par 3 contest google augmented reality glasses wonderlic test texas tornado

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Skydive instructor, student killed in Fla. jumps

ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. (AP) ? An investigation has opened into the weekend deaths of a skydiving instructor and a student, both from Iceland, who died during jumps with a group in Florida, a law enforcement official said.

The two men took part with 20 other people Saturday in skydiving jumps from a plane in Zephyrhills, about 30 miles northeast of Tampa, said Pasco County sheriff's spokeswoman Melanie Snow. They were reported missing, touching off an hours-long search Saturday.

Snow said the air-and-ground search began when only 20 of the 22 skydivers returned from their jumps late Saturday morning. The bodies were discovered by spotters from the air early Saturday evening in woods south of the Zephyrhills Municipal Airport.

Snow would not comment on whether the parachutes of the skydivers had opened. She said that was part of the investigation.

Snow identified the victims as 41-year-old instructor Orvar Arnarson and 25-year-old student Andrimar Pordarson. No hometowns were given. The men jumped separately, not in tandem, Snow said.

She added that the men were reported missing on their third round of jumps about 10:30 a.m. Saturday and that their bodies were spotted later after search teams scoured a large area, focused mostly south of the municipal airport.

She said the teams were instructed to look for the men and their chutes, one green-and-white and the parachute blue-and gray.

Authorities said the skydivers were part of a jump outing through Skydive City in Zephyrhills.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-24-Skydiver%20Deaths/id-0985290c81d7481488766565fc5e3dfa

gavin degraw gavin degraw alec time 100 bob beckel anna paquin warren buffett

Saturday, March 23, 2013

First Person: Saving Iraqi Children from Oppression Made It Worth It

As we near the 10-year anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq, Yahoo News asked U.S. servicemen and women who served to share their perspectives and discuss how it changed them. Here's one story.

FIRST PERSON | In January 2003, I was a typical young Marine with Echo Company 2/5 at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Earlier that month, our regiment had received a warning order, detailing the potential for us to be deployed to Kuwait for possible combat actions against Iraq. On Jan. 31, I went to work, only to be released around noon, being told that we had received orders and that we all needed to report back at 2 in the morning on Feb. 1. That day changed my life forever.

We arrived in Kuwait on the second or third of February and were taken by bus to an area in the desert just south of the Iraqi border. We lived there for a month and a half until March 20, when we officially began combat operations. My platoon was attached to a company of M1A1 tanks and we crossed the border in the early morning hours on the 20th, blowing a breach in the Iraqi border that was soon flooded by American vehicles entering the country. As soon as we entered Iraq, the Iraqi Republican Guard greeted us with their fleet of T-72 tanks. We fought our way north for the rest of the morning. I remember hearing the tank commanders requesting permission to "service" targets over the radio and their captain granting them permission to do so, and a blast followed by an explosion could be heard. For the next 20 days, all we did was fight our way north, finally reaching Baghdad, and going even farther north into Tikrit, where we were told that the Iraqi regime had been removed from power.

Our battalion was then ordered to a small city south of Baghdad called Al Samawah, where insurgent activity was high. Within a few weeks, we had quelled the violence by our presence and frequent combat patrols throughout the city. It was here that I realized the importance of what we had done, and it was a child that demonstrated this to me.

My squad was on a routine foot patrol in the mid-morning of this particular day and we were going through an open air market where locals were selling various vegetables and fruits. As I was walking, taking in everything around me, a little girl, probably no older than 8 or 9 ran up to me and hugged my leg; she looked up at me and in broken English said, "Thank you... my parents now say it is safe enough for me to go outside and play."

It was this one statement from a small child that made all of the sacrifices worth it to me. I could not envision a childhood spent in fear, not even being allowed to go outside to play because of the regime that had controlled Iraq.

I do suffer from PTSD, but when I think of that girl and the look in her eyes that morning, I remember that we ultimately did the right thing.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/first-person-saving-iraqi-children-oppression-made-worth-182900644.html

eastbay Samantha Steele Dec 21 2012 doomsday Is The World Going To End Mayans camilla belle

Heyzap Introduces Ads To Its Mobile Gaming Network

Heyzap, a Y Combinator-incubated social platform for mobile games, is releasing a software development kit today allowing developers and publishers to introduce Heyzap ads to their games. Basically, it's turning Heyzap's social network into an ad network too. Developers can use it to make more money, or to promote their games in other Heyzap games. You can see a sample ad to the left, highlighting one of Heyzap's big advantages as an ad platform: The company knows what games users have played (since they're sharing that information with friends on Heyzap), and it can make a reasonable guess as to other games you might be interested in.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/K1gyoLIlXe0/

Mlk Quotes Elder Scrolls Online joe biden michelle obama lupe fiasco jason wu jason wu

Cyprus locked in tough talks as deadline looms

People walk at the old city of capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Saturday, March 23, 2013. Politicians in Cyprus were racing Saturday to complete an alternative plan raising funds necessary for the country to qualify for an international bailout, with a potential bankruptcy just three days away. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

People buy goods from a vegetable market, in central Nicosia, on Saturday, March 23, 2013. Politicians in Cyprus were racing Saturday to complete an alternative plan raising funds necessary for the country to qualify for and international bailout, with a potential bankruptcy just three days away. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

A man plays with his guitar as a woman passes at Ledras street in Nicosia, Cyprus, Saturday, March 23, 2013. Politicians in Cyprus were racing Saturday to complete an alternative plan raising funds necessary for the country to qualify for an international bailout, with a potential bankruptcy just three days away. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

A elderly woman buys goods from a vegetable market, in central Nicosia, on Saturday, March 23, 2013. Politicians in Cyprus were racing Saturday to complete an alternative plan raising funds necessary for the country to qualify for and international bailout, with a potential bankruptcy just three days away. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

A woman drinks a coffee and smokes in the old city of the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Saturday, March 23, 2013. Politicians on Cyprus were racing Saturday to complete an alternative plan raising funds necessary for the country to qualify for an international bailout, with a potential bankruptcy just three days away. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) ? Cyprus officials and international representatives were caught up in tortuous negotiations late into the night Saturday as they sought to forge a plan to raise the money the island nation needs to qualify for a bailout package. Failure would mean Cyprus could declare bankruptcy in just three days and possibly have to exit the eurozone.

It was not clear how far the two sides were getting: the information seeping out was conflicting.

Late in the evening, a finance ministry official said an accord was "very close," and would likely include a hefty tax of a fifth to a quarter of deposits over 100,000 euros at the country's troubled largest lender, Bank of Cyprus. But a banking official with knowledge of the talks said no deal was in the offing and wouldn't likely arrive before Sunday.

Both spoke on condition of anonymity because negotiations were ongoing and they were not authorized to release details.

Meanwhile, the state-run Cyprus News Agency quoted an anonymous top official as saying an agreement was not within sight because of the "rigid stance" by the representative of the International Monetary Fund.

Cyprus has been told it must raise 5.8 billion euros ($7.5 billion) in order to secure 10 billion euros in rescue loans from other European countries that use the single currency, as well as from the IMF.

The IMF, European Central Bank and European Commission ? known as the troika ? will determine whether the plan that the Cypriots devise will meet the requirements for any international bailout package. Then, the plan is to be presented to the eurozone finance ministers for final approval.

The country's lawmakers soundly rejected an unpopular initial plan that would have seized up to 10 percent of people's bank accounts, and Cyprus is now seeking another way to raise the desperately needed money. But the idea of some sort of deposit grab returned to the fore after Cyprus' attempt to gain Russian financial aid failed.

According to a second finance ministry official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because he's not authorized to speak about the negotiations, new laws may not be needed if negotiators opt for a "voluntary contribution" from Bank of Cyprus savings accounts above 100,000 euros, which is the insurance limit.

Another option being considered is smaller tax on all bank deposits above 100,000 euros.

The ECB has said it will stop providing emergency funding to Cyprus' banks after Monday if no new plan is in place. Without the ECB's support, Cypriot banks would collapse on Tuesday, pushing the country toward bankruptcy and a potential exit from the 17-nation bloc that uses the euro currency.

"We recognize the progress now being made by the Cypriot government toward a solution which can pave the way for an agreement on a financial assistance program for Cyprus," European monetary affairs commissioner Olli Rehn said in Brussels. "Intensive work and contacts will continue in the coming hours."

President Nicos Anastasiades was among those locked in the late-night talks at his presidential palace with the troika and others. A eurozone finance ministers meeting is due to be held in Brussels on Sunday evening. Anastasiades was also expected to fly there.

Cypriot banks have been shut this past week while the plan was being worked out, and are not due to reopen until Tuesday. Cash has been available through ATMs, but many run out quickly, and those machines for the troubled Laiki Bank are only dispensing 260 euros a day.

Cyprus took significant steps toward cementing a new plan Friday night, when its lawmakers approved nine bills, including three crucial ones that will restructure ailing banks, restrict financial transactions in emergencies and set up a "solidarity fund" that will act as the vehicle for raising funds from investments and contributions.

The bank restructuring will include the country's troubled second largest lender, Laiki, which suffered heavy losses after being exposed to toxic Greek debt.

Thousands of angry bank employees afraid of losing their jobs marched through the center of Nicosia to the Finance Ministry and Parliament, some with placards around their necks reading: "No to the bankruptcy of Cyprus."

"We are protesting for our jobs, and jobs of all in Cyprus," bank employee Zoei Koiachi said.

Worried about her job after 36 years at Laiki, Eleni Koutsourdou said lawmakers should have approved the initial plan for the 10 percent deposit grab for the sake of protecting the financial sector. "It's unfair. They pocketed everything and we end up paying for it," she said.

The restructuring of Laiki and the sale of the toxic-asset laden Greek branches of Cypriot banks is expected to cut the amount the country needs to raise to about 3 billion euros instead of 5.8 billion euros, officials have said. Bank of Cyprus, which was also exposed to Greek debt, might also be involved in the restructuring.

"We have to be clear to protect the financial system and for banks to open Tuesday with a clear picture," Finance Minister Michalis Sarris said.

____

Elena Becatoros in Nicosia contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-03-23-Cyprus-Financial%20Crisis/id-503d3157fa1941c5987bbd27aff40e56

meryl streep oscar wins sasha baron cohen oscars the artist sacha baron cohen oscars the old curiosity shop jane russell meryl streep