AP Source: NCAA found $170K in Shapiro benefits

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) ? The NCAA is alleging that former Miami booster Nevin Shapiro was responsible for providing about $170,000 in impermissible benefits to Hurricanes athletes, recruits, coaches and others between 2002 and 2010.

Shapiro allegedly spent more than half that amount ? at least $90,000 ? in an effort to get NFL players Vince Wilfork and Antrel Rolle to sign with a sports agency he was involved with, said the person, who spoke to The Associated Press Wednesday on condition of anonymity because neither Miami nor the NCAA has publicly released the allegations.

Also included in the allegations: That Shapiro spent at least another $56,000 on "meals, entertainment, clothing, jewelry, travel, lodging and cash" on football players, recruits and others. The NCAA alleged that Shapiro spent that on 72 then-players, three recruits and 12 "friends and family members" of those either on the team or being recruited by the school.

Virtually all of the Hurricane players listed as receiving some sort of extra benefit from Shapiro left the program several years ago.

The figures that the NCAA's enforcement staff cited in the notice of allegations add up to a significantly lower total than what Shapiro told Yahoo Sports in 2011, when he estimated his extra-benefit spending spree as going into the "millions of dollars."

If true, the NCAA only listed a sliver of that in the allegations. The figures that were sent to Miami also were described as "approximate total values."

The NCAA said Shapiro also provided extra benefits in the forms of impermissible supplemental compensation to at least three former Miami assistant coaches, along with travel benefits and other items.

Miami received its notice of allegations, ones that included a lack of institutional control for failing to properly monitor Shapiro's activities as a booster, last week. It also includes charges that three former assistant coaches broke what's known as the NCAA's Rule 10.1 ? governing ethical conduct ? by misleading the investigation. Two of those former assistants have asked that their cases be thrown out because of problems the NCAA acknowledged with the way it conducted the probe.

The NCAA's Committee on Infractions wants to hear the case in June.

The Hurricanes have already self-imposed several sanctions, including sitting out two bowl games and a conference football championship game. Miami President Donna Shalala said on two occasions last week that she believes those punishments should be enough, and on Wednesday, the Hurricanes' athletic director echoed those sentiments.

"I would say I agree with everything that was in the two statements by President Shalala," Blake James, Miami's athletic director, told The AP. "I think she was right on in her comments and was very reflective of the general feel of our institution and those involved in this case."

Shapiro is serving a 20-year prison term for masterminding a $930 million Ponzi scheme.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-source-ncaa-found-170k-shapiro-benefits-002801192--spt.html

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Can Children Teach Themselves?

Sugata Mitra gave street kids in a slum in New Delhi access to a computer connected to the Internet, and found that they quickly taught themselves how to use it. This was the moment he says he discovered a new way of teaching. He calls it the grandmother technique, and it goes like this: expose a half dozen or so kids to a computer, and let them have at it. The only supervision required is an adult to listen the kids brag about what they learn. It's the opposite, he says, of the disciplinary ways of many parents--more like a kindly grandmother, who rewards curiosity with acceptance and encouragement. And it is a challenge to the past century and a half of formalized schooling. Since this first experience in 1999, Mitra has been working to extend the notion of self-organized learning to address the needs of poor children, especially in developing countries, who have little or no educational resources. He is convinced that school children can teach themselves just about anything--that they can achieve educational objectives without formal direction. For these kids, formal education, at least as practiced in the U.K., where he is professor of educational technology at Newcastle University, is of little help. His ideas, however, have implications for formal education in the west, too. Mitra doesn't have kind words for English schooling, which he says is better suited to the needs of the British empire than the age of Twitter. England ran three quarters of the globe through a vast bureaucracy that relied on the ability of clerks to write letters and tally spreadsheets by hand. Competency in reading, writing and arithmetic was paramount, and formal classroom teaching was the best way to instill the three Rs. But as the tools of education have changed radically, schooling hasn't. The British system, he says, "was a phenomenal achievement, but it's out of date. It's not needed." The question is, what is needed--or what will be needed in the future? Mitra thinks self-organized learning will be an important part. "There may be 10 different ways to do this. I believe I have touched on one of the ways." Last night Mitra won the $1 million TED Prize for his work. He will use the money to establish a lab in New Delhi that will put his ideas of a "School in the Cloud" to the test. The lab will be set up as a kind of cyber caf?, where 48 kids at any one time can go to learn English, considered in India to be key to any child's future. Volunteer "grandmothers"--retired school teachers, for the most part--will participate via Skype to lend guidance. The cyber caf? will serve as a lab to see how self-organized learning can be scaled globally. "I want to see if this is feasible," he says. "What are the technical problems, what are the management problems? If it works, we'll have a technique that will level the playing field, and that is the big missing piece." Self-organized learning is potentially disruptive to traditional education in the west, and in talking about it Mitra has alienated some teachers. For now, he's keeping to the developing world, and to the teaching of English. His long-term ambitions go further, however. "My agenda," he says, "is to see how far this can go." Follow Scientific American on Twitter @SciAm and @SciamBlogs. Visit ScientificAmerican.com for the latest in science, health and technology news.
? 2013 ScientificAmerican.com. All rights reserved.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/children-teach-themselves-120000668.html

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Rosa Parks statue set to be unveiled at Capitol

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Rosa Parks is famous for her 1955 refusal to give up her seat on a city bus in Alabama to a white man, but there's plenty about the rest of her experiences that she deliberately withheld from her family.

While Parks and her husband, Raymond, were childless, her brother, the late Sylvester McCauley, had 13 children. They decided Parks' nieces and nephews didn't need to know the horrible details surrounding her civil rights activism, said Rhea McCauley, Parks' niece.

"They didn't talk about the lynchings and the Jim Crow laws," said McCauley, 61, of Orlando, Fla. "They didn't talk about that stuff to us kids. Everyone wanted to forget about it and sweep it under the rug."

Parks' descendants now have a chance to be first-hand witnesses as their late matriarch makes more history, this time becoming the first black woman to be honored with a full-length statue in the Capitol's Statuary Hall. The statue of Parks joins a bust of another black woman, abolitionist Sojourner Truth, which sits in the Capitol Visitors Center.

President Barack Obama, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John Boehner are among the dignitaries taking part in the unveiling Wednesday. McCauley said more than 50 of Parks' relatives traveled to Washington for the ceremony.

In a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a city bus in segregated Montgomery, Ala. She was arrested, touching off a bus boycott that stretched over a year.

Jeanne Theoharis, author of the new biography "The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks," said Parks was very much a full-fledged civil rights activist, yet her contributions have not been treated like those of other movement leaders, such as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

"Rosa Parks is typically honored as a woman of courage, but that honor focuses on the one act she made on the bus on Dec. 5, 1955," said Theoharis, a political science professor at Brooklyn College-City University of New York.

"That courage, that night was the product of decades of political work before that and continued ... decades after" in Detroit, she said.

Parks died Oct. 24, 2005, at age 92. The U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp in her honor on Feb. 4, which would have been her 100th birthday.

Parks was raised by her mother and grandparents who taught her that part of being respected was to demand respect, said Theoharis, who spent six years researching and writing the Parks biography.

She was an educated woman who recalled seeing her grandfather sitting on the porch steps with a gun during the height of white violence against blacks in post-World War I Alabama.

After she married Raymond Parks, she joined him in his work in trying to help nine young black men, ages 12 to 19, who were accused of raping two white women in 1931. The nine were later convicted by an all-white jury in Scottsboro, Ala., part of a long legal odyssey for the so-called Scottsboro Boys.

In the 1940s, Parks joined the NAACP and was elected secretary of its Montgomery, Ala., branch, working with civil rights activist Edgar Nixon to fight barriers to voting for blacks and investigate sexual violence against women, Theoharis said.

Just five months before refusing to give up her seat, Parks attended Highlander Folk School, which trained community organizers on issues of poverty but had begun turning its attention to civil rights.

After the bus boycott, Parks and her husband lost their jobs and were threatened. They left for Detroit, where Parks was an activist against the war in Vietnam and worked on poverty, housing and racial justice issues, Theoharis said.

Theoharis said that while she considers the 9-foot-statue of Parks in the Capitol an "incredible honor" for Parks, "I worry about putting this history in the past when the actual Rosa Parks was working on and calling on us to continue to work on racial injustice."

Parks has been honored previously in Washington with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1999, both during the Clinton administration.

But McCauley said the Statuary Hall honor is different.

"The medal you could take it, put it on a mantel," McCauley said. "But her being in the hall itself is permanent and children will be able to tour the (Capitol) and look up and see my aunt's face."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rosa-parks-statue-set-unveiled-capitol-085442523--politics.html

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The Bachelorette Announcement, Premiere Dates Revealed!

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Carbohydrate Consumption During Recovery from Exercise | Body ...

A significant proportion of the recovery from prolonged, moderate- to high-intensity
exercise is the replacement of the body?s stores of carbohydrate. Adequate glycogen
replacement following exercise depends upon the provision of exogenous carbohydrate.
In the event that carbohydrate is not consumed following exercise, the rate of
muscle glycogen synthesis is rather low, and assumes a rate of 7-12 mmol?kg?1dw?h?1,
with much higher rates (20?50 mmol?kg?1dw?h?1) occurring when carbohydrate is
provided in the correct time frame and sufficient amounts.

Carbohydrate intakes are typically expressed as grams of carbohydrate consumed
per kilogram of body weight per hour (g?kg?1?h?1). Provided that sufficient carbohydrate
is consumed, complete restoration of glycogen stores within 24 h has been
shown. Such a time frame is adequate for most individuals who do not regularly
fully tax their glycogen stores, especially when combined with the fact that several
meals will be consumed within this period. However, maximizing glycogen synthesis
takes on greater importance for athletes who significantly deplete their glycogen
stores on consecutive days of training or, as is very common, perform more than one
training session per day.

There appears to be a rapid and a slow phase of glycogen synthesis following
exercise-induced glycogen depletion. An initial rapid period (30?60 min) is characterized
by an insulin-independent translocation of glucose transporters (GLUT-4),
with a more extended period (up to 48 h) characterized by an insulin-dependent phase
of glycogen synthesis at a slower rate.

Resynthesis of glycogen following exercise isthus heavily dependent on the timing and amount of carbohydrate consumed. Withholding provision of carbohydrate results in significantly lower levels of
muscle glycogen synthesis. Glycogen synthesis rates are 45% lower when post-exercise
carbohydrate ingestion is delayed by 2 h. A delay in administration reduces
the amount of glucose that can enter the cell and subsequently be incorporated into glycogen. Thus, immediate (within 30 min of completion of exercise) consumption
of carbohydrate is necessary to ensure adequate glycogen synthesis.

Provision of a sufficient amount of carbohydrate is important in order to maximize
glycogen synthesis rates. The highest rates of glycogen synthesis are observed
when carbohydrate is provided immediately after exercise and at frequent (every
15?30 min) intervals in amounts sufficient to provide 1.2 g?kg?1?h?1.

Providing this same hourly amount less frequently results in slower glycogen synthesis. Supplying
more than 1.2 g?kg?1?h?1does not seem to result in higher glycogen synthesis rates.
Research has also focused on the addition of amino acids or protein to the carbohydrate
in attempts to further stimulate glycogen synthesis, perhaps by further elevating
insulin levels or providing an additional gluconeogenic substrate. Increased
glycogen synthesis rates have been observed when amino acids are added to moderate
amounts of carbohydrate (0.8 g?kg?1?h?1).

Jentjens and colleagues investigated
the addition of amino acids to a drink containing 0.8 or 1.2 g?kg?1?h?1 carbohydrate
and found that the addition of amino acids was beneficial only in the group receiving
the lower amount of carbohydrate. Therefore, the presence of protein or amino acids
in post-exercise supplements does not appear to be necessary as long as sufficient
(1.2 g?kg?1?h?1) amounts of carbohydrate are present, although the addition of protein
or amino acids may possibly assist with muscular growth and repair.

Endurance-trained individuals possess significantly higher rates of glycogen synthesis.
For example, one study determined that trained cyclists demonstrated glycogen
synthesis rates over two times higher than untrained cyclists. Muscle GLUT-4 content
was also three times higher in the trained individuals. Further research has illustrated
that just 10 weeks of training in previously untrained individuals resulted in significantly
greater muscle glycogen synthesis rates and increased levels of GLUT-4.

The magnitude of glycogen depletion plays a very important role in its subsequent
synthesis. Glycogen inhibits its own formation, and it appears that the absolute
amount of glycogen remaining in the muscle (and not the relative percentage that
has been depleted) strongly controls the rate of glycogen synthesis. Thus, it is the
glycogen concentration remaining in the muscle that determines its subsequent rate
of synthesis.

The type of prior exercise can affect the degree of subsequent glycogen synthesis.
Activities that result in significant amounts of exercise-induced muscle injury (such
as downhill running or prolonged exercise) have been shown to reduce glycogen synthesis
rates by up to 25%, even when large amounts of carbohydrate are ingested.76
Consumption of CHO in the post-exercise period is therefore essential to ensure
high rates of glycogen re-synthesis. Consumption of carbohydrate should commence
immediately after exercise, and should be consumed at the rate of 1.2 g?kg?1?h?1 for
4?6 h in order to maintain maximum glycogen synthesis rates.

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Source: http://mybodyhealth.net/carbohydrate-consumption-during-recovery-from-exercise/

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Wireless connections creep into everyday things

In this Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, photo, a woman sits on an eCooltra Connected electric scooters at the Mobile World Congress, the world's largest mobile phone trade show, in Barcelona, Spain. The first wave of the wireless revolution was getting people to talk to each other through cellphones. The second, it seems, will be getting things to talk to each other, with no human intervention: cars that talk to your insurance company?s computers, bathroom scales that talk to your phone, and electric meters that talk to your air conditioners. So-called machine-to-machine technology all the buzz at this year?s largest wireless trade show, and some analysts believe these types of connection will outgrow the traditional phone business in less than a decade. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

In this Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, photo, a woman sits on an eCooltra Connected electric scooters at the Mobile World Congress, the world's largest mobile phone trade show, in Barcelona, Spain. The first wave of the wireless revolution was getting people to talk to each other through cellphones. The second, it seems, will be getting things to talk to each other, with no human intervention: cars that talk to your insurance company?s computers, bathroom scales that talk to your phone, and electric meters that talk to your air conditioners. So-called machine-to-machine technology all the buzz at this year?s largest wireless trade show, and some analysts believe these types of connection will outgrow the traditional phone business in less than a decade. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) ? A car that tells your insurance company how you're driving. A bathroom scale that lets you chart your weight on the Web. And a meter that warns your air conditioner when electricity gets more expensive.

Welcome to the next phase of the wireless revolution.

The first wave of wireless was all about getting people to talk to each other on cellphones. The second will be getting things to talk to each other, with no humans in between. So-called machine-to-machine communication is getting a lot of buzz at this year's wireless trade show. Some experts believe these connections will outgrow the traditional phone business in less than a decade.

"I see a whole set of industries, from energy to cars to health to logistics and transportation, being totally redesigned," said Vittorio Colao, the CEO of Vodafone Group PLC, in a keynote speech at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. The British cellphone company has vast international interests, including its 45 percent ownership stake in Verizon Wireless.

Companies are promising that machine-to-machine, or M2M, technology will deliver all manner of services, from the prosaic to the world-changing. At U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm Inc.'s booth here at the show, there's a coffeepot that can be ordered to start brewing from a tablet computer, or an Internet-connected alarm clock. A former president of Costa Rica is also at the show, talking about how M2M can save massive amounts of greenhouse gases by making energy use more efficient ? enough to bring mankind halfway to the goal of halting global warming.

The M2M phenomenon is part of the larger drive to create an "Internet of Things" ?a global network that not only links computers, tablets and phones but that connects everything from bikes to washing machines to thermostats. Machina Research, a British firm, believes there will be 12.5 billion "smart" connected devices, excluding phones, PCs and tablets, in the world in 2020, up from 1.3 billion today.

But how does this transformation happen, and who stands to profit?

First, the devices have to be able to connect. That's not a trivial undertaking, especially considering that people don't upgrade washing machines or renovate their homes as often as they change cellphones and PCs. One company at the show, a Los Angeles-based startup named Tethercell, has an ingenious solution for battery-powered devices: a "fake" AA battery that houses a smaller AAA battery in an electronic jacket. It can be placed in a battery compartment with other batteries. Within a distance of 80 feet, some smartphones and tablets can then signal the "battery" to turn the device on or off. For instance, parents whose kids have a lot of noisy toys can turn all of them off with touch of a single button. A fire alarm could send a text-message warning that its battery is running low, rather than blaring an audio signal.

Unfortunately, a Tethercell from the first production run costs $35. Co-founder Kellan O'Connor believes the price can come down to $10, but that's still a non-trivial cost, and symptomatic of the high price of building out the Internet of Everything. For devices that need to connect at long range over a cellular network, the cost of radio components alone ranges from $10 to $70, according to analyst Dan Shey of ABI Research.

That's not expensive in the context of some big-ticket items, like cars, which have been forerunners when it comes to non-phone wireless connections. General Motors Corp. started equipping cars with OnStar wireless calling and assistance services in the mid-90s. At the show, it announced it is updating the service for faster data connections, enabling services like remote engine diagnostics and upgrades to the control software. AT&T Inc., which has been aggressive about getting into the M2M business, is ousting Verizon Wireless as the network provider for OnStar.

Colao, the CEO of Vodafone, gave an example of another "smart" car application that might seem intrusive to some: the company has been trying out a service in Italy that lets an auto insurance company know how much a car is being used, and charges premiums accordingly. It can also score the driver based on his or her driving style, and give pointers on how to handle the car more safely.

Cellular connections are creeping into smaller, cheaper devices. Ecooltra, which rents out electric scooters by the day in Spain, wants to connect them to the Internet, which would let renters figure out through their phones where there's a scooter for rent and how much of a charge is in its battery. The feature is perfect for quick, impromptu rentals by the hour. Adding "smarts" to the scooters in the shape of a cellular modem would turn the company from a conventional rental service to a "scooter-sharing" business, much like car-sharing services like Zipcar.

Once devices are connected, the next problem is getting them to talk to each other, and making sense of what they're saying. ABI's Shey says this is the real business opportunity in M2M, more valuable than making the modems or providing the wireless connections. He believes that's driving a behind-the-scenes scramble of deal-making at the show, as companies like AT&T seek to bolster their ability to support M2M by acquiring companies that provide a "middle layer" of software between the devices and their owners.

For connections between devices in the home, like that remote-controlled coffee-pot, Qualcomm touts its AllJoyn project, which it seeks to make an industry standard. Currently, the main ways for devices to connect to each other and figure out what they can do, like Bluetooth and DLNA, are too limited and difficult to use, said Rob Chandhok, president of Qualcomm Innovation Center.

With AllJoyn, "there's nothing to stop you from making a speaker that listens for notifications and turns them into speech, so you hear, 'Hey, you left the refrigerator door open!'" Chandhok said. "You take very simple things and connect them, and people build experiences on top of them. That's what we're trying to do."

Jose Maria Figueres, the former president of Costa Rica, is now the president of the Carbon War Room, an organization co-founded by billionaire Richard Branson to promote cutbacks in greenhouse-gas emissions through smart private enterprise. Figueres believes M2M has huge potential to wring efficiency out of energy-guzzling activities, and could reduce emissions equivalent to 9.1 billion tons of carbon dioxide by 2020 ? roughly equal to the combined emissions of India and the U.S. today.

Vodafone provided one example of how this might be done. The city of Groningen in the Netherlands has put sensors in the trash containers that serve public-housing units. They alert trash haulers when they need to be emptied, saving on unnecessary trips and reducing fuel use by 18 percent.

With M2M, "in many cases you have information moving instead of us moving," Figueres said.

In another example, Dutch authorities started controlling their street lights wirelessly rather than with "dumb" timers. They save on energy by dimming the lights if traffic is scant, but can also turn them on early if the day is dark.

Could M2M be overhyped ? a promise that won't deliver? The wireless industry is no stranger to rosy projections that don't pan out. Shey, the ABI analyst, thinks M2M will deliver, but perhaps not in a sexy, flashy way. When machine-to-machine connections are created, he said, it's usually not because someone is making a big bet on the future, but because they save money.

"It's about gaining more out of the asset that you have, like a truck. When it needs maintenance it gets maintenance at the right point. Or ensuring that the vending-machine guy only goes to the vending machine when it's empty," he said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-02-27-Wireless%20Show-Internet%20of%20Everything/id-7dab9ca2d8a441efbedc8c3cb7b53470

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One corner of Manhattan still a ghost town months after Sandy

NEW YORK (AP) -- The historic cobblestone streets and 19th-century mercantile buildings near the water's edge in lower Manhattan are eerily deserted, a neighborhood silenced by Superstorm Sandy.

Just blocks from the tall-masted ships that rise above South Street Seaport, the windows of narrow brick apartment buildings are still crisscrossed with masking tape left by their owners before the storm. Store interiors are stripped down to plywood and wiring. Restaurants are chained shut, frozen in time, saddled with electrical systems that were ruined by several feet of salt water that raced up from the East River and through their front doors.

"People have no clue that this corner of Manhattan has been hit so badly," said Adam Weprin, manager of the Bridge Cafe, one of the city's oldest bars that sits on a quiet street near the seaport. "Right now, it's a ghost town and a construction site."

Nearly four months after the storm, roughly 85 percent of small businesses near the South Street Seaport are still boarded up. It could be months before some reopen, while others may never return. On Fulton Street, the wide tourist-friendly pedestrian walkway that comprises the seaport's main shopping district, not a single one of the major chain stores ? which include Coach, Ann Taylor and Brookstone ? has reopened.

Among local business owners, there is a pervasive sense that their plight has been ignored by the rest of the city. A state senator who represents the area estimates at least 1,000 jobs were lost in lower Manhattan ? 450 of them in the seaport neighborhood alone.

From its red wood-frame building in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge, the Bridge Cafe has dealt with its share of changes over the last two centuries, including stints as a Civil War-era brothel and a bootlegging speakeasy during Prohibition. It has endured economic slumps, nor'easters and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But after the basement was flooded to the rafters and water destroyed the building's wood foundation, Weprin faced the prospect of shutting its doors for good.

"The neighborhood's been beaten," Weprin said. "You walk around here and it's like Chernobyl. At night, it's vacated."

The small businesses of the seaport were far less resilient than the neighboring skyscrapers that house many of lower Manhattan's large financial companies.

Some corporations were displaced for weeks after the storm, forced to relocate to temporary office space farther uptown while flood-damaged skyscrapers fixed their infrastructure and moved electrical systems to higher floors. Con Edison said 10 major buildings remained without power as of Feb. 13, most operating on emergency generators.

At 110 Wall St., a 27-story office tower that occupies a full block near the New York Stock Exchange, all leases were terminated because the building was so badly damaged by flooding. It remains empty while its management company comes up with a long-term plan for weathering future storms.

"How do we protect the lobby?" said William Rudin, the company's CEO. "How do we protect the retail spaces?"

Spotty phone and Internet service also hampered business activity after underground copper cables operated by Verizon, the area's largest network provider, were wrecked by flooding. By mid-February, Verizon said 10 percent of its customers still had little or no service.

It's unclear how many residents of lower Manhattan fled the neighborhood after Sandy. But 2 Gold St., a flood-damaged luxury residential skyscraper with nearly 1,000 residents, did not allow tenants to start moving back in until last week.

"These offices, these high-rise apartments, they need to be reoccupied," said Lee Holin, who owns Meade's Restaurant, which sits on the edge of the seaport a few blocks from Sandy-damaged skyscrapers on Water Street. "All of our customers who live there have not been here in a long time."

Meade's was only able to reopen thanks to a $25,000 grant that Holin received from the Downtown Alliance, a neighborhood association that has doled out 100 grants to small businesses totaling about $1.5 million.

The grant program was so popular that it was suspended two weeks after its debut in mid-November.

"We don't have a lot of traffic," said Nicole Osborne, who was tending the bar at Meade's on a weekday afternoon. "It's like we've been forgotten."

In the darkened window of Stella Manhattan Bistro, an Italian restaurant on Front Street, hung an American flag reminiscent of those displayed all over the city after Sept. 11. Alongside it, someone had posted a sign that said: "Thank you for all your support. Stay strong."

Most of the Front Street buildings had a geothermal heating and cooling system that was destroyed in the flood, said Jordan Barowitz, a spokesman for the developer, The Durst Organization, Inc. The repairs, which include moving the mechanical systems to the roof, are expected to drag on for months.

"We hope that they will come back," Barowitz said of the shuttered businesses. "It's very challenging."

The future of the South Street Seaport is equally uncertain. Howard Hughes Corp, which controls the former 19th-century counting houses that are home to the retail chains, said it does not yet know which ? if any ? of the major retailers will come back. The hope is to have Fulton Street in working order again before Memorial Day, when the summer season kicks off and the seaport will desperately need an influx of visitors.

But in a case of unfortunate timing, Pier 17, the shopping mall housed inside a rustic wooden building on the pier, is slated to close for a long-planned renovation in June that will transform it into a modern glass-walled structure with a rooftop plaza. The impending renovation has only added to the misery of shop owners who lost so much revenue since the storm and haven't recouped their losses.

Milad Doos, an immigrant from Egypt, is planning to close his jewelry and collectibles store for good.

"Like you see, there's nobody," said Doos, who earned just $5 on a recent afternoon. "After the storm, this whole place has become dead place."

At the Bridge Cafe, most of the wood foundation will be gutted, sparing only two pillars and a wall behind the bar that are part of the original building. Repairs will cost around $400,000.

Weprin, who has no flood insurance, launched a fundraising page online to appeal for financial help from the restaurant's many loyal patrons. To his astonishment, many of them didn't even realize the place was closed.

That's because nobody has frequented the neighborhood for weeks.

"During the day, you have tourists who are coming to look at the carnage," Weprin said. "That's about it. Before Sandy, it was a neighborhood."

___

Associated Press Writer Tom Hays contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nyc-seaport-ghost-town-months-074608566.html

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TomTom to supply maps to Intel's Telmap, creates a total navigation app package

Intel scored access to code for location-based services when it acquired Telmap, but it didn't get the all-important location data needed to make the code sing. Rather than leave developers to find the content themselves, Telmap has struck a deal to get mapping information from TomTom. Navigation apps built around Telmap's work will soon have access both to TomTom's base maps as well as 3D maps, junctions, points of interest and voice mapping. While there's no mention of exactly when TomTom data will show up, the union is characterized as a "long-term partnership" -- we'd expect TomTom routing to quickly become a mainstay of Telmap's platforms (and potentially Intel's) in the near future.

Filed under: Cellphones, GPS, Software, Intel

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Florida town seeks to unite a year after Trayvon Martin's killing

SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - A year after the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager in this central Florida town, there's a small memorial, a new police chief and the stirrings of understanding.

Trayvon Martin, 17, was gunned down on February 26, 2012 as he walked to his father's fiancee's home in one of Sanford's gated communities. The man accused of his killing, George Zimmerman, 28, a white Hispanic on neighborhood watch, is set to be tried on June 10.

Martin's death drew top-tier civil rights leaders, such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, who brought a national spotlight to this town just north of Orlando and not far from Disney World.

That spotlight forced the town of 53,000 to confront police work that seemed to be a throwback to the days of separate and resolutely unequal racial sensibilities.

"This situation, with all eyes on Sanford is making them (city leaders) do something about it now," said Cindy Philemon, 49, who helps run the local black heritage museum and welcome center.

Over the weekend, volunteers in the black community hastily worked to complete a modest memorial of stuffed animals, cards and crosses in time to remember the first anniversary of Martin's shooting. It has also become a way for Sanford to remember the many other black victims of violence whose stories largely went untold.

The police chief at the time of Martin's shooting lost his job over criticism that his department and prosecutors chose not to charge or arrest Zimmerman.

The new chief starts his job in April.

"Now, it's like the police are getting more involved in being with the community. They are starting to do their part in interacting with us," Philemon said. "They say there is not as many shootings as there once was."

Another resident, Thelma Holmes, 62, agreed saying, "It is better than what it was before, because we had a lot of killings of young men....The people and the police, they're both trying."

Trayvon's death will not be forgotten.

"It started people to come forward. So his death is not going to be in vain," said Philemon. "And he will always be remembered."

Martin's parents and lawyers will be in New York City, not Sanford, to hold a candlelight vigil on Tuesday night.

Zimmerman, who is charged with second-degree murder, was granted bond and ordered to surrender his passport, agree to be electronically monitored, reside in Seminole County, and observe a night time curfew.

(Editing by David Adams and Leslie Gevirtz)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/florida-town-seeks-unite-trayvon-martins-killing-201822167.html

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SHOW BITS: Avengers goof around backstage

Presenters Robert Downey Jr., left, and Jeremy Renner pose during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday Feb. 24, 2013, in Los Angeles. (Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP)

Presenters Robert Downey Jr., left, and Jeremy Renner pose during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday Feb. 24, 2013, in Los Angeles. (Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP)

Actress Kristen Stewart arrives with crutches at the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday Feb. 24, 2013, in Los Angeles. (Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP)

Singer Adele, left, and musician/producer Paul Epworth accept the award for best original song for "Skyfall" from "Skyfall" during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday Feb. 24, 2013, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Actress Anne Hathaway arrives at the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday Feb. 24, 2013, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Invision/AP)

Singer Shirley Bassey performs during the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday Feb. 24, 2013, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Show Bits brings you the 85th annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles through the eyes of Associated Press journalists. Follow them on Twitter where available with the handles listed after each item.

___

THE AVENGERS REUNITE

Just like the superheroes they played in the movie, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson huddled together backstage to get a plan together and of course joke around.

Downey suggested the stars of "The Avengers" bow as they headed onstage to make Oscar presentations. Or perhaps curtsy.

When a show worker asked Jackson to stand still so he could be wired with a microphone, the actor faced a backstage wall and pretended he was being frisked by police.

To pass the time, the superheroes watched Melissa McCarthy and Paul Rudd from a backstage monitor.

Suddenly Ruffalo asked, "Did we miss our cue?"

"You want to go out there with them?" asked Jackson.

After presenting two awards, the actors returned backstage, where Downey quipped, "Avengers disassemble."

? Sandy Cohen ? http://www.twitter.com/apsandy

___

QUICKQUOTE: JENNIFER LAWRENCE

"You guys are just standing up because you feel bad that I fell." ? Jennifer Lawrence acknowledging her standing ovation after being named winner of the lead actress Oscar.

? Christina Hoag.

___

KRISTEN STEWART HOBBLED

Kristen Stewart ditched her crutches to hobble onstage as an Oscar presenter, appearing bored and disheveled in the process.

She and Daniel Radcliffe handled one of the less glamorous awards for production design. Stewart read her lines with a slouchy insouciance.

Just before going on, Stewart left a pair of crutches in the wings and apparently the backstage hairstylists didn't get ahold of her for a brushing. Her long brunette hair looked stringy.

The reaction on Twitter was swift and severe.

"Kristen stewart are you ok? And by that I mean where were the hash brownies before u got hit by bus (hash)bruise (hash)limp," tweeted comedian-actor David Spade.

Actor Joel Hale tweeted, "Kristen Stewart is limping because she sprained her ankle from being excessively disinterested."

Backstage, Stewart ran into supporting actress winner Anne Hathaway, who noted her crutches.

"I know, I'm an idiot," Stewart replied. "But congratulations!"

"Please tell me you're going on stage with those," Hathaway said, pointing to the crutches.

"Nope. I'm gonna hobble," said Stewart, explaining that she had stepped on glass.

? Beth Harris ? http://www.twitter.com/bethharrisap

___

TONYS OR OSCARS?

Did the Oscars intentionally turn into the Tonys?

All those song-and-dance numbers weren't lost on Twitter.

"Sucks for the actors at the Oscars who can't sing ... (hash)TONYS? (hash)HollywoodGoesBroadway," Nylon magazine tweeted after a tribute to the musical "Chicago."

"Am I watching the (hash)Oscars or the (hash)Tonys? Either way I'm happy:) lol," tweeted a belter herself, Lea Michele.

? Leanne Italie ? Twitter http://twitter.com/litalie

___

NOT A MOMENT TOO SOON

Just as soon as Adele stepped off the stage after singing the Oscar-winning theme from "Skyfall," she kicked off her sparkly Louboutin platforms.

"I'm sorry. (Forget) that," she said, flinging the shoes onto the floor. A stagehand quickly swooped them up.

"I'd pick them up but I can't bend over," she said, motioning toward her tight beaded dress.

? Sandy Cohen ? http://www.twitter.com/APSandy .

___

QUICKQUOTE: SALMA HAYEK

"It's the night of the gold." ? Salma Hayek to Barbra Streisand, who both wore black-and-gold Oscar gowns.

? Sandy Cohen ? http://www.twitter.com/apsandy.

___

CELEBRITY SCHMOOZING

It was maybe the next best thing to being there.

Down the road from the Academy Awards, musicians and models found common schmoozing ground at the Elton John AIDS Foundation's Oscar viewing dinner in West Hollywood.

Lithe supermodel Naomi Campbell sat next to music mogul Quincy Jones then gripped hands and chatted with Steven Tyler and the party host himself, Elton John.

Bono, wearing his customary tinted shades, gleefully kissed Jones on the top of his head, then hugged statuesque model Petra Nemcova.

"Elton's a warrior on the HIV, AIDS scourge, since before anyone can remember," Bono told The Associated Press. "Like Bruce Springsteen is 'the Boss', Quincy is 'the President.' He is so unique. And Elton is both 'the king' AND 'the queen.'"

? Solvej Schou ? Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Solvej_Schou

___

QUICKQUOTE: JIM CARREY

"They symbolize my awkward spiritual struggle." ? Jim Carrey, joking about why he wore enormous prosthetic bare feet and had feathered wings stitched onto his jacket at the Elton John AIDS Foundation's Oscar viewing dinner.

? Solvej Schou ? Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Solvej_Schou

___

DAVID ARQUETTE CRASHES OSCAR PRESS ROOM

Things got even more surreal for folks coming off the high of winning an Academy Award when they found a high-spirited David Arquette waiting backstage to interview them.

Nestled amid the rows of working press, the actor asked a series of non sequitur questions. He said he was covering the event for Sirius XM radio, which carries Howard Stern's show.

"Django Unchained" supporting actor Christoph Waltz was asked about the possibility of a black man being chosen pope.

Director John Kahrs, whose film "Paperman," won for animated short film, was asked what he thought of receiving condoms in his gift bag. Arquette told him he'd take them if Kahrs didn't want them.

Academy officials said they didn't hand out any gift bags.

"I guess I have a lot to learn," Arquette said when told that.

The actor says he decided to cover the event so he could get a view of entertainment reporting from the other side.

He also took the opportunity to make a pitch to Kahrs.

"I do lots of voices," he told the director, "so if you're ever looking ... "

? Hannah Dreier ? Twitter http://twitter.com/hannahdreier

___

BASSEY HITS IT OUTTA THE PARK

For all the sparkling young starlets and the edgy new host, it was none other than Dame Shirley Bassey who truly set the joint on fire early in the Oscar telecast.

The 76-year-old singer's rendition of the theme from "Goldfinger" ? or, as she sang so memorably, "GoldfinGAH" ? was a feel-good moment that won what was at the time the biggest ovation of the night.

Bassey, who recorded the song in the '60s to great acclaim, reprised it as part of the Academy's 50th anniversary tribute to the James Bond franchise.

On social networks, as people were debating vigorously how the telecast was going, there was no question as to how Bassey did: She was an unqualified hit.

Minutes after the performance, the singer and her song were trending on Twitter.

Adele, who was to perform her "Skyfall" theme later in the show, had her work cut out for her.

? Jocelyn Noveck ? Twitter http://twitter.com/JocelynNoveckAP

___

QUICKQUOTE: CHRISTOPH WALTZ

"Quentin writes poetry and I like poetry." ? Supporting actor winner Christoph Waltz of "Django Unchained" about working with writer-director Quentin Tarantino.

? Beth Harris ? http://www.twitter.com/bethharrisap

___

MAYBE IT LOOKED EASY ...

Charlize Theron, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe and Joseph Gordon-Levitt were one big bundle of nerves before they took the stage for their opening song-and-dance numbers.

Radcliffe danced by himself. Theron dabbed at her eyes and Gordon-Levitt stood silently as Oscar host Seth MacFarlane delivered the Oscar show's opening monologue.

Then it was time to hit the stage.

"Thank God!" Theron said afterward as she let out a sigh of relief.

"You stepped on my dress," she told Tatum.

Radcliffe and Gordon-Levitt bear-hugged after their dance routine.

"We did all right! We did all right," they told each other.

"It felt good! How did it look?" Gordon-Levitt asked.

"Well done," Radcliffe told him. "See you later!"

? Sandy Cohen ? http://www.twittermcom/APSandy

___

QUICKQUOTE: BEN AFFLECK

"We don't expect to depart with anything but our integrity." ? Ben Affleck, shunning the nominations his film "Argo" received.

? Beth Harris ? http://www.twitter.com/bethharrisap

___

AND THE FANS SAY ... 'ARGO'

The clear fan favorite among fans in the Oscar bleachers was "Argo."

The bleacher crowd forced actor-director Ben Affleck to stop an interview with their loud chants of "Ben! Ben! Ben!"

They gave the film's producer, George Clooney, similar treatment and lavished applause on supporting actor nominee Alan Arkin.

Perhaps the strongest sign of fans' love for the CIA thriller was when the group was polled for its choice for best picture before any actors hit the red carpet.

While the chanting was spirited for "Les Miserables" and some other films, it was clearly loudest for "Argo."

? Anthony McCartney ? Twitter http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

___

JENNIFER BLEEPED

It's always fun to hear what Jennifer Lawrence has to say ? even if you have to lip read because she's being bleeped.

The bleeping started early for the charmingly blunt Lawrence, a best actress nominee for "Silver Linings Playbook," as ABC silenced her cheeky red carpet response to actress Kristin Chenoweth.

The two were bonding over "Dance Moms," the Lifetime reality series, when Lawrence asked Chenoweth if she liked it too.

Chenoweth: "Is the pope Catholic?"

Lawrence: "... ?" (We can't print her reply here, but the reference was to something a bear does in the woods.)

And the night, as they say, was still very young.

? Jocelyn Noveck ? Twitter http://twitter.com/JocelynNoveckAP

___

AMY ADAMS SITTING PRETTY

To slide, plop or shimmy?

That's the dilemma that faced Amy Adams in her flowing Oscar de la Renta gown when she approached her front-row seat inside the Dolby Theatre before the Oscars began.

After greeting fellow nominee Phillip Seymour Hoffman in the row behind her with a big hug, "The Master" co-star tilted to her right side and sort of shimmied down into her seat.

While Jennifer Aniston and Samuel L. Jackson mingled with attendees nearby, Adams held court in her fluffy dove grey fabric cloud.

Across the aisle, Bradley Cooper rushed his mother to meet Jean Dujardin, who took home the best actor Oscar last year.

? Derrik J. Lang ? Twitter http://twitter.com/derrikjlang

___

JOAQUIN PHOENIX: THE GUY CAN MOVE

Joaquin Phoenix didn't waste any time getting into the Dolby Theatre, and the Oscar-nominated actor's dash across the red carpet didn't go unnoticed.

Red carpet host Chris Connelly heckled Phoenix, who has criticized the awards show, as he rushed by, saying he was setting new speed records.

Connelly then added, "You should be at the (NFL) combine," a reference to the athletic tests NFL recruits go through.

? Anthony McCartney ? Twitter http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

___

SHOWING OSCAR FANS LOVE

Oscar bleacher fans got a wave from some stars such as Jane Fonda, and a peace sign from others, including Channing Tatum.

Then there were those who pulled out all the stops.

Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter paused on the red carpet to pose for pictures for star-struck fans.

Melissa McCarthy stopped to beam and wave at every section of the bleachers, all but ignoring the professional photographers surrounding her.

Jessica Chastain blew the crowd a kiss.

And Joseph Gordon-Levitt topped it all off with an appreciative bow to his audience.

? Anthony McCartney ? Twitter http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-02-25-Oscars-Show%20Bits-Package/id-aca0e6aafdac4d6ba57b6924d0fcde78

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Jennifer Lawrence's Amazing Childhood Friendship With Andy Strunk, 23-Year-Old With Down Syndrome (VIDEO)

Add a longtime friendship with Andy Strunk, who has Down Syndrome, to the list of reasons to love Jennifer Lawrence.

On Sunday night, Lawrence took the award for Best Actress for her role in Silver Linings Playbook, and as usual, charmed viewers through the night. HuffPost declared her the winner of the entire event.

Strunk, who is 23, has been friends with her since they were students at Kammerer Middle School.

"We are like best friends," Strunk told the Courier Journal. "She's kind... I think she has spirit."

In a YouTube video, Strunk and his mother talk about Lawrence, who lived in his neighborhood growing up. Several photos show them together.

In a more recent photo, Lawrence hugs Strunk at an unspecified red carpet event. These days, Strunk follows her career, fashion and dating life, and she often sends him gifts in return.

Recently, he received an autographed Silver Linings Playbook poster. According to Wave, Strunk keeps a collection of memorabilia featuring the star in his bedroom.

Naturally, he couldn't wait to see her in the Academy Awards ceremony, for which he dressed up in a tuxedo.

"It's the best night of my life," Strunk told the Courier Journal.

H/T Reddit

Also on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/25/andy-strunk-jennifer-lawr_n_2762005.html

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Demi Lovato Releases 'Risk'-Filled 'Heart Attack'

Singer battles between letting go and leaving her defenses up on the single off her 2013 album release.
By Jocelyn Vena

Demi Lovato's cover art for "Heart Attack"
Photo: Hollywood

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1702548/demi-lovato-heart-attack-single.jhtml

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Placing blame for the adverse consequences of sequestration where it belongs ? a modest proposal (Powerlineblog)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/287086176?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Egypt's vote won't calm turbulent streets

CAIRO (AP) ? Egypt's streets are turning into a daily forum for airing a range of social discontents from labor conditions to fuel shortages and the casualties of myriad clashes over the past two years.

Parliamentary elections called over the weekend by the Islamist president hold out little hope for plucking the country out of the turmoil. If anything, the race is likely to fuel more unrest and push Egypt closer to economic collapse.

"The street has a life of its own and it has little to do with elections. It is about people wanting to make a living or make ends meet," said Emad Gad, a prominent analyst and a former lawmaker.

Islamist President Mohammed Morsi called for parliamentary elections to start in late April and be held over four stages ending in June. He was obliged under the constitution to set the date for the vote by Saturday.

His decree brought a sharp reaction from Egypt's key opposition leader, Nobel Peace Laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, who said they would be a "recipe for disaster" given the polarization of the country and eroding state authority.

On Saturday, ElBaradei dropped a bombshell when he called for a boycott of the vote. An effective boycott by the opposition or widespread fraud would call the election's legitimacy into question.

But in all likelihood, Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and its ultraconservative Salafi allies will fare well in the vote. The Brotherhood has dominated every election in the two years since the 2011 uprising that ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

The mostly secular and liberal opposition will likely trail as they did in the last election for parliament's lawmaking, lower house in late 2011 and early 2012 ? a pattern consistent with every nationwide election post-Mubarak.

President Morsi's Brotherhood-dominated administration has been unable to curb the street protests, strikes and crime that have defined Egypt in the two years since the uprising.

In fact, the unrest has only grown more intense, more effective and has spread around the country in the nearly eight months that Morsi has been in office.

On any given day, a diverse variety of protesters across much of the troubled nation press demands of all sorts or voice opposition to Morsi and the Brotherhood.

Sunday was a case in point.

Thousands of brick workers blocked railroad tracks from a city south of Cairo for a second successive day to protest rising prices of industrial fuel oil, crippling transportation around the country of 85 million.

The rise resulted from the government's decision last week to lift subsidies on some fuel prices. It is part of a reform program aimed at securing a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund.

Meanwhile there are ample signs that Egypt's economy is deteriorating steadily.

Foreign reserves have dropped by nearly two thirds since Mubarak's departure, the key tourism sector is in a deep slump and the local currency has fallen nearly 10 percent against the dollar in the last two months.

Khaled el-Hawari, a marketing executive in one of the brick factories, said industrial fuel oil prices increased by 50 percent, threatening the business and the livelihoods of hundreds of workers who could be laid off.

"No one is listening to us or responding," he said. "We plan to protest outside the Cabinet next."

In the Nile Delta province of Kafr el-Sheikh, hundreds of quarry workers stormed the local government building, forcing staff to flee. The workers are demanding permanent employment in the factory. They chanted against the recently appointed local governor, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.

In the coastal city of Port Said, a general strike entered its second week on Sunday. The city has practically come to a halt as thousands of workers from the main industrial area joined the strike.

Calls for a civil strike in line with the one in Port Said have spread around Egypt. A group of protesters blocked the entrance to a major administrative building in Cairo's Tahrir Square, stopping citizens from entering and prompting small scuffles.

But Port Said is emerging as a prime example of how the popular discontent is evolving into sustained anti-government action. There are even calls in Port Said for secession which, while not realistic, indicate the depth of anger.

Activists there are demanding retribution for more than 40 residents killed there last month, allegedly by police.

The killings took place amid a wave of anger that swept the city after a Cairo court passed death sentences against 21 people, mostly from Port Said, for their part in Egypt's worst soccer disaster on Feb. 1 2012.

Morsi's supporters say that delaying elections, protesting and boycotting are affecting Egypt's ability to lure foreign investors and tourists again as the economy deteriorates.

Lack of confidence in law enforcement has reached a point where villagers sometimes hunt down alleged killers, lynch them and burn their bodies with police unable or unwilling to intervene.

With violent crime on the rise, rights groups accuse police under Morsi of falling back to the brutal methods and impunity of the Mubarak days.

The opposition, which led the uprising against Mubarak, is showing signs of disarray.

Another emphatic Islamist victory, especially if enough opposition groups do not heed ElBardei's boycott call, is likely to deal a body blow to the National Salvation Front ? the main opposition coalition.

In short, there is no end in sight to the growing popular discontent with Morsi's rule and the Brotherhood, who are accused by opponents of monopolizing power.

Already, ElBaradei's call for a boycott has sown divisions with his movement, with some of its leading figures saying the former director of the U.N. nuclear agency spoke prematurely and without sufficient consultation with other leaders. Others said they would heed the boycott call.

Ahmed Maher, the leader of the opposition April 6 youth group, said if the entire opposition does not join the boycott, it would be a "gift" to the Brotherhood and would accord legitimacy to a Brotherhood-dominated parliament. A successful boycott, he added in a statement, must be accompanied with a "parallel" parliament and a shadow government for it to be effective.

Significantly, some activists say that with international monitoring of the upcoming elections to prevent widespread fraud, the Brotherhood and their Salafi allies may not get the comfortable win they are hoping for.

"Entire cities and provinces have turned against the Brotherhood," said activist Ahmed Badawi. "This is a good time to defeat the Brotherhood because the economic crisis is hurting people's lives and they are angry."

But Gad, the former lawmaker, pointed out that staggering the elections over a two-month period would only benefit the Brotherhood, which had gained valuable election expertise when it had for years under Mubarak fielded candidates in parliamentary elections as independents.

"They have their election pros who will now be put to work in all four stages to ensure their supporters go out and vote while orchestrating soft fraud which, if widespread, can alter the results," said Gad.

The Brotherhood has been repeatedly accused of influencing voters at polling centers, campaigning on voting day in violation of the law and taking advantage of the relatively high percentage of illiteracy among voters. Some also accuse the Brotherhood of buying votes, exploiting the country's widespread poverty.

The Brotherhood denies the charges and counters them by boasting of its superior organizational skills. The group said it has the legitimacy of its consistent victories at the ballot box and accuses its opponent of trying to overthrow a democratically elected government.

___

Associated Press reporter Mamdouh Thabet contributed to this report from Assiut, Egypt.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-vote-wont-calm-turbulent-streets-192623190.html

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Apple Releases Patent For Flexible iWatch

Apple?s newest patent application could offer a look at the company?s rumored iWatch. It details a wearable accessory device that includes a flexible display coupled to a bi-stable spring.

The accessory is like a digital version of the classic slap bracelet from the ?80s, as it has a flat state and a curled state in which the flexible device wraps around the user?s wrist. The patent describes this in more detail:

Bi-stable springs have two equilibrium positions. This allows a device with a bi-stable spring to assume two distinct configurations. The most recent widespread use of such a device was the slap bracelet, also called the slap wrap. The slap bracelet consists of layered flexible steel bands sealed within a fabric cover. Typical slap bracelets are roughly one inch in width by nine inches in length. In a first equilibrium position they can be flat. The second equilibrium is typically reached by slapping the flat embodiment across the wrist, at which point the bracelet curls around the wrist and stays relatively secure in a roughly circular position.

The patent application also describes a user interface in the form of a touch-sensitive sensor overlaid on the flexible display, and power supplied to the bracelet that is partially provided by ambient light energy collectors disposed across a portion of it?s surface.

USPA

Source: http://flippies.com/adflipoff/archives/37675

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Jon Fisher looks to add fresh impetus to London Irish

Jon Fisher is eager to make up for lost time after making his comeback against Bath last Saturday ? five months after breaking an arm against the same opposition.

London Irish?s back-row forward is determined to provide new impetus to a squad that has just seven Aviva Premiership matches left this season to avoid relegation.

Live: London Irish v London Wasps

He said: ?I am a hell of a lot fresher than some of the tired legs.

?So if I can contribute in terms of intensity in training or wherever I can do the best for the team, then I will.?

Fisher, who rejoined Irish from Bedford last summer, spoke of his frustration at being injured just four games into the new campaign when Bath were beaten 29-22 at Madejski Stadium last September.

He said: ?When you get injured it is unfortunately just part of the game.

?You just hope it is not going to be as severe as that. It took time to heal, but it?s all done now.?

His return to action last Saturday was overshadowed by a yellow card just?20 minutes after coming on as a replacement.

And Exiles subsequently conceded two tries as they slumped to an ignominious 40-16 defeat the Rec.

He said: ?It was for not rolling away. It was perhaps more a technical error on my behalf as opposed to trying to cheat as some back rows might try to do.

?As a team we are going to have to be more squeaky clean in those areas and make sure we let our rugby do the talking.

?I am just gald that I was on the pitch for a substantial amount of time to contribute and get some things done that I?d worked hard on while I was injured.

Fisher now has his sights set firmly on avenging Irish?s 43-14 defeat by London Wasps at Adams Park last September.

But he is under no illusion about the size of the task facing Irish tomorrow?against a team currently occupying one of the four play-off places.

He laughed: ?I am a bit sad. My housemate Tommy Homer gives me a lot of stick because I tend to watch a bit too much rugby.

?I have seen a lot of them and they have some good players, particularly in my position, who are playing well at the moment.

They have threats all over the park, scrum-half, back rows, good organisers. They are going strong and it is no surprise considering the players they have got.

?It is a huge test this weekend.?

London Welsh, another of his former clubs, are battling it out with Irish and Sale Sharks to avoid finishing bottom of the Premiership, but Fisher has no lingering allegiances when it comes to who goes down.

He said: ?To be perfectly honest you have to be selfish in this situation. I am not entirely fussed who it is as long as it is not us.

?I would stress, though, that if we perform over the next few games how we have been doing (since the turn of the year) it should not even be something that should be on our minds.

?This team plays its best when it is concentrating on the job in hand.

?We are certainly not going to be concerned with that pressure.

?If we go into this weekend with the same intensity and play as well as we did when we won at home to Saracens and Northampton then we should be in a good position to beat Wasps.?

Source: http://www.getwokingham.co.uk/sport/rugby/london_irish/s/2129640_jon_fisher_looks_to_add_fresh_impetus_to_london_irish

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Italians vote in polls seen key to finance crisis

A man casts his vote for the Italian Senate, in Piacenza, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. Italy votes in a watershed parliamentary election Sunday and Monday that could shape the future of one of Europe's biggest economies. (AP Photo/Marco Vasini)

A man casts his vote for the Italian Senate, in Piacenza, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. Italy votes in a watershed parliamentary election Sunday and Monday that could shape the future of one of Europe's biggest economies. (AP Photo/Marco Vasini)

Pier Luigi Bersani, right, leader of the Democratic Party, casts his ballot with his wife Daniela, in Piacenza, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. Italy votes in a watershed parliamentary election Sunday and Monday that could shape the future of one of Europe's biggest economies. (AP Photo/Marco Vasini)

Outgoing Premier Mario Monti prepares to vote, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. Italy votes in a watershed parliamentary election Sunday and Monday that could shape the future of one of Europe's biggest economies. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

A woman casts her ballot for the Italian Lower Chamber, in Piacenza, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. Italy votes in a watershed parliamentary election Sunday and Monday that could shape the future of one of Europe's biggest economies. (AP Photo/Marco Vasini)

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano casts his ballot, in Rome, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. Italy votes in a watershed parliamentary election Sunday and Monday that could shape the future of one of Europe's biggest economies. (AP Photo/Antonio Di Gennario, Italian Presidential press service, ho)

ROME (AP) ? Will Italy stay the course with painful economic reform? Or fall back into the old habit of profligacy and inertia? These are the stakes as Italians vote in a watershed parliamentary election Sunday and Monday that could shape the future of one of Europe's biggest economies.

Fellow European Union countries and investors are watching closely, as the decisions that Italy makes over the next several months promise to have a profound impact on whether Europe can decisively put out the flames of its financial crisis. Greece's troubles in recent years were enough to spark a series of market panics. With an economy almost 10 times the size of Greece's, Italy is simply too big a country for Europe, and the world, to see fail.

Leading the electoral pack is Pier Luigi Bersani, a former communist who has shown a pragmatic streak in supporting tough economic reforms spearheaded by incumbent Mario Monti. On Bersani's heels is Silvio Berlusconi, the billionaire media mogul seeking an unlikely political comeback after being forced from the premiership by Italy's debt crisis. Monti, while widely credited with saving Italy from financial ruin, is trailing badly as he pays the price for the suffering caused by austerity measures.

Then there's the wild card: comic-turned-politician Beppe Grillo, whose protest movement against the entrenched political class has been drawing tens of thousands to rallies in piazzas across Italy. If his self-styled political "tsunami" sweeps into Parliament with a big chunk of seats, Italy could be in store for a prolonged period of political confusion that would spook the markets.

Voting was generally calm. But when Berlusconi showed up at a Milan polling place to cast his ballot, three women, shouting "Enough of Berlusconi," pulled off their sweaters to bare their chests, and display the slogan "Basta Silvio!" (Enough of Silvio) scrawled on their flesh. A cordon of police, already in place for security before the former premier's arrival, blocked Berlusconi's direct view of the topless women.

Police detained the women for questioning. Italian news reports said the three were members of the Femen protest group.

After voting, Berlusconi described the topless protesters as "an exaggeration. There are situations that are outside the bounds of reason, and we can't do anything about them," he said.

While a man of the left, Bersani has shown himself to have a surprising amount in common with the center-right Monti ? and the two have hinted at the possibility of teaming up in a coalition. Bersani was Monti's most loyal backer in Parliament during the respected economist's tenure at the head of a technocratic government. And in ministerial posts in previous center-left governments, Bersani fought hard to free up such areas of the economy as energy, insurance and banking services.

But it's uncertain that Monti will be able muster the votes needed to give Bersani's Democratic Party a stable majority in both houses of Parliament.

"Forming a government with a stable parliamentary alliance may prove tricky after elections," said Eoin Ryan, an analyst with IHS Global Insight. "A surge in support for anti-austerity parties is raising chances of an indecisive election result and post-vote political instability."

Another factor is turnout. Usually some 80 percent of the 50 million eligible voters go to the polls but experts are predicting many will stay away in anger, hurting mainstream parties.

Interior Ministry figures put the turnout at noon, four hours after polls opened, at 14.9 percent of those eligible to vote for the Chamber of Deputies. That was down from the 16.5 percent turnout after four hours into voting in the last national elections, in spring 2008.

Italian elections are usually held in spring, and this balloting came amid bad weather in much of the country, including snow in the north. Rain was forecast for much of the country Monday.

When Berlusconi stepped down in November 2011, newspapers were writing his political obituary. At 76, blamed for mismanaging the economy and disgraced by criminal allegations of sex with an underage prostitute, the billionaire media baron appeared finished as a political force.

But Berlusconi has proven time and again ? over 20 years at the center of Italian politics ? that he should never be counted out.

The campaign strategy that has allowed him to become a contender in these elections is a simple one: please the masses by throwing around cash.

Berlusconi has promised to give back an unpopular property tax imposed by Monti as part of austerity measures. Even his purchase of star striker Mario Balotelli for his AC Milan soccer team was widely seen as a ploy to buy votes. Berlusconi has also appealed to Italy's right-wing by praising Italy's former fascist dictator Benito Mussolini during a ceremony commemorating Holocaust victims.

The most recent polls show Bersani in the lead with 33 percent of the vote, against 28 percent for Berlusconi's coalition with the populist Northern League. Grillo's 5 Star movement was in a surprise third place, with 17 percent support, while Monti's centrist coalition was notching 13 percent. The COESIS poll of 6,212 respondents had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.2 percent.

Pollster Renato Mannheimer said among his biggest clients heading into the elections were foreign banks seeking to gauge whether to hold or sell Italian bonds.

"They are worried mostly about the return of Berlusconi," Mannheimer said.

Uncertainty over the outcome of the vote has pushed the Milan stock exchange down in the days running up to the vote and bumped up borrowing costs, as investors express concern that Italy may back down from a reform course to pull the country out of recession.

Mannheimer said many undecided voters ? who comprise around one-third of the total electorate ? identify with the center-right, and that may help Berlusconi. He said that the undecided vote may also tilt heavily toward Grillo's protest movement.

The professorial Monti looked uncomfortable at first as a candidate but has recently warmed to the role. Like the others, he has not shied away from name calling, warning that Berlusconi is a "charlatan" and saying his return would be "horrific."

Bond analyst Nicholas Spiro said the election "will deliver the most important verdict on the eurozone's three-year-old austerity focused policies."

But he is betting on a period of political instability after the vote.

"An upset victory by Mr. Berlusconi may be markets' nightmare scenario," he said, "but the prospects for a stable and harmonious Bersani-Monti coalition government ? still the mostly likely outcome in our view ? are bleak."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-02-24-Italy-Elections/id-13dac0d36b1246c5b6a4832c9721f9cd

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