Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Students describe bloody scene at Texas college

CYPRESS, Texas (AP) ? A 20-year-old student who told police he had fantasized for years about stabbing people to death went on a rampage with a knife at a suburban Houston community college, hurting more than a dozen people, authorities said.

The Harris County Sheriff's Office said that about 11:20 a.m. Tuesday, Dylan Quick began a building-to-building rampage with a razor-like knife at the Lone Star Community College System in Cypress. He wounded at least 14 people, two critically.

Neighbors said he was a shy young man who would say hello when he took out the trash and helped his parents tend the yard, though he rarely came out alone.

"I can't imagine what would have happened to that young man to make him do something like this. He is very normal," said Magdalena Lopez, 48, who has lived across the street from the Quick family for 15 years.

The Quicks were friendly and fit in well with the other families on the block of brick, ranch-style homes. Most were aware that Quick is deaf. A street sign, "Deaf Child In Area," was posted on the block to warn drivers.

"I can't believe he would do it," Lopez added.

But hours after the stabbing attack, Quick was charged with three counts of aggravated assault, and the statement from the sheriff's office said pieces of the blade used in the attack were found in at least one victim and at the scene of the attack. A knife handle was found in a backpack Quick was carrying when he was arrested. Authorities were seen leaving Quick's parents' home with two brown paper bags.

No one answered the door or the phone at the red brick home, though two vehicles were parked in the driveway, one of them a Honda Accord with a license plate that read "DYLAN." It was not immediately known if Quick has an attorney.

The attack began before noon on a sunny spring day, interrupting the careless chatter of Diante Cotton and his friends, who were sitting in the cafeteria when a girl clutching her neck walked in, yelling.

"He's stabbing people, he's stabbing people," Cotton said the girl shouted, his first indication that something was amiss on the normally tranquil campus.

Walking outside, Cotton and his friends saw another half-dozen people with injuries to their faces and necks. Some were being loaded into ambulances. The most critically injured were evacuated in medical helicopters.

"I turned around, and there was just blood ? just blood dripping down the stairs, all over the floor, all over everyone's towels, on their necks, just a lot of blood," Melody Vinton told KHOU-TV.

The attacker ran past Vinton, she said, as she was leaving her chemistry class. He was stabbing people, she said, one after another, always aiming for the neck or face.

"There's no humanity in that. Just to see another human being do that was more traumatic than anything," Vinton said.

Vinton and other students in the science building rushed to help the victims until emergency crews arrived.

Michelle Alvarez tried to back away when she saw Quick running toward students. She didn't even feel it as he swiped her.

"He came running and swinging at my neck, as I tried to get out of the way," she told the Houston Chronicle.

It remains unclear how long the attack lasted, but Lone Star college officials said they locked down the campus shortly after 11:30 a.m. Students described phones going off informing them of the lockdown. Some stayed in class until they were dismissed. Others went out to the hallways, where they were evacuated to their cars.

The sheriff's office said Quick told them he had fantasized about stabbing people to death since elementary school and had planned the attack for some time.

But Michael Lincoln, who lives next door, said Quick had never been aggressive, making the accusations even more shocking.

"If he's outside, he speaks to me, 'Hey neighbor, how you doing?'" Lincoln said.

Elva Garcia, 46, who lives two houses down from the Quicks, described him as a nice young man who stayed out of trouble and only came outside with his parents. She saw him, she said, just this past weekend, working with his parents in the front yard.

"We can't even believe it. What motive would he have?" Garcia said.

The attack came three months after a different Lone Star campus was the site of a shooting in which two people were hurt. The suspected gunman in that incident is charged with aggravated assault.

___

Associated Press writers Nomaan Merchant, Terry Wallace and David Warren in Dallas contributed to this report.

__

Plushnick-Masti can be followed on Twitter at https://twitter.com/RamitMastiAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/students-describe-bloody-scene-texas-college-072218198.html

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Vitamins and Their importance for Healthy Living - Diet Talk

Vitamins are essential for the health as they have the ability to prevent various health issues such as heart problems, skin disorders, eye disorders, elevated cholesterol levels. Vitamins are the nutrients which help the body to function properly and in the case of deficiency of these vitamins the function of the body gets affected.

Different vitamins and their functions are mentioned below. You will come to know the benefits of each vitamin by going through this information. Add all types of vitamins in your diet plan to give your body maximum protection against eh diseases.

Vitamin B offers prevention against indigestion, beriberi, brain development disorders, blood circulation issues, and body metabolism.If an individual gets the sufficient amount of vitamin B 1 it safeguards the body to have these health problems.vitamin drink

In case of the deficiency of vitamin B2 a person experiences the following issues such as cataract, nervous system issues, skin disorders, anemia, immunity problems, and disorders with the metabolism.

As each vitamin has its specific value in the body so similarly vitamin B 3 that is known as Niacin as well prevents the body from kin disorders, migraine, heart issues, diarrhea, diabetes, elevated blood sugar and cholesterol. In case of its deficiency the person becomes prone to have these health issues.

Vitamin B 5 prevents the person from skin disorders, arthritis, stress, infections, high levels of cholesterol, and helps to prevent the hair from turning into grey.

Vitamin B 6 is known as pyridine, and it helps protect the body against piles, diabetes, excessive bleeding during menstruation, stress, insomnia, travel sickness, morning sickness, convulsions etc.

Vitamin B 7 is used by people for hair care such as to prevent hair fall, and it is useful in the prevention of skin disorders. It is good to keep the body metabolism in a good condition.vitamin drink

Vitamin B 9 is good for the prevention of anemia, skin disorders, digestion sprue etc. It is useful during pregnancy, for the brain growth of a child vitamin B 9 is quite helpful, and one of the most important functions of this vitamin is to aid red blood cell formation in the body.

The use of vitamin E is very common in skin care products because it acts as an anti-aging, makes the skin youthful and smooth. Apart from the skin care it is good to deal menopause, menstrual pain, eye disorders etc.

Vitamin K helps the body to prevent or treat blood clotting, internal bleeding, excessive menstrual bleeding, and menstrual pain.

Most of the people don?t get the required amount of vitamins from the food they eat so it?s necessary to add a vitamin drink in the diet plan that can suffice the body with enough vitamins it needs or the one body is deficient in.

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Source: http://diet.health-talks.com/healthy-eating/vitamins-and-their-importance-for-healthy-living/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=vitamins-and-their-importance-for-healthy-living

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Post office retreats on eliminating Saturday mail

FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2013 file photo, U.S. Postal Service letter carrier Michael McDonald gathers mail to load into his truck before making his delivery run in the East Atlanta neighborhood, in Atlanta. The U.S. Postal Service says it will delay plans to cut Saturday mail delivery because Congress isn't allowing the change. The Postal Service said in February that it planned to cut back in August to five-day-a-week deliveries for everything except packages, as a way to hold down losses. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2013 file photo, U.S. Postal Service letter carrier Michael McDonald gathers mail to load into his truck before making his delivery run in the East Atlanta neighborhood, in Atlanta. The U.S. Postal Service says it will delay plans to cut Saturday mail delivery because Congress isn't allowing the change. The Postal Service said in February that it planned to cut back in August to five-day-a-week deliveries for everything except packages, as a way to hold down losses. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2014 file photo, U.S. Postal Service letter carrier Jamesa Euler, delivers mail in the rain in the Cabbagetown neighborhood, in Atlanta. The U.S. Postal Service says it will delay plans to cut Saturday mail delivery because Congress isn't allowing the change. The Postal Service said in February that it planned to cut back in August to five-day-a-week deliveries for everything except packages, as a way to hold down losses. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Charts show postal delivery addresses and mail volume since

FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2013 file photo, U.S. Postal Service letter carrier Jamesa Euler, delivers mail in the Cabbagetown neighborhood of Atlanta. The U.S. Postal Service delivers mail to 11 million more homes, offices and other addresses than it did a decade ago, even as the amount of mail that people in the United States receive has dropped sharply. That combination may be financially dicey, some analysts say. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2013 file photo, U.S. Postal Service letter carrier Jamesa Euler, turns down the flag on a mailbox while delivering mail in the Cabbagetown of Atlanta. The U.S. Postal Service delivers mail to 11 million more homes, offices and other addresses than it did a decade ago, even as the amount of mail that people in the United States receive has dropped sharply. That combination may be financially dicey, some analysts say. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The beleaguered U.S. Postal Service backed down from its cost-saving plan to eliminate Saturday mail delivery, acknowledging that Congress barred a move that supporters said was essential to addressing the agency's dire financial condition.

Despite the retreat, the governing board said Wednesday that it's not possible for the Postal Service to meet its goals for reduced spending without altering the delivery schedule. Delaying "responsible changes," the board said, only makes it more likely that the Postal Service "may become a burden" to taxpayers.

The Postal Service said in February that it planned to switch to five-day-a-week deliveries beginning in August for everything except packages as a way to hold down losses.

But that announcement was a gamble. The agency essentially was asking Congress to drop from spending legislation the longtime ban on five-day-only delivery. Congress did not do that when it passed a spending measure last month.

"By including restrictive language ... Congress has prohibited implementation of a new national delivery schedule for mail and package," the postal Board of Governors said in a statement Wednesday.

The board said it was disappointed by the congressional action, but would not disregard the law. It directed the Postal Service to delay putting in place the new delivery schedule until Congress passes legislation that gives the agency "the authority to implement a financially appropriate and responsible delivery schedule."

The board made the decision in a closed meeting Tuesday.

Officials said that to restore the service to long-term financial stability, the agency must have the flexibility to reduce costs and come up with new revenues.

"It is not possible for the Postal Service to meet significant cost reduction goals without changing its delivery schedule ? any rational analysis of our current financial condition and business options leads to this conclusion," the board statement said.

An independent agency, the service gets no tax dollars for its day-to-day operations but is subject to congressional control. It lost nearly $16 billion last year ? $11.1 billion of that due to a 2006 law Congress passed forcing it to pay into future retiree health benefits, something no other agency does.

"Given these extreme circumstances and the worsening financial condition of the Postal Service, the board has directed management to seek a reopening of negotiations with the postal unions and consultations with management associations to lower total workforce costs, and to take administrative actions necessary to reduce costs," according to the statement. It offered no giving further details.

It said the board also asked management to look at further options to raise revenues, including a rate increase.

The Postal Service already is executing a major restructuring throughout its retail, delivery and mail processing operations. Since 2006, it has reduced annual costs by approximately $15 billion, cut its workforce by 193,000 or 28 percent, and consolidated more than 200 mail processing locations.

GOP Rep. Darrell Issa of California, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said he was disappointed in the change of plans announced Wednesday and noted that polls show a majority of people support the reduced delivery schedule.

"This reversal significantly undercuts the credibility of Postal officials who have told Congress that they were prepared defy political pressure and make difficult but necessary cuts," Issa said in a statement.

"Despite some assertions, it's quite clear that special interest lobbying and intense political pressure played a much greater role in the Postal Service's change of heart than any real or perceived barrier to implementing what had been announced."

Sen. Tom Carper, a leader on postal issues, said he hoped Congress would pass new legislation to address the agency's problems.

"Even though today's decision by the Postal Service's Board of Governors delays its controversial proposal, the urgent need for the administration and Congress to work together to save the Postal Service by making hard decisions and tackling controversial issues like Saturday delivery remains," Carper, D-Del., said in a statement.

Over the past several years, the Postal Service has advocated shifting to a five-day delivery schedule for mail and packages, and it repeatedly but unsuccessfully has appealed to Congress to approve the move.

The idea to cut mail but keep six-day package delivery played up the agency's strong point. It's package service is growing as more people buy things online, while the volume of letters sent has slumped with increased use of email and other internet services.

The Senate last year passed a bill that would have stopped the postal service from eliminating Saturday service for at least two years and required it to try two years of aggressive cost cutting instead. The House didn't pass a bill.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-04-10-Postal%20Problems/id-efb4663055e246b99f9703d08dd7d5c9

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Tuesday, April 9, 2013

McConnell wants FBI probe on 'secret tape'

McConnell (ABC OTUS News)Liberal news website Mother Jones on Tuesday morning published audio from a private February discussion between Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and aides about the Kentucky Republican's 2014 re-election campaign and potential Democratic challenger Ashley Judd.

The audio and transcripts?billed as a "secret tape" by Washington Bureau chief David Corn?show the McConnell camp discussing how to use the actress' religious beliefs and history of depression against her in a potential campaign.

Judd announced March 27 that she would not be a candidate for the Senate, citing family obligations.

But how did the website get its hands on the audio?

McConnell's team believes the tape was obtained illegally and has asked the FBI to investigate.

"Senator McConnell?s campaign is working with the FBI and has notified the local U.S. Attorney in Louisville, per FBI request, about these recordings," Jesse Benton, McConnell's campaign manager, said in a statement. "Obviously a recording device of some kind was placed in Senator McConnell?s campaign office without consent. By whom and how that was accomplished presumably will be the subject of a criminal investigation.?

Benton added, "We?ve always said the Left would stop at nothing to attack Sen. McConnell, but Watergate-style tactics to bug campaign headquarters are above and beyond."

Mother Jones didn't immediately respond to Yahoo News' requests for comment.
During the discussion of Judd's mental health on the tape, one individual said, "She's clearly, this sounds extreme, but she is emotionally unbalanced. I mean it's been documented. Jesse can go in chapter and verse from her autobiography about, you know, she's suffered some suicidal tendencies. She was hospitalized for 42 days when she had a mental breakdown in the '90s.

The group also poked fun at a reference Judd made about St. Francis, a revered Catholic saint, and other religious statements.

During the 2012 presidential campaign, Mother Jones also famously revealed secretly recorded comments made by Republican hopeful Mitt Romney where he said 47 percent of Americans were dependent on government and refused to take "personal responsibility" for their lives. Romney later apologized.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/mcconnell-campaign-asks-fbi-probe-recording-secret-meeting-152224471--election.html

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2013 Graduate Research Fellowships reflect a diversity of fields, institutions and students

2013 Graduate Research Fellowships reflect a diversity of fields, institutions and students [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 9-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Maria C. Zacharias
mzachari@nsf.gov
703-292-8454
National Science Foundation

Women receive 55 percent of awards this year, their highest ever; 28 fellowships went to veterans

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced this year's recipients of Graduate Research Fellowships (GRF). The 2013 NSF Graduate Research Fellows represent a diverse group of scientific disciplines, and come from all states and the District of Columbia, as well as U.S. commonwealths and territories. They are also a diverse group of individuals: Among the 2,000 awardees, 1,102 are women, 390 are from underrepresented minority groups, 51 are persons with disabilities, and 28 are veterans.

Since 1952, NSF has provided fellowships to individuals selected early in their careers based on their demonstrated potential for significant achievements in science and engineering. The ranks of NSF Fellows include individuals who have made transformative breakthroughs in science and engineering research, become leaders in their chosen careers, and been honored as Nobel laureates--from Sergey Brin to Steven Chu to Ben Bernanke. The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) is part of NSF's overall strategy to develop a globally engaged workforce necessary to ensure the nation's leadership in advancing science and engineering research and innovation.

With its emphasis on support of individuals, the GRFP provides a mechanism for increasing the participation of women, minorities, persons with disabilities, and veterans in science and engineering. This is the first year that the program has targeted increased participation of veterans.

The GRFP provides three years of financial support within a five-year fellowship period ($30,000 annual stipend and $12,000 cost-of-education allowance to the graduate institution) for graduate study in a field within NSF's mission that leads to a research-based master's or doctoral degree. Fellows may also be eligible for access to cyberinfrastructure resources through the NSF-supported Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) and for Facilitation Awards for Scientists and Engineers with Disabilities (FASED). In addition, Fellows have the opportunity for international research collaborations through the Graduate Research Opportunities Worldwide (GROW) initiative.

The 2013 class of Graduate Fellows come from 434 baccalaureate institutions, 50 more than in 2010, when GRFP began awarding 2,000 fellowships each year. Forty percent of the new Graduate Fellows indicated interdisciplinary fields of study. The most popular primary fields of study are life sciences and engineering, reflecting 29 percent and 25 percent of fellowships, respectively.

###

Applicants must be U.S. citizens, nationals, or permanent residents, and are selected through the NSF merit review process.

A complete list of those offered this fellowship for 2013 is available online.

General information about the program is available at the GRFP website.

-NSF-


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?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


2013 Graduate Research Fellowships reflect a diversity of fields, institutions and students [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 9-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Maria C. Zacharias
mzachari@nsf.gov
703-292-8454
National Science Foundation

Women receive 55 percent of awards this year, their highest ever; 28 fellowships went to veterans

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced this year's recipients of Graduate Research Fellowships (GRF). The 2013 NSF Graduate Research Fellows represent a diverse group of scientific disciplines, and come from all states and the District of Columbia, as well as U.S. commonwealths and territories. They are also a diverse group of individuals: Among the 2,000 awardees, 1,102 are women, 390 are from underrepresented minority groups, 51 are persons with disabilities, and 28 are veterans.

Since 1952, NSF has provided fellowships to individuals selected early in their careers based on their demonstrated potential for significant achievements in science and engineering. The ranks of NSF Fellows include individuals who have made transformative breakthroughs in science and engineering research, become leaders in their chosen careers, and been honored as Nobel laureates--from Sergey Brin to Steven Chu to Ben Bernanke. The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) is part of NSF's overall strategy to develop a globally engaged workforce necessary to ensure the nation's leadership in advancing science and engineering research and innovation.

With its emphasis on support of individuals, the GRFP provides a mechanism for increasing the participation of women, minorities, persons with disabilities, and veterans in science and engineering. This is the first year that the program has targeted increased participation of veterans.

The GRFP provides three years of financial support within a five-year fellowship period ($30,000 annual stipend and $12,000 cost-of-education allowance to the graduate institution) for graduate study in a field within NSF's mission that leads to a research-based master's or doctoral degree. Fellows may also be eligible for access to cyberinfrastructure resources through the NSF-supported Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) and for Facilitation Awards for Scientists and Engineers with Disabilities (FASED). In addition, Fellows have the opportunity for international research collaborations through the Graduate Research Opportunities Worldwide (GROW) initiative.

The 2013 class of Graduate Fellows come from 434 baccalaureate institutions, 50 more than in 2010, when GRFP began awarding 2,000 fellowships each year. Forty percent of the new Graduate Fellows indicated interdisciplinary fields of study. The most popular primary fields of study are life sciences and engineering, reflecting 29 percent and 25 percent of fellowships, respectively.

###

Applicants must be U.S. citizens, nationals, or permanent residents, and are selected through the NSF merit review process.

A complete list of those offered this fellowship for 2013 is available online.

General information about the program is available at the GRFP website.

-NSF-


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-04/nsf-2gr040913.php

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Second man gets 17 years for Seattle military attack plot

By Bill Rigby

SEATTLE (Reuters) - A second man who pleaded guilty to planning to attack a military recruitment facility in Seattle and murder U.S. servicemen in 2011 was sentenced to 17 years in prison on Monday.

Walli Mujahidh, 34, was one of two men who had planned to storm the Military Entrance Processing Station south of downtown Seattle with machine guns and grenades in retaliation for U.S. military actions in Afghanistan. Enlistees are screened and processed at the station.

The other conspirator Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif, also known as Joseph Anthony Davis, was sentenced to 18 years in prison last month.

The pair, both U.S. citizens, were arrested in June 2011 and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder officers and agents of the United States and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. Grenades are treated as weapons of mass destruction under U.S. federal law.

In his plea agreement, Mujahidh admitted that he had agreed to carry out the planned attack and that he had traveled to Seattle from Los Angeles to take part in it.

The plot came to light after a person who had known Abdul-Latif for several years and had been asked to supply weapons for the planned attack went to police instead and became a paid undercover informant, according to court documents.

In a "sting" operation, high-powered assault rifles that had been rendered inoperable by law enforcement agents were brought by the informant to the two suspects, who were arrested when they took possession of the guns, according to prosecutors.

(Reporting by Bill Rigby)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/second-man-gets-17-years-seattle-military-attack-204647175.html

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Monday, April 8, 2013

HTC posts worst-ever earnings in Q1 as profit plummets 98%

Nobody loves posing for ridiculous photos more than Russia's president, but it's this completely spontaneous image that is sure to be keeper in his iconic collection.?Vladimir?Putin is in Germany today, where he was greeted by the usual gang of topless protesters?that seem to be following him around lately. One in particular, got pretty close to Putin and his host, German Chancellor Angel Merkel, but the man was unfazed. As usual.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/htc-posts-worst-ever-earnings-q1-profit-plummets-123506506.html

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New Google Play Store app sighted on Google+

Play Store

A visual refresh could be coming soon to Google's content portal

The last time the Google Play Store app got a major redesign, it was still called the Android Market. So we're about due a visual refresh, and it looks like a new version could be headed our way sooner rather than later.

YouTube's Eileen Rivera posted the screenshot above on Google+, showing a lighter, more colorful design with more prominence given to the main store areas, and larger app icons below. "Games" also gets its own entry, whereas before it was found under "Apps."

Right now it looks like Google's just "dogfooding" this new version of the Play Store among its employees -- check out the little dog bowl icon on the top left -- but if Googlers are posting pictures of the new app publicly, chances are we won't have too long to wait for the public roll-out.

Source: +Eileen Rivera

    


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/Fjo7ZDMcq_M/story01.htm

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Loan Education Becomes Prerequisite As Student Debt Balloons

College loan debt isn't easing up, and students are struggling to navigate a plethora of obligations.

Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

College loan debt isn't easing up, and students are struggling to navigate a plethora of obligations.

Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

For students now sprinting toward the end of their college days, the finish line may not be much of a relief. More than ever, their gait is slowed by the weight of impending debt.

Thirty-seven million Americans share about $1 trillion in student loans, according to Federal Reserve data. It's the biggest consumer debt besides mortgages, eclipsing both auto loans and credit cards. And on it grows, an appetite undiminished by the recession.

Learning What To Ask

There are signs that students are catching on to the dangers, however. Dawit Lemma learned his own lessons about loans and is now passing them on to others. He's the associate director of operations at the University of Maryland's Office of Student Financial Aid.

He graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, in 2004, years before the recession hit. At the time, Lemma says, he considered student loans another form of financial aid.

Now, he says, students are starting to ask questions he had never considered when he took out loans.

"They know more about the loan process. So they want to know about not just [the] interest rate, they want to know about repayment options, consolidations, forgiveness options," Lemma tells Jacki Lyden, guest host of weekends on All Things Considered.

'I Was Very Naive'

Emmanuel Tellez wishes he had been more inquisitive. Tellez graduated from Northeastern University in Boston in 2008. He majored in English, and on graduation day, he owed about $50,000. That debt has ballooned to more than $70,000 with interest and collection fees.

He says it wasn't a responsibility he was ready for when he applied for school.

"When I signed my promissory note, I was 17-and-a-half. I was very naive with regard to my expectations," he says. "I knew early on I wouldn't be living high off the hog being an English major. I didn't know the explicit terms."

Tellez says he would have been more wary of the kinds of loans he took on if he had known, for example, that he would not be able to discharge the debt in bankruptcy or that the federal government could garnish his wages if he defaulted.

What Can Congress Do?

There is a legislative effort to ease some of the potential burdens, as the interest rate for some federal student loans is set to jump to 6.8 percent from 3.4 percent in July.

Congresswoman Karen Bass is proposing to cap student loan interest rates at 3.4 percent. A bill the California Democrat has introduced, The Student Loan Fairness Act, would also require the federal government to forgive loans up to $45,000 if the borrower has been paying back loans consistently for 10 years.

Bass says the bill is not an overall fix, but it's a necessary step.

"There are a lot of problems that we're facing in our country. We really need to rethink how higher education is paid for ? period. But until then, we really shouldn't pass this debt on to future generations," she says.

Moreover, she says, investing in education is essential for staying competitive with other countries.

A Bit Of Advice

Meanwhile, five years after graduating, Tellez is just trying to keep up. He has hired a lawyer to help him navigate what he calls the "labyrinth" of his private loans and has successfully consolidated his federal loans. Now he's chipping away at the total, paying about $500 a month.

Tellez, now a legal assistant/administrative assistant at a Boston law school, hopes future students can learn from his struggles.

"I tell my sister, who's now at [University of California, Berkeley], to be far more frugal than she imagines she has to be," he says. "One thing that I kind of had to learn the hard way is to scan all the documents you get and make sure that you have electronic copies because ... young people move a lot."

Today, Tellez is back in school part-time, pursuing a master's in public administration. This time, he says, he's learned his lesson: He's not borrowing. Instead, his employer is picking up the tab.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2013/04/06/176442821/loan-education-becomes-prerequisite-as-student-debt-balloons?ft=1&f=1001

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Sunday, April 7, 2013

For Bassem Youssef, Egypt's 'Jon Stewart,' satire is no laughing matter

By Ayman Mohyeldin, Charlene Gubash and Christina Caron, NBC News

To fans of controversial Egyptian comedian and TV host Bassem Youssef, he?s ?a pioneer? and ?one of the funniest guys in Cairo.? To his critics, he?s an incendiary force who insults Islam under the guise of free speech.

As for Youssef, he says he?s ?just the host of a political satire show? who appeals to people seeking controversy and ?a good laugh.?

A former heart surgeon, Youssef developed an online following after posting satirical YouTube clips during the violent 2011 uprising in Egypt. He was eventually offered his own TV show, ?The Program,? earning inevitable comparisons to Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show."

?I don't take aim at the president, I take aim at the authority -- because this is what sarcasm is all about. This is what joking and political satire is all about -- not about me confirming with the president,? Youssef told NBC News. ?Political satire everywhere in the world is directed towards two things: authority and right wing. I mean, the right wing is amazing -- they're giving us amazing material.?

In fact, he says, perhaps his critics should be thanked for the additional ratings: "It seems they are watching my show more than anybody."?


Fans: Youssef is saying 'what we all want to say'
In one episode he sang to a heart-shaped pillow bearing Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi?s face, and in several others he relied on sexual innuendos to get laughs. Although some have taken offense, the show is viewed by an average of 30 million people on TV, and averages 2.5 million views on YouTube.?

One of those fans, 21-year-old student Mohammed Barakat, said Morsi is just saying ?what we all want to say.?

?Every Friday everyone sits with their family to watch [?The Program?] ? It?s a way to escape all the problems and make fun of what?s going on and takes away a bit of the depression,? Barakat?said.

If the Muslim Brotherhood tries to shut down the show, Youssef said, ?There?s YouTube -- they have to close YouTube then, or they have to put us in jail, or they have to make us flee the country.

?So there are many lovely options out there,? he joked.

But Morsi isn?t laughing.?

Egypt?s top prosecutor issued an arrest warrant, accusing Bassem of insulting Morsi and Islam. Youssef turned himself in and then was released on bail after being interrogated, prompting a stern statement from the U.S. State Department.

It followed several legal complaints filed by Morsi supporters.

Sayed Hamad, a lawyer who filed one of those complaints, said Youssef?s show is ?shattering ? all the values and ethics that we are used to.??

For Youssef to wear a giant hat, an exaggerated version of the graduation hat Morsi wore in March when he was awarded an honorary degree, was "humiliating" to the president, Hamad said.

But when Youssef also wore the hat to his interrogation at the prosecutor general?s office, Hamad said it was akin to ?a drug dealer who was caught red-handed going into the courtroom with drugs in his hand.?

'You don't have to be petty'
On Monday, the prosecutor general accused Youssef and his TV station?s CEO with disturbing the peace. That day, "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" took aim at Morsi?s government.

?When you?re actually powerful, you don?t have to be petty,? Stewart said during his 11-minute segment on Youssef?s arrest. ?Bassem is my friend, my brother. There are two things he loves in this world with all his heart: Egypt and Islam. And his family. Three things.?

The U.S. Embassy in Cairo tweeted a link to Stewart?s monologue, angering Morsi whose office tweeted: ?It?s inappropriate for a diplomatic mission to engage in such negative political propaganda.? The embassy deleted its Twitter account temporarily then it resurfaced without the link to Stewart?s show.?

At one time, Morsi pledged to uphold freedom of expression.?

When asked in January, two years after the Arab Spring uprising, if Youssef and other critics such as Mohamed ElBaradei need to worry about going to jail, Morsi told CNN, ?They are Egyptians, they are part of my family in Egypt, there is no way any harm can befall them because of their opinions or their personal opposition.?

That remains to be seen. With so many admirers of the show, any decision to punish Youssef would likely be met with public outcry.

?I wouldn?t allow it, personally. If it takes us demonstrating to stop it because it?s not just about Bassem Youssef, it?s about freedom of speech -- simple as that,? American University professor Hala Abdel Hak said.

Store owner Ghada Abdel Hak says Youssef has an ability to ?put a mirror in front of you in a very funny and smart way.?

?Egyptians now after the revolutions will not shut up,? he said.

Youssef's legal ordeal is far from over -- he could be called back into the general prosecutor's office for questioning, or referred to trial.?

So far, however, he isn?t bending to political pressure. If things escalate and he?s forced to leave the country, he says ?he?ll do so with a broken heart.?

Producer Taha Belal contributed to this report.?

?

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653387/s/2a68f2a0/l/0Ldailynightly0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A40C0A60C17620A0A890Efor0Ebassem0Eyoussef0Eegypts0Ejon0Estewart0Esatire0Eis0Eno0Elaughing0Ematter0Dlite/story01.htm

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Microsoft launches Apprentice of the Year competition

Microsoft has launched its 2013 Apprentice of the Year competition, as part of its commitment to help 300,000 British 16-24 year olds into work over the next three years through its Get On programme.

The Apprentice of the Year competition is open to anyone on a Microsoft-backed apprenticeship in the UK. The award also recognises the support provided by Microsoft's partner network of small and medium sized IT businesses and training providers QA, Firebrand, Baltic and Remit, who help deliver the apprenticeship schemes.

The deadline for applications is the 10 May and the Apprentice and Apprenticeship Provider of the Year awards will be announced at a parliamentary reception in June.

Hugh Milward, Microsoft director of corporate affairs, said: "Over 90 percent of Microsoft apprentices stay with our partner businesses where they started their apprenticeship, moving into a fully qualified role, and the Apprentice of the Year Award recognises their hard work and achievements so far."

As part of the Get On campaign Microsoft has committed to creating 4,000 apprenticeships over the next three years.

Last year's Apprentice of the Year winner was David Robertson, of Crawley-based Cloud9 Insight. Robertson said: "Through my apprenticeship I have developed the IT skills that will help me succeed in my career and I'm now working as a support consultant at Cloud9, which has completely changed my life."

Source: http://www.cfoworld.com/operations/61119/microsoft-launches-apprentice-year-competition

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Saturday, April 6, 2013

Italy pardons U.S. pilot convicted in CIA rendition case

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's president on Friday pardoned a U.S. Air Force officer convicted of kidnapping an Egyptian Muslim cleric who was taken away for interrogation on a CIA "rendition" flight.

Such covert flights were among the tactics used to wage the "War on Terror" under the administration of former U.S. President George W. Bush, after the 9/11 attacks. They have been condemned by human rights groups as a violation of international agreements.

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano said he had pardoned Colonel Joseph L. Romano, who was the only person not a member of the CIA among 23 Americans sentenced for the kidnapping of Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr in Milan in 2003.

Romano's lawyer had requested the pardon. The clemency was granted because the United States and Italy are close allies that "share the common goals of promoting democracy and security" around the world, a statement from the president said.

The Egyptian cleric, also known as Abu Omar, was secretly flown to Egypt for interrogation, where he says he was tortured for seven months. He was a resident in Italy at the time of the abduction.

Italy was the first country to convict American nationals for their involvement in a rendition.

Romano and 21 others received seven-year jail terms for kidnapping, while the former CIA Milan station chief Robert Seldon Lady was sentenced to nine years in jail.

All were tried in absentia and the Italian government has so far shown little indication it will ask for them to be extradited to serve the terms. No reason was given for why Romano was awarded clemency while the 22 CIA members were not.

U.S. President Barack Obama has tried to distance himself from heavy-handed intelligence tactics employed by the Bush administration, and ordered the CIA to close its long-term prisons in 2009.

(Reporting by Naomi O'Leary; Editing by Steve Scherer and Pravin Char)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/italy-pardons-u-pilot-convicted-cia-rendition-case-193425904.html

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A Sleeping Pill Without The Sleepy Head?

Current sleep remedies risk addiction and memory problems, but a new class of medications may avoid these issues.

A good night?s sleep is hard to get? up to 70 million Americans have disorders that disrupt their nightly slumber and take a toll on their daily activities, according to the latest government data. Among those under age 25, 44% reported falling asleep at least once in the past month because they were sleep deprived. But medications that help us to nod off may not always be safe. Sleeping pills don?t always lead to a restful night?s sleep, and studies show they can impair memory or even become habit-forming.

But in a study published in Science Translational Medicine, researchers led by Jason Uslaner of Merck found that an experimental agent known as DORA-22 can promote sleep in both rhesus monkeys and rats, without affecting memory or reaction time.? DORA-22 is part of a class of new drugs ? one of which the Food and Drug Administration is already considering for approval ? known as orexin antagonists.

?It?s high quality research,? says Jerome Siegel, professor of psychiatry at University of California Los Angeles, who was not associated with the study.

(MORE: Can?t Sleep? Losing Belly Fat Might Help)

The authors compared the sleep-inducing effects of DORA-22 to those of three well-known sleeping pills: diazepam (Valium), zolpidem (Ambien) and eszopiclone (Lunesta), which work by slowing down brain activity.?Immediately after giving the animals the drugs, the scientists tested the animals? memory and reaction time. (While most people take sleeping pills before going to bed, such effects are important to document so researchers, and users, can fully understand how their brains and bodies are affected by the medications in case people don?t take the drugs as prescribed.)

?It?s very enticing because there are some clear results that show [that these drugs] differ from old hypnotic drugs in terms of affecting cognition and memory in two animal species,? says Dr. Emmanuel Mignot, director of the Stanford Center for Sleep Sciences, who wrote a commentary on the research, which was published in Science.

Rats given high enough doses to cause sleep of the three currently available drugs? had difficulty recognizing whether they had seen an object previously presented to them, while those dosed with DORA-22 did not show such compromised recall. Similarly, all of the drugs except DORA-22 reduced rhesus monkeys? ability to react to a touch screen and correctly choose a colored square associated with a reward. In fact, even at doses 30 times higher than the lowest amount needed to affect sleep, the drug did not impair performance on this task.

(MORE: Sleeping It Off: How Alcohol Affects Sleep Quality)

What makes this new class of drugs different? Orexins, which are also known as hypocretins, are brain chemicals that promote wakefulness. Of the brain?s billions of neurons, only tens of thousands produce orexins. People with narcolepsy who have difficulty staying awake and are prone to suddenly falling asleep without warning are missing almost all of the neurons that produce these chemicals. DORA-22 and similar drugs work by blocking orexins by essentially producing a brief and reversible bout of narcolepsy.

?DORA binds to orexin receptors in the brain, which are located in areas that control sleep and wakefulness,? says John Renger, a co-author of the study and executive director of neuroscience at Merck, which funded the research. ?At night orexin levels [normally] go down. [DORA works] by? mimicking what happens in the normal system where signaling in this system goes away at night.? The drug blocks orexin receptors so any of chemical that may be circulating can?t bind to its receptors and contribute to wakefulness.

In contrast, most of the currently available sleep drugs affect GABA, which is among the most prevalent chemicals found in the brain and is associated with calming the brain. While activating GABA can induce sleep, it may also cloud thinking and memory. But these drugs can also be addictive, both because they rapidly reduce anxiety and because they affect dopamine neurons that are associated with pleasure.

(MORE: Study: Sleeping Pills Linked with Early Death)

The search for a sleeping agent without these potential side effects has long been a difficult one. ?There are booms and busts,? says Mignot, noting that each generation of pills has been hailed as having fewer adverse effects than the previous one, only to show similar or new problems after several years on the market.? Ambien and Lunesta, for example, may have less addictive potential than Valium and Xanax which came before them,? but the newer drugs also seem to cause more problems with memory than the older class.

But because the orexin-blockers don?t seem to loop in the pleasure centers of the brain as the existing sleep medications do, they could also have a side effect of prompted bad moods, says Siegel, although that?s not such a problem if it only lasts a few minutes before you fall asleep.

He also points out that being anxious or in pain, both conditions associated with poor sleep, are linked with lower levels of orexin. Blocking orexin receptors in these people, then, wouldn?t help to improve sleep since orexin levels are already low. ?It may be ineffective in exactly the population who needs it, people who are depressed and anxious, who probably have minimal levels of [orexin] to start with,? he says.

(MORE: Are You Happy? You Might Have Hypocretin to Thank)

More research will be needed to better understand these effects, and that data may be available soon since other agents that work on the orexin system are further along in human testing than DORA-22. Merck has conducted three successful clinical trials with another compound, suvorexant, and the FDA will meet to consider those results in May. Renger says that so far, those findings show that suvorexant is similar to drugs like Ambien in helping people get to sleep faster and is ?superior to the drugs on the market,? in maintaining uninterrupted sleep. ?So far, it does not seem to have the side effects of the older drugs, as predicted.

But only after such drugs make it to the market? if they ever do? will we know if a new generation of sleeping pills will finally let us rest easy.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sleeping-pill-without-sleepy-head-094517311.html

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Williams sisters win their way into semis

Serena Williams returns to Mallory Burdette during the Family Circle Cup tennis tournament in Charleston, S.C., Friday, April 5, 2013. Williams and Burdette played their third round match on Friday since rain postponed their match on Thursday. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Serena Williams returns to Mallory Burdette during the Family Circle Cup tennis tournament in Charleston, S.C., Friday, April 5, 2013. Williams and Burdette played their third round match on Friday since rain postponed their match on Thursday. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Venus Williams returns to Varvara Lepchenko at the Family Circle Cup tennis tournament in Charleston, S.C., Friday, April 5, 2013. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Serena Williams returns to Mallory Burdette at the Family Circle Cup tennis tournament in Charleston, S.C., Friday, April 5, 2013. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Isha Price, Venus Williams' sister, braves the cold and off-and-on rain during Williams' match against Varvara Lepchenko at the Family Circle Cup tennis tournament in Charleston, S.C., Friday, April 5, 2013. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

Varvara Lepchenko returns to Venus Williams returns at the Family Circle Cup tennis tournament in Charleston, S.C., Friday, April 5, 2013. (AP Photo/Mic Smith)

(AP) ? Top-ranked Serena Williams ended a long and successful day for the Williams family as she and sister Venus both won twice Friday to reach the Family Circle Cup semifinals and set up their first sibling showdown since 2009.

Serena won her 13th straight match by defeating sixth-seeded Lucie Safarova, 6-4, 6-1. Earlier, she topped two-time NCAA doubles champ Mallory Burdette in a third-round match moved due to Thursday's 7 ?-hour rain delay.

Venus also had double duty, rallying past Varvara Lepchenko in three sets before ousting 18-year-old Madison Keys later on Billie Jean King Court.

The Williams sisters next go for a spot in the finals Saturday. They haven't met in a tournament since the 2009 Tour Championships in Qatar. Serena holds a 13-10 lead, although they're 1-1 on clay.

"For the record, we've never played two matches on the same day," Serena told the stadium crowd. "You guys had a real treat."

They surely did. The sisters were the first four matches on the stadium court ? and they only dropped one set combined.

"I was thinking it was a quadruple-header," Venus said with a laugh. "I don't know if that's ever going to happen again."

The excitement continues Saturday when the sisters go against each for a 24th time in their stellar careers at a venue where both have enjoyed championship moments.

Serena is seeking her third Family Circle title after wins in her last two appearances here in 2008 and 2012. Venus took this title in 2004 and scored the clinching points last September when the Washington Kastles took the World Team Tennis crown at Family Circle Tennis Center.

There's another side of the bracket, too. Jelena Jankovic won her 500th career match with a straight sets win over Eugenie Bouchard. Jankovic will face either No. 2 seed Caroline Wozniacki or Stephanie Voegele in the semifinals.

"In order to have 500 wins, I think you have to have a pretty long career, be pretty consistent," the 28-year-old Jankovic said.

The sisters were put in the unusual spot of doubling up when the rain postponed much of Thursday's schedule.

Venus Williiams looked her most comfortable of the week against the power-hitting Keys. Williams had needed a third set to pull out both her previous matches and it looked as though it might happen again when Keys was a point away from moving in front 4-1 in the second set.

But Williams was able to rally to win five of the final six games, securing her second semifinal berth in four tournaments this year.

Venus Williams seemed to have her first match under control, ahead 6-2 and 3-0 in the second set. Lapchenko rallied to win seven of the next eight games while a chilly drizzle fell in the middle of the second set and took a 1-0 lead in the decisive set. That's when Williams again found her game and pulled away by winning six of the final seven games.

Venus Williams returned to clay-court action at the 2012 Family Circle after an absence of about two years on the surface. A bout with the autoimmune disease Sjogren's Syndrome kept her from the game for almost six months between the 2011 U.S. Open and the 2012 Sony Open. She reached the quarterfinals here a year ago, falling to Samantha Stosur to prevent an all-Williams semi that time.

Safarova, who lost to Serena Williams, 6-0, 6-1 in the 2012 finals, led in the opening set and had a point to go up 5-2. Instead, Williams rallied back from deuce and won the final four games to take the set.

Williams big serves and power game smothered Safarova after that.

Williams served a 106 mph ace to set up match point, then chased down Safarova's drop shot to take the match ? and give herself a well-earned rest.

Burdette held her own against Serena Williams, the world's No. 1 player, and was tied at 4 in the opening set. Burdette had a chance to get to 5-all a few moments later, but Williams won the next three points to close out the set.

Williams screamed loudly and pumped her fist after taking the set.

Williams broke out again when the second set was tied at 2-all, winning the final four games.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-04-05-TEN-Family-Circle/id-5d602bc1960c4106991ff40f30e7384b

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Walgreens Becomes 1st Retail Chain To Diagnose, Treat Chronic ...

Bulletin Today | Personal Health Print

By Julia Appleby, Kaiser Health News. This story was produced in collaboration with USA Today

It?s not just sore throats and flu shots anymore. Walgreens today became the first retail store chain to expand its health care services to include diagnosing and treating patients for chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes and high cholesterol.

walgreens-image-meThe move is the retail industry?s boldest push yet into an area long controlled by physicians, and comes amid continuing concerns about health care costs and a potential shortage of primary care doctors.

?Those two words, diagnosis and treatment, are big words. They show [Walgreens] is coming out of the closet and saying we really are going to do primary care now,? said Tom Charland, chief executive officer of Merchant Medicine, a health care consulting firm.

Other retail store clinics, such as those at Walmart, CVS and Target stores, help customers manage chronic illnesses but generally do so only after they have been diagnosed elsewhere. More than a year ago,?Walmart outlined plans to provide primary care in a leaked confidential document ? but then appeared to back away from the idea.

Walgreens officials say they will have nurse practitioners and physician assistants at more than 300 Take Care Clinics in 18 states and the District of Columbia to do tests and make diagnoses ? and also write prescriptions, refer patients for additional tests and help them manage their conditions.

?We?re not trying to take over primary care, but we think we can help support physicians and transform the way care is delivered to provide more access points at a time when people need it the most,? said Heather Helle, a division vice president at Walgreens.

But?that offer was not welcomed by the president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, who said it is more difficult to manage patients? care if they are treated in various settings ? and that the clinics may not have some specialty services needed to treat those with complex diseases.

?It ends up being riskier for patients and costlier for the country,? said AAFP President Jeffrey Cain, a family doctor in Denver.

Helle said that in a perfect world all patients would have their own primary care doctors, ?but, in reality, they simply do not.?

She said physicians will help oversee Walgreens? clinics ? and the clinics can transmit test results and other information electronically to doctors? offices. She noted that clinics could help people find doctors too.? Many would have an affiliation or other link with the stores? clinics.

Retail clinics generally appeal to consumers looking for convenience and cost savings.? Costs are roughly 30 percent to 40 percent less than similar care at doctor?s offices and 80 percent cheaper than at an emergency room,?according to a 2011 study published in the American Journal of Managed Care.

At Walgreens, services will range from about $65 to $122 and will be offered in all Take Care Clinics except in Missouri, where state laws restrict services provided by non-physicians, the company said.

Walgreens? move puts it in the potentially lucrative business of treating customers with long-term medical problems, which often require prescription drugs or other supplies that could be purchased at its stores.

Fireworks in Oakley, July 3, 2010Expanding services to diagnosis and treatment of chronic conditions that affect millions of Americans is a logical step, because the clinics can not only grow their own business, but also partner with hospitals and doctors? groups to gain new customers, said Ronald L. Hammerle, president of Health Resources, a Florida consulting firm.

?Everyone is trying to figure out how to get into that space,? he said. ?The sophisticated player recognizes that whoever controls point of entry [to health services] manages the downstream referral business.?

In addition to its in-store clinics, Walgreens runs about 350 health clinics at worksites, which are paid for by employers. The retailer also has a program to link patients leaving hospitals with Take Care Clinics and Walgreens pharmacies.

At least one physicians? group that had been briefed on the expanded clinics took a more conciliatory stance to the retailer?s announcement.

?We understand retail clinics are here to stay and likely to be expanding,? said Steven Weinberger, executive vice president of the American College of Physicians. ?We need to figure out how the patient can be best served ? in terms of safety, access and communication with the primary care physicians.?

Photos: Clinic sign, Steve Mencher;?stethoscope, JD Lasica via Flickr;?

?

Also of Interest

?

See the AARP home page for deals, savings tips, trivia and more

?

Source: http://blog.aarp.org/2013/04/04/walgreens-becomes-1st-retail-chain-to-diagnose-treat-chronic-conditions/

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Friday, April 5, 2013

U.S. agents seize suspected Bissau drug kingpin at sea

By Richard Valdmanis and Alvaro Andrade

DAKAR/PRAIA (Reuters) - U.S. anti-narcotics agents have arrested the former navy chief of Guinea-Bissau, wanted by Washington as a suspected kingpin of the international drugs trade, in a sting operation off the coast of West Africa, sources familiar with the operation said.

Rear Admiral Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto was detained by anti-narcotics officers along with four other Guinea-Bissau citizens on a boat in international waters on Tuesday, the sources told Reuters.

It was the most high-profile arrest to date in the fight against drugs trafficking in Guinea-Bissau, where South American cartels have used the mangrove-lined islands as a base for smuggling cocaine into Europe for more than a decade.

Na Tchuto, who has been involved in several failed coups in the former Portuguese colony, was transported to Cape Verde and would be sent to the United States for prosecution, the sources said.

Fernando Vaz, a spokesman for Guinea-Bissau's government, confirmed the arrest of the five men. He said they were captured by Cape Verdean agents, who then transferred them to U.S. authorities.

"Rear Admiral Jose Americo Bubo Na Tchuto was arrested off the coast of Cape Verde in a boat flying the Panama flag," he said.

Cape Verdean officials in the capital, Praia, were not immediately available for comment.

Na Tchuto was one of two Bissau-Guineans designated as drug kingpins, or "significant foreign narcotics traffickers" by the U.S. government in 2010, and hit with a U.S. travel ban and asset freeze.

Both Bubo Na Tchuto and Air Force Chief of Staff Ibraima Papa Camara were linked to an aircraft suspected of flying several hundred kilograms of cocaine from Venezuela to Guinea-Bissau in July 2008, the U.S. Treasury Department said.

Guinea-Bissau's military has repeatedly intervened in politics since independence from Portugal in 1974.

U.N. counter-narcotics officials say there is also evidence senior officers have helped Latin American cocaine cartels ferry tons of drugs from Colombia to Europe, using Guinea-Bissau's maze of coastal creeks and offshore islands to store and transfer them.

Guinea-Bissau is rich in natural resources - including minerals, cashews and some of the world's best fisheries - but political instability has hindered investment and kept most of its 1.6 million people mired in poverty.

The country has been in turmoil since soldiers last seized power in April 2012. A post-coup transition government released Na Tchuto from prison in June, after he was jailed following a failed December 2011 attempt to take over the country.

The current caretaker government of President Manuel Sherifo Nhamadjo was supposed to organize elections in May, but a summit of West African heads of state last month extended the transition period until the end of this year.

Army chief General Antonio Indjai has been accused of leading the April coup and the European Union says he still holds sway.

On Thursday, Indjai accused the British honorary consul in Bissau of spreading false rumors about the situation in the country and said the military would not tolerate anyone who tried to tarnish the nation's image abroad.

(Writing by Daniel Flynn; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Peter Cooney)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-agents-seize-suspected-bissau-drug-kingpin-sea-002807302.html

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Open Photonics and VTT announce collaboration in commercialization of revolutionary spectral engine technologies

Open Photonics and VTT announce collaboration in commercialization of revolutionary spectral engine technologies [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 5-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Howard Rupprecht
Howard.rupprecht@vtt.fi
358-207-224-609
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland

Open Photonics, Inc., a photonics technology acceleration company and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland have announced a partnership to accelerate the commercialization of VTT's advanced Fabry-Perot visible and infrared spectroscopy and spectral imaging technologies.

"Open Photonics has introduced a new model for speeding commercialization. We see great synergies in linking VTT's spectral engine technology with our commercial partners focusing on bringing next generation sensing technologies to market," says Jason Eichenholz, CEO of Open Photonics, Inc.

VTT's novel Fabry-Perot technologies enable size and cost reductions in the next generation of spectral measurement instrumentation. These properties combined with access to new wavelength regions are the key drivers for future measurement and process control devices. VTT's innovative sensing platforms have been demonstrated in many applications including medical imaging, gas analysis, process monitoring and remote airborne sensing.

"The Open Photonics team has strong know-how on the commercialization process, potential markets as well as potential partners and customers globally. VTT's strategy is to make business out of technology, and by collaborating with Open Photonics and leveraging their business and technological expertise in photonics, we expect to accelerate the commercialization of our optical sensing technology significantly," says Howard Rupprecht, Vice President of New Business Development at VTT.

###

About Open Photonics, Inc.

Open Photonics Inc. (OPI) accelerates early-stage product development, innovation and research and development for global clients that seek photonic based solutions as part of their strategy and product roadmap. Open Photonics manages a completely new type of open innovation and crowd-sourcing grant program, Photonic HorizonsTM, to harvest technology and new product ideas sitting dormant within garages, universities or small companies and match them with more established companies looking to bring these ideas to market via their established processes and channels. OPI only engages clients and projects encompassing the commercialization of photonics technologies. http://www.open-photonics.com

About VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland is a leading multi-technological applied research organization in Northern Europe. VTT creates new technology and science-based innovations in co-operation with domestic and foreign partners. VTT's turnover is EUR 290 million and its personnel totals 3100. http://www.vtt.fi

Further information:

Howard Rupprecht
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
+358 20 722 4609
Email: Howard.rupprecht@vtt.fi

Jason Eichenholz
Open Photonics, Inc.
+1 (407) 900-5259
Email: info@open-photonics.com

Kim Abair
Marketing Consulting Services, LLC
+1 (657) 549-2250
Email: kimabair@gmail.com

Further information on VTT:

Olli Ernvall
Senior Vice President, Communications
358 20 722 6747
olli.ernvall@vtt.fi
http://www.vtt.fi


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Open Photonics and VTT announce collaboration in commercialization of revolutionary spectral engine technologies [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 5-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Howard Rupprecht
Howard.rupprecht@vtt.fi
358-207-224-609
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland

Open Photonics, Inc., a photonics technology acceleration company and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland have announced a partnership to accelerate the commercialization of VTT's advanced Fabry-Perot visible and infrared spectroscopy and spectral imaging technologies.

"Open Photonics has introduced a new model for speeding commercialization. We see great synergies in linking VTT's spectral engine technology with our commercial partners focusing on bringing next generation sensing technologies to market," says Jason Eichenholz, CEO of Open Photonics, Inc.

VTT's novel Fabry-Perot technologies enable size and cost reductions in the next generation of spectral measurement instrumentation. These properties combined with access to new wavelength regions are the key drivers for future measurement and process control devices. VTT's innovative sensing platforms have been demonstrated in many applications including medical imaging, gas analysis, process monitoring and remote airborne sensing.

"The Open Photonics team has strong know-how on the commercialization process, potential markets as well as potential partners and customers globally. VTT's strategy is to make business out of technology, and by collaborating with Open Photonics and leveraging their business and technological expertise in photonics, we expect to accelerate the commercialization of our optical sensing technology significantly," says Howard Rupprecht, Vice President of New Business Development at VTT.

###

About Open Photonics, Inc.

Open Photonics Inc. (OPI) accelerates early-stage product development, innovation and research and development for global clients that seek photonic based solutions as part of their strategy and product roadmap. Open Photonics manages a completely new type of open innovation and crowd-sourcing grant program, Photonic HorizonsTM, to harvest technology and new product ideas sitting dormant within garages, universities or small companies and match them with more established companies looking to bring these ideas to market via their established processes and channels. OPI only engages clients and projects encompassing the commercialization of photonics technologies. http://www.open-photonics.com

About VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland is a leading multi-technological applied research organization in Northern Europe. VTT creates new technology and science-based innovations in co-operation with domestic and foreign partners. VTT's turnover is EUR 290 million and its personnel totals 3100. http://www.vtt.fi

Further information:

Howard Rupprecht
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
+358 20 722 4609
Email: Howard.rupprecht@vtt.fi

Jason Eichenholz
Open Photonics, Inc.
+1 (407) 900-5259
Email: info@open-photonics.com

Kim Abair
Marketing Consulting Services, LLC
+1 (657) 549-2250
Email: kimabair@gmail.com

Further information on VTT:

Olli Ernvall
Senior Vice President, Communications
358 20 722 6747
olli.ernvall@vtt.fi
http://www.vtt.fi


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Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-04/vtrc-opa040513.php

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