Former hit man expected to testify in Bulger murder trial

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

BOSTON (Reuters) - Jurors are expected to hear more grisly details about reputed mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger's reign of terror in Boston when a former hit man testifies against his ex-boss in the closely watched racketeering and murder trial on Monday.

Bulger faces a 32-count indictment that includes 19 murders he allegedly committed or ordered. The 83-year old, known as "Whitey" for the shock of blond hair he had even as a child, is accused of running Boston's "Winter Hill Gang" for decades and threatening to kill small-time criminals unless they paid protection money.

He has pleaded not guilty to all counts.

The trial marks the final chapter in one of Boston's longest-running crime dramas, bringing some closure to families of the 19 murder victims who are planning to come to the waterfront courthouse daily for the trial that is expected to last three to four months.

In last week's opening statements, prosecutors portrayed Bulger as a hands-on killer while Bulger's lawyer described him as a mild-mannered criminal who had engaged in illegal gambling, loansharking and drug dealing but not murder.

Jurors heard from two former bookmakers who made illegal bets on sports events and will hear more from one of them, Richard O'Brien, on Monday. Bulger's lawyer will then cross-examine him.

The police started to cultivate them as informants for leads on Bulger in the 1980s when officials tried to crack down on violent gangs in Boston.

On Friday the 84-year-old O'Brien, who had spent decades placing illegal bets on horse-racing and football games, told jurors of Bulger's threats.

"We have a business beyond bookmaking," O'Brien recalled Bulger telling him in a private meeting decades ago to settle a disagreement. "Killing assholes like you."

"Rather than being in the bookmaking business and taking the unknown gamble, they would take rent like you would for an apartment," O'Brien testified.

On Monday, the prosecution will also put on one of its star witnesses, John Martorano, who admitted to killing 20 people and served 12 years in prison.

Bulger's attorneys have raised questions about the reliability of the testimony of Martorano and Bulger associates Stephen Flemmi and Kevin Weeks who are also expected to take the stand. The men, Bulger's lawyers contend, fingered the mobster for murders he did not commit in exchange for lesser sentences for their own crimes.

Bulger fled Boston in 1994 after being tipped off that he would soon be indicted. In his 16 years on the run he was on the FBI's Most Wanted List of criminals. He was captured in 2011 in California.

(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Richard Chang)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/former-hit-man-expected-testify-bulger-murder-trial-091754368.html

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Katy Perry: Russell Brand dumped her via text

Celebs

Ashley Majeski TODAY contributor

1 hour ago

Vogue

Katy Perry graces the cover of the July issue of Vogue.

In the past, Katy Perry has shied away from publicly discussing her divorce from comedian Russell Brand, but in a new interview with Vogue, the singer reveals that their relationship -- and their split -- was hardly a "Teenage Dream."

"He's a very smart man, a magical man and I was in love with him when I married him," Perry said.

However, things with Brand, who Perry said was controlling, are anything but "magical" these days.

"Let's just say I haven't heard from him since he texted me saying he was divorcing me December 31, 2011."

Dumped by a text message on New Years Eve?! Ouch! The pop star continued to dish on life after Brand, stating that she once caught him making fun of her during a performance post-split.

"[He's] hysterical in some ways," she said. "Until he started making jokes about me and he didn?t know I was in the audience, because I had come to surprise him at one of his shows. So. Hysterical to a point."

Lucas Jackson / Reuters file

Katy Perry and Russell Brand married on Oct. 23, 2010.

While Perry admitted that her constant touring played a major role in the relationship's demise, she hints of a bigger underlying reason for the divorce, but declined to elaborate.

"I felt a lot of responsibility for it ending, but then I found out the real truth, which I can?t necessarily disclose because I keep it locked in my safe for a rainy day," she said.

Perry also revealed the real truth about her much-publicized on-and-off relationship with singer John Mayer, refuting claims that she only dated Mayer to get revenge on Brand.

"No, I was madly in love with him. I still am madly in love with him," she said. "All I can say about that relationship is that he?s got a beautiful mind. Beautiful mind, tortured soul. I do have to figure out why I am attracted to these broken birds."

While Perry and Mayer were "off" when she gave the Vogue interview (they most recently split in March), they've been spotted out together in recent weeks. Still, Perry insists that she's coming to terms with being single.

"I have to be happy being alone, and I am happy," she said. "I believe that I will be loved again, in the right way. I know I?m worth it."

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/katy-perry-claims-russell-brand-dumped-her-text-message-6C10368482

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Pentagon says women in all combat units by 2016 (CNN)

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Israeli, Palestinian finance ministers meet

JERUSALEM (AP) ? Israeli and Palestinian finance ministers have agreed on a series of economic cooperation projects.

Sunday's meeting between Israel's Yair Lapid and the Palestinians' Shukri Bashara marked the first high-profile meeting between officials since the new Israeli government took office in March.

Lapid said cooperation would include joint investments and trade between the sides. He said it would benefit both and vowed to "continue to strengthen the connection and promote important economic issues that are important to both sides."

Lapid leads the centrist Yesh Atid Party. He has conditioned the party's membership in the governing coalition on a viable effort to restart peace talks with the Palestinians.

Israel and the Palestinians cooperate economically on a number of fronts. Israel, for instance, collects some tax and customs money for the Palestinians.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/israeli-palestinian-finance-ministers-meet-161948199.html

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Defying gov't, Turkish protesters to stay in park

ISTANBUL (AP) ? Protesters have agreed to press on with their 2-week-long sit-in at an Istanbul park, despite government appeals and warnings for the standoff with authorities to end, an activist said Saturday.

Tayfun Kahraman made the comment to The Associated Press after a series of discussions among the protesters in Gezi Park to decide on their next move.

He was one of two activists in Taksim Solidarity, an umbrella group of protest movements, who had met with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday.

The protesters are angry about government plans to pull down trees and redevelop the park area. An initial sit-in drew a forceful police response on May 31, setting off a wave of protests ? Turkey's biggest in decades.

Saturday's announcement is likely to return the spotlight on Erdogan's government, which in recent days offered to defer to a court ruling on the legality of the redevelopment plan and possibly hold a referendum on it. But on Thursday, he issued a "final" warning that the protesters must leave the park.

---

Jamey Keaten and Suzan Fraser contributed from Ankara, Turkey.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/defying-govt-turkish-protesters-stay-park-090020290.html

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Iran's voters show fervor in showdown atmosphere

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? Iran's supreme leader delivered a salty rebuke to the U.S. Friday as Iranians lined up to vote in a presidential election that has suddenly become a showdown across the Islamic Republic's political divide: hard-liners looking to cement their control and re-energized reformists backing the lone moderate.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei responded to U.S. questions over the openness of the balloting, telling Washington "the hell with you" after voting in a race widely criticized in the West as pre-rigged in favor of Tehran's ruling system.

Long lines snaked outside some voting stations in Tehran and elsewhere. Iran's interior ministry extended the voting time by five hours. The enthusiasm suggested an election once viewed as a pre-engineered victory for Iran's ruling establishment has become a chance for reform-minded voters to re-exert their voices after years of withering crackdowns.

There is no clear front-runner among the six candidates trying to succeed the combative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose eight-year era is coming to an end because of rules blocking a run for a third consecutive term. But influential figures on all sides have appealed for a strong turnout, indicating both the worries and hopes across an election that has been transformed in recent days.

Iran's loose coalition of liberals, reformists and opposition activists ? battered and fragmented by relentless pressures ? have found last-minute inspiration in former nuclear negotiator Hasan Rowhani, the only relative moderate left in the race.

A victory by Rowhani would be seen as a small setback for Iran's hard-liners, but not the type of overwhelming challenge posed four years ago by the reformist Green Movement, which was brutally crushed after mass protests claiming Ahmadinejad's 2009 re-election was the result of systematic fraud in the vote counting.

Iran's president has no direct say in key decisions ? such as the nuclear program, defense and foreign relations ? but sets an important tone on the world stage and as the country's main envoy.

If no candidate wins an outright majority, a runoff pitting the two top finishers would take place June 21, so even a strong showing by Rowhani in Friday's voting could face another test. Results are expected early Saturday.

Rowhani's backers, such as former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ? who was blocked from running by Iran's ruling system ? have urged reformists and others to cast ballots and abandon plans to boycott the election in protest over years of arrests and intimidation.

"Both I and my mother voted for Rowhani," said Saeed Joorabchi, a university student in geography, after casting his ballot at a mosque in west Tehran.

In the Persian Gulf city of Bandar Abbas, local journalist Ali Reza Khorshidzadeh said many polling stations have significant lines and many voters appear to back Rowhani.

But fervor also was strong for other presumed leading candidates: hardline nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and Tehran's mayor, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who is boosted by a reputation as a steady hand for Iran's sanctions-wracked economy.

"We should resist the West," said Tehran taxi driver Hasan Ghasemi, who backed Jalili.

Outside Iran, votes were casts by the country's huge diaspora including Dubai, London and points across the United States.

Khamenei, who has not publicly endorsed a successor for Ahmadinejad following their falling out over the president's attempts to challenge the supreme leader's near-absolute powers, remained mum on his choice Friday.

Instead, he blasted the U.S. for its repeated criticism of Iran's clampdowns on the opposition and the rejection of Rafsanjani and other moderate voices from the ballot.

"Recently I have heard that a U.S. security official has said they do not accept this election," Khamenei was quoted by state TV after casting his vote. "OK, the hell with you."

In Washington on Thursday, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that while the U.S. does not think the Iranian election process is transparent, it is not discouraging the Iranian people from voting.

"We certainly encourage them to," Psaki said. "But certainly the history here and what happened just four years ago gives all of us pause."

Iran's election overseers allowed eight candidates on the ballot out of more than 680 registered. Two candidates later dropped out in bids to consolidate votes with rivals. Journalists were under wide-ranging restrictions such as requiring permission to travel around the country. Iran does not allow outside election observers.

Iran's security networks, meanwhile, have displayed their near-blanket control, ranging from swift crackdowns on any public dissent to cyberpolice blocking opposition Internet websites and social media.

Yet other cracks are evident.

Western sanctions over Iran's nuclear program have pummeled the economy by shrinking vital oil sales and leaving the country isolated from international banking systems. New U.S. measures taking effect July 1 further target the country's currency, the rial, which has lost half its foreign exchange value in the past year, driving prices of food and consumer goods sharply higher.

Such concerns could have a direct effect on the outcome of the election. Qalibaf is widely viewed as a capable fiscal manager and could draw in votes, since economic affairs are among the direct responsibilities of Iran's president.

All other major issues are fully controlled by the Khamenei, his inner circle and its protectors, led by the powerful Revolutionary Guard. The other candidates permitted on the ballot by election overseers are seen as loyalists, including Jalili and Khamenei adviser Ali Akbar Velayati.

Such insiders in the presidency would give Iran's leadership a seamless front with significant challenges ahead, such as the possible resumption of nuclear talks with the U.S. and other world powers and the increasing showdown in Syria between rebels and the Iranian-backed regime of Bashar Assad.

Recent comments by Khamenei were interpreted as leaning toward Jalili, whose reputation is further enhanced by a battlefield injury during the 1980-88 war with Iraq that cost him the lower part of his right leg.

But the election also could leave Iran further divided. Rowhani's rapid rise from longshot to reformist hopeful ? aided by endorsements from artists and activists ? has shown the resilience of Iran's opposition despite relentless crackdowns. A defeat could leave them even more embittered and alienated.

At final rallies, Rowhani's supporters waved his campaign's signature purple ? a clear nod to the single-color identity of the now-crushed Green Movement and its leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, who has been under house arrest for more than two years. On Wednesday, thousands of supporters welcomed Rowhani yelling: "Long live reforms."

Some Rowhani backers also have used the campaign events to chant for the release of Mousavi and other political prisoners, including former parliament speaker Mahdi Karroubi, leading to some arrests and scuffles with police.

Rowhani is far from a radical outsider, though. He led the influential Supreme National Security Council and was given the highly sensitive nuclear envoy role in 2003, a year after Iran's 20-year-old atomic program was revealed.

But he is believed to favor a less confrontational approach with the West and would give a forum for now-sidelined officials such as Rafsanjani and former President Mohammad Khatami, whose reformist terms from 1997-2005 opened unprecedented social and political freedoms that have since been largely rolled back.

___

Murphy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/irans-voters-show-fervor-showdown-atmosphere-161630235.html

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Kitchen Safe: Putting Your Cravings on Lockdown!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/06/kitchen-safe-putting-your-cravings-on-lockdown/

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Ghost Recon Movie: Michael Bay to Direct?

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/06/ghost-recon-movie-michael-bay-to-direct/

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In a World Trailer: Arrived!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/06/in-a-world-trailer-arrived/

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Deep biosphere harbors active, growing communities of microorganisms

June 12, 2013 ? The deep biosphere -- the realm of sediments far below the seafloor -- harbors a vast ecosystem of bacteria, archaea, and fungi that are actively metabolizing, proliferating, and moving, according a new study by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the University of Delaware (UD).

"This is the first molecular evidence for active cell division in the deep biosphere," says WHOI postdoctoral investigator and lead author on the study Bill Orsi. Previous studies and models had suggested cells were alive, but whether the cells were actually dividing or not had remained elusive.

The finding of so much activity in the deep biosphere has implications for our understanding of global biogeochemical cycles, say the study's authors.

"Cells are very abundant there, but they do not have high activity levels," says WHOI microbial ecologist Virginia Edgcomb. "But it's a huge biosphere, and when you do the math, you see we're talking about a potentially significant contribution. Carbon is being turned over, and that has important implications for models of carbon and nitrogen cycling."

The researchers analyzed messenger RNA (mRNA) from different depths in a sediment core collected off the coast of Peru in 2002 during Leg 201 of the Ocean Drilling Program. Their work was published in Nature on June 12.

This first glimpse into the workings of the heretofore hidden ecosystem was made possible by the first successful extraction of total mRNA, or the "metatranscriptome," from the deep biosphere.

Messenger RNA is highly sought-after by microbial ecologists because its presence indicates that the cells that made it are alive, and because it carries the instructions for the proteins the cells are making. That gives researchers valuable information about the biochemical mechanisms and processes the organisms are using to function.

But because the metabolic rates in the deep biosphere are very low, and because mRNA is present in such small amounts -- only 4 to 10 percent of the total RNA in most environmental samples -- that extracting enough of it to analyze from deep sediments has been thought by many scientists to be impossible, says Edgcomb.

"It's not easy," says William Orsi, who developed the extraction technique while a post-doctoral investigator in Edgcomb's lab at WHOI. "There's a certain amount of banging your head against the wall before it works."

Among the proteins they found coded for in the mRNA, many are involved in cell division, indicating that the cells that made them belong to growing, multiplying populations.

The group found mRNAs related to cell division at all depths tested, from 5 to 159 meters below the seafloor. Such messages were most abundant in zones where cell numbers were the highest, says Orsi, which indicates that the larger cell populations there were likely due to dividing cells.

The study also identified mRNAs for specific biochemical pathways that reveal much about the workings of the deep biosphere ecosystem and its significance to global cycles. The mRNAs came from bacteria and archaea, which have long been recognized as major players in the subseafloor ecosystem; and from fungi, which have recently been suggested to have an important ecological role there.

"Until recently, the fungi in deep sediments have been ignored," says Orsi. "The fact that fungi are metabolically active in deep sediments refines our understanding of the extent of the deep biosphere."

Messenger RNAs coding for enzymes involved in sulfate reduction and nitrate reduction, processes cells use to generate the energy-storing molecule ATP, were also found.

"It's been theorized that much of the energy that microbes get in this environment comes from sulfate reduction," says Orsi. "Basically, instead of breathing with oxygen, they 'breathe' with sulfate."

Until now, models of microbial activity in deep sediments have included sulfate reduction but have not included significant use of nitrate. The current research found comparable numbers of mRNAs involved in nitrate reduction and sulfate reduction, suggesting that both processes are important in the deep biosphere community.

The researchers also found evidence that cells in the deep biosphere are eating amino acids, which are a rich source of carbon and nitrogen and can only come from other living (or recently-deceased) organisms.

"To be a reliable food source for these cells, previous studies have indicated that there probably have to be a lot of dying and/or dead cells to provide the amino acids," says Orsi. He and his colleagues think those dead or dying cells are native to the deep biosphere rather than remnants that drifted down through the water, because most of the dead material that reaches the seafloor from above is rapidly eaten. Deeper than a few centimeters down, most of the amino acids come from cells that lived and died there.

The experiment turned up another surprise: Many of the cells in the deep biosphere are making proteins to make flagella, the whip-like "tails" that propel them through a fluid environment. The researchers were even able to show that cells making flagellar proteins occurred in areas of the sediment where the pore spaces are large enough to permit flagella-driven locomotion. Other cells produced mRNAs related to gliding and twitching. In sum, the work provided strong evidence that cells in deep sediments are capable of a variety of kinds of movement.

"The take-home story there is, if there's room to move, they move," says Orsi.

The current project grew out of earlier studies in 2005 and 2008 by UD microbiologist Jennifer Biddle showing that DNA from fungi occurs in deep sediments from various sites, including the one the current samples came from.

After further work by Biddle, Edgcomb, and other colleagues in 2010 suggested the presence of active populations of living fungi in the sediments, Orsi and Edgcomb obtained funding from the Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations, an NSF-funded Science and Technology Center, to further pursue the activity of fungi in the deep biosphere.

Orsi says obtaining the mRNA was just one of the technical challenges in the complex study. His extraction yielded more than one billion readable mRNA sequences.

"We had a huge matrix of information -- a billion sequences and millions of bits of information associated with those," he says. "How do you parse out what's important and find correlations?"

Orsi worked with Glenn Christman, a bioinformatics programmer at UD, to integrate several bioinformatics tools to address specific ecological questions. Their approach allowed for efficient and high-throughput data analysis that facilitated examination of the immense amount of data.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/VzfCYbq3RGU/130612133053.htm

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Flooring and other home improvement company - Ciekawe linki

Floor renovation is a war: The first step is a good reserve strength: up to 40-90 days for the construction, inspection, search, buy, plus point repair, communication, daily said on eighteen baskets, then embarked on the weekend dozen kilometers of road, run a marathon without physical strength and endurance, but not top down, limited and unlimited energy to fight trivial chores, limited patience to struggle with a few months unavoidably, twelve people family groups ten to twenty people with the design and construction team struggles ideal home to fight with the rapidly shrinking pockets, functional requirements of space and mass aesthetic doctrine to fight ?? This is the challenge of their own knowledge, but also on family harmony Challenge! No wonder people say ?love him, let him go to decorating the house, hate him, allowing him to decorate the house,? in order to create their ideal of the good life, the consumer must be treated as general improvements towards love, although the process is short, but still have perseverance and perseverance. So need each other, and so saw torture, ?Renovation and being renovated? who really like Yuanjialuzhai lover in general, but also a smile or angry with each game. However, where most people than when consumers had just refurbished relax, you see the floor out of the problem. Outdoor deck

Floor decoration game battle ferret ?rework? culprit

Decoration war, who is the decline in the quality of construction forced the culprit? Tracing the source of the problem in order to find the home improvement process focused flashpoint, flooring and other home improvement company?s internal ?construction repair rate list? is the most effective and direct basis. Rework mainly due to moisture differently. Rainy and dry air humidity difference is very large. Air humidity during the rainy season, decoration flooring wood or wood products used in their moisture content is higher than the other seasons. And the winter, the indoor air humidity drops, moisture content of wood is lower. So, in any one season of the year renovation will be completed later in the season a contrast chapped problem occurred project. And this problem is no matter what construction measures are difficult to be fully addressed, the consumer?s home will be some some problems. Also affected by the building itself, the impact of convergence between types and other factors. Wood plastic composite wall panel

?Owners have no expectations, but also never stare field.? Visited the home improvement construction site, a worker being bluntly floor coverings, installing small items, they often ?make do come.? Since no technical content, the installation of various sizes products by consumers has not been seriously, ?I can put on it to? gradually became the owners of the potential requirement for installation issues. However, the reporter learned that the herd floor at home improvement company information, the switch panels and other installation issues, already advancing the repair list. Thus, small items of sloppy installation, it may result in the use of risk, will also affect the quality of living. While the majority of flooring home improvement company also said that if during the warranty period, they will be free onsite troubleshooting installation problems, but Guolebaoxiuji installation problems but will become consumers heart disease. Because home improvement company is only responsible for the decoration of door installation door fee to be charged, while the other home improvement company or guerrillas are not job for such a small door, then it may be a ?maintenance nowhere? situation.

Flooring and other home improvement company completed renovations, the main consumers will go for acceptance? Experts suggest that there is no acceptance for flooring and other home improvement concept of prospective owners who may wish to consider the construction of the highest failure rates from the beginning of the project acceptance. Thus, not only has relevance, but also to more effectively find the problem. For example, floor coverings and other small pieces of switch panel installation problems, can become a layman acceptance targeted key points. Even invite professional third-party inspection agencies to complete the work Shou Fang, owners can also ask them to focus on checking the highest failure rates of several major projects.

Not all of the ?high failure rates? can not stop, but it is understood, want to escape ?being repaired? the claws, not only need to buy an upgraded version of construction services, they must also spend some money. Most consumers believe that the purpose of the repair project is to fix the problem. In actual fact, the repair is to extend the life of the project as a whole, on the other projects do ?maintenance.? Marine composite deck

Source: http://www.cl.edu.pl/flooring-and-other-home-improvement-company/

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Hillary joins Twitter! Why you should pay attention. (Washington Post)

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Research needed on child abuse prevention: panel

By Andrew M. Seaman

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - There still isn't enough evidence to say whether office- or home-based programs ordered by doctors actually prevent child abuse when obvious signs of maltreatment are absent, according to a government-backed panel.

The lack of a recommendation - known as an I statement, for "insufficient" - from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) echoes the same group's 2004 conclusion, which also found a lack of evidence for or against child abuse prevention programs being applied to all kids, instead of just those clearly at risk.

"It is about interventions that can occur in the primary care office or can be referred by the doctor to someone in the community," said Dr. David Grossman, a member of the panel and a senior investigator at the Group Health Research Institute in Seattle.

"It is disappointing because we had hopes that we could uncover evidence to convert it from an I statement to something more positive," Grossman said.

Approximately 680,000 children younger than 18 years old were victims of maltreatment in 2011 and more than 1,500 died from it. That includes physical, sexual and psychological abuse.

The kids who survive abuse, according to the panel, are at increased risk for a number of troubles later in life, including psychological disorders and physical ailments, such as chronic pain and diabetes.

"Although we recognize the extreme importance of this issue and the protection of children should be paramount? The role of the primary care physicians in being the prevention, so to speak, is unclear because there is not enough evidence to say what doctors can do to prevent abuse in the first place," Grossman told Reuters Health.

In January, the USPSTF published a draft of its findings, which are based on a review of 10 past studies of home-based interventions and one office-based program to reduce the number of related Child Protective Services (CPS) family reports and emergency room visits by kids (see Reuters Health article of January 22, 2013 here: http://reut.rs/13xjBZO.)

Some of the programs were tied to drops in CPS family reports and child ER visits but others found no link, according to the review.

Dr. Lynn K. Sheets, medical director of child advocacy and protection services at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, said the panel's conclusion is "not surprising because there are methodological challenges to doing research on high-risk groups." She added that it's also hard to study interactions that happen in a doctor's office.

But Sheets, who was not involved in crafting the new recommendations, said she thinks some people may misinterpret the conclusion to mean doctors shouldn't try to prevent child abuse.

"It doesn't mean we shouldn't continue to screen and prevent child abuse in the best ways we know how," she said.

Grossman told Reuters Health that the panel's final conclusion, which was published on Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, doesn't apply to interventions involving children with obvious signs and symptoms of abuse.

"It's a whole different ball game for a pediatrician or primary care physician when a child comes in with signs and symptoms of abuse. Everyone is aware in that case about the protocols they need to follow," he said.

But the USPSTF emphasized that filling gaps in the research should be a priority. For instance, the panel wrote, the relationship between harsh punishment, such as spanking, and abuse needs further exploration, "as does that between intimate partner violence and child maltreatment."

The report also flagged the need for research to determine effective ways for health care providers to identify children at risk for abuse or currently being abused, and for studies to find effective ways to prevent maltreatment of older children in particular.

Grossman said the hope is that the panel will be able to make more of a recommendation once additional studies are done.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/Ms1ZbQ Annals of Internal Medicine, online June 10, 2013.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/research-needed-child-abuse-prevention-panel-211636146.html

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Journalist: Snowden fled US fearing unfair trial

HONG KONG (AP) ? The American intelligence contractor who disclosed U.S. government surveillance programs fled to Hong Kong because he believed he wouldn't get a fair trial in his home country, the journalist who broke the story said Monday.

Glenn Greenwald of the British-based Guardian newspaper said Edward Snowden chose the semiautonomous Chinese region because it was the least bad option open to him.

Greenwald said in an interview that Snowden wants to remain out of the "clutches" of the U.S. government for as long as possible but is fully aware that he won't succeed.

Snowden says he worked as a contractor at the National Security Agency and the CIA.

He allowed the Guardian and The Washington Post newspapers to reveal his identity on Sunday as the source of a series of top-secret documents outlining two NSA surveillance programs.

The Guardian reported that Snowden arrived in Hong Kong on May 20. He checked out of a Kowloon hotel on Monday and his current location is unclear.

The Justice Department is conducting a criminal investigation into the leaks at the request of the NSA.

"If the Justice Department does end up indicting him, which almost certainly it will ? it's basically inevitable at this point ? he doesn't really trust the judicial system in the United States to give him a fair trial," Greenwald said in Hong Kong.

"I think if he trusted the political system and the political culture in the United States he would have just remained there and said 'I did what I did and I want to defend it,'" Greenwald said.

He said Snowden chose Hong Kong because it has a history of strong political activism, free speech and respect for the rule of law. But he added that once Snowden decided to leak the information, "all of the options, as he put it, are bad options. There were no good options for him."

Hong Kong, a former British colony, was handed back to China in 1997 but was allowed to retain a high degree of autonomy and its own legal system. The city has an extradition treaty with the U.S., but it contains some exceptions, including for crimes deemed political.

Greenwald said Snowden had watched with concern the court martial of Bradley Manning, the U.S. Army private on trial for handing a trove of classified material to WikiLeaks, and that it had raised fears for him about secrecy and "abridgement of due process."

Snowden, 29, believes he will eventually end up with the same fate as Manning, Greenwald said.

"I think that his goal is to avoid ending up in the clutches of the U.S. government for as long as he can, knowing full well though that it's very likely that he won't succeed and he will end up exactly where he doesn't want to be," Greenwald said.

Snowden told The Guardian that he hoped for asylum in Iceland, which he believed was a champion of Internet freedom, though Greenwald said as far as he was aware, he hadn't filed a claim for asylum anywhere.

When asked why Snowden didn't just head to Iceland, Greenwald said he was unsure but guessed that because the Arctic nation is a small country, it would find it much more difficult to say no to the United States than Beijing or Hong Kong.

"There's a lot of history in terms of small Scandinavian countries or small countries in Europe succumbing to U.S. demands and doing things that are contrary to their values or even their law," Greenwald said. "I think he feels that won't happen here."

It's unclear how Snowden, who earned $200,000 a year while working at Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp., was funding his stay in Hong Kong. Greenwald said he had been "living on credit cards essentially for the last several weeks."

But he added that since Snowden revealed his identity, he has been contacted by "countless people" offering to pay for "anything he might need."

___

Follow Kelvin Chan on Twitter at twitter.com/chanman

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/journalist-snowden-fled-us-fearing-unfair-trial-161050096.html

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Kelly Clarkson Gets Ready For Married Life On 'Tie It Up'

Clarkson debuted wedding-themed, country-tinged single at CMA Music Festival over the weekend.
By Jocelyn Vena

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1708702/kelly-clarkson-tie-it-up.jhtml

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U.S. spy agency seeks criminal probe into leaks (reuters)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/311481008?client_source=feed&format=rss

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High school freshman killed on New Berlin Rec Trail | The Active ...

A 15-year-old freshman at Whitnall High School died over the weekend, after being hit by a car at one of a half-dozen road crossings on the New Berlin Recreation Trail between Greenfield Park and Waukesha.

The victim, Brittany Barnstable, 15, was bicycling on the popular paved path about 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, according to media reports. She was hit while crossing Sunnyslope Rd., near the east end of the seven-mile trail. Stop signs are posted on the trail at the road crossing, and caution signs warn motorists to watch for trail users at that location.

The Waukesha County Sheriff?s Department is investigating the fatality, the second involving a bicyclist in Wisconsin this year.

Barnstable played on the Whitnall High School freshman soccer team and her squad held a 15-second moment of silence before a game in South Milwaukee on Monday night. Her grandparents described her as bubbly and determined, in an interview with WTMJ-TV. They also encouraged others to wear helmets while bicycling, although it was not certain that a helmet would have saved her life in the crash with an SUV.

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Source: http://theactivepursuit.com/high-school-freshman-killed-on-new-berlin-rec-trail/

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Hezbollah suffers big losses in Syria battle: activists

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Dominic Evans

AMMAN (Reuters) - About 30 Lebanese Hezbollah fighters and 20 Syrian soldiers and militiamen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have been killed in the fiercest fighting this year in the rebel stronghold of Qusair, Syrian activists said on Monday.

If confirmed, the Hezbollah toll from Sunday's battles in Qusair near the Lebanese border would highlight a deepening intervention in Syria by the guerrilla group set up by Iran in the 1980s to fight Israeli occupation troops in south Lebanon.

The reported Hezbollah losses also reflect the extent to which the Syrian conflict is turning into a proxy war between Shi'ite Iran and U.S.-aligned Gulf Arab states such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which back Assad's mostly Sunni foes.

Western countries and Russia, an ally of Damascus, back opposing sides in this regional free-for-all which is also sucking in Israel. Three times this year Israeli planes have bombed presumed Iranian arms stocks destined for Hezbollah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country was "preparing for every scenario" in Syria and held out the prospect of more Israeli strikes inside Syria to stop Hezbollah and other opponents of Israel getting advanced weapons.

Israel has not confirmed or denied reports by Western and Israeli intelligence sources that its raids targeted Iranian missiles stored near Damascus that it believed were awaiting delivery to Hezbollah, which fought a war with Israel in 2006.

FOG OF WAR

Syrian opposition sources and state media gave widely differing accounts of Sunday's ferocious clashes in Qusair, long used by rebels as a supply route from the nearby Lebanese border to the provincial capital Homs. Hezbollah has not commented.

The air and tank assault on the strategic town of 30,000 people appeared to be part of a campaign by Assad's forces to consolidate their grip on Damascus and secure links between the capital and government strongholds in the Alawite coastal heartland via the contested central city of Homs.

The government campaign has coincided with efforts by the United States and Russia, despite their differences on Syria, to organize peace talks to end a conflict now in its third year in which more than 80,000 people have been killed.

A total of 100 combatants from both sides were killed in Sunday's offensive, according to opposition sources, including the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Troops have already retaken several villages around Qusair and have attacked increasingly isolated rebel units in Homs.

"If Qusair falls, God forbid, the opposition in Homs city will be in grave danger," said an activist who called himself Abu Jaafar al-Mugharbil.

State news agency SANA said the army had "restored security and stability to most Qusair neighborhoods" and was "chasing the remnants of the terrorists in the northern district".

However, opposition activists said rebels in Qusair, about 10 km (six miles) from the Lebanese border, had pushed back most of the attacking forces to their original positions in the east of the town and to the south on Sunday, destroying at least four Syrian army tanks and five light Hezbollah vehicles.

The Western-backed leadership of the Free Syrian Army, the loose umbrella group trying to oversee hundreds of disparate rebel brigades, said the Qusair fighters had thwarted Hezbollah with military operations it dubbed "Walls of Death".

Syrian government restrictions on access for independent media make it hard to verify such videos and accounts.

"NO DIALOGUE WITH TERRORISTS"

The fighting raged as Western nations seek to step up pressure on Assad - Britain and France want the European Union to allow arms deliveries to rebels - while preparing for the peace talks brokered by Russia and the United States next month.

Assad has scorned the idea that the conference expected to convene in Geneva could end a war that is fuelling instability and deepening Sunni-Shi'ite rifts across the Middle East.

"They think a political conference will halt terrorists in the country. That is unrealistic," he told the Argentine newspaper Clarin, in reference to Syria's mainly Sunni rebels.

Assad ruled out "dialogue with terrorists", but it was not clear from his remarks whether he would agree to send delegates to a conference that may falter before it starts due to disagreements between its two main sponsors and their allies.

The fractured Syrian opposition is to discuss the proposed peace conference at a meeting due to start in Istanbul on Thursday, during which it will also appoint a new leadership.

Attacks by troops and militias loyal to Assad, who inherited power in Syria from his father in 2000, have put rebels under pressure in several of their strongholds in recent weeks.

Assad, from Syria's minority Alawite sect, has been battling an uprising which began with peaceful protests in March 2011. His violent response eventually prompted rebels to take up arms.

Hezbollah has supported Assad throughout the crisis but for months denied reports it was fighting alongside Assad's troops.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the Hezbollah casualties on Sunday at 23 dead and more than 70 wounded, while 48 rebel fighters and four civilians were also killed.

Tareq Murei, an activist in Qusair, said six more people were killed on Monday as Syrian army artillery and Hezbollah rocket launchers bombarded rebel-held parts of the town.

Video footage purportedly showed a Syrian tank on fire at a street corner in the town. In another video a warplane was shown flying over the town amid the sound of explosions.

Lebanese security sources said at least 12 Hezbollah fighters were killed in Qusair on Sunday. Seven were to be buried in the Lebanese town of Baalbek and nearby villages on Monday.

(Writing by Dominic Evans,; Editing by Samia Nakhoul and Alistair Lyon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hezbollah-suffers-big-losses-syria-battle-activists-132000073.html

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Weird iPhone habits: Open slots, default layouts, and ringer switches, oh my...

Smartphones and other mobile technology are very personal devices. Not just that they're something that we have on us all the time, but they're devices that we customize to suit exactly our needs and our needs alone. We get used to how they're set up, and if we're handed somebody else's iPhone, well, we're lost. Just try dealing with somebody who has different Smart Corner settings on their Mac than you - it's maddening.

In customizing the set-ups for our devices we also customize our interactions with them. We develop weird habits and tendencies. Some of us are compulsive about the placement of icons in the launcher, others only want specific things in Notification Center. Sometimes it's about where we put the phone, and sometimes we just don't give a damn about some things that drive others insane.

Upon realizing that I do some weird and obsessive things with my iPhone, I asked the iMore editorial staff what weird things they do, and it turns out, we're weird. But you already knew that.

Keeping a slot open for... - Allyson Kazmucha

My main screen on my iPhone and iPad are my most used apps. If I don't use them on a regular basis, they're all put into folders and not allowed to run amuck causing chaos. I don't alphabetize things but they all have to be in correct folders under a descriptive category. My iPhone and iPad also have the same workflow so no matter what device I'm on, I know where to find things.

I'm super picky about Notification Center and what order notifications show up in. Things like email, messages, and Twitter must populate towards the top with lesser important things on the bottom.

My biggest nitpick is ugly icons. If an app has an ugly icon, it goes in a folder, no exceptions. My Home screen must be visually appealing at all times and an ugly icon will throw off that balance. Album art must also be present for everything in my music library or it makes me twitch in cover flow mode. I will literally delete a song from my iPhone if there is no album art.

My weirdest quirk is probably that I need to have at least one empty slot on my first Home screen. I'm not quite sure why but I've done this as long as I can remember. I don't know why it bothers me to have a full page of icons but it does and I must have one free slot on my main page or I feel dirty. Call me weird, I already know I am and I accept it.

Default all the things - Chris Parsons

I have to have my main home screen stock. I do it on all devices except for Android, because Android such a cluster f*** of ugly icons some of it has to be hidden.

Triple-teaming the ringer switch - Derek Kessler

I know the ringer switch vibrates when I switch it to silent and doesn't when I flip it to noise. But when switching from silent to ring without looking at the screen, I always have to flip it three times: ring, silent (so it buzzes), and back to ring. Sometimes I do the same thing when switching to silent: silent (buzz), ring, silent (buzz). I don't know why, but it's like I subconsciously don't trust the switch.

I'm a little psychotic about my app organization. The first page is home to the apps I use the most, and those are alphabetically arranged (excepting the dock). The next page is also alphabetically arranged, with my tier of second-most-used apps but not daily or need-quickly apps out and everything else is put into folders which are... alphabetically-arranged and separated. The only exception are my games, which are put into their own folder, yet still alphabetical inside. Reason being: I'm usually looking for a specific app (except for games), not a category of apps, and muscle memory can guide me. And organization, man.

Updates? what updates? - Georgia

The strangest thing about myself and my iPhone is that I rarely let it be far from my side.

So if I have to go somewhere and my outfit has no pockets ill place my phone in the inside of my pant belt so I can keep my previous close at hand.

My phone is also always on silent with no vibration on. So calling me rarely gets a immediate pick up. I started this due to my job as a therapist but then quickly realized that I am more relaxed when I am not hopping for my phone.

I also don't ever update my phones applications unless there is something I really want in the update. Strange part is that I never read what the update so I find things out by people telling me something cool has changed. At one point I had 150 plus updates on my phone.

And no I don't wear my iPhone as a hat, that rumor was a lie.

Weirdos all of you - Leanna Lofte

Um... I don't do anything weird with my iPhone that I know of. I don't organize my apps... my home screen isn't even that thought out. I could care less how my apps are organized because I just use Spotlight. Spotlight is way faster.

You're all a bunch of freaks.

That like-new look - Peter Cohen

I like to leave the home screen bone stock.

I pile it full of apps on the second page and beyond, but I want my home screen to look like it did when it came out of the box.

Captain Default - Rene Ritchie

I keep my iPhone Home screen stock. What Apple loads, I keep. That's because I switch devices and restore devices a lot. I do add a few apps to the empty spaces, namely Fantastical, the iMore app, and Tweetbot. If I haven't switched or restored in a while, I'll add Launch Center Pro to my dock, because, awesome.

So I may not be Captain Default exactly, but I'm not Mr. Excitement by any means either.

Line it up - Richard Devine

I'm absolutely no tidy freak, far from it. Just take a look in my office any given day of the week and you'll see that. But, for whatever reason I am totally OCD about where stuff sits on my desk, especially my iPhone. It has to be in one of the corners, and it has to sit absolutely in line with both straight edges of the desk.

I also put it on something, like a magazine, or some random paper. Because I don't keep it in a case at home -- cases aren't nice in hero shots -- and I absolutely hate the idea of any thing on the desk damaging or just making dirty the back of my phone.

How weird are you?

There you go, we've bared our weirdness to the world, and, well? what weird people we are. It takes some self awareness to realize these oddities, and if there's anything we should be as technology users, it's aware of how we use that tech.

We're all weird, but in our own unique ways. Except for the Captain Default crowd out there, you're just weird together. What weird iPhone habits and compulsions have you picked up over the years? Sound off in the coments.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/0qkMeU0FRp8/story01.htm

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Authorities: Hofstra student was killed by police

MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) ? A New York college student being held by an armed home intruder was shot and killed by a Nassau County police officer who had responded to a report of a home invasion at an off-campus home, police said Saturday.

Andrea Rebello was shot once in the head Friday morning by an officer who opened fire after the masked intruder, Dalton Smith, pointed a gun at the officer while holding the 21-year-old junior in a headlock, Nassau County homicide squad Lt. John Azzata said.

The Nassau County police officer fired eight shots at Smith, who has what police have described as an "extensive" criminal background, Azzata said. Smith was hit by seven bullets and died. Rebello was shot once in the head, Azzata said.

Nassau County Police Commissioner Thomas Dale said he had traveled to Rebello's Tarrytown, N.Y., home to explain to Rebello's parents what happened.

Earlier Saturday, police announced that Smith, 30, was wanted on a parole violation related to a first-degree robbery conviction and had an arrest history dating back nearly 15 years.

The shooting came just days before the school's commencement ceremonies, which are scheduled to take place Sunday.

A university spokeswoman said Saturday students will be handed white ribbons to wear in memory of Rebello.

Rebello was in the two-story home with her twin sister Jessica, another woman and another man were when the Smith, wearing a ski mask, walked into the house through an open front door, Azzata said. The intruder allowed the third unidentified woman to leave and collect money from an ATM, and she called 911.

Two police officers arriving at the home encountered Smith holding onto Rebello.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/authorities-hofstra-student-killed-police-003456565.html

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Land ? Charlton, MA 01507 now has a new price of $159,900! | ERA ...

10 Acres abuts new bank, solar field & growth along RT 20 in community business zone. Land is in agriculture zone and community business. Expanded mobile home on lot, 2 story barn w/ horse stall, pony barn, 2 sheds & gar., all w. electricity. Real value is in location & acreage. House is in move in condition. Surprising level & private fenced yard w/ fruit trees. Great potential here for future development. Rezoning could be very interesting! What are your thoughts?

This property features 9.19 Acres, and is currently available for $159,900.

For complete details click here.

Source: http://www.erakeyrealty.com/blog/charlton-ma/land-charlton-ma-01507-now-has-a-new-price-of-159900

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Shannon's Shout Outs: Student Loan Edition - ReadyForZero Blog

Graduation is just around the corner which means student loans aren?t far behind. The good news is that there are plenty of ways to gain control over student loans before they take over your life. And the earlier you start, the better! That?s why we?re sharing information on student loans in this week?s shout outs ? to empower you to face and tackle them head on!

The Ultimate Guide to Student Loans (Credit.com)
The world of student loans can be confusing to say the least. Here is a list of just about everything you need to know.

5 New Rules on Federal Student Loans (Daily Finance)
To make matters more confusing, student loan laws always seem to be changing. Read here to find out what?s new this year.

How the Student Loan Fairness Act Could Affect Borrowers (Graduating from Debt)
Have you heard of the Student Loan Fairness Act? Read on to see what it is and how you might benefit.

3 Reasons Paying Off Student Loans With Credit Is A Terrible Idea (Business Insider)
Have you ever thought about paying off your student loans with a credit card? This article explains why this may not be a good idea.

5 Ways to Pay Back Student Loans Faster (Moolanomy)
There are plenty of other ways to pay off your student loan debt faster! Read on to find out what you can do to get rid of this debt.

After you?ve taken a look at these posts, don?t forget to take a peek at our guest posts from the past week?

Good Financial Cents?? Couples Finances: What to Do if You Don?t Agree
Military.com?? Four Last-minute Tips to Sell Your Home
Military.com?? Making a Military Move on a Budget
Ms. Career Girl?? Money Makeover Series: Future Financial Leader

?and to look at some of the websites who?ve recently mentioned us!

Free From Broke
Lifehacker
Positively Smitten
Reach Financial Independence
The Frugal Toad
The Heavy Purse

This post was published by Shannon, Community and Customer Support Manager for ReadyForZero. ReadyForZero is a company that helps people get out of debt on their own with a simple and free online tool that can automate and track your debt paydown.

? Get ReadyForZero

Source: http://blog.readyforzero.com/shannons-shout-outs-student-loan-edition/

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Maths Jokes, Explained

If you have to explain a joke, that usually means it's not a very good joke. But, if you're telling a math joke, maybe it just means your audience never enjoyed algebra as much as you did. Either way, these videos help explain to the less able mathematicians out there why they're funny.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/hM7I0JG2pZc/maths-jokes-explained-508844190

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