150 Years Ago: Sleep Technology

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July 1963

Laser Bloom
?The latest device to fascinate the technical community is the optical maser, or, as it is now often called, the laser. By conservative estimate about 500 research groups are engaged in laser development and exploitation in the U.S. alone. Much of this effort is directed toward the use of laser beams in communication systems. The amount of information that can be carried by a communication channel is proportional to its frequency, and in principle the visible region of the spectrum between the wavelengths of 4,000 and 7,000 angstrom units could accommodate 80 million television channels. ?Arthur L. Schawlow?

The author shared the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physics.

True or False?
?A warning against the increasing and largely unrestricted application of lie-detector techniques in business and industry has been issued by a psychiatrist and a psychologist at the University of Virginia. The polygraph merely measures involuntary responses. It cannot determine whether the response was stimulated by conscious deception or by a factor which might be unconsciously motivated. Yet an examiner usually seeks to impress the subject with the idea that the machine ?can't be beat? and so to encourage confessions, he ?uses deception in his effort to detect deception.? The authors conclude that lie-detector tests ?should be carefully and continually scrutinized, lest we find that George Orwell's 1984 is upon us.??

July 1913

Eve of War
?Germany has devoted most time, money, and skilled research to the development of the various types of the dirigible; France, to that of the aeroplane, or avion, in all its forms. A similar comparison as to aeroplanes and trained pilots shows France to be much superior to Germany; and it is also stated that though the French machines are frailer looking, they are much better constructed than the German ones, which are still too heavy. Obviously, then, in case of war there would be a contest between German dirigibles and French aeroplanes?like battleships and torpedo boats.?

For a slide show on weapons and warfare from our archives of 1913, see www.ScientificAmerican.com/jul2013/warfare

July 1863

Salt Mine
?It appears from scientific investigation that the salt deposit at New Iberia, Louisiana, is of the most extensive and wonderful description. For vastness and purity it is unequaled on the globe. One account says: ?Imagine, if you can, the granite quarry of Massachusetts or the marble quarry of Vermont to be solid deposits of pure rock salt, clean and transparent as so much clear white ice, in one solid, inexhaustible mass, underlying the earth.??

The rock salt mine on Avery Island, Louisiana, yielded more than 10,000 tons of salt for the Confederacy.

Sleep Technology
?The engraving represents an improved mode of constructing spring beds; Letters Patent have been granted. In point of economy, ease, and durability these beds are unsurpassed. It is confidently asserted that they will last fifty years.?

Letter from Mr. Fix-It
?Messrs. Editors: All machinery requires attention, and occasional ?fixing?; and the women are not good at such work. Every now and then it is: ?John, I wish you would look at that sewing machine?; or ?John, that wringer has something wrong about it?; and so on. Well, the only way to meet that is to buy the very best machinery; you will then have little trouble. Some churls may say: ?I won't buy so-and-so; what else have the women got to do? Let them work!? All I have to say to such is that I hate to see the women of the family borne down with the fatigue of severe labor; and if it is a little troublesome to fix machinery for them, I for one am content to endure that trouble. ?John Gray?

This article was originally published with the title 50, 100 & 150 Years Ago.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/~r/sciam/basic-science/~3/CBNoWXsUd14/article.cfm

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Boost Mobile ships Samsung Galaxy Prevail II for $180 off-contract

Well over two years after the original graced Boost Mobile's shelves, Samsung's Galaxy Prevail II is being announced for the same carrier. Available for just $179.99 in off-contract form, the handset ships with Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean), a 4-inch WVGA touchscreen, 5-megapixel rear camera, 1.3 megapixel front-facing cam, and a 1.4GHz processor. You'll also find a 1,750mAh battery, inbuilt GPS / WiFi modules and Bluetooth 4.0. The prepaid carrier is hawking this on its contract-free $55 / month plan, which just so happens to shrink by $5 per month for every six on-time payments -- in other words, those who hang around long enough will eventually be paying as little as $40 / month for nationwide talk, text and picture messaging, as well as web access. Not too shabby, eh?

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung

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Union County woman, estranged husband dead in murder-suicide

By? Holly Zachariah

The Columbus Dispatch Friday July 12, 2013 10:43 PM

OSTRANDER, Ohio ? As darkness swallowed the Union County house where authorities figured a suspect was holed up tonight, the tensions along Smart-Cole Road mounted: How would it end? Would the man come out? Or would the deputies force their way inside and, if so, what would they find?

Authorities already suspected that the man inside ? who authorities know but have not publicly named ? had killed his 51-year-old estranged wife earlier in the day. She had been shot.

But after a standoff of nearly five hours, a robot sent into the couple?s home near the intersection of Smart-Cole and Brown roads just before 9:30 p.m. found the answer: The man was dead, too, apparently of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The ordeal began at 4:10 p.m. when a passerby who saw the woman?s body lying in a ditch near the intersection of Smart-Cole and Brown roads called 911. Another passerby stopped and reported seeing a man walk away from the scene and to a nearby house where, authorities later said, the couple had lived together until a week ago, when the wife had moved out.

Deputies arrived almost immediately. They shut down the area and evacuated the eight closest houses, and the standoff began.

Sgt. Chris Skinner, spokesman for the Union County sheriff?s office, said one of the passersby tried to administer first aid to the woman. But it was too late. Union County Coroner David Applegate was at the scene, which isn?t far off Rt. 42 near the Union/Delaware county line, and said she was already dead.

All through the evening, specialized SWAT trucks and cruisers and pickups carrying officers from multiple departments rolled up and down the country roads as curious neighbors watched, mostly from behind their screen doors.

Skinner said authorities had been in no hurry to force their way inside the home. They knew the couple?s three children were safe and accounted for and there were no hostages.

They tried for hours to make contact with the suspect in a variety of ways before sending the robot in after dark. ?He?s a suspect, and we want him to walk out alive,? Skinner said. ?Right now, we?ve got nothing but time.?

Among the neighbors who did venture out was Melanie Williams, a schoolteacher who lives about a mile down Smart-Cole Road from the intersection where it all happened. She could see the flashing lights, and she came to offer a deputy and state troopers standing guard some bottled water.

Williams has lived in the neighborhood nearly 15 years and said nothing like this had ever happened.

?It?s the country. We ride our bikes down the road and wave to everyone,? she said.

Williams didn?t know who the dead woman was at the end of her road ? word of the woman?s identity hadn?t even filtered through the countryside ? but she said the standoff had everybody on edge.

?It?s usually quiet. Peaceful,? she said. ?But I guess you never can understand what will make someone do something awful.?

Then, she went back inside and shut her door.

hzachariah@dispatch.com

@hollyzachariah?

?

Source: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/07/12/Union-County-shooting.html

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NASA urged to seek live Martians with 2020 rover

Genome sequencers and other devices that could reveal whether anything is alive on Mars right now should be ready to launch with NASA's next Mars rover in 2020. The trouble is, the rover team may not want them ? and some astrobiologists are crying foul.

Earlier this week NASA announced its science goals for the next US rover headed for the Red Planet, known for now as Mars 2020. Essentially a duplicate of the Curiosity rover now on Mars, this robot has been tasked with searching for evidence of past life and collecting rock samples for eventual return to Earth. Sample-return has been at the top of the Mars community's wish list for decades. The caching component of Mars 2020 represents a revival of a well-studied plan to bring Martian rocks back to Earth for detailed study.

But others think the rover's approach to life detection is overly cautious. The Mars 2020 will primarily search for signs that something lived on Mars in ancient times, even though the technology exists to hunt for alien microbes presently living on or just beneath the surface.

"It is the same old depressing story of NASA vetoing any proposal to do biological experiments on Mars," says Paul Davies of Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe. "I personally think this is absurd."

Martian genes

One potential life-seeking experiment is the Search for Extraterrestrial Genomes (SETG) project, based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Previous experiments for detecting existing life on Mars, such as the one on the 1976 Viking missions, focused on finding organic carbon, which is necessary for life as we know it but can also be produced by non-biological processes. Viking scientists initially reported such hints of life on Mars, but the results were ultimately deemed inconclusive.

"We went and looked for life on Mars with Viking, and since then we've been in the mode of looking for past life," says Chris Carr of the SETG project. "That's made sense. We didn't want to repeat Viking, where we couldn't make sense of the results."

Finding DNA or RNA would be a much less ambiguous signal of life, past or present. A gene sequencer could even figure out whether that life is related to Earth life, or if it had a unique origin. Doing DNA analysis on Mars rather than waiting for the Mars 2020 samples to come home also means you can be confident that the samples have not degraded in transit.

"Sample-return is an important mission and we should do it, but I don't think we should wait until we have all parts of that mission to look for extant life on Mars," says Carr. His team is developing a robust sequencer small enough to fit on a rover, and they are already field-testing prototypes. "I think we could produce something in time for the Mars 2020 mission," he says.

Encourage life

An even simpler experiment would create habitable hot spots on Mars. Dirk Schulze-Makuch of Washington State University and colleagues argue that if microbes are currently present on Mars, they may be lying dormant to survive the planet's extreme dryness and cold. If you could warm them up, protect them from radiation and give them a refreshing drink, they might bloom.

Their project, outlined in a paper published this week in the journal Astrobiology, is called Detection of Mars Extant life in the near-Subsurface (DOMES). A rover would scratch out a trench to expose the Martian subsurface and put down a clear plastic cup containing water and organic compounds, inverted like a tiny biodome. Similar schemes have encouraged lichen and moss to flourish in the otherwise sparsely populated sands of the Namib Desert.

Gil Levin of ASU, who led Viking's life-detection efforts, still hopes to see that experiment vindicated. "NASA says the greatest question confronting us is, are we alone?" says Levin. "Thirty-seven years ago, they got at least an ambiguous response. What do you do with an ambiguous response? You settle it. You don't run away from it."

Together with Davies and Ariel Anbar, also of ASU, Levin is currently developing a capsule that would carry multiple small, dart-like instruments, which could shoot away from a rover or lander, plunge down into the soil and repeat the Viking experiment several times with different controls. "That would not only verify that we had detected life previously or disprove it, but would also begin an investigation of what kind of life that is," he says.

Mars rocks

NASA is throwing open the door for proposed instruments to fly on Mars 2020, so while these experiments may go beyond the rover's stated goal, they can still compete for a spot. And if they are not selected for this launch, the sample-return effort may give them another shot.

The most likely strategy for returning samples stored on the 2020 rover will involve two more spacecraft heading to Mars, says Charles Whetsel of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Another rover will need to pick up the cache and loft it into orbit, and an orbiter or flyby mission will have to pick it up. Both of those missions would offer opportunities for new science experiments that could search for extant life, either carried on the pickup rover or dropped by the orbiter.

In the meantime, Whetsel defends the decision to hold off on searching for existing life right now. "It's probably easier to prove there was once life on Mars than to prove it survived and it exists today," he says. "It would definitely be front-page news if we determined there is currently life on Mars. I think it's equally front-page to say there was once life on Mars."

Journal reference: Astrobiology, DOI: 10.1089/ast.2013.0995

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News Says Captain Of Crashed Asiana Flight 214 Is ?Sum Ting Wong?

Information is still coming in about Asiana Flight 214. KTVU, a news channel in San Jose, California, aired the names of the flight crew. But there was a problem: The names were actually an incredibly racist joke on the names of the people operating the plane.

Read more...

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Why do we enjoy listening to sad music?

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Sad music might actually evoke positive emotions, reveals a new study by Japanese researchers.

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Does change management need to change? | Linkage, Inc.

?As a recognized discipline, change management has been in existence for over half a century,? writes Ron Ashkenas on www.hbr.org. ?Yet despite the huge investment that companies have made in tools, training, and thousands of books (over 83,000 on Amazon), most studies still show a 60-70% failure rate for organizational change projects?a statistic that has stayed constant from the 1970s to the present.

?Given this evidence, is it possible that everything we know about change management is wrong and that we need to go back to the drawing board? Should we abandon Kotter?s eight success factors, Blanchard?s moving cheese, and everything else we know about engagement, communication, small wins, building the business case, and all of the other elements of the change management framework?

?While it might be plausible to conclude that we should rethink the basics, let me suggest an alternative explanation: The content of change management is reasonably correct, but the managerial capacity to implement it has been woefully underdeveloped.?

Click here?to read the rest of the story.

Mitchell Nash, our own change and transition expert, wholeheartedly agrees. ?It is not enough to just have all leaders and managers be held?accountable for the results or outcomes of the change initiative. They also need to be accountable for the buy-in and engagement of their employees. Understanding the challenging transitions that people go through in dealing with change, and being able to coach them through it, is what we see as the ultimate accountability for successful change leaders.?

Are?you and your organization experiencing?changes that are more traumatic than transformational? It doesn?t have to be that way. Click here to learn more.

More about Mitchell

Mitchell Nash is a Regional Vice President, Principal Consultant, and leader of Linkage?s Change and Transition Leadership practice. He has over 20 years of experience leading, facilitating, and supporting large-scale change initiatives and has unique expertise in facilitating organizational impact by using technological, organizational, and leadership development solutions.

Source: http://mylinkage.com/blog/does-change-management-need-to-change/

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Obama nominee questioned on Clinton, Benghazi

Victoria Nuland, President Barack Obama's nominee to be Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 11, 2013, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on her nomination. Nuland told panel how she would prioritize trade and democracy. But that may not be what some Republicans want to hear. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Victoria Nuland, President Barack Obama's nominee to be Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 11, 2013, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on her nomination. Nuland told panel how she would prioritize trade and democracy. But that may not be what some Republicans want to hear. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Victoria Nuland, President Barack Obama's nominee to be Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 11, 2013, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on her nomination. Nuland told panel how she would prioritize trade and democracy. But that may not be what some Republicans want to hear. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Victoria Nuland, President Barack Obama's nominee to be Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 11, 2013, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on her nomination. Nuland told panel how she would prioritize trade and democracy. But that may not be what some Republicans want to hear. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Victoria Nuland, President Barack Obama's nominee to be Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 11, 2013, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on her nomination. Nuland told panel how she would prioritize trade and democracy. But that may not be what some Republicans want to hear. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama's choice as chief U.S. envoy for Europe defended her role in the talking points created after last year's deadly attack in Benghazi, Libya, at a Senate confirmation hearing Thursday that seemed focused as much on the tragedy as the future presidential prospects of former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Victoria Nuland refused to blame Clinton, for whom she served as spokeswoman when U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission last Sept. 11. Nuland said she objected to some of the administration's talking points in the days after Benghazi because they were inconsistent, inaccurate and risked prejudicing the FBI investigation into those responsible for the attack.

"It was not for me to decide what we knew or what we could declassify," Nuland told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

No one at the hearing expressed doubt about Nuland's qualifications for the job of assistant secretary of state for Europe? a point a potential Republican opponent of Clinton for the presidency in 2016, Sen. Marco Rubio, conceded.

But Nuland's prospects for confirmation appeared tied to how she answered questions on the Benghazi attack, with several Republican senators asking her why the Obama administration shifted its public explanations of the assault. They also wanted to know why, shortly afterward, the president's former U.N. ambassador and current national security adviser, Susan Rice, blamed it on extremists who hijacked a spontaneous protest against an anti-Islam video.

The consistent question was whether Nuland acted at Clinton's behest when she weighed in on the talking points being prepared for Congress. She sought the removal of references to a Libyan militia group and jihadists possibly laying siege to the U.S. Embassy in Cairo.

In publicly released emails, Nuland, a career foreign service officer who has held senior positions in the George W. Bush and Obama administrations, cited concerns of her "building's leadership." On Thursday, she said she never spoke to Clinton about the talking points and hadn't read any intelligence reports about the attack.

"My responsibilities were to ensure consistency of our public messaging but not to make policy," she said. "So I never edited these talking points. I never made changes. I simply said that I thought that policy people needed to look at them.

Rarely is a potential assistant secretary of state expected to expound on such politically sensitive policy issues.

But Nuland has powerful Democratic patrons who at least at one time harbored presidential ambitions ? and in Clinton's case, perhaps still. Nuland served as key adviser to Clinton and her successor, Secretary of State John Kerry, both of whom have run for president. She also has served as a foreign policy adviser to former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney.

Since Obama's re-election, Benghazi has been the centerpiece of an intensive effort by Republicans to scrutinize Clinton's tenure and undermine her strong favorability in public polls as she mulls a future campaign.

An independent review last year blamed the State Department for inadequate security but absolved Clinton of any personal wrongdoing. Still, American Crossroads, a group connected to GOP strategist Karl Rove, released a web video in May that was critical of Clinton's handling of the Benghazi case, amid lingering accusations from some Republicans that the Obama administration's changing story reflected an attempt to mislead the country about an act of terrorism in the heat of a presidential campaign.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., was the first to press Nuland, beginning by recalling his heated exchange with Clinton at her final hearing in January. He quoted Clinton's response to him at the time: "What difference at this point does it make?"

"The question I have is do you believe that in your role representing the United States government that the American people deserve the truth out of members of the administration?" Johnson asked.

"Senator, the American people deserve the truth," Nuland answered. "This body deserves the truth. Those of us who were friends of the victims, as I was, deserve the truth."

Moving on to the State Department "leadership" Nuland cited in her email, Johnson asked: "Who are those bosses? What about names? I mean, who are those individuals?"

Nuland would only say she reported to the "full spectrum of undersecretaries, deputy secretaries." The only person she said she consulted with about the talking points was Jake Sullivan, then Clinton's policy planning director and now Vice President Joe Biden's national security adviser ? the only U.S. official she identified by name.

Nuland later told Rubio that she never spoke at any time with Clinton about the talking points.

For his part, the Florida Republican was candid in why he wanted answers about Benghazi from Nuland.

"I think there's very little debate on this committee about your qualifications to serve in this post," Rubio told Nuland. "The only reason why you're getting questions, quite frankly, about the Benghazi issue is because you were in that policy role. And because the committee is not holding any further hearings on it, you're, quite frankly, the only witness we have ... with regards to these things that we want answers to."

Still, Nuland couldn't answer several questions from Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky related to the weapons used in the attack and if they had any connection to U.S. intelligence operations in Libya or Syria. Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho and Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming also wanted more details about who was ultimately responsible for changes in the talking points and why.

No Democrats present at the hearing asked Nuland about Benghazi. She has already won the support of another failed presidential candidate, Arizona Sen. John McCain, and other leading Republicans like Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-07-11-US-Senate-Back-to-Benghazi/id-637b6ac7e27c43be921ae0aada89f401

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Boys with Sisters More Likely to be Republicans (Taegan Goddard's Political Wire)

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

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US-China make progress on climate change

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, left, Secretary of State John Kerry, second from left, and others, participate in the Joint Session on Climate Change with Chinese delegation headed by Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang, and China's State Councilor Yang Jiechi, Wednesday, July 10, 2013, in the Thomas Jefferson Room at the State Department in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, left, Secretary of State John Kerry, second from left, and others, participate in the Joint Session on Climate Change with Chinese delegation headed by Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang, and China's State Councilor Yang Jiechi, Wednesday, July 10, 2013, in the Thomas Jefferson Room at the State Department in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Vice President Joe Biden gestures while speaking at the opening session of the 2013 Strategic and Economic Dialogue, Wednesday, July 10, 2013, at the State Department in Washington. A month after the presidents of the U.S. and China held an unconventional summit at a California resort, their top officials are convening in more staid surroundings in Washington to review security and economic issues that reflect growing ties but also deep-seated differences between the world powers. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the opening session of the 2013 Strategic and Economic Dialogue,Wednesday, July 10, 2013, at the State Department in Washington. A month after the presidents of the U.S. and China held an unconventional summit at a California resort, their top officials are convening in more staid surroundings in Washington to review security and economic issues that reflect growing ties but also deep-seated differences between the world powers. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang listens at left as Secretary of State John Kerry speaks during the opening session of the 2013 Strategic and Economic Dialogue, Wednesday, July 10, 2013, at the State Department in Washington. A month after the presidents of the U.S. and China held an unconventional summit at a California resort, their top officials are convening in more staid surroundings in Washington to review security and economic issues that reflect growing ties but also deep-seated differences between the world powers. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang listens as Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the opening session of the 2013 Strategic and Economic Dialogue, Wednesday, July 10, 2013, at the State Department in Washington. A month after the presidents of the U.S. and China held an unconventional summit at a California resort, their top officials are convening in more staid surroundings in Washington to review security and economic issues that reflect growing ties but also deep-seated differences between the world powers. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Top U.S. and Chinese officials are wrapping up annual strategic and economic talks that have yielded greater cooperation on reducing greenhouse gases but again exposed Washington's frustration over cyber theft it says is emanating from the emerging Asian power.

Secretary of State John Kerry, who came to Washington for the start of the two-day talks Wednesday, was returning to his wife's hospital bedside in Boston as she recovers from a seizure-like episode. His deputy, William Burns, will take his place at Thursday's discussions.

The gathering is taking a place a month after the U.S. and Chinese presidents' summit in California, which tried to set a positive tone in relations between the two world powers. Officials are looking at ways to build cooperation, even as they hash out deep-seated differences.

They are discussing barriers to trade and investment, the nuclear program of Chinese ally North Korea and other matters, including Iran and Syria's civil war.

Thursday's agenda starts with a round table of Chinese and U.S. officials and business leaders at the Treasury Department. Washington wants Beijing to expedite economic reforms and reduce state involvement in the economy; China has its own concerns about screening of its companies that want to invest in the U.S.

The most tangible outcome of Wednesday's talks was an announcement of new initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. The two sides agreed to cooperate on cutting emissions from vehicles and coal combustion, and to promote more efficient use of energy in buildings, transport and industry. Implementation plans will be ready by October, the State Department said.

That builds on an agreement between President Barack Obama and President Xi Jinping in June to work together on reducing hydrofluorocarbons, a potent greenhouse gas used in refrigerators, air conditioners and industrial applications.

The two sides have also discussed cybersecurity ? now a prominent U.S. concern in its relations with China.

Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday that cyber theft against U.S. companies is "out of bounds and needs to stop." Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi only said that cybersecurity is among the global challenges the U.S. and China should work together on.

U.S. officials are resisting China's attempts to compare their concerns over U.S. surveillance for intelligence gathering ? as revealed by National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden ? with American concerns about theft of intellectual property and proprietary business information.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-07-11-US-China/id-be131ae6e90d4564a20bdbad6ac26888

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Engadget Giveaway: win three Beats by Dre Pills, courtesy of Pickwick & Weller!

With the warmth of summertime comes barbeques, swimming and plenty of other outdoors activities. Regardless of what we're doing, however, music is an absolute necessity for enjoying ourselves. Pickwick & Weller, an online T-shirt merchandise company, wants to make sure you and your friends are hooked up with all the music you need, and have provided us with three Beats by Dre Pills (worth $200 each)! These wireless speakers, in addition to a $150 coupon code for P&W stuff, are going to one lucky winner. This means you can share the spoils with a few of your friends or family members, if you feel so inclined. Good luck!

Filed under: Announcements, HD, Mobile, Alt

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Net tax in NZ | Kiwiblog

?

This is a fascinating table from a speech by bill English today showing how highly re-distributive the NZ tax and welfare system is. Basically what this shows is that the top 5% of households pay 47% of net tax in New Zealand. Households up to $60,000 income receive more in welfare on average than they pay in tax, Yes, they are effectively paying no tax.

Now I?m not complaining about this too much. I?m happy to some extent to help working lower income families when they have kids to look after. But when political parties complain that we need to hike taxes on rich pricks, then bear in mind that our tax and welfare system is already highly highly re-distributive. The debate should be on how we allow Kiwis to keep more of their income, not how to take more off them.

Bill English noted:

Estimates of net income tax paid by household income, before and after Budget 2010, indicate the system has become more progressive over this period, Mr English says.

Households earning less than $60,000 are generally expected to pay less, in percentage terms, towards net tax in 2013/14 than they were paying in 2008/09.?

Conversely, households earning more than $150,000 are generally paying more of the net tax than they were in 2008/09. ??

?It?s appropriate to maintain a tax and income support system that helps low and middle income households when they most need it.

?But people who call for even greater transfers to low income families, or who call for the top tax rate to be raised, need to be aware of how redistributive the tax and income support system really is,? Mr English says.

Income tax rates should be lowered, not increased.

Tags: net tax, tax, welfare

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 10th, 2013 at 12:30 pm and is filed under NZ Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Source: http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2013/07/net_tax_in_nz.html

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Chemical/bioengineers use adhesion to combine advantages of silicones and organic materials

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Bioengineers have found a way to strongly adhere hydrogels to hydrophobic silicone substrates, an innovation that provides a valuable new tool for microscale biotechnology.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/biochemistry/~3/yr4KWKcPqxY/130709143530.htm

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Mos Def Can't Handle Being Force-Fed Like a Gitmo Prisoner (Atlantic Politics Channel)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/317893515?client_source=feed&format=rss

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JAY-Z Calls MILEY CYRUS A ?God? On Twitter

The latest celebrity news has learned that?JAY-Z called MILEY CYRUS a ?God? on Twitter.

Wow.

Jay-Z is not done talking about Miley Cyrus.

The ?Magna Carta Holy Grail? creator, who already rapped about her and her infamous twerking in his yet-to-be-released tracks, was answering tons of questions of fans on Monday. And unsurprisingly, he was faced with a question that involved the booty-popping dance move.

A fan tweeted him:

?do you think twerking should replace the electric slide at weddings??

He replied, writing:

?Personally???YES.. Miley is a GOD.?

Whether or not he?s really being complimentary is still unclear, but Miley doesn?t worry about it. What she minded, however, were her bashers, who gave her flack right after Jay-Z?s ?God? tweet.

Miley tweeted defensively:

?Call it what you want. But I don?t see Mr. Carter shoutin any of you b*tches out.#twerkmileytwerk ??

We?re actually with her on this.

What can you say about Jay-Z?s shocking tweet?

Photos By PR Photos

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/anythinghollywood/~3/Fba0Lpx4UJA/

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Perfect Relationships: Marriage - Grace to You

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Source: http://www.gty.org/blog/B130708

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NBA Draft: A look at the history of the draft and stash tactic

BEST DRAFT AND STASH PLAYERS

Arvydas Sabonis ? Drafted in 1986, Sabonis didn't join the Blazers until 1995, partly because of personal choice and partly because of a three-year period where Soviet authorities wouldn't allow him to play in the NBA. Once in the U.S., he had a solid seven-year run, but already past his prime and injury-prone, Sabonis falls into the category of what could have been.

Manu Ginobili ? Viewed as the signature player of the recent draft and stash trend, San Antonio took Ginobili in 1999, brought him over in 2002 and the future Hall of Famer had already helped the Spurs win three titles by 2007. Helped open the floodgates for many others over the past 10 years.

Marc Gasol ? Because his brother already starred in the league, Marc Gasol was a safe draft and stash pick. He was taken in 2007 by the Lakers and expected to come over soon after. He did, just one season later, after his draft rights were traded from the Lakers to Grizzlies in exchange for his brother. Marc won Defensive Player of the Year last season.

Serge Ibaka ? Selected in 2008 by the Thunder and viewed as a long-term project, Ibaka surprised many, coming over in 2009 and becoming an immediate defensive force his first year in the league. These days, at only 24, he's an improved jump-shooter and the league's top shot-blocker.

Other notables: Luis Scola, Toni Kukoc, Mehmet Okur, Peja Stojakovic, Marcin Gortat, Ricky Rubio, Omer Asik, Nikola Pekovic

WORST DRAFT AND STASH PLAYERS

Fran Vazquez ? Drafted 11th overall by the Magic in 2005, Vazquez, a skilled 6-foot-10 interior player, was expected to soon join Dwight Howard and form a formidable frontcourt in Orlando. He never came, spurning the Magic front office and infuriating its fans. He still has never played an NBA game.

Source: http://newsok.com/nba-draft-a-look-at-the-history-of-the-draft-and-stash-tactic/article/3860026?custom_click=rss

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President Obama Gives Republicans a Patriotic Thumb In The Eye

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In his weekly address President Obama reminded the country that July 4th represents a very specific brand of freedom, ?On July 4th, 1776, a small band of patriots declared that we were a people created equal ? free to think and worship and live as we please.?

Oh, really? We?re all equal, and can think and worship and live as we please? One party seems to be on a jihad against these very freedoms, trying to impose their alleged religious beliefs upon the rest of the nation while stealing the right to vote from certain people whom they deem unequal. Perhaps Obama reaffirmed these rights in order to thumb a little of their alleged patriotism into Republicans? eyes.

Watch here:

Transcript:

Hi everybody. I hope you all had a safe and happy Fourth of July, filled with parades, cookouts, fireworks and family reunions.

We celebrated at the White House with a few hundred members of the military and their families. And we took a moment amid the festivities to remember what our Independence Day is all about ? what happened 237 years ago, and what it meant to the world.

On July 4th, 1776, a small band of patriots declared that we were a people created equal ? free to think and worship and live as we please. It was a declaration heard around the world ? that we were no longer colonists, we were Americans, and our destiny would not be determined for us; it would be determined by us.

It was a bold and tremendously brave thing to do. It was also nearly unthinkable. At that time, kings and princes and emperors ruled the world. But those patriots were certain that a better way was possible. And to achieve it ? to win their freedom ? they were willing to lay it all on the line. Their lives. Their fortunes. Their sacred honor.

They fought a revolution. Few would have bet on our side to win. But for the first of many times to come, America proved the doubters wrong.

And now, 237 years later, the United States ? this improbable nation ? is the greatest in the world. A land of liberty and opportunity. A global defender of peace and freedom. A beacon of hope to people everywhere who cherish those ideals.

Generations of Americans made our country what it is today ? farmers and teachers, engineers and laborers, entrepreneurs and elected leaders ? people from all walks of life, from all parts of the world, all pulling in the same direction.

And now we, the people, must make their task our own ? to live up to the words of that Declaration of Independence, and secure liberty and opportunity for our own children, and for future generations.

I want to say a special word of thanks to the men and women of our military, who have played such a vital role in the story of our nation. You have defended us at home and abroad. And you have fought on our nation?s behalf to make the world a better, safer place. People in scattered corners of the world are living in peace today, free to write their own futures, because of you. We are grateful for your service and your sacrifice, especially those still serving in harm?s way and your families here at home.

So, God bless you all. And may God bless the United States of America.

End Transcript

Last week, we lost fundamental parts of the Voting Rights Act but gained important freedoms for same sex marriage. Women lost around the country as Republicans stole their rights to make their own medical decisions, and immigrants lost as Republicans bet against a changing demographic landscape in order to appease their old while male base.

Republicans are still trying to make something out of Benghazi (besides taking responsibility for cutting funding themselves, of course), even as all of their scandals have backfired ? revealing the crass political motives of Issa as an inept Oz.

Somehow this president maintains his equanimity no matter what Republicans are throwing his way.

Source: http://www.politicususa.com/2013/07/06/president-obama-reaffirms-freedom-worship-live.html

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Bail set at $2M for armed man arrested in Seattle

SEATTLE (AP) ? A judge set bail at $2 million Friday for a Las Vegas man arrested near the University of Washington in a truck that authorities say contained multiple weapons, maps to three Seattle campuses and a recording in which he said he planned to do something in the West to support protesters demanding reform in Brazil.

King County Judge Arthur R. Chapman said he set such a high bail for Justin Jasper because he considered the 22-year-old a flight risk and a threat to the community.

Montana authorities said Jasper stole a pickup truck and guns from a truck driver in Butte, Mont., who had let Jasper stay at his home.

At the bail hearing in Seattle, a prosecutor said authorities found six firebombs in the vehicle, along with a bolt-action rifle, a double-barrel shotgun, a machete and several knives. They also found a recording of a podcast that appears to have Jasper expressing support for protesters in Brazil.

More than 1 million demonstrators have taken to the streets in Brazil over the past month to denounce everything from poor public services to the billions of dollars spent preparing for next year's World Cup soccer tournament and the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.

Police found evidence that Jasper was planning some kind of action in support of those protesters, Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Hamilton said. Hamilton said that on the podcast, Jasper said he was going to back the "Brazilian revolution" by doing something "somewhere in the Western United States."

"I'm going to make sure people understand and notice it," he allegedly said on the podcast.

Authorities also found maps in the truck to the University of Washington, Seattle University and South Seattle Community College. Court documents identified Jasper's occupation as a self-employed journalist. He has not yet been appointed a public defender.

The truck driver from Butte reported to authorities Wednesday that he returned from a trip to find his pickup truck missing and guns stolen from his home, said Butte-Silver Bow Undersheriff George Skuletich.

Jasper had been staying at the truck driver's home for about a month.

The Seattle Times identified the truck driver Friday night as Erik Henderson (http://is.gd/YavETd ).

The trucker said Jasper described himself as an "anarchist," The Times reported.

Jasper had concerns about topics ranging from the chemical industry to genetically altered foods to voting rights, Henderson said.

Henderson discovered his pickup, guns and body armor missing Tuesday after returning home from 11 days on the road. He said he had body armor from his days as a contract convoy trucker in Iraq.

Jasper was arrested Wednesday after University of Washington police were told to watch for a truck that had been stolen in Montana.

University police saw Jasper sleeping in a truck near campus Tuesday night, the day before they received the stolen-vehicle notice. University of Washington Police Chief John Vinson said nothing came up in their system when they checked the plates Tuesday.

Butte authorities are looking into possible charges, but none have been filed, Skuletich said.

Vinson said the man had with him a scoped rifle, shotgun and fewer than 10 Molotov cocktails.

"We have no idea what his intentions are," he said. "This is a very active investigation. We're trying to rule out everything at this point."

Vinson said Thursday there did not appear to be any threat to the university campus.

___

Information from The Seattle Times is contained in this report.

___

Associated Press writer Matt Volz in Helena, Mont., and AP Photographer Ted Warren in Seattle contributed to report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bail-set-2m-armed-man-arrested-seattle-222432465.html

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Inhabitat's Week in Green: floating power plant, water chip and a solar-powered family car

Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green.

Fresh water is the most precious resource on Earth, and it's becoming increasingly scarce -- but a new invention could make desalination an affordable, cost-effective technology. A team of scientists from Germany and the US has developed a "water chip" that uses an electrical field to separate salt from seawater. That isn't the only new innovation that has the potential to change the world. This week Inhabitat took a look at the Horizon mass transit system, a futuristic hybrid train-plane propelled by a maglev-style mechanism. The UK celebrated the launch of the world's largest offshore wind farm, and Apple announced plans to build a 18-20 MW solar plant to power its data center in Reno, Nev. A 15-year-old from Canada created a flashlight that is powered entirely by body heat from a human hand. And in one of the week's most uplifting stories, an amputee built herself a prosthetic leg out of Legos (it might not be very practical, but it sure is cool).

Filed under: Misc, Science

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/07/floating-power-water-chip-family-solar-car/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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German minister: drop Google if you fear U.S. spying

By Associated Press Published: Jul 3, 2013 at 7:55 AM PDT Last Updated: Jul 3, 2013 at 7:55 AM PDT

This undated photo made available by Google shows the campus-network room at a data center in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

BERLIN (AP) ? Germany's top security official says Internet users worried about their data being intercepted by U.S. intelligence agencies should stop using American websites such as Google and Facebook.

Leaked revelations about the U.S. National Security Agency's wholesale information on foreign web users has prompted outrage in Europe and calls for tighter international rules on data protection.

Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich told reporters in Berlin on Wednesday that "whoever fears their communication is being intercepted in any way should use services that don't go through American servers."

Friedrich says German officials are in touch with their U.S. counterparts "on all levels" and a delegation is scheduled to fly to Washington next week to discuss the claims that ordinary citizens and even European diplomats were being spied upon.

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Source: http://www.kimatv.com/news/tech/German-minister-drop-Google-if-you-fear-US-spying-214140061.html

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California CO2-induced farming apocalypse update: "California grape growers expect record crop"

Source: http://tomnelson.blogspot.com/2013/07/california-co2-induced-farming.html

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Egypt military vehicles deploy in Cairo clashes

CAIRO (AP) ? Egyptian military armored vehicles have raced onto a main bridge over the Nile River in Cairo in the first major move to break up clashes raging between Islamist backers of ousted President Mohammed Morsi and their opponents.

Several armored vehicles, at least one with young Morsi opponents sitting on the roof, deployed on the 6th of October Bridge, near Tahrir Square, aiming to chase away Morsi supporters. Military helicopters flew toward Tahrir.

The troops moved after Islamists surged across the bridge earlier in the day to attack an anti-Morsi crowd near Tahrir, sparking clashes with gunfire and stone-throwing that killed at least one person. Nationwide, 10 people have been killed, including the death in the battle on the bridge.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-military-vehicles-deploy-cairo-clashes-200502707.html

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China hit by largest-ever algae bloom

The seas off China have been hit by their largest ever growth of algae, ocean officials said, with vast waves of green growth washing onto the shores of the Yellow Sea.

Pictures showed beachgoers swimming and playing in the green tide in the eastern city of Qingdao, while bulldozers shovelled up tonnes of algae from the sand.

The State Oceanic Administration said on its website that the algae, enteromorpha prolifera, started to appear a week ago and had spread across an area of 28,900 square kilometres (7,500 square miles).

The previous largest bloom was in 2008 when it affected around 13,000 square kilometres, it said.

Qingdao officials said they had removed around 7,335 tonnes of algae, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The algal phenomenon is usually caused by an abundance of nutrients in the water, especially phosphorus, although the triggers for the enormous blooms which began to appear in the Yellow Sea in 2007 remain uncertain.

The China Daily quoted professor Bao Xianwen, of the Qingdao-based Ocean University of China, as saying: "It must have something to do with the change in the environment, but we are not scientifically sure about the reasons."

The algae are not toxic nor detrimental to water quality, but lead to extreme imbalances in marine ecosystems by consuming large quantities of oxygen and creating hydrogen sulphide.

Source: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/China_hit_by_largest-ever_algae_bloom_999.html

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Watch as California fireworks display fires sideways into crowd

By David Ferguson
Friday, July 5, 2013 7:54 EDT

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Nearly 30 people were injured Thursday night when a fireworks display in Simi Valley California went wrong, firing sideways into a crowd of about 10,000. According to the L.A. Times, officials are calling the incident an industrial accident and say that there is no evidence to suggest foul play.

Witnesses reported a large explosion about two minutes after the display began, then panic as people ran for cover and tried to protect themselves from fireworks that were shooting straight into the crowd.

?There was a big boom. Everybody started running down the street. People were screaming,? said witness Justice Allen, 17, to the Times. ?Everybody was just terrified. People hid in bushes.?

Ventura County Fire Department personnel set up a triage in the park to treat the injured, who had shrapnel burns and other injuries, mostly minor. Four people were taken to the hospital, but are expected to recover.

A Ventura County Sheriff?s Department bomb squad is being deployed to clear the unexploded fireworks from the scene.

Watch video about this story, embedded below via Greg Mitchell at Pressing Issues:

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheRawStory/~3/SlM00iQNYak/

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