Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Clergy, faithful digest Francis' Brazil message

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) ? In word and deed during his trip to Brazil, Pope Francis put clergy and faithful alike on notice: Get energized, go out and spread the Gospel, give the Roman Catholic Church a more active role in society.

Francis led the way, with upward of 3 million faithful gathering for his Mass on Copacabana beach, a gushing local press following his every move on nationwide TV and even a group of nuns squealing in delight like groupies upon spotting him. By all measures, the pope's first international trip was a smash success.

But the burning question in the post-trip glow remains: How to carry out Francis' commands with a church that's loaded with challenges, from a severe shortage of priests to the fleeing of faithful for two decades in strongholds such as Brazil, as well as across Europe and the United States.

On Monday, priests, lay people and religious experts alike interpreted through their own cultural lens how to understand Francis' call to action, when he told bishops in Brazil that clergy must work on the peripheries, get out in the street and better understand how to communicate with modern society.

"As a younger priest, that's part of my idealism, to take our work into the streets," said Father Roy Bellen from Manila, who was in Rio for the papal visit. "It's encouraging for me to hear from the boss that the old school ways aren't welcome, that of clergy sticking to their comfort zones inside the church."

Some predicted a rough road ahead if the church is going to change its more traditional pastoral forms, which put a priest at the front of a Mass talking to instead of with parishioners. The growth sought by Francis will require many clergy to exercise atrophied missionary muscles.

"It's the mission of the church to go out and proclaim the Gospel to everyone, but there are people who don't like to do this; they prefer to stay within their parishes," said Jan Scheuthela, a 28-year-old seminarian from Poland attending the Mass on Copacabana beach. "In my parish we try to do things like this, but we need to do more: We need to organize missions on the streets, especially to bring in those young people who have lost interest in the church."

Francis told Latin American bishops they must be spiritually close to their parishioners and had earlier instructed Brazilian clergy to have the "scent of their flock" on them.

"There are pastoral plans which are 'distant,' ... which give priority to principles, forms of conduct, organizational procedures ... and clearly lack nearness, tenderness, a warm touch," Francis said Sunday. "The bishop has to be among his people in three ways: in front of them, pointing the way; among them, keeping them together and preventing them from being scattered; and behind them, assuring that no one is left behind."

Father Omar Mateo, secretary general of Ecuador's Episcopal Conference, addressed the elephant-in-the-room question: How do you take the Gospel to the street when the clergy are spread so thin?

Nearly 25 percent of the world's parishes don't have a resident priest, according to Vatican statistics. While the number of Catholics in the world grew by 68 percent between 1975 and 2010, the number of priests ticked up by just 1.8 percent, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University.

In Brazil, the world's largest Catholic country, the percentage of the population calling itself Catholic dropped from 89 percent in 1980 to 65 percent three decades later, according to census statistics. Many Brazilian Catholics joined charismatic Pentecostal evangelical churches, while Americans joined flashy megachurches and many Europeans simply became secular.

Mateo said the answer will require both "asking God to send more workers to his cause" and by pragmatically "launching campaigns to go out and find new priests who will devote their lives to the Christian vocation."

"The holy father asks us to live our religious life in all settings," he said. "To understand and live religion and to go out into the community in a convincing and simple manner."

Beyond direct calls for a more active church, experts said the pontiff's Brazilian trip was rich in symbolism just as important in getting his messages across.

He paid a visit to a trash-strewn slum recently cleared of drug gangs. He met with young, recovering drug addicts to whom he gave deep hugs after they told their stories to him at a public event. He responded to a crowd mobbing his car on arrival in Brazil not by recoiling, but by rolling down his car window to shake hands and kiss babies.

"The symbolism Francis showed throughout the trip was perfect. He touched the hearts of all Brazilians, not just Catholics," said Fernando Altemeyer, a theology professor at the Catholic University of Sao Paulo. "It will be a long-term project to repair losses of the church, but what he's done is provide an immediate shock to the system."

Most of Francis' changes were in style rather than substance. He offered no bending on Catholic doctrine that splits some of the church's followers, including contraception, abortion and refusal to allow clergy to marry. Only on the plane flying home to Italy did he hint at new thinking from the church, saying he wouldn't judge gay priests for their sexual orientation.

Francis showed a deft ability to understand his audiences in Brazil and how best to communicate with whomever he might be interacting, something he's also asking of clergy.

During homilies and in public speeches, he used plain language that reinforced basic messages of help for the poor, of God's love for everyone, and of the need for Catholics to keep the Lord in their hearts.

When meeting with clergy in closed sessions, however, Francis switched to theologically complex discourses laden with thoughts on how the church must change, and said the church must end its overly intellectual and self-referential manner of communicating if it hopes to be understood.

"If the losses of the faithful are the result of church liturgy that is too staid or a message not being put across in a modern way in terms of how it's delivered, then, yes, he can make a difference," said Monsignor Raymond Kupke, who teaches church history at Seton Hall University's School of Theology in the U.S. "One trip to Brazil won't immediately change things, but it may have an impact on re-energizing people and reaching out to those who are nominally Catholic."

Shivering in a cold Rio de Janeiro dawn, light just starting to streak the sky, Fabio Feitosa da Silva, a 32-year-old waiter on his way to work, quietly spoke about his impressions of the pope, of how he's starting to look differently at the Catholic Church he stopped attending 15 years ago when its message no longer resonated with him.

"I didn't expect this, but I love him, everybody loves him," Silva said, neatly summing up the general feeling in Brazil. "He's won my interest, he has my attention, I'm listening. It's his humility that touches my heart. He's even got me convinced to attend Mass later on the beach."

___

Associated Press writers Marco Sibaja and Nicole Winfield in Rio de Janeiro and Gonzalo Solano in Quito, Ecuador, contributed to this report.

___

Bradley Brooks on Twitter: www.twitter.com/bradleybrooks

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/clergy-faithful-digest-francis-brazil-message-082232285.html

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Government releases surveillance documents as pressure for transparency mounts

NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander is interrupted during a speech in Las Vegas Wednesday as he was talking about government surveillance programs.

By Andrew Rafferty and Michael Isikoff, NBC News

While intelligence officials briefed lawmakers on Capitol Hill about the country?s secret data-collecting programs, the nation?s top snoop met an even more critical audience Wednesday: Hackers.

Gen. Keith Alexander, the embattled head of the U.S. National Security Agency, spoke to a tech-savvy and somewhat hostile crowd gathered at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas, Nev. ? where he unapologetically defended wide-ranging intelligence gathering programs.

?You?re the greatest gathering of technical talent in anywhere the world, if we can make this better, the whole reason I came here was to ask you to help us make it better,? Alexander appealed to the crowd. ?And if you disagree with us, you should work twice as hard.?

?Read the Constitution!? an audience member shot back at him.

?I have, you should too,? the general responded to large applause.

At another point, a conference attendee yelled, ?Bulls---!? after the NSA chief said his spy agency stands for freedom.

Alexander also insisted that oversight and strict regulation of the telephone and electronic monitoring programs meant someone was watching the watchers and keeping them in check.??

?The assumption is that people are out there just wheeling and dealing, and nothing could be further from the truth,? Alexander told the crowd. ?We have tremendous oversight in these programs ? You know that we can audit the actions of our people 100 percent in this case, and we do that.?

Though the nearly hour-long speech was tense at times, it ended with a hearty applause and many Twitter thank you?s from attendees who respected Alexander for the visit into unfriendly territory.

But Alexander wasn?t the only intelligence official facing a tough crowd on Wednesday. In Washington, other NSA officials testified before a skeptical Senate Judiciary Committee, which harshly criticized the agency?s sweeping domestic surveillance powers.

The hearings began as director of National Intelligence declassified documents relating to the government?s collection of telephone data, one of the wide-ranging surveillance programs that brought global outcry over privacy concerns after being thrust into the public spotlight by Snowden.?

The documents, which in some places are heavily redacted, were released ?in the interest of increased transparency,??the office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a statement.?

Deputy Director John Inglis?told the Congress that no one has been disciplined over the former security contractor's leak and his ability to take large amounts of classified data from agency computers.? ?

"No one has offered to resign. Everyone is working hard to understand what happened,'' Inglis said.

The three newly released documents include the 2009 and 2011 reports on the government?s ?Bulk Collection Program? under the Patriot Act. The other?record made public?was an order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court?detailing how data should be gathered and stored.

"The custodian of records of [redacted] shall produce to NSA upon service of the appropriate secondary order, and continue production on an ongoing daily basis thereafter for the duration of this order," the primary order reads.???

It originally was not set to be declassified until April 12, 2038. ?

Snowden offered details to news agencies about a court order calling for Verizon to hand over Americans phone records and the existence of a program called Prism, which collects bulk data of foreign citizens that are suspected to be involved with terrorist organizations.

The declassified documents also contain information about government efforts to gather intelligence on electronic communications. The Dec. 4, 2009 report to the House Intelligence Committee shows that for years the NSA has been collecting records of all Americans emails, including the sender, recipient and time of day the emails were sent.

However the content of those communications have not been collected, according to the report.

Officials have previously acknowledged the bulk collection of emails was terminated in December 2011 after questions arose about its usefulness.

The 2009 document also notes that the collection of phone and email data is ?some of the most sensitive? intelligence gathering programs conducted by the government, and warns members of Congress that public disclosure of their existence would cause ?exceptionally grave? damage to national security.

The report then describes both the telephone and emails efforts as programs that "operate on a very large scale" and had been authorized by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court under regular? day orders .

In addition to the bulk collection of telephone records being collected under the Patriot Act, the report states that another legal authority -- called the "pen register" provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act-- authorized the government "to collect similar kinds of information about electronic communications."

These electronic communications are described in the report as "the 'to? and 'from' lines in email and time an email is sent-- excluding the content of the email and the 'subject' line."

The report adds: "Again, this information is collected pursuant to court order (generally last 90 days) and, under relevant court decisions, is not protected by the Fourth Amendment."

Both the documents from 2009 and 2011 acknowledge there had been "compliance" problems? with both programs.

The 2009 report states that the problems "generally involved the implementation of highly sophisticated techniques"? that? "in some instances, resulted in the automated tools operating in a manner that was not completely consistent" with court orders.

The problems prompted the NSA to create an "Office of Compliance" to address the problems, the 2009 report states.

The documents also reference security contractors like Snowden, saying that ?appropriately trained and authorized technical personnel? may access the government data.?

Snowden, who remains stuck at an airport in Moscow awaiting an asylum request to the Russian government, has said he accessed information of the government?s massive intelligence gathering programs while working at intelligence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton.?

Also on Wednesday, the British newspaper The Guardian revealed more information about an NSA spying program known as ?Xkeyscore,? which the paper reports allows analysts to search through huge databases including emails, online chats and internet history with no prior authorization. The German magazine Der Spiegel first revealed the program?s existence and that Germany?s foreign intelligence service and its domestic intelligence agency were utilizing it.

Last week the House narrowly rejected a proposal that would have severely restricted the NSA?s ability to collect phone records, with some Congress? most liberal and conservative members voting in accord.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., pressed intelligence officials for hard numbers on how many potential terror plots have actually been foiled by the call-tracking database ?known as Section 215, the Patriot Act provision that authorizes it.

Leahy said he was ?far from convinced? that the intelligence officers know how many attacks have been thwarted by the collection of phone records.

He also criticized the documents made public Wednesday for containing little rationale behind the legalization of the program.

NBC's Jim Miklaszewski, Courtney Kube and Reuters contributed to this report.?

Related:

This story was originally published on

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Peugeot Citroen losses mount in H1

(AP) ? PSA Peugeot Citroen says its losses mounted in the first half as Europe's recession ate into car sales just as it attempts to battle back from last year's record 5 billion euro ($6.6 billion) loss.

The maker of Peugeot and Citroen sedans, hatchbacks and light trucks says it lost 426 million euros in the first half amid a continued slide in car sales and disruption at a key car plant near Paris where workers went on strike over the group's plans to shut factories and shed up to 8,000 jobs.

In a statement Wednesday Peugeot Citroen boss Philippe Varin said he "sees the first signs of the group's recovery," with the automotive division trimming its operating loss even as sales continue to shrink.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-07-31-France-Earns-Peugeot%20Citroen/id-a07da325d09d4eff8dfa23eecc423071

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Chinese tourists easy prey for criminal gangs in Paris

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

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Best Social PPC Platforms for Your Business | HostGator Web ...

social ppc advertising

When it comes to PPC (Pay Per Click), there?s no doubt that the big search engines are great places to advertise. With Google now reaching at least 80 percent of all internet users, Google Adwords has become a powerful force in PPC advertising.

However, you can?t talk about PPC these days without giving at least a mention to social media. The larger social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter all have their own PPC programs that allow you to target your ads to a specific audience. Social networks collect plenty of demographic information from their users. This means that ? even when they?re not searching ? members can still see ads tailored to them and their interests.

?So the question then becomes: Which social network PPC program will serve your business best?

?

Things to Consider

As with any advertising campaign, your budget and target audience should be your main focus. It?s true that PPC costs much less than traditional advertising methods by comparison, but the daily costs can quickly add up and you?ll really feel it if your campaign isn?t getting the results you expect. Test and retest your chosen platform(s) before making any major financial commitment. Time spent on testing is well worth it in the long run.

Also, don?t advertise on any particular PPC platform just because everyone else is doing it. Find out where your demographic congregates and take your advertising dollars there.

?

Who Uses Social Media?

This is the first thing to consider when you?re thinking about going the social PPC route, as targeting the right demographic is crucial to the success of your PPC campaign. Though marketers and webmasters are singing the praises of social PPC, the truth is that not every business can benefit as much as the next when it comes to this advertising channel.

The following are a few of the different types of users you?ll find on social media networks:

  • Age: According to data from the Pew Research Center, the age demographic with the largest social media usage rate is 18 to 29-year-olds (83%), followed by 30 to 49 year olds (73%). Not surprisingly, this age stratification has stayed constant since 2005, with the younger subset being the most frequent social media users.

  • Education: The data shows that social media usage pretty much spans across all education levels, with 65% of users holding a college degree or higher, 69% of people with some college education, and 66% of participants with a high school education.

  • Gender: Roughly 71% of women engage in social media, compared to 62% of men.

  • Location: About 70% of people in urban areas use social media, 67% of people in suburban areas, and 61% of people who live in rural areas.

?

Comparing PPC Programs

Facebook is probably the most widely used social PPC program, since it was the first one to make a huge splash on the social media scene (it?s also the most widely used social network by a landslide). With over 800 million users and a minimum daily budget of only $1, it?s a good choice for advertisers who want a wide reach on a budget. When advertising on Facebook, you can choose from the CPC (cost per click) or CPM (cost per mille, or cost per thousand views) methods of payment, though costs have been rising since last year for those paying by CPM.

Twitter is currently the biggest well-known micro blogging platform ? with 500 million registered users as of October 2012, they?re fast catching up to Facebook in terms of user base. Twitter offers both sponsored tweets and sponsored hashtags for advertisers, though advertising here is considerably more expensive than on the other platforms.

For this reason, you most often see sponsored content from big companies, media giants, and well-known celebs on Twitter. Because of its succinct nature, this platform is fast paced and suitable for promoting hot and trendy things that you want to quickly build a buzz around. Though this social network has a broad swathe of users, account holders tend to be young (with an average age of 18-29), African American (26%), and/or urban dwellers (72%).

LinkedIn is the place to advertise if you?re offering B2B or employment services and products. With its very specific demographic (professionals and job seekers), LinkedIn allows you to target business professionals in specific industries. Right now, the minimum budget is $10 a day, which could be well worth it if your audience is mostly found on LinkedIn.

At the end of the day, experience is a great indicator for future success. If you?re still unsure about which social PPC platform is right for your business, the best thing to do is test. Run test campaigns on the platforms you feel would best suit your needs, and see which ones you perform well on. Then, optimize those campaigns so that they perform even better. Social PPC popularity is showing no signs of slowing down, making now a great time to dig your business?s roots into the social PPC soil.

Source: http://blog.hostgator.com/2013/07/30/best-social-ppc-platforms-for-your-business/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=best-social-ppc-platforms-for-your-business

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Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Massive explosions rock central Fla. gas plant

TAVARES, Fla. (AP) ? A series of explosions rocked a central Florida propane gas plant and sent "boom after boom after boom" through the neighborhood around it. Several people were injured, with at least three critically injured.

All the workers at the plant were accounted for early Tuesday after officials initially could not account for more than a dozen employees.

John Herrell of the Lake County Sheriff's Office said there were no fatalities despite massive blasts that ripped through the Blue Rhino propane plant late Monday night.

"Management is comfortable saying all of those they knew were there tonight have been accounted for," he said.

One person injured in the explosion was listed in critical condition at University of Florida Health Shands Hospital. Two others were listed in critical condition at Orlando Regional Medical Center and a spokeswoman there said a third patient was en route, also listed as critical.

Herrell said some others drove themselves to area hospitals.

The Blue Rhino plant, which is northwest of Orlando, refilled propane tanks typically used for barbecues and other uses.

Herrell said a crew of 24 to 26 people was working at the plant on an overnight shift when the explosions occurred around 11 p.m.

Video footage on WESH-TV in Orlando showed fires burning through trucks used to transport propane tanks, which were parked at the plant. The fire was sending plumes of smoke into the air hours after the blast. Emergency crews could also be seen massing nearby.

Herrell said an evacuation zone was initially a one-mile radius but had been reduced to a half-mile radius. No injuries have been reported from residents in the neighborhood and residents were later allowed to return to their homes.

Marni Whitehead, 33, who lives less than a mile from the plant, said she was in bed ready to go to sleep when she heard a loud boom.

"It was like a car had run into my house, is what I thought had happened," she said.

She ran outside and saw other neighbors outside and then they saw the explosions.

"We knew right away it was the plant, the propane plant," Whitehead said. "After that, it was just sort of panic."

Whitehead likened the explosions to Fourth of July fireworks. "And it was just boom after boom after boom," she said.

Herrell said officials believe the fire was contained and wouldn't spread to another part of the plant but they could not guarantee that.

Herrell said the plant usually has 53,000 20-pound propane tanks.

According to the Leesburg Daily Commercial, the plant was built in 2004 and employs fewer than 50 people.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/massive-explosions-rock-central-fla-gas-plant-071913944.html

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Shiny new teeth concocted from mice and human urine

Is a missing tooth ruining your smile? Here's an unlikely recipe for cooking up a replacement ? with the help of a mouse and some of your own urine.

Duanqing Pei from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Guangzhou and colleagues took stem cells from human urine and used them to grow teeth inside mouse kidneys. The stem cells were mixed with mouse connective tissue cells and grown for two days before being implanted under the outer layer of the mouse's kidney. There they transformed into dental epithelial tissue, which develops into the enamel, while the rest of each tooth was formed from mouse cells.

Pei claims that a method for using mice to grow teeth containing only human cells "could be easily designed".

The work is promising but figuring out what governs the size and shape of different teeth is going to be a big problem in making it useful, says Mark Bartold from the University of Adelaide in Australia, who works on regenerative dental medicine. "It doesn't take a genius to figure out there's a big difference between an incisor and a molar tooth," he says. "That's going to be very tricky, because we don't really fully understand what's involved in that development."

Pei agrees, but says having natural replacement teeth available to fit into the right slots in the mouth may be of benefit. He also notes that the teeth his team grew were a bit softer than real teeth, which might be because they were not being used as they grew. "We do not have the physical stimulations found in the mouth," he says.

Bartold says there are already very good titanium dental implants available today, but the work is still useful as it could help us understand the development of teeth, which could in turn boost other areas of regenerative medicine. "The tooth, believe it or not, for decades has been used as a wonderful tool for understanding development biology," he says.

Pei and colleagues agree, writing that the tooth represents "one of the best models in organogensis".

But why did they grow the teeth from cells in urine? "This is the most convenient source," says Pei.

Journal reference: Cell Regeneration, in press

Correction: Details of how the stem cells were used have been clarified since this article was first published on 30 July.

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Travel & Leisure Group Publishes Details of Top Timeshare Resorts ...

Travel & Leisure Group logoSudbury, Suffolk (July 29, 2013) ? A specialist in travel and timeshares, the UK based Travel & Leisure Group has now published details of top timeshare resorts on its website. The facility will make it easier for visitors to the website to see at a glance which of the resorts is the most popular and find out more about each of the top ones listed.

Travel & Leisure deals with the sale and purchase of timeshare properties for people all around the world. The company has over two decades of experience in this field and uses this to provide valuable services to those who are interested in buying or selling global timeshares.

In addition to listing the top timeshare resorts on the website at http://www.travelandleisure.co.uk/buying-timeshare.asp, Travel & Leisure also offers details of the top ten properties, so website visitors can quickly see which properties are the most popular. There is a featured property section on the website too, which provides images, details, and pricing on the company?s featured property. There are also facilities for those selling timeshare, which can be accessed at http://www.travelandleisure.co.uk/selling-timeshare.asp.

A representative from the Travel & Leisure Group said: ?Timeshare has always been and continues to be a great way for travel enthusiasts to enjoy some fantastic vacations in exciting destinations all around the world. Our site is designed to make timeshares more accessible to those who want to benefit from this method of enjoying holidays, with properties in places all around the world at very competitive prices. We also help those who are looking to sell their timeshare on by providing an easy platform through which this can be done.?

Those interested in taking on a timeshare will be able to visit the website in order to see what?s available and to compare the cost of the variety of timeshares in a range of global destinations. The website provides a simple search facility for those who want to look for a suitable timeshare, with the ability to search by country, week, and property size.

To look at buying or selling timeshare, please visit http://www.travelandleisure.co.uk/

About the Travel & Leisure Group
The Travel & Leisure Group offers facilities to make buying and selling timeshare properties quicker and easier for its customers. The company has more than two decades to experience in this field.

Jul 29th, 2013 | Category: ALL NEWS HEADLINES, Europe and UK, Timeshare Resales/Rentals | Tell a Friend?Tell a Friend

Source: http://www.insidethegate.com/2013/07/travel-leisure-group-publishes-details-of-top-timeshare-resorts/

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Responsible Sports Top 10 Moments (ASA - Amateur Softball Association of America)

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If we make material changes to our e-mail practices, we will notify you here, by e-mail, and by means of a notice on our home page.

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The advertising banners and other forms of advertising appearing on this Web site are sometimes delivered to you, on our behalf, by a third party. In the course of serving advertisements to this site, the third party may place or recognize a unique cookie on your browser. For more information on cookies, you can visit www.cookiecentral.com.

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University of Texas students send yacht off-course with GPS exploit (video)

DNP University of Texas' yacht hack illustrates GPS signal vulnerability video

Students from the University of Texas gave us another reason not to mess with the Lone Star state: they'll hack your yacht. In cooperation with a luxury boat's owners, the Longhorns manipulated their $80 million vessel's nav system, covertly guiding it off-course -- all without the crew ever suspecting foul play. By transmitting spoofed global positioning system signals toward the craft, the students tricked its drivers into correcting a non-existent, three-degree course deviation, thus leading them off track. With their work done, the Texans believe this shows exactly how easy it is to exploit civil-band GPS signals. College kids may have conned the helm this time, but it isn't too far-fetched to think pirates could do the same. Our timbers are shivering just thinking about it.

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/30/university-of-texas-yacht-hack-experiment/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Former supermarket worker in Britain tops UK album chart

LONDON (Reuters) - Jahmene Douglas, a former supermarket worker and talent show contestant, topped the UK album charts for the first time on Sunday with "Love Never Fails", the Official Charts Company said.

Meanwhile, Swedish artist Avicii kept the top spot in the British singles chart for a second week with "Wake Me Up", which became the fastest selling single of the year a week earlier.

Douglas, 22, was a contestant on a TV talent show "The X Factor". His debut album features 10 tracks including Gospel interpretations of other artists' songs and a duet.

Douglas pushed Robin Thicke's album "Blurred Lines" into second place, while "Magna Carta Holy Grail" from U.S. rapper Jay-Z fell to third place.

In the singles chart, Avicii's continued success denied One Direction's "Best Song Ever" the top slot, depriving the boy band of what would have been their fourth number one single. The new track had to settle for number two instead.

Separately, the Official Charts Company said "Now That's What I Call Music! 85" had become the fastest selling album of 2013.

(Reporting By Andrew Osborn; editing by Mike Collett-White)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/former-supermarket-worker-britain-tops-uk-album-chart-180623270.html

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Hope for tigers lives in Sumatra

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Recent findings from a camera trap survey in Sumatra, Indonesia, have uncovered a burgeoning tiger stronghold on an island that typically makes headlines for its rampant loss of forests and wildlife.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/dUDcETQQnN0/130729144711.htm

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iPhone gains, Android cools, Apple wishes that U.S. was the world

Last month Kantar Worldpanel numbers showed iPhone and Windows Phone were growing faster than Android in the U.S. market. In new results released today, iOS and Windows Phone are up again, while Android market share has decreased.

The green robot, however, still has majority market share.

smartphone market usa

A strong performance from Verizon in which 3.8 million of its 7.5 million new smartphone activations were iPhones?gave us a preview of Apple?s unexpectedly large iPhone sales this past quarter. Thanks mostly to that growth, Apple grew iOS sales from April to June by about eight percent over last year, moving from 39.2 percent market share to 42.5 percent. That?s up from the previous Kantar three-month period, in which Apple held 41.9 percent share, which itself was also higher than 2012 numbers.

Meanwhile, Windows Phone sales jumped 38 percent from 2.9 percent last year to 4 percent this year ? continued good growth on an admittedly low base.

Android was everywhere, literally

Devindra Hardawar/VentureBeat

Android was everywhere, literally

Android still comfortably owns the market with 51.5 percent market share, down slightly from 52.6 percent, while globally the numbers are even stronger, of course. When you look at global numbers, Android has held about a 75 percent market share since mid-2012.?The question becomes, however, what could Apple have done with a new, cheaper iPhone ? recently accidentally confirmed by China Labor Watch.

A new product launch in this past quarter would almost certainly have pushed Apple?s share over the 50 percent mark, perhaps eclipsing Android?s domestic share for the first time since Christmas 2012. It would have helped Apple internationally, as well, where Apple had a horrible quarter these past three months. And, it would have helped Apple compensate for very weak iPad numbers.

The upshot, according to Kantar, is that Verizon is doing very, very well indeed, with the largest share among U.S. carriers of smartphone customers, while adding more than AT&T, Sprint, or T-Mobile.

And if the U.S. market pre-saged the global market, so would Apple.

Source: http://venturebeat.feedsportal.com/c/34021/f/617409/s/2f4e1541/sc/5/l/0Lventurebeat0N0C20A130C0A70C290Ciphone0Egains0Eandroid0Ecools0Eapple0Ewishes0Ethat0Eu0Es0Ewas0Ethe0Eworld0C/story01.htm

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Monday, July 29, 2013

Apple report: Chinese workers unhappy as they put together your cheaper iPhone

Bloomberg

A report by nonprofit China Labor Watch said Apple's supplier Pegatron is working employees long hours for little pay.

A report out today by New York-based nonprofit China Labor Watch looked into the working conditions of Apple?s Chinese supplier, Pegatron.

It revealed two pieces of news, one intentionally and one probably less so.

First, the report highlighted Pegatron?s less-than-desirable working conditions at three different factories in China. As in, 11-hour days, six days a week, making about $1.50 an hour. It?s kind of a black eye considering Apple made a big fanfare of investigating its supply chain to improve working conditions.

Both Apple and Pegatron said they would investigate the allegations.

The other revealing detail on the report? Employees working those ridiculous hours are currently building that rumored cheaper iPhone. The report references the new iPhone throughout (well, and the title is ?Apple?s unkept promises: Cheap iPhones come at high costs to Chinese workers?). It also mentioned the low-priced phone is plastic and will soon be released on the market. (Venturebeat does a nice job pulling out all those references here.)

Read the full China Labor Watch report here.

Shana Lynch is Managing Editor at the Business Journal. Her phone number is 408.299.1831.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vertical_44/~3/Ism5icmhgeo/apple-report-chinese-workers-unhappy.html

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Flossie: Hawaii braces for weakened tropical storm

(AP) ? Residents and tourists across Hawaii are bracing for heavy rains and strong winds from Tropical Storm Flossie, while the system weakened as it approached the state.

National Weather Service officials said they expect people on the Big Island and Maui to see the brunt of the storm on Monday morning, with wind gusts up to 60 mph, possible flooding and waves up to 18 feet high.

Flossie could also bring mudslides, tornadoes and waterspouts, the forecasters said.

"For the folks on the Big Island and Maui, if you're preparing your home, you should be rushing those preparations to completion," said Michael Cantin, a warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Honolulu.

"By the time you get up in the morning, the storm's going to already be there and you won't have any time," he said.

The service on Sunday issued a tropical storm warning for Oahu, Hawaii's most populous island with the city of Honolulu, to go along with previous warnings for the Big Island, Maui, Molokai and Lanai. The warning means the storm represents a threat to life and property.

Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed an emergency proclamation in anticipation of the storm, allowing the state to use its disaster fund to pay for staff overtime, supplies and other resources. The proclamation also allows the state to call Hawaii National Guard members to duty, if necessary.

The U.S. Coast Guard also closed three ports ? two on the Big Island where the storm is expected first and a third on Maui. College campuses and courts were also to be closed Monday on the Big Island.

Cantin said Sunday night that the system was weakening because winds in the higher levels of the atmosphere were beginning to move in more strongly, disrupting the circulation of the storm.

At 11 p.m. (2 a.m. PDT) the storm was packing sustained winds of 50 mph and was centered 200 miles east of Hilo, traveling toward the islands at 17 mph.

Cantin said wind gusts will likely be able to knock down power poles and blow away loose objects. He said people should be careful of trying to walk or drive across water if floods happen.

"It takes about 6 inches of water to knock you off your feet ... 12 inches to move a vehicle," he said.

The service also issued a tropical storm watch for Kauai and Niihau, a less severe notice asking people to make a plan and pay attention to see if things get worse.

Officials warned people to cancel beach trips, finish necessary storm preparations and evacuate if asked by local officials.

Mike McCartney, chief executive of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, said some airlines have begun to adjust flights and visitors should double-check plans.

Trails and campgrounds were also close on the Big Island, where state officials warned people to avoid forest areas until Flossie clears.

It's not immediately clear which island faces the most danger, though the Big Island ? the easternmost island in the archipelago ? is likely the first in Flossie's path. Flossie's center was expected to pass near the Big Island and Maui on Monday morning and then south of Oahu several hours later on Monday evening into Tuesday morning.

The storm is expected to drop 6 inches to 10 inches of rain, with higher amounts on the eastern side and less on the western side of islands.

Waves of 12 to 18 feet are expected for the Big Island and Maui, with surf of 10 to 15 feet on other islands.

Despite the system weakening, the current forecast keeps Flossie as a tropical storm through Wednesday.

___

Oskar Garcia can be reached on Twitter at http://twitter.com/oskargarcia

___

Associated Press writer Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-07-29-US-Tropical-Weather/id-7cec3e2e3acc484b90b4379c18b81e47

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China Plans to Boost Budget-Airline Market

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Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323854904578634920047272886.html?mod=rss_about_china

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Can Derrick Rose Prove That He Is the Best Point Guard in the NBA?

Derrick Rose has a lot to prove this coming NBA season.

As a result of monster 2012-13 campaigns from Chris Paul and Tony Parker, one rarely hears Derrick Rose?s name mentioned in the conversation of who is the best point guard in the NBA.

Some might have forgotten how prolific Rose was for the Chicago Bulls prior to tearing his ACL.

He led the Bulls to four straight postseason appearances in his first four seasons in the league. He was named the 2010-11 NBA MVP over LeBron James. And, of more importance, he turned the Chicago Bulls into a contender, something that they had not been since the days of Michael Jordan.

While he has certainly achieved a great deal throughout his time in the league, will Rose be able to prove that he is the best point guard in the game?

Well, the answer is a simple yes.?

Having been out for an entire year, Rose has had time to work on his game.

Now, it is true that we do not know if Rose will still have the same level of explosiveness that we grew accustomed to seeing. And after suffering an injury of the nature that he did, he probably will tone down his aggressive pace to some degree.

However, we should expect to see a more evolved player, so to speak. According to Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau, via Nick Friedell of?ESPNChicago.com,?Rose has taken his game to a new level offensively: ?

He's put a ton of time into his shooting because basically that's all he could do along with his rehab stuff.

Each year that Derrick's been in the league he's added to his game. So this is a continuation of all the things he's done in the past. Every summer he's concentrated on something and we may see more post-ups and things of that nature, more catch-and-shoot for him also.

From year to year, Rose has improved his shooting, especially from three-point territory.

In his first two seasons in the NBA, Rose attempted less than one three-pointer a game. However, in his third season, Rose attempted 4.6 three-pointers a game.

Although Rose only knocked down 33.2 percent of his three-point attempts during his third season, it was evident that he had put the time in to improve his shooting mechanics.?

Hence, if he has indeed gone to great lengths to turn his weaknesses into strengths, it is highly likely that Rose will come out better than ever.?

After all, history shows that some players have returned after long hiatuses and performed at a high level.

Remember when Dwyane Wade went down due to injury during the latter part of the 2007-08 regular season, only to come back the following season and average 30.2 points, 7.5 assists and 2.2 steals a game?

Will we see a more dynamic Derrick Rose come the regular season?

    Will we see a more dynamic Derrick Rose come the regular season?

  • Yes

  • No

Think back to when Michael Jordan broke his left foot during his second year in the NBA. Many doubted that he would be able to come back and perform at an elite level. As we all know, he came back built to destroy the competition and carved out one of the greatest careers in the history of sports.

The point is that Rose will return with a more immense skill set and polished game overall. Although he was already a different type of beast compared to the rest of the NBA, get ready to see a D-Rose that none of us have seen before.

Now, although some have questioned Rose's confidence after his decision to sit out the entire?regular season and the Bulls' postseason run, Rose is still mentally tough.?

In the video below, CNN?s Pedro Pinto asked Rose who he believes the best player in the NBA is, only to receive an answer far from what he and anyone else would expect:

Is Rose better than LeBron? No, but it's a good thing to be that confident.

Could you sense the seriousness of Rose?s response? He really believes that he is not only the best point guard in the game, but also the best player, period. Yes, even better than four-time MVP LeBron James.

While his answer is certainly a laughable one, it does signify that he is still confident.?

A perfect example of the aforementioned can be found in the?video below, which highlights Rose in transition during a regular season game in Miami two years ago:

Rose's upper-body control is world class.

After a steal, Rose flew down the court with LeBron and Wade with him step-by-step, only to finish with a beautiful left-hand reverse with the defense draped all over him.

Although he had two of the greatest transition defenders in the history of the NBA stuck to him like glue, Rose did not back down.

How many players can you think of who would go one-on-two in the open court against LeBron and Wade? Honestly, it is hard to think of anybody who would.?

Rose will prove to everyone that he has the game needed to be considered the best point guard in the NBA.?Although some may have already written him off, the doubt and pessimism from skeptics will only fuel his desire to come back better than ever.

Yes, the NBA better get ready, for ?The Return? of Rose will be one unlike any other.

?

Note: Unless otherwise stated, all stats are by way of Basketball-reference.com and 82games.com.

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1718228-can-derrick-rose-prove-that-he-is-the-best-point-guard-in-the-nba

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Canada's Hudson's Bay close to Saks deal: media report

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Source: money.ca.msn.com --- Sunday, July 28, 2013
(Reuters) - Canadian retailer Hudson's Bay Co (HBC) is close to buying U.S. luxury department store Saks Inc , according to a media report. ...

Source: http://money.ca.msn.com/investing/news/breaking-news/canadas-hudsons-bay-close-to-saks-deal-media-report

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Experts say Georgia is leader in start-up investing | Online Athens

[unable to retrieve full-text content]ATLANTA ? The recent crowdfunding and venture-capital funds established by the state make Georgia a leader in creating ways for investors to support start-up companies, according to a team of industry veterans. The state ...

Source: http://onlineathens.com/business/2013-07-27/experts-say-georgia-leader-start-investing

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Catme 13/Glass Effect 23 ? Gray Cat prepares to take a nap ? Google Glass POV

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Source: www.bookofjoe.com --- Sunday, July 28, 2013
It was a quiet Saturday afternoon and Gray Cat opted for a nap in one of her many favorite napping venues: atop my belly as I lay on the couch and read. She really seems to like the gentle, rythmic rise and fall of my stomach atop her soft blanket. Knocks her out every time. In the video, you'll see her preparing her bed by walking in place atop my bemused self for about a minute before settling in for the duration. This is why Glass was invented. Bliss. ...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bookofjoe/~3/PUuAonDvmmQ/catme-13glass-effect-23-gray-cat-prepares-to-take-a-nap-google-glass-pov.html

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Sunday, July 28, 2013

Cashman challenges A-Rod to have outside exam

NEW YORK (AP) ? Brian Cashman's expression said it all.

Every time Alex Rodriguez's name was mentioned Friday, the New York Yankees general manager appeared as if he might get sick.

The subject was the third baseman's claim that his left quadriceps really isn't injured, but it could have been any one several topics: Rodriguez's alleged performance-enhancing drug use, his pesky Twitter and radio appearances or his knack for creating tabloid headlines.

Cashman challenged A-Rod to have his leg examined by an outside doctor, defending the team's medical and training staff and saying he wouldn't comment on "extra noise."

The third baseman detailed his frustration during a radio interview Thursday, just hours after team management said he wouldn't be ready to resume minor league rehab games until Aug. 1. Rodriguez wouldn't answer when asked whether he trusted the Yankees.

"The MRI is the MRI. It's fact. You can't change the results on an MRI," Cashman said before Friday's homestand opener against Tampa Bay. "So, we're very comfortable with it, and if anybody wants to utilize the process in place with the union, go right ahead. It's not something we're afraid of."

Recovering from January hip surgery, Rodriguez is under investigation by Major League Baseball for his reported ties to a Florida clinic accused of distributing banned performance-enhancing drugs. A lengthy suspension appears likely.

Seemingly days away from rejoining the Yankees, he complained of leg pain last weekend, and the Yankees said an MRI on Sunday showed a quadriceps strain. An outside physician, Michael Gross, said Wednesday he looked at an MRI at Rodriguez's request ? it's not clear when the MRI was taken ? and could not detect an injury. Gross is not on baseball's list of doctors recommended for second opinions, and he admitted he never personally examined Rodriguez.

The Yankees responded angrily because Rodriguez didn't follow the procedure in baseball's labor contract, which requires him to provide written notice that a player wants a second medical opinion, and the team intends to discipline him ? most likely with a fine.

Rodriguez did conditioning work Friday at the team's minor league complex in Tampa, Fla., a day ahead of his 38th birthday, and Cashman said the three-time MVP is on a schedule that could have him resume minor league games Aug. 1.

As Rodriguez's car was departing, a fan held a light-colored, oversized card above his head and saw the side that read: "Happy Birthday!" and had a cartoon-like drawing of a clown. Rodriguez went by quickly and wasn't around by the time the fan opened the card to reveal the side read: "From One Clown to Another."

When or whether he returns to the Yankees has become a daily drama.

"I think we all kind of want it to get behind us, no matter what it is, and once something happens or doesn't happen, then we can kind of deal with it then," injured first baseman Mark Teixeira said.

Cashman's careful answers sounded more like those of a White House press secretary rather than responses of a big league GM.

"I'm not going to comment really on the Alex stuff. Feel free to just reach out to Alex and ask him, because that's something that's hard to keep up with," Cashman said. "I just provide you the facts, and that's what I'll continue to do. We're running a baseball team, and I will provide you with the most accurate information that I can provide on a daily basis about anybody and everybody who's either healthy on that field or hurt and what the current state of their medical condition is and their rehab."

Cashman praised outfielder Alfonso Soriano, acquired Friday from the Chicago Cubs from a minor leaguer. His accolades for Soriano's attributes could be interpreted by some as criticism of what Rodriguez is not.

"Over the years, we used to be attracted to all types of players and all types of personalities. If they could play, that's all the mattered," Cashman said. "I do think with the evolution social media and the explosion of the Internet and ESPN, everything, that having high-character guys that work hard and get along with everybody and obviously you have talent to boot, clearly is important."

Given his team's offensive struggles, manager Joe Girardi said he would be happy to have Rodriguez back as quickly as possible.

"People follow him around a lot. I never really had to deal with that," Girardi said. "When I was in rehab, no one came to watch. They didn't care if I teed or tossed or anything."

___

AP freelance writer Mark Didtler in Tampa contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cashman-challenges-rod-outside-exam-004410356.html

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Mayday Parade Announcing Something "Big" on Monday


Not like its any less awkward with the mayday guys haha. They seem to be good in a friendship manner but they all know that professionally old wounds still exist. I'd be curious for it though, specially since they are all more mature now.

It's probably that fall tour + album info type deal which would be cool, but I'd like a single with it. I'm in the only person who seemed to dislike their latest because to me it sounded like a washed down version of ALIR.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/absolutepunknet/~3/ZyWPvJpYJY0/showthread.php

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Intel, Microsoft and Kohl?s top EPA?s Green Power list

Intel again topped the EPA's Green Power lists of partner organisations using renewable electricity. As the most aggressive private-sector partner, the tech giant uses more than 3.1 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of renewables annually.

On the EPA's National Top 50 List, Intel was followed in order by Microsoft, Kohl's, Whole Foods Market, Wal-Mart, the Department of Energy (DOE), Staples, the city of Houston, Starbucks and Apple. First-timers on the ranking, released this Tuesday, include Unilever, JPMorgan Chase and EMC Corporation.

The organisations on the National Top 50 alone are using more than 20 billion kWh of green power a year, thereby eliminating the amount of CO2 emissions the EPA says that 2.1 million American homes produce each year.

More than 1,400 groups, including Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, government entities as well as colleges and universities, have joined the EPA's Green Power partnership.

Through the voluntary program, the EPA provides advice, market data and recognition to US organisations that buy green power. To join, an organisation has to commit that a certain amount of its electricity will be generated at renewable facilities installed within the last 15 years, sign a partnership agreement and agree to inform the EPA about its annual use of renewable energy.

While you will not find every heavy-hitter in renewables on the list, it is because they have not joined the EPA's Green Power Partnership. IKEA, for example, is noticeably absent even though it is covering many of its massive rooftops with solar panels. Nor is Google listed, even though it is keen on renewables for its data centres. And while Facebook's growing infrastructure was responsible for creating more greenhouse gases last year, in 2011 about 23 per cent of the energy its facilities used came from renewables. Not only that, the social network recently built an impressive hydroelectric data center in Sweden, and it plans to build a data centre in windy Iowa.

Still, the EPA's lists - segmented according to categories such as Fortune 500, Tech & Telecom and Retail - are worth checking out.

As for Fortune 500 companies, 82 of them are EPA Green Power Partners who collectively use more than 14.2 billion KWh of green power a year. Of them, those in the top 10 of the Fortune 500 Partners list are the same as the National Top 50 List, minus the DOE and Houston, making room for Cisco in ninth place and Lockheed Martin at 10th.

Want to know which retailers are among the vanguard in terms of using green power? From first to 10th, they are: Kohl's, Whole Foods, Wal-Mart, Staples, Starbucks, McDonald's, Sprint, Ahold USA, Best Buy and Safeway.

But the EPA ranking that may be most interesting to follow is the Top 20 On-Site Generation List. Instead of congratulating organisations for merely purchasing renewable energy credits (RECs), it reflects direct investments in green power.

Wal-Mart, which has invested heavily in solar panels for its stores' rooftops, tops the list and uses nearly 175 million kWh of power that it generated through biogas, solar and wind - although that is only a paltry one per cent of its annual energy consumption. Even so, it is worth noting the company also has purchased more than 576 million kWh of green power.

Other organisations in the top 10 that get props for investing in the on-site generation of green power include: The DOE, Apple, BMW, Coca-Cola, the Air Force, Kohl's, the city of San Francisco, the city of San Jose, Calif., and SC Johnson & Son.

To check out all of the EPA's lists and rankings, click here.

This article first appeared at GreenBiz.com

Source: http://feeds.businessgreen.com/c/554/f/7118/s/2f2f4f43/sc/5/l/0L0Sbusinessgreen0N0Cbg0Cnews0C22850A0A50Cintel0Emicrosoft0Eand0Ekohl0Es0Etop0Eepa0Es0Egreen0Epower0Elist/story01.htm

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Church donates $25,000 for teachers? supplies

Teachers in Moore now have more than $25,000 in cash to restock their classrooms thanks to a local church.

The Elevate Church gave 81 teachers a $250 check each. Support staff received gift cards for a local restaurant.

The pastor said he wanted to thank the teachers and staff for doing their best to protect children in the community during the tornado.

Source: http://www.koco.com/news/oklahomanews/church-donates-25000-for-moore-teachers-supplies/-/9844008/21204156/-/t99a7rz/-/index.html?absolute=true

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Saturday, July 27, 2013

Sierra Club sues feds over oil shale development

SALT LAKE CITY -

The federal government is being sued for opening up parts of the Rocky Mountains to oil shale development.

The Sierra Club and six other conservation groups filed the lawsuit Thursday in federal court in Denver.
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The groups say the U.S. Bureau of Land Management failed to consider how widespread development of public lands would harm rare desert plants and threatened species of wildlife.
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The lawsuit says the government program violates the Endangered Species Act.
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The federal government decided in November to open up parts of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming for oil shale development for legitimate efforts to squeeze oil out of hard rock.
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Other groups joining the lawsuit are Grand Canyon Trust, Living Rivers, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Rocky Mountain Wild, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance.

Source: http://www.krdo.com/news/sierra-club-sues-feds-over-oil-shale-development/-/417220/21184812/-/9uc1s0z/-/index.html

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97% The Act Of Killing

All Critics (64) | Top Critics (17) | Fresh (62) | Rotten (2)

Oppenheimer allows murderous thugs free rein to preen their atrocities, and then fobs it all off as some kind of exalted art thing. This is more than an aesthetic crime; it's a moral crime.

Whatever you call it, The Act of Killing is a must-see.

It's a mind-bending film, devastating and disorienting, that disturbs us in ways we're not used to being disturbed ...

[It] may be one of the most horrifying films you'll ever see, and one of the most edifying.

It will leave you breathless.

It's a virtually unprecedented social document.

If director Joshua Oppenheimer occasionally loses his way in his own narrative, where this picture demands attention is in its chilling portrait of indoctrination and evil.

It's a gut-wrenching and emotionally exhausting look at impunity that resonates far beyond its obscure central conflict.

A cynically exploitative film made in the name of human rights, which it has about as much to do with as the Punked show on MTV.

Presenting a terrifying view of a hidden holocaust and a moral apocalypse in which the most basic humanities have become twisted beyond recognition, The Act of Killing is a towering achievement in filmmaking, documentary or otherwise.

The magnitude of this achievement, this depiction of a diseased and corrupt society that is in so many ways similar to our own, cannot be understated.

I have watched hundreds of hours of war crimes, genocides and miscarriages of justice carried out by unremarkable men with dimly lit souls. "The Act of Killing" bids to outdo them all.

Atrocity hides beneath a grandfather's gentle smile in "The Act of Killing," Joshua Oppenheimer's remarkable, unnerving documentary portrait of barbarity and its lasting legacies.

As filming continues, the quiet brilliance behind the assignment comes to light.

Ultimately, The Act Of Killing acknowledges that while Oppenheimer may have subtly tortured their conscience, these thugs are paying no real price.

Prepare to be shocked, disgusted, enraged and emotionally devastated. It's the most terrifying film in years.

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_act_of_killing/

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