upcoming technologies: October 2013

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Food stamp cuts kick in as Congress debates more

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 47 million Americans who receive food stamps will see their benefits go down starting Friday, just as Congress has begun negotiations on further cuts to the program.

Beginning in November, a temporary benefit from the 2009 economic stimulus that boosts food stamp dollars will no longer be available. According to the Agriculture Department, that means a family of four receiving food stamps will start receiving $36 less a month.

The benefits, which go to 1 in 7 Americans, fluctuate based on factors that include food prices, inflation and income. The rolls have swelled as the economy has struggled in recent years, with the stimulus providing higher benefits and many people signing up for the first time.

As a result, the program has more than doubled in cost since 2008, now costing almost $80 billion a year. That large increase in spending has turned the program, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, into a target for House Republicans looking to reduce spending.

Negotiations on a wide-ranging farm bill, including cuts to the SNAP program, began Wednesday. Five-year farm bills passed by both the House and the Senate would cut food stamps, reductions that would come on top of the cut that will go into effect Friday. But the two chambers are far apart on the amounts.

Legislation passed by the GOP-controlled House would cut food stamps by an additional $4 billion annually and tighten eligibility requirements. The House bill would also end government waivers that have allowed able-bodied adults without dependents to receive food stamps indefinitely and allow states to put broad new work requirements in place.

The Senate farm bill would cut a tenth of the House amount, with Democrats and President Barack Obama opposing major cuts.

Farm-state lawmakers have been pushing the farm bill for more than two years, and Wednesday's conference negotiations represented the opening round in final talks. If the bill is not passed by the end of the year and current farm law is not extended, certain dairy supports would expire that could raise the price of milk. Farmers would start to feel more effects next spring.

"It took us years to get here but we are here," House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., said. "Let's not take years to get it done."

The biggest obstacle to a final bill is how far apart the two parties are on food stamps. Lucas said at the conference meeting that he was hoping to find common ground on the issue, but House GOP leaders such as Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., have insisted on higher cuts, saying the program should be targeted to the neediest people.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., sent out a statement as the meeting opened that said food stamp recipients "deserve swift action from Congress to pass a bill that provides the much-needed nutritional support for our children, our seniors, our veterans and our communities."

As Congress debates the cuts to the program, charities say they are preparing for the farm bill reductions as well as the scheduled cuts taking place Friday.

"Charities cannot fill the gap for the cuts being proposed to SNAP," said Maura Daly of Feeding America, a network of the nation's food banks. "We are very concerned about the impact on the charitable system."

Daly says food banks may have to as much as double their current levels of distribution if the House cuts were enacted. The Congressional Budget Office says as many as 3.8 million people could lose their benefits in 2014 if the House bill became law.

___

Follow Mary Clare Jalonick on Twitter at http://twitter.com/mcjalonick

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-10-31-Farm%20Bill-Food%20Stamps/id-14cd667a5a8442fc8300240b75998935
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Kentucky is No. 1 in preseason poll

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Every time Kentucky coach John Calipari starts to praise his latest crop of talented freshmen, he's just as quick to point out that it is a work in progress.

As the Wildcats take the first step toward coming together, Calipari will also have to remind his players to get through those growing pains quickly, because they are now the team to beat in college basketball.

Kentucky — with a collection of high school All-Americans — is ranked No. 1 in The Associated Press' preseason Top 25, a significant step considering the Wildcats finished 21-12 last season and were upset by Robert Morris in the first round of the NIT.

It's Kentucky's third preseason No. 1 and first since 1995-96 when the Wildcats won the national championship. The other preseason No. 1 was in 1980-81.

Kentucky was ranked for just one week in the final 16 polls of last season but Calipari enters this season with a roster featuring two returnees — Alex Poythress and Willie Cauley-Stein — and six freshmen who were selected McDonalds All-Americans last season.

To say that a ninth national championship is this year's goal is an understatement considering Kentucky has social media and blogs suggesting an unbeaten season is possible.

Calipari would just like to get to the Nov. 8 opener against North Carolina-Asheville first. The Wildcats begin the exhibition season Friday.

"It's a nice honor, but it's way too early to figure out who's the best team in the country," Calipari said. "We may be very talented, but I can't imagine us being the best team in the country at this point."

Kentucky beat out Michigan State in a close vote from the 65-member panel.

The Wildcats received 27 first-place votes and 1,546 points in the poll released Thursday. The Spartans, who return four starters from the team that lost to Duke in the NCAA tournament's round of 16, snared 22 first-place votes and 1,543 points.

It won't take long for the schools to settle the issue. Kentucky and Michigan State meet on Nov. 12 at the State Farm Champions Classic in Chicago.

If their rankings hold, it'll set up the earliest meeting between the top two teams. No. 1 Indiana beat No. 2 UCLA 84-64 on Nov. 29, 1975 in St. Louis, Mo.

The polling also enhances what already figured to be a strong showdown between two heavyweights.

"A 1-2 matchup is a win-win deal," Spartans coach Tom Izzo told the AP. "If you win, you understand where you are and what you have as a team. If you lose, you've got time to figure out what you need to do to get better. I'm not sure, though, how kids and fans will react to winning or losing that game."

Of his team's ranking, Izzo added, "it's exciting because it means a group of people think we're good, and we've got a chance to be great."

Defending national champion Louisville received 14 first-place votes and was third while Duke, which received the other two No. 1 votes, was fourth.

Kansas was fifth, followed by Arizona and Michigan. Oklahoma State and Syracuse tied for eighth and Florida rounded out the Top Ten.

Ohio State was 11th and was followed by North Carolina, Memphis, VCU, Gonzaga, Wichita State, Marquette, Connecticut, Oregon and Wisconsin.

The last five ranked teams were Notre Dame, UCLA, New Mexico, Virginia and Baylor.

The last preseason No. 1 not to be ranked in the final poll of the previous season was Indiana in 1979-80.

Indiana was the preseason No. 1 last season and the Hoosiers were fourth in the final poll.

Gonzaga was No. 1 in the final poll last season and 18 teams in that final poll were in the preseason Top 25.

The Atlantic Coast Conference had the most teams in the preseason Top 25 with five and the Big Ten had four. The new American Athletic Conference, the Big 12 and Pac 12 all had three ranked teams.

Though Kentucky's objective is winning its second NCAA title in three seasons, playing like it's the nation's best is also a priority for the Wildcats a year after falling from the poll weeks after starting No. 3.

"It's a blessing to be No. 1, but it means we have a (target) on our backs now and we really have to stay focused," Kentucky 7-footer Dakari Johnson said Thursday. "That's not the main thing we're focused on. We're just trying to be the best team that we can be."

Michigan State senior guard Keith Appling echoed that sentiment, especially since the Spartans came within three votes of being top-ranked.

"That has to be one of the things to drive us to work harder," he said.

The consensus is that Calipari landed his best in a series of No. 1 recruiting classes. The group features Julius Randle, James Young, Johnson, Marcus Lee and identical twin guards Aaron and Andrew Harrison, along with in-state standouts Dominique Hawkins and Derek Willis.

Along with Cauley-Stein, Poythress and senior reserves Jarrod Polson and Jon Hood, Kentucky has a mix of experience somewhat similar to the 2011-12 title team led by Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

The season will determine whether Kentucky is able to deliver, and Willis said the Wildcats are just focused on being on top at the end.

"There's a lot of talk about 40-0 and all that stuff," Willis said, "but we're just working on ourselves and not worrying about what the media is saying right now."

AP Basketball Writer Jim O'Connell In New York, and AP Sports Writer Larry Lage in East Lansing, Mich., contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kentucky-no-1-preseason-poll-170115661--spt.html
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Darach Watson receives Lundbeck Research Prize

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

31-Oct-2013

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Contact: Gertie Skaarup
skaarup@nbi.dk
45-35-32-53-20
University of Copenhagen - Niels Bohr Institute

Darach Watson has been awarded the Lundbeck Foundation Research Prize for Young Scientists for his outstanding and innovative research in astrophysics, where he has developed a groundbreaking method for measuring distances in the cosmos using the light from distant quasars. The result was selected by Physics World as one of the year's most important breakthroughs in physics.
Darach Watson is from Ireland and received his PhD from University College in Dublin. He came to Denmark in 2003 and has been a core member of the Dark Cosmology Centre at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen since 2005. He is a leading expert in X-ray astronomy and has played a key role in the important developments in the research of supernovae (exploding massive stars) and gamma-ray bursts (violent outbursts of gamma radiation.
"His research style is original and inventive and by combining different techniques and ideas, he creates new knowledge," explains Jens Hjorth, professor and head of the Danish National Research Foundation's Dark Cosmology Centre at the Niels Bohr Institute.
New groundbreaking methods
Darach Watson has broken new ground in several areas. In 2006, he developed a new method to study the properties of cosmic dust. The method is now one of the most advanced for studying the detailed properties of cosmic dust in distant galaxies.
In 2011, he made his most important discovery to date. He developed a new method for measuring long distances in space using the light from quasars (active black holes). Again, it was ability to think differently, innovatively and originally that gave him the idea.
"During a lecture, as one of my colleagues was talking about quasars, I suddenly got the idea that if the brightness of the quasar was related to the size of the gas cloud surrounding it and if you could measure the size of this cloud, you could calculate the distance to the quasar," explains Darach Watson. The idea proved to be brilliant. He explains that quasars have many advantages. They are common throughout the universe and they are stable sources that do not fade and disappear after a short time like supernovae. They are also extremely luminous and can be observed at much greater distances than other sources for distance measurement. Most important, he points out, is that the measurements can be very accurate.

History Chemistry Physics - Astrophysics
But what was it exactly that led him to astrophysics?
"I always knew I wanted to do a PhD. My father was a professor of Irish and Dean of the Faculty of Celtic Studies and my mother had a PhD in history. I was interested in many topics and when I was in my last year of secondary school, I talked with my mother about what I should choose to study at university: chemistry or history. She said I could always become a professional research scientist and an amateur historian, but it was almost impossible to be an amateur scientist. I followed her advice and chose chemistry. Halfway through my studies, I discovered what really excited me were the physical processes; what the elements could do and what the physical mechanism was. At the same time, I looked at the curriculum for physics superfluidity, high-energy particle physics, relativity theory and gravity, superconductivity, plasmas and I thought it sounded incredibly exciting. So I switched to physics. When I had to decide what to do my PhD on, I discovered that astrophysics was the most interesting branch of physics," explains Darach Watson.
Enthusiastic research
Suddenly, he got a chance to work with gamma-ray bursts explosions of massive stars, the most violent explosions in the universe since the Big Bang and he jumped at the opportunity. They managed to obtain the first high-quality X-ray spectrum of a gamma-ray burst and discovered the signature of a supernovae in that spectrum. He can still remember the walk home after the discovery, "I was so elated," he explains. It is this excitement that is still the driving force for his research in astrophysics. But history has not been forgotten.
"What I find peculiar is that my love for and interest in history has crept into my science. My research is related to the history of the universe on a large scale: how it was formed and evolved, how stars and galaxies develop over time and how we ended up where we are now," says Darach Watson thoughtfully and welcomes the recognition his research has now received with the Lundbeck Foundation Research Prize for Young Scientists.
###

For more information contact:
Darach Watson, Associate professor, Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, +45 3532-5994, darach@dark-cosmology.dk

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Darach Watson receives Lundbeck Research Prize

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

31-Oct-2013

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]

Share
Contact: Gertie Skaarup
skaarup@nbi.dk
45-35-32-53-20
University of Copenhagen - Niels Bohr Institute

Darach Watson has been awarded the Lundbeck Foundation Research Prize for Young Scientists for his outstanding and innovative research in astrophysics, where he has developed a groundbreaking method for measuring distances in the cosmos using the light from distant quasars. The result was selected by Physics World as one of the year's most important breakthroughs in physics.
Darach Watson is from Ireland and received his PhD from University College in Dublin. He came to Denmark in 2003 and has been a core member of the Dark Cosmology Centre at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen since 2005. He is a leading expert in X-ray astronomy and has played a key role in the important developments in the research of supernovae (exploding massive stars) and gamma-ray bursts (violent outbursts of gamma radiation.
"His research style is original and inventive and by combining different techniques and ideas, he creates new knowledge," explains Jens Hjorth, professor and head of the Danish National Research Foundation's Dark Cosmology Centre at the Niels Bohr Institute.
New groundbreaking methods
Darach Watson has broken new ground in several areas. In 2006, he developed a new method to study the properties of cosmic dust. The method is now one of the most advanced for studying the detailed properties of cosmic dust in distant galaxies.
In 2011, he made his most important discovery to date. He developed a new method for measuring long distances in space using the light from quasars (active black holes). Again, it was ability to think differently, innovatively and originally that gave him the idea.
"During a lecture, as one of my colleagues was talking about quasars, I suddenly got the idea that if the brightness of the quasar was related to the size of the gas cloud surrounding it and if you could measure the size of this cloud, you could calculate the distance to the quasar," explains Darach Watson. The idea proved to be brilliant. He explains that quasars have many advantages. They are common throughout the universe and they are stable sources that do not fade and disappear after a short time like supernovae. They are also extremely luminous and can be observed at much greater distances than other sources for distance measurement. Most important, he points out, is that the measurements can be very accurate.

History Chemistry Physics - Astrophysics
But what was it exactly that led him to astrophysics?
"I always knew I wanted to do a PhD. My father was a professor of Irish and Dean of the Faculty of Celtic Studies and my mother had a PhD in history. I was interested in many topics and when I was in my last year of secondary school, I talked with my mother about what I should choose to study at university: chemistry or history. She said I could always become a professional research scientist and an amateur historian, but it was almost impossible to be an amateur scientist. I followed her advice and chose chemistry. Halfway through my studies, I discovered what really excited me were the physical processes; what the elements could do and what the physical mechanism was. At the same time, I looked at the curriculum for physics superfluidity, high-energy particle physics, relativity theory and gravity, superconductivity, plasmas and I thought it sounded incredibly exciting. So I switched to physics. When I had to decide what to do my PhD on, I discovered that astrophysics was the most interesting branch of physics," explains Darach Watson.
Enthusiastic research
Suddenly, he got a chance to work with gamma-ray bursts explosions of massive stars, the most violent explosions in the universe since the Big Bang and he jumped at the opportunity. They managed to obtain the first high-quality X-ray spectrum of a gamma-ray burst and discovered the signature of a supernovae in that spectrum. He can still remember the walk home after the discovery, "I was so elated," he explains. It is this excitement that is still the driving force for his research in astrophysics. But history has not been forgotten.
"What I find peculiar is that my love for and interest in history has crept into my science. My research is related to the history of the universe on a large scale: how it was formed and evolved, how stars and galaxies develop over time and how we ended up where we are now," says Darach Watson thoughtfully and welcomes the recognition his research has now received with the Lundbeck Foundation Research Prize for Young Scientists.
###

For more information contact:
Darach Watson, Associate professor, Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, +45 3532-5994, darach@dark-cosmology.dk

[

| E-mail

Share

]

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

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/uoc--dwr102413.php
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Android 4.4 KitKat arrives, focuses on budget phone performance (video)

After entirely too much teasing, Google has at last taken the wraps from Android 4.4 KitKat. The new mobile OS is based on efficiency that brings smartphones to "the next billion people," according to Android Senior VP Sundar Pichai. Google's own apps use less memory, and the interface will ...

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/smqILH8KpFA/
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Nexus 5: A Pure Google Dream Phone That's a Crazy Good Deal

We found out just about everything about the Nexus 5 over the past several weeks thanks to leak after endless leak. Today Google finally revealed its horribly kept secret, and there are very few surprises. Here's what you need to know.

'WWE 2K14': on sale now!

NEW YORK – 2K today announced that "WWE 2K14," the company’s latest release in the flagship WWE video game franchise, is now available throughout North America for the Xbox 360 games and entertainment system from Microsoft and the PlayStation3 computer entertainment system. Complementing the game’s launch, 2K also announced the WrestleMania 30 contest, in which players may submit creative screenshots of in-ring WWE 2K14 action – inspired by sought-after WrestleMania XXX matches – for a chance to win an all-expense-paid trip for two to the pop culture extravaganza of the year, WrestleMania XXX, scheduled for Sunday, April 6, 2014, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.

“With an unparalleled roster of iconic WWE Superstars, Divas and Legends, and 46 of the greatest matchups spanning three decades of WWE history in "30 Years of WrestleMania" Mode, "WWE 2K14" is the most authentic and comprehensive WWE simulation experience produced to date,” said Chris Snyder, Senior Director of Marketing at 2K. “We have improved all aspects of the game to emulate the WWE experience more closely than ever before.”

"WWE 2K14" ushers in a new era of the popular WWE video game franchise and brings forth several signature gameplay improvements, including a revamped player navigation system, a new reversal system and hundreds of new moves, including new catapult finishers and OMG Moments. The game’s renowned Creation Suite and Universe Mode give players new levels of customization, versatility and freedom through development of personalized Superstars, arenas, championships, storylines, finishing moves and more, while offering complete control of the WWE experience from a career-driven point of view. "WWE 2K14" also delivers the single greatest roster ever assembled, including "WWE 2K14" cover Superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, John Cena, Hulk Hogan, Undertaker, Ultimate Warrior, CM Punk, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Daniel Bryan, Goldberg, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and The Shield.

"WWE 2K14" features the unprecedented "30 Years of WrestleMania" Mode single-player campaign, taking players on a historic journey through three decades of high-profile matches and memorable moments in WWE history. Beginning with the inaugural WrestleMania, the journey encompasses 46 signature matches, including Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III, Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XII and The Rock vs. John Cena at WrestleMania XXVIII. "30 Years of WrestleMania" Mode is complete with authentically recreated arenas, entrances and ring attires, era-specific graphics, filters and other presentation elements, as well as WWE-produced video packages, cinematic in-game cut scenes, historical objectives and a host of unlockable rewards. Complementing the mode as a separate offering, players will also encounter the immortal Undertaker to defend or defeat his 21-0 WrestleMania match record in a gauntlet-style feature known as The Streak.

In celebration of the game’s release, 2K is launching a contest to offer players the chance to win a trip to WrestleMania XXX. Fans are encouraged to create a desired WrestleMania XXX matchup using "WWE 2K14" for Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, capture a screenshot of the in-game action and submit to 2K for a chance to win airfare, hotel and two tickets to WrestleMania XXX. The contest is open to legal residents of the 50 U.S. states and D.C. (excluding AZ, CT, MD, and ND), Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Entrants must be at least 18 years of age and the age of majority in their state of residence. The WrestleMania XXX contest begins at 12:00:00 AM Pacific Time (“PT”) on October 29, 2013 and ends at 11:59:59 PM PT on January 9, 2014. The contest is void in AZ, CT, MD, & ND, and where prohibited, as well as subject to the official rules, located at www.2k.com/wm30moment.

Developed by Yukes for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 system, "WWE 2K14" is positioned to deliver the greatest roster in franchise history and be the most electrifying, authentic and comprehensive WWE video game experience to date. "WWE 2K14" is rated T for Teen by the ESRB. Fans who pre-ordered "WWE 2K14" will receive Ultimate Warrior at no extra cost on launch day.

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Source: http://www.wwe.com/inside/2k/wwe-2k14/wwe-2k14-on-sale-now
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Iraqi PM: US aid needed to battle al-Qaida

Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, center, walks with Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., right, and Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, before their meeting. Earlier, the prime minister met with Vice President Joe Biden. (AP Photo/Molly Riley)

Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki listens during a meeting with House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., and the committee's ranking Democrat Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Molly Riley)

Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, left, talks with House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., right, during a luncheon meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013. (AP Photo/Molly Riley)

Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, left, is greeted by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., center, and the committee's ranking Democrat Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, during a luncheon meeting. (AP Photo/Molly Riley)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A bloody resurgence of al-Qaida in Iraq is prompting Baghdad to ask the U.S. for more weapons, training and manpower, two years after pushing American troops out of the country.

The request will be discussed during a White House meeting Friday between Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and President Barack Obama in what Baghdad hopes will be a fresh start in a complicated relationship that has been marked both by victories and frustrations for each side.

Al-Maliki will discuss Iraq's plight in a public speech Thursday at the U.S. Institute for Peace in Washington.

"We know we have major challenges of our own capabilities being up to the standard. They currently are not," Lukman Faily, the Iraqi ambassador to the U.S., told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday. "We need to gear up, to deal with that threat more seriously. We need support and we need help."

He added, "We have said to the Americans we'd be more than happy to discuss all the options short of boots on the ground."

"Boots on the ground" means military forces. The U.S. withdrew all but a few hundred of its troops from Iraq in December 2011 after Baghdad refused to renew a security agreement to extend legal immunity for Americans forces, which would have let more stay.

At the time, the withdrawal was hailed as a victory for the Obama administration, which campaigned on ending the Iraq war and had little appetite for pushing Baghdad into a new security agreement. But within months, violence began creeping up in the capital and across the country as Sunni Muslim insurgents, angered by a widespread belief that Sunnis have been sidelined by the Shiite-led government, lashed out, with no U.S. troops to keep them in check.

More than 5,000 Iraqis have been killed in attacks since April, and suicide bombers launched 38 strikes in the last month alone.

Al-Maliki is expected to ask Obama for new assistance to bolster its military and fight al-Qaida. Faily said that could include everything from speeding up the delivery of U.S. aircraft, missiles, interceptors and other weapons, to improving national intelligence systems. And when asked, he did not rule out the possibility of asking the U.S. to send military special forces or additional CIA advisers to Iraq to help train and assist counterterror troops.

If the U.S. does not commit to providing the weapons or other aid quickly, "we will go elsewhere," Faily said. That means Iraq will step up diplomacy with nations like China or Russia that would be more than happy to increase their influence in Baghdad at U.S. expense.

The two leaders also will discuss how Iraq can improve its fractious government, which so often is divided among sectarian or ethnic lines, to give it more confidence with a bitter and traumatized public.

The ambassador said no new security agreement would be needed to give immunity to additional U.S. advisers or trainers in Iraq — the main sticking point that led to U.S. withdrawal. And he said Iraq would pay for the additional weapons or other assistance.

A senior Obama administration official said Wednesday that U.S. officials were not planning to send U.S. trainers to Iraq and that Baghdad had not asked for them. The administration official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters by name.

U.S. officials were prepared to help Iraq with an across-the-board approach that did not focus just on military or security gaps, the administration official said. The aid under consideration might include more weapons for Iraqi troops who do not have necessary equipment to battle al-Qaida insurgents, he said.

Administration officials consider the insurgency, which has rebranded itself as the Islamic State of Iraq in the Levant, a major and increasing threat both to Iraq and the U.S., the official said.

U.S. and Iraqi officials see a possible solution in trying to persuade insurgents to join forces with Iraqi troops and move away from al-Qaida, following a pattern set by so-called Awakening Councils in western Iraq that marked a turning point in the war. Faily said much of the additional aid — including weapons and training — would go toward this effort.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who opposed the U.S. troop withdrawal in 2011, said Iraq likely would not get the aid until al-Maliki, a Shiite, makes strides in making the government more inclusive to Sunnis.

"If he expects the kind of assistance that he's asking for, we need a strategy and we need to know exactly how that's going to be employed, and we need to see some changes in Iraq," McCain said Wednesday after a tense meeting on Capitol Hill with al-Maliki. "The situation is deteriorating and it's unraveling, and he's got to turn it around."

Al-Maliki's plea for aid is somewhat ironic, given that he refused to budge in 2011 on letting U.S. troops stay in Iraq with legal immunity Washington said they must have to defend themselves in the volatile country. But it was a fiercely unpopular political position in Iraq, which was unable to prosecute Blackwater Worldwide security contractors who opened fire in a Baghdad square in 2007, killing at least 13 passersby.

James F. Jeffrey, who was the U.S. ambassador in Baghdad when the U.S. troops left, called it a "turnabout" by al-Maliki. He said Iraq desperately needs teams of U.S. advisers, trainers, intelligence and counterterror experts to beat back al-Qaida.

"We have those people," said Jeffrey, who retired from the State Department after leaving Baghdad last year. "We had plans to get them in after 2011. They can be under embassy privileges and immunities. They will cost the American people almost nothing. They will, by and large, not be in any more danger than our State Department civilians. And they could mean all the difference between losing an Iraq that 4,500 Americans gave their lives for."

Nearly 4,500 U.S. troops were killed in Iraq between the 2003 invasion and the 2011 withdrawal. More than 100,000 Iraqi were killed in that time.

___

Follow Lara Jakes on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/larajakesAP

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-10-31-US-United-States-Iraq/id-0954ea9a3f94497a8d32aa20195437a2
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Texas club auctions right to hunt endangered rhino

In this Jan. 5, 2003, photo released by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows a black rhino male and calf in Mkuze, South Africa. The organizer of a Texas hunting club’s planned auction of a permit that will allow a hunter to bag an endangered black rhino in Africa is hoping it raises up to $1 million for rhino preservation. (AP Photo/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Karl Stromayer)

HOUSTON (AP) — Plans to auction a rare permit that will allow a hunter to take down an endangered black rhino are drawing criticism from some conservationists, but the organizer says the fundraiser could bring in more than $1 million that would go toward protecting the species.

John J. Jackson III belongs to the Dallas Safari Club, which earlier this month announced it would auction the permit — one of only five offered annually by Namibia in southwestern Africa. The permit is also the first to be made available for purchase outside of that country.

"This is advanced, state-of-the-art wildlife conservation and management techniques," Jackson, a Metairie, La.-based international wildlife attorney, said Wednesday. "It's not something the layman understands, but they should.

"This is the most sophisticated management strategy devised," he said. "The conservation hunt is a hero in the hunting community."

Some animal preservation groups are bashing the idea.

"More than ridiculous," Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, said Wednesday.

"At a time when the global community is rallying to protect the elephant and rhino from the onslaught of people with high-powered weapons, this action sends exactly the wrong signal. It's absurd. You're going to help an endangered animal by killing an endangered member of that population?"

An estimated 4,000 black rhinos remain in the wild, down from 70,000 in the 1960s. Nearly 1,800 are in Namibia, according to the safari club.

Poachers long have targeted all species of rhino, primarily for its horn, which is valuable on the international black market. Made of the protein keratin, the chief component in fingernails and hooves, the horn has been used in carvings and for medicinal purposes, mostly in Asia. The near extinction of the species also has been attributed to habitat loss.

The auction is scheduled for the Dallas Safari Club's annual convention in January.

According to Jackson, who said he's been working on the auction project with federal wildlife officials, the hunt will involve one of five black rhinos selected by a committee and approved by the Namibian government. The five are to be older males, incapable of reproducing and likely "troublemakers ... bad guys that are killing other rhinos," he said.

"You end up eliminating that rhino and you actually increase the reproduction of the population."

Jackson said 100 percent of the auction proceeds would go to a trust fund, be held there until the permit is approved and then forwarded to the government of Namibia for the limited purpose of rhino conservation.

"It's going to generate a sum of money large enough to be enormously meaningful in Namibia's fight to ensure the future of its black rhino populations," Ben Carter, the club's executive director, said in a statement.

Jeffrey Flocken, North American regional director of the Massachusetts-based International Fund for Animal Welfare, disagreed, describing the club's argument as "perverse, to say the least."

"And drumming up a bidding frenzy to get to the opportunity to shoot one of the last of a species is just irresponsible," Flocken said. "This is just an attempt to manipulate a horrific situation where rhino poaching is out of control, and fuel excitement around being able to kill an animal whose future existence is already hanging in the balance."

Rick Barongi, director of the Houston Zoo and vice president of the International Rhino Foundation, said the hunt was not illegal but remained a complex idea that "sends a mixed message."

On Tuesday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced it was providing "guidance" to the safari club on whether it would agree to a permit, required under federal law, to allow the winning bidder to bring the trophy rhino to the United States.

"An import permit will be issued if, and only if, we determine that the sport-hunted trophy is taken as part of a well-managed conservation program that enhances the long-term survival of the species," the agency said.

Earlier this year, the service granted such a permit for a sport-hunted black rhino taken in Namibia in 2009.

Pacelle said the Humane Society would work to oppose the permit.

An administrator at the Namibian Embassy in Washington referred questions about the hunt and auction to the government's tourism office in Windhoek, the nation's capital. There was no response Wednesday to an email from The Associated Press.

"The two hot issues here are the fact it's an endangered species, and the second thing is it's a trophy," Barongi, the zoo director, said. "It's one individual that can save hundreds of individuals, and if that's the case, and it's the best option you have ... then you go with your best option.

"Because the alternative is you can lose them all," he said.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-10-31-US-Rhino-Hunt-Auction/id-c3e2992e22e14aa5928855e6c44eefdc
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Can Brandy Clark Save Country Music?

Brandy Clark has just completed her latest turn in a songwriter’s showcase at Nashville’s Bluebird Café and, for just a second, the room is silent as held breath. Then an ovation sweeps through like a small explosion, an exhalation of pent-up expectations and hopes and “Oh my God, did you hear that?”

I don’t remember for certain which number Clark had just sung—honestly, it might have been any of the songs off her amazing debut album, 12 Stories, released Oct. 22—but I think it was “What Will Keep Me out Heaven.” In that breathtaking piano-and-pedal-steel ballad, Clark plays a woman hesitating before an elevator, torn: The man waiting for her upstairs is married to a woman she doesn’t know and doesn’t wish to hurt—but then again she’s come to realize that she’s married to a stranger herself; that’s why she’s here. The lyric leaves her right there, too, undecided, weighing promise and regret—though the tremble and ache in Clark’s voice leaves little doubt she’s headed upstairs.

Clark was joined at the Bluebird that evening by a trio of good friends and fellow songwriters: Trevor Rosen, Josh Osborne, and, seated directly across from Clark for the Sept. 21 in-the-round-performance, Shane McAnally, who’s been on quite a songwriting roll lately. Partnering with several others—Clark, Rosen, Osborne, or the likeminded Kasey Musgraves, often as not—McAnally has co-written hits for Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Jake Owen, Miranda Lambert, The Band Perry, and Luke Bryan, and has seen dozens more of his songs recorded by Nashville types ranging from Lee Ann Womack to Uncle Cracker, Tim McGraw to Kelly Clarkson to Florida Georgia Line. He is the most successful songwriter Nashville has seen in a generation.

As the applause for Clark shrinks to excited murmurs, McAnally nods in his friend’s direction and says, “That girl’s gonna save this town.”

It was an offhand comment, but, considering the source, it was nearly as jaw-dropping as the performance that inspired it. After all, by the measures that matter most to the Nashville music establishment, Shane McAnally is this town. How can he possibly believe it needs saving?

Concerns about the soul of Nashville or of country music—not the same entities, by any means, but in this case close enough—are hardly new. Choose nearly any period of country you like—Nashville Sound, Urban Cowboy, Garth and Shania’s “Hot New Country,” take your pick—and you’ll find plenty of folks who, upon listening to the latest mainstream version of the genre, declared it in figurative danger of going to hell. But previously these complaints have come from musicians specializing in some sub-style or other that was just then being shut out by country radio—or from the fans who preferred those out-of-fashion sounds—rather than from someone like McAnally, whose work is in heavy commercial rotation, albeit in recordings by other singers.

So what’s the complaint, then? For the past several weeks, the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs Chart has been a hard-rocking number with verses that are rapped as much as sung, a hoedown throw-down in which a hyper-macho singer seduces a tanned hottie while drinking a beer and driving his pickup truck down to the river in the moonlight. The record is “That’s My Kind of Night,” by country heartthrob Luke Bryan. But set the action in the afternoon instead, and switch out “beer” for “Southern [Comfort],” and the very same description works for “Cruise,” the Florida Georgia Line hit that topped the same chart for most of this past spring and summer. As it would, with minimal edits, for Blake Shelton’s “The Boys ’Round Here” and Randy Houser’s “How Country Feels” and too-many-to-count other radio hits, big and small, across the past half-decade.

Admittedly, there’s been more to country radio during these last several years than these party-hearty hits. But the songs have dominated playlists to such an extent that it has certainly felt like the format had turned into one never-ending-beer-keg-dirt-road-good-time-I’m-country-truck song. That dominance, to the seeming extinction of almost any other emotion or subject, is the complaint.

Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2013/10/brandy_clark_12_stories_shane_mcanally_and_others_saving_country_music.html
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Halloween live blog: White House ghost stories

Source: http://yahoonews.tumblr.com/post/65605147710/live-coverage-of-halloween
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Adobe Hack Victim Count Skyrockets to 38M

"We often become numb to the numbers when discussing breaches, but 38 million is a vastly different scale of breach -- it's massive," explained Tim Erlin, director of IT risk and security strategy with Tripwire. "It surpasses last year's 24 million record Zappos breach and will undoubtedly cost Adobe tens of millions of dollars."

After initially estimating that a mere 3 million customers had been affected by the security breach it announced at the start of October, Adobe on Wednesday admitted that the actual number now looks to be closer to an eye-popping 38 million. In addition, the breach seems to be more far-reaching than initially thought, extending to the Photoshop family of products as well.

In its original announcement, Adobe said hackers stole 3 million encrypted customer credit card records and login data for Adobe user accounts. This past weekend, however, AnonNews.org posted a file that appears to include more than 150 million username and hashed password pairs taken from Adobe, according to Krebs on Security.

So far, Adobe's investigation has confirmed that the attackers obtained access to Adobe IDs and what were at the time valid, encrypted passwords for approximately 38 million active users, the company said in a statement provided to the E-Commerce Times by spokesperson Marissa Hopkins.

"We have completed email notification of these users," Adobe said. "We also have reset the passwords for all Adobe IDs with valid, encrypted passwords that we believe were involved in the incident -- regardless of whether those users are active or not."

Adobe believes the attackers obtained access to many invalid Adobe IDs, inactive Adobe IDs, Adobe IDs with invalid encrypted passwords, and test account data as well, the company added: "We are still in the process of investigating the number of inactive, invalid and test accounts involved in the incident. Our notification to inactive users is ongoing."

There's no indication so far, however, that there has been unauthorized activity on any Adobe ID account involved in the incident, the company pointed out.

38 Million!

As with most security hacks, information is limited and experts are left filling in the blanks with speculation. For example, there is the question of how one breach could encompass so many people.

"We often become numb to the numbers when discussing breaches, but 38 million is a vastly different scale of breach -- it's massive," Tim Erlin, director of IT risk and security strategy at Tripwire, told TechNewsWorld. "It surpasses last year's 24 million record Zappos breach and will undoubtedly cost Adobe tens of millions of dollars.

"As more information about the attack vector and details emerges, we'll be able to understand what Adobe might have done to prevent this compromise," Erlin added.

A breach of this size doesn't happen overnight, noted Craig Young, also a security researcher with Tripwire.

"Clearly, attackers were on Adobe's networks for a prolonged period of time without being detected," Young told TechNewsWorld. "In fact, the attacks were only brought to light when researchers found Adobe's data on a server used by organized cybercriminals."

Very likely, the hackers attacked an account management server that contained most if not all Adobe accounts, suggested Dodi Glenn, a security researcher with ThreatTrack Security.

Adobe has acknowledged publicly that the breach was possible in part due to server-side accessibility and consolidation of security credentials, noted Lockbox CEO Peter Long.

If nothing else, what this breach has served to highlight "is that a strategy of attempting to secure the infrastructure ultimately can be overwhelmed by a consistent and focused attack," Long told TechNewsWorld.

'Should Have Been Prevented'

Given the magnitude of the numbers involved, it is fair to rethink Adobe's after-the-fact approach to the breach.

When it was first revealed, Adobe apologized and offered free yearlong credit monitoring for affected customers. It also made sure the passwords were encrypted and issued a password reset for the accounts that were compromised, Glenn told TechNewsWorld -- all to the good.

However, "the damage is already done," he added. "The leak occurred, and should have been prevented in the first place."

Where Adobe's response could stand improvement is in providing more transparency about what happened, he concluded, "instead of letting people and security groups speculate."

Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/79318.html
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Gomes, Red Sox beat Cards 4-2 to even WS at 2-all

Boston Red Sox Mike Napoli, right, pulls Jonny Gomes' beard after Gomes hit a three run home run off of St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Seth Maness, left, during the sixth inning of Game 4 of baseball's World Series Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013, in St. Louis.(AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Boston Red Sox's Mike Napoli (12) pulls the beard of Jonny Gomes after Gomes hit a three-run home run during the sixth inning of Game 4 of baseball's World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Boston Red Sox's Jonny Gomes celebrates his three-run home run off St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Seth Maness, left, during the sixth inning of Game 4 of baseball's World Series Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Boston Red Sox's Jonny Gomes watches his three-run home run during the sixth inning of Game 4 of baseball's World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

St. Louis Cardinals' Carlos Beltran hits a single during the third inning of Game 4 of baseball's World Series against the Boston Red Sox Sunday, Oct. 27, 2013, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

ST. LOUIS (AP) — There's no telling how these wacky World Series games will end.

One night after a rare obstruction call, Jonny Gomes hit a decisive homer when he wasn't even in the original lineup and Koji Uehara picked off a rookie at first base for the final out.

An entertaining, even goofy World Series is tied at two games apiece following Boston's 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday night, which ensured the title will be decided back at Fenway Park.

"What's going on inside here is pretty special, magical," Gomes said.

Inserted into the lineup about 75 minutes before gametime, Gomes hit a tiebreaking, three-run shot off reliever Seth Maness in the sixth inning.

Felix Doubront and surprise reliever John Lackey, both starters during the regular season, picked up for a gritty Clay Buchholz to help the Red Sox hang on.

And of course, another bizarre ending: Uehara picked off pinch-runner Kolten Wong — with postseason star Carlos Beltran standing at the plate.

Of the 1,404 postseason games in major league history, the last two are the only ones to end on an obstruction call and a pickoff, according to STATS.

"It was the first time for me to end a game like that as far as I can remember," Uehara said through a translator.

Game 5 is Monday night at Busch Stadium, with Boston left-hander Jon Lester facing Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright in a rematch of the opener, won 8-1 by the Red Sox.

Gomes helped Boston get started in the fifth when he followed David Ortiz's leadoff double with a 10-pitch walk that tired starter Lance Lynn, who had faced the minimum 12 batters through the first four innings.

Stephen Drew's sacrifice fly tied the score 1-all, erasing a deficit created when center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury's third-inning error advanced Matt Carpenter into scoring position for Beltran's RBI single.

Ortiz, 8 for 11 (.727) in the Series after a three-hit night, was Boston's leader, smacking his hands together and screaming at teammates to get going when he pulled into second base on his double. Then, after the fifth inning, he huddled the Red Sox for a pep talk in the dugout.

"Let's loosen up and let's try to play baseball the way we normally do," Ortiz remembered telling them. "I know we are a better team than what we had shown. Sometimes you get to this stage and you try to overdo things, and it doesn't work that way."

Message heard.

"It was like 24 kindergartners looking up at their teacher," Gomes said, "He got everyone's attention, and we looked him right in the eyes. That message was pretty powerful."

Not long after, Gomes' drive put Boston ahead 4-1 in the sixth.

With adrenaline taking over, Gomes spiked an arm through the air as he rounded first base, yelled and banged his chest with his right fist twice. Teammates tugged on Gomes' beard for good luck when he got back to the dugout, including a two-handed pull by Mike Napoli.

Not exactly what Gomes expected when he arrived at the ballpark.

While talk of umpires' calls dominated discussion following two of the opening three games, this one turned on a manager's pregame decision.

John Farrell's original Red Sox lineup didn't include Gomes, but Victorino's back had been bothering him since Saturday, so Daniel Nava was moved from left field to right and from fifth to second in the batting order. Gomes was inserted into the No. 5 hole behind Ortiz.

"During batting practice, when I met with Shane today, he said, 'Yeah, put me in there. I'll find a way to get ready to start the game,'" Farrell said. "As we went through the other work, it became obvious he wasn't capable. And you know what? It turns out that his replacement is the difference in this one tonight."

Gomes had been 0 for 9 in the Series before the home run, and Red Sox outfielders had been 4 for 40 with no RBIs. Following Dustin Pedroia's two-out single and a four-pitch walk to Ortiz by Lynn, Maness threw five straight sinkers to Gomes, who sent the last one into the Red Sox bullpen in left as Matt Holliday kept running back only to run out of room.

"It was right down the middle," Maness said. "That's baseball, it happens."

Carpenter singled in a run in the seventh off Craig Breslow after pinch-hitter Shane Robinson doubled with two outs against Doubront on a ball that skidded away from Gomes. Junichi Tazawa came in and got Holliday to hit an inning-ending grounder to second, a night after allowing a tiebreaking, two-run double to Holliday.

Doubront got the win with 2 2-3 innings of one-hit relief. Lackey, the Game 2 loser and Boston's probable Game 6 starter, pitched the eighth for his first relief appearance in nine years, overcoming a two-base throwing error by third baseman Xander Bogaerts — Boston's seventh error of the Series — and a wild pitch.

With a runner on third, Lackey got Jon Jay to pop up and David Freese to ground out.

Uehara, Boston's sixth pitcher, got three outs for his sixth save this postseason, completing a six-hitter.

Lynn was the hard-luck loser, leaving with the score tied and two on for Maness, who allowed Gomes' homer on his fifth pitch.

It was a special anniversary for both teams. Exactly nine years earlier, the Red Sox completed a four-game sweep of the Cardinals across the street at old Busch Stadium for their first championship since 1918. And two years earlier, Freese hit a tying, two-run, two-out triple in the ninth against Texas and a winning homer in the 11th to force a Game 7, which St. Louis won the following night.

Buchholz, in his first appearance since the AL championship series finale on Oct. 19, fought through shoulder issues and his velocity topped out at 90 mph. He lasted a season-low four innings and 66 pitches before he was lifted for a pinch-hitter, but he allowed just an unearned run and three hits.

"We have guys with heart. Clay, he brought everything he's got," Ortiz said. "I have never seen Clay throwing an 88 mph fastball."

Fielding for the Red Sox became trouble again in the third when Carpenter singled to center with one out, and the ball appeared to take a high hop and roll away from Ellsbury. Carpenter sprinted to second on the second error of the Series by Ellsbury — who had just three during the regular season.

Beltran singled into center field two pitches later, making him 8 for 10 with 12 RBIs with runners in scoring position during the postseason.

There almost was another miscue in the fourth following a one-out walk to Jay. Freese bounced to Drew, and the shortstop grabbed the grounder on the run and flipped the ball with his glove high to Pedroia at second. He jumped and just got his left foot down in time to force Jay, who slid into him hard.

After Ortiz's double to the right-center field wall in the fifth, Gomes fell behind 0-2 in the count and then worked out his walk. Lynn appeared to be too fine with his pitches as he walked rookie Bogaerts, loading the bases, and Drew lofted a fly to medium left near the foul line.

Holliday's one-hop throw home hit the sliding Ortiz in the back and bounced away. Lynn recovered to strike out David Ross and induce an inning-ending groundout from pinch-hitter Mike Carp.

NOTES: St. Louis had been 8-0 this postseason when scoring first. ... Molina extended his Series hitting streak to seven games. ... Holliday argued with plate umpire Paul Emmel after he was called out on strikes in the fifth, and Cardinals manager Mike Matheny came on the field to make sure his left fielder didn't get ejected.

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-10-28-World%20Series/id-3a06a6141c43434a95fe2a95ff3ed913
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