Wednesday, May 22, 2013

The New Xbox One Is Awesome—But at What Price?

Redmond, Wash.?At Microsoft's Xbox Campus today, the company gave a first look at its next-generation console, the Xbox One, which is coming out later this year (in time for Christmas). Microsoft clearly noticed the drubbing Sony got a few months ago when that company unveiled the PlayStation 4 without showing off any hardware and learned a lesson. Xbox hardware was definitely shown today: a rectangular vented box with glossy black panels accompanied by a new, smaller Kinect that will come standard with the console, and a controller that looks very much like the existing one.

Many of the capabilities of the new Xbox were leaked ahead of time, including the eight-core X86 processor, Blu-ray drive, and new HD Kinect. But it's far more convincing to see it all work in a demo. On stage, Microsoft president of interactive entertainment Don Matrick booted up the Xbox One with an "Xbox On" command. The interface uses the familiar Microsoft Live Tiles, but now integrates a Trending category that combines items that are popular with your friends with those favored by the Xbox community at large. With a command of "Xbox Watch Live TV," Matrick called up "The Price Is Right," then switched to an interactive, voice-controlled TV programming guide called OneGuide that puts every cable box to shame.

This is a new strategy for Microsoft, which for years has been trying to work with cable companies to integrate a tuner into the Xbox. Now the company has obviously abandoned that strategy in favor of an HDMI passthrough with an informational overlay similar to Google TV?though it's worth mentioning that, at first glance, the Xbox UI seems far superior to Google's. That probably means the Xbox One will have no access to your cable box DVR. But the 500 GB on board might allow Xbox to act as its own DVR, a possibility that would undoubtedly unleash an army of lawyers.

Xbox One allows instant switching between games, music, movies, and TV. It even plays live TV within a live tile on the home screen. It also has a Snap Mode similar to Windows 8 that can display additional content next to TV programming. For instance, Xbox has worked out deals with both ESPN and the NFL that will integrate extra angles, real-time commentary, and updates of personalized content such as fantasy leagues while you watch the game. This content can also be pushed to second screens through Microsoft's Smart Glass software that already exists for tablets and smartphones. ?

Snap Mode also can support Xbox One's integrated Skype client, which works with the new 1080p camera in Kinect. Prepare for a new era of divided attention spans as video calls can coexist on your TV screen as you switch back and forth between TV and games. The Kinect accessory has advanced significantly, hardware-wise. Its camera array can handle 1080p at 30 fps and has active infrared sensing and time-of-flight measurement for individual photons. The company claims that the camera tech is sensitive enough to measure a player's heartbeat, which, when you get past the visceral creepiness of the idea, could be enormously useful for exercise games. ?

It took a while during the presentation to get to gaming, but a demo of upcoming EA Sports titles was jaw-dropping. Both EA and Call of Duty developers Infinity Ward have created new game engines that produce super high-fidelity rendering of human movement as well as textures that dwarf the capabilities of the current generation of consoles. In addition to EA Sports franchises, demos today included a preview of the next Forza racing game and a sneak peek of Call of Duty Ghosts (now with a playable special forces dog), which will all launch exclusively on the Xbox One. ?

And that's not the only exclusive content. Microsoft also announced that Xbox will be a platform for original TV content. Xbox Entertainment Studios is teaming up with Steven Spielberg to create a live action series based on the popular Halo franchise. ?

The crowd here was definitely impressed, but there are still are plenty of unanswered questions and a few caveats that could dull the anticipation for the new console. The biggest question is price. If Microsoft can't bring this thing in at under $500, it will be a tough sell as a mass-market consumer device. Also, what about the content that will be allowed to play on the device? Early word had it that the system won't allow play of used games, which are a big market on existing consoles, allowing people to snatch up older games at a discount. Also, from what we can tell, the new console won't play any games designed for the current Xbox, which will severely limit the available content at launch. Finally, it's about time that Microsoft stopped charging for Xbox Live Gold subscriptions, which put much of the online service's best functionality behind a paywall. The company gave no indication that was going to change. ?

If Microsoft nails the pricing on Xbox One, they've got a hit on their hands. At least it seems that way from here.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/video-games/the-new-xbox-one-is-awesome-but-at-what-price-15498762?src=rss

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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Best Buy sees investments squeezing near-term profits

By Dhanya Skariachan

(Reuters) - Best Buy Co Inc reported lackluster sales in the first quarter and warned that efforts to entice shoppers could squeeze profits in the near term.

The news overshadowed its better-than-expected, first-quarter profit and sent shares of the world's largest consumer electronics chain down 4 percent on Tuesday.

Under Chief Executive Officer Hubert Joly, who took the helm last fall, it has been matching rivals' online prices, dedicating more in-store space to faster-growing products such as smartphones and tablets, and investing in employee training and revamping stores.

Joly has also removed layers of management, cut jobs, closed some underperforming stores and decided to shed non-core assets such as its stake in a European joint venture with Carphone Warehouse Group to lower costs.

The results showed Best Buy might need to cut costs further to compete more effectively with the likes of Wal-Mart Stores and Amazon.com.

"The company has plenty of fat to cut, which management can then reinvest into improved price competitiveness; upgrading its e-commerce capabilities; and better customer service," BB&T Capital Markets analyst Anthony Chukumba wrote.

On a conference call, Joly told investors that Best Buy has taken a host of steps to boost its online traffic and sales. It has invested in targeted marketing and added more relevant product recommendations.

The retailer plans to invest more to make its website easier to navigate and replace its decade-old search platform with one that will produce more relevant results.

Best Buy's financial chief, Sharon McCollam, said she did not expect any financial benefits from the new platform for bestbuy.com until the next financial year, which begins on February 1, 2015.

"While many of these online initiatives may sound like just basic functionality upgrades, they are actually game changing for an online retailer of our size as we have historically underinvested in the online channel," Joly said.

ONLINE BATTLE

Some critics have in the past complained that Best Buy had become a showroom for Amazon.com Inc and other online chains as shoppers go to its stores to check out electronic items like televisions, but then buy them elsewhere for less.

Best Buy expects that to change as Amazon starts collecting sales tax in more states by the end of the financial year January 2014.

"In states that are already collecting we're seeing an incremental benefit in our online and retail store sales," Joly said on Tuesday.

Critics of Amazon argued it had an unfair advantage because brick-and-mortar retailers, including Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Target, have had to collect state sales tax on online sales for years because they have stores and other physical operations in these locations.

The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly earlier this month to give states the power to enforce sales tax laws on online purchases, but the legislation faces a tougher fight in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

Best Buy's net earnings from continuing operations fell to $97 million, or 29 cents a share, from $169 million, or 49 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding restructuring charges but including Europe, it earned 36 cents a share, above the analysts estimate of 25 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Its sales fell 9.6 percent to $9.38 billion. Sales at stores open at least 14 months fell 1.3 percent, including declines domestically and internationally.

Best Buy tied the revenue weakness partly to a shift in the timing of Super Bowl-related sales. Football's Super Bowl took place on February 3, when the first quarter began, so pre-game sales of big-screen televisions happened in the fourth quarter.

(Reporting By Dhanya Skariachan; Editing by Maureen Bavdek and Leslie Gevirtz)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/best-buy-profit-tops-estimates-sales-miss-113309914.html

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Teachers credited with saving students in Okla.

Teachers carry children away from Briarwood Elementary school after a tornado destroyed the school in south Oklahoma City, Okla, Monday, May 20, 2013. Near SW 149th and Hudson. (AP Photo/ The Oklahoman, Paul Hellstern)

Teachers carry children away from Briarwood Elementary school after a tornado destroyed the school in south Oklahoma City, Okla, Monday, May 20, 2013. Near SW 149th and Hudson. (AP Photo/ The Oklahoman, Paul Hellstern)

Briarwood Elementary P.E. teacher Mike Murphy comforts Aiden Stuck, 7, as he waits for his mother at the school after a tornado destroyed Briarwood Elementary and struck south Oklahoma City and Moore, Okla., Monday, May 20, 2013.(AP Photo/ The Oklahoman, Nate Billings)

Rebekah Stuck hugs her son, Aiden Stuck, 7, after she found him in front of the destroyed Briarwood Elementary after a tornado struck south Oklahoma City and Moore, Okla., Monday, May 20, 2013. Aiden Stuck was inside the school when it was hit. (AP Photo/ The Oklahoman, Nate Billings)

An aerial view of Briarwood Elementary that was damaged in Monday's tornado Tuesday, May 21, 2013, in Moore, Oklahoma. A huge tornado roared through the Oklahoma City suburb Monday, flattening an entire neighborhoods and destroying an elementary school with a direct blow as children and teachers huddled against winds. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

A parent rushes to embrace her child as a teacher escorts her away from Briarwood Elementary school after a tornado destroyed the school in south Oklahoma City, Okla, Monday, May 20, 2013. Near SW 149th and Hudson. (AP Photo/ The Oklahoman, Paul Hellstern)

(AP) ? The principal's voice came on over the intercom at Plaza Towers Elementary School: A severe storm was approaching and students were to go to the cafeteria and wait for their parents to pick them up.

But before all of the youngsters could get there, the tornado alarm sounded.

The plan changed quickly.

"All the teachers started screaming into the room and saying, 'Get into the hallway! We don't want you to die!' and stuff like that," said sixth-grader Phaedra Dunn. "We just took off running."

In the moments that followed, some of the children at Plaza Towers Elementary would, in fact, die. At least seven were killed by the twister Monday afternoon. Others would crawl out of the rubble, bloodied and bruised, utterly terrified.

The tornado that devastated this Oklahoma City suburb of 56,000 people destroyed Plaza Towers and also slammed Briarwood Elementary, where all the children appear to have survived. Students and parents recounted stories Tuesday of brave teachers who sheltered their pupils, in some cases by herding them into a closet and a restroom amid the fear and panic.

After the tornado alarm went off, students at Plaza Towers scrambled into the halls. But the halls ? some of which were within the view of windows ? did not appear safe enough.

Sixth-grader Antonio Clark said a teacher took him and as many other youngsters as possible and shoved them into the three-stall boys' bathroom.

"We were all piled in on each other," the 12-year-old said. Another teacher wrapped her arms around two students and held Antonio's hand.

Twenty seconds later he heard a roar that sounded like a stampede of elephants. His ears popped.

Then it all stopped almost as suddenly as it started. Crouched down, his backpack over his head, Antonio looked up. The skylight and the ceiling were gone, and he was staring up into a cloud filled with debris.

Antonio and a friend were among the first to stand up. They climbed over debris where their classroom had been just moments earlier. Students and teachers were struggling to free themselves from under the bricks, wooden beams and insulation. Some people had bleeding head wounds; blood covered one side of someone's eyeglasses, Antonio said.

"Everybody was crying," Antonio said. "I was crying because I didn't know if my family was OK."

Then Antonio saw his father ride up on a mountain bike, yelling his son's name.

Phaedra survived, too. Her mother rushed to the school just moments before the tornado hit, covered Phaedra's head with a blanket to protect her from hail and ushered her out the door. Phaedra's 10-year-old sister, Jenna, didn't want to budge from the school.

The principal "grabbed her backpack, put it over her head and literally said, 'You're mom's going to open the door. Get out. You're safer with your mom,' and pushed her out the door," said Amy Sharp, the girls' mother.

At Briarwood Elementary, the students also went into the halls. But a third-grade teacher didn't think it looked safe, so she herded some of the children into a closet, said David Wheeler, one of the fathers who tried to rush to the school after the tornado hit.

The teacher shielded Wheeler's 8-year-old son, Gabriel, with her arms and held him down as the tornado collapsed the school roof and starting lifting students upward with a pull so strong that it literally sucked glasses off kids' faces, Wheeler said.

"She saved their lives by putting them in a closet and holding their heads down," Wheeler said.

Gabriel and the teacher ? whom Wheeler identified as Julie Simon ? had to dig their way out of the rubble. The boy's back was cut and bruised and gravel was embedded in his head, Wheeler said. It took nearly three hours for father and son to be reunited.

Other parents waited even longer, as they drove from one emergency shelter to another in search of their children.

At St. Andrews United Methodist Church, 15-year-old Caitlin Ulrey waited about seven hours before her parents found her. Her high school had not been hit by the tornado. But her nerves were frayed.

"I was starting to panic and shake and have an anxiety attack," Caitlin said.

At Plaza Towers, several students were pulled alive from under a collapsed wall and other heaps of mangled debris. Rescue workers passed the survivors down a human chain of parents and neighborhood volunteers. Parents carried dazed and terrified children in their arms to a triage center in the parking lot.

Hundreds of Oklahoma schools have reinforced tornado shelters, but not the two that were hit on Monday.

Albert Ashwood, director of the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management, said it is up to each jurisdiction to set priorities for which schools get funding for safe rooms. But he said a shelter would not necessarily have saved more lives at Plaza Towers. The tornado was an EF5 twister, the most powerful type, with winds of at least 200 mph.

"When you talk about any kind of safety measures ... it's a mitigating measure, it's not an absolute," Ashwood said. "There's not a guarantee that everyone will be totally safe."

Moore School Superintendent Susan Pierce said teachers and administrators put their well-rehearsed crisis plan into action as the tornado approached. But she suggested there are limits to what people can do in the face of such a powerful storm.

"Safety is our main priority," Pierce said. "We monitored the weather throughout the day and when it was time to shelter, we did just that."

___

Associated Press writer Ramit Plushnick-Masti contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-05-21-Oklahoma%20Tornado-The%20School/id-e27ff76a67e6491092cc79cab044f3bf

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The Newest 3D-Printed Gun Is Far More Dangerous For Much Cheaper

After the stir several weeks ago, buzz surrounding Defense Distributed's 3D-printed gun has begun to (somewhat) die down. This is probably due in part to Kim Dotcom's removal of the gun's blueprint from Mega and the fact that, frankly, the gun itself isn't much of an immediate threat. But as one potential threat dissipates, just like clockwork, a new one has appeared on the horizon. And any fear creeping up on you with this newest incarnation of the 3D-printed gun might actually be warranted.

While Defense Distributed's heavy-handidly named Liberator was good for about one (highly expensive) shot before becoming effectively useless, its successor only costs about $25, can be printed on a consumer-grade printer, and is good for, as the video shows, at least nine rounds?with the potential for many more.

Designed by a Wisconsin engineer who identifies himself anonymously as "Joe" and his creation troublingly as the "Lulz Liberator," the gun is made out of generic Polylac PA-747 ABS, otherwise known as the type of plastic most commonly used in consumer-grade 3D printers. According to Joe, this cheaper material is actually stronger than the ABS plastic used in the much more expensive, Stratasys pro printer that Defense Distributed used. Apparently attempts to use the Stratasys resulted in the gun's barrel exploding, something that is, generally, not ideal.

Contributing to its sturdier status, the Lulz Liberator also holds a bit more metal hardware than its predecessor: traditional hardware store screws replaced the flimsy plastic printed pins. Then, to make everything good and (arguably) legal, the same piece of non-functional steel placed in the Liberator exists in the Lulz variety, allowing it to set off metal detectors and comply with the Undetectable Firearms Act.

Of course, like you'd expect with any plastic gun, it still doesn't work perfectly. Some of the screws as well as the firing pin had to be replaced over the course of the video, and after every shot, while the ammo cartridge didn't explode, it did expand enough to require some hammer pounding before it was ready to go again. But even with its flaws, the message is clear: much more threatening printed guns are possible?and they have the potential to be dirt cheap.

Unlike Defense Distributed's big coming out, though, Joe still hasn't put the plans for his Lulz Liberator online. And his hesitance thus far isn't surprising given the fact that the State Department forced Defense Distributed to remove their plans, citing export control violations.

Joe doesn't claim anarchist roots like Cody Wilson, Defense Distributed's founder. But he does believe him and Wilson are after the same ultimate goal. According to Joe, "I agree with Cody's idea that this is a perfect fusion of the first and second amendments."

The word "perfect," apparently, being a highly subjective term. [Forbes]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/the-newest-3d-printed-gun-is-far-more-dangerous-for-muc-508921619

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Monday, May 20, 2013

Hacked Brainwave Headset Lets You Control Architecture by Thinking

In the age of ubiquitous computing, we've grown fairly used to infrastructure, objects, and even furniture that adapt to the presence of humans. But what if you could control the behavior of a wall or room simply by thinking harder?

That?s the impetus behind Cerebral Hut, an installation by the Turkish architect Guvenc Ozel. The hut, which is made up of ten hexagonal panels programmed to expand and contract on command, was part of a show at the last Istanbul Biennial. Ozel bought a commercially available brainwave reader?like this NeuroSky headset?and wrote a script that turns the brain activity of the user into motion cues for the panels. Standing beneath the curved half-wall, visitors could control the size of the panels and the pace of their deformation simply by concentrating and blinking.

It?s a crude example of where brain science and architecture could eventually intersect, as sensor technology evolves. ?We traditionally assume that the built environment, whether in the architectural or the urban scale, influences our psyche,? Ozel explains. ?What if we can reverse that relationship? What if a kinetic architecture could establish a direct connection between the thoughts of its user and itself in order to reconfigure its physical boundaries accordingly??

Neurologists and architects have long been drawn to each others? professions?hell, there?s even an institute devoted to their union?but until recently, research into how architecture directly affects the brain (and vice versa) has been limited by tech that?s either clunky or wildly expensive. Now, we?re entering an era when off-the-shelf hardware is making it possible for designers with minimal experience in either field to experiment at the intersection of brains and buildings. [The Dish]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/hacked-brainwave-headset-lets-you-control-architecture-508883130

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Yahoo to acquire Tumblr in $1.1 billion cash deal

Yahoo to acquire Tumblr in $11 billion cash deal

That cat's out of the bag a day early, it seems. Yahoo's board has approved a $1.1 billion cash deal to purchase the blogging site Tumblr, according to The Wall Street Journal. We were expecting Yahoo to announce the acquisition during tomorrow's NYC media event -- CEO Marissa Mayer may instead use the last-minute gathering to detail the company's plans for integrating the popular platform.

Developing...

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Source: Wall Street Journal (Twitter)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/19/yahoo-to-acquire-tumblr/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Dear American Consumers: Please don t start eating healthfully. Sincerely, the Food Industry

Dear Consumers: A disturbing trend has come to our attention. You, the people, are thinking more about health, and you're starting to do something about it. This cannot continue.

Sure, there's always been talk of health in America. We often encourage it. The thing is, we only want you to think about and talk about health in a certain way--equating health with how you look, instead of outcomes like quality of life and reduced disease risk. Your superficial understanding of health has a great influence over your purchasing decisions, and we're ready for it, whether you choose to go low-calorie, low-fat, gluten-free or inevitably give up and accept the fact that you can't resist our Little Debbie snacks, potato chips and ice cream novelties. Whatever the current health trend, we respond by developing and marketing new products. We can also show you how great some of our current products are and always have been. For example, when things were not looking so good for fat, our friends at Welch's were able to point out that their chewy fruit snacks were a fat free option. Low fat! Healthy! Then the tide turned against carbohydrates. Our friends in meat and dairy were happy to show that their steaks, meats and cheeses were low-carb choices. Low carbs! Healthy! But we're getting uneasy. In 2009, Congress commissioned the Inter-agency Working Group (IWG) to develop standards for advertising foods to children. The IWG included the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Congress identified these organizations as having "expertise and experience in child nutrition, child health, psychology, education, marketing and other fields relevant to food and beverage marketing and child nutrition standards." We were dismayed when the IWG released its report in 2011. The guidelines said that foods advertised to children must provide "a meaningful contribution to a healthful diet." For example, any food marketed to children must "contain at least 50% by weight one or more of the following: fruit; vegetable; whole grain; fat-free or low-fat milk or yogurt; fish; extra lean meat or poultry; eggs; nuts and seeds; or beans." This report was potentially devastating. These organizations, experts in nutrition, were officially outlining what constituted "a meaningful contribution to a healthful diet." Thankfully, we have a ton of money and were able to use it to get the IWG to withdraw the guidelines. In a public comment posted on the FTC website, our friends at General Mills pointed out that under the IWG guidelines, the most commonly consumed foods in the US would be considered unhealthy. Specifically, according to General Mills, "of the 100 most commonly consumed foods and beverages in America, 88 would fail the IWG's proposed standards." So you see? If you people start eating the way the nutrition experts at the CDC and USDA recommend that you eat, that would delegitimize almost 90 percent of the products we produce! Do you realize how much money that would cost us? According to the General Mills letter, if everyone in the US started eating healthfully, it would cost us $503 billion per year! That might affect our ability to pay CEOs like General Mills' Ken Powell annual compensations of more than $12 million. But revamping the food environment will also cost you money. The General Mills letter stated "a shift by the average American to the IWG diet would conservatively increase the individual's annual food spending by $1,632." Sure, we've heard talk about costs to the individual that arise from being obese. One 2010 paper from the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services estimated that the annual costs to an individual for being obese can be upwards of $8,000. We like to think of this as a small price to pay for consumer freedom. Of course, we don't necessarily want you to be unhealthy. It's just that it's so much more profitable to provide foods that happen to be unhealthy. We've been able to industrialize the food system so that we can produce massive amounts of the cheapest ingredients available, in the cheapest, most efficient way possible. On top of that, we understand human biology. Humans evolved in situations in which food was scarce. This led to an evolutionary adaptation that causes you to crave salty, sugary and fatty foods. Consuming foods with these characteristics actually lights up the same pleasure centers in the brain as cocaine. Who wouldn't play upon that biological craving to increase profits? If one company didn't, their competitors would, so we all kind of have to do it. We are also able to provide you with perceived value. Because it doesn't cost us that much more to make a soda, say, 42 ounces instead of 22, we can almost double the size of a beverage and only charge you 20 percent more. How could you resist a deal like that? You can't. Trust us, we know. So you see, dear consumer, everything is fine. We've got a good thing going here. There's no need for you to start worrying about the industrial food system. If you do start thinking about your weight, check out our line of Healthy Choice frozen meals. If that doesn't work, our friends over in the pharmaceutical industry, the health and fitness industry and the healthcare industry will be happy to help you to continue to fulfill your role as an American Consumer. Images: by the author ? Follow Scientific American on Twitter @SciAm and @SciamBlogs. Visit ScientificAmerican.com for the latest in science, health and technology news.
? 2013 ScientificAmerican.com. All rights reserved.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dear-american-consumers-please-don-t-start-eating-155100012.html

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Sunday, May 19, 2013

Consuming coffee linked to lower risk of an autoimmune liver disease

May 18, 2013 ? Regular consumption of coffee is associated with a reduced risk of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), an autoimmune liver disease, Mayo Clinic research shows. The findings were being presented at the Digestive Disease Week 2013 conference in Orlando, Fla.

PSC is an inflammatory disease of the bile ducts that results in inflammation and subsequent fibrosis that can lead to cirrhosis of the liver, liver failure and biliary cancer.

"While rare, PSC has extremely detrimental effects," says study author Craig Lammert, M.D., a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist. "We're always looking for ways to mitigate risk, and our first-time finding points to a novel environmental factor that also might help us to determine the cause of this and other devastating autoimmune diseases."

The study examined a large group of U.S. patients with PSC and primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and a group of healthy patients. Data showed that coffee consumption was associated with reduced risk of PSC, but not PBC. PSC patients were much likelier not to consume coffee than healthy patients were. The PSC patients also spent nearly 20 percent less of their time regularly drinking coffee than the control.

The study suggests PSC and PBC differ more than originally thought, Konstantinos Lazaridis, M.D., a Mayo Clinic hepatologist and senior study author says: "Moving forward, we can look at what this finding might tell us about the causes of these diseases and how to better treat them."

The National Institutes of Health funded part of this with a grant to principal investigator Dr. Lazaridis. The American Liver Foundation awarded Dr. Lammert a postdoctoral research fellowship.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/EkC5grtUHqw/130518153254.htm

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What Do You Want From Lyrics Sites?

Seriously, what is the deal with allll those janky lyrics sites? You google the lyrics for Random Access Memory and you're suddenly transported to the early 2000s. It's sort of surreal. I'm not the first person to mention this by far, and yet the lyrics world just seems to stagnate.

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Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/5fRylpmMZaI/what-do-you-want-from-lyrics-sites-508727739

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Netanyahu takes aim at weapons 'leakage' in Syria

By Jeffrey Heller

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held out the prospect on Sunday of further Israeli strikes inside Syria, pledging to act to prevent advanced weapons from reaching Hezbollah and other militant groups.

Although Israel has not publicly taken sides in the civil war between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and rebels trying to topple him, Western and Israeli sources say it has launched air strikes in Syria to destroy weapons it believed were destined for Lebanon's Hezbollah.

In public remarks at the weekly meeting of his cabinet, Netanyahu made no direct mention of those attacks, but made clear Israel was prepared to take action in the future and said it was "preparing for every scenario" in the Syrian conflict.

Israel had set a policy "to prevent, as much as possible, the leakage of advanced weapons to Hezbollah and terror elements", he said.

"We will act to ensure the security interest of Israel's citizens in the future as well," Netanyahu added, describing his government's actions as "responsible, determined and level-headed".

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied reports it attacked Iranian-supplied missiles stored near Damascus this month that it believed were awaiting delivery to Hezbollah, which fought a war with Israel in 2006 and is allied with Assad.

SUPERSONIC MISSILE

A Russian shipment of Yakhont anti-ship missiles to Syria was condemned by the United States on Friday, and Israel is also alarmed by the prospect of Moscow supplying S-300 advanced air defense missile systems to Damascus.

Netanyahu held talks in Russia on Tuesday with President Vladimir Putin on the Syrian crisis but gave no public indication whether Israel's concerns over the Russian weaponry had been eased.

Amos Gilad, a senior Israeli Defence Ministry official, said on Saturday the S-300 and the Yakhont, weapons that could complicate any plans for foreign military intervention in Syria, would likely end up with Hezbollah and threaten both Israel and U.S. forces in the Gulf.

"Yakhont is a cruise missile that can hit targets at sea and strategic targets. (It is) a supersonic missile, (with) a range of 300 km, very sophisticated," Gilad said on Israel's Channel Two television on Saturday.

"The Russians sent it to Syria, beside the strategic defense system called the S-300. There are a number of versions, and they are sending them one of the good versions," he said.

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Friday Russia's delivery of anti-ship missiles to Assad was "ill-timed and very unfortunate" and risked prolonging a war that has already killed more than 80,000 Syrians.

A spokesman for Putin, while not responding directly to assertions Russia had sent the anti-ship missiles, said Moscow would honor contracts to supply Syria, a long-time weapons customer.

(Editing by Mark Trevelyan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/netanyahu-takes-aim-weapons-leakage-syria-094955582.html

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Debbie Rowe to Wade Robson: YOU LIE!

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Saturday, May 18, 2013

Uzbekistan national arrested on terrorism charges in Idaho

Fazliddin Kurbanov, a 30-year-old Uzbekistan man, was arrested by Idaho authorities Thursday. He is suspected of helping a terrorist organization conspire to use a weapon of mass destruction.

By Todd Dvorak,?Associated Press / May 16, 2013

Federal authorities search an apartment in Boise, Idaho on Thursday afternoon. Authorities said they have arrested a man from Uzbekistan accused of conspiring with a designated terrorist organization in his home country and helping scheme to use a weapon of mass destruction.

Joe Jaszewski/The Idaho Statesman/AP

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Federal authorities in Idaho said Thursday they have arrested an Uzbekistan national accused of conspiring with a designated terrorist organization in his home country and helping scheme to use a weapon of mass destruction.

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The US attorney's office said Fazliddin Kurbanov, 30, was arrested at an apartment complex in south Boise on Thursday morning after a grand jury issued a three-count indictment as part of an investigation into his activities in Idaho and Utah.

The Idaho grand jury's indictment charges Kurbanov with one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, and one count of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists. The indictment also alleges he possessed an unregistered explosive device.

A separate federal grand jury in Utah also returned an indictment charging Kurbanov with distributing information about explosives, bombs and weapons of mass destruction.

Kurbanov was being held in the Ada County Jail and is scheduled to appear in federal court in Boise at 9 a.m. Friday.

Wendy Olson, the US attorney in Idaho, said Kurbanov is the only person charged, and any potential threat was contained by his arrest.

"He was closely monitored during the course of the investigation," she said. "The investigation has been under way for some time."

Olson declined to share any other specifics of Kurbanov's alleged activities, including whether any potential terrorist threat or targets were domestic or abroad.

A news release from the US attorney's office said Kurbanov is in the United States legally, but Olson declined to give details about his immigration status.

It was unclear when he moved to Idaho or the extent of his activities in Utah. An Idaho telephone number registered to Kurbanov has been disconnected.

The Idaho indictment alleges that between August 2012 and May 2013, Kurbanov knowingly conspired with others to provide support and resources, including computer software and money, to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a designated terrorist organization. The group's purpose is to overthrow the government of Uzbekistan, said David B. Barlow, US attorney in Utah.

The alleged co-conspirators were not named.

In count two, the indictment alleges Kurbanov provided material support to terrorists, knowing that the help was to be used in preparation for a plot involving the use of a weapon of mass destruction.

The indictment also alleges that on Nov. 15, 2012, Kurbanov possessed an explosive device, consisting of a series of parts intended to be converted into a bomb. Those parts included a hollow hand grenade, a hobby fuse, aluminum powder, potassium nitrate and sulfur.

Meanwhile, in Utah, federal investigators said that for a 10-day period in January 2013, Kurbanov taught and demonstrated how to make an "explosive, destructive device, and weapon of mass destruction."

The grand jury alleges that Kurbanov provided written recipes for how to make improvised explosive devices and went on instructional shopping trips in Utah showing what items are necessary to buy to make the devices, Barlow said. Kurbanov also showed Internet videos on the topic, Barlow said.

The prosecutor declined to say whom Kurbanov took on the shopping trips in Utah but said that information will come out as the case moves through the courts.

The indictment from Utah also alleges that Kurbanov intended that the videos, recipes, instructions and shopping trips be used to make an explosive device for the "bombings of a place of public use, public transportation system, and infrastructure facility."

The arrest, Barlow said, shows that "there is no priority that is more important than the protection of the public and the prevention and disruption of alleged terrorist activities ? wherever they might occur."

According to Idaho's court system, Kurbanov was ticketed for speeding violations twice in 2012, once in October, when he paid a $90 fine, and another instance in May when he paid $85.

Associated Press writers John Miller in Boise and Brady McCombs in Salt Lake City contributed to this report.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/sqFbkYd9luI/Uzbekistan-national-arrested-on-terrorism-charges-in-Idaho

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Benghazi probe co-chair subpoenaed by House panel

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The head of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has subpoenaed the co-chairman of the independent review board that investigated last year's attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, to answer questions about the panel's findings behind closed doors.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said in a statement Friday that he had issued the subpoena to retired veteran diplomat Thomas Pickering to force him to appear at a deposition next week. Pickering, who co-chaired the Benghazi Accountability Review Board with a former Joint Chiefs of Staff chief Mike Mullen, has offered to testify before Issa's committee in public. But Issa said a closed-door meeting is needed first in order for the committee to fully understand how the review board conducted its investigation.

"While I am very much committed to having you testify publicly and appreciate your newfound willingness to do so, I was disappointed that you are attempting to limit the committee's understanding of the Accountability Review Board by refusing to participate in a voluntary transcribed interview prior to testifying publicly," Issa said in a letter to Pickering. "In light of your continuing refusal to appear voluntarily for a transcribed interview, however, I have found it necessary to issue a subpoena to compel your appearance at a deposition."

Issa's letter, which was released by his office, said he would consider lifting the subpoena for next Thursday's deposition if Pickering agreed to show up on his own. Issa complained that prior to a public hearing about Benghazi that he chaired last week, Pickering had refused to speak with him and other members of the committee.

Issa is one of several GOP lawmakers who have suggested the Obama administration is trying to cover up the circumstances and aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the Benghazi outpost that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans.

The review board convened by then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was harshly critical of the State Department, blaming systematic leadership and management failures at senior levels for inadequate security in Benghazi. It made 29 recommendations to improve matters, and the State Department has vowed to implement all of them.

Issa said numerous questions about the review board's report remain unanswered, including its methodology. He noted that the ARB conducted its work in secret and appears not to have recorded or transcribed its interviews with witnesses.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/benghazi-probe-co-chair-subpoenaed-house-panel-190029884.html

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Study suggests new role for ECMO in treating patients with cardiac arrest and profound shock

Study suggests new role for ECMO in treating patients with cardiac arrest and profound shock [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 17-May-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Jessica Mikulski
jessica.mikulski@uphs.upenn.edu
215-349-8369
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

Procedure Traditionally used during heart surgery and in the ICU may show promise as a rescue strategy for select cardiac arrest patients

ATLANTA - Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a procedure traditionally used during cardiac surgeries and in the ICU that functions as an artificial replacement for a patient's heart and lungs, has also been used to resuscitate cardiac arrest victims in Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea. Now, a novel study of this technique in the U.S. has been completed by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, indicating a potential role for this intervention to save patients who are unable to be resuscitated through conventional measures. The new findings will be presented at the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine annual meeting in Atlanta, Ga.

ECMO directly oxygenates and removes carbon dioxide from the blood, and is conventionally used for both respiratory and cardiac failure. The procedure requires 24/7 monitoring and care for the duration of the treatment, but provides a critical back-up for patients whose heart and lungs are so severely diseased or damaged that they can no longer function.

"Over the last decade, we have made great strides in the field of cardiac resuscitation science, including the development of novel methods of therapeutic hypothermia and the use of cardiac bypass following cardiac arrest," said lead study author David Gaieski, MD, an associate professor of Emergency Medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine and clinical director of Penn's Center for Resuscitation Science. "Yet cardiac arrests still take the lives of more than 300,000 Americans each year, and we are continuing to explore how to use new and expanded strategies to help save these patients. Based on the work of our colleagues in Asia, we sought to report our own experience using ECMO for a select set of patients with refractory cardiac arrest and profound shock."

For the study, the research team used a collaborative approach between clinicians in the Department of Emergency Medicine and surgeons within the Division of Cardiovascular Surgery at Penn to assess the outcomes for select patients undergoing ECMO presenting in the emergency department (ED) and for in-hospital cardiac arrests at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

They studied the approach in patients who otherwise would have died who were unable to be resuscitated through CPR and defibrillation and who would not have been eligible for other post-arrest therapies such as therapeutic hypothermia.

Inclusion criteria for ED patients included witnessed arrest, bystander CPR, and an initial shockable rhythm. For in-patient arrests, inclusion criteria included presumed cardiac etiology of arrest or refractory shock unresponsive to conventional interventions. Main variables were whether a patient was in cardiac arrest or profound shock and location of patient at time of initiation of ECMO, with the primary outcome of survival to hospital discharge.

Thirty-three patients were included in the study. Of these patients, the mean age was 50 years and 70 percent were men. Three-quarters of the patients were treated for cardiac arrest, and the remainder were treated for refractory shock. Using the ECMO strategy, 21 percent of the patients survived to discharge and five were neurologically intact.

"This preliminary study shows that using ECMO in a collaborative model between emergency physicians and cardiothoracic surgeons can be a useful rescue tool in select cardiac arrest and shock patients. The results are promising given that among patients that regain a pulse after cardiac arrest, only one out of three survive to hospital discharge," said senior study author Michael Acker, MD, chief, Division of Cardiovascular Surgery at Penn Medicine.

The authors note that because ECMO is a resource-intense technology which requires procedural and management expertise, additional research is needed to refine the technique and select the patients that would benefit most from this intervention. Next, the authors hope to study the use of ECMO in conjunction with therapeutic hypothermia to improve neurological outcomes among survivors of cardiac arrest.

###

Additional authors from Penn include Nicholas Johnson, MD, Cindy H. Hsu, MD, PhD, Lance B. Becker, MD, Anne V. Grossestreuer, Doreen Cowie, and Marion Leary, BSN, RN.

Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $4.3 billion enterprise.

The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States for the past 16 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $398 million awarded in the 2012 fiscal year.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania -- recognized as one of the nation's top "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S. News & World Report; Penn Presbyterian Medical Center; and Pennsylvania Hospital -- the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Penn Medicine also includes additional patient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region.

Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2012, Penn Medicine provided $827 million to benefit our community.

Poster # 616 - ECMO as Rescue Strategy for Refractory Cardiac Arrest and Profound Shock


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

?


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


Study suggests new role for ECMO in treating patients with cardiac arrest and profound shock [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 17-May-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Jessica Mikulski
jessica.mikulski@uphs.upenn.edu
215-349-8369
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

Procedure Traditionally used during heart surgery and in the ICU may show promise as a rescue strategy for select cardiac arrest patients

ATLANTA - Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a procedure traditionally used during cardiac surgeries and in the ICU that functions as an artificial replacement for a patient's heart and lungs, has also been used to resuscitate cardiac arrest victims in Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea. Now, a novel study of this technique in the U.S. has been completed by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, indicating a potential role for this intervention to save patients who are unable to be resuscitated through conventional measures. The new findings will be presented at the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine annual meeting in Atlanta, Ga.

ECMO directly oxygenates and removes carbon dioxide from the blood, and is conventionally used for both respiratory and cardiac failure. The procedure requires 24/7 monitoring and care for the duration of the treatment, but provides a critical back-up for patients whose heart and lungs are so severely diseased or damaged that they can no longer function.

"Over the last decade, we have made great strides in the field of cardiac resuscitation science, including the development of novel methods of therapeutic hypothermia and the use of cardiac bypass following cardiac arrest," said lead study author David Gaieski, MD, an associate professor of Emergency Medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine and clinical director of Penn's Center for Resuscitation Science. "Yet cardiac arrests still take the lives of more than 300,000 Americans each year, and we are continuing to explore how to use new and expanded strategies to help save these patients. Based on the work of our colleagues in Asia, we sought to report our own experience using ECMO for a select set of patients with refractory cardiac arrest and profound shock."

For the study, the research team used a collaborative approach between clinicians in the Department of Emergency Medicine and surgeons within the Division of Cardiovascular Surgery at Penn to assess the outcomes for select patients undergoing ECMO presenting in the emergency department (ED) and for in-hospital cardiac arrests at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

They studied the approach in patients who otherwise would have died who were unable to be resuscitated through CPR and defibrillation and who would not have been eligible for other post-arrest therapies such as therapeutic hypothermia.

Inclusion criteria for ED patients included witnessed arrest, bystander CPR, and an initial shockable rhythm. For in-patient arrests, inclusion criteria included presumed cardiac etiology of arrest or refractory shock unresponsive to conventional interventions. Main variables were whether a patient was in cardiac arrest or profound shock and location of patient at time of initiation of ECMO, with the primary outcome of survival to hospital discharge.

Thirty-three patients were included in the study. Of these patients, the mean age was 50 years and 70 percent were men. Three-quarters of the patients were treated for cardiac arrest, and the remainder were treated for refractory shock. Using the ECMO strategy, 21 percent of the patients survived to discharge and five were neurologically intact.

"This preliminary study shows that using ECMO in a collaborative model between emergency physicians and cardiothoracic surgeons can be a useful rescue tool in select cardiac arrest and shock patients. The results are promising given that among patients that regain a pulse after cardiac arrest, only one out of three survive to hospital discharge," said senior study author Michael Acker, MD, chief, Division of Cardiovascular Surgery at Penn Medicine.

The authors note that because ECMO is a resource-intense technology which requires procedural and management expertise, additional research is needed to refine the technique and select the patients that would benefit most from this intervention. Next, the authors hope to study the use of ECMO in conjunction with therapeutic hypothermia to improve neurological outcomes among survivors of cardiac arrest.

###

Additional authors from Penn include Nicholas Johnson, MD, Cindy H. Hsu, MD, PhD, Lance B. Becker, MD, Anne V. Grossestreuer, Doreen Cowie, and Marion Leary, BSN, RN.

Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $4.3 billion enterprise.

The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States for the past 16 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $398 million awarded in the 2012 fiscal year.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania -- recognized as one of the nation's top "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S. News & World Report; Penn Presbyterian Medical Center; and Pennsylvania Hospital -- the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Penn Medicine also includes additional patient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region.

Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2012, Penn Medicine provided $827 million to benefit our community.

Poster # 616 - ECMO as Rescue Strategy for Refractory Cardiac Arrest and Profound Shock


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

?


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


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-05/uops-ssn051513.php

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Friday, May 17, 2013

Feds Seize Assets From Mt. Gox's Dwolla Acount, Accuse It Of Violating Money Transfer Regulations

Bitcoin Mt GoxBitcoin exchange service Mt. Gox is experiencing some issues with U.S. authorities. The Department of Homeland Security issued a seizure warrant to Dwolla for the money in Mt. Gox’s Dwolla account. Mt. Gox users can’t use Dwolla as a funding option anymore even though it was one of the most popular options. The Japanese startup failed to register in the U.S. as a money transmitting company — president and CEO Mark Karpeles now faces up to five years in prison. Dwolla had no choice but to proceed with the request. IDG News obtained a copy of the warrant through the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the investigation team of the Department of Homeland Security. In order to accept funds in dollars, Mt. Gox opened a Wells Fargo business account for Mutum Sigillum LLC (Mt. Gox’s American subsidiary). The company had to complete a document that states whether it provides money services or not. The warrant reads: “That document was completed on May 20, 2011, and identified Mutum Sigillum LLC as a business not engaged in money services.” In particular, Karpeles answered no to two important questions: “Do you deal in or exchange currency for your customer?” and “Does your business accept funds from customers and send the funds based on customers’ instructions (Money Transmitter)?” If the ICE feels the need to emphasize those questions, it means that the DHS probably believes that Mt. Gox is both a money transmitter and a currency exchange service. Mt. Gox should have registered with FinCEN to limit fraudulent activity — it is a requirement for money services in the U.S. As Bitcoin is an independent and anonymous currency, many observers believe that it is used for money laundering and paying for illegal drugs. It could be the DHS’s main concern. The exchange service is still working fine. So far, Mt. Gox wrote the following statement on its Facebook page: Like many who have contacted us, MtGox has read on the Internet that the United States Department of Homeland Security had a court order and/or warrant issued from the United States District Court in Maryland which it served upon the Dwolla mobile payment service with respect to accounts used for trading with MtGox. We take this information seriously. However, as of this time we have not been provided with a copy of the court order and/or warrant, and do not know its scope and/or

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/06DH5R8yNkI/

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U.S. sought to recruit spies despite warning, Russia says

By Steve Gutterman

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia warned the United States in 2011 to stop trying to recruit its security agents as spies and expelled a CIA operative in January this year after Washington ignored the warning, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Thursday.

Russia kept the expulsion in January quiet but went public this week when it detained Ryan Fogle, a U.S. diplomat it says was a spy, because it was fed up with the United States ignoring its concerns, FSB spokesman Nikolai Zakharov said.

"The CIA crossed a red line and we were forced to react," Zakharov said in a written response to questions from Reuters.

In the biggest spy scandal between the former Cold War foes in three years, the FSB said on Tuesday that Fogle had been caught red-handed trying to recruit a Russian security officer as a CIA agent. He was ordered to leave Russia.

The FSB played up the capture, providing television stations with footage of the American being detained in a blond wig and pinned to the ground, as well as pictures of disguises, a wad of cash and a letter offering a target up to 1 million euro a year.

It could hardly have come at a worse time, days after Russia and the United States announced plans to organize an international conference to seek an end to Syria's civil war and cooperate more on counterterrorism after the Boston bombings.

Senior Russian and U.S. officials have signaled they do not want the scandal to scuttle attempts to improve strained ties, but by publicizing it Moscow has tried to make the point that it is the United States that risks torpedoing those efforts.

"PROVOCATIVE"

In October 2011, the FSB officially warned the CIA station chief in Moscow "that if provocative recruitment efforts aimed at Russian security service employees continued, the FSB would take 'mirror' measures," Zakharov said.

He said the FSB had named Russian officers who had been targeted and the CIA operatives who had approached them, adding that the U.S. director of national intelligence, James Clapper, had been "made aware of this issue".

"The CIA did not take our concern over the situation into account" and continued its recruitment efforts, he said.

He said that last December, an American diplomat - like Fogle, a third secretary at the U.S. embassy in Moscow - had been caught trying to recruit a Russian agent, and had left the country on January 15 after being declared persona non grata.

He identified the American as Benjamin Dillon. Both Fogle and Dillon are listed as third secretaries at the U.S. embassy in the autumn-winter 2012-13 edition of a directory of foreign diplomatic, media and business offices in Moscow.

The U.S. embassy declined to comment on whether an employee was expelled in January. The FSB said it had information indicating Fogle worked for the CIA when he arrived in Russia in April 2011.

"In the hope that the CIA leadership would draw the necessary conclusions, we did not make this case public. But apparently the adherence by the FSB to the principles of professional ethics were not properly appreciated."

The FSB response to the query from Reuters confirmed and elaborated on statements made by a man shown in silhouette on Russian television and identified as an FSB employee.

(Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russian-fsb-says-u-sought-recruit-spies-despite-195619996.html

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Car bomb targets foreign convoy in Afghan capital

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? A suicide car bomber attacked a convoy of foreign advisers in the Afghan capital on Thursday, police said. The number of dead and wounded was unclear.

The powerful explosion rattled buildings on the other side of the capital and sent a pillar of white smoke into the sky over eastern Kabul.

Initial reports were that a car bomb exploded in front of a member of parliament's house in the east of the city, Afghan police officer Jahn Agha said.

Kabul provincial police spokesman Hashmad Stanakzi said the suicide bomber attacked the convoy of "foreign advisers" with a car packed with explosives.

"The explosion was very big. It set the nearby buildings on fire," Stanakzi said.

He said people were killed in the attack but could not estimate how many. Several wounded were rushed to hospitals.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/car-bomb-targets-foreign-convoy-afghan-capital-043728004.html

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Family Home and Life: Make a Better PB & J Sandwich

My mother always made the best Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches. She always used Grape Jam not jelly because it is fruitier. She had an usual technique to make them that I never thought to ask her about; she would mix the peanut butter with the jam in a bowl before spreading it thickly onto bread.?



My friends at school always thought it was weird having it mixed up together that way. Sometimes I felt a little?embarrassed?at lunch time but mostly I just enjoyed the sandwich that was made with love. I also made my PB & J's by mixing the peanut butter with?the?jam, and as a new mom I served them like that to my kids.?

When my kids were old enough to take them for school lunches, their friends also laughed at them because it was weird. So, I stopped mixing and began to make them like usual folks; spread the peanut butter on one slice of bread and the jam on the other slice of bread.



Last week I made PB & J sandwiches for my grand kids the normal way and watched them ?as they began to eat. One was opening the bread and licking off the jam, another was wiping up jam that had squeezed from the sandwich and on to her blouse as she took a bite . . . and I had a light bulb moment!



When peanut butter is mixed well with jam, it doesn't ooze out and little ones can't eat only the jam and leave the peanut butter! And better yet, you can really pile the mixed peanut butter and jam on the bread nice and thick so it is?lusciously?good! Now I know why my mom mixed them, she was?ridiculously?practical!?



So I once again began to mix the two ingredients, and serve to my family the same ole sandwich but made an old?fashioned?way, and of course, with heaping helpings of love; just like my mom use to make :)



If you are reading this post anywhere else but at www.FamilyHomeandLife.com then it was used without permission! Please report it! Copyright ? Family Home and Life 2010-2013 All Rights Reserved

Source: http://www.familyhomeandlife.com/2013/05/make-better-pb-j-sandwich.html

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