US commandos hand over troubled area to Afghans

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? U.S. special operations forces handed over their base in a strategic district of eastern Afghanistan to local Afghan special forces on Saturday, a senior U.S. commander said. The withdrawal satisfies a demand by Afghan President Hamid Karzai that U.S. forces leave the area after allegations that the Americans' Afghan counterparts committed human rights abuses there on U.S. orders.

The transfer of authority ends a particularly rocky episode in the strained relations between the U.S. and Karzai. He had insisted that U.S. forces leave Nirkh district in Wardak province over the alleged torture, kidnapping and summary execution of militant suspects there ? charges U.S. officials firmly denied.

The incident shows the larger struggle of Karzai's government to assert its authority over security matters, even as its green security forces try to assume control of much of the country from coalition forces on a rushed timeline, ahead of the scheduled withdrawal of most of coalition forces by December 2014.

"We're coming out of Nirkh," said Maj. Gen. Tony Thomas, the top U.S. special operations commander in Afghanistan, in an interview with The Associated Press.

Attaullah Khogyani, spokesman for the governor of Wardak province outside Kabul, confirmed that U.S. special operations forces withdrew and were replaced by a joint Afghan security forces team.

Karzai had originally demanded the U.S. special operations forces pull out from the entire province, a gateway and staging area for Taliban and other militants for attacks on the capital Kabul. But he scaled down his demands to just the single district after negotiations with top commander in Afghanistan Gen. Joseph Dunford and other U.S. officials.

"President Karzai was specific, it's only for Nirkh, that was a provocative point," Thomas said. "American special operations forces are integral in the defense of Wardak from now until the foreseeable future."

U.S. commandos will also continue to visit the Afghan team in Nirkh.

"We're going to support them from a distance," Thomas said. "The reality is there was such a groundswell of support (from locals) in Wardak after the initial allegations that we're keeping several teams down there to work with the Afghan security forces for the future, with an idea that we'll transition over time."

The American special operations troops are paired with and live alongside locally recruited and trained teams known as Afghan local police. Thomas said most of the local police will be paired with Afghan security forces by the end of the summer, with the Americans making occasional visits as they will do in Nirkh, to assess whether they need logistic or other support.

One Wardak government official expressed relief that the agreement crafted with Karzai did not mean the complete pullout of U.S. forces from the province, saying that local officials were worried their new forces would not yet be able to keep hardcore insurgents out of the area.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because his comments run counter to public statements made by Karzai that the Afghan security forces are ready for complete independence in Wardak.

Meanwhile, Taliban militants attacked a police convoy Saturday morning in Ghazni province in eastern Afghanistan, kicking off a fierce gun battle, according to deputy provincial police chief Col. Mohammad Hussain.

The police requested a coalition air strike, which hit the militants' position and killed 15 fighters but also wounded nine civilians including a woman and child, Hussain said. He did not report any police casualties.

___

Associated Press writer Rahim Faiez contributed to this report.

Follow Kimberly Dozier on Twitter at http://twitter.com/KimberlyDozier

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-commandos-hand-over-troubled-area-afghans-085617778.html

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APNewsBreak: Gas trade group seeks fracking probe

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) ? A formal complaint filed with New York's lobbying board asks it to investigate whether Artists Against Fracking, a group that includes Yoko Ono and other A-List celebrities, is violating the state's lobbying law, according to the document obtained by The Associated Press.

The Independent Oil & Gas Association, an industry group that supports gas drilling, filed the complaint Tuesday with the state's Joint Commission on Public Ethics.

The complaint is based on an AP story that found that Artists Against Fracking and its members, including Ono, her son Sean Lennon, actors Mark Ruffalo and Robert De Niro and others, aren't registered as lobbyists and therefore didn't disclose their spending in opposition to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to remove gas from underground deposits.

"The public has been unable to learn how much money is being spent on this effort, what it is being spent on, and who is funding the effort," said Brad Gill, executive director of the Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York. "I understand the power of celebrity that this organization has brought to the public discussion over natural gas development, but I do not understand why this organization is not being required to follow the state's lobbying law."

The group confirmed it filed the complaint but didn't comment further.

Artists Against Fracking, formed by Ono and Lennon, says its activities are protected as free speech. The group was created last year amid the Cuomo administration's review to determine whether to allow hydraulic fracturing to remove gas from vast underground shale formations in southern and central New York.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo continues his review as public opinion has shifted from initial support based on the promise of jobs and tax revenue from drilling in economically depressed upstate New York to mixed feelings because of concerns over potential environmental and health effects.

Seven months after Artists Against Fracking was formed, the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute on March 20 found that New York voters were for the first time opposed to fracking, 46 percent to 39 percent.

"There's no doubt the celebrities had an effect," Quinnipiac pollster Maurice Carroll said. "As far as I can tell, they made all the difference."

A spokesman for Artists Against Fracking said the group and its individual members don't have to register as lobbyists.

"As private citizens, Yoko and Sean are not required to register as lobbyists when they use their own money to express an opinion and there's also no lobbying requirement when you are engaged in a public comment period by a state agency," spokesman David Fenton said.

"If the situation changes then, of course, Artists Against Fracking will consider registering," Fenton said. "Up to now, there has been no violation because they are entitled to do this as private citizens with their own money."

On its website, the group implores readers: "Tell Governor Cuomo: Don't Frack New York." Celebrities supporting the group have led rallies and performed in the song "Don't Frack My Mother," also carried on the Internet.

Ethics commission spokesman John Milgrim didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. By law, the commission doesn't confirm or deny pending investigations.

New York's former lobbying regulator, attorney David Grandeau, said he believed the group and the supporting artists, including musicians Paul McCartney and Lady Gaga and actress Anne Hathaway, should be registered and required to disclose details on their efforts to spur public opposition to gas drilling.

"When you are advocating for the passage or defeat of legislation or proposed legislation and spend more than $5,000, you are required to register," Grandeau said Friday. "Just because you are a celebrity doesn't mean that lobbing laws don't apply to you. Your celebrity status does not protect you in Albany."

Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and developer Donald Trump are among the high-profile figures who clashed with the commission when Grandeau was regulator. The biggest penalty for failure to follow the lobbying law resulted in a $250,000 fine against Trump and others over casinos in 2000.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/apnewsbreak-gas-trade-group-seeks-fracking-probe-172054771.html

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Obama: Easter, Passover a time to pray, reflect

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama is wishing a joyful Easter to those who celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama says the Easter and Passover holidays give millions of Christians, Jews and people of other faiths a chance to slow down and recommit themselves to loving their neighbors and seeing everyone as a child of God.

Jews celebrated Passover at sundown on Monday. Easter is Sunday.

In the Republican address, Rep. Terry Lee of Nebraska called for approval of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline to bring oil from Canada's tar sands to Texas Gulf Coast refineries. Lee says the project would help create tens of thousands of jobs.

The Obama administration is considering whether to approve the project, which would run through Lee's home state.

___

Online:

Obama's address: http://www.whitehouse.gov

Republican address: http://www.youtube.com/HouseConference

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-03-30-Obama/id-dfdcdd38cfc841c39cee6400791ddc91

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Feds bypass the state on Title X funds (Offthekuff)

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Lindsey Vonn and Kris Humphries: Only Ever Friends, Source Swears

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/03/lindsey-vonn-and-kris-humphries-only-ever-friends-source-swears/

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Ouya, Tiny Android-Powered Gaming Console & Streaming Media ...

The Ouya is a tiny, cube-shaped, Android-powered gaming console that allows users to play games and stream movies and television at 1080p. Currently, the Ouya boasts a library of 104 games and several media streaming apps, and every single game on the console is free to try. The device is about three inches cubed, has 8GB of internal storage, and runs Android on a quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor with 1GB of RAM. Though the Ouya only ships with one controller for $99.99, it supports up to four ? which can be purchased separately for $49.99 each ? as well as additional Bluetooth devices. The console is currently shipping to those who backed the project on Kickstarter last year, and will be available in the US, UK, and Canada on June 4th from retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, GAME, GameStop, Target, and Ouya?s website.

Source: http://laughingsquid.com/ouya-tiny-android-powered-gaming-console-streaming-media-hub/

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Enable T-Mobile's LTE Service on Your Unlocked iPhone

T-Mobile recently announced that it's going to start selling the iPhone 5, not to mention roll out their LTE service to a number of cities. If you've got an older iPhone and want to switch to T-Mobile (perhaps for their new contract-free plans), weblog LEI Mobile has a how-to for enabling LTE.

The T-Mobile iPhone will be a slightly modified handset, meaning you can't just bring your current unlocked phone to T-Mobile and get service. However, if you have an unlocked and jailbroken iPhone from AT&T (or the direct-from-Apple, non-Verizon model), you can actually enable the correct LTE band for T-Mobile with a few tweaks.

The only downside is that you won't be able to connect to HSPA+ like you could on T-Mobile's modded handset. That means if you leave one of T-Mobile's LTE-enabled cities, you won't have their HSPA+ service to fall back on. Still, if you want to switch to T-Mobile without buying another iPhone 5 (maybe you want to wait until the new model comes out), this'll at least get you those super fast speeds. Hit the link for the full how-to.

How To: Enable LTE on iPhone 5 for T-Mobile | LEI Mobile via Cult of Mac

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/6qW-R3h11PA/enable-t+mobiles-lte-service-on-your-unlocked-iphone

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Biological transistor enables computing within living cells

Mar. 28, 2013 ? When Charles Babbage prototyped the first computing machine in the 19th century, he imagined using mechanical gears and latches to control information. ENIAC, the first modern computer developed in the 1940s, used vacuum tubes and electricity. Today, computers use transistors made from highly engineered semiconducting materials to carry out their logical operations.

And now a team of Stanford University bioengineers has taken computing beyond mechanics and electronics into the living realm of biology. In a paper to be published March 28 in Science, the team details a biological transistor made from genetic material -- DNA and RNA -- in place of gears or electrons. The team calls its biological transistor the "transcriptor."

"Transcriptors are the key component behind amplifying genetic logic -- akin to the transistor and electronics," said Jerome Bonnet, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar in bioengineering and the paper's lead author.

The creation of the transcriptor allows engineers to compute inside living cells to record, for instance, when cells have been exposed to certain external stimuli or environmental factors, or even to turn on and off cell reproduction as needed.

"Biological computers can be used to study and reprogram living systems, monitor environments and improve cellular therapeutics," said Drew Endy, PhD, assistant professor of bioengineering and the paper's senior author.

The biological computer

In electronics, a transistor controls the flow of electrons along a circuit. Similarly, in biologics, a transcriptor controls the flow of a specific protein, RNA polymerase, as it travels along a strand of DNA.

"We have repurposed a group of natural proteins, called integrases, to realize digital control over the flow of RNA polymerase along DNA, which in turn allowed us to engineer amplifying genetic logic," said Endy.

Using transcriptors, the team has created what are known in electrical engineering as logic gates that can derive true-false answers to virtually any biochemical question that might be posed within a cell.

They refer to their transcriptor-based logic gates as "Boolean Integrase Logic," or "BIL gates" for short.

Transcriptor-based gates alone do not constitute a computer, but they are the third and final component of a biological computer that could operate within individual living cells.

Despite their outward differences, all modern computers, from ENIAC to Apple, share three basic functions: storing, transmitting and performing logical operations on information.

Last year, Endy and his team made news in delivering the other two core components of a fully functional genetic computer. The first was a type of rewritable digital data storage within DNA. They also developed a mechanism for transmitting genetic information from cell to cell, a sort of biological Internet.

It all adds up to creating a computer inside a living cell.

Boole's gold

Digital logic is often referred to as "Boolean logic," after George Boole, the mathematician who proposed the system in 1854. Today, Boolean logic typically takes the form of 1s and 0s within a computer. Answer true, gate open; answer false, gate closed. Open. Closed. On. Off. 1. 0. It's that basic. But it turns out that with just these simple tools and ways of thinking you can accomplish quite a lot.

"AND" and "OR" are just two of the most basic Boolean logic gates. An "AND" gate, for instance, is "true" when both of its inputs are true -- when "a" and "b" are true. An "OR" gate, on the other hand, is true when either or both of its inputs are true.

In a biological setting, the possibilities for logic are as limitless as in electronics, Bonnet explained. "You could test whether a given cell had been exposed to any number of external stimuli -- the presence of glucose and caffeine, for instance. BIL gates would allow you to make that determination and to store that information so you could easily identify those which had been exposed and which had not," he said.

By the same token, you could tell the cell to start or stop reproducing if certain factors were present. And, by coupling BIL gates with the team's biological Internet, it is possible to communicate genetic information from cell to cell to orchestrate the behavior of a group of cells.

"The potential applications are limited only by the imagination of the researcher," said co-author Monica Ortiz, a PhD candidate in bioengineering who demonstrated autonomous cell-to-cell communication of DNA encoding various BIL gates.

Building a transcriptor

To create transcriptors and logic gates, the team used carefully calibrated combinations of enzymes -- the integrases mentioned earlier -- that control the flow of RNA polymerase along strands of DNA. If this were electronics, DNA is the wire and RNA polymerase is the electron.

"The choice of enzymes is important," Bonnet said. "We have been careful to select enzymes that function in bacteria, fungi, plants and animals, so that bio-computers can be engineered within a variety of organisms."

On the technical side, the transcriptor achieves a key similarity between the biological transistor and its semiconducting cousin: signal amplification.

With transcriptors, a very small change in the expression of an integrase can create a very large change in the expression of any two other genes.

To understand the importance of amplification, consider that the transistor was first conceived as a way to replace expensive, inefficient and unreliable vacuum tubes in the amplification of telephone signals for transcontinental phone calls. Electrical signals traveling along wires get weaker the farther they travel, but if you put an amplifier every so often along the way, you can relay the signal across a great distance. The same would hold in biological systems as signals get transmitted among a group of cells.

"It is a concept similar to transistor radios," said Pakpoom Subsoontorn, a PhD candidate in bioengineering and co-author of the study who developed theoretical models to predict the behavior of BIL gates. "Relatively weak radio waves traveling through the air can get amplified into sound."

Public-domain biotechnology

To bring the age of the biological computer to a much speedier reality, Endy and his team have contributed all of BIL gates to the public domain so that others can immediately harness and improve upon the tools.

"Most of biotechnology has not yet been imagined, let alone made true. By freely sharing important basic tools everyone can work better together," Bonnet said.

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---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Stanford University Medical Center. The original article was written by Andrew Myers.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Jerome Bonnet, Peter Yin, Monica E. Ortiz, Pakpoom Subsoontorn, and Drew Endy. Amplifying Genetic Logic Gates. Science, 28 March 2013 DOI: 10.1126/science.1232758

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/computers_math/information_technology/~3/ED1fLVQ-WsM/130328142400.htm

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The Climate Crisis: Breaking the Fossil Fuel Habit - Boston University

In this weeklong series, BU researchers explore the science behind Earth?s environmental changes, and what they mean for our future.

Think of it as worldwide addiction. At least 80 percent of the energy people use to drive, heat their homes, and power gadgets comes from fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas, and the consumption of all of the above contributes to global warming.

Kicking that addiction will be hard. Cutler Cleveland, a College of Arts & Sciences professor of earth and environment and director of the Center for Energy & Environmental Studies, says the transition from fossil fuels to low-carbon alternatives like wind, solar, and nuclear power will require speedy technological advancement, huge capital investments, and the political?and personal?will of ordinary people. Cleveland, who has written or edited six books on ecological economics and energy transitions and is the founding editor-in-chief of the online reference source Encyclopedia of Earth, is convinced that if we hope to ?avert the more dire scenarios, there needs to be radical surgery now.?

Cutler Cleveland, a CAS professor of earth and environment, says the time is now to convert to alternative energies. Photo by Christine Ward

Cleveland?s convictions come not only from his own research, but also from a series of eight seminars that brought environmental experts from universities in the United States and Europe to BU throughout the 2010?2011 academic year. The John E. Sawyer Seminars on Energy and Society were sponsored by the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future and supported by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

?We will have to engineer the transition,? says Cleveland. ?And we?ve never really done that in the history of humanity.?

Some countries, however, have done better than others. In 2011, China invested $51 billion in alternative energy technologies and led the world in renewable power capacity with 70 total gigawatts, according to the international nonprofit Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century. That same year, the United States put $48 billion in such technologies and achieved total generation of 68 gigawatts. Germany, the third greatest investor in alternatives, spent $31 billion and reached total capacity of 61 gigawatts. Most other countries lagged far behind. No country has sworn off fossil fuels.

Germany?s production of alternative energy, which provides nearly 11 percent of the country?s energy needs, leads G-20 (a group of finance ministers and central bank governors from 20 major economies) members, states a 2012 report by the National Resources Defense Council. Indonesia follows, with roughly 6 percent, and next is the United Kingdom, at about 4 percent. The United States came in seventh, with only 3 percent of its electricity coming from renewables.

Worldwide investment in solar power has increased sharply in recent years, including in places like Israel, where the Arava Power Company, headed by Yosef Abramowitz (CAS?87), installed 18,500 photovoltaic panels. Photo courtesy of Arava Power Company

Cleveland?s research suggests that not a single country will flip its dependency completely to renewables within the next 50 years. Still, he says, there is encouraging growth in some sectors. Government subsidies and technological improvements in the manufacture of turbines have lowered the cost of wind energy, so that it now competes with energy produced by natural gas and burning coal. But solar, which has also benefited from subsidies and technological advancements, and wind account for only a couple of percentage points of total power generation in the world.

And while the federal government has not established benchmarks for wind and solar production, many states have. Here in Massachusetts, the legislature passed the Green Communities Act in 2008, requiring that 15 percent of the commonwealth?s electricity come from renewable energy by 2020. Massachusetts plans to generate 2,000 megawatts of wind energy within the next seven years and 250 megawatts of solar power by 2017. While far from reaching its wind energy goal, the commonwealth reports that it?s 90 percent of the way to accomplishing its solar goal. The commitments have helped Massachusetts tie with Texas for fifth place nationally in a 2012 Ernst & Young report on promising renewable energy markets.

A look at world energy consumption by fuel type in 2010. Source: Energy Transitions by Cutler Cleveland

Nuclear power, another low-carbon energy source, currently provides 3 percent of the world?s energy, Cleveland says, but its hazardous waste disposal and safety risks make it less desirable than wind and solar. ?Nuclear energy has a higher life-cycle cost than wind and fossil fuel, because it?s very capital-intensive,? he says. ?A routinely operated nuclear plant is benign, compared to a coal plant, but it does have this small possibility of going Fukushima on you.?

The United States has 65 operating nuclear power plants, most of them concentrated along the East Coast and in the Midwest and all of them built more than 30 years ago. Cleveland says that makes planning a new one relatively unknown territory, because there are no current price comparisons. It?s also politically risky, as most communities don?t want one in their backyard and are hesitant to adopt a technology that produces radioactive waste with a half-life of thousands of years.

Biomass?such as switch grass, corn, or sugar cane converted to biofuel?is another alternative source of energy, but Cleveland is discouraged by the carbon exchange of the biomass process. ?It involves removing vegetation from the Earth?s surface,? he says, ?and humanity has a very poor track record of causing lots of other environmental problems when you start monkeying with changing land cover.? As a source, he prefers energy-rich sugar cane to corn-based ethanol, because corn is grown industrially with large inputs of oil, which increases carbon emissions.

A look at world renewable energy consumption in 2010. Source: Energy Transitions by Cutler Cleveland

?When you compare the energy in the ethanol and all the energy it took? to plant, cultivate, transport, and process it, ?it?s only a very modest win,? he says. ?It?s certainly way less than the energy gain you get from just producing oil directly from crude.?

What does Cleveland?s research tell him about the best way to break the fossil fuel habit? The first step, he says, should be using fossil fuels to build a sustainable energy infrastructure. ?You need to shift away from coal and oil to natural gas in the short run, and probably leave a lot of coal in the Earth?s crust,? he says. ?And you need to use fossil fuel to radically ramp up renewables and/or nuclear.?

That means ?sticks and carrots, a lot of them,? he says. ?If you want the transition to happen faster than it otherwise would, you?re going to have to alter incentives. And you?re going to have to change the price of carbon.?

Gas tax hikes, like the one Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick recently proposed, or divestment from fossil fuels are moves in the right direction. Cleveland thinks federal legislation taxing carbon or an international cap-and-trade system would put a bigger dent in emissions.

Finally, he says, politicians have to address the ?third rail of U.S. energy policy??demand. People need to know that their choices can have a negative impact on the environment. ?Living 30 miles from home and driving a Hummer to work alone in the morning is probably one of the most absurd, extravagant behaviors,? he says. ?We?ll look back and say, ?Oh my God!? The excesses of the Romans will look like Romper Room.? Commuters can do that only because ?energy is dirt cheap. People are going to in the long run live closer to where they work and play.?

And perhaps more people should start thinking like Howard T. Odum, Cleveland says. The ecologist and author of A Prosperous Way Down argues that to survive, the human species must learn how to decline prosperously.

?No one wants to think that way, because we connect happiness and well-being with increases in the physical consumption of goods and services,? Cleveland says. ?It?s a conversation that should be had, but good luck getting elected on that platform.?

The Climate Crisis

Tomorrow, in part five of our series, professors of environment and economics discuss how taking action to mitigate climate change could affect the economy.

Source: http://www.bu.edu/today/2013/the-climate-crisis-breaking-the-fossil-fuel-habit/

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Disabled man awarded $8000 after being stranded on Disneyland ride

A wheelchair-bound man was awarded $8,000 by Disneyland after the "It's A Small World" ride broke, stranding him for a half hour while the theme song played continuously, according to an attorney for the plaintiff.

Jose Martinez, who suffers from panic?attacks and high blood pressure,?did not medically stabilize for three hours after the ride broke down in 2009, attorney David Geffen said.

"He has panic disorder and that was really what started everything rolling,"?Geffen said. "What caused the court concern, as well, because Disney was alerted about his panic problem and didn't call for the fire department right away."

Disneyland spokeswoman Suzi Brown said the Anaheim theme park believes it provided appropriate assistance during the incident, and is disappointed that the court did not fully agree.

Martinez uses a wheelchair, and Geffen said the plaintiff's high blood pressure was aggravated by a need to urinate while he was stuck on the ride.

More news from NBCLosAngeles.com

While the other riders were able to get off, Martinez was stuck until he could access his wheelchair.

Half the award ordered last week is for pain and suffering, and the rest is for a violation of disability law, Geffen said.

Brown told NBC4 the violation concerning the height of the counter in Disneyland?s first aid station has been corrected.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2a096f19/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C270C174827150Edisabled0Eman0Eawarded0E80A0A0A0Eafter0Ebeing0Estranded0Eon0Edisneyland0Eride0Dlite/story01.htm

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Social science struggles with effects of same-sex parenting on children (Washington Post)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/294807542?client_source=feed&format=rss

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George W. Bush center to open in May (Washington Bureau)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/294523084?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Gov't spent nearly $3.7M on ex-presidents in 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Being the leader of the free world is an expensive proposition. And the costs don't stop once you leave the White House.

The government spent nearly $3.7 million on former presidents in 2012, according to an analysis just released by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. That covers a pension, compensation and benefits for office staff, and the government also picks up the tab for other costs like travel, office space and postage.

The costliest former president? George W. Bush, who clocked in last year at just over $1.3 million.

The $3.7 million taxpayers shelled out in 2012 is about $200,000 less than in 2011, and the sum in 2010 was even higher. It's a drop in the bucket compared with the trillions the federal government spends each year.

Still, with ex-presidents able to command eye-popping sums for books, speaking engagements and the like in their post-White House years, the report raises questions about whether the U.S. should provide such generous subsidies at a time when spending cuts and the deficit are forcing lawmakers and federal agencies to seek ways to cut back.

Under the Former Presidents Act, previous inhabitants of the Oval Office are given an annual pension equivalent to a Cabinet secretary's salary ? about $200,000 last year ? plus $96,000 a year for a small office staff.

Departing presidents also get extra help in the first years after they leave office, one reason that Bush's costs were higher than other living ex-presidents. The most recent ex-president to leave the White House, Bush was granted almost $400,000 for 8,000 square feet of office space in Dallas, plus $85,000 in telephone costs. Another $60,000 went to travel costs.

President Bill Clinton came in second at just under $1 million, followed by George H.W. Bush at nearly $850,000. Clinton spent the most government money on office space: $442,000 for his 8,300 square foot digs in New York's Harlem neighborhood.

Clinton's predecessor, President George H.W. Bush, received about $840,000 in federal funds last year. Costs for Jimmy Carter, the only other living former president, came in at about $500,000.

Widows of former presidents are entitled to a pension of $20,000, but Nancy Reagan, the wife of former President Ronald Reagan, waived her pension last year. The former first lady did accept $14,000 in postage.

The cost totals for ex-president don't include what the Secret Service spends protecting them, their spouses and children. Those costs are part of a separate budget that isn't made public.

Funding for ex-presidents under the Former Presidents Act dates back to 1958, when Congress created the program largely in response to President Harry Truman's post-White House financial woes, the Congressional Research Service said. The goal was to maintain the dignity of the presidency and help with ongoing costs associated with being a former president, such as responding to correspondence and scheduling requests.

These days, a former president's income can be substantial from speaking and writing, and ex-presidents also have robust presidential centers and foundations that accept donations and facilitate many of their post-presidential activities.

Noting that none of the living ex-presidents are poor, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, introduced a bill last year that would limit costs to a $200,000 pension, plus another $200,000 that ex-presidents could use at their discretion. And for every dollar that an ex-president earns in excess of $400,000, their annual allowance would be reduced by the same amount. The bill died in committee.

___

Follow Josh Lederman at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-03-25-US-Former-Presidents-Costs/id-8554e9fcb225499f83a2f233b9de724f

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Dell says Blackstone, Icahn offers may be superior

By Jessica Toonkel and Paritosh Bansal

(Reuters) - Dell Inc said it received alternative proposals from Blackstone Group LP and Carl Icahn that could be superior to the $24.4 billion offer from founder Michael Dell and private equity fund Silver Lake Partners last month.

Michael Dell is willing to explore the possibility of working with third parties regarding alternative offers, the company said on Monday.

However, Dell said the special board committee considering a sale continues to support the company's pending sale to Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners.

The committee was evaluating the new takeover proposals to decide whether either or both offers are likely to trump the existing take-private deal, Reuters reported on Sunday, quoting a source familiar with the discussions.

Icahn has offered $15 per share for 58 percent of Dell, while Blackstone has proposed paying more than $14.25 per share. The Silver Lake group had agreed to buy all of Dell for $13.65 per share.

Dell's shares were up 4 percent at $14.67 in heavy premarket trading on Monday.

Icahn Enterprises raised the prospect of working with Blackstone, saying the two groups had held preliminary talks.

"We plan to review the Blackstone proposal in greater detail," Icahn Enterprises said on Monday, adding that the Michael Dell-Silver Lake proposal "significantly undervalues Dell."

One issue for the special committee is how to compare the three proposals. Both Blackstone's and Icahn's proposals envision that a portion of Dell's stock will remain publicly traded.

Silver Lake was not reachable for comment outside normal business hours in the United States.

"We continue to believe a higher bid than the current $13.65 per share offer will likely be offered but, based on our assumptions, a $15 per share bid may be a threshold," Wells Fargo Securities Maynard Um said in a note.

"We believe a higher Silver Lake/Dell bid might still be a more attractive and strategic option, assuming information regarding the public stub and financial services sale is accurate," he said.

The rival bids for Dell throw the future of the PC-maker into question. A "go-shop" period - during which the target company actively looks for rival offers - for a deal of this size rarely yields competing offers. The bids now could potentially turn the sale of Dell into a three-horse race, which could drag out for months.

It also could threaten the future of Michael Dell, who founded the technology giant at the age of 19 with just $1,000. Under the Silver Lake plan, he planned to contribute his roughly 16 percent share of Dell's equity to the deal, along with cash from his investment firm MSD Capital, and to remain CEO of the company. Silver Lake is putting up $1.4 billion in the deal.

The Silver Lake group has no plans to increase or amend its offer until Dell's special committee comes out with a ruling on the rival proposals, two sources close to the matter said late on Sunday. They said for now the buyout firm and Michael Dell planned to move forward with their current deal.

But the current plan to take the company private has come under attack from several high-profile Dell shareholders such as Southeastern Asset Management and T. Rowe Price.

The shareholders have said that his offer undervalues the company and pledged to vote against the deal, which requires a majority of shareholders, excluding the founder, to pass.

Brian Marshall, an analyst at ISI Group said in a report on Sunday that he did not expect the Silver Lake group to raise its offer meaningfully above the rival bids, "given significant challenges facing the PC business and a long transformation ahead."

RIVAL BIDS

Under Icahn's proposal, Dell shareholders will have a choice of electing cash or stock, but there would be a cap on the amount of cash they could get, the source said.

In other words, if all Dell shareholders chose to cash out, they could only sell 58 percent of their stock, retaining the other 42 percent that will remain publicly traded.

Icahn is being advised by investment bank Jefferies Group Inc. He plans to fund his bid with his own money, Dell's cash as well as new debt.

The activist investor, who has taken a stake in Dell, earlier this month demanded Dell pay out $15.7 billion in special dividends. He is no longer asking for that, the source said.

Jefferies declined to comment on Sunday.

Blackstone recently hired Dell's former vice president of corporate strategy, David Johnson.

Under Blackstone's proposal, Dell also would have a certain amount of stock publicly traded. But unlike the Icahn proposal, Blackstone has proposed buying out any shareholder that wants to cash out of Dell.

Blackstone is being advised by Morgan Stanley, which has also given it a highly confident letter of financing, the source said.

Morgan Stanley declined to comment on Sunday.

There have also been some conversations about the Blackstone group selling Dell's financial services business, but that is not part of the current proposal, the source said.

NEXT STEPS

Dell was regarded as a model of innovation as recently as the early 2000s, pioneering online ordering of custom-configured PCs and working closely with Asian component suppliers and manufacturers to assure rock-bottom production costs.

But as of 2012's fourth quarter, Dell's share of the global PC market had slipped to just above 10 percent from 12.5 percent a year earlier as its shipments tumbled 20 percent, according to research house IDC.

Michael Dell returned to the company as CEO in 2007 after a brief hiatus, but has been unable to engineer a turnaround thus far. Dell's focus on corporate computing in recent years has yet to yield results, critics note.

Competing successfully against incumbents, including IBM and Hewlett-Packard, will not be easy no matter what the corporate structure.

A source earlier said that Dell had slashed its internal forecast for fiscal 2013 operating profit to about $3 billion - down sharply from the $3.7 billion it had predicted previously. The source added that more details will be revealed in a proxy filing which is expected by the end of this week.

Meanwhile, if the special committee of the board decides that either - or both - of the rival bids for Dell are reasonably likely to lead to superior offers, Icahn and Blackstone will have to present firm bids for Dell. The negotiations are likely to take weeks, the source said.

At that point, the special committee will again need to decide whether the firm bids from Icahn and Blackstone, which include features such as committed financing, were superior to the Silver Lake-Michael Dell agreement.

If they are superior, Silver Lake and Michael Dell will get one shot at revising their original bid. Unlike most other go-shop processes, where the original bidders get several chances to match rival bids, Dell has given its founder and Silver Lake the right to do so only once.

(Additional reporting by Nadia Damouni and Greg Roumeliotis in New York and Sayantani Ghosh in Bangalore; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio, Stephen Coates and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dells-board-evaluates-rival-bids-source-004054117--sector.html

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Stocks extend losses as Cyprus euphoria fades?

JeeYeon Park , CNBC ? ? ? 1 hr.

Stocks added to their losses in choppy trading Monday, after the head head of the Eurogroup said the Cyprus rescue represented a new template for resolving euro zone banking problems and that other countries may have to restructure their banks.

Major averages opened higher as Wall Street initially cheered the last-minute bailout deal in Cyprus, pushing the S&P 500 within a point of touching its all-time closing high.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average turned lower, dragged by Caterpillar and Bank of America, shortly after hitting a fresh intraday high for the ninth time this month. The blue-chip index still remains on track for its best first-quarter percentage gain since 1998.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also erased their early gains. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, gained above 13.

Most key S&P sectors dipped into negative territory, led by industrials and materials.

Last week, major averages finished in the red for the week, with the Dow snapping a four-week win streak and the S&P 500 logging its second losing week this year.

(Read More: Where's the Long Awaited Market Correction?)

"If there is a risk in a bank, our first question should be 'Okay, what are you in the bank going to do about that? What can you do to recapitalize yourself?'. If the bank can't do it, then we'll talk to the shareholders and the bondholders, we'll ask them to contribute in recapitalizing the bank, and if necessary the uninsured deposit holders," said Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who heads the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers, hours after the Cyprus deal was struck.

The euro fell below $1.29 against the U.S. dollar.

Cyprus and its international lenders reached a deal merely hours before a deadline to resolve the island nation's financial crisis and avert the country's exit from the euro zone. The 10 billion euro ($13 billion) deal involves the winding down of Cyprus' second largest lender, the Popular Bank of Cyprus, and imposes a levy on uninsured deposits over 100,000 euros ($130,000) in Cypriot banks.

(Read More: Cyprus Relief: Why the Rally May Be Short Lived)

"Despite a deal being struck for Cyprus, it will set an unsettling precedent for future bailouts and investors will once again be concerned over the security of their bank deposits," wrote Mike McCudden, head of derivatives at stockbroker Interactive Investor. "Furthermore, investors should question why the regulators allowed the Cypriot banking system to rise to this size, given the experiences in Iceland and Ireland."

"Washington's out for two weeks, it's a holiday-shortened trading week and it's also the end of the month," noted Brian Battle, vice president of trading at Performance Trust Capital Partners.

Among earnings, Dollar General rose after the discount retailer posted earnings that beat expectations and said this year's sales growth could top the strength it saw in 2012.

Apollo Group surged to lead the S&P 500 gainers after the for-profit education company posted a better-than-expected profit and reaffirmed its full-year forecast.

Elsewhere, shares of Dell jumped after the company confirmed it had received competing offers from Blackstone Group and billionaire investors Carl Icahn as the computer giant looks to go private. The offers come as the company agreed to a $24.4 billion deal to be taken private by private equity firm Silver Lake.

Facebook dipped, falling to its lowest level this year, after U.S regulators approved a plan to compensate market makers who lost money in the social-media giant's IPO on the Nasdaq last May.

Apple traded higher after the tech giant acquired WiFiSlam, a startup company that makes mapping applications for smartphones.

Also among techs, BlackBerry extended sharp losses from last week after the smartphone maker's new BlackBerry Z10 launch failed to generate buzz. In addition, Goldman Sachs cut its rating on the company to "neutral" from "buy."

Vodafone rallied amid a U.K.'s Sunday Times report that said telecommunications company was looking to sell its 45 percent stake in its U.S. Verizon Wireless unit.

On Sunday, Reuters reported the International Monetary Fund is planning to cut its 2013 U.S. growth forecast from 2 percent to 1.7 percent, due to higher taxes and spending cuts, citing a draft of the IMF's next World Economic Outlook report seen by Italian news agency ANSA.

Federal Reserve Chief Ben Bernanke and the International Monetary Fund's Olivier Blanchard are expected to speak at the London School of Economics later this afternoon.

In addition, New York Federal President Bill Dudley is scheduled to speak at the Economic Club of New York at 12:30 pm ET.

?By CNBC's JeeYeon Park (Follow JeeYeon on Twitter: @JeeYeonParkCNBC)

? 2013 CNBC LLC. All Rights Reserved

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653351/s/29f85538/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Cbusiness0Cstocks0Eextend0Elosses0Ecyprus0Eeuphoria0Efades0E1B90A53925/story01.htm

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Jailed 23 years, NY man is freed, has heart attack

NEW YORK (AP) ? A New York City man whose murder conviction was overturned after 23 years in prison has suffered a heart attack on his second day of freedom.

David Ranta's lawyer tells The New York Times (http://nyti.ms/102uUVo ) the former inmate had a serious heart attack Friday night and is being treated at a New York hospital.

Ranta walked out of jail Thursday after a judge threw out his conviction in the 1990 killing of a Brooklyn rabbi.

Brooklyn prosecutors had recently concluded Ranta's prosecution in the death of Rabbi Chaskel Werzberger was fatally flawed.

Werzberger was killed by a bandit fleeing a botched robbery. One witness said a police lineup that helped convict Ranta had been rigged.

Ranta is 58. He told reporters Thursday that his new freedom was emotionally overwhelming.

___

Information from: The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jailed-23-years-ny-man-freed-heart-attack-175347312.html

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Little Mix Lock Down Hip-Hop With Missy Elliott Remix

Missy will appear on the remix of the group's 'funky' DNA track, 'How Ya Doin'?'
By Jocelyn Vena

Little Mix
Photo: MTV News

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1704222/little-mix-missy-elliott-how-ya-doin-remix.jhtml

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Secondary breast cancer: A place to die - Independent Blogs

to

Source: http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/03/22/secondary-breast-cancer-a-place-to-die/

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NJ Lottery: 1 winner in NJ drawn for $338M jackpot (Providence Journal)

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

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Poetry Writing and Speaking Workshop - Culver City Times

The Culver City Times is the news and social network for Culver City.? Stay informed.? Join now!

? ??? ? Got news you think everyone should know? Blog it.

? Have a show or attending a benefit? Put it on the calendar.
? Got video of the big game? Embed it.
? Photos of your business or the school play? Upload them.

Source: http://culvercitytimes.com/xn/detail/6303163%3AEvent%3A33623?xg_source=activity

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BracketRacket: 'Notice we don't say reality'

The Harvard band reacts to beating New Mexico in the second half during a second round game in the NCAA college basketball tournament in Salt Lake City Thursday, March 21, 2013. Harvard beat New Mexico 68-62. (AP Photo/George Frey)

The Harvard band reacts to beating New Mexico in the second half during a second round game in the NCAA college basketball tournament in Salt Lake City Thursday, March 21, 2013. Harvard beat New Mexico 68-62. (AP Photo/George Frey)

Louisville head coach Rick Pitino reacts during the first half a second-round NCAA college basketball tournament game against North Carolina A&T, Thursday, March 21, 2013, in Lexington, Ky. (AP Photo/James Crisp)

FILE - In this Sept. 29, 2012, file photo, guitarist Dan Auerbach, center, and drummer Patrick Carney of The Black Keys perform at the Global Citizen Festival in Central Park in New York. (AP Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

New Mexico State forward Renaldo Dixon, right, grabs a rebound in front of Saint Louis forward Cody Ellis during the first half of a second-round game in the NCAA college basketball tournament in San Jose, Calif., Thursday, March 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Welcome back to BracketRacket, the one-stop shopping place for all your NCAA needs.

Today, Patrick Carney of The Black Keys drops by to explain why the loss by his beloved Akron Zips won't leave him a lonely boy, Rick Pitino's horse fills out a bracket, and Harvard busts everyone else's, though not necessarily in that order. We also brandish six-shooters ? cap pistols, actually ? and trot out the world's longest dry-erase board to explain in detail why you never had a chance.

But, first, a brief public-service message.

____

DIDN'T I SEE YOU IN THE LAST EPISODE OF 'SWAMP HUNTERS?'

If, like us, you can't get by without your weekly fix of "Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura," you already know where to find TruTV.

The rest of you Johnny-come-latelies scrambling to find it during the tournament?

Good luck.

CBS is spreading its NCAA games across four networks this year ? the mothership, plus TNT, TBS and TruTV. And while it will still provide live look-ins to games on the other networks, those will be shown only at halftime or between games. No more cutting back-and-forth to close contests. That's what your remote is for.

So grab it, and courtesy of Deadspin.com, start your hunt for TruTV here: http://deadsp.in/16LTK2e .

In a previous incarnation, Tru used to be Court TV. Now, the network's slogan is "Not Reality. Actuality."

"Notice we don't say it's reality," Turner Broadcasting's Steve Koonin practically boasted to the L.A. Times a while back. Duly noted.

"This is our version of reality," he added.

What a coincidence. That's the NCAA's motto, too.

___

NOW YOU'RE TELLING US?

No. 14 Harvard 68, No. 3 New Mexico 62.

It's about time.

No, not the Crimson's first-ever NCAA tournament win, but this: http://bit.ly/ZgKICO .

___

DOES MR. ED KNOW ABOUT THIS?

A horse is a horse, of course, unless it happens to be Rick Pitino's horse, of course.

In that case, it's a potential gold mine.

Pitino is a master at recruiting kids and coaching 'em up. Everyone already knows that. He's on the Hall of Fame ballot this year, and Pitino reminded us why one more time Thursday, when Louisville opened the tournament with a very workmanlike 79-48 thrashing of tiny North Carolina A&T. Just like the sensei, his young charges showed none of the nerves that often accompany being tagged as the No. 1 seed overall.

What you might not know is the man also happens to be a pretty good judge of horseflesh (and occasionally names some of it after one of his players).

Goldencents, Pitino's 3-year-old thoroughbred, recently won the Sham Stakes, a Kentucky Derby prep race, and is pointed squarely down the road toward this year's Run for the Roses. What a double that would be. And here's a look that Pitino could pull off in either arena: http://bit.ly/ZYdZ6b .

But let's not get one foot too far out in front of the other.

First up on Pitino's dance card is the tournament, and so it was probably a good thing he wasn't around the barns when a reporter from NBC 4 in L.A. showed up earlier this week and asked his colt to fill out a bracket.

There's an ad on the front end of this video clip, and lots of TV happy talk right after, but if you start at the 1:50 mark and watch for a minute or so ? it's not half-bad ? you'll get it straight from the horse's mouth here: http://bit.ly/14aEMmO .

If you can't spare the time, here's the money quote: Louisville wins it going away.

Smart horse.

___

CASTING CALL FOR A NEW TruTV SERIES

Just know you don't stand a chance if this guy finds out: http://bit.ly/Ycd5J9 .

___

CELEBRITY ALUM

You'd think growing up in Akron, Ohio, would be tough enough, even before you factor in the historic 88-42 beatdown the hometown Zips suffered at the hands of VCU in their opener.

Then you remember most of those same kids also grew up in the shadow of Cleveland's sad-sack sports teams. Patrick Carney of The Black Keys and bandmate Dan Auerbach did. But that was not the inspiration for their latest Grammy Award-winning hit "Lonely Boys" ? even if it's tempting to think so.

Carney, who currently calls Nashville home, shared his tale of survival and what it's like to grow up a Zips fan with AP music writer Chris Talbott.

"My dad used to take us to games a couple times a year when I was a kid. They weren't very good back then, but it was fun. I always like rooting for the underdog, I guess," Carney said. "At this point, the school is probably the most important thing economically for the city of Akron, so it is great to see the basketball team getting a little attention."

Unfortunately, very little. But people have learned to make do with that in Akron. LeBron James hails from there, and gets back on occasion, but these days he's got eyes mostly for Miami.

Carney and Auerbach played baseball and basketball as kids, and began the band that became The Black Keys after dropping out of college. Carney still describes himself as a serious fan, but it could have been worse.

"I have the potential to be a 10, but after watching Cleveland teams get brutalized my whole life, I kind of backed off a bit," he said. "I am probably a five at this point."

Then, Carney proved his savvy by telling Talbot that while his heart was in Akron, at least when it comes to the NCAAs, his head is somewhere else:

"I am picking Duke."

___

YOU HEARD RIGHT. NOW WATCH THIS GUY PROVE IT

We told you Monday that the odds of a perfect bracket were one in 9.2 quintillion.

Maybe you didn't believe us.

But you'll believe this guy: http://bit.ly/YunLNo .

___

STAT OF THE DAY

If you value consistency, STATS thinks you'll like Indiana. Only two players in the tournament averaged at least 16 points per game in their previous appearances (minimum: three games) and two of them are Hoosiers: Christian Watford (19.0 ppg in three games) and Cody Zeller (16.7 ppg in three games).

Gonzaga's Elias Harris was at 16.0 ppg in six games, but managed just five on Thursday when the Zags beat Southern.

___

QUOTE OF DAY

"We got in here a little late last night, but we're trying to enjoy Austin. I did walk down 6th Street last night and I didn't realize how many bars they had. But I didn't see any of my guys there, so we're off to a good start." ? Pacific coach Bob Thomason, whose 15th-seeded Tigers play Miami, on his team's arrival Wednesday night.

___

Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke(at)ap.org and follow him at Twitter.com/Jim Litke.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-03-22-BracketRacket-032013/id-572d26853e284914944d5d086ccc38a9

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