Tuesday, April 30, 2013

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Source: http://nvsnhzyi.typepad.com/blog/2013/04/dogfriendlycoms-lodging-guide-for-travelers-with-dogs-hotels-resorts-bbs-and-vacation-rentals-that-welcome-dogs-of-all.html

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Molecular role of gene linked to blood vessel formation uncovered

Apr. 29, 2013 ? University of North Carolina researchers have discovered that disrupting a gene that acts as a regulatory switch to turn on other genes can keep blood vessels from forming and developing properly.

Further study of this gene -- a "transcription factor" called CASZ1 -- may uncover a regulatory network that influences the development of cardiovascular disease. A number of other studies have already shown a genetic link between mutations in CASZ1 and hypertension.

The UNC research, which was carried out in a frog model as well as human cells, will be published April 29, 2013, in the journal Developmental Cell.

"There has been a lot of interest in studying the vasculature because of its role in a wide range of disease states, as well as human development. But there are very few transcription factors that are known to affect the vasculature. To find a new one is quite unique, and then to be able to link it up to a known network of vascular development is surprising and encouraging," said senior study author Frank Conlon, PhD, an associate professor of genetics in the UNC School of Medicine.

During vascular development, specialized cells coalesce into three-dimensional "cords" that then hollow out to provide a path for transporting blood throughout the body. This process involves the complex coordination of molecular entities like growth factors and signaling molecules, defects that have been associated with human illnesses such as cancer, stroke, and atherosclerosis.

Conlon has long been interested in understanding how these various molecular players come together in the cardiovascular system. In 2008, his laboratory showed that a gene called CASZ1 is involved in the development of heart muscle. In this study, he and his colleagues decided to look for its role in the development of blood vessels.

Marta S. Charpentier and Kathleen S. Christine, lead authors of the study and graduate students in Conlon's laboratory, removed CASZ1 from frog embryos and looked to see how its absence affected the development of the vasculature. Without CASZ1, the frogs failed to form branched and functional blood vessels. When they removed the CASZ1 gene from cultured human cells, Charpentier and Christine saw similar defects: the cells did not sprout or branch correctly due to their inability to maintain proper adhesions with the surrounding extracellular matrix.

"If you take out CASZ1, these cultured human cells try to migrate by sending out these filopodia or little feet, but what happens is it is like someone nails down the back end of those growing vessels. They try to move and keep getting thinner and thinner, and like an elastic band it gets to be too much and just snaps back. It appears to cause an adhesion defect that makes the cells too sticky to form normal vessels," said Conlon.

CASZ1 is a transcription factor, a master switch that controls when and where other genes are expressed. Therefore, Charpentier and Christine did a series of experiments to explore CASZ1's influence on a known vascular network, involving other genes called Egfl7 and RhoA. When Charpentier and Christine added the Egfl7 gene to her CASZ1-depleted cells, the defect in blood vessel formation went away, suggesting that the two genes are connected. They then showed that CASZ1 directly acts on the Egfl7 gene, and that this activity in turn activates the RhoA gene, which is known to be required for cellular behaviors associated with adhesion and migration.

Transcription factors themselves are so essential that they are generally considered to be "undruggable," but the researchers say that further studies into how specific transcription factors work and the targets they control could eventually lead to new drug candidates.

"Egfl7 is a therapeutic target of interest, because companies such as Genentech are already working on it for cancer therapy," said Charpentier. "Figuring out how it is regulated is important not just for understanding the biology of it, but also for discovering targets that could trigger the development of innovative therapeutic strategies for cardiovascular disease."

The research was a collaboration between the Conlon, Taylor, and Bautch labs at the McAllister Heart Institute at UNC and was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association. Study co-authors from UNC were Nirav M. Amin, PhD; Kerry M. Dorr; Erich J. Kushner, PhD; Victoria L. Bautch, PhD; and Joan M. Taylor, PhD.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of North Carolina School of Medicine, via Newswise.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Marta?S. Charpentier, Kathleen?S. Christine, Nirav?M. Amin, Kerry?M. Dorr, Erich?J. Kushner, Victoria?L. Bautch, Joan?M. Taylor, Frank?L. Conlon. CASZ1 Promotes Vascular Assembly and Morphogenesis through the Direct Regulation of an EGFL7/RhoA-Mediated Pathway. Developmental Cell, 2013; 25 (2): 132 DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2013.03.003

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/heart_disease/~3/fPFRSP7gyI8/130429125512.htm

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Black Voters Are Key to a Colbert Busch Win in South Carolina

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. ? South Carolina?s First Congressional District is known for the churning Port of Charleston, growing suburbs to the north, and stately homes with wrap-around porches from Beaufort to Mount Pleasant. The white, well-heeled voters who dominate the district favored Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney by 18 percentage points.

RELATED: Stephen Colbert's Sister Is Polling Pretty Well Against Mark Sanford

This coastal strip is also home to a more blue-collar, solidly Democratic population; about one out of five of the district?s residents are African-American. Their turnout in the May 7 special congressional election is key to an upset by the Democratic nominee, Elizabeth Colbert Busch.

RELATED: Mark Sanford Is One Step Closer to Redemption

Inside her campaign office here, having come straight from church in their Sunday best, Dot Brown and Ethel Campbell are planning an afternoon of phone banking and door knocking. Local television stations aren?t carrying the only debate pitting Colbert Busch against Sanford on Monday night.

RELATED: Who Is Stephen Colbert's Sister? (Aside from Being Stephen Colbert's Sister)


MORE FROM NATIONAL JOURNAL


?Most people we come across tend not to understand the importance of a special election, so you have got to get out and let them know,? said Brown, 67 years old, dressed in a marigold suit and bright pink scarf.

RELATED: The Appalachian Trail Ad Democrats Were Waiting to Air

Campbell, 62, who immediately kicked off her pumps once she sat down, said she tries to explain to voters that electing another Democrat to Congress will help President Obama. ?I say, ?You had his back in 2012. Do you have his back in 2013?? "

RELATED: Mark Sanford's Bare-All Apology Tour Isn't Working

But Colbert Busch has flaunted her independence from a president unpopular in most of the district, assailing his budget plan for raising taxes, not cutting enough spending and meddling with Social Security. ?Not only does President Obama?s plan fail to put our finances back in order, it would cut benefits for our seniors, which is wrong,? she said in a statement. Colbert Busch also declined to say whether she would have supported Obama's economic stimulus plan in his first term.? ?She?s trying to be all things to all people,?? said Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer.

Interviews with black voters on Sunday found few knew much about the businesswoman and political novice -- beyond the fact that she?s the sister of comedian Stephen Colbert. ?If they vote, disgust with her Republican opponent, former Gov. Mark Sanford, is more likely to be the driving force. The governor left office in 2011, over a year?after admitting he disappeared from public view for several days to visit his girlfriend in Argentina.

?We don?t need people like him who set a bad example,? said 78-year-old Virginia Rosemond, her wide-brimmed, red hat shielding her from a drizzly rain as left the Baum Temple AME Zion Church. Will she vote for Colbert Busch? ??If I get a ride,? she responded.

Fellow churchgoer Charles Logan, 67, said he ?might? vote for Colbert Busch. ??I?m not messing with him,? he said of Sanford. ?He left his wife. He left his office. What makes you think he won?t go to Washington and do the same thing??

Colbert Busch?s campaign did not respond to e-mails and phone calls about its outreach to African-American voters. Appealing to moderate Republicans and independents is also crucial to her success, so there is a political risk in appearing eager to court black Democrats. When she campaigned at historically black Burke High School in Charleston last week, the event was billed as a rally for women voters.

But the campaign?s radio ad linking Sanford to allegations of voter suppression makes her intentions clear. With Isaac Hayes? soundtrack from the 1971 movie about a black private detective as backdrop, the ad assails a new South Carolina law that requires voters to show photo identification.? A federal court blocked the law from going into effect until after the 2012 election. ?Somebody doesn?t want African Americans to vote, and it doesn?t take Shaft to figure out who,? a narrator says in the radio spot. ?Tuesday May 7th is your chance to show them they can?t get away with it.?

The spot doesn?t mention that the ID law was signed after Sanford left office by Gov. Nikki Haley. A spokesman for the Sanford campaign, Joel Sawyer, released a written statement when the ad first aired earlier this month that called it a ?negative radio ad with some very unfortunate overtones.?

Jaime Harrison, vice chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party, defended the spot.

?Voter ID has been a very hot button issue in the African-American community,? said Harrison, who if elected chairman next month would be the first black to lead the party in South Carolina. ?Many folks who grew up in the civil rights movement have called it modern-day Jim Crow. The ad will help to pique the awareness of African-Americans in that district.?

Sanford is not opposed to the law, Sawyer said, but he did not recall the ex-governor ever speaking publicly about it. Sawyer also noted that Sanford appointed a record number of African-Americans to his Cabinet and joined the state Supreme Court?s chief justice in 2006 in calling for more diverse appointments to the bench. In 2003, Sanford offered an official apology for the ?Orangeburg Massacre,? the 1968 shootings by South Carolina highway patrol officers that killed three black students ?protesting a segregated bowling alley.

The uncertainty of black turnout in the May 7 special election comes on the heels of an Associated Press analysis that found blacks voted at a higher rate than other minority groups in 2012 and largely surpassed white turnout for the first time. If black turnout had matched 2004, Romney would have won in 2012.

In one of Colbert Busch?s only campaign events aimed at African-Americans, she spoke at a black history celebration in February at Summerville High school. ?I give her credit for that,? said Ava Graham, a 44-year-old child care worker whose daughter sang with her church choir at the event. Colbert Bush spoke about the impact of Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy on her life. ?I hope the black community comes out,? Graham said, ?because the Republicans want this seat and are going to do what they have to do.??

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/black-voters-key-colbert-busch-win-south-carolina-163341352.html

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Weekly paycheck but monthly bills? Here's how to budget.

Many employees receive their pay on a weekly or biweekly schedule, Hamm writes. Meanwhile, most bills come on a monthly basis, some even less frequently. There are some tips for reconciling the two.

By Trent Hamm,?Guest blogger / April 28, 2013

Some workers struggle to create a monthly budget when they are paid on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.

Ann Hermes/Staff

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Every so often, I?ll get a question like this one, from Gina:

Skip to next paragraph Trent Hamm

The Simple Dollar is a blog for those of us who need both cents and sense: people fighting debt and bad spending habits while building a financially secure future and still affording a latte or two. Our busy lives are crazy enough without having to compare five hundred mutual funds ? we just want simple ways to manage our finances and save a little money.

Recent posts

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I am a federal employee and I get my paycheck every two weeks but all of my bills are monthly. What?s an easy budgeting system?

This is a pretty consistent problem, actually.?Many?employees receive their pay on a weekly or biweekly schedule. Meanwhile,?most?bills come on a monthly basis, some even less frequently.

How do you easily reconcile the two and take on a budgeting plan?

This is a problem I had to deal with in the past. Prior to 2008, I was employed in a situation that paid me every two weeks. It was a bit of a struggle to find a good balance between the paycheck and the monthly bills. My wife was also on a biweekly system, but her paydays were on different days than mine.?

Monday, April 29, 2013

Rear seat design -- a priority for children's safety in cars

Rear seat design -- a priority for children's safety in cars [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 29-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Dana Mortensen
mortensen@email.chop.edu
267-426-6092
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

New report recommends technology, policy changes to better protect older children and adolescents in crashes

2013 A research report released today from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) provides specific recommendations for optimizing the rear seat of passenger vehicles to better protect its most common occupants children and adolescents. By bringing technologies already protecting front seat passengers to the rear seat and modifying the geometry of the rear seat to better fit this age group, the US could achieve important reductions in serious injury and death. Motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of death for children older than 4 years and resulted in 952 fatalities in 2010 for children age 15 and younger.

"Our review of the current science and data regarding rear seat occupant safety found clear evidence that use of a child restraint system (CRS) is protective for younger children. However, older children who have outgrown child safety seats and booster seats are at greater risk of injury," says Kristy Arbogast, PhD, lead author of the report and director of engineering at the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at CHOP. "Many technologies that protect front seat passengers, such as load limiters and pretensioners, are not commonly found in the rear seat even though sled tests and computer modeling suggest that these seat belt features have the potential to reduce the risk of serious head and chest injury for rear seated occupants."

In addition to front seat restraints, CHOP researchers suggest that cues can be taken from booster seat design to determine how to keep kids who have outgrown boosters properly positioned in vehicle seat belts so the restraint can perform properly. They propose that adjustments to the geometry of the rear seat including shorter seat cushions, lower seat belt anchorages and contoured seats could increase comfort, keep the shoulder belt in position and, in side impact crashes, reduce lateral movement.

"For children under age 13, the rear seat is still the safer seating position as compared to the front seat of passenger vehicles," says Dr. Arbogast. "But we can do a better job at protecting children who have outgrown add-on restraints."

The report authors recommend the development of regulatory procedures or vehicle performance assessment programs for consumers that evaluate protection of rear seat occupants. Common vehicle rating systems do not evaluate the safety of rear seat occupants in frontal crashes. In addition to engineering solutions, the report also recommends policies and programs to increase rear seat restraint use, which remains lower than front seat restraint use and is a key risk factor for dying in a crash. Additional research is needed to further inform these priorities.

###

To download the full report, made possible with support from Global Automakers, and additional materials including a one-page overview of CIRP's recommendations and an infographic, visit http://injury.research.chop.edu.

About The Center for Injury Research and Prevention at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

The Center for Injury Research and Prevention at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was established in 1998 to advance the safety and health of children, adolescents, and young adults through comprehensive research that encompasses before-the-injury prevention to after-the-injury healing. The Center's multidisciplinary research team, with expertise in Behavioral Sciences; Medicine; Engineering, Epidemiology and Biostatistics; Human Factors; Public Health; and Communication, translates rigorous scientific research into practical tools and guidelines for families, professionals, and policymakers to ensure research results extend to the real world. For more information on the Center and its research initiatives, visit injury.research.chop.edu.

About Global Automakers

The Association of Global Automakers represents international motor vehicle manufacturers, original equipment suppliers, and other automotive-related trade associations. We work with industry leaders, legislators, and regulators to create the kind of public policy that improves vehicle safety, encourages technological innovation, and protects our planet. Our goal is to foster a competitive environment in which more vehicles are designed and built to enhance Americans' quality of life. For more information, visit http://www.globalautomakers.org.


[ 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.


Rear seat design -- a priority for children's safety in cars [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 29-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Dana Mortensen
mortensen@email.chop.edu
267-426-6092
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

New report recommends technology, policy changes to better protect older children and adolescents in crashes

2013 A research report released today from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) provides specific recommendations for optimizing the rear seat of passenger vehicles to better protect its most common occupants children and adolescents. By bringing technologies already protecting front seat passengers to the rear seat and modifying the geometry of the rear seat to better fit this age group, the US could achieve important reductions in serious injury and death. Motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of death for children older than 4 years and resulted in 952 fatalities in 2010 for children age 15 and younger.

"Our review of the current science and data regarding rear seat occupant safety found clear evidence that use of a child restraint system (CRS) is protective for younger children. However, older children who have outgrown child safety seats and booster seats are at greater risk of injury," says Kristy Arbogast, PhD, lead author of the report and director of engineering at the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at CHOP. "Many technologies that protect front seat passengers, such as load limiters and pretensioners, are not commonly found in the rear seat even though sled tests and computer modeling suggest that these seat belt features have the potential to reduce the risk of serious head and chest injury for rear seated occupants."

In addition to front seat restraints, CHOP researchers suggest that cues can be taken from booster seat design to determine how to keep kids who have outgrown boosters properly positioned in vehicle seat belts so the restraint can perform properly. They propose that adjustments to the geometry of the rear seat including shorter seat cushions, lower seat belt anchorages and contoured seats could increase comfort, keep the shoulder belt in position and, in side impact crashes, reduce lateral movement.

"For children under age 13, the rear seat is still the safer seating position as compared to the front seat of passenger vehicles," says Dr. Arbogast. "But we can do a better job at protecting children who have outgrown add-on restraints."

The report authors recommend the development of regulatory procedures or vehicle performance assessment programs for consumers that evaluate protection of rear seat occupants. Common vehicle rating systems do not evaluate the safety of rear seat occupants in frontal crashes. In addition to engineering solutions, the report also recommends policies and programs to increase rear seat restraint use, which remains lower than front seat restraint use and is a key risk factor for dying in a crash. Additional research is needed to further inform these priorities.

###

To download the full report, made possible with support from Global Automakers, and additional materials including a one-page overview of CIRP's recommendations and an infographic, visit http://injury.research.chop.edu.

About The Center for Injury Research and Prevention at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

The Center for Injury Research and Prevention at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was established in 1998 to advance the safety and health of children, adolescents, and young adults through comprehensive research that encompasses before-the-injury prevention to after-the-injury healing. The Center's multidisciplinary research team, with expertise in Behavioral Sciences; Medicine; Engineering, Epidemiology and Biostatistics; Human Factors; Public Health; and Communication, translates rigorous scientific research into practical tools and guidelines for families, professionals, and policymakers to ensure research results extend to the real world. For more information on the Center and its research initiatives, visit injury.research.chop.edu.

About Global Automakers

The Association of Global Automakers represents international motor vehicle manufacturers, original equipment suppliers, and other automotive-related trade associations. We work with industry leaders, legislators, and regulators to create the kind of public policy that improves vehicle safety, encourages technological innovation, and protects our planet. Our goal is to foster a competitive environment in which more vehicles are designed and built to enhance Americans' quality of life. For more information, visit http://www.globalautomakers.org.


[ 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/2013-04/chop-rs042813.php

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Leighton Meester & Adam Brody Go On Movie Date With Pals

www.justjared.com:

Leighton Meester and Adam Brody keep low profiles as they leave the ArcLight Cinemas together on Saturday (April 27) in Los Angeles.

Read the whole story at www.justjared.com

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/28/leighton-meester-adam-brody-go-on_n_3174763.html

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Extreme political attitudes may stem from an illusion of understanding

Apr. 29, 2013 ? Having to explain how a political policy works leads people to express less extreme attitudes toward the policy, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

The research suggests that people may hold extreme policy positions because they are under an illusion of understanding -- attempting to explain the nuts and bolts of how a policy works forces them to acknowledge that they don't know as much about the policy as they initially thought.

Psychological scientist Philip Fernbach of the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado, Boulder and his co-authors were interested in exploring some of the factors that could contribute to what they see as increasing political polarization in the United States.

"We wanted to know how it's possible that people can maintain such strong positions on issues that are so complex -- such as macroeconomics, health care, foreign relations -- and yet seem to be so ill-informed about those issues," says Fernbach.

Drawing on previous research on the illusion of understanding, Fernbach and colleagues speculated that one reason for the apparent paradox may be that voters think they understand how policies work better than they actually do.

In their first study, the researchers asked participants taking an online survey to rate how well they understood six political policies, including raising the retirement age for Social Security, instituting a national flat tax, and implementing merit-based pay for teachers. The participants were randomly assigned to explain two of the policies and then asked to re-rate how well they understood the policies.

As the researchers predicted, people reported lower understanding of all six policies after they had to explain them, and their positions on the policies were less extreme. In fact, the data showed that the more people's understanding decreased, the more uncertain they were about the position, and the less extreme their position was in the end.

The act of explaining also affected participants' behavior. People who initially held a strong position softened their position after having to explain it, making them less likely to donate bonus money to a related organization when they were given the opportunity to do so.

Importantly, the results affected people along the whole political spectrum, from self-identified Democrats to Republicans to Independents.

According to the researchers, these findings shed light on a psychological process that may help people to open the lines of communication in the context of a heated debate or negotiation.

"This research is important because political polarization is hard to combat," says Fernbach. "There are many psychological processes that act to create greater extremism and polarization, but this is a rare case where asking people to attempt to explain makes them back off their extreme positions."

In addition to Fernbach, co-authors include Todd Rogers of the Harvard Kennedy School; Craig R. Fox of the University of California, Los Angeles; and Steven A. Sloman of Brown University.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Association for Psychological Science.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. P. M. Fernbach, T. Rogers, C. R. Fox, S. A. Sloman. Political Extremism Is Supported by an Illusion of Understanding. Psychological Science, 2013; DOI: 10.1177/0956797612464058

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/n46HoETan78/130429130543.htm

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Report: Police in 2 Egypt provinces protesting

CAIRO (AP) ? Egypt's state news agency says police in a Nile Delta province are blocking off entrance to their station, the latest labor unrest hitting the country's police force.

Police in Kafr el-Sheikh province locked the gate to the security division with chains, MENA reported. The police are demanding better working conditions, along with dismissal of the Interior Minister. They are also protesting alleged attempts by the Muslim Brotherhood to take over the ministry, which controls the police. The Brotherhood has denied that charge.

Also Sunday, police at two stations in the southern province of Assuit went on strike, charging that the government did not carry out promises to fulfill their demands.

Last month, there was a wave of police strikes. The Islamist government promised to study demands of the police.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/report-police-2-egypt-provinces-protesting-133129479.html

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McConnell tweets an ?Eastwood? from a Kentucky bar

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is ready to take President Barack Obama up on that drink. Unfortunately, he's nowhere near the president.

The Kentucky Republican on Monday posted a picture of himself nestling a glass of beer at a Kentucky bar next to an empty chair and a glass of wine, both presumably meant for Obama.

Congress is currently in recess, so McConnell is back working in Kentucky instead of in the capital.

The picture was posted in response to Obama's speech at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday, in which he joked about having a drink with McConnell.

"Recently, I had dinner?it?s been well publicized?I had dinner with a number of the Republican senators. And I?ll admit it wasn?t easy. I proposed a toast?it died in committee," Obama said during the speech. "Of course, even after I've done all this, some folks still don?t think I spend enough time with Congress. 'Why don?t you get a drink with Mitch McConnell?' they ask. 'Really? Why don?t you get a drink with Mitch McConnell?' I'm sorry. I get frustrated sometimes."

Speaking of drinking, had Obama actually been present at the Kentucky bar, he could have asked to hear McConnell's step-by-step tutorial on the best use of bourbon, his state's favorite drink.

"The best way to drink it, in my opinion, is to make a Manhattan, which is a combination of bourbon and other unknown substances,? McConnell told Yahoo News' Olivier Knox in February. McConnell had also described the best way to prepare it: ?Drop a couple of cherries on top of it, make sure there's ice there, and it's a terrific drink around Christmastime, which I frequently offer to my guests."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/mcconnell-eastwoods-obama-kentucky-bar-202943311.html

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Pattern seen in alleged chemical arms use in Syria

FILE - In this Tuesday March 19, 2013 file photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, a Syrian victim who suffered an alleged chemical attack at Khan al-Assal village according to SANA, receives treatment by doctors, at a hospital in Aleppo, Syria. The purported instances in which chemical weapons have been used in Syria have been relatively small in scale: nothing along the lines of Saddam Hussein's 1988 attack in Kurdish Iraq. That raises the question of who would stand to gain as President Bashar Assad's regime and the opposition trade blame for the alleged attacks and definitive proof remains elusive. Analysts say the answer could lie in the past the regime has a pattern of gradually introducing a weapon to the conflict to test the international community's response. (AP Photo/SANA, File)

FILE - In this Tuesday March 19, 2013 file photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, a Syrian victim who suffered an alleged chemical attack at Khan al-Assal village according to SANA, receives treatment by doctors, at a hospital in Aleppo, Syria. The purported instances in which chemical weapons have been used in Syria have been relatively small in scale: nothing along the lines of Saddam Hussein's 1988 attack in Kurdish Iraq. That raises the question of who would stand to gain as President Bashar Assad's regime and the opposition trade blame for the alleged attacks and definitive proof remains elusive. Analysts say the answer could lie in the past the regime has a pattern of gradually introducing a weapon to the conflict to test the international community's response. (AP Photo/SANA, File)

FILE - In this Tuesday, March 19, 2013 file photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, a Syrian victim who suffered an alleged chemical attack at Khan al-Assal village according to SANA, receives treatment by doctors, at a hospital in Aleppo, Syria. The purported instances in which chemical weapons have been used in Syria have been relatively small in scale: nothing along the lines of Saddam Hussein's 1988 attack in Kurdish Iraq. That raises the question of who would stand to gain as President Bashar Assad's regime and the opposition trade blame for the alleged attacks and definitive proof remains elusive. Analysts say the answer could lie in the past the regime has a pattern of gradually introducing a weapon to the conflict to test the international community's response. (AP Photo/SANA, File)

FILE - In this Tuesday March 19, 2013 file photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, a Syrian victim who suffered an alleged chemical attack at Khan al-Assal village according to SANA, receives treatment by doctors, at a hospital in Aleppo, Syria. The purported instances in which chemical weapons have been used in Syria have been relatively small in scale: nothing along the lines of Saddam Hussein's 1988 attack in Kurdish Iraq. That raises the question of who would stand to gain as President Bashar Assad's regime and the opposition trade blame for the alleged attacks and definitive proof remains elusive. Analysts say the answer could lie in the past the regime has a pattern of gradually introducing a weapon to the conflict to test the international community's response. (AP Photo/SANA, File)

FILE - In this Tuesday March 19, 2013 file photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian victims who suffered an alleged chemical attack at Khan al-Assal village according to SANA, receive serum treatments, at a hospital in Aleppo, Syria. The purported instances in which chemical weapons have been used in Syria have been relatively small in scale: nothing along the lines of Saddam Hussein's 1988 attack in Kurdish Iraq. That raises the question of who would stand to gain as President Bashar Assad's regime and the opposition trade blame for the alleged attacks and definitive proof remains elusive. Analysts say the answer could lie in the past the regime has a pattern of gradually introducing a weapon to the conflict to test the international community's response. (AP Photo/SANA, File)

BEIRUT (AP) ? The instances in which chemical weapons are alleged to have been used in Syria were purportedly small in scale: nothing along the lines of Saddam Hussein's 1988 attack in Kurdish Iraq that killed thousands.

That raises the question of who would stand to gain as President Bashar Assad's regime and the opposition trade blame for the alleged attacks, and proof remains elusive.

Analysts say the answer could lie in the past ? the regime has a pattern of gradually introducing a weapon to the conflict to test the international community's response.

The U.S. said last week that intelligence indicates the Syrian military has likely used sarin, a deadly nerve agent, on at least two occasions in the civil war, echoing similar assessments from Israel, France and Britain. Syria's rebels accuse the regime of firing chemical weapons on at least four occasions, while the government denies the charges and says opposition fighters have used chemical agents in a bid to frame it.

But using chemical weapons to try to force foreign intervention would be a huge gamble for the opposition, and one that could easily backfire. It would undoubtedly taint the rebellion in the eyes of the international community and seriously strain its credibility.

Mustafa Alani, an analyst at the Gulf Research Center in Geneva, said it would also be difficult for the rebels to successfully employ chemical agents.

"It's very difficult to weaponize chemical weapons," he said. "It needs a special warhead, for the artillery a special fuse."

In the chaos of Syria's civil war, pinning down definitive proof on the alleged use of weapons of mass destruction is a tricky task with high stakes. President Barack Obama has said any use of chemical arms ? or the transfer of stockpiles to terrorists ? would cross a "red line" and carry "enormous consequences."

Already, the White House's announcement that the Syrian regime appears to have used chemical arms has ratcheted up the pressure on Obama to move forcefully. He has sought to temper expectations of a quick U.S. response, saying too little is known about the alleged attacks to take action now.

Analysts suggest that a limited introduction of the weapons, with little ostensible military gain, could be an attempt by the Syrian government to test the West's resolve while retaining the veil of plausible deniability. This approach would also allow foreign powers eager to avoid a costly intervention in Syria to remain on the sidelines, while at the same time opening the door for the regime to use the weapons down the road.

"If it's testing the water, and we're going to turn a blind eye, it could be used widely, repeatedly," Alani said. "If you are silent once, you will be silent twice."

The slow introduction of a weapon to gauge the West's response fits a pattern of behavior the Assad regime has demonstrated since the uprising began in March 2011, according to Joseph Holliday, a Syria analyst at the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War.

When largely peaceful protesters initially took to the streets, the regime responded with small arms fire and a wave of arrests. As the government ramped up its violent crackdown, the opposition began to take up arms in late 2011, prompting yet another escalation in force by the regime.

In early 2012, government troops began using heavy weapons, first in a relatively restrained manner on military targets.

"Once they could confirm that there wasn't going to be a major reaction from the West, they were able to expand the use of artillery," Holliday said.

By the summer of 2012, government troops were pounding rebellious neighborhoods with tank fire, field cannons and mortars, but the rebellion was stronger than ever, prompting Assad to turn to his air force, and the regime's MiG fighter jets and helicopter gunships began to strike military targets in rural areas.

After the government was satisfied that the international community wasn't going to impose a no-fly zone like NATO did in Libya, Assad unleashed the full might of his air power, and warplanes have been indiscriminately bombing rebel-held areas since.

"It all fits the pattern of being able to do this incrementally," Holliday said.

"It's been important for the regime to introduce these capabilities as gradually as possible so that they don't trip the international community's red lines," he added. "I think this is basically a modus operandi that the Assad regime has established and tested with the United States, and confirmed that it works, and he's using it again with chemical weapons."

Syria has never confirmed it even has chemical weapons. But it is believed to possess substantial stockpiles of mustard gas and a range of nerve agents, including sarin, a highly toxic substance that can suffocate its victims by paralyzing muscles around their lungs.

Concern rose last summer when then-Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi told a news conference that Damascus would only use chemical or biological weapons in case of foreign attack, not against its own people. The ministry then tried to blur the issue, saying it had never acknowledged having such arms.

Weapons of mass destruction are generally viewed as a deterrent against foreign attack, and their use a sign of desperation. But Assad appears far from desperate at the moment, and in fact is operating from a position of relative strength.

While much of northern Syria has fallen to the rebels, the government's hold on Damascus is firm and its forces have been on the offensive in the capital's suburbs and in the countryside near the border with Lebanon. In the northwest, regime troops recently opened up a key supply road to soldiers fighting in the embattled city of Aleppo.

Two of the alleged attacks the Syrian opposition blames on the regime took place in and around Aleppo: one in Khan al-Assal west of the city on March 19, and another in the contested Shiekh Maqsoud neighborhood on April 13. The other alleged instances were in the central city of Homs on Dec. 23 and in the village of Otaybah outside Damascus on March 19.

It is not clear exactly how many people died in those attacks because of the scarcity of credible information. The Syrian government seals off areas it controls to journalists and outside observers, making details of the attacks sketchy. But reports from anti-Assad activists and the government provide a basic outline.

Opposition activists have posted videos and pictures online of alleged victims of the attacks foaming at the mouth or with blister burns ? symptoms consistent with chemical weapons attacks, but also other munitions. The Syrian state news agency, after one attack it blamed on rebels, published photos of casualties, including children. None showed signs of physical injuries.

Both sides in the civil war, which has already killed more than 70,000 people, have tried to use the issue to sway international opinion.

Rebels have been clamoring for more robust international action against the Assad regime. At a recent gathering in Turkey of the rebellion's international supporters, the opposition political leadership demanded drone strikes on regime targets and the imposition of a no-fly zone, and it reiterated calls for transfers of heavier weapons to its fighters.

The regime has seized on the opposition's demands for outside support to bolster its argument that rebels may have used chemical weapons to frame the government and precipitate foreign intervention.

In December, after rebels captured a chlorine factory in Aleppo, the government warned the opposition could be planning a chemical attack to frame the regime. To back up its assertions, the state news agency pointed to internet videos that purported to show regime opponents experimenting with poisons on mice and rabbits.

In the video, a masked man mixes gases in a glass box containing two rabbits. About a minute later, the animals start to spasm and then collapse. A narrator then says, "This is what will happen to you, Assad supporters." The origin of the video was not known.

Alani dismissed the possibility of the rebels, including Islamic extremist groups among the most powerful opposition fighting factions, carrying out a chlorine attack.

He noted that al-Qaida militants used chlorine on at least two occasions in Iraq in the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah, but abandoned the practice because "the impact of the chlorine was far less than conventional explosives."

___

Follow Ryan Lucas on Twitter at www.twitter.com/relucasz

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-04-28-Syria-Chemical%20Weapons/id-21c5bf35c82b4a83bbe9643a62a1f943

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In a first, black voter turnout rate passes whites

WASHINGTON (AP) ? America's blacks voted at a higher rate than other minority groups in 2012 and by most measures surpassed the white turnout for the first time, reflecting a deeply polarized presidential election in which blacks strongly supported Barack Obama while many whites stayed home.

Had people voted last November at the same rates they did in 2004, when black turnout was below its current historic levels, Republican Mitt Romney would have won narrowly, according to an analysis conducted for The Associated Press.

Census data and exit polling show that whites and blacks will remain the two largest racial groups of eligible voters for the next decade. Last year's heavy black turnout came despite concerns about the effect of new voter-identification laws on minority voting, outweighed by the desire to re-elect the first black president.

William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, analyzed the 2012 elections for the AP using census data on eligible voters and turnout, along with November's exit polling. He estimated total votes for Obama and Romney under a scenario where 2012 turnout rates for all racial groups matched those in 2004. Overall, 2012 voter turnout was roughly 58 percent, down from 62 percent in 2008 and 60 percent in 2004.

The analysis also used population projections to estimate the shares of eligible voters by race group through 2030. The numbers are supplemented with material from the Pew Research Center and George Mason University associate professor Michael McDonald, a leader in the field of voter turnout who separately reviewed aggregate turnout levels across states, as well as AP interviews with the Census Bureau and other experts. The bureau is scheduled to release data on voter turnout in May.

Overall, the findings represent a tipping point for blacks, who for much of America's history were disenfranchised and then effectively barred from voting until passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965.

But the numbers also offer a cautionary note to both Democrats and Republicans after Obama won in November with a historically low percentage of white supporters. While Latinos are now the biggest driver of U.S. population growth, they still trail whites and blacks in turnout and electoral share, because many of the Hispanics in the country are children or noncitizens.

In recent weeks, Republican leaders have urged a "year-round effort" to engage black and other minority voters, describing a grim future if their party does not expand its core support beyond white males.

The 2012 data suggest Romney was a particularly weak GOP candidate, unable to motivate white voters let alone attract significant black or Latino support. Obama's personal appeal and the slowly improving economy helped overcome doubts and spur record levels of minority voters in a way that may not be easily replicated for Democrats soon.

Romney would have erased Obama's nearly 5 million-vote victory margin and narrowly won the popular vote if voters had turned out as they did in 2004, according to Frey's analysis. Then, white turnout was slightly higher and black voting lower.

More significantly, the battleground states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Florida and Colorado would have tipped in favor of Romney, handing him the presidency if the outcome of other states remained the same.

"The 2012 turnout is a milestone for blacks and a huge potential turning point," said Andra Gillespie, a political science professor at Emory University who has written extensively on black politicians. "What it suggests is that there is an 'Obama effect' where people were motivated to support Barack Obama. But it also means that black turnout may not always be higher, if future races aren't as salient."

Whit Ayres, a GOP consultant who is advising GOP Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a possible 2016 presidential contender, says the last election reaffirmed that the Republican Party needs "a new message, a new messenger and a new tone." Change within the party need not be "lock, stock and barrel," Ayres said, but policy shifts such as GOP support for broad immigration legislation will be important to woo minority voters over the longer term.

"It remains to be seen how successful Democrats are if you don't have Barack Obama at the top of the ticket," he said.

___

In Ohio, a battleground state where the share of eligible black voters is more than triple that of other minorities, 27-year-old Lauren Howie of Cleveland didn't start out thrilled with Obama in 2012. She felt he didn't deliver on promises to help students reduce college debt, promote women's rights and address climate change, she said. But she became determined to support Obama as she compared him with Romney.

"I got the feeling Mitt Romney couldn't care less about me and my fellow African-Americans," said Howie, an administrative assistant at Case Western Reserve University's medical school who is paying off college debt.

Howie said she saw some Romney comments as insensitive to the needs of the poor. "A white Mormon swimming in money with offshore accounts buying up companies and laying off their employees just doesn't quite fit my idea of a president," she said. "Bottom line, Romney was not someone I was willing to trust with my future."

The numbers show how population growth will translate into changes in who votes over the coming decade:

?The gap between non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black turnout in 2008 was the smallest on record, with voter turnout at 66.1 percent and 65.2 percent, respectively; turnout for Latinos and non-Hispanic Asians trailed at 50 percent and 47 percent. Rough calculations suggest that in 2012, 2 million to 5 million fewer whites voted compared with 2008, even though the pool of eligible white voters had increased.

?Unlike other minority groups, the rise in voting for the slow-growing black population is due to higher turnout. While blacks make up 12 percent of the share of eligible voters, they represented 13 percent of total 2012 votes cast, according to exit polling. That was a repeat of 2008, when blacks "outperformed" their eligible voter share for the first time on record.

?White voters also outperformed their eligible vote share, but not at the levels seen in years past. In 2012, whites represented 72 percent of total votes cast, compared to their 71.1 percent eligible vote share. As recently as 2004, whites typically outperformed their eligible vote share by at least 2 percentage points. McDonald notes that in 2012, states with significant black populations did not experience as much of a turnout decline as other states. That would indicate a lower turnout for whites last November since overall voter turnout declined.

?Latinos now make up 17 percent of the population but 11 percent of eligible voters, due to a younger median age and lower rates of citizenship and voter registration. Because of lower turnout, they represented just 10 percent of total 2012 votes cast. Despite their fast growth, Latinos aren't projected to surpass the share of eligible black voters until 2024, when each group will be roughly 13 percent. By then, 1 in 3 eligible voters will be nonwhite.

?In 2026, the total Latino share of voters could jump to as high as 16 percent, if nearly 11 million immigrants here illegally become eligible for U.S. citizenship. Under a proposed bill in the Senate, those immigrants would have a 13-year path to citizenship. The share of eligible white voters could shrink to less than 64 percent in that scenario. An estimated 80 percent of immigrants here illegally, or 8.8 million, are Latino, although not all will meet the additional requirements to become citizens.

"The 2008 election was the first year when the minority vote was important to electing a U.S. president. By 2024, their vote will be essential to victory," Frey said. "Democrats will be looking at a landslide going into 2028 if the new Hispanic voters continue to favor Democrats."

___

Even with demographics seeming to favor Democrats in the long term, it's unclear whether Obama's coalition will hold if blacks or younger voters become less motivated to vote or decide to switch parties.

Minority turnout tends to drop in midterm congressional elections, contributing to larger GOP victories as happened in 2010, when House control flipped to Republicans.

The economy and policy matter. Exit polling shows that even with Obama's re-election, voter support for a government that does more to solve problems declined from 51 percent in 2008 to 43 percent last year, bolstering the view among Republicans that their core principles of reducing government are sound.

The party's "Growth and Opportunity Project" report released last month by national leaders suggests that Latinos and Asians could become more receptive to GOP policies once comprehensive immigration legislation is passed.

Whether the economy continues its slow recovery also will shape voter opinion, including among blacks, who have the highest rate of unemployment.

Since the election, optimism among nonwhites about the direction of the country and the economy has waned, although support for Obama has held steady. In an October AP-GfK poll, 63 percent of nonwhites said the nation was heading in the right direction; that's dropped to 52 percent in a new AP-GfK poll. Among non-Hispanic whites, however, the numbers are about the same as in October, at 28 percent.

Democrats in Congress merit far lower approval ratings among nonwhites than does the president, with 49 percent approving of congressional Democrats and 74 percent approving of Obama.

William Galston, a former policy adviser to President Bill Clinton, says that in previous elections where an enduring majority of voters came to support one party, the president winning re-election ? William McKinley in 1900, Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936 and Ronald Reagan in 1984 ? attracted a larger turnout over his original election and also received a higher vote total and a higher share of the popular vote. None of those occurred for Obama in 2012.

Only once in the last 60 years has a political party been successful in holding the presidency more than eight years ? Republicans from 1980-1992.

"This doesn't prove that Obama's presidency won't turn out to be the harbinger of a new political order," Galston says. "But it does warrant some analytical caution."

Early polling suggests that Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton could come close in 2016 to generating the level of support among nonwhites as Obama did in November, when he won 80 percent of their vote. In a Fox News poll in February, 75 percent of nonwhites said they thought Clinton would make a good president, outpacing the 58 percent who said that about Vice President Joe Biden.

Benjamin Todd Jealous, president of the NAACP, predicts closely fought elections in the near term and worries that GOP-controlled state legislatures will step up efforts to pass voter ID and other restrictions to deter blacks and other minorities from voting. In 2012, courts blocked or delayed several of those voter ID laws and African-Americans were able to turn out in large numbers only after a very determined get-out-the-vote effort by the Obama campaign and black groups, he said.

Jealous says the 2014 midterm election will be the real bellwether for black turnout. "Black turnout set records this year despite record attempts to suppress the black vote," he said.

___

AP Director of Polling Jennifer Agiesta and News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this report.

EDITOR'S NOTE _ "America at the Tipping Point: The Changing Face of a Nation" is an occasional series examining the cultural mosaic of the U.S. and its historic shift to a majority-minority nation.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/first-black-voter-turnout-rate-passes-whites-115957314.html

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Big mine slide could boost 2014 property taxes in Salt Lake County ...

Kennecott ? S. L. County residents could face a property tax hike to make up for decline in company?s valuation.

The massive landslide at Kennecott?s Bingham Canyon mine could hit Salt Lake County taxpayers in the pocketbook next year.

With the slide expected to reduce the mine?s production by 50 percent this year, Kennecott?s assessed valuation as of Jan. 1, 2014, is likely to plummet as well, which means the company?s property tax bill will go down.

?

A briefing

The Salt Lake County Council is scheduled to receive an update on the Bingham Canyon mine situation at its meeting Tuesday at 1:15 p.m. in Room 2003, North Building, County Government Center, 2001 S. State.

But since Truth in Taxation laws guarantee that taxing entities ? from Salt Lake County and Jordan School District to the Unified Fire Authority and mosquito abatement districts ? are entitled to receive as much property tax revenue in one year as the year before, the extra money would have to come from higher locally assessed taxes on residents and businesses.

"If the value of this [mine] goes down," Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams said Thursday during a company-organized tour of the April 10 slide site, "the property tax [burden] is shifted to other taxpayers by formula."

Just how much is shifted depends on how quickly the company is able to bounce back.

Kennecott President and CEO Kelly Sanders said he hopes to have a plan in place by late August to restore the mine to full production. But accomplishing that goal will take time. The volume of the slide debris alone amounts to almost two-thirds of the ore-bearing rock moved by the company last year.

In 2011, Kennecott?s valuation was about $4.1 billion, according to the latest figures available from the State Tax Commission.

"We look at the company?s cash flows to determine its market value," said Denny Lytle, director of the State Tax Commission?s property tax division. Because of the landslide, "we know that as of Jan. 1, 2014, those will be reduced from the 2013 data. We don?t know how much at this point ? and I don?t think Kennecott knows at this point. ? It could be substantial. But if they get up and running more quickly than anticipated, it might not be as material as we?re thinking at this moment."

Exactly how much property tax Kennecott pays is hard to pin down. But it is significant enough that the Salt Lake County Council has given the District Attorney?s Office an extra $800,000 since August to cover costs of teaming with the Tax Commission to contest Kennecott?s appeal of its 2009 assessment and tax bill.

A slide-driven reduction in Kennecott?s 2014 assessment would impact the taxes by all Salt Lake County taxpayers for their countywide services, from flood control to human services. Last year that represented about 17 cents of every $1 in property taxes distributed by the county to taxing entities.

story continues below

School districts received the largest share, almost 45 cents of each $1, so Jordan and Granite districts could take big hits. Both districts are taking a wait-and-see approach at this point.

"We?re in a holding pattern like everyone else," said Jordan District spokeswoman Sandy Riesgraf. "It may have an impact on us. We just don?t know what that will be."

Added Granite District spokesman Ben Horsley: "If [Kennecott?s] overall valuation comes down, there would be negative connotations. But its greatest impact would be offsetting new growth in property tax revenue."

That new growth raises the county?s overall property tax value by about $750 million a year, said Darrin Casper, Salt Lake County?s financial director. So growth could offset some or all of Kennecott?s diminished value, but if the resumption of full-scale mining is slow, homeowners and businesses could be required to pick up the tab for what Kennecott no longer pays.

It?s definitely a concern for the Unified Police Department as well as the Unified Fire Authority, both of which depend on property tax to provide public-safety services for the unincorporated county and several cities.

"There?s going to be pain, no matter what. That?s not in doubt," said Richard Snelgrove, a county councilman who serves on the Unified Fire Authority board.

"If this drags on longer because of the magnitude of the slide, it could take a significant toll," he added. "Getting Kennecott back on its feet is in everybody?s best interest."

mikeg@sltrib.com

Twitter: @sltribmikeg

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/56222644-90/company-county-district-kennecott.html.csp

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Friday, April 26, 2013

inSSIDer


The free inSSIDer software utility for Windows, iOS, and Android is one of the most useful and easy-to-interpret wireless networking tools I?ve encountered. InSSIDer displays information about the wireless networks in proximity to you, including an access point?s MAC address, encryption type, signal strength, and channel. InSSIDer is a great tool for wireless networking novices, because it has an easy-to-understand interface and includes an abundance of help and tutorials. Experienced Wi-Fi professionals may find the software a bit too light and might be more interested in a more robust program such as?WiFiBuilder or Wireshark. But home power users looking to tweak their networks and those managing smaller business Wi-Fi networks would benefit by getting acquainted with inSSIDer.

Download
inSSIDer is available as a free download from www.metageek.net/products/inssider/. It?s available as a Windows desktop app or as an iOS or Android mobile app.? I run it on a Windows 7 laptop and it?s a quick and lightweight install. I can honestly say that unlike what I?ve found with some other free networking utilities I?ve used, inSSIDer has given me no problems with memory leaks or interfered with my Windows wireless settings or any other installed software.

Features and Interface
Opening inSSIDer?s interface displays the wireless adapter information of the client machine on which inSSIDer is installed. The program?s UI is divided between a pane that displays real-time information about wireless networks in proximity, and another screen shows really handy information, including tips and a user guide.

The user guide has illustrations and plain-speak about the features in the software. You don?t just get a user guide though. The interface includes links to free webinars for those who want to dive deeper into the wireless world?from diagnosing RF interference to performing basic wireless packet analysis.

There are also links to additional tools that help users find interference issues and reduce Wi-Fi saturation as well as selecting the right wireless channel.

Clicking on the ?network? tab pulls up the real-time information about all wireless networks in proximity. By default, the network you?re connected to gets starred. The software helps you optimize that network and considers it the main one to which you?re most likely to connect. The interface prominently displays details about this starred network, so you can view information such as how many other access points are using the same channel as your starred network. For performance improvement, you could place your starred network on a less crowded channel. This may be one of the most useful troubleshooting features in the software.

You get details on all networks in proximity, including signal strength (some tools refer to this as RSSI, in which the closer the number is to 0 the better), channel, security, MAC address of each access point, and the 802.11x standard being used. I do have an 802.11ac access point deployed nearby but inSSIDer reported it as 802.11n. 802.11ac reporting may not happen until the standard actually gets ratified; inSSIDer may require an update for this.

Right-clicking on any listed network opens a menu that lets you quickly select the information you want to see about that network: SSID, signal, channel, maximum rate, network type, and even the access point?s vendor. The entire view of networks can also be sorted by the same parameters.

inSSIDer will also calculate a Link score based on information such as channel overlap and signal strength for each wireless network. You can see how tweaking channel settings or even relocating an access point or router influences the score?the higher the score, the better the network performance you will receive.

A Fun, Useful Tool
What?s great about inSSIDer is that you can use it for several real-world purposes for your wireless network. For instance, say you are trying to find the best location to place an access point or router. Position the device and then fire up inSSIDER to see what? signal strength the software reports. This is really useful if you are trying to setup a Wi-Fi network in a place with lots of thick walls, glass or mirrors or multiple levels.

You can also use inSSIDer to tweak your wireless channel. In the U.S, there are 14 channels used for the 2.4GHz signal. These channels typically are 1, 6, and 11. So if you see many wireless networks in your area using channel 11 for example, by using inSSIDer you can change your 2.4 GHz signal to operate on channel 6 to tweak performance.?

Yes, it may be lightweight for those who deploy wireless networks professionally. But anyone managing a home or small business wireless network will certainly benefit from the information inSSIDer provides. It earns a 4.5 out of 5 star rating and is easily a PCMag Editors? Choice for networking utilities.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/54xJAW10n2A/0,2817,2418212,00.asp

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The Engadget Show 43: Music with John Vanderslice, Black Milk, Dan Deacon, Pandora, Sub Pop and more!

These days, music and technology are inexorably linked -- from creation and recording, to distribution and discovery, it's hard to imagine a song reaching our ears that hasn't made its way through some electronic filter. Being the huge music nerds we are, we figured we'd use our April episode to explore the state of the music industry in 2013 and the roles technology has played in its successes and failings. This month, we start things off with a visit to Santa Cruz, where UCSC professor emeritus David Cope has spent decades developing classical music composing computer programs, work he began after one particularly bad bout with writer's block. We also stop by Seattle's Experience Music Project, where we speak to curator Jacob McMurray about the role technology has created in building a better music museum.

Next up, we've got a trio of interviews with artists who are using technology to very different ends in the creation and distribution of their music. John Vanderslice is the founder and proprietor of San Francisco's Tiny Telephone, one of the last remaining analog-only recording studios in a world increasingly dominated by Pro Tools. He's also a successful musician in his own right, who recently opted to eschew the traditional record label model for the release of his two new Kickstarter-backed albums. Hip-hop producer and emcee Black Milk, meanwhile, has taken to recording and producing recordings in his Dallas apartment. We discuss his crate digging, love of analog tools and the role of YouTube and Shazam in his production. And we meet up with indie electronic music Dan Deacon outside of LA's Natural History Museum to talk about his live rig and innovative iPhone app.

What about radio stations, you ask? We pay a visit to Jersey City's WFMU and Santa Monica's KCRW, two of the most prominent freeform stations in a space dominated Clear Channels and internet and satellite radio, to discuss the importance of human curation and embracing the same technology that has spelled the end of so many of their peers. We've also got interviews with Seattle's Sub Pop Records, music criticism site Pitchfork and California record store Amoeba, plus trips to music app developer Smule, internet radio pioneer Pandora and the legendary Moog factory. All that plus another installment of "John Roderick: Famous Prognosticator" and art by cartoonist Jim Rugg.

Oh, and we'd be remiss if we didn't remind you that today is the last day to vote for us in the Webby Awards! In the meantime, check out the full show, after the break.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/25/engadget-show-43/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Filmmakers fight bill to end subsidies | CharlotteObserver.com

RALEIGH Is ?Homeland? under threat?

It is, according to North Carolina?s film community.

Advocates of the state?s film industry say a House bill that would change the way the state subsidizes film production would essentially drive the business away.

?You?d see productions just leaving North Carolina ? including ?Homeland,?? said Aaron Syrett, director of the North Carolina Film Office.

?Homeland? is the Emmy Award winning Showtime drama shot in Charlotte and about to enter its third season. It?s one of more than 40 projects that Syrett said resulted in $376 million worth of spending and thousands of jobs last year.

Critics of incentives ? which amounted to $45 million in 2012 ? say the money could be put to better use. And they point to a legislative study that found the credit itself is responsible for a fraction of the jobs the industry claims.

?It?s not worth it to deny $45 million to public education to help one industry,? said Rep. Paul Luebke, a Durham Democrat.

Luebke is co-sponsoring a bill that would eliminate the refundable portion of the state?s film tax credit. Production companies can now claim a 25 percent tax credit up to $20 million on productions spending more than $250,000 in qualified expenses.

The bill was sent to the House Rules Committee, often a virtual graveyard. But primary co-sponsors include two Republicans from the Wilmington area ? a major film production area ? as well as GOP Speaker Pro Tem, Paul Stam of Apex.

According to the Wilmington Star-News, hundreds gathered in the city last weekend for a rally opposing the bill.

The film council says there are currently three projects shooting in the Wilmington area and five in and around Charlotte. Syrett called Charlotte ?an emerging market? for film production.

At a meeting of the film council this week, vice chair E.A. Tod Thorne of Charlotte said a film producer who had planned to shoot in Charlotte was considering filming in Georgia because of the bill.

In a statement, Twentieth Century Fox Television, which produces ?Homeland,? said the proposed changes would be ?devastating? for the series, which is about to start filming its third season.

?We?ve grown to love the talent community (in Charlotte) and many of our key personnel have now made Charlotte their permanent home,? the statement said.

?We fear that reductions in, or elimination of, the state?s film incentives could have a devastating impact on our ability to continue to produce the show at the level of quality our viewers have come to expect.?

Source: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/04/24/4001945/filmmakers-fight-bill-to-end-subsidies.html

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