UberX in LA: It's Illegal. It's Great. It Needs to Stop.

Despite the fact that it's currently banned in Los Angeles, UberX is defiantly still up and running. I used it for the first time this weekend. This so-called ride-sharing service from San Francisco-based Uber Technologies is supposedly the future of cabs. Much like similar services Lyft and Sidecar, UberX seeks to "disrupt" the taxi industry by using average people with a car (and without a taxi license) to shuttle others around. But it's pretty clear that they shouldn't be allowed to.

Using UberX was easy, affordable and pretty convenient. My driver was very nice, and I never felt in danger during my 11 minute, 53 second trip (the emailed receipt has stats) in what was essentially a random neighbor's Toyota Corolla. But that doesn't change the fact that Uber's ride-share service?which is currently operating in Los Angeles in defiance of the city's cease-and-desist order?should be shut down immediately.

I've lived without a car in Los Angeles for about two years now. Months ago, one of my brothers in Chicago emailed me a $10 credit for Uber. He and my other brother both swear by their black car service, and use it all the time. Neither of my two brothers in Chicago have cars and they both really can't say enough nice things about the service. But they've only ever used Uber's black car service, which (as far as we know) only uses city-licensed cars. Uber's ride-share service isn't available in Chicago.

So, when I found that I didn't have any singles for the bus, I decided to try out Uber with a little help from my brother's $10 credit. When my driver arrived (within 7 minutes of my hailing it through the app) my experience with Uber was almost immediately awkward. I approached the passenger side door of the Toyota Corolla and saw a plaid shirt on the front seat along with an orange on the floor. Was I supposed to sit in the back? That seems a bit... strange for a ride-share app, even if it was trying to emulate the full livery cab experience. My driver saw me opening the front passenger side door and kindly chucked the shirt in the backseat.

Aside from the initial awkwardness of the experience, everything else went more or less smoothly. Like I said, my driver was really nice. He looked like he was maybe in his mid-30s and told me that he drove for Uber part-time on the weekends to supplement his day-job at an auto body shop. Uber takes a 20% cut of every ride, he told me, and he drives about 10-15 people per day. I asked if he'd picked up any weirdos. Just drunk people, he said, but no one really creepy or anything. His friends who were cabbies weren't too happy about his part-time job. We shared a laugh about the obviousness of that statement.

And honestly, I'm not a huge fan of the taxi system in Los Angeles. It's virtually impossible to hail a cab on the street, unless you can find a hotel nearby. And unless my destination is the airport, cabbies in L.A. never know where anything is by memory; I'm almost always looking up directions (or at the very least an address) for them on my phone. But Uber doesn't really solve any of these problems with their disruption of the industry. The first thing my UberX driver asked me when I got in the cab was where I wanted to go. Wasn't this part of the process that should be automated with an app?

Those are just personal inconveniences, though. The real problem with UberX, and why it shouldn't be allowed to operate, is that its lack of oversight is cause for serious concern. When it comes to regulation, I tend to favor explicit consumer information as a bare-bones pre-requisite for putting a product or service into the world. Right now, Uber makes only sparse information available to the average consumer, even on their website.

Do you know what it does say there? "UberX: The convenience of Uber at a lower price with mid-range cars in a variety of colors. Seats up to 4 people." No mention of the fact that this is an unlicensed taxi in every sense of the concept. No mention that your driver will not be licensed by the city and will pull up in a car indistinguishable from any other on the road. These facts don't have to matter to you personally, but they probably should be considered when we're talking about issues of public safety.

I was never worried about my well-being during my UberX ride. I'm a large, white male, and I was traveling during daytime hours on relatively active streets. For me, using UberX was merely socially awkward. But we live in a world in which 1 in 5 American women have experienced sexual violence, where physical danger and robberies are all too common. Getting in an UberX car, for most people, becomes a complex mental equation about whether they trust the driver of this random Toyota Corolla?and by extension, whether they trust Uber.

Unfortunately, Uber gives us no reason to. I spent a large part of my morning going back and forth with the company trying to get the barest of details about what kind of training and screening UberX drivers in Los Angeles go through. Every response to my questions was boilerplate non-answer bullshit, wherein they tried to hang their hat on a temporary operating agreement with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). Specific questions about their screening process went unanswered in the name of protecting trade secrets.

Giz: How many drivers have applied to drive in L.A. since you started in the city and how many have been rejected after not passing the background check and/or training?

Uber: Thousands have applied but we don't release specific numbers. We're committed to providing the safest most reliable service possible and our rejection process reflects that.

Giz: My driver yesterday said that his background check and training occurred at an office in Santa Monica. Is that the only such location in Southern California? Is that conducted by in-house Uber staff or do you bring in outside firms to conduct training? How long are these training sessions and could you explain what's involved?

Uber: We have several offices in Southern California and our training is carried out by Uber staff. The interviewing and training processes are intense and rigorous but we don't share the exact recipe for the secret Uber sauce.

Secret Uber sauce, indeed.

Uber wants to have it both ways. They distance themselves from the drivers, saying that "We don't employee [note: I think they mean employ] any of the drivers, or own the cars." But they also understand that they have to give consumers some amount of confidence in their product by using background checks (which is part of their temporary agreement with CPUC) and stressing in however vague terms that they do their own inspection of vehicles.

I spoke over the phone with Christopher Chow at the California Public Utilities Commission and he told me that they can expect a new decision at the state level on ride-sharing regulation either next week or later this month. Uber in Los Angeles is clearly biding their time in defiance of the city's cease and desist, deferring the move to comply with L.A. until this state decision is handed down.

Uber has met resistance at every turn, but not all of it exists simply to protect legacy business models. Objection to neoliberal fantasies around "disruption" and the free market isn't very trendy in Silicon Valley at the moment. But let's push these unlicensed cabs out of existence. It's better to put disruption in harm's way than ourselves.

Photo: Downtown Los Angeles by Matt Novak

Source: http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/uberx-in-la-its-illegal-its-great-it-needs-to-stop-626060445

avengers soa

New understanding of tiny RNA molecules could have far-ranging medical applications

Public release date: 30-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Mika Ono
mikaono@scripps.edu
858-784-2052
Scripps Research Institute

LA JOLLA, CA June 30, 2013 A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has identified a family of tiny RNA molecules that work as powerful regulators of the immune response in mammals. Mice who lack these RNA molecules lose their normal infection-fighting ability, whereas mice that overproduce them develop a fatal autoimmune syndrome.

"This finding gives us insights into immune regulation that could be very helpful in a range of medical applications, from viral vaccines to treatments for autoimmune diseases," said Changchun Xiao, assistant professor in TSRI's Department of Immunology and Microbial Science and senior investigator for the study, which appears in the June 30, 2013 issue of Nature Immunology.

Unraveling a Crucial Process

The finding concerns a key interaction between T cells and B cells, the allied lymphocyte armies that make up most of the adaptive immune system of mammals. B cells, which produce antibodies, usually lie in wait for pathogens in special zones called follicles within lymph nodes and the spleen. But to start proliferating normally and pumping out antibodies to fight an infection, these B cells have to be assisted, in effect, by T cells known as "follicular helper" T cells (TFH cells). "The TFH cells have to migrate into the B cell follicles and physically contact the B cells in order to provide help to them," said Xiao. "However, the molecular pathways that control TFH cell differentiation and migration have not been well understood."

In 2009, other researchers proposed that this crucial process requires the suppression of the miR-17~92 family of RNA molecules. These are among the thousands of short RNA molecules (often known as micro-RNAs, miRs, or miRNAs) that are made by mammalian cells and are meant to do their jobs while in RNA form. Typically an miRNA works inside the cell as a basic regulator or "dimmer switch" for the activity of tens to hundreds of genesit binds to transcripts of those genes and slows down their translation into proteins.

Xiao, who had been studying the miR-17~92 family since 2005, decided to examine their role in TFH differentiation. His team began by measuring the levels of these miRNAs in young, "nave" T cells and in the TFH cells to which these T cells gave birth after exposure to foreign antigens.

Surprising Finding

To the researchers' surprise, the miR-17~92s showed the opposite pattern of expression than expected: their levels jumped as the nave T cells began differentiating into TFH cells, but fell back by the time the process was finished. The finding suggested that, far from acting as a brake on TFH differentiation, miR-17~92s work as enablers of the process.

To confirm their suspicion, team members developed mutant mouse lines in which some or all of the miR-17~92 miRNAs were knocked out of T cells. These miR-17~92-deficient T cells turned out to be much less able to differentiate into TFH cells. As a result, the follicle-dwelling B cells that depend on TFH assistance also lost much of their ability to respond to an immune challenge. "These mutant mice showed a deficient antibody response to a standard immune-provoking protein," said Seung Goo Kang, a postdoctoral research associate in the Xiao laboratory who was the leading author of the study.

Collaborating TSRI scientists led by John Teijaro, a senior research associate in the laboratory of Michael B. A. Oldstone, professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbial Science, showed further that these transgenic miceunlike ordinary lab micecould not clear a chronic virus infection that is used as a standard challenge in immunological experiments.

By contrast, when the team raised transgenic mice whose T cells produced four to six times the normal amount of miR-17~92s, these T cells differentiated into TFH cells spontaneouslythat is, without an immune-stimulating inoculation.

These mice developed antibody responses to their own tissues, and died young, with swollen spleen and lymph nodes. "The accumulation of autoantibodies is also seen in lupus and other autoimmune diseases in humans," said Wen-Hsien Liu, another postdoctoral research associate in the Xiao laboratory and a co-first author of the paper.

Important Targets

Liu and Kang were able to track down a key target gene of miR-17~92s, which the miRNAs suppress to enable TFH cell differentiation. The targeted gene codes for Phlpp2, a recently discovered signaling inhibitor. "Lowering Phlpp2 protein levels in our miR-17~92-knockout T cells restored much of their ability to become TFH cells," Kang said.

"Phlpp2 is one important target, but we believe there are others too, and we are now looking for those," Xiao said. He and his colleagues also plan to investigate methods for manipulating miR-17~92s and their TFH cell-related pathways, in order to boost antibody responses to vaccines for exampleor alternatively to lower autoantibody productions in people with autoimmune diseases.

###

The study, "miR-17~92 family microRNAs are critical regulators of T follicular helper cell differentiation," was a collaboration that also involved the laboratory of Hai Qi at Tsinghua University in Beijing and the laboratory of Eric Verdin at the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology at the University of California, San Francisco. A co-first author of the study was Peiwen Lu of the Qi laboratory; other co-authors were Hyung W. Lim of the Verdin laboratory, Daniel Fremgen of the Oldstone laboratory and Hyun Yong Jin and Jovan Shepherd of the Xiao laboratory.

The study was funded by the PEW Charitable Trusts, the Cancer Research Institute, the Lupus Research Institute, the American Heart Association (grant 11POST7430106 ), the National Institutes of Health (R01AI019484 and R01AI087634) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81161120405).

---

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?

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.

Public release date: 30-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Mika Ono
mikaono@scripps.edu
858-784-2052
Scripps Research Institute

LA JOLLA, CA June 30, 2013 A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has identified a family of tiny RNA molecules that work as powerful regulators of the immune response in mammals. Mice who lack these RNA molecules lose their normal infection-fighting ability, whereas mice that overproduce them develop a fatal autoimmune syndrome.

"This finding gives us insights into immune regulation that could be very helpful in a range of medical applications, from viral vaccines to treatments for autoimmune diseases," said Changchun Xiao, assistant professor in TSRI's Department of Immunology and Microbial Science and senior investigator for the study, which appears in the June 30, 2013 issue of Nature Immunology.

Unraveling a Crucial Process

The finding concerns a key interaction between T cells and B cells, the allied lymphocyte armies that make up most of the adaptive immune system of mammals. B cells, which produce antibodies, usually lie in wait for pathogens in special zones called follicles within lymph nodes and the spleen. But to start proliferating normally and pumping out antibodies to fight an infection, these B cells have to be assisted, in effect, by T cells known as "follicular helper" T cells (TFH cells). "The TFH cells have to migrate into the B cell follicles and physically contact the B cells in order to provide help to them," said Xiao. "However, the molecular pathways that control TFH cell differentiation and migration have not been well understood."

In 2009, other researchers proposed that this crucial process requires the suppression of the miR-17~92 family of RNA molecules. These are among the thousands of short RNA molecules (often known as micro-RNAs, miRs, or miRNAs) that are made by mammalian cells and are meant to do their jobs while in RNA form. Typically an miRNA works inside the cell as a basic regulator or "dimmer switch" for the activity of tens to hundreds of genesit binds to transcripts of those genes and slows down their translation into proteins.

Xiao, who had been studying the miR-17~92 family since 2005, decided to examine their role in TFH differentiation. His team began by measuring the levels of these miRNAs in young, "nave" T cells and in the TFH cells to which these T cells gave birth after exposure to foreign antigens.

Surprising Finding

To the researchers' surprise, the miR-17~92s showed the opposite pattern of expression than expected: their levels jumped as the nave T cells began differentiating into TFH cells, but fell back by the time the process was finished. The finding suggested that, far from acting as a brake on TFH differentiation, miR-17~92s work as enablers of the process.

To confirm their suspicion, team members developed mutant mouse lines in which some or all of the miR-17~92 miRNAs were knocked out of T cells. These miR-17~92-deficient T cells turned out to be much less able to differentiate into TFH cells. As a result, the follicle-dwelling B cells that depend on TFH assistance also lost much of their ability to respond to an immune challenge. "These mutant mice showed a deficient antibody response to a standard immune-provoking protein," said Seung Goo Kang, a postdoctoral research associate in the Xiao laboratory who was the leading author of the study.

Collaborating TSRI scientists led by John Teijaro, a senior research associate in the laboratory of Michael B. A. Oldstone, professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbial Science, showed further that these transgenic miceunlike ordinary lab micecould not clear a chronic virus infection that is used as a standard challenge in immunological experiments.

By contrast, when the team raised transgenic mice whose T cells produced four to six times the normal amount of miR-17~92s, these T cells differentiated into TFH cells spontaneouslythat is, without an immune-stimulating inoculation.

These mice developed antibody responses to their own tissues, and died young, with swollen spleen and lymph nodes. "The accumulation of autoantibodies is also seen in lupus and other autoimmune diseases in humans," said Wen-Hsien Liu, another postdoctoral research associate in the Xiao laboratory and a co-first author of the paper.

Important Targets

Liu and Kang were able to track down a key target gene of miR-17~92s, which the miRNAs suppress to enable TFH cell differentiation. The targeted gene codes for Phlpp2, a recently discovered signaling inhibitor. "Lowering Phlpp2 protein levels in our miR-17~92-knockout T cells restored much of their ability to become TFH cells," Kang said.

"Phlpp2 is one important target, but we believe there are others too, and we are now looking for those," Xiao said. He and his colleagues also plan to investigate methods for manipulating miR-17~92s and their TFH cell-related pathways, in order to boost antibody responses to vaccines for exampleor alternatively to lower autoantibody productions in people with autoimmune diseases.

###

The study, "miR-17~92 family microRNAs are critical regulators of T follicular helper cell differentiation," was a collaboration that also involved the laboratory of Hai Qi at Tsinghua University in Beijing and the laboratory of Eric Verdin at the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology at the University of California, San Francisco. A co-first author of the study was Peiwen Lu of the Qi laboratory; other co-authors were Hyung W. Lim of the Verdin laboratory, Daniel Fremgen of the Oldstone laboratory and Hyun Yong Jin and Jovan Shepherd of the Xiao laboratory.

The study was funded by the PEW Charitable Trusts, the Cancer Research Institute, the Lupus Research Institute, the American Heart Association (grant 11POST7430106 ), the National Institutes of Health (R01AI019484 and R01AI087634) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81161120405).

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

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

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/sri-nuo062613.php

Diwali elmo

Justice Kennedy denies motion to halt gay marriage

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy has denied a request from Proposition 8 supporters in California to halt the issuance of same-sex marriage licenses in the nation's most populous state.

Kennedy turned away the request on Sunday with no additional comment.

Same-sex marriage opponents asked him to step in on Saturday, a day after the federal appeals court in San Francisco allowed same-sex marriages to go forward. Numerous weddings were performed at San Francisco City Hall following the court decisions.

The opponents said the appeals court had acted about three weeks too soon. Proposition 8 supporters could continue their efforts to halt gay marriage by filing their request with another Supreme Court justice.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-06-30-Gay%20Marriage-California-Motion/id-7ad3b9958a474ea38d8ad812af94dd49

usher James Holmes

Combo Crew (for Android)

Combo Crew, the latest Android title from developer The Game Bakers, aims to eliminate one of the problems inherent to mobile action games: poor touch screen controls. Instead of requiring gamers to continuously jam their digits onto a glass screen, Combo Crew maps punches, kicks, and super moves to swipes?a far superior way to interact with a touchscreen interface. While it's easy to unleash moves in this arena-style 2D brawler, design elements intended to streamline the controls remove the challenge and the need for move set mastery.

Welcome to the Jungle
Combo Crew opens with a generic backstory that plays out as a pseudo-parody of games of this type: Mr. Boss invites Gina (a Hair-Fu practitioner), Dolph (an action movie star), and Parker (a video game junkie) to his Boss Tower for dinner?but it's a trap! The baddie simply wants to challenge and defeat the best fighters in order to stroke his ego.

Although Combo Crew introduces you to three cutesy protagonists, only Gina and Parker are available for fisticuffs duty right away; you unlock Dolph after you've fought a few matches and earned 20 in-game credits (that's right, in-game currency?no cash needed). A fourth character, Sammo, is also a 20-credit buy.

Each brawler starts with four attacks?a mix of regular blows, guard breakers, and crow ground attacks. New moves are unlocked as you complete chapters, while other moves are unlocked after successfully completing missions in Combo Crew mode (a series of fight-based challenges). Once new moves are acquired, you can use them to replace the old ones if you'd like, but you can only carry four attacks at a time. Spending credits in the Shop lets you purchase Boosts (temporary power-ups such as a health-replenishing burger) or Perks (permanent character improvements such as a greater damage output).

Fight Club
Swipe-based inputs are how you unleash your fury onto Mr. Boss' foot soldiers. Swiping up, down, left, or right executes basic attacks, but there are advanced methods, too. Tapping the screen, holding, and then swiping toward an enemy delivers a guard breaker that crumbles a block defense. Swiping with two fingers uncorks impressive auto-combos that string multiple hits together without any further input. When your super-meter is full, tapping the super-attack icon lets you bust out a flurry of hard-hitting moves. There's a surprisingly amount of depth to the combat system: you can even do air juggles and knockdown attacks. Your combos are tallied as you land blows, and the music gets remixed on the fly as the total grows.

The simplified combat works well and the hits are quite satisfying, but there are some associated tradeoffs. You don't actually move your opponent; swiping causes your character to dash toward a foe and attack. You can't rely on positioning to set up attacks/dodges as you can with classic beat 'em ups like Double Dragon or River City Ransom. If you want to avoid an attack, you must swipe attack when an exclamation point appears over an enemy's head to perform a counter. The streamlined controls also result in button-mashing as a viable combat scheme, which removes the challenge.

Combo Crew is a solo experience, but there is an unusual (and creative) asynchronous co-op element. Suppose a bad guy gives you the business and whittles your health down to zero. Instead enduring a game over, you can ask a Combo Crew-playing friend to remotely take over your game. Your buddy has the opportunity to finish up your mess, and if s/he beats the round, your friend's score is converted into health for your character. When your fighter's health gauge is filled, any remaining points are added to your score.

Knuckle Up
Combo Crew is an entertaining diversion that should scratch genre fans' beat 'em up itch. It's cute, colorful, and had a surprisingly deep combat system. Still, you don't necessarily need to learn it; button-mashing can get the job done, too. What makes Combo Crew work, the simple control scheme, also works against it. Still, those who want to punch a few grunts in the face will find a lot to like.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/ctQKZOPkw8o/0,2817,2421192,00.asp

vincent jackson vicki gunvalson

Google, Microsoft slate spying bill

Internet, technology giants oppose proposed obligations in eavesdropping legislation.

Internet and software giants Google and Microsoft have slammed legislation that could see the Government try to force them to make their systems available for interception by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB).

Only network operators such as Telecom, Vodafone and 2degrees are obliged to make their networks available for eavesdropping by the GCSB, SIS and police.

The new Telecommunications (Interception Capability and Security) bill being considered by Parliament's law and order committee would allow the Government to place the same obligations on internet service companies such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft-owned Skype.

Google submitted that the bill would harm innovation to the detriment of New Zealand customers and would raise privacy issues.

While Google recognised interception tools were necessary, it was concerned the new obligations were broader than necessary.

The additional costs, time and challenges imposed "may discourage both local and international entities from making new service offerings in New Zealand. It could also lead to existing providers exiting the New Zealand market or reducing their offerings", Google submitted.

Google also warned that the bill would require global internet companies based outside New Zealand to undertake interception, "even if doing so would conflict with those companies' legal obligations in their home jurisdiction".

It said ministers should only be able to impose interception obligations on internet service companies "following the transparency of a parliamentary process" rather than a simple ministerial direction which the bill allows for. That ministerial direction and other processes under the bill lacked transparency and "would likely raise public fears of unjustified intrusion into their privacy", Google said.

Microsoft also said the bill could result in obligations being placed on overseas-based internet companies that may "conflict with pre-existing obligations that they have under overseas laws".

The committee's consideration of submissions continues this week while the security and intelligence committee is to hear submissions on the GCSB bill from tomorrow.

Bugging bill

Only network operators such as Telecom, Vodafone and 2degrees are obliged to make their networks available for eavesdropping by the GCSB, SIS and police.

The new bill being considered would allow the Government to place the same obligations on internet service companies.

By Adam Bennett Email Adam

Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10893987&ref=rss

andy williams Lady Gaga

Rare giant catfish faces new threat in Southeast Asia's Mekong

Laos' controversial Xayaburi dam could bring the Giant Catfish to extinction, as well as devastate the Mekong River's other fisheries. The challenge: How to build a dam that allows a 600-pound fish to swim up stream?

By Elizabeth Barber,?Contributor / June 22, 2013

Two Thai fishermen show a 293-kilogram (646-pound) giant catfish they caught from the Mekong River in Chiang Khong district of Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand in 2005.

Suthep Kritsanavarin/AP

Enlarge

The Giant Catfish is an enormous fish with thin, down-turned lips that give it a lonely look. And such a "mournful" visage is not unwarranted.

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Already one of the most endangered fish in the world, a new study has found that a dam underway in Laos could push it to extinction.?

So rare that it is nearly a legend of the Mekong River?s depths, the Giant Catfish belongs to the?shark catfish family and reach upwards of 600 pounds and some 10 feet in length. The brobdingnagian?fish has dwindled in number an estimated 90 percent over the past 20 years ???possibly to just a few hundred animals, though tracking the elusive fish is difficult. It is now found only in the lower Mekong, which runs like a mud-colored vein carrying the economic lifeblood of Southeast Asia through Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. In recent years, though, progress had been made in rescuing Giant Catfish fish from extinction, as those five countries introduced new protections that banned fishing it.

Now, Laos's controversial Xayaburi dam threatens to undo that.

?The Giant Catfish is endangered, but there?s still a chance for it, and all the countries involved have gotten on board to restrict fishing ? but just when we solved one problem we?re now facing this new one,? says Zeb Hogan, the?study?s author and associate research professor at the University of Nevada,?in a telephone interview.

The Xayabari, the first dam in the lower Mekong, will if finished block the Giant Catfish from making its lifecycle migration from the floodplain rearing areas to upstream spawning sites in northern Laos and Thailand, the study said. The dam could also alter Mekong flows, disrupting the natural cues the fish needs to spawn.

This is not the first warning that the Xayabari project could mean the end for the Giant Catfish. Two years ago, the Mekong River Commission???an advisory body established in 1995 as part of an agreement between five Southeast Asian countries on the development of the Mekong ??convened a panel of experts who concluded that the dam would obstruct the migrations of some 23 to 100 species of fish, including the Great Catfish. The panel recommended a 10-year hold on the Xayaburi project, pending more information on how the dam would affect the river?s ecology.

"The gaps in knowledge on the number of migratory fish species, their biomass and their ability to successfully pass a dam and reservoir leads to considerable uncertainty about the scale of impact on fisheries and associated livelihoods, both locally and in a transboundary context," the report said.

But in November 2012, Laos officially began what is expected to be seven years of construction of the Xayabari dam, the first in several controversial dams planned for the lower Mekong.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/CCrYxnsRm6U/Rare-giant-catfish-faces-new-threat-in-Southeast-Asia-s-Mekong

dan marino godaddy

Reading DNA, backward and forward: Biologists reveal how cells control the direction in which the genome is read

June 24, 2013 ? MIT biologists have discovered a mechanism that allows cells to read their own DNA in the correct direction and prevents them from copying most of the so-called "junk DNA" that makes up long stretches of our genome.

Only about 15 percent of the human genome consists of protein-coding genes, but in recent years scientists have found that a surprising amount of the junk, or intergenic DNA, does get copied into RNA -- the molecule that carries DNA's messages to the rest of the cell.

Scientists have been trying to figure out just what this RNA might be doing, if anything. In 2008, MIT researchers led by Institute Professor Phillip Sharp discovered that much of this RNA is generated through a process called divergent expression, through which cells read their DNA in both directions moving away from a given starting point.

In a new paper appearing in Nature on June 23, Sharp and colleagues describe how cells initiate but then halt the copying of RNA in the upstream, or non-protein-coding direction, while allowing it to continue in the direction in which genes are correctly read. The finding helps to explain the existence of many recently discovered types of short strands of RNA whose function is unknown.

"This is part of an RNA revolution where we're seeing different RNAs and new RNAs that we hadn't suspected were present in cells, and trying to understand what role they have in the health of the cell or the viability of the cell," says Sharp, who is a member of MIT's Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. "It gives us a whole new appreciation of the balance of the fundamental processes that allow cells to function."

Graduate students Albert Almada and Xuebing Wu are the lead authors of the paper. Christopher Burge, a professor of biology and biological engineering, and undergraduate Andrea Kriz are also authors.

Choosing direction

DNA, which is housed within the nucleus of cells, controls cellular activity by coding for the production of RNAs and proteins. To exert this control, the genetic information encoded by DNA must first be copied, or transcribed, into messenger RNA (mRNA).

When the DNA double helix unwinds to reveal its genetic messages, RNA transcription can proceed in either direction. To initiate this copying, an enzyme called RNA polymerase latches on to the DNA at a spot known as the promoter. The RNA polymerase then moves along the strand, building the mRNA chain as it goes.

When the RNA polymerase reaches a stop signal at the end of a gene, it halts transcription and adds to the mRNA a sequence of bases known as a poly-A tail, which consists of a long string of the genetic base adenine. This process, known as polyadenylation, helps to prepare the mRNA molecule to be exported from the cell's nucleus.

By sequencing the mRNA transcripts of mouse embryonic stem cells, the researchers discovered that polyadenylation also plays a major role in halting the transcription of upstream, noncoding DNA sequences. They found that these regions have a high density of signal sequences for polyadenylation, which prompts enzymes to chop up the RNA before it gets very long. Stretches of DNA that code for genes have a low density of these signal sequences.

The researchers also found another factor that influences whether transcription is allowed to continue. It has been recently shown that when a cellular factor known as U1 snRNP binds to RNA, polyadenylation is suppressed. The new MIT study found that genes have a higher concentration of binding sites for U1 snRNP than noncoding sequences, allowing gene transcription to continue uninterrupted.

A widespread phenomenon

The function of all of this upstream noncoding RNA is still a subject of much investigation. "That transcriptional process could produce an RNA that has some function, or it could be a product of the nature of the biochemical reaction. This will be debated for a long time," Sharp says.

His lab is now exploring the relationship between this transcription process and the observation of large numbers of so-called long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). He plans to investigate the mechanisms that control the synthesis of such RNAs and try to determine their functions.

"Once you see some data like this, it raises many more questions to be investigated, which I'm hoping will lead us to deeper insights into how our cells carry out their normal functions and how they change in malignancy," Sharp says.

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/vK48xKSPdxQ/130624141412.htm

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Five years of stereo imaging for NASA's TWINS

June 24, 2013 ? Surrounding Earth is a dynamic region called the magnetosphere. The region is governed by magnetic and electric forces, incoming energy and material from the sun, and a vast zoo of waves and processes unlike what is normally experienced in Earth-bound physics. Nestled inside this constantly changing magnetic bubble lies a donut of charged particles generally aligned with Earth's equator. Known as the ring current, its waxing and waning is a crucial part of the space weather surrounding our planet, able to induce magnetic fluctuations on the ground as well as to transmit disruptive surface charges onto spacecraft.

On June 15, 2008, a new set of instruments began stereoscopic imaging of this mysterious region. Called Two Wide-angle Imaging Neutral-atom Spectrometers or TWINS, these satellites orbit in widely separated planes to provide the first and only stereo view of the ring current. TWINS maps the energetic neutral atoms that shoot away from the ring current when created by ion collisions.

In five years of operation, the TWINS maps have provided three-dimensional images and global characterization of this region. The observatories track how the magnetosphere responds to space weather storms, characterize global information such as temperature and shape of various structures within the magnetosphere, and improve models of the magnetosphere that can be used to simulate a vast array of events.

"With two satellites, with two sets of simultaneous images we can see things that are entirely new," said Mei-Ching Fok, the project scientist for TWINS at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "This is the first ever stereoscopic energetic neutral atom mission, and it's changed the way we understand the ring current."

Each spacecraft is in a highly elliptical orbit called a Molniya orbit, during which the spacecraft spend most of their time around 20,000 miles above Earth, where they get a great view of the magnetosphere. Initially launched for a two-year mission, TWINS was formally extended in 2010 for three more years, with another multi-year extension pending. Over that time, TWINS has worked hand in hand with other NASA missions that provide information about Earth's magnetosphere.

"We've done some fantastic new research in the last five years," said David McComas, the principal investigator for TWINS at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. "As a mission of opportunity, it is a very inexpensive mission and it continues to return incredible science."

TWINS science is based on two instruments that can track neutral atoms. The first is a neutral atom imager that records the atoms that naturally stream away when a neutral atom collides with an ion. This allows the instrument to map the original ions from far away -- as if it could see atoms the way we see light -- instead of only collecting data from the areas of space it passes through.

"Over the course of the last 20 years a completely new technique evolved so we can observe charged particles, such as those in the ring current, remotely," said McComas. "The charged particles sometimes collide with a slow-moving neutral particle, in this case from a population of neutrals from Earth's highly extended atmosphere, the geocorona."

When this happens, an electron hops from the slow neutral atom to the fast ion, so now the former becomes charged, and the latter neutral. That new neutral speeds off in a straight direction, unfazed by the magnetic field lines around Earth that guide and control the motion of charged particles. TWINS collects such fast neutral particles and from that data scientists can work backward to map out the location and movement of the original ions.

The other instrument on TWINS is a Lyman alpha detector, which can measure the density of hydrogen from afar, and in this case observes the hydrogen cloud around Earth, the geocorona.

Most importantly, these instruments exist on both of the TWINS spacecraft. Much of the successful research in the last five years relies on the ability to watch these neutrals from two viewpoints, allowing scientists to analyze not only speed and number of particles, but also to determine the angles at which the particles left their original collisions. The stereo vision contributed to the detailed perspectives on how the magnetosphere reacts to space weather storms: both those due to the impact of a coronal mass ejection that traveled from the sun toward Earth and due to an incoming twist in the solar wind known as a co-rotating interaction region. TWINS has also revealed that the pitch angle at which the ions travel around Earth is different on each side of the planet. Such information helps scientists determine whether the ions are more likely to escape from the ring current out into space or to ultimately funnel down toward Earth.

"TWINS is a stereo mission, providing the first observations of the neutral atoms from two vantage points, but two spacecraft give us another advantage," said Natalia Buzulukova, a magnetospheric scientist at Goddard who works with TWINS data. "Two spacecraft provide continuous coverage of the ring current, as one set of instruments always has a view."

Because the spacecraft orbits are not in sync they provide stereoscopic imaging for a few hours each day, but there is always at least one spacecraft keeping tabs on how events are unfolding. Prior to TWINS, a spacecraft might see a tantalizing process taking place in the ring current for only a short while before its orbit took it out of view. The event might well have finished before the spacecraft came back around for its second look.

Such continuity has proved useful to determine what governs whether particles in the ring current will precipitate downward toward Earth as well as to provide a global temperature map of the magnetic tail trailing behind Earth, the magnetotail. Such a map had only ever previously been inferred from models and statistical analysis, never from a comprehensive data set of what was actually observed.

The Lyman-alpha instrument has been used in two ways. For one thing, it quantifies the geocorona in order to better understand how it affects the collisions in the ring current. It also has taught us more about the geocorona itself. Previously, researchers believed it to be a fairly simple sphere around Earth. The two TWINS instruments have shown how asymmetric it is, changing with the solar cycle, seasons, and even the hours of the day.

A final important feature of this fire hose of TWINS data is how much it helps improve computer simulations of the ring current and the rest of the magnetosphere. With accurate computer models, scientists can better predict how the magnetosphere will react to any given space weather event.

"We get two really unique things with two spacecraft: stereo imaging and continuous coverage. Together the observations we get are fantastic," said McComas. "It's an incredibly powerful combination of tools."

TWINS is an Explorer Mission of Opportunity. Southwest Research Institute leads TWINS with teams of national and international partners. Goddard manages the Explorers Program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C.

For more information about TWINS science and mission, visit: http://science.nasa.gov/missions/twins/

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/Xky6buFd45M/130624141606.htm

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Pelosi's defense of NSA surveillance draws boos (The Arizona Republic)

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Lebanon clashes rage near mosque; 16 soldiers dead

Lebanese army soldiers stand while black smoke rises from a burning house that was attacked during clashes that erupted between followers of a radical Sunni cleric Sheik Ahmad al-Assir and Shiite gunmen in Sidon, Lebanon, Monday, June 24, 2013. Lebanon's military forces battling followers of a hard-line Sunni Muslim cleric closed in Monday on the mosque where they are taking cover in the southern coastal city, the national news agency said. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Lebanese army soldiers stand while black smoke rises from a burning house that was attacked during clashes that erupted between followers of a radical Sunni cleric Sheik Ahmad al-Assir and Shiite gunmen in Sidon, Lebanon, Monday, June 24, 2013. Lebanon's military forces battling followers of a hard-line Sunni Muslim cleric closed in Monday on the mosque where they are taking cover in the southern coastal city, the national news agency said. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

An injured Lebanese army solder walks in Sidon, Lebanon, Monday, June 24, 2013. Lebanon's military forces battling followers of a hard-line Sunni Muslim cleric closed in Monday on the mosque where they are taking cover in the southern coastal city, the national news agency said. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A convoy of Lebanese army vehicles move toward the site of clashes between followers of a radical Sunni cleric Sheik Ahmad al-Assir and Shiite gunmen in Sidon, Lebanon, Monday, June 24, 2013. Lebanon's military forces battling followers of a hard-line Sunni Muslim cleric closed in Monday on the mosque where they are taking cover in the southern coastal city, the national news agency said. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Lebanese Army soldiers monitor during clashes that erupted between followers of a radical Sunni cleric Sheik Ahmad al-Assir and Shiite gunmen in Sidon, Lebanon, Monday, June 24, 2013. Lebanon's military forces battling followers of a hard-line Sunni Muslim cleric closed in Monday on the mosque where they are taking cover in the southern coastal city, the national news agency said. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Lebanese army soldiers stand while black smoke rises from a burning house that was attacked during clashes that erupted between followers of a radical Sunni cleric Sheik Ahmad al-Assir and Shiite gunmen in Sidon, Lebanon, Monday, June 24, 2013. Lebanon's military forces battling followers of a hard-line Sunni Muslim cleric closed in Monday on the mosque where they are taking cover in the southern coastal city, the national news agency said. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

BEIRUT (AP) ? Lebanese troops battled heavily armed followers of a hard-line Sunni cleric holed up in a mosque complex in a southern port city on Monday, the second day of fighting that has left at least 16 soldiers dead, the military said.

The clashes in Sidon, Lebanon's third-largest city, are the latest bout of violence in Lebanon linked to the conflict in neighboring Syria.

They are the bloodiest yet involving the army and are seen as a test for the state in containing extremist armed groups that have taken up the cause of the warring sides in Syria. The civil war next door has been bleeding into Lebanon, following similar sectarian lines of Sunni and Shiite camps.

The fierce fight that the followers of Sheik Ahmad al-Assir were putting up showed how aggressive Sunni extremists have grown in Lebanon, building on anger not only at Syria's regime but also its Shiite allies in Lebanon, Hezbollah. The two days of fighting have transformed Sidon, which had been largely spared the violence plaguing border areas near Syria, into a combat zone.

The 45-year-old, bespectacled and long-bearded al-Assir is a virulent critic of Hezbollah. He has been agitating for months, demanding Hezbollah disarm and accusing the army of inaction in the face of the group's growing involvement in Syria on the side of President Bashar Assad.

The maverick cleric was little known until few years ago and his growing following was a symptom of the deep frustration among Sunnis who resent the Hezbollah-led Shiite ascendancy to power in Lebanon. Hezbollah and its allies dominate Lebanon's government.

The clashes in predominantly Sunni Sidon, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Beirut, left 50 wounded on Monday, the National News Agency said. At least two military officers were among those killed. Hospital officials said at least three of al-Assir's supporters died in the fighting.

Machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled grenade explosions caused panic among residents, who also reported power and water outages.

The city streets appeared largely deserted Monday. Local media reported many residents were asking for evacuation from the heavily populated neighborhood around the Bilal bin Rabbah Mosque where al-Assir preaches, and where the fighting has been concentrated.

The military in a statement said the gunmen were using the religious compound to fire on its troops and had taken civilians as shields. The clashes erupted Sunday in the predominantly Sunni city after troops arrested an al-Assir follower. The army says supporters of the cleric opened fire without provocation on an army checkpoint.

The local municipality said that the city is "a war zone," appealing for a cease-fire to evacuate the civilians and wounded in the area.

Many people living on upper floors moved downstairs for cover or fled to safer areas. Some were seen carrying children as they fled. Others remained locked in their homes or shops, fearing getting caught in the crossfire. Gray smoke billowed over parts of the city.

The military appealed to the gunmen to hand themselves in, vowing it will "continue to uproot the strife and will not stop its operations until security is totally restored."

Hezbollah appeared to be staying largely out of the ongoing clashes, though a few of its supporters in the city were briefly drawn into the fight Sunday, firing on al-Assir's supporters. At least one was killed, according to his relatives in the city who spoke anonymously out of concerns for their security.

Last week, al-Assir supporters fought with pro-Hezbollah gunmen, leaving two killed.

Hezbollah issued a statement condemning "the crimes committed by al-Assir and his gang" and declared its solidarity with the military institution, calling on all Lebanese to rally around the national army.

Early Monday, al-Assir on his Twitter account appealed to his supporters in other parts of Lebanon to rise to his help, threatening to widen the scale of clashes.

The tweets did not give a clear statement on how the battle began. It came after a series of incidents pitting the cleric's followers against other groups in the town, including Hezbollah supporters and the army.

The cleric is believed to have hundreds of armed supporters in Sidon involved in the fighting. Dozens of al-Assir's gunmen also partially shut down the main highway linking south Lebanon with Beirut. On Monday, they opened fire in other parts of the city, with local media reporting gunshots in the city's market.

Fighting also broke out in parts of Ein el-Hilweh, a teeming Palestinian refugee camp near Sidon, where al-Assir has supporters. Islamist factions inside the camp lobbed mortars at military checkpoints around the camp.

Tension also spread to the north in Tripoli, Lebanon's second largest city. Masked gunmen roamed the city center, firing in the air and forcing shops and businesses to shut down in solidarity with al-Assir. Dozens of gunmen also set fire to tires, blocking roads. The city's main streets were emptying out. There was no unusual military or security deployment.

Sectarian clashes in Lebanon tied to the Syrian conflict have intensified in recent weeks, especially after Hezbollah sent fighters to support Assad's forces. Most of the rebels fighting to topple Assad are from Syria's Sunni majority, while the President Bashar Assad belongs to the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

Walid al-Moallem, Syria's foreign minister, blamed the violence in Lebanon on the international decision to arm rebels, saying that it will only serve to prolong the fighting in Syria and will impact neighboring Lebanon.

"What is going in Sidon is very dangerous, very dangerous," he told reporters in Damascus. "We warned since the start that the impact of what happens in Syria on neighboring countries will be grave."

In Syria, activists reported fighting Monday between Syrian troops and rebels in the northern province of Aleppo as well as districts on the edge of the Syrian capital and its suburbs.

Clashes in Lebanon have also mostly pitted Sunni against Shiite. The most frequent outbreaks have involved rival neighborhoods in the northern port city of Tripoli, close to the Syrian border.

President Michel Suleiman called for an emergency security meeting later Monday.

Headlines of Lebanon's newspapers were all dominated by the violence in Sidon, with many seeing it as a test for the state to impose order. "An attempt to assassinate Sidon and the military," read the headline of the daily al-Safir. "Al-Assir crosses the red line," read another headline in al-Jomhouria daily. A third headline in al-Nahar read: "Yesterday war in Sidon. Today, decisiveness or settlement?"

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-06-24-Lebanon/id-3da9bc419bdc4599878c89a75d1cb639

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Egypt army says may act, urges political truce

By Shaimaa Fayed and Alastair Macdonald

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's army issued a sharp warning to rival political factions on Sunday that it may step in to impose order, as clashes ahead of major opposition rallies next weekend saw at least two men shot dead.

The statement by the head of the armed forces was a dramatic reminder of the independent power of the military in Egypt, a year after the generals handed authority to a civilian president - Mohamed Mursi, an Islamist who won the country's first free elections following the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

In a move aimed at both sides in Egypt's polarized politics, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is also defense minister, stressed that the army was acting to protect the "will of the people" and urged politicians to forge a new national consensus.

A military source said fighting and aggressive rhetoric and damage to property in recent days had prompted the intervention.

Sisi met Mursi for what an army spokesman described as a "routine" consultation on Sunday.

Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood turned their organizational strength into political power but have struggled to manage an economy in crisis or build a broad base of support that is accepted by liberal and other non-Islamist groups.

That polarization has driven a campaign to hold massive opposition demonstrations next Sunday, June 30, calling for Mursi to resign. In turn, his Islamist supporters have taken to the streets in shows of strength, calling the opposition bad losers determined to overturn the results of the elections.

General Sisi, who was promoted into his present post by Mursi last year, said: "There is a state of division in society and the continuation of it is a danger to the Egyptian state and there must be consensus among all.

"The will of the Egyptian nation is what governs us and we protect it with honor, and we are completely responsible for protecting it," said Sisi.

"We cannot permit a violation of the will of the people."

While Islamists point to the legitimacy of their electoral power, opponents accuse the Brotherhood of betraying the Arab Spring revolution by seeking to entrench its power.

OUT OF CONTROL

Sisi said the armed forces would not stand by while Egypt descended into conflict and urged politicians to use the week remaining before June 30 to narrow their differences.

"Those who think that we are divorced from the dangers that threaten the Egyptian state are wrong," he said. "We will not remain silent as the country slips into a struggle that is hard to control."

Gamal Soltan, a political analyst, said the army may have been moved to act by aggressive statements from Mursi supporters at a major rally on Friday: "This is ... the strongest and the most explicit statement coming from a military official ... This is explicitly saying ... the armed forces will intervene.

"By making this statement, he is stepping closer to the centre stage of politics."

A spokesman for the opposition National Salvation Front, Khaled Dawoud, said: "These are very reasonable statements, and what is expected from Egypt's army.

"We are facing direct threats from supporters of President Mursi to spill blood if we exercise ... our democratic right to demand peacefully early presidential elections."

A spokesman for the Brotherhood's political party said it was studying the statement before making public comment.

Army spokesman Colonel Ahmed Ali told Reuters: "This was a supportive message that the army is sending to its people after the army noticed that worries about violence and internal conflict had spread among the people recently.

"The army, which belongs to the people, cannot stand by if such fears are realized, so the statement was meant to set out the army position, which is rooted in its national role - it cannot ignore anything that might threaten national security."

CLASHES, DEATHS

Two men, both Islamists, died as a result of clashes.

One was shot dead in overnight in the industrial city of Mahalla, north of Cairo, security sources said. A second man, died of gunshot wounds sustained in clashes at Fayoum south of the capital some days before.

The Muslim Brotherhood described both dead men as "martyrs".

Highlighting mutual mistrust as Egypt struggles to establish democratic institutions after its 2011 revolution, the Brotherhood also denounced as a "political trial" a court judgment on Sunday that called for an investigation of its role in a mass jail-break during the uprising against Hosni Mubarak.

Liberals and secular activists in the "Tamarud - Rebel!" campaign, accuse Islamists of intimidation. They say they have gathered 15 million signatures on a petition calling for Mursi to resign - more than the 13 million votes that elected him.

The Brotherhood and its Islamist allies staged a massive rally in support of Mursi in Cairo on Friday, at which some speakers warned of a violent response to efforts to remove him.

The Muslim Brotherhood said on Facebook on Sunday that Karim Abdel Ghani, a member of the Islamist Nour party, was shot dead in Mahalla by the "Tamarud militia". Nour said its office in Mahalla was also attacked.

The Brotherhood's political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), said it planned a funeral on Sunday for Mohamed Shalaqany, who it said was shot some days before by Tamarud "thugs" in Fayoum, a rural Islamist bastion south of Cairo.

"Their name is Tamarud but they are actually remnants of the old regime," Murad Ali, a senior FJP official, told Reuters.

Egyptian media gave extensive coverage on Sunday to a ruling by a judge in Ismailia who, in acquitting a man accused of fleeing a local jail during the 2011 uprising, asked the public prosecutor to investigate what he described as a "conspiracy" by the Brotherhood and foreign Islamists to open up the prison.

Among those freed was Mursi himself, who had been among hundreds of Brotherhood leaders rounded up as a precaution by Mubarak's security forces when the revolution began.

The freeing of Palestinian militants from Hamas and Lebanese members of the Shi'ite Hezbollah militia, among others, has prompted accusations from the Brotherhood's opponents that it connived with enemies of Egypt during the incident.

After the judgment, opponents of Mursi gathered outside the court, calling for his resignation.

(Additional reporting by Asma Alsharif, Tom Perry, Yasmine Saleh and Maggie Fick in Cairo; Writing by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Tom Perry)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/two-dead-egyptians-clash-ahead-rallies-142036312.html

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Jim Carrey Speaks Out Against His Film ?Kick-Ass 2??But Didn?t Mind Taking The Cash!

Jim Carrey Speaks Out Against His Film “Kick-Ass 2″…But Didn’t Mind Taking The Cash!

Jim Carrey appears to be losing his damn mind. The comedic actor, who starred in the film “Kick-Ass 2″ that will hit theaters this summer, now says he won’t be promoting the movie. The actor decided not to support the film, explaining he won’t support the violence following the Sandy Hook tragedy. Jim Carrey tweeted, ...

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Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/06/jim-carrey-speaks-out-against-his-film-kick-ass-2-but-didnt-mind-taking-the-cash/

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Documents show IRS also screened liberal groups

FILE - In this June 6, 2013 file photo, acting IRS commissioner Danny Werfel testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. Werfel unveils his plan to fix an agency besieged by scandal. President Barack Obama ordered Werfel to conduct a 30-day review of the IRS when he appointed him last month. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

FILE - In this June 6, 2013 file photo, acting IRS commissioner Danny Werfel testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. Werfel unveils his plan to fix an agency besieged by scandal. President Barack Obama ordered Werfel to conduct a 30-day review of the IRS when he appointed him last month. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Internal Revenue Service's screening of groups seeking tax-exempt status was broader and lasted longer than has been previously disclosed, the new head of the agency acknowledged Monday. Terms including "Israel," ''Progressive" and "Occupy" were used by agency workers to help pick groups for closer examination, according to an internal IRS document obtained by The Associated Press.

The IRS has been under fire since last month after admitting it targeted tea party and other conservative groups that wanted the tax-exempt designation for tough examinations. While investigators have said that agency screening for those groups had stopped in May 2012, Monday's revelations made it clear that screening for other kinds of organizations continued until earlier this month, when the agency's new chief, Danny Werfel, says he discovered it and ordered it halted.

The IRS document said an investigation into why specific terms were included was still underway. It blamed the continued use of inappropriate criteria by screeners on "a lapse in judgment" by the agency's former top officials. The document did not name the officials, but many top leaders have been replaced.

Neither the IRS document obtained by the AP or a separate IRS list of terms that workers searched for, released by House Democrats, addressed how many progressive groups received close scrutiny or how the agency treated their requests. Dozens of conservative groups saw their applications experience lengthy delays, and they received unusually intrusive questions about their donors and other details that agency officials have conceded were inappropriate.

In a conference call with reporters, Werfel said that after becoming acting IRS chief last month, he discovered varied and improper terms on the lists and said screeners were still using them. He did not specify what terms were on the lists, but said he suspended the use of all such lists immediately.

"There was a wide-ranging set of categories and cases that spanned a broad spectrum" on the lists, Werfel said. He added that his aides found those lists contained "inappropriate criteria that was in use."

Werfel ordered a halt in the use of spreadsheets listing the terms ? called BOLO lists for "be on the lookout for? on June 12 and formalized their suspension with a June 20 written order, according to the IRS document the AP obtained. Investigators have previously said that the lists evolved over time as screeners found new names and phrases to help them identify groups to examine.

Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee released one of the lists, dated November 2010, that the IRS has provided to congressional investigators. That 16-page document, with many parts blacked out, shows that the terms "Progressive" and "Tea Party" were both on that list, as well as "Medical Marijuana," ''occupied territory advocacy" and "Healthcare legislation."

Rep. Sander Levin of Michigan, top Democrat on the Ways and Means panel, said he was writing a letter to J. Russell George, the Treasury Department inspector general whose audit in May detailed IRS targeting of conservatives, asking why his report did not mention other groups that were targeted.

"The audit served as the basis and impetus for a wide range of congressional investigations and this new information shows that the foundation of those investigations is flawed in a fundamental way," Levin said.

Republicans said there was a distinction. A statement by the GOP staff of House Ways and Means said, "It is one thing to flag a group, it is quite another to repeatedly target and abuse conservative groups."

George's report criticized the IRS for using "inappropriate criteria" to identify tea party and other conservative groups. It did not mention more liberal organizations, but in response to questions from lawmakers at congressional hearings, George said he had recently found other lists that raised concerns about other "political factors" he did not specify.

Democratic staff on Ways and Means said in a press release that they had verified that of the 298 groups seeking tax-exempt status that George's audit had examined, some were liberal organizations ? something George's report did not mention.

Many organizations seeking tax-exempt designation were applying for so-called 501(c)(4) status, named for its section of the federal revenue code. IRS regulations allow that status for groups mostly involved in "social welfare" and that don't engage in election campaigns for or against candidates as their "primary" activity, and it is up to the IRS to judge whether applicants meet those vaguely defined requirements.

Werfel's remarks came as he released an 83-page examination he has conducted of his embattled agency. The conclusions, which Werfel cautioned are preliminary, have so far found there was "insufficient action" by IRS managers to prevent and disclose the problem involving the screening of certain groups, but no specific clues of misconduct.

"We have not found evidence of intentional wrongdoing by anyone in the IRS or involvement in these matters by anyone outside the IRS," he told reporters.

The report found no indication so far of improper screening beyond the IRS offices, mostly in Cincinnati, that examine groups seeking tax-exempt status.

Werfel's report describes several new procedures the agency is installing to prevent unfair treatment of taxpayers in the future. They include a fast-track process for groups seeking tax-exempt status that have yet to get a response from the IRS within 120 days of applying. He is also creating an Accountability Review Board, which within 60 days is supposed to recommend any additional personnel moves "to hold accountable those responsible" for the targeting of conservative groups, Werfel's report said.

The top five people in the agency responsible for the tax-exempt status of organizations have already been removed, including the former acting commissioner, Steven Miller, whom President Barack Obama replaced with Werfel.

"The IRS is committed to correcting its mistakes, holding individuals accountable as appropriate" and establishing new controls to reduce potential future problems, Werfel told reporters.

IRS screening of conservative groups had sparked investigations by three congressional committees, the Justice Department and a Treasury Department inspector general.

Werfel's comments and report drew negative reviews from one of the IRS's chief critics in Congress, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Issa said the review "fails to meaningfully answer the largest outstanding questions about inappropriate inquiries and indefensible delays. As investigations by Congress and the Justice Department are still ongoing, Mr. Werfel's assertion that he has found no evidence that anyone at IRS intentionally did anything wrong can only be called premature."

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., whose panel is also investigating the agency, said the IRS "still needs to provide clear answers to the most significant questions ? who started this practice, why was it allowed to continue for so long, and how widespread was it? This culture of political discrimination and intimidation goes far beyond basic management failure and personnel changes alone won't fix a broken IRS."

Werfel had promised to produce a report within a month of taking over the agency.

Werfel said he briefed Obama and Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew on the report earlier Monday.

Werfel, initially named the IRS's acting commissioner, is now the agency's deputy principal commissioner because federal law limits the time an agency can be led by an acting official.

___

Associated Press writers Stephen Ohlemacher and Henry C. Jackson contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-06-24-IRS-Political%20Groups/id-929bc76e707f4722b2956b6e3af3b6fe

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Vampire Weekend, Foster The People Steal Firefly Festival

Young bands' feel-good tunes bring smiles to rain-drenched crowd.
By Mary J. DiMeglio

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1709460/vampire-weekend-foster-people-firefly-festival.jhtml

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The New X-M1 Is Fujifilm's Cheapest Mirrorless Camera Yet

The rumored "entry-level" X-series interchangeable-lens camera from Fujifilm is real. The X-M1, features the same 16.3-megapixel APS-C sensor from the more-expensive X-Pro1 and X-E1 models.

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Hillary Clinton says she wants America to have a woman president. Surprised?

'I really do hope that we have a woman president in my lifetime,'?Hillary Rodham Clinton?said this week.?Was that a hint about her own possible candidacy?

By Mark Trumbull,?Staff writer / June 22, 2013

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton addresses the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) meeting in Chicago last week. Her speech was a broad-brush address heralding the power of women and talking education and opportunity.

Scott Eisen/AP

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She didn?t say she?s going to run for the White House in 2016. But, to many listeners, the latest words of Hillary Rodham Clinton certainly hint that it?s a strong possibility.

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?Let me say this, hypothetically speaking,? she said, ?I really do hope that we have a woman president in my lifetime.?

Members of the audience, at a women?s lecture series in Toronto, cheered.

To get beyond the ?hypothetical," a quick follow-up question: Isn?t it possible that, when voters get the opportunity to see a woman on the presidential ballot as a major contender, the initials of that nominee might be H.R.C.?

Answer: Yes, it looks very possible.

Mrs. Clinton currently gets a ?favorable? rating from 6 in 10 Americans, is widely known, and has been making moves you might expect of someone positioning herself for a presidential run.

After being Secretary of State, she?s bowed out of public service for President Obama?s second term. She?s showing her interest in domestic affairs by engaging in an initiative for early childhood education. Having been a strong contender for the Democratic nomination back in 2008, she knows a lot about campaigning.

Some other major democracies have had female chief executives, including people like Margaret Thatcher in Britain and, currently, Angela Merkel in Germany. For more than two centuries, America hasn?t broken that gender barrier.

?I think it would send exactly the right historic signal to girls and women, as well as boys and men,? Clinton told the Thursday crowd in Toronto. Video?footage of the comments, captured by an audience member, was posted on YouTube.com by the Associated Press Friday.

?It really depends on women stepping up and subjecting themselves to the political process,? Clinton added.

Quoting another former First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, Clinton said women need Rhinoceros-thick skins to be in politics.

She also said electing a woman would require a ?leap of faith? for US voters.

Some polls have found Americans saying they have no problem with the idea of a woman as president. A?Gallup poll?in 2006, for example, found 6 in 10 saying Americans are ?ready? for that.

Will Clinton herself ?step up? for the 2016 contest? We?ll see. Her popularity has ebbed and flowed over the years, but since early 2008 a majority of Americans have given her a favorable rating in Gallup polls.

She has lots of fans. But as she departed from her role as Secretary of State, Clinton?s aura of success in that job was tarnished by?controversy?over the State Department?s handling of events in Benghazi, Libya, in which Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed in a terrorist attack.

And she has long been a magnet for conservative criticism. On Thursday, the Republican group America Rising launched a?StopHillary2016.org?website to raise funds in opposition to her potential candidacy.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/hHOOcfqaqcA/Hillary-Clinton-says-she-wants-America-to-have-a-woman-president.-Surprised

reason rally mad hatter

Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1, 8.0 and 7.0 Coming To The U.S. July 7 For $399, $299 And $199

Samsung's new Galaxy Tab 3 line has been official for a little while now, but U.S. availability and pricing was up in the air until today. The relatively cheap tablets are going to be $199, $299 and $399 for the Galaxy Tab 7.0, 8.0 and 10.1 respectively, and will be available from retailers including Best Buy, Fry's and Amazon beginning on July 7, with pre-orders starting tomorrow, June 25.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/JR89J7njgW0/

Anne Smedinghoff jana kramer