Sunday, March 31, 2013

Outrage, sadness as Americans barred from adopting Russian children

NBC News

Sonia greets her new parents, Kristina and Rich England.

By Jim Maceda, Correspondent, NBC News

BRYANSK, Russia --?Kristi and Rich England of Marshall, Minn., shook with nerves and joy on their fourth and last trip to an orphanage in Bryansk, in?rural Russia. ?

They were finally taking Sonia, a partially blind and hyperactive 3-year-old, home with them.?The tearful Feb. 12 meeting, punctuated by Sonia?s screams of ?mama? and ?dada,? was all the more emotional because the Englands knew that they were the last lucky couple to leave Russia with an adopted child.?

?So many other families have seen their children and have loved their children and can?t bring them home,? said Kristi England, 34, a family doctor. ?It?s so unfair in so many ways.?

Those already undergoing the costly process of adopting a child from Russia found out Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a law barring any future adoptions, canceling the ones in progress. NBC's Kerry Sanders reports.

The process wasn?t easy ? the Englands endured multiple background checks and spent at least $50,000 to ensure that Sonia, now called Sophia, could go home with them.

But the ban signed into law on Dec. 28 barring all U.S. adoptions ? which numbered more than 60,000 over the past two decades ? has marooned hundreds of families in the middle of adopting, and stranded thousands of children in orphanages throughout Russia.??

"We should do all we can so that orphaned children find a family in our country, in Russia," President Vladimir Putin said in defense of the ban.

Fueling the outrage in Russia over the fate of children adopted by Americans, Russian media reported earlier this week that Alexander Abnosov, 18, showed up in the Volga River port town of Cheboksary saying his adoptive family had mistreated him. He had left Russia five years earlier, having been adopted by a family outside Philadelphia, but said he fled after suffering from verbal abuse by his adoptive mother. ?

"She would make any small problem big and always try to find a reason to shout at you," he told Russia?s state-owned Channel 1.

While UNICEF estimates there are about 740,000 children not in parental custody in Russia, only about 18,000 Russians are on the waiting list to adopt.?

But while Putin denies any direct connection, Kremlin-watchers say the ban is really about geopolitics and not about protecting kids.

NBC News

Russian child psychologist Valentina Rakova Valentina (left) stands with Kristina and Richard England and newly adopted Sonia in an orphanage in Bryansk, rural Russia.

They say it was retaliation by Moscow for an American law banning any Russian human rights violators from U.S. soil, enacted after the suspicious death in prison of Sergey Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer working for Heritage Fund, an American private equity firm.?

Russian media didn't hesitate to bolster the official line. ?

Despite the negative reports, child psychologist Valentina Rakova, who has worked in the Bryansk orphanage for 30 years, says the ban is terrible for children.?

?Here in Russia we have many examples of bad parents -- even worse than these American cases -- where kids are just tossed out,? she said as she coiffed Sonia, who requires special medical attention.

?A child like Sonia, no Russian would accept her,? Rakova said. ?Before the ban, orphans were offered to Russian families but no one took them in.??

Rakova's experience confirms the U.N.'s statistics. As far as she has seen, Americans are far more likely to adopt children who are ill or suffer from a disability.

Becky Preece, a housewife from Nampa, Idaho, is one such American. ?

She was finally able to take home 4-year-old Gabe, who has Down syndrome, in February, after years of filling out paperwork and a court battle. ?

Preece, who like the Englands beat the ban by days but was then delayed by red tape, said she saw a complete disconnect between the horrors of Russia?s adoption ban and the kindness and hospitality of the Russians themselves.?

NBC News

Becky Preece from Nampa, Idaho, adopted 4-year-old Gabe just days before the ban on Americans adopting Russian orphans went into force.

?It?s not a matter of the people,? she said while walking with the little boy in the thick Moscow snow.

?It?s politically charged and it?s something that is hard for us to understand because it?s so different from the experience that we?ve had here.?

Preece said she was excited to get Gabe into school back home, and watch him bond with his new brother who also has Down syndrome.?

?They need the infrastructure, they need the kind of support that we get at home for our children,? she said.?

But for the hundreds of American families who missed the cut and are now unable to bring their adoptive children home, the future could mean months -- even years -- of waiting and praying that the two superpower rivals find common ground before more of society?s most vulnerable pay the price.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Jim Maceda is a London-based correspondent who has covered the Soviet Union and Russia since the 1980s.?

Related:

Boy's Christmas wish: Adoption of little brother caught in US-Russia spat

Thousands march in Moscow to protest Russian adoption ban

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Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653387/s/2a273b3e/l/0Lworldnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C30A0C1750A4450A0Eoutrage0Esadness0Eas0Eamericans0Ebarred0Efrom0Eadopting0Erussian0Echildren0Dlite/story01.htm

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Companies bet big on batteries to store energy | GreenBiz.com

As the renewable energy industry grows and becomes a larger part of our energy mix, the concept of energy storage has made its way into the spotlight and has created some important pressing questions: Do renewables' inherent intermittency require some kind of energy storage, and should it be at the endpoint of use or closer to the utility (or both)? Do we even need an "energy storage" application, or can grid flexibility and responsiveness assume this role? If energy storage is indeed embraced, how should we weigh the options?

Pike Research says nearly 56 gigawatts of "long-duration" bulk energy storage for the grid will be installed from 2012-22. Installations of energy storage for "ancillary services" alone (things like scheduling and dispatch, reactive power and voltage control, system protection) will increase more than tenfold?to surpass 3.5 GW in that timeframe.

We recently ran a story looking at several of these options, and some companies with new technologies in each area. Pumped hydro has been the go-to energy storage option proven to work at fully deployed grid scale. Compressed energy, meanwhile, is fairly cheap where it can be deployed appropriate to grid-scale applications, using geological formations (caves or caverns) that can be relatively well sealed off.

Batteries are getting some utility-scale attention now, too. Duke Energy's 153-MW Notrees wind power project has a 36-MW battery storage system courtesy of Xtreme Power to deploy reserve power and help both the system operator and the grid balance supply and demand. Elsewhere in Texas, Xtreme is working with Samsung SDI to provide a 1 MW/1MWh lithium-ion-based battery energy storage system as part of a $27 million "Smart Grid Demonstration Project". In the U.K., S&C Electric and Scottish and Southern Energy Power Distribution have commissioned a pilot project with three single-phase 25 kWh lithium-ion batteries.

Battery technology is fast becoming "one of the favored options for grid-scale energy storage," says Aaron Feaver, CTO of EnerG2. It "has been deployed semi-successfully in grid-scale installations" such as backup power on hospitals, data centers and renewable energy sites. It's extremely low-cost/kWh, though shortfalls in cycling and power mean batteries need to replaced every few years or even months. The beauty of batteries, though, is that the technology is ripe for cost and performance improvements, and generally speaking it can be added anywhere. Pumped hydro "works only when you have a hill," he says, while compressed storage needs leak-proof caves or caverns (though some new entrants claim to use pipes instead).

Next page: Can batteries be improved??

Source: http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2013/03/29/companies-bet-batteries-store-energy

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IRS knowingly sends Billions in Fraudulent Refunds to Illegal ...

A WTHR-TV Indianapolis investigative report exposes a fraudulent scheme wherein the IRS is sending $4.2 billion per year to illegal immigrants as an "additional child tax credit" for children who don't even live in the U.S.

Further, the IRS and Congress have been ignoring the scheme for years. ?The Inspector General's office has repeatedly identified the problem in audit after audit.? The IG, Russell George says, "The magnitude of the problem has grown exponentially," but the IRS is doing nothing to stop it.

"It's so easy it's ridiculous," the tax preparer whistleblower who exposed the fraud admits.? Names are simply listed on the IRS form. "The more you put on there, the more you get back." No questions asked?the check's in the mail.

Below is the video of the shocking report.

The whistleblower notified the IRS of dozens of returns that were "fraudulent, 100% fraudulent tax returns." But, no response was ever received from the IRS. Out of frustration he went to WTHR investigative reporter Bob Segall.

"If the opportunity is there, and they can give it to me, why not take advantage of it?" admits one of the undocumented perpetrators to Segall on camera.

Segall found that there are "2 million?undocumented workers right now who are getting tax refunds because of this loophole."

Meanwhile, American school kids hoping for the opportunity of a lifetime to see the inside of the White House find the doors are closed supposedly because we can no longer afford to let them in.?

Source: http://townhall.com/columnists/bobbeauprez/2013/03/30/irs-knowingly-sends-billions-in-fraudulent-refunds-to-illegal-immigrants-n1553242

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Saturday, March 30, 2013

Dozens indicted in Atlanta school cheating scandal

ATLANTA (AP) ? In another embarrassing blow to Atlanta public schools, nearly three dozen former educators, including the ex-superintendent, were indicted Friday in one of the nation's largest test cheating scandals.

Former Superintendent Beverly Hall faced charges including racketeering, false statements and theft because prosecutors said some of the bonuses she received were tied to falsified scores.

Hall retired just days before a state probe was released in 2011. She has long denied knowing about the cheating or ordering it.

During a news conference Friday, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard provided examples of two students who demonstrated "the plight of many children" in the Atlanta school system. He described a third-grader who failed a benchmark exam and received the worst score in her reading class in 2006. The girl was held back, yet when she took a separate assessment test not long after, she passed with flying colors.

Howard said the girl's mother, Justina Collins, knew something was awry, but was told by school officials that the child simply was a good test-taker. The girl is now in ninth grade, reading at a fifth-grade level.

"I have a 15-year-old now who is behind in achieving her goal of becoming what she wants to be when she graduates. It's been hard trying to help her catch up," Collins said.

The criminal investigation lasted 21 months and the allegations date back to 2005. In addition to Hall, 34 people were indicted: four high-level administrators, six principals; two assistant principals; six testing coordinators; 14 teachers; a school improvement specialist and a school secretary.

All of the people named in the indictment face conspiracy charges. Other charges in the 65-count indictment include false statements and writings, false swearing, theft and influencing witnesses.

The investigation involved at least 50 schools as well as hundreds of interviews with school administrators, staff, parents and students. The district has about 50,000 students.

Howard would not directly answer a question about whether Hall led the conspiracy.

"What we're saying is that without her, this conspiracy could not have taken place," he said. "It would not have taken place if her actions had not made that possible."

Hall faces up to 45 years in prison, Howard said.

Richard Deane, an attorney for Hall, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

The tests were the key measure the state used to determine whether it met the federal No Child Left Behind law. Schools with good test scores get extra federal dollars to spend in the classroom or on teacher bonuses.

It wasn't immediately clear how much bonus money Hall received. Howard did not say and the amount wasn't mentioned in the indictment.

"Those results were caused by cheating. ... And the money that she received, we are alleging that money was ill-gotten," Howard said.

The previous state investigation in 2011 found cheating by nearly 180 educators in 44 Atlanta schools. Educators gave answers to students or changed answers on tests after they were turned in, investigators said. Teachers who tried to report it faced retaliation, creating a culture of "fear and intimidation" in the district.

State schools Superintendent John Barge said last year he believed the state's new accountability system would remove the pressure to cheat on standardized tests because it won't be the sole way the state determines student growth. The pressure was part of what some educators in Atlanta Public Schools blamed for their cheating.

Hall served as superintendent for more than a decade, which is rare for an urban schools chief. She was named Superintendent of the Year by the American Association of School Administrators in 2009 and credited with raising student test scores and graduation rates, particularly among the district's poor and minority students. But the award quickly lost its luster as her district became mired in the scandal.

In a video message to schools staff before she retired, Hall warned that the state investigation launched by former Gov. Sonny Perdue would likely reveal "alarming" behavior.

"It's become increasingly clear that a segment of our staff chose to violate the trust that was placed in them," Hall said. "There is simply no excuse for unethical behavior and no room in this district for unethical conduct. I am confident that aggressive, swift action will be taken against anyone who believed so little in our students and in our system of support that they turned to dishonesty as the only option."

The cheating came to light after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that some scores were statistically improbable.

Most of the 178 educators named in the special investigators' report in 2011 resigned, retired, did not have their contracts renewed or appealed their dismissals and lost. Twenty-one educators have been reinstated and three await hearings to appeal their dismissals, said Atlanta Public Schools spokesman Stephen Alford.

Superintendent Erroll Davis said the district was focused on nurturing an ethical environment, providing quality education and supporting the employees who were not implicated.

"I know that our children will succeed when the adults around them work hard, work together, and do so with integrity," he said in a statement.

The Georgia Professional Standards Commission is responsible for licensing teachers and has been going through the complaints against teachers, said commission executive secretary Kelly Henson. Of the 159 cases the commission has reviewed, 44 resulted in license revocations, 100 got two-year suspensions and nine were suspended for less than two years, Henson said. No action was taken against six of the educators.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/3-dozen-indicted-atlanta-cheating-scandal-214241949.html

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Friday, March 29, 2013

Brain scans might predict future criminal behavior

Friday, March 29, 2013

A new study conducted by The Mind Research Network in Albuquerque, N.M., shows that neuroimaging data can predict the likelihood of whether a criminal will reoffend following release from prison.

The paper, which is to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, studied impulsive and antisocial behavior and centered on the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a portion of the brain that deals with regulating behavior and impulsivity.

The study demonstrated that inmates with relatively low anterior cingulate activity were twice as likely to reoffend than inmates with high-brain activity in this region.

"These findings have incredibly significant ramifications for the future of how our society deals with criminal justice and offenders," said Dr. Kent A. Kiehl, who was senior author on the study and is director of mobile imaging at MRN and an associate professor of psychology at the University of New Mexico. "Not only does this study give us a tool to predict which criminals may reoffend and which ones will not reoffend, it also provides a path forward for steering offenders into more effective targeted therapies to reduce the risk of future criminal activity."

The study looked at 96 adult male criminal offenders aged 20-52 who volunteered to participate in research studies. This study population was followed over a period of up to four years after inmates were released from prison.

"These results point the way toward a promising method of neuroprediction with great practical potential in the legal system," said Dr. Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Stillman Professor of Practical Ethics in the Philosophy Department and the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University, who collaborated on the study. "Much more work needs to be done, but this line of research could help to make our criminal justice system more effective."

The study used the Mind Research Network's Mobile Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) System to collect neuroimaging data as the inmate volunteers completed a series of mental tests.

"People who reoffended were much more likely to have lower activity in the anterior cingulate cortices than those who had higher functioning ACCs," Kiehl said. "This means we can see on an MRI a part of the brain that might not be working correctly -- giving us a look into who is more likely to demonstrate impulsive and anti-social behavior that leads to re-arrest."

The anterior cingulate cortex of the brain is "associated with error processing, conflict monitoring, response selection, and avoidance learning," according to the paper. People who have this area of the brain damaged have been "shown to produce changes in disinhibition, apathy, and aggressiveness. Indeed, ACC-damaged patients have been classed in the 'acquired psychopathic personality' genre."

Kiehl says he is working on developing treatments that increase activity within the ACC to attempt to treat the high-risk offenders.

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You can view the paper by clicking here: http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1219302110.

Duke University: http://www.duke.edu

Thanks to Duke University for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127523/Brain_scans_might_predict_future_criminal_behavior

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Meghan McCain will have a reality show

By Ashley Majeski, TODAY contributor

Meghan McCain is joining the ranks of reality TV stars. The daughter of Arizona senator John McCain will star in and executive-produce 'Raising McCain,' a new docu-talk series that will be part of the initial programming of the new Pivot cable channel, set to debut on Aug. 1.

AP file

Meghan McCain with father Sen. John McCain in 2008.

"Raising McCain" will follow McCain, 28, as she interviews "experts, regular people and members of her generation, exploring the most important and unusual questions of the day, framed by Meghan's experiences in her personal life." The network will air 10 half-hour episodes of the show, which McCain recently described? as "?Meet the Press? meets 'Jackass.'"

?I grew up around journalists, and I came to realize that the best, most valuable moments happened in the green room before the interview and during the shots of whiskey afterwards," McCain said Wednesday at an event to promote the new Pivot network.

The political website The Daily Caller caused a ruckus after it posted an article about the show, along with a cartoon that featured McCain's breasts discussing her new program. McCain voiced her outrage for the cartoon on her Twitter account yesterday. She called out the website for its "offensive" and "sexist" article, and vowed to address these very issues on her upcoming talk show.

The Pivot network will reportedly be available as a pay-TV channel, as well as a broadband-only streaming service. In addition to McCain's show, it will feature five other new programs, including one hosted and co-produced by actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt. His show, "HitRECord on TV!" is being described by the network as an "open source variety show."

More in The Clicker:

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Source: http://theclicker.today.com/_news/2013/03/29/17519677-meghan-mccains-new-reality-show-will-be-a-cross-between-jackass-and-meet-the-press?lite

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Excerpts of gay marriage cases at high court

Excerpts from arguments before the Supreme Court on Wednesday about a federal law that prevents legally married gay couples from receiving a range of benefits afforded straight married Americans, from a transcript released by the Supreme Court:

___

On why President Barack Obama is still enforcing the law if he believes it is unconstitutional (Chief Justice John Roberts):

ROBERTS: If (President Obama) has made a determination that executing the law by enforcing the terms is unconstitutional, I don't see why he doesn't have the courage of his convictions and execute not only the statute, but do it consistent with his view of the Constitution, rather than saying, oh, we'll wait till the Supreme Court tells us we have no choice.

___

On the question of whether the definition of marriage should be a federal matter (Justice Anthony Kennedy and Paul Clement, the lawyer representing the House Republican leadership in defending the law):

KENNEDY: But when it has 1,100 laws, which in our society means that the federal government is intertwined with the citizens' day-to-day life, you are at ? at real risk of running in conflict with what has always been thought to be the essence of the state police power, which is to regulate marriage, divorce, custody.

CLEMENT: Well, Justice Kennedy, two points. First of all, the very fact that there are 1,100 provisions of federal law that define the terms "marriage" and "spouse" goes a long way to showing that federal law has not just stayed completely out of these issues. It's gotten involved in them in a variety of contexts where there is an independent federal power that supported that. Now, the second thing is the fact that (the Defense of Marriage Act) involves all 1,100 statutes at once is not really a sign of its irrationality. It is a sign that what it is, and all it has ever purported to be, is a definitional provision. And like every other provision in the Dictionary Act, what it does is it defines the term wherever it appears in federal law in a consistent way. And that was part and parcel of what Congress was trying to accomplish with DOMA in 1996.

___

On the issue of benefits (Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Clement):

GINSBURG: They're not ? they're not a question of additional benefits. I mean, they touch every aspect of life. Your partner is sick. Social Security. I mean, it's pervasive. It's not as though, well, there's this little federal sphere and it's only a tax question. It's ? it's ? as Justice Kennedy said, 1,100 statutes, and it affects every area of life. And so he was really diminishing what the state has said is marriage. You're saying, no, state said two kinds of marriage; the full marriage, and then this sort of skim milk marriage.

(Laughter.)

CLEMENT: With respect, Justice Ginsburg, that's not what the federal government is saying. The federal government is saying that within its own realm in federal policies, where we assume that the federal government has the authority to define the terms that appear in their own statute, that in those areas, they are going to have their own definition.

___

On what Congress intended when it passed the bill in 1996: (Justice Elena Kagan and Clement):

KAGAN: Well, is what happened in 1996 ? and I'm going to quote from the House Report here ? is that "Congress decided to reflect an honor of collective moral judgment and to express moral disapproval of homosexuality." Is that what happened in 1996?

CLEMENT: Does the House Report say that? Of course, the House Report says that. And if that's enough to invalidate the statute, then you should invalidate the statute. But that has never been your approach, especially under rational basis or even rational basis-plus, if that is what you are suggesting. This Court, even when it's to find more heightened scrutiny, the O'Brien case we cite, it suggests, look, we are not going to strike down a statute just because a couple of legislators may have had an improper motive. We're going to look, and under rational basis, we look: Is there any rational basis for the statute? And so, sure, the House Report says some things that we are not ? we've never invoked in trying to defend the statute. But the House Report says other things, like Congress was trying to promote democratic self-governance.

___

On whether there has been a "sea change" in opinion on gay marriage since the law was enacted in 1996 (Roberta Kaplan, the lawyer for the 83-year-old New York woman who sued over DOMA, and Justice Antonin Scalia):

KAPLAN: I think (the 1996 law) was based on an understanding that gay ? an incorrect understanding that gay couples were fundamentally different than straight couples, an understanding that I don't think exists today and that's the sense I'm using that times can blind. I think there was ? we all can understand that people have moved on this, and now understand that there is no such distinction. So I'm not saying it was animus or bigotry, I think it was based on a misunderstanding on gay people and their ?

SCALIA: Why ? why are you so confident in that ? in that judgment? How many ? how many states permit gay ? gay couples to marry?

KAPLAN: Today? 9, Your Honor.

SCALIA: 9. And -- and so there has been this sea change between now and 1996.

KAPLAN: I think with respect to the understanding of gay people and their relationships there has been a sea change, Your Honor.

___

On recent declarations by several lawmakers that they are switching their positions on gay marriage (Roberts and Kaplan):

ROBERTS: As far as I can tell, political figures are falling over themselves to endorse your side of the case.

KAPLAN: The fact of the matter is, Mr. Chief Justice, is that no other group in recent history has been subjected to popular referenda to take away rights that have already been given or exclude those rights, the way gay people have.

___

On Tuesday, a day earlier, the court considered California's ban on same-sex marriage. Excerpts from those arguments:

___

On whether the case should be before them (Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Anthony Kennedy):

ROBERTS: But a state can't authorize anyone to proceed in federal court, because that would leave the definition under Article III of the federal Constitution as to who can bring ? who has standing to bring claims up to each state. And I don't think we've ever allowed anything like that.

KENNEDY: The problem ? the problem with the case is that you're really asking, particularly because of the sociological evidence you cite, for us to go into uncharted waters, and you can play with that metaphor, there's a wonderful destination, it is a cliff. Whatever that was. ... But you're ? you're doing so in a ? in a case where the opinion is very narrow. Basically that once the state goes halfway, it has to go all the way or 70 percent of the way, and you're doing so in a case where there's a substantial question on ? on standing. I just wonder if ? if the case was properly granted.

___

On the question of children of same-sex parents (Kennedy and Charles Cooper, lawyer for the defenders of Proposition 8):

KENNEDY: I think there's ? there's substantial ? that there's substance to the point that sociological information is new. We have five years of information to weigh against 2,000 years of history or more. On the other hand, there is an immediate legal injury or legal ? what could be a legal injury, and that's the voice of these children. There are some 40,000 children in California, according to the red brief, that live with same-sex parents, and they want their parents to have full recognition and full status. The voice of those children is important in this case, don't you think?

COOPER (in response): I certainly would not dispute the importance of that consideration. That consideration especially in the political process, where this issue is being debated and will continue to be debated, certainly, in California. It's being debated elsewhere. But on that ? on that specific question, Your Honor, there simply is no data.

___

On the issue of same-sex marriage (Justice Samuel Alito):

ALITO: The one thing that the parties in this case seem to agree on is that marriage is very important. It's thought to be a fundamental building block of society and its preservation essential for the preservation of society. Traditional marriage has been around for thousands of years. Same-sex marriage is very new. I think it was first adopted in The Netherlands in 2000. So there isn't a lot of data about its effect. And it may turn out to be a ? a good thing; it may turn out not to be a good thing, as the supporters of Proposition 8 apparently believe.

___

On the question of redefining marriage (Justice Antonin Scalia):

SCALIA: Mr. Cooper, let me ? let me give you one ? one concrete thing. I don't know why you don't mention some concrete things. If you redefine marriage to include same-sex couples, you must ? you must permit adoption by same-sex couples, and there's ? there's considerable disagreement among ? among sociologists as to what the consequences of raising a child in a ? in a single-sex family, whether that is harmful to the child or not. Some states do not ? do not permit adoption by same-sex couples for that reason.

___

On the rights of same-sex couples (Theodore Olson, lawyer for two same-sex couples, and Roberts):

OLSON: This is a measure that walls off the institution of marriage, which is not society's right. It's an individual right that this Court again and again and again has said the right to get married, the right to have the relationship of marriage is a personal right. It's a part of the right of privacy, association, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

ROBERTS (in response): I'm not sure, counsel, that it makes ? I'm not sure that it's right to view this as excluding a particular group. When the institution of marriage developed historically, people didn't get around and say let's have this institution, but let's keep out homosexuals. The institution developed to serve purposes that, by their nature, didn't include homosexual couples. It is ? yes, you can say that it serves some of the other interests where it makes sense to include them, but not all the interests. And it seems to me, your friend argues on the other side, if you have an institution that pursues additional interests, you don't have to include everybody just because some other aspects of it can be applied to them.

___

On the Constitution and same-sex couples (Olson and Scalia):

SCALIA: The California Supreme Court decides what the law is. That's what we decide, right? We don't prescribe law for the future. We decide what the law is. I'm curious, when ? when did -- when did it become unconstitutional to exclude homosexual couples from marriage? 1791? 1868, when the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted? Sometimes ? some time after Baker, where we said it didn't even raise a substantial Federal question? When ? when ? when did the law become this?

OLSON: May I answer this in the form of a rhetorical question? When did it become unconstitutional to prohibit interracial marriages? When did it become unconstitutional to assign children to separate schools?

SCALIA: It's an easy question, I think, for that one. At ? at the time that the Equal Protection Clause was adopted. That's absolutely true. But don't give me a question to my question. (laughter) ... When do you think it became unconstitutional? Has it always been unconstitutional?

OLSON: When the California Supreme Court faced the decision, which it had never faced before, is ? does excluding gay and lesbian citizens, who are a class based upon their status as homosexuals ? is it ? is it constitutional.

___

On sexual orientation (Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Cooper):

SOTOMAYOR: Outside of the marriage context, can you think of any other rational basis, reason, for a state using sexual orientation as a factor in denying homosexuals benefits or imposing burdens on them? Is there any other rational decision-making that the government could make? Denying them a job, not granting them benefits of some sort, any other decision?

COOPER (in response): I cannot. I do not have any ? anything to offer you in that regard. ... We are saying the interest in marriage and the ? and the state's interest and society's interest in what we have framed as responsible procreation is ? is vital, but at bottom, with respect to those interests, our submission is that same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples are simply not similarly situated.

___

On procreation and age (Justice Elena Kagan and Cooper, and later Scalia):

KAGAN: If you are over the age of 55, you don't help us serve the government's interest in regulating procreation through marriage. So why is that different?

COOPER: Even with respect to couples over the age of 55, it is very rare that both couples ? both parties to the couple are infertile, and the traditional ? (laughter.)

KAGAN: No, really, because if the couple ? I can just assure you, if both the woman and the man are over the age of 55, there are not a lot of children coming out of that marriage. (laughter)

COOPER: Society's interest in responsible procreation isn't just with respect to the procreative capacities of the couple itself. The marital norm, which imposes the obligations of fidelity and monogamy, Your Honor, advances the interests in responsible procreation by making it more likely that neither party, including the fertile party to that ?

KAGAN: Actually, I'm not even ?

SCALIA: I suppose we could have a questionnaire at the marriage desk when people come in to get the marriage ? you know, Are you fertile or are you not fertile? (laughter) I suspect this court would hold that to be an unconstitutional invasion of privacy, don't you think?

KAGAN: Well, I just asked about age. I didn't ask about anything else. That's not ? we ask about people's age all the time.

COOPER: Your Honor, and even asking about age, you would have to ask if both parties are infertile. Again --

SCALIA: Strom Thurmond was ? was not the chairman of the Senate committee when Justice Kagan was confirmed. (laughter)

_____

Online - Tuesday arguments: http://tinyurl.com/dxefy2a

Online - Wednesday arguments: http://tinyurl.com/d626ybg

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/excerpts-gay-marriage-cases-high-court-002503953.html

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Thursday, March 28, 2013

Flu death reported in Muskogee County; state total now at 34

Eight hospitalizations were reported this week. The total number of hospitalizations since Sept. 30 is 1,066.

The death reported this week was from Muskogee County. Eight of the dead have been from Tulsa County, which has by far the most hospitalizations reported of any county.

One of the dead has been between the ages of 5 and 18, five have been between 19 and 64 and 28 have been 65 or older.

Source: http://www.tulsaworld.com/site/articlepath.aspx?articleid=20130328_17_0_AohrOl253764

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OUYA Game Console Enclosure by MakerBot - Thingiverse

All parts were designed and tested using MakerBot PLA Filament, but may print successfully using ABS.

Case, Lid, & Spring
Infill: 10%
Shells: 1 shell (total; so 0 extra shells)
Layer height resolution: 0.20-0.25 mm

Button (use a translucent color)
Infill: 0%
Shells: 50 (fifty!)
Layer height resolution: 0.3 mm. Turn the active cooling fan ON.

Instructions:
Slot the Button into the spring from the smooth side (the side that printed against the build plate), then give the button a quarter turn to lock it in place.

Slot the long spring arm into the lid (it will only fit one way) and gently work the other two spring arms into their slots. Make sure you don't bend the spring too far in any direction. Make sure the button can move freely and isn't catching anywhere.

Slot the OUYA hardware into the printed case.

Align the two forked guides on the inside of the lid with the OUYA board and press the lid onto the case. It should seat with a satisfying snap.

Source: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing%3A66411

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Video: Is Geno Smith worthy of top 10?

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/21134540/vp/51350305#51350305

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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Colo. theater shooting suspect offers guilty plea

FILE - This March 12, 2013 file photo shows James Holmes, Aurora theater shooting suspect, in the courtroom during his arraignment in Centennial, Colo. Lawyers for Holmes are objecting to a Fox News reporter's request to delay her court appearance to testify about her confidential sources, Tuesday, March 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Denver Post, RJ Sangosti, Pool)

FILE - This March 12, 2013 file photo shows James Holmes, Aurora theater shooting suspect, in the courtroom during his arraignment in Centennial, Colo. Lawyers for Holmes are objecting to a Fox News reporter's request to delay her court appearance to testify about her confidential sources, Tuesday, March 27, 2013. (AP Photo/Denver Post, RJ Sangosti, Pool)

(AP) ? Colorado theater shooting suspect James Holmes has offered to plead guilty and serve the rest of his life in prison to avoid the death penalty ? a deal that would bring a swift end to the sometimes wrenching courtroom battle and circumvent a prolonged debate over his sanity.

Prosecutors haven't said whether they would accept the offer, and victims and survivors of last summer's massacre were divided on what should be done.

Melisa Cowden, whose ex-husband was killed in the theater, said Wednesday she was resolutely opposed to a plea deal.

"He didn't give 12 people the chance to plea bargain and say, 'Let's see if you're going to shoot me or not,'" said Cowden, whose two teenage daughters were with their father when he was killed.

"No. No plea bargain," she said.

The attack during a crowded midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" left a dozen people dead and 70 injured.

Prosecutors have said Holmes planned the assault for months, casing the theater complex in the Denver suburb of Aurora, amassing a small arsenal and rigging potentially deadly booby-traps in his apartment.

Then on July 20, he donned a police-style helmet and body armor, tossed a gas canister into the theater crowd and opened fire, prosecutors said.

The plea offer, made by Holmes' lawyers on his behalf sometime before March 12, was disclosed a defense court filing on Wednesday. It was made public just days before the prosecution was set to announce whether they would seek the death penalty.

The filing didn't include the specifics of the offer. It said only that Holmes would agree to life in prison without parole ? instead of the death penalty ? and didn't mention any other concessions.

Pierce O'Farrill, who was shot three times, said he would welcome an agreement that would imprison Holmes for life. The years of court struggles ahead would likely be emotionally stressful for victims, he said.

"I don't see his death bringing me peace," O'Farrill said. "To me, my prayer for him was that he would spend the rest of his life in prison and hopefully, in all those years he has left, he could find God and ask for forgiveness himself."

Tom Sullivan, whose son Alex was killed, said he has wanted prosecutors to pursue the death penalty. But he said he wouldn't object to a plea agreement if it avoided a lengthy court battle ? and if Holmes got no privileges in prison.

"That was kind of a sore point with us," he said, referring to privileges such as outside exercise or listening to music. "We didn't think this kind of person should have any kind of privileges except the bare essentials."

Holmes, a former graduate student at the University of Colorado, Denver, had seen a psychiatrist at the school before the shootings.

His lawyers have said he was taken to a hospital psychiatric ward in November because he was considered a threat to himself. Holmes was held there for several days and spent much of the time in restraints.

In their court filing, Holmes' lawyers again said they were exploring a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity and would mount a vigorous defense if prosecutors rejected the plea offer and the case goes to trial.

Holmes was widely expected to enter an insanity plea at his arraignment on March 12, but his attorneys told District Judge William Sylvester they had too many questions about the constitutionality of Colorado's death penalty and insanity statutes to advise Holmes on how to plead.

Sylvester then entered a plea of not guilty on Holmes' behalf but said he could change it later to insanity if he chose.

The judge scheduled the trial to start Aug. 5, setting aside four weeks.

Doug Wilson, who heads the state public defenders' office, told The Associated Press Wednesday that prosecutors haven't responded to the offer. He didn't know whether prosecutors had relayed the offer with any victims as required by state law.

Prosecutors declined to comment on Wednesday.

Dan Recht, a past president of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, said prosecutors likely started talking to victims long ago.

"The defense, by making this public pleading, is reaching out to the victims' families," Recht said.

Also Wednesday, Sylvester denied a request from New York-based Fox News reporter Jana Winter to delay a Monday hearing where she has been ordered to testify about her sources for a story about Holmes.

Winter cited unnamed law enforcement officials saying Holmes sent drawings that foreshadowed the attack to a psychiatrist. Holmes' lawyers contend that whoever spoke to Winter violated a gag order.

___

Follow Dan Elliott at http://twitter.com/DanElliottAP and P. Solomon Banda at http://twitter.com/PSBanda .

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-03-27-Colorado%20Shooting/id-6aa13a988c4f48adac7daa54e2898611

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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

New study analyzes the risk to endangered whales from ships in southern California

Mar. 25, 2013 ? Researchers have identified areas off southern California with high numbers of whales and assessed their risk from potentially deadly collisions with commercial ship traffic in a study released today in the scientific journal Conservation Biology.

Scientists from NOAA Fisheries, the Marine Mammal Commission and Cascadia Research Collective analyzed data collected over seven years by NOAA on marine mammal and ecosystem research surveys in the Southern California Bight. Maps predicting the density of endangered humpback, fin and blue whales were developed by merging the observed whale sightings with oceanographic conditions to identify the habitat preferred by the different whale species.

"We know several endangered species of whales occur in the waters off southern California," said Jessica Redfern, a NOAA Fisheries marine mammal biologist and lead author of the paper. "What we didn't know, and what this study helps provide, is an understanding of the areas with the highest numbers of whales."

Knowing where whales are more likely to be found in the ocean environment is vitally important to reduce human impacts. Although this information could be used to assess any number of human impacts, the study specifically looked at current and alternative shipping routes to and from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and the risk to humpback, fin and blue whales from ship strikes.

Researchers selected four routes to study; the shipping route in the Santa Barbara Channel, which is the current shipping route; a Central route south of the northern Channel Islands; a Central Fan route, or just the eastern part of the Central route; and a Southern route, a course south of the Central route and constrained by the protected areas around Santa Barbara, Santa Catalina, and San Nicolas Islands.

By overlaying the routes with the predicted whale densities, researchers found the route with the lowest risk for humpback whales (Southern route) had the highest risk for fin whales and vice versa. However, risk may be ameliorated for both species in one of the Central routes. Blue whales, however, were at approximately equal risk in all routes considered because of their more even distribution throughout the study area. The authors' estimate of the number of blue whales likely killed by ships exceeds levels established by the Marine Mammal Protection Act to ensure sustainable populations. This result suggests that it is important to find ways to reduce the risk of ships striking blue whales.

"The Southern California Bight is an incredibly complex system with a diverse set of users, including the military, shipping industry and fishing industry. All users have specific needs and their input is necessary to plan the best and safest uses of these waters," said Redfern, "This paper helps to incorporate whale habitat use in the planning process so that their needs can be considered as well."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. J. V. Redfern, M. F. Mckenna, T. J. Moore, J. Calambokidis, M. L. Deangelis, E. A. Becker, J. Barlow, K. A. Forney, P. C. Fiedler, S. J. Chivers. Assessing the Risk of Ships Striking Large Whales in Marine Spatial Planning. Conservation Biology, 2013; 27 (2): 292 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12029

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/9gERVjPcq1Q/130325183949.htm

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Losses for big Cypriot bank depositors could be around 40 percent: minister

The Washington Post reported over the weekend that a proposal by officials in Fairfax County, Virginia, to get the FBI to move its headquarters to a seemingly unused patch of government land next to a Metro station has run into opposition from a secret source. ?It seems that the CIA is a tenant, and, indeed, has used the facility for years for clandestine purposes of some sort. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/losses-big-cypriot-bank-depositors-could-around-40-090343498--finance.html

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Monday, March 25, 2013

Reputed Australian Mossad agent jailed after botched spy plan: papers

CANBERRA (Reuters) - An Australian emigrant and reputed Israeli spy who died in a jail in Israel in 2010 had been arrested after a bungled and unauthorized bid to recruit a double agent with links to Lebanon's Hezbollah, Australian newspapers reported on Monday.

The man, Ben Zygier, was arrested in early 2010 and was held in secret under the name of Prisoner X on unspecified security charges. A judicial inquiry in Israel found Zygier, 34, hanged himself in a high-security jail cell.

Israel has refused to disclose details of the case, even refusing a request for information from Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the case has been the subject of gag orders in Israel.

But Australia's Fairfax newspapers and Germany's Der Spiegel magazine said after a joint investigation that Zygier had unwittingly given away secret information about Lebanese informants, who were later arrested and jailed in Lebanon.

"Zygier wanted to achieve something that he didn't end up getting," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted an unidentified, highly placed Israeli official as saying.

"Then he ended up on a precipitous path. He crossed paths with someone who was much more professional than he was."

The newspaper said Zygier, who took Israeli citizenship in the mid-1990s, was recruited to Israel's spy agency Mossad in 2004 and worked in Europe.

He was assigned to infiltrate companies with links to countries hostile to Israel, including Iran and Syria. It said Zygier was eventually pulled back to Tel Aviv and assigned to a desk job within Mossad.

In an attempt to prove himself and return to a field assignment, Zygier then set about trying to recruit a European man known to be close to Hezbollah militants, setting up meetings in late 2008 with the hope of recruiting the man as a double agent.

But the plan went wrong when Zygier tried to prove his credentials by giving up the names of Israel's top two Lebanese informants, Ziad al-Homsi and Mustafa Ali Awadeh, who were both arrested in 2009 and jailed for 15 years, the paper said.

When he was arrested in early 2010, Zygier was carrying a compact disc loaded with more intelligence files that he might have planned to pass on to his Hezbollah contact, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

An Australian government inquiry earlier this month said it found no evidence any Australian passports had been misused by either Zygier, a dual Australian citizen, or by Mossad.

Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr has confirmed Zygier was working for the Israeli government but stopped short of confirming he worked for Mossad.

(Reporting by James Grubel; Editing by Paul Tait)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/reputed-australian-mossad-agent-jailed-botched-spy-plan-000007143.html

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Saturday, March 23, 2013

Europe, Cyprus locked in multi-billion-dollar game of chicken

As European central bankers were locked in a multi-billion-dollar game of chicken with the tiny island nation of Cyprus, global financial markets Friday watched closely to see which side blinked first.

Both sides, though, appear to be stubbornly holding firm.

Faced with the threat of a cutoff Monday of European support for its insolvent banking system, the Cypriot parliament was considering a series of last-ditch measures to head off a looming economic and financial collapse.

"The next few hours will determine the future of the country," government spokesman Christos Stylianides said.

On Friday, Greece's Piraeus Bank struck a deal to take over the Greek branches of Cyprus's troubled banks in what a source close to the matter said involved the transfer of 17 billion euros of loans and 14 billion euros of deposits.

The deal, announced by Greece's bank bailout fund, is subject to approval by European competition authorities. The terms of the deal will not be revealed until Sunday, the source said. Piraeus declined to comment.

There are still other measures still under consideration.

The proposals, which amount to Plan C, include seizing state-sponsored pension funds, putting up state assets that include rich natural gas deposits, and splitting the country's second-largest bank into a ?good bank? and ?bad bank,? which would hold the riskiest assets.

The stakes for Cyprus are higher than the loss of tens of billions of bank deposits that have bled from its banking system over the past few months, according to central bank governor Panicos Demetriades. He warned political leaders Thursday that unless the measures are approved, Cyprus' second-largest bank faces a disorderly bankruptcy when it opens on Tuesday after a weeklong ?holiday.?

Plan A was shot down by the parliament Tuesday, after depositors woke up Monday to news of the nasty surprise terms of the latest bailout.

In exchange for another backstop, Europe?s central bankers proposed a so-called ?bail in,? in which some of the cost would be paid locally by Cypriot depositors. The raid on deposits would clip between 6.75 and 10 percent of Cypriot residents' savings, raising a $7.5-billion down payment against $12.9 billion in rescue loans.

Faced with overwhelming political backlash to the plan, Cypriot officials on Thursday sought an emergency backstop from Russia, a major source of Cypriot bank deposits.

Thanks to a favorable tax deal signed in 1998, Cypriot banks are bulging with deposits from Russian companies and investors, whose cash has swollen the assets of the nation?s banks to more than six times the size of its economy.

But early Friday, Cypriot finance minister Michalis Sarris returned home from negotiating with the Russians empty handed.

As the clock ticks down, the Cypriot economy is slowly starving for cash. Though cash machines remain open, one of the country's two large banks has imposed limits on how much depositors can withdraw. Many shops and gas stations are refusing to accept credit cards.

Workers at Laiki, the nation?s second largest bank, protested the restructuring plan that would likely cost many of them their jobs.

"The bank is finished, we'll lose our jobs, and I'm worried about my kids," said Laiki employee Nikos Tsiangos behind barricades and a cordon of police blocking the way to Parliament. "They've brought us to the brink, the Europeans wanted to destroy our economy, and they've done it."

European officials and central bankers are betting that the eurozone could withstand the implosion of the Cypriot economy, which makes up less than one-half of one percent of the overall European economy.

They have also grown weary of Cyprus? slow progress in reforming its banking system, which is heavily reliant on ?hot money? from Russian depositors. Since Cyprus won its eurozone membership in 2008, Europe?s central bankers have been pressing Cypriot bankers to shrink those risky deposits to more manageable levels.

The situation has not worked out the way European bankers had hoped, according to Simon Maughan, a financial sector strategist at Olivetree Financial Group.

?The Cypriots said, ?Well, great. Now we?ve got this huge banking system. Now we?ve got the guarantee from the Europeans. We?ll just keep carrying on as we were,'? he said. ?It?s been a massive, multi-year political standoff. And the only way to deal with that is to bust the banks.?

The rejection of the initial plan to tax bank deposits touched off a standoff between Cyprus and European officials, who are showing no signs of budging on their efforts to rein in Cypriot banks ? even if it sends the local economy into downward spiral.

That could trigger the country?s departure from the common currency, with potential fallout in much larger economies of Italy, Spain and Portugal.

"Cyprus is playing with fire," Volker Kauder, a leading conservative ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, told public television ARD.

The prospects for the latest, last-ditch solutions remain uncertain. Even if the Cypriot parliament approves the politically painful measures now on the table, there?s no guarantee they?ll go far enough to satisfy European officials.

Merkel reportedly told German lawmakers Friday that the plan to nationalize Cypriot pension funds was unacceptable, and that there would be no bailout with a major overhaul of Cypriot banks.

"There is no way we can accept that," she reportedly told lawmakers. "I hope it does not come to a crash".

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653387/s/29e118a9/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Cbusiness0Ceconomywatch0Ceurope0Ecyprus0Elocked0Emulti0Ebillion0Edollar0Egame0Echicken0E1C90A23395/story01.htm

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Oh hoppy days! Tiny endangered frog successfully bred

Brian Gratwicke / Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute

A baby limosa harlequin frog, the target of a big conservation effort, sits atop a U.S. quarter.

By Douglas Main
LiveScience

Several teeny-tiny frogs, one big hop for amphibian conservation.

Scientists have successfully bred a certain type of endangered Panamanian amphibian ? the limosa harlequin frog ? for the first time. ?The development is key because populations of the itty-bitty frog, which is smaller than a quarter as a baby, are declining in its native country.

"This new generation is hugely inspiring to us as we work to conserve and care for this species and others," said Brian Gratwicke, international coordinator for the project and a research biologist at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, one of six partners in the effort.

To get the small amphibians to mate, researchers went to great lengths. They built a rock platform to mimic the underground caves in which the frogs breed, and piped in oxygen-rich water between 72 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit (22 and 24 degrees Celsius), according to a release from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute.

Young frogs only feed on algal mats coating rocks. So scientists with the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project, which bred the frogs, also painted the rock platforms with spirulina algae and then let it dry. When placed inside the enclosure, the algae grew ?and fed the animals.

Young frogs can fit easily on a U.S. quarter with room to spare, and adults don't get much bigger, growing to slightly larger than an inch in length.

For all their trouble, the scientists were rewarded with hundreds of tadpoles from one pair of frogs, and nine youngsters from another, the release noted. These frogs are of the "chevron-patterned" variety; there are also plain-colored forms of limosa harlequin frogs that scientists are trying to breed.

The frog is threatened by habitat loss, development, water pollution and climate change, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Amphibians are also threatened by chytridiomycosis, a fungal disease that kills the animals; due in part to the disease, up to one-third of amphibian species are threatened worldwide.

The Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project has successfully bred other challenging endangered species, including crowned treefrogs, horned marsupial frogs and toad mountain harlequin frogs, the release noted.

The frogs will eventually be released into the wild, where the scientists hope they will help replenish the animal's dwindling numbers.

Email Douglas Mainor follow him @Douglas_Main. Follow us?@OAPlanet, Facebook?or Google+. Original article on LiveScience's OurAmazingPlanet.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/29e1bec6/l/0Lscience0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C220C174177330Eoh0Ehoppy0Edays0Etiny0Eendangered0Efrog0Esuccessfully0Ebred0Dlite/story01.htm

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Air France: Man found in cockpit not an employee

This undated photo provided by the Philadelphia Police Department shows Philippe Jernnard of La Rochelle, France. Jernnard, 61, was arrested Wednesday, March 20, 2013 at Philadelphia International Airport and charged with impersonating a pilot after airline officials found him in the cockpit of a plane scheduled for takeoff. (AP Photo/Philadelphia Police Department)

This undated photo provided by the Philadelphia Police Department shows Philippe Jernnard of La Rochelle, France. Jernnard, 61, was arrested Wednesday, March 20, 2013 at Philadelphia International Airport and charged with impersonating a pilot after airline officials found him in the cockpit of a plane scheduled for takeoff. (AP Photo/Philadelphia Police Department)

In this undated photo released by the Philadelphia Police Department, Philippe Jernnard of La Rochelle, France is shown. Jernnard, a 61-year-old French man was arrested Wednesday March 20, 2013 at Philadelphia International Airport and charged with impersonating a pilot after airline officials found him in the cockpit of a plane scheduled for takeoff. (AP Photo/Philadelphia Police Department)

A 61-year-old French man was arrested at Philadelphia International Airport and charged with impersonating a pilot after airline officials found him in the cockpit of a plane scheduled for takeoff, police said Friday.

The crew of a US Airways flight bound for West Palm Beach, Fla., found Philippe Jernnard of La Rochelle, France, in the jump seat behind the pilot on Wednesday evening, removing him after he was unable to produce valid credentials and became argumentative, police said.

Jernnard, who was a ticketed passenger, was wearing a white shirt with an Air France logo and had a black jacket with epaulets on the shoulders, police said. Officer Christine O'Brien said police found him in possession of a counterfeit Air France crew member ID card.

Air France said Jernnard is not one of its employees and was not wearing the airline's uniform.

It's not clear how Jernnard got into the cockpit, but one security expert said he didn't view it as a breach.

Pilots can typically ride for free in the jump seat of another airline, but they must make arrangements ahead of time and their presence would be noted on a passenger manifest. That manifest is reviewed by the pilot before takeoff ? meaning that Jernnard didn't have a chance of remaining, said Douglas Laird, former security director for Northwest Airlines.

"The guy can't do any harm sitting up there. He has no access to the controls sitting there. I think the system worked," said Laird, who now runs an airline security consultancy in Reno, Nev.

Police said there's no indication Jernnard meant any harm. A US Airways spokeswoman referred questions to the FBI, which confirmed it is investigating but declined to comment Friday.

O'Brien said Jernnard initially became upset at the gate when he asked to be upgraded to business class.

"The (US Airways) employee gate agent told the male there was no space left in business class. He became irate," O'Brien said.

Jernnard then boarded the plane and made his way to the jump seat.

He was charged with criminal trespass, forgery, records tampering, false impersonation of a person privately employed, and providing false identification to law enforcement. He was jailed on $1 million bail pending a preliminary hearing scheduled for April 5. Federal charges are also expected.

Jernnard is represented by the Philadelphia public defender's office, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In France, police in La Rochelle as well as the national police declined to comment, saying they are not allowed to disclose information about individuals.

Jernnard's stunt mirrored one by con man Frank Abagnale Jr., whose exploits were chronicled in the 2002 hit film "Catch Me If You Can." In the movie, Abagnale, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, is able to make his way into a plane's cockpit, bluffing his way past security and distracting the FBI by donning a pilot's uniform.

Laird said he can recall a few other cases before the Sept. 11 attacks in which civilians talked their way into the cockpit and were not discovered until the planes had actually taken off.

"If you are civilian, you can't pass yourself off as an Air France pilot because within about 30 seconds the pilots go, 'This guy has not a clue,'" Laird said. "It would be like you and I passing ourselves off as surgeons."

___

Rubinkam reported from northeastern Pennsylvania. Associated Press Writer Greg Keller in Paris contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-03-22-US-Man-Impersonates-Pilot/id-fea3e93c14c04070840ca261254f1f3a

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Friday, March 22, 2013

Going for a perfect NCAA bracket? You're more likely to win Powerball

If you put $5 into the office March Madness pool with the hope of creating a perfect bracket, here?s a tip: You should have bought a lottery ticket instead.

The odds of picking a perfect bracket in the annual NCAA men?s basketball tournament are one in 9.2 quintillion, according to calculations by Jeff Bergen, a mathematics professor at DePaul University.

That?s if you?re the type of person who picks teams based on whether you like the mascot or fancy the team uniform. The chances get a little better if you actually know something about basketball.

According to Bergen?s calculations, a person with a little understanding of team rankings and other data has perhaps a 1 in 128 billion chance of correctly calling every game in the March Madness tournament, which begins in earnest Thursday and runs through April 8.

To put that in perspective, you?re still much more likely to be the sole winner of a big lottery jackpot. The odds of being the sole winner of last year?s Powerball jackpot were around 175 million to one.

A perfect bracket could be done ? but there?s no known case of it ever happening.

?If you ran tournaments for 64 billion years, you?re eventually going to have someone with a perfect bracket,? Bergen said. ?But for just a single event, it?s highly unlikely.?

Of course, you don?t need a perfect bracket to win an office March Madness pool. You just need to do better than anyone else in your pool.

Plus, part of the allure of the NCAA tournament is that it is notoriously difficult to predict. That?s what gives the office cat lover who might watch basketball twice a year a feeling that he or she just may beat out the fanatic fan who has spent hours watching every game and pouring over every statistic.

Nate Silver, the FiveThirtyEight blogger and data geek who successfully called the presidential election last year, spoke this week about how tough it is to even successfully call a March Madness winner now that there is more parity among the teams.

His incredibly complex formula makes clear just how hard: It only gives his top pick, Louisville, about a one in five chance of winning.

Bergen, the math professor, doesn?t fill out March Madness brackets anymore. He said his family used to have a contest where everyone would fill out a bracket and the person who had the worst bracket would have to buy everyone pizza.

?I got tired of buying pizza every year,? he said.

Oh, and in case your wondering: A quintillion has 18 zeroes.

Related:

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653351/s/29d3754d/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Cbusiness0Cgoing0Eperfect0Encaa0Ebracket0Eyoure0Emore0Elikely0Ewin0Epowerball0E1C8981570A/story01.htm

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