Problems with Pollution and Cancer in Toms River, NJ

Dan Fagin tells how a small New Jersey town was ravaged by industrial pollution. When a cluster of childhood cancers was scientifically linked to air and water pollution in Toms River, it spurred a decades-long struggle that culminated in 2001 with one of the largest legal settlements on toxic dumping. Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation is about the residents' fight for justice and about the pioneering scientists and physicians who first identified pollutants as a cause of cancer.

Source: http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/2013/may/24/problems-pollution-and-cancer-toms-river-nj/

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Internet cable from Cuba to Jamaica comes online

HAVANA (AP) ? A new branch of the Venezuela-to-Cuba undersea fiber-optic cable has reportedly come online, linking the island to nearby Jamaica, increasing Cuba's potential international communications bandwidth and providing a backup for the main line.

Doug Madory of Internet analysis firm Renesys told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he detected new traffic between Cuban state telecom monopoly Etecsa and Cable & Wireless Jamaica beginning May 13.

"They're gaining some physical diversity there, so if something were to happen to the main segment going to Venezuela, then they have this backup," Madory said.

The ALBA-1 cable strung from Venezuela to Siboney beach in eastern Cuba went online in January, nearly two years after it was completed.

Previously, Cuba, which has the lowest online connectivity rates in the Western Hemisphere, had no hard-wired connection and relied solely on plodding satellite links.

It was not clear how much the new cable would augment Internet capacity, but island officials have boasted in the past that the ALBA-1 project would bring a 3,000-fold boost.

"From a technical standpoint, these are good steps to increase their connectivity to the world and hopefully one day get off of satellite," Madory said.

Some of the island's rare high-speed Internet connections have improved noticeably, though dial-up users have seen little appreciable gain so far.

In the wake of the ALBA-1's arrival, analysts and the government have said Cuba still has much work to do building networks to deliver that connection to end users.

"It will be necessary to invest in internal telecommunications infrastructure," Etecsa said in January. It added that it plans "gradual growth of a service that we offer mostly for free and with social aims in mind."

Just 2.9 percent of Cubans said they have access to the full Internet, according to the most recent government statistics, though outside analysts say the figure is probably between 5 and 10 percent, accounting for unreported black-market sales of dial-up minutes. About 16 percent have access to a limited domestic intranet.

Most Cubans who go online do so through school or work accounts. Home dial-up access is prohibitively expensive for the vast majority.

___

Peter Orsi on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Peter_Orsi

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/internet-cable-cuba-jamaica-comes-online-144652544.html

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Video: Two Elementary Schools Heavily Damaged

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Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/video/cnbc/51946334/

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Neverware Raises $1M To Keep Schools' Computers Quick Like ...

There is no sadder moment than the one where you realize it?s time to upgrade your computer. The load times are too slow, the battery no longer holds a charge, and it?s just too damn heavy. Now, imagine a school with dozens of outdated computers, and think just how bad that moment of realization can really be.

Neverware, a company based out of NY, is aiming to change all that with a turnkey solution that automatically boosts performance of old computers for a low monthly fee. Obviously, demand for this type of service is high, especially in the education industry, which is why Neverware has just closed a $1 million round from investors that include Thrive Capital, Khosla Ventures, General Catalyst, Collaborative Fund, and Nihal Mehta.

Founder Jonathan Hefter started Neverware back in 2011 and launched in January 2013 with around $600K in seed funding. Since then, the company has been working to evangelize the product to NYC schools, and the response has been great. According to Hefter, Neverware?s latest seed round is somewhat of an emergency raise, considering that the demand from schools is much higher than expected.

Hefter explained that they expected to sign on with between five and seven schools for the first semester, starting in January. However, they?ve blown way past that number and seen around 3x the customer sign-ups. According to Neverware, most of the new seed round will go toward smart engineering hires, as Hefter looks to double the seven-man team with more employees who care about what Neverware is doing.

Neverware works by setting up a Juicebox 100 in the schools. That piece of hardware integrates with the school?s network to bring automation and intelligence to the system. The Neverware virtualization technology then boosts performance to each computer, giving kids the access they need to actually get things done.

Schools pay an adjustable fee per month, per computer, and the Juicebox comes free.

?There is a huge challenge in deploying software on appliances across a wide variety of networks that we do not control,? said Hefter. ?In order to be a reliable solution, we engineer an incredible amount of intelligence and automation into our system that allows it to function in many types of network environments that schools might have and recover from a wide range of network-related issues, without any associated downtime. These are engineering challenges that you simply don?t face when you?re running a website on uniform Amazon instances in the cloud.?

For now, Neverware is focused on expanding within the greater New York area, and will eventually expand beyond that into new regions.

Neverware provides a turnkey, cost-effective service that eliminates the need to replace desktop computers. Instead of periodically replacing hardware, Neverware allows schools and businesses to enjoy the fastest available desktop computer speeds using the hardware they already have. Neverware was developed by Jonathan Hefter, who started experimenting with sustainable computing while still in his dorm room. Neverware is now headquartered in General Assembly in New York City. With a growing team of talented members, Neverware is positioned to drastically reduce...

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Jonathan Hefter is a technology entrepreneur and CEO of Neverware, based in New York City. He is paving the way for innovative technologies that help solve the current business and educational computer procurement model by way of perpetually extending the life and performance of existing PCs, eliminating the need to purchase new hardware. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania - Wharton with a degree in finance in 2009, Hefter spent a year teaching himself the basics of virtual...

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Source: http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/20/neverware-raises-1m-to-keep-schools-computers-quick-like-lightning/

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Switched On: Hinging on success

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

The announcement of the Acer Aspire R7 was the best example of the company's assertion that it was moving from computers designed with touch to computers designed for touch. But if having a fancy, even unprecedented, hinge is what defines a touch-optimized notebook, Acer is a bit late to the party.

Last October, Switched On discussed the role that laptop-tablet hybrids -- namely convertibles and detachables -- would play in the differentiation of Windows 8 devices. Both types have seen their share of support. Detachables have included HP's Envy x2, ASUS' Transformer-inspired VivoTab and Microsoft's Surface. (Dell's XPS 10 is available only with Windows RT.)

Filed under: Apple, Microsoft

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/19/hinging-on-success/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Probe begins after commuter trains crash

FAIRFIELD, Conn. (AP) ? Two commuter trains packed with rush-hour commuters collided in an accident that sent about 70 people to the hospital, severely damaged the tracks and threatened to snarl travel in the congested Northeast Corridor.

Three patients remained in critical condition Saturday morning, with two of those stable, according to officials at two Bridgeport hospitals.

The crash happened Friday evening on the Metro-North Railroad, which serves the northern suburbs of New York City.

Passengers described a chaotic, terrifying scene of crunching metal and flying bodies.

"All I know was I was in the air, hitting seats, bouncing around, flying down the aisle and finally I came to a stop on one seat," Lola Oliver, 49, of Bridgeport, told The Associated Press. "It happened so fast I had no idea what was going on. All I know is we crashed."

About 700 people were on board the Metro-North trains when one heading east from New York City's Grand Central Station to New Haven derailed about 6:10 p.m. just outside Bridgeport, MTA and Bridgeport officials said.

The train was hit by a train heading west from New Haven to Grand Central on an adjacent track, MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said. Some cars on the second train also derailed as a result of the collision.

"We're most concerned about the injured and ultimately reopening the system," Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said from the scene about three hours after the crash.

The governor said that most people were not seriously hurt. Among those critically injured, he said, one's injuries were "very critical."

The nursing supervisor at St. Vincent Medical Center said Saturday morning that 44 people from the crash had been treated there, and that five of those were admitted. One of the five remained in critical condition but was now stable, the supervisor said.

Bridgeport Hospital spokesman John Cappiello said two patients were admitted in critical condition, and one of those was now stable. The hospital treated 24 other patients from the crash, and many had been released already with the rest expected to be released by late Saturday morning, Cappiello said.

The Metro-North Railroad, a commuter line serving the northern suburbs, described it as a "major derailment." Photos showed a train car askew on the rails, with its end smashed up and brushing against another train.

Malloy said there was extensive damage to the train cars and the track, and it could take until Monday for normal service to be restored. He said the accident will have a "big impact on the Northeast Corridor."

Amtrak, which uses the same rails, suspended service indefinitely between New York and Boston.

Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch said the disruption caused by the train accident could cost the region's economy millions of dollars.

"A lot of people rely on this, and we've got to get this reconnected as soon as possible," Finch said.

Investigators Friday night did not know what caused the first train to derail. Malloy said there was no reason to believe it was anything other than an accident. The National Transportation Safety Board was sending a team to investigate.

Passenger Bradley Agar of Westport, Conn., said he was in the first car of the westbound train when he heard screaming and the window smash behind him.

"I saw the first hit, the bump, bump, bump all the way down," he said.

Agar had returned to work this week for the first time since breaking his shoulder in January. And since he was still healing, he thought it would be safer to take the train than drive.

The area where the accident happened was already down to two tracks because of repair work, Malloy said. Crews have been working for a long time on the electric lines above the tracks, the power source for the trains. He said Connecticut has an old system and no other alternate tracks.

By late evening, Bridgeport Police Chief Joseph Gaudett said everybody who needed treatment had been attended to, and authorities were beginning to turn their attention to investigating the cause.

"Everybody seemed pretty calm," he said. "Everybody was thankful they didn't get seriously hurt. They were anxious to get home to their families."

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority operates the Metro-North Railroad, the second-largest commuter railroad in the nation. The Metro-North main lines ? the Hudson, Harlem, and New Haven ? run northward from New York City's Grand Central Terminal into suburban New York and Connecticut.

___

Associated Press writer Michael Melia contributed to this report from Hartford, Conn.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/probe-begins-conn-commuter-trains-crash-070249473.html

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List of Top 100+ Best Free Classified Online Free ... - Show all posts

Top 10 Free Ad posting Sites Post Free Ads Classifieds Ad Sites Description: what to post for. Popularity Region/Country #1 Craigslist craigslist.org craigslist provides local classifieds and forums for jobs, housing, for sale, personals, services, local community, and events. Global Appeal.
Classifieds according to Countries and cities.
You can post free ads on Craigslist any where worldwide! #2 Quikr Quikr.com Quikr Classifieds Post Free Classified Ads online, Search Free Classifieds Ads for Mobiles, Cars, Jobs, Apartments, Pets, Courses, Laptops, Computers, Travel-
Post Buy,sell ads for free. Local + Global presence.One of the best?top 10 classified sites.
Mainly Quikr is an Indian classified site, but it also has an option for ?International? ad posting.Very High Alexa and Google page ranking. Quikr is free and very effective. #3 Gumtree Gumtree.com Free Classifieds in United Kingdom - Join United Kingdom's online community - free classifieds, jobs, property, cars, flatshare and more free classifieds in .. Local + Global.
Gumtree is mainly popular in London, though it has a wide range of users across many European, UK and Asian Countries ! #4 ClickIndia ClickIndia.com Click India Classifieds - A Site To Post Free Buy Sell Indian Classified Ads Online. Search Classified Ads For Jobs, Find Real Estate Properties On Sale, Sell ... Local +Global.
ClickIndia is one of the most popular free ad posting classifieds sites in India.But this also has an option for ?International? ad posting. #5 Olx OLX.com Free Local OLX Classifieds. Search and post classified ads in For Sale, Cars, Jobs, Apartments, Housing, Pets, Personals, and other categories. Global.
You can easily post free ads through OLX. Very easy and effective ad posting site. very good Goole page rank and high Alexa rank.? #6 eBayclassifieds ebayclassifieds Use free eBay Classifieds (Kijiji) to buy & sell locally all over the United States. Only Local Ads Near You! consumer, digital products buy, sell. Local
ebayclassifieds is mainly popular in US. Its ideal for local neighborhood ads, Buy-sell ads.? personal ads, pets ads, and all the types of household items items. #7 Adsglobe adsglobe.com Post free ads or online classifieds in jobs, real estate, rentals, autos, items for sale ads... Most effective online classifieds advertising for consumers and ... Global
Adsglobe is a very popular free classifieds site with lots of categories available to you for ad posting.
Adsglobe has a goog Google page rank and high Alexa rank. #8 Oodle Oodle.com Post free ads and search millions of free classifieds ads for used cars,jobs, apartments, real estate, pets, tickets and more. Global.
Oodle is purely a genius and brilliant popular classifieds site since it post your ads on many social networking sites. Unique ad posting site this way! #9 Sell sell.com Sell.com Marketplace, merchant advertising and e-commerce solutions. Buy sell trade: pets, autos, homes, computers, and fashion for sale by owner.ecommerce. solutions. Global.
Sell.com is a very popular and huge marketplace for online advertisement of many types including, buy, sell,merchant advertisement, #10 Classifiedads classifiedads Free classified ads for cars, jobs, real estate, and everything else. Find what you are looking for or create your own ad for free! Global.
Classifiedads.com is a very famous, popular and big market place for online ad posting, advertising of many types.

Source: http://skmeena0.blogspot.com/2013/05/list-of-top-100-best-free-classified.html

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Obama takes Cabinet secretaries out to play golf

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama has taken two Cabinet secretaries out for a round of golf ? in the rain.

The White House said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius (seh-BEEL'-yuhs) and outgoing Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood joined the president Saturday at Andrews Air Force Base. LaHood is running the Transportation Department until the Senate confirms Obama's choice of Charlotte, N.C., Mayor Anthony Foxx as successor.

Reporters saw Sebelius climb into the president's SUV before the motorcade left the White House. She's overseeing the president's health care law.

Before he got into the vehicle, Obama looked up at the grey sky with an outstretched hand. A steady rain was falling by the time he arrived about a half hour later.

White House assistant chef Sam Kass completes the foursome.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-takes-cabinet-secretaries-play-golf-165709657.html

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Atletico Madrid Wins Copa Del Rey: Miranda Goal Sinks Real Madrid In Final (VIDEO)

FBL-ESP-CUP-REALMADRID-ATLETICOMADRID

Atletico Madrid's midfielder Gabi (down) reacts after being injured next to Real Madrid's Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo during the Spanish King's Cup (Copa del Rey) final football match Real Madrid vs Atletico de Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on May 17, 2013. AFP PHOTO / DANI POZO (Photo credit should read DANI POZO/AFP/Getty Images)

FBL-ESP-CUP-REALMADRID-ATLETICOMADRID

Real Madrid's Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo looks on as Atletico Madrid's midfielder Gabi (down) reacts after being injured during the Spanish King's Cup (Copa del Rey) final football match Real Madrid vs Atletico de Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on May 17, 2013. AFP PHOTO / DANI POZO (Photo credit should read DANI POZO/AFP/Getty Images)

Atletico de Madrid players celebrate Joao Miranda's goal against Real Madrid during the Copa del Rey final soccer match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Atletico de Madrid players celebrate Joao Miranda's goal against Real Madrid during the Copa del Rey final soccer match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Cristiano Ronaldo

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal gestures during the Copa del Rey final soccer match against Atletico de Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Cristiano Ronaldo

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal, top, jumps between players during the Copa del Rey final soccer match against Atletico de Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

.Cristiano Ronaldo, Juanfran

Atletico de Madrid Juanfran, left, duels for the ball with Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal during the Copa del Rey final soccer match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

Atletico de Madrid players rest before extra time during the Copa del Rey final soccer match against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Diego Simeone

Atletico de Madrid's coach Diego Simeone from Argentina gestures during the Copa del Rey final soccer match against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Fabio Coentrao, Juanfran

Atletico de Madrid's Juanfran, left, duels for the ball with Real Madrid's Fabio Coentrao of Portugal, during the Copa del Rey final soccer match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

Cristiano Ronaldo

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo reacts during the Copa del Rey final soccer match between Atletico de Madrid and Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

Fabio Coentrao, Radamel Falcao

Atletico de Madrid's Radamel Falcao from Colombia, left, in action with Real Madrid's Fabio Coentrao from Portugal, during the Copa del Rey final soccer match between Atletico de Madrid and Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Cristiano Ronaldo

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal reacts during the Copa del Rey final soccer match against Atletico de Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

Cristiano Ronaldo

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal reacts during the Copa del Rey final soccer match against Atletico de Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

Fabio Coentrao, Gabi Fernandez

Atletico de Madrid's Gabi Fernandez, left, in action with Real Madrid's Fabio Coentrao from Portugal, during the Copa del Rey final soccer match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Radamel Falcao

Atletico de Madrid's Radamel Falcao from Colombia gestures during the Copa del Rey final soccer match against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Jose Mourinho

Real Madrid's coach Jose Mourinho from Portugal looks out from the players bench before the start of the Copa del Rey final soccer match between Atletico de Madrid and Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

Jose Mourinho, Diego Simeone

Real Madrid's coach Jose Mourinho from Portugal, left, talks with Atletico's coach Diego Simeone from Argentina, right, at the players bench before the start of the Copa del Rey final soccer match between Atletico de Madrid and Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

Diego Cost

Atletico de Madrid Diego Costa from Brazil celebrates after scoring against Real Madrid during the Copa del Rey final soccer match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

Cristiano Ronaldo

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal reacts during the Copa del Rey final soccer match against Atletico de Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

Jose Mourinho

Real Madrid's coach Jose Mourinho from Portugal looks out from the players bench before the start of the Copa del Rey final soccer match between Atletico de Madrid and Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

Diego Cost

Atletico de Madrid Diego Costa from Brazil celebrates after scoring against Real Madrid during the Copa del Rey final soccer match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

Luka Modric, Miranda

Atletico de Madrid's Miranda, left, duels for the ball with Real Madrid's Luka Modric from Croatia during the Copa del Rey final soccer match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

Diego Costa, Sergio Ramos

Atletico de Madrid Diego Costa from Brazil, right, duels for the ball with Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos during the Copa del Rey final soccer match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

Cristiano Ronaldo

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal, unseen, celebrates his goal against Atletico de Madrid with teammates during the Copa del Rey final soccer match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Diego Simeone

Atletico de Madrid's coach Diego Simeone from Argentina gestures during the Copa del Rey final soccer match against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Cristiano Ronaldo

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal celebrates his goal against Atletico de Madrid during the Copa del Rey final soccer match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Cristiano Ronaldo

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal, unseen, celebrates his goal against Atletico de Madrid with teammates during the Copa del Rey final soccer match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Cristiano Ronaldo

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal, unseen, celebrates scoring with teammates during the Copa del Rey final soccer match between Atletico de Madrid and Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Cristiano Ronaldo

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal celebrates scoring against Atletico de Madrid during the Copa del Rey final soccer match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Cristiano Ronaldo

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal, left, scores against Atletico de Madrid during the Copa del Rey final soccer match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Mesut Ozil, Sergio Ramos

From left, Karim Benzema from France, Sami Khedira from Germany, Mesut Ozil from Germany, Sergio Ramos and Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal, right, celebrate after scoring against Atletico de Madrid during the Copa del Rey final soccer match between Atletico de Madrid and Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal celebrates scoring against Atletico de Madrid during the Copa del Rey final soccer match between Atletico de Madrid and Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal, right, celebrates scoring against Atletico de Madrid during the Copa del Rey final soccer match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal, right, celebrates scoring against Atletico de Madrid during the Copa del Rey final soccer match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal, left, celebrates his goal with Sergio Ramos during the Copa del Rey final soccer match against Atletico de Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo , center, attempts a shot at goal during the Copa del Rey final soccer match between Atletico de Madrid and Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Cristiano Ronaldo

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Copa del Rey final soccer match between Atletico de Madrid and Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Copa del Rey final soccer match between Atletico de Madrid and Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Copa del Rey final soccer match between Atletico de Madrid and Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal, center, clashes with Atletico's Filipe Luis from Brazil during the Copa del Rey final soccer match between Atletico de Madrid and Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal, challenges Atletico's Filipe Luis from Brazil , right, during the Copa del Rey final soccer match between Atletico de Madrid and Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Friday, May 17, 2013. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Real Madrid CF v Club Atletico de Madrid - Copa del Rey Final

MADRID, SPAIN - MAY 17: Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid CF reacts after his free kick hits the post during the Copa del Rey Final between Real Madrid CF and Club Atletico de Madrid at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on May 17, 2013 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

FBL-ESP-CUP-REALMADRID-ATLETICOMADRID

Real Madrid's Croatian midfielder Luka Modric (L) vies with Atletico Madrid's midfielder Gabi during the Spanish King's Cup (Copa del Rey) final football match Real Madrid vs Atletico de Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on May 17, 2013. AFP PHOTO / PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU (Photo credit should read PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AFP/Getty Images)

FBL-ESP-CUP-REALMADRID-ATLETICOMADRID

Atletico Madrid's Turkish midfielder Arda Turan (front) drives the ball during the Spanish King's Cup (Copa del Rey) final football match Real Madrid vs Atletico de Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on May 17, 2013. AFP PHOTO / DANI POZO (Photo credit should read DANI POZO/AFP/Getty Images)

FBL-ESP-CUP-REALMADRID-ATLETICOMADRID

Real Madrid's Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo eyes the ball during the Spanish King's Cup (Copa del Rey) final football match Real Madrid vs Atletico de Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on May 17, 2013. AFP PHOTO / PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU (Photo credit should read PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AFP/Getty Images)

FBL-ESP-CUP-REALMADRID-ATLETICOMADRID

Real Madrid's German midfielder Sami Khedira (L) vies with Atletico Madrid's Colombian forward Radamel Falcao during the Spanish King's Cup (Copa del Rey) final football match Real Madrid vs Atletico de Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on May 17, 2013. AFP PHOTO / PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU (Photo credit should read PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AFP/Getty Images)

Real Madrid CF v Club Atletico de Madrid - Copa del Rey Final

MADRID, SPAIN - MAY 17: Fabio Coentrao (R) of Real Madrid competes for the ball with Radamel Falcao of Atletico de Madrid during the Copa del Rey Final match between Real Madrid CF and Club Atletico de Madrid at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on May 17, 2013 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo/ Getty Images) (Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)

FBL-ESP-CUP-REALMADRID-ATLETICOMADRID

Atletico Madrid's Brazilian defender Filipe Luis (R) and Atletico Madrid's Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois eye the ball during the Spanish King's Cup (Copa del Rey) final football match Real Madrid vs Atletico de Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on May 17, 2013. AFP PHOTO / PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU (Photo credit should read PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AFP/Getty Images)

Real Madrid CF v Club Atletico de Madrid - Copa del Rey Final

MADRID, SPAIN - MAY 17: Head coach Diego Simeone of Atletico de Madrid celebrates their first goal during the Copa del Rey Final match between Real Madrid CF and Club Atletico de Madrid at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on May 17, 2013 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo/ Getty Images) (Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)

FBL-ESP-CUP-REALMADRID-ATLETICOMADRID

Atletico Madrid's Argentinian coach Diego Simeone reacts during the Spanish King's Cup (Copa del Rey) final football match Real Madrid vs Atletico de Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on May 17, 2013. AFP PHOTO / JAVIER SORIANO (Photo credit should read JAVIER SORIANO/AFP/Getty Images)

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/17/atletico-madrid-copa-del-rey-mirando-goal_n_3295936.html

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Lawmakers accuse IRS officials of lying in tax scandal

By Andy Sullivan and Kim Dixon

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers accused leaders of the Internal Revenue Service of lying on Friday as they opened the first in a series of investigative hearings about the tax collection agency's targeting of conservative groups.

Republicans and Democrats said senior IRS officials should have alerted Congress last year when they found out that their examiners were singling out Tea Party groups for intense scrutiny when the groups applied for tax-exempt status.

"That isn't being misled. That's lying," said Republican Dave Camp, the chairman of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee.

The acting head of the agency, Steven Miller, apologized for the IRS's actions and said they stemmed from poor management, rather than a partisan desire to punish conservative groups.

"I did not mislead Congress or the American people," said Miller, who was fired by President Barack Obama on Wednesday. "I think what happened here is that foolish mistakes were made by people trying to be more efficient."

Obama, a Democrat, is racing to get in front of a scandal that threatens to eclipse his second-term agenda. He has twice appeared in public to condemn the IRS's actions and has promised to cooperate with three congressional investigations and a Justice Department probe. He has, however, resisted demands for a special prosecutor to look into the allegations.

Republicans have angrily accused Obama's administration of using government powers to target political foes. They say the IRS scandal is one example of a federal government that has grown too large and intrusive.

"Is this still America?" asked Republican Representative Kevin Brady of Texas.

AN EXPLOSION OF ADVOCACY GROUPS

An internal IRS watchdog reported this week that IRS investigators had singled out groups that had conservative-sounding phrases such as "Patriot" and "Tea Party" in their titles when they applied for a tax-exempt status.

Such status allows groups to keep their donor lists secret while engaging in limited political activity. Political campaigns, by contrast, must make their donors lists public.

Tea Party groups say they were asked for information such as what books they read. The questioning in some cases took nearly three years, preventing certain groups from participating in the 2010 and 2012 elections.

The IRS watchdog blamed the scandal on ineffective management and bureaucratic confusion.

The IRS has seen the number of groups applying for so-called 501(c)4 status double in the wake of a January 2010 Supreme Court decision that loosened campaign-finance rules at a time when it has struggled to monitor existing tax-exempt groups.

The top Democrat on the committee, Representative Sander Levin, warned Republicans not to turn the investigation into a partisan witch hunt.

However, he noted that Lois Lerner, the IRS official who made the scandal public last week, did not bring it up when she testified in front of the committee a few days earlier.

"That is wholly unacceptable and one of the reasons we believe Miss Lerner should be relieved of her duty," Levin said.

Two other committees, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, also will hold IRS hearings next week.

(Additional reporting by Patrick Temple-West and Susan Heavey; Editing by David Lindsey and Jackie Frank)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-picks-temporary-irs-head-tea-party-decries-003205741.html

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The Letters of Italo Calvino, Day V : The New Yorker

This week on Page-Turner, we've been running a series of excerpts from ?Italo Calvino: Letters, 1941-1985,? translated by Martin McLaughlin, which will be published on May 20th (read our first three installments here, here, here, and here.). In this final installment of the letters, from when the writer was in his fifties, Calvino spars with, compliments, and, in one case, attacks three of his eminent literary contemporaries: Pier Paolo Pasolini, Gore Vidal, and Claudio Magris. Pasolini had reviewed Calvino?s ?Invisible Cities,? and Calvino argues with him about weighing in on ?current affairs.? He praises a review Vidal published of his work in The New York Review of Books. In his highly critical letter to Magris, he strongly opposes an anti-abortion piece that Magris wrote, and declares a pause in their friendship (they later became friendly again).

To Pier Paolo Pasolini?Rome

Paris, 7.2.73

Dear Pier Paolo,

Only yesterday did I read your wonderful article and I am happy that writing books can still hold surprises for me, the surprise of a dialog like this, a discourse like yours which is full of a direct approach to the text and lively intelligence, far removed from any of the predictable mechanisms of critical discourse. And happy that my book has provided the occasion for new, ingenious, and focused reflections like the ones you put forward: in all of them I recognize my book from new angles which are already encouraging me to find new developments and links to your discussion. Above all this looms the extraordinary image of the universal future, stretching out in its entirety, where sense is lost, so that knowledge too becomes memory. And look, this is already a Platonic motif and is linked to the Platonism you mention shortly afterwards. You are the first critic to point out this Platonic component in my work, which seems to me to be central. And you rightly move on to explain, in a move that resonates with those in the book, how the subject matter of dreams is real.

A brief word on our having ?stopped being close to one another? in the last ten years or so. What you mean is that it is you who have gone very far away: not just with the cinema, which is the thing that is furthest from the mental rhythms of a bookworm, which is what I have become in the meantime, but because also your use of words has shifted to communicating a presence traumatically as though projecting it onto big screens: a mode of rapid intervention on the present that I ruled out from the start. All this on the one hand, whereas the kind of discourse into which you put the best of yourself is made up of extremely minute judgments that are precisely argued, based on a meticulous micro-analysis of words and people (talents you have not lost, as these well-honed critical interventions of yours testify), and this is the type of discourse that can only have indirect influences, after doing the rounds, at a distance of years and years, just like poetic discourse.

By contrast, being present in order to have your say on ?current affairs? according to the newspapers, using the newspapers? measure of what is topical, engaging directly with public opinion, certainly gives one a great sensation of being alive, but this is life in the world of effects, not in the world of slow reasoning and reflection. It is thus your ?way of having chosen topicality? which has divided us, not mine, which doesn?t exist. I quickly realized that I had no place in actuality and I stayed on the sidelines, maybe champing at the bit, but still remaining silent, as you say yourself moreover; in any case, even if I had spoken out, there would not have been anyone prepared to listen and reply to me. Where did you ever see in my behavior any ?a priori commitment to the student cause?? As for an ?openness toward the Neo-avant-garde,? I?ll let that go: I would always welcome a change in the mental climate of Italian literature, if ever there were any hint of it, and even though this or that set of poetics does not persuade me, I am always interested in what can come out of the interaction with other poetics. But my reservations and allergies toward the new politics are stronger than the urge to oppose the old politics, and so I no longer had a position to uphold since I had ruled them out one by one, and this also took away my curiosity to know people, follow developments, distinguish positions. And not possessing any competence or qualifications to express my judgments, it is natural that I stayed silent, both publicly and in private, reinforced in this attitude of mine by the lack of success that yours and others? interventions encountered, interventions which in any case I did not feel I could associate myself with at all.

What you say about my image starting to turn yellow and fade matches precisely my intentions. Since the dead are no longer in a place where too many things no longer belong to them, they must feel a mixture of spite and relief, no different from my state of mind. It is no accident that I?ve gone to live in a big city where I know nobody and no one knows I exist. In this way I have been able to realize a kind of existence which was at least one of the many existences I had always dreamt of: I spend twelve hours a day reading, on most days of the year.

[?] Thank you once more and accept my best wishes as an old friend.

Your,

Italo Calvino

* * *

To Gore Vidal?Rome

San Remo, 20 June 1974

Dear Gore Vidal,

I have started this letter many times and interrupted it many times. I was looking for excuses: like I had to find your address, like I did not know whether you were in Rome or New York. I tried to write to you in English, but the things I thought out in Italian did not sound right when translated into English, and the things I thought in English did not sound good when I recast them in Italian. The problem is that you have written a critical essay on me that is as spontaneous and friendly as a letter, and now I would like to write you a letter that is as carefully thought out and analytical as a critical essay in order to convey to you how happy I was at reading it.

Happy not just at being read with such enthusiasm and intelligence and affinity, and not just because it was written by you, in other words by a writer whose biting irony, capacity to transform reality, and precise adherence to our own times had always attracted me, but also for the way in which your review was written, which seems admirable to me for two reasons.

First: one feels that you wrote this article for the pleasure of writing it, alternating warm praise with criticisms and reservations in a totally sincere tone, and with constant freedom and humor, and this feeling of pleasure is communicated irresistibly to the reader.

Second: I have always thought that it is difficult to extract from my books, each of which is so different from the others, a unitary discourse, an overall definition, maybe even just the outline of an author that is not also split up. Now you?despite exploring my ?uvre in the way it demands to be explored, namely in a non-systematic way, moving like someone out for a walk who stops here, but moves on there without looking around, over there wanders about in an occasional diversion?you manage to establish a general sense in everything I have written, almost a philosophy??the whole and the many? etc.? and I am very happy when someone manages to find a philosophy in the products of my so unphilosophical mind.

?The conclusion of your review contains a statement that seems to me to be important in an absolute way. I don?t dare to wonder whether it is true if applied to myself, but it is true as a literary ideal for each of us: the aim that each one of us has to reach has to be that ?writer and reader become one, or One.? And to encompass both your discourse and mine in a perfect circle, we will say that this One is the Whole.

I was keen to convey to you these general considerations that your essay inspired in me. On another occasion perhaps I will reply to you more analytically, point by point. For the moment I just wanted to say this: you note that already in 1958 I was worried about the destruction of the environment, and this recognition makes me happy because it comes from you who have always been in the front line in the defense of ecology. Also on this topic is A Plunge into Real Estate which I will send you in Italian. There is a translation of it (by D. S. Carne-Ross) in a paperback anthology: Six Modern Italian Novellas, edited by W. Arrowsmith, New York, Permabook, 1964.

I am writing to you from San Remo, from the house where the events in that novella took place?twenty years ago?and since then things have only changed in terms of quantity, in other words, our house is more and more surrounded by a horrible forest of reinforced concrete, and our family is always having to deal with some entrepreneur: this time to sell it for good.

But I am here only passing through, in this Riviera which now only represents the past for me, and which I now no longer recognize. Now I spend the summers with my wife and daughter in a pine-forest in the Tuscan Maremma, two hours from Rome. I have a small house in an estate (alas!) but greenness is respected there more than elsewhere. My address is: Pineta di Roccamare, Castiglione della Pescaia (Grosseto). If you come and see us, I hope to be able to express my thanks personally to you better than by letter.

Italo Calvino

* * *

To Claudio Magris?Trieste

[Paris, 3-8 February 1975]

Dear Prof. Magris,

I was very disappointed to read your article ?Gli sbagliati? [The Deluded]. It pained me a lot not only that you had written it but above all because you think in this way.

Bringing a child into the world makes sense only if this child is wanted consciously and freely by its two parents. If it is not, then it is simply animal and criminal behavior. A human being becomes human not through the casual convergence of certain biological conditions, but through an act of will and love on the part of other people. If this is not the case, then humanity becomes?as it is already to a large extent?no more than a rabbit-warren. But this is no longer a ?free-range? warren but a ?battery? one, in the conditions of artificiality in which it lives, with artificial light and chemical feed.

Only those people?a man and a woman?who are a hundred percent convinced that they possess the moral and physical possibility not only of rearing a child but of welcoming it as a welcome and beloved presence, have the right to procreate. If this is not the case, they must first of all do everything not to conceive, and if they do conceive (given that the margin for unpredictability continues to be high) abortion is not only a sad necessity, but a highly moral decision to be taken with full freedom of conscience. I do not understand how you can associate abortion with an idea of hedonism or the good life. Abortion is [a] terrifying thing [? ].

In abortion the person who is massacred, physically and morally, is the woman. Also for any man with a conscience every abortion is a moral ordeal that leaves a mark, but certainly here the fate of the woman is in such a disproportionate condition of unfairness compared with the man?s, that every male should bite his tongue three times before speaking about such things. Just at the moment when we are trying to make less barbarous a situation which for the woman is truly terrifying, an intellectual [uses] his authority so that women have to stay in this hell. Let me tell you, you are really irresponsible, to say the least. I would not mock the ?hygienic-prophylactic measures? so much; certainly you will never have to undergo a scraping of your womb. But I?d like to see your face if they forced you to have an operation in the filth and without any recourse to hospitals under pain of imprisonment. Your ?integrity of life? vitalism is to say the least fatuous. For Pasolini to say these things does not surprise me. But I thought that you knew what it costs and what the responsibilities are if you bring other lives into this world.

I am sorry that such a radical divergence of opinion on these basic ethical questions has interrupted our friendship.

Photograph by Isolde Ohlbaum/laif/Redux.

Source: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2013/05/the-letters-of-italo-calvino-day-v.html

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Brazil port modernization bill clears lower chamber of Congress

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Legislation that President Dilma Rousseff says is vital to her efforts to modernize Brazil's clogged and costly ports cleared the lower chamber of Congress after a marathon debate and is expected to win Senate approval later on Thursday.

The proposal is aimed at attracting greater private investment and reducing union control in Brazil's main ports, which have become a hurdle to the expansion of grain and mineral exports by the once-booming Latin American economy.

After a heated 23-hour session that ran through the night, caffeinated lawmakers finally approved a modified version of the government's proposal, which had split Rousseff's 18-party governing coalition and sparked a strike by dock workers.

The Senate now has until midnight to pass the legislation, an addition to Brazil's outdated port law. Otherwise, the measure will expire.

Stevedores opposed to the bill returned to work late on Wednesday at Brazil's largest port of Santos, ending a two-day protest that had a limited impact on cargo movement.

The strike began unexpectedly at midday on Tuesday at the southeastern ports of Santos, Paranagua and Rio de Janeiro. But by Wednesday afternoon, workers at Santos were the only ones still reported to be striking.

Dock workers wanted to defend union control over hiring in the bill, which allows new terminal investors to contract nonunion labor. Some unions agreed to let operators hire outside of a centralized hiring agency, known as OGMO.

The bill will allow more private operators to build and run terminals at state-owned ports and permit privately owned ports to handle third-party cargo.

The legislation is an attempt to attract billions of dollars in new investments by allowing private investors to manage some of the ports as well as to increase efficiency and cut costs.

Brazilian port terminals charge some of the world's highest prices to move goods. Some of the high cost stems from labor agreements, but red tape, taxes and lack of competition between terminals are also to blame.

Rousseff has made the bill a top priority in push to improve Brazil's dilapidated infrastructure, which has become a drag on economic growth, with ships lining up for weeks to enter port to load up agricultural and other exports.

Brazil is in the midst of exporting a record soy harvest, while coffee and sugar crops are due to hit its overburdened ports within weeks.

(Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/brazil-port-modernization-bill-clears-lower-chamber-congress-142207614.html

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Invasive 'crazy ants' are displacing fire ants in areas throughout southeastern U.S.

May 16, 2013 ? Invasive "crazy ants" are displacing fire ants in areas across the southeastern United States, according to researchers at The University of Texas at Austin. It's the latest in a history of ant invasions from the southern hemisphere and may prove to have dramatic effects on the ecosystem of the region.

The "ecologically dominant" crazy ants are reducing diversity and abundance across a range of ant and arthropod species -- but their spread can be limited if people are careful not to transport them inadvertently, according to Ed LeBrun, a research associate with the Texas invasive species research program at the Brackenridge Field Laboratory in the College of Natural Sciences

The study by LeBrun and his colleagues was published in Biological Invasions.

"When you talk to folks who live in the invaded areas, they tell you they want their fire ants back," said LeBrun. "Fire ants are in many ways very polite. They live in your yard. They form mounds and stay there, and they only interact with you if you step on their mound."

LeBrun said that crazy ants, by contrast, "go everywhere." They invade people's homes, nest in crawl spaces and walls, become incredibly abundant and damage electrical equipment.

The crazy ants were first discovered in the U.S. in 2002 by a pest control operator in a suburb of Houston, and have since established populations in 21 counties in Texas, 20 counties in Florida, and a few sites in southern Mississippi and southern Louisiana.

In 2012 the species was formally identified as Nylanderia fulva, which is native to northern Argentina and southern Brazil. Frequently referred to as Rasberry crazy ants, these ants recently have been given the official common name "Tawny crazy ants."

The Tawny crazy ant invasion is the most recent in a series of ant invasions from South America brought on by human movement. The Argentine ant invaded through the port of New Orleans in about 1891. In 1918 the black imported fire ant showed up in Mobile, Ala. Then in the 1930s, the red imported fire ant arrived in the U.S. and began displacing the black fire ant and the Argentine ants.

The UT researchers studied two crazy ant invasion sites on the Texas Gulf Coast and found that in those areas where the Tawny crazy ant population is densest, fire ants were eliminated. Even in regions where the crazy ant population is less dense, fire ant populations were drastically reduced. Other ant species, particularly native species, were also eliminated or diminished.

LeBrun said crazy ants are much harder to control than fire ants. They don't consume most of the poison baits that kill fire ant mounds, and they don't have the same kinds of colony boundaries that fire ants do. That means that even if they're killed in a certain area, the supercolony survives and can swarm back over the area.

"They don't sting like fire ants do, but aside from that they are much bigger pests," he said. "There are videos on YouTube of people sweeping out dustpans full of these ants from their bathroom. You have to call pest control operators every three or four months just to keep the infestation under control. It's very expensive."

LeBrun said that in northern Argentina and southern Brazil, where the ants are native, populations are likely held in check by other ant species and a variety of natural enemies. In the U.S. there is no such natural control.

Here the crazy ants can attain densities up to 100 times as great as all other ants in the area combined. In the process, they monopolize food sources and starve out other species. LeBrun said the crazy ants, which are omnivorous, may also directly attack and kill other ant and arthropod species.

The overall result is a significant reduction in abundance and biodiversity at the base of the food chain, which is likely to have implications for the ecosystem as a whole.

"Perhaps the biggest deal is the displacement of the fire ant, which is the 300 pound gorilla in Texas ecosystems these days," said LeBrun. "The whole system has changed around fire ants. Things that can't tolerate fire ants are gone. Many that can have flourished. New things have come in. Now we are going to go through and whack the fire ants and put something in its place that has a very different biology. There are going to be a lot of changes that come from that."

LeBrun said a great deal about the Tawny crazy ants remains unknown, including their potential range. So far, most of the colonies are in fairly wet environments with mild winters, near the coast, so it may be the case that they can't thrive in drier or colder climates, and that fire ants will remain dominant in those areas.

The spread of the Tawny crazy ants may also be limited, even within the more hospitable climates, by caution from humans. The reproductive members of the species don't fly. So when left to their own devices, crazy ant colonies can only advance about 200 meters a year. That means they're dependent on humans to colonize new areas.

"They are opportunistic nesters," said LeBrun. "They can take up residence in everything from a house plant, to an empty container left outside, to an RV. So they're easily transported by us. But the flip side of that is that if people living in or visiting invaded areas are careful and check for the crazy ants when moving or going on longer trips, they could have a huge impact on the spread." Nursery products also appear to be a key way these ants spread, so both buyers and sellers should be watchful for these ants.

LeBrun said that cutting down on the number of transplantation events could slow the spread by years or decades. And that extra time could give the ecosystem time to adapt and researchers time to develop better control methods.

"We can really make a difference," he said, "but we need to be careful, and we need to know more."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/NMEk72jeZow/130516123916.htm

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Five ways the IRS scandal will change Washington

Toss a pebble into a lake and the ripples spread far and wide. Lob a scandal, in which the anti-tax tea party is under attack by its nemesis, the Internal Revenue Service, into the shark-infested waters of Washington, and well, the political ramifications are huge.

Whatever comes of the investigations into the IRS?s inappropriate targeting of conservative groups in the 2012 election cycle, this much appears certain: the scandal will unite conservatives, invigorate the tea party, and potentially affect the 2014 midterm elections.

RECOMMENDED: Briefing IRS 101: Seven questions about the tea party scandal

Here are five ways the IRS scandal will change Washington:

1) INVIGORATE THE TEA PARTY AND ITS SMALL-GOVERNMENT MOVEMENT

For thousands of tea party members across the nation, it?s an ?I told you so? moment. You have to admit the scandal is perfectly scripted. Big government, and taxes in particular, are the movement?s central grievance. Heck, the group even takes its name from the Boston Tea Party, the iconic historical protest against unfair taxation.

How perfect, then, that the latest scandal to hit Washington confirms the tea party?s anti-big government, anti-tax, anti-IRS crusade. What?s more, it confirms countless complaints by tea party groups and allegations by right-leaning websites like The Blaze that the IRS was going after conservative groups.

In Washington, the tea party had been losing its luster almost ever since the shining glory of the 2010 midterms. The IRS scandal could be the rallying cry of a reinvigorated movement.

2) UNITE CONSERVATIVES

The GOP?s 2012 election square dance ? two steps to the right in the primary, one step to the left in the general election ? exposed a rift between the Republican Party and its conservative base, one that?s only widened as the party is forced to reconsider issues like gay marriage and immigration.

Yet, as every tactician knows, nothing unites like a common enemy. As such, the IRS scandal unleashed a golden opportunity for conservatives.

?The accusations of IRS abuse are sure to fuel an effort that appears to be uniting dispirited Republicans and their conservative political base: investigating Mr. Obama and his administration,? The New York Times reported Monday. ?Republicans are pushing a portrayal of an administration overreaching its authority and punishing its enemies.?

Enemies that are sure to leverage the situation to their advantage.

3) IMPACT MIDTERM ELECTIONS

Yes, believe it or not, it?s true. If conservatives can sustain, even strengthen, that unity, and launch a big-government attack on Democrats, the IRS scandal could influence the 2014 midterm elections.

In a recent column, political polling guru Nate Silver predicts the IRS debacle ?could have a substantial political impact,? and has ?the potential to harm Democrats? performance in next years? midterm elections, partly by motivating a strong turnout from the Republican base.?

He uses a five-point test to argue that the scandal ?has legs?: it can be described in one sentence, cuts to the core of a candidate or party?s brand, and reinforces a negative perception about a candidate, among other points.

Expect reverberations in 2014.

4) INVIGORATE THE TAX CODE REFORM MOVEMENT

For years advocacy groups and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle ? from Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana to libertarian Rep. Ron Paul of Texas to Republican Gov. Rick Perry of Texas ? have advocated for tax reform. It?s an uphill, if not vertiginous, climb and a goal that has remained elusive for decades.

If they?re smart, lawmakers and tax advocacy groups will use the IRS scandal ? and its revelations about tax code loopholes (recall that 501(c)(4)s are often used by political groups to avoid paying taxes and to hide donors) ? to invigorate their cause.

A case in point: For the first time in more than 25 years, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Baucus wants to launch the first full-scale rewrite of the 5,600-page US tax code.

Ambitious? Yes. But given the current climate in Washington, the timing couldn?t be better.

5) DERAIL BIPARTISAN COOPERATION

Alas, as if partisan bickering and congressional gridlock weren?t enough, the IRS fiasco throws another wrench into legislative wrangling on issues like gun control, immigration, and the debt ceiling debate.

President Obama?s chummy dinners and golf games with Republicans? All for naught, as Politico explains.

?The IRS developments couldn?t come at a worse time for the White House, which has spent months courting GOP support for everything from gun control to an overhaul of immigration laws,? it reported. ?If the administration?s recent GOP charm offensive bought any goodwill, it seems to be on short supply now.?

Or, as the Washington Post said, ?We aren?t likely to see Republicans and Democrats in Congress join hands and sing Kumbaya any time soon.?

RECOMMENDED: Briefing IRS 101: Seven questions about the tea party scandal

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/five-ways-irs-scandal-change-washington-190737294.html

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Army general facing sex charges had porn on laptop

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) ? An expert in Afghan culture testified Wednesday that pornography found on the computer of a U.S. Army general then deployed to the Muslim country would be highly offensive to local residents.

Former Defense Intelligence Agency adviser Morwari Zafar made the comments at a pre-trial hearing for Brig. Gen. Jeffery Sinclair. A court-martial for the former deputy commander of the 82nd Airborne is set to begin June 25 on charges that include forcible sodomy, indecent acts, violating orders and adultery.

Among the orders Sinclair is accused of violating is a prohibition against U.S. troops in Afghanistan possessing pornography.

Called as a witness by prosecutors, Zafar's eyes widened when a prosecutor showed her printed photos investigators pulled from Sinclair's hard drive.

"They would be absolutely offensive to Afghans in general," said Zafar, who was born in the country and is now earning a doctorate in anthropology. "Pornography is illegal in Afghanistan."

The military pornography ban, and a similar order barring possessing alcohol, are in place in an attempt to keep soldiers and Marines from offending the socially conservative country where U.S. troops have been stationed since 2001.

Lawyers for Sinclair asked a military judge this week to drop the charge against the general, arguing this week the military porn ban violates his First Amendment rights to free speech.

On cross-examination, Zafar agreed with defense lawyer Richard Scheff that pornography is available for sale in some Afghan markets and on the Internet, despite its illegal status in the country.

The defense has not provided an explanation for how pornography got on Sinclair's personal computer. He has not yet entered a plea on any of the charges he faces.

Earlier in the case, military lawyers for Sinclair suggested in court that someone else could have downloaded the images, possibly even the female aide he is charged with assaulting.

This week, new civilian lawyers added to the defense team made the constitutional argument without directly saying the pornography had been stored on the computer by their client. Additionally, there was no evidence any Afghan ever saw the images or had the opportunity to be offended, Scheff said.

Sinclair's former commander in Afghanistan, Maj. Gen. James Huggins, testified Tuesday that he issued the order to "maintain good order and discipline."

"It is against the stated policy because of the cultural sensitivity of the Afghan people," Huggins said, adding that if anyone had found the images it would have hurt Sinclair's effectiveness.

Sinclair was deputy commander in charge of logistics and support for the 82nd Airborne in Afghanistan last spring before being relieved during the criminal investigation. He has been on special assignment at Fort Bragg since May 2012.

A 27-year Army veteran and married father of two, Sinclair faces life in prison if convicted on the sexual assault charge.

A female captain who worked for Sinclair on deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq says she carried on a three-year sexual relationship with Sinclair. Adultery is a crime under military law, and the admission could end her career.

She testified at the evidentiary hearing last year that she repeatedly tried to break off the affair but that on two occasions after they had argued he exposed himself and physically forced her to perform oral sex. The woman says the general also threatened to kill her and her family if she told anyone about their relationship.

The Associated Press does not publicly identify victims of alleged sexual assaults.

Two other female officers who served with Sinclair also testified that they had given the general nude photos at his request.

Military judge Col. James Pohl agreed Tuesday to a request to drop a charge that Sinclair violated an order by possessing alcohol while in Afghanistan. An unopened bottle of scotch was found in his quarters ? a gift defense lawyers said came from a top Pentagon official on a goodwill visit.

Pohl also granted a defense motion to compel testimony from former Fort Brag commander Gen. Dan Allyn and current base commander Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Colt.

Sinclair's legal team alleges that high-ranking Pentagon officials may have placed improper pressure on Allyn to refer charges against Sinclair as the military struggles to deal with a string of embarrassing sex scandals.

It was not immediately clear when Allyn and Colt will be available to testify. Officials said both aren't on the base this week.

___

Follow Associated Press writer Michael Biesecker at twitter.com/mbieseck.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/army-general-facing-sex-charges-had-porn-laptop-231738979.html

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Google+ Redesigns Its Stream To Include Multi-Column Google Now-Esque Cards, Auto-Hashtags And More

Google+, the social layer that Google introduced almost two years ago, has evolved quite a bit since its launch. Today, the company announced a complete redesign, taking cues from the mobile experience that has drawn positive feedback from those who don't even use the service. In total, Google has launched 41 new features for Google+, including a completely revamped Photo product, Hangouts app and the stream that people interact with on a daily basis.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/HljIJGAgQ58/

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University of Chicago launches Bionimbus Protected Data Cloud to analyze cancer data

Public release date: 15-May-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Lisa-Joy Zgorski
lisajoy@nsf.gov
703-292-8311
National Science Foundation

Medical advances facilitated by NSF-funded foundational research provides alternative to large, costly and cumbersome storage infrastructure

The University of Chicago launched the first secure cloud-based computing system that enables researchers to access and analyze human genomic cancer information without the costly and cumbersome infrastructure normally needed to download and store massive amounts of data.

The Bionimbus Protected Data Cloud, as it is called, enables researchers who are authorized by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to access and analyze data in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) without having to set up secure, compliant computing environments capable of managing and analyzing terabytes of data, download the data--which can take weeks--and then install the appropriate tools needed to perform the desired analyses.

Using technology that was developed in part by the Open Science Data Cloud, a National Science Foundation-supported project that is developing cloud infrastructure for large scientific datasets, the Bionimbus Protected Data Cloud provides researchers with a more cost- and time-effective mechanism to extract knowledge from massive amounts of data. Drawing insights from big data is imperative for addressing some of today's most vexing environmental, health and safety challenges.

"The open source technology underlying the Open Science Data Cloud enables researchers to manage and analyze the large data sets that are essential to tackling some of today's greatest challenges: from environmental monitoring to cancer genomics," said Robert L. Grossman, the director of the Open Science Data Cloud Project and a professor at the University of Chicago.

Today, as the only NIH-approved cloud-based system for TCGA data, the Bionimbus Protected Data Cloud allows researchers to focus on the analysis of large-scale cancer genome sequencing, which experts believe can unlock paths to early detection, appropriate treatment and prevention of cancer.

"We are excited that the Bionimbus Protected Data Cloud is now used for cancer genomics data so that researchers can more easily work with large datasets to understand genomic variations that seem to be one of the keys to the precise diagnosis and treatment of cancer," continued Grossman.

"With funding provided by NSF's Partnerships for International Research and Education [PIRE] program, NSF has sought to narrow the gap between the capability of modern scientific instruments to produce data and the ability of researchers to access, manage, analyze and share those data in a reliable and timely manner," said NSF Program Director Harold Stolberg.

"By embracing cloud computing as a global issue, this PIRE project brings together the expertise of many researchers, not only in the United States, but worldwide. Its success in helping researchers to access and analyze important human genomic cancer information is an exciting indicator of future developments with these technologies," he said.

Megan McNerney, an instructor of pathology at the University of Chicago, used Bionimbus to analyze data that led to her discovery that gene CUX1, which acts as a tumor suppressor, is frequently inactivated in acute myeloid leukemia.

"Bionimbus was critical for my work, as it was used for all aspects of the project, including secure storage of protected data, quality control of next-generation sequencing results, alignments, expression analysis, and algorithm development," she said. "The strength of Bionimbus, however, is the support that is provided for end users, which enabled both expert and non-expert team members to use the cloud."

###

-NSF-

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[ | 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.

Public release date: 15-May-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Lisa-Joy Zgorski
lisajoy@nsf.gov
703-292-8311
National Science Foundation

Medical advances facilitated by NSF-funded foundational research provides alternative to large, costly and cumbersome storage infrastructure

The University of Chicago launched the first secure cloud-based computing system that enables researchers to access and analyze human genomic cancer information without the costly and cumbersome infrastructure normally needed to download and store massive amounts of data.

The Bionimbus Protected Data Cloud, as it is called, enables researchers who are authorized by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to access and analyze data in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) without having to set up secure, compliant computing environments capable of managing and analyzing terabytes of data, download the data--which can take weeks--and then install the appropriate tools needed to perform the desired analyses.

Using technology that was developed in part by the Open Science Data Cloud, a National Science Foundation-supported project that is developing cloud infrastructure for large scientific datasets, the Bionimbus Protected Data Cloud provides researchers with a more cost- and time-effective mechanism to extract knowledge from massive amounts of data. Drawing insights from big data is imperative for addressing some of today's most vexing environmental, health and safety challenges.

"The open source technology underlying the Open Science Data Cloud enables researchers to manage and analyze the large data sets that are essential to tackling some of today's greatest challenges: from environmental monitoring to cancer genomics," said Robert L. Grossman, the director of the Open Science Data Cloud Project and a professor at the University of Chicago.

Today, as the only NIH-approved cloud-based system for TCGA data, the Bionimbus Protected Data Cloud allows researchers to focus on the analysis of large-scale cancer genome sequencing, which experts believe can unlock paths to early detection, appropriate treatment and prevention of cancer.

"We are excited that the Bionimbus Protected Data Cloud is now used for cancer genomics data so that researchers can more easily work with large datasets to understand genomic variations that seem to be one of the keys to the precise diagnosis and treatment of cancer," continued Grossman.

"With funding provided by NSF's Partnerships for International Research and Education [PIRE] program, NSF has sought to narrow the gap between the capability of modern scientific instruments to produce data and the ability of researchers to access, manage, analyze and share those data in a reliable and timely manner," said NSF Program Director Harold Stolberg.

"By embracing cloud computing as a global issue, this PIRE project brings together the expertise of many researchers, not only in the United States, but worldwide. Its success in helping researchers to access and analyze important human genomic cancer information is an exciting indicator of future developments with these technologies," he said.

Megan McNerney, an instructor of pathology at the University of Chicago, used Bionimbus to analyze data that led to her discovery that gene CUX1, which acts as a tumor suppressor, is frequently inactivated in acute myeloid leukemia.

"Bionimbus was critical for my work, as it was used for all aspects of the project, including secure storage of protected data, quality control of next-generation sequencing results, alignments, expression analysis, and algorithm development," she said. "The strength of Bionimbus, however, is the support that is provided for end users, which enabled both expert and non-expert team members to use the cloud."

###

-NSF-

---

[ | 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/2013-05/nsf-uoc051513.php

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