Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/06/ashley-greene-shows-off-new-puppies/
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Saturday, June 29, 2013
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 drops in for a hands-on The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3...
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Get Photosphere on non-Nexus devices with the 'Google edition' camera app
Camera app from Google Play GS4, HTC One can easily be loaded onto other phones
Yesterday we covered the new camera application in the "Google Play edition" Galaxy S4 and HTC One — a slightly redesigned stock camera app that's a little easier to get around. In the past day we've been digging around in the devices' system partitions and we've discovered that the app, as it exists on the Google Play edition devices, can be installed directly onto other devices running Android 4.0 or higher.
Unlike earlier methods for getting Photosphere — Google's 360-degree panorama tool — on non-Nexus handsets, you don't need to root your phone, or manually push it to the /system/app directory. To install it, it's just a case of downloading it directly via the web, or putting it on your device's internal storage and selecting it from a file manager. Of course, bear in mind that you're using the app on a phone it wasn't designed for, so proceed at your own risk.
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/XIKX3CfpGwM/story01.htm
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One Simple Hook to Solve a Million Problems
You know that phrase "don't mess with a good thing?" Sometimes you come across a product that's so simple, and so-self evident about it that it's perfect. I feel that way about the Unihook by designer Pat Kim.
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Ed Sheeran Says New Music Coming In 'January'
Sheeran revealed plenty in a Twitter Q&A, including when fans can expect new songs.
By James Montgomery
Ed Sheeran
Photo: Getty Images
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1709673/ed-sheeran-new-music-january.jhtml
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Facebook rolls out hashtag support for mobile web and related searches
Clickable hashtags are a major new Facebook feature, and now the social network is bringing them to the next level by rolling out related searches and mobile availability. We're talking about its mobile site and (unfortunately) not its iOS and Android apps, making the former a better choice for browsing public status updates on the go. The introduction of related searches also makes it easier to discover new conversations, as searching for a particular hashtag brings up similar ones. Facebook analyzes which terms are often posted together, so looking for #equality also brings up posts tagged with #lgbt or #pride. These updates will soon show up on your accounts if they haven't yet, and unless you despise hashtags, they're icing on the cake.
Filed under: Internet
Source: TechCrunch
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/cW2IFg1BWsk/
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Paramount announces plans for 'Terminator' trilogy
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? The "Terminator" is coming back.
Paramount announced Thursday that it is rebooting the "Terminator" franchise and planning for a new trilogy of films, but it's keeping mum on whether Arnold Schwarzenegger would play a role.
Schwarzenegger starred as the title character in the original 1984 movie. It spawned a trilogy that earned more than $1 billion at the box office worldwide.
Paramount says it will release the new "Terminator" in July 2015.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/paramount-announces-plans-terminator-trilogy-000841755.html
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Friday, June 28, 2013
Scientists Built a Mini Laser Gun That Generates Anti-Matter
Remember that time you mixed vinegar and baking soda and decided you wanted to be a scientist? Maybe you should have followed through. Then you could have been one of the guys that just developed a tabletop "gun" that creates positrons by shooting lasers at gold.
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How Did the Universe Get Its Stars? An Astronomical Puzzle
Astronomers have come a long way in understanding how stars form today, but the question of how the universe's first stars formed is an enduring mystery. While the topic remains complex and confusing, researchers say they hope to make strides in the near future with new and improved computer models and telescopes.
"How star formation began is very much a controversial question," said astronomer Mordecai-Mark Mac Low of the American Museum of Natural History in New York, who wrote a paper featured in the journal Science today (June 27). "And it's an important one."
Once, there were no stars at all. The universe was an almost uniform expanse of undifferentiated gas. Eventually ? perhaps a few million years in, scientists estimate ? the first stars began to form, and the rate of star birth reached a peak about 3.8 billion years after the Big Bang (10 billion years ago), when stars were forming at about 10 times the rate they do today. [The Universe: Big Bang to Now in 10 Easy Steps]
Understanding how this process took place back then is difficult because the universe was a vastly different place. For one thing, it was much denser, with matter packed much more tightly together, making it easier for gas to reach the critical density necessary for it collapse in on itself under gravity and ignite nuclear fusion.
Furthermore, stars have changed the universe, dispersing elements throughout it that they alone can create.
"Without stars, you have no metals, no elements heavier than helium or lithium, and none of the elements you need for life," Mac Low told SPACE.com. "Carbon, nitrogen and oxygen all formed in stars."
The advent of these elements in the universe changed the conditions for star formation, affecting the way gas cools and collapses.
While scientists understand many of the reasons primordial star formation was different than star formation today, they often have trouble modeling the process in computer simulations. One issue is that these simulations are not able to drill down into enough detail to accurately calculate what's happening ? it's akin to lacking fine-enough resolution in a photograph.
"This is like pixels in a camera," Mac Low said. "If you have an object that's like 3 or 4 pixels large, it just comes out as a blur. That's exactly the problem we have here."
For example, the resolution problem prevents models from maintaining the correct amount of extremely hot gas present in a system, and from simulating how hot gas gloms on, or accretes, onto galaxies, he said.
In the near future, though, theorists hope to make inroads by using beefed-up simulations on more and better supercomputers.
"Bigger, better models are actually starting to directly penetrate into the regime that I'm discussing," Mac Low said. "The combination of more efficient use of existing machines and new machines becoming available" will help as well, he added.
From the observational side, astronomers hope to clarify the picture of early star formation by peering back through space and time to see the first stars and galaxies, and get a better picture of how many of them existed at early epochs. This will be enabled by new telescopes just coming online, such as the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, or?ALMA observatory,?in Chile's Atacama Desert and instruments classified as "Extremely Large Telescopes" being built around the world.
"You have an incredible suite of instruments coming online that are going to pretty directly address these questions," Mac Low said. Astronomers might even get lucky and be able to use large massive objects such as galaxy clusters as cosmic magnifying glasses, taking advantage of the effects of general relativity to see distant objects behind them that would otherwise be invisible. Such a lens may reveal the universe's very first galaxies.
With any luck, scientists should have a lot more to say about the origin of stars in coming years.
Follow Clara Moskowitz on Twitter and Google+. Follow us?@Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on SPACE.com.
Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Source: http://news.yahoo.com/did-universe-stars-astronomical-puzzle-180436897.html
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Thursday, June 27, 2013
Dispute in Texas over restrictive abortion bill
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) ? Amid the deafening roar of abortion-rights supporters, Texas Republicans huddled around the Senate lectern to pass sweeping new abortion restrictions, but the move immediately was cast into doubt as Democrats claimed the vote wasn't taken before the session's midnight deadline and the timing on official records changed within minutes.
Hundreds of protesters cheered, clapped and shouted for the last 15 minutes of the special legislative session in an attempt to run out the clock before senators could vote on the bill, which is expected to close almost every abortion clinic in the nation's second most populous state.
While Democrats as well as assembled reporters watched clocks on their mobile phones tick past midnight, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said the voting began just before.
Shortly after the vote, Dewhurst, the chamber's presiding officer, retreated to his office and issued no statements.
According to Republicans and the official legislative website, the bill beat the deadline and now goes to Gov. Rick Perry, who directed that the legislation be taken up in the special session and is expected to sign it into law.
Democrats immediately predicted a legal challenge and insisted the bill didn't pass before midnight. They noted that the legislative website changed: first showing the vote happening Wednesday, then show it was done on Tuesday. Democratic Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa showed reporters two printouts of the vote totals he said he made from an internal Senate system that showed the same change.
"It's questionable to vote when no one can hear to even know if a vote is taken," said Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin.
One of the state's most conservative lawmakers, Houston Republican Sen. Dan Patrick, insisted the vote taken amid thunderous cheers, jeers, chants and applause was valid.
"Had that not happened," Patrick said of the outburst, "everyone would have known what was happening."
He was immediately interrupted by Hinojosa.
"This is Democracy! They have a right to speak!" Hinojosa said.
Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, spent most of the day staging an old-fashioned filibuster, attracting wide support, including a mention from President Barack Obama's campaign Twitter account. Her Twitter following went from 1,200 in the morning to more than 20,000 by Tuesday night.
"My back hurts. I don't have a lot of words left," Davis said when it was over and she was showered with cheers by activist who stayed at the Capitol to see her. "It shows the determination and spirit of Texas women."
Davis' mission, however, was cut short.
Rules stipulated she remain standing, not lean on her desk or take any breaks ? even for meals or to use the bathroom. But she also was required to stay on topic, and Republicans pointed out a mistake and later protested again when another lawmaker helped her with a back brace.
Republican Sen. Donna Campbell called the third point of order because of her remarks about a previous law concerning sonograms. Under the rules, lawmakers can vote to end a filibuster after three sustained points of order.
After much back and forth, the GOP voted to end the filibuster minutes before midnight, sparking the raucous response from protesters. As the demonstrators thundered, Campbell urged Senate security to "Get them out! Time is running out. I want them out of here!"
If signed into law, the measures would close almost every abortion clinic in Texas, a state 773 miles wide and 790 miles long with 26 million people. A woman living along the Mexico border or in West Texas would have to drive hundreds of miles to obtain an abortion if the law passes. The law's provision that abortions be performed at surgical centers means only five of Texas' 42 abortion clinics are currently designated to remain in operation.
In her opening remarks, Davis said she was "rising on the floor today to humbly give voice to thousands of Texans" and called Republican efforts to pass the bill a "raw abuse of power."
Democrats chose Davis, of Fort Worth, to lead the effort because of her background as a woman who had her first child as a teenager and went on to graduate from Harvard Law School.
In the hallway outside the Senate chamber, hundreds of women stood in line, waiting for someone to relinquish a gallery seat. Women's rights supporters wore orange T-shirts to show their support for Davis.
The filibuster took down other measures. A proposal to fund major transportation projects as well as a bill to have Texas more closely conform with a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision banning mandatory sentences of life in prison without parole for offenders younger than 18 did not get votes. Current state law only allows a life sentence without parole for 17-year-olds convicted of capital murder.
The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. Also, doctors would be required to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles ? a tall order in rural communities.
"If this passes, abortion would be virtually banned in the state of Texas, and many women could be forced to resort to dangerous and unsafe measures," said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund and daughter of the late former Texas governor Ann Richards.
___
Senate Bill 5: http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/history.aspx?LegSess=831&Bill=SB5
___
Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/cltomlinson
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dispute-texas-over-restrictive-abortion-bill-070453921.html
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California looks to life without Prop. 8's ban on gay marriage
The Supreme Court essentially let stand a lower court ruling against California's Prop. 8 ban on same-sex marriage. Given shifting public attitudes, Prop. 8 seems unlikely to have another political life.
Matt Dunne and Kris Bhat hang a rainbow flag outside Marcella's Pizza shop in San Francisco's Castro district after the US Supreme Court's ruling on gay marriage Wednesday. The court left in place a trial court's declaration that California's Proposition 8 banning gay marriage is unconstitutional.
Eric Risberg/AP
EnlargeReactions to the US Supreme Court?s action on California?s Proposition 8 ballot measure defining marriage as one man and woman under the state constitution came quickly and sharply ? rejoicing on the one hand, bitter denunciation on the other.
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For now, at least, same-sex couples will again be allowed to marry in California, likely within days. Less likely, given the high court?s action Wednesday and the trend in public attitudes, is a repeat of the ballot measure that sharply divided the state and led to a drawn-out legal battle.
Proponents of Prop. 8 seemed stunned by the US Supreme Court action, which essentially let a US District Court ruling against the measure stand after finding that the case was improperly before the high court. The justices sent the case back to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth District in San Francisco with instructions for that court to reject the Prop. 8 proponents' appeal "for lack of jurisdiction."
"In a miscarriage of justice the US Supreme Court has refused to consider the decision of a single federal court judge to overturn the perfectly legal action of over 7 million California voters who passed Proposition 8 defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman," said Brain Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, the biggest contributor to putting Prop. 8 on the ballot. "The Supreme Court's holding that proponents of an initiative had no legal right to appeal ignores California law and rewards corrupt politicians for abandoning their duty to defend traditional marriage laws.?
In a statement, Mr. Brown angrily noted that the original state court ruling invalidating Prop. 8 was not surprising because the case ?was heard by a homosexual judge in San Francisco who himself was engaged in a long-term same-sex relationship.?
Brown called the US Supreme Court decision ?illegitimate,? and he said, ?We and millions of other Americans will refuse to accept this rogue decision rewarding corruption.?
Andy Pugno, general counsel for ProtectMarriage.com, the official proponent of Prop. 8, said he was at least grateful that the Supreme Court had ruled narrowly on the measure ? declining to declare the measure unconstitutional as supporters of same-sex marriage had hoped, but focusing instead on the question of legal standing for Prop. 8 supporters.
?We will continue to defend Prop. 8 and seek its enforcement until such time as there is a binding statewide order that renders Prop. 8 unenforceable,? Mr. Pugno said in a statement.
Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council, says the ruling ?distorts the balance of powers between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government.?
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Should Obama Go Big on Climate Agenda?
Updated, June 26: In his speech on Tuesday, President Obama laid out an ambitious plan to confront climate change, including regulations controlling greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, clamping down on coal plants overseas and speeding up renewable-energy development on public lands.
What's your reaction to Obama's climate-change plan??
Original question, posted June 24:
What policies should President Obama include in the global-warming initiatives he will announce on Tuesday??
Heather Zichal, Obama?s top aide on energy and climate, said last week that the plan will include energy efficiency, renewable-energy development on public lands, and?most contentious of the three?regulations controlling greenhouse-gas emissions. The administration is likely going to pursue regulations targeting existing power plants, which account for nearly 40 percent of the greenhouse-gas emissions in the country.
Should Obama go all-in on EPA?s rules for existing plants? Why or why not? What other policies should be considered in the context of a climate-change agenda? What will Obama?s forthcoming initiatives mean for congressional action on energy and environmental issues?
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-big-climate-agenda-072144484.html
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Q&A: Probes of IRS treatment of tea party proceed
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The head of the Internal Revenue Service testifies to Congress this week after IRS documents showed that progressive and other groups seeking tax-exempt status were listed along with conservative organizations as meriting close examination by agency screeners.
With IRS chief Danny Werfel preparing to answer questions Thursday from the House Ways and Means Committee, here's where things stand with his beleaguered agency:
Q: Do the latest revelations mean the IRS subjected progressive groups pursuing tax-exempt designations to the same tough treatment that tea party organizations received?
A: In interviews, leaders of some liberal and other groups ? such as advocates of the medical use of marijuana ? say they faced detailed questions and long delays. So far it remains unclear whether the extent of the problems they faced was as widespread as the ones that dozens of conservative groups confronted. Werfel is likely to get questions on that from lawmakers, especially Democrats.
Q: Why were groups' applications examined so closely?
A: The IRS must determine who qualifies for tax-exempt status. One designation sought by many organizations ? called 501(c)(4) for its tax code section ? lets groups help candidates' election campaigns if it isn't their primary activity.
Thanks to vague laws and regulations, that means the IRS must painstakingly study the activities of all politically active groups that apply for that designation. What was different about this episode is that conservative groups ? and apparently others too ? were given close scrutiny because of their names or statements on their applications or websites.
Q: Did President Barack Obama or any top White House, administration or Obama campaign official start or direct the IRS targeting of conservatives?
A: Several Republicans have suggested the operation was directed by Obama allies and was purposely aimed at his conservative adversaries. There is no evidence yet that anyone from the Obama administration or his political organization was involved in the targeting of conservatives.
Q: Then who started it and why?
A: According to Treasury Department Inspector General J. Russell George and testimony to congressional committees, the screening started with a handful of IRS workers in the Cincinnati office who process around 5,000 applications for tax-exempt status every month.
In early 2010, one worker passed an application from a tea party organization to his boss because he thought their tax treatment could attract news media attention. The boss forwarded it to his superiors, including the IRS exempt organizations office in Washington, which oversaw the Cincinnati screeners and expressed interest.
After that, the boss back in Cincinnati ? who told congressional investigators that the IRS wants to treat high-profile cases consistently ? had his screeners look for similar applications. Eventually they and others set aside dozens of such cases.
Q: What did the IRS do with the conservative groups' applications that were set aside?
A: About 40 were shared with an IRS attorney in Washington, who provided technical advice.
That ended up causing a 13-month period ? from October 2010 to November 2011 ? during which no real work was done on tea party applications. According to testimony to Congress and George's report in May, Cincinnati IRS workers thought their Washington bosses were working on guidelines but Washington thought work in Cincinnati was proceeding. There is no evidence yet that Washington's involvement had any other impact on the cases.
Q: Where did the lists come from?
A: According to George, in May 2010 IRS officials began compiling spreadsheets listing characteristics that screeners were supposed to seek. That list contained the term "tea party" by August 2010 but kept evolving.
George has reported that by June 2011, the list also included "patriots" and "9/12," plus mentions of making America better and criticism of how the country was being run. He has said that after several changes, by May 2012 the spreadsheet was revised to shift its focus away from applicants' policy views and instead toward activities permitted by Treasury regulations.
Democrats from the House Ways and Means panel released 15 of the lists this week. They showed that various points the lists included terms like "Progressives" and "Healthcare legislation." As recently as April of this year they contained "Paying National Debt" and "Green Energy Organizations." Werfel, who was given his job in May by Obama, said this week that he ordered use of the lists completely halted earlier this month.
Q: How many groups were affected?
A: George's report singled out 298 organizations for close study because of potential political activity. Of those, 96 had "tea party," ''patriots" or "9/12" in their names. There is no precise breakdown of the political views of the remaining 202 groups, but they included groups from the right, left and center.
Despite the careful scrutiny they received, George found that as of December 2012 none of the 298 political cases' applications had been denied. Most remained undecided or were approved.
Q: What tough treatment did the groups receive?
A: Most tea party groups waited at least a year for decisions on their applications, with some waiting more than three years. In addition, the IRS sent lengthy questionnaires to many that included queries about their donors and plans, if any, by group leaders to seek public office.
Q: Who wrote these questionnaires?
A: That's unclear, as is why the delays in processing applications persisted so long. Also blurry is why top IRS officials who said they learned about the targeting in spring 2012 didn't tell Congress, even though lawmakers had asked them about it repeatedly because of complaints from tea party constituents.
Q: What's next?
A: Besides Ways and Means, the Senate Finance and House Oversight and Government Reform committees and the Justice Department are pursuing investigations likely to take months.
___
Associated Press writer Stephen Ohlemacher contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/q-probes-irs-treatment-tea-party-proceed-073022785.html
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DirecTV GenieGo takes the fight to Sling, brings TV streaming anywhere on PC and iOS
DirecTV recently switched the name of its Nomad transcoding device to GenieGo to match its new DVRs, a change we first noticed on its Android app. On Windows PC and iOS the apps are about to get a new update that changes the name and lets users stream video from their DVRs over WiFi even when they're away from home (Mac and Android support is due later in the year.) Previously, it allowed users to stream live and recorded TV, or download recorded TV to a mobile device for viewing offline, but Slingbox-style streaming of live or recorded TV anywhere is new, and brings it closer to the device we thought it could be when it launched. Solid Signal and DBSTalk report the incoming update (not live yet, but it should pop up tomorrow) is easy to use, letting users stream recordings, start a recording so it can stream or remotely setting up the transcoder to make a mobile copy users can download once they get home. Satellite TV competitor Dish has brought deeper integration of Sling into its new Hopper DVRs, and now DirecTV has its own in-house solution, anyone thinking of switching sides?
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Mobile
Source: Solid Signal, DBSTalk, DirecTV
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'Bunga bunga' busted: Berlusconi convicted of hiring underage girl for sex
Silvio Berlusconi,?Italy's infamous former premier, was sentenced to seven years in prison and banned from politics for life for paying an underage Moroccan prostitute for sex during so-called 'bunga bunga' parties.
Karima 'Ruby' el-Mahroug, seen here last month after testifying, was 17 when former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi paid her for sex during infamous 'bunga bunga' parties at his villa. Berlusconi, 76, was sentenced on Monday to seven years in prison and barred from public office for life.
Luca Bruno / AP
EnlargeSilvio Berlusconi,?Italy's?flamboyant former premier, was sentenced to seven years in prison and banned from politics for life Monday for paying an underage prostitute for sex during infamous "bunga bunga" parties and forcing public officials to cover it up.
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It was the most damaging setback yet for the 76-year-old Berlusconi, who has been tried numerous times for his business dealings but never before for his personal conduct.
Still, he vowed that his days as a political force are not over. He has two levels of appeal ? and his supporters quickly rallied around him.
The charges against the billionaire media mogul resulted from what became widely known in?Italy?as "bunga bunga" parties hosted in 2010 by Berlusconi, then the sitting premier, at his villa near Milan, where he wined and dined beautiful young women.
Berlusconi's defense described the dinner parties as elegant soirees; prosecutors said they were sex-fueled gatherings that women were paid to attend. The woman at the center of the scandal, Karima el-Mahroug, better known as Ruby, has described aspiring showgirls stripping provocatively for the then-Italian leader.
Both Berlusconi and el-Mahroug denied ever having sex, and el-Mahroug says she never worked as a prostitute.
After the verdict, Berlusconi said in a message posted on Facebook that he believed he would be acquitted "because in the facts there is really no possibility to convict me."
He called the sentence "incredible, of a violence never seen or heard before, to try to eliminate me from the political life of this country." He pledged to "resist this persecution, because I am absolutely innocent, and I don't want in any way to abandon my battle to make?Italy?a truly free and just country."
The Milan criminal court's ruling was unexpectedly stiff, going further than the original charges and openly questioning whether many of the young women who testified in Berlusconi's defense had lied on the stand to protect him.
The panel of three judges, all women, said Berlusconi went beyond using his influence to cover up his relationship with the then-17-year-old Moroccan, as originally charged. They said he stepped in to win her release from police custody when she was accused of theft.
As a result, they added one year to the six requested by prosecutors.
The court also said it was turning over to prosecutors files containing the testimony of more than 30 young women who attended the now-infamous "bunga bunga" parties to investigate if they had lied under oath when they denied a sexual character to the gatherings.
Justice Minister Angelino Alfano, who is also secretary of Berlusconi's People of Liberty Party, said he told his political mentor to "hang in there, and keep moving on" in a phone call after the verdict.
Berlusconi was not in court for the sentencing, but his lawyer, Niccolo Ghedini, said he would appeal a decision he called both "largely expected" and "out of reality." The Berlusconi camp has long accused Milan magistrates of mounting a campaign to sideline him politically.
Berlusconi loyalist Daniela Santanche, who attended the sentencing, denounced it as "an outrage, and a political sentence that has nothing to do with justice." But she also said that it should have no impact on the government.
Some political opponents, however, said Berlusconi, who has shaped political discourse in?Italy?for two decades, should withdraw from politics immediately.
Alessandro Di Battista, a lawmaker in the anti-establishment 5 Star Movement, said Berlusconi "must go to jail. It is outrageous that he is a senator that can make laws. Until he goes to jail, the country is not free." And the left-leaning governor of Apulia, Nicchi Vendola, said Berlusconi should "abandon public life."
Berlusconi does not have any official role in government, but he is a senator in Parliament and retains influence in the uneasy grand coalition between his forces and the center-left Democratic Party that emerged after inconclusive February elections. The Democratic Party issued a statement acknowledging the sentence and in support of the autonomy of the courts.
Berlusconi's high-stakes judicial woes are far from over. He faces a final appeal in a tax fraud conviction for which he has been sentenced to four years in jail and a five-year ban from office.
Roberto D'Alimonte, a political analyst for il Sole 24 Ore daily and professor at Rome's LUISS University, said the tax fraud conviction poses the more immediate threat since?Italy's?highest court is likely to rule before the statute of limitations runs out.
The sex-for-hire case "weakens him politically, but not that much, because we have seen that his voter base seems to be insulated from the impact of these sentences. We saw in the last elections, everyone thought he was dead, but he came back to life," D'Alimonte said.
While the verdict drew intense international media coverage, with half a dozen satellite vans parked outside the Milan courthouse, there was only a smattering of public interest. A few anti-Berlusconi protesters gathered outside, and just a handful of citizens joined journalists crammed inside the small courtroom.
"For 20 years, he's been running?Italy. He's done what he wanted," said Aurelio De Boni, a retired suit salesman from Milan who attended the trial.
Neither Berlusconi nor el-Mahroug testified in this trial. El-Mahroug was called by the defense but failed to show, delaying the trial, and Berlusconi's team eventually dropped her from the witness list.
El-Mahroug, however, did testify in the separate trial of three Berlusconi aides charged with procuring prostitutes for the parties. She told that court that Berlusconi's disco featured aspiring showgirls dressed as sexy nuns and nurses performing striptease acts, and that one woman even dressed up as President Barack Obama.
El-Mahroug, now 20, said in the other trial that she attended about a half-dozen parties at Berlusconi's villa, and that after each, Berlusconi handed her an envelope with up to 3,000 euros ($3,900). She said she later received 30,000 euros cash from the then-premier, paid through an intermediary ? money that she told Berlusconi she wanted to use to open a beauty salon, despite having no formal training.
But she denied ever receiving millions from the billionaire, as she had claimed to acquaintances, saying they were "lies" meant to inflate her own importance.
She was 17 at the time of the alleged encounters but passed herself off as 24. She also claimed she was related to then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Berlusconi's lawyers argued that he believed el-Mahroug was indeed Mubarak's niece, and he called police after she was accused of theft in a bid to avoid a diplomatic incident.
Berlusconi, who has been tried numerous times relating to his business dealings, has been convicted in other cases at the trial level. But those convictions have always either been overturned on appeal or else the statute of limitations has run out before?Italy's?high court could have its say.
The sex-for-hire case is the first involving his personal conduct.
Later this week,?Italy's?highest court has scheduled a hearing on Berlusconi's appeal to a verdict ordering him to pay 560 million euros ($800 million) to a rival media group over corruption in the acquisition of the Mondadori publishing empire. And a preliminary hearing will begin in Naples to decide if Berlusconi should be tried for allegedly bribing a lawmaker to bolt a previous center-left government under Romano Prodi and join his party, a move that weakened Prodi's slim majority.
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Supreme Court strikes down key part of Voting Rights Act
By Lawrence Hurley
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a major blow to civil rights activists, the Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down an important part of a 48-year-old federal law designed to protect minority voters.
The court ruled on a 5-4 vote in favor of officials from Shelby County, Alabama, in finding that a section of the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act that sets the formula that determines which states need federal approval to change voting laws is invalid.
Writing for the majority, conservative Chief Justice John Roberts said the coverage formula that Congress used when it most recently reauthorized the law in 2006 should have been updated.
"Congress did not use the record it compiled to shape a coverage formula grounded in current conditions," he wrote. "It instead re-enacted a formula based on 40-year-old facts having no logical relationship to the present day."
The court, split on ideological lines, did not go as far as striking down Section 5 of the law, known as the preclearance provision, which requires certain states to get approval from the Justice Department or a federal court before making election-law changes.
But a majority did invalidate Section 4 of the act, which sets the formula for states covered by Section 5 and was based on historic patterns of discrimination against minority voters.
Although Section 5 is technically left intact, it is effectively nullified, at least for the near future, as Congress would now need to pass new legislation setting a new formula before it can be applied again.
As a result, the ruling is a heavy blow for civil rights advocates, who believe the loss of a working preclearance program could lead to an increase in attempts to deter minorities from voting. They say that 31 proposals made by covered jurisdictions to modify election laws have been blocked by the Justice Department under Section 5 since the law was re-enacted in 2006.
One of the most closely watched disputes of the court's current term, the case centers on the civil rights-era law that broadly prohibited poll taxes, literacy tests and other measures that prevented blacks from voting. In the 1960s, such laws existed throughout the country but were more prevalent in the South with its legacy of slavery.
Section 5 of the law required certain states, mainly in the South, to show that any proposed election-law change does not discriminate against black, Latino or other minority voters.
The nine fully covered states were Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.
The Shelby County challengers said the kind of systematic obstruction that once warranted treating the South differently is over and the screening provision should be struck down.
The Obama administration, backed by civil rights advocates, had argued that the provision was still needed to deter voter discrimination.
The issue of voting rights remains prominent in the United States. During the 2012 presidential election campaign, judges nationwide heard challenges to new voter identification laws and redrawn voting districts. The most restrictive moves ended up being blocked before the November elections.
Just last week, the Supreme Court struck down an Arizona state law that required people registering to vote in federal elections to show proof of citizenship, a victory for activists who said it discouraged Native Americans and Latinos from voting.
Democrats say that and similar measures, championed by Republicans at the state level, were intended to make it more difficult for certain voters who tend to vote Democratic to cast ballots.
The case is Shelby County v. Holder, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 12-96.
(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Howard Goller and Will Dunham)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/supreme-court-strikes-down-key-part-voting-rights-141933323.html
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Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Presidential palace in Afghanistan attacked
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? Suicide attackers blew up a car bomb and battled security forces outside Afghanistan's presidential palace Tuesday after infiltrating one of the most secure areas of the capital. The army said the attackers were killed but knew of no other deaths.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which came as reporters were gathering for a news event on Afghan youth at which President Hamid Karzai was expected to talk about ongoing efforts to open peace talks with the militant group.
The palace is in a large fortified area of downtown Kabul that also includes the U.S. Embassy and the headquarters for the NATO-led coalition forces. Access is heavily restricted. It houses Karzai's residence but it was not immediately clear whether the president was in the building at the time and his spokesman did not answer his phone.
Gunfire started around 6:30 a.m. inside a heavily guarded area near the east gate leading to the palace next to the Afghan Ministry of Defense and the former Ariana Hotel, which former U.S. intelligence officials have confirmed is used by the CIA.
Kabul police chief Gen. Mohamad Ayub Salangi said three or four gunmen jumped out of their SUV and opened fire after being stopped by security forces while trying to use fake documents to get through a checkpoint. All gunmen were killed, and one palace security guard was wounded, he said.
A car bomb then exploded as it tried to enter the area. About 20 journalists took cover behind a religious shrine, pulling a schoolboy off the street who had been caught in the open on his way to school.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility, saying in a text message the militants had "brought death to the enemy" with a suicide attack. He later suggested in an emailed statement that all three buildings had been targeted, saying the attack came "near the Ariana Hotel, the important CIA base, and also the presidential palace and Ministry of Defense."
Smoke could be seen coming from the area of the hotel, but there was no immediate indication any of the buildings were hit in the attack.
Mujahid claimed the attackers had inflicted "heavy casualties," but Afghanistan's Kabul division army commander Gen. Kadam Shah Shahim said he knew of no deaths among security forces or civilians.
He said his forces killed all of the attackers after they jumped out of their vehicle and opened fire.
The NATO-led coalition in Afghanistan instituted a camp lockdown during the incident and said in a short statement that its forces had been ready to assist but were not called in by Afghan authorities.
The U.S. Embassy cancelled all consular appointments and advised American citizens in Kabul to stay indoors but had no immediate comment on the incident.
The Taliban have indicated they are willing to open peace talks with the U.S. and the Afghanistan government and just last week opened an office in Qatar for possible negotiations.
But at the same time they have not renounced violence and attacks have continued across Afghanistan.
_____
Associated Press writers David Rising and Amir Shah contributed to this report
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/taliban-attack-presidential-palace-afghanistan-030026459.html
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Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Author Barbara Ehrenreich Revisits Her 1987 Look at the Future of Sex
The January 1987 issue of the legendary (and sadly, now defunct) Omni magazine included predictions from 14 "great minds" about what the world might look like in twenty years. By the year 2007, musician David Byrne believed that computers would do little for future musicians outside of their bookkeeping. Noted rich guy Bill Gates wondered how much stimulation (read: overstimulation) people of the future might be able to handle. And feminist author Barbara Ehrenreich predicted that by the 21st century, ideas about sexual dysfunction and what constitutes a healthy sexual relationship will have changed dramatically.
I sent Ehrenreich an email to ask about her predictions. She responded with a note that the short piece attributed to her in Omni looked like something that was taken from an interview, rather than something she wrote. Either way, it's a fascinating (and rather prescient) look at the future of sex and relationships from the perspective of the 1980s.
Here's what she had to say a quarter century ago:
Sex will continue to be on center stage in the next 20 years. There are good reasons for that. It's only recently that large numbers of people have begun to think of sex as a pleasurable part of their lives, quite apart from some function such as reproduction. For many years we've had birth control, but the realization that sex can be something that is not connected to some other purpose in life is just gaining hold. People are understanding their own particular sexual needs for the first time.
A redefinition of heterosexual sex is occurring in which sex will be less bound to genital interaction. It's no longer just foreplay plus intercourse. The women's sexual revolution declared that women were not getting enough pleasure, and what is evolving is a much more varied kind of encounter that does not have to culminate in penetration and ejaculation by the man.
Our present notions of sexual dysfunction will look archaic in 20 years. It will seem incredible that all of our notions of sexual dysfunction came from a narrow notion of sex centered on intercourse.
We will, of course, continue to move away from a medical model of sexuality, which separates sexual activity into normal patterns over here and the dysfunctions or the illnesses over there. As we develop a broader definition of sexuality, it will appear particularly quaint to talk about dys- functions.
We won't rely on doctors or sexologists to define the problems or provide the answers. The biggest change in sex in the last 20 years has been that ordinary lay-people have begun to write about their experiences and have begun to introduce the subjective element.
In 20 years more people are going to have long periods of time when they are not in a marriage or other long-term sexual relationship. They should have options that do not depend on getting emotionally involved. You just might want to rent an exciting videotape instead of having an affair. I also think the sex-products industry will become important to people in monogamous marriage relationships and help keep those relationships together by an active interest in sexual possibilities.
There are issues that barely have been uncovered or discussed during the recent so-called sexual revolution. Why does our culture limit the idea of what is sexually attractive? Why do we limit it to people who are young and pretty in a conventional way? How do we begin to change that so that the possibility of being a sexually assertive person is open to all of us who fall outside the bounds of conventional attractiveness? American culture is already showing that its members are not ready to be asexual when they're fifty.
Twenty years ago I really believed that by this time we would be a much more egalitarian society. I really believed that by 1987 we wouldn't have about 20 percent of our own citizens in a state of poverty. In 20 years we have gone backward.
In response to how accurate she thinks her prediction was, Ehrenreich said, "I think was more or less right. Look at gay marriage!"
And aside from some minor nitpicking about the technology behind the "rent an exciting videotape" part, it does seem like she got a lot right. The most notable absentee is internet porn, and who could've predicted that before the world wide web even existed?
Source: http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/author-barbara-ehrenreich-revisits-her-1987-look-at-the-552097723
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South Africans resigned over 'critical' Mandela
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africans appeared resigned on Monday to the inevitability of one day saying goodbye to former president Nelson Mandela after the 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader's condition in hospital deteriorated to critical.
Madiba, as he is affectionately known, is revered among most of South Africa's 53 million people as the architect of the peaceful 1994 transition to multi-racial democracy after three centuries of white domination.
However, with his latest hospitalization - his fourth in six months - a realization has set in that he will not be around for ever.
His deterioration this weekend, two weeks after being admitted in a serious but stable condition with a lung infection, has caused a perceptible switch in mood from prayers for recovery to preparations for a fond farewell.
"If it's his time to go, he can go. I wish God can look after him," said nurse Petunia Mafuyeka, as she headed to work in Johannesburg.
"We will miss him very much. He fought for us to give us freedom. We will remember him every day. When he goes I will cry."
In a statement, President Jacob Zuma's office urged South Africa and the world to pray for Mandela "during this difficult time". But there was some concern among the public about doctors trying to prolong the life of one of the 20th century's most influential figures.
"I'm worried that they're keeping him alive. I feel they should let him go," said Doris Lekalakala, a claims manager. "The man is old. Let nature take its course. He must just rest."
Since stepping down in 1999 after one term as president, Mandela has stayed out of active politics in the continent's biggest and most important economy and his passing is expected to have little political impact.
His last public appearance was waving to fans from the back of a golf cart before the final of the soccer World Cup in Johannesburg's Soccer City stadium in July 2010.
During his retirement, he has divided his time between his home in the wealthy Johannesburg suburb of Houghton, and Qunu, the village in the impoverished Eastern Cape province where he was born.
The public's last glimpse of him was a brief clip aired by state television in April during a visit to his home by Zuma and other senior officials of the ruling African National Congress.
At the time, the 101-year-old liberation movement, which led the fight against white-minority rule, assured the public Mandela was "in good shape", although the footage showed a thin and frail old man sitting expressionless in an armchair.
(Reporting by Ed Cropley and Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Pascal Fletcher)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/south-africans-resigned-over-critical-mandela-060437497.html
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Summer Payroll maintenance: It's time to tidy up! ? Business ...
Summer is the perfect time to perform simple payroll maintenance tasks. Here are some items you can check off your to-do list.
? Confirm that all monthly, quarterly and annual balances are accumulating properly; pay attention to adjustments.
? Scan the computer you use to make tax deposits for viruses and sweep them out. Review and winnow the number of employees who have access to this computer.
? Ask your corporate tax department whether payroll taxes are accumulating properly. Ask corporate to provide you with more timely information, if necessary.
? Review your communications? techniques with employees; if you?re still getting too many questions, it may be time to adapt your methods to the media employees actually use.
? Inquire whether the company paid off an employee?s child support obligation and tax that amount; you may treat the payment as supplemental wages.
? Work with Accounts Payable to create a system for processing employee payments made outside the payroll system (e.g., business expense or moving expense reimbursements).
? Reject and return to the sender child support withholding orders that aren?t on OMB-approved forms.
? Review cellphone reimbursement policies for reasonableness. If something seems out of kilter, ask to see several months of employees? bills and adjust your reimbursement accordingly.
? Ensure that the company?s policy regarding paying accrued vacation to terminating employees is enforced consistently and complies with state law.
? Check T&E policies for reimbursing em??ployees? local lodging expenses. Reminder: You may reimburse employees? local lodging expenses if there?s a bona fide reason to require them to stay overnight at a local hotel (e.g., to participate in training activities).
? Check that employees aren?t working through meal breaks, that employees who can?t take meal breaks notify their supervisors and pay employees who work through their meal breaks.
? Audit your lock-in letter procedure to ensure that employees receive their copies within 10 days, and that the payroll software postpones any increase in withholding for 45 days or the date indicated in the IRS? letter.
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Milan fashion designers have travel on their mind
MILAN (AP) ? Milan fashion designers have travel on their minds for next summer.
Designs shown on the second day of menswear previews during Milan Fashion Week had an exotic flare -- even if Miuccia Prada in particular says she was rejecting the label.
African references were predominant. There were geometric patterns, ethnic shades, baggy pants, Kaftans, shell-detailing and sandals.
The tropics also got their due, with floral and animal prints, the colors of sunsets and stormy seas and Hawaiian girl motifs.
Bermudas remain a mainstay for season -- and often make up a suit paired with a narrow jacket, and are always worn with ankle socks.
Often the exotic shared the runway with more classic looks, fitted trousers, summer slacks and button-down shirts. Jackets more often than not are worn with the sleeves pushed or rolled up.
Shoes run the gamut from thick rubber-soles to fine leather booties and loafers.
MIUCCIA PRADA
Miuccia Prada questions the very meaning of summer and the exotic in her latest menswear designs.
Prada has delivered satin floral prints that are clearly associated with the Pacific, and pairs them not with the classic linen gin-and-tonic suit, but with a traditional double-breasted pin stripe.
Her reference point in the collection is clearly the 1940s. The designer has returned to the old-fashioned carry-on luggage ? no trollies, please ? with bold designs, including tropical florals and Hawaiian girls. The period references on the luggage were also backdrops to the runway: graphic prints of palm trees, postcard sunsets and images of water.
The looks were classics ? with Prada updates. She seemed to have sports on her mind: There were satiny boxer shorts, light-weight shirts based on a baseball jacket and a retro bowling ball bag. The designer also layered short-sleeved knitwear over shirts, often with clashing patterns.
The color palette recalled stormy sea colors ? gray to teal to black ? and sunsets ? yellow to terracotta to earthy brown and black.
BOTTEGA VENETA
For next summer Tomas Maier, the acclaimed creative director of luxury goods brand Bottega Veneta, is inviting customers to walk in his shoes.
Maier used the traditional Bottega leather weave for loafers, lace-ups and even sidewalk slippers. Usually, it's reserved for women's handbags.
According to his fashion notes, "contrast" was the theme of Maier's 2014 preview collection.
The show opened with a series of suits with a soft shouldered, wide sleeved jacket and narrow pants. Contrast came in the white lines stitched into the classic look referencing the chalk marks used for fittings in bespoke tailoring, creating imaginary lapels and pockets.
MISSONI
Angela Missoni looked to West Africa for inspiration for her menswear collection for next summer: its colors, its weaves and its accents.
The mood of the collection was encapsulated in an intricate sand-colored crewneck sweater with pieces of red and milky shell embroidered into decorative panels. A small leather talisman sack, for a good luck charm or precious object, was worn around the neck on strands of beads.
The designer for the family label referenced the colors of the continent: indigo textile dyes from Benin, clay tones from Mali and dark olive from the rain forests of Ivory Coast.
The classically cut suits, some in bold indigo plaids and others in khaki shades with the hint of desert reds woven in, were more fitting of an adventurer than a businessman, more likely seen in a colonial hotel than a metropolitan meeting room.
CALVIN KLEIN
The Calvin Klein man for next summer keeps men in their comfort zone, with a solid focus on basics in reassuring blues. There are bomber jackets, suits with cuffed pants and classic shirts.
Designer Italo Zucchelli offers up monochromatic looks predominantly in blues: wake-up royal, soothing sky and down-to-business navy. Classic double-pocket snap-close shirts are paired with same-color pants that cuff at the ankle. They in turn are worn with a shoe of the matching color and same-color socks ? none of the black socks seen on other runways.
Bomber jackets come in white with classic blue vertical stripes, perfect for a day at the ballpark.
On the more daring end of the spectrum, sweatshirts are made of a funky mix of fabrics: One had a neoprene effect, another was chunky knit and finally there were cotton panels. Together, they create a harmonious clash fitting of the heavy metal riffs that resounded down along the runway.
FERRAGAMO
The Ferragamo summer promises to be young and carefree, with Bermuda shorts, leather sandals and a large backpack the only musts for the warm weather traveler.
To set the mood, Massimiliano Giornetti, the label's creative director, created a suitably atmospheric backdrop ? a long, white runway was set off by a big blue sky projected on a mega screen.
Giornetti at times took the summer suit trend of Bermuda shorts and a matching jacket a step further by cutting the sleeves off the jacket, or using unconventional colors such as pea green and lobster red.
The designer also favored large geometric patterns, a recurring theme in this round of preview collections, and light and billowy overcoats, which are also popular for next summer.
VIVIENNE WESTWOOD
Vivienne Westwood, the British designer known for her eccentric fashion, dedicated her latest menswear collection to Bradley Manning, an American soldier currently on trial in the U.S. for leaking classified material to the website WikiLeaks. He was arrested in May 2010 in Iraq.
Models walked down the runway wearing a large badge with a picture of the soldier on it, and the word "TRUTH" written at the bottom in bold white letters on a red background.
The collection was casual chic with African references, from the striped linen used for a long Kaftan shirt or a summer suit, to baggy pants and breeches, to geometric prints, to toe sandals and flip flops.
The show opened with a series of summer khaki slacks worn over classic shirts, perfect for a toney summer evening.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/milan-fashion-designers-travel-mind-210044030.html
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