Maria Menounos to induct Bob Backlund into the WWE Hall of Fame

All WWE programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, logos and copyrights are the exclusive property of WWE, Inc. and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. ? 2013 WWE, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This website is based in the United States. By submitting personal information to this website you consent to your information being maintained in the U.S., subject to applicable U.S. laws. U.S. law may be different than the law of your home country. WrestleMania XXIX (NY/NJ) logo TM & ? 2013 WWE. All Rights Reserved. The Empire State Building design is a registered trademark and used with permission by ESBC.

Source: http://www.wwe.com/classics/wwe-hall-of-fame/maria-menounos-to-induct-bob-backlund

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Cellphone buyback ATMs tempt ? but also thwart ? thieves

Devin Coldewey , NBC News ? ? ? 5 hrs.

Cellphone buyback ATMs that dispense cash for phones and other electronics sound like a petty thief's dream. And indeed, a recent article in the Washington Post called attention to the machines serving as a speedy, low-risk fence for stolen property. But EcoATM, which operates a network of 340 machines in 20 states, is trying to make things hard, if not impossible, for criminals.

"We totally recognize that people steal cellphones," the company's director of marketing, Ryan Kuder, told NBC News. "We've got a policy to return any phone we find that has been reported lost or stolen at no charge ... so we've got a serious disincentive to accept stolen phones."

To that end, EcoATMs actually perform quite a battery of authentications on the seller and phone itself:

• Several high-resolution pictures are taken of the person selling the phone.
  
• They must present a valid ID showing them to be over 18.
  
• This ID is checked against internal and police blacklists.
  
• A thumbprint is taken.
  
• The serial number of the phone is recorded and cross checked with available stolen phone databases.
  
• Finally, the purchase must be manually approved by an EcoATM representative, who can access all this data.
  

Yet this still might not be enough ? a thief might use an accomplice with a clean record to sell the devices, or go to a kiosk in another city, where the phone won't appear on local stolen-phone databases. But Kuder points out that these are the same risk that other pawn shops and trade-in-friendly store face.

Like those establishments, EcoATM works with police. But while there is some collaboration, it's necessarily limited owing to the lack of a single nationwide or worldwide lost and stolen phone registry. Carriers, likewise, have no central listing of phone serial numbers that are still under contract, reported lost, and so on. EcoATM shares this info "fully and transparently" with police, but that's not as easy or universal to do as it could be.

In the meantime, the company's buyback machines, though susceptible to clever criminals, at least provide a nice paper trail ? unlike, for example, Craigslist, the popular classifieds site that is largely anonymous and frequently used as a cash-only clearing-house for stolen items.

With hundreds of thousands of devices bought back by the kiosks, and then recycled or resold, the automated ecosystem is new and growing. Still, it may never be 100 percent crime-proof.

Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. His personal website is coldewey.cc.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2a05f5da/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Cgadgetbox0Ccellphone0Ebuyback0Eatms0Etempt0Ealso0Ethwart0Ethieves0E1C90A85219/story01.htm

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Microscale medical sensors inserted under skin powered wirelessly by external handheld receiver

Mar. 27, 2013 ? Implantable electronic devices potentially offer a rapid and accurate way for doctors to monitor patients with particular medical conditions. Yet powering such devices remains a fundamental challenge: batteries are bulky and eventually need recharging or replacing. Jia Hao Cheong at the A*STAR Institute for Microelectronics, Singapore, and his co-workers are developing an alternative approach that eliminates the need for a battery. Their miniature devices are based on wireless power-transfer technology.

The research team has developed a microscale electronic sensor to monitor blood flow through artificial blood vessels. Surgeons use these prosthetic grafts to bypass diseased or clogged blood vessels in patients experiencing restricted blood supply, for example. Over time, however, the graft can also become blocked. To avoid complete failure, blood flow through the graft must be monitored regularly, but existing techniques are slow and costly.

These limitations prompted the researchers to develop a bench-top prototype of a device that could be incorporated inside a graft to monitor blood flow. The implant is powered by a handheld external reader, which uses inductive coupling to wirelessly transfer energy, a technology similar to that found in the latest wireless-charging mobile phones. The team developed an application-specific, integrated circuit for the implant designed for low power use (see image).

The incoming energy powers circuits in the device that control sensors based on silicon nanowires. This material is piezoresistive: as blood flows over the sensor the associated mechanical stresses induce a measurable increase in electrical resistance, proportional to the flow pressure.

Key to the success of the device is its ability to work with a very limited power supply. Most of the incoming energy is absorbed by skin and tissue before it can reach the implant, which may be inserted up to 50 millimeters deep.

"Our flow sensor system achieves an ultra-low power consumption of 12.6 microwatts," Cheong says. For example, the sensor transmits its data to the handheld reader passively, by backscattering some of the incoming energy. "We have tested our system with 50-millimeter-thick tissue between the external coil and implantable coil, and it successfully extracted the pressure data from the implantable device," he adds.

Cheong and his co-workers' tests showed that the prototype sensor was also highly pressure sensitive, providing pressure readings with a resolution of 0.17 pounds per square inch (1,172 pascals). "The next step of the project is to integrate the system and embed it inside a graft for [an experimental] animal," Cheong says.

The A*STAR-affiliated researchers contributing to this research are from the Institute of Microelectronics

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Jia Hao Cheong, Simon Sheung Yan Ng, Xin Liu, Rui-Feng Xue, Huey Jen Lim, Pradeep Basappa Khannur, Kok Lim Chan, Andreas Astuti Lee, Kai Kang, Li Shiah Lim, Cairan He, Pushpapraj Singh, Woo-Tae Park, Minkyu Je. An Inductively Powered Implantable Blood Flow Sensor Microsystem for Vascular Grafts. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 2012; 59 (9): 2466 DOI: 10.1109/TBME.2012.2203131

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/oPdGd-Vm3EA/130327162425.htm

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Major advance in understanding risky but effective multiple sclerosis treatment

Mar. 26, 2013 ? A new study by multiple sclerosis researchers at three? Canadian centres addresses why bone marrow transplantation (BMT) has positive results in patients with particularly aggressive forms of MS. The transplantation treatment, which is performed as part of a clinical trial and carries potentially serious risks, virtually stops all new relapsing activity as observed upon clinical examination and brain MRI scans. The study reveals how the immune system changes as a result of the transplantation. Specifically, a sub-set of T cells in the immune system known as Th17 cells, have a substantially diminished function following the treatment.

The finding to be published in the upcoming issue of Annals of Neurology and currently in the early online version, provides important insight into how and why BMT treatment works as well as how relapses may develop in MS.

"Our study examined why patients essentially stop having relapses and new brain lesions after the bone marrow transplant treatment, which involves ablative chemotherapy followed by stem cell transplantation using the patient's own cells," said Prof. Amit Bar-Or, the principle investigator of the study, who is a neurologist and MS researcher at The Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital -The Neuro, McGill University, and Director of The Neuro's Experimental Therapeutics Program. "We discovered differences between the immune responses of these patients before and after treatment, which point to a particular type of immune response as the potential perpetrator of relapses in MS."

"Although the immune system that re-emerges in these patients from their stem cells is generally intact, we identified a selectively diminished capacity of their Th17 immune responses following therapy -- which could explain the lack of new MS disease activity. In untreated patients, these Th17 cells may be particularly important in breaching the blood-brain-barrier, which normally protects the central nervous system. This interaction of Th17 cells with the blood-brain barrier can facilitate subsequent invasion of other immune cells such as Th1 cells, which are thought to also contribute to brain cell injury.

Twenty-four patients participated in the overall clinical trial as part of the 'Canadian MS BMT' clinical trial, coordinated by Drs. Mark Freedman and Harry Atkins at the Ottawa General Hospital. The new discovery, made in a subset of patients participating in the clinical trial, was based on immunological studies carried out jointly in laboratories at The Neuro and the Universit? de Montr?al. Results of this study not only show the clinical benefits of BMT treatment, but also open a unique window into the immunological mechanisms underlying relapses in MS. Th17 cells could be the immune cells associated with the initiation of new relapsing disease activity in this group of patients with aggressive MS. This finding deepens our understanding of MS and could guide the development of personalized medicine with a more favourable risk/benefit profile.

Among the patients treated in the Canadian MS BMT clinical trial, was Dr. Alexander Normandin, a family doctor, who was a third- year McGill medical student getting ready for his surgery exams when he first learned he had MS, "I was so engrossed in my studies that I didn't pay attention to the first sign but within a few days of waking up with a numb temple, my face felt frozen. I learned that I had a very aggressive form of MS and would probably be in a wheelchair within a year. It was a brutal blow. I became patient #19 -- of only 24 for this experimental treatment. My immune system was knocked out and then rebooted with my stem cells. Today, my MS has stabilized. I now have this disease under control and I take it one day at a time."

Both the clinical and biological studies were supported by the Research Foundation of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada.

Multiple Sclerosis

MS is a disorder of the brain and spinal cord that causes fatigue, disequilibrium, sensory problems and muscle paralysis. The cause of MS is unknown, but evidence suggests that it is an auto-immune disease that destroys myelin, a substance coating axons, the thin strands that carry signals between brain cells.It usually strikes between the ages of 15 and 40 but can begin as early as age two. Women have twice the probability of developing MS than men. Canada has one of the world's highest national rates -- about 1,100 new cases each year. Some 50,000 Canadians have MS. More than 1 in 5 lives in Quebec. The most common form of MS is relapsing-remitting, in which acute symptoms alternate with periods of remission. Primary progressive MS, the least common form, develops continually without remission. Secondary progressive MS begins as relapsing-remitting, then becomes steadily progressive.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by McGill University.

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Journal Reference:

1. Peter J. Darlington, Tarik Touil, Jean-Sebastien Doucet, Denis Gaucher, Joumana Zeidan, Dominique Gauchat, Rachel Corsini, Ho Jin Kim, Martin Duddy, Farzaneh Jalili, Nathalie Arbour, Hania Kebir, Jacqueline Chen, Douglas L. Arnold, Marjorie Bowman, Jack Antel, Alexandre Prat, Mark S. Freedman, Harold Atkins, Rafick Sekaly, Remi Cheynier, Amit Bar-Or. Diminished Th17 (not Th1) responses underlie multiple sclerosis disease abrogation after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Annals of Neurology, 2013; DOI: 10.1002/ana.23784

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/DBm41Qt64fk/130326121738.htm

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Cards' closer Motte likely to start season on DL

JUPITER, Fla. (AP) ? St. Louis Cardinals closer Jason Motte probably will start the season on the disabled because of a mild muscle flexor strain in his pitching arm.

The Cardinals said Saturday that the right-hander had stopped throwing following the results of an MRI a day earlier.

Motte pitched an inning against the New York Mets on Thursday in Port St. Lucie, then told the team his forearm tightened up on the bus ride back to the Cardinals' spring training complex.

"We're certainly going to be as aggressive as we can with the rehab, but in terms of DL, I would say that's likely going to happen," general manager John Mozeliak said.

Motte was 0-0 with one save and a 5.00 ERA in nine innings during spring training.

Setup man Mitchell Boggs will move into the closer's role/

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cards-closer-motte-likely-start-season-dl-170603479--mlb.html

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Human brain treats prosthetic devices as part of the body

Mar. 6, 2013 ? People with spinal cord injuries show strong association of wheelchairs as part of their body, not extension of immobile limbs.

The human brain can learn to treat relevant prosthetics as a substitute for a non-working body part, according to research published March 6 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Mariella Pazzaglia and colleagues from Sapienza University and IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia of Rome in Italy, supported by the International Foundation for Research in Paraplegie.

The researchers found that wheelchair-bound study participants with spinal cord injuries perceived their body's edges as being plastic and flexible to include the wheelchair, independent of time since their injury or experience with using a wheelchair. Patients with lower spinal cord injuries who retained upper body movement showed a stronger association of the wheelchair with their body than those who had spinal cord impairments in the entire body.

According to the authors, this suggests that rather than being thought of only as an extension of the immobile limbs, the wheelchairs had become tangible, functional substitutes for the affected body part. As Pazzaglia explains, "The corporeal awareness of the tool emerges not merely as an extension of the body but as a substitute for, and part of, the functional self."

Previous studies have shown that people with prosthetic devices that extend or restore movement may make such tools part of their physical identity, but whether this integration was due to prolonged use or a result of altered sensory input was unclear. Based on the results of this study, the authors suggest that it may be the latter, as the brain appears to continuously update bodily signals to incorporate these tools into a sense of the body. The study concludes that this ability may have applications in rehabilitation of physically impaired people.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Public Library of Science.

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Journal Reference:

1. Mariella Pazzaglia, Giulia Galli, Giorgio Scivoletto, Marco Molinari. A Functionally Relevant Tool for the Body following Spinal Cord Injury. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (3): e58312 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0058312

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/eElc3Ru6C_0/130306221135.htm

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Can a social network built for two really improve your marriage ...

I just finished posting the obligatory wedding anniversary status update on Facebook, complete with a wedding picture. Let?s face it: These kinds of status updates have replaced greeting cards for a lot of people. But some people simply do not want to share their most intimate sentiments with other peoples? news feeds, which has given birth to the personal social network.

Yes, a personal social network. While some offer to link you up exclusively with only close friends or relatives, a number cater specifically to relationships. It?s just you and you?re significant other. But what?s the point of a ?social network? comprised of two people? Do these services actually bring you any closer together? I decided to find out.

It?s been eight years for my wife Kathy and I, and as with any good marriage, our love has grown in response to the problems we have faced together. Communication is key, so I was more than willing to try one of these social networks built for two, an app called Tokii.

Once you and your partner have entered into a relationship (one sends an invitation that the other has to accept; no imaginary relationships with Jennifer Lawrence), you are provided a place to describe your mood using both text and a rather large collection of emoticons. There?s also a bank of quizzes ? called DiscoveryGames ? that you can take solo, together, or in a ?compete? mode where you try to guess what the other person?s answers will be.

The quizzes run from groups of ten steamy questions you might come across with a sex therapist to banks of questions about parenting or religion. This is the most fun part of the process and where Tokii has its claim to fame, having started as a website that focused on these types of quizzes. Unfortunately some of the cooler ideas from the site, like the TradingPost where you can barter for certain services from your mate, haven?t made it to the app yet.

The generic quizzes are great, and cover universal themes that every couple should address in their relationship. Some of the ?timelier? quizzes, asking your partner?s take on current events for example, are in terrible need of updating. The most recent ones cover the events that made news? in 2011. Not surprisingly, my wife was in favor of killing Osama bin Laden.

After a couple of weeks of use, I can report that we did not use the mood-entry function at all. It?s a fine idea, but we found that if we were stressed or excited or wanted to flirt, we would just text like we?ve been doing for years. Also, texting tells you when you have a new message, whereas Tokii lacks push functionality and only sends email notifications when a quiz is completed. If you just put things out into the ether on an app I?m not used to, things get ignored.

The DiscoveryGames were fun ? even if they were only multiple choice ? and Kathy will be the first to tell you that she won all of those in which we ?competed?, but only by a question or two. I?m blaming the fact that men are irrefutably honest; therefore it was easy to guess my answers. Allowing short answers on certain questions would be a much more valuable experience for sharing, even if you couldn?t play the guessing game.

As with any aspect of a relationship, the key to making Tokii work is commitment. If you and your partner really focus on using it for your interpersonal communications, it provides some value. If it?s something you do on a lark, you will quickly move on to the alternatives you have already been using.

Many social networks provide a way to connect with the people, the question with Tokii is whether it can save you hundreds of dollars in couples? counseling fees. Because of the anemic messaging and lack of short-answer capability in the DiscoveryGames, the answer is no. Much more ground ? and much more up-to-date topics ? can be covered on the leather couch of a therapist. But does that mean that some of these other personalized social options can?t work? After all, isn?t one of the main features of Google+ the idea that you can form circles of specific people?

The fact that my wife ? a very private person who is about as far away from an oversharer on Facebook as you can get ? could not open up on Tokii says a lot. Social networking is not for everybody. We shouldn?t have to design new sites and apps in an attempt to draw people out from their bubble or protect oversharers from embarrassing themselves.

While personal social networks present an interesting alternative to the wide world of Facebook, they?ll will need to provide much more value and really help people along on the path of relationship building in order to shift the paradigm. Offering a more secure experience is not enough.

Source: http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/can-a-social-network-built-for-two-really-improve-your-marriage/

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Two Years in Solitary Confinement Is Worth $15.5 Million, These Days

Steven Slevin was depressed when police arrested him on a DWI charge. Being thrown into a padded room, entirely alone, for 22 months without a trial did not help. Now, he's a multi-millionaire. Quite unfortunately, the 59-year-old might not be around to spend the money, since he has lung cancer and as already survived longer than doctor's predicted. Even more unfortunately, the final settlement is significantly less that the $22 million settlement awarded to Slevin in federal court last year.?Do?a Ana County, New Mexico, where Slevin was imprisoned, called the $22 million settlement excessive. And even though a federal judge upheld the original settlement amount, Slevin finally agreed to take a $15.5 million settlement and be done with the whole horrid affair.

RELATED: Man Who Spent Time In an Iranian Prison Thinks California's Are Worse

Can you blame him? This poor guy got pulled over in 2005 after having a few drinks, and the cops say that his car is stolen. Slevin and his lawyers maintain that it was borrowed from a friend. Drunk driving and stealing cars are both bad crimes. They're also crimes that Slevin was never convicted of, because he never got a trial. He never even saw a judge. The county literally locked him up and threw away the key. During his imprisonment, Slevin says that he was ignored for such long stretches of time that he was forced to pull out his own tooth, since he wasn't allowed to see a dentist. According to NBC News, "his toenails growing so long that they curled around his foot, and fungus festering on his skin because he was deprived of showers." Again, this is without ever seeing a judge or being formally convicted of any crimes. The Board of County Commissioners says "it deeply regrets the harm Mr. Slevin suffered during this period."

RELATED: Secret U.S. Prisons in Afghanistan Confirmed Again

One way or another, New Mexico's taxpayers are going to end up paying for this one.?The first $6 million will come out of the?New Mexico Association of Counties pocket, but the rest will come from the coffers of Do?a Ana County. There's some deeper message about the responsibility of democracy in here, but we're having a hard time finding it amidst the bloody tooth, the curling toenails and fungus-covered skin. Oh, and the PTSD, too.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/two-years-solitary-confinement-worth-15-5-million-010938412.html

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AT&T rumored to launch BlackBerry Z10 on March 15th

Imagine you're a waitress, out with friends on a night off, when you lose your wallet. Cash, credit cards, driver's license?all gone. Your bank later informs you that checks are being issued in your name. It's a pain, but you carry on. Two weeks later, you're at work when four people walk in and sit [...]

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/t-rumored-launch-blackberry-z10-march-15th-201503235.html

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Senator's filibuster on CIA nominee divides GOP

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., leaves the floor of the Senate after his filibuster of the nomination of John Brennan to be CIA director on Capitol Hill in Washington, early Thursday, March 7, 2013. Senate Democrats pushed Wednesday for speedy confirmation of John Brennan's nomination to be CIA director but ran into a snag after Paul began a lengthy speech over the legality of potential drone strikes on U.S. soil. But Paul stalled the chamber to start what he called a filibuster of Brennan's nomination. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., leaves the floor of the Senate after his filibuster of the nomination of John Brennan to be CIA director on Capitol Hill in Washington, early Thursday, March 7, 2013. Senate Democrats pushed Wednesday for speedy confirmation of John Brennan's nomination to be CIA director but ran into a snag after Paul began a lengthy speech over the legality of potential drone strikes on U.S. soil. But Paul stalled the chamber to start what he called a filibuster of Brennan's nomination. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

This video frame grab provided by Senate Television shows Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. speaking on the floor of the Senate on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday night, March 6, 2013, shortly before 10 p.m. EST. Paul was still going strong with his self-described filibuster blocking confirmation of President Barack Obama?s nominee John Brennan to lead the Central Intelligence Agency. (AP Photo/Senate Television)

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., walks to a waiting vehicle as he leaves the Capitol after his filibuster of the nomination of John Brennan to be CIA director on Capitol Hill in Washington, early Thursday, March 7, 2013. Senate Democrats pushed Wednesday for speedy confirmation of John Brennan's nomination to be CIA director but ran into a snag after Paul began a lengthy speech over the legality of potential drone strikes on U.S. soil. But Paul stalled the chamber to start what he called a filibuster of Brennan's nomination. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2013 file photo, CIA Director nominee John Brennan, testifies before a Senate Select Intelligence Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Senate Democrats push for quick confirmation vote on John Brennan's nomination to head CIA, but Republican senator mounts lengthy debate. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Republicans split bitterly Thursday over a GOP senator's old-school filibuster of President Barack Obama's CIA nominee John Brennan amid claims that the administration could use drones to target Americans suspected of terrorism.

Just hours after Sen. Rand Paul ended his nearly 13-hour talkathon ? and got an endorsement from Minority Leader and fellow Kentuckian Mitch McConnell ? two senior Republicans on the Armed Services Committee dismissed Paul's claims as unfounded and ridiculous.

Both Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina also challenged members of their own party.

"To my Republican colleagues, I don't remember any of you coming down here suggesting that President Bush was going to kill anybody with a drone," Graham said in remarks on the Senate floor.

McCain scoffed at Paul's contention that the U.S. would have targeted actress Jane Fonda during her trip to Hanoi during the Vietnam War.

"I must say that the use of Jane Fonda's name does evoke certain memories with me, and I must say that she is not my favorite American, but I also believe that, as odious as it was, Ms. Fonda acted within her constitutional rights," said McCain, a prisoner of war in Vietnam for 5? years.

Graham said he had planned to vote against Brennan's nomination but now plans to support the nominee because the confirmation fight has become a referendum on the drone program.

Paul is pressing the administration for greater clarity on whether the Obama administration has the authority to use lethal force, such as a drone, against a suspected terrorist who is a U.S. citizen. Hours after the filibuster, the Republican leader said Paul deserves an answer.

"It simply doesn't have that right, and the administration should just answer the question," McConnell said. "There is no reason we cannot get this question answered today, and we should get this question answered today. Frankly, it should have been answered a long time ago."

The Obama administration has said it has not conducted such operations inside U.S. borders, nor does it intend to. Paul and backers said that wasn't good enough. They wanted the White House to rule out the possibility of them happening altogether.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the Senate would vote to end the filibuster Saturday morning unless lawmakers can reach an agreement to vote earlier.

Paul's performance, which centered on questions about the possible use of drones against targets in the United States, clearly energized a number of his GOP colleagues, who came to the floor in a show of support and to share in the speaking duties. And even as the night progressed, Paul appeared invigorated despite being on his feet for so long. Actual talking filibusters have become rare in the Senate, where the rules are typically used in procedural ways to block the other party's agenda.

After Paul yielded the floor, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., filed a motion to cut off debate on Brennan's nomination, setting up a vote for later this week.

Paul, a critic of Obama's drone policy, started just before noon Wednesday by demanding the president or Attorney General Eric Holder issue a statement assuring that the aircraft would not be used in the United States to kill terrorism suspects who are U.S. citizens. But by the time he left the Senate floor, Paul said he'd received no response.

Paul wasn't picky about the format, saying at one point he'd be happy with a telegram or a Tweet. Paul said he recognized he can't stop Brennan from being confirmed. But the nomination was the right vehicle for a debate over what the Obama White House believes are the limits of the federal government's ability to conduct lethal operations against suspected terrorists, he said.

"No president has the right to say he is judge, jury and executioner," Paul said.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee used Paul's stand to raise money for GOP candidates and said Thursday that they received donations "in the high five figures as of last tally."

About a dozen of Paul's colleagues who share his conservative views came to the floor to take turns speaking for him and trading questions. McConnell congratulated Paul for his "tenacity and for his conviction," and he called Brennan a "controversial nominee."

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, read Twitter messages from people eager to "Stand With Rand." The Twitterverse, said Cruz, is "blowing up." And as the night went on, Cruz spoke for longer periods as Paul leaned against a desk across the floor. Cruz, an insurgent Republican with strong tea party backing, read passages from Shakespeare's "Henry V" and lines from the 1970 movie "Patton," starring George C. Scott.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., made references to rappers Jay-Z and Wiz Khalifa. Rubio, a possible GOP presidential candidate in 2016, chided the White House for failing to respond to Paul. "It's not a Republican question. It's not a conservative question," Rubio said. "It's a constitutional question."

The tea party-backed Paul first stepped onto the national stage in 2010 when he vanquished McConnell's chosen Senate candidate in a GOP primary in Kentucky. Since then, he's reveled in the popularity he has with the tea party and inherited his father's libertarian-leaning political network, built over two failed Ron Paul presidential runs. All that has stoked belief inside GOP circles that he may be positioning himself for a future national campaign, possibly as early as 2016.

Along with Cruz, Rubio and McConnell, other Republicans who joined Paul on the floor included Sens. Mike Lee of Utah, Jerry Moran of Kansas, John Barrasso of Wyoming, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Jeff Flake of Arizona, Tim Scott of South Carolina, John Thune of South Dakota and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., also made an appearance. Wyden has long pressed for greater oversight of the use of drones.

Holder came close to making the statement Paul wanted earlier Wednesday during an exchange with Cruz at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, according to Paul.

Cruz asked Holder if the Constitution allowed the federal government to kill on U.S. soil a U.S. citizen who doesn't pose an imminent threat. Holder said the situation was hypothetical, but he did not think that in that situation the use of a drone or lethal force would be appropriate. Cruz criticized Holder for not simply saying "no" in response.

In a letter sent Tuesday to Paul, Brennan said the CIA does not have authority to conduct lethal operations inside the U.S.

Holder told Paul in a March 4 letter that the federal government has not conducted such operations and has no intention of doing so. But Holder also wrote that he supposed it was possible under an "extraordinary circumstance" that the president would have no choice but to authorize the military to use lethal force inside U.S. borders. Holder cited the attacks at Pearl Harbor and on Sept. 11, 2001, as examples.

Paul said he did not dispute that the president has the authority to take swift and lethal action against an enemy who carried out a significant attack against the United States. But Paul said he was "alarmed" at how difficult it has been to get the administration to clearly define what qualifies as a legitimate target of a drone strike.

The record for the longest individual speech on the Senate floor belongs to former Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who filibustered for 24 hours and 18 minutes against the Civil Rights Act of 1957.

If confirmed, Brennan would replace Michael Morell, the CIA's deputy director who has been acting director since David Petraeus resigned in November after acknowledging an affair with his biographer.

___

Associated Press writer Jim Kuhnhenn contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-03-07-Brennan-CIA/id-445f9b0110fb4a3c84193e1aaa871cff

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PFT: Eagles shoot down Asomugha release report

AP

With Patriots receiver Wes Welker planning to test the market, the question becomes the outcome of the looming experiment.

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the Pats remain the favorite to retain Welker.? That said, one or two teams could intervene.

?It?s close,? the source explained.

As of Saturday, teams officially can begin talking with the agents of free agents.? Unofficially, conversations surely have happened.

Staying in New England presents a stew of conflicting concerns for Welker.? He surely wants to continue playing with quarterback Tom Brady, even if every time the sure-handed Welker fails to catch a poorly-thrown ball the media and fans deem it a ?drop.?

Then there?s the fact that, before tight end Aaron Hernandez sprained an ankle early in the 2012 regular season, Hernandez appeared to be the team?s new slot receiver, with Welker being phased out.? Welker reportedly fears that could happen again.

And the ?take less to win more? vibe undoubtedly has made its way into the negotiations, with Brady?s recent contract becoming the $27 million elephant in the room.? The Pats know how to get business done on their terms, and if Brady was subtly cajoled into taking less how could anyone else complain?

In the end, Welker has to ask himself whether he wants more money or another chance to finish what the team started in 2007, when he was in his first year of the relatively modest long-term deal that expired after the 2011 season.

Of course, chasing the money also could result in playing with a quarterback whose periodic poor throws won?t be blamed on the guy who wasn?t able to make the difficult catch.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/06/report-eagles-to-cut-asomugha-today/related/

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Movie review: Le m?t?ore

Le m?t?ore

Four stars out of five

Starring: Fran?ois Delisle, Jacqueline Courtemanche, No?mie Godin-Vigneau, Dany Boudreault, Christophe Rapin

Directed by: Fran?ois Delisle

Running time: 85 minutes

Parental guidance: sexual sequence, language.

Playing in French at: Excentris cinema.

People talk of regrets, routine and failed relationships in Fran?ois Delisle?s fascinating fifth film, Le m?t?ore. All the while, we see striking images of clouds, waterfalls, country roads and empty apartments. Somehow, in combining these disparate elements, the Quebec writer-director-actor-cinematographer-editor-producer (phew!) emerges with a dazzlingly original work that ? against all odds ? maintains our attention while taking us to an introspective place that movies rarely do.

It?s the kind of thing that could go south in a second: five characters, speaking in sombre, off-screen monologues while incongruous visuals flirt with pretension at every turn. But Delisle never loses focus. He stays on course, and Le m?t?ore keeps us on board from beginning to bitter(-sweet) end.

Pierre (played by Delisle, voiced by Fran?ois Papineau), in his 40s, is a third of the way through a 14-year sentence for killing a woman while driving under the influence. He worries about his mother, his dying aunt and his dysfunctional relationship with a woman named Suzanne.

He tells of the boredom and violent daily reality of prison. He recalls the fateful incident that brought him there, and tries to imagine a future freedom that seems impossibly far off.

His mother (Jacqueline Courtemanche, Delisle?s actual mother, voiced by Andr?e Lachapelle) visits once a week, but she has problems of her own. She?ll never forgive her son?s transgression, yet won?t disown him. She worries about her terminally ill sister, and envies her. Awaiting the end of her life, she looks to a past that didn?t turn out the way she had hoped.

Suzanne (No?mie Godin-Vigneau, voiced by Dominique Leduc) is in limbo. Emotionally bound to an incarcerated man, she tries to start over but can?t. She doesn?t sleep, but she?s not quite awake.

Max (Dany Boudreault, voiced by Pierre-Luc Lafontaine) is street-level drug dealer. When we first see him, he has a badly broken nose and tells of his modest rise through the ranks of the trade.

A prison guard (Laurent Lucas, voiced by St?phane Jacques) seems like a decent guy, but depression and stress from his job are affecting his relationship with his wife.

In offering us glimpses into the minds of these people, Delisle?s film achieves something greater than the sum of its parts. We hear what they are saying, but what we see tells a different story. In the contrast between audio and visual, we are offered a multi-textured account of events, and non-events ? going beyond the obvious toward something disconcertingly close to our own thought patterns, where minutiae, memory, doubts and dreams mingle freely.

Such intimacy, and the ingenuity with which Delisle achieves it, makes Le m?t?ore a standout film that transcends the isolated lives of its characters.

Source: http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Review+m%C3%A9t%C3%A9ore+offers+intimate+portrait/8064278/story.html

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Kate Upton look-alike: What are the odds? (+video)

Kate Upton look-alike: A Russian student bears a remarkable resemblance to supermodel Kate Upton. What are the odds of two unrelated people looking exactly the same??

By Eoin O'Carroll,?Staff / March 6, 2013

Supermodel Kate Upton poses at the launch party of the Sports Illustrated's 2013 Swimsuit issue, which features her on the cover, in February 2013.

Carlo Allegri/Reuters

Enlarge

A Russian student named Ania tweeted a photo of herself striking the pose made famous by model Kate Upton on the cover of this year's Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. After Upton herself re-tweeted the image, it went viral, with news outlets referring to Ania as Upton's "doppleg?nger."

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We'll leave it to others to determine the extent to which Ania resembles the Michigan-born supermodel. But it does raise an interesting question: What are the odds of Upton, or anyone else for that matter, having an unrelated lookalike?

Even though the "identical stranger" is a major plot point in many works of fiction???from?"A Tale of Two Cities" to no fewer than three episodes of "Gilligan's Island" ? and even though there are some 7 billion people currently living on the planet, the odds of there being an exact physical copy of you are pretty slim. The?number of genetic and environmental factors that go into fashioning your appearance is just too large.

Take just the face: A team of Dutch scientists last year announced that they have?identified just five genes?that determine prominent features of a person's face, including the face's width, the distance between the eyes, and the distance from the tip of the nose to its base. It doesn't sound like much, but no single variant of these genes has a particularly large effect on determining the shape of someone's face, and there are likely hundreds, if not thousands of variations of these five genes. ?

And that's just the shape.?At least six genes govern skin pigmentation, and?at least another 15 genes are associated with eye color. The genetics of your hair ? its color, thickness, and?curliness ? is similarly complex.

Environmental factors also play a huge role in appearance, beginning in the uterine environment and continuing into adulthood. For instance, children who are well-fed, particularly during early childhood and puberty, will wind up taller than their less-nourished counterparts. (And of course overeating can also have dramatic effects on the shape of one's body.)?Testosterone also plays a role in shaping your face ? more of it makes for smaller-looking eyes and a more prominent jawline in boys. Because testosterone levels vary with social standing, it could be that the way you were treated as a kid has lasting effects on your mug.

The upshot is that, for two people to look exactly the same, it would require a mind-bogglingly improbable series of genetic coincidences, followed by an equally unlikely series of environmental events.??Either that, or you'd need them to be identical twins. But even identical twins tend to look slightly different, as any parent of such twins knows.

That said, there's a pretty good chance that there's someone out there who sort of looks like you. The Montreal photographer Francois Brunelle has already found more than a hundred people for his "I'm not a look-alike!" project, which features similar-looking strangers, shot in black and white.?

As for Upton's "double," Ania told Sports Illustrated that?she had been told before that she resembles the swimsuit model. But she says that the real reason that she decided to replicate Upton's magazine cover was a far more ordinary coincidence: she happened to have the same white snow parka hanging in her closet.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/NgwgNaAaS5I/Kate-Upton-look-alike-What-are-the-odds-video

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Health Insurance for All | Flathead Beacon

Rep. Pat Noonan, D-Ramsay, is one of the handfuls of moderates serving in the 2013 Montana Legislature. Noonan serves with other moderates like Sen. Llew Jones, R-Conrad. Jones carries the new natural resources component for public school financing.

Notably Noonan sponsored this Legislature?s most critical task, to implement Montana?s Medicaid expansion.

Over the next four years $2.2 billion of national health insurance money is available for all local people earning between 100 and 138 percent of Federal Poverty Level.

About 68,000 Montanans would be eligible for health care under the expansion. The state?s cost over four years is $35 million. Given the sizable budget surpluses the state enjoys, that?s feasible and already built in.

University of Montana?s Bureau of Business and Economic Research estimate expansion will create and support some 12,000 jobs in Montana. About 60 percent of these jobs would be in the health care industry with an average wage of $42,000. That?s about $500 million in annual labor income.

State ratification of the Medicaid expansion was conditioned in the U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding the Affordable Care Act. Many conservative states across the nation are surprisingly embracing the concept.

In Montana, Medicaid expansion is on shaky ground. Republicans have yet to embrace expansion, and routinely demonizing it as more welfare.

Last session the GOP-controlled Legislature sought to cut all federal funding for programs like Meals on Wheels and Title X women?s health services, provided in places like Kalispell. Without former Gov. Brian Schweitzer these programs would not be a part of Montana.

In a repeat of the last session, a GOP-controlled subcommittee again cut federal funding to 27,000 Montanans seeking health care services under the federal Title X in public clinics in places like Kalispell.

Nationally, the GOP is more receptive to Medicaid expansion than to the refundable tax credit in a health insurance marketplace called Exchanges. The Exchange will allow individuals, earning between 138 and 400 percent of federal poverty level, to purchase significantly cheaper private health insurance.

Late this year people can register for the federal tax credit on the Exchange. Individuals with incomes of 138 percent of poverty can purchase health insurance at under $25 per month. Individuals earning 400 percent of poverty have rates capped around $350 per month.

Montana lawmakers already receive taxpayer-subsidized health insurance nearing $800 per month. Neither the insurance Exchange nor Medicaid expansion offers personal benefits to lawmakers. Small business employers may also help workers transition into the insurance Exchange.

Many area wage earners qualify for the refundable and very sizable tax credits.

It?s hard to imagine that House Speaker Mark Blasdel, R-Somers, or Senate President Jeff Essmann, R ?Billings, would let so much health care, for so many people, not pass the Legislature. But recently the GOP leadership has been open with journalists and frankly it sounds bad for locals needing health care.

The 2013 Legislature will surely be remembered for how it treats the health care of 68,000 Montana citizens.

Without expansion, 37,000 Montanans fall into yet another donut hole. Those earning between 100 and 138 percent of poverty would become neither eligible for free Medicaid health insurance nor the refundable federal tax credits of the Exchange.

The Legislature must get serious about job expansion and more solemn about the real life need for health care. It should pass Medicaid expansion as Noonan?s bill proposes.

Noonan?s bill brings a staggering amount of money into Montana?s economy, creating thousands of jobs. Tens of thousands of people would become insured in places like Somers, Butte, Columbia Falls and Whitefish.

The second half of the legislative session is here. Politicians should refocus on policy that matters and help local people by passing the biggest health care law in Montana?s history.

Source: http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/health_insurance_for_all/32187/

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Even after death, Chavez gets choice of successor

Supporters of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez gather in Bolivar square to mourn Chavez's death in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, March 5, 2013. Venezuela's Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced that Chavez died on Tuesday at age 58 after a nearly two-year bout with cancer. During more than 14 years in office, Chavez routinely challenged the status quo at home and internationally. He polarized Venezuelans with his confrontational and domineering style, yet was also a masterful communicator and strategist who tapped into Venezuelan nationalism to win broad support, particularly among the poor. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Supporters of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez gather in Bolivar square to mourn Chavez's death in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, March 5, 2013. Venezuela's Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced that Chavez died on Tuesday at age 58 after a nearly two-year bout with cancer. During more than 14 years in office, Chavez routinely challenged the status quo at home and internationally. He polarized Venezuelans with his confrontational and domineering style, yet was also a masterful communicator and strategist who tapped into Venezuelan nationalism to win broad support, particularly among the poor. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

A supporter of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez cries as she holds a sign that reads in Spanish "I am Chavez" as Chavistas gather in Bolivar square to mourn Chavez's death in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, March 5, 2013. Venezuela's Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced that Chavez died on Tuesday at age 58 after a nearly two-year bout with cancer. During more than 14 years in office, Chavez routinely challenged the status quo at home and internationally. He polarized Venezuelans with his confrontational and domineering style, yet was also a masterful communicator and strategist who tapped into Venezuelan nationalism to win broad support, particularly among the poor. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

In this photo released by Miraflores Presidential Press Office, Venezuela's Defense Minister Admiral Diego Molero, at the podium, gestures alongside other military leaders during a live televised message to the nation after the vice president announced the death of President Hugo Chavez in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, March 5, 2013. Molero announced that the military will remain loyal to the constitution in the wake of Chavez's death. (AP Photo/Miraflores Presidential Press Office)

A supporter of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez cries as she learns that Chavez has died through an announcement by the vice president in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, March 5, 2013. Venezuela's Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced that Chavez died on Tuesday at age 58 after a nearly two-year bout with cancer. During more than 14 years in office, Chavez routinely challenged the status quo at home and internationally. He polarized Venezuelans with his confrontational and domineering style, yet was also a masterful communicator and strategist who tapped into Venezuelan nationalism to win broad support, particularly among the poor. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Supporters of Venezuela's late President Hugo Chavez gather in Bolivar square to mourn Chavez's death in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, March 5, 2013. Venezuela's Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced that Chavez died on Tuesday at age 58 after a nearly two-year bout with cancer. During more than 14 years in office, Chavez routinely challenged the status quo at home and internationally. He polarized Venezuelans with his confrontational and domineering style, yet was also a masterful communicator and strategist who tapped into Venezuelan nationalism to win broad support, particularly among the poor. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ? Even in death, Hugo Chavez's orders are being followed. The man he anointed to succeed him, Vice President Nicolas Maduro, will continue to run Venezuela as interim president and be the governing socialists' candidate in an election to be called within 30 days.

Foreign Minister Elias Jaua confirmed that Tuesday, just hours after Maduro, tears running down his face, announced the death of Chavez, the larger-than-life former paratroop officer who had presided over Venezuela as virtually a one-man show for more than 14 years.

It was not immediately clear when the presidential vote would be held.

Considerable funereal pageantry was expected to honor Chavez, the political impresario widely adored among Venezuela's poor for putting the oil-rich state in their service.

Seven days of mourning were declared, all school was suspended for the week and friendly heads of state were expected in this economically challenged and violence-afflicted nation for an elaborate funeral Friday. No date or place were announced for Chavez's burial.

Venezuela's constitution specifies that the speaker of the National Assembly, currently Diosdado Cabello, should assume the interim presidency if a president can't be sworn in.

But the officials left in charge by Chavez before he went to Cuba in December for his fourth cancer surgery in a little less than two years have not been especially assiduous about heeding the constitution, and human rights and free speech activists are concerned they will flaunt the rule of law.

Some in anguish, some in fear, Venezuelans raced for home and stocked up on food and water after the government announced Chavez's death, declining to say what exactly killed him. On Monday night, the government had said the president had been weakened by a severe, new respiratory infection.

Tuesday was a day fraught with mixed signals, some foreboding. Just a few hours before announcing Chavez's death, Maduro virulently accused enemies, domestic and foreign and clearly including the United States, of trying to undermine Venezuelan democracy. The government said two U.S. military attaches had been expelled for allegedly trying to destabilize the nation.

But in announcing that the president was dead, Maduro shifted tone, calling on Venezuelans to be "dignified heirs of the giant man."

"Let there be no weakness, no violence. Let there be no hate. In our hearts there should only be one sentiment: Love. Love, peace and discipline."

Opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who lost to Chavez in the October presidential election and is widely expected to be the opposition's candidate to oppose Maduro, was conciliatory in a televised address.

"This is not the moment to highlight what separates us," Capriles said. "This is not the hour for differences; it is the hour for union, it is the hour for peace."

Capriles, the youthful governor of Miranda state, has been bitterly feuding with Maduro and other Chavez loyalists who accused him of conspiring with far-right U.S. forces to undermine the revolution.

Across downtown Caracas, shops and restaurants begin closing and Venezuelans hustled for home, some even breaking into a run. Many looked anguished and incredulous.

"I feel a sorrow so big I can't speak," said Yamilina Barrios, a 39-year-old clerk who works in the Industry Ministry, her face covered in tears. "He was the best this country had."

Others wished Chavez's departure had come through the ballot box.

Carlos Quijada, a 38-year-old economist, said that "now there is a lot of uncertainty about what will happen."

He said a peaceful transition depends on the government. "If it behaves democratically we should not have many problems," Quijada said.

Like most Venezuelans, he said his big concern is ending violent crime that afflicts all strata of society, from the poor who Chavez wooed with state largesse to the economic elite at the core of the political opposition.

Venezuela has the world's second-highest murder rate after Honduras ? 56 people for every 100,000 according to government figures, which nongovernmental groups say are understated.

Late Tuesday, the armed forces chief, Gen. Wilmer Barrientos, reported "complete calm" in the country.

But there had been several incidents of political violence.

In one, a group of masked, helmeted men on motorcycles, some brandishing revolvers, attacked about 40 students who had been protesting for more than a week near the Supreme Court building to demand the government give more information about Chavez's health.

The attackers, who didn't wear clothing identifying any political allegiance, burned the students' tents and scattered their food just minutes after Chavez's death was announced.

"They burned everything we had," said student leader Gaby Arellano. She said she saw four of the attackers with pistols but none fired a shot.

Outside the military hospital where Chavez's body was visited by loved ones and allies, an angry crowd attacked a Colombian TV reporter.

"They beat us with helmets, with sticks, men, women, adults," Carmen Andrea Rengifo said on RCN TV. Video images showed her bleeding above the forehead but she was not seriously injured.

Maduro and other government officials have recently railed against international media for allegedly reporting rumors about Chavez's health, although RCN wasn't one of those criticized.

After nightfall, several hundred people gathered at Bolivar Square, a symbolic place for Chavistas because it has a huge nine-meter-tall (30-foot-tall) statue of Simon Bolivar, the 19th century independence hero whom Chavez claimed as his chief inspiration.

Some arrived singing Venezuela's national anthem and holding up posters of Chavez.

One man began shouting through a megaphone a warning to the opposition: "They won't return." The crowd then joined in, chanting: "They won't return."

Chavez leaves behind a political movement firmly in control of a nation that human rights activist Liliana Ortega, director of the non-governmental group COFAVIC, describes as a badly deteriorated state where institutions such as the police, courts and prosecutor's offices have been converted into tools of political persecution and where most media are firmly controlled by the government.

Maduro, whose government role had grown after Chavez went to Cuba for treatment, was belligerent early Tuesday. He reported the expulsion of one of the two U.S. attaches, and also said that "we have no doubt" that Chavez's cancer, first diagnosed in June 2011, was induced by "the historical enemies of our homeland."

Maduro compared the situation to the death of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, claiming Arafat was "inoculated with an illness" and said a "scientific commission will prove that Comandante Chavez was attacked with this illness."

Chavez's inner circle has long claimed the United States was behind a failed 2002 attempt to overthrow him, and he has frequently played the anti-American card to stir up support. Venezuela has been without a U.S. ambassador since July 2010 and expelled another U.S. military officer in 2006.

U.S. State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell rejected the assertion that the U.S. was trying to destabilize Venezuela. The claim, he said, "leads us to conclude that, unfortunately, the current Venezuelan government is not interested in an improved relationship."

Ventrell added that the assertion that Washington somehow had a hand in Chavez's illness was "absurd."

He hinted the U.S. could reciprocate with expulsions of Venezuelan diplomats.

Chavez rose to fame by launching a failed 1992 coup, but never groomed a successor and many Venezuelans find Maduro, a former union agitator and Chavez's intellectual inferior by bounds, lacking the political heft.

Some political analysts believe that has made him more inclined to go on the attack as the presidential campaign begins in earnest.

Javier Corrales, an Amherst College political scientist, said he was concerned about the "virulent, anti-American discourse" under Maduro. "It seems to me this is a government that is beginning to blame the United States for all its troubles."

"This is very dark," he said. "This is the most nebulous period, the most menacing that the government has been, and the actions have been pretty severe."

Those actions have included hauling into court last week a leading opposition politician, Leopoldo Lopez, to face charges of influence peddling in a 15-year-old case that his lawyers say has passed the statute of limitations.

Lopez, who calls the charges ludicrous, ran logistics for Capriles in the Oct. 7 election after the government barred him from running for office.

In the absence of Chavez, the government is more aggressively seeking "to selectively destroy" opposition activists, Lopez said.

In his case, Lopez expects to be burdened by considerable legal distractions as he helps try to dislodge the Chavistas from power.

___

Christopher Toothaker and Jorge Rueda in Caracas, Vivian Sequera in Bogota, Colombia, and Luis Alonso and Robert Burns in Washington contributed to this report.

___

Frank Bajak on Twitter: http://twitter.com/fbajak

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-03-06-Venezuela-Chavez/id-93ed3ddbce244b16be3fd743f7076291

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Greece, Israel & The US Start "Noble Dina" Naval Exercise

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Greece, Israel and the United States began a naval exercise in the sea around Crete and the eastern Mediterranean that will continue for the next two weeks. The exercise, named "Noble Dina", involves simulated combat against submarines, air battles and protection of offshore natural gas platforms.

A similar exercise was held in the Mediterranean in 2012.

Greece is participating with a frigate, a helicopter and a submarine.

About HellasFrappe

HellasFrappe is a daily news magazine, in the English language, which is committed in informing the Greek Diaspora about the events in Greece, and the surrounding region.

The articles posted on HellasFrappe are for entertainment and education purposes only. The views expressed here are solely those of the contributing author and do not necessarily reflect the views of HellasFrappe. Our blog believes in free speech and does not warrant the content on this site. You use the information at your own risk.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/NbLUQ/~3/8ryucUKKcgs/greece-israel-us-start-noble-dina-naval.html

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The 5 Best Chewable Vitamins and Supplements for Adults - Shape

A multivitamin is one of the best tools you can add to your health and fitness arsenal to optimize your health and perform at your best, but oftentimes they're dry, chalky, and hard to choke down. Not anymore! While you may be too old to enjoy Flintstones Gummies vitamins, these adult-friendly versions are just as fun, tasty, and colorful as their kid counterparts?and pack essential nutrients grown-ups need.

1. Naturemade Calcium Adult Gummies
These are perfect for adults who are searching for a slightly more pleasant, tastier way to get the daily recommended amount of calcium. They don't contain any gluten, synthetic dyes, preservatives, or yeast, and come in cherry, orange, and strawberry flavors.

2. One a Day Women's VitaCraves Gummies
A complete multivitamin designed specifically for women, these come in orange, cherry, and blue raspberry flavors and provide B vitamins to help you stay energized from morning to night, as well as calcium to support bone health and vitamins A, C, and E for skin health.

3. Hydroxycut Gummies
The No. 1 weight-loss supplement in the nation is now the first diet supplement to come in ingestible form! These contain the same formula as the orignal supplement, which includes lady?s mantle, wild olive, komijn, and wild mint, as well as fruit extracts. But instead of taking a pill, you get to enjoy a tastier, mixed fruit-flavored gummy. In clinical studies, people taking these supplements lost an average of 21 pounds in just 12 weeks.

4. Centrum Flavor Burst
One of Centrum's newest lines, and designed specifically for active men and women, these boast antioxidants and B vitamins to help maintain energy.

5. Borba Mighty Energy Gummi Mice
Not as weird as it sounds, we promise. Packed with good-for-you benefits, these mice-shaped bites deliver multivitamin goodness, plus a 1200mg energy boost blend. The only catch: Each serving is 90 calories.

Source: http://www.shape.com/blogs/shape-your-life/5-best-chewable-vitamins-and-supplements-adults

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More California Sex Offenders Go Missing Under Prison Realignment

SACRAMENTO (CBS / AP) ? ?The number of paroled sex offenders who are fugitives in California is 15 percent higher today than before Gov. Jerry Brown?s sweeping law enforcement realignment law took effect 17 months ago, according to figures released Wednesday by the state corrections department.

The increase amounts to 360 more sex offenders whose whereabouts were unknown and who were not reporting to their parole officers last year.

An Associated Press analysis of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation data shows that 2,706 paroled sex offenders dropped out of sight in the 15 months since the new law took effect in October 2011, compared to 2,346 in the 15 months before realignment. The numbers were obtained by the AP before their public release.

That?s an average of 180 sex offender fugitives each month, up from 156 before realignment.

Attention has focused on parolees who cut off or disable their GPS-linked ankle bracelets, meaning that parole agents are unable to track their movements by satellite. Sex offender parolees are required to wear the tracking devices under Jessica?s Law, approved by state voters in 2006.

The governor?s realignment law sends lower-level offenders to county jails instead of state prisons and was enacted in part to conform to a federal court order to reduce the inmate population.

Before the law took effect in 2011, those who violated their parole by tampering with the devices could have been returned to state prison for up to a year. Now they can be sentenced to up to six months in county jails, but many are released within days because local jails are overcrowded.

Some county jails refuse to accept the parole violators at all.

The problem varies greatly by county. Many saw no significant change, while some saw decreases in the number of sex offenders who could no longer be located.

But the number nearly doubled in Fresno County, from 62 before realignment to 116 through the end of last year. The number jumped from 685 to 847 in Los Angeles County, which produces about a third of the state?s criminals.

Among other large counties in Southern California, Orange County saw an increase from 91 to 119; Riverside County from 131 to 151; and San Bernardino County from 154 to 195. The number dropped slightly in San Diego County, from 141 to 140.

In the Central Valley, Kern County saw an increase in the number of fugitive sex offenders from 51 to 67, Sacramento County from 170 to 191 and San Joaquin County from 74 to 94. San Francisco increased from 72 to 84.

The majority of fugitives are quickly recaptured, the figures show.

In Alameda County, for instance, just eight of 106 parolees eluded capture last year. There were four parolees still missing in Fresno County, 71 in Los Angeles County, 11 in Orange County, seven in Riverside County, nine in Sacramento County, 18 in San Bernardino County, and four in San Diego County.

?Criminals have been removing their GPS devices for as long as they?ve been using them. It?s a crime we take very seriously. We aggressively track and arrest convicts who commit it,? said state corrections spokeswoman Deborah Hoffman.

Parolees are recaptured in an average of 12 days, she said.

It?s the punishment after they are back in custody that has changed, with overcrowding in many county jails creating a revolving door that often allows criminals to go free within days.

The problem has prompted state Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, to introduce SB57, which would make disabling the tracking device a felony and send parolees back to state prison for up to three years if they cut off their GPS monitors.

His bill would apply not only to state parolees, but to offenders who are ordered to wear the tracking devices as a condition of their county probation. If passed by two-thirds of lawmakers and signed by Brown, his bill would take effect immediately instead of Jan. 1.

Lieu cited last month?s arrest of Sidney Jerome DeAvila, a parolee charged with killing his grandmother in Stockton.

DeAvila disabled his ankle bracelet at least seven times, according to records, but served little time behind bars. Most recently, he was sentenced to 30 days in the San Joaquin County jail for tampering with his bracelet and failing to register as a sex offender. A judge ordered his release a week later because of overcrowding, and within a week he was arrested for robbing, raping and killing his 76-year-old grandmother in her home.

Reinstating stronger punishments for removing the tracking devices could help the state reduce the prison population in the long run, Lieu said.

He pointed to a study last year for the U.S. Department of Justice?s National Institute of Justice that sex offenders whose movements were not being tracked were more than twice as likely to be re-arrested and nearly three times as likely to commit new sex crimes that could result in long prison sentences.

He said the department?s figures may undercount the problem, in part because county jails remove offenders? tracking devices when they are incarcerated and the devices often are not immediately reattached when the inmates are released.

The corrections department could not explain why its numbers differed from a report last month by the Los Angeles Times that said more than 3,400 arrest warrants had been issued for parolees tampering with the devices since the realignment law took effect. The Times calculated a 28 percent increase in such arrest warrants last year over 2011.

The Times story included gang members and may have counted parolees who had repeated violations, while the department?s figures included individual sex offenders who were considered parolees at large.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Source: http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2013/03/06/more-california-sex-offenders-go-missing-under-prison-realignment/

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Source: http://www.radioguestlist.com/2013/03/seek-find-keep-love-have-dating-and-or-relationship-problems-seeks-expert-guests.html

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