glitter cessna: May 2013

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn Make Public Couple Debut at MET Gala

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PJs or pinstripes? The tradeoffs of tele-work

Yahoo's Marissa Mayer and other CEOs have called a time-out on telecommuting. It's clear that just as some workers thrive on their own and some need to be in an office, some types work are better done in isolation and others in collaboration. It's also clear that telecommuting is only going to increase in the years to come.

By John Yemma,?Editor / May 7, 2013

Employees at 2U, a distributor of online courses, enjoy the togetherness of office work in New York.

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

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Who would have thought that well into the second decade of the 21st century water-cooler seminars and hallway chitchat would be held up as the unique value proposition of an office? But thanks to Yahoo?s Marissa Mayer and other managers who have newfound qualms about telecommuting, the serendipitous conversations and informal collaborations that take place in an office ? sometimes also called slacking and breeze-shooting ? are being touted as the secret sauce of business.?

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Editor, The Christian Science Monitor

John Yemma is Editor of The Christian Science Monitor, which publishes international news and analysis at?CSMonitor.com, in the?Monitor Weekly?newsmagazine, and in an email-delivered?Daily News Briefing. He can be reached at editor@csmonitor.com.

Four Saudis held over Tanzania church bombing

DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Tanzania has arrested four men from Saudi Arabia and four Tanzanians in connection with the bombing of church on Sunday that killed two people, an attack that has heightened sectarian tensions in the east African nation.

Investigators said they were still determining the type of device used in the attack on the Catholic church in Arusha, a town in the north of the nation of about 45 million people that is roughly evenly split between Muslims and Christians.

A statement from President Jakaya Kikwete's office on Monday said two people had now died from the blast after the death toll had previously been put at one. Sixty people were injured.

The Vatican's ambassador to Tanzania, Archbishop Francisco Montecillo Padilla, was attending the official opening of the church when the explosion occurred. He escaped unharmed.

"So far eight people have been arrested, including four nationals from Saudi Arabia and four Tanzanians," Arusha Regional Commissioner Magesa Mulongo told Reuters by telephone.

He said the Saudis, aged between 30 and 45, had arrived at an airport near Arusha on Saturday and were detained late on Sunday trying to cross the border to neighboring Kenya. Mulongo said they were being questioned regarding the incident.

Arusha lies near the snow-capped peak of Mount Kilimanjaro in a part of Tanzania that is predominantly Christian.

Highlighting tensions between the religious communities, two Christian leaders were killed in Tanzania's semi-autonomous, predominantly Muslim islands of Zanzibar earlier this year and there have been attacks on Muslim leaders and mosques.

"We are trying to establish if it was a home-made explosive device or a specialized bomb," Tanzania's director of criminal investigation, Robert Manumba, told Reuters.

The president's office said Kikwete had cut short his state visit to Kuwait following the bomb attack on the church.

(Reporting by Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Alison Williams)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/four-saudis-held-over-tanzania-church-bombing-132553959.html

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Pacers beat Knicks 102-95 in Game 1

New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony (7) fouls Indiana Pacers guard George Hill (3) in the second quarter of Game 1 of their second-round NBA basketball series at Madison Square Garden in New York, Sunday, May 5, 2013. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Indiana Pacers forward David West (21) drives past New York Knicks forward Kenyon Martin (3) in the second quarter of Game 1 of their second-round NBA basketball series at Madison Square Garden in New York, Sunday, May 5, 2013. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

New York Knicks' Raymond Felton (2) is guarded by Indiana Pacers' George Hill as he drives to the basket in the first quarter of Game 1 of their NBA basketball playoff series in the Eastern Conference semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York, Sunday, May 5, 2013. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Indiana Pacers David West is guarded by New York Knicks Carmelo Anthony in the first quarter of Game 1 of their second-round NBA basketball series at Madison Square Garden in New York, Sunday, May 5, 2013. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Bigger, badder, and so far better.

Physical beat finesse Sunday, as the Indiana Pacers outworked and outmuscled the New York Knicks in a 102-95 victory in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

David West scored 20 points and Paul George added 19 for the Pacers, who outrebounded the Knicks 44-30, showing the smaller team that in the rugged East, size does matter.

"I thought guys did a good job just putting them on their heels," West said. "We were attacking, we were aggressive."

D.J. Augustin had 16 points for the Pacers, who built a 16-point lead while Carmelo Anthony was on the bench in foul trouble in the third quarter, and easily held on to spoil the Knicks' first second-round game since 2000.

Anthony finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds, but was frustrated by the Pacers' tough defense and by the referees. He shot 10 of 28 from the field and was perhaps thrown out of sync having to defend West, a natural power forward, inside.

"Right now they're just being really physical with him, they're trying to bang him, they're trying to frustrate him," Knicks point guard Raymond Felton said. "But we're going to be fine, he's going to be fine."

Game 2 is here Tuesday night, and then the series takes a lengthy break before Game 3 on Saturday in Indiana.

The Pacers, who allowed the second-fewest points per game and the lowest field goal percentage in the league during the regular season, mixed in solid offense as well. They outscored New York 59-38 across the middle two quarters and were comfortably ahead throughout the fourth.

"Just a strong defensive effort and then offensively guys played with great poise," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "Just a complete team effort, very proud of them."

Roy Hibbert scored 14 points in thoroughly outplaying counterpart Tyson Chandler, and George Hill also had 14 for the Pacers, adding seven rebounds and six assists.

Lance Stephenson added 11 points and 13 rebounds playing in his hometown.

J.R. Smith scored 17 points but was 4 of 15. Felton had 18 and Kenyon Martin added 12 for the Knicks, who hope to have reserves Amare Stoudemire (right knee surgery) and Steve Novak (back spasms) back for Game 3 and certainly looked as if they could use the help.

Both teams wrapped up their first-round series Friday night, the Knicks' victory in Game 6 in Boston giving them their first series victory in 13 years and sending them on to face a familiar postseason foe in Indiana, which ousted Atlanta.

The teams met three straight years from 1993-95, then again from 1998-00, splitting their six series, and this was the type of slugfest so many of those matchups were.

Indiana led 60-54 when Anthony committed his fourth foul and came out of the game with 7:48 remaining in the third quarter. The Pacers then outscored the Knicks 21-11 the remainder of the period, opening an 81-65 bulge on Augustin's 3-pointer with 31.5 seconds left in the quarter.

"They did all the little things," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. "We didn't start playing until we actually got down and it was desperation and we've got to play like that from the start."

Anthony came back on to start the fourth and scored the first six points to get the Knicks back within 10. He picked up a fifth on a questionable offensive foul call with 10 minutes left and appeared to wave off a substitution when Chandler checked in, though Woodson said Chandler was going in for Martin, who was the one who exited.

But there was no final flurry, and Chandler eventually fouled out with four points and three rebounds.

Anthony wore a sleeve under his jersey covering a strap to keep his sore left shoulder in place. It was first hurt against the Pacers in April, then aggravated when Kevin Garnett pulled on his arm while setting a screen during the first-round series.

That may have contributed to his poor shooting but certainly the Pacers had plenty to do with it, as did having to bang inside with the bigger West ? though Anthony downplayed the toughness factor.

"The physicality of this game didn't do nothing to me, to us," he said.

"It's like Coach Woodson said and I agree with him, they beat us on the glass, they beat us to the loose basketballs out there, the hustle plays, and they outworked us. I don't think that had anything do with being more physical."

The Knicks closed the first quarter with a 9-0 spurt, taking a 27-22 lead after 3-pointers by Smith and Felton to end the period. But the Pacers tightened up the defense in the second, holding the Knicks to two baskets in the final 5 minutes.

Indiana outscored New York 13-4 during that stretch, taking a 52-46 lead to halftime after George hit a 3-pointer with 2.7 seconds left.

The Pacers, who also were the league's best team at defending the 3-pointer, limited the Knicks to 19 attempts and actually made more (8-7). Augustin was 4 of 5 off the bench.

Notes: Anthony averaged 29.1 points in the first round, equaling the second-highest ever by a Knicks player. Patrick Ewing had 31.6 per game in a 1990 series. ... Anthony received the one first-place vote that kept LeBron James from being the NBA's first unanimous selection as MVP. "That's the furthest thing on my mind at this point in time," said Anthony, who was third in the voting behind Kevin Durant. "I'll take that vote." ... Indiana won both matchups in the conference semifinals, a 4-3 victory in 1995 and a 4-1 win in 1998. ... Indiana's Jeff Pendergraph was fined $5,000 by the NBA, the first player punished for violating the league's anti-flopping rules in the playoffs. ... Novak said he hurt his back while warming up at halftime of Game 5 against Boston but has been feeling better each day since.

___

Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-05-05-BKN-Pacers-Knicks/id-a2b9ab3a962f43618043f2a7859f504b

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Monday, May 6, 2013

Mass. GOP candidate Gomez on his own for now

FILE - This panel of 2013 file photos show Democrat U.S. Rep. Ed Markey, left, and Republican Gabriel Gomez, right, candidates for U.S. Senate in the June 24, 2013 special election, being held to fill the seat vacated when John Kerry was appointed as secretary of state. (AP Photos, File)

BOSTON (AP) ? Republican Senate candidate Gabriel Gomez is on his own ? at least for now.

National Republican allies, conservative activists and major GOP donors outside Democratic-leaning Massachusetts are skeptical of Gomez's chances in the state's June 25 special election to replace former Sen. John Kerry.

While local Republicans are excited about the former Navy SEAL-turned-businessman, the early skepticism is blocking the larger flow of money and manpower that helped Republican Scott Brown score an unlikely special election victory here three years ago to replace the late Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy.

Several top Republican donors say they know virtually nothing about Gomez, whose previous political experience is limited to an unsuccessful run for town selectman. The Senate GOP's national campaign committee has yet to decide whether to invest significant resources, and likely won't until it's convinced that the race is winnable. And the tea party movement's national network of small-dollar donors has shied away from the socially moderate Gomez, who acknowledged giving money to President Barack Obama in 2008.

"We are not looking at that Senate race at all," Tea Party Express chairman Amy Kremer said recently. "We cannot get behind someone that donated to Obama."

Gomez, 47, emerged from relative obscurity to win last week's low-turnout three-way Republican primary. In many ways, he fits the profile of a new brand of politician that national Republican leaders described in a March report calling for better minority outreach and more inclusive tones on immigration and social issues.

The son of Colombian immigrants who speaks fluent Spanish, Gomez supports gay marriage and personally opposes abortion, but hasn't advocated overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that established a nationwide right to abortion.

In the general election, Gomez is competing against Democratic Rep. Ed Markey, 66, who was first elected in 1976 and is dean of the state's all-Democrat congressional delegation.

In Congress for more than three decades, Markey has been repeatedly painted as an out-of-touch Washington insider by opponents in both parties. The congressman has also faced difficult questions about whether he maintains a home in his Massachusetts district at all.

But while Markey has weaknesses, the political realities of Massachusetts politics make it difficult for Republicans to win here.

Only around 11 percent of state voters are registered Republicans. All of Massachusetts' members of Congress ? nine representatives and two senators ? and its statewide officers are Democrats.

"In Massachusetts, the numbers are mathematically daunting," said Washington-based Republican strategist Phil Musser, who has worked in the state. "But it can be done."

Indeed, Brown stunned the political world in 2010 by winning the special election for the seat left vacant with Kennedy's death. But the victory was fueled by a flood of tea party volunteers and out-of-state money that allowed the little-known state senator to blanket the television airwaves and generate a sophisticated statewide get-out-the vote operation, taking Democrats by surprise.

Undaunted by the lack of national GOP attention, Gomez spokesman Will Ritter said Monday that the campaign has raised more than $200,000 online and already signed up more than 4,000 volunteers in the days since last week's GOP primary victory. But with Election Day seven weeks away, the donations represent a fraction of the support Brown attracted in 2010.

Brown ultimately raised and spent more than $10 million on his winning bid, though two years later he was defeated by Democrat Elizabeth Warren.

The tea party donors who lined up behind Brown worked against Gomez in the days immediately before last week's primary.

"He's pledged his support for Obama's policies on immigration reform (amnesty) and gun control," says a fundraising appeal for Gomez's primary opponent, Michael Sullivan, released by the Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama, a tea party-backed political action committee. "We must defeat Obama supporter, Gabriel Gomez."

Gomez has one advantage that Brown did not: the ability to tap super political action committees, which emerged in full force after Brown's 2010 race.

He has so far resisted taking the so-called "People's Pledge" that helped prevent outside groups from spending money in the state's last high-profile Senate contest. Without such a pledge, Gomez could be the beneficiary of super PACs that can raise and spend unlimited sums of money on his behalf.

Markey is trying to make Gomez's refusal to sign the pledge a campaign issue.

"I'm going to keep pressuring him," Markey said at a Monday press conference. "Obviously he doesn't want to sign it because the Koch brothers" ? a reference to conservative political supporters David and Charles Koch ? "Karl Rove, would be able to come into this state."

Eric Fehrnstrom, previously a top aide to former presidential candidate Mitt Romney, already is working on advertising to help Gomez through the super PAC known as the Committee for a Better Massachusetts, which raised at least $50,000 in the weeks before the primary election, relying upon just three donors.

But in a race that's expected to cost millions, it's unclear how many donors will bet big on Gomez.

Some of the party's most prominent donors in recent days said they knew very little about Gomez, and that it was simply too early to know whether he could make the race competitive. And none planned to donate until that question was answered.

Many are waiting to take their cues from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the GOP's formal campaign arm, and to see whether it would devote major resources on the race. So far, the committee has set up websites and low-cost online videos attacking Markey, but it hasn't yet decided whether to make more significant investments in television advertising ? pricey because of the expensive Boston TV market ? until conducting its own polling.

The Republican super ally, American Crossroads, is in a similar position, having yet to determine whether the race is winnable.

Even so, donors publicly suggest that Gomez could have a bright future.

"It's an exciting race," said Charlie Spies, a Washington-based lawyer who led fundraising efforts for the super PAC that worked on Romney's behalf. "Gomez is exactly the sort of candidate that Republicans need to be recruiting. And has the potential to turn into a rock star fresh face for the party."

___

Associated Press writer Bob Salsberg in Boston contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-05-06-Massachusetts%20Senate/id-9dae4b5f3ef34d66b4b910fcd904441e

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Despite slowing growth, shareholders' faith in Warren Buffett holds strong

At Berkshire Hathaway Inc's annual meeting, investors acknowledged the company's fastest-growing days have probably passed. But shareholders say they are still confident with Warren Buffett and his hand-picked management team at the helm.

By Jonathan Stempel and Jennifer Ablan,?Reuters / May 5, 2013

Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett (top l.) gestures to runners at the start of a 5k race sponsored by Brooks Sports Inc., a Berkshire-owned company, in Omaha May 5, a day after the company's annual meeting. Buffett at the meeting gave the most extensive comments to date about the future of Berkshire Hathaway Inc after he is gone, saying he still expects the conglomerate to be a partner of choice for distressed companies.

Rick Wilking/Reuters

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Short-seller Douglas Kass, Warren Buffett's handpicked bear, raised a concern on the minds of many shareholders at the "Woodstock for capitalists" this weekend: Has Berkshire Hathaway Inc become so big that it will find it hard to grow?

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Many retail investors who converged on Omaha, Nebraska, for Berkshire's annual meeting on Saturday acknowledged that its fastest growth days are likely behind it. But they said Berkshire is still a good long-term bet as faith remains in Buffett and his management team's more than 4-decade-long record of stellar returns, and the company's tentacles into many sectors of the US economy.

"Yes, it is a concern, but I have to get my expectations in line," said Julie Fehrnstrom, a mother of three from Orinda, California, attending her fifth meeting. "They are not driven by short-term decision making and they have really smart management. You really don't always find that."

Sherrie Palmer, a social worker from Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, was attending her first Berkshire meeting, one of 35,000 or so investors.

"The steepness of the growth is leveling off, but it's not a concern," Palmer said. "We like the manner in which decisions are made and I don't worry about this being an organization jumping to a fad that won't pan out."

Patience has served Berkshire shareholders well. Investing in companies with dependable businesses and sound management has helped Berkshire as an investment trounce major competitors since Buffett took it over in 1965. Berkshire is now one of the largest US companies by market value, with more than 288,000 employees in dozens of businesses, covering everything from ice cream to underwear and insurance to railroads.

But its massive size - currently around $268 billion in market value - has made it hard for Berkshire to grow as fast as it once did. While Berkshire performs well in down markets, it can lag in rising markets.

Buffett reminded shareholders that 2009-2013 may prove to be the first five-year period ever when the company's growth in book value per share will lag the Standard & Poor's 500 index including dividends.

"People who buy stocks now and hold stocks for 20 years will make money," Buffett told Reuters Insider in an interview on Saturday evening. "Those who hold for 20 days, I don't know what will happen."

M&A, SUCCESSION

It has also become harder for the company to find deals that are large enough to move the needle. In February, Berkshire, along with Brazilian investment firm 3G Capital, struck a deal to buy ketchup maker H.J. Heinz Co, and Buffett said he was looking for more big acquisitions.

But in an interview on Friday, Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger said high prices have made attractive deals scare. "With interest rates at zero, the prices being paid for businesses are very high," Berkshire's second-in-command said.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/QPm7DXIdEvk/Despite-slowing-growth-shareholders-faith-in-Warren-Buffett-holds-strong

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Solar plane lands in Ariz., 1st leg of major trip

Solar Impulse co-founder, pilot and CEO Andre Borschberg, left, greets pilot Bertrand Piccard at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, early Saturday, May 4, 2013, after completing the first leg of its coast-to-coast flights across the United States. It is the first time that a solar airplane capable of flying day and night without fuel, will attempt to fly across America. Solar Impulse began its journey Friday in San Francisco in its attempt to reach New York. (AP Photo/Scuteri)

Pilot Bertrand Piccard talks about Solar Impulse, the Swiss solar-powered airplane, at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, early Saturday, May 4, 2013, after completing the first leg of its coast-to-coast flights across the United States. It is the first time that a solar airplane capable of flying day and night without fuel, will attempt to fly across America. Solar Impulse began its journey Friday in San Francisco in its attempt to reach New York. (AP Photo/Scuteri)

Solar Impulse, the Swiss solar-powered airplane, piloted by Bertrand Piccard, is shown at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, early Saturday, May 4, 2013, after completing the first leg of its coast-to-coast flights across the USA. It is the first time that a solar airplane capable of flying day and night without fuel, will attempt to fly across America. Solar Impulse began its journey Friday in San Francisco in its attempt to reach New York. (AP Photo/Scuteri)

PHOENIX (AP) ? Alone in the single-seat cockpit and high above the American Southwest, pilot Bertrand Piccard could hear only his plane's gear box and the quiet whine of four electric motors. No noisy jet engines.

He's flying Solar Impulse, considered the world's most advanced sun-powered plane.

Piccard piloted the craft for 20 hours, first cruising along the California coast after taking off from Moffett Field in Mountain View near San Francisco just after dawn Friday. He passed over Edwards Air Force Base, where other aviation milestones have been made, and then touched down early Saturday morning at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.

He landed having used only three-quarters of the plane's battery power.

"It's a little bit like being in a dream," Piccard said as he stepped on the tarmac.

The plane's creators, Piccard and fellow pilot Andre Borschberg, said the trip is the first attempt by a solar airplane capable of flying day and night without fuel to fly across America.

But more important than marking another aviation milestone, Piccard said Saturday afternoon that he hopes the journey will provide an exponential boost for interest in renewable energy and clean technologies.

"If an airplane can fly day or night with no fuel, just on the sun's power, of course it means that everybody in daily life can use this technology for his house, for heating and cooling systems, for lighting, for cars, for trucks. There's so much we can do now to have a cleaner future," Piccard said.

From Phoenix, the aircraft will travel to Dallas-Fort Worth airport in Texas, Lambert-St. Louis airport, Dulles airport in the Washington area and New York's John F. Kennedy airport. Each flight leg will take about 19 to 25 hours, with 10-day stops in each city.

Borschberg is hoping to pilot the last leg, which could afford him the chance to fly past the Statue of Liberty.

The plane, which has previously impressed audiences in Europe, is powered by about 12,000 photovoltaic cells that cover massive wings and charge its batteries.

The delicate, single-seat Solar Impulse flies around 40 mph and can't go through clouds. It weighs about as much as a car, making it vulnerable to bad weather.

Its average speed for the first leg of the trip was about 60 knots with a tail wind, Borschberg said. Ideally, the plane climbs up to about 27,000 feet or so during the day to collect solar and charge the batteries.

Borschberg and Piccard were ready for a series of tours over the next few days to show off the technology to Phoenix school children, university researchers and others.

"There are a lot of people who want to see this airplane," Piccard said.

So how hard is it to fly a solar plane?

Despite the aviation advancements made over the last century, Piccard said he and Borschberg have a lot in common with the early pioneers.

"One hundred years ago, the planes had to fly in good weather and there was only one person on board," Piccard said. "Now we have completely new technology, we fly with no fuel at all. But, of course, we need to fly in good weather and we carry only one pilot on board.

"We're starting a new cycle. It's really the beginning of something new."

___

Montoya Bryan reported from Albuquerque, N.M. Associated Press writer Haven Daley in Mountain View, Calif., also contributed to this report.

___

Online:

http://www.solarimpulse.com

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-05-04-Solar%20Plane/id-68aa0952b8ed4ff9b6c9292f77e095ec

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PROMISES, PROMISES: When Obama's promises conflict

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Absent a magic potion or explosive economic growth, it was all but inevitable President Barack Obama would have to break some of his campaign promises to keep others. If there's one thing that distinguished them besides their ambition, it was their incompatibility.

Cut a staggering $4 trillion from deficits while protecting big benefit programs, subsidizing more health care, plowing extra money into education and avoiding tax increases on everyone except the rich? Not on this Earth.

The postelection reality is starting to shake out now, though how it will all settle can't yet be known.

To reach for his promised deficit reduction, Obama has proposed breaking his tax promise. Toward the same end, his pledge from four years earlier that he wouldn't trim cost-of-living benefits in Social Security has given way to a proposal to do just that.

None of that might happen.

Republicans, who oppose tax increases, and Democrats, who object to curbs on entitlements, could block his path and in doing so save Obama from breaking his own promises.

If they do, though, that big pledge to bring down deficits by $4 trillion would surely have no hope at all.

That's the overarching dilemma in a catalog of campaign promises facing varying prospects over the next few years.

Obama is driving toward success on his energy goals. He's got a decent chance of achieving an immigration overhaul. Activists who once ridiculed his promise to be a "fierce advocate" of gay rights say he's come around and become just that.

Much else is bogged in the budget swamp or is a nonstarter for one reason or another. Anything costing big money comes with big obstacles, and one promise that cost relatively little, gun control, is dust. Yet Obama, in powering through with his health care overhaul, financial regulation and stimulus spending in his first term, has shown that tough causes aren't always lost ones.

A look at Obama's leading promises and what's happening with them:

Debt:

The promise: Cut deficits by $4 trillion over a decade.

Prospects: Deals with Congress to cap spending and raise taxes on wealthier people, along with the resulting savings on interest payments on the debt, have already achieved a projected $2.6 trillion in deficit reduction for the years ahead. But the rest of the $4 trillion will be tough. To get there, he proposes a 10-year $583 billion tax increase, an additional layer of tax increases from slower indexing of tax brackets for inflation and modest curbs to federal health care programs, all helping to produce further interest savings.

Republicans are so far standing firm against further tax increases and liberal Democrats are a tough sell on trimming entitlement programs and other spending. This, as the Congressional Budget Office warns that "such high and rising debt would have serious consequences" if unchecked. Among those consequences are reduced national savings and investment, a potential fiscal crisis and higher interest costs for the government.

___

Economy:

The promise: An approach to deficit reduction that doesn't undermine the recovery or unduly burden the middle class. Also, cut some corporate tax rates, penalize those who shift work overseas and create 1 million manufacturing jobs by 2016.

Prospects: Obama has had mixed success cutting the deficit without slowing growth. He struck a deal with Congress to avoid the "fiscal cliff," a set of tax increases and spending cuts in January. Businesses responded by stepping up hiring and spending.

But he and Republican leaders allowed Social Security taxes to rise, cutting take-home pay for nearly all working Americans. He wasn't able to avoid $85 billion in automatic spending cuts that started March 1.

Manufacturing has been creating more jobs but adding 1 million more by 2016 is unlikely. That would require 250,000 new factory jobs per year, nearly double the current pace. Overall, the unemployment rate dropped to 7.5 percent in April, the lowest in four years of recession and ragged recovery. The economy is growing modestly but steadily. It expanded at a 2.5 percent annual rate in the January-March quarter.

___

Education:

The promise: Raise the high school graduation rate from 78 percent to 90 percent by 2020 and make the country No. 1 in college graduates by that year. Cut federal money to colleges that don't control tuition costs.

Prospects: A rocky path at best. There's little momentum in Congress for the spending required, his pledge to make the U.S. first in college graduates is a long shot and tuitions are climbing without the promised federal penalty.

Obama has proposed $36 billion for Pell Grants in 2013. Yet those grants now cover less than one-third of the cost of a four-year public college. In 1980, they covered 69 percent of the costs.

___

Energy:

The promise: Cut oil imports by half by 2020.

Prospects: He could well deliver on this promise. New drilling technologies have unlocked enormous domestic reserves of crude oil and natural gas. Policies that mandate increasing use of renewable fuels and better vehicle fuel economy have helped slash demand. That has translated into a dramatic reduction in oil imports and increase in diesel and gasoline exports.

But oil and gasoline are global commodities. If Mideast turmoil disrupts oil production there, prices worldwide will rise, even if the U.S. gets little or no oil from that region. The U.S. economy won't ever be free from the effect of high oil prices. It just may be able to get much less oil from abroad.

___

Entitlements:

The promise: No cuts in Social Security cost-of-living increases. Protect Medicare from Republican proposals to turn it into a voucher-like program.

Prospects: Obama is ready to break his Social Security pledge from the 2008 campaign. He favors a new measure of inflation that would gradually trim benefit increases in Social Security, Medicare and other programs. The change, if adopted, eventually would cut Social Security benefits $560 a year for an average 75-year-old, $136 for a 65-year-old.

His approach to Medicare savings is different from one proposed by House Republicans to transform the program. He'd cut Medicare payments to service providers and is proposing that a growing share of seniors pay higher premiums over time, based on their incomes. Such Medicare changes were foreseen before the 2012 election. Meantime, Washington is expanding Medicaid to bring in more of the low-income uninsured.

For years, budget hawks have insisted that huge entitlements must be on the table for true fiscal discipline to be achieved. They're on the table now.

___

Gay rights:

The promise: Be a "fierce advocate" for gay rights. Obama endorsed gay marriage in 2012.

?Prospects: The course for gay marriage will be shaped by the Supreme Court, expected to rule on the matter in June. It's allowed in 10 states and the District of Columbia; many other states seem unlikely to follow suit unless forced by Congress or the court. But cultural attitudes are changing, as did Obama's views. His administration argued in favor of gay marriage rights to the court.

It seems unlikely the court will order gay marriage to be legalized in all states but its ruling could help same-sex married couples on estate taxes, Social Security benefits and other tangible matters. In his first term Obama lifted the ban on gays serving openly in the armed forces.

___

Global warming:

The promise: "Continue to reduce the carbon pollution that is heating our planet."

Prospects: Obama probably will take more steps to reduce the pollution blamed for climate change, but they are unlikely to be of the scale needed to help much in slowing the heating of the planet. Any policy to reduce heat-trapping pollution will target coal burned by power plants and oil refined for automobiles; those industries have powerful protectors in both parties.

Obama has acted on his own, to increase mileage standards and impose pollution control on future power plants. More such executive action is likely; a law is not.

___

Gun control:

The promise: Ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, expand background checks, and more, a postelection pledge made after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

Prospects: Obama said he would "put everything I've got into this." His everything wasn't enough. Entrenched support for gun rights and a powerful campaign by the National Rifle Association blocked efforts to pass a single aspect of Obama's package, the first attempt to significantly change the nation's gun laws in over two decades.

Polling found as many as 90 percent of those questioned supported expanded background checks, but even that fell short in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

___

Health care:

The promise: Ensure access to affordable insurance for all and no gutting of Medicare or Medicaid.

Prospects: Obama is likely to achieve his goal of extending coverage to the uninsured. Affordability is another question. Costs are expected to go up, not down, contrary to what Obama promised in his first term.

Some Medicare cuts Obama is willing to enact would hit beneficiaries. Well-to-do seniors and growing numbers of upper middle-class retirees could face higher monthly premiums.

___

Immigration:

The promise: Overhaul the immigration system to provide eventual citizenship to those who came here illegally, tighten borders and smooth legal immigration.

Prospects: Obama failed to deliver on his first-term promise to rework immigration law. His chances of pulling that off are much better now.

Even with a bipartisan Senate group having released legislation to accomplish those goals, however, success is not certain. Even so, the political climate is ripe for change thanks to a shift in Republican attitudes in 2012, when Latino and Asian voters backed Obama in record numbers.?

___

Iran:

The promise: "Do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon."

Prospects: Sanctions are destroying Iran's economy but not its will to enrich more uranium. By his own timeline, Obama has about a year left to see if diplomacy and sanctions can get Iran to slow its enrichment of uranium and assure the world its nuclear program is peaceful. If the U.S. and its partners cannot succeed, the stage may be set for an American or Israeli military intervention.

___

Taxes:

The promise: Raise taxes on individuals making more than $200,000 and married couples making more than $250,000. No tax increases for people making less. Ensure millionaires pay at least 30 percent of their income in federal taxes.

Prospects: Obama's 2014 budget, if passed, would break his promise to avoid any tax increases for middle and low-income people. He proposes a new inflation yardstick that would expose most people to higher income taxes, especially poorer workers.

He kept his promise to raise taxes on the rich, though at different income levels than he laid out in the campaign: $400,000 for individuals, $450,000 for couples. Republicans dismiss his proposed minimum rate for millionaires as a gimmick.

___

Associated Press writers Dina Cappiello, Philip Elliott, Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Christopher S. Rugaber, Stephen Ohlemacher, Jonathan Fahey, Bradley Klapper, Erica Werner, David Crary, Nedra Pickler, and Andrew Taylor contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/promises-promises-obamas-promises-conflict-130205095.html

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FRENCH FINANCE MINISTER: 'Austerity Is Over' - Business Insider

And there it is folks. The age of austerity is over.

In an interview given on Sunday, French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said: "Austerity is over, but we remain serious," according to Reuters.

The "we remain serious" part seems to refer to the country's dedication to hit deficit targets. But those targets have been loosened, Moscovici obviously believes that Europe has reached an end of budget cutting for the sake of budget cutting.

There's been an incredible collapse in the last month of the pro-austerity movement.

The UK has been rebuked by IMF officials. Reinhart and Rogoff have imploded publicly. Niall Ferguson stuck his foot in his mouth equating Keynes's economic philosophy with his sexual orientation. Bill Gross has blasted the UK. The new Italian Prime Minister has said austerity is over.

The whole facade of trying to stimulate the economy (or even reduce debts) by cutting spending is collapsing.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/french-finance-minister-austerity-is-over-2013-5

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Sunday, May 5, 2013

Ducks beat Red Wings 4-0 after Abdelkader's hit

Referee Steve Kozari signals to the bench for a trainer after Anaheim Ducks defenseman Toni Lydman, of Finland, was checked by Detroit Red Wings' Justin Abdelkader during the second period in Game 3 of a first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series in Detroit, Saturday, May 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Detroit Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard stops a shot as Anaheim Ducks center Daniel Winnik (34) jumps out of the way during the first period in Game 2 of a first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series in Detroit, Saturday, May 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Detroit Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard (35) stops a shot by Anaheim Ducks' Teemu Selanne (8), of Finland, during the first period in Game 2 of a first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series in Detroit, Saturday, May 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Anaheim Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf (15) and Detroit Red Wings center Pavel Datsyuk (13), of Russia, vie for the puck during the second period in Game 3 of a first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series in Detroit, Saturday, May 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

DETROIT (AP) ? Justin Abdelkader lined Toni Lydman up and launched himself into the Anaheim defenseman, knocking him over and sending the Detroit crowd into a frenzy.

Those cheers turned to boos soon enough. Abdelkader's hit left the Red Wings short-handed, and the Ducks took advantage.

Nick Bonino scored on the power play 18 seconds after Abdelkader was ejected for his hit on Lydman, and Anaheim went on to a 4-0 victory Saturday night to take a 2-1 series lead over the Red Wings in the Western Conference playoffs.

Abdelkader appeared to catch Lydman square in the side of the head with his left shoulder, and he was given a major penalty for charging and a game misconduct with 4:49 remaining in the second period.

"From what I gather, the league has done a pretty good job with these things, and I'm not going to say anything," Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said. "Mr. Shanahan can look at it."

Mr. Shanahan, of course, is Brendan Shanahan, the NHL's senior vice president of hockey operations and player safety. Abdelkader's hit already cost the Red Wings in Game 3.

The question now is whether he'll face additional discipline from the league.

"His shoulder hit his shoulder, and the kid went down hard. They called it a major. I'm not involved in the next part of the process," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "I didn't think he was up. I didn't think his arms were up or anything."

Lydman was slow getting up and was eventually helped to the bench. He did not return, and Boudreau said after the game Lydman had a headache.

Abdelkader wasn't in the locker room when reporters were allowed in after the game.

"I didn't get a great look at it. It looked like he made contact with his head. It's a hockey play but it wasn't intentional," Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler said. "I know Abdelkader and that's not the kind of player he is. He's not a guy trying to do something like that."

The Ducks immediately took advantage of the penalty when Bonino backhanded a shot past goalie Jimmy Howard from point-blank range.

Detroit killed off the rest of the major, but Ryan Getzlaf, Emerson Etem and Matt Beleskey added goals in the third for Anaheim. Jonas Hiller made 23 saves for the Ducks.

The Red Wings went on the power play early in the third, but Damien Brunner turned the puck over near his own net, and Getzlaf easily stickhandled around Howard for a short-handed goal with 13:27 left.

Etem scored his first career postseason goal when he was left alone in the slot and one-timed a pass from Teemu Selanne past Howard. Beleskey scored on the power play with 6:26 remaining from almost the same spot.

"I think we felt pretty good going in for the third. I think we did a lot of good things. I think we just had to keep doing that," Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg said. "Of course when he scored that short-handed, the momentum kind of shifted back to them. Then they got the third one right after that and it's game over."

The Red Wings tied the series at 1 despite blowing a three-goal lead in the third period of Game 2. Gustav Nyquist's overtime goal won that game, but Detroit lost defenseman Danny DeKeyser to a broken right thumb during the 5-4 victory.

The teams were a combined 7 of 19 on the power play heading into Game 3, but neither could take advantage in the first period Saturday. Detroit had a two-man advantage for 40 seconds, and Anaheim had one later in the period for 37 seconds.

Hiller and Howard kept the game scoreless. After Howard made one last save in the final seconds of the period, there was a brief pileup in front of the net. Howard emerged with no helmet on, and the crowd began chanting "Jimmy" as the teams headed off the ice.

The second period was a bit less action packed ? until Abdelkader's hit. It was an aggressive move, an attempt to give the home team some energy.

It ended up having the opposite effect.

"I think we kind of came up flat in the second period," Fowler said. "That got us going."

NOTES: Howard made 25 saves. ... The team scoring first has won every game in the series. ... It was the third playoff shutout of Hiller's career.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-05-04-HKN-Ducks-Red-Wings/id-27cf639e308047ca80377c29b0ddd4fe

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Drought across the West spurs resurgence of faith

This April 19, 2013 photo shows Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church parishioners Albert Lucero, left, and Nick McGovern, center, leading a prayer procession for rain in Bernalillo, N.M. From the heart of New Mexico to West Texas and Oklahoma, the pressures of drought have resulted in a resurgence of faith from Christian preachers and Catholic priests encouraging prayer processions to American Indian tribes using their closely guarded traditions in an effort to coax Mother Nature to deliver some much needed rain. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

This April 19, 2013 photo shows Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church parishioner Orlando Lucero reciting the rosary during a prayer procession for rain in Bernalillo, N.M. From the heart of New Mexico to West Texas and Oklahoma, the pressures of drought have resulted in a resurgence of faith, from Christian preachers and Catholic priests encouraging prayer processions to American Indian tribes using their closely guarded traditions in an effort to coax Mother Nature to deliver some much needed rain. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

This April 19, 2013 photo shows Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church parishioner Nick McGovern holding a rosary during a prayer procession for rain in Bernalillo, N.M. From the heart of New Mexico to West Texas and Oklahoma, the pressures of drought have resulted in a resurgence of faith, from Christian preachers and Catholic priests encouraging prayer processions to American Indian tribes using their closely guarded traditions in an effort to coax Mother Nature to deliver some much needed rain. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

This April 19, 2013 photo shows Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church parishioners Nick McGovernor, left, and Orlando Lucero talking about the framed statue of San Ysidro, the patron saint of farmers, after a prayer procession for rain in Bernalillo, N.M. From the heart of New Mexico to West Texas and Oklahoma, the pressures of drought have resulted in a resurgence of faith, from Christian preachers and Catholic priests encouraging prayer processions to American Indian tribes using their closely guarded traditions in an effort to coax Mother Nature to deliver some much needed rain. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

This April 19, 2013 photo shows Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church parishioners Nick McGovern, left, and Albert Lucero holding an effigy of San Ysidro, the patron saint of farmers, during a prayer procession for rain in Bernalillo, N.M. From the heart of New Mexico to West Texas and Oklahoma, the pressures of drought have resulted in a resurgence of faith, from Christian preachers and Catholic priests encouraging prayer processions to American Indian tribes using their closely guarded traditions in an effort to coax Mother Nature to deliver some much needed rain. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

BERNALILLO, N.M. (AP) ? Along the irrigation canal that cuts through this centuries-old New Mexico town, a small group of churchgoers gathers to recite the rosary before tossing rose petals into the water.

Remnants of a tradition that stretches back to the days of Spanish explorers, the humble offerings are aimed at blessing this year's meager irrigation season and easing a relentless drought that continues to march across New Mexico and much of the western half of the U.S.

From the heart of New Mexico to West Texas and Oklahoma, the pressures of drought have resulted in a resurgence of faith ? from Christian preachers and Catholic priests encouraging prayer processions to American Indian tribes using their closely guarded traditions in an effort to coax Mother Nature to deliver some much needed rain.

On Sunday, congregations across eastern New Mexico and West Texas are planning a day of prayer for moisture and rain.

"We're worried, but we're maintaining our traditional ways and cultural ways. Together we pray, and individually we pray," said Peter Pino, administrator of Zia Pueblo. "We haven't lost hope in the spiritual world, that they'll be able to provide us resources throughout the year.

"We're not giving up. That's pretty much all we can do at this point."

In its wake, the drought has left farmland idle, herds of cattle have been decimated, the threat of wildfire has intensified and cities are thinking twice about the sustainability of their water supplies.

In New Mexico, the renewed interest in the divine and the tension with Mother Nature stems from nearly three years of hot, dry weather. There is no place in the country right now that has it worse than New Mexico. The latest federal drought map shows conditions are extreme or worse across nearly 82 percent of the state. There are spots that have fallen behind in rainfall by as much as 24 inches, causing rivers to run dry and reservoirs to dip to record low levels.

In neighboring Texas and Oklahoma, the story is no different.

The faithful gathered Wednesday night in Oklahoma City to recite a collection of Christian, Muslim and Jewish prayers for the year's first worship service dedicated to rain.

The Catholic bishop in Lubbock is planning a special Mass at a local farm in two weeks so that farmers can have their seeds and soil blessed. The archbishop of New Mexico's largest diocese has turned to the Internet and social media to urge parishioners to pray.

The prayer is simple: "Look to our dry hills and fields, dear God, and bless them with the living blessing of soft rain. Then the land will rejoice and rivers will sing your praises, and the hearts of all will be made glad. Amen."

In Bernalillo, the parishioners from Our Lady of Sorrows church recited the rosary as they walked a few blocks from the church to the irrigation canal on a recent Friday evening. At the front of the procession, two men carried an effigy of San Isidro, the patron saint of farmers.

"I think people need to pray for rain," said Orlando Lucero, a school teacher and county commissioner who organized the procession. "We used to do it in every community and in every parish. It was a beautiful tradition that disappeared. Now I'm hoping that we can get other parishes involved."

In Clovis, hospital administrator and active church member Hoyt Skabelund hopes thousands join Sunday's prayer day.

"I don't know that moisture comes because we pray," he said. "You're going to have ebbs and flows and not all rainfall is because someone prayed and not all droughts are because someone didn't pray. But I do believe that prayers are answered and faith in God and a higher power unlocks the powers of heaven."

After all, praying can't hurt, he said.

The simple act of digging a new post hole in eastern New Mexico tells the story of how dry it is. Moist dirt used to turn up several inches below the surface. Now, Skabelund said, someone can dig several feet and not run into any moisture.

In dry times, it's natural for farmers and others who depend on the land to turn to God, said Laura Lincoln, executive director of the Texas Conference of Churches. Still, she and others said praying doesn't take away the responsibility of people to do what they can to ease the effects of drought.

Church leaders are urging their parishioners to conserve water and use better land-management practices like rotating crops.

"We have to play our part," said The Rev. William Tabbernee, head of the Oklahoma Conference of Churches. "Prayer puts us in touch with God, but it also helps us to focus on the fact that it is a partnership that we're involved in. We need to cooperate with God and all of humanity to be responsible stewards of the gifts God has given us through nature."

___

Follow Susan Montoya Bryan on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/susanmbryanNM

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-05-03-US-Drought-Praying-for-Rain/id-d05d45869f2b4397b085e4374a24f940

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Outgoing Alibaba CEO Ma says he's 'old' for Web

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) ? Alibaba founder Jack Ma, the billionaire who has run the Chinese e-commerce giant since 1999, says he's getting "a bit old" for the Internet.

That's what the outgoing chief executive told a charitable event in Santa Monica Thursday as he pledged $5 million toward a China-based fund that supports environmental conservation projects outside China.

"I'm young for new things but I'm a bit old for the Internet," the 48-year-old said.

Ma's gift doubles the amount raised for the China Global Conservation Fund, an offshoot of the Arlington, Va.-based organization, The Nature Conservancy.

Ma steps down as CEO from Alibaba Group on May 10, ahead of a widely expected initial public offering of stock that could create a windfall for Yahoo Inc., which owns nearly a quarter of the company.

Ma said that he prepared for his retirement for the last nine years and is looking forward to working on philanthropic causes such as environmental conservation.

He said he was inspired to act after visiting his home in China six years ago. A lake he nearly drowned in as a boy had mostly dried up. He also spoke to a farmer who used chemicals on produce that he wouldn't feed his family. "I know something is wrong," Ma said.

Ma will chair the Chinese board overseeing the fund once he steps down as CEO.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-05-03-AP-US-Jack-Ma-Retirement/id-7fce9cc92da04897bc58e71cf1153ae7

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Saturday, May 4, 2013

Hubble sees the remains of a star gone supernova

May 3, 2013 ? These delicate wisps of gas make up an object known as SNR B0519-69.0, or SNR 0519 for short. The thin, blood-red shells are actually the remnants from when an unstable progenitor star exploded violently as a supernova around 600 years ago. There are several types of supernovae, but for SNR 0519 the star that exploded is known to have been a white dwarf star -- a Sun-like star in the final stages of its life.

SNR 0519 is located over 150 000 light-years from Earth in the southern constellation of Dorado (The Dolphinfish), a constellation that also contains most of our neighboring galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Because of this, this region of the sky is full of intriguing and beautiful deep sky objects.

The LMC orbits the Milky Way galaxy as a satellite and is the fourth largest in our group of galaxies, the Local Group. SNR 0519 is not alone in the LMC; the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope also came across a similar bauble a few years ago in SNR B0509-67.5, a supernova of the same type as SNR 0519 with a strikingly similar appearance.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center.

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

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/space_time/astronomy/~3/sIdR4bJbUzg/130503151509.htm

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Little Big Town, Fleetwood Mac at Jazz Fest

Michael Doucet performs with the zydeco band BeauSoliel at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans, Friday, May 3, 2013. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Marc Broussard performs at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans, Friday, May 3, 2013. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Willie Nelson performs at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans, Friday, May 3, 2013. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Adam Levine salutes as he performs with Maroon 5 at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans, Friday, May 3, 2013. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Adam Levine performs with Maroon 5 at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans, Friday, May 3, 2013. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? Little Big Town says that some networking they did is paying off with a chance to cross a couple of items off their "bucket list."

After playing Bayou Country SuperFest in Baton Rouge last year, group member Karen Fairchild said they talked to festival producer Quint Davis about other things they hoped to accomplish. They mentioned that they'd one day like to perform at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

Davis was in a position to help since he also produces Jazz Fest.

Known for its trademark four-part harmonies, Little Big Town takes the stage in New Orleans on Saturday.

"Can you believe we're opening for Fleetwood Mac?" said Kimberly Schlapman. "We've been wanting to play Jazz Fest forever and now we're opening for Fleetwood Mac and can mark off two big things from our list."

Schlapman said early in their career they had the chance to meet Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac, which she described as an "amazing harmony band."

"Being able to share a stage with them is one of our greatest wishes," she said.

Fairchild said they've watched Jazz Fest from afar for years. "The who's who of music shows up year after year at the festival. Who wouldn't want to play there?"

Also playing Saturday are Phoenix, Frank Ocean, Los Lobos, Terence Blanchard, Davell Crawford and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

Sunshine and blue skies were welcomed by fans of the outdoor festival, which has been drenched by rain in previous days. Finding a spot away from the mud was among fest-goers' biggest goals. Some spread out plastic tarps to sit on. The field in front of the festival's largest stage, where Fleetwood Mac will perform, was packed hours before their performance.

Little Big Town's Fairchild said she hopes their festival appearance will help boost their fan base.

"This is a great chance for longtime fans to come out and see our set and a chance for us to discover and be introduced to new fans," she said.

Phillip Sweet and Jimi Westbrook make up the rest of Little Big Town, which recently won two Academy of Country Music awards for their latest album "Tornado." They go on tour with Keith Urban in July.

Fairchild and Schlapman said they've been friends for 25 years and the band was born through a brainstorming session. They said the four of them have been singing harmonies all their lives and were influenced by bands like Fleetwood Mac and Alabama.

"It started off as a crazy idea," Fairchild recalled. "I already knew Jimi, called him on a whim and the three of us were singing in Kim's living room. We knew a fourth person would balance the harmonies and give us more freedom and that's when we brought in Phillip. When we heard the four of us sing together, we knew we had a band."

Both Fairchild and Schlapman said the group's foundation is traditional country music but they consider themselves modern traditionalists.

"We're a fusion of so many things," explained Fairchild. "You hear country but also bluegrass and a gospel tinge in the soulfulness of our sound. There's also some of that southern California harmony that comes through."

The festival ends Sunday, with closing performances by Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Aaron Neville, Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, and Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra with special guest Dee Dee Bridgewater.

___

Associated Press writer Stacey Plaisance contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-05-04-Music-Jazz%20Fest/id-d08e2a08a5424d48b503544b6c42fe54

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Injectable nano-network controls blood sugar in diabetics for days at a time

May 3, 2013 ? In a promising development for diabetes treatment, researchers have developed a network of nanoscale particles that can be injected into the body and release insulin when blood-sugar levels rise, maintaining normal blood sugar levels for more than a week in animal-based laboratory tests. The work was done by researchers at North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Children's Hospital Boston.

"We've created a 'smart' system that is injected into the body and responds to changes in blood sugar by releasing insulin, effectively controlling blood-sugar levels," says Dr. Zhen Gu, lead author of a paper describing the work and an assistant professor in the joint biomedical engineering program at NC State and UNC Chapel Hill. "We've tested the technology in mice, and one injection was able to maintain blood sugar levels in the normal range for up to 10 days."

When a patient has type 1 diabetes, his or her body does not produce sufficient insulin, a hormone that transports glucose -- or blood sugar -- from the bloodstream into the body's cells. This can cause a host of health effects. Currently, diabetes patients must take frequent blood samples to monitor their blood-sugar levels and inject insulin as needed to ensure their blood sugar levels are in the "normal" range. However, these injections can be painful, and it can be difficult to determine the accurate dose level of insulin. Administering too much or too little insulin poses its own health risks.

The new, injectable nano-network is composed of a mixture containing nanoparticles with a solid core of insulin, modified dextran and glucose oxidase enzymes. When the enzymes are exposed to high glucose levels they effectively convert glucose into gluconic acid, which breaks down the modified dextran and releases the insulin. The insulin then brings the glucose levels under control. The gluconic acid and dextran are fully biocompatible and dissolve in the body.

Each of these nanoparticle cores is given either a positively charged or negatively charged biocompatible coating. The positively charged coatings are made of chitosan (a material normally found in shrimp shells), while the negatively charged coatings are made of alginate (a material normally found in seaweed).

When the solution of coated nanoparticles is mixed together, the positively and negatively charged coatings are attracted to each other to form a "nano-network." Once injected into the subcutaneous layer of the skin, the nano-network holds the nanoparticles together and prevents them from dispersing throughout the body. Both the nano-network and the coatings are porous, allowing blood -- and blood sugar -- to reach the nanoparticle cores.

"This technology effectively creates a 'closed-loop' system that mimics the activity of the pancreas in a healthy person, releasing insulin in response to glucose level changes," Gu says. "This has the potential to improve the health and quality of life of diabetes patients."

Gu's research team is currently in discussions to move the technology into clinical trials for use in humans.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by North Carolina State University.

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Journal Reference:

Zhen Gu, Alex A. Aimetti, Qun Wang, Tram T. Dang, Yunlong Zhang, Omid Veiseh, Hao Cheng, Robert S. Langer, Daniel G. Anderson. Injectable Nano-Network for Glucose-Mediated Insulin Delivery. ACS Nano, 2013; : 130502161653001 DOI: 10.1021/nn400630x

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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/nssxMXxUcOc/130503114716.htm

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Friday, May 3, 2013

Sip 'n' Stroll at the Boardwalk Wine Promenade | Arts & Entertainment

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. ? Taking its cue from the highly successful Atlantic City Food and Wine Festival, which has grown into a massive summer event since its modest beginnings in 2007, the Atlantic City Alliance (ACA) will be using the promise of an extensive wine list and enticing food items to bring visitors to town before the warm weather hits with what it hopes will be an annual event.

The DO AC Boardwalk Wine Promenade takes place Saturday, May 4, and Sunday, May 5, along the Atlantic City Boardwalk.?

In an unusual example of solidarity, all 12 of Atlantic City?s casino-hotels are banding together for this springtime event celebrating the Atlantic City Boardwalk.?

The Wine Promenade will be an outdoor wine festival featuring 150 wines presented at seven tented destinations along the Boardwalk. Each destination along the stroll will include seven ?themed? stations that highlight the history of Atlantic City.

Guests will be offered a broad spectrum of wines, including some selections from four local Atlantic County wineries, ranging from high-quality, affordable wines to prized special wines. ?

Signature bites from several Atlantic City restaurants will be paired with the wines.?

One-day tickets are $75 in advance and $85 on the day of the event and the event starts at noon both days. Tickets are available at the Boardwalk Hall Box Office, Ticketmaster locations, at doatlanticcity.com/wine or by calling 800-736-1420. On the day of event, you can redeem your ticket at Kennedy Plaza in front of Boardwalk Hall for a wristband.?

Liza Cartmell, president of the ACA, explains that the event has been in the planning stages since December.

?Originally we were hoping to do it as a winter wine festival,? she tells AC Weekly.

?It is something they do up in Canada quite well. We ran into some issues about whether Americans were hardy enough and had warm enough woolies and the Boardwalk is always a weather risk so we pushed it to early May as a ?welcome spring? event. It?s still taking a risk with the weather, but there will be tents. We want to prominently feature Atlantic City as the food and wine destination it has become while making it a fun and different experience.??

Asked about the expected turnout, Cartmell is candid.

?We have no idea. Hopefully it will become an annual event, but we need time to build it. It will be highly weather dependant. We hope to get several thousand people. We have an amazing wine list and we?ve got it paired with [good food] and we?ve got fun tents with themes and the opportunity to enjoy the Boardwalk.??

Cartmell adds that focus groups in New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore show that, with regard to Hurricane Sandy six months ago: ?There is universal knowledge that the [destruction reports about the Boardwalk] had been overblown. The perception [that the Boardwalk was utterly ruined] is still out there, but it is way, way improved.? Cartmell also says that the DO AC campaign is showing significant improvements in selling Atlantic City as a year-round resort and in the perception of the diversity of options that it offers beyond gaming. Cartmell also notes an up tick in the perception of the town as being more upscale.?

The Wine Promenade should add to that perception when it unfolds this weekend. For more info visit atlanticcitynj.com.

The Seven Wine ?Destinations?

? Sun (Atlantic Club): Celebrate the sun with a selection of refreshing sparklers, whites, pinks and reds including juicy Ruffino Prosecco from Italy, succulent white blend, ?Splash? from California?s St. Francis winery, barbeque-friendly ros?, Chateau d?Aqueria, from the south of France, and elegant Kim Crawford Pinot Noir from the islands of New Zealand. ?

Pairings: Mini Arancini and Fried Pork & Vegetable Dumplings with Ginger Soy & Scallion Dipping Sauce ?

Location: Atlantic Club Beach Club?

? Chill (Tropicana): Indulge your senses with wine aromatherapy. Kick into chill-mode with pink sparkling from Down Under in Yellow Tail?s bubbly version, then soak in the spicy scents of Hogue Gewurztraminer from Washington state, and experience the complex Gran Reserva from Ram?n Bilbao in Rioja, Spain. ?

Pairing: Lobster Bisque Shooters ?

Location: Pavilion in front of Tropicana?

? Artwalk: Wine is an art form itself and these beautiful bottles shine inside and out. Admire then imbibe selections such as Francis Ford Coppola?s sleek red blend Eleanor named for the director?s wife, one of Spain?s hottest reds, Numanthia, from the historic region of Toro, and Kenwood winery?s classic ?Jack London? Cabernet Sauvignon. ?

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Source: http://www.atlanticcityweekly.com/arts-and-entertainment/Sip-n-Stroll-do-ac-boardwalk-wine-promenade-event-2013-205647331.html

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