Heat head to Indy for Game 6, looking for clincher

MIAMI (AP) ? Standing on the cusp of the NBA Finals has tended to agree with the Miami Heat in each of the last two seasons. When the Heat have gotten a game away from the title round, they've finished the task as quickly as possible.

And here they are again.

A third straight Eastern Conference title is now just one win away for the reigning champions, though if the way this series has gone so far is an accurate indicator, that win will hardly come easily. The Heat ? without suspended forward Chris Andersen ? will visit the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night, leading the best-of-seven East finals 3-2 and in position to close out their new rivals on their own floor for the second straight season.

"We're desperate, too," Heat forward and four-time NBA MVP LeBron James said Friday. "We're desperate to get back to the NBA Finals. So both teams are desperate in their own sense of they're trying to keep their season alive and we're trying to advance."

The teams have alternated wins and losses through the first five games, and if that trend holds, then it's the Pacers' turn to prevail on Saturday and send the series back to Miami for a winner-goes-to-the-finals Game 7 on Monday night.

If the Heat ? who have won each of their last six potential series-closeout games, including two in the 2011 and 2012 East finals ? win, then the championship round against the San Antonio Spurs will begin in Miami on Thursday.

"You can't start thinking about opening up the invitation," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "That's over there. You can't even think about that."

The Pacers saw their season end a year ago on their home floor, at Miami's hand, in Game 6 of a second-round series. So Indiana's biggest source of motivation on Saturday may be the desire to avoid the indignity of watching Miami advance in Indianapolis for a second straight season.

"Game 6 will really determine how much we've grown, because we've been in the same ditch, I guess, being in the same predicament," Pacers star Paul George said. "Going 2-2, losing in Miami, then coming back home and losing at home. So we'll see where we're at. We've done well all year, especially in the postseason, dealing with adversity and overcoming games where we didn't play as well as we wanted."

The shirts in Indiana say "Gold Swagger" for a reason. Even down 3-2 against a team that hasn't lost back-to-back games since early January, the Pacers still have plenty of confidence, and it starts with a coach who came into the series insisting his club had genuine belief that it could knock off the champions.

"It's not just false talk," Indiana coach Frank Vogel said. "There's a reason I'm confident. I like to tell these guys that I'm not an optimist. That's what my image is. I'm a realist. And when I look around at what I see in the room when I'm talking to this team, and what I see on the court, and the level of execution that we're capable of ... it gives me real confidence in this basketball team. Our guys understand it's not just happy talk."

Adjustments will be made by both sides before Saturday, of course. But at this point, it's more than likely that the sides are out of ways to tactically surprise one another.

A play here, a play there, that might be the difference, and that sort of thinking is shared by both sides.

"It's about effort," Pacers center Roy Hibbert said. "It's about who wants it more, who wants to get that offensive rebound, who wants to get that blocked shot, who wants to get the loose ball. We just have to come out with more determination. It's not anything the coaches can tell us, it's about what's in here. It's lose or go home right now."

Sometimes, it's not even about what happens on the court.

The Heat were losing 44-40 at halftime on Thursday in Game 5, when veteran Juwan Howard ? who appeared in seven games for all of 51 minutes this season after being re-signed by Miami ? went on a shouting spree in the locker room. James followed that up with a fiery, slightly profane speech of his own, and Miami went on a 30-10 run not long afterward that served as a springboard to victory.

"His purity, respect level, the credibility that he has, it resonates with our guys and specifically it resonates with the guys in the locker room," Spoelstra said of Howard. "They hear what he says. It means something. And it was raw communication. We're at that point right now where it has to be real, has to be raw, has to be eye-to-eye. These are desperate times. There's no looking back. It's either us or them."

James said Friday that he couldn't even remember specifics of some things he had yelled the previous night.

"Absolutely not," James said. "You just let the game speak for itself, I guess."

Vogel said he expects that reserve forward Tyler Hansbrough, who sprained an ankle in the second half of Game 5, will be available on Saturday. Andersen, the backup big man who is 15 for 15 from the floor in the series and has made his last 18 shots overall, was suspended Friday night for shoving Hansbrough twice in the second quarter, then not backing away quickly enough for a referee who stepped in.

Dwyane Wade's aching right knee is still limiting him and Chris Bosh's numbers are nowhere near what the Heat would want right now, so the defending champions aren't exactly at their best, either. Still, the Pacers know that the challenge they're facing now ? needing to go 2-0 against Miami in a three-day span to get to the finals ? is enormous.

"One game at a time," George said. "We have to come home and play a good game. Everybody is going to have to step up and play a huge role. I know in the back of their mind they want to get the job done and be finished. So we're going to have to come out and bring it."

Or else, the Heat will be finals-bound, one more time.

"The close-out game," Heat forward Shane Battier said, "is always the toughest."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/heat-head-indy-game-6-looking-clincher-205949285.html

dyngus day indonesia quake stephen strasburg shabazz legion baby found alive in morgue rockies

V3 Gaming Traverse

Balancing the potential performance of an elite gaming PC with the need to still afford things?like rent and car payments?the small form-factor V3 Gaming Traverse offers some impressive hardware in a small form-factor chassis. As mid-range gaming desktops go, the V3 Traverse does a great job of giving you plenty of bang for your buck.

Design and Features
Looking at the V3 Traverse's case, a Prodigy small form-factor chassis from Bit Fenix, I just don't know what to think about this design. We've seen it before (on the AVADirect Mini Gaming PC Core i5 Z77) but I still can't figure out why this design is even being used. Is there something about improving airflow by putting it up off of the desk or floor? Is it about providing handles? Regardless, I personally think the roll-cage design looks (and feels) bizarre. And the handles and risers flex considerably whenever you pick up the tower or set it down, which feels pretty insecure.

Despite the shaky handles and risers, the tower has a fairly compact design, measuring 15.5 by 9.6 by 13.9 inches (HWD). The white and black color scheme is a nice change of pace from the usual black boxes festooned with glowing LED accents, but the stormtrooper look is getting a little tired as well?we've seen it on the iBuypower Revolt R770, the Digital Storm Bolt, not to mention the same-chassis doppelganger AVADirect Mini Gaming PC Core i5 Z77.

On the front of the tower is a tray-loading optical drive?a combination Blu-ray reader and DVD-writer in this configuration?and a handful of ports on the right-hand side of the tower front, with two audio jacks (for headphone out and microphone input) and two USB 3.0 ports. On the back of the tower you'll find far more connectivity options, like another six USB ports (two 3.0, four 2.0), Gigabit Ethernet, two HDMI outputs, a DisplayPort, three DVI outputs, along with S/PDIF digital audio and a handful of audio outputs. An internal 802.11n Wi-Fi connection gives you connectivity as well, for those times you don't want to snake an Ethernet cable to the back of the tower.

Open up the case, and you'll find the Traverse outfitted with a Zotac Z77ITX A-E Mini ITX motherboard. Our configuration included an Intel Core i5-3570K (normally 3.4GHz, but overclocked up to 4.6GHz), an Nvidia GeForce GTX 690 graphics card, which offers SLI-grade performance on a single card thanks to a dual-GPU design. A 600W Corsair power supply provides enough power for everything and even an upgrade or two, though there's not a lot of room for upgrades to be made?the PCI slots are filled, and the position of the motherboard in the compact tower makes it hard to access anything anyway. There are, however, two open drive bays, and an unused internal SATA port, so you can expand the storage in that way.

For storage you get both a 1TB, 7,200rpm hard drive and a 120GB Corsair Force GT solid-state drive (SSD). This combination provides both storage and speed, with plenty of capacity for games and media files, with zippy performance thanks to the SSD. The Windows 8 operating system is preinstalled, but there's no bloatware to speak of?there's nothing beyond GPU drivers included on the PC. V3 Gaming covers the Traverse with a generous three-year service warranty, with lifetime labor and tech support.

Performance
The V3 Traverse's quad-core CPU (a Core i5-3570K with 8GB of RAM) isn't the fastest processor out there, but it's definitely a top contender. With a Cinebench score of 7.88, it falls behind most of the Core i7-equipped systems?like the category leading Maingear Potenza Super Stock, which scored 9.57 points?but it still takes the lead in PCMark 7, scoring 6,572 points, topping both the Maingear Potenza (5,356) and the AVADirect Mini Gaming PC Core i5 Z77 (6,259). It fell slightly behind competitors in Handbrake and Photoshop, finishing the tests in 29 seconds (Handbrake) and 2 minutes 36 seconds (Photoshop CS6).

The Nvidia GeForce GTX 690 is actually a single-card SLI, the equivalent of two GTX 680s, with 4GB of dedicated memory. As such, it offered some of the best graphics performance we've seen in this price range. It cranked through our gaming tests with competition-crushing scores, leading in Alien vs. Predator with 308 frames per second at 1,366-by-768 and 98 fps at 1920-by-1080 and high detail settings. Similarly, it produced top results in Heaven (232 fps at 1366-by-768 and 107 at 1920-by-1080 and high detail settings).

While the chassis design might leave me scratching my head, there's no denying that V3 Gaming has built a solid gaming PC in this small form-factor case. With an overclocked Core i5 and Nvidia's single-card SLI graphics processing, the V3 Gaming Traverse offers a level of performance that belies the PC's mid-range price tag. If you want to experience elite gaming without the $5,000-$7,000 price tag, the V3 Gaming Traverse is a smart pick, provided you don't have your heart set on easy maintenance and upgrades.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/8D9qn_lyWYw/0,2817,2419674,00.asp

Kerry Rhodes Daft Punk Get Lucky Texas explosion Paul Kevin Curtis man of steel man of steel gucci mane

Putin economy reshuffle to strengthen Kremlin: sources

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin will appoint Economy Minister Andrei Belousov as his chief economic adviser, in a reshuffle that will tighten the Kremlin's control over the management of Russia's $2 trillion economy, sources said on Friday.

Belousov will move to the coveted position as the Kremlin's "chief economist" in a reshuffle that follows the appointment of Elvira Nabiullina to run the central bank from next month.

The central bank's first deputy chairman, Alexei Ulyukayev, may leave his post to become economy minister and be replaced by Russia's Group of 20 summit coordinator Ksenia Yudayeva, sources close to the bank and the government told Reuters.

"He (Ulyukayev) is a very likely candidate," one of the sources said, confirming a report in the Kommersant daily.

Ulyukayev had been a leading candidate to take over from the outgoing central bank chairman, Sergei Ignatyev, but his hawkish views on inflation were out of tune with Putin's desire for the central bank to do more to boost flagging economic growth.

(Reporting by Daria Korsunskaya and Lidia Kelly; Editing by Douglas Busine)

(This story was corrected to say Andrei Belousov in lede, not Sergei Belousov)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/putin-economy-reshuffle-strengthen-kremlin-sources-061648034.html

the voice season 2 ron paul maine safe house jay z and beyonce baby cpac powell the last lecture

Lack of unity threatens Syrian opposition

Officials in the Middle East say talks between the Syrian opposition and President Bashar al-Assad are likely to be pushed back to July. The opposition is struggling to bring together a diverse coalition. Even so, the group does agree Assad must leave power in order to resolve the conflict.

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis,?Reuters / May 29, 2013

A general view shows buildings that were damaged during clashes between with forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and Free Syrian Army fighters in Damascus May 27, 2013. The opposition coalition is struggling to elect new leadership ahead of anticipated peace talks.

REUTERS/ Alaa Al-Marjani

Enlarge

The Syrian opposition said on Wednesday it would only take part in planned international peace talks if a deadline was set for a settlement that forces President Bashar al-Assad?to leave power.

Skip to next paragraph

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; // google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

Subscribe Today to the Monitor

Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of
The Christian Science Monitor
Weekly Digital Edition

In its first official reaction to the Geneva conference being prepared by the United States and Russia, the opposition coalition adopted a declaration calling for "binding international guarantees" for any resolution of Syria's two-year-old conflict.

The statement, issued after seven days of meetings riven by internal dispute, demanded "the removal of the head of the regime and the security and military command".

The talks have been marred by disagreement within the coalition over expanding its membership and appointing a new leadership. Lack of unity has threatened to rob the Islamist-dominated alliance of international support.

The 60-member coalition has so far failed to agree on the wider involvement of a liberal opposition bloc, to the dismay of Western and some Arab backers keen to reduce Islamist influence.

Further evidence of dissent among the rebels emerged on Wednesday when opposition groups in Syria accused their counterparts in exile of undermining the rebellion and lacking legitimacy.

Dismayed by the "ongoing discord", a statement by four leading opposition groups in Syria dismissed attempts to expand the coalition as having "no real impact on the revolution" and said at least half the coalition's leadership bodies should be made of "revolutionary forces".

The statement, issued in the name of the Revolutionary Movement in Syria, said it could not "bestow legitimacy upon any political body that subverts the revolution".

The coalition's failure to agree even the basic structure of its membership bodes ill for a unified stance on the peace talks, which aim to agree a transitional government and an end to a conflict that has killed 80,000 people.

'Daunting realization'

"There is a daunting realisation that the opposition has to get its act together before Geneva, otherwise the Assad?team will run rings around us," a senior opposition coalition source at the talks in Istanbul said.

Diplomats say the Geneva talks could be held in mid-June, but officials in the Middle East say they will be pushed back to July.

Syria's foreign minister, Walid al-Moualem, said his country had no preconditions for attending although it had yet to decide who would represent it.

While the opposition coalition has bickered in Istanbul, Assad's forces have been pressing a fierce counter-offensive on the ground in Syria.

Backed by Hezbollah -- said by French intelligence to have provided up to 4,000 fighters -- Assad's army is fighting to dislodge rebels from a stronghold on the Lebanese border.

His troops have already pushed back rebels in the southern province of Deraa and retaken some outlying areas east of Damascus, consolidating their hold from the capital up to the coastal heartlands of his minority Alawite sect.

Syrian state television said government forces had seized an air base near the town of Qusair on Wednesday.

Russia, which has shielded Assad?diplomatically since the Syrian uprising erupted in March 2011, says it will deliver an advanced S-300 air defence system despite U.S. and French objections, saying it would deter "hotheads" intent on foreign intervention.

In Geneva, the United Nations Human Rights Council voted to call on Syria to halt its unlawful attacks on civilians in rebel-held Qusair, but the resolution highlighted deep divisions among powers ahead of the planned peace talks.

The U.N. human rights chief, Navi Pillay, earlier urged countries not to supply Syria with weapons and to seek a political end to the war.

Divided opposition?

Assad's opponents have suffered from deep-seated rifts since the start of the uprising. The opposition in exile has little influence over activists on the ground, while the only authority that Syrian army defectors in Turkey and Jordan have over the hundreds of rebel brigades scattered across Syria stems from their ability to channel weapons from abroad.

Ideological differences between Islamists and nationalists are exacerbated by conflicting ambitions of backers as diverse as the Gulf Arab monarchies, the United States and Europe.

At the heart of the stalemate in Istanbul is a rivalry between regional backers of the rebels centred around Qatar, which supports the Islamist coalition members, and Saudi Arabia, which is wary of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood.

The addition of a liberal bloc of more than 20 seats, led by Christian opposition campaigner Michel Kilo, had been intended to ease the Islamist grip over the coalition. Kilo has so far been offered just five seats.

International envoys sought to break the impasse in Istanbul, with Saudi Prince Salman bin Sultan meeting Kilo to discuss his demands for representation.

If a deal is not struck, coalition insiders say the liberal wing will not participate in peace talks, further threatening the ability of the coalition to speak for the opposition.

The coalition had meant to discuss a new leadership in Istanbul, including the fate of provisional Prime Minister Ghassan Hitto, who has not been able to form a provisional government in exile since being appointed on March 19.

George Sabra, the acting head of the coalition, appeared intent on dropping the membership issue and proceeding to electing a new leadership. But other senior opposition officials said such a move would only deepen divisions.

"If they go ahead with choosing a new leadership, they are setting the stage for a war between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and nobody wants this," one of the officials said.

(Additional reporting by Gulsen Solaker in Ankara; Writing by Dominic Evans; Editing by Will Waterman and Giles Elgood)

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/nsn0o1f-ybE/Lack-of-unity-threatens-Syrian-opposition

soda bread recipe vanderbilt evan mathis staff sgt. robert bales jason russell norfolk state st patrick s day parade

Sprint, SoftBank reach deal with U.S. over security concerns

By Alina Selyukh and Nathan Layne

WASHINGTON/TOKYO (Reuters) - Sprint Nextel Corp and Japan's SoftBank Corp have reached an agreement with U.S. authorities on the national security aspects of the Japanese firm's pending $20.1 billion deal to win control of the U.S. wireless carrier, people familiar with the matter said.

As a part of that agreement, the U.S. government will have a veto over new equipment purchases by Sprint in certain circumstances if the two companies merge, one source said.

The government will also establish a four-member oversight committee to make sure the companies abide by their national security promises. A Sprint board member will sit on that committee, said the source, who did not want to be named because the information was not public.

Formal announcement of the highly unusual agreement - drawn up amid fears of Chinese espionage - is likely to come early on Wednesday in the United States, four sources told Reuters.

Japanese mobile operator SoftBank agreed to buy a 70 percent stake in Sprint last October. That deal faces a challenge from Dish Network Corp, a U.S. satellite TV provider which last month launched a rival $25.5 billion bid for Sprint.

No one at Sprint was immediately available to comment, while SoftBank declined comment on Wednesday.

DISH WARNING

Dish has taken out full-page ads in Washington newspapers warning that a SoftBank-Sprint merger would threaten U.S. national security.

U.S. Senator Charles Schumer expressed strong concern last Friday about the proposed SoftBank-Sprint merger, warning it could expose the United States to Chinese cyber attacks.

Sources said SoftBank agreed with U.S. authorities to remove equipment made by China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd from Sprint and Clearwire Corp's networks if the Japanese company completed its deal by the end of 2016. SoftBank President Masayoshi Son has said he will pull equipment made by China's ZTE Corp if asked by U.S. regulators.

The House Intelligence Committee last year urged U.S. telecoms firms not to do business with Huawei and ZTE because it said potential Chinese state influence on the companies posed a threat to U.S. security. SoftBank uses equipment made by ZTE and Huawei in Japan.

Last week, Clearwire's board recommended Sprint's sweetened buyout offer for the company after Sprint raised its bid to $3.40 per share, from $2.97 per share, for the 50 percent it doesn't already own. Clearwire shareholders will vote on the deal on Friday.

Dish reiterated its warnings on Tuesday that a SoftBank-Sprint tie-up posed national security risks.

"We believe the U.S. government should proceed with deliberation and caution in turning over assets of national strategic importance - such as the Sprint fiber backbone and wireless networks - to a foreign-controlled entity with significant ties to China," spokesman Bob Toevs said. "Oversight and accountability for our national network infrastructure is critical at a time when offshore attacks on that infrastructure continue to rise."

"POLITICS, PROTECTIONISM"

In an email, Huawei's U.S.-based spokesman William Plummer said: "No matter who wins the bid for Sprint, the future Sprint network will be sourced, in part, from China, just as are the networks of AT&T and Verizon and every other carrier. Every telecom infrastructure vendor, regardless of geography of headquarters, conducts R&D, codes software and manufactures gear ... in China.

"Suggestions that networks and data will somehow be made safer by blackballing vendors based on geography of headquarters are either uninformed or dissembling," Plummer added.

"Anyone who truly wants more secure American networks and data should focus instead on establishing apolitical geography-agnostic global and industry-wide supply chains and operational standards to raise the cyber-security bar for everyone. Anything else is just politics and protectionism," he said.

Industry experts say the U.S. Federal Communications Commission is unlikely to rule before Sprint makes a final choice of buyer and the inter-agency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) completes its own review. Sprint shareholders are due to vote on the SoftBank offer on June 12.

CFIUS reviews are highly secretive and weigh whether foreign ownership of a U.S. company poses threats to or increases vulnerability of the nation's infrastructure and assets. Although technically voluntary, foreign bidders prefer asking the CFIUS to review their deals before completing them.

"This is SoftBank clearly doing whatever it takes to satisfy the U.S. government they are not posing any national security risks. It's a pretty smart move on their part to diffuse that aspect of the problem," said Neil Juggins, a regional telecoms analyst for Hong Kong-based JI Asia, an affiliate of Societe Generale.

SoftBank shares last traded 2.1 percent higher in Tokyo, outperforming the broader index's 0.5 percent gain.

(Additional reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Bangalore, Liana Baker and Nicola Leske in New York, Mari Saito in Tokyo and Chyen Yee Lee in Singapore; Editing by Anthony Kurian, Eric Beech, Stephen Coates and Ian Geoghegan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sprint-softbank-reach-deal-u-over-security-concerns-000123768.html

Rise of the Guardians Pumpkin Pie Jack Taylor Apple Pie Recipe black friday How long to cook a turkey green bean casserole

First quarter GDP revised slightly lower; austerity bites

By Jason Lange

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A drop in government spending dragged more on the U.S. economy than initially thought in the first three months of the year, a sign of increasing pain from Washington's austerity drive.

Another report on Thursday showed the number of new jobless claims rose last week, and together the data reinforced the view that the U.S. economy may be entering yet another soft patch.

Gross domestic product, a measure of the country's total economic output, expanded at a 2.4 percent annual rate during the first quarter, down a tenth of a point from an initial estimate, the Commerce Department said on Thursday. Analysts had forecast a 2.5 percent gain.

That is much faster than the prior quarter's pace, but likely still too weak to fuel faster improvements in the labor market.

"We are dramatically under-spending in Washington," said Michael Strauss, a market strategist at Commonfund in Wilton, Connecticut.

Investors took the data as a sign of weakness in the economy, and futures for U.S. stock indexes trimmed gains while yields on U.S. government debt fell slightly.

Growth in the first quarter was held back as government spending fell across all levels of government and as businesses outside the farm sector stocked their shelves at a slower pace.

Washington has been tightening its belt for several years but ramped up austerity measures in 2013, hiking taxes in January and slashing the federal budget in March.

Still, economic growth has been surprisingly resilient, supported by the Federal Reserve's low interest rate policies which have helped families buy homes and cars.

Thursday's data could add to the case that the economy still needs a lot of monetary stimulus, although policymakers at the central bank have been talking up the possibility of easing back on their bond buying program this year.

Most economists expect growth will slow around the middle of 2013 as budget cuts bite across the public sector. But growth is seen picking up by year end, propelled by consumer spending and an apparently entrenched housing market recovery.

Government spending has now fallen sharply in two straight quarters and economists believe agencies have pulled back in anticipation of budget cuts that were initially due to begin in January but which took effect in March.

In the first quarter, government spending dropped at a 4.9 percent annual rate, faster than the 4.1 percent rate initially estimated. Spending fell at federal, state and local government offices, though the majority of the downward revision in Thursday' report came at the state and local level.

Washington has been trimming deficits for several years as programs enacted to fight an economic crisis have wound down. This year, the federal government is on track to slash its budget shortfall by the most in nearly a half century.

In the first quarter, the drag from government and inventories was partially offset by an upward revision to consumer spending, which rose at a 3.4 percent annual rate, up two tenths of a point from the government's previous estimate.

However, a cloud hung over that category, as most of the upward revision was due to higher sales of gasoline. Higher prices at the pump are a burden on consumers, leaving them less money to spend on other things. Consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity.

Excluding the volatile inventories component, GDP rose at an upwardly revised 1.8 percent rate, slightly higher than analysts had forecast.

MORE JOBLESS CLAIMS

A separate report showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 354,000, above analysts' expectations, Labor Department data showed.

A Labor Department analyst said claims for five states, including Virginia, Minnesota and Oregon, were estimated since state offices had less time to prepare data because of the national holiday on Monday.

This could have the distorted the readings, making last week's claims a less useful gauge of labor market trends.

The four-week moving average for new claims, which irons out week-to-week volatility, edged up 6,750 to 347,250.

Despite the rise last week, claims remained in the middle of their range for this year and below levels economists normally associate with modest job gains.

Steady improvement in labor market conditions and rising house prices are helping to sustain consumer spending, limiting the impact of the drag from fiscal policy on the economy.

(Additional reporting by Richard Leong in New York; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/first-quarter-gdp-revised-slightly-lower-austerity-bites-123522067.html

senior bowl norovirus Eclampsia Kendrick Lamar JJ Abrams New Orleans Pelicans chris brown

Op-Ed Contributor: Ecology Lessons From the Cold War

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Biodiversity was a survival strategy for the next global conflict.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/30/opinion/ecology-lessons-from-the-cold-war.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

mario balotelli mario balotelli espn3 kevin youkilis Tropical Storm Debby legend of korra magic mike trailer

Creating a Meaningful Home: House on the Way - SAS Interiors

Today?s guest post for the Creating a Meaningful Home Blog Series is Leslie of House on the Way. Welcome Leslie?

*******************

Hello! I?m Leslie from House on the Way and I?m so excited to be a part of Jenna?s Creating a Meaningful Home Series. It?s an honor to be here! I love the idea of exploring what it means to create a meaningful home.

When Jenna invited me to join in the series, I stopped and thought about my home and how I?ve tried to make it a meaningful place for my family. As I looked around my home I realized that it?s filled with things I love. It?s filled with things we all love. I came to the conclusion that a truly meaningful home centers around the people who live there. It?s about the family?their lives?and the things they love.

Use Colors That You Love

We all have colors that speak to who we are. Personally, I love red. Red is bold and makes a statement. I love the way it draws your eye right to it, saying, ?look at me!? It makes me happy. When you walk into your home, it should make you smile.

Use Family Heirlooms

Family heirlooms do not have to be worth millions. They do not even have to be worth hundreds. They just need to be meaningful to you and your family. For example, I have this wooden knitting needle holder that belonged to my great-grandmother. It?s simple and small, but it means something special to me.

When I was a child, I loved my grandmother?s antique phone that she had hanging on her wall. One christmas, I received one from her for myself. I love antiques and my antique phone is one of my favorite pieces. My phone is not the one she owned, but it was a gift from her, which makes it very special.

Use Decor That Symbolizes A Special Time In Your Life

That same grandmother was an antique dealer. When my youngest son was born, she gave me this beautiful antique portrait of a mother and child. It was one of her favorite pieces and she literally took it from her home to give to me. What a wonderful thought?she wanted me to have something that was very precious to her. It?s absolutely beautiful and when I look at each day, I?m reminded of not only his birth, but her generous gift.

Use Pieces That You Have Created

I love using my handcrafted pieces in my home. It?s not only satisfying to know that I created a certain piece, but also that I?m providing a little something of myself to pass down to my children. This hand painted Wooden Swan Artwork is one of my favorite pieces.

Use Family Photos

Using family photos is a must to create a meaningful home. I love using photos of my children throughout my home and gallery walls are one of my favorite ways to display them. This gallery wall in my basement is my favorite wall in the house! Every picture is black and white and not one picture is a ?posed? professional shot. I specifically chose photos that were somewhat abstract. For example, there?s a photo of the back of my children?s heads as they are looking out the window of a double-decker bus in London. There?s also a picture of my father and daughter walking hand in hand down a hospital hallway. Each picture is unique and special. I could stare at that gallery wall all day! The pictures hanging on that wall are TRUE portraits of my children.

Use Collections as Decor

Throughout the years, I?ve been slowly collecting rolling pins. One of my favorites is an antique rolling-pin that has the date and the name of the person whose house provided the wood to carve it, handwritten on the handle. I love it because there?s a bit of a story to tell. How wonderful to know whose it was and where it came from.

Use Themes and Decor That Your Children Love

As a decorator, I always want everything to be beautiful. As a parent, I want to make my children happy. So I?ve always tried to create a space for them that speaks to who they are as a person. It?s very important to create a meaningful space for them. I have a son who loves music, specifically he loves to play the guitar. Naturally, his personal space reflects his passion and provides him an area to develop and explore his talent.

My youngest son loves camo and anything to do with the army. Now while he loves camo, personally I do not. I decided to meet him in the middle with arctic camo. The blue worked great with his existing furniture and I was still able to give him the look he wanted. I created a gallery wall above his bed, mixing various things that he loves and enjoys. His map wall art is one of his favorites.

Make it Meaningful?Make it You

Whatever your style, whatever your budget, you can create a meaningful home by incorporating things you love. Your home should show who you are and the love that is shared within your family. Your home should be your favorite place in the world to be?then it?s truly meaningful.

Thank you so much for allowing me to spend some time with you today and a special thank you to Jenna for the amazing opportunity!

Thank you Leslie for opening your home to us.? I adore that you?ve created a meaningful home by surrounding yourself with the things you AND your family love.

Leslie has such a great blog filled with DIY projects, crafts, makeovers, and so much more.? One of my favorite projects of hers are the creative bamboo shades she made using placemats.? Can?t find something you?re looking for, then make it yourself. What a great idea.

Head on over to House on the Way and give Leslie a BIG HELLO!

Check out all the Bloggers that have contributed to this series on
Creating a Meaningful Home.

If you liked this post, share it!

Source: http://www.sasinteriors.net/2013/05/creating-a-meaningful-home-house-on-the-way/

the secret life of bees full moon aubrey o day johan santana viktor bout ncaa hockey role models

Memorial Day warning: Americans too distant from those they send to war (+video)

The number of Americans who serve in the US military?? especially those sent to combat?? has gone down dramatically in recent years. Critics say civilians need to assume more responsibility for the moral burden of war as well as for the other costs of fighting.

By Brad Knickerbocker,?Staff writer / May 27, 2013

President Obama greets Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran Eilene Henderson in the Arlington National Cemetery during his Memorial Day visit there Monday.

Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

Enlarge

At Arlington National Cemetery today, President Obama laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns, calling upon the nation to keep in mind those fighting in Afghanistan and elsewhere, especially as nearly 12 years of war winds down.

Skip to next paragraph

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; // google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

Subscribe Today to the Monitor

Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of
The Christian Science Monitor
Weekly Digital Edition

?Regardless of reason, this truth cannot be ignored that today most Americans are not directly touched by war,? Mr. Obama told a crowd of dignitaries and military families gathered to mark Memorial Day. ?As a consequence, not all Americans may always see or fully grasp the depths of sacrifice, the profound costs that are made in our name, right now, as we speak, everyday.?

?Made in our name? may be the most relevant phrase here ? especially as the percentage of Americans serving in uniform declines in the decades following the end of the Vietnam War and an end to military conscription.

?Fewer Americans are making the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan and that?s progress for which we are profoundly grateful,? Obama said. ?This time next year, we will mark the final Memorial Day of our war in Afghanistan.?

Still, he noted, more than 60,000 GI?s still serve far from home in Afghanistan.

?They?re still going out on patrol, still living in spartan forward operating bases, still risking their lives to carry out their mission,? he said. ?And when they give their lives, they are still being laid to rest in cemeteries in the quiet corners across our country.?

For better or for worse, ?their mission? is really ?our mission,? at least in terms of national policy crafted and carried out in a democracy with elected leaders. This was Obama?s implied message, not only on Memorial Day but in his commencement speech Friday at the US Naval Academy and a day earlier in his comprehensive address at the National Defense University outlining continuing (and new) efforts in fighting terrorism.

In a piece headlined ?Veterans need to share the moral burden of war? in the Washington Post last Friday, war correspondent, author, and documentary filmmaker Sebastian Junger argues that the entire nation shares that burden.

?Soldiers face myriad challenges when they return home, but one of the most destructive is the sense that their country doesn?t quite realize that it ? and not just the soldiers ? went to war,? Mr. Junger writes. ?The country approved, financed and justified war ? and sent the soldiers to fight it.?

?This is important because it returns the moral burden of war to its rightful place: with the entire nation,? he goes on. ?If a soldier inadvertently kills a civilian in Baghdad, we all helped kill that civilian. If a soldier loses his arm in Afghanistan, we all lost something.?

?When soldiers come home spiritually polluted by the killing that they committed, or even just witnessed, many hope that their country will share the moral responsibility of such a grave event,? Junger writes.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/YHV77nbzj9I/Memorial-Day-warning-Americans-too-distant-from-those-they-send-to-war-video

printable bracket game change own stacy francis tournament brackets 2012 ncaa basketball tournament walt

Umeox X5 handset gets photographed, shows off its 5.6mm-thick body

Umeox isn't exactly a household name in the smartphone market, but the company's apparently getting ready to introduce the world to its most recent creation: a handset with an extremely slim profile. And while other details about the Umeox X5 remain light, rumors on the interwebs peg this 5.6mm-thick device as one that's running a pretty fresh version of Android -- Jelly Bean, to be precise. Unfortunately, things like screen size and more info on the X5 internals are still unknown, but, if all plays out as GizChina reports, we'll find out all there is to know on that front when Umeox officially launches it "sometime in July." For now, you'll have to make do with the extra pics at the source below -- and, if you have some time, perhaps you could even compare it with other slabs looking to take home the "world's slimmest" title.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Comments

Source: GizChina

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/n91Wta2KEr4/

tony parker the five year engagement chris kreider correspondents dinner 2012 white house correspondents dinner 2012 whcd 2012 nfl draft

Rob Lowe cast as JFK in National Geographic film

NEW YORK (AP) ? Rob Lowe will portray President John F. Kennedy in a National Geographic film about the former president's 1963 assassination.

The National Geographic Channel said Tuesday that filming for "Killing Kennedy" would begin next month in Richmond, Va. The film is expected to air around the 50th anniversary of the shooting later this year and is based on the book by Bill O'Reilly.

National Geographic already had a hit earlier this year with an adaptation of another of the Fox News Channel anchor's books, "Killing Lincoln."

In addition to Lowe, the movie will feature Ginnifer Goodwin as the first lady and Michelle Trachtenberg as Marina Oswald.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rob-lowe-cast-jfk-national-geographic-film-182426122.html

oregon ducks oregon ducks rob gronkowski Coughing eddie murphy Stephanie Bongiovi stanford football

Syria fighting rages, more chemical attacks reported

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Heavy fighting raged on Monday around the strategic border town of Qusair and the capital Damascus, amid renewed reports of chemical weapons attacks by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

Opposition activists said Syrian troops backed by Lebanese Hezbollah fighters were advancing in areas around Qusair, pressing a sustained assault on a town long used by rebels as a way station for arms and other supplies from Lebanon.

For Assad, Qusair is a crucial link between Damascus and loyalist strongholds on the Mediterranean coast. Recapturing the town, in central Homs province, could also sever connections between rebel-held areas in the north and south of Syria.

Syrian government offensives in recent weeks are an apparent attempt to strengthen Assad's negotiating position before peace talks next month sponsored by the United States and Russia.

Assad's forces now hold about two-thirds of Qusair, said one activist who asked not to be named. Rebel reinforcements from elsewhere in Syria were trying to relieve the pressure, but their attacks had bogged down on the outskirts.

"So far they are just fighting and dying, their assault hasn't resulted in much yet unfortunately," the activist said.

Fierce clashes cut the highway running north from Damascus to the central city of Homs and shook the eastern outskirts of the capital, where dozens of people were suffering the effects of an apparent chemical attack, opposition sources said.

VICTIMS IN OXYGEN MASKS

Video posted online from the eastern suburb of Harasta showed lines of victims lying on the floor of a large room, covered in blankets and breathing from oxygen masks.

Both sides in the conflict, now in its third year, have accused each other of using chemical weapons. France's Le Monde newspaper published first-hand accounts on Monday of apparent chemical attacks by Assad's forces in April.

Another video from Harasta overnight showed at least two fighters being put into a van, their eyes watering and struggling to breathe while medics put tubes into their throats.

It was not possible to verify the videos independently, given the difficulties of media access in Syria.

A doctor interviewed in another video said the alleged chemical attack in Harasta was revenge for a rebel raid on nearby military checkpoints. He complained of a severe shortage in staff and medical supplies to treat such victims.

"We have dozens of wounded from another chemical gas bomb attack ... As you can see there are many people here just lying on the floor with no one to treat them," said the doctor, who did not give his name.

Many of the fighters affected by the attack, according to one opposition group, had recovered sufficiently to return to battle, suggesting its severity had been limited.

"Praise God, all our wounded men are in a stable condition," said the Harasta Media Group in a statement on Skype. "They are doing well and many have even returned to the frontline."

(Reporting by Erika Solomon; Editing by Alistair Lyon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syria-fighting-rages-amid-reports-chemical-attacks-105151844.html

gcb patricia heaton arsenic and old lace dionne warwick leslie varez ward solar storms

Ticketea Raises $4 Million To Beat Ticketmaster And Eventbrite At The Spanish Box Office

Spanish startup Ticketea, the leading DIY ticketing platform in Spain, has raised $4 million in a Series B round of funding. The investment is being led by newly-established Spanish VC Seaya Ventures, and will be used by the company to consolidate its position in Spain through new m-commerce products, as well as for international expansion with a specific focus on emerging markets. Latin America is name-checked, which makes sense given Ticketea's Spanish roots.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/SV4TAh7X9Vo/

gotye divine mercy cabin in the woods the legend of korra three stooges the three stooges the bee gees

Obama and Christie yet again; emphasis on recovery

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, center right, poses for a photograph with Paul Tremitiedi, as Santa, of Jersey City, Sunday, May 26, 2013, during a visit to the boardwalk in Asbury Park, N.J. The first summer season after Superstorm Sandy is underway at the Jersey shore, parts of which were devastated by the October storm. This is a brand-new Jersey Shore. While some recovery is still ongoing from Superstorm Sandy, the Jersey Shore to a very large extent has been cleaned up, rebuilt, reopened and is ready for business. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, center right, poses for a photograph with Paul Tremitiedi, as Santa, of Jersey City, Sunday, May 26, 2013, during a visit to the boardwalk in Asbury Park, N.J. The first summer season after Superstorm Sandy is underway at the Jersey shore, parts of which were devastated by the October storm. This is a brand-new Jersey Shore. While some recovery is still ongoing from Superstorm Sandy, the Jersey Shore to a very large extent has been cleaned up, rebuilt, reopened and is ready for business. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

While parts of New Jersey's shore has made great progress over the past seven months, towns such as Ortley Beach still have a long way to go to recover from Sandy, Sunday, May 26, 2013. (AP Photo/The Record of Bergen County, Kevin R. Wexler) ONLINE OUT; MAGS OUT; TV OUT; INTERNET OUT; NO ARCHIVING; MANDATORY CREDIT

Thomas Bodary, of Spring Lake, prepares to open Mayfair Boardwalk Grill on the boardwalk in Asbury Park, N.J., Sunday, May 26, 2013. The first summer season after Superstorm Sandy is underway at the Jersey shore, parts of which were devastated by the October storm. This is a brand-new Jersey Shore. While some recovery is still ongoing from Superstorm Sandy, the Jersey Shore to a very large extent has been cleaned up, rebuilt, reopened and is ready for business. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

A man looks at damaged homes on Fort Avenue in Ortley Beach, N.J., Sunday, May 26, 2013. While parts of New Jersey's shore has made great progress over the past seven months, towns still have a long way to go to recover from Superstorm Sandy. (AP Photo/The Record of Bergen County, Kevin R. Wexler)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama is looking to get his groove back ? at the beach.

A post-Hurricane Sandy tour of the New Jersey coast line on Tuesday, gives the president a chance for a three-point play that can move him ahead of the recent controversies that have dogged the White House. With New Jersey's Republican Gov. Chris Christie at Obama's side, effective government, bipartisanship and economic opportunity will be the unmistakable message in the face of the coastal recovery.

For Obama, the tour helps him continue redirecting the political conversation after two weeks of dealing with the fallout over the administration's response to terror attacks last September in Benghazi, Libya, the targeting of conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service and the Justice Department's review of journalist phone records as part of a leak investigation.

The visit occurs as Congress is away for a Memorial Day holiday break, a weeklong recess that likely will silence the daily attention lawmakers, particularly Republicans, had been paying to the three political upheavals. It also comes just days after Obama started seeking to change the subject in Washington with a speech defending his controversial program of strikes by unmanned drones and renewing his push to close the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention facility.

On Sunday Obama traveled to Oklahoma to view damage from the recent tornado and console victims of the deadly storm.

For Christie, the president's appearance is yet another way to showcase his beloved Jersey Shore. The Republican has been touting it throughout the Memorial Day weekend as a destination point that is back in business and he broke a Guinness World record Friday by cutting a 5.5 mile ceremonial ribbon that symbolically tied together some of the hardest-hit towns by Sandy. The state has a $25 million marketing campaign to highlight the shore's resurgence in time for the summer season.

Both men will reprise the remarkable bipartisan tableau they offered during Sandy's immediate aftermath when Obama flew to New Jersey just days before the election to witness the storm's wreckage. Politically, the visit plays well for both men. Christie, seeking re-election this year, will stand shoulder to shoulder with a president popular among Democrats in a Democratic leaning state. And Obama, dueling with congressional Republicans on a number of fronts, gets to display common cause with a popular GOP stalwart. (Obama has not scheduled any face time with state Sen. Barbara Buono, Christie's likely Democratic opponent in the governor's race).

Christie, in an interview with NBC's Matt Lauer on Friday, downplayed the politics, even when asked if ties to Obama could hurt him among conservatives if he were to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.

"The fact of the matter is, he's the president of the United States, and he wants to come here and see the people of New Jersey," Christie said. "I'm the governor. I'll be here to welcome him."

To be sure, New Jersey is still rebuilding. Obama is visiting those regions that have been among the first to recover ? Christie ranks the recovery of the state's famous boardwalks as an eight on a scale of 10 but concedes that in other parts of the state many homeowners are still rebuilding six months after the devastating superstorm struck. Overall, the storm caused $38 billion in damages in the state, and harmed or wrecked 360,000 homes or apartment units.

But the coastal recovery is a big potential boon for the state where tourism is a nearly $40 billion industry.

For Obama, coming off a week that had the IRS in the crosshairs of a scandal, the trip also offers an opportunity to demonstrate the work of another part of government that provides a foil for the IRS: the Federal Emergency Management Agency, whose response to disasters has been met with bipartisan praise.

Indeed, inside the White House, FEMA is perceived as an example of what's best about government. The agency, panned for its response under President Bush to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, has made a turnaround under administrator Craig Fugate and has been commended for its work in disasters from the Joplin, Mo., tornado in 2011 to Hurricane Sandy last year.

Obama's trip Tuesday also comes two days after he toured the tornado devastation outside Oklahoma City, Okla., where FEMA has been the face of the federal government as well.

Josh Earnest, the White House's deputy press secretary, says FEMA represents "competent, efficient government that meets the needs of the people."

"The renaissance of the agency embodies what the president ran on," he said.

Overall, the federal government has directed more than $14 billion so far in aid to help families, support state and local rebuilding efforts, and assist major transportation reconstruction and in community development grants to states affected by Katrina, the bulk of which has gone to New Jersey and New York.

Even as Obama meets businesses and homeowners who have benefited from recovery work, the White House says he also plans to talk about the importance of renewing economic opportunities for middle-class families still getting their lives back. It's a message that dovetails with Obama's attempts to keep the economy prominent by highlighting economic growth after the Great Recession while also making his case for additional initiatives to keep the economy from stumbling again.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-05-27-Obama-New%20Jersey/id-5ebdc604b0574ea78e8c3d87cf5a638e

what time does the superbowl start Kaepernick Tattoos superbowl time what time is the super bowl world war z groundhog day Ed Koch

Angelina Jolie Loses Aunt to Breast Cancer

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/05/angelina-jolie-loses-aunt-to-breast-cancer/

daniel day lewis Life of Pi Christoph Waltz Quvenzhané Wallis dancing with the stars cast kristen stewart Shirley Bassey

Senator: Fire commanders allowing sex assault

WASHINGTON (AP) ? From Congress to the White House, pressure is mounting to hold military commanders accountable for the rising number of sexual assaults in the armed services.

"This needs to end," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and a member of the Armed Services Committee, said Sunday. "When a victim comes forward, they should have an advocate to walk them through the military justice system, and commanders who allow this to continue to allow this to flourish quite frankly should be fired."

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said the military's future includes both men and women in leadership, and cultural changes are needed "when it comes to the command structure" to make sexual assault and harassment "unacceptable, intolerable; and those who engage in it should pay a price."

But the U.S. military's top officer, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, is urging Congress to exercise caution as it crafts legislation to combat the growing epidemic of sexual assaults in the armed forces.

The extent of the assaults came to light when the Pentagon released a report earlier this month estimating that as many as 26,000 military members may have been sexually assaulted last year and that thousands of victims are unwilling to come forward despite new oversight and assistance programs. That figure is an increase over the 19,000 estimated assaults in 2011.

Retired Gen. John Allen, who left the Marines in February after 19 months commanding allied forces in Afghanistan, encouraged commanders to address the issue and tell subordinates exactly what was expected.

"Commanders can't be ambiguous about this. We can't not talk about that," Allen said Sunday. "Commanders (have) got to stand in front of their units and tell the people what they expect. Because silence isn't good enough. This is an opportunity to lead, and we should be seizing it."

Several recent arrests have added to the military's embarrassment. A soldier at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point was charged with secretly photographing women, including in a bathroom. The Air Force officer who led the service's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response unit was arrested on charges of groping a woman. And the manager of the Army's sexual assault response program at Fort Campbell, Ky., was relieved of his post after his arrest in a domestic dispute with his ex-wife.

The comments from Durbin, Graham and Allen capped a week of attempts to address the Pentagon's findings. President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel raised the issue separately in graduation speeches at the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

"Those who commit sexual assault are not only committing a crime; they threaten the trust and discipline that makes our military strong," Obama said Friday. "That's why we have to be determined to stop these crimes, because they've got no place in the greatest military on Earth."

Hagel called on the graduating West Point cadets Saturday to use their leadership to address the epidemic.

"This scourge must be stamped out," Hagel said. "We are all accountable and responsible for ensuring that this happens. We cannot fail the Army or America. We cannot fail each other, and we cannot fail the men and women that we lead."

Members of a House panel on Wednesday approved legislation that would strip commanding officers of their longstanding authority to unilaterally change or dismiss court-martial convictions in rape and assault cases. The bill would also require that service members found guilty of sexual offenses be dismissed or dishonorably discharged. The legislation will be folded into a broader defense policy bill that the full House will consider in the coming weeks.

Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has acknowledged the severity of the problem. He said recently that military leaders are losing the confidence of the women who serve that they can come up with solutions.

But Dempsey said in a May 20 letter to the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee that any legislative remedies must maintain the commander's role in the military justice process. Cutting them out or limiting them too severely would undercut their authority to enforce discipline and execute their duties, he wrote.

"Good order and discipline is essential to military efficiency and effectiveness," Dempsey said in the letter to Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. "Removing commanders from the military justice process sends the message to everyone in the military that there is a lack of faith in the officer corps and the serving commanders. Conveyance of a message that commanders cannot be trusted will only serve to undermine good order and discipline."

Dempsey and the chiefs of the military services are scheduled to testify June 4 before the Senate Armed Services Committee on legislation to prevent sexual assaults.

Sharon Disher graduated from the Naval Academy in 1980 in the first class that included women. She said Friday she's disappointed the military is still grappling with sexual assault issues but applauded the president for raising the subject.

"The more we talk about it, the more we're going to do something about it, and that's the thing we never did," she said. "I guess we've just got to keep the conversation going until we fix the problem."

Durbin and Graham spoke on "Fox News Sunday." Allen appeared on ABC's "This Week."

___

Associated Press writer Richard Lardner contributed to this report.

___

Follow Michele Salcedo on Twitter: https://twitter.com/michelesalcedo

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senator-fire-commanders-allowing-sex-assault-151700317.html

westboro baptist church meteor shower NBA Al Michaels Canelo vs Trout 420 Meteor Showers 2013

San Antonio flooding kills 1; 200-plus rescued

SAN ANTONIO (AP) ? Torrential rains swamped San Antonio with flash floods on Saturday, leaving at least one person dead as emergency workers in boats rushed to rescue more than 200 residents stranded in cars and homes.

"It was pretty crazy," said Gera Hinojosa, a valet parking cars downtown after the storm. "It was pretty unexpected. We hardly got any warning about it."

For one woman, the storm turned fatal rapidly: Trapped in her car, she climbed to the roof but was swept away in floodwaters, said San Antonio Fire Department spokesman Christian Bove. Her body was later found against a fence, he said. Her name was not immediately released.

Authorities were searching for at least two other people ? one who went missing after being trapped in another car and a teenage boy who was swept away while trying to cross the swollen Cibolo Creek in suburban Schertz.

The Fire Department conducted more than 235 rescues across the city, some by inflatable boats, authorities said. They continued their search into the evening.

"We'll be out there as long as daylight permits and again in the morning if the water recedes," San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood said, adding that going into floodwaters was more dangerous for firefighters than entering a burning building.

By nightfall, water still pooled in ditches and underpasses. Several roadways were closed, including a major highway that links the suburbs and the city.

But even in low-lying neighborhoods along Commerce Street east of downtown ? a faded stretch of clapboard houses and beauty parlors ? yards were clear. In the tourist district around the River Walk, the streets were thick with weekend revelers.

While the water in some homes rose 4 feet high, according to Bove, most residents experienced the floods primarily as a major traffic hassle. Karen Herring, 50, who spent the day volunteering at a fitness contest at the AT&T Center, said participants complained of three-hour drives across town.

Brent Rose, 39, a law enforcement officer who drove in for the contest from the semi-rural northern suburbs, said the damage extended beyond the city.

"We had some fences rolled over by the water," Rose said. "Some farm animals went astray. But not a big deal."

In the city, even a municipal bus was swept away, but firefighters on a boat were able to rescue the three passengers and driver, public transit spokeswoman Priscilla Ingle said. Nobody was injured.

The San Antonio International Airport by Saturday afternoon had recorded 9.87 inches of rain since midnight, causing nearly all streams and rivers to experience extraordinary flooding. The highest amount of rainfall recorded since midnight was 15.5 inches at Olmos Creek at Dresden Drive.

Mayor Julian Castro urged residents not to drive.

"We have had too many folks who continue to ignore low-water warnings," Castro said at a Saturday afternoon news conference.

A flash flood warning was issued for nearly two dozen counties, with up to 4 inches of rainfall forecast overnight.

A flood warning remained for Leon Creek at Interstate 35, where the level was 27.1 feet and was expected to peak at 29 feet Saturday night ? nearly twice the flood stage of 15 feet, according to the National Weather Service. The San Antonio River about 20 miles southeast of the city, near Elmendorf, was expected to peak at 62 feet by Sunday morning, well above the flood stage of 35 feet.

The National Weather Service compared the flooding to the storm of October 1998, when 30 inches of rain fell in a two-day period. In that flood, the Guadalupe and San Antonio River basins overflowed, leaving more than 30 people dead, according to the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority.

Due to that history, Hinojosa said, residents were prepared, despite the storm's pace.

"We've been through floods before," he said.

___

Associated Press writers Angela K. Brown in Fort Worth and Danny Robbins in Dallas contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/san-antonio-flooding-kills-1-200-plus-rescued-235200349.html

cyprus cyprus Bracketology Erin Go Bragh St Patrick lisa vanderpump Dancing With the Stars 2013

Thousands of bridges at risk of freak collapse

In this photo provided by Francisco Rodriguez, a man is seen sitting atop a car that fell into the Skagit River after the collapse of the Interstate 5 bridge there minutes earlier Thursday, May 23, 2013, in Mount Vernon, Wash. (AP Photo/Francisco Rodriguez)

In this photo provided by Francisco Rodriguez, a man is seen sitting atop a car that fell into the Skagit River after the collapse of the Interstate 5 bridge there minutes earlier Thursday, May 23, 2013, in Mount Vernon, Wash. (AP Photo/Francisco Rodriguez)

Chart shows the percentage of problematic bridges by year

A collapsed section of the Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River is seen in an aerial view Friday, May 24, 2013, in Mt. Vernon, Wash. Part of the bridge collapsed Thursday evening, sending cars and people into the water when a an oversized truck hit the span, the Washington State Patrol chief said. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Friday declared a state of emergency in three counties around the bridge, saying that the bridge collapse has caused extensive disruption, impacting the citizens and economy in Skagit, Snohomish and Whatcom Counties. (AP Photo/The Seattle Times, Mike Siegel) MAGS OUT; NO SALES; SEATTLEPI.COM OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

A collapsed section of the Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River is seen in an aerial view Friday, May 24, 2013, in Mt. Vernon, Wash. Part of the bridge collapsed Thursday evening, sending cars and people into the water when a an oversized truck hit the span, the Washington State Patrol chief said. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Friday declared a state of emergency in three counties around the bridge, saying that the bridge collapse has caused extensive disruption, impacting the citizens and economy in Skagit, Snohomish and Whatcom Counties. (AP Photo/The Seattle Times, Mike Siegel) MAGS OUT; NO SALES; SEATTLEPI.COM OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

A collapsed section of the Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River is seen in an aerial view Friday, May 24, 2013, in Mt. Vernon, Wash. Part of the bridge collapsed Thursday evening, sending cars and people into the water when a an oversized truck hit the span, the Washington State Patrol chief said. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Friday declared a state of emergency in three counties around the bridge, saying that the bridge collapse has caused extensive disruption, impacting the citizens and economy in Skagit, Snohomish and Whatcom Counties. (AP Photo/The Seattle Times, Mike Siegel) MAGS OUT; NO SALES; SEATTLEPI.COM OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

SEATTLE (AP) ? Thousands of bridges around the U.S. may be one freak accident or mistake away from collapse, even if the spans are deemed structurally sound.

The crossings are kept standing by engineering design, not supported with brute strength or redundant protections like their more modern counterparts. Bridge regulators call the more risky spans "fracture critical," meaning that if a single, vital component of the bridge is compromised, it can crumple.

Those vulnerable crossing carry millions of drivers every day. In Boston, a six-lane highway 1A near Logan airport includes a "fracture critical" bridge over Bennington Street. In northern Chicago, an I-90 pass that goes over Ashland Avenue is in the same category. An I-880 bridge over 5th Avenue in Oakland, Calif., is also on the list.

Also in that category is the Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River north of Seattle, which collapsed into the water days ago after officials say an oversized truck load clipped the steel truss.

Public officials have focused in recent years on the desperate need for money to repair thousands of bridges deemed structurally deficient, which typically means a major portion of the bridge is in poor condition or worse. But the bridge that collapsed Thursday is not in that deficient category, highlighting another major problem with the nation's infrastructure: Although it's rare, some bridges deemed to be fine structurally can still be crippled if they are struck hard enough in the wrong spot.

"It probably is a bit of a fluke in that sense," said Charles Roeder, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Washington.

While the I-5 truck's cargo suffered only minimal damage, it left chaos in its wake, with two vehicles catapulting off the edge of the broken bridge into the river below. Three people involved escaped with non-life threatening injuries.

The most famous failure of a fracture critical bridge was the collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis during rush hour on Aug. 1, 2007, killing 13 people and injuring more than 100 others. The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the cause of the collapse was an error by the bridge's designers ? a gusset plate, a key component of the bridge, was too thin. The plate was only half of the required one-inch thickness.

Because the bridge's key structures lacked redundancy, where if one piece fails, there is another piece to prevent the bridge from falling, when the gusset plate broke, much of the bridge collapsed.

Mark Rosenker, who was chairman of the NTSB during the I-35W bridge investigation, said the board looked into whether other fracture critical bridges were collapsing. They found a few cases, but not many, he said.

"Today, they're still building fracture critical bridges with the belief that they're not going break," Rosenker said.

Fracture critical bridges, like the I-5 span in Washington, are the result of Congress trying to cut corners to save money rather than a lack of engineering know-how, said Barry B. LePatner, a New York real estate attorney and author of "Too Big to Fall: America's Failing Infrastructure and the Way Forward."

About 18,000 fracture critical bridges were built from the mid-1950s through the late 1970s in an effort to complete the nation's interstate highway system, which was launched under President Dwight Eisenhower, LePatner said in an interview. The fracture critical bridge designs were cheaper than bridges designed with redundancy, he said.

Thousands of those bridges remain in use, according to an AP analysis.

"They have been left hanging with little maintenance for four decades now," he said. "There is little political will and less political leadership to commit the tens of billions of dollars needed" to fix them.

There has been little focus or urgency in specifically replacing the older "fracture critical" crossings, in part because there is a massive backlog of bridge repair work for thousands of bridges deemed to be structurally problematic. Washington state Rep. Judy Clibborn, a Democrat who leads the House transportation committee, has been trying to build support for a tax package to pay for major transportation projects in the state. But her plan wouldn't have done anything to revamp the bridge that collapsed.

National bridge records say the I-5 crossing over the Skagit River had a sufficiency rating of 57.4 out of 100 ? a score designed to gauge the ability of the bridge to remain in service. To qualify for federal replacement funds, a bridge must have a rating of 50 or below. A bridge must have a sufficiency rating of 80 or below to qualify for federal rehabilitation funding.

Hundreds of bridges in Washington state have worse ratings than the one that collapsed, and many around the country have single-digit ratings.

Clibborn said the Skagit River crossing wasn't even on the radar of lawmakers because state officials have to prioritize by focusing on bridges with serious structural problems that are at higher risk of imminent danger.

Along with being at risk of a fatal impact, the I-5 bridge was deemed to be "functionally obsolete," which essentially means it wasn't built to today's standards. Its shoulders were narrow, and it had low clearance.

There are 66,749 structurally deficient bridges and 84,748 functionally obsolete bridges in the U.S., including Puerto Rico, according to the Federal Highway Administration. That's about a quarter of the 607,000 total bridges nationally. States and cities have been whittling down that backlog, but slowly. In 2002, about 30 percent of bridges fell into one of those two categories.

Spending by states and local government on bridge construction adjusted for inflation has more than doubled since 1998, from $12.3 billion to $28.5 billion last year, according to the American Road and Transportation Builders Association. That's an all-time high.

"The needs are so great that even with the growth we've had in the investment level, it's barely moving the needle in terms of moving bridges off these lists," said Alison Premo Black, the association's chief economist.

There is wide recognition at all levels of government that the failure to address aging infrastructure will likely undermine safety and hinder economic growth. But there is no consensus on how to pay for improvements. The federal Highway Trust Fund, which provides construction aid to states, is forecast to go broke next year. The fund gets its revenue primarily from federal gas and diesel taxes. But revenues aren't keeping up because people are driving less and there are more fuel-efficient cars on the road.

Neither Congress nor the White House has shown any willingness to raise federal gas taxes, which haven't been increased since 1993. Many transportation thinkers believe a shift to taxes based on miles traveled by a vehicle is inevitable, but there are privacy concerns and other difficulties that would preclude widespread use of such a system for at least a decade.

Transportation spending got a temporary boost with the economic stimulus funds approved by Congress after President Barack Obama was elected. Of the $27 billion designated for highway projects under the stimulus program, about $3 billion went to bridge projects, Black said.

States are looking for other means to raise money for highway and bridge improvements, including more road tolls, dedicating a portion of sales taxes to transportation and raising state gas taxes. Clibborn, the Washington state lawmaker, has proposed a 10-cent gas hike to help pay for projects, though the effort has been held up by a dispute over how to rebuild the Columbia River bridge connecting Vancouver, Wash., and Portland, Ore.

"We can't possibly do it all in the next 10 years," Clibborn said. "But we're going to do the first bite of the apple."

___

Lowy reported from Washington, D.C. AP Writers Manuel Valdes and Gene Johnson contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-05-26-Bridge%20Collapse-Accidents/id-cbc0a468d6ba4b539835c8409c015090

Washington Election Results drudge report Presidential Election 2012 Incumbent politico Tammy Baldwin house of representatives