The coverage of ?U.S. budget sequestration in agricultural news came with a bit of irony in one respect. The discussion of an issue requiring a solution in the short-term came as the USDA convened its annual Ag Outlook Forum ?in Washington ? an event focused on the long-term challenges and opportunities for U.S. agriculture.
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It?s an event where federal officials come together with leaders in the ag industry to discuss and analyze the ideas, problems and solutions shaping U.S. farming beyond current budget concerns and recent weather patterns. I was fortunate to be asked to present at this year?s forum on a panel discussing the role of markets in managing risk. We think about this issue every day in our business, and it impacts how we approach every decision in our ag markets. But to others, the technicalities of managing risk through markets can understandably get lost in the focus on the risks themselves ? weather, economics, geopolitics or changing regulation. ?So I was happy to hear U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack take some of the last moments of his opening remarks to tie together the worlds of agribusiness, food safety and risk management:
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?We want young people to be inspired by the fact that agriculture is the answer to the moral dilemma of our time ? how we feed an ever increasing world population as resources become scarce? And it is agriculture that will help spur a new american economy that is focused once again on innovating and growing and manufacturing and exporting. That?s why this is important, because the long term security and safety of this nation is absolutely dependent on us managing these risks that we?ve identified today.?
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Indeed, the global population overall is expected to increase to 8.3 billion people by 2030 according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. In addition, more of the world is eating well as middle classes in places like India and China continue to grow. Increasingly, these countries and others will look to the U.S. to export a shortfall in commodities like wheat and corn. But it?s not just the BRIC countries that we hear so much about that rely on the U.S. for grain. Recent news reports of grain demand from places like Iraq and Bangladesh can have an impact on the price for of grain on CME Group markets as well. But just because global demand increases does not mean the historical risks of farming will suddenly disappear. Droughts, floods, legislative adjustments and international conflicts will continue to exist. And that?s why, in a world that needs more food, the role of risk management through markets is as important as ever.
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Our markets in Chicago were formed more than 150 years ago because farmers needed a central place to manage the risks of doing business, and guard against wild fluctuations in price and demand for their product. We have a special tie to agriculture. ?And it?s because of this that we understand that efficient and transparent markets are absolutely essential to the business of farming.
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They offer farmers and ranchers the opportunity to manage the risks associated with the unpredictable events that are a big part of their business. They also provide a necessary mechanism for price discovery ? which allows the agriculture community to make informed business decisions based on current data.
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But when risk is effectively managed in ag markets, ?it?s not just the individual or the corporation that thrives. To Secretary Vilsack?s point, a nation?s economic health is helped considerably by the ag industry?s ability to keep itself afloat in even the most turbulent times. And the last year certainly was turbulent for many of our nation?s food producers, with more than 80 percent of the nation?s farmland and half of its counties declared drought disaster areas. The USDA projects that U.S. food costs will rise somewhere between 3-4 percent this year as a result.
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I shared with the Ag Outlook audience our infographic on what goes into food prices ? an illustration of the new landscape for risks in agriculture, and a reminder that markets are there to help manage all of them.
NEW YORK (AP) - The last remaining national bookstore chain is being taken off the shelf and dusted off for sale.
Founder Barnes & Noble's founder Leonard Riggio disclosed in a regulatory filing Monday that he wants to acquire the company's stores and website, but not the business that makes the Nook e-reader or the company's college bookstores. No price was disclosed.
It's the latest attempt by a company founder to take back control of all or part of a company he founded. Best Buy's co-founder Richard Schulze is mulling a bid for the electronics retailer, and Michael Dell earlier this month announced a $24.4 billion deal to take the namesake computer company he founded private.
The deals are a way executives can have more control over companies without the need to run everything by shareholders. In all of these cases, the founders have devoted decades to the businesses and the companies are long past their glory days and struggling to survive in a changing retail landscape.
"When you've got control outside public eye or public market, you can invest and translate your strategy at your own pace," said Peter Wahlstrom, analyst at Morningstar. "It's him believing he can run it better by himself without the distraction of the digital side. He believes the brand has value that's not being recognized by investors."
Barnes & Noble, based in New York, has been struggling to find its place as more readers have shifted to electronic books and competition has grown from discount stores and online competitors. The company, which has 689 bookstores in 50 states and 674 college bookstores, has been trying to avoid the fate of its former rival Borders Group, which did not adapt to the growing threat of the Internet and e-books and went out of business in 2011.
Technically, Riggio, who is chairman of the chain, didn't found the original Barnes & Noble store in New York, which opened in 1917. But he bought the store and brand name in the 1970s. Under his leadership, Barnes & Noble became a one of the pioneers of the "big box" format in which national chains would set up large stores that offer a wide selection of merchandise under one roof.
The company also pioneered bookselling in general. In 1975 it began offering 40 percent off New York Times best sellers, which was then unheard of in the bookselling business.
Throughout the 1980s, the company expanded through acquisitions. It bought B Dalton Bookseller in 1987 and BookStop in 1989. Then it went public in 1993 and established its Web site in 1997.
But the company was hurt by Internet retailers like Amazon.com and discounters such as Wal-Mart and Costco expanding their book selections. Barnes & Noble has been proactive, investing heavily in its Nook e-book readers and a digital library. It struck a deal with Microsoft last April to create a Nook subsidiary. But the Nook faces competition from other devices like Apple's iPad Mini, Amazon's Kindle and Google's Nexus tablet.
And the unit is far from profitable. Earlier this month, the company said it expects Nook media revenue of less than $3 billion. It also anticipates a loss for the unit before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to exceed the $262 million loss recorded in its 2012 fiscal year.
This follows a report from the retailer in January that its Nook unit revenue fell 12.6 percent to $311 million during the critical holiday period. Overall sales during the holiday period fell 10.9 percent at bookstores and online compared with a year ago. Barnes & Noble is scheduled to report third-quarter results Thursday.
Barnes & Noble bookstores, though, have been profitable even though they're facing falling sales. The company has broadened its offerings in stores and sells more high-margin games, educational toys and other non-book items to improve results.
In its fiscal second recent quarter ended Oct. 27, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in the retail segment - which includes the stores and the Web site that Riggio wants to buy - doubled to $28 million, helped by selling higher margin products. Revenue from that segment fell 3 percent to $996 million. Overall, the company's net income totaled $2.2 million, up from a prior-year loss of $6.6 million. Revenue was nearly flat at $1.88 billion.
Monday's filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said that Riggio will seek to negotiate a price with Barnes & Noble's board and pay for the deal with cash and debt. Riggio is making the offer in order to facilitate the company's review of its strategic options for separating its Nook business, according to the filing.
Barnes & Noble said the offer will be considered by a committee of three independent directors. But there is no set timetable for the process. Barnes & Noble said the offer will be considered by a committee of three independent directors. But there is no set timetable for the process.
Morningstar's Wahlstrom said the deal makes sense considering the retail side of the business has been overshadowed by investments needed for the Nook business. He added that the move by Riggio was not unexpected: His large stake in the company - and history with it - would likely make finding extra financing the company needs easier.
"Riggio feels like he can run it better than just about anyone else, and with four decades of operating history there's not much reason to believe that he can't," he said.
On the news, Barnes & Noble shares rose $1.18, or 8.8 percent, to $14.69. Its shares have traded in a 52-week range of $10.45 in mid-April to $26 later that same month.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
By Google's count, Google+ has over 500 million "upgraded" members and some 135 million people active "in just the stream." By researchers' best estimates, however, the answer is a bit more complicated.
If you've finally caught up to the curve with the latest tablet but are still hopelessly behind on the latest tunes or TV programs, Shazam now has a slate-friendly flavor of its media-discovery software for iPad and Android. The update includes new touches like a refreshed home page, improved tag result layout, a new way to browse your friends' tagging and interactive mapping that shows users' taste in cities around the world, as shown above. The outfit says the interface is enhanced for the slate environment and that it just passed 300 million users worldwide, giving you plenty of sources to find the latest thing. It'll arrive for free at the App Store and Google Play in a few weeks, according to Shazam -- hit the PR after the break for more.
Conscious communication is a way of talking and listening that is focused on nurturing strong, mutually enriching relationships.
Since most relationship problems are rooted in communications that are either avoided, forced or misinterpreted, the purpose is to provide a emotional experience that allows each person to feel safe enough to consciously nurture a quality relationship in which the emotional needs of each person are reciprocally honored and fulfilled through naturalgiving. To give naturally means to give from a place of love or joy, rather than fear or guilt or shame. The conscious intent to express your love in what you choose to say, and especially how you say and act toward the other is conscious-love.
When you communicate with conscious-love you employ the inner capacity you have to choose to express your love in ways that stretch you, even when you may not ?feel? like doing so, in order to consciously nurture and protect your relationship?and do so in a way that honors your own and the other?s dignity. It is an understanding that, most often, when you consciously act to promote the highest good in your relationship, it is ultimately in your benefit to do so.
8 Attributes of Conscious-Talking?
Communication that is effective consciously seeks to nurture, heal and grow healthy, mutually enriching, intimately strong relationships. In conscious-talking, you consciously seek to structure your communication in a way that will make it most likely heard, understood by the other. This way of talking consists of the following attributes:
1. Know your purpose, what you need from the other and want to say.
A conscious understanding of what you want the other to clearly understand, makes it more possible to articulate what you want to say, thus, more likely to obtain the shared understanding and perhaps even resolution you desire. Without this, there is a risk of getting stuck in old programs, i.e., complaining about what is lacking, blaming the other, or competing for status of ?who?s more victimized,? ?etc. Clarity allows you to avoid going around in circles, ongoing unresolved conflicts, ambiguity, waste of energy and time.
So, before you set a time to sit down and talk, ask yourself the following questions: What do you need from the other by your communication? What is the purpose of your communication? Do you know what you want the other to better understand you? Do you want recognition fo frustration or pain you want to share? Do you know what you want from the other as a response, ideally? If possible, especially for sensitive issues, write down what you want to say and revise it as necessary based on the guidelines of Conscious-Communication.
2. Know your body language and behaviors.
Your body conveys more information about you than your words. One of the goals in conscious communication is to purposefully use your body language to let the other know you care and value them as persons. If you avoid eye contact, or turn your body away from the other, for example, this signals disinterest in the other. So, you want to convey instead that you value and respect the other. When you do, the other is more likely to listen and seek to understand you because they feel safe. This also increases the chances that the other will do the same for you, thus, opening up the possibility for mutual understanding, validation and resolution. So, take time to become aware of body language. Do you know what you are nonverbally communicating by the way you sit, stand, your voice, mannerisms, facial gestures and so on? Does your body language say you are interested in the concerns of the other or resolving an issue, or does it say the opposite? Does your body language send a message that assures the other?s sense of safety by conveying that you care about the other as a person? Does the other feel valued, respected and important by the way you present yourself.
3. ?Share your thoughts and feelings, clearly.
Once you know what you want to say, then you want to convey it as clearly as possible. The ?more clarity you have in what you want to say and how you express it, the more you increase the speed with which you attain your relationship goals. Share thoughts and feelings concisely. Avoid long explanations or repeating the same message over again. Be brief as possible. Focus on what you want to convey specifically. Include brief examples, when necessary. Avoid lectures or lengthy speeches. Effective communication is about feeling heard and understood, not how much you say. Make requests. Be specific and concrete. Avoid being vague or too abstract. Do not hint at what you want or expect the other to mind read, and be aware of any old tendency to do so.
4. Share thoughts and feelings, slowly.
When it comes to relationships, slow is fast, and fast is slow. This applies to your communications as well. When you talk fast, your words tend to blurt out faster than your mind can think. You may also be speaking faster than the other?s mind can think or process. When you hurry your talking, you hurry your thinking, and indeed may not be thinking at all, you may be speaking from the part of the brain (the subconscious mind!) that contains old recorded programs that seem to be ?thinking? yet are not. The more hurried you feel the less awareness you have of what is really going on inside you, that is, your thoughts, feelings, needs. In turn, the less clarity, the slower it seems to take to reach your destination. ?A pressured description risks triggering intense and painful emotions, and can be as toxic to the emotions as gulping down a greasy, starchy meal is to the body.
5. Express painful emotions assertively.
Communicate your frustrations in ways that let the other know you are in charge of your emotions, and that what is most important to you is remaining calm, confident and centered and in charge of yourself?and life. This sends a twofold message to other that: (1) you are in charge and not what the other says or does; and (2) you honor the other?s right and need to be in charge of themselves. Thus, you avoid judgments, criticisms, blame, attacks or complaints, and instead send communications that include four essential parts: your thoughts from your perspective (free of judgments), your feelings, your core emotional needs in the situation, and at least one request. When you express yourself assertively, you stand up for yourself in a way that honors your own and the other?s dignity. That is a powerful feel good. You each have a clear sense of your own responsibility in the matter. You feel safe enough to accept and thoughtfully process criticism from others without defensiveness. And, you know how and when to give apologies.
6. Be conscious of timing.
Timing can make a big difference. It can be just as important as how and what you say. For example, it is usually not a good idea to bring up sensitive issues right before a meal when blood sugar is low, or just before you or the other leave for work, or when one of you is not having a good day. It is also not a good idea to bring up issues in the heat of the moment, when you are angry and hurt. Instead, the act of scheduling a good time itself can be an important way to set the stage for a productive discussion.
7. Be aware of emotional meanings beneath your communications.
Your communications send both open and hidden messages. The open part consists of the words and content of what you say. The hidden part is what goes on beneath the words?the emotional undercurrent of what each person is instinctively yearning for in the interaction. What words you use and how you say them can carry emotional meanings that you may or may not want to send. It is important to become aware of these underlying meanings and the core emotional needs that interplay in all communications. Underlying messages can be either positive or negative.
These emotions are more powerful than the overt message because they go directly to the subconscious part of the brain that does all of the interpretations.
8. Keep the message positive and upbeat.
Maintain an upbeat overall attitude at critical moments in the communication to give assurance, and instill hope, belief in each other and the relationships. You can do so by conveying this positive attitude by making statements, such as ?each of us can do better? ? we are a team? ?we are on the same side? ?we?re in this together? ?there are no problems too big they cannot be solved? ?we love and value each other? ?I care about you? ?I believe in you, and me, and us together!?
In a nutshell, conscious communication, as a tool, energizes you to communicate authentically, consciously aware of what is going on inside of you, your feelings, thoughts, and needs, and an ?intention to remain empathically connected to self and the other. When you feel safe enough to be present, you will more likely express yourself authentically, in a way that you will more likely feel understood, listened to, validated and valued. Clear communication is a window into the world of the other and yourself.
Relationship consultant, author, licensed marriage and family therapist, Dr. Athena Staik shows clients how to break free of anxiety, addictions, and other emotional blocks, to awaken radiantly healthy lives and relationships. Dr. Staik is currently in private practice in Northern VA, and writing her book, Safe Enough to Love?: Breaking Free of Addictive Love in Couple Relationships. To contact Dr. Staik for information, an appointment or workshop, visit www.drstaik.com, or visit on her Facebook fan page DrAthenaStaik
Like this author? Catch up on other posts by Athena Staik, Ph.D. (or subscribe to their feed).
????Last reviewed: 16 Feb 2013
APA Reference Staik, A. (2013). Conscious Communication, 1 of 2: Eight Attributes of Conscious-Talking. Psych Central. Retrieved on February 17, 2013, from http://blogs.psychcentral.com/relationships/2013/02/conscious-communication-1-of-2-eight-attributes-of-conscious-talking/
BAUCHI, Nigeria (AP) ? Police in northern Nigeria say gunmen have kidnapped seven foreign workers from a construction company.
The attack happened in Bauchi state overnight Saturday. Police spokesman Hassan Muhammed told The Associated Press that the attack first targeted a prison in the area.
Muhammed said Sunday the attackers then went to the construction company STRAECO, where they killed a guard and kidnapped the foreign workers.
The nationalities of the workers were not immediately known.
Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north has been under attack by the radical Islamic sect known as Boko Haram in the last year and a half. The country's weak central government has been unable to stop the group's bloody guerrilla campaign of shootings and bombings.
PALM CITY, Florida (Reuters) - It's a buddies weekend of golf for President Barack Obama at a private resort along Florida's Atlantic coast.
With his wife, Michelle, and two daughters away on a ski trip, Obama was in warmer climes at the end of a week devoted to promoting the proposals he offered in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday.
Details were scant about Obama's three-day golf weekend with friends, but Golf Digest reported that Obama would be getting a lesson from Butch Harmon, a top swing coach who once helped Tiger Woods work on his game.
The resort, called the Floridian, has a golf course designed by golf great Gary Player and later redesigned by Tom Fazio. The Floridian was purchased in 2010 by Jim Crane, owner of the Houston Astros baseball team who local media reports said is hosting Obama's visit.
The president was staying at one of the resort's cottages. He is to return to Washington on Monday, which is the President's Day holiday.
Harmon told Tim Rosaforte, a Golf Channel analyst who writes for Golf Digest, that Obama had requested a lesson through an aide. The White House did not immediately confirm that Harmon was present.
"I've played golf with Ike, Nixon, Ford and President Bush 41," Harmon told Rosaforte, referring to former Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush. "I never played with President (Bill) Clinton. I met him in the Oval Office. It'll be interesting. I know the president is a real keen golfer. I'm looking forward to it."
Like many of his predecessors, Obama is an avid golfer. He frequently tees up at the courses at Joint Base Andrews near Washington with a group of friends.
(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Will Dunham)
What possible reason would motivate a progressive author to suggest that law enforcement and the media conspired to cover up a plan to burn Christopher Dorner alive? Unless it is to reinforce the victimhood of minorities against the system or feed the so-called right-wing militias red meat to encourage action against our government.
I can personally confirm most of the story as written as I was also monitoring the on-going standoff via remote scanner. But I came to a very different conclusion as you will soon read.
But look at how this author spins a story about the use of tear gas in a tense standoff where hundreds of rounds have already been fired, two deputies wounded, one of whom was pronounced dead at Loma Linda Hospital ?
The central notion that the media, complying with the safety and security precautionary requests of the sheriffs, is something sinister is both unfounded and unduly provocative.
How Law Enforcement and Media Covered Up the Plan to Burn Christopher Dorner Alive
Highly disturbing behavior by newspaper and Live TV sources in complying with the San Bernardino Sheriffs.
At approximately 7 PM ET, I listened through a police scanner as San Bernardino Sheriffs gave the order to burn down the cabin where suspected murderer Christopher Dorner was allegedly hiding. Deputies were maneuvering a remote controlled demolition vehicle to the base of the cabin, using it to tear down the walls of the cabin where Dorner was hiding, and peering inside.
In an initial dispatch, a deputy reported seeing ?blood spatter? inside the cabins. Dorner, who had just engaged in a firefight with deputies that killed one officer and wounded another, may have been wounded in the exchange. There was no sign of his presence, let alone his resistance, according to police dispatches.
?What doe this mean? With no apparent sign of overt aggression, the deputies should risk their lives should Dorner be laying back waiting for the approach of deputies to begin firing anew? There were deputies on all four sides of the cabin and nobody had the full picture at his point in time.
It was then that the deputies decided to burn the cabin down.
?We?re gonna go ahead with the plan with the burner,? one sheriff?s deputy told another. ?Like we talked about.? Minutes later, another deputy?s voice crackled across the radio: ?The burner?s deployed and we have a fire.?
Next, a sheriff reported a ?single shot? heard from inside the house. This was before the fire had penetrated deeply into the cabin?s interior, and may have signaled Dorner?s suicide. At that point, an experienced ex-cop like him would have known he was finished.
Over the course of the next hour, I listened as the sheriffs carefully managed the fire, ensuring that it burned the cabin thoroughly. Dorner, a former member of the LAPD who had accused his ex-colleagues of abuse and racism in a lengthy, detailed manifesto, was inside. The cops seemed to have little interest in taking him alive.
?Burn that fucking house down!? shouted a deputy through a scanner transmission inadvertently broadcast on the Los Angeles local news channel, KCAL 9. ?Fucking burn this motherfucker!? another cop could be heard exclaiming.
While live ammo exploded inside the cabin, the deputies pondered whether the basement would burn as well ? they wanted to know if its ceiling was made of wood or concrete. They assumed Dorner was hiding there, and apparently wanted to ensure that he would be burned to a crisp. ?Because the fire is contained, I?m gonna let that heat burn through the basement,? a deputy declared.
First, one-way listening to a single scanner frequency does not always tell the entire story. You would also have to be on the command net as well as the incident site frequency. Second, adrenaline is flowing freely as Dorner has been suspected of killing three people ? and who has just shot two San Bernardino Sheriffs Deputies ? one who died. And, third, at one point Dorner apparently used a black smoke grenade of his own to cover a possible escape and had actively fired at surrounding officers. The situation is fluid. Emotions are running high.
The conspiracy?
Yes, the choppers were backed off to 10,000 feet ? approximately five miles and told to widen their shots lest Dorner get a positional fix on surrounding officers and compromise their lives. Or possibly fire on a media chopper believing it belonged to the police. The media was requested to restrain themselves in their reporting lest Dorner gain a tactical advantage. The scanner feeds were also cut after the cabin was fully engulfed and collapsing. This is good police work to avoid giving a tactical advantage to a suspect (or his accomplice if one exists) as well as information that can be misinterpreted by the media and others.?
SWAT teams airlifted to the location were told to be ready in case Dorner did manage to escape. ?Guys be ready on the number four side [the front of the cabin],? a deputy declared. ?He might come out the back.?
Just after 7 PM (4 PM PT), right when the orders were given to deploy the ?burners,? the San Bernardino Country Sheriff?s Department Public Information Officer Cindy Bachman hastily gathered reporters for an impromptu press conference. Claiming to know nothing new, she told reporters that she had no idea why the cabin was on fire, or who started the fire. Reporters badgered Bachman for information, but she had none, raising the question of why the presser was convened when it was.
Around the same time, the San Bernardino County Sheriff?s Department requested that all reporters and media organizations stop tweeting about the ongoing standoff with Dorner, claiming their journalism was ?hindering officer safety.? As the cabin sheltering Dorner burned, the local CBS affiliate was reportedly told by law enforcement to zoom its helicopter camera out to avoid showing the actions of sheriff?s deputies. By all accounts, the media acceded to police pressure for self-censorship.
On Twitter, the Riverside Press Enterprise, a leading local newspaper, announced on Twitter, ?Law enforcement asked media to stop tweeting about the#Dorner case, fearing officer safety. We are complying.? The paper?s editors added, ?We are going to tweet broad, non-tactical details, as per the San Bernardino DA's request.?
?Per [San Bernardino Country Sheriff?s Department] request,? tweeted the local CBS affiliate, KCBS, ?we are complying and will not tweet updates on #Dorner search.?
The Incident PIO (Press Information Officer) does not independently develop or confirm information ? they convey the information that comes from the incident commander and others who are situationally aware. This is not a conspiracy. They are about the safety and security of the police, the media, and any bystanders.
At the time that I am writing this, some online media outlets are beginning to entertain the possibility that San Bernardino County Sheriff?s deliberately set the fire that killed Dorner ? a fact that I reported on Twitter as soon the sheriff?s department order came down. If there is any doubt about the authenticity of the YouTube clip containing audio of the sheriff deputies? orders to burn the cabin down, I can verify that it is the real thing. I was listening to the same transmissions when they first blared across the police scanners.
This is outrageous! Without a forensic exam nobody knew what killed Dorner ? a lucky shot, a police sharpshooter/sniper, or a self-inflicted gunshot. This is the type of speculation that drives conspiracies.
In the hours after the standoff, however, the police cover-up remained unchallenged thanks largely to local media complicity. An initial Los Angeles Times report recounted the incident in a passive voice, claiming ?flames began to spread through the structure, and gunshots, probably set off by the fire, were heard.? Similarly, LA?s ABC affiliate, KABC, quoted Bachman?s vague comment about ?that cabin that caught fire,? failing to explore why it was aflame or who torched it.
What cover-up? The police requested that the media take certain prudent precautions to avoid putting lives at stake. At this point, it is also possible that Dorner was laying back, waiting to kill as many deputies as would approach the house.
Today, the Los Angeles Times reported claims by anonymous ?law enforcement sources? that the sheriffs used ?incendiary tear gas? to flush Dorner out of the cabin. The sources claimed the deputies who had besieged the cabin were under a ?constant barrage of gunfire? and that, ?There weren?t a lot of options.?
This is almost certainly a lie. The only mention by a deputy at the scene of a gunshot from inside the cabin was the ?single shot? that occurred as soon as the ?burners,? or incendiary teargas munitions, were deployed. After that point, deputies made constant mention of ammunition exploding inside the cabin as a result of the intense heat of the fire they set, but said nothing about any shots fired at them.
Listening to radio traffic and proclaiming something a lie is the worst type of journalism imaginable. You could just as easily speculate that Dorner deployed one of his own smoke grenades to draw the deputies closer to the cabin or to create a sense of false security. The truth is: you weren?t there and don?t really don?t know.
If there were a ?constant barrage of gunfire,? it would have been the main source of concern among the police at the scene. Instead, they were preoccupied with ensuring that the fire burned the cabin completely without spreading into the surrounding woods.
Yes, they were worried about starting a forest fire which could threaten additional properties and people. Yes, they were concerned about ammunition and possibly explosives being cooked off and accidently wounding or killing officers. Once that fire started, the best course is to do nothing but monitor the fire and watch to see if the suspect attempts an escape. What were they to do ? move up the fire apparatus and risk the lives of fire personnel to put the fire out in the hopes that Dorner was already dead or disabled?
Now comes the real incendiary material ?
There have been a number of cases where flash-bang and teargas grenades have set fires. One of the inherent problems in using such devices. But they are not incendiary grenades. Look at how the author skillfully makes the case that police are wanton killers.
There is a grand tradition of law enforcement using incendiary devices to assault besieged suspects, and of covering up their use. One of the most famous examples of this tactic, and its horrible consequences, was the Philadelphia Police Department?s bombing of the compound of the radical black nationalist cult, M.O.V.E., dropping C-4 explosives by helicopter on the house, killing 11 members of the group, including 5 children, and destroying 65 homes in the West Philadelphia neighborhood.
It was not until the 51-day FBI siege of the Waco, Texas compound of the messianic Branch Davidian cult that ?burners,? or incendiary 40mm military grade cartridges, were used to burn a structure down. Six years after claiming that the Branch Davidians deliberately burned their own compound down, the FBI finally admitted that it used incendiary rounds, but insisted that none of them contributed to the fire that consumed the compound.
What, the San Bernardino Sheriffs are now guilty of acting improperly because of another incident? Foolishness at best, deliberate provocation of malcontents at worst.
Now we get to the pure speculation ?
The ?burners,? or pyrotechnic rounds the San Bernardino County Sheriffs used to torch Dorner?s cabin, are likely similar, and perhaps more powerful, than those employed by the FBI in Waco. Through the five-year-old ?Department of Defense Excess Property Program,? the US military has provided police departments across the country with billions of dollars worth of military equipment, from amphibious tanks to AR-15 assault rifles, allowing the military to circumvent Posse Comitatus regulations by outsourcing their firepower to local cops.
?Burners,? or military grade incendiary grenades, are very likely among the items passed down from the US army to local police outfits like the San Bernardino Sheriff?s Department.The ?burner? of choice for the modern American soldier is the AN-M14 TH3. It is a hand held grenade comprised of a thermite mixture that rapidly converts to molten iron when it is thrown, burning at a temperature of 4000 degrees Fahrenheit, hot enough to burn through a half inch steel plate or bring an engine block to a boil. It can also produce enough heat to set off unloaded ammunition, which would explain why the ammo inside Dorner?s hideout was popping.
If the San Bernardino Sheriffs employed the AN-M14 TH3 or something like it against Dorner ? and it appears they did ? they have good reason to attempt to cover their actions up.Without even a token attempt to establish communication with the suspect, who was, to be sure, a wanted killer hell-bent on murdering cops, they attacked him with what was likely a military grade weapon designed to destroy fortified structures. By burning Dorner alive, then misleading and deceiving the public about the operation, the sheriffs may have validated the rogue ex-cop?s sharpest indictments of the culture of American law enforcement.
This is an outrage. Unless the author has specific and credible evidence that the police employed military-style incendiary rounds for the purposes of insuring that Dorner would never be able to tell his story to the media, he should wait for official confirmation before suggesting this scenario. And, how does the author know that there was no attempt to establish communications? Perhaps such a communication was what caused a round of gunfire. It is known that a message ?enough is enough? was given to Dorner ? how or by whom I do not know. We don?t know if he was monitoring the media.
Yet no element in the Dorner drama was more disturbing than the performance of mainstream media. At every point, major news outlets complied with law enforcement calls for self-censorship, and still demonstrate little interest in determining how and why a lethal fire started on a snow-covered mountain in the dead of winter. As a quintessentially American tragedy reaches its denouement, the truth remains buried beneath a smoldering pile of ashes. Source: How Law Enforcement and Media Covered Up the Plan to Burn Christopher Dorner Alive | Alternet
Bottom line ?
There is no forensic proof that the body in the cabin is Dorner (although they found his California Drivers License nearby) or what caused his death. Here is a violent and skilled killer, surrounded by deputies in fear for their lives as one of their number is already dead and another in critical condition. Even if incendiary grenades were deployed, perhaps it was for the purpose of forcing Dorner from the cabin before nightfall when the deputies would be at a definite tactical disadvantage.
As for all of the profanity-laden commands and exclamations, this is what happens in the field ? not to be monitored by civilians with no idea of the extreme pressure or circumstances affecting the situation.
The liberal author is attempting to whip up emotion, perhaps because, like some others blogging on the internet, he considers this to be a struggle between a person of color and the corrupt system, rather than what it really is: a deranged, highly-trained killer who has murdered four innocent people, two in premeditated cold blood. This is not the military where the hero charges the machine gun nest to save his fellow troops. This is not a movie. This is real life. And, I resent those who try to make this a story about race, about police misconduct or a story to incite others to take copycat action against government officials.
How many people know that Tim McVeigh bombed the Murrah Federal Building on the second anniversary of WACO because he could not find a way to kill Lon Horichi, the FBI sniper who has been theorized to be the proximate cause of the deaths at Waco and Ruby Ridge? A militia-type wing-nut railing against system. Possibly the intended audience of this incendiary screed.
Until the final report is written, we know one thing. Southern California can rest easier because a deranged wanton killer of civilians and police officers is dead. And deservedly so ? no matter how it happened, or in this case, may not have happened.
FILE - This Aug. 31, 2011 file photo shows Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries attending a party thrown in their honor at Capitale in New York. Humphries' lawyer asked to be removed from the case on Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013, one day before a hearing is scheduled to determine when a trial should be held to end the former couple's marriage. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, file)
FILE - This Aug. 31, 2011 file photo shows Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries attending a party thrown in their honor at Capitale in New York. Humphries' lawyer asked to be removed from the case on Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013, one day before a hearing is scheduled to determine when a trial should be held to end the former couple's marriage. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, file)
FILE - In this Aug. 31, 2011 file photo, newlyweds Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries attend a party thrown in their honor at Capitale in New York. Attorneys for Kardashian and Humphries are due in a Los Angeles courtroom on Friday, Feb. 15, 2013 to argue over a trial date to end the couple?s 72-day marriage. Humphries is seeking to delay the case until after the NBA season is over, while Kardashian wants the marriage ended as soon as possible. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Kim Kardashian's divorce case is returning to court Friday with her attorney urging a speedy end to her marriage to NBA player Kris Humphries.
Lawyers for the pregnant reality star and the Brooklyn Nets power forward disagree over a timetable for a trial to end the marriage, which Humphries wants annulled.
Kardashian is asking a judge to order a trial as soon as possible. Humphries wants the case to remain on hold until the basketball season ends.
Setting a trial date may be complicated by a filing Thursday by one of Humphries' attorneys to leave the case, citing "irreconcilable differences" with Humphries. The attorney, Marshall Waller, had stated in recent court filings that he was still seeking evidence from several companies that produce Kardashian's reality shows to try to prove their fraud claims.
Kardashian's attorney Laura Wasser has repeatedly sought a trial date so that the marriage can be ended and denies that the couple's televised marriage was based on false pretenses.
The model is due to give birth in July to a child conceived with her boyfriend Kanye West. Each side accuses the other of trying to use Kardashian's pregnancy for a legal advantage.
"It appears from (Kardashisan's) moving papers that what is really going on here is that an 'urgency' in the form of an apparently unplanned pregnancy ... is perceived by (Kardashian) as an opportunity to gain a litigation advantage by trying to force this court to prematurely set this matter for trial," Waller wrote in a court filing earlier this month.
"(Humphries) to his great discredit thinks that because (Kardashian) is now pregnant he can exert some leverage over (her) knowing that she wants to be divorced," Wasser wrote.
Kardashian filed for divorce on Dec. 31, 2011 after 72 days of marriage. The pair was married in a star-studded ceremony that was televised by E! Entertainment Television.
The case has already drawn in West, the producers of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," and Kardashian family matriarch Kris Jenner.
Superior Court Judge Stephen Moloney will determine Friday how the case will proceed. He has previously said the case should be ready for trial early this year.
___
Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP
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Finola Hughes has called the upcoming 50th anniversary of "General Hospital" a "really sweet" moment."I think the fact that we, at 'GH,' are doing so well right now, and to enter into our 50th anniversary on such a high, it feels really sweet," the actress, who plays Port Charles Police Chief Anna Devane, told Access Hollywood, when asked about the daytime drama's impending anniversary.
Facebook admitted that it was breached by sophisticated hackers in recent weeks, two weeks after Twitter made a similar admission. Both Facebook and Twitter were breached through a well-publicized vulnerability in Oracle?s Java software.
In a blog post late Friday afternoon, Facebook said it was attacked when a handful of its employees visited a compromised site for mobile developers. Simply by visiting the site, their computers were infected with malware. The company said that as soon as it discovered the malware, it cleaned up the infected machines and tipped off law enforcement.
?We have found no evidence that Facebook user data was compromised,? Facebook said.
On Feb. 1, Twitter said hackers had breached its systems and potentially accessed the data of 250,000 Twitter users. The company suggested at that time that it was one of several companies and organizations to be have been similarly attacked.
Facebook has known about its own breach for at least a month, according to people close to the investigation, but it was unclear why the company waited this long to announce it. Fred Wolens, a Facebook spokesman, said the company wanted to fully investigate the source of the breach before disclosing it. Mr. Wolens said the company was still working closely with law enforcement to determine the source of the attacks.
Like Twitter, Facebook said it believed that it was one of several organizations that were targeted by the same group of attackers.
?Facebook was not alone in this attack,? the company said in its blog post. ?It is clear that others were attacked and infiltrated recently as well.?
The attacks add to the mounting evidence that hackers were able to use the security hole in Oracle?s Java software to steal information from a broad range of companies. Java, a widely used programming language, is installed on more than three billion devices. It has long been hounded by security problems.
Last month, after a security researcher exposed a serious vulnerability in the software, the Department of Homeland Security issued a rare alert that warned users to disable Java on their computers. The vulnerability was particularly disconcerting because it let attackers download a malicious program onto its victims? machines without any prompting. Users did not even have to click on a malicious link for their computers to be infected. The program simply downloaded itself.
After Oracle initially patched the security hole in January, the Department of Homeland Security said that the fix was not sufficient and recommended that, unless ?absolutely necessary?, users should disable it on their computers completely. Oracle did not issue another fix until Feb. 1.
Social networks are a prime target for hackers, who look to use people?s personal data and social connections in what are known as ?spearphishing? attacks. In this type of attack, a target is sent an e-mail, ostensibly from a connection, containing a malicious link or attachment. Once the link is clicked or attachment opened, attackers take control of a user?s computer. If the infected computer is inside a company?s system, the attackers are able to gain a foothold. In many cases, they then extract passwords and gain access to sensitive data.
Facebook said in its blog post that the updated patch addressed the vulnerability that allowed hackers to access its employees? computers.
Hackers have been attacking organizations inside the United States at an alarming rate. The number of attacks reported by government agencies last year topped 48,500 ? a ninefold jump from the 5,500 attacks reported in 2006, according to the Government Accountability Office.
In the last month alone, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post all confirmed that they were targets of sophisticated hackers. But security experts say that these attacks are just the tip of the iceberg.
A common saying among security experts is that there are now only two types of American companies: Those that have been hacked and those that don?t know they?ve been hacked.
In my last post, I scrounged the parts for a very crude, but very cool, experiment you can do in your basement to demonstrate quantum entanglement. To my knowledge, it?s the cheapest and simplest such experiment ever done. It doesn?t give publishable results, but, to appropriate a line from Samuel Johnson, a homebrew entanglement experiment is ?like a dog?s walking on his hinder legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all.?
As a warm-up exercise, I sandwich my source of entangled photons?a disk of radioactive sodium-22?between my two Geiger counters (see diagram and photo below) and leave the system to run overnight, measuring how often the Geigers click at the same time. If gamma-ray photons are indeed emerging two by two in opposite directions, the coincidence rate should vary strongly when I change the alignment of the two Geigers. And that is what I see.
When the Geigers are pointing straight at each other, each clicks about 900 times per minute and both do so in unison about 4 times per minute. This is about 40% greater than the expected rate of accidental coincidences. There are various subtleties in separating accidental and genuine coincidence rates and in estimating statistical errors, but the signal I observe is something like 10 standard deviations above the noise. When I rotate one of the Geigers out of alignment, the coincidence rate drops precipitously. For a 25? angle, it only about 15% greater than the accidental rate, which is still statistically significant, if barely. For 45? and 90?, it is equal to the expected accidental rate. So I can tentatively conclude I?m seeing pairs of gammas?one or two of them per minute! This is no mean accomplishment given how crude the equipment is.
Just because the gammas emerge in pairs doesn?t mean they are entangled, though. To check for entanglement, I measure the photons? polarization with a technique called Compton polarimetry. A pair of aluminum cubes bought at OnlineMetals.com serve as gamma-ray prisms, scattering photons in directions that depend on their polarization. The two gammas produced by the annihilation of an antielectron and electron are linearly polarized at right angles to each other, so they should scatter off the aluminum in perpendicular directions.
Here?s where the physics gets spooky. Each individual photon scatters in a random direction, yet the random direction one photon takes is related to the random direction its partner does. The gammas act in synchrony. How can they do that, if they?re truly random? Einstein concluded that the photons either are not truly random or are acting on each other at a distance.
In a first attempt to observe this effect, I sandwich the sodium-22 disk in between the two cubes and put a Geiger on one face of each cube (see photo below). I start by pointing the Geigers in the same direction and letting them sit overnight to count the coincidences. In the morning, I move one Geiger to a different face of its cube, so that the two detectors are now perpendicular to the other, and leave the system to run all day. I continue cycling through different ways to align the detectors either parallel or perpendicular to each other. Entanglement should betray itself as an asymmetry in the coincidence rate.
And indeed that?s what I see. About one coincidence occurs per minute on average, and the rate is consistently greater when the Geigers are perpendicular. It looks like entanglement in action!
A wise graduate student would hesitate to show this result to his or her faculty advisor, though. The perpendicular rate stands a couple of standard deviations above the expected accidental-coincidence rate, but the parallel rate swims in the noise. So the asymmetry might well be a fluke of statistics or a subtle bias in the setup.
To improve on the experiment, I need to beat down the accidental rate?in particular, the rate caused by gammas traveling straight from the sodium to the Geiger counter rather than scattering off the aluminum. I enclose the radioactive sodium in a so-called collimator: a lead storage canister in which I drilled a 1/2-inch hole at either end. A couple of hundred gammas per minute leak out through each hole, forming a pair of gamma-ray beams. The lead squelches off-axis radiation by a factor of about four.
With the collimator, the coincidence rate drops by a factor of 10, but now exceeds the predicted accidental rate for both orientations. The perpendicular rate is the higher of the two, again as the Compton-polarimetry theory predicts for entangled photons.
This still isn?t anything to call the Nobel committee about. At best, it implies the detection of one entangled pair of photons every 20 minutes, and with such a meager trickle, who knows what subtle bias might be operating. What was iffy for the pioneering Bleuler and Bradt experiment can only be more so for my apparatus. Then again, all I?m seeking is a suggestive demonstration, not a research-grade system.
A possible next step would be to special-order a stronger sodium-22 source, which would bring the particle rates in my experiment up to the level of Bleuler and Bradt?s, at the price of posing a greater radiation hazard. Another idea would be to try scatterers besides aluminum cubes. Beyond that, however, I think you exhaust the el-cheapo options and have to dig deeper into your wallet, starting with replacing the Geigers counters with scintillation counters, as Wu and Shaknov used. These are more efficient at picking up radiation; create shorter electrical pulses for each particle they detect, which reduces the probability of accidental coincidences; and measure particle energy, which would help to sift out annihilation-produced photons. But such instruments are pricier and fussier.
A useful guide to further refinements is Leonard Kaskay?s Ph.D. dissertation from 1972. A student of Wu, Kasday systematically went through the possible sources of error: multiple scattering, geometric misalignment, unwanted photons, and more. He was able to achieve enough precision to show that the gammas violated a mathematical inequality derived by theorist John S. Bell, confirming that he was seeing spooky action at a distance rather than some mundane effect.
These kinds of experiments are notoriously tricky, so please share your thoughts and advice?not to mention your attempts to reproduce! Wait till your friends hear that you?re an amateur quantum physicist in your spare time.
Popular Symbian game title Sparkle is now available in Windows Phone Store. Sparkle was originally released on PC/Mac and it became a hit with over million downloads. It was inspired by classic games like Zuma or Puzzle Loop.
Game Description:
Get ready to save the Crowberry Woods in this marble shooter hit!
Banish the Orbs of Darkness with your Orb Slinger by tapping where you want your orb to land. Match three same color orbs to make them disappear. Match more to earn amazing Powerups! Don?t let the Orbs of Darkness fall into the abyss!
Discover more than ten powerful Amulets like Firebolt throughout your journey. Use the Amulets to clear some of the trickier challenges. Embark on an extraordinary journey and reclaim your land!
Features:
- Enjoy hours and hours of top quality action puzzling - Travel through Crowberry Woods and discover more than 10 powerful Amulets - Use over a dozen powerups - Achievements - Magnificent soundtrack - Uncover the 12 secrets of the woods. Hint: Butterflies - Wide selection of different hand crafted levels - 3 game modes: Quest, Challenges, and Survival. - Includes colorblind mode
Download it here from Windows Phone Store for $2.99 with free trial available.
0
About Pradeep Viswav
Pradeep is a Computer Science and Engineering Graduate. He was also a Microsoft Student Partner. He is currently working in a leading IT company. Follow him at twitter.com/pradeepviswav
Graduate student Megan Thode wasn't happy about the C-plus she received for one class, saying the mediocre grade kept her from getting her desired degree and becoming a licensed therapist ? and, as a result, cost her $1.3 million in lost earnings.
Now Thode is suing her professor and Lehigh University in Bethlehem, claiming monetary damages and seeking a grade change.
A judge is hearing testimony in the case this week in Northampton County Court. Lehigh and the professor contend her lawsuit is without merit. Northampton County Judge Emil Giordano declined to dismiss the suit Wednesday, ruling that there was enough evidence for the suit to proceed, according to The (Easton) Express-Times (http://bit.ly/Ye2Aj1).
Thode took the class in the fall of 2009. Her instructor, Amanda Eckhardt, testified this week that she stood by the grade, saying Thode failed to behave professionally and thus earned zero out of 25 points in class participation, bumping her down a full letter grade.
"I ... believed she received the grade she earned," Eckhardt said.
The C-plus prevented Thode, an otherwise A student, from going on to the next class and advancing in her professional therapist studies, the newspaper reported. She wound up getting a master's degree in human development instead.
Her attorney, Richard Orloski, argued that Eckhardt targeted Thode because she is an outspoken advocate for gay marriage.
Eckhardt testified that while she believes marriage is between a man and a woman, she would never allow her personal views to influence her treatment of students. She said Thode had outbursts in class, did not participate appropriately, was emotionally unstable and failed to heed a warning letter.
Stephen Thode, the plaintiff's father and a longtime finance professor at Lehigh, testified on his daughter's behalf and said her participation score was highly irregular.
"I have never heard of a case, not just at Lehigh, where a student achieved a zero in class participation where they attended and participated in every class," he said.
Giordano is presiding over the nonjury trial and is expected to rule on Thode's lawsuit after testimony concludes.
___
Information from: The (Easton, Pa.) Express-Times, http://www.lehighvalleylive.com
MILAN (Reuters) - An Italian magazine ignored the protests of Britain's royal family on Wednesday to publish pictures of Prince William's pregnant wife Kate in a blue bikini on a private island.
The gossip magazine Chi, owned by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, defended its decision to splash pictures of the Duchess of Cambridge showing off her "rounded belly" by implying they were taken in public.
"It is not possible to talk about a breach of privacy when public personalities are photographed in a public, open place such as (a) beach, attended by bathers," Chi editor Alfonso Signorini said in an emailed statement.
Wednesday's six-page insert headlined "Kate & William - Honeymoon for three" is not the first time Chi has earned the ire of the British royals. In September it published topless pictures of the duchess, who was known as Kate Middleton before she married a future king of England.
The images, which were condemned by William's office, St James's Palace, as a "clear breach of the couple's right to privacy", show the duchess walking on a beach on the island of Mustique with a visible "baby bump".
"The reportage portrays a couple in love in a happy moment as they walk on the seashore...Where is the scandal?," Signorini said.
In one picture Kate is seen pulling up her hair as she walks on a Mustique beach, an island favored by the British royals for its secluded, palm-fringed shores and a favorite of the Queen Elizabeth's late sister Princess Margaret.
"A rounded belly can now be seen and the princess has a softer silhouette compared to how she was during their honeymoon in the Seychelles in 2011," one of the captions read.
Another shot showed Kate walking with her arm on the shoulder of her 30-year-old husband William, second in line to the British throne. He is wearing thigh-length shorts in matching blue.
"After initial problems, the pregnancy is now proceeding serenely," the magazine writes.
TWITTERATI DEBATE
Signorini did not provide details about the source of the pictures but said they were bought from an international agency.
MailOnline, the online edition of Britain's Daily Mail newspaper cited media reports that the pictures might have been taken by a holiday maker on a public beach or from a boat using a long-lens camera.
The British media have refrained from publishing the pictures as they fight stricter regulations recommended by a judge-led inquiry following a phone-hacking scandal centered on Rupert Murdoch's tabloids.
The shots have surfaced on tabloids and websites worldwide, prompting a debate on social media.
"Here's an Idea: If you don't want photos published of you pregnant in a bikini, DON'T go OUTSIDE in one!", a tweet by @fashionoffice read.
Chi's publications have stirred memories of the world media's relentless pursuit of William's mother, Princess Diana who died in a car crash in Paris in 1997 as she was being chased by paparazzi.
MailOnline said publishers in the United States, France and Germany had lined up to publish the pictures, saying they could fetch a total of over 100,000 pounds ($156,600).
Kate's sister Pippa, 30, her brother James Middleton and friend James Matthews were also pictured in the magazine as they walked the beach in colored beachwear.
Chi is controlled by Berlusconi's publishing company Mondadori.
(Reporting by Antonella Ciancio, editing by Paul Casciato)
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In my last post, I scrounged the parts for a very crude, but very cool, experiment you can do in your basement to demonstrate quantum entanglement. To my knowledge, it?s the cheapest and simplest such experiment ever done. It doesn?t give publishable results, but, to appropriate a line from Samuel Johnson, a homebrew entanglement experiment is ?like a dog?s walking on his hinder legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all.?
