TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? Iran's foreign ministry says possible new U.S. sanctions will not change Tehran's nuclear policy, but could complicate talks with world powers.
Thursday's state TV report follows U.S. House passage of calls to tighten sanctions on Iran's oil sector, which already is under major pressures from Western economic measures seeking to rein in Iran's nuclear program.
The U.S. plan now moves to the Senate.
Iranian state TV quotes Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Araghchi as saying sanctions will not stop the country's nuclear advance.
Araghchi claims the new American proposals could set back efforts at dialogue.
Iran and world powers seek to resume talks after Sunday's swearing-in of moderate President Hasan Rouhani, who has urged for more international outreach.
The West fears Iran seeks to develop nuclear arms. Tehran denies the charge.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Scientists who were once invited to Google to discussion climate science communication now communication their anger about the company?s fund-raiser for Senator James Inhofe.
Oil and gas supermajor Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) reported second-quarter 2013 estimated results before markets opened this morning. The company posted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.55 on revenues of $106.47 billion. In the same period a year ago, the company reported EPS of $3.41 and revenues of $127.36 billion. Second-quarter results also compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for EPS of $1.90 and $105.54 billion in revenues.
Excluding a one-time net gain of $7.5 billion in the second quarter of 2012, Exxon?s 2013 second quarter earnings are down by 19%. The company blames weaker refining margins and volumes.
Production fell nearly 2% worldwide on an oil-equivalent basis. Exxon said that excluding the impact of entitlement volumes, OPEC quotas and divestments, production was flat with the year-ago quarter.
Worldwide production of oil and other liquids was down 26,000 barrels a day year-over-year. U.S. liquids production was flat year-over-year at 419,000 barrels a day, but down from 435,000 barrels a day in the first quarter.
U.S. natural gas production fell by about 316 million cubic feet a day after dropping by about 350 million cubic feet a day in the first quarter. Upstream profits in the United States rose from $678 million in the second quarter of 2012 to $1.1 billion. Non-U.S. profits fell from $7.68 billion a year ago to $5.21 billion in the second quarter of 2013.
Refining only added to Exxon?s woes in the second quarter. Throughput in the United States was flat with last year, but down nearly 500,000 barrels a day worldwide. U.S. downstream profits fell from $834 million a year ago to $248 million this year. Non-U.S. profits fell from $5.81 billion to $148 million. That is not a typo. Downstream earnings fell $5.66 billion year-over-year.
The earnings announcement did not include guidance, but the consensus estimate for the third quarter calls for EPS of $1.96 on revenues of $107.3 billion. For the full year, EPS and revenues are estimated at $7.96 and $426.68 billion, respectively.
The company?s CEO said:
ExxonMobil?s second quarter results reflect continued strong operational performance and investments to meet growing demand for oil, natural gas and chemical products in the years ahead. ? [Exxon] distributed $6.8 billion to shareholders in the second quarter through dividends and share purchases to reduce shares outstanding.
It does not appear that Exxon?s management has quite figured out what to do about falling revenues and profits, except to mollify shareholders with stock buybacks.
Exxon?s shares are down 1.4% in premarket trading, at $92.44 in a 52-week range of $84.70 to $95.49. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of around $95.80 before today?s report.
Source: slashdot.org --- Wednesday, July 31, 2013 Luyseyal writes "BOINC is now available on Android. Many of you may not know, but the Slashdot Users team makes a decent showing on World Community Grid. WCG supports research on AIDS, schistoma, cancer, clean energy, and more. Now is your chance to put your idle charge cycles to good use. Let's do some science!" Read more of this story at Slashdot. ...
RonsBantwal Daijiworld Media Network ? Mumbai ? Mumbai, Jul 24:? Harry R Sequeira, has been unanimously elected as the new president of Karnataka Sangh Andheri during the programme at Dr M Vishweshwaraiah auditorium in Mahim (west) held recently. ? The programme was presided by Thonse Jayakrishna Shetty, founder of Jayakrishna Parisara Premi Samiti. He honored outgoing president Ashith N Shetty and newly elected president Harry R Sequeira.
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Senior writer Dr Sunita M Shetty, journalist Chandrashekar Palettady, writer Shimunje Parari, B Ganapathi, P Dhananjaya Shetty, Latha Jayaram Shetty, Fr Donath D?Souza, association vice presidents Sudesh Nayak and Ravindra Shetty, chief secretary Krishna B Shetty, treasurer Ganesh Balyaya, joint secretaries Seetharam Poojary, Jagajeevan Poojary, Damodar Gowda, Rajesh Poojary, Bhaskar Suvarna Sasihitlu, joint treasurer Uday M, women?s wing president Kavita R Rao, Amitha U Shetty among others were present. ? As part of the entertainment programme, children of association members presented different forms of dance and singing.
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TROY (WWJ) - You may think skin cancer only happens after decades in the sun or in tanning beds, but younger people get the diagnosis, too.
Troy resident George Stager was just 22 years old in 2006 when a dermatologist discovered melanoma on his back.
?There?s a myth out there that says when you?re young, you?re not, you know, able to get something like cancer,? Stager told WWJ Health Reporter Sean Lee.
??I?m young; I take care of myself; I?m active.??But, in reality, the age for melanoma is getting younger and younger,? he said.
To give back after his successful treatment, Stager is hosting?the 5th annual SKIN event this Saturday, July 27, in Ferndale.
The event fill feature?hors d?oeuvres, cocktails, dancing and a live fashion show. ?Proceeds from the event benefit the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Get more complete details and get your tickets?at this link.?
In today's news that will make you go, "Awww," George H.W. Bush recently showed his support for a child with cancer in a way that is just inspiring.
The 41st President of the United States shaved his head completely in solidarity with 2-year-old Patrick, the son of a member of his security detail. Patrick is battling cancer and lost his hair during treatment for his leukemia. Bush, as well as a whole group of his Secret Service detail, shaved their heads to show their support.
Bush's spokesman Jim McGrath tweeted?the incredible pictures on Wednesday (July 24), and no matter how you feel politically about the former POTUS, you have to admit this is amazing.
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's healthcare cost watchdog has rejected GlaxoSmithKline's lupus drug Benlysta a second time after the company offered an undisclosed discount, saying it still failed to offer good value for money.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) reconsidered its earlier rejection of funding for the drug, the first new treatment for the condition in half a century, after an appeal by the manufacturer.
NICE recommends which drugs should be funded by Britain's state health service.
"We understand that it will be disappointing that this draft guidance doesn't recommend belimumab (Benlysta)," NICE Chief Executive Andrew Dillon said on Wednesday.
"This draft decision is because the evidence considered did not persuade the Committee that belimumab was good value for money compared with standard care."
Lupus is an incurable condition that causes the immune system to attack healthy tissue and organs. It mainly affects women and is more common among women of African Caribbean origin than any other group. About 15,000 people in England and Wales have the condition.
NICE said the price per dose of the drug before the discount was 769.50 pounds ($1,200), with three doses required in the first four weeks and one every four weeks thereafter.
Benlysta has been approved in the United States, Canada and Europe.
(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Tom Pfeiffer)
The broadcast networks have lost another legal battle against new technology: A federal appeals court has denied a request by 21st Century Fox to stop Dish Network from selling its ad-skipping AutoHop feature.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held up a ruling from last year that said Dish could keep selling the technology, which lets users automatically fast-forward through ads on recordings of prime-time network broadcasts.
You can read the ruling, embedded at the bottom of this post. It cites multiple precedents that will be familiar to people who follow tech-versus-TV fights, including the Sony/Betamax case and the Cablevision ?cloud DVR? case, and concludes that consumers have the right to record shows, and to fast-forward through the ads.
The ruling appears to leave open the door, at least a crack, for a Fox argument that the AutoHop feature violates terms of a distribution contract between Fox and Dish.
But we?ll have to see what Fox, which took on the case with the backing of the other broadcast networks, wants to do. Here?s their response, for now: ?We are disappointed in the court?s ruling, even though the bar to secure a preliminary injunction is very high. This is not about consumer choice or advances in technology. It is about a company devising an unlicensed, unauthorized service that clearly infringes our copyrights and violates our contract. We will review all of our options and proceed accordingly.?
And here?s Dish?s victory dance: ?DISH is pleased that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the district court?s 2012 order denying Fox?s preliminary injunction motion. In so doing, the courts continue to reject Fox?s efforts to deny our customers? access to PrimeTime Anytime and AutoHop ? key features of the Hopper Whole-Home HD DVR.
This decision is a victory for American consumers, and we are proud to have stood by their side in this important fight over the fundamental rights of consumer choice and control.?
The ruling comes in the same month that CBS and the other broadcasters lost a motion to re-hear a federal court ruling that favored Aereo, the startup that distributes broadcaster networks? programs over the Web without paying a license fee for the shows.
Here?s Dish CEO Charlie Ergen, at our D: Dive Into Media conference in February, explaining the thinking behind the ad-skipping feature:
NEW YORK?Anthony Weiner?s rivals were split Wednesday on whether the ex-lawmaker should drop his bid for mayor after he admitted that he continued to send sexual messages to women who were not his wife even after he was forced out of Congress over the issue.
Christine Quinn, the City Council speaker who has been statistically tied with Weiner in recent Democratic primary polls, said the latest revelations called into question whether Weiner has the ?maturity and judgment? to lead. But she stopped short of calling for him to exit the race, saying that was ?decision for him to make.?
?The circus that former congressman Weiner has brought to the race in the last two months has been a disservice to New Yorkers who are actually looking for someone who has the judgment and maturity to lead this city and a mayor who has the record of actually delivering that,? Quinn said at a Wednesday morning press conference. ?Being mayor of New York is a serious business and it demands a serious leader. Instead, we see a pattern of reckless behavior, consistently poor judgment and difficulty with the truth. New Yorkers deserve something completely different.?
Being mayor, Quinn added, is a not a job about ?self aggrandizement.?
But three other mayoral hopefuls?Democrats Bill de Blasio and Sal Alabanese and Republican John Catsimatidis?took the opposite position, calling for Weiner to exit the race.
De Blasio, who the city?s Public Advocate and who has struggled to gain traction in the polls, sent a message to supporters Wednesday asking them to sign a petition urging Weiner to drop his campaign so that the candidates could focus on ?serious? issues in the race.
?Right now the conversation in this campaign is neither serious nor critical--it's a joke,? de Blasio wrote. ?You deserve to know how we would use the power of the office to make life better for people in all neighborhoods. But the sideshows of this election have gotten in the way of the debate we should be having about the future of our city.?
The comments came less than 24 hours after Weiner admitted that he was the author of dozens of lewd messages a woman shared with the gossip website The Dirty?messages she said were sent as recently as last summer.
At a press conference Tuesday, where he was joined by his wife, longtime Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin, Weiner admitted that he had continued to exchange sexual messages with women up until last year?even after he was forced out of Congress in June 2011 over the issue.
?It?s in our rearview mirror but not far,? Weiner told reporters, though he added his behavior was now ?behind? him and that his marriage was stronger than ever. It was a statement backed up by Abedin, who emotionally told reporters she had ?forgiven? her husband.
At the same press conference, Weiner gave no signs of exiting the race, and his campaign did not respond to an immediate request for comment about his rivals? calls for him to drop out.
Pocket-lint writes, Apple is experiencing problems with iPhone 5S?production, thus causing supply constraints until October or November and delayed shipping through the end of September, according to a new report. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo released on Monday a...
Continue reading Analyst says iPhone 5S supply will be constrained, budget iPhone to arrive in September and no Retina mini at Pocket-lint
(The animal shelter I work at accepts volunteers for work. I am on shift with a volunteer, an attractive lady who is in her 20s. I am male. She is laying on the floor in the office, playing with a puppy while I do some paperwork nearby. The puppy rests his head on her bottom and falls asleep. An elderly patron who often visits the shelter to play with cats walks in.)
Elderly Patron: ?What a cute pup! Look where his head is!?
(The patron turns to me and grins.)
Elderly Patron: ?Don?t you wish your head was where his is, young man??
SAN DIEGO (AP) ? It's wasn't hard for "Game of Thrones" to say goodbye to several characters at Comic-Con.
The panel for the fantasy HBO series kicked off Friday with an "in memoriam" segment set to Boyz II Men's "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday."
The tribute was dedicated to the scads of characters who've bitten the dust on the show, ranging from Khal Drogo to Wine Merchant to Catelyn Stark, the character played by Michelle Fairley who died in the infamous "Red Wedding" installment.
"I knew how many years I signed for, so I knew what was coming," said Fairley at the pop-culture convention.
The vicious slayings of many Westeros residents in the third season surprised many viewers, especially the brutal "Red Wedding" episode.
"We'd been waiting for it for so long and dreading it, and having it turn out better than we expected because of these actors was one of the greatest moments of my life," series co-creator David Benioff said.
"Game of Thrones" cast members Fairley, Peter Dinklage, John Bradley, Kit Harrington, Rose Leslie, Richard Madden and Emilia Clarke joined "A Song of Fire and Ice" mastermind George R.R. Martin and series co-creators Benioff and D.B. Weiss.
Martin said he needed to get to work finishing the two upcoming novels, "The Winds of Winter" and "A Dream of Spring," because the show is catching up with source material.
The crowd inside Hall H in the San Diego Convention Center shrieked when Khal Drago actor Jason Momoa stomped on stage and planted a smooch on Clarke, who continues to play his love interest Daenerys Targaryen, the Mother of Dragons, on the show.
Momoa screamed into the microphone, "I'm not dead, George!"
___
Online:
http://www.comic-con.org
___
AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang is tweeting from Comic-Con at http://www.twitter.com/derrikjlang.
Stem cell discovery furthers research on cell-based therapy and cancerPublic release date: 19-Jul-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jeffrey Norris jeff.norris@ucsf.edu 415-502-6397 University of California - San Francisco
Stem-cell researchers at UC San Francisco have found a key role for a protein called BMI1 that may help scientists direct the development of tissues to replace damaged organs in the human body.
Scientists have known that Bmi1 is a central control switch within the adult stem cells of many tissues, including the brain, blood, lung and mammary gland, said Ophir Klein, MD, PhD, who directs the Craniofacial and Mesenchymal Biology (CMB) Program and serves as chair of the Division of Craniofacial Anomalies at UCSF. Bmi1 also is a cancer-causing gene that becomes reactivated in cancer cells.
Kleins research group now has shown that BMI1 plays another role in ensuring that the process of development unfolds normally.
The hallmarks of all stem cells are that they are immature, they keep dividing to replenish their numbers almost indefinitely, and they generate new specialized cells to function in the tissues in which they reside, a process called cell differentiation.
Pushed in one direction, the BMI1 switch enables normal stem cells to divide and renew their own numbers. Thrown in the other direction, it keeps cell proliferation in check. But now, Kleins research team has shown that BMI1 also keeps this stock of stem cells from spinning off daughter cells that mature into the wrong type of specialized cell in the wrong place.
The new discovery suggests that manipulating BMI1, along with other regulatory molecules, might one day be among the steps included in molecular recipes to turn specialized cell development on and off to create new cell-based treatments for tissues lost to injury, disease or aging, Klein said.
The dual role of BMI1 also is intriguing to think about in pathological settings, such as cancer, Klein said. Growing evidence suggests that many cancers are driven by abnormally behaving adult stem cells or by cells that have abnormally acquired stem-cell-like properties. If these cancerous cells could be made to become specialized cells rather than stem cells when they divide, it might slow tumor growth, some cancer researchers believe. Inactivating BMI1 in cancer stem cells might be one strategy, Klein suggested.
The study by Kleins research team is published in the July issue of Nature Cell Biology, and was conducted on adult stem cells found in the large incisors of mice.
Klein, a faculty member of the UCSF School of Dentistry, as well as the School of Medicine, studies teeth, intestines and other tissues to understand the biology and molecular mechanisms that regulate stem cells in these organs. Knowledge gained in these studies can further fuel his specific interest in finding new ways to generate replacement tissue to treat conditions such as Crohns disease and craniofacial abnormalities and to grow new teeth.
The incisor of the mouse, unlike any human tooth, grows continuously, and is an attractive focus for stem cell research, in Kleins view. There is a large population of stem cells, and the way the daughter cells of the stem cells are produced is easy to track its as if they are on a conveyor belt, he said. Early in life humans possess stem cells that similarly drive tooth development, but they become inactive after our adult teeth are fully formed during early childhood.
In the current study, postdoctoral fellows Brian Biehs, PhD, and Jimmy Hu, PhD, determined that there is a group of adult stem cells at the base of the growing mouse incisor and that these stem cells possess active BMI1. They showed that BMI1 can suppress a set of genes called Hox genes that, when activated, trigger the development of specific cell types and body structures. In the mouse incisor, the researchers showed that activity of BMI1 in the stem cells maintains their stem cell fate and prevents inappropriate cell differentiation by suppressing the expression of Hox genes.
This essential developmental role of BMI1 in watchdogging the production of specialized cells is likely to have been conserved through evolution, because studies of Hox genes in fruit flies suggests that there may be a similar role for BMI1 in insects as well as mammals, Klein said.
Using the mouse incisor, Klein and his colleagues intend to continue exploring how stem cells and their behaviors are molded in turn by cues they receive from surrounding cells.
This new knowledge is useful in a fundamental way for understanding how cell differentiation is controlled, and may help us manipulate stem cells to get them to do what we want them to do, Klein said.
###
The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care.
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Stem cell discovery furthers research on cell-based therapy and cancerPublic release date: 19-Jul-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jeffrey Norris jeff.norris@ucsf.edu 415-502-6397 University of California - San Francisco
Stem-cell researchers at UC San Francisco have found a key role for a protein called BMI1 that may help scientists direct the development of tissues to replace damaged organs in the human body.
Scientists have known that Bmi1 is a central control switch within the adult stem cells of many tissues, including the brain, blood, lung and mammary gland, said Ophir Klein, MD, PhD, who directs the Craniofacial and Mesenchymal Biology (CMB) Program and serves as chair of the Division of Craniofacial Anomalies at UCSF. Bmi1 also is a cancer-causing gene that becomes reactivated in cancer cells.
Kleins research group now has shown that BMI1 plays another role in ensuring that the process of development unfolds normally.
The hallmarks of all stem cells are that they are immature, they keep dividing to replenish their numbers almost indefinitely, and they generate new specialized cells to function in the tissues in which they reside, a process called cell differentiation.
Pushed in one direction, the BMI1 switch enables normal stem cells to divide and renew their own numbers. Thrown in the other direction, it keeps cell proliferation in check. But now, Kleins research team has shown that BMI1 also keeps this stock of stem cells from spinning off daughter cells that mature into the wrong type of specialized cell in the wrong place.
The new discovery suggests that manipulating BMI1, along with other regulatory molecules, might one day be among the steps included in molecular recipes to turn specialized cell development on and off to create new cell-based treatments for tissues lost to injury, disease or aging, Klein said.
The dual role of BMI1 also is intriguing to think about in pathological settings, such as cancer, Klein said. Growing evidence suggests that many cancers are driven by abnormally behaving adult stem cells or by cells that have abnormally acquired stem-cell-like properties. If these cancerous cells could be made to become specialized cells rather than stem cells when they divide, it might slow tumor growth, some cancer researchers believe. Inactivating BMI1 in cancer stem cells might be one strategy, Klein suggested.
The study by Kleins research team is published in the July issue of Nature Cell Biology, and was conducted on adult stem cells found in the large incisors of mice.
Klein, a faculty member of the UCSF School of Dentistry, as well as the School of Medicine, studies teeth, intestines and other tissues to understand the biology and molecular mechanisms that regulate stem cells in these organs. Knowledge gained in these studies can further fuel his specific interest in finding new ways to generate replacement tissue to treat conditions such as Crohns disease and craniofacial abnormalities and to grow new teeth.
The incisor of the mouse, unlike any human tooth, grows continuously, and is an attractive focus for stem cell research, in Kleins view. There is a large population of stem cells, and the way the daughter cells of the stem cells are produced is easy to track its as if they are on a conveyor belt, he said. Early in life humans possess stem cells that similarly drive tooth development, but they become inactive after our adult teeth are fully formed during early childhood.
In the current study, postdoctoral fellows Brian Biehs, PhD, and Jimmy Hu, PhD, determined that there is a group of adult stem cells at the base of the growing mouse incisor and that these stem cells possess active BMI1. They showed that BMI1 can suppress a set of genes called Hox genes that, when activated, trigger the development of specific cell types and body structures. In the mouse incisor, the researchers showed that activity of BMI1 in the stem cells maintains their stem cell fate and prevents inappropriate cell differentiation by suppressing the expression of Hox genes.
This essential developmental role of BMI1 in watchdogging the production of specialized cells is likely to have been conserved through evolution, because studies of Hox genes in fruit flies suggests that there may be a similar role for BMI1 in insects as well as mammals, Klein said.
Using the mouse incisor, Klein and his colleagues intend to continue exploring how stem cells and their behaviors are molded in turn by cues they receive from surrounding cells.
This new knowledge is useful in a fundamental way for understanding how cell differentiation is controlled, and may help us manipulate stem cells to get them to do what we want them to do, Klein said.
###
The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care.
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Five robberies in one day in the city are most unusual. It therefore came as no surprise that the private sector representatives began to cry out for action by the police and the other law enforcement agencies. We have seen the statements by the Private Sector Commission and by the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Indeed the criminals tend to target those locations where they feel that they could easily grab the cash there and move on. It is therefore surprising that these same entities have not been aggressive in pursuing the move from cash transactions. The police say that they have irrefutable evidence that the robberies are sponsored by the overwhelming amount of cash in the system.? People who store cash in their homes are more prone to visits by the bandits than any other person. We have also seen that many persons leaving the commercial banks have been targeted by the gunmen. Just recently, the police managed to thwart one such robbery. They happened to be at the right place at the right time. The people who get robbed are often those who are not members of the entities that are making a noise for the law enforcement agencies to step up and do something?we are not sure what?to curb the spate of robberies. We would have expected these representative bodies to contribute to the efforts that they desire of the police and other law enforcers. There are private security services that have the ability to also launch patrols in the city.? We as a nation are not blessed with the kind of resources that would allow anti-crime patrols to respond within ten or fifteen minutes although the city is so small. But with support, some anti-crime unit could be on the location within five minutes. The police would be approached to incorporate the various private sector entities with anti-crime patrols into their schedules. There is another aspect to the drive to curb the spate of attacks. More recently business places have been installing security cameras but some of these cameras are deficient. The resolution is poor and sometimes the cameras are badly placed. However, while any expenditure on security will certainly save a company in the long run many business places feel the edge of the coin and if in the view of the business place the cost is too high then security is ignored, sadly so. But there is something that the wider society needs to take into account. We have said time and again that there seems to be an increasing level of illiteracy in the society and these are some of the people who gravitate to crime. It must be worrying if it is proven that the spike in gun crimes does coincide with the end of formal education for some of the boys who must now roam the streets. Yet the police need to revamp their operations. Each year the government releases vast sums of money to buy vehicles. This should increase the extent of patrols. Of course, the situation is better than it was a few years ago. There are more vehicles and the patrols are more. Because of this they are able to respond even faster. That is being reactive. The police also need to be proactive. It would be interesting if the authorities could place plainclothes ranks at locations known to be the hive of criminal activities. After a few confrontations there should be a marked decline in criminal activities the types of which appear to be common. For the first three days of this week there have been no less than six gun robberies, all of them in the city. Sadly, people do not support in every case. They refuse to identify the criminals after they are caught, not realizing that they are releasing the criminal to prey on someone else.
The amazing thing about director Guillermo del Toro?s highly imaginative ?Pacific Rim? is that either I think I understood it, or, for sheer mental preservation, I?ve deluded myself into believing I understood it. In any case, despite oodles of complexity strewn through this non-stop buffet of color, action and comic-book heroism set in the 2020s, there?s no mistaking the derivation and genre.
Good gracious, man, though they never say so, it?s ?Godzilla,? the old boy rethought, refurbished, polished and delivered with everything expected of the well equipped monster movie, circa 21st Century.
But, just in case you?re not a fourteen-year-old boy anxious to gulp down wholesale all the techno jargon your demography demands, there?s something here for the kid in all of us. The grand scale popcorn muncher provides ideal rationalization and cacophonous accompaniment for devouring a butter drenched bucket of the movie maize, a box of Goobers?, some of those chocolate nonpareils, yessiree, and a good sized diet Coke (gotta watch that film critic figure, y?know).
Gadzooks, there is reason aplenty for anxiety-induced gorging. Apparently, tectonic plates or some such thing, have shifted, unleashing through the resultant portal to our so-called civilized world an endless supply of giant, lizard/dragon-like colossi called Kaiju. And, wouldn?t you know it: because our greedy politicians lacked foresight and a moral commitment to the future, we have but conventional weaponry to combat the scourge.
But then again, remember, we?re humans, determined not to go the way of the dinosaur, the dodo bird or a live voice at the other end of a customer service line. Therefore, our scientists have, hopefully just in the nick of time, developed the Jaeger program, which, doubtlessly, would have been impossible to conceive of had an earlier generation not embraced Transformers? and their various robotic permutations as the toy of choice.
Now get this. The average Jaeger (there are different generations and models) is twenty-five stories high and humanoid in appearance. They are armed with all manner of destructive capability, nuclear and otherwise. Furthermore, it takes two people, the future?s equivalent of Top Guns, to operate a Jaeger.
But here?s the coolest part. It?s not enough that the two pilots must be of sound mind and body?and pretty good looking, too. In order to competently wield the gigantic weapon, the duo must form a mental bond known as a neural bridge. Or, as we might have described in Greenwich Village during the late 1960s, they have to get into each other?s head, man.
Yet, for all the gosh gee wiz gizmos that bedazzle in a kaleidoscopic light show that has you worried you?re going to beam through to an alternate dimension, the basic plot structure encasing this pi?ata of futurism is straight out of the 1950s. Although fancified, it?s the same old tale of us against them, augmented with a dash of Homer and a splash of Freud. And, just to keep it cleverly reminiscent of its hokey but pioneering antecedent, not to mention the cost savings realized, all the principals are relative unknowns.
Headlining this latest foray into the world-saving business is Charlie Hunnam as Raleigh Becket, Jaeger commando extraordinaire, delivered to us with a psychiatrist?s couch full of baggage. You see, Raleigh?s last co-pilot was his brother, Yancey, who, we can only hope, has gone to that great Kaiju fighting battleground in the stratosphere. Our man took it hard, forewent all past glory, and hired on as an anonymous day worker.
Of course, our favorite tales of heroism inevitably contain a redemption component. So, when the war starts to tilt in the favor of Godzilla?s progeny, Raleigh?s old commander, Stacker Pentecost, starchily played by Idris Elba, comes looking for him. It turns out the beasts have tapped into our digitalism, and Raleigh is one of the few aces who can pilot the older, analog juggernauts.
Naturally, he?ll need a complement?one that can not only help him put those sad memories of his bro in the vault, but now pair with him to best advantage. Well, that?s easy: Marshall Pentecost just so happens to have a Jaeger pilot prodigy?Mako (Rinko Kikuchi), a pretty Asian lass, albeit with some emotional problems of her own. The thinking is, maybe two psychoses can synergize into a good, healthy ability to kill the Kaijus. Boy, wouldn?t it be just perfect if they also decided to exchange phone numbers?
Adding quirky wadding to the desperate derring-do, Charlie Day and Burn Gorman as dueling brainiacs formulate a good sense of comedy relief. And, lest we forget to mention that opportunism is alive and well in the proposed future, Ron Perlman is a satiric hoot as Hannibal Chau, a black market harvester of Kaiju body parts. Hence, while effectively arousing all sorts of trepidation, ?Pacific Rim? entertainingly reminds in its cutting-edged way that dramatic predicaments and their resolutions inevitably come full circle. ? ?Pacific Rim,? rated PG-13, is a Warner Bros. release directed by Guillermo del Toro and stars Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi and Idris Elba. Running time: 131 minutes
Gov. Rick Perry, who touts the state?s standing in the tippy-top tier in job creation and business relocations, has made another national top list. This one is less than laudatory.
Citizens for Responsiblity and Ethics in Washington named Perry among the worst six governors in the nation on ethics considerations. All top/bottom six?of CREW?s worst list are Republicans. In the entire ?watch? list of 18, 16 are Republicans.
CREW said it named Perry to the list for his corporate cronyism. Using the Texas Enterprise Fund and Emerging Technology Fund, Perry has helped award business incentive money. Millions of the funds have gone to political supporters and contributors.
Perry has denied politics played a role in the awards, citing review boards and sign-offs also by the lieutenant governor and House speaker.
The report also dinged Perry for ?double-dipping,? taking advantage of state law that allows him to collect $90,000 in retirement pay while still working and taking home a $150,000 governor?s salary.
On transparency, the report cited Perry for deleting all his state emails after 7 days, making them unavailable to the public after that time, and failing to make his schedule of events readily available. He also pushed a provision that now allows him to keep any itemization of travel reimbursements made to his security detail secret for 18 months.
?They say, ?Don?t mess with Texas,? but thanks to Gov. Perry, Texas is a mess,? said CREW executive director Melanie Sloan. ?If Gov. Perry?s habit of rewarding his campaign donors with powerful appointments and millions in state funds isn?t bad enough, his hypocrisy and antipathy to transparency should give Americans pause.?
In the press release and bullet-point presentation, they didn?t even get to the fact that?he vetoed the ethics reform bill and cut all funding for the state?s public integrity unit. But those incidents were outlined in the full report.
Using the X-Pro 1 and X-E1 can sometimes be fiddly, but we can't hate on the pair too much as they're just so darn beautiful. Fortunately, Fujifilm has realized that looks aren't everything and will release a bumper firmware update that'll fix the pair's problems focusing in low-contrast. Users who own the XF18-55 F/2.8-4 R LM OIS lens will also find that optical image stabilization has been improved for better video. The update is gratis, as you would expect, and will land on July 23rd -- all you'll need to do is visit the website below and follow the instructions.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Over at Think Progress, there's a post on an absurd budget calculator sponsored by McDonald's and Visa to help hardworking minimum wage workers with financial literacy. A worthwhile cause, no doubt. As you can see in ...
Appcelerator, a Mountain View-based startup that helps businesses create and track the performance of mobile apps, just raised another $12.1 million in a round led by EDB Investments from Singapore. One other new investor was The Social Internet Fund while previous investors like Mayfield Fund, Sierra Ventures, Storm Ventures, Relay Ventures, Translink Capital, eBay, and RedHat also participated. It brings Appcelerator’s total funding to more than $63 million. The company is one of the very best-known around in helping big brands build consumer-facing apps and they cater to clients like eBay, Merck, Mitsubishi Electric, ZipCar, PayPal and Ray-Ban. The company will use that funding to build out a bigger presence in Asia with a new regional headquarters in Singapore that will have its own research and development center and a data center. (Hence, that’s why it makes sense to pick a local Singapore-based investment firm like EDB to lead the round.) The company says it will likely hire around 20 employees there, on top of the 150 it has already. They’ll also look at potential acquisitions in addition to scaling up product development, sales and support. The company has grown by about 130 percent year-over-year in sales, and its ecosystem supports more than 480,000 mobile developers and 55,000 apps on 145 million devices. Partners include multinational giants like Germany’s SAP and India’s Wipro. CEO Jeff Haynie, who is on his third venture backed startup with Appcelerator, tells me that the company has seen more revenue in the first six months of this year than it did in the previous one. Appcelerator’s offering has several prongs. They have an open source mobile development environment called Titanium and they have other products that help with the life cycle of the app so that companies can track how their apps are performing with users and manage them across multiple platforms. Their platform can monitor how applications are actually performing and also support them with a mobile-backend-as-a-service product, like with what YC-backed Parse does as part of Facebook. Facebook’s recent deal to buy Parse for north of $85 million including retention creates some competition for the company, although Appcelerator’s offering really doesn’t overlap 100% with Facebook’s products for mobile developers. (Facebook has more of a focus on distribution through products like app install ads, and then of course, they handle identity management through the social graph.) Appcelerator has cross-platform developer tools, analytics, performance testing,
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that Mexico's capture of the leader of a notorious drug cartel provided reassurance that President Enrique Pena Nieto's commitment to fighting drug trafficking was solid.
"What it shows is that the new administration of President Pena Nieto is serious about continuing the efforts to break up these transnational drug operations," Obama said in an interview with Univision's Los Angeles affiliate. "And there had been some question about that, I think early on during his campaign, and immediately after his election."
Pena Nieto caused some concern in the United States by dialing back the aggressive campaign against drug trafficking pursued by his predecessor, Felipe Calderon, in favor of a policy emphasizing reducing violence.
Under the new approach, Pena Nieto reined in the wide latitude Calderon gave the U.S. government in working with Mexican officials, replacing it with a single point of contact, Mexico's Ministry of Interior.
Obama endorsed the policy in May during a visit to Mexico, saying it was up to the Mexican people to determine their own security structures.
But he said on Tuesday that Monday's arrest of Miguel Angel Trevino, also called Z-40, the leader of the Zetas drug cartel, offered proof that Pena Nieto's approach could be effective.
"He indicated to me that he recognizes the need to deal with these transnational drug cartels in a serious way," Obama said. "And I think this is evidence of it."
Obama said that clamping down on the international drug trade in Mexico was in the U.S. interest, and that Washington supported Mexican efforts. The United States recognizes for its part that it has a role to play in curtailing the market for drugs at home and the flow of guns to Mexico.
"We want to make sure that they know that we're a partner," Obama said. "It also means though we have to continue doing our part here in the United States to reduce demand, and reduce the flow of guns and cash down south."
(Reporting By Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Peter Cooney)
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) ? A 91-year-old former chief of an Islamic party in Bangladesh was sentenced to 90 years in jail on Monday for crimes against humanity during the country's 1971 independence war, angering both supporters who said the trial was politically motivated and opponents who said he should be executed.
A special tribunal of three judges announced the decision against Ghulam Azam in a packed courtroom in Dhaka, the capital. The panel said the former leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party deserved capital punishment, but received a jail sentence instead because of his advanced age and poor health.
Azam was in the dock when the verdict was delivered while protesters outside rallied to demand his execution. Both the defense and the prosecution said they will appeal.
Azam led Jamaat-e-Islami in then-east Pakistan in 1971 when Bangladesh became independent through a bloody war. He is among several Jamaat-e-Islami leaders convicted by a tribunal formed in 2010 by the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to try those accused of collaborating with the Pakistani army in the war.
Bangladesh says the Pakistani army killed 3 million people and raped 200,000 women during the nine-month war, and some 10 million people took shelter across the border in India.
Azam led the party until 2000 and is still considered to be its spiritual leader. Jamaat-e-Islami claims his trial and others were politically motivated, which authorities deny. The party called for a nationwide shutdown after the tribunal announced Sunday it would have the verdict Monday.
Violence has followed previous verdicts, and news outlets including the Daily Star newspaper said at least three Jamaat-e-Islami activists were killed in parts of Bangladesh on Monday. Two were beaten to death by opposition activists in southwestern Kushtia district as they tried to block a road. One was killed in northwestern Chapainawabganj district when paramilitary border guards opened fire after a bomb was thrown at police.
Police clashed with party supporters in parts of Dhaka while party activists set fire to a few vehicles that tried to defy the strike call, the Bengali-language Prothom Alo newspaper reported.
Police fired rubber bullets to disperse an opposition procession in Dhaka's Jatrabari area, and some photographers and cameramen were injured in the chaos, the newspaper said.
The tribunal said Azam was guilty of all 61 charges under five categories: conspiracy, incitement, planning, abetment and failure to prevent killing.
He and his party were accused of forming citizens' brigades to commit genocide and other serious crimes against the pro-independence fighters during the war.
Azam had openly campaigned against the creation of Bangladesh and toured the Middle East to get support in favor of Pakistan. He routinely met with Pakistan authorities during the war. A mouthpiece of the party routinely published statements by Azam and his associates calling for crushing the fighters who fought against the Pakistani military in 1971.
The prosecution in the trial said Azam must take "command responsibility" for months of atrocities perpetrated by his supporters.
Mahbubul Alam Hanif, a leader of the ruling Awami League, said he had expected capital punishment for Azam, but still he was happy that he was finally tried.
The verdict created resentment among the family members of those killed in 1971.
"Our wait for last 42 years has gone in vain. It's extremely frustrating," said Shyamoli Nasrin Chowdhury, the widow of a physician who was killed in 1971. "This verdict has just increased our pain."
Earlier in the morning, Azam was taken to the tribunal from a prison cell in a government hospital, where he was being treated for various complications, amid tight security as his party enforced the nationwide general strike to denounce the verdict.
The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, has criticized the tribunal, saying it is intended to weaken the opposition. Jamaat-e-Islami is the main political ally of Zia's party.
Hasina's government says it had pledged before the 2008 election ? which it won in a landslide ? to prosecute those responsible for war crimes.
June Springer, walks between offices, where she works at Caffi Contracting Services, Friday, July 12, 2013 in Alexandria, Va. Springer who just turned 90, works as a receptionist. People who delay retirement have less risk of developing Alzheimer's disease or other types of dementia, a study of half a million people in France found. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
June Springer, walks between offices, where she works at Caffi Contracting Services, Friday, July 12, 2013 in Alexandria, Va. Springer who just turned 90, works as a receptionist. People who delay retirement have less risk of developing Alzheimer's disease or other types of dementia, a study of half a million people in France found. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
You may be able to help keep your brain in shape, not just the rest of your body. A large study in France suggests that delaying retirement and working until later in life may help prevent dementia.
Some other things the Alzheimer's Association suggests for healthy aging:
?Stay active. Many studies show exercise reduces dementia risk.
?Stay connected ? join a club, travel, volunteer. Social ties boost brain health.
?Eat right. High cholesterol may contribute to stroke and brain cell damage, while dark vegetables and fruits may help protect brain cells.
?Do mentally challenging activities such as word puzzles and other things that stimulate thinking skills.
Canada Rare Earth (CREC) (TSX.V:LL) is moving forward with plans to purchase a 100-acre rare earth refinery site in the United States' pacific north-west region.
CREC announced its intention in May and has now put in a second $50,000 deposit for the property.
The site offers "excellent infrastructure" for a refinery, including readily available power, water and transportation infrastructure, the company stated in a release.?The site?would allow CREC to export rare earths across the continent.
The junior miner has its eyes on additional refinery sites in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and eastern Europe.
The company will continue assessing the viability of the project for another three months at which point it may make a third deposit of $100,000.
The mining firm made slight headway on the junior market on Monday, gaining 14% to trade at four cents.
Creative Commons image by:?Critical Materials Institute
Source: www.nytimes.com --- Sunday, July 14, 2013 The 150 students making up Yale-N.U.S. College's inaugural class were chosen out of 11,400 applicants. ? ? ? ? ...
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The broadcast networks have lost another legal battle against new technology: A federal appeals court has denied a request by 21st Century Fox to stop Dish Network from selling its ad-skipping AutoHop feature.
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Public release date: 19-Jul-2013
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By Michael S. Goldberger,?film critic
Gov. Rick Perry, who touts the state?s standing in the tippy-top tier in job creation and business relocations, has made another national top list. This one is less than laudatory.
Appcelerator, a Mountain View-based startup that helps businesses create and track the performance of mobile apps, just raised another $12.1 million in a round led by EDB Investments from Singapore. One other new investor was The Social Internet Fund while previous investors like Mayfield Fund, Sierra Ventures, Storm Ventures, Relay Ventures, Translink Capital, eBay, and RedHat also participated. It brings Appcelerator’s total funding to more than $63 million. The company is one of the very best-known around in helping big brands build consumer-facing apps and they cater to clients like eBay, Merck, Mitsubishi Electric, ZipCar, PayPal and Ray-Ban. The company will use that funding to build out a bigger presence in Asia with a new regional headquarters in Singapore that will have its own research and development center and a data center. (Hence, that’s why it makes sense to pick a local Singapore-based investment firm like EDB to lead the round.) The company says it will likely hire around 20 employees there, on top of the 150 it has already. They’ll also look at potential acquisitions in addition to scaling up product development, sales and support. The company has grown by about 130 percent year-over-year in sales, and its ecosystem supports more than 480,000 mobile developers and 55,000 apps on 145 million devices. Partners include multinational giants like Germany’s SAP and India’s Wipro. CEO Jeff Haynie, who is on his third venture backed startup with Appcelerator, tells me that the company has seen more revenue in the first six months of this year than it did in the previous one. Appcelerator’s offering has several prongs. They have an open source mobile development environment called Titanium and they have other products that help with the life cycle of the app so that companies can track how their apps are performing with users and manage them across multiple platforms. Their platform can monitor how applications are actually performing and also support them with a mobile-backend-as-a-service product, like with what YC-backed Parse does as part of Facebook. Facebook’s recent deal to buy Parse for north of $85 million including retention creates some competition for the company, although Appcelerator’s offering really doesn’t overlap 100% with Facebook’s products for mobile developers. (Facebook has more of a focus on distribution through products like app install ads, and then of course, they handle identity management through the social graph.) Appcelerator has cross-platform developer tools, analytics, performance testing,