Pebbly rocks testify to old streambed on Mars

May 30, 2013 ? Detailed analysis and review have borne out researchers' initial interpretation of pebble-containing slabs that NASA's Mars rover Curiosity investigated last year: They are part of an ancient streambed.

The rocks are the first ever found on Mars that contain streambed gravels. The sizes and shapes of the gravels embedded in these conglomerate rocks -- from the size of sand particles to the size of golf balls -- enabled researchers to calculate the depth and speed of the water that once flowed at this location.

"We completed more rigorous quantification of the outcrops to characterize the size distribution and roundness of the pebbles and sand that make up these conglomerates," said Rebecca Williams of the Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, Ariz., lead author of a report about them in the journal Science this week. "We ended up with a calculation in the same range as our initial estimate last fall. At a minimum, the stream was flowing at a speed equivalent to a walking pace -- a meter, or three feet, per second -- and it was ankle-deep to hip-deep."

Three pavement-like rocks examined with the telephoto capability of Curiosity's Mast Camera (Mastcam) during the rover's first 40 days on Mars are the basis for the new report. One, "Goulburn," is immediately adjacent to the rover's "Bradbury Landing" touchdown site. The other two, "Link" and "Hottah," are about 165 and 330 feet (50 and 100 meters) to the southeast. Researchers also used the rover's laser-shooting Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument to investigate the Link rock.

"These conglomerates look amazingly like streambed deposits on Earth," Williams said. "Most people are familiar with rounded river pebbles. Maybe you've picked up a smoothed, round rock to skip across the water. Seeing something so familiar on another world is exciting and also gratifying."

The larger pebbles are not distributed evenly in the conglomerate rocks. In Hottah, researchers detected alternating pebble-rich layers and sand layers. This is common in streambed deposits on Earth and provides additional evidence for stream flow on Mars. In addition, many of the pebbles are touching each other, a sign that they rolled along the bed of a stream.

"Our analysis of the amount of rounding of the pebbles provided further information," said Sanjeev Gupta of Imperial College, London, a co-author of the new report. "The rounding indicates sustained flow. It occurs as pebbles hit each other multiple times. This wasn't a one-off flow. It was sustained, certainly more than weeks or months, though we can't say exactly how long."

The stream carried the gravels at least a few miles, or kilometers, the researchers estimated.

The atmosphere of modern Mars is too thin to make a sustained stream flow of water possible, though the planet holds large quantities of water ice. Several types of evidence have indicated that ancient Mars had diverse environments with liquid water. However, none but these rocks found by Curiosity could provide the type of stream flow information published this week. Curiosity's images of conglomerate rocks indicate that atmospheric conditions at Gale Crater once enabled the flow of liquid water on the Martian surface.

During a two-year prime mission, researchers are using Curiosity's 10 science instruments to assess the environmental history in Gale Crater on Mars, where the rover has found evidence of ancient environmental conditions favorable for microbial life.

More information about Curiosity is online at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/msl , http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ .

You can follow the mission on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity .

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/VpzCbd8C5Ps/130530150547.htm

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Syrian rebels need heavy weapons, McCain says

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Syrian rebels battling the forces of President Bashar Assad must receive ammunition and heavy weapons to counter the regime's tanks and aircraft or it will be impossible for them to prevail Sen. John McCain said days after he quietly slipped into Syria to meet with the opposition.

"They just can't fight tanks with AK-47s," McCain said Friday in a telephone interview.

The Republican lawmaker and 2008 presidential candidate made an unannounced visit to Syria on Monday, traveling across the border near Kilis, Turkey, and spending about two hours meeting with rebel leaders. McCain has been one of the most vocal lawmakers demanding aggressive U.S. military action in the 2-year-old Syrian civil war, calling for establishment of a no-fly zone and arming the rebels.

The Obama administration has been reluctant to provide weapons to the disparate opposition, fearing that they will fall into the wrong hands in a volatile region. McCain said he discussed what types of weapons the rebels need and whether they could ensure their control.

"I'm confident that they could get the weapons into the right hands and there's no doubt that they need some kind of capability to reverse the battlefield situation, which right now is in favor of Assad," McCain said.

McCain, a member of the Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, was the first U.S. senator to travel to Syria since the civil war began more than two years ago. He said he worked with Deputy Secretary of State William Burns in arranging the trip.

McCain said he spoke with Secretary of State John Kerry "a couple of times. It wasn't that I was hiding it from him; it just didn't seem to come up. I thought Burns was the right guy to go through. They were very important in the trip. We couldn't have done it without their cooperation."

Gen. Salim Idris, chief of the Supreme Military Council of the Free Syrian Army, accompanied McCain and they met with 19 battalion commanders.

Citing the photo of McCain's meeting, a Lebanese newspaper has reported that McCain unwittingly crossed paths with two men connected to a rebel group responsible for the kidnapping of 11 Lebanese Shiite pilgrims in 2012. McCain said one of the men he reportedly met with is dead and no one in his meeting was identified as the other.

"The people I met with and talked to directly were well-vetted. Their names and their duties were outlined to me. They came from all over Syria," he said.

Two years of violence in Syria have killed more than 70,000 people, according to the United Nations. President Barack Obama has demanded that Assad give up power, while Russia has stood by Syria, its closest ally in the Arab world. Russian officials have said they will support anti-aircraft systems to Syria, and Assad suggested on Thursday that he had received the first shipment.

The United States and Russia are trying to get the Syrian government and opposition forces into peace negotiations. Those talks, initially planned for Geneva next month, have been delayed until July at the earliest.

"It's hard to imagine Bashar Assad negotiating his departure when he has the upper hand on the battlefield," McCain said. "I'm all for a conference, but I think that conference should take place when Bashar Assad knows that he is doomed to defeat if he doesn't negotiate."

Last week, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted to provide weapons to rebels in Syria, as well as military training to vetted rebel groups and sanctions against anyone who sells oil or transfers arms to the Assad regime.

The European Union decided late Monday to lift the arms embargo on the Syrian opposition while maintaining all other sanctions against Assad's regime after June 1, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mccain-syrian-rebels-heavy-weapons-190000613.html

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Colorado Wine Press: Colorado Wine Week, 2013

Next week (June 2-8) marks the third annual Colorado Wine Week. In 2011, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper proclaimed the first week of June to be Colorado Wine Week to coincide with the first ever Colorado Urban Winefest. Both the Urban and Mountain Winefest (in September in Palisade) are put on by the Colorado Association for Viticulture and Enology (the wineries' and vineyards' trade association). The Urban event has changed venues three times the past three years, but has also grown in scope beyond just the Saturday afternoon festival and may soon surpass the original festival in importance for the local industry.

The kickoff event for the week's festivities is billed as a "Farm-to-Turntable" Party on Sunday, June 2. The idea behind this event is to combine a farm-to-table passed appetizer gathering with music from a DJ. It is nice to see a fresh approach for Colorado wineries to reach a different audience. Almost all of the wineries are run by retired Baby Boomers and the younger generation is often overlooked as an important consumer base. Not surprisingly, perhaps Colorado's most successful winery, Infinite Monkey Theorem, has focused on the "farm-to-turntable" type of crowd. I am looking forward to seeing how successful this event is.

Sticking with the hipper crowd and bringing back a theme from last year's Wine Week, local alcoholic beverages other than wine will be celebrated as well. There will be a Colorado Cocktail Celebration (June 4) at Green Russell where Denver's top mixologists will use local wines in creating unique mixed drinks. Also, on June 6, organizers have developed a wine, beer and spirits food pairing competition they've dubbed "Craft Colorado" at Root 25 Taphouse & Kitchen. I think it is an important step for the industry be considered on the same level as the highly successful craft breweries and distillers in Colorado. Too often wineries complain that they're not as successful as the breweries instead of trying to place nicely with them and support everyone.

One of the highlights of the week for me (because I helped organize the Governor's Cup) is the Governor's Cup Awards Presentation Reception and Tasting at the Hospitality Learning Center at Metro State University on June 7. Only medal-winning wines from the competition will be allowed to be poured; so attendees won't have to worry about getting a mouthful of vinegar or horse manure. I was able to taste many of the winners during the competition and can say that there will be some really nice wines poured. And for the second year in a row a cabernet franc won best of show. This year, Creekside Cellar's 2010 Cabernet Franc succeeded the Winery at Holy Cross Abbey as earning the Governor's Cup. As I've said before, I think Colorado could really make cabernet franc its signature variety.

The week concludes with the Urban Winefest breaking in its new digs at Infinity Park in Glendale. More than three dozen wineries will be sampling and selling bottles. The rugby stadium and park are near the high-rent Cherry Creek North so the walk-up crowd should be sizeable and affluent. The venue is not as centrally located as last year's, but the space is bigger and parking is more ample. If the festival stays at Infinity Park in 2014 I'd say this year's event was successful.

Perhaps the most important part of Wine Week isn't the proclamation or the events, but the buy-in from area restaurants and retailers. Along the Front Range, from Boulder to Colorado Springs, restaurants and wine shops are now involved in the local industry like never before. Dozens of restaurants will be offering Colorado wine and appetizer pairings all week. The restaurant tier has been a tough cookie for most Colorado wineries to crack, but Wine Week has been a boon for getting on wine lists and in consumers' mouths. And getting Colorado consumers to see that Colorado has a growing, quality local wine industry is the goal of the whole week.

Tickets for all events can be purchased here. Use the promo code "WINEWEEK" for $10 off (25%) your ticket to the Urban Winefest.

Source: http://www.coloradowinepress.com/2013/05/colorado-wine-week-2013.html

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Create True Prosperity in Your Life Even In a Down Economy

HJ: First and foremost, prosperity is a mindset. ?The biggest stumbling block for most people is continually searching outside themselves for prosperity. ?In this situation, one is constantly at the behest of external factors which are not under their control (at least as they perceive it), such as the state of the economy. ?This will make one feel powerless and have them chasing fleeting opportunity instead of attracting it to themselves by their very nature. ?One must look inward and discover why there is a lack of?prosperity?in ones life ? or rather, why there is a perceived lack of prosperity, for indeed no such state exists outside the mind of man, as James Allen points out below.

This may sound very esoteric and abstract to some. ?It is absolutely practical, but it requires one to begin the process of self-inquiry ? in laymans terms, to get real with themselves? to examine the contents of their own mind ? their beliefs, mental patterns, world view and whatever else shapes their perception of reality. ?Quite frankly, most of us have picked up quite a bit of ?cultural garbage? (beliefs and mental programming( along the way and have never sorted through and discarded what does not serve our highest good. ?This is the first step towards true propserity and often times this alone is enough to get people on an abundant path that keeps giving and giving for an entire lifetime. ?Frequently there is just one or two limiting beliefs that are keeping us from accessing the natural abundance that is our birth right and that we can attract to us, at will, from within. ?Once we begin the process of eliminating and replacing these limiting beliefs with expansive, prosperity-affirming patterning, we can begin to see true abundance pouring into our life in every aspect ? finances,?relationships, health and so on.

For anyone interested in learning the mechanics of how this works and how to use it to create the life of your dreams, I highly suggest the book The Nature of Personal Reality by Seth/Jane Roberts. ?It is a gem for those who truly want the best in life.

- Truth

By James Allen

?

It is granted only to the heart that abounds with integrity, trust, generosity and love to realise true prosperity. The heart that is not possessed of these qualities cannot know prosperity, for prosperity is not an outward possession, but an inward realisation.

Nature Gives All

The greedy man may become a millionaire, but he will always be wretched, and mean, and poor, and will even consider himself outwardly poor so long as there is a man in the world who is richer than himself, whilst the upright, the open-handed and loving will realise a full and rich prosperity, even though their outward possessions may be small?

When we contemplate the fact that the universe is abounding in all good things, material as well as spiritual, and compare it with man?s blind eagerness to secure a few gold coins, or a few acres of dirt, it is then that we realise how dark and ignorant selfishness is; it is then that we know that self-seeking is self-destruction.

Nature gives all, without reservation, and loses nothing; man, grasping all, loses everything. If you would realise true prosperity, do not settle down, as many have done, into the belief that if you do right, everything will go wrong. Do not allow the word ?competition? to shake your faith in the supremacy of righteousness.

I care not what men may say about the ?laws of competition?, for do I not know the unchangeable Law, which shall one day put them all to rout, and which puts them to rout even now in the heart and life of the righteous man? And knowing this Law I can contemplate all dishonesty with undisturbed repose, for I know where certain destruction awaits it. Under all circumstances, do that which you believe to be right, and trust the Law; trust the Divine Power, and it will never desert you, and you will always be protected

By such a trust, all your losses will be converted into gains, and all curses which threaten will be transmuted into blessings. Never let go of integrity, generosity, and love, for these, coupled with energy, will lift you into the truly prosperous state.

Do not believe the world when it tells you that you must always attend to ?number one? first, and to others afterwards?. To consider one?s self before all others is to cramp and warp and hinder every noble and divine impulse.

Let your soul expand, let your heart reach out to others in loving and generous warmth, and great and lasting will be your joy, and all prosperity will come to you. Those who have wandered from the highway of righteousness guard themselves against competition; those who always pursue the right need not to trouble about such defence. This is no empty statement. There are men who, by the power of integrity and faith, have defied all competition, and who, without swerving in the least from their methods, when competed with, have risen steadily into prosperity, whilst those who tried to undermine them have fallen back defeated.

Be Doubly Protected

To possess those inward qualities which constitute goodness is to be armoured against all the powers of evil, and to be doubly protected in every time of trial; and to build oneself up in those qualities is to build up a success which cannot be shaken, and to enter into a prosperity which will endure forever. The Path To Prosperity, Sterling Paperbacks

Source: http://www.thehealersjournal.com/2013/05/29/how-to-create-true-prosperity-no-matter-what-the-economy-is-doing/

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Planetary Resources opens up space telescope project to Kickstarter drive

Planetary Resources

Planetary Resources' Arkyd Series 100 spacecraft is also known as the Leo space telescope.

By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

Long before it gets into asteroid mining, Planetary Resources plans to let its supporters use the company's first Arkyd-100 space telescope to make astronomical discoveries or just take orbital "selfies" ? as long as they come up with at least $1 million in Kickstarter pledges.

"If we're successful, we'll go off and create the material we need to do this public activity and make it happen," the venture's president and chief engineer, Chris Lewicki, told NBC News.

The crowdfunding campaign was launched Wednesday at Seattle's Museum of Flight, not far from Planetary Resources' headquarters in suburban Bellevue. Like other Kickstarter projects, this one offers a range of pledge levels, starting at $10 and going up to $10,000.

For $25, you're promised a "space selfie": You can have an image of your choosing displayed on a screen that's installed on the Arkyd-100, and a camera will capture an image of that image with Earth in the background ? then send it back down to you.

For $99, you get the selfie, and you also get to sponsor five minutes of telescope time for students and scientists. For $150, you get to point the telescope yourself, for 30 minutes of exposure time. Higher pledge levels carry the promise of cooler goodies (Your video in space! A whole classroom's worth of telescope observations! Tours! Spacecraft models!).

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2c9419f4/l/0Lcosmiclog0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A50C290C18569610A0Eplanetary0Eresources0Eopens0Eup0Espace0Etelescope0Eproject0Eto0Ekickstarter0Edrive0Dlite/story01.htm

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Funding daily roundup: Games, tunes, e-commerce, call centers ...

Today was a big money day for startup funding ? and post-startup growth-stage and late-stage fund funding.

Online radio startup TuneIn closed $25M round of?funding

TuneIn, the terrestrial streaming radio service, has closed a new $25 million round of funding, the company announced today.

TuneIn aggregates over 70,000 live radio stations (that are available to stream online) and 2 million on-demand audio programs (podcasts, concerts, interviews, etc.) under one web service.

Insight Venture Partners raised a huge $2.57B fund

The firm announced today that it has raised a whopping new $2.57 billion fund (Insight Venture Partners VIII)?dedicated to investments in e-commerce, software, Internet, and data services businesses.

The New York-based firm says existing investors accounted for the majority of the new fund?s capital.

Moogsoft raised a $7 million series A

Moogsoft, an agile service management software company, announced a $7 million Series A funding round led by Redpoint Ventures.

Moogsoft?s software automatically identifies the existence of IT incidents, orchestrates stakeholder responses, and captures the resolution knowledge. Interestingly, it requires no rules, no business logic or models, and no learned patterns to administer and maintain.

Numecent raises $13.6 million

Cloud startup?Numecent?has raised $13.6 million in a new round of funding from?T-Venture, the venture arm of telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom.

Numecent is trying to reshape software distribution by making it far easier to deliver bits over the Internet, as they are needed, in real time.

Cloud call center biz Five9 hooks $34.5M

Cloud-based call center software maker?Five9?has raised $34.5 million in new funding to help it take on legacy software makers that still own 95 percent of the market.

Five9 helps its customers transition from call center software that?s on-premise to its software in the cloud.

ADLY raises $2 million in additional funding

Social advertising company Adly raised $2 million in additional funding from GRP Partners and Siemer Ventures.

Adly combines brand analytics with social media to reach targeted audience segments. The company has established relationships with more than 75,000 influencers and celebrities, who then can be matched to relevant brands.

Image credit: Cash/ShutterStock

Source: http://venturebeat.com/2013/05/29/funding-daily-roundup-games-tunes-e-commerce-call-centers-and-ads/

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What Michele Bachmann Taught Women About Running for President

For a while there in 2011, or at least for a few minutes that August, Michele Bachmann was a real contender for the Republican presidential nomination. The race she ran offers several lessons for women who may be thinking of making a White House bid.

The most disconcerting aspect of Bachmann's campaign, from my standpoint, was her explicit embrace of the biblical instruction that wives submit to their husbands. She didn't say that during her presidential campaign, true, but she did at a public church service during one of her congressional campaigns, and the proof is on video.

Her remarks may have been what one analyst described to me as "religious boilerplate," meant to reassure Christian conservatives about her faith, and maybe they did serve that purpose. But the clashing images of the submissive wife and commander in chief are problematic--in fact, irreconcilable. They are also, of course, deeply reinforcing of a stereotype of women as followers or collaborators, rather than leaders of a state, a nation, or the free world.

The lesson here is not that candidates need to abandon their faiths or beliefs, just that it's better to keep such matters private. This may be especially true if you are a conservative Christian woman running for what is widely viewed as the most powerful job in the world.

Bachmann certainly did not lack aggressive instincts or awareness that a female candidate for president needs to prove she's tough. She more than demonstrated her willingness to attack President Obama and her fellow Republican contenders. But she overdid it. Although fact-checkers frequently deemed her policy assertions false or exaggerated, that did not stop her from repeating them. Sometimes in the repetition she went even further afield from facts, as when she suggested HPV virus caused mental retardation.

Rather than underscoring Bachmann's strength or fearlessness, the off-base attacks and contentions undermined her credibility as a serious candidate. There are other ways for women to prove they are tough. Hillary Rodham Clinton conveyed it through resilience, persistence, and performance in office over many years. If there's a profile around that doesn't call her tough at least once, I haven't seen it.

There were some female-oriented aspects of Bachmann's campaign that were beyond her control. One was the news that she suffered from migraines. This is a largely feminine complaint, and one that can be temporarily incapacitating. There was probably no great way to handle the uproar of speculation: How bad were they? How long did they last? How often did they occur? Was this a disqualifier for the presidency? Yes, that last question did get asked.

Back when John F. Kennedy was taking multiple prescriptions for multiple afflictions, the public was largely in the dark and nobody was suggesting he was medically incapable of being president. In this day and age, by contrast, it's not hard to imagine a public debate about the impact of menopause on a candidate. (Not that I'm in a hurry to kick off that discussion, believe me.) The sad truth is that women candidates are better off if their health problems, should they have any, are common to both genders. Again, Hillary Clinton. A stomach virus, a concussion, a blood clot--these are not "women's problems."

One final lesson that Bachmann demonstrated during her brief presidential campaign. It takes a lot of time and money for women to look good on TV and on the campaign trail, and it is worth that time and money. It's not fair, obviously. Male candidates don't have to do much beyond showering, shaving, and throwing on a nondescript suit. Women have to deal with hair, makeup, and complicated wardrobe choices (they seem complicated to me, at least).

But Bachmann--pilloried for a bad makeup day on TV at a CNN debate--usually looked like a consummate political professional, with a bit of rock-star celebrity thrown in. Her debate clothing offered stylish reprieves on stages full of men. On the trail, her look was amplified by the stagecraft of her campaign bus and music, and the crowds loved the whole scene.

Inevitably, Bachmann took criticism for spending too much on her appearance. And maybe she did go overboard. But she also took hits for looking bad. It's not easy to strike that balance, and there will be gossipy punditry no matter what. Hillary Clinton paved the way here, too, with her short, blonde, no-nonsense hairstyle on the 2008 campaign trail, preceded and succeeded by every imaginable way of wearing hair and every imaginable opinion on it.

There's no escape. The answer for women, in my book: Spend what you must to look good, ignore the noise, and build a fact-based case for why you deserve the top job and those other guys don't.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/michele-bachmann-taught-women-running-president-105816618.html

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Comcast's X1 remote app gains voice commands on iOS, Android update in the works

A little added interactiveness with living room essentials goes a long way. With that in mind, Comcast today announced it's boosting its iOS X1 remote control with newly minted voice commands, something the company's been working on since earlier this year. Xfinity TV subscribers using the X1 platform will now be able to search for content by (quietly) shouting different vocal orders at the application, including, but not limited to, things like "Record," "Watch Gossip Girl" or "Find the Yankees game." While the new feature is only available on iOS at the moment, Comcast says its devs and engineers are "also working on voice control features for Android phones and for traditional remote controls." The X1 app update doesn't appear to be live just yet, but be sure to keep an eye on the App Store as it should be arriving pretty soon.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Software, HD

Comments

Source: App Store

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

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Report: Plans for Australia spy HQ hacked by China

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) ? Australian officials on Tuesday refused to confirm or deny whether Chinese hackers had stolen the blueprints of a new spy agency headquarters as a news report claims. A tiny party essential to the ruling coalition's government demanded an inquiry into how much damage may have been done.

Australian Broadcasting Corp. television reported on Monday night that the plans for the 630 million Australian dollar ($608 million) Australian Security Intelligence Organization building had been stolen through a cyberattack on a building contractor. Blueprints that included details such as communications cabling, server locations and security systems had been traced to a Chinese server, the network reported.

Des Ball, an Australian National University cybersecurity expert, said China could use the blueprints to bug the building, which is nearing completion in Canberra, the capital, after lengthy construction delays.

Ball told the ABC that given the breach, ASIO would either have to operate with "utmost sensitivity" within its own building or simply "rip the whole insides out and ... start again."

Attorney General Mark Dreyfus, the minister in charge of the spy agency, on Tuesday refused to confirm or deny the report, citing a longstanding government policy of declining to comment on security matters.

He later said the lakeside glass and concrete structure did not need to be redesigned, and that ASIO will move in this year.

"This building is a very secure, state-of-the-art facility," said Dreyfus, adding that the ABC report contained "unsubstantiated allegations."

"I'm not going to comment on operational matters involving the Australian Security Intelligence Organization or any security matters," he said.

Questioned about the alleged security breach in Parliament, Prime Minister Julia Gillard described the ABC report as "inaccurate" but refused to go into detail.

The minor Greens party, which the center-left Labor Party relies on to maintain its minority government, has demanded an inquiry into the future of the troubled building, which has been plagued by cost blowouts from an original budget of AU$460 million.

"It is time that we had an independent inquiry into the whole sorry history of the ASIO building and the extent to which the current hacking has compromised its capacity to ever be the building and serve the purpose for which it was intended," Greens leader Christine Milne told reporters.

She said no more money should be spent on the building until an inquiry was held into the truth of the hacking allegation and the extent of the alleged security compromise.

The alleged hacking would appear to be "an extremely serious breach" to Australia's intelligence-sharing allies, including the United States, Milne said.

Dreyfus didn't immediately respond to the Greens' call for an inquiry.

ASIO, Australia's main spy agency, has grown rapidly since the al-Qaida attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, and is constructing its new headquarters to house its growing staff. Staff numbers have trebled to almost 1,800 in a decade.

Tobias Feakin, a national security analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said that if a security breach has occurred, it could affect intelligence sharing with allies including the United States.

"There is no doubt that instances like this, if proved true, create a period of difficulty," Feakin said. "But one thing that would happen is that there would be mutual assistance provided to be able to plug that gap and no intelligence agency could possibly allow that kind of breach to continue."

Foreign Minister Bob Carr refused to discuss the allegations but said the claims do not jeopardize Australia's ties with its most important trading partner, China.

"It's got absolutely no implications for a strategic partnership," Carr said. "We have enormous areas of cooperation with China."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/report-plans-australia-spy-hq-hacked-china-061636428.html

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Paris Vacation Rentals In Paris To Consider - ArticleSnatch.com

It would be a wonderful idea to visit Paris. Vacation rental in Paris is something that you need to focus for its holiday flat and beautiful bedrooms.
Paris vacation rentals are perfect for your budget and by booking you can have a good stay in the heart of the city. As you all know that this city has its own personal touch. If you have planned to visit with your friends and family, you need a good place to experience the attraction of Paris. There are good numbers of eco-friendly spots to make you mesmerized.

Bois de Boulogne and the Jardin d'Acclimatation are the best places to spend with your kids. Park Andr Citron is another great place to offer you joy and happiness. Paris' Opra is also a good place that you should consider. The Haussmann Street is perfect for people who love shopping. The nightlife of Paris attracts lots of travelers from all around the world; especially for cafes, nightclubs, bars, striptease clubs and others. Many travelers look upon Paris as the city of Romance and unique for dating.

If you are in such mood, then Paris vacation rentals in Montmartre would be perfect. Pont des Arts is the next spot for romance and perfect for spending a nice time. Vacation Rental in Paris is good for business travelers who are on a business trip. The 15th and 16th districts are just the thing for short-term rental apartments.

For an affordable travel, you should consider neighborhood that choosing the main central place. The 10th district is the ideal place for booking a vacation rental, as here you will get mix cultural life style. Pick the best vacation rentals at 10th to the 20th district. Do good amount of research before choosing a holiday flat in Paris. Remember, there are good numbers of alternatives waiting for you.

Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Paris-Vacation-Rentals-In-Paris-To-Consider/4813097

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The Visual Effects Behind Iron Man's HUD in Iron Man 3

Iron Man's HUD has always been one of the cooler details in any sci-fi movie. The way it pops up, the way it shields the face, the way it works?it's fantastically unreal and yet completely believable. And the beauty is in its impressive details.

John Likens posted this video breaking down the visual effects of the HUD. Created by Cantina Creative, the HUD was generated and rendered from CINEMA 4D. Likens writes:

Marvel tasked us with designing all the elaborate 3D head-up displays (HUDs) ? a virtual graphical interface that Iron Man sees from within the helmet environment of his armored suits that communicate essential data and statistics ranging from his physical condition to weapon and navigational diagnostics ? While putting strong emphasis on the new ultra-high-tech Mark 42 suit, we also delivered upgraded HUDs to match the new suits seen in the film. It was great fun.

Like Google Glass but way cooler. [John Likens]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/the-visual-effects-behind-iron-mans-hud-in-iron-man-3-510227528

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Album review: Champion, ?1 - Montreal Gazette

Champion

?1

Bonsound

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

MONTREAL - It?s been a long and winding road for Maxime Morin. After growing up playing rock guitar, graduating to techno as Mad Max and working a successful sideline in ad jingles with his pal Beno?t Charest, the Montreal DJ was reborn as Champion with his 2004 debut Chill ?em All.

A mix of house beats, layered guitar samples (which he recorded himself) and deep soul vocals, the album came alive on stage with his five-guitar party band the G-Strings. Going to a Champion show was like going to carnival. Crowds would jump up and down to the band?s irrepressibly festive club tunes, led by giddy master of ceremonies Champion on electronics and his showstopping vocalist, Betty Bonifassi.

With Bonifassi?s departure and the addition of male singer Pilou, Champion?s 2009 followup, Resistance, took a turn toward rock ? think AC/DC with thumping club beats. While still a good time, it didn?t have quite the same magic as Chill ?em All. You could feel the effort.

Then in 2010, Champion was diagnosed with lymphoma. The music stopped, he fought, and won.

And now he?s back for more. Champion appears to be both returning to the source and venturing into uncharted territory with ?1. Like Chill ?em All, this is an album of arresting subtlety and entrancing grooves. What?s new is an audacious foray into the world of classical music.

It begins with the meditative 40 #@%&!, presumably a reference to a milestone birthday, but the music is no joke. Piano, horns and strings combine for a breathtaking statement of purpose. Pilou emerges on Requiem Dem, his voice quivering, ?I could be dead, and maybe loving it / But I?m alive so I can shine,? accompanied by a gently soaring clarinet line. Around the two-minute mark, strings and a trip-hop beat kick in and the song builds to a frenzy before fading to black.

The rebirth theme returns on Every New Now, as guest Fabrizia di Fruscia adds syncopated rhymes about heaven and hell over dramatic strings, percolating guitars and an insistent rhythm.

One of the album?s prettiest moments comes on Dat Train, a dubby outing involving atmospheric guitars and a bobbing bass line.

Almost every song tries something new, and most of it works. A Dog and a Goat is carried by a clarion call on French horn (offset by a murky beat). Half a Mile is a bluesy outing that is almost out of place, but not quite. Champion is testing the boundaries of his play pen, and they are broad.

Virginie is a hypnotic piano reflection; L?envol du ciel has a gentle string arrangement underscored by erratic electro rumbles and culminating in Psycho-style string stabs; and a closing trio of tunes brings the groove back.

Champion has fun with four bonus tracks, on which he sings and strums up mischief. He sums it up on the last song, ?359 ? Nothin? Nothin?, singing ?nothin? nothin? I can?t try? with punk-tinged attitude.

The proof is in the puddin?.

Podworthy: Virginie

Champion and His G-Strings perform with the I Musici orchestra July 6 at 7:30 p.m. at Salle Wilfrid Pelletier of Place des Arts, as part of the Montreal International Jazz Festival. Tickets cost $64.50. Call 514-842-2112 or visit pda.qc.ca.

Source: http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/music/Album+review+Champion/8440296/story.html

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How Republicans could win back the Senate in 2014 (Washington Post)

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US intelligence embraces debate in security issues (The Arizona Republic)

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Owners should attend to ugly online reviews, not melt down | The ...

(AP Photo/Matt York) After a particularly ugly TV experience and negative online reviews, the owners of Amy's Baking Co. in Scottsdale, Ariz., allegedly cursed out critics on their Facebook page.

Social media ? Businesses? calm, focused response to posts key to winning back customers, experts say.

Scottsdale, Ariz. ? It was the customer service disaster heard around the Internet.

An Arizona restaurateur, fed up after years of negative online reviews and an embarrassing appearance on a reality television show, allegedly posted a social media rant laced with salty language and angry, uppercase letters that quickly went viral last week, to the delight of people who love a good Internet meltdown.

?

The art of staying cool

No matter how bad the reviews get, experts say businesses need to be willing to admit mistakes and offer discounts to assuage skeptical customers. Still, they acknowledge, the wave of digital feedback can be especially challenging for small businesses with small staffs.

"I AM NOT STUPID ALL OF YOU ARE," read the posting on the Facebook wall of Amy?s Baking Co. in Scottsdale, Ariz. "YOU JUST DO NOT KNOW GOOD FOOD."

It was, to put it kindly, not a best business practice. Add to that an appearance earlier this month on the Fox reality TV show "Kitchen Nightmares" ? where celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay gave up on trying to reform the restaurant after the owners refused to listen to his advice ? and you have a recipe for disaster.

"That?s probably the worst thing that can happen," said Sujan Patel, founder and CEO of Single Grain, a digital marketing agency in San Francisco.

In the evolving world of online marketing, where the power of word of mouth has been wildly amplified by the whims and first impressions of anonymous reviewers posting on dozens of social media websites, online comments, both good and bad, and the reactions they trigger from managers, can make all the difference between higher revenues and empty storefronts.

Hotels, restaurants and other businesses that depend on good customer service reviews have all grappled in recent years with how to respond to online feedback on sites such as Twitter, TripAdvisor, Foursquare, Yelp, Facebook and Instagram, where comments can often be more vitriol than in-person reviews because of the anonymous shield many social media websites provide.

No matter how ugly the reviews get, businesses need to be willing to acknowledge mistakes and offer discounts to lure unhappy customers back, digital marketing experts said.

"In the past, people just sent bad soup back. Well, now they are getting on social media and telling all their friends and friends of friends how bad the soup was and why they should find other places to get soup in the future, so it takes the customer experience to another level," said Tom Garrity of the Garrity Group, a public relations firm in New Mexico.

"The challenge becomes ? how do you respond when someone doesn?t think your food or product is as great as you think it is?"

story continues below

Fighting back ? In Amy and Samy Bouzaglo?s case, the bad reviews were compounded by their reality TV experience. The couple said during a recent episode of "Kitchen Nightmares" that they needed professional guidance after years of battling terrible online reviews. They opened the pizzeria about six years ago.

"Kitchen Nightmares" follows Ramsay as he helps rebuild struggling restaurants. After one bite, he quickly deemed Amy?s Baking Co. a disaster and chided the Bouzaglos for growing increasingly irate over his constructive feedback. Among his many critiques: The store-bought ravioli smelled "weird," a salmon burger was overcooked and a fig pizza was too sweet and arrived on raw dough.

"You need thick skin in this business," Ramsay said before walking out. It was the first time he wasn?t able to save a business, according to the show.

Amy?s Baking Co. temporarily closed last week after the episode aired. A Bouzaglo spokesman said the couple wasn?t available for an interview. The restaurant?s answering machine was full. Emails and Facebook messages were not returned.

A wall post published last week claimed the restaurant?s Facebook, Yelp and Twitter accounts had been hacked, but hundreds of commenters expressed doubt. Social media sites show someone posting as a member of the Bouzaglo family had been insulting customers over negative reviews since at least 2010.

The story bounced across the Internet, generating thousands of comments on Facebook, Yelp and Twitter, and prompting nearly 36,000 people to sign a petition on Change.org that asks the Department of Labor to look into the Bouzaglo?s practice of pocketing their servers? tips.

Although many corporations hire communications experts to respond to every tweet, Facebook message and online review, the wave of digital feedback can be especially challenging for small businesses with small staffs, digital consultants said.

For one thing, there is so much online content to wade through. Roughly 60 percent of all adults get information about local businesses from search engines and entertainment websites such as Yelp or TripAdvisor, according to a 2011 study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

"Customer service is a spectator sport now," said Jay Baer, president of Convince & Convert, a social media marketing consultancy in Indiana. "It?s not about making that customer happy on Yelp. That?s the big misunderstanding of Yelp. It?s about the hundreds of thousands of people who are looking on to see how you handle it. It?s those ripples that make social media so important."

In their "Kitchen Nightmares" episode, Amy and Samy Bouzaglo are seen yelling and cursing at customers inquiring about undercooked food or long delays. They blame online bullies.

Next Page >

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/money/56355416-79/reviews-businesses-online-amy.html.csp

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A Working Apple I Computer Just Sold For $671,400 at Auction

The Apple 1 is a little piece of history, the first in a lineage that's taken the world by storm since its birth in 1976. And that piece of history is worth a lot. An anonymous collector just picked up a still functioning(!) one of the suckers at auction for a cool $671,400. And you thought gaming PCs were expensive.

The recent sale?which just closed today?beats out a record of $640,000 that was set in the same Cologne, Germany auction house just last year, and a record of $374,500 just a few months before that; these have got to be some of the few electronics that are going up in value as they age.

Not much is known about the purchaser except that he/she is "a wealthy entrepreneur from the Far East" according to the New York Times. I'll bet you wish you had that much cash to throw down on a seriously antiquated piece of hardware. And though it might be a bit of an increase over the machines initial $666.66 launch-price (some $2,700 in current-day dollars), it's priceless in its own way. But most of us would probably just be better off with an iPad. [The New York Times]

Update: According to the Associated Press the price was $668,000. Either way, a whole hell of a lot.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/a-working-apple-i-just-sold-for-671-400-at-auction-509854116

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Real Risks at Amusement Park Not Rollercoasters, Study Finds

May to September is prime time for fun at the amusement park. From frightening news reports to personal YouTube videos, there is no shortage of amusement-ride scares. But a new study has found that it's not always the biggest and fastest rides we should fear.

Smaller ones, which parents might not consider as dangerous, contribute to injuries of more than 4,000 U.S. children each year.

Destiny Malone was just eight when she broke her arm by reaching out while riding a seemingly innocuous kiddie roller coaster.

"When I took her to the emergency room, that's when I found out it was broken," her mother, Crystal Malone, said.

The study, in the journal Clinical Pediatrics, tracked injuries on all kinds of rides: 4,400 per year -- up to 20 a day. When researchers looked at emergency records on which the type of ride was recorded, roller coasters accounted for 10.1 percent, bumper cars 3.9 percent.

But carousels accounted for 20.9 percent -- which might explain why one third of kids injured were five or younger.

The most common kind of accident was falling.

Industry advocates told ABC News that safety is their top priority, and pointed out that injuries among the nearly 300 million riders at their parks are rare. Less than two percent of these injuries required a trip to the hospital, they added.

The best advice may be to take seriously the warnings and instructions on the rides. And if your child may not be able to heed them for any reason, get ice cream instead.

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/real-risks-amusement-park-not-rollercoasters-study-finds-033021487.html

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Chile's Indians take on world's largest gold miner

EL CORRAL, Chile (AP) ? The Diaguita Indians live in the foothills of the Andes, just downstream from the world's highest gold mine, where for as long as anyone can remember they've drunk straight from the glacier-fed river that irrigates their orchards and vineyards with its clear water.

Then thousands of mine workers and their huge machines moved in, building a road alongside the river that reaches all the way up to Pascua-Lama, a gold mine being built along both sides of the Chile-Argentine border at a lung-busting 16,400-feet (5,000 meters) above sea level.

The crews moved mountaintops in preparation for 25 years of gold and silver production, breaking rocks and allowing mineral acids that include arsenic, aluminum and sulfates to flow into the headwaters feeding Atacama desert communities down below.

River levels dropped, the water is murky in places and the Indians now complain of cancerous growths and aching stomachs. There's no way to prove or disprove it, but villagers are convinced Barrick Gold Corp. is to blame for their health problems.

"We don't know how much contamination the fruit and vegetables we eat may have," complained Diaguita leader Yovana Paredes Paez. "They're drying up the river, our farms aren't the same. The animals are dying of hunger. Now there's no cheese or meat. It's changed completely."

Acting independently, Chile's newly empowered environmental regulator on Friday confirmed nearly two dozen violations of Barrick's environmental impact agreement, blocking construction on the $8.5 billion project until the Canadian company keeps its promises to prevent water contamination.

The Environmental Superintendent, Juan Carlos Monckeberg, also fined Barrick $16.4 million, the highest environmental fine in Chile's history, saying agency inspectors found the company hadn't told the full truth when it reported failures.

"We found that the acts described weren't correct, truthful or provable. And there were other failures of Pascua-Lama's environmental permit as well," Monckeberg said.

Barrick promised $30 million in fixes and said it remains committed to meeting the highest standards and causing no pollution. But Chile seems determined to minimize the dangers of digging huge pits and processing ore with toxic chemicals along the spine of the Andes, causing delays that threaten the future of this top priority for the world's largest gold-mining company.

"We're profoundly sorry that Pascua-Lama has suffered obstacles in its construction and we'll make our best efforts to get back on track and meet the conditions stipulated in the approved project," Eduardo Flores Zelaya, president of Barrick Sudamerica, said Friday. "We are respectful of the institutions in the countries where we operate, and as a consequence we will follow the resolution."

Monckeberg said Barrick caused permanent damage by failing to properly construct a diversionary canal, triggering a rockfall that covered a field down below with waste rock.

"I don't believe there's any way of repairing it," he told a news conference in Santiago.

Barrick had hoped to begin production in early 2014, and warned shareholders that it might abandon Pascua, the Chilean side, if construction delays keep the mine from opening this year.

Argentine authorities, meanwhile, have insisted that Lama will proceed with or without Chile, taking advantage of nearby infrastructure used for Barrick's Veladero mine, which produces ore just downhill.

Together, the two projects employ thousands of workers, fuel a third of the provincial San Juan economy, and promise millions in revenue for a country sorely in need of hard currency. But more than 70 percent of Pascua-Lama's 18 million ounces of gold and 676 million ounces of silver are on the Chilean side. The plan has been to extract it from huge open pits and carry it through a tunnel for processing in Argentina.

Rockfalls are just one of the threats to building anything in the high Andes, where gale-force winds have coated glaciers with construction dust for miles around and groundwater expands and contracts with each freeze and thaw. To refine ore into gold bullion, the company must transport thousands of tons of cyanide, mercury and other toxic chemicals to the mountaintop.

Once the precious metals are gone, Chile will be left with huge rock piles and Argentina with toxic waste that must be contained for generations to come on ever-moving slopes between melting glaciers and snowy peaks.

"I'm so angry at this company," said Meri del Rosario, 42, of El Corral, Chile. She has thyroid cancer; two cysts were removed from her throat last year. She blames water pollution from Pascua-Lama.

"If they keep working the valley will end up completely dry, and we'll have to go, and where? I think it's Barrick that has to go," she said.

Some 500 Diaguita have joined a civil lawsuit against Barrick, persuading an appellate court last month to block construction despite the company's denials that it caused any pollution or health problems.

The company's response to the environmental regulator was much more conciliatory: Faced with 23 violations, Barrick accepted nearly all of them, and obtained permission to make urgent repairs.

The violations include building some earthworks without approval, while failing to build others that were supposed to be in place before construction began so that rainfall wouldn't increase the runoff from mineral acids naturally released when rocks are broken. Instead, Barrick went ahead and moved mountaintops in preparation for 25 years of gold and silver production.

Barrick also acknowledged making an "unjustified discharge coming from the acid treatment plant to the Estrecho river" that was "neither declared nor monitored."

The company persuaded the regulator to withdraw an allegation that it had not properly built a huge, impermeable wall that stretches deep below ground and all the way across the top of the Rio del Estrecho valley.

Barrick said the wall stretches for 676 feet (206 meters) across the valley and reaches down as much as 200 feet (62 meters) below the surface, with sealants injected nearly 100 feet (30 meters) deeper still into fissures in the bedrock. It meets U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards and beats industry standards, the company said.

Despite all this work, inspectors found acid in five test wells below the wall. Barrick challenged the methodology and claimed the acid was there naturally, but after the regulator agreed that the wall met requirements, the company agreed to fortify several wells downstream to collect contaminated water.

Chile's environmentalists, farmers and indigenous communities were thrilled with Friday's ruling, saying it shows only strong oversight can force Barrick to keep its promises.

"One of the concerns we've always had is that they are going to work with an enormous quantity of cyanide," said Leonel Rivera Zuleta, 56, a farmer and member of the Diaguita community of Chipasse Tamaricunga. "Who will assure us that there won't be some kind of accident with this element so poisonous to nature and man?"

Living in adobe homes or concrete houses in the narrow Huasco valley, they tend "the garden of the Atacama," where the river enables them to grow oranges, apples, grapes and vegetables in landscape so barren it's been compared to the surface of Mars.

The Diaguita once followed the rivers up the mountains and roamed over both sides of the frontier, but now Barrick's security guards block their way at a checkpoint just above town. Dump trucks the size of two-story homes and dozens of red barrels with toxic warning labels are kept in a fenced lot nearby.

"The Earth is giving us the strength to be courageous," Diaguita leader Maglene Campillay said, amazed that they're being listened to in a country where mining sustains the economy. "This might be a small community that used to be afraid, but we've united, and we're defending our rights, because we're not going to let them take away our water and end our culture."

__

Associated Press Writers Michael Warren contributed from Buenos Aires and Eva Vergara from Santiago, Chile. Follow Warren and Henao at: https://twitter.com/mwarrenap and https://twitter.com/LuisAndresHenao

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chiles-indians-worlds-largest-gold-miner-074512548.html

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Changes mandated for federal flood insurance program

MYRTLE BEACH ? Congress has decided it wants the federal flood insurance program to pay for itself, and it has set in motion a multi-year process to make it happen.

Eventually, homeowners will lose the federal subsidies they now might have for their flood insurance and all will be paying actuarial rates in which the cost is determined by the risk.

The first to see the change were owners of secondary residences, whose rates began on Jan. 1 an annual 25 percent increase until they reach the actuarial, or full-risk rate, said Maria Lamm, state coordinator of the S.C. Flood Mitigation Program.

On Oct. 1, premiums for businesses and for residences that have seen severe repetitive losses will begin to phase upward, and property where there is a lapse in coverage, a change in owners or a new or renewed policy will begin to pay the full-loss rate.

Then, sometime late next year, those whose premiums have been subsidized will begin paying phased-in increases until their payments equal the full-loss rate.

Some already pay actuarial rates and won?t see any premium increase as a result of the program. Others could see substantial increases.

It?s complicated, Lamm said.

?There?s a lot of layers to it,? said Laura Crowther, CEO of the Coastal Carolinas Association of Realtors, who saw a presentation on the changes when she was in Washington, D.C., last week.

She doesn?t think the program will overly-stress a lot of homeowners, but she worries that higher rates could affect sales of second homes, in particular.

?It will cause people to pay a whole lot more attention [to flood insurance costs] on the front end,? Crowther said.

The amount of the increase will depend on when property was purchased, and Lamm advised those who bought flood insurance before Horry County adopted its first flood rate map on Feb. 16, 1984, to contact their insurance agents to see how they will be affected.

Current rates depend on the location of the property and the height a residence is in relation to the base flood elevation. The program allows homeowners to take out policies that will cover up to a $250,000 loss on the structure and $100,000 loss on the contents.

Lamm explained the federal program classifies flood-prone property as either Zone V, which is for high hazard, beachfront residences, or Zone A, which is for residences behind those in Zone V as well as riverfront structures.

Lamm said she can?t give the exact full-loss premium for every residence, but she had examples provided her by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which administers the flood insurance program.

Beachfront residence owners pay, at full-loss rates, $3,500 a year if the structure is two feet above the base flood elevation, $7,000 a year if it is at the BFE and $17,500 a year if it is four feet below the BFE. Zone A residences at full-loss rates will have flood insurance premiums of $427 a year if they are three feet above BFE, $1,410 if at BFE and $9,500 if four feet below BFE.

Lamm said that flood insurance rates can also be affected by updates of flood rate maps. The map for Horry County is currently being redrawn, but that isn?t automatically bad news.

?Base flood elevations don?t always go up [with map updates],? she said. ?Sometimes they go down. Sometimes they stay the same.?

Contact STEVE JONES at 444-1765.

Source: http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/2013/05/24/3503078/changes-mandated-for-federal-flood.html

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CA-NEWS Summary

UK fighters escort Pakistan plane to airport, two arrests

LONDON (Reuters) - British fighter jets escorted a Pakistan International Airlines passenger plane to Stansted Airport near London on Friday, where police went on board and arrested two men on suspicion of endangering an aircraft. Passengers were leaving the plane and no one was hurt in the incident, a spokesman for the airport said.

Taliban attack international compound in Afghan capital

KABUL (Reuters) - Taliban militants launched a large-scale attack involving the United Nations in the center of the Afghan capital Kabul on Friday, sparking a five-hour battle with security forces. A plume of smoke hung over Kabul after the attack was launched, with the sound of .50 caliber heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and sniper fire clearly audible throughout the city center as night fell.

Stockholm calmer but violence spreads outside Swedish capital

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A nearly week-long spate of rioting spread outside Stockholm on Friday but authorities said police reinforcements sent to the Swedish capital had reduced the violence there, even though dozens of youths set cars and a recycling station ablaze. The rioting - set off earlier this month by the police shooting of a 69-year-old man - continued for a sixth night in mainly poor immigrant areas in Stockholm.

IMF's Lagarde escapes formal investigation in court

PARIS (Reuters) - French magistrates decided on Friday not to place IMF chief Christine Lagarde under formal investigation over her role in a 285-million-euro ($368.5 million) arbitration payment made to a supporter of former president Nicolas Sarkozy. Lagarde instead was given the status of a "supervised witness" after two full days of questioning on her 2008 decision as Sarkozy's finance minister to use arbitration to settle a legal battle between the state and businessman Bernard Tapie.

Guatemalan ex-president extradited to U.S. on money-laundering charges

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo was extradited on Friday to the United States to face money-laundering charges, just days after former dictator Efrain Rios Montt's genocide conviction was overturned. A U.S. grand jury decided in 2009 that Portillo, who was in office from 2000 to 2004, should face charges that he laundered $70 million through U.S. banks.

British security services in spotlight after soldier murder

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's security services faced questions on Friday over whether they could have done more to prevent the murder of a soldier hacked to death in a busy London street after it emerged that his suspected killers were known to intelligence officers. Suspects Michael Adebolajo, 28 and Michael Adebowale, 22, are under guard in hospital after being shot and arrested by police after the murder of 25-year-old Afghan war veteran Lee Rigby on Wednesday. They have not yet been charged.

Bosnia president, charged with graft, freed from jail

SARAJEVO (Reuters) - The president of Bosnia's autonomous Muslim-Croat federation was freed from jail on Friday after the Constitutional Court ordered his release following his arrest last month on corruption charges. President Zivko Budimir was arrested along with 19 other officials in late April in the most high-profile anti-corruption drive in Bosnia since independence more than two decades ago.

BA jet makes emergency landing after engine fire

LONDON (Reuters) - A British Airways plane with 80 people on board made an emergency landing at London's Heathrow airport on Friday after the right engine burst into flames shortly after take-off and the casing ripped away from the left. The British carrier, part of IAG, said all 75 passengers and five crew members were safe after having been evacuated from the aircraft down emergency chutes on landing.

U.S. casts doubt on credibility of Iran election

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - The United States on Friday called into question the credibility of Iran's presidential election next month, criticizing the disqualification of candidates and accusing Tehran of disrupting Internet access. On a visit to Israel, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry also warned that time was running out to resolve the deadlock over Iran's contested nuclear program.

Church of England unveils plan for women bishops in 2015

(Reuters) - The Church of England published a plan on Friday to approve the ordination of women bishops by 2015, a widely supported reform it just missed passing last November after two decades of divisive debate. It said the new plan, outlined in a document signed by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Archbishop of York John Sentamu, would be presented to the General Synod, the Church legislature, in July to begin the approval process.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ca-news-summary-001211224.html

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Soldiers Place US Flags in Arlington Cemetery for Memorial Day (Voice Of America)

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