Saturday, June 30, 2012

NY school bus monitor 'fine' with bully punishment

FILE - In this June 28, 2012 file photo, bus monitor Karen Klein, of Greece, N.Y., holds flowers during an award ceremony in her honor at a radio station, in Boston. Klein, who was bullied on a bus by four seventh-graders, says she's satisfied that they're being suspended for a year. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

FILE - In this June 28, 2012 file photo, bus monitor Karen Klein, of Greece, N.Y., holds flowers during an award ceremony in her honor at a radio station, in Boston. Klein, who was bullied on a bus by four seventh-graders, says she's satisfied that they're being suspended for a year. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

(AP) ? The upstate New York school bus monitor who was bullied by four seventh-graders says she's satisfied that they're being suspended for a year.

Speaking one day after the boys' punishment was announced, Karen Klein told The Associated Press on Saturday that she wants to meet with the boys who tormented her.

"Oh yes, I would like to talk to them!" said the 68-year-old, speaking from her home in Rochester. "I want to ask them why they did it."

What the four boys did was captured on video, mercilessly taunting Klein as she sat on the bus, gradually breaking down in tears.

On Friday, the school system in the Rochester suburb of Greece suspended the four middle school students for a year, keeping them from regular bus transportation.

How does Klein feel about this punishment?

"It's fine with me," she told the AP.

Klein said they'll still be going to an alternative school ? "they won't be just sitting at home doing nothing."

But the best part of her ordeal going public, and the resulting school action, "is that they have to do community service ? for senior citizens," she said, her voice rising with emotion.

"I'm so glad everyone out there knows about this," she added, sounding upbeat as she spoke to the AP minutes after returning from Boston and a much needed, four-day vacation that followed the flurry of attention raining on her from across the country.

Klein, who is hard of hearing, spoke by telephone with the help of her adult son and daughter, who repeated questions that she then answered herself.

Another benefit of the video of the incident going viral, she said, "is that it's putting people into action, making them talk to their children, making them teach them what they should not do."

The cellphone video posted online by a fellow student drew millions of viewers. The video shows Klein trying her best to ignore a stream of profanity, insults and outright threats.

One student taunted: "You don't have a family because they all killed themselves because they don't want to be near you." Klein's oldest son killed himself 10 years ago.

Among the mounds of messages she received this week were letters of apology from three of the boys and their families.

She said earlier in the week that she didn't feel the youths were sincere.

But on Saturday, Klein said she accepts the newest letter she received several days ago ? from the fourth boy.

His parents dropped it off with flowers.

"He said he was sorry, and that he didn't mean to do it," Klein said. "And I think he means it."

Sounding relieved, she said that none of the students will be showing up on her school bus in the fall ? should she choose to return to work.

The support she's received wasn't only verbal.

A fund drive that began with a goal of $5,000 to help Klein take a nice vacation raised more than $667,000 as of Friday.

She hasn't decided yet whether to return to her job

"I don't know, I just don't know," she said, adding, "I'm going to invest and I don't need to work."

But Klein, a grandmother of eight, including one with Down syndrome, said she'll donate part of the money to support research.

And she wants to pay off all her bills.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-06-30-Bus%20Monitor%20Bullying/id-c9571fd1a82442e58859124240019728

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Boise State?s appeal in NCAA case granted

There is no timetable for a ruling, but the case will be reconsidered.

Boise State scored a rare victory in the NCAA appeals court Friday.

The Division I Committee on Infractions stunned the Broncos in September by requiring them to forfeit three football scholarships in 2011, 2012 and 2013 ? triple the penalty that the school had self-imposed for providing impermissible housing and other benefits to incoming recruits during summer workouts.

The Infractions Appeals Committee on Friday called that penalty ?excessive? and an ?abuse of discretion.? It sent the case back to the COI for reconsideration.

In the meantime, the penalty is stayed ? meaning Boise State could open fall camp Aug. 4 with a full complement of 85 scholarship players while it waits for a final decision. There is no timeline for the COI to revise its decision.

Here are some questions and answers about the decision and process:

What did Boise State appeal?

The COI found 18 major violations across five years and involving more than 75 student-athletes in five sports ? football, men?s and women?s tennis and men?s and women?s track and field/cross country. All of the sports were penalized in some way.

The school targeted two football penalties for appeal ? the nine-scholarship hit and the reduction of practices at which full contact was allowed in spring ball from 12 to nine for the 2012, 2013 and 2014 seasons.

The school argued that the scholarship penalty was ?not warranted and is inconsistent with precedent and the circumstances of this case.? The school also argued that the penalty involving spring practice showed an error of judgment because the violations did not concern practice.

What did the Infractions Appeals Committee say?

The IAC came out strongly on Boise State?s side on the scholarship penalty. Precedent ?should have been more fully weighed and considered,? the committee wrote.

The IAC looked at the past 10 cases that involved Football Bowl Subdivision schools and the loss of scholarships. Two schools received stiffer penalties than Boise State, but their violations were considered more severe. Of the other eight, only three had reductions of more than three scholarships and the IAC considered all of those cases more serious than Boise State?s. They involved academic fraud (Florida State, six scholarships), payment of a student-athlete for work not performed (Oklahoma, four) and inappropriate academic support (Kansas, six).

?There appears to be no qualitative distinction in the record that would warrant the extent of the departure from prior precedent that was undertaken by the Committee on Infractions in this case. Therefore, the reduction by nine of football grants-in-aid is excessive,? the IAC wrote in its Boise State report.

On the other hand, the IAC shrugged off Boise State?s complaint about the spring practice penalty. The Broncos already had self-imposed a reduction by three of preseason practices (beginning of fall camp until the first game) in 2011 and 2012.

?We find this argument to be unpersuasive, especially in light of the institution?s self-imposed penalty,? the committee wrote.

What happens now?

That?s unclear. There is no timetable yet, and this situation is unusual. The last two times that appeals were won, the IAC changed the penalties immediately rather than sending the case back to the COI. Boise State has some flexibility in terms of how many scholarships it awards this season. The team has recruits willing to grayshirt and join the team in January to make 82 scholarships work, but likely would bring at least a couple of those players in this fall if the final number is 85. A walk-on or two also could benefit from the additional scholarships.

John Infante, who writes the Bylaw Blog, expects the NCAA to ask Boise State to recommend a penalty and for the COI to settle for a scholarship reduction of four to six. Boise State took three last year as a self-imposed penalty and could absorb the rest in 2013 if a decision isn?t made before this season.

How rare was this victory?

The Committee on Infractions had been upheld on appeal in 11 straight cases before Boise State?s. The last winners on appeal were Eastern Washington (Oct. 27, 2009), which had its postseason ban for football overturned; and Alabama State (June 30, 2009), which had its probation reduced from five to three years.

Infante called an appeals victory ?one of the more impossible feats in college athletics.?

What does Boise State say?

The school didn?t make anyone available for comment, but President Bob Kustra released a statement.

?We thought it important to appeal these football penalties due to the circumstances of this case and the ruling precedent, and we are pleased that the appeals committee agreed in the case of the scholarships,? Kustra said. ?We will await a decision from the infractions committee on the final scholarship penalty.?

Chadd Cripe: 377-6398, Twitter: @IDS_BroncoBeat

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IdahostatesmancomSports/~3/tI3Y5jVjt-Y/boise-states-appeal-in-ncaa-case.html

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Keeping Your Home Looking Fresh | Online Business Articles

?

For those who have never heard of feng shui, re-arranging your furniture can have an impact on the ?energy? of a room. Little things, such as keeping pathways and doorways free of obstruction, can help good luck find its way to you. Read on to learn more about improving your home using the ancient Chinese art of feng shui.

Once you have chosen a contractor, write up a contract with them that includes how much you have budgeted for the project and how the contractor will spend the money. The contract should also include a timeline of project completion dates and a detailed payment plan.

When residing, look at different kinds of insulation. Some kinds that are available could be rigid foam insulation, wall protective systems and permeable house wrap. Research the costs of each one, then decide what you want to spend.

Having some fun is the best part of home improvements. While you should remain careful and safety conscious, it is still possible to have a fun while you work. If you don?t, you?ll probably make mistakes. Try getting a professional if this happens to you.

Cleaning the gutters regularly and staying on top of other maintenance will save you from making repairs later. Gutters that are clogged up enough to retain water will let excess moisture attack vulnerabilities in the fascia boards on which they are mounted. This actually can be the cause of your wood rotting. Cleaning out your gutters is a simple thing to do that will help ward off roof troubles.

It can be costly to replace flooring. One affordable and easy option is to pull up existing flooring, then apply a colored stain to the bare concrete. This option creates a modern look which is highly versatile when it comes to decorating.

Engage a professional designer or architect to develop plans when you want to undertake a major home improvement project. Unless you or a family member has professional design training, any plans you create are likely to be all form and no function. A professional designer will have the ability to create a plan that also meets all required building codes.

Try to picture your home after the remodeling process is finished to determine if it fits with your neighborhoods personality. Will it be too outlandish? If this is the case, you might want to rethink it. Thus, try to make alterations that stand out due to quality or an elegant appearance rather than gaudiness.

When planning a home improvement project, be sure to learn how to do as much on your own, as possible. It can be very expensive to hire professionals. If you learn how to do some improvements yourself, you can save a whole lot of money.

To give the appropriate rooms in your home a soothing feel, paint them in analogous colors. Analogous colors are those that are next to one another on the color wheel. Rooms that are painted in analogous colors promote a restful feeling, so they are especially suited for areas such as bedrooms and living rooms.

Prior to panel installation, add stripes of paint to your walls. Even if you install the paneling carefully, the wall underneath might show through the cracks. To minimize this issue, measure and mark where each panel will meet before installing. Choose a paint color that matches the color of your paneling, and paint strips of this color wherever the panels will meet.

Feng shui is the idea that the placement of furniture can impact your home?s energy flow and have a difference in your quality of life. Rearranging your furniture is a simple home improvement project that can make a big difference.

Source: http://online-biz-articles.com/keeping-your-home-looking-fresh/

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Friday, June 29, 2012

Gabon?s President destroys ivory and commits to zero tolerance for wildlife crime


This event follows a period of intense poaching pressure in Central Africa, where the illegal killing of elephants for ivory is at record levels.

A number of dignitaries were present for this historic event, including the President of Gabon, Ali Bongo, who lit the pyre earlier today.

President Bongo spoke of the importance of inviting the international community to witness the symbolic act of destroying the country?s ivory, noting it was a matter of national security.

He told the assembled dignitaries about the special unit Gabon had created within the National Parks Agency to tackle ivory poaching, and how Gabon, as the country with the most elephants in Central Africa, was issuing a strong message to the poachers and traffickers that their actions were unacceptable.

Crucially, President Bongo reiterated that Gabon would work with the Department of Justice to review penalties, and ensure people committing wildlife crimes would be prosecuted and sent to prison.

?Gabon has a policy of zero tolerance for wildlife crime and we are putting in place institutions and laws to ensure this policy is enforced,? he said.

President Bongo also underlined the need for regional co-operation to tackle wildlife crime, whereby anti-poaching measures in one country needed to be followed up by action in neighbouring countries too.

?Today we have witnessed a paramount event for the Central Africa region. It is hugely symbolic that a head of state has taken leadership in sending a signal to the outside world that illegal wildlife trafficking will not be tolerated? said Stefanie Conrad, WWF Central Africa Regional Office Representative.

?Illegal wildlife trade is a crime; it is the fifth largest illicit trade worldwide, and it finances insecurity across Africa. WWF will encourage similar symbolic events in the region to burn and destroy all illegal poached ivory.?

WWF and TRAFFIC worked with Gabon to independently audit its government-owned ivory stockpile before it was destroyed to ensure that all tusks were accounted for and none had leaked into illegal trade.

The audited ivory stock totalled 4,825 kilograms, including 1,293 pieces of rough ivory mainly composed of tusks and 17,730 pieces of worked ivory.

?TRAFFIC keenly anticipates that other nations will follow Gabon?s lead in dealing with their stockpiled ivory and either take it right out of the equation or put in place robust ivory management systems to ensure it can never leak into illegal trade,? said Tom Milliken, TRAFFIC?s ivory trade expert.

Source: http://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/news/?uNewsID=205430

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A handful of thoughts ? CRM Software And Your Organization

Most firms nowadays are in fierce competition not just with one another but also with regards to technologies. Computers and technology develops each day and businesses find it extremely tough to keep up. Then there is certainly the need to use technology within your company successfully, efficiently and to capitalize on it.

A software program system which has been about for a couple of years is CRM. This is a customer relationship management program. This system is developed to manage the interactions with customers. It uses technologies to synchronize and organize the sales departments activities in an automated system. CRM systems have now been developed further to include the advertising and marketing, client services and technical assistance activities.

CRM software captures info on consumers and which is in turn utilised by the company to gain new clientele, retain current customers and to get past clientele back. It is a tool to determine the companys relationship with its consumers. The outcomes from the CRM system may be utilized to enhance customer satisfaction and to form crucial business choices.

The benefits that can be had from CRM systems are considered the following:

1. Decrease in the general expense of accumulating consumer data
2. Marketing tactics may be improved
3. Long term planning is enhanced
4. Merchandise development is improved
5. Customers input is utilized a lot more effectively.
6. The ability to adapt more readily to developments
7. Quality and effectiveness in the company improves
8. This ought to translate into far more profitability

You will find a huge number of CRM systems obtainable that can be used for specific areas of the enterprise or as an integrated program.

There is certainly Online CRM that may link all the different phases of the sales process. This implies that sales team will devote less time on each phase, thus improving productivity. Each prospective consumer is recorded from the first interaction, through each and every phase up to the final sale by a contact management system. This is tracked so the CRM system can document opportunities, forecasts and potential or current territories.

The CRM system for marketing and advertising will aid the company to produce sales leads and to identify potential clients. The software will track and evaluate various advertising campaigns regardless of whether utilizing e-mails, direct mail, telephone or social media. If employed correctly this is a huge advantage to an organization. This type of data might take months to correlate. Here it really is carried out by software program as data is compiled on consumers.

CRM software can also provide businesses with the ability to improve their customers experience. This is the reason why customers requests are dealt with more efficiently. In turn a customer is satisfied that the company cares for them and tells other people of the good encounter.

A comparatively new CRM platform is the appointment system. Potential customers can be contactedto arrange an appointment either by means of e-mail or perhaps a website. As soon as scheduled, the appointment is automatically recorded on the appropriate persons calendar.

Most of these CRM systems are integrated so data could be shared by several departments. There are also different analytic capabilities which are generally part of the program. These provide evaluation of the compiled data in terms of sales forecasts, consumer satisfaction, information quality, consumer trends, success of advertising and marketing campaigns and many more.

If this details on CRM systems has excited you to new possibilities, go to http://www.applicor.com

For more information about Crm Software visit our website: click here

Source: http://myselfpallavi.com/2012/06/28/crm-software-and-your-organization/

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Thursday, June 28, 2012

Minnesota moving ahead with health insurance exchange | MinnPost

Nothing in Thursday?s U.S. Supreme Court ruling is expected to keep Minnesota from moving forward with its own health insurance exchange, according to key lawmakers, state officials and interest groups.

Health insurance exchanges allow some uninsured individuals and small groups to shop for a variety of tailored health coverage plans. The exchanges, typically online, have been compared to travel websites like Orbitz or Expedia, and advocates say they will help lower coverage prices.

Although about 15 states already have implemented exchanges, the issue has been extremely divisive in Minnesota. Gov. Mark Dayton?s administration began preparations for an exchange in 2011 without input from the Republican legislative majorities.

In an open letter to Minnesotans on June 21, a group of lawmakers and agency officials who are working with Dayton on the health insurance exchange promised to build on successes in the state while evaluating health care innovations in the future.

The letter (PDF) highlights Minnesota?s longtime leadership in health care initiatives and reform and calls for bipartisan solutions to the problems that still plague the state.

State plans for exchange ?going well?

Mike RothmanMike Rothman

Department of Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman said this week that planning for the exchange has been ?going very well.?

Many observers predict that the Dayton administration will move ?full steam ahead? with implementing a state health insurance exchange program.

It?s unclear, though, whether an exchange would need legislative authorization in the near future.

U of M health care expert Larry Jacobs said Dayton could be capitalizing on the strong executive example of former Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty to move forward with an exchange using his own authority.

?You might have found the administration to be tentative, given the lack of legislative buy-in, but that?s not the case,? Jacobs said in an interview this week. ?The Dayton administration appears to be quite comfortable moving ahead on their own power.?

Dayton used executive action in 2011 to begin planning a potential Minnesota-based health insurance exchange as one of his first acts in office. He signed an executive order to apply for a $1 million federal grant to begin planning the exchange, and under the direction of Rothman, an executive task force has been meeting to bring a plan forward by the Nov. 16 federal deadline.

So far, no Republican legislators have been involved in the administration?s exchange planning. Minnesota has received more than $20 million in federal grants to plan the exchange, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, which has done a significant amount of research on the health care law.

Goal is 2013 blueprint

The 15-member task force and about 200 stakeholders involved in several working groups, Rothman said, are trying to put together a practical blueprint for a Minnesota exchange by 2013 to avoid ?a one-size-fits-all federal solution imposed on Minnesota? in 2014.

?Minnesota has been a leader in the health care and health care industry, on the cutting edge of all these issues and we have a unique health care system in Minnesota,? Rothman said. ?The best thing is to have Minnesota develop its own exchange ? rather than have it done by the federal government.?

Many details about the exchange?? including how it would be paid for, how it would be managed, and whom it would cover ? remain unclear. The task force released broad recommendations in January 2012 for what a Minnesota exchange could look like, but so far officials have been tight-lipped about the plan?s specifics.

Jacobs noted the wide variety of stakeholders that have signed onto crafting the proposal, including business groups, unions, providers and nonprofits.

The fear of a federally imposed exchange could have inspired a number of unlikely groups, such as the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and the Minnesota Business Partnership, to participate in discussions about the potential state-run exchange.

?They support it only because they think they?re going to get stuck with something worse, so the Chamber is in the business of cutting their losses,? said GOP Rep. Jim Abeler, chairman of the House Health and Human Services Finance Committee. ?Their support is not red hot.?

Of the three types of typical exchanges, the Chamber would prefer a private nonprofit ?that is based primarily in free-market principles,? said Kate Johansen, manager of heath and transportation policy for the business organization.

?I think we?re getting exchanges no matter what, one way or the other,? Abeler said. ?I still don?t agree that it?s necessary or a good idea.?

It appears the state is moving forward with a public-private exchange made up of publicly accountable members, according to the Department of Commerce. The plan mirrors failed legislation proposed by Democrats in the 2012 session that?s projected to cost between $40 million and $80 million to operate in 2014.

Rothman and other policy experts, however, say the potential benefits of an exchange would outweigh the costs. He said about 300,000 uninsured Minnesotans would have coverage by 2016 and that premium subsidies would help lower premiums.

?For me, it?s always been the opportunity to make a difference to help people obtain access to affordable health care,? Rothman said. ?The exchange is a strong mechanism, a strong way to help Minnesota continue to build on its health reform efforts.?

Opposing views

Opponents don?t view health insurance exchanges with any of that zeal.

Sen. David Hann, chairman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, has been a vociferous opponent of the exchanges.

He and other Republican legislators question why Minnesota, who they say is already a leader in health care, needs the new marketplace. Hann also wondered aloud where the promised savings from a health insurance exchange would come from.

?They don?t talk at all about how that?s supposed to happen,? he said. ?Sort of like, I guess by magic, that we?re going to have this thing called an exchange, and because we have it, then something magical happens and we save a lot of money.?

Hann?s committee in March voted down 7-5 an exchange bill supported by the Dayton administration.

The move prompted the governor to criticize Republicans for their ?piecemeal? approach to health insurance exchange legislation ? there was no real action over the last biennium ? and to signal his intention to continue moving forward with executive actions.

?Unfortunately, there are some who would rather play politics with this exchange in an election year than work sincerely and cooperatively to advance it in Minnesota,? Dayton wrote in a March 26 letter to Republicans. ?If the Legislature passes on enacting such legislation, which must be bi-partisan, non-ideological and constructive, we will have to utilize the legal executive actions necessary to satisfy the federal law, as has already been done in other states.?

Hann, however, counters that Dayton and his administration haven?t been forthright about the specifics of the exchange and what the federal dollars would fund.

?What is the problem that the exchange is going to solve?? Hann, also a strong opponent of the overall health care law, asked in an interview this week. ?No one has answered that question.?

The Republican from Eden Prairie hosted Dayton?s commissioners multiple times in his committee, but inquiries into the specifics of the exchange and the duties of its staff were effectively ?stonewalled,? Hann said.

Dayton is ?doing this in secret and in private, and I think it?s shameful that he?s spending millions of dollars of taxpayer money trying to change something very fundamental about people?s health care without being willing to talk about it in a public forum like a legislative hearing,? Hann said.

About 15 states have implemented exchanges, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Seventeen states, though, have decided against creating a state exchange or have embarked on no significant activity to initiate the process, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Minnesota Health Insurance Exchange timeline
February 2011Minnesota receives a $1 million planning grant from the federal government.
JuneA Request for Proposals (RFP) is issued for prototypes to evaluate technical options and costs.
AugustMinnesota receives a $4.2 million grant to advance planning to the design and development stage.
SeptemberA Health Exchange Advisory Task Force is assembled to look at the design and development of a Minnesota-made health insurance exchange.
OctoberGov. Mark Dayton signs Executive Order 11-30 to design and develop a Minnesota-Made Insurance Exchange.
Stage II vendors for the Information Technology RFP are selected and awarded stipends to create prototypes and detailed cost, work plan and timeline proposals.
NovemberTechnical Work Groups are formed to develop, discuss, and provide technical assistance on options: Governance; Finance; Adverse Selection and Encouraging Market Competition/Value; and Navigators and Agents/Brokers.
DecemberSample modules from vendors seeking to build the IT infrastructure for the exchange are made available to the public.
January 2012The Advisory Task Force votes on recommendations for the development of a Minnesota-made health insurance exchange.
FebruaryMinnesota receives a $23 million grant for the design and development of the exchange.
Additional Technical Work Groups are initiated: Individual Eligibility; IT and Operations; Measurement and Reporting; Outreach, Communications and Marketing; Plan Certification; and Small Employers and Employees.
MayMinnesota meets with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for a design review to assess progress.
January 2013Deadline for Minnesota to achieve certification on the design and development of a Minnesota-made exchange, or a federal health insurance exchange will be imposed.
OctoberConsumer and small employer enrollment in the exchange scheduled to begin.
Jan. 1, 2014Launch date for the Minnesota Health Insurance Exchange.

Source: Minnesota Department of Commerce

Moving forward

Going forward, it?s unclear how the two opposing groups ? and some of the stakeholders in the middle ? will work together to shape a future Minnesota exchange.

DFL Rep. Tina Liebling, minority lead on the House Health and Human Services Reform Committee, said Republicans gave up an opportunity to help shape any exchange legislatively during the 2012 session because they didn?t engage in the debate.

?I think Republicans were caught between what for them was a rock and a hard place,? she said. ?On the one hand, having the federal government tell the state to do something is anathema to them, and then on the other hand being unable to pass a bill because the Tea Party members didn?t want to cooperate with the Affordable Care Act, so they had that little dilemma going on and it never got resolved.?

With strong grounds for continued ?unilateral executive action,? in Jacobs? words, the Dayton administration is likely to continue pushing forward with its own exchange ideas.

The November elections also could give Democrats an opportunity ? if they take back control of the Legislature ? to pass a bill that?s more ?consumer-friendly? and palatable to DFL interests at the expense of such stakeholders as the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.

?I think they?re biding their time hoping that they can get a different Legislature or that they can somehow fudge it through so that they don?t have to have any legislative approval,? Abeler said. ?That seems to be what I observe.?

DFL Rep. Tom Huntley, minority lead on the House HHS Finance Committee, said he hopes to pass a health insurance exchange bill that?s in line with federal standards as one of the first acts of the 2013 session.

Lynn Blewett, an expert in the U?s School of Public Health and director of the State Health Access Data Assistance Center, said in an interview that health insurance exchanges are unlikely to affect most Americans. Those employed by large companies would continue receiving the same coverage, while about 30 million individuals likely would transfer to the exchanges by 2019.

?It?s not going to change the whole system,? she said. ?It?s like adding a new tool, a new infrastructure for people who don?t have the advantages of a large employer.?

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Google Earth 7.0 for Android brings new, super-detailed 3D maps for some cities (update: video)

Google Earth for Android gets new 3D maps for some cities

Here's a bit of a surprise that slipped under the radar during the Google I/O keynote: Google Earth for Android has been updated to 7.0 to take advantage of the new 3D map technology it unveiled at another special event just a few weeks ago. As a refresher, the visuals are automatically created from 45-degree aerial imagery and can pick up 3D elements as subtle as trees. Before you go racing to your hometown to see how it looks in 3D, be aware that just a handful of cities and regions exploit that dimension. Besides San Francisco Bay, the full coverage extends to Boulder, Boston, Charlotte, Lawrence, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Portland, San Antonio, San Diego, Santa Cruz and Tampa in the US, with Rome being the lone international hotspot. If that's too few places to visit, there's always the addition of guided tours. Android users can head over Google Play to get the update today; iOS users shouldn't fret, as they'll get the new maps soon.

Update: Google now has video, if you'd rather not (or can't) install the app to try it yourself.

Continue reading Google Earth 7.0 for Android brings new, super-detailed 3D maps for some cities (update: video)

Google Earth 7.0 for Android brings new, super-detailed 3D maps for some cities (update: video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 15:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

PFT: NFL insists bounty evidence 'overwhelming'

Greg Schiano, Mark Dominik, Eric LeGrandAP

The Bills announced that individual game tickets will be available online on July 9.

Miami needs to take things slowly with the development of QB Ryan Tannehill.

If there?s a spot for a fullback on the Patriots? roster, Spencer Larsen appears to have the inside track.

Said Jets QB Tim Tebow of getting cheers from kids at a football camp, ?It?s very humbling. I just take my role and my platform as a professional athlete very seriously.?

The Ravens are promoting a soccer game at their home stadium.

Former Bengals DE Pollack has become a college football announcer even though, he says, as a player, ?I didn?t care for broadcasters, to be honest. When you?re playing, it?s almost like you?re vs. the media. Coaches always say you should just give vanilla answers.?

The Browns will have an Ohio University Day this season. (And unlike the Dolphins? University of Florida Day last season, they?re not doing it to cash in on the popularity of an opposing player.)

The Steelers expect more than 100,000 fans to attend this year?s training camp.

Texans backup QB Case Keenum thinks questions about his height are silly.

Colts DT Josh Chapman says his recovery from knee surgery is right on schedule.

Jaguars players, coaches and staff members have volunteered to build a house for a Jacksonville family.

Says Titans TE Jared Cook of teammate Craig Stevens, ?Craig?s a beast of a blocker. He?s good at keeping his balance and staying low, and he has good leg drive and upper-body strength to finish a guy. He?s really good at finishing a play and staying on his feet, so that?s what I?ve learned from him.?

The Broncos? website offers some facts and figures about the season opener.

Former Chiefs S Jon McGraw still hasn?t caught on with another team in free agency.

The Raiders hope a change in the team?s culture can result in a better defense.

The Chargers hope they have more speed on offense.

Cowboys G David Arkin says he wasn?t strong enough last season, and he?s getting in the weight room to change that.

Asked about Giants owner John Mara talking about eliminating kickoffs, Giants K Lawrence Tynes said, ?Well, obviously, I don?t like it. But I don?t think it?ll ever happen.?

Here?s the Eagles? full training camp schedule.

The man arrested for extorting Redskins QB Robert Griffin III once appeared on Judge Judy, suing a woman for veterinary bills he claimed he incurred when he took in her dog. (Judge Judy ruled against him.)

Bears Chairman George McCaskey says his team wasn?t ?properly prepared? for injuries last season.

The Lions will owe some money to the league office if any more players are suspended this year.

Said Packers WR Donald Driver, ?We?ve got to continue to improve. Going 15-1 is nice, but to lose in the playoffs was very tough. It sits in your stomach for a long time. Our goal right now is to make sure that we bounce back and we get to the postseason. If you get to the postseason, it starts all over again. If we get back to the Super Bowl, that would be great. It took 13 years to win my first one, I don?t want it to take another 13 years before I win another one.?

The attitude toward Vikings WR Percy Harvin in Minnesota is that he has baggage, but not enough baggage to send him packing.

Falcons TE Michael Palmer is trying to export American football to Serbia.

Panthers LB Thomas Davis is trying to make history by becoming the first player to return to the field after three ACL tears.

The Saints still haven?t said who will coach the team while interim head coach Joe Vitt is suspended in Weeks 1-6.

Eric LeGrand, the paralyzed former Rutgers player who?s now with the Buccaneers, will write two books (one for adults and one for children) about his life.

The widow of former Cardinal Pat Tillman has published a letter he wrote her, to be read in the event of his death.

Do the Rams have a chance of going worst-to-first in the NFC West?

Issues continue to arise over the funding of the 49ers? new stadium.

Seahawks rookie Bruce Irvin predicts he?ll have double-digit sacks.

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OECD: High-income Americans should pay more taxes

(AP) ? An international group of economists is recommending that the United States adopt policies that would make higher-income Americans pay more in taxes to help boost the U.S. economy.

The Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development favors eliminating some tax breaks for high-income individuals on mortgage interest and health insurance. It also proposes reducing tax breaks corporations receive when they borrow to make investments.

Some of the ideas the group advocated in its latest survey have been championed by the Obama administration. The Paris-based group also endorsed job training proposals in the administration's 2013 budget and praised its efforts to expand mortgage modification programs to combat foreclosures.

The OECD tends to advocate left-leaning economic policies. The endorsements are unlikely to sway Republicans in Congress who have opposed proposals the Obama administration has pushed.

The group is composed of 34 of the world's leading industrialized nations. It was begun in 1948 as a European organization created to help administer the Marshall Plan for the reconstruction of Europe after World War II. In 1961, it expanded to include leading industrialized countries around the world. The organization's goal is to promote economic practices that promote growth.

Twice a year the group publishes global growth forecasts. The most recent of those forecasts in May warned that the euro zone region could contract by as much as 2 percent this year unless more forceful action was taken to deal with the European debt crisis.

The OECD predicts the U.S. economy will grow 2.4 percent this year and 2.6 percent in 2013. While that's only modest growth, it would represent improvement from last year's 1.7 percent growth rate for the U.S.

In Tuesday's report, the group's economists made a number of broad recommendations aimed at improving U.S. growth prospects and dealing with such issues as growing income inequality and long-term unemployment.

Among them:

? The Federal Reserve's interest rate policies should continue to support economic growth.

? Congress and the Obama administration should strike an agreement that would avoid a sharp jump in tax rates and across-the-board spending cuts. Those are scheduled to go into effect at the end of the year if a deal isn't reached.

? Various programs proposed by the administration's budget request in February for dealing with the unemployed "should be implemented without delay."

Associated Press

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Debby crawls closer to Florida coast, dumping rain

Boats are sunken and thrown up on a dock at the Rock Landing Marina in Panacea, Fla., Tuesday, June 26, 2012. High winds and heavy rains spawned by the approaching Tropical Storm Debby caused the damage. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Boats are sunken and thrown up on a dock at the Rock Landing Marina in Panacea, Fla., Tuesday, June 26, 2012. High winds and heavy rains spawned by the approaching Tropical Storm Debby caused the damage. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

In this Monday, June 25, 2012 photo, life guard towers on Clearwater Beach are awash from high waters from Tropical Storm Debby, in Clearwater Beach, Fla. Debby flooded homes, an animal shelter and closed parts of the main interstate highway across northern Florida on as the storm hung stubbornly offshore over the Gulf of Mexico, threatening up to two feet of rain in places. (AP Photo/The Tampa Bay Times, Jim Damaske)

Mark Mitchell surveys the damage to boats at the Rock Landing Marina in Panacea, Fla., Tuesday, June 26, 2012. High winds and heavy rains spawned by the approaching Tropical Storm Debby caused the damage. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Mark Mitchell surveys the damage to boats at the Rock Landing Marina in Panacea, Fla., Tuesday, June 26, 2012. High winds and heavy rains spawned by the approaching Tropical Storm Debby caused the damage. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

A Florida Highway Patrolman warns motorists about high water in Medart, Fla., Tuesday, June 26, 2012. Heavy rains from the approaching Tropical Storm Debby caused wind and rain damage. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

(AP) ? Debby flooded homes, an animal shelter and closed parts of the main interstate highway across northern Florida on as the storm crept closer to the state, dropping more than two feet of rain in one sparsely populated area.

The tropical storm promised to bring more winds, rain and the possibility of flooding to the already saturated state. It was forecast to make landfall by early Wednesday, cross Florida and head into the Atlantic on Thursday.

The center of the storm was about 35 miles off the coast and moving northeast at 6 mph. Debby was weakening and had maximum sustained winds near 40 mph, barely a tropical storm.

"Even though the winds are coming down, the rain threat continues," said James Franklin, a hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center. "We expect another 4 to 8 inches, in some of these areas up in north Florida, in particular."

Wakulla, a remote area in northwest Florida known for camping and canoeing, has had more than 26 inches over the past three days, according to the National Weather Service. Several other areas in northern Florida have received more than 10 inches.

The Florida Highway Patrol closed portions of Interstate 10 when troopers reported several areas of flooding on a roughly 50-mile stretch. Authorities warned motorists to use extreme caution on other parts of the highway.

Farther south, four puppies and a young dog drowned when a swollen creek flooded an animal shelter in the city of Starke. Officials placed sandbags and dug trenches outside to protect the shelter, but the water rose quickly Sunday night, The Florida Times-Union reported.

A manatee was found dead in the Tampa Bay area and wildlife crews were trying to rescue two others that had beached nearby. It wasn't immediately clear whether the storm contributed to the animals washing ashore.

Roads were washed out in the area and residents tried to salvage belongings from flooded homes in low-lying areas. At one point Monday, high winds and flooding worries prompted authorities to close two major routes over Tampa Bay into St. Petersburg.

The storm could also bring up to 10 inches of rain to southeastern Georgia.

At least one person was killed Sunday by a tornado spun off by the large storm system.

WFLA-TV reported that a young mother, Heather Town, died Sunday when her Highlands County home was lifted off its foundation and she and her baby girl were thrown into nearby woods. The mother was found clutching the child, who survived.

Alabama authorities searched for a South Carolina man who disappeared in the rough surf.

The bridge leading to St. George Island, a vacation spot along the Panhandle, was closed to everyone except residents, renters and business owners to keep looters out. The island had no power, and palm trees had been blown down, but roads were passable.

"Most true islanders are hanging in there because they know that you may or may not be able to get back to your home when you need to," said David Walker, an island resident having a beer at Eddy Teach's bar. He said he had been through many storms on the island and Debby was on the weaker end of the scale.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared a statewide emergency, allowing authorities to put laws against price-gouging into effect and override bureaucratic hurdles to deal with the storm.

A tropical storm warning remained in effect Tuesday morning for about 450 miles of coastline, from Mexico Beach in the Panhandle to Englewood, south of Sarasota.

___

Lush contributed from St. Petersburg. Associated Press writer Tony Winton in Miami contributed to this report.

Associated Press

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Tuesday, June 26, 2012

One Direction Countersue One Direction

Simon Cowell fights back against U.S. band that says they had the band name first.
By Jocelyn Vena


Simon Cowell
Photo:

Nobody puts the British One Direction in a corner! The boy band's boss, Simon Cowell, is countersuing the American band that filed a suit against the chart-topping Brits back in April.

According to E! News, Cowell is firing back at the U.S. band who sued his band, alleging that they have "continuously and consistently been utilizing the ONE DIRECTION Mark since ODUK made its public debut on the popular British television program 'The X Factor' in the fall of 2010." The U.S. 1D cites that they formed and named themselves One Direction back in 2009, 12 months before the boy band made their debut on the singing competition show. Cowell filed his countersuit on Thursday.

The American band adds they had already filed a trademark for the name when the U.K. band began making the rounds. They have sued Cowell and his label, SyCo, for $1 million in damages. Cowell's team fired back: "[U.S. One Direction] is guilty of fraud, oppression or malice, and by reason thereof, [U.K. One Direction] are, in addition to their actual damages, entitled to recover punitive damages." Their suit furthers that the U.K. 1D has found "unprecedented success and fame in the United States" and "became the first U.K. musical act to have a debut album enter the U.S. Billboard chart at No.1."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cowell and his team claim that the U.S. band knew about his band when they formed, noting that they should check their timeline again. "For example, reference was made to ODUK on Nov. 28, 2010, in postings on the 'OneDirectionUSA' Facebook page (established by Third Party Defendants after the creation of ODUK's own, highly popular Facebook page)," Cowell's suit notes.

The U.S. band's attorney, Peter Ross, spoke to THR, adding, "It looks like we got defendants' attention. This is the response we expected, given who we're up against. An effort is being made to intimidate these young men from California. Our clients believe in their case and will not be deterred."

Shortly after the first suit was filed against ODUK, fans began to weigh in with name suggestions for the floppy-haired fivesome. Such cheeky names as FU1 Direction and 5 UK White Boys made the final cut, per fans.

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Health Insurance Pre-existing Conditions | Health Insurance Medical

The rise in bankruptcy filings among the elderly isn't a recent phenomenon or a reflection of the current recession. Limited incomes and high out of pocket costs have contributed to the increase in bankruptcy rates. Medicare coverage is fairly comprehensive but does not cover everything and does not have an out-of-pocket cap. If you have a serious illness or need nursing care the medical bills can add up fast.

A University of Michigan Law School study found that the fastest growing segment of the population filing for bankruptcy is age 65 or older. According to AARP, the percentage of those aged 65 to 74, filing for bankruptcy, rose 178 percent between 1991 and 2007 but the biggest rate increase was for those between ages 75 and 84. The bankruptcy rates for this age group increased by 433 percent. Professor John Pottow author of the University of Michigan study says, "The findings are both striking and ominous."

Lifetime uninsured health costs can be a staggering amount according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. A married couple at age 65 will have spent 7,000 on insurance premiums, out-of-pocket and home healthcare costs and that figure excludes long term care. If nursing care is included the lifetime amount rises to 0,000.

Fidelity Investments research found that the average monthly cost for healthcare is 5 and is second only to the cost of food. Retiree expenses for 2010 are 4.2 percent higher than 2009 but have increased by 56 percent since 2002. Contrasting that rate is the fact that consumer prices are only up 1.1 percent for 2010.

According to Melissa Jacoby, a law professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, "Chronic conditions, drug costs and nursing home costs are a big area of concern." High out of pocket expenses and the cost of financing those expenses leads to increased bankruptcy filings. Research by Melissa Jacoby has shown that one-third of people filing bankruptcy for medical reasons have used a credit card for those expenses. Jacoby adds, "And when people put those expenses on a high-interest rate credit card, the financial burden of those costs escalate."

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) aims at providing some relief to the health care costs afflicting the elderly. The gap in Medicare Part D prescription coverage for those with high expenses will be closed by 2020. The drug subsidy, Extra Help, which pays 100 percent of premiums for low income seniors will be improved by the ACA. Also, the ACA will add free preventive care to Medicare beginning in 2011. This early intervention will aid in preventing catastrophic health care costs.

There are some ways to plan for the health care expenses that will occur during retirement.
Purchase a Medigap policy. Medicare Part A covers the cost of hospitalization for up to 150 days with you being responsible for co-pays. A catastrophic illness or skilled care over the 150 days leaves you responsible for the additional costs. If you purchase a Medigap policy during open enrollment then insurance companies cannot refuse to provide insurance or charge higher premiums due to pre-existing conditions. This type of additional health coverage caps out-of-pocket expenses and protects you from any catastrophic expense.Consider purchasing long-term care insurance (LTC). This insurance will protect you from nursing home expenses. On average, one-third of individuals turning 65 in 2010 will require three months of nursing home care and 24 percent will require nursing care for more than a year. In order to get reasonable LTC coverage rates and avoid being rejected for health issues, apply for coverage when you are in your late 50's or early 60's.Research insurance plans and focus on out-of-pocket expense and understanding all of the benefits. Fidelity senior vice president Sunit Patel says, "The key question is, 'What is my maximum out-of-pocket expense in any given yearc"When saving for retirement include the cost of healthcare in your savings. Patel says. "Just as you would save to finance college education or a general retirement goal, is there a percentage or a specific account earmarked for healthcarec"Don't plan on always being healthy. People who end up paying higher Medigap or LTC premiums are those who believed they would never need it. Plan for the worst but expect the best.
Health care costs are a major expense especially for the elderly whose options are limited when faced with a financial crisis. Planning for future health care costs by following the above suggestions will help ease the financial burden of retirement.

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The big loser in Ariz. v. U.S.? The next president

The run-up to Thursday?s now-scheduled health care decision has inspired partisan nervousness reminiscent of the 2000 Florida recount. But Monday?s five-to-three Supreme Court ruling, deftly filleting Arizona?s show-me-your-papers immigration law also carries lasting implications for the next president.

The decision in Arizona v. United States was difficult to parse quickly?hence the wildly conflicting online headlines. The hyperbolic excess of a presidential election year added to the confusion as every county commissioner and state senator became an expert on constitutional law as soon as they saw a TV camera.

While one section of the get-tough Arizona law temporarily survived judicial review (depending on how it is implemented), the overall decision was a rebuke to states-rights forces that have attempted to enact immigration policy outside Washington. As Justice Anthony Kennedy unequivocally expressed it in the majority opinion, ?Arizona may have understandable frustration with the problems caused by illegal immigration ? but the state may not pursue policies that undermine federal law.?

The larger meaning of Arizona v. United States is that whoever is elected in November must revamp federal immigration law, which currently has more band-aids than an adventurous toddler. Yet it is hard to think of a topic, other than health care, that has been more of a 21st-century black hole for policymakers in both parties than immigration.?

A futile commitment to immigration reform (and the un-winnable Afghanistan War) united two wildly different presidents--Barack Obama and George W. Bush. Despite presidential addresses and promises to Latino leaders, despite White House strategy sessions and cold-blooded political calculus, reform legislation has never made it out of Congress. The closest it came was under Bush in 2006, when a bill passed the Republican House only to die by filibuster in the GOP-majority Senate.

Senate patriarchs Ted Kennedy and John McCain negotiated the broad contours of that legislation in 2005. And, with some jiggering, both Bush and Obama have followed the Kennedy-McCain formula. Illegal immigrants currently in this country with clean records would be allowed to begin a lengthy path to citizenship after they paid for a fine for violating immigration law. Future illegal entry would be discouraged by enhanced border enforcement. And America would develop a legal guest worker program that would satisfy both high-tech companies desperate for math Ph.D.s and agricultural interests that perennially need low-wage laborers.

It was the kind of Grand Bargain that won plaudits from newspaper editorial writers and distinguished scholars at think tanks. It attracted the support of major stakeholders (a word beloved by the authors of blue-ribbon foundation reports) because there was something in the package for everyone. Latino groups got the path to citizenship; the Chamber of Commerce signed on because of the guest worker program; law enforcement groups were attracted by the promise of strict border control; the AFL-CIO was spared competition from an invisible army of illegal workers; and smart strategists in both parties (from Karl Rove to David Plouffe) recognized that championing immigration legislation would attract Hispanic votes.

The politics were diabolically clever?and have gotten nowhere.?

The Dream Act, so beloved by the Obama administration, was an admission of failure. Immigration-rights supporters took the most emotionally arresting cases (a high-school valedictorian threatened with deportation?made-to-order for a 30-second campaign commercial) and packed them into one bill. Maybe America would never provide legal status for a 48-year-old Salvadorian working off-the-books for a landscape firm, but at least illegal immigrants brought to this country as children might get a foot in the door.?

Nope, that failed too. The recent Obama election-year directive to halt efforts to deport these young immigrants is a temporary expedient. Rather than a permanent policy change, it could be overturned in an instant by President Mitt Romney without consulting Congress or the courts. Romney, to be sure, has been studiously vague about what he would do if elected. His current mantra is that he favors a ?long-term solution,? which is about as tangible as Richard Nixon?s so-called ?secret plan? to end the Vietnam War.

There are easy explanations for the failure of immigration reform to make it through Congress for almost a decade. There is a segment of the electorate?white, middle-aged and older?who refuse to acknowledge that the ethnic makeup of America has changed since 1958. The political potency of attack-ad phrases like ?amnesty for illegals? and ?rewarding lawbreakers? compounds the problem for supporters of comprehensive immigration reform. The economic downturn has made millions of Americans feel beleaguered which cuts into their feelings of compassion for the illegal under-class.?

And, yes, there is continuing concern about border security, even if a major part of the problem is foreigners arriving legally as tourists and then overstaying their visas. (Passport lines at Kennedy airport somehow don?t cut it as frightening visuals for campaign commercials).??

All that is fine as far as it goes?but the arguments citing nativism, poisonous politics and economic dislocation miss something important. Voters have had it with Grand Bargains no matter whether they come from the center-right or the center-left. Beyond immigration, this applies to the deficit and, yes, health care, where Obama bought off everyone from the insurance companies to teaching hospitals to liberal groups in an effort to pass the bill.

The underlying problem is the worst breakdown in respect for institutional authority since the 1960s. In case you missed it, this hasn?t been a glorious century for elite experts: the strategic geniuses who led Bush into Iraq, the bipartisan chorus warbling over deregulation of Wall Street, even the Supreme Court is falling into disrepute. A recent poll by the Pew Research Center gauged the court?s favorable rating (52 percent) at a 27-year low. And my guess is that it will drop even lower after Thursday?s health-care decision.?

Grand Bargains don?t work if voters fail to trust the experts who are supposedly negotiating on their behalf. Complex compromises that attempt to buy off competing stakeholders (I do love that pompous word) require voters to believe that interest groups are working in their interest. That becomes an insoluble problem when elites in most fields have seemingly forfeited the trust of average Americans.?

In Arizona v. United States, the Supreme Court upheld the vital principle that the immigration mess must be solved along the banks of the Potomac River. What it means for the next president is that each aspect of immigration policy needs to be sold to the voters on its own merits rather than wrapped up in a we?re-the-experts backroom compromise.

Despite the dismal legislative record over the last decade, I cling to faith that illegal immigrants with upright records can win legal status in a nation that boasted open borders until the 1920s. Call me na?ve, but I still believe in America?s better angels.

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Monday, June 25, 2012

The nation's weather

Tropical Storm Debby is spinning in the Gulf of Mexico. On Sunday, this system will produce more heavy rains and strong thunderstorms over Florida, western Cuba, and the Gulf Coast. Tropical Storm Warnings have been issued for parts of Louisiana. However, intensification is not anticipated as this system moves northwestward towards eastern Texas and remains just south of the Gulf Coast. The system is expected to maintain tropical storm strength on Sunday with winds between 39 and 73 mph (33 and 64 knots). As the system pushes warm and humid air onshore, it will trigger scattered showers and thunderstorms over the region Sunday.

Meanwhile to the north, a low pressure trough moving through the Great Lakes will push a cold front through the Midwest. This will kick up shower and thunderstorm activity over the Great Lakes and Ohio River Valley. There is a slight chance that these storms will turn severe with damaging wind gusts and large hail. Most of these areas are expected to get about 1 inch of rain, while areas of severe thunderstorm development could see up to 2 inches of new rainfall.

Out West, a low pressure system off the West Coast will continue pushing moisture onshore. This will support more widespread rain showers over Washington, Oregon, and far northern California. Temperatures will remain seasonably cool for the West Coast. However in the Southwest, high pressure dominates from the Southwest through the Great Basin and Central Rockies, which keeps fire danger high across the region. Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Saturday have ranged from a morning low of 30 degrees at Bryce Canyon, Utah to a high of 105 degrees at Lamar, Colo.

___

Online:

Weather Underground: http://www.wunderground.com

Intellicast: http://www.intellicast.com

Associated Press

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NBA star?s gay slur shows pros don?t know Twitter

By Bob Sullivan

All winter long, New York Knicks star player Amar?e Stoudemire plays in front of packed basketball arenas. Often, when on the road, he must stand on the foul line and hit critical shots while ignoring taunts screamed at him by 20,000 or more enemy fans.?

So why couldn't he ignore one comparatively tame tweet from a Knicks fan critical of his play?

Stoudemire is the latest professional athlete to land in social media hot water after he replied privately on Twitter this weekend to the fan. In just 140 characters, he managed to squeeze in two words we won't publish on msnbc.com, including one hateful gay slur: ?"F#&# you.? I don't have to do anything, F#@."

The recipient took a screen capture of the private direct message and posted it publicly. Within hours, a typical Internet firestorm ensued. The NBA now says it is investigating.


The fan, who identifies himself as 19 years old on his Twitter account, loves the Knicks so much he uses the team logo as his background image. But he's not innocent.? He taunted Stoudemire, who he says is one of his favorite players, by urging him to "come back a lot stronger and quicker to make up for this past season" -- nothing wrong there -- but closed the note like this: "mannnnnn deadasss!!!"

While no one wants to be in the business of ranking foul language, clearly Stoudemire upped the ante with his response.? Literally and figuratively, Stoudemire should have been the bigger man.

The fan has declined interviews, saying, "I don't want to make this situation any bigger than it is," a mature response that Stoudemire could easily have employed this weekend.

It's time professional athletes realized that social media is a lot bigger than they think it is.

Stoudemire's Twitter transgression is hardly the first, and it won't be the last.? It is, however, shocking that an athlete being paid more than $20 million annually could be thrown off his game so easily.? And it's almost unbelievable that professional sports teams that spend hundreds of millions of dollars crafting their image leave so much to chance on Twitter and Facebook.

It's not as if the sports leagues can't control social media usage -- the National Basketball Association prohibits players from Tweeting 45 minutes before games, during games, and after games until media leave the locker room. Other leagues have similar restrictions.?

Still, Twitter regret is a fixture in the sports world. Then Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen was fined last season for complaining about umpires on Twitter. Several NFL players were criticized for saying they were enjoying the NFL lockout last summer. And NBA pariah Gilbert Arenas was fined after he tweeted that he would be "direct sexting in no time" last year.

Stoudemire's direct response to a fan raised the stakes however. ?His casual use of a gay slur also shows just how far the NBA has to go to make its environment accepting of all sexual orientations.? The NBA might look to the NHL for inspiration; last year, the hockey league joined the impressive "You Can Play" initiative after a team general manager's son became the first openly gay player in the minor leagues.? The player, Brendan Burke, died in a car crash in 2010.

In addition to the offensive language, it's amazing that some athletes fail to prepare for the reputation risk which comes from social media, and that professional leagues haven't managed to control it. The contrast with college sports here is stark; across the country, many colleges are trying to ban athletes from using social media, or hiring technology companies to monitor them closely.?

This approach has raised serious First Amendment issues, but it at least shows the schools are taking the risks seriously.

There is a distinct difference, however, when a professional sports team pays an athlete millions of dollars as part of a profit-making venture. Schools shouldn?t force teenage lacrosse players off Facebook, and they probably don?t have the right to such a free speech restriction, but a pro team can surely control how its highly compensated employee interacts with the public. ?

The Twitter regret issue should be interesting to watch during the upcoming London Olympic games, where a combination of highly paid professionals and amateurs, along with very excited family members, might lead to some embarrassing social media moments. Already, famous British swimmer and former silver medalist Sharron Davies is calling for a Twitter blackout by U.K. athletes during the games.

?It?s always something that is a bit of a risk, that some silly story would overshadow the good stuff we were doing,? Davies told the Mirror. ?For that short period, a month, let?s not take a risk.?

For his part, Stoudemire did apologize, seemingly without prompting, several hours later.

"I apologize for what I said earlier. I just got off the plane and had time to think about it. Sorry bro!! No Excuses. Won't happen again," he wrote in another private message posted by the recipient.

Stoudemire had a frustrating, injury-riddled season that ended with him embarrassingly punching a glass door after a playoff loss to eventual league champion Miami Heat. Angry punches and glass don't mix well. The resulting injury caused Stoudemire to miss a playoff game and limited him for the rest of the series.

Frustration and the instant gratification of social media are an even more toxic mixture. If someone paid me $20 million a year, I'd pay for 24/7 public relations help with my Twitter account.? Seems a sensible way to keep the fouls on the court.

*Follow Bob Sullivan on Facebook.
*Follow Bob Sullivan on Twitter.?

?

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Arab world welcomes Morsi election in Egypt

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Sunday, June 24, 2012

The Knut Is A Web-Enabled Monitor For Everything

knut_sensorsIf you're headed away this summer, leave the Knut behind to keep and eye on things. This small, Wi-Fi-capable widget can transmit various measurements to your iPhone anywhere in the world. The Knut is a Kickstarter project by Richard Pasek and Jay Gondelman in Boston. They're looking for $80 per Knut and it has various sensors built in as well as functional sensors for various other measurements.

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Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's first Islamist president

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