In honor of President Obama's birthday, we take a look at the family's most aww-inspiring photos.
Lauren Silberman Sim City Manchester United Alvin Lee mila kunis hugo chavez jamie lynn spears
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Monday, June 3, 2013
Beyonce Headlines 'Chime For Change,' London Charity Concert For Women (PHOTOS)
LONDON ? Beyonce and a few famous friends ? including John Legend, Jennifer Lopez and Madonna ? turned the home of English rugby into a fortress for women's rights at a star-studded charity concert.
Beyonce headlined a concert at Twickenham rugby stadium in London in support of Chime for Change, a campaign set up to help empower girls and women around the world.
The singer, sporting a slinky leather body suit, had the 50,000-strong crowd in a frenzy when she performed "Crazy In Love" ? joined onstage by husband Jay-Z.
She also performed hits including "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)," "Run The World (Girls)," "Halo" and the Destiny's Child classic "Survivor."
"It's time for change. Let's chime for change. This is such an incredible night for me," said the 31-year-old star.
Earlier, Simon Le Bon performed with Timbaland, and J-Lo and Mary J. Blige sang The Beatles' "Come Together," as a raft of stars united for the Sound of Change Live show, which also featured John Legend, Florence + The Machine and Rita Ora.
Madonna, Freida Pinto, Aishwarya Rai, Jada Pinkett Smith, James Franco, Ryan Reynolds, Jessica Chastain and feminist icon Gloria Steinem were among the presenters. Even Prince Harry sent a videotaped message of support.
Beyonce is co-founder, with actress-producer Salma Hayek Pinault and Gucci creative director Frida Giannini, of the charity, which supports projects improving access to education, health care and justice for women.
Partner organizations include UNICEF, the Global Fund for Women and Plan International.
Giannini said she was grateful for Prince Harry's involvement, because "it's very important in projects like that, talking about women that some very strong male personalities are with us."
Hayek Pinault said Beyonce was the best possible ambassador for the cause.
"Do you know that everybody in her band is a girl?" she said. "I mean talk about woman power."
___
Online: www.chimeforchange.org
Related on HuffPost:
"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/01/beyonce-chime-for-change_n_3372647.html
Katherine Webb Cut for Bieber AJ McCarron Johnny Manziel ups Aj Mccarron Girlfriend CES 2013
Sunday, June 2, 2013
In Turkey's Taksim protest, angry citizens and a defiant prime minister
A second day of clashes in Istanbul and other Turkish cities have seen what began as a protest about a development project evolve into a broader challenge to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In Istanbul, Turks set up fires, barricades, and battled Turkish police through clouds of tear gas to protest the development of Gezi Park near Taksim Square. The protest over removing one of the few green spaces left in downtown Istanbul has broadened into anger over what are seen to be heavyhanded actions of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Islam-rooted AKP (Justice and Development Party), which include new rules against consuming alcohol and tough police action against any opposition.
Scott Peterson/Getty Images
EnlargeAfter two days of violent street battles, Turkish anti-government protesters today scored a symbolic victory against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, by forcing police to retreat in hail of stones and debris from Taksim Square in Istanbul.
Skip to next paragraph' +
google_ads[0].line2 + '
' +
google_ads[0].line3 + '
Subscribe Today to the Monitor
What began as a small sit-in protest over the destruction of an adjacent tree-lined park to make way for a mall has been turned by repeated police attacks and tear gas strikes into a much broader protest against Mr. Erdogan?s rule and perceived Islamization of Turkish society by his party.
By Friday, those police tactics ? and an uncompromising stance by Erdogan ? had brought tens of thousands of Turks onto the streets of Istanbul and other cities, in scenes reminiscent of the Arab Spring uprisings.
In a speech today, Erdogan was defiant. ?Taksim Square can?t be a place where extremists are running wild,? he said, insisting that the park redevelopment would go forward and acknowledging police may have used excessive force - ?some mistakes, extremism in police response."
The protesters say they are angry with what they see as Erdogan?s increasingly authoritarian rule after a decade in power. Though democratically elected, most recently with an unprecedented margin, some called for Erdogan to step aside.
?Of course we are not here just for the trees,? says Atilla, a mathematics graduate who wore swimming goggles to keep steady clouds of tear gas from his eyes. ?It?s about democracy and against this dictator. Tayyip [Erdogan] has turned into a dictator. He thinks most people voted for him for better democracy, but now people see his real face.?
Mandate
A winner of three elections ? in the last his party garnered nearly 50 percent of the vote ? Erdogan at the head of the ruling AKP (Justice and Development Party) has become one of the most popular politicians in modern Turkish history.
The former mayor of Istanbul's Islamist roots have long raised concerns among secular elements of Turkish society. Many of those on the streets are younger, affluent and secular, a cohort that has bristled at recent AKP lifestyle rulings such as limiting alcohol consumption and tough treatment of the opposition.
Turkish television and newspapers initially ignored the largest anti-government protests for years in Turkey. But Erdogan this morning took an uncompromising line in a speech which riled protestors by denouncing them as terrorists. ?
?Every four years we hold elections and this nation makes its choice,? said Erdogan. ?Those who have a problem with government policies can express their opinions within the framework of law and democracy.?
The prime minister said "don't compete with us," warning that if the protesters could bring 100,000 into the streets that he could counter with one million of his own supporters.? While few doubt that point, the swift eruption and scale of the protests ? and the destruction they caused along some of Istanbul?s most frequented shopping avenues ??may serve as a wake up call.
?We are all terrorists?? asks Atilla, jokingly. He points to a friend who was a 1995 Harvard graduate; another with shop-worker goggles is an engineer; yet another a teacher. Today was Atilla?s first day on the street, propelled by what he calls the ?brutality? of the police.
?Why am I here?? asks Sinan, the Turkish Harvard graduate. ?If my son asks me in 20 years where I was on this day, I want to be able to tell him I was out on the street.?
Street battles
The violence has been steady over two days, with protestors being initially forced from their Gezi Park camp in an early morning police raid on Friday. Water cannons and tear gas were used repeatedly; police cleared the park and Taksim Square.
But street battles erupted at multiple entry points to Taksim, the heart of the European side of Istanbul. Protesters doused themselves with milk, lemon juice and vinegar to counteract the tear gas, and dragged everything from potted plants and park benches to shop signs to build makeshift barricades.
The more serious among them used permanent marker pens to write emergency phone numbers on their arms, or their blood groups. Despite dozens of injuries ? most from excessive exposure to tear gas ? and scores of arrests, lethal force was not used.?
Police fired volley after volley of tear gas down the avenues leading away from Taksim Square, and when they advanced with plastic riot shields and batons ready ? their way often paved by water cannon bursts ? the protestors fled around corners or into alleyways.
Then police would pull back, and protestors would raise their arms to call larger crowds behind them to come forward, moving barricades ??some of them burning until 3am ? ever forward. Men and women with eyes bloodshot from gas made rude gestures to police helicopters overhead, which used spotlights to target gas drops on concentrations of people.
Soccer team supporters, covered with tattoos and swilling beer, and renowned in Turkey for their own regular violent confrontations with police, also joined the frontlines.
A partial police pullback on one side of Taksim Square yielded greater clouds of tear gas on other areas. Shooting could be heard until first light this morning, just after 5am.
Fed up
?We?re fed up!? shouted one protestor, poking his head from a doorway as police moved into a nearby intersection close to Taksim. This morning, opposition parties had joined the fray, carrying their own flags and banners.
?This is about more than 3 or 4 trees, it?s about a government that just does what it wants and never listens,? says Hassan, a Turk with a New York Fire Department T-shirt and a face smeared with a milky substance.?
?We did not put [Erdogan] in power, but we will put him out,? says another man, stepping back into a column of protesters heading for Taksim. The police units that had engaged that group for several hours previously pulled back to Taksim by late afternoon ? sending a few more volleys of tear gas as they departed.
Protestors surged into Taksim, filling it with tens of thousands of people. There was an air of celebration, then the police launched dozens more rounds of tear gas across the square, causing a stampede, choking, and further deepening anger.
Those rounds prompted scores of protesters to pelt the police ranks, then chase them from the edge of the square, and finally prompt a full retreat with water cannon vehicles bombarded with stones as they fired off a few last bursts at protestors. Turkish officials said police were ordered to retreat by 4pm.
The police station adjacent to the square was burned, and a police vehicle left behind was covered with anti-police and anti-Erdogan graffiti, including a swastika. On another wall, a masked man spray painted the words in Turkish: ?The AKP are murderers.?
Rumors circulated that the police withdrew because they were running short of tear gas. Canisters and gas grenades of all kinds ? from Brazil, the US and South Korea, at least ? littered the square and roads.
Turks who took over Taksim Square celebrated their presence, and proclaimed ?victory,? temporary though it may prove to be.
?People are saying ?Taksim is free,? but that it could also be a trap,? says Costa, a banker who said he was fired upon earlier in the day. ?The people who support this cause, even if it is a tiny percent ? and it is much more ??it is enough to take over the square, and that is empowering.?
Another Turkish man in the square had taken off his motorcycle helmet, since after the police departure there were no more falling gas canisters. Will this protest make a difference to politics in Turkey?
?I think it will,? he says. ?I think it will force them [Erdogan and the AKP] to listen a little better.?
superbowl Ron Jeremy Rudy Gay Jim Nabors The Americans bank of america online banking Adairsville Ga
Saturday, June 1, 2013
New speaker system for cars creates separate 'audio zones' for front and rear
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 31-May-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Catherine Meyers
cmeyers@aip.org
301-209-3088
American Institute of Physics
Ever wish that your car's interior cabin could have separate audio zones for the front and rear seats? It soon may.
A new approach achieves independent listening zones within a car by using small, modified speakers to produce directional sound fields and a signal processing strategy that optimizes the audio signals used to drive each of the speakers. The new design will be presented at the 21st International Congress on Acoustics (ICA 2013), held June 2-7 in Montreal.
Today, car cabins often reverberate with the sounds of music, video soundtracks, navigation system instructions, telecommunications, and warning sounds. Problems arise, however, when occupants of the same car want to listen to different programs. The driver may require navigation system instructions and warning sounds, while the kids in the back seat want to watch a movie. Intergenerational audio conflict might be avoided, however, with a new type of car speaker system.
"We've begun developing an audio reproduction system capable of producing independent listening zones in the front and rear seats of a car cabin without the use of headphones," says Jordan Cheer, Research Fellow in Active Control at the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research at the University of Southampton, UK. "Our system uses standard car audio loudspeakers, which are usually mounted in the doors of the car, at low frequencies, and these are complemented by a set of small loudspeakers mounted to the headrests."
"Our complete system is able to achieve a significant level of isolation between the front and rear seating positions to provide independent listening zones for the front and rear cabin occupants," Cheer says.
The necessary degree of isolation between the two listening zones depends on the audio program, he explains. For example, if speech is being reproduced at the front seats and pop music is playing in the rear seats, a higher level of isolation is required than if pop music were playing in both zones.
Future work on the system will factor in the effect of the audio program selection on the required system performance. Based on this information, the researchers will continue to explore improvements to both loudspeaker configuration and digital signal processing.
###
Presentation 1aSP9, "Design and implementation of a personal audio system in a car cabin," is in the morning session on Monday, June 3. Abstract: http://asa.aip.org/web2/asa/abstracts/search.jun13/asa117.html
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE ICA 2013 MONTREAL USEFUL LINKS:
Main meeting website: http://www.ica2013montreal.org/
Itinerary planner and technical program: http://acousticalsociety.org/meetings/ica-2013/
WORLD WIDE PRESS ROOM
ASA's World Wide Press Room will be updated with additional tips on dozens of newsworthy stories and with lay-language papers, which are 300-1200 word summaries of presentations written by scientists for a general audience and accompanied by photos, audio, and video.
PRESS REGISTRATION
We will grant free registration to credentialed journalists and professional freelance journalists. If you are a reporter and would like to attend, contact Jason Bardi (jbardi@aip.org, 240-535-4954), who can also help with setting up interviews and obtaining images, sound clips, or background information.
This news release was prepared for the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) by the American Institute of Physics (AIP).
ABOUT THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is the premier international scientific society in acoustics devoted to the science and technology of sound. Its 7,000 members worldwide represent a broad spectrum of the study of acoustics. ASA publications include The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (the world's leading journal on acoustics), Acoustics Today magazine, ECHOES newsletter, books, and standards on acoustics. The society also holds two major scientific meetings each year. For more information about ASA, visit our website at http://www.acousticalsociety.org.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 31-May-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Catherine Meyers
cmeyers@aip.org
301-209-3088
American Institute of Physics
Ever wish that your car's interior cabin could have separate audio zones for the front and rear seats? It soon may.
A new approach achieves independent listening zones within a car by using small, modified speakers to produce directional sound fields and a signal processing strategy that optimizes the audio signals used to drive each of the speakers. The new design will be presented at the 21st International Congress on Acoustics (ICA 2013), held June 2-7 in Montreal.
Today, car cabins often reverberate with the sounds of music, video soundtracks, navigation system instructions, telecommunications, and warning sounds. Problems arise, however, when occupants of the same car want to listen to different programs. The driver may require navigation system instructions and warning sounds, while the kids in the back seat want to watch a movie. Intergenerational audio conflict might be avoided, however, with a new type of car speaker system.
"We've begun developing an audio reproduction system capable of producing independent listening zones in the front and rear seats of a car cabin without the use of headphones," says Jordan Cheer, Research Fellow in Active Control at the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research at the University of Southampton, UK. "Our system uses standard car audio loudspeakers, which are usually mounted in the doors of the car, at low frequencies, and these are complemented by a set of small loudspeakers mounted to the headrests."
"Our complete system is able to achieve a significant level of isolation between the front and rear seating positions to provide independent listening zones for the front and rear cabin occupants," Cheer says.
The necessary degree of isolation between the two listening zones depends on the audio program, he explains. For example, if speech is being reproduced at the front seats and pop music is playing in the rear seats, a higher level of isolation is required than if pop music were playing in both zones.
Future work on the system will factor in the effect of the audio program selection on the required system performance. Based on this information, the researchers will continue to explore improvements to both loudspeaker configuration and digital signal processing.
###
Presentation 1aSP9, "Design and implementation of a personal audio system in a car cabin," is in the morning session on Monday, June 3. Abstract: http://asa.aip.org/web2/asa/abstracts/search.jun13/asa117.html
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE ICA 2013 MONTREAL USEFUL LINKS:
Main meeting website: http://www.ica2013montreal.org/
Itinerary planner and technical program: http://acousticalsociety.org/meetings/ica-2013/
WORLD WIDE PRESS ROOM
ASA's World Wide Press Room will be updated with additional tips on dozens of newsworthy stories and with lay-language papers, which are 300-1200 word summaries of presentations written by scientists for a general audience and accompanied by photos, audio, and video.
PRESS REGISTRATION
We will grant free registration to credentialed journalists and professional freelance journalists. If you are a reporter and would like to attend, contact Jason Bardi (jbardi@aip.org, 240-535-4954), who can also help with setting up interviews and obtaining images, sound clips, or background information.
This news release was prepared for the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) by the American Institute of Physics (AIP).
ABOUT THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is the premier international scientific society in acoustics devoted to the science and technology of sound. Its 7,000 members worldwide represent a broad spectrum of the study of acoustics. ASA publications include The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (the world's leading journal on acoustics), Acoustics Today magazine, ECHOES newsletter, books, and standards on acoustics. The society also holds two major scientific meetings each year. For more information about ASA, visit our website at http://www.acousticalsociety.org.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-05/aiop-nss053113.php
country music awards autism awareness angelman syndrome total recall troy tulowitzki katie couric good morning america the rock vs john cena
No rise in cancer seen from Japan's nuclear disaster-UN experts
VIENNA (Reuters) - Cancer rates are not expected to rise after Japan's Fukushima nuclear accident as people quickly left the area hit by the world's worst such disaster in 25 years, a U.N. scientific committee said on Friday.
Wolfgang Weiss, a senior member of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), said the evacuation of tens of thousands of people had sharply lowered radiation exposure.
The dose levels were "so low that we don't expect to see any increase in cancer in the future in the population", he told reporters during an UNSCEAR meeting to discuss a draft report to be presented to the U.N. General Assembly later this year.
A magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, killed nearly 19,000 people and devastated the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, spewing radiation and forcing about 160,000 people to flee their homes.
It was the biggest nuclear accident since a reactor exploded at the Chernobyl power plant in Ukraine in 1986. Studies into that accident have linked thyroid cancer to radioactive iodine from Chernobyl.
UNSCEAR's findings appeared to differ somewhat from a World Health Organization (WHO) report published in February which said people in the area worst affected have a slightly higher risk of developing certain cancers.
Weiss suggested the UNSCEAR study, carried out by 80 experts and with the involvement of five international organizations including the United Nations health agency, was based on information covering a longer period after the accident.
"So they (the WHO) didn't have the full picture. We don't have the full picture either but we have more than one year in addition," he said.
UNSCEAR's 27 member states and 180 experts met this week in Vienna to scrutinize the report.
"The results are very straightforward ... the evacuation of many, many thousands of people resulted in a reduction of the dose that they would have received if they had stayed in the evacuation zone by a factor of 10," he said.
Highlighting the differences between Chernobyl and Fukushima, he said people close to the plant in the then Soviet Union were exposed to radioactive iodine that contaminated milk.
The thyroid is the most exposed organ as radioactive iodine concentrates there. Children are deemed especially vulnerable.
"In Chernobyl, many children used milk which had high iodine concentrations, resulting in high thyroid doses, resulting in an increase of thyroid cancer," Weiss said. "The doses through the thyroid in Japan are much, much lower."
Also when it came to exposure to another radioactive contaminant, the longer-lasting caesium, "we wouldn't expect any increase of ... cancers during the next decades", he said.
But he said a few workers at the plant had received very high radioactive doses in the early stages of the accident and they continued to be under medical surveillance.
(Reporting by Fredrik Dahl; Editing by Alison Williams)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/no-rise-cancer-seen-japans-nuclear-disaster-un-120010026.html
Sage Stallone Mermaid Body Found Celeste Holm Stephen Covey klimt bastille day breaking bad
Friday, May 31, 2013
LG Optimus G Pro gets wider Asian launch
LG 5.5-incher to hit Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia
As expected, LG has announced wider Asian availability for its high-end, big-screened handset, the Optimus G Pro. The G Pro, which is already available in Korea, Japan and the U.S., will hit Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia throughout the next month. The version going on sale in these countries will be the 5.5-inch model, as opposed to the 5-incher released in Japan earlier in the year.
Besides that massive 1080p screen, the Optimus G Pro features a 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 CPU, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, expandable via microSD, a 13-megapixel camera and a whopping 3140mAh battery. For more on the Optimus G Pro, be sure to check out our reviews of the Korean and AT&T versions.
     |
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/sbj3wiSYNlE/story01.htm
Snoop Lion London 2012 Table Tennis badminton Dominique Dawes Gabby Olympic Gymnast Robyn Lawley Gore Vidal
ParStream And Panopticon Partner To Provide Analytics And Data
ParStream And Panopticon are partnering to offer data analytics and data visualization by integrating their respective platforms. ParStream offers an in-memory analtytics technology that it markets as offering sub-second response. Panapticon is known for its visual analytics and in-memory engine that can push out graphics in an event stream.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/NM17JaBHIc0/
sports illustrated swimsuit 2012 aretha franklin whitney houston paul williams paul babeu kevin costner budweiser shootout animal house
SmartThings opens up its home automation platform to developers
To say SmartThings' Kickstarter campaign was a success is an understatement: the Internet of Things outfit, which offers a clever array of home automation sensors, routers and smartphone apps, raised more than $1.2 million (over four times the company's original goal), nabbed over 6,000 backers and quickly sold out of its first batch of kits. Naturally, the company isn't stopping there -- it's making good on its goal of providing an open-source platform for developers, as it announced the availability of its Developer and Inventor Toolkit. Now, interested parties can create and develop their own SmartThings, and can collaborate with like-minded folks to come up with even more ways to take advantage of the platform. Additionally, it supports several types of wireless standards, such as WiFi, Bluetooth, ZigBee and Z-Wave, giving it interoperability with various home automation systems.
As a refresher, SmartThings connects a large number of household items -- appliances, automatic door locks, thermostats, humidity sensors, presence sensors, power outlet switches, IR remotes, secret bookcase doors and plenty more -- to a central router which then can be controlled through a smartphone app. Thanks to the openness of the platform, the number of use-case scenarios is rather significant, which certainly makes it more appealing to users. If you're interested in learning how to get started, head below to the press release and go here to get the whole enchilada of information.
Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Mobile
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/Sas-4pqD9Ek/
biggie smalls lyrics azores emmylou harris disco inferno b.i.g 1000 words ron white
Tornadoes touch down in Oklahoma, Arkansas
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) ? At least three tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma, including one in Tulsa, and two more hit Arkansas on Thursday as a powerful storm system moved through the middle of the country. At least nine people were injured.
The National Weather Service confirmed at least one tornado touched down Thursday night in the Tulsa suburb of Broken Arrow. However, the tornado did not appear to be a strong twister like the deadly one in suburban Oklahoma City last week.
Meteorologist Pete Snyder with the weather service's Tulsa office said it appeared the roofs of some buildings were damaged, and police told the Tulsa World that they didn't have any reports of buildings being destroyed.
Earlier in the day, tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma and Arkansas, injuring at least nine people.
The National Weather Service reported two tornadoes on the ground near Perkins and Ripley in north central Oklahoma and another west of Oden, Ark.
Thursday's tornadoes all appeared to be much less dangerous than the top-of-the-scale EF5 storm that struck Moore, Okla., on May 20 and killed 24 along its 17-mile path. The U.S. averages more than 1,200 tornadoes a year, but top-of-the-scale storms like the one in Moore ? with winds over 200 mph ? happen only about once per year. The tornado last week was the nation's first EF5 since 2011.
All nine of the injured Thursday were in Arkansas; two of the injuries were attributed to a lightning strike in Rogers. Lightning was also believed to have started a fire that destroyed two floors of a condominium building in northwestern Indiana.
Some trees, homes and power lines were damaged in Arkansas, and the National Weather Service confirmed that tornadoes touched down in Montgomery County and in Clark County. Emergency Management spokesman Tommy Jackson said first responders had trouble reaching a destroyed home where one person was hurt because a number of trees were blocking the road.
In Oklahoma, Perkins Emergency Management Director Travis Majors said there were no injuries or damage there. Ripley, about 10 miles east of Perkins, did not seem to have significant damage. The Payne County emergency management director did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
Storms also caused problems in the western Iowa town of Onawa, damaging buildings, breaking windows, tearing awnings and blowing down trees and a stoplight. National Weather Service meteorologist Dave Fobert told the Sioux City Journal that the damage apparently was caused by a thunderstorm, not a tornado.
Some strong winds blew through Moore, in suburban Oklahoma City, on Thursday, but the weather didn't cause significant problems for crews cleaning up from last week's tornado.
Organizers pushed back Thursday's start of the Wakarusa Music Festival north of Ozark, Ark., as threatening weather approached. After a series of storms moved through the area, Franklin County Emergency Manager Fred Mullen said no flooding was reported at the site, located along Arkansas' Pig Trail scenic highway.
In addition to tornadoes, the storms were bringing rain and hail. Flooding was also a concern in parts of Missouri, Iowa and Illinois through Sunday.
This spring's tornado season got a late start, with unusually cool weather keeping funnel clouds at bay until mid-May. The season usually starts in March and then ramps up for the next couple of months.
Of the 60 EF5 tornadoes since 1950, Oklahoma and Alabama have been struck the most, seven times each. More than half of these top-of-the-scale twisters have occurred in just five states: Alabama, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.
___
Associated Press writers Ken Miller in Oklahoma City, Jeannie Nuss in Little Rock, Ark., and Seth Borenstein in Washington contributed to this report
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tornadoes-touch-down-oklahoma-arkansas-030940006.html
tom hardy British Open leaderboard Jessica Ghawi People Water Fred Willard Emmy nominations 2012 Ramadan 2012
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
3 feet of snow for Memorial Day? Yes, in NY.
3 feet of snow fall over Memorial Day weekend on Whiteface Mountain in New York. Authorities forced to close mountain highway after 3 feet of snow.
Whiteface Mountain Veterans' Memorial Highway was blanketed with 3 feet of snow Sunday, forcing authorities to close part of the highway.
Courtesy of ORDA/Whiteface/AP
EnlargeA Memorial Day weekend storm has dropped three feet of?snow?on a?New?York?ski mountain near the Vermont boarder.
Skip to next paragraph' +
google_ads[0].line2 + '
' +
google_ads[0].line3 + '
Subscribe Today to the Monitor
Whiteface Mountain spokesman Jon Lundin says 36 inches of white powder has blanketed the nearly 5,000-foot tall mountain in the Adirondacks. That has forced the Olympic Regional Development Authority to close Whiteface Veteran's Memorial Highway on the backside of the mountain.
Lundin says the?snow?began lightly falling Saturday and steadily dropped Sunday, finishing in the evening. He didn't know if the 3-foot snowfall was a record for Whiteface.
Burlington, Vt., National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Muccilli says the mountain experienced steady?snowand gusty winds throughout the weekend.
He says Mount Mansfield, in Stowe, Vt., had 13.2 inches of?snow?Sunday, the latest in the season it's ever had a foot.
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/cw9XbIyxxrw/3-feet-of-snow-for-Memorial-Day-Yes-in-NY
lakers trade ann arbor news nick young south dakota state long beach state beasley trailblazers
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Texas makes teachers' pensions less reliant on markets
By Karen Brooks
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Texas lawmakers passed sweeping changes to the state's $116 billion teacher pension system on Sunday, including the first cost-of-living increase in a dozen years and a new requirement that school districts pay part of the expense.
The state, the teachers themselves and the school districts will increase contributions, making the Teachers Retirement System of Texas less reliant on market returns.
Without the changes, the healthcare account alone would have faced a $1 billion shortfall by 2017, supporters of the legislation said.
"We were upside-down earlier, because we were relying too much on investment returns," said state Senator Robert Duncan, Republican of Lubbock, who authored the legislation. "This puts us in a situation where we are actually having long-term fixed contributions rates that should support this system for a long time."
Teacher contributions to the Teachers Retirement System of Texas would increase over the next four years from 6.4 percent of their pay to 7.7 percent, and school districts would contribute 1.5 percent of total salary costs, up from zero.
The state contribution would increase from 6.4 percent of covered payroll to 6.8 percent starting in September.
Those three sources are expected to add some $600 million to the pension fund over the first two years, according to state documents.
The last time the state passed a cost-of-living increase for retired teachers was in 2001.
Under the plan passed Sunday, teachers who have been retired since early 2004 will see a three-percent increase in benefits, affecting some 195,000 teachers, or 60 percent of those in the system.
The law increases their monthly benefits by an average of $42, though it caps that increase at $100.
Teacher groups said they were disappointed the legislation decreased the pension and health benefits of hundreds of thousands of current employees who had already earned those benefits under the existing system.
Current employees with less than five years of service by August 2014 will have to work two extra years to get full retirement benefits under the new plan. The legislation raises the minimum retirement age for those employees from 60 to 62, according to the Texas branch of the American Federation of Teachers.
It also raises to 62 the minimum age at which a retiree is eligible for the TRS-Care health benefits beyond catastrophic coverage, reducing the benefits for hundreds of thousands of current employees, the group said.
That new requirement does not apply to members who by August 2014 meet a rule of 70, or age plus years of service equal to 70 or more, or have at least 25 years of service credit.
"One of our goals was to continue the stability of the system, and that has been done with the increased state contributions," said Linda Bridges, president of the Texas chapter of the American Federation of Teachers. "There's still more work to be done to improve the system for retirees and active members."
The Texas teachers' pension fund offers a defined-benefit plan and serves more than 1.3 million employed and retired teachers. The average annual teacher benefit is $22,764.
The pension fund is one of the world's largest private equity investors and has invested billions of dollars with firms including Apollo and KKR.
(Editing by Daniel Trotta and Philip Barbara)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/texas-makes-teachers-pensions-less-reliant-markets-234802827.html
camille grammer camille grammer us supreme court breaking dawn part 2 trailer mississippi state chris carpenter chris carpenter
Monday, May 27, 2013
Obama says gov't behind Oklahoma 'all the way'
MOORE, Okla. (AP) ? President Barack Obama flew to tornado-ravaged Oklahoma Sunday, offering moral and monetary support to people still reeling from lost lives and shattered neighborhoods. He told survivors, "You've got folks behind you" across America.
Standing with Gov. Mary Fallin and other state and federal officials amid the devastation wrought by a monstrous EF5 tornado, Obama said, "A picture's worth a thousand words." He said rebuilding job will be enormous and "we're going to be with you all the way."
"Our hearts go out to you," Obama said, noting the loss of life and some 1,200 homes. He urged the American people to pitch in and help, saying that in instances such as this, the president serves as a "messenger" for all citizens, bringing words of condolence, promises of government assistance and pleas for private contributions.
Twenty-four people, including 10 children, died when the nearly tornado hit with little notice last Monday afternoon.
The White House said before his arrival Sunday that Obama wanted a firsthand look at the destruction and recovery efforts.
Shortly after his arrival on a partly cloudy day, Obama road in his motorcade past grassy fields strewn with scattered debris, witnessing devastation so awesome that it appeared as if garbage had literally rained from the sky. His first stop was the demolished site of the Plaza Towers Elementary School, where seven students were killed when the tornado turned the one-story building into a heap of bricks, broken concrete and twisted metal.
Obama walked along Eagle Drive, with the demolished school on his left and on his right, homes reduced as far as the eye could see to piles of rubble. Vehicles were turned upside down and toys like doll carriages and children's books were strewn with furniture and ripped out wall insulation.
"I know this is tough," he told one school official.
He met the Lewis family, who lost their home behind the school, telling them the important thing is they survived and could replace their things.
"What a mess," he told their son Zack, a third grader at the shattered school. Zack's father, Scott, ran into the school just before the storm hit and ran with his terrified son back to their home's storm shelter.
"You've got some story to tell," Obama told the boy. "This is something you'll remember all your life."
Obama flew from Washington into Tinker Air Force Base and shook hands with personnel whose homes off base were lost or damaged.
Fallin, the first to greet the president as he got off the plane, said she appreciates the visit, but the state also needs quick action from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help the ravaged town of 41,000 people.
The Republican governor said so far, the agency has done a great job of speeding relief and cash assistance to affected families, but she's concerned about the long run.
"There's going to come a time when there's going to be a tremendous amount of need once we begin the debris clearing, which we already have, but really get it cleared off to where we need to start rebuilding these homes, rebuilding these businesses," she said on CBS' "Face the Nation." ''And we know at different times in the past, money hasn't come always as quickly as it should."
Obama offered prayers for residents from the White House in recent days and has promised to support the rebuilding for as long as it takes. "They have suffered mightily this week," Obama said Wednesday. "And while the road ahead will be long, their country will be with them every single step of the way."
White House spokesman Josh Earnest, speaking to reporters accompanying the presidential party on Air Force One, said Obama wanted to make the trip to offer condolences and reiterate his and the nation's commitment to rebuild.
"This is the greatest nation on Earth, and we're going to dedicate this nation's time, attention, resources and expertise to help our people in their time of urgent crisis," the spokesman said.
Earnest touted the federal contributions so far, including Obama's signing of a disaster declaration within hours of the storm to speed aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Earnest said that 450 FEMA personnel were working on the ground in Oklahoma and have delivered 43,000 meals, 150,000 liters of water and thousands of cots, blankets and tarps. He said 4,200 people have applied for disaster assistance, and $3.4 million in payments have been approved.
Fallin said the money is particularly vital for the victims. "A lot of people lose their checkbooks, they lose their credit cards, they lose their driver's license, their birth certificates, their insurance papers, they lose everything, and they have no cash. And some of the banks were even hit, the ATM machines, so people need cash to get immediate needs," she said on CBS.
Earnest also said that forecasters from the National Weather Service had worked ahead of the storm to prepare communities that it threatened. He said they issued a warning 36 minutes before the tornado entered Moore, earlier than the 12-minute average warning. Twenty-four people perished in the tornado, including 10 children.
"These advancements, made by government scientists in the field of weather forecasting at these agencies are dramatic and they're saving lives," Earnest said. He said Sunday wasn't a day for a partisan political debate, adding that "it is evident to any impartial observer here what an important role the federal government can play in providing assistance to our people at their time of urgent need."
Among the tornado victims were 10 children, including two sisters pulled by the strong winds out of their mother's grasp, an infant who died along with his mother trying to ride out the storm in a convenience store and seven students at Plaza Towers. Many students were pulled from the rubble after the school was destroyed.
Fallin noted that some 100 other schools in Oklahoma have safe rooms for children to seek shelter in tornados.
"Schools that have been lost in the past, many of them have rebuilt rooms of some sort as a safe room in their school, and we're certainly going to encourage that," she said.
"Any death is very unfortunate, but it's truly incredible that we had only 24 deaths at this site, because if you look at all the debris field and how wide it is, I don't know how anybody survived this tornado," she said on CBS.
The White House said that FEMA has already provided $57 million in rebates and incentives to help build about 12,000 storm shelters in Oklahoma. "These storm shelters can be the difference between life and death," Earnest said.
___
Follow Nedra Pickler on Twitter at https://twitter.com/nedrapickler
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-says-govt-behind-oklahoma-way-182719086.html
Aurora victims usher James Holmes Minka Kelly sex tape Colorado shooting Colorado shooting victims aurora
Thursday, May 2, 2013
BroadbandBreakfast.com: President Obama Announces Tom ...
BroadbandBreakfast.com Staff, BroadbandBreakfast.com
WASHINGTON, May 1, 2013 -?The following is a transcript of President Barack Obama?s Announcement of his nomination of Tom Wheeler to be Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, at 2:36 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
My second nominee will have a very different job, but one that?s equally important to the future of America?s economy.
When the Federal Communications Commission was founded almost 80 years ago, it was in charge of overseeing a few hundred radio stations and a few million phone lines. And today, the FCC sits at the center of a communications universe that is growing and changing faster than you can tweet. And that?s why Julius Genachowski, who is an old buddy from law school, and had so much success in the private sector as well as previously serving in the FCC ? that?s why Julius has had one of the toughest jobs in Washington.
Four years ago, Julius set two priorities as chairman of the FCC: Making high-speed Internet available everywhere, and keeping it open to everyone. And thanks to his hard work and his leadership, the FCC has made extraordinary progress on both fronts. We?re helping millions more Americans connect to high-speed Internet. We?re unleashing the airwaves to support the latest in mobile technology. We?re protecting the Internet as an open platform for innovation and free speech. And we?re poised to do even more, thanks to Julius? efforts.
So he has been an extraordinary FCC chairman, but Julius has decided to move on to new challenges in the digital frontier. And so today, it is my great pleasure to nominate Tom Wheeler to take his place. Give Tom a big round of applause. (Applause.)
Now, if anybody is wondering about Tom?s qualifications, Tom is the only member of both the cable television and the wireless industry hall of fame. So he?s like the Jim Brown of telecom, or the Bo Jackson of telecom. (Laughter.) And that?s because for more than 30 years, Tom has been at the forefront of some of the very dramatic changes that we?ve seen in the way we communicate and how we live our lives.
He was one of the leaders of a company that helped create thousands of good, high-tech jobs. He?s in charge of the group that advises the FCC on the latest technology issues. He?s helped give American consumers more choices and better products. So Tom knows this stuff inside and out. And I think Julius will attest to that because Julius has benefitted frequently from Tom?s input and advice.
I also want to thank Mignon Clyburn ? where is Mignon? There she is right there ? who has been an incredible asset to the FCC for the last few years. (Applause.) And so Mignon is going to be Acting Chair until Tom is confirmed. And together, they?ve got a very important mission ? giving businesses and workers the tools they need to compete in the 21st century economy, and making sure we?re staying at the cutting edge of an industry that again and again we?ve revolutionized here in America.
And as technology continues to shape the way that we do business and communicate and transform the world, we want to make sure that it?s American ingenuity, American innovation, and that we?re setting up legal structures and regulatory structures that facilitate this continued growth and expansion that can create good jobs and continue to grow our economy.
So I just want to thank Julius and his family, his wonderful wife, Rachel, and the entire family for their extraordinary service. I want to thank Mel, I want to thank Tom and their families for agreeing to step into these new and challenging roles. And I?m going to go ahead and thank the Senate now for what I?m sure ? (laughter) ? will be a speedy confirmation process so these two gentlemen can get to work right away.
Thank you very much, everybody.
Tagged with: FCC, Mignon Clyburn, Tom Wheeler
If you liked this article, you may also like:
affirmative action helicon zac efron and taylor swift real housewives of orange county bloom energy franklin graham jambalaya
JetBlue's Jason Collins Ad - Business Insider
JetBlue is getting lambasted?today for this Jason Collins-related tweet:
Critics are saying that JetBlue is using a milestone for the gay rights movement as a marketing opportunity.
JetBlue has supported the gay community for a while now. And? brands that support gay rights are becoming more vocal (and gaining publicity for it) generally.
But the company's apparent lack of connection with Jason Collins is causing even gay rights advocates to think twice.
That's the irony: being gay is now so non-controversial among consumers that brands risk being seen as jumping on the gay bandwagon (even if they've been on it for a while now).
"Torn between applauding this sentiment and seeing it as a cheap marketing ploy," said one Facebook commenter.
"I guess I just don't understand what JetBlue has to do with this story," wrote another.
Absolut Vodka?also lauded Collins' decision to come out publicly, but avoided tying its unrelated brand so closely to the NBA star. Absolut, again, has long spent money in gay media and staged gay friendly promo events.
Negative impressions are relatively high
Among consumers, a majority in social media appear to be on Collins' side.The Twitter sentiment analysis site Tweetfeel?shows that about only about one third of tweets regarding Collins are negative. Everyone else supports him.
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/jetblues-jason-collins-ad-2013-5
kobe bryant tiger woods adam scott Chi Cheng xbox live aurora borealis Psy
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
These Surreal Photos of Hong Kong's Aging Towers Aren't Doctored
German photographer Michael Wolf captures the aging high-rise culture of Hong Kong, which has more buildings over five hundred feet tall than any other city in the world.
The modern face of Hong Kong was formed, like New York and Chicago, by a fire. In 1953, as refugees from mainland China surged into Hong Kong, one of the city?s largest slums burned to the ground, tens of thousands homeless. The British governor at the time, Alexander Grantham, saw a solution in an emerging form of modern architecture: the prefabricated concrete tower.
Wolf moved to Hong Kong in 1994, three years before the official handover from England to China. But as his photos attest, Grantham?s fingerprint endures, in the towers that make up the bulk of the city?s low-income housing stock. In Wolf?s new book, The Architecture of Density, he collects some of his most staggering architectural photos of the city?s supertalls. We?ve seen the city from above and below
You?re probably wondering how much doctoring these photos received. The answer? Surprisingly little. There?s no clone tool at work here, just a few adjustments to remove things like the horizon line and any errant patches of sky. The buildings themselves actually exist as they?re shown: a repetitive network of floor plates and windows, which often bear a hint at the lives inside thanks to errant hanging laundry and souped up a/c units.
Low-income housing in Hong Kong, a geographic aberration hemmed in by tropical forest and ocean on all sides, is a problem without an answer?just like it was in Grantham?s day. But according to BLDGBLOG post from 2012, the city has found a way to fit new infrastructure into the existing city: a network of artificial underground caves. Let?s just hope the same concept never extends to people. [The Aesthetics of Destiny]
Source: http://gizmodo.com/these-surreal-photos-of-hong-kongs-aging-towers-arent-483852763
indiana autoimmune disease news channel 9 insanity workout mass effect 3 launch trailer yelp huntsville al
What to Do (If Anything) About a Cluttered OS X Desktop
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/29YYezxouZE/
Olympus Has Fallen Arnold Palmer Invitational 2013 arnold palmer invitational Chinua Achebe The Croods ashley greene marquette university
Rear seat design: A priority for children's safety in cars
Apr. 29, 2013 ? A research report released today from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) provides specific recommendations for optimizing the rear seat of passenger vehicles to better protect its most common occupants -- children and adolescents. By bringing technologies already protecting front seat passengers to the rear seat and modifying the geometry of the rear seat to better fit this age group, the US could achieve important reductions in serious injury and death. Motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of death for children older than 4 years and resulted in 952 fatalities in 2010 for children age 15 and younger.
"Our review of the current science and data regarding rear seat occupant safety found clear evidence that use of a child restraint system (CRS) is protective for younger children. However, older children who have outgrown child safety seats and booster seats are at greater risk of injury," says Kristy Arbogast, PhD, lead author of the report and director of engineering at the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at CHOP. "Many technologies that protect front seat passengers, such as load limiters and pretensioners, are not commonly found in the rear seat even though sled tests and computer modeling suggest that these seat belt features have the potential to reduce the risk of serious head and chest injury for rear seated occupants."
In addition to front seat restraints, CHOP researchers suggest that cues can be taken from booster seat design to determine how to keep kids who have outgrown boosters properly positioned in vehicle seat belts so the restraint can perform properly. They propose that adjustments to the geometry of the rear seat -- including shorter seat cushions, lower seat belt anchorages and contoured seats -- could increase comfort, keep the shoulder belt in position and, in side impact crashes, reduce lateral movement.
"For children under age 13, the rear seat is still the safer seating position as compared to the front seat of passenger vehicles," says Dr. Arbogast. "But we can do a better job at protecting children who have outgrown add-on restraints."
The report authors recommend the development of regulatory procedures or vehicle performance assessment programs for consumers that evaluate protection of rear seat occupants. Common vehicle rating systems do not evaluate the safety of rear seat occupants in frontal crashes. In addition to engineering solutions, the report also recommends policies and programs to increase rear seat restraint use, which remains lower than front seat restraint use and is a key risk factor for dying in a crash. Additional research is needed to further inform these priorities.
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/living_well/~3/IAXBeoPuxK0/130429094654.htm
phlebotomy dog show best in show bret michaels bret michaels pekingese tcu football
FBI Investigating McDonnell Ties to Donor (Taegan Goddard's Political Wire)
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Wael al-Halqi, Syrian Prime Minister, Reportedly Escapes Assassination Attempt In Damascus
DAMASCUS, Syria ? Syria's prime minister escaped an assassination attempt Monday when a bomb went off near his convoy in Damascus, state media reported, the latest attack targeting a top official in President Bashar Assad's regime.
Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi was unhurt in the bombing in the capital's western neighborhood of Mazzeh, state TV said. The TV showed footage of heavily damaged cars and debris in the area as firefighters fought to extinguish a large blaze set off by the explosion.
The daring attack in the upscale neighborhood, which is home to many embassies and government officials, was another blow to the regime, exposing its vulnerability in the very seat of Assad's powerbase.
Syria's conflict started with largely peaceful anti-government protests in March 2011 but eventually turned into a civil war that has so far killed more than 70,000 people, according to the United Nations.
A Syrian government official told The Associated Press that an improvised explosive device was placed under a car that was parked in the area and was detonated as al-Halqi's car drove by. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The state-run Al-Ikhbariya station said al-Halqi went into a regular weekly meeting with an economic committee straight after the bombing and showed him sitting around a table in a room with several other officials.
The TV said it was showing the video as a proof that al-Halqi was not hurt. But the prime minister's comments after the meeting did not refer to Monday's blast and he was not asked about it by reporters, leaving doubts as to whether the footage was filmed before or after the bombing.
Later Monday, state-run news agency SANA said al-Halqi condemned the blast, which killed "several citizens." The report did not give a casualty toll but claimed that the explosion shows how armed groups "are bankrupt" after the latest advances made by Syrian troops around the country.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday's bombing killed al-Halqi's bodyguard and that one of his drivers was in critical condition. The group relies on a network of activist around the country.
The brazen attack in the highly secure Mazzeh neighborhood took place only about 100 meters (yards) from the residence of the Swiss ambassador. The posh area is also home to a major military air base, and security forces sealed it off shortly after the blast, allowing only pedestrians to come close.
At the scene of the bombing, damaged cars were surrounded by debris, their seats soaked with blood. A blackened shell of a school bus was left standing. A man told state TV that none of the students on board were hurt because the explosion went off shortly after they had left the bus and headed into the school.
The attack was not the first targeting a high official in the Syrian capital over the past year.
On July 18, a blast at the Syrian national security building in Damascus during a meeting of Cabinet ministers killed the defense minister and his deputy, who was Assad's brother-in-law. That attack also wounded the interior minister.
In December, a car bomb targeted the Interior Ministry in Damascus, killing several people and wounding more than 20, including Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar. Initially, Syrian state media said al-Shaar was not hurt in the Dec. 12 blast. News of his wounds emerged a week later, after he was brought to neighboring Lebanon for medical treatment for a serious back injury.
Earlier in April, Ali Ballan, head of public relations at the Ministry of Social Affairs and a member of Syria's relief agency, was shot dead while dinning in a restaurant in Mazzeh.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Monday's attack.
Massive bombings like the one that struck the prime minister's convoy have been a trademark of Islamic radicals fighting alongside the Syrian rebels, raising concerns about the extremists' role in Syria's civil war.
Al-Halqi, a senior member of Assad's ruling Baath party, took office last year after his predecessor, Riad Hijab, defected to Jordan. Al-Halqi was Syria's health minister before taking the post. He is a member of Assad's ruling Baath party and hails from the southern city of Daraa, the birthplace of the Syrian uprising.
___
Associated Press writers Barbara Surk and Bassem Mroue contributed to this report from Beirut.
Earlier on HuffPost:
"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/29/syria-wael-al-halqi-assassination-attempt_n_3176607.html
African painted dogs What Time Do Polls Open Krysten Ritter v for vendetta Voting Locations atlanta falcons voting hours
Monday, April 29, 2013
NFL reminds teams of anti-discrimination policy
NEW YORK (AP) ? The NFL distributed a document to its teams Monday reiterating its anti-discrimination policy on sexual orientation.
A memo sent Monday by Commissioner Roger Goodell to ownership, front-office personnel and coaches says: "Please ensure that this document is made available to all players and staff."
It includes a section on questions teams cannot ask prospective draft picks and free agents. After the NFL combine in February, three players said officials posed questions relating to their sexual orientation.
Examples given of prohibited queries include: "Do you like women or men? How well do you do with the ladies? Do you have a girlfriend?"
The document also says "any jokes, comments or pranks" about an employee's sexual orientation constitute harassment. Examples are "giving someone a sexual gag gift" or hiring a stripper for an employee's birthday party. "Offensive or degrading words or phrases" and posters or screen savers of a sexual nature are also harassment.
The timing of the memo proved appropriate. Later Monday, veteran NBA center Jason Collins became the first active male professional athlete in the four major North American sports leagues to come out as gay.
Associated Pressday light savings day light savings spring forward daylight saving time 2012 grapes of wrath silent house nfl mock draft
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)