Thursday 11 July 2013

Focus on earlier blaze in Quebec train derailment

LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec (AP) ? Investigators looking for the cause of a fiery oil train derailment are zeroing in on whether an earlier blaze on the same train may have set off a chain of events that led to the explosions that killed at least 13 people. Searchers, after days of delay, were examining the charred epicenter looking for what could be dozens of additional victims.

Nearly 40 people are still missing, not counting the 13 unidentified victims, suggesting the death toll was likely to rise sharply.

Officials were looking at a locomotive blaze on the same train in a nearby town a few hours before the derailment.

Transportation Safety Board investigator Donald Ross said the locomotive's black box has been recovered, and investigators were examining whether the air brakes or the hand break malfunctioned.

"The extent to which (the fire) played into the sequences of events is a focal point of our investigation," Ross said.

All but one of the train's 73 cars were carrying oil. At least five of the train's tankers exploded after coming loose early Saturday, speeding downhill nearly seven miles (11 kilometers) and derailing into the town of Lac-Megantic, near the Maine border.

The rail tankers involved in the derailment are known as DOT-111 and have a history of puncturing during accidents, the lead Transportation Safety Board investigator told The Associated Press in a telephone interview late Monday.

Ross said Canada's TSB has gone on record saying that it would like to see improvements on these tankers, though he said it was too soon to know whether a different or modified tanker would have avoided last weekend's tragedy.

The DOT-111 is a staple of the American freight rail fleet. But its flaws have been noted as far back as a 1991 safety study. Among other things, its steel shell is too thin to resist puncturing in accidents, which almost guarantees the car will tear open in an accident, potentially spilling cargo that could catch fire, explode or contaminate the environment.

"It's too early to tell. There's a lot of factors involved," Ross said. "There's a lot of energy here. The train came down on a fairly significant grade for 6.8 miles (11 kilometers) before it came into the town and did all the destruction it did." He said the train was moving at 63 mph (101 kph) when it derailed.

The Saturday blasts destroyed about 30 buildings, including a public library and Musi-Cafe, a popular bar that was filled with revelers, and forced about a third of the town's 6,000 residents from their homes. Much of the area where the bar once stood was burned to the ground. Burned-out car frames dotted the landscape.

Maude Verrault, a waitress at downtown's Musi-Cafe, was outside smoking when she spotted the blazing train barreling toward her.

"I've never seen a train moving so fast in my life, and I saw flames ... Then someone screamed 'the train is going to derail!' and that's when I ran," Verrault said. She said she felt the heat scorch her back as she ran from the explosion, but was too terrified to look back.

The derailment raised questions about the safety of Canada's growing practice of transporting oil by train, and was sure to bolster arguments that a proposed oil pipeline running from Canada across the U.S. ? one that Canadian officials badly want ? would be safer.

The train's owners, Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, said they believed brake failure was to blame.

Nantes Fire Chief Patrick Lambert said that when the same train caught fire hours prior to the accident, the engine was shut off per the standard operating procedure dictated by Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway.

The blaze was extinguished within about 45 minutes. And that's where the fire department's involvement ended, Lambert said.

"The people from MMA told us, 'That's great ? the train is secure, there's no more fire, there's nothing anymore, there's no more danger,'" Lambert told reporters. "We were given our leave, and we left."

Edward Burkhardt, the president and CEO of the railway's parent company Rail World, Inc., suggested that the decision to shut off the locomotive to put out the fire might have disabled the brakes. "An hour or so after the locomotive was shut down, the train rolled away," Burkhardt told the Canadian Broadcast Corp.

Meanwhile, crews were working to contain 100,000 liters (27,000 gallons) of light crude that spilled from the tankers and made its way into nearby waterways. There were fears it could flow into the St. Lawrence River all the way to Quebec City.

Quebec's Environment Ministry Spokesman Eric Cardinal said officials remained hopeful they could contain more than 85 per cent of the spill.

___

Associated Press writers Gillies and Charmaine Noronha contributed from Toronto. James MacPherson contributed from Bismarck, North Dakota.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/focus-earlier-blaze-quebec-train-derailment-063542978.html

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Wednesday 10 July 2013

SF probe brings questions over auto speed controls

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (AP) ? Investigators are trying to understand whether automated cockpit equipment Asiana flight 214's pilots say they were relying on to control the airliner's speed may have contributed to the plane's dangerously low and slow approach just before it crashed.

New details in the accident investigation that were revealed Tuesday by National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman were not conclusive about the cause of Saturday's crash, but they raised potential areas of focus: Was there a mistake made in setting the automatic speed control, did it malfunction or were the pilots not fully aware of what the plane was doing?

One of the most puzzling aspects of the crash has been why the wide-body Boeing 777 jet came in far too low and slow, clipping its landing gear and then its tail on a rocky seawall just short the runway. The crash killed two of the 307 people and injured scores of others, most not seriously.

Among those injured were two flight attendants in the back of the plane, who survived despite being thrown onto the runway when the plane slammed into the seawall and the tail broke off.

The autothrottle was set for 157 mph and the pilots assumed it was controlling the plane's airspeed, Hersman said. However, the autothrottle was only "armed" or ready for activation, she said.

Hersman said the pilot at the controls, identified by Korean authorities as Lee Gang-guk, was only about halfway through his training on the Boeing 777 and it was his first time landing that type of aircraft at the San Francisco airport. And the co-pilot, identified as Lee Jeong-Min, was on his first trip as a flight instructor.

Two of the four pilots were questioned Monday and the other two and air traffic controllers were interviewed Tuesday, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport officials in South Korea. The ministry hadn't requested any criminal investigation because a probe is underway to determine the cause of the crash.

In the 777, turning the autothrottle on is a two-step process ? first it is armed, then it is engaged, Boeing pilots said.

Choi Jeong-ho, a senior official at South Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said investigators confirmed the auto throttle was in an armed position, and an exact analysis on whether the automatic throttle system worked will be possible after an analysis on the plane's black box.

Hersman didn't say whether the Asiana's autothrottle was engaged.

Bob Coffman, an American Airlines captain who has flown 777s, said the only way he could think of for Asiana plane to slow as quickly at the NTSB has described would be if somehow the autothrottle has shifted into the idle mode.

"There is no way to get from a normal airspeed and normal position at 500 feet to an abnormally slow airspeed at 300 feet unless there wasn't enough thrust either deliberately or inadvertently," he said.

Only moments before the crash did the training captain realize the autothrottle wasn't controlling the plane's speed, Hersman said.

"This is one of the two hallmarks of complexity and challenge in the industry right now," said Doug Moss, an Airbus A320 a pilot for a major U.S. airline and an aviation safety consultant in Torrance, Calif. "It's automation confusion because from what Deborah Hersman said, it appears very likely the pilots were confused as to what autothrottle and pitch mode the airplane was in. It's very likely they believed the autothrottles were on when in fact they were only armed."

Their last second efforts to rev the plane back up and abort the landing failed, although numerous survivors report hearing the engines roar just before impact.

"We just seemed to be flying in way too low. Last couple seconds before it happened the engines really revved into high gear. Just waaah! Like the captain was saying 'oh no, we gotta get out of here.' And then, boom! The back end just lifted up, just really jolted everybody in their seats," said crash survivor Elliot Stone, who owns a martial arts studio in Scotts Valley.

Passenger Ben Levy noticed as the plane approached the airport the aircraft was flying very low near the water but said he dismissed concerns until he saw water from the Bay splashing at his window and he felt the engine "go full power" in an apparent attempt to lift the plane.

"That's when I realized this was totally wrong," Levy said.

Then, the plane crashed, and the passengers moved quickly to leave the plane, but in an orderly manner.

"People were not rushing out fighting for their lives," he said. "They were like, 'OK, let's be orderly here. Let's get out fast but let's not step (onto) each other.'"

While in the U.S., drug and alcohol tests are standard procedure after air accidents, this is not required for foreign pilots and Hersman said the Asiana pilots had not undergone any testing.

A final determination on the cause of the crash is months away, and Hersman cautioned against drawing any conclusions based on the information revealed so far:

Seven seconds before impact, someone in the cockpit asked for more speed after apparently noticing that the jet was flying far slower than its recommended landing speed. A few seconds later, the yoke began to vibrate violently, an automatic warning telling the pilot the plane is losing lift and in imminent danger of an aerodynamic stall. One and a half seconds before impact came a command to abort the landing.

There's been no indication, from verbal calls or mechanical issues, that an emergency was ever declared by pilots. Most airlines would require all four pilots to be present for the landing, the time when something is most likely to go wrong, experienced pilots said. In addition to the two pilots, a third was "monitoring" the landing from a jumpseat, while a fourth was in the rear of the cabin.

"If there are four pilots there, even if you are sitting on a jump seat, that's something you watch ? the airspeed and the descent profile," said John Cox, a former US Airways pilot and former Air Line Pilots Association accident investigator.

The Air Line Pilots Association, the world's largest pilots union, criticized Hersman for fueling speculation that the crash is the result of pilot error before all the facts have been determined.

"The NTSB's release of incomplete, out-of-context information has fueled rampant speculation about the cause of the accident," the union said in a statement Tuesday. "The field phase of the investigation is barely three days old, and the pilots on the flight deck, at the controls of the aircraft, had little opportunity to provide vital information as to what exactly happened during the event before disclosing data recorded during the last moments of the flight."

Hersman said the board was following its usual pattern of trying to be transparent by releasing information as it is known.

In addition, authorities were reviewing the initial rescue efforts after fire officials acknowledged that one of their trucks might have run over one of the two Chinese teenagers killed in the crash. The students, Wang Linjia and Ye Mengyuan, were part of a larger group headed for a Christian summer camp with dozens of classmates.

Asiana President Yoon Young-doo arrived in San Francisco from South Korea on Tuesday morning, fighting his way through a pack of journalists outside customs.

He met with and apologized to injured passengers, family members and survivors. But Yoon said he can't meet with the Asiana pilots because no outside contact with them is allowed until the investigation is completed.

More than 180 people aboard the plane went to hospitals with injuries. But remarkably, more than a third didn't even require hospitalization.

The passengers included 141 Chinese, 77 South Koreans, 64 Americans, three Canadians, three Indians, one Japanese, one Vietnamese and one person from France.

South Korea officials said 22 people remained hospitalized, including 10 Chinese, four Americans and three South Koreans.

The flight originated in Shanghai, China, and stopped over in Seoul, South Korea, before making the nearly 11-hour trip to San Francisco.

___

Lowy reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press writers Jason Dearen, Terry Collins, Paul Elias, Lisa Leff and Sudhin Thanawala in San Francisco and Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul also contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sf-probe-brings-questions-over-auto-speed-controls-084646467.html

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Fort Bend publisher dies of cancer at 72

Beverly "Bev" Carter, a longtime newspaper publisher and community leader in Fort Bend County, died Saturday of cancer. She was 72.

Carter founded The Fort Bend Star in 1978 and also penned "Bev's Burner," a column that mixed homey personal anecdotes with sometimes biting political observations.

"She was one of a kind," said her son, Michael Fredrickson, who has taken over the reins as publisher of the family-owned newspaper.

Carter liked nothing better than taking on what she saw as an unaccountable "Old Boys Network" in Fort Bend County.

She would regularly lambast political figures from former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, giving him the nickname 'Congressvarmit' to Gov. Rick Perry, whom she called a buffoon.

"I have an obligation to my readers and I have a reputation for telling it like it is," Carter once told a reporter.

Carter was born in 1941 into a West Texas ranching family in Ballinger, about 70 miles south of Abilene.

She studied English at Texas Tech University and after a short stint teaching in Lubbock, Carter moved to the Houston area.

She spent about 10 years teaching high school English in the Alief Independent School District.

She was an adviser for the high school newspaper and also wrote for a community paper during the summer.

"After 10 years of teaching in Alief, she decided she could run a newspaper," Fredrickson said.

She decided to stake her claim as a journalist in Fort Bend County.

"It was nothing back then," Fredrickson said. "She could foresee the growth. She nailed it."

Carter would eventually compile an extensive list of local contacts who would pass information to her.

"My mom did very few 'freedom of information' requests. She didn't have to," Fredrickson said.

She "would spend hours on the phone talking to people."

Carter also founded the Fort Bend Business Journal and the Fort Bend Community TV channel.

Survivors include her son, Michael, his wife and her three grandchildren.

A memorial service will be 10:30 a.m. July 20 at Stafford Civic Center, 1415 Constitution in Stafford.

Source: http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Fort-Bend-publisher-dies-of-cancer-at-72-4653718.php

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Tuesday 9 July 2013

Secret move keeps bin Laden records in the shadows

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The nation's top special operations commander ordered military files about the Navy SEAL raid on Osama bin Laden's hideout to be purged from Defense Department computers and sent to the CIA, where they could be more easily shielded from ever being made public.

The secret move, described briefly in a draft report by the Pentagon's inspector general, set off no alarms within the Obama administration even though it appears to have sidestepped federal rules and perhaps also the Freedom of Information Act.

An acknowledgement by Adm. William McRaven of his actions was quietly removed from the final version of an inspector general's report published weeks ago. A spokesman for the admiral declined to comment. The CIA, noting that the bin Laden mission was overseen by then-CIA Director Leon Panetta before he became defense secretary, said that the SEALs were effectively assigned to work temporarily for the CIA, which has presidential authority to conduct covert operations.

"Documents related to the raid were handled in a manner consistent with the fact that the operation was conducted under the direction of the CIA director," agency spokesman Preston Golson said in an emailed statement. "Records of a CIA operation such as the (bin Laden) raid, which were created during the conduct of the operation by persons acting under the authority of the CIA Director, are CIA records."

Golson said it is "absolutely false" that records were moved to the CIA to avoid the legal requirements of the Freedom of Information Act.

The records transfer was part of an effort by McRaven to protect the names of the personnel involved in the raid, according to the inspector general's draft report.

But secretly moving the records allowed the Pentagon to tell The Associated Press that it couldn't find any documents inside the Defense Department that AP had requested more than two years ago, and could represent a new strategy for the U.S. government to shield even its most sensitive activities from public scrutiny.

"Welcome to the shell game in place of open government," said Thomas Blanton, director of the National Security Archive, a private research institute at George Washington University. "Guess which shell the records are under. If you guess the right shell, we might show them to you. It's ridiculous."

McRaven's directive sent the only copies of the military's records about its daring raid to the CIA, which has special authority to prevent the release of "operational files" in ways that can't effectively be challenged in federal court. The Defense Department can prevent the release of its own military files, too, citing risks to national security. But that can be contested in court, and a judge can compel the Pentagon to turn over non-sensitive portions of records.

Under federal rules, transferring government records from one executive agency to another must be approved in writing by the National Archives and Records Administration. There are limited circumstances when prior approval is not required, such as when the records are moved between two components of the same executive department. The CIA and Special Operations Command are not part of the same department.

The Archives was not aware of any request from the U.S. Special Operations Command to transfer its records to the CIA, spokeswoman Miriam Kleiman said. She said it was the Archives' understanding that the military records belonged to the CIA, so transferring them wouldn't have required permission under U.S. rules.

Special Operations Command also is required to comply with rules established by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that dictate how long records must be retained. Its July 2012 manual requires that records about military operations and planning are to be considered permanent and after 25 years, following a declassification review, transferred to the Archives.

Also, the Federal Records Act would not permit agencies "to purge records just on a whim," said Dan Metcalfe, who oversaw the U.S. government's compliance with the Freedom of Information Act as former director of the Justice Department's Office of Information and Privacy. "I don't think there's an exception allowing an agency to say, 'Well, we didn't destroy it. We just deleted it here after transmitting it over there.' High-level officials ought to know better."

It was not immediately clear exactly which Defense Department records were purged and transferred, when it happened or under what authority, if any, they were sent to the CIA. No government agencies the AP contacted would discuss details of the transfer. The timing may be significant: The Freedom of Information Act generally applies to records under an agency's control when a request for them is received. The AP asked for files about the mission in more than 20 separate requests, mostly submitted in May 2011 ? several were sent a day after Obama announced that the world's most wanted terrorist had been killed in a firefight. Obama has pledged to make his administration the most transparent in U.S. history.

The AP asked the Defense Department and CIA separately for files that included copies of the death certificate and autopsy report for bin Laden as well as the results of tests to identify the body. While the Pentagon said it could not locate the files, the CIA, with its special power to prevent the release of records, has never responded. The CIA also has not responded to a separate request for other records, including documents identifying and describing the forces and supplies required to execute the assault on bin Laden's compound.

The CIA did tell the AP it could not locate any emails from or to Panetta and two other top agency officials discussing the bin Laden mission.

McRaven's unusual order would have remained secret had it not been mentioned in a single sentence on the final page in the inspector general's draft report that examined whether the Obama administration gave special access to Hollywood executives planning a film, "Zero Dark Thirty," about the raid. The draft report was obtained and posted online last month by the Project on Government Oversight, a nonprofit watchdog group in Washington.

McRaven, who oversaw the bin Laden raid, expressed concerns in the report about possible disclosure of the identities of the SEALs. The Pentagon "provided the operators and their families an inordinate level of security," the report said. McRaven also directed that the names and photographs associated with the raid not be released.

"This effort included purging the combatant command's systems of all records related to the operation and providing these records to another government agency," according to the draft report. The sentence was dropped from the report's final version.

Since the raid, one of the SEALs published a book about the raid under a pseudonym but was subsequently identified by his actual name. And earlier this year the SEAL credited with shooting bin Laden granted a tell-all, anonymous interview with Esquire about the raid and the challenges of his retiring from the military after 16 years without a pension.

Current and former Defense Department officials knowledgeable about McRaven's directive and the inspector general's report told AP the description of the order in the draft report was accurate. The reference to "another government agency" was code for the CIA, they said. These individuals spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter by name.

There is no indication the inspector general's office or anyone else in the U.S. government is investigating the legality of transferring the military records. Bridget Serchak, a spokeswoman for the inspector general, would not explain why the reference was left out of the final report and what, if any, actions the office might be taking.

"Our general statement is that any draft is pre-decisional and that drafts go through many reviews before the final version, including editing or changing language," Serchak wrote in an email.

The unexplained decision to remove the reference to the purge and transfer of the records "smells of bad faith," said Steven Aftergood, director of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists. "How should one understand that? That adds insult to injury. It essentially covers up the action."

McRaven oversaw the raid while serving as commander of the Joint Special Operations Command, the secretive outfit in charge of SEAL Team Six and the military's other specialized counterterrorism units. McRaven was nominated by Obama to lead Special Operations Command, JSOC's parent organization, a month before the raid on bin Laden's compound. He replaced Adm. Eric Olson as the command's top officer in August 2011.

Ken McGraw, a spokesman for Special Operations Command, referred questions to the inspector general's office.

The refusal to make available authoritative or contemporaneous records about the bin Laden mission means that the only official accounts of the mission come from U.S. officials who have described details of the raid in speeches, interviews and television appearances. In the days after bin Laden's death, the White House provided conflicting versions of events, falsely saying bin Laden was armed and even firing at the SEALs, misidentifying which of bin Laden's sons was killed and incorrectly saying bin Laden's wife died in the shootout. Obama's press secretary attributed the errors to the "fog of combat."

A U.S. judge and a federal appeals court previously sided with the CIA in a lawsuit over publishing more than 50 "post-mortem" photos and video recordings of bin Laden's corpse. In the case, brought by Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group, the CIA did not say the images were operational files to keep them secret. It argued successfully that the photos and videos must be withheld from the public to avoid inciting violence against Americans overseas and compromising secret systems and techniques used by the CIA and the military.

The Defense Department told the AP in March 2012 it could not locate any photographs or video taken during the raid or showing bin Laden's body. It also said it could not find any images of bin Laden's body on the USS Carl Vinson, the aircraft carrier from which he was buried at sea. The Pentagon also said it could not find any death certificate, autopsy report or results of DNA identification tests for bin Laden, or any pre-raid materials discussing how the government planned to dispose of bin Laden's body if he were killed. It said it searched files at the Pentagon, Special Operations Command headquarters in Tampa, Fla., and the Navy command in San Diego that controls the Carl Vinson.

The Pentagon also refused to confirm or deny the existence of helicopter maintenance logs and reports about the performance of military gear used in the raid. One of the stealth helicopters that carried the SEALs in Pakistan crashed during the mission and its wreckage was left behind.

The Defense Department also told the AP in February 2012 that it could not find any emails about the bin Laden mission or his "Geronimo" code name that were sent or received in the year before the raid by McRaven. The department did not say they had been moved to the CIA. It also said it could not find any emails from other senior officers who would have been involved in the mission's planning. It found only three such emails written by or sent to then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and these consisted of 12 pages sent to Gates summarizing news reports after the raid.

The Defense Department in November 2012 released copies of 10 emails totaling 31 pages found in the Carl Vinson's computer systems. The messages were heavily censored and described how bin Laden's body was prepared for burial.

These records were not among those purged and then moved to the CIA. Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. James Gregory said the messages from the Carl Vinson "were not relating to the mission itself and were the property of the Navy."

___

AP Intelligence Writer Kimberly Dozier contributed to this report.

___

Follow Richard Lardner on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rplardner

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/secret-move-keeps-bin-laden-records-shadows-072814612.html

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A Game Called 'Angry Trayvon' Was Removed From Apple And Google's App Stores Following An Uproar Of Complaints

Both Apple and Google allowed a game called "Angry Trayvon" into their respective smartphone app stores, but have since removed it following an uproar from users.?

The game was a simulation that gave you control over a character named hoodie-clad Trayvon who you take on a killing rampage around Brooklyn.

Although the developers of the app denied it, the game is a clear allusion to the controversial death of Trayvon Martin. George Zimmerman, the man charged with the Martin's murder, is currently undergoing trial.

After the backlash, the game's developers promised to delete the app and its Facebook page. They also say they never intended the game to be racist:

The people spoke out therefore this game was removed from the app stores. Sorry for the inconvenience as this was just an action game for entertainment. This was by no means a racist game. Nonetheless, it was removed as will this page and anything associated with the game will be removed.

Still, we're taking that statement with a grain of salt. It's pretty clear that the developers wanted to rile people up with the Angry Trayvon. Looks like they succeeded.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/trayvon-martin-game-2013-7

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Documents: Hernandez admitted firing fatal shots

ATTLEBORO, Mass. (AP) ? A man linked to the murder case against former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez told police Hernandez admitted firing the fatal shots, and a vehicle wanted in a double killing in Boston a year before had been rented in Hernandez's name, according to documents filed Tuesday in Florida that provide the most damning evidence yet against the star athlete.

The documents say Hernandez associate Carlos Ortiz told Massachusetts investigators that another man, Ernest Wallace, said Hernandez admitted shooting semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd in an industrial park near Hernandez's home in North Attleborough. The documents were filed in court by the Miramar, Fla., police department to justify a search of Wallace's home in that city.

The documents also say that while investigating Lloyd's killing, police did searches in Hernandez's hometown, Bristol, Conn., that turned up a vehicle wanted in connection with a July 2012 double homicide in Boston. Police say the vehicle had been rented in Hernandez's name.

Hernandez has pleaded not guilty in Lloyd's killing. His legal team did not return email messages Tuesday.

Meanwhile, eight search warrants were unsealed in Massachusetts after news organizations sought access to the records. The warrants reveal the breadth of the investigation, with authorities scouring through everything from Hernandez's house to his phone to the contents of his team locker, which the Patriots emptied into a container after they released him.

Police seized a rifle and ammunition found in Hernandez's home.

According to the documents, Hernandez became "argumentative" during his first encounter with police at his home following Lloyd's death. He asked, "What's with all the questions?" and locked the door behind him.

He then returned with his attorney's business card but didn't respond when police told him they were investigating a death.

"Mr. Hernandez slammed the door and relocked it behind him," the records read. "Mr. Hernandez did not ask officers whose death was being investigated. Mr. Hernandez's demeanor did not indicate any concern for the death of any person."

Hernandez came out later and agreed to be questioned at a police station, according to the documents.

The documents also say Hernandez called his girlfriend's cellphone and stopped her from speaking with police after they pulled her over and told her Lloyd was dead.

___

Anderson reported from Miami. Associated Press writers Bridget Murphy in Attleboro and Jay Lindsay in Boston contributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/documents-hernandez-admitted-firing-fatal-shots-223459209.html

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Keeping it 'Human'...

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Meesha
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Hey there, Can I have Tazmin? And her FaceClaim be Kat Graham,

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Can I reserve female #7 and her face claim be Kirsten Kreuk

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Could I reserve Female #4 with the face claim Kristen Stewart?

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Microsoft: Windows 8.1 will ship to OEMs in August

Computer makers will have Microsoft's Windows 8.1 update in hand by the end of August. Speaking at the company's Worldwide Partner Conference today, Windows chief Tami Reller announced the RTM timeframe, giving manufacturers ample time to prep new systems before the busy holiday season. A preview of Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows 8.1, has been available to download for several weeks, so you don't need to wait until autumn to take the refresh for a spin. You can snag that pre-release version at the source link below.

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Monday 8 July 2013

Zara Phillips: Pregnant With First Child!

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The flight not taken: Facebook exec was almost on crashed plane

Facebook

14 hours ago

Image: Sheryl Sandberg

Stephen Lam / Reuters file

Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, shown here during a technology summit in June, says she would have been on the Asiana Airlines 777 jet that crashed Saturday if it weren't for another airline's frequent-flier program.

In the wake of Saturday's crash of an Asiana Airlines 777 jet at San Francisco's airport, the buzz on Facebook wasn't just about who was on the flight, but also about one tech-industry celebrity who wasn't: Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer.

In a Facebook posting, Sandberg said that she, her family and some of her colleagues from the company had originally planned to take Asiana Flight 214 from Seoul, South Korea.

"We switched to United so we could use miles for my family's tickets," she wrote. "Our flight was scheduled to come in at the same time, but we were early and landed about 20 minutes before the crash."

Image: Facebook posting

Sheryl Sandberg via Facebook

Sandberg, 43, ranks among the most prominent women in Silicon Valley. Before becoming Facebook's COO in 2008, she served as a vice president at Google and as the chief of staff for then-Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers. She was named to the Time 100 list of influential Americans last year.

She came out with a book on leadership this year, titled "Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead." Sandberg was touring Asia over the past week for a series of business meetings and "Lean In" events tied to the book.

Sandberg is married with two children. In repeated posts on her Facebook page, she reassured her fans that everyone in her traveling party was OK. She also noted that one of her friends at Samsung Electronics, David Eun, was on the Asiana flight and reported that he was safe.

"Serious moment to give thanks," Sandberg wrote.

Within an hour, the Facebook posting had more than 3,000 likes.

Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Get connected by "liking" the NBC News Science Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding +Alan Boyle to your Google+ presence.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663301/s/2e4d55ec/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Cflight0Enot0Etaken0Efacebook0Eexec0Ewas0Ealmost0Ecrashed0Eplane0E6C10A551695/story01.htm

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Sunday 7 July 2013

Sales Associate - Jobslash


Job Description

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ESP Outsourcing an associate with one of the most successful International Learning and Development organisations is currently looking for an experienced Sales Associate. This is a role that will be primarily focusing on Marketing and new business ? Online Learning specifically in the Personal and leadership development sector nationally and internationally.

What will the role involve?

  • Responsiblefor building relationships
  • Taking?a consultative approach to sales
  • Teachable to be an student on services that the company offers
  • Strategically?generating new business
  • Work to measurable and achievable KPIs

Is this your profile?

  • Solid track record in New Business Sales
  • Knowledge within Marketing
  • Highly motivated can think out of the square
  • Wanting?more than JOB
  • Hungry for success ?

You will receive an attractive and generous uncapped commission structure (clearly outlined). The company has a great work environment and backing to make you succeed and develop within the position.

APPLY TODAY:

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How to Apply

To find out more about this attractive opportunity please go to http://www.esp-outsourcing.com and complete the contact form.


Source: http://jobslash.com/jobs/sales-associate/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sales-associate

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Do you miss Jaws at Universal Studios Orlando? Hop on a plane to Japan! You ca...

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Saturday 6 July 2013

As Illinois prepares to enact concealed carry gun plan, few towns opt for assault weapons bans (Star Tribune)

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Dog Days of Summer: Mika's iPad

Mika is a Bernese Mountain Dog with a mission: watching video of puppies on his human's iPad.

"Mika watching Bernese Mountain puppies on my iPad, complete with Steve Jobs' bio in the background (though don't know how much he appreciates the narrative). He actually climbed up when he heard the puppy vocals."

If you've got a Dog Days nominee to share, let us know via our feedback page (and please remember that the photo has to have some sort of connection to Apple and its products -- don't just send us a photo of your canine buddy). For security reasons we can't accept inbound attachments, so you should host the photo (Dropbox, Flickr, iPhoto Journals, etc.) and send us the link.

Thanks to TUAW reader dwbernergirl for this sweet photo of an Apple fandog!


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Source: http://www.tuaw.com/2013/07/06/dog-days-of-summer-mikas-ipad/

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New Union superintendent plans to continue district's mission

By KIM ARCHER World Staff Writer on Jul 5, 2013, at 2:21 AM??Updated on 7/05/13 at 7:04 AM

Kirt Hartzler, the new superintendent at Union Public Schools, has spent most of his education career with the district and looks forward to maintaining its academic rigor. MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World

New Union Superintendent Kirt Hartzler is ready to continue the legacy that longtime chief Cathy Burden built over the past 19 years, one that includes academic rigor, early childhood education and community schools.

"Yes, I do have big shoes to fill, but our culture is going to be preserved. I don't want to step in here and say we need to redefine who we are," he said.

Two years ago, Union adopted a mission to graduate students who are "100 percent college and career-ready" and a 100 percent graduation rate.

"I will tell you that has redefined us as a district," Hartzler said. "When you tell a group of professionals, especially teachers and administrators, our goal is 100 percent graduation - not 99.5 percent, but 100 percent - it really changes your attitude."

The way to get to that goal is to foster students' trust and let them know that district staff will do everything in their power to help them succeed, he said.

"Every year, I tell new teachers, 'Kids don't really care how much you know as teachers at all until they know truly how much you care about them,' " Hartzler said. "When they see that and it's genuine, then kids will jump over mountains to learn for you."

But that doesn't mean the district will lessen its academic rigor or coddle students, he said.

"With this whole idea, we are finding we have more students taking (advanced placement) courses than ever before, and they are more successful," Hartzler said. "We're actually doing better academically today than we were 10 years ago. I think what makes us unique is a belief in the potential of our kids."

Hartzler hopes eventually to expand Union's community school concept beyond just Rosa Parks and Clark elementary schools to all sites in the district.

"If there's one program out there that we've instituted that's been a difference-maker, it's community schools," he said. "What we've seen - achievement results and engagement by students and parents - is absolutely amazing."

Community schools provide a web of community support to improve the emotional, physical and social development of its students so they are ready to learn.

With the exception of a three-year stint as head basketball coach in Bixby, Hartzler has spent his 28-year career at Union. He got his start as a classroom teacher, became a principal and worked his way through successive administration positions. His most recent post was deputy superintendent.

"I am a by-product of how public education can serve as a great equalizer," he said. "Public education is not only the greatest equalizer we have in our world and in society, but it really is the lifeblood of our democracy."

Hartzler says he stands ready to speak out against education reforms, such as school vouchers, that threaten to siphon funds from an already underfunded public education system.

Oklahoma's Lindsey Nicole Henry voucher program allows the use of public funds to send special-needs students to private schools.

"When you start dismantling funding to public schools, I think you start creating this inequity within education," Hartzler said.

The logic of vouchers and similar programs is akin to saying that since you rarely visit your county library then you should be given your portion of tax money to buy your own books, he said.

While not opposed to the Common Core state standards that take effect in 2014, he is troubled by some of its implications.

"My greatest concern with all this testing is that as humans we're inherently creative. When you think about what education should be, it's got to be more than just about math and English," Hartzler said.

"I don't want to go down the road of continuing to test these kids to death and putting so much emphasis on these core subjects that we neglect the arts, the humanities and physical education. There's got to be a balance."


Kim Archer 918-581-8315
kim.archer@tulsaworld.com

Original Print Headline: Super shoes to fill

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Source: http://www.tulsaworld.com/article.aspx/New_Union_superintendent_plans_to_continue_districts/20130705_11_A9_CUTLIN119280?rss_lnk=19

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Friday 5 July 2013

Douglas Engelbart, pioneiro da computa??o e um dos respons?veis pela cria??o do...

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Custom IDX Broker saves realtor Airika Waible and her clients time ...

EUGENE, OR ? July 5, 2013 ? (RealEstateRama) ? The most recent real estate professional to team up with IDX, Inc., in efforts to simplify, improve and streamline the online property search feature on her website is Airika Waible with New Home Realty. Operating out of West Linn, Oregon. Waible is an active member of the Regional MLS (RMLS), and with this IDX Broker addition she is now able to give potential home buyers immediate and direct access to search a plethora of the most up-to-date property listings within the RMLS, and all from the convenience of her own personal site. This innovative and one of a kind Internet Data Exchange (IDX) software has the technology to extract raw listing data from the RMLS, and then formats and transfers the information to indistinguishably match Waible?s already existing page preferences and specifications.

By implementing the helpful and resourceful IDX Broker search tools, prospective home buyers can search West Linn and its surrounding area properties using an abundant amount of categories and quarries, such as: nearby schools, landscaping, utilities, flooring, included appliances, street location, construction, heating/ cooling system, driveway and much more, aiding in narrowing their search results, in efforts to find their ideal property Home seekers unable to find a property that meets their needs at that specific time can sign-up to receive automatic email updates, the moment a property matching their specifications arrives on the market.

Waible can choose to follow up with her clients using the contact information and saved search criteria, provided through her own personal administrative dashboard, enabling her to give each individual home seeker a much more personalized online real estate search experience. It is here that she not only has the capabilities to edit the look, layout, design and format of her website, but she can also decipher which search options will be displayed for consumers to browse. She has access to traffic reports detailing which pages and listings on her site are being viewed most frequently and are therefore in the highest demand, and she can receive daily MLS updates, coming directly from the RMLS, regarding the latest property additions and removals on the market, as well as price increase and decreases. All of these resourceful tools aide Waible in managing her online real estate business more efficiently.

About Airika Waible

Airika Waible is a real estate broker with New Home Realty of West Linn, Oregon.

About IDX, Inc.

Based in Eugene, Oregon, IDX Inc. is nationally known as a leading provider of real estate search applications. IDX, Inc. actively manages over $1 trillion worth of active listings data from over 500 individual Multiple Listings Services (MLS). IDX, Inc. provides integrated IDX software, customizable listing search utilities and lead management tools for real estate based websites (IDX Broker ). In addition to the primary web-based software, IDX also provides an integrated WordPress widget for use in WordPress based blogs and websites (IDX Broker WordPress Plugin ) as well as a dedicated mobile application available for the iPhone and iPad (myAgent IDX ). The entire suite of real estate software available from IDX is easy to manage and maintain and helps real estate professionals display real estate data from their multiple listing service (MLS) regardless of their technical ability. For more information on all the services provided by IDX, Inc., please visit www.idxbroker.com .

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Source: http://www.realestaterama.com/2013/07/05/custom-idx-broker-saves-realtor-airika-waible-and-her-clients-time-when-searching-for-a-property-online-ID021894.html

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Thursday 4 July 2013

France reportedly has its own PRISM-like data surveillance system

France reportedly has its own PRISMlike data snooping system

The US isn't the only western country with an all-seeing digital eye... at least, according to Le Monde. The news outlet claims that France's General Directorate for External Security has a PRISM-like system that captures and processes the metadata for "billions and billions" of communications, including internet messaging, phone calls, SMS and even faxes. The goal is ostensibly to track the behavior of terrorist cells, but the Directorate allegedly shares the anonymized information with other intelligence services, including the police. Whether or not residents can do much about the snooping, if real, is another matter. One source believes that it exists in a gray area, as French law reportedly doesn't account for the possibility of storing personal data this way. We're skeptical of claims that the Directorate can spy on "anyone, anytime," especially without official commentary, but we'd suggest that locals be careful with their secrets all the same.

Dan Cooper contributed to this report.

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Comments

Via: GigaOM

Source: Le Monde (translated)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/04/france-reportedly-has-its-own-prism-like-data-surveillance/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Samsung sells 20 million Galaxy S 4 handsets, according to Korean media

Samsung sells 20 million Galaxy S 4 handsets, according to Korean media

So, JK Shin hasn't emerged from Samsung's HQ declaring that his company has sold 20 million Galaxy S 4s, but the day (and week) is still young. Korea's news media is quoting the CEO as saying that Samsung's flagship Jay-Z player / handset has seen its sales double from the 10 million that was announced at the tail-end of May. Given that we're but a few days away from the company's next earnings estimates, we'll probably find out for certain soon enough.

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Source: iNews (Translated), Yonhap News (Translated)

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/tiMQ7fHKYU4/

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The Lone Ranger Reviews: Should They Ride Off Into the Sunset?

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/07/the-lone-ranger-reviews-should-they-ride-off-into-the-sunset/

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The White House Blinks on the Obamacare Employer Mandate (Atlantic Politics Channel)

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Wednesday 3 July 2013

Snowden hits hurdles in search for asylum

MOSCOW (AP) ? NSA leaker Edward Snowden's best chance of finding refuge outside the United States may hinge on the president of Venezuela, who was in Moscow on Tuesday meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela told Russian reporters on Tuesday that his country has not received an application for asylum from Snowden and dodged the question of whether he would take Snowden away with him. But Maduro also defended the former National Security Agency contractor who released sensitive documents on U.S. intelligence-gathering operations.

"He did not kill anyone and did not plant a bomb," Maduro said ahead of his meeting with Putin, the Interfax news agency reported. "What he did was tell a great truth in an effort to prevent wars. He deserves protection under international and humanitarian law."

During his Kremlin meeting with Putin, Maduro spoke about plans to build on the strong ties with Russia formed under his late predecessor, Hugo Chavez. Neither he nor Putin mentioned Snowden in their public statements.

The Kremlin-friendly newspaper Izvestia reported Monday that the two presidents would discuss Snowden, adding to speculation that arrangements would be made for Snowden to travel to Venezuela. Snowden had initially booked flights to Havana, Cuba, and then on to Caracas, Venezuela, before becoming trapped in legal limbo in a Moscow airport more than a week ago.

Snowden withdrew his bid for asylum in Russia when he learned the terms Moscow had set out, according to Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Putin said on Monday that Russia was ready to shelter Snowden as long as he stopped leaking U.S. secrets.

At the same time, Putin said he had no plans to turn over Snowden to the United States.

Snowden also has applied for asylum in 20 other countries, according to WikiLeaks, a secret spilling website, but many of those countries said he cannot apply from abroad. Officials in Austria, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain and Switzerland all said he must make his request on their soil.

WikiLeaks said requests have also been made to Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Ecuador, France, Iceland, India, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Spain and Venezuela.

India's External Affairs Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said Delhi has carefully examined the asylum request and decided to turn it down.

WikiLeaks also posted a statement attributed to Snowden on its website late Monday, in which he slams President Barack Obama for "using citizenship as a weapon."

"Although I am convicted of nothing, (the United States) has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person," Snowden says in the statement. "Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody. The right to seek asylum.

"Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me."

Snowden, who has been on the run since releasing the sensitive NSA documents, is believed to have been in the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport since his arrival from Hong Kong on June 23.

WikiLeaks legal adviser Sarah Harrison delivered the request for asylum to an official at the Russian consulate at the Moscow airport on Sunday, according to the group that has adopted Snowden and his cause.

Ecuador, where he had initially hoped to get asylum, has been giving mixed signals about offering him shelter.

Britain's Press Association news agency said it had obtained a letter from Snowden to Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa thanking him for considering his asylum request.

"There are few world leaders who would risk standing for the human rights of an individual against the most powerful government on earth, and the bravery of Ecuador and its people is an example to the world," PA quoted the letter as saying. The agency said it had obtained the Spanish-language letter from sources in Quito, the capital of Ecuador.

Correa, however, appeared cool to Snowden in an interview with the Guardian newspaper.

Asked whether he would like to meet Snowden, Correa was quoted as saying: "Not particularly. He's a very complicated person. Strictly speaking, Mr. Snowden spied for some time."

He was quoted as saying that Ecuador would not consider an asylum request until Snowden was on its territory and his government would not help him travel to Ecuador.

The expanded requests for asylum come as the Obama administration contends with European allies angry about the release of documents that alleged U.S. eavesdropping on European Union diplomats.

Obama said Monday that the U.S. would provide allies with information about new reports that the NSA had bugged EU offices in Washington, New York and Brussels. But he also suggested such activity by governments would hardly be unusual.

French President Francois Hollande said Tuesday that France has "not received any particular requests from Mr. Snowden." He also called for a common EU stance on the NSA snooping.

France prides itself on being a haven for political prisoners, and offers asylum to more people annually than any other country but the United States. French politicians on the far right and far left have called for France to take Snowden in ? as have members of the Green party, which is a part of Hollande's Socialist-led government. However, it is unlikely that France would take in Snowden. Hollande and leading French officials, despite outraged comments in recent days, sees the US as a key ally.

A foreign ministry spokeswoman in Beijing said it was not aware of Snowden's possible plea to seek asylum in China.

___

Associated Press writers Lynn Berry in Moscow, Frank Jordans in Berlin, George Jahn in Vienna, Matti Huutanen in Helsinki, Finland, Monika Scislowska in Warsaw, Poland, Angela Charlton in Paris, Ciaran Giles in Madrid, Spain, and AP researchers Zhao Liang and Yu Bing in Beijing contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/snowden-hits-hurdles-search-asylum-094437208.html

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