Happy Birthday, Justin Timberlake! Our Gift's In The Mail

Justin Timberlake turns 32 on Thursday (January 31), and Bigger Than The Sound's done some birthday shopping!
By James Montgomery

Justin Timberlake's 32nd Birthday
Photo: Getty Images/ MTV News

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1701139/happy-birthday-justin-timberlake.jhtml

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Skeptics of OZ 2013 | Great Plains Skeptic

One thing that might surprise my readers on the coasts and elsewhere in the world is that, living in Oklahoma, there are a number of great skeptical and freethought conventions within driving distance each year. Here in the state, we have the Oklahoma Freethought Conference (FreeOK), which last summer had speakers like Dave Silverman, Abbie Smith, Hemant Mehta, and some bald guy with a great tie. This summer looks even bigger, with Lawrence Krauss, Dale McGowen, and Sean Faircloth already announced to appear.

If we drive east to Arkansas, last year saw the first Reason in the Rock, which was a resounding success. The Texas Freethought Convention has been operating for five years now, and the 2013 American Atheists 50th anniversary convention will take place in Austin this spring. Turn outs for these are all impressive, and the speaker line-ups tend to be quite excellent.

Just up the road (and by up, I mean north) are two cool yearly events. Reasonfest takes place on the KU campus in Lawrence, and this year will host Peter Boghossian, Matt Dillahunty, James Croft, and a plethora of other great speakers.

A little closer to me is Wichita, Kansas, home to the Skeptics of Oz conference. This will be the third year, and last year it was headlined by Phil ?Bad Astronomer? Plait. The line up of speakers and events looks fantastic this year, so I thought I would share (full disclosure ? I?m one of the speakers).

The official conference will take place on March 16 and 17, but on Friday the 15th a group will be traveling to the Kansas Cosmosophere and Space Center.

At the Cosmosphere, visitors hear the non-biased, definitive story of the Space Race. With a U.S. space artifact collection second only to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and the largest collection of Russian space artifacts outside of Moscow, the Hall of Space Museum is known by space enthusiasts worldwide.

I love me some space, and this has me pretty excited. Our local, very cool Science Museum Oklahoma has a pretty good space exhibition, but this whole place is dedicated to space exploration and the space race.

Like I said above, the official conference kicks off Saturday morning and goes Sunday as well. Below I?ll post some information on speakers and topics (plus my personal thoughts).

I?m happy to say that I was asked to come speak at the SoOz this year, and am kicking things off at 9:30 am on Saturday. In case you don?t know who I am (and really, if you?re reading this you should have a tiny clue, but nonetheless), I am a clinical psychologist, professor, researcher, and author. I am also a member of CFI?s Speakers Bureau, a contributor to the Skepticism 101 project, and a bit of a skeptical activist. I?m going to be giving an introduction to how to think scientifically about any topic, helping you hone your critical thinking skills.

Next up, the affable and irrepressible JT Eberhart will be talking about depression and mental illness (a subject close to my heart). From his website:

JT Eberhard is the author of the popular blog What Would JT Do?, and has been a contributing author to AtheismResource.com. Before joining the SSA, JT was most known as a debater on atheism and LGBT rights and as the co-founder of the Skepticon annual conference?.JT joined the Secular Student Alliance in January 2011 as their first high school specialist.? Previously, the SSA had allowed high schools to affiliate, but JT was hired to build a high school program that catered to the specific needs of teenage activists.? In his time at the SSA the number of high school groups grew over 400%.

Former pastor, current atheist Teresa McBain will take the stage next to talk about her journey from being an evangelical minister to working for American Atheists and now heading up the Humanists of Florida Association. Teresa was also the first female graduate of the Clergy Project, and I was privileged to share the stage with her at FreeOK last year. She?s an engaging, entertaining speaker and had people giving her a standing ovation there.

Benjamin Radford is next, speaking about ?Lake Monsters.? I am very excited to see him speak. An award wining author, science-based paranormal investigator, and film maker,

Radford is deputy editor of Skeptical Inquirer science magazine and a Research Fellow with the non-profit educational organization the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He has written hundreds of articles on a wide variety of topics, including urban legends, the paranormal, critical thinking, and media literacy?.Radford is one of the world?s few science-based paranormal investigators, and has done first-hand research into mysterious phenomena in sixteen countries on four continents including psychics, ghosts and haunted houses; exorcisms, miracles, Bigfoot, stigmata, lake monsters, UFO sightings, reincarnation, and crop circles, and many other topics. He is perhaps best known for solving the mysteries of the Santa Fe Courthouse Ghost in 2007, and the Hispanic vampire el chupacabra in 2010.

My fellow psychologist and the leader of our team on the Secular Therapy Project, Darrel Ray, will be speaking on recovering from religion. Darrel is an engaging speaker; I first saw him at the 2011 Texas Freethought Conference and the audience was enthralled by his talk on religion and sexuality.

Ray is the founder of Recovering From Religion, as well as the author of four books, two on organizational team issues as well as The God Virus: How Religion Infects Our Lives and Culture and Sex and God: How Religion Distorts Sexuality. He has been a psychologist for over 30 years, practicing counseling and clinical psychology for 10 years then moved into organizational psychology and consulting. He has been a student of religion most of his life and holds a MA degree in religion as well as a BA in Sociology/Anthropology and a Doctorate in psychology.

?Psychic Charlatanry? is the next talk, presented by DJ Groethe. I first became exposed to Groethe when he was working for CFI and hosting their Point of Inquiry podcast, which I consumed voraciously. His new podcast, For Good Reason, is equally excellent.

D.J. Grothe is President of the James Randi Educational Foundation, the international educational non-profit founded by celebrated social critic and activist James Randi. Grothe has lectured widely on topics at the intersection of education, science and belief at universities such as Stanford, Harvard, Yale, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and dozens of others. Formerly a professional magician, he has special interests in the psychology of belief and processes of deception and self-deception.

Saturday will end with a debate on a to be announced topic by some local skeptics, and then? Sunday morning will kick off with a talk about discrimination by local blogger Lux Pickel.

The second act Sunday, in a well-timed and ironic slot, is none other than the brilliant Robert M Price. I don?t gush much, but let me gush here: this man knows his shit. And by shit, I mean Biblical criticism. I would go so far as to say he is my favorite Biblical critic (What? Don?t act like you don?t have one?.). His ?Human Bible? podcast is informative and entertaining every week, and I learn enormous amounts from it. His books are readable and mind expanding, and he does a great Charlton Heston impersonation. Price is also a Lovecraftian scholar as well as

Professor of Theology and Scriptural Studies, Colemon Theological Seminary

Host, The Human Bible

Host, The Bible Geek

Founder and Editor, The Journal of Higher Criticism

Fellow, The Jesus Seminar

Fellow, The Committee for the Scientific Examination of Religion

Research Fellow, Center for Inquiry Institute

Blair Scott, the Alabama Atheist, will take over after Price. I?ll let him tell you about himself:

I am the Communications Director, National Affiliate Director, and Alabama State Director for American Atheists, Inc. I am a staff writer for American Atheist Magazine and I manage and moderate the NoGodBlog. My co-host Tom Hand and I run The Critical Eye Podcast. In addition, I am the Founder and Public Relations Director for the North Alabama Freethought Association based in Huntsville, Alabama.

Finally, the speakers are wrapped up for the day by Ben Holman of the WSU Atheists & Agnostics, speaking on ?The Resurrection.? A seminar on group fundraising will take place afterwards, for those interested in bringing in the moolah.

All in all, a very diverse collection of speakers, running pretty much the full gamut of what falls under the banner of skepticism and freethought. I really hope you?ll be able to come out and take part. If you see me, please come over and say hello. I would love to meet some of my readers in person!

Source: http://skepticink.com/gps/2013/01/29/skeptics-of-oz-2013/

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Twitter?prunes Vine's hashtags, censors naughty terms

11 hrs.

Rosa Golijan , NBC News

According to the folks at Twitter, an innocent "human error" was to blame when a pornographic video was featured as an "Editor's Pick" on Vine, but this incident?? combined with a?lack of privacy and abuse prevention controls?? makes it seem as if there's a bit of a porn problem on the new?video-sharing service.

The sudden censorship of certain hashtags further solidifies that belief.

The Verge's Nathan Ingraham was among the first to point out that it appears that the searches for certain naughty hashtags ??such as #porn, #sex, #booty?and similar ??are bringing up no results, even though there are certainly posts with those hashtags.?

I tested this claim by creating a post and tagging it #nsfw. Nothing prevented me from creating this post?? which was entirely innocent, don't worry?? but neither tapping on the hyperlinked hashtag nor searching for #nsfw brought it (or any other posts) into view. Instead, I was shown a frowning emoticon and told that Vine couldn't load any posts. (In the case of searches, the frowning emoticon informed me that no tags matching that term?exist.)?

We have reached out to Twitter to inquire about the missing search results and to see if some sort of cleanup is occurring behind the scenes.?"We're in the process of changing how users find and view sensitive content," a spokesperson explained. "We're experimenting with a number of approaches and will continue to iterate."

Want more tech news?or interesting?links? You'll get plenty of both if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts,?or circling her?on?Google+.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/twitter-cleans-vines-hashtags-censors-porn-sex-other-naughty-terms-1B8167746

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Anti-Israel MP George Galloway Slapped Down by Prime Minister David Cameron (VIDEO)

George Galloway. Photo: wiki commons.

Devout Israel-hater George Galloway, a member of the UK Parliament, was slapped down quite handily by David Cameron during prime minister?s questions Wednesday.

Galloway asked Cameron to ?adumbrate the key differences between the hand-chopping, throat-cutting jihadists fighting the dictatorship in Mali that we are now to help to kill, and the equally bloodthirsty jihadists? in Syria that the UK is aiding.

Without hesitation Cameron responded, ?Some things come and go, but there is one thing that is certain: Wherever there is a brutal Arab dictator in the world, he?ll have the support of the honorable gentleman.?

Watch ?the video below:

The PMQ platform offers an opportunity for MPs to ask Prime Minister David Cameron questions on live TV, much to the chagrin of Galloway one would today think.

While Galloway?s question may actually have some validity, Cameron?s response was more indicative of Galloway?s reputation in UK politics. This is, after all, a man known to cavort with Saddam Hussein and his brethren, bestow support upon Hezbollah, and make claims that Israel killed Lebanese President Rafik Hariri?among many, many highly dubious actions and remarks.

A recent article in the Algemeiner demonstrated just how blind his anti-Israel position can be, when he re-tweeted a hash tag meant to be anti-Israel without even checking to see that the link attached to the hash tag was actually pro-Israel.

Source: http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/01/30/anti-israel-mp-george-galloway-slapped-down-by-prime-minister-david-cameron-video/

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The 128GB iPad Is Real, It's Here, and It's Almost Definitely Not For You

As expected, Apple let a 128GB iPad out of the bag today. And there's almost zero chance you should buy it. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/LQeXUTRgTxQ/the-128gb-ipad-is-real-its-here-and-its-definitely-not-for-you

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Horrific Reports of People Cooking & Eating Their Children ? and ...

In this undated photo released by the Korean Central News Agency and distributed Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013 in Tokyo by the Korea News Service, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a consultative meeting with officials in the fields of state security and foreign affairs at undisclosed location in North Korea. Credit: AP

While it?s certainly not the first allegation of cannibalism to come from North Korea, it?s equally as disturbing as those that?preceded?it. Troubling reports of a rise in starvation ? and cannibalism ? have emerged inside of a nation that continues to be?intensely-secretive and shut off from the wider global community.?According to an independent outlet called Asia Press, North Koreans are so desperate that they are increasingly turning to corpses and even murdering their own children for food.

One man allegedly dug up his grandchild?s corpse and ate it. Another purportedly killed and boiled his child for food. Of late, yet another individual has reportedly been executed for killing two of his children for the same purposes.

?In my village in May a man who killed his own two children and tried to eat them was executed by a firing squad,? one informant said of the latter incident.

According to the source, the father killed his daughter while his wife was away on business. Then, he killed the son because the latter child had witnessed his sister?s murder. When the wife came back from her trip, her husband said that they now had ?meat.? After?becoming?suspicious, she contacted authorities who later discovered?parts of the children?s bodies.

The ?hidden famine,? as it has been called in North and South?Hwanghae, is what appears to be driving this alleged horror. According to the Daily Mail, up to 10,000 individuals have lost their lives due to a lack of food ? a figure that encapsulates the extreme desperation that may be driving the unthinkable.

Of course, the secretive and insular nature of the North Korean government makes it difficult to ascertain?definitively?whether instances involving human beings consuming one another are actually on the rise as some sources have claimed. Asia Press, the independent outlet issuing these reports,?describes itself as a media venue that is?trying to be ?free from any dependence on capital and authority.?

While outlandish and unbelievable, this isn?t the first time the international community has heard similar stories. In the past, numerous reports about cannibalism have come from North Korea. The Daily Mail highlights some of these past instances:

In May last year, the South Korean state-run Korean Institute for National Unification said that one man was executed after eating part of a colleague and then trying to sell the remains as mutton.

One man killed and ate a girl and a third report of cannibalism was recorded from 2011.

Another man was executed in May after murdering 11 people and selling the bodies as pork.

In Oct. 2011, TheBlaze reported about?Kim Hye Sook and the unbearable pain and emotional suffering that she endured during her 28-year detention in a secretive North Korean concentration camp. Brutal executions, starvation ? even mothers killing and eating their children to ensure their own survival ? were regular occurrences.

In an interview with CBN News, Sook recalled a mother boiling her 9-year-old daughter. In a separate fit of desperation, a woman killed her 16-year-old son, chopped him up and took him to a butcher to obtain some corn in exchange.??

(H/T: Daily Mail)

?

Related:

Source: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/01/28/horrific-reports-of-people-cooking-eating-their-children-and-digging-up-corpses-come-amid-nkorean-famine/

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Philips Bows Out Of Consumer Electronics Business

Philips, a brand well known for their televisions and optical media devices, is leaving the consumer electronics market and is now focusing on medical equipment and lighting. The company sold its CE business to the Japanese manufacturer Funai Electric Co. for $201 million.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Pdes6nKxZFo/

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Dutch Queen Beatrix abdicating, son will be king

Image taken of a TV screen showing Dutch Queen Beatrix announcing she will abdicate April 30, 2014, during a speech prerecorded in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday Jan. 28, 2013. Beatrix, who turns 75 on Thursday, has ruled the nation of 16 million for more than 32 years and would be succeeded by her eldest son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. (AP Photo/NOS Television/Peter Dejong)

Image taken of a TV screen showing Dutch Queen Beatrix announcing she will abdicate April 30, 2014, during a speech prerecorded in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday Jan. 28, 2013. Beatrix, who turns 75 on Thursday, has ruled the nation of 16 million for more than 32 years and would be succeeded by her eldest son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. (AP Photo/NOS Television/Peter Dejong)

FILE - In this Sept. 20, 2011 file photo, Dutch Queen Beatrix, center, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, left and Princess Maxima, second left, arrive at the "Hall of Knights" to formally open the new parliamentary year in The Hague, Netherlands. Queen Beatrix announced she is to abdicate in favor of Crown Prince Willem Alexander during a nationally televised speech Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. Beatrix, who turns 75 on Thursday, has ruled the nation of 16 million for more than 32 years and would be succeeded by her eldest son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. (AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 20, 2011 file photo, Dutch Queen Beatrix formally opens the new parliamentary year with a speech in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011. Queen Beatrix announced she is to abdicate in favor of Crown Prince Willem Alexander during a nationally televised speech Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. Beatrix, who turns 75 on Thursday, has ruled the nation of 16 million for more than 32 years and would be succeeded by her eldest son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. (AP Photo/Toussaint Kluiters, Pool, File)

FILE - In this April 30, 1980 file photo, Princess Juliana, just after her abdication, kisses her eldest daughter Queen Beatrix, left, on the balcony of the Royal Palace in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch Queen Beatrix announces she is to abdicate in favor of Crown Prince Willem Alexander during a nationally televised speech Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. Beatrix, who turns 75 on Thursday, has ruled the nation of 16 million for more than 32 years and would be succeeded by her eldest son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. (AP Photo/ Ferry van Groen, File)

FILE - In this April 30, 1980 file photo, Queen Beatrix is shown during her crowning ceremony at Nieuwe Kerk, or New Church in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch Queen Beatrix announced she is to abdicate in favor of Crown Prince Willem Alexander during a nationally televised speech Monday, Jan. 28, 2013. Beatrix, who turns 75 on Thursday, has ruled the nation of 16 million for more than 32 years and would be succeeded by her eldest son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. (AP Photo, File)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) ? The Netherlands' Queen Beatrix announced Monday that she is ending her reign after 33 years and passing the crown to her eldest son, who has long been groomed to be king but who will have to work hard to match his mother's popularity.

The widely expected abdication comes at a time of debate over the future of the largely ceremonial Dutch monarchy, but also as calm has descended upon the Netherlands after a decade of turmoil that saw Beatrix act as the glue that held together an increasingly divided society.

"Responsibility for our country must now lie in the hands of a new generation," Beatrix, one of Europe's longest-serving monarchs, said in the simple, televised speech announcing her abdication.

The queen, who turns 75 in just a few days, said she will step down from the throne on April 30. That same day, her eldest son, Willem-Alexander, will be appointed king at an inauguration in Amsterdam. He will be the Netherlands' first king since Willem III died in 1890.

Willem-Alexander is a 45-year-old father of three young daughters, an International Olympic Committee member, a pilot and a water management expert.

Over the years, he has struggled to win the affection of this nation of 16 million, but his immensely popular wife, the Argentine-born Maxima, has helped him gain more acceptance ever since she brushed away a tear during their wedding in 2002.

They are a hard-working couple: Willem-Alexander regularly gives speeches at water conferences, sharing his low-lying nation's centuries of experience battling to stay dry, while soon-to-be Queen Maxima, a former investment banker, has carved out a career as a microfinance expert.

Together, the pair has often been seen cheering on Dutch sportsmen and women at Olympics from Beijing, to Vancouver and London.

"He's known as 'Mister Water,' isn't he? He seems like a reliable person, just like his mother," said Desiree Hoving, an Amsterdam resident. "I don't really have an emotional response to him, but I do think it's nice that Maxima is going to be queen."

Despite regular public appearances, Willem-Alexander is also fiercely private, giving reporters and photographers brief, choreographed glimpses of his family in return for being left in peace the rest of the time.

"He and Princess Maxima are fully prepared for their future roles," Beatrix said. "They will serve our nation with dedication, faithfully preserve the constitution and bring all their talents to the monarchy."

Despite her popularity, Maxima has always carried an air of controversy because her father was an agriculture minister in the military junta that ruled Argentina with an iron fist in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

In a move that may curtail possible protests, the Royal House said that Maxima told Prime Minister Mark Rutte that her parents will not attend the inauguration.

In her brief, prerecorded speech from her Huis ten Bosch Palace in The Hague, Beatrix said she was, "deeply grateful for the great faith you have shown in me in the many years that I could be your queen."

The queen's departure is sure to bring about an outpouring of sentimental and patriotic feelings among the Dutch, most of whom adore Beatrix. In everyday conversation, many of her subjects refer to her simply by the nickname "Bea."

Well-wishers immediately gathered outside the palace Monday.

One of them, Laura Dinkshof, took along a homemade orange banner. "We hope the queen will see it," she said. "It says we were very happy with our queen and we wish her a nice retirement and that we have trust in our new king."

Rutte, a staunch monarchist, said that ever since her coronation in 1980, Beatrix ? the nation's oldest-ever monarch ? "applied herself heart and soul for Dutch society."

Beatrix succeeded her mother, Juliana, as head of state, and her reign has been marked by tumultuous shifts in Dutch society and, more recently, by personal tragedy.

Observers believe Beatrix remained on the throne for so long in part because of unrest in Dutch society as the country struggled to assimilate more and more immigrants, mainly Muslims from North Africa, and shifted away from its traditional reputation as one of the world's most tolerant nations.

Beatrix was also thought to be giving time for her son to enjoy fatherhood before taking the throne.

The abdication also comes at a time of trial for Beatrix. A year ago, she was struck by personal tragedy when the second of her three sons, Prince Friso, was left in a coma after being engulfed by an avalanche while skiing in Austria.

And even in a job that is mostly symbolic to begin with, the previous government stripped her of one of her few remaining powers: the ability to name a candidate to begin Cabinet formation after the election of the national parliament.

Beatrix's reign began in difficult economic times and there were riots in Amsterdam at her inauguration, as thousands of demonstrators protesting the city's housing shortages fought pitched battles with police just a few hundred meters (yards) from the downtown palace where she was crowned.

But throughout her tenure she was a calming influence on society, particularly in the aftermath of the 2002 assassination of populist politician Pim Fortuyn and the murder two years later of filmmaker Theo van Gogh by a Muslim extremist.

Personal tragedies have exposed a softer side of the queen and brought her closer to her subjects.

The 2002 death of her German-born husband, Prince Claus, took a toll on her, and it was apparent how deep her reliance on the quiet man had been: she was filmed leaning heavily, almost hanging, on Prince Friso's arm as they entered the church for her spouse's funeral.

In another blow, a deranged loner tried to slam a car into an open-topped bus carrying members of the royal family as they celebrated the Queens Day national holiday in 2009. The driver killed seven people who had gathered to watch the royals, a brazen attack that shocked the nation.

Friso, who had been such a support after Claus' death, remains in a coma. Late last year, the Royal House said he showed "very minimal" signs of consciousness.

"I think it's a good time for her to leave, with all that happened in her life recently," said 44-year-old Bert Duesenberg of The Hague as he stood at the queen's palace gates. "I also think that Alexander is ready to take over, and he has to do that. It is good news, and it's time for the change."

____

Associated Press writer Toby Sterling contributed from Amsterdam and Alex Furtula contributed from The Hague.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-28-Netherlands-Queen/id-544a9b9fd7a64ced91264c086025e7d5

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Roadside bomb kills 10 in Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) ? A police truck packed with officers and detainees struck a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan's largest city, killing 10 of those aboard, officials said Sunday.

It was one of four blasts Saturday that left at least 24 people dead across the country. Attacks by insurgents are a daily occurrence around Afghanistan and the Afghan police with their unarmored pickup trucks and remote checkpoints are a common target.

In the Kandahar city blast, police had driven to a residential neighborhood of the city at night to inspect a bomb that had been found there, said Javid Faisal, a spokesman for the provincial government. They detained three suspects and were driving back with them in a police pickup truck when the vehicle struck another explosive buried in the road. Eight police officers and two detainees were killed in the blast.

Meanwhile, Afghan authorities accused NATO of killing three civilian men in a nighttime ambush in the eastern Logar province. The coalition disputed the account, saying it had no operations in Logar's Baraki Barak district Saturday night. NATO said there were three dead, but they were insurgents killed by Afghan forces.

Deputy provincial police chief Rais Khan Abdul Rahimzai said all three of the added were civilians. "They were brothers. They had dinner at one of their brother's houses in another part of the district and it was when they were driving back that they were ambushed by the foreign soldiers," Rahimzai said. "It was a misunderstanding in which foreign forces shot and killed three people."

A spokesman for the international force disputed the Afghan version of the incident. "This was the ANSF," said Maj. Martyn Crighton, referring to the Afghan National Security Forces. He said they went after three men who had been seen burying a bomb in the ground and "got engaged in a firefight with these guys."

It was not possible to reconcile the conflicting accounts.

Earlier Saturday, 10 policemen were killed when a suicide bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up in Kunduz province in the north. Elsewhere, a remote-controlled bomb planted on a bicycle exploded in the eastern city of Ghazni, killing one police officer and a civilian. And in the west, officials in Farah province said Sunday that two police officers were killed there Saturday evening when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb.

On Sunday in the south, a roadside bomb in the town of Marjah killed another three police officers, said Ahmad Zarak, a spokesman for the Helmand provincial government.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/roadside-bomb-kills-10-afghanistan-052641057.html

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Zuma home not built with public funds, S.Africa government says

PRETORIA (Reuters) - Public funds were not spent on building South African President Jacob Zuma a house in his home village, state investigators said on Sunday in a report that sought to end one of the biggest scandals to hit Zuma before elections next year.

The report did say the government had spent 206 million rand on security upgrades and related costs at the president's private compound, and that this decision was based on an assessment of threats to Zuma.

Opposition politicians and media have said Zuma used up to 250 million rand of state funds to upgrade his private residence in his home village of Nkandla, in KwaZulu-Natal province.

Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi, who led the so-called "Nkandlagate" inquiry, said there was no evidence that public money was spent on Zuma's home or on any house belonging to him.

However, the state paid 71 million rand for security upgrades at the complex and an additional 135 million rand was spent on "operational needs for state departments", including support staff, medical facilities and accommodation, Nxesi said.

The investigation by Nxesi's department, which was in charge of the upgrades, including installing bullet proof windows and security fences, did find irregularities in awarding tenders.

Nxesi told reporters that any officials at his department who were implicated would be investigated and held accountable.

The main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party called the report, which will not be made public, a "whitewash", and said the investigators seemed more focused on punishing low-ranking officials than holding Zuma responsible.

"There was absolutely no willingness on the part of government to admit to South Africans today that spending this amount on one man's home is ethically and lawfully wrong," said Lindiwe Mazibuko, the DA's parliamentary leader.

Justice minister Jeffrey Radebe said Zuma did not know the details of the security arrangements at his home.

"The president is not involved in this process and he is not expected to sign on anything as he has no authority with these security upgrades," he said.

The report was welcomed by the ruling ANC, which has been in power since the end of white minority rule in 1994.

Despite securing more than 60 percent of the vote in the last four democratic elections, the ANC is losing support to opposition parties who have accused it of graft, cronyism and failing to tackle widespread poverty and unemployment.

"The ANC believes that this report will bring to closure the issue of Nkandla that has generated speculative public opinion and has been used to incorrectly attack (the) President, the ANC and its government," a spokesman said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/zuma-home-not-built-public-funds-africa-government-060756133.html

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Video: Harwood: 2014 could be tough for Democrats

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/50601418/

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Report: There Were 94 Tech M&A Deals in 2012 Above $100M, Average Deal Value Was $717M

Towers Watson?s M&A practice recently published the results of Quarterly Deal Performance Monitor (QPDM) which is conducted in partnership with Cass Business School, and has examined all the data on all deals over $100 million completed in 2012. The results are really interesting, especially when you take look at what was happening in the public markets. In 2012, there were 94 deals in the tech sector with an average value of $717 million. In 2012, there were 768 M&A deals across all sectors above $100 million.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/fYsOfNgFE1Q/

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Egypt's leader declares emergency after clashes

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi declared a month-long state of emergency in three cities along the Suez Canal where dozens of people have been killed over the past four days in protests his allies say are designed to overthrow him.

Seven people were shot dead and hundreds were injured in Port Said on Sunday during the funerals of 33 people killed there when locals angered by a court decision went on the rampage as anti-government protests spread around the country.

A total of 49 people have been killed since Thursday and Mursi's opponents, who accuse his Islamist Muslim Brotherhood of betraying the revolution that ousted long-time ruler Hosni Mubarak, have called for more demonstrations on Monday.

"Down, down Mursi, down down the regime that killed and tortured us!" people in Port Said chanted as the coffins of those killed on Saturday were carried through the streets.

Mursi, who was elected in June, is trying to fix a beleaguered economy and cool tempers before a parliamentary poll in the next few months which is supposed to cement Egypt's transition to democracy. Repeated eruptions of violence have weighed heavily on the Egyptian pound.

In a televised address, he said a nightly curfew would be introduced in Port Said, Ismailia and Suez, starting Monday.

Several hundred people protested in Ismailia, Suez and Port Said after the announcement, in which Mursi also called for a dialogue with top politicians. Activists in the three cities vowed to defy the curfew in protest at the decision.

"The protection of the nation is the responsibility of everyone. We will confront any threat to its security with force and firmness within the remit of the law," he said, offering condolences to families of the victims.

In Cairo the newly appointed Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim was ejected from the funeral of one of the police officers who died during Saturday's clashes in Port Said, according to witnesses and police sources.

A police officer at the funeral said many of his colleagues blame the interior minister for the deaths of at least two policemen during Saturday's clashes as he did not allow the police there to carry weapons and were only given teargas bombs.

SECURITY MEASURES

The violence has exposed a deep rift in the nation. Liberals and other opponents accuse Mursi of failing to deliver on economic promises and say he has not lived up to pledges to represent all Egyptians. His backers say the opposition is seeking to topple Egypt's first freely elected leader.

Distancing itself from the latest flare-ups, the opposition National Salvation Front said Mursi should have acted far sooner to impose extra security measures that would end the violence.

"Of course we feel the president is missing the real problem on the ground which is his own polices," spokesman Khaled Dawoud told Reuters. "His call to implement emergency law was an expected move given what is going on, namely thuggery and criminal actions."

The Front, formed late last year when Mursi provoked protests and violence by expanding his powers and driving through an Islamist-tinged constitution, has threatened to boycott the parliamentary poll and call for more protests if its demands are not met, including for an early presidential vote.

State television said seven people died from gunshot wounds in Port Said on Sunday. Port Said's head of hospitals, Abdel Rahman Farag, told Reuters more than 400 people had suffered from teargas inhalation, while 38 were wounded by gunshots.

Gunshots had killed many of the 33 who died on Saturday when residents rioted after a court sentenced 21 people, mostly from the Mediterranean port, to death for their role in deadly soccer violence at a stadium there last year.

A military source said many people in Port Said, which lies next to the increasingly lawless Sinai Peninsula, possess guns because they do not trust the authorities to protect them. However it was not clear who was behind the deaths and injuries.

In Cairo, police fired teargas at dozens at protesters throwing stones and petrol bombs in a fourth day of clashes over what demonstrators there and in other cities say is a power grab by Islamists two years after Mubarak was overthrown.

In Ismailia city, which lies on the Suez Canal between the cities of Suez and Port Said, police also fired teargas at protesters attacking a police station with petrol bombs and stones, according to witnesses and a security source there.

"KNEE-JERK REACTION"

Most of the deaths since Thursday were in Port Said and Suez, both cities where the army has now been deployed.

Heba Morayef of Human Rights Watch in Cairo said a state of emergency reintroduced laws that gave police sweeping powers of arrest "purely because (people) look suspicious".

"It is a classic knee-jerk reaction to think the emergency law will help bring security," she said. "It gives so much discretion to the Ministry of Interior that it ends up causing more abuse which in turn causes more anger."

The opposition Popular Current and other groups have called for more protests on Monday to mark what was one of the bloodiest days of the 2011 uprising.

Anti-Mursi protesters who have been camped out in Tahrir Square for weeks also demonstrated against Mursi's move to impose a state of emergency, reviving memories of Mubarak's era when emergency codes were in place for three decades and used to crush dissent and detain people without charge.

Protesters say Mursi has betrayed the revolution's aims.

"None of the revolution's goals have been realized," said Mohamed Sami, a protester in Cairo's Tahrir Square, the cauldron of the uprising that erupted on January 25, 2011 and toppled Mubarak 18 days later.

"Prices are going up. The blood of Egyptians is being spilt in the streets because of neglect and corruption and because the Muslim Brotherhood is ruling Egypt for their own interests."

Clashes also erupted in other streets near the square. The U.S. and British embassies, both close to Tahrir, said they were closed for public business on Sunday, normally a working day.

The army, Egypt's interim ruler until Mursi's election, was sent back onto the streets to restore order in Port Said and Suez, which both lie on the Suez canal. In Suez, at least eight people were killed in clashes with police.

Many ordinary Egyptians are frustrated by the violence that have hurt the economy and their livelihoods.

"They are not revolutionaries protesting," said taxi driver Kamal Hassan, 30, referring to those gathered in Tahrir. "They are thugs destroying the country."

(Additional reporting by Shaimaa Fayed in Cairo and Yusri Mohamed in Ismailia; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/riots-over-egyptian-death-sentences-kill-least-32-005245042.html

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Birth Control Lawsuits: Obama Health Care Mandates Loosen Legal Challenges

NEW YORK -- The legal challenges over religious freedom and the birth control coverage requirement in President Barack Obama's health care overhaul appear to be moving toward the U.S. Supreme Court.

Faith-affiliated charities, hospitals and universities have filed dozens of lawsuits against the mandate, which requires employers to provide insurance that covers contraception for free. However, many for-profit business owners are also suing, claiming a violation of their religious beliefs.

The religious lawsuits have largely stalled, as the Department of Health and Human Services tries to develop an accommodation for faith groups. However, no such offer will be made to individual business owners. And their lawsuits are yielding conflicting rulings in appeals courts around the country.

"The circuits have split. You're getting different, conflicting interpretations of law, so the line of cases will have to go to the Supreme Court, `' said Carl Esbeck, a professor at the University of Missouri Law School who specializes in religious liberty issues.

Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that Obama's fiercely contested health care overhaul, known as the Affordable Care Act, was constitutional. But differences over the birth control provision in the law have yet to be resolved.

Under the requirement, most employers, including faith-affiliated hospitals and nonprofits, have to provide health insurance that includes artificial contraception, including sterilization, as a free preventive service. The goal, in part, is to help women space pregnancies as a way to promote health.

Religious groups who employ and serve people of their own faith ? such as churches ? are exempt. But other religiously affiliated groups, such as Catholic Charities, must comply.

Roman Catholic bishops, evangelicals and some religious leaders who have generally been supportive of Obama's policies have lobbied fiercely for a broader exemption. The Catholic Church prohibits the use of artificial contraception. Evangelicals generally permit the use of birth control, but they object to specific methods such as the morning-after contraceptive pill, which they argue is tantamount to abortion.

Obama promised to change the birth control requirement so insurance companies and not faith-affiliated employers would pay for the coverage, but religious leaders said more changes were needed to make the plan work.

The Health and Human Services Department said it could not comment on litigation. A spokeswoman also did not respond to a question about when the latest revisions in the birth control rule would be made public.

However, government attorneys responding to a lawsuit said an announcement was expected by the end of March. In the suit filed by the evangelical Wheaton College in Illinois and Catholic Belmont Abbey in North Carolina, the court ordered government attorneys to provide a progress report on the new rule every 60 days. Whatever its final form, the mandate will take effect for religious groups in August.

At the center of the cases is the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the 1993 law that bars the government from imposing a substantial burden on the exercise of religion for anything other than a compelling government interest pursued in the least restrictive way. The question of how or whether these criteria apply when owners of for-profit businesses have a religious objection to a government policy hasn't been fully tested.

"It's more natural for people to say Notre Dame exercises religion, but when you say this power tool company exercises religion, you have to explain it little more, I think the claims are really the same," said Kyle Duncan, general counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represents many of the plaintiffs.

Brigitte Amiri, senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, argued the business owners are trying to use a religious liberty claim to deny benefits to someone else.

"We don't think that religious liberty claims can be used as a way to discriminate against women employees ? using those claims to take away someone else's benefits and services," Amiri said.

In the lawsuits from faith-affiliated groups, such as the University of Notre Dame, judges around the country have generally said it would be premature to decide the legal issues until the federal rule for religiously affiliated organizations is finalized.

In the cases involving business owners, judges have granted temporary injunctions to businesses in nine of 14 cases they've heard, while questions about for-profit employers and religious rights are decided, according to a tally by the Becket Fund.

In a case brought by Cyril and Jane Korte, Catholic owners of Korte & Luitjohan Contractors in Illinois, a three-judge panel granted a temporary injunction, ruling 2-1 that providing employees insurance coverage that includes birth control would violate the Kortes' faith.

"It is a family-run business, and they manage the company in accordance with their religious beliefs," the judges wrote.

The dissenting judge argued that the company will not be paying directly for contraception but instead will purchase insurance that covers a wide range of health care that could include birth control, if the woman decides with her physician that she needs it.

"What the Kortes wish to do is to preemptively declare that their company need not pay for insurance which covers particular types of medical care to which they object," the dissenting judge wrote.

Similar reasoning was used by courts denying an injunction requested by the arts and crafts chain Hobby Lobby and religious book-seller Mardel Inc., which are owned by the same evangelical family. Oklahoma-based Hobby Lobby calls itself a "biblically founded business" and is closed on Sundays.

The U.S. district judge who first considered the request said, "Hobby Lobby and Mardel are not religious organizations."

"Plaintiffs have not cited, and the court has not found, any case concluding that secular, for-profit corporations such as Hobby Lobby and Mardel have a constitutional right to the free exercise of religion," the ruling said.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/26/birth-control-lawsuits_n_2559773.html

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Researchers build a working tractor beam, on a very small scale

We recently saw research that suggested negative radiation pressure in light could lead to a practical tractor beam. A partnership between the Czech Republic's Institute of Scientific Instruments and Scotland's University of St. Andrews can show that it's more than just theory: the two have successfully created an optical field that flipped the usual pressure and started pulling objects toward the light. Their demo only tugged at the particle level -- sorry, no spaceships just yet -- but it exhibited unique properties that could be useful here on Earth. Scientists discovered that the pull is specific to the size and substance of a given object, and that targets would sometimes reorganize themselves in a way that improved the results. On the current scale, that pickiness could lead to at least medicinal uses, such as sorting cells based on their material. While there's more experiments and development to go before we ever see a tractor beam at the hospital, the achievement brings us one step closer to the sci-fi future we were always told we'd get, right alongside the personal communicators and jetpacks.

Filed under: Science, Alt

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Via: BBC

Source: University of St. Andrews, Nature

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/26/researchers-make-a-working-tractor-beam/

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Egypt's National Defence Council calls for dialogue

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's National Defence Council, headed by President Mohamed Mursi, on Saturday condemned street violence and called for national dialogue to resolve political differences, the information minister said after the council met.

The council, which includes the defense minister, who is a general in charge of the army, could also consider declaring a state of emergency or a curfew in areas of violence if needed, Information Minister Salah Abdel Maqsoud said.

At least 39 people were killed in violence in Port Said on Saturday over a court ruling and across the nation during Friday's anti-Mursi protests.

The council called for "a broad national dialogue that would be attended by independent national characters" to discuss political differences and ensure a "fair and transparent" parliamentary election, the minister said in a televised statement.

Calls by the president and his government for national dialogue have been spurned in the past by the main liberal-minded opposition, who accuse Mursi and his allies of ignoring any opposing views.

The violence that first erupted on Thursday, the eve of the anniversary of a revolt that started on January 25, 2011, has highlighted the deep divisions in Egypt and cast a shadow over a parliamentary poll which could start in April.

(Reporting by Yasmine Saleh and Ahmed Tolba; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Jon Hemming and Jason Webb)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-national-defense-council-calls-dialogue-170542285.html

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Love triumphs over hate to make exotic new compound

Friday, January 25, 2013

Northwestern University graduate student Jonathan Barnes had a hunch for creating an exotic new chemical compound, and his idea that the force of love is stronger than hate proved correct. He and his colleagues are the first to permanently interlock two identical tetracationic rings that normally are repelled by each other. Many experts had said it couldn't be done.

On the surface, the rings hate each other because each carries four positive charges (making them tetracationic). But Barnes discovered by introducing radicals (unpaired electrons) onto the scene, the researchers could create a love-hate relationship in which love triumphs.

Unpaired electrons want to pair up and be stable, and it turns out the attraction of one ring's single electrons to the other ring's single electrons is stronger than the repelling forces.

The process links the rings not by a chemical bond but by a mechanical bond, which, once in place, cannot easily be torn asunder.

The study detailing this new class of stable organic radicals will be published Jan. 25 by the journal Science.

"It's not that people have tried and failed to put these two rings together -- they just didn't think it was possible," said Sir Fraser Stoddart, a senior author of the paper. "Now this molecule has been made. I cannot overemphasize Jonathan's achievement -- it is really outside the box. Now we are excited to see where this new chemistry leads us."

Sir Fraser is the Board of Trustees Professor of Chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern. In the late 1980s, he was one of the early pioneers to introduce an additional type of bond, the mechanical bond, into chemical compounds.

The new Northwestern compound has attractive electronic characteristics and can be made quickly and inexpensively. Down the road, it may be possible to expand this first linked pair into a longer chain-like polymer where this methodology could be useful in new technologies for batteries, semiconductors and electronic memory devices.

Driven by curiosity, Barnes only began to look at the radical chemistry of the ring cyclobis (paraquat-p-phenylene) two years ago, nearly 25 years after the ring was first made.

"I wondered what would happen if we took it all the way to the max," said Barnes, the paper's first author and a member of Stoddart's group. "Can we take two of these rings, each with four positive charges, and make them live together?"

The rings repel each other like the positive poles of two magnets. Barnes saw an opportunity where he thought he could tweak the chemistry by using radicals to overcome the hate between the two rings.

"We made these rings communicate and love each other under certain conditions, and once they were mechanically interlocked, the bond could not be broken," Barnes said.

Barnes' first strategy -- adding electrons to temporarily reduce the charge and bring the two rings together -- worked the first time he tried it. He, Stoddart and their colleagues started with a full ring and a half ring that they then closed up around the first ring (using some simple chemistry), creating the mechanical bond.

When the compound is oxidized and electrons lost, the strong positive forces come roaring back -- "It's hate on all the time," Barnes said -- but then it is too late for the rings to be parted. "That's the beauty of this system," he added.

Most organic radicals possess short lifetimes, but this unusual radical compound is stable in air and water. The compound tucks the electrons away inside the structure so they can't react with anything in the environment. The tight mechanical bond endures despite the unfavorable electrostatic interactions.

The two interlocked rings house an immense amount of charge in a mere cubic nanometer of space. The compound, a homo[2]catenane, can adopt one of six oxidation states and can accept up to eight electrons in total.

"Anything that accepts this many electrons has possibilities for batteries," Barnes said.

"Applications beckon," Stoddart agreed. "Now we need to spend more time with materials scientists and people who make devices to see how this amazing compound can be used."

###

Northwestern University: http://www.northwestern.edu

Thanks to Northwestern University for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/126463/Love_triumphs_over_hate_to_make_exotic_new_compound

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NASA testing vintage engine from Apollo 11 rocket

In this image taken from video, NASA engineers test fire a key part of a rocket engine left over from the 1960s-era Apollo moon missions on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013, in Huntsville, Ala. Engineers hope to gain valuable knowledge from the engine, which was originally supposed to power the Apollo 11 moon mission in 1969 but was grounded by a problem. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves)

In this image taken from video, NASA engineers test fire a key part of a rocket engine left over from the 1960s-era Apollo moon missions on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013, in Huntsville, Ala. Engineers hope to gain valuable knowledge from the engine, which was originally supposed to power the Apollo 11 moon mission in 1969 but was grounded by a problem. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves)

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) ? Like vinyl records and skinny ties, good things eventually come back around. At NASA, that means looking to the Apollo program for ideas on how to develop the next generation of rockets for future missions to the moon and beyond.

Young engineers who weren't even born when the last Saturn V rocket took off for the moon are testing a vintage engine from the program.

The engine, known to NASA engineers as No. F-6049, was supposed to help propel Apollo 11 into orbit in 1969, when NASA sent Neil Armstrong and two other astronauts to the moon for the first time. The flight went off without a hitch, but no thanks to the engine ? it was grounded because of a glitch during a test in Mississippi and later sent to the Smithsonian Institution, where it sat for years.

Now engineers are learning to work with technical systems and propellants not used since before the start of the space shuttle program, which first launched in 1981.

Nick Case, 27, and other engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center on Thursday completed a series of 11 test-firings of the F-6049's gas generator, a jet-like rocket which produces 30,000 pounds of thrust and was used as a starter for the engine. They are trying to see whether a second-generation version of the Apollo engine could produce even more thrust and be operated with a throttle for deep-space exploration.

There are no plans to send the old engine into space, but it could become a template for a new generation of motors incorporating parts of its design.

In NASA-speak, the old 18-foot-tall motor is called an F-1 engine. During moon missions, five of them were arranged at the base of the 363-foot-tall Saturn V system and fired together to power the rocket off the ground toward Earth orbit.

Thursday's test used one part of the engine, the gas generator, which powers the machinery to pump propellant into the main rocket chamber. It doesn't produce the massive orange flame or clouds of smoke like that of a whole F-1, but the sound was deafening as engineers fired the mechanism in an outdoor test stand on a cool, sunny afternoon.

The device produced a plume that resembled a blow torch the size of two buses and set fire to a grassy area, which was quickly extinguished.

"It's not small," Case said. "It's pretty beefy on its own."

And just like during the Apollo days, people in north Alabama heard rockets thundering in the distance during tests at Marshall.

"My wife and daughter were in our front yard and she said they could hear it, which was pretty cool," Case said after an earlier test. "We live about 15 miles away."

A single F-1 engine can produce 1.5 million pounds of thrust using a fuel composed of liquid oxygen and refined kerosene, which was not used in the space shuttle.

The tests were conducted at Marshall in a project conducted with Dynetics Inc. and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, which are studying NASA's possibilities for deep-space missions years from now. The space agency plans to use commercial launches to reach low Earth orbit; larger rockets are required to escape the planet's gravity.

R.H. Coates, an engineer who works with Case in Marshall's liquid propulsion office, said young engineers can learn a lot from the work done by predecessors using slide-rules in the 1960s, but no one wants to simply rebuild the old Saturn V engine.

"This wouldn't be your daddy's F-1," Coates said. "We'd use new materials and try to simplify it, update it."

Case started at Marshall as a high school intern in 2002 and has been working there since graduating from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 2008. He said today's technology allows things that weren't possible during the 1960s, but he has been impressed by what he learned taking apart the unused Apollo 11 engine.

Engine No. F-6049 didn't fit properly on the Apollo 11 rocket, but it is invaluable now as a testing tool. Coates said a total of 85 F-1 engines were used on 17 Apollo flights without a single failure.

About a dozen F-1 engines remain in Huntsville, Ala., home of NASA's main propulsion center, and others are located elsewhere. Most are on display. Case said engineers used engine No. F-6049 for the tests because it was the most complete.

"It is really an excellent booster," he said. "The guys in Apollo had it right."

___

Follow Reeves at: http://twitter.com/Jay_Reeves

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-01-25-Blast%20from%20the%20Past/id-39491f6df0874c8591feb08a2954cdc6

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United Nations Security Council Condemns North Korea Rocket Launch

UNITED NATIONS -- The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution condemning North Korea's rocket launch in December and imposing new sanctions on Pyongyang's space agency.

The multi-stage rocket launch is considered part of a covert program to develop ballistic missiles that can carry nuclear warheads.

The council reiterated its previous demand that North Korea abandon its nuclear weapons program in a "complete, verifiable and irreversible manner" and cease launches.

China joined in approving the resolution, the first resolution in four years to expand the sanctions regime on North Korea.

"We believe that action taken by the Council should be prudent, measured, proportionate, and conducive to stability," Chinese Ambassador Li Baodong said after the vote.

China's agreement to join a resolution is a step away from the protection it usually gives to North Korea, its neighbor, which it supported in the Korean War in the early 1950s against U.S.-led U.N. troops.

China is seen as North Korea's closest ally, and its protection of North Korea meant that the Security Council previously denounced North Korea's launches with non-binding council statements, which are unenforceable.

In a defiant statement early Wednesday, North Korea's Foreign Ministry warned that it will strengthen its military and nuclear defenses in reaction to what it called evidence of "U.S. hostility" toward Pyongyang. It also warned that it would rebuff any attempt to engage Pyongyang in disarmament negotiations.

"There can be talks for peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and the region in the future, but no talks for the denuclearization of the peninsula," the Foreign Ministry said in a memorandum carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

North Korea ominously warned that it would take steps to "bolster the military capabilities for self-defense, including the nuclear deterrence."

North Korea sent a satellite into space on Dec. 12 aboard a long-range rocket, a launch that the U.S. and its allies have criticized as a test of banned ballistic missile technology. Pyongyang maintains the launch was a peaceful bid to send a satellite into space and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un cited its success in his New Year's Day speech.

In 2006 and 2009, Pyongyang conducted atomic tests after being slapped with Security Council condemnation and sanctions for similar launches of long-range rockets.

Security Council resolutions ban North Korea from any use of ballistic missile technology, even if characterized as a satellite launch or space launch vehicle.

The resolution imposes new sanctions under existing authorities on North Korean companies and government agencies, including North Korea's space agency and several individuals.

It also updates lists of nuclear and ballistic missile technology banned for transfer to and from North Korea and includes several new provisions targeting North Korea's smuggling of sensitive items that could contribute to the prohibited programs.

In its talks with China, the U.S. had to agree that the resolution would not bring in new forms of sanctions but would build on the existing Security Council sanction regimes.

""We hope that all relevant sides can, with a view to maintaining peace and stability, stay calm and restrained, and avoid all acts that will escalate tension, which is conducive to the interest of all sides," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in Beijing on Wednesday. He stressed the importance of moving ahead with the six-nation, aid-for-disarmament talks.

China's support for the new resolution comes at a time when the region braces for the possibility that North Korea may test a nuclear device as it did following previous rocket launches. Satellite photos taken at North Korea's nuclear test site in Punggye-ri last month indicated continued activity, even in winter, according to analysis by 38 North, a North Korea website affiliated with the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies.

North Korea vowed last week to strengthen its defenses amid concerns the country may conduct a nuclear test as a follow-up to last month's rocket launch.

Citing U.S. hostility, Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry said in a memorandum that North Korea will "continue to strengthen its deterrence against all forms of war."

The memorandum carried by state media did not say what action North Korea would take to defend itself. However, North Korea has claimed the right to build atomic weapons to protect itself from the United States, which stations more than 28,000 troops in South Korea.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/23/un-condemns-north-korea_n_2531827.html

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Amazon's new Kindles now available in Canada, Paperwhite starting at CAD $139

Despite being our neighbors to the north, Canadians have had to sit patiently and wait for Amazon's refreshed line of e-readers to make their way to retail -- even the UK's had access to the E Ink slates. Now, just over five months later, the Paperwhite and latest generation Kindle will finally be available for purchase on Amazon.ca and at select retailers. For CAD $199, customers can snatch the top-of-the-line 3G Paperwhite, the WiFi-only model for $139, or opt for the low-end with the $89 latest gen Kindle. Support for French-language (Bonjour, Quebec!) is also included in the hardware, as well as a direct access to the Canadian Kindle store. So, if you've been holding out hope that Bezos' latest e-reading trio would arrive in the Great White North, well, now's the time to submit your orders.

Show full PR text

Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Now Available on Amazon.ca

Kindle Paperwhite, the most advanced e-reader ever constructed with higher resolution, 62% more pixels, 25% higher-contrast, patented built-in front light, 8 weeks of battery life and an even slimmer and sleeker design-only CAD$139

Kindle Paperwhite Wi-Fi + 3G-the top-of-the-line Kindle with free 3G wireless-only CAD$199

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Canada Kindle Store on Amazon.ca offers the largest selection of the most popular books, including the most best sellers from the Globe and Mail and Le Devoir best seller lists, winners of the Giller prize, and over 50,000 French-language titles

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 23, 2013-- (NASDAQ:AMZN)-Amazon.ca today announced that the new family of Kindle e-readers is now available to customers in Canada. The all-new top-of-the-line Kindle Paperwhite is the most advanced e-reader ever built with 62% more pixels and 25% increased contrast compared to the previous generation Kindle, a patented built-in front light for reading in all lighting conditions, up to 8 weeks of battery life, a thin and light design, and is available in both Wi-Fi only and Wi-Fi + 3G models. Never pay for or hunt for a Wi-Fi hotspot with the free 3G wireless Kindle Paperwhite for just CAD$199 or choose Kindle Paperwhite with Wi-Fi for only CAD$139. The new latest generation Kindle, the lightest and smallest Kindle ever, with new, improved fonts and faster page turns at the low price of CAD$89. Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Paperwhite Wi-Fi + 3G support multiple languages, including French, and are available starting today at www.amazon.ca/kindlepaperwhite.

In addition, Canadian customers can now access the Canada Kindle Store directly from their Kindle. The Kindle Store offers the largest selection of the most popular books, including the most best sellers from the Globe and Mail and Le Devoir best seller lists, winners of the Giller prize, and a broad selection of works from leading Canadian publishers and authors, including Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro and Yann Martel. The Canada Kindle Store has over 1.5 million Kindle books, including over 250,000 exclusive books customers won't find anywhere else, over 35,000 free books, and over 50,000 French-language titles. Visit www.amazon.ca/kindlebooks for more information. All Kindle books are "Buy Once, Read Everywhere"-customers can read their Kindle books on Kindle devices and on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Android and Windows phones and Android tablets using the free Kindle apps.

"We're excited to make the best-selling and most advanced e-readers in the world available to our Amazon.ca customers for the first time, making it easier and more affordable than ever for Canadian readers to own a Kindle," said Dave Limp, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. "With a Kindle in their hands, Canadian customers can now directly access the Kindle Store with the largest selection of the books people want to read, including the largest selection of best sellers and over 250,000 titles that are exclusive to the Kindle Store."

"E-readers have found their place in today's digital lifestyle by providing users with a unique reading experience," said Mark Shanahan, senior technology merchant at Staples Canada. "Our goal is to help people choose a device that's right for them by offering a broad selection of popular e-readers like the Kindle and Kindle Paperwhite in one convenient place, making it easy for customers to see, touch, and try the product."

Kindle Paperwhite-The World's Most Advanced E-Reader

Most Advanced E-Reader Display, 62% More Pixels, 25% More Contrast

Kindle Paperwhite's display is the most advanced e-reader display ever constructed. Featuring a 212 ppi display, Kindle Paperwhite has 62% more pixels than the previous generation Kindle, making text in books and periodicals crisp and clear at any size. Images are sharper, richer and show even more detail. Kindle Paperwhite's screen has 25% higher contrast than the previous generation Kindle- the blacks are blacker, and the whites are whiter.

Innovative Built-In Light

Backlit LCD displays direct light up through the display into the user's eyes. Kindle Paperwhite's patented front-lit display guides light underneath an anti-glare layer and down toward the display, away from the reader's eyes. This means a reader can read for hours with less eye fatigue and strain. The screen brightness is easily adjusted for reading in any light. The Paperwhite display provides an incredible experience in the dark and in direct sunlight.

Breakthrough Battery Life

Kindle Paperwhite's built-in front light is designed to be used at all times-both in daylight and in a dark room-for the clearest, crispest reading experience. In order to use the light at all times, Kindle Paperwhite requires exceptional power management to maintain the battery life that customers love about Kindle. Amazon's light guide technology precisely diffuses the light across the screen and only requires four LEDs to light the entire screen (unlike LCD screens which can use up to 50 LEDs). The light guide is so efficient that Kindle Paperwhite has a remarkable 8 weeks of battery life, even with the light on at all times.

Free 3G

Kindle's free 3G connection means customers never have to hunt for or pay for a Wi-Fi hotspot-they simply download and read books anytime, anywhere. Amazon pays for the 3G connection on Kindle Paperwhite Wi-Fi + 3G, so customers pay no monthly fees and sign no annual contracts.

Built-In Wi-Fi

Kindle Paperwhite comes with built-in Wi-Fi, letting readers discover new content at home or on the road anywhere you can access Wi-Fi.

Books in 60 Seconds

Find a book and start reading in seconds with our fast, free wireless delivery. No computer required to download content.

New Touch Technology

Kindle Paperwhite's new capacitive touch technology is uniquely integrated into the Paperwhite display, allowing for a thinner form factor for Kindle Paperwhite and even better touch accuracy.

Slim and Sleek Design

At just over a third of an inch thin and weighing 213 grams, Kindle Paperwhite is thinner than a magazine and weighs less than a typical paperback. The bezel height between the side of the device and the display itself is 77% thinner.

Hand-Tuned Fonts

Every font on Kindle Paperwhite is hand-tuned for maximum readability. The Amazon typography team worked at the pixel level to ensure consistency of stroke thickness and shape profiles across all individual glyphs, aligning each size to the specific grid of the new Paperwhite display. This allows for unprecedented sharpness of fonts. Kindle Paperwhite's higher resolution display also allows for new elegant typeface options, such as Baskerville and Palatino, which use thin stems that would not render well on a lower resolution display.

"Buy Once, Read Everywhere"

With free reading apps, customers can read their Kindle books on a large number of devices and platforms, including any Kindle as well as on iPhone, iPad, Android devices, Mac, PC, or Windows Phone.

Whispersync

Amazon's Whispersync technology synchronizes a customer's last page read, bookmarks and annotations across all of their devices, so they can always pick up where they left off.

Time to Read

Time to Read is a new feature for Kindle Paperwhite that helps readers know the amount of time it will take them to finish a chapter or a book. This feature is smart-it personalizes the time for each customer based on their reading speed and is constantly updated as the reader's speed and habits change. With Time to Read, it's never been easier to decide when to start a new chapter or finish the chapter you're reading.

Explore the "Bones of a Book" with X-Ray

With a single tap, readers can see all passages across a book that mention ideas, fictional characters, historical figures, places or topics that interest them, as well as more detailed descriptions from Wikipedia and Shelfari, Amazon's community-powered encyclopedia for book lovers. Amazon built X-Ray using its expertise in language processing and machine learning, access to significant storage and computing resources with Amazon S3 and EC2, and a deep library of book and character information.

Features Built Just for Readers

Each Kindle offers a variety of font styles and sizes, so customers can easily customize their reading experience. Kindle Paperwhite also comes with built-in dictionaries for instant lookup of words, Real Page Numbers, support for bookmarks and annotations, and more.

Worry-Free Cloud Storage

Customers' Kindle books are automatically backed up in the cloud, so they can re-download their books wirelessly for free.

Sharing

Customers can share highlighted sections, notes and meaningful quotes on Facebook and Twitter directly from Kindle without leaving the book.

Parental Controls

Parental Controls allow parents to restrict access to the Kindle Store, Cloud Archive and the Experimental Web Browser so they can give their Kindle to a child worry-free.

Top-Rated, World-Class Customer Service

Whenever customers shop on Amazon, buy a Kindle, or buy Kindle content, they know that they are also getting Amazon's world-class customer service. Customers have been shopping on Amazon.ca for 11 years, and they continue to do so because of the unparalleled, end-to-end customer experience.

Beautiful Leather Covers with Auto Wake and Sleep

Covers for Kindle Paperwhite feature a premium textured leather exterior and a subtle woven nylon interior to provide the lightest and thinnest form of protection. The integrated magnetic clasp ensures the cover remains securely closed while in a backpack, purse, or briefcase. The cover automatically wakes Kindle Paperwhite upon opening and puts it to sleep when closed, making it easy to dive right back into the book.

Latest Generation Kindle-Small, Light and Now Even Faster-only CAD$89

The smallest, lightest and most affordable Kindle ever is even better, with new improved fonts, 15% faster page turns and a new, unbelievably low price: just CAD$89. In addition, the new Kindle now supports children's books and comics, and includes new parental controls. Weighing just 170 grams, Kindle is small and light enough to fit easily in a pocket and take everywhere, and still features the same 6-inch electronic ink display that reads like real paper. At just CAD$89, the new Kindle is the perfect entry Kindle for young and adult readers alike.

Kindle Direct Publishing

Independent authors and publishers can make their books available in the Canada Kindle Store using Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) at http://kdp.amazon.ca. Canadian independent authors and publishers can utilize the English- or French-language KDP website to make their books available in Canada and more than 175 countries worldwide. They can also price their books and receive payments in Canadian dollars, earn up to 70% royalties on each book sold, all while retaining control of their content and copyrights.

Thousands of authors in Canada are already using KDP to make their books available in Kindle stores around the world, including Montreal resident Matthew Mather, the best-selling KDP author of the Complete Atopia Chronicles.

"My experience self-publishing with KDP has been nothing short of amazing," said Matthew Mather. "Within weeks of publishing, my book climbed to #1 on the science fiction best sellers list, and now I've sold tens of thousands of copies. I've just finished my second novel, "CyberStorm," and look forward to the idea of writing for a living, something I hadn't imagined possible just six months ago. The best part, though, has been the interaction with readers. I get emails from every corner of the world, contacting me to say how much they liked my work. This is an amazing feeling!"

Pricing & Availability

The Kindle family is available at Amazon.ca and at over 1,000 retail locations across Canada.

Kindle is available for CAD$89 at www.amazon.ca/kindle.

Kindle Paperwhite is available for CAD$139 at www.amazon.ca/kindlepaperwhite.

Kindle Paperwhite Wi-Fi + 3G is available for CAD$199 at www.amazon.ca/kindlepaperwhite3G.

Filed under: Amazon

Comments

Source: Amazon.ca

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/23/amazons-new-kindles-now-available-in-canada-paperwhite/

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