Obama calls Nelson Mandela 'one of the greatest people in history'

Visiting South Africa Saturday, President Barack Obama noted the courage of nation's ailing anti-apartheid leader and former President, Nelson Mandela, and encouraged other world leaders to follow his example. The Obamas will visit with some of Mandela's relatives.?

By Julie Pace and Nedra Pickler,?Associated Press / June 29, 2013

President Barack Obama, (l.), gestures during a news conference with South African President Jacob Zuma at the Union Building on Saturday, in Pretoria, South Africa. The president is in South Africa, embarking on the second leg of his three-country African journey.

Evan Vucci/AP

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President Barack Obama on Saturday encouraged leaders in?Africa?and around the world to follow former?South?African President Nelson Mandela's example of country before self, as the US president prepared to pay personal respects to relatives who have been gathered around the critically ill anti-apartheid icon.

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"We as leaders occupy these spaces temporarily and we don't get so deluded that we think the fate of our country doesn't depend on how long we stay in office," Obama said.

Obama spoke at a news conference with?South?African President Jacob Zuma in the midst of a weeklong tour of the continent that also included stops in Senegal and Tanzania. But many other African nations are embroiled in religious, sectarian and other conflicts.

Obama decided to avoid stopping in his father's home nation of Kenya because of international disputes there. The International Criminal Court is prosecuting Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta for crimes against humanity, including murder, deportation, rape, persecution and inhumane acts allegedly committed by his supporters in the violent aftermath of Kenya's 2007 elections.

"The timing was not right for me as the president of the United States to be visiting Kenya when those issues are still being worked on, and hopefully at some point resolved," Obama said. He noted he's visited Kenya several times previously and expects he will as well in the future.

Obama and Zuma appeared at the Union Buildings that house government offices and the site of Mandela's 1994 inauguration as the country's first black president after 27 years behind bars for his activism.

The 94-year-old Mandela has been in a nearby hospital for three weeks after being admitted with a lung infection. Zuma told reporters that Mandela is in critical but stable condition and the whole nation is praying that he will improve.

Obama and his wife planned to meet with some of Mandela's relatives later in the day but because of their wishes doesn't plan to see the man Obama on Saturday revered as "one of the greatest people in history."

Obama referred to Mandela by his clan name as he praised?South?Africa's?historic integration from white racist rule as a shining beacon for the world.

"The struggle here against apartheid for freedom, Madiba's moral courage, this country's historic transition to a free and democratic nation has been a personal inspiration to me, it has been an inspiration to the world," Obama said.

"The outpouring of love that we've seen in recent days shows that the triumph of Nelson Mandela and this nation speaks to something very deep in the human spirit, the yearning for justice and dignity that transcends boundaries of race and class and faith and country," Obama said. "That's what Nelson Mandela represents, that's whatSouth?African at its best represents to the world, and that's what brings me back here."

Zuma told Obama he and Mandela are "bound by history as the first black presidents of your respective countries."

"Thus, you both carry the dreams of millions of people in?Africa?and in the diaspora who were previously oppressed," Zuma said, reading from a prepared statement.

On other topics, Obama declined to commit to supporting?South?Africa's?bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. He said the U.N.'s structure needs to be updated and it would be "odd" for an expanded Security Council not to have African representation.

"How we do that and what fashion is complicated, it's difficult and it involves all kinds of politics," Obama said.

"Everybody wants a seat at the table, but when it comes time to step up and show responsibility, sometimes people want to be free riders," Obama said, adding he wasn't referring to?South?Africa?specifically.

Zuma responded that he wishes the process of change at the U.N. would speed up.

Obama also said he wants to boost trade with?Africa?and plans to renegotiate an African trade pact to improve it for American businesses. He said he welcomes competition from other nations who have been aggressive in pursuing commercial opportunities in?Africa, including China.

"I don't feel threatened by it. I think it's a good thing," he said. He added: "Our only advice is make sure it's a good deal for?Africa." He said that includes making sure foreign investment employs Africans and doesn't tolerate corruption or take its natural resources without compensation for Africans.

Obama also is paying tribute to?South?Africa's?fight against apartheid by visiting the Soweto area Saturday afternoon for a town hall with students at the University of Johannesburg. At least 176 young people were killed in Soweto township 27 years ago this month during a youth protest against the apartheid regime's ban against teaching local Bantu languages. The Soweto Uprising catalyzed international support against apartheid, and June is now recognized as Youth Month in?South?Africa.

The university plans to bestow an honorary law degree on the US president.

Protesters demonstrated outside the university against US policy on issues including the US detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the war in Afghanistan and global warming. Hundreds marched to the US Embassy on Friday, carrying signs that read: "No, You Can't Obama," a message inspired by Obama's "yes, we can" campaign slogan.

Obama has been trying to inspire the continent's youth to become civically active and part of a new democratically minded generation. Obama hosted young leaders from more than 40 African countries at the White House in 2010 and challenged them to bring change to their countries by standing up for freedom, openness and peaceful disagreement.

Obama wraps up his?South?Africa?stay Sunday, when he plans to give a sweeping speech on US-Africa policy at the University of Cape Town and take his family to Robben Island to tour the prison where Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years behind bars.

Obama has visited the island before, but said it's a particular privilege to bring his daughters back to learn its lessons.

Follow Nedra Pickler on Twitter at https://twitter.com/nedrapickler

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/SEGCk3SSUe4/Obama-calls-Nelson-Mandela-one-of-the-greatest-people-in-history

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   didn't have something more in line with their sworn duties, they have now sent a
   "cease and desist" letter to a Mr. Docter to stop planting flower bulbs in run down flower boxes he has repaired in a prominent location in an effort to beautify the city. Couldn't they do something that would make more sense and be worthy of their calling like throwing some Congressmen or other public officials in jail for absconding/wasting taxpayers hard earned money?

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Tornado shelters may be on 2014 school bond issue

EDMOND ? An Edmond Public School district official said this week that it could cost $30 million to add storm shelters to the six elementary schools and the high school that have none in the district.

In light of the May 20 tornadoes and the destruction it brought to Moore and specifically to two elementary schools, Edmond Board of Education members discussed tornado preparedness during their Annual Summer Planning Session June 25.

?I think we need to be proactive concerning sheltering our children,? said Kathleen Duncan, board member.

Board members asked Assistant Superintendent of District Operations Bret Towne to look at the possibility of putting shelters on the next bond issue and work out a plan that will put shelters in the schools that do not have them over the years of the bond issue.

Towne told board members that six elementary schools have no tornado shelter including: Angie Debo, Clegern, Ida Freeman, John Ross, Orvis Risner, Russell Dougherty and Sunset. The other elementary schools either have safe rooms or areas where the building is partially underground or an area with 8-inch concrete walls for the students to shelter in.

Cheyenne Middle School can shelter 900 students in eight safe rooms and the other four middle schools have buildings with areas built underground or partially underground or with 8-inch tilt-up concrete walls. Summit can shelter 1,100 students and Central can shelter 400 students safely.

Memorial High School does not have a tornado shelter. North has underground locker rooms and hallway in the competitive gymnasium that can shelter 2,000 students and Santa Fe has 16 safe rooms that can shelter 2,000 students.

?If we were to put a bond for shelters of that amount to a vote of the people right now, voters would see a 25 percent increase in ad valorem taxes,? Towne said, ?and we are not willing to do that.?

The board is considering shelters as one of the bond items in 2014.

?Every school will be different as to shelter needs,? Towne said. ?There is no cookie cutter for this. All shelters being built will be done so with a dual purpose.?

Towne said they will look at attaching it to the next bond issue, which will be no earlier than August 2014 and will possibly be a series bond of three years.

?We plan to have no ad valorem tax increase,? Towne said. ?Each bond issue we present we have to make some assumptions and projections at the time to keep the mills between 24 and 25 mills. It very difficult to be exact.?

Towne said when you look at the size of the district?s growth north and east of Edmond and in Logan County, the district is seeing that reflected in the school population growth. ?

?The actual effects on taxes are not known until we get valuations and tax rates,? Towne said, ?but we have been very conservative on our growth projections. At this time we are estimating 2 percent interest on our next bond issue. We hope we are lower than our projections.?

Bonds are being sold at this time from a bond issue passed in February.

Bonds will be sold Monday to pay construction costs of high school improvements and some small remodeling, Towne said. The $14.4 million in bonds to be sold includes: $1.3 million for technology, $750,000 HVAC, $2.5 million for Orvis Risner renovation, $7.2 million split between Memorial, North and Santa Fe improvements and remodeling, $850,000 for remodeling the custodial building, $750,000 for administration center improvements and $500,000 to start beginning playground improvements to make them federally compliant for handicap accessibility.

Source: http://www.edmondsun.com/local/x1293876810/Tornado-shelters-may-be-on-2014-school-bond-issue

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BlackBerry Signs PlayBook?s Death Warrant

Doing the right thing can be tough. But today, BlackBerry did the right thing by choosing to not update its all-but-forgotten tablet.

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/06/playbook-dead/

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AP PHOTOS: Images of the western US heat wave

Chick-fil-A, the Atlanta-based fast-food chain known for its chicken sandwiches, waffle fries and Christian evangelism, has once again positioned itself at the center of America?s gay marriage debate, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. On Wednesday, the company?s president, Dan Cathy, sent out a tweet criticizing the Supreme Court?s rulings, which extended federal recognition to same-sex [...]

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-photos-images-western-us-heat-wave-083000457.html

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Brooks, Coulson lose bid to have hacking charges dropped

LONDON (Reuters) - Two former editors of a British tabloid newspaper shut down by owner Rupert Murdoch over a phone-hacking scandal lost a legal battle on Friday to have criminal charges against them dropped.

Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, both former News of the World editors and close associates of Prime Minister David Cameron, have pleaded not guilty to charges that they conspired to intercept people's voicemail messages in pursuit of stories.

Their lawyers had argued that once a message had been heard by its intended recipient it was no longer "in the course of transmission" as defined by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act under which the charges were brought.

The hacking scandal prompted Murdoch to shut down the mass-selling Sunday tabloid in July 2011 and led to a huge police investigation and to a public inquiry that revealed embarrassingly cosy ties between the media and politicians.

The judge in charge of the hacking case had rejected the defence arguments advanced by lawyers for Brooks, Coulson and three other former News of the World staff in May, but this could not be reported at the time for legal reasons.

The defendants appealed, but the Court of Appeal upheld the earlier judgment on Friday and allowed it to be reported.

"There is no good reason why the first receipt of the communication should be considered as bringing the transmission to an end," the Court of Appeal judges wrote.

The ruling means that Brooks, Coulson and others will stand trial as planned in September on hacking and other charges.

Brooks and Coulson both deny charges of involvement in the bribery of public officials for stories, and Brooks also denies perverting the course of justice.

Brooks, who after leaving the News of the World went on to edit its sister paper the Sun, Britain's highest-selling newspaper, later became the boss of Murdoch's entire British newspaper arm until the hacking scandal forced her out.

In her heyday, she enjoyed close friendships with senior politicians including Cameron.

After leaving the News of the World, Coulson went on to work as Cameron's chief of communications. He was forced out of that job in January 2011 as the hacking scandal gathered pace.

(Reporting by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Alistair Lyon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/brooks-coulson-lose-bid-hacking-charges-dropped-141930593.html

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NSA collected masses of raw Internet data on Americans: report

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. National Security Agency for years collected masses of raw data on the email and Internet traffic of U.S. citizens and residents, the website of Britain's Guardian newspaper reported on Thursday, bringing to light another mass surveillance program that affected Americans.

Citing a top-secret draft report prepared in 2009 by NSA's inspector general, the Guardian said that the collection of the raw Internet traffic information - described as "bulk internet metadata" - began shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Initially the program collected information in which one party was outside the United States or communications between known foreigners, but expanded in 2007.

The paper said the Internet "metadata" which the NSA collected comprised the addresses to and from which messages were sent, including IP addresses which could show a person's physical location.

The latest Guardian revelations appear to show that the NSA collected the same kind of raw Internet traffic data among people inside the United States as it collects on telephone users.

The Guardian also previously published secret documents about an NSA program called Prism which involved NSA being able to search the content of traffic sent through U.S. Internet companies by foreign intelligence subjects. The paper's latest revelations do not discuss the searching or examination of email content.

The Guardian said that the NSA Internet metadata collection initially began under a controversial warrantless wiretapping program authorized by the administration of President George W. Bush, but was later authorized by the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

The Guardian quoted Shawn Turner, chief spokesman for the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, saying that the collection program, which continued after Barack Obama became president, was terminated in 2011 "for operational and resource reasons and has not been re-started."

Turner added: "The program was discontinued by the Executive branch as the result of an interagency review."

An official in the intelligence director's office confirmed the accuracy of Turner's quote.

However, the Guardian said that it had seen other secret NSA papers which suggested that some collection of Americans' online records continued today.

Previously, citing documents provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, the Guardian reported that NSA also had been authorized by the FISA court to collect masses of similar "metadata" charting traffic between phone numbers which called each other both within the United States and between the United States and foreign countries.

The existence of such an NSA program was subsequently acknowledged by U.S. officials.

The Guardian's latest story said that when NSA first started collecting Internet metadata in the wake of the September 11 attacks, the agency could only collect such material in cases where "at least one communicant" was located outside the United States "or for which no communicant was known to be a citizen of the United States."

However, the Guardian printed what it said was a 2007 U.S. Justice Department memo, classified secret, which it said indicated that NSA later got authority to "analyze communications metadata associated with United States persons and persons believed to be in the United States."

(Reporting By Mark Hosenball and Warren Strobel; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

(This story was refiled to remove reference to "over two years" in the first paragraph to more accurately reflect the scope of activity)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nsa-collected-masses-raw-internet-data-american-report-184842533.html

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The Supreme Court plays catch-up (Washington Post)

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'Twisted light' shown off in fibre

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'Twisted light' shown off in fibre
A novel way of packing more data in optical communications by using "twisted light" is shown to work in optical fibres - with terabit-per-second rates.

Source: BBC News
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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/128843/_Twisted_light__shown_off_in_fibre

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How Crazy Are Democrats? This Crazy (Powerlineblog)

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Stabilizing sloping land: 'Blowing' a slope into place

June 27, 2013 ? Research scientists have developed a new method for stabilising areas with difficult soil mechanics. The concept is based on blowing expanded clay (Leca) spheres into enormous "sausage skins" made from geotextiles.

Building and renovation in steep, difficult terrain can be challenging. Urban areas where accessibility with construction vehicles is difficult pose similar problems.

These days, the prevalence of landslides, shifting sediments and unstable substrates is drawing increasing attention to these problems. Closed roads and railways and the evacuation of residential areas which have to be rehabilitated and rebuilt are expensive for society, and this has prompted researchers to think innovatively. "We have developed a solution in which material is simply blown into place, making it possible to get to places where space is limited, there is no access for construction machinery and existing roads or railway lines have collapsed, to mention just some of the problems," says Arnstein Watn, SINTEF's Research Director.

Advanced "geomaterials" make it possible Geotextiles are woven or knitted fabrics or nets based on polymers, which can be used to reinforce sedimentary masses. They are stacked up to create a light wall -- a kind of shuttering. The wall is then bonded firmly to the uncompacted material behind using hooks and an anchoring system which is also made from geotextiles. This solution saves both time and space because it does not require an access road for heavy construction machinery.

The result is a light, stable wall capable of withstanding slopes of up to 90 degrees, and which can also be concealed by various facings, such as turf, climbing plants or various types of fa?ade sheets as required. When the wall is in place, the space behind is filled with light expanded clay aggregate, either using conventional construction machinery or by blowing it in. "What makes the method unique is that it facilitates drainage and the result is light and stable as well as being easy to put in place," says Watn.

Already tested in the field SINTEF has been responsible for developing the technical solution and the construction method used. So far the method has been tested at two localities. At Saint-Gobain Weber's factory property in Fredrikstad, an embankment was first built in the form of a 2.5-metre high pilot wall to test the principle and construction process. Later, an almost five-metre high test wall was built at Weber's factory property in R?lingen, where erosion and surface slips on sloping ground were causing problems for the operation of the plant.

"Our experience with the field trials was very positive as regards both the development of the product itself and the building method. We now also have a demonstration site where interested parties can see the solution and various types of fa?ade coverings," says Arnstein Watn. "The system is primarily intended to enable the building of vertical structures without using large, heavy machinery," adds Oddvar Hyrve at Saint-Gobain Weber.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/diIcW9X3xCc/130627083154.htm

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U.S. to retire most chimpanzees from medical research

By Matt Haldane

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. National Institutes of Health said on Wednesday it is reducing the number of chimpanzees it uses in biomedical research and will retire most of them to sanctuaries, a decision applauded by animal rights groups.

"Chimpanzees are very special animals ... We believe they deserve special consideration," said NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins, announcing the move.

The decision followed a recommendation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in January. About 300 newly retired chimps will join more than 150 others in sanctuaries, with only 50 being kept for future research.

Animal rights groups applauded the move.

"This is an historic moment and major turning point for chimpanzees in laboratories ? some who have been languishing in concrete housing for over 50 years," said Wayne Pacelle, CEO of the Humane Society of the United States.

"PETA is popping champagne corks at their Norfolk, Virginia, headquarters today," People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said in a statement.

The NIH said those chimpanzees kept for research will not be bred and will be selected according to research projects that meet the funding criteria of the Institute of Medicine.

"Americans have benefited greatly from the chimpanzees' service to biomedical research, but new scientific methods and technologies have rendered their use in research largely unnecessary," Collins said in a video announcement.

"The likeness of chimpanzees to humans has made them uniquely valuable for certain types of research, but also demands greater justification for their use."

Some of those justifications were suggested by the Institute of Medicine in 2011. It identified areas in which the use of chimpanzees was critical and could continue, including the development of vaccines for the hepatitis C virus.

"No other suitable animal models exist" to test vaccines for hepatitis C, it said in a report.

The number of chimps kept for research will be reviewed every five years to determine whether that is sufficient, said NIH spokesperson Renate Myles.

The NIH supports 360 of its own chimpanzees and 91 that are privately owned. It is unclear whether any privately owned chimpanzees will go toward the number being kept for research.

The Texas Biomedical Research Institute, an independent group, said it was disappointed in the decision to cut the research chimps to 50.

"This arbitrarily chosen number is not sufficient to enable the rapid development of better preventions and cures for hepatitis B and C, which kill a million people every year," it said in a statement.

The sanctuary system, started in 2002, is already close to its $30 million funding limit, Collins said, and more funding will be needed to support the newly retired chimps.

The NIH did not accept all recommendations from the Institute of Medicine, however, saying there was a "lack of scientific consensus" about "ethologically appropriate facilities" granting each chimp 1,000 square feet of space.

PETA and the NIH both acknowledged a proposed rule from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that would categorize captive chimpanzees as endangered, which would keep them from being used in invasive experiments altogether.

The NIH initially put limits on research using chimpanzees in December 2011 when it stopped funding new projects involving the animals.

(Reporting by Matt Haldane, editing by Ros Krasny and Christopher Wilson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-retire-most-chimpanzees-medical-research-005014505.html

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Gonchar Details Cruise Marketplace Shifts, Survey ... - Travel Agent

June 26, 2013 By: Susan Young

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One of every six dollars spent on cruise bookings in 2014 will be spent online. That eye-opening fact was among the research gleanings provided by Tony Gonchar, vice president, American Express Travel Representative Network, at CLIA's cruise3sixty conference in Vancouver last week.

Speaking about cruise trends, consumer demographics and cruise client buying habits, Gonchar also told 1,300 agents attending the General Session about results from a cruise survey American Express recently conducted among its travel agents and consortia affiliates. Here are highlights of his presentation.?

Changing Consumer Behaviors

What?s going on with the consumer today? How have behaviors about planning and purchasing a vacation changed and why is this happening?

?Since the start of the financial crisis five years ago, we?ve seen the boom years of ?conspicuous consumption? transition into an environment of ?considered consumption,?? Gonchar told the 1,300 agents in attendance.

But consumers are still spending, he said, noting that consumer confidence is returning as reflected in both the stock market and housing prices.

?Consumers are moving beyond the material consumption of the boom years and seeking more enriched lives and personal fulfillment through experience and learning,? he said.

They seek the rich life which is less about money and things and all about enriching experiences. Gonchar also said they are going to great lengths to see that they are getting the greatest value of their travel investment.

One fundamental change is businesses are now presenting products to consumers ? expanding beyond core function and into being deeply embedded in consumers? lives. He gave these examples:

Special K: It?s not just a breakfast cereal any more. ?It is now so much more,? he stressed, citing the MySpecialK.com web site, which is custom tailored to advise consumers on diet, exercise and overall wellbeing.

Pampers: ?It?s not just a diaper company any more, Gonchar said, but rather a way for parents to raise happy healthy children. The Pampers Web site, for example, has customized parenting tips

Nike: It?s grown from a sports apparel company to the ultimate measurement system for your athletic life through their Fuelband product.

American Express:?Gonchar said his firm has moved from being a financial company to developing into a lifestyle services company enabling people to fulfill their passion and interests.

?What all brands really want to get to is here,? Gonchar said as he put up a slide of a man who tattooed Harley-Davidson motorcycle symbolism and coloring on his entire head. ?

As the audience chuckled, he continued:? ?Harley customers are this passionate about their motorcycles, and while your customers may not tattoo your name on their body, you need to have customers who are this engaged with you.?

Shift in Buying Habits?

Gonchar also said research shows a fundamental shift in the way customers are purchasing: ??We?ve moved from a ?linear purchase process? to a ?customer decision journey.? Your customers have become digital omnivores, consuming information 24 hours a day across hundreds -- even thousands ? of sources.?

And as technology advances, so do customer expectations. Travelers want timely information and a quality experience during each step of the travel planning process.

Citing an eMarketer report, Gonchar said 76 percent of leisure travelers relied on the Internet when considering a cruise ? far more than any other resource.

Information Overload

Thirty percent of those consumers also admit they are overwhelmed by the online information and resources available for booking travel. ?The other 70 percent are lying,? he quipped.

Many consumers won?t admit they?re confused and overwhelmed. ?They all could use a good travel advisor to competently help them sort through the information overload,? he said.

The numbers are astounding. As a country, the U.S. is close to a trillion minutes of time spent on the Internet monthly. In 2000, there were zero smart phones, and now there are 137 million in the U.S. alone. There were zero tablets in 2010 and now there are 60 million of them.

And according to a PhoCusWright report, cruise sales are moving online in a big way. Research shows that in 2014, one in every six cruise dollars will be sold online, representing 18 percent of cruise transactions.

One likely outcome? ?We can pretty much say video will kill the travel brochure within the next couple of years as consumers continue to march online for dynamic resources to plan their travel experiences,? Gonchar said.

According to comScore in December 2012, 75 million unique users in the U.S. watched 39 billion videos, an average of about 20 hours and 213 videos per person per month. ?People please, come up for air,? he said.

Shifting Demographics

U.S. demographics also are changing in a big way. African-American buying power rose from $600 billion in 2000 to $947 billion in 2010.

Hispanic consumer purchasing increased from $488 billion to $1 trillion during the same period. Today the Hispanic market is larger than the entire economies of all but 13 countries in the world. It?s larger than the GDP of Mexico.

Asian-American buying power rose from $272 billion in 2000 to $609 billion in 2010. ?We?re seeing a major shift in the composition of the United States ? 2042 marks the year when the entire U.S. reaches ?minority [is the] majority? status. Several states have already reached this milestone.

Because of shifting population dynamics, businesses and brands must change the way they promote and sell to multi-cultural consumers. ??The old rules no longer apply,? Gonchar said, noting ?there is no one size fits all approach to selling travel to a multi-cultural audience.?

It?s much more than just demographics; it?s about individual lifestyles that are greatly influenced by strong ties to cultural backgrounds.

Survey of American Express Agents

American Express conducted a new proprietary survey designed specifically to present at cruise3sixty; responses were tallied from responses of more than 240 American Express call center agents and travel advisors who are part of the American Express consortium.?

Summarizing the insights based on 12 questions asked, Gonchar said smaller ship experiences and river cruises are the hottest thing out there with 65 percent of American Express agents citing these as the highest demand cruises. And that's despite Europe's bad weather of late with the worst flooding in a century. ?Mega-ship voyages came in at 31 percent. ?

Sixty-three percent of agents indicate that the Mediterranean and European river cruises are the highest demand cruises. Gonchar also stressed that consumers are going to Europe despite airfares of at least $1,200 per person.

Amex agents responding to the survey said cruising the Mekong in Cambodia and Vietnam and the Amazon in South America totaled 50 percent when agents were asked about emerging destinations.

That?s followed by almost 20 percent voting for Italy and the Po River. ?It?s no surprise to see that agents are seeing a huge uptick in demand for river cruising,? he said.

For cruise length, the sweet spot for these agents was four to seven nights. Because of how the question was phrased, he said American Express didn?t see any agents with clients who typically booked more than 12 nights.

Almost three quarters of Amex agents say balcony cabins are the most requested cabin category, with a healthy 21 percent seeing a high demand for penthouses and suites.

?Bless the little hearts of the customers asking for an inside stateroom,? he noted, as the audience chuckled. ?We love you too.?

Almost 70 percent of Amex agents said customers are asking for higher-end room categories. Only 5 percent of clients are asking for more affordable category options.

Fifty percent of agents said that onboard credits are the perk most requested most by clients. That was followed by stateroom upgrades, tours/excursions and smaller ships -- all comprising just 22 percent of requests. ?

In addition, 50 percent of agents see honeymoon and romantic travel as a growing interest group, followed by 40 percent for religious group travel. Gonchar also said ?we will likely see the LGBT market grow in the future as well.?

When looking at the negative media reports about cruise ship incidents, 66 percent said they saw little or no booking impact. That said, 20 percent of agents noticed some impact in the form of hesitant customers, and 15 percent said sales have dried up completely.

Some 66 percent of agents felt price discounts and onboard credits were the most effective offers to close a sale; that was followed by free air promotions and pre-paid gratuities.

Almost 50 percent of agents said the biggest challenge they face on closing a cruise sale is the customer waiting for a price drop. ?Consumers have been clearly trained,? he said, and ?we?ve got to figure out a way to untrain them from focusing exclusively on the waiting game.?

Other agents cited rebating, price undercutting by other agencies, recent negative cruise publicity and customers who want to either spend less or take a land-based vacation.

Insights for Effective Sales

Know the customer: Ask the right questions to learn about the potential client?s demographic, cultural and social needs. Probe to ask about personal interests and passions when selling travel. ?Gonchar said more consumers want to incorporate personal passions into their travel experience such as participating in cultural and culinary activities.

Know what you?re selling BETTER than your customers do: Travelers want to be the foreign ?local? when they arrive in a destination. Tools are available that give instant familiarization such as giving clients the name of the bartender at a hip new Oslo bar, he said. ?Use supplier and consortia tools as these ese businesses have invested heavily in driving more business through their most important distribution channel ? the agent.

Be accountable to your customers: ?Shoppers will continue to be concerned about trust and transparency, he said. They also will continue to seek simplified lives and great value from their travel advisor relationship. Know how to address any concerns, talk with first-time cruisers, and be an expert about the Passenger Bill of Rights developed by CLIA.

Be confident: Have a good answer when a customer asks you to re-sell a cruise to them again, because they found it for $5 cheaper online.

Be a consultant not an order taker: Be the travel advisor who provides consultative services based on deep travel experiences, not an order taker that gives the customer what they ask for but not what they really want. Build long-term relationships; give them something they can?t Google.

Never ever be afraid to ask: As the survey showed, 68 percent of customers are asking for higher end staterooms so why not ask them first. "Ask for the upsell and ask for referrals to new clients," said Gonchar. "You might be amazed at what happens."?

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Source: http://www.travelagentcentral.com/cruises/gonchar-details-cruise-marketplace-trends-agent-survey-results-41339

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Astronaut view of Colorado fires

Public release date: 26-Jun-2013
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Contact: Michael Carlowicz
michael.j.carlowicz@nasa.gov
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Thick smoke billows across the landscape in these digital photographs of the western United States. Both photographs were taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) on June 19, 2013.

The images show a plume wafting from the West Fork Complex fire, which was burning explosively in southwestern Colorado near Pagosa Springs. To the northwest, a smaller plume from the Wild Rose fire is also visible (upper image).

While the Wild Rose blaze was fully contained by June 25, 2013, the West Fork Complex was still raging through the San Juan and Rio Grande National Forests. The West Fork Complex is a combination of three fires: the West Fork fire, the Windy Pass fire, and the Papoose fire. Lightning ignited the first of the blazes on June 5, 2013, and together they had charred approximately 75,000 acres (30,000 hectares) by June 25. The fires were burning in rugged terrain with large amounts of beetle-killed spruce forests.

The West Fork Complex fire was so hot that it spawned numerous pyrocumulus cloudstall, cauliflower-shaped clouds that billowed high above the surface. Pyrocumulus clouds are similar to cumulus clouds, but the heat that forces the air to rise comes from fire instead of sun-warmed ground.

Scientists monitor pyrocumulus clouds closely because they can inject smoke and pollutants high into the atmosphere. As those pollutants are dispersed by wind, they can affect air quality over broad areas. As noted by the University Maryland at Baltimore County (UMBC) Smog Blog, smoke from western fires contributed to elevated concentrations of particulate matter over large sections of the eastern United States.

Preliminary observations by the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) satellite indicate the West Fork Complex fire lofted smoke plumes as high as 13.5 kilometers (8.4 miles) into the atmosphere. Satellite observations also show that smoke reached European airspace by June 24.

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?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 26-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Michael Carlowicz
michael.j.carlowicz@nasa.gov
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Thick smoke billows across the landscape in these digital photographs of the western United States. Both photographs were taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) on June 19, 2013.

The images show a plume wafting from the West Fork Complex fire, which was burning explosively in southwestern Colorado near Pagosa Springs. To the northwest, a smaller plume from the Wild Rose fire is also visible (upper image).

While the Wild Rose blaze was fully contained by June 25, 2013, the West Fork Complex was still raging through the San Juan and Rio Grande National Forests. The West Fork Complex is a combination of three fires: the West Fork fire, the Windy Pass fire, and the Papoose fire. Lightning ignited the first of the blazes on June 5, 2013, and together they had charred approximately 75,000 acres (30,000 hectares) by June 25. The fires were burning in rugged terrain with large amounts of beetle-killed spruce forests.

The West Fork Complex fire was so hot that it spawned numerous pyrocumulus cloudstall, cauliflower-shaped clouds that billowed high above the surface. Pyrocumulus clouds are similar to cumulus clouds, but the heat that forces the air to rise comes from fire instead of sun-warmed ground.

Scientists monitor pyrocumulus clouds closely because they can inject smoke and pollutants high into the atmosphere. As those pollutants are dispersed by wind, they can affect air quality over broad areas. As noted by the University Maryland at Baltimore County (UMBC) Smog Blog, smoke from western fires contributed to elevated concentrations of particulate matter over large sections of the eastern United States.

Preliminary observations by the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) satellite indicate the West Fork Complex fire lofted smoke plumes as high as 13.5 kilometers (8.4 miles) into the atmosphere. Satellite observations also show that smoke reached European airspace by June 24.

###

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/nsfc-avo062613.php

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High Court Deals a Blow To Voting Act (WSJ)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/315104639?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Toy Industry Hall of Fame to locate at Toy HOF

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) ? The great minds of the toy industry will be honored alongside the famous toys they created under a new partnership being announced at the Strong Museum in Rochester.

Museum officials say the National Toy Hall of Fame housed at the museum is being combined with the Toy Industry Hall of Fame, which honors individuals. Past inductees include Milton Bradley, Frederick August Otto Schwarz and George Lucas.

Officials say the groups have been talking for some time about combining their respective halls as a way to raise their visibility and exposure and to promote their educational missions.

The new expanded hall is expected to open at the Strong Museum in the fall of 2015 after undergoing $4 million in renovations.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/toy-industry-hall-fame-locate-toy-hof-151459161.html

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Zeebox launches developer portal, widens access to its second screen platform

Zeebox is clearly busy these days. It just added automatic show syncing and recommendations to its second screen app a few days ago, and it's back with a new developer portal that opens the Zeebox APIs to everyone, not just partners. Those building mobile and web apps can now integrate Zeebox's guides, social networking and tagging into their projects, as well as create synchronized widgets for Zeebox's own release. If you're inclined to build on the company's TV experience, it's free to try the programming tools you'll find at the source link.

Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Tablets, HD

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Source: Zeebox

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/25/zeebox-launches-developer-portal/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Chris Brown Accuser: Walking Around Fine on "Injured" Leg!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/06/chris-brown-accuser-walking-around-fine-on-injured-leg/

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Global shares, dollar gain after GDP data eases Fed fears

By Herbert Lash

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar rose and global equity markets gained for a second day in a row on Wednesday after a surprisingly sharp downward revision to first-quarter U.S. economic growth eased concerns that the Federal Reserve may soon begin to withdraw stimulus.

In addition, moves by China to calm bank fears and supportive signs from the European Central Bank on the need for continued stimulus helped extend Tuesday's rebound after the global sell-off last week of stocks, commodities and bonds.

U.S. gross domestic product grew at only a 1.8 percent annual rate in the first quarter, the Commerce Department said in its final estimate, down from the prior estimate of a 2.4 percent pace.

"Despite all the rhetoric and fear about tapering, this will keep the Fed firmly planted in stimulus, which is a positive for the market," Michael Mullaney, chief investment officer at Fiduciary Trust Co in Boston, which oversees more than $9.5 billion, said.

"This is another example of bad news being good news," he said.

The S&P 500 was on track for its biggest two-day gain in three weeks, while European stocks gained close to 2 percent after the ECB's president, Mario Draghi, said an accommodative monetary policy was still appropriate. The bank's policy, he said, "will stay accommodative for the foreseeable future.

MSCI's all-country world equity index <.miwd00000pus> rose 0.79 percent, while the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index <.fteu3> of leading regional companies gained 1.68 percent to close at a provisional 1,149.33 points. The EuroSTOXX 50 index <.stoxx50e> rose 2.4 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> was up 89.49 points, or 0.61 percent, at 14,849.80. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was up 9.68 points, or 0.61 percent, at 1,597.71. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was up 21.71 points, or 0.65 percent, at 3,369.60.

The S&P 500 advance followed a gain of nearly 1 percent on Tuesday, which came as U.S. data on durable goods orders, sales of new homes and consumer confidence all topped expectations.

A pledge by China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, to act as a lender of last resort was the real story of the day, said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at The Davidson Cos. in Lake Oswego, Oregon.

"The global fears regarding the possibility of a Chinese credit situation spilling over and becoming very serious has eased off some," Dickson said. The People's Bank "is going to come in and make sure the Chinese banking system doesn't collapse."

Gold hit its lowest level in almost three years and was on course for a record quarterly loss. Prices could slide to levels below $1,000 per ounce, investors and analysts said.

Bond markets in Europe and benchmark U.S. Treasuries also continued to claw back ground, although investors remained worried that the rebound could give way with markets likely to need more time to acclimatize to the new environment.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was up 15/32 in price to yield 2.554 percent.

"Having seen an incredibly violent sell-off in the Treasury markets that took everything with it, there is a certain amount of settling back going on," said Kit Juckes, a market strategist at Societe Generale in London.

Brent crude for August delivery fell 46 cents at $100.80 a barrel. U.S. crude fell 62 cents to $94.70 a barrel.

The euro was down 0.61 percent at $1.3004, stung by Draghi's comments on an accommodative monetary policy and the risks to growth in the euro zone.

"Juxtaposed against shifting Fed policy, (Draghi's comments) highlights that relative central bank policy will soon shift from supporting to weighing on the euro," Camilla Sutton, chief FX strategist at Scotiabank, said.

The dollar rose to a three-week high of 83.003 against a basket of currencies <.dxy>, buoyed mainly by solid gains against the euro. It later traded at 82.908.

(Additional reporting by Marc Jones in London; Reporting by Herbert Lash; Editing by James Dalgleish and Leslie Adler)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/most-asia-shares-rebound-pboc-assurances-shanghai-extends-030528848.html

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Grisham's 'A Time To Kill' heading to Broadway

NEW YORK (AP) ? John Grisham's first novel, which was made into a star-filled film, is now heading to a Broadway stage.

Producers said Tuesday that an adaptation of "A Time to Kill" will begin performances at the John Golden Theatre this fall. An earlier version was staged at Washington's Arena Stage in 2011.

"A Time to Kill" was Grisham's first novel and it was made into a 1996 movie starring Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock and Samuel L. Jackson. It's a courtroom thriller set in Mississippi that centers on a white lawyer defending a black father who has killed the man who raped his young daughter.

The task of boiling down the book's 600-plus pages to two acts was handed to Tony Award-winning playwright Rupert Holmes, who wrote "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" and "Curtains."

No cast was announced. In Washington, Broadway actor Sebastian Arcelus, who has appeared mostly in musicals, played the defense attorney that McConaughey portrayed in the film. Ethan McSweeny, who directed "Gore Vidal's The Best Man," will once again direct, as he did at Arena Stage.

This is the first theatrical adaptation of a Grisham novel after a series of hit movies made from his legal thrillers, including "The Pelican Brief," ''The Firm" and others.

Grisham had long had a hunch that his novel might work as a play and in 2009 producer Daryl Roth, who has produced seven Pulitzer Prize-winning plays, agreed, optioning the rights for the book.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/grishams-time-kill-heading-broadway-203432793.html

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Second largest kidney exchange in history

June 24, 2013 ? A 2012 Facebook post that led to the reunion of two grade school friends who lost touch 30-some years ago, is now also responsible for planting the seed that would give one of them a life-saving kidney transplant.

Earlier this month, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the National Kidney Registry, in partnership with 18 transplant centers across the country, successfully completed the second largest kidney exchange in history and the largest to be concluded in under 40 days. Dubbed Chain 221, the swap involved 56 participants (28 donors and 28 recipients). Four patients at Penn Medicine, including two long-lost grade-school friends, participated in the chain -- two receiving new, healthy kidneys, and two donating their own kidneys to other recipients in the chain. Of the participating centers, Penn Medicine was the only one in the tri-state region.

The life-saving chain began with a kidney generously donated by University of Memphis Law Professor and local county commissioner, Steve Mulroy. From there, the chain involving a family member or friend of each recipient who volunteered to donate his or her kidney, found its way to 28 patients awaiting life-saving kidney transplants across the country. In the 22nd swap of the chain, Penn Medicine patient Gerard Rozycki, Jr., 51, received the kidney he had been waiting for since he was first placed on the transplant list in December 2011. Diagnosed with a hereditary condition when he was 5-years-old, Rozycki had lived most of his life without any physical restrictions. That all changed a few years ago when test results showed rising levels of the waste product Creatinine in his blood and urine, a clear indicator of kidney failure.

In October 2012, nearly a year after being placed on the wait list, a friend Rozycki knew from grade school heard about his condition through a mutual friend on Facebook and decided to help. Distant friends on Facebook only, the two had not been in touch since graduating from high school over 30 years ago. John Furdyna, 52, initially thought he would give Rozycki his own kidney, but the two were not a successful match. Still, Furdyna's willingness to donate on Rozycki's behalf made the pair eligible for Chain 221. Rozycki ultimately received his kidney from another Penn Medicine patient in Chain 221, while Furdyna's kidney was donated to a patient in Madison, WI.

"At first I thought I would help by passing out donor applications, but then I thought 'why don't I just donate?'" said Furdyna. "I knew early on that I wouldn't be a match for Jerry, but I also knew that if I was willing to donate to someone else in the chain, that he would be guaranteed a kidney, too. It was something I could do that would allow two people live longer, healthier lives and ultimately wouldn't have any long-term health effects for me, so I was glad that I could help."

Today, all 56 participants are recovering and doing well. The exchange took a mere five weeks to complete -- a vast improvement over the last year's record-setting swap, which took six months to finish. Experts say the speed with which the chain was completed demonstrates the vast improvements that have been made to the process for identifying organ matches for patients and shows promise for tackling organ shortages in the future.

"Large swaps like chain 221 increase the ability for our patients, some of whom have been waiting on the transplant list for a long time, to find matches," said Peter Abt, MD, associate professor of Surgery in the department of Transplant Surgery at Penn Medicine. "Kidneys are one of the more resilient organs, which makes it possible for us to collaborate on these initiatives with transplant centers across the nation. Through living donors and kidney swaps, we've found an effective means of reducing the organ shortage in this country, and ultimately saving the lives of many who are in need of a kidney."

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the 5-year survival rate for patients who receive a kidney transplant is 85.5 percent, compared to 35.8 percent for dialysis patients. Surgeons at the Penn Transplant Institute perform nearly 200 kidney transplants every year, making Penn's kidney transplant program the largest and most experienced program in the region.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/JP9QUCHylmA/130624131804.htm

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