The White House Denies Ordering a Secret Report Clearing Huawei of Espionage

Cue the conspiracy theories: an 18-month, Reuters says it got its hands on "a White House-ordered review of security risks posed by suppliers to U.S. telecommunications companies" that cleared?Chinese telecom giant Huawei of allegations of actively spying on the U.S. government. But we're not quite sure what to make of the report, since the White House has denied ordering the report in the first place. "The White House has not conducted any classified inquiry that resulted in clearing any telecom equipment supplier," White House National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden told Reuters. It's hard to tell if?Hayden's comments mean that the White House hasn't yet cleared Huawei of espionage or if Hayden is denying that the White House was involved in the review on Huawei, or some combination of both.

RELATED: Latest NYPD Muslim Spying Files Don't Mince Words

But what we do have is Reuters touting an 18-month classified review on Huawei, the world's largest manufacturer of telecommunications equipment in the world (and is poised to get even bigger) and its espionage capabilities. "[I]ntelligence agencies and other departments conducted the largely classified inquiry, delving into reports of suspicious activity and asking detailed questions of nearly 1,000 telecom equipment buyers," writes Reuters's Joseph Menn, who is getting his information from two anonymous sources who are insistent that the request came from the White House.?

RELATED: NYPD Took a Road Trip to Spy on Lefty Groups

According to Menn, the report states that although there are vulnerabilities in Huawei's telecommunications equipment, there is no evidence that the company is actively spying on the U.S. for China. "We knew certain parts of government really wanted [evidence of active spying] ... We would have found it if it were there," one of Menn's anonymous sources said.

RELATED: US Intelligence Says It's Not Just China Spying on Us

But that might not be the full story. It's important to take into account that the study concluded earlier this year, and a lot can happen in that window of time. "For example, it is unclear if security vulnerabilities found in Huawei equipment were placed there deliberately. It is also not clear whether any critical new intelligence emerged after the inquiry ended," wrote Menn.

RELATED: Get Ready for a New China Scandal: This One's a Spy Story

And the findings, though similar, aren't to be confused with The House Committee on Intelligence's investigation into Huawei, which?60 Minutes?reported on October 7. "If I were an American company today, and I'll tell you this as the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and you are looking at Huawei, I would find another vendor if you care about your intellectual property," Republican Congressman Mike Rogers told?60 Minutes.?As Menn reports, Rogers's and the House's investigation "noted the potential for spying through Huawei gear installed to manage traffic on wireless networks. The committee also criticized Huawei's leadership for failing to provide details about its relationships with Chinese government agencies."?

RELATED: Now the CIA Is Spying on Twitter

That said, Huawei is gigantic. It's hoping to be to be a pioneer and build the next generation of digital networks in the U.S., and if it were in cahoots with China that would be devastating in terms of national security, intellectual property, and the economic growth. Just last year, the U.S.?Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive found that?China was the world's "most active and persistent" perpetrators of economic spying?and estimated $50 billion in losses in 2009 "due to lost intellectual property and counterfeiting, through all means of theft, including cyber break-ins."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/white-house-denies-ordering-secret-report-clearing-huawei-180737159.html

human nature arkansas football howard johnson blackhawks levon helm firelight world peace elbow

U.S. intended to keep Benghazi mission open through 2012

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Newly released government documents show U.S. officials intended to keep open a mission in Benghazi, Libya, for at least the rest of this year in hopes of having a "calming effect" on the region, before the building was overrun and burned by militants last month.

Locals in Benghazi wanted the Americans to stay permanently in the eastern Libyan city, the cradle of last year's revolution against Muammar Gaddafi, according to one memo written by the former top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East, Jeffrey Feltman.

The documents were made public on Friday by the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, led by Republican Darrell Issa. It has been investigating the September 11 assault on the U.S. mission in Benghazi that took the lives of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

Other lawmakers raised more questions about the aftermath of the Benghazi events. The leading Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee questioned why U.S. spy agencies and government spokesmen initially played down suspected al Qaeda links to the September 11 attack on the mission there.

In public statements soon after the September 11 attack, administration officials said it could have been a spontaneous protest against an anti-Muslim video made in California. Administration officials ultimately declared the Benghazi incident to be a "deliberate and organized terrorist attack" carried out by "extremists" affiliated with or sympathetic to al Qaeda.

The Obama administration's statements have "been strange from Day One on this," the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Saxby Chambliss, said in a telephone interview on Friday.

Chambliss said the intelligence committee would investigate further. Another panel, the Senate Homeland Security Committee, sent letters on Friday to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, demanding information about Benghazi.

The Benghazi attack has turned into election-year fodder in the United States, with Republicans charging that the Democratic Obama administration was caught unprepared for the assault, and Democrats claiming that Republicans are trying to exploit tragic events for political gain.

Issa wrote to President Barack Obama on Friday charging that his administration "has not been straightforward with the American people" in the aftermath of the Benghazi attack.

The top Democrat on the panel, Elijah Cummings, responded with a blast at Issa.

"It seems obvious that your goal in sending a public letter at this time is to release the most negative and distorted view possible of the attack in Benghazi ahead of the presidential debate on Monday evening," Cummings said.

Obama is seeking re-election on November 6 against Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

'A SALUTARY, CALMING EFFECT'

Feltman's memo, written December 27 to Undersecretary of State Patrick Kennedy, urged the United States to continue its presence in Benghazi that began during the anti-Gadaffi revolt through the end of 2012.

In statements suggesting the U.S. government felt it was making inroads in the region, Feltman said that staying in Benghazi would emphasize U.S. interest in the eastern part of Libya, which he said sometimes feels ignored by Tripoli.

"Many Libyans have said the U.S. presence in Benghazi has a salutary, calming effect on easterners who are fearful that the new focus on Tripoli could once again lead to their neglect and exclusion from reconstruction and wealth distribution and strongly favor a permanent U.S. presence in the form of a full consulate," said Feltman, the former assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs.

Feltman is now U.N. undersecretary-general for political affairs.

Other dispatches released by the House committee on Friday included complaints about insufficient security in Benghazi. One U.S. official in Libya said more security was needed to help protect American "outreach" efforts to the Benghazi populace.

A cable signed by Stevens about a month before he was killed focused on the deterioration of security in eastern Libya. It noted there had been an increase in violence in Benghazi but said it was not an organized campaign, and locals were determined to get through it.

"There have been abductions and assassinations, but there have also been false alarms and outright fabrications," the August 8 cable said. "What we are going through - and what people here are resolved to get through - is a confluence rather than a conspiracy."

"Attackers are unlikely to be deterred until authorities are at least capable," the cable added.

Republicans have suggested the Obama administration omitted talking about al Qaeda in the days after Benghazi because this might undermine the administration's claims to have weakened the organization with the killing of former leader Osama bin Laden.

"The administration omitted the known links to al Qaeda at almost every opportunity. ... Whether this was an intentional effort by the administration to downplay the role of terrorist groups, especially al Qaeda, is one of the many issues the Senate Intelligence Committee must examine," Chambliss said.

On Thursday, Senator Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat who leads the intelligence committee, said talking points put out by Clapper may have contributed to the shifting commentary on Benghazi.

When asked why the U.S. government initially played down the role of Islamic militants in the assault, she told KCBS-TV: "I think what happened was the director of intelligence, who is a very good individual, put out some speaking points on the initial intelligence assessment. I think that was possibly a mistake."

U.S. intelligence analysts summarized intelligence about the attack for public consumption in a September 15 document circulated to U.S. policymakers and members of Congress.

The language in the public summary was virtually identical to language in a classified intelligence report circulated on September 12, according to multiple U.S. government sources familiar with the matter. The secret document, however, reported that the extremists in question had possible links to al Qaeda - a point the unclassified document omitted.

White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said both assessments were prepared by members of the intelligence community and referred questions to them.

(Reporting By Mark Hosenball and Susan Cornwell; additional reporting by Tabassum Zakaria; Editing by Marilyn W. Thompson and Will Dunham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senate-intelligence-leaders-benghazi-judgments-192344225.html

al sharpton actuary elon musk fox mole manson bubba watson recent earthquakes

DC Comics wins crucial victory in Superman legal battle | Robot 6 ...

From Action Comics #1

Handing a major victory to DC Comics, a California federal judge has ruled the heirs of Superman co-creator Joe Shuster surrendered the ability to reclaim their 50-percent interest in the property in a 1992 agreement with the publisher.

While the decision likely will be appealed, for now it means DC and parent company Warner Bros. can use the Man of Steel any way they wish beyond Oct. 26, 2013, when the Shuster estate would have recaptured its copyright to the first Superman story in 1938?s Action Comics #1. However, the companies must account for any profits earned from the property with the family of co-creator Jerry Siegel, which reclaimed its share in 2008 through a provision of the U.S. Copyright Act (the scope of that decision is on appeal). Had the Shuster estate succeeded, DC and Warner Bros. eventually would have been unable to use many of the character?s defining aspects, including his secret identity, his origin, certain elements of his costume and powers (super-strength and super-speed), and Lois Lane ? barring a new agreement with the families of the two creators, naturally.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright granted DC?s motion for partial summary judgment on the issue of whether the Shuster estate?s 2003 copyright-termination notice was invalidated by a 20-year-old agreement with the late artist?s sister Jean Peavy. The publisher had argued the family relinquished all claims to the Man of Steel in 1992 in exchange for ?more than $600,000 and other benefits,? including payment of Shuster?s debts following his death earlier that year and a $25,000 annual pension for Peavy.

Although Wright appeared somewhat swayed by the argument made last month by Shuster attorney Marc Toberoff that DC never intended the ?ambiguous? document to transfer ownership of copyright to ?a billion-dollar property,? the judge ultimately found ?that the 1992 agreement, which represented the Shuster heirs? opportunity to renegotiate the prior grants of Joe Shuster?s copyrights, superseded and replaced all prior grants of the Superman copyrights.?

Indeed, Wright noted that when DC increased survivor benefits from $5,000 to $25,000 a year, Peavy said she understood and agreed to the admonition from then-Executive Vice President Paul Levitz that, ?this agreement would represent the author/heir?s last and final deal with DC, and would fully resolve any past, present, or future claims against DC.? The judge also pointed out that under a 1975 agreement with Siegel and Shuster, DC provided each of the two creators with lump sums (in today?s dollars) of $75,000 and lifetime annual payments of $80,000, survivor benefits and insurance ? ?as well as ?credits? on new Superman works? ? amounting to more than $4 million (not counting medical benefits and ?bonuses?).

In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Toberoff, who also represents the Siegel family, said, ?We respectfully disagree with its factual and legal conclusions, and it is surprising given that the judge appeared to emphatically agree with our position at the summary judgment hearing.?

The trade paper suggests, however, that Toberoff may find cause for appeal in Wright?s comment that, ?The broad and all-encompassing language of the 1992 agreement unmistakably operates to supersede all prior grants.?

Still ahead is a Nov. 5 hearing before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in which DC will argue the 2008 ruling that found the Siegel family had reclaimed its stake in Superman should be overturned. Toberoff will also seek to define precisely what elements of the characters are covered by the decision.

Source: http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2012/10/dc-comics-wins-crucial-victory-in-superman-legal-battle/

Chase.com Talk Like a Pirate Day raiders Demi Lovato iOS 6 Features big brother Shakira

Animals | Free Full-Text | Adaptations and Predispositions of ...

Animals 2012, 2(4), 564-590; doi:10.3390/ani2040564 (doi registration under processing)

Review

1 Institute of Zoology, Johannes Gutenberg-University of Mainz, Department IV, Becherweg 13, 55128 Mainz, Germany

2 Department of Soil Zoology, Senckenberg Museum of Natural History G?rlitz, Edaphobase, P.O. Box 300154, 02806 G?rlitz, Germany

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received: 1 August 2012; in revised form: 13 September 2012 / Accepted: 25 September 2012 / Published: 18 October 2012

Simple Summary:
This review summarizes adaptations and predispositions of different arthropod taxa (springtails, web spiders, millipedes and centipedes) to flood and drought conditions. The main focus sis directed to arthropod species, which are living in Middle European floodplain forests and wetlands, because of the fast change of flood and drought conditions in these habitats. Furthermore the effects of the predicted regional climate change like increasing aperiodic summer flooding and decreasing winter and spring floods are also discussed.

Abstract:
Floodplain forests and wetlands are amongst the most diverse and species rich habitats on earth. Arthropods are a key group for the high diversity pattern of these landscapes, due to the fact that the change between flooding and drought causes in different life cycles and in a variety of adaptations in the different taxa. The floodplain forests and wetlands of Central Amazonia are well investigated and over the last 50 years many adaptations of several hexapod, myriapod and arachnid orders were described. In contrast to Amazonia the Middle European floodplains were less investigated concerning the adaptations of arthropods to flood and drought conditions. This review summarizes the adaptations and predispositions of springtails, web spiders, millipedes and centipedes to the changeable flood and drought conditions of Middle European floodplain forests and wetlands. Furthermore the impact of regional climate change predictions like increasing aperiodic summer floods and the decrease of typical winter and spring floods are discussed in this article.

Keywords: invertebrates; climate change; periodic flooding; aperiodic flooding; drought

MDPI and ACS Style

Marx, M.T.; Guhmann, P.; Decker, P. Adaptations and Predispositions of Different Middle European Arthropod Taxa (Collembola, Araneae, Chilopoda, Diplopoda) to Flooding and Drought Conditions. Animals 2012, 2, 564-590.

AMA Style

Marx M.T., Guhmann P., Decker P. Adaptations and Predispositions of Different Middle European Arthropod Taxa (Collembola, Araneae, Chilopoda, Diplopoda) to Flooding and Drought Conditions. Animals. 2012; 2(4):564-590.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Marx, Michael Thomas; Guhmann, Patrick; Decker, Peter. 2012. "Adaptations and Predispositions of Different Middle European Arthropod Taxa (Collembola, Araneae, Chilopoda, Diplopoda) to Flooding and Drought Conditions." Animals 2, no. 4: 564-590.

Source: http://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/2/4/564

evan mathis staff sgt. robert bales jason russell norfolk state st patrick s day parade duke invisible children

Obama: Romney's economic plan a 'sketchy deal'

MOUNT VERNON, Iowa (AP) ? President Barack Obama is ridiculing rival Mitt Romney's five-point plan for the economy as a "sketchy deal" that boils down to helping the wealthy at the expense of the middle class.

Obama told a political rally at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, that Romney won't reveal details about how to pay for his proposed 20 percent cut in tax rates.

The president says that when politicians say they will wait to explain plans until after the election, "they don't have a pleasant surprise in store for you."

Playing off a Romney response during Tuesday's presidential debate, Obama says that when it comes to recruiting new math and science teachers "we don't have to collect a bunch of binders to find qualified, talented, driven young women."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-romneys-economic-plan-sketchy-deal-175328020--election.html

John Orozco Garrett Reid shawn johnson Tony Sly Lauren Perdue tagged weather radar

UN Syria envoy calls on government to start truce

BEIRUT (AP) ? The international envoy to the Syrian conflict has called on President Bashar Assad's regime to take the lead in a proposed cease-fire during a Muslim holiday later this month.

Lakhdar Brahimi said Wednesday in Beirut that if the government takes the first step, everyone he has talked to in the opposition will also observe the truce.

Before Brahimi spoke, a Syrian state-run newspaper said the biggest barrier to proposed truce is the lack of a unified rebel leadership to agree to it.

Both Assad's regime and rebels seeking to topple it have ignored past truce agreements.

Brahimi acknowledged that such a truce, even if respected, was a "microscopic" step toward ending 19 months of violence in Syria.

Anti-regime activists say more than 33,000 people have been killed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/un-syria-envoy-calls-government-start-truce-115348101.html

Lauren Perdue tagged weather radar Heptathlon London 2012 shot put London 2012 Track And Field Jordyn Wieber

Beats by Dre Pill portable Bluetooth speaker officially drops, we take one per the Dr. and go ears-on (video)

Beats by Dre Pill portable Bluetooth speaker officially drops, we take one per the Dr and go earson

It's official. Aside from letting loose its first set of headphones post-Monster for the Executive types, Beats Electronics has set its sights on nabbing the portable Bluetooth audio crown from Jawbone's Jambox. You'll recall this hitting the FCC a bit ago, but today the Dr. is officially ready to offer you it's remedy for on-the-go wireless audio with its $200 Pill, an NFC-equipped portable Bluetooth 2.1 speaker. Coming in your choice red, black or white, the cylindrical system is loaded with a quartet of 1-inch drivers, and supports codecs including Apt-X and AAC. An internal battery is said to provide about seven hours of listening at around 75-percent volume (80 decibels), and the unit can be charged via its Micro-USB input. Notably, an auto-off feature turns the unit off after 30 minutes if no audio is streamed to it. As you'd expect, the Pill features a front-facing on-board mic for use as a speakerphone, physical volume buttons and power button, as well as a 3.5mm input if you'd like to play sans Bluetooth. We're also pleased to notice that the diminutive system also features a 3.5 output if you'd like to send the audio out to another audio ware. The Pill comes with a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable, a USB to Micro-USB cable for charging with an included wall adapter and, lastly, a carrying shell case that can be hooked to a bag.

We've been able to spend about an hour with the system, and we've frankly come away very impressed. The unit feels very sturdy, with a stiff metal grille and soft-touch coating around the rest of its exterior. It feels very comfortable to hold in a hand, and will easily fit in a jacket pocket. Actually, one of our only initial complaints is that the included carrying shell doesn't leave any room for the included cables. All of the buttons have a soft, slightly clicky tactility, which also aids to its premium feel. Using it initially alongside one of Beats' on-hand Jamboxes in a wired A/B comparison, the Jambox came out sounding like a distorted, rumbling mess up against the pill -- we even had a rep bring out a second unit confirm that it wasn't a dud. If that wasn't enough, the Pill also managed to get much louder, staying fairly clean (in comparison), and without rumbling on the table as the Jambox did very slightly. As a triple-check measure, we later came up with a similar outcome with our in-house unit of Logitech's $99 UE mobile boombox -- a speaker we find comparable in sound, if slightly better, than the Jambox.

In what could be viewed as slightly ironic, the Pill has a voicing that edges toward the flatter side of things, rather than pumping out exorbitant amounts of bass. It's not to say that it can't reproduce bass at all, it's just not the focus here. This flatter output seems to be a big part of what keeps it from distorting, but we should be clear, that the audio here is many times better still on the Pill. Pleasantly, the speakers are also angled up slightly, which makes for a noticeably more natural listening experience. Our only other concern for the time being is that the Bluetooth connection with our iPhone 5 did crackle occasionally like a vinyl record, but it's too early to say if the issue will be consistent during future use. We're still a ways off from being able to definitively give you a thumbs up on the Pill, but -- at least, initially, it seems like it's easily blowing the Jambox and similar speakers out of the water. Like the Executive headphones, the Pill is available today at Beats stores and other retailers -- check out our video hands-on after the break for a better look.

Continue reading Beats by Dre Pill portable Bluetooth speaker officially drops, we take one per the Dr. and go ears-on (video)

Filed under: , ,

Beats by Dre Pill portable Bluetooth speaker officially drops, we take one per the Dr. and go ears-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Oct 2012 11:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceBeats Electronics  | Email this | Comments


Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/hNONxDjN7IA/

bcs national championship 2012 university of alabama national championship game bcs game lsu vs alabama college football college football

Swizzle

If you do any sort of online shopping, conduct business online, or just have had an email account for quite some time, you undoubtedly have many newsletters piling up in your Inbox. It's a daunting task sifting through the ones you want to keep and trying to unsubscribe from the ones you want gone.

Swizzle is a free tool that will be welcomed by anyone trying to get a handle on the newsletters and email subscriptions in their Inbox.? With the service and a feature called the Swizzle Sweeper, it's easy to locate and unsubscribe from any emails you receive. In addition, you can compile the newsletters and emails that you want to receive into a simple email digest called the Daily Swizzle.

How it Works
Signing up for TheSwizzle.com is very easy. Enter the email address you want to use the service with at http://theswizzle.com/. Email accounts supported are Gmail, Mac.com/Me.com (iCloud), Yahoo!Mail, and AOL Mail. Swizzle representatives state they are looking to add more email services. Once entered, click the hot pink Go button to the right of the email field.

TheSwizzle does not support Outlook.com. Outlook has its own email sweeper service, unsubscribe capability, and rules you can create. Corporate and self-hosted email servers are also not supported.

I entered my Gmail account. Swizzle really redirected the page to a Google accounts page to give Swizzle access to my Gmail account. The service uses OAuth?an open protocol that allows third-party services such as TheSwizzle to obtain limited access to HTTP services such as Gmail and other email providers. Keep in mind, however, in doing so, you are giving access to a third-party service to your email.

Once granted access, Swizzle starts processing and going through your email account's messages. Of course, the fuller your inbox is the longer it can take. I have 3,295 messages in my Gmail Inbox and processing took a few seconds.

Unsubscribing and Daily Digest-ing
After Swizzle processes your email, its screen displays a list of email messages that have the option for unsubscribing. The Swizzle interface is quite fetching?hot pink and green?and employs the use of a swirling peppermint candy icon that functions as an hourglass when Swizzle is processing an email account. It's easy to navigate and the webpage has a fun, feminine look.?

My Gmail account is also connected with my Google+ account, so I can also subscribe or unsubscribe to any posts Google+ users have included me on that show up in my Inbox as well as any newsletters or any email that TheSwizzle detects can be unsubscribed from.? Next to each item in the Inbox is a button to "Unsubsribe me" or "Move to Digest."

The digest is a collection of newsletters that you want to see on a regular basis. It's delivered to your Inbox on a daily basis. For example, I can compile a digest that features my favorite tech newsletters, posters on Google+, and any correspondence from my favorite stores and brands.

Unfortunately, as of now, you can't create multiple digests for specific topics. I would like to have one digest for all thing tech, another for Google +, and perhaps a third for stores and retailers. The Swizzle teams told me that capability is on the roadmap.

As you click the "Move to Digest" button, the newsletter or Google+ alert moves to the left side of the screen under "Your Daily Swizzle." These newsletters and emails are sent daily to your email as a daily digest for quick, at-a-glance viewing of newsletters and messages that interest you most.

You can add other brands into your Daily Swizzle from the Swizzle Gallery?a collection of thousands of brands and stores from which you wish to receive digital content from. Some brands include Starbucks, Apple, JetBlue and others. This doesn?t mean that you will get bombarded with emails from these companies; rather you will be sent offers from them in your daily digest. You can also browse brands by topic such as Home & Garden, Electronics, Pets and many more.

This branding is an important way that TheSwizzle makes money. According to the Swizzle team, they make a percentage from anything purchased from featured brand sites resulting from delivered offers.

Once you have added the brands and newsletters to your daily digest, you can specify when and how often you want to receive the digest. By default, the digest is delivered to your Inbox every morning at 9:30, but you can pick any day of the week and set delivery morning, noon, or night. If Swizzle creates the option of allowing users to create multiple-subject related digests, hopefully, users will also be able to set delivery options for each digest.

You can save your digest's settings by logging in with your Facebook account or by creating an account via Swizzle (the site recommends to not create the same password as the one used with your email accounts for security reasons).

Fun With Swizzle
TheSwizzle.com is such a simple concept and is a good, although not new idea. Outlook has a sweeper service and there are other services such as SaneBox as well as a host of plugins that can do the same sort of inbox cleanup. What I like most about the TheSwizzle, is how you can compile a customized digest.

Although the granular option of creating multiple digests would be ideal and it needs to support more email services, as it's a fun service. It's an effecient way for professionals to keep up on the newsletters they want to read in their industries and for average users to receive offers and information from their favorite brands, earning 3.5 stars for productivity software, suitable for use by both small businesses and individuals.

More Productivity Software Reviews:
??? Swizzle
??? Adobe Acrobat XI
??? Catch Notes (for iPhone)
??? Polaris Office (for iPhone)
??? Polaris Office (for iPad)
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/7WGioY_Wp9Y/0,2817,2411068,00.asp

mountain lion hanley ramirez Christian Bale visits victims Perez Hilton national weather service kristen stewart Christian Bale

Britain has helped other children in trouble

LONDON (AP) ? Fourteen-year-old Pakistani activist Malala Yousufzai, who was airlifted to a British hospital for medical care and protection after she was shot in the head by the Taliban, is the latest of many foreign children in need that Britain has welcomed in modern times. Here's a quick look at some of the children from places ravaged by war or poverty that Britain has taken under its wing.

_____

THE BASQUE BABIES

In 1937, during the Spanish civil war, more than 3,800 child refugees were evacuated from northern Spain and taken to safety in Britain aboard the aged steamship 'Habana.' It was an ordeal: The children slept where they could on the overcrowded ship, and many of them became violently seasick from the stormy journey.

It was the first time Britain had received a mass influx of refugees, and the U.K. press wasn't entirely sympathetic. Initially sent to a makeshift camp in the port city of Southampton, the "Basque babies" were later adopted by the Salvation Army and the Catholic Church in children's homes known as "colonies" across the U.K.

Most returned to Spain immediately after the war, but about 250 remained in Britain and settled down. This year, the few who were still alive got together in a reunion to mark the evacuation's 75th anniversary.

_____

THE KINDERTRANSPORT

In the months leading up to the outbreak of World War II, Jewish community leaders in Britain put pressure on the government to take in nearly 10,000 children ? most of them Jewish ? from Nazi Germany and other threatened central European countries as part of the huge Kindertransport rescue program.

Traveling on boats and trains, the children and teenagers escaped from Adolf Hitler's Germany and were taken care of by foster families or hostels in the U.K. They had to leave their families behind ? some knew they were sent to safety, but others were too young to understand and were told they were just going on a vacation. The last Kindertransport left two days before war was declared between Britain and Germany.

It was only after the war ? or years later ? that the children learned the fate of their parents, many of whom had not survived the Holocaust.

_____

OPERATION IRMA

Perhaps more similar to the case of Malala was Irma Hadzimuratovic, the 5-year-old Bosnian girl who was flown to Britain for treatment in 1993 amid the Bosnian conflict. Irma was seriously injured by a mortar bomb attack in Sarajevo that killed her mother.

Responding to pleas from doctors in besieged Sarajevo and pressure from the British public, the government decided to send the Royal Air Force to fly Irma to a London hospital. She was airlifted to Britain for treatment, and soon after that Western governments launched "Operation Irma" to airlift more war wounded for treatment.

The girl underwent a dozen operations, but she died two years later. Her dramatic evacuation grabbed global attention, and Irma became one of the most memorable symbols of the brutality of that conflict.

At the time, British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd said: "Because you can't help everybody it doesn't mean you shouldn't help somebody."

_____

"LITTLE ALI"

In 2003, a photo of an Iraqi boy who lost both his arms during the U.S.-led invasion stirred sympathy from around the world. Twelve-year-old Ali Abbas, whose arms were so severely burned that they had to be amputated, also lost 16 members of his family during a missile raid in Baghdad.

Ali was evacuated to a hospital to Kuwait, then flown to Britain for treatment after a national appeal for donations. He was fitted with prosthetic limbs with the help of the Limbless Association, and later stayed on in Britain, going to school and gaining a U.K. passport. He returned to Iraq to marry this year.

_____

CHILD REFUGEES FROM AFGHANISTAN

In recent years Britain has received children from Afghanistan and other politically unstable countries who arrive alone seeking asylum. Roughly one thousand to two thousand Afghan children came to Britain to start a new life each year from 2006 to 2009, although their numbers have significantly fallen since then.

The families of the children typically pay a fee for the children to be taken to Britain, where they get picked up by police and looked after by local officials and charities. Once they reach 18, though, they have to reapply for refugee status and may be repatriated to their countries.

A few hundred children also come to the U.K. every year from countries like Iran, Eritrea, and Albania to escape military conscription and rights abuses, the Refugee Council said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/britain-helped-other-children-trouble-185850164.html

barry bonds hazing colton harris moore hurd hurd christopher hitchens ron paul 2012

Claustrophobic Skydiver Beats Fear

Felix Baumgartner, the daredevil who stunned the world this weekend with a 23-mile skydiving free fall, could handle the height, just not the tight, pressurized suit.

Like millions of others, the 43-year-old Austrian suffers from claustrophobia. His feat, leaping from 102,800 feet and breaking the unofficial record set by Col. Joe Kittinger in 1960, almost never happened.

"Go figure," said Reid Wilson, director of the Anxiety Disorders Treatment Center in Chapel Hill, N.C., and founder of self-help website Anxieties.com.

"He is basically in open space and not wrapped up that way," Wilson said of Baumgartner's previous jumps from the Petronas Towers and the Taipei 101 skyscraper.

Wilson said it was not at all odd for a person to fear the suit more than the height. He noted that half of all pilots are actually afraid of heights. He advised American Airlines when it created its fear-of-flying programs and noted that phobic pilots say they feel shielded in the cockpit.

An estimated 11 million Americans suffer from phobias, and the fear of closed-in spaces is one of the top five, Wilson said, citing worries about being trapped or suffocating. But that is "totally different" from acrophobia, or fear of heights, which is among the top-10 fears but not an issue for Baumgartner.

The former paratrooper said he was nearly paralyzed getting ready for his latest stunt, one that broke world records and the sound barrier.

In an interview with Red Bulletin magazine earlier this year, he said, "...We carried out the last major tests with the space suit and it was clear to me that I had a problem -- one I never thought I'd have -- with my psyche. I had trouble putting on my space suit, and it got worse and worse. I could barely stand a couple of minutes in it."

Joerg Mitter/Red Bull via Getty Images

Felix Baumgartner's Record-Breaking Skydive From Space Watch Video Red Bull Stunt Man Felix Baumgartner: Death-Defying Skydive Watch Video

Baumgartner's customized space suit and helmet are typically worn by high-altitude pilots and can constrict movement and vision.

They were described by his team as "his personal life-support system," according to a report in the Guardian newspaper. It had four layers, a "comfort liner," a gas layer that retained air pressure, the restraining layer to keep the suit's shape and an external layer made of fire-prevention material.

The suit was designed to protect him from ebullism, the biggest medical danger in skydiving. When the body is exposed to a vacuum, even for a short period of time, the blood can literally boil, causing the body's fluids to turn to gas.

The low pressure can also cause gas to seep into the body and, like skin diving, cause decompression sickness or the "bends." Gas bubbles in an artery can also stop blood flow.

"As soon as the visor closes, there's this nightmarish silence and loneliness," Baumgartner told Red Bulletin. "The suit signifies imprisonment.

"We'd never thought of a test that confined me in the suit for five hours -- that's how long the entire mission should take -- with the visor closed. After all my past exploits, all the extreme things I've done in my career, nobody would have ever guessed that simply wearing a space suit would threaten the mission. Me included. In the end, it turned into panic attacks."

Baumgartner said he was prepared to give up and left the United States where he had been training in 2010.

"I wept on the phone," he said. "It was the worst moment of my life. Until that point, I'd always known how to solve all my own problems. This time, in front of everyone, I'd found my limit."

He overcame his phobia with the help of his sponsor, Red Bull. It called Michael Gervais, a psychologist whose specialty is extreme sports, according to The New York Times. He has consulted with NFL athletes and surfers.

"Claustrophobia is quite common and people get it in any kind of tight spaces," anxiety psychologist Wilson said. "Early on, when the MRIs came out and they put people in those tubes, they lost about one-third of them who got panicked inside the machine.

"Quite often, they feel hot and stuffy and don't necessarily have a full-blown panic attack, but have the typical fight-or-flight urge to escape," he said.

Wilson said that like the fear of heights, claustrophobia is a "natural" fear that has evolutionary roots. But some people find it more disabling than others, probably a result of to genetic vulnerabilities.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/skydiver-felix-baumgartner-overcame-claustrophobia-break-world-records/story?id=17481428

jay z glory alabama crimson tide barry larkin jay z new song torrie wilson alabama lsu bcs national championship