Thursday, May 23, 2013

Support Galaxy Ace lost USB connection.

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DefaultGalaxy Ace lost USB connection.

My Samsung Galaxy Ace has suddenly lost the ability to connect by USB to computers. It does not recognize it is plugged in at all except it still charges from the computer. The automatic screen where you get the option to connect as a storage device no longer appears and in the menu where you check the USB tethering it says "no device connected". It used to work fine with my Mac and Linux PC. The rest of my phone works as it should. What happened?


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Source: http://androidforums.com/samsung-galaxy-ace/722936-galaxy-ace-lost-usb-connection.html

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Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Kershaw's second CG of year baffles?Brewers

By JOE DiGIOVANNI

Associated Press Sports

updated 9:56 p.m. ET May 20, 2013

MILWAUKEE (AP) - Clayton Kershaw scattered three singles in his second complete game of the year and Matt Kemp hit his first home run since April 24, lifting the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 3-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night.

Ryan Braun managed a pair of singles and Yuniesky Betancourt also singled for the only hits off Kershaw (5-2). The lefty struck out five and walked one.

Andre Ethier homered and tripled for the last-place Dodgers before being ejected by plate umpire Dan Bellino for arguing a called third strike in the eighth inning.

The victory was a respite for Dodgers manager Don Mattingly. He addressed speculation before the game on whether he would be fired this week, insisting he didn't feel as if he was about to be replaced.

Yovani Gallardo (3-4) gave up three runs, including two homers, in six innings. The right-hander lost his third consecutive start and the reeling Brewers have dropped 15 of 18 games.

With the Dodgers' bullpen giving up 12 runs while Los Angeles was swept in a three-game weekend series at Atlanta, Mattingly took no chances. He sent Kershaw out for the ninth, and the ace needed only 10 pitches to retire the Brewers in order.

Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said before the game he thought Kemp's lack of power this season was due to the slugger's offseason surgery on his left shoulder.

The star center fielder hit his second homer of the season, connecting for the first time in a span of 87 at-bats. Kemp's solo homer came in the sixth.

Colletti said his team, second-to-last in the majors in scoring at 3.4 runs per game, needed to hit better in the clutch. The Dodgers went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position against the Brewers.

Kershaw beat the Brewers for the second time in five starts. He has given up only three earned runs in 39 2-3 innings for an 0.68 ERA in that span.

Kemp, who hit 116 homers the past four seasons, walked to lead off the second and scored easily on Ethier's triple for a 1-0 lead.

The Brewers tied it in the third. Rickie Weeks walked and later scored on a groundout to second by Norichika Aoki.

Ethier's solo homer, his fourth, put the Dodgers ahead in the fourth.

NOTES: Dodgers LHP Ted Lilly was reinstated off the 15-day DL. RHP Matt Magill was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque. Lilly will spend a couple of days in the bullpen and is expected to start Saturday against St. Louis. ... Dodgers INF Jerry Hairston has tendinitis in his left knee.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Gimme Shelter: 9 Instant Buildings From Disaster Zones to Battlefields

Describing architecture as "instant" can mean different things to different people. During the post-War housing shortage, it meant prefab homes that went up in weeks. For disaster survivors, it can mean something as simple as a shelter that's assembled in hours. For the military, instant architecture often means truly instantaneous?hangars and medical tents that pop up in mere minutes.

Over the past few decades, as warfare has evolved and climate change has hastened the frequency of severe weather, we've seen "instant" buildings emerge as a topic in design schools and relief organizations. From shipping containers that unfold at the touch of a button to "buildings-in-a-bag" that need only water and air to be assembled, we're experiencing a renaissance in rapidly deployable architecture. Nine interesting examples?including a few from the past?follow.

Jean Prouv?'s Maison Aluminium M?tropole:

Jean Prouv?, who died in 1984, was one of the most vocal supporters of prefabrication. This classroom was the winning entry from a 1949 competition run by the French government, which asked architects to design a prefab package to provide classrooms and teacher housing in rural areas. Only 15 of the buildings were ever produced?but the design became definitive in modern architectural history. This stop-motion video, posted over on Dwell, shows one of the sets being assembled as part of a recent exhibition on Prouv?'s work.

Assembly time: six days.


Building In a Bag:

Cement-impregnated cloth gives these shelters?which go up in under an hour?their nickname: "building in a bag." To set up the hard-shell tents, you spray the concrete cloth with water drape it over an inflated balloon until it dries. It's fireproof, immune to snow and rain, and lasts as long as a decade.

Assembly time: an hour or less.


QuaDror by Dror Benshetrit:

QuaDror is actually a structural component developed by the Israeli product designer Dror Benshetrit. QuaDror disaster shelters use the same component as a basic hinge for building shelter out of whatever happens to be lying around. It's a smart proposal, because even though it requires a bit of work on site, it's cheaper (and faster) to transport small components rather than entire shelters.

Assembly time: one day.


Shelter System for the B-2 Stealth Bomber:

Why does the B-2 need its own storage system? Because its stealth coatings require exacting temperature controls to maintain. And when the plane is in action, a good hangar isn't always easy to find. So the Air Force contracted a company called American Spaceframe Fabricators to design a system that can be transported anywhere and goes up fast. The military now owns a handful of the massive structures, which can be disassembled and reassembled as needed. The unique retraceable entryway is clam-shaped to accommodate the plane's wingspan. Similar shelters are now in use to house smaller aircraft, like these similar pop-up hangars.

Assembly time: roughly ten days.


Onagawa Temporary Container Housing by Shigeru Ban:

Japanese architect Shigeru Ban devoted most of his office's resources to helping the displaced find shelter after the 2011 tsunami. This community, in the town of Onagawa, gave earthquake survivors a place to live as their town was being rebuilt. Stacked shipping containers supply 1800 units of temporary housing, and one very beautiful community center provides meeting space.

Assembly time: several months.


Mobile Housing by Yatsutaka Yoshimura:

Japanese architect Yatsutaka Yoshimura recently unveiled a proposal for a mobile housing unit built to the specifications of a shipping container. This way, the finished homes can be transported to the crisis site aboard flatbed trucks, rather than assembled when they arrive.

Assembly time: one day.


Uniteam's Collapsible Military Shelters:

The Rapid Deployment Shelter System, or RDSS, arrives in a standard shipping container and unfolds at the touch of a button. The system was designed to improve on the military's standard tent system, giving temporary hospitals and combat centers instant access to air conditioning, wifi, and electricity.

Assembly time: two minutes.


Daisuke Sugawara Housing by Azuhito Nakano:

Being displaced from your home after a disaster affects people in a whole host of long-term ways, ranging from financial to emotional. The concept behind this community of 60 homes in Rikuzentakata (an area "wiped off the map" after the tsunami in 2011) was to encourage interaction between residents. The architects arranged the homes in an interlocking pattern that connects garden to garden?the hope being that residents will run into each other more often and build relationships.

Assembly time: a few weeks.


Liina Transitional Shelter:

"According to a 2007 report by Christian Aid," write the students behind this brilliant flatpack shelter, "the number of refugees worldwide is expected to exceed 1 billion by 2050." Liina, a modular shelter designed by Aalto University students, was designed to serve as a temporary home for refugees in colder climes. Using a system of interlocking wood panels and simple fabric straps, Liina only takes six hours to assemble after it's unpacked from its shipping container. And remarkably, it requires zero power tools.

Assembly time: six hours.


Source: http://gizmodo.com/gimme-shelter-9-instant-buildings-from-disaster-areas-495820265

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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

U-M Water Center awards $570K in Great Lakes restoration grants

U-M Water Center awards $570K in Great Lakes restoration grants [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 21-May-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Jim Erickson
ericksn@umich.edu
734-647-1842
University of Michigan

ANN ARBORThe new University of Michigan Water Center today awarded 12 research grants, totaling nearly $570,000, to support Great Lakes restoration and protection efforts.

The two-year grants of up to $50,000 will support diverse projects, including efforts to track the remediation of harmful algae blooms; assess the effectiveness of techniques to control non-native weedy plant invasions; study chromosomal damage in tree swallow nestlings; and monitor fish responses to restoration activities.

The grants were awarded to multidisciplinary teams led by researchers at universities across the Great Lakes region and beyond. Fifty-four proposals were submitted for the first round of Water Center research grants. A second round of larger grants, of up to $500,000 each, will be awarded later this year.

"These initial grants are to an exceptional few projects that really addressed our goals and clearly identified outcomes that matter to the region's resource management community. They are going to fill key gaps in our restoration knowledge," said Water Center Director Allen Burton.

The $9 million U-M Water Center was formed in October with an initial focus on providing a solid scientific framework for more efficient and effective Great Lakes restoration. As a center of U-M's Graham Sustainability Institute, the Water Center was made possible by a $4.5 million, three-year grant from the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation and additional funds from the university.

"The Erb Family Foundation is pleased to support the important work of U-M's new Water Center to demonstrate the effectiveness of investments in Great Lakes restoration," said foundation President John Erb. "The lakes are a unique and precious ecosystem that we must steward for the benefit of current and future generations."

During its first three years, the center will focus on identifying and filling critical science gaps in the four focus areas of the federal Great Lakes Restoration Initiative: removing toxic contamination and restoring regions of environmental degradation known as areas of concern; combating invasive species; protecting and restoring wildlife and their habitats; and ridding nearshore waters of polluted runoff.

In selecting the first 12 grants, special emphasis was given to proposals that integrated one or more GLRI focus areas or that evaluated the potential effects of climate change on Great Lakes restoration efforts. In all cases, the U-M funding will be used to support existing restoration and protection efforts in the Great Lakes, not to establish new projects.

"Our goal is to provide that additional boost to existing restoration projects that will enable them to conduct an analysis of their outcomes that can demonstrate the value of a particular method or approach," said Water Center Deputy Director Jennifer Read. "We don't often have the necessary resources to do this kind of synthesis, and it's key to understanding what we're doing right and what we need to tweak."

The 12 selected projects and their principal investigators are:

  • "Birds as indicators of contaminant exposure in the Great Lakes: Chromosomal damage assessment via flow cytometry," Cole Matson, Baylor University. Goal: Assess chromosomal damage in tree swallow nestlings collected from contaminated areas across the Great Lakes region.
  • "Monitoring fish community responses to restoration activities in the Rouge River watershed," Emily Saarinen, University of Michigan-Dearborn. Goal: Characterize the fish community composition in southeast Michigan's highly urbanized Rouge River watershed to understand how it is impacted by watershed-level restoration efforts.
  • "Development of indicators to track the remediation of harmful algal blooms in Sodus Bay, Lake Ontario," Gregory Boyer, State University of New York-Syracuse. Goal: Field-test a suite of indicators that can be used throughout the Great Lakes basin to track progress in the remediation of harmful algae blooms.
  • "Application of geospatially enabled geographic response plans for oil spill response in the western basin of Lake Erie," David Dean, Michigan Technological University. Goal: Allow the analysis, display and distribution of geospatial data in a manner that meets the needs of planners, responders and incident managers in the event of oil or chemical spills.
  • "Coupling mercury, lead and strontium isotopes in archived Great Lakes precipitation samples to improve pollutant source apportionment with new and novel techniques," J. Timothy Dvonch, University of Michigan. Goal: Measure mercury, lead and strontium isotopes in previously collected rainfall samples to develop a new method to "fingerprint" emissions of these metals and link sources with atmospheric deposition sites across the Great Lakes region.
  • "Assessing ecosystem services provided by restored wetlands under current and future climate and land-use scenarios," Kenneth Elgersma, University of Northern Iowa. Goal: Augment an existing computer model to assess the effectiveness of techniquesincluding herbicide application, burning and mowingto control non-native weedy plant invasions.
  • "Performance data collection for GLRI SWIF project assessment in Lucas County, Ohio," Cyndee Gruden, University of Toledo. Goal: Performance monitoring of innovative storm-water management demonstration projects including rain gardens, wetlands, permeable pavement and biofiltration.
  • "Assessing the bioavailability of HOCs during habitat restoration," Nathan Johnson, University of Minnesota-Duluth. Goal: Evaluate the bioavailability of sediment-associated contaminants before and after restoration efforts using dredged materials from the Duluth-Superior Harbor.
  • "Monitoring stream ecosystem function responses to stamp sand stabilization in tributaries of Lake Superior," Amy Marcarelli, Michigan Technological University. Goal: Monitor stream ecosystem functions at a project to stabilize and revegetate floodplain habitat buried by copper-rich stamp sands, a significant source of water pollution to lakes and streams of Michigan's western Upper Peninsula.
  • "A Bayesian hierarchical modeling approach for comparing water quality measurements from different sources," Song Qian, University of Toledo. Goal: Develop models linking Lake Erie water-quality data collected by different institutions using different sampling methods.
  • "Water quality benefit assessment of Lake Erie coastal wetlands," Justin Saarinen, University of Michigan-Dearborn. Goal: Identify alternative restoration scenarios for western Lake Erie by assessing whether coastal and diked wetlands provide a significant water-quality benefit to the lake.
  • "Extended and novel monitoring of climate, nutrients and ecosystem dynamics in the Green Bay ecosystem, 2013," J. Val Klump, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Goal: Provide an additional season of physical and chemical data that will lead to improved ecosystem modeling to assess the efficacy of best management practices designed to address beneficial use impairments under a suite of changing climate scenarios.

The Great Lakes hold 20 percent of the world's surface freshwater. The region includes 10,000 miles of coastline and numerous globally rare plant and animal species. In addition, the Great Lakes support a wide range of recreational and economic activities, including vibrant tourism and a sport fishery industry that contributes $4 billion to the economy.

###

12 Water Center grants: http://graham.umich.edu/water/grants-program

U-M Water Center: http://graham.umich.edu/water


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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.


U-M Water Center awards $570K in Great Lakes restoration grants [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 21-May-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Jim Erickson
ericksn@umich.edu
734-647-1842
University of Michigan

ANN ARBORThe new University of Michigan Water Center today awarded 12 research grants, totaling nearly $570,000, to support Great Lakes restoration and protection efforts.

The two-year grants of up to $50,000 will support diverse projects, including efforts to track the remediation of harmful algae blooms; assess the effectiveness of techniques to control non-native weedy plant invasions; study chromosomal damage in tree swallow nestlings; and monitor fish responses to restoration activities.

The grants were awarded to multidisciplinary teams led by researchers at universities across the Great Lakes region and beyond. Fifty-four proposals were submitted for the first round of Water Center research grants. A second round of larger grants, of up to $500,000 each, will be awarded later this year.

"These initial grants are to an exceptional few projects that really addressed our goals and clearly identified outcomes that matter to the region's resource management community. They are going to fill key gaps in our restoration knowledge," said Water Center Director Allen Burton.

The $9 million U-M Water Center was formed in October with an initial focus on providing a solid scientific framework for more efficient and effective Great Lakes restoration. As a center of U-M's Graham Sustainability Institute, the Water Center was made possible by a $4.5 million, three-year grant from the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation and additional funds from the university.

"The Erb Family Foundation is pleased to support the important work of U-M's new Water Center to demonstrate the effectiveness of investments in Great Lakes restoration," said foundation President John Erb. "The lakes are a unique and precious ecosystem that we must steward for the benefit of current and future generations."

During its first three years, the center will focus on identifying and filling critical science gaps in the four focus areas of the federal Great Lakes Restoration Initiative: removing toxic contamination and restoring regions of environmental degradation known as areas of concern; combating invasive species; protecting and restoring wildlife and their habitats; and ridding nearshore waters of polluted runoff.

In selecting the first 12 grants, special emphasis was given to proposals that integrated one or more GLRI focus areas or that evaluated the potential effects of climate change on Great Lakes restoration efforts. In all cases, the U-M funding will be used to support existing restoration and protection efforts in the Great Lakes, not to establish new projects.

"Our goal is to provide that additional boost to existing restoration projects that will enable them to conduct an analysis of their outcomes that can demonstrate the value of a particular method or approach," said Water Center Deputy Director Jennifer Read. "We don't often have the necessary resources to do this kind of synthesis, and it's key to understanding what we're doing right and what we need to tweak."

The 12 selected projects and their principal investigators are:

  • "Birds as indicators of contaminant exposure in the Great Lakes: Chromosomal damage assessment via flow cytometry," Cole Matson, Baylor University. Goal: Assess chromosomal damage in tree swallow nestlings collected from contaminated areas across the Great Lakes region.
  • "Monitoring fish community responses to restoration activities in the Rouge River watershed," Emily Saarinen, University of Michigan-Dearborn. Goal: Characterize the fish community composition in southeast Michigan's highly urbanized Rouge River watershed to understand how it is impacted by watershed-level restoration efforts.
  • "Development of indicators to track the remediation of harmful algal blooms in Sodus Bay, Lake Ontario," Gregory Boyer, State University of New York-Syracuse. Goal: Field-test a suite of indicators that can be used throughout the Great Lakes basin to track progress in the remediation of harmful algae blooms.
  • "Application of geospatially enabled geographic response plans for oil spill response in the western basin of Lake Erie," David Dean, Michigan Technological University. Goal: Allow the analysis, display and distribution of geospatial data in a manner that meets the needs of planners, responders and incident managers in the event of oil or chemical spills.
  • "Coupling mercury, lead and strontium isotopes in archived Great Lakes precipitation samples to improve pollutant source apportionment with new and novel techniques," J. Timothy Dvonch, University of Michigan. Goal: Measure mercury, lead and strontium isotopes in previously collected rainfall samples to develop a new method to "fingerprint" emissions of these metals and link sources with atmospheric deposition sites across the Great Lakes region.
  • "Assessing ecosystem services provided by restored wetlands under current and future climate and land-use scenarios," Kenneth Elgersma, University of Northern Iowa. Goal: Augment an existing computer model to assess the effectiveness of techniquesincluding herbicide application, burning and mowingto control non-native weedy plant invasions.
  • "Performance data collection for GLRI SWIF project assessment in Lucas County, Ohio," Cyndee Gruden, University of Toledo. Goal: Performance monitoring of innovative storm-water management demonstration projects including rain gardens, wetlands, permeable pavement and biofiltration.
  • "Assessing the bioavailability of HOCs during habitat restoration," Nathan Johnson, University of Minnesota-Duluth. Goal: Evaluate the bioavailability of sediment-associated contaminants before and after restoration efforts using dredged materials from the Duluth-Superior Harbor.
  • "Monitoring stream ecosystem function responses to stamp sand stabilization in tributaries of Lake Superior," Amy Marcarelli, Michigan Technological University. Goal: Monitor stream ecosystem functions at a project to stabilize and revegetate floodplain habitat buried by copper-rich stamp sands, a significant source of water pollution to lakes and streams of Michigan's western Upper Peninsula.
  • "A Bayesian hierarchical modeling approach for comparing water quality measurements from different sources," Song Qian, University of Toledo. Goal: Develop models linking Lake Erie water-quality data collected by different institutions using different sampling methods.
  • "Water quality benefit assessment of Lake Erie coastal wetlands," Justin Saarinen, University of Michigan-Dearborn. Goal: Identify alternative restoration scenarios for western Lake Erie by assessing whether coastal and diked wetlands provide a significant water-quality benefit to the lake.
  • "Extended and novel monitoring of climate, nutrients and ecosystem dynamics in the Green Bay ecosystem, 2013," J. Val Klump, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Goal: Provide an additional season of physical and chemical data that will lead to improved ecosystem modeling to assess the efficacy of best management practices designed to address beneficial use impairments under a suite of changing climate scenarios.

The Great Lakes hold 20 percent of the world's surface freshwater. The region includes 10,000 miles of coastline and numerous globally rare plant and animal species. In addition, the Great Lakes support a wide range of recreational and economic activities, including vibrant tourism and a sport fishery industry that contributes $4 billion to the economy.

###

12 Water Center grants: http://graham.umich.edu/water/grants-program

U-M Water Center: http://graham.umich.edu/water


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


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


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-05/uom-uwc052113.php

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IRS official to take the 5th at House hearing

former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman testifies on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Tuesday, May 21, 2013, before the Senate Finance Committee hearing on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) practice of targeting applicants for tax-exempt status based on political leanings. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman testifies on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Tuesday, May 21, 2013, before the Senate Finance Committee hearing on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) practice of targeting applicants for tax-exempt status based on political leanings. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Ousted IRS Chief Steve Miller, right, shakes hands with former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Tuesday, May 21, 2013, prior to testifying before the Senate Finance Committee hearing on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) practice of targeting applicants for tax-exempt status based on political leanings. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Cliff Toye, of Tabernacle, holds a sign as he stands with others outside Internal Revenue Service offices Tuesday, May 21, 2013, in Cherry Hill, N.J., during a tea party rally protesting extra IRS scrutiny of conservative groups. The Internal Revenue Service gave extra scrutiny to tea party and other conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, May 21, 2013, before the Senate Banking Committee. Lew said the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) targeting of conservative political groups was "unacceptable and inexcusable" and he has directed the agency's acting director to hold people accountable. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Tea Party supporters gather for a rally outside the IRS headquarter in Washington, May 21, 2013. A few dozen tea party activists and their supporters have gathered outside the IRS headquarters in Washington to protest extra scrutiny of their organizations. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

(AP) ? Summoned by Republicans, a key figure in the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups plans to invoke her constitutional right against self-incrimination and decline to testify at a congressional hearing on Wednesday.

Lois Lerner heads the IRS division that singled out conservative groups for additional scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status during the 2010 and 2012 election campaigns. She was subpoenaed to testify Wednesday before the House oversight committee.

But in a letter to committee leaders, Lerner's lawyer said she would refuse to testify because of a criminal investigation by the Justice Department.

Among the harsher Republican comments after the IRS targeting was revealed last week, House Speaker John Boehner said he wanted to know, "Who's going to jail over this scandal?" Lerner's Washington lawyer, William W. Taylor III, said Tuesday that his client "has not committed any crime or made any misrepresentation, but under the circumstances she has no choice but to take this course."

Ali Ahmad, a spokesman for Oversight committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said the subpoena stands, raising the possibility of a public spectacle in which Lerner would decline to answer question after question.

News of her plans came on the same day the agency's former commissioner said he first learned in the spring of 2012 ? in the heat of the presidential campaign ? that agents had improperly targeted political groups that vehemently opposed President Barack Obama's policies.

But former Commissioner Douglas Shulman said he didn't tell higher ups in the Treasury Department and he didn't tell members of Congress.

And he wouldn't apologize for it.

"I had a partial set of facts, and I knew that the inspector general was going to be looking into it, and I knew that it was being stopped," Shulman told the Senate Finance Committee in his first public comments on the matter. "Sitting there then and sitting here today, I think I made the right decision, which is to let the inspector general get to the bottom of it, chase down all the facts and then make his findings public."

Lerner has emerged as a central figure in the controversy because she learned in June 2011 that IRS agents were singling out groups with "Tea Party" or "Patriots" in their applications for further scrutiny, according to a report by the agency's inspector general. She ordered the initial tea party criteria to be scrapped, but it later evolved to include groups that promoted the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the report said.

Shulman, however, said this information wasn't relayed up the chain of command until a year later.

"I agree this is an issue that when someone spotted it, they should have brought it up the chain," Shulman said. "And they didn't. I don't know why."

Lerner is also the IRS official who first disclosed the targeting of tea party groups at a legal conference last week. A career civil servant who has run the division since late 2005, Lerner has not been disciplined for her role, IRS officials said.

Shulman, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, left the IRS in November when his five-year term ended. His testimony makes him the top official to publicly acknowledge knowing before the presidential election that tea party groups had been targeted.

Ineffective management allowed agents in a Cincinnati office to improperly target conservative groups for more than 18 months during the 2010 and 2012 election campaigns, according to a report by J. Russell George, the Treasury Department inspector general for tax administration.

But George said he found no evidence that Washington directed the targeting.

George also testified before Senate Finance Committee Tuesday. So did acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller. Miller, a top deputy under Shulman, took over the agency when Shulman left in November. Last week, Obama forced Miller to resign.

Several senators were less than pleased with the testimony of both Shulman and Miller.

"I found it unsatisfying," Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said after the hearing. "I think a lot of information's not getting out, a lot of questions not answered."

Shulman said he was briefed by Miller "sometime in the spring of 2012" that tea party groups were being singled out for additional scrutiny. But Shulman said he didn't realize the scope of the issue until the inspector general issued his report last week.

"What I knew was not the full set of facts in this report," Shulman said. "What I knew sometime in the spring of 2012 was that there was a list that was being used, knew that the word "tea party" was on the list, didn't know what other words were on the list, didn't know the scope and severity of this, didn't know if groups that were pulled in were groups that would have been pulled in anyway."

Shulman is now a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.

Several Republican senators said it was hard to believe that Shulman could learn such a sensitive piece of information in the middle of a presidential election and not share it with Treasury officials. The IRS is an independent agency within the Treasury Department.

"It's just implausible to me," Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said in an interview after the hearing. "Bureaucrats don't take risks by doing things that they know will get them fired, or get them disciplined by their superiors."

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said, "It's just hard to figure that there isn't more to this than they are letting on."

"How much did the political calendar influence when they disclosed this?" Thune said. "Obviously it was a presidential election year. Disclosure of something like this would have been explosive."

About the same time Shulman was briefed in 2012, George told Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin that his office was investigating complaints from conservative groups. But, George said, he did not reveal the results of the investigation.

Last week, Obama appointed White House budget official Daniel Werfel as the acting IRS commissioner. Werfel takes over Wednesday.

Tuesday's hearing was the second in a series by congressional committees looking into the IRS. The House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing last week and the House oversight committee has one scheduled for Wednesday.

Miller apologized on behalf of the IRS to the committee "for the mistakes that we made and the poor service we provided. The affected organizations and the American public deserve better."

It was the second time in a week that Miller apologized to Congress. But Shulman, who ran the agency when the problems occurred, declined several invitations to apologize.

"You know, I'm deeply, deeply saddened by this whole set of events," Shulman said in response to a question by Cornyn.

"Is that an apology?" Cornyn asked.

"I certainly am not personally responsible for creating a list that had inappropriate criteria on it," Shulman said. "With that said, this happened on my watch. And I very much regret that it happened on my watch."

"Well, I don't think that qualifies an apology," Cornyn said. "It qualifies as an expression of regret, which I think is well-deserved."

___

Associated Press writers Martin Crutsinger and Henry C. Jackson contributed to this report.

___

Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stephenatap

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-05-21-IRS-Political%20Groups/id-fedfb829605344748752737f38f98e7b

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Liberator gun made with consumer 3D printer, plastic pistol fires nine shots successfully (video)

Liberator gun made with consumer 3D printer, plastic pistol fires nine shots successfully video

Defense Distributed's plan is to put the power of guns in the hands of every person with access to the internet and a 3D printer. Until now, however, we'd only seen the Liberator pistol built using an expensive industrial-grade printer -- despite the fact that the blueprints for gun have been downloaded by thousands of people who don't have access to such a high-end machine. One of those folks decided to put the Liberator in the hands of the printing proletariat by making it with a consumer-level Lulzbot A0-101 3D printer, a nail and some common screws.

This new version, called the Lulz Liberator, differs from the original in that it's got a rifled barrel and uses metal hardware to hold it together (as opposed to printed plastic pins). Printing it took around two days and used about $25 worth of generic ABS material, and the pistol produced was fired successfully nine times, but its creator claims it could've shot more. It's still a far cry from a Glock or Beretta, of course, as the gun misfired several times, and removing spent shell casings required the use of a hammer. So, it's not quite ready for prime time, but it's one more bit of proof that the age of printed pistols is officially upon us.

[Image Credit: Michael Guslick]

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Source: Forbes

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/20/liberator-gun-made-with-consumer-3d-printer-plastic-pistol-fire/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Monday, May 20, 2013

Sing us the song of the century, that?s louder than violent mortality (Unqualified Offerings)

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The Basics Of Affiliate Promotion In A Nutshell | Inner Badass Team

Affiliate marketing has roots in centuries of promotional techniques. It stands out from the ?quick and easy? attitude of online speedsters. Affiliate programs have been generating revenue for webmasters for a good number of years. When the lengthy history of affiliate promotion and the swift rate at which it continues to develop are taken into account, it becomes apparent that a wealth of information exists on the subject. No matter what stage of internet marketing you are in, this article provides helpful information to help with your success.

It?s a good idea to research how a business keeps track of orders not created through their web site when you?re looking through online marketing programs. You might lose commission if orders you directed to the company are made by mail or on the phone.

Carefully research any products that you are considering linking to before you actually do so. Doing the homework to determine how to organize affiliate links within your website may take a bit of time, but the effort is handsomely rewarded as the profits start to roll in.

There are many different options for partners in affiliate marketing and each has their own positives and negatives. Many of them are frustrating or confusing to navigate. A good affiliate marketer doesn?t allow a poor website to interfere with his business. You establish trust through this method and garner purchases.

Think about your target market when choosing affiliates. This also helps your audience clearly learn more about how you plan to provide them what they need, along with boosting your traffic.

Affiliate marketing is one of the most popular and effective ways to get results from your online business. There are other online advertising methods like contextual networks and banner advertising but affiliate programs will consistently generate more visitors to your site. When choosing an affiliate program, bear in mind the payment you receive for referrals, the popularity of the directory and its ease of navigation.

If you want to make a lot of money in your web marketing venture, go for companies that convert customers easily. Even a one percent conversion rate is good.

Banner ads can be used creatively to encourage more users to visit your webpage. Include an interesting trivia question in the ad and entice users to visit your website to find the answer. Curiosity will get the most out of a lot of individuals. You can encourage participation by giving discounts for winning answers.

Once you have determined which products you want to promote for your affiliate partner, you should ensure that your marketing strategy is directed toward the appropriate audience. Cheaper products are easy to make money based on higher volumes. For instance, selecting a rather expensive product will require you to focus on convincing customers more than working with volumes.

Lifetime commissions, in affiliate marketing, are now quite rare. Still, the rewards are very great. Vendors pay website owners for products sold from their referrals, of course. This is a typical commission arrangement. Be aware that commissions are paid out when customers make purchases during a specifically agreed upon time line. Lifetime commissions are a huge income stream, so they are still worth looking for.

Use a handwritten, scanned advertisement on your site. That personal touch will go a long way to connecting with potential buyers, because it will help them see the real person behind the products. If you dislike writing things by hand, or have illegible handwriting, hire a freelancer to help you create the ad.

Include all the media you can in your affiliate marketing efforts. Try adding screenshots or even videos of the product in action. People will want to buy your product because it is so appealing. Also, play to people?s love of technical details. Give plenty of specifics in your reviews so people can be confident about your product.

Your newsletter should be written in a style that will encourage people to join your email list. Not too long ago, people really enjoyed getting emails. Nowadays, with everyone jumping through hurdles to avoid spam, an informative and friendly newsletter can go a long way.

Boost your sales by ensuring your site has plenty of links, but also be sure that those links are relevant to the content being provided. If a person clicks on a link that says ?Apple iPad,? they will not be pleased if it leads to your page selling Verizon handsets. Any attempt to use cleverness or vagueness to lure visitors could backfire, and seem dishonest to your viewers.

Promote only products that you are confident about. What you recommend also as an effect on how customers view your business. By promoting only the best and most useful items, you?ll instill a sense of trust in your customers. You can keep customers if you promote good products and prices.

You need to make sure that you remain relevant if you wish to find success with internet marketing. It is important to stay current on new tools offered by your affiliate programs. Check out the constantly evolving tools that will draw customers into your web marketing goals.

One of the best ways to advertise if you are an affiliate marketer is to use the product and be proud of it. Writing about and putting product reviews on the web is a great way to display the usefulness of your product. Forums will also be a great place to expound upon your experiences with the products you sell. Every time you post something to the Internet, remember to include an affiliate link so that readers have a way to make purchases and bring you more sales.

Affiliate promotion is a good way to make money. Knowing how best to work these programs is key to reaping those profits.

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Plane makes emergency belly landing

NEWARK, N.J (AP) ? An airline official says a US Airways Express flight with 34 people aboard was forced to make a belly landing at Newark International Airport after experiencing landing gear trouble. No injuries were reported.

US Airways spokesman Davien Anderson says a turboprop plane that left Philadelphia shortly before 11 p.m. Friday landed safely at Newark with its landing gear retracted at about 1 a.m. Saturday.

Anderson says the flight, being operated by Piedmont Airlines, was carrying 31 passengers and three crew members. He says the plane circled Newark in a holding pattern while working to get the gear down. After several failed attempts, the plane landed on its belly.

Anderson says the passengers were evacuated to the terminal by bus. He says US Airways is cooperating with the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the incident.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/landing-gear-issue-leads-planes-belly-landing-081148090.html

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Sunday, May 19, 2013

HBT: J-Up hits monster grand slam in Braves win

You?re probably not going to see a prettier grand slam this season, folks. With his team down 4-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning against Dodgers reliever Paco Rodriguez, Braves left fielder Justin Upton crushed a 1-1 fastball deep to left field to give the Braves a 6-4 lead. ESPN Stats & Info reported it at 461 feet, his longest home run as a Brave.

Upton had been slumping, hitting zero home runs with a .652 OPS between April 28 and May 12. He appears to have broken out of it as he went 4-for-5 with a tape-measure homer against the Diamondbacks on Monday and drove in five runs tonight against the Dodgers. Upton now has a league-leading 14 home runs and 28 RBI on the season.

Watch the grand salami:

The Braves went on to win 8-5, improving their record to 23-18 and helping them maintain their place atop the NL East.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/05/17/justin-upton-hit-a-majestic-grand-slam/related/

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Foosackly's Dauphin Street location to close, relocate (UPDATED ...

Updated 12:25 p.m. May 18:

Foosackly's took to Facebook once more to declare their plans to build a new store.

"Our Dauphin Street location IS closing this year BUT we are building a new one right down the street near Sage Ave. This bad boy will be our biggest location yet and we can't thank our fans enough for the support over the last 13 years. We are so proud to be a Mobile Original!"

A message posted on Mobile-based chicken chain Foosackly's Facebook wall on Friday May 17 announced that its popular Dauphin Street location would be shutting its doors.?

The message claims that the reason has to do with the traffic congestion the popular?restaurant?causes.?

Fans jumped to blaming the city of Mobile before the Foosackly's page moderator jumped back into the conversation and assured its fans that the city was helping them find a safer spot to relocate to.?

"They're helping us move down the street to a bigger and hopefully better location," the moderator wrote.?

A commenter stated that she had noticed a "now leased" sign on the old Popeye's building. In response, the Foosackly's moderator called her "one smart lady," alluding to the old Popeye's as their possible future location.?

?

Source: http://blog.al.com/live/2013/05/foosackleys_dauphin_street_loc.html

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Saturday, May 18, 2013

'Hatchet hitchhiker' gets handcuffs with his Starbucks

ELIZABETH, N.J. (AP) ? Two cups of coffee ended life on the run for an Internet sensation known as Kai the hatchet-wielding hitchhiker.

An employee at a Starbucks in Philadelphia is credited with recognizing 24-year-old Caleb "Kai" McGillvary, whose fledgling celebrity took a turn toward notoriety when authorities announced this week that he was wanted in the beating death of a New Jersey lawyer three times his age.

The unlikely pair met amid the neon lights of New York City's Times Square over the weekend and headed back to the squat brick home of 73-year-old Joseph Galfy Jr. on a quiet cul-de-sac in suburban Clark, N.J., authorities say. On Monday, Galfy was found beaten to death in his bedroom, wearing only his socks and underwear. McGillvary was arrested Thursday shortly after leaving the Starbucks and charged with killing Galfy.

McGillvary gained a measure of fame in February after intervening in an attack on a California utility worker. In an interview viewed millions of times online, he described using a hatchet he was carrying to repeatedly hit a man who had struck a worker with his car, fending off a further attack, and thus became known as "Kai the hatchet-wielding hitchhiker."

Galfy's funeral was held Friday in a small stone chapel in Warren, N.J. He was buried in East Hanover.

Galfy was an "excellent land use attorney," said friend Robert Ellenport. He said Galfy loved to travel and was a fan of the New York Giants and the Seton Hall University basketball team. Galfy would fly to warmer climes to watch Seton Hall play its first games of the season and was urging Ellenport and his partner to travel to Bali, one of Galfy's favorite vacation spots.

Galfy was a respected lawyer who in recent years handled land use and domestic violence cases, according to Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow, whose office is prosecuting McGillvary. The two knew each other through legal circles.

"He was just a nice man, a gentle man, well-regarded in the community," Romankow said.

In addition to his law practice, Galfy was the attorney for the planning board in Green Brook, N.J., and played drums in a wedding band.

Authorities said McGillvary was arrested Thursday evening after he walked into a Starbucks near a bus station in downtown Philadelphia and ordered two coffees. The woman who served McGillvary recognized him and alerted her manager, who called the police.

McGillvary took off before police arrived, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said, and without his coffee. But an officer went to a nearby bus terminal and found McGillvary, who was arrested there.

"He wasn't lying low," Romankow said. "He was out there."

McGillvary was being held on $3 million bail and awaited extradition Friday on charges in Galfy's killing. It's not clear whether McGillvary has a lawyer. The public defender's office in Philadelphia had no record of him.

Romankow said that McGillvary, who said in his TV appearance he prefers to be called "home-free" instead of homeless, traded on his newfound prominence to meet fans across the country.

Those fans include Terry Ratliff, 32, of Kingsland, Ga., who said he spoke to McGillvary a few times recently about working on music with him. Ratliff said he made about $70 from a YouTube video featuring McGillvary and sent him $34 on May 8. Ratliff said McGillvary was in New York at the time.

The two haven't met, but Ratliff started a fund for McGillvary's legal defense. So far it has only raised $66.

"If he is telling the truth, then maybe better legal representation will help get that truth out," Ratliff said.

McGillvary has made statements before, though, that don't add up.

He has said he is from Sophia, W.Va., but Mayor Danny Barr said Friday that he and the fire chief know everyone in the town of 1,334, have never heard of him and found nothing about him in town records.

McGillvary also wrote statements on Facebook following Galfy's death that were "sexual in nature," Romankow said, and noted that they could have been self-serving.

McGillvary's last post, dated Tuesday, asks "what would you do?" if you awoke in a stranger's house and found you'd been drugged and sexually assaulted. One commenter suggests hitting him with a hatchet, and McGillvary's final comment on the post says, "I like your idea."

It was a hatchet that helped give McGillvary a brief taste of fame in February when he gave a rambling, profanity-laced interview to a Fresno, Calif., television station about thwarting an unprovoked attack on a Pacific Gas & Electric employee. The interview went viral, with one version viewed more than 3.9 million times on YouTube. McGillvary later traveled to Los Angeles to appear on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"

Noting that his photo had been all over, Ramsey said it apparently wasn't difficult to recognize McGillvary.

"Being on YouTube too much," the police commissioner said, "is not always a good thing."

___

Associated Press writers Kathy Matheson in Philadelphia; Vicki Smith in Morgantown, W.Va.; and Rema Rahman in Trenton, N.J., contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pa-coffee-run-leads-hatchet-hitchhiker-arrest-171038273.html

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Police recover historic artifacts from Victoria church days after theft

VICTORIA - Invaluable, historic artifacts stolen from the Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria last week have been recovered.

The theft of the items, some of them dating to the 17th century, made headlines across the country last weekend.

The artifacts were anonymously turned into police headquarters late Thursday night.

Victoria Police Staff Sgt. Scott McGregor says police had been working tirelessly on the case and he believes the person who dropped off the items may have been feeling some heat.

The items recovered included gold and silver chalices, Canadian coins and a communion plate.

The display case where some of the artifacts were stored was alarmed, but the thieves managed to cut their way in and grab the items before authorities were alerted.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/police-recover-historic-artifacts-victoria-church-days-theft-185852155.html

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Surgeons-in-training dislike new work hours: survey

By Andrew M. Seaman

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Most surgeons-in-training dislike new rules that limit how many hours they can work, according to a new study that also found the majority said they skirt the restrictions.

Researchers surveyed 1,013 surgical residents - who train for years alongside more senior surgeons - and found that about two of every three said they disapproved of the 2011 regulations, which aimed to improve patient care as well as the residents' education and quality of life.

"I don't think anybody wants to work 120 hours a week, but I don't think we really want medicine to necessarily have bankers' hours," said Dr. Brian Drolet, the study's lead author and a fourth-year surgical resident at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence.

Under pressure from the public and government officials, in July 2011 the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) restricted the shifts of the most junior trainee surgeons, first-year surgical interns, to 16 hours and capped the shifts of the remaining residents at 28 hours.

The regulations built on similar restrictions the organization put in place in 2003, but the policy has raised questions about whether simply restricting the hours doctors-in-training are permitted to work improves their lives or the health of their patients.

Some recent studies have suggested, for example, that the new rules create more hand-offs of patient care, and possibly more errors, while shortchanging the doctors' education (see Reuters Health story of March 25, 2013 here: http://reut.rs/WRLaLj).

For the new study, Drolet and his colleagues surveyed residents from graduate programs across the U.S. at the end of 2011, six months after the regulations went into effect.

Of the 4,140 residents sent the survey, about a quarter answered the 20 questions about patient care and residents' education and quality of life.

More than half said that patient safety was unchanged six months after the regulations were put in place. About 40 percent said patient care got worse, however, and about 10 percent said it improved.

As for their own education, about 40 percent of residents said there was no decrease in quality, but another 55 percent said it had gotten worse. About 70 percent also said there was less focus on preparing them to take on a more senior role. The same proportion also felt senior residents had to take on tasks more suited for a less-experienced resident.

About half of the residents said their work schedules were worse after the change and about 22 percent said they were getting less rest despite the limits on work hours.

Overall, there was some improvement in the quality of life of first-year interns, but a much smaller improvement among more senior residents, according to the researchers who published their findings in JAMA Surgery.

The most striking of the results, according to Drolet, is that almost 70 percent of the residents said they were not following the new requirement in some way.

About half of the residents said they were underreporting or working between one and five hours more than they should each week, and more than 60 percent said they were falsifying their duty hours "to appear in compliance with regulations."

In a critique accompanying the new study, Dr. Orlando Kirton said the findings on underreporting and falsifying duty hours represent "extremely troubling behavior."

"The ACGME rules are the law of the land. It is no longer about adoption but about adaptation and demonstrating resolve. Noncompliance is not an option and must not be encouraged," Kirton writes.

He points out, however, that the study had some limitations, including that only a fraction of the hospitals asked to participate in the survey did so.

But Dr. Sanjay Desai, director of the residency program at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, told Reuters Health he believes the researchers would find similar results if they did the study today.

"It takes time for programs to adapt to the new rules," said Desai, who was not involved in the new study.

"This just adds to the body of data that I think creates this need to look at this very carefully, partner with everybody concerned to get to the table and look at this more rigorously," he added.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/15T36LW JAMA Surgery, online May 15, 2013.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/surgeons-training-dislike-hours-survey-194513540.html

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Friday, May 17, 2013

Strong finish makes for a clear 'Idol' favorite

TV

14 hours ago

IMAGE: Candice Glover and Kree Harrison

Getty Images Contributor

Candice Glover and Kree Harrison faced off on "American Idol" Wednesday night.

Kree Harrison won the coin toss for the ?American Idol? finale, and elected to sing first. In hindsight, that wasn?t a great choice.

On a night when both singers showed they didn?t make it this far by accident, Candice Glover saved her best performance of season 12 for the most opportune moment. Her reprise of ?I (Who Have Nothing)? showed the power, range, and swagger that was hard for the audience to ignore, and gave her a ton of momentum just as the voting lines were opened for the final time this year.

Moreover, the song choice also showed some daring. She began the song a capella, ensuring that the only thing the audience would hear was the sound of her voice. No instruments to drown her out or smooth over the rough spots. Certainly no background singers. Just her pipes. She had to be strong to make that work, and she was equal to the challenge.

Both Kree and Candice sang three songs: a Simon Fuller selection, their first single, and a reprise of their favorite performance thus far. And both saw their three songs fit their season-long storylines as though it were a made-for-TV movie.

Kree started with ?Angel,? by Sarah McLachlan. Her first single would be called ?All Cried Out,? and she chose ?Up to the Mountain? by Patty Griffin to close her night. For someone who has experienced horrible setbacks, and has had to bury both of her parents, the themes of love and loss and perseverance show how she made it to this point.

Candice, on the other hand, had been cut from ?Idol? twice before, in seasons nine and 11. In season nine she forgot the words to ?Chasing Pavements? by Adele right before getting sent home. Simon Fuller chose to have her sing that again, and this time the lyrics were flawless. Her original, ?I Am Beautiful,? was perfect for someone who has said she?s lacked confidence in herself in the past. And her final song blasted through any reservations critics might have had about what her voice can do.

Predictably the weakest for both was their coronation song, in part because it was as unfamiliar to them as it was to the audience. And to their credit, both were better than the Carly Rae Jepsen crowdsourced single that debuted on the ?Idol? stage as well.

The judges, meanwhile, were quiet, getting less of a role than in previous seasons. Perhaps that?s an indication that we shouldn?t get too comfortable with them since rumors are that Randy Jackson isn?t the only one on his way out the door. He and Mariah Carey were the only two to speak after round one, and Randy only made that memorable by saying of his boss?s song selection, ?"I'm not sure either of the songs are ones I would have chosen. They were a little sleepy, to be honest." Wonder if he would have gone down that road if he wasn?t already out the door?

Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban finally got to open their mouths in round two, with Keith declaring Kree the winner and Nicki favoring Candice. Sadly, they disagreed politely, so no drama here. And in both cases, the singers had already gone backstage, so they were only talking to the audience.

Everyone got to say their piece in front of the finalists after their third and final acts of the night, and given the sheer volume of praise this season it was fitting that both were immediately ordained as superstars.

?I?m so glad you did that one, Kreedom. That energy is so uplifting. I loved it even more than the single performance because it just felt so rich,? Nicki Minaj said after Kree sang ?Up on the Mountain.?

?That girl can flat-out sing. This is how you do it,? Randy said about Candice. ?It?s about singing and baby, you?ve got it all.?

She certainly did at the finish, and that?s why she?ll probably be crowned the ?American Idol? season 12 champion on Thursday.

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/strong-finish-makes-clear-american-idol-favorite-1C9942530

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Study Says 41 Percent of Americans Struggle to Pay Medical Debt

By John Clark

During the last 12 months, 41 percent of adults between the ages of 19 and 64 had trouble paying medical debt, or were paying off debt over a long period of time, according to a report from the Dallas Morning News.

Sources say the data was collected during a survey led by the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that lobbies for health care reform.

High Number of American Families Burdened With Medical Debt

Medical debt, which is one of the leading causes of bankruptcy in the United States, has long been identified as a serious problem, but the Commonwealth Fund study shows just how dangerous it has become.

In addition to the 41 percent of Americans struggling to pay their hospital bills, 29 percent of Americans were found to be carrying more than $4,000 in medical debt, a figure that the survey labeled ?substantial.?

In addition, roughly 16 percent of Americans reported having more than $8,000 in medical debt, and a healthy percentage of these people carried tens of thousands in unpaid bills, according to sources.

And the survey wasn?t a sloppy affair. Sources say it was conducted over the course of three months using telephone interviews with more than 4,000 adults who were selected at random.

According to Sara Collins, a vice president at the Commonwealth Fund, the most common reasons for the increase in medical debt include poor insurance coverage, gaps in health insurance, and higher costs for routine medical services.

Congress Tries to Address Skyrocketing Medical Bills

While more and more Americans go bankruptcy due to medical bills, Congress has made some efforts to address the problem. The Affordable Care Act, which will be fully implemented next year, has offered some aid.

For example, a provision that allows adult children to stay on their parents? insurance plans until the age of 26 has expanded coverage for young adults, which is a ?major reversal in terms of the trends that we?ve seen among young adults over time,? according to Collins.

In addition, the new health care law will, in theory, allow millions of uninsured and underinsured Americans to improve their coverage.

And, according to Collins, once these people get adequate health coverage, ?they?re obviously going to have financial protection and they?re not going to be hit with these catastrophic bills.?

But the efficacy of the new law has yet to be seen, so millions of Americans may continue to struggle under the weight of excessive medical bills in the near future.

Source: http://www.clearbankruptcy.com/blog/study-says-41-percent-of-americans-struggle-to-pay-medical-debt/

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Coda (Balloon Juice)

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