Heat, LeBron securing places in history

The Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade, right, holds the Larry O'Brien NBA Championship Trophy as LeBron James holds his Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award after Game 7 of the NBA basketball championship game against the San Antonio Spurs, Friday, June 21, 2013, in Miami. The Miami Heat defeated the San Antonio Spurs 95-88 to win their second straight NBA championship. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

The Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade, right, holds the Larry O'Brien NBA Championship Trophy as LeBron James holds his Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award after Game 7 of the NBA basketball championship game against the San Antonio Spurs, Friday, June 21, 2013, in Miami. The Miami Heat defeated the San Antonio Spurs 95-88 to win their second straight NBA championship. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Miami Heat players including LeBron James, top center, celebrate after Game 7 of the NBA basketball championship game against the San Antonio Spurs, Friday, June 21, 2013, in Miami. The Miami Heat defeated the San Antonio Spurs 95-88 to win their second straight NBA championship. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Miami Heat small forward LeBron James (6) reacts after being fouled during the second half in Game 7 of the NBA basketball championship against the San Antonio Spurs, Thursday, June 20, 2013, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Miami Heat s forward LeBron James (6) reacts after he was fouled during the second half in Game 7 of the NBA basketball championship against the San Antonio Spurs, Thursday, June 20, 2013, in Miami. The Miami Heat won 95-88. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Miami Heat fans climb the sign stanchion outside American Airline Stadium while celebrating in Miami on Thursday June 20, 2013 after the Heat won the 2013 NBA Championship against the San Antonio Spurs. The Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs 95-88 in Game 7 of the NBA finals to win their second straight title. (AP Photo/Javier Galeano)

MIAMI (AP) ? Dwyane Wade was walking down the hallway toward the Miami Heat locker room in the wee hours of Friday morning, still in uniform and fussing with the new championship hat atop his head as his team and their families were in the midst of partying the night away.

He stopped briefly and assessed the celebration.

"We're getting pretty good at these," Wade said.

That's understandable, the Heat are getting plenty of practice at throwing themselves end-of-season parties. Four trips to the NBA Finals since 2006, three championships in that span and with the last two titles coming consecutively, it's making the decisions that the Heat and LeBron James made three summers ago look pretty smart.

By topping San Antonio in Game 7 of a back-and-forth NBA Finals on Thursday, the Heat became the sixth franchise in league history to win consecutive championships. It's their third title overall; only four clubs have more. And for James, it capped two seasons where he won all he could ? two regular-season MVPs, two titles, two Finals MVPs, even an Olympic gold medal.

"It feels great. This team is amazing. And the vision that I had when I decided to come here is all coming true," James said. "Through adversity, through everything we've been through, we've been able to persevere and to win back to back championships. It's an unbelievable feeling. I'm happy to be part of such a first-class organization."

James said winning his first title was the toughest thing he's ever done.

It's now the second-toughest. Defending the crown, he said, was even more arduous. He was exhausted when it was over ? and still scored 37 points in the finale, more than he posted in any other postseason game this season.

"Believe in LeBron," Heat President Pat Riley said.

Miami did, all the way to the end.

The Heat rolled past Milwaukee in a first-round sweep, needed five games to oust Chicago in the second round, but then went to the seven-game limit against Indiana in the Eastern Conference finals and then to the last game again against the Spurs, who actually were 21 seconds away from ending the series in six games before James and the Heat engineered a huge rally.

Without that comeback, a championship-or-bust season would have gone bust.

Instead, legacies were enhanced, more trophies were hoisted, and Miami's place atop the NBA landscape was cemented.

"To be in the championship three years in a row, to win two of those three, is unbelievable," Wade said. "Everybody can't get to the Finals and win six in a row, like win six and not lose one like Michael Jordan. Everyone don't do that. But we are excited about the future of this organization. We are still a good team. And we're going to do everything we can to make sure that we can stay competitive."

Moves will be made, of course. The Heat have some luxury-tax concerns to address, and it would be a shock if they didn't try to get even better through a trade or free agency.

"All it's about now is what's in front of us," Riley said.

Then again, if James keeps getting better, Miami's place in history will probably only rise.

At 6-foot-8 and 250 pounds, James has a combination of size, speed and strength that seems unmatched in the NBA world. After Miami lost the 2011 finals to Dallas, James decided to improve his post play by working with Hakeem Olajuwon. Last season, his focus was on enhancing his mid-range jumper, something he continued working on throughout the season with Ray Allen.

So with about a half-minute left and the Heat up by two points, it was that mid-range jumper that sealed Miami's title. James delivered with 27.9 seconds left to make it a two-possession game. Not long afterward, he had the Larry O'Brien Trophy in one arm, the Finals MVP trophy in the other, ready for a well-deserved break from basketball.

"I want to be, if not the greatest, one of the greatest to ever play this game," James said. "And I will continue to work for that, and continue to put on this uniform and be the best I can be every night."

James has already put himself in that best-ever conversation.

"We all know his work ethic," said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who spent part of his first day as a two-time champion coach at Jim Larranaga's basketball camp at the University of Miami. "It's probably unique for a guy who has been the best in the game since he was in seventh grade. Usually you wouldn't have the type of work ethic that would match that type of talent."

Jordan won six titles, James only has two. But if that's the sole standard, then Jordan isn't even close either, considering Bill Russell won 11 rings in his Boston career. Russell was there for the Heat title clincher, served as part of the on-court trophy presentations, then retreated to a small room not far from the Miami locker room as players meandered in for one of the immediate perks of winning a title ? a photo shoot with the trophy.

James posed for hundreds of photos during his time in there. Camera clicks were a constant sound for about 10 minutes when he was in the room. And before he left, he and Wade waved for Russell to come join them for some more snapshots.

"Get the legend up here," James shouted.

Russell walked to the front of the room as a few people, mostly Heat employees and family members, clapped. He shook hands with the Heat stars, then turned around to face the cameras and said something to James that was barely audible to those even a few feet away.

"You earned this one," Russell said.

James' grin became even broader, and camera shutters kept on whirring. Suddenly, that oft-mocked, oft-replayed "not two, not three, not four" answer James gave during the Heat celebration of their free agency coup in 2010 doesn't look like such a punch line anymore.

"I always felt that when he got up to five, six, seven that he was joking a little bit, but the media decided to take him very seriously," Heat managing general partner Micky Arison said. "I think right now he's real happy with two and next year he'll be worried about three."

James has played 10 seasons now. Including playoffs, his scoring average is 27.6, third-best in league history behind only Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain. Since the league began charting plus-minus (the point differential when a player is on the court), James' teams have outscored opponents by 3,861 points with him in regular-season and playoff games. Second-best on that list? Wade, at 2,301 points. That gap is simply huge.

With an average season next year, he'll move into the Top 25 in all-time regular-season scoring. He got more rebounds per game this season than ever before, shot the 3-pointer better than ever before, punctuating that by making five in Game 7 of the finals. And here's what might be truly frightening for opponents: For the sixth straight year, James' shooting percentage got better.

"Hopefully people will leave him alone a little more now," Heat forward Shane Battier said. "He takes a lot of heat, I think undeservedly. He's the best player on the planet. And hopefully now with two titles, he'll get more the benefit of the doubt. But, you know, he's the best. He's the best right now."

So are the Heat. And that can't be argued.

The Celtics, Lakers and Bulls are the only franchises to win three straight titles. That will be the challenge for the Heat next year, to take a great run and make it a truly elite run.

For now, though, James wants no part of that conversation. He's going to enjoy this one for a good long while.

"It's the ultimate," James said. "I don't want to think about next year right now, what our possibilities are next year. Got to take full advantage of this one. It's an unbelievable moment for our team."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-06-21-BKN-NBA-Finals/id-775ffe952db74da3a54a07d6c0c493d2

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Brazil leader breaks silence about protests

A riot police officer uses his front teeth to hold onto to a non-lethal grenade during an anti-government protest near the Cidade de Deus, or City of God slum, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, June 21, 2013. City centers around Brazil were still smoldering on Friday after 1 million protesters took to the streets amid growing calls on social media for a general strike next week. While most protesters were peaceful, some small groups clashed violently with police, who responded in some cases with tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

A riot police officer uses his front teeth to hold onto to a non-lethal grenade during an anti-government protest near the Cidade de Deus, or City of God slum, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, June 21, 2013. City centers around Brazil were still smoldering on Friday after 1 million protesters took to the streets amid growing calls on social media for a general strike next week. While most protesters were peaceful, some small groups clashed violently with police, who responded in some cases with tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

A message by Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff is broadcast live at the bus station in Brasilia, Brazil, Friday, June 21, 2013. The Brazilian ended her near-silence about more than a week of massive, violent protests, saying in a prime time TV broadcast Friday that peaceful demonstrations were part of a strong democracy but that violence could not be tolerated. She promised to make improvements to public services, but said it couldn't be done overnight. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

People shout slogans during an anti-government protest at Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, June 21, 2013. The country's president, who is a former leftist guerrilla, has done little more than show brief support for the protesters since the demonstrations began a week ago. That's brought criticism that she has allowed the situation to spiral out of control. Rousseff was to meet Friday, with bishops from the Catholic Church about the possible impact of the protests on a papal visit that is still scheduled next month. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

People march during an anti-government protest at Ipanema beach, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, June 21, 2013. Demonstrations began as an outcry against a 10-cent hike in bus and subway fares in Brazil's largest cities, but have continued even after announcements that the increases would be rescinded. Protesters have expressed frustration with corruption and what they say are high taxes and poor public services. They've demanded everything from education reforms to free bus fares while denouncing the billions of public dollars spent on stadiums before the World Cup and the Olympics. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Residents of the Ipanema neighborhood shout during an anti-government protest in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, June 21, 2013. Demonstrations began as an outcry against a 10-cent hike in bus and subway fares in Brazil's largest cities, but have continued even after announcements that the increases would be rescinded. Protesters have expressed frustration with corruption and what they say are high taxes and poor public services. They've demanded everything from education reforms to free bus fares while denouncing the billions of public dollars spent on stadiums before the World Cup and the Olympics. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) ? Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff spoke about her generation's struggles in battling a dictatorship during a prime-time speech meant to connect with the nation's youth who have energized widespread and at times violent anti-government protests.

The 10-minute address ended Rousseff's much-criticized silence in the face of the protests. She promised to make improvements in urban transportation and to battle corruption, but offered few details as to how that will happen.

The leader added she would soon hold a meeting with leaders of the protest movement, governors and the mayors of major cities. But it remained unclear exactly who could represent the massive and decentralized groups of demonstrators taking to the streets, venting anger against woeful public services despite a high tax burden.

Rousseff said that her government would create a national plan for public transportation in cities ? a hike in bus and subway fares in many cities was the original complaint of the protests. She also reiterated her backing for a plan before congress to invest all oil revenue royalties in education and a promise she made earlier to bring in foreign doctors to areas that lack physicians.

"I want institutions that are more transparent, more resistant to wrongdoing," Rousseff said in reference to perceptions of deep corruption in Brazilian politics, which is emerging as a focal point of the protests. "It's citizenship and not economic power that must be heard first."

The leader, a former Marxist rebel who fought against Brazil's 1964-1985 military regime and was imprisoned for three years and tortured by the junta, pointedly referred to earlier sacrifices made to free the nation from dictatorship.

"My generation fought a lot so that the voice of the streets could be heard," Rousseff said. "Many were persecuted, tortured and many died for this. The voice of the street must be heard and respected and it can't be confused with the noise and truculence of some troublemakers."

Edvaldo Chaves, a 61-year-old doorman in Rio's upscale Flamengo neighborhood, said he found the speech convincing.

"I thought she seemed calm and cool. Plus, because she was a guerrilla and was in exile, she talks about the issue of protests convincingly," Chaves said. "I think things are going to calm down. We'll probably keep seeing people in the streets but probably small numbers now."

But Bruna Romao, an 18-year-old store clerk in Sao Paulo, said Rousseff's words probably wouldn't have an impact.

"Brazilians are passionate," she said. "We boil over quickly but also cool down fast. But this time it's different, people are in full revolt. I don't see things calming down anytime soon."

Trying to decipher the president's reaction to the unrest had become a national guessing game, especially after some 1 million anti-government demonstrators took to the streets nationwide Thursday night to denounce everything from poor public services to the billions of dollars spent preparing for next year's World Cup soccer tournament and the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.

The protests continued Friday, as about 1,000 people marched in western Rio de Janeiro city, with some looting stores and invading an enormous $250 million arts center that remains empty after several years of construction. Police tried to disperse the crowd with tear gas as they were pelted with rocks. Police said some in the crowd were armed and firing at officers.

Local radio was also reporting that protesters were heading to the apartment of Rio state Gov. Sergio Cabral in the posh Rio neighborhood of Ipanema.

Other protests broke out in the country's biggest city, Sao Paulo, where traffic was paralyzed but no violence reported, and in Fortaleza in the country's northeast. Demonstrators were calling for more mobilizations in 10 cities on Saturday.

The National Conference of Brazilian Bishops came out in favor of the protests, saying that it maintains "solidarity and support for the demonstrations, as long as they remain peaceful."

"This is a phenomenon involving the Brazilian people and the awakening of a new consciousness," church leaders said in the statement. "The protests show all of us that we cannot live in a country with so much inequality."

Rousseff had never held elected office before she became president in 2011 and remains clearly uncomfortable in the spotlight.

She's the political protege of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a charismatic ex-union leader whose tremendous popularity helped usher his former chief of staff to the country's top office. A career technocrat and trained economist, Rousseff's tough managerial style under Silva earned her the moniker "the Iron Lady," a name she has said she detests.

While Rousseff stayed away from the public eye for most of the week, Roberto Jaguaribe, the nation's ambassador to Britain, told news channel CNN Friday the government was first trying to contain the protests.

He labeled as "very delicate" the myriad demands emanating from protesters in the streets.

"One of our ministers who's dealing with these issues of civil society said that it would be presumptuous on our part to think we know what's taking place," Jaguaribe said. "This is a very dynamic process. We're trying to figure out what's going on because who do we speak to, who are the leaders of the process?"

Marlise Matos, a political science professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, said before Rousseff spoke that answer wasn't good enough.

"The government has to respond, even if the agenda seems unclear and wide open," she said. "It should be the president herself who should come out and provide a response. But I think the government is still making strategic calculations to decide how to respond. What I'd like to see as a response is a call for a referendum on political reform. Let the people decide what kind of political and electoral system we have."

Social media and mass emails were buzzing with calls for a general strike next week. However, Brazil's two largest nationwide unions, the Central Workers Union and the Union Force, said they knew nothing about such an action, though they do support the protests.

A Thursday night march in Sao Paulo was the first with a strong union presence, as a drum corps led members wearing matching shirts down the city's main avenue. Many protesters have called for a movement with no ties to political parties or unions, which are widely considered corrupt here.

Several cities have cancelled the transit fare hikes that had originally sparked the demonstrations a week ago, but the outrage has only grown more intense.

Demonstrations for Saturday have been called by a group opposing a federal bill that would limit the power of prosecutors to investigate crimes.

Most protesters have been peaceful, and crowds have taken to chanting "No violence! No violence!" when small groups have prepared to burn and smash. The more violent demonstrators have usually taken over once night has fallen.

The unrest is hitting the nation as it hosts the Confederations Cup soccer tournament, with tens of thousands of foreign visitors in attendance.

Carlos Cardozo, a 62-year-old financial consultant who joined Friday's protest in Rio, said he thought the unrest could cost Rousseff next year's elections. Even as recently as last week, Rousseff had enjoyed a 74 percent approval rating in a poll by the business group the National Transport Confederation.

"Her paying lip service by saying she's in favor of the protests is not helping her cause," Cardozo said. "People want to see real action, real decisions, and it's not this government that's capable of delivering."

___

Barchfield reported from Rio de Janeiro and Brooks from Sao Paulo. Associated Press writers Stan Lehman in Sao Paulo and Jack Chang in Mexico City contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-06-22-Brazil-Protests/id-05174902fb654cb7930b6fea13bf7a4d

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Mass. man who ordered tie gets SS numbers instead

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? With a little more than two weeks to go before their wedding, Emily Dreyfuss' fiance ordered a tie and pocket square from Gap chain Banana Republic's website to go with his Navy blue suit.

What the couple got in the mail instead on Thursday would make an identity thief giddy: the confidential files of about 20 former employees, including Social Security numbers and W4 tax forms.

"We totally laughed," Dreyfuss, 29, said on Friday from her home in Cambridge, Mass.

She had misgivings about the package as soon as it arrived. It was really heavy and didn't say Banana Republic, but Gap Inc.

She and her fiancee have been buying each other presents, and she thought it may have been a really heavy piece of clothing with catalogs, said Dreyfuss, the daughter of actor Richard Dreyfuss.

Inside were three folders sealed with tape and labeled "HR Administration." They contained tax and Social Security information as well as handwritten resignation letters, doctors' notes and salary information ? seemingly the employees' entire record at the company. The employees were sales support associates and at least one made $9 an hour, Dreyfuss said.

The resignation letters were mostly from March. They were polite and positive, expressing thanks for the chance to work for the company.

Dreyfuss, who runs the home page and also writes for technology website CNET said she didn't look through everything.

"I got a queasy feeling and felt like I should stop looking at this," she said.

San Francisco-based Gap Inc. blamed the mix-up on a human mistake.

"We're taking immediate action to evaluate and strengthen our processes to prevent mis-mailings in the future and apologize for the error," spokeswoman Edie Kissko said in a statement.

Dreyfuss said a Banana Republic representative has since responded to a tweet about the mix-up and apologized. Dreyfuss was told clothing and employee information is sent out in the same type of gray plastic bag, and the two packages appear to have been mislabeled. It wasn't clear how that happened. The representative told Dreyfuss the store would look into what went wrong and inform the affected employees.

The company is sending her a self-addressed, stamped envelope to return the information.

Dreyfuss said the episode with Banana Republic raised concerns about how well the company is safeguarding customer information.

"People should know about this because it's crazy and scary," she said.

In her statement, Kissko said the company takes the confidentiality of personal information very seriously.

Dreyfuss was offered a free tie and pocket handkerchief ? a $61 value, but said she declined.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-06-21-US-Gap-Order-Mix-Up/id-5f1c0227db4c460599a110605c9540db

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Precisely what is Muga Fencing? | The Abundance Code

Written by Lovek Koveche

The buzz of sports being a form a recreation has resulted for the flourish of sports facilities across the world. Sports facilities give you a comfortable and safe location for visitors to embark on different types of sports. Before, most of these facilities catered just to one sort of activity like basketball for basketball courts, tennis for tennis courts and the like. Today, engineering advancement has established the Multi Use Game Area or MUGA that is quickly becoming popular.

What is MUGA? You may have heard the word used before. Multi Use Game Area, also referred to as MUGA is often a unique courts that allows different types of sports to become played in one region. This is thanks to synthetic surfacing. The phrase multi says all of it. Unlike the normal courts, MUGAs can host numerous types of play from basketball to football. You may ask how you could do. The volume of sports activities which a MUGA can serve is dependent upon its structure and design. Before it?s constructed, there are specific factors that are considered. This consists of base design, kerb perimeter, synthetic surface, and perimeter. These determines the over-all capability of the action area.

To really make the area more conducive to sports and safe for players and spectators alike, MUGA fencing is performed. What exactly is this? It is a form of fencing that is specially designed for varied types of sports. A lot of fencing companies concentrate on this kind of fencing. Mesh panel is a well-liked choice for a muga fences due to the durability, strength, and appearance. A fence is customized based on the form of games that the area allows. A MUGA fence offer several features like being able to support the balls from the facility; multiple entrance and exits for faster and easier access; locations people can safely view the games , and anti-rattle fixings. Additional accessories include basketball hoops, cycle shelters, and play areas.

Is there a contrast between Sports Fencing and MUGA fencing? The 2 are in reality similar because both types serve sports. A automated gates and MUGA fence make an effort to give you a safe and peaceful atmosphere, concurrently making activities more enjoyable either way players and viewers. However, a MUGA fence is in fact more diverse because it is built to handle various kinds of sports, unlike sports fencing that?s suitable for just one form of play.

Source: http://abundancecode.org/precisely-what-is-muga-fencing/

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'Monsters University': The Reviews Are In!

While some critics appreciate the prequel's lighthearted fun, most don't rank it among Pixar's best efforts.
By Todd Gilchrist

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1709427/monsters-university-reviews.jhtml

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Communications deal: Baofeng UV5RA Ham Two Way Radio ...

I have mentioned these inexpensive 2-meter HAM radio?s before. As of this publication (may change at any time) the price on a?Baofeng UV5RA Ham Two Way Radio is under $36.00 with FREE SHIPPING. These radio?s can obviously transmit on HAM frequencies (with appropriate ?licence) ? but equally important you can LISTEN.?

These units also can receive weather-radio channels, FM stations, and can transmit FRS/GMRS frequencies. ?Yes ? they will work with your inexpensive Midland FRS/GMRS walkie-talkies. There is even a built-in flashlight.

I am learning more and more about my Baofeng?s ? trying out different antenna?s, learning their local range capabilities, messing with the menu?s, and listening. It?s pretty cool.

Under $36.00 ?- a great deal.

Click HERE for more information.

Rourke

? 2013, Rourke. All rights reserved.

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This entry was posted on Friday, June 21st, 2013 at 12:33 am and is filed under communication. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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Video: Cramer: I 'Gave Up' on This Stock

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AP Exclusive: Taliban offer to free US soldier

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? The Taliban proposed a deal in which they would free a U.S. soldier held captive since 2009 in exchange for five of their most senior operatives at Guantanamo Bay, while Afghan President Hamid Karzai eased his opposition Thursday to joining planned peace talks.

The idea of releasing these Taliban prisoners has been controversial. U.S. negotiators hope they would join the peace process but fear they might simply return to the battlefield, and Karzai once scuttled a similar deal partly because he felt the Americans were usurping his authority.

The proposal to trade U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for the Taliban detainees was made by senior Taliban spokesman Shaheen Suhail in response to a question during a phone interview with The Associated Press from the militants' newly opened political office in Doha, the capital of the Gulf nation of Qatar.

The prisoner exchange is the first item on the Taliban's agenda before even starting peace talks with the U.S., said Suhail, a top Taliban figure who served as first secretary at the Afghan Embassy in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad before the Taliban government's ouster in 2001.

"First has to be the release of detainees," Suhail said Thursday when asked about Bergdahl. "Yes. It would be an exchange. Then step by step, we want to build bridges of confidence to go forward."

The Obama administration was noncommittal about the proposal, which it said it had expected the Taliban to make.

"We've been very clear on our feelings about Sgt. Bergdahl and the need for him to be released," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. "We have not made a decision to ... transfer any Taliban detainees from Guantanamo Bay, but we anticipate, as I've said, that the Taliban will all raise this issue."

Bergdahl, 27, of Hailey, Idaho, is the only known American soldier held captive from the Afghan war. He disappeared from his base in southeastern Afghanistan on June 30, 2009, and is believed held in Pakistan. Suhail said Bergdahl "is, as far as I know, in good condition."

Donna Thibedeau-Eddy, who has spent the last few days at the Idaho home of the soldier's parents, Bob and Jani Bergdahl, said the family was hopeful.

"I was with his Mom and Dad this morning when they got the news of the exchange offer. They were ecstatic," said Thibedeau-Eddy. "They actually saw the news before they got the call from the military. Bob saw it online and said 'Jani, Donna, look at this.'"

While there have been talks before, Bob Bergdahl is putting more faith and hope into the latest developments because it appears the Taliban are taking the initiative, Thibedeau-Eddy said.

Bergdahl's parents received a letter this month from their son through the International Committee of the Red Cross. They did not release details of the letter. The soldier's captivity has been marked by only sporadic releases of videos and information about his whereabouts.

The reconciliation process with the Taliban ? seen by most as the only way to end the nearly 12-year war ? has been a long and bumpy one.

The U.S. began secret talks with the militants more than two years ago in off-and-on discussions that lasted several months.

The two sides discussed prisoner exchanges and for a brief time it appeared that the five Guantanamo Bay prisoners would be released and sent to Qatar to help further the peace process.

But Karzai, furious that he had not been told of the talks in advance, demanded that the Taliban operatives be returned to Afghanistan rather than Qatar.

Since then, the U.S. has been trying to jumpstart peace talks and the Taliban have made several offers ? including sharing power in Kabul. The Taliban have also attended several international conferences and held meetings with representatives of about 30 countries.

Afghan and U.S. officials have said the Taliban being considered for any exchange deal are:

? Mohammad Fazl, a former Taliban chief of army staff and the deputy minister of defense.

? Abdul Haq Wasiq, former Taliban deputy minister of intelligence. He was in direct contact with supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar during the Taliban rule, according to military documents.

? Mullah Norullah Nuri , who has been described as one of the most significant former Taliban officials held at Guantanamo. He was a senior Taliban commander in Mazar-e-Sharif and previously was a Taliban governor in two provinces in northern Afghanistan.

? Khairullah Khairkhwa, a former Taliban minister of the interior and military commander. According to military documents, he had direct ties to Mullah Omar and Osama bin Laden and was also a friend of Karzai.

? Mohammed Nabi, former chief of security for the Taliban in Qalat, the capital of the southern province of Zabul.

If the Taliban hold talks with American delegates in the next few days, they will be the first U.S.-Taliban talks in nearly 1? years.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was expected in Doha ahead of a conference there scheduled for Saturday on the Syrian civil war. He was not expected to meet with the Taliban although other U.S. officials might in coming days.

On Wednesday in Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. had "never confirmed" any specific meeting schedule with Taliban representatives in Doha.

Prospective peace talks were again thrown into question Wednesday when Karzai became infuriated by the Taliban's move to cast their new office in Doha as a rival embassy.

The Taliban held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday in which they hoisted their flag and a banner that evoked the name they used while in power more than a decade ago: "Political Office of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan." Later, the Taliban replaced the sign to read simply: "Political office of the Taliban."

At the ceremony, the Taliban welcomed dialogue with Washington but said their fighters would not stop fighting. Hours later, the group claimed responsibility for a rocket attack on Bagram Air Base outside the Afghan capital, Kabul, which killed four American service members.

The U.S. expectation had been that U.S.-Taliban talks would be followed several days later with direct talks between the Taliban and a Karzai peace delegation.

But on Wednesday, Karzai announced that his government would not participate, apparently also angered by the way Kabul had been sidelined in the U.S.-Taliban bid for rapprochement.

The Afghan president also suspended negotiations with the United States on a bilateral security agreement that would cover American troops who will remain behind after the final withdrawal of NATO combat troops at the end of 2014.

That left U.S. officials scrambling to save the talks, and Kerry spoke with Karzai in phone conversations in an effort to bring him back on board.

On Thursday, Karzai spokesman Fayeq Wahidi said the Afghan president is willing to join peace talks with the Taliban if the U.S. follows through with promises he said were made by Kerry over the phone.

Wahidi said Kerry promised Karzai that the Taliban flag and a nameplate with their former regime's name would be removed and that the U.S. would issue a formal written statement supporting the Afghan government and making clear that the Taliban office would not be seen as an embassy or government-in-exile.

"If all those assurances and commitments the U.S. had given, if we are assured that they will be fully put in place on the issue of talks in Qatar," Wahidi said, "we would see no problem in entering into talks with the Taliban in Qatar. "

A decision on whether to restart the U.S. security agreement talks would be made after those assurances, he added, referring further questions to the foreign ministry.

On Thursday, the "Islamic Emirate" nameplate had been removed from the Taliban office. The flagpole inside the compound was apparently shortened and the Taliban flag ? dark Quranic script on a white background ? was still flying but not visible from the street. Journalists gathered at the office shot images of the flag through the gaps in the walls.

The Taliban have long refused to talk to Karzai's representatives but the opening of the office was seen as a first step toward those meetings.

Suhail said the Taliban are insistent that they want their first interlocutors to be the United States. "First we talk to the Americans about those issues concerning the Americans and us (because) for those issues implementation is only in the hands of the Americans," he said.

"We want foreign troops to be pulled out of Afghanistan," he added. "If there are troops in Afghanistan, then there will be a continuation of the war."

Suhail indicated the Taliban could approve of American trainers and advisers for the Afghan troops, saying that "of course, there is cooperation between countries in other things. We need that cooperation."

He said that once the Taliban concluded talks with the United States, they would participate in all-inclusive Afghan talks.

Suhail ruled out exclusive talks with Karzai's High Peace Council, which has been a condition of the Afghan president, who previously said he wanted talks in Doha to be restricted to his representatives and the Taliban. Instead, the Taliban would talk with all Afghan groups, Suhail said.

"After we finish the phase of talking to the Americans, then we would start the internal phase ... that would include all Afghans," he said. "Having all groups involved will guarantee peace and stability."

___

Gannon reported from Islamabad, Pakistan. Associated Press writers John Miller in Hailey, Idaho, Brian Murphy in Dubai and Deb Riechmann in Washington contributed to this report.

___

Kathy Gannon is AP Special Regional Correspondent for Afghanistan and Pakistan and can be reached at www.twitter.com/kathygannon

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ap-exclusive-taliban-offer-free-us-soldier-073132683.html

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U.S. cites Russia, China among worst in human trafficking: report

By Susan Heavey

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An annual U.S. State Department report on Wednesday cited Russia and China among the world's worst offenders in fighting forced labor and sex trafficking, which could lead to U.S. sanctions, prompting angry rebuttals from Moscow and Beijing.

The report said Russia had failed to provide systematic safeguards for victims of trafficking. China, it said, had done too little to outlaw all forms of trafficking and punish perpetrators.

The U.S. designation drops Russia and China, already often are at odds with Washington, in the same category as North Korea and Iran.

The State Department ranks countries according to the efforts they make to fight human trafficking. Russia, China and Uzbekistan all fell to the lowest level, Tier 3.

Russia's Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying the report used "unacceptable methodology" grouping countries according to their degree of sympathy with Washington.

"In fighting organized crime, including countering trafficking, Russian authorities will never follow instructions worked out in another country, let alone fulfill conditions presented nearly in the form of an ultimatum," it said.

Russia, it said, would retaliate against any sanctions.

In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Washington "should take an objective and impartial view of China's efforts, and stop making unilateral or arbitrary judgments of China".

China, she told a briefing, "has achieved remarkable progress in fighting domestic and transnational trafficking".

The U.S. report acknowledged that China had taken some steps, such as vowing to work with international organizations and increasing public awareness, but said it also continued to perpetuate the problem in hundreds of its own institutions.

"Despite these modest signs of interest in anti-trafficking reforms, the Chinese government did not demonstrate significant efforts to comprehensively prohibit and punish all forms of trafficking and to prosecute traffickers," U.S. officials wrote.

The report said China's one-child policy and preference for sons had reduced the number of women in the country, generating demand for women as brides or prostitutes.

Russia's government "had not established any concrete system for the identification or care of trafficking victims, lacking any formal victim identification and referral mechanism," although there were some "ad hoc efforts," the report said.

REPORT LIKELY TO STRAIN RELATIONS

The findings are likely to further complicate relations between the United States and the two countries, already strained by the handling of the civil war in Syria and cybersecurity, among other issues.

While it was not immediately clear what the Obama administration might do given the downgrade, human rights advocates and some U.S. lawmakers urged strong steps such as imposing sanctions or withholding foreign aid.

"China has become the sex and labor trafficking capital of the world," said U.S. Representative Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican. "Without serious and sustained action by Beijing, it is only going to get worse."

Under U.S. law, Tier 3 countries may face sanctions that do not affect trade or humanitarian assistance, such as educational funding or culture programs.

John Sifton, Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, said China and Russia had been given several chances to improve their efforts to combat trafficking and protect victims.

"The question for the White House is whether they're prepared to execute the sanctions," he said. "The question for China, Russia, and Uzbekistan is whether they're prepared to make commitments in the next 90 days to avoid those sanctions."

Despite pledges to combat such crimes, countries have failed to identify tens of millions of victims, according to the report, which ranked 188 countries and territories.

Just 40,000 victims of "modern slavery" were identified last year among the estimated 27 million men, women and children who are held against their will globally, the report said.

"Despite a growing body of knowledge about victims and their needs, finding them remains a tremendous challenge," department officials wrote in their 2013 Trafficking in Persons report.

Most victims were women and girls, although many men and boys were also affected.

Human trafficking practices can range from prostitution to forced labor among migrants or domestic servitude - and children also can be victims. Perpetrators are difficult to track and largely circulate in the private economy, although cases can involve rebel groups or national authorities.

A total of 7,705 alleged perpetrators were prosecuted in 2012, leading to 4,746 convictions, a slight increase from the prior year, U.S. officials said. In 2011, there were 7,206 prosecutions and 4,239 convictions.

Overall, far more countries were downgraded rather than deemed to have improved, Sifton said.

"This is a much more negative report than years past," he said. "Russia and China rightly deserve attention, but many other countries have very serious trafficking and forced labor problems."

Countries showing improvement included the Republic of Congo, Iraq and Azerbaijan, Sifton said.

President Barack Obama last year pledged to step up the U.S. effort to target trafficking.

(Additional reporting by Gabriela Baczynska in Moscow and Terril Yue Jones in BEIJING; Editing by Bill Trott and Ron Popeski)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-cites-russia-china-among-worst-human-trafficking-092119084.html

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Nevada Anger Management: LIFE IS A CELEBRATION, NOT AN ...

Intimate relationships should be pleasant experiences where there is love, mutual respect, enjoying of each other?s company and sharing of ideas, thoughts and experiences. In essence, sharing our lives.

Yet in many relationships there is anger and aggressive behavior. From where does this behavior come?

Most anger and aggressive behavior stems from our childhood. Learning the ANGRY REACTION is nearly complete by the age of two to three. We learn this from our parents and siblings. Then we carry it forward as we grow and mature into adulthood.

The aggressive behaviors of INATTENTION, INTIMIDATION, CONTROL, MANIPULATION, AVOIDANCE, INTERRUPTION, RAGE and HOSTILITY are all HURTFUL behaviors when perpetrated upon us or when we use them against others.

Either way the receiving party of these behaviors will usually respond either with AGGRESSION or with PASSIVE BEHAVIOR. If it?s aggression, it?s called ANGER. If it?s passive, it?s called AVOIDANCE.

Avoidance may also be a sign of low self-esteem and poor assertive skills.

In any event, our response to the hurtful, aggressive behavior we sense is also hurtful and aggressive behavior back at the attacking party. So at first we are victims of aggression, then we become perpetrators of aggression towards someone whom we may in fact share an intimate relationship. This back and forth behavior is your basic argument.

And this brings me back to the BLOG title above. LIFE is not an endurance contest. Sure we can fight back at our attackers using more attacks against them, by raising our voices and yelling, by even getting physical or even violent. NONE of this behavior nurtures our relationships and improves them. To the contrary, the relationships are harmed, some beyond repair. (Just look at the divorce rates!)

So how can this hurtful behavior we experience be resolved?

Our ANGER MANAGEMENT program will teach you new ways of behaving, how to respond to the attacks of others, how to stop being aggressive toward your loved ones, how to be more assertive, how to express your anger in a good and appropriate way, how to boost your self-esteem, how to improve your management of stress, how to understand your emotions and the emotions of others and how to improve your communication skills. Our program is NOT therapy but rather sskill enhancement.

Make your life a CELEBRATION not an ENDURANCE contest.

We offer anger management in group or private sessions and also privately for couples or others in sensitive occupations.

For more information, please call

Dr. Steven J. Sinert
Certified in Anger Management
Nevada Anger Management, LLC
5812 S. Pecos Road, Suite B
Las Vegas, NV 89120

702 353 1750

www.nevadaangermanagement.com

Source: http://nevadaangermanagement.blogspot.com/2013/06/life-is-celebration-not-endurance.html

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Ex-gay group Exodus International of Orlando says it will close; president apologizes to gay community

Exodus International, the Orlando-based ex-gay group has announced it will shut down and its president has apologized to the gay community.

"Our ministry has been public and therefore any acknowledgement of wrong must also be public," writes President Alan Chambers on Exodus' website. "I haven?t always been the leader of Exodus, but I am now and someone must finally own and acknowledge the hurt of others. I do so anxiously, but willingly."

Several gay groups immediately commented on Exodus' decision:

From Truth Wins Out:

?We applaud and congratulate Alan Chambers for his willingness to approach this decision with honesty, integrity and authenticity,? said Truth Wins Out?s Associate Director Evan Hurst. ?It takes a real man to publicly confront the people whose lives were destroyed by his organization?s work, and to take real, concrete action to begin to repair that damage, and to work to ensure that no more lives are destroyed by harmful, discredited ?ex-gay? therapy. We look forward to a day when we can truly consider Alan to be an ally.?

From GLAAD:

The timing comes as Exodus opened what is now to be their last conference. It also comes just one day before an episode of Our America with Lisa Ling, in which Chambers offers an apology (part of which is printed above) to a group of ex-gay survivors. This is a follow-up for Ling, who two years ago did an episode on so-called ?ex-gay? programs that featured Chambers and other ?ex-gay? practitioners.
?
"Alan Chambers, and the rest of the Exodus leadership, has fully and completely come to the realization that their so-called 'ministry' has done harm to thousands of people,? said Ross Murray, Director of News and Faith Initiatives. ?They are coming to the right decision to end that harm now."

Source: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2013/06/ex-gay-group-exodus-international-of-orlando-says-it-will-close-president-apologizes-to-gay-community.html

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Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 revisits the FCC with AT&T-native LTE

Yes, we've seen Samsung's Galaxy Mega 6.3 at the FCC before. With its second visit, however, there's something special. The extra-large phone is back as the SGH-i527, and it's carrying AT&T-native LTE that hints at a probable US carrier deal. There aren't any other visible changes in the filing, although we weren't expecting any. The real question is when this behemoth will ship to the States, assuming it ships at all -- for now, any possible AT&T launch remains shrouded in mystery.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung, AT&T

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Source: FCC

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Afghan leader balks at Taliban talks

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? Afghanistan's president said Wednesday he will not pursue peace talks with the Taliban unless the United States steps out of the negotiations, while also insisting the militant group stop its violent attacks on the ground after it claimed responsibility for a rocket attack that killed four Americans.

Hamid Karzai's strong response and the Taliban attack deflated hopes for long-stalled talks aimed at ending nearly 12 years of war in Afghanistan, just a day after the United States and the Taliban said they would begin initial meetings in Qatar.

Karzai had said Tuesday that he would send representatives from his High Peace Council to Qatar for talks but aides said he changed his mind after objecting to the way the announcement was handled, in particular the Taliban's use of its formal name "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" in opening an office in Doha.

Shafiullah Nooristani, a member of the High Peace Council, told The Associated Press that the use of the name violated agreements Karzai's government had made with the U.S. and caused diplomatic issues for Afghanistan.

"The agreement was that the office should open only ? and only ? for negotiations, not as a political entity like a parallel institution to the Afghan Embassy which is already there," Nooristan said.

In an attempt at damage control, Qatar's Foreign Ministry said late Wednesday that the Taliban had violated an agreement with them to call the office the "Political Bureau of the Taliban Afghan in Doha." It was not clear from the official Qatar News Agency report, however, if the Taliban would be forced to change the name.

Karzai also suspended talks with on a new U.S.-Afghan security deal that would allow some American troops to remain in the country after the international combat mission ends in 2014 to protest the fact that his government was being left out of the initial process.

The twin statements came despite an olive branch from Barack Obama to Karzai, with the U.S. president telling reporters during a visit to Berlin that "ultimately we're going to need to see Afghans talking to Afghans."

Obama said later the U.S. had anticipated "there were going to be some areas of friction, to put it mildly, in getting this thing off the ground. That's not surprising. They've been fighting there for a long time" and mistrust is rampant. Obama said it was important to pursue a parallel track toward reconciliation even as the fighting continues, and it would up to the Afghan people whether that effort ultimately bears fruit.

Violence also cast a pall over the talks, with the Taliban claiming responsibility for a rocket attack on the Bagram Air Base that killed four American soldiers.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the insurgents fired two rockets into the base outside the Afghan capital, Kabul, late Tuesday. American officials confirmed the base had come under attack by indirect fire, a term used for mortar shells or rockets, and that four U.S. troops were killed.

Also Tuesday, five Afghan police officers were killed at a security outpost in Helmand province by five of their comrades, officials said, the latest in a string of so-called "insider attacks" that have shaken the confidence of the nascent Afghan security forces. Local official Mohammad Fahim Mosazai said the five officers had only been on the local force for three months. He blamed the killings on Taliban infiltrators, saying the gunmen escaped with the victims' weapons.

The U.S. and Taliban announced Tuesday they would begin preliminary peace talks in Qatar without the Afghan government. The expectation had been that Karzai's High Peace Council would follow up with its own talks with the Taliban a few days later but that now seems unlikely, at least in the near term.

Nooristan, however, held out hope it would still be possible.

"We are working to solve these contradictions and fix these problems and act based on the agreements we had before so the High Peace Council can go there and start the peace talks," he said.

The Taliban have for years refused to speak to the Afghan government or the Peace Council, set up by Karzai three years ago, because they considered them to be American "puppets." Taliban representatives have instead talked to American and other Western officials in Doha and other places, mostly in Europe.

Obama cautioned that the peace talks with the Taliban would be neither quick nor easy but that their opening a political office in Doha was an "important first step toward reconciliation" between the Islamic militants and the government of Afghanistan.

Following meetings with high-ranking Afghan politicians and Peace Council executive members, however, Karzai's office said they had decided not to participate at all unless their conditions were met.

"Until the peace process is completely Afghan, the High Peace Council will neither attend nor participate in the talks in Qatar," Karzai's office said in a statement.

He also said talks could not begin until the Taliban end violent attacks in Afghanistan.

"The continuation of the Taliban's message of fighting and bloodshed during the opening of this office totally contradicts the pursuit of peace," his office said.

Earlier Wednesday, Karzai said negotiations with the U.S. on what American and coalition security forces will remain in the country after 2014 have been put on hold in the wake of the announcement by the Taliban and the U.S. The deal was expected to define the future of American troops here and pave way for billions in aid to the Afghan economy. It was not immediately clear how long Karzai planned to suspend the negotiations on the agreement.

"In view of the contradiction between acts and the statements made by the United States of America in regard to the peace process, the Afghan government suspended the negotiations, currently underway in Kabul between Afghan and U.S. delegations on the bilateral security agreement," Karzai's statement said.

Karzai's deputy spokesman Fayeq Wahedi told The Associated Press that among other things, the president opposed the Taliban's use of its formal name "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" in opening the office ? the name it had used when it ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001.

"We had already communicated that to the U.S.," he said.

In setting up the office, the Taliban said they were willing to use all legal means to end what they called the occupation of Afghanistan ? but did not say they would immediately stop fighting. They also did not specifically mention talks with Karzai or his representatives.

The NATO-led force is to be cut in half by the end of the year, and by the end of 2014 all combat troops are to leave and be replaced ? contingent on Afghan governmental approval ? by a smaller force that would be on hand for training and advising.

The U.S. has not yet said how many troops will remain in Afghanistan, but it is thought that it would be a force made up of about 9,000 Americans and 6,000 allies.

Six years ago, Afghan security forces numbered fewer than 40,000, and have grown to about 352,000 today. But questions remain if they are good enough to fight alone.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/afghan-leader-backs-away-taliban-talks-133211624.html

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Britain faces major obstacles to RBS break-up plan

By Matt Scuffham

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain would face big obstacles to a break up of state-controlled Royal Bank of Scotland and such a step might not achieve its ultimate aim of boosting lending to the economy, analysts and investors said.

Britain's government has come under pressure to consider splitting the 82 percent state-owned bank partly because prospects for returning it to private ownership soon still seem remote five years on from its 45.5 billion pound ($71.25 billion) rescue in the financial crisis.

The plan, backed by former British finance minister Nigel Lawson and outgoing Bank of England governor Mervyn King, has gained support because it has taken longer for RBS to return to financial health than expected while lending to the economy across British banks as whole remains sluggish.

But analysts and investors believe a break up would be a costly, complex and lengthy process that would not necessarily benefit the economy or taxpayers.

"The decisions to seriously consider a break-up into good/bad bank will further increase the uncertainty about the future shape of RBS, especially as the Chancellor (George Osborne) expects the bank to support core UK businesses," said Espirito Santo analyst Shailesh Raikundlia.

One of RBS's ten biggest investors warned the move could damage the wider economy.

"RBS's record on new lending in the UK mortgage market is already very strong," the investor said. "It is possible that the capital strain of a split could produce the reverse effect from that intended, that is it could actually cause less lending to the UK economy."

Finance minister George Osborne has said the government would investigate the case for hiving off RBS's toxic loans into a "bad bank", leaving a "good bank" better placed to lend to British households and businesses. Osborne said any break-up would not involve taxpayers putting in further funds.

Both Ireland and Spain have gone down the "bad bank" route to tackle their banks' bad assets.

COST AND COMPLEXITY

The Conservative-led coalition is considering hiving off RBS assets worth between 100 billion pounds and 120 billion pounds, according to one source familiar with the matter.

Ulster Bank, owned by RBS, could have its non-core assets and commercial real estate assets moved into the bad bank following a break up, along with some UK commercial real estate assets of RBS, the source said.

Osborne, himself, had previously rejected the idea, also citing the cost and complexity involved. Critics have pointed out that it would cost billions of pounds just to buy out the bank's minority shareholders, which would have to happen before the break-up could take place.

In his annual speech to City of London financiers on Wednesday, Osborne said, with hindsight, RBS should have been broken up five years ago. He stopped short of criticizing his Labour predecessor, Alistair Darling, who was in power at the time, admitting he had not proposed such a move in opposition.

The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, which was set up by Osborne to review the industry, had called on the Treasury to produce a report on the pros and cons of a break-up by September, a recommendation the Chancellor has heeded.

Osborne said Britain would establish an RBS "bad bank" if the review concluded the move would support the British economy, be in the interests of taxpayers and accelerate the bank's return to private ownership.

The review will be undertaken by the Treasury with external support and will report back by the autumn. It is not yet clear whether that support would come from individuals or a financial institution.

RBS has already undertaken a mammoth restructuring, overseen by outgoing Chief Executive Stephen Hester since its rescue, shedding some 900 billion pounds of non-core assets but it still has assets worth around 1.2 trillion pounds.

In contrast to RBS, the government has said it is ready to start selling its holding in rival Lloyds , also bailed out in the crisis, allowing it to claim partial success in returning the banks to health ahead of the next election in 2015.

(Reporting by Matt Scuffham. Editing by Jane Merriman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/britain-faces-major-obstacles-rbs-break-plan-155807328.html

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Microsoft talked with Nokia about buying devices unit: report

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp recently talked with Nokia about buying the Finnish phone maker's devices unit, but the discussions faltered and are not likely to be revived, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday in its online edition.

The Journal reported that "advanced discussions" on a deal happened as recently as this month, according to unnamed sources it said were familiar with the matter. Microsoft rejected a deal because of price and Nokia's loss of market share to rising Asian competitors, the report said.

Representatives of both companies declined comment.

Nokia's smartphones exclusively use Microsoft Windows Phone software, under a deal the two companies struck two years ago.

(Reporting by Bill Rigby)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/microsoft-talked-nokia-buying-devices-unit-report-212744170.html

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Nigel Lockyer of Canada's TRIUMF lab named Fermilab director ...

Nigel Lockyer, director of Canada?s TRIUMF laboratory for particle and nuclear physics and a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of British Columbia, has been selected to become the next director of the U.S. Department of Energy?s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. A suite of new projects awaits Lockyer at Fermilab, which is America?s premier laboratory for particle physics research.

University of Chicago President Robert J. Zimmer made the announcement today in his capacity as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Fermi Research Alliance, LLC. The appointment was approved by the University of Chicago and Universities Research Association, Inc., partners in Fermi Research Alliance, which operates the laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy. The appointment concludes a nine-month international search conducted by a 15-member committee led by retired Lockheed Martin CEO and member of the URA Board of Trustees Norman Augustine.

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz expressed his strong support for Lockyer?s candidacy after meeting with him early this week in Washington, D.C.

"Nigel Lockyer will be a terrific leader to guide the Fermilab in this era," said Secretary Moniz. "He brings to the laboratory a truly impressive record of excellence as both a scientist and an administrator. His significant contributions to high energy physics are widely recognized, and he has also made his mark in other fields, including nuclear medicine. We expect Fermilab to benefit greatly from the depth and breadth of his scientific vision and his long, successful experience leading and managing scientific institutions and collaborations. I very much look forward to working with Nigel."

Said Zimmer, ?Nigel Lockyer is an outstanding particle physicist of varied scientific interests that complement and reinforce Fermilab?s own multi-pronged research portfolio. His scientific rigor and accomplishments and his ability to manage large teams make him our choice to lead Fermilab into a new era of scientific research and discovery.

?I also wish to express my gratitude to Pier Oddone for his eight years of tireless, dedicated and outstanding leadership of Fermilab. We will continue to build on the foundation that he leaves us.?

Also approving Lockyer as Fermilab director was the Board of Trustees of the Universities Research Association, Inc.

?We are delighted that Nigel Lockyer will take the reins of America?s particle physics laboratory,? said Steven Beering, executive chair of URA?s Board of Trustees. ?Nigel has shown the kind of forward-looking leadership that we are confident will result in a new round of compelling scientific discovery and innovation at Fermilab and advance the interests of the national and global particle physics communities.?

An experimental particle physicist, Lockyer, 60, has directed TRIUMF since May 2007. Under his leadership, TRIUMF formulated a vision for ascending the world stage in nuclear physics using rare-isotope beams to address some of the most fundamental questions in science.

The flagship of the plan is the $100 million Advanced Rare IsotopE Laboratory (ARIEL), built around a world-class electron accelerator that employs next-generation superconducting radio frequency technology.

During Lockyer?s tenure at TRIUMF, the laboratory?s operations expanded by 25 percent, earning him a reputation as a national leader and team-builder. While at TRIUMF he developed a strong working partnership among Canada?s major science laboratories, as well as building international collaborations, securing Canada?s first accelerator-science cooperative research agreements with Japan, India, China and Korea.

Long history with Fermilab

He has become well acquainted with Fermilab while serving in a variety of capacities dating back more than 25 years. Lockyer performed research for many years at the Collider Detector at Fermilab experiment at Fermilab?s Tevatron, serving as the experiment?s co-spokesperson from 2002 through 2004. He also was a Fermilab guest scientist from 2002 until 2005, co-head of CDF operations and guest scientist in 2001 and 2002, and a visiting scientist during the summers of 1987 and 1988.

He was an early leader of efforts to construct a test facility at Fermilab for advanced particle accelerator technology that would be used to power the International Linear Collider. Such a test facility for high-gradient superconducting cavities has since been built at Fermilab in partnership with national and international institutions.

As Fermilab director, Lockyer also will oversee operations of a powerful complex of newly upgraded particle accelerators and sophisticated experiments to study the nature of matter, energy, space and time. Thousands of scientists from around the world use Fermilab facilities for their research. The largest of Fermilab?s new projects is the NOvA Neutrino Experiment under construction at Fermilab and in Ash River, Minn. NOvA will investigate neutrino oscillations, a phenomenon that could hold important clues to the evolution of the early universe. Fermilab is also the U.S. hub for research into the Higgs boson and other phenomena using the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland.

?Nigel emerged as a front-runner for the Fermilab directorship following an intense and broad-based international search process involving the evaluation of dozens of candidates,? said Norman Augustine, the Search Committee Chair. ?We believe that FRA has found in him a visionary and experienced leader who will serve Fermilab and the scientific community extremely well in the years to come.?

?I am flattered and sobered in accepting this tremendous honor, following in the footsteps of Wilson, Lederman, and now Oddone,? Lockyer said.??I?ve benefitted enormously from my time at TRIUMF and I know that laboratory is in great hands. There is a tremendous team at Fermilab and we are at a pivotal moment in the progress of particle physics; we will make a tremendous impact.?

Anticipated innovations in medicine, manufacturing, energy

Lockyer has a long-standing interest in medical-physics projects, including proton therapy for cancer patients, which he initially pursued in collaboration with colleagues at Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. TRIUMF and Fermilab both have strong connections to medical physics.

TRIUMF historically had engaged in nuclear-medicine research and development at a modest level. Building on his personal experience, Lockyer redoubled the laboratory?s efforts in this area even before the global medicine-isotope supply crisis made nuclear medicine a national issue in Canada. With his guidance TRIUMF became synonymous with ?isotopes for science and medicine? and secured new support from two Canadian government agencies to develop and deploy a technical solution that is based entirely on particle accelerators.

Lockyer?s medical-physics background meshes well with a new R&D center that Fermilab is building in partnership with the State of Illinois. This center will be dedicated to accelerating the transfer of technologies developed for particle physics research to other sectors of society, including medicine, manufacturing and energy.

Lockyer is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and a recipient of the society?s 2006 Panofsky Prize for his leading research on the bottom quark.

He was born in Scotland, raised in Canada and received his graduate education in the United States. He earned his B.S. in physics from York University and his Ph.D. in physics from the Ohio State University.

Following a postdoctoral fellowship at the Stanford Linear Accelerator, where he was a spokesperson of the Mark II Collaboration, in 1984 he began his 23-year career as a physics faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania. ?

Lockyer's term as Fermilab director will begin Sept. 3. Fermilab Chief Operating Officer Jack Anderson will serve as interim director starting July 1, following Oddone?s retirement.

Fermilab is America?s premier national laboratory for particle physics research. A U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science laboratory, Fermilab is located near Chicago, Illinois, and operated under contract by the Fermi Research Alliance, LLC. Visit Fermilab?s website at www.fnal.gov and follow us on Twitter at @FermilabToday.

The DOE Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov.

Fermi Research Alliance, LLC operates Fermilab under contract with the U.S. Department of Energy?s Office of Science. FRA is a partnership of the University of Chicago and Universities Research Association, Inc., a consortium of 86 research universities.

Source: http://news.uchicago.edu/article/2013/06/20/nigel-lockyer-canada-s-triumf-lab-named-fermilab-director

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Obamacare behind schedule as Oct. 1 rollout nears

Two government reports cite delays in setting up health-insurance exchanges as the Oct. 1 deadline looms.The public is still more negative than positive about reform, but promotion is just starting.?

By Linda Feldmann,?Staff writer / June 19, 2013

Senate clerks arrange 95 proposed amendments to the health insurance exchange bill at the statehouse in St. Paul, Minn., earlier this year. Minnesota will set up its own health insurance exchange to comply with Obamacare, but the federal government will do it on behalf of 34 other states.

Glen Stubbe/The Star Tribune/AP/File

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The central feature of Obamacare ? getting the uninsured to sign up for health insurance ? is due to start on Oct. 1, less than four months away. But both the federal and state governments are behind in their preparations.

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That?s the conclusion of two reports issued Wednesday by the congressional Government Accountability Office (GAO) looking at the status of government efforts to set up online ?exchanges,? or marketplaces, for both individuals and small businesses.

?Much progress has been made, but much remains to be accomplished within a relatively short amount of time,? said the GAO report on the establishment of ?federally facilitated? health-insurance exchanges for individuals. Those are the exchanges being set up for the 34 states that opted not to set them up themselves.

For example, the report cites a two-month delay in funding awards for ?a key consumer assistance program? known as Navigators, causing delays in training. The report also says that the federally created exchanges rely on the states to implement certain functions, and some are behind schedule.

Passing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, remains the signature accomplishment of the Obama presidency, and the law?s success is crucial to President Obama?s legacy. One year ago, most of the law survived the scrutiny of the US Supreme Court, but fierce resistance from Republican governors and members of Congress has put a drag on implementation.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which is overseeing implementation, says the new marketplaces will open on time. People who sign up will be covered as of Jan. 1, 2014.

Polls show that a high percentage of Americans ? upwards of 50 percent ? are not aware that the ACA is the law of the land, that it contains a mandate to buy insurance, and that subsidies will be available.

Last month, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius encountered controversy when it was revealed that she had solicited private money for groups that are working to spread public awareness about Obamacare, including information about the new exchanges that will offer federal subsidies to those who qualify.?

At a congressional hearing earlier this month, Secretary Sebelius defended her fundraising calls on behalf of an outside group that is promoting Obamacare. She said she asked the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the tax preparation company H&R Block to donate to the group Enroll America, and contacted three other entities just to describe the group. All of her actions, she said, were legal, noting that previous HHS secretaries took similar action to help with implementation of new programs providing health insurance to children and prescription drugs for seniors.

On Tuesday, Enroll America launched a grass-roots campaign to spread the word about Obamacare, and get people to sign up. The group is closely aligned with the Obama administration and run by Anne Filipic, former deputy director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. ?

Under Obamacare, insurance companies can no longer turn away people with preexisting conditions. And so a crucial aspect of implementation is getting enough young, healthy people to enroll to offset the cost of insuring older, less-healthy enrollees. The Congressional Budget Office expects some 7 million people to sign up when the exchanges open on Oct. 1, eventually reaching 22 million.

But Republicans are jumping on the GAO warnings as evidence that Obamacare isn?t ready for prime time.

?GAO report confirms our suspicions about implementation of health care law #TrainWreck,? Rep. Sam Graves (R) of Missouri, chairman of the House Committee on Small Business, tweeted on Wednesday.

A new poll out Wednesday on health-care reform by the Kaiser Family Foundation demonstrates the Obama administration?s continuing challenges.? Negative views of the law still outweigh the positive, 43 to 35 percent. Though Kaiser points out that the negative views are a mix of people who think the law goes too far in changing the health-care system (33 percent) and those who think it doesn?t go far enough (8 percent).?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/xrSljlzWFEE/Obamacare-behind-schedule-as-Oct.-1-rollout-nears

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