Europe court: Tymoshenko jailing was rights abuse

FILE - Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko during a trial hearing at the Pecherskiy District Court in Kiev, Ukraine, in this file photo dated Wednesday, June 29, 2011. Europe's human rights court in Strasbourg, France, ruled Tuesday April 30, 2013, that Ukraine's jailing of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was a politically motivated violation of her rights, but it is unclear if the European court ruling would be legally binding in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov, File)

FILE - Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko during a trial hearing at the Pecherskiy District Court in Kiev, Ukraine, in this file photo dated Wednesday, June 29, 2011. Europe's human rights court in Strasbourg, France, ruled Tuesday April 30, 2013, that Ukraine's jailing of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was a politically motivated violation of her rights, but it is unclear if the European court ruling would be legally binding in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov, File)

A man passes by posters of Ukraine's imprisoned former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko which decorate a tent camp of her supporters in central Kiev, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 30, 2013. Europe's human rights court in Strasbourg, France, ruled Tuesday that Ukraine's jailing of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was a politically motivated violation of her rights, but it is unclear if the European court ruling would be legally binding in Ukraine.(AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

A supporter of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko bring tea in a tent camp in Kiev, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 30, 2013. Europe's human rights court in Strasbourg, France, ruled Tuesday that Ukraine's jailing of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was a politically motivated violation of her rights, but it is unclear if the European court ruling would be legally binding in Ukraine. The poster with Tymoshenko reads: ' Freedom of Ukraine ' and ' Yulia Tymoshenko's bloc ' (AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov)

People pass by a poster of Ukraine's imprisoned former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko at a tent camp of her supporters in central Kiev, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 30, 2013. Ukraine's jailing of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was a politically motivated violation of her rights, Europe's human rights court ruled Tuesday. The poster with Tymosneko reads "Freedom to Ukraine", "No political repression". (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Eugenia Tymoshenko daughter of jailed former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko answers questions during a news conference in Kiev, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 30, 2013. Europe's human rights court in Strasbourg, France, ruled Tuesday that Ukraine's jailing of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was a politically motivated violation of her rights, but it is unclear if the European court ruling would be legally binding in Ukraine.(AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov)

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) ? Ukraine's jailing of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was a politically motivated violation of her rights, Europe's human rights court ruled on Tuesday, dealing a harsh blow to President Viktor Yanukovych who has insisted that the case against his top opponent was not political.

The prosecution of Tymoshenko, the country's most vocal opposition leader, has strained the former Soviet state's ties with the European Union and the United States. Tuesday's ruling put fresh pressure of Yanukovych to ensure Tymoshenko's release if he wants to sign a key cooperation agreement with Brussels later this year.

There was no immediate comment from the government, other than a promise to closely analyze the ruling.

Tymoshenko, a heroine of Ukraine's 2004 pro-democracy Orange Revolution who was instantly recognizable her blond braid wrapped around her head like a crown, was sentenced to seven years in prison in October 2011 after being convicted of exceeding her powers as premier while negotiating a gas contract with Russia.

The West has condemned Tymoshenko's jailing and other legal cases against her as politically motivated and insisted on her release.

Tymoshenko has accused Yanukovych of masterminding the legal campaign against her to keep her out politics. She insists her rights were violated when she was first jailed in August 2011 during her trial on charges of contempt of court. The Strasbourg-based court agreed unanimously that her jailing was "for other reasons" than those permissible by law.

In Kiev, Tymoshenko's defense team called on Yanukovych to honor the ruling and free her from jail soon. Her daughter Eugenia said that the ruling will be like the "first ray of sunlight" for her mother who is undergoing treatment for a spinal condition in a hospital ward where windows are shut and draped.

"The European court has recognized my mom as a political prisoner and now the authorities in Ukraine will no longer be able to deny this and deny the fact that she must be freed in the coming days or weeks," a triumphant Eugenia Tymoshenko told reporters. "Today is the first step toward her complete political rehabilitation and she will be freed soon. Soon she will be completely cleared of all the false and absurd accusations."

The Ukrainian government's response to the ruling was muted. In Strasbourg, Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe, Mykola Tochytskyi, stormed out of the courthouse after the ruling was read out. In Kiev, the Foreign Ministry said it is not ready to comment until It scrutinizes the ruling, while a government representative with the Court told the Interfax news agency that the government may appeal. Both sides have three months to do so.

Yanukovych has left Kiev on a short vacation and his spokeswoman could not be reached for comment on the prospects of the president releasing Tymoshenko.

In the past Yanukovych has insisted that the Tymoshenko case is not political, that Ukrainian courts are independent and that he cannot interfere in the legal proceedings. He has also resisted calls to pardon Tymoshenko on humanitarian grounds. Yanukovych has said that he will consider pardoning her after all the other legal proceedings against her are over. Tymoshenko has been charged with embezzlement, tax evasion and organizing the murder of a politician and businessman 17 years ago ? charges she denies.

The European court ruling leaves Kieve to decide how to implement it. Last summer the European Court of Human Rights passed a similar ruling regarding a top Tymoshenko ally, former Interior Minister Yuri Lutsenko, whose jailing was also condemned as politically motivated by the West. The court ruled that the initial arrest of Lutsenko, who was then sentenced to four years in prison on charges of abuse of office and embezzlement, was also unlawful. While the Ukrainian government paid Lutsenko ?15,000 in compensation, as per the court ruling, he was released only in April after Yanukovych pardoned him on humanitarian grounds, not based on the Strasbourg ruling.

Kiev-based political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko said that Tuesday's ruling was not legally binding for Kiev, because it concerns the conditions of Tymoshenko's two-month-long arrest before her conviction and sentencing. Today, Tymoshenko is no longer under arrest and is serving out her seven-year-sentence, which she is also appealing with the European Court of Human Rights. It is unclear when a decision on that is expected.

"He will not free her now," Fesenko said of Yanukovych, adding that Ukraine may offer Tymoshenko monetary compensation but will contest the finding of political motives behind her arrest. "The legal marathon will continue."

Olga Shumylo-Tapiola, a Ukraine scholar at Carnegie Europe, also said that the decision, although unpleasant for the Ukrainian government, was not mandatory.

"The court confirmed that the way she was detained was politically motivated," Shumylo-Tapiola said, adding that it is now up to Kiev to ponder the next move. "They're not ready to release her."

Vadim Karasyov, a political expert with ties to the government, speculated that Tymoshenko will not be released now, but as a face-saving the government may allow for her to be transported to Germany for treatment before the landmark Ukraine-EU summit later this year. That way, Tymoshenko will still be out of the Ukrainian political scene, something Yanukovych wants, and Brussels may agree to sign the association deal with Kiev.

In Kiev, Tymoshenko's political allies and members of her party rushed to congratulate her and call on the government to ensure her release, but there was little jubilation on the streets of the Ukrainian capital with Ukrainians largely disillusioned with politics. In a tent camp set up in the center of the Ukrainian capital outside the courthouse where Tymoshenko was convicted, there were only a handful of her supporters, who reacted with joy, but said they did not believe the government would release her.

"He (Yanukovych) has always been afraid of her," said Oleksiy Karaulny, 63, a retired carpenter in Kiev, one of the activists at the tent camp. "Of course we are happy. And it's not only me who his happy, it's all the 12 million (people) who voted for her are also happy. They know that truth will come, that justice will prevail."

___

Hinnant reported from Strasbourg, France.

___

Lori Hinnant can be reached at https://twitter.com/lhinnant

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-04-30-Ukraine-Tymoshenko/id-3fb2c9919aeb477db606536c7985a6d4

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'Illumiroom' system is like a Holodeck for your living room

Devin Coldewey , NBC News ? ? ? 2 hrs.

If you've ever wanted a more immersive gaming experience, this prototype from Microsoft Research should pique your interest. It uses a Kinect and a projector to extend the scene from your TV onto the room itself, enabling some mind-blowing effects.

It's called "Illumiroom," and as yet it is only a proof of concept (presented at the Computer-Human Interaction conference in Paris), but the idea is extremely compelling. First, the Kinect does a comprehensive scan of your TV setup ? shelves, wall color, distance and all. The projector can then superimpose an image onto those items, either extending your screen or adding virtual elements to the room itself.

For instance, in a racing game, the projector could show an extended field of view to see if you're being passed, or it could add realistic weather to the room, with snow appearing to fly past the player and even accumulating on the floor and furniture.

It can also modify how the room looks, adding an effect like desaturation and cel shading to real-world objects, or simulating the lighting from the game ? adding virtual shadows and illumination.

No doubt many gamers would love to get their hands and eyes on the system, but it does have downsides. The projector-Kinect setup is expensive, for one thing: A wide-throw HD projector bright enough to work in moderate light could cost thousands of dollars, and even then sunlight makes it all but useless. It may also be difficult to integrate with existing games, and the extra computing power necessary could cause a framerate hit.

It's still a fascinating demonstration, though it's unlikely to figure in Microsoft's new console, due to be unveiled May 21. More info on the Illumiroom and its creators can be found at the Microsoft Research page.

Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. His personal website is coldewey.cc.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/2b526814/l/0L0Snbcnews0N0Ctechnology0Cingame0Cillumiroom0Esystem0Eholodeck0Eyour0Eliving0Eroom0E6C9671363/story01.htm

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Rural California community on lockdown as killer sought

VALLEY SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) ? A region of oak-studded hills in California, where big-city dwellers come to get away from crime, was on lockdown Monday, two days after a mysterious intruder stabbed an 8-year-old girl to death at home before being spotted by her 12-year-old brother.

With the suspect still on the loose, some of the kids in this enclave nestled in the Sierra Nevada foothills were hunkering down after school at James Barci's ranch.

"Nobody is staying alone," said Barci, a truck driver and parent volunteer at Jenny Lind Elementary School, where victim Leila Fowler was a popular third-grader. "I told my work I'm not coming in, and I'm just going to have all of my kids' friends at the house until this is over."

The apparently random attack has the tightknit community on edge. Parents such as Barci spontaneously showed up Monday at the school of 500 students to give hugs or tie purple and pink ribbons ? Leila's favorite colors ? to trees on campus.

Later Monday, authorities identified the girl's parents while also saying a witness saw a person running from the family home that had a similar description of a man who fled from the home when the girl's brother confronted him.

In a hastily called news conference, Calaveras County sheriff's Capt. Jim Macedo identified the father of Leila Fowler as Barney Fowler and the mother as Krystal Walters.

The names of the parents hadn't previously been released.

As Macedo spoke, Fowler and Walters ? both solemn and declining to speak, and with Walters near tears at times ? stood in the background. Macedo said Leila's parents wanted to convey their requests that their privacy be respected, but also that a memorial fund had been set up for their daughter. A vigil is also planned for Tuesday night.

No suspects have been named, but officials said a second witness saw someone with a description similar to one provided by Leila's brother of a man who ran from the home when the boy confronted him.

Investigators have also checked registered sex offenders in the area and parolees.

In a pastoral place where fat horses swish their tails in knee-high grass and few people had ever bothered to lock their doors, residents now say their guns are loaded.

"My husband wanted me to put one in my car so I'd have it in my hand when I entered the house," Tabatha Camden said as she dropped off a neighbor's children at the school. "I drew the line at that. We've always had one gun loaded in the house at all times, but now we have four."

The sheriff's office has released little information about the killing other than a vague description of a man with long gray hair. Calaveras County Deputy Coroner Steve Moore said the girl died from multiple stab wounds.

The Fowler family's hillside street is blocked off as a crime scene, since nobody knows for sure how the intruder arrived or where he went.

Violent crime is so rare in the community of 7,400 people that even law enforcement officers have to stop and think when asked about the last time there was a stranger killing in the area.

"Probably five years ago was the last one I can remember," said Officer Rebecca Myers of the California Highway Patrol, who was assigned to block access to the neighborhood of one-acre ranchettes.

The killing of the little girl known for her sweet smile, generous hugs and friendly demeanor has hit the community hard. It's a place where parents read about tragedies in other places and give thanks that they live in Calaveras County, which makes the news only when the jumping frog contest celebrated by Mark Twain is taking place at the county fair.

"I don't know how our children are going to adjust to this," said Kathryn Danielli, who moved here from Stockton with her sixth-grade daughter to escape crime.

Danielli was among about 20 parents who drove their children to school then stayed to lend support. Sheriff's deputies patrolled the area and sheriff's volunteers stood guard at the entrance.

"Everybody up here who has kids moved up here because your kids can go outside and play," said Kim Hoeke, who moved from Antioch in the San Francisco Bay area seven years ago.

Calaveras Unified School District Superintendent Mark Campbell said at least two therapy dogs and 10 counselors were on hand for students, teachers and staff to guide them through the grieving process.

Campbell said he met with Leila's parents Monday when they came to the school to thank teachers and staff for the support they had offered.

The parents were at a Little League game at the time their daughter was attacked, Campbell said. Leila's brother found her and notified the father, who called 911 and went home, he said.

Part of the school-guided grieving process included classrooms taking turns writing notes to Leila and hanging them on the fence at the entrance to the school. They came in somber groups and attached their notes one by one.

"Dear Leila: You were a fun person and very smart. I enjoyed being around you every minute," one girl wrote.

"I know you are in heaven looking down at us but you will always be in my heart," wrote another.

Campbell said officers will have a presence at the school at until the case is resolved.

The suspect is the subject of a broad manhunt by the sheriff's departments of Calaveras and surrounding counties, the California Highway Patrol and the state Department of Justice. Sheriff's officials say investigators collected fingerprints and what they believe is DNA from the home on Sunday.

"Our normal has changed and we will move forth and heal by coming together, as we all are here today," said Linda Stoes, whose daughter dressed in purple Monday to honor her friend. "Our perspectives have changed forever."

___

AP writer Terry Collins contributed to this story from San Francisco.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rural-calif-community-lockdown-killer-sought-223919213.html

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Jarvis Is A Personal Assistant That Goes Beyond Siri To Embrace The Connected Home

If you're an Iron Man fan, you already know about Jarvis, Tony Stark's personal assistant (who's either a human or a virtual AI, depending on how long you've been following the comic). Jarvis is the glue that keeps Stark's business, personal and super hero lives running smoothly.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/1dCXu2V2-EA/

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Italy poised to get new government

ROME (AP) ? Italy appeared poised Saturday to finally get a new government, a broad coalition which brings media mogul Silvio Berlusconi's forces back to power, this time in tense alliance with center-left rivals.

Premier-designate Enrico Letta arrived at the Quirinale Palace to brief Italy's president, a meeting widely seen as indicating the center-left leader either had succeeded, or was on the verge of succeeding, in forming a government commanding strong support in Parliament.

However, it was possible Letta might also seek more time to knit together coalition agreements between archrival blocs.

Earlier, Berlusconi, who has three times served as premier, told reporters he believed a government would be formed though he would not be in the Cabinet being created by Letta.

Napolitano earlier in the week had tapped Letta to lead the latest bid to end the political deadlock that has gripped recession-mired Italy since inconclusive elections in February.

Viewed as a political bridge-builder, Letta is a nephew of a longtime Berlusconi adviser, Gianni Letta. The premier-designate met for two hours Saturday morning with Berlusconi as both sides hashed out Cabinet assignments.

The elections left the top vote-getter, Letta's Democratic Left party, badly fractured by infighting after it won control of the Chamber of Deputies but failed to do the same in the Senate. That result made runner-up Berlusconi a political kingmaker, since the center-left needs backing from his center-right bloc for a Parliamentary majority.

The third big bloc in Parliament, the anti-establishment 5 Star Movement, is led by comic Beppe Grillo, who ruled out any alliance with the largely sullied political class that has ruled Italy for decades.

Napolitano agreed to serve an unprecedented second term given the political instability.

Anxious financial markets and Italians fed up with joblessness and austerity spending cuts are counting on the next government to quickly roll out political and economic reforms.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/italy-poised-government-132212108.html

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Moody's, S&P settle lawsuits over debt ratings

NEW YORK (AP) ? Ratings agencies Standard & Poor's, Moody's and investment bank Morgan Stanley have settled two lawsuits dating back to the financial crisis that accused them of hiding risky investments.

The lawsuits from King County in Washington state and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank claimed that the ratings agencies and Morgan Stanley hid the risk of investing in a fund that purchased bonds backed by subprime mortgages.

Judge Shira Scheindlin dismissed the lawsuits on Friday, in federal court in New York, with prejudice, which means they can't be filed again.

Spokesmen for the McGraw-Hill Cos., which owns S&P, Moody's Corp. and Morgan Stanley confirmed the settlements but did not disclose terms.

"This settlement allows us to put the significant legal defense and related costs, as well as the distraction, of these very protracted litigations behind us," said Moody's spokesman Michael Adler in an emailed statement. "We are satisfied that it is in the best interests of our company and shareholders."

McGraw-Hill spokesman Jason Feuchtwanger said the cases were settled without any admission of liability or wrongdoing.

Ratings agencies came under intense scrutiny following the 2008 financial crisis for giving top-notch ratings to investments backed by subprime mortgages. As defaults and losses mounted in the housing market, especially among subprime loans, the value of bonds backed by the bad debt plummeted.

As the mortgage market collapsed, the ratings agencies sharply lowered their ratings on the investments.

With the value of such investments declining, funds that purchased the bonds filed for bankruptcy. King County and Abu Dhabi sued the ratings agencies and Morgan Stanley claiming the banks misled them about the safety of some investments that were part of a structured investment vehicle.

A structured investment vehicle is a fund that borrows money by issuing short-term securities at a low interest rate and then lends that money by purchasing long-term securities at higher interest. That process can make a profit for its investors from the difference.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/moodys-p-settle-lawsuits-over-debt-ratings-194608758.html

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NCL ? National Cricket League | The Sports Life

Let?s be honest, many of you readers probably do not know what Cricket is, and if you do, you might be referring to the little insect. If you are one of those people who actually know the sport called cricket, you may skip the video below. However, if you have no idea what cricket is, follow the instructions.

Step 1: Read about Cricket on Wikipedia (and for your convenience, I am going to post the link:?http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket)

Step 2: Watch this video:

You?re probably thinking, ?Why on earth would you want Cricket in the United States of America when it already has the MLB???Now, if you have read some of my other articles, you probably know I like to divide every idea into three parts:

1. My personal experiences in the Cricket World

2. The facts about Cricket

3. My plans for the NCL ? if it were to exist

Many people probably don?t know I was born in Nepal, the small country cradled by China and India. I watched and played Cricket since I was a little kid. In Nepal, influenced by India and United Kingdom, cricket is one of the major sports, besides Futbol (or Soccer). I remember going to my cousins house and playing cricket with his friends. Of course, we did have the best equipment but we made the best of it. One time, we used tin barrels for wickets. Long story short, my cousin managed to fall on top of it and cut his forehead. Yes, he was ok afterwards. But, even with this horrific accident, we continued to play. In 2001, I moved to New Zealand. During the first couple of months, I usually just played soccer but after a ?while, I got into Cricket even more. ?Eventually, I played for the school (or community, I don?t remember), and I was dubbed the best bowler. It also helped me make more friends and I had a good time. I remember watching most of the games with my dad as we made bets on who would win(some matches took 3 days to complete). Soon, I moved out of New Zealand and I stopped playing Cricket and moved to other sports. I never really thought about cricket like I used to, but every once in a while, I would catch up on it. Lately, I really haven?t watched any cricket; I have forgotten many of the rules, but I still love the sport.

Now, on to the facts about cricket. According to many statistics, Cricket is the second most popular sport in the world coming behind none other than Football, or Soccer. If soccer is becoming bigger and bigger in the US, imagine how Cricket would be in ten or twenty years from now. If we compare the 3 major sports of the USA to Football (Soccer) and Cricket, we can see the following:

Courtesy of Google Trends. Note: Football could mean Australian Football League, NFL, Soccer?.

As for popularity, it as popular as NBA, NFL and MLB. Cricket is popular in countries such as United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies and many, many more. There are many leagues around the world, but none as great as the ICC, or the International Cricket Council. Similar to the FIFA for soccer, the ICC rules over international cricket plays. Similar to baseball, cricket is an interesting and fun sport once you learn the rules and even play a game. Having experienced both sports, in my opinion, Cricket is a much more demanding sport than baseball. I am a fan of baseball, but it is a slow sport. In Cricket, you have to be constantly moving and aware of your opposition. Cricket requires thinking while baseball, all you really need to do is swing and hit the ball. Not putting down baseball by any means, but cricket is much more complicated and takes more patient. That is the biggest reason Cricket is not as popular in North America than other parts of the world. As humans, we don?t have the greatest patience, which Cricket requires a lot of; Even though Cricket is a sport that requires constant motion, the sport can take hours and hours to finish. However, the best thing about Cricket is that anyone can play it. Most sports in North America are dominated by buff guys who are usually over six feet and 220 pounds. On the other hand, Cricket does not require a ton of muscle strength or being tall and buff. It might sound clich? but all you need is a field, a desire to play and know how to play.?Even though the USA has tried to implement a Cricket league and it was not very popular, there should be a bigger effort to expand it. After all, most of the world plays it anyway. If America wants to be a true melting pot of cultures, it should include a Cricket League. There should be an effort to have recreation Cricket leagues throughout North America, starting out in elementary schools, middle schools, high schools and even universities. As with every other major sports, it will be complicated and frustrating in the beginning, but if it were accessible to all, it would become a major sport in North America.

Lastly, if there were to be a NCL and I were the commissioner, this is what I would do (this is assuming that it gains popularity within the next couple of years):

First of all, as with all professional sports, you need to start out small. If you allow kids to grow into a cricket era, it will gain popularity, much like everything else in our society. So, my plan would be implementing cricket in high schools and community in?each town or city. Expand it to state-wide leagues and add tournaments as it gains popularity. ?Thus, in the cities with the most people, culturally diverse, make cricket leagues. For example, in New York City, make a city-wide league with 10 to 20 teams. Thus, as it gains popularity, it can be changed into a nationwide league. So, each city picks the best of the best and makes a team, similar to any other professional sports. So, I would take cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas and San Jose (ten of the most populated US cities) and create a season with each team playing each other a certain amount of times. At the end of the season, there could be a tournament including all the cities. As the game gains more fans, more teams would be added, thus allowing the league to add more divisions and conferences. Overall, there would be 30 to 40 teams with 2 conferences and 4 divisions in each conference.

West				East
Northwest	Pacific	Southwest	Midwest	Eastern	Southeast	Atlantic	Central
Seattle	Los Angeles	Phoenix	Oklahoma City	Charlotte (NC)	Miami	New York	Chicago
Portland	Las Vegas	San Antonio	Minneapolis (MN)	Baltimore	Orlando	Boston	Detroit
Denver	San Francisco	Dallas	Kansas City	Philadelphia	Atlanta	Washington DC	Indianapolis
Salt Lake City	San Diego	Houston	New Orleans	Pittsburgh	Nashville (TN)	New Jersey	Cleveland
Vancouver	Sacramento	Austin	St Louis	Toronto	Tampa Bay	Brooklyn	Cincinati

After that is set up, the season could be similar to that of the MLB season. Each team would play each other at least once with teams in the same division and conference playing more games. The playing style would be similar to that of the test matches or ODI (one day international). Assuming cricket gains and maintains the popularity, it could become a huge source of income from tickets, merchandise, sponsorship on merchandise worn during games and such. The playoffs would be the two best teams from each division thus having a 16 team playoff similar to the NBA. The series in the playoffs would be one game elimination, with the loser going home and ultimately one champion.

And that, my friends, is where I leave it to you. What else would you add to the league? Do you have better ideas? Would you make a better commissioner??than me? Comment below your ideas!

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Source: http://isportslife.wordpress.com/2013/04/26/ncl-national-cricket-league/

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White House hedges on 'red line'

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama's cautious response to Syria's likely use of chemical weapons reflects a lack of agreement in Washington over aggressive military intervention, but lawmakers in both parties fear that inaction could embolden not only Syrian President Bashar Assad but U.S. foes as well.

The White House cautiously acknowledged that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons, most likely the agent sarin, in the two-year civil war that has killed more than 70,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands more.

Obama has declared that the Assad regime's use of chemical weapons would cross a "red line" for a major military response, but the administration made clear Friday that even a quick strike wasn't imminent as they try to corroborate the information.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the prospect of the use of chemical weapons in Syria is "gravely serious," but he insisted the administration needed more evidence to bolster its intelligence assessments.

"This is not an airtight case," he said. "We do have some evidence, but we need to build on that."

Emerging from a closed-door briefing with Secretary of State John Kerry on Capitol Hill, House Republicans and Democrats expressed uncertainty about the appropriate next step as the Obama administration considers limited military options.

No lawmaker pressed for a U.S. military invasion after more than 10 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"It is such a muddled picture," said Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. "I think probably we should be asking the U.N. to be involved. I think perhaps that's in the making."

Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland, the senior Democrat on the House intelligence committee, was among many lawmakers who called for a cautious approach to Syria even as they acknowledged the seriousness of the situation.

"We want to do everything we can to avoid putting boots on the ground," he told reporters. The U.S. should work with other countries to stabilize Syria and ensure its chemical weapons are kept out of the hands of terrorist groups, he said.

"I don't think that we, just as the United States, want to go in to another war," Ruppersberger said.

Obama's vow that Syria's use of chemical weapons would elicit a strong response and the administration's latest caution raise questions about Obama's definition of a red line. The U.S. credibility and international authority are on the line in the administration's handling of Syria, and the message it sends to Assad and rogue nations such as North Korea and Iran.

"There's no question that when the United States takes a position that this crosses a line that our failure to respond has implications," said Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "I think the president was saying the use of chemical weapons is a game changer. I think most people agree with that. So that if we in fact determine that chemical weapons were used, I think the expectation is that we and the coalition and others take some action."

Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., wondered whether the red line is "turning into a pink line."

In Syria, officials rejected the U.S. intelligence assessment and denied that it had used chemical weapons.

Pressed on the response, State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said: "If the regime has nothing to hide they should let the U.N. investigators in immediately so we can get to the bottom of this."

The White House faces a limited choice of military options to help the rebels oust Assad.

Arming the rebels runs smack into the reality that a military group fighting alongside them has pledged allegiance to al-Qaida. Establishing a no-fly zone poses a significant challenge, as Syria possesses an air defense system far more robust than what the U.S. and its allies overwhelmed in Libya two years ago.

The next move on Syria was high on the agenda for Obama's meeting Friday with King Abdullah II of Jordan, as the U.S. ally has struggled with the influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees escaping the Syrian violence. Vice President Joe Biden and Abdullah discussed the best path to "a peaceful, democratic post-Assad Syria where moderates are empowered" on Thursday.

"I think it's important for the administration to look for ways to up the military pressure on Assad," said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

One of the most powerful of the rebel groups in Syria is Jabhat al-Nusra, which recently declared its affiliation with al-Qaida. Last December, the State Department designated the group a terrorist organization, and the administration's opposition to directly arming the Syrian opposition stems from concerns about the weapons ending up in the hands of Islamic extremists.

Arming the rebels, said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is a "lot harder that it was before."

"We've gotten to the point now where the opposition has been affected by the radicals," Graham said in an interview. "Right weapons in right hands is the goal. The second war is coming. I think we can arm the right people with the right weapons. There's a risk there, but the risk of letting this go and chemical weapons falling into radical Islamists' hands is the greatest risk."

Several lawmakers, including Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., have called for the U.S. to create a narrow, safe zone inside Syria, along its border with Turkey.

Either a safe zone or a no-fly zone would require neutralizing Syria's air defenses. According to a report by the Institute for the Study of War, Syria's largely Soviet-era air defense system includes as many as 300 mobile surface-to-air missile systems and defense systems, and more than 600 static missile launchers and sites.

"You can establish it (safe zone) by taking out their aircraft on the ground with cruise missiles and using the Patriot (missile) also. No American manned aircraft in danger," McCain said.

The U.S. has taken only minimal military steps so far, limiting U.S. assistance to nonlethal aid, including military-style equipment such as body armor and night vision goggles.

The U.S. has deployed about 200 troops to Jordan to assist that country's military, and participated in NATO's placement of Patriot missile batteries in Turkey near the border to protect against an attack from Syria.

In testimony to Congress last week, Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was asked whether he was confident that U.S. forces could secure the chemical weapons caches within Syria.

"Not as I sit here today, simply because they've been moving it and the number of sites is quite numerous," Dempsey said.

___

Associated Press Intelligence Writer Kimberly Dozier and AP writer Richard Lardner contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obamas-syria-caution-shows-washington-uncertainty-170637867.html

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Texas Miracle-Ear Centers Provide Hearing Solutions to Those ...

In Times of Need, Miracle-Ear Opens Their Doors.

Plymouth, MN (PRWEB) April 26, 2013 - Texas Miracle-Ear franchise owner, Pat Curry, and the Miracle-Ear Foundation partner to provide hearing solutions to those affected by the tragic fertilizer explosion, north of Waco, Texas.

Jennifer Barak of West, Ben Norris of Elm Mott, and Robert Mills of Waco, staff at Texas Miracle-Ear centers immediately opened their doors to those affected in their neighborhood by the explosion. ?For such a devastating event, the least we could do as a local business is extend our services and support the hearing of those in our community,? said Curry. ?We are providing free hearing screenings and aids to those who lost their existing hearing aids during the explosion. If you or someone you love were affected, I encourage you to stop by any one of our Miracle-Ear locations so we can evaluate your hearing loss and get you fit with new hearing aids.?

In partnership with Pat Curry, the Miracle-Ear Foundation, a Minneapolis-based non-profit organization, supports underserved children and adults across the country with their hearing healthcare needs. The Miracle-Ear Foundation, working with Miracle-Ear centers across the country, has donated more than 6,500 hearing aids to over 4,100 individuals nationwide, including the aids donated to Waco, Texas.

About Miracle-Ear

A trusted resource for hearing solutions for 65 years, Miracle-Ear uses state-of-the-art technology to remove the barriers of hearing loss. The Plymouth, Minn-based company specializes in customizable hearing solutions that feature discreet, comfortable products designed to meet each individual's hearing loss needs. Free hearing tests are available at all of the company's 1,200 franchised locations across the U.S.. Franchise opportunities are available for those interested in running their own Miracle-Ear business with the support of a nationwide industry leader. For more information, visit http://www.miracle-ear.com.

Contact:

Meghan Lynch
Miracle-Ear, Inc
http://www.miracle-ear.com
763-268-4132

###

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Source: http://www.franchising.com/news/20130426_texas_miracleear_centers_provide_hearing_solutions.html

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The Newsmaker Memo: An Interview With Pioneering Climate Scientist James Hansen

Having directed NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies for most of the past four decades, Dr. James E. Hansen retired this month to devote himself to the scientific activism that has brought both awards and catcalls during his long and distinguished career. On April 24, he will receive the Ridenhour Courage Prize in Washington, D.C., for "bravely and urgently telling the truth about climate change."

Hansen recently spoke with The National Memo about the dangers of global warming, the benefits of nuclear power, the failures of both Republican and Democratic administrations, the imperatives of scientific advocacy ? and how a carbon tax might actually replace "cap and trade," which seems to be disintegrating in Europe.

Now 72, Hansen is the son of a tenant farmer who studied with the legendary space scientist James Van Allen at the University of Iowa, before going on to postgraduate work in the Netherlands and at Columbia University, where the Goddard Institute is located. He joined NASA in 1972, planning to study the effect of gas clouds on the climate of Venus, but eventually realized that investigating climate changes on Earth was "probably more important ? a planet that is changing before our eyes and has people living on it."

By 1981, his team at NASA-Goddard published its first major paper on carbon dioxide and climate in the journal Science, which prompted page-one coverage in The New York Times.

"We said we can't burn all the coal without producing a very different planet," Hansen recalls. But "it wasn't until 1988 that I gave testimony which got a lot of attention, and that was because that was the year of a heat wave and tremendous drought in the Midwest United States." Hansen's warnings increasingly irked the Republican oilmen in the Reagan and Bush administrations, who tried to silence or fire him, but they never drove him out.

"Being at NASA and having the access to both computing capability and satellite observation capability is kind of the ideal research situation to try to understand global climate change. So of course I preferred to stay in the government ? and I was fortunate that (the late) Senator John Heinz, a moderate Republican from Pennsylvania, came to my rescue when John Sununu (chief of staff in the first Bush White House) was on the warpath and wanted to have me fired."

Publicly, he remained quiet for 15 years. "But the message in the science had become clearer and clearer ... It was well accepted by (2004) that the planet really was getting warmer and the cause was human-made greenhouse gases. And yet the policies still took no account of that, and the plan was to build more and more coal-fired power plants."

He finally spoke out again at the University of Iowa ? "to make clear that the Bush administration was not taking effective action." That speech "drew the attention of the Bush administration," he says, laughing, "and they decided to assign someone to keep track of me and prevent me from speaking out." (Eventually the Times reported that, too.)

In recent years, Hansen has been arrested in climate protests at the White House and elsewhere, and in retirement plans to intensify his activism. Freed from the strictures of government, he plans to assist in "legal actions against state and federal government for not adequately protecting the rights of young people and future generations. And also contributing to the cases where they're trying to stop coal exports from the West Coast ? and the (Keystone) tar sands pipeline. In May I'm going to Europe for a week to try to persuade some governments there that they should be putting an extra fee or tax on tar-sands oil because it is more damaging per unit of energy than the easily extractable oil."

In order to remain effective, "I really have to say on top of the science, so most of my time will be spent on scientific research. ... But I also want to be involved in trying to make clear the implications of the science for policy. It seems to me that scientists are well trained for connecting dots ? and I never quite understood why even the really good NASA high-level people would always caution me to 'stick to the science, don't mention policy."

Catastrophic climate change can be averted, Hansen says, but only if we start "putting an honest price on the fossil fuels that includes their environmental costs, both their effect on human health, those costs being paid completely by the public, their effects in air pollution and water pollution, but also their effects on climate."

He scorns the current "dishonest" cap-and-trade scheme. "You have to have a simple system which is transparent and which actually reduces the fossil fuel use. There's really no value added by bringing the big banks into the problem. But with the cap-and-trade (system), the prices fluctuate and because there's so much politics involved the prices can collapse, and so no one has any confidence in that system.

"And the banks of course" ? he laughs ? "JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, they have skilled trading units, hundreds of highly capable people who will make big dollars out of trades ? but it adds nothing of value to the system, and where does that money come from? It doesn't come out of thin air; it comes out of the public, the people, paying more for their energy. "

The so-called cap-and-trade "offsets," which award carbon credits for preserving trees, "can be really hokey, really hard to verify ? and they don't actually pay attention to the physics of the problem, which tells you that the fossil fuel carbon that you put into the atmosphere will stay in the climate system for millennia. ... That means that there is a limit on how much fossil fuel you can burn. And they're trying to trade other things in there as if they were equivalent to this fossil fuel carbon, but they're not."

Instead, Hansen favors a simple carbon tax or what he calls "fee and dividend," with a rising surcharge on fossil fuels that is rebated in full to all taxpayers.

"The reason for the fee is simple ? it really needs to be collected at the domestic mine or port of entry so that it's just across the board ? but unless you're giving that money to the public, the public will never allow the fee to continue to rise because they will see the impact on the cost of gasoline at the pump and in their utility bills until there are some alternatives."

The alternative that Hansen favors ? a rapid worldwide expansion of nuclear power ? is highly controversial among environmentalists, to say the least.

"I just published a paper with (fellow Goddard scientist) Pushker Kharecha, in which we point out the number of lives that have been saved by nuclear power. And that's nuclear power of the early generations, 50-year-old technology. Even with that old technology, the accidents that did occur ? the number of lives lost ? was very limited in comparison to the number that are killed every year by coal, by the air and by water pollution from fossil fuel burning and fossil fuel mining. "

Hansen believes that new cooling systems and advanced reactor designs can answer concerns about accidents like the meltdown at Fukushima, Japan ? "that's solvable now" ? and how to dispose of radioactive waste. "With a fourth generation of nuclear power, you can have a technology that will burn more than 99 percent of the energy in the fuel. It would mean that you don't need to mine uranium for the next thousand years. We have got enough excess weapons material and nuclear waste to provide the fuel for many centuries."

Hansen knows this isn't a popular viewpoint. "There are certain environmental organizations ? especially the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Rocky Mountain Institute, the Natural Resources Defense Council ? which are just dead set against nuclear power. And I understand where they were coming from, several decades ago."

Today he worries that solar, wind and other renewable sources will not soon provide sufficient reliable energy. "I think that nuclear is probably needed, but I'm quite happy to just say 'let's put a rising price on carbon and let the market decide.' I hope that Germany or California is successful in their efforts to get these so-called renewables to provide most of the energy but I think that's unlikely. ... If we would put this price on carbon it would favor renewables, and it would favor energy efficiency, and it would favor nuclear power ? it would favor anything that is carbon-free. That's the way to do it ? not by government deciding, this is the winning technology."

He stands with the environmentalists in strong opposition to the Keystone XL project, however. "If you make that pipeline, that sort of guarantees that over time, you're eventually going to exploit a lot of that (tar sands) resource. And it doesn't make any sense economically if you look at it ? the only reason they go ahead with it is that it's partly subsidized and it's not made to pay for its cost to society. If we could stop it and get any sort of a price on carbon that even partially reflects the cost of CO2 to society, then tar sands would simply not be exploited."

According to a paper he will soon release, "simple economic modeling shows that if you put a moderate rising price on carbon ? $10 a ton, going up $10 a ton for 10 years ? by the end of 10 years you would reduce United States emissions by 30 percent. And that's 10 times or 11 times more than the volume of the Keystone pipeline. So there are much more effective ways of assuring our energy independence and contributing to stabilizing climate than trying to develop more fossil fuel sources." Government should also adopt much tighter regulations to conserve energy in appliances, buildings and transportation, he adds.

Politically, Hansen urges Americans to support Citizens Climate Lobby, a group advocating a simple flat carbon fee, with the money distributed to the public. He is considering whether to help found a "grandparents" movement against climate change. "But frankly in the United States it looks very difficult with our present two parties to get prompt action. I think we need a third party. Money has too big an influence on our politics in Washington and somehow we need to do something about that."

To find out more about Joe Conason, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2013 CREATORS.COM

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/newsmaker-memo-interview-pioneering-climate-scientist-james-hansen-070000916.html

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PSA: WWDC 2013 tickets go on sale in one hour!

You've had a day to renew your membership, book plane tickets and beg, borrow or steal $1,600 from your neighbors. Now it's time to sit on the WWDC homepage and find out if you'll actually be able to attend Apple's annual software shindig. The tickets go on sale in just an hour, so here's a friendly heads-up that you should get a cup of coffee, charge that battery pack and practice hitting F5, just in case.

Filed under: Software, HD, Mobile, Apple

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Source: Apple

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/25/wwdc-2013-psa/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Here's EA's Internal Memo On The Layoffs Today

EA, the game maker in the midst of a big transition from the console era of gaming to the free-to-play world, confirmed widespread reports of layoffs today. The company did not disclose the size of the layoffs, but several other outlets are reporting either hundreds of layoffs or figures that are as high as 10 percent. The downsizing, which comes on the heels of other layoffs in Montreal and Los Angeles earlier this year, is happening as EA is expected to have a weak earnings report on May 7. EA CEO John Riccitiello recently stepped down over “shortcomings” in the company’s financial performance?for the most recent quarter after a six-year stint at the helm of the company. We have an internal memo from executive chairman Larry Probst, which sheds light on some of the changes. Core marketing functions, which were spread out between EA’s five different labels, are getting consolidated under COO Peter Moore. Origin, EA’s online distribution platform, is moving under EA’s President of Labels, Frank Gibeau, who is considered one of the few plausible internal candidates for taking EA’s helm once the CEO search is over. Here’s Probst: As we begin the new fiscal year, I want to provide you with a brief update on some important changes to our organization. As Executive Chairman, my focus is to ensure EA is delivering high quality games and services to our consumers, while helping the executive team develop a FY14 operating plan that drives growth, rationalizes headcount and controls costs. In recent weeks, the executive team has been tasked with evaluating every area of our business to establish a clear set of priorities, and a more efficient organizational structure. This process has led to some difficult decisions about the number of people and locations needed to achieve our goals. The workforce reductions which we communicated in the last two weeks represent the majority of our planned personnel actions. We are extremely grateful for the contributions made by each of these individuals ? they will be missed by their colleagues and friends at EA. We are also taking action to streamline our organization, including changes in two key areas: ? Core marketing functions have been consolidated under our COO, Peter Moore. The combined group will bring together our Label marketing teams, Global Acquisition Marketing and Marketing Analytics into one multi-talented team under Todd Sitrin?s leadership. The development and marketing teams will

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/o7boE3d9LxY/

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PBOT loses its only two communications staffers - Bike Portland

PBOT's Cheryl Kuck at an
event in 2005.
(Photo ? J. Maus/BikePortland)

The communications issues at the Portland Bureau of Transportation just got worse. After hearing about it yesterday from Bureau sources, I've now confirmed with the Mayor's office that PBOT's two current communications staffers ? Dan Anderson and Cheryl Kuck ? are on their way out. No official statements have been made, but sources say Kuck has moved over to the Bureau of Environmental Services and Anderson is taking a job up in Washington.

"Cheryl and I are both leaving the bureau on great terms. The timing is a coincidence," said Anderson via email this morning.

Communications have long been a trouble spot for PBOT and in recent years a lack of resources and staff at that position has led to a number of PR missteps that have hurt both the bureau and bicycling in general ("Blood in the bike lanes," "sewer money for bike lanes" and the SE Holgate controversy being just a few examples).

In April 2011, in an address to the City's Bicycle Advisory Committee, former Bureau Director Tom Miller said, "I think that recently the bureau has suffered and consequently the perception of bicycling has suffered. A large part of this was the lack of effort the bureau has placed on communications. I believe very firmly that PBOT has done very well for bicycling in previous years, but its gotten tarred-and-feathered for it as well. The bureau needs to own up to the fact that we haven?t managed communication as effectively as we needed to."

Miller believed strongly that in order for PBOT to get over the hump and move forward on projects and policies that would live up to our livable streets reputation, the agency needed more firepower in the communications department. He tried on two separate occasions to hire a senior-level Communications Director; but both times bad politics and bad timing stymied those efforts. Most recently, Mayor Hales publicly put a stop on the high-level PBOT public affairs position Miller was seeking.

Anderson and Kuck have done an admirable job; but neither is at the Director level (their titles were Senior Community Outreach and Information Representatives) and managing communications for such a large agency is a huge job. Instead of working proactively to create positive narratives for PBOT, battle back when stories spin out of control, and garner support for their initiatives among the press and the public, Anderson and Kuck spent most of their time filling information requests, doing media interviews, writing press releases, updating the PBOT website, monitoring social media, and so on.

PBOT has other staff that could fill a communications role, but that would only be a temporary fix (not to mention it would take staff time form other important duties).

Dana Haynes, spokesman for Mayor Charlie Hales, said in an interview today that he's extremely sad to see both Anderson and Cheryl go. "It's PBOT's loss, they were both terrific at their jobs and they've been a pleasure to work with for both me and the Mayor." He said given the upcoming State of the City Address and the finalization of the City Budget in the next few days, Mayor Hales won't have this issue on his radar for at least another week. In the meantime, Haynes says he's not sure what they'll do. "We might go with an interim person, farm it out, I might do some of the work, or I might just get on one knee and beg Cheryl to stay."

Haynes also said that it's unlikely any new communications staff would be hired until they select a new PBOT Director ? a job left empty when Miller resigned back in January. Hales announced last week that their selection committee has received 44 applications for the position and they hope to have someone hired by May or June.

In the meantime let's hope there are no bike-related controversies in the next few months.

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Source: http://bikeportland.org/2013/04/25/pbot-loses-its-only-two-public-information-staffers-85962

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Penpower Worldcard Link pro Complete Contact Management Solution review

In both my personal and professional life I have collected stacks of business cards. When I was offered the opportunity to review the Worldcard Link Pro?business card scanner and software from Penpower,?I jumped at the opportunity. ?Let’s see how it works. Worldcard Link (WCL) is designed for use with 4th and 5th generation iPhones and [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2013/04/24/penpower-worldcard-link-pro-complete-contact-management-solution-review/

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Exclusive: Verizon eyes roughly $100 billion bid for Vodafone's wireless stake

By Soyoung Kim and Kate Holton

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Verizon Communications has hired advisers to prepare a possible $100 billion bid to take full control of Verizon Wireless from its partner Vodafone, two people familiar with the matter said.

The two sources said Verizon was considering a 50:50 cash and stock bid for the 45 percent stake it does not already own, an asset it has long coveted but that Vodafone will take some persuading to give up. It has not put a proposal to Vodafone yet but has hired both banking and legal advisers for a possible offer, the sources said.

Vodafone investors and analysts said the $100 billion figure was too low and more of an opening gambit to bring the British firm to the table. Shares in Vodafone, the world's second largest mobile operator, were up 2.6 percent at 198 pence.

"I'd be delighted with $135 billion, but there's absolutely no way it will be $100 billion," one top 40 Vodafone investor said on condition of anonymity. "The guidance I have had from someone close to the company is that they are looking at $125-130 billion."

Verizon, which has made little secret of its wish to buy out its British partner from the biggest U.S. mobile operator, has ramped up the pressure in recent months, saying publicly that it believed it could buy the asset in a tax-efficient way.

The two sides have previously held high-level talks to discuss options that ranged from a stake sale to a full merger and how any deal could avoid incurring a possible $20 billion capital gains tax for Vodafone, another person familiar with the situation has told Reuters.

The two sources who spoke to Reuters late on Wednesday said any deal would be structured such that the eventual tax bill would likely be $5 billion or less.

The two sources said Verizon was now ready to push more aggressively. It hopes to start discussions with Vodafone soon for a friendly agreement but is prepared to take a bid public if the British company does not engage, one of the sources added.

"I don't really see this as a surprise," one of Vodafone's 15 largest investors told Reuters, on condition of anonymity. "The talk about this deal has been quite intense recently.

"They should look to return a large amount to shareholders, retaining a relatively small amount for deleveraging and bolt-on deals. I don't think shareholders would be pleased with Vodafone viewing any disposal proceeds as an acquisition war chest."

Vodafone Chief Executive Vittorio Colao has so far said he has an open mind on whether to sell the group's 45 percent stake, which has come to make up around 75 percent of the firm's value in recent years as its core European business suffered.

Some analysts believe the Italian, who has won praise for his dealmaking in almost five years at the top of the group, could try to hold on to the asset for a little longer, until he sees some sign that his core European businesses are starting to stabilize.

But Colao will also know that the U.S. market could become more competitive due to a wave of consolidation, so he could decide that it might soon be the right time to walk away.

"The tax problem has always been the issue. If a way can be found around that, then it is highly likely that a deal will be done," the top-15 investor said.

Another way to avoid the tax issue would be for the two parent groups to merge, but Verizon said earlier this month that it was not looking to buy or merge with its partner.

Verizon, which is benefiting from record low interest rates as well as its own strong stock price, is instead confident that the company can raise about $50 billion of bank financing, the sources said. It plans to pay for the rest of the deal with its own shares, they added. The sources asked not to be named because the discussions are confidential.

BOARD ACTIVITY

Verizon's board is expected to discuss details of a potential Verizon Wireless buyout next week at a regularly scheduled meeting being held ahead of the company's annual shareholder meeting, one of the sources said.

Verizon spokesman Bob Varettoni declined to comment, but pointed to the U.S. telephone company's statement earlier this month, in which it said it would be a willing buyer of Vodafone's share of their Verizon Wireless venture.

Vodafone declined to comment.

Analysts have said a sale of Verizon Wireless would enable Vodafone to return cash to shareholders, purchase fixed-line assets in Europe or potentially make the company an attractive takeover target for other telecom giants such as AT&T Inc.

Shares in Vodafone have risen 26 percent this year on speculation that it could finally be ready to sell its stake, but most analysts had put the value of the Vodafone holding at nearer $120 billion.

Taking full ownership would give Verizon, which is reliant on the unit for growth, a lot more flexibility with the cash generated from the wireless business.

Analyst Jonathan Chaplin at New Street Research, said a deal at $100 billion would boost Verizon's earnings per share in 2014 by 33 percent.

"We doubt that Vodafone management or shareholders would be willing to sell for $100 billion; however, this is a good starting point for negotiations," he said in a note. "We believe a deal could be struck that would create significant value for both sets of shareholders."

Verizon came close to doing a deal in 2004, when Vodafone tried to buy AT&T Wireless but lost the auction to Cingular. That deal would have allowed Vodafone to bring its brand across the Atlantic and would have required it to sell its 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless.

Any deal now, if it were to happen, would come at a time when the telecommunications industry is undergoing a fresh round of consolidation activity. MetroPCS Communications Inc shareholders voted on Wednesday to approve a merger with No.4 U.S. wireless service provider T-Mobile USA, a unit of Deutsche Telekom AG.

An earlier attempt by Deutsche Telekom to sell T-Mobile to AT&T for $39 billion in 2011 was blocked by U.S. antitrust regulators. Verizon would be unlikely to face any such obstacles in a Verizon Wireless buyout.

Meanwhile, Dish Network Corp, the No.2 U.S. satellite TV provider, last week offered to buy wireless service provider Sprint Nextel Corp for $25.5 billion in cash and stock, challenging a proposed deal between Sprint and Japan's SoftBank Corp.

Verizon's shares have risen about 20 percent so far this year as Wireless has been easily outperforming its smaller rivals in terms of profitability and customer growth, and on rising hopes of a buyout.

Verizon shares are valued at 17.9 times forward earnings, compared with 11.8 for Vodafone.

(Reporting By Soyoung Kim and Sinead Carew in New York, and by Kate Holton and Sinead Cruise in London.; Editing by Paritosh Bansal, Martin Howell and Will Waterman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-verizon-eyes-roughly-100-billion-bid-verizon-015353243--sector.html

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Montana Democrat Baucus rules out 7th Senate term

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus of Montana announced plans Tuesday to retire at the end of his term after a career of enormous power and notable independence, producing both collaboration and conflict with fellow Democrats on major tax and health care legislation.

"I don't want to die here with my boots on. There is life beyond Congress," the 71-year-old Baucus said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

He became the eighth senator to announce retirement plans for 2014, and the sixth Democrat. One public poll recently suggested he would have faced a difficult challenge if he had sought a seventh term.

Republicans must gain six seats in 2014 to win a majority, and they said the retirement enhanced their prospects.

Yet Democrats were cheered when former Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who recently stepped down after two terms, swiftly expressed interest in the race.

In a brief statement, President Barack Obama said Baucus "has been a leader on a broad range of issues that touch the lives of Americans across the country."

Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican and Baucus' frequent legislative partner, was complimentary, too. "We ran the Finance Committee for 10 years together, and every bill except for three or four was bipartisan," he said in a statement. "The Senate will be worse off as a deliberative body when Senator Baucus leaves."

In a written statement, Baucus sketched an ambitious agenda for the rest of his term, topped by an overhaul of the tax code.

"Our country and our state face enormous challenges - rising debt, a dysfunctional tax code, threats to our outdoor heritage and the need for more good-paying jobs," he said, adding several Montana-specific priorities as well.

Baucus, a fifth-generation Montanan, was elected to the Senate in 1978 after two terms in the House. He became the top Democrat on the Finance Committee in early 2001. He has held the position ever since on the panel ? which has jurisdiction over taxes, Medicare, Medicaid, health care and trade ? as chairman when his party held a majority and as senior member of the minority when Republicans were in power.

The panel has a long tradition of bipartisanship, but Baucus ascended to power in an era of increasing partisanship in Congress.

Many Democrats were unhappy when he worked with Republicans to enact the tax cuts that President George W. Bush won in 2001. And then again in 2004 when Congress pushed through a GOP plan to create a new prescription drug benefit under Medicare, a measure that most Democrats opposed as a giveaway to the large drug companies.

Baucus stood with fellow Democrats in 2005 when Bush proposed legislation to partially privatize Social Security, an epic battle that ended in defeat for the president's effort.

He played a central role in the enactment of Obama's watershed health care legislation in 2010, although some inside his party complained that precious momentum was lost while he spent months on bipartisan negotiations that ultimately proved fruitless.

More recently, Baucus has expressed opposition to Democratic proposals to use an overhaul of the tax code as a means of raising additional revenue. He was one of four members of his party to oppose the budget the leadership brought to the floor with a requirement to that effect.

On other issues large and small, Baucus' voting record reflected his rural state.

Most recently, he voted against legislation that Obama backed to expand background checks for gun purchasers.

During the debate on the budget, he was the only Democrat to vote for a proposal to reopen White House tours. Most members of his party viewed the GOP measure as an attempt to embarrass Obama, but it would also have meant more money for clearing snow from the entrances to Yellowstone National Park, a portion of which is in Montana.

For more than a decade, Baucus has sought federal assistance for the residents of Libby, Mont., where asbestos contamination from a vermiculite mine has been linked to deaths and illnesses.

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said he learned of the retirement plans on Monday. He said Baucus told him he wanted to return to Montana, and noted that if he waited until the end of his next term he would be nearly 80.

Baucus, in the interview with the AP, said: "Been here 40 years. No regrets. It is time to do something different."

Maneuvering began almost instantly for the 2014 race.

"The opportunity to try and get the country moving again like we did in Montana, that's appealing," said Schweitzer, who outpolled Baucus in a hypothetical matchup in the recent poll. "I'm a fixer."

Possible Republican candidates include former Gov. Marc Racicot; former Rep. Denny Rehberg, who lost to Baucus in 1996 and to Tester last fall; former Rep. Rick Hill and Rep. Steve Daines. State Sen. Champ Edmunds of Missoula and former state Sen. Corey Stapleton, had already announced they would run against Baucus.

"Montana is a state where Republicans can and will do well," said Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas, the GOP campaign committee chairman, pledging to provide the resources needed to turn the seat Republican.

The state twice voted against Obama in presidential races. Despite the president's presence on the ticket in 2012, Tester won a second term in a hotly contested challenge, and another Democrat, Steve Bullock, was elected governor.

Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., who heads the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, touted last year's re-election of Tester and said, "We will continue to invest all the resources necessary to hold this seat."

Democrats will be defending 21 seats next year, compared with 14 for Republicans.

Baucus joined Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, Tim Johnson of South Dakota, Tom Harkin of Iowa and Carl Levin of Michigan in announcing his retirement plans.

Republicans Saxby Chambliss of Georgia and Mike Johanns of Nebraska also have decided not to seek re-election next year.

___

Gouras reported from Helena. Associated Press writers Matthew Brown in Billings, Andrew Taylor, Donna Cassata and Alan Fram in Washington and Carson Walker in Phoenix contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/montana-democrat-baucus-rules-7th-senate-term-204619814--finance.html

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Announcing The TC Disrupt NY Hackathon API Workshop Schedule, Prizes & More

We?re now just a few days away from the Disrupt NY Hackathon this weekend, and we?ve got some exciting news to share. As well as scoring a free ticket to the main TechCrunch Disrupt NY conference, this weekend?s hackers will share in almost $50,000 worth of prizes. A few tickets are still available. Coders should register here?and designers should register here. Below you’ll find all the information on the prizes as well as the schedule for our hands on API workshops. The API sponsors are providing some of their top talent to give coders a crash course in their product. API Workshop Schedule One of the best things about the Disrupt Hackathons is that we attract the best developers at the best tech companies to share their insights, answer questions and help short circuit the process of building killer apps with powerful APIs. Here?s the line-up for our API workshops: 2:00pm – Facebook 2:30pm – Box 3:00pm – Evernote 3:30pm – Foursquare 4:00pm – Amazon Web Services 4:30pm – New York Times 5:00pm – Microsoft BizSpark New API Workshop Microsoft BizSpark will be presenting an in-depth review of developing for the Windows 8 operating system as well as Windows Phone app development basics. Hackathon Prizes Appery.io With the limited time available during hackathons, speed is even more important than ever. That?s why the team from Appery.io is going to be at Disrupt with $5,000 in cash plus promotion and free product for the best apps built using their browser-based development environment for iOS, Android, Windows Mobile and the mobile web. With pre-built API plugins – including those of some of our other prize sponsors – you could end up being a winner multiple times over – and get your app from concept to demo in 24 hours – with Appery.io. To find out more ahead of time, check out appery.io/tc13. AT&T Want to hack your way to a better world? AT&T is here to help. In NYC the AT&T Developer Program, AT&T Foundation and the Environmental Defense Fund are issuing a challenge to developers participating in TechCrunch Disrupt to build app that helps drive water consumption awareness for buildings. For the most creative as well as comprehensive app, AT&T will be offering a $5k grand prize, followed by a $2k ‘most creative’ prize. The challenge is straight forward: build an app that estimates building water consumption. On a high level,

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/-KwABNLbn-0/

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