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Sunday, June 30, 2013
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NSA slides explain the PRISM data-collection program - The Washington Post
www.washingtonpost.comThrough a Top-Secret program authorized by federal judges working under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the U.S. intelligence community can gain access to the servers of nine internet companies for a wide range of digital data. Documents describing the previously undisclosed progra...
Source: http://www.facebook.com/occupyeverywhere/posts/542282962474332
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Saturday, June 29, 2013
New system uses low-power Wi-Fi signal to track moving humans -- even behind walls
June 28, 2013 ? The comic-book hero Superman uses his X-ray vision to spot bad guys lurking behind walls and other objects. Now we could all have X-ray vision, thanks to researchers at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.
Researchers have long attempted to build a device capable of seeing people through walls. However, previous efforts to develop such a system have involved the use of expensive and bulky radar technology that uses a part of the electromagnetic spectrum only available to the military.
Now a system being developed by Dina Katabi, a professor in MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and her graduate student Fadel Adib, could give all of us the ability to spot people in different rooms using low-cost Wi-Fi technology. "We wanted to create a device that is low-power, portable and simple enough for anyone to use, to give people the ability to see through walls and closed doors," Katabi says.
The system, called "Wi-Vi," is based on a concept similar to radar and sonar imaging. But in contrast to radar and sonar, it transmits a low-power Wi-Fi signal and uses its reflections to track moving humans. It can do so even if the humans are in closed rooms or hiding behind a wall.
As a Wi-Fi signal is transmitted at a wall, a portion of the signal penetrates through it, reflecting off any humans on the other side. However, only a tiny fraction of the signal makes it through to the other room, with the rest being reflected by the wall, or by other objects. "So we had to come up with a technology that could cancel out all these other reflections, and keep only those from the moving human body," Katabi says.
Motion detector
To do this, the system uses two transmit antennas and a single receiver. The two antennas transmit almost identical signals, except that the signal from the second receiver is the inverse of the first. As a result, the two signals interfere with each other in such a way as to cancel each other out. Since any static objects that the signals hit -- including the wall -- create identical reflections, they too are cancelled out by this nulling effect.
In this way, only those reflections that change between the two signals, such as those from a moving object, arrive back at the receiver, Adib says. "So, if the person moves behind the wall, all reflections from static objects are cancelled out, and the only thing registered by the device is the moving human."
Once the system has cancelled out all of the reflections from static objects, it can then concentrate on tracking the person as he or she moves around the room. Most previous attempts to track moving targets through walls have done so using an array of spaced antennas, which each capture the signal reflected off a person moving through the environment. But this would be too expensive and bulky for use in a handheld device.
So instead Wi-Vi uses just one receiver. As the person moves through the room, his or her distance from the receiver changes, meaning the time it takes for the reflected signal to make its way back to the receiver changes too. The system then uses this information to calculate where the person is at any one time.
Possible uses in disaster recovery, personal safety, gaming
Wi-Vi, being presented at the Sigcomm conference in Hong Kong in August, could be used to help search-and-rescue teams to find survivors trapped in rubble after an earthquake, say, or to allow police officers to identify the number and movement of criminals within a building to avoid walking into an ambush.
It could also be used as a personal safety device, Katabi says: "If you are walking at night and you have the feeling that someone is following you, then you could use it to check if there is someone behind the fence or behind a corner."
The device can also detect gestures or movements by a person standing behind a wall, such as a wave of the arm, Katabi says. This would allow it to be used as a gesture-based interface for controlling lighting or appliances within the home, such as turning off the lights in another room with a wave of the arm.
Venkat Padmanabhan, a principal researcher at Microsoft Research, says the possibility of using Wi-Vi as a gesture-based interface that does not require a line of sight between the user and the device itself is perhaps its most interesting application of all. "Such an interface could alter the face of gaming," he says.
Unlike today's interactive gaming devices, where users must stay in front of the console and its camera at all times, users could still interact with the system while in another room, for example. This could open up the possibility of more complex and interesting games, Katabi says.
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Texas teen Jordan Spieth already achieved big goal, now shooting for a PGA Tour win
BETHESDA, Md. - At this time a year ago, Jordan Spieth was playing a couple of PGA Tour events for nothing more than experience and gearing up for a summer of amateur golf before returning to Texas for the start of his sophomore season.
Golf is a job now, and it's even more fun.
The 19-year-old Texan describes this summer as "free swinging," and it's not a bad place to be. He started the season in January with no guaranteed place to play, and he already is assured of a PGA Tour card when the new season starts in October.
Now he wants more ? a PGA Tour win that would create bountiful opportunities ? and the AT&T National would be a good place to start.
Spieth hit all 18 greens in regulation Friday, extended his streak without a bogey to 29 holes at tough Congressional and wound up with a 5-under 66 to share the 36-hole lead with Roberto Castro going into the weekend.
Not everyone has completed 36 holes just yet. Thunderstorms late in the afternoon halted the second round, and the other half of the field was to return Saturday morning to complete the round. Spieth and Castro (69) were at 7-under 135. Andres Romero of Argentina was at 5-under with five holes remaining. No one else was within four shots of the leaders when play was stopped.
Asked what it would mean to win, Spieth said it would be "huge," until showing some maturity.
"I can't really think about that at this point," he said. "It's only halfway through the tournament. So there's a long way to go."
It already feels like a long journey this year.
For a teenager who started the season with no tour to call his own, this is his 14th tournament on the PGA Tour ? five more than Tiger Woods ? and he already has earned more than $900,000, which is the equivalent of being No. 39 on the tour money list.
But he won't be eligible for the lucrative FedEx Cup playoffs unless he's a PGA Tour member, and he can't be a member this year unless he wins.
"Honestly, I think it's a great position to be in," Spieth said. "I'm just free swinging. I can't be in the playoffs unless I win, and that makes winning the No. 1 goal. You'd like to get in the playoffs and play against the top players, the best players from this year. It's everyone's goal out here to win the FedEx Cup. My goal is to move up the world rankings as much as I can, and that's the way to do it, is to get into those playoffs."
D.H. Lee had a 66 and was two shots behind at 5-under 139. Cameron Tringale (67) and James Driscoll (69) were another shot behind, while the group at 3-under 139 included former British Open champion Stewart Cink (69), Gary Woodland (69) and David Lingmerth, who went from around the cut line to contention with a 65.
Spieth has lived up to the hype he first generated when he played late on Sunday in the Byron Nelson Championship at age 16 and tied for 16th. In one year at Texas, the Longhorns won the NCAA title. And in six months as a pro, he has shown quickly that he belongs.
He already has four top 10s and has special temporary membership, meaning he gets unlimited exemptions. His goal was to somehow get a PGA Tour card for 2013-14 season, and a win would be over the top.
Even so, the teenager who was born just three years before Woods turned pro is savvy to realize the tournament is not even halfway over.
"Now all there's left to do is try and get a win to make the playoffs," he said. "So I'm just going out there trying to win and being aggressive, and hopefully, it will work out for me."
Scoring was slightly better at Congressional, a course that has hosted the U.S. Open three times. Warmer weather in the morning made the ball fly a little farther and shortened the longest PGA Tour course on the mainland.
Spieth began his day with a 25-foot birdie putt on the first hole, avoided a long three-putt from above the hole on No. 4 by making a 12-foot par putt and then picked up four birdies over the final five holes on the front nine for a 31. He made nine pars on the back nine, never coming close to a bogey.
It was a clean round, executed well by a teenager who plays like he knows where he is going.
"I'm excited for what the weekend is going to bring," he said.
Castro tied the course record on the TPC Sawgrass in May with a 63 to lead the opening round of The Players Championship, and then he followed with a 78 and never seriously challenged the rest of the week. After opening with a 66 at Congressional, he dropped a shot early from a fairway bunker on No. 3 and was plodding along until finishing the back nine with a pair of birdies, and then adding a birdie on the par-5 16th.
"I felt good," he said. "I probably learned a lot there (at Sawgrass) and realized that one round doesn't mean anything ? just got to keep going. And I was able to do that."
Woods, the defending champion, is not playing because of an elbow injury, and U.S. Open champion Justin Rose withdrew earlier in the week because of fatigue. Some of the other big names most likely won't be around for the weekend, such as Hunter Mahan, who had a 72 and was at 5-over 147. Masters champion Adam Scott traded birdies and bogeys in his round of 71 that left him nine shots behind.
Brandt Snedeker had to salvage a scrappy round with two late birdies for a 71, leaving him five shots behind.
? Copyright 2013
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Video: Cramer's Mad Dash: Personal Computers
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Foxx will resign as mayor Monday after confirmation as DOT head
Charlotte mayor Anthony Foxx says he will formally resign his position as the city's mayor after he was unanimously voted in as the U.S. Secretary of Transportation.
The US Senate confirmed Foxx as the nation's next transportation secretary in a vote of 100 in favor and none opposed at noon onThursday. The President was immediately notified.
"I am pleased that the Senate today voted unanimously to confirm Anthony Foxx as the next Secretary of Transportation," President Barack Obama released in a statement on Thursday afternoon.
"Anthony knows firsthand that investing in our roads, bridges and transit systems is vital to creating good jobs and ensuring American businesses can grow and compete in a 21st century global economy," he continued. "I welcome Anthony to my team, and I look forward to working with him as we aim to modernize the infrastructure that powers our economy."
After Foxx was confirmed by the Senate, North Carolina Senator Kay Hagan posted her congratulations to him on Twitter.
"Pleased the Senate has unanimously confirmed Mayor Foxx to become our next Secretary of Transportation. A proud day for NC," she tweeted. "Bipartisan vote indicative of Foxx's status as champion of transportation & infrastructure development that fuels economic growth."
Committee chair Senator Jay Rockefeller kicked off the vote in the Senate just after 11:30 a.m. Roll call began almost immediately due to the fact that there were no opposing speeches.
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, the majority leader, took a break from debating the immigration reform bill and hold a confirmation vote on Mayor Foxx.
The vote comes 60 days after the President nominated Foxx for the position to lead the US Department of Transportation.
Foxx sent a letter out to city council members and staff Thursday afternoon calling a special meeting at 4 p.m. on Monday, July 1st where he will formally resign his position as mayor of Charlotte.
The mayor also plans to discuss transition plans for a successor until a new mayor is elected in November.
Sen. Kay Hagan spoke on the Senate floor earlier in the morning - listing off Mayor Foxx's accomplishments while in Charlotte. Chief among them was the Lynx Blue Line and the growth and expansion at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
"Today is a proud day for all North Carolinians and a positive step for our nation as we continue the important work of rebuilding our infrastructure," Hagan said in a release after Foxx was confirmed.
"I am pleased that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle could come together to unanimously confirm Mayor Foxx, a true champion of transportation and infrastructure development with a proven record of making smart investments that fuel economic growth. Jobs are my number one priority, and I have full confidence that Anthony will approach this new job with an eye for how we can grow our economy as we update our nation's infrastructure.? Though he will be missed in North Carolina, I am eagerly anticipating the strong leadership he will bring to the Department of Transportation."
"I would also take this opportunity to thank outgoing Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood for his service," her statement continued. "I was honored to have Secretary LaHood join my transportation roundtable in Charlotte several years ago, and it was abundantly clear that his expertise and passion for keeping our nation's infrastructure updated is unparalleled. In particular, he is to be commended for his willingness to put politics in service to our country. His example of bipartisanship should be followed more often, and I wish Secretary LaHood the best in his next steps."
Amtrak Chairman Tony Coscia and President/CEO Joe Boardman issued a statement after Foxx's confirmation, as well.
"Amtrak congratulates Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx on his confirmation today by the U.S. Senate.? He will play a pivotal role in providing critical federal investments for advancing intercity and high-speed passenger rail projects that enhance service, improve reliability, expand capacity, reduce trip-times and increase speeds.
"We also welcome Secretary Foxx to the Amtrak board of directors where he will help shape the future of America's Railroad and further improve our record-breaking financial and operational performance.
"As a former mayor of Charlotte, N.C., an Amtrak-served community, we believe Secretary Foxx understands that intercity passenger rail is a vital and necessary part of the national transportation network and provides mobility, connectivity, and economic development across America in rural communities, small and medium sized towns, and major cities.
"The Amtrak family welcomes Secretary Foxx aboard and we look forward to working with him to deliver more and better intercity and high-speed passenger rail service to the nation."
The US Senate Committee on Commerce, Transportation and Infrastructure held a hearing in May and approved the mayor's nomination earlier this month with bipartisan support.
The mayor promised lawmakers at his hearing that he would work across party lines in his new position and work on continuing a multimodal approach to the nation's transportation network like his predecessor, Secretary Ray LaHood has.
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Low self-control promotes selfless behavior in close relationships
June 27, 2013 ? When faced with the choice of sacrificing time and energy for a loved one or taking the self-centered route, people's first impulse is to think of others, according to new research published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
"For decades psychologists have assumed that the first impulse is selfish and that it takes self-control to behave in a pro-social manner," says lead researcher Francesca Righetti of VU University Amsterdam in the Netherlands. "We did not believe that this was true in every context, and especially not in close relationships."
Righetti and colleagues sought to examine whether impulsivity, in close relationships, might actually benefit others.
They found that participants whose self-control was taxed (and were thus more impulsive) were more willing to sacrifice time and energy for their romantic partner or best friend than participants whose self-control wasn't taxed.
In one study, to find out whether they would sacrifice in actual practice, the researchers told couples they would have to talk to 12 strangers and ask them embarrassing questions. The participants didn't know that they wouldn't actually have to follow through with the task.
Participants with high self-control opted to split the burden right down the middle -- assigning six strangers to themselves and six strangers to their partner. But participants with low self-control opted to take on more of the burden, sacrificing their own comfort to spare their partners.
A final experiment revealed that married individuals low in trait self-control sacrificed more for their partners, yet were also less forgiving of their transgressions -- presumably because self-control is required to override the focus on the wrongdoing and think instead about the relationship as a whole.
While sacrificing for a partner may help to build the relationship on a day-to-day basis, Righetti and colleagues note that it could backfire over the long-term, compromising individuals' ability to maintain a balance between personal and relationship-related concerns.
This balance is a perennial issue for anyone in a close relationship:
"Whether it's about which activities to engage in during free time, whose friends to go out with, or which city to live in, relationship partners often face a divergence of interests -- what is most preferred by one partner is not preferred by the other," notes Righetti.
The field of research is relatively new, so the jury is still out on what effects sacrifice has on relationship well-being, but Righetti is hopeful that research over the next few years will shed more light on the link.
Co-authors on this research include Catrin Finkenauer, also of VU University Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and Eli Finkel of Northwestern University.
This research was supported by grants from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/vEB9BGp7PWA/130627142553.htm
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San Diego protester faces vandalism charges for sidewalk chalk drawings
By Marty Graham
SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - A protester is standing trial on criminal vandalism charges in San Diego, and faces a sentence of up to 13 years in prison if convicted, for a scribbling a series of anti-bank slogans in chalk on a city sidewalk.
Mayor Bob Filner has denounced the prosecution of Jeff Olson, 40, a man with no previous criminal record, as a waste of taxpayer money and an abuse of power that infringes on First Amendment free speech protections in the U.S. Constitution.
"This young man is being persecuted for thirteen counts of vandalism stemming from an expression of political protest that involved washable children's chalk on a city sidewalk," the mayor said last week in a memo to the City Council.
The city attorney, Jan Goldsmith, defended his pursuit of the case in remarks published on Thursday in the U-T San Diego news website, saying: "We prosecute vandalism and theft cases regardless of who the perpetrator or victim might be."
"We don't decide, for example, based upon whether we like or dislike banks," Goldsmith added. "That would be wrong under the law and such a practice by law enforcement would change our society in very damaging ways."
On Thursday, Superior Court Judge Howard Shore issued a gag order in the case, forbidding all parties from discussing the trial further. He previously ruled that Olson would not be permitted to invoke freedom of expression as a defense in the case.
Olson is charged with 13 misdemeanor counts of vandalism, each carrying a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine, though he is not expected to receive as harsh a sentence as 13 consecutive years behind bars if found guilty.
He is accused of writing a series of protest slogans between February and August 2012 on sidewalks in front of Bank of America branches.
Olson has admitted to the graffiti protests, but said nothing he wrote was profane or vulgar and suggested his prosecution was politically motivated.
"I wrote, 'No thanks big banks.' I wrote, 'Shame on Bank of America,'" he told San Diego CBS television affiliate KFMB-TV. He told another local station, ABC affiliate KGTV: "If I had drawn a little girl's hopscotch squares on the street, we wouldn't be here today."
The mayor's office would not rule out the possibility that Filner might appear as a witness for Olson.
The Olson case has become the latest flashpoint in a deepening rift between Filner and Goldsmith, who was elected city attorney under the former mayor by promising to improve the office's ability to work with the city's top elected official.
The mayor and city attorney have clashed over medical marijuana dispensary crackdowns, tourism district funds, bond issues and the mayor's recent successful effort to cut $500,000 from the city attorney's budget.
(Reporting by Marty Graham; Editing by Steve Gorman and Eric Beech)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/san-diego-protester-faces-vandalism-charges-sidewalk-chalk-031251879.html
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Surgeons report melanoma recurs after 10 years in more than 6 percent of patients
June 27, 2013 ? Recurrence of melanoma skin cancer 10 or more years after initial treatment is more common than previously thought, occurring in more than one in 20 patients. However, according to a new study, these patients tend to live longer after their cancer returns than patients whose melanoma recurs in the first three years. The study results appear in the July issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
"For patients with melanoma, survival beyond 10 years without a recurrence has been considered nearly synonymous with a cure," said principal investigator Mark Faries, MD, FACS, a professor of surgery at the John Wayne Cancer Institute at Saint John's Health Center, Santa Monica, CA. "However, most studies do not follow up patients longer than 10 years. Our study found that late melanoma recurrence is not rare and that it occurs more frequently in certain patient groups."
Patients with a higher chance of melanoma -- the deadliest form of skin cancer -- recurring more than a decade later, compared with early recurrence of melanoma within the first three years, were typically a younger age at initial diagnosis and generally exhibited less serious characteristics of the original tumor, Dr. Faries and colleagues reported.
Dr. Faries said the study represents the largest reported group of melanoma patients with a first recurrence at least a decade later. Of 4,731 patients who were diagnosed with skin melanoma at their medical center and received long-term follow-up, 408 patients experienced a late melanoma recurrence after being disease free 10 or more years, the authors reported.
Recurrence rates using actuarial analysis were reportedly 6.8 percent 15 years after initial treatment and 11.3 percent at 25 years.
When the investigators determined the melanoma recurrence rate by including only patients who received initial treatment at the John Wayne Cancer Institute, they found that 327(6.9 percent) of the 4,731 patients showed a late recurrence.
"It appears the risk of melanoma recurrence is never completely gone," Dr. Faries said. "One change that should result from our study is that people need to be followed up for life with a physician after a diagnosis of melanoma." The American Cancer Society estimates that nearly 76,700 new cases of melanoma will be diagnosed in the U.S. this year according to 2013 estimates, with more men affected than women.
The new study findings, however, showed that late melanoma recurrence was less male-predominant than in patients whose cancer recurred within the first three years. Although 66 percent of 3,127 patients with an early melanoma recurrence were men, only 57 percent of the 408 patients with a late recurrence were male, the investigators reported. This difference may be because initially "melanoma behaves worse in men than in women, although no one knows why," he said.
The researchers note other differences existed between patient groups. Namely, patients whose melanoma did not come back until at least 10 years later were younger, on average, than those with an early recurrence: 41 versus 51 years old.
In addition, compared with the early-recurrence group, patients with a late recurrence tended to have had an original melanoma with characteristics indicating a more favorable disease outcome. Specifically, their original tumor was more likely to have been thin and nonulcerated (meaning that the skin over the melanoma had not broken down), not have spread to the lymph nodes, and occurred at a site other than the head and neck.
Although the investigators found that late-recurring melanomas were more likely to develop in a site on the body distant from the original site, this group of patients had a better post-recurrence survival rate. Compared with patients whose cancer returned within three years, patients with a late recurrence were about 40 percent less likely to die of melanoma than were patients with an early recurrence, Dr. Faries said. Overall survival also was better in the late-recurrence group according to the researchers.
"Fortunately, the vast majority of melanoma patients who remain disease free longer than 10 years will not have a recurrence," Dr. Faries said. "However, patients should be aware that persistent or unexplained symptoms anywhere in the body might indicate a recurrence of their melanoma, and they should return to their physician to make sure the symptoms are not related."
Even when symptoms are absent, Dr. Faries recommended that patients get an annual clinical examination with their melanoma physician or primary care physician. He also orders a yearly chest X ray and laboratory tests for his melanoma patients.
Other study authors, all from the John Wayne Cancer Institute, included Shawn Steen, MD; Xing Ye; Myung Sim, DrPH; and Donald L. Morton, MD, FACS.
Study researchers received partial support from the National Cancer Institute, Melanoma Research Alliance, Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Medical Research Foundation, and Alan and Brenda Borstein.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/Gzvx8CfNPEE/130627161438.htm
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Friday, June 28, 2013
Molecule drives aggressive breast cancer
June 27, 2013 ? Recent studies by researchers at Thomas Jefferson University's Kimmel Cancer Center have shown a gene known to coordinate initial development of the eye (EYA1) is a powerful breast tumor promoter in mice. The gene EYA1 was also shown to be overexpressed in a genetic breast cancer subtype called luminal B.
The scientists found that excess activity of this gene -- EYA1 -- also enhances development of breast cancer stem cells that promote resistance to cancer therapy, recurrence, and poor survival.
Because EYA1 is an enzyme, the scientists are now working to identify a natural compound that could shut down EYA1 activity, says Richard Pestell, M.D., Ph.D., Director of Kimmel Cancer Center.
"It was known that EYA1 is over-expressed in some breast cancers, but no one knew what that meant," he says. "Our studies have shown the enzyme drives luminal B breast tumor growth in animals and the enzyme activity is required for tumor growth."
In a mouse model of aggressive breast cancer, the research team targeted a single amino acid on the EYA1 phosphatase activity. They found that inactivating the phosphatase activity of EYA1 stopped aggressive human tumors from growing.
"We are excited about the potential of drug treatment, because it is much easier to develop a drug that targets a phosphatase enzyme like EYA1, than it is to target a gene directly," he says.
Tracing how EYA1 leads to poor outcomes
The study, which was published in the May 1 issue of Cancer Research, examined 2,154 breast cancer samples for the presence of EYA1. The researchers then linked those findings to patient outcomes. They found a direct relationship between increased level of EYA1 and cyclin D1 to poor survival.
They then chose one form of breast cancer -- luminal B -- and traced the bimolecular pathway of how EYA1 with cyclin D1 increases cancer aggressiveness. Luminal B breast cancer, one of five different breast cancer subtypes, is a hormone receptor-positive form that accounts for about 20 percent of human breast cancer. It is more aggressive than luminal A tumors, a hormone receptor-positive cancer that is the most common form of breast cancer.
Their work delineated a string of genes and proteins that are affected by EYA1, and they also discovered that EYA1 pushes an increase in formation of mammospheres, which are a measure of breast cancer stem cells.
"Within every breast cancer are breast cancer stem cells, which give rise to anti-cancer therapy resistance, recurrence and metastases," Dr. Pestell says. "We demonstrated in laboratory experiments that EYA1 expression increase the number of mammospheres and other markers of breast cancer stem cells."
"As the EYA1 phosphatase activity drove breast cancer stem cell expansion, this activity may contribute to worse survival," he says.
This study was supported in part by the NIH grants RO1CA132115, R01CA70896, R01CA75503, R01CA86072 and P30CA56036 (RGP), a grant from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (RGP), a grant for Dr. Ralph and Marian C. Falk Medical Research Trust (RGP), Margaret Q. Landenberger Research Foundation, the Department of Defense Concept Award W81XWH-11-1-0303.
Study co-authors are, from Kimmel Cancer Center: first author Kongming Wu, Zhaoming Li, Shaoxin Cai, Lifeng Tian, Ke Chen, Jing Wang and Adam Ertel; Junbo Hu, from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China; and Ye Sun, and Xue Li from Boston Children's Hospital.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/jBYVoKY_n-o/130627190327.htm
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Thursday, June 27, 2013
?MythBusters? revisit previously busted case
TV 
June 26, 2013 at 10:07 AM ET
What "MythBusters" fans want, "MythBusters" will give! In 2007, the hit Discovery show took on the case of the "Bifurcated Boat." A man who was driving a speedboat had crashed into a channel marker, and the accident had nearly split the boat in two. Sounds like speed was involved, right? Maybe not. The man claimed that he was going just a measly 25 MPH.
"MythBusters" to the rescue! With some tests, the gang busted the tale after their model boat merely glanced off their marker with little damage. But viewers complained about the bust, so the show is now revisiting the myth in its 10th season, and Discovery is sharing an exclusive look at the second attempt to bust the myth with TODAY.com.
"Our results were less than spectacular," Grant Imahara admits in the clip. "But according to you fans, that's because our methodology was totally wrong!"
"Because we didn't do it on water!" Kari Byron adds in the video.
Testing damage to a boat and not using a body of water of some sort? No wonder fans wanted a redo!
And it turns out there were some other problems too when testing the myth the first time. (Including an accident involving dropping one boat. Oops!) Take a look at some of the blunders, as well as what the "MythBusters" plan to do to make this attempt more accurate:
"MythBusters" airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on Discovery.
Turn to State Higher Education Offices for Scholarship Help
As you look for scholarships, financial aid and the perfect college fit, there are a lot of familiar resources. These include scholarship search engines, the federal student aid database and high school and college websites. But one useful source that plenty of students never think about is their state's office of higher education.
Checking out the office in your home state, as well as the states where you might go to college, should be part of your summer to-do list. Resources and the office's name vary by state. You can start with this list.
Wherever you go, look for links to student and family resources. Once you find those, focus on the following five valuable options.
[Follow these simple steps to maximize the summer scholarship search.]
1. Online guidance and planning tools: While websites differ, just about every state features online tools that can help you plan and pay for college. One of the best is Kentucky's KnowHow2GoKY site, which offers education planning advice for all ages.
The Iowa College Student Aid Commission's I Have A Plan site provides a wide view of everything from career exploration and test prep to financial aid and postgraduate activities.
Even if your state doesn't have a dedicated planning tool, it will likely have a student resource page, like this one from Massachusetts, where you can get started.
2. In-person and offline events: One advantage of these offices' local focus is that they can offer residents more face-to-face opportunities to connect and learn. The Minnesota Office of Higher Education will soon be supplementing its online tool set with "College Knowledge Month," a series of college planning and application events for high school seniors across the state.
The Maryland Higher Education Commission conducts monthly financial aid presentations at high schools and colleges. And higher education offices across the nation are often closely involved with College Goal Sunday efforts in January and February.
[Avoid making these costly college savings mistakes.]
3. Loan, grant and savings information: Most states offer education loans and grants to qualified students. These funds are usually managed by the higher education office, as are the states' college savings plans, known as 529 accounts. Minnesota provides a straightforward 529 website for students and parents, as well as offers a detailed look at the state's low interest rate SELF Loan program.
Washington's thorough state site covers all things 529 and features a wide array of grants and loans under the "Opportunity Pathways" banner.
4. Scholarship searches and applications: Washington also offers a unique resource called The WashBoard, which allows resident students to find scholarships from public and private-sector providers across the state. While this is the most ambitious search we've found, other states do feature online applications for government-funded programs or listings of statewide scholarships.
[Get advice on using scholarships as a college financial aid tool.]
5. Resources for military and veteran students: The U.S. Armed Forces provides a wide array of educational benefits to active-duty servicemen and women, reservists and veterans. But those benefits often come with confusing paperwork, restrictions or deadlines.
If you're a veteran or currently serving, your state higher education office can help you make sense of it all. Some states, like North Carolina and Massachusetts, have easy-to-find resources on their websites. If you can't find the information you need, reach out to your state's office.
No matter what your needs are, we recommend you contact state higher education offices with questions. Many are now active on social media, meaning a tweet, a Facebook message or an email can help you learn what you need to from these often-overlooked resources.
Matt Konrad has been with Scholarship America since 2005. He is an alumnus of the University of Minnesota and a former scholarship recipient.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/turn-state-higher-education-offices-scholarship-help-155726420.html
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A reporter's eyewitness account of Taliban attack
Afghan national security arrive near the entrance gate of the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan Tuesday, June 25, 2013. Suicide attackers blew up a car bomb and battled security forces outside the presidential palace Tuesday after infiltrating one of the most secure areas of the capital. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which came as reporters were gathering for a news event on Afghan youth at which President Hamid Karzai was expected to talk about ongoing efforts to open peace talks with the militant group. (AP photo/Rahmat Gul)
Afghan national security arrive near the entrance gate of the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan Tuesday, June 25, 2013. Suicide attackers blew up a car bomb and battled security forces outside the presidential palace Tuesday after infiltrating one of the most secure areas of the capital. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which came as reporters were gathering for a news event on Afghan youth at which President Hamid Karzai was expected to talk about ongoing efforts to open peace talks with the militant group. (AP photo/Rahmat Gul)
Smoke rises from the eastern gate of the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday June 25, 2013. The Taliban said they have hit one of the most secure areas of the Afghan capital with a suicide attack, as a series of explosions rocked the gate leading into the presidential palace. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? One moment I was standing in a quiet, secure and heavily guarded area and the next it had turned into a battlefield.
It was 6:30 a.m., and I waiting with about 20 other journalists for an escort into the palace for a speech by President Hamid Karzai. It was a routine assignment for Kabul journalists, and the presidential compound is a scenic and peaceful oasis lined with pine trees in my chaotic hometown.
Suddenly I saw the four armed men jump out of their vehicle. They kneeled down and started shooting. Two of them fired at presidential palace security guards stationed at a checkpoint. The two others aimed their weapons at the Ariana Hotel, where the CIA is known to have an office.
I didn't know what to do. Bullets were flying all over. Gunfire was coming from different directions. No one really knew who were the attackers and who were the security forces because both sides were wearing similar uniforms.
I thought at first that this must be an insider attack or an argument between security guards. I just couldn't believe that Taliban fighters could have made it this far into the presidential compound, through two checkpoints. After about a minute, I realized the attackers must be Taliban because they were firing in so many different directions.
___
EDITOR'S NOTE: Rahim Faiez, a correspondent with The Associated Press in Afghanistan since January 2002, was waiting in a security area outside the heavily fortified Afghan presidential compound in Kabul for an escort to the palace to cover a speech by President Hamid Karzai when he got caught up Tuesday in a brazen Taliban attack. This is his account.
___
I hit the ground and kept my head down, asking myself, what I should do? I looked around to try to find a place to use as a shelter and call my office ? report the news as fast as possible.
Mostly, though, my thoughts focused on my small children ? my nearly 6-year-old son, Mohammad Akmal, and my two daughters, Hadia, who is 4, and Muqadasa, just 15 months.
Some other reporters took shelter behind an armored SUV used by an American television network. A few others lay in a ditch.
I saw a white, small, religious shrine nearby, and crawled about 10 to 15 meters (yards), then ran as fast as I could toward the wall of the shrine. I saw blood on my clothes but was sure I had not been hit. Later I noticed scratches on my arms and knees from pulling my body across the ground.
I finally reached the wall and thought it was safe enough to take my mobile phone and call the office.
Breathless and scared, I shouted over the phone to a colleague, "David, attackers are inside and a shooting is going on." He was shocked.
Grenades and rockets were exploding in the background and automatic weapons were firing. My colleague asked, "Are you safe, Rahim? Are you OK? I replied I was fine, even if I wasn't entirely.
Then I managed to take a deep breath and started reporting, the battle still going on in the background.
Most of the reporters moved with me behind the shrine.
Looking out, we saw a small boy, around 6 years old, wearing a school uniform and running close to us. He was so brave, not crying, but of course very worried.
We grabbed him and pulled him behind the wall. He didn't know how to call his parents but one of the reporters had a number for the director of his nearby school. He called and told the director that one of his students was with us and safe.
I wanted to move out from behind the wall and take some photos with my cell phone. But bullets kept coming and never gave me the chance. We all wanted to leave from our precarious position, but security guards from the other gate, about 50 meters (yards) away from us, kept shouting that we must stay there. Otherwise we could be shot from the CIA building because guards there wouldn't know who we were.
We sheltered behind that wall for about an hour until the shooting finally eased. During that time, my father called me twice. I lied to him, telling him I was farther from the battle than I really was.
More guards moved into the area, first securing it and finally motioning to us one by one to leave. By then, we later learned, eight attackers and three guards lay dead.
But at the moment I wasn't sure whether other attackers were hiding nearby. I felt safe only when I finally got away from the area. I called my father and told him I was on my way back to the office and not to worry.
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Friday, June 21, 2013
Criminal Defense Lawyers - How They Can Assist in Cases of Drug ...
In the USA, drug laws are seen to be a controversial subject. Its been said that drug offenders should be rehabilitated and get the necessary treatment needed to put them back into society where they can once again lead normal lives. Others feel that even in minor instances of drug possession that they should be sentenced to prison. Whatever the case may be, if you find yourself on the wrong side of the law being in possession of drugs, then you better have a very good defense lawyer from companies like Criminal Lawyer Seattle on your side. To be in front of a Judge in the courtrooms and merely rely on your quest for legalization will not necessarily guarantee you a good outcome.
Drug offenses would include manufacturing, possession, cultivation, possession of sale, drug trafficking and more.
Duties of Criminal Defense Lawyers
It is a criminal defense lawyer?s duty to ensure that justice gets served and to deal with people who are accused of committing an offense. In addition, they would legally educate the defendant as to their rights. See here just how they provide much needed support and legal education towards the public in general. In a sense, you could say that they are criminal defense practitioners.
Not only are lawyer firms like Criminal Lawyer Seattle competent, caring, and insured, but they have pre-screened their criminal defense lawyers as far as suitability and experience in criminal matters are concerned. They have reputable lawyers on-board who would answer any legal questions confidently to ensure the defendant gets their due throughout the case. Their criminal defense lawyers and attorneys are licensed to defend various types of charges, ranging from drunk driving and domestic violence to drug related offenses. You can sense their commitment from beginning to end. They have your best interest at heart in that they negotiate charges and would even hire investigators where needed.
In addition, it is their job to raise reasonable doubt and go on to protect the rights of the suspect as far as law enforcements such as incarceration before and during trial, and interrogations are concerned. The defendant has the right to a fair trail which is why a criminal defense lawyer operating from companies like Criminal Lawyer Seattle would make sure that the proper procedure is followed.
The Criminal Defense Lawyer Plays an Important Role
Your defense lawyer makes a very crucial part of the justice system. Without them, prosecutors and cops would do whatever they want. You never know when someone would get wrongly accused. This arrangement serves as protection for all citizens, and ensure that the actual person responsible gets booked for the crime committed.
You definitely do not want to take on the court system without an expert criminal defense lawyer to help you out, regardless of whether you are charged for a major or minor drug offense. For more helpful hints as to how they can assist you, we encourage you to visit www.criminallawyerseattle.net.
Tags: criminal, criminal lawyer, criminal lawyer seattle, www.criminallawyerseattle.net
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Thursday, June 20, 2013
Lytro Camera Gets an iOS App That Makes Animated GIFs
Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/06/lytro-ios-app/
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Exclusive: British investors step back from executive pay battle
By Joel Dimmock
LONDON (Reuters) - Investors in Britain's largest companies have rowed back on the protests over pay which most readily symbolized public distaste over perceived corporate greed during last year's 'shareholder spring'.
Research by Reuters has found that the average vote against executive pay deals at FTSE 100 annual general meetings has fallen by 18 percent from two years ago, even though surveys suggest earnings have continued to rise.
The decline in dissent comes shortly before shareholders acquire new powers to reject compensation policies.
With more than 70 percent of 2013 FTSE 100 AGMs completed, remuneration resolutions have drawn an average 'No' vote of 6.6 percent, down from 7.6 percent for the same companies in 2012 and from 8 percent for all FTSE 100 members in 2011.
As with other stock indexes, the British blue-chip benchmark's composition changes slightly from year to year.
These votes are still advisory, but from October reforms brought in by Britain's business secretary Vince Cable will give shareholders the power to reject any changes to a pay policy at the next company AGM, or to vote down an unchanged policy every three years.
No FTSE 100 pay vote in 2013 has so far seen objections reach the 50 percent threshold which would force a company back to the drawing board. Last year, a majority of shareholders at two companies, WPP
There is no clear evidence that the decline in voting levels reflects a fall in executive earnings, although some major investors credit efforts by companies to make changes and better engage with shareholders for the fall in protest votes.
A survey last week by consultancy MM&K and proxy voting firm Manifest found that average pay for UK CEOs in 2012 had increased by more than 10 percent from 2011 as an equity rally inspired by quantitative easing inflated earnings. Click here for more details: http://r.reuters.com/duj98t x Cable told Reuters there had been some evidence of pay moderation, particularly among new appointments. Barclays
But Cable warned that shareholders risk squandering their new powers if they lack the determination to challenge pay deals they perceive to be too generous or contrary to a firm's long-term interests.
"Our changes will help to create the right environment for long-term, responsible private sector growth, which will in turn support a stronger economy and a fairer society," said Cable, a Liberal Democrat member of the Conservative-led coalition government.
"The challenge is now for shareholders to engage with companies. We've given them the tools through our reforms but these will only work if shareholders are willing to use them."
When British companies faced their shareholders during the 2012 AGM season, it felt like revolution was in the air. Heads rolled and the phrase 'shareholder spring' was coined to echo the popular uprisings across the Arab world.
The average vote against pay deals actually fell compared with 2011, however, and the latest data shows a further decline so far this year.
"This does not bode well for the incoming regime of binding shareholder votes," said Alan Macdougall, managing director at PIRC, which provides voting advice to UK institutional investors and is a vocal campaigner for improved corporate governance standards.
"The willingness of many asset managers to nod through all but the most egregious remuneration policies means it would not be surprising to go through a whole season without a company being defeated.
"There is a real danger that unengaged asset managers undermine the credibility of shareholder oversight of pay," he told Reuters.
And it's not the case that shareholders have simply toned down their protests through the use of abstentions.
When abstentions are rolled into the total votes counted at FTSE 100 AGMs, the Reuters research shows that 2.2 percent of votes have been withheld so far this year on pay resolutions, a fall from 2.4 percent in 2012 and from 3.6 percent in 2011.
LEARNING THE LESSONS?
Angeli Benham is UK corporate governance manager at Legal & General Investment Management, the fund arm of the British insurer, which owns about 4 percent of UK shares. She said the decline was a function of last year's ructions.
Although the average vote against pay dropped in 2012, investors could be said to have picked their battles. Shareholder votes claimed the scalp of Aviva CEO Andrew Moss, forced WPP back to the drawing board on bonuses, and sent other companies scrambling to tweak pay arrangements as their turn on the AGM treadmill approached.
"A lot of the companies that I worked against last year, did come and chat to shareholders and most of them have made significant changes to their remuneration," said Benham.
"Other shareholders are now engaging more with companies... and companies that haven't engaged with us in the past are coming forward."
Investors suggest that some companies last year were playing catch-up with pay after restraint during the financial crisis, and were willing to stomach political anger and investor tutting in order to bring salaries to levels they deemed appropriate.
Historically, many investors have been loath to join a public vote against management and there were already expectations that this latest AGM season might fail to live up to last year's headlines.
Fund managers often claim to do their best work behind closed doors and highlight the need for pragmatism when voting on compensation for UK CEOs which is not out of step with payouts to peers around the world.
"It suits the status quo in both PLC remuneration committees and the investment management industry to pretend that the drop-off in shareholder opposition to pay is a sign of progress," said PIRC's Macdougall.
"Neither group really believes that there is a problem with pay, and so the token changes companies are willing to make are quickly banked as ?wins' by asset managers."
(Editing by Catherine Evans)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-british-investors-step-back-executive-pay-battle-113159392.html
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Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 Benchmarks: This Thing Has a Face-Melting GPU
While most high-end Android phones currently sport Qualcomm's Snapdragon 600, there's another chip announced earlier this year waiting to hit the scene: the Snapdragon 800
AnandTech has a raft of numbers comparing the Snapdragon 800's CPU and GPU to chips like the Snapdragon 600, Apple's A6 and A6X, and the Exynos 5 Dual and Octa, which have been neatly complied by Ars Technica. What they make clear is that, while the chip's CPU is only a modest upgrade over the 600, its GPU is going to blow you away. First, the CPU scores:
The Snapdragon 8000 almost manages to keep pace with the Tegra 4, though never manages to beat it. Look at the GPU scores, though, and it's quite a different story:
Here, the 800 smokes both the Tegra 4 and the A6X?impressive given Tegra 4 tablets are yet to land and Apple is usually ahead the game in terms of graphics. The only thing to ponder here?other than the huge promise such GPU performance offers?is power consumption. Qualcomm claims it'll be on par with the 600, but it's worth being a little skeptical about that claim?at least until devices start shipping. [Anandtech via Ars Technica]
Graphics by Ars Technica
Source: http://gizmodo.com/qualcomm-snapdragon-800-benchmarks-this-thing-has-a-fa-514245637
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Israel denies Arab artists entry to West Bank
JERICHO (Ma'an) -- Three Arab singers were denied entry into the occupied West Bank on Tuesday by Israeli authorities, the PA governor of Jericho said.
Egyptian singer and actor Midhat Salih, Jordanian singer Zein Awad and Qatari singer Ali Abd al-Sattar were scheduled to perform in Ramallah as part of a campaign to support Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, but were denied entry at the Allenby Bridge crossing.
They were due to perform Wednesday in the "Appeal for Freedom" campaign organized by the PA ministry of prisoners.
Renowned Tunisian singer Lutfi Bushnaq was allowed entry into the West Bank Tuesday and was welcomed by deputy governor of Jericho Jamal Rajoub.
Bushnaq said he was happy to visit Palestine and help convey a message to the world on behalf of Palestinians.
Source: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=606372
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Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Trent Franks Feels Your Pain
Rep. Trent Franks's abortion-ban bill was up for a vote on Tuesday
Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images
It?s the day of the vote for one of the biggest bills of his career, and Arizona Rep. Trent Franks has been sidelined. The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (no easy acronym), which had been a pipe dream in the last Congress, was coming to the floor and expected to pass. The trial of Philadelphia?s illegal-late-term abortionist Kermit Gosnell, and the attendant gross-out media attention, powered the bill out of committee. So, typically, the bill?s author would lead the debate on his product.
Alas. During the bill?s last mark-up, Franks had chastised Democrats for trying to ?make rape and incest the subject? of the abortion debate. ?You know,? he?d said, ?the incidences of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low.? He?d defied the First Commandment of post-2012 Republican politics: Thou Shalt Not Mention Rape, Especially if Thou Ist a Guy. Franks bowed to reality and allowed Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee conservative with a winsome TV presence, to lead the debate.
Outside the House chamber, I ask Franks if he?d really wanted to leave the game with the ball sitting on the 1-yard line.
?Absolutely!? says Franks. ?We?ve always wanted as many of the women of this House as possible to speak on the bill. The women of this country, and I think even the women of the House of Representatives, are more pro-life than the men are. The hope is to take away some of these ancillary arguments that have nothing to do with the bill.?
But the cornucopia of ?ancillary arguments? never runs out. Democrats faced the Pain-Capable bill with a strategy honed in 2011 and 2012. The tattered cover of the playbook reads: ?War on Women.? The ability of these Democrats to turn every abortion debate into a Republican embarrassment astounds the GOP. Even a bill like this, which shifts the ?Overton window? and gets Congress talking about ?fetal pain,? is weaponized against the GOP.
?They're not debating the issue,? sighs Louisiana Rep. John Fleming. He?s a medical doctor, so he?s been placed in the live-on-C-Span speaker rotation in favor of the bill, along with the GOP?s women. ?[Democrats] want to dwell on how many men are on the Judiciary committee. They bring up War on Women, or they bring up Sandra Fluke. I mean, it's like they're bringing up all of the buzzwords just because they think that they can get some response from their base.?
On the floor, Fleming tells the Democrats what they should be talking about. He describes an ultrasound he saw recently, a fetus ?holding up two fingers as if to say, ?Be patient I'll be out soon.? ? Then he describes an abortion. ?Sticking a trocar into the skull, sucking the brain out. What torture!?
Congressional Democrats dismiss this, because they can. Their party runs the Senate, and their president has already issued a perfunctory veto threat of a bill that will never make it to his desk. Their comrades in the states aren?t this lucky. The anti-abortion movement?s campaign?using Gosnell as the face of legal abortion?has helped along new restrictions and fetal-pain laws in GOP-controlled legislatures. Their goal is to pass a law that bans abortion before ?viability of the fetus,? basing it on the new and scientific-sounding standard of fetal pain, and winning a Supreme Court test. They?ve failed so far, and a 20-week ban in Franks? own Arizona was struck down just this year, but he?s ready to lose and lose and lose and then win.
?If you harken back to the partial birth abortion bill,? he says, ?oh, everybody said?it?s not constitutional! It can?t pass! It can?t go anywhere. It took time to do it, and it even had to survive a presidential veto, but it eventually passed.?
Democrats know that too. They?ve also read the bill, which does more than stop the clock for legal abortion at 20 weeks. The legislation insists that ?by 8 weeks after fertilization, the unborn child reacts to touch.? That?s a hole some future conservative is ready to drive a truck through.
So Democrats spent Tuesday dog-piling Republicans and asking that essential political question, so well captured in the 2012 election: What about your gaffes? At a morning press conference, a dozen female Democratic House members spent 30 minutes running through the outrages committed by Republicans. Among them: They allowed the bill to be written by ?the all-male [Republican] members of the House Judiciary committee.? Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chair of the Democratic National Committee, insists that ?the Republican men who brought this to the floor do not represent the rights of women in America.?
In some ways the press conference is a bust. There are no TV cameras in the room, which is so unusual that staffers and reporters who are walking to their seats duck, as if the cameras are still there. When the speeches end, the very first question comes from a conservative, or at least someone playing devil?s advocate and asking Democrats to apply the test they used for this year?s gun legislation.
?Democrats said that even if it saves one life, it?ll be worth doing,? asks a reporter. ?Why not support this bill then, if it undoubtedly will save the lives of babies carried through five months of pregnancy??
Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette, who?s running the event, pauses to think about this. ?Well, this is?we already have laws in many states in this country. This bill is blatantly unconstitutional, and if you look at the stated reason of doing this legislation, the Kermit Gosnell case, that gentleman was convicted and sentenced to life. Are there are any other questions??
The conservative tries to follow up her admittedly leading question. ?No,? says DeGette. ?Are there are any other questions??
There is, but it?s from another conservative who wants to know if there are any abortion limits the Democrats could consider.
?The Supreme Court has spoken, and this bill is unconstitutional,? says DeGette. ?One last question.?
The last question turns out not to be a question at all but a chance to dig at Franks and his reduced role in the debate. Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx chokes back tears as she reads a prepared statement about how the skeptics ?simply refuse to acknowledge we're dealing with human life in this situation of abortion.?
Finally it?s time for the debate on the bill itself. Rep. Marsha Blackburn stands at the front of the Republican rows. Nearly all of the House GOP?s 19 women line up to speak, and very few men join them. Woman after woman in colorful blazer-skirt combos stands up to chide Democrats for minimizing the ugliness of abortion.
Trent Franks sits near the back of the room, saying nothing and not needing to.
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Obama's influence, limitations on display at G-8
BERLIN (AP) ? Now a veteran of the international summit scene, President Barack Obama wielded significant influence over the agenda at this week's Group of Eight meetings, but had only modest success in achieving the results he sought.
It was Obama's recent move to arm Syria's rebel fighters that catapulted the two-year civil war to the top of the agenda as leaders gathered at a lakeside resort in Northern Ireland. But the president made little progress in pushing Russian President Vladimir Putin to drop his support for the Syrian government, resulting in a final statement from the leaders that endorsed a political solution to the violence but stopped short of calling for President Bashar Assad to leave power.
The president also was at the center of a breakthrough with European Union leaders on starting negotiations on a sweeping free trade pact eagerly sought by the White House. But the U.S. was unable to convince France to drop its demands that its film industry be off limits in an eventual deal, a hurdle that could prove problematic when negotiations begin next month.
Obama's mixed results underscore both the broad reach and the limitations of American power at a time when the president is grappling with an array of foreign policy problems, all with implications for U.S. national security. Among them: winding down the war in Afghanistan, combating alleged Chinese cyberhacking, and nuclear threats from Iran and North Korea.
The Syrian conflict, which has resulted in at least 93,000 deaths, has garnered the most attention, both in Washington and at the summit. Despite Obama's failure to break new ground with Putin, U.S. officials said the summit's final statement on Syria was the best that could be expected given the entrenched differences between Russia and a U.S.-Western European coalition.
"Given the various ways the G-8 could have gone, we believe that on the key issues of political transition, humanitarian support and chemical weapons investigation, it's very helpful to have this type of signal sent by these eight countries," Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser, told reporters traveling with Obama from Northern Ireland to Berlin following the summit's conclusion.
Political transitions ? and sometimes political turmoil ? have lifted Obama to veteran status among the G-8 leaders. The Northern Ireland summit marked his fifth appearance at the annual meeting of leading industrial nations and his first since winning re-election.
Obama's counterpart in the G-8, in both longevity and stature, is German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has held power since 2005. The U.S. and German leaders are scheduled to meet in Berlin on Wednesday, with the global economy, the Afghan war and counterterrorism all on the agenda.
The centerpiece of Obama's 24-hour stop in Berlin will be a speech at the iconic Brandenburg Gate, which once divided East and West Germany. In a nod to the site's history, Obama is expected to extoll the deep ties between the U.S. and Europe, while also seeking to recast the relationship for modern times.
"He's seeking to summon the energy and legacy of what's been done in the past and apply it to the issues that we face today," said Rhodes, identifying nuclear non-proliferation, climate change and conflict resolution as some of those issues.
Obama's remarks in Berlin will inevitably draw comparisons to two previous speeches in the once-divided city: John F. Kennedy's famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" Cold War address almost exactly 50 years ago, and Obama's speech as a presidential candidate in 2008 before a sprawling crowd of 200,000 at the city's Victory Column.
Security concerns, combined with an overall dimming of enthusiasm for Obama in Europe, will result in a far smaller crowd for the president's address this time around. About 6,000 people have been invited to attend, including German political officials and students.
Obama's three days in Europe marked something of a respite from a flurry of controversies that have consumed Washington, including the Justice Department's seizure of journalists' phone records and the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative political groups. Most recently Obama has faced questions about sweeping data-mining programs run by the National Security Agency that have resulted in broad collections of U.S. phone and Internet records.
The president escaped public criticism of the programs during the G-8 summit. Merkel, however, says she plans to raise the issue with Obama in Germany, which like most of Western Europe has stricter privacy laws than the U.S.
Merkel said she was "surprised" by the scope of the U.S. surveillance programs, but acknowledged that her country is "dependent" on cooperating with American spy services. She also credited U.S. intelligence with foiling a large-sale terror plot in Germany in 2007.
Ahead of Obama's arrival, a few dozen demonstrators gathered in the center of Berlin to protest the NSA's eavesdropping. The crowd waved placards reading "Yes, we scan" ? a mocking reference to Obama's "Yes, we can" campaign slogan ? during a demonstration at Checkpoint Charlie, the crossing point between the American and Soviet sectors during the Cold War.
___
Associated Press writers Jim Kuhnhenn in Enneskillen, Northern Ireland and Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this report.
___
Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obamas-influence-limitations-display-g-8-195021983.html
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