YouTube now offers more MLB highlights and full archived games

YouTube just keeps adding quality content. Last week it was comedy, and this week it's bulking up on its sporting chops with a Major League Baseball partnership. Always among the most tech-savvy of major sports leagues, MLB has beefed up the offerings on its YouTube channel to include highlights from every game of 2013 (two days after they've occurred), and a vast archive of full games from as far back as 1952. Plus, should you reside outside the US, Canada, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan, you'll get to watch two live games every day during the regular season for free. So, seamheads, head on over to the MLB.com YouTube channel -- your digital field of dreams awaits.

Filed under: Internet, HD, Google

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Source: YouTube (Google+), MLB.com (YouTube)

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/0PYIlUA12K0/

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Stonehenge archaeologists reveal new theory of why monument was built

Stonehenge may have been built on a site occupied by hunters for?roughly?5,000 prior to its construction.

By Tia Ghose,?LiveScience Staff Writer / April 24, 2013

Visitors are dwarfed by the Stonehenge monument in southern England.

Max Nash/AP/File

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A site near Stonehenge has revealed archaeological evidence that hunters lived just a mile from Stonehenge roughly 5,000 years prior to the construction of the first stones, new research suggests.

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What's more, the site, which was occupied continuously for 3,000 years, had evidence of burning, thousands of flint tool fragments and bones of?wild aurochs?, a type of extinct giant cow. That suggests the area near Stonehenge may have been an auroch migration route that became an ancient feasting site, drawing people together from across different cultures in the region, wrote lead researcher David Jacques of the Open University in the United Kingdeom, in an email.

"We may have found the cradle of?Stonehenge, the reason why it is where it is," Jacques wrote. [In Photos: A Walk Through Stonehenge]

The new discovery may also identify the people who first erected structures at Stonehenge. A few gigantic pine posts, possibly totem poles, were raised at Stonehenge between 8,500 and 10,000 years ago, but until now there was scant evidence of occupation in the area that long ago. The new research suggests those ancient structures may perhaps have been raised to honor a sacred hunting ground.

Mysterious monument

For decades, people have wondered at the enigmatic stone structures erected roughly 5,000 years ago in the plains of Wiltshire, England. No one knows why ancient people built the structure: some believe it was a place of ancient worship or a sun calendar, whereas still others think it was a symbol of unity or even that?Stonehenge was inspired by a sound illusion.

The large megaliths, known as sarsens, are up to 30 feet tall and weigh up to 25 tons, while the smaller bluestones weigh up to 4 tons. Researchers think the?giant boulders?came from a quarry near Marlborough Downs, just 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the iconic site, while the bluestones likely came from Preseli Hills in Wales, nearly 156 miles (250 km) away from Stonehenge.

Old photographs

Jacques was looking through archival photographs of the region surrounding Stonehenge when he spotted a site known as Vespasian's Camp, just a mile from Stonehenge in nearby Amesbury.

Realizing that it hadn't been fully surveyed, Jacques began to investigate the area, which harbored a freshwater spring.

Because animals like to stop and drink at such watering holes, Jacques wondered whether ancient man may have settled nearby as well.

The team uncovered roughly 350 animal bones and 12,500 flint tools or fragments, as well as lots of evidence of burning. Carbon dating suggested the area was occupied by humans from 7500 B.C. to 4700 B.C. ? roughly 5,000 years prior to the erection of the?first stones at Stonehenge. [See Photos of the Stonehenge Hunting Ground?]

"The spring may have originally attracted large animals to it, which would have aided hunting and may have led to associations that the area was a sacred hunting ground," Jacques wrote.

In addition, the researchers found tools made from stone from one region of England, but fashioned in the style of another region (for instance, a?stone tool?made from Welsh or Cornwall slate, but made in a style typical of Sussex). That suggests the people from different regions were coming together at the site, Jacques wrote.

Ancient builders?

The findings could help researchers pinpoint why the ancient builders of Stonehenge chose the place they did, Jacques said.?

"We have found a bridge from which transmission of cultural memory about the 'specialness' of the place where the stones were later being put up was possible," Jacques wrote. "We are getting closer to understanding their reasons for putting it up ? it is all to do with ancestors, but those ancestors go much further back than has previously been realised."

The findings show "there was a substantial interest in the Stonehenge landscape well before the stones were hauled there and erected," said Timothy Darvill, an archaeologist at Bournemouth University in the U.K., who was not involved in the study.

Excavations dating to 2008 at Stonehenge also confirm earlier use at the?megalithic site, Darvill wrote. However, what makes the Amesbury discovery special is the large trove of auroch bones found in the area, which suggests the spring was on a natural migration route for the wild aurochs, he said.

A program about the Amesbury site will air on BBC 4 on April 29.

Follow Tia Ghose on Twitter?@tiaghose.?Follow?LiveScience?@livescience,?Facebook?&?Google+. Original article on?LiveScience.com.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/2mNG23YqGQI/Stonehenge-archaeologists-reveal-new-theory-of-why-monument-was-built

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'Two and a Half Men' teen star won't be a regular

Peter Kramer / AP file

Jon Cryer, Ashton Kutcher and Angus T. Jones in 2011. Jones isn't listed as a regular cast member on the show's upcoming season.

?

By Us Weekly

When CBS's hit sitcom "Two and a Half Men" returns this fall, the show will be half a man down. CBS announced Friday that though the show -- and actors Jon Cryer and Ashton Kutcher -- will be returning for an eleventh season, child star Angus T. Jones will not be signing on as a regular cast member.?

Jones, 19, could reportedly return to the series periodically as a recurring character, however, Deadline.com reports. Both Kutcher and Cryer have signed on for one-year contracts for the series.

PHOTOS: Angus kisses Miley Cyrus on Men

A source tells Us Weekly that one of the reasons Jones will not be returning is because his interests now lie elsewhere: Music.

"They tried really hard to keep him, but he was just done done," the source said, adding that the young actor is interested in "Skrillex style" tracks specifically.

VIDEO: Charlie Sheen rants about show creator Chuck Lorre

Jones made headlines in November 2012 when he released a YouTube video slamming?"Men" and calling the show "filth," asking viewers to "please stop watching." Shortly after the video went viral on the Internet, Jones came forward to apologize for his harsh words, offering a mea culpa to the cast and crew.

The actor apologized for "showing indifference and disrespect of my colleagues and a lack of appreciation of the extraordinary opportunity of which I have been blessed."?

PHOTOS: Stars on set

In January 2013, CBS entertainment chief Nina Tassler told reporters that she accepted the apology and was looking forward to having Jones back on the show. "The kid is 19 years old. I've got a 24-year-old," she said. "Between the ages of 19 and 24, there's been plenty of things my kid has said that I wish he hadn't. The bottom line is that cooler heads prevailed."

What do you think of the move? Tell us on Facebook.

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Source: http://theclicker.today.com/_news/2013/04/29/17970702-two-and-a-half-men-teen-star-wont-be-a-regular-next-season?lite

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NBA's Collins comes out as first openly gay player

By Julian Linden

(Reuters) - Jason Collins, a veteran center in the National Basketball Association (NBA), announced that he is gay, becoming the first active player from any major U.S. professional sports league to publicly reveal his homosexuality.

Collins, a free agent who played with the Washington Wizards and Boston Celtics during the NBA's 2012-13 regular season, made the announcement in an interview with Sports Illustrated that was published on Monday.

"I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I'm happy to start the conversation," he said.

"I wish I wasn't the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, 'I'm different.' If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I'm raising my hand."

In the ultra-scrutinized world of U.S. professional sports, there had never been an openly gay player in any of America's major professional sports leagues, although some had revealed their sexual orientation after retiring.

In a country with openly gay politicians, entertainers and even soldiers, professional sports had become a final frontier and questions were being asked why sports, which helped play a key role in changing public opinion on racial discrimination, was out of step with the rest of American society.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, whose daughter Chelsea was a classmate of Collins at Stanford University, applauded Collins for coming out.

"Jason's announcement today is an important moment for professional sports and in the history of the LGBT community," Clinton said in a statement.

"It is also the straightforward statement of a good man who wants no more than what so many of us seek: to be able to be who we are; to do our work; to build families and to contribute to our communities. For so many members of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community, these simple goals remain elusive.

"I hope that everyone, particularly Jason's colleagues in the NBA, the media and his many fans extend to him their support and the respect he has earned."

NBA Commissioner David Stern also issued praised Collins for breaking the barrier.

"Jason has been a widely respected player and teammate throughout his career and we are proud he has assumed the leadership mantle on this very important issue," Stern said in a statement.

Collins, 34, has played for six NBA teams since entering the league in 2001 and twice appeared in the playoffs. He said he wants to continue playing and hopes to find a new team.

It had seemed like only matter of time until an active player said he was gay after the issue had become one of the hottest topics in North America, no more so than in the National Football League (NFL), the most macho of America's pro sports.

In the days leading up to this year's Super Bowl in New Orleans, San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver told reporters he would not welcome a homosexual teammate into the locker room.

He later retracted his comments but reports have since emerged of NFL teams asking college players about their sexuality at a scouting combine in February.

This prompted the New York State attorney general to send a letter to the NFL, urging the league to take action and adopt a formal policy of sexual discrimination.

Culliver's comments are not typical of the attitude of all professional sportsmen. Indeed, there are several high-profile NFL players, most notably Chris Kluwe and Brendon Ayanbadejo, who have advocated for gay rights.

Both believe it was only a matter of time before a professional player came out publicly.

(Reporting by Julian Linden in New York; Editing by Frank Pingue)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/collins-comes-first-openly-gay-player-top-u-154217963.html

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6 months after Sandy, New Jersey still rebuilds

>>> thousands of gut -- r gutted homes. joining me now via skype, the mayor barilla. we just heard christopher dickey talking about people carrying on, which certainly you have done there in that community, but talk about the damages that superstorm sandy caused.

>> thank you for having me, alex. sandy knocked out about 60% of our housing, in the sense that they were flooded. the boardwalk was about 85% damaged or destroyed. restaurants, some infrastructure. it's been a long road back.

>> i can imagine. of course, with summer looming, it's where you make a lot of tourism dollars, a lot from me over the years as well. it's a wonderful place. what's the status of things?

>> okay. there's very little that you were able to do last year in point pleasant beach, that you will not be able to do this summer. the boardwalk was opened on friday, 4 thousands of the approximate 5200 feet of it was opened to public on friday. the rides are open. by memorial day , the entire length of the boardwalk will be open, with the exception, as i said, of a couple restaurants and perhaps one bar. everything should be open and should be business as usual . getting the -- getting people back into their homes is a more difficult task, and that's where the focus is, and has been, but it's just a slower process.

>> i'm sure you've been communicating with your colleagues, the heads of other, you know, beach towns there. what's the story there? how railroad faring compared to them?

>> we are doing pretty well, compared to some towns, especially the towns to my south. they really were hit very hard. they don't have the same commercial tourism industry we have, so it's a different dynamic, so to speak. in bell mar, i think we are probably ahead of where belmar is.

>> you know, it took more than two months after that storm, and then we heard the famous youth burst from governor christie, before congress finally voted on a relief package. what was running through your mind as all this was playing out?

>> dealing with the issues on the ground p there was very little as a mayor of a 5,000-person town that i would have to be able to do. though i will tell you this -- congressman smith has been absolutely magnificent in terms of providing assistance. you know, as far as our concern, it was what we could do to get the debris off the streets, to come up with a plan to make sure we would be at least ready to be open, focusing on the boardwalk, focusing again on getting resources in for those people who have been displaced. as far as the actual dollars go, that happens at a level above my pay grade .

>> well, you know about dollars, $60 billion-plus dollars came through, some of it went to your community, but i guess everyone looks at that and thinks that money needs to be spent to repair and po templeally prevent in the future disasters like this from happening. where does that stand, in your mind?

>> okay. the most critical step at this point in time and what we are working on right now, and have been for a while, is to secure those easements necessary both with homeowners and businesses to allow the army corps of engineers to put together a replenishment project for point pleasant beach as part of the overall project from island beach state park north. so getting those dunes in place will be an essential part of protecting the town.

>> we wish you the best of luck, and you for your time, mayor.

>> thank you.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2b46eedb/l/0Lvideo0Bmsnbc0Bmsn0N0Cid0C51694338/story01.htm

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Fabolous Falls For Girl Next Door In New 'Ready' Video

Loso hits Dominican Republic and finds love with hotel housekeeper in new clip, which also features Chris Brown.
By Rob Markman

Fabolous in his video for "Ready"
Photo: Def Jam

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1705391/fabolous-chris-brown-ready-video.jhtml

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The Bipartisan Immigration Plan Is 20 Years of Torture

Only when dealing with immigration do both parties abandon all promises to cut frustrating bureaucratic red tape and instead race each other to insist on more of it. The plan to be unveiled soon by the bipartisan "gang of eight" senators includes a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants that is an intentionally arduous bureaucratic labyrinth that will take 20 years to crawl through. President Obama's plan offered a mere eight years of torture.?

RELATED: Why is Immigration Reform So Hard If It Looks So Unanimous?

The National Review's Katrina Trinko has the early details. The plan gives illegal immigrants two options:

RELATED: GOP Finds a Way to Woo Latinos Without Angering the Tea Party

A) Go to their home country and wait five years to apply for a green card; or,

RELATED: Marco Rubio Still Can't Slip Away from Obama on Immigration

B) Stay in the U.S. and apply for temporary legalization status.

RELATED: Red Tape Finds Bipartisan Support in Immigration Reform

Option B is bureaucratic torture porn. There are several steps.?

RELATED: Jeb Bush Not Sure Where Jeb Bush Stands on Immigration

Step I: Wait for the Mexican border to be really secure. Immigrants will have to wait for the government to begin implementing several security measures, such as:

1. Tracking all immigrants at airports to make sure they don't overstay their visas.?
2. The Mexican border will be policed at all times by drones. (The Canadian border won't be tampered with.)?The Department of Homeland Security will have six months to come up with a drone plan. After five years, the department must be droning at full capacity.
3. Require all businesses to use e-Verify to check employees' immigration status.

Step II: Documentation. Immigrants must:

1. Prove they've lived here two years straight, which can be proven by things like utility bills or medical bills.?
2. Pass a background check. Speeding tickets are OK, felonies are not.?
3. Maybe prove they're not in a gang. "One contentious issue among the senators is whether immigrants who are clearly part of gangs but who have no criminal record will be allowed to obtain legal status," Trinko reports.
4. Prove they make enough money to live here -- an income of something like 125 percent of the federal poverty level.?

Step III: Show them the money. Immigrants must:

• Pay a fine and back taxes. The fine will be more than a couple hundred bucks but less than $10,000. If immigrants can't pay up front, they can have the fine taken out of their payroll taxes.

Step IV: Stay employed! And get private health insurance. And don't have any accidents.

1. Immigrants can't be unemployed for more than six months.?
2. Immigrants who need federal assistance -- presumably this means food stamps, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, disability, etc. -- have to go home.?
3. Immigrants who get status under this law are forbidden from getting Obamacare's benefits. Trinko doesn't say what this means. No subsidies to buy private health care plans? Parents can't keep 25-year-olds on their insurance plans? Obamacare's Medicaid expansion covers people earning up to 139 percent of the federal poverty level. So that would mean a single immigrant earning, say, 133 percent of the federal poverty level? -- $15,282 a year -- can stay here but can't get Medicaid.?

Step V: Chill for 10 years. A decade after the border is truly secure, these immigrants can apply for green cards.

Step VI: Wait 3 to 5 more years. That's how long green card holders have to wait to apply for citizenship.

If everything worked perfectly, immigrants could be citizens in 13 years. But 20 years is more realistic, Trinko reports.?The Washington Examiner's Conn Carroll is skeptical the U.S. will actually have the stomach to deport immigrants just because they lose their jobs or become disabled. "It?s a monstrous idea. And it will never happen," he writes. We're not so sure. It's a catchy slogan: "Give me your tired, your poor... well poor but not?too?poor. Above my official poverty line, please."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bipartisan-immigration-plan-20-years-torture-222107118.html

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A new approach for spinal muscular atrophy?

Apr. 9, 2013 ? There is no specific drug to treat spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a family of motor neuron diseases that in its most severe form is the leading genetic cause of infant death in the United States and affects one in 6,000 people overall. But a new multispecies study involving a drug that treats amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has pinpointed a mechanism of SMA that drug developers might be able to exploit for a new therapy.

The research, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, reports that the drug Riluzole advanced neural cell development in a mammalian model of SMA and restored neuromuscular function and mobility in a Caenorhabditis elegans worm model of the disease.

Riluzole has already been tested as a therapy in a very small study of severely affected SMA patients. It failed to help. Nevertheless, what makes the new research encouraging, said Anne Hart, professor of neuroscience at Brown and senior author on the paper, is that the study traces the beneficial action of Riluzole to specific "SK2" potassium channels in worm neurons. Humans have these channels too, and if they can be more precisely targeted by a new drug, she said, that could make a more meaningful difference, at least for some patients.

"We're not suggesting based on this that SMA patients should ask their doctors for Riluzole," Hart said, "but we are suggesting that this pathway would be useful for therapeutic development."

How Riluzole works

Because SMA has a lot in common with ALS, Hart thought Riluzole might still be worth studying in the context of SMA. To do so, she partnered with fellow researchers at Boston Children's Hospital. They worked in mouse neuronal cells while her team at Brown worked in the worms.

For each system, the researchers created SMA models in different ways by disabling the gene that produces the survival motor neuron (SMN) protein. Depletion of that protein causes SMA in people too.

In the mammalian neuronal cells, the Children's Hospital researchers found that Riluzole promoted the growth of axons that was lacking in the SMN-depleted cells. However, Riluzole did this not by increasing SMN levels. Instead, the researchers found evidence that drug treatment matured the neurons more quickly in normal cells.

Most attempts to treat SMA have relied on trying to maintain or restore higher levels of SMN, Hart noted. But Riluzole, or a future drug, may instead be able to work by accelerating cell maturity.

In the worms meanwhile, the Brown researchers found that Riluzole restored two important neuromuscular behaviors of SMA worms: the pumping action that allows the worms to move food through their digestive tracts and the body bending that they perform when swimming.

To learn how Riluzole had this effect, they performed further experiments testing various potassium channels, including SK2, that Riluzole is known to act upon. Losing these channels didn't cause more problems in animals with less SMN protein, but losing the SK2 potassium channels in particular made neuromuscular function worse. Without the SK2 channels, the drug Riluzole didn't improve function.

"This told us that Riluzole improves motorneuron function by acting through SK2 channels, which we did not know before," said lead author Maria Dimitriadi, a postdoctoral researcher in Hart's group. "This is important because understanding how SK2 channels affect motorneuron disease may eventually lead to a treatment helping both ALS and SMA patients."

In addition to Hart and Dimitriadi, the paper's other authors are Geetika Kalloo and Jill Yersak at Brown, and Min Jeong Kye and Mustafa Sahin at Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Kye now works at the University of Cologne, Germany.

Support for the research came from the SMA Foundation, the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke (grant NS066888), the Slaney Family Fund, and Children's Hospital of Boston.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/QayZ412ufmo/130409173457.htm

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Anthony Weiner to Run For Mayor of New York City?

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/04/anthony-weiner-to-run-for-mayor-of-new-york-city/

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Samsung's $399, 16GB Galaxy Note 8.0 Will Launch In The U.S. On April 11

After showing off the international version of its pint-sized Galaxy Note 8.0 back at Mobile World Congress, Samsung is gearing up to launch its newest Note tablet in the U.S. in just a few days. Just days after the device went on sale in the UK, Samsung has announced that the 16GB Galaxy Note 8.0 will officially hit U.S. store shelves on April 11 complete with a $399 price tag.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/az-ym7nwvPk/

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Most Popular Document Scanner for Going Paperless: Doxie Go

When you're ready to digitize and organize that mountain of paper clutter, there are plenty of scanners on the market ready to help you out. Sure, you could use any old multifunction scanner/printer, but document scanners offer software integration with web services like Dropbox and Evernote, optical charcater recognition (OCR) to make your scanned documents searchable, one-touch operation, super fast page-per-minute scanning, and more. Last week, we asked you which scanners were the best for the job. Then we looked at the five best document scanners for going paperless. Now we're back to highlight the winner.

Surging up from behind to take the lead late in the weekend was the Doxie Go, our own Adam Dachis' scanner of choice, bringing in 46% of the overall vote. It's fast, portable, and easy to use?and if its price point is a bit high, there are other Doxie models with similar features available.

In second place with just shy of 21% of the vote was the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500/ScanSnap iX500, the venerable parent/child desktop scanner models that many of you praised for being stellar performers over the years, super-fast, and super-reliable. In third place with close to 19% of the vote was your smartphone's camera. In fourth with close to 9% of the overall vote was the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300i, a smaller, more portable ScanSnap model with a lower price point but that still packs great features and software compatibility (not to mention support for Evernote, Dropbox, SugarSync, and more). Bringing up the read in fifth place was the Neat Scanner, with over 5% of the vote.

The Hive Five is based on reader nominations. As with most Hive Five posts, if your favorite was left out, it's not because we hate it?it's because it didn't get the nominations required in the call for contenders post to make the top five. We understand it's a bit of a popularity contest, but if you have a favorite, we want to hear about it. Have a suggestion for the Hive Five? Send us an email at tips+hivefive@lifehacker.com!

Photo by Brooks Duncan.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/BL5A_2ZhqqM/most-popular-document-scanner-for-going-paperless-doxie-go

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Reagan, Thatcher forged a close, lasting bond

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, two self-assured and firm-speaking conservatives, joined forces in the early 1980s and drastically changed the economic and political landscapes in both of their countries.

Their calls for more-austere government and lower taxes still resonate with conservatives on both sides of the Atlantic. And their side-by-side standing up to Soviet communism is credited by those of all political stripes as hastening the end of the Cold War.

Thatcher died Monday in London of a stroke at 87.

The British prime minister and the American president had the kind of personal bond that is extremely rare at such high levels of power.

She was the first and last White House State Dinner guest during Reagan's eight-year presidency. And when he died in 2004, at 93 after suffering for years with Alzheimer's disease, a frail Thatcher attended his state funeral.

"They had similar backgrounds and in some ways could understand what the other was experiencing," said Heather Conley, director of Europe programs for the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

"And they had unique solidarity. They were tough, they were single-minded in many ways. Some have argued that that lack of complexity was their shortcoming. But in some ways, their focus was their strength," Conley said.

Reagan and Thatcher forged a special friendship "from the very beginning, the first time they met," former first lady Nancy Reagan said Monday.

"I loved it that she and Ronnie were as close as they were," she told Fox News.

Thatcher led Britain's Conservative Party to three election victories, governing from 1979 to 1990. Reagan was president from 1981 to 1989.

Both cut income taxes deeply and reined in national government spending. Both favored privatizing many government functions. Both stood up to organized labor. Both tackled inflation. Both were strong advocates of free markets and increased open international trade.

And both had a lasting ? and controversial ? impact on their own and opposing political parties in their respective nations.

Reagan's supply-side theories that lower taxes can stimulate growth ? like a rising tide that lifts all ships ? was derided as "Reaganomics" by critics and even once called "voodoo economics" by the Republican who went on to serve as his vice president and later as president himself, George H. W. Bush.

Even today, it is hard for American Republicans to support any increase in taxes ? a Reagan legacy that still makes it difficult for Democrats and Republicans to find common ground on tax legislation.

In Britain, Thatcher's policies were dubbed "Economic Thatcherism."

"Using deregulation and privatization, she restored Great Britain, once dismissed as the 'sick man of Europe,' to its position as a world power. Indeed, her policies led the way and inspired other nations ? including those in newly free Eastern Europe ? to adopt similar reforms to boost their economies," Ed Feulner, former president of the conservative Heritage Foundation, wrote Monday in a tribute.

"An intrepid warrior for freedom and human dignity, Prime Minister Thatcher stood with her 'noble friend,' President Ronald Reagan, to confront the Soviet empire when it was at its peak," Feulner added.

Thatcher's efforts in advancing conservative causes and programs in Britain may have strengthened Reagan's hand in selling his conservative agenda at home, and vice versa.

Conservatives at the time viewed the political victories of the two allies as part of a worldwide trend moving in their direction ? a trend that has since run into a lot of bumps in the road.

Today's widely held warm and fuzzy image of the Reagan-Thatcher alliance of three decades ago may have been fortified and blurred somewhat by the passage of time.

"They were actually very similar, but very different from what many people today think they did," said Bruce Bartlett, an economic adviser to Reagan and Bush.

While Thatcher and Reagan were both economic conservatives at heart, "they were also much more pragmatic about what could be done" than many of today's conservatives, Bartlett said. "And they both accepted the legitimacy of the welfare state. They just tried to make it work better and reduce its cost."

While both are known for slashing taxes and cutting spending, Reagan also supported many later tax increases and backed raising the government's borrowing authority many times. Thatcher raised her nation's value-added tax.

The two had vastly different governing styles. Reagan projected radiant optimism and cheerful agreeability. Thatcher, who came to be known as the "Iron Lady," exhibited relentless determination.

And they sometimes disagreed. For instance, Thatcher didn't get the level of support she wanted from Reagan during the Falklands War crisis. And Thatcher was miffed and annoyed by Reagan's 1983 invasion of the tiny Caribbean island nation of Grenada.

Still, "she was a great partner with the United States," said former top State Department official Nicholas Burns, including being the one who persuaded Reagan that Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was "someone we can do business with."

Apparently her warmth with Reagan didn't fully convey to Bush, Reagan's successor.

While she fully supported Bush on confronting Saddam Hussein after Iraq's August 1990 invasion of Kuwait, she was a little concerned about his resolve. "So this was the reason I said, 'Look, George, this is no time to go wobbly," she later recalled.

The elder Bush issued a statement Monday declaring: "America has lost one of the staunchest allies we have ever known."

___

Follow Tom Raum on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tomraum

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/reagan-thatcher-forged-close-lasting-bond-211047117--politics.html

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Survey: 83% of Americans have no idea BlackBerry 10 has launched

BRUSSELS, April 8 (Reuters) - A French teenager who had hidden inside a garbage container was crushed to death inside a trash truck in Luxembourg on Saturday, police said. Garbage men only discovered the 17-year-old when he shouted out as they emptied the container into the back of the truck early on Saturday morning, but by then he was already in the grasp of the crushing mechanism. "He cried out, but it was already too late," a spokeswoman for Luxembourg police said on Monday. The young man, whose name was not released, died on the scene, in the city of Luxembourg. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/survey-83-americans-no-idea-blackberry-10-launched-205036683.html

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Martini Madness

Will Daniel Boulud's interpretation of The Nick & Nora advance to the championship? (Boulud is pictured; his martini is not.)

Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

Two at the Most (5) vs. The Martinez (10)
The FDR (3) vs. M.F.K. Fisher?s Gibson (9)
The Contemporary Standard (2) vs. The 1951 Martini (9)
The Nick & Nora (1) vs. The Hoffman House (11)
Guy walks into a bar. Guy gets introduced by the barkeep to another guy, who turns out to be a raconteur by the name of Damon Boelte. Guy No. 2 is a big-deal New York bartender and the host of a radio show called The Speakeasy. His story about making his first martini begins with a scene of nine-year-old Damon shoplifting a bottle of Angostura bitters from a shop back home in Oklahoma. It ends with an epigram you haven't heard the last of: "Martinis are 10 percent cocktail and 90 percent ritual."

Guy orders a Martinez. It's totally fine. But also the guy remembers the last Martinez he had, many weeks ago, a lot of gin under the bridge, back when his editrix took him out so that they could plan a martini tournament. Just after serving the previous Martinez, the bartender realized he'd forgotten to add the Maraschino liqueur, and he made another. The botched one was better.?The proto-martini is, in theory and in practice, far from a perfect drink.?

Guy gets sick of writing in the third person. Boelte was telling me about his "house specs" for a martini?a strict 2:1 on the ratio, a liberal approach to citrus bitters and twists. (This seemed to tilt momentum in favor of The Hoffman House, matched against Daniel Boulud's interpretation of the 3:1 martini conventionally nicknamed after Dashiell Hammett characters.) Though rhapsodic about the rather arcane Hermes orange bitters, Boelte gave his approval to Bitter Truth, which was enough for The Nick & Nora to earn a victory, especially after I received approval potentially to expense a brief trip to Daniel.

I laid on this dude my theory that the Gibson better expresses the martini's core values than does a martini with olives. "When someone orders a martini, they just fuck it up in every direction," he ventured, talking about misguided patrons mismatching bells and whistles and quoting James Bond to sound cool. "People do not fuck up their order with the Gibson."?

And our fourth and final matchup? I was on my way to tend bar at a poker game with friends, and I really wanted to set up the rich and ritzy 1951 Martini against The Contemporary Standard, but the deli was out of anchovies.

Two at the Most advances to the Final Four in the Midwest Regional.
M.F.K. Fisher?s Gibson advances to the Final Four in the West Regional.
The Contemporary Standard advances to the Final Four in the South Regional.
The Nick & Nora advances to the Final Four in the East Regional.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=6c522841856e194aa9da61f8243229cd

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DOD moves to take sex assault convictions out of commanders' hands

By Bill Briggs, Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube, NBC News

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Monday cracked down on generals who now possess the power to overturn sex assault sentences, ordering the first substantive shift of his tenure in how the military handles rape convictions in the ranks.

But victims? advocates quickly lashed the move as merely a meager tweak that fails to meet mounting calls to remove all sex-assault investigations from the chain of command and to inject civilian oversight into a controversial system of justice further exposed by the recent Aviano case.?

Hagel directed the Pentagon's General Counsel to strip the authority of commanding generals to void military court convictions. The Pentagon must seek fresh Congressional legislation to rewrite a section of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) to make the planned change legal.

The decision follows a firestorm ignited last month when Air Force Lt. General Craig Franklin overturned the sex-assault conviction of Air Force Lt. Col. James Wilkerson, an F-16 combat pilot. Wilkerson was court martialed and convicted by a military jury in the assault of a civilian woman at the U.S. Air Base in Aviano, Italy. He was sentenced to one year in the brig and booted from the Air Force.

---

But using current UCMJ laws, Franklin reversed that jury's ruling for apparent lack of evidence. Wilkerson was subsequently released from jail, reinstated and assigned to a staff job at an Arizona air base.

The head of the Service Women's Action Network (SWAN), which seeks to help women serve without discrimination, harassment or assault, said she is "encouraged" by Hagel's proposal to reform a portion of the UCMJ, particularly "in light of the perceived travesty of justice in the recent Aviano case." But she added that the modification is not enough.

"The Department of Defense has effectively acknowledged that commanders currently have undue influence on post-trial decision-making," said Anu Bhagwati, executive director of SWAN and a former Marine Corps captain. "However, post-trial review is only one component of the command-driven system that currently governs how military crimes are handled.

"Unless pre-trial decision-making around investigation and prosecution of offenses is also removed from the hands of commanders and given to impartial prosecutors, military criminal justice will remain a lesser form of justice, both for victims and defendants."

Measures 'fall short'
Protect Our Defenders, an advocacy group for military sex-assault victims, called the generals? current prerogative to toss out sex-assault convictions "only one part of much larger fundamental problems."

"Today?s proposed changes from the Pentagon fall short of the necessary fixes to end the epidemic of sexual assault in the military," said Nancy Parrish, president of Protect Our Defenders. "The military has always contended that incidences like Aviano are extremely rare and we have never disputed that. But, we have always contended that the more insidious problem is that convening authorities can unilaterally lessen sentences, and today?s announcement does not change this.

"Commanders now have the power to reduce any sentence for any reason or no reason," Parrish added. "Under the current proposal ... this will not change. In the Aviano case, rather than setting Lt. Col. Wilkerson?s sexual assault conviction aside, Lt. General Franklin could have simply reduced the sentence to no punishment.

"For the system to be legitimate ? the reporting, investigation and adjudication must be taken completely out of the chain of command if we are to avoid another case like Aviano," she added.

Under UCMJ, Hagel and Congress are powerless to change Franklin's decision to overturn the conviction of Lt. Col. Wilkerson.

In a written statement released Monday, Hagel said he is seeking to eliminate the ability of commanders who are the "convening authority" to override convictions for sexual assault or other serious crimes.

Defendants still will retain the right to appeal convictions through the military judicial system, Hagel said. He also wants to require the convening authority to put into writing any changes they may make in sentencing for major offenses.

"From the survivors we talk with," Parrish said, "a written explanation as to why their perp's sentence was lessened unilaterally will be of no comfort to them. This still constitutes an extraordinary power resting in the hands of one person with no equivalent in the civilian criminal justice system."

Related:?

?

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2a7bb432/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A40C0A80C176583880Edod0Emoves0Eto0Etake0Esex0Eassault0Econvictions0Eout0Eof0Ecommanders0Ehands0Dlite/story01.htm

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Treatment leads to near-normal life expectancy for people with HIV in South Africa

Apr. 9, 2013 ? In South Africa, people with HIV who start treatment with anti-AIDS drugs (antiretroviral therapy) have life expectancies around 80% of that of the general population provided that they start treatment before their CD4 count drops below 200 (cells per microliter), according to a study by South African researchers published in this week's PLOS Medicine.

These findings are encouraging and show that with long-term treatment, HIV can be managed as a chronic illness in middle- and low-income settings, and also suggest that the estimates used by life insurance companies and epidemiological modellers may need to be revised -- these estimates typically assume that life expectancy after starting antiretroviral therapy is around 10 years.

The researchers, led by Leigh Johnson from the University of Cape Town, reached these conclusions by collecting information from six HIV treatment programs throughout South Africa between 2001 and 2010, which they then used in a survival model.

The authors found that -- as in HIV-negative adults -- the most significant factor determining the life expectancy of patients starting HIV treatment was their age when they started treatment: the average life expectancy (additional years of life) of men starting antiretroviral therapy varied between 27.6 years at age 20 and 10.1 years at age 60, while corresponding estimates in women were 36.8 and 14.4 years, respectively.

They also found that life expectancies were significantly influenced by baseline CD4 counts (a measure of the strength of the immune system at the time of starting treatment): life expectancies in patients with baseline CD4 counts of 200 cells per microliter or more were between 70% and 86% of those of HIV negative adults of the same age and sex, while patients starting antiretroviral therapy with CD4 counts of less than 50 cells per microliter had life expectancies that were between 48% and 61% of those of HIV-negative adults.

The study also showed that the risk of death was highest during the first year after starting antiretroviral treatment, because of the delay between the start of treatment and the recovery of the immune system. Life expectancies were typically 15-20% higher two years after starting treatment than at the time of starting treatment. For example, in patients who started treatment with CD4 counts of more than 200 cells per microliter, life expectancies two years after starting therapy were between 87% and 96% of those in HIV-negative individuals (compared to a range of 70-86% at the time of starting treatment).

Although these results are encouraging, this study also highlights that many HIV patients are still starting treatment with very low CD4 counts, and health services must overcome major challenges, such as late diagnosis, low uptake of CD4 testing, loss from care, and delayed antiretroviral therapy initiation, if near-normal life expectancies are to be achieved for the majority of people with HIV in South Africa.

The authors also cautioned that their results were based on projections of the low mortality rates observed after patients had been on treatment for a few years, and that there was uncertainty about how mortality rates might change in future, particularly at longer treatment durations. The authors noted that although there was the promise of new drugs and new patient management strategies, which might reduce mortality further, there was also the risk of rising levels of HIV drug resistance, which might compromise treatment effectiveness.

The authors say: "These results have important implications for the pricing models used by life insurance companies, as well as the demographic and epidemiological models that are used to forecast the impact and cost of [antiretroviral therapy] programmes in low- and middle-income countries."

They continue: "Assumptions of longer life expectancy would significantly reduce the forecasts of AIDS mortality, but would also significantly increase long-term projections of numbers of patients receiving [antiretroviral therapy]."

The authors add: "It is therefore critical that appropriate funding systems and innovative ways to reduce costs are put in place, to ensure the long-term sustainability of [antiretroviral therapy] delivery in low- and middle-income countries."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Public Library of Science.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Leigh F. Johnson, Joel Mossong, Rob E. Dorrington, Michael Schomaker, Christopher J. Hoffmann, Olivia Keiser, Matthew P. Fox, Robin Wood, Hans Prozesky, Janet Giddy, Daniela Belen Garone, Morna Cornell, Matthias Egger, Andrew Boulle. Life Expectancies of South African Adults Starting Antiretroviral Treatment: Collaborative Analysis of Cohort Studies. PLoS Medicine, 2013; 10 (4): e1001418 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001418

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/FhhmZ6i4N3c/130409173502.htm

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How We Got Our Hands on a Chocolate Drink ... - The Culture-ist

By Maria Russo

During a recent trip to Belize, Anthony and I hopped over the border to visit Yaxha,?the third largest?ruin?in?Guatemala. The site itself calls for its own story as its rich history and?astounding kingdom of?ruins is truly a wonder. This story focuses on a small, yet?incredible?snippet of someone?s life who lived in the Mayan kingdom of Tikal, one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centres of the?pre-Columbian?Maya civilization.

On the way over to the Yaxha, our guide David, retold stories he had learned from?archeologists?he worked with while several of the structures at the site were still being excavated. One story, which roots lie in Tikal, (David provided a brief history of all the excavated ruins in Guatemala, hence leading to this story) was initiated while we were discussing the life expectancy of the Maya, which for some reason, made David think of his beautiful grandmother who bore 17 children and apparently still looked healthier and had more energy than most 40-year-olds. David told us that he dicovered his grandmother?s anti-anging secret one day when she brought over a large basket filled with raw cocoa.

He questioned his grandmother about the contents of the basket and she informed him that she had been creating a drink of raw cocoa, honey and vanilla for most of her life. She believed it was what kept her hips tight, her heart strong and her mind alive.

?Cocoa has been a popular ingredient in drinks in Mesoamerica?for centuries,? David said. ?In fact, just around 700 A.D. there was a Mayan member of the royal family aptly named Au?Cacao, or ?Lord Chocolate? who was buried with the recipe of his favorite chocolate drink.?

I blurted a?visceral reaction of ?No way!? and David turned around from the front passenger seat and whispered: ?Do you want the secret recipe??

?You have it?!? I said almost shouting.

?Yes, is your pen ready?? David responded.

I always carry an open notebook when I travel, it?s just a habit I developed over years of being a writer, so I quickly responded ?Shoot.?

David slowly and deliberately listed the ingredients Lord Chocolate used in his cocoa drink more than 1,300 years ago: ?co?coa beans, hon?ey, all-a-spice??. While I was jotting down each sweet word, I pictured a short, bronzed?Mayan man relaxing in some remote location in the ?jungle enjoying a drink very?similar?to the Mayan hot chocolates I sip down during the cold winter months in Princeton. So many years had separated our existence, yet we shared a common love of cocoa ? amazing.

David went on to tell me that Lord Chocolate was even buried with what was believed to be the vessel that held his chocolate drinks, which sat next to an?inscription?that is believed to mean ?refreshing.?

Later that evening, after we returned from the incredible tour of?Yaxha, I pulled out the chocolate bar made from 70 percent Belizean?cacao which I purchased back in San Pedro from MOHO, a shop that sold chocolate from a family-owned farm in Punta Gorda, and bit off a large chunk. I closed my eyes so I could focus on the subtle notes of coffee and caramel and quietly thanked Lord Chocolate for his sweet tooth, which just may have sparked the world?s?fascination?with this golden bean.

Recipe for Lord Chocolate?s Favorite Drink:

• Crushed cocoa beans
• Honey
• Allspice
• Chilies
• Vanilla
• Annatto
• Water

Photo?by?jamieanne

Source: http://www.thecultureist.com/2013/04/08/lord-chocolate-drink-recipe-mayan-king-jasaw-chan-kawiil-tikal/

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Salesforce Platform Crosses 1 Million Developer Mark, Adds Frameworks To Attract JavaScript Community For Mobile Push

Salesforce.com has attracted one million developers to its platform and is now making a push into the mobile market with a new hybrid environment that allows developers to use JavaScript to update native iOS or Android apps. The new hybrid model is meant to welcome JavaScript developers through the support of frameworks in its Developer Mobile Pack that include JQuery Mobile, Angular.JS and Backbone.js. The mobile SDK has new frameworks for HTML 5, iOS and Android apps. The bridge is in the database that pulls customer data from the JavaScript frameworks that sits on top of the application. It allows developers to then use the SDK to take advantage of the camera, swipe and the other features that come native to iOS and Android devices. Customer data gets integrated and made available immediately in the app as the updates happen in the JavaScript environment. To build the community, Salesforce will conduct a 37-city hacking event the week of April 22 that will also be conducted online. Salesforce is also partnering with systems integrators and partners such as Deloitte and Appirio. RedMonk Analyst Stephen O’Grady posts quarterly data about programming language popularity. JavaScript is currently ranked first showing why Salesforce is making this push. They want to attract this rich developer community for its push into the mobile market. The new mobile services opens the Salesforce platform to JavaScript developers but O’Grady points to the complexity that come in the increasingly fragmentation of the programming community: Much as PaaS providers are currently grappling with the challenge of maximizing their addressable market via support for multiple runtimes, so too must vendors and projects in other categories work to service as many programming languages as possible. Given the opportunity to choose, developers are making choices: lots of them. Updating a mobile app today requires the same patience that you needed in 1997 with that first website. As in those nascent years of the web, the complexity today is in the expertise and manual processes needed to get the app updated. It requires lots of code and lots of patience. By using JavaScript, developers can make the app update process far simpler and as well make for better integration with customer data. Still, Salesforce has its work cut out for it as competitors are building out engagement platforms without the legacy environment that Salesforce has to manage as it makes its mobile push.

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

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Obama 'determined as ever' for gun bill

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) ? With time running out on the chance to pass gun control legislation, President Barack Obama on Monday warned Congress not to use delaying tactics against tighter regulations and told families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims that he's "determined as ever" to honor their children with tougher laws.

Obama's gun control proposals have run into resistance on Capitol Hill, leaving their fate in doubt. Efforts by Senate Democrats to reach compromise with Republicans over expanding required federal background checks have yet to yield an agreement, and conservatives were promising to try blocking the Senate from even beginning debate on gun control legislation.

"The day Newtown happened was the toughest day of my presidency," Obama said in an emotional speech from Connecticut's capital, an hour's drive from Newtown. "But I've got to tell you, if we don't respond to this, that'll be a tough day for me too."

Some of the Sandy Hook families are making an attempt to push through the bill. Obama met with them privately before his speech at the University of Hartford Monday evening, then brought 12 family members back to Air Force One for the trip back to Washington. The relatives want to meet with senators who've yet to back the legislation to encourage their support in memory of their loved ones.

"Nothing's going to be more important in making sure that the Congress moves forward this week than hearing from them," Obama said. His eyes teared as he described Nicole Hockley, who lost her 6-year-old son, Dylan, saying how she asks him every night to come to her in her dreams so she can see him again.

"If there's even one thing we can do to prevent a father from having to bury his child, isn't that worth fighting for?" Obama asked.

Obama's speech was interrupted repeatedly by standing ovations from the packed gymnasium. At one point, the room erupted with chants of "We want a vote!" Audience members, many wearing green ribbons in support of the victims, were stomping their feet on the bleachers and clapping their hands in unison with the chant.

"This is not about me. This is not about politics. This is about doing the right thing for all the families who are here who have been torn apart by gun violence," Obama said, his voice rising with emotion as he shook his finger in the air.

Obama argued that lawmakers have an obligation to the children killed and other victims of gun violence to allow an up-or-down vote in the Senate. That would require 50 votes to pass, rather than a procedural maneuver some Republican senators are threatening to require 60 votes, potentially sinking the legislation.

"Some back in Washington are already floating the idea that they may use political stunts to prevent votes on any of these reforms. Think about that. They're not just saying they'll vote no on ideas that almost all Americans support. They're saying they'll do everything they can to even prevent any votes on these provisions. They're saying your opinion doesn't matter. And that's not right.

Obama rode to the speech with Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who signed sweeping gun control legislation into law Thursday with the Sandy Hook families standing behind him. But legislation in Washington faces a tougher challenge, as the nation's memories of the shooting fade with time and the National Rifle Association wages a formidable campaign against Obama's proposals.

Majority Leader Harry Reid brought gun control legislation to the Senate floor on Monday, though actual debate did not begin. He took the step after receiving a letter from 13 conservative Republican senators including Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, saying they would use delaying tactics to try preventing lawmakers from beginning to consider the measure. Such a move takes 60 votes to overcome, a difficult hurdle in the 100-member chamber.

The conservatives said the Democratic measure would violate the Second Amendment right to bear arms, citing "history's lesson that government cannot be in all places at all times, and history's warning about the oppression of a government that tries."

Further underscoring the tough road ahead for the Obama-backed legislation, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday that the Kentucky Republican would join the filibuster if Reid tries to bring the measure to the floor.

Obama said the vote shouldn't be about his legacy, but about the families in Newtown who haven't moved on to other matters.

"Newtown, we want you to know that we're here with you," Obama said. "We will not walk away from the promises we've made. We are as determined as ever to do what must be done. In fact, I'm here to ask you to help me show that we can get it done. We're not forgetting."

A group of Sandy Hook families originally planned to travel to Washington earlier on Monday, but the White House offered to give the families a ride so they could also attend Obama's speech before their lobbying push. The White House lit up the steps of Air Force One with flood lights so photographers and television cameras could capture the image of Obama climbing the plane's steps with the families at dusk.

Nelba Marquez-Greene, whose 6-year-old daughter Ana was among the victims at Sandy Hook, held up a sign that said "Love Wins" as she walked toward the steps of Air Force One.

The families' lobbying trip was organized by Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit started by community members in the wake of the shooting. "The group is encouraging senators to come together around legislative proposals that will both save lives and respect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans," the group said in a statement.

With time running out on negotiations, the White House is making an all-hands-on-deck push this week. Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder planned to promote their plan at the White House on Tuesday with law enforcement officials. First lady Michelle Obama planned to wade into the debate Wednesday with a speech on youth violence in her hometown of Chicago. And on Thursday, Biden was taking part in a discussion on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" with people who have different views on gun control.

Organizing for Action, the grassroots group being formed out of Obama's re-election campaign to support his agenda, said it was launching online ads Monday asking the public to urge their senators to support background checks. The ads will target 11 senators ? all Republicans ? through Facebook and search engines. An OFA spokesman said the group was not disclosing the cost of the ad campaign.

Gun control is divisive in Newtown, Conn., as in the rest of the country. Not all Sandy Hook families support gun control, and even those involved with the lobbying push organized by Sandy Hook Promise are not backing the assault weapons ban. But those families are asking lawmakers to expand background checks, increase penalties for gun trafficking and limit the size of magazines.

___

Follow Nedra Pickler on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nedrapickler

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-says-hes-determined-ever-gun-bill-221018585--politics.html

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13 people killed in shooting spree in Serbia

VELIKA IVANCA, Serbia (AP) ? A 60-year-old veteran gunned down 13 people in Serbia, including a baby, in a pre-dawn house-to-house rampage Tuesday before trying to kill himself and his wife, police and hospital officials said.

The man, identified as Ljubisa Bogdanovic, used a handgun in the shooting spree at five houses in Velika Ivanca, a village 50 kilometers (30 miles) southeast of Belgrade, emergency hospital spokeswoman Nada Macura said. The dead included six women, several of them his relatives.

Residents of the village described the suspect as a nice quiet man. They said he first killed his son before leaving the house and then began shooting his neighbors, some of whom were still asleep.

"He knocked on the doors and as they were opened he just fired a shot," said resident Radovan Radosavljevic. "He was a good neighbor and anyone would open their doors to him. I don't know what happened."

Neighbor Milovan Kostadinovic said the suspected killer was caught by a police patrol while on the way to his house.

"If they didn't stop him, he would have wiped us all out," Kostadinovic said, standing in front of his two-story, red tile- roofed house ? one of a dozen modest homes that make up the village, which is located on a lush green hill covered with fruit trees. "He shot himself when police stopped him."

Serbian police chief Milorad Veljovic said 12 people were killed immediately between 5 a.m. and 5:30 a.m., and one person died in a Belgrade hospital. The man and his wife were both severely injured by the shootings and another person was also injured, the hospital spokeswoman said.

"We are all caught by surprise," Veljovic told reporters. "Most of the victims were shot while asleep."

He said the motive for the killings Tuesday was unclear.

The suspect had lost his job last year and fought as a Serb volunteer soldier in the war in Croatia in 1992, the police chief said. Villagers said Bogdanovic fought in Vukovar, the eastern Croatian town that was destroyed in a massive Serbian-led army offensive ? the scene of the worst bloodshed during Croatia's 1991-95 war for independence.

Macura, the hospital spokeswoman, said the shooter had no known history of mental illness. Stanica Kostadinovic, another neighbor, said the man's father had hanged himself when he was a young boy and his uncle had a history of mental illness.

Although such shootings are rare in Serbia, weapons are readily available, mostly from the 1990s wars in the Balkans. Initial reports said the suspect had a license for the handgun.

Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said Tuesday the killings should serve as a warning that the government should pay more attention to gun control laws and other social problems facing the Balkan country, which is still reeling from the wars in the 1990s.

Police blocked off the village while forensic teams and investigators in white protective robes took evidence from homes where the shootings took place.

Serbia's last big shooting spree occurred in 2007, when a 39-year-old man gunned down nine people and injured two others in an eastern village.

__

Sabina Niksic contributed from Bosnia.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/13-people-killed-shooting-spree-serbia-065629795.html

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US, Russia vie for largest natural gas reserves

Javier E. David , CNBC ? ? ? 3 hrs.

The United States, currently one of the world's largest sources of natural gas, may find itself fending off increasingly stiff competition in the resource's development, as the move to tap natural gas supplies goes global.

Considered by energy watchers to be one of the most promising avenues of energy development, natural gas is cleaner, more abundant and relatively less expensive than regular gas. The resource is being used in an ever-increasing array of activity, from generating electricity to powering locomotives and public transport ? which is putting upward pressure on market prices.

(Read more: Natural Gas Prices on the Rise, Challenging 'Cheap' Label)

Fewer regions have moved to harness natural gas as aggressively as the U.S., which accounts for more than a fifth of global natural gas consumption, according to data from the Worldwatch Institute, an environmental think-tank.

Still, global interest in the fossil fuel is on the rise as countries like Russia and Qatar move aggressively to tap their natural gas resources, with others like Israel following suit. The global interest poses a challenge to the U.S.'s growing clout in the sector.

(Read more: Israel to Invest in Navy to Protect Huge NatGas Fields)

In addition to international oil giants like Norway's Statoil and Chevron exploiting natural gas, Australia and countries in Africa and South America "are discovering gigantic fields all over the planet," said Richard Hastings, senior macro strategist at Global Hunter Securities. Development is "very robust and competitive," he added.

America's energy revolution has been in part hampered by a reluctance to ship its natural gas bounty to other countries. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Russia and the U.S. are running neck and neck for the title of the world's largest natural gas reserves.

Yet unlike the U.S. ? which is currently embroiled in a contentious debate about selling its natural gas stocks abroad ? other countries harbor little compunction about exporting the fuel to other resource-hungry nations.

Although the U.S. is one of the largest producers of natural gas, data from the CIA World Factbook lists the U.S as a distant challenger to natural gas export powerhouses like Russia, Qatar and Canada. Should the world's largest economy fail to sell more to other countries, analysts say it could put the U.S. at a disadvantage.

Global natural gas markets are highly competitive "except for captive markets like Russian sales to Europe," said John Felmy, chief economist of the American Petroleum Institute in Washington. "The U.S. being the largest producer of natural gas, it has the ability to be able to make some money off it."

The reluctance to export natural resources undercuts what analysts say is one of the U.S.'s major competitive advantages: generous mineral rights that make it relatively easy for companies and private citizens to drill with little interference from the government.

U.S. policy differs from other countries, where governments tightly control surface and mineral ownership, therefore restricting drilling and exploration. In Europe, a patchwork of European Union and local regulations are a barrier to natural gas exploitation.

"In terms of the development of the natural gas industry, what the U.S. policy make up does is allows the individual to benefit," said Matt Lucky, a sustainable energy fellow at Worldwatch Institute. That allows major energy companies and private landowners to exploit valuable mineral rights beneath their land, he said.

That distinction "has helped to drive exploration in the natural gas sector in the United States. A lot of people have become very wealthy in the U.S. by mineral rights," Lucky said. "That's not the case in in much of the rest of the world."

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